Hey guys. After mixed reviews, I decided to instead of removing and redoing chapter 19, I would just make a new better explained one (because I'm lazy and I don't feel like it). SO, hopefully this will be better and maybe explain some more. Special thanks to WargishBoromirFan and Texas McFreedoms for the constructive criticism and help. Also, to anyone who cares, my original idea for Cross was for him to be able to fly and have twin miniguns that extended from his arms. As you can see, I downgraded quite a bit. Sorry for the extreme lateness but this is like 2-3 chapters, in ONE chapter. I'm also terrified to proofread this. Mostly because half of this was written in a car while I was half asleep.
Chapter 20: Citadel
The room was entering an awkward silence when South suddenly spoke up.
"Cross?" She asked with a disturbing amount of innocence, "Can you answer one simple question?" The agent in question looked at her with uncertainty before nodding slightly.
"Who the fuck are you really? And skip the bullshit downgraded history lesson." South said with the same voice. "We want the FULL story not some shitty explainer that doesn't make any sense and give any answers whatsoever." Cross looked at her for a few moments before sighing in defeat.
"Fine," he responded wearily. "But this is a sort of long story full of lots of stuff that sometimes won't make sense because it doesn't seem fucking realistic or possible in any way sort of form." He leaned back and took a quick shot of Vodka. "I mean, I guess you do deserve to know. Warning ahead of time though. This story is long and maybe boring in a way. Either way here it goes. This is the rather complete history of C." He said as he took a seat in a nearby stool. (Fake) History lesson time. Also next part is being said by Cross but I don't feel like putting quotation marks. It is sort of like narration in a sense. It will be said from Cross's perspective though)
In the year 2080, tensions among countries were hot and war was a large probability in the coming future. In response to this global threat the U.S. government, which was surprisingly still around, decided to make project Enigma 8 a reality. Enigma 8, run by the two expert Generals Elmo and Clyde, was the order for a special op unit to be created that could be anywhere in times of crisis and do any missions needed. That's really where all of this begins.
One of the main points for Enigma 8 was that the soldiers to be trained were supposed to be unexperienced and new. The reason for this otherwise crazy decision was the point that Enigma 8 was secretly a type of test. The government wanted to see how fast they could train regular ordinary people to become Special Forces operatives. In fact, that's the only reason I became part of the project.
I was a graduate with a masters in nuclear engineering and I was at that time working at an industry that helped build submarines and other nuclear grade machinery. However, on my way to work one day I was confronted by two CIA operatives that asked if I wanted to make a larger difference in the world. I agreed, mostly because the company I was in was slowly going under, and they took me to a gas station out in the middle of the desert. They told me to go inside and say the password Rockefeller2 before they got back in their car and left.
After a few seconds of being rather confused, I made my way into the shop and gave the password to the clerk. Without looking up from his book he pressed a hidden button and the ice cream freezer to my left slide away to show a passage way down into a secret basement and or lab. After walking down a rather long staircase, I arrived in a room that housed six other people. All except one later became my best friends.
The first two people in the room were Elmo and Clyde. Both had gone to WestPoint and both had been tied for top of the class. In other words they both had the exact same grades and of course, they were rivals. Then, during a unit of strategy, they got teamed together. Although, they were very rocky at first, they slowly formed a mutual agreement that eventually led to a rather strong friendship. This was helped somewhat by the fact that they were untouchable during tactical simulations and war practices. After graduating, they both considered each other brothers.
The third person in the room was Ash. Before joining he had been a governor for a large city before "mysteriously" leaving after some funds disappeared from the states account. We learned this after he joined the project.
The fourth person in the room was Ice. His actual name was Isaac but he said Ice sounded better and it was faster to say. Before Ice had entered the organization he was a commercial airline piolet. It explains why he is so good at flying planes.
Next there was Sage. She was a Dive instructor for a small resort off of Miami. She can usually hold her breath for about seven minutes and she is pretty freaking good at fixing TVs as proven by the crushed remote problem…
Finally, there was Reverend. He was and technically still is a priest. He may not be the best at some type of super weird and maybe useful skill but he sure can cook. He was also apparently brought into the project to add some "diversity" among operatives.
