The Return of a Warrior
PROLOGUE
21/8/2181-New Boston, Earth. 100 years after the initial Atlantean attacks, otherwise known as the Initial Attacks.
John Smith, a five-year-old, sat in his grandfather's lap as he listened to his grandpa's stories of the Initial Attacks.
"When my Da' was your age, he wasn't as lucky as you. The kriffin' Atlanteans bombed his home to hell, an' he 'ad to go in a giant bomb shelter called a 'Vault.'"
John didn't understand a word his grandfather was saying, but he knew that the Armaculin Federation, the ruling body of the Sol System (our Solar System), was preparing for an all-out war against the oppressive, tyrannical, hated Atlantean Empire. What John didn't know was that he was going to get stuck up in it all...
26/12/2200-classified location-Armaculin Alliance Facility
He began his new life in a blue tank full of liquid. A breath mask obscured his face, but those facts were his least concerns.
'Who am I?' he thought. 'Where am I?'
The tank hissed, and the liquid drained out. He frantically tried to take the mask of his face, but it was somehow sealed on. Then he realised the mask had been strapped on using a magnet with a fingerprint lock attached. He could only wait. A seal hissed, and the tank popped open.
A light blinded him at first, but as his eyes adjusted and refocused, he could see where he was. He was in a laboratory, with five military officials and several scientists around him.
"Admirals Nelparte and Tully, High Elder Gandalf and General Qu'nar, I present to you the next generation soldier: The Stormbringer." a voice proudly declared. "It is built to smash through troops, destroy enemy defensive positions and otherwise wreak havoc as a commando. It is also trained as a skilled pilot, tactician and seaman."
"Don't say that the Stormbringer is 'it.'" a deep voice rang out. "It's not an animal, like those lab rats. The Stormbringer is a man."
"Yes, High Elder Gandalf." replied a voice, with a tinge of disappointment.
Then the painful memories came back to the man in the tank. His name used to be John smith. He was now the Stormbringer, the man who would destroy entire worlds for the Armaculin cause. His purpose was entirely to kill…
22/8/2219-eve of the Third Offensive. 5 light years from Earth, at Com Trachang Airbase, Atlantis
"This war is a fragging failure." John mused aloud. Fifteen years of war had done wonders to his philosophical mind, albeit with a decreased capacity for civilian life.
He had been offered leave to go to Earth on the latest Osprey class faster than light cruiser, but he had refused, because he just didn't fit in.
"Hey, John!" a soldier called out to him from across the room, making him jump in surprise. John had thought that the rest of his squad, all super soldiers like him, were asleep. "Don't say stuff like that, El Arma Grande. You'll ruin your mind."
"It already- "John replied, but was interrupted by the 'wh-wha-wham!' of Atlantean mortar fire. Then, blue fire erupted outside, shaking the room. The now familiar klaxon signalling an Atlantean attack roared. A digitised voice said, "Bravo squad, please report to your gunship. Repeat, bravo squad, please report to your- "The klaxon abruptly turned off as another mortar salvo wrecked the optical fibre wires connecting the speakers to the control room. The squad rushed off to their gunship in the hangar. The third offensive had begun, the last and longest of the two wars following the defeat of Atlantis in 2204. It would be the same as the other wars. Trench fighting in the cold Atlantean mud and swamps, Atlantean bombers raining nuclear bombs on human Armaculin settlements, dogfighting in the green skies- the list went on.
Part 1: The Return of the Warrior
2/6/2236-New Boston Spaceport, Earth.
'After the long, bloody Atlantean War, the Atlantean Empire had been vanquished. In the years following, Armaculin gained control of the galaxy as the successor of the Atlantean Empire.' were the thoughts that went through John's head as the ACS Spirit of Armaculin flew through space and finally re-entered Earth's atmosphere. As it touched down on the ground after finishing the 2-day FTL jump from the planet of Rodinia to Earth, John thought about what he could become when he was finally out of the war.
"You could become a doctor on Earrrth by sssstudying on ze Armaculin Soldier Bill." said Slokraan, a telepathic 'Rockman' native to the recently liberated planet of Gortek, using his telepathic abilities to read John's mind.
"Good idea Slokraan, but I think I wanna do something summat more active, like a pilot." John replied casually, before standing up, exiting his quarters and going towards the disembarkation ramp. "Bye, Slokraan. May your Gods be with you."
Upon exiting the ship for the first time in what felt like a year, John found Earth's gravity to be stronger than most of the planets he had been to. It felt like he was firmly clamped to the ground here by magnetic boots. His train of thought was interrupted by a man with a megaphone.
"All military personnel, please proceed to the shuttlebus going to Gate 3." He said.
John groaned. He was sick of taking orders from men with megaphones, especially after his commander had ordered his squad into a suicidal attack at the bridge at Mekotion.
When John got on the bus, he found it full of military personnel like him. It was full of chatter when he came in, but at the instant he sat down, the chatter died down, and everyone looked at him with surprised faces.
