"What we see as one road…is actually an infinite number of paths unbeknownst to our eyes. What is to us, isn't to another…in another time…in another world." ~ Unknown
"C'mon! We can't lose them now!"
I was swung back onto my feet. He was right. We had to hurry if we were going to get onto that airship. No way was I going to let him get away…not again!
"Let's go!"
I heard the hum of his airship grow into a deafening roar as we hurried along the rocky cliff. It was frightening how colossal this zeppelin-like marvel was with automated weaponry defending its port and starboard. In any other situation, I would question how the hell we were going to get past these defenses, but since joining this team, I've learned that we make the impossible possible.
"You ready for this?" He looked back, confident as always with his smirk and thumbs-up.
I pulled the goggles over my eyes and nodded. I inhaled as much oxygen—or lack thereof—as I could. I clenched my fists and with a slow exhale, I was ready. "Let's do this."
The blood red and yellow stripped airship rose from the valley below, meeting us as we stood at the edge of the cliff. I scowled at the menacing insignia on the madman's aircraft. It taunted us. He taunted us. He expected us. He wanted us to attack his ship.
He underestimated us, that was for damn sure.
"Go!" I screamed, leaping off the cliff as my rocket boots erupted to life and thrust me into the midst of flak cannon fire. Explosions shattered my eardrums, but I spiraled side-to-side, firing shots from my cannon arm. I climbed in altitude, but the bullets and cannons followed me.
But he…he made it look so easy.
I looked below and saw streaks of light bouncing from cannon to cannon, destroying everything in its path. He was clearing the way for me, and I took him up on his offer, bursting towards the deck. I came in hot, sliding onto the metal deck and taking cover behind some iron crates.
"Let's go then," I challenged the robots under my breath as I swung my left arm out. The metal encasing my arm transformed from its cannon to its laser sword form. I rolled quickly from cover and rocketed towards the opposition, my scream piercing over the loud hum of my yellow laser sword. I refused to show these cannon fodder bastards mercy as I weaved through their ranks, slashing multiple body parts clean. I managed to shoulder ram one of them and knocked its weapon from its hand. In a swift motion, I spun my laser sword arm around and sliced the bastard in half. Hovering slightly above ground, I felt like I was skating on air. I switched my arm weapon on the fly to cannon mode, "Blitz Cannon Fire!"
I deactivated the jets in my boots abruptly to plant my feet as the blast from my cannon rocked my body slightly. The blast wave demolished a majority of the machines, and I finished the stragglers easily with another few weak shots.
"Looks like you're having fun…"
My partner landed beside me. He didn't look like he broke a sweat dealing with the guards or cannons as I surveyed around us. All of the guns were down. It should have been a clear path for the war room where he was.
"Well then," I turned around, my boots levitating me again. "Let's go crack this egg!"
He smiled. "And bring this ship crashing down!"
We nodded and we sped off further into the airship. As the ominous black moon hovered above, it was time to see what else this madman had in store for us…
Episode Zero- Before It Began
Nine Years Earlier…
Everything began on that night. He could still remember the ringing in his ears from the explosions by his small house on the islands, the screams of the families as they were forced to flee from their homes as they were set ablaze, but most of all there was that..
The crooked smile that evil man plastered on his flying warship on his logo as it rained a fiery hell upon his small village…Sam Blitzkrieg could never forget that. He had nightmares about it for days. He was only twelve years old, and the closest thing he experienced to war was his online shooting games. Damn if he didn't have other problems like his suffering family because of their estranged mother, and his father barely able to make ends meet with his airship business. No one was interested in his antique cruiser models, and he didn't have the funding to create airships capable of space travel. They never imagined life beyond their small island really, but ever since that day, their view of the world expanded. They knew there was a large conflict outside of their island, World War III—or as the media affectionately named it the Galactic Wars—expanded to the stars with the Separatists forming a new republic on the terra-formed planet Mars, to be renamed Earth II. Reports from the space colony they took refuge on said the flying warship that attacked their island was not aligned with any side. Not Neo-US, Separatist, Brittiania, anyone.
