Created for Open Hangar, the Super Robot OCG that you can download here: https://kiaayomahkwa.itch.io/open-hangar

SIYANQOBA VOLUNTEER AND OFFICER RECORDS
Ngodumo Lwe Siyanqoba

Name: Nomfundo Dimba
Place of Origin: Kwazulu Outskirts, southernmost coast of Africa
Birth Date: ~081 ADA
Height and Weight: ~165 cm, ~95 kg
Rank and Duties: Kaptein of Siyanqoba Air and Space Force in charge of experimental personnel.
Etc.: Highest authority granted regarding Lanzer and pilot access, Lord Zama allows her to go as she pleases unless indicated otherwise. [Note: yes, this includes the cat, too]

—

Kwazulu Launch Base Zone was one of the few LBZ’s that was designed to be used without a skeleton crew, controlled entirely through automated processes with no human overseers. To keep the system running smoothly and without interference, the entire complex was surrounded by thick walls with no way in or out besides over or through.

Which was precisely the reason a small fleet of repurposed semi trucks was speeding through the encampment surrounding Kwazulu at a blinding speed.

Young Nomfundo sat at the driver’s seat of the lead truck, her foot pressed onto the gas with the weight of a mountain and her eyes focused on the thick concrete wall in front of her like a hawk closing in on a shrew. She had been chosen by the patriarch of the Siyanqoba, Lord Zama for this specific task and she refused to let him down, so the heavily spiked front of her truck will go through that wall like a rod from a railgun, through hell or high water.

“Closing in on our destination in 3 minutes. Prepare the Lanzers,” a deep voice echoes in her ear. With that, the 5 semis’ cloaked cargo stood at attention, the 15-meter tall bipedal vehicles that spelled victory for the Siyanqoba.
“Aim cannons at the designated points. Be ready to fire on my command. 5, 4, 3, mark. Fire!” From their reclaimed steel huts, the people living in the shadow of the LBZ watched as the Lanzers’ missile cannons aimed at the wall and fired in unison. Many cheered, others hid in fear and worry. None of them could do anything else as the missiles struck true, a large divot cracking and crumbling in the pressure and heat.

“Final destination coming up, all passengers off!”
Nomfundo’s hands squeezed the steering wheel like a prized treasure, the dark skin on her knuckles turning a ghostly white. Her view of the cracked wall was only interrupted by a Lanzer placing a massive explosive charge on the truck’s reinforced bumper and its head turning inside to the young driver. “Oye! Dimba! That means you! Open the door!”

Ever since she had met Zama, she knew that this is what she was meant for. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes tightly, and counted down as her wheeled rocket barreled towards the end of the line. The voices in her ear could barely be heard over her racing heart forcing blood through her skull, and she couldn’t pay attention enough to notice the driver’s side door being ripped off.

Nomfundo’s lead truck crashed into the wall with the force of a deity’s fist, embedding itself in the divot, crumpling before the charge ignited and caused the wall to ripple with energy. 3 more trucks slammed into it from behind and did the same, before the 4th had enough space to sail through and slam into an inner wall. Young Dimba didn’t see this, as it took a moment before she opened her eyes as she sailed through the air in a Lanzer’s hand. Its jump off of the truck’s bed sent the mech clear over the explosion before landing on a roof. “You good, Dimba?”

Her breathing slowly settled as she watched the Siyanqoba’s main force flooded through the hole she had made, armed with century-old guns and covered with makeshift armor. An ancient jeep carrying Lord Zama himself rolled in slowly before he stood up, looked around, and locked eyes with the young hero of the day well above him. He then gave her a smile and a salute, which she returned with grateful tears in her eyes.

—

“Gebruikers bespeur. Oudiovisuele gebruikerskoppelvlak geaktiveer. Sleutel wagwoord in.”
Zama’s face crumpled at the sound of the system computer. He snapped his fingers at the followers behind him, and two engineers carrying a bundle of drives connected through a series of cables rushed ahead. “Shut this thing up.”
The engineers flipped through the possible inputs that it could take before deciding on a pair of aux speakers. “Language detected. Adjusting inputs accordingly. Enter password.”

Nomfundo, still sweating and shaking, peaked in through the doorway of the computer room as the adrenalin slowly wore off. Her eyes widened as she realized that this was the closest she had ever been to Lord Zama, his massive imposing figure covered in animal furs and skin as dark as the night sky was 100 years ago. Her legs subconsciously carried her closer to him.

Meanwhile, the engineer’s strange device erupted with hundreds, thousands of words in every language all at once, rapid fire with no breaths in between. The LBZ’s system computer couldn’t reply fast enough. “Password incorrect. Password incorrect. Password incPassword incoPasswoPassPasPapapapapppppppp”
Some buttons were pressed on one of the drives, and some buttons on another, and then the sounds coming from the speakers could only be described as unnatural and unholy. No creature in existence could produce those sounds. It turned into a cacophony, then a din, and then a painful buzz before it stopped abruptly as young Dimba held her ears in agony. “Password accccccccpppppp Rebooting. Please wait.”

The giant screen covering the wall went blank, then bright blue. Words in a language that Nomfundo didn’t recognize spilled over it before a text box appeared, and then another, and yet another still before the entire screen was covered. Then, a live video feed of the rocket on the launch pad appeared with a blinking cursor next to the phrase “Enter Command.” Nomfundo stopped next to the patriarch, and stared mouth agape. “What’s that?”

Surprised, Zama looked down at her and smiled. “Ah, my young hero,” he said with a voice that could move mountains. “This is our future, this will lead to our prosperity. Boys, activate your program.”
“Yes, my lord,” they responded faithfully, and pressed a few more buttons before the speakers activated again with a series of unrecognizable noises. The blinking text input disappeared beneath code appearing and disappearing with stunning speed. The rocket’s boosters turned on, and a faint roar echoed through the halls of the complex. Another window popped up showing a map of outer space showing a line from Kwazulu to the orbit around the moon. The line then flashed, and a hundred other lines appeared and disappeared one by one until only one remained, similar to the first. “Huh…” one of the engineers said.

“What do you mean ‘huh’?” the patriarch growled.
“No, nothing, my lord. This will be the path we desire.”
Nomfundo was understandably baffled. “Isn’t… isn’t this what is supposed to happen? The rocket takes the chargon to space?”
Her lord smiled, and his voice caused the building to quake. “Haha, oh, my small hero. Computer, show the space colonies rotating the moon”
A tube-shaped object appeared on the map on a circle around the moon. “Animate the path of the rocket in relation to the colonies.”
The rocket moved along the line that the computer had made, and Nomfundo watched as the rocket’s relative position slid directly to where the colony was, down to the kilometer. Lord Zama’s mouth widened into a row of bright ivory-white teeth. “The Abantu Benyanga will understand their mistake of abandoning us.”

Young Nomfundo was in awe. Millions of people will die, she realized. Lord Zama is a mastermind. It wouldn’t be for a few more years that she grew mature enough to realize the level of pure evil the man radiated, and by that time she was already on a path to grow close enough to do something about it.

Art by  kartobes