Thievery Of The Sword

by Illuminet

There are consequences to stealing a weapon of the Outrage set. Sol knew this. But he also knew that something had to be done to put an end to this damned war that plagued the world. He merely needed an answer.

3. Chapter 3

Thievery Of The Sword

Chapter 3: Old Man

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: Characters from the Guilty Gear series are the rightful property of Arc System Works.

:xXx:

"Sorry if I start rambling. Really, all I want is to have a nice spar with one of my men. It has been a long time..." Kliff's face became thoughtful, his wrinkles folding about on his face as he stroked his thick beard.

"Letting off some steam of fighting by more fighting? Not that I should be one to talk. I tend to do that too" Sol said. Not many realized that despite all the problems Sol had with the Order, him and Kliff tended to get along like clockwork. Kliff acknowledged him as equal in their private time, talking like old war buddies. Despite Sol's overall attitude with others, Kliff gave him quite a bit of leeway if only because Sol was a necessity in the Old Commander's eyes. Sometimes there was the twinge of guilt, knowing he had more or less forced Sol to join the Order against his will. He had just been far more committed to the brawl they had once Kliff located him within a seedy pub near the outskirts of England.

"We will need to be well rested by tomorrow, so let us get on with it. The Raiders will be needed in the front of the assault we are planning at an abandoned Gear Plant. Hit them fast and hard. If what Intelligence claims holds true, you will most likely get to see her, Sol. The Herald of Destruction." Kliff's words seem to bid Sol's body to full wakefulness, his gaze keener and sharper as they regard Kliff's own eyes.

"The Gear's Messiah...Justice" Sol muttered. Kliff hefted the Dragon Slayer, the weapon that had been used to slay so many Gears, across his shoulder. It was all the warning Sol got before the massive blade descended upon him with tremendous speed. Despite the weight and power behind that attack, Sol was still able to guard the blow with his sword single handed. But not without some effect. A small crack shown in the blade's edge, one of several already upon the thick metal. Sol's uniform ripped even further as the attack caused his muscles to flexed and bulged further, making the already tight parts of his uniform nearly burst at the seams.

Of course, Sol wasn't going to let his blade break near completely like the last time he had faced Kliff with it. At least not yet. He reared his empty fist back briefly, before punching into the flat of his blade with enough force to dislodge Dragon Slayer. It also left Kliff stunned, Trying to gain control of the rattling vibrations coursing about the whole blade through the metal. It had been at just the right time to regain control, though Kliff grunted as he strained with holding Sol's own power in check when the Knight brought his weapon bodily towards Kliff overhead. Kliff's own uniform ripped apart from guarding such an attack, his own muscles bulging from having to halt the more rectangular shaped weapon. The many scars accumulated from years and years of constant fighting in such a long term war shown upon Kliff's bare flesh. Sol's own were visible from his own bared flesh. The Raiders had no direct healers, as they were breaded strictly for an all offensive approach. Or at least had been in the beginning of the Order's initial run. Now the Raiders used healing potions, though they were definitely much less proficient and useful compared to a Human's actual spells that fueled greater outcomes due to their wills.

Sol hopped away upon seeing Kliff's glowing empty hand coming forward. Aiming his hilt forward, his pommel shot with a quick yet compact burst of flame to contend with the blast of ki energy the Commander sent outward. Though primarily a classified official Magic seen to be of second nature for Humans of full Asian heritage, it was a Magic that was not out of scope for the old European born Commander. Which meant that while nearly any average Human could learn any of the five original forms of Elemental Magic. That didn't mean it was always a good idea. It was hard enough to try and completely master even one of the Elemental Magics to their full potential if only due to the unending possibility of the energy Magic produced

Sol compacted his stance, his body flashing with light as he accumulated power from his action charge as Kliff was already about to swing his blade horizontally to smack Sol with the Dragon's Slayer's flat. Sol lithely dove under the swing, the fine sharpened edge of Dragon Slayer taking a few strands cut from his tail. He slid under Kliff like a serpent, getting in between stubby legs of the old Commander. Kliff used his blade as a vault to leap clear of the spiraling flames that pierced through the ground, putting some distance between the two. Sol had already closed the distance almost before Kliff could react, flames covering his empty palm as he glided just shy of the ground towards the old man.

