Chapter 13

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th president of US 1953-1961 (1890 - 1969)

Mahalis stood in his tent in the Artwork desert, preparing for battle. Mahalis strapped on his belt, which held two revolvers. He grabbed his modified SMG from a table. He had designed it himself to be more compact, and still have the firepower of a regular machine gun. He put on his hat and coat, and stepped out of his tent.

Mahalis stood before five thousand members, all standing to attention. Of the thirty thousand that had enlisted in the army, the five thousand that were present were the only ones who had any experience in the military. Ninjo had order the rest to be trained while the five thousand went into battle. Artwork wasn’t known for its military prowess, so Mahalis wasn’t worried about defeat.

“Friends, as long as Black Six is the ruler of BZ-Metru, there will be evil in the land. By invading and taking over the three Artwork cities, we will be one step closer to destroying Black Six, and evil!”

The soldiers cheered in support. Mahalis turned to his captains, who were Bfahome, Rocco, and xccj.

“You all know the plan. Bfahome and Rocco, take your troops. Don’t strike until I contact you. Is that clear?”

Bfahome nodded. Rocco shouted for their squadron to move out, as they started to march toward Artwork Three.

***

They arrived to find the city gates boarded up. Bfahome decided to set up a small camp right outside the wall.

“Come on, why can’t we just go in there and kill them all?” said Rocco, sitting impatiently on a crate of supplies.

“You know the plan, we can’t do anything until Mahalis contacts us,” said Bfahome, pacing next to Rocco, “And we don’t know when that will be.”

Rocco threw an empty grenade shell on the ground in frustration. “Then why’d we come out here so early? It breaks my heart to know that we could easily just blow up that wall, march in there, and kill everyone, but instead just sit here.”

“Look, I’d love to do that as much as you, but that’s not in the plan.”

“Plan schplan. Why should I listen to something I’ve never heard the entirety of?” said Rocco.

Bfahome pulled a knife out of his belt and held it up to Rocco’s neck. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill you.”

Rocco smiled weakly and nodded as best he could without touching the knife. Bfahome smiled and put the knife away.

“Now just shut up until Mahalis calls us,” said Bfahome.

The two waited uneasily, as did their small squadron of troops. After almost an entire hour, Bfahome’s walky-talky started to crackle. It was one of Mahalis’ aids.

“Artwork One is ours. It was relatively easy, though xccj was killed. We sent a small detail to Two and found it deserted. The population must have evacuated to Three. General Mahalis says to Strike now.”

“We’re on it!” exclaimed Bfahome. He shut it off and turned to Rocco.

“Mobilize the troops immediately, we’re going in!” he yelled to his partner. Rocco shouted for the troops to get into position. Five of them, including Bfahome, stood next to five machine guns. The guns were behind a protective wall made of rock.

“Attention citizens of Artwork 2 and 3!” yelled Rocco. “You have exactly five seconds to surrender, starting now! One… two… three… four… five! Time’s up, we’re coming in!”

Rocco clicked off the megaphone. He silently walked over to the crate of grenades and picked one up. He quickly pulled the pin out and threw it at the gate.

The force of the blast destroyed the gate. Bfahome and the other machine gun operators started firing the second the dust started to clear, killing any guards who had survived the blast.

Rocco lead the rest of the troops into the city. They stopped when they saw that there was no one in sight.

Bfahome came up beside Rocco. “Where is everyone?”

Rocco shrugged. “They’re in here, they have to be. If they had escaped before we got here, someone would have seen them. They must be further in.”

“Then let’s go,” said Bfahome. He motioned for the troops to follow. “Be on your guard, men!”

They slowly walked deeper into the city, keeping an eye out for any signs of life. But still nothing. It appeared that there was no one in the city. Bfahome and Rocco were about to give up when a voice startled them.

“Sir?” said a soldier with the odd name IfYouWubMeWontYouLetMeKnow, “I thought I just saw someone in city hall.”

Bfahome turned. “That’s great news, soldier. Go back into your formation. All of you, prepare to storm city hall!”

Rocco grabbed the arm of a soldier with a bazooka and brought him to the front of city hall building.

“When I say fire, I want you to fire a rocket at the door.”

“But what if the door isn’t locked?”

“There is the possibility, but just opening the door wouldn’t have the effect of blowing it up.”

The soldier was quiet, then nodded. Rocco smiled and walked back over to Bfahome.

“We’re ready.”

“Let’s go then.”

“FIRE!” yelled Rocco. The soldier launched a rocket at the door. The blast created a giant hole in the wall, revealing hundreds of people. None of them looked like they could give any resistance.

Bfahome walked into the middle of them and lit a cigarette. “So who’s in charge here?”

Silence.

“If you don’t come forward I’ll blast this entire city to kingdom come!”

Two feeble FLs were shoved forward by the crowd: Rayg and Nikira.

Bfahome smiled. “Now if you’ll just sign these papers stating that you surrender and that Artworks 2 and 3 are now forums of the Bionicle Zone Republic, we’ll be on our way. Okay?”

The Bionicle Zone Republic increased in size that day, not by two forums, but by three. For Artwork 1 had also fallen, though it had taken more work than two and three.

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