Ahinta Asafo (Hidden Asafo): (1)

A young schoolgirl is thrust into an age old conflict between the kakai (monsters) and the ahinta asafo (hidden asafo), a branch of asafo solely dedicated to banishing them.

The night was silent as three figures snuck into a school building, the signboard at its gate reading  'Denden High School'. They snuck past the security guards and the cameras that watched the classrooms. They snuck into a classroom with a rusty security camera mounted on the whiteboard wall.

One of the figures straightened herself, 'Kuukua, you're on watch duty. Ato, come with me'. Ato and the girl walked to the whiteboard and began to write down a complex series of equations until the entire board was filled. Ato stepped back, 'You've done it, Vuvor'. Your formulas can help us  to understand interdimensional travel'

'Three guards are coming this way' warned Kuukua. Hurriedly the two children erased the whiteboard markings and by the time the guards reached the classroom, there was no sign of  them. Three red lights began to blink on the rusty camera and in the headmistress' office, the head herself watched five monitors each replaying a recording of Vuvor admiring her work.

She noticed the formulas and dialled a red phone, 'Supi, she said over the mouthpiece, we've found someone who can take care of the kakai problem'.

The next day, as soon as the three children got to class, they were summoned to the headmistress' office. 'The rule forbidding studies after 10:00 pm were set up because your parents feared that at this time you would engage in vices, like smoking, drinking or do something utterly perverted' Headmistress Bremponmaa began.

She opened a buff file in front of her, 'Vuvor Amegashie, the most brilliant, most courageous and most generous student in the school. An exemplary final year student and 5 time champion of the 'Maths Madness'' tournament.'

'Ato Asare, the 2nd best student in this school and undergoing therapy for gynophobia. A 6 time champion of the science championships and generally introverted and calm.'

'Kuukua Kusiwaa, the best sports student in the school. Junior counsellor for the entire body. Trustworthy , outspoken and tough.'

'So, are we in trouble?' Kuukua asked bluntly.

'No', said Brempomaa, with a warm smile. 'We wanted you to get into that classroom, ever since we overhead your friends  telephone conversation about dumping most the city's waste into a different dimension four days ago'.

'Vuvor, your waste disposal idea is admirable, however we have a more pressing need for the practical application of your theories.'

Without knocking, the office door slid open and the Chief Director of Denden Town's biggest bank stepped into the room. 'Supi (Head of the Asafo Companies)' Brempomaa said as she rose to her feet. 'These are the children I spoke of earlier'.

'Mo (excellent) Asafoakyere (female asafo captain) Brempomaa , noted the Supi. 'You three, please come with me.' 

As they left the school and walked down a narrow bushy path, the Supi sighed. 'Many years ago, Denden village was situated in the middle of Dinn (silence) forest. They were later attacked by kakai (monsters) every 8 months, forcing them to move closer to the town's present location.'

'My ancestress, Supi Sakyiwaa discovered that akodze (weapons) forged from certain parts of the forest and bearing a spiral mark, were the only akodze capable of banishing the kakai. She declared thse spots sacred and refined the forging process creating better pamo akodze (weapons of banishment).'

'Before the year was over, she appealed to the elders to build a village in the middle of the forest for  the ahinta (hidden) asafo, dedicated to banishing kakai and allow the remaining villagers to move to the town's present location'.

 'Kakai only exist in children's stories' noted Vuvor. 'I don't see what this has to do with us'.

The Supi stopped walking ahead of them suddenly as the clang of metal against metal rang out across the forest. Stunned, Vuvor watched as several asafo slashed several chiselled sword bearing creatures. Each had a small white point in the middle of a pitch black eye and carried akodze with serrated blades.

One of them glanced at Vuvor with two pairs of soulless eyes, and Vuvor recoild in fear as its immense killing intent flooded her senses. It flung a serrated spear at her which the Supi snatched in midair before it could puncture the child's throat. Two asafo stabbed the kakai on both sides with akofenas and it vanished, with a burst of wind.

The asafo were fiercer than the kakai, each one slashing through 5 kakai at a time until none were left. Above them, two large metal gates hovered. After checking to ensure that her heart was still in her ribcage, Vuvor took a deep breath and walked towards the battlefield.

She picked up a fallen akofena and studied the spiral marking on it, noticing its similarity to the shape of the Milky way galaxy. She walked towards the two gates and stabbed the first one with it, the blade edge bearing the spiral thrust deep into the barrier and turned it clockwise.

