Invasion America: The War of Two Worlds
Disclaimer: I don't own Invasion America and no money was made for this piece of work. The characters of this series belong to their designated owners, except the one's I made up. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it so far. I'm hard at work into chapter 3. I wouldn't mind a few fact pointers from the people who are more familiar with the series. (Too bad they never finished it.) I know I'm missing a few things or have some things not exactly consistent with the series, but I'm following Christie Golden's books. *shrugs* Gomen.
Chapter 02
September 20, 1987
Charles Air force Base
Utah Desert
Navi had feared for her life and her daughter, who only responds to the name "Kia", ever since Zerin Nikte had taken over the further developments of the project. Kia was being rigorously trained everyday to improve her skills, mentally, physically, and dangerous Tyrusian weapons like the 'zi-nors', 'har-nors', and also, 'arbuses'. It's disgusting enough to see a soldier with a weapon like an arbus, but, a child! It was beyond disgusting. It was horrifyingly disturbing. Her little Kia was only 3 when she first touched one of those weapons. But, it was also disturbing to see Kia, build her mental skills and hone her accuracy with these weapons so easily. To be exact, she was able to do most things easily. Her brain developed much more quickly than normal Tyrusian children do, and it seems like this little bundle of joy was indeed becoming a cruel cold killer, the Dragit's future Super Soldier. Though her brain may be developing quickly, her emotional growth was slow. Navi had only heard Kia cry that one time as a little baby, when Zerin brought her into Konrad's office with an arbus aimed at her head, and the innocent blood seeping out of her small body from a burn she received from that very same weapon. Now, at the age of 5, she had not shown much of her emotions besides a small smile she only used personally for Navi. Kia didn't, or more like couldn't, get angry or frustrated when Zerin scolded or struck her across the face for failing his orders. She only showed a poker-faced look at most times. Navi was in pain. Just watching her Kia grow like this was agonizing. But it would end soon.
Navi has been in contact with other Tyrusians in orbit who were still loyal to Cale-Oosha. They called themselves the 'Ooshat'i, the followers of the true king. She had already gotten information about Akio. There was a chance he was still alive. No, he IS alive! And she knew it. She felt it. But that information came with a price. In desperation, she had exchanged that information with other information she had; some information on Charles Air Force Base. That was her downfall.
She was now on her knees, battered and bruised from various beatings. Her arms were tied behind her back, while two soldiers supported her up. If they didn't, she would have fallen to the ground… and he wouldn't want that. There he stood, towering over the battered scientist, holding the very same arbus he kept in his inner lab coat's pocket. Zerin Nikte, one of General Konrad's lackeys, and sadly, Akio V'Halla's best friend.
They had found out about the information leak Navi had created for the sake of finding her husband. She was arrested a few days ago and was questioned forcefully ever since.
"Navi V'Halla." Zerin uttered in a calm deep voice, "This is your last chance to tell us everything. Tell us about the whereabouts of the Ooshati members you had contacted… then."
Then? What else does this guy want from her?
"Pledge allegiance and loyalty to the Dragit, so you can live."
Live… such a tempting word. But it was not tempting enough to hide the truth behind everything. She would be able to live; however, she would be under his debt. Who knows what he'll ask of her. And her poor little Kia, look at what they've done to her, and what they're about to do. There was also something else…
Years before, Zerin had asked her the first step of Kia-thaama and was bluntly declined. Back then, she was already utterly in love with Akio, and Zernin was not aware of it. Zerin saw this as his best friend betraying him, claiming that Akio had stolen Navi from him. Lies. All lies! His jealousy was so bare. It's so sad, that after all the years passed, he never made amends with a friend who was like a brother, and refused to destroy his feelings for Navi. He was still in love with her, completely and utterly in love. Sadness welled up in her heart. Sadness that she could not return those strong feelings, sadness that such a horrid thing had happened between him and her husband because of a trivial fight, sadness because she knows how badly this man had been mislead to believing that the Dragit was in the right. Power, greed, and jealousy; All of it blinded him, his once pure heart. Just like other Tyrusians following the Dragit.
