The Power of a General

They wanted to gain the general's trust by making Zack look like a prisoner before they attacked at the right time. Zack was very important because he knew that the general had betrayed his people, and Shen's leadership was necessary for the plan to work.

A few hours later, when the company got to the general's stronghold, they saw Zack in chains. As they got closer to the huge gates, guards greeted them and quickly led them inside to the general's room. Seeing Zack look like he was chained up put any doubts to rest.

Shen, Fenix, and Kelly carefully took Zack to the general.

The general gave them a sly smile. "Seeing you like this makes me feel better, my old friend Zack." You have finally given up, right? He scoffed.

Zack played the role of a prisoner by kneeling with his head down. He stayed quiet as part of the plan. Shen, on the other hand, kept a close eye on everything the general did, waiting for the right moment to act.

The general's smile grew wider as he got up from his chair, which made him feel good. He took his time going down the steps of the platform because he was having fun. He said coldly, "Zack, there is a price to pay for going against the empire." But you won't pay it here. Your people will see you get your punishment.

At that moment, Shen thought it was the perfect time. He quickly changed his weight and turned on one foot to follow Zack with the skill of someone who has done it before. He let Zack go by carefully pulling on the "chains," which were cleverly made to come off with little effort. Shen moved with purpose: he turned his body so that the guards could see him better, making sure they were looking at his hands instead of Zack's quickly dissolving ties.

Shen jumped in right away. He quickly untied the fake chains and ran behind Zack to save him. The general and the guards were both shocked for a short time. Shen had clearly been looking forward to this moment. Shen got the upper hand and attacked the guards with a series of slashing blows that were perfectly timed. He lunged at the guard closest to him, hitting the guard's chest with the heel of his palm while dodging the long spear thrust. As the guard staggered back, Shen quickly closed the gap between them and grabbed him by the throat, throwing him back with a hip twist for maximum effect.

Chaos broke out in the room, and the general fell. The guards, now aware of the trick, pounced on Shen. The three of them spread out in formation, with their spears pointed at Shen's stomach. Shen paid attention to the angles of each spear. He jumped on top of the general's desk and kicked him hard, making him fall back. From his high perch on the desk, Shen's eyes darted back and forth, following the footwork of each guard.

But just as Shen was about to beat him, a guard charged forward and swung his spear. Shen caught the spear between his bicep and forearm and skillfully deflected the blow. He pushed the spear away and knocked the guard to the ground by pushing his elbow down. After the fight, the general had a moment to calm down and get his bearings.

The general ran forward quickly, wanting to take advantage of Shen's chance. As Shen turned to quickly check on Zack's location, he felt the full force of the general's tackle.

The general saw an opening and tackled Shen, throwing him through the glass window of the room. After breaking through the window, Shen's body fell to the ground. A line of soldiers with spears stood ready for him on the ground.

For a short time, Shen's world was a blur of broken glass and rushing wind. He fell hard, rolling across the cobblestones below, even though he tried to control his fall by tucking his limbs in. As soon as Shen hit the ground, he looked around. There were soldiers all around him with their spears ready, and it looked like an arena. Shen took a deep breath and got ready to fight, knowing that he had no other choice.

The soldier closest to him, who was careful but ready to attack with deadly force, pushed his spear forward as a test. Shen grabbed the spear in the middle of its thrust when the first soldier attacked. He twisted his body just enough to avoid the tip and used his strength to knock the man down. Shen ducked under an attack from another soldier and hit the attacker hard in the chest with his elbow. In just a few seconds, two soldiers were down.

The other soldiers ran forward. Shen decided to move into their formation instead of running away, which made the long spears less useful. He dodged and swerved through their blows like a tornado. He moved quickly and accurately, knocking out his opponent with every hit. He planned every move he made. For instance, when one soldier swung wide, Shen turned on his left foot and hooked an arm under the spear to pull it out of the soldier's grip.

Before hitting another soldier with a lot of force, he broke the spear of one and used it to block an attack that was coming at him.

While this was going on, Fenix and Kelly were fighting with the general above. The general charged at Fenix with a sword, but Fenix blocked the blows with his knife. Kelly attacked from behind and to the side of the general. The general had a hard time stopping their well-planned attack, even though he was good at it. Kelly's blade barely touched the general's armor, and he quickly attacked, making her back off.

Fenix stepped in and stopped the general's next blow. As Fenix and Kelly put pressure on the general, he became more and more desperate as their cooperation slowly wore him down.

Shen came back into the room at that moment and started fighting again. He climbed the wall using a broken support beam near the edge of the arena and then jumped back in through the broken window. The general wasn't ready for him to show up again. Shen wasted no time assessing the general's movements; he saw an opening immediately and attacked. He could tell right away that the general was standing with his weight on his back foot and his sword up high, which made an open angle near his left side.

He quickly closed the gap while avoiding the general's wild swing. When Shen grabbed the general's wrist and twisted it, he dropped his sword. Shen carefully disarmed the general by tilting his wrist forward, locking his elbow joint, and using a lot of torque to pull the sword free.

With one quick move, Shen knocked the general to the ground. Shen held the general down with his own blade to his throat.

The room was quiet. As he looked up at Shen, the general's eyes were full of fear and anger.
Shen held the sword still and breathed heavily. "This is over now," he said in a calm but firm voice. "You ruled out of fear, twisted justice, and betrayed your people." But it's over now.

Fenix and Kelly both gasped for air as they stepped forward to surround the quiet general. A few moments later, Zack burst in, his eyes fixed on the man who had once pretended to be his friend.

The rebels and the guards of the fortress kept fighting in the distance. Zack had secretly planned the attack from several directions, this created just enough confusion to allow Shen's squad to face the general head-on.

Shen stood over the general, breathing heavily, and looked around the room to make sure there were no more guards waiting. As the excitement wore off, he was still able to focus. He knew that if they won here, things might never be the same in this area again.