Chapter 4: Milestone
"Approaching target," the pilot reported. "ETA one hour."
"Good," she nodded, before turning to the digital table. "EVA, anything on our sensors?"
"Negative, Mistress Rain. All systems report empty."
An invisible weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She didn't stop the long-drawn sigh from escaping her lips as she closed her eyes and basked in the first real success they had since arriving on this world.
Ahead of them was a vast mountain range. It's silhouette had already been visible about as early as the morning after the encounter with the barge, and over the course of the next two days had grown steadily larger until it practically took up the entirety of the frontal viewport.
Unfortunately, that was also about where their fortunes ended. For the amount of time it took to reach their destination, they were met only with the imposing structure that was the face of the mountain. Its surface devoid of any life, and for that matter, the main reason for them coming here.
Tiberium.
Her features visibly scrunched up upon noticing their predicament. Still, it was still within acceptable limits. She had approached her master with a similar hypothetical situation, and his answer was simple and direct. That being, to deploy a primitive Tiberium Spike to extract the mineral from the ground.
Speaking of their leader, he had secluded himself in his quarters for the remainder of their journey. Occasionally, he'd make his presence known by calling her on a private link using the WMT. Other times, she'd visit him personally and get him to do something about himself.
Merely thinking of the matter only helped to worsen the annoying headache she'd been having for the past few days.
Rubbing her tired eyes, she addressed the crew through the MCV's using the intercom box on the wall; momentarily taking the time to adjust to the appropriate setting.
"Attention," she spoke, her voice resonating through the Crawler. "All personnel, be advised we're approaching the designated deployment site. Once we deploy, all staff not required for building operations are to proceed with securing the immediate around the ConYard. New orders will be given based on circumstances at any given time."
She cut off the link before turning to address the control room.
"I'm heading down to discuss with the Master," she spoke factually. "Stay alert and inform me directly if there's any new developments."
"Copy that," the pilots said in unison.
"Understood, Mistress Rain," EVA complied.
Nodding her head, she made her way to the elevator and took a trip one floor down. A multitude of thoughts running through her head on how best to pull him from his self-induced confinement.
Blessed was the Maker; for only they knew just how much effort she would have to go through to bring out the most out of her Master. The young man had become withdrawn from the rest of his Brotherhood ever since the incident. It was unbecoming as a leader, and most certainly a liability for their future.
Indeed, if he was to lead the Brotherhood into history, then measures would have to be taken to ensure his continued integrity to perform.
As she made her way down to her master's quarters, she thought back to their plans for the base. Both had agreed that establishing the production line and a significant military took precedence over their ability to employ stealth once they began harvesting. The desert was vast, and their scrying abilities limited. The only true method of establishing contact with the indigenous lifeforms of this world would be to presumably run into them by chance.
The trip down from control to officer's quarters passed in a flash. Standing in front of the steel doors, she gave herself a brief moment to compose her thoughts before entering. In her heart and mind, she undoubtedly expected the worst.
CLICK. SWISH. HISS.
Her superior's quarters…. Was exactly as the way she had envisaged. No, it was exactly as it had been for the past two days but perhaps worse.
Books upon books were piled on the desk. The shelves they originated from now devoid of burden. Clothes were haphazardly strewn in one corner beside the bathroom. Then, there was the commander himself.
His back turned to her whilst he squatted over the floor, occasionally muttering incomprehensibly to himself. He was in his undergarments consisting of white undershirt and black boxers. Surrounding him were papers and various paraphernalia ranging from pencils, pen and erasers to books and files whose positions he constantly seemed to be fiddle with. The latter of which she hoped were empty or at the very least weren't important enough for future consumption.
It spoke volumes when he didn't even twitch at the sound of his own door opening; lost as he was in his own muttering. Granted, the only two people with direct access to his chamber were already occupying said space. However, this wasn't a matter that she could afford to turn a blind eye to any longer.
With the audible click of her boots, she turned right and made her way over to one of the two single seats meant for guests and gracefully sat down. One leg was put over the other, followed by crossing her arms and closing her eyes.
She was prepared to wait however long it took for her Master to regain awareness of his surroundings. What she wasn't prepared for was her own body to sink into the comfortable surface of the seat, followed by the feeling of an entire week's tension escape her throat with an audible, yet incredibly gentle groan.
Nor was she prepared for slumber to catch her off-guard so easily.
When she finally regained her senses, it was to the feeling of something soft and comfortable on top of her. Her ingrained instincts flared, and she felt her heartrate quicken to speed up her awakening. Dark blue eyes fluttered open to see just what had enclosed her in slumber.
A blanket. Her mind didn't need much to process just who's it was. Yet, when she tried to remove the piece of wool, she found that a weight kept it pinned to one side.
Her head peaked to her left to find out what caused the obstruction. She saw dull black hair, the owner leaned back and resting his body on the side of her seat, with his head slumped forward for what must've made for serious discomfort.
