Chapter 3: Royal Contact
Brewerton, New York
10:10 am
The Five-Person team that the boys were a part of had recently arrived outside Brewerton via the abandoned I95 highway route. The team's members were Xavier, Dante, with Anna and two of Xavier's friends that contributed the five that made up the team. The first friend was Alleecia Williams who was called "The Siren" by the other Ghosts because when she isn't on an assignment and on her free time, she could make you do whatever she wanted with a wink and a smile. The other friend was Blaze Sackett, who was known to the Ghosts as the "Hell Razor", due to his brutal tactics of torture when it came to interrogating captive Raiders, plus when he is given possession of a blade, you wish you were in Hell.
" So, why are we in No Man's Land?" Alleecia asked.
" Gravekeeper has given us the task of investigating an unknown structure that appeared in the Brewerton Ruins just hours ago." Xavier said.
" How could a structure appear out nowhere?" Blaze asked.
" I don't know, but shortly after that, unknown individuals poured out of it and proceeded set up an encampment around the structure." Xavier explained.
" Where is this structure?" Alleecia said.
" Its near the ruins of the old Elementary school, the most dangerous place in all of No Man's Land." Dante said.
" Why is it dangerous?" Blaze said.
" I can answer that, the soil is displaced heavily there, meaning any structure that is set up there is most likely to sink into the ground." Alleecia said.
" I'm surprised that the structure we are looking for hasn't sunk into the ground yet." Xavier said.
" I'm honestly not surprised the people that came out it haven't sunk themselves either." Dante stated.
" Anyway, how far?" Blaze asked.
" Just up the road, let's move fast before any of the raider clans get the idea of hitting our target before we get there." Xavier said.
The team took off towards the school, passing by the ruins of multiple businesses along the way to their destination. When they passed by the school, they came face to face with a massive gate that was surrounded by a force of men in Roman-style armor being lead by a tall man with long blonde hair wearing a suit of armor alongside a red-haired girl with a pony tail wearing gold and white armor...
" Who the hell are these guys?" Dante said.
" Really late cosplayers?" Blaze figured.
" No." Xavier said.
" What do you mean?" Alleecia asked.
" Look at them, they organized like a military force. So they're not cosplayers." Xavier said.
" Yeah, plus looks like they're being lead members of some royal family." Alleecia said.
" How do you know that?" Dante asked.
" I know fashion, the headdress that the chick is wearing is usually worn by someone of royal birth, along with the guy's armor being elaborately designed." Alleecia explained.
" Wow, that actually explains a lot." Xavier said.
" Well, Royal or not, they are about to get the rude welcoming." Blaze said, pointing towards the side.
Xavier noticed that a group of howlers accumulating nearby the camp, planning to attack the other world visitors, something that the team wasn't gonna let happen...
" Guys, time to shake the tree." Xavier said.
" Roger that." The others said.
Meanwhile, at the Imperial Camp.
" There is nothing here." Diabo said, scooping up a thing of dirt in his hands.
" Brother, you need to open your eyes to see what is here." Pinya, his sister, said.
" This place is a wasteland, inhabitants probably went to war with themselves and wiped themselves out." Diabo remarked.
" Shush." Pinya said as she listened to the environment.
Diabo went silent and listened into the environment like his sister was, starting to hear maniacal laughter approaching them very fast from the bushes. The Howlers sprang from the bushes and attacked, killing several members of the Imperial expedition. Pinya and the others fought them off, until a Howler that was about to attack Diabo was tackled to the ground by Dante, followed by the others being gunned down by the rest of the team...
" Where did these warriors come from?" Pinya and Diabo thought.
A howler tried to flee to warn his clan about the Ghosts' involvement with the "invaders", when Xavier noticed that he was fleeing...
" Half-Dead, we have a runner." Xavier said.
" I got it." Dante said, drawing a pistol and shooting the howler in the head as he ran.
" Who are you?!" Diabo demanded with his sword raised.
" Calm down, boy, before you hurt yourself." Xavier said.
" Answer my brother's question! Who are you and what army are you with?" Pinya asked, adding to her brother's question.
" All right, but do you think I'll be able to do that when you are pointing those blades at me." Xavier said.
Pinya and Diabo lowered their swords and then proceeded to put them in their sheaths...
" Okay, I'm First Lieutenant Xavier Moore of The Ghosts, and these are my teammates." Xavier said.
" Ghosts?" Diabo said, sound a bit scared.
" Do let the name fool ya, we're just call that because we are able to do jobs that most people can't." Dante explained.
" But, you are children." Pinya said.
" The term we prefer is " Citizen Soldier"." Anna said.
" Are you like those assailants?" Diabo asked in a concerned tone.
