Red Sun Rising
02.27.41
I see the same darkness every night. They aren’t my dreams! These images don’t belong to me. Well I mean they do belong to me but I didn’t make this happen!
The pitch black furred Amber Krowen that walks across the blood soaked field with the crimson twilight as his backdrop wasn’t me! It’s the monster inside of me. I don’t know where he came from or how this happened but it turns my stomach realizing that these nightmares aren’t really just figments of my imagination. He told me this is all true. He told me to sleep.
They had no chance to survive. These nightmares… I scream and yell every time I have to watch those Caistealians die. My heart breaks and crumbles with each innocent women or child I watch this shadow version of myself slaughter. I killed them all. No… he killed them all! Everyone is dead. I saw them all. Counting bodies like sheep. Their blood is everywhere and there are hundreds of bodies that won’t get back up again. There was so much blood. Sprays on the wall. Puddles on the pavement. It was everywhere! It was in on my hands, my hair, and my fur was drenched in it. I could taste it as it ran down my muzzle into my mouth.
“Forza! Wake up!”
The voices are everywhere! Who is this man that killed all these people? I don’t remember any of this! My face is wet from tears and my throat is sore from all the screaming, crying for this to end.
My blood is there too. The monster, this Shadow Forza, fully armored in the prototype Sun Jin armor on his knees looks up at me in the darkness with a big grin on his face. His blood drenched hands covering a large gaping evisceration, self-inflicted, stretching from navel to hip. The wall before him splashed with his own blood and words written in smeared blood by hand, JETHRO.
I don’t belong in this dream world anymore but the voice keeps telling me, “Go back to sleep!” I can’t wake up. Wake up from what? These events are real. Is this really a dream? I executed those people! The black feathers that fall from the sky and softly drift hither and yon in the wind told me that this is true.
“Forza!”
I felt the hands on my shoulders but all I could see was the bloody sword in his hands. Go back to sleep…
With a sharp and deep inhale my eyes snapped open. I slowly closed my eyes again breathing hard in a panic. She was there too. Shiinx. I had been hearing her call my name during the nightmare. She was sitting on my lap as I rested on my back on the bed. Only Varuna knows how long she was sitting there witnessing it.
The look on her face broke my heart. Though I could only see her a bit through my half open eyes I knew she had been there while I was sleeping. She’s seen this before all too many times. I absolutely hated having to expose her to this worry. I felt like such a burden. She placed her hand my cheek as I laid there. I was stilling panting and in chaos.
In a way the nightmare was still continuing. I was consciously hearing it in my head and I couldn’t make it go away. All the blood, the darkness, the screaming and yelling of all those people still echoed. Her hand though was an escape. I tried to focus on it against my cheek even as small drips of water were landing on it as they ran down from my eyes.
“Forza, honey it’s okay,” she said. “Come back to me. Come on.” She ran her hand through my soft wavy white hair trying to dry it a bit and smiled.
I fully opened my eyes and fixated them on the ceiling above us. Taking a few long staggered breaths I lifted my hand and put it on her cheek, matching how she had hers on mine. I smiled a little bit the best I could.
“Was it one of those ‘worse than usual’ ones?”
All I could do was nod.
“It’s been getting worse, hasn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said. I closed them again for a second and opened them with a twist of my head, checking the time on the clock. I hadn’t even been asleep that long and Shiinx was supposed to be on post. What was she doing here? Maybe she was on a break.
“I wish I could do more.”
“Oh man,” I chuckled. “You know what I always say when you say that.”
She shifted herself off my stomach feeling me starting to slide out from under her as I rose to my feet off the bed, naked. “That everything was worse before we found you.”
I turned on the water in the nearby sink of the small dorm and filled my hands with water. I splashed it over my face and ran it through my hair. “Imagine, love, the nightmare continuing for what feels like years.”
“I know,” she frowned. “You were something else when I first saw you.”
“Yeah,” I lifted my head and looked into the mirror above the sink, “Bloodtiger.”
I turned back and looked at her sprawled out on my bed. She was so pretty. Shiinx was a Caistealian wolf-like canine. Her fur was mostly black but her belly and chest area, all the way to under her chin, and parts of her back, were white. She had the most beautiful shoulder length white hair and bright purple eyes and she didn’t look half bad in her blue Asuya Co uniform either. I don’t know what she saw in me. She has a lot going on right now and sometimes I think I just burden her but I don’t have the courage to leave her side. I need her right now. It feels like her compassion is all that keeps me sane sometimes.
I on the other hand am an Amber Krowen. Centuries ago my people, from the home world of Amber Krowe, began exploring the cosmos and only forty-one years ago created what is now known as the Systems Alliance. Our species is very common on this side of the galaxy because of our presence with the Alliance and are often revered for our physical attributes. We’re a bipedal species, usually short in stature, with several distinct features like our swept back ears, short muzzles, usually-forward facing short horns that run down from our forehead down the bridge of our nose close to each other. Sometimes they’re sharp, sometimes dull. We have very long heavy tails and another usual feature is that on our hips facing backward and up, our shoulders, down our spine, and our elbows we have sets of large fleshy flat fins usually clustered together in groups of three. They are usually between six inches and a foot long depending on the breed. There are many different Amber Krowen breeds. Sometimes these traits are seen on a more dog-like species, sometimes, more of a cat-like species. Our fur can be long or short. It’s just too hard to take a snapshot of one Amber Krowen and say “This is us,” and present you with a good idea.
“No more ‘Bloodtiger’ talk,” Shiinx said with a small frown. “Just be yourself. No matter whom you think you are inside or whatever you think is living inside of you. You’ll figure it out eventually.”
“It feels like something is literally living inside me,” I sighed.
“I know what you’re trying to say, Forza. It’s alright, okay?”
I smiled with a nod and reached over grabbing my vest and slipped it on. I watched her adjust herself to sit upright on the bed getting a bit more serious-business looking. “Anyway,” I said grabbing my cargo pants. “Why are you here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“I received a secure briefing report from the Alliance,” she grinned tilting her head to the side.
“An important one I imagine.”
“Yes. I have a special assignment for you, dear.”
With a smirk on my face I zipped up my pants and crossed my red-furred arms over my white furred underbelly. The white, black, and red theme I had was pretty unique for an Amber Krowen. Most of my body is red colored, with black stripes across my back and legs, and a white underbelly and under-chin.
Funny thing is I try to tell Shiinx I didn’t always look like this. Something happened to me less than a year ago, I think. It happened around the same time I started to have these nightmares. I don’t remember what happened. I remember that I wasn’t even on this planet. I was on Caisteal. The Sun Jin were chasing me... They wanted me back to be their weapon of slaughter again. Damn it. My mind is wandering again.
The best way to avoid the anxiety of the past is to just focus on the present. That’s why when Shiinx and hear team from the Asuya Company found me here on Tier I found it best that I simple do what I can for now and work under her command here. When she found me I was in another state of mind. I was living that nightmare every waking moment and was wild. I am still trying to figure out how I got here on Tier, what transformed my body into this ‘Bloodtiger’, and where these nightmares came from. One way or another though it’s a lot better than being a Sun Jin military weapon used to … enough.
“Shiinx!” I snapped back to my senses and clapped my hands taking wide arm swings. Realistically I’m still waking up, right? Understandable my mind is still lingering with the nightmare.
“What’s up!?” She chuckled back
“Tell me about the briefing.”
She hopped off the bed and headed towards the door leading to one of the corridors of the station. “How about I show you the message instead?”
Shiinx had herself a pretty nice set up here. She was the ground commander of Asuya Co, a freelance military logistics company doing work like moving cargo, purchasing weapons for their clients, so on and so forth. Being set up on Tier, a planet in contested space, it is often good business for organizations like this to simply be ‘allied’ to whoever is controlling the space. Although Tier has been contested between the Systems Alliance and Sun Jin for years it is currently under loose control of the Sun Jin. The catch is that Asuya Co is actually full of Systems Alliance operatives monitoring Sun Jin activity on the planet. Half the employees at this station don’t even know what’s really going on.
Before too long we were in her office. She took a seat and toggled a few keys on her laptop computer. As she got it ready I knelt down beside her and watched what she was doing, keeping my head about level with the screen.
“Remember last week, the explosion at the K9 storage facility?”
“Yeah,” I replied recalling the ‘go see what happened’ mission we were sent on that turned out fruitless because we arrived too late. Orbital Sun Jin forces had descended upon the site before we could investigate.
“Almost the same thing.” She started the recording.
On the screen it showed Systems Alliance logo with today’s date and other information, “2.29.0041 – Secured Transcomm Link 10-10005 General Order – Asuya, Colonel Ukatan.”
The voice also started, “General order for Asuya Co, Shiinx, Systems Alliance 10-10005,” it was a deep males voice. “The Alliances has received intelligence that at a 2234, your local Tierian Time, a small Sun Jin cargo ship was destroyed over the Kovar region after entering the atmosphere. The exact coordinates are attached.”
As he talked I looked up at the digital wall clock above the door. It was 2302. That was pretty damn fast.
“We do not suspect that this vessel was destroyed by any allied forces or local resistances but this provides us with an opportunity. Your orders are to salvage any data from the vessels computer that may reveal the Sun Jin’s future intentions for Tier. I understand this isn’t your usual type of operation but the incident is only ten miles north west of your facility. We would appreciate any assistance you can offer, Shiinx, but please don’t risk your neck. This is not a high priority mission and I understand if you are not equipped to lead an armed team into this forest.”
I looked up at Shiinx. “It almost sounds like he doesn’t want us to go, huh.” I couldn’t help it. She looked so adorable. Since I was down here anyway I rested my chin on her knees and looked up.
Shiinx smiled at me slightly and ran her fingers through my hair. It felt really nice. I like the little soft touching like this. “Colonel Ukatan favors our little operation here. I guess he would hate to see our cover blown for something as small as this or see any harm come to us.”
“Okay,” I stuck my tongue out of my mouth just a tad playfully, acting like a pet or something as she pet my hair. “I’ll lead a team. I suppose we need to get going if we’re going to beat the Sun Jin recovery team there, right?”
“That’s right. Good pet,” she patted my head.
I could only smirk back at her. Smartass.
“Go on, get out of here. Pick your team and let me know when you’re enroute.”
A smirk crossed my face as I got up, gave her a kiss on the forehead and headed for the door. “See you later!”
About twenty minutes later I was standing with two others in the cargo compartment of a standard cargo carrying aircraft. These sorts of planes were seen all over Tier ferrying good between the stations on or to orbital launch sites. What better way to conceal ourselves then to pretend we were a passing by aircraft. It was likely the Sun Jin may have had the area on satellite surveillance already. In the rear of the aircraft the large cargo door was open, ramp extended. I tightened the straps on my backpack, snapped the belts over my chest, and strapped the goggles over my eyes for the jump.
Beside me were some of my friends I had made with Asuya. Mercenaries before they worked with us, Chambers was a large black-leather skinned reptilian with a small trail of horns going up his short snout, and Rafaya a slender rather beautiful tigress woman with white hair. She looked pretty fine in her tactical clothes and that gear on but her and Chambers were sort of an item already. Moving on!
I toggled a small communication wristband on my arm and held it up to my mouth. “Testing testing, all that jazz?”
Chambers and Rafaya smiled and nodded. I guess they liked me being silly. I’ve proven myself in combat enough times already. I had room to play around. They also knew my background with the Alliance military.
“Loud and clear sir,” said Chambers. “But your music always has sucked, Forza.”
I grinned and continued talking into it addressing the pilot. “When you get to the crash site and we’re clear circle once and leave the area continuing on our current heading. Contact the Kovar Sun Jin communication outpost and report to them the crash like the good supporters we are. Ask them if they need any assistance.”
“Good copy, sir.” Nice clear transition in the earpiece. “We’ll be over the drop point in thirty seconds.”
As he spoke I walked down the extended ramp a bit into the exposed outside. I looked over the side at the forest below. We were only a few thousand feet up and it wouldn’t be a very long fall.
It was pretty nice out and although it was nearly midnight it was still nice and warm. It was summer here and the forest planet of Tier always had nice warm but not too-hot summers. I had come to enjoy staying on Tier the last few months. It reminded me of home on Amber Krowe which had similar summers. Most of my adult life I’d been away from home though after I enrolled into the military when I was only sixteen years old.
I lifted my rifle and held it crossed over my chest and sighed. For some reason I started feeling that anxiety again. Everything was just fine a moment ago. I heard what sounded like Rafaya come down the ramp beside me and so I turned my head. For a reason I can’t really explain I didn’t react too strongly when the figure I saw wasn’t her. It was a different woman. The tall green-furred Amber Krowen I had known from my past so long ago with her Systems Alliance Stalker Program tactical uniform. She stood there and also peeked over the side of the ramp as if examining our altitude before turning her head to face me. Those soft while horns, her long black and green hair down her back, and the two Templar swords that would one day become my own strapped to her belt.
“It’s all too familiar, isn’t it?” her voice echoed through my head with a strange tone as if it were dreamlike.
I just peered at her and gripped the rifle tightly in my hands.
“Forza?”
I flinched a moment and came back to my senses. Standing where the Amber Krowen woman was a just seconds before was Rafaya. I blinked a few times and just smiled at her a bit.
She cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry.” Fucking day dreams. Damn that woman.
“Giving me a pretty cold look there for a moment, heh. You’re going to miss your jump?” She strapped her goggles on over her head and readied her rifle. I wonder what I must have looked like through her perspective there when I lost it.
I watched her tighten the straps on her back pack one last time and trot forward a few paces and jump right off the cargo loading ramp.
Still shaken slightly from the vision I watched Chambers in my peripheral vision also head off behind her as he waved at me. “Bye boss,” he shouted playfully.
Turning to face the interior of the plane I took a few steps backward and breathed in a pair of soft breaths before jumping backwards off the ramp. Closing my eyes a few moments I just tried to calm down. Having moments where I can’t control my thoughts bothers the living hell out of me and it’s only been like this for a few months, ever since I came to look like this, Bloodtiger.
The air around me created a soft howling sound as my body cut through it head first and I scanned the area around us. The crash site was only a quarter mile or so from where we were going to be landing and through simple light forest terrain. It wouldn’t be hard to find it. The smoldering remains of the aircraft was lighting the whole area up and visible from anywhere within fifty miles for sure.
Not much time until touchdown. I thumbed a switch near the handle of the rifle and lifted my head to look at the ground below me. I extend my arms and aimed the gun at the ground where I would be impacting in a few seconds. Before I pulled the trigger I saw two pairs of blue gaseous vapor clouds spread open across the clearing the team would be landing. I pulled the trigger twice and fired off two rounds into the same clearing. Upon impact they created more of the same gas cloud and I rolled in the air just before impact to land on my back in the cloud. The thicker-then-air cloud quickly lowered the speed which I was falling and dissolved just as I came to a soft landing on my feet.
I always enjoyed these jumps. In the military I had done a lot of unique jump insertions, especially once I was inducted into the Stalker Program. I’ve jumped from a starship, through orbit, and into a populated city before aiming for a single rooftop. Several years of crazy work I did back then… back then.
I took a long breath and slung the rifle over my back. I never was much of a firearms guy. I spent my whole career being a specialist in close quarters combat. My abilities made bladed combat the perfect choice. I was fast. Unnaturally fast, even. It wouldn’t be until I met her in the Stalker Program that she could explain to me what I truly was and where these abilities came from. The Templars.
“Where you guys at,” Chambers voice said over the radio. “Ah there you are.” He came up beside me skipping through the brush and Rafaya approached from another direction as well.
“Cool guys,” I nodded at them. “Let’s try to get in and out. That vessel looks shot to shit as it is so I any data recovery might be impossible anyway. If not we’ll start the hike back to the extraction point where we can get picked up without drawing any Sun Jin attention.”
“Sounds good boss,” started Chambers. “Do we know what fragged this vessel anyway?”
In response I slid the goggles up and rested them between my eyes and horns and shook my head. “No idea. Let’s move.” Together the three of us began marching through the forest towards the debris field.
02.28.41
Glancing at my watch as we passed through the tree line I saw it had rolled into the new day. I joked to myself how my report would look funny taking, on paper, two days to complete this. Whatever, dumb joke.
We stood side by side and looked toward the debris. Everything was smashed, on burned to a crisp, or on fire. There were parts and sheets of metal everywhere including wiring, bulkheads, and other parts of the craft. A large chunk of the ship was still in one piece though but covered in debris. It didn’t appear to have been a large ship, more like a surface to space cargo ship.
Rafaya gestured to the rubble. “My guess is it exploded very low to the ground, you know?”
“Yeah, the wreckage is all here.” Chambers started walking towards it. “Right here. If it exploded high up in the sky it’d be littered over miles.”
“Makes sense to me.” I heard a beeping sound from my pocket and pulled out a the small digital computer pad and tapped a few buttons calling up the message it received. It was from Shiinx. I read over it and put it cleared my throat. “Hey guys? Shiinx says they’ve intercepted reports that Sun Jin forces have begun deploying to the area. She suggests we have less than a half hour. See if you can find a way into that superstructure there?”
Chambers grinned and continued. “Let’s go take a look then.”
“Spread out and search all sides.”
We spent some time apart as we individually looked around. The main hulk of the craft was still identifiable but clearly destroyed.
“Sir,” Chambers said over the communications. “The rear of the ship, the cargo hold, I think I can get in and look around.”
“It’s accessible?” asked Rafaya in reply.
“Yeah,” I could hear what sounded like him trying to squeezes around or more things. “It’s all sorts of banged up. There’s no active fire in here but it does look like one was burning here earlier. It’s wide open inside. Empty cargo hold.”
I put my finger to the earpiece, “How bad is the structure inside. Hallways? Rooms?”
“Permission to go deeper inside to find out? I was able to force the door open from the cargo hold. I think I can get around. I’ve got my flashlight.”
“Granted but be careful. Raf, go with him. I’m going to look for another way in. Let me know if you need me.” I pulled myself up on top of an extension from the superstructure looking for the front hopeful to find some kind of cockpit or command deck with accessible windows.
“Copy,” she replied.
“Sir! I’ve got movement.”
I stopped and looked over my shoulder behind me and looked towards the back end of the hull. “Movement? Like, people movement? Rafaya go-“
Before I could finish I heard the sounds of rifle fire over the radio. I immediately started running down the length of the superstructure towards the rear end, where the cargo bay was. I ran over the top of the flat debris and tried my best to navigate around some of the destroyed parts.
“Where are you,” shouted Rafaya into the radio. There was no reply. “Forza? Are you on your way?”
“I’m almost there.” I slid down the back side of the flat surface and fell some distance to the ground. I landed firmly on my feet with a thud and got up with my rifle in hand, looking down the targeting scope as I approached Rafaya at the back gate. She looked frantic.
“Forza. He’s not responding.”
I nodded firmly and walked past her, rifle aimed into the large open cargo hold and stepped in. “Hang on,” I stated as I clicked on the flashlight at the end of the rifle. I pulled off my backpack and dropped it on the ground. The bulky thing wouldn’t make combat any easier. It’s not like we were expecting survivors. With the flashlight on I slung the rifle over my shoulder, resting it against my back and tightened the straps. I reached over to the backpack and took hold of the hilt of a short metal sword and pulled it out of its sheath built into the pack. I continued toward the hallway entry letting the illumination from the flashlight aiming upward light the area. Rafaya behind me had the light on her shotgun on also.
“Forza, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I replied.
“Where’s Chambers?”
“Raf, I don’t know. We’ll help him.”
She took a few panicked breaths. “What are you going to do with a sword, Forza?”
With a mumble I replied, “You have no idea what I can do with a sword.” I have only used a gun in extreme rare circumstances. Before here, before Tier, I was using some of the most advanced close quarters combat technology known to exist, or in that case, unknown to exist. The Sun Jin’s researchers… The things I had done ‘testing’ their weapons against my will. I choked down a gulp of air trying to not distract myself with such things.
Things were different now. I was armed with only this sword, this rifle, and my unique talents that I have tried my best to keep hidden from everybody. Now I had to think about others besides myself and keeping them alive and safe. I had to think about Shiinx and Asuya Co. In the SA Stalker Program I mostly worked alone except for my training with… her.
We were some ways into the structure now. Sparks fizzed from various exposed wires, wall paneling in places was cooked or bent into the walkway, and ceiling panels were hanging or rested on the floor amongst the rubble. Despite the kicked around look this whole half of the ship seemed decently internally intact. I was surprised.
“Forza, stick together okay?” Raf didn’t sound like herself. I suspect she feared for her loved one’s life. I suppose it was natural.
“I’m here.”
Together we passed another doorway and through it appeared to be another large room, as big as the cargo hold. It could have been a side-accessible cargo chamber. As we passed it she shined her flashlight inside. There appeared the be several damaged military vehicles, mostly off-road patrol types with machine guns mounted in the rear, all over the place. They must have been tossed about in the crash.
“Look,” she shouted as she ran inside.
“Where are you going?” I backed up and looked into the cargo hold she ran into. Her light was fixated on what looked like a body near the middle of the room. I could tell already it was Chamber’s body. As she got closer with her light I could see the blood puddle under him. Something was very wrong here. He was murdered.
As I started to walk into the compartment I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Someone or something had leapt down from some stacked containers as Rafaya ran past them near the body.
I started a dash into the room but I was too far away and too late. “Raf! Behind you!”
She turned around just in time to fall for the ambush. She never saw it coming. The person silently dived on top of her, knocking her over, and I saw the quick glint of light from the sword in their hand.
Knowing it was about to be just me and this unknown person and this person obviously knew how to tactfully kill someone I amped up the combat readiness in my head that I had been in as I continued running inward.
I watched them rise to their feet and stand ready with the slender sword. As I got closer I could make features better between Rafaya’s downed weapons light and my rifles light. It was in fact an Amber Krowen, much like me. A tall standing female about six feet tall, wearing what looked like a dirty worn general purpose cargo vest and long tactical pants. Her fur was mostly black with white visible on her exposed stomach, up her neck, and under her chin. She had long mixed black and highlighted-white hair, tied back, and ran down the length of her back. Her horns were black and instead of pointing downward tracing the length of her nose they instead curved upward a bit more before bending down. Like I said, we come in all shapes and sizes. She definitely wasn’t from Amber Krowe though. Her green eyes glared at me ready for combat and baring her teeth.
As I came within swinging distance she lunged at me with an upward swing of her sword. Sliding to a stop I held my sword at the ready to defend and blocked it. It was a nice firm swing. More than I was expecting from her but it wouldn’t matter for long. I had every intention to make sure it was going to be a short battle. With the sword block I bounced back, knelt low, stepped close quickly, and started the forward thrust that should have ended the fight but something happened. I felt her empty hand on my wrist and the pull of her jerking me across our little engagement area. From the pain of her claws digging into my wrist I could barely keep a firm grasp on my sword and I think she had, in that split moment, figured that out. Before releasing me to fall forward on my face she smashed her sword against mine and knocked it out of my grip.
I stumbled forward but was able to collect myself a bit and quickly turn around, empty handedly. This was unheard of for me. I’ve been a master of sword fighting for years. My whole adult life. I was starting to think I had been going too easy on her. I’ve faced teams of soldiers with automatic weapons before and cut them down before they could even fire at me. Granted, then I was either using advanced weaponry and armor technology or my abilities. For months up until now I’ve never been in a position where I’d have to use them. I’d never ran into anybody I couldn’t defeat in close quarters combat with basic martial arts.
She did something unexpected as I turned to face her. Standing tall she disregarded the sword, tossing it to the ground beside her. The noise of it skittering across the steel floor echoed through the room. She took a step back with one leg and planted it firmly behind her, twisting a bit into it and keeping her eyes locked on me with a bloodthirsty grin she reached her arm back low and behind her as well.
There… I felt it. A small disturbance in the air I hadn’t felt for a long time. This energy. I suddenly felt my stomach turn knowing that this woman wasn’t who I thought she was. Sure enough her reached back hand became the epicenter, a focal point, in which small purple glowing particles of light that appeared around her became attracted to. Within a few seconds several of these glowing beads of light had gathered in her hand and when they stopped a bright purple light glowed between her fingers.
“Don’t even,” I took a ready stance and let my body relax a bit. I felt my red and white fur slowly start to stand on end as my own energy slowly built up within me I could feel the inside of me warp and feel like it was melting. I haven’t had to do this in so long. In all my years with the Systems Alliance, or being used by the Sun Jin, I’d never had to fight another Templar. For that matter I’ve only known a few in my life. This woman would be only the third. Sun, the green furred Amber Krowen woman I’ve had on my mind off and on today, was the only other.
With a pitch of her arm towards me a raging torrent of energy flew across the cargo hold. When it was about to impact me I quickly knelt over, slammed my first downward leaving a red vertical wall of energy in its wake. The flare of energy slammed into the shield around me and cracked into pieces creating random rays of energy that smashed into the wall behind me and blew pieces of it apart with an explosive force. Looking at the ground a moment I opened my eyes and took a quick breath. That wasn’t so bad at all.
“You,” said the woman as I rose to my feet. “How did you do that?”
“I’m just like you, Templar.” I reached over my shoulder and grabbed the rifle. I didn’t have chance to risk this sort of combat anymore. She was clearly ready to fight me up close and was obviously a Templar, if she knew it or not. It was too deadly a combination and I wasn’t experienced in this. Just like I was before Sun explained everything about it to me.
“Just like you,” she slowly closed her eyes standing tall and shivered a bit.
I narrowed my eyes watching her. What was she doing?
“I feel it. What is that?” With her eyes closed and arms at her side she turned her head and clenched her teeth with a groan.
I aimed at her down the sights and listened listening. I could feel something going on inside me. It was as if a stone was being dropped in calm water and the small waves were going through me. It was her. How was she doing this? I’ve never felt like this before.
“There’s something inside of you.” She took a slow breath and opened her mouth a bit. “The darkness… from the other place. It’s inside of you too. It’s taken a hold of you but… you’re holding back.”
I lifted my eyes from the sights and growled at her. “Get the fuck out of my head. How the fuck would you know what’s going on?” What the hell is this? How did she know this?
She opened her eyes and gazed at me. “You and I are the same. It’s taken control of me too.” She lifted her hand and put it over her chest, over where her heart was. “I feel its cold black hand wrap around my heart and squeeze the life out of me. I’ve been living as strong as I can out here, alone, and I have no control of it.”
Could what she was saying be true? Could she be more than just a Templar but also be infected just like I was? Were her and I really the same? I lowered my rifle a bit and peered at her. So many questions I had to have answered. I’ve waited for what felt like years I couldn’t wait anymore.
“What’s your name?”
I stared at her down the length of the rifle. “Forza Ninetails… yours?”
She took a long breath, staring at my standing tall. “Kiara Quall.”
“Where did this darkness come from,” I asked nearly cutting her off as she said her name. “I can’t keep living like this, Kiara. The darkness you speak of wasn’t always there. You have this too, you say? Where did it come from? How long have you been infected?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know,” as she spoke so positioned herself into a martial arts combat stance and slowly started walking closer. “But I’ll end you pain, Forza.”
She really was a lot like me before Shiinx found me. She was mad with the darkness inside of her, consuming her and twisting her. Shiinx told me when she found me I was an animal. She says I was naked, hunting and eating wildlife raw. I don’t really remember much of it, or how I ended up on this planet to begin with.
I raised my rifle and aimed at her again. “You need to stop moving, right now!”
“What are you going to do? Kill me? I seem to be the only answer you have to figuring out this foe of yours.”
“You’re only saying that because I’m the only one with it you’ve meet too, Kiara.” My finger rested on the trigger. My sword was behind her. I think she was intentionally standing between it and me. She continued walking closer. “Get away from me!”
With a sudden burst of speed she was suddenly right there in close proximity to me and knocked the gun aside as I pulled the trigger so of course I missed. I felt the impact of the back of her arm crushing against my chest and I was pushed backward with an incredible force. She was so strong! I landed flat on my back and slid probably three or four feet against the smooth metal floor. As I came to a stop I leaned up and reached to the back of my belt and took a hold of something.
“You should come with me, Forza,” she said with a grin on her face. “Together we could do such dirty things. We have a purpose now and I for one will not sit back and wait.”
She was corrupted. She could have been the nicest person before she was infected by this darkness like I was. I couldn’t let her kill me though. On the other hand I didn’t want her to have to die. She was kind of right. She could have answers or experiences that would answer all my questions. Unlike me she could actually remember what happened that made her this way.
I closed my eyes, a big mistake. The idea did at least for a second tempt me. I could finally find out what this ‘darkness’ is. She and I could figure it out together. I could bring out that darkness again. That power… it makes me strong. It was as if the enraged beast I had once been was perfectly suited for that dark power inside of me. It gave me focus and such ambition. It was so dark and pure and rigidity ruthless.
That monster appeared in my minds eyes. His face pressed forcefully against mine. Its black teeth dripped with spit and blood as it forced itself upon me with its arms on my shoulder knocking me over and screamed spitting in my face, “Go back to sleep!”
“Fuck,” I shouted loudly as I opened my eyes again in a panic. I couldn’t lose my mind now!
“What do you say, Forza? What do you have here? What’s keeping you here? I’ve lost everything and now this is all I’ve got left.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I clenched my teeth tightly and screamed at her. “You’re judgment is being influenced. This isn’t the real you, Kiara.” I remained on the floor, gripping the handle of the knife behind me waiting.
“If that’s your answer then so be it!” She started running towards me quickly and leapt up into the air.
I knelt up a bit and in anger shouted at her, “I won’t let you take me back there!” I swung my arm around and threw the knife into the air above me her direction. After I threw the blade I quickly rolled to my side to get out of the way of her attack.
She landed on all fours, nearly collapsing uncontrollably onto her face. She balanced herself on her hands and knees and groaned loudly in pain. I saw her dripping blood. A lot of it. It was dripping in a steady stream from her chest. It looked like the knife had landed square in her chest but below her ribs.
I scampered back up onto my feet and darted over to my sword and picked it up. Taking a few breaths I turned back to face her. She wasn’t getting back up. By the time had turned my attention back to her she was now on her side curled up and clearly in a lot of pain. I thought about how, while I’m no doctor, she probably wasn’t going to survive this. She didn’t look able to get back to her feet and we were inside of crashed ship with nobody here to help her and there was nothing I could do either.
After approaching her again I cautiously knelt by her. “Kiara.” I sort of found myself at a lack of words. She started to try pulling the knife out of her chest, and I quickly put my hand over it to stop her. “What are you doing? Don’t pull it out.”
Kiara just eyed my with a furious look. What was going through her head? Just how far gone was she?
“Kiara, how did this happen? What is doing this to us?”
With her free hand she took my wrist, the one that was trying to interfere and started to pull me closer with it. Like before she had more physical strength then me and was able to slowly pull me closer no matter how hard I resisted without getting violent with her. With a grunting sound she finally pulled the bloody knife from her chest. From her wound a quick squirt of red blood splashed onto faintly lit floor.
A few drops of blood from a different source landed in the puddle. Bent halfway over her I dropped the sword and took and gulped feeling the stinging pain. Looking down I could see her hand wrapped around the hilt of the knight with the blade firmly in my stomach. In pain I fell onto my rear and pushed my feet against her abdomen trying to get her off of me but she was just too strong.
It was no use. No matter how hard I pushed against her she wouldn’t budge. She got even closer when she rose to her knees and pulled out the knife. She was still holding onto my right wrist! I felt so fucking helpless! My stomach felt like it was on fire, It hurt so bad.
With what little energy she must have had left she jumped onto of me and rested her knees on either side of my abdomen. With the knife in her hand she started a downward blow but I took my free hand and quickly grabbed at it. I was desperate, I didn’t give a damn what I took hold of and sure enough my hand wrapped right around the blade.
I felt my right hand released and simultaneously both of our free hands went for the knife. She tried to push down, I tried to resist but the sharp blade lowered slower and slower towards my stomach, near the first stab wound. Wet blood oozed down the length of the knife and dripped onto my shirt. My hand was raining its red juice and despite the pain I had no choice but to hold on.
“Take a breath, child,” she said weakly. She must not have had much energy left. She was bleeding everywhere. “Head down… go to sleep.”
I tried to push back so hard, pinching my eyes closed. A thought occurred to me now of all times. This wasn’t the first time I’ve been here. It was almost the exact same scenario except the tables were turned back then. They always were turned. Back then nobody could kill me. My power was unlimited and it felt like my swords Sun had presented to me could cut through space and time itself. I felt invincible with the Sun Jin advanced armor and weaponry, almost entirely made up of close quarters combat. Now I had none of that. I felt naked and weak, but at least I was free of that torture.
On another planet, in a remote farming village, in a random house’s ordinary living room with an ordinary soldier fighting for his life under my body as I sat on his stomach and fought with him to get the knife in. Get the knife in. Kill him. He struggled to put his hands around mine and push back the sharp blade but my grip was firmer than his. I watched him scream as the blade cut into him. I reached behind me and grabbed my sheathed sword, drew it, and slammed it into him, ending his life.
His body was amongst many in the house. They had come at me with their weapons and everyone died. Everyone who’s responsible. Even those in the house that lived there. The innocent ones. It was just his turn.
That day was unique. I wasn’t supposed to, but I woke up. Something different had happened that day in that house and the seemingly toxic mixtures of doses of drugs in my body and brainwashing they put in me wasn’t able to keep me asleep. I woke up. I remember slowly lifting my blood stained hand to the underside of the SIS Mask covering my face with powerful data input from the combat and lifted it to the top of my head where it rested. I looked around, sitting there on top of the man’s dead body, and I felt the tears start to run down my cheeks through my fur… What were they doing to me!?
Despite all of this chaos the Sun Jin was putting me through with the drugs and mind control I actually was almost normal back then. I didn’t look like this, my fur was actually mostly a muted yellow and white, and this monster inside of me wasn’t as aware as it was now. I wasn’t the Bloodtiger, the darkness’s body. Kiara was right; she was just like me. We were both infected with the monster that turns you into a killing machine but back then the Sun Jin helped it along with all that madness. She was killing without even thinking about it. She hadn’t waken up yet either.
I remember the door being kicked in and two soldiers, Sun Jin this time and not weak local militia, took aim at me with their rifles. I turned my head and faced them feebly and in shock from the blood straining the walls. I wasn’t supposed to have woken up that day… and they had come to fix it. I felt the piecing of the tranquilizing darts across my body at the same time I felt the blade slide into my stomach again…
The blood ran down the sides of my body as I tried not to moan out in pain under the new wound. This wasn’t working and I was going to die. With a sigh I opened my mouth and closed my eyes again.
I don’t want to die. Just help me… please. I shook my head a few times and with a growl completely released the blade. There was no use holding it anymore because I wasn’t going to win that fight. I balled my fist and slammed my elbow into Kiara’s trachea and felt her force on me drop considerably as she fell back in shock. I leaned up a bit and crashed my backhand against her cheek knocking her balance off and now with one leg free kneed her in the chest. By the time she was able to see me again I was already in the air diving for my sword across the room. Upside down I grabbed the sword with one hand and landed on the other flipping back onto my feet but facing the wrong way. I again leapt up turning around in the air and throw the sword across the room back at Kiara. It all had happened so fast. Where were these acrobatic martial arts five minutes ago when I needed it?
Kiara let out a sharp yelp as the blade impaled her thigh and she fell backwards with the force of the sword coming to rest penetrating her thigh. She fell to the ground on her back and with her eyes closed just took slow long deep breaths.
Breathing hard I stood there watching from her across the room. I had enough of this shit for one day. I shook off the rising tension inside my body, one I haven’t felt used like that in a few months, and took the nearby rifle into hand.
Still in a significant amount of pain I slowly knelt down by Rafaya’s body and examined her. Yeah, It was too late for her. She was gone. Taking a few more breaths I looked around trying to keep myself together and wincing in pain I rose to my feet again and headed for the doorway to the cargo hold.
What a disaster. I had no choice but to get the hell out of here. The Sun Jin recovery team was going to be here any minute and there was nothing I could do about Chamber’s and Rafaya’s bodies. Things would have to happen back at the Asuya outpost. There weren’t supposed to have been anybody here! Where did Kiara come from anyway? What caused this damn ship to crash? My bet was that Kiara was responsible for its demise. On top of that I bet she was waiting for someone to come by and investigate. Why? Simply to kill them, perhaps. She could use the equipment gathered to survive. That knife she attacked Rafaya and me with was Sun Jin. Those clothes that didn’t fit her very well were too. She’d pillaged them. Survival at its best, right?
I had to report to Shiinx. None of this was supposed to have happened.
Truth was that I was a little shocked by the encounter. Kiara scared the shit out of me. She knew a bit too much about what was going on inside of me. Strangely enough if she did know what was going on then maybe she was the best chance I had to learn what was happening but now that doesn’t look possible. I wasn’t sure if she was still alive or if so how long she’d live with those wounds.
…
So this is what it’s all come down to? That little bastard was strong. Forza… I couldn’t help but quiver at the thought of him. He was more cunning, clever, and far more powerful than he was letting into. He was reluctant to use his newly acquired gifts of darkness against me and for it he almost died but he did give in, just a little, at the last moment. I let my guard down.
The difference between him and me was that I didn’t mind this power. I have nothing left and in my hopelessness I couldn’t resist but to just close my eyes and fall into the nightmare. I’ve lost everything but in my sleep I can let someone else have my body.
The darkness inside of me that came out of nowhere only a few months ago was stronger than I was and I, unlike that Amber Krowen Forza, didn’t have the will to go on. The darkness linked itself onto my sadness and from it grew strong and powerful, able to control my body, and keep me from collapsing in on myself in despair. It knew exactly when to attack my soul, when it was at its weakest. It watched me cry and scream as I watched my people die and in the weakest moment of my being took over. The black feathers fell around me and I woke up here, on this planet.
Forza was fighting the darkness choosing instead be haunted by it and live a life of anxiety and parasitic cohabitation. I knew this darkness inside of us was indeed an alive and aware life form of its own. Unlike Forza I have little ability to fight it back and I feel inside I’ve been lost. I’m living a nightmare but one I don’t have the will to wake up from.
09.10.40 - 168 Days Ago
It was about conquest for my people and bringing an end to a family feud that had lasted for generations. I was raised on the barren desert planet of Quall far from the war between the Sun Jin Empire and the Systems Alliance so we didn’t have much to worry about with them. Our enemies were closer to home.
My family, the Quallian Family, ruled over Quall while the Ciberling Family controlled a planet called Danje in the same solar system. Neither of us had the military power to destroy one another and for years had been in an uneasy stalemate. Once in a while attacks of opportunity would be made where we would lose mining ships to Danje patrols or we would do the same to them. It was mostly about resources, mining gasses space clouds, ore from planetary moons, and so on.
Both of our civilizations were spacefaring cultures but due to limited resources never ventured far into deep space and so we had done well to keep our noses out of the business of war between the SA and Sun Jin that surrounded our system. We’d been visited by the Systems Alliance before and like many other civilizations were basically left to our own growth or in our case war amongst ourselves. We didn’t have any resources or anything of great strategic or military value that struck their attention and both Quall and Danje would be labeled mutual in the eyes of the SA.
Very few opportunities to strike directly at each other’s home worlds arose. There were too many Quallian starships in orbit around our planet for the Ciberling to attack without getting swarmed by overwhelming numbers but Danje’s orbital defenses were too well fortified for our ships to approach. Scattered all over the planet surface were colossal anti-ship batteries that would tear through the largest of our vessels.
All that protection made for a tough shell to crack and that being said when negotiations with a militant antigovernment movement against the Ciberling family on Danje went well for us we were presented with an opportunity.
I, Kiara Quall, planned and lead the strike myself. A small task force left orbit enroute to Danje and after three days of traveling came within attack range of their defense grid. The timing was perfect as planned and hardly any of their vessels were in the area and would take hours to respond. They weren’t expecting an attack against their planet and were they most definitely weren’t expecting that the antigovernment movement they labeled as terrorist would have the ability to infiltrate and disable the orbital defensive grid systems and disable it only an hour before our arrival. It was perfect. I’m sure the movement lost a lot of lives trying to overtake the facilities but they’re deaths wouldn’t be in vein.
“All ships have cleared the warp aperture, Captain,” said one of the bridge crew.
“Captain,” I said to the Amber Krowen man sitting on the command seat beside me in the middle of the bridge.
He turned his head and looked upward at me. “My lady?”
“Put the ship in standard high orbit over the capital city, Cyrus. Have the other cruisers follow. Begin the operation.” I couldn’t help but smile. It was nice and quiet. Normally there would be bright beams of light flying around us from the surface ripping our ships to shreds. There was nothing.
“Ensign,” the captain gestured towards the pilot in front of him. “You heard Kiara. Signal the task force to follow into high orbit. Have all stations on combat alert and ready our forces for the attack.”
Our command ship’s engines activated and with a rocking force the long smooth hulk loomed toward Danje. Behind us two enormous personnel carriers loaded with numerous drop ship shuttles followed. Two other escort vessels guarded the rear. If we had brought much more they could have detected us coming hours in advance. This had to be a surprise attack.
I shivered a bit in excitement. I felt my Amber Krowen fins down my spine tighten with a bit of anticipation. While this was risky it could mean the end of this war if we were successful. It took a few minutes for us to get into position and the whole time I felt a bit antsy.
“Carriers reporting they’re ready to launch drop ships and fighters. Intercepted communications suggest Danje fighter craft are being launched to intercept. The nearby vessels have been signaled to return to Danje but their estimated time is several hours.”
“Perfect,” said the Captain. “Launch the invasion force. Capture the Ciberling palace.”
I walked to one of the tactical stations and pressed a few keys on the touchscreen. A monitor picture came up showing a reverse view of the vessel displaying the two carriers behind us. Along their sides and underbelly I could see what plumes of steam and smoke as the locking mechanisms on two dozen smaller vessels attached to them unlatched and let the transports release from the superstructure. They slowly turned and with thrusters firing they began their decent. The carrier vessels looked so naked with seemingly half of the ship now missing. It was impressive how the several smaller ships made up the physical body of the carriers.
Our technology was so cool. It probably wasn’t as advanced as the System Alliance’s technology but whatever. Too bad they wouldn’t help us with this war. They said they had their hands full as it was with their own enemies. Maybe when the war was over they’d induct us into their support fleet and we could be of real value to them. Thoughts of how maybe I could be some SA commanding officer filled my head a moment but then after a few seconds of thought I realized I’d probably get homesick and want to stay here anyway. Quall was my home. I was of the royal family. I couldn’t leave.
“What sort of resistance will they be facing on the ground, Captain?” The ensign turned to face us.
“We’re sending down five-hundred soldiers armed for night urban combat. I don’t imagine they’ll be able to mobilize that many to counter them fast enough.”
“And their air force?”
I pressed a few more buttons on the tactical panel and the large energy beam array cannons on the sides of our command ship slowly rotated. “Many of their patrols in the sky are already heading towards us, up here. As for the rest…”
“Weapons ready to fire, Captain,” said another tactical officer across the room.
I pressed the button and the ship vibrated with the firing of the cannons. Several volleys of blue energy beams roared past the drop ships, broke atmosphere splitting some of the cloud cover, and lit up the night sky as they impacted around the two major military bases along the perimeter of Cyrus. As they were landing them were probably created decent sized craters, shockwaves blowing the buildings apart, destroying aircraft, ect. We couldn’t see from here. The coordinates were given to us by the Ciberling resistance movement. While this would make our quick invasion operation easier right now, in the long run this would favor their own agenda as well. Enemy of an enemy… They scratch our back…
This was in no way intended to be a long term occupation invasion. Their entire military navy was probably enroute back to Danje to counter us and who knows how long their defensive grid would be down. We needed to get in, secure the royal family, and extract them for transport back to Quall. There’s no way their returning ships would fire on us with their leadership on board.
“Captain,” said the pilot. “We’re receiving a communication from the surface.”
“What’s the status on the drop ships?”
“The front line is approaching the city, the rear half is still breaking atmosphere.” He turned and examined the console in front of him. “Time to touchdown is expected to be about five minutes. They haven’t encountered any major resistance yet. There are still about twenty incoming fighters five minutes away. We have thirty-five ready to intercept them.”
“Keep them with nearby. Our ships will provide cover when the two fighter groups engage each other. They’ll have no chance.”
Walking towards the center of the room I nodded to the pilot. “Put the communication on the main screen.”
A smaller window on the forward viewer opened near the corner. It was a black furred Danjian, long almost-reptilian yet wolf-like head, long narrow snout, swept back pierced ears, and yellow dog-like eyes on either side of his head. The father of the royal family of Danje, I knew who this man was. He was walking across what seemed like a dimly lit grand-hall and must have been talking on some sort of computer pad.
“Krieg Ciberling,” I said to him crossing my arms. “Did you call to discuss your surrender?”
He growled a bit as he spoke, “I suppose you had something to do with the extremists attack on our defensive network.”
“There was an attack on your defensive network? I guess it was just good timing then.”
“Our navy has been signaled to return to Danje. When they return within the hour you’ll be outnumbered ten-to-one.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to work quickly then,” I took a long breath and peered at him.
“Lady Quall, what exactly do you think is going to happen here? You’ve brought a half dozen vessels, I know you have drop ships enroute, and I hear two of our military stations are under orbital bombardment. You even managed to have terrorists attack and disable our orbital defenses. All of this is very cunning planning and your attack plans were very well laid out but how exactly do you intend to defeat the entire Ciberling Empire within one hour? You can’t occupy the entire city.”
My smirk was the best visual reply I could give. “First of all, Krieg, we have more than an hour. You know as well as I do our ability to track vessels and communications are superior to yours. On top of that I have no intention to occupy Cyrus.”
With a snort he shook his head a bit. “Then what is your goal, Kiara?”
“Let’s just say now I know where in the city you are.”
Another growl broke his lips as he looked over his shoulder at the surroundings. He was probably thinking that it was impossible for me to know what the inside of the family palace looked like but I had seen pictures and such before.
“Relax, Krieg,” I watched him turn back to face me. “I have no intention of killing you or your family.”
“What are your intentions than, Quallian?”
“I’m taking you and your family back with us to Quall to answer for your crimes.”
“Good luck trying,” he replied sharply. “We’re scattered all over the planet.”
The ensign turned gave me thumbs up, nodded in my direction. I returned the nod. He had been tracking his signal and would direct our ground forces on Cyrus.
