*DISCLAIMER* as much as i would like to i don't own Anything to do with the Percy Jackson series all rights go to Rick
Sorry for taking a while to write this chapter :O please let me know what you think of it :D
Chapter 6
Percy POV
The new information flooded through my mind. After hearing all that Chaos had to say, he left the room to give me some privacy. Telling me to give it one last thought before I decided anything. In my heart I knew I was doing the right thing, but my head. Well that was swelling with guilt. I wanted to return to my old life but wanted to know what I was fighting to get back to. On top of that now that I knew of all the different units I could be a part of, I couldn't help but feel a small amount of excitement to meet the other members of the Typhoons, assuming I got in of course.
This in itself gave me a headache. I knew I should be fighting to get back to everyone back home, but why shouldn't I enjoy some time spent here. It wasn't as if it would go by any faster if I were to be miserable the entire time. Right? 'But think of all the people you left behind. If they aren't happy then why should you be?' oh shut up mind I thought as I let out a scream of anguish. Placing my head in my hands all I could think of was just the possibility of getting Annabeth back. That in itself was reason enough to go through with this plan. Sure I would have to sacrifice a lot, but I promised her one thing. That we would be together, and I had a chance to do that. It was a chance I would grasp with both hands.
After a few more minutes, the door opened revealing Chaos. He looked me dead in the eye before I gave him a curt nod. He waved his hand, indicating for me to follow him. So with a deep breath I raised myself from my chair and began to follow Chaos.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as we traversed the many halls of Chaos' palace. At the start of the walk I was in awe of the place. It was amazing! The walls swirled with a dark energy as if they were alive. The stars gave off a brightness, that made me suspect that each of these walls were the very fabric which held together every galaxy. If that was true then in one of these walls was earth. My home, the only place I had ever known. Yet right now it seemed so very tiny and meaningless in the vastness of the universe. Everything seemed so delicate, yet every planet, star and life-form seemed to have a place in the world. (Sorry couldn't resist) Though I couldn't keep my mind off how much Annabeth would have loved it.
The Architecture was amazing, even to someone who knows nothing about it. If that wasn't enough I just knew she would also be curious as to how the galaxies were being held within the walls. Although it pained me to think of her I knew that it was the last time in a very long time that I would be in a state of mind were I could think about her in any way. It gave me some sort of sadistic pleasure, knowing that I had to cause myself mental harm in order to appease my need to remember my wise girl.
I can honestly say that it wouldn't matter whether I had my memories or not. I would never be able to remember the exact route we took from Chaos' office to a set of ornate golden doors. This large influx of bright colour juxtaposed greatly with the rich blackness which graced the rest of the palace I had seen so far. Chaos pushed against the doors, and I ran forward to help, those doors were massive. It would have been physically impossible for any normal man to open them by himself. In the end it was all I could do to ogle Chaos as he stood impressively before a now open door, leading onto a grand outdoor cobbled square. Romanesque pillars circled the entire area, holding up a narrow balcony which spanned the upper level of the square. Around the edge of the balcony fluttered a number of banners and tapestries. They were intricately detailed with past battles, and heroes standing up against monsters so foul, that my mind couldn't even begin to comprehend what they must have been like to fight.
One had a depiction of a man standing alone, his comrades lay dead or dying around him. He had a flaming sword in his hands and was staring directly in the eye of a hideous creature. Everything about the creature was black, except from the eyes. The eyes were a deep blood red, whatever colour the artist had managed to use seemed to encompass the very essence of fear. The rest of the creatures hideous body did not compare, not the scaly wings, not the claws nor the terrible maw of the beast. No the eyes invoked every rational and irrational fear the human mind could comprehend. It wasn't the type of fear I knew Annabeth to feel when she saw a spider, no this was a truly numbing fear, it ate away at the soul and stopped you from even having the brain function to breathe.
I was snapped out of my stupor by the sound of thousands of armoured boots coming to attention at the same time. It was at this time I realised I had missed the most crucial aspect of the square. The inhabitants. Arrayed before me was a collection of many thousands of soldiers, all wearing what I assumed to be their parade armour. Each soldier stood at an impressive 7' tall and every member was wearing the same armour. In fact the only thing that set them apart was the colours and banners. They stood in organised ranks seemingly split by colour, deep royal blues to blood red and pitch blacks. The banners stood proudly fluttering in front of each unit, a pitch black hawk over a lightning bolt (black hawks, the air squadron), a flag that had a crossed set of swords set on a blood red back ground (Spartans, infantry), then the banner which caught my eye most of all. The one I instantly knew was carried by the typhoons. It was a swirling mix of sea green and blue, I was unmistakably drawn to this banner. It held a power similar to that of my fathers, yet easily more ancient.
I began to slowly make my way towards the middle of the square, passing through the field of soldiers, who had left a path through the middle of their ranks. As I passed I noticed that not one soldier turned their heads to look at me pass. All I could think was how well these soldiers had obviously been trained. It also worried me slightly, as I knew if I was standing in their ranks right now, I would be desperately craning my neck trying to see the new guy walking past. I shuddered 'ugh rules' I thought desperately in my head. Do you think any of them would believe you if you said you were just looking for the bathroom?
I continued walking spotting Chaos standing patiently on a raised platform at the other end of the square. There was a purple velvet fabric draped over the stage. I noticed that kneeling on the stairs up to the stage was eight individuals. Each had their head bowed in respect and I noticed that more than one was playing with their hands, which could easily portray their nervousness. Not that I could blame them, being displayed in front of this impressive display of military might was enough to make even Zeus pee his pants. Oh good no rumble he can't hear me up this high I chuckled internally.
I finally reached the stand and fell into the line of people already bowing their heads, and assumed the same position as my compatriots. With my head bowed I suddenly realised the full extent of the army around me. It was so unnerving seeing everyone, exactly the same. I could see why everyone else was so inclined to keep their heads down.
"Soldiers of Chaos!" I heard the man in question call, and looked up to watch him in action. Out of my peripheral vision I could see that the others had followed in my footsteps. That settled me down slightly, not going to lie.
"Today is a joyous occasion" I heard Chaos continue "as we have eight new brothers joining us in the fight against tyranny!" cried Chaos. This started an eruption of cheers from the assembled soldiers. I have to be honest; I have been to a few sports venues. I have heard roars and cheers from the fans, but nothing could compare to the noise that exploded from the soldiers' lungs in this moment. 'Wow these guys really enjoy fighting tyranny' I thought well duh it's what they do to get their old lives back.
