Free The Armoured Ghost by Oisin McGann

knights. The Chairman gave a little gulp. This machine had been created centuries ago. He had no control over this armoured ghost.

    ‘I am sorry to wake you,’ he said. ‘But we have a problem. The kind of problem you enjoy solving.’
    With a wave of his hand, a screen appeared in the chamber. The images of the young Armouron Knights came up on the screen. The Armournaut gazed at them for a few moments.
    ‘I WILL DESTROY THEM FOR YOU,’ it said. ‘ON ONE CONDITION: I KEEP THEIR ARMOUR . . . AND THEIR POWER TOTEMS.’
    The Chairman rolled his eyes.
    ‘No,’ he said. ‘You can have the armour. But if those medallions are three of the Twelve, then they’re mine. We’ve been over this before. They are valuable to me. You don’t
need
any more power totems. You can only use the one that’s inside you anyway.’
    ‘YOU WOKE ME UP TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM,’ the monster said. There was a nasty edge to its voice now. ‘I KEEP THEIR ARMOUR AND THEIR POWER TOTEMS.’
    The tough-looking man who stood behind the Chairman bit his lip. He was not feeling very tough at the moment. His hand went inside his jacket, ready to draw his gun. It was a silly thing to do. Guns were no use against the Armournaut. The only kind of gun that bothered this robot needed a tank to carry it. The Armournaut turned its eyes towards the bodyguard. The hand came out of the jacket.
    ‘All right,’ the Chairman sighed. The machine’s hunger for the other medallions was a problem he would have to deal with at another time. ‘You can keep the totems. Now, how will you find them? It must be done quietly – and they have managed to escape our detection.’
    ‘THAT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BECOME LAZY AND ARROGANT,’ the machine told him, turning its eyes back to him. ‘I NEED ONLY TO MAKE THE RIGHT PEOPLE SCREAM, AND THE ARMOURON KNIGHTS WILL COME RUNNING INTO MY ARMS.’
    The Armournaut stood up and pulled itself free of the connecting cables. Without another word, it strode out of the room.

Chapter 14
    The Last Two
    SALT STOOD BEFORE the five kids with his head hanging down on his chest. They were lined up in front of him in the main chamber of the Old School. Rake, Snow and Oddball had taken off their armour. Hoax was looking around in wonder. Tea-Leaf was restless and suspicious.
    She had led them through a maze of sewers, tunnels and basements to the Academy garage. From there, the five had made their way down into the Armouron base. Salt had been waiting for them, relief written on his face. Now he was looking very serious indeed.
    ‘I sent you three out before you were ready,’ Salt grunted to his cadets. ‘If Tea-Leaf hadn’t come along when she did, you and Hoax would have been caught or even killed. Things turned out all right in the end, but it was just plain luck. And we can’t count on luck.’
    He stepped in front of Hoax and Tea-Leaf.
    ‘You two know who and what we are now. We need two more and I believe you’re the ones we’re looking for. Will you join us?’
    ‘What’s in it for me?’ Tea-Leaf asked.
    ‘You will receive training as an Armouron Knight and live life by a code that will see you through hard times,’ Salt told her. ‘You become part of a group of true friends. Apart from that, there will be years of hiding away, being hunted. You will face a high risk of being injured or killed. And a slim chance that, at the end of it, the people of Earth might thank you for saving them from a cruel tyrant. But I wouldn’t count on that bit. So, how about it?’
    ‘Wow, talk about making an easy life for yourself, huh?’ Tea-Leaf quipped.
    ‘I should tell you, young lady, that I do not have a sense of humour,’ Salt informed her. ‘I consider it an overrated quality.’
    ‘No, really,’ she said. ‘Sounds good. I’m in.’
    ‘Yeah, I’m cool with that,’ Hoax responded.
    Salt gave a little smile. They weren’t being as casual as they thought: he knew they would stand by their words.
    Rake frowned.