“Captain,” stated another officer. Danje fighter craft in attack range.
“Begin defensive tactics. Open fire with all weapons and instruct our fighter wings to attack them close to the larger vessels.”
“Yes, sir. Ground forces have begun their assault on the new coordinates.”
Krieg glared hard at me. “Kiara Quall.”
I turned my head to face him. “Krieg?”
“I know who you really want. I know why you are commanding this operation yourself.” He spoke slowly and firmly staring at me.
“Oh really, Krieg? Please, amuse me.”
“I’ll give you Akima. I know she’s the real prize here.”
My ear twitched a little bit as I went into thought. I stared at him quietly for probably five seconds or more. Akima was his daughter. What if we had over looked something and Krieg really was telling the truth. What if we only had one hour and his family was scattered. Would I be personally satisfied taking Krieg, and only Krieg, back with us to Quall? Akima… She was responsible for killing…
“She means a great deal to you, does she not?”
“You’d give up your own daughter,” I snorted. “What, so you could save your own hide?”
“If it were going to be her or me then I’d let you take her. After all you know that after taking her and leaving me here I’d launch total war on your people. I’d ensure your destruction. Of course you can take me instead, but I know you want her after what she did to your brother.”
The captain walked up to my side and stood beside me. “We’re here to destabilize their leadership,” he said softly to me. “We’re almost at his gates. We need to take Krieg with us.”
Thoughts continued to swirl my head. What would my father think if I took Akima over Krieg? Would he understand? Would he see it as an opportunity to use her as a prisoner, a bargaining chip, to manipulate Krieg or the Ciberling Family into peace?
“Where is she,” I asked firmly. On the main part of the view screen I watched the battle between the fighter craft. We appeared to be winning. Beams of light were being fired from the cannons of our ship and with great accuracy were able to pick them apart. It wouldn’t be a long battle. I’d give them maybe two or three more minutes.
“Kiara,” the Captain said.
I didn’t let him finish. “This is my operation. In the long run we can use her to manipulate their people.”
“Do we have a deal, Kiara?” He grinned baring his teeth.
“If this is a trap or a trick, Krieg, I’ll end everything you know.” I tried my best not to bare my own teeth in frustration. He knew something. He had some plan, I knew it. If worst came to worst I’d have a plan for him too. I’d make good on my threat.
“I’ll send you the coordinates. They’re to the entrance of a bunker. The bunker is under the palace but the entrance is on the other side of the city.”
The captain stared at me with his mouth a little open. He couldn’t believe I was doing this.
“Send the coordinates, Krieg,” I pointed at him staring hard, “and pray for your life that you’re telling the truth.”
The transition ended and I turned to walk towards the same tactical station I was at before when we started launching orbital attacks.
“What are you doing, Kiara?” The Captain followed me.
“Divide our forces in half,” I said a bit angered. “We’re still going to try and take Krieg. If there is an opportunity to get him and Akima then we’ll take it.”
“What if he’s lying? It is a simple tactic, Kiara. His whole family could be with him. We’d be diverting half of our force in the opposite direction chasing nobody. We’ll be sending them into a secured bunker with hundreds of soldiers waiting for them, with the home field advantage.”
“That’s why we’re still persuading Krieg. You think I trust him?”
“We only brought enough firepower to overtake his fortress. Are you sure we can divide them?”
I added a few commands into the computer panel and when finished I turned my head and scowled at him. “I make the decisions here.”
“Captain!” The pilot shouted turning our way. “We have new contact signals.”
We both turned to face him.
“Three warships are approaching our flank from one of Danje’s moons. There are unusual energy readings from the moon must have blocked us from detecting them.”
“How long do we have,” I shouted.
“We’ve got some time. Probably thirty-five minutes but if we are going to make an escape before they arrive we need to be leaving in thirty.”
“What’s the status on the assault?”
“The field commanders are splitting their forces. The units already on the ground are in combat with military forces at the palace and trying to secure it but are facing tight resistance. The other drop ships are heading towards the new coordinates we received. Their ETA is about five minutes.”
“And who knows what kind of resistance they’ll face there in tight combat on their way to the palace’s underground bunker.” Again the Captain gave me a tight stare. “The transports have to travel five minutes to get to the entrance. How long do you think it’ll take them to travel on distance from the entrance to the underground palace on foot?”
“There’s got to be some sort of underground transport between the two points.”
“Or the whole thing is a big lie.”
“My responsibility, Captain.”
He slammed his fist on the console. “These are my soldiers. This is my task force. You’re sending my men to die in a trap.”
Leaning over the console with my arms stretched I turned my head stared at him. “If you want to keep your little task force and your job after this operation is over then you’ll sit down and follow orders.”
Another ten minutes had passed. The ground forces were finally infiltrating the palace and searching for Krieg but had suspected he had moved to the launch facility on the other side of the grounds. The bunker was under siege by the other team.
“Captain,” the ensign pilot started. “The approaching battle group has launched an attack wing of high speed fighter craft. Intercept time is fifteen minutes.” He turned to face us. “They outmatch us, Captain.”
Time was running short. We were supposed to have several hours for this assault but in the end we had so little time. “What is the status of the team at the space launch facilities?”
“We’re getting communications from them now, Kiara.”
An audio only buzz filled the room. There was some heavy breathing but no sounds of gunfire. “Captain,” said the soldier on the other side, probably a field commander I guessed. “We have secured the palace but the royal family is not here. We’re combing the launch center now and my team is approaching the launch control room.”
“You need to hurry commander. We’re strapped for time.”
“I’m aware of the new developments. Give us ten more minutes. I’ll order all units behind us to begin their withdrawal. You can expect their transports to the carrier group in ten.”
I piped up and interrupted. “You yourself need to be back at the carrier group in ten, commander.”
The commander gave a few orders on the other channel to have the forces back at the palace start returning to the transports. “We’ll have our team comb this facility and our transport will pick us up here. We’re almost to the control room! Give us a minute.”
More than a minute of time passed with no communication.
“Ma’am,” said an officer towards me. I faced him. “Another vessel, a shuttle, has broken atmosphere from the surface. Its point of origin suggests someplace on Cyrus!”
“They’re escaping!” shouted the captain.
The radio crackled open again. “Captain,” spoke the commander’s voice winded and exhausted.
“What is it commander? Are you aware of a launch from the area?”
“Yeah, Captain. A shuttle just launched from an adjacent launch site but Captain, we found Krieg.”
“Great work, commander,” started the captain. “Take him into custody.”
“No can do sir, he’s dead.”
“What happened,” I asked. “Was there a firefight?”
“No ma'am. We found his body. He’s been stabbed.”
Then who the hell was on that shuttle, I asked myself. I again paused to think. Enough was enough. Too much time had passed. I however refused to back down on my threat or leave empty handed.
“Orders, ma'am?”
“All units return to space. Get aboard your transports and return to the carrier group.” I spoke firmly and tried to hold back my anger. The room was silent after I spoke the words.
After a few moments of silence the captain took a long breath. “It doesn’t look like it mattered how we divided our forces. Krieg never intended to be taken captive.”
“And Akima isn’t in any bunker either. We can’t intercept that shuttle in time either, can we?”
“Not in ten minutes, not with our resources,” he shook his head. “All transports are on the surface or returning and the fighters are docking as we speak.”
Minutes passed and we received communication from the shuttles that they were all off the surface. Most were docked and at most we’d be ready to go within the next five minutes. The Danje fighter group heading for us wouldn’t be here for maybe ten minutes.
“What now, Kiara?” The questioning Captain walked up beside me again by the tactical weapons console.
I took a long breath and punched in a few final commands. The display of the vessel on the panel highlighted the bombardment torpedo bays as they were activated.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m ending the war. Besides, I made promise to Krieg.” A few more keys were slowly pressed under my fingers.
“Kiara?”
Under my Amber Krowen finger I pressed the final touch-screen button and a pair of high-yield torpedoes were launched toward the surface. After the launch I switched the main monitor to display them from the ship. I magnified the view the best I could but the city of Cyrus was still a small gray fuzz on the dark planet. The glowing blue balls of a light traveled at high speed and only a few second after they broke atmosphere the small gray smudge where the city was lit up with two blue balls of light. The torpedoes exploded a thousand feet off the surface. They were anti-proton, the equivalent of Systems Alliance nuclear bombs. Everything was destroyed.
This decision would cause some resentment towards me amongst the crew of the battle group and would also spell the doom for my own people. Revenge, it seems, would be one of the most compelling forces in the universe when in mind of someone who has lost everything.
Imagine one day hearing that the Sun Jin Empire is sending an envoy to investigate what happened at Danje. Until this moment we’d never had direct communication with the Sun Jin. Why they had chosen this moment to make first contact while they had their own war to deal with was a mystery to me. My mother, who received the original communication, said they were friendly enough…
The colossal ship came out of nowhere and took up position maybe only a thousand feet over the desert city. It was so large that one couldn’t even see the nose or tail of the ship through the haze. We could only see the underbelly and a dozen of docking ports dispatching hundreds of fighter craft and beam weapon batteries aimed downward at us. Each of the titans engines were so large and loud that their hum continuously rocked the ground with a minor tremor felt for miles. I would later learn that this was the largest vessel ever created in the galaxy, the Sun Jin capital command ship, Esther.
The monster came alone and in the blink of an eye began to rain its wrath. Orange pulses of energy scattered from its underbelly and crashed into buildings, roads, everything. Explosions and fire erupted everywhere. Buildings crumbled and people were dying.
There’s no feeling more hopeless then standing in the open side-cargo bay door of an escaping shuttle, gripping the rail as tight as you can, and watching your people die in front of you and the world you came to call home destroyed. Tears ran down my face. I had tried to open communication with anybody I could but everything was jammed. Our technology must have seemed too primitive to this seemingly alien monster in the sky. I would never even see the details of this ship, only its underside.
The entire shuttle suddenly rocked as the pilot started making evasive maneuvers and I saw the Sun Jin fighter craft homing in on us. The combat craft’s machine guns rained bullets and tracer rounds all around us and if I hadn’t dived out of the way of the open side port I would have been riddled with bullets.
I took hold of the ceiling rails again and looked out the opening as one of the fighter craft was exploding. What caused it? I had no idea. The second fighter craft suddenly accelerated towards us with an incredible speed as it tried to maneuver around its wingman’s explosion. As the evading fighter was about to fly over us an unknown dark-purple beam of light with black particles within it surged downward on the aircraft from the sky. The humming column of energy completely overtook the fighter craft and the shockwave from the explosion again knocked our shuttle. Where did this energy come from? It didn’t look like a projectile from any weapon I’d seen before.
I tried to keep a hold as well as I could while the shuttle was violently knocked by the shockwave but I couldn’t keep my grip and I was thrown out of the open side hull. Free fall. I had no protection. I was falling towards the ground headfirst and any moment I’d crash into whatever was below me and more than likely die on impact. I looked towards my feet and saw the shuttle I was in exploding from the same shockwave that had knocked me out and with a panicked breath felt my body overcome with the fear of death.
It was over. The Sun Jin team that came to ‘investigate’ was really here to destroy us for some reason, and I was about to die. I was going to die and everything I ever came to love was going to be destroyed around me. My family was either already dead or dying and my friends in the city were probably not going to make it. I was too powerless to stop this and fearful of what this place would look like tomorrow. The adrenalin, fear, and hyperventilating began making my vision blurry. I just felt like closing my eyes but instead I kept them open the best I could and kept staring at the underside of that ship.
Besides the wind in my ears from the fall, the explosions, and the hum of the starship, a new sound in extreme close proximity to me filled the area. It was a loud screeching sound like nails on a chalkboard and almost hurt a bit. Still falling headfirst and staring at the starship through my feet I watched as small bright blue trails of light start formed around me. They got longer and longer and seemed to fall with me. Still panicked I turned my head and looked aside. They were also growing outward. Between the small rays of a light more branched off and they began connecting to each other and started taking shapes and form. The outlines of feathers and glowing beams of light became filled in becoming less and less see through between them and slowly seemed to vibrate as if something was there, invisible, and then the space was finally filled in completely with a dark energy. Before another second the dark energy solidified into what looked like real tangible feathers! They were wings and they seemingly materialized out of nowhere. What was happening? The screeching sound of them materializing ended and again I looked towards my feet again above me and saw more feathers, like the tail feathers of a bird. What was behind me!?
As I felt its heavy black-furred arm wrap around my torso and pull me close to its chest I tried to look over my shoulder to get a view at what this thing was. I felt my back get pulled against the creature’s chest and on contact my mind suddenly started burning. It’s hard to explain what happened. My eyes jammed shut as tightly as they could and I couldn’t help but scream out in the sudden pain. The intense energy that filled my body was not a pleasant feeling. It was violent and fierce and most of all dark. It seeped into my mind, my body, and my soul and gripped tightly. The raging torrent of power made me gag and feel like I was going to vomit while in free fall and I couldn’t open my eyes.
These were the last things I remembered before waking up in the forest alone. Those black feathers… The monster that seemingly saved my life and infecting me with this dark entity that I would later reluctantly admit was actually alive inside my body. This is the moment everything changed. My world was gone, my loved ones probably dead, and in my sorrow and sadness the living darkness that those black feathers put inside of me would reap all the energy it needed to completely take over my judgment and influence me. It seemed to gain its power from the negative feelings of its host and with all my pain and suffering I was probably a bottomless well of infinite power for it. I was suffering inside.
My soul was plagued with sickness and darkness and I felt there was nothing left for me. In the forest where I woke up I fended for myself the best I could, almost acting animalistic, as I hunted the local wildlife like a feral Amber Krowen beast. When the darkness was less intense I felt like a normal person, would take shelter, and try to survive afraid and alone. That fear and loneliness would only bring the energy back and would drive me mad.
I learned this planet was populated when one day I came across an inhabited non-military outpost. This power inside of me, it ruined everything. I wanted to go to them and plead for help, food, clothing, shelter, but instead I found myself suddenly wild with power and energy and… I killed them. I killed everybody.
This power. I could do things I didn’t know I could. I could seemingly manipulate things and energies that I didn’t know existed. Their bullets would impact on invisible shields, block their swords with my bear arms, and I could move quicker than ever. I had no guess of where it came from other then the darkness inside of me, from the other place. I stole their weapons and for a short time lived in their shelters. The fury controlled instincts and this darkness made me strong and powerful and if I were to survive, or start a new life for myself, I would need to be strong.
Forza… You have this thing living inside of you too but you refuse to let it take over. You seem more at peace in body and mind and not clouded with the same pain of loss as me. Still I sense a great pain inside of you. I don’t know what happened in your past, how you came into contact with the black feathers that gave us this affliction, or how you can control it the way you do but I assure you we’ll meet again soon.
Even though the monster in me tried to kill you and you left me for dead I will not die in this destroyed transport ship I myself dropped. The Sun Jin recovery team found your equipment and your friend’s bodies. They know who you and your allies are and will come looking for you. They took me captive. I let them.
The darkness inside hungers for you and is seeking you out. It feels your shadow side and is compelled to join with it. The monster inside of us is called Jethro, it told me so and together we will find you and make you go back to sleep for neither of us can do this alone. You’ll become just like me and together we’ll find our own peace in the shadows.
02.28.41
Shaky small recon helicopters are shaky and hurt my wounds. My bare large Amber Krowen feet hung out of the open doorway to my right while I held the bandages over my stomach, hunched over, tried to keep the bleeding from starting up again. My whole abdomen was covered in blood and my clothes were stained. I had no idea how much blood I had lost but I tried to keep calm and just stay focused. We flew at very low altitude in the cover of the morning darkness most of the flight but the sun was starting to rise with the faint blue coat over the sky.
My mind was still racing. Probably more than I should have let it. I’ve found it hard lately to keep my mind clear when my thoughts run a million miles an hour. At least this time it wasn’t anything violent or malicious. It wasn’t a dark daydream or anything. I was just focused on Kiara and how she must have come to be and why she had the same illness as me.
As we were landing through the open roof heliport hanger I could see Shiinx standing by with a few others I recognized as medical responders with a gurney. She looked pretty concerned but it was still good to see her face again. I could have died out there. In fact I almost did die, didn’t I? What would she have done without me? Probably move on, I thought, chuckling to myself and shaking my head. In all seriousness I’m sure she would have been very upset and broken. I know I’d be different if something were to happen to her. Couldn’t help but think that if something actually did happen to her I wonder what would happen to me in regard to the monster inside me. I wonder if I’d be able to keep it at bay since she’s one of the biggest comforts that keep me sane in the first place.
The helicopter touched down and I slowly slid off the seat and onto my feet as Shiinx jogged towards me. I put my hand up a bit and shook my head and mumbled, “No, no, no…” but obviously not loud enough. She slammed into my and wrapped her arms around me tightly with tears running down her face. I of course winced in a bit of pain from the impact.
“Oh my god, Forza,” she said burring the side of her muzzle against my neck and holding me tight. “It’s okay, everything’s okay. I was so worried about you.”
“Shiinx,” I replied. “Everything’s okay is my line. Don’t worry I’m fine.” I took a few deep breaths and tried to keep aware. Standing on my feet again after standing was a bit of a rush.
She leaned off of me a bit and put her hand on mine which was still around my stomach. “How bad is it? Let me see?”
I shook my head with my eyes closed. “I can’t.”
The two medical techs rolled up the stretcher.
“Okay. Okay that’s fine,” she said concerned.
“Sir,” said one of the medical guys.
“I suppose you guys want me up on that thing, huh?” I chuckled towards them a bit.
“Yup. You know the drill.”
With a bit of a sarcastic snort to his commend I hopped up and sat my rear on the gurney and laid back on it keeping my hands still.
Shiinx followed alongside as they started to wheel me away. “Forza, what happened out there?”
With a bloody hand on my forehead I kept my eyes closed and found it hard to reply to her. “Ambushed by… uh…”
“Did the Sun Jin find you?”
“No. Another one,” the words just weren’t coming to me. “She uh… A Templar woman.”
“A woman? A survivor?”
“No. She did it.”
Though my eyes were closed I could hear one of the medical techs speak saying, “Ma’am, he’s lost a lot…”
“Okay, okay,” she interrupted.
Another thought crossed my mind, one I had to speak up. “Shiinx,” I started as I tried to lean up. The medical guy put his hand on my chest though to keep me back. “Listen.”
“What?” She made a surprised look back at me.
“Get on the comm lines and tell Colonel Ukatan that our cover may get compromised.”
“What? How?”
“Chamber’s and Rafaya’s bodies were left behind. I couldn’t remove them from the site. Our tagged equipment is all over them and our communication shit is traceable back to here.”
She nodded a bit. “I’ll let him know.” She took a breath still trotting along and sort of dazed off a bit in thought. “I should probably let him know right now, Forza.”
I nodded a bit even though it hurt. “It’s fine. I’ll be okay. Come see me when it’s done. Let me know what he says.”
She squeezed my hand and gave a faint smile. “Take care of him,” she mumbled as she slowed down and we left her behind.
Damn I was tired. I sort of thought about it for a minute. I only had a few hours of sleep before Shiinx woke me up before the mission. I wouldn’t want to sleep on this hard bed anyway. I don’t think it actually was a bed, actually. More like an operating table. Oh wait, it is an operating table. The pain drugs were starting to kick in so I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.
I glanced at the IV line in my wrist and saw Shiinx trotting in behind it in my peripheral vision. One of the doctors stopped her and mumbled some things to her. I sure hoped it wasn’t important, like, “he’s going to die” or something. That’d suck. She nodded and jogged towards me and came to a stop beside me.
“Hey, Shiinx,” I said half awake.
“How are you doing?”
I tried to smile. “What did the doctor say?”
“He said you need emergency surgery and you should be fine. He said he was surprised you survived the hike, then the flight, back to base.”
“That’s what he said to me too. What about Ukatan?”
She gulped a bit and nodded squeezing my hand again. “We’re destroying our records and packing up, Forza.”
“Evacuation?”
She nodded at me with a small smile. “Too much risk. Abandoning base.”
“Sorry,” I closed my eyes a bit.
“It’s not your fault, Forza. We’ve had to do this before. A few times it was under smaller circumstances. I’m sorry about your friends.”
No good reply came back to this. If it weren’t for them it could have been me. It kind of stayed in the back of my head and I tried not to concentrate on that right now.
“Are you okay?” Another hand squeeze.
“Yeah, I…”
With her other hand she tapped her forehead, “I mean are you alright up here?”
“Just thinking,” I replied quietly with a soft breath. “The Templar woman’s name was Kiara. She’s just like me, Shiinx. She has the same thing inside of her.”
“The same nightmares and anxiety?”
“I think so. I think she’s got it worse. I was trying to remember how this all started for me.”
She rested her jaw on the side of the bed. “Your problems, you mean the darkness. Your Bloodtiger form?”
“Right… I wish you could see the real me, Shiinx. I’m trying to remember what happened before I woke up on Tier. The last for sure memory I have was trying to escape from the research lab on Caisteal.”
“What else do you remember? There’s nothing?”
I rubbed my head and closed my eyes again thinking. “Just… snow, and trees. I remember some lights. There’s some smells I remember. I remember this face sometimes. I see her in my dreams. She’s there.”
“A woman, huh?” she chuckled a little bit sarcastically.
I nodded a bit, “She was there for me.” I opened my eyes a bit and turned my head to look at her. “Shiinx, this was immediately after I escaped. I was pretty messed up from the things that happened there and the things they made me do. The darkness was already there though, Shiinx. It had always been there. Since I was a child but it didn’t do anything. It was dormant and powerless. It didn’t have any fuel to feed off of. After I was captured and… the things they made me do,” my mind’s eye wavered a bit. Images I didn’t want to see. The dead bodies and blood on my hands.
She nodded before I finished. “I understand, okay? I hope she was able to help you. We’ll figure it out, alright? Together.”
I turned my head a bit to the opposite side, noting how my vision was motion blurred from the drugs.
“Commander,” spoke the doctors voice from someplace in the room.
I heard her shift her body to look, or listen, whatever. She moved.
I felt my hand squeeze again. “I have to go, hon. The doctors are getting ready and need to patch ya up.”
“Alright,” I replied turning back to face her.
What the fuck!? It wasn’t her. I flinched in a shock seeing that god damn alter ego of mine standing where Shiinx just was. It was me, the shadow me. His black fur emanated a fuzzy aura around him that seemed to absorb the light and color of everything behind him and those eyes… He stared at me for a brief second with those sharp red eyes. What the hell was happening?
With a powerful force I felt the table under me be upturned and knocked over and with it I fell to the cold tile floor. When I opened my eyes again, in pain from being jostled around with my wounds, the light was all gone and instead the emergency operating rooms lights were a dim red glow.
I felt his hands on me tightly gripping my neck in one hand and arm in the other. In a blow that knocked the wind out of me I was slammed against the wall with a force strong enough to crack it a bit. It hurt like hell. I was already too weak to really fight back but I put my hands on his wrists in a fruitless effort to hurt him somehow. What was I supposed to do?
His head, very similar structure to mine except for the crested feather-like Amber Krowen hair instead of my white short loose hair, came closer and closer to mine until he tilted it a bit and slowly moved in toward my neck. I lifted my foot and put it against his abdomen but he wouldn’t move back. I couldn’t push strong enough. As his fangs dug into my neck through I screamed loudly. Excruciating pain filled my whole sensory system as I felt spraying blood shoot from my neck and paint the walls red. My shouting and yelling was slowly more and more drowned out by the gargling sound of me chocking on my own blood. I tried to inhale but the fluid filled my lungs and coughing caused spurts of blood to shoot from my mouth. I could hear it spraying on the walls.
Holding my neck I collapsed to the ground. I didn’t feel his arms on me anymore. When I opened my eyes again I witnessed a half dozen armored Sun Jin soldiers marching into the room with their rifles aimed at me, making their way to my paralyzed body in a hurry. They were Bethians, the feline native race of Bethany, the Sun Jin Empire capital planet. They were also wearing armor I hadn’t seen in sometime. Not the usual Sun Jin armor. It was the armor the soldiers wore at R&D10-003, the research facility I was held at for years.
“They’re here to take you back,” echoed the familiar voice of the shadow.
I was consciously aware of the snap in my senses but I didn’t stop it. I was immediately overwhelmed with a mix of anger and fear. I stood up, the bleeding unexplainably was nonexistent, and with a furious growl I charged at the soldiers. I won’t back there. I won’t!
I unclipped my orange-glowing bladed Templar sword from my belt and diving into the crowd with a powerful horizontal swing. Their rifles were cut in two, blood flew in all directions, and guts spilled from torn open armor into the red lit room. I was fully armored. The Gotanenks Armor. The armor system I was being used to test for the Sun Jin those two years. All my weapons. They were all there. It made no sense but I didn’t care.
They opened fire on me but the bullets impacted on an invisible shield creating small green specks of light as they were deflected or guided away. Their weapons were useless. Blood continued to spray and pool at our feet. Some of them high tailed and turned to run back into the hallway. I noted them but continued my slaughter. These are my enemies. They’ll all die. In my left hand I took a smaller blade and went to war.
Melee combat. This was my specialty. Throats were slashed, tendons cut, and weapons were destroyed. With the thick black cloaked hood over my head I slammed the blade of a knife downward into one of the soldiers shoulder and dived into the metal lined hallway. There, in the air, I slammed into the wall and dug the claws of one hand in holding me propped up off the floor with my black clothed armor hanging off my hips and shoulders. I watched him run as a grin of satisfaction crossed across my face. One of the remote controlled Dragon Fang’s, a small bladed missile, detached itself from its core, part of the armor on my back, and flew after him. It impaled him square in the back. His arms flew up and he collapsed. Nothing can stop me now. The station alarm system began going off. I could hear it.
This is how I’ve lived most of my adult life. I spent it in the Systems Alliance military covert assassins unit, Stalkers. Then this is exactly what I’ve had to do for the Sun Jin while under their mind control except with them it wasn’t military targets, it was civilians. There’s a reason I was picked both times to be a killing machine.
Hearing the sirens of the station defense system echo in my ears I let loose of the wall and started running down the hallway after the last straggler and I noticed something. My feet, while running down the unnaturally lit red light hallway, were kicking something up as I ran. I slowed down a bit and looked down. Feathers. There were black feathers everywhere on the ground. You couldn’t even see the steel plates under them. They were his! No, not my mirrored shadow entity but the other person. The beast within me. Was it the same person? I’d seen these so many times before. The anxiety rushed in. No! Enraged I started running again towards the last soldier, collided with him, and impaled him with my glowing sword. With a loud shouting burst of energy I ripped the sword out of his body sidewalks tearing him in half and took a few panicked breaths.
I dropped to my hands and knees, hyperventilating. In a mad craze I started picking up the black feathers and looking at them. I kept picking up as many as I could carry. Many fell out of my hands and drifted to the floor but I kept collecting them. I couldn’t hold them all!
Finally I gave up and sat upright, on my knees, and continued to breath deep. I felt my shadow’s hands on my shoulders after he came to a stop behind me. The monster. He slowly removed the hood over my head and gently let it rest against my back. Then his hands smoothed up the sides of my neck. One stayed there and the other continued up to the side of my head by the base of my ear. With a strong force my head turned back aside and was bent at an unnatural angle as he broke my neck. Everything went black with the sound of the snap.
03.02.41
I felt something. My fur and fingers. I could feel the floor under me. The sound of the base security defenses alarm rang through my head again. I slowly opened my eyes and took a long deep breath as I stared at the wall of the hallway. The same hallway I was in moments ago. The feathers were gone but there was still blood. Not a lot of blood but some on the ground under my hand.
I looked around a bit and with peered eyes tried to come back to my senses. Everything seemed normal besides the drips of blood and alarms. It was another dream? Another one? Am I losing it that badly that I can just drift right into a daydream while I’m wide awake? I took an exasperated sigh and shook my head.
I started to rise to my feet but felt a small pinch on my stomach where the wound from before was. I was shirtless, like I was when I was laying on the operating table, but the wound was stitched up with black stitching wire. Everything else was pretty well patched up also. If I dreamed that daydream through the operation then how did I end up in the hallway on the ground? For now, whatever.
I got to my feet and started down the hall towards the command area. I had to find Shiinx. Something was wrong here. Nobody was in the… There was somebody. A body was on the ground as I came around the corner. I jogged over it, seeing more bodies in the hallway, and knelt down. It was a Sun Jin soldier in typical assault gear. In his chest was a combat knife. I scooped up his rifle and went to the next. I could see already that it was one of ours. Shot.
The sound of footsteps around the bend… I knelt down to one knee and aimed the rifle. The first thing I saw was the tip of another rifle, one of ours, then one our guards, and another. They aimed at me but continued walking towards me. Released I lowered my weapon a bit. Shiinx was with them too!
“Shiinx! Thank Varuna.” I got up to my feet as she ran up towards me.
“Forza! Are you okay?” She lowered her weapon and put her hand on my arm.
“Good enough. What’s-”
“No,” she cut me off with a serious tone, “Are you okay, Forza?”
I eyed her curiously and slowly opened my mouth. “Yeah… I.” I didn’t know what else to say. That nightmare. “I… dozed off or something earlier.” I looked at the ground for a moment thinking. My mouth just hung open a bit. “I just…”
She didn’t say anything. She just held my arm firmly. Finally she spoke up, “We were just coming back for you, Forza.”
“What’s going on here? These soldiers are Sun Jin. Did they trace back to us already?”
Shiinx looked over her shoulder to look at one of the other guards that was using some communications equipment. “Yeah, I think so.”
Damn she was hot with a rifle in her hand. I mean… anyway. “How did the soldiers get this far into the base?”
She turned to start walking with the team back the way they came and so I followed. “This isn’t a big force, just two dozen. They airdropped right on top of us and infiltrated the lab section. I think they were after you.”
“Me? Why? Is that why I was in the hallway?”
“In the hallway?” She stopped and turned, facing me with her head turned. “Forza, are you sure you’re alright?”
Getting tired of answering that question. “Just… remind me? What happened there?”
She narrowed her eyes rather firmly and gave me a pretty stern look. “You happened, Forza.”
“I… what?” I blinked at her with my mouth still open. “I don’t remember I… I just woke up and-”
“Yeah, hon,” she squeezed my arm again and gave me a concerned look. “You’re not alright. We’ll talk about it later, ok?”
I was so confused. I missed something. It was all just a dream. How did I ‘happen’ and make this scene? I’m losing it, I must acknowledge it.
“Right now we have to get out of here. Out teams are trying to get to the barracks so they can arm up with better equipment but they have specialists there that are chewing up anyone who approaches the bay.”
We continued along again. “What kind of specialists. What does that mean?”
“Two or three I think. One person described them a bit before he died over the radio. It sounds like they’re armed with melee weapons or other close quarter’s combat gear. It fucking perfect for fighting in these hallways.”
We all paused a second as an explosion shook the ground under us a bit. It sounded like it came from the other side of the station but no way to be too sure.
“Damn,” I said. “So what’s the plan? To the armory?”
“No,” she replied firmly marching along.
“Then what is it?”
“The hangers. We’re evacuating.”
“What about those under attack at the armory?”
“Come on, Forza. We already told them to abandon the area and to assemble in teams to evacuate. Not everyone here are soldiers. They need escorts to escape so they’re bunching together and besides I don’t want you near that area.”
“Why?” I asked with a bit of a demanding tone.
“Because it’s her, Forza,” She took a breath. “It’s Kiara.”
I slowed down a bit. “What, Kiara? With the Sun Jin?”
She turned around walking backward and gave me a confused shrug shaking her head. “I don’t know, Forza.”
“I can stop her.”
“I’m not taking that chance, ok? Now come on.”
I didn’t budge. “I can beat her, Shiinx! We can fight them back.”
With a flinch of frustration on her face she came back up to me and held my arm again. “Then what?”
“What do you mean then-“
“What happens after you beat her? More and more Sun Jin are going to come pouring into this facility. This team is way too small to be meant to be used as a hostile takeover force. They must have dispatched the nearest passing team to come after us as a first strike measure. Maybe it was to incapacitate us for now. There’ll be more. Besides, with your little problem in your head I don’t want you near her.”
“Shiinx, she’s-“
“Right now,” she interrupted again. “You’re my soldier and I’m ordering you.”
I’ve never heard her talk to me like this before. Was it the pressure of the situation? Realistically she was sort of right. I technically worked for Asuya Co. But Kiara, this was a Templar matter.
“Besides, I don’t want to lose you, Forza.” She eyed me with a suddenly sympathetic look on her face. “I need you. I can’t lose you now. You’re injured and…”
Oh. I see. That’s why she was being so instant. I could only stare back at her silently and read her eyes. If Kiara was a Templar I couldn’t let her be controlled by the Sun Jin. I know firsthand what happens when they get to use such advanced living weapons. Shiinx, damn. I… I need her too. I can’t lie about it.
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “Let’s get out of here.”
Per her wishes I would try to keep myself out of harm’s way but inevitably it wouldn’t matter. I was climbing into the side entry area of a cargo helicopter already prepped to take off when the power went out. The hanger was very dark only lit by the small opening in the ceiling where we would be exiting through and the lights from the helicopter.
“He’s in,” shouted Shiinx to the pilot.
As we started lifting off I felt something clasp my ankle tightly and yank me outward! At least I was able to catch a glimpse of who it was. Kiara threw me from the seat as we took off above her and over her shoulder to the ground. I slid some distance wincing in pain the whole time until I came to a stop and opened my eyes.
She was running toward me wearing a tactical Sun Jin gear set up with a black zip up combat vest and dark gray cargo pants. Hair was tied back and over her eyes were clear soft-gray tinted safety glasses. Set against her back, who’d have thought, a sword. At least it wasn’t in her hand.
Behind her I saw the helicopter lift off but it remained at a low altitude just out of reach. I saw Shiinx’s shocked face. I suspect she had figured out who this was and was scared. I refused to die in front of her!
“Forza!” Her voice shrieked through my ears as she let into the air above me as she approached.
By the time she landed I was already back up on my feet. The two of us stood in a combat ready posture only feet apart and we eyed each other sternly. She had a smirk on her face. It was surprising how well she looked considering the severity of her previous wounds. I suppose the same could be said for me. The wounds were tender but healed well.
“Sun Jin now, Kiara?”
“Only on the outside, for now,” she replied.
We kept our gazes locked on each other. She had a combat knife on her belt but didn’t seem interested in using it. It was probably for the best.
“For now, huh?” An obvious though went through my mind. “I’m guessing they found you when they arrived at the crash site and I’m guessing you lead them here, too.”
“Yes, they found me but it was your carelessness that brought them here. They tracked the equipment your dead friends left behind.”
“You realize that I was a Templar under their ranks once. They used mind control techniques and drugs to make me kill innocent people just so they could research new weapons. They also refused to let me go so how long do you think ‘for now’ will last? At the first sign of you being done with them they’ll turn on you.”
She smiled a bit as she replied, “I guess we’ll see. It sounds like you were an unwilling participant.”
“Kiara, they can’t have our power.”
“I don’t intend to give it to them, or anybody. I’m only here because they were looking for you. They say you’re a wanted man, Forza Ninetails. A secret military weapons project, I hear, but I don’t care about any of that.”
“What do you want, then, Kiara?” I had a feeling I already knew the answer. She made it clear before.
“Our reunion together, Forza. The darkness, inside of us, is alive. It’s a single being and it wants to become one again. It’s split between us, even others, and lusts to rejoin and become one again. It longings to return to Jethro but you…” At the last moment her attitude sure changed from a sense of passion to a hint of anger. “You damn boy… You refuse to let it. You hold it deep inside of you. You could become so much more but you refuse to let the darkness take over. You keep it locked away inside your mind. It plagues you and gives you nightmares and haunts you.”
With a snarl I gripped my fists. “How the fuck would you know about any of that,” I barked.
“Because your shadow told me, Forza.”
What? My mouth opened a bit. Was she somehow in communication with the thing inside of me? How could that be? She didn’t mention that before. And who was Jethro? I’d never heard this name before. Return to Jethro? Is that this darkness’s name? The name of its master?
“The creatures inside of us are part of the same entity. They’re the same. Why won’t you accept it and let it give you this unimaginable power? Together we can leave this place and rejoin Jethro. Or together we can do whatever we want. Just you and me. We can go back and destroy all those people who’ve hurt us in the past.”
At least I was right. She knew a lot more about what was going on inside of us than I did. I didn’t know it had a name for starters, or a goal of sorts. Taking deep breaths while listening I watched the helicopter with Shiinx in it hover high above us, still in the hanger. She was holding onto the railing and watching me. I wished she’d just retreat from the area. She was in danger this close to Kiara! But… how would she find me? They were trying to completely evacuate the station. She’d probably end up leaving the planet. I’d rather she leave here so I can find her later then watch her die before me. They were probably still having above us under her orders anyway. She didn’t want to leave without me.
“Kiara! I don’t accept it because I’ve seen what unimaginable power can do. I’ve been a darkness powered killing machine once before. At least with the Alliance I was killing people to save lives. Not taking them senselessly.”
“Revenge isn’t senseless. Don’t you want to kill Sun Jin Kaisara after what she did to you and all that hell she put you through?”
She really did know all about me. How? Was the thing inside of me feeding her this? “I’ll seek out my own sense of justice, and I’ll do it without the help of a darker power. For now I just want to live a semi normal life. I’ve been hiding here away from that bloodshed and it’s been just fine.”
Her posture changed. She grinned widely showing Amber Krowen teeth and took her sword in hand off her back. “I’m sure I can find other ways to convince you.”
“I’d rather die, Kiara.”
“That’s not what you said when Skithix offered you that out last time,” she said as she closed her eyes. Relaxing a bit she started laughing, really laughing hard, with an evil undertone. “The shadow inside of you has told me so much! I can’t wait to learn everything about you Forza!”
Skithix… that’s a name I hadn’t heard in a long time. He’s an agent of Kaisara and a dark shaman of the Nightfall Templar Tribe. That little bit of history can wait a while though.
“Besides,” she continued. “I know what keeps the darkness at bay and protects you from being taken over by this taint of Jethro inside. She keeps you sane and you confide in her like a child when you cry.”
No…! I looked up at the sky at Shiinx in the side opening of the helicopter. Don’t you dare damn it!
“What will happen to your ability to resist if something happens to her? What will stop you from becoming so consumed with sadness and hatred if something were to happen to her?”
“Kiara!”
With a sharp twist of her hips she simultaneously turned around, charged a small surge of screaming purple light between her fingers in a fist, and hurled it towards the helicopter.
That feeling of helplessness. It’s horrible. In seeming slow motion I watched this ball of Templar energy fly towards the helicopter. This couldn’t be happening. Tell me this was a nightmare!
I watched Shiinx’s face. To my surprise she didn’t have a look of fear on her at all. She had a look of determination, readiness, and cunning. She let go of the railing and dive out of the craft. In the face of danger she was smart enough to keep her cool, make a decision, and take the lesser of two evils. Helicopter explosion or damaging, but not fatal, wounds from falling to the ground.
With my eyes locked on Shiinx’s falling body I immediately began running towards her. As I passed Kiara the sky above us lit up with the explosion of the helicopter, debris and fire erupting in all directions. The fall probably wouldn’t killer her from that height but the debris and material falling around her, who knows.
I didn’t make it much farther than that though. As I passed Kiara the sound of a growl echoed in my ear and the shocking strike of a sudden fist impact against the back of my neck instantly blacked my vision and sent a ringing through my ears and a shocking pain down my spine. I collapsed. I hit the floor. It all went dark and this encounter was over. Shiinx…
03.01.41
That damned green Amber Krowen. She was there this time. Everything around us was darkness but walking towards me in the same Stalker Program uniform I saw her in years ago she grinned that sexy smile and lifted her hand to me when she was close.
“No!” I took a step back and scowled at her. “Fuck you, Sun!”
“Forza,” she said softly. She had such a beautiful voice, exactly like I remembered it. Her green and yellow eyes gazed into mine as a small innocent smile filled her face. Was this the same Sun I remembered or the Sun, I mean Kaisara, from when everything changed? She used to be so heartfelt. She had such passion but overnight so many years ago everything changed. That night with Tanuki. The night her father died on Amber Krowe.
“Stay back, Sun.” I growled a bit and looked over my body for where my weapons would be. I had nothing. I was naked. “I don’t trust you anymore.”
“Why not,” she asked walking towards me in her black jumpsuit and a flick of her long thick tail. “I gave you so much, Forza.”
“You took away even more. You took everything from me!”
“But if it weren’t for me you’d be dead.”
“Because of you I’m already dead, on the inside!”
“We were there for each other, remember? Remember when my father died?”
Everything in the atmosphere around me changed with the clicking of a bedside light. I was on my knees, on a bed, and she was on her knees in front of me. I took my hand off the hanging chain that I guess I used to just click the light on and slowly wrapped it around Sun. Her head was in my chest as she was crying. This was her room. This was a memory.
“They did this, Forza. This isn’t fair,” she screamed in agony.
“Sun,” I said softly, my eyes watered and kissed her forehead. “I know. I know.”
“They killed him…”
“He protected us. If he hadn’t done what he did we’d all be dead. Thousands would have died.”
She looked up at me and in a panic said, “If we didn’t go looking for him in the first place we wouldn’t have lead the System’s Alliance right to him. They couldn’t have targeted him with Longinus!”
I closed my eyes and when I opened them again we were on the windy rooftop. Amber Krowe… The massive city planet, my home. I held my hand out in front of me in the night sky trying to keep the wind out of my face as I watched the hundreds of System Alliance military craft retreat from the area. The night sky was light up with their helicopters and hovering transports and they were all slowly flying the opposite direction.
That man ahead of me on the rooftop across from the helipad. Sun was with him. Her arms were wrapped around him crying. He was also an Amber Krowen but a very unique one. His fur was a unique red, brown, and white combination and his head was more dog like then anything. His ears were swept back like Sun’s and mine but they were much shorter. His horns were also much shorter and much more curved then mine. He was wearing a black jumpsuit over a dark turtle neck. Slammed into the concrete blade-first were his two swords. The same two swords would later be used by Sun, and then me on Caisteal when I was used for testing against my will. With his hands on her shoulders he softly kissed her forehead and rubbed his cheek against it. This was her father. Sun Jin Kaisara’s father, Tanuki…
“It’ll be ok, honey. I missed you so much.”
“Please!” cried Sun, “Stay here!” She sounded so hopeless.
I remember what happened next. It had already happened before this moment but I forgot. The dream corrected itself though. Around me I saw the floating specks of a light all over. Spaced widely apart were small blue particles of light that would fade and disappear as they slowly rose toward the sky. It was doing this for hundreds of feet in all directions all over the residential block of the city.
“I can’t stay. I have to go.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek keeping his cheek against her forehead.
“No!”
“I’m so proud of you, Sun. You’re all grown up,” he sighed a bit. “I’ve missed you so much.” He tried to take a few steps back but Sun wouldn’t let go.
“This isn’t fair! We’ve finally got our chance to be together!”
“I know… I’m glad you came so we could at least have this moment together. Please remember this moment, ok?” He again kissed her forehead.
“I…” Sun remained silent a few moments and sniffed loudly with her eyes closed. “I won’t forget this moment…”
The small particles of light that were forming and fading around were continuing to appear and vanish and go upward at a much faster rate ever moment. They were rising so fast now that they appeared as small rays of light flying upward everywhere before fading. It was Longinus.
“I’ll protect you, Sun, until the end.” He took a step back but this time she stayed where she was and didn’t try to follow him. He walked backwards toward the ledge of the rooftop and stopped.
I used this moment to jog up and come to Sun’s side and rested my hand on her back, glaring Tanuki. What was he going to do to stop Longinus? How could he do anything?
With a grin he took the eyeglasses he had propped over the top of his head and tossed them aside with a small preparation hop in place.
“I love you, Sun.” With his last words he leapt outward with his arms spread a bit and began falling in freefall off the side of the skyscraper.
“No!” Sun tried to run forward but an amazing explosion of light filled our visions accompanied by a deafening high pitched harmonic buzzing sound! I couldn’t see. It was so blinding! When the initial flash was over there were still rays of a light flaring around from over the side of the building and sound slowly quieted down.
What happened next I couldn’t believe. For a few moments I heard the sound of massive amounts of air being pushed around, like an airplane splitting the air as it flew by, and it was coming from over the ledge. After only a few moments the enormous beast emerged. It was a gigantic dragon! Beautiful! It was all red with a long narrow body with fire pouring out from between its large armored scales running down its back. Large flaming balls of energy flew around its body leaving a trail of red light in their wake as they moved around with such brilliance and grace. It… it was Tanuki. Templar Dragon… I’d only heard of them before this moment. Sun had never told me Tanuki was one of these mythological Templar beings. It continued to slowly wave its gigantic wings through the air and as it rose higher kept its gaze on Sun. This was his goodbye… This was how he was going to destroy Longinus…
A dark brown sphere of light began to glow around its body and that high pitched sound came back a bit before the orb filled with light and shot into the sky in the form of a thick beam of light and out of view.
“No,” Sun mumbled in tears, staring up at the sky. I kept my hand on her back trying to just watch what was happing. Together we stood there on the rooftop staring up at the cloudless night sky through Longinus’s rays of blue light.
I could swear I saw it. I saw a small flash of yellow light. Just a small glow so high in the sky. The blue beams of light slowly stopped appearing and faded. Everything was suddenly quiet. I would later learn that the Longinus orbital particle cannon was indeed destroyed.
I couldn’t believe it. The Systems Alliance targeted this entire area with such a weapon. They used us and the military to catch him. Once we had him cornered and realized he was too powerful they retreated and targeted not only their own Stalker agents but also thousands of innocent people who lived here just to kill Tanuki. In the end they got what they wanted. Tanuki, the last Nightfall Templar Dragon and founder of the Tanukian Templar Tribe was dead.
Sun, back on the bed, gripped her claws into my back enraged but still crying. “I’ll avenge him, Forza. I swear to Varuna I’ll avenge him. I told him I’d never forget that moment.”
“I know, Sun. I know you’ll fight for what you believe in.” I leaned back a bit and slid my hand under her Amber Krowen chin and lifted it upward to face me eye to eye. “Sun you’ve made me who I am. You trained me how to fight. You taught me who the Templar are and told me things about your past that made me realize there really are those gifted with a power I never thought imaginable. You showed me that I was one of them. Together we’ve done some incredible things. We’ve defeated warlords, we’ve saved worlds, and we’ve done it together. I’m going to stay by you no matter what. You’re like the big sister I never had and you’ve given me a purpose for this life. I know you’re not going to stay here with the Stalkers and the SA after this, and I’m going to go with you.”