"Whoa!" Kliff let out the surprised sound as he hefted the blade up in time to guard Sol's hand. He could do little more than guard the vicious downward swipe of Sol's weapon that had nearly enough strength to smack the Dragon Slayer right out of his hands. Kliff felt it and used the moment to send the long hilt colliding with Sol's head. Sol twisted, but not before he sent his fist into Kliff's jaw as well. Both combatants sailed through the air and landing on their backs hard. Sol upright himself with fluid grace as he sprung up again from a back flip, his boots digging into the marble floor firmly before he shot off toward Kliff again, who was still getting up. The Commander knew he had to stall the Knight, and swept the ground with the Dragon Slayer, forcing Sol to hop up to avoid it. The table that Kliff had used earlier was sent flying through the room cut in two, the remains exploding against one of the walls. The tea cup had floated upward before smashing into pieces on the floor. Sol had air dashed to close the distance his fist reeled back as he readied to give Kilff another punch to the face. Kliff had used the momentum of his own swing to bring him fully to his feet, his old body continuing to spin, and ready to send another swing up at Sol.

"Shit..." Sol muttered as Kliff waved his blade about in quick circular motions above himself and Sol had to slam his blade against the Dragon Slayer and push off it, the attack having been fairly weak since he couldn't throw more weight behind the attack from his previous shift in attacks. Once Kliff felt the impact he halted, rearing back with the giant sword. Sol knew he could be in a serious amount of hurt had he let Kliff continue with the mighty chop, but there wasn't much he could do to counter up close.

"HAAA!" Kliff swung the Dragon Slayer forward with tremendous might at the still airborne Knight. Sol merely waited as he fell back down towards the ground.

"Strum Viper!" Before the Dragon Slayer could connect, Sol retaliated as flames gathered underneath his still airborne body. With fire covering his knee, he slammed it into the side of the Dragon Slayer to throw off it's trajectory. The weapon slammed into the ground with enough force to rend the tiles apart. Sol was completing his back flip, kicking off the Dragon Slayer as Kliff swung it back upwards. Kliff thrust the blade towards Sol's retreating form, yet once again Sol didn't touch ground as he closed the distance through the air, his blade swinging down in an arc to try and catch Kliff in the face. The Commander hopped out of the way, but was too close to Sol now to attack with anything but the handle of his weapon, which he did so. Sol guarded the pommel with his own blade, empty hand grabbing a fistful of Kliff's jacket, lifting the old man from the ground. Sol's arm fully extended as he reeled his head back as far as possible. Kliff went flying after his forehead met with the slab of metal strapped around Sol's forehead, bouncing twice along the ground before touching down on the ground with his feet.

"That got me pretty good..." Kliff was shaking his head to clear the haze that fogged his brain. Sol moved his neck from side to side to work out the kinks with audible popping sounds.

"Satisfied? Or you still want to go?" Sol asked. Kliff wanted to continue the spar. Unfortunately, the spar was starting to turn into an actual fight, and Kliff could not risk further injury or fatigue on himself. Even given the quick display, Kliff could see that there was still so much power Sol seemed to be holding back.

"That will have to do for now. So much power and strength...sometime soon, I believe this war can finally come to an end." Kliff said in slow but even tones.

"Huh?" Sol muttered out. He pondered if Kliff knew about his living for the past couple of centuries. Sol dismissed the thought. He had carefully kept a low profile so others wouldn't realize just how long he actually had been alive. That's why despite being a good bounty hunter, he never allowed himself to excel further beyond the norms. Granted Kliff still selected him as the one he wanted in the Order, claiming that he had received word of a bounty hunter with nothing short of amazing skills in combat. Yet that was the extent of those claims, nothing more concrete, it brought Sol back into thinking that perhaps Kliff knew something about Sol better than Sol himself knew of his own person.

It had always been one of those irksome thoughts that crept in his head, and although he could have used the animal like instincts of his Gear side, he had a fairly hidden shown respect for the elderly despite his gruff tones towards them like he did with the younger generation. It was out of the fact that they had only a lingering moment of time to make something of their lives, and so few live to such an age that Kliff had attained. Sol wished he could feel that sense of mortality of just living life. To have lived as long as he had, so many aspects of life were so tedious and mundane now when once they had a certain glow about them. He used to sometimes wonder how Slayer was able to deal with such a feeling. Until he had caught sight of Slayer's wife Sharon.

