Into the Darkness chapter 13,
Social madness and Changing tactics
4th March, 2898
Two and a half years passed following the battle of Rothrian. Two and a half years since the assailants responsible for the attacks started.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Union of Interstellar Powers met in an emergency parliament meeting. Investigations were made into the nature of the attacks, and eventually, within week, they found their answer.
A collection of 2 previously unidentified alien civilizations, the tall, avian species known as the Leg'hrul, and a medium sized reptilian species called the Kronigri. The Leg'hruls, originating on a mountainous, tropical world, were on average 7 and a half feet tall, with vibrant red and blue feathers, and wicked beaks full of razor sharp teeth, fully carnivorous by nature. Essentially, they could be compared to sentient birds of prey.
The Kronigri were a different story. Growing on a hot, desert planet, they adapted easily due to readily available sunlight. With rounded heads with sharp teeth, and wicked spikes over their bodies, these creatures knew no enemies.
The two races had joined together in an apparently stable alliance, and had used the attacks on Rothrian as an open declaration of war, believing that the democratic ways of the UIP were corrupt and evil, unlike their apparently peaceful monarchies.
Within another month, the UIP had no choice but to declare war in return, as multiple assassinations and attacks wrecked their smaller systems, in a way to goad them to return the declaration of war.
And it worked.
Since then, the war had escalated to one of attrition, neither side giving the other any edge. There were times when one side gained the upper hand, only to be pushed back again by their opponent. By this stage, the war seemed to only be able to end when one side simply couldn't support its own war effort.
From the fires of war though, rose heroes and villains on both sides.
As in all war, neither side is totally innocent. Great acts of justice and heroism were committed on both sides, many by the same individuals. These heroes and villains became household names, the new celebrities among the public of both sides.
Some of these occupations as heroes and celebrities were filled by four familiar people.
In the short 2 and a half years since the Battle of Rothrian, Alex, Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth had attracted much attention to themselves for their achievements on the battlefield, especially in such a short time. The people of the UIC now looked up to them with pride and admiration, whether being children, teen or adult, high or low status, those four became renowned for their acts.
Quirinth, also nicknamed the Savage Huntress. She had earned a reputation as a formidable front line warrior, unsurpassed in skill in close combat, using her iconic double wrist blades to slice through any who attempted to bring harm to her or those she cared for. Her tomboyish nature, and sarcastic wit, became trademarks of her celebrity status.
Trion, nicknamed the Silver Guardian. He had gained fame through his destructive capabilities, but also for his gentle nature, and as a comical feature, his slightly apparent lower than average intelligence for a Cybertronian. He was the mostly-gentle giant of the four, and would exercise all peaceful options before resorting to combat with his large arsenal. In short, he was a lovable oaf of sorts, and could always be relied upon for support, whether it be emotional, close combat or long range combat.
Sru'sky, nicknamed the Warrior Princess, was perhaps the most kind and caring of the four, being constantly supportive of them all. More so than the others, she continually stressed that war was wrong, and that she fought to protect people and places she loved. Nevertheless, she was a true force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, who, like Trion, used a mix of close range and long range weapons to great effect. She was the shining beacon of the team, the kind-hearted individual that personified the ideal citizen.
Alex meanwhile followed a reputation different to theirs. He was nicknamed the Dark Hunter, as he had shown a determination to never let his prey escape him without him letting it. Is determination and courage set him apart from the four, but also showed a more mysterious side to him, as he often exercised emotional emptiness in combat. Also a man of few words, his skills as a pilot are what set him above the rest, accompanied by his almost unparalleled skill with double sword weapons of any kind. He was he most withdrawn of the group, but that seemed to only attract more attention to him, which sometimes got on his nerves, but not often.
Due to the reputation of the four, they had attracted a large group of fans and admirers of all kinds. Unfortunately, whenever they had a leave from service, this sometimes proved troublesome.
If there was one thing that Alex hated about his celebrity status, it was the crazed fans he attracted. Most notably: fangirls, or in Quirinth and Sru'sky's cases, fanboys.