Over the next few hours, we introduced ourselves and had some "bonding" time. After all this we were assigned what type of agent we would be. There were three classes: Field Agent, technical, and cultural. Ash and Sage were assigned as field agents, Reverend was implemented as cultural and somewhat field, and Ice and I were put into the technical area. I was somewhat jealous at the time of Ash and Sage but I just agreed and went along with it.
Over the next few years, our group grew rapidly and more field and technical agents entered. By that time, both Ash and Sage had become huge super stars. They were idolized for there "superior" work and Ash quickly grew arrogant while Sage generally stayed the same. The people no one remembered were the ones who directed the operations and found the problems in the first place, or in other words, the technical agents. As this happened my envy and somewhat hatefulness for Ash and Sage grew.
I wasn't the only one who disliked them though. There were others who also thought they were too big headed. These people were my closest friends at that time. First there was Ice, who was my best friend and also hated Ash, but had a liking to Sage. Robert was another and he was a technical soldier like me, and Spooky, Henry and Eligius were field agents who were tired of having to listen to the courageous acts of Ash and Sage. However, because of the possible retributions to us if we admitted our distain, we kept quiet.
However, everything changed after the Attack on Nova. It was 2083 and Enigma 8 was working very well and had over 1,500 operatives. One of the main resource and research bases was Nova in the Delta region of Death Valley California. The day had started out normal, everyone had arrived and started to get to work. We were at the time working on a type of spaceship that could do long distance space travel in a very short period of time and we were almost done with the final designs. Then, at 14:59 there was the faint sound of gunfire nearing our offices. The stationed guards looked at each other before moving towards the door with guns drawn. They had just reached the steps when the door exploded and showered the room with light and shrapnel. From out of the smoke, men dressed entirely in Red opened fire into our office. What soon followed was nothing less than complete and utter pandemonium. At the time I was in a small office structure that overlooked the other cubicles. I literally saw everything. The bodies, the blood, the yells and sparks of bullets ricocheting. Ice was also in the same office complex as me and he stared in horror as the massacre continued to grow. Then as soon as we looked at each other something clicked. In that moment, we were hit by a calm and fierce determination to end what was happening. I reached into my desk and pulled out a 1911 pistol that I always kept while Ice pulled out a Glock 19. We then moved up to our window and aimed our guns. "You take left I'll take right." I told him. He nodded in response.
At that moment time literally slowed down for me. I was confused why it had but I shook off that thought and went back to aiming. I pulled the trigger and I visibly saw the bullet smash through the window and clip my target in the head puncturing his helmet and splattering his brains on an adjacent wall. Every one of my bullets hit their targets because of the weird slow motion effect. Ice looked at me strangely as his bullets missed every now and then. After a few minutes of chaos, the smoke cleared and there were no intruders left. He both nodded and looked at each other. "Not bad for a couple of technical agents." He had said with pride. We quickly fist bumped before remembering that many of our friends were injured or dead in front of us. This quickly sobered us as we rushed down to help.
The casualty numbers were 28 dead, 56 wounded. Among the dead was Robert. At the sight of his crumpled body lying in a pool of his own blood changed something within me. Both Ice and I knew that we had to do something and that didn't mean sitting around designing things. Exactly half an hour after the attack we headed for Enigma 8 headquarters.
As soon as we arrived, we knew something had gone terribly wrong. The main control room was in a panic. People were running around yelling orders and contacting outposts and bases. Apparently, Nova wasn't the only one to be hit. We were able to escape the crowd and make it to Elmo and Clyde to figure out what the hell was going on. As it turns out, 15 minutes before the Attack on Nova, the U.S. government had officially disowned and denounced Project Enigma 8 declaring it as a public and political threat to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. In other words, Enigma 8 was to be completely eradicated. They asked us how we survived and we told them our story. They seemed rather surprised and they looked at each other strangely before dismissing us. As we started to walk away however, I remembered the strange thing that had happened with time when I had raised and fired my weapon. I told Ice that I would meet up with him again and I quickly backtracked. They were somewhat surprised to see me again so soon but they listened to my story anyway. As I finished I saw their faces of slight annoyance turn into utter confusion and doubt. They stared at each other in a mental conversation for about a minute as I waited awkwardly in front of them. Finally they reached for a phone and called for the head of security to come down and take me to the training room.
