Prologue
“More wine, honey?”
asked Jerome, while the beautiful woman in red pyjamas stretched along the
sofa. “No thanks” replied Martha with a yawn. The night had just fallen upon
the never-sleeping metropolis of New York. Outside, the lights started shining
through countless windows and street lamps. Jerome turned off the TV and got up,
walking carelessly through the living room. “Is it work again?” asked Martha,
to which Jerome replied with a groaning “Yeah, those asses keep mocking me for
having been demoted. I don’t know if I can stand the humiliation much longer.”,
“Honey, it’s not your fault. How could you know that Brothers Inc. was selling
your jewels on the black market?”, “Well, that’s what I was paid to do, to
know, that’s the whole point. They relied on me to handle the business with
Brothers Inc. And I failed. I deserve to be mocked...” cried Jerome lying on
the bed. Martha walked over and gently laid on top of him, and with a kiss said
“Don’t be too harsh on yourself. If you don’t show self-confidence, things will
never go back to what they used to be”. Jerome pushed her aside. He was in no
mood for jokes. “Just get back to the couch and leave me to my thoughts” he
begged with a mix of anger and sadness. Martha did so, and Jerome felt pleased
to see that she complied and didn’t start a new Why don’t you let me caress you? speech. In his mind dwelled only
Mr. Dames, his boss, who one week ago had demoted him from High Business
Supervisor, and James. James Durt Anderson, the man who had taken his place. He
was now a servant, a slave of James, and had he not been his rival throughout
his whole career, he would just quit. But no, this was a matter of pride. And
pride is a man’s uttermost treasure. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden
noise that appeared to come from the street outside. He rushed to the living
room, only to find his lifelong beloved wife Martha petrified before the
window. “What is it?” he asked. Martha turned around, barely blinking, and
after a long gulp, she said, not without shedding a tear, “We are going to
die...”.
The sound they had
heard before repeated, and this time so loud that the windows shattered, and
the couple dropped hopelessly to the floor, shaken be the massive shock wave.
Their ears bled, they were deaf, and escaped the third sound, strong enough to
break apart most buildings near theirs. They felt the impact, and before they
could finish reading the words “I love you” in each other’s lips, the 80 story
building collapsed at the fourth impact.
And so did Earth.
Part 1
“The country has
sustained severe damage.” Said the news anchor on TV, “All over the world there
have been reports of these pod-like objects crashing into the ground.”, “We are
still waiting for confirmation from the Union as to whether or not these events
are in fact an attack. Please remain calm and safely in your bunkers, don’t go
outside and keep connected to the WCN, we are committed to keep updating you as
well as possible”, she continued. She then started speaking some
incomprehensible words, as the TV was shot and shutdown. Gunfire echoed through
the whole street. The armies of the whole world were on the streets. “Do you
think they are really genarians?” asked a man to a passing soldier. “Of course
they are. We don’t need no Union to tell us that!”.
“You are no ordinary
men! For you are brave and strong. Don’t let go of your comrades. Unity makes
you invincible!” Spat the man in army official uniform, whose name plate read Superior Union General Sorges. The
speaker answered an uniform “For duty, for honour, for Earth!”. With a word of
command, thousands of Union soldiers started moving out for battle.
“Why are you so
excited?” asked a man named Karl. “Why shouldn’t I?” replied the target of such
obvious question, “Was this not what we have trained for all our lives? Are you
not proud of being able to fulfil your destiny? To do your duty, what you’re
meant to?” As they spoke, they left the underground bunker, only to find a
green grassy landscape, filled with dark smoke coming from the city barely 100m
away. “Off we go” said the team’s leader, Union Captain Lyko. He proceeded to
call the men in his unit. As they answered the call, the men shot across the
field with astonishing speed. “Mark! Runis! Karl! Torandis! Fing! Al! Yoh!
Joan!”, the Captain shouted, walking right back to the bunker.
“Have you ever seen a
genarian before?” asked Karl when the group reached the wall that separated the
green peaceful park from the big avenue ahead. Filled with fear and doubt, he
ducked behind the wall along with his unit, and so they prepared an attack.
“Get me a location” said Yoh, pulling out a katana from a back sheathe, to what
Mark answered “One target, 2’o clock, 18 meters”. Yoh jumped over the wall and
looked at the target location, but couldn’t make anything out of the smoke and
debris. Venturing into the unknown, she pressed on, sensing a strong presence
amidst the wreckage of a fallen building. As quietly as she could, she tried to
scan the area with her hearing and what few lighting her eyes could perceive.
