Took me a while to write this. Sorry, about that, but I've been busy (Perfecting the Lynx idea and planning with darkhaseo), so I don't think I underworked myself. In any case, enjoy! Oh, and the chick from the last chapter has officially been named Alice.
Oh, and I thought I should add a disclaimer, just because I never have before. So, here it is.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I own only the OCs presented in this story. I also own the concept of the changeling with 400 forms, codenamed the Modling.
Chapter 10: The East
"Nice story." I smiled; glad to have my friend back. I hadn't known how much I would miss him. We were sitting inside my den, and I had just finished explaining what had happened to me over the past few years. I was still waiting for him to explain why he was here. He kept beating around the bush.
Rose was trying to read my thoughts, and I had a feeling I knew why. Judging by the smile still plastered all over her face, she was trying to find out more about my child-to-be. Let her try, I thought. I had 'conveniently' left the egg out of my story.
"You still haven't explained why you came here." I get moody waiting. He looked up, suddenly grim. "It's Silver. He…found something."
Alice
"Hey! You're under arrest!" I winced as Jack yelled out to the man in silver. He looked back towards us, smirking. I grasped my gun tighter, rising out of my crouch to stand beside Jack. Seeing our blue armour, he laughed. "Ah, the police have arrived! Tell me, can you help me find this man?" A hologram popped up in front of him, displaying a familiar face. The target.
I nodded, lowering the rifle. "We can help you find him. Why?" He sheathed his sword, turning away for a moment. "We…have a score to settle." Jack and I nodded. "We'll take you to him. I'll give you five minutes alone with him, but be sure to leave him alive. We need him too."
He agreed, and I replaced my helmet again. Switching the HUD over to a map, I memorized the layout of the area and the path to the target's house. I took the helmet off once again, pointing down the street. He man moved down first, followed by me, then Jack.
Not even halfway down the street we were attacked again. A man in black armour popped out around a corner, weapon raised. There was a silver blur in front of us, and the man is suddenly on the ground. His armour had a gash along the chest plate, from which blood had begun to pour out.
Walking past the dead man, we ran down a series of paths and streets. Despite our speed, the man in silver wasn't even breathing hard. He actually looked irritated that we were moving so slow.
We stopped in front of a small, grey building. I nodded toward Jack, who kicked the door in. I ran inside, gun at the ready. A young, red haired man was sitting on a small chair, looking at me with contempt. "You Bosnians really need to learn your place. This is my home. Leave before I am forced to kill you."
Smiling, I brought my gun up, and emptied the magazine. Only the target wasn't there any more. He grabbed my neck, and despite my heavy armour, managed to fling me out the door. A knife appeared in his hand, and as he came out of the house he indifferently stabbed Jack through the neck. I cried out, surprised, as Jack dropped to the ground, wheezing and coughing. A fatal wound.
The target knelt, and pulled the knife out of my team-mate. My eyes narrowed, and I pulled out my sidearm. I took careful aim, and fired. The shot would have hit the base of his knee, were he where had been when I fired. As is, he managed to dodge the shot.
He shot past my guard, grabbing my neck again. He flung me into a nearby concrete wall, and I hit my head, hard, on the solid substance. Stars dance in my eyes. I could barely see, everything was dark. And the red haired man started to walk towards me. The only thing running through my head was 'Where the hell is the guy in silver?'.
Tal
"Three days ago, Silver called me. He said he had found some sort of beacon in a place he referred to as 'The East'. It had the Infinus logo scratched all over it. Unfortunately, the thing is dead. No way to get proper coordinates from it. But it's a start."
I nodded, thinking the information over. The name stuck in my head. The East, I thought. Where do I know that name from? I shook off the feeling, turning to Rose. "You know what the East is. Tell me." Her eyes widened, but she relented. "The East is a place, far to the east of here, where humans wag a constant war. Three groups, the Imperialists, the Bosnians, and the Haidukens, have been trying to capture it for there own side for nearly a century."
She shook her head slightly. "And that was only the point at which the Imperialists joined the fight. The Bosnians and Haidukens have been fighting over it for longer than any of them care to recall." Her eyes unfocused for a moment, and I could feel a backwash of memories and emotions flooding out of her mind.
