Chapter 9: Trial by Fire
Three weeks before Emergence Day..
The dirt never tasted good. Sam spat out another mouthful of grit and kept crawling, the razor wire above her providing motivation to stay low. Her standard issue fatigues and combat boots were caked in mud and dirt, the light drizzling rain providing more of the former. As she crawled, another recruit – an eighteen year old male – stopped and covered his head as the yelling instructors fired a couple rounds into the air. Sam gave the guy a few swats on the arm to get him moving, but the recruit didn't budge. Sam gritted her teeth as more round shot off above her.
"Move it, you useless git! The enemy won't be shooting clouds in the field!" She hissed. The young man had close cropped brown hair and wore the same uniform she was wearing, but his scared face when he looked at her did not match Sam's expression.
"You can do it, just ignore the gunshots. Focus on crawling!" She yelled, trying to make herself heard over the shouting instructors and their barking rifles. To his credit, the man nodded and slowly began following her. If the instructors noticed, Sam neither knew nor cared. She just didn't want to be responsible for leaving someone behind.
Three hours later, the Kashkuri woman sat on her rack, applying yet another coating of polish to her already shiny boots. Sam's decision to join the Army's early training program had led to her entering boot camp three months before her eighteenth birthday. As such, she was nearly done and close to graduation, allowing for more vocational courses. That included field craft, martial arts, and even Sgt. Mataki's survival training. It was largely things her father had taught her, but now when she was capable of sneaking up on the base's resident commando unit no one would suspect her of previous training.
And she had actually made friends in boot. Her exemplary skills and confidence attracted quite a few fellow Gears. She was half leader, half badass. Already three squads of Gears, both male and female, had offered to buy her drinks and invited her to some of the off base parties. She'd turned down men and women alike for some more personal partying, and they had accepted it well enough. Gone were the days of watching her back as she showered in the orphanage. No longer did she have to worry about her bunk mates trying to take advantage of her while she slept. The Army discouraged sexual contact of any kind, but those that attempted to force themselves on their fellow Gears were handled with extreme prejudice.
Sam was a regular Gear princess, and she loved it.
Granted, not everything was sunshine and rainbows. Her personal property, including her beaten brown jacket that Naruto got gotten her for her sixteenth birthday, was kept in her footlocker. The food in boot was passable, and the physically demanding exercises and hazing would have broken lesser women. But she was Samantha Byrne, biological daughter of Samuel and Sheraya Byrne and raised by THE shinobi Naruto Namikaze. Physical exercise did nothing to deter her, and the hazing was nowhere near as scary or discouraging as Naruto during one of his intense training sessions.
Sam's confidence and success also attracted the attention of a few more senior Gears, including her platoon's instructor. The seventeen year old was made corporal before she even became old enough to formally join the military. It was an achievement she was proud of.
"Hey killer." A voice snapped Sam out of her reverie, her boots thoroughly shined as her thoughts had wandered. Sam looked up to see a head of blonde and brown hair, and a smirk crossed her features. She wasn't the only one looking into the advanced training program. The man before her had also decided that the Army provided plenty of hands-on experience, and he had joined shortly after she had. His blonde hair made him easily recognizable, as did his razor sharp wit and coarse personality.
"What do you want, Baird? The garage surely has some problem you haven't fixed yet." Damon Baird smirked victoriously at that, but quickly returned to his permanent semi-scowl. Sam had found the best way to deal with a smart ass like Baird was to play up his ego. It worked more often than not, but he hadn't shed his curiosity of her skills. The man had no business tinkering with engines and rifles, when he was smart enough to be an inventor or researcher. His parents, however, had threatened to disown him unless he had experienced the Army and it's 'parts of a greater whole' mentality.
"Nah, I've got Staff Sergeant Lund twisting on bolts like he actually knows something. But I do have some news." Baird crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his back foot, a standard defensive posture he usually adapted around her. "You remember those agents you told me to look out for? The ones with the Chairman's office?" That got Sam's attention.
"Yeah? Have you seen any of them around here?" She asked, slipping her foot into her boot and lacing it up. Baird scoffed.
"Just the opposite actually. I bribed the secretary in records with some sweets from home, and she let me access the duty roster. The three guys that jumped you a few months back are gone. All record of them has been erased, something I'm pretty sure is illegal." Baird finished, pleased with himself that he had gotten the information. Sam, however, presented to him a complex riddle he was compelled to understand.
"So, now there's no trace of them? Is there any way you were found out? You're an ass Baird, but I don't want you catching flak over a favor for me." Baird grunted and smirked again.
