Hello everyone, its been quite a while since my last update. It's fairly eventful summer following my school training cruise, but I have found time to write here and there. Regrettably I didn't find as much time to write aboard ship as I'd hoped to, but in the end things worked out. However, summer cruise took a lot more out of me than expected which resulted in a huge delay getting this chapter finished.
I know many of you were expecting this to release mid July, so I'm sorry to anyone who has been waiting a long time for this. I stayed up all night on the last day of July to get this finished, so I hope you enjoy! (Also as a side note, because I spent all night working on this thing, there are bound to be more grammatical errors than normal, which I will be proofreading for and fixing in the coming week) Also also, with the release of this chapter comes the release of a brand new description for this story which in my opinion is much better worded and more fitting than the one I cobbled together when I started this (damn letter count restriction).
Alright, onto the reviews:
101olive4u: Sorry for making you wait so long, I suck at coming out with updates, but I always deliver in the end. Might have to crush your hopes about the TDCFDTL surviving, unless I can find a way to work them into the story at this point. I'm already juggling a lot of forefront characters, but maybe I can find a way to work them into the sequel.
DC2012: Thanks for understanding man!
death korp grenadier: That's the kind of reaction I was hoping to get with the Revelations segment, I'm glad it had the desired effect on you! Yes, I love my blood and darkness don't I, it adds an awesome edge to the universe, wouldn't you agree!
OMAC001: Hopefully, but then again you never know, and I'm not really a man for total happily ever after endings...
narutofan020: Great to hear you've enjoyed the story so far! I try to work in as many canonical references as I can in order to make the story fit more in line with the canon. And yes, I realize that Schmitt appears OP as fuck right compared to everyone else in the story. I'm working on showing how his abilities are flawed and don't make him as "all powerful" as he seems, and yes there will be a resolution about the old Directorate and Schmitt towards the end of the story, but probably not in the way you think. I'm always working on ways to improve my writing and the quality of this story, thanks for the tips!
On to follows and favorites, it's been awhile so we have a slew of new people to mention. Big thanks go out to TheShippingMaster, al red, MAURO-251, whitebutterfly361, Amandyta012 and gabekaykwok for the follow and the favorite. More thanks go out to: Keyblade132, godzilla90fan, jesnyder6211, and theruoc147 for the favorite, and AsoenixKnight, 101olive4u, Pondering Writer, toahero92, 123lionclan and facelesssausetrc for the follow.
I hope I didn't forget or misplace anyone, it was a really long list to go through.
Without further adieu, lets dive in!
"It's the well-behaved children ... that make the most formidable revolutionaries. They don't say a word, they don't hide under the table, they eat only one piece of chocolate at a time. But later on they make society pay dearly."- Jean-Paul Sartre
Adult Industries Alaska Base: Command Center
General Buckner and the other surviving adult command staff were clustered around a barely functional holo-table trying in vain to direct the defense of the base. The situation was becoming more hopeless by the minute, Confederate forces swarmed across the outer perimeter, supported by a menagerie of armored vehicles. The remains of the combined teen, US and adult industries forces were managing to hold them back, for now, but more Confederates were arriving every minute from the ship's above and it wouldn't be long before they started losing ground. Buckner slammed a meaty fist against the display, sending waves of static and distortions rippling across the grainy images, "damn those worthless teens! They're cowards, all of them! Now how are we supposed to hold the perimeter!" One of the corporate execs held up a PDA, "the shielding system we supplied is holding up well, their air forces can't target the main facility and we've halted the advance of their infantry."
Buckner shook his head, "that won't last, and even if it does, we don't have the manpower to hold off a protracted siege. What's more, that constant barrage those walkers have put up will wear out the Firestrike array in less than two hours. Gentleman, I believe the time has come to consider plan B." The other executives and commanders shared uneasy looks, "but that would mean abandoning all of our defense forces and the experimental weapons we've stockpiled", pointed out the top executive in a hushed tone, "not to mention giving up our last defendable position in America!" Buckner shook his head, a savage grin spreading across his face, "who said anything about leaving, look", he pointed at the Confederate lines, "their cruisers aren't coming anywhere near our base, nor are they making any attempt to attack us from long range with their weapons. In every other battle we've fought against them, these Confederates have always committed their maximum strength, even overkill, when attacking our positions. Their refusal to commit these air assets must mean they're somewhat vulnerable to the effects of the Firestrike array. As you all know, the prototypes Adult Industries has developed are all outfitted with a version of the array, so I propose we launch them and commence a counterattack on the enemy flotilla!"
A variety of expressions flitted around the table, "to address the elephant in the room", stated the top executive, suspiciously, "we all believed up until recently that that option was impossible because the CEO lost the activation codes." He turned to address General Buckner, "then a few days after this invasion hits, you show up with the exact codes we've been searching for these last two years, care to explain how you managed to acquire them?" Buckner growled at the executive's thinly veiled accusation, "this has nothing to do with that man, what do you people call him? Father? You forget that this project was a joint venture between the US military and adult industries. Our hardware and resources, your tech and facilities." He slammed a meaty fist on the table, "and I'll be damned if I let some corporate bigwig keep all the keys in his pocket!"