"Ok, ok. Quiet down" Chaos chuckled, slowly raising and lowering his arms in a calming motion. "Now is the time for our new inductees to take their oaths" he said solemnly, at this every noise stopped. Nothing moved, no small animal, even the lights seemed to cease their faint humming.
"Okay now repeat after me, and insert your own name when I say 'Chaos' initially." He took a deep breath.
"I Chaos, do swear that I am here of my own free will"
"I Perseus Jackson, do swear that I am here of my own free will"
"I swear to defend the innocent of the universe and fight tyranny"
"I swear to defend the innocent of the universe and fight tyranny"
"I swear that I will never turn my back on the army of Chaos until the time of my death"
"I swear that I will never turn my back on the army of Chaos until the time of my death"
"This I swear on the name of the creator"
"This I swear on the name of the creator"
The instant I finished the last words, I saw a swirling blackness surround me. I began to panic, not knowing what was going on. I looked up to see Chaos with his arms raised, and eyes closed deep in concentration. This was the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness.
Line break
I woke up lying on a bed, and I instantly began to panic. I didn't know who I was, where I was from, where I was or more importantly why I was here. I tried to raise my arms, but found they were bound to the bed with leather straps. I tried to see if I could break through them, but after five minutes of pointless struggling I finally resigned myself to the fact I wasn't going to be escaping any time soon.
I decided that since there was pretty much nothing else I can do I thought I should study my surroundings. I appeared to be in what I could only assume was a hospital bed, my surroundings were pretty basic. There were some bleeping machines, a door, a few wires and curtains but nothing special. More importantly everything was so white! It was actually annoyingly white! 'Some colour please!' I internally screamed.
I started tapping incessantly on the side of the bed, hoping beyond all hope that someone would walk through the door and tell me what was going on. Apparently someone was listening to my prayers, as not five minutes later came in a man who looked in his early twenties and was draped in a white lab coat. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he was amazingly tall, secondly was his bionic arm.
He began to check on some of my readings, muttering under his breath about blood pressure and other medical mumbo jumbo. He stood writing things on his clip board, and I watched in fascination as small pistons up and down his arm could be seen pumping whatever fluid flowed through his arm. Through my fascination with watching his arm work I did not notice as he finished checking my readings and instead turned to study me. He coughed and I was broken from my stupor to see him looking at me with an amused grin.
"See something you like?" he cheekily added striking what I think was a seductive pose.
"I..umm…I…well I honestly don't know but….no?" I stuttered back, which was met with laughter from the man, who was still a stranger at this point.
"I'm only messin' with ya' kid. The name's corporal Johnston. I would shake your hand but…you know" he said nodding at the fact that my hands were still strapped to the bed. "I would take them off but it's standard procedure to leave them on till the big C has had his words with you."
"The big C?" I asked questioningly, more confused since he had started talking.
"Still don't have your memories eh? Don't worry you'll get them back soon. The big C is what I call the guy in charge of this here operation. Don't like saying his name cos he gets a bit paranoid and starts flashing into places he's not really needed" he said shrugging, as he played about with some wires. To be honest I don't think he was actually doing anything just fiddling around with things so he didn't have to go check on his next patient.
"So I take it you can't tell me much" I asked sceptically, trying to revive the conversation.
"I won't lie to you I don't even know your name" he said holding up his clip board as if that proved his complete innocence. "This is pretty standard for new recruits. Now as much as I would like to stay with an easier patient, unfortunately I have some serious cases to see to. So I'll be back to check on you later. Good luck with the big C" he said, exiting the door with a final wave and a smile.
As the door closed I couldn't help but feel more baffled as to where I was and what was going on. I hoped this 'big C' who ever that maybe. I don't know how much longer I sat up for, but at some point I must have drifted off, for the next thing I knew I awoke to see a man who was dressed completely in black. Though his suit was mainly black, it swirled with miniature stars and galaxies. It was really funky.
"Um…hello?" I asked. Very confused as to see how this new conversation would go, I would be left less confused than I had been left after the last conversation with the corporal.
"Greetings my boy" said the man, who I was now noticing radiated an extraordinary amount of power. "I'm sure you are very confused and for the duration of this conversation I am going to keep the straps on your wrists" at this I gave the strange man a questioning look.
"Don't worry it's just precaution, for a number of reasons which will be explained shortly, let's just say some people when placed in your position tend to be a little….violent" yay yet another baffling half answer just what I needed I thought internally, though I had a sneaky suspicion that this guy knew what I was thinking…weird huh?
"So I believe that you have woken up to find that your memory is gone. Well the truth is I am the one who removed it" he stated calmly. I sat still for a moment processing this information, before attempting to launch myself at the man. I didn't care who he was or how powerful he was. All I cared about was beating him into submission until he returned what was rightfully mine. After a few seconds of pushing against the restraints I fell back into the bed breathing heavily.
"Now you can see why you have restraints" he added coolly "But I can swear to you that you consented for this to happen" he stated looking me dead in the eyes. I took a deep breath and attempted to calm the raging storm inside of me.
"Ok" I said through gritted teeth "Say by some miracle I believe you. Why the fuck would I let you take my memories! I don't remember my own name!" I cried out
"I gave you another chance" he replied solemnly "On the planet you are from you unfortunately died. I rescued your soul before it could be placed into the afterlife and gave you a choice. You could either continue on your way to the underworld to live out your death fully or come here….you know what it would be easier if I just gave you the memories of the past few days" he said before reaching out with his index finger, and touching my forehead before I had a chance to respond.
I let out a scream of anguish as I saw….me. I could hear the strange man introduce himself as Chaos, but everything I saw was with my body floating above the scene playing out bellow me. 'Still keeping my thoughts from me' I thought. I watched as I accepted a deal to lose my memories in order to regain my life back on whatever planet I was from. I watched as my face contorted in pain, I must have left someone really important behind. This filled me with guilt, but I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of ambition. Ambition to make it back to whatever life I had left behind. Once the small movie of my memories had rolled by, I was returned to the current time with Chaos looking at me expectantly.
A/N he saw himself getting inducted and everything I just didn't write that cos it happened like just up there
"Fine I believe you" I said grumpily, unable to look at the now smirking form of the creator. "So what now? I'm a member of this…army and there's some sort of training?" I pondered out loud.
"Ahhh yes, but when you were touched by the Chaos mist (The black musty stuff from his induction) your muscle capacity and body in general were stretched, and well that takes a while to get used to" he added a smile now plastered on his face.
"What do you mean?" I questioned
"Well I increased your height, general muscle density and ability to add on extra muscle" he explained calmly. I looked down at my mostly bare body, and noticed that in comparison to the memory of myself I had just seen that I was significantly more…built.