The gate slowly closed and following her example, the Supi closed the second gate. That night, in the ahinta asafo villlage, Vuvor addressed the ahinta asafo. 'I've a theory about how the kakai are reaching us'.

'There's a constant force separating our world from the kakai, that I call the Spiral, which is reflected in the spiral engraving on the pamo akodze. This engraving is formed on the earth  as a result of kakai attempting to breach the Spiral and invade our world, much like a body producing antibodies to fight off foreign invaders'

'I suggest that we create sensors, sensitive to the formation of seikwan (paths of destruction) formed when a place becomes more susceptible to a kakai breach.' Because of this, Denden town will have to hold regular evacuation drills in case the seikwan ever reach the town which should have at least 15 escape routes.'

'The Ahinta Asafo have been battling the kakai for decades', noted the Supi grimly. 'If your analysis is correct, bravery and determination aren't going to do any good, if an entire world of kakai breach the spiral at once in an all out attack.'

'That is true', agreed Vuvor. 'Given the rate of spiral decay due to the kakai breaches over the years and the period of the first kakai breach, I estimate that the invasion may happen in the next 10 years!'

'That is why I brought you here' noted the Supi. 'I realised that since you had found a way to move across dimensions, you could also find a way to prevent the kakai from permanently crossing over.'

'The 32nd scenario we've run' said Ato, 'is that in order to halt the spiral decay and fix it, we will have to seal off  the human world and enter the kakai world in order to seal it off'. Vuvor and I will need the resources to build the transdimensional devices, one to create a temporary barrier blocking kakai attacks, and create pamo akodze capable of banishing kakai on their home turf'.

'The second will be a warp accelerator device to enable us cross over into the kakai world and fuse two sealing akofena with a kakai structure with the highest breach readings to prevent the kakai from entering our world. This separation over time by both devices will supply the Spiral with enough energy to fix itself and keep both worlds apart.'

'How long will this take?' asked the chief of police. 

'4 years at most to complete this final project' answered Vuvor. 

As the years passed, Vuvor and Ato combined banishing kakai by day with drafting up plans for the devices. Kakai sensors were spread throughout the forest, increasing kakai attack response times by 50%. One rainy Saturday, Vuvor slashed through the blades of five kakai before banishing them with five swings of her akofena.

Behind her, Ato slashed  6 kakai with the blade of his spear and stabbed a seventh kakai with his spear at the same instant as Kuukua. They both drove the kakai into a tree, banishing it. Vuvor checked a mobile kakai sensor for seikwan readings and was shocked to discover that a children's home lay right in the centre of 8 of them.

After evacuating everyone from the building, two kakai gates opened in front of them and 10 kakai leapt from the gates, darting towards them. Ato and Vuvor synchronised their attacks as he slashed and stabbed the kakai behind her and she struck those behind him. She slashed several steel needles shot at her from five kakai and darted towards the gate.

She drew out her machetes and slashed the necks of two kakai, banishing them. She spun around the akofena thrust at her from the left and stabbed her attacker in the chest. She blocked a swing from a kakai in between her machetes and swung once, breaking it and slashing its head.

Without looking, she flung a machete into the chest of a kakai that leapt at her from behind. The kakai was banished in midair and she caught her falling akodze before quietly sheathing it. The two asafo sealed the gates and adopted two of the children from the home. Vuvor did not tell her adopted daughter Baaba about the kakai, reasoning that she would be able to end the conflict long before she reached adolescence.

She however insisted that Baaba study her fighting manual which contained ways of banishing  a kakai and asafo fighting styles, just to be safe. 

Several years passed and one Monday morning, in the forest area near Etsii town, several figures darted among the trees., clothed in the traditional garb of the asafo, 

‘Attention all asafo of the southern section, one of them said, '5 new kakai gates emerged 5 minutes ago, above the next stream just ahead of us’.

’Prepare to engage’, she ordered. Armed to the teeth with bows and arrows, akofenas and afowatsenas(long swords with two or three blades on one hilt),spears and machetes, they rushed to a clearing where five red and black steel gates hovered above a stream. There was a loud creak as long, metallic claws punched through the gate and began to force it open.

As they got there, one black and white striped kakai leapt from each gate only to be hit by the array of weapons the asafo had. 

The asafo also leapt towards the kakai, swords and machetes outstretched. The clang of steel hitting steel echoed throughout the forest! A few metres away from this scene, a young girl walked on a lone path to her school when she felt the vibrations of the clash!