A murmur of discontent swept through the executives, "the CEO disappeared with the singular goal of tracking down those codes", growled the top executive, "these ships were meant for an entirely different operation than this, one that was delayed for two years because you never decided to come forward with this information!" Buckner folded his arms across his chest, "and if I had, your precious ships would have been destroyed in orbit along with the rest of the KND when the invasion started! My actions allowed us to retain a key asset for use in the defense and liberation of the United States!"
The military officers in the room quietly nodded in agreement, while the other executives exchanged skeptical looks. At that moment a particularly heavy shell impacted outside the shield, rocking the mountain side all the way to the control room. When the shockwaves finally subsided, fresh attitudes were present all around, "so.. plan B then", suggested the top executive nervously. Buckner grinned.
C.W.S. Mandate: Holding Position 20 Miles Outside Alaska Base
Arthurs was growing rather impatient with this latest offensive. It had been almost two hours since the assault against the adult's Alaskan base had commenced, and in all that time, no significant progress had been made on any fronts. While the lack of any progress irked him considerably, he had to admit it was quite refreshing to actually meet some resistance from these adults for once. They're nothing like I'd expected them to be, he thought, all talk and bluster but nothing to show for it. They really have taken a nose dive since the old days...
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sudden beeping from his command console. He glanced over at the readout on the side of his command chair, apparently he'd exhausted his half hour access to the KND supercomputer, for the second time this hour. He sighed and stared expectantly at the com system built into the command table, Kreller had said it would take about two hours for them to reach the capital, but there had been no answer from him as of yet. Arthurs reclined in his chair and crossed his arms, in order for his plan to work he needed both Kreller's mission to be a success and access to the supercomputer.
After Bartie had finally made it to the Moonbase and opened up remote access for him, he had amused himself for the first half hour by browsing through the KND archives, and reviewing their extremely flawed interpretation of their history. That had been worth a few laughs, but everything after that was just operative files and boring reports on past operations and engagements with the adults. He'd soon grown quite bored of the childish garbage cluttering the system and returned to observing the battle. But as stated, that battle wasn't going anywhere fast.
He was on the verge of sending for the ship's cook to bring him some snacks and soda when an alert message from the bridge caught his attention. Apparently Captain Landon had something to show him. He swiveled around in his chair and activated the virtual interface, keying in the frequency for the bridge. Up on the actual bridge near the front of the cruiser, his image popped into existence in the commander's seat behind Landon's chair. "Yes captain, what is it", he asked somewhat hopefully. Landon saluted, "we're picking up some strange activity inside the base, specifically around those large silos near the center of the facility." "What kind of activity", demanded Arthurs, while simultaneously reading a field report from the ground commander on a holographic display opposite him. Landon ground his teeth, "I'm not sure, it looks almost like ship activity, we're picking up numerous new power signatures and heat readings, but they're extremely faint."
That grabbed Arthurs' attention, "get me a visual of the base", he commanded. Landon brought up a real time image of the base on the ship's main screen and focused in on the silos towards the center of the base. Arthurs could see pale wisps of smoke coming out of them, "what have we got here..." Suddenly the display lit up bright white as something shot out of the silo. The glare reduction filters on the camera in question struggled to keep the image clear as several more something's shot out of the other silos and already another something was coming out of the first silo, "zoom out", ordered Arthurs. The image backed off and began to clear up, "what are we looking at here", demanded Arthurs, "long range missiles?" Landon shook his head, "we aren't detecting any inbound contacts, so no. Whatever they are, they're taking up position above the base."
The display panned out to show a loose formation of moderately sized ships in the skies over the base. There were about twenty four of them, the largest of which were frigate sized, but there were only three of those, the remaining twenty one were corvette sized. He stole a quick glance at the tactical readouts for his own flotilla, he'd only brought a small support fleet for this operation, along with the cruiser Mandate, he had four other frigates and a small spattering of light support craft along with several large troop transports from the carriers up in orbit. In terms of combat ship's, he was severely outnumbered. He grinned, but against adults, never outclassed. He reclined in his command chair once more, "looks like they're actually challenging us on our own turf for once", he commented to Landon, "I must admit this offensive has been much more interesting than our other operations on this world."
Landon grimaced, "we're getting scans back from their ships now, those little ones are packing an awful lot of firepower for something so small, while the frigates appear to be more strike carriers than actual ships of the line." He glanced at a new alert on the holographic readout, "and apparently they're packing some kind of energy based weapon comparable to the one that's been knocking our shells out of the air. Plus we still can't seem to pick up heat and energy readings from them, so my guess is they're employing some kind of stealth tech." Arthurs was positively giddy with anticipation, now this is what I've been waiting for, he thought to himself.
He grinned and sat up in his chair, composing himself, "well they're actually showing some backbone for the first time, might as well extend them a soldier's courtesy for once, hail them." Landon nodded in agreement and sent out a broad-frequency hail to the adult fleet. A few minutes later, a real-time video feed from the adult's command ship winked into existence on the bridge's main screen. The feed showed a small, but compact bridge built in the style of the adults, with lots of overly complex command consoles stuffed to the brim with switches, meters and digital readouts, with a dim red lighting, like those found aboard submarines, illuminating the entire room. Everything looked brand new, from the bridge itself to the air force officers they'd brought in to run it.