Before she could take further action, the young man had awoken from his own slumber. He turned to meet her own gaze. In that moment, his eyes showed none of the dark that had possessed him in recent time. Rather, they betrayed his comfort, allowing a ghost of a smile to form on his face.
"Happy dreams, milady?"
"What's the time, master?"
He snorted. "EVA alerted me of our arrival. I'd taken the liberty of having the militia set up camp and begin organizing patrol of the surrounding areas. We've got a small base made of pre-Dawn buildings already up, and I've already ordered the production of more units and vehicles."
"You didn't answer my question."
He rolled his eyes. "It's just a quarter past one. You've been asleep for about forty minutes."
He stood up and began stretching, revealing that he was still in his undergarments.
"Come," he motioned with his towards the center of the room. "I've something to show you."
Rain tilted her head, her eyes narrowed at the peculiar behavior of her superior. Nonetheless, she complied and stood up to follow, but not before folding the blanket and placing it on the seat for the time being.
The de facto leader of Nod stood in the middle of the organized mess that was the arranged stacks of books and stationeries. His knuckles on his hips whilst pride practically radiated from his being.
"Happy with your childish work, master?"
"Come now, Rain," his smile widened. "Can't you see the beauty of my vision here?"
"I'm afraid not," her lips straightened. "Suppose you wish to enlighten me?"
His eyebrow raised, yet he didn't even seem to be remotely offended. Moving to his desk, he tapped once to bring the flat horizontal screen to life, then tapped at several different places to bring about a large diagram.
Without prompt, she moved to his left. Her eyes carefully assessing the image across the large display. It took her more than a minute to understand just what exactly she was seeing.
It wasn't just an elaborate diagram before her.
It was a layout. A plan.
Something was entered her peripheral, and she turned to see that it was a book held in his hand. The book depicted the silhouette of a man, with a large circular body as a backdrop, and an orange tint marking where the blue sky met the arid ground. What stood was the man's eyes that were a brilliant blue.
Accepting the book, she turned it around to better read the title.
Dune. Authored by Frank Herbert.
"Quite the ambition, that I have," Jared nodded. "Of course, I'm trying to keep to my own word and remaining a man."
"What does this have to do with the layout?" she inquired.
The enthusiasm radiating from him dimmed. In its place, was a man close to being dismal in appearance. A line seemed to form from his lips.
"I never forgot what I said to you back then," he turned to face her. "About not trusting you."
"If you think that is going to affect my performance, I must say you're mistaken," she reaffirmed him, head tilting to the side.
"No," he shook his head. "I don't expect that to be the case."
He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that, after much pondering, I'm starting to realize my distrust doesn't end with you. It goes as far as just about everything that I see."
He gestured to the surroundings.
"This crawler."
Pointed a finger to her.
"You."
Then looked at his own hands.
"Even the men and women out there who supposedly are subservient to me by manner of a single line in a text that isn't elaborated!"
Both palms were sent slamming onto the surface of the table.
"I can't trust any of it!" he became exasperated, eyes cast down. "None of it can be taken at face value. Not anymore!"
With his breathing labored, he turned to face her once more. Eyes burning with pent up anger.
"If I'm going to be the head of this faction," he spat. "Then, we're doing this my way. Starting from here!"
He jabbed a finger on the screen once more. Rain watched with eyes set in a cold stare at her master's rambling.
To think leaving him to his own devices would lead to this. Was it a mistake to leave him be before?
She continued observing as her superior swatted the plethora of items on the table of the edge. He then used the index and middle fingers on both hands to scale up the layout to a larger size.
That was when she noticed the wordings begin to appear on within the numerous shapes and lines that made up the layout. The more she read, the more she felt aware of the air around her.
The more she realized just what exactly he was planning.
"A city?" her head swiveled to him. "Are you serious?"
"Oh yes," he nodded. "Whether it'd be the first of many remains to be seen."
"That's absurd!" she almost screamed; eyes widened into almost saucers. "Do you how much resources we'd waste trying to emulate a living, breathing settlement of that size?! Do you know how many homunculi we'd need!"
The smile that creeped up his face only served to deepen the pit in her chest.
"Who said it was going to be all homunculi?"
"… How?"
He then turned to look tap at a tab in the top right corner.
"EVA," he called out. "Bring up the manifest."
Her head tilted to the side as she saw a new display on screen. This being an image of a parchment that was partially burnt around the edges, and much of the writing on it was difficult to read. Not that it would be comprehensible given the language barrier.
"Give us a basic summary of the contents," Jared asked the intelligence. Immediately, a window opened up above the parchment. In it, actual words began to appear, written in English.
"Before you are the list of items being transported on what is believed to have been a repurposed hover ship. This ship is noted to have numerous humans labelled as defective assets."
"…. A human trafficking ring," she breathed, realization hitting her.
"Surprised me as well," her master commented bitterly. "They were probably taking these people to be disposed of in the desert. From some of the text we've managed to decipher, it seemed these people were already dead or dying. It'd explain why they were piled in the back of the ship."
Rain had to take a moment to process what she'd just heard. Her mouth left slightly agape at the revelations being made before her. Inhaling deeply, she composed herself enough to ask a question bubbling onto the surface of her mind.
"That still doesn't explain as to why they are so far deep into the desert, and for why they had to use such a massive ship to begin with. If those people weren't going to be of use any longer, then why need such effort to hide their disposal at all? Surely, a lesser craft with equal capabilities could've done this job. The trajectory they were coming from also doesn't make sense."
Hearing this, Jared simply shrugged. "I don't have the answer to that either. Based on the maps we recovered, I can only assume they were using an elaborate route in case of pursuers. That, or they were…. Discarding an even bigger load across the desert than we realize."
Rain didn't miss the attempt at evasion but did not press.
"So," she looked at him once more. "What happens now? What does this have to do with a fictional book."
Jared's lips twitched upwards. "That, is a simple reason."
He pressed one of the options listed on the taskbar to the right side of the screen. The previous images became minimized, and in its place was a familiar green mineral in the early stages of its own evolution.
"Nod is power," he stated, expressing a doleful look. "Yet, at the same time, power is not necessarily Nod. To survive, and to thrive, we must build Nod in such a way that not even our enemies could not afford our guaranteed destruction without guaranteeing their own demise."
He turned to look at the book still held in her hands.
"It is said in there, that 'he who controls the spice, controls the universe'. So, I've wondered…."
His gaze turned upwards to look at Rain dead in the eye.
"Could the same be said of Tiberium? Surely, I see it as no different a path than what Nod's previous leader did. Through Tiberium, we will unlock the full potential of humanity in this world. By exploiting its wonders, we could make everyone experience true peace through the limitless possibilities it provides us. In time, I can see even our most staunch oppositions be unable to cast away their gazes from its alluring glow."
He then sighed. "Yet, at the same time, it could be said that we're consorting with the demise of this world. Assuming it hasn't already begun spreading, then we're going to have to act quickly if we want to take the world by storm."
"But I'm getting off track here," he inhaled deeply before continuing. "As it stands, my current idea is to build not just a military seat of power, but also an industrial society with deep spiritual belief to which we could use to not just wage a war of might, but also economics, culture and politics."
He all but spat out the last word, facial features visibly scrunched as he did so.
"The Tiberium harvested will be our trump card," he explained. "So long as we can continue to harvest it, I intend to produce products of all kinds. The full details of this plan are sketchy right now, but I'm sure to better get a grasp on it in due time."
"All of this will be a certainly grand undertaking, Master," Rain pointed out. "Especially if we're going to be operating without advanced automation for the foreseeable future until we could establish the required facilities to produce them."
"Which is why we have to find out where the other sites are."
"Sites?"
"Oh," he looked at her apologetically. "I didn't explain earlier, it seems."
He then tapped the sidebar and brought up the previous image of the manifest. New icons appeared on the bar, and he selected the one below the top. A map appeared, albeit incomplete due to damage.
"This here shows what appears to be several locations of note throughout the desert. If the ship's contents and the nature of its lack of identification are anything to go by, then all of these places will be exempt from any form of legal authority."
The pieces began to click.
"So you intend to supplement our manpower with the captives," the aide concluded.
"I have an idea in how to convince them," he confidently spoke. "We'll slowly bring them into the fold."
When he looked at her again, she couldn't miss the childish look in his eyes. Like a child expecting praise from their parental figure.
"So, what do you think of this?"
She thought about it. The gears in her mind performed their clicks so as to produce a sensible answer.
"I think," she began. "This plan can hold merit, but alas you'll need to explain to me more elaborately just why you would want a city, especially one that, as you say, would be an industrial and spiritual core for the future of Nod."
Her master wasn't quick to respond, but when he did, there was an unmistaken resignation in his words.
"Like I said before," he smiled at her. "I don't trust you Rain, and the same goes for the rest. To be truthful, I don't even have an answer as to why I can't bring myself to fully embrace everything I see now, but I can only feel that doing this is right."
He pointed at the map.
"So, hate me for any reason all you want. No, hate me if you can for my own indecisiveness. Of course, nothing changes my mind about bringing those people into a city of my own making."
A deep sorrow flowed out of Jared. It made Rain question as to whether this was one of her abilities as his perfect aide; to easily sense his emotional state. Sadly, she found no answer deep within her.
Yet, it didn't stop her from doing her next action. With the book placed back on the table, slender fingers reached out to slip into the cracks of another's half-clenched fist. The owner of the fist visibly stiffened, but unlike before didn't see it necessary to retract them. She capitalized by gently wrapping the fingers around and holding it with a gentle, yet firm hold.
"I will support you as best I can. However, you must stop trying to think that you could try and distance yourself in some way from this life," her voice soft, but strained.
She pulled the hand to herself.
"Listen well," she breathed. "I can't have you like this. Nod as you envision can't be allowed to see you like this. You. Must. Live. Jared. Live and seek the fulfillment of this life."
Raising her both her hands that were still clasped around his, she gave it her all to reach out to him.
"Our kind's only indulgence is fulfilling your wishes. So just as you repeat yourself, so shall I. Rely on us as much as you need to see to obtain your desires, and the conclusion of this journey of yours."
In that moment, it took all she could not to accidentally crush his hand.
"You're right that I can't hate you because of what I am," her voice wavered.
"However, I'm most certainly capable of hating what you are doing to yourself right now. Is that good enough for you?""
He didn't respond. Rain didn't need him to. She began making her way to the door, careful not to step on the carefully built constructs that took up the center of the room.
"I'm going to check around the base. I want you to clean up; both yourself and this room. I'll await further orders until then."
With that, she was gone.
Cursed sun.
That was the first thought that entered my mind as I exited the confines of the ConYard for what was for all intents and purposes days. The damn fireball was sure enough cooking me using the late afternoon rays.
Doing my best to distract myself from the heat, I swept my gaze over the surroundings. At the very least, calling the place center of our future operations was a mistake. It was going to remain that way until we could further develop the surrounding areas into a proper compound. Of that, we would require a steady supply of income.
Speaking of that, I noticed an uncomfortable number of people walking around carefree without enviro suits. That was more than enough to cue me in on our situation.
I sighed. Raising my hand, I tapped the screen of my WMT and brought up the current amount of currency we had at our disposal.
10,640 units
That was all we had left. The improvised Spike would subtract another 1,250 from that sum and depending how much we needed to set up the base, that amount was not going to last.
There was also the issue of the Spike. The structure was designed to automatically subtract even more of our resources if it had trouble reaching the Tiberium below us, and it was strangely humorous to equate the extraction process to sucking up fossil fuel from the earth. Nonetheless, this whole situation was only to end up feeding my growing erratic behavior.
Speaking of which, this damn itch on my forehead just won't go away! Where did it even come from?!
"Sir?"
I turned mid-scratch to look at the source of the voice. It turned out to be one of the militiamen.
"What?" I growled out.
"U-uhm, I was sent to inform you that the Mistress is expecting you in the comms center," he stammered. "She said she wants you to there to plan our next move."
I looked the man in the eye. I could tell he was a familiar one; one of the original fifty to be produced. Taking a glance at my WMT, I brought the man's info and read his name.
"Thank you, Farhan," I nodded. "Go back to your duties if you have any. Otherwise, get some rest."
He stood a little straighter after I called him by name. "Would like an escort, sir?"
"No, I'll make it there just fine."
With a nod, he left to return to his own matters. I myself made the short trip across the sands to the building in question. The comms was meant to be the exact building from Tiberian Dawn; a bunker embedded in the earth with the satellite dish sticking out. Albeit, like everything else Pre-Dawn tech, it was much smaller and the tech involved with its function was cramped together in a confined space. The upside to this building, however, is that we intended for it to be expanded to its original size once we had a much larger resource pool to pull from.
The building was to the east of the ConYard, and within spitting distance no less. Next to it, were the field generators soaking up the solar energy from the sun. I didn't hesitate to jog the remaining distance into the exposed entrance of the building and out of the blasted heat.
Immediately, what greeted me was a hand holding out a water bottle. I gracefully took the container and drank its contents before passing it back to the guard. Unfortunately, this was one that I didn't know personally and what's more he was a new face. That didn't stop me from thanking him, to which he waved it off and ushered me further into the building.
Wiping brow, I proceeded to continue my way in. As mentioned previously, the actual operations were conducted safely underground. I opened the main entrance, a hatch on the floor that revealed a ladder that went some seven meters down.
Upon reaching the bottom, I turned around to find a narrow hallway and what resembled a watertight door at the far end. As I approached it, the door suddenly unlocked by itself and opened inwards.
Stepping inside, I was greeted with a claustrophobic worst nightmare. The ceiling barely reached two meters above me, and the walking space between the rows of terminals was just enough for one man to walk with some level of ease. Illumination came from the overhead lights along the top where the walls met the ceiling. At least the ventilation was working just fine, although I could immediately tell just how dry the air was.
"Master, over here."
Rain was located at the other end of the room from where I entered. I made my way pass the rows of seated operates manning their stations. As I closed in, I began to make out the by now familiar shape of an electronic table, which currently projected a grid square that covered the entire surface of the table.
"Rain," I greeted. "What's our current situation?"
"Our perimeter is clear," she reported. "I had taken the liberty of having the patrols deploy data posts along their designated routes. That should help us build an accurate topography of the area."
"That explains the additional drain in our currency," I noted.
"My apologies for not informing you."
I shook my head. "Think nothing of it. A better grasp of the landscape is a major fundamental in establishing our defenses. Speaking of, why isn't the Tiberium Spike build yet?"
"Subterranean sensors haven't been able to accurately determine the exact depth of the vein as of yet," came Rain's answer. "There's no need to worry, however, EVA has already confirmed that there is in fact a Tiberium vein right below us. We just need extra time for a better readout before we can begin construction."
I nodded at every word mentioned. I set my eyes on the table below me.
The base was build with the ConYard in the center with two buildings on either sides forming a v-formation facing the desert. To the west, there were the production buildings, such as the Hand of Nod mockery and vehicle assembly facility, and to the east, as mentioned, were the comms center and field generators. With the mountain to our backs, we only had to worry of an attack coming from the south.
I brought my left hand and tapped a series of commands into the WMT. Pulling out a cord from its point, I connected it to the table's port, creating a line that stretched from electronic furniture to the edge of the WMT close to my elbow.
The data that was sent through the line was used to update the current data presented on screen. Numerous new buildings appeared, but as these buildings had yet to be build, they were instead given a green silhouette rather than the usual red. Each building was in some way extremely basic and sacrificed form for function. There were exceptions such as those resembling ziggurat architecture, but that was because they were in line with a different purpose. What these buildings did share amongst one another, however, was how they resembled bunkers when viewed from above or at a distance.
This was the city I wished to build. The individual purposes of each building type would be hidden in plain sight; an aftereffect of having lack of décor surrounding them.
"Alert, enemy unit sighted."
My eyes widened to saucers upon hearing the notification. Dismissing every silhouette except for the already existing buildings, my head shot up to look at my aide.
She had just brought up the source of the alert on her side of the table. From where I stood, the gridlines showed one of the patrols marked 'P1-C' on the move eastwards with another X-cross behind it. Another patrol labelled 'P1-B' was in front of it.
"Rain, comm. Now."
"On it."
Bringing up my WMT, I punched in the quick command for the comm unit. I took one last look at the table to ascertain that I was contacting the right person. Two beeps later, I was able to establish a line.
"Report, what's going on?"
"We're under attack!"
"I'm aware of that, but I need details, soldier."
"-hit, dam-! We're under attack by a giant bi- AAHH!"
"Unit Lost," EVA reported.
At that moment, I could feel my heart stop.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
025 was not having a good time.
Ahead of him, the remains of a Technical shredded by sharp feathers of all things lay pinned into the sand. The crew done for.
His gaze turned up to see the giant avian that had killed his brethren. It was maintaining a circle around their vehicle for now, but that could change at any given moment. The driver, 022, continued to floor the pedal, doing their best to to link up with the closest member of their patrol.
Their mission today was supposed to be an easy one. It boiled down to a simple ride across the desert whilst dropping the meter long cylinders that would supposedly help them better map out the desert. Then came that damn overgrown bird and thinks went to the gutter.
Its silhouette had already been seen once before, but the ones who spotted it got laughed off and the blame shifted to the heat. Now, those same two people were dead, and the rest of patrol were left in varying states of shock.
"Where is he?!" 022 shouted from the driver's seat.
"Dunno!"
"Well, keep a lookout, damn it!"
"I'm TRYING!"
As if on cue, it began raining feathers again. In reflex, 025 slammed the roof of the vehicle with his right hand, prompting the driver to swerve sharply to the left. A lone feather clipped the rear of the vehicle, sending pieces of the left side flying away.
The upside was that the giant black bird needed to be still to let loose its lethal projectiles. Something that the gunner fully exploited by letting loose a barrage from his mounted weapon at the creature. The first three seconds of the barrage were a success, but the creature was quick to perform its own maneuvers to escape. In a show of acrobatics, it swerved in the air above the militants before coming to halt in front of them.
"Shit!" 022 barely had time to process seeing the giant avian in front of him. Time seemed to slow as he could see the individual feathers sharpening and getting ready to be let loose in front of them.
Fortunately, the creature didn't have a chance as a rocket slammed onto its backside at the last moment. It barely had the time to let out a squawk in pain as the technical in front of it collided headfirst into its dark body, sending into the earth.
Disoriented, and reeling from the sudden strike from behind, it was helpless in the face of half a dozen technical surrounding it and pouring hundreds of rounds downrange. The lead storm was joined by four attack bikes launching their own payloads square into the beast.
The combined fury of the militiamen turned the creature into nothing than a smoking pile of dark flesh in minutes. Any sound from it was drowned out by the hail of gunfire.
Eventually, one of the leaders present ordered for everyone to ceasefire and reload. He then asked the men to call out their designations, and much to his relief they were all present, aside from the ones who died.
"Look!" a gunner shouted, prompting the others to turn in the direction he pointed. Much to their trepidation, another pair of the giant avians had appeared out of the seemingly out of thin air over the blue sky. Their loud, howling screams echoed over the vast desert.
Both creatures entered a dive, prompting the vehicles present to disperse. Unfortunately, the dust storm kicked up by the fleet blinded one of the attack bikers who then had the misfortune of ramming the frontal side of a passing technical. His saving grace at that moment was that he didn't get the chance to accelerate and only ended up vaulting over the hood of the vehicle.
When the storm cleared out, he found himself lying on his back.
And above him was the bony head of one of the birds.
"AAA-!"
"Unit lost."
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!
My frustration was let out in banging the hood of the semitruck I was riding on. From where I stood on the back of the vehicle, I could see the oncoming patrol group that had first encountered the unknowns. Only, they were short on one truck and one bike.
Three men dead in mere moments. And I'm riding to meet their killers.
Rain had thrown a fit when I told her I was going out to join the troops. Alas, I simply told her to shut up and led me have this. Afterall, how's a commander supposed to lead if he didn't see the enemy once in his life; the logic that I'd work with.
The force we sent consisted of what's left of our vehicles. That meant another six technicals and over twenty bikes. Whoever else that couldn't come along were left in charge of preparing the defense in case anything else happened.
From the distance, I could see as what remained of the patrol group passed another high rise. The three remaining bikes flanked the technical on their right, and kept distance to avoid a collision.
That was when I saw them.
Two giant avians. Each about as large as a small plane. Their howling screams echoed for kilometers across the barren skies. However, what stood out most was the bony white skull that protruded out of the front of their heads, and the distinctive red veins that ran across its face.
Those weren't birds. They're NEVERMORES.
I can't believe it. I'm not in some no name world. I'm in-
"SIR! ORDERS!" Hassan shouted from his station on the gun.
Right! Killing comes first!
"Light them up! Technicals, bring them down. Bikes, keep moving and wait until they're close to the ground. Everyone, keep your distance!"
There was a series of 'sirs' and other forms of confirmation as the two forces began to clash. What happened next was the wildest bumper car ride I'd ever experience. Only, without the deliberate clashing.
The technical I was on alone swerved left to right as it worked to avoid other vehicles in its way along with stray pinions that headed our way. Hassan's face was set in a fixed snarl as he worked both gun and body to bring down the beasts.
"Unit lost," EVA interjected again.
"Farhan!"
"I'm sorryI'msorryI'msorry.."
The comms devolved into total chaos as whatever semblance of order the militia had escape them. Getting a more firm grip on the side of the semitruck, I turned to try and get a good look of the surroundings. Apparently, the men were successful enough in separating the creatures from one another and keeping them in place a few meters above ground.
As the opportunity presented itself, I noticed the attack bikes had begun to make they're move. They'd divided their numbers into two halves as they tried going in for the kill.
One bike from each group led the rest on high rises that dotted the surrounding areas. Upon hitting the last incline, one of the lead riders proceeded to fire two out of four of their warheads into one of the creatures. The creature was struck square in its right wing, and it proceeded to spin in the air before hitting the ground. It got out one last scream of defiance before the other bikes finished it with consecutive barrages.
The second group was met with a far more disastrous result. The black creature had ignored the lead peppering it long enough to notice how its kin had died, and proceeded to shoot upwards into the sky, generating a small shockwave as it did so. Its sudden departure coincided with the lead bike's rockets being launched and in a moment of misfortune the rockets instead struck a technical dead-on. The crew barely managed to elicit a scream.
I and others watched in horror as the flames from the destroyed vehicle rose up into the air. However, another important fact remained.
The targets those rockets had been intended for had escaped.
"Scatter!" I yelled into the radio.
Alas, it came too late.
A shadow loomed over my vehicle. I turned to look up just in time to see a familiar silhouette and bone white mask above us. Before I could alert the rest, I watched as its wings spread, but rather than strike with pinions, it did something else.
Like an actual eagle finding its prey, it swooped in and grabbed us. Metal groaned and men screamed in surprise as the technical was raised above ground. I barely managed to comprehend our impromptu flight before it suddenly released us. We were meters above ground by then.
Then my vision went black.
There was pain.
Pain all over my body, most notably my back. The air was hard to breathe, and I felt my face pressed into the coarse and rough sand. I knew not just as to why I suffered like this, but I knew something else.
I needed to get up.
Gathering my strength, I used both palms to raise my upper half out of the sand. I shook my head wildly to be rid of the grains around my face, before wiping any residual around my eyes. I opened both my eyelids to inspect my surroundings.
The technical I'd rode in lay upside down with the forward end touching the ground. Both cabin and gunner's post were empty. I didn't understand why this was the case at first.
Fortunately, I was given a reminder.
Something blotted out the sun. For a moment, I caught myself between pressing my face again into the soil, or flipping myself onto my back to see what was blocking the light. The latter won, and I willed myself to flip myself over, albeit sluggishly.
