Welcome to war, greenhorns. The conflict has begun.
We're now about two-thirds of the way to the end of Gone, I estimate; I don't know how many chapters remaining, but it will be a while now before it ends. So, I will answer reviews right now (this A/N section will be quite brief).
PigeonFligher: Well…maybe the Withers are the end? They are pretty terrible to fight…dramatic music is very appropriate for this point in time. And yes, Leon and Celine do make quite a cute couple. Very sweet and innocent :3
HPE24: Yes, references everywhere. Yours is the easiest to reference, due to the fact that it can definitely happen in the distant past (the Users are mythical now :3)
And I'm glad that you like Leon and Celine; you aren't the only one, but you certainly seem to appreciate them. I'll openly admit that I'm bad at writing romance/relationship scenes, so it's really the best I can put out. Romance writing really beats me D:
TerrarianCreeper: These two chapters were kind of slow-down times; the next few will be a bit faster, but not all action.
And yes, many, many Withers. They are necessary, since they are mortal and can be killed, although with difficulty. They're pretty uncommon compared to the raspers.
And yes, Herobrine did snatch the pearl, back in Riverside. He planned ahead well :3
Blakeyboy: Capricorn people are all in the new land now. Except for the dead ones…
TerrarianCreeper (again): It's probably good that you corrected that, but Darius can be flexible. I will keep him with his revolver, simply because it's pretty badass.
Woohooman14: There may be similarities, but I've never read any Zelda fanfics. I can check it out, but any similarities between them and the raspers here are entirely accidental.
So welcome back :D
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Everyone from the Capricorn had made it out West; according to Celine, a helicopter from the Secessionists was searching for survivors in Langsford Peak and had located them, and proceeded to spirit them out of the wasted city.
We drove northwest on a stretch of highway made for commuting traffic. It was obvious that the government had planned all of this long before the catastrophe that Notch created; they believed that people would simply adapt to their new land, without any problems whatsoever. They were completely wrong; there was not a single car on the freeway, and even more disturbing was the lack of vehicle ruins. We were in a wasteland; all of this money had gone to waste…
"Cardinals' Point is the only truly prosperous city. We grow our own food, have power from a hydroelectric dam, and have a burgeoning industrial sector to boot. Terra Nova might have all that, but it lacks security," Commander Carstone explained as we drove. There were two trucks, a jeep and an APC leading the way down the deserted roadside; it would take us nearly another hour and a half to reach the cool pine forests of the north, far away from the warzone.
"They have security forces, don't they? I mean…without some sort of police force—"
"They have a police force, of course," Carstone answered from the front seat. "But it's inadequate—most recruits are shipped off to the primary military if they're good enough. The cops aren't trained to detect bombs or hidden weapons, and that's their main shortcoming. They're woefully unprepared against terror attacks."
I knew about Farouq Nameer and Aaron Sellers; some of the soldiers said that they occupied the far southeastern coastal area, using it as a base to launch sneak attacks against both Loyalists and Secessionists.
"Cities this far north usually are pretty secure. There's creepers, yes, but creepers are a delight to face compared to terrorists and elite soldiers. Farther south, like back at Omega-245, attacks happen almost every day. Small-scale, but I expect the hammer to come down hard starting today."
A squadron of jets roared overhead in the direction that we were driving. They were fighters, not bombers; I expected they had been scrambled to attack enemy aircraft.
"Lost three planes already today…took down an entire squadron of Wycokrwyz's bombers, but she has more than us. Losses we can't afford."
We rumbled on, the sand dunes turning into hard rock flats and the hard rock flats becoming rolling plains with sparse stands of trees. The biomes were changing as we went; it grew cooler, and the air was easier to breathe without all the sand and dust polluting it.
I had fallen asleep by the time we finally reached our destination; we were deep within a taiga forest, not far north enough to be in snowy lands, but far enough to require light jackets even during the afternoon.
The city was built on a flat area and up into a mountain, one of the tall peaks that formed the western edge of this land. It couldn't hold more than 100,000 people, at most; there was a small downtown area with a couple of small high-rises, but otherwise it looked like a calm suburban neighborhood sprawled out across the chilly tundra, surrounded by tall pines and small hillocks. We were led to a small airbase on the edge of town, which apparently doubled as a military base for deployment of troops and vehicles.
"Commander Inazawa stays down in the lower levels of the bunker," Carstone said as the vehicle came to a halt in one of the base's garage and the driver powered the engine down. "We'll be going deep—they built a nice network of tunnels and bunkers underneath Cardinals' Point…to serve as a secondary command center, maybe…"
We were led by several guards into a large cargo elevator. As soon as the exterior doors closed, we began our dark descent.
"Is everyone else here already?" I asked Carstone.
"Everyone?"
"From the Capricorn, I mean…"
"Oh…er, yes, we already moved them…preemptively, your other two friends stayed at Omega-245 of their own accord…"
The elevator doors rolled open, admitting us into a dark concrete hallway. Everything was made to be blast-proof; doors were solid steel, the roof, walls and floor were all poured concrete. There were checkpoints everywhere, and security cameras mounted at every single corner. It certainly felt like a military base—even though it was originally designed as a commercial airport.
"The government's been building all of this—for a hundred years?"
I was amazed at how much money they had spent on a hypothetical event; it would be like drilling deep into the earth and living down there just in case an asteroid might possibly strike the planet.
Celine, Rina, Miguel, Dr. Caldwell, Lance, Darius, Mouse and Captain Barcelona had escaped alive and were currently with us. We had only half of our original number left; the Brotherhood attack and the Black Ops combat had cost us too much blood.
"More or less, yes. They started on Terra Nova, but expanded it as the population grew. It's an insane idea—"
"It's completely mental—"
"But it turned out well—very useful," Carstone finished, ignoring Mouse's offhand comment.
"Well, the probability of something like this happening is incredibly rare—"
"And yet, here we are, safe and sound in this subterranean bunker. Built by taxpayer money—something you probably wince at."
I had paid a lot of taxes before the apocalypse; it was kind of frustrating to know that a huge chunk of them went to a project that was, at most, Plan Z, a final plan in case all else failed.
We continued on into the complex, through a winding labyrinth of hallways and corridors, each with their own labels and signs. There were so many doors, too…some of them large, admitting access to other portions of the base, and some of them leading to small janitor's closets.
"How deep are we going?" I asked after more than ten minutes of walking.
"Deeper still. If you think this is a dinky little forward outpost, you're wrong—it's massive. We're going further down."
He led us to yet another cargo elevator, which descended at least a hundred feet. It was another five minutes of walking before we reached the main command center, buried deep beneath the safe haven of Cardinals' Point.
It was a large circular room, with a digital map of the entire landscape on a 10 foot by 4 foot table. It was pretty cliché that chairs surrounded it; it was like the President's emergency conference bunker, only a bit smaller than I had imagined. I had already spotted Inazawa; she stood out, her short hair jet black and her stature incredibly intimidating for a woman slightly more than five feet tall. I knew that she would be more than a match for Wycokrwyz.
"You're late, Carstone," she snapped as we entered.
"My apologies—"
"Don't apologize. Sit."
Carstone searched for some words, but he found none that would fit the situation; he sputtered a while, conceded the argument, and flopped down into the nearest chair.
"So…you are Leon Walker?"
"I—yes—"
"I have heard much about you. What is true, that is yet to be decided—however, I know for a fact that you possess a certain object that is called an 'ender pearl'…do you have it?"
As if on cue, Herobrine, who was following behind the entire group along with the Enderman, withdrew the pearl and held it aloft for all to see. Although Inazawa was interested, she was unimpressed.
"Interesting…it doesn't seem to be an object of great value…"
"Apparently it is, though—"
"I am very well aware of what events have transpired over this object," she snapped at me, silencing me instantly. "I know that you and your friends have suffered at the hands of the Loyalists…there are so many of you here, but I sense that you have lost many more…"
She returned the pearl to Herobrine; apparently, he seemed trustworthy enough to be the bearer of the Ender pearl.
"Well…I assume that you're filled in on current events, Mr. Walker?"
"Yes…ma'am," I sputtered, remembering to address her by her proper title. Carstone and the two other commanders were silent, as was the secretary sitting beside Commander Inazawa.
"Very good. So we can get straight to the root of the problems we are facing today."
She pushed some buttons and brought the map on the table up onto the nearest wall as a digital projection. Some more button-pushing and tapping on the screen occurred, and it zoomed into an area close to Terra Nova.
"Already, with Lithgow's death, Wycokrwyz has started her offensive. Battalions of tanks have crossed the Mellifluous Dunes and smashed our furthest outposts—"
"Mellifluous Dunes? Are they…er…mellifluous?"
Lance, who had been mostly silent, had dared to speak up. His question would have been valid, if it had not sounded kind of stupid. Surprisingly, Commander Inazawa smiled, the first time I had seen her do so.
"Well…in a way. We named them that because the sands are always shifting—the winds carry them, creating new dunes and changing the landscape every day. In a way, they are fluid—mellifluous…"
There were multiple markings on the map—lines, arrows, and squares, all with small lettering beside them.
"That's not important, however. What is important is this offensive—tanks have already rolled across the Dunes and into our forward bases. We don't know how well they've held up…"
"I outfitted most of the outposts with anti-armor weaponry. Anything Wycokrwyz sends, we'll be able to punch holes into it," Carstone spoke up. Instead of rebuking him for interrupting, Inazawa seemed pleased; I expected her to lash out at her commander.
"A pertinent move—something I should have ordered. Hopefully, it will be enough…"
"They could send a giant metal box at us, and we'd still have something that would break that armor," Carstone said haughtily.
Inazawa ignored this blatant show of hubris and continued with her presentation, zooming out once more. The arrows were moving; there were several of them arcing out of Terra Nova, towards small points on the map.
"Hopefully, our bases have held against whatever Wycokrwyz has thrown at them. We're sure that she hit hard and fast—something Lithgow was unable to do. If they've held, casualties will be high."
She zoomed out again, even further, and this time moved the focus of the map south. She zoomed in on a small town, nothing more than a miniscule blotch on the main map.
"Now…this is our main concern. Even if Wycokrwyz unleashes holy hell upon us…here is where we must focus our efforts."
Carstone seemed to have understood, but one of the other commanders spoke up, and he wasn't too pleased.
"Again…again here? We cannot keep diverting soldiers here, we've already lost thousands of fighters trying to hold that blasted town…I know it's important, but if we leave only skeleton crews in our desert outposts, our entire center will collapse, along with our lines of communication and—"
"The desert bases will hold, Commander Lannister," Inazawa hissed, glaring icily at the other general. He had been silenced now; his wavering gaze was fixed on Inazawa, and I could detect fear in his eyes from where I sat. "I know that you are concerned about them—but trust me, they are good men. They will hold."
"Of course, ma'am…"
"Now…if you will excuse me…I must introduce this critical town to our guests."
She pointed to the tiny blotch on the map and zoomed in further. The description said that it was home to no more than 2,000 people; by the large amount of markings, movement arrows, and casualty reports, I assumed that it was now a ghost town, and the center of a large battle.
"Jones County…the tiny township of Adelina, home to little more than 2,000 people. They've all moved out now, because of the fighting…but it's one hell of a hot point. Nameer has moved hundreds of fighters and gun emplacements in, Loyalist armor and infantry battalions control the eastern side, and we've got dozens of platoons dug into the far northwestern part of town. All because of what is at the center…"
She pointed to the large building at the center of Adelina; it was shaped like a pyramid, with two towers at the entrance and a smaller tower at the top center.
"A temple…an ancient structure…"
"What do you mean…ancient?"
It was Caldwell who spoke up this time.
"What do I mean? Ancient? It was…there when we first got here. The government had built the town around it for some reason. They just sort of ignored it—planted oak trees around the structure to hide it from sight. But we know that there's something important in there—well, we guess…"
"You guess? What's your proof? Maybe it's just some useless old relic—"
"It's about the Withers…those things in the south. You were briefed on them, correct?" Inazawa asked Caldwell, who politely nodded.
"They…seem to be attracted to it. We've observed both the Withers and the raspers…they'll fight anything living, destroy it, as you well know. But when they get near that temple…they simply become passive. It's as if they went into some sort of coma and they just wander around aimlessly…they don't even respond to being attacked, they just wander. And if they wander away from the temple, they become aggressive once more. Sound important enough to you, Doctor?"
"Sounds like something I don't wish to get involved with…"
"If the High Commander thinks that it's worth hundreds of soldiers, then it probably is. She's definitely on to something—if there's anything in there, it might be the key to stopping these…Withers…"
Commander Carstone seemed rather uneasy while saying the name; it reminded me of something I had heard while bumming in Coastal City, a good word of advice.
Fear of a name only increases fear of that thing…don't be afraid to say the name, it will only make that thing more terrifying…
"The Loyalists will bring the hammer down hard. But they must sense there's something important about Adelina—else they wouldn't be stationing so many troops there. If the war shifts anywhere, it will be there…"
She returned the map to its resting place in the center of the table with a simple flick of her hand. It disappeared from the wall almost instantly.
"This is all settled then. Commander Carstone, I want you to return to Omega-245. The largest garrison rests there…see to the reinforcement of other outposts as necessary, and make sure that as many as possible hold. Commander Lannister, I'm deploying you and your units to the Dunes—use your armor wisely, try to take the Loyalist tank brigades by surprise and do some damage…"
The other commanders saluted, and were dismissed. There was a general exodus from the room; everyone except Celine, Lance, Miguel and myself were allowed to go. Commander Inazawa was not done with us yet, however.
"You four. I wanted you to stay afterwards because I have an assignment for you. And just you four."
She waited until everyone else was down the hall and out of earshot before closing the door.
"What—"
"I wish to ask all of you something—I have been told that you all have certain combat skills that make you most useful. I have heard about your actions back in Langsford Peak—nothing short of impressive, I might say."
"And how is this relevant—"
I saw what she was doing almost immediately; she was sending us south, separating us from the rest of the group…trying to test our mettle, see how we performed in combat…
"You…you're deploying us, aren't you?"
"Well, yes…all four of you in the same unit—"
"There's no damn way we're doing that," I grit my teeth. "We just left hell behind us…none of us want to go back. We want to rest, we want a reprieve, a requiem if you must call it that—"
"If we don't hold this town, there might be no reprieve at all," Inazawa hissed, her tone nothing short of extremely irritated. "Now I realize what you've been through—all of you have suffered greatly at the hands of the Loyalists. If events had taken a different turn, you would be here to relax—"
"But instead, you're using us as pawns? Is that correct?"
It had never occurred to me that I was being exceptionally disrespectful to the woman who was now in command of me; I was trying to give my followers a breather, some time for them to nurse their wounds and overcome the grief of losing close friends. Inazawa didn't snap, or unleash her fury at me; she stayed calm, trying to show me her side of the story, as unprejudiced as possible.
"Well…that is one way that we are using you. I'll be honest—many of our civilians and even some of our trained soldiers see you as a messiah. You're a gift from Notch, a man sent from heaven to turn the war around. You have no idea how much people look up to you, Leon Walker…"
"I think I—"
"No, you don't," Inazawa hissed again, baring her shining white teeth. "You have no idea what you mean to them…they lost their homes, their families, everything they've treasured, and their own government is trying to destroy them piecemeal. You come with something that contains great power—it has the power to build, and at the same time destroy. We can build ourselves back to our former glory, and destroy our enemies with the pearl…"
"It's a weapon that no man can harness, it's far too powerful—"
"Even if we can't harness it—I see what you mean, so much power that one cannot control it—even if we cannot use it, it still is a powerful object in our hands. Something like that gives hope to our people—you've brought that hope over, and you've become a near legend amongst many. Tales of your combat prowess have spread…many of them are exaggerated, of course."
"So…you are using me as propaganda?"
I was now aware that I was being rather pointed and rude; but Inazawa persevered, and I had a feeling that she would be less accepting of disrespect from her actual captains.
"We are. If people saw you out on the battlefield—fighting off Loyalist forces, leading our boys into combat—it would bring morale way up. You inspire so many…you've killed dozens of their elite soldiers, brought an ancient relic into our hands, and refused to side with the Loyalists. You're as close as one can be to a hero—if you go out there, and people know you're fighting on our side, it will make the difference between victory and defeat."
That was one hell of a way to put it; I felt that she was exaggerating, but she had a valid point. If I was that inspirational, it would certainly make a difference in morale, and provide a hearty boost to it.
"There is no yes or no—I'm giving you an order, Mr. Walker. But I want you to know why."
"Yes…ma'am."
"I know that you and your friends have suffered greatly…but believe me, if we don't strike now, there will be no later…"
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Those words haunted me the rest of the day and into the night; the news that I received the next time I talked to Carstone and Inazawa was gut-wrenching.
Out of the ten outposts circling Terra Nova and the Dunes, six of them had fallen to Loyalist armor columns, and the other four were besieged. Other Loyalist armor columns had severed several supply and communications lines, and information coming in was slow. We had no idea if any other outposts had fallen or not; as night fell, I became even more nervous about being deployed tomorrow.
I'm a propaganda tool…nothing more than that…
You heard what she said. It will be a great morale boost…they look up to you, the soldiers admire you…
I'm a pawn, and nothing more. They only care about the pearl…just care about that goddamn pearl…
When I woke up in the morning, Celine was in bed with me; she must've slipped in after I had fallen asleep. We were supposed to depart at around 5 AM; I had woken up an hour early, most likely due to anxiety.
"Trouble sleeping?"
To my surprise, Celine was wide awake; she turned over to me, her brilliant blond hair disheveled and her bright eyes gleaming in the light of the alarm clock.
"Sort of…I'm just nervous…same with you?"
"I couldn't sleep too well…Rina's really upset because Miguel's leaving again, Dr. Caldwell has insisted on taking Mouse and himself with us…I got maybe two hours in?"
"You look just fine," I grumbled, pulling her closer.
"I won't later," she giggled, wrapping her arms around me. "Not enough sleep…I'll be paying the price later, I guess."
She didn't seem too unhappy about it; rather optimistic, considering we were departing for a warzone in an hour.
"I haven't heard from Notch lately…"
I hadn't mentioned the voice in my head for a while now; since Herobrine was present, and had confirmed the existence of our Creator, I was no longer "crazy", per se; but I avoided any mention of my contact with him.
"You…haven't been speaking to him, you mean?" Celine asked, rising out of bed. Tiny beams of sunlight were peering through the window pane that overlooked our bed; we had been allowed to stay in one of the administrative suites in the bunker before our deployment.
"Well, he hasn't been speaking to me. I can't send messages to him, I don't know how…but I haven't been receiving anything lately. Odd."
I rose out of bed as well; we needed to be ready before five, and we had less than fifty minutes left. I wanted to be early, just in case.
"Well, there must be a reason. Right now, we have more important things that demand our attention," Celine said as she strolled into the bathroom. "I call shower first."
I didn't contest her call; she shut the bathroom door firmly behind her just as Herobrine and the Ender father walked in, followed by Commander Carstone.
"I'm sorry to wake you at this hour, Leon—"
"He would've been up, anyway. He'll deploy in an hour," Carstone spoke roughly, tossing me two sets of military fatigues.
"Are these—"
"You'll be wearing them, yes. They've got special insignias so you can part yourselves from the infantry pukes…you won't want to be with those bastards, they're a rough bunch. I'm deploying down to Adelina anyway, so you'll be under my command."
"And we're…captains, correct?"
"No, you're not," Carstone gently corrected. "You've been branded 'special operations'…not like black ops. You're there for morale purposes mostly…Inazawa gave you the talk, didn't she?"
"Unfortunately," I muttered.
"Well, that's the main reason. But she also wants you there for your fighting skills—that's why she deployed your other friends along with you. She thinks you'll make a good cohesive unit, and you will have some kind of commanding powers once you're established with your regiment."
I checked out the uniforms; they both wore special insignias on them, denoting us as the rank of "Warrant Officer".
"Consider yourselves lucky. Inazawa rarely gives out promotions—you got them completely free. I'll see you on the tarmac, Officer."
He left the room, leaving Herobrine and the Ender father behind.
"How have you two been getting along? With the base personnel, I mean—"
"They seem to accept us for who we are. It's not friendly, but they're not outright hostile," the Ender father answered matter-of-factly. Herobrine, who still possessed the pearl, seemed concerned, and was very fidgety.
"We're coming with you, Leon—"
"Hero? Is there something wrong?" I asked him in the middle of his sentence. He stuttered briefly.
"Well…it's my brother—"
"You can't get ahold of him, can you?"
"Er—how did you know?" Herobrine asked, his white eyes blazing curiously. He twiddled his fingers idly while he stood there, sword sheathed at his hip.
"He hasn't spoken to me, either…remember, we share communications with him."
"Yeah, I had forgotten that you can hear him too…it's really disturbing, to have communication with him for hundreds of years and just to lose it in the blink of an eye," Herobrine commented dryly, snapping his fingers for effect.
"Maybe he hasn't found us yet…does he need to know where we are?"
"No, no…it's his world; he could find us within seconds and contact us. I'm afraid that it's something else, something that he did not make…"
Herobrine wandered back outside, muttering incoherently to himself. Before the Enderman left, he reminded me that he and Hero were accompanying us to Adelina.
"It gives us something to do, and Herobrine will be able to watch over you there. He requested to escort you himself, and Inazawa gave him the thumbs up."
The Ender father waved goodbye before leaving the room; although he was still mournful over the loss of what little family he had left, his mood had improved since we left Langsford Peak. He was more positive now, and slightly less murderous.
They left with perfect timing; the bathroom door opened just slightly, and a rather flustered Celine poked her face out, blushing furiously.
"I…uh…didn't have any clothes…and I didn't get my…er…uniform…"
Her words failed her, and I handed her the military fatigues that belonged to her. She sheepishly accepted the set, taking them in both hands while staying behind the door as much as possible.
"Thanks…er…yeah…"
She shut the door with a heavy slam, and I couldn't help but laughing. These might have been the final moments we would spend together; no matter how awkward they were, I enjoyed them as much as possible. We had half an hour before we deployed; I prayed that we would come out of Adelina alive, and that we could find what the hell was inside of that temple…