What garnered Arthurs' attention the most was the adult officer sitting in the center of the room, in what could only be the commander's seat. He'd been expecting some portly, cigar smoking sack of fat, that would immediately start spouting ridiculous adult rhetoric about the inevitable victory of the true masters of this world. Instead, he was looking at man in fairly decent shape, tall by the standards of the adults, with a crisp uniform, sitting rigidly in the command seat. The adult officer regarded Landon for a few moments before apparently realizing that this was not the man in charge, and switched his gaze to Arthurs. Arthurs saw the spark of recognition in the officer's eyes, he had been pretty public about his position during the opening stages of the invasion.
The adult officer growled, "you are the overall commander of this invasion are you not?" Arthurs regarded the adult officer coldly, "I am Field Commander Arthurs of the Confederacy, yes, and whom am I speaking to?" The adult officer's brow furrowed, "I am General Johnson Buckner, tactical commander of the remnants of the US military and the adult industries defense forces. Why have you contacted me", he demanded. Arthurs bristled at the adult's impudence, "you've given us the courtesy of meeting us on even ground for the first time in this war, or so it would seem. I chose to extend a soldier's courtesy in return." Buckner gritted his teeth, "we've done nothing but meet you people on even ground since the first day!" Arthurs grumbled to himself, "your soldiers and technology have offered little in the way of an even fight. Your President's misguided plan to annihilate us with nuclear weapons was laughable at best. This has been the first time you've presented anything comparable to a challenge to us."
He sneered, "and it will be the last time. I grow tired of all this senseless resistance, you adults don't know when to simply roll over and die!" Buckner had apparently been holding himself in check ever since this conversation started because now he jumped to his feet and bellowed at the screen, "you bastards come here, destroy our homes, kill our families and burn our countries and after all that, you have gall to spit on us and call us insects! This is our world, our home, what gives you any right to it! We'll fight to the last man and to the last breathe to keep it!"
Arthurs sighed and got to his feet, he gazed contemptuously at the General, "your forefathers thought the same and when they faced our ancestors on the field of battle they died with the same thoughts still stuck arrogantly in their heads. You will die just the same and there's nothing I can say to change that. So fight to the last man, to the last bullet, to the last drop of blood and inch of land, it won't make any difference, you will still die in the end and we will march victorious over the mountains of your broken bodies into a glorious new future. Even if it takes us a thousand more years, we will still win in the end and you will still be dead." The General glared at Arthurs, "your arrogance will be your undoing, we will kill you here and with your death we will open the floodgates to retake our country and rebuild our lives!"
The General cut the transmission, Arthurs sighed with disappointment, such a deluded fool, he thought. Landon whirled around in his chair, "the adult frigates are launching squadrons of fighters and bombers and the corvette sized vessels are entering combat formations and advancing on the fleet." "Order all ships to assume alpha combat formation", ordered Arthurs, "have the transports drop their last load of troops and then have them break for orbit, we don't need to lose any extra ships here." Landon grimaced again, "I don't need to remind you that if any of these ships get away, with all that stealth tech crammed into them they will be a bitch to find." Arthurs rolled his eyes, "of course, which is why we're going to grant the general's wish and wipe them out to a man. Now get to it!" Arthurs let Landon carry out his task as he surveyed the formation of the coming battlefield. He glanced over at the com system one more time, still no transmission from Kreller. He shrugged and set about preparing his battle strategy, this, he thought to himself, will at least provide a decent distraction for the time being.
Schmitt's Mind
Nigel and the others hung in mid air amongst the starscape backdrop of Schmitt's mind and considered all that he'd just revealed to them. Schmitt however, seemed impatient to be off, "is there anything else that you need me to explain before we move on", he demanded. Rachel waved him off, "give us a minute this is a lot of information to take in." Schmitt shook hid head, "out of the question, I've spent too much time here as is, and every second I maintain this link drains my energy reserves, so ask your remaining questions so I can cut the link." Rachel huffed, "fine, the last thing I want to know is what that 'prophecy' was you were talking about earlier."
Schmitt sighed, "the prophecy is a point of contention in Directorate history, I personally doubt it's validity, while many in the Confederacy believe whole heartily in it's promises. But very well, I will explain." He gave a wave of his hand and the scenery once again descended into the chaos of the Revolution. This time, the background depicted a great siege. A massive military base with high walls and an extensive perimeter was under attack from a vast array of adult forces. On the grounds before the base, Directorate forces clashed with the adult armies in a titanic battle that spanned the width and length of the visible terrain. Schmitt began to speak once more, "the prophecy was created during the final days of the war, at the battle for Site 32. I have already explained the origins of my powers, but as you have probably gathered, the special forces unit I spoke of earlier was created during the Great Revolution, during the early stages of our conquest of the Mercian continent to be precise. However, the program only produced a few hundred adepts capable of utilizing their powers and over the course of the war our numbers were whittled away. Among the adepts were a small group known in our language as the Stavakan or Seers. The Seers were adepts who had developed the ability of foresight, they could predict the future, to a limited degree."
Schmitt gestured at the battle before them, "their abilities helped us win a great many victories, but those abilities didn't do much to save the Stavakan. Over the course of the war, the Seers were slowly killed off until only one was left." "That would be you, I suppose", Rachel guessed with a sour expression. Schmitt shook his head, "no, I wasn't gifted with that particular ability. No, the last Stavakan was one of my personal advisors. He died before the walls of this base during the final day of the siege. On the brink of death, he claimed to have seen one final vision, a vision of our eventual return and our revenge."
Schmitt waved a hand and a new scene resolved, showing the ruins of the base with the battle still raging in the background. On the floor in the foreground lay a mortally wounded Directorate officer wearing a black uniform, cloaked in red robes. Several other officers and medics were clustered around his body, comforting him and trying to save his life. One of the officers was clutching the boys hand and saying something too low to be heard, surprisingly Nigel could swear he'd seen the officer somewhere else... Schmitt gave another wave of his hand and the dying boys words filled their minds, "I can see it Kreller, what happened today will happen once more, our mortal enemy shall be brought to kneel for the blood he has spilt, we will rise from the ashes and the legacy of our great empire shall exact rightful vengeance. Our descendants shall reap what we have sown and once more blood and ash will cover the Earth! And from this day till the end of days, we will never forget and we will never forgive..." The boys speech trailed off as he died, around his body the other officers and medics hung their heads in sorrow, some wept openly.
The officer who had been holding the Seer's hand slowly lowered it to the ground, then stared directly at whomever the memory belonged to. Nigel saw his face, that's the same officer who attacked us in Virginia! So his name is Kreller... Wait... Those words! "Wait", exclaimed Nigel, "those words are the same words I heard in my vision!" Schmitt arched an eyebrow at him, "that's... unusual. What did you see in your visions exactly?" Nigel looked around at the others nervously before continuing, "mostly just stuff from the Revolution, like what you showed us. Battles and some destroyed cities, not much more." Schmitt eyed him with curiosity, "visions are not uncommon among adepts, but visions deal almost exclusively with the future. You're sure it was a vision and not a memory?"
Nigel's brow furrowed, "I'm not sure. How do you tell which is which?" Schmitt shrugged, "visions are generally vague and disconnected, while memories are more clear and pronounced. To put it simply, visions are like movie trailers and memories are like watching the whole movie, or at least part of it. It's all about content." Nigel considered this, "well it all seemed pretty disconnected to me, but what I saw pretty much fits with what you showed us of the Revolution, but how could I be remembering something I've never seen or heard of before?!" Schmitt stroked his chin in thought, "as a psychic, you can read peoples minds and copy parts of their memories into your own, but you've never done anything like that before to my knowledge. I suppose its possible you copied some of my memories while I was probing your mind, but..." He shrugged, "who can really know for sure, even after a thousand years, there's plenty of things about these abilities that I still don't understand."
Nigel was far from satisfied by his answer, but Schmitt seemed unconcerned about it and began to move on. "In any case", he said, turning back to the others, "that was the prophecy, and like I said I doubt its validity, its an extremely vague prediction, yes many of the events it predicted could be compared to what is happening now. But prophecies are fickle things and often have double meanings, what its predicting may be the exact opposite of what is happening now. In any case this is not my field of expertise, but you asked so I showed it." Rachel scratched her head in thought, "but you said that most of the Confederacy believes in this prophecy." Schmitt sighed, "the prophecy is held up to the rank and file as the gospel of the Confederacy, that it's their quote on quote 'destiny' to return and finish the war with the adults on Earth." He shrugged, "to tell the truth, the higher ups of the Confederacy are more concerned about power than fulfilling a stupid prophecy, over the centuries the prophecy has just been used as an excuse to keep hatred going between the USF and the KMC, since we're the ones that guard Earth."
He gazed out into the stars thoughtfully, "that just convinces me more that this invasion is nothing but a smokescreen for something bigger, fulfilling the prophecy was just another excuse to get forces committed for this operation, the true objective is something that has yet to be revealed." He gave one final wave of his hand and the images disappeared, "now I'm ending the link, however necessary this was, it has taken a great toll on my energy reserves. At least you now understand what I was trying to do all this time. See you all in a few seconds." Schmitt vanished and a moment later, the starscape exploded with bright white light.
Ancient KND Central Command Bunker: Stasis Bay #A1
Nigel's eyes snapped open as Schmitt terminated the link. Somehow he had ended up sitting on the floor in a circle along with everyone else who had been a part of the link. He stood up and began to stretch, feeling as though he had just awoken from a good nights sleep. Everyone else began to do the same, except for Schmitt, who was already awake and waiting. Rachel yawned, "how long were we gone for?" Monty checked his watch and his eyes widened, "only six minutes!" Nigel gaped at him, "six minutes! It felt like we were in there for six hours!"
