Special Thanks to my friend Joey who co-authored this chapter by typing "thousand" in there somewhere. Stay awesome bro, you da man.
Alright random silly shoutouts aside I'm working on a tip that I got from Crosshair regarding character detail. Since we're now ten chapters in it isn't easy to fix without going back and editing things, and I'd rather not have you all go back and re-read things. (Because I know I'D hate it.) So over the next few chapters better descriptions of outfits and whatnot will be rolling out. Keep up the tips guys, everything helps.
As for timing once again I dropped the ball. I've been focusing more on drawing and art since my eventual goal is creating some cool 2D animations. But a few hundred words on the bus to and from school and chapters get done eventually right?
Reviews:
Unkown Soul - YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHH! Ass kicking! That was awesome! And an actual action scene that was well thought out. I think Black just got the shock of her life. Wonder what exactly she figured out there. Or am I just reading too much into it? And really, THAT ENDING is just too much, I burst out laughing when I read that. But really, you have a thing for giant cliffhangers, don't you? Lets admit it, that happend to all of us at some point :D
A thing for cliffhangers you say? Me? Naw couldn't be. :P Glad you liked it though. I must avoid saying anything about this chapter, even though I REALLY want to.
BlueSkYes – "You see we're not actually from here. We're, like, from another world.."
"Say what mothafuka?"
I turned on my laptop earlier today and checked , and literally flipped over three tables, bounced off five walls and knocked over three glass vases while squealing with excitement at the same time when I seen that this fanfic had updated. Plus within a month! I shall now reward you with a cookie for not leaving me hanging for too long (_)
YAY COOKIES! So yeah the longer comments are coming out so I gotta cut them a bit when I post 'em. But that aside I hope your eyes aren't too bloodshot. Wanted to do something else with this chapter but my mind simply couldn't do it. Of course now I think I've fixed that for eleven… BONZAIIII!
Crosshair - Okay, normally, I avoid alt-universe and OC heavy settings like this story... managing so many characters and at the same time building a new world is no task to take lightly, even in fanfiction. ESPECIALLY in fanfiction, in my opinion, if you want to write GOOD fanfiction.
But this one has caught my interest. I'm liking how you're making the OC's unique, but I'd suggest a bit more description of their appearances, subtle callbacks to their avatars to give them more presence and solidify their image in the reader's mind.
Crosshair I think you just poked a hole in my biggest problem in writing that I now have to fill with concrete. Seriously thanks. As I said above filling said hole will be a work in progress but I'll get there. As for Black's reactions, well see below.
Chapter Ten: Forging Connections
Day 3
Date: Sunday, January 23rd 2015
Location: Lefraneu Drive SE (Earth)
Time: 1:35am
Rick's brain was still registering what the hell was going on when the headphones were torn off his head and slammed onto the desk behind him. Whipping around in his seat, he expected to find himself face to face with his mother angry at him for staying up so late. Instead, he was staring at the face of his twenty-three year old big sister, still dressed in her black suit and tie that she wore to and from big business meetings. But instead of getting angry right away, something else came to mind.
"What the hell Olivia! You weren't supposed to get here until tomorrow!" Olivia snorted in Ricks face.
"It is tomorrow silly." Olivia moved behind Rick and locked his head in her left arm, using her right to grind a fist into the top of his head. "So what the hell do you think you're doing playing BRSO without me?" Rick's fear and shock were quickly replaced with amusement and relief.
Olivia stood at five foot eight, a mere two inches taller than Rick, sharing the same light brown hair and hazel eyes. Although her hair was slightly longer than his, reaching down to a few inches past her shoulders, letting her take on a more feminine charm that she used to her advantage. If given a choice her hair would be as short if not shorter than Rick's.
"Ow ow ow alright I get it!" Rick protested as he wiggled his way out of his sisters grip and spun his chair around. "Sorry we couldn't wait but with all the rumors about there about inactivity punishments we didn't want to risk it." Olivia waved him off.
"Believe me I know. I'm not a big fan of the idea but it wasn't up to me. Don't worry about it, a coworker called me after I landed saying that over fifteen hundred players got booted today." Rick raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't think it was that bad."
Olivia sighed and leaned against the wall and stared out the window. "Yeah, I caught some of the live streams on the flight home. Roughly eight thousand Guardians against a massive Thilan army, most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time. Of course it would have ended up a tragedy if some idiots hadn't managed to steal one of those TAT's." Olivia shook her head. Rick felt the corners of his mouth rising. He tried to hold back but he couldn't help but grin wildly much in the way that DJ would. How many people saw that brilliant and beautiful carnage?
"So what were you doing in that mess?" Olivia asked looking right at Rick. "I'll bet you and your friends charged in and racked up one of the highest body counts after those tanks blew… up…" Olivia grew quiet and simply stared at Rick when she noticed his wide grin. "Oh god dammit Rick are you serious? How the hell did you manage to steal a tank on the first day?"
"We broke into one of their factories and blew the whole thing up of course." Rick answered, resulting in Olivia letting out another sigh.
"Geez I miss all the good stuff. So where are you at now?" Olivia proceeded to push herself off the wall and look over Rick's shoulder as he turned back to his monitor, which showed his Guardian staring at an empty wall as the rest of the team – Black included – were probably discussing what had happened to him. He had been lucky that Olivia hadn't shown up when he was in the middle of the fight against the Thilan Elites, although he doubted she would have distracted him then. His sister might love to pull practical jokes and tease him on a daily basis, but never actually do anything to cause real damage.
"In an underground bunker with our beat up TAT." Rick explained. "We were planning on leaving it there and reporting back to the base to log off for the night." Rick grinned and looked up at Olivia.
"If you had gotten here a half hour ago you could have witnessed Colin go "BONZAIIII" on the Thilan."
"Man I would have paid to see that again." Olivia laughed. "Well I should let you get back to it, don't want you staying up all night when we're going to play all day tomorrow." She stepped back from the desk and walked out the door.
"You're really counting on a high death toll aren't you?" Rick laughed. Olivia turned around and gave him a thumbs-up before closing the door.
Rick was glad his sister was back. Since she landed a job as a programmer for BRS Online, she had been stuck at the office for the last three years, only able to return home for the winter holidays and even then it was only for a few hours at a time. For Rick it hadn't been nearly enough time.
Olivia had not only been Rick's big sister, but also his best friends for his entire childhood. He still remembered the times where they would sit in the family room for hours playing with wooden blocks creating cities, making up rules and laws, and then tearing it all down when the giant monster came from the depths of the sea.
In their teenage years they found that they both enjoyed playing video games, and would often spend hours on their Gamebox working out how to best one another. Olivia usually won but Rick enjoyed trying all the same. The few occasions where he would win were followed by good natured punches and roughhousing, with the occasional fight and make-up a few hours later.
By the time Rick got into high school they were both playing online games, and their desire to compete with each other had evolved into a fierce online war with the rest of the world. By this time Rick had met Sarah, Colin, and Scott, but he and Olivia were the group's aces. He was known for his quick on-the-spot decision making while his sister for her fierce, unrelenting and calculated aggression. A common title on the online forums was the Rush Queen. They knew and trusted each other so well that they often didn't have to say a word in a fight. They could read each other's in game actions so well that verbal communication was unnecessary.
Their bond was also what drove Rick to study code and learn programming. The way Rick saw it, if they could work together this well playing a game, why couldn't they work together to make one too?
Still, it was good to have her home again. And with BRSO finally released, they would have more time to spend destroying Thilan. Perhaps to solve the mystery of the Keepers too.
BRSO
Slipping on his headset returned control of White's body, as well as his in-game senses. The worried faces of his friends quickly turned to sighs of relief as he smiled and waved. Then he noticed that Black wasn't smiling nor sighing. In fact she looked just as panicked as she had moments earlier.
"So has anyone been able to figure out why she's so freaked out?" White asked still watching the Keeper with a concerned expression. Winston shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. She's remained silent in that shocked state ever since our friend opened up his mouth."
"I said I was sorry!" DJ cried out. "It was a simple slip of the tongue! Just forget I said anything." Rose let out a sigh.
"I doubt a certain someone will see it that way you dunce." Rose turned her head and gave White a questioning look and quickly changed the subject. "So what happened to you?"
"Olivia's home." White answered bluntly. "She gave me a hard time about being online without her. I'll explain more later." White told Rose with a glance at Black. Rose gave a small nod signaling that she got the message. There was no point in further upsetting Black with continued discussion of real world events.
"So what now?" DJ asked before looking at Black. "I don't know if I want to leave her alone like this." Black, while not looking like she had managed to stop thinking about whatever was bothering her, snapped out of her silent state.
"I will be fine here by myself. Go report back to the General." Black assured with a strained voice. White nodded and began to take off his jacket before Black suddenly looked up and gave him a hard stare.
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving these with you." White explained.
"No, you're no good to me if you get killed because you are unarmed." White wanted to protest further, but realized that it would serve no purpose. Nodding, White left his equipment on and stood up and began walking down the ramp and towards the bunker exit, stopping halfway to steal one last glance at Black before heading up the spiral ramp that led back to the surface.
The way back up was a lot slower than the way down, and White could say that he much preferred the Liberator over walking on foot. He began hating the realism of BRSO and how long it was taking to walk from place to place, and it didn't take five minutes for White to grow tired from the day's events. If they were going to have to do this walk every day to go back to the base, White was going to start planning to be done with ops a little sooner.
No one spoke as they walked, it had been a long day with enough events to last a week. It seemed like years ago when they first got the harness for the White Rock Cannon from Riho, hard to imagine it had been a little over twelve hours since then. With the destruction of the Thilan factory, the battle for Zina, and the encounter with Black, they had probably experienced more events in a day than most MMO gamers get in a year.
But still White was worried. While it was natural for him to connect with the characters he met in games, he had never felt anything like the concern he felt for the girl they had left in the Liberator. It was like he was worried about a real living, breathing person. White wondered f he was finally crossing into obsession territory or if the characters were just that well designed. It had crossed his mind a few times before and it was crossing his mind now. If White didn't know better, he would have mistaken BRSO for reality.
"Kind of odd don't you think?" Winston said out of nowhere, breaking the silence.
"What's odd?" Rose asked.
"That Black reacted when we mentioned that all of this was a game. Normally NPC's don't react to those topics."
"This is BRSO bro." DJ replied stretching his hands and resting them on the back of his head. "You know that everyone is programmed to treat this like reality."
"Yes but most people would simply call us crazy and lose trust in us. Black looked like she figured something out." White realized that there was something in Winstons reasoning. Either Black should have labeled them as mentally unstable right there or the fact that they controlled the bodies from another world would be common knowledge. The fact that Black looked as panicked as she did meant that something else was going on.
"So what are you saying?" DJ asked warily.
"I don't know yet." Winston answered honestly. "But I feel that there is more going on in this game that we don't know about."
"Could it be the grand quest of BRSO?" Rose wondered.
"Honestly, too tired to think about it." DJ moaned. "I'm ready to hit the sack."
"Yeah good point." Rose yawned. "We can think about it more in the morning."
"So what about Olivia?" DJ asked. "You said she got home. I thought we wasn't supposed to get back until tomorrow."
"Technically it is after midnight." Winston pointed out.
"Is it seriously? Damn I didn't realize we'd been playing for this long."
"Didn't your sister buy BRSO?" Rose asked.
"She had a copy given to her by the company but she was placed one thousand on the waiting list to keep it fair." White answered.
"Well I can safely say that more than a thousand people died in today's carnage." DJ replied with a snort of laughter.
"Will she be joining us?" Winston asked. White nodded.
"The Rush Queen's glorious return!" DJ shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "Aww yeah we're getting the band back together!"
"How long is your sister staying for?" Rose asked.
"Hopefully for a full month." White answered. "And then after that she said that'd she'd be free evenings.
The group continued onward with renewed energy continuing to trade banter and jokes centered around the return of the Rush Queen until they reached the base. White had made sure to radio in a few minutes before they arrived to prevent any accidents. They didn't need their evening ending with one of them shot by a Sanctuary Guard thinking they were leftover Thilan on a suicide run.
White had hoped to head right for the Guardian House and log off, but instead they came face to face with Colonel Beals, who congratulated them on a successful mission and informed them that the General wanted to debrief them before they turned in for the night. The order was quickly met with groans followed by a sharp retort from the Colonel threatening to send them all to do a hundred laps around the perimeter. No one said much after that.
Beals led them through the littered and bloody courtyard. Light blue bodybags littered the space close to the heavily damaged walls of the base. Closer to the center were soldiers and Guardians alike with injuries that stretched from scratches to missing limbs sitting on rubble, fallen crates, and laying down on makeshift beds. The sounds of screaming, crying, and shouting could be heard on occasion as doctors did what they could. The whole scene was too much for Rose, who had to cover her ears to try and block it out.
It wasn't just bodies and the wounded either, Beals informed them that somewhere in the heat of battle one of the Thilan TAT's got off a final shot and broke through the base's shields and hit one of the weapon warehouses. The explosion caused massive damage to multiple parts of the base and created some irreparable damage to some of their heavier weapons, and the train tracks were destroyed from the station to three miles outside the city. The army had managed to create a makeshift station there but it still meant that any traffic to and from Obroseon was going to be delayed for a bit.
After crossing the courtyard Beals led them into a large, dome-like structure in the center of the compound where they were quickly flooded by sounds of computers, typing, and orders being shot out rapid fire from a powerful deep voice. To White, it seemed like the command center was a war zone of its own, and he couldn't imagine the stress that the general was under to keep the situation under control. The Colonel weaved them through the crowd until they approached an elderly, yet tall and muscular man wearing a well decorated uniform standing on a raised circular platform that let him easily look out into the sea of bodies. This, White assumed, was General Caelus.
"Someone get me a status update on that train schedule! We're going to need reinforcements ASAP if we want even a lick of hope defending this base!"
"General Caelus." Beals said, getting the Generals attention.
"Ah, so this is the great Squad Keeper that saved all our lives. You have my thanks, without you I doubt we'd be here right now."
"Just happy we could help sir." White replied with a grin.
"Yes well, if you'll follow me into the conference room we can discuss what's next." The General stepped down from his platform and led the five of them into a circular room with an octagonal table, each side with two chairs. The table was well polished and looked expensive with matching chairs. Despite this being a front line base, they had clearly not held back on the luxuries.
"Please have a seat." Taking the Generals invitation, White sat down in one of the chairs close to the door back out. DJ took the seat next to him with Rose and Winston taking the pair of seats to their left. The General took the lone chair at the head of the table with Colonel Beals on his left.
"Well done today, not only did you take out the Thilan tank factory you secured enemy technology and even used it to turn the tide of battle. I must say that I'm deeply impressed, especially considering how much of a failure the other Guardians were." White wasn't surprised at the Generals low opinion of the Guardians. After all it was only the first day and no one really had a chance to figure out the game. Even White and the rest of the team would have ended up dead if it wasn't for Black's intervention.
"How many casualties?" Rose asked in a quiet voice. The General sighed before replying.
"Roughly six thousand soldiers and three thousand Guardians, and that's only our initial tallies."
"Three thousand Guardians!?" DJ exclaimed. "Holy shit!"
"Yes it would appear that those politicians back in the capital are still wasting public tax dollars." The General agreed with a growl, which sent a surge of annoyance through White. "But that aside, where is the TAT now?"
"We hid it in an underground bunker about a mile east of here. It's badly damaged and needs repair." Winston reported.
"That's what you get for being so reckless." Colonel Beals muttered just loud enough for them to hear. The General grunted but other than that ignored the remark.
"Very well, I'll send some engineers to get it up and running tomorrow morning. We're going to need that TAT up and running if we want to push the Thilan back."
"Push the Thilan back?" White repeated. General Caelus nodded.
"That's right son. We may have taken a beating but the Thilan in his sector are weaker than they've ever been. We need to take the opportunity to remove them from the capital while before reinforcements arrive."
"I assume there is a plan." Winston guessed. Beals nodded.
"We'll go over the details once your new toy is fixed, but let's just say that we're putting you Guardians through the grinder." So they need to see if we're even worth having around. White figured. Great, so that means a suicide mission.
"Get some sleep Guardians, you're going to need it." The General stood up, a signal that we should do the same. "Dismissed." The General and Colonel quickly exited the room, leaving the four of them alone in the conference room. With the General planning on sending engineers to the TAT first thing in the morning White wanted to talk with the team, but he figured that the conference room was recording anything they said. Waving his friends, he led them through the crowd of the command center back outside and walked to the Guardian house near the southwestern wall. The house looked like a twelve by twelve box with a dome roof on the top, so White figured that the rooms must extend deep underground to fit so many Guardians inside.
The inside of the surface level dome wasn't nearly as impressive as the Guardian House in Obroseon. The walls were a plain metallic color and the fancy counter had been swapped with a fold-up table with a laptop.
"Squad Keeper checking in." White declared when he got in front of the table. The man sitting at the desk looked up briefly before punching some commands into his holographic laptop.
"Room 788 bottom floor." The man stated while holding up a white card key, which White took and placed in his pocket and entered the box elevator on the right side of the room. "I must say that I expected more from you Guardians." White whipped around and glared at the man, and caught that he wasn't even playing attention before the doors closed and the elevator dropped downward.
"Geez things really didn't go well today." DJ observed. "For everyone else that is."
"It's not surprising that the players didn't do that well today, after all the game has only been out for one day." Winston pointed out.
"I'm more worried about Black. She won't be expecting the engineers to show up." Rose pointed out.
"How early can you get on tomorrow Rose?" White asked.
"Assuming I get to bed at a good time tomorrow? I can be up in a few hours."
"Good, then you'll be the one to warn Black about the engineers." White ordered. "The rest of us will meet with you as soon as we can. In the meantime let's get us a good night's rest, tomorrow is going to be another busy day." Everyone nodded in agreement. Whatever came next, it was probably going to end up either a massive success or their most epic failure.
Day 3
Date: Sunday, 1st Month, 23rd day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)
Location: Abandoned Bunker, The Liberator
Time: Roughly 9:20 S.S.T. (Standard Sanctuary Time)
Black Rock Shooter
Black couldn't remember being so happy. She was sitting across the table from her sister, each of them eating large plate of Obroseon's special extra spicy curry. They hadn't shared a moment like this in years, with the pair of them being on other ends of the continent dealing with pockets of Thilan.
But now they were finally back together. Sharing a meal and catching up with each other, a cloudless sky allowing the sunlight to shine through the window and warm her skin, giving her a fuzzy, peaceful feeling that she hadn't let herself feel since she was eight. Black looked over her sister. This was the first time she had seen her in casual clothes. White wore her white jacket over a light blue T shirt with a picture of a rock cannon on the front of it. Her white handbag was slung over the back of the chair, but for some reason Black couldn't make out its features.
Suddenly, White burst out laughing. Although she didn't know exactly why, Black felt elated. She wished this moment could go on forever, just the two of them talking and being together without a care in the world. No worrying about a Thilan ambush, or a landmine somewhere in the street. It was just the two of them and a large plate of curry.
Then the bomb went off. Everything exploded and both of them were thrown out of their seats and through the glass window. Black could feel shards of glass shredding her to ribbons, and her right side ached with pain. She tried to call out to her sister but the words wouldn't form. It was like she had suddenly lost not only her voice but the will to stand up as well. Then she heard laughter.
Crazy, maniacal laughter, that could only come from those who were mentally ill. Black found just enough strength within her to lift her head and look through the shattered glass and look into the blue eyes of her sister. No, not her sister. While this person shared many of the same features as White, her jacket, her cannon, her eyes and her pure white hair, this person was a man.
And in his arms was a bloodied White, laying there limp in the man's arms and not breathing. Black tried screaming again but like before the words wouldn't form, the tears wouldn't flow, and worst of all her eye-flame wouldn't ignite. It was like Black was trapped in her own body, unable to do anything, unable to save her sister, and unable to kill the man who took her place.
Black was jolted awake in a pool of sweat gasping hard and her right hand clutching her chest. Slowly she came back to the real world and realized that everything had been a nightmare. Her sister was still dead, she was still powerless to stop those around her from being hurt, and she had let the Guardians take the place of her family. It made her wonder if the real world was the actual nightmare.
It took a few moments for Black's heart to stop racing and for her to calm down enough to start moving. At first Black wondered why she was wearing her standard combat uniform instead of her cotton long sleeve shirt and pants that served as her night clothes before remembering that she wasn't back in the Keeper Facility.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Black sat there with her head in her hands. It was unusual for her to dream, even more so for her to feel this much emotion without being able to control it. Tonight had been the first night she'd dreamed at all since White died, and the pain didn't seem to have diminished at all. Black began to wonder if it was because Whitestar was still alive.
Whitestar, the other Guardians, it all came crashing back in an instant. The realization that they were all children from another world playing what to them was a simple game. So on top of turning us into a science experiment they had to go and turn over the fate of Blue Rift to a bunch of children? Black knew that she couldn't be any older than they were, but unlike the Guardians she had spent her whole life training and preparing to fight the Thilan.
But who's to say that the Guardians weren't the same? After all Squad Keeper had stolen a T.A.T., a feat never before accomplished in the history of the war. On top of that they had blown up a T.A.T. factory and saved Firebase Zina single handedly. Whatever else she believed about them she had to admit, they were nearly if not as good as the Keepers themselves.
Black still couldn't allow herself to forget what their arrival had done, how much pain their arrival had caused. She could get over their age and where they were from, but she wasn't ready to fully accept them, not until they had proved that their skills could be used properly, and not just for being tools of the council. Especially Whitestar, who had yet to prove himself. If he makes a single false step I'll kill him. Black promised to herself.
But at the same time she couldn't think about killing Whitestar so soon, she still needed him to free the other Keepers. Her mind and heart were torn. She wanted to honor her sisters memory but she wasn't sure which option would be best, killing Whitestar or working with him to free the other Keepers. Everything before now in her life had been, well, black and white. Never before now had she had to deal with gray. Black didn't know how to deal with it.
The only thing's she had been taught were to kill Thilan and stand by her fellow Keepers no matter what. But neither of those core lessons gave her a clue as to what she should do. Logically, it made the most sense to work with the Guardians. But at the same time how could she work with people that had indirectly caused them all so much pain?
Then there was her realization of the Guardian's origins. From what DJ had said last night Black had a feeling that they hadn't been lab grown or selected from the Blue Rift population like she had first thought. From everything that had been said the night before, Black was almost certain that the Guardians were being controlled from another world.
Back when Black was still in the underground Keeper facility, she had overheard a few scientists discussing some kind of portal to connect with other worlds. At the time she had totally ignored the conversation, but now she was wishing she had paid more attention. If it is true, Black thought, then Squad Keeper may not be composed of anything more than children looking for a good time. That thought scared her more than anything; that the fate of Blue Rift Sanctuary had been left in the hands of a bunch of children who didn't really care about what happened to them.
But before Black could get too much farther into her thoughts, she heard the rear door unlatch and slowly open. Almost by instinct, Black was on her feet with rock cannon pointed right at the entrance. Had the Thilan managed to find the hidden TAT, or had the Sanctuary army come to collect their prize. Black realized that it was possible that Squad Keeper had sold her out. I should have kept one of them hostage. Black realized, probably too late.
However all of her fears were proved to be wrongly placed when Black realized that it was just Rose. Despite her mind still racing, most of her emotions had been pushed to the back of her mind, and Black lowered her cannon without so much as blinking. Rose on the other hand, looked a little shocked to have Black's weapon pointed at her at all.
"How long have you been up?" Rose asked quickly walking past Black and lowering another one of the beds to sit on. Black didn't answer, the memory of her nightmare left her feeling wary of the Guardians, and therefore there was no point in conversation that didn't have to do with a mission or freeing the Guardians.
From the look of things, Rose had been wearing the same uniform from the day before as well. Long dark pink sweatpants, pink military grade boots, and a heavy black sweatshirt with a hot pink sniper rifle embedded in the back of it, partly obscured thanks to her real rifle, which was less pink and more black. Her entire outfit made her look slightly bigger, thanks to the light armor that was no doubt hidden within the clothing itself.
"Don't tell me you've been up all night. You might be a Keeper but you still need to sleep." Rose let out an amused snort followed by a grin. "If you collapse on the battlefield you know that DJ's gonna flip out."
"Why do you care so much?" Black blurted, and immediately wished she could take it back. She cursed herself. Black had allowed her mental barrier to weaken from the nightmare the night before, and she couldn't let that happen, especially in the presence of a Guardian.
The sudden question caught Rose's attention, and at first she seemed a little surprised at the question, almost like she had expected Black to know already. But the look faded within a second, replaced by a thoughtful gaze, like she didn't quite know the answer herself.
"To be honest, I think each of us has our own reason to care. White does it because he believes it's the right thing to do. Winston because he can't stand injustice, and well, you know why DJ cares." Rose let out a sigh. "But deep down I think he believes it's the right thing too."
"What about you?" Black pressed with reluctance. She didn't want to continue this line of questioning, but since Rose was answering anyway it would let Black put her mind a little more at ease. "You are a child who isn't even from this world, so why do you do side with me and perform these treasonous actions?" Rose sat in silence for a few moments, leaning back on her hands with her gaze staring off into nothing.
"Probably because I've been in your shoes before." Black's eyes narrowed. The Guardians probably lived pampered lives somewhere peaceful and part of the upper class. How could someone like that – someone who lived like a daughter of a councilor – know how she felt?
"My mom served in the military, often times she was sent on dangerous assignments that we knew nothing about. Every time she left she promised she would come home, and then one day we were told she had died on an assignment." When Rose looked Black in the eye, Black wasn't ready for the same defeated, saddened, and pained look that had plagued her ever since White's death. She felt her mental barriers starting to break down without a hope of being restored.
"So when I heard that your sister had died and the story of the Keepers, I knew I couldn't sit on my sorry ass while another family was torn apart because of some stupid war. That I had to get up and do something about it. That's why I care." Black noticed that Rose's hands were clutched into tight fists, and for the first time since that night in the arena, Black felt like she had a true ally. In that moment she didn't care that Rose was a Guardian, only that there was someone in the world that wasn't telling her to forget about her sister and move on. Someone who knew the pain of losing someone close. Black didn't know what to say, if there was even anything to be said in the first place. Black felt Rose's hands on her shoulders.
"I get it; you don't have a reason to trust us. We're new, we stole your job, and we're probably the last people on the planet you want to work with. But give us a chance to help make it right." All Black could do was nod. "Good! Now get some sleep, we're going to have a very busy day today."
Laying back down on the bed, Black tried to get some more sleep. This time however, Black's rest was undisturbed.
Three Hours Later…
Black woke up to shouting, not right next to her but somewhere off in the distance. Her eyes snapped open and she quickly sat up, only to find Rose shaking her head and sighing. Black realized that it must be the rest of Squad Keeper.
"I wonder what those idiots are fighting about this time?" Black found the situation curious. She may have sparred against her fellow Keepers in the past, but they had never disagreed with one another. Debate over what decision to make was acceptable, but the rule was to never let emotion get involved. Black wondered how Squad Keeper were able to work so well together if they argued like this, and what was so important that shouting would be necessary. Black listened intently as they came3 within earshot.
"Dude, I'm telling you that I could easily handle two dozen Thilan on my own if I had both a rocket launcher and a chain gun!" A voice that Black recognized as DJ's shouted in annoyance. Black felt her eye twitch as she realized that they were fighting over something very insignificant.
"DJ I'm tell you as a friend, that there's no way. The Thilan aren't dumb enough to stand clustered together for the launcher! They'd just surround you and blast you to pieces!" This voice belonged to Whitestar.
"You're assuming that I'm dumb enough to stand in the middle of the street!" DJ countered.
"Of course not, but you could just as easily be surrounded inside a building too!" Whitestar reasoned. "And don't get me that 'I'll sit in a corner and camp' crap! You'd run out of food and water long before the Thilans would be desperate enough to charge at you."
"Who would even sit around for that long? They'd give up long before I'd starve!"
"The argument is pointless!" Rose shouted from the TAT's entrance. "Having both would slow you down so much my father could hit you!"
"Shut the hell up Rose!" DJ shouted angrily.
"How long have they been at it?" Rose asked Winston as they all entered the TAT.
"Ever since we logged on." Winston replied with a sigh. "There was quite the scene back at the base." Rose snorted. Black was finding it hard to focus on the important conversation with Whitestar and DJ shouting in the background.
"Damn, sorry I missed it. So where's the generals welcome committee?"
"About five minutes behind us, there was some kind of power failure and he couldn't send anyone." Winston replied as the background shouting got louder. Black couldn't stand it any longer.
"Hey! Both of you please shut the fu-" Rose was interrupted by Black leaping to her feet and whipping out her cannon.
"Your argument is irrelevant. Please focus on the task at hand before I force you to." Black's monotonous request was met with silence and surprised blinks, and after a few moments she was satisfied that their focus had been redirected off their stupid argument she holstered the weapon and sat back down. While Whitestar quickly got over Black's sudden commands, DJ remained wide-eyed as the pair lowered a bed of their own and took a seat.
"So you were saying something about a welcoming committee?" Whitestar asked. Winton raised an eyebrow at the shooter.
"I should have guessed you weren't paying attention."
"I'm sorry that I was trying to prevent my friend from getting killed!" Whitestar retorted sharply. Winston cleared his throat.
"In any case, General Caelus's engineers will be here within five minutes, we need to get Black out of here before they show up. The General doesn't know she's here and I'd rather keep it that way."
"Agreed." Whitestar stood up. "And since five minutes was about three minutes ago we'll have to hide Black somewhere in the bunker."
"Alright genius, where do you plan to hide her in a big empty bunker?" Rose asked with a glare. Whitestar rolled his eyes.
"You're not serious right? There's a bunch of crates behind us."
"There's like three tiny boxes under a tarp." Rose corrected monotonously.
"So Black hides under the tarp? I don't see the problem here." DJ shrugged.
"You expect Black to lay on the floor for four hours while those engineers work on the Liberator?" Rose said angrily. "Like hell."
"That will not be a problem." Black spoke up before the conversation deteriorated further. "Remaining still for long periods of time does not bother me."
"Not a chance in hell!" Rose replied immediately. "You're coming with us and that's final!"
"Rose would you mind elaborating why you feel so strongly about this?" Winston asked. "I'd expect this behavior from DJ but not you."
"Hey I'm sitting right here dipshit!"
"I don't like the idea of leaving Black alone here while we go out and get Olivia." Rose replied, ignoring DJ altogether.
"I think you're just tired of being the only girl in the group." Whitestar teased. Rose gave him a cold look.
"We're about to go pick up another girl you ass."
Whitestar shrugged. "Alright fine, but all the same you do have a point. If Black is going to work with us she should go too. If we don't know how we behave as a group and know each other's moves we're going to run into problems."
"We did fine yesterday." DJ remarked.
"Yeah but that's because it was our first time working together." Whitestar pointed out, confusing Black. Normally working together for the first time ended in disaster, so why would Whitestar say such a thing?
"Yeah yeah the whole team honeymoon theory." DJ grumbled. Black became even more confused but decided to dismiss the whole topic. The Guardians had their own ways of fighting that she would understand in time.
"Why are you even complaining? I thought you'd be thrilled at the idea of Black tagging along." Rose commented with amusement. DJ's eyes grew wide with shock, like he couldn't believe that Rose had just said that.
"Are you kidding? We can't just waltz out there with Black tagging along! Someone would recognize her!"
"He has a point." Winston agreed. "The story of a missing Keeper is most likely all over the news by now. She needs a disguise." With a small inward sigh, Black tucked her hair into her jacket and pulled her hood over her head. A moment of silence followed and Black could feel the gazes of the four Guardians on her attempt to hide her face.
"Yeah uhh…" DJ said while scratching his head. Winston shook his head and Black heard Rose sigh.
"Girl where did you learn the art of stealth?" Rose asked, taking off Black's hood and staring her right in the eyes with her hands on her hips. Rose's gaze wasn't threatening in any way, but rather filled with amusement.
"There is no need to disguise yourself when fighting Thilan." Black explained.
"Uh huh, yeah Winston can you grab that tarp from outside?" Whitestar asked, gesturing towards the open door with his thumb. With a nod, Winston jogged out of the TAT. Black glanced at Whitestar in confusion. But he wasn't paying any attention to her as he started looking around the TAT.
"DJ do we have any hidden compartments?" White asked. Now it was DJ's turn to look confused.
"What the hell for?"
"We need to hide Black's cannon." Black quickly realized what Whitestar had planned and jumped to her feet, pulling Black Blade from her jacket.
"No." was her simple answer. Whitestar rolled his eyes.
"Black you can't go walking around a Guardian train station wearing that. Trust me when I say that Guardians make connections for a living. If anyone sees that cannon they'll know who you are, disguise or not.
"I will not go without the Black Rock Cannon." Black replied firmly.
"Does it really matter?" Rose cut in before Whitestar could reply. "I mean, if she's going to be wearing the tarp anyway right?" Whitestar stopped and folded his arms, tapping one finger against his arm, considering the idea for a few moments before nodding.
"Alright fine, but she has to carry Winston's bag too, I don't want anyone figuring her out from the shape of the lump on her back." Black nodded, accepting Whitestar's plan as passable. "I'd also recommend removing your hair ties, the less you look like you the better." Black was reluctant at first, but went ahead and took out the small ties that kept her hair in messy pigtails and stowed them in an inside pocket of her jacket. Her hair fell flat, nearly reaching the back of her legs. Black was surprised her hair was so long, and she wondered how it hadn't gotten in her way before.
Rose nodded in approval but DJ seemed less pleased. "Does she have to change her hair?" DJ protested. Rose walked over and gave the Trooper a hard smack on the back of his head.
"Yeah you dunce, she does. Stay focused or I'll shoot you." Black's attention turned to the entrance when she heard the sound of footsteps coming up the ramp. Winston was holding a large gray tarp that could easily have hidden all five of them under it.
"That… might be a little big." Whitestar commented.
"Indeed." Winston agreed. "How tall do you believe Black is?"
"One-hundred fifty eight microunits." Black responded immediately out of habit. Once again she was met with silence, and Black realized they wouldn't know Sanctuary Standard Measurements.
"Looks about five feet." Whitestar said suddenly.
"Yup." Rose and DJ replied almost simultaneously. Winston, who was still holding the tarp, took out his knife and cut it roughly a hundred and fity microunits long and nearly twice her width and handed it to Black along with his bag.
"I'm afraid you'll have to hold it together, but this is all we can come up with for right now." Putting her hood back over her head, Black threw on Winston's bag before tossing the tarp over her shoulders and bringing it around her body like a towel. The tarp was rough, made of a tough plastic and smelled like rotten wood, but hopefully it would be enough to prevent anyone from recognizing her.
"Perfect, she looks like a homeless woman." DJ declared proudly. Black felt the rising urge to hit the Trooper.
"At least she hasn't had a shower in a few days, otherwise her face would look too clean." Rose commented with a smile of approval.
"Hello?" Black tensed up and looked at the ground when the unfamiliar voice echoed from outside the TAT.
"Showtime huh?" Whitestar whispered. "Who goes there?"
"Vehicle repair team sent by General Caelus. I've been told that we were expected." The voice answered.
"Perfect timing, we were just about to head for the train station to pick up a friend of ours." Whitestar replied with an upbeat one.
"Then you'll be heading to the train station?" A second voice asked with uncertainty in his voice. "But wasn't that destroyed in the battle yesterday?"
"General said they rigged up an alternate location." Whitestar explained. "We should only be gone for ten minutes or so. You think you can have this thing fixed by then?"
"Normally I'd say I'd be impossible." The first voice replied. "But we got another two dozen engineers coming in five. I wouldn't be surprised if we were done in an hour."
"Man the General really wants the Liberator moving again." DJ whistled.
"Without support from the capital, we've been without heavy weapons for months." The first voice explained. "This is the most powerful weapon we've got right now, and it's our job to get it back in fighting shape."
"Then we'll leave you to it." White replied, leading the group out of the TAT. Black kept her eyes on the pair of legs in front of her and followed the group out. She could sense the confused expressions of the engineers but they didn't ask any questions as they left the group silently walked past them and up the cylinder ramp towards the surface.
"Whew that was a close one!" DJ remarked once they were out of earshot and Black could raise her head again. "I think they were suspicious though, they were eyeing Black the whole time."
"They probably thought she was just a scavenger we picked up along the way." Winston guessed.
"You don't think they believe we took her as a pros-"
"Don't go there." Whitestar cut DJ off before he could finish, but it was too late. Black however, had managed to regain control of her emotions over the last few minutes and didn't react to DJ's slip of tongue.
"So how far out is the new station?" Rose asked.
"A few miles." Whitestar answered. "Olivia was already on the train when I woke up this morning. We'll meet her at the old station."
"Good, I don't want to go walking across that wasteland." DJ commented rolling his shoulders. "Driving by it once on the train was enough."
"So what do we say when people start asking about our cloaked friend?" Rose asked, keeping her gaze focused on Whitestar.
"We go with Winston's idea. We say that she's a scavenger we picked up while running away from the Thilan who wanted to help us out."
"Will Beals buy that?" Rose asked in surprise. "Or even let her stick with us if he does?" Whitestar replied with a shrug.
"Remember that the Councilor said we're free to move as we please." Winston pointed out. Black was surprised to hear that the council had given the Guardians so much freedom. Weren't they a complete unknown to them? Why would they let a bunch of untrained kids run around with guns when the Keepers would have followed every order?
"Yeah free my ass." DJ snorted. "We have to stop at Guardian Houses every night and the General seems to have us on a leash."
"We'll ditch them as soon as the TAT is fixed, find another city with a Guardian House and work solo from there." Whitestar promised.
"First we must survive the upcoming battle." Winston replied, like he was reminding the group.
"What battle?" Black asked.
"Oh right you weren't there." Whitestar realized. "The General is sending all the remaining Guardians to attack the Thilan."
"Of course he didn't say where he was sending us." Rose grumbled. "Say Black, do you know if there are any Thilan bases around here that would be considered suicide if the Sanctuary Army attacked them?" Black shook her head in reply.
"I do not. I learned the history of Firebase Zina and of its previous generals defeat, but I do not know the location of Thilan bases or how strong they are."
"Great so a blind suicide run." Rose muttered darkly.
"Wait Firebase Zina was taken over at one point?" DJ said in surprise.
"Correct. The Generals name was Riho Medias. She-" Black tried to continue but DJ quickly cut her off.
"Wait Riho? Wasn't that the name of that woman who gave you the harness for the White Rock Cannon?"
Whitestar turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah and she told us about the Keeper project, Blacks sister, and how she forged the weapons for the Keepers. She failed to tell us she was a general for the Sanctuary Army."
Black having already known about the harness had guessed that she was the one to forge all of her weapons, but she hadn't guessed that Riho had told Squad Keeper about her history. So that's how they knew.
"Geez the things you learn." DJ muttered. Rose slapped the back of Whitestar's head.
"You both are interrupting Black! Shut up already!"
"Yes Ma'am." Whitestar quickly apologized. DJ simply shrugged, which earned him a glare.
"General Medias was one of the most successful generals in the Sanctuary Army," Black continued, "as well as the youngest. At the time everyone looked to her to resolve the Thilan threat. However the Thilan launched an all out attack on Zina, and it was all she could do to pull her troops out alive."
"How'd she pull that off?" Winston asked quietly.
"She managed to fool the Thilan into thinking she would fight to the last man by using makeshift automated defenses. She then snuck her troops out of a secret entrance to the base. While she got ninety-four percent of her men out, she was relieved of command for abandoning a critical military position." Black finished.
"And this is why you can't trust politicians." DJ remarked.
"That's why I shoot them whenever I get the chance." Rose said darkly. "Those guys always sit in their cushy chairs and think what they're doing is for the 'good of society' when they're a bunch of asses."
"Considering that story now adds to the growing list of crimes I don't think they're going to last much longer." Whitestar said, showing Black a slight grin that sent chills up her spine.
"Could we wait until the Rush Queen get's here before tearing down another government?" DJ sighed. Another!? Black started to wonder who she had gotten herself involved with.
"It might be time to save the conversations for another time." Winston suggested. "We're about to arrive at the train station."
Looking past Rose and Whitestar, Black realized that Winston was correct. By a stroke of luck it seemed that the station was a mere five minute walk from the underground bunker, and from how much damage and debris were scattered it could easily be assumed that one of the Thilan T.A.T.'s had taken a shot at it. The roofing had been blown away, leaving a dozen metal beams jotting towards the sky holding nothing by empty air. Benches and rusty vending machines were now nothing but chunks of wood and metal scattered across the platform, which was now divided in half with a circular hole in the middle. Since the platform was raised a good five feet above ground level she couldn't see the tracks themselves, but Black did spot strips of metal and bits of wire that no doubt indicated that the tracks had been obliterated as well.
Black spotted a number of Sanctuary soldiers standing on the leftmost platform. One of the soldiers was standing with folded arms and wearing a light blue military jacket with the symbol for Lieutenant Colonel on both sleeves. He wore dark gray camouflage cargo pants with more pockets than Black thought could exist on one piece of clothing, and instead of the formal light blue military cap he wore a simple black sweatband. The man was short but well built, and from his upright posture Black guessed he was the right hand man for the General, Lt. Colonel Beals.