"Okay, but if I am stronger now, then what is there to get used to?" I questioned, genuinely quite nervous about having a lot more strength. 'What if you get home and hurt someone because you can't control it' I thought worriedly.
"Don't worry, the reason is for the first month or so you won't know the limits of your strength, so we put you through trials, to show you comparisons of what you can do" he smiled "Don't worry, you won't be smashing glasses every time you try to pick one up because of it" Chaos giggled. Yes that is right the creator, THE FRICKING CREATOR, is giggling. Well that was enough to cause me to blush and for the giggle fest to intensify. To be honest I was expecting a very one sided pillow fight to break out any minute!
Once Chaos had wiped the tears from his eyes, he proceeded to snap his fingers which made the straps around my wrists disappear. I immediately began to rub my now slightly raw wrists. Noting the obvious pain I was in, Chaos once again snapped his fingers. At this a cooling feeling spread throughout my body, making my wrists feel instantly better. He stood up from the chair he had been using and gestured for me to follow him. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and followed him out of the door and into my new life.
TIME SKIP 5 years later
I ducked under a slash of my opponent's sword and retaliated by jabbing my spear forward forcing my opponent on the defensive. He brought his shield up to block the blow, but I began to launch a barrage of shots, peppering his body with my spear. But through a combination of his sword and shield combo he kept out a decent number of the hits, but I knew they were slowly taking effect. His swings were slowing, and he was favouring his left leg where I had managed to get a lucky hit in earlier in the fight. We continued on like this for a number of minutes until I spotted my opening. I swung my shield to crash down on top of his, forcing him to stumble forward, at which point I brought my spear round and hit him over the head with it.
He fell to the ground and I finished by pointing my spear at his throat. I gasped in as much fresh air as I could, not once letting my opponent catch me off guard.
"Do you yield" I asked smirking at my friend who was unceremoniously sprawled across the floor after having his ass handed to him. I heard him give some grumbled response, which just didn't satisfy my cheeky curiosity. "Oh I truly am sorry but could you please answer the question?" I asked again struggling to contain my laughter at this point.
"Fine fine" he yet again grumbled, "but I'll get you next time I swear it" he so adamantly promised as I gave him a hand to his feet.
"That's what you said for the last five years" I said winking at him as I moved over to the armoury stand to remove my armour, and to replace the training spear I had been using. My friend Fitzpatrick joined me soon after, though everyone called him Fitz for short. You see here in the army we only ever get called by our second names. Since most people have had their memories removed our first names became quite a taboo topic of conversation. No-one wanted to reveal theirs and risk losing what seemed so personal to themselves. It was weird; it felt so selfish yet so wrong to know anyone's first name.
"Well I can see someone is going to ace the spear exam next month" Fitz said to me, leaning against the door of the armoury waiting for me to finish.
"I don't know I still think there is a lot to improve on" I said coming out the exit and patting him on the shoulder. Now that he had removed his helmet, I could easily see a number of features which were always associated with Fitz. We were both the same height thanks to Chaos' blessing, but while my hair was raven black his was stark white. It was like that with a number of things between us to be honest.
Where my eyes were green his were a deep blue. My skin was tanned his was lightly dusted with freckles. You get the idea. It was weird, we were pretty much exact opposites, yet we were so similar in so many ways. From our joint love of the sword, to our taste in music. Taylor swift who was apparently some star from my home planet. We receive a little stick for our choice, but we both knew she was awesome.
"Plus you with your sword" I exclaimed at him as we continued to walk to the rest and recovery area. "You really pushed me this time, and I honestly got really lucky with that opening" I said truthfully. He looked me dead in the eyes as we continued walking.
"Even so I didn't come close to beating you" he replied downheartedly. "I don't deserve to be here. I'm a joke" he whispered out. I turned to him and pushed his forcefully against the wall.
"Don't you ever say that? Do you think Chaos would have personally chosen you if he didn't believe in you? If he thought you were going to be 'a joke'" I asked him angrily.
"It's true though" he shouted back at me "I can never beat anyone. At anything! I might as well not be here. I should never have accepted my offer" he said casting his gaze downwards.
"Oh is that so?" I said crossing my arms, and giving him a very sassy look "if that is true then out of the eight of us how did you get the best score in every stealth test?" I watched as his lips curved into a faint smile, but I wasn't done yet
"And do remind me who was the only person ever to steal Chaos' wallet from him without him noticing?" this invoked a snort from my friend.
"More importantly look how you have improved with the sword. Do you remember the first sword lesson we had? Chaos had to show you that you didn't hold it by the sharp end!" this caused him to burst out laughing, something which I joined in with whole heartedly.
"Thanks man" I heard from him once we had calmed down. I pulled him into a bro hug, before we both pulled away and continued walking, neither of us wanting to spend any more time on our feet.
Line break
Fresh out of the shower, I entered the main training relaxing chamber. I moved over to the sofa's our training group used to sit around and socialise in. Everyone else was already here. We all had matching black jumpsuits, but some of our features could not have been more different.
A/N for the sake of my laziness, everyone will look vaguely human, but will have different colours of skin, hair and stuff
Firstly there was Price, she was a badass straight out. I remember the first day I met her; she was introduced by Chaos and instantly asked for a fight. We got on well now but I had learned the hard way not to get on her bad side, I involuntarily shuddered at some of the memories. She had short black hair, and possibly the most ironic part of her entire situation was that she was completely pink. Something she did not take well if it was ever brought up. Her eyes were a deep brown, which as she described it 'could transfix her opponents before she decapitated their worthless, soon-to-be mangled, currently flesh covered corpses. Yeah she was a psychopath, but a linguistic psychopath.
Next there was Robinson. She was from the same planet as Price, Gaspra I think it was called? Anyways she too carries the signature pink hue of her people, though she was much more proud of it than Price was. She had shoulder length auburn hair and pink eyes, which I am convinced are contacts, though Fitz disagrees.
Speaking of Fitz he was sitting beside Robinson chatting feverishly to her about something or other. It was amazing how infatuated he was with her. I refused to even think of any other woman while I was here. I knew I was fighting to get back home, and I didn't know if I had someone waiting for me. I wouldn't risk screwing that up. Something my friend didn't seem to have a problem with.
I slumped into a seat beside another member of our training squad. He was sitting tinkering away with some contraption or another. It was amazing that for a man his size, that he could be so delicate with his hands. They flew over everything he touched, instantly fixing or improving each aspect. His name was wood, which I personally found ironic for someone so good at working with technology. Though most of us had taken to calling him tinker, or just tink. He was a big guy, even for us, easily reaching seven and a half feet. He had deep brown eyes that showed kindness, but I have been on the other side of a shield, and when he swings his war hammer you better be ready for some bruises. He always kept his black hair cut short, saying how it stays out of his eyes so he can see his work better that way. I don't know, the one time I tried talking to him about it; I ended up more confused than I did when I asked what it was he was building!
