Author's Note
Well, here we are again. Another day, another author's note that I'm supposed to make sound interesting.
Well, I think I'm running out of chapters for this book. Which would make it pretty short. Honestly, I hadn't expected it to be anyway. This is less of a book, and more of a prologue. Like, in the next book things really heat up, what with the war in Cele-,
Oh wait, you're not supposed to know that.
I could really use a distraction right now.
One World
On a ridge, overlooking the factory, the remains of the dagger squad, Jenny and her injured commander sat, waiting. The complex was rigged, each operative having a payload heavy enough to tear apart a mountain when combined, and would make short work of the thick, steel compound.
"At your mark, Kurtis." Jack raised a hand in his soldier's direction. Kurtis stared back at the obsidian factory, hawk-like eyes flaring.
"I could have had him, I almost had my revenge." He said, his fingers clutched the detonator gingerly, as if he was too nervous to follow through. He glanced back at his general, then back to the factory.
"Please," said Jenny, laying against a tree. Reece, still unconscious, was slumped close to her dented metal body. "Just do it. I don't want to see this place ever again."
He pitied her, for a quick second, before Jack called to him again, sensing his hesitation.
"Nothing in there matters to you Kurtis, you've found that out yourself."
"I wanted to kill him myself," He squeezed the detonator, the safety mechanism installed in the clutch prevented that impulse from activating it. His fingers trembled, realizing how close that little slip could have been, "I won't,"
"He wouldn't die from this, you know that as well." Jack showed no sign of impatience, "Kurtis, you must close this part of your life, sever the disease from your body."
A sigh, and he clicked the safety out from underneath the lever, and then, cringing, he slammed the device downward. The factory at first did nothing, but muffled explosions could be heard from inside of it, even from their position. The reinforced concrete wailed and cracked under the pressure, gouts of flame slipping out, until the path of least resistance, every door and window, burst out in a shockwave that shook the trees. Rubble was torn up and spilled out, as the supply trucks docked along the inner walls of the factory were consumed in tempest of fire and burst, until the entire building was nothing more than a flaming scrap heap, thick black smoke billowing into the dawning sky.
Kurtis' head fell, and he let the detonator slip from his fingers. Jack could feel the pain emanating from his friend, and attempted to comfort him,
"We both knew this day would come."
Kurtis placed a hand on his commander's shoulder, "It doesn't make it any easier, but I'm sure you realize that."
"What I don't understand is, why? Why do you hold such sympathy for some place that has caused you so much pain?"
Kurtis returned the question with a bittersweet smile, "Sometimes, you hold on to anything you can, even if it hurts. Simply because you're starting to run out of things to hold dear."
"He will pay,"
"He will. But for now, we have soldiers that need to be attended to," Kurtis turned to address the rest of the squad, "How's he holding up Zorro?"
The green haired swordsman, his three blades set neatly to his side, was crouching over Reece's body, running over it with what little medical training he had.
"Sir, I don't know what to tell you. I'm no doctor, but even I can tell that this kid's wounds are gone." Zorro stood and stepped away from Reece, his shirt had been removed to examine his wounds. It was clear that the only trace of injury on his body was the deep set scar along his torso, jutting out of his right side.
Jenny, who had contented herself with watching the bright embers of the factory as a way to forget just where she was, couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"That's impossible, he was bleeding to death in my arms just an hour ago!"
Kurtis faced Jenny, looking down on her, but he suddenly turned away and spoke to the wind, "I don't doubt you, if that's what you're insinuating. I was the one who found you two, desperately trying to get out of the factory. I saw his wounds, which makes this all the more baffling."
Zorro crouched down again, and pulled Reece's filthy fatigues from the ground. They were encrusted with blood, dark red against the subdued green and still dripping some oil like fluid. He approached Jack with the rags,
"That's not all, look at this, his clothes are drenched in something that reeks," Kurtis grabbed the suit, and squeezed the saturated fabrics in his hand. A green ooze spilled out of it, and he brought it to his face to examine it. It was cold to the touch, but bubbled constantly, and flowed like quicksilver in his hand.
"My god, Jack, you don't think this is?" His commander nodded, slowly. Kurtis contemplated for a moment, before raising his other hand, slowly. His palm began to glow red, before he submerged his thumb into the pool of goo. It bubbled more violently, before igniting into a ball of blue flames. Kurtis panicked, and the flaming fluid spilled from his hand, into the shirt, which also erupted into a bonfire of blue, spectral fire.