She slowly opened her eyes and looked into mine deeply. That look she gave me would be burnt into my memory for the rest of my life. “No, Forza. You’ll stay here. You’re not going down this road with me.”
“Why not? We’re partners.”
She took a slow breath and leaned back a bit, her face wet, but not actively crying anymore. “Not anymore. I think it’s time we go our own ways now.”
My eyes snapped open, but it was still going on. I was still dreaming, I knew it.
“We were always there for each other, Forza…” Back in the shadowy surroundings the image of Kaisara continued to walk towards me.
“That night on that rooftop and in your bedroom,” I shook my head furious, now sweating. “That was the day you died, Sun.”
“No it wasn’t, Forza. It was the end of just one chapter of my life and the start of another.” She stopped walking towards me and unsheathed her dual swords. They were the same two swords that Tanuki had left for her that night on the rooftop. She held them in her hands with the blade backwards the exact same way I used to. She was after all the one who taught me to fight and to kill. She was my mentor, my teacher, my master.
“Yeah, it was the end of that chapter. It was the end of our friendship. You disappeared and I never saw you again.” I gulped a bit trying to swallow some of the fear in my words.
Another sound echoed through the dream realm. It was a crunching sound that vibrated the world around me once and only for a moment.
“You became someone else… Kaisara, Sun Jin Kaisara, and over the next few years you’d create the Sun Jin Empire.”
“My father, Forza. They killed him. The System’s Alliance ruined my life. Everything I did with the Nightfall Templar, with Flarion. I became a glorious Redken, a leader of the Nightfall Tribe, and I did it all for him. My life’s work was for my father! They robbed my future from me that night.”
“And this is how you want to live now? A life of revenge?” Again the same echoing crunching noise filled my ears. In the dream it sounded natural and didn’t sound out of place at all. “And how do you justify what you did to me! You kidnapped me. Your people enslaved me and turned me into a beast. You did this. You did all of this. Everything is your fault!”
No no no… I felt it. I was getting angry. I could feel the nature of this dream changing. It was coming. The darkness was rising and coming for me. The anxiety was growing and I felt my chest clench a bit.
“You were my protégé, Forza. I said I wanted us to go our own ways but I knew I needed you. You wouldn’t come willingly. I forced you to come. I gave you my armor. The one of a kind armor forged from the scales of my own father capable of deflecting even the most powerful of energies. I gave you my swords, handed to me by my father as his dying gift, and I trusted them to you. I gave you everything you’d need to be at my side! We spent years together as trained assassins and I wanted you at my side again. You could have been my right-hand man.”
“You ruined my life on those days, Sun!”
“You betrayed me, boy. I gave you everything and you ran away. You can’t imagine the life you denied yourself. There is so much about the Templar I never told you that you’ll never understand. I could have given you the power of a god.”
I tried to take a step forward but with the sound of another reverberating crunch I fell limply to my hands and knees. What the fuck was happening? When I looked back up at Kaisara I didn’t see her. It was me. It was me in the Gotanenks Armor and holding the same swords, running my way. Again it wasn’t the same me I was at the time. It was the dark Forza. That shadow form of myself and as always in the nightmares was drenched in blood. It was the blood of thousands of lives I had taken against my will.
“I’ll always be here!” the voice was my own but it sounded different, twisted, gargled and vile. I hung my head again and felt the anxiety grip my chest. I couldn’t breathe and tears ran down my face. The last thing I felt was the gouging pain of my body being stabbed into and I saw the orange blade I once used to kill thousands slam into the ground under my stomach through my body.
I heard one more crunch sound and this time it was ten times louder. The shock from the sound forced my eyes to snap open. This time I opened them for good and I saw above me the blue sky with a handful of scattered white puffy clouds. Around me was the hanger of the Asuya Co station. It was empty and quiet. There were just too many dreams and nightmares and I’d never get used to it. At least this one wasn’t as violent as they sometimes are. Those bad ones...
It took me a moment to remember what happened. That’s right, Kiara, and the attack on the Asuya Co station. Kiara attacked. That’s right. I sat up a bit with a throbbing headache where Kiara had hit me knocking me out. I guess she left me here.
Oh! Shiinx! I quickly leaned up and looked over to where the helicopter’s debris was. There didn’t appear to be any bodies or anything in the area. No blood. There was nothing. Did they capture Shiinx? I tried to sit up faster but the pain intensified. Maybe I had a concussion. Slowly this time I sat up with a leg extended and held my hand over my aching head.
That crunching sound from before, I heard it again behind me! I quickly rotated myself and looked over to my rear. What I saw shocked me. Sitting in a resting position on its belly was some kind of great black beast. Its thick heavy black wings were folded to its rear over its back and its massive arms crossed across the steel floor in front of him. Its hind legs were folded gently and just rested there. This bird beast was massive. If it were to stand up it’d probably be twenty feet tall and sitting here was the size of a cargo truck or something. It’s big birdlike head with the red trimmed feathers sliding back from its cheeks smirked at me over his short orange colored beak. It was a griffin. A black one? Wait a second.
“I think it’s safe to say,” he said in a deep yet gracefully thick voice, “You got your ass kicked, Forza.” When he finished his sentence he reached over and with his large talons plucked a claw into an apple and slid it into his mouth. He crunching down on the thing whole. There was a whole stack of them at his side.
.
The griffin folded its arms together again in front of it and nodded at me a bit. “Breath, Forza. Relax.”
I tried listening to what he said to do. He was right. I had to relax.
“If you don’t relax you and I both know what’ll happen.”
“How do you know what’ll happen? What do you know?” I folded my feet under my rear and slowly sat my ass down on them, my lower legs flat on the ground and leaned over a bit with my hands on my knees trying to calm my mind.
“I know everything,” he said with a chuckle.
“I know who you are,” I mumbled feeling sweat get in my hair. “I remember you. Things are coming back now.”
“Oh you do?” He reached over and with another claw took another apple and slowly sucked it off his claw. “Good. Good, Forza.” He spoke with it in his mouth before crunching down on it. “What do you remember?”
“I remember that this is all your fault.” My mind was racing a bit. Things I had forgotten were coming back and I was trying to piece it back together. They were the things that happened after I escaped Sun Jin captivity with that woman I tried to describe to Shiinx but had forgotten the details about. They were the events that led up to me appearing on Tier.
“Oh, dear,” He shook his head and waved a claw. “You break my little heart with such harsh words. Why do you say that?”
Keeping calm I slowly leaned up and sat upright a bit trying to remember. “How come I don’t remember?”
With a shrug of its big shoulders he took a few more apples with his talons and dropped them into his mouth and as he chew them leaned his head forward. “You’ll let me know what you come up with, won’t you?”
“Of course,” I gulped down. I remembered this creature. I’ve met before, more times then I remembered. It was difficult to keep the memories of the months with the Sun Jin slaughtering people separated from the time after that when I escaped.
“Would you like some help,” he said calmly sucking on one of his talons a second. “I really can help.” With the words he chuckled a bit. His voice was deep and seemed to shake the very fabric of space between us almost as if it echoed on itself. It was amazing sounding.
This whole exchange between us was very awkward in how casual it was going. I felt a little compelled, if not by curiously, to trust him. “Yes, please.”
“One day as a child you realized you were gifted. You were stronger and faster than your friends.”
“Thanks to you, perhaps?”
I could see him nodding his head through my slightly opened eyes. “Oh yes.”
“At a young age I was drafted into the Systems Alliance military so I could use my powers, regardless of how untrained with them I was.” I rubbed my forehead a bit. Memory lane, huh?
“You ran into someone there, didn’t you?”
“I was quickly noticed and inducted into the Stalker Program, the covert operations team. Bunch of assassins and super soldiers like me. I was assigned as Kaisara’s partner.”
“Sun?”
“No, Kaisara…”
“Whatever,” he shrugged and again took an apple in hand. Fucking thing must have been hungry but then again the things were pretty small to him. “I should note that was never planned actually. I didn’t expect her to join the System’s Alliance military, especially since they were hunting my dear friend Tanuki.”
“She was looking for her father. They were too.” I kept a bit of anxiety back. I was doing a good job at keeping calm. “She kept her identity a secret and after a few years of working with her we found him, on Amber Krowe. He died.”
He made a concerned look, “Yes, she was very upset. You were there for her when that happened, Forza. I appreciate that.”
“Shut up,” I said as he finished his sentence.
The griffin flared his eyebrows with a chuckle and grinned.
“It was a dark moment for me. It’s when Kaisara disappeared and created her empire. She organized a peace between factions that the SA was trying to convert but refused. They were at war with each other and she offered a peaceful resolution by offering for all of them to join together under a unified flag to battle the Alliance as one to avoid being assimilated or assassinated by the Stalkers if they refused. With her powers as a Redken of the Nightfall Tribe and the armor made from her father she was unstoppable and they liberated Bethany. They created a war that would last for years and eventually stalemate.”
“Hmm… she told you about the Nightfall Tribe, did she? That was probably foolish to do so at such a young age. Did she tell you about me?”
“She…” I tried to think. “Yeah… You were her master. She served you. You raised her when you took her from her father.”
He smiled a bit. “I raised Sun like my own daughter. She was so beautiful and we loved each other. She gracefully led the Nightfall Templar tribe for several years with her wisdom, even at such a young age, and thus was granted the title of Redken, by me. She’s on her own now. She’s living her own life away from the tribe.”
“Your pet has declared war on trillions of lives.”
“Don’t worry.”
I slowly opened my eyes. “Don’t worry?” With my mouth a bit open I stared at him.
He slowly nodded. “Forza. Everything has been foreseen.”
“Because you’re some kind of god, Flarion?”
He snickered a little bit and shook his head stabbing his talons into another pair of apples. “I’ve been called a god, yes.” He took a big breath. “I’m flattered you remember my face.”
“You’re Redken Flarion, the leader of the Nightfall Tribe.” I exhaled a long breath trying to erase where this was going. I watched a scenario unfold in my mind where I would get angry at him for his words “don’t worry” but it would only lead me to more problems.
“What else happened? You were kidnapped if I’m not mistaken…”
11.30.38 – years ago
The setting here sure was ominous but it didn’t exactly phase me that much, not after all the traveling around the galaxy I’ve done the last five years. The Stalker Program had been good to me. I finally felt like I was making a difference in the Systems Alliance and they gave me due respect for my skills and work. I got to travel around the galaxy, see amazing places, meet interesting people, and then kill them.
I out staged almost all of the other SA Stalkers with what I now know are my unique abilities. I was a Templar. I’ve had these abilities since my maturity and never where they came from until I met my mentor in the SA, Sun Jin, also a Templar, and taught me the meanings of my power and where it came from. She told me about Varuna and tantalized me with stories of the Nightfall Templar and their homeland on the other side of the galaxy hidden amongst the other thousands of warring planets beyond System Alliance space. She taught me how to fight, how to focus my mind and abilities, and in times of need we were there for each other. She was my partner. Then something happened and Sun left. She left enraged with the Alliance we had worked for and vowed revenge.
Years later she is now our worst enemy. She created a rebellion that united hundreds of factions outside of Alliance control and aimed all their power and resources towards destroying the Systems Alliance. I’m surprised they hadn’t tasked the best of their best Stalkers, like me, into finding her and killing her. I know, however, that she was the strongest of us all and there was no way any of us, even in numbers, could put her down. Nobody but me knew about the Templar and their powers or that she was one of the most powerful of them. She had been handpicked by the Nightfall Tribes leader, Redken Flarion, to be a future leader for the tribe.
That time came and went and now here we are in the abandoned metro city of Didona, the planet Equis, not far from Sun Jin contested space. It was so eerie. The sun had recently set but the blue twilight across the horizon was still fresh when visible through the breaks of the heavy fog. The haze was thick and covered the whole city. Only the tallest skyscrapers peaked over the top.
There was a conflict here not long ago between the Sun Jin and the local Systems Alliance that was stationed here. The Sun Jin Empire warships overtook the Alliance, outnumbering them ten to one, and now a crashed warship a few miles from the city had been spreading radiation all through the region making it uninhabitable. The report was that there were survivors from the crash and one of which was supposed to be a Sun Jin general, a high value target. He was marked for death and so I was deployed.
Here I am. I walk down streets on the outskirts of this derelict place. It was so quiet. The sounds the small stone pieces of debris made under my boot as it grinded on the ground under my boot was so crisp and clean. My breath or the sound of my swords and equipment banging around could probably be heard for half a mile in the still air.
I did not like this. I was wondering blind around a city looking for camped survivors and the open yet foggy environment made me feel so small. Sure they were here someplace and I’d kill them but this kind of hunting game was not my style. The last mission I had I was airdropped from low-orbit in free fall and landed on a rooftop of an office building. Covert political assassination. I always knew exactly where my target was and so I’d just have to walk up, break through, or kill my way in to the target. Or destroy a building from afar, or whatever the situation called for. For now I just had to walk around and keep my ears open until my support ship could arrive and scan the area. I had a few hours yet and so with my advanced armor, swords kept on one side, and my rifle slung over my shoulder I walked in the night.
I had been out here for hours and all this time nothing had happened. Not an utterance of sound or sign of life besides the periotic cawing of the birds overhead. I dared not to make my own obvious sounds in case I would be alerting any Sun Jin patrols or soldiers left behind, or survivors from the crash. For all I knew there could still be an active military base in the city. Sure the reports said it was completely abandoned but mistakes have been made before.
My Amber Krowen ears twitched and I turned a bit looking over my shoulder. A noise caught my attention. It was something I couldn’t identify. While actually very quiet it sounded deep and wide, a resonating echo sound from a great distance behind me. I became more interested when it didn’t end. The humming noise seemed to get louder but only slightly as if whatever was making it was getting closer.
I narrowed my eyes a bit and looked back towards the way I was going to begin with. I took a second to examine the area for anything that could be used as potential cover in case something was actually coming across my path. When I looked over my shoulder again I felt my throat drop into my pit.
What the fuck was that? I only turned my head a second to look the other way and now this enormous monstrosity was coming toward me. It was gigantic. This gray colored mass of … something … spanned each direction side to side as far as I could see before it faded into the fog. Probably a half mile wide and coming my way quickly smashing through everything in its path. The roads, vehicles, streetlights, small buildings, everything was crushed or absorbed into the viscous mass as it approached. It appeared to be some sort of soft jelly like material or something and plated on the outsides with large chunks of elaborate armor. Was this some sort of life form? In the darkness and fog this organism was a horrifying sight.
Standing there and peering at it, when it was only a few city blocks distance away it slowed down a bit. From one of the long gray protruding leg-like extensions that laid flat on the ground toward me a part of the metal armor shifted exposing the jelly like skin underneath. The oozing membrane slowly rose out of the armor that supported it and raised into the sky like a gigantic worm the size of a skyscraper tower on its side and slowly bent my way as if it were looking at me. It must have known I was here.
I took a few steps toward it with a look of confusion yet fearlessness. If anything I probably looked angry. What was this? Was it some sort of alien life form? Could I destroy this thing on my own? I doubted it. It was gigantic. Something like this would probably need to be destroyed from space with an orbital attack or fighter craft bombing but of course neither of those was an option right now.
After I walked for a few moments watching the large tentacle bend back and forth keeping an eye on me I stopped and took both of my Templar swords that Sun Jin had given me in hand, holding them at the ready at my sides backwards, and waited to see what would happen next. The thing wasn’t moving towards me anymore. It was stationary. Probably for the best too because the downtown high-rise part of the city was just behind me a few miles and maybe this thing was on its way to level the place. Who knows? I guess I should have been flattered that it stopped what it was doing for just me.
The waving arm slowed down a bit as a yellow light bright enough to be seen from under its surface traveled down its length slowly starting from its core. A loud resonating noise filled the area again as it got closer and closer to the tip. I readied myself. I had a feeling I knew where this was going anyway and I was ready to … well … to get the hell out of the way of whatever it was doing. When the energy made it to the tip of the arm it opened up into three pieces like a jaw with three hinges and a continuous beam of yellow energy radiated my way. It crashed into the ground where I was standing a moment prior as I leapt to the side out of the way and began running as fast as I could to the side. The ray followed me for several seconds before it dissolved. A long trench remained where the light had impacted and traced along.
How was I supposed to fight this thing? I can’t just go up to it and start whacking away at it with my swords or knives. The thing was several city blocks in size. I’d never seen anything like this. Except for this swaying arm the rest of it was plated in armor that it also seemed to be able to control. I had no choice. I could at least see what I could do about wounding this arm.
With a newfound courage of knowing I had somewhat of a battle plan I started a charge towards the colossal beast. One of the traits that the Stalkers saw in me was my speed. I was fast. When I tried focusing this inner-power I’ve felt inside myself since my maturity I continued finding more and more abilities that made me seemingly stronger or more powerful than anyone else. I was a Templar. A rouge Templar without an allegiance to, as Sun taught me, were the Nightfall, Neverborn, or Tanukian Templar. I had no explanation for these skills before she taught me about them and helped me control them. It was our little secret. She too was one and as she’d told me she was in fact a very powerful one at that. She claimed she was one of the higher ranking spearheads of the Nightfall Templar Tribe. Using these powers she and I became the most powerful assassins in the Stalker program. Then she left.
In mid stride I came to a quick sudden stop due to an unusual sound I heard. In the sky over my shoulder a missile blazed towards the beast. It impacted along its side, nowhere near the unarmored arm, and was accompanied by a barrage of ammunitions from rifle fire. I looked behind me. I couldn’t believe it. It was the Sun Jin detachment I was here for to begin with. I could barely make them out behind torn city debris and their own vehicles. They had tanks too lobbing shells into the monster. All of the ammunition hitting the armored plates was doing nothing but one of the cannon rounds from the tank impacted square against the apex of the unprotected arm and it punched straight through one end and out the other. Purple puss and ooze blasted out of either direction. Gross but effective.
The wounded arm slammed into the ground, shaking it under my feet, and the metal plating quickly snapped back into place around it from the base down. The whole form again started crawling forward. I watched as this time other arms like it that had been stationary also rose into the air but at an incredibly slower rate. So the armor had been slowing it down huh? Better news for me. The continuous weapons fire from the team across the field was having little effect though.
Now what do I do? I have this monster in front of me that I probably can’t do anything about and behind me a unit of Sun Jin soldiers I need to destroy. Now hardly seemed the time but… well? I get the job done every time. If anything this life form, which for all I know could be a natural life form on this planet anyway, would likely only help me if it attacks them too.
I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off the creature. The armor padding on my legs wasn’t the best. I couldn’t have it be too heavy or plated because it would slow me down far too much and jeopardize me in combat. That’s why it wasn’t able to stop the foot-long black crystalline spike from piercing it. Striking my whole body with a wave of pain the ridged sliver was stopped midway through my leg and luckily it was only about a half inch wide. There were others I could hear flying past me and not all of them were so small. Still in severe pain and with the shard stuck in my leg I dived to the side and turned around right in time to feel someone else plunge into me and knock me onto my back.
Standing before me was a new figure on the battlefield. Armored with the same type of dark steel as the large colossus a tall bulky creature stood before me. Almost insect in design it leaned over hunched as it stood tall. Its two arms were covered in a bulky natural armor and its two small hands had four large metal talons for fingers. Its legs were much the same as well. Its hunched-over back was wide and plated along its back. Attached to the shoulders in front of the body was a small head made mostly of a large beak-like mouth and it had no eyes to speak of. Any part of its body that wasn’t covered in armor was covered in a faded white cloth wrap, including some on his extended head draping to the ground. The legs were bulky, large, and armored with features much like its hands including the large metal talons. In its claws it held a decorated almost tribal looking halberd spear. This was definitely a species I had never run across before. There aren’t a lot of insect races out there. This creature and the large monstrosity far behind it seemed similar in construct but of course completely different looking. The armor plating looked the same, the visible skin covering, and that look like it was artificially built. Its claws were metal! Not a normal natural trait.
“Forza,” it shrieked scratchily through its open beak mouth.
Great, it knows my name too. I clenched my teeth standing ready for anything. I didn’t have time to tend to the sliver in my leg. It hurt like hell but I couldn’t do anything about it right now. All around me others like it that missed were crashed into the concrete. Most of them were larger than this one so I suppose I should be grateful. The question came to mind if this guy was the one that attacked me with them.
Still hunched over it stood tall and slammed the base of its halberd into the ground. “Greetings,” it started. “So glad you could join us… on Equis.”
Damn its voice was annoying but despite the continuous weapons fire from afar I had no problem focusing on it. From something whose face is mostly comprised of a beak I didn’t know what else it’s supposed to sound like though. “Who are you? What’s going on here?”
It bowed a bit wrapping its massive talons around the handle of the halberd. “I am called Skithix, Exarch of the Nightfall Templar.”
Sun was from the Nightfall. She had told me this. She didn’t look like this creature though. She was Amber Krowen. So was Tanuki, her father.
As he continued he raised a claw in my direction, “I have sought you out, Templar, on behest of Redken Sun Jin Kaisara with the proposal of your cooperation.”
What the hell was he talking about? He was talking about Sun? Wait a minute. I’ve known that when she created the Sun Jin Empire she began going by her last name, Kaisara, I just refused to call her that to myself because I knew her for years as Sun. This thing was sent by her? He’s a Nightfall Templar? Her Templar allies are in the Sun Jin Empire doing her errands? A lot of “this could be bad” thoughts went through my head. Sun and I did so much amazing work for the covert Stalkers team because we were secretly Templar. Does this mean that the Sun Jin have their own secret Templar task force? It must be a secret. The soldiers are attacking this guy’s armored ooze dripping pet. They had no idea what was going on.
I shook my head with a growl and readied my swords defensively. “My cooperation? What are you talking about? If you’re Sun Jin then you’re my enemy.”
“I am not of the Sun Jin. I answer only to the Redken of the Nightfall.”
Sun had told me all about the Nightfall and her role in it before she came to Amber Krowe where I met her. Redken was the title of their leaders, like a king, or emperor. Sun was a retired Redken of the entire tribe who had left in search for her father. That’s how I met her. When he died right in front of our eyes at the hands of the Systems Alliance, she swore revenge and left. Now she had her own empire and using Templar to do her dirty work. Why is this one here to seek my cooperation? Sun told me I couldn’t join her because she didn’t want me to be exposed to the things she had to do and that the road she was on was one she had to do alone. She meant a lot to me and the death of her father had her devastated. I actually offered to go with her.
Shaking my head I still stood ready. “My home is Amber Krowe, with the Alliance. It has been ever since Sun created her empire.”
“You would be our most valuable asset, Forza. You are unique, different, a singularity.”
A snort escaped my nose. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think. I was sent here, alone, to a remote planet on a strange mission to assassinate a nobody and this guy’s here? This whole thing was some kind of set up. It has to have been. Why is my orbital support so far out? This is contested space. There’re hundreds of warships in the region. I get nothing?
“You can join Redken Kaisara and be at your master’s side once more willingly or,” he paused and raised the halberd with both hands holding it before him. “Or else fidelity and service will be forced upon you.”
Enough talk. With a growl I charged at him, leapt into the air and collided with him. He had a lot more mass than I did and so he didn’t fall down but did take a step back. I held onto part of his armor plate and looked down the length of his body. My sword plunged straight though torso. I let go of the handle, put my foot on it, and kicked off leaping over him. Landing close I took a smaller knife attached to a piece of armor on my spine and stabbed him in his unprotected side twice, once in his midsection and once downward into the space between its shoulder and upper back armor. Holding the knife tight I leapt back and onto my feet behind him. The pain in my leg set in fast. All that quick movement hurt. The sliver was still there.
He just stood there a few moments before slowly turning around to face me. He didn’t even look phased! Damn it! Nothing had changed about him. He wasn’t bleeding or anything. I felt the knife puncture tissue under those wraps though. Did he rapidly heal or something? My sword was even still plunged in its midsection.
All he did was chuckle at me through his beak. “You possess not what is needed to extinguish me, Templar.”
Catching my breath I hunched over a bit trying to not focus on my leg’s bleeding or pain. This wasn’t going to be easy. I’d never fought another Templar before. Is this what their power was?
Skithix began slowly walking towards me using his halberd like a walking stick. “I am the slayer of Templar Dragons, the consumer of souls, the blight of the living. I walk between realities to do the bidding of the Redken. ”
“I don’t need any of that shit. The Sun Jin Empire intends to start a war that’ll kill billions if they make it to Amber Krowe. We’ve never had a galactic scale war with the kinds of weapons we have now.” I clenched my teeth tightly and groaned at the pain in my leg. I was losing a lot of blood.
“There are things in motion now that you cannot begin to understand. The Redken and the Nightfall Tribe will return to power across all realms. Redken Atomis will be our mind, Lord Redken Flarion will be our body, and Redken Sun Jin Kaisara’s empire will be our sword.”
“No,” I shouted. “She didn’t create the Sun Jin Empire to be part of some master Nightfall plan. She swore revenge on the Alliance because they killed her father. I was there! I was the one who held her as tears ran down her face. I saw your mighty Kaisara at her weakest and I refuse to believe she’s doing this for you. Her empire is part of her own master plan. It’s a plan of personal revenge. That’s why I won’t join it.”
Skithix slowly began walking towards me again. He sure looked full of himself. “You are sightless, child. Do you see so little? Redken Kaisara was the one who crafted the master plan. Everything I just spoke was her conception! Redken Kaisara’s cunning and methodical scheming has been her greatest power since her birth.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’ll stop her.”
“You have no idea the power you’re denying yourself, Templar. You’re future amongst the chosen few.” A crackling laugh filled the area again.
Something started happening. I twisted my neck to look back at the gigantic monster, still under attack from the Sun Jin. It let out a loud ground shaking bawl before another charge of light started flowing up its arm. Sure it wasn’t moving half as fast as it was before but even armored it was still able to aim its appendage at the Sun Jin. With another gleaming discharge of light from its mouth-like tip the Sun Jin firepower was suppressed. The tanks exploded and bodies were tossed into the air. It stopped and the maw closed back up. Damn. I thought this guy was working for the Sun Jin. Why would it do that?
Skithix addressed me once more as his pet slowly lowered its arm. “Forza!”
I turned back to look at him with my mouth open. How was I supposed to defeat this guy? Would I have to go full bore on him with my powers? I’ve hardly ever had to use them since Sun taught me how to use hone them years back. What happens then? I kill Skithix but what about that colossal armored monstrosity.
“It is your choice to refuse us. We will fight and when you are a beaten and broken man, a living corpse hanging on for your life, then and only then shall I make the offer one final time. With your last breath you will decide if you live or die. You will decide if to become a glorious warlord or to rot as a carcass on the ground.”
I stood there and stared at him. It was strange. For a split second I felt almost tempted to just accept his offer. I could be by Sun again, my mentor. I could finally learn everything there was to know about the Templar. I know Sun held so much from me but it was probably for the best at the time. Sure it was only a few years ago but I’d matured a lot since then. I’ve spent most of my adult life engaged in this war as some sort of special soldier or covert operative and up until now it seemed like the newly formed Sun Jin Empire had no chance to build up enough power to stop us. Now I’m here, however, and I see she’s seemingly employed Templar to aid her cause. The thought of being some sort of leader for the empire and being the right hand for Kaisara sounded so fruitful to me. In my core I did resent the Alliance for what they had done to Tanuki, her father, but it wasn’t that different than the political assassinations she and I had done before where sometimes we’d even have to murder one of our own wayward territorial leaders that gained too much power and started to lose their way.
Instead of saying anything in reply to his words I tried to clear my mind. I’d been taught and focus on my core energies and now was a good time to ready myself. I closed my eyes and tried to let my body and mind blend into one. As hard as it was I pushed my fears as well as my confidence aside and just let it go. There was going to be a battle and I would have to use everything I had if I wanted to survive.
“Poor lost Templar. You can’t fully appreciate your unique gifts the way Redken Kaisara does. I don’t really comprehend what she sees in you.”
I let him have it, hard. With a shouting outburst I planted my legs and with my hands far apart extended my arms towards him. The ground instantly began shaking and cracking and an explosive force began cracking the ground between us and from it two trenches formed throwing rocks, debris, and dust into the air. I’d been taught better than to let loose like this with all my energy before but this was life or death. I had to kill him quickly.
“Foolish!”
With large boulders unearthed from the ground still airborne I grabbed my one sword off my belt and dashed through the dust and debris with an incredible speed. I was propelled forward with by the explosive force of compressed space snapping back to normal and my feet only touched the ground twice over the distance. I didn’t understand. I traveled past where he should have been. I slammed my sword into the ground and dragged it with me trying to slow down. Instead of him I found my other sword, the one I had in his stomach, laying on the ground. With the dust and gravel settling down I quickly snatched it up and quickly scanned the area for him.
“You cannot defeat me, Forza.” Skithix’s strange hollow voice echoed as if spoken right in my ear but he was nowhere to be seen.
I quickly learned where he was… The impacting force knocked me so hard I woke up a second later on the ground probably twenty feet from where I was standing the moment before. His halberds blade had cut right through the armor around my leg immediately beside the dark crystal sliver, gouged straight through my muscle tissue, and came to a stop against the sliver itself. Without it being lodged in my leg he would have cleaved it clean off. I couldn’t breathe. It hurt so incredibly bad and the shock of the impact and the pain stopped my brain from functioning correctly or something. I couldn’t breathe! Finally after a few moments I took a deep fast inhale and screamed out as loud as I could. The jolting sensations of agony continued to pulse through my body and I realized that it couldn’t have been just from the attack. Something he did must have amplified the pain. Maybe it was his ability or power.
There he was. My vision was shaking but I could see him slowly making his way towards me, holding his axe horizontally with his large metal claws wrapped around it. Groaning loudly I lifted one of my hands and aimed it in his direction with my fingers open. Slowly I closed my fingers towards each other slowly making a fist and a loud grunt of effort mixed with pain uttered through my throat. The small debris and stones on the ground around Skithix began rising from the ground and smoothly traveled towards a central point where he was standing.
This was one of my primary abilities, the condensing of space. It takes a considerable amount of effort and concentration but whatever is there when I do it usually buckles, implodes, or dies. The problem is that it’s not very effective against Templar at all. Templar draw their energies from the ether around them so when the atmosphere around them is tampered with it usually has little effect. Their own bodily energies negate it. One could, however, blow something up around someone with space compression and let the debris do the work. If one could crush an entire star ship I highly doubt there’d be any survivors. It’s not like I could do that though. That’d be incredible.
At this specific moment I hardly had any concentration and couldn’t harvest much power. The small rocks traveled towards Skithix but with a small lift of his hand a dozen of those black crystalline shards of all different sizes and form materialized seemingly out of nowhere and took up position around him. The debris around him didn’t come any closer than those shards. It was so aggravating! This guy won’t die! With the sound of a soft zephyr his body turned into a haze and rapidly blew past me while the crystals around where he was standing dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Like a few moments earlier… the shock of the pain. Before I could roll over and see where he went I felt the searing pain of his halberds spear tip gouge into my stomach. The pointed arc tip of the axe blade also punctured into my stomach near my navel. I cried out loudly. Pain compounded by more pain. He was killing me and I had no way to defend myself. I could hear the tip of the spear grinding against the concrete beneath me, nailing me down, leaving me hopeless. The boiling blood rushed through my body and as I thrashed my head back and forth grinding my teeth growling. He just stood there over me, empowering me, staring down at me.
His beak opened and a long sigh escaped his maw. “You don’t want to die, do you? You’ll be left in this desolate place and your corpse will be consumed by the rodents.”
With what energy I had I tried to take a hold of the pole and pull it out but I couldn’t do anything. I’d never felt so weak before in my whole life. Is this how I was going to die? Had the Systems Alliance set me up? Did they send me here to be ambushed by this Templar? How did he know I was going to be here, right here, in this city? Why would they do that? I was their greatest covert assassin. My chain of thought was washed away by another rush of pain and the growing fear that I truly was about to die.
Skithix held tight onto the poll and quickly shifted it to the side, rocking the tip of the axe further into my stomach. I moaned out again in pain. I could feel the blood running down my sides and leaking out of my back. This is what he was talking about. He wanted to take me to the brink of death.
“No!” I screamed feverishly choking on my words.
“What is that, Forza?”
“I don’t want to die!” Tears rolled down my face. I didn’t want to die… I’m afraid of death. I have always been. I’ve been so strong I rarely stopped to think about my mortality and now that I’m here the only option that makes any sense to me is to concede. I wanted to survive at all costs. I don’t want to die. Who knows what his plans were with me. The same tempting thoughts I had earlier about being Sun Jin’s right hand man went through my mind again but this time it wasn’t in a power-hungry way anymore. I was afraid of it but not as much as I was afraid of dying.
“Ah, yes,” Skithix started. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
I felt halberd blade withdraw from my gut and when I opened my wet eyes I saw his arm extended outwards away from me. The two Templar swords I had been using this whole time flew through the air towards him and came to a stop hovering side by side. He seemingly examined each of them for a moment.
“Redken Sun Jin will want these returned to her, Templar,” he said as he lowered himself over me. Now in complete fear I closed my eyes tightly as his steel claw tips run down the side of my head gently.
Something struck me in the core of my mind. I don’t know what better way to describe it. It was as if my brain was smashed by a hammer and I felt nothing. Everything was quiet. That bastard must have done this. Some sort of cerebral attack on my mind, maybe.
“What beautiful nightmares this one will have, Jethro.”
At the time… I had no idea what that name meant. Now I know.
03.03.41
Flarion chuckled to himself. “Didn’t go so well, I guess?”
Turning my head a bit I swallowed some of my thoughts and memories. I tried to derail my thoughts before they went to where I couldn’t control them.
“Forza,” Flarion said.
“What,” I replied sharply.
“You can skip the next few months. I already know what happened. I know what you were forced to do after you were captured.”
I shook my head a tiny bit as a drip of water ran down into my cheek fur. “You could have stopped it.”
Shaking his head was the only reply he gave at first before taking a long breath. “No I couldn’t have. You would have been infected the moment I laid eyes on you. Instead someone else freed you.”
“Rio!” I remembered her name suddenly. She was the female Caistealian fox that freed me from the research facility. The one I told Shiinx about before I went in for my operation to fix my battle wounds Kiara gave me. I suddenly remembered her amber eyes. I could recall the feel of her soft fur when she held me tight trying to keep me from collapsing in on myself from anxiety after the two years with the Sun Jin. She’s the one that kept me safe as we tried to hide from them.
“Yes, her. She was very beautiful, Forza. I was very grateful for her rescuing you. You two hid together in a small village on Caisteal until one day…”
The memories were all coming back. The space between my escape and my arrival on Tier, here. It almost hurt but I felt I was doing a good job at keeping it coming in the correct order. I remember that crimson night that they came for us in that small farming village. “The Sun Jin found me. They attacked the village. They were dying. They were trying to run away.”
“They were, Forza.” I noticed the tone of his voice changed a little bit. “This was exactly what you should have been trying to do. Instead you felt compelled to try and fight these soldiers, alone, trying to…”
“It was retribution. I hated the Sun Jin. I wanted to defend the same people I had been used to slaughter. I remember now. You were there.”
He took a deep breath through the nostrils on his beak and tapped his talons on the steel floor. “I had no choice but to intervene. You would have died. I had gone long enough not contacting you and instead trying to simply manipulate the events around you trying to guide you. Don’t you understand yet? I’m not supposed to be making direct contact with people like you, Forza. Because you were running headfirst into a battle you couldn’t win you left me no choice but to interfere and in doing so-”
“You,” I interrupted sheepishly. “You infected me with the darkness.” I gulped. That was the moment. I was fighting those soldiers in nothing but my cargo pants and a t-shirt. I remember their blood on my hands and using the full ability of my powers. I didn’t have the Gotanenks Armor with me during that attack but I had my abilities. Before I was infected I would use them to cut them down so freely. I was lucky that day that so many of them were using melee weapons and trying to beat me at my own kind of warfare.
I had noticed that I was much smaller than the Bethians, the feline-like native race from Bethany. I could use the already short size to my advantage.
The two Sun Jin close quarters combat soldiers were a good distance apart from each other and had their swords ready. I remember I quickly reached down and grabbed the short sword the one I just killed was using and I started jogging head on towards them. As I approached my speed picked up and just as the first came close enough to fight I slid onto my knees and leaned back, sliding right between the tall footman’s legs. As I went under I twisted around and slashed at the back of the unguarded ankle and as I rose to my feet I guided the blade up the back showering myself in a quick blood spray.
I shook my head a moment trying desperately to keep these memories separate from when I was killing the innocent. I used these same combat abilities just months prior when I was slaughtering people. For a fraction of a second I was almost glad I had forgotten about this battle.
The other came close enough for combat and took a wide swing at me but I just ducked a little bit. I dropped my sword and dived onto the Sun Jin soldier. I didn’t have the body mass to knock him over just by jumping against him but instead I grappled the top of his armor with my hands and put my feet on his chest. I balled my fist and knocked the sword up and away causing the Bethian to release it spinning into the air behind me. With a quick head butt and kick off I was pushed with an incredible amount of force into the air. The soldier took a step back stunned while grabbing his face in pain. I remember that. In the air I grabbed the sword and with an unbelievable amount of force for my size launched the sword so fast blade-first into the chest of my target that it left a ripple effect in the air as it tore through it.
“You gave me these abilities to kill, Flarion?”
“When you were very young, yes. I never intended for you to become infected with the dark forces inside of me but you were outnumbered one-hundred to one.”
“You came into my head. You told me that I wasn’t supposed to be there. I don’t really remember what else you said but,” I fully opened my eyes and looked at him. “I honestly don’t remember what happened from that moment on. The battle never ended.”
“You,” he replied slowly, “You were unconscious. Rio saved you and pulled you out of the fray. She killed a few of the soldiers near your body and pulled you aside. The village you were in was destroyed and many people died. Your body was infected with the darkness… of Jethro.”
“Jethro,” I repeated, listening.
“Yes, Forza. It has a name. I’m sure by now you’ve realized that this thing inside of you truly is alive. It feeds off your fears and agony and makes you do whatever it wants you to do.”
“I’ve been fighting it back and trying to keep it at bay.”
“I know,” Flarion said loudly and excitedly. “I am also oh so very proud of you. I’ve never seen anybody keep it oppressed like you have but when you woke up after that battle you ceased to be the Forza you remembered. You became something else. The new monster inside of you quickly spread and you, for the first time, used it to its nearly full extent.”
Trying to remember what I could I looked down at my knees, still resting gently. “I … don’t remember.”
“Using the armor and weapons you were testing for the Sun Jin to begin with and the swords Kaisara used which she gave you, you single handedly assault the research base where you were held captive. The seed of Jethro took over and its first impulse was the blood of those who hurt you. Vengeance and retribution. You were wild, Forza. You massacred so many of them. You cut them down and nobody could stop you, especially with the tools you had. Your armor was, for Templar armor, amazing. Sun really did outdo herself in creating it.”
“Then what happened, Flarion?” I demanded, “How did I end up on Tier?”
“I happened. You were overtaken once again. Blind by rage and the thirst for blood you took on more than you could handle and were nearly killed. I appeared, and saved your life, again. I really was rather upset with you this time though.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” I snarled as I slowly rose to my feet. “I had no conscious control of myself.”
“Oh man, I know that already,” he chuckled. “Believe me I know how it feels to lose yourself.” Flarion ate another apple. It was the first he’d eaten for a while. “I transported you here, Forza. To this place.” With his apple-juice dripping claw he gestured to the area around us.
“Tier?”
He nodded in reply. “Yeah, this place. You have no idea how much energy it takes to literally teleport you like that, Forza.” His words were still casual and calm. It was rather impressive yet somehow it was kind of soothing. It kept me calm too. “The process, and energy used to do it sort of,” he paused and shifted his eyes upward bit making a thinking hum.
“Sort of what? What did it do?”
“Well?” He made a smile from the muscles around his beak as he gestured towards me. “Sort of changed you a bit physically, didn’t it?”
I snarled a bit. Bloodtiger. This altered color of mine. The darkness appeared in me from the battle in the town in Caisteal, and then I was unconscious for the rest of it until after he transported me to Tier. So in my eyes I woke up with the darkness and physically altered. I knew the two were related…
“Yeah it sure did that, didn’t it? It also strengthened the darkness inside of you and made you, darn, how do I say it?” With a big talon he scratched behind his ear.
“Spit it out,” I shouted.
“You weren’t quite yourself when you landed here,” he said with an innocent smile. “You were, erm, wild and animalistic. You probably were not having a good time up here,” he gestured to his head, trying to talk about the mind.
All I could do now was stare at him. “Told you it was all your fault…”
Flarion stabbed his talon into another apple and with his wings unfurling a small amount gave a big shrug. “Well? I had to save your life. You were going to die,” he went to put the apple in his mouth but hesitated a second and looked at me, “…again.”
“So, all of this that happened to me was a side effect of you saving me, and transporting me here?”
“Like I said, Forza, I’m not even supposed to be making physical contact with your kind. See what happened when I did? You were infected by Jethro’s darkness the first time and then you lost your mind and turned into an animal for a few months after the second. Rest assured though that this is the last time I save your ass, Templar. Three strikes and you’re out, I say.”
I took a few steps closer and gave a questioning look. “Then why are you here now?”
“Well,” he said with another small laugh, “I think you’re messed up enough as it is. I don’t think you can get any worse than this.” He paused and thought about something. “Right, that’s actually accurate. I think you’ve reached the maximum messed-up level.” He gulped down the apple and again chortled, “At least for now.”
That sounded so reassuring… “Why Tier, Flarion?”
With another apple in his mouth he lowered his chin and looked towards me since I was pretty close now. I could see him sucking on it inside of his beak as he just eyed me quietly. “Well,” he said softly. It was sort of hard to clearly hear him as he had the fruit in his mouth. “Why not? Is there someplace else you’d rather go?”
What a crock of shit. I sensed the lie in that a mile away. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. “What about that woman, Kiara? You gave me this ‘Jethro’ darkness. She has it too. Did you give it to her too? Did you bring me here to find her?”
“Forza,” he said softly after he swallowed the apple whole. He ever so slowly unfolded his wings outwards to his sides. It was an impressive sight to see. They were massive. With a quick stretch he rose up a bit and sat on his rear and pulled his wings back in. “The darkness inside of you is the same darkness inside of me. I live with the exact same problems you do. Believe me. There have been entire years that I lose who I am and when that happens, bad things happen.”
“You… Like what, Flarion?”
He offered me no answer to my question. I don’t think he intended to tell me what he’d been through and I think he was trying to avoid the Kiara topic. I’ve heard that Flarion was old, very old. When Kaisara was teaching me how to harness my powers she talked of Flarion as a god and spoke of how he’d been around for eons. If she really was one of his right hand men then I had no reason not to believe her. Who knows what he’d seen over his life.
“Forza, about Kiara. I believe it is in your best interest to try and help her.”
“You do know her, then?”
“Not much differently than the way I know you, really. She was saved by me as well and in doing so she also was infected. She has fallen victim to Jethro and unlike you can’t wake up. Like you were before you found Shiinx and her love she is just a puppet and lost inside of herself. I need you to isolate and save her from herself.”
I get it now. It all came together. Heh, it really was that easy. “You can’t do it yourself so you brought me to Tier to do it for you, right? It’s that simple, isn’t it?”
Scratching the back of his ear again he appeared to think to himself a bit looking up at the clouds before returning his gaze on me and once again shrugged like it was nothing. “Yup. I guess so.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you just say so?”
“Well, things are in motion now that nobody can control and you only need to know so much. How’s that?”
Damn this guy. He said it like it’s not a big deal. Does he care about what he’s doing to others or how they feel? We’re not all gods and while this may be just another galactic walk in the park or game to him this was my damn life he was talking about. “That’s not good enough! What the hell going on?”
With that he stood up on his hind legs and winked at me pointing his talons at me with his thumbs up. “You’re the man, Forza. Don’t worry. You’ll find out. Pretty soon, actually.”
“How soon is soon?” By now I was shouting demanding answers. While I was getting a bit more violent I wasn’t delving into my mind or dark past so I wasn’t worried about losing my sanity. I was just mad.
“Like,” he started, scratching the back of his head, “A year or two?”
“A few years? What the fuck, man?” I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “I have to play this little game of yours for years?”
“Why not? You’ve been playing my little game since you were a child. I’ve been watching you for your whole life, Forza. I told you everything has been foreseen. Everything that has happened to you was done so the way I planned with the exception of you becoming infected with a sliver of Jethro. The first order of business to get things back on track is to fix that little problem.”
Oh, the words he said made my heart sink into my stomach. Fix it? He could do that? “There’s a cure for this? You can fix me and make me normal again?” I didn’t even realize I was still shouting. Maybe it was because he was so big and I wanted to make sure he could hear me.
“Yeah, Forza. I can fix you but I don’t have the tools, yet, to do it. It just so happens, however, that the tools I need just so happen to be where you’re going next anyway.”
“Fuck that, Flarion. I’m not going anywhere.” I pointed over to the horizon. “Shiinx is out there someplace. The Sun Jin have her.”
“Kiara, actually. She has her.”
“What the fuck?” I put my hands to my head and gawked with my mouth open. “How’s that better?”
“It is better,” he assured me. “She won’t execute her for being a spy.”
“Is she going to hurt her?”
As he shook his head his feathers ruffled a little bit. “No she’ll be safe.”
“How can she be safe? Kiara is insane!”
“Because,” he replied. “She’d need her alive to lure you in of course. Kiara isn’t working with…” he leaned his head down a bit towards me, “Want to know a secret?” he put his big head by mine.
“What,” I said not amused.
“Kiara isn’t working for the Sun Jin. Within a day or two she’ll probably betray them anyway and come looking for you.
“Good. Then I’ll stop her.”
“Not yet you won’t! You need to help me get the Rainru.”
With a small growl I turned a bit and started walking away. “Forget your plans Flarion. You’re the god-like character. You don’t need me. I’m going to go save Shiinx.”
“Hey, Kiara’s that way.”
Curiously I turned around and looked. He was pointing behind him over his shoulder.
“Like a thousand miles that way. So start walking if you want.”
I sighed. “Flarion, help me stop Kiara.”