Not that we were short on people who complained, and conveniently also short people. To my left was a very little person who was always in a mood. His name was Casselli (or Cass for short) and he was from the planet mars (I know right so cool) so I was very disappointed when I found out that he wasn't a little green Martian, didn't stop me from dressing him up as one for Halloween though. He was covered head to toe in long sleeves of tattoo's, which covered his pale skin. Apparently at one time his culture did indeed have green skin, but when the surface of mars became uninhabitable they moved under the surface, and from there they lost all contact with natural light to which over time turned their skin stark white. It was creepy enough that he looked like a ghost, but the fact that he could move so silently and that his eyes were pure white matching his hair and skin. He was truly the creepiest guy I had ever met in my life. I think. To be honest it was even stranger since everyone else was a similar size, but according to him he made a deal with chaos that his physical features wouldn't be changed.
This was a drastic change to the individual next to Cass. She accepted the new physical capabilities in full stride; it was amazing how much detail she went into about the changes she noticed. Such horrific detail, I shuddered in remembrance of some of her 'talks', such happy memories. She was, flirtatious to say the least, something that was not helped along with her increased good looks, nor her deep red eyes, which were so unusual even around here, but seemed to swirl with a warmth that was reflected easily in her personality. She was easily the best healer amongst us all, though how well her skills worked compared to how many 'injuries' occurred when 'Doc Amour' was due to shadow the doctor on the wards was remarkable. Not that I was insinuating a single thing.
Currently Ms Amour was flirting shamelessly with the final member of our little clique. Bullock was a beast of a man to put it simply. He was a big guy even for us. Every spare minute out of training he would spend it the gym, though I much preferred the pool. Even if I disagreed on spare time training, I could see where Doc was coming. What with his rippling muscles, silly red Mohawk and blue skin that could only be described as 'hot' apparently. It helped that his distinct lack of brains suited her type perfectly. The number of times we had been on a stealth training mission, and he ran head first in without thinking was bordering on ridiculous. While it was annoying it was hard to hate the guy. He was such a genuinely nice guy, he was just stupidly strong and well…stupidly stupid, but if he didn't feel threatened he wouldn't hurt a soul. I think he actually had a butterfly collection.
I felt like I had grown close to everyone, and I knew that I number of them looked to me to lead them. I had learned more intimate details about most of us, more so than others. I didn't know why I had become so trusted, but I wasn't about to turn it down. It's not that I wanted to do it, but I felt like I had done it before. It felt quite natural, whereas the others had to force it sometimes. I didn't feel as though I had done anything to deserve it, but if something went wrong, and I knew there was something I could have done differently, then I knew I would never be able to live with myself. Especially if someone got hurt. So I suffered in silence, knowing if I was to complain that they would never respect me.
I leant back into the sofa and ran a hand through my hair. It had been a long five years getting this far, who knows how long it would be to get to the end of training.
TIME SKIP – another 5 years, to the end of training. Pretty much has finished a training sequence that has him master most weapons: sword, spear, dagger, pistol and a little of other aspects, like rifles/bow and arrows, but Percy sucks at those so yeah…..also they have learned the basic names and history of most planets.
Today was the day! I arose from my bed and threw a pillow at the slumbering form of my roommate.
"Get up Fitz you lazy ass!" I screamed as he flicked the bird at me in response. The whole of last night I couldn't sleep, I was so nervous and excited and nervous. Then there was everyone else, who would finish top of our class? What unit would we all be placed in? So many questions! I rushed to the bathroom getting in an early shower knowing that Fitz would be at least half an hour more before he was actually up.
I quickly brushed my teeth, and took a long shower ignoring the knocks on the door from my roommate, voicing his obvious displeasure at the time I was taking. This caused me to chuckle as I wrapped a towel around my waist as I left the bathroom, letting a grumpy Fitz slip past me. As I turned to the wardrobe I noticed my reflection in a mirror we had hanging on our wall. I never thought as myself as vain, but when I looked in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel impressed at my body. My six pack stood out clearly against my arms and pecks, not to mention the ridiculous height I now commanded.
I couldn't help but wonder if I made it home, would anyone recognise me? I don't remember much of what I looked like immediately prior to joining the army, but I knew it was a hell of a lot different to what I looked like now. I was so desperate to get home, that I was saddened when I found out that my memories would begin to slow down. I had only made it till I was around three years old, and I already had a select few that I enjoyed replaying on special monitors of Chaos' creation. I enjoyed watching ones were my mother was smiling. I was overjoyed when I saw the day she named me, though having to watch the breast feeding was….a tad disturbing. Anyway I noticed how I had inherited small features from her, but she always said how much I looked like my father. To be honest I was deeply saddened by the fact that I still hadn't met him by the time I was three. Did he even know I existed? Did he care?
I shook my head clearing it of all these negative thoughts, and taking a deep breath I began to prepare for the day I became a full member of the army.
I opened the specially reinforced closet, and removed my ceremonial armour. Currently it was plain and white in colour, since I did not know which unit I would be a part of. As I carefully slipped on the thick trousers, I couldn't help but hope to be in the typhoons. We got to do basic drills with the full members, and I couldn't help but feel drawn to that squad. When I was in the water it was like I could control it, like it empowered me. I honestly didn't know how to explain it, everything was just better with a little water.
By the time I had finished getting ready, Fitz was just out of the shower. I gave him a scolding look to which he smirked and shrugged.
"Well someone's keen aren't they?" He said with his back to me, as he began to rummage through his closet trying to find the armour he needs for today.
"How did you lose your armour already?" I asked incredulously, but with a hint of humour behind the jibe. "We only got fitted for it yesterday"
"What can I say I'm a special boy" he said, and I could sense the smirk plastered across his face. 'Special is one word that could be used to describe you' I thought internally. I walked over to the sofa we had in our room and took a seat waiting for him to get ready.
Thirty minutes later Fitz was finally ready and we could begin to make our way to the main square, the same place we had been accepted to training ten years ago today. I couldn't believe that it had been ten years since we had all seen the Chaos mist envelop us, the last day I would have been able to remember my past life. I hoped it wouldn't be too long before I could return, but to be honest I could have been in a worse position than the one I was in now. I'm not saying life was easy, because that would be a lie, but this way I had a shot. A shot at life. Redemption. Happiness, and it all started with this ceremony.
On the way to the grand doors, I remember meeting up with the rest of the group. It was a sad moment, over the last decade I had spent practically every day with these people, and now I didn't know how often I would get to see them. The thought of losing everyone saddened me deeply, but I knew that I would see them around, maybe just not as much as right now. We all congregated in the small foyer, wishing each other good luck, and going through a number of other formalities, but I knew everyone else was as nervous as I was. We all had a unit we wanted to be in, but what if we didn't make it, or were 'more suited' for another. My biggest fear was that I was put in the black hawks. I couldn't fly even slightly, I was terrible at it! Possibly worse at flying than I was at archery, but what if they wanted to challenge me?
The terror that had filled my heart was cast aside as I walked out into the square. That same square, filled with similar ranks we had all seen a decade ago. Our armour noticeably blank compared to the rest of the squads. I knew that each and every member here had gone through this extreme process when they began their journey (or restarted it) and I couldn't help but feel honoured that I was chosen to join their ranks. It gave me a fresh determination to find out what I had accomplished in my previous life, and hopefully return to it.
I was broken out of my stupor as we reached the stage, and automatically fell into the same positions we had all those years before. Kneeling in sync, we bowed our heads respectfully, as we were graced by the presence of Chaos and the commander. Naturally I was shocked by the commanders' attendance, as during our time here we had attended a number of different ceremonies of new inductees and never once had we seen the commander attend one.
Rumours about the commander came thick and fast. All the older soldiers had their theories on the mysterious man. He had received vicious burn marks on one original mission, which would explain the fact that he always wore a mask. He lost an arm in a forging accident, which would place him in the synthetics and also explain the obvious bionic arm. I had never personally seen any of these features, but could tell instantly that this man was the one they all described. His mask looked like that of a bygone era, definitely older than any of our masks. His arm was proudly on display, fingering the sword that hung loosely around his belt. Even though I could not see his eyes, I knew that they were intently scanning the crowd, almost instinctively looking for targets. It made me both respect and pity him, even amongst friends he couldn't let his guard down, it must lead for a fairly lonely life.
"How nice it is to see you all again" Chaos boomed from his raised platform. "It seems that only yesterday that we were all together to induct these new recruits, and now at the end of their training they have come together once again, and now it is time for us to find out which squad will receive a new pair of fresh legs." Chaos finished as a round of applause erupted from the gathered soldiers.
Chaos stood patiently waiting for the noise to die down before approaching the first of us, at the other side of the line. He stood in front of Price and raised his arms summoning the Chaos mist. It immediately began to swirl violently around her, completely covering her body. When it had all evaporated, her armour had turned a dark blood red, symbolising her as a new member of the Spartans. In a bright flash of light, the Primordial Ourea (mountains) appeared in front of Price, touching her forehead and thus blessing her with 'the strength of the mountains', before flashing out.
Chaos then moved onto our next member. I could see Robinson visibly flinch, out of all of our members, she was the one with the least obvious talents in any one area. I looked over to Fitz beside me, and I could see from his nervous fidgeting that he too was scared for his 'friend' (wink wink, nudge nudge). Chaos again raised his arms, and the Chaos mist enveloped Robinson. I was honestly scared I would have to get up and hold Fitz in place to stop him running to her, thankfully after a few tense seconds he managed to restrain himself. I looked up from my estranged friend, to see that Robinsons armour had also changed. However, the blood red had been switched out for a dark green, resembling a flight suit symbolising her place as a black hawk. There was another flash of light, as the deity Ouranos appeared before us. He then placed his index finger on her forehead giving her 'the blessing of the sky' before he too flashed out.
A/N not going to lie I don't see the point in me doing a full paragraph for everyone, so going to just say who goes where, their blessing blah blah blah till we get to the end of Fitz.
Tink – synthetics – blessing from thesis (primordial of creation)- armour is brown
Cass – shadow hunters – blessing from Erebus – armour is black
Amour – rejuvenators – blessing from Aether (I know he's light, but going to use him like Apollo) - armour is white
Bullock – Spartans – blessing from Ourea – armour is red
…I watched as the Chaos mist dissipated from around Fitz, I expected his armour to be coloured a pitch black to show him joining the hunters. I always thought his best trait was his ability to sneak around without being caught. Apparently Chaos had other ideas.
He knelt beside me, his armour was a ceremonial purple. A bombardier? I would never have guessed, with the exception of Robinson, I had been spot on with my guesses so far but this one threw me way off. I could see the shocked expression displayed easily across the face of my friend. 'Well it seems that neither of us expected that' I watched his face harden, and not long after there was a flash before him, and out stepped Nyx? 'Why is she blessing bombardiers?' I thought internally. She performed the ceremony that each of the other primordial deities had, but I did not miss the sneer she sent my way before she too flashed out. Wow I must have really pissed her off before; I wonder what I could have done?
I cast my eyes away from a distraught looking Fitz, to look into Chaos' eyes. Only it wasn't Chaos who stared back. A pair of red eyes were staring straight back at me. I quickly realised the commander was staring me dead in the eye. I briefly wondered how many had been this close to the man stood before me in all his years in the army. He raised his arms and suddenly I was enveloped in a swirling mass of Chaos mist, only this time it was white? I stared around blankly and waited for something to happen. Everyone else had only taken a few seconds, yet I was still surrounded by the white wall of fury. I then heard a hearty chuckle, and saw a figure developing through the mist.
It took me a few seconds, but I finally realised that the person appearing to me was the commander, I watched as he slowly approached me, placing his hands on my shoulders and raising me to my feet. He began to slowly circle me, and for some reason I instantly felt incredibly self-conscious. Even though I couldn't see his eyes I knew they were studying me intently. After a few more seconds of pacing, he stopped and clicked his fingers summoning two chairs across from each other. He took a seat and made a hand gesture, indicating for me to do the same.
After I took a seat all I could think of was the awkward tension in the air. I didn't want to say something stupid in front of the commander, but at the same time I figured he probably wasn't going to say anything. So I pulled out my best conversation started.
"So nice weather we've been having" I stated, coughing and turning to look away. My face lit up in a powerful blush, as I tried my best to not look at the powerful man I had just openly embarrassed myself in front of. However, my eyes snapped back as I heard a deep laugh.
"Indeed young one" the commander said nodding at me "Now I have taken your consciousness here because you have excelled in a number of different regards during your training. As such, you have the potential to join three different units within the army." He paused, and I nodded showing I understood.
"Firstly we have the Spartans, as you have shown exceptional work with ground weapons like your sword and spear" I nodded but hoped I didn't have to join them, they were fantastic fighters, but they weren't the nicest of people. "Next we have the bombardiers, since you have shown an innate ability to…destroy things" he said with a throaty chuckle. This had me slightly shocked due to the fact that most of my 'destroying' was more an accident with certain chemicals which apparently you should never mix. Who knew!?