She was not one of Slayer's ilk, Sol was aware of that. She had a strange power of her own of which could not be pinpointed, but it was clear that husband and wife lived only for one another, giving each other a form of normalcy in a world that was ever changing around them. Something Sol definitely lacked and could be a likely cause for his self destructive nature.

Sol knew he wasn't completely immune to death. Of that he was sure. He was sure a weapon of the Outrage set could kill him if he really wanted to finally take his life. But he still had one motivation in his unending life as of now. He may not be able to find out about himself, but he could still take out the Gears and hopefully Justice as well. He may have been traitor to both sides, but this was something he had made up in his mind years ago already. It was by Human hands that Gears were made after all, and Gears would be able to lead the world no better than the Humans.

"Think nothing of it, Sol. Just an old man's ramblings. Go ahead and get some rest. Don't worry about the training hall. I'll have someone fix it up tomorrow some time. There will be a brief no later than 0600 sharp." Kliff turned away from Sol, planning to retreat to his own quarters and tend to what would probably be a major headache. Sol decided to head out now and get what rest he could.

"Sir Sol? Have you met with Commander Kliff already?" A female Knight Raider intercepted Sol when he was coming upon the barracks, separating male and female as well as officer and enlisted. Males were the bigger of the two, considering it was quite rare for females to do much fighting in the front lines, or much fighting in general. So few women joined and became Knights to the Sacred Order.

"Yeah, what of it? I've already been told of the brief tomorrow at 6. Your one of my own, right? Get rested up. We'll be needed in the front, as usual. That's all I know." Sol said, sparing a small dismissive wave of his hand before he walked past her.

:xXx:

Officers Brief at 0600 the next day, current time 0542...

Sol had been napping near the back of the room. He was normally not one to come early, but having heard Kliff's words got him feeling more active than normal. He had woken nearly two hours prior to the showtime and had decided to calm his nerves a bit with about an hour spent working out and then the remainder getting dressed in a new uniform and resting his muscles some. As a Gear, he needed far less of a recovery time for his body compared to a Human's, so he could afford to workout on days where there could also be heavy action out on the field moments later. In fact, Sol often preferred it since the gym was guaranteed to be empty on those days for a base that was about to set out and deploy on a mission.

"Huh?" Ky could only stare wide eyed upon seeing Sol. He had expected Sol to be one of the last ones to arrive, yet not only was he here, he had been the first one.

"Why are you here so early...this is unlike you." Ky continued on. Sol sighed. It turned into a yawn.

"Not like it matters. So what if I'm here now rather than later." Sol spared no glance towards Ky, yawning again before slouching further in his seat. Ky wanted to retort but thought better of it as he could hear the footsteps of other Knights coming from just outside the room. Knowing now was not the time to be confrontational, Ky's face was a passive and professional mask once more as he made his way towards the front of the room to take a seat for himself. Soon the remaining other officers shown and took their seats. Most were gathered near the center and front. Only Sol occupied one of the desks in the back. It was Kliff who took his place at the podium at exactly 0600 on the dot. The display behind him shown the specs of the Gear plant. Upon gazing at the images that passed through the projected image, Sol's head started to pound.

'Stairway to Heaven...' Sol shook his head to clear his thoughts. Unfortunately Broken memories started coming up, distracting him. Being a Gear allowed Sol to record information through the use of his senses. This meant he could record visually through viewing with his eyes and audio could be recorded via his ears picking up on sound. Sol could also record memories as they surfaced as well, though only to an extent. It meant he could retain memory longer than the typical Human, however, sometimes recording memories have adverse effects on his emotions. So Sol disconnected his emotion capability and let his ears record the words Kliff was saying to the rest. As he wasn't one to show much emotion to others on a constant basis, outwardly his face shown no real change, but if anyone looked at him closely enough they would realize that it seemed as if Sol had stopped breathing all together. That his whole body was unmoving, abnormally so. The reason for this was that he could have better focus on the memory itself. Unfortunately, the images that passed through his head were merely of a darkened room with a projector showing similar images and a few people speaking, but he could not trace any voices nor could he see faces. It was aggravating to him when memories like these ones showed up in his head.