When she spoke again, she sounded almost…angry. "The Imperialists, the largest working government on Earth, control a good five percent of our planet's total landmass. The rest is controlled by individual governments. Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, all the areas around us are Imperialist territory. They have expanded over the years, fighting wars the public never knew about. In time, they will have conquered most of the planet. Then, they will crumble, as all governments do. Then, the cycle will repeat. Humans never learn from the past."
Ethan winced at the venom in her words. "Hi! I'm right here!" She looked over at him, smiling. "You can't consider yourself a normal human after you've done what you've…never mind." I picked up an odd emotion, something that I hadn't felt in a while. A maternal bond. Rose had kids.
The realization hit me like a brick. "You mean…you two have…really?" Rose looked amused. "And you haven't?" I could feel myself blushing, and I was very glad my fur hid the colouring. "What if I have? It wasn't interracial though! You two aren't even the same species! That shouldn't even be possible!" Ethan, grinned, pulling down his sleeve. The green markings on his arm flashed, illuminating two strange scars on his upper wrist. "Anything's possible, friend."
Ice had fallen over the conversation. In an effort to break it, I spoke the first thing that came to mind. "Have they…" Rose nodded "Hatched? Yes, a year and a half ago. It was hard to leave them, but a battlefield is no place for children."
Alice
"Where am I?" Blindfolded, I could not see. I was tied up, against what felt like a small metal poll. I heard footsteps. Someone grabbed the blindfold, yanked it away. A man with red hair stared at me.
"You're lucky to be alive. That man, the man in silver, would have killed you after he got me. He's a cold blooded killer." He looked genuinely concerned about me for a moment. He stepped away, and I heard a rope snap.
I stood, spinning around to grab the back of his neck. He simply laughed, and ducked around, forcing me to let go. He turned to face me, drawing an ornate, angled knife from his dark clothes. He pointed the knife towards me, shaking his head.
"I've been watching how you and your partner work," The mention of Jack sent a tremor through me. He noticed. "He's alive, alive and well, actually. I'm not evil, and I certainly wouldn't alienate you by killing your friend. I missed the jugular, and the trachea. He will have trouble drinking acidic liquids for a while, but he'll live. Now then, back to business."
"I have enemies in this land. I want you to help me find them. Now, before you go saying anything about me being your enemy, I'm not. I may come from Imperialist territory, but I'm not one of them. The man in silver hacked your command network, planted the mission in your commander's computer."
"That man had a script laid out for you, which you followed without question. He planned on using you to find me, then killing you, your partner, and me off. He is the enemy of everyone and cannot be trusted."
He pulled the knife back. "He belonged to a company known as Infinus, which experimented on him to create a super soldier. He commands a team of the best fighters in the world. But, I think you may be able to stop him. Help me, and I will help you."
Tal
A month later
"Welcome to camp Chasi, Mr…?" Ethan brushed him off, walking out of the train that had gotten us here. I already missed Hazle and Raziel, who had hatched just before I left. My son, alone with the war. For how long? I didn't want to think about that. Despite my rationalization, I was worried about the child. What If he inherited my abilities? What if he couldn't control them? I forced myself to think only of the present, for now.
"Silver said we could find him here. And, he mentioned he had picked up some…friends." Sure enough, Silver was standing just outside the train station. Beside him, a man and a woman, who were both wearing light blue clothes. The outfits seemed to hug their wearers more tightly than need be.
Silver saw us, and held a hand in front of the two beside him, before coming over to greet us. He looked grim. "It's worse than I thought before. Infinus is here, but so are the Four Horsemen.
"Then we clear this place of both threats." I turned to Ethan. "Can you handle it this time?" He narrowed his eyes, pulling off his gloves. "This time, I will not lose." The green glow of his hand intensified, and several people passing us look up startled. "This time, the outcome will be very different."
Alice
"They don't look like much." I nod towards my partner, grabbing his shoulder at the same time. "Neither did Silver. And he had your number." Jack grunted. "Lucky shot." I punched him playfully in the arm. "Yeah, sure it was."
I scan through the crowd, looking for potential threats. Training becomes a part of you after so long. While I was looking at the train, I noticed a slight shimmer in the air. On top of the train. I motioned for Jack to take a look.