"Finally we have the Typhoons, and I think you know why you have the chance to join their ranks" He finished sitting back and clasping his hands on his legs. 'YESSS' I internally grinned, I was so hopeful that I would get in. Not to get me wrong the other units were good, but I just felt at home in the water. I wasted no time in making my decision.
"I would like to join the Typhoons" I said proudly, letting out a breathe I didn't realise I had been holding.
"I figured you might" the commander laughed. "Now when we leave this place Chaos will summon Pontus to bless you, do you have any questions before we leave" he asked. I pondered for a minute, before replying.
"I have a couple" I paused waiting to see if it was ok to go ahead, I received a nod and thought 'eh good enough'. "Firstly we have spent a lot of time here, and everyone else seemed to only spend a few seconds, so how does that work? And secondly…why did you approach me and not Chaos" I said, more curious about the second question than the first. The commander brought up a hand to stroke what I assumed must be his chin. He seemed to take a few seconds to collect his thoughts before he began to speak.
"Well to answer your first question, I have transported your conciseness to a pocket of the void were time moves much more slowly, so no more than a few seconds will have passed by the time we return, and each of your fellow trainees will have experienced the same thing, only with Chaos" he finished taking a deep breath before continuing. "As for why I chose you, well that is because you interest me Jackson. It is not well known, but I watch over as many training sessions as I can and you have astonished me. Your selfless attitude, your determination and loyalty knows no bounds. It is traits like these that this army needs, and it is due to this that I would like to congratulate you. I decided I wanted to meet you, and could think of no grander occasion to do so than your initiation ceremony" he said finishing and sitting fully forward in his chair. "Also since you have chosen the typhoons Chaos and I have decided to unlock your naturally born water abilities" this in itself was a lot of information. Not only had I somehow managed to capture the attention of the commander, I was also born with water abilities? This must mean I was part something else other than human. I had received enough of my memories now to know that I was human at least, but from my studies I knew that normal humans had no real control over water.
"So ready to go?" the commander asked, raising himself from the chair and offering me a hand. I looked up into his still covered face, and took his hand. As I did so, I felt the void world evaporating behind me, as we returned to the square and a new life.
TIME SKIP 500 years into the future…
I looked up at the heat signatures in front of me, not that I needed it. With my heightened sense of abilities I could smell these men a mile away. They had a repulsive smell of body-odour and alcohol. I along with three fellow soldiers crawled across the soft sand of the beach approaching the small bunker filled with four men. The beating rain poured solidly around us, and I knew that due to the adverse conditions that none of these men would venture out to check the 'empty' beach.
My blue armour had been covered slightly in this planets seaweed to cover up the reflective qualities it possessed. I slowly drew myself up to a kneeling position before drawing a knife from the side of my leg.
"On my mark" I spoke into the headset of my helmet, drawing back my throwing arm with the knife in it. I watched as lightning flashed illuminating the men in all their 'glory'. A few empty bottles of liquor lay scattered around the floor, indicating the drunken state the men would likely be in. Their weapons lay scattered loosely against the wall. 'This is too easy' I thought to myself smirking. I waited for the next flash of lightning before I made my move, making sure the thunder covered up any small amount of sound they had the potential to make.
"Mark" I spoke confidently into my helmet, watching as my arm came forward releasing the knife towards its intended target. I was satisfied as I watched the four heat signatures drop silently to the ground. My face was stone as I quickly approached the bodies. I could feel my fellow soldiers fall in near to me, our large frames barely squashing into the small hut. I indicated to two of them to make sure they were dead before checking for any Intel we could gather from this facility.
I started drawing water from the area to clean the seaweed off my body as I searched through a number of documents for anything of use. I didn't find much, except a map showing where the main weapons stock hold was 'not that we didn't know that already'. I saw a blinking in the bottom corner of my helmet, and answered the direct communication from the senior officer for this mission.
"Lieutenant Summers how are you this fine evening" I said cheekily as I turned to my men to see them disposing of the bodies.
"Sargent Jackson it would be must appreciated if you could stop being a wise ass, and do the job you and your men were assigned" the dear lieutenant retorted angrily. Ah senior-junior relationships were just so fun.
"You will be happy to know that we completed our task and have been happily enjoying some of this planets finest scotch as we wait on you providing us with back-up" I said with a sparkle in my eyes. I didn't know what it was but I had some inept ability to greatly piss off authority. It gave me a sick pleasure knowing how easy it was to annoy some people, and the current image I had of the Lieutenant being very red faced in anger was pleasing me greatly.
"Listen here Jackson. Had you radioed in as you were supposed to, then you would have received your reinforcements by now. Though due to your inability to follow the rules, they will be delayed" he said, well more like screamed down the comms link causing me to chuckle slightly.
"But if I had done what I was supposed to then I wouldn't have had the joy of this conversation" I said naughtily "I will be waiting very patiently my dear lieutenant, until next time" I finished with a kissy noise and ended the link before I would have to listen to him ramble on about 'insubordination' and 'rules' I shuddered at the thought.
I walked over to the corporal who had accompanied me on this mission. I joined him in staring intently out at the sea, watching for both our reinforcements, and also the small possibility that one of our enemies would find us.
"Jackson" he said simply.
"Aww how did you know it was me" I pouted, resulting in a chuckle from him.
"Rover always knows who's coming. It's a talent much like you have with the senior officers" he added cheekily. I punched his arm lightly but still laughed, knowing it was entirely true. "I sent Brenner and McBride on a short perimeter check" I heard him say, his gaze never once lifting from the horizon.
I cast one glance around me, and radioed in to check on the other two soldiers, to ask if they had encountered anything. I gazed at the small internal map I had, checking the position of my two soldiers, before joining my friend in looking out over the sea. The storm was continuing, but I could see a small boat approaching the shore, along with three more hovering just above it. We both sat in silence, as we watched the men approaching.
"Something wrong?" I asked my friend. He is never normally quiet, and to not hear anything from him in this long worried me.
"I'm just thinking. That seemed far too easy. From what we know these men were all highly trained, so for them to be sitting around drinking isn't sitting well with me" he said, turning his head to look at me, though all I could see was the dull red glow that emanated from the general eye holes in our helmets. What he had said was very true, and I couldn't help but think that maybe there was something else going on here than what we knew.
"Don't worry about it, maybe it's just the newbies who weren't trained yet. I mean it's not as if they would be expecting an invasion by sea?" I suggested. I received a grunt in reply, which told me that he didn't quite believe me but would wisely keep his mouth closed.