’There it is again', she wondered. These vibrations that gave her goose bumps each fortnight when she and several others took this shortcut to school. It was odd at first but two years ago, she had decided not to think about it. 

Now she felt them even more frequently than before whenever she moved through certain parts of the forest. The city authorities kept talking about possible construction works. ’However, she mused, ‘the vibrations are too infrequent and strong to be mere construction works’. 

She soon arrived at the school, walking past the security post after greeting the security personnel.

'Morning Baaba, said a boy in knee length shorts and shirts calmly, ’still wondering about the strange vibrations?’ he asked. ‘Yes, Twumasi,’she replied, .

’If I had time, I would not mind investigating on my own.’ she said. ‘But there’s no telling what is happening so it might be best to not go on my own, in case of any difficult situations that might occur’ she concluded.’

As Baaba and Twumasi walked home together, Twumasi said, ‘it occurred to me that the authorities might not know what is going on there, maybe we should just….."His words were cut short by a sudden huge gust of wind, which flung them to the ground! ‘What’s this? wondered Baaba, a little frightened, 

'It can’t be a storm, there’s no change in the sunny weather’ she realised. ‘Something’s not ….’Her words got caught in her throat when she noticed the appearance of a red and black gate hovering in front of them! Slowly, metallic claws began to pry the gates open from within, revealing a horrific creature! It stood above them, glaring at them with two sets of eyes, one set, pitch black and the other, bone white. It was covered in black and white stripes and had a seemingly chiseled body. 

Before they could even think of running, it lunged at them. As they scrambled backwards, it slashed at their feet, ripping their shoes to shreds in an instant! The soles of their feet began to bleed, blood dripping onto the forest floor, but the pain they felt was nothing compared to their dread as steel blades slowly emerged from the palms of the kakai.

It drew them back and was about to strike when 5 arrows flew in its direction. It leapt back and moved to its right, dodging them completely and lifted its right palm at a nearby bush. 10 steel needles emerged from the palm and were shot at the bush.

.A figure leapt out from behind it before the needles ripped it to shreds and fired several arrows at it, before rushing to stand in between the two and the kakai which kept dodging the arrows. Baaba’s eyes widened in surprise at their rescuer who she recognized as Naarkie, her classmate!

‘She’s alone’, noted the kakai , ’ I can sense her anxiety’. ‘If I double the volley of my steel needles, I can defeat her and the others’, it decided as it rushed towards the three children.

‘This is bad’ realized Naarkie . ‘ I rushed here certain that other asafo would not be far behind but there is no sign that they will even be here’. She let loose three arrows at the fast approaching kakai but watched in horror as it simply snatched them in midair!

Without breaking it’s stride, it stretched out it’s right hand and released 15 long, steel needles from it’s palm. Naarkie tried to dodge them all but 5 of them buried themselves deep in the hand that held her bow.

She gasped in pain,stumbling back. As it drew nearer, she pushed the pain aside and released 5 arrows at the kakai, forcing it to dodge to the right and skid to a stop.

‘It is pointless, child, ‘ it said. ‘Judging from the manner in which you hold your weapon, I can tell that this is your first battle so even with that in your hands, those arrows will never reach me’

‘You may have summoned enough strength to set loose 5 more arrows ,despite your injury’ it said as it began to walk slowly towards her, its steel claws glistening in the afternoon sun. ‘However you now have only enough strength in that arm to hold the bow for two or three shots at most’.

‘It’s right’ naarkie realized with a growing sense of despair.’ I didn’t even complete archery practice before I noticed the alert’. ‘But …maybe I can buy my friends time to escape, at least before it….’

She suddenly felt a tug on her battledress. ‘I’ve been watching that thing for some time now,’ Baaba said calmly as she pulled herself upwards, with Twumasi following suit. ‘If we use long and mid range attacks in a particular pattern , we may have a chance to defeat it together.’

‘Eh!, what are you saying, Baaba?’ Naarkie asked ,surprise in her tone.

‘She’ s saying, said Twumasi, that you should lend us your sekan(machets) to engage it in midrange combat whilst you use the bow and arrows.’ She’s seen it’s attack pattern and we have sustained minor injuries ,so it may work.”

‘You do not have to sacrifice yourself for us,Naarkie, Baaba said , laying her hand on her shoulder.