The other members of the Dagger Squad came closer, Zul'jin crouched in front of the flame, watching it in awe.
"Wat in de hell did ya do Kurtis?" He asked, still eying the flames.
"You must have guess by now, Zul," Kurtis said gravely, "It's ectoplasm. And that is a Spirit Ember."
Zul'jin carefully reached around his neck with his ragged hand, pinching a small bead off of one of the necklaces he wore between his gangly yellowed nails. The green claw shot out, into the fire, for a split second. And after its bath in the flames, the tiny bead swirled and pulsated in response.
"No doubt, it's spectral alright." Zul'jin placed the bead in one of the pockets in his coat, and turned to his general, "Who in de world could get deir hands on dis kinda power?"
"The empire always finds a way." Jack sounded remorseful, and he turned to leave, briefly addressing his squad, "Kurtis, if you would kindly, gather everyone up. The Hammer squad is on their way."
Kurtis' eyes followed Jack for a moment, he seemed different. But, he hadn't time to think of it,
"You heard the man, gather up what we've got, we need to get these two back to the base and relay this new information." Zul'jin and Vivian remorsefully took the body of Espion(whom Jack had paid special attention to retrieving before the order was sent out to detonate the factory), and laid it out on a stretcher.
"Ya hear dat Viv? Spectral weaponry. Can even cut a ghostie like you, straight in two." He drew a green finger along his throat, and Vivian shuddered. Jenny and Zorro wordlessly agreed to pick up Reece and place him in a similar stretcher, though the thought of handling her commander's body like a corpse nauseated her.
The Derrick arrived, it's rumbling drowning out the silence in the woods, and hardly anything was said, even by her squad mates, upon their return. Each passed a glance over at Reece, and each was met with the same response from Jenny,
"They said he's going to be fine.. Just fine."
…..
He had asked her, politely, though it was more of an order. On the derrick, Jenny sat alone, and Kurtis curled up next to her, brushing some of the morning dew from her hair as they rode back to the camp. She remembered first meeting him, in a science lab, accompanying her mother.
"This is a friend of mine, Kurtis, a researcher in both space travel and robotics. He's going to do great things for the world, like you will"
He spoke softly, he understood the delicate situation he was in. Carefully, he asked, that he would need to examine her, to "put her under the knife" he said, jokingly. He hadn't told her everything, but she'd agreed all the same. She knew there was something wrong, but the familiarity of his voice, it was comforting. Jenny saw something, like she saw in Reece, in him. Something forgotten. It was a bit heart wrenching, almost painful. Melancholy, she figured it was. Another of her mother's gifts.
So she was escorted, away from her squad mates, once again, and brought to a larger tent, lead behind makeshift barriers away from the hurrying scientists, and lay on a small cot beside a wall of screens.
Jenny decided she wouldn't worry about Reece, as she had for the past few hours. He was fine, she said over and over again in her head. His wounds were healed, and she had saved him.
She tried to relax, but Kurtis watched as she shifted restlessly. He stood beside her, thick metal wires in his hands, but hesitated.
"So, sweetheart, are you gonna stay awake for this, or would you prefer to power down?"
"I'm fine, this won't be too long, will it?" she looked indifferent, she pretended she didn't care.
"Glad to see you putting on a brave face," Kurtis joked, trying to get her to relax a bit more, " It's just a routine systems check. We're analyzing your body to see what the Empire installed in you. But, that being said, is there anything I can do to make this go a bit quicker?"
"I don't care."
"C'mon now, humor me." He reached a finger along her side, and she recoiled momentarily at his touch. His hand clicked open, unscrewing her chassis with a concealed tool within his finger.
"Wow, you're a walking tool box," Jenny finally endeavored to chat, immediately regretting her remark sounding rude, "I mean, I don't remember you being, a cyborg?" She hesitated, unsure if he'd always been like this.
"No, you're right, a cyborg. I suppose I could tell you a story while we work, would you care to listen?" Before she could respond, the casing on her torso flipped open, revealing her delicate wiring.
"I suppose."
"Great, if you'd just give me a moment to," he reached into her, slowly, carefully, and disconnected a wire. Jenny felt a shift in her body, she couldn't move her legs, "Don't mean to frighten you, I just need to move this to get this in," he paused, taking one of the wires in his hand and inserting it deep in her body, with a resounding click. The computer screens immediately reacted, displaying a list of weaponry, a blueprint of the XJ9 model, and a few other things Jenny didn't immediately recognize.
"Here! There, now we just wait for the files we got out of the factory to synch up with whatever's inside you. Now about that story, still interested?"
"Well, I'm not able to run, so sure." Kurtis was almost shocked, Jenny had made a joke! He grinned broadly, feeling a bit warm inside.
"Okay, where shall I begin? I suppose you know about my position before the war correct? I was designing robotics for space travel, as well as a few side projects in medical science. You see in my world, my Earth was crumbling. We had seen the signs for years, but we were unable to control the problems we faced; pollution, overpopulation and war. So we turned to space travel, and it became my responsibility to help us find a new home, before ours slipped from under our feet.
"But when the Merge happened, that all changed. My focus was still in space, but it was no longer for selfish gain, but for discovery. I had a grand opportunity to take charge of exploring what new worlds were out there, in this strange new dimension. I worked with some of the best, have you heard of the M-zone? ,"
He paused, and Jenny nodded, " Yeah, we had big dreams. My wife was so proud of me, and my little daughter's eyes lit up whenever someone mentioned me. But,"
He stopped again, this time to examine one of the monitors. He scrolled through it's contents quickly, and then pushed the screen away, out of Jenny's view.
"Sorry, as I was saying. Everything was fine, until of course, the war. I wasn't immediately affected, I was far away from the Celestian Incident, in a small factory in Canada. It was our job to analyze the properties of new metals formed from the Merge. We'd actually found some very interesting uses for the newly formed Obsidian compounds, to name a few." He smiled as Jenny's eyes widened with realization.
"I suppose," Jenny said, "That factory holds a bit of history for you then, doesn't it?"
"It did. I mean, it was the last place I saw them." He bit his upper lip, checking the computer screens again, covering for himself to regain his composure. When he returned to her, his tone was growning ever more grim."When the war broke out my family was moved to the Obsidian Factory, the higher ups believed it would be safest. A lot of people were moved to us. Spicer was with me. To put it simply he had betrayed us, built a bomb without us knowing, had components smuggled in by a few other scientists. When it went off, I had no time to react. I lost them, my colleagues, my wife, my daughter, and 70 percent of my body.
"Can you imagine that, Jenny? I don't wanna scare you, but it was hell. The loves of my life were dead, war was tearing the ground out from under my feet, and to top it all off I was trapped in a hospital bed. My body from the waist down, my right arm, my left eye and most of my skin. Said it was a miracle I lived. Then the god damned government, went and turned to the empire, started praising bastards like Spicer. The rebels got me out of there, and gave me the tools to rebuild myself. 70 percent of me, now robotics. At least I could finally put what I had learned into action." The monitors buzzed, and Kurtis looked over to them, a brief flash of a smile lit his face,
"Congratulations Jenny, you're not a bomb."
She was at first horrified, but slowly, Kurtis began reassembling her and calming her fears, "We had found some files, and we were afraid they'd planted something new, a so called "Off-Wave" bomb, inside of you."
"But I'm clear, right? Back to normal?"
"Well not exactly, care for a quick synopsis? Well you've only gained a few things before the restructuring was completed, but you've got about 1.5 times the strength of a normal soldier, mostly bullet proof, slight laser resistance, and the shocks in your legs are reinforced, you could take a nasty fall with those things now." He smiled, regarding her with a hint of pride,
"You'd make an excellent soldier, if you're still up for it."
Jenny looked away, then back to Kurtis, a hint of hesitation in her voice, "I suppose…"
"Let's change the subject," Kurtis sat beside her, comforting her again"I need to run a quick check on your software, but we can still talk, while I work. Do you have any stories for me? How's things been going with your squad? Commander treating you alright"
She smiled coyly,"Well…"
…
"Tavish Degroot?" The boy cautiously read the name from the list, adjusting his stocking cap. The man in the bed, covered to his chest in a thick wool blanket, didn't respond. Instead, the wounded opted to take a deep drink from a bottle beside his bed. The boy waited a bit longer, and finally repeated, "Tavish Degroot, are you Tavish?"
He ducked the bottle of hard cider thrown at him, and nervously approached the patient,
"God dammint, of course I'm Tavish!" the man's voice made the young medical scientist cringe.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Degroot, but you have some visitors."