Schmitt cocked an eyebrow, "another reason I chose to explain things via mind link. Normally, it would have taken me hours to explain all that, but the link speeds up the process exponentially." He glanced over at the Praetor who was busy straightening his uniform, "all right then, back to business. Frederick, I showed you who I am, and what we're up against, now will the Legion stand with us or not?" A tense silence followed as Schmitt and the Praetor stared each other down. "No", stated Frederick adamantly, "from what you showed me, you abandoned and betrayed the ways of the Directorate to follow another path. While I can respect that, the truth is you tore the Directorate apart to further your own agenda and now you want me to help you crush what remains of the KMD to save the adults from their rightful punishment."
Schmitt seethed, "I thought I explained that there's been enough war in this world between kids and adults, we've both given and received enough punishment!" "Well I disagree", shot back the Praetor, "the accounts might be settled in your mind, but as far as I'm concerned the adults stole our empire and turned us into slaves, this will be our retribution!" Schmitt's eyes narrowed, but the Praetor just laughed at him, "by the expression on your face, I can tell what's going through your head, and it won't work. Even if you do reveal yourself as Autarch to the rest of the legion and usurp my command, what do you think will happen the moment you order the legion to attack the Confederates? Do you think for a moment that they would betray their ideals simply on your whim? You may be Autarch, but you can't change who we are! There's only one person in this room who's orders they'll follow and that's me!"
Schmitt clenched his teeth in frustration, "as Autarch of the Directorate, I order you to relinquish your command!" Frederick sneered at him, "too bad, cause after what I just saw, I'm afraid I don't recognize you as the Autarch anymore. Besides, Autarch isn't a recognized rank in the KND." Schmitt grunted and flourished his sword, "fine then, under Legion tradition I find you wanting in service to the Empire and hereby challenge your right to command. I demand a duel to determine command rights!" Frederick cocked an eyebrow at him, "you forget that challenges to command rights may only be issued between officers of equal rank and if I recall, you are only an air commander, while I am a Praetor!" Schmitt was about to make a retort when someone else spoke up, "fine then I'll challenge you", stated Rachel. Both commanders whirled around and gaped at her, "what?!"
Rachel favored both of them with an indignant stare, "even though the KND stood for something different in the old days, we're still technically part of the same organization and seeing as how your the Supreme Praetor and I'm the current Supreme Leader, I'd say we're equally ranked." Frederick gave Rachel a quick once over and then scoffed at her, "this is hardly what I'd call a fair fight, but considering you are our descendants I suppose you are within your rights to issue such a challenge." "Now hold on a second Rachel...", Schmitt attempted to interject but Rachel cut him off, "you may have gotten us this far, but this is not the Directorate, the Federation or the Fleet. This is the Kids Next Door, and I am it's Supreme Commander, not you. I will be the one to lead us from this point on."
Schmitt gritted his teeth, "I thought we'd established that you people aren't trained for fighting wars like this! What makes you think you're ready to command now?" Rachel shot him a stern look, "this is not a question of capability, this is a question of authority. This legion is part of the KND, whether I like it or not, and the KND can only have one Supreme Commander! While you are much more accustomed to this kind of warfare, you forgot we've seen our fair share of battles too..." She turned to face him, "this is the KND's war, not yours. You may have started it, you may have even protracted it, but its up to us now to fight it! I admit, I've let you run things until now because I was too shocked and too unnerved by this whole affair to lead effectively, but in the end, the KND is my command! My responsibility! These are my operatives, my friends and family, and if anyone is going to lead them while they throw down their lives, its going to be me!"
Schmitt and Rachel stared each other down for several tense minutes. Finally Schmitt sighed and looked away, "spoken like a true commander. Considering a Supreme Commander has both absolute authority and absolute responsibility for his..." He glanced at Rachel, "...or her forces, I suppose this will act as an appropriate test of your skills. Fine then, prove your worth as Supreme Leader of the KND." He grinned, "I may actually respect you a little more for it." Rachel rolled her eyes, huffed and walked past him to stand before the Praetor. She pointed her finger straight at him and yelled, "as Supreme Commander of the Kids Next Door, I, Rachel T. Mckenzie, hereby challenge your right to command and demand a duel to determine command rights!" Frederick cocked his head at her, "commander or not, you are hardly worthy combat material. I'd suggest naming a champion but I doubt any of your subordinates are any more worthy than you."
He turned to Schmitt, "honestly though, you expect me to fight these children-" "HEY", exclaimed Rachel, "just because I'm younger doesn't make me any less capable!" Frederick chuckled with amusement, "I have over two hundred plus years of command and combat experience under my belt, you can't possibly have more than six." Rachel gritted her teeth in frustration, "doesn't mean I can't fight!" The Praetor grinned, "very true, fine then, I accept your challenge."