Moments later, the sound of gunfire blasted out of the train's windows. "Shit!" I yelled, diving for cover. I heard a similar response from Jack. I reached for my pistol, still strapped to my thigh, only to hear the distinctive whine of a railgun charging. The crowds, now driven to a frenzy, were surging around madly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flash of metal. A large flash. I heard the explosive blast of a railgun firing. Turning, trying to throw myself to the side, but to late. The huge slug races at more than a thousand kilometres an hour, aimed straight at me. I brace for the impact.
Impact never comes. I slam, sideways, into the ground. The hit drives the air from my lungs. I look up, and I see the huge metal slug, still white hot, floating in the air. A slight purple glow surrounds it.
I pull the sidearm out of its holster, searching around for the person with the railgun. Instead, I find a man in black robes standing in an alley. He pulls a folding knife from somewhere in his garments, flashing it lightly in my direction.
A man, frenzied from the gunfire, runs blindly into me. Growling, I hit him in the back of the head. Raising my gun, I fire two shots into the air. More screams ensue, and the panic only intensifies.
Turning, I see Jack trading shots with a huge armoured machine. Despite the odds, he seemed to be winning. The man with black hair was fighting, hand to hand, with a woman in a strange, HAZMAT like suit. Silver, who was fighting with the man in silver, had very little in the way of an advantage. And the Umbreon whom Silver had assured me was sentient, was nowhere to be seen.
I turned back to face the robed man, drawing a combat knife at the same moment. The blade gleams wickedly in the dimming sunlight. I draw the knife close to my gun, ready to use either at any moment.
Tal
Humans and their battles, I thought darkly. Always, win or lose. That kind of mentality will kill them off. "Rose, what else can you tell me about this place?" The red shape materialized next to me, not startling me the least. It seemed to have become a game to her, testing my seeming omniscience.
"A relative term, the East is a constant battlefield. Eventually, the Imperialists will beat back the others, as they always do. They'll then invade the defenceless Bosnians and Haidukens, claiming their land. Then, they'll move on to the next place. That cycle will continue indefinitely. Imperialists have the best in the means of technology, the strongest soldiers, and the greatest numbers."
"Experiments like Project-HM1 and HM7 created soldiers much like our friends back there, except with much more stable minds. Of that group, the only one who seems to keep his head is Wraith. But I feel something…wrong with him." The words struck me as familiar. "HM1? Human1? They made that kind of thing legal?"
Rose nodded sadly. "They managed to refine Infinus' original procedures, and modified them to suit individual roles. The first was used as a direct copy of the originals, a way of comparing the progress of the soldiers' minds. The second project was used to make much more powerful soldiers, but the project failed. The soldiers became homicidal, suicidal, or both."
"The third project aimed to create soldiers that worked well in a unit, that were mentally superior. That project was a smashing success, creating the only stable soldiers. Soldiers like Alice." I nodded, smiling faintly. "There's something about her…I can't put my finger on it, but I think we'll be seeing more of her."
Ethan
"I don't know how you stopped that railgun round, but I'm starting to like you!" I rolled my eyes at the cackling laughter of the obviously insane girl. I blocked another punch from the metal gauntlets, pushing them to the side. She started to laugh again, and she started the generator on her back.
Her gauntlets flared to life, sparking and glowing. Electricity shot off them, hitting walls and civilians. The panic level skyrocketed, and the people still remained in the square. I could feel my restraint fading quickly, annoyed as I was. The girl smothered a laugh. "Let's leave the kiddie stuff behind, eh? Let's see what you can do!"
Shrugging, I relax my arms, letting them fall to my side. I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate despite the chaos around me. Deciding on a form to take had never been easy before. It was easy now.
Alice
"You're not quite my power level yet, friend." I shrugged the comment off, spinning around to dodge another stab. The man was fast. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage.
Spinning, I drop a pin mine onto the dirty road. I leapt backward, out of range of the mine's explosion. I gestured tauntingly at the man in robes, waving my knife around. He smiled, drew into himself, and vanished.
At the same time, I felt an arm close around my neck.