“I have every intention to but not before I recover the Rainru.”
“And what is the Rainru, Flarion?” Not amused. “How is that going to help?”
“I can’t cure you Forza” He actually sounded a bit upset. “I can’t cure either of you. The Rainru sword can. That’s all you need to know.”
Realistically I could sense there was more to it than that but being cured of this parasite was good enough for me. I just wanted to be returned to normal and take Shiinx away from this mess. I’d take her to Amber Krowe so we can be safe and I could protect her. No more war. I’d been out here being kicked around by someone or another for the last ten years of my life.
“Where’s the Rainru, Flarion?”
“In a vault someplace on Eveny.”
“Eveny is the Neverborn Templar home world. I don’t know where it is.”
“You know that already, huh? I guess Sun told you a lot.”
“I know that you’re part of the Nightfall Tribe. You’re supposed to be their enemy. Why would they not want you to have that sword, Flarion?”
I lost count how many times he’s shrugged this evening but he did again.
“It was mine to begin with, really. It was stolen from me some time back. I have a decent reason for not just going in and taking it by force, actually. If I went and tried to take it they would try and stop me. In retaliation to make sure they don’t impede my goals I’d probably defend myself and people would die, Forza. I could even lose myself like you have and then I don’t know what would happen. Either way I would have my sword.”
“So I’m going to be your little ambassador and just ask nicely and hope they give it up?”
“Now you’re thinking like a team player, Forza. Just remember they wouldn’t willingly give me the sword if it were me. If they even suspect you’re tainted by Jethro,” his tone got serious a moment, “They’ll may want kill you, Forza. Jethro is an infection they want to stop from spreading at all costs.”
“Great.” That’s wonderful. This was getting more and more complicated. I had the answers of my past figured out but now I’m being sent on another mission? For this guy?
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Forza?”
“You want me to steal the damn thing, I get it.”
“Well, at least get close enough to find out where it is located. I’ll do the rest.”
I crossed my arms and looked up at him. “I’ll do it,” I said. “But only because I trust that somehow this will save Shiinx and free me from this hell.”
“Good. Here,” he extended his hand with the last apple he had. I took it and looked at it curiously and when I looked back at him he was marching away on all fours.
“Ok, apple. When do I leave for Eveny?” As I finished the words I felt a sensation. I felt lighter suddenly and the ground around started glowing. A strange glowing patterned ring appeared on the ground with gleams of light glowing upward from the glyphic symbols. Something was about to happen.
“This time I won’t be watching your back. Find the Rainru. I’ll know when you’ve located it. That Templar blade for your freedom and Shiinx’s safe return.”
“And then what,” I shouted through the growing humming sound around me. “What will you do about Kiara?”
“I’ll do nothing,” he said stopping to look over his shoulder at me. “It’ll be your job to bring her to her senses. That’s why you’re here in the first place.” He turned around a slightly and looked over his broad shoulders a bit over his folded wings. “You love Shiinx, yes?”
“Of course I do. She’s the only thing keeping me together. I need her, Flarion.”
“She holds the darkness back. Would you kill to get her back?” He shot a sinister looking grin at me. I hadn’t seen a look like that look on him this whole time.
“Maybe I would,” I replied. “Depends.”
“Would you destroy the stars themselves to bring that love, that lifesaving love, back to you and save yourself from that hell?”
I didn’t reply. I just eyed him and ignored his cryptic talk.
“Good luck, Forza,” he said with a deep laugh.
Feeling weightless I watched him walk away as the entire area around me filled with a bright white light. This was it. It wasn’t about the Sun Jin or the System’s Alliance anymore. This was the start of a whole new chapter. I was being dragged into the Templar’s affairs and seeing, once and for all, the extent of their world. I can see with my own eyes exactly what Sun had told me about. Eveny, for starters. I’d heard a lot about it. Rio had spoken of it as well I think. Some fragmented memories that were still coming back.
Sun had told me that a long time ago the Neverborn and Nightfall were engaged in a long series of wars that lasted for generations and that they’d been in an uneasy peace for quite some time now. It was obvious the way things have been going that it’s very possible that Sun Jin Kaisara fully intends to not only defeat the System’s Alliance but also defeat the Neverborn. She has Nightfall Templar within the Sun Jin Empire. They’d follow her to their deaths because of her status with them, a former Redken of the tribe. Neither the Systems Alliance nor the Neverborn Templar had any idea what was in store for them.
Redken Sun Jin Kaisara and her master plan…
My eyes had been shut. It was quiet… calm… tranquilized by an outside influence. Everything was still and the air was so cold. I felt sick to my stomach, weak, frail, and my mind suddenly started racing frantically as I realized something was wrong.
This wasn’t right. Where was I? I could feel grass under my body. This wasn’t where I belonged. I’m a stranger here. I felt afraid, feeble, and scared. I opened my eyes and could see the green and wet grass beneath me lit only by a gentle moon light. I got to my hands and knees… had to get up. Couldn’t stay here. I immediately threw up. I didn’t care. It came out and ruined the grass. It burned and the coughing didn’t help but I didn’t care.
On my feet… my vision was so blurry. There were lights nearby. Houses? A village? Farmland? Stumbling a lot… hard to walk but I had to press on. I needed answers. I needed something! Anything! My head hurt so badly and I couldn’t think. Someone lay me down on a bed or something soft. Someone hold my hand. Get me through this!
People were approaching. They had flashlights or something. I could hear their commotion and questioning sounds. They were coming straight towards me through the grass. What did they want? Who were these people? Some sort of canine race, dogs. Earth toned fur colors.
“Are you ok?”
“Who are you?”
“What happened?”
What were they talking about? That’s what I wanted to know! What happened? I want to close my eyes and go back to sleep. This was all happening too fast! Make them go away!
I took a step back and felt something against my hips. My swords! The Templar swords… These were Sun’s swords. Not mine. I hadn’t seen her in years. Where did these come from? My armor was different too. This wasn’t my armor. It was heavier and used more cloth like materials draping from my shoulders and hips covering all my sides in a layered heavy material. My swords, that’s what I focused on. With a confused growl I took them in hand and took a battle stance.
“Wow now stranger. It’s going to be ok! No need for that! What’s your name?” This one, a male, kept talking to me. He wouldn’t shut up! “We aren’t going to hurt you…”
Make him stop! Get these people away from me. They were circling around me! Get away from me! The splashes of blood, the red rain, the screaming… I had to make them go away.
I heard a gunshot and when I turned my head to see where it came from there was another. This time a bright green force field like shield with hexagonal patterns flashed between me and the source of the gunshot. Where did that come from? Make him go away! There he was. I saw him scared and aiming a primitive pistol at me. More knives… I took one from my belt and with killer’s precision hurled it his way. It arced in the air just right and hit him in the center of his furry throat. A splash of blood… he wouldn’t be bothering me anymore.
More came at me with weapons now. Knives and swords. They didn’t stand a chance. One ran towards me and with a feeble swing of his sword I just stepped to the side. He tripped on himself, falling forward, and with an upward swing I removed his head.
Two others came my way. I extended my arm his way and two foot-long armored diamond shaped projectiles flew over my shoulder leaving a small steam of red light where they traveled and smashed into their chests with an explosion of blood. The force of the impact knocked them onto their backs and the flying projectiles remained. What were these? They shot into the air and with a buzzing sound flew back to me. I didn’t fear them. I knew somehow that these were mine. They quickly darted towards my leg and attached themselves to some sort of casing there that stored them. These were my weapons.
I felt him approaching. I turned around and grabbed the first of a man who tried to strike me. I held his hand in my fist as another one of those flying bladed projectiles shot upward, its fins extended, and severed his hand at the wrist. His screaming was loud. I wanted it to stop! I tossed his detached hand aside and ended him.
The others stopped in stared at me in fear. That’s right. Get away from me. As ordered they started running but that wasn’t good enough for me! Not this time! With an explosively volatile and furious wail I cased them down. I killed them. I entered their homes. I killed everybody…
Everyone is dead. I saw them all. Counting bodies like sheep. Their blood is everywhere and there are hundreds of bodies that won’t get back up again. There was so much blood. Sprays on the wall. Puddles on the pavement. It was everywhere! It was in on my hands, my hair, and my fur was drenched in it. I could taste it as it ran down my muzzle into my mouth.
After it was all done I stood in the empty blood stained dirt street with swords in hand breathing hard. It was done. Nobody would bother me anymore. It was quiet and calm. No more screaming or crying. No animals barking or electrical noises. They interrupted my peace and now I only had one wish… go back to sleep.
10.05.32 - 8 years ago
My name’s Rio Narro, a Caistealian fox, and my situation really sucks. I pressed my back as tightly as I could against the crumbled debris of some collapsed building as I clenching my rifle as against my light chest armor trying to keep low. I had to avoid the heavy gunfire blazing just inches over my head! I was a little concerned. Who wouldn’t be, huh? The smashed up concrete behind me with rebar hanging out all over the place was only so thick. The thought of what would happen if a mortar shell or some other kind of explosion in the area would do to me continuously crossed my mind. Those stupid little thoughts about why I was there, the youthful military brat that I was.
I had been separated from my platoon and alone. On the other side of the road and behind my shelter were probably a dozen Alliance commandos, well-armed and well trained. Everything around me was gray. The torn up streets, crumbled buildings, dust and smoke everywhere, all the signs of a true urban battlefield. I couldn’t even see the sky that day because of the haze.
This wasn’t where I wanted to die. I had thought that joining the rebellion to free Bethany was the right thing to do. My people on Caisteal, another planet in the same system as Bethany, though as passive as we had tried to be, didn’t want any more of these wars in our region of space to continue. We finally had an opportunity to join forces, everybody, and unify our cultures and end our warring. I was still young and afraid of death though.
I put my hand on my helmet, pulled it off, and dropping it to the ground. Probably wasn’t the best idea, warzone and all, but my head was hurting. This had been one hell of a long day. I put my hand over the top of my cold orange-furred muzzle and took a long breath with my eyes closed, trying to, for a moment at least, ignore the gunfire noise. It was freezing out. I had to keep my ears flat against the back of my head to keep them somewhat warm and my tail wasn’t too fond of it either. Oh well… Winter on Bethany.
The snap of a bullet hitting the wreckage near my head brought me back to the fight. I suppose I had sort of dozed off for a minute in thought and probably not at the best moment. Maybe you think about those kinds of things when you think you’re trapped and have no way out.
Don’t know why I was so afraid this time. I’ve killed many times before. I’m not too shabby with a blade but I prefer my guns. I slowly turned around and put my hand on the upper part of the cover and by stepping on some of the debris I was able to take a quick peek over the top. There were six of them, walking my way, not too far away. Taking a quick second I took a good breath to ready myself and looked at my rifle, switching it to single shot. As ready as I’d ever be I kicked over another slab of concrete to climb up just high enough to get my head over the debris, took aim, and pulled the trigger firing a single round. I aimed slightly to the side, pulled the trigger again, and slid down the slab again. It was so nice. That may have been a speed record for me. Pretty sure the first one was hit just below the neck and the other was right between the eyes. Of course now they were opening fire on my shelter again and I probably wouldn’t get away with that a second time but it felt good to piss them off. Plus two Rio kill count!
I was naive back then and foolish with my skills. Sure I found myself greedy that day. I shifted my weight to my good arm to hold my rifle hand and drew my pistol with the other. Greedy bitch. Probably going to get myself killed. They were firing at me but I chanced it anyway. I leaned my upper torso over the side of a concrete slab, resting the rifle on a piece of rebar took aim, pulled the trigger on each gun once, and retreated back. Wasn’t quite as graceful as before but I know I saw the helmet fly off one of them from a headshot and the other wounded in the legs by the pistol shot.
I made the dumbest move of my life after that. I peeked again and I saw them retreating across the broken street and I thought it a good idea at the time to chase them! I broke my cover and ran after them opening fire as they found their own shelter. I didn’t think much of it because I had done this before. Chase them and finished them off. This time, however, I didn’t know about that assault tank rolling up down the street about a city block away.
I heard the loud crash from the cannon and looked in its direction just in time to see the tank and the grenadier team tagging along before I felt myself being kicked into the air from an explosion with the rest of the rocks and broken rubble around me. That hurt. Enough said. My eyes were jammed shut but when I opened them I realized I was obviously still alive. With my ears ringing I forced myself to lift my arms a bit. Still attached, I noted, but my right arm was a little bloody. I’d later learn some shrapnel had found its way into my arm somehow. Maybe it was the explosion. Maybe a little man put it there. Who knows, but over the next few years at the bars the little man theory did strike a few more laughs.
I staggered to my feet realizing it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I could still walk, even run! And run I did. I found shelter as I looked over my shoulder at the oncoming team. They were running my way but were pretty far out there. Also I had no idea where my firearms had gone. I took shelter behind another pile of wreckage and brushed the white dust off my face with my wrist while breathing hard. Maybe I was a bit more hurt then I cared to admit. Foolish youth. I reached down to the sheath strapped around my leg. I pulled out the combat knife and waited with my back against the wreckage.
It was sort of strange. Maybe I was still full of adrenalin but this time I wasn’t quiet as scared even though I was armed with less than I was before and against a more heavily geared team. It was ok. I had my knife. They had a tank. What’s to be scared about?
I heard their boots knocking things around as they came closer but I only cared about that until a small fragmentation grenade landed in the pit right next to me. I looked at it for a second and said the first thing that came to mind, “Pif…” I guess I didn’t know what else to say but I knew what to do! I was already in position actually so it was easy. I took a quick step and kicked that thing away from me and dropped down to my hands and knees. The explosion was joined by others in the immediate area. There had been several of them thrown in my direction. Dust and small pieces of dust and concrete bits were blown all about and a lot of it came my way.
Then I heard a different explosion. It had come from the other side of my shelter where they were. After the moment to make sure the grenades had all exploded I stuck my dirtied canine face out from cover and saw the after effects some sort of energy explosion. There was a blue fizz of electricity and ripping effects in the air around the center of where the grenadiers had been standing. Most of them were now on the ground dead or wounded. The rest in the nearby area were shooting heavy assault rifles into the sky so I looked up.
Falling towards the ground was an armored figure. It was an armor configuration I’d never seen before. It was very sleek and shiny. The metal was all swept back and smooth giving it a very aerodynamic and sharp feel. Its polished silver had a blue and black trim to it and over the figures head a helmet covered only the top half of the persons head except the large sharp green furred swept back ears out the back. The front trim of the helmet had a see through thin and wide visor. The long heavy tail coming out of the back had overlapping pieces of armor across the top half but only about half way down its long length. It was a pretty thick and strong looking tail with dark green fur on top of it and white on the underside.
They continued to open fire on it as it came closer and closer to the ground in free-fall. With its landing was a strong burst of wind that was almost like an explosion blasting in all directions blowing away dust and small rocks. I had to shield my eyes from it but it didn’t push me or anything. When I opened my eyes I saw him duel wielding swords that I had never seen before. They appeared metal but were glowing with a strong orange color and left a short aftereffect of light energy as they were swung. He was already in two of the soldiers space and struck both of them down at the same time.
Those swords were awesome. I’d never seen anything like that before. One was more like a katana and munch longer than the other one, a straight sword with white colored runes glowing through the orange. What kind of material was that? I’d never seen anything glow like that.
He quickly turned towards another pair and leapt into the sky higher then I’d ever seen anybody jump before. They continued to open fire on him as he reached over his back and connected his sword against the back of its armor, leaving it there as if that’s where it usually goes, but it wasn’t even in some sort of sheath. Maybe it was magnetic? With that hand now free he threw his arm at them as if throwing a ball or something. No ball or grenade came out though. Instead a blue glowing flare of energy rocketed from its hand and landed right between the last two soldiers leaving a trail of glowing light in its wake. An explosion erupted from the ground as it impacted that created a bursting blue dome of light that engulfed them and blew debris everywhere kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust. The end effect of the explosion was just like the one I had seen a few moments before when his attack had begun.
I watched in amazement. What was this? Some sort of Special Forces? Sure it’s cliché to say but I was glad he was on my side. I had to hold my hand to the side of my head to keep my long brown and white colored hair out of my face from the wind and while doing so I realized the tank was still down the road. The area shook as it fired another shell in our direction. With a flinch from the force of the cannon shot I watched the armored figure simple side step a little bit avoiding the cannon round by inches.
He reached up and slammed his other sword against the back of his armor where it remained, pointing downward next to the other, and turned to face the oncoming tank. His tail flicked once and he pulled his hand back a bit balled up. I remember how he stood there casually as rays of light began to shine from between its fingers and gently kicked up the dust with wind that I couldn’t, at the time, explain. With a gentle underhand toss and flick of the wrist the energy in its hands launched forward with an incredible amount of force low to the ground, and fast. It crashed through several obstacles and rubble like it was nothing and even left a small trench in the road as it tore through it. Upon impact with the tank a much larger bursting energy explosion rocked the vicinity. The explosion was amazing. Where did this energy come from? After the explosion there were green particles of light in the area around the burning tank wreckage that slowly blew away with the wind and faded.
I was impressed to say the last but also a little concerned when the figure began walking casually towards me. This thing was a weapon. He or she knew I was here and there was no point hiding from that kind of power. I collected myself and came out from my hiding and held my bleeding arm watching the subject. Almost to me they reached up with its hands and pulled the helmet off. Now I would get to see the face.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw who it was. It wasn’t a man at all. It was an Amber Krowen woman. We all knew who she was. Her Amber Krowen head was narrow and sleek, covered in very short green fur over the top and white under the jaw with a forward almost wolf-like muzzle and maw. Extending forward from her forehead she had a pair of white horns that smoothly ran down the length of her nose over the surface of her fur. The horns were soft looking too. Not hard or dangerous like one might think horns would be best as and the tips of them were soft and rounded instead of pointy. Her black with green-tipped hair ran halfway down her back, tied back over her armor. She held her helmet at her side and shifted her weight a bit onto one leg looking at me with a small smile under her soft green and yellow eyes.
I smiled softly and bowed my head for a moment. This woman was Sun Jin Kaisara. She was the unofficial leader of this rebellion against the Alliance. It was her idea to unite all the warring factions and governments out here beyond Alliance controlled territory into a single power. The idea was to create stability and make the territories a less threatening place and create a leadership that would be separate from the Alliance as she believed the Alliance was corrupt and tyrannical. I just wanted the wars to stop so they wouldn’t include my home planet, Caisteal, in the future. At the time I had no way of knowing what our little rebellion would become or know what was really going on behind the scenes.
In retrospect I suppose I was there with all best intentions. All I knew was that the Systems Alliance feared the creation of a new government that would have the military might to oppose them and all we wanted to do was stop the warring between our own cultures. We weren’t trying to end a series of small wars just to become engaged in a galactic power struggle, or so I thought. I had no idea that over the next few years I was going to become an instrumental factor in the creation of the Sun Jin Empire. No idea that I would become a war hero for the most destructive hidden agenda in the galaxy.
09.25.40
It’s been almost ten Amber Krowen years since Bethany was liberated from the Systems Alliance but it sure hasn’t felt that long. I suppose it was only eight years actually, close enough. In that time the organizations that fell into this master plan of Kaisara’s to create the Sun Jin Empire poured so many of their resources into Bethany’s battle that many of them succumb to System Alliance attacks on their unguarded, under armed stations, planets, and were dismantled, replaced, or destroyed all together. Their contributions to the war effort made them instant targets of the Alliance and only fueled more organizations to join Kaisara.
Now the Sun Jin were rebuilding. The planets and colonies on the outskirts of Sun Jin space are constantly being overrun by the Systems Alliance due to their weakness after liberating Bethany but their fleets are growing quickly to counter the invasions. The Sun Jin capital fleet in orbit of Bethany herself was most impressive. Though still small our fleets possess amazing breakthroughs in technology ranging from armaments, armor, navigation, and stealth. Some of these technologies nobody had even heard of before. That bothered some people but nobody cared enough to question it. Everybody assumed it came from another military’s research lab or was a combination of technologies from cultures that joined the SJE. Leading Sun Jin researchers deemed these technologies top secret. Even to me.
Now I live alone. My dimly lit beach house rests upon miles of coastline on the outskirts of a large residential city on Bethany called Kovaru. Bethany’s large moon keeps the night filled with a peaceful soft blue light that, when reflected off the ocean, I absolutely loved. It’s not a big house. It only has the essential rooms like my bedroom, a living area, the bathing room, and kitchen. I never really wanted a larger house because I don’t have a lot of things and I don’t like empty space. My bedroom is always a mess with clothes on the floor and my bed unmade but I don’t spend a lot of time in there. I only use it to sleep and half the time I’m asleep on the couch anyway. Like I was right now.
I opened my eyes and continued looking upward at the ceiling. My eyes took a few moments to focus but once they did I turned my head to the side a bit. It was still night and very quiet. All I could hear were the waves on the shore and some birds in the nearby trees. The first thing I realized was that I was still a little drunk. There were a few drips on the glass table between the wine glass and the bottle where I must have missed the pour a little bit.
I had been dreaming about the war again. I had several near death experiences during my service on Bethany and Caisteal but the one that stood out the most was when I met Kaisara face to face. That battle stood out the most because I never again saw that level of skill or technology in the war again. She not only saved my life that day but I saw weapons and abilities I had only heard about from other soldiers. They were things that made her legendary and unmatched in battle. We won the war because of her and after it we all began to blindly follow her. I wasn’t ungrateful or anything. I just wished this Sun Jin Empire I lived in and fought for was the result of combined unity for the people instead of combined unity of military power to oppose the Systems Alliance.
That’s what I fought for. My home planet was the neighboring planet to Bethany, Caisteal, and I fought on Bethany to keep the Systems Alliance from moving into Caisteal next. Luckily for me and my friends back home Caisteal had no military value and never really tried to move against it during their occupation of Bethany. They had a hard enough time controlling this planet as it was.
Regardless, here I am. Retired but a little bored. My years of service had racked me a nice showcase of metals that I kept above my fireplace. With retirement from the Army I was promoted to colonel. If I were in the military today with that rank I’d be commanding a regiment of thousands. If they stuck me on a ship I’d have my own air group. I didn’t know how I felt about that. I liked being a captain. I liked the small team. I liked fighting alongside my friends. They became my new family and It felt like I’d not see as much action as a colonel. Instead I’d just get all the credit for what the others had done.
With a deep breath I slowly sat up. Groggy and fatigued. I didn’t want to get up and I was probably better off in bed then on the couch. As I stood up and rubbed my forehead I could hear something unusual. There was a soft humming sound, from what sounded like a vehicle, in the distance. It wasn’t unusual to hear aircraft in the area so I really didn’t give it to much attention.
As I reached for my phone on the table it started to vibrate. I flinched and with a breath picked it up and sat down. Turning on the screen I saw that I had missed several calls. Nobody ever tries to call me. I don’t have a day job and none of my friends would call me at this time of night, whatever time it was right now, unless it was important. The number was unknown but I answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“This is Commander Trill from the office of orbital defense.”
Hearing this much I already began taking a quiet deep breath. I haven’t spoken to anybody from the military for almost a year. They tried to call me in for some project work. It wasn’t the only time over the last few years either.
“I am trying to contact Colonel Rio Narro. Is she there?”
I said the first thing that came to mind, “No?” said it with that stupid half-asleep questioning tone too.
“With whom am I speaking with?”
“Her roommate.”
“Do you know of any way we can get in immediate emergency contact with her?”
“Uh… no. Not really.”
The voice on the other side remained quiet a few. “If you are at her residence please be aware that a military transport craft is on its way there. They are armed and are just looking for her so they can escort her. If you hear from Colonel Narro please have her meet up with them immediately.”
That humming in the background? I just realized it was getting louder. I exhaled a long breath into the phone. “Am I under arrest, commander?”
He chuckled a bit before answering. “You are being summoned to an emergency conference aboard the Esther. Please ready yourself to be away for at least a day or two.”
“I guess that doesn’t leave me much time. I need to go.” I hung up the phone before he could reply and rose to my feet again. I zipped up the dark tan sweatshirt I was wearing and checked my pants. Cotton pajamas. I could probably do better. By the time I finished changing and tying my hair back I could hear the humming now roaring in the not too distant area.
“The Esther,” I mumbled to myself. I’d never been aboard that ship. The Esther is the flagship of the Sun Jin navy and Kaisara’s personal vessel. Just barely in service it was to be the host to frequent government and military related meetings far from Bethany. It took five years to create and construction began in secret in a nearby system before Bethany was even completely liberated. Development and design of the vessel had been in works for years before the war even began so the ship could enter service just in time to stand as a symbol of victory over the Systems Alliance in saving Bethany. The thing is, like a lot of our technology, not everybody knows where it came from. Many of the systems and abilities of the colossal ship are so cutting edge that I can almost say for sure that no government that joined the Sun Jin Empire donated it to the cause. Maybe I’d be able to identify it though if I was onboard. Who knows? Ships of that scale take years of development and testing. This was done in five. Strangeness.
Ten minutes later I was on the bulky orbital transport ship. It wasn’t built for looks. Its primary function was to be able to reenter the atmosphere and get back into space on its on as needed. With so many stations in space around Bethany, or any major inhabited planet for that matter, craft like these came in all shapes and sizes. This one was very old looking. Almost like one of the ones I’d ridden a few times during the war.
I sat quietly strapped in to one of the many seats looking out the window at the night star lit sky. There were two rows of these seats, both along either side of the length of the small craft. I just stared as we slowly climbed higher and higher. This was going to be for another job. I knew it. I’d never seen them use such direct means to contact me though. It almost seemed like if I had declined the offer they may have taken me against my will.
I slowly looked across the aisle at the three feline-like soldiers. They were looking at me, one of the younger ones rather shyly.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing!” One of them immediately said.
It’s my guess they must have found me attractive despite that I just woke up. One of them, the one that was trying to avoid eye contact, was blushing.
“I’ve heard about you Colonel Narro,” said one of them, the more confident of them.
I smiled at him half asleep. I probably looked like I was being sarcastic. “Yeah?”
“Hear you’re really fast with your hands and that you’re a natural sharpshooter. You got a bunch of metals and retired a war hero.”
“That’s what they say,” I turned my head and looked back out the window. Then a question came into my head. One I almost forgot to ask so I turned back to face them again. “Hey. What were your orders, regarding me?”
The same confident one replied, “To escort you to the Esther and bring you to a special session.”
“What if I refused?”
“We’re under orders to bring you whether you want to go or not.”
“Oh yeah?” I chuckled playfully. “Is that allowed?”
“Yes ma’am. These orders come directly from Sun Jin Kaisara, herself. It’s beyond rank and procedure at this point.”
“Special task force then?”
“Just glad we didn’t have to chase you, ma’am.”
Well shit. With a bit of a concerned look I turned to watch the stars again as we were almost into space. What did Kaisara want with me? I suppose if it’s this important I wouldn’t have had a choice in the matter to begin with. This would be the first time I’d seen her in a long time. I wonder if she even remembered that day she saved me or if it was just another day at work to her.
I could hear the inertial dampeners turn on within the craft. It created a very low tone humming sound that could be heard if you knew what you were listening for and my keen little ears were good at that! These systems created a self-sustained gravity within the ship that kept everything in place, even if the physical walking-around gravity wasn’t on. That way if I was floating around inside this vessel I wouldn’t be affected by things like speed or directional changes. It’d be pretty bad if I was floating around the ship suddenly went into slipspace with these systems disabled. Everybody within the ship would be instantly turned into goo against the back wall along with anything that wasn’t bolted down well enough. Imagine going from not-moving to the speed of light within one or two seconds… Enough said?
With worries such as these clear from my concerns I unclipped myself and removed the belts holding me secure against the seat. With a soft push on the arm rests I floated weightlessly upward a bit. With a gentle kick against the backrest I floated towards the front door leading to the flight deck. Once there I held onto the railing and knocked on the door. It slid open and my eyes immediately looked past the flight controls, the two man crew, and were locked onto the sight out the front window.
The Esther was an amazing starship. It floated not too far away from one of Bethany’s command space stations surrounded by other large capital ships. It was so huge. The largest ship besides it was a nearby carrier that housed a dozen fighter craft. This carrier class was a major part of any battle group and some other models of it were, for as long as I can remember, the largest ships the Sun Jin possessed. The largest designs were just over 2,000 meters in length. This Esther dwarfed it and was at least ten kilometers long.
I had heard of research projects to bring many new capital ship types into service with specific rolls. I had seen concept drawings before of dreadnaughts that, though not as big as the Esther, would possesses the firepower of an entire fleet. All of this was for the new war against the Systems Alliance. The next phase of Kaisara’s plan, the counterattack and push to the System Alliance’s capital planet, Amber Krowe.
The design of the Esther was very simple. Its size was in its length and the top and bottom half were very different looking. The general design was as if someone grabbed a balloon by either end and tugged on it until it was lengthened yet still rounded.
The top half was almost comparable to that of an egg. Its light tan colored armor alloy superstructure appeared very shiny and devoid of any weaponry or equipment. Though it appeared to be some sort of shell top it was in fact the largest single sensor array known to exist. It was one gigantic system that was able to pinpoint the exact location of almost anything in space within thousands of light years unless it was somehow protected from these scans. Of course the ability to detect these vessels accurately would depend on several factors such as the size of the ship and how far away it was. A capital sized ship could be identified at greater lengths then a small shuttle.
The lower half of the vessel was much more rugged looking. Docking areas, weapons systems, and other various systems lined the whole underbelly. The command area was part of the superstructure near the front or the vessel under the protective top half. The rear of the ship was constructed around 4 massive nuclear thrusters. The size of these were amazing and themselves the size of assault carriers.
I wondered though why such a ship like this would need to exist. It’s greatest abilities was its imaging and sensor abilities but they could have built a space station to do the same thing at a fraction of the cost. Maybe it was just the Sun Jin’s way of showing its military might. That whole routine, striking fear in enemies and such. So maybe it wasn’t meant to be cost effective. Maybe it was just meant to be a big dick. Regardless it was still pretty cool and if this was the forerunner of other massive ships its size then only a few years down the road space warfare would be fought in a whole new way.
A half hour later while walking out of the troop transport I took a moment to look around the enormous docking bay. Secured into the walls and ceiling were smaller personal fighter craft that had designs like I had never seen.
I had been noticing this trend all day. Sun Jin military weapons, exotic handhelds to space faring technology, had all seemed so much more advanced then what I remember them being when I fought on Bethany. Was this what the combined technology of hundreds of races and cultures together could create? That fast?
It all had to be weaponry too, didn’t it, not medicine or finding new ways to save lives. Maybe when this war was all over they would focus on those things but without these weapons in the first place the Systems Alliance probably wouldn’t be putting such immediate attention on destroying us. Oh well. Maybe these are the reasons I take that drink every night before I sleep.
I was escorted directly from the shuttle to the command deck of the ship but we passed through some strange places on the way. I realized the ship wasn’t just a big sensors system. This whole thing was designed to be a mobile command for the entire empire. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner. Everything needed to run the empire was here. While thinking of these things I was walked through several great halls several stories high and held up with large marble pillars, red carpet, and other regal designs. It was seemingly a bit out of place really, the castle look inside a technologically advanced starship, but if you have the free space you might as well make an impression I suppose. It almost looked like a throne room with tables around with food on them and seating areas for large numbers of people.
Finally we walked through a large well lit passageway protected by thick blast doors on either end. Armed guards were stationed on either end so I was sure we were almost there. At the end of the hallway the doors opened reviling the command bridge. It was the largest I’d ever seen but I wasn’t surprised. Glancing around I saw maybe a hundred officers working at their stations. Many of them were talking on communication headsets, viewing astrometry readouts, or looking at ship systems. The entire forward wall was one gigantic arched screen that folded around nearly half the room displaying the forward view from the exterior of the ship as if simulating a window. All over it was readout information and technical jargon I couldn’t really read. It was rather cluttered actually. I didn’t like it that much but during a battle scenario I bet all of it would be put to great use. The rest of the walls were normal windows that curved all the way from one side to the other.
I did recognize someone though. It was her. Kaisara was standing with her back to me clear across the room near the front looking at the massive display next to some man. She was dressed much differently then I remembered her. Of course I didn’t expect to see her in that strange battle armor I saw years ago. She was wearing black and gold trim robes made of a very rich and soft material patterned to be very formal and exalted. From her turned direction I could see some of her face. She was the same soft-green and white Amber Krowen I remembered. Her forward swept snout with the horns running forward from the top length of her head, the soft fin-like protrusions from her elbows, shoulders, and down her spine, long swept back ears, the long reptilian like yet velvet textured tail… The Amber Krowens were a beautiful species. I’d only seen a few of them in my life because most of them were on the enemy’s side. Makes sense as their native planet is the Systems Alliance capital. There are plenty of Amber Krowen around besides the Systems Alliance though.
As I approached I looked at the other man. He was a bit taller than Kaisara, about my height. A white furred wolf species it appeared. His long white tied back hair laid back against his robes which matched Kaisara’s. I thought he must have been another member of the council that directed the Sun Jin Empire but it was only a guess at the time. I knew something was different though when I saw his eyes. He looked at me with them as I came to a stop near them. Those gold eyes didn’t feel right. I had no way of knowing why yet. I would later learn that his name was Atomis Silverwolf.
Kaisara turned and looked at me and in return I simply nodded my head. I probably could have been more respectful but if that was the idea I wouldn’t be here wearing gray cargo pants and a sweatshirt. To be fair I didn’t know who I was meeting when I got dressed.
“Colonel Narro,” she spoke. Her voice was exactly like I remembered it. Felt good to hear her again. I suppose to have her talking directly to me was a huge honor.
I bowed my head again. “Lady Kaisara,”
She nodded at her partner and he turned to walk away. She too started walking towards the back of the room where I had just come from and so I followed at her side quietly.
“It’s good to see you again, old friend.” She smiled facing forward and patted my back once.
To say the least I was impressed she remembered who I was. We really didn’t spend a lot of time on Bethany together. It was only a few days. “You remember me?”
“Of course. You made a great name for yourself ten years ago. I remember seeing you on Bethany and working with you.”
“You tended to some shrapnel wounds after you destroyed an enemy platoon.”
She pushed a button on the side of the doorway and it slid open. Together we entered the long hallway. “Yeah, that was an interesting day. That region wasn’t looking good. You must have a lot of questions. Questions I usually like to avoid. That’s why I work alone most of the time.”
“How you defeated those soldiers the way you did and your weapons. These are things I’ve wondered about for a long time. I’ve never seen anybody kill so many heavily armed soldiers like that.”
“Just remember that I only finished the second half. You killed the first few yourself. In the end you did more damage than I did.”
Strange I never really thought of that. For a moment my mind snapped back to me hiding behind the debris covered in dust. I could hear my heavy breathing, holding my pistols. I thought about how I was so good with those guns. How I could stick my head out for a moment and with each shot drop someone. I guess I was pretty good. Over the next few years my marksmanship would become renown within the battalion. I was our best sniper, marksman, just all in all best with the firearms of the time. Did Kaisara need me for an assassination or something? A funny thought guess but I hope not.
“You’ve got your own unique skills and achievements that tell me you’re just the one I need.”
“A job, you mean.” Part of me in the back of my head sighed.
“A very special job.”
I turned my head a bit with a short exhale. “I retired a long time ago. I’m honored by this offer and everything but I am really just trying to have a quiet life now.”
“Rio, this mission is extremely important. I personally choose you for this.”
I hesitated a moment while thinking. Now I had to know out of sheer curiosity what Kaisara of all people thought I was best for. “Do I get to know what it is first so I can consider it?”
She chuckled with a small shake of her head. I didn’t like this answer already. “Let’s just say it’s so top secret that you aren’t even here right now.” As she spoke she lifted her hands playfully almost making fun of her own words.
That sounded pretty cliché. I think she knew that and that’s why she was mocking herself. Then she proved it.
“I suppose that sounded really special-agent fancy talk, huh?”
Since she was seemingly being more playful then formal I played along, “A little bit, yeah.”
“Well,” she continued, “it actually is sort of special agent stuff actually. Though I can’t really tell you the details until I know you’re committed.”
“Then…”
She lifted a finger interrupting, “What I can tell you is that you’ll have your own ship and you’ll be traveling into an uncharted area of outer rim space. I need you to track someone. Strictly recon work.”
“I mean no disrespect but it sounds like anybody could do that, right? If it’s strictly reconnaissance why did you seek me out for my combat efficiency?”
“Better safe than sorry. Better to be able to defend yourself if things go wrong and live to report your findings then to be the best at gathering information and die to a lowly gunman’s lucky shot.” We stopped at a door. She pushed a button and it slid open. It was quite a beautiful living area and must have been her personal dormitory. In the immediate entry was an office desk with a small computer screen where she could sit facing the door way. Around the desk area were shelves on the walls that had strange objects resting on them. Most of them appeared to be made of stone or some rusty metal. I think they were relics or some cultural artifacts of some sort. Beyond the office area I could see the foot of a bed just poking out behind a large fish tank. Must have been hers. Beyond it there were hallways that lead deeper into the small makeshift house. This didn’t seem that big, all things considered. Maybe it was just a live-in office she used or something.
The area to the left of the doorway after you just enter had a long couch that lined the wall. Sitting in it was another woman. A race I didn’t recognize. Her fur was a charcoal color with dark gray highlights. Her long arm rested along the length of the backrest of the couch and she tapped her claws on it softly. She eyed me with her stunning blue and yellow eyes. I’d seen those kinds of eyes before and they disturbed me a little bit. Her heads structure also looked menacing and powerful. Her ears were stiff and folded backward and added to the narrow look of her forward swept snout. Her lower jaw was very large as her smooth snout extended nearly a foot forward from her neck. Her hair was also dark and long enough to drop back between her ears and down her back. Like the rest of her body fur it was charcoal and dark gray. I didn’t know who she was but the way she looked at me, her demeanor and expression… I already didn’t trust her. We locked our eyes together for a few moments before I looked back at Sun Jin Kaisara.
I watched her walk around the dimly lit room and sit at the desk. I stood near the doorway in front her. “It’s sort of funny. I was promoted to colonel and the last few job offers I’ve had, even though I’m retired, were to lead battalions or air groups. Just one ship though, huh?”
She slid a pair of glasses over her short-furred muzzle and examined a data pad. “Yeah. It’s the fastest ship we could retrofit to have all the stealth and business you’ll need. It’s not big. Just a small frigate.”
I folded my hands behind my back. “Manhunt, huh? Bringing someone in?”
I was a bit disturbed by her chuckle as she shook her head. The woman sitting down snorted a bit as well.
“What?”
Kaisara slowly lifted her eyes to peer at me above her glasses and her happy expression looked a bit more serious suddenly. “You can’t just bring him in.” She waited a moment before continuing and I didn’t like it. “I am guessing because you are still standing here that you are at least remotely interested in this job. You’ve turned down three assignments that would have given you a bit more authority then this secret operations stuff that you’ll never get credit for. I assure you this isn’t like any you’ve been offered before and there’re things you’ll encounter that you’ve never seen before.” She gave me a smile as she gently tossed the data pad at me.
I caught it and looked at the read out. It was a mission plan but it showed only the cover page. I glanced at it a moment and my eyes turned to look at the seated woman.
Kaisara must have caught on to my next question before I could ask it. “Her name is Akima from the Ciberling Family. She’s from a small remote planet called Danje. She came to us with information that,” yet another seemingly random pause. She scratched the back of her head a moment. “With some information she gave us we attacked a planet called Quall using the Esther alone. While there we witnessed the man I want you to find engaged in combat. He escaped shortly after identifying that we were trying to capture him.”
“You weren’t on Quall looking for him, were you?”
“I was hoping he would pop up there. The planet Quall has some related history to this beast named Flarion and I suspected he may turn up if it were attacked. Being a secret undercover operation we took the Esther alone and labeled it an efficiency test of the Esther’s weapons against a local tribal civilization that was aiding the Alliance. I never knew where the planet was located or else I would have done this sooner. Attacked it alone with sword in hand if I had to. Akima provided that information. Now I want the two of you to find out where he went from there and, no, he isn’t on Quall anymore.”
“Where do we start?”
“The previously mentioned uncharted space. Only a week travel with the retrofitted frigate.”
I took a breath asking myself why I was doing this. Was I really accepting this mission? I couldn’t think of why but something in my mind found this one a bit more interesting than the others. This didn’t sound like a normal military deployment. It sounded more like a direct favor for Kaisara. Maybe it was my fondness of her over the years that made me want to fulfill this favor for her.
“There is a small patch of disputed space less than a light year in size that has been under a power struggle between two tribal factions for over a thousand years. Even though they are both space faring cultures they live very differently and for the last generation have been leaving each other alone.”
A few more questions were forming in my head. Uncharted space that she knows the details of? Specifics on local cultures? I continued to listen.
Kaisara leaned back and continued talking. All of this was flowing freely from her lips. She knew exactly what she was talking about. “These two cultures are made up of multiple species from the region and they call themselves the Templar. They are Templar tribes, you see.”
I played along, “Kaisara, you believe Flarion is there?”
“Yes, I do. It’s where he’s from. The Nightfall Templar Tribe’s home planet is called Magnum. It is where he normally resides. The Neverborn Templar’s home planet, Eveny, is where I want you to go.”
I looked back at the data pad. Obviously there was a lot going on in this investigation and it must have been going on for years already for her to have this sort of information. I’d never heard of anything like this.
“But be forewarned, Rio, these Templar people do not take kindly to outsiders. They usually find talented individuals on their own and bring them to their own respective planets for training as they mature. You showing up on your own will probably disturb them and you’ll need to be weary of their abilities.”
While she talked I was thumbing through the information on the pad but her last words made me curious. I lowered it a bit and looked at her. “Abilities?”
She leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk. “The Templar are specialized hunters and many have unique skills. They are capable of unimaginable feats and,” she continued with a small smile on her face, “I suppose you actually have seen a Templar in action once before. Almost ten years ago…”
Oh damn… I dazed off for a moment staring over her shoulder in thought. Suddenly a lot of questions I had all came full circle. Is that why she chose me for this mission? Impulsive out of control flashbacks charged through my mind’s eye. That woman from almost ten years ago. She flew from the sky, unexplained energy explosions, her swiftness with the blade, her ability to manifest pure energy and control it the way she did, and that armor I’d never seen before. Kaisara is one of them?
“Yeah, I’m one of them, Rio. Maybe that explains some things.”
A long deep breath escaped my lungs and I shook my head. I couldn’t believe it. “You mean that there are more of … more people that can fight the way you do? How come I’ve never heard of this before?”
Her reply was a simple shrug. “The Templar keep to themselves and have no interest in the affairs of the Sun Jin or any other territorial battle. They have their own problems to deal with. The power some Templar have, Rio, there’s no way you can bringing Flarion to me yourself. With the information you can give me I can find him myself or have my contacts meet him.”
As hard as this was to believe I somehow had no choice but to acknowledge that this really was true. I’d seen her fight before. Many had heard similar stores of her battles from other witnesses too. “You’re sending us to Eveny because your contacts are on… Magnum, you said?”
A head nod. “I already know Flarion isn’t on Magnum.”
I felt warm. This was a lot to take in. Templar, Flarion, the truth about why Kaisara was so powerful… Lifting my arm I rubbed my forehead and took another breath. I turned to face Akima and eyed her a moment. “And you saw him on Quall?”
She watched me with her hands folded, elbows on her knees, hunched forward, and nodded her head slowly. “He’s a magnificent creature. It seems we’ll be hunting him together.”
I nodded eyeing her. Akima must have had a lot more story and involvement in this then I had been told. Since we would be spending some time alone in transit to this uncharted space I would have to see what I could learn about her. It seems she may not be as menacing as I believed. Instead her role in this seems simply that Kaisara favors her for the tipoff that lead their investigation to Quall, which lead to me being here. Obviously this whole thing was a secret that Kaisara didn’t want to get out. She had special powers and abilities that were seemingly alien to the rest of us.
Only an hour later I was in a locker room reading some gear. I finally changed clothes into something a bit more my style. I put on a pair of loose-fitting gray and black camouflage cargo shorts and a Sun Jin combat under-shirt. It was an extremely comfortable dark gray polyester and cotton material with a light blue design that I didn’t know what was for as far as combat functionality goes but I suppose it could be camouflage. It looked badass on me though. Couldn’t help but smile in the mirror. It felt like old times again. I rolled up the sleeves to above my elbows and adjusted the shirt’s attached hood.
So many thoughts on my mind. I couldn’t help but sigh ever few moments. Indeed this was a mission I wanted to take but I didn’t know why and that lack of reason wasn’t very comfortable. I didn’t make it to colonel by sitting on the sidelines. I did a lot of side work like this to get my recognition. This was different though. This didn’t have anything to do with my military rank. I felt something I did enjoy, however. I felt honored that Kaisara came to me personally for this and felt I was good enough to do such undercover black-ops work. I’m literally a special agent of Sun Jin Kaisara now! A Sun Jin underground operative. Cloak and dagger type stuff. Before I had left the office Kaisara had mentioned if needed anything it would be taken care of. She continued mentioning how important this is to her and the empires resources were at my disposal and I could feel free to drop the ‘special agent working directly for Kaisara’ line as needed. I guess this is what I always wanted.
I looked down the iron sights of an assault rifle that was resting against my knee. These weapons hadn’t changed very much over the years. Would I even need these? I hoped not. In one hand I’m through risking my neck for someone else war but in the other hand I live for this. I couldn’t deny it. This mission had an appeal to it that I just couldn’t go without participating in. I could first hand see a form of combat I’d never seen before. These Templar and their powers.
I grabbed another gun off an armament rack. A large caliber lightweight sniper rifle that caught my eye when i came in here. My mind still raced with questions and anticipation of the near future. Why did Kaisara want Flarion, this ‘magnificent creature’? He’s an old friend? A questioning thought went through my head… a Templar weapon? I’m sure Kaisara’s army could use a few of these Templar soldiers. She already has a new generation of technologically advanced warships in the design stages. What more did she need?
I met with Akima on the primary docking bay of the Esther, the same place I had come aboard earlier. I saw her walking towards a shuttle with the pilot so I jogged to intercept them holding a bag in my arms filled with equipment, the sniper rifle slung over my shoulder, and a pair of 9mm pistols strapped to my thighs. I caught up alongside her and took a long breath. Now that I saw her standing upright I couldn’t help but notice how big she was. She stood almost two feet taller than I did and was armed, seemingly, only with a sword strapped to her left hip.