"Who do you think you're talking to? I've fixed most of the closed circuit cameras around here, and I know their cycle times. As for tracking me through the net, everything I did went through the secretary's account. On top of that, she's been doing payroll consignments with our graduating class, so pulling up specific Gears isn't overly suspicious." He then held out a hand expectantly.
Sam rolled her eyes and walked around to her footlocker, kneeling down to prevent Baird from checking out her ass through the fatigues she wore. After opening it and sifting past her gear, she pulled out a silver socket wrench. Baird's eyes followed it as soon as it cleared the footlocker, and when Sam handed it to him, he grasped it with all the strength of life itself.
"So, you ever gonna tell me the story about your dad? The guy that allegedly won the battle for Anvil Gate all by himself?" Baird said as he stashed his prized socket wrench into a cargo pocket quickly.
"That's not what happened, Baird. And I don't talk about Dad much. Once I get some rank around here, you can ask him all your questions yourself because I will introduce you to him." Sam was quickly becoming uncomfortable with Baird's questions. He wasn't considered a genius for nothing, despite how few people liked him.
"Ah, come on. We've all heard the legends. The guy that can be everywhere at once, nearly indestructible, and punched a rocket out of the air. And you've known him your whole life. Spill." Baird had forgotten exactly how Sam had acquired his wrench, and he felt his pocket suddenly grow lighter as his precious silver tool was pulled from his pocket, and then sealed into Sam's storage seal on her arm. She had picked up tattoo artistry from some of her other Gears, and she had applied what little she knew of seals to her right arm. She used it to hide her personal things, but Naruto had never showed her how to make sealing matrices that accommodated larger items. She had a similar seal on her jacket, but the largest thing she had ever sealed into them was a Lancer magazine. Anything more, and the seal would reject whatever she tried to store. How many Lancer mags, however...
"Ah, come on! You know that's my favorite wrench! Give it back, ya little magician." Baird grabbed toward her arm, but Sam locked out his wrist and wrapped her arm around his, before pulling him into a standing kimora. Baird cried out in surprise as Sam put the hold on him, and winced as she tightened it up on him.
"Alright, alright! Not in front of the rest of these apes." He muttered, as he bent forward to relieve the pressure on his shoulder and wrist.
"Ah, come on Baird. Since when did you care what other people think?" Sam looked around to see several other soon-to-be graduates watching their exchange with bemused expressions. A few of the other Gears even whistled and clapped, further deepening Baird's embarrassment at being handled by a woman. Sam held the kimora for a few seconds longer, then released her blonde captive. To his credit, Baird took his humiliation in stride and offered nothing more than an irritated scowl as he held out his hand again. Sam smirked and returned his wrench, no one ever noticing the silent pop as it left her seal and appeared in her hand as she passed it to him.
Baird took his wrench back and gave Sam a hard stare, trying to figure out just what she had done. Despite herself, Sam enjoyed bugging Baird. He took it in stride, as he had to for anyone to put up with his lip, but he always had something to hit back with. For some reason, her mysterious abilities and calm demeanor attracted his sharp mind's detective skills. Even so, any time someone made a remark about them flirting, she made sure to put that rumor down flat. There wasn't a chance in Hell she'd be attracted to a guy like Damon Baird.
Victor Hoffman could find the darkest cloud on a cloudless day, some folks might say. As the COG celebrated the end of the Pendulum Wars with parades, parties, and other events, Hoffman was deeply worried. He'd seen neither letter nor appearance of Naruto or Sam in several months. While the ninja and his surrogate daughter hardly stayed at home, they certainly stayed in touch with Hoffman and his wife on their travels. On top of that, Adam Fenix and Taylor Wilkins hadn't seen either of the two either. Taylor had been the first to mention something, noting that Naruto and Sam hadn't stopped by her flat in Jacinto for three months. Because of their on and off relationship, any extended disappearance by Naruto left Wilkins worried.
It was with this worry that Hoffman entered the Chairman's office. The secretary, Jillian, had been a little nervous as the intimidating Head of Special Operations made his appointment. His freshly pressed uniform was creased to perfection, his service medals for Aspho Point, Anvegad, and a dozen other military operations gleaming on his chest. He was a large, intimidating man, and his bald head and gruff demeanor did nothing to counter his reputation.