" The Howlers? No, we are nothing like them." Dante said angrily.
Pinya noticed something was off when Dante gave an angry response to Diabo's question, so Xavier intervened by asking the visitors who they were...
" Anyway, who are you?" Xavier asked.
" I am Princess Pinya Co Lada, and this is my brother, Prince Diabo." Pinya said.
" Pleased to meet you both." Xavier said. " Listen, I've got to contact my superiors about something, so you can converse with my teammates if you wished." He added.
Pinya walked over to Alleecia and Anna, who were surveying the area for any signs of hostile activity...
" How you doing?" Alleecia asked.
" I am all right, it's kind of you to ask." Pinya said.
" Well, it's not every day that you suffer losses when investigating a strange new world." Anna said.
" Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm Alleecia and this is Anna." Alleecia said.
" Nice to meet you." Anna said.
" What is wrong with your compatriot when he responded upset to my brother's question?" Pinya asked.
" Don't mind my boyfriend, he hates the Howlers with a passion since Hell Year." Anna said.
" Hell Year?" Pinya asked.
" You'll learn about that when we get back to base." Alleecia said.
While Pinya conversed with the girls, Diabo decided to converse with Dante about his behavior...
" I'm sorry if I had offended you when I asked my question." Diabo said.
" None taken, I'm sorry that I snapped at you." Dante said.
" Let us start over, I am Diabo." Diabo said.
" I'm Dante." Dante responded.
" I've been meaning to ask, did something happen that caused you to be angry at my question?" Diabo asked.
" It's a personal reason." Dante responded.
" Okay." Xavier said as he turned towards the group.
" What's up?" Dante said.
" Gravekeeper gave us the okay to bring the prince and the princess to Sanctuary." Xavier said.
" Gravekeeper?" Diabo said.
" My Dad, Gravekeeper is his call sign." Dante explained to the confused prince.
" Call sign?" Pinya asked.
" We'll explain on the drive over." Xavier said, signaling the group to follow.
" Drive?" Pinya thought.
" Come on guys, shake a leg." Xavier said.
The prince and princess instructed the other members of their expedition to stand vigilant while they were away meeting with the leader of the soldiers that had saved their lives. They proceeded along the ruined road until they reached the Humvee. Pinya and Diabo were amazed at the sight of the armored vehicle that did not require horses to pull it, which meant that it was truly another world that they were on.
" What is that?" Diabo said.
" It's our transportation." Xavier said, walking up to the Humvee.
" Where are the horses?" Pinya asked.
" You two are from a different world, aren't you?" Alleecia said.
" Yes, because we do not have vehicles like this where we come from." Pinya said.
" Well, you are about to receive an education in Earth 101." Anna stated.
They helped the two members of the Royal family into the truck, then Alleecia took the wheel with Xavier manning the turret, Blaze taking the passenger seat, which meant Dante and Anna sat in the way back. They drove along until they had reached the gates of Sanctuary, where Xavier immediately got in the radio...
" Gate Control, this is Humvee 35, we two VIPs that are set to meet with Gravekeeper today, so please open the gate." Xavier said.
" Relax, Hound, Gravekeeper tipped us off that you were on your way back, opening the gate now." The gate operator said.
Pinya and Diabo looked to see the metal gates of Sanctuary opening, only to be startled by the sound of Apaches flying overhead. They were amazed that the people of this world had wielded technology that was more advanced than anything that she and her brother had seen before. They drove through the settlement, passing by trading stores, soldiers on patrol, all the way until they reached the Tombstone, in which Pinya and Diabo saw Ghosts undergoing vigorous training exercises, such as shooting practice and team coordination...
" Are all your soldiers mages?" Pinya asked.
" No, that what you're seeing is the use of rifles." Dante said.
" Rifles?" Pinya said.
" Yeah, the simple science of it is that the rifle fires a bullet tens faster than the average man." Anna explained.
" How does that work?" Pinya inquired.
" Let me show you." Anna started, pulling a bullet from a spare magazine she had to show Pinya. " The long cylinder houses gunpowder, which is very explosive, and that propels the bullet at the top with great speed out the barrel." She explained.
" The size of the magazine is how you know how many bullets your gun can carry." Dante said, just as an Abrahams tank passed by them.
Pinya and Diabo were startled by the sound of the massive tank passing by their vehicle, in which thoughts filled the sibling's minds, thoughts that if they went to war with these people, the empire would face annihilation at the hands of this force from another world. The Humvee pulled up to the front of the building, in which Dante noticed his father exiting the building wearing a formal officer's uniform while the Humvee was parked and the group stepped.
" Princess Pinya, Prince Diabo, allow me to introduce you to Commander Daniel Perez, leader of the Ghosts." Xavier said.