Navi didn't answer. Zerin knelt on one knee in front of her and brought his face close to her. He looked at her in concern.
"Do not be foolish, Navi." He muttered, "Please… Cooperate."
Navi eyed him, and then let a sad smile appear on her face. There was a long pause then, suddenly,
"The Ooshati members…" she breathed heavily, almost gasping, feeling the pain in her bruised lungs, "… are long gone… They left days ago… to join the Ooshati forces… that were already… in orbit." She paused, "The rest… I… don't know about."
A sign of relief was clear to Zerin. He didn't have to shoot her. All she had to do now was…
"… Swear allegiance and loyalty to the Dragit." He said to her in a soft voice, "We shall be witnesses."
At that, Navi mustered as much strength she could to let out a laugh.
"I refuse." She plainly replied.
"Navi… Please! I don't want to kill you." Zerin insisted.
"But you will… Won't you?"
She was now staring at him straight in the eye. She held up her head towards him and gave him an unreadable smile. Zerin was not sure if she was mocking him, or was it pity, or was it something else. In their foreign tongue, she began to speak harshly with all her strength.
"Why do you insist I live, Zerin?" Her voice was unstable, not surprising with her injuries, but she did not speak in broken sentences, "Is it because you can't let go?"
Zerin slowly got up to his feet, feeling offended.
"Since when did you go so low, Zerin? …So low that you'd not even only betray your true king… but also your best friend?"
Anger rose in Zerin's soul. He didn't know why, but it slowly consumed him from inside, a burning feeling.
"You are weak, Zerin. You are w-" she was cut off when Zerin had pointed his arbus straight at her fore-head.
He was silent. Then he gestured at the third guard standing by a panel by the metal doors. The soldier nodded and pressed a button on the panel.
"I gave you a chance, Navi." His voice was almost a whisper.
He was clearly using all of his strength to keep his anger in. Navi knew he was hot headed at most times, and right now, he was doing an unbelievably good job of keeping himself calm. The metal doors opened and bright light from the next room illuminated into the dim one they were in. Then, two figures where pushed fiercely into the room. They were undistinguishable because of the light behind them. The soldier pressed another button and the doors closed behind them. Again, the room was dim, but now, she could see the two figures that had been thrown into the room. One was a woman. She looked younger than Navi. Her shoulder length hair was a dark brown tone and her eyes where purple which stood out from the fair color of her skin. Her temples were not too deep, and her slanted eyes clearly declared she was Tyrusian. She was wearing a dark blue shirt with black pants and a white lab coat. The other, was a child…
"You will die in front of her." Zerin gruffly uttered.
…with purplish blue eyes with a mysterious jade green shimmer.
Navi's eyes widened in shock as she saw the little girl staring back at her, surprisingly, fearful of what she was seeing.
"Kia…" her voice was small and shaky.
Kia was clinging tightly on the other woman's arm.
"Navi!" The woman cried then turned to Zerin, "What are you doing?!"
"Silence, Professor Tilnik!" Zerin shouted at her.
This woman was called Mier Tilnik. She is one of the scientists in the genetics lab and also Navi's most trusted friend.
"Mommy." The child's voice called out in an almost inaudible voice.
This was too much. It was clear what Zerin had planned to do. She closed her eyes tightly, bowing her head. He didn't want her to suffer alone. Zerin wanted everyone connected to her to suffer. But, Kia? Her little Kia? She wasn't even familiar with the word dead. And now… now… before the very eyes of her beloved child, she was going to die.
"Watch closely little girl." Zerin shouted to the youngster who was close to tears.
"Mommy!" the girl called Kia repeated in a louder voice, yet still quite soft.
"Watch closely as mommy dies!" a sadistic smile appeared on the tall man's face.
"Zerin!!" Professor Tilnik cried in protest.
There was a paused.
"Then say it, Navi!" Zerin shouted impatiently, "SAY IT!!"