A tense silence followed, nobody moved. "Uh, so what do we do now", asked Numbah 2 awkwardly. "Considering this is a challenge over command rights, in order for this duel to be official it must be witnessed by the command staff of both leader's forces", explained Frederick, "which means-" "We have to wake up more members of the legion", finished Rachel, with a cynical expression. Frederick shrugged and jerked a thumb at Schmitt, who nodded in agreement, "he is correct, that is the tradition." "Great", said Nigel sarcastically, "so how many people are we talking here? Ten, twenty officers?" Frederick glanced over at Schmitt, "these are extenuating circumstances, there's never been an open challenge to command between legion Praetors, normally challenges of this nature only take place between low level NCOs or division commanders. When a command challenge is issued, all officers from each force of commissioned rank must bear witness." "Ok", agreed Rachel, "so we're talking what? Majors and colonel's?" Frederick shook his head, "everyone higher than squad leader rank, which including the support staff and air corp officers besides the usual legion officers, would be about a fifth of the overall legion."
Rachel did the numbers in her head and gaped at the praetor, "that's over eight thousand officers!?" Frederick shrugged, "like I said, this has never happened before." "Where could we even stage a duel with that many people?" Frederick scratched his chin, "there's more than enough room in the main deployment bay, but-" "HOLD ON", yelled Nigel, making a T with his hand, "how do we know the Praetor over here won't just start a coup and sic his legion buddies on us!" Frederick jaw clenched in indignation, "you dare impugn my honor boy!" Nigel scoffed at the Praetor, "only five minutes ago you were ready to mow us all down with machine guns just for getting in your way! Why should we trust you at all?!"
Frederick marched straight up to Nigel till he was nose to nose with the young operative, grabbed a fistful of his shirt and growled in his face, "for your commander's sake, I'll overlook your impudence this once. But you have a lot to learn young one, a challenge has been issued and honor must be satisfied, that is the tradition, that is the code of the Legion! That is what sets us apart from them", he pointed a finger accusingly at Benedict and Monty, "we aren't honorless rabble like the adults, we play by the rules!" That struck a chord with Rachel, still she laid a heavy hand on the Praetor's shoulder and stated firmly, "you've made your point Numbah 1B4, now get your hands off my operative." Frederick gave her a hard stare, but released Nigel anyhow and backed off. Rachel gave Nigel a concerned glance, but he shrugged it off and went to stand with his team.
She huffed and walked over to Schmitt, "do you think you could take eight thousand KND officers", she whispered to him. Schmitt bit his lip and whispered back, "even if I was at my peak, I don't think so, and I'm pretty spent right now. I could always order Ares to use the internal defenses, but its really not in our interest to massacre the legion's command staff." "Hey wait a second, where is your AI friend anyway", she asked less conspicuously. Schmitt blinked a few times and looked around the room, "good question, though I suppose it can't be helped. He's an advanced artificial intelligence, time moves at a different speed for him. He probably got bored waiting for us and went off to see to the base's systems." Schmitt looked up at the ceiling, "Ares, status update", he called. No answer. "ARES", he yelled, "I GAVE YOU AN ORDER!" Suddenly the AI's holographic body flickered into existence in the center of the group. He looked the same as before, but his expression had changed considerably, now he looked almost excited.
He gave a quick Directorate salute before settling into his usual "at ease" stance, "sorry my Autarch, I was preoccupied." Schmitt raised an eyebrow, "with what?" Ares cocked his head in confusion, "activating the internal defenses should have triggered the alarms in this portion of the base, have you not heard anything?" Schmitt shook his head, "curious", continued Ares, "the imperials must have done more damage to the system than anticipated, I will have to compensate-" "Why did you activate the internal defenses", demanded Schmitt angrily, "are we under attack?!"
Ares nodded curtly, "subterranean sensors detected multiple anomalies approaching the underground perimeter. Acoustics confirm them to be drilling rigs, probability calculations have them as Confederate assault forces. I have brought base defenses up to full combat readiness, sealed all access to the vault and in accordance with the mandates of the Apocalypse Protocol, armed all base self destruct charges." The others all stared at him with a mixture of shock and anxiety, "the Confederates found us", exclaimed Nigel incredulously. Rachel gritted her teeth, "how did they track us here?!" Schmitt chewed his lip in thought, "impossible, there's no way they could track you through the tunnels without a tracer, and the base's built in stealth matrix would nullify any outbound signals automatically." All of a sudden he stamped his foot angrily, "they must have found the experimentation site I set up near sector CA!"
"What experimentation site", demanded Rachel. "The one I created to test old imperial KND technology before introducing it to the modern Kids Next Door", explained Schmitt hastily, "the one I mentioned in my journal, there was a path from there back to here for me to transport the tech. But I sealed it off on my way down here!" He glared at Ares, "explains the drilling rigs. Ares, what are we looking at?" The AI waved a hand and a holographic representation of the base flickered into existence in the center of the room, the hologram zoomed out to show three red lines converging on the base. A series of popups supplied additional data on the three contacts, including ETAs, speed and mass.