" Welcome to Sanctuary." Daniel said.
" Yes, I'm surprised that this place is operational." Pinya said.
" The Human spirit is built to endure, and so we rose from the ashes and began to build our settlement." Daniel said.
" Sister, I'm thinking about looking around this place." Diabo said.
" I'll have one of my guys go with you so there isn't any trouble. Xavier, why don't you and the team go get some rest." Daniel said.
" Sure." Xavier said.
While Xavier and the others took off, Pinya joined Daniel inside the building to discuss things while Diabo ventured around the fort to learn about this world. The duo entered the old teacher's lounge, where a young girl with red hair was making coffee.
" Hey, Kendra." Daniel said.
" Hello, Commander, the usual?" Kendra asked.
" Sure, do you want some coffee?" Daniel said to Pinya.
" Sure." Pinya said, which meant she was willing to try it.
They sat down on two separate couches, while Kendra came over and set down a tray with a pot of coffee, two cups, a couple of creamers, and some baked goodies onto the coffee table that sat between them. Daniel poured himself a cup of coffee, add two creamers, then took a sip. Pinya poured herself a cup of coffee, added a creamer, then took a sip, but reacted when she realized it was still hot.
" Careful, don't want to burn your tongue off." Daniel remarked.
" Yes, that wouldn't be good." Pinya said.
" So, I'm sure you have questions." Daniel said as he relaxed.
" Yes, I do." Pinya said.
" Then I shall try to answer them to the best of my ability." Daniel stated.
" What is this COLOSSUS Day that your soldiers speak of?" Pinya asked.
" (Sigh) A lot of us tried to forget about that day." Daniel started. " COLOSSUS Day was when our world came crashing down violently, when a weapon system we had built originally meant to combat developing threats worldwide had turned towards us." He explained. " COLOSSUS Day earned its name from COLOSSUS, an orbital satellite weapons program that was developed by the United Nations to combat developing threats anywhere." He said.
" Orbital?" Pinya asked.
" It means that the weapons were placed in the vast void of space, along with a station that would control them." Daniel explained.
" But what happened if they were far beyond the reach of your enemies?" Pinya asked.
" A fast-moving comet tore up the station, accidentally activating a subroutine that caused the satellites to fire at randomly selected locations worldwide." Daniel explained.
" My god." Pinya said in a shocked tone.
" Thanks to COLOSSUS, entire political structures worldwide were annihilated, causing the nations to descend into chaos." Daniel said. " I organized the Ghosts out of the ashes of the U.S Military, and overtime took in civilian volunteers who were willing to take up a gun and fight." He added.
" I see." Pinya said, noticing a photo of Daniel and two boys in his hands.
" Oh, that just me and my boys." Daniel said.
" Where are they now?" Pinya asked.
" My youngest son, Desmond, helps the farmers with growing the crops while my oldest, Dante, is actually a member of the Ghosts." Daniel explained.
" Dante? He was a member of the squad that rescued my brother and I." Pinya said.
" I know, I sent him on that job. The other Ghosts have taken up the habit of calling him the Half-Dead since the incident." Daniel said.
" Incident?" Pinya asked.
" On COLOSSUS Day, he got injured after rescuing a friend of his from her house just moments before a kinetic rod destroyed it." Daniel explained.
While Pinya conversed with Daniel, Diabo was about to learn something new about the Ghosts...
Tombstone Mortuary
10:30 am
Diabo wandered the grounds of the Ghost Headquarters, accompanied by the Ghost that was known as Reaver. He saw how advanced the weapons that the Ghosts carried into battle were, even learning that the Ghosts had maintained contact with ships of the U.S Navy that had survived the devastation created by COLOSSUS Day and that those ships were lead by a ship that was called Valkyrie. He noticed a large building across the street from the Tombstone and went inside, which he learned it was a mortuary as he witnessed a blonde haired woman tending to a dead body by wrapping it in cloth...
" Um, Hello." Diabo said.
" Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The woman said.
" What are you doing?" Diabo asked, sounding curious.
" Just prepping this ghost for his funeral." The woman responded.
" He died?" Diabo said.
" Yeah, I'm Saundra by the way." She said as she readied some black paint.
" Diabo. What are you getting ready to do?" He responded, shaking her hand.
" One tradition that the ghosts have is that after they are wrapped in cloth, they are marked with three symbols that show three achievements that they accomplished in their lives." Saundra said, painting a basketball, a medal, and a speaker covered in spikes.
" What do these symbols mean?" Diabo asked.
" The symbols are the Civilian Achievement, The Warrior Achievement, and the Ghost Achievement." Saundra started. " He played sports in school and lead his team to victory every time, He saved over hundreds of civilians from a terrorist bombing, while the Ghost Achievement was that he had risked his life to save an innocent merchant from raiders." She explained.