Chairman Dalyell had met Hoffman several times, and it seemed that the leader of the COG had embraced Hoffman's hair style choice in his middle age. Tomas Dalyell had passed most of his duties onto his Deputy Chairman, Richard Prescott. Victor had never met the young man, but Dalyell spoke well of David Prescott's progeny. This left Dalyell with time to meet with men like Hoffman.
"Lieutenant Colonel, I hope you've been well. What can I do for you today?" Dalyell's smile was genuine, and Hoffman felt that he might actually get somewhere with this. He gripped the Chairman's offered hand and gave it a good shake.
"Sir, I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice. I'm still getting used to peace, and getting things done quickly still feels the way to go." Hoffman said apologetically. Dalyell waved off his apology.
"I should hope you stay ready, Victor. Just because we've finally caught a break, doesn't mean we should slouch on procedure and initiative."
"Well, initiative is what brings me to you today, sir. I have a friend that helped me with Anvil Gate, and recently he and his daughter have gone missing." Hoffman said. Dalyell said nothing at first, and leaned back in his plush leather chair. Victor couldn't help but detect a sudden change in the Chairman's demeanor as he waited for the man to respond.
"Who is this friend of yours? Is he from Kashkur?" Dalyell asked. His voice was much lower and quieter, as if he was asking a question that he suspected the answer to.
"His name is Naruto, and frankly we have no idea where he's from. He's raising the daughter of some friends that died at Anvil Gate. He went missing approximately three months ago." Hoffman said, his hands clasped in his lap as he watched Dalyell process the information. The sinking feeling in his gut got slightly worse when the Chairman stood instead of answering him. Dalyell walked behind his desk and stood at the window, his hands held behind him and his stance slightly widened. Hoffman remained seated, but he didn't like the Chairman's reaction. He didn't expect the man to flip out at the disappearance of two people in post-war Tyrus, but Victor felt like Dalyell knew something.
"I wish you hadn't come to me about this, Victor. I was made aware by Cpl. Salton that you and Naruto ended your friendship after Anvil Gate, but his multiple visits to your house prove otherwise." That caused Hoffman's eyebrows to rise.
"I'm not sure I follow, sir? Have you been tracking him?" Victor asked hesitantly. The Chairman turned his head, a single dark eye focused on Hoffman.
"Through some interesting rumors and the demands of the Ostrian embassy, we were made aware of Naruto's existence shortly after Anvegad was secured." Chairman Dalyell turned around to face Hoffman, the sun's light forcing the Special Forces commander to squint.
"You know where he is? You know where Samantha is?" Victor asked incredulously. As the director of Special Forces, cloak and dagger maneuvers and subterfuge were a part of the fight. But the war was over; why would his own leadership be involved in Naruto's disappearance?
"Samantha is currently graduating from boot camp near Halvo Bay. She's risen quickly despite her age, and has already made corporal." Dalyell said evenly. Hoffman gripped the arms of his chair tightly as he processed the information.
"And what about her father? Where's the man that helped me survive the worst fight of my life?" Hoffman's respect for the Chairman started to wane as he listened. What kind of government kidnaps a war hero during peacetime?!
"Samuel Byrne was buried with honors in Anvegad, Victor. But if you're talking about the man that resided illegally in COG territory for nearly eighteen years, then I cannot tell you where he is. I can say that he is safe, secure, and helping the COG develop further military and medical research. More than that, I cannot say."
"You've turned my friend into a guinea pig after the war is already won?! What, an orbital fucking laser wasn't enough?" Hoffman was standing now, and his booming voice likely reached out into the administrative lobby. To his credit, Dalyell barely blinked at Hoffman's outburst.
"I will neglect your tone, Lt. Colonel, because I know how important this man is to you. But I will make myself clear: know your place. I recognize your service to the Coalition, but do not overstep your boundaries." Dalyell's voice was cold, though there was some semblance of sympathy in his inflection.
Hoffman tucked his chin and bit his lip in an effort to restrain himself. It was mostly successful.
"Understood. Sir." It was amazing how a word meant to address a superior could sound so insulting.
"You are dismissed, Victor. Jillian will give you the information on Cpl. Byrne's unit and how to get in contact with her. But we will not discuss Naruto again."
Hoffman stiffly saluted, then turned and nearly broke the door down as he exited the Chairman's office. The secretary was very helpful in providing Samantha's information, and Hoffman was back in his office before the sun was down. A few calls were made, and soon there was a female voice on the other line.
"This is Corporal Byrne." She sounded in good health, and there was strength in her voice.
"Samantha, it's Victor. Are you alright? Where have you been?" Hoffman tried not to sound worried, but he couldn't help it. Sam was his friend's daughter.