Akima looked down at me a bit as we continued. She briefly examined my gear and snickered to herself. “Seriously?”
“What?” I questioned.
She shook her head a bit and continued walking. Damn. Hard ass?
We boarded the shuttle and I watched Akima enter one of the living quarters. Unlike the one I rode in on this vessel was state of the art complete with business stations with computers and two small living quarters. I made my way to the cockpit and slid into the copilots seat. I wasn’t really interested in where Akima was. I wanted to see my ship.
We navigated through the fleet of vessels accompanying the Esther and finally the shuttle started flying towards a specific ship. I couldn’t help but smile. That must have been it. My own starship.
“That’s the one, Colonel, there. It’s the Silver Slayer.”
I smiled a bit. It wasn’t a very big ship at all but it had some style. It had the same earth-tone coloring that most of the Sun Jin ships did. The vessel was no longer than a hundred meters and appeared very streamline with a wedge shape and an elevated command area near the rear of the ship. Really it wasn’t anything special but the fact that Kaisara was giving us such a precious resource for our job was gratifying.
“You and your partner will be the only occupants on board. The controls for it are very simple and it’s been designed to operate with a minimal crew of five or six, but an AI will be filling in for the missing hands. They’ve been working on her for months to retrofit it with the newest slipstream engines, sacrificing the weapon systems. Theoretically this modified Silver Slayer may be the fastest ship in the fleet for its small size. I don’t know where you’re going, of course, but safe travels.”
His words were kind. ‘Safe travels’. I knew though that this was the first step in a new chapter of my life. I knew there were going to be risks involved. Many of which I didn’t even fully understand. All of this was for Kaisara and her army though, right? This young pilot wishing me luck made me realize that even this secret mission would benefit him one day. Maybe with the technology or things Akima and I would discover we would be able to bring a swift end to this war and maybe this empire I helped build will be able to calm down and start providing for the citizens better instead of focusing so much on its war. I realized the irony in that I was becoming what I had come to hate. I was putting back on a combat uniform and taking a rifle to further aid the Sun Jin war effort. I knew that’s what all of this was about, the preparation for the counterattack against the Systems Alliance.
These weapons I brought with me, though. I would soon realize how useless they really were, and how useless my skill with them was. These Templar people had secrets. The power Kaisara spoke of intrigued me and I wanted to learn more.
Just a few minutes later I was in the Silver Slayers forward cockpit. Akima walked up beside me and crossed her arms while peering at the forward view window. The ships systems were ready and we had clearance to detach from the fleet. The vessel began to maneuver forward and away from the other ships and began picking up an incredible amount of speed.
“It seems we’re on our way…”
With the Silver Slayer now an vast distance from rest I toggled the slipspace drive. A glowing gray energy began to form in front of the vessel and moved forward with us while particles from it began to stream over the hull and around us. The energy began to grow thicker and thicker until the aperture was a raging torrent. The energy finally ruptured and engulfed the ship and with a snap of light we were gone. The Silver Slayer had broken a hole into a plain of space we called subspace. In doing so the vessel had safely created a shockwave on this plain that the ship would be able to ride for days without losing momentum.
What have I done? Goodbye simple retirement.
09.27.40
So there is a huge difference in taking a shower inside a space faring vessel and taking a shower on something a bit more… grounded. I loved taking showers in my beachside home. I’m lucky enough to have rather short fur over my body so cleaning up is a snap and feels good. It doesn’t get too messy but in these showers it if it gets remotely dirty it can be more difficult to clean up. It never gets hot enough and the pressure from the nozzle is never enough. Oh well right? My beloved shower is now light years behind me on the opposite side of Sun Jin space.
I dried my hair thinking about how it seems lucky that Templar space is on the opposite side of the galaxy from the Systems Alliance space, with the Sun Jin space in the middle. If any side were to find them first it would be the Sun Jin. The Alliance would have to travel days through our space and probably wouldn’t make it. If they went all the way around it would take months.
I tried my hair back as I stepped out of the bathroom and into my living quarters. My book was on the bed next to my dismantled handgun. Luckily the living areas had some books on the shelves for light reading to kill the time. First thing’s first, I needed to check our course and navigation. Just the two of us on this boat. Someone has to keep an eye on it. Personally I’m not a big fan of artificial intelligences. No reason not to trust it but you never know, right?
Once in the large control cockpit I made my way to the navigational computer near the forward window. No need to sit down in the chair. I didn’t plan on being here long. Everything checked out on first glance. No warning indicators, engineering systems seemed fine, and navigation was accurate.
I heard a few footsteps from behind. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a casually dressed Akima walking towards me slowly. Her gaze was just looking out the window. Probably watching the mixed glowing gray and dark shadowing energy of subspace passing around our ship. I looked forward again and toggled through the touch-screen controls checking more systems.
“Late night stroll?” She came to a stop beside me and leaned forward against the back of the pilots seat.
“On my sleep schedule this is about the time I’m going to sleep. Bethany has long days compared to many other inhabited planets.” This was probably the first time we’d seen each other all day. She spent a lot of time in her room. Of all our crossings on this trip so far this was the first time we’ve met in the command area besides our departure from Bethany.
“I had some questions about you, Rio. Thought maybe we could talk.”
Might as well be honest. I turned around and leaned my butt against the control panel and folded my arms. “I had some questions too.”
“Makes sense. Why is a stranger being assigned to this mission. I have no rank or immediate loyalties to Kaisara. The Sun Jin hadn’t marched into my families territory yet.”
I shrugged a bit. “Why did you turn to Kaisara then.”
She smiled a bit pushing herself against the back of the chair. It rocked forward a bit under her weight. “The Quallian family and my family have never seen eye to eye. It reminds me of these struggles that these Templar people are having. Small tribal quavering. When my home was destroyed by the Quallians I retreated. Just in time to save my life as the city was vaporized by orbital bombardment.”
“So you ‘sign me up for top secret work’ or something?” I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.
“No, but a few words with Sun Jin researchers about Quallian space faring technology did strike their interests. Only a few days later Kaisara herself invited me for a meeting and questioned me about everything I knew concerning Quall. My original intent was to tip the Sun Jin off to their technology so they could go in and raid them. Ruin them like they had done to me. I never knew that I would be invited for this, like you. I just had a big piece of the puzzle that Kaisara was looking for.”
“And now we’re running around doing her dirty work?”
“I guess so. She can’t go to Eveny like we can.”
I snorted a bit and cocked an eyebrow in question. “Why not?”
“She’s from the Nightfall Templar. That man that she was talking too before she met with you, did you see him?”
“The white furred dog?”
“His name’s Atomis Silverwolf. He’s the tribal leader of the Nightfall Templar, at least right now anyway.”
I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. This was getting more and more complicated. What was Kaisara planning? She has so many secret plans. A whole agenda nobody knows about but her and her Templar friends. “What do you mean?”
“Who do you suppose is the real leader of the Nightfall Templar Tribe that Atomis is only filling in for?”
I frowned a bit and that sinking feeling gripped my pit. “Let me guess… Kaisara.”
She shook her head. A somewhat relieving sign. “This Flarion we’re looking for. She says he’s gone off the deep end and has been acting on his own agenda apart from the Nightfall. Atomis has only recently stepped in. With Flarion turning up at Quall he came to visit Kaisara to plan their next move. Kaisara, Atomis, and Flarion are all major members of the Nightfall.”
In the end I suppose that was just as bad as the answer I was expecting. So Kaisara is deeply threaded into the workings of this alien faction, but not the leader. Atomis is the leader. Kaisara must have him dialed in and already prepared to have Nightfall Templar on her side when the battle against the Alliance starts. I sighed and shook my head again. I saw what just one Templar could do on Bethany. Kaisara was able to change the tide of the war alone.
“I’ve learned that Atomis is the current Redken, or leader, of the Nightfall, replacing Redken Flarion for the time being. Whenever Flarion leaves he assigns one of his closest to lead in his stead, giving them the title of Redken for life, and he does this frequently. Every few years in fact. He usually leaves with notice but this last time he just disappeared. That is why Kaisara is so concerned about his whereabouts. He was supposed to help her when the time comes but he’s missing.”
While she was talking I had slipped into the copilots seat and slowly twirled back and forth a bit listening. “She sure did tell you a lot more than she told me. Why is that?”
“Probably because I saw Flarion myself. She told me most of these details on the trip back to Bethany just before we picked you up.”
“Kaisara… was she one of these Redken?”
Akima nodded her head. “Redken Sun Jin Kaisara. The last time Flarion left Magnum, planned, she was appointed the majordomo of the clan. When he returned she left and later founded the Sun Jin Empire. I imagine that now her military and empire is, to Atomis, a major tool for destroying the Neverborn, while Atomis’s Templar are now her ultimate weapon against the System’s Alliance.”
“It sounds like a good trade,” I stared off a bit as I started to feel wrong about all of this. I tried not to show it. This just kept getting more and more intense. Everything was sort of falling apart and I couldn’t help but realize that what I’m doing right now may single handedly change everything. Closing my eyes I thought about what would happen when Kaisara touched down on Amber Krowe. The systems Alliance would be crushed and these Nightfall Templar would, through Kaisara, control the galaxy. Likewise, with all that military might of the Sun Jin on the Nightfall’s side Eveny would be destroyed. Guilt set in. Am I about to bear witness to a new generator of warfare? The slaughter to come would destroy everything… I felt like I could throw up. I slowly stood up and with a slow breath started towards the door leading out of the control room.
Akima remained where she was and I thought I saw her smile a bit looking out the window. Her next words sent chills down my back, “The Sun Jin will control the galaxy with a legion of powerful Templar Knights, and Redken Flarion will break any planet that stands in our way.”
“One day, right?” I choked down the words as I walked out the exit. This was going to be genocide…
Time to take another crappy shower.
This is when it all changed for me. I had fought for Bethany’s freedom in hope for a more free future for our people. I retired and turned down all those jobs for the same reason. I no longer had faith in what the Sun Jin’s real goals were because something had seemed shady about it the whole time. If everything was actually happening as it appears to be then it only proves I was right all along. Battle and war is exciting when it’s for a righteous cause. I proudly volunteered to help liberate Bethany and I proudly shed my blood for the cause because I thought I was doing a noble thing. Nearly ten years later it seems we are about to embark on the largest personal vendetta of revenge ever seen that will destroy countless worlds and slaughter billions. This is not what I fought for.
I had a new reason to be here now. I’m here on this ship and I can’t turn around now. We’re enroute to a small planet called Eveny, the Neverborn Templar home world and we are supposed to be looking for Flarion so, as it seems, Kaisara can use him for her war. I refuse to let that happen. Who knows what other secret military research regarding Templar she’s already started. My guess is all this unknown alien weapon technology was Templar all along. I have to find the big picture and piece it all together. I can only do so much but I have to do what I can.
Akima… she can’t know. She’s clearly loyal to the future of Sun Jin or maybe to the Nightfall Templar. She also seemed to know a lot and I don’t trust her. I just have to go with the flow and follow her to Eveny. Maybe if they’ll listen to me I can warn them of what’s happening. I just have to wait and find out now.
I slid my arm upward and felt the back of my hand rub against the tile inside of the shower as I searched for the water temperature dial. With my soaked naked body sitting down and back pressed against the wall I turned up the heat and took a few slow breaths. I was scared. I wish I could fast forward time to me standing in front of whoever the leader of the Neverborn was and spill my guts about everything I had learned but I can’t. I just have to wait. Damn it. Maybe these starship showers aren’t so bad after all…
10.01.40
Been a quiet last few days. Akima and I really haven’t talked much but we did sit around a table eating once. She told me about her home planet Danje, and what happened when the Quallians attacked. Apparently she was the daughter in the ruling family and was forced to evacuate. I defiantly established some vengeance complex within her. She talked a bit about how it felt good to sit on the command deck of the Esther and watch Quall’s capital city burn but she said she still had more work to do. I didn’t know what that meant. She didn’t get too specific. Regardless she still had a lot of worked up energy and hadn’t found a way to get it out yet but I suppose if my home planet, Caisteal, was destroyed I would be forever scarred too.
Speaking of the Esther… more plotting and conspiracy leads had occurred to me as I tried to piece it all together over pen and notepad. If a secondary part of this Sun Jin army was to destroy not only the Alliance but also the Neverborn Templar then why hadn’t they invaded Eveny yet? The Systems Alliance is thousands of worlds but Eveny is just one. Does she fear their ability to defend themselves that much? So much that the Templar there could deflect an entire Sun Jin orbital attack? Maybe Kaisara couldn’t send that many ships yet without leaving themselves vulnerable to attack by the Alliance. They’re still rebuilding their fleet after all. Is that what the new capital ships under design were for? The dreadnaughts and new carriers?
The Esther was built to be a gigantic super antenna capable of detecting special anomalies, ships, and even plants, from thousands of light years away. Of course the smaller the object the harder it would be to find, right? How about an entire planet? Did Kaisara push for the Esther to be completed as fast as it was so that she could secretly identify where Eveny was? How could you not know where a planet is that your culture had been at war with for thousands of years? Is that why the war between them had been on pause for so long? So much going on…
The alarm suddenly started sounding in my room. My eyes snapped open and I stared at the underside of the book that was open over my face until they focused. With a quick second to collect my thoughts of what was going on I quickly leaned up set my book down rubbing my eyes. I must had fallen asleep unintentionally but that wasn’t important now. Luckily I was still in my normal clothes as I dashed out of the room.
The doors to the cockpit opened and I made my way to the pilot’s seat. It appeared the Silver Slayer had exited slipspace in what must have been some sort of gigantic cloud. Everything around us was a dark blue fog. Did this cloud cause the slipspace rift to fall apart? The normal thruster engines were powered down so the ship was only creeping forward at a slow pace. As I began to warm up the normal engines I heard the door behind me open up.
“What’s happening?” Akima sat down beside me in the other chair.
“I don’t know. I just got sat down too.” With the main engines engaged I toggled the vessels thrusters and it began to pick up speed surprisingly quickly.
I looked over at her and she was looking out the windows much like I had when I arrived. “Where is this place? What does navigation say?”
Examining the computer it showed that we were right where we were supposed to be when the time came to exit our jump. “According to this we should be just outside Eveny.”
“I don’t see an planets, or stars.”
As beautiful as this cloud was on the inside it could have been interfering with the computers navigations and made us drop out of slipspace early. I had no way to know. These sorts of things were never my forte.
“Do you think maybe,” before Akima could finish her question another beeping began going off from the console. It was the proximity sensor for any vessel entering our scanning range, however far that could be in here. It obviously wasn’t very far because it was already on top of us…
Slowly an enormous vessel began to fly over us from behind, heading slightly off to the left of our ship. It was flying so close to us, and it was so huge! Best guess was it wasn’t detected by computers until it was already on us due to the cloud but either of us could have just looked out the window at the right angle and seen it.
It’s design was beautiful. The smooth light-purple colored material wrapped and bent in soft curves from front to back creating very few sharp angles. It appeared rather flat in design, and lengthy, probably 3,000 meters long. The underside was where many of the ships components seemed to be. Engine systems from the outside didn’t seem too foreign and docking areas were not dissimilar either from what we’d seen before with other designs.
One thing I couldn’t shake. Sure I had more important things to think about. Some unknown vessel just totally jumped us and could destroy us in one shot but still, my mind took how this soft-shelled body and smooth metal looked familiar. These relations to Templar technology and Sun Jin were starting to pop up more and more, so much that I wasn’t as shocked anymore when I recognized something as Templar technology. My guess… this was a Templar vessel.
We held our course. Slowly moving under the ship and sliding out from under its side. Ahead of us we could see the front end of a similar vessel emerging from a thicker cloud area and heading right for us.
I looked over at Akima and chuckled a bit. “I know it isn’t funny but… what do we tell these people anyway?”
“Templar, you think?”
I nodded my head. “Maybe we’re closer to Eveny then we thought.”
“If you hadn’t fallen asleep maybe we’d have had a better idea where we were.”
“I didn’t see you in here when I arrived? Where were you?”
“Hey,” she shouted. “You were running this boat last I checked. You’re the military brat.”
Our petty squealing was cut short by yet another notification sound. It was on beeping on the active communication frequency.
I gestured at it sarcastically. “Do you want to talk to these guys or what?”
“You’re the damn military…”
“But you’re Kaisara’s Templar butt buddy if you want…”
“No… I don’t know shit about these…”
Mid bitch session I just hit the damn button and started talking. “This is Rio Narro of the cruiser Silver Slayer.” As I talked Akima was still grumbling.
“Rio Narro,” started a man’s voice on the other side of the basic two-way radio. “This is the commander of the Evenian battleship New Dawn. State the purpose for you presence here.”
I glanced at Akima. The answer to this was pretty important, huh? She just eyed me back. “We can’t just tell them we’re with the Sun Jin,” she stated shaking her head.
“I know that. I’m trying to think of something ok?”
“You didn’t already have a plan?” Cocking an eyebrow she crossed her arms.
“What was your plan,” I asked. “What…?”
An alarm went off on the panel before I finished. I quickly examined it.
“What is it?”
“It’s a weapons lock.” With a firm look on my face I leaned forward and toggled the communications. I pushed the button. “New Dawn, we’re a special envoy and request safe passage to Eveny.”
Akima nodded her head a bit leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed. “That wasn’t bad.”
“I know right?” I held my finger on the button ready to push. There was no verbal response but two high tech looking personal fighter craft came up from behind us and came to match our slow crawling speed one on either side. I remembered this vessel had no armaments on it. Thought that was kind of dumb.
“Slayer, you are cleared to Eveny under escort. Match the escort speed and course and do not deviate.”
I toggled a few controls and looked over at Akima. “Well?”
“Not bad. That will get us to the ground. Then what?”
“Isn’t it your turn for a good idea?” I asked with a chuckle.
She uncrossed her legs and stared out the window at the advanced looking fighter. “I think you’re on a roll. You keep it up.” She tapped the glass a few times before continuing. “Those look familiar.”
Briefly I looked at what she was talking about, the small craft out the window. “They’re almost identical to those on the Esther. I noticed. I’m running out of surprised faces to put on when I catch a similarity between Sun Jin technology and these Templar’s tech.”
She looked forward again just as we exited the cloud and before us was what must have been Eveny. Many of the ranged sensor equipment began chirping as its functionality was restored but I didn’t have time to study it. I was too distracted by the escorts speed increasing, a bright blue flair and light trail following behind each ones two engines and I adjusted our speed to match.
Eveny was finally before me. This so called unknown planet was a rather large one. From space it appeared to be a very normal planet mostly covered in oceans and typical grass, desert, mountainous terrain. A moderate cloud cover populated the sky and the distant light-orange colored sun gave them a soft fuzzy glow. The cloud we just exited also seemed to cover a great portion of its perimeter in most directions. There were plenty of breaks and holes in it but there was enough cover to understand how it would have been so hard to find with general exploration. It could have appeared invisible to sensors as scouting ships were in the local cluster. I also noticed how sometimes the systems sun may be behind the veil and may cause lengths of time without sunlight for the planet.
Several minutes later we were skimming the surface of the planet flying at incredible speeds over lush jungles and open fields. I didn’t know where we were going but I followed the two fighter craft.
Akima opened her mouth a bit in thought and after a few moments spoke her mind. “Do you think they know there’re two of us on this ship?”
I turned her way a bit and replied with a questioning hum.
“I could jump out of the ship as we pass over the next inhabited area, once we see one, and I can go solo and investigate. There’s gear in the back for that sort of deployment.”
I shook my head a bit thinking of how that would play out. “They probably do know it’s just us two. They seemingly didn’t have any problem with letting us down here. This planet seems pretty well hidden and if they really don’t like outsiders that much and I don’t think they’d let us down here as easy as they did if they thought it could be even possible that we had a bunch of people onboard. You saw our reception when we got here. They have to know we’re no real threat or something.”
“For all we know,” she started leaning towards me with a sarcastic look. “They could be waiting for us to land and then plan on taking us prisoner the moment we step off. The doors open and a team of armed soldiers storm into the ship.”
There was no readily available response to that. She was sort of right. We were being escorted by what appeared to be military craft after all. I simply took a breath and sighed.
Finally we began flying over what appeared to be inhabited areas. Below us were enormous structures that protruded over the top of the jungle canopy. Made of stone, these wide towering structures were mostly pyramid or boxy tower shaped and many tall enough to reach the clouds. All of these ancient moss covered temple-like buildings had makeshift landing pads or docking bays for vessels. Some were small and some were large enough to fit a small corvette sized ship.
As we continued we came upon a larger cluster of these structures, but they all appeared to be much cleaner, and the ground around them was clear and devoid of forest or jungles. It was actually rather beautiful. The buildings were clean with a white stone material like marble or something. I didn’t know. The pathways between them were populated by people walking around and large open parks and plazas were all around. This must had been one of the cities and living areas.
“I think we’re landing soon.” Akima stared out the side window.
“You’re right, you know. They could take us prisoner for questioning.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’re happy social types and give us a tour.” She shook her head with a snort.
“Kaisara said they weren’t friendly. So far they’ve let us down here though.”
“Well,” she started. “I don’t really fully trust that Sun Jin woman. Her plans are pretty ambitious and, I admit, awesome, but I don’t know how quickly she’d throw either of us aside to further her own cause. I do thank her for Quall though.”
“You said she was from the Nightfall Tribe, anyway. That would mean that these people are her enemies. She might not have known what she was talking about as far as how they would react to visitors. It may have just been a warning.”
She looked at me with a grin, “She seems like a very well informed woman. I still believe her.”
No matter what was going on one fact still remained. This is where I would have some personal work to do. I was supposed to be hunting Flarion for Sun Jin Kaisara but somehow I would need to separate myself from Akima and branch off of Kaisara’s mission plan. Akima sure as hell wouldn’t like being ditched but oh well, right? She was too loyal to the Empire to go with me.
“You said were were envoys so it might not work but I suggest for now we just play off as explorers or something.”
I remained silent just trying to pilot the vessel and keep it with the fighter escort. Together we lowered altitude a bit and flew between two of the towers. Ahead of us was another building with several landing pads build extending from the building. The structures themselves, though stone, seemed to have modifications to them using more technological means such as lighting and things like docking bay doors. It was almost possible that the inhabitants of this planet simply continuously upgraded the older structures that them, or a previous civilization, lived in. The one we were heading to had large metal outcroppings with round touch down pads on them. One of them, the largest on this building facing our side, was empty and it appeared big enough to support the Slayer. The escorts burst ahead and came to rest on either side of the structure as the lighting came on. It seemed obvious this is where they wanted us to land.
“I’m glad you’re the techno military brat,” said Akima. “You can land this thing, right?”
“Yeah,” I nodded as I toggled a few controls that manipulated and set most of the navigational wings and maneuvered into position. The landing struts came down and the vessel came to a gentle rest after a short vertical decent. The front landing brace was far off the pad and instead came to rest on the walkway between the building and the intended landing area, but this ship was big, and just barely small enough to be able to land on a surface to begin with. They knew how big it was! They picked the spot! No harm done.
Akima stood up as I started powering down a few of the ships systems. “Now what?”
I shook my head again. I felt like I was being more quiet then I was earlier and she had probably picked up on it. It was because I had the thought in the back of my head about why I was here, the mission, and what my own plans were.
I leaning over while hitting buttons and shifted my eyes forward to look out the front screen opening. I saw a two well-dressed figures approaching the ship from the building with two others in a smooth light colored armor with pikes in their hands that appeared to be guards. I lifted my muzzled in their direction, gesturing towards them, for Akima.
She saw them as well and reached down and picked up cross-chest bag from the opposite side of the chair. Pulling it over her head I couldn’t really make out what it is.
“What is that?” I asked as I finished and headed towards the back of the control room.
“Just being ready for anything.”
I stopped near the door and reached down, upholstered both of my guns, and rested them on the table. I gestured towards them a bit as I continued walking. “I don’t suggest we take weapons, Tig.”
With a slight confrontational look on her face she underhand tossed the bag to the floor near the counter I had my pistols resting on. I saw she did, however, keep the knife strapped to her hip over her pants. Whatever.
In the back of the rear cargo bay I walked towards a small touch panel and keyed in a few commands. The large bay door began to open with a few yellow warning rotational lights going off on either side. Once the bottom part of the ramp lowered to the ground and enough room was available for us to pass through I pushed the button again stopping it from opening further. These bay doors were big enough to slide two tanks through side by side and park them with a little room to spare in the cargo hold.
With a short breath I trotted down the short wide ramp. I quickly lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight. Everything looked great out here. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and the wind was calm despite being maybe half a mile off the ground. It felt really nice! I had my short sleeved tactical hooded shirt on and some cargo shorts. The smell was great too. The surrounding jungles and forests gave the air a nice lush smell. I had seen a lot of foliage in the general populated areas too. A lot of trees and such. I lowered my hand a minute to one of the pockets on my shorts and pulled from them my light-blue shaded sunglasses. They matched the light-blue streak markings on my gray tactical top. Gotta have style…
Akima calmly stood beside me and with her hand shielding her eyes looked around in the surrounding areas. “Nice place.”
I smiled. So far this wasn’t so bad at all. Nobody here was shooting at us or anything. “Yeah, it is. Maybe I’ll get some land here.” I gestured towards the group waiting for us. “Let’s see how I can keep up the story with them.”
“You do the talking, ambassador,” she stated as she walked just behind me.
Together we approached them.
The two in the middle were the ones that must have been sent to greet us. On either side were the guards. All four were the same species, one I’d never seen before. It was a tall dark purple furred species that I couldn’t really relate to any other. They had the general survival animalistic bodies with two strong legs, claws on each of their bare feet, and large cat-like feet. Their heads were a pretty as well, one I could see fitting in this jungle environment. While the underside of their short muzzles were the same purple colored fur, the top half of their jaws were a more dark-red color, a maroon shade. Their cheeks had white fur with a black pattern that went around their soft green eyes, and the maroon fur went the forehead and turned into a bunch of red long hair that went down the back of their head and neck. Their tails also were the purple color with red fluffy tips. Except for the thin tall ears poking upright from behind their eyes their body almost was a good match of a cat and a dog put together, as strange as it sounds being canine myself. It’s hard to describe!
Their clothing was elegant and nice. Both of them had regal looking green tunics with white armored kneepads that had the same green cloth hanging from them. Over their shoulders and hanging down either side their bodies was a large silk-looking purple cloak with white trimming and patterns on it. It was fastened over their chest concealing their arms. It was a beautiful species and I was envious of the design, and clothing. Maroon, black, and white fur with bright green and purple clothing.
The ones on the sides though, the guards, were the same species but held pikes at their sides. Their armor was also good looking, and a bit familiar to me, I think. A small wave of nostalgia overtook me as I reminisced of seeing Kaisara in her armor years ago. Though it looked like hers in design it did appear much different in the curves and material. I could tell it was made by the same culture and craft but hers was Nightfall and this was Neverborn. It was smoother and less menacing looking.
I calmly approached the group and stood a few paces from them. Akima stood to my right back side. I calmly nodded my head. I didn’t know what to say other then, “Hello,” with a soft nod of head with my eyes closed. They seemed like a well-mannered group so I thought they’d appreciate the respectful gesture.
“Greetings emissaries and welcome to Eveny.” He nodded his head respectfully and lifted his arm out from under the cloak and rested his large hand on his chest. “I am Arbiter Amos, councilman for the Evenian Conclave. I happened to be passing by when I caught wind of visitors.”
I spoke slowly at first, unsure how to word myself. “I appreciate you coming to greet us, Arbiter. My name is Rio and this is Akima. We’re explorers from a planet called Caisteal.” It was the only name I could come up with, my home planet. Bethany might be too obvious. “We’d heard of this planet and its people but were never able to find it. We were tasked with finding and opening peaceful talks with your people.”
Amos turned and began walking towards the length of the landing area and extended his arm out towards me. With a soft smile I lifted mine and took his hand and followed beside him. I could hear Tig behind me snorting, probably with a smirk on her face at how this must have looked as she followed behind me with Amos’s partner and the guards.
He slid his arm up my back and rested is on the opposite shoulder. He stood much taller than I was and his arm had plenty of reach. “Your vessel is from the Sun Jin Empire. Not our most appreciated neighbors,” he said leaning to his side towards me a bit.
Well… damn. How they knew that I don’t know. It wasn’t amazingly surprising though. Most of this trip I wasn’t expecting them to be this advanced, with warships and such, so it made sense that they could have known all about the Sun Jin. It wasn’t that incredibly far away from this region of space. “I… yes. I am familiar with the Sun Jin,” I nodded. “I don’t really represent that organization so much as my own people, on Caisteal. My people are a mutual party and the Sun Jin simply use our space in exchange for cooperation with them. We’re not exactly networked with them beyond that.”
“I understand.” Amos took a long breath and we continued. “It is a strict policy that we do not interfere with your Sun Jin affiliates. We do not want them to, as you put it, use our space in exchange for cooperation. Our planet is well hidden and we wish to keep it that way.”
I smiled a bit sheepishly. What did that mean? If he thought we were part of the Empire and we had found their planet were they going to stop us from leaving and telling someone where it was? Had this happened before and that’s what they had to do and why this planet wasn’t in the Sun Jin records? “Well… uh,” all I could do was shrug. “Here we are.”
“Evidently,” he said squeezing my shoulder a bit. “Tell me, Lady Rio, what have you heard, exactly, of our people?”
“We’ve heard there’s an alien planet in this uncharged region of space that was populated by an advanced species. We’re not here to steal your technology if that’s your concern. Personally I am excited to learn more about your culture and I think this planet is very beautiful.”
“Indeed… I saw your awe when you came out of your vessel. Thank you for your kind words.” Once we were near the glass doorway that leads into the building he turned to face me, and rested both of his hands on my shoulders. “Would you like a tour of our beautiful city, my dear?”
I blushed. He was very kind. Inside my mind I chuckled a bit seeing the ‘what the fuck’ look on Akima’s face. She didn’t appear very amused. “I would, Arbiter. You’ve been very kind. I would also like to meet with you in private and discuss arrangements between our two people, if any can be made, of course. I understand your concerns for privacy.”
“I would be delighted to discuss these with you. Business lately, politically, has been so slow.” With a small laugh he nodded his head and looked back at Akima briefly. “Anyway. If you two would like to follow me I will show you to proper lodgings for your visit. Oh,” he turned back to me. “Are you on any timetable to be departing anytime soon?”
I shook my head. “No, Arbiter. I’d love to stay as long as you’ll have us, especially if I can get some of those clothes.” I gestured to his attire with a nod and a laugh.
“Oh,” he examined himself a moment. “Right. Perhaps something can be arranged. Please follow me?”
As we navigated the brilliant complex I found my way back to Tig’s side. The interior of this building was beautiful. The inside was surprisingly open for its size. Several modern functioning elevators ran along the height of the building spread out moderately, and each level of the structure looped around the outer walls. The center from the ceiling to the ground was completely open. At one point I trotted over to the glass railing and looked over the balcony. It was amazing. We were so high. The interior was at least a hundred floors and we must have been some place in the middle. There were plants and greenery everywhere and sometimes came right out of the floor or walls with the architecture built around these roots to allow them to grow and expand.
There were others walking around socializing and carrying on their own business as well. A majority of them were the same race as Amos but there were other various species. Some I even recognized. All of them were dressed like Amos, clean and formal. About ten minutes of traveling and walking through bright stone-walled living suites we arrived at a doorway. Together Tig, and I walked through. His associate and the guards had already left on the way.
Inside was beautiful. It was a corner suite with a window that ran the entire length of the living space. The room was very open, greenery everywhere, and the couches looked of leather and comfortable. After sleeping in the Slayer for days I’d settle for sleeping on the couch just as it was. The white stone architecture reflected the incoming sunlight all throughout the quarters and gave it a great clean feel.
Akima spoke up a bit, “I’ll take one for myself, if I may, Amos.”
“Of course, Akima.” He nodded at her gently and headed towards the door again, “This way.” Once at the door he turned back and faced me. He smiled at me appearing pleased at my expression. It must have been the happy. I wish I had known about this place sooner. I may have chosen to retire here instead… joking.
“Thanks, Amos. This is great. I’ll wait here for you.”
He nodded and left the room with Akima. I guess she didn’t want to share. That’s fine. The moment the door clicked closed I held my smile a few more seconds and let out a soft exhale. So far this wasn’t going so bad. I had to think about how this was going to play out.
10.02.40
I had gone to sleep again. Fell asleep on the couch actually. I had found some books but I wasn’t surprised to find them written in a script I didn’t recognize. It’s common.
I was awoken by a knocking at the door. I peeked through it and saw it was Amos again. He greeted me, dressed the same way but without the purple cloak, and together we had gone for a walk. Under the light of two moons we walked on the ground level of the city sidewalks. There he talked to me about the city, called Ezra, and the Evenian civilization. I learned a lot. The people here had moved into the ruins of an older civilization, these large structures, and over their evolution maintained and upgraded them to how they look today. They were a spacefaring race that preferred a simple lifestyle on the ground and had little agenda for populating other planets as Eveny was a healthy planet with room for them to grow and was shielded by the nearby gas clouds. The Evenian were a very spiritual race, not believing in any one deity, but more about the individual spiritual power within each person. I listened but I didn’t hear anything about the Templar people. I didn’t want to bring it up either. Not yet, but the time was coming.
Amos himself was a government official Ezra. It was the capital city and diplomatic center of the Evenian people. He apparently had worked his whole life to become an Arbiter for the settlement, and worked in the judicial department of Evenian Conclave. He answered directly to Conclave, a collection of selected individuals who convinced and made governmental decisions for the planet, but he told me that due to how things are going just fine there were not a lot of changes going on. Things seemed to be perfect for the settlements and their people were happy and prosperous. I was actually jealous. This is the kind of peaceful atmosphere I wish I could live in. Although politically it’s not my first pick I hear Amber Krowe was much the same way but it had far too much emphasis on military, like the Sun Jin Empire.
After several hours of walking in the night, him politely escorting me around like a gentleman, we finally ended up back at his residence. As flattered as I was by this man, and how kind and… well… attractive as he was… I didn’t really know where this was going.
“I have a gift for you, Rio.” He made his way around a corner to another room.
I grinned a bit. “And what’s that?”
A few seconds later he came back around the corner with a gown, on a clothes hanger. “I believe you wanted this. It should fit you just fine.”
My mouth dropped open. It was beautiful. Sure I loved his formal outfit he wore earlier but I didn’t think he’d actually get me one. It was a female’s version, of course, but it had all the same essentials as the one he wore earlier. The patterned purple cloak, the silky bright green and white-trimmed shirt, it was all there. “Amos!” I shouted a bit excited. “That’s awesome!” I was visibly ecstatic. After he gestured me to do so I took it from him and felt the material.
“You can change into it if you’d like.”
“Should I save it for next few days though? Wear it right now?”
Staring down at me from his taller height he took a long deep open mouthed breath. “If you are going to be staying on Eveny, I think you’d look good in it. If you want to address the Conclave or any government parties, officially, I would highly suggest it.”
“That’s true, huh?” I took it and eyeing him coldly, sarcastically, I went around the room to a private area. He didn’t follow. It must have been the room he slept in and it was well kept and clean like the rest of the dorm. I slowly started undressing, and as I stood back up from disrobing, while still leaning half over, my eyes caught something. Glowing in the dark, across the room, on a beautiful wooden display, were two swords on a single display stand. Both were a bit different in style. One was a double sided blade and the other was a long katana like-sword. What got my attention was the material they were made from. I don’t know how it was done but the metal material of the blade was illuminate. It gave of a soft dark purple fuzzy glow that, though strong, was not bright enough to light the room up. They were really pretty but I doubt I’d get that lucky as to get something like that upon request like this dress that was now in. An extra second was spent recognizing its similarity to Kaisara’s weapons I’d seen on Bethany long ago. In fact besides the color of the steel and glow they were completely identical. One straight sword and one katana.
The outfit fit very well, and holding my normal clothes against my chest I came back into the living area. The living area was now a bit more illuminated with dim lights that came from ceiling near the walls. I scanned around briefly before I saw him.
Amos was sitting on the couch and a smile took his face as he saw me. “You look like one of us, Rio.”
I couldn’t help but blush. “Uh, thanks, Amos. This is really great. It’s a perfect fit and feels…” I lifted my arms and twisted and turned testing how it’d react, “It feels very durable yet comfortable. It’s formal and stuff. I’d wear it every day but what if I never come back to Eveny? If I damaged it I’d never get another one.”
He gestured to the large couch he was sitting on, to the other side and laughed softly to himself. “If you never returned it would be a shame.”
I sat down on the couch, the opposite end from him, and sort of plopped my pile of clothes on floor near my feet. “So, what now?” Couldn’t help but think about where this could lead with a small smile on my face. Was that what I was after? Not specifically, but… he really was a gorgeous nobleman…
He leaned his head against his fist, supported by his elbow against the back of the couch, facing me. “Business time.”
I couldn’t help it. I leaned back and spread my arms to either side resting them up against the short back of the couch. “Is that what they call it now?”
This time I could see him blush. He shook his head with his eyes closed, looking downward a bit. “Don’t tempt me, love.” He continued to laugh a bit as he stood up and went towards food preparation area. I wouldn’t call it a kitchen really. It didn’t have a lot of storage for food, or ingredients for meal preparation, but before too long he did come back with a pair of glasses and a sealed bottle. He came to me, handed me one, and poured some clear liquid out of the bottle into the cup which I held upward towards him. I could smell it instantly. It smelt like some sort of alcohol, a wine perhaps. Each planet always has something nifty to drink like this and I loved my wines. He rested his glass on the table and filled it also, resting the bottle beside it.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“My favorite.” He lifted the glass and took a sip. “It’s very sweet though, be forewarned.”
I slowly lifted it to my muzzle, and as it got closer the strong smell filled my nose. I sipped a small bit and pierced my lips a bit. Yes, it was sweet! With a smile I finished my sip and held the glass. “So,” I started. “Talk.”
Amos held the glass with both hands resting it on his knees and hunched over a bit towards me. “I need to explain to the Conclave shortly who you are and why you are here.”
I nodded in understanding.
“We don’t get a lot of unexpected visitors and these matters are thoroughly examined.”
“I understand.”
“You’re a beautiful woman, Rio. I would very much like if you stayed on Eveny with us, here. You’d be taken care of, I assure you.”
I closed my eyes a few moments imagining how that would go. It’d be great really to be away from it all. No Sun Jin or Systems Alliance or war. “Maybe another time, I would love to. I’ve got lots to do though.”
“Oh… a shame.” He tapped the rim of the glass a few times and lifted his eyes to look at me again. “Rio, dear, I must be honest. The Conclave will not trust the information you’ve learned here to go too far.”
Suddenly I felt myself get a bit warm. I had a feeling this was going to come up.
“Eveny is a hidden planet and our people are peaceful and free of war and violence. The danger of having you leave is very high. I’m not suggesting you are lying or going to go document everything for ill intent but the information you know could fall into the wrong hands.”
I calmly leaned forward and took another sip. Perhaps he wanted me to stay because he didn’t want any danger to come to me. It’s my guess that this Conclave doesn’t mind if visitors end up becoming permanent residents… “Wrong hands, Amos?” I asked questioningly.
“Your Sun Jin friends for example. They may wish to incorporate us into their way of life. They’ll use our technology for their own gains. We are peaceful and our military here is not strong enough to repel an invasion for long. The possibilities for a bad outcome are endless.”
I nodded a bit looking to the side, understandingly. “What would they do? Take me and Akima prisoner? Make us slaves? Brainwash us?”
“No, no… Nothing like that.” He shook his head, a brainstorming look on his face. “I’m not sure, Rio. You would be watched, closely, though. It may have been for the best that you didn’t find this planet to begin with, I’m afraid.”
Not too worried, I kept it cool. “But then I wouldn’t have met you, would I?” I smiled and took another sip.
“Good point, dear. It was different before the Sun Jin Empire came to power. Many of the Conclave fear them. They fear being discovered and are afraid of war.”
“Then why were we even allowed to land?” I slowly scooted closer to him, moving down the couch a bit, but came to rest a short distance from him and out of reach. This may have been the time. “Amos…”
He looked back at me again, a bit upset, probably thinking about the meeting he’d have to have with the Conclave and their decisions they’d make.
“I have things I want to talk about as well.”
He snorted and took another sip. “Go on.”
“Why wouldn’t the Templar be able to defend you?” It was a stab in the dark, but I asked sternly and with a well-informed look on my face, regardless of how much I really did or didn’t know.
His look was one I expected. He eyed me calmly, eyes locked, his mouth open just a small bit. He held his glass calmly and spoke no words.
“I know who the Templar are but, Amos,” I made a concerned look. “I’m still learning. There are things I need to find out here.”
His face turned a little red again. This must have caught him totally off guard and he didn’t know what to say. It was as if a secret was let out and he didn’t know how to verbally defend himself. “Who are you, Rio?”
I leaned over, placed the glass on the table and reached forward and took his hand between mine. He reluctantly took it. “I’m not a Templar, ok?” I held his hand between mine. It was so much bigger than mine. “I’m not here to spy on you either.”
“Then…”
“I’m on a mission, a personal mission. There are things that lead me here and things that are going on beyond that cloud out there that you don’t fully understand.”
He took another breath through his nose and made a very serious face, narrowing his eyes, but not in an aggressive way. He was just starting to take this new topic serious. “Continue, Rio.”
I spoke very slowly when I said, “I need to talk to whoever is in charge of the Templar people here. The Neverborn.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes were locked on mine.
“They’re in danger, Amos.” My face shifted. I felt a genuine feeling of concern and worry for the Templar that I hadn’t even met. The people that must have been around here on this planet someplace, hidden, that he was trying to keep a secret.
I felt his hand slowly start to try and pull away but I desperately clenched onto it. I think he caught the feeling of desperation and stopped his withdraw.
“How would they be in danger?”
“I’m still learning, alright? So if something I say doesn’t make sense just know that, ok?”
He nodded slowly.
“It’s the Nightfall. They’re making a move against a planet called Amber Krowe and Eveny is next. I’m here to learn whatever I can, Amos.” My eyes watered up a bit. I didn’t know why. Maybe because of all the emotions I had felt about what was really going on out there. All I had learned about Kaisara and her plans. I truly was desperate. I needed to do something but I didn’t know what I could do! I was just one person.
He tilted his head and leaned closer to me. “Are you sure?”
I nodded and continued. “They know where you are, Amos. The Sun Jin Empire is a mask for the Nightfall. Their leader… Do you know who she is? What she plans to do?”
Amos slowly put his other hand on top of mine and slid his right hand out from between mine. I let him. The hand then slowly moved through the air and came to rest gently on the side of my face. I closed my eyes and felt him cup my jaw with it, and stroke my cheek with his thumb. “She was the leader of the Nightfall. A docile peaceful Redken and at the time and had no intention to do anybody harm.” He took a breath. “But if she’s alone now and on her own agenda…” He sighed a bit. “You’re well informed, Rio. How did you learn these things?”
Shaking my head a bit I replied, “She told me herself.” He continued to stroke my cheek as I continued. “Redken Kaisara hired me to find Flarion, to see if he was hiding here. She sent me here but knowing what I know about her intentions I can’t help her anymore, Amos. I’m not a Nightfall Templar.”
Amos put his hands on my shoulders and smiled a bit, leaning forward and slowly took me in his arms. He hugged me and held me close. He saw that I was shaken. “It appears,” he started, saying close to my ear, “You won’t be meeting with the Conclave after all.”
I didn’t understand.
“You’ll be meeting with the Neverborn. You need to tell the Bezekira what you told me. She needs to know.”
I didn’t know who this was, or what it meant. It sounded like I was going to see the Neverborn Templar though. I continued to rest my head against him. I put my forehead against his chest looking downward. This was stressful, and I’m very glad he understood.
Kaisara was right about one thing though. In the end they don’t like visitors here. I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t know what I did. In fact I still wonder what will happen after I tell the Templar what’s happening. Will they let me go after all? I was hoping I was seemingly, you know, on their side and they’d trust me. Time will tell.
Less than an hour later I was on a small shuttle. It was short, stubby, and purple armored like the space vessels I’d seen earlier. It was about the size of a small troop deployment vessel with doors that opened on either side and for this occasion they were.
I stood in the open canopy holding on to a hand rail, watching the sun rise in the distance. It was beautiful. It was breaking over the mountains and casting an orange morning light over the flatlands, jungles, and rivers below. I remained silent.
Amos came up behind me and took a hold of the same handrail. “Are you ok?” He asked loudly, trying to make sure I could hear over the sounds of the engines and the wind.
I simply nodded my head in reply. Meeting these people was an important event for me. My mind was racing. Kaisara was the only Templar I knew, unless Amos was actually one all long. To me it just sounded like he was more of a government official for the normal population of Eveny, and not a specific official for the Templar, though he knew about them here and was trying to keep it a secret. I came here specifically to find them and he knew my reasons were good.
He patted my back a moment and walked towards the cockpit.
We were in the air for about a half hour until I started seeing more of those old stone ruins. I looked ahead as well as I could, sticking my head out the window again shielding my eyes from the high-speed winds and saw a large series of structures. They looked like they were made of the same material as the older ones in Ezra but appeared to be more ancient. They looked more like enormous pyramids and multileveled temples.
The shuttle began to slow down and lower altitude. Before it came to a hover just a few feet off the grass Amos approached me again. “Are you ready?”
I nodded at him with a firm look on my face.
We leaped the short height from the vessel to the soft short grass but I kept my head down to keep the wind off my face. As it began to power its engines up and lift off the ground again I slowly lifted my head.
Like a curtain being lifted the rising underbelly of the shuttle left my vision and instead left a spectacular view. A gigantic, beautiful building was before us, about mile away. It was made of up three large wide tiered spires, the center being the largest, towering over a complex of smaller stoner structures. The entire complex was at several square miles wide and all fenced off with many layers of stone walls. The walkway between where we stood and the complex was about a mile long, lined with short stone columns with openings in the top housing that looked like they’d be used for lanterns. The pathway we began walking on towards the complex was made of old and aging flat stones which most were cracked or rotting.
It was going to be a long walk but we took our time walking side by side. House sized buildings began populating the sides of the main walk way and I guessed they were for residence. Many of them had lights on inside of them. Much like the city these buildings also seemed retrofitted with technology, doors, windows, power, but not as high tech as the ones I had been staying in.