Normally, a human male Alex's age would have sacrificed a limb for such attention. The same couldn't be said for him though.
As he marched to the door of their shared apartment, in the capital city Ki'ristalis, in the Taos system, the government capital of the UIP, he was in a murderous mood.
The door to the apartment slid open, to reveal a pissed off human male:
"Have you seen the bullshit that appeared in the News today?"
Alex stroked into the apartment, shocking Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth from their activities. Trion had been busy working on a personally sized desk, tinkering with some circuitry in his built in assault rifle. Sru'sky had been busy looking up a number for takeout for dinner that night, and Quirinth had been channel surfing. Quirinth was the one to respond:
"Why, what did it say?"
All 3 looked at her, and Sru'sky asked: "Weren't you channel surfing just then? Wouldn't you have seen the news?" She shrugged, and replied: "Meh, I never pay attention to anything boring anyway."
Dismissing the lack of concern, Alex smacked a holopad onto the coffee table, revealing a set of rather bewildering articles, concerning all four of them on one level or another:
War heroes rumoured single.
In a surprising development of information regarding the war hero Quirinth, the romantic lives of her and her living companions have been called into question.
Last night, Quirinth was spotted leaving a singles bar in the Glorost district of Ki'ristalis. The bar's owners filed a form of non disclosure on the name of the bar, but Quirinth's presence there suggests that her romantic life is somewhat non-existent.
According to leading social scientists and dating experts, this is most likely due to-
"What the fuck! I went for a drink there, and they look at the name and assume I'm single!" Yelled Quirinth. Trion then chimed in: "But aren't you?"
She whirled around to him: "Yes, but now everyone, including every desperate or blow-headed man is going to come after me!"
Alex then interrupted: "Normally I'd say that you're screwed, but considering the next article, I'd have to eat my words."
They read on.
War hero shows dating trouble
Two days ago, Alex was spotted at a café, where he was seen arguing with one of the waitresses there. Speculation is that this may be a secret relationship going sour, and-
Alex then decided to stop reading there, not being able to bear it anymore:
"Oh shit, now I remember, it was that waitress that was acting very impolite to me in the cafe, I was telling her that she should treat customers with more decency. She was not my girlfriend!"
"That first article is only going to encourage people to ask us to be a partner en masse. Even worse now that the second article only seems to back it up." Added Trion, while looking out the window at the street 100 stories below.
"Now we can't go out in public without being swarmed by people wishing be our lovers." Said Sru'sky, as she shuddered at the mental picture.
What made things worse was when they had to go to a scheduled talk show interview that night, something which their apparent celebrity status had come with.
Later that night
As they got out of the air taxi, a large crowd had gathered by the entrance to the studio. Marching along a fenced off lane through the crowd, the four looked on the swarms of fans and news reporters with mixed emotions:
"Alex, any news on these rumours of breakup with your girlfriend?"
"I WANT YOUR BABIES ALEX!"
"Sru'sky, sign my chest please! C'mon, sign my chest!"
"Trion, show us your cannons!"
"Sru'sky, will you go out with me!"
"I'll be your boyfriend Quirinth!"
The last cry from the crowd caused Quirinth to whirl towards the source of it angrily, and it took Sru'sky and Alex to drag her towards the studio afterwards, ignoring the often personal questions and requests from the crowd.
Inside, it took roughly half an hour of preparation before the show could start. Apparently the four had been called onto the show due to popular demand. The show itself was an interview show with an A list celebrity host pair, two humans, one being Francis Gallander, a slightly overweight pale skinned man with balding ginger hair, a Canadian accent and famous journalist and spokesman in his time. The other was Helena Catherine, a famous actor and director in the film industry, sporting a thin frame [speculated to be assisted by a little bit of surgery], long black hair, dark skin and an African-American accent.
As the four stood behind a curtain waiting to be called out, they were chatting amongst themselves:
"-and for Eywa's's sake don't swear on the air, either of you two."
"What are you on about? When the last time I swore out loud for everyone to hear?"
"This morning when you burnt your hand on the cooker by accident, and that was 10 seconds after you recoiled."