Suddenly, she heard a strange sound just behind her. Turning quickly around,
she faced the being before her, a black mass of fur, wielding strange
sword-like weapons, which it swung at Yoh at full speed. She just barely evaded
the attack, rolling over to her right. The fierce beating of her heart compelled
her to strike, quickly getting up and flanking the creature, which deflected a
precise and quick stab from the katana. With a call, Yoh requested assistance
from her comrades, who rushed to the battle with great haste. Pulling out their
weapons, they soon surrounded the raging monster, which was not taller than a
grown man. Yoh drew a pistol from a waist-holster, shooting the foe several
times on the head. Hurt, it growled, and with a salve of gunfire the monster dropped
inanimate to the ground.
Part 2
For two hours had they
now been stranded in that dreadful place. A ruin of a torn skyscraper.
Important people needed saving. Businessmen, politicians, army men. They were
the mission. It was one of the main points of interest for an attack to the
Germanic Province. Fortunately, the team managed to save most of the
high-profiles, but now they had another problem: they had to get them to
safety, and after the ruckus they made to get there, the whole place was
groaning with nasties. Completely surrounded, at the first sign of movement
they would get slammed, as their fellow Fing knew all too well. He had learned
it the hard way.
“Call for backup.”
whispered Torandis to Mark. “I already did, they must have cut our
communications.”. “How do they even communicate? Haven’t heard them talk or
make any sound yet!” interrupted Al. “Hey Al, make yourself useful and find us
a way out. And fast!” said Mark. “The others are still waiting with the
survivors on the 21st. How ‘bout we get going already?”, “We can’t.
We need Yoh at least.” replied Al, “They should be here soon.”. As they spoke,
they walked slowly, trying to scout out for enemies. Mark heard a noise in the
distance, down a long corridor, and with a signal ordered them to assume battle
formation. The three of them were nervous. From what they had seen earlier on
the higher floors, it could be a horde of monsters for all they knew. “Al, go
down the corridor. Torandis, flank them. I’ll be right behind you.”. With her
sharp senses, Torandis could see as well in the darkness of the night as in a
bright summer day. She spotted two furry genarians. Mark told her to stop and
went in through a room full of wreckage and met Al still crawling away in the
previous corridor. With no more than two gestures, Al was told to follow him,
and both arrived at the parallel corridor. The three soldiers slowly made their
way toward the enemy. Having to rely on their senses for the night was dark as
dark can be, and the cold wind made it hard to manoeuvre, they reached a point
where Mark could almost hear the creatures’ heartbeat, they all jumped and shot
several rounds, inflicting heavy wounds on one, while the other managed to
dodge, and jumped forward, landing on All, breaking his spine, violently
stabbing him with a sharp glowing blade, all in one swoop. Instant death for
the poor fellow. Startled, Mark and Torandis ran and ducked behind a wall. The
monster came rushing into the room with weapon in hand, and almost decapitated
Mark, had he not rolled away from it. Torandis shot it in the head opening a
large hole, which didn’t seem to stop the beast’s rage, while he swiftly
destroyed the whole floor. The soldiers panicked, they couldn’t handle it, it
was no mindless animal, it was clever and agile. “And strong too!”, thought
Torandis as he broke through a solid brick wall. She got up, and seeing as the
monster had its back turned to her, she fired a whole clip of her machine gun.
It died, turning around while it fell.
Both of them were exhausted,
mostly due to the stressful situation, not to physical strain. They heard more
noise, as now, the whole lot of the invaders were coming, alerted by the fight.
“We have to get back to the 21st floor.” said Mark, “It’s our only
chance of getting outta here alive”. By now, he was screaming, as the building
was shaking with tens, who knows hundreds of genarians, bloodthirsty and
fierce genarians, coming to get them. They set out to join the others who
waited for a clear way, 8 floors above.
Unity makes you invincible.