‘Strange', mused the kakai, 'it seems those two are not as helpless as I thought.’ On top of that , the unarmed girl seems to be devising a strategy’

‘Pointless', it decided as it let off a volley of 20 steel needles and watched in shock as they evaded them all and began to flank him, with two wielding machetes and approaching on both sides.

The kakai drew out two steel blades and blocked the attacks by both Twumasi and Baaba but took an arrow in the chest fired by Naarkie, leaving black spirals across it.

It gnashed it’s pointed teeth in pain and leapt back. The three changed positions with Baaba moving behind the kakai’s retreating form and Naarkie taking her place on the right of the kakai and Twumasi leaping towards the kakai, machete outstretched. It retracted it’s blades and aimed it’s palm at Twumasi in midair.

However it noticed an arrow shot by Naarkie and cut the arrow with a blade from it’s right palm. It blocked Twumasi’s attack with it’s left blade. However Baaba slashed at it from behind, leaving a trail of black spirals running diagonally along it’s back. Enraged, it pushed back against Twumasi and slashed wildly at them.

‘Impossible, I the second kakai of the south crevice, cannot be banished by two civilians and a rookie asafo', it gasped as the spirals began to spread across its body.

As the three watched, it drew out a serrated spear from it’s left shoulder blade and swung wildly at Twumasi and Naarkie, driving them back with each slash. They fell back, wounded by this sudden attack.

Glaring at Baaba with all four eyes, it suddenly threw the spear straight at her! But she must have foreseen it’s intentions because she swung her blade and shifted to the right,causing the spear to merely graze her shoulder and deflecting it to her left. 

Ignoring the searing pain, she suddenly rushed at the kakai as it was recovering from it’s spear throw, flinging her sekan at it’s head. 

It barely had time to dodge the sekan before she drew out Naarkie’s akofena from the scabbard and lunged at it, brandishing the weapon.

It attempted to attack Baaba with steel needles from it’s right and left palms but Twumasi approached it from the right side with the sekan Baaba flung earlier as well as the other sekan he had.

As it blocked Twumasi’s attack with it’s right, Naarkie fired two arrows at it’s left arm, which it blocked with it’s blades. 

With both of its arms blocking attacks from the two,it was unable to stop Baaba's subsequent attack.There was no hesitation on her part as she slashed at it from the top of its head to its feet, leaving a trail of black spirals on the creature.

The kakai staggered back from the attack and soon several black spirals spread across its entire body. It fell to its knees before them and trembling violently, suddenly vanished,creating a gust of wind that sent dust and leaves flying.

Gasping heavily, Baaba fell to her knees exhausted, glad to be alive. Suddenly two new kakai gates emerged and were forced open like the first. then several steel needles flew out towards the trio . Despite their exhaustion, they scrambled out of the way and watched in despair as two more kakai emerged ,one from each gate.

They each pulled out a serrated spear and held it high when suddenly, each one had a spear thrown into it’s chest . their eyes widened in disbelief as black spirals began to cover their arms. Behind the trio, several asafo emerged from the bushes.

Before they could retreat, the two kakai were pummeled with several arrows,spears, machetes, akofenas and afowatsenas wielded by the asafo before they too were soon gone just like the first. Orders were soon given to tend to the trio and they were helped up and given first aid.

During their first aid treatment, ‘Naarkie asked, ‘how were you able to formulate a strategy like that so quickly,Baaba?’

‘Well….its attack pattern and use of …blades and needles from its palms helped me to draw a conclusion that…’ 

Naarkie realized that Baaba seemed to be distracted as she was gazing intently at three figures in asafo battledress and wide brimmed straw hats that shaded their faces. They seemed to be the ones in charge as they gave out orders to the other asafo.

‘Those are the asafo captains, Naarkie explained, although I am certain that on my way here they were not part of the group I was sent with’.

‘In fact’, realized Naarkie, none of the asafo here are part of the group I was sent with.

Baaba watched the asafo captains intently as they each drew out an akofena and thrust it into a gate and turned it.

There was a creaking sound as the gates began to close and they soon faded away. The one in the middle began talking with the others and suddenly turned in Baaba’s direction. The figure turned back to the others and then abruptly walked towards Baaba.

Before the captain even reached her, Baaba was already walking towards the figure. They stopped abruptly in front of each other before rushing into each other’s arms.

‘I don’t know what exactly is happening here, but it’s good to see you, Maame(mother),said Baaba .

‘I’m so glad you’re safe, Baaba my child’, the captain replied soothingly.