"Oh shut Trion, I don't need your terabyte-per-second processor memory helping you make jibes at me now."
"Shh! Will you three just shut the fuck up."
"Oh, see, why don't you scold her, rather than me, I swear when necessary, if Quirinth got free reign she'd swear every sentence!"
"That's bullshit and you know it!"
"See, what did I tell you!"
"Shut up, they're starting."
The lights dimmed in the studio and then the spotlight turned to the set of sofas oon the stage. On one sofa sat Francis and Helena, and it was Helena who spoke first:
"Good evening and welcome to tonight's programme of Be our Guests! We have a wonderful set of celebrities coming onto the show today, and as usual a collection of film clips they have kindly donated to us to see as extracts from their lives."
Francis spoke:
"That's absolutely right Helena. And as usual we let you, the viewers pick who you wanted to appear on the show, and highest voted ones we could possibly get are here today, which luckily for all of you, is the one with the highest number of votes."
The studio crowd applauded and cheered, before calming down:
"Now of course, when I say celebrity I actually mean celebrities, as these guys and girls never seem to be apart. They're unique in what they do for a career compared to other guests we've had."
"Yes Francis, we've had politicians, actors, news spokespeople and even celebrity chefs. But today is the first time we have ever had decorated soldiers, fresh from combat all the way from the Ka'menth system. So please give a big round of applause for our four celebrity guests: Trion, Quirinth, Sru'sky and Alex!"
As the four stepped out onto the stage on cue, the audience exploded. Walking as calmly as he could, Alex realized he was out of his depth here, he was a soldier, not a public speaker. However, as he sat down on the sofa, he shook the hands of both Helena and Francis, managing to stop the sweat from coating his hands.
Trion watched the other three as they sat down, gauging their emotions. Alex was nervous, he never had been a good public speaker. Quirinth was using her usual swagger to suppress any nervousness, which was working mostly. Sru'sky seemed the most comfortable among them, taking it all in her stride, her smile one of calmness, not a fixed nervous one.
After the audience quietened down, Francis asked all of them: "So, our viewers asked you onto the show because of your immense status you've attained in just two and a half years. I don't know what to say, except how did you do it? I mean most soldiers go rather unnoticed, at least until they're injured or die." As he finished that sentence, he turned to the audience: "I just want everyone to know that's my opinion, I'm not offending, its just what I've seen and heard, and it's a sad truth, again no offence."
Quirinth responded: "None taken, I notice that myself."
Helena then spoke: "Alright then, I guess we should start with individual questions first, then group ones, is that OK?" The four nodded or shrugged their shoulders in agreement. Helena then turned to Quirinth: "Alright, let's start with you, Quirinth. You're often called the Savage huntress, what's you're opinion of that nickname?"
Quirinth gave a small laugh, and said happily: "I actually like it, it sounds cool, it matches my personality too, cause I see myself as a sharp tongued tomboy, plus it also scares my opponents and makes it easier for me."
The audience laughed at her statement, applauded her confidence.
Next, Francis looked up to Trion: "Now as I've heard it you're called the Silver Guardian, got any problems with that name?" Trion shook his head and said: "none whatsoever, it suits me well, I'm protective of those I care for and the innocent." Francis smiled and then asked: "But what of these stories of you being the lovable oaf of the group?"
Trion hesitated briefly, before saying: "I'm not the sharpest mech in the world no doubt, I can memorize any knowledge sure, but my creativity is somewhat limited compared to others. So I say that name suits me well. Ask any of my old school teachers, I was n the bottom half of the class."
Alex then snapped up to him: "Hang on, hang on! You were near top of every class in the two years academy training we did, and now you're saying you were one of the worst in your old class?" Trion explained: "Yes, but when I was created, my body randomly selects what functions to place emphasis upon. In my case, it was strength, not creativity."
Helena then stepped in: "Okay, lets not argue here please, lets move onto the next question." Francis then turned to Sru'sky: "So you're known as the Warrior Princess? How's that working out for you?" Sru'sky smiled and said: "Like the other two I find no annoyance with my nickname, I'm sure my parents would enjoy it."