Schmitt studied the data intently, "only three signatures, and that size means they'd only be able to carry a few dozen men each..." "So what does that mean", demanded Rachel urgently, "if they're coming to take the base we need to-" "They're not coming to take the base", stated Schmitt adamantly, "they don't have enough men and no support to speak of. No, this smells of a covert operation, what we're dealing with here is most likely spec-ops forces." Nigel and Rachel shared a quick glance, "do you think it could be...", started Nigel. Rachel nodded, "has to be." They turned back to Schmitt, "when we got to Virginia we were shot down and hunted across the state by a squad of Confederate spec-ops soldiers. This is probably the same squad from before." Schmitt scratched his chin, "no doubt they're operating directly under Arthurs orders, as to why they're out here all alone well..." He turned back to the screen, "Arthurs' ambitions have always been counter to the Federation's interests but that doesn't mean they've always been in alignment with the Confederacy's. My guess is they're here under his personal orders to recover something from the base that he wants for himself."
Nigel crossed his arms, "I'm actually surprised it took them this long to find us, you said that a lot of the Confederacy is ex-Directorate right? You'd think they'd remember the location of their most advanced weapons research base." "That'd be true", agreed Schmitt, "if most of the rank and file were aware of the base's location. During the war, the base's location was removed from all maps to make it harder to find, only the garrison forces, working staff and command brass knew its actual coordinates, and well..." He shrugged, "the garrison and working staff pretty much all died when the base fell and most of the high brass died during the war or afterwards during the Civil War. Those that survived most likely forgot the exact coordinates centuries ago and besides, the geography of this planet has changed significantly in the last thousand years, even with a map it'd be hard to find. It took me half a year just to find the old KND artillery bases and routes to the capital."
He turned to Ares, "what's the trajectory of the drilling rigs?" "Estimates have them emerging around sub-level eight, exactly two levels away from the entrance to the vault." Schmitt clapped his hands together, "well that solves that problem", he said happily. Rachel and Nigel both did a double take, "wait, WHAT?!" Schmitt dismissed them with a wave of his hand, "don't worry, this problem has practically solved itself already, now then we-" Rachel whirled on the Admiral, "you're just going to ignore them?!" Schmitt shrugged, a tad irritated, "this facility is the most secure military base on the planet and is protected by the most advanced security system ever devised by human hands. The vault is sealed and energy shielded, impervious to all external attacks and impossible for them to drill into. They'll pop into the lower levels and be overwhelmed by the internal defenses." He turned to Ares, "deal them, but try to only incapacitate them, I'll want to question them after this."
Ares saluted, "at once my Autarch", he said gleefully and then disappeared. Schmitt smiled to himself, he's been looking forward to this for over a millennia hasn't he, before turning back to the to the others. He adjusted his raggedy uniform, cracked his knuckles and said, "well then, I believe that we have a duel to host now." The others stared at him in disbelief.
Ancient KND Central Command Bunker: Sub-level #8
The Confederate drilling rigs punched a clean hole through the reinforced concrete walls of the bunker. The crashing sound of smashed stone against steel echoed throughout the deserted corridors of the lower bunker, followed by the hissing of steam as the machines cooled off. The three cylindrical drilling rigs came to a stop in almost perfect alignment, the drills on their prows split open into thirds, the lower third acting as a ramp down to the floor. A secondary door behind the drill spiraled open and a stream of Confederate soldiers poured out into corridor, rifles at the ready. Several shouts of "CLEAR" echoed around the confined space, as the soldier's swept the area.
Kreller and his team came out last, followed by the lieutenant in charge of the platoon. Kreller looked around with a distasteful expression, "never thought I'd find my way back here", he muttered. Hysis noticed his commander's discomfort and gestured towards the end of the hallway, "we should start to move out sir, we don't know how long we'll have before the security system notices our presence." Kreller rammed a fresh power pack into his rifle, "you never served here did you Nimian?" Hysis hesitated for a moment at the use of his first name. He glanced at Kreller, "no Cameron I never did, I was mechanized shock infantry, on the east Mercian front, you know that."
Kreller glanced around at the ancient corridor, "you've never enjoyed talking about your deployments, and I meant, you weren't here when the base fell were you?" Hysis moved to the side to let a pair of support gunners hefting a large auto-laser march by, "no", he admitted, "I was garrisoned at Anhurgrad when the adults hit Site 32, but you..." "Yes", admitted Kreller, stone faced. He faced straight forward and began to march down the corridor with the rest of the platoon, "I was here when the base fell."
The platoon lieutenant gestured to the pair, interrupting their reminiscing, "Commander Kreller, I've ordered half the men to set up defensive positions around the drillers, you've got the other half. Try not to take too long, I've got a bad feeling about this place." Kreller nodded, "stay here and organize the defense lieutenant, we'll be back soon." The officer nodded and went to help his men set up. Kreller sized up the men assembled under his command, the platoon they'd taken consisted of sixty men, half of which were his for their little search throughout the base. Including his six man commando team, he had thirty six men with which to carry out his mission.
He gestured to the other half of the platoon to move out and they began to sweep down the corridor, carefully covering their corners and advancing deeper into the facility. "We need to find an data terminal", commented Chad, who had marched up to the head of the column to stand next to Kreller. "You think I don't know that", snapped Kreller, who was still a little pissed off about his performance last mission, "the layout of these bases is pretty standard though, we should find one fairly quickly if we keep to this route. Now stay in the middle of the column like I ordered, I need you protecting the package!" Kreller indicated the large cylinder strapped to Chad's back, which had been given to them by Arthurs for the operation, "if it suffers even the slightest bit of damage, this mission is as good as over, so I want you in the middle of the formation at all times! Understood?" Chad bristled slightly inside of his power armor, on the outside though he gave a quick salute and moved to obey, disappearing into the human mass of the formation.