It must had been a twenty minute walk. The sun had risen a lot since we landed and as we started walking up the steps to the main palace I could see just how large the spires were. They reached to the clouds. Once at the top of the steps we entered through a large gate connected to another series of walls that surrounded this enormous terraced area that the palace was built on.
Through the gate we continued. The passageway from the gate to the front steps of the palace were lined with Evenian guards, the same race as Amos, same looking guards as those that accompanied him in Ezra when we first met. Around this common flat area there were others walking around, socializing, and doing common business, all Evenian, and all dressed much like Amos and I were, in these silks and formal clothing. Amos nodded at a few of the guards as we walked between them and many of them casually nodded back and smiled.
Finally, nearly half hour after we landed, we finally entered the palace. Why didn’t we land closer? My feet hurt! Maybe it was a rule they had. This whole time Amos and I shared little words. I had a lot on my mind and I suspect he knew that. The inside of the palace was much like the inside of the common structures I had been toured through in Ezra. The outside looked old, sure, but the inside was very clean, well lit using natural lighting from holes in the ceilings and walls, and green leafy plants all over the place. We continued through several populated and guarded chambers following a clean red carpet right down the middle of the building until we entered a great hall lined by large marble support pillars.
I was starting to noticed that the guards throughout the complex, most of which standing around with swords on their hips that resembled the one I saw in Amos’s house, were becoming more and more well armored and armed with larger weapons such as broadswords against their backs or spears. The armor on these guards inside the palace were brighter and more royal looking with bright orange and green colored cloth coming from under the armor padding. Many of them were walking around, or standing in a stationary area.
We approached a pair of heavily armored sentinel guards that stood near a single large chamber door. One of them put their hand up gesturing for us to stop and so we did. He looked at both of us and nodded at Amos. “Bezekira was expecting you, Amos.” He spoke in a very deep tone. This Evenian was much bulkier and larger than many I had seen before.
Amos quietly nodded in reply. I was still a little confused what was going on. This doorway was well protected by these sentinels and my best guess was Bezekira was someone of importance. A leader.
The sentinel continued, “But her wish is to only admit her.” He lifted his hand and pointed a big clawed finger at me.
Again Amos nodded but this time finished by turning to me as the other turned to open the large metal doorway. “Be respectful,” he said with a smile. “Bezekira’s wisdom is far beyond our own and her race has lasted through the ages of the cosmos. She’s obviously expecting you and wishes to hear what you have to say.”
Lifting my head a bit to meet his eyes I slowly nodded feeling nervous. This was it. The moment I had been waiting for. I was about to, I suspect, meet the leader of the Neverborn Templar. This whole place must have been her small city and I was its guest. It was an honor to even be here and since it was rare for them to allow others here I sure as hell better make the most of their generosity.
The doors opened and the sentinel gestured me through to the well lit room on the other side. The doors slammed behind me. It was another enormous chamber. Red silk curtains hung from the vaulted ceiling and natural early morning sunlight flooded the room from the large openings on either side of the room. Like the earlier passageways there was a team of sentinels standing on either side of the wide red carpeted walkway armed to the teeth with gear and armor.
At the end of the walkway was a large elevated platform. Resting on a big round velvet bedlike platform was a large white-furred tiger-like animal. It looked like a natural feral creature instead of one that would walk on its hind legs. It had large tiger-like claws on its fore and hind legs, wore no clothing, and had a beautiful think medium length fur that hung gracefully all over its body. The most unexpected feature on her was a pair of large black wings with red tips that came from her shoulders and were tucked back over her back. She sat calmly on her stomach with her paws outward bit, chest lifted, and watching me enter with her calm blue and yellow tinted eyes.
I continued walking slowly. She just watched me. It was eerie. I could feel the energy in the room and somehow I knew it was coming from her. Her gaze was strong and for a moment I even had to close my eyes to collect my sense of self. It was like she was seeing into me. It… I didn’t know how I felt about it. While I could feel her power I felt strangely ok with it. It made me feel warm and safe. I felt comforted and protected as if someone I loved was holding me in their arms or that soft relaxation when I’m resting naked in a hot bath. I didn’t know how this was happening but I knew I wouldn’t be able to figure it out on my own.
I came to a stop and with my eyes still closed I lowered myself towards the floor and got to my knees. I sat upright with my knees on the floor and my rear against the back of my ankles. I gently lowered my chin a bit and let these sensations continue. I could feel her inside of me.
“Rio Narro.”
The voice came from within my head and it startled the hell out of me. I opened my eyes and gasped a moment before I calmly realized what was happening. Her voice was soft and gentle. Beautiful and kind. Returning my eyes to the darkness I focused on listening instead of seeing.
“I’ve come a long way,” I said out loud. “I’ve come to seek an audience with you.” My words felt strange. It was as if I knew what I needed to say and how to word them but without actually processing it or thinking it. It just flowed naturally despite my earlier nervousness. I think the sensations I was feeling was just smoothing out the anxiety of being here and leaving me calm enough to just be confident.
“You’ve traveled from beyond our veil seeking those that you did not know to exist,” continued the voice. “You are a misplaced soldier of your people. You are lost but you following your own path.”
I remained silent, my eyes partially open, and hands on my rested legs. I could feel the weight of these soft formal Evenian clothing on my shoulders. She knew who I was. She had seen inside of me. I’m glad my soul was clean and my cause was just or else I fear she would have seen right through me and I wouldn’t be here.
“Tell me why you’ve come, lady Rio.”
“I bring news of events happening beyond your veil. As you know, Redken Sun Jin Kaisara of the Nightfall Templar has created her own empire, outside of her tribe, and using what I believe Nightfall spacefaring technology is beginning construction of fleets of warships to attack a planet called Amber Krowe. She hired me and another to find her master, Redken Flarion, lord of the Nightfall, to aid her in this war.”
“Redken Flarion?” Her large tigress head tilted a bit. “Why does she wish to attack this place?”
I slowly lifted my head a bit to look at her. “I honestly don’t know. Amber Krowe is the capital planet of the Sun Jin Empires rival faction, the Systems Alliance.”
She nodded her head, listening.
“She created the Sun Jin Empire to combat the SA saying it is to liberate the smaller colony planets from their political control. I don’t know anything more beyond that but… yes… I hear she wants Flarion to help pave the way through their military defenses.”
“Amber Krowe,” she said in my mind as she bowed her head before me, “It’s more than just the seat of power for the Systems Alliance. Kaisara is an Amber Krowen and her home plant is a historical location for the Templar.”
“Oh,” I lowered my head again. “I was unaware.”
“Ages ago, before the Systems Alliance, Amber Krowe was the domain of various Templar tribes. Today they have forgotten where they came from and the naturals there only wish to dominate territories. Tanukian Templar, our cousins, are one of the last tribes and can be found on Amber Krowe. Now there are only the Neverborn of Eveny and the Nightfall of Magnum. Kaisara may be trying to liberate her bloodline as she is a Tanukian Templar, or recruit them. Perhaps she truly is trying to fight for freedom but I doubt she would slaughter her own race.”
“I bring this information to you because I have reason to believe Kaisara is also conspiring with Redken Atomis Silverwolf to attack Eveny and destroy you. It appears to be an exchange. Atomis may be giving Kaisara Nightfall Templar warriors to assist in her battle against Amber Krowe in exchange for later destroying Eveny with her army.” I lifted my head again and looked at her firmly. “I can’t let this happen. I was supposed to be an instrument in bringing all these pieces together for Sun Jin Kaisara but I have learned so much about your people and what her intentions are. I only wish to stop her rampage now. I was a warrior for my people back when the intention of fighting truly was freedom. This isn’t freedom anymore. It’s Kaisara’s secret Nightfall vendetta.”
The room remained silent with my words. The guards standing around watched me talk and you could see the expressions on their faces from this news. They too were concerned about if what I was saying was true or not.
“I will send for my scouts to investigate what you’ve spoken. If what you speak is true and accurate then you will be always welcome to Eveny.” She nodded her head with her eyes closed a moment. “I admire your devotion to preserving life, justice, and your resolve. You would have been a grand Templar Knight. You should be most proud of yourself, Rio.”
I blushed a little bit looking down. “I’ve seen Kaisara fight once. I can’t do what she does. I am nobly satisfied with being able to bring you these words. I’ve been trying desperately to find a way to bring this to your ear.”
She slowly shook her head. “You are capable of being a Templar, despite your bloodline. You are simply lost, Rio. It is why you retired to live alone sleeping every night waiting for something more. Perhaps this is just the start of your new life.”
Wait a minute I never told her any of these details… but… ok, I believed it. She was obviously as wise and powerful as Amos said. Earlier, those sensations, she must have been digging through my mind. A powerful technique.
“Rio Narro,” she started.
I lifted my head to watch her.
“You’re vessel was only allowed to land on our planet because I felt you coming. I felt the energy of a Templar onboard your small ship long before you arrived.”
I took a slow breath through a slightly opened mouth.
“You came with another, Akima Ciberling, and she will not be allowed to leave.”
I nodded. “Honestly, my lady, I have no complaint of this. She isn’t with me on this endeavor. Kaisara sent her with me to help find Flarion but with what I’m trying to do she would try to stop me. I-” I hesitated a moment to actually defend her a bit despite what I just said, but it was only fair. “Akima isn’t a bad person. I suspect she’s enraged from the loss of her people. She was scooped up by Kaisara to help find Flarion after the Quallians destroyed her planet.”
I don’t know what happened but there was a sudden upset in the room. A few of the guards looked at each other and back towards Bezekira.
“Quallians…?” She sounded rather surprised.
“That’s… what I’ve been told by Akima. It sounds like there had been a family conflict between the two families for generations and the Quallians won.” I looked around a bit at the sentinels as they also calmed down a bit. “What does it mean?”
“This too will be investigated, Rio. As for Akima, she will be trained by the Neverborn.”
I felt a bit concerned suddenly. “She is going to learn to fight like Kaisara? Is that wise? Is she trustworthy?”
“She already is a Templar. She is the one I sensed as you came to this planet. With her motivations she must be kept track of and must not fall into the Nightfall’s hands. She’s could become a dangerous threat if she is taken to Magnum. Surely Redken Kaisara sent her with you because she knew she was a Templar. She may be the weakest of the four Redken but she has a talented mind. A true example of a Tanukian Templar’s potential.”
Slowly nodding my head, I didn’t know what else to say. If it was her will to keep Akima here for training as a Neverborn to stop her from being trained as a Nightfall then that was her choice. If she was that big of a threat, why not isolate her, or have her killed. No, having her killed didn’t sound right either. Akima was just lost and confused. She was destroyed over the loss of her family and on a path of revenge unless she wasn’t telling me something else. I wondered if Akima even knew she was a Templar. I’ve never seen her fight before.
“What will you do now, Rio Narro? Will you remain on Eveny, wish us, or do you wish to continue your journey.”
That was a pretty important question. I wasn’t even really sure. I knew I had to get the truth to the Neverborn but I hadn’t decided on what would happen after that. I could stay here with Amos if I wanted or I could learn more about the Evenian way of life and stay on this clean planet. I knew the answer though. I knew what I had to do.
“There is more I can do to stop Kaisara. I can’t stay. I wish I could.”
“You could do so much more to stop her if you stayed with us, Rio. Your brilliance would make you a powerful force against Kaisara”
“I understand but,” I sighed a little bit. “I have to act quickly. I can’t stick around, but,” I slowly finally rose to my feet, standing tall with my arms to my sides under the purple cloak. “I will return. I wish to learn more about your people and if you’ll allow me, study the Neverborn. Bezekira, will you allow me to depart the planet.”
Her feline head slowly nodded. “Of course. You are now a friend of the Neverborn, Rio. I must ask where you will go next.”
Shaking my head I had little words to offer. “I don’t know. Maybe Magnum?” I even asked it with a questioning tone.
“That would be ill advised,” her voice said in my head. “While we hide behind the civilization of the Evenians, the Nightfall openly control Magnum. They will destroy your ship on sight without asking who you are or where you’re from.”
I nodded in understanding. “I was unaware of this. I’m still learning. Do you have any words of advice for me? Any destination?”
With a small smile from her feline lips she slowly nodded. “If you wish to continue you journey then I certainly do.”
Several hours had passed. I was back with Amos at his place gathering a few of the things I left, namely my clothes I had left when I changed into this outfit. I explained everything that transpired with my encounter with Bezekira. He was happy to hear of her acceptance of me and what I had told her.
I listened to him talk more about who the Neverborn are and how they live outside of the Evenian political body. They were trying to stay hidden on this planet from outsiders and welcomed an entire civilization be brought up around them as they would be able to blend in with them. Apparently the Nightfall now vastly outnumber the Neverborn and there was talk that Flarion, the leader of the Nightfall, had indeed gone missing like Kaisara had told me a week ago. They feared the self-appointed Redken, Atomis Silverwolf, would be more bent on destroying the Neverborn then Flarion or Kaisara before him. Neither side had to resources to destroy one either and that’s why Atomis would be able to make use of Kaisara’s new government.
Back in the thin command deck of the Slayer I tossed my backpack into the passenger seat and leaned over, flipping switches and toggling the startup systems. I had a new mission now. I had completed goal. I brought information that could ready the Neverborn for war. They have the information to act and they’ll be ready now. Maybe they would even begin their own operations to secretly break up parts of Kaisara’s plans. Only time will tell.
Now dressed in my Sun Jin tactical clothes that I arrived in I trotted down the cargo ramp again as the Slayer’s AI readied the rest of the ships systems to depart.
It sure wouldn’t be pretty if Akima were to show up now. I was obviously about to abandon her here. What fate had in store for her from this point on I was unsure. If I ever returned I imagine I’d learn about it though.
Amos was on the landing platform at the bottom of the short ramp. He had a small smile on his face as I approached. Poor guy was probably going to miss me. He’d obviously taken a liking to me the short time we spent together. He even let me keep the Evenian outfit.
I came to a stop near him and initiated a close hug, resting the side of my head against his chest just under his. I felt the underside of his muzzle against the top of my head and his hand rub my back a bit.
“I’ll miss you, Rio. I speak for everybody when I say I hope the information you brought can help defend our people.”
A smile hit my lips and I nodded, my head rubbing against his neck. “Thank you for your hospitality and your help meeting with the Templar. I’ll be back. I promise. I don’t know when but I’ll come back. There’ll be more bottles of that wine, ok?” I stepped back a bit and smiled at him.
His smile matched mine and he bowed his head. “Goodbye, Rio.”
On top of the ramp I toggled the switch and the cargo door began to close. I watched him to the last moment.
The ship broke orbit and I set a route for the surrounding cloud system. During the flight the New Dawn, the battleship that greeted us when we first arrived, dispatched fighter escort to get me through the cloud quickly. I appreciated it. Time was ticking.
Once clear of the veil the fighter escort broke off and turned around. I was on my own.
Taking the advice of Bezekira I would be hunting down Sun Jin Templar research and find out what I could. Although I hadn’t slept much at all the last few days but I had some studying to do and I sat behind another computer in the command area for several hours. I skimmed through a lot of information on the Sun Jin military network looking for anything useful. I was searching for anything to do with Amber Krowens. Being a special agent for Kaisara had its perks it seemed as it gave me access to some limited information about various research studies. One of them was just what I was looking for and a couldn’t help but smile when I saw where it was.
Caisteal, my home planet. Many important research projects were kept close to Bethany or other important military installations and Caisteal was the neighboring planet to Bethany in that solar system. They were side by side and thus Caisteal was used for various Sun Jin actives like mining, research, and shipyards. What I was interested in was a specific military research study in progress at Sun Jin RD10-003.
An Amber Krowen captive about my age was kept there and being studied for his ‘unusual combat abilities’, and weapons research. Sounded familiar. I was told Amber Krowen make unusually good Templar and I knew that he could be my next lead. If it was an important project to get Templar technology into Sun Jin soldier hands then disrupting it would be to my advantage. I wish I had more people on my side for this. I’m supposed to be a military colonel after all. Doing all of this by myself was risky and I couldn’t wage this undercover war by myself but doing it alone made it easier for me to do it right under Kaisara’s nose using the security clearance she gave me herself.
I didn’t get to see any badass Templar fighting or training at all while on Eveny! I was kind of bummed.
10.06.40
Winters in Caisteal sort of sucked. Wet, always snowing, cold, and damp. The planets axis was even but its orbit was a bit egg shaped around the system’s sun. This meant when the planet was further from the sun the whole thing went into a planet-wide winter but and when closest it had its summer. The planet was mostly covered in water, probably eighty-percent, and from it were a lot of problems came yearly with these extreme weather differences. The Caistealian year was only about six Amber Krowen months so the continuous quickly changing hot-cold weather variations often created intense planet wide wind storms.
I guess I was lucky. While most of the planet was covered in snow right now the skies were clear. There were no heavy storms in the area and the wind was calm. The Silver Slayer’s wedge shape cut a clean contrail through the sky about two miles off the ocean surface.
Caisteal had several military orbital platforms just like Bethany. Though Caisteal was hardly a Sun Jin populated planetary level like Bethany it was still a valuable neighbor to worth protecting. The primary control station included an air-traffic control system that had been monitoring my vectors.
“Caisteal Orbital Defense to RX101 Silver Slayer.” The voice was a bit grainy, old technology super-sonic radio equipment. I had been traveling several times faster than the “legal speed limit” in atmosphere and I knew eventually they’d call me on it.
I took my hand off the throttle quadrant and pushed a button on the communications panel next to my leg making sure to keep a good grip on the flight controls. Atmospheric flight like this in a ship this big at these speeds was a bit rocky. Like flying a brick. This ship was well designed for it though with its series of retractable flight surfaces, wings of sorts.
“RX101, Orbital One,” I acknowledged. Before waiting for the response I reached over to the seat beside mine and took in hand a thick cotton brown hooded sweatshirt and pulled it on over my head. I used both hands but I kept the controls steady with my knees… …what!? I held control of the ship… except for that momentary drop 1,000 in altitude. I took the controls in hand again and leveled off.
“RX101 you are in restricted military airspace and over speed reduce speed to 2,500 knots and change course immediately or you will be engaged as a hostile.” I was probably going twice that, about seven times the speed of sound, directly into military controlled airspace. I understood why I’d look hostile. I hadn’t made contact with them yet.
“Negative Orbital One. RX101 priority aircraft on special Sun Jin military activity.” Always wanted to flash this excuse to do what I wanted.
There was a pause, “101 state authorization clearance code.”
I gave my long winded military ID number and was asked to standby. A minute passed
“Orbital One, RX101 clearance granted. Proceed on own vectors. Contact 10-003 control.” Frequencies were exchanged and the comm was silenced. I checked the navigation computer to verify my heading as I toggled in new communication codes. Not long now.
“RX101 Silver Slayer to Sun Jin 10-003 control, inbound from the northeast, 150 kilometers. Requesting priority clearance to land.”
Over the next few minutes I went through the same run through. Going too fast, what’s my credentials, and so on. Again I was cleared to land. When asked why I was here I simply stated it was official government business and I wanted to meet with whoever was in charge of research and development.
After about a half hour of sequencing and organizing a landing the vessel came to rest on its landing struts in a snow field clearing about a miles off the perimeter of the research facility. While landing I got a good look of the layout. Several one level buildings over a few square miles, a half dozen aircraft hangers grouped together at the far end, and around the whole thing a fifty foot high metal perimeter wall at least thirty feet thick at the base with armed Bethian guards patrolling in winter gear. The large wall had 2 main gates, one on either side, that appeared to lower into the ground when needed to be opened and lead to a snowplowed road. Guessing there was a lot more to compound underground that couldn’t be seen.
I began powering down the ships systems again and gathered a few of my things. I was already wearing cold weather clothing like my sweatshirt but it wasn’t anything very official looking. It wasn’t uniform. With my pistols strapped in holster on my hips and an over the shoulder bag strapped over my chest I started towards the cargo hold to exit. The ramp lowered and with it the cold crisp air flowed into the hull as I walked down the short ramp.
My first step on Caisteal. I heard the snow crunch under my boot. Waiting a moment I looked down at my sunken foot and smiled a bit. It’d been a long time since I’d been here. This was my home. I was born here. I put on my blue-shaded sunglasses again to keep the afternoon glare out of my eyes and looked around. Snow covered planes and trees on one side and a bone chilling ocean shore in the distance on the other. It was cold but tolerable and the various canine species on the planet that made up the Caistealian people, including me, were built for it. All of this being said, of course, when it’s not in the middle of a snowstorm or hurricane.
I put a pair of gloves on and began marching through the snow towards outer perimeter of the research base. I didn’t go long before I could see a helicopter making its way towards me. I waited, shielding my eyes from the sun.
Before long it was at landed in front of me was and a fire team of feline Bethians. Short furred, long catlike tail, short snouts, various color patterns, the native race from Bethany really were cat like creatures in the most basic of descriptions. Their light tactical armor was a stereotypical winter white and gray camouflage pattern over cargo vests, lightly padded body armor, and hip pouches or holsters for various weapons. Two of the half dozen were also armed with swords.
The commanding officer approached me, pistol in hand but lowered, and stopped a short distance from me.
“Are you Colonel Narro?”
I nodded my head.
“I’m Sergeant Nelson, ma’am.” He holstered his firearm and lifted his hand to a simple salute. “I’ve been ordered to verify you’re identity and escort you to base. No need for me to verify you though. I know who you are, Colonel.”
With a soft smile I followed him and his team to the aircraft. Little had to be said I guess. I suppose he simply recognized me. It’s happened once or twice. At a bar I was once recognized as the retired colonel. There was that one time I was picked up from my house to go to the Esther too just a few weeks ago.
On the short flight back I began formulating a plan. I put my elbows on my knees and gently rested my face in my hands, tired. Was I going to assassinate the Templar subject? Escape with them? I hadn’t figured it out yet. Perhaps I could simply order the person out of confinement to be put into my care but then they would probably try to clear it with a higher power and if Kaisara found out I stole their test subject it would ruin everything.
“Colonel Narro?”
The voice of the soldier sitting across from me startled me out of my day dream and I lifted my head a bit to look at him with a blink. He sat calmly holding his automatic rifle. “Yeah?”
“I heard you were retired? What are you doing here?” With his question out in the open I could feel a lot of other eyes on me waiting for my reply.
After glancing around the cabin a bit at the others who were looking at me I took a slow breath and lowered my face again, rubbing my forehead. “It’s classified, private.”
A few of them chuckled together at my reply. “She got you there,” one of them said. “Need to know only, bro!” shouted another.
They continued joking amongst themselves as Sergeant Nelson took a seat across from me. “We don’t get a lot of visitors, Colonel. This research facility is supposed to be for secret that stuff others don’t get to see. We don’t even know the full details of what goes on here.”
I rested my muzzle on my interlocked fingers leaning forward listening. “Ok.”
“Do you want to meet with Professor Denim once we touch down or what?”
I nodded slowly, so tired. “If he’s the project administrator then yes, right away.”
“Yes ma’am. Just so you know you’re the ranking military officer on the compound but because of the nature of secrecy here it doesn’t exactly mean we’re your soldiers. We’ll do as you say during an operation but facility command is through Professor Denim. You’ve got some special black ops clearance thing going on though and I don’t know how that comes into the mix. If you need us, Colonel, we’re yours.”
Shortly afterward I was navigating the underground complex of moderately lit steel walkways. Every junction had a small computer console built into the bulkheads for information access, security, communications, and so on, and an armed guard stationed nearby. Under escort I found my way to Professor Denim’s office and walked through the door.
“Oh, Colonel,” it was the professor. As I entered he stood up from the other side of his desk. A slightly shorter than me male Bethian, gray and black striped fur, white hair, in a stereotypical white lab coat and jeans. Bethians, hehe. Sometimes they were cute. Feline in a lab coat. He’s got whiskers. It was sort of lovable kitten thing. Anyway…
“Professor Denim?” I asked questioningly.
“Colonel Narro,” he reached across the desk with an extended hand.
Usually I was saluted but, ok. He wasn’t military I guess. I shook his hand anyway and took a seat per his gestures.
“This is an unexpected surprise, Colonel. What can I do for you?”
I lifted my glasses a bit and rested them on the top of my head with a few brown and white-tipped bangs hanging down between them and leaned back. “Do you know why I’m here, professor?” Tried to talk in a serious ‘I know what I’m doing’ tone.
“No, ma’am.” Leaned back as well. “Is this a checkup for Kaisara?”
“Retrieving data.” I nodded. “I need hard copies of all your recent developments regarding the Templar research.”
“The what?” He looked legitimately confused. “Why hard files?”
“The test subject you have here. The Amber Krowen.”
“Oh, Forza.” He nodded his head. “Kaisara is requesting more updates then? Her usual agent was here last week. What happened to him?”
“Reassigned,” I answered quickly. “Kaisara has appointed me on a few special projects and overseeing some of the work here is one of them. I may be around a while.” Totally talking out of my ass.
“Oh,” he looked around a bit, maybe a bit flustered. “This is all really unexpected. I suppose we can get starting on living quarters for you though.”
I smiled a bit and stood up adjusting my sweatshirt. “And the copies of all data?”
“They’ll be ready in the morning.”
With another nod of the head I started towards the door. As I approached it came to a stop, turned half way around and gave him another smile with a questioning look. “May I… see the Amber Krowen?”
He was standing over his desk again, organizing some papers, and looked at me a bit concerned. “Why?” he asked hesitantly.
“I want to see what security measures you have in place.”
He shook his head with a chuckle. “I assure you the most appropriate measures…”
“I really,” I started as I slid my arm up the door way, speaking softly. “I want to see.”
With a sigh that he must have been holding in for a while he put his hands on the desk and hung his head a bit snapping his tail once behind him. “Fine then.” He grabbed a lanyard off the desk and headed towards the door, passing me, and I followed. He looked a little irritated. I didn’t really care.
With two soldiers armed with rifles accompanying us we preceded down another elevator. Using his cardkey we were accessed to a level pretty deep underground. The doors opened and the four of us walked through a series of hallways lit only by dim blue lights with red track lighting on the ground where the walls and the floor met. It was pretty damn dark. We passed a few glass windowed rooms with science gizmos and lab tables, but none of them appeared to be in use anytime recently.
“The testing and data related to our test subject, Forza, is very classified,” said Denim. “He is, in all meaning of the word, a weapon. One our enemies can’t learn about at this time.” We arrived at another door. It was as wide as the whole walkway and lined with deactivated warning strobe lights. Passing his keycard over the panel on the side the strobe lights activated and flashed a red blinking as the door slowly lowered into the ground
On the other side was a box shaped control room, with computers around its perimeter occupied by other scientists, and large window panes looking into another large room. We stepped into the also dark control room and all the eyes turned to see who we were and then went back to messing with their computers.
On the other side of the glass was a warehouse or storage area with desks with clutter on them. I couldn’t make out what it was but it looked like data pads or tools. What caught my eyes, however, was the liquid filled tube with a figure inside of it attached to equipment in the middle of the room on an elevated platform. A collection of tubes, wires, and hoses came from the ceiling and floor and connected to this upright pod on the top and bottom sections. Inside the tube was a clear-blue fluid that the subject that must have been Forza was suspended in with tubes connecting to his back and a mask over his muzzle with a hose that may have been for breathing.
The unconscious figure was indeed a male Amber Krowen. He was a little guy only about 5’ 3”, probably my shoulder height. His short fur was a soft muted-yellow tone with a lighter color on his chest and belly all the way up to his chin and lower half of his head. His blonde hair was medium length, in his face a bit but not quite to his shoulders, and matched his fur tone well. From his forehead were shorter than usual Amber Krowen white-colored horns that poked forward and downward down the length of his muzzle but didn’t go quite as far as, say, Kaisara’s did. Just like Kaisara he had soft protrusions from various parts of his body, kind of like fins, like from his elbows going outward, a series of them about a foot long from his hips sliding backward and up a bit, and a series of them running down his back, and on his shoulders. These fins were one of the primary attributes of their species and it is believed that they were meant for stabilization when running on all fours like they used to thousands of years ago. Nobody’s really sure. Judging from his looks I pinned him between twenty-five and thirty years old, my age group.
“That’s Forza?” I asked, pointing his way a bit.
“Yeah. He came to us about two years ago and we’ve harvested an incredible amount of technology and weapons research from his unique abilities.”
“His combat abilities, you mean. Tell me about them.” I peered at the young in the tube. I couldn’t stop looking at him. I felt sorry for him honestly. Who knows what they were putting him through?
“He’s… just fast,” he said with a chuckle. “He has an ability to somehow compress space itself in a small area!” He sounded sort of excited saying this. “It’s an amazing ability. When the area returns to normal anything in its area is propelled with an incredible force, not much different than how our slipspace engines function on starships but on a much smaller scale. His tough bone structure can handle the blow as well but continuous use would probably cause irreparable damage.”
“That’s it?”
“Oh no,” replied Denim. “Whoever trained him before he was here did an amazing job, Systems Alliance I believe. He is an incredible bladesman and his techniques are marvelous. One of the primary functions of our research is weapon and armor development around his skillsets.”
It sounded like finally we were getting to what I needed to hear. I wanted to know what sort of weapons and equipment this research would give the Sun Jin armies for their war. I smirked a bit in his direction. “What kind of armor?”
“Kaisara gave us her personal armor she used to liberate Bethany and ordered its duplication and enhancements but it’s been incredibly difficult to duplicate.”
I listened with my arms crossed. I had a small flashback of Kaisara fighting alongside me years ago.
“Her armor had an active system that repelled any projectile fired at it!” he shouted excitedly. “If we could duplicate that technology and perfect it no soldier with this armor would be susceptible to gunfire. Her armor is slick, simple, and beautiful, but how it makes this is unknown completely. There’s no specific device on her armor that makes this repulsory field but instead is generated directly from the material the armor is constructed of. Her armor was dismantled and used in Forza’s armor construction so right now he has the only working projectile repulsing armor prototype. Unfortunately it isn’t as powerful as Kaisara’s was.”
I smirked a bit as I listened to him say “the only working” line in his description. I saw a hundred Templar with armor similar to what Kaisara’s looked like on Eveny. My little secret.
“Being a master of close quarters combat, his ability to compress space and his armor that can protect him from anything but heavy gunfire, Forza is one of the Sun Jin’s most powerful weapons systems.” He smiled a bit to himself, watching Forza through the window.
I didn’t understand one thing, “How do you control him? You said he was from the Systems Alliance?”
“Yes we believe so, being Amber Krowen and all. Most are. Kaisara picked him to be the test subject. She identified him and sent a team to collect him. We control him with brainwashing and other … medications. For example, right now he’s completely sedated.” Denim turned to me again and nodded his head. “Any other questions?”
A long pause as a thought went through my head. It led to a question that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ask. “How do you do this testing anyway? When you arm him with new weapons or armor how do you figure out its combat effectiveness?”
He rolled his hand a bit in response, “Let’s say, sometimes some of the Caistealian in the region take up arms or house weapons they shouldn’t and we… suppress them.” I had a feeling he was going to say that, the bitch.
Finishing his sentence he walked to a computer a toggled a few keys bringing up what looked like a video recording. It must have been taken from an elevated surface, or an aircraft. It began playing. I took a few steps closer to watch. The figure must have been Forza in the variant of Kaisara’s armor he was talking about. All I could really see was different this variant was using additional clothe. Draping from the shoulders down to his knees on either side were two layers of a thick black patterned material. The same draped down his back and the sides of his arms. From his hips he wore a piece of the Templar armor that covered his stomach area and from it also hung the same thick material all around. His face was covered by a dark engraved facemask with feathers along the top that swept back over the length of his head and had orange highlighted areas that appeared electronic. It was probably visual input sensors for the wearer of the mask. It didn’t look Sun Jin or Templar in design…
What jerked my stomach were the swords in his hand. Matching Kaisara’s pair of swords perfectly if not the exact same swords she had used years ago. One was straight and the other was curved a bit and single sided, exactly like Amos’s on Eveny. With them Forza was fending off attackers armed with their own swords. One charged at him and with a simple sidestep he dodged an attack and with a swing of the blade beheaded the attacker. Quick snaps of green light sparked from the armor’s perimeter once every few moments a few feet in front of him. I believed it was gunfire coming into contact with that field he spoke of. I watched how after a short run to an opponent he slammed both of the swords into a sword wielding Caistealian and pull them apart and the body of the under equipped man was torn in half with a burst of blood. Forza reached behind him, quickly grabbed something, and quickly tossed a small bladed object towards an oncoming attacker.
I was pissed. My insides were suddenly on fire. “Take up arms? What is that supposed to mean?” I narrowed my eyes a bit and probably looked a bit angry, I tried to hide it a bit but it was hard. “Most Castilians don’t even have guns. You’re a military substation… and most importantly the Caistealians are allies with the Sun Jin! Why would you attack them with this weapon?”
The son of a bitch literally shrugged a little bit. “I intend to present results for Kaisara.” He said. “If some details of information about them must be fabricated to ensure we can attack them then it’ll be done.” Not that it really mattered but I thought about how Kaisara had said they made up an excuse to attack Quall weeks ago and as a result devastated an entire city.
I looked back at the video playing. Forza was a weapon. His background was unknown to me, of course, but he had been twisted, drugged, brainwashed into this slaughter machine. Damn military cowards. This was the same kind of carnage I was trying to avoid. This is why I came here and now I knew what had to be done… and with my hands hanging at my sides I quietly unclipped the strap on top of the hip-holsters for my pistols. The last two weeks I’ve done a lot of talking and a lot of investigating. I’d reported the Sun Jin and Nightfall’s plans to the Neverborn and left what happens next with that up to them. Now I had the chance to do what I needed to do. I’ve made the decision to make my stand and if ever there was a chance to commit to it and do what was needed, this was it.
Professor Denim turned to me and with a grin on his face. “The anti-ammunition shielding technology we’ll produce here will one day protect our soldiers, starships, cities, and we’ll be invincible.”
With my hands hanging at my sides I gently lifted my muzzle upwards stretching my neck with my eyes closed. I took a long breath. It was going to be one of the last breaths of my innocence. I could feel the adrenaline begin to fill my veins, warm but tense. It was a long cool and crisp breath in through my nose… lowering my shoulders and head back to a resting position I exhaled softly and slowly opened my eyes at Denim.
He looked at me a bit confused. “Colonel Narro?”
My fingertips skittered softly across the grip of my 9mm sidearm in its unsecured holster and with a quick snap I brought it to bear, arms outreached, and my eyes down the iron sights fixated on Professor Denims face.
“What the fuck!?” he shouted, a bit in terror. The other Bethians seated around the perimeter of the small room looked over their shoulders and saw what was happening. There was a look of shock on their faces.
The trigger came back, the shell ejected from the top of the gun accompanied by the sound of a single gunshot, and a short moment later the insides of Professor Denim’s head splashed against the window behind him. It happened in slow motion for me. It was the first time I had killed someone in years.
With a few panicked shouts the others got up and started towards the exits. About half of them trying to exit into the cargo hold area and the others through the door behind me. I knew I had no choice and these other scientists were just as guilty as Denim. With my left hand I took the other pistol and opened fire. They were all dead. They’re bleeding bodies soaking the tile floor.
Taking a few deep breaths I holstered my offhand 9mm and knelt over Denim’s body, searching it for the keycard he was using. It only took a few seconds to find.
Before another minute I was in the warehouse in front of Forza’s containment tube. I only really had one option. I took aim again and fixed it on Forza’s body. Something stopped me though. Maybe it was the twitch in his fingers from his dangling arms at first but then he slowly opened his eyes, only a little bit. I could see just a small part of his blue eyes. My aim slowly wavered as I watched this weak boy, defenseless, and thoughts rushed my mind.
He was a victim. He was being used, tortured, and I questioned if he deserved to die. Maybe it would be what he wanted. I took a slow breath through my nose eyeing him and made the decision. Two more gunshots echoed through the room followed by the sound of the cracking glass. It didn’t shatter but became very unstable as the cracks slowly spread. I turned and began walking away while reloading the pistol and forcing it back into its holster.
He had the right to choose for himself the life that lay ahead of him.
10.07.40 (4/13/25 same day this?)
I covered my eyes a bit as I came back up to the surface of the compound. The sun had set while I was downstairs it seems. I had no idea what time it was anyway. The wind had picked up quite a bit and the soldiers running around all over the place had cloth pulled up from under their armor to cover their feline noses and keep them warm. They looked to be gathering into teams all over the courtyard. I walked amongst them unsure if they knew what had happened only twenty minutes prior. Chances are they might not have because that research lab was in a very specific closed-off protected area that had restricted access. They obviously weren’t looking for me very hard because I was right here in front of them.
Passing through the crowds I turned a bit and walked backwards for a few seconds looking behind me until I heard a familiar voice. “Colonel Narro!” Turning to see who it was I saw Sargent Nelson and his team just off to my side. I turned to face them, shielding my eyes from the wind, and waited there.
He came to a stop and saluted me. “Security breach ma’am. Teams are organizing to set up a perimeter to stop the Amber Krowen from escaping.”
I narrowed my eyes and tried to look a little concerned. “Where is he located right now?”
“We don’t –“ Before he could finish the eruption from a series of explosions rocked the ground under us.
“What the hell?” Collecting myself I looked over to the other side of the station and saw a small mushroom cloud rising into the sky and realized that all of the lighting in the courtyard died. All the power in the area was cut apparently.
Nelson pointed towards it and about half the soldiers started running that way. “That was the primary power reactor, Colonel.” He looked to the other side of me and eyed something before walking towards it.
Matching his gaze I saw what he was heading towards. There were a few assault helicopters parked near the perimeter wall. I picked up my speed and followed Nelson and his team towards it.
“I’ll fly, Colonel.”
Minutes later the aircraft slowed down in the vicinity where the underground reactor was hovering alongside the still billowing plumes of smoke. Down below us a gathering of armed soldiers crowded around a small area. They had their rifles aimed at a figure they kept their distance from. As he walked the group followed around him keeping a hesitant circle around him
It was Forza in his armor. He wore the same black body armor with the clothe from the shoulders and legs beltline as I saw him wearing in the video earlier including the facemask, except it was resting on the top of his head. In his hands were those swords and a scared but fierce expression on his face. He looked like a trapped animal trying to escape as he slowly walked towards the outer perimeter wall with the nearby gate. The soldiers weren’t engaging him.
“Put me down, Sergeant, by the truck.” I pointed down to a cargo vehicle.
I pulled off my sweatshirt and tied it around my midriff leaving my fleece turtle neck on under it and held on to the ceiling bar around the open cabin as the aircraft descended. Once it came to a hover I leapt from it onto the top of the cab.
Standing up tall over the rest of the nearby group, not far behind Forza, I cupped my hands over my mouth. “Forza! Where are you going?” I tried to hide a frown as I lowered my hands. The loud propellers from the helicopter were drowning out my voice a bit.
He jerked his head my way bearing his teeth. “I’m not your hostage,” he yelled back at me. “I’ve been your puppet for long enough. You’ve shown me that I have abilities that you want and I won’t let you use me as a tool in your war!”
I felt somewhat good about his words. He was going to try and escape and he clearly didn’t support the Sun Jin. That was clear already. With him facing I saw wounds. He was bleeding pretty bad and leaving a trail of blood on the snow. His face had blood splatter on it but from the pattern it didn’t look like his own.
He continued walking towards the wall and was almost near the controls for the large gate. He slowly walked up the steps, walking backwards, and began keying some commands to the panel using his hand behind is back. Everybody just watched, probably waiting for orders. They knew he was valuable and killing him must have been a last resort. Restraining him by hand was probably too dangerous and maybe they were afraid. I don’t know what they were taught to believe.
I leapt down from the top of the vehicle and briskly jogged that way. It wasn’t a big distance or anything. About half way there an officer ran up to me and gave me a small earpiece. I’d seen these a few times in the past and knew what it was for. Putting it in my ear I could hear the chatter of some of the officers with them. They were talking about their next immediate action and how they couldn’t let him escape.
I cut in on the communication as the rotating emergency bacons began to alarm and the gate started lowering into the ground. “This is Colonel Narro on the comm. All officers stand down traffic. I am now in command of this operation.”
“You’re not the base commander, Colonel Narro,” said a voice on the radio. “Where is Professor Denim? Why isn’t he on the line?”
I continued towards the front of the group. Once I got sight of Forza again I saw him walking backwards, out the gate into the open field along the snow covered road. In the distance behind him was a bridge that covered a chasm about a quarter mile long. I got to the front of the entire group, standing between Forza and the guns, and made a few gestures to the soldiers to stay put, pointing at the ground repeatedly at the gate perimeter line.
The chatter continued and I cut in again. “Denim is dead, sir. As a special envoy from Kaisara herself I am taking command of this research facility. Any objections and you can ask her yourself.”
They continued to talk about themselves but I could hear the command station convey information about my clearance they received when I first arrived. They had checked it once already.
I took a few steps towards Forza. He didn’t look good and was moving backwards slowly holding his swords ready. “Forza, this is your last chance.”
All he could do was slowly shake his head. “What are you going to do? Shoot me? What will that get you?”
I gestured towards the trail of blood on the snow that was coming from his leg. “I won’t have to shoot you. You’ll die on your own at this rate from the blood loss. Where are you going to go? This whole continent is entering its winter season and there’s no way off planet for you. I’m your only option.”
Over the communication I heard someone say my name so I focused on it for a few moments. “Colonel Narro, snipers are in place and ready to take the shot on your orders.”
“Copy,” I mumbled.
Forza staggered a bit but got back to his feet and shook his head. “I’m Amber Krowen. I’ll survive this.”
“Forza, I’ll do whatever it takes. You have no idea the lengths I’ve been through to be here right now.”
He snarled again and pointed his sword directly at me as he took a step onto the concrete bridge. “Whatever it takes? What about me?” With a grunt he put his swords against his hip armor, side by side, where it remained on its own. It was just like when Kaisara was able to attach her swords to her armor for storage anyplace unassisted. I suspected it was magnetized or something. He continued, “What about what I’ve been through over the last few years? I’m going to do whatever it takes for me to survive this nightmare!”
I took a deep breath and thought about what I could do here. I really had few options. What was I supposed to do? Tell him what was really going on and what my plans were? There wasn’t enough time and he wasn’t listening. He was suffering from blood loss and frantic.
Something started to happen around him. The snow falling to the ground around him slowly started steering away from a straight down path and bent towards him then landed near his feet instead. The air around him began to feel thicker and heavier.
I looked around us a bit as I could feel something shift in the air. Like a resonance that made me uneasy. Was he going to attack us? He was a Templar, I already knew that, but I didn’t know just what he could do. This could end badly for him. If he opened fire the hundred guns trained on him would open fire. I know he had some sort of protective armor against bullets but the professor said it was only a fraction as powerful as Kaisara’s was because Forza’s was only a modified duplicate made with a few pieces of her armor.
Forza stood tall with his eyes closed, slowly lifting his hands to about belt level a few inches in front of him, palms down, as if concentrating. He was desperate and he was going to die escaping if he had to. This wasn’t going to work.
The ground around us started vibrating a bit. It was barely noticeable around me but the air around Forza appeared more disturbed. Under his feet, I saw little chips of the bridge start to break away and rattle on the concrete. It continued getting worse and I started trying to watch the stability of the old bridge as much as him.
A thought went through my mind. If that bridge under him collapsed then he’d fall into the chasm with it. He would likely die in the fall but the armor would go with him and the Sun Jin would have to send a team to recover it. That would buy me some time…
“Forza,” I said loudly over the increasingly loud resonance sound. “Don’t make me kill you.”
He opened his eyes and took just one of his swords back in hand. The bridge under him was beginning to fracture a bit and it would only take a few more seconds before some instability made it difficult to stand on. If he attacked us before that though I would have to open fire first and the disruption would end, assuming he died. He left me with no choice. He started slowly marching towards me and stepped off the bridge.
I knew what he was capable of and I had to do what I had to do. With the wind blowing my hair aside I put my finger to the earpiece and spoke the words. “Sniper one, clear to en-.“
Before I even complete the order a single loud crashing sound broke out from the watchtower and a fraction of a second later a bright flash of green light erupted around Forza’s body as the his armor’s repulse shield was penetrated. His body flipped backwards and landed several meters from where he was standing and the mask that was on the top of his head flew into the sky in pieces. The sound echoed over the horizon for several seconds.
I took a breath to recover as the effects of Forza’s energy settled down and the atmosphere returned to normal. I started walking towards his body listening for chatter on the communications but it was silent. I approached slowly as I thought about what I had done. I couldn’t see most of his body from my angle and distance but I saw the pool of blood under him being soaked into the snow. He didn’t appear to be breathing earlier. What had I done…
A new sound began to fill the area. The damaged concrete bridge began to crack and sounds of it doing so echoed through the canyon below. Large portions of the underside began to break away and the whole bridge began collapsing taking large chunks of the landscape it was attached to with it.
All I could do was take a few steps back and watch. The sound of the concrete and earth crunching together and sliding into the ravine was chaotic at best. Once the last of the ground ripped away and collapsed I darted to the ravine and looked over. I couldn’t see much though tree cover and all the dust. The crashing noises from the bridge coming to rest below still echoed around them.
“Fuck,” I said out loud starting back towards the station. I opened another communication, “Someone start a search and rescue team in the ravine. Sun Jin needs that body.”
I stopped again and looked over my shoulder at where the bridge had been. I removed my earpiece and gripped it in my hand frustrated. The snow continued to fall and the atmosphere was quiet. With a sigh I shook my head and brushed some of the melting snow off my muzzle. “I’m sorry, Forza,” I mumbled to myself.
10.09.40
It’d been a few days now since the incident just outside the perimeter wall with Forza and a lot had happened in that time. His body was never found but instead one person did go missing during the search. Ground teams had been combing the canyon but the snowfall came that morning and the tree growth in the crevice made it next to impossible. Chances were he was probably buried in the landslide from the crashing bridge anyway.
In the end the helicopter pilot I was flying with found him face down on the rocky fjord where the river running through the canyon emptied into the costal ocean. He was found flat on his stomach and didn’t look well. It had been days anyway. What were the chances he was still alive? I remember realizing something while we walked from the parked helicopter to his lifeless body that lead to where I was this moment right now. If Forza was indeed alive I would have to silence this pilot. I would leave this place with Forza and the pilot would tell officials what happened. If Forza was dead then there was no problem and I could continue with my mission, whatever the next step was anyway. I was lucky enough to dodge any accusations of Denims death. Forza was blamed due to the proximity of the bodies to his containment area. We had been too busy the following day to do a real investigation that could have lead them to checking my firearms. I wouldn’t have let them anyway but it would have raised curiosity.
