February 30th, 10 CLE (Common league Era)
The Royal Residence, Demacia
The soldier paced nervously outside the throne room, waiting to be summoned. He had never been more nervous in his life; not when he faced down a massive stone golem at the end of his training to be admitted to the Demacian High Guard, not when he knelt and swore his fealty to Jarvan Lightshield the Third with Shyvana and Quinn standing by (for Jarvan the Fourth had not yet chosen his queen), and not when he had fought in Kalamanda against the Noxian imperialists.
Yet today he was nervous, for he had no idea what he had been summoned for. Would he be knighted? Were his mistakes in Kalamanda grave enough to merit an immediate execution? For all his memories of battles won and lost, he could not possibly remember every deed he committed in the name of the Lightshields.
The double doors swung open, and a voice spoke to him. "Zacharias Stark, you may enter the throne room."
He walked in, reflexively kneeling in the center of the room. "What would you have of me, Prince Jarvan?"
"You have served Demacia with great valor, Zacharias." The soldier remained silent, his eyes skipping about the room, noticing the unusual abscence of other High Guard soldiers.
"Is this to be my execution, Prince?"
"Why in all Runeterra would I wish you executed, Zeke?" Jarvan said, returning to the informal tone he had used when they fought together. "We fought side by side in Kalamanda. You have served Demacia with honor and skill."
"There are no other guards in the room; this suggests that whatever you summoned me for cannot be seen by the other men. Since I have served you with honor, the only possibilities are execution or exile, as those would be the only things you would wish not to be seen by the rest of the High Guard."
Jarvan smiled and rose from his chair. "As vigilant as ever, Zeke. I have no desire to execute or exile you; the secrecy of our meeting is out of necessity and not choice. No, the League told me to ensure you received this missive, and moreover, that I was not to look at it myself nor present it to you in the view of other soldiers." He stood, and handed Zeke the envelope.
Zeke opened it. Scanned it quickly, his eyes taking in every word. "My prince, they wish me to journey to a location in the Shurima Desert, where I will be given further instructions. Do I make this journey with your blessing, my prince?"
Jarvan folded the message back into the envelope and placed it in Zeke's hands before turning him towards the door. "You do. Now, into the world you go. And remember..." Jarvan pointed to a pole hanging above the door, with a scrap of red and white cloth hanging from it,"your fervor will be remembered for millenia to come."
"I'll try to hold on to that memory." Zeke said, and left the throne room, then the castle. The journey to the Shurima Desert would be long, and he had to prepare for what was to come.
Two weeks later
The X on the Map, Shurima Desert
Zeke examined the map. He was definitely in the right place; the valleys of sand surrounding him looked exactly as he thought they would. With hesitance, he spoke the words on the piece of parchment. "I have made my way here of my own free will, with the blessing of my liegelord, and I give my sword and my silence to the Council." He had no idea what the Council was, nor why they needed him, but the parchment had instructed that he speak the words and he had done so.
Suddenly, the sand began shifting underneath Zeke's feat. He scrambled back in time to see a river of sand flow away from a dune, revealing a door buried beneath the sand. The door swung open, and a dark skinned man stepped out. "Welcome to VOID-COM, Zacharias."
"Call me Zeke."
"VOID-COM was founded immediately after the Rune Wars, when the first creatures from the Void began to appear in Runeterra. Its mission was simple: to investigate reports of Void activity and prevent the curse of the Void from spreading." The man had introduced himself as Alexander, and the two were descending a flight of stairs that seemed to go on forever.
"Where do I fit into this?"
"We're always in need of new soldiers here, and you fit the bill. A high ranking soldier in the Demacian High Guard who fought in Kalamanda and Ionia and needs something to do? Perfect for our needs." The stairs continued, and neither man showed any sign of slowing down.
"So I'm part of this...Void-COM...thing..."
"Yes. Let me tell you how this all got started..."
The Final Rune War-August 15th, 0 CLE
League Treaty Signing-Summoner's Rift, Southwestern Nexus
The men looked very dignified; Jericho Swain the Noxian in his cloak and tunic, Jarvan the Third of Demacia in his formal armor, Zelos the Ionian in a simple kimono that belied his advanced skill in Hiten. They were here to discuss a treaty that would end the final Rune War and change Runeterra forever, hopefully for the better.
They looked substantially less dignified when two men appeared from nowhere. Jarvan and Zelos spilled their tea over themselves, and Jericho Swain's pet raven made a mess everywhere.
"Who are you? How the hell did you get here! This is a confidential meeting!" said Jarvan the older.
"We are here..." said Kassadin, "to commend you for your foresight. The creation of the League was an excellent step, but the future will require that we prepare for the coming onslaught, lest we be destroyed."
Zelos was a bit more reasonable. "Slow down. Who will destroy us? What can we do to stop them?"
"The Void is coming. I have seen it; unless we prepare we will be no match for them. The sheer power of monsters like Cho'Gath, Kog'Maw..."
