We were born into a world which lacked purpose, a dark colourless thing which sucked the life out of you with its endless rain. Imagine it, a vast cityscape dominated by towering skyscrapers, streets full of umbrellas and faceless men and women who walked on by without giving you so much as a second glance, too caught up in their own world to give half a damn about anyone else. Glittering hot neon, without a trace of warmth in the endless night, and the constant howling of the wind as it passed between the buildings. A cold world that never once knew the face of the sun, that had its children live in the permanent dark and raised its people to be cold thoughtless things who only barely able to maintain relationships; this was the world ruled by the organization known as Ops 9.

 

What was Ops 9? In its most basic form it was what you would call oppression through fear; a subtle combination of force and thinly veiled threats, combined with a purposefully obvious monitoring of your actions and public displays of government shock troops stationed all around public areas.  But Ops 9 itself went beyond that; a black ops cell that recruited citizens of our very own city for the task of sabotage, espionage, and assassination. We were people pulled from our everyday lives who became mind numbingly loyal soldiers for our great government, not because we were working for a worthy cause or because we liked our jobs, but because we knew nothing else and had nothing left to go back to. You see, Ops 9 recruited its operatives from the ranks of children around the city, pulling them into its programs while we were still six and seven; within a year of this the families of these children would be silenced, usually by the operative’s very own hands.

 

I am one of these merciless operatives; I killed my parents with my own hands and watched my brother get thrown out the window to fall 368 meters to the ground below. I have killed twenty seven other people myself and indirectly caused the deaths of countless others, and for this, I bear no shame nor do I feel the need for forgiveness. I am hollow and feel nothing; like my fellow operatives I am empty of emotion, I have forgotten what it means to feel, or to care. There’s no compassion left in us, it’s been drained away to leave us as empty shells, killing machines who can commit unspeakable acts without hesitation. But I was different, I could see that immediately in the way I could still make connections and form thoughts that were no longer present within the minds and personalities of my fellow operatives, I still remembered my past; I still remembered that once, I had been something different. I still remembered why I was here and recognize that what I was doing was wrong. But I could do nothing about it, and honestly, I had never given half a damn about morals anyways.

 

But there was someone that I had come here with; we were two exceptions really, since we were brought not as children, but as teenagers. He was my best friend, perhaps my only friend; I always was a rather lonely person, I cared little for the world about me, and even before I entered Ops 9 I could sense the sickliness which permeated the city, I could feel its suffering, the poison in the earth. I don’t know why we two were selected specifically, that was a question which I was never able to answer even in the end; but I do know we were amongst the best operatives who ever lived once we completed our training. Perhaps somehow they saw our potential, after all the concept of privacy didn’t exist in Inersia, but in any case we found ourselves isolated as outsiders, two lost teens who were suddenly thrown together with a bunch of abducted children, expected to eat, sleep, learn and live by their sides.

 

I think I might have lost it, if it weren’t for him. He kept me sane, because he acted as my anchor to our past; he suffered greatly though, perhaps even more than I did. He became lost, burying himself behind a protective wall, fleeing from his thoughts and feelings until he became little more than an empty shell which moved from place to place to follow orders and complete training missions. And so it was that it fell to me to bring him back; I became obsessed with trying to save him, I tried again and again to try and get him to remember who he was, who he had been, who I had been, who...we had been.

 

“Colonel Summers!” a shout woke my musings, from my memories which often drifted through my mind unchecked. I was sitting on a stout, battered stool illuminated from above by a wash of dull red light which gave everything around me an unsettling bloodshot complexion, all around me men and woman laughed and drank and pounding music sounded from every direction. I was in a bar, somewhere. I didn’t really remember how I got here, but I didn’t particularly care either, after all, I had no place to call my own now anyway.

 

“Colonel Summers!” the voice repeated. My head turned sharply in the direction of the noise, seeking out its source. I found the young man almost immediately, slightly taller than my five foot eight, but wiry and nervous, edgy as though he didn’t feel comfortable being here. Not surprising; the red light district wasn’t a legal business area strictly speaking, but that didn’t bother me, so why should that bother him if he was here with me? Why was I here again? I thought on it a moment, before finally deciding that perhaps this young man here could help me.

 

“I’m sorry, who are you? You’ll have to refresh my memory I’m afraid, I don’t quite recognize you.”

 

He looked taken aback, as though I was supposed to know him; I didn’t, I didn’t bother to remember anyone’s face or name these days, none apart from his. I had to save him, had to wake him up, where was he? He seemed to brush off my ignorance of his identity after a moment, composing himself; like me, he wore a clean white body armour which gleamed crimson beneath the lights-why was I wearing body armour again?

 

“Colonel Summers, we have to go, an inspection unit is coming.” He hissed into my ear. “We can’t stay here!”

 

Ah right, that was it, I was on the run; supposedly I was dead and yet I still had to peer into every shadow, flee from the smallest hint of danger. Dead people weren’t supposed to have problems like this, what had I done wrong? And how did he know me if I was supposed to be dead? So many questions, so many disjointed thoughts, so little time; perhaps I’d gone insane as well. But I knew that wasn’t the case, so I pulled myself up and rose to join the young man before me, my aide actually, I remembered that now. My memory still wasn’t clear, I wasn’t quite sure why.

 

“Well then, lead on.” Quickly my aide helped us push our way through the crowded bar, elbowing people in the side more than once which drew unpleasant glares; no one moved to actually stop us though so we were soon out onto the streets, beneath the pouring rain once more.

 

“Where are we going?” I asked, not quite sure of what was going to happen next. I got the feeling that I had made some sort of plan for what was supposed to be going on, but I couldn’t remember the details of that either. I must have had some sort of accident, one serious enough to cause memory loss; I’d have to get that checked out as soon as possible.

 

“We head for the Thopter Ma’am, we’re getting out of here. We should not have stayed so long, you know they’re still hunting for you.”

 

I sighed slightly, “I don’t know why they’re still trying so hard, I’m dead; he must have reported it in.” I remembered a gun pointed at my head. The face that wielded the weapon though escaped me, for now but a blur.

 

My aide pulled out an umbrella, quickly unfolding it to shield us from the pouring rain; I remembered now that his name was Andy. “You and I know better than anyone that they don’t trust anyone Ma’am. Not even their own operatives.”

 

Out in the bustling streets we wove between a sea of men and women dressed in stiff suits and black jackets; in our glistening white body armour we stood out like sore thumbs, but likely the umbrellas kept us hidden from any observers who might be above. We drew a couple of raised eyebrows and surprised glances but otherwise nobody even spared us a moment’s notice; our issue armour wasn’t something which the public wasn’t aware of, it was just that shock troopers usually didn’t bother with umbrellas, nor did they walk around alone in the middle of the city streets. And there was also the part where they usually wore black, not white; but our outwards appearance must have given other people the impression that we were government employed soldiers because they gave us a wide berth once they did begin to notice us.

 

“Do you think any of these people will report us?” I asked, without really knowing what they might report us for. Perhaps they might note that I was a walking corpse?

 

“Not a chance,” Andy whispered back to me, “They’ll think we’re just some out of place troops, odd, but nothing worth reporting. Still, we should be on our way; it’s not safe here.”

 

We hailed a cab at the curb and joined the sea of traffic headed for the edge of the city, Inersia, I hated it; my birth city filled only with rain and despair, it had brought me nothing but ruin my entire life. As we slogged slowly through the crowded transit way I got a good long look at the massive skyscrapers which cast shadows over my entire world; above us the pale moon hung low partially obscured by the dense cloud cover, I saw a faint flicker cross the moon as what I knew to be a cloaked Combat Thopter crossed over it, operatives headed somewhere to do the government’s bidding no doubt. He would be out there somewhere, damn Tel; undoubtedly he hadn’t given my supposed death another moment’s thought and was moving on with his hollow life. Oh how I hated him, the damn bastard hadn’t given me so much as the time of day for years now; sometimes I thought he had already died all those years back when we were brought in together.

 

“It’s time to go, we’re getting off Colonel.” Andy whispered, pulling the taxi door open as we pulled up to another faceless skyscraper. We paid the tab and then quickly strode off towards the building, as we drew up to the front I saw the massive sign above the entrance: Inersia Central Intelligence. I stared at Andy for a second, wondering what was going on. At my hesitation he turned and gave me a strange look.

 

“Come on, let’s go, what are you waiting for?”

 

This had to be another one of those details I was missing from my memory; but still it felt wrong stepping into a government building, I was a wanted criminal right?

 

“But-“

 

“But nothing, hurry up we’re going to miss the departure.”

 

I considered my options for a moment then shrugged, stepping after him. What did I have to lose, I was already dead right?

...

 

On your knees! All of you!

 

No please stop no! I’ll do anything, please just don’t hurt us!

 

Can it civilian! I said on your knees, get down and put your damn hands where I can see them!

 

This isn’t right! Thi-

 

*Gunshots* *Silence* *Screaming*

 

God damn it lieutenant! Bag the package and let’s get the hell out of here!

 

I’m trying sir, she’s not exactly co-operating

 

Shut up and do it!

 

*Wailing* *pain**darkness*

 

...

2: Flight Path

We stepped through the massive doors of the Central Intelligence Agency without so much as pausing; in my garish white body armour I stood out like a sore thumb amongst the columns of black marble and grey suits favoured by the spooks. Andy didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that many paused to stare as we walked past but I found the stares intimidating, shrinking into my armour. The world seemed to stop around me, our foot falls thunderclaps echoing through the chamber bouncing off of the high ceiling and its elegant arches. Clack, clack, clack, plated boots and the muted hiss of polymer plates sliding against each other, muted steps, and then...the hiss of metal on metal as the sword blade swung upwards to halt before my neck.

 

My eyes flicker, and my hand is at the blade slapping it aside before I’ve even registered the movement, shock flits across the face of the guardsman and he steps back and raises the weapon, I see Andy give the man a look and the sword lowers.

 

“I told you before that you’d need to present your identification papers, or else they’d stop you Ma’am.” Andy said, frowning at me.

 

“I don’t remember.” I had no memory of such an event, something was deeply wrong here.

 

“I reminded you several times, now present your papers.” He paused, giving me a look; he was a serious fellow, more serious than anyone else I had ever met, except perhaps him, I wonder why that was? “You do have them right?”

 

I rifled through my personal belongings pulling up an identification card with a photograph of myself stamped on to it. “Yes.” I said, handing it to the guard. In the photo I looked younger, different, more...innocent, a stranger really, I didn’t feel like I knew the person in that photograph.

 

“Colonel...Summers is it? You seem a little out of it Ma’am, if I do say so myself.” The guard says as he hands me back my card, sword lowered now.

 

“The workload is heavy these days guardsman, nothing I can’t handle of course.” I hear myself say, not really caring about what’s actually going on. I’m unsure about what’s going on, where we’re going, what I’m doing. Emptiness, I’m full of it; I am nothing but a shell carrying an addled mind walking through these long corridors, I feel Andy pull at my wrist and reluctantly follow him forwards deeper into the building once the guards let us pass.

 

One set of double doors, then another, then another; slowly the people around us begin to fall away until it is only Andy and I walking down black corridors marred only by the doorways at their beginnings and endings. The silence was even worse once we were alone; I felt as though a million sets of eyes were watching me even though we were completely alone, the feeling made my skin crawl.

 

“How far...till the Thopter,” I said hesitantly, not trusting myself to say the right thing; after all, I really had no idea what exactly was going on.

 

Andy gave me a look, “About five minutes more, but you should know the layout of the building by now right? You’ve worked here for over five years.”

 

I nodded, because I couldn’t think of what to say; he seemed so sure of things, but I couldn’t remember anything of what he was saying. I had my name, the suit of light armour on my body, and faint memories of someone who had been my friend, who had forgotten who he was, forgotten who we were. I remembered that I had...died, and yet here I was, walking around as though nothing had happened, and this aide was leading me around as though everything was perfectly normal.

 

“So...remind me why we weren’t stopped at the doors if I’m supposed to have died?”

 

Another strange look, “Ops 9 doesn’t publicize its executions Ma’am, you and I both know this; when they go after one of their own, it often takes them awhile because it’s so easy for us to just slip back into the mainstream system. We won’t be stopped by the regulars, not yet at least; once they start to crack down and lock us out of the systems then we’ll have to be more careful, but for now we should have ample time to make it to a Thopter and get the heck out of here.” He paused, “What’s with all these questions anyways; I know you just survived an attempt on your life, but the plan went exactly as you said it would and you’re absolutely fine, but you seem really out of it Colonel, if I do say so myself. Is something the matter?”

 

“No...I just have some things I need to think about, that’s all.” I said, brushing off his question. I still couldn’t trust myself not to give anything away, I didn’t know why, but something told me that I should keep the knowledge that I didn’t know what was going on from him.

 

“Well, it’s strange, just saying.” The ceilings of the hallways were slowly getting taller and taller, and finally after stepping through one last doorway we stepped into a vast hangar bay which opened up to a vast cityscape of rain soaked concrete and faint moonbeams which sliced through the cloudy sky. Twelve jet black Thopters sat on the tarmac, glistening under the faint blue light; Andy selected one on the edge of the cluster and headed towards it pulling a card out of his coat pocket, tapping it impatiently with his thumb as he stepped onto a blue square which shone dimly on the tarmac beneath him. After several moments there was a soft hum as the square beneath him faded away and the Thopter began to power up, its accessway opening up to allow entry on its left flank.

 

We stepped inside and the access port closed behind us, Andy gestured towards one of the seats and I sat myself down in a passengers spot; the familiar issue goggles sat in slot in the seat’s side and I picked them up and slid them on out of habit. Unlike how they were expected to behave, they refused to activate for me; if I wasn’t officially registered as deceased they had to at least have deleted my files. Andy was somewhere in the front of the aircraft, likely preparing the Thopter for flight so I took the time to take a quick look at my own person.