The Colonel was looking west at a body of well over a thousand Guardians walking over piles of rubble towards the train station. They came in all shapes and sizes, and looked like an Obroseon artist had spilled a rainbow over them and given them a random assortment of weapons. Black imagined this is how it looked when the first ten-thousand Guardians had arrived, and wondered if this is how the Keepers would have looked if they had been the ones to come here instead.
"Colonel Beals!" Whitestar shouted from below while waving his right arm. The Colonel glanced down at the group and smiled when he saw them. Black quickly lowered her head to avoid being recognized.
"Ah, White. Come to check out the new Guardians?"
"Waiting for a friend actually." White corrected.
"Interesting, so I can count on at least one Guardian being useful then?" The Colonel didn't sound at all displeased at the prospect of getting a new round of Guardians that may or may not be useful, instead he sounded pleased at the idea of a Guardian being recruited into what was obviously the Colonels favorite squad of Guardians.
"Yes sir." Whitestar answered in amusement.
"Alright well give me their name and I'll go ahead and add them to your roster so you're not stuck in line. Don't forget you have to prepare for the attack." Black was surprised that the Colonel was willing to trust Whitestar so readily.
"I appreciate that sir, that'll help us a lot."
"So whose your friend in the tarp?" Black tried to avoid tensing up at the Colonels question.
"She's a scavenger we found when retreating yesterday. Long story short sir she wants revenge." Black could tell that Whitestar was only lying when he said that she was a scavenger. The part about revenge was true, but she wasn't looking for revenge against the Thilan. I shouldn't want revenge at all.
"I see, well if she's a scavenger I'll leave her in your care. But if I catch her stealing anything I'll kill her myself is that understood?" After a brief moment Black realized that Beals was addressing her and nodded.
Black felt the weight of getting caught lift from her shoulders. Between her hood and the tarp, no one had been able to recognize her. Short of anyone taking away her tarp or getting too close during a conversation her identity was safe. Still, Black couldn't wait to get back to the stolen TAT and away from the Sanctuary Army.
"So what's the name of the Guardian?" Colonel Beals asked.
"Try Rush Queen. I know she's coming but I don't know what she called herself." Whitestar answered. Black heard the sounds of commands on a datapad before a ringing sound rung out.
"Congratulations on the fifth member of Squad Keeper. Now if you'll excuse me I have to address our new recruits." Black heard the Colonel walking away from them and towards a new sound, the sound of thousands of footsteps coming towards them, followed by a loud, booming voice.
"Well if it isn't my little brother!" Black decided to risk a glance at the figure who ran up and crashed into Whitestar, embracing him in what looked like a half-hug half-tackle.
The woman looked older than the rest of the group, and was as tall as DJ, standing a head taller than the rest of the group. Similar to Whitestar and herself, Rush Queen didn't wear any external armor, dressed in a low cut dark purple T-shirt and a black cargo vest with small pouches that bulged out. She had a pair of fingerless leather gloves and a pair of black jeans, something Black never expected to see on a battlefield. But the one thing that caught Black's eye was the woman's face.
While nothing about her face stood out, as it almost looked like an exact copy of Whitestars average face, her eyes were narrower and blood red, with a matching color of goggles that sat on top of her short black hair. Rush Queen was grinning wildly, like nothing in the world could stop her, and if it had a chance she wouldn't have cared. Something about this woman made Black glad she was with them instead of against them.
"Rush do you have to go shouting that we're related?" Whitestar groaned, pushing Rush away from him.
"Of course! No reason to hide that I'm the big sister of the Guardian that single handedly saved Firebase Zina."
"He wasn't alone you know." DJ spoke up with a snort. "Who do you think was driving that thing?"
"Yes and as I recall you took off like a mouse as soon as you fired." Rush reminded him with a smirk. DJ's eyes lit up and he opened his mouth to reply but Winston cut him off.
"We should get back to the Liberator. I imagine General Caelus will have sent the details of the attack over by now."
"If the General is ready to brief us shouldn't we head for the base?" Rush pointed out. DJ and Rose exchanged a worried glance.
"No." Whitestar spoke with authority, which surprised Black considering how much influence Rush clearly had on the group. "I'll explain on the way, but we can't go back to the base right now." Black quickly checked to make sure that Colonel Beals hadn't overheard any of their conversation, but when she looked he was busy shouting at the new Guardians. Content that he hadn't heard anything, she fell in line behind Whitestar. All the while she could feel the Rush Queen glancing at her with questions.
Day 3
Date: Sunday, 1st Month, 23rd day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)
Location: Near Coopers Inn, Obroseon
Time: 1:01 S.S.T. (Standard Sanctuary Time)
She stood on the large hotel that towered over Coopers Inn, looking down at the small, run down business that was no doubt doing to go out of business after the police discovered they were hiding a pair of criminals both charged with treason. It honestly was their own fault for getting involved, anyone who stood in the way of her mission was going to end up dead in the end.
Closing her eyes, she let her hair flow in the wind, taking a moment to savor the feeling. While she couldn't remember much about her past, she did remember feeling like a prisoner. Unable to feel the wind in her hair, the smell of the city, and the beautiful sight of the Obroseon skyline, it was a shame that it was going to have to be torn down soon. But it would be built back, more beautiful than ever.
Through her minor meditation, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. Opening her eyes she turned her head to find a man several years older than her approaching. She tightened her grip on the massive scythe in her right hand, whose rounded point was dug into the hotel's roof. The time to enjoy the wind was over.
"Enjoying the wind again?" The man asked with a smirk.
"It gives me peace." She replied softly.
"Still trying to remember your past?"
"My questions remain unanswered, but they will not interfere with my mission." The man gave her a look of false promises. She was aware the man was using her as a tool, but it didn't matter. The man gave her life, and so it was her duty to be the man's arm, his hand, and his weapon.
"Answers will come in time." There was a moment of silence, and it was only broken by a gust of wind. "You remember the targets?"
"The former councilor and the hacker." She recalled. "They will not take long."
"Good, you have five minutes before the Keystone Forger returns. Be gone before the arrives." She lifted her scythe from the ground and jumped from the roof, allowing herself to be cloaked in a red light.
She had a job to do.
Hope none of you thought I was letting you off easy this time. See you all next chapter :3