As soon as I arrived they gave me a Beretta 9mm and told me to shoot the five targets as accurately and fast as possible. As I raised my gun, once again time slowed down and I was easily able to line up my shots and take down all the targets in a few quick seconds. The security manager was shocked as he saw the targets fall to the ground. He quickly radioed for Elmo and Clyde to come down and as soon as they did he told me to do the same thing. Once I had completed the task again I looked over at my two advisors. They gave each other a look before placing me in front of a wall. Suddenly, Elmo pulled out a gun and shot at me. For the third time that day, everything slowed and I watched in horror as the bullet sped towards me. I moved and was pleased to find that I could still move even with time slowed down. I was still pretty slow but at least I could evade. I dodged the bullet and Elmo gave me a quick apology and a sly smile.
They left me in the room for a few minutes as they talked amongst themselves. Five minutes later, I learned that I was promoted to a field agent and that I was to be deployed immediately. I asked who was to be my partner as protocol called for all field agents to have backup at all times. They gave me a small smile before telling me that my partner would be someone I knew very well. As soon as he finished saying this Ice, looking like an excited puppy, walked into the room. We made eye contact and we both slowly smiled. At the same time we both stated, "The enemy is SO fucked."
Three weeks after the U.S. practically declared war on us, we had finally finished our training. A lot had changed since we had become field agents. The HQ was moved to the Yukon and we had escaped detection from all the patrols searching for us. Our organization also had a new name, Citadel. The reasons behind this name are mixed but the biggest theory for this new name was the point that our organization was like a fortress that couldn't be taken down easily. This was proven by the point that even though we had been attacked over and over again, we continued to stay strong and survive.
After our training, we were finally able to complete missions that would benefit Citadel. With my time bending ability and Ices amazing talent at driving and flying, we were able to rise and gain attention, although not always the good kind. We were soon on par with Ash and Sage with the former being rather resentful and the latter not really caring. Ice also had a new reason to dislike Ash. Ash and Sage were dating. I also started to hate Ash more as he started to tell tales of how Ice and I were agents only because we had paid Elmo and Clyde to let us in. However, even though Ash continued to be an asshole, Sage was surprisingly nice to us. She often scolded Ash for being a jerk and Sage often hung out with us. Also, even after finding out that Ice liked her, which might have been my fault, she continued to talk to us and even started to join us during our Friday movie night that consisted originally of Ice, Eligius, Reverend, Spooky, Henry, Ashley ( a good friend of Spooky), Sofia ( a friend of Ashley) and I. As Sage began to hang out with us more, her relation with Ash slowly become more strained.
That is, until it snapped.
All four of us were sent on a mission to infiltrate a space factory to download some files about rocket fuel and engines to help Citadel with her next, "expansion". The infiltration had been going fine. We had broken in undetected, killed the guards downloaded the information needed and were almost done. That is until Ice tripped. After he did the said action, Sage (who was standing rather close to him) fell on top of Ice and they ended up in a rather awkward position. This little mistake made Ash blow up. He started to yell and I quote this next line, "Get of my whore you fucker." At this sudden outburst not only did all the alarms in the facility go off but also Sage stood up and sent a very powerful fist into Ashes face. As I started to take down the security that was completely aware that we were present, Sage continued beat up Ash. She started to yell about how much of as asshole Ash was as she pounded him in the face over and over again until she was drenched in sweat and he was covered in blood. As a final "fuck you" she kicked him square in the chest sending him over the railing of the catwalk we were on. Ice and I watched in astonishment as his body flailed wildly before smashing onto the ground below. We then both looked at sage who was breathing hard. Then before both of our eyes, she fell unconscious. We both looked at each other in confusion before Ice grabbed Sage and started running for the exit as I covered him from behind. After a rather perilous and mad dash to our waiting helicopter, we flew away into the darkness of night.
As we arrived back at home base we were greeted by a large crowd who started asking were Ash was. Very cautiously I stood up and announced that Ash was dead. There was a large gasp that circulated around the crowd after I had announced this. I craftily told them that he had accidently pulled his gun on Sage and in the following confusion, was killed. This seemed to convince them and only Elmo, Clyde, and few others were told the real story.
The reason for the previous break in was rather simple. Because of the predicament and danger for Citadel on Earth, the organization had decided to try their luck and take to the stars in search of a new home. This is where our history stops. Not because it is still in progress but instead because that part is actually classified. Plus it is very long and I am tired.
Now to answer rather basic questions including but not limited to: What the fuck does this have to do with us? Why are you here? How does that time power thing work? What were you talking about before about that magic/chakra crap? And of course the most frequently asked question, what was with that teleportation stuff you were talking about before?
Before I begin answering these questions, I am going to tell you to forget that other stuff I told you about before. Not the history I just told, just the shortened story "explanation" you before. That other stuff was just a whole bunch of ways to quickly bypass these questions.
The answer to the first question is simple. Nothing! I just thought that it was important for you to know this so you can better understand where I am coming from.
Next Okay the overall and actual reason for my being here is to help you guys for an unexpected and possible catastrophe and also for me to learn. The director good reviews thing is actually true however and I get sent on the missions with you guys to also give reports about how good the project does at training.
Continuing on, my time manipulation thing is now very complicated. A lot of my training for being a field agent included using and manipulating that skill. When I shoot, I can now control when it turns on and when it doesn't. Plus, I have improved my moving skills in slow motion so now I'm even better at dodging. However, I can't always control it. This is especially when my sixth sense comes into play. Time automatically slows down when my "third eye" awakens and senses something wrong. Either way, in short I have honed that special ability to fit my needs.
The chakra thing and or nature manipulation thing I was talking about actually wasn't learned at all. The top agents were given a small blue pill that allows a special part of the Parietal Lobe to become active thus letting you take control of nature forces in and around you. However, Reverend, Sage, Ice, and I were the only agents that were able to successfully control the powers afterward. Which is kind of concerning when you think about it. Especially when there was 100 people who were given the pill, seven of who later went crazy and two others who killed themselves…
And now, the grand answer to the million dollar question. The time/dimensional travel thing is by far the most complicated part of all of this. The real trick to it at this point is that you have to open up a wormhole to another dimension or, for time travel, you go through another dimension that has a time warp and then you come out at hopefully the correct time. You make this portal by plutonium and hydrogen cells by the way. The way Citadel figures out the correct time is by a strange algorithm that works very well. Don't ask me to recite it because it is very long and frankly, I don't plan on memorizing it. That is also how we got to all those other places and learned those Special Forces and fighting techniques.
"So THAT, is the history and some other information about Citadel. As I told you before, I control Project X. In case anybody cares Project X, along with the other divisions, were created soon after we left Earth. That part of the last explanation was true." Cross finished as he leaned back even further. Everyone else in the room just stared at him as they processed the information that was told. Cross then looked over at York.
"In case you're still wondering," he stated, "that also means that I'm NOT, an intern."
Thank Christ that I'm finally done. More than 3500 words and 6 pages later. This is going to be hell to edit. Again, I'm sorry that this was so late. School has just picked up and I'm finding less and less time to write/type. The next update will be at another undisclosed time. I hope this clears up at least a little. I might explain a little more next time but for now I'm going to either go to sleep, or proofread and update. I can't decide. As and added note, if you find a mistake and you feel like commenting about it, can you add it just so I can see it and so I don't have to read through this entire thing to find it? Thanks. I will (hopefully) see you guys next time! U will nvr know out.