p class="p1"span class="s1"Chapter 1/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"Present day/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p2"span class="s2"The Dominion soldiers fell in line behind him, this was it the Heart of Rage. After hearing all her pained stories, he thought he'd be prepared; nothing could prepare him for the ruin that was once Freemark. Gun fire filled the air as the soldiers fended off the cenotaph spawning beasts. The air tingled with the power of the Anthem; it was like a beautiful song, rising and falling it made him crave more. Owen flexed his arm, the Javelin of Dawn made him feel invincible. This was what he wanted, to be a class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emOwen/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Huh" he glanced to the Monitor, the man wasn't paying any attention to him/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emOwen/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Is that the Anthem? /emA sharp pain pierced his head, "Argh"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emWhat have you done Owen/em?/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emIts speaking to me, the Anthem it's actually speaking to me, /emhe thought with excitement./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Are you ready?" The Monitor voice caused him to jump./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "You bet I am" he replied jovially./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "You're strong good, your Freelancer friend was wrong about you"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emDid she ever doubt you? /emThe Anthem whispered in Owens ear./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "What?" Doubt niggled at Owen mind, "Yeah? No yeah you're right. I am the winning cypher, lancer combo"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" The Monitor nodded and continued forward, "We're close, are you ready?" span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen activated his dawn shield, "You bet ya"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Don't disappoint me"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "What could go wrong, mate"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" The soldiers halted and The Monitor motioned for him to lead the way, "Show us what you've got"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Giving him a thumbs up Owen grinned, "you won't be disappointed". His dawn shield shimmered as a wave of power from the cenotaph rushed over him. emI'll show her. I'll save her./em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Did she need saving?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen gripped his head, the Anthem voice was becoming overpowering, emmy mind is strong./em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Are you?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Yes, /emOwen fought through the pain./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emAre you prepared to fail?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "I won't fail"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emBecause you're a Lancer?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Yes"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emYou wanted to help her,/em embut/em emis this what you really wanted?span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen faulted, his heart ached, and his mind filled with unwanted memories, "I will stop the heart of rage" he ignored everything the cenotaph was so class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emThis is not your destiny/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "What?" an alert rang in his helmet, "no, no, no" the dawn shield shut down, "No!" he could sense multiple titans being formed, "Oh no" a huge wave of power struck him sending him flying backwards./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emWhat have you done Owen?/em/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p4"span class="s2"-()-()-/span/p
p class="p5" /p
p class="p2"span class="s2"(Months before the Betrayal)/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p2"span class="s2"Lying in bed he tossed a small ball up in the air, like usual he had been woken early by his loud annoying neighbours. One of the downfalls of being a cyphers was never having true silence. Every moment of every day he could sense the people of Fort Tarsis, he would get flashes of their lives and it was all white noise to him. Catching the ball, he sat up and stared at the sorry state of his apartment. The life of a cypher wasn't as well paying as it used to be and his home reflected this. It was dark and a little dank, cracks lined the surrounding walls, and his sparse furniture were in a state of disrepair. The only saving grace was the view from his window. Leaping up he raced to his window and thrusted it open. Happily gazing at the Forge he smiled, everyday without fail there she was "Kalila" sighing he watched her inspecting her storm class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Her chocolate hair shimmered in the morning sun, her lose bangs framing her lightly tanned cheeks. To him she was as beautiful as the day he met her./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen stomach grumbled, "breakfast time already" tearing his eyes away Kalila he threw on some clean clothes and ran out the door./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Fort Tarsis was nowhere near as pretty as the glimmering city of Antium, it was a crumbling almost forgotten place on the edge of nowhere. Traders barely visited forcing most merchants to go out of business. The few people who still lived here kept to themselves, their spirit low and their attitude wary. Strolling through the thin morning crowd Owen frowned, he wasn't proud of what he was about to do but he needed to eat. Casually walking near a fruit stall used his telepathic ability to trick the merchant to look behind him. In that short moment he snatched two apples, slipping them into his pocket he nonchalantly walked away. Now a good distance away he pulled out an apple and took a bite./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emNot proud of stealing but man this apple is good./em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Turning the corner, he entered the lower level of the forge where the