"Things got a little dicey a few months back. A few of the Chairman's cronies came to our house before Dad got home. I tried to fight them off, but they had stun guns. When I woke up, I was at an orphanage in Illima."
"What?! The Chairman had you kidnapped?!" If his conversation with Dalyell earlier had affected Hoffman's blood pressure, this talk was liable to give him a stroke.
"Yes sir. They blocked my attempts to write you, and we weren't allowed access to phones. But I found my way here, and I've been doing well."
"So I heard. Corporal already, as well." Hoffman swallowed. "I know Sam and Naruto would be proud."
"I know they would be too, sir. Have you made any headway finding Dad?" Her voice was hopeful, but she wasn't expecting any progress.
"The only thing I could get the Chairman to own up to was that he was responsible for you two going dark. He wasn't forthcoming beyond that." Hoffman said gruffly. Sam sighed on the other end.
"I've been pursuing my own leads at this end, but the guys that came and got me have been removed from all active rosters. I've pulled every string I could get away with, and came up with nothing."
"We'll find him, Sam. I can promise you that."
They talked for a few more minutes, then Samantha was forced to hang up. Hoffman replaced the receiver on its stand, his hands clenching and unclenching as he considered the fate of his friend. Naruto was a hardy bastard, but military and medical research didn't bode well for anyone.
I just hope he's doing okay.
"Wait wait wait! We just need another blood samp- AAAAAHHHH!" The lab tech slammed into the observation window hard, hitting his head and knocking him unconscious. The security team within the testing area were also thrown across the room, leaving a very irritated Naruto standing shirtless in the middle of the room.
"I told you bastards; when I say it's over, it's over. Take me back to my pod." The blonde groused, his eyes hidden underneath the shadow of his shaggy hair. He crossed his arms and glowered, further reinforcing his point.
A speaker on the side of the one-sided observation window clicked on.
"I understand your frustrations, Mr. Namikaze, but we need to unlock the secret to your regenerative abilities." Dr. Richard's voice said over the speaker. The words did little to help Naruto's demeanor.
"I told you a dozen times; it was an environmental effect. You can't replicate what gave me these abilities!" He said loudly. He stared at his reflection in the observation window.
"Now now, we don't need to report this disruptive behavior to the Chairman do we? I can't imagine what would happen then."
Naruto's eyes flashed dangerously, but he said nothing. Instead, he simply stood next to his stasis pod, waiting for it to open.
On the other side of the glass, Dr. Richards sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. Still, he realized that this as much cooperation that they were going to receive from the shinobi today. The doctor hit a few buttons on the console in front of him, and the glass door to Naruto's stasis pod opened. While Naruto reconnected himself - the orderlies were too unconscious to assist – Dr. Richards examined the spectrometer readings from Naruto's previous tests. Today, they had asked him to channel that mysterious energy he called 'chakra' in a way that provided an increased recovery rate. In order the cause the regenerative reaction, they had applied three lacerations to Naruto's left arm. The readings had been helpful, but they couldn't explain how he controlled the energy.
Richards's fellow doctor, Susan, offered a cup of water and a few tablets. The researcher nodded his thanks and took them, washing the pills down in one swig. When he opened his eyes again, Naruto's pod was full and he was again floating in stasis. Dr. Richards sighed heavily again.
"Niles, see if you can procure another blood sample." Dr. Richards said aloud. From speakers in the corner of the room, the posh voice of New Hope's artificial assistant met Richards's ears.
"Of course, Dr. Richards. Shall I place him in the long term stasis?" Niles asked. Dr. Richards knew what he meant. The quarterly review for Dawnbringer was coming up. All staff except for the security forces would go to Ephyra for a debrief and review. In that time, all test subjects would be placed in long term stasis, able to survive for a very long time with Niles' assistance.
"Please do. I doubt we will get much more out of him for now anyway." Dr. Richards told the artificial custodian. Without further interruption, Naruto's pod followed a track in the floor and back to the stasis chamber.
Inside the pod, Naruto felt the familiar cold race up his arm as the pod injected another dose of sedatives into his blood stream. He again felt his consciousness ebb away as it always did. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he felt memories flood into his mind, in an effort to combat the numbness of drug-induced sleep. He relived the days of Samantha growing up, visiting with the Hoffman family, even the haggard days at Anvegad. And then, he reached back farther on a whim.