After a few more minutes the rest of our troops hit the shore, in the boat there was another two Typhoons to join the three already had. Along with them there were three black hawks, five Spartans, four bombardiers and a rejuvenator. I radioed Brenner and McBride, and told them to hold their position and that we would meet them shortly. I signalled to my new men and we pushed forward into the night.
Line Break
My squad of sixteen pushed quietly through the thick undergrowth in which we found ourselves currently entangled. For such a large group of men we made a surprisingly small amount of noise. Granted the shadow hunters would have given us a hard time but it wasn't bad. It also helped that the thunder provided some extra noise cover. We continued on for a few more minutes, before we met our first checkpoint.
I gazed at the small bridge before us, it was made of stone and wouldn't hold any armour, (meaning tanks, or other mechanised vehicles, not the armour they have on) but it was imperative to this mission that we had direct access to a crossing point. The bridge covered a chasm that covered a river that spanned two hundred miles and was around fifty feet wide, at its narrowest. On top of that there was a drop of around one hundred feet, something that not even I was very interested in falling down. Unfortunately there was a heavily fortified bunker guarding said bridge, and in it sat a number of heavy machine guns and men. I motioned for my men to begin to spread out along the edge of the foliage, as I explained my plan.
"Okay so here's the plan. I want Wool and Deveny (both bombardiers) to approach head on towards the door. Plant a breaching mechanism, then get clear" I saw to green blinks in my helmet from the respective duo signalling that they had understood. "Everyone else approach slowly, and surround the building, I want all five Spartans around the door with flash bangs ready to go once the charge go off. Then I want the Stafford Twins (the other two bombardiers) to place some explosives on the outer machine guns to immobilise them" At this I received another flurry of green blinks. "Once the charges have gone off I want the Typhoons to support the Spartans, the Hawks to fly around the perimeter to make sure there aren't any soldiers who somehow escape through a back door we don't know about. Also I want Jeffries (the rejuvenator) to wait here in the tree line, and then come forward once we have taken the bunker or if anyone is injured and you see an opening" I finished "everyone understand?" I questioned. I received a final influx of green lights before giving the call to advance.
The crawl was slow and arduous, given that there was around fifty feet to the door from the treeline. Thankfully the storm was still raging, so visibility for the men in the bunker would be limited. As we approached the door, I watched as everyone got into their respective positions and waited for the bombardiers to set the breaching charges on the door, and some explosives on the machine guns which were pointed towards us. The storm would help greatly, as the thunder would cover any noise made by sticking the charges to the metal. The words of rover earlier about this mission being too easy began to echo in my head. I tried to dismiss the growing sense of unease as simple nerves, but I couldn't help the feeling that was building inside of me. My few seconds of deliberation took up all the time needed for the charges to be planted and the Spartans to wait either side of the door waiting for my mark.
"On my mark of three" I voiced through my headset in a team wide channel. "One…..Two….Three!" I watched as the door was blown off its hinges. Within a second of the door being clear the five Spartans had released their flash bangs into the confined bunker and waited for the signature spark of light that accompanied the grenade. While this was going on, the other bombardiers had set off their explosives attached to the outer guns. I watched as the Spartans advanced into the building, pistol in one hand and a combat knife in the other.
I rose silently from the ground along with the other Typhoons and began to advance towards the door, to provide backup to the Spartans. Meanwhile, the Hawks had begun to fly silently over the fortification. Everything was going perfectly. I advanced into the building and proceeded to follow a narrow staircase down. As an officer, I was awarded a sword to use while in the field. So I advanced forward holding my sword in one hand and my pistol in the other. The cold black chaos metal glinted evilly in the faint fluorescent light, and even though the sword had the ability to freak me out, it had saved my life on more than one occasion.
As we progressed further and further into the complex, I couldn't help but be impressed by the work done by the Spartans. Every body we passed had a single bullet hole in the head, or a single knife slit in the throat. It was a gruesome satisfaction, but I give credit where credit is due. We progressed at a faster rate, stopping to check each and every side room for any who may be left alive. Surprisingly we found nothing. It seems as though everyone was in this corridor. 'Strange, or very valiant I suppose. Everyone wanted to run out to fight the enemy head on, no one cowered and hid' I thought internally. Though this did nothing to douse the nervous fire that was slowly building inside of me. 'Surely there would have been more here' I pondered, temporarily slowing to inspect one of the soldiers' weapons.
It was a standard issue rifle that most of these men would have received. The only problem was it was covered in rust. This baffled me, as from what I had gathered from the Intel, is that each weapon in this large militia was to be kept to a high standard. This rule was easily enforced as most of the men would be assigned one rifle and if it fell into disrepair then they would have to pay a large sum of money for a replacement. I raised myself to my full height as I saw the Spartans begin to approach me slowly. They were dragging a prisoner.
"Found this one trying to hide in a corner as we killed his friends, he keeps whimpering but figured he'd be easy to break" called the lead Spartan, corporal Lance I believed as he threw the quivering soldier at my feet. I would have gazed down at him, only the smell radiating off him was far too much, I was pretty sure he had pissed himself.
"Bind him and bring him to one of the side rooms upstairs for questioning" I gagged as I finished my sentence, nodding to one of my fellow Typhoons. I began to proceed back along the corridor and climbed the stairs to reach the exit. As I reached the exit, the three Hawks were just landing in front of me.
"Anything to report?" I questioned
"No sir, we spotted no enemy activity in the flats surrounding this area. Though due to the thick undergrowth behind us and the large hill on the other side of the bridge, it is possible that there could be some militants close by." The soldier finished.
"Very good private" I started "Ok give me one more perimeter check, then do a quick scan at the top of the hill and report anything you find. Don't get yourself caught, and if you spot anything over the hill do not engage, get yourselves back here as soon as possible got it?"
I received a chorus of 'Yes sirs' as they flew off to follow their orders. Meanwhile I proceeded to attempt to establish radio contact with head-quarters, so as to inform them of our successful mission. I knew that there would be a few other teams taking bridges similar to this one, but this one was key as it was closest to the beach-head we had established earlier. I heard a faint crackling signalling that someone was on the other side of my line.
"HQ this is Sargent Jackson reporting in" I said calmly into my intercom.
"Jackson!" my headset crackled back. "Took your time with this one I see" I heard the Lieutenant smirk.
"I like being thorough" I replied in a bored tone "I will be awaiting the first set of soldiers, do you have any idea how long it will take them to reach our position?" I questioned eager to have this conversation with my favourite person over as soon as possible.
