i know the story seems boring, but its a slow building one, okay? All this is heading somewhere, i promise.

Transcendence Rebels

Chapter 13

"Rebels, turn out!" Stan bellowed. Immediately the new recruits toppled out of bed, while the others calmly got out. "You start training today, so wear comfortable clothes and get your weapons!" They obeyed.

Within minutes they were lined up infront the leaders and Stan by the target range. The old man surveyed the rebels. Dominic wore a brown jacket over a beige t-shirt and grey trousers. Qual had a grey shirt and black track pants. Marcus wore a navy blue jacket over a light blue singlet and black knee-length pants. The friends wore exactly the same thing. Black tights, and a red jacket over a white singlet. They both wore their hair in a bun. There was only one difference between the two, and that was the headcloth they used as a headband to keep loose strands of hair out of their faces. Kali wore a deep green headcloth, while Vereyu had a sapphire blue.

Satisfied, Stan nodded, and turned to the demon.

"Alcor, you're the leader. Take charge." He ordered, and he nodded.

"Okay. First off, the only set meal here is dinner, so if you want to eat, you do it in the breaks between sessions. Your first lesson will be guns. How to shoot them, how to assemble them, how to clean them. Who here already knows all this?" Dom raised his hand. "Dom, you take the first watch with Stan. You don't need to learn this." He nodded, and the duo left the building. "We train for two hours per lesson, with a ten minute break in between."

"Two hours!?" Marcus exclaimed. Mabel hoisted a rifle onto her shoulder.

"We work hard, here. Slacking is not an option, not now that we're wanted by the police. We learn how to defend ourselves, to survive, or we perish." She explained as she took aim, and fired.

A perfect bullseye.

Marcus and Qual gaped, having seen nothing like it before.

"Soon you might even be able to do that." Alcor added, smug. Marcus raised his hand.

"Shouldn't we be saving the bullets?" He asked.

"We use slugs." Mabel replied. "They're cheap and easy to make. We save the real bullets for later, although they do little more damage. The arrows are blunt as well, designed to concuss and injure, not to maim and kill. We are here to gain freedom, not to kill."

Alcor gestured behind him to a table littered with hand-held guns.

"We start with pistols. Before you're gonna even be allowed to fire one, you're gonna disassemble and reassemble it until you know it inside and out. The faster the better." He grabbed a gun and shoved it into Qual's hands. "Get started. Marcus, Ford has informed me that your training takes place in the workroom, as you're a technician." He jerked a thumb in that direction, and the boy lightly jogged over there.

Five minutes later, and Alcor and Mabel were stalking the ranks, correcting the rebels efforts.

"Faster, Qual. When you're on the battle field you're not going to have the luxury of time." Alcor urged.

"No, that part goes here. Better." Mabel advised.

"No shortcuts, Wendy. You of all people should know this."

"Nice work, Lav. Get it faster."

"You're holding that gun like it's a separate thing. It's not, it's a part of you, so grip it."

Before they knew it, an hour had passed. Alcor clapped his hands together.

"Right. Reassemble your guns, and line up. You're finally gonna shoot." They obeyed. Mabel demonstrated.

"Grip your guns, both hands. Plant your feet firmly like this, take aim, and fire." Another bullseye. Vereyu raised her hand, and Mabel nodded to her.

"Won't people outside hear us?" She asked, and the leader smiled.

"We've discovered that while we hear a loud bang, from outside there's nothing. It's spelled that way." Vereyu nodded her understanding. "Now, space your feet, take aim, and fire." She instructed.

They obeyed.

Kalizhir got close to a bullseye, as did Wendy. Lavendyr was the only one to get it perfect, while Qual was way off. The demon-boy scowled.

"Fire at will." Alcor ordered, hoping to improve their aim.

Soon the room was filled with gunshots.

After that, they did the same with cross and long bows, learning how they worked before learning to shoot them. Then they ran through the basics of staff-fighting and hand-to-hand combat, adding some more complex moves while they were at it. Then they went out to learn stealth from Qual, and tracking from Kali (who used Vereyu to explain), before going back inside, where the entire rebellion learnt a thing or two about hacking from Marcus. Finally they gathered around one of the tables. They were all sore and tired to the bone.

"It's going to be like this everyday, the only exceptions being days where you have a mission." Stan announced, a statement which aroused groans. Stan smiled. "Ah. Music to my ears." Some of the groans turned to laughs.

"That sounds like something Diana would say." Mabel joked lightheartedly. It was the wrong thing to say. Everyone quietened.

"Who's Diana?" Marcus whispered.

"None of your business, kid." Lavendyr retorted, and stormed off. Alcor followed, scowling.

"Seriously, though. Who's Diana?" Vereyu insisted. Wendy sighed.

"Diana was one of our original members. It was her idea to start this rebellion. But when we moved to this base because our old one had been found, she was shot, and didn't make it. She died just over a week ago, so the wounds are still fresh." Silence.

"That's why she's so uptight." Vereyu remarked quietly. Mabel nodded.

"It affected all of us, but Lav was the closest, having known her longer, so it hurt her the most. Any mention of her name stings like a reopened wound."

"It's a symbol of what she lost." The blonde said.

"Exactly." Mabel frowned. "A symbol... we need a symbol for the rebellion, so others know it's us." Stan nodded.

"That's a good idea. But what?"

"An open shackles for freedom, under a dove for peace." Kali whispered quietly. Vereyu grabbed a pen and paper, and drew a picture. She showed it to the others as Alcor came back.

It was perfect.

"First mission." Alcor pointed to the picture. "Getting that up in a couple places around town. Kali, Vereyu, Dom, you leave at dawn, Qual, you go as well to disguise them. Marcus, take this to Ford and tell them to make pins to wear on missions so the civilians know it's us. When we raid, when we attack, you will engrave, weave or spray-paint this design somewhere on the site." He ordered. The three most experienced soldiers nodded, and went to get ready for the next day as Marcus took the design and went to Ford, telling him what Alcor said.

The demon surveyed the small host, nodded, and went to train with Lavendyr.

This was the beginnings of a rebellion.

Bring it on.