"Naruto! You have to stop!" The voice cried out from the darkness of his mind. Naruto was confused at this. His memory was fuzzy, but he couldn't recall a situation where he had heard that. In his youth, when he and Kurama had been on less than friendly terms, the effects of the Fox's influence often blocked his memory. But there was no overwhelming rage to accompany the memory.
"Keep him away from Ino! She's the only one that can do the jutsu!" That cry again. It sounded like Sakura, which was even more confusing. She was often present in his rages, but they all knew Ino was useless against Kurama's rage. The Fox would have consumed her soul had the Yamanaka ever used her technique on Naruto.
Naruto grasped onto the memory, and soon more sensations, emotions, and thoughts flooded in. Before he knew it, he was reliving a part of his life that he never realized he'd had.
Shameless flashback (But necessary for plot)
Naruto stood on the rocky dirt, his opponent roughly fifty feet away. His red armor charred and broken in some places, Madara Uchiha's spiked black hair failed to hide the enraged Sharingan that blazed in his eye socket. His Rinnegan eye had been burned away by Sasuke's Amaterasu, leaving the Uchiha patriarch in a blind rage and something of a depth perception problem. Sasuke, however, was going to be no further help, being knocked out under a boulder and what not.
The seal on Naruto's chest cooled from its angry red, the intricate circles and writings fading to a wiry black ink before disappearing entirely. In his right hand, a perfectly cut diamond held the energies and consciousness of the Juubi. His seal had allowed him to take part of the massive demon's chakra, but a large portion of it was contained within the jewel. Naruto sealed the jewel away as Madara slowly straightened from his pained crouch.
"You dare?!" The Uchiha snarled, his single Sharingan eye spinning widely at Naruto, who stood with a look of apathy on his face. "You dare ruin a century of preparation, all for some child's dream of peace? Without power, true peace is impossible!" Madara punctuated this outcry with a frenzied charge, dashing across barren ground in seconds. Naruto waited until he got close, and then batted his elder away with the back of his fist.
"You are right in one respect. True peace IS impossible. You're believe that power will grant peace is the real foolishness here." Naruto said, in a tone that reminded Madara of Nagato's Deva Path, speaking as God to a nonbeliever.
"If peace is so impossible, then why have you sacrificed so much in its name?" Madara asked, flying in again with a punch that was diverted to the side by Naruto's open palm. Another palm impacted with his side, breaking the armor off and sending him flying even further. This time, Madara stayed prone on the ground, his breath coming in slow, uneven wheezes after such a powerful blow to his ribs. He grimaced and spat out a smattering of blood, indicating that a lung was likely punctured. Without the power of his Rinnegan eye, his body was mortal and thus he could be killed.
"I fight for peace because I know that it can never be granted by those in power." Naruto sighed. He was tired, but he knew that the battle was likely over. Madara had no strength left to challenge him with. "I realized a long time ago that peace does not come from those with power, but rather from those without." The blonde man walked slowly over to his nemesis, passing parallel with the furrow Madara had left in the ground. When he reached the older shinobi, his gaze was heavy and unsympathetic.
"Those you claim dominion over dictate the peace of the land. If they revolt, you attack them. If they refuse to pay tribute, you punish them. Those in power must always react to the actions of those without. That is why true peace is an impossible dream." Naruto knelt down on one knee next to Madara.
"No! I refuse to believe that some rice farmer has more power than me, Madara Uchiha, to bring about peace!" The self-proclaimed 'savior' spat, sending a few streaks of red across Naruto's sandals. The blonde man ignored them.
"True peace is a lie. There will always be conflict. But if people work together, and try to overlook their differences...the peace that follows will truly be one worthy of the next fight. We preserve peace with war, we do not use it as a respite in between conflicts. That is the difference between you and I."
Madara refused to listen. What did this BOY know, one who had been surrounded by conflict and hatred since the day he was born? How could a child born and branded in a hateful world of strife know anything about the peace Madara sought?
"Just get this over with. I want nothing to do with your temporary solutions." Madara sneered. Naruto sighed heavily, but readied a kunai nonetheless. As he leaned in to finish off the proud Uchiha patriarch, he did not see the hand signs being made at Madara's side. A hand came up and grasped Naruto's head, startling him, and also forced him to look into Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Suffer my will, Uzumaki!" Madara cried, and suddenly the black swirling void of his Sharingan swallowed Naruto whole.
Consciousness came in shorts bursts to Naruto. He only caught slight glimpses, and scattered words here and there. His thoughts were sluggish, his will weakened and bleak. He saw darkened corridors, similar to Orochimaru's bases. He heard scattered voices, including his own, but he couldn't focus hard enough to decipher the words. Frustration welled up within him, and he pushed harder. This time, a few words echoed in the darkness of his mind.