Tal
"Enough history, tell me about geography." The streets were blending together, empty, forlorn. No one wandered them, to afraid they were of being seen by the regular patrols of soldiers. This place wasn't a town. It was hell, in every sense of the word. I often found burning houses.
"Remind me why we left them to die?" Rose floated down from her eagle's perch high above me, her eyes accusing. Rolling my own eyes, I responded rather testily. "They won't die. Despite the upgrades the Four Horsemen have gathered, they still have a marked disadvantage. Jack and Alice are the tipping factor."
She sighed in exasperation. "How do you know that? How do you know that I won't lose Ethan? What do you have to risk? Is that risk here? Now? Would you have stayed if Hazle had been there, fighting? Answer me damnit!" Her voice quickly descended into sobs.
For a moment, my blood turned to ice. What if? The moment passed, and I kept walking. "You just don't get it! Ethan and Silver aren't meek little humans! They are more than capable than taking care of themselves! Stop worrying about them!"
For a moment, I felt myself being watched. Looking up, I saw a man, half hidden on the roof of a building, looking down at me. He had blue eyes, and black hair. He smiled at me, waved, and melded into the shadows.
"How do you know Alice can handle them?" The question startled me, I had just known. But now… "I can only hope. It's too late to go back." A blast of air hit me from the side, knocking me off balance. "It is not too late! We can go back any time we please! But you are too stubborn! Why did you even get me to come with you?"
Enough mystery, I thought. Time to tell some truths. "Rose, please calm down. I have a hunch, alright? Trust me, they can handle it. I trust Ethan, don't you? I brought you along, because I have an idea. And it takes two."
Just then, a massive roar filled the empty streets.
Ethan
"Fool! Do you really believe you can defeat me? I am the embodiment of power, I am what humans learn to fear! I will not be beaten!" The words I spoke seamed foreign, not quite coming from my mouth. I had chosen the largest form I had, for dual purposes.
First, my Rayquaza form was immensely powerful, with a tough hide, powerful muscles, and, of course, Hyper Beam and other assorted attacks. And it would also help me drive away the pesky civilians, helping us all.
I floated, well out of range of any enemy attacks, far above the city. I took a moment to survey the tide of battle, and I was surprised at the result. None of us seemed to have an advantage. Alice was in a chokehold, Jack was hiding behind a low stone wall, and Silver, who seemed to enjoy fighting in his human form, was fighting a stalemate. Time to force fate.
Tal
"See? He'll be fine. Just focus on what we have to do, here and now. Forget the future, forget the past. You can't change them." She took a deep breath, steadied herself. When she turned back, she looked calm.
"This is not my fight. It is yours. It's you who wanted revenge, not us. We thought to help you. But it seems you are in this for only yourself. I will go back, and I will stay with Ethan, what you do is up to you. But I have no reason to help you."
The words hit me like bricks, forcing me to lower my gaze. "If that's how you feel, then go. But believe it or not, you do have a reason to help me. Think about it. They would never pass up the chance to capture you. You have power. And I know what they do to those with power." I shivered at the memories, but didn't stop.
"With me, you can be safe. Ethan is distracted; he couldn't defend you if they showed up. And, since we arrived with such a fanfare, they will show up. They would go after you, and Ethan would try to protect you. But then, he would be killed. Is that what you want?" I had to force myself to keep talking. I may not show it, but I have a heart. And I was torturing her thoughts.
She broke down into shuddering sobs; the mental picture I had forced her to envision had done more than I had thought. "And that's not even the only reason, for at this moment,"
"They have your sister."
And down comes the plot hammer! Yeah, awsome isn't it? Raziel is Tal's kid, named after the Jewish 'Keeper of secrets'. If there are any Jewish fans reading this, don't get offended! I value your reading. I just couldn't resist! The name sounds awsome! Really, it does!
Lynx academy chapter one is not quite finished yet, and I'm planning on getting it as long as possible. Also, expect LoT chapters to get longer as I attempt to get its average words per chapter to 3,000. Shouldn't take too long.
To all my loyal fanbase (or whats left of it), I have just recieved some terrible news. As such, I will be updating less frequently for a while as I work off the grief. I'm sorry my personal tragedy had to rub off on you guys, but thats just how things are going down. :(
And, as always, read and review!
WEAPON, out.