The man in the bed, waved a lazy hand, "Aye, send 'em in. Not like I'm goin' anywhere."
There was a brief silence, and Tavish shot a scornful look with his one eye at the boy, forcing the words he'd been biting off out. The scientist spoke quickly, "Mr. Degroot, I need you to stop drinking, especially with the blood you've lost."
In response, Tavish spoke slowly, and clearly, "Don't. Suggest that. Again. Follow me boy?" The scientist nodded quickly,
"Good, now bring in the visitors."
"We're already here, asshole." Augustus Cole, the soldier dressed in WWII fatigues close behind, entered the small medical tent. He almost didn't notice at first, but he had another visitor, right behind the two soldiers, a little red porcupine stood, nervously picking dandruff from her quills.
"Thanks for letting us in, Edd," Cole nodded in the boys direction, who was still a bit shaken up, and left clutching his stocking cap. The soldier approached Tavish, whose eyes immediately lit up,
"Jane Doe, you ugly son of a bitch," He extended a hand and Jane leaned in to shake it, vigorously.
"Well, glad to see you made it, Maggot," The soldier laughed, "Not surprising, after all those years we spent hopping on explosives your shins could've survived Nagasaki." Tavish couldn't help but break into a hearty laugh, despite his current situation.
"So, what's the damage?" Jane asked, and Tavish moved the blankets from his makeshift hospital bed. His legs, or what were left of them, were torn to bits. Bone exposed in the left was being rigged with wires, and the job was only half done from the looks of it. The other leg had been blown completely off halfway through the shin, leaving a ragged tear in the bone which would be fit with a prosthetic once it had healed. Flaky flinched, and covered her eyes at the sight, but the two soldiers beside her almost seemed proud of their comrade's wounds.
"Shit, they really did you in," Cole added.
"True," Tavish laughed, "Was worth it though, definitely worth it." He smiled toward Flaky.
"Speaking of which, we just came to drop off the young 'un," Jane pushed Flaky towards the bedside, before he turned to leave, Cole close behind. She stood, awkwardly twisting her foot on the dirt floor of the tent, before Tavish finally caught the nerve to speak up for her.
"So why'd you come to visit? I didn't know you were a fan of legless one-eyed drunks."
"No! I just, I.." She hesitated, "I wanted to thank you, for saving me."
"No trouble little lady, no trouble at all. Figured after all the people I've killed saving one might do me some good."
"I wanted to apologize, too." She muttered, shamefully.
"For what?"
"For being so useless, on the battlefield."
"Oh shut up, you did fine out there. Handled the mortar like a champ, I had heard." Flaky blushed, she could tell Tavish was earnest in his speech.
"Do me a favor, Flaky was it?" She nodded, and Tavish pointed to a small cabinet beside her. "Grab me the brown bottle out of there, will you girl?"
Flaky pulled open the tiny compartment, and blew the dust from its inside. It was dark in the tent, she could barely make out what was on the shelves, so she decided to simply pull out its contents. It was mostly odds and ends, a notepad, a few pens and a deck of cards. It seemed like things to occupy whoever was bedridden at the time. She found the bottle and brought it to Tavish, and even after she continued to dig through while he took slow, contemplative sips of the cider in it.
"What else is in here?"
"What? Oh, I have no idea, it's just a few baubles and the like, keep patients occupied. Doc doesn't know I had the boys back in the Hammer Squad slip some of me favorite scrumpy in there."
"Oh wow!" Flaky reached deep into the cabinet and pulled out a dusty hardcover book, and rubbed the dust off it, squinting to read out its title "1984, by George Orwell" She raced over to Tavish with the eagerness of a young child, "Look what I found!"
He stopped, mid-swig, to examine it, "Hmm, a book? You read much?"
"Of course, it helps forget about all this war. Just to escape a bit. Do you read?"
"Erm, not much. The one eye and the constant drinking make it a wee bit hard to read fine print."
"Oh," She suddenly felt very embarrassed for forgetting his one eye, "I suppose, maybe I could read to you?"
"I don't think," Before he could brush her off, Tavish made the fatal mistake of looking an innocent, hopeful girl in the eyes, and in an instant, his resolve quavered, "I mean, since I won't be going anywhere for a bit, I could listen for a few chapters. But, just so you know, if I start slurring or pass out, I'm not being rude, it's the liquor."