"They should be at your position within the hour, try not to lose everything in that time" I heard him say, as the line went dead. I let out a sigh of both anger and joy. Anger at being hung up on; I mean seriously who likes that! And joy at having no reason to talk to that overbearing ass for at least another hour.
I strolled calmly back inside, and began to follow the sound of crying as I approached a side room, where I hoped to find my prisoner. I opened the door to see Rover leaning back in his chair. He had removed his helmet and was sharpening his knife all the while staring at our prisoner who was currently bubbling like a little baby.
"Rover, take over outside. Make sure this place is defendable, something is off" I said calmly to my friend. His fiery ginger Mohawk bobbed up and down as he nodded his head. Covering his skull with the protective head ware once again as he exited the room. I was tempted for a moment to remove my helmet, but since I was about to interrogate this man I knew I would be more intimidating with it on.
"We are going to play a little game today" I said sitting down in a chair directly across from the man. "I am going to ask a question, and every time you don't answer one I will ask one of my….friends to break one of your bones are we clear?" at the sound of this the man burst into uncontrolled sobbing. I let out a sigh, I truly hated this part of my job, but I knew that if I let someone like corporal Lance deal with this, then the man would be dead before we even knew his name.
"Firstly tell me your name" I said calmly.
"Greg…Greggory McBride" he managed to stutter out through the tears.
"Very good, now Greg. Can I call you Greg?" I asked politely. I stood up and began to slowly circle him as he nodded his head slowly, the trails of tears beginning to slow. "Well Greg, you see the reason we are here is because this planet has become very corrupt by an evil warlord, and you apparently seem to be working for him." I continued, not once dropping the calm demeanour I held.
"Charged with rape, soul trafficking (Pretty much human trafficking, but because it covers a wide variety of non humans, I'm gonna say that), slavery you know juts a whole bunch of crimes" I paused collecting my thoughts.
"So we are here to put an end to him, and to return this planet to the happy, prospering place we all know it can be" I said in a happier tone of voice. I made sure to change that "You are working for this monster, and as such we hold you guilty of these crimes" I practically whispered as I stood behind Greggory. "Now we can do this the hard way, I can break every bone in your body, and then throw you in a torture cell for the rest of your life" I noticed the frequency of his whimper increased at this. "Or you can be a good little boy and tell me exactly what I want to know" I finished, crouching in front of Greg. I watched as he began to blubber yet again.
"Good!" I said jubilantly as I resumed my pacing. "So first off you will tell me why everything was so easy and why you were all using such subpar weapons" I said in an authoritarian tone. The only answer I received was more whimpering. After a few more seconds of him not saying anything I drew a knife and slowly dragged it across his legs.
"All I want is a few words. Just a few words and you won't have to go through any more pain" I whispered at him, not once stopping my knife from swiping across his legs.
"They…they made us do it. They held my wife and children with a knife to their throats" the man began crying. I didn't know if he was telling the truth, I had seen many people try the pity tactic before. Even so we were starting to get somewhere, so I sheathed my knife before continuing my questioning.
"Who made you do it?" I asked curiously.
"The men. They….They came from another planet. I think they were mercenaries. They knew you were coming and they sent us….to die and waste your ammunition" the man said staring me dead in the eye. This new information unnerved me….Mercenaries who knew we were coming? Even I didn't know we would be coming to this planet until a week ago.
"Do you have any idea who these men were" I asked, trying to hide the discomfort I was feeling. I received a brief shaking of his head. "Well then did they have any distinguishing markings? A symbol or a particular colour of uniform?" I continued.
Greg seemed to think this over for a second before replying.
"They all had different colours of uniform, but each of them had a white wolf head stamped on one shoulder" he stuttered out before staring me in the eye once more. "I swear sir I never wanted to be a soldier. I worked a farm my whole life, and I just want to go home to my wife and kids" the man finished.
I nodded my head solemnly as I stood, before turning and leaving. After closing the door I immediately set off to find Rover. I needed to collect the other officers and also get a message to headquarters. I sent a brief message to Rover instructing him to meet me at the exit, just as I crossed the threshold. I began to patch a message through to command.
"Hello this is Sargent Jackson, come in" I said calmly. I had to wait a few seconds for a response, but they weren't expecting me so this didn't worry me.
"Sargent Jackson what are you calling me this time for? What did you screw up!" came the ever positive man.
"No screw up. I'm radioing in with some disturbing news" I said taking a solemn breath. "I have captured and interrogated a soldier, and apparently there are a group of mercenaries who had prior information saying that we would be arriving on this planet. They have armed a number of civilians in the area and are using them as cannon fodder currently" I finished, waiting anxiously for a response.
I heard a mumbled "Shit" come down the line, before the Lieutenant continued in a more serious tone "did you find out anything else about this group?"
"Only that they are willing to hold hostages to make the local populace submit to their will, and also that they have a white wolf emblazoned on their shoulders" I finished calmly, but was met by an unusually long silence.
"We've just run that through our database, and we have no current knowledge of any group using that emblem. However, you should assume the worst so make that bunker impenetrable, I'll make sure and sent some extra men to reinforce the area" with that he cut out.
I turned to find Rover patiently waiting for me, while leaning against the door frame. I couldn't see his face due to his helmet, but I knew that he was impatient as his fingers drummed off the door frame in a small beat. I walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder driving him inside out of the rain. The door still hadn't been fixed, but we still had to duck our heads to get in through the narrow opening.
"What is our status to defend ourselves?" I questioned, as my foot splashed a small puddle that was collecting at the top of the stairs.
"We have a few extra machine guns that were pointed across the bridge" Rover said pointing to a few positions just above us. "Also we have found a number of boxes of extra ammunition, so keeping them running shouldn't be a problem" he said finishing. I moved closer to study the fixed positions, before turning and continuing my requests.
"Okay I want three men on each gun, at least two spotters and the rest ready to go at a moment's notice" I waited until he nodded before continuing "also can you gather all the other officers and get them to meet me in the second room down this corridor" I said as I pointed down said corridor. I started to make my way towards the room in question. Just as I opened the door however, I remembered one last point I needed to make.
"Rover" I called out, getting his attention just before he was out of hearing range. "Did those men from the hawks I sent out earlier get back yet?" I questioned. I watched him ponder this for a moment before he replied "Nope" before walking off to finish his jobs.
After hearing this news I entered the room with a sinking feeling of dread.
Not going to lie this took me an age to write. I don't think it's all that good, and was going to continue on with this chapter but figured that this would be as god a point as any to stop. Next chapter I'm going to continue on this planet still sticking with just Percy's POV for just now Thanks for reading any way :D CNRBRR