cypher amplifier chairs and job board lived. Giving the old Freelancer Yarrow a smile he check for any active contracts, "One measly contract" he sighed, swiftly scanning the instructions his shoulder slumped, "Checking early warning sensor, fun". Lifting the contract paper, he caught Yarrows attention, "we'll be taking this one"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Yarrow nodded and remained silent./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emChipper guy /emOwen thought sarcastically as he made his way towards the forge. Shielding his eyes, he avoided bumping into a sentinel and walked through the empty forge market. The closer he got to the launching pad the more nervous he became, "I've known her for year, no need to be nervous" he muttered to himself. "Kalila" his voice broke as he called her name./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" She didn't respond she was off in her own world./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" He cleared his throat, "hey Kalila"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Blinking in surprised she look up at him causing his heart to melt, "Owen hey" her voice was smooth as silk, it wasn't one that belonged to a trained killer. "You okay?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emShoot silence went on to long, /em"what? Yes, sheesh what are you worried about?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Ah okay, what's up?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Yes right" he patted his pockets and pulled out an apple, "I got an apple for you"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Strolling forward she took the apple with a smile, "You're sweet thank you"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "That's not the only gift I bring"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Oh?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "I got us a contract"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "One came through" she jumped in excitement, "yes!" she fists pumped the air "what is it?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen heart pounded, the one thing she loved about Kalila was he didn't need to read her mind, she was always so opened with her feeling, "calm down" he couldn't stop smiling her joy was infectious, "It a simple sensor check"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Hey it's going to pay the bills"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "True enough"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Well I better go do some routine checks before we head out" turning he slowly walked away./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Owen"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" He paused and gazed back at her, "yeah mate?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Grinning she held up the apple, "We're going to pay that fruit merchant back"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" He chuckled, "Ah you see right through me, you sure you're not a cypher?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" She took a bite, "pretty sure" returning her eyes to her javelin, she pulled out a wrench and returned to her fine tuning./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"Present day/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p2"span class="s2"The Dominion soldiers fell in line behind him, this was it the Heart of Rage. After hearing all her pained stories, he thought he'd be prepared; nothing could prepare him for the ruin that was once Freemark. Gun fire filled the air as the soldiers fended off the cenotaph spawning beasts. The air tingled with the power of the Anthem; it was like a beautiful song, rising and falling it made him crave more. Owen flexed his arm, the Javelin of Dawn made him feel invincible. This was what he wanted, to be a class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emOwen/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Huh" he glanced to the Monitor, the man wasn't paying any attention to him/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emOwen/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Is that the Anthem? /emA sharp pain pierced his head, "Argh"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emWhat have you done Owen/em?/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emIts speaking to me, the Anthem it's actually speaking to me, /emhe thought with excitement./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Are you ready?" The Monitor voice caused him to jump./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "You bet I am" he replied jovially./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "You're strong good, your Freelancer friend was wrong about you"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emDid she ever doubt you? /emThe Anthem whispered in Owens ear./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "What?" Doubt niggled at Owen mind, "Yeah? No yeah you're right. I am the winning cypher, lancer combo"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" The Monitor nodded and continued forward, "We're close, are you ready?" span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen activated his dawn shield, "You bet ya"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Don't disappoint me"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "What could go wrong, mate"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" The soldiers halted and The Monitor motioned for him to lead the way, "Show us what you've got"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Giving him a thumbs up Owen grinned, "you won't be disappointed". His dawn shield shimmered as a wave of power from the cenotaph rushed over him. emI'll show her. I'll save her./em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Did she need saving?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen gripped his head, the Anthem voice was becoming overpowering, emmy mind is strong./em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Are you?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2"em Yes, /emOwen fought through the pain./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emAre you prepared to fail?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "I won't fail"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emBecause you're a Lancer?/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Yes"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emYou wanted to help her,/em embut/em emis this what you really wanted?span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen faulted, his heart ached, and his mind filled with unwanted memories, "I will stop the heart of rage" he ignored everything the cenotaph was so class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emThis is not your destiny/em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "What?" an alert rang in his helmet, "no, no, no" the dawn shield shut down, "No!" he could sense multiple titans being formed, "Oh no" a huge wave of power struck him sending him flying backwards./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emWhat have you done Owen?/em/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p4"span class="s2"-()-()-/span/p
