Chokota Dig

    “Damn”, exclaims the professor as he brushes a layer of sand from the ancient mural; his old brown eyes focusing through bifocal lenses at the image of ape like men fleeing from a flying cloaked figure descending from the moon.

 

    “What’s the matter professor,” asks his young assistant.

 

   “It’s a Kachinka temple,” says the professor.

 

   “This far north?” asks the assistant, “but they never leave the southern continents, we’ve never found any evide…”

 

   “How long have you been an archaeologist?” asks the professor as he brushes his stubby fur covered fingers over his long rabbit like ears.

 

    “This is my first dig sir…but…”

 

    “Then you don’t know,” says the professor as he sits his short rounded body on a stone slab before the mural, “you don’t know the frustration…tell me boy are you religious?”

 

   “Religious? About as much as the next guy I suppose.”

 

   “It’s the church,” says the professor, “they have their paws in everything, digs like this, uncovering Kachinka temples, towns, any sign something around here was Kachinka is covered up and the site declared ancient Chokota ruins.”

 

   “Why would….” starts the assistant,

 

   “Because,” says the professor, “it would threaten the church’s political position, and they finance just about everything the government has us do. They aren’t interested in history, they are interested in proving that they are right, even if that means covering the truth.”

 

  The assistant twitches his whiskers in confusion and fumbles about the pockets on his jacket.

 

   “Heh,” says the professor, “remember the passage that says the gods put us on this land, gave it to us, and therefore is ours by divine right and no one else’s.”

 

   “I suppose,” says the assistant.

 

   “Well,” says the professor, “remember how we already said this temple was older than all the other known Chokota ruins? They think that if it turns out that the Kachinka or…anything else, was here before us that, that means we don’t have the divine right to this land. But I guess from that view point they are also afraid of the Kachinka finding out and waging another holy war.”

 

 “Oh right,” says the assistant, “the Kachinka attacked the southern nation of Forland, saying that it was home to some mythical holy city.”

 

   The professor looks around cautiously, “do you know the Kachinka myth about the fall of their golden age?”

 

   “Of course,” says the assistant proudly, “the Kachinka believe that hundreds of thousands of years ago that their ancestors ruled the entire planet like gods, on flying chariots, and commanded magic powers until the day metal demons rose from beneath the ground and down from the sky and….moon,”

 

   The assistant looks at the mural again, “Oh this is that myth isn’t it?”

 

   “Yes,” says the professor as he brushes away some more sand, “and look at the weapons the Kachinka are using in it.”

 

   The assistant squints his yes, “this…this has to be fake…how…are those guns? And tanks?”

 

   “Weapons we just invented,” says the professor, “the Kachinka myth is pretty simple actually, the reason they could live this far north was because of indoor climate control like we have now, clothing, weapons, technology, naturally things like that can’t survive the test of time, but stone can, especially when buried. The Kachinka uncovered such temples while digging mines in their own lands, and we’ve found a few here too. Time capsules that tell the story of how their people dug too deep, flew too high, and awoke the metal demons.”

 

   “You mean those things found in mine shafts?” asks the assistant, “but they’re always just bits and pieces, granted the metal demons do come out of caves in the mountains when they steal fruit and raid farms and villages. But to wipe out an entire advanced civilization?”

 

   The professor shrugs his short fur covered shoulders hot under his coat, “unfortunately unless our governments decide to get along, or they let us actually examine these ruins properly we may never know. I may just be pessimistic, you know stories of a lost civilization digging too deep and waking something up and all, given how dependent our own culture is on  mining and the major underground cities constantly expanding.”

 

   The assistant is silent a moment.

 

  The professor speaks up, “Never mind the ramblings of an old man, it is just a myth after all. Like you said all we ever find are pieces of metal demons, all on the verge of collapse at the slightest touch, imprints and fossils really. The ones we do know about are small, more pests than anything and chased off by men with swords, guns, and sorcery.”

 

    ******

   *Elsewhere on the dig site and several hours later*

 

    A Chokota in uniform with several armed around him looks over a surveillance monitor, “so Professor Ichibon is worried about the church closing down another Kachinka temple site.”

 

    “Religion,” comes a mechanical voice from underneath a sheet clearly covering what looks to be a birdcage, “mortal foolishness continues,”

 

   “Like anyone would take a demon’s words for it.” says the general with a sneer showing off his flat yet sharp teeth.

 

   “Well,” says the general turning to a scientist entering the tent, “have you found the chamber?”

 

   “Yes, General Takaba,” says the scientist, “the ground penetrating radar we developed has indicated a large open space, appears to be tunnels, connected to passages up to just behind the mural in the main temple. It looks like the ancient Kachinka built this temple to block a metal demon tunnel alright. Which does raise the possibility of active demons down there and not simply another run down depository.”

 

   “One can only hope,” says General Takaba, “we move out immediately.”

 

    ******

    *A few hours later*

 

    “dead…all dead…sir,” wheezes the soldier about to collapse, “the tunnel, metal demons…uhg”

 

  He falls to the ground as medical personnel check to see if he’s still alive.

 

 “He’s severely injured,” the medic says, “but he should make if we treat him quickly.”

 

  “Do it,” says the general, “tell me when he’s conscious and able to speak, I want a full report and just what the hell happened down there.”