'We call them kakai." Baaba's mother began. She sat beside Baaba's hospital bed. Despite her assurances that she was fine, Vuvor, her mother, had insisted that the medics check for infections and Baaba's feet were bandaged like Twumasi. Naarkie's shouder wounds were also treated.

'They are beings from another world that have attacked our ancestors from the beginning of the settlement up till now, by emerging from those gates you three saw earlier. They are called kakai gates.'

'And you are a member of an asafo company that kills them?' asked Twumasi.

'Actually, there are 10 asafo companies, I am the asafo captain of the third one, and we don't kill them...to be more precise, we can't kill them!'

'Then what happened to that kakai we attacked?' asked Baaba.

'I think I can answer that,' said Naarkie rubbing her bandaged shoulder.'The first thing I learnt when I joined the asafo two days ago was that by emrging from another world, they are invulnerable to any fatalities in our world. The weapons of our world can't hurt them.'

'However they can be banished into the Spiral that keeps this world and theirs apart'. I didn't really understand the rest of what they taught that day'.

'Baaba, Vuvor contnued, 'when you slashed the kakai with the akofena, the trail of spirals you saw on it showed the severed link between the kakai and this world. When it was completeely covered in spirals, it vanished because it could no longer remain in this world since you had banished it completely. 'It, like many other kakai before it , is now part of the Spiral.'

'But how do your weapons banish them?' asked Twumasi. 

'The weapons of banishment we use are forged from the regions of this forest where there are high concentration of kakai paths.' replied Vuvor. 'The gates are the openings of these paths' These weap[ons are the only tools we can use to banish kakai'.

There was a long silence as the three children tried to take it all in. 'It's clear that you asafo are separate from the mainstream asafo. Baaba noted.' This village that is twice as large as Etsii town and is completely hidden from the townspeople in this part of the forest. 'The fact that it is also swarming with asafo makes you some sort of ahinta asafo(hidden asafo), doesn't it?"

'It does' Vuvor agreed. 'You three, get some rest now'. Naarkie, Twumasi, your parents will come for you later in the evening'

I have to get back to Naarkie's unit. A kakai gate opened in their faces before they could join Naarkie'.

As she walked down the hallway of the village hospital, several asafo made room for her, in deference to her rank. A slender, young man in an asafo battledress, waited patiently at a bench at the end of the hall. He looked up as she sat beside him.

'How are they?' he asked. 

'Relatively better than one of the units I just saw, Ato. No dislocated shoulders, or large slashes to the chest'. 'I used my authourity to buy me some time with them.'

'From what I've heard, he said, your company intervened before more kakai could kill them.' 'From one captain to another, thank you for saving my son'.

'From one childhood friend to another, ' She replied, 'If you hadn't detected the sudden appearance of the kakai gates, there wouldn't be any children to save. Thank you'.

'I trust that you used your pamo akofena(sword of banishment) to seal the gate and that path in the area. I'm concerned that a path developed there in the first place and the rate at which kakai gates have been opening .  The Spiral, the one thing separating our world from that of the kakai is weakening faster than we anticipated.

The sun shone brightly that day as students rushed towards their classrooms....the late ones anyway. Baaba, Naarkie and Twumasi waited impatiently in the counselling office lounge of the school.

'Good, since you're all here,' Counsellor Kuukua said, 'I'll go straight to the point'. You are to receive regular counselling due to your recent encounter with the kakai in Dinn forest!' 

'No need to be surprised' she noted, looking at their faces.'I was one of the asafo who fought the kakai that nearly killed you'.

'Anyway, given your recent battle, you may experience nightmares, sleepless nights and other distressing symptoms such as mild paranoia....in the worst case scenario.' I'm here to make sure you three cope with this, among other things.

'There's no point trying to suppress it or act tough although I'm a bit surprised that you three managed to take out an incomplete one by yourselves'

'An incomplete one?' remarked Naarkie. 'The one we fought was huge'. 

'It had the signs of one' said Kuukua softly, 'Multiple eyes, multiple stripes'. They are tough but there are even more dangerous ones that the asafo face. 'The complete ones'.

'In a way, you are lucky to have met that type by itself. The ones we face usually attack in groups ' she said grimly.

'Yes' replied Twumasi calmly. 'When can we start training?'