Part 3
“Did you really have
to do that?” Mark was shaking his hands violently in the air. “It was our only
way out.” Pointed Yoh. “What? Do you even listen to yourself? Killing our own
team is not a way out! Killing the very people we were sent to save is not a
way out!” Mark was furious. His training to be a leader made him feel
responsible for the mission, which they had just failed. He had never failed a
mission. He had never had one to fail, for that matter. But somehow, deep in
him, he knew it was his fault. “Well, you didn’t really have to burst like that, Yoh!”. While Mark had
been thinking, blaming himself for the failure, Torandis had engaged in a
fierce argument with Yoh. “As I said, it was our only chance. We were being
swarmed. I think it’s up to Captain Lyko to decide if it was the best move...”.
A profound silence was heard, echoing through their heads as they remembered
what Yoh had done to get them out of a surely rough situation. “Anywho, no
matter now, it’s done. And we 3 are the only ones left to tell it.”.
They had made it
safely to the bunker. Hurt, hungry, frustrated, they told Cap. What had
happened. “I see. Don’t you worry. Now there’s nothing more we can do now. The
whole of Europe has fallen. We better hurry to the UHQ. All the survivors of
the overtaken zones have already been displaced there. It’s time for us to go.
Gather everything up, the team is waiting in the displacement room.” As he
finished, he took off through a corridor, and the 3 soldiers followed. They
shortly arrived at a room, on the second floor of the bunker, where a thirty‑some
people awaited. The room had about 100m2, and was full of all kinds of equipment: cars,
tanks, helicopters, weapons and hundreds of boxes filled with little gadgets,
ammo and supplies. As soon as they got in, the Cap. closed the door and the
lights went out. A strange sound was heard, something like a jet engine mixed
with a guitar amplifier. Mark, Torandis and Yoh knew that sound well. It meant home. Instantly, they could smell it.
That familiar smell, the same one their childhoods were made of. Being born and
raised in the Union, they had been trained to be super soldiers since a young
age. And it was all in the Union.
“I must hurry and
report to General Sorges! You guys go into the Healing Chambers ASAP.”. Captain
Lyko made his way into a large circular room with 10 chairs all around.
Opposite the steel door was the biggest chair, coated in red satin. The cloaked
man sitting there was the only person in the room besides Cap. “May I, Sir?”,
“I was waiting for you. How did it go?”, “We lost, Sir. Five dead, mission
failed. Berlin was completely destroyed. One of my men burst. I sent them to the Healing Chambers. What shall we do about
it, Sir?”, “Why, follow the protocol. Give him the container.”. The General’s
voice was deep and firm. He liked every Captain to report directly and
personally to him. “We have the situation under some control here. Though, we
have met a small setback. I will soon summon all Captains for a briefing. Make
sure your team is reassembled. Prepare all equipment and crew, for the next few
days will be the worst you have ever lived.”
The next day, Captain
Lyko was woken by a horn. In his room, there was little comfort, but who could
afford that during war? His MInfo displayed the words: All team Captains summoned for a top-level briefing at the First
Conference Room. Cap. flew out of the room, having only time to put on his
uniform, his MInfo and his belt. He got to the First Conference Room, a large
auditorium-like facility, as fast as he could. The General didn’t like delaying
his affairs. Over 300 Captains from all over the world were there. Some of them
had grown up with Lyko. Other that had grown up with him, were missing. He sat
on the first free chair he saw. They waited for some minutes until the rest of
the Captains arrived. About 500 of them. General Sorges was sitting down there,
in his large red chair, cloaked, with his whole body covered as usual.
“Ladies and gentlemen,
thanks for coming. This is a very special meeting, one we have never had
before. We are officially at war with Genar. We foresaw this day, we trained
for this day, we lived for this day. Now, I feel like most of you need to be
put up-to-date on some topics if we are to have a serious chance at winning.
I’m sure you are all familiar with Mr. Jerome Ony and Mrs. Martha Ony. So far,
all you know is they are of extreme importance to the Union. Ladies and
gentlemen, it is with uttermost sadness that I have come to know they were
killed during the alien invasion.” As he said this, he displayed a photo of
Martha’s and Jerome’s bodies on everyone’s MInfo. “But the real problem, ladies
and gentlemen, is that they had a son. We have found no evidence that he has
been killed. What is the big deal, you ask. He is the reason we had to keep Martha
and Jerome safe. He is the single most valuable man on Earth.”. The audience
gazed at the General, speechless. They didn’t know what to expect. One of the
Captains requested to intervene. “Sir, with all due respect, aren’t you supposed to be the most valuable
person?”, “I have still a long story to tell...”