Silence. Only Zerin's heavy breathing from his erupting anger could be heard in the room.
"Watch me, my little Kia." She thought deeply in her mind, "Watch me and see the injustice they had done against you… and soon, many others."
"Navi V'Halla!!" Zerin repeated in a louder voice.
"Hail the Dragit…" she slowly said in Tyrusian.
Zerin's stern face slowly showed some signs of relief.
"I'm sorry, Akio…" she thought deeply in her mind
Navi suddenly continued to speak and turned to look at Zerin with eyes blazing in anger and shinning with tears trickling down her face, with a voice thick, yet deep and serious, "…the fraudulent treacherous king!"
Zerin, overwhelmed by anger, gripped the arbus tightly and ordered the weapon to shoot, mentally. A flash of light illuminated the room and quickly returned it to its dimness. Mier let out a scream and tried to cover the eyes of the little girl at her side. But to little avail, the child had seen it. It was a clean yet cruel death. The scent of scorched flesh smothered the room, and the body of the slender, kind-hearted woman was lying lifeless on the cold floor. Her eyes were wide, proof that she had died before hitting the ground. The only evidence of her death was the hole on her fore-head, burnt and black, with smoke emitting from it.
No longer will that motherly smile appear on that gentle face. No longer will she call her "Kia". No longer... not ever…
Those were the thoughts that came across the small child's head. This is what death was. Immediately, Mier Tilnik embraced the child tightly as she started screaming, crying, calling out to her now fallen mother. She was frantically reaching out for her, trying to break free from Mier's grasps. Mier herself began to cry softly. The voice of this child was agonizing to hear. The tiny, usually soft and calm voice was now wailing in pain. It was a harsh feeling. But also, the feelings of this child were understandable to her. Navi, dear Navi was like an older sister to her. She looked up to her a lot.
She desperately hushed the child who still continued to scream and struggle, reaching out her hands to the body of her mother which was growing cold as she lay lifelessly on the ground. Afraid, in suffering, confused, and utterly nameless… this girl's pain could not be easily appeased. She knows this girl only responds to the name "Kia" but her true given name by the military was Project 110, Prototype A. What could she do?
Zerin suddenly marched towards them and then grabbed the child by the arm and struck her with the arbus.
"SHUT UP!" he shouted furiously, "SHUT—UP!!"
The child continued to cry, and fiercely freed herself from the tall man, running away from him and to the side of her mother's body. She shook her by the arm, as if trying to wake her up from a deep sleep. Then… her cries began to soften to small whimpers. She knew what she had to do. She had to accept it, but an unfamiliar feeling overwhelmed her inside, and it made her chest burn excruciatingly when she tried to hold it back. She had to cry. Mier got up from the floor, avoided Zerin's gaze and walked beside the little girl.
"Come now…" she said in a thick voice and kneeled to her side as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go… You can't stay like this…"
The child shook her head and stayed where she was.
"Please…"
The child shook her head again, still sobbing.
"Child…" Mier's voice was almost demanding, but greatly pained.
She couldn't stay and see the dead body of her friend any longer, and seeing her friend's daughter in pain wasn't helping either. Suddenly, the child's voice emitted from her tiny mouth. She spoke in Tyrusian, the main language the child knew and said in broken words, just like her heart…
"Little… wait…just… little…"
Mier cried silently to herself again. Zerin had turned his attention away from them as he ordered his men to "clean up the mess". Grief and sheer fury welled up in Mier's soul… as did pity, but only for the little girl. She clenched her hands into fists.
"Zerin… Akio will never forgive you…"
Zerin turned to her with cold eyes.
"Akio… is dead." He uttered calmly, but with an edge in his voice, "Now, get that thing back into the lab where it belongs!"
He turned around and exited the room. The moment the door closed Mier burst into tears, crying loudly. All the sadness she had kept in as much as she can had come out. Even if the other three soldiers were in the room, she cried, unashamed.