'Actually your request has to be approved by the Supi, the head of all the asafo companies at a meeting with the captains.' remarked Kuukua. 'But there is no harm in letting you train with an asafo instructor in two days time'

The night was cold but that was lost on the asafo as they faced several kakai. A kakai slashed at Danso with an afowatsena, who blocked the attack with one machete and swung at the kakai with another, breaking through the kakai's blades and slashing it effortlessly. As he slashed at it from head to toe with the machete, spirals covered the kakai and it was eventually banished. 

A kakai swung at Danso's neck but he nimbly spun away and rather struck it at the neck. He moved away as the kakai, now covered in spirals, vanished. Before 5 kakai could let off arrow length steel needles, he had already slashed at them with his akofena as he move past them in a blur of movement.

Steel needles flew past Kuukua as she sidestepped them and lunged at the kakai, breaking through its defenses and slashed it. She then deflected a serrated spear with her afowatsena and seconds late, let off three arrows at three different kakai, catching them in the chest. Just ahead of her, a kakai gate glowed in the dark and kakai began to emerge from it. 

Just then, one asafo slashed through several kakai with her machetes, as she headed straight for the gate. In a blur of movement, Vuvor sidestepped the attacks of many kakai and cleared a path through the horde. She then reached the gate and stabbed the gate with her akofena. She turned her akofena, causing the gates to slide shut even as a kakai leapt at her....only to have her throw a machete to its head, instantly banishing it in midair.

Some kakai made a run for the next gate but two men wielding very long spears stabbed the kakai and drove them into trees, shaking the leaves off them . Five kakai took two arrows to the head, resulting in instant banishment. Minutes later, all the kakai had been banished and the two other gates had been sealed by the captains.

'Danso, are there any new kakai paths nearby?' asked Vuvor.

'No' replied Danso. 'I checked the school premises for kakai paths as well but there are no signs of them.'

'There is no risk that a kakai gate will open near the school' he said before switching off the 'phone' .It was really a handheld kakai path sensor, designed for use by the asafo. 

'It seems that the other companies nearby are done with their patrols as well', noted a long haired woman who was now bandaging her hand. 'The number of kakai tonight were thrice the usual number like the gates.' In the past our predecessors faced two kakai from each gate every 5 months. '

'Now, it seems that every two or three days, the number of complete kakai keep increasing' she realised as the companies walked back to the village. 

She had been training with them for days upon being accepted as an ahinta asafo, taking target practice on moving targets. She had also sparred with other asafo in three way fights, among others. Sooner or later, she might be called tobe part of a patrol unit.

There was a loud crack as an asafo fell back, her broken baton landing beside her. Baaba stood over the fallen asafo and wondered who was next in line to spar with her.

'All seven asafo who have sparred with her have been knocked down and have had their weapons broken' noted Danso from a distance.

There was a shout of approval as Naarkie got the bullseye on the 15th moving clay disk. Elsewhere, Twumasi brushed the dirt from his dress. 'Those two should be done by now , he noted, leaving behind seven defeated asafo with broken batons and arrows. As he walked through the village square, he noticed several asafo captains entering a large building with the adinkra symbol for strength emblazoned on the side.

Several asafo were gathered round a big noticeboard and spotting Baaba among them, he decided to see what it was about.

'What's happening?' he asked

'There is a list of extra units and patrol times. It must be due to the increase in kakai occurrences.' she replied.

The grand building was actually a combination of several hut like structures so that an aerial view made it look like a very big hut. To some, it was referred to as the 'Grand Hut' and it was there that the Supi met with the captains.

The increase in training camps and asafo facilities and units across the forest, the Supi began, 'may make us less hidden to the town but if we fail to stop the kakai, there may not be a town left.' 

'Should we seal off the forest then, said a captain of the local police force. Given time I could...'

'No, said the Supi calmly, things are difficult as they are now. We must focus less on being covert and more on beefing up our defenses...and dealing with this problem in the long run.'

'Ato', her clear voice rang out, 'how is the Final Project coming along?'

'Terribly' admitted Ato. I still need to get the figures right and then get the devices to work properly by synchronising their functions. One mistake and things could be catastrophic.

'I see,' she said after a long pause. 'I have already decided that your wards must be on patrols. To avioid emotional sentiment, I have decided to use the same procedure that was prevalent in Captain Afua's case. Therefore, Baaba will be placed in the 4th company led by Afua. Twumasi will be placed in the fifth company under Kuukua and Naarkie will be placed in the 6th company under Ntim.

'We will implement all the measures to make our asafo even more efficient and effective than before immediately' We cannot let the kakai lay one claw on Etsii town.