Part 4
21 December 2012
The city of Poret
rested under the moonlight. The streets were busy, as usual before Christmas,
with children playing outside with the snow, people of all sorts of social
statuses were on the streets, enjoying the fresh winter air. The Christmas
lights were all over the streets, twinkling in bright colours. But one light
sought to shine brighter than all others that night. As the inhabitants of
Poret stared up into the sky, they saw a strange light, a very white and bright
one. It came closer, bringing along a loud sound that almost shattered the
windows as it landed, with a big impact that shook the ground. Everyone set off
to the strange object which had fallen off the sky. When they got there, all
they saw was a seemingly round object, about the size of a bus in diameter.
There was a big hatch, which was rotating, starting to open. Everyone was
scared, the police sirens could already be heard. As soon as the first patrol
car arrived, the hatch opened, and from within the round object came out a man,
then a woman. Everyone rushed to help them, ask them what had happened, where
they had come from. But the police officers stopped them. “Back off everyone,
we got this covered. They might be dangerous.” they said. The woman then came
forward. She wore a beautiful dress, “We mean no harm. We need help. Can you
take us to the nearest United Nations?”. “Lady, what are you talking about? You
seem to need some medical aid.” said one of the officers. “No sir, you don’t
understand. It’s very urgent. We need
to speak to someone who can help us on a very important matter to the whole
planet!”, “OK lady, uh...just come with us and we’ll see what we can do”. And so,
both the man and the woman followed the officer, entering the patrol car.
“Mister, there’s one more thing we need help with.” said the man, “Go ahead, we
are glad to help” replied the officer, “We have another passenger who needs to
come with us.”, “Well, it’s OK, there’s space for three back there. Is there
something wrong with him? Why didn’t he come?”. By now, the whole place was
surrounded by people and police forces. The army was arriving. Reports of UFO
sightings were being aired on TV. There was now a perimeter around the craft
and the police was arriving with more and more men. “You see, he isn’t exactly...like
you and me.”, “What do you mean?” asked the officer, surprised by that
statement, “I mean, he’s not quite... human” continued the man, “Are you
actually telling me that thing came from space?”, “I’m not sure what space is. Well, it came from outside of
Earth if that’s what you’re asking.”, the officer’s eyes expressed a deep fear.
He was paralyzed, with running thought that those people could have come from space.
That, or the man was completely crazy. “Sir, I’ll have to ask you to be very
quiet and stay inside the car.”. He got out, and called out to his colleagues
who were nearby. “We’ve got either a crazy thing going on, or a crazy thing
going on. These guys say they came from space. We need the Lieutenant right
now.”, “Easy John, the army’s a few minutes away, they’ll clean the situation
right up.”. And so it was, the man and the woman sat there in the car for a
good 5 minutes until an army truck came by. “Officers, we’ll handle this from
now on. Ensure the perimeter, tell everyone to go home.” said a man in army
uniform who didn’t identify himself. The soldiers approached the craft and
waited for orders. A helicopter arrived, shedding light over the thing. Another
army truck arrived. The police Lieutenant also arrived. The place was now
filled with policemen, army men, bomb squad teams and government
representatives were coming also. The party was set.
It was a long wait
before they made a move, but finally, after confirming there were no bombs
aboard, a group of soldiers entered. “Don’t hurt him, please!” screamed the
woman from inside the car. “We won’t hurt it, don’t worry.” said one of the
army officers. Just about 1 minute later, the men came out holding a humanoid
creature, with black skin and big strong limbs. The soldiers put him inside one
of the trucks with the man and the woman and took off, leaving the crash scene
to be investigated by the tens of officers who surrounded it.
Part 5
“At least, that’s what
they told me. I woke up 9 days later as expected and the rest you already know.
I founded the Interplanetary Military Union as a joint force by all of Earth’s
population in order to create a proper army that could defend us from the
genarians. After we won the Moon War, they managed to set foot on Saturn and we
knew it wouldn’t be long until they came up with a plan to attack us. The rest
is history. Now, the real issue is Martha and Jerome’s son. He was part of the
experimental process of the super-soldiers. He was the second prototype. Being
a genetic failure from the beginning, I thought it was better to let his
parents raise him as they pleased. And so they did, but the thing was that he
couldn’t ever integrate into society. He was much too dependent on his parents.