************to be continued*********
*tilts her head to the side* … That came out a little bit harsher than I thought it would be… Anyway, till next time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Invasion America and no money was made for this piece of work. The characters of this series belong to their designated owners, except the one's I made up. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it so far. I'm hard at work into chapter 3. I wouldn't mind a few fact pointers from the people who are more familiar with the series. (Too bad they never finished it.) I know I'm missing a few things or have some things not exactly consistent with the series, but I'm following Christie Golden's books. *shrugs* Gomen.
Chapter 02
September 20, 1987
Charles Air force Base
Utah Desert
Navi had feared for her life and her daughter, who only responds to the name "Kia", ever since Zerin Nikte had taken over the further developments of the project. Kia was being rigorously trained everyday to improve her skills, mentally, physically, and dangerous Tyrusian weapons like the 'zi-nors', 'har-nors', and also, 'arbuses'. It's disgusting enough to see a soldier with a weapon like an arbus, but, a child! It was beyond disgusting. It was horrifyingly disturbing. Her little Kia was only 3 when she first touched one of those weapons. But, it was also disturbing to see Kia, build her mental skills and hone her accuracy with these weapons so easily. To be exact, she was able to do most things easily. Her brain developed much more quickly than normal Tyrusian children do, and it seems like this little bundle of joy was indeed becoming a cruel cold killer, the Dragit's future Super Soldier. Though her brain may be developing quickly, her emotional growth was slow. Navi had only heard Kia cry that one time as a little baby, when Zerin brought her into Konrad's office with an arbus aimed at her head, and the innocent blood seeping out of her small body from a burn she received from that very same weapon. Now, at the age of 5, she had not shown much of her emotions besides a small smile she only used personally for Navi. Kia didn't, or more like couldn't, get angry or frustrated when Zerin scolded or struck her across the face for failing his orders. She only showed a poker-faced look at most times. Navi was in pain. Just watching her Kia grow like this was agonizing. But it would end soon.
Navi has been in contact with other Tyrusians in orbit who were still loyal to Cale-Oosha. They called themselves the 'Ooshat'i, the followers of the true king. She had already gotten information about Akio. There was a chance he was still alive. No, he IS alive! And she knew it. She felt it. But that information came with a price. In desperation, she had exchanged that information with other information she had; some information on Charles Air Force Base. That was her downfall.
She was now on her knees, battered and bruised from various beatings. Her arms were tied behind her back, while two soldiers supported her up. If they didn't, she would have fallen to the ground… and he wouldn't want that. There he stood, towering over the battered scientist, holding the very same arbus he kept in his inner lab coat's pocket. Zerin Nikte, one of General Konrad's lackeys, and sadly, Akio V'Halla's best friend.
They had found out about the information leak Navi had created for the sake of finding her husband. She was arrested a few days ago and was questioned forcefully ever since.
"Navi V'Halla." Zerin uttered in a calm deep voice, "This is your last chance to tell us everything. Tell us about the whereabouts of the Ooshati members you had contacted… then."
Then? What else does this guy want from her?
"Pledge allegiance and loyalty to the Dragit, so you can live."
Live… such a tempting word. But it was not tempting enough to hide the truth behind everything. She would be able to live; however, she would be under his debt. Who knows what he'll ask of her. And her poor little Kia, look at what they've done to her, and what they're about to do. There was also something else…
Years before, Zerin had asked her the first step of Kia-thaama and was bluntly declined. Back then, she was already utterly in love with Akio, and Zernin was not aware of it. Zerin saw this as his best friend betraying him, claiming that Akio had stolen Navi from him. Lies. All lies! His jealousy was so bare. It's so sad, that after all the years passed, he never made amends with a friend who was like a brother, and refused to destroy his feelings for Navi. He was still in love with her, completely and utterly in love. Sadness welled up in her heart. Sadness that she could not return those strong feelings, sadness that such a horrid thing had happened between him and her husband because of a trivial fight, sadness because she knows how badly this man had been mislead to believing that the Dragit was in the right. Power, greed, and jealousy; All of it blinded him, his once pure heart. Just like other Tyrusians following the Dragit.