Now here I was days after the incident. I sat here with my back against the wall inside an unused countryside barn huddled up in a heavy jacket and long pants. Wrapped in blankets next to me lay the stirring Forza. Somehow he had survived but he had been unconscious for this whole time. I hadn’t had any chance to talk to him, only mend his wounds a bit with the aid kit that was in the helicopter I was in when I found him. He had been stirring the last few hours though and I wanted to be here when he woke up. I was getting hungry and wanted to go pick some fruit of the trees but that wasn’t happening now.
Probably an hour later I saw some movement accompanied by a loud groan. I flinched realizing I was falling asleep but reached over to put my hand on his bare shoulder. His eyes tightly jammed shut and his hand slowly rose to his face. He appeared to be in pain.
“Forza? Are you there?” I looked at him concerned.
He slowly opened his eyes a bit with both hand pushed against his head tightly and his mouth hung open a few seconds.
“Forza, come on. Wake up.” I shook him a little bit.
“Stop, stop, stop…” he said a few times back to back wincing in pain.
The rattling didn’t look like it was doing him any good so I did.
With his eyes barely open he turned his head and peered at me. “What…” that was all he said for a few seconds before continuing. He seemed delirious and confused. “Where I am? What happened?”
“You deflected a rifle shot with your face,” I chuckled a bit leaning back again against the wall near him. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Some memory seemed to come back with those words and he looked at me angrily and slowly tried to sit up, failed a bit, and propped himself up with his arms behind him wincing in a bit of pain. “You!”
I winced a bit. I wasn’t expecting this attitude but I guess it wasn’t exactly uncalled for. I had a lot of explaining to do.
“You’re the Sun Jin bitch from before! You had me shot!” He didn’t move any more then he already had. He just sat there half up. Man did he look pissed.
“I can explain, Forza.” I sat up straight and put my hands in front of me trying to calm him down. “It’s not what it looks like, ok?”
“How isn’t it what it looks like? I’ve been in that hellhole for years. I finally get my one chance to fucking escape and … you.” He tried to get up a bit.
“If I wasn’t there you’d be dead right now, or back in containment, Forza. Obviously if I didn’t find you first after what happened then you would be recovering, right now, under restraint.”
He eyed me, appearing to actually listen, but still confused. “Explain then,” he calmly said. “Where am I? Who are you?”
“My name is Rio Narro. I’m trying to free you, Forza.”
He lowered his chin a bit with his eyes still on me. His little Amber Krowen horns between his eyes. “Had me shot…”
All I could do was shrug with my arms out. “If I couldn’t get you out of there then there was no way I could let them keep you. I couldn’t let it look like I just let you go. They’ve been using you for research and slaughter that I can’t allow anymore. I’m trying to stop the Sun Jin from gaining any more Templar technology and it looks like they were banking a lot in getting some serious breakthroughs with you and your armor.”
He lifted his hand again and rubbed his forehead in pain.
“The same armor that let you survive that sniper round. I heard from Professor Denim that your armor was capable of slowing down gunfire. It probably saved your life but I bet you’ll be feeling that for a while.”
“I…” He closed his eyes again and looked like he was in deep thought. “I saw bodies in the lab. I didn’t do that.” Something was happening to him. He pinched his eyes tightly, as if in pain, with his fingers on his forehead in thought. Tilting his head a bit it really looked like he was hurting but was trying to hold back sounds.
“I know. I did.”
“Then you freed me?”
“They showed me research recordings of what they’d been doing to you. Not to mention they were sending you, under mind control, to kill my people. I’m Caistealian.”
“We’re on Caisteal…” he took a deep long breath and slowly lowered his hands. Shaking his head he continued, “I don’t remember how I got here.”
I sighed a bit. Something was wrong with him. My best guess was it had been shit the Sun Jin had done to his head or maybe trauma from his recent injuries. I watched him a minute, sitting up, naked under the blankets.
“Forza,” I said. “I just have to get you out of here. I know that much for sure.”
Seemingly more relaxed he put his hands on the blanket over his lap and looked at me. “Are you some Templar infiltrator?”
“No, not exactly,” I shook my head. “I was hired by Kaisara to hunt down a Nightfall Redken named Flarion. Know him?
As I spoke he was laying back down onto his back. He rolled over onto his side, facing away from me while trying to breathe calmly. “Every Templar knows who he is. He’s the son of Varuna.”
That was news to me. “Who?”
“You aren’t a Templar, are you?”
I shook my head, “No. I’m still learning about them, that’s all. Based on what I know I don’t want the Sun Jin having their weapons. That’s why freeing, or killing you, had to be done carefully.”
“Varuna is the main deity of the Templar people. They say she’s the most powerful entity to exist in the cosmos and Flarion was born from her.”
“Oh…” I didn’t know this. Nobody on Eveny spoke of it. “I see why Flarion would be such a valuable person then.”
“My guess is Kaisara doesn’t know you’re working against her all this time, right?”
I was walking to the corner of the abandoned barn and grabbed some large cargo bags I had stacked in a corner. Passing by I looked out the large open doorway and saw that the snow had stopped coming down but it was still covering everything. “No. I don’t suspect she does but that might be over now.”
“Because of me. You kidnapped me.”
I snorted a bit. “She’ll be looking for both of us now. I can’t get us back to my ship at 003 either.” I dropped my bags besides Forza’s resting body just behind him.
He rolled over a bit slowly still appearing hurt and looked at them. “What’s this?”
I also pushed the blades of the swords into the grass under us. “Your recovered gear. I supposedly took it so I could return it to Kaisara but obviously you’re not Kaisara.”
He looked up a bit me a bit and sighed. “Letting me go then, huh?”
“You were never a captive. You’re free to live your life how you want, Forza, but I’d really like it if you came with me and helped me stop her.”
With another long breath he shook his head a bit and closes his eyes trying to rest. “You can’t beat her. She’s a Redken of the Nightfall. She’s not the most powerful warrior but she’ll see you coming. She could have planned on this whole chain of events as it is. Like you freeing me.”
“I doubt that. She trusted me with another person probably just to keep eyes on me. She turned out to be a Templar too but I left her on Eveny when I warned them about Kaisara’s plans.”
Forza snorted a bit. “She knows…”
He sounded pretty confident in himself. “How would you know?”
“I know her.”
I crossed my arms standing over him. “Is that so?”
“There’s a reason she chose me.”
I watched him expecting there to be more but he just kept his eyes closed and didn’t continue. He must have meant why he was made into the research project where he was used to murder people.
With his arm out of the blanket I stared at the white tattoo on his orange cream fur that I had been trying to recognize for days now. It looked like some kind of animalistic tribal design but it was more like a symbol. It almost looked like an upside-down droplet with an opened tail and maybe what was an eye in the middle and what looked like wings coming from the top. It was cryptic looking and had to have had some meaning. It was also mirrored on his opposite bicep. I first saw it when I was recovering his unconscious body.
“What is that, anyway?” I gestured towards the tattoo.
“What?” He didn’t even open his eyes.
“What are the tattoos on your arms?”
Again he said nothing. Only silence again. With a sigh I gave up.
“Ok, look, Forza. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for a few days now. We can’t stay here. This is just a barn that the locals use during the harvesting season and the Sun Jin will find us here if we wait too long. We aren’t exactly very far from the research facility. The choice is yours if you want to come with me to the next town or go your own way but one way or another neither of us have a way off this rock. Do you want to stick together, or what?”
“Right now,” he finally replied. “I’m going to sleep and you’re going to let me.”
“I am? Look if you want to go your own way that’s fine.” I knelt down beside him.
“You won’t live long out there if they find you and I’m really… really… tired. I also don’t think you’d be comfortable letting me go on my own. You had me shot last time.”
“That was different,” I sighed. “Now it’s just us and they’ll know what’s happened here.”
“Will they? Just go back and tell them you hunted me and killed me. Then they won’t be looking for either of us. Is there more to it than that?”
Shaking my head I thought about it. “I can’t risk them finding out what really happened. I had to kill the pilot I was with when we found you. I don’t want to wait here either. If they find us here-”
“I’ll kill them.”
I had no reply this time. I didn’t know how strong he was. That video I saw him in earlier made me think he probably could fend off anybody that attacked but chances were if they did see us it would only be some sort of scouting party.
“Fine,” I said a little impatiently. “When the snow starts falling again I want to move. They’ll have a harder time finding us in a snowstorm. At night we take shelter. The next town is a few days travel on foot.”
No answer from him again. In the end I’ll end up chalking this up as him being tired and still healing from his wounds. All things considered he’d been through a lot more then I probably recognized. My questions about how he knew Kaisara so well were still there but I knew we’d have plenty of time together over the next few days and maybe I’d have a few chances to find out.
Watching him sleep was actually kind of sad. He stirred a lot like he was having nightmares. If what I’d learned was true, that he was drugged and under influences when slaughtering those people, then it wouldn’t be unrealistic for him to have some troubled memories or other problems. I spent a great deal of time sitting on the dry soft dirt huddled up with my back to one of the support beams of the barn. Watching the snow start to fall again all I could do was wait for Forza to wake up with an occasional sigh escaped my breath.
This was getting complicated. It would have been easier on my cover if he had in fact been found dead. I could have continued posing as an agent for Kaisara but by now they could have been putting pieces together. Forza, however, did have a point. To them it could look as if i was still persuading him and that’s why I hadn’t returned. Maybe by now they would have found the abandoned helicopter and the dead pilot. It’s all very risky.
Thinking about it too much didn’t help me either. I was tired and naturally fell asleep while trying to figure out what we were going to do next. The Caistealians didn’t have shit as far as advanced spacefaring technology goes. Where would I a ship I could get into space with. Where would I go then? I suppose returning to…
Some noise woke me up in the middle of my daydream. It came from the direction Forza was resting and it sounded like footsteps scarring through the dirt. I calmly slid my hand down to my hip and unclipped the holster for my gun and opened an eye a bit. It was Forza like I had thought. He was huddled over the cargo bag I had carried that housed his weapons, armor, and anything else of value from the research lab where he was kept. In his left hand he had both of his swords, together, and used his other hand to unzip the bag. He looked frantic.
“Forza? What’s-“
Still very naked he quickly pointed his finger at me with a desperate look on his face and pulled the finger to his mouth to make a ‘be quite’ gesture with a finger by his lips. After a second he continued to look for something from the bag. Inside the bag was the armor he wore with the cloth parts all folded up to conserve space. He jerked whatever was on top out of the bag which turned out to be the lower half of the cloth armor. Not the under armor but just the thick cloth laden pelvic armor. With a jerking motion he quickly separated its belt-like loop, swung it around his hips, and fastened it around his naked lower half. He knew where the straps were and did it so quickly that it gave me the impression he knew what he was doing.
He zipped the bag shut and shoved it aside and grabbed the second bag. As he unzipped it he nodded his head and took a breath. It was the weapons bag that was filled with a pair of long curved combat knives in their sheaths I saw him wearing under his armor, on his back, and a few smaller knives that looked in similar design to his swords.
It also had a dozen of these other devices that took up a lot of space but I didn’t know what they were. Back at the lab they were each in their own individual containment unit visible through glass. They looked important so I took them. They were about half a foot in length each and looked like some sort of small flying missile or projectile weapon with folding navigational wings and flight surfaces near the back. From the front half forward the two edges along the side of the device sharpened out and acted as a cutting edge. From what I could gather they were meant to be projectiles that just cut their way through whatever they hit like personnel or lightly armored soldiers. Each one of them also was engraved with a males name along just one side of one of the cutting edges. I didn’t have much time so I didn’t commit the names to memory or anything like that.
With one of my pistols upholstered I held it at my side, still sitting against the pillar with my ears perked. He knew something. Something was about to happen. I looked side to side for something that could be used as cover and slowly stood up and walked backwards towards some machinery but again Forza looked at me and shook his head, and snapped his fingers pointing to the opposite side of the open barn but there was nothing there for cover at all.
One way or another I’m glad I listened to him. An explosion erupted against the wall I was about to take cover near sending planks and wood debris into the area I was, now, in midflight being tossed in the air. My eyes were jammed shut and I felt myself land on the dirt. My ears were ringing and for a few seconds I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes while I collected my senses.
I collected myself by slowly pulling my knees under my chest, and leaning up, holding my head. I opened my eyes finally and looked around for Forza. He was getting back to his feet the same way I was and had only one of his swords in hand now.
Then they showed up, through the blasted hole and the front opening of the barn a squad of no more than ten heavily armed Sun Jin shock troopers with full face tactical helmets, weaponry loaded vests, grenades, the whole works stormed into the barn. Most of them rushed towards the still-recovering Forza and one of them immediately smacked the butt of his rifle against the back of Forza’s head. With a yelp he collapsed to the ground.
Two of them approached me with their rifles aimed and I raised my pistol, only about half way, not to aim it right at them. If I had aimed it toward them they would have shot me down where I stood so this was a risk enough. One of them lowered his rifle and instead raised a smaller gas operated pistol.
“Sorry, Colonel. Orders.” It was Sargent Nelson’s voice. The pistol in his hand was a tranquilizer gun. They really didn’t know what was going on, did they? If they knew was a combatant they might as well have just shot me where I stood. Then again they could have known I aided Forza and were going to bring me in, alive, for questioning.
Like with the event that lead to this moment, me ordering the shot on Forza at the R&D base, I had no choice. I lowered my gun and nodded my head as the zipping sound of the dart flying through the air sounded and hit me in the arm. If I had lifted my handgun I could maybe kill Nelson and the one aiming his rifle at me but not the six or so others that were grabbing the still awake but barely alert Forza by the arms and dragging him out of the shed.
I took a few steps back while feeling the sharp needle pick in my left arm. The first few steps were easy to take but eventually my fingers went numb and I dropped my handgun onto the ground and my back crashed haphazardly against the back of the wall. I’ve been tranquilized before. I knew what to expect.
With my back against the wall I watched them drag Forza by the arms. I stared at them across the barn, now in the open field, and felt my lack of give-a-shit rise. The stuff was setting in but it wasn’t exactly blurry or anything yet. That being said I didn’t give much of a damn when I watched Forza slowly lift his head with a tilt to stare at the soldier to his left strafing sidewalks with his rifle aimed at Forza’s head as they drug him out. I didn’t really seem to properly take in what happened when Forza jerked his own right arm downward, sliding under the grasp of the Sun Jin soldier, taking the soldiers wrist into his own hands over his shoulder, and pull it over his shoulder breaking it leaving the Sun Jin soldier screaming all the while Forza pulled the combat knife from the soldiers belt with his now freed arm. I think I saw him take the other soldier that was holding on to his left shoulder and use him as a shield while the flashes of gunfire filled the area. I think I saw that combat knife end up in somebodies chest and I’m pretty sure I remember Sergeant Nelson and other notice.
It was starting to go fuzzy. Sensory input was dulling. The best I could feel was the wood grinding against my back fur as I started collapsing.
My vision watched as an orange glowing sword stabbed into the chest of one of the soldiers and a shower of blood flying through the air with another swing. It was all yelling, shouting, death screams, and gunfire. With only two of them left out there a new sound filled the proximity. It was a rotor muffle from a quiet stealth helicopter and it was accompanied by the sound of heavy caliber weapon coming from the front mounted cannon. The snow around Forza and the other two erupted as a hail of bullets kicked up snow everywhere. I thought I saw several green flashes of light snap in a spherical like-barrier around Forza as some of the bullets came near. That shield thing. I really didn’t care right now.
Forza dived into the barn near the cargo bags that held his gear and landed on his stomach, at least I think. By now I had already came to rest on my ass with my eyes half closed. I looked up at the backs of Sargent Nelson and his companion now both aiming their weapons at him but neither of them would get a shot off as both of them quickly fell backwards with a loud grunts and landed on their backs. Both of them had one of those devices I had collected from the lab, the small aircraft, implanted in their chest deep. Both of them were still alive. Sergeant Nelson put his hands on the projectile entrenched in his chest like a sword and tried to pull it out but before he could get a good grip the flight control fins on both, which folded inward with the tips inside their bodies, suddenly snapped open. A burst of blood exploded from their chests with the control fins shredding armor, flesh, and bone, and his hands that were trying to take hold. This was a devastating weapon, an armor piecing weapon that penetrates and snaps open ripping the chest cavity open.
Both of them suddenly sprung upward into the air with a red tail of light following them and flew under their own power back towards Forza. One of them flew past him and slammed nose first into the wall of the barn near the entrance for some reason and the other was snatched out of the air by Forza’s hand. As he grabbed it the attack helicopter came into view from the front entrance and was flying low towards the barn. With a strong over the shoulder throw he pitched the small device out into the open field where it quickly snapped open to maneuver itself upward and above the helicopters flight path.
It was starting to go dark for me. The last thing I remember seeing was Forza in the entryway with his shoulder towards me and him slowly turning his head to look my way as the flying missile crashed through the cockpit glass in the distance. My eyes fully shut as the aircraft lost altitude and crashed into the snow and explode hurling debris everywhere.
That proud smirk look on his face would forever be engraved in my mind.
10.11.40
I suddenly woke up. My eyes just snapped open and stared forward a bit with my head on its side as I took a nice calm breath. Everything was quiet and peaceful. Surprisingly not all too cold either despite the snow covering under my sleeping bag on what appeared to be a nice sunny midday afternoon.
Rubbing my head I slowly leaned upright. Examining the area around me I saw Forza’s sleeping bag beside mine, empty, but his backpack was resting beside it so I know he couldn’t have gone far. We had been traveling for two days on foot across the snow planes of Caisteal. This was my planet. Without me he’d be lost and wouldn’t know where he was going so seeing his bag there was a relief.
A few moments later I was on my feet. The snow blizzards had subsided and it was indeed calm and quiet around. No need for heavy weather robes. With my cargo pants, tactical shirt, and boots on I walked around the small campsite to find him. I slowly marched up a hillside, just a small knoll, and stood at the top. I crossed my arms at what I saw.
There he was… Forza, without a shirt on and dressed only the bottom half of his Gotanenks Armor robbing. He was standing on a flat snow covered area at the top of a steep edge overlooking the nearby lake with sword in hand. What I saw was beautiful…
I watched him with his eyes closed slowly maneuvering his body with his orange glowing sword in hand. Graceful. He drew his sword horizontally with a soft swing and turned around taking a step back. He was practicing. While a sword fighter to patiently practice his swordplay and hone his balance and inner peace is not entirely uncommon for some reason seeing Forza himself doing it struck me differently.
Forza. His history quickly went through my head again. Everything I had read about him and what he had been through seemed to be unreal. For the last several years he has, against his will, been forced to commit atrocities, slaughters, and massacres. He was a Templar, and the Sun Jin was taking advantage of his abilities turning him into a war machine. Seeing him here with such inner peace and calmness at this moment made my throat sink into my stomach and my eyes water a bit.
I slowly started his way. With each quiet step my boot sunk a few inches into the snow. I saw his ear twitch. He knew I was near. What did he think of me, really? I rescued him from that life of hell. The few moments of dialog we had shared so far he didn’t talk much about his past. Did he not want to talk about it? Was it a black scar in his mind that he didn’t want to bring up? I freed him from that. Did he think highly of me for it? Was he afraid or brainwashed into not showing such weakness as showing his thankfulness? Make no mistake. I knew I did the right thing and I asked nothing back from him, but the question still wandered in my head about how he perceived me. Was I just another Sun Jin agent, or was I his savior?
I stepped up on the flat area where he practiced as he slowly took a wide step, eyes shut still, and with an outreached arm slowly pushed the blade of his sword into the ground and gently pressed it downward a bit securing it in the floor. He leisurely returned to an upright position, standing upright, and with both hands palm-up near his stomach placed one over the other and wrapped his fingers around the above hand. Was he finishing his routine? Clearing his thoughts? What was going through his mind? Is this routine what he must do now to keep himself level? Even though I was a soldier I couldn’t do what he had done. Women, children, all killed by the same sword he just used while he had no control of his body. As I approached from behind a small drip of water leaked from my eye and down the base of my muzzle. The things he had done, brainwashed and under drugs, his torture, would haunt him in nightmares for the rest of his life. So young, it wasn’t fair.
With his back to me, him still in a meditative standing posture, I slowly pressed my chest against his back and wrapped my arms around him. Being so much taller them him I was able to rest the underside of my muzzle against the top of his head in his hair. Gently, I stroked his shoulder with my hand that was reached around him. I had no idea how he was feeling, or if this was ok, but I felt so compelled…
Slowly he responded. He unfolded his hands and one of them rose bit by bit. He gently wrapped his fingers around my wrist and held it there. His chin lowered a bit as well as he looked downward. His fingers gripped my wrist firmly but with a frail sentiment. In itself that was a display of his feelings. He was so strong, yet so weak. He could hardly hold onto my wrist but he squeezed best he could.
I felt it. At least I think I did. A small drip of water landed on my arm crossed over his chest. While he remained silent I could feel his energy. His soul finally coming out of that hard shell he had put up around me for the silent few days we’d been traveling. His tears were warm against my fur. Gently I took a half step back and turned him to face me. I again leaned forward and wrapped himself around him. He felt weak… I hadn’t noticed his frail he had been over our travels under his armor and cold weather gear. I had noticed he hadn’t eaten much since we left the camp…
Feeling him collapse a bit I too lowered myself control onto my knees and took him with me. To comfort him I rested the side of his head against the space between my neck and breasts and just stroked his cheek. He rested against me, quietly, with his eyes closed, lifelessly.
I slowly looked up at the sky and saw the thousands of small specks starting to fall again and over the next few moments the snow began to return in a gentle soft and beautiful dance around us.
This poor creature… Forza. What had they done to you? A slow and long sigh came out of our mouths, together, as I felt his fingers grip my arm and slide through my fur. He had no future to speak of before the other day. He was lost.
We remained there for probably another ten minutes with no exchange of words, but enough was being said with each passing moment. Finally he slowly lifted his eyes to look at my face. I met his gaze.
“Forza?” I smiled softly at him a moment, my eyes watering again.
He closed his eyes and again his head went limp against my chest but once there he opened his mouth. “Thank you…”
My eyes closed again and I turned my head sharply a bit. Water streamed down both sides of my face. The honor and pride of knowing this was happening. He truly trusted me, the broken and frail Forza with all his hardships and hell was confiding in me of all people. What he didn’t know was that I was more in debt to him then he realized. Giving me the chance to save a life like I had.
“Thank you,” I replied. “Forza, thank you.” I took a long breath. “I have you. I have you here and you are not alone anymore. I am thankful I represent your freedom. I am glad I set you free. Let your life start over again. While you’ll be haunted by your past, your nightmares are only in your sleep, and you’re life is again yours.”
He squeezed my arm again as I slowly leaned him up and off of me, my hands on his shoulders looking at his eyes. “From this day on what you do with yourself will define who you are and not who someone else is that is using you. You’re an Amber Krowen Templar and capable of such amazing things.” I gracefully leaned forward and rested my lips against his forehead. A moment passed and I wrapped my arms around him again. “We’re planting the seeds for your future. This is all for you. Only you. You are not alone.”
10.12.40
At this point I’d very much came to the conclusion that Forza truly was an anomaly. There was a lot going on in his head and his reality was split between two extremes. On one side he had this smooth monk attitude where he can calmly pace side to side with his eyes peered, in deep thought, or meditate on his feelings. My guess is that the meditation was to balance out the, uh, other side. Something inside of his mind was eating him. My best guess was that it was indeed the shit that the Sun Jin had put him through.
He tried to hide it but I could see it in his eyes. Earlier today I lead the way as we were walking through the blizzard. I was covered in heavy robes and garb with goggles over my eyes and he wore his layered prototype Sun Jin armor that I had stolen. At one point while marching through a field I turned around a bit and watched him. With the hood over his head he just staring at the ground, depressed, as if ashamed of himself. He didn’t even look alive but instead as if he were just marching forward half asleep. It looked like he could cry. I watched for a few moments while walking and he never even lifted his chin. The sad poor look on his face was troubling.
The emotions he displayed yesterday before when I interrupted his practicing was exactly what I’m talking about. He was so noble and a skilled warrior but held such a burden. I felt him cry against me as I held him. He has to live with this for the rest of his life now. I didn’t know how I could truly help him other than just hold him close. I felt such a motherly, or big sister, concern for him. I wouldn’t say I loved him or anything but I still wanted to be there for him.
It was getting late and the sun now long gone. Together we laid there on a bare patch of grass under a collection of enormous trees that covered the region. We were close. His chest was against mine under the blankets and his face was against my chest just under my neck. As he slept I gently ran my fingertips through his hair to try and keep him comfortable and kept an eye on him. At some points during the night I could feel his breathing speed up and once I the warmth of fast passed breathing come out of his mouth. He was having nightmares again.
We weren’t far from the next small village, Birch, and I was hoping to be there by tomorrow evening before the sun goes down. I knew this region well. I used to live here and during some parts of the war between the Sun Jin and SA I actually fought here trying to keep the Alliance from setting up any forward operating outposts.
During those times the Sun Jin navy was being slammed in orbit of Bethany and could barely afford to send ships just one planet away. Enough allied reinforcements showed up, eventually, and we were able to push the Alliance out of this system and keep it defended for several years. Now they’ve been pushed away from the entire region and as I’ve recently learned the counter assault starts soon. At this rate I’d probably be stuck here on this rock and useless.
10.13.40
With the bright noon sky above us we stood together on top of a hill at the side of a dirt road leading in and out of town. The road had been frequented with vehicles so the snow had been knocked away. In the distance we could see the farming village Birch. By its size and structure the village must have been inhabited by no more than a thousand people. The homes were basic cottages with wood siding, glass windows, and simple electrical technologies. It really was a simple farming community untouched by war.
A lot of places like there we occupied by the Systems Alliance back when I was in service. Most of them didn’t receive the attention they needed either and their soldiers were here for a long time. While these people had little to do with the war they still had resentment against the SA and loyal to the Empire but it was sad because the Sun Jin treated them like shit. Not to brag but we Caistealians could produce some amazing soldiers, snipers, commanders, swordsman, but a lot of us were just used as workers.
As we approached the town a four wheeled cargo truck cut across the snowy plain, got onto the main dirt road, and started towards us quickly. In the back bed of the cargo farm truck were three Caistealians. A canine fox and dog race just like me in heavy coats and pants. In their hands were primitive basic bolt action rifles. The truck came to a quick stop just ahead of us and they jumped out of the back.
“Let me deal with this,” I said to Forza who just nodded back at me gently. I took a few steps and nodded at them.
From the driver’s seat of the truck another unarmed gray furred Castilian got out and joined the others. He smirked towards me and chuckled.
“Gentlemen,” I started towards them.
“Welcome to Birch, strangers.” As he spoke the cold air could be seen on his breath. “What brings you out here?”
I crossed my arms and watched the others. “This is some crazy security you’ve got here. Do you greet all you guests with guns?”
“There’s been a lot of activity the last few months in this region. Entire villages have been wiped out so our village is on lockdown. Other towns in the region are too.”
I heard a small sudden breath escape Forza’s mouth behind me. I couldn’t begin to imagine what was going through his head.
“What kind of activity? Military? Why would the Sun Jin wipe out an entire village?” I wanted to probe him and see what he knew. It might be terribly frustrating for Forza but I had to know what we were walking into. I already knew the answers but maybe they wouldn’t know it was Forza killing their people.
“Yeah, we suspect Sun Jin military. Hundreds of people have been found slaughtered, sometimes in their own homes, and left to die.” He examined us both pacing a bit. “You’re Castilian,” he said addressing me.
“I am.” I confirmed.
“And him,” He gestured at Forza questioningly. “Take off your hood.”
Uh oh. Maybe this could go bad. Forza slowly ducked his head as he pulled it back. His hair fell a bit into his face but he slowly brushed it away and glanced at me and then the others.
The group reacted and aimed their guns at him taking a step back. The leader that I had been speaking to looked at me. “He’s Amber Krowen. We were told the Sun Jin weapon they’ve been testing on us was Krowen. Yellow fur, blonde hair, and look at him. He has swords and knives. The exact weapons used to murder all those people!”
A single gunshot echoed through my ears. I flinched as the sound was matched by the crashing sound of Forza’s projected repulse shield activating. A green hexagonal pattern force field appeared with a flash of light for a moment before fading away. Forza just stood there. He didn’t even flinch. With an unimpressed look he just stared at the shaking guard who fired the gun.
I put my arms up a bit and shook them. “Wow! Hey! Don’t shoot. Stop this!”
One of them aimed their gun at me and I paused in my tracks. “Stop right there!”
The situation was collapsing fast. Someone was going to get hurt.
“We’re here to protect you,” I shouted. “It’s not what it looks like!”
“Bullshit,” the leader looked at me and then peered at Forza. “How many Krowens are out here on Bethany’s doorstep? Look at that armor and weaponry. That’s Sun Jin technology. And you, you’re a soldier.”
“The Sun Jin are Caistealian allies! I was born here. Yes, I’m a Sun Jin soldier but there’s more to it than that!”
“We don’t need soldiers here! Sun Jin activity has been on the rise with scouting parties and air force shit all over the place. They were here two days ago and interrogated several unarmed civilians. One man was killed. They’re about to have a civil war on their hands with this shit!”
“I’m not with them,” I said franticly. “It’s us they’re looking for!”
“Well ain’t that perfect. You brought yourselves to our little town. Why shouldn’t we just put you both down and turn you over.”
Forza finally spoke up, “Because we’re here to kill them.”
The group was quiet. I turned my head and watched him.
“Going to kill them? You’re their research project, they say.”
“Not willingly,” Forza said shaking his head. “I’m just upset that when I escaped I was only able to destroy so little. We need a place to stay and regroup.”
The leader marched up to him and pointed his finger in his face. The guns all turned to Forza. “Not a chance,” he shouted. “We’ve had enough Sun Jin trouble lately. We’re not giving them an excuse to roll in here with tanks and level the place because they found out you were here.”
“A lot’s changed lately,” I said. “I want them off this planet as much as you do.”
“It was only last year or so that this crap began. The Sun Jin left our smaller settlements alone and the larger cities are completely allied with them. They treat the big cities as their own and take care of the Caistealians there. We villagers are not going to welcome trouble.” He turned his back and started towards his companions.
I felt the air change a bit again. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt this. The last time was on the bridge before I had to have Forza shot. I probably would have felt it in the barn too if I weren’t drugged with tranquilizers. It was coming from the calm faced Forza.
“We’re turning you over to the authorities. We have absolutely nothing to lose and plenty to gain. They’ll stop looking for you.”
“If you turn me over to them,” said Forza. “They’ll put me back to use, mind controlling me, and make me start killing your friends again. More small towns will be razed and innocents slaughtered. Is that what you want?”
The man turned around with an angry face, growling from his canine muzzle. “I knew it was you… Fine!” he turned his head to his friends. “Kill the Krowen!”
As the words left his mouth that change in atmosphere began making a resonating sound and quickly rose in pitch to a loud shriek before, in the blink of an eye and explosion of snow and dirt, Forza was already on top of him. With a blitzed speed the Caistealian and Forza slammed together and flew backwards, Forza on top of him.
“Forza!” I took a step forward and watched wide eyed.
As the two wrestled a few seconds the three with the guns approached them and watched, ready to act. The short scuffle ended with Forza on his back, the man on top of him with his back to Forza’s stomach, and Forza’s arm around his neck in a chokehold. In his other hand one was one of his long kukri blades he had on his back held close to the guys face.
“Listen!” demanded Forza. “I’m not here to kill anybody! I’ve done enough killing for one damn lifetime!”
The man gave up struggling a bit but still held his hands around his arm tightly so he could breath. He seemed to actually be listening a bit.
“I was a Systems Alliance soldier my entire adult life. I was kidnapped and they’ve used me for two years now to do their dirty work. I’ve been kept in a god damn tank, sedated, and drugged, and every time the fucking nightmares end I wake up someplace and unable to control myself I…” there was a short pause. “I’m sorry about your friends. I really am. I have nothing to give you to bring them back but I promise you…” The next words were spoken with a growling tone which scared even me. “I will make them pay for what they’ve done to me!”
I watched with my jaw open a bit. This was tense. Guns aimed, knives out, oh man. It was exciting but I didn’t want to get shot or anything! Maybe Forza was going to be able to figure something out after all.
“You say you want to kill Sun Jin?”
Forza, panting a bit, took a breath. “I don’t want to kill anybody at all anymore. I just want to get away from it all. I’m tired, ok? This woman I’m with freed me from their control and now we’re fugitives. I’m one of their greatest assets and if you want to hurt them then help us hide. I just ask that you help us hide until we can find a way off this rock and you’ll never hear from us again.”
“What then,” asked the man in Forza’s grasp. “What happens after you get off Caisteal?”
“I…” he shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe hide,or maybe strike back at Kaisara.”
“Kaisara,” he snorted in question. “You mean Sun Jin Kaisara? The Sun Jin leader?”
Forza suddenly released his grip around the man and got up to his feet while the other slowly leaned up clenching his face a like he was aching. In a nice gesture Forza reached his hand down and offered it to the guy, who took it, and he helped him up. If you ask me I’d say that was a good move. It looked peaceful. With a small smile on my face I just continued to watch. The others watched calmly. The air seemed a bit calmer now. It was relieving.
“I’m not that mass murder you’ve heard about, but yes, I’ve done those things. Revenge will be ours. All of ours.”
The Caistealian dusted himself off and listened.
“Just… give us a place to recuperate? We need to hide a few days while we figure out what we’re doing out here and how we can get off this planet.”
While adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves he turned to the others and watched their reactions before addressing Forza again. “Fine. You can both stay. I’m sure the townsmen will love knowing we’re harboring you guys here. If I were you I’d come up with some fake names or some made up story bullshit. It’d probably be better for the whole town if they didn’t know you were here.” He turned to walk towards the truck.
Forza smiled a bit at me and nodded his head. I was impressed. The Krowen found a way to convince him but it wasn’t exactly the path I would have chosen. Regardless it worked.
“Get in the truck,” said the man with his crew following him.
10.17.40
Birch was surprisingly good to Forza and I. The community cooking events were nice and there was an empty cottage that Forza and I could stay in on the outskirts of town. It was nice to be around my own kind again but the thought in my head that the Sun Jin, the organization I served, had been slaughtering the Caistealians made me sick. I had to remind myself that most of these actions were carried out specifically by the military at R&D10-003 under orders from Professor Denim and not from any higher command. If Kaisara had known she very well could have shut him down. Who knows?
It had only been a few days but most of the village accepted us because of stance against the Sun Jin. They had heard enough stories about attacks on the smaller villages lately to have distrust but they didn’t have the resources to do anything about it. Forza and I had to change that.
Every day in the morning I set out solo into the bare grassy hills to monitor Sun Jin patrols. It made me think about how I had been in these same hills scouting for invading Systems Alliance units trying to gain a territorial foothold to attack Bethany. In the end we ran them back but back then I was a captain and had my own military detachment. Now all I had were untrained civilians and Forza. There was no discernable pattern to the helicopters or off-road vehicles buzzing around the region but I did note that for the most part they seemed to avoid inhabited areas. Even though Birch was low tech and no match for the Sun Jin they would still need more bodies on the ground to enter into the city declaring they were going to go door to door looking for Forza and I. Until then these small ten-man units would be perfect for the pickings.
It was the 17th, early morning, and we’d come up with a ploy to use against some of the passing patrols. We needed weapons, armor, vehicles, communications equipment, or whatever else they had. The event was perfect. They had the most surprised looks on their faces.
About ten miles from town we took an old farming truck and put it in the dirt road frequently used by the Sun Jin and made it appear stalled. The brave civilian volunteer waved down a passing Sun Jin armored personal carrier and from it they deployed probably twelve well-armed Bethian soldiers. Those soldiers inspected the vehicle and told the driver to open the back hatch that was usually used to store whatever farming goods they needed and man were they surprised when Forza leaped out, swords swinging, knives flying.
Forza was an amazing fighter. His melee skills were unparalleled. They would fire at him but his Gotanenks armor, I now know the name, would deflect it with its force field. It was epic to watch. He had the most amazing martial arts and swordplay. He was so fast. I had only seen it one time before and that was Kaisara on Bethany the few days we worked together…
Where was I during all of this? From a safe distance away I eased back on the trigger of the primitive bolt action rifle and let the bullet fly. With me were a dozen abled bodies with their own rifles. Hey, I’m good with guns. Not with swords. There’s no way you’ll see me up close and personal with those guys like him! I’m no Templar! But come on… I’ve had my own epic moments too. They just weren’t cool sword-swinging martial arts. It was instead long-range sniper-cannon body-exploding goodness and often all before breakfast!
03.04.41
“Help me,” I wanted to moan but I just couldn’t muster the energy. How long had I been laying here? I was naked, flat on my stomach on the wet grass. My dark red fur was drenched and I couldn’t move. I felt paralyzed and dead inside. My right cheek and part of my face was submerged in a puddle in the dirt and my breath made small ripples in the puddle. Rain pelted my back as the occasional sound of distant thunder kept me company. I tried to focus on that. I was so weak and didn’t want to fall asleep. Not again... No more nightmares. All of this… Was I about to die?
Look what happened the last time Flarion teleported me someplace. My body was transformed into this red-furred version of myself and I was mentally screwed up and turned into a wild animal. What was happening this time? Maybe my body couldn’t take it.
Maybe I was actually going to die, here in the grass alone in the rain like an abandoned or lost animal. After all I’d done with this life… I’d accept this death as what I deserve. I didn’t deserve a nice hero’s death or funeral. I deserved to die like a dog. Chained to a post and shot. Wait. What? That’s not how I feel. That’s what the monster and the darkness inside of me wants me to think! The thought of Shiinx went through my head and I moaned a bit trying to pull my hand into a fist, dragging mud between my fingers. I have to hold on for her.
Maybe a few hours later I woke up again but this time it was night. The rain was still hammering down on my back. Thunder and the sound of the rain filled my ears and drowned out all my senses. Still too weak…
Something had woken me. I felt myself moving a bit, but it wasn’t me. Someone else was here with me. I could hear them. Many of them. After being rolled onto my back I wearily opened my eyes a bit. Two figures above me in heavy rain gear. I couldn’t make out their features. They spoke to each other in a language I couldn’t understand but it sounded like they had stumbled upon me and maybe they were trying to figure out what to do. I heard the word Krowen spoken once or twice too.
After one of them left in a hurry, the other knelt down and put a soft hand on my stomach. He or she was inspecting me, maybe for injuries, or weapons. With blurred vision I watched the figure take off their jacket and put it over me. Felt nice, but I was too out of it to really care. It was a woman. Too blurred to make out features. Feline maybe? I didn’t really care.
That’s all I remember. I was too weak. As my eyes closed again I could feel her shaking me a bit, but I was out. I clearly couldn’t keep focused enough to stay awake for long periods of time.
In the absence of light, darkness prevails. Something Sun had told me years ago. Having little will to live or a hand to guide me, the nightmares ran rampant in my sleep. It’s as if the darkness knew I was too weak to wake up. It was almost the same as when I first arrived on Tier. If this kept up I’d finally get my strength back, but I’d be a different man. I’d be wild to the core and mad. This time, however, something was different. I had a small beacon of light. Shiinx was out there someplace. My memories of the last few days were a blur right now, just like the last time I was teleported by Flarion. I didn’t have the energy or will to sort it out right now. All I could think about was her. I knew she was in danger and I had to hold on!
03.05.41
With blankets draped over my shoulders, I sat at the end of a bed. I let my head hang as I took deep breaths for air. The first thing I immediately realized was that I felt a hell of a lot better than before. Still sore but at least I was alert.
I lifted my head a bit to look around this room. It was a bedroom of house, I could tell that much with ease. The walls and floor all appeared to be made of wood and the windows had no coverings, just square openings. Rice mats covered most of the floor except for a few spots covered by earth tone rugs. The room had beautiful wooden decorations and smelled of, maybe, some kind of incense.
I was finally dressed too. Guess someone took it upon themselves. It was made up of a soft black shirt with an orange pattern resembling fire rising from the bottom going up, and pants with very wide legs. These clothes looked very… erm… like I was some kind of monk or priest.
I slid off the bed and took a light-brown robe off of a hanger on the wall and slid it over my shoulders with a grunt. The window beside where it was hanging gave me a view of outside. Unlike before it was a very fine day. It was a little chilly, sure, but the short green grass fields were swaying in the breeze and the sky was clear with blue with a few white clouds. It all looked very clean and I could smell the plant life. It was peaceful.
With a sigh I ran my hand through my hair and stared. Memories of what had happened before I woke up came back to me. Flarion, Kiara, and Shiinx. The Rainru… Jethro. Everything. I had to collect myself and find answers.
Taking slow steps, I walked to the open entry of the room. I could hear voices coming from the other room. Once in the doorway I put my hand on the wall to support myself and stared ahead. There were three people sitting on the floor around a low placed table. They had food there. They must have been eating. Their words came to a stop as they all caught eye of me and stared back.
They were an alien race I’d never even seen before. It was two adults, one male and one female, and a little girl. They were dressed much like me with soft silky tops and wool or cotton pants in earth tones. Physically the two adults appeared very tall and thin with dark colored fur, and multicolored fur heads. Their snouts were big and bold but short and their long thin ears swept backwards. The red hair on their heads looked well against their maroon, white, and black colored fur.
I was relieved to see them all smile. The child even threw her arms up and cheered. The male opened his mouth and made a happy sound and tried to gesture to an open spot right next to him at the table. Simultaneously the female leapt up and took my hand guiding me there. I couldn’t help it. I smiled. How generous of these people.
All of that aside, screw it, I was hungry. They put a wooden bowl in front of me with some easy to use utensils, well, I thought they’d be easy to use. These two sticks that they held between their fingers to eat the rice in the bowl. I couldn’t figure it out. Too hungry to care. I tried my best and hunched over the bowl. The little girl laughed at me!
This family saved me. They took me in and nursed me back to health. I was surprisingly overtaken by that. It was really kind of them. It reminded me of when Shiinx took me in and sheltered me at Asuya Co but back then I wasn’t myself. Those memories are a bit more fragmented.
After a few moments I put the bowl down and ran my arm over my mouth. We hadn’t spoken a word. While in the rain I remembered earlier hearing voices that I didn’t recognize. It was possible that they didn’t know what language I spoke.
I turned my head a bit and looked at the slightly taller male beside me. “I… um…” It was a little hard to speak.
He turned a bit to look at me listening intently.
“Where… am I,” using my hand I gestured a bit, pointing at the ground with a confused look on my face. “What is this place?”
All he did was look at his silent mate and back at me.
The female spoke up. “You… Eveny.” Her words were slow. She knew my language it seemed but only a bit. While I spoke the ‘common language’ as most of the advanced galaxy had adopted it wasn’t used by everybody on a day by day basis. It wasn’t uncommon for far off planets to use their own language amongst themselves.
So this was Eveny, huh? Flarion really did teleport me here. It wasn’t just an illusion or figment of my imagination.
“Where did you find me?” I took hold of the wooden bowl again.
“We find you out there, in the fields. We live here. You find you near our house.” She looked at her mate a moment and with a small smile addressed me again. “Where did you come from? Who are you?”
“I…” trying to think I put my hand on my forehead around my forward swept horns. With another thought I ran it through my white hair. “I’m from another planet,” I said with a small laugh shaking my head. How would I explain this to them?
“What planet you from,” the male asked in a low voice. “Near?”
“No, not near at all. I don’t think. I’m from a planet called Amber Krowe.”
At the mention of Amber Krowe the two adults got wide eyed and made sounds like they were impressed. The child just stuffed her face with chow.
“Amber Krowe! You from Amber Krowe!”
“Yeah,” I said laughing a bit.
“So far away! Are you Tanukian Templar?”
Oh, what? Ah. Well to that I didn’t know how to reply. The Tanukian Templar was the Templar tribe native to Amber Krowe before the System’s Alliance rose to power. Sun’s father Tanuki, where the name came from, was their leader before his death. Just knowing about that obscure, hidden, and nearly extinct culture on Amber Krowe must have meant that I was in the right place. This family knew who the Templar were and obviously knew something about them.
“No, I’m just from Amber Krowe. Not Tanukian Tribe. Just Amber Krowen.”
“But you Templar?”
Oi, that’s an important question I suppose. They deserve the truth. They’d done this much for me as it was. “Yeah. I’m a Templar.”
“Ahh… Lost?”
“Yes, I guess.”
The male stood up from the table slowly and smiled down at me. “I find you friends. We get you home.” He promptly headed out of the room. I don’t know what he was doing but he said he was finding me friends? Was he going to put me in contact with the Neverborn?
I guess we just wait and see what happens now. He came back a short while later and we continued to eat our food. The language barrier between us wouldn’t help me get to know what’s going on around here but they insisted that my friends were on their way to help me. I suspect they thought I was one of the Neverborn Templar who were supposed to be here and contacted them to come pick me up since they knew I was a little lost.
After I ate I spent the rest of the day recuperating with them. They took me to a nearby hot spring maybe a mile away near the mountains where I took a nice long bath. Once back at the cottage I played games with Anto, their daughter. She had little toys and dolls and I guess she liked the company. Sure I acted a little childish myself but it was all in good fun. It was relaxing. The parents just watched laughing every so often as if amused.
It was all a little strange. This was pretty far out of my element. This wasn’t the normal me. I felt nice and happy here. Children’s laughter always sounded fun and I always wondered if I’d be good around kids.
That night, I slept peacefully.
03.06.41
“You there, Forza Ninetails,” said the large armored Evenian soldier as he came to a stop from his approach. His armor was plated like some kind of a knight, and shared similarities in design to my armor that the Sun Jin had me using on Caisteal. Mine wasn’t as heavy as his and his had a more silver and gold color scheme to it. Mine was light weight and didn’t cover half as much of my body as his did. He stood in front of two others of the same race which were calmly holding spears and watching us but didn’t appear to be expecting any trouble. Probably good news for me. Behind them was their large purple armored transport aircraft hovering just off the ground with the engines roaring loudly blowing the grass around. It was far back enough that it didn’t disrupt us talking that much.
