SECTION
by CasuallyNoodles
The accounts from the life of David Mason. At a young age, his mother passes away from cancer. Five years later, he is kidnapped and is forced to witness the death of his father. With no family left, he is taken by a friend of the family, Frank Woods. David struggles to rid the pain of his violent past and seeks to live a fruitful life in the U.S. Navy. He looks to a bright future ahead of him, but as time passes, he is reminded of the pain of his past, and only one man is responsible for all his loss.
Conspiracy and deceit attack from all corners as he seeks answers for his father's death. He begins a lifelong quest for retribution to surpass his father's legacy and eventually exact revenge against the one man who had wronged him.
A quest that would change the course of history forever.
Prologue
I Knew Him
ABOARD THE USS JOHN F. KENNEDY
GULF OF MEXICO
JUNE 19, 2025
Once in a time, I knew my father. I slept under the same room roof as him. I ate the food he cooked for me every night. He drove me to school every now and then, and at times, he would bring me outside to the snowy Alaskan wilderness to hunt for game. He taught me many things in life. He taught me how to be responsible and how to take care of myself. He taught me kindness. Showing others respect even when they didn't respect you. He prepared me for this life. His strength, his intuition, his intellect, his unbreakable will and courage, was my inheritance.
I was a kid back then, and at such a young age, I took these for granted. I viewed them as subtleties, minor things. More than 40 years later, I see why he taught me these things, even if it had to come to the whip of a belt.
But, at that time, I never loved him. I wish I could just go back and tell him "thank you" for everything he gave me. For his sacrifice. That's all he'd needed to hear from me. The chance to thank him was cut short at such a young age. I'd go back and tell my mother, who died from cancer, that I miss her and love her. I had so many regrets. So many things that I wished I could take back. Things which needed more than a simple "sorry".
I sat in the interrogation room and found myself interrogating the man who caused me so much pain, confusion, anger, frustration, and suffering in my life. His hands were tightly cuffed together, and his clothes were tattered and blood-stained from a beating earlier. Blood dripped from his nose and puddled onto the table, and his right eye was severely purple and bruised. He was an old man, but he still had the energy to keep me chasing after him. I stared blankly at him, but his eyes would only ever meet the table before him.
"My father, Alex Mason, gave up everything he had. He abandoned me, so he could defend his country from people like you, and I hated him for that. But now, here I am... with you." I spoke first.
"So we are the same, David. Shaped by those we have lost." he replied.
We weren't the same, but we suffered the same no less.