Navi didn't answer. Zerin knelt on one knee in front of her and brought his face close to her. He looked at her in concern.
"Do not be foolish, Navi." He muttered, "Please… Cooperate."
Navi eyed him, and then let a sad smile appear on her face. There was a long pause then, suddenly,
"The Ooshati members…" she breathed heavily, almost gasping, feeling the pain in her bruised lungs, "… are long gone… They left days ago… to join the Ooshati forces… that were already… in orbit." She paused, "The rest… I… don't know about."
A sign of relief was clear to Zerin. He didn't have to shoot her. All she had to do now was…
"… Swear allegiance and loyalty to the Dragit." He said to her in a soft voice, "We shall be witnesses."
At that, Navi mustered as much strength she could to let out a laugh.
"I refuse." She plainly replied.
"Navi… Please! I don't want to kill you." Zerin insisted.
"But you will… Won't you?"
She was now staring at him straight in the eye. She held up her head towards him and gave him an unreadable smile. Zerin was not sure if she was mocking him, or was it pity, or was it something else. In their foreign tongue, she began to speak harshly with all her strength.
"Why do you insist I live, Zerin?" Her voice was unstable, not surprising with her injuries, but she did not speak in broken sentences, "Is it because you can't let go?"
Zerin slowly got up to his feet, feeling offended.
"Since when did you go so low, Zerin? …So low that you'd not even only betray your true king… but also your best friend?"
Anger rose in Zerin's soul. He didn't know why, but it slowly consumed him from inside, a burning feeling.
"You are weak, Zerin. You are w-" she was cut off when Zerin had pointed his arbus straight at her fore-head.
He was silent. Then he gestured at the third guard standing by a panel by the metal doors. The soldier nodded and pressed a button on the panel.
"I gave you a chance, Navi." His voice was almost a whisper.
He was clearly using all of his strength to keep his anger in. Navi knew he was hot headed at most times, and right now, he was doing an unbelievably good job of keeping himself calm. The metal doors opened and bright light from the next room illuminated into the dim one they were in. Then, two figures where pushed fiercely into the room. They were undistinguishable because of the light behind them. The soldier pressed another button and the doors closed behind them. Again, the room was dim, but now, she could see the two figures that had been thrown into the room. One was a woman. She looked younger than Navi. Her shoulder length hair was a dark brown tone and her eyes where purple which stood out from the fair color of her skin. Her temples were not too deep, and her slanted eyes clearly declared she was Tyrusian. She was wearing a dark blue shirt with black pants and a white lab coat. The other, was a child…
"You will die in front of her." Zerin gruffly uttered.
…with purplish blue eyes with a mysterious jade green shimmer.
Navi's eyes widened in shock as she saw the little girl staring back at her, surprisingly, fearful of what she was seeing.
"Kia…" her voice was small and shaky.
Kia was clinging tightly on the other woman's arm.
"Navi!" The woman cried then turned to Zerin, "What are you doing?!"
"Silence, Professor Tilnik!" Zerin shouted at her.
This woman was called Mier Tilnik. She is one of the scientists in the genetics lab and also Navi's most trusted friend.
"Mommy." The child's voice called out in an almost inaudible voice.
This was too much. It was clear what Zerin had planned to do. She closed her eyes tightly, bowing her head. He didn't want her to suffer alone. Zerin wanted everyone connected to her to suffer. But, Kia? Her little Kia? She wasn't even familiar with the word dead. And now… now… before the very eyes of her beloved child, she was going to die.
"Watch closely little girl." Zerin shouted to the youngster who was close to tears.
"Mommy!" the girl called Kia repeated in a louder voice, yet still quite soft.
"Watch closely as mommy dies!" a sadistic smile appeared on the tall man's face.
"Zerin!!" Professor Tilnik cried in protest.
There was a paused.
"Then say it, Navi!" Zerin shouted impatiently, "SAY IT!!"