Flaky giggled, because she probably didn't realize Tavish saw that as a real possibility, placed herself close beside Tavish on a small trunk of medical supplies, and opened the book to begin reading.
….
"Alright, you guys are lucky we always pack a few extra tents for the scouting squads, or you'd be out of a place to sleep tonight." Said Zoro, tossing down the bags he had carried for the two, "By the way, I heard you boys fought with the Hammer Squad today, consider yourself honored."
"It was an honor." Flippy moved in front of him, to place the personal items he had sorted from the Rebellion property inside, with Coop close behind.
"Really appreciate the extra ordinance you've hooked us up with, though," The bear smiled, tugging the strap that held a refurbished machine gun to his back. It was the closest to a new weapon they could get. But that wasn't their only gift, Coop had the honor of carrying a specialized, custom built communications device, given only to the higher ups of the Rebellion army. Of course, it was less of a gift, and more of an order(To repair the damaged machine), but to Coop, fiddling around with electronics was a gift. The tent was reasonably large, but contained nothing, save for a few bunks that were to be split with their squad, some trunks beneath the beds, and a table on one end where Coop placed the device and began working immediately.
"By the way, I've heard great things about you Flippy, served in your country's army, saved a doomed mission by name of Operation Tiger Bomb." Zoro said as he kicked a bag into the large tent, "Quite a hero."
"Nobody told you that mission almost went down because of me, did they?"
"Actually, Mouse did, I just figured I'd leave it out."
"What else did he tell you?"
Zoro's face cracked into a wry smile, "Well, I don't know, could've forgotten. In fact, I'd prefer to hear a few stories from you personally. You must have some good fights in your history."
Flippy seemed a bit embarrassed, "That's none of your concern. Why don't you tell me where you're from?"
"Nothing to be said, I was a bounty hunter before the merge, became a rebel after the empire surfaced, and now I'm here. The only reason I'm so far up is because I can fight well."
"Isn't that how it always goes?" Flippy muttered, and for a moment the two couldn't find anything else to say. Thankfully, the silence was cut off by their growling stomachs.
"Heh, long mission," Flippy rubbed his belly.
"Tell me about it, Cap'n doesn't let us eat anything before a fight, says it's good to stay hungry."
"Who, the Scotsman? Doesn't look like he pays much mind to that rule!"
The two shared a laugh, and Zoro mentioned, "Hey, we've got a mess hall a couple tents down, by the arms depot where we picked up the stuff, wanna grab a bite?"
"Absolutely. Hey Coop, you coming, I know you hate missing meals."
Coop, still enthralled by the machine in front of him, took a moment to answer, "Uh, I'm kind of busy with this, can you grab a burger if they have 'em?" Oh and a soda."
"Diet or regular?" Zoro joked, and the two left the tent without another word, leaving Coop to tinker away with the piece of equipment. It was roughly the size of a computer, and the thick metal casing around it had to be removed, before he could do anything. And even inside it was a maze of circuit boards and wires that threatened to collapse the entire system if pulled the wrong way. But, to Coop, each inch he moved inside and each piece of machinery he touched was like an adventure. He was never the sharpest tool in the shed, but machines he understood. He had even worked with technology far beyond that of anything anyone had produced so far, but that was a distant memory now, the fruits of his labor were stolen from him a long time ago.
"Alright, here's the problem, just have to weld this little bit here and replace this piece here with one of these…" His large hands moved deftly through the complex device, and within moments, he had repaired whatever had happened to its innards, and returned it to its casing, good as new. He flicked the power switch, and light static echoed through the tent.
"Alright, we've got power at least, now let's check for a signal," He moved the knobs on one side, slowly, deliberately searching for a frequency of perhaps another battalion, or perhaps even an Empire signal. A sting, screaming suddenly blast through the speakers, and Coop recoiled, accidentally knocking the knob and losing the signal.
"What the hell?" He moved back, and carefully retraced the signal, this time prepared for the voice on the other side,
"-peat, this is an S.O.S, I am Archangel Flonne, seeking ground based rebellion troops! Celestia is at war! I repeat Celestia is at war!"
Horrified, Coop grabbed the receiver, and spoke quickly, "You're speaking to Pvt. Coop, of the 1st Rebellion ground troops, where are you?"
