The Armoured Ghost (6 page)

‘One of the biggest was the Perfect Corporation. You all know who the Chairman is, right?’

‘Of course,’ Snow said. ‘He’s the boss of Perfect Corp – one of the most powerful men in
the
galaxy. He runs the Gladiator Games. The Chairman is an absolute genius. He’s the youngest man ever to run a multi-planet corporation.’

‘And his sister is the famous Gladiator, Lanista,’ Rake added.

Rake was studying the old battleground. There were statues all around the rim of the shaft. He recognized them – or at least the few that were still standing. They were sculptures of the First Twelve – the original Armouron Knights. But most of the statues were pitted with blast damage, missing limbs and even heads. Two of the statues had nothing left but their legs, standing on their low plinths.

‘The Chairman is everything you say and more,’ Salt agreed. ‘He led the multi-planet corps against the Armouron. He turned the people against the knights by spreading lies about them. The corporations had private armies. They hunted down and killed almost all of the Armouron. Some of the worst fighting happened here on Earth. Only a few knights are left now, scattered around the planets on the edge of the galaxy.’

‘That can’t be right,’ Oddball objected. He pointed at the scarred walls of the chamber. ‘Even if the Armouron were destroyed like you say, everyone knew the knights kept the galaxy together. Without them; everything would have fallen apart. And I mean, look at this place – the whole planet would look like this if there had been a huge war. And if Earth was all some big dictatorship now, the Chairman would have to have soldiers all over planet to make everyone obey him.’

‘You’re right.’ Salt nodded. ‘But he and his sister are both cruel, calculating and power-hungry. They knew that if people suspected the Perfect Corporation had destroyed the Armouron Knights, there would be chaos. But a lot of the planet is still a battle-scarred wasteland – it’s just that people aren’t allowed to see it. Most of the people living in Nu-Topia were brought here from other planets. They never saw the fighting – they hardly even heard about it.’

He walked around, running his hands over the walls, pointing out the worst of the damage.

‘We made our last stand in this chamber. This used to be where the castle’s power source was
housed
. The Chairman’s android troops drilled in under us, shut down the power and came up through the shaft here. There were hundreds of them; they were heavily armed and completely fearless machines. We fought them tooth and nail all the way down the corridor, but they eventually forced us into the Council Chamber. We were not easy to beat and we pushed them back. We thought we were winning.

‘Then the Chairman’s Flying Fortresses launched their final assault. The androids had only been meant as a distraction. The missiles and bombs completely destroyed our fortress and nearly killed us all along with it.

‘Only a tiny group of us survived. We got out by disguising ourselves as damaged androids and stealing one of their earth-drillers. We collapsed the tunnel behind us as we went, to cover up our escape.’

The three kids listened, trying to imagine the fear, the chaos of the battle and the desperate escape deep underground, not knowing if there was anywhere safe to surface. It was the kind of story that belonged in the mists of legend. It was strange to hear it first-hand
from
this sour old man.

‘Perfect Corp just lied on all the news reports,’ Salt went on. ‘It said the Armouron Knights were heroes who died away fighting old enemies. And then the Chairman created the Gladiators to pretend that the galaxy still had warriors who fought for their people – and he made the White Knights to keep control. It was a clever plan, and now most people believe the Gladiators and the White Knights took over from the Armouron.’

He gazed sadly at the ruined statues.

‘After I came back, I used my skills as a craftsman to get a job in the Academy’s Armour Department. I’ve spent most of my free time over the last six or seven years fixing up this place. But everything I do has to be done silently, secretly.

‘You know that Perfect Corp runs the Academy, and sponsors the Gladiator Games. What you don’t know is that its control doesn’t stop there. The Perfect Corporation
owns this entire planet
. Tell me, have you ever felt as if you were living inside a prison?’

All three of the kids nodded. Most cadets, even those who dreamed of being Gladiators, found
Academy
life hard to bear.

‘That’s because it
is
a prison,’ Salt told them. ‘Everything about that place above us is tightly controlled. The Gladiator Games are a pantomime – a show put on for the people of Earth. Because Earth itself is a huge laboratory, and Nu-Topia is the centre of it. Here, the Perfect Corporation tests its most dangerous products before they are sold across the galaxy.

‘Very few people on Earth are even aware of this. The only information they get is the information that Perfect Corp lets them see. When the tests go wrong, they can ruin lives – even kill people. But Perfect Corp doesn’t care.’

‘So the Academy is only part of a planet-sized prison?’ Oddball frowned. He believed what he was hearing, but he didn’t want to. ‘And the people of Earth are the prisoners?’

‘Everybody lives the way the Chairman tells them to live.’ Salt nodded. ‘Like you, they are all tagged with tracking devices like criminals. They are constantly monitored by cameras and microphones. Nobody can get on or off the planet without clearance from the White Knights, and the White Knights are run by Perfect Corp. The
Kettles
, we call ’em. If you try to break the rules or refuse to do what you’re told, or if the corporation just has no more use for you . . . then you disappear and you’re never seen again.’