"Wha-who-w…" stuttered a junior officer. "Are you The Stormbringer?"
"If I wasn't, how would I remember you from the Siege of Dacr'ik Hill back in '23?" John replied, smiling. "It's an honour to meet you and the other members of Delta Squad again."
"Wow, you remember what squad I'm from?" exclaimed the officer. "Sir, it's an honour to meet you."
"No." John abruptly said. "the honour's mine to meet a member of the squad who succeeded where Bravo failed, at Mekotion."
The officer blushed, and the chatter started up again. John was caught up in his own thoughts, reflecting on the war. 24 years of destructive, bloodthirsty war, shattering the galaxy's alliances and factions and regrouping them into two. On one side was the fledgling Armaculin Federation, with almost no allies, and on the other side the necrotic Atlantean Empire. Two times the Armaculin Republic had attempted to negotiate terms of unconditional surrender with the defeated Atlantean Empire, and twice they had attacked Armaculin, only to be beaten back, and after the third offensive, wiped off the face of the galaxy, their species endangered. Then, twelve more years of 'liberation,' as the Armaculin Federation started to slowly eliminate Atlantean factions and holdouts on all planets across the galaxy.
When the shuttlebus arrived at Gate 3, John was disappointed and angry that there were no cheering onlookers as the bus arrived with the men who had fought for their cause. Angry that all they did was point at them, and mutter that they were murdering sons and daughters of bastards to their friends. By the time John and Delta Squad, which he had fallen in with, reached the Customs and Immigration Section, he was at breaking point.
"Please state your credentials and business." a bored looking customs official said.
The 5 members of Delta Squad reached into their pockets and in some cases, bags, and produced their I.D. cards. John simply drew his blaster pistol and put it on the table. It was emblazoned with a blue skinned, green bellied dragon spewing white bolts of lightning. The official scanned Delta Squad's I.D. cards, but didn't flinch when he saw the blaster pistol. He simply scanned a barcode on the side. After the barcode was scanned, it displayed all of John's details.
"Welcome to New Boston, Captain Smith." the official warmly welcomed. "A government limousine is outside. Delta Squad is to proceed with you into it. New Boston is a relatively quiet place compared to other cities, but there are still some fanatics who claim soldiers like you are crazy. Be very careful."
"Thank you, sir," John responded. He raised two fingers in a mock salute, and proceeded towards the exit with Delta Squad. Outside the exit, a gold stretch hovercar with the Armaculin logo emblazoned on its side awaited.
"Hello Delta Squad, and Captain Smith. Welcome back to Earth." A digitised voice said. "This hovercar is programmed to take you to a pre-programmed location. It is a long journey, so going to sleep is advised."
John was silent. He had fallen asleep an instant after he had got into the car, dreaming of another place and time…
Part 2: flashbacks and ingrates
21/1/2207-Mekotion
A mortar shell smashes into the ground, 5 metres in front of the parked Snaggletooth IV, spraying ferrocrete rubble everywhere. The Stormbringer winces, but he knows he can't take off. The durasteel ramps of his LAAT-C gunship are open, unloading precious tanks, ammunition and troops for the effort to capture the bridge. A sudden flash of 6 lights on the horizon lights up the dark, wet Atlantean atmosphere. The Stormbringer closes his eyes and waits for the fatal blue fire to incinerate his fragile body. 5 shells miss, but one shell ricochets off the Snaggletooth's heavy armour and hits some rubble, doing no harm to any soldiers. The Stormbringer finally gets the all clear signal to lift off, but he then gets a 'comms alert,' as his HUD calls it.
"Snaggletooth, mission objective has changed. Vector, ah, oh-one-five degrees, ten clicks, and attack enemy mortar emplacement, over" says the ground controller. John easily interprets the gibberish, and turns until his gunship is facing 15 degrees north, and starts covering the ten kilometres to the approximated position of the mortar site.
"Roger, vector oh-fifteen, ten clicks." Replies the Stormbringer, but he gets a message from his radar officer.
"Cap'n," he says. "five bogeys, inbound, ten clicks from three-fifteen degrees. Radar signature suggests bogeys are Antares."
"OK, keep an eye out." replies the Stormbringer. "But I'm still going in for that mortar position."
He then travels to the position of the mortar site, and looks around. He is surprised when a mortar shell whizzes right across his cockpit, heading for the soldiers at Mekotion. He dives in, eyes scanning his screen for any anti-aircraft cannons.
And then, all hell breaks loose. Five 40-mm anti-aircraft miniguns, the dreaded 'raspberries,' named after the sound of the guns firing, start firing at him. A heavy field gun starts pumping lead at him. His communications channel goes crazy.
First, he hears the ground controller saying "Abort, abort, abort. Enemy mortar position is a trap. Heavy field guns and raspberries detected."