Static, and then the voice replied, "Thank God! Please, I need to land, my craft is damaged and I've lost all my squad, five soldiers were shot down outside of Celestia at my escape, I'm currently-"
The voice cut out accompanied by a crashing, like lightning. Coop shouted into the receiver "Repeat, Flonne, are you there?"
"-Ayday! Losing altitude! I can't-"
An explosion, violent crumpling noises, and then static. Coop threw the receiver aside, "Dammnit! I need to tell, Wait!"
He ran out of the tent, following where he believed Flippy and Zoro had headed.
…
All at once, the world around Reece snapped away, and for a moment, he was alone in darkness, and then, light flooded his vision.
"What happened? Where,"
"Ah, you're awake," A voice, vaguely familiar, calming. It was close, he sat up, realized he was on a cot.
"Your glasses are beside you, the table."
He reached out to a small, folding table beside his bed, and found his glasses. The world focused, he was in a small tent, and realized why the voice sounded so familiar.
It was the infamous General of the Rebellion, who was known only as Jack. He was kneeling on the dirt floor of the tent, still dressed in his white robe, and sipping a cup of what seemed like green tea, with a ceramic pot brewing it on a small fire before him.
And he was accompanied by two others, a small boy dressed in a lab coat that many knew as the child genius Dexter, who had enlisted as a tactician for the Rebellion, if Reece remembered correctly. The other man, in a sharp suit and vest, wearing a strange visor underneath his striking white hair and nursing a cup of coffee with one hand, Reece couldn't recognize, but if he was with these two, he must be a high ranking officer of the rebellion.
"Well well," The one with the coffee spoke, "I was hoping you'd wake up soon, I really wanted to fill our miracle boy in on a few things."
Reece didn't know what to say, and he was still unsure of what had happened at Obsidian, "Wait, what do you mean? What happened at the factory, and where's Jenny?"
"She's been recovered, and is being attended to by one of our best," Dexter spoke up, "She was the one who ended up saving you, if I was told correctly."
"Yes," Jack added, "She was carrying you through the halls of Obsidian, trying to get you out when I found her. You owe her much."
"I, I don't know what to say," Reece trailed off, and the man with the Coffee stepped forward,
"Does it matter? Time marches on, and you, my boy, need to understand what is happening in the here and the now. You're a soldier, correct?"
"I lead a small salvage party,"
"Wonderful, well now you're with the 1st, and after what happened at that factory, we're going to be moving you up a bit in rank."
"I don't understand, what did I do for you to promote me?"
"Well, I could beat around the bush and tell you how valiant you were, and your commitment to your troops, but that's not why. Your history, involvement with the Merge, and how you survived at the factory, we need to keep you safe."
"But, what happened at the factory, I thought I was cut in two."
"As far as I know, you were." The man smiled, "That's what's so incredible."
Dexter stepped forward, "What Godot here means, is that you were contaminated, in a sense, with a substance known as Ectoplasm. It healed your wounds at an alarming rate, and we're curious to see what else it does."
"So, I've got super powers?"
"Well, we ran a few tests," Dexter continued, "And no. That regeneration seemed a one time thing. If we can believe what we saw, your adrenaline from the pain of death and the heat of the moment sped up whatever it was in the ectoplasm that healed you. Meaning, that we've found out it can be used as a nice miracle cure."
"What we want to know," The other man, Godot, Dexter said his name was, "Is why they had this kind of technology at the Obsidian factory. Ghosts and Hybrids have been nearly wiped out, they pose no threat to the Empire."
"Godot, please, that holds no bearings on our current situation. What is important is that Reece understands the position he's in." Jack spoke softly, but it seemed the only reason he did was because he didn't have to yell. When he spoke, the other two fell silent.
"What do you mean?" Reece finally spoke up.
Godot sat on the edge of the cot and sipped his coffee with a grin, "It means it's time for a lesson on current events. Dexter, if you will."
The small boy placed a metal box on the ground, and stretched it out, unlatching various joints until it formed a small metal circle on the ground, and activated a switch on it, causing a bright blue light to shine up from its edges. The lights intersected, and formed a map. It wasn't the map he'd known. It was different, larger to start, the oceans stretched further. The continents seemed foreign. And there were some that were completely new.
"I want you," Godot continued, "to point, at any given land, and I'll give you a summary of how it looks after the merge."
Reece though for a moment. The war had been so sudden that there was little time to explore the vast reaches of the new world. He pointed, out to the land mass he knew somewhat.