Without them he becomes lonely, lost in the world. He starts to feel
frustrated, angry, and loses control over his body. He has far too much power
within him. So I can only imagine what state he must be in, knowing that his
parents died. He will seek revenge at all costs. He will probably use his
genarian form to either infiltrate the enemy troops or annihilate every single
one of them, I honestly can’t predict how he will react. So I warn you. He is
extremely dangerous, far more powerful than the average genarian. You may take
him by an ordinary one, but please do make sure not to kill him, as he is our
most valuable resource at the moment. Tactical information and squad
distribution will be handed to each team via MInfo. Remember, ladies and
gentlemen, use extreme care, and never forget that we must secure the lands
around the UHQ and expand outward. You are dismissed.”
Later that day,
Captain Lyko received a MInfo message displaying a map with several routes for
the various teams to take. Oddly enough, there was also mention to some Division Commander. Lyko walked through the
UHQ looking for the room mentioned in the message. He found it in a corner,
heavily guarded. Passing through inspection, he entered a small container‑like
building. The inside was dark, with one lonely lamp meagrely lighting the whole
room. The room was empty, and Lyko had a striking feeling that something wasn’t
right. Just as he thought of running away, a trapdoor opened, shedding a bright
blue light all over the room. Lyko made out the silhouette of a man walking up
to the floor. The man said at last, “Captain Lyko, welcome to our most important
R&D facility, the Exolab. Please follow me”. After climbing down a long
staircase, Lyko saw a gigantic floor, about the same size of the whole UHQ. It
had none but four walls surrounding it, and an unimaginable quantity of people
and machinery. Some of the machines in the production line were as tall as 10
metres. He kept following the man who had welcomed him along the huge
underground factory, finally arriving at a large circle on the ground, full of
strange mechanical chairs. General Sorges and many other captains were there,
as well as other high-rank officers. A man came to speak to Lyko, “Hello
Captain, I’m your Division Commander, Thuman Olyve. I will be handling field
operations for your team, as well as other 49 teams. Now, if you follow me,
please...” Thuman walked to the middle of the circle, where he pointed at one
of the chairs, “...have a sit.”. Lyko thought all of that was very strange.
General Sorges was alone outside the circle, left to his thoughts. More
captains arrived, and sat on the chairs. “Ladies and gentlemen, I reckon you
all have mission details on your MInfos. Your teams have been prepared,
antidotes administered, and the whole army mobilized. You are now part of
Division 3 of the Military Union. Each captain will have field leadership upon
their team, and I will make sure everything flows as planned. The machines you
are sitting on are exoskeletons made to empower you with the same abilities as
the Mods. They are still experimental, but operational. They are easy to use,
you won’t feel the difference. We are looking to provide as many soldiers with
them as possible. Now if you please, go through that gate.”
Part 6
Most of the soldiers
had never seen the outside of the UHQ, only those sent to defend its
surroundings. It had to be about noon, the sun was burning hot, and as soon as
Captain set foot on the wrecked streets, he felt it. Oh it was marvellous,
something he had not felt before in his life. He was so light, yet so strong.
He could sense the air flowing, and even the slightest of sounds would make his
ears pop. A voice started forming in his head, a conscience, thoughts that
weren’t his. The chair, which was now a suit, was still forming, bending,
wedging, tweaking, turning, shrieking and adjusting like a second skin to his
body. This conscience started talking to him, almost like transmitting
thoughts. He felt like he had those thoughts all his life. He saw Mark,
Torandis and Yoh speeding through the street to meet him. They were surrounded
by the whole of the 3rd Division, which included Norms and Mods
alike, and a variety of vehicles. All around the base he saw military staff. As
they set out, the thought came, “Take the rooftops, they are safer because they
like to ride those pesky Bestis, so if they wanna get to you, they’ll have to
work for it”, he knew he just had to do it. And he didn’t bother to ask himself
why or how, “Follow me, let’s take the high ground!” he said to his team.
“Kneel and push the ground with your left leg.” he thought. There he went, up
in the air. The speed was so devastating he almost hit a building across the
street, but he reacted just as fast and climbed it, stopping finally on top of
it. “Well, you heard him” said Mark, “don’t just stand there!”. Together with
Torandis and Yoh, he jumped and reached the roof of the building. Looking back,
they saw the UHQ, or at least, the upper part of it, a huge fortress with
ramifications as far as the eye could see. The conscience struck Lyko again,
and he charged towards the city, jumping from roof to roof, with the pillars of
smoke in the distance as his goal. Soon, the rooftops were filled with soldiers,
dashing through at the highest speed. The streets below were populated by tanks
and mechs of all kinds. Helicopters and jet-fighters covered them from the sky.