"I suppose hearing their names must seal one's fate, because that would be the only way to explain me never having heard of these...things..." said Swain.
"SILENCE!" Kassadin roared, his voice augmented by the breathing equipment that kept him alive. "YOU CANNOT BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE POW-"
"If I may, Kassadin...perhaps I should just show them." the smaller man said. Kassadin breathed heavily through the purple tubing and remained silent.
"I know you," said Zelos. "You're the Last Survivor of Urtistan. Zilean. You've been visiting Ionian healers for your disease."
"That is correct." Zilean nodded, his gaze drifting off into the distance. "I have come to assure you of the veracity of my comrade's statements. The Void is coming. The only question is how we intend to deal with it. I will now show you what the world will look like in 100 years if we do not band together against the Void."
"That's a lot of big names you're dropping, Alex."
"What reason do I have to lie?"
"Good point." The pair finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Alex punched in his code, and the two advanced through the door into the facility.
"Straight ahead through the base. The Commander wants to see you before you retire to your room for some rest. I'll take you there." Zeke followed Alex, listening as he pointed out various parts of the base.
"This whole place is an old nexus that VOID-COM repurposed into our base of operations. Over there is the Summoning room, where our troops are sent into combat with the help of VOID-COM summoners."
"There are summoners here? So we're like League champions?"
"The League only funds us; we're not Champions. Sometimes a champion or two will drop in and assist us with operations, but for the most part we're left to our own devices. Up here on the right is the Clairvoyant Room, where our summoners search for any strange event that could be a Void assault. They do 12 hours on, 12 hours off."
"What about this room on the left?" Zeke asked. The room's glass walls allowed him to see a man wearing a mask with a third metal arm badgering a terrified yordle.
"That's research and development. It's run by the Zaunite Viktor, but we get a lot of help from unemployed Yordle Academy graduates and human techmaturgists. Right after that is the Magic department, where our mages investigate magical means of aiding our soldiers. That department is currently being run by Zilean, with some help from Kassadin every now and then when he has time."
"If we have Zilean on board, you'd think we'd always have time."
"He...doesn't last as long as he used to." Alex grinned; the expression was so silly that Zeke laughed out loud, startling a pair of yordles making their way through the halls.
"Where are the barracks? The mess hall?"
"On the other side of Central Command. Someone else will show you the way there after your meeting with the Commander." Alex stopped in front of a pair of double doors. "Here you are; I'll see you in the barracks once you're done." The man left, leaving Zeke alone in front of the doors.
He opened them. Inside, a large, sky-blue bird crouched in the middle of the room, wings folded about it. Every now and then, uniformed men would walk up to her, and, appearing to talk, would return to their stations as the creature nodded slowly.
"Come in, Zacharias." the bird said. Knowing inside who he was speaking to, Zeke walked to the center of the room and knelt.
"It is an honor to meet you, o Cryophoenix." Something flashed in front of his eyes and before he knew it he was on his back several feet away with a pain in his skull.
"Do not bow to me. I am no greater then any other being in this room." Anivia brought her wing across her body in a gesture of welcome. "I have simply lived much longer. Welcome to VOID-COM, Zacharias Stark. I am the commander of the VOID-COM project-however, you may call me Anivia."
Zeke climbed to his feet, rubbing his forehead. "Call me Zeke."
"Your fellow soldiers may call you Zeke if they wish. You will always, however, be Zacharias to me. I called you here because, as impressive an infrastructure we have here at VOID-COM, we are still lacking in skilled soldiers. We need men like you."
"I appreciate that, Anivia, but I can't stay. My liege Jarvan will expect my return."
"Will he?" Anivia cocked her head. "I have informed him of your unfortunate death on your way here of a strange new disease, the likes of which have never been seen before. Because it is so dangerous, and his life is so valuable, he took it as a matter of course that he must never attempt to visit your burial site, which does not actually exist. Now, there is no disease, but there is VOID-COM...and so long as you remain here, you serve at my pleasure."
"I'm going. Thank you for your time." Zeke turned around, only to find a wall of ice where the door had been.
"I'll make you a deal, Zacharias. Live here for a few days. Meet the other soldiers. You've probably heard some of their names before, and they're quite friendly. We'll send you on the next mission that comes up, and you can decide if this is work you're willing to give your life to. If not..." Anivia paused, deep in thought. "If not, I'll let you return home. But let me be clear...this place is top secret. Not even the High Councilor of the League knows of its existence. In order for you to return home, you must consent to a total mental block that will erase all memory of this facility from your mind. Each one of us submits to one each time we leave on non-official business: the only thing you will remember of VOID-COM is the location of the entrance and the words you must speak to enter. If you ever decide to return...VOID-COM will have a place for you." The ice wall had almost melted; Zeke turned back to Anivia. "Zacharias, do you accept my terms?"
Zeke paused. Thought it over a bit. "I do."