" So he died from the wounds he had received from that achievement?" Diabo asked.
" Yes." Saundra said, placing a hunting rifle with a long suppressor on it in the cloth wrapped hands.
" What are you doing now?" Diabo asked.
" One last detail is that when a Ghost dies and after the previous two preparations, he is buried with his most prized weapon hand, so he can join his fallen brothers and sisters in the shadows the Ghosts hide in, being a vigilant guardian for his still-living brothers and sisters." Saundra explained.
" That's a powerful belief that the Ghosts follow." Diabo said.
" Well, it's kept themselves alive for so long, knowing that their comrades that they had lost had never abandoned their side." Saundra said.
Diabo concluded his conversation with Saundra, then proceeded to regroup with Pinya back at the Tombstone to discuss what they had just learned about the soldiers that they had recently made contact with...
" How went your meeting with Commander Perez?" Diabo asked his sister.
" He told me about this COLOSSUS Day that they had suffered." Pinya said.
" What is it?" Diabo asked.
" It was when a weapon that they had created reigned fire down upon them, destroying the political structures that had organized the nations of this world." Pinya explained.
" So without an organized government system, this world fell apart." Diabo said.
" Yes, he also told me the reason that soldier, Dante, was angered by the question you had asked." Pinya said.
" Why was he mad?" Diabo said.
" A Howler killed his mother over a year ago when she was vulnerable." Pinya explained.
"Oh." Diabo said, realizing that he had stepped over a line when he asked that question.
"Anyway, what did you learn?" Pinya asked.
" I learned that the ghosts have a certain way when it comes to their dead." Diabo said.
" Really?" Pinya said with a surprised tone.
" Yes, they give their fallen warriors a funeral befitting a warrior." Diabo said.
Pinya listened in as her brother explained the preparations that are required for a funeral for a fallen Ghost, in which left her speechless. She admitted to her brother that she had developed sympathy towards the beleaguered people of Sanctuary as they had barely survived the destruction of their world. Diabo said that he had developed a form of respect for them as even though they had their world destroyed, they endured and had remerged from the ashes of their now-chaotic world to begin again.
" Do you wanna know something?" Diabo asked his sister.
" Was is it?" She said.
" I'm glad that you chose me to accompany you on this expedition instead of Zolzal" Diabo said.
" I agree, he would have used the raider attack as an excuse to incite a war with the people of this world." Pinya said.
" A war that the Empire would lose to these people as we have both seen the weaponry that they possess." Diabo stated.
" Another reason we would lose is that this world is familiar to them, so they could easily find routes to pick off our soldiers before they even got near this place." Pinya said.
They concluded their conversation, then proceed to request to return to the Gate and their expedition force in order to report their findings to their senate, so Daniel allowed Xavier and Dante's team to escort them back to the Gate.
Brewerton Ruins.
The group was proceeding along a ruined and twisted path since the land was forced upward by COLOSSUS towards the Gate, conversing with each other along the way...
" So, sorry that you couldn't see the world a little better." Dante said.
" It's alright, you were kind enough to save our lives when we first arrived." Pinya responded.
" So what do you plan to do when you return to your world?" Alleecia asked.
" We'll report our findings to our father, in which he'll decide what happens next." Diabo explained.
But while they walked along, Pinya began to hear the sound of an infant crying nearby and noticed a stroller that was in rough shape and left unattended so she walked up to see if there was an actual baby inside the stroller, when Dante realized that he knew that wasn't a baby inside the stroller...
" GET BACK!" Dante screamed, dragging Pinya to the ground.
The stroller exploded, violently sending bits of shrapnel everywhere towards the group, but nobody was injured as they all ducked down before the shards could hit them. When they started getting up, they immediately heard the sound of motors being revved...
" What is that?" Pinya asked, sound scared.
" Speak of the devil." Xavier said.
" Do you know what that sound is?" Diabo said.
" Yes, both Dante and I know." Xavier said, cocking his rifle.
" What is coming?" Pinya asked Dante.
" RIDERS." Dante said angrily readying his gun.
This chapter concludes with the preparation for a battle against the blood riders, a group of raiders made from a group of well-known dirt biker groups that descended into madness after COLOSSUS day. Pinya and Diabo have developed their own individual views on how they see the civilized people of the devastated Earth, with Pinya sympathizing towards the beaten people of the world as their world had fallen, while her brother Diabo respects them for enduring and restarting since their world had fallen. The next chapter picks up with that fight and its conclusion, then proceeds to Pinya and Diabo's return to the capital to speak to their father, only to be interrupted when their arrogant brother interjects...
WAIT AND SEE.