Helena then spoke: "That's another question, you and Alex are the most unknown within this group, care to explain your background a bit?"
"My pleasure, I was born in the Omaticaya clan on Pandora, I grew up with Alex and my family inside hometree for nearly 16 years of my life. I often trained to hunt and liked to play basketball with my other friends in the tribe."
"Oh, so you were a sportsperson in your childhood then? I guess that would help with what career you do and all. But another question, you said you grew up with Alex, what did you mean by that, was he a friend you had in a nearby colony?"
"No, he lived in the tribe with me his whole life, he's my adopted brother."
A stunned gasp echoed through the crowd, and all the two could say was: "Wow." Next, Francis decided to question Alex now: "Alex, your nickname is the dark hunter, you like it?" He remained silent for a moment, before muttering: "If they give me a name which intimidates the enemies I fight, and makes my job easier, I welcome it."
Helena then asked: "Now according to Sru'sky you were raised as her adopted brother in the tribe, care to expand upon that?"
"I'm not sure I want to fully explain, it's a long and hard story for me to tell."
"Just take your time if you need to."
Alex sat there for about 10 seconds, contemplating whether he should say anything. If he did, he'd be exposing the truth about himself. If he didn't, the media would make up stuff about him, and the questions would never stop. He chose to answer:
"I was actually born on Earth, to two regular human parents. I don't know their names, but I don know I also had a fourteen year old sister when I was born. When I was four months old, we were on a freighter bound for Keletari, just neighbouring Pandora. So pirates decided to raid us, ones known to kill all aboard the vessels they raid. I was put into the ship's only escape pod, but an electronic attack launched the pod while I was inside. It guided itself to the nearest habitable world, Pandora. My parents and sister were killed aboard the ship, either by the pirates, or by the reactor exploding once they had left.
I landed in the jungle, where Sru'sky's mother found me in the pod. She took me in, to raise me as a brother to the Sru'sky, who was still in the womb at the time. But because I was human, they thought the world outside hometree was too dangerous for me. So for 10 years I never left hometree, I wanted to prove I was not weak, so I exercised as much as I could to strengthen myself, and had I been a Na'vi, I probably would have outmatched all of my age in endurance, speed and strength.
Thankfully, my parents realized they I was unhappy, and fully capable of taking care of myself, so for the next 5 years, I lived among the tribe normally. I won't lie, it was hard work, but I wouldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't done it."
Francis looked at Alex in amazement, and then asked: "So you've led a very interesting life, what highlight of life among the tribe do you remember most?"
Alex looked at Sru'sky, and then turned back, saying: "I was 15 at the time, I was on a hunt with Sru'sky, we had been tracking a Yerik for about 3 miles. We were at the top of a hill, overlooking a valley. I saw a herd of Sturmbeast below begin to panic, and stampede towards us, because a Thanator was chasing them. What eventually happened was we were running to keep ahead of the stampede through a small canyon, and we eventually rounded a corner just as the Thanator saw us. I guess it decided we were an easier meal, so it came after us. We climbed up a tall tree to escape, which worked well, although it wasn't fun being stuck up there for, um, how long would you say it was Sru'sky?"
"About 2-3 hours."
"Yeah that sounds about right."
The audience laughed at their heartiness at a life threatening situation they had been in, and the interview continued.
For another half hour, the four explained their exploits, from the gladiator ring where they met, to their two years at the academy, which Alex had a great time retelling how he and Lanver consistently made life hell for Captain Gra'til. Also, their exploits onwards from the battle of Rothrian, including bodyguard duty, escort, defence, attack and scout roles. Numerous of these stories were complete with photos or recordings of those moments, including photos from the graduation party of the academy, on duty recordings and photos of moments from their 2.5 year career. All in all, the audience and viewers loved them.
1 week later
Alex stood at the window of the apartment, gazing out across the vast cityscape and streets over a hundred floors down. It was now the start of a new tour of duty, and a new kind of assignment had arrived for Alex.
A solo assignment.