Kreller sighed heavily, still a little bit of new-guy syndrome in that one, he thought to himself as they marched on. They'd turned a few corners and had only gone a few hundred feet from the perimeter when suddenly the lights in the corridor dimmed for a few seconds, then popped back on. Everyone was immediately on alert, "ready up", shouted Kreller into his mic, "that may be the auto-defenses powering up." The thirty six man fireteam immediately split in half, forming two firing lines back to back, with rifles pointed down towards each end of the corridor. Suddenly a grainy hologram flickered into existence in front Kreller, spooking several of the soldiers in the line, who immediately put several shots into it. "HOLD YOUR FIRE", bellowed Kreller, lowering his rifle. The hologram resolved itself into the image of a boy in Directorate military uniform. Ares regarded the Confederate with a look that was halfway between interest and disappointment.
Kreller shouldered his rifle and depolarized his helmet visor, "Ares... is that you?" The AI cocked his head at Kreller, "yes, and who are you? I see that you still have your KMD ID chip, hold on a moment... Ah, Colonel Kreller, it has been such a long time hasn't it? How have you been doing these last thousand years?" Kreller was slightly put off by the cordial nature of the AI's greeting, "I'm surprised you're still online after so long, I thought the ancient KND repurposed this facility during the last war with the adults?" Ares nodded in agreement, "they did, many key systems were damaged and several core facility functions were overridden by their... innovations. I've been endeavoring to repair the damage history has caused."
Hysis depolarized his visor as well and stepped forward to greet the AI as well, "do you recognize me construct?" Ares gave Hysis a quick once over, "reading your ID chip... Shock Major Nimian Hysis, I've never had the pleasure of your acquaintance I believe." Hysis nodded, "you're a battle conductor AI, aren't you?" Ares nodded, "yes, the last if I'm mistaken... no wait, Poseidon is still unaccounted for isn't he. Oh well." Hysis raised an eyebrow but said nothing, Kreller finally decided to stand at ease and stepped out of the formation to confront the AI, "since you recognize us as Directorate officers, I suppose that means we can pass."
"Unfortunately, no", admitted Ares, with a little too much relish for Kreller's liking. With a wave of his hand, two hidden doors opened on either side of the corridor and two pairs of automated defense drones marched out, heavy auto-guns tracking on the crowd of Confederate soldiers. Kreller's rifle snapped back up immediately and began tracking between targets. Ares chuckled with what Kreller could swear was a hint of malevolence, "your choice of uniform is rather poor Colonel, I can see that you no longer support the Directorate, as such your intrusion into this facility is in direct violation of both the Apocalypse Protocol and the august authority of the Lord Autarch."
"The Confederacy is the Directorate you malfunctioning dunce", Kreller yelled furiously, "the Autarch abandoned the ways of the KMD and civil war tore us to pieces, now we're all that's left of it!" Ares cast his holographic eyes down and shook his head, a grin slowly stretching across his face, "once more, a poor choice colonel. The Autarch IS the Directorate, or have you forgotten the KMD creed? The Autarch's cause is the cause of the Directorate, through the Directorate there is order, through the Autarch's will there is purpose!" He snapped his fingers, and surprisingly the sound carried through the loudspeakers, all four sentries took aim at the Confederate column and began to spin up their guns.
Kreller growled and ripped the sidearm off his belt, leveling it at the nearest sentry, while aiming his rifle one-handed at another, "my ID chip was never removed, therefore I am still a member of the Directorate", he yelled, "my rank still applies, I order you to stand down!" Ares eyed the Colonel as he stood his ground, "be that as it may, my orders come direct from the Lord Autarch himself", stated the AI, "your authority is overruled, I will give you one more chance to stand down and surrender." Kreller's eyes widened, "Schmitt is here!?" Ares nodded, still grinning, "yes, and he is most interested in speaking to you once he's concluded his business. So don't worry, I'll only use non-lethal ordinance, but this will still hurt."
He glanced around at the other member of the platoon, none of them budged from their positions. Ares chuckled, a harsh burst of binary static, "fair enough then, I did give you a chance." He swept a hand across the room, "fight well! As soldiers and descendants of the Directorate I expect nothing less. It's been so long since I'd had a true opponent to test my skills against, I hope you will not disappoint." He grinned at Kreller and gave a half Directorate salute, "ek gavilas schtern Colonel", he said in Anhurian before vanishing in a dull blue flash. "To glorious end my ass", Kreller growled, and opened fire.
This chapter was going to be around 14,000 to 12,000 words long like my usual chapters, but in order to keep my promise of releasing a chapter in July, I chose to cut it in half. The other half is around half written and will be released at some point later in August, along with chapter 23 hopefully. I know I'm horrible at keeping deadlines but I hope this will give me a big enough window to deliver this time. Goodnight!