Flashback...

-VISUAL/AUDIO:OK(BROKEN)-

-SUBTITLES:ON(NORMAL)-

-CLARITY:LOW(UNABLE ADJUST)-

-DATE:AD 2012(UNABLE EXACT MOTH/DAY)-

-TIME:NOT FOUND-

-LOCATION:NOT FOUND-

VOICE 1(ID:Unable/Male): "This...the sign...the United States renewed power...ability to harness...unlimited potential energy...Gears came to be. The Government...given the OK...fully commit...GEAR PROJECT."

VOICE 2(ID:Unable/Male): "The Government...provide funding...new laboratory...great pleasure to unveil this..it's location...Ladies...Gentlemen...may have heard...Tower of Babel...solar energy plant originally used...far back...2007...before...discovery...Magic."

VOICE 1(ID:Unable/Male): "It is this very same location...new laboratory will be...Tower...Babel has already been converted...closing down in 2010 into...most sophisticated facility ...manufacturing... further study...Gears...We also hope...may be able...harness the technology...Gear...Conversion to further...own evolution...we may live...easier lives...has and will always be...core of...the GEAR PROJECT...my fellow colleagues...further...evolution...Humanity!"

SOUND: Applause

VOICE 3(ID:Unable/Female): "Thank...Ladies and Gentleman..present...you ...new work facility! The Stairway to Heaven!"

SOUND: Applause

Present...

Sol jolted enough that his heavy sword tipped over, but thanks to superior reflexes, he caught it before it made a loud enough commotion. Luckily the desks were low enough and the fact Kliff was so short, he nor anyone else really noticed it or the small scraping sound it made as Kliff's voice droned it out.

UNABLE TO ACCESS FURTHER. SAVE RECORDING?

The letters were jagged upon Sol's vision. He gave the affirmative, rubbing his face. He opened his eyes again, now clear. It had been about half an hour, but Kliff already seemed to have wrapped things up.

"Are there any further questions for me?" The old Commander asked.

"No, Sir!" Was the overall response. Kliff gave a nod.

"Very well. Like I said, the mission kicks off at 1000. That's when I expect all units to be assembled and marched off into the field. Let your units know of the strategy. Dismissed." Kliff gave a wave of his hand and departed, the Knights following suit.

'No doubt about it...I've heard of this Stairway to Heaven. Yeah...Scientists all over what was once the United States who put their whole focus on the study of Magic and the technology behind it and the creation of the Gears...damn.' Sol had checked briefly to make sure he had Kliff's audio. Since he did, he made his way towards his unit, though his mind was elsewhere, thinking about the memory that came unbidden upon seeing the map of what had once been the largest Gear plant in existence.

Sol knew it was the place Justice had destroyed to escape from. Sol himself knew it was the place he must have escaped from as well, though it was annoying that he didn't know exactly how he escaped from there. Sol had already deduced long ago that the reason for his large memory loss was due to the Gear Conversion. He had read up on any article he could find regarding Gears and had once come upon the fact that despite their appearance, Gears are still at their core based off the creatures they are converted from. However, no matter the species or that it might have been beast or Human, all that go under the Gear Conversion lose everything as far as their emotional and mental states. For animals it meant an absolute purge of even their most barest survival instinct, for Humans this included one's own free will.

'My first conscious thoughts were waking up nearly a hundred and fifty years ago far away in the mountains of A-Country. Though I had knowledge of the current times I also knew of information and skills as far back as about the early and mid 1980s. But I got my love for such bands like Queen from way back in the 1960's...Not that I can really complain when some of that culture grew on me. Heck, I got that CD player of mine with the Sheer Heart Attack album in it. Good thing no one knows about that piece of Black Tech. Hell, or even the fact that I was able to convert the CD player to work off Magic energy rather than batteries. Anyway... I just know...I was somehow involved in the Gear Project as more than just a fucking guinea pig. Was I one of the scientists involved? Did I volunteer for it? I am the Prototype after all...this is all just one big headache.' Sol grasped the side of his head, trying to ease the pain he was feeling in there. One of his Raiders saw him, but he gave a dismissive wave to him.

"I need a fucking cigarette..." Sol growled lowly. Really, was it so hard to ask for a simple life?

:ToBeContinued: