(Fanfiction version of Author's Note for this chapter: We get to see some familiar limiter faces in this one, because this fanfic - while still told with an emphasis on Cameron's POV, is still centered around the other Pandora and limiters in the series. We'll see more of the limiters of our favorite West Genetics Third Years when I get to Book Two.)
To say that, even with bandages on him as he recovered from the wounds he sustained during his rampage through Astrid's base during the incident, the sight of Cameron being at the Graduation Party again - this time shirtless with his chest and back mostly covered in bandages - was enough, if not more, for many limiters to once again stay well clear of potential Pandora partners. Even with the gag order in place by Chevalier to keep everyone quiet, word had already gotten around among those limiters that hadn't been involved to know just how dangerous Cameron was.
To his credit, the violet eyed boy basically paid those limiters backing away in fear little mind. Much to the frustration and jealousy of Elizabeth, Arnett, and Dolly, Cameron chose to spend time with the tablet holding Abyss by the chip and dip table, the duo talking about plans for the future and how they would distill the lessons learnt from the incident to be put to good use by the rank and file droids and organics of the Seventeenth Army in the future. As usual, the boy's mind was on the future, always trying to figure out what to do next. Still, the sight of Cameron all wrapped in bandages wasn't new to any limiter not backing away in fear of the boy. All of them had, in one way or another, heard of the original Cloaked Bulldozer incident and to them, it was a mixture of emotions for them to be standing in the same room as the legend himself.
Among the limiters in the room, some of them began gradually making their way over towards the duo of Cameron and Abyss, though for their own personal reasons.
André Françoise was a perfect example of this.
A French-born son of a wealthy family who currently lived in Japan, André wasn't really in it for the glory, or perhaps potentially being partnered with a Pandora. No, what simply gravitated this young man in Cameron's direction was simply because he could sense in a shift in humanity's war with Nova coming. André had been born with a keen sense for noticing when individuals majorly associated with coming shifts in human society emitted the auras that associated with those auras he sensed of the coming shifts themselves, so he simply desired to be a helping hand in whatever change Cameron would bring.
"Well, if it isn't the Cloaked Bulldozer himself" André said to the two as he approached. "I must confess, I was expecting someone of your reputation to be a bit older honestly."
"So my name has traveled fast. Indeed. But that is to be expected" Cameron replied, before wincing in pain a little.
"You okay?" André asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Still trying to used to coming off the Cloaked Bulldozer period while conscious instead of unconscious like last time. And seriously, the fucking bruises from the gunshots I took in the chest and bounced off hurt like a bitch. Fuck" Cameron hissed, really not used to taking bruises from bullets from this world. "God.. being shot and only being knocked down by a blaster bolt back where me and Abyss are from feels like something gentle compared to this. Doc has me on like three weeks of recovery before I can take the bandages off.. so this is going to suck."
André chuckled. "You're lucky you're not like out cold for a year or something, that's for sure" he said. Cameron nodded in agreement. "I guess I have yet to introduce myself, so I will now. I'm André Françoise. Nice to meet both of you."
"Abyss. I have an official two letter dash two number designation, but that name is what he always calls me. Ever since he singled me out at the factory on Metalorn where I was first constructed" added the commando droid, his cold, unchanging fixed expression on his face not really creeping André out much. The droid then turned to Cameron. "You do know Radox is going to be annoyed with you once he finds out you got that rental suit he bought for you ruined, sir.." the droid said to his commanding officer. "..and that's despite even if he praises you with an award for how you handled that situation. I already am receiving multiple communications from various high-ranking Chevalier officials on this tablet over my commander's performance."
"Abyss, come on.. in fairness, I don't think either of us were aware thirty two hours ago that we would have to prevent them from causing a filthy, perverted scene to happen" Cameron snapped back. "We persevered and fought like hell to complete the mission despite everything we faced in their base. I think the commander-in-chief should be proud of what we did, despite ruining the rental suit he got me."
"I mean, he did help Chevalier and the provincial police assisting them with bringing down one of the biggest groups of terrorists to continually elude Chevalier over the past few years, so.. that's quite an accomplishment, even if it did involve protecting the entire twenty-eighth generation and several potential limiters in the process" André chimed in. "A pretty impressive achievement worthy of recognition by the top brass, if you ask me."
"So?" retorted Cameron. "I just did my duty.. and carried my mission through to the end, despite the injuries and pain I suffered."
"I mean, I don't blame you" André replied, and he was about to say something else when a couple other limiters joined in on the conservation.
Morrison Abebe really shouldn't have been anywhere near a person like Cameron, but you know what they say, curiosity gets the cat.
The Canadian-born teen's reasons for being there, in line with the separate reasons each of the limiters there had for talking with Cameron and Abyss, was of a different nature than those of André. His reasons were mainly of curiosity, as he had been wondering how someone like Cameron felt when going through all that he had recently gone through, and yet still not really feel have much regrets about it. Sure, he was under Chevalier orders to protect the latest generation of Pandora for West Genetics and the unfortunate limiters that got caught up in the drama of the incident, and he followed them through to the end, but Morrison was still curious as to what the Cloaked Bulldozer was thinking in his head as he went through that.
Goro Itsuki was another individual that had his own reasons for approaching the duo of Cameron and Abyss.
Although the young man did suffer from a fear of older people, the original Cloaked Bulldozer incident had served as the inspiration for him becoming a limiter, and now, in the aftermath of the recent Cloaked Bulldozer incident, he honestly wanted to know what really drove the C.I.S General into stepping up to defend both Chevalier and humanity against the threats his - and the rest of humanity's world - had to offer.
"Man.. I heard you took a beating in the terrorists' lair, but seriously.. it looks worse now that I can actually see the bandages. They must thrown everything but the kitchen sink at you" Morrison said to the bandaged violet-eyed boy, who simply nodded. "I mean, between bullets, tasers, sleeping gas, and a genetically engineered monstrosity created for their own filthy desires - which, simply by thinking about what could have happened even after the fact, disgusts me to no end - yeah, they did throw everything but the kitchen sink at me. And despite me being generally fine, it hurts like a total bitch, honestly" Cameron said back. "Thank god for being able to have a computer to do the lessons and assignments from as I heal and recuperate. I mean, having to be stuck in a bed and take it easy for three weeks doesn't sound like much fun, but it is what it is."
"So what was going through your head, as you were the Cloaked Bulldozer once again?" Morrison asked, and Cameron just looked like he was drawing a complete blank with trying to answer that question before he came up with one after thinking about it for a while.
"It's.. honestly weird. One minute, I'm unconscious after being crushed by a pile of rocks that genetically engineered monstrosity had flung at me, causing me to make a crater in the floor.. the next, I'm back up on my feet, but feeling multiple things. Psychotic and Bloodthirsty towards the terrorists sure, but also intensely focused and willing to do whatever it took to complete my mission for the Chevalier. Like, to put it bluntly, I felt like I had tapped into some new sort of energy source, and it turned my body, my emotional state, and my mental and psychological state at least until it was over into a berserker-like state" Cameron finally answered. "Even despite being trained to fight against an army of genetically identical soldiers in white armor alongside whatever system-based forces the Republic had available and with Jedi, it just felt totally different.. like I was operating at the extreme limits of my own abilities."
"That sounds pretty intense.." Goro said. "Must have gone by like a blur for you."
Cameron chuckled. "One would think, but I still remember all of it. And the psychotic and bloodthirsty, determined to do whatever it took, as crazy as I was, I was still being held in check from going completely crazy. Look.." he said, his eyes generally glancing in the direction of Elizabeth, Arnett, and Dolly. The others all looked in the general direction of the trio, and then back at Cameron. "..Abyss will tell you, and my own actions and my words on the matter back this up, I do really care about them, despite being a user of what is basically the evil side of the force. I mean, Arnett's father told me to keep her safe after the original Cloaked Bulldozer incident, and Abyss and I did what we could to help Elizabeth and Dolly during training.. hell, the force helped me save all of the trainees in that flash flood landslide incident. So as crazy as it sounds, the emotional connections I had to them were keeping the other part of how I felt in check. I felt that not only that I had to do it for the sake of completing the mission, but for them as well. I only have Abyss, my droids, and them as my other reasons for fighting for the Chevalier, alongside my devotion to serving and protecting the people I fight for. Dad, or should I say Grievous, would have understood. He cared deeply for his people on his home-world and fought fanatically to defend them against those soulless bugs, the Huk, when they invaded his home-world Kalee, and he would have defeated and erased them completely - genocide, I know - had they not managed to convince the corrupt Republic into intervening on their behalf. That's why he hates the Republic and the Jedi so damn much."
"That's.. just so sad" André spoke up after there was an awkward, depressing silence between the five of them, before Cameron just sighed and chuckled once again. "It is rather ironic, isn't it. The Jedi.. they're supposed to be the ones protecting peace, justice, and civilization in the galaxy.. yet a lot of the time, they are the ones helping the Republic by doing the Senate's dirty work. And while there are some good apples in the bunch - don't get me wrong - most of them just don't know any better. And while the other force users fighting for the C.I.S do unjust things sometimes that I cannot defend, much to their annoyance at times, they all understand how I feel. War can make us do terrible things, my adopted dad being a very good example that's prone to it more than the others, but we all believe in the cause and are devoted to it and the people we serve. It's our duty."
"Ironic indeed" Morrison piped up, even as yet more potential limiters joined in the conversation.
Abel Rotomaster had a change of heart before the news of Cameron's most recent exploit entered his ears, and was one half of the exception to the rule of those potential next-year freshmen limiters talking to Cameron that night.
While he had originally intended to be a politician, watching his dad crumble and serve under another made him kill that dream and now here he was as an about to be first year limiter next year. Yet, he couldn't help himself at least be drawn, more by inspiration than anything else, to the man who had already done more for this graduating generation of Pandora for West Genetics than was physically possible. Hell, Cameron had came back from death after being seemingly crushed into a wall brutally, and despite that, he still proceeded to mostly single handily wreck the enemy base. Who wouldn't be inspired by a guy, even from another galaxy, basically cheating death in such badass fashion?
Leo Bernard was, in all respects, a generally chivalrous person, and was the other half of the exception to the rule that night.
A person who from birth, was gifted with the rare ability to sense a Nova, it was only natural that he would end up here in Genetics as a limiter. Yet, when you added Cameron into the picture, Leo was just at a loss for words when it came to what he felt about the three-in-one Genetics soldier. From what he heard about the incident and everything prior to that, Cameron seemed to have the same measure of chivalry that he did, if not more. I mean, the boy somehow managed to mostly single-handily get an entire generation of Pandora and a few limiters out of the base of the group that was Chevalier's worst nightmare - all while fucking wrecking their organization, as well as their base, and preventing a single Pandora from being subjected to unspeakable things. It was fully above and beyond the call of duty in Leo's mind, and it was just as inspiring to him as it was to Abel.
"Not going to lie, but what you did to that Terrorist Group was just awe inspiring" Leo started, before realizing he hadn't introduced himself. "Apologies for not introducing myself, dear me. I am Leo Bernard, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Cameron Spears, but you already knew that."
"I'm Goro Itsuki."
"Morrison Abebe."
"André Françoise."
"Abel Rotomaster."
"Abyss.. which is what he calls me."
And then a new voice - or should I say, three new voices joined in the conversation there
"Eugene Carridy.. but you can just call me Eugene. The Cloaked Bulldozer, I presume?"
"Mark Anthony II.. but most people call me Marc. Please to make your acquaintance."
"Triton Lewis. Nice to meet you all."
Eugene Carridy was, in all regards, similar to Leo in that he was partly driven by a chivalrous attitude that compelled him to help the Pandora however he could.
However, keeping in line with the rule that generally, the reasons for these next-year freshmen limiters to talk to Cameron and Abyss was different from the others. The son of a European politician who was disgusted with the way that humanity was already taking heavy losses in Nova Clashes in terms of both Pandora and Limiters, the 8th Nova Clash being the most recent example, and was looking for a way to win against Nova in a less casualty-intensive way, Eugene's father sensed great potential in Cameron when he first heard about the original Cloaked Bulldozer incident and Cameron's recent performances in high intensity and pressure situations were what made Eugene's father to finally, albeit still somewhat reluctantly, allow his son to become a limiter. Still, Eugene's father did at least give his son the mission to get Cameron to join the cause - and this was why Eugene was in this situation right now.
Mark Anthony II, or Marc as his family and friends up till now called him, was another such individual driven by a selfless desire to help the Pandora, yet even he had his own reasons for wanting to talk to Cameron.
A former American resident whose family had moved to Japan two years prior, Mark was the son of one of the high ranking employees at Tyre Mechanicals, a firm specializing in creating Nova training dummies and other mechanical combat dummies alongside the firm it was cooperating with to make these training dummies, Seiga Heavy Industries, to be used by the Chevalier to train Pandora. His parents had instilled an attitude in him that making friends with those both powerful and willing to be friends with him in return would go a long way, and in Cameron, Mark sensed a terrific example of his parents' way of thinking. At the very least, his lightsabers could potentially lead to a boom in business for the firm his father worked for. (AN: Just an FYI. You might see the firm Mark's father works for pop back up more than once as this fanfic keeps going.)
Triton Lewis had never originally would have thought of becoming a limiter before his teenage years, but all of that changed in the aftermath of the 8th Nova Clash.
At fifteen years old and the son of a wealthy family in Greece at the time of that clash in 2061, when Triton received the news that his older sister, who was in the twenty fifth generation of Pandora alongside Dolly Parnell's sister and was one of those who fell when Dolly's sister fled, Triton was, according to most sources on describing his reaction, so distraught that he accidentally did a Freezing field on his own in his grief, despite not having bonded with a Pandora before. But unlike those Pandora in the 28th Generation who held a grudge against Dolly's sister - and by extension Dolly as well, Triton didn't.
Instead, he swore revenge against the Nova for killing his older sister and from that point on, the glasses-wearing white-haired boy's mind was now dead set on becoming a limiter, as in the name of avenging his sister by helping to take down as many Nova as he could. In Cameron, Triton sensed an individual who could take him a long way towards that goal.
"I take it all of you are going to be first year limiters next year, huh?" Cameron asked all of the other boys around him and Abyss. All of them nodded. "Good to know then. Do any of you have any peculiarities that make you unique from the others?"
"I was born with the ability to sense the coming of a Nova" Leo admitted, after a brief silence. Triton was the next to speak. "I did a Freezing on my own in grief after I learned my older sister died during the 8th Nova Clash" he said, remembering both his sister and his quest for vengeance. The other limiters just stared at him, shocked, while Cameron simply looked at Triton, very interested and also concerned. Triton noticed the concern and understood why, having heard the stories himself.
"Despite what it may sound, I don't really blame Dolly Parnell's sister in causing my own sister's death" Triton said, his words loud enough for Dolly to hear and sigh in relief. At least there was someone other than Cameron out there who didn't blame her sister for causing their sibling's death. "Sure, she may have fled, but hey.. even as a teenager from the same part of society as Dolly and her sister's family, I totally understand why she did what she did - while I'm not a professional psychologist, I've spent a lot of my time understanding human emotions in psychology classes in the past couple of years, so as I see it.. she couldn't handle the realities of fighting Nova and just cracked under the pressure" Triton continued, and Cameron nodded.
"Good to know. I feel the same way, and for good reason" the C.I.S General replied, glancing over in Dolly's direction. "The amount of contempt, ridicule, and resentment that a lot of rich girls who were younger siblings of other members of the platoon your sister and Dolly's sister was apart of towards Dolly was just absurd." Triton simply nodded at what Cameron said as the boy continued. "She nearly felt like breaking apart under the pressure and running away at one point, but I convinced her to stay because inside her, I personally see the potential to become a great Pandora. I firmly believe that."
The other potential limiters all glanced at Triton, then at Dolly, and bit by bit, they felt the same way. "Damn.. that's so rough" Leo said. "Poor thing."
"Yeah, same here. That's just so wrong and inappropriate" Goro added. "And honestly, if she was that determined to prove her sister wasn't what they said she was by trying to become a Pandora, then I think she really does got potential if you ask me."
"Look, guys.. where I come from.. I don't have time to judge individuals based on the actions of their ancestors, though there are some exceptions to that rule" Cameron said, lowering his head and looking at the floor directly in front of him. "I only judge people based on ability and experience, though again, sometimes there are exceptions. In the C.I.S Military, we have a saying." He then proceeded to name off the saying in its native language, which in this case happened to be in Andoan, before he recited it again, this time in English. "Ability shall always speak more than a birthright or inheritance."
"Whoa.. that is deep stuff" Abel said, deep in thought. Even André was thinking over it before he said another word. "I mean, then again, Genetics facilities do rank Pandora based on how well they perform in Carnivals from what I've heard, so in a sense, I guess we do the same thing here on earth" he said, only to then with the other limiters watch Cameron's face morph into a worried expression.
"Why do I get the feeling that these Carnivals aren't exactly fun and games?" he asked, and André sighed. "If you have that feeling, you would be correct, my friend. These carnivals are well known to get very bloody, since it pits Pandora against Pandora. They can get very competitive at times with each other" the French teen replied, as Cameron looked towards Elizabeth, Arnett, and Dolly and then down at the floor in even more worry.
"Don't fret about it, Cameron" Leo chimed in. "They do take pains to help them heal from the carnage sustained during Carnivals, so at least.. that's a plus."
"That honestly just sounds.. disturbing, but then again.. who am I to judge?" Cameron replied as he lifted his head back up, looking a bit relieved, and in this sense, he was totally correct, knowing full well that some member worlds of the C.I.S had similar practices in their cultures, though to far more lethal extents. "Still though.. the thought of having to watch Elizabeth, Arnett, and Dolly having to go at it with each other in one of these carnivals doesn't exactly sit well with me, after what they've been through. But war, even against an alien threat from who knows where on your home soil, is a leveler of all distinctions, that much I've learned after being involved in the fight against the Republic for four whole months before I came here."
André just placed his hand on his shoulder. "You're correct again. War does level all distinctions, and even though we all have our different reasons for joining, we all shed whatever distinctions of class we had back with our families by joining" he said, and the other potential limiters nodded. "I'm sure they mostly did the same thing by joining, even with their completely different circumstances."
At this point, Goro spoke up. "Is it true that you did what you did in the terrorists' base.. for them?" he asked, and Cameron sighed. "I mean, more or less, yeah.." the blonde boy replied, not realizing by now, practically everyone else in there was now listening to the conversation between this group of boys and the single droid among them. "..after the creature, I wholeheartedly wanted to get them all out of there, take whatever I thought would be valuable to the Chevalier, and personally ensure that Astrid's organization would burn that night. I made a promise to Arnett's dad before I joined that I would keep her safe or he would personally make me become one with the force in the afterlife, and I guess that night, I mentally made the same promise - if at least for the moment - for the families of everyone else there, despite disliking some of the trainees for how they treated Dolly. I may have disliked them, but I pushed that to the side and focused what I had to do, because as my dad - and my dad and I's boss put it time and time again - completing the mission assigned to you comes first and foremost, feelings and emotions come later. I had an obligation to fulfill my duty to defend them - and humanity - from anything that might threaten them, and that night, I just stuck to it and did what I had to do, even if it meant rampaging through Astrid's base and wiping off at least maybe half of his organization, including Astrid himself, in the process. Despite being a user of what is generally considered to be the 'evil' side of the force, I absolutely thank the dark side of the force for allowing me to stay focused on what I was doing."
Many of those in there who heard those words felt emotionally moved by them, though to varying degrees. It wasn't just enough that Cameron had already proven himself to be a walking one-man juggernaut who could, even if he hadn't slayed a single Nova yet, steamroll through terrorist groups and other conventional military forces about as easily, if not even more easily, as a Nova, he could do so while having a clear purpose and obligation that required him to, if necessary, do just that. But then again, he had already spent four whole months fighting in a galactic scale war in a different galaxy, so that mostly made sense. Either way, the more people came to know the man behind the cloak of the "Cloaked Bulldozer", the more they had to wonder: what exactly had Cameron gone through just to get to this point?
And while the boy himself was keeping his mouth mostly shut about his past, as well as Abyss, everyone in the Chevalier - and some of humanity - for the most part were slowly getting clues as to what, though every piece of the answer so far only left them with more questions. Still, the fact of the matter was, Cameron had already proven himself two times in a single week that he was the greatest asset the Chevalier had managed to come into contact with, and his droids had proven no less valuable, depriving Astrid of valuable members of his terrorist group during the attack on West Genetics that only succeeded in eventually causing his group's downfall.
Still, the potential limiters talking to him and Abyss, in Cameron's mind, did have great potential since while the others - unlike Leo and Triton - hadn't really responded when Cameron asked them if they had anything that made them unique, he could sense that each of them did at least a certain unique skill that could potentially aide them in his efforts in defending humanity - not to mention, at least some new, capable subordinates in this world he could entrust important assignments to. Cameron's eyes flickered in interest and decisiveness, something Abyss noticed and almost immediately, understood what his commander had in mind. As everyone else - except quite a few certain trainees - stopped paying attention to the conservation and went back to enjoying the graduation party, Cameron spoke the first line in what would, even though nobody - not even him - knew it at the time, go a very long way in transforming the character of the Chevalier in the year after next year.
"Gentlemen, I would like to make you an offer.."
(Fanfiction-only author's note: As to what this offer is, I'll explain more in Book Two.)