The three cadets looked at one another. It was as if a fog had lifted. Suddenly, so many things made sense. Life in the Academy was a lot easier to understand once you knew what the place really was.

‘The Games were created to keep everyone distracted from what’s going on around them,’ Snow said quietly. ‘To make them think they still have warriors who will fight for justice. To help keep them deaf and blind to the fact they’re being used as lab rats.’

‘So the competitions aren’t real?’ Rake asked in a small voice. ‘That’s why . . . why we’re never allowed to watch the Gladiators in training.’

‘And why they use fake blood to pretend they’re wounded,’ Snow said.

‘And breakable armour to fake battle damage,’ Oddball grunted.

‘It’s all for show,’ Salt told them. ‘If you eventually become a Gladiator, that’s when you learn the truth. And by then, you’ll be trained to
obey
every order the bosses give you – and you’ll do it until the day you die. If you obey, you stand a chance of becoming rich and famous. But you will always be under the control of the Chairman. And if you cross him, he can do terrible, terrible things to you.’

Salt turned round, leaning on his walking stick. There was a solemn, searching look on his face.

‘Come with me,’ he said.

They followed him back along the corridor and out into the Council Chamber, to the round stone table.

‘I am one of the few Twelve Nobles still alive,’ Salt rumbled. ‘As a Master Craftsman, I am responsible for designing and making new armour – a role that also includes crafting new recruits into trained warriors. I came back here, because this is my home planet. Making Gladiator armour is just a front for me – a cover story. Hardly anybody knows who I really am. I want to break this prison wide open and free the people who live in it. I want to bring down the Perfect Corporation. But it will be a long hard fight and I am old. I don’t have the strength I once did. I can’t do it alone. We need a new generation of knights.
Young
warriors we can train in the old ways.

‘You are all here because you are brave and hungry for the truth. Do you want to fight for a better world? I can teach you the ways of the knights, but it will take a strong spirit to keep to the code: Honour, Duty, Compassion and Justice. It is not an easy way to live. It could get you killed. But it offers a great and honourable life. So how about it, my young warriors – will you join the Armouron?’

There was a long, long silence while Rake, Snow and Oddball looked at one another. Was this old man everything he said he was, or could he just be a madman on some insane quest? If they joined him, they would be breaking Academy rules. They would even be breaking the laws of the Perfect Corporation. If they were caught, it would be the end of the only life they knew.

But deep down, they each believed that Salt was speaking the truth. And out of all the cadets he had watched over the years, he had chosen
them
to join him in his fight. They wanted to do something about the prison they were living in – to fight for a better world. And to do it while wearing the armour of an Armouron Knight!
There
could be no greater honour. One by one, the three young cadets stepped forward. One by one, they said yes. Salt looked at them and saw there was no doubt in their eyes. These were the right ones.

‘Then you will be the first,’ he said. ‘I’d like each of you to choose one of these.’

Opening the case on the table, he showed them five small metal discs that were set into the lining. Each had a coloured design etched into it. Rake reached for the first one in the line, but then paused. He brushed his fingers across it, moved
to
the second one, and then the third. This one seemed to glow with a faint light of its own. As he touched it, he let out a gasp. He felt a surge of energy flow through his body. He picked it up, looking at it with awe.

Oddball and Snow came forward. They each chose one of the medallions. They obviously felt the strange sensation too, flinching as they took their discs.

‘These are power totems,’ Salt told them. ‘What you’re feeling is what we call “the Flow”. It means the totem has accepted you. It has called to you, and its energy will only work through you – no one else – until you die, or
you
choose to pass it on to another. It is a powerful force and you must learn to use it. There are many types of totem, but only twelve of these were originally passed down from the First Knights. Each of the Twelve Nobles carried a power totem. Only the finest warriors could be given one. The totems are given power by each knight who passes them on – and they are priceless. A few are still held by knights on the outer-edge planets. Some have been lost. These are yours – you must use them well. They will enhance your senses, your strength, agility and
other
talents. You will heal faster.

‘They will also enable you to train for hours longer before you become tired. You must continue living your normal lives. I’ll arrange to have all of you come to work in my department. We will train at night, while the Academy sleeps.

‘I’ll design a suit of armour for each of you too. Real Armouron suits, not the clacky rubbish I have to make for the Gladiators. The totem will be mounted in your armour and will act through it. Remember, a totem only works for the warrior it chooses. You may have come looking for me, but I have been looking for you for much, much longer. And there are two more of you still to be found, before the group is complete.

‘I’m hoping one of them will be Stamper. He’s one of the most gifted athletes I’ve seen in a long time. A natural leader.’

Rake looked at the others, trying to hide his disgust. Salt took a deep breath. Snow smiled at him, sensing his feelings. The old man could not have been certain they would accept his offer – or if the medallions would accept them. They could report him to the Academy. This was a huge risk for him.

‘You stand together, you battle as one,’ Salt said to them. ‘Now, let’s get you out of here and back to your dorms. Leave the totems here. Tomorrow, I’ll have you all transferred to work in the Armour Department. You’ll be moved to quarters near my workshop. We start training tomorrow night. And believe me, you’re going to need your sleep.’