His Electronic Warfare Officer, or EWO, starts talking. "Sir, five hundred radar locks from guns and missiles detected. The radar jammer has been hacked into or sabotaged."
His Radar Officer shouts, "Sixty Antares fighters, inbound! Fifty missile launches registered! Sixty! Seventy! Missiles are- "
The final words are cut off my a hair-raising, teeth-grating explosion and the sound of creaking metal. Then, there is a final explosion,
The Stormbringer screams, "SCREW IT!"
The tell-tale shudda-shudda-shudda of Antares jet fighter engines can be heard over the whines of his stricken gunship, and everything goes black…
John wakes up in the hovercar. The members of Delta squad are staring at him, speechless.
"S-sir, are you alright?" asks one.
"Yeah, I'm alright." John replied woozily. "I had a bad dream, that's all."
"Are you sure?" asks another. "You've been screaming random phrases about missile locks and Antares fighters. Stuff from the war."
John nods, but doesn't say anything. He's thinking about what happened after. The subsequent capture, the torture, and the arduous escape. Even as he arrived at his destination, a huge house, fit to be considered a mansion, he was deep in his own thoughts. When he got to a proper bed inside the mansion, which he found out was Manderly College, he collapsed onto the soft mattress and had a fitful, unrestful sleep.
The next day, John went into New Boston. Everyday noises, such as people laughing, are completely new and strange. He then heard a baby cry, and his mind was taken back to the Nelodio plains, where he watched children burn to death after a canister of napalm fell on them. A gang, attracted by the fact that John's face is pale, due to the stress of war, slowly surrounds him and eventually ram him into an alleyway.
One gang member, either more stupid or crazier than the others, pushed him into a wall.
"Hey, ya' mudderfrittin' murderer," the man, clad in black and wearing leather shoulder pads with spikes attached, said. "Ya flaking rapist. What the Helheim are you doing on Earth? Ya' wanna kill my girlfriend? Shoot mah' momma with that pistol of yours?"
Another man, perhaps encouraged by the fact that John wasn't fighting back, joined in.
"I got news for ya." he said. "Go die in a kriffing hole!"
The man threw a punch, aimed directly at John's forehead…
Part 3: Revenge
The punch landed in the wall, millimetres from John's head. The aggressor clutched his hand, howling in pain.
John sighed. It had been too easy. John had seen the punch coming and had avoided it with seconds to spare. He quickly turned the tables by grabbing the aggressor and pushing him against the wall.
"Are you drunk?" John asked. The man remained silent. "well, you should know that army people don't attack little pussycats like you because we don't want to hurt you. If you, or anyone in that band of scaredy-cats says anything bad about us soldiers, who fought for all the people on this damned dust ball in the Atlantean war, I will personally hunt you down."
John then showed the man and the rest of the gang his pistol. They gasped when they saw the famous blue and green dragon.
"You picked the wrong army man to pick on." Said John, smiling.
The legend of The Stormbringer lived on.
Epilogue
22/8/2255-New Vegas, Armaculin Day.
"I recognise the brave soldiers who fought valiantly on a faraway planet. You have not been properly thanked or rewarded, and that is why we are here today."
The Chancellor of the Armaculin Republic, Hunter O'Kriksson, droned on the TV while John ate a Crammer from Hungry Cena, washed down with a Shakey-Wakey soda.
John, ever since 2250, had gone to Manderley College on the Veteran Bill and had graduated as a doctor. He had his own home in New Vegas, and he had a wife and child, Sandra and Korvik. They listened intently while munching on their Cenuggets.
And the, something caught John's eye. While the Chancellor made a boring speech about how thankful he was, John noticed a plaque saying, 'To all the brave fighters of the Atlantean war, both Atlantean and Armaculin, we salute you.' and above that, was a gunship strafing a mortar emplacement, while sixty missiles and some Antares jets chased it.
"Daddy, isn't that gunship in the statue the one that you flew during the Atlantean War?" asked Korvik.
"Yes, Korvik, it was." replied John. "If you want to hear a story from daddy, it'll have to wait until after dinner, because- "
A knock on the door interrupted John.
"Do you want me to?" inquired Sandra.
"No, honey, I'll get it myself." said John. When he got there and opened the door, he saw the man he'd been least expecting to be there. The man who had assaulted him nearly five years ago.
"Hey. Have you heard the news?" said the man.
"You mean the memorial at Harvard Park? Yes." replied John bluntly. He wasn't willing to hear more criticism about his soldier days.
He was about to close the door, when he heard a plaintive "wait!" from outside.
"What now?" said John. His body language conveyed the message that he wanted the man to go away to his home, and stop pestering him.
"I just wanted to say…" said the man. "I'm sorry for assaulting you about five years ago."
Joh told the man that he was thankful, and headed inside and back to the dinner table.
"Who was that?" Sandra demanded.
"A man." Joh said, kissing his wife on the cheek. "A man from another life…"
The End