It wasn’t too long until the first genarians were attracted by this ruckus. The
first shots were heard, but all Lyko was thinking was “Keep running, jump, grab
that ledge, pull yourself up, look behind, they are still with you, run, jump,
run, jump...”. So set on his goal, he almost didn’t notice the blade flying
before his nose. Only when his body evaded the attack on its own did he look to
the left, where a horde of genarians was almost catching up with him. He looked
behind at Mark, who immediately made a signal to his companions, and pulled out
his rifle. The thoughts ran again, “Reach out, pull your arm back.” And so Lyko
did, without questioning, as he pulled his arm slightly backwards, a shockwave
slammed him to the ground, and an explosion hit the enemy group. “Captain,
behind you!!” was all he heard from Yoh before turning around, to face a small creature,
flying just over the edge of the building. On top of it was a similar one, with
4 arms, 2 of which holding some kind of glowing sword. They were both scaled
and had a slight blue tint on top of their natural white skin. As they landed,
the one with swords threw his long pointy tail at Lyko, who dodged and reached
for his shotgun. He heard shots behind him, and saw Mark and Torandis fighting
the genarian horde together with other soldiers. Yoh came to his aid, and
pulled 2 katanas from her back. He shot once, hitting the winged animal. The
other was too fast and threw itself at Lyko, but Yoh parried with her weapons.
They engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat, and soon more of them arrived.
Another captain came to their spot, firing a heavy machine gun. Lyko suddenly
realized there were now hundreds of the things landing on the roof, and Bestis
were climbing.
The battle was on, he
could hear explosions and shots all around. He tried to run to his team, but
got cut off. A sniper on a helicopter took the foe down, but more came. Lyko
was shooting his heart out, and more soldiers appeared. Yoh was still fighting
the same enemy, and now a second one was attacking her. There was no way to
defeat them. That’s when she knew she had to do it. “Captain!!” she yelled, “I need
to burst!!!”. The thoughts came to Lyko once more, “Tell them to burst. All of
them. Yes Sir. Everyone, burst!”, Lyko was confused, his mind was tricked, but
he heard the other captains order their teams to burst, and everything was a
bit more clear. And as loud as he could, he screamed “Burst!”.
Part 7
Everything was
destroyed in a 500m radius around those buildings. Walking alongside a heavy
armoured tank, Lyko and his team inspected carefully around every corner. The
MInfo showed a map with recovered territory. The Union was advancing at a fast
pace, despite the fierce battles that were constantly going on. “Where are they
even coming from?”, wondered Torandis. She couldn’t comprehend how the
genarians could be permanently attacking. “Where is their base? Do they even
have one? How are they sending troops non-stop to Earth?”, she thought.
She didn’t have time
to think as the tank blew up. All she did was jump and duck behind a car. The
massive tank was now one solid flaming pile of metal. Mark, Torandis, Yoh and
Captain Lyko ran inside a store. They readied their weapons. The sweat dripped
off their faces. Lyko was in terror. He did not see or feel any threat. By now,
he was used to sensing his surroundings. The suit made him much more aware and
agile. None of the teammates felt anything, and yet they were attacked out of
nowhere, and had no clue who had done it. Feeling impotent, Lyko was pushed
back when the front of the store exploded, shattering all windows and sending
shrapnel flying all the way to hit the team and inflict some light wounds. The
whole building trembled. They were cornered. Was this really the way it ended?
Everything was dark. The smoke clouded their vision. Mark got up, and walked to
the back of the floor, searching for a way out. Lyko’s thoughts ran “This is a huge
danger. You’re getting too much heat. I’m sending all nearby troops there.”.
Next thing he saw, amidst the smoke and dust, was a big shadow. Human-like, yet
with some notorious differences in proportions. It made a sudden noise, tearing
all walls apart. The building collapsed.