Not like Sam gave a damn though. He would travel to the ends of the universe to catch that bastard. What little was left of his father's business was now ruined because of him, and even if they found a new place on Mars, his father would be lost to the fast-moving times. He was too old-fashioned. Sam did give him some designs that he had worked on, but his dad turned them down. He wasn't sure if he believed he was fooling around, but Sam honestly wanted to help him-unlike his older brother who was better at making trouble than anything else.
Sam was considered a genius by any standards, though his father never acknowledged it. Perhaps he believed his father only saw his mother in him as far as smarts went. Sam was too young to understand what caused them to separate, but he was sure it had something to do with his brother and his umm…abilities. He didn't know how exactly to put it into better words, but maybe you could have called them "powers", but that would make him seem like a superhero, and Sam's older brother was anything but a hero. Let's just say, Sam got most of the brains in the family and his brother got the brawn. He wasn't a jock or anything, and he wasn't really popular in school. His abilities kept his peers at bay, and he wasn't afraid to use them to get what he wanted. He wasn't a bully, but if he needed something he'd get it one way or another.
Sam surmised it was moreover pent-up frustration from their mother. Between her and gaining his powers, he acquired a quick temper. Of course, he wouldn't dare try anything with their Dad. Marco Blitzkrieg may have seemed like a lab-coated geek, but he did teach them martial arts when they were younger. It wasn't the traditional arts, more of raw close-quarters combat—or CQC—tactics, but it made them confident to handle their case of bullies, but their father was strong as he was smart…and stubborn. I guess that's where his brother got his lack of listening from…
Sam shook my head, breaking out of his hypnosis of staring off into the deep space outside of his small bedroom window. He was surprised he even had his own room given the amount of people they had on the space colony. The Space Colony Luna served as a forward operating base for Separatist forces in their war campaign against the Neo-US and Brittiania, but it had yet to be attacked by the opposing forces. Britannia didn't possess the technology for space travel at the time, and the Separatists stole the tech from the Neo-US actually. It gained them an overwhelming advantage, but the Neo-US had an ace up their sleeve and its name was BAHRAM. Just hearing that name made civilians paranoid that they would attack the colony, but people were always reassured by a soldier that they were safe, despite Sam pointing out structural weaknesses in the colony based on the map he drew. It was always a case of, "You're just a kid". Despite the proof of his high IQ, no one took his words to heart.
Except one person…
It was strange. Sam felt he had seen him from somewhere when they first met on the space colony. He knew he never seen him on their island. He tried placing his finger on where he recognized the solider from as he approached him in the artificial park. He was a Separatist for sure, wearing the traditional black and grey camouflaged long-sleeves and pants with black glossed boots. Though he didn't have a rank on his collar or shoulders which made Sam think that maybe he was only a recruit. Even so, the way the soldiers treated him seemed opposite of how they would treat a new guy. They acted as if he was a General. He was average height for an adult—if he was one—and had low-cut brown hair with golden-brown eyes. A pretty boy as they would say in the social world.
"Didn't think of you as a kid who liked the outside?" he tried joking as he sat beside Sam on the park bench.
"Is that 'nerd' joke?" Sam countered, not amused at his lame attempt of an ice-breaker. "Because I've heard hundreds of soldier jokes that are funnier than that…"
"Yeah well I guess they all can't be gems."
Sam leaned back on the bench, looking up into the artificial blue sky. It was flawed. "You want more information on how this base is vulnerable to an attack, right?"
"I'm getting it up the channels, kid," he declared boldly. "I'm not going to let this place get overrun by BAHRAM."
"I don't care about BAHRAM if they weren't the ones who attacked my island." Sam snapped his head down and to his left to meet the soldier's eyes. "I wanna know who was behind it. You said you would find out."
"I'm just as in the dark as you are—"
"Right, so that's why the grunts here treat you like a top officer," Sam pointed out mockingly. "You can't pull that excuse over this kid, Mister."
He sighed. "My name is Trent and they only do that because of who my mother is. She's a very high-ranking individual in the Space Carrier fleets, and is good friends with one of the three Generals of the Separatist Party."
"Born with a silver spoon in your mouth?"
Trent chuckled, "Not until I bend them…"
That threw Sam off. "What's that mean?"
