Disclaimer: I do not own the rights or names to any of the characters.
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The Might of the Salean Country
The ninja was silent for several moments as he let Fericul take it all in. Fericul just could not believe that his father had been defeated. Nor could he believe that his entire clan had been obliterated, and that he was the last Aeron. He was alone.
The ninja began to speak again, "I take it by your silence you must have been close to that particular Aeron."
"He was my father," Fericul replied.
"Oh, I am sorry. I would not have told you of that particular event," the ninja said. "Had I known. In any case, I shall continue with my story.
"The Saleans swept across the plains of Sabbathnia as though they were a plague of locusts. As I said before, they spared no one. It was a gruesome sight to behold. I myself was originally in one of the further-back lines of the army. It was my job to round up any Sabbathnian who had not been killed and bring them to a 're-education camp' as they were called. I do not know what they were subjected to inside those camps, but I never once saw a Sabbathnian leave them. Also they must have had constant, and very large, fires burning in them for there was always smoke rising out of the camps.
"I would say it took the army about nine months to reach the nation's capital. And wow, the battle there was amazing. I had been repositioned and placed in the front line by this time. I was also the head of a small infiltration unit that was ordered to get inside their leader's office and plant a wire so that we would be able to hear their plans. It worked quite well and we were able to obtain a great deal of strategic information. Without the bug, we may have been at the capital for several more months.
"One day though, we overheard something that could have turned the tides of the war completely. They were developing super-soldiers. Much like you now, they were faster, stronger, and amazingly talented in ninja techniques. As well, each had his own strange power that could be very dangerous to us. So my team was ordered to attack the transport unit bringing them to the capital. We were to inject them with a virus, so that even if their bodies were recovered, they could not be used for any kind of research.
"After that, the general in charge at the capital decided to retreat. I guess he saw that without these new soldiers, he had no chance in hell of victory. Or it may just have been an act of cowardice. Either way, the Saleans took Sabbathnia's capital and were still holding it last I heard."
The ninja stopped talking. He was extremely weak now, his life all but extinguished. He looked closely at Fericul for several moments before he realized it. Fericul had been on that convoy! I myself injected him with a virus. How can this be? It would mean that he is one of the most powerful of all living Sabbathnians, for he was in the first selection of super-soldiers!
The ninja tried to tell Fericul this last bit of information, but his strength was completely gone. He knew his time had come. He closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and slipped away into the great beyond.
Fericul knelt down beside the ninja, felt for a pulse, but realized he was gone. After removing the weapons pouch from his hip, Fericul decided he had to bury the ninja. It is the honorable thing to do, he thought. This man was a great warrior, though he was my enemy. And for that alone, I must give him a proper burial.
And so Fericul began to blast away at the ground, digging a grave with his wind powers. It was a good grave, three or four feet deep and just long enough to accommodate the ninja's body. He placed the body inside, and once he had enough dirt, he buried the ninja. He then used a kunai to carve a simple marker on the rock beside the grave, reading, "Great Salean Warrior". He then proceeded to do the same for the shinobi of Foyron. He dug the man a grave, buried him, and carved a headstone on a near by rock.
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Testing It All Out
After he had finished with the burials, Fericul decided it was time to test out his new powers. The Salean and the doctor had both mentioned his ability to use attacks he had seen just once. That Earth Dragon technique the Foyronian used was pretty interesting, let's start with that, he thought. Recalling what he had seen the ninja do, Fericul concentrated his spirit energy to his hands, moved his hands in the same movements, and yelled out, "Earth Dragon Technique!" The ground then began to shake, just as it had before, and suddenly it burst forward in the shape of an immense dragon. This dragon was far beyond what he had previously witnessed. It appears that I am able to not only reproduce the enemy's techniques, but I am as well able to make them far stronger than what I had witnessed. Now let's try out that fire move the Salean used.
Again Fericul mimicked the movement of his enemy; gathering his energy together, focusing it into his hands, following the strange hand symbols, and shouting, "Rain of Fire!" several blasts of fire burst from his mouth. They too were much larger than the original attack he had seen. Also they traveled much farther, all the way to the stone pillars. When the fire blasts hit them, the pillars erupted in a fiery and extremely loud explosion.
"Well that settles my doubts on whether or not the doctor really screwed me over," Fericul said to no one. "Maybe things have not gone entirely bad. I mean, I am far more powerful than I could ever have hoped to become."
But just as he was saying that, the ceiling on the room he was in began to open up. Hundreds of men dropped down into the room, some shinobi, others simply soldiers. They surrounded Fericul even as they fell. Those with weapons trained them on him. The shinobi all gathered power and positioned themselves for attack.
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A Dark Proposal
One man stepped forward; a tall man, dressed neither in army fatigues nor a ninja's outfit. He was a tall man, not all that well built, with black hair, fair skin and dark brown eyes that were almost black. When he finally spoke, it was in a calm and soothing voice. "Surrender now Fericul of the Aerons and you will not be harmed. We are the last of Sabbathnia's Forces and we wish you to join us. As you no doubt learned from the two ninjas sent to attack you earlier, the Salean Country has occupied our country."
"Yeah, yeah. He told me all about the Saleans invading and taking the capital. He also mentioned how they killed every last Aeron, including burning my father alive," Fericul responded coldly. "But you know, he never once mentioned the Sabbathnian Army mobilizing in the Aeron's village to help them. I find that somewhat odd."
"Don't criticize us you insolent little brat," the man responded. "You have no idea of the situation we were in at the time. The unit attacking your village was not the only part of the Salean Army that had been mobilized against Sabbathnia. Our forces were concentrated in other more important areas. We assumed that the great Aerons would be able to take care of themselves, but I guess we were wrong."
"How dare you! Pretentious fool! You think that you are better than the Aerons!" Fericul yelled back in anger.
"Well, I am alive, aren't I? That's more than they can say," the man retorted.
"Yes, you are alive. Most people who run away do live longer than men who stand and fight," Fericul said bitterly.
"Retreating is not running away! I am General Ridgley of the Sabbathnian Ninja Army!" the general yelled out. Fericul could sense that he was getting under his skin. "I did what I had to do as a leader. I cut my losses."
Fericul smirked and turned his back to the general. "I refuse. Go find yourself another pawn to throw out in the front line. I won't have any of this."
"Walk away from us now, and you may never have your chance for revenge on the Saleans," the general quickly said. "Join my army, and you will be able to fight within the year."
This intrigued Fericul very much. "Go on," he said. "Tell me how my joining you will get me my revenge any quicker."
The general smiled. "Well," he said. "I am planning to mount a massive counter-strike on the Saleans. We need your help. You are the quintessential piece of the puzzle. Join us, and you will be able to run rampant in the Salean Country, killing all you please."
Fericul contemplated the general's proposal for a moment before responding. Damn, I have always hated the Sabbathnian Army. However, he is giving me the chance to avenge my clan and then some.
"Count me in," he said finally.