"...can already feel myself losing control. You have to make the implant so I can res..." The words faded as fatigue gripped him. But that had been his voice! Somehow, Naruto had the sinking feeling that he was no longer in control of his body. And with that feeling, came rage.
'Who does that old fuck think he is, controlling my body like that!' Naruto thought acidly. With his rebellious anger came even more clarity, and this time Naruto was afforded a glimpse outside.
His vision was blurred at first, but he soon found himself face to face with Sasuke, who's Sharingan was activated. Behind Sasuke, the mutilated body of Kabuto laid in several pieces. Naruto's friend had a vicious snarl on his face, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Release him, now! You won't contain Naruto forever!" Sasuke cried, slashing toward Naruto's eyes as he charged. Naruto felt himself back flip away, and he could feel frustration from somewhere else.
"He is beyond you, boy. I may not retain control forever, but I will use the chakra of this jinchuriki to revive my body permanently. After that, he will no longer be useful." Naruto's mouth formed the words, but the intent came from his elderly nemesis, Madara Uchiha.
'YOU BASTARD!' Naruto cried, and his body shuddered as a hand covered his face. The body thief grunted with effort, Naruto felt resistance against his will.
"Stay down, you little pest! You will bow to me!" Madara growled, but Naruto did not relent. He railed within his psyche, and Sasuke took the opportunity to attack. With Naruto fighting on the inside, and Sasuke engaging from the outside, Madara was hard pressed to fight them both. In the end, it cost him dearly. A line of fire stitched across Naruto's side as Sasuke landed a shallow cut across the blonde's ribs. Naruto felt the pain flare up, but the strike distracted Madara long enough for Naruto to seize temporary control.
"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out in a mix of relief and pain, holding one hand up while using the other to staunch his wound. Thankfully, his friend stopped in mid swing.
"Naruto? Is that you?" The Uchiha survivor asked, keeping his sword up in a ready stance. Naruto nodded, but gritted his teeth as he felt Madara's consciousness press against his own angrily, vying to regain control.
"I don't have much time, Sasuke. I don't know what jutsu he used, but I think it's like Ino's technique. I need you to... arrghh!" Madara needled him even more, and the blonde felt his control of body loosen. Still, he would get his say in, no matter what the old bastard in his head wanted to do about it.
"Bring Ino to me, and we may be able to pull the bastard out. Just...hurry!" With that, Naruto felt his control slip completely, though he still retained his awareness of what was happening outside of his body. Madara snarled fiercely, and Sasuke resumed his ready stance.
"That young fool couldn't keep his mouth shut, I see." He spat in irritation. "No matter. The Rinnegan eye will give me my old body back. After that, you can have Uzumaki's corpse." With that, he back flipped again and passed down a secret passage hidden near the wall. Sasuke gave chase, but a nearby seal cast a barrier over the hole and blocked his pursuit.
Flashback over for the moment. Will reveal more upon waking
An hour before Emergence...
Dr. Richards sighed heavily as he reclined in the plushy chair. Across from him, Susan and two other researchers from New Hope, Massey and Kolvich, waited with him as their superior began pushing the boundaries of 'fashionably late'. The board room reserved for these debriefs sat with a large window that overlooked Ephyra, the capital of Tyrus and one if its most populated cities. Several stories below the executive building they were in, regular citizens went about their post-war celebrations with glee and borderline debauchery. Somehow, Richards wished that he could join them in their revels. Unfortunately, we haven't had enough success to celebrate. The doctor thought to himself anxiously.
He looked across at Susan and was about to ask her to check the lobby when the door opened, causing all four researchers to sit up a little straighter. The oak door revealed none other than Louis Settile, the Chairman's most ambitious and ruthless operator. She wore her dark gray pantsuit with the same ease as she would wear a bathing suit. Richards only wished he was half as calm as the agent in front of him was.
"Apologies for being late, everyone. Traffic was murder." Settile said with a wave, her tone anything but apologetic. Her emphasis on the word murder made Kolvich swallow hard, though it seemed only Dr. Richards had heard it. Settile walked to the head of the board room's table and pulled a cord, closing the blinds on the window and bringing darkness into the room abruptly. Everyone waited in the dark as their eyes adjusted, and a click from somewhere near where Dr. Richards had last seen the agent brought light back into the room, in the form of a projector. The bright beam of light was cast upon the wall opposite of the window, blinding the assembled researchers momentarily.