Trent snorted at his question as he rose from his seat. "Trust me; I'm getting you your answers, kid. I know what you're going through."
"Really, Mister Silver Spoon?" Sam leapt out of my seat and turned to him, scowling. "Because I think you just see me as a victim of war and you're just trying to be that guy that 'us common folk' look up to and say, 'Hey maybe this war is worth fighting for!"
"War is never worth fighting for," he told the kid wearing a look of despair. Sam believed he struck a chord, and Trent shook his head. "But in order for peace, sometimes you need war."
Sam swore that statement contradicted itself, but he chose not to give a snarky retort as he began to walk away. But he at least owed him this much, "Hey Trent!"
He stopped.
"The name is Sam, by the way. Sam Blitzkrieg!"
Trent raised a hand and waved. "Trent McCloud…I'll get back to you soon, Sam."
As he walked away, suddenly it came to mind! Sam knew where he heard of him from! Trent McCloud's name and reputation was known by small circles on the net, but damn…
Trent McCloud was…
The Final Frontier...
Even though Trent promised that kid—Sam—that he'd get answers, it would still be easier said than done. Getting to General Renoa nowadays was hard enough, but getting him and that woman to listen would be even more difficult. Even so, if Sam was right and BAHRAM decided to attack them, they would lose a lot of civilians and BAHRAM was not about playing fair. Trent needed to get to him, so he believed the best way in doing that was through that woman's protégé, Celeste Sinacide.
If he didn't know any better, he'd say Celeste was her daughter by the way she modeled after her. She was a tomboy, but definitely kept her girlish looks out there. Blue eyes and long blue hair tied into a long ponytail, and quite a body. Though she was younger than Trent-he was seventeen and she was fifteen. Being with younger girls wasn't his thing, but she definitely caught the eyes of some of the older perverts in their ranks. She kept them at bay with her snarky attitude and those ninja-like moves her mentor taught her. Trent sure as hell didn't want to cross paths with her down a dark alley. Celeste was no joke, but if he was to settle this he would need her help.
He managed to catch her in the recreational center reserved for Separatists members. She was in the back of the gym doing bicep curls on the bench. She had her ear buds on so he had to sit across from her on another bench and wave in her face until she acknowledged his presence.
As she let out an exasperated sigh and dropping her weights, he knew the rude attitude wasn't far behind, "What do you want, McCloud? Even you should know not to bother someone during gym time."
"Yeah well this may be a little more important than your gym time, Princess," he teased half-earnestly.
"I told you to never call me that," she snarled.
"Well at least I got your attention now, Celeste."
She snorted. "Seriously, what do you want?"
"I need to talk to Commander Livingston and General Renoa."
"Then go talk to them. I'm not stopping you."
"You know I haven't been able to see them for the longest. You're the only one who sees the Commander."
"Okay…" she droned, rolling her eyes.
"It's about a possible attack on Luna…"
She stood up from that. He knew it would get her attention. "The hell? From what intel?"
He tried to make sure she didn't cause a ruckus and quickly stood up to calm her down. "Ssssh," he put his finger on her lips to shut her up and whispered, "It's not confirmed, but some discrepancies have been shown on the base."
"What? From who?"
Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
Sam sighed. He just wanted to surf the web. He jumped out of his bed, and walked to the metal door and punched in the code to open the door and there Trent was. Trent and a female Separatist soldier with her uniform and beret stood at the threshold.
"Celeste, this is the kid I was talking about—Sam Blitzkrieg."
"Blitzkrieg?" she said that like she knew the name.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's this about, Trent? You found out about the attack?"
"What's he talking about, McCloud?" Celeste seemed to be out of the loop.
That made two of them.
"Can we come in?" Trent sighed.
Sam stepped aside. "As long as I'm not getting detained…"
"Of course not," Trent promised as he and Celeste walked in. As soon as the door shut and Sam sat back on his bed, he and Celeste found some chairs in the small dorm room. Trent began his explanation, "The truth is, Sam, I can't get to General Renoa without this girl's help," he pointed to her. "This is Celeste Sinacide; she's Commander Livingston's protégé."
"So that silver spoon in your mouth isn't as great as I thought."