That was when I saw it.
The boney white plate with red veins. The four eyes with no pupils staring at me with what must've been interest. I watched, in mix of horror and fascination, as this creature of death looked down on me with what must've amounted to 'eat or not to eat.'
Raising its head, I watched as it raised one talon and flashed its claws on me.
….
Oh, God. This was how I die wasn't it.
Alone. Killed by my own hubris. A man who didn't allow himself to believe in his circumstances.
At that moment, I only wanted to cry out in objection over this foul fate. However, what I only found was resignation…. And hate.
So much hate. And only one image came to mind when I thought of it.
Blue eyes, and golden locks of hair.
Damn. It. All!
Damn this life. Damn the thing that brought me here.
"DAMN YOU RAIN!"
I didn't shout. I screamed. With how sudden it was, I suppose even something like a beast of darkness could get taken off guard. That split second of confoundment was all it took for the fates to change course.
For the creature soon found itself assaulted by a hailstorm of lead. It screamed in anger at the source, but soon found itself stuck from behind as an explosion caused it to lose balance and collapse forward.
A tug on my shoulders alerted me to another presence. I looked up to see my driver -Iosef- as the man began dragging me out of harms way. Looking back, I watched just in time to see Sergiu come into view, firing an M2 Browning he held close to his hip whilst using his belt as a means to hold the barrel safely.
From all sides, many more men came rushing in and began climbing the limbs of the beast like ants. A lone, daring technical even rode up the backside of the beast and used the weight of the vehicle to press the creature's head into the sand. Screams, insults and gunfire were casted towards the beast like a spiel of curses. Their focus being on the eyes, joints and the neck.
By this point, Iosef had dragged me far enough to lean me on the door of the upside down technical, before he himself collapsed on his back. I turned to regard him, and he righted himself just enough for me to notice the blood leaking from his temple. He turned to regard me, and for the first since this debacle started, I saw a ray of joy.
It came in the form of Iosef's smile. Wide, from ear-to-ear.
"Hell of a way to start the war, eh, commander?"
I scoffed. "I expected a little less in the way of flying."
Somehow, that got the young militant to laugh. An honest to God laugh that filled me with warmth. Our moment didn't last of course.
A final scream from the beast made both our head turn. I felt a tingle of fear that it would try one last fit of rage. But this became unfounded as it collapsed once more and never to rise again.
The technical that had ridden over its back now lay on its side. Most of the men I saw were relatively unharmed save for bruises and looking roughened up. These men also were busy surrounding the beast and spraying it some more with what remained of their ammo.
Eventually, the beast's body began to dissipate, fading into its signature mist that rose into the air. The militia looked upon this phenomenon with awe, until one of the men openly complained.
"That's just unfair, man."
It was another two hours before we arrived back at the base.
Standing right in front of the ConYard, with a small entourage behind her, was my expressionless second-in-command. She didn't even seem to bat an eye as the lead vehicle came to a stop with meters to spare in front of her. Nor did she respond in any way as the men behind her moved to help assist the wounded and take over driving the vehicles to a designated parking area.
I got down from a vehicle that was behind three others, wincing as some of the earlier pain flared yet again. With great care, I began walking to the front where she awaited me. At the same time, the rest of the men began to disperse; my orders, and presumably Rain's too seeing as how there was a growing lack of activity around us.
I spared a glance through the gaps in-between the throng of people, and noticed Hassan being carried off on stretcher. The man had apparently thrown quite a distance away from me and Iosef. Miraculously, he suffered no apparent injuries, but the fact he hadn't woken up once meant that something was still obviously wrong with him. I was left with only my thoughts and prayers for him.
As I approached her, I noticed that behind the neutral look, there was inherent hostility. I suppose given how I've acted, that isn't too surprising. That did leave me with some options.
Play the part of the naïve boy who didn't understand a person's care and concern.
Or play the part of an ass.
The first was too damn cliché, and earnestly the latter made even less sense.
That only left me to face the music.
However, if I had to listen to an awful tune, the I'll very well preform an awful dance to match.
As the distance between us lessened to only a mere meter apart, I was quick to give her my orders.
"Anywhere but in between the le-," I was cut off by a flare of pain in my left shin. My balance flopped and I found myself on my knees.
After that, I was expecting to get whacked and be scrutinized.
What I wasn't expecting was the embrace that followed.
In those evening hours, I felt…. Struck for a lack of a better term. I'd felt something similar before earlier today when the first casualty was reported. Yet, this feeling was a lot different compared to the one I felt then.
"What did I tell you," she began, tightening her embrace. "About living."
"That I was to seek fulfillment in this life," I answered back, a smile blooming on my face. "Didn't I achieve that today?"
"Today's actions had nothing to do with finding your resolve to live. If anything, you nearly found a cause for the opposite."
Suppose I could've continued this back and forth of words. Yet, again, I wanted to avoid platitudes. That brought me back to the thing I said earlier at death's door.
