During their three days in the world of the Chokka, the Keeper’s mind wandering to thoughts of what was happening in his world. “By now there should be some semblance of anarchy.”
Then, came the invasion of China. The results were underwhelming and depleted the Klopph’s resources. On the fifth day of the China conflict, the Cancellarrii consulted the Keeper. “We can’t take another onslaught like we today.”
The Klopph to that point had been able to kill the opposing force in massive numbers, but the Chinese force was too large and the deaths did not have the same impact. Where other forces continued to use firearms, the Chinese learned quickly that bullets were not going to assure triumph. Their tanks were ineffective as well. Missile strikes, guided weapons, and aircraft were all detected by the Klopph and were rendered inert prior to impact.
Finally, one of the Chinese soldiers threw a grenade out of desperation. It had a surprising effect on the Klopph. As the grenade exploded, the Klopph’s body shields did not fail but the bodies of the Klopph were propelled, disrupting formations.
“That’s it.” the soldier cried out. He rushed to his commander and explained what had happened. That commander took it to his superiors and soon the command was given. It would be an all-out grenade assault.
The body shields of the Klopph could withstand substantial explosions but they could not handle the rain of grenades. The grenades did not contain the electronics involved with other forms of weaponry so the Klopph jamming systems could not stop them. As the grenades continued to fall, some of the body shields began to fail and when they did, the Klopph began to die.
There was no slowing by the Chinese. They had found a way to impact the Klopph and they would not relent. Nearly a thousand Klopph died before the order to fall back was sounded.
The Cancellarrii was furious. He had rarely faced defeat. The Klopph had always been the superior force. He conferred with the Keeper. “We have no sustainable defense for their explosives. They do not respond to our disruptors. We have killed thousands of their men but more keep coming with explosions. Perhaps we should pull back until we can discover their weakness.”
Like the Cancellarrii, the Keeper was not accustomed to losing. As much as he disliked the idea of pulling back, he knew it was probably the wise choice. “I do not come to this decision lightly but I agree. We don’t want to keep getting picked off bit-by-bit. We need to regroup. Very well, order them back. We will retreat back to the mountains and there we can strategize.”
That evening, under cover of night, they pulled back. The Chinese watched their movement through night vision eyewear and the empty field in the morning light confirmed that they had indeed retreated.
The Klopph made their new position deep inside of the range of razor-sharp mountains. That evening, the Keeper approached the Cancellarrii. “We are settled in?” The Cancellarri nodded. “And the mood of the men?”
“They are as steadfast as ever. Their loyalty to you is unflinching.”
The Keeper smiled slightly. “You have done an excellent job with these men. The quiet of these mountains remind me of the homes of our youth. To think from those two young men came all of this. And now we must consider where were are. We are not those reckless young men any longer and we should not approach this war in the same reckless manner as those young men. It is possible that the Chinese are too strong for us.”
The Cancellarrii did not want to admit defeat but he saw logic in the Keeper’s comment. It would be better to swallow a little pride than to fight for pride and lose everything. “It is possible.”
The Keeper knew how difficult it was for the Cancellarrii to admit that. “We could turn back west, drive through northern India and then move into Pakistan.”
“It is said there are many caves as we enter the north of that nation. We should be able to use the caves as a base to attack the nations of Afghanistan and Iran.”
The Keeper considered their next move for a few more moments before giving his decision. “We will wait here for one day and no longer. Order the men to prepare to move out tomorrow evening.”
Two days later they returned to India; the Indian military was ready for them.
The Klopph were able to fight their way along but at a heavy cost. It did not take them long to realize they could not win. The Keeper, without consultation of any of his officers, made the decision to retreat back to their world. The shame was his and he would bear it alone. He would not damage the reputation of his officers to their soldiers.
The force was assembled and the Keeper prepared the device that would release the Chokka energy and call the Bejárat. Only nothing happened. He tried again; again there was nothing.
He looked to his Cancellarrii. “I don’t understand.”
“Could it be that they have discovered our energy and have learned to block it?”
“That would mean that we are stranded. No, I do not believe that. The Chokka came from this world to our world without the Bejárat. How did he do that? There must be a portal in this world that we can access naturally.”
“That makes sense. I will activate the device to locate that energy in this world.”
Soon after, the coordinates were determined. “There is energy that comes from within this nation.