Settile did not seem bothered, however, and took a seat farthest away from the display. She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair.
"Whoever would like to go first, by all means." She said, gesturing toward the bright projected screen. It was an invitation on Dr. Richards seemed willing to accept.
"Very well," he said, clearing his throat as he stood. "I suppose that would be me." He made his way to the front of the table and placed a few documents into the scanner. As the device processed his papers for display, Dr. Richards blinked into the light of the projector to get his eyes used to the light. When he looked back at the screen, the words 'Project Dawnbringer' were displayed in red block letters. Settile's voice echoed from behind the light, but he couldn't see well enough to pinpoint her location.
"As I understand, Doctor Richards, you were tasked with discovering the source of Dawnbringer's unique energy manipulation. Where did you get with that?" She asked coolly. Richards cleared his throat again, and then thumbed the control in his hand twice. The slides skipped ahead, showing a line graph with several detailed readings, and the line darting up to the top of the chart, jumping in certain intervals.
"The energy he uses, referred to as chakra by the subject, has been difficult to trace these past few weeks. Unless he was tasked with using nearly inhuman strength, only our most scrutinous scanners found any trace of chakra within Dawnbringer's body. Upon closer examination, we found that it was a by product of cellular activity, energy given off during cellular mitosis being harnessed and used by a secondary network." He clicked the tool again, and this time the display showed two diagrams of the human nervous system. The diagram on the right, however, had an additional system outlined in blue.
"As far as reproducing his ability to manipulate chakra, I'm afraid we've hit a bit of a snag. On the left is a standard human's nervous system. On the right, as best as we can extrapolate, is Dawnbringer's nervous system. From what we can measure, he has evolved a secondary nervous system that seems dedicated exclusively to manipulating chakra. This means two things: first, he was born with this ability, and it is written in his genetic code. Second, transplanting a system like this would be problematic as well, since rejection would almost certainly lead to death. Preliminary animal trials have been difficult, as there were no natural stimuli for us to use to cause the test subjects to use chakra. It is simply too foreign." Richards said with a frown. He heard rustling in the back.
"You haven't actually laid eyes on this system? The chairman authorized exploratory surgery if necessary." Settile asked. Richards' smile was completely mirthless.
"Dawnbringer was less than cooperative on that front. He refused sedation for surgery, and three attempts were made before we simply learned that it was impossible while he was conscious. We managed to get him on the operating table straight out of the stasis pod, but there were..."
"Subject is awake! Call security, hurry!"
CRACK!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
"Jesus Christ, he broke Satterfield's arm!"
"...complications. Needless to say, exploratory surgery is impossible. He cannot be sedated outside of the stasis pod long enough for the procedure to take place." Richards winced at the memory of Dr. Satterfield's injury. It had been a traumatic experience for all New Hope staff involved.
"Very well, Dr. Richards, you may have a seat." Settile said grumpily. Richards nodded and found his chair, only pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow as he did so.
"Dr. Kolvich, I believe you were in charge of studying the enhanced strength and bone structure. Do you have anything to show?"
Said researcher made his way to the front quickly, though his stature did hinder him somewhat. Dr. Kolvich was a balding, middle-aged man who had distinguished himself in the field of biology on account of his brilliant understand of human musculature and his diminutive stature of four foot eight. When he stood next to the display, only his head was visible.
"We made some considerable progress in determining the source of Dawnbringer's incredible strength and durability. His muscle fibers are much more dense than a normal human, and his bones show marked resilience on two fronts. First off, they are slightly thicker than an average human, indicating an increased calcium intake. But the more interesting subject is his skeletal structure. Many of the larger bones, such as the humerus and the femur, are honeycombed in structure. This allows his bones to bend and strain with much greater efficiency than normal, and can attest to his durability. Unfortunately, I must also submit a maintenance request for the MRI machine, as the subject...broke it." Kolvich began to sweat as he said this last part, and all three of his colleagues heard the tapping of Settile's fingers.
"Can these structural benefits be passed on to others, doctor?" The agent asked, her ire kept from her voice. Kolvich nodded enthusiastically.
"The muscle density would require constant and considerable weight training, but I see results viable after six months of rigorous exercise and proper diet. However, the bone structure could be partial replicated with some extensive bone splints guiding the healing process. However, that would require the test subject's bones to be completely shattered. When I proposed the idea to Dr. Satterfield, he was less than enthused." Kolvich added as a joke. No one laughed.