To emphasize my point, I enveloped my arms around her, and whispered with the softest voice I could possibly use.
"I hate you Rain," she seemed to stiffen in my arms. "I came so close to getting snuffed today, and the only I could conjure in my mind was you. The way you claim to be on my side without a shred of evidence. The way you continue to gently nudge me into becoming something I'm not; something that I think no one whose actually sane would want to be. I hate all of it."
Gently, I removed her from our embrace and slowly cupped her face.
"I hate that you were fundamentally right all the while I couldn't come up with even an empty rhetoric. I hate that I have to rely on you to perform a duty that I never asked for, much less actually wanted.
But all the same, I could never ask for a better aide and companion. So please, continue staying by my side for as long as you can."
I looked into her eyes, and perhaps it was the rays of dusk playing tricks on me, but I figured I saw what looked like a watery surface staring back at me. It was difficult to tell, and this along with how she sunk her head into my chest made it impossible to ever know.
"At least try not to compromise your safety next time, Jared."
"No promises."
"I wasn't asking."
The night seemed to pass by in a flash.
Soon after, Rain insisted on having me checked up for serious injuries. After getting multiple insurances I was fine, I asked her to see to the base defenses and, for the moment, denied long distance patrols. I also told her that I had an idea just where we were, and what exactly had attacked us. Further elaboration was to be saved for the next day.
I was tired.
As I lay in my bed, the day's events played in my mind. What had begun as a test on my character, turned into a visit with death. The mere thought of which sent my heart pounding yet again.
Still, I could no longer deny what is expected of me. For better or worse, Remnant was on borrowed time. A Tiberium deposit was one thing, but an entire vein spelled early disaster brewing within the foreseeable future. That left Nod with only what…, years? Decades at best?
And here I am with the faction that by all accounts is hellbent on fostering its growth.
I groaned as I realized the scope of work ahead of me. Yet, unlike before, I felt no issue with it. No mistrust so to speak.
If this is the kind of life expected of me, then so be it. Let the world of self-proclaimed bloody evolution meet a force of conversion of which devours entire worlds. I will show them the path to salvation.
If not through words than through force.
Peace through Power.
The sun rose on a vast mountain range.
At the foot of one such pillar of the earth, a shepherd gathered his loyal flock.
His sheep were mere imitations. They were loyal hounds without need for a leash. Many were wary, but all were willing to lend an ear to their master.
Together, they stood with the mountains to their back and manmade constructs to their front. The shepherd himself was on a small crate he was using as a stage. His uniform was clean and crisp from the previous day's trials, and by his side was his most loyal companion.
And so, one man begins his self-aggrandizing speech.
"Brotherhood! We! Are! Reborn! Again!
The cycle of life! Has brought us here together!
Before you I stand! Though, I will tell you now once more. I am not Kane!
I am but a man! No more than any other you will meet out in the world!
And you! All of you! You stand before me reborn! In imitation of Men!
But fear not! For you all still stand here today, as my brothers and sisters!
And together! We! Are! Nod!"
The gathering nodded in approval and sang songs filled with elation and bubbling glee.
"From today onwards! I shall vow to see the end of all things!
And you all! Shall accompany me! For we! Bring! Salvation!"
We! The Children of Nod! The Successors of Kane! Are chosen to enlighten this world with true power!"
The man pointed behind him, and a tower erupted from the earth, reaching a staggering fifty meters into the air. It's base widened into a dome shape with numerous panels rotating around the cylindrical base the further up it went.
"Behold! The Technology of Peace! The Proof of Kane's Vision!
Tell me Brotherhood! What is our mantra!"
"Peace Through Power!" was what they cried out!
"Louder!"
"PEACE THROUGH POWER!
PEACE THROUGH POWER!
PEACE THROUGH POWER!"
"One Vision! One Purpose! My brethren! To War, Enlightenment and Salvation!"
And so, with those words, a new nation was born in the world of Remnant.
To its enemies, they were the place where the shadows thrive.
To those indifferent to it, they were the ones who walked among monsters.
And to the few who called themselves its allies, they only knew them as masters to past, present and future.
A/N: Yow, that was longer than I thought. I hope this chapter brought you justice.
So here we have the end of the prologue. We can begin entering to the part everyone's waiting for. Sorry if some of you felt it was dragged, but I feel a story could only be done right if given time. This is doubly so since Nod's going to reach far and we'll be dealing with many homunculi POV, probably. We'll see.
To snipervtk4, hope some of the stuff written here answers your questions without spoiling anything. I will point out that we're not TOO far back, but its good enough that Oobleck's class is gonna be interesting if we delve into it. Also, thanks for giving me food for thought on bad guy justification. I did some studies on different villains and I found one to use as a basis for Nod in this fic. DOOM!
Next chap, manhunting! A nation can't run without a workforce after all! A free one is the best!