Chapter 2 – Vector
Clyde arrives in Vector and soon discovers that army was nothing like he had imagined. Rated T contains mild sexual references and mild graphic violence.
The first chapter may be boring but I was only establishing Clyde's starting identity It's going to get better here on in I promise.
(One long caravan ride, one long ship ride and another long caravan ride later). Clyde looked out of the caravan flap and saw the largest mass of mountains he had ever seen, they were on both sides of the caravan. Over the horizon a black metal tower began to rise the recruits began to talk joyously about the fun, prostitutes and money they would get now that they were in the Imperial army. "Vector up ahead" announced the Receptionist who was now the caravan driver. The clouds around Vector were darker then the rest of them and funnels of smog were rising out of most of the buildings. Clyde noticed this and became slightly sick to the stomach, but his emotions emphasised his wonder at the size the city. He thought the world would be made of villages like his. The caravan stopped an hour later as the tower ahead seemed to grow and more buildings popped up around it. There was a metal gate in front of them covered in a black substance. Clyde looked around and saw that the city walls were also covered in the same black substance. The grass was also dead around the city in a strangely perfect circle. A guard opened the grimy gates and the caravan slipped through. The scene worsened as Clyde saw grime covered houses that looked more like shanties. They had brick walls and a roof but they were small and many didn't have windows or doors. People with missing legs and arms dragged themselves through the street begging mostly soldiers and well dressed noblemen for money.
The further they travelled toward the middle of the city the more it improved but the black grime got denser. The caravan arrived at the tower they had seen miles back and was sticking out of a massive building about 10 times the size of Clyde's home town. Lined up outside the front of the structure were thousands of soldiers, some in brown and some in green. He guessed this was a command structure as the dominant color was brown. The receptionist asked them to line up with the rest of the soldiers. Clyde took his place near the front and Ren was led to a different area. Looking up out of the crowd he could see a large exotic balcony slightly less covered in grime the rest of the building. The balcony was up high where all the soldiers could see it. Clyde stared at the balcony expecting something to happen as did everyone else. A man emerged from the opening and the soldiers began to cheer, Clyde joined in. He was an aged man of about 60 and wore highly exotic cloths that were so colourful it made him look like a shining light in the middle of the depressing black. "Welcome!" he shouted in a booming voice "How nice of you all to join me". His wrinkled face transformed to a menacing smile as if he was mocking the people before him, as if he believed he was as much better then the people below his as he was higher then them. It was incredible how much that smile could show about the man. "My name is Emperor Gestahl and you are all my expendable fodder". The crowd suddenly dropped into silence and wondered if they heard correctly.
"Muahahahahahahaha! You fools your lives are mine now". The crowd were waiting for the joke to finish; they were waiting for the punch line, they were waiting for him to say that he was kidding. "I'm not kidding, you are all slaves to the emperor now, you will not see your families again and you will never return home until the entire world is owned by me". The emperor surveyed the crowd and smiled at their dumbfounded faces. Clyde's heart began beating really fast he was getting extremely scared that this joke wouldn't conclude. "What about the pay promised in what we signed?" yelled one of the new soldiers. "Oh yes you will be paid well, but will be lucky to spend it in your lifetimes. A few of the soldiers in the back began to make a run for it, before they took two steps some of the green dressed soldiers shot them in the back, causing a red waterfall to form down the large stairs. "That by the way is what happens to any deserters. The wait for the punch line was over, everyone realised that this was very real after all. "You will all be training 14 hours a day starting tomorrow, you will buy your own food and we are going to expand this glorious empire in one month". "Muahahahahaha!" he finished as he walked back into the dark space behind him. The green soldiers raised their rifles and began forcing the recruits to the barracks inside the castle. Each soldier was provided with a raised plank of wood and a pillow and everyone was forced to lie on their wood and contemplate their lives. Clyde was still waiting for the nightmare to end, he was still waiting to wake up in his nice soft bed in Mobliz and he was waiting for his chicken soup for breakfast. But the next morning he was lying on a plank of wood and got whipped across the face by green soldier holding a whip; this was going to be a very bad and very long nightmare.
Okay sorry about that, next chapter Clyde will meet Baram and Interceptor I promise.