A snicker escaped Celeste and Trent shook his head as he continued, "Once I can get an audience with those two, then we can get some things set into motion."
Sam glanced at her. "Do you even believe me?"
Celeste crossed her arms, pinning Sam with a stern look. It was like she was looking to see if he was feeding them crap or not. An awkward moment of silence later, and she spoke up, "He's telling the truth. Why else would you bring up a security deficiency up the chain like that?"
"Because I don't want to become space dust," the young boy replied curtly. "And also, I want to know who was behind the attack on my island."
"South Island, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yeah…"
"You sure you wanna know? The answers may not be so cut and dry."
"Does it look like I care?"
A small smile appeared on her face. "Just like your brother…"
Sam's eyes lit in slight surprise. "You know Drake?"
"With all of your knowledge, and yet you're still naïve."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam growled, tightening his fists.
"Don't worry," she rose from her seat. "I'll tell the Commander about your findings. She'll probably be curious as to how I came about this, though. Should I drop your name?"
Sam didn't care. "Whatever gets me what I need."
"You really want to know, huh?" she walked to the door and stopped. "You don't even care that attacks just like that are the reason the refugee count on this base skyrocketed within the last three days? All you want is solace in knowing the culprit?"
She was playing with him and he knew it. "Look if you know something already—"
"I don't." She turned her head to him. "I have a hunch, but I don't go on hunches. Contrary to belief, I'm just about as in the dark as Silver Spoon here."
Again Trent shook his head. "Seriously, what is with this silver spoon joke?"
"But we'll get to it as soon as possible." She motioned for McCloud. "Let's go, Silver Spoon!"
Trent grunted, sending a nod Sam's way and heading out the door with Celeste. "Seriously? You out of all people shouldn't be calling me Silver Spoon, Princess!"
As the door closed Sam could hear Celeste yelling at Trent, "I told you don't call me that!"
How did Celeste know about Sam's brother? Was she a childhood friend? But if that was the case, he never saw her around on the island. Drake never mentioned anything about a girl—ever. Maybe it was one of those secret types of relationships.
He didn't know and honestly didn't care. He just wanted answers, and he intended to get them by any means.
But for now, he would play nice.
He knew this man was evil, but this was a new low.
An entire city engulfed in an inferno as he watched atop of the skyscraper, his enemy's airship floated menacingly in the night. He was too late to save the city, but if he managed to stop him here, he could prevent another attack. He had to do whatever was necessary. He couldn't let this countryside fall because of him.
"I'm coming for you, Robotnik."
He took a leap of faith, hurdling into the rooftops of the burning city, hearing the screams of panicking civilians as he landed.
"I guess you're here for the Doc as well!"
The teenager looked up and saw two other guys standing in front of him.
He wondered if they were on his side as the light from the flames gave them scary silhouettes. He could tell both of them had swords on them. "That must make you the one who's been on the Neo-US' radar for quite some time—the Blue Streak they're calling ya, eh? Guess that explains the blue hair, though a bit messy if you ask me—"
"Seth…," the silver haired man wearing a silver coat and black pants interrupted him in a calm but cold tone.
The chipper swordsman dressed with a jacket and jeans chuckled as he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, that's right. We need you to let this one go, hero!"
"What?" the blue-haired boy yelled. "You're kidding, right? I thought you were here for Robotnik too!"
"That's true," Seth tried countering, "but we need to trail him back to his main base, and can't do that if you wreck his ship. You catch our drift?"
"If I let him go, he'll repeat the same thing!"
"We're infiltrating his ship," the silver-haired man said flatly. "Once he goes back to his base of operations, we'll stop him there."
"What if he keeps going? How many cities are gonna burn like this one until he gets bored?"
He had nothing to say, but Seth, "Listen, I feel where you're coming from, but for the greater good—"
"If you guys won't move, I'll move through you!" The boy clenched his fists, ready to make good on his word.
They both grunted. They knew there was no other way around this. Something about fighting this boy didn't bode well for them, but if they could take him down…
Not if he had anything to say about it.
To Be Continued…
Disclaimer: I hold no ownership to the names used from Zone of the Enders and Code Geass.