p class="p5" /p
p class="p2"span class="s2"(Months before the Betrayal)/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p2"span class="s2"Lying in bed he tossed a small ball up in the air, like usual he had been woken early by his loud annoying neighbours. One of the downfalls of being a cyphers was never having true silence. Every moment of every day he could sense the people of Fort Tarsis, he would get flashes of their lives and it was all white noise to him. Catching the ball, he sat up and stared at the sorry state of his apartment. The life of a cypher wasn't as well paying as it used to be and his home reflected this. It was dark and a little dank, cracks lined the surrounding walls, and his sparse furniture were in a state of disrepair. The only saving grace was the view from his window. Leaping up he raced to his window and thrusted it open. Happily gazing at the Forge he smiled, everyday without fail there she was "Kalila" sighing he watched her inspecting her storm class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Her chocolate hair shimmered in the morning sun, her lose bangs framing her lightly tanned cheeks. To him she was as beautiful as the day he met her./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen stomach grumbled, "breakfast time already" tearing his eyes away Kalila he threw on some clean clothes and ran out the door./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Fort Tarsis was nowhere near as pretty as the glimmering city of Antium, it was a crumbling almost forgotten place on the edge of nowhere. Traders barely visited forcing most merchants to go out of business. The few people who still lived here kept to themselves, their spirit low and their attitude wary. Strolling through the thin morning crowd Owen frowned, he wasn't proud of what he was about to do but he needed to eat. Casually walking near a fruit stall used his telepathic ability to trick the merchant to look behind him. In that short moment he snatched two apples, slipping them into his pocket he nonchalantly walked away. Now a good distance away he pulled out an apple and took a bite./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emNot proud of stealing but man this apple is good./em/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Turning the corner, he entered the lower level of the forge where the cypher amplifier chairs and job board lived. Giving the old Freelancer Yarrow a smile he check for any active contracts, "One measly contract" he sighed, swiftly scanning the instructions his shoulder slumped, "Checking early warning sensor, fun". Lifting the contract paper, he caught Yarrows attention, "we'll be taking this one"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Yarrow nodded and remained silent./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emChipper guy /emOwen thought sarcastically as he made his way towards the forge. Shielding his eyes, he avoided bumping into a sentinel and walked through the empty forge market. The closer he got to the launching pad the more nervous he became, "I've known her for year, no need to be nervous" he muttered to himself. "Kalila" his voice broke as he called her name./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" She didn't respond she was off in her own world./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" He cleared his throat, "hey Kalila"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Blinking in surprised she look up at him causing his heart to melt, "Owen hey" her voice was smooth as silk, it wasn't one that belonged to a trained killer. "You okay?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" emShoot silence went on to long, /em"what? Yes, sheesh what are you worried about?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Ah okay, what's up?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Yes right" he patted his pockets and pulled out an apple, "I got an apple for you"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Strolling forward she took the apple with a smile, "You're sweet thank you"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "That's not the only gift I bring"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Oh?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "I got us a contract"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "One came through" she jumped in excitement, "yes!" she fists pumped the air "what is it?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Owen heart pounded, the one thing she loved about Kalila was he didn't need to read her mind, she was always so opened with her feeling, "calm down" he couldn't stop smiling her joy was infectious, "It a simple sensor check"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Hey it's going to pay the bills"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "True enough"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Well I better go do some routine checks before we head out" turning he slowly walked away./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" "Owen"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" He paused and gazed back at her, "yeah mate?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" Grinning she held up the apple, "We're going to pay that fruit merchant back"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" He chuckled, "Ah you see right through me, you sure you're not a cypher?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s2" She took a bite, "pretty sure" returning her eyes to her javelin, she pulled out a wrench and returned to her fine tuning./span/p