Silence. Only Zerin's heavy breathing from his erupting anger could be heard in the room.
"Watch me, my little Kia." She thought deeply in her mind, "Watch me and see the injustice they had done against you… and soon, many others."
"Navi V'Halla!!" Zerin repeated in a louder voice.
"Hail the Dragit…" she slowly said in Tyrusian.
Zerin's stern face slowly showed some signs of relief.
"I'm sorry, Akio…" she thought deeply in her mind
Navi suddenly continued to speak and turned to look at Zerin with eyes blazing in anger and shinning with tears trickling down her face, with a voice thick, yet deep and serious, "…the fraudulent treacherous king!"
Zerin, overwhelmed by anger, gripped the arbus tightly and ordered the weapon to shoot, mentally. A flash of light illuminated the room and quickly returned it to its dimness. Mier let out a scream and tried to cover the eyes of the little girl at her side. But to little avail, the child had seen it. It was a clean yet cruel death. The scent of scorched flesh smothered the room, and the body of the slender, kind-hearted woman was lying lifeless on the cold floor. Her eyes were wide, proof that she had died before hitting the ground. The only evidence of her death was the hole on her fore-head, burnt and black, with smoke emitting from it.
No longer will that motherly smile appear on that gentle face. No longer will she call her "Kia". No longer... not ever…
Those were the thoughts that came across the small child's head. This is what death was. Immediately, Mier Tilnik embraced the child tightly as she started screaming, crying, calling out to her now fallen mother. She was frantically reaching out for her, trying to break free from Mier's grasps. Mier herself began to cry softly. The voice of this child was agonizing to hear. The tiny, usually soft and calm voice was now wailing in pain. It was a harsh feeling. But also, the feelings of this child were understandable to her. Navi, dear Navi was like an older sister to her. She looked up to her a lot.
She desperately hushed the child who still continued to scream and struggle, reaching out her hands to the body of her mother which was growing cold as she lay lifelessly on the ground. Afraid, in suffering, confused, and utterly nameless… this girl's pain could not be easily appeased. She knows this girl only responds to the name "Kia" but her true given name by the military was Project 110, Prototype A. What could she do?
Zerin suddenly marched towards them and then grabbed the child by the arm and struck her with the arbus.
"SHUT UP!" he shouted furiously, "SHUT—UP!!"
The child continued to cry, and fiercely freed herself from the tall man, running away from him and to the side of her mother's body. She shook her by the arm, as if trying to wake her up from a deep sleep. Then… her cries began to soften to small whimpers. She knew what she had to do. She had to accept it, but an unfamiliar feeling overwhelmed her inside, and it made her chest burn excruciatingly when she tried to hold it back. She had to cry. Mier got up from the floor, avoided Zerin's gaze and walked beside the little girl.
"Come now…" she said in a thick voice and kneeled to her side as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go… You can't stay like this…"
The child shook her head and stayed where she was.
"Please…"
The child shook her head again, still sobbing.
"Child…" Mier's voice was almost demanding, but greatly pained.
She couldn't stay and see the dead body of her friend any longer, and seeing her friend's daughter in pain wasn't helping either. Suddenly, the child's voice emitted from her tiny mouth. She spoke in Tyrusian, the main language the child knew and said in broken words, just like her heart…
"Little… wait…just… little…"
Mier cried silently to herself again. Zerin had turned his attention away from them as he ordered his men to "clean up the mess". Grief and sheer fury welled up in Mier's soul… as did pity, but only for the little girl. She clenched her hands into fists.
"Zerin… Akio will never forgive you…"
Zerin turned to her with cold eyes.
"Akio… is dead." He uttered calmly, but with an edge in his voice, "Now, get that thing back into the lab where it belongs!"
He turned around and exited the room. The moment the door closed Mier burst into tears, crying loudly. All the sadness she had kept in as much as she can had come out. Even if the other three soldiers were in the room, she cried, unashamed.
************to be continued*********
*tilts her head to the side* … That came out a little bit harsher than I thought it would be… Anyway, till next time.