Beneath the rubble,
all he could hear was gunfire. It wasn’t too soon before it stopped, though. He
heard Yoh scream. She had burst. Lyko’s efforts to move were worthless. The
exoskeleton was broken, and both his arms and legs were stuck under heavy
chunks of stone and brick. He heard Mark and Torandis burst. They were fighting
the Omni, but he felt like they were no match for him. It was then he heard a
comforting voice reaching the dust-filled darkness where he lay. His brain
drifted to a place far away, where he was free. Free of the burdens, the war,
the pain. “Home...” he thought. The voice got dimmer, and he chased it. Whose
voice it was, he couldn’t tell. “I need to hear it...once more.” and the voice
kept fleeing, running through the dark. Was it his wife? No, she was dead. His
son? Dead too. Father? Mother? All dead. All of them...dead. He heard screams
of pain and despair. The fire embraced him, and the warmth of her heart calmed
him. “Is it time already?” he asked. “It seems so.” the woman replied, “Do you
recognize this voice?”, “No...who is it?” he wondered. With a tender smile upon
her lips, she said, in an ever-so-dimmer voice “It’s him. Your boys are safe.”. Lyko could still hear the voice. So
gentle, so soft, so welcoming. He couldn’t make out what he was saying, but who
cared now? It was time, and in the time there was no time for questions or
wonderings. There was only his wife’s fiery embrace, and the voice, so close,
so far, so fast, so...explosive.
Part 8
“Mark! MARK!”, “I’m
here, Yoh. Chill out.” answered the man while shrugging off dust from all over
his body. “Where’s Captain? Can you find him?” asked Torandis. “No, I’m afraid
I can’t sense anything. Did you see that guy? The flames, the explosion? What was he?”, “I’m not sure, but he
might be our guy. I don’t think he left much of a chance for Captain. Look at
us, we are pretty beat up, and we are strong as steel. I don’t hope to find
Captain.”, “What do you propose we do now, since you’re in charge?” asked Yoh.
Mark jumped to a nearby building and stared for a while. He then made an
odd-looking frown and said “I got him!”. They went back to their normal states
and made way toward the direction Mark sensed. Could this really be the
infamous son of Jerome and Martha? “Why didn’t they just give us a photo?”,
Torandis thought, “It would just be easy
to find him.”
Awkward enough, they
reached a seemingly busy part of town. The people there were working, walking
on the street, driving their cars, as if immune to the impending dangers out
there. The team found this disturbing, but in fact, there was no reason to
worry, the nearest genarian they could sense was over 5 kilometres away! From
here, no smoke could be seen, only the dark sky. A passerby asked them “Hey,
are you Union soldiers? I heard on the news we are at war. Have you come to
save us?”, to which Mark answered “Not exactly, we are looking for a companion
of ours. Have you seen something strange?”. The man left running, and turned a
corner. The team pursued, but cautiously. Around the corner there was the man,
with a ripping grin upon his face. They sensed many people approaching. “Fly
with me!” Mark said. They jetted out of there as fast as possible. They didn’t
know why, but something felt dangerous. Why were those people there? So many
questions and so little time to answer them. They found themselves in a broad
avenue. People were swarming from all around them, and they kept running.
Finally reaching a sea of people, Mark shouted “What are you doing? We can
help, we are Union soldiers. What do you want?”. “Yes, you are Union soldiers.
You said you would protect us. But you let us down!” said a lady in the crowd,
“What have we done? If something happened, you have reason to be mad at us, but
we can try to fix it.”. Mark was sweating, he felt something was up. But the
feeling to fulfil his mission didn’t allow him to run. “You let our parents
die.” said the lady again. “Mark, I know what’s happening! Wake up!” yelled
Torandis. She turned to Yoh and said something, but she didn’t understand, for
Torandis’ mouth had erupted in blood. Mark and Yoh grabbed her as she fell. Her
back had been perforated, and was bleeding heavily. Mark got thrown with a
strong impact into the crowd, and Yoh was swarmed by it.
“We got a lock, Sir.