“You know my name?” I held my hand over my eyes to shield them from the light out here in the fields. We weren’t too far from the house I was staying and the family was standing on the porch.
“Yes, I know who you are. I’m here to take you to Sanctus to meet with the Bezekira.”
I knew who that was. I hadn’t heard the name in a while but I recall she was some kind of leader for the Neverborn Tribe. I think I recall that she was an elder Templar Dragon too. An interesting thought. I was actually filled with a little bit of fear as I began approaching the knight in front of me.
“We’ll escort you and make sure you get to her safely,” he said calmly as he put his hand against my back to gently guide me towards the aircraft. It was a little uncomfortable, feeling like I was being taken prisoner, but I didn’t fight it.
I looked over my shoulder to watch the family on the patio. They didn’t seem afraid of these soldiers or anything so I guess that’s a good sign. You can sometimes tell if the people who show up are ‘good or evil’ by the way the local helpless civilians perceive them. Like the way the Castilians feared the Sun Jin soldiers. In a way it sort of helps realize who the bad guys are.
We loaded up onto the aircrafts hold and I gripped the handrail near the open bay door on the side. The guards took a seat and we were lifted off. I watched the family wave bye to me and in reply, with a smile, nodded at them wave a small bit with my free hand. Once they were out of view I sighed a bit. Staying with them was pretty fine. Despite the communications barrier it was a calm life and I rather missed that. I’ve never really had a quiet lifestyle. Always been too busy. I knew in the back of my head the whole time, though, that I had business to do. Shiinx could still be in danger and I had to find the Rainru.
The view was nice. It was early in the morning, fog covered large portions of the landscape, and visibility was low. As far as I could see there was loose forest and grasslands in all directions. A lake was in the distance too but we were moving away from it.
Bezekira was in my mind. Was she a Templar Dragon? One of the legendary ancient Templar? The only one I’d ever seen before was Sun Jin Kaisara’s father, Tanuki. I wondered what she looked like. Was she a gigantic dragon? Did she have the ability to shape shift to a bipedal form like Tanuki’s Amber Krowen disguise?
I was truthfully a little afraid. This is the Neverborn Templar and I’m infected with a splinter of Jethro. Jethro… some sort of evil presence. How would she react if she knew what was inside of me? Logically it wouldn’t be unexpected that they would want me terminated. I have the seed of evil inside of me and on top of that I am trying to seek a powerful Templar relic? Why would she willingly give it to me? The sword was locked away? She’d be able to see it. She’d be able to sense it. I know it. How would I hide it?
I sighed and looked down a bit feeling my anxiety rise a small amount. Calming down was my priority now. While putting my hand over my chest and gripping my shirt a bit over my heart I tried to think about this in a more positive way. Maybe she’d understand my cause. Maybe I wouldn’t even have to tell her. I guess I have to play this by ear.
It wasn’t long before the side doors to the shuttle closed and I was instructed to take a seat. We were going high and faster than earlier. Must have had a great deal of traveling to do across the planet. From the windows I could see settlements, cities large and small, all built in and around what looked like well managed stone architecture. These buildings were enormous and sometimes protruded straight out of the forest canopy, for the forest ones of course, or coming right out of the water of great lakes or ocean shores. It was all very modern looking with the lighting, roads, flying vehicles, and yet all appeared to be built atop of the ancient pyramid structures. It looked nice. I wish things were better and I could explore as a free man instead of being here under such immediate circumstances.
All these cities and the people walking around them… There’s no way all of these people could be the Neverborn Templar, could they? There were billions of them. I know this was Eveny but I didn’t think there’d be so many.
I snorted to myself, still thinking a bit, and looked forward at the regal armored soldiers standing in front of me holding some railing on the ceiling. He calmly nodded at me but didn’t say anything. Nothing about this seemed very hostile. More like an escort.
“Maybe I should tell you a bit about the gravity of your situation,” he said as he leaned forward a nudge. “You’re about to go before Bezekira, the patriarch of the Neverborn Templar.”
With a breath I leaned forward, put my elbows on my knees, and interlocked my fingers outward some. “I’ve heard about her some before,” I said calmly.
“I don’t think you’re in any trouble so shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
For some reason I actually believed him. He seemed genuine with the tone of his voice. I don’t know if it was a trap or what but one way or the other it made me feel a little better inside.
“What’s your name?”
“You don’t need to know my name,” he chuckled a bit. “It’s not important.”
“So you get to know my name but I don’t get to know yours? That’s not really fair.” I gave a small laugh back at him. The atmosphere felt nice and calm. I liked it. I wish we’d get to the serious topics though.
He looked aside a bit with a smile and shook his head before looking back at me. “It’s Hyran.”
“Hey, alright,” I smiled in reply, another laugh. “Ok, so talk to me. Here I am. On some transport going to a place called Sanctus. What kind of water am I in?”
“I don’t really know, Forza. Bezzi can be very elusive about what she knows. She’s very wise and perceptive to energies of the cosmos, but she’s very realistic about it. She’s a Templar Dragon, yes, but she doesn’t claim to be a goddess or all knowing. Her royal guards, like me, are her right hand.”
“And that hand is just scooping me up?”
“Well, again, vague, but I get that she sensed your arrival on Eveny. I guess it made quite a stir. We just didn’t know where on the planet you were.”
“You sensed some massive torrent of energy then? A few days ago?”
He nodded. “Right. Not too far from where we found you. That family sent a messenger into the city to pass the information along. They contacted us and, well, here we are. It’s that sudden surge of energy that, I think, is the concern.”
“Concern?” I leaned up a bit and listened.
“Yeah,” another nod. “Unless you’re a lot more powerful then you look… but I don’t recognize you. You’re a stranger here. I can tell. And no offence,” he lifted a claw and gestured to me a bit. “There’s something wrong about you. I think she wants to investigate you.”
Ok, so the anxiety is back a little bit now. Thanks for that, Hyran.
“But like I said, you’re not in trouble. Believe me there are all types of Templar here of all types. Not every Templar here is inherited Neverborn either. It’s just,” he paused a second. “You’re Krowen, that much is obvious, but that isn’t the real you I see before me. Even I can feel that.”
Strange. He must have been referring to my altered colors? The first time Flarion warped me someplace, to Tier from Caisteal, it transformed my body a bit. It made me into this ‘bloodtiger’ form with the red and white colored fur instead of my muted-yellow and white tones. It also made me crazy and marked the start, as far as I can remember, of the plaguing nightmare and the darkness that lives inside of me, Jethro. Was he able to sense that this wasn’t my real form? Physically I didn’t look much different. I wasn’t any taller or shorter, heavy or lighter. I didn’t grow any extra limbs or anything. Needless to say these colors were very unnatural for any Amber Krowen…
He sighed and looked aside out the nearby window. “We’ll be arriving soon. We’ll escort you deep within Sanctus and there you’ll meet with Bezzi.”
Bezzi. A cute nickname for someone of such high stature. Sounds like she can’t wait to inspect me or whatever created that energy. I had a feeling I knew what it was. It was Flarion creating that rift, or portal, or whatever he used to teleport me here. He said it himself, ‘You have no idea how much energy it takes to literally teleport you like that, Forza’
With some rapid decent and maneuvering we readied for landing. There were feelings of mixed readiness and anxiety gushing through my veins and the periodic large breath of air helped keep me calm. The shuttle entered through a roof opening of another ancient looking building into a large open cavity that appeared to be some sort of transport center. There were several shuttles just like this one connected to hoses and mounted to the ceilings by clamps while others were on the smooth stone surface. Others like my guard were walking around in groups casually while some others appeared to service the vessels. Was this Sanctus? If it were I imagine this was more of a docking structure or aircraft hangar instead of some sort of tribal religious ground. I had no way of knowing for sure anyway.
The shuttle came to a rest on its belly and the side and rear hatches opened with a release of steam from some vents. I could hear the systems power down around me as I leapt off the craft with Hyran and the two other soldier, guard, whatever, behind us. He led the way and I just followed behind him. He knew where he was going.
There were more than shuttles around. I could see that now. Fight craft were also docked across the perimeter of the dome-like hanger. They… looked like Sun Jin military fighter craft. I exhaled from my nose analyzing them from afar. Okay. Noted.
For several minutes we navigated a series of halls, some public and some more military looking. A majority of the species I’d seen appeared mixed but most of them seemed to be Evenian, like Hyran. I even saw an Amber Krowen or two.
As Hyran and I entered a large central elevator platform the two other guards that were with us broke off and went their own way. Together the two of us stood on the large circular platform, no walls, and rode it upward high above one of the central common area rings. Eventually the platform rose into the ceiling and into a large shaft. The mechanics of the thing seemed so ancient.
“We’re going to be stopping on a platform high above the Temple Sanctus. There The Bezekira is waiting with some of her trusted advisers.”
“What is this place,” I asked looking up at him a bit.
“An armory. This is the fortress temple, Sanctus. Not the most luxurious but here we can ready our forces and whatnot.”
“Ready them for what?”
Before he could answer the elevator began slowing down and came to an abrupt stop. I had to shield my eyes from the light. In front of us was a large opening and a wide white polished stone platform. It extended probably a hundred feet out from the side of the spire, which, as I noticed was rather thin at this point. We were so high up. There was no wind or danger of falling off the unprotected sides but the trees and forest were so small.
I looked forward again and saw that the end of the stone platform ended with a large open circle with a short wall around it. Resting against the wall inside the circle was an inlaid seating set up that ran around the entire inner perimeter with several occupants seating in it. It was bright up here and it’d take a few moments for my eyes to adjust.
Hyran nudged me forward from behind and we began walking down the unprotected platform. In the center of the decorated, guessing, meeting area a tall female woman stood, turned with her side to me, and her feline head staring down the length of the platform directly at me with her eyes peered. She was quite a sight to be seen. She appeared to stand about seven feet tall, towering over me, and was covered almost entirely in white fur. She appeared feline in every respect except for a pair of large black wings that she kept well tucked behind her. Covering a large amount of her body was Templar armor with vibrant and regal colored cloth coming from it in various locations. She looked important, and my guess, may have been who I was here to see. Especially with those eyes on me, the way she was looking at me.
Her armor… It looked almost identical to mine. My prototype armor had large heavy weaved bulletproof material hanging from the shoulders, hips, back, and whatnot almost the same way hers did. Hers appeared almost to be more decorative and regal while mine appeared to be more functional but much heavier.
Hyran stopped about three quarters of the way down the path. “This is as far as I go. Go on.” He crossed his arms and watched me.
With my eyes locked on hers I took a long breath through my nose and continued calmly. We held our gaze with the intensity of a child’s staring contest. Hers was stronger, somehow. She had something I didn’t. Though her body was only half turned towards me I felt like I not only had her undivided attention but … more. She was reading me. She was inside me. Was she psychic? Those blue and yellow eyes were staring at me. Deep into me. I felt my heart start to race and I tried to keep my cool but that was getting difficult. I winced with a splinter of pain as I put a hand against the side of my head.
It suddenly ended. The intrusive sensation left and that was it. I looked back at her and she was taking a long breath and shaking her head a small bit as if collecting her senses. I probably had the same body language to the others too. The others seated around her.
I continued to approach the ring while she remained in place. A few of the elegantly dressed others stood up from their seats. Two incredibly armored guards also approached me with spears in hand, one from either side of the woman.
“No!” she shouted a bit.
They immediately stopped and turn to face her.
“Leave him,” she said.
I watched them nod at her and return to the ring and I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit with a concerned look. I was sort of scared there for a moment. I came to a stop near the perimeter of the circle.
“I apologize,” she said. The voice though. It wasn’t from her mouth. I was hearing it but it was as if it were being whispered directly into my ear. “Some of us here are unsure of you, Forza Ninetails.”
I held my mouth open a bit and with a small shake of my head I took a breath. “Bezekira,” I closed my eyes a moment and took a relaxed breath. “I’m finally on Eveny. I made it. I’m here”
She smiled a bit and bowed her head. “Welcome,” she said using her vocals this time. “We’ve been expecting you.”
“How do know who I am? When I was picked up and they knew-“
“Forza?” The female’s voice cut me off. It came from behind me a bit in the circular enclosure and I turned to face the voice.
She must have been standing just out of sight to the right within the seating enclosure. She looked so familiar. She wore a vibrant light green and purple tunic, had a soft light-brown and white fur coat, and a narrow canine nose and soft light blue eyes. This woman… I knew her. But how could it be?
She jogged toward me and immediately took me in her arms. The side of my head fell against her neck and her hands crossed over my back. She held me close and squeezed.
“Forza, is it really you?”
“R… Rio?”
“It is you.”
Bezzi stepped up behind us a bit and smiled. “I knew a Krowen had arrived on Eveny. She suggested it had to be you. It would seem she was right.”
Rio ran her fingers over my forehead, between my horns, and once through my hair softly. “You’ve changed,” she said weakly. “You look different.”
It was her after all. Rio Narro. Most of the memories I had of her were fragmented, and felt like memories of a dream. Lots of things from my time on Caisteal were still in pieces even though most of it had found its proper place in my mind. She stood out. She was there. She’s the one who freed me from the Sun Jin posing as a special agent for Kaisara. I suppose she wasn’t posing so much as reluctantly playing the role assigned to her, but one way or another she turned. She held me together when I was falling apart. Those first few weeks after escaping captivity were hard for me.
“Rio,” I said shyly as I leaned into her hold and put my arms around her. “I have no idea why you’re here but I’m glad.”
“I told you. I found you because of Bezekira. After you left and I got off Caisteal I came back here. I had a promise to keep,” as she said it she released herself from holding me and looked over her shoulder at an Evenian I didn’t know. He smiled at us. Her boyfriend?
I was reluctant to believe it but I was overwhelmed with sensations of excitement to see her. I just didn’t know how to show it. It was hard. I haven’t had a lot of close friends since the whole ordeal on Caisteal.
“I think we have some catching up to do when we get a chance.”
I bowed my head a second. “We’ll make time, Rio. I promise.”
“Forza,” said Bezzi. “We need to talk.” She looked at Rio too. “I’d like you to be there as well, if you would, Rio.”
I watched her bow her head back to her with a gentle smile. “Of course, my lady.” It would seem Rio had become very loyal to the Neverborn Templar order. Considering how against the Sun Jin Empire she was it might have made more sense for her to go directly to the SA and work for them, but maybe she felt the Neverborn could do more than the SA would. Maybe she recognized the real threat of Nightfall Templar allying up with the SJE. Despite Rio not being a Templar herself, I guess Bezzi gave her a lot of special attention, too.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Bezzi announced to the dozen sitting around her. “We will continue this meeting another time. I promise to inform you how,” she paused a moment and looked at me. It felt a little chilling. “…how things progress.”
Man, I was in trouble, wasn’t I?
The others all stood up with a bow of the head, left the circle, and started down the long platform towards the elevator. All that remained were Bezzi, Rio, the Evenian that she appeared to be with, and myself. Rio stepped back and took a seat next to him leaving me standing near the center with Bezzi. Here comes the interrogation. Suddenly that high altitude air started feeling a bit colder on my breath. Anxiety, perhaps.
“Forza,” started Bezzi as she stepped closer and put her large paw-like hand on my cheek. I admit, it felt nice, and I closed my eyes against her soft touch.
“Yeah?”
“Why are you here?”
Oh shit. I didn’t expect that. What, a simple question? Well that’s just it. It was so direct. She was making me tell the story of why I’m here. I found myself at a hard loss of words but given the circumstance I think, somehow, she understood and accepted that. Her large feline thumb stroked my cheek as I thought, as if she was trying to make me comfortable enough to think straight without the stress of a grilling atmosphere.
“What brings you to Eveny, Forza?”
Rio remained silent behind us. I had to consider she had probably told her a lot about me and my past already. I thought about it for a moment thinking if any of that would make me look like a bad guy. Oh yeah, I spent two years slaughtering innocent people and killing any man, woman, or child I came across. I couldn’t like that right now. The, until now, darkness swirling inside of me could grapple onto it and take over some of my feelings. I just couldn't let that happen right now. Bezzi was being incredibly patient as these thoughts went through my head instead of using my mouth to tell her what she wanted to know.
“Those thoughts… just ignore them. They won’t help you think clearly.”
Okay, so I’m guessing she already knows about that Jethro thing. Seeing as she was talking to me telepathically earlier she can probably see mental things like that. I guess she was trying to comfort me after all.
She let go of my cheek and lowered herself a bit onto one knee, now just a bit lower than eye level with me. “Despite what you may think, I can’t read minds, but… I can feel things. A sensory perception. There’s a battle inside of you, Forza, but I know you’re fighting for what’s right. Talk to me?”
I nodded a bit. “It’s been a long battle, Bezzi…B… If I can call you that. I hear some of the others…”
“That’s fine,” she replied with a smile. It’s cool that she’s not a prissy bitch leader, ay? “I think we’re going to get to know one another well so I think we can drop the formalities.”
I looked over at Rio. She just smiled softly holding the other guy’s hand. “It’s fine, Forza. You’re amongst friends now. This isn’t a trap or something.”
I turned back to Bezzi ready to talk a bit. “I’ve had trouble trusting people, sometimes, in the past, especially under uncertain conditions like this. I’m a long way from home, you know?”
“That’s acceptable. Almost every Templar who joins us came from someplace beyond the veil and feel out of place here. I’ve had this conversation with newcomers a million times in the past.”
“You know Rio Narro, than,” I asked gesturing my head her way a bit.
“She’s told me a lot about you.”
“How much about me, Bezzi?” I did feel a little concerned. “You trust me after all of that?”
“I know that she was a Sun Jin soldier and you were an Amber Krowen soldier for the Alliance. She knows how to see past political differences, put the past behind them, and come together as allies. By the time she had found you she had already put her life on the line several times for a just cause. She threw away everything she had to do the right thing, and for you. A noble sacrifice. She’s gained my trust as a close adviser and as a friend so I listen closely when she speaks of your abilities and ambitions to better yourself.”
Like how I felt when I saw Rio, again I was overcome by feelings. She really did trust me that well? Did she know about my purpose of being here? Saving Shiinx? Is she aware of my own sacrifices I’ve had to make? I felt… for some reason… proud to be who I was. To not be judged by my past and my wrong doings or to be feared. Rio, like me, wanted the Nightfall, and the SJE to pay. Sun Jin Kaisara was a common enemy for both of us. Bezzi must had also given some attention to Kaisara. It felt good. We were all on the same team.
But she doesn’t know the truth. Flarion. The Rainru. Kiara Quall. These are things even Rio didn’t know about so she couldn’t have told Bezzi. Rio was on the other side of the galaxy when Kiara arrived on Tier.
I had to make a hard choice: saving Shiinx, only one who can keep me from being consumed by darkness by stealing the Rainru for Flarion… or following suite with the Neverborn against the Sun Jin Empire, and the Nightfall.
Flarion. He was the leader of the Nightfall. I was here because of him. Who’s side am I on? He’s the only one who can help me stop Kiara! I’m smack in the middle of this!
“Forza,” Bezzi leaned up a bit and put her arm around me and pulled me into her chest. She leaned down a bit and put her mouth beside my ear and whispered, “You’re the first I’ve ever seen this close. There are only a few known who have ever been able to repel his overwhelming power. I don’t know how you’ve achieved this but I envy you.”
She knows… Was this true? She’d seen this before and I was the only one who’d held on and not been consumed?
“Please,” she continued whispering into my ear holding me close. “Breath. I don’t want to lose you like I've lost so many others. Not to him.”
I made my decision. “Love,” I brokenly mumbled trying to resist the darkness. I could feel it creeping up my spine. Now would be a horrible time to start daydreaming or hallucinating.
“What’s that?”
“I’m in love. Her gentle touch, her hand on my face, and being around her. She does it. It’s all her. She repels him. She keeps Jethro at bay. When she found me I was a disaster. I was fucked up, and a monster. Shiinx pulled me out of that and gave me a home. She gave me a whole new life.”
She narrowed her eyes a bit and looked over my shoulder as if in thought. “That makes sense, actually.”
“Yeah?” I took a deep breath and looked at her. “Why?”
Speaking a bit louder she continued, “While I did say there were only a few who could defy Jethro’s darkness, I can actually only name one.” She again put her hands on my cheeks and continued. “He was infected, like you, and was able to completely quell the inner monster because of his love for another.” She made a humming sound as if thinking all the while still stroking my cheeks. “Because of that love millions of lives were spared.”
Flarion… He’s the living host of the darkness. Jethro lives within him. Just by being infected with the sliver of Jethro Bezekira had to have known I had been in contact with him.
She sighed a bit and slowly stood up. “How did you get here, Forza?”
“I don’t really remember,” I mumbled. “It’s fuzzy.” A lie.
“Was it Flarion,” she asked while taking a step back and starting to walk the perimeter of the circular enclosure.
I can’t do this… “He thought I’d be safe here.”
“So he was trying to protect you from Jethro?”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s not under complete control of Jethro? He doesn’t want you to fall into the Nightfall Templar’s hands? He doesn’t want you to become an agent of darkness? Sending you here would be the right thing to do.”
The man behind me, with Rio, piped up. “But Flarion, controlled by Jethro or not, is the High Redken of the Nightfall. Why would he not want a powerful ally like a consumed Forza?”
“Right, Amos,” she replied rubbing her cheek in deep thought.
“The same reason,” Rio started with a pause at the end. “The same reason he isn’t at Redken Sun Jin Kaisara’s side with the Sun Jin Empire.”
I flinched a little. Oh my god… It all came together. It… all came together and I was the only one who saw it. I saw the big picture. Should I tell them about Kiara. Would it be the right thing to do? Clearly Bezzi doesn’t want me to become consumed so she would still support me, right? I can’t keep this a secret if it meant the lives of thousands, or millions, of Neverborn lives are on the line. They didn’t know about Kiara yet or my interactions with her. They didn’t know who she was or that she was infected. I knew something they didn’t. I wonder what would happen if the mention of Kiara was brought into this conversation. What it would mean to Bezzi.
“Because,” I started. I could feel all the eyes fell on me. “He’s found something more important than anything he’s ever known.” I held back from directly saying Kiara’s name. Was Flarion leaving everything behind because of her? He sent me to directly monitor her. He has to have. He sent me to not only the same planet as he had previously sent Kiara, but the same continent, the same region, a short flight away from where she was hiding in the forest . ‘It’ll be your job to bring her to her senses. That’s why you’re here in the first place’, he said. What did he need the Rainru for? Is it really just to free me from the infection? Is he intending to free her as well? Is that what’s more important to him? I have no objection to saving Kiara from the overwhelming pain she must be going through but he could just tell me that.
“What are you saying?”
“He’s not working with Sun… Kaisara. He isn’t responsible for her involvement as a Nightfall agent leading the Sun Jin Empire. He’s not responsible for what she had done to me.”
“Flarion’s missing,” Rio interrupted. “My original mission. The one Kaisara sent me on. She wanted him found to persuade him to join her cause. She wanted his power to help destroy the System’s Alliance. In fact it’s as if he’s hiding from her. She actually found him on Quall but he didn’t stay. He left before contact could be made. That’s when I was called in to help.”
Quall… Kiara Quall… The Rainru… the Rainru sword.
“So he’s working independently,” stated Amos.
“He’s gone rogue again,” continued Bezekira. “That’s not unlike him though. Every time he leaves Magnum he appoints a new Redken and ventures to do his own personal things. This isn’t one of those?”
“No,” replied Rio. “Kaisara said that he left without warning and his right hand man, Atomis Silverwing, took over as Redken. We’ve known he’s the current leader of the Nightfall already, but if Flarion isn’t trying to support his own Tribe at a time like this, while Kaisara is about to mount full scale war…”
“Redken Flarion,” interrupted Bezzi, “was never, truly, a Nightfall Templar.”
Rio looked confused. “Well what do you mean?”
Amos squeezed her hand in her lap and looked at her, “History of Flarion and the Nightfall has never really came up as far as how it relates to Kaisara’s personal war.”
“Ok?” She replied.
“Flarion doesn’t belong to any specific tribe, Rio.”
“But he’s the High Redken… the… right?”
I just listened. I was learning a lot of new stuff about Flarion myself.
“Flarion is, as you’ve heard, very old.” Bezzi crossed her arms and addressed Rio giving her an update. “He traveled the cosmos for who knows how long, eons maybe, in search for fulfillment. He even came here and spent a great deal of time on Eveny. This was a long time ago and includes events that lead to the first tribal war between the Neverborn and the Nightfall. During the war he…”she turned away a bit. “He was found by Jethro.”
“Jethro. You guys have said that name a few times now. I don’t know who that is. Who is that?”
Bezzi sighed a little bit and hesitated, looking a little reluctant to talk about it. “Since it’s a strong possibility we’re going to war after we deal with the current problem at hand, I suppose the details don’t need to be a secret anymore.” She took another long breath.
I listened intently. Nobody had told me anything about the origin of this damned touch of Jethro eating me alive inside, and maybe I could use the information to help complete more of the puzzle for myself.
“Jethro is Varuna’s opposite. He is the darkness where Varuna is the light. Jethro has no body or form but is an infectious parasite that lives within a host of its own choosing.”
“I see,” acknowledged Rio.
“Jethro inhabited the body of a Templar Dragon on Magnum and corrupted him. Soon his infection spread to thousands, and the Nightfall Tribe was created. It became a tribe of pure darkness, everyone consumed by their inner hatred, and slaves to the demons within them. The first Templar war. We had to quell this infection before it could expand outside of the veil. He could have corrupted millions, trillions, of innocents across the cosmos. Flarion, rumored to be the son of Varuna herself, lead the battle.” She took a breath and closed her eyes. “Anyone who’s seen Magnum knows the condition of the planet now. It’s smashed, destroyed, a wasteland… When Flarion confronted Tanuki to destroy Jethro the unthinkable happened.”
Tanuki… he was the previous shell for Jethro, before Flarion. No wonder why, after apparently freed, he suddenly went peaceful and left the Nightfall. After surviving such inner hell all you’d want to do is escape and be alone. He had a daughter on Amber Krowe. Sun Jin Kaisara. I know when I’m free of this shit, I for one just want to settle down with Shiinx. I want out of this life.
“Flarion became the new host for Jethro. He finally found the powerful body he had always wanted. The Nightfall now had the most powerful Templar ever known to exist on their side and he was corrupted.”
Rio sighed a bit, sounding worried. “Has he ever explained himself? Has he ever been contacted?”
“Oh yes,” she continued. “Flarion, luckily for us, hasn’t made any moves. It’s been sometime since he went from suddenly aggressive, controlled by Jethro, to docile.”
“Docile? What changed?”
Bezzi smiled a bit and glanced at me a brief second. “It seems companionship and love seem to dramatically suppress the shadows influence. Flarion took Majora to be his consort about the same time he suddenly lost interest in domination. Jethro was too slow and couldn’t use his new slave to go to war before Flarion, barely in control of himself, was taken pity on and shown the love that saved his soul.”
Rio softly squeezed Amos’s hand and giggled to herself. “I think that’s sweet. Love conquers all, huh? How long ago was this?”
Amos blushed a bit. Felt good seeing Rio had found some companionship herself. He squeezed her hand back and answered, “Only a generation ago. Not that long ago at all.”
I still think I’d made a connection to Flarion’s motives that the others may not yet had. Maybe Bezzi knew more than she was letting out too. Obviously a lot of Flarion’s past and the dark Templar entity's past was a bit of a secret. I wanted to tell them what I had figured out but if I did it would spoil my own motives and my need to discover, or steal, the Rainru. I suppose a big piece of the puzzle that I know and they don’t is the specific dialog between Flarion and me.
After Rio’s comment the group was silent.
“So,” I started up again. “One way or another I’m here now. Flarion put me here. Now I need to figure out why.”
It wouldn’t hurt to investigate who this consort named Majora is also, or Kiara’s connection to the planet Quall. Kiara’s last name was that of a planet? Royal family connection? If Majora was Quallian that connection theory of mine would fit perfectly. It’s time to get some answers but I couldn’t get them in front of all these people.
Bezekira, I trust her. I don’t usually trust people so quickly but I had a little choice now did I? I needed to tell her everything in exchange for learning everything she knows about Flarion. Those answers could help me understand his interest in Kiara, the Rainru, and myself.
Bezzi sighed a bit and looked at Rio. I knew she sensed me holding back information. I was more than silent during most of that chat.
“What is the ‘current situation at hand’ you said earlier,” I asked Bezzi.
Bezzi snorted in reply. Oh great. What’s this about?
“Forza,” started Rio. I turned to face her. “Do you remember that partner I told you about? The one I was assigned with?”
I just nodded a bit watching curiously.
“It’s Akima. She’s been rejected by the Templar order because of her lust for power and sense of revenge. She’s escaped captivity and now she’s running loose someplace in Ezra, the Evenian’s capital city. We can’t figure out if she’s trying to escape the planet, bring down the Neverborn, or harm the defenseless Evenians who aren’t Templar themselves.
“The Evenian people themselves aren’t Templar?”
“A lot of them are, and they work with the Neverborn, but the Templar here hide under the civilization of the Evenians. They’re the indigenous species here.”
“I see,” I said with a long steady exhale.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Bezzi coming up from behind me and putting her arm around my shoulders. “We’ll take care of Akima ourselves. I believe you’ve got your own tribulations to worry about, right?” As she spoke she continued walking with me across the round seating area and down the length of the extended platform.
She squeezed my shoulder as I looked behind me watching the others get smaller with distance. It was rising a bit. I could feel it. Shiinx wasn’t here, but it felt good seeing Rio again. I wish she’d be able to help me but of course it’d be different than with Shiinx. Rio is a close friend while Shiinx is my girlfriend.
She squeezed again a bit firmer. “Forza, control it.”
She sensed it somehow. With a sigh I tried.
“We’re here for you. I’m going to help you?”
All I could do was close my eyes and nod my head. It was getting late and all of this was a lot to take in. I needed to rest. Maybe Bezzi had sensed that too and that’s why she was taking me away from here.
I still didn’t get a chance to test the waters about my theory. Did Flarion abandon his interest in the Nightfall and Kaisara’s war to instead take interest in Kiara and me? If strong positive support or love is what can keep the darkness at bay I know I’d do whatever I had to in order to get that. The possible missing link to all of this… And the question remains in my head:
Is Kiara Quall Flarion’s daughter?
“Yes,” echoed Bezzi’s voice in my head as she squeezed my shoulder again.
“Then I’m the only one that knows she’s even involved, aren’t I?” I said aloud.
“Indeed, you are. This is your quest, not theirs. I believe Flarion sent you to us so you can save her from the dark. Flarion is trying to hold on to his good side just like you are. You are both dying inside and fighting for survival. While you are looking for Shiinx for your salvation while he is seeking out his family. He hates the darkness inside of him just as much as you do, and you're both fighting for the same reasons. You and him are the same.”
03.07.41
I saw him again, finally, after all these months. It seemed he was alive and well, though changed. His entire fur coat had changed. It was red and white? Strange. Silly boy. Only Vaurna knows what he'd been through after he disappeared on Caisteal. I remember it as clear as day. We nearly lost him to the Sun Jin attack on Birch, the little bastard. If he wasn't so cocky back than it might have been avoided. In fact, all of this could have been avoided. It was that day that I suspect something triggered inside him and caused this path of a downward spiral. Back than I didn't know about Jethro or half as much about the Templar as I do now, of course.
As I opened the large black chest I kept stored away in the living quarters I shared with Amos, sitting on my knees, I was filled mixed feelings. Forza's Sun Jin Empire armor. The weapons and armor he was being used to test. Each slaughter he was forced to do under mind control was another check mark on some twisted scientists clipboard of scientific weapons research. At what cost? Forza was destroyed on the inside. With this armor that I recovered, and his swords, he could become that weapon of death again. My heart was praying he knew better and would use these twisted gifts to right his wrongs and seek justice. He'd do whatever he had to do to free himself from his past.
I admire his bravery, if not fed by the wrong emotions. Almost two years ago, while we were hiding on Caisteal, Birch fell under attack. I don't know how it happened, some Sun Jin loyal Caistealian maybe leaked where we were hiding to RD10-003, but one way or another the local Sun Jin military descended upon Birch with all their usual ruthlessness. Their forces were small, but ready to blood, killing every villager that they saw fleeing the village. To them they were all traitors for harboring Forza and I, and it was this murderous act that must had set Forza off.
With the buildings ablaze and the sky a grim dark-red, filled with smoke, he refused to run. Back then he was still full of fury for the Sun Jin Empire, not saying he still isn't, but he had only been free a few weeks. He wouldn't miss the chance to get his revenge, but I had hoped somewhere in his heart he just wanted to protect the fleeing villagers.
I was outside of the village when the attack started but ran as fast as I could through the cold surrounding forested hills. I saw the smoke and feared the worst. The thought that the Sun Jin would eventually find us again and attack was an ever-present factor but I didn't think it would happen so fast. Still, the day had come.
Before descending down a less than friendly wooded hillside I came to a halt and raised my sniper rifle. I scanned the village from up high looking for him, Forza. It didn't take long. All I had to do was focus in on the attacking SJE team coming from the north road. Two large hovering tanks, several smaller wheeled personnel carriers, and a dozen soldiers unloading gunfire towards a central point in the village... at Forza. I couldn't see him very well but he appeared to be fully armored with his black draping combat cloth armor. Was he insane? One against all of that?
I adjusted a dial on the high powered scope. Oh my god...
You are not the soul wielder of the power of death. You taught me that, you twisted black mark on life. I will kill you all! You gave me this... I'll give it back to you now.
The bullets that flew towards me felt like they were traveling in slow motion while I felt like I could move unhindered by time and space. In some twisted fun I lifted my varunium steel Templar blades and cut the solid bullet projectile from the air as I progressed towards their front line. This is the power of a Templar. This is what they wanted me for, right? These abilities?
His rifle fell from his hands and he quickly tried to grab his sword from it's scabbard, but his hands were fumbled in fear that he was too slow. Pathetic excuses of warriors. He stood paralyzed as I ran closer, dropped to my back in a controlled slide through the dirt right between his legs, rose up behind him with a vertical swing of Kaisara's old katana she foolishly forced upon me leaving a glowing orange trail of light as it cut through the air. The blood rained against the back of my head while from my free hand a small knife was released towards the next closest soldier. Following in its wake, the dragon fang weapon system descended upon those near him, impaling them all, snapping open, explosions of blood and screams.
They started this. They attacked a defenseless farming village, and began killing the innocent. They were looking for me... There will be no justice here. Vengeance. Revenge for all those you made me kill while under your control. People just like these farmers.
The dragon fang bits howled through the air as they returned to my proximity and began orbiting around me, little self propelled varunium steel missiles, seemingly alive. They were mine. Extensions to myself. They are part of me, and I am the weapon of all those people who lost someone to you bastards!
With a fury felt outburst of energy I knelt over, leaning forward, and threw my arms forward towards the ground. As my armor emitted bits of light as they deflected the oncoming hail bullets the fangs screamed a sharp wail and dived into the ground nailing more of the weak Sun Jin soldiers to the dirt. A moment later my sword followed, ending the life of one of their fearful survivors.
“What are you,” he had shouted loudly looking up at me. “You're a monster!”
Amen.
As I rushed down the hillside with my rifle slung over my back I tried to keep my thoughts straight. I still really understand Forza. Usually he's a docile gentle, if not a little shy, guy. When he gets into battle though, he can't be stopped. He was, as he told me, a highly trained combat soldier in the System's Alliance, part of their Stalker covert unit. All of that combined with how he was trained by Sun Jin Kaisara herself when they were partners. His mind was just messed up, that's all. In one hand he needed time to heal but in the other hand he had to get 'this' out of his system. As a warrior myself, I can understand. I still sometimes get little flashbacks of when I killed the research team at RD10-003, the team that did this to him and unleashed him against my own kind.
I cleared my mind of all the free thought when I got back into the village and tried to focus. I knelt down beside a cottage along the perimeter of town, with a good view of the attackers, and rested the length of my rifle against a wooden fence and peered down the scope. There he was, still at it. The power of that armor and weapon system was still breathtaking to me. I was still rather jealous. I gently eased back on the trigger and felt the rifle recoil backwards into my shoulder. Through the scope I saw one of the soldiers around Forza get knocked to the ground with the impact of the round.
The combat continued for another four of five minutes. Sure Forza did a lot more killing than I did, but I was just trying to support him. He knew where I was, and he made sure none of them got close enough to me, or focused on those that diverted from attacking him to instead shoot in my direction.
The strain of the sustained combat was starting to show him, but everything was going alright. I worried that we might not be able to finish this battle. They were spread out over the villages northern perimeter now, and we could only watch this small area. I feared that after clearing this area, which wouldn't take much longer, he wouldn't be able to safely continue. To be realistic, I knew better. Forza wouldn't quit just because he was getting a little fatigued.
Only seven or eight left nearby. Three were aiming their rifles at him while a few were engaged in close quarters combat. I couldn't see how many at first but as their bodies fell one at a time it became easier to see. I took aim and fired at one of the ones with the rifles, fired, and he was knocked over with impact. I took aim again at another whom was now looking in my direction, but before I could fire I saw a blade slam into his chest.
When it was all over I got to my feet and started jogging towards Forza, scanning the area. He was on one knee, trying to catch his breath, when I arrived. He looked worn and tired with his eyes closed and sweating.
“Rio,” he coughed as I knelt down beside him. “We have to cover the escape of the villagers.”
“I think most of them are well out of reach of the slow moving tanks and stuff. They aren’t pushing very fast through the village.”
“They'll kill them all,” he barked back at me.
“What do you think we can do? We can pick away at their soldiers like this but what about those tanks?”
“How many tanks are there,” he asked with a raspy voice.
“Just two I think. Maybe one or two more. That's all I could see from the scouting patrol.”
He slowly pushed off the ground and got to his feet. “I'll destroy those tanks.”
I tired to grab at his arm but he pulled it away with a grunt.
“Don't try to stop me!”
“You'll die!”
I know he heard me. He continued towards the sound of the heavy cannon fire anyway. I hesitated, thinking about what I should do, but I think I made the right decision to follow behind him as we both jogged along. As we passed down dirt roads, between buildings, he cut down a few more SJE soldiers.
The tank. There was no using trying to stop Forza. The second he laid eyes on it he charged in. From between two cottages, I watched the dragon fangs fan out and impale those in his path like wolves tearing through small animals. Regardless of his power, or weapons, he still had a minute or two's worth of running to get to the tank.
My heart was beating fast while I focused on him. He stumbled again, weakly, but go to his feet. Something was wrong. I left my cover and began running towards him as fast as I could. If they saw him dazed like this he'd be a sitting duck. I had to get him out of here. We had already done what we could for Birch.
When I arrived at his side, he was on one knee again, with a hand to his forehead. Something was seriously wrong. With his eyes jammed shut he was yelling loudly and breathing inconsistently.
“Forza! This is over! We need to get out of here.”
He didn't reply, at least not directly. He put his hands around the back of his head and grunted loudly looking at the ground.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Talk to me!”
Still unresponsive. A few more moments of this and it came to an end. Without warning he lost consciousness and completely collapsed to the ground.
“Fuck,” I cursed aloud. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I dropped my sniper rifle and tried to lift him up. With all his gear on he was so much heavier! The dragon fangs, the swords, and the thick armor. It was slow but I managed to get us to some cover. I threw his deadweight to the ground and grabbed my pistols, waiting. He overdid it, of course. The idiot.
I had sworn up and down that day Forza would be the death of me. I never knew what had happened when he fainted. He never had the chance to tell me. Birch was lost. Countless innocents dead, and not nearly enough Sun Jin soldiers to halt the advance. Who knows what they did with the Birch survivors after they couldn't find us.
That night, in the forest, miles away, I stood at the top of a hill on lookout. My mind raced as I leaned against a tree, trying to keep aware of any soldiers searching for us. Forza was passed out in some cover not far from me and for now all we could do was hide.
I tried to hide it, but I was crying. Birch... Caistealians like me. The Sun Jin did this to their own allies! This was all bullshit. All the meaningless death. I felt horrible because someplace inside my heart, no matter how hard I tried to deny it, I knew this was our fault. We hid there. The SJE was looking for us. We put those lives in harms way by involving them.
“I'm so sorry,” I mumbled. “It's all my fault. I'm the one that guided us to Birch. If only I-” I quickly turned around at the sound footsteps in the leaves and snapping twigs.
Forza... He was approaching, but very slowly. He wore the hood of his armor over the top of his head. His eyes had a small glow to them in the darkness, like they always did, but they weren’t the same green and blue hues. Maybe it was just me but they looked more pale than usual. His slow pace, his arms at his sides, the hood, something was eerily different about this.
“It's not over yet,” he said slowly.
“Forza, what's going on? Are you okay?”
“No?” he replied questioningly, but casually, still approaching. “You and I are not okay. We are surrounded by this hatred and darkness. Those with the power to kill the weak will do so to maintain the order of their authority. It's completely natural.”
“You're scaring me,” I said narrowing my eyes cautiously.
“I see it now, Rio. Surrounded in a haze in the shadow everything is so much more simple. Can't you see?”
My throat dropped into my stomach. I was starting to legitimately become afraid. What was he on about? “Yeah, Forza? I see. I was an officer in the rebellion to free this region of space from senseless wars. Now I'm here. Being hunted. I ran away because I won't help them progress more senseless killing.”
“I was an Alliance assassin. I murdered the leaders of factions that wouldn't join our cause, and then the military would secure it's power. I watched them murder the Templar Dragon, Tanuki. His daughter, my former master, created the Sun Jin Empire in revenge, and lied to you about the true purpose of the Sun Jin Empire. Peace? Freedom from senseless war? You're all her pawns to murder her personal enemies. The Alliance, the Sun Jin, power. Power thirsty and murderous. Can't you see, Rio? The galaxy revolves around this vicious treachery and spilling of blood.”
Forza came to a stop, arms length away from me. He eyed me, something was wrong here. This didn't sound like him. Sure I know he felt this way, we'd talked about it before, but he'd never been this ruthlessly dark about it. “Do you think you can do? What can any of us do?”
“To end this nightmare,” he turned and began walking away as slowly as he came. “I'll break the light and lose control. I'll learn to fight all over again.”
I took a step forward, “Forza!” Before I could take another step, a could feel his blade slice through the air, the tip of the sword inches from my face.
“Don't try to understand. Stay out of my way.”
I stared down the length of his orange glowing sword. “Is this where we go our own way, than?”
He lowered his sword, and again turned his back to me.
I knew where he was going, and two days later it was confirmed. From the forest hillside trail I could see the fires of RD10-003 probably twenty miles away. I was too late. Forza had seemingly destroyed everything, and it had to have been recently or else there would have been a fleet of aircraft overhead investigating and salvaging.
It looks like he finally got his revenge, I thought, as I walked around the destroyed complex. The buildings were smashed, explosive debris everywhere. Energy explosions, dead Sun Jin soldiers, destroyed vehicles, everything. This is the facility that ruined his life, where the mind controlled him and developed his weapons and armor. He used them to destroy them. Ironic.
Something caught my eye. A light familiar glow in the distance. It was Forza's sword. The one Kaisara had donated to the research project for Forza to use. It was stabbed into the ground, sticking upward in an odd angle, and nearby was the other. Both the katana and the straights word. Why were these here? What happened to Forza?
Over the course of the next hour, before Sun Jin forces swarmed the broken facility, I was able to salvage all of Forza's armor. Both swords, only a few of the dragon fangs, and almost all of the cloth shoulders, hip, chest-plate, etc. Parts were missing, and what I did have seemed damaged. I didn't understand. Here's the armor. Where's the wearer. I didn't see any dead naked Amber Krowens around. Only feline Bethians.
I took what I could carry and left.
It would be another week before I finally found a way off the planer Caisteal, and another week before I'd make it back to Eveny with the prototype Templar armor and Kaisara's, I mean Forza's, swords.
Amos was waiting for me. After everything that had happened on Caisteal, it was good to be back on Eveny. I promised him I'd make it back to him, and I did. Bezekira was proud that I freed Forza from containment instead of killing him. She said that free will is always the first step to salvation and peace. Forza, she said, would find illumination and what he was looking for. For me that was good enough. I knew he was good at heart and just lost. Time would heal him. I prayed that the new found darkness in his heart would find resolve and he'd be happy again.
With a long sigh I opened my eyes and closed the chest with Forza's armor and rose to my feet, taking with me the two cleaned, repaired, and sharpened blades. They were just like Amos's swords. I later learned, upon showing them to him, that they were made of a metal called varunium.
“A naturally occurring Templar-enriched metal found only in one place, the mountains of Magnum, the closest inhabited planet to the Red Sun, and home to the Nightfall Templar,” he explained. “The unusual and unexplained energies radiating from the Red Sun have pelted Magnum for longer than anyone can remember, and particular materials absorb these energies. They can be extracted, purified, and made into these weapons.”
He told me all of this while showing me his own purple glowing pair of blades. “They're from the old Templar War, on Magnum,” he said. “For those loyal to the Neverborn, on Eveny. I may not be a Templar myself, but I will defend the Bezekira, the Neverborn order, and Eveny with my life. Even against another Templar that would cut me down in seconds.”
I walked through Temple Sanctus, heading to where I was told Forza would be, with Bezzi. From a balcony I watched them, together. I smiled warmly, holding firmly on the railing with one hand, and the two swords together in the other.
In the dimly lit room beneath me, I could see them together. Both sitting cross legged, eyes closed, and in a meditative posture towards each other. I was proud of him. The sword of his soul had been tempered by his inner fire and he was now stronger than ever. Here he was. Months later, alive and well. Calm, clear headed, and working to better himself.
He was on his own private mission. He was here for a reason. One that, during our meeting, didn't come out into the public. I had failed to find Flarion for Kaisara, but Flarion found Forza. He put him here, on this planet, for a reason. All of us were gathering, by Flarion's design, and soon Forza would go about doing whatever it is he has to do. This time I wouldn't stop him, he'd have to do it alone.
I'm proud of you, Forza. You're working to overcome your darkness, the hurt inside of you, and Flarion made sure you came to the right people to help. Seeing him meditating with the queen of the Neverborn Templar... she had faith in him too. She was personally training his spirit, and his mind. He already knows how to fight, I know this first hand, but his soul had been damaged and wounded since the day I first saw him.
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