This morning, the four had received a message briefing them on their new postings for this tour of duty. Trion, Quirinth and Sru'sky had been assigned to the Sirius system, the Grey home system. Meanwhile, different orders had reached Alex.
A need for information had arisen, and an espionage mission had been drawn up for a suitable candidate. He person would have to don a disguise as a Leg'hrul, via holographic display, to infiltrate the military communications network on Felren, a large Leg'hrul colony about 200 light years from UIP terriroty. That person would need to be one whom could either stay hidden, or be important enough for the Leg'hrul to be tricked into negotiating a prisoner exchange if caught.
Initially, Alex had being unsure about going it alone, and considering the type of mission and where he was going, he almost turned it down. But, he had a duty to do, and whatever the risks he would willingly do it if it meant getting an advantage towards ending this war.
Within days, he was dropped off on a disguised shuttle, made to look like a standard Leg'hrul supply ship, and was now deep within enemy territory.
4 days later
The communications facility was not an easy place to sneak into.
After scanning and scouting around the site for days, Alex was ready to infiltrate the facility. He had made it past three sets of guards without a hitch. His holographic Leg'hrul disguise was now that of a high security clearance guard. He had found him last night in a local bar, and had gotten him drunk enough to pass out. After taking him back to his apartment, Alex had given the guard an extra dose of knockout serum, to keep him asleep all day. Then, scanning his body and uniform, Alex was ready to assume the Leg'hrul's identity.
Within half an hour, Alex had gone into the computer mainframe vault, officially on patrol duty. After looking around, he found the control terminal, and set to work.
What genius to take something from right under their noses. Thought Alex as he hooked up the data stick into the port.
After 5 minutes, the download was complete, and now came the hard part. He had managed to download the data on the fleet placements without tripping any alarms, but now he had to transmit the data. Unfortunately, the Leg'hrul closely monitored their communications networks very thoroughly, and any outgoing data storage devices from this facility had to be checked. There was no way he was getting out with this thing. He had no choice but to transmit it.
Stepping out onto the roof to get the best signal strength, Alex prepared to send the data. He had been led into a trap, as when he sent the data, it would be detected and attempted to be jammed normally. Thankfully, Alex had temporarily disabled the jamming stations while inside the control room. Now he could send the data.
Taking a deep breath, he pressed send.
As the data was almost instantaneously sent to Taos via quantum tunnelling at a nearby signal booster, alarms blared in the security stations inside the facility, alerting the guards and sentry droids to an illegal transmission on the roof. Immediately, the guards and droids were on their way to the roof.
Meanwhile, Alex prepped the parachute on his back, ready to jump the 140 stories into the streets below, hopefully to disappear into the crowds. He was wearing a face mask to hide his face from security cameras.
Behind him, the door of the service stairs banged open, and before the guards could yell for him to stop, Alex, still in his disguise, jumped.
For a few seconds Alex enjoyed the freefall, knowing that he had to open his chute as late as possible. As the ground rushed up to meet him, Alex yanked on the cord, and the parachute quickly deployed, just in time too.
Alex landed on top of a truck, which had been carrying a load of sand for a nearby landscaping project. Quickly detaching his parachute, he jumped from the truck, landing effortlessly on the tarmac below him, startling the crowds around on the pavement. Behind him, he could hear the sirens of security coming near, and quickly ducked into a nearby alley.
Unfortunately, one of the people in the crowds had pointed out where Alex had gone.
Hiding in the abandoned flat, Alex quietly made his way through to the other side of the building, looking for a place to hide until the security left. Suddenly, Alex heard the door being knocked blasted out of the way, and a thundering of footsteps followed.
Silently, Alex knew he was caught, even before he heard the drone switch the safety of the plasma rifle off.
Within seconds, Alex had been knocked onto the floor painfully, and had a bag thrown over his head. While still inside, the guards began to talk about something, before a sharp impact on the side of his head made Alex's world turn black.
Okay anyone who read this. Please give me some feedback, any at all, as long as it isn't purely insulting. And if possible, recommend this story to other fanfic readers.