Should we take it?”, “Fire at will. My boys will be fine.”. Commander Thuman
Olyve wasn’t sure about that at all, but what could he do? The helicopter fired
several rockets and machine gun rounds. The genarian stopped beating Yoh and
looked up, deflecting the projectiles, but the helicopter kept shooting. In one
single move, the foe flew up in the air and punched a hole right through the
fuselage. He got right back to the ground as the helicopter crashed against a
building with a big explosion. The grabbed Yoh, but Mark stood up behind him
and drew his pistol. He aimed for the head and pulled the trigger, but the
bullets passed straight through the genarian, who turned around and attacked
Mark, breaking his jaw. Torandis got up, still bleeding seriously. Mark saw it,
and got up, he jumped at the enemy, and armed a punch. Hitting the genarian’s
blocking hand made a shockwave strong enough to crack the ground under them. That’s
when they heard the cars, the tanks, the jets. The cavalry was coming. “Just
come with us, we don’t want to hurt you. We just want to help you accomplish
your mission.” said Mark, “Why should I
help you, only to be disposed of
later? Your people didn’t care the first time, they won’t care the second. What
difference does it make if I kill you or them? You both killed my parents.”
Part 9
Soldiers had invaded
the avenue, they had orders to kill on sight. Several Mods came flying in to
the scene, bursting and attacking the genarian. “STOP!” screamed Mark, “Don’t
atta...”. His head shot back as the genarian hit him. Yoh drew her swords and
burst, catching the foe by surprise, throwing him to the ground. She jumped and
aimed with her swords, but he dodged, attacking fiercely. Tens of Mods and
soldiers were there. The genarian looked around for a second, then disappeared
into the ground. “Where’s he gone?” thought Torandis. A huge explosion engulfed
the whole place, as all the tanks, helicopters, cars and mechs blew up. All the
men were slammed into the ground. “Return to base ASAP. He will come here, and
you need your medicine.” said Commander Thuman.
“Sir, should we make
preparations?” asked Thuman, turning to General Sorges. The other Division
Commanders were wondering the same. “Turn on the defence system. Droids and
all. I’ll get ready.”. Not 5 minutes had passed, an explosion was heard inside
the UHQ. General Sorges was about to take his serum, so he made sure he
hurried. Up in ground level, EF, as he came to be called grabbed an arm,
smashed the head with his elbow, grabbed a rifle from the ground and shot three
more soldiers to death. Speeding through the hall, he came across 2 droids,
spitting bullets so fast, not even him
could dodge. So he broke a wall and ran as fast as he could, breaking several
other walls. He was being chased by more droids now, but he noticed the
trip-wire and led them to the trap. He just kept running without looking back.
He heard the explosion behind him, and more droids and soldiers came before
him. A Mod was among them, and he was bursting with energy. EF erupted in
flames. Enraged, he deflected all the bullets the droids and soldiers fired at
him, killed and destroying all of them except the Mod, who was already upon
him, striking away at his chest. EF simply grabbed him and blew him apart. With
a punch, he broke the ground below him, reaching the first floor, right on top
of Sorge’s apartment.
Mark, Torandis and Yoh
were travelling as fast as possible through the city, they could see the UHQ
already. A tank approached them and a soldier inside halted them. They stopped
and said “We are to reinforce the Head Quarters ASAP. Let us through.” The
soldier just grinned.
“Did you think you
could defeat me?”
“No, but I want to
make you see the chaos, the tragedy, the suffering you’ve put me through!”
“I never intended for
this.”
In the UHQ, EF was
rampant, set ablaze with his full power, he sped through the halls, destroying
everything. That was, until he reached a certain section. It was full of traps.
Contraptions of all sorts, which he couldn’t be sure to mess with. After all,
they were engineered by Mr. Sorges, and he couldn’t cross his heart that they
weren’t dangerous even to him.
General Sorges came
in, along with a huge army of Norms, Mods and droids. Sorges halted EF as he
was about to initiate another strike. “Why don’t we settle this like grown men?
Why don’t you stop this madness once and for all?”. EF kept silent. The ground
was melting around him with the heat irradiating from his body. He closed his
eyes. For a moment there was silence, a deep, deep silence. All the Mods were
then enclosed in black flames, which set many a-soldiers around them on fire.
“Quit your trickery!”, and with a wave, Sorges pulled EF flying in and
head-butted him into the ground. EF got up, only to be struck again. “Why are
you holding back? Do you want to settle this, old man?”, said EF with a groan.
He then got up and faced Sorges. Without breaking a sweat, the Superior General
pushed him, and EF went blasting into one of the traps, a little device Sorges
nicknamed The Rat Mower. EF was
blasted to pieces. Sorges sighed and turned around, but found himself grappled
by some mighty invisible hands. “I see...you have increased your power in
secret...”
No comments:
Post a Comment