"Ah, where we are? You must have a slight idea. This was once known as Canada. It's become somewhat of a safe haven from the Empire's influences. The landmass between it and America was divided a bit by water, a large river now cuts them in two. It's mostly woods up here, frozen towards the north and many towns have been established in the middle as a shot at peace. We fight around the border to keep it safe, but I'm sure you know that."
Without waiting, Reece pointed again, to a larger, rounded landmass beneath them.
"Ah America, land of the free" Godot chuckled a bit at his own joke, "The land has been shifted a bit, more rocky in the center, less plains and more mountains. The west coast has been smoothed out a bit, you could walk right into the ocean, while the east coast is almost entirely cliffs. The entirety of the Government has been taken over politically by the Empire. Somewhat communist, people work nonstop for the war effort. Resources are spread thin, but they take extra care in repressing the populace to prevent revolution within."
Reece cringed at the thought of friends and family who still lived there.
"Where next?" Godot asked, and Reece hastily pointed below it, "What used to be Central and South America, hoo boy. Geologically speaking, the ocean ran right through it, carving it into a bunch of tightly knit islands. And politically speaking, it's just as divided. The one thing the people down there agree upon, though, is the Empire. They only unite to defend an Island being attacked by the Empire. We're given free stay down there because of our fight. The Rebellion has many bases down there, including our HQ."
He scanned the map for a moment, and pointed down, to the south, where two enormous landmasses drifted close to one another, split diagonally by the ocean.
"To the left, Africa, which ended up drifting south toward the right, Australia. The merge did funny things to it, all around the edges are fertile lands, but the center is a deep valley containing an enormous desert. We use the land as protection, The Rebellion, and house some of our classifieds there. The natives oppose the Empire as well, but need our protection a bit more. We're training the Africans, and in exchange we occupy their land. Australia, not as hospitable. They're sitting on top of a goldmine of minerals, many mutated from the merge, but the land above it as a result is constantly getting torn up by strange natural occurrences. Tornadoes, hurricanes, you name it. Fighting's suicide down there, so we unfortunately have to let the better equipped empire troops scoop up all the fancy metals. Civilians were taken to the states or evacuated to Africa."
The next landmass resembled Asia, but the entire left half was broken off, and divided into islands, and Europe seemed to have drifted off, now in between the USA and Asia.
"Wastelands, all wastelands. China was scared, they didn't like the merge and started a campaign to wipe out non-humans. At first it was beaten down, but when the empire emerged we got caught up and couldn't handle China. They ended up blowing up most of their lands. Either them or Non-human extremists and rebels. Whoever landed the last blow hit hard. Most civilians now live in the islands to the left. Russia was steadfast, and took up occupancy to regulate. We're not sure what they're up to but they're fighting the Empire's troops that are trying to invade. So they're okay by us. Europe's in a nice way, now that they're mostly island. The larger ocean shields them from attack, but the Empire uses them as a gate to send troops to China. To keep things peaceful, the Europeans let them. Poor bastards."
It seemed as though the lesson was over, but something still bothered Reece. A larger landmass, that seemed an Island, drifted just above the cluster of European Islands. It took him a moment, but he suddenly placed it.
"Celestia. What happened there?"
"Actually," Godot shook a finger at him playfully as he corrected, "It's the United Skies now. It's amazing, but we've got a floating landmass. Celestia is there, as you said, but it's joined by a few other floating islands. They've created a pact against the Empire, and peace has reigned over all. Touching story really. While we're on the subject, Celestia is seen as a holy place, and many people travel there for pilgrimage, regardless of religion. That's why such efforts were made to preserve it."
It was all too much. Reece had gotten exactly what he wanted, a new world, but, all this information barreling down on him,
"Why did you tell me this? Why do I need to know all this?"
"We have a shield," Godot stood, and took a sip of coffee, "That hides us, but does not protect us. With what we've just did, the Empire's going to come crashing down on us. And we need an escape. So tell us boy, will we skirt along the Empire's shores to reach South America, or perhaps take our chances with Russia? Risk being discovered in Europe, or take the long way to Africa?"
"I'm just a soldier!" Reece was almost breaking down, "I can't choose something like this!"
"Reece," Jack's voice, steadfast and patient, broke through his fear, "We are asking you, because we are unsure. This situation, we are at a checkmate. It is fate that you survived, and destiny that we have met, now tell us. You will know."
Reece paused, and thought deeply. He was no chess master, but he knew a bit of strategy. If what Jack had said was true, that this was destiny, he'd know what to do. But, nothing came. He sat, in painful silence, his heart pounding and the General's eyes, judging him.
But that answer never came, at that moment, a soldier, a low ranking scavenger, like himself, threw open the tent's door, and entered, panicked.
"Sir! We were conducting a salvage of the factory's wreckage, when an aircraft, something we've never seen before, crashed nearby. It was a small, one person craft, and, and" He stuttered, from shock and exhaustion both, "It was a girl! There was nothing but a little girl in it, and the craziest thing was she was alive! We, we took her back and,"
Someone else, three people to be exact, pushed themselves in behind the soldier. It was Coop, Flippy Zoro.
"Sir!" Coop stepped forward, "The communications relay that was given to me to be fixed, it received a signal, a girl, named Flonne, she was sending out an S.O.S, claiming Celestia was at war! But the signal cut out, we think she crashed."
"Impossible!" Godot tossed his coffee across the tent, the soldiers jumped to avoid the splash, "Celestia is miles in the air, no one could launch an attack from the outside without us knowing."
Jack slowly stood amidst the confusion, placing his teacup aside, everyone in the room fell silent, "Then there is no doubt. Someone on the inside has betrayed Celestia. This is no coincidence, the distress signal and the crashing landing."
"But, sir, we can't risk," Godot began, but Jack cut him off,
"We have no time to waste, if we do not act soon, then the Empire will strike first. The only thing we will wait for is the recovery of this girl. We need any information we can get from her. Begin to pack up the tents, and rally the troops we will have to be ready to move. Reece, can you walk?"
He was dumbfounded, but Reece shifted, and landed uneasily on the ground, before steadying himself, "Yes sir!"
It seemed destiny was acting again.
…
In the twisted wreckage of the factory, still writhing with flames of the bombs that tore it asunder, a blue bonfire burned in its center. There, two figures stood, admiring the warmth and light of the ghostly flame.
"So," The first figure, one Albert Wesker, spoke, "I suppose you don't know where our acquaintance Mr. Masters is?"
"I'm afraid not," The other, Jack Spicer, spoke in a melancholy tone, "I know one thing, he's alive."
To punctuate those words, the spectral remains of Vlad Masters, ripped in half, floating without his torso, appeared before them.
"I apologize for keeping you waiting, but I had a run in with an old friend."
"Disappointing, Mr. Masters." Wesker spoke, his monotone voice singed with anger and disgust, "You couldn't even kill the boy. But that has no meaning now."
"I will kill him, rest assured!" Though wounded, Vlad was as fierce as ever.
"You won't receive the opportunity." Wesker said, and a chill ran down Vlad's ethereal spine.
"No, it's my time? I'm to be, first?"
"Cheer up Vlad," he was mocking him now, "you're not the first. That honor belongs to... Well, I won't mention her name, but am I wrong to assume you still remember?"
Before he could respond, Vlad felt something press against his neck, and an ectoplasmic bullet fired through his skull, piercing his very soul. He quavered, but in a moment collapsed and began to dissolve into a puddle of primordial ooze.
"I'm really upset, you know." Spicer said, holstering the gun.
"About, your bet?" Wesker asked, and Spicer nodded, "That's right, you owe a substantial bit of money to Mr. Minch, now don't you?"
"Don't mention it."
"Well, in any case I apologize for being so late. I took too long to deliver the news to Vlad about his termination, and Vulcanus got impatient, he began the war two weeks ago."
"Wonderful, another mess to clean up." Spicer began to leave the scene, before he realized something, "Wesker, do you think the Eternal Lord, foresaw Vulcanus starting the war?"
Wesker was already headed off in another direction, and he called back,
"Of course he did, Mr. Spicer,
"He foresaw everything"
One World: Book one; Obsidian
END
So tell me, was it worth the wait? Sorry I took so long, this chapter had a lot of planning and a LOT of content. Now I'll just have to start work on the next book, won't I?
Oh, and as far as new characters go:
Disagea; Hour of Darkness (Flonne, Vulcanus)
Phoenix Wright; Trials and Tribulations (Godot)
And that "Mr. Minch" You've gotta figure that one out yourself, can't go spoiling everything.
See you next time, in
One World, Book 2;Skies Aflame