"Very well. We'll consider the muscular enhancements later. Dr. Storm?" Kolvich hurriedly retook his seat, and Susan Storm found her way to the display. While she wasn't exactly thrilled to be up front, she took the position with a great deal more confidence than her predecessors.
"I began study of Dawnbringer's regenerative abilities at the cellular level. I believe I've already found the key to his youthful appearance, and it posed some fascinating questions. When his tissues were damaged, his body would create exact copies of the damaged cells and replace them, instead of using epithelial tissue like a regular person. This being said, there is no way for us to determine his actual age without a brain biopsy, and as Dr. Richards said, surgery is impossible with Dawnbringer. Due to his regenerative cells, the subject is able to recover from grievous, life threatening wounds with ease. I've been combing his DNA structure for the markers that stimulate the regeneration, but so far have not found anything." She said concisely. Her work was dependent on Richards' work, and without a breakthrough on his part, she was blocked. Settile seemed to realize this.
"Thank you Dr. Storm. Please be seated." Settile said, and flicked a switch. The lights all came back on, blinding the researchers as they adjusted to the light once again. Once she could see properly, Dr. Storm took her seat.
"Dr. Massey, is complete reproduction possible?" Settile asked. "I'd like to avoid recreating parts and pieces if a complete replica is possible."
Dr. Massey shook his blonde head, his spectacles glinting in the light. The lead geneticist at New Hope, Massey was so jaded he didn't particularly care what the bosses thought.
"Not a damn chance. Preliminary tests on sperm viability indicate that he is almost sterile. Whatever environmental hazards he grew up with irradiated him to the point that chances of successful fertilization are one in ten thousand. And we couldn't clone him directly because his altered DNA structure won't bond correctly with any viable zygotes." The grizzled doctor took a pull from a silver flask he kept inside his jacket pocket, then continued.
"If we want to get a kid out of Dawnbringer, it's going to be consensual. My staff barely survived collecting three samples. If it weren't for the fact that they were women, I'm certain that they would have perished." He said darkly. Long story short, Naruto had not taken kindly to folks poking and prodding at the family jewels. Settile actually grinned at that.
"We can't hope for total cooperation, even with the Chairman's control in place. Still, this is better than what we had." The agent stood up and switched off the projector, then beamed at the researchers. Considering that she was a spook among spooks, the doctors didn't know whether the smile was genuine or not.
"Thank you, everyone. I will relay the results to the Deputy Chairman, and you are free to go. I would advise you stick around for a few weeks until the new budget is approved, but what you do from here is up to you. Good day." And with that, she was out the door. The doctors looked at each other for a moment, then decided to follow her out. Kolvich and Massey exited separately, rushing to their respective cars. Storm and Richards stayed behind.
"I'm not sure if her cheer is a good sign, or an ill omen." Richards said with a sigh. Susan nodded in agreement.
"The only thing I know for certain is that the budget is being renewed. That at least means we're still on course." She said, holding the door open as Richards moved to exit. Together, the two walked out of the COG Science Bureau's main branch, headed for a local pub to relieve their stress. When they got to the establishment, all eyes were on the television. And it almost looked like a horror movie.
Kravchenko, Gorasnaya
The might of the Coalition had finally broken the spirit of the UIR. In the face of the Hammer of Dawn, the leaders of the Union of Independent Republics had seen the ultimatum for what it was: surrender, or perish in fire. But even after the demilitarization, COG aid to impoverished cities all over the former UIR states wasn't unwelcome. There were still a few holdouts of resentment, but peace had finally come to Sera. COG Gears stood on the corners of major streets, and more of them distributed supplies and identification papers. Win or loss, the people were largely just glad that the war was over.
In the town square, a single bell stood in remembrance of those that had perished in the war. Three lines of names decorated a plaque in front of the old gong, and they detailed everyone who had lived in Kravchenko and died in the Pendulum Wars. It had stood there for several years, and was a constant around the town.
So no one believed their eyes when a great tremor rocked the square, and a gaping sinkhole suddenly opened up, and took the monument with it. The great rumble and clatter drew the attention of everyone in the square. And to their horror, gray shapes emerged from the hole. Gray shapes with rifles.
There flesh was pebbled and leathery, like a lizard. Their eyes were yellow pinpricks of hatred, squinting in the unfamiliar sun. All of them wore leather armor mixed with metal plating, and they all were equipped with large rifles. As the first three strange creatures climbed from the maw of the earth, the COG citizens were speechless.
And then they opened fire.