 

The lightweight white body armour I was wearing was familiar to me, snug on my body and comfortable, I had often worn it out in the field in and around the city. There was a knife strapped to my back and rappelling gear stored in the left wrist compartment but apart from that I had nothing else but my bag with my ID. I was the ghost of a ghost; already unrecognized by official documents as a government operative they had wiped me from even their own systems now.  I was fortunate that the guards hadn’t actually checked my identification on the system when we’d come in because I’d likely have been stopped.

 

I felt a thrum through the craft accompanied by a sensation of floating as it cleared the ground, rapidly exiting the C.I.A building and climbing up into the moonlit sky. Andy walked back in wearing the jet black body armour distinct to the operatives of Ops 9 having changed out of the civilian garb he was wearing before.

 

“We’re away Ma’am, we’ll reach Obitua in a couple of hours; you can take the time to catch some rest, I’ll stay awake to monitor the systems.” He said coolly, face bright lit above the main projector screen in the center of the compartment.

 

Obitua was Inersia’s neighbour; still caught beneath the massive storm system which pummelled the region with perpetual torrents of rain Obitua was a great port city which looked out onto the stormy waters of Lake Arity. Like Inersia it was a burgeoning urban sprawl with spires that stretched high into the skies, but its business lay primarily in trade rather than production; its deep water ports which reached far into the lake took on cargo from international trade and traffic making it the busiest city state in the region. Unfortunately it was also a member of the Combine states; its government was in league with Inersia and the rest, allies in trade and combat.

 

“I understand the need to leave Inersia, but why Obitua? If we’re looking for a place to hide Aphelion seems far superior a choice.”

 

“Aphelion isn’t one of the Combine states, in fact it’s far from it being one; we can’t fly an Inersian Thopter into Aphelian air space without expecting to be blown to pieces.”

 

Aphelion was the largest nation state on the continent, the dominant power of the region freed from reliance on the other states by its enormous technological might. It stood alone refusing to bow its head to any other or acknowledge its fellows as its equals, and to the eternal envy of the Combine states it was situated outside of the rain band. It towered above them in the center of the continent, eleven times wider than its next largest rival with towers so high they disappeared into the clouds; during the day its shadow covered the whole of Belaria, its closest neighbour, in complete darkness, and at night it kept the whole region awake with its brilliant lights which kept the dark at bay. Fuelled by its laboratories and industrial might, Aphelion matched its flashy appearance with an army of war machines and soldiers clad in high tech armour. Undoubtedly if Aphelion were our destination I could stay there indefinitely and never be found by Inersia’s government agents, but as Andy had said, getting into the city without being blown to pieces by their air defense systems would be impossible while we were in an Inersian Thopter.

 

“Fine, but why pick Obitua then? The security is pretty tight there because of the traffic, and if they check my ID there Inersia will receive notification of my entry since they’re part of the Combine.”

 

“We’re not registering with the landing strip; we taking the Thopter into stealth mode and flying right over the port where we’ll rappel down onto the Geraldine, she’s a heavy transport destined for Ziforus. I’ll fill you in on more of the details thereafter once we’re on board.”

 

There was a lurching sensation as the Thopter suddenly shot forwards accelerating rapidly and abandoning stealth protocols; I could see blue flames gushing from the thrusters through the translucent plating of the combat craft. I was glad that I was sitting down; Andy was thrown towards the back of the craft by the sudden acceleration and a rapid descent a split second later sent him hurtling towards the ceiling.

 

<This craft is currently being pursued by an unknown aggressor; evasive action is currently underway, awaiting your orders.>

 

“Maintain course to target, thrusters to 140%!” Andy shouted from somewhere, I couldn’t see him anymore since the force of the acceleration was pressing me down into my seat. Something spattered against the hull on the left side, too sharp to be the rainwater which must have been running off the speeding craft in sheets, making a terrible screeching as it did so.

 

<Acknowledging, be advised unit is taking light enemy fire.> I could see sparks flying off the plate armour this time and I followed the tracers back to a dark shape on our flank, perhaps a couple hundred meters distance.

 

A plume of fire erupted from the dark silhouette revealing its insectoid form, a spiny angular thing with monstrous projections holding dozens of guns and missiles. In response the Thopter jerked itself into a tumbling spiral but in spite of its attempts to lose the seeker, the tail end of the Thopter erupted into a ball of fire seconds later taking us into an uncontrolled dive down towards the earth.

...

 

~There was fire everywhere, and the smell of smoke and ash filled my nostrils~

 

That’s a wrap trainees, good job; all the targets are dead.

 

What’s next Captain?

 

We get ourselves back to the barracks for a hot shower and good food, then we head off for a good night’s rest.

 

And the bodies, what about them?

 

Leave them for the scavengers, it’s all these bastards deserve.

...

3: Cold, Pain and Suffering

<Warning, critical damage. Warning, critical damage. All passengers, prepare to exit this unit.>

 

Howling filled the cabin as rain slicked air tore in through the gaping hole to the Thopter’s rear; I struggled to right myself as the stricken aircraft tumbled in sickening free fall. As the vicious storm picked up the Thopter we were tossed around the interior like rag dolls. I flailed about slamming painfully into the walls until my fingers caught hold of a handhold and I pulled myself to the wall anchoring myself against it so I could take a quick look around. Andy was nowhere to be seen so I quickly switched over to trying to find a way out of this; there wouldn’t be much time left before the Thopter hit the dirt.

 

There had to be parachutes stored somewhere on this bird, I just wasn’t looking in the right places; but with the spinning and the rapidly approaching earth I didn’t have the luxury of taking my time with searching them out. I pulled myself along the bulkhead towards the jagged hole in the tail, praying for a miracle that would somehow get me out of this. Red light flashed through the cabin and something smacked into me as I neared the gash almost knocking my grip on the hull loose, I instinctively grasped at the nearest object to steady myself, grabbing the bag that had hit me in the process. Conveniently enough it seemed that the parachute had come to me just as I was nearing the exit; Andy was still nowhere to be seen but I couldn’t afford to wait for him. It was too bad but I had no choice, I’d have to leave him behind; I pulled the bag on and when the chance arrived I tumbled out of the falling aircraft into the open air.

 

We’d been close, I could see the rough waves of Lake Arity below me as I drifted downwards; the decision whether to open up the parachute at high or low altitude was quickly coming up so I searched blindly behind me for the pull chord until I felt my fingers wrap around the actuation tab. I had no idea how visible the parachute would be and though I probably wouldn’t be shot down since the parachute would be recognized as one of Combine make, they’d definitely take me in for questioning. With this in mind I opted for a low altitude opening, less of a chance of my getting intercepted. With a tug on the chord the parachute opened up as I neared 5000 feet, a vast envelope of black which buckled under the pounding rain above it sending me spiralling gently downwards. As I neared the rocky waves I pulled the secondary cord to release me from the parachute; accompanied by the sound of shredding cable I plunged feet first into the churning waters of Lake Arity.

 

The cold was the most shocking, even though the insulating layers of my armour I could feel it seeping into my bones; I pushed forwards through the water in the direction of the pier scything forwards with my freestyle. I had always hated swimming but training had bred these sorts of things into me, it was easy to slice through the rolling waves and rough water; I could spy boats in the distance after fifteen minutes , their bright lights more indicative of their presence than their dull muted shapes through the driving rain. The Thopter had disappeared, it must have hit the water’s surface by now thought nothing could be heard over the crashing waves; Andy was likely dead, and I would be too if I didn’t make it to shore before a storm rolled in.

 

I made it to the boats and crawled up onto the pier, feeling more like a wet rat than anything else; I crept along the edges avoiding any human contact, I had to get to the Geraldine and get out of here before I was spotted. Some more memories had came rushing back to me in the cold of the lake, they had tried to kill me because I alone had broken free from their indoctrination; I was a security leak which had to be silenced. If I got the word out on what they were actually doing, Inersia’s people would rise up and revolt; no one would ever stand for their children being kidnapped to become killers for the government. So they aimed to kill me to keep me from talking, since that had been what I planned to do; I wasn’t careful enough when I finally found a way to push past all of their lies, they found out about my plans and so it was they took action and tried to kill me. That was why I had faked my own death, and why they hunted for me still; they wouldn’t stop searching till they had a body or some other form of confirmation of my death.

 

There had to be hundreds of ships here at the dock, Obitua was the largest center of commerce for the entire region besides Aphelion so hunting through each and every one of the ships assembled here would be an impossible task. I would have to get access to the dock registries and find out where the Geraldine was being kept. I was still unarmed but that wasn’t a problem, we had of course received training for these sorts of situations as well; that training had been given with the assumption that I would be working with the government of course but...I’d make do. Slipping past the guards was easy even with my white armour; they weren’t looking for trouble and I wasn’t about to give them any unless I absolutely had to.

 

Pounding rain erased my footprints, I made it into the main center of the docks without being noticed; I could tell that the Thopter’s disappearance hadn’t though. Panicked patrols stormed through the dockyard and I could spy multiple patrol craft carving through the waters, their searchlights piercing through the gloom. It would make a good distraction while I found my way inside. Obitua was unfamiliar territory, but similar enough to the crowded streets of Inersia that I could walk around without looking too foreign; I was fortunate that Combine issue armour was similar between the separate states so I looked like any other trooper here.

 

The administrative center was easy enough to find; it was the tallest building here of course. I strode through the main entrance uncontested but paused when I heard footsteps approaching from all sides; a quick glance around revealed no place to hide, just tall marble columns and open lobby. The clattering of boots on the cold tiles echoed through the antechamber and soon after as expected I was met by the impassive faces of twelve Obituan shock troopers, emotionless behind their slick black helmet visors and plated armour. They had rifles slung across their backs but they didn’t bother with them, instead they went for the short swords at their hips drawing them and closing on me in one smooth motion.

 

“Commander Gillian Summers, we have a warrant for your arrest from Inersia Central. Drop your weapons and surrender.”

 

Perhaps they had opted for the swords because their rifles would be awkward to use at this range, but it was possible that they were simply more confident with their blades. Each of the seven combine states had their own training regimen for their operatives, and Obitua’s close quarters combat methods revolved around swordsmanship with their stylized Gladius. Inersia favoured a different more refined style of swordsmanship with the rapier, but Obitua was famed for its swordsmen and their prowess in combat. They advanced in three uniform lines of four, swords at the ready, creeping forwards as the closed in on me; I had nothing on them, I was out numbered, out gunned, and surrounded from all sides. All I had left was my defiance.

 

“Why don’t you fuck off and die Obituan.” I growled.

 

The blades went up as the distance between us fell to only a few meters, all of them angled towards my chest; they meant business.

 

“I don’t think you’re in a position to be saying stuff like that Inersian.” The lead trooper laughed as he stepped forwards ahead of the others.

 

“Sure you want to take me on alone shock trooper?”

 

He didn’t pause as he gave me a once over, “You’re pretty enough, the photo attached in the report doesn’t do you justice; but I don’t think you can take me on unarmed, no matter what kind of Inersian black ops cell you came from. Perhaps we’ll have some fun with you before this is all over.” He grinned.  So they hadn’t told these troopers then, that I was Ops 9. Amongst the Combine we were the elite of the elite, we went solo into Aphelian territory to take out high priority targets, we took down entire columns of enemy troops alone. We were super soldiers really, in all but name. Shock troopers were strong and capable, but in the end they were still just general infantry; I was on a different level entirely.

 

All the little details, those were the ones that mattered in the end, like the fact that I was marginally faster than him so I could slip beneath the shock trooper’s guard and knock him flat into his three comrades behind him before he could react. I stepped forwards and elbowed the trooper in the face letting my armguard absorb the brunt of his attempt to hack at my face, riding our momentum forwards as we bowled into the other three behind him. I lashed out, sending two of them flying into a nearby pillar before I stamped down on the leader’s helmeted face and stripped the last trooper of his rifle smacking him in the head with the butt and spinning behind one of the columns to take cover.

 

A spattering of gunfire followed behind me spraying me with chips of stone, the pounding of boots on the tiles that followed told me that the other four were charging the column with swords drawn. I waited for half a second before spinning out once more and opening up with the rifle as I threw myself across towards the next column; I felt four heavy impacts straddle my left leg and hip before one of them slammed into me. I figured I had dropped two of them with the rifle but I didn’t have time to check because the trooper was right on top of me, smashing at my face with his armoured fist, too close to utilize his sword properly.

 

I blocked the first strike with my arm and retaliated with a blow to the upper chest followed by a kick that propelled him away and off into the distance, a sword strike followed smashing into the floor by my neck sending me rolling away as the remaining swordsman went after me, hacking and slashing. Another strike had me blocking with the rifle sending a wave of pain up my arm, something else kicked me in the leg and I think I screamed; something sunk into my chest and pinned me to the floor and I swung with all my remaining strength at the blur in front of my face sending it tumbling off of me. With great effort I managed to roll over and pull myself up, crawling behind the column as bullets skipped across the floor at my heels.

 

The floor was slick with blood and I could barely move my leg, my lungs burned with each breath and I was barely getting enough oxygen; it felt like I was choking on some thick viscous fluid and I could feel blood seeping out of my chest. With difficulty I struggled to my feet, leaning heavily against the column as the rhythmic *clack clack clack* of the shock troopers boots echoed across the floor as they advanced, merciless. The world flashed white as my eyes dipped across my armour, white mixed with crimson trails which ran like rivers down the smooth plates; my hands were empty, somewhere between my struggle on the floor and the three meters to this pillar I had dropped the rifle. My head was spinning and I couldn’t think clearly, everything felt surreal; not too far away I could see the two swordsmen I had knocked aside getting to their feet and drawing their rifles.

 

The remaining half dozen drew in close for the kill -- too close. Even half dead my training kept me moving; I kicked two off of their feet and body slammed another of them ignoring the protests from my screaming muscles and open wounds. I felt bullets slice into my back lodging in my ribs; they were beyond caring about friendly fire, at this point they were desperate to just bring me down. Adrenaline kept me going, I snatched up a blur of a sword I could only barely recognize through my fading vision and hurled it into someone’s head. That trooper went down stone cold and I was at another’s throat before I felt something pull me off and throw me against the side of a column. Something went through my torso and then another object pierced my thigh, then everything went black.

...

What is pain, but an illusion of the mind?

 

It’s there to keep us alive.

 

Really? In our line of work it just serves to slow us down, it’s something we should overcome if you ask me.

 

I didn’t ask you for your opinion Xavier

 

But you’re complaining about the pain, you should ignore it so we can do the job the government set out for us Summers.

 

Say what you want, the pain keeps me alive during all the fighting.

 

Does it? You never seem to show it when you fight.

 

Does it matter?

 

Of course it matters, your combat effectiveness is one of the most important aspects of your physical capabilities during our missions.

 

I’m strong enough to beat you, that’s enough.

 

Fair enough Summers, fair enough.

...

4: Blades of Aphelion

Once again I was alive when I should have been dead, only this time I hadn’t been the one to organize it. I blinked beneath bright white lights, the stiffness in my telling me that I’d been lying here for quite some time. Experimentally, I flexed my fingers above my face. They felt stiff, but it seemed like nothing was broken. I was still wearing my body armour. The polymer greaves glinted above me, the clean white still streaked with bloodstains. The roof above was a sheet of corrugated metal, steel beams criss-crossing the roof to form a dense network through which dim points of light pierced through to form an area of dappled shade besides the lights which were fixated on me.

 

I was beginning to think that perhaps my original plan of faking my own death hadn’t worked after all. Perhaps the Inersian government had had knowledge of my plan and allowed me to go through it while keeping tabs on me the entire time, if that was the case it might explain why I was still alive now.

 

I felt awful, everything ached and I doubted that I could even sit myself up but that wasn’t nearly the extent of the agony I should have been feeling. Stab and bullet wounds, broken bones, torn and damaged organs, all of these things would have been fatal enough on their own but I had received them in deadly combination; yet here I was, alive and breathing. Something had obviously transpired while I was out of it, my most severe injuries seemed to have been closed up and my armour had been repaired to operational condition. Experience meant that I could tell all of these things just by feel, and as things were I found myself reluctant to move. I doubted that I could stand anyhow.

 

I stiffened when I heard footsteps in the distance, their faint echoes told me that the room I was in was quite large, perhaps two hundred meters across of open space from the way the sound bounced through the rafters. There were three sets of them, two carried the distinctive ring of armoured boots, probably an armed escort, the last was something more muted, civilian issue. Whispered voices, too rough to be female, not a typical female anyway; the tonal range also didn’t quite match up to anything typical of that type either. They slowed as they approached the table and I heard rifles loaded and readied, levelled at my prone form.

 

“I know you’re awake Inersian.” A voice said, probably the civilian; male, middle aged, but there was not much else I could get from just the voice, I turned to get a better look. His cloths were plain, just another business suit and tie, the face unobtrusive, pale with faintly downturned lips, a sharp nose and plain grey eyes. He was carrying a briefcase with one hand and a sheathed Inersian rapier in the other, an odd combination by my reckoning.

 

“Who are you?” I asked coldly, I didn’t recognize the slight accent to his voice. Whoever this man was he wasn’t from one of the Combine states.

 

“You don’t need to know anything beyond the fact that I’m the reason you’re still alive. What were you doing in Obitua; did your presence have something to do with the Inersian Thopter which went down not long before you entered Port Orbit?” the man pulled out a clipboard and pen, was this some kind of interview? The ridiculousness of that thought almost made me laugh.

 

“That depends on whether or not you had something to do with the fact that that Thopter was shot down as it was entering Obituan airspace.”

 

“Are you really accusing us of firing on a Combine aircraft? You know as well as I do that we wouldn’t do something like that.” A smooth sliding of the pen across the clipboard, a checkmark.

 

“I know you’re not Combine, you can drop the act.” I hissed. The armour the guards were wearing wasn’t combine tech either; there were too many lights studding the plates, the plates themselves too small. The helmets had a different kind of visor, one which fully concealed the eyes and partially protected the nose, and sleeker more sharply swept lines. It was all very...advanced, too advanced for combine general issue; it was the kind of armour you would issue to special ops units, but these two didn’t seem like special operatives, just general infantry.

 

“Very good. If we’re not Combine, then who are we?” Another checkmark on the board. This man managed to be irritating without even doing anything.

 

“Hell if I know, why don’t you tell me?”  The man stepped forwards and applied a careful amount of pressure to my left leg which made me wince; apparently though they had patched me up I still wasn’t completely healed over.

 

He leaned down beside my ear, “I’m asking you to take a guess operative, I’m sure your well trained brain can manage that for now at least, yes?” he whispered, openly threatening.

 

On closer inspection his eyes were strange, not quite right, the irises were a wash of different colours, muddled green-blues with splashes of brown; he let me see them because he was looking to see if I recognized them for a sign of what he was. “Aphelian...” I hissed.

 

“Very good, yes I am one of the children of Aphelion Combine operative; you were rather expensive to acquisition so it’s good that you at least seem to have retained some of your cognitive processes if nothing else. The damage to your body was quite severe by the time we stepped in to intervene and keep you out of the hands of those Obituan shock troopers.” He seemed a little smug about all that which made me dislike him even more if that were possible. “I am in fact, a handler for our Inersian ‘assets’, you know what I refer to yes?”

 

It meant, that he was a spy handler; I had been picked up by an Aphelian sleeper cell. It wasn’t unthinkable that Aphelion had managed to slip spies into our system but to go about ‘acquisitioning’ resources such as myself was beyond bold, outrageous bordering on insanity perhaps. The alterations to his eyes I had noticed were a trademark characteristic of sensory amplification to his eyesight which meant that he had to be some sort of ex-military agent. While Aphelion was by and large considered to be a free state which granted its people great amounts of liberty and freedom, it still had its dark secrets; this man here was one of them. Once military, always military, this couldn’t be some sort of independent freelancer, he was with Aphelion’s government in this, they wanted something from us and this man here had come to pick it up; me.

 

“What do you want with me?” I growled through gritted teeth, my leg was still throbbing.

 

“Not much, just your expertise.” He handed the briefcase over to one of the guardsmen with a sly smile. “We require the services of the most deadly swordsmen on the continent, the teachings of an Inersian Ops 9 operative; you fit the bill perfectly. On the run and already assumed dead on a surface level, hacked to pieces by twelve Obituan shock troopers, not one will suspect your defection if you come to work with us.” Fluttering sheets spilled from the briefcase alongside a small black booklet and a half folded set of black clothing; documentations and casual civilian wear of Aphelion. “Join us as one of Aphelion, and I will guarantee your safe passage.”

 

“And if I refuse, what then?” I asked, forcing myself to get up. I would not be treated like an incapacitated imbecile, no matter how weak I might be.

 

“Simple, I’ll have you killed for real and then try again with someone else.” He looked so confident, I wanted to wipe that smile off of his face; but I couldn’t, not really, not without those escorts of his making a mistake. “So what will it be then Inersian, will you come with me?” he said coldly, keeping a healthy distance away. Even weak as I was he still had the sense to at least keep some distance between us.

 

I took my time studying him and his guards; they were definitely from the ranks of general infantry; they didn’t carry themselves the way special operatives did, they were missing that quiet calm and confidence, that aura of lethality which said ‘don’t fuck with me’. I could probably take them on if pressed. The civilian was harder to read though. I knew he was ex-military and he was augmented in various ways but besides that I had no way of realistically judging his combat ability. I could feel the strength returning to me as my body slowly recovered, but if he was anywhere near my own skill level he would be able to crush me the way I was now.

 

“Do I have a choice?” I growled.

 

A serious look entered the man’s eyes, “You know as well as I do, for people like us, there’s always a choice.”

 

“Then I’d like to leave.” I turned so my legs dangled off the tableside.

 

The civilian stepped away from the table, taking the briefcase back. “Very well, you can leave here in a body bag. Kill her.” He said impassively.

 

The two guardsmen levelled their rifles and I forced myself forwards; the first rounds whipped past my neck shattering the steel of the table behind me and then I was up in their faces beating them down. General infantry armoured or not couldn’t compete with my strength; compared to what Aphelion supposedly did to its operatives my muscular augments were nothing, but here it was more than sufficient to rip the rifle from the first guards hand and pound him into submission. The other guard managed to get to his feet and draw a knife but a single burst from the rifle took him down for good. I turned the rifle on the civilian and he casually pulled something from his pocket and flicked it towards me; the rifle clicked uselessly in my hands as I pulled the trigger.

 

The fallen guard’s knife glinted beneath the spotlight and I started towards it. The civilian watched me, not making a move. I considered the rapier still in his hand and his casual relaxed pose and added that to the fact that he would have been able to disable the rifles at any moment of his choosing. I picked up the knife anyways, half expecting it to explode in my hands.

 

“What was that? You knew that I could kill them easily.” I said.

 

“A test. If you couldn’t kill them then you aren’t worth my time.” Even Aphelion threw away the lives of its servicemen casually; they were little different from us really, they just claimed to better. The sword was held level with a steady hand and the briefcase had been set on the floor by his feet.  He was carefully easing off his suit jacket as well, as though readying himself for a fight. He really did think that he could take me on then. “If you couldn’t hold off some regular servicemen then there’s no reason for me to go through all of this trouble to keep you safe; you’re a potential asset no doubt, but your potential still had to be evaluated. What I’ve seen here is good enough for now. I can use what you have to offer so come with me or die, the choice is yours.”

 

“Or perhaps you’ll be the one to die, at the hands of one of the best swordswomen on the continent.”

 

He smirked, tilting the blade ever so slightly in my direction. “Try me Inersian. I’ll show you that we’re more than just our technological advantage.” 

 

I charged forwards ignoring the pain in my leg; it was foolish to challenge a swordsman with nothing but a knife but I didn’t really have another choice if I wasn’t going to go with this man. Do or die, that was all they had left me with. We crashed together as metal met metal, his rapier flashing quicksilver slicing through the air in front of me as I slid down the length of his blade to step past him. I narrowly avoided a blow aimed at my back as I turned to reengage blocking as best I could with the combat knife. In spite of my smaller weapon I barely held the advantage in speed because of the lightweight nature of the rapier. He aimed thrust after thrust at my chest which I only just parried, the short blade of the knife was proving to be a heavy disadvantage; by now I could also tell that this was no novice swordsman I was facing, his skill level appeared to at least match my own if not surpass it. It was a miracle that he hadn’t managed to overwhelm my defenses yet; he had to be holding back for some reason or another.

 

“Well why don’t you kill me already? You seem to know how to use that rapier you’re holding.” I coughed as a smacked aside another crushing blow aimed at my chest.

 

“It seems a waste to kill someone so skilled. If you can already fight like this with just a knife in this state, I tremble when imagining what you could do with a real weapon.” He still hadn’t lost any of his confidence, if anything he seemed happy to have an opponent who could contend with him.

 

Sparks flew as we closed again, swing, slash-parry, jab spin uppercut-block, we danced a deadly duet across the dance floor filling the room with the clamour of combat as he herded me through the room with his greater reach. Stuck on the defensive I could only slow the inevitable as I was inexorably pushed back towards the wall; I needed to find an opening quickly or I was done for. Something echoed from the far side, a creaking groan which reverberated through the cavernous chamber but I couldn’t stop to look; something or someone had come into the room. My opponent seemed surprised but similarly refused to turn, perhaps wary of giving me any opportunity to strike and counter attack.

 

Footsteps, someone strode across the concrete floor towards us with an even measured pace unhurried and relaxed, probably one of this man’s allies. A mere four meters remained between myself and the wall, my opponent pressed harder now to drive me back hacking away at my face; I had to keep my arms up to keep him from taking out an eye which left my forearms covered in cuts as his sword bit through my armour. I took one last lunge at him before he turned my blade away and I felt my heel collide with the wall as I backpedalled to avoid his retaliatory strike. The person who had entered was also only a few meters away now; similar to my assailant now he clutched an unsheathed rapier in his hand.

 

“This is the end Inersian, I pray your replacement is more compliant than you are.” The man sneered as he forced the knife from my hands. He started forwards leaning into the stab which would send his rapier through my heart before pausing suddenly as a blade sprouted from his chest. Finally he turned to take a look at the man who had entered the room, a tall grave looking figure whose face was disfigured by scarring.

 

“I’m sorry Aphelian, but it’s you who will meet you end here.” The newcomer said as he pushed the Aphelian sleeper agent off of his blade. The body hit the floor with a wet smack and collapsed into a bloody mess. He looked down at me and frowned, “Hello Gillian, you’ve been causing quite a bit of trouble I hear.”

 

“Fenister.” I growled.

 

“It’s nice to see you too.”

 

...

 

You’re weak, you can’t use a blade of that length.

 

I’m strong enough to lift a rapier, don’t patronise me just because I’m a girl!

 

I never said anything about this having to do with your being a girl, I’m merely telling you that you’re not strong enough to use that blade.

 

Don’t make me laugh, I’m not like all those other brainwashed idiots, I know what you officers talk about during your leisure time!

 

Is that so recruit? You should be careful about what you say to me.

 

Hah, like you could do anything to me, I know the deal; you can’t touch me until I graduate from this fucked up program of yours.

 

You’re an interesting one, you know that? I’ve never had the pleasure of teaching one like you before; that other one you came with, Tel or whatever, he’s good, about as good as you are but he’s not the same, he’s boring like the rest. You, you’re different.

 

Yeah why don’t you fuck off and leave me alone Captain.

 

Manners Recruit Summers, or I’ll teach you that there are worse things in this world than death.

...

5: Carry Me Home

Fenister loomed over me, larger than life in his issue body armour, a black spectre blotting out the light. A hard man with a hard face, scarred and battered; ancient and yet filled with the strength of youth; one of the original Inersian commandoes who had given birth to the organization known now as Ops 9. I knew the man from long ago; he had trained Xavier and I personally when we were brought in and we...had never really gotten along. Why he was here now though was a mystery to me; I didn’t remember him being ‘in’ on the plan for me to fake my own death.

 

“What are you doing here Captain.”

 

“Your army scout left me a note, where is he?”

 

“Army scout?” I asked, not understanding.

 

“The one who calls you Colonel, Commander Summers.”

 

“Andy?” I whispered.

 

“Yes, that was the scout’s name; I’m told you had him brought in specifically to help you get out. Where is he?”

 

“I lost him over Arity, haven’t seen him since.”

 

“Lost him? I doubt even you could evade a scout, no matter how elusive you might try to be.” Fenister said, looking sceptical.

 

“The Thopter went down over Arity when we took a hit from an Aphelian gunship and I didn’t see him get out; he’s probably dead.” The words came out much colder than I had intended.

 

“Really now, that’s problematic. That was half of the reason for why I even came here; you’re certain then that he’s dead?”

 

I gave him a withering look, “Look at me, I’m not certain about anything. All I have are scattered memories, nothing is clear at all.”

 

“And that wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with what you’ve doing recently, would it?” he said flatly, obviously disagreeing to my answer to his question.

 

“You tell me, all I remember at this point is that I’m supposed to be dead.”

 

“You’ve been causing an awful lot of ruckus for someone who’s dead.” He responded dryly as he glanced over my armour. “It looks like you’ve seen better days.”

 

“Inersia and Ops 9, it breaks everything and everyone it touches; I am no different, am I so wrong to be bitter about it?”

 

“Even before Ops 9 you were bitter; Inersia itself went against everything you believed in, you never learned to love your home, how can I expect you to love anything at all?”

 

“I love him, that’s the only reason I ever stayed at all.”

 

“And that’s why we made sure he stayed alive; so we could keep you. You two are a package deal, Command always knew that and they used that against you.”

 

“And you let them.” I said, my voice accusatory.

 

“What do you think my damn job is, holding hands and peace talks? I’m a soldier, I do my damn job that’s handed down to me from Command, I don’t complain and I get paid so I can live a nice comfortable life.”

 

“Easy for you to say, you started life at the top of this system.”

 

He stopped and stared at me, looking old as ever; fog clouded his breath as he exhaled with a heavy sigh. Now that I had stopped moving again I finally began to notice that it was quite cold in here, wherever we were. “You didn’t live through the dozen years of the Combine war that came before it either kid.”

 

“No I didn’t, but I did live through the past six years of hell you put me through.” Blood dripped from my hacked up arms, seeping through the gashes of my armour to pool on the concrete beneath me. Ice crystals were slowly forming as the fluid cooled and I was beginning to feel the chill seep into my bones; something was deeply wrong here. “It’s cold in here, what the hell is going on Fenister.”

 

“I don’t know; I just came here to pick Andy up if he was here.” He said, drawing his sword again and looking around warily; evidently he was under the impression that I would try to kill him since he’d turned his back to me. The Aphelian sleeper agent’s sword was still lying there on the ground though; if I wanted to I could take it and kill the man. I pulled myself to my feet and picked up the fallen rapier from the ground feeling the icy cold seep through my glove into my hand; the cold was absolutely deadening and I could feel myself beginning to shut down.

 

“I think we should leave.” I said, starting towards the door.

 

“I don’t know if we have anywhere to go.” Fenister responded as he drew up beside me.  “I don’t see any reason why this warehouse would be so cold, it seemed normal enough from the outside. They must have brought something to smoke us out.”

 

“They?” I asked as we began to sprint through the empty grey corridors; we had to keep moving just to stay warm at this point, if we slowed the cold might stop us for good. Ice was beginning to climb the walls and I could see icicles beginning to form on the rafters above.

 

“Obitua Central must have figured out something was going down here; I knew they were developing some sort of vacuum temperature control device but this is an interesting twist to it.” He huffed pulling ahead to take the lead. “I heard there’s a warrant out for your arrest from Aphelion Central.”

 

“And yet you don’t seem interested in following up on it.” I growled.

 

“I don’t betray my former students, even if they do disagree with the organizations which I am part of. As long as you leave me alone personally and don’t become involved in my affairs I have no reason to go after you. Unless I receive specific orders to bring you in I have no obligation to take any action against you.”

 

I heard the pattering of rain ahead of us; we were close to the exit. We rushed down the hallway and burst out of the grey building onto a field of ice; I nearly slipped and fell as the traction beneath me suddenly dropped to zero. Harsh white light shone down on us reflecting off of the bumpy ice and for once in my life the feeling of rain spattering down onto my face was absent; wind billowed down from above trying to force me to my knees and after a couple of seconds of confusion I finally found the outline of the massive hovercraft above us.

 

“The fuck is this?!” I snarled.

 

“I believe we won’t be leaving Obitua anytime soon,” Fenister answered with a sigh.

 

Jump lines dropped down from the edge of the hovercraft above and the familiar outline of Obituan shock troopers appeared against the skyline as they rappelled down to meet us on the ice. I tensed and readied my rapier but Fenister merely gave me a look and pushed my sword down.

 

“Are you going to try and take on their rifles when you have to cross all of this ice to meet them?”

 

“I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.” I could do it, theoretically anyways; my muscular augmentations were probably enough to give me the leg strength to close the gap in a couple of steps and a leap, though the icy surface beneath me would definitely prove to be a hindrance.

 

“And you could do that a dozen times before any of these shock troopers get you in their sights, is that what you’re saying.” The shock troopers hit the floor and immediately drew their rifles closing as Obitua trained them two converging in unison.

 

“Perhaps; if I had a set of throwing knives I would say definitely.”

 

“Yes, but the point is that you don’t.”

 

“Captain Fenister, Commander Summers, we have instructions to take you two back to Obitua Central Command. Please come with us.” The lead shock trooper said as they drew close. This time they had their rifles all trained on me and they were making sure to stay well outside of a swordsman’s standard engagement range -- that was the kind of respect they should’ve given me last time around.

 

“And since when do Inersian operatives take orders from Obitua Central?” Fenister said, taking the lead.

 

“Since they stepped onto Obituan soil, Inersian.” The lead trooper said coldly.

 

It freezing down here even with our armour but I could see Fenister resisting the urge to shiver, “How about you cut it out with the ice first, then we’ll discuss terms.”

 

There was a pause as the trooper leader probably relayed Fenister’s message back to his superiors before he seemed to refocus and shake his head. “Command says fuck off and come with us.”

 

Fenister frowned but otherwise seemed unshaken. “Tell them that Inersia Central says fuck off and let us deal with our own internal affairs.”

 

“We’re here, Inersia isn’t; twelve of us and two of you. I think we both know who has the real authority here so shut up and come along or we’ll fill you two with so many bullets that your corpses will be unrecognizable when we fly them back to Inersia.” The rifles remained trained on me rather than Fenister.

 

“A pity.” Fenister said as he produced the pair of fragmentation grenades from the satchel at his side and tossed them into the crowd pushing me forwards while moving up to engage the shock troopers himself.

 

There was a solid *whumf* as the grenades exploded showering us with bits of metal and ice; I felt blood splatter against my face as Fenister slashed the concussed trooper in front of us from neck to hip. There was a wailing as the alarms blared from the hovercraft above; bullets flashed through the air biting at our heels as more shock troopers descended from the craft shooting whilst dropping down the dangling rappel lines. I stumbled and fell as a line of bullets ripped their way up my back sliding against the ice leaving a bloody trail; Fenister skidded to a stop and reached back to pull me to my feet and then we were off again as he dragged me along the slippery surface swearing all the way.

 

The hovercraft followed above us as we exited its zone of influence slipping back onto solid ground; Fenister picked me up off the ground and threw me over his shoulder. Each jolting footstep was an agony as Fenister ran through what must have been a section of the dockyard; shipping containers were everywhere around us forming an artificial maze of corrugated steel and concrete. The containers were the only thing saving us from being ripped to shreds by the hovercraft above, shielding us from most of the cannon fire and preventing them from using heavy weapons for fear of the shrapnel being flung back up into the ship.

 

“Captain Fenister to P-698 Alpha, I need extraction A.S.A.P!” Fenister growled into his communicator. “Fucking Combine politics...”

 

“Hah, they’re the best, aren’t they Captain.” I winced as another leap forwards by Fenister jostled me hard against his shoulder.

 

“Shut up dead weight.” He paused as whoever he was communicating with must have said something to him, hiding in the shadow of one of the shipping containers. “Just get on station and do your damn job. No I don’t care, shoot them down then; we can deal with the repercussions when I’m not being shot at god dammit!” he fell silent as the searchlights of the hovercraft flickered about around us.

 

“You can put me down...” I whispered.

 

“I can’t risk that much movement with the damn thing right above us; wait for the Thopter.”

 

“Thopter? You called in a Combat Thopter?” I hissed, surprised.

 

“How else do you think we’re going to get out of here?”

 

“How are you going to justify shooting on an Obituan hovercraft?!”

 

“They’re shooting at us, what the fuck are we supposed to do sit here and let them?”

 

“We can just run; I was managing just fine before you showed up.”

 

“Oh yeah, just fine,” he said sarcastically, “That’s why you ended up in that goddamn warehouse with that Aphelian sleeper agent right?”

 

“Well I wasn’t expecting freaking interference from Aphelion of all places...”

 

Something thumped down onto the steel of the shipping containers beside us, echoing around in spite of the driving rain. The search party must have realized that we had stopped running  and decided to put people on the ground to sniff us out. Shock troopers, I was beginning to find them rather irritating, I’d seen an awful lot of them in the last few hours and I was thinking that if one poked his or her head around the corner I might just straight up stab them in the gut.

 

There was a whine and then a brilliant flash in the distance; a cyan bolt slashed through the rainy sky and plunged into the hovercraft above us exploding with a thunderous roar. Fenister scrambled to get us out of the way of the falling debris and ran headlong into an Obituan shock trooper who looked just about as surprised as we were. I recovered first and punched the trooper in the face knocking him backwards and Fenister silenced him with a quick slash across his throat. We pushed forwards even as the Obituans converged on our position racing to get to an open area where the Thopter could pick us up.

 

“Interesting that they equipped her with Thunder Shrikes...” Fenister muttered.

 

“Is that what that missile was? Never heard of them before.”

 

“New gear, still in testing supposedly; someone is doing me a big favour here.”

 

There was a clearing ahead and feeling Fenister slow beneath me I knew that this was the pick-up point. The Thopter was right above us; I could feel the thrumming of its engines even if I couldn’t see it and I knew for certain that it was here when Fenister finally set me down. The Thopter materialized all slick and black and we rushed for the access way even as the rest of the shock troopers caught up to us; a hail of bullets followed behind as we stumbled inside and the door slid closed and then we were up and away climbing into the stormy sky.

 

I breathed a sigh of relief and crawled into the passenger compartment and dragged myself into one of the seats, promptly falling asleep.

 

...

 

She’s one of the fastest I’ve ever trained; she’s an asset which should prove to be very useful to us in the future.

 

But she cannot be controlled; we take a great risk in using her like this.

 

There is always a risk in these things, but without risk there can be no reward.

 

Then are you willing to risk your career on this Captain Fenister?

 

I would stake my life on her competency.

 

But would you bet your life on her obedience?

 

What are you saying?

 

I’m saying if anything happens with her, your head will be the one that rolls.

...

 

6: Man with the Plan

This time my ride in the Thopter was uneventful and we made for the Inersian border; it was unfortunate for me that we were returning but I had no choice. I couldn’t exactly steal the Thopter from Fenister, the man was likely to kill me if I tried. My back was burning from the bullets digging into my spine but there was no time for me to remove them; I could still move at least so this would have to be good enough for now. The pilot was the only other person aboard, and he didn’t even have to be here; Fenister was just a traditionalist and enjoyed the company of someone trained for the job.

 

The interior was a little different from the Thopter I had just been sitting in; the lights were a cool blue and the floor beneath me felt just a slight bit spongy as though it was made of some sort of absorbent material. A newer model then, different from the ones I knew from my youth; I was unconcerned as long as the general layout remained the same though. The stolen rapier sat freshly sheathed by my seat, likely the courtesy of the Thopter’s miniature production facility; funny that they would leave me with a weapon but it wasn’t Fenister’s style to kill people without giving them a shot at saving themselves anyways.

 

Experimentally I tried to get out of my chair, leaning forwards and trying to push myself up using only my legs; the pain was excruciating and I was forced to sit back down immediately.  The injury wasn’t life threatening but it would certainly keep me from getting away on my own; knowing Fenister that cunning bastard probably let me receive the injury on purpose to keep me from going anywhere. Further examination of the cabin revealed nothing particularly unique about the Thopter; everything was as it should have been down to the standard issue goggles in the slot by the seat. I slapped the goggles on and logged onto my profile, expecting to be locked out of the system; by now Inersia Central should have realized that I had survived and should have purged my account and all my related files and access codes. Surprisingly though I managed to get through and see all of my old files, still sitting there waiting for my reports and submissions for review; there must have been a couple months worth of reports piled up in there.  Such matters no longer concerned me of course but it was still amusing to see.

 

The deadened footfalls of boots on the Thopter’s floor drew my attention away from the images in front of me; I peeled off the goggles and carefully closed my hand around the hilt of the rapier. Captain Fenister strode in looking hard to read as ever in full body armour making a beeline for my chair; I tensed and readied myself for a violent confrontation but he merely walked over and sat down in the seat to my left, farthest from the sword.

 

“So tell me Commander; what exactly am I supposed to do with you now that I have you here?” he said turning to me.

 

“Well what do you suggest Captain; for some odd reason you don’t seem all too inclined towards turning me in.” I growled not even bothering to turn to face him.

 

“You know other people would normally be grateful if they were in the same situation as you are.”

 

“People have been trying to kill me for the past 48 hours; I’ve been blown out of the sky, forced to swim through fucking freezing Lake Arity, stabbed dozens of times, hacked up, threatened and blackmailed, shot at and stuffed into the back of some tiny flying vehicle. So excuse me for being a little grouchy about that.” I hissed sarcastically.

 

“And I could very easily turn you in and end your life after you managed to survive all of that, I really don’t know why you’re so upset with me Summers.”

 

“Then perhaps you really don’t understand just what kind of person I am Fenister.”

 

“I know you better than you care to admit; you and I both know that.”

 

“Why don’t you turn me in?” I let the question hang in the air between us.

 

‘It’s complicated, why don’t you just trust me when I say that I’m invested in your survival.”

 

“Because there’s always a catch, especially with you.”

 

He sighed and turned away, foot thumping against the ground. He had always been like this; he would often bring up points which I couldn’t understand and then become disappointed when I didn’t get what he was saying, probably because I didn’t have access to all the information which he did. From start to finish he was never straight with me, never straight with us.

 

“You have to understand Summers, Ops 9’s acquisition of you wasn’t a coincidence; I insisted that they take you against their deeply rooted reservations.”

 

I narrowed my eyes at his words as I let the meaning sink in, feeling the dull rage that had lain dormant within me for so long begin to stir. “What are you trying to say Fenister.”

 

“I’m saying that you’re my responsibility, my personal responsibility. If you cause trouble it’s my head that will roll.”

 

“No, the bit before that; you said that Command only bothered with Xavier and I because of you.” I glowered, barely holding my rage in check.

 

“Yes, it was on my recommendation that they pulled you two from the general system.” He paused, frowning slightly seemingly oblivious to my anger, “Well, I wanted to pull you anyhow; it soon became apparent that you wouldn’t be going anywhere without Captain Tel so we pulled him from the system too. Like I said, you two are a set, wherever you go, he goes.”

 

I shifted in my chair wanting to get up and lunge at him but the spike of pain that shot up my spine when I tried to do so made me think better of it. Instead I gritted my teeth, carefully forcing my way upwards with both hands allowing the rapier to slip from my grasp.

 

“You should probably avoid walking around with that wound of yours; you’re in pretty bad shape at the moment.”

 

I ignored him and pushed forwards towards the cockpit wincing with each agonizing step; I needed to go check on our destination and I doubted that Fenister would tell me if I asked. Though he appeared to be interested in keeping me alive it was only for his own purposes; to him, it would be fine if he could just find a way to keep me from causing any more trouble. There was no guarantee that I would be able to maintain my freedom if I went with him to wherever this Thopter was headed.

 

The control sphere of an Inersian Thopter is a cramped place, I could barely stick the front half of my body in without getting stabbed by the instruments which poked out from every which way around the relative sphere of control surfaces. This was because the Thopter was, for the most part completely automated. There was no need for there to be room for a human pilot; the pilot that Fenister had likely brought along was probably sitting somewhere at the tactical center on the upper deck. Computers would relay information to the pilot and the all in one interface there would allow the pilot to control the Thopter from there if he felt the need to intervene with the Thopter’s default decision making. This was convenient for me because I could look directly at the sensors displayed here without ever having to deal with Fenister’s damn pilot, whoever they might be; a quick scan of the instruments told me that we were headed for the heart of the city center. The exact co-ordinates themselves were unclear to me but what I had been left with was enough; it was a government building of some sort. If this was Fenister’s idea of keeping me out of the government’s hands then he had some strange ideas.

 

“Where the hell are we going Fenister!” I shouted back into the cabin.

 

“Why do you care?” the words came back, surprisingly close. I almost banged my head as I pulled out of the cockpit to find Fenister looming over me.

 

I hurried to regain my composure, wiping the grimace from my face. “I care because I’m at risk if we head back to Inersia obviously.”

 

“Look you’ll be under my protection alright? No one will have to know that you’re there; we’re headed to the tac center under my supervision so nobody will ask any questions, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

 

I slowly forced myself back towards the seats and sat myself down, unable to keep standing any longer. “And how are you planning to go about doing that might I ask?”

 

“Oh I have my methods. Just trust me and let me handle it.”

 

“Gah!” I screamed, frustrated by Fenister’s ambiguity.

 

He glanced over at me but otherwise only sighed and looked away and the rest of the journey passed in silence. I tried to sleep throughout the three hour ride but was never able to; my injuries burned keeping me awake throughout and each area of turbulence we tumbled through sent waves of pain rolling up my back. Regardless of where we were going I needed medical attention for my injuries, or I was going to end up as a cripple for the rest of my life. When the muted groan of the Thopter’s engines died down I pulled myself up and staggered out of the vehicle into the emptiness of an open hanger bay. Fenister followed closely behind me and as he exited the Thopter a complement of Inersian infantry marched out to meet us, falling into lane alongside the Captain as we moved into the main building.

 

The next room we entered seemed to be some sort of massive antechamber with a tall black ceiling supported by four rows of marble columns. Automated gun turrets tracked our progress, an eccentric choice given the fact that if they opened fire everyone here would be shredded, not just some intruder who happened to wander in. The troopers walked in silence casually scanning the room, alert and disciplined ready to take action at any moment; Fenister’s men were some of the best and I having been one of them at one point, was no exception. Fenister instructed me to head off with two of the troopers to the infirmary and waited patiently for me to follow giving me a pointed look.

 

Inside a doctor of some sort had me lie down on a bed, preforming a brief inspection of my injuries; the bullet wounds were small but they ran deep into my abdomen, lodging dangerously close in several areas to my spine and internal organs. I gritted my teeth and bit down on a bundle of rags as the bullets were carefully removed, refusing to take anything to dull the pain on the grounds that doing so risked being drugged and then taken...anywhere really, and I just didn’t want to risk that. After the bullets were removed they tossed me into a regeneration vat where a slurry of chemicals caused the rapid regeneration of my cells and tissue.

 

Hours later I left the infirmary accompanied by my escort to speak with Fenister; thus far from what I’d seen this building was all made of this same black marble backlit by strip lighting that ran through groves carved into the stone. These were expensive modifications and fittings so I took it as an indicator that Fenister was doing well for himself, but I also noted how in some places the pure marble surface seemed to be marred by scorch marks and small cracks; there had been some sort of live fire exercise in here at some point though the finish had survived relatively untouched. Whatever the material actually was, it had to be very strong since normal marble would have shattered from such treatment. When we eventually reached Fenister after two flights of stairs and an elevator ride up twenty three floors I found the man seated behind a curved desk looking over what must have been at least three dozen sheets splayed out across the surface.

 

“Summers, I see you’re feeling better now; still early though for you to be moving around like this isn’t it?” he said without looking up.

 

“Spare me the pleasantries Fenister, what are you looking at?” I said brushing him off.

 

“These are the case files I’ve assembled thus far regarding you and Lieutenant Tel concerning Command’s opinion on you and your activities. They’ve quite a case built against you, there are records of you altering old records and hacking into restricted files in order to release sensitive information to the public.” He stated calmly, still scanning the papers.

 

“This government has been lying to the people for years; they deserve to know the truth!” I snarled.

 

“Yes well we both know that Command won’t just stand by and allow you to do that; they’ve built quite a case against you and have lobbied to have you silenced several times, each of these attempts I have put down with increasing difficulty. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

 

“Then stop taking care of me if it causes you such difficulty! I can stand up for myself!”

 

“Except for the fact that your ‘taking care of yourself’ causes trouble for me. Something I am quite displeased with.”

 

“Well then perhaps you shouldn’t have taken me on as your damn responsibility in the first place.”

 

The papers were swept aside in a flurry of motion and Fenister suddenly stood looming over me; at once I felt like a child again as he rose in a rage. On the outside I kept my face emotionless refusing to give the man any satisfaction of having unsettled me. “I’m tired of cleaning up your messes Gillian! They’re going to have you shot and this time I won’t be able to do anything for you, don’t you understand that?”

 

Remorseless I ignored his complaint, “Well that’s your problem, not mine. I reckon I can take whatever they throw at me if you give me a big enough head start. Not like I can return to meddle with their affairs anymore anyways, I’m supposed to be dead already.”

 

“Command knows you’re alive if they’ve sent Obitua after you, they won’t just leave you alone anymore; you’ve made yourself too much of a threat. They will do whatever it takes to hunt you down and kill you and I won’t be able to protect you anymore.”

 

“What do you suggest I do then, roll over and die?” I rolled my eyes and started towards the door.

 

He moved to block my path, not quite done with what he had to say to me. “Of course not, why do you think I went to such lengths to bring you here? I don’t intend to see all of my past efforts go to waste. I will do what is necessary to keep you alive but I’m afraid that you’ll have to disappear from the Combine states entirely.”  He glared down at me, “You can’t stay here anymore; you’re going to have to leave Xavier behind.”

 

I stopped in my tracks and turned back to face him as it dawned on me that there was more to what he was saying than just what I was hearing now. My eyes narrowed, “Andy, the scout; you sent him didn’t you?”

 

“Correct. I told him that you were a dissenter like him, which you are; and I had him find you in the red light district following the faked death which I had arranged for you. You had been given a drug to dull your senses so as to better facilitate your co-operation with his suggestion that you come with him and exit the city state.” He paused at that, walking back towards the desk and gesturing for me to take a seat in front of him. “He was selected because he was expendable, but also predictable and controllable enough to reliably be used; his loss is unfortunate but in the greater scheme of things insignificant. The plan for your exit still exists; I’ve modified it now of course given the circumstances, Aphelian agents were not supposed to intercept your Thopter but your eventual destination will still be Ziforus.”

 

Ziforus was one of the small neighbouring states which existed on a whim in the shadow of Aphelion and the seven Combine states. They were a tiny insignificant thing, more of a small residential and commercial area than anything else but still of note because their craftsmen were renowned for their skill. They specialized in custom built housing which was unique in that it was all completely portable and modular; walls ran along tracks and could be moved around to form rooms of different shapes and new floors could be added on at will. They posed no competition to the Combine states since we specialized in technological innovation and heavy industry so we ignored them and allowed the occasional rich citizen to commission work from them; why I would be headed there though was beyond me.

 

“Why Ziforus of all places?”

 

“I have a friend there who owes me a favour; he’ll lend a hand keeping you out of sight.”

 

“And what will you be doing in the meantime?”

 

“What I do best of course, laying down plans for my survival should someone interfere once more.”

 

“You’re a cold hearted bastard, you know that?”

 

“Shut up and prep yourself for the ride, we leave with the Thopter in twenty five minutes.”

...

 

Have you ever been outside of Inersia Xavier?

 

No, why do you ask Summers?

 

We’re told many things about our fellow Combine states, and Aphelion even, but we never question as to whether or not these statements are true.

 

Isn’t it a given that they’re true? I see no reason for our government to lie to us.

 

You weren’t always like this, you used to question things, just like me; I wish you still did that.

 

Sounds foolish Summers, I suppose I’m better off now then; I don’t know what sorts of delusion must have been running through my head.

 

I...was able to visit Aphelion once; it was quite different from what I expected.

 

What do you mean by that Summers?

 

It was...never mind, forget I said that; you wouldn’t be able to understand anymore.

...

7: Systemic Movement

I found myself in a Thopter for the third time in 36 hours as we flew along with a quiet hum skimming the Inersian skyline. This time I had no interest in what we were doing or where we were going; Fenister had demonstrated very clearly that though he was not to be trusted, when he was along on board at least he would make sure that we got where we were going. Eventually after an hour or so the Thopter landed and I found myself on foreign soil as I stepped out onto the tarmac of a Glissarian airstrip.

 

“Remind me why we’re in Glissaria now?” I asked turning to Fenister.

 

“We’re here because you made too much of a mess in Obitua where we originally arranged to have you shipped over to Ziforus.  I’ve booked you a passage on an outbound flight from Glissaria Central Airport on a civilian flyer scheduled to fly out in three hours from now; until then we’re going to just head down to the airport and pass through customs and sit tight from there.”

 

The rain poured down on us as always, splattering over everything and lowering our visibility as we trudged towards the main building of the airstrip. For once we managed to get there unchallenged and I trailed behind Fenister as he went through the proceedings to get us through the gates; eventually we pulled through and Fenister showed me to the room where we would stop to freshen up before heading down to the port.

 

“Stay here and get changed, I have some business to manage so don’t cause any trouble well I’m gone.” Fenister growled from the doorway a couple minutes after we entered.

 

“What business?” I asked.

 

In answer Fenister merely stepped outside and closed the door behind him; once a bastard, always a bastard. I let him go though and explored the room of the inn; it had been a short transit to the place from the private airstrip once we had landed and Fenister said that the inn was the best place to stay within five kilometers of the central airport. The room was simple enough with plain wooden floors, a pair of double beds, a bathroom and a standardized viewscreen which defaulted to the news channel.

 

I took the time to strip off my armour for the first time in what must have been at least 96 hours, welcoming the feeling of fresh air on my skin as the battered plates fell away, and I pulled myself out of the inner suit. I walked over to the bathroom and examined myself in the mirror; I was a mess from what had happened over the past few days. Dozens of bruises and cuts ran up my body, reddish blotches of partially healed skin and tissue dotted my arms and legs where I had been stabbed recently; my hair was matted and sticky, unpleasant to the touch and ragged at the ends from all the abuse I had put it through.

 

I was...thinner than I remembered, more gaunt and frail looking than I recalled myself appearing.  A battered and broken reflection of the person I once was; my ribs poked out from beneath my skin; though I could see thick bands of muscle wrapping around my torso and limbs all I felt was exhaustion. I twisted around to reveal the long jagged scar that ran up my back from my left hip to my right shoulder, a nasty puckered thing which left little doubt about its origins; the sword wound from my training was testament to Fenister’s prowess with the blade.

 

I stepped into the shower and let the water pour down, taking the time to mull over what I had learned. You had water splashing into you face a lot around here but showering was different; somehow the water managed to be relaxing whereas outside the rain was oppressive and ice cold. It had been a long time since I had been afforded such a luxury, so I tried to make the most of it. Fenister may have been on my side, but he still wasn’t my friend; he was doing this for me because I was an inconvenience to him, nothing more. If anything I should have been angry because he was leaving Xavier out of all of this; sure my disappearance wouldn’t bother him because the imbecile had been brainwashed by their stupid training regimen into thinking I was some sort of threat to the government, but I still cared for him even if the feeling wasn’t reciprocated any longer.

 

It was like being a child again, without worries or troubles beneath the water but all too soon it was over; when I felt myself beginning to slip away I shut off the water and returned to my cold hard reality. I found a plain clean shirt and some nondescript pants and slipped into them before selecting a white leather jacket from the closet; Fenister could pay the bill for all of this of course. I looked strange in civilian clothing; I couldn’t recall having worn anything of the sort for over ten years now. It was certainly comfortable though so I let myself relax in them awhile as I stepped back out into the main room to dump my armour onto one of the beds. The Inersian Rapier lay by the doorway in its sheath, eighty five centimeters of reinforced steel and titanium; it had been a long time since I had the pleasure of wielding one. Officers in my position didn’t see field work much even in a cell as dedicated to front line action as Ops 9, and in those situations we were generally issued firearms.

 

I picked up the rapier intent on practicing my form, sliding through the movements and footwork as my muscle memory reflexively allowed me to get going despite my rusty skills when the door opened and Captain Fenister stepped back in, giving me a look as he saw my civilian clothes and the rapier in my hand.

 

“What are you doing Summers?”

 

“Blending in with the locals.” I said innocently.

 

“I hope you checked the pricing on those clothes, I don’t have that much cred on me.” He said with a sigh, heading over towards the other bed to strip off his gear.

 

“Nope! Didn’t even think about it.” I said cheerily. “How did your business go?”

 

“That, is none of your business Commander.”

 

“Whatever, when are we leaving?” I asked as he pushed me off; if he wasn’t willing to share already then I certainly wasn’t going to get anything out of him if I pressed him.

 

“In half an hour after I make the final preparations and find a proper change of clothes so we don’t stand out too much. Wait here and don’t break anything.” He stepped into the bathroom and disappeared leaving me to my own devices.

 

I walked over to the low window and looked outside at the wreckage that lay around us; like Inersia Glissaria had once been one of the great industrial powers of the Combine pumping out weapons and equipment for our armed forces. Unfortunately though due to its close proximity with the great city on the hill, Glissaria had been the target of multiple Aphelian assaults in the recent years and the conflict had reduced the once proud city to a pile of rubble. It was a ghost of the gem it had once been, its skyscrapers levelled and its underground networks all caved in; the city was barely functioning as a population center because the sewage systems which had prevented the area from flooding under the constant rainfall had been damaged beyond repair.

 

The people here now were struggling just to get by; there was support from the rest of the Combine states for Glissaria of course, but just the minimum requirements to keep it from falling apart. What was left of Glissaria’s government forces constantly patrolled the flooded streets in small boats to keep order and people stumbled about uncertain of what they were supposed to be doing. Reconstruction efforts had been going on for three years now but there still didn’t seem to be an end in sight for Glissaria; it was things like this which constantly reminded me of why the Combine was just as disgusting as anything we were told that supposedly happened in Aphelion. This inn here was certainly in far better shape than the majority of the buildings in Glissaria, I assumed it was government funded because of that fact alone.

 

The rain poured down and nothing here was left to stop it; no roofs over the populace’s heads, no shelters where people could take cover. Only the privileged like Fenister and I were able to feel safe here, it was disgusting. But these were the sorts of corners of the Combine states that the governments wouldn’t bother looking, these dilapidated backwaters where all that was present was sorrow and despair. But I could do nothing to act up against when the whole of the Combine governments stood against me; I could take direct action against them. All of my previous attempts to do so had ended in failure; I had been on the run for so long because of that that I couldn’t even remember when I started.

 

I sheathed the rapier still in my hand and set it on the bed by my armour; we would be packing these away and sneaking them past the security at customs before continuing on to Ziforus. I wasn’t sure what Fenister had in store for me but I knew that it was going to be a rather lonely trip no matter what the case was. But that was fine, I had been on my own for a long time now anyways since Xavier no longer recognized me as anyone other than a fellow operative; it might not bother my fellows of course since they didn’t feel anything anyways, but I still remembered, and I had always felt so alone amongst them all.

 

I heard a door open and then Fenister’s footsteps across the floor; I turned to see Fenister all suited up in formal attire looking tired, but dignified. Seeing that I had noticed his entrance he nodded slightly and stepped over to his bed and began packing his gear. It was time to bid this wasteland goodbye for good; I was unlikely to ever set foot in Glissaria again. I hoped though that if I ever did come by again the repairs would be well under way and Glissaria would be in better shape.

 

We grabbed our things and left hailing a taxi to take us to the airport. We made it through customs without a hitch and before long we were aboard a transport Thopter headed straight for Ziforus. Other civilians crowded the transport and I got a good look at the life I had been taken away from; they laughed and seemed to enjoy themselves as they watched videos and listened to music on the consoles provided where as Fenister and I sat quietly in our seats simply waiting for the flight to be over. It didn’t seem like I was missing much, but they looked happy at least despite the apparent boredom of their lives; something which I couldn’t match.

 

“Feel like you missed out?” Fenister said suddenly, seemingly picking up on what I was thinking.

 

“I never had the opportunity to find out what I missed.” I said evenly.

 

“Trust me, the civilian life is miserable around here; you should be glad the government picked you up and you got to live this life of privilege.”

 

That made me laugh, “Privilege, I don’t know if that’s what I would call getting shot at and thrown into danger for a living.”

 

“You have no idea how easy you have it Summers.”

 

“Yeah? Well I sure as hell know that this isn’t the life I want, and these people here shouldn’t be happy with what they have right now either.”

 

“You know what, forget it; you can’t be reasoned with on these sorts of things anyways. You’re too young to remember what this government did for us and this city state.”

 

“You know what I’m old enough to know though? I was old enough when you mother fuckers picked us up to recognize your goddamn brain washing methods for what they were and understand that what you people did back there in Ops 9 was wrong you little shit. That’s what I remember!”

 

By now people were beginning to turn and stare at us to see what the heck we were yelling about as the volume of our conversation had slowly risen as it went on. Noting this Fenister glared at me and we both fell silent once more, remaining this way until the Thopter cheerily announced that we had arrived at the Ziforian airstrip.

 

I had never been to Ziforus before; in fact I’d never been outside of the Combine states. The first thing I immediately noticed was the absence of rain; Ziforus was fortunate enough to lie outside of the rain band, an aspect which made it an attractive place for Combine citizens to visit since unlike Aphelion we were on neutral terms with Ziforus. Immediately I felt...dry as I stepped into the air which was still humid but not oppressively so as in the Combine states; it was something new to me, but it was something I thought I could adjust to given time.

 

“Come along Summers, I’ll show you the way to where you’ll be staying.” Fenister said walking ahead having seemly calmed down since the events of the flight.

 

“Right, and what exactly will I be doing there?” I asked as we went to go pick up our luggage.

 

“You’ll be receiving instruction on architectural design; this way I might eventually be able to phase into a civilian correspondent role while you can do something to benefit yourself without causing any issues in the Combine.”

 

“That’s a bullshit job and a bullshit explanation; you can’t really think that the Combine will stop hunting for me just because I change jobs and move around a little. You’re going to have to do better than that to protect me from Inersian operatives at the very least.”

 

“Well that’s all I have for you, I’ll discuss the job detail in greater depth when we arrive at the corporation building; for now we’ll just stick with picking up our things.” He said calmly and stalked off, expecting me to follow.

 

Reluctantly I did so but as we walked along I noticed an odd party who seemed to trail slowly behind us; they were a gangly group of above average height men and women in matching black jackets and grey jeans but when we arrived at the luggage pickup all they did was grab their own bags and then slowly walk away so I soon forgot about them.

 

I would regret that I let them out of my sight for a long time after that.

...

We’ll be flying in from Glissaria tomorrow, are the preparations in place for you to receive us?

Naturally, though I have a question.

What is it?

 

Why choose to have her become an architect?

 

Can you think of a better cover story for her if we’re relocating her to Ziforus?

 

No, it make s sense but still it seems an odd choice since she is a commando operative after all.

 

And what does her being a commando do to change this?

 

Well, I just simply don’t see her working a desk job.

 

She will adapt, or she will die, it’s that simple.

 

Seems a bit cruel, don’t you think, given how you guaranteed her safety.

 

Not true, I simply promised that I would try my utmost to keep her alive, whether she can do what’s required for that to happen or not is none of my concern.

 

You’re a cold man Fenister.

 

I prefer the term pragmatic.

...

8: War Drums

I followed along and eventually found myself in front of a towering seven story building made up of a pleasant, sandy brickwork. There was a sign at the front which said “Springfield Architectural Firm”, so I assumed that this was going to be what functioned as my prison cell for a while. As we stepped inside a young man greeted us at the front counter smiling at Fenister and waving cheerily in my direction; I was unsure as to how to respond to him so I initially I ignored him but I nodded politely towards him after seeing Fenister do the same. At Fenister’s request he led us to the elevator and took us up five floors before showing us through the winding blue hallways to a bright day lit room with blueprints and concept sketches plastered on the walls. Men and women bustled about between tables upon which more papers were spread barely noticing as the young man brought us in; a couple poked their heads up and gave a friendly smile or wave but for the most part they didn’t seem to notice our presence as we passed on by.

 

“So what’s with all this?” I muttered to Fenister under my breath.

 

“What, civilians doing their own thing? I don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.”

 

“Don’t they find it odd that we just randomly showed up out of the blue?”

 

“I told you that I’d already handled the prior arrangements; we’re expected guests here and they know that you’ll be staying.”

 

“And where will I be staying?”

 

“We’re getting there, just be patient and play along alright?”

 

“Whatever man, but do you really blame me for being curious?”

 

“Watch your tone girl, I am not to be trifled with and certainly not to be referred to as ‘man’. What I blame you for, is never knowing when to keep your damn mouth shut, now can it.” I wanted to say something more in response, but thought better of it. Fenister clearly wasn’t in the mood for talking.

 

We reached a secluded office in the back corner flanked by two tall wooden doors, and the young man led us inside before departing with a slight bow, closing the doors behind us as he left; a man who looked to be in his late thirties sat behind a traditional looking wooden desk looking expectantly at us as he gestured for us to sit in the two chairs provided. Fenister stepped forwards to take the chair on the right, stopping me as I made to do the same with the other; apparently there was something else that had to be done first that I wasn’t aware of.

 

“First off I’ll need the girl’s papers Julian, I hope you brought all of the documents I requested.” The man began, his voice deeper than I had expected for a man of his thin frame. His dark brown business suit and grey tie made him seem much older than he probably was.

 

Fenister hauled his briefcase up onto the table, a meter long thing that was nearly as deep and let it drop down with a heavy *thud*. “Of course I did, what kind of incompetent do you take me for?”

 

“None whatsoever, I just had to make sure you kept up your end of the bargain. Now this here,” the man gestured over towards me, eyeing me suspiciously while examining some of the papers he had taken from the suitcase, “This here is  our girl then yes? The one we’re hiding?”

 

“Well does she match the face in the damn papers I just gave you?”

 

“...yes.”

 

“Then she can sit down correct?”

 

“Yes. Please do sit miss.”

 

“Alright then Julian, so as you requested before I’ve begun the necessary steps to get her filed as a resident here; these documents you’ve brought me will help speed up that process immensely. As for her work placement here one of our Master Craftsman has agreed to take her under her wing; I’ve not informed her of your...present occupation however so you may want to make something up for that since most would find what you do for a living...rather unpleasant.” Fenister frowned, but otherwise didn’t react; I understood the sentiment myself so I didn’t really mind the man stating the truth of things. “Anyway girl,” the man turned to look at me now. “I’m Geralt Arnolds, a friend of Julian here; he tells me that you’re a bright little one but you get yourself into a lot of trouble back at home in Inersia, is that right.” He laughed at his last comment though I saw nothing to be amused by.

 

“Is that what he told you then...” I growled.

 

“I know what you two have done for a living.” He responded looking patiently towards me, as though he had been expecting my reaction.

 

“So you know you’re taking a monster in under your roof then.”

 

“I know the risks, I’ve worked with Julian a long time now helping him solve his...more complicated problems.” He said calmly; Fenister was now taking a backseat dozing quietly, letting his friend do all the talking apparently. Well at least the bastard felt safe enough here to take a nap in the middle of the day.

 

“And you still trust Fenister after all of that?”

 

“He has my utmost confidence.”

 

“Fine.” I said flatly, accepting for the time being that this wasn’t some scam Fenister had cooked up to have me hauled off by this man into some unknown abyss. “Tell me about my work placement here then, what will I be doing?”

 

“First off operative, let me be clear that nothing said to you here will ever leave your lips outside of this room; not with anyone except Fenister and I. Am I understood?” Geralt was suddenly serious.

 

I nodded my assent, waiting for him to go on.

 

He leaned forwards over the desk and let his voice drop to a whisper, out of the corner of my eye I saw more than heard Fenister mumble “Oh stop being a drama queen...”

 

Geralt ignored him and continued on, “Ziforus isn’t actually dedicated to civil construction projects; that would be foolish with the current state of affairs. We have a very special weapons program which we’ll be becoming a part of.”

 

I raised an eyebrow, “Weapons program? I thought I was going to get some time off from combat here.”

 

“Once an operative, always an operative Summers, you know this.” Fenister said quietly. “This is the best I can do for you; it won’t be outright combat though and you will learn some skills which have civilian applications.”

 

“Which would be what exactly?” I asked.

 

“We build war machines; piloted war machines. “ An image sprung to life on the desk between me and him, the projector spinning up without a sound. It was a lanky insectile thing, perhaps twelve meters tall from the scale shown. It was bipedal with two spidery arms, triple jointed legs and a heavily triangulated main body sporting multiple spiky projections and fins which jutted outwards distorting its outline with. I could see a pair of longer fins on its back sporting twin engines and the disjointed cockpit region hung ahead of the midsection, shielded on multiple sides by thick plates of armour. Monstrous, it looked like something out of a nightmare.

 

“This is the Mark II CW-035 Wyvern, the latest model of combat walker we’ve developed. It’s a lightweight reconnaissance model armed with three Thunder Shrike missile pods, two twin 30mm auto cannon and the latest array of ECM suites we have available to us. You will be the pilot.”

 

“And this monster is architecture how?” I growled.

 

“It’s not, this firm is just a front for what we actually do. We direct some of our talent towards this and actually run a legitimate business building structures and such for various customers but our real focus is on this combat walker program.

 

“And why can’t someone else pilot these things, why specifically do you need me to do this for you.”

 

“Not just anybody can pilot a combat walker; these things put an enormous amount of strain on their pilots; an un-augmented individual can’t handle piloting one of these things, only people like you can be selected as our pilots. This is why Fenister and I have this unique business relationship, only he can provide me with the pilots I need to do my job, and in return his more...particular operatives which can no longer stay with Ops 9 find a home.”

 

“And the Master Craftsman you mentioned previously?”

 

“Your instructor for piloting the Wyvern, one Miss Karters from our armed forces here in Ziforus. She is also the chief engineer responsible for designing said Wyvern, so she can show you the ropes.”

 

“So all I’ll be doing here is learning to pilot this thing, I won’t be taking it out on any missions or anything.”

 

“Of course not, we maintain strict security on the usage of our walkers in order to preserve the secrecy of this program; sending you out there would go directly against that objective.”

 

“And is there anything else I should know about what I’m doing here, or are you done dropping information bombs on me.” I rolled my eyes, nothing here was as it seemed; I thought that I might be looking to start something new, get away from all the fighting but it seemed that fate had something different in mind for me.

 

“That will be all for now operative. Jason will show you out to your quarters, feel free to go.”

 

I made to leave but Fenister didn’t move, after a moment he seemed to notice that I was waiting for him and he motioned for me to go. “I have other things to discuss with Geralt, go with Jason to your quarters and I’ll meet you there later.”

 

Behind us the doors opened once more and the young man who had led us up stood waiting expectantly for me to follow. I got up and left with the man letting the doors slam behind us as we stepped back through the busy office room through which we had entered before. We arrived at the elevator once more and travelled up another three floors; Jason led on silently without a word and I was struck by how familiar his actions seemed. Though he was talking significantly less he reminded me a little of Andy; he walked like him, the same light careful stride and  he also carried that nervous half expectant air about him as though he was expecting me to explode at any moment.

 

“This is the residence hall where all of our long term clients stay. You’ll be housed here at room 17 Ma’am.” Jason said quietly.

 

Already my name plate had been affixed under the room number on the door and when I stepped inside I found my things carefully set beside the bed, the rapier I had taken from the Aphelian agent set on the sheets. And then there was something else, a thin form fitting body suit of some sort, primarily white in colouration with various port and interface surfaces scattered all across the limb and back areas which had clearly be set out here for me to see.

 

A stack of papers sat on the drawer beside the bed, scores of blueprints and design specifications, all of which detailed the lanky war machine, the Wyvern, that I had been shown before. I flipped through them looking at all of the intricate parts, not understanding most of what I was seeing and reading. What I did understand from the papers though, was that this machine was incredibly complex, rivalling the technological prowess of our own industries in the Combine or perhaps even Aphelion itself.  Ziforus and all the other small ‘harmless’ minor states, they weren’t so innocent after all. Everyone was being pulled into this war, it wouldn’t just be about the Combine and Aphelion when war inevitably broke out, these small little states could change the tide of the war as well depending on which side they chose.

 

What would happen to Inersia if war broke out I wondered; what part would it play in the Combine army, what would we all do? Ops 9 and the other black ops cells which must undoubtedly exist across the Combine, what would they do, how would they play their part? And most of all Xavier...what would he do? He was lost after all, lost to the point where he didn’t realize that he was lost. There was no one left to save him but me; I was the only one left who even remembered the person he had been, we’d killed the rest. I stood there lost in my thoughts until a faint breeze pulled me from my thoughts, and strode over to the wind’s source.

 

Bright white light shone in through the windows which opened out onto a green pavilion within which I could see a lush tropical forest of some sort; steamy mist covered the panes of glass but I could still make out the faint blurs of birds and butterflies floating through the space beneath. It was a small miracle in itself that such a thing existed but just seeing it made me want to go there and see for myself what was there. Rainforests on this continent had been wiped out by the industries and cities that now sprawled across its surface, such a thing had not been seen here for three generations.

 

There was something different about Ziforus though, even if they were secretly hiding a military program; the people here were much happier. They lived their lives without the fear and feeling of oppression that the Combine governments posed upon on us, even if to some extent this freedom was just an illusion. And then there were things like this rainforest under the glass roof, small wonders and miracles which helped you stay hopeful that maybe one day, the world could go back to the way it was without this wrecked atmosphere and fragmented world sliced up into warring states.

 

No matter what I was stuck doing here, I certainly liked the place better than Obitua or Inersia at the moment; no one was shooting at me or trying to kill me at the very least. This was my life, what was left of it anyways. The door open and Fenister stepped through, looking vaguely tired for reasons which I couldn’t quite explain, it was something in his stance but I couldn’t quite pick it out for what it was. He saw me by the window and nodded.

 

“Nothing quite like it is there; you won’t find such things beneath the rain band.”

 

“What were you talking about with Geralt?” I asked, brushing his attempt at making small talk aside.

 

“What business is that of yours?”

 

“You look concerned, and you’re not the only one working with the man anymore; I have something at stake with him as well. I want to know if what you spoke about was important.”

 

He walked over to the bed, not looking me in the eye as he started down at the one piece suit which was stretched out upon it, “We were discussing the future of Ziforus and where its allegiances lay.”

 

“And?...”

 

“He was ambiguous about that; he said that Ziforus would do whatever it took to stay independent.”

 

“I thought he was your friend?”

 

His eyes narrowed at that, “Do you really think that people like us have friends? He is an asset, nothing more.”

 

I rolled my eyes, “Well it’s no small wonder that he doesn’t trust you then if you don’t trust him.”

 

“It’s not like that, we have a clear cut business relationship but we’re not exactly friends; we trust each other, but only on the matters though which we’re connected.”

 

I sighed, this was the kind of life people like Fenister and I had. We lived empty lives filled with empty relationships. “If you say so Captain.”

 

He broke his gaze from the suit finally and moved towards the door, “You should get some sleep, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow with that walker.”

 

I nodded, “You should get some rest too, you look terrible.”

 

He stepped out of the room leaving me on my own.

 

Well, at least I still retained some ability to be courteous.

 

...

 

I can’t guarantee her safety here Julian, there are things going on which make it riskier than it used to be for your operatives to be housed here.

 

What are you talking about? You’ve always helped me out with things like this before Geralt.

 

Things have changed Julian, war is coming and Ziforus must prepare. We might not be able to house outsiders within our walls anymore.

 

Geralt, I need this to happen, the girl is important.

 

Important how? She seemed like just any other operative of yours from the files.

 

She’s something more. Aphelion was after her earlier, she must be significant, I just don’t know why yet. I need time to investigate.

 

I can’t guarantee you anything Julian.

 

Please Geralt, this will be the last time.

 

...Fine, one last time.

...

9: Dragon of Steel

I woke to an unfamiliar ceiling, blinking my eyes at the plain painted surface and the bright sunlight that shone in through the window. Confusion flooded my mind for a moment before my memory came surging back to remind me of where I was and what had happened. After a moment, I rolled out of the bed, pausing to consider what I should wear. There was probably no need to suit up in my body armour, but whether or not I should wear the uniform they had provided for me I couldn’t possibly know.  The body suit lay where I had left it by the foot of the bed, the dark navy blue sections of the fabric absorbing the heat of the morning sun. It looked comfortable enough, but I felt some reluctance at putting on the extra layer when I didn’t know what it was meant for. In the end though, I set aside my misgivings and pulled on the form fitting uniform before quickly slipping the civilian clothes overtop. The rapier would have to stay here but I took the time to remove the knife and slip it under my jacket before I stepped out of my room into this unknown city state.

 

I walked slowly towards the elevator taking note of all the name plates stamped on the doorways; many of them were familiar to me. Former operatives of Ops 9 who had disappeared or were presumed to be dead, just how many of them had Fenister brought here? And what was in this for him? Every day just brought more questions with it, and Fenister was increasingly difficult to trust. I was tempted to knock on one of these doors and see if their supposed occupants were actually inside, but logic stayed my hand; I was seeing what Fenister wanted me to see, he had left these here for a reason. It only remained for me to figure out his motives and judging him based on what I might find behind these doors would be detrimental to that aim. I stepped into the elevator and after a moment’s hesitation I hit the button for the fifth floor and let the doors slam shut.

 

I strode out into the lobby with the desks which had been filled with people yesterday, finding the desks empty and abandoned. Blueprints and designs still lay strewn across them and I walked over to take a look at a set of them which lay beneath the sunlight which poured in from the windows above. Unlike the ones on the drawer by my bed, these actually detailed designs for a housing unit, a compact cube-like structure which, from what I could see, was designed to be stacked, one atop another on some sort of massive frame to form a massive apartment complex sort of structure within which you could move individual units around.

 

“So I take it you have some interest in architecture and engineering then Miss Summers.” Geralt’s voice echoed through the empty room, pulling my attention from the sheets. He walked through the room, all cool and calm in his business suit and tie.

 

“A passing interest at best; I merely am trained to develop an understanding of my environment.” I responded brushing aside his assumptions.

 

“You’re here rather early Miss Summers, have you had something to eat?”

 

“No, that won’t be necessary though.” I said coldly.

 

“What, do operatives not eat these days? My, the feared Ops 9 is getting more ruthless than it already was it appears.” He laughed, his voice grating and irritating to my ears.

 

“I’ve no interest in your games and no interest in eating, show me to my station and I’ll be on my way and out of your hair.” I said, voice flat.

 

“Well aren’t you something.” He said, eyeballing me for several long seconds. “I see you’re already suited up, so you can just head down to basement level three; it’s not listed so you’ll have to request it by voice command.”

 

I stalked off without another word heading for the elevator; behind me I heard him call out. “The mess hall is on the first floor if you decide you want to stop for some food!” Damn that man, he was annoying.

 

I ran for the elevator and growled into the mic for basement level three, determined not to give in to that irritating man, and the elevator surged beneath me plummeting downwards. I had the strange sensation of floating which comes with massive drops and I realized that we were going deep into the earth; as suddenly as I had begun moving the elevator car slammed to a halt with an ear splitting screech throwing me against the wall, I staggered to my feet and half dragged myself out of the metal cage and heard the doors slam shut behind me as the car rocketed away.

 

“So this is the infamous Gillian Summers that has the entirety of the Combine riled up.” A voice said from behind me.

 

I whirled around to face the speaker who was leaning casually on the wall by the elevator entrance, waiting for me evidently. She was a red head in Valkyrie leathers, complete with a set of cyclists goggles and fingerless gloves in addition to the massive tool belt she had strapped around her waist underneath her jacket.

 

“You’re the Master Craftsman?” I said.

 

“Of course, who else would be waiting for you down here, it’s not exactly homely.” The woman laughed. She was right, the floors were a steel grid and the light came from harsh white fluorescent tubing which ran up and down the massive ceilings. The air smelled of metal and grease and everything seemed to have a coating of fine grit covering it. “So you’re it then, the latest Combine Operative thrown into the gutter; what did you do to get all this attention, kill a couple of Generals?”

 

“That’s none of your concern. I’m told that I’m here to pilot a combat walker of some sort for you?”

 

“I’m told that unlike some of the other Combine states Inersia mandates etiquette, or am I wrong.” She growled back at me.

 

“I don’t subscribe to such practices.”

 

“A pity,” she extended her gloved hand anyways. “I am Diana Karters, former agent to the once great Glissaria, now Master Craftsman and chief engineer for Ziforus.”

 

“Gillian Summers, Commander within Ops 9, former operative; dismissed from service.” I ignored her extended hand; I didn’t have time for this.

 

“Dismissed? Or perhaps something more? Last I heard Inersia did not release its operatives form its service.” The hand retracted as she folded her arms over her chest.

 

“It’s a long story.” I took several slow steps towards her, “Now can we move on please?”

 

Diana rolled her eyes and seemed to relent pushing off from the wall to pull ahead of me, boots clicking on the metal grates as she strode past. “Fine, come along then if you’re so insistent on getting this thing done.”

 

As we progressed the rattling grate floors fell away into huge pens within which I could see the skeletons of hundreds of war machines being built; machinery and mechanical arms spun about the frames assembling them piece by piece showering the floor below though with sparks. Everything was automated, not a single soul was in here apart from us; all that could be heard aside from our muted footsteps was the rattling and hissing of machinery as they went about building these monsters.

 

“Are you the only one down here?” I asked.

 

“Mostly, aside from a few technicians who help with fixing the machinery when it breaks down; even though those bastards have the temerity to assign this damn project to me they expect me to do it down here without any help.”

 

“Well I suppose you could take it as a compliment to your skill set.”

 

She laughed at that, “Hah as if, more like they’re just afraid of me is all.”

 

“Afraid? Why would that be the case?”

 

“You’ll find out in the simulator I suppose. Hurry along, we’re almost there.”

 

I let the matter drop for now, trusting that I could trust her to keep her word; trust, that was a difficult thing to wrap my fingers around right now. But I let myself believe that she at least didn’t have any ulterior motives, for the time being anyways. The metal grid beneath our feet quickly receded into cold concrete as the floor sloped downwards; before us was a long wall with six separate cages, each holding a different monstrosity within.

 

“Welcome to Underground One, home to walkers Panther, Hornet, Sidewinder, Cobra, Tiger, and most recently Wyvern.”

 

They were an assortment of different shapes and sizes. Panther was a lean lanky thing, a mass of flat surfaces along a lithe bipedal body that looked as though it could slip in and around obstacles with ease. Hornet was a miniscule petite central orb with two massive thrusters on its flanks, thin gangly limbs dangling beneath.  Sidewinder and Cobra were similar, flat and low to the ground with wheels melded into their legs, the cockpit sitting above as though it were the turret of a tank atop the four wheeled feet. Tiger was a bulky muscular thing, all raw power and strength, boxer like in general build and last but not least was Wyvern, my machine.

 

I’d seen it in the blueprints but it was something else, seeing it in person sitting in its berth; it was a mid-sized walker lighter than Tiger but more heavily built than the lithe Panther. Triangulated plates covered the torso along the spine and frontal chest with armoured articulation going up the flanks to provide flexibility and she had sacrificed her right arm; in its place was a mount for twin 30mm auto cannons which sat above a missile launcher built into the torso armour. A spherical cockpit sat nestled in a cusp of armour just below the roof of the torso, bulbous and insectoid with various sensors and cameras protruding from armoured ports. Triple jointed limbs made her deceptively short but the powerful pistons along the joints told me that she was a capable jumper, alongside this were the twin engines mounted into a pair of low humps which sprouted from the back, mostly obscured from my sight; even without wings she was probably at least capable of making massive leaps and short glides. Not exactly beautiful by any means, but elegant in its form and function.

 

“Well there it is, my latest design CW-035, Mark II. Fresh and never before piloted, she’ll be imprinting off of you.” Diana said, the bars of the cage sliding away with a thunderous rattling as we drew closer.

 

“Sorry, imprinting?” I asked, unfamiliar with the term.

 

“The walkers we create here are very special; the eventual production models come with an onboard support A.I which thoroughly understands the walker and its systems. This A.I is derived from your thought patterns as you pilot the original; once you pilot this particular walker here no one else will ever be able to pilot it again.”

 

“This thing can read my thoughts?”

 

“It will analyze your thought patterns as you respond to different tasks; any recordings made here are for the purpose of generating an A.I pattern only.”

 

“So it’s copying my personality then?”

 

“In a sense, I suppose. It won’t actual be you of course, just memories and brain waves copied into the crystal memory core.”

 

“Why can’t anyone else pilot the original once I get onboard?”

 

“The systems sync with your neural interface barring the presence of an A.I, they sync once and once only; anyone else trying to pilot the craft will have their brain fried by the overload resulting from systems incompatibility.”

 

“So when do I begin piloting?”

 

“When I deem you fit for service.” Diana pulled off her gloves setting them aside on a table; we stood before the six cages in a dirt covered pit that sunk a meter lower into the earth. Fine white chalk had been used to draw several rings in the sand and Diana continued to strip down, gesturing for me to do the same. “You won’t need the sync suit,” she said, “Strip that off and change into the shirt and pants provided here.”

 

“Sorry?” I said, not understanding her intentions.

 

She had stripped off the last of her outer layers of clothing, leaving just a t-shirt and shorts. “I need to establish your physical competence in order to determine if you are truly worthy of piloting this machine; what better way to do that than to settle this matter in the ring.”

 

“You can’t really be serious about taking on an Inersian Operative in hand to hand combat.” I said flatly, perhaps a little less confidently than I wanted to sound because at the moment I was standing there naked trying to find the right size of clothes to pull on.

 

“Why not? Every other pilot who has ever come through here has been personally inspected and then selected by myself, don’t think that you’re so high and mighty just because you were trained in Inersia, Glissaria was once held in just as high regard.”

 

True, Glissaria had once been one of the Combine’s mightiest states before its fall at the hands of Aphelion but much had changed since then. Ops 9 and Inersia had since taken up the mantle of the mighty, and while once Glissaria had trained soldiers and spies, Inersia grew them, shaped them, morphed them, and twisted them into whatever form suited it. I was one of those defective, less than human products, more weapon and machine than human being. I was unlike anything this woman had likely ever faced. But she wouldn’t believe that, you could see the pride that shone through in her eyes.

 

“Well then I suppose we’re about to find out if you match up to the standards of Ops 9.” I responded evenly.

 

We stepped into the ring, unarmed but ready; the first to yield would be the one who lost. Technically this was just a diagnostic of sorts but I think we both understood that this had become something more than that, a matter of personal pride. No one here liked Inersia, you could feel that undercurrent of resentment everywhere you went; I guess we were notorious these days as the major player of the Combine states along with Obitua and its massive ports.

 

“Your move, Inersian.” She growled as we slowly circled, arms outstretched.

 

I let silence fill the gap between us, waiting for an opening. For now, if everything continued on as it was eventually one of us would be forced to make a move. The advantage and element of surprise would lie with the one who did but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to just launch myself at the other woman. I could see the muscle on her frame, thick and heavy around her limbs from constant strain and usage and there was a cunning look in her eyes; she was dangerous.

 

She was whisper silent when she took her first step forwards and the fist was hurtling towards my face before I could blink; left with too little time to block I jerked awkwardly backwards letting her brush against my chin instead taking a flurry of punches across my arms and I got hit during my sloppy recovery. Getting back into position I responded with a series of swift strikes with the aim of finding a pattern to her defenses but several simple blocks by her resulted in a simple deadlock which both of us drew away from.

She was good, but I knew that I was better, at least from the skills she had shown me anyways. I had made a mistake letting her get the jump on me and been punished accordingly but if that had been me, she would be dead, or in this case, down in the dirt pinned against the floor. This time I was the one to make the first move, lunging forwards with a stab aimed at her center mass; I didn’t expect to hit her with it, instead I used it as a cover for the downwards sweep that I collapsed into as I closed the distance, knocking her off her feet. I aimed a kick at her and was punished with a grab that pulled me down into the dirt with her; my second mistake already, I was out of form from not practicing for too long.

 

I recovered and rolled onto my feet lashing out at her legs as she struggled to do the same; she blocked the first of the strikes before I knocked her flat to the floor with a brutal follow up to her forehead. I sidestepped her attempt to grab at my legs again and stepped down hard across her back, folding into a kneel as I took hold of her arms in a lock and turned away from her thrashing legs to shield my face.

 

“If I had a weapon, you would be dead.” I said.

 

“Get off of me Inersian.”

 

“Did I pass?”

 

“Get off.”

 

I sighed, grace in defeat wasn’t something I had been expecting, but it would nice if for once someone treated me as something other than an Inersian operative, a human being for starters. Never the less I got off the other woman, extending a hand to help her to her feet. She ignored my hand and pushed herself up, dusting herself off in an irritable manner.

 

“You’re faster than I remember you Inersians being, faster than anyone I’ve ever met.” Diana said.

 

“I’m Ops 9, beyond the scope of anyone you’ve ever met likely.” I said coldly.

 

She pursed her lips, “I can see that now; hopefully your physical ability translates properly into prowess in piloting.”

 

“Fine, get me in one then.” I said.

 

And that was when the world went dark.

...

 

When did you last hear from him?

 

Several days ago from his post in Obitua.

 

And he failed to report for three consecutive check-ins?

 

Correct.

 

What was he doing when he last reported in?

His report mentioned something about some Inersian operatives he was monitoring.

 

Was anything else?

 

The name ‘Fenister’ was mentioned.

 

Well then Lieutenant, you know what to do.

...

10: I am the Pilot

We were standing in the middle of a sea of rubble, a towering figure amongst flaming ruins. I took a slow look around me to take in the carnage noting how scattered the debris was; whatever had done this had levelled the building almost instantaneously smashing it into oblivion. I strode off the platform aware of the crumbling stone beneath me, scanning from side to side looking for signs of life; the Springfield Architectural Firm had been a large building full of people, it was impossible that no one had been inside when this happened. Fenister in particular would have survived no matter what had happened, the man was like a cockroach, an indestructible irritating…thing; there was no way he was dead, he had survived somehow, he had to have.

 

<What could have done this?>

 

“I don’t know, but the power of the explosion was truly enormous. I don’t think…that anyone above ground could have survived.”

 

<Fenister made it, he had to have.> I kept on looking, striding forwards through the debris careful not to walk over anything that had a possibility of hiding a body.

 

“Fenister? Can’t say I know the man.”

 

<He was...no is my superior officer, and a friend of Geralt.>

 

“Geralt is more likely than not dead, and the same applies to this Fenister. We should move on, whatever did this could come back.”

 

<I’m inside a seventy four ton war machine, what the hell do we have to be afraid of? We need to find the mother fuckers who did this, or failing that at least figure out what the hell just happened here.> It was hard to express emotion when everything I said was synthesized through Wyvern’s speakers, but I wasn’t about to let Diana’s emotions scare us into submission. Raw destructive power was pointless without a goal; someone had to have had some other goal other than levelling the building. They had been after something, or someone, and I was going to find out what.

 

“I need to see what Ziforus Central has to say about this.” Diana said from above, voice flat concealing any emotion she felt. “The chain of command still exists; I must report in.”

 

<I need…to leave.> Fenister was the only reason I had come here, without him I had no purpose or direction; I had to find him. <I must find Fenister.>

 

There was a long silence as Diana weighed her options; she was actually in an almost tougher position than me in this situation; I at least had cut all of my ties and responsibilities before this. At last from her perch on Wyvern she leapt down, a large distance which she covered with surprising grace considering she was falling almost two stories; she landed on her feet and walked a distance away from me before turning back to face me.

 

“Wyvern is yours now, I can’t take her away from you; if you’re going to find the people who did this then good luck, but I have responsibilities which I cannot abandon. You’re on your own now, though I suspect you’re rather used to that.” She began to walk away and for a moment I was tempted to let her leave it at that. At the last second though I decided to say something; though we hadn’t really gotten along in the short period of time during which we had been together, she still seemed a decent enough person, a little bitter perhaps, but deservingly so.

 

<Be careful, and remember that the underground area survived; if you find yourself in trouble you should return to that bunker below.>

 

“I can take care of myself, just like you thanks. Be careful with Wyvern alright? She’s my baby, don’t scratch her; I’ll want her back eventually so if you damage her in anyways I’m going to come for your ass.”

 

<She’ll be fine, and so will I. Perhaps we’ll meet again.>

 

“Perhaps.” She said, turning away.

 

I was left alone standing there, the flames beginning to slowly burn lower around me. Wyvern hummed silently in the background, and every few seconds a ribbon of energy of some sort would shoot through the stasis fluid dancing between conduits and wrap itself around my limbs before disappearing into one of the various receptors which studded the inside of the cockpit within which I floated. That I had just been left here inside this thing was difficult to comprehend; I was a hunted fugitive pursued by two of the seven Combine states and I was just standing here in the middle of a blast zone in Ziforus in a 37 ton war machine.

 

That was when I saw them, the faint shapes circling around me in the air perhaps three hundred meters up; they were just faintly blurred out from this far but the active camouflage of an Inersian Thopter was still unmistakable to me. It was impossible that they hadn’t seen me, I should have been quite visible standing where I was and even if no one was looking outside of the craft the Thopter should have marked me as a potential hostile; something else was at work here. Suddenly they veered away, disappearing into the distance as though something had spooked them and seconds later a large aircraft appeared thundering out across the horizon headed straight towards me.

 

It was the insectoid gunship which had shot us down over the ports of Obitua; a lanky thin thing with four turbines and thin limbs which were each tipped with massive guns. I began to start moving across the rubble leaping over the debris with long strides even as warning sirens began to blare through the sync fluid as Wyvern signalled to me that missiles were locking onto my signature; the ECM suite hummed and came to life unbidden sending out jamming signals even as I brought the targeting systems up to my eyes to engage the gunship myself. I quickly established a missile lock of my own and fired off three warheads before ducking behind a pile of rubble; around me two missiles from the gunship ploughed into the ground and another soared overhead narrowly missing. Three explosions shook the earth and I sprinted over to another mound with thunderous footfalls; cannon fire rattled along behind me as the Gunship continued to close the distance. I spun around and opened up with the massive auto-cannon that was my left arm, feeling the recoil though the neural backlash even though I was so detached from the action in actuality.

 

30mm shells streaked across the sky and the gunship responded in kind opening up on me with four cannons of its own forcing me to run for cover; a streak of fire marked its location as it rocketed forwards to meet me. A salvo of missiles shot up from Wyvern without me having to issue the order as the ECM suite intercepted another volley of missiles; by now the gunship was right above me and we were fighting a battle to see whose armour gave out first. Rappel lines descended from the aircraft as it fought to maintain its position above me and armoured soldiers descended down the lines to board the walker; I blew half of them to pieces with the auto-cannon and swept aside another three with a single swipe of my arm. The few that made it however        became a nuisance clearly trying to get into the cockpit; I ran then trying to outpace the gunship so I could deal with these infantrymen more easily.

 

I would not have far to go; the gunship swung down and actually came to a halt right in front of me with every weapon trained on Wyvern’s spherical cockpit.

 

“Stand down, combat operative. Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded.” To my surprise the voice came                not from the aircraft but from above me; one of those suicidal bastards who were on top of Wyvern was in charge apparently.

 

I considered my options carefully; I had very quickly picked up on how to fight in this machine since it seemed to be more instinctual than anything else but I still wasn’t aware of what my full capabilities were not having had sufficient time to train in this thing. It was already amazing that I could utilize the war machine with this kind of proficiency, but I doubted that that proficiency would be enough to get me out of the gun sights of this        unknown gunship. Reluctantly I lowered my weapons and brought Wyvern to a standstill, in front of me the gunship continued to hover managing to be almost completely still with its four engines; in spite of the punishment I had thrown out towards it the flyer seemed to have weathered the storm  with only minor hull damage. Whatever the thing was it was far more heavily armoured than the Thopters and Hovercraft I had encountered thus far.

 

Un-natural light flooded in from above as someone opened the hatch and a hand plunged into the yellow-green sync fluid. I released myself from Wyvern’s systems and grasped the hand as the tubes retracted from my body back into their hidden ports; moments later I was pulled to the surface and deposited on Wyvern’s upper surface, a steaming hot plate of metal now puckered with bullet holes. Not my most impressive entrance I supposed, but it would have to do. Two enemy infantrymen had made it out of the squad that had dropped out the gunship; shiny epaulettes glinted in my face as the officer who had hauled me out pulled me onto my feet to look me in the eye.

“I’m looking for a man who goes by the name Fenister, where is he?” the officer’s voice was muffled through the speakers of his helmet but I could tell he was male.

 

“Who’s asking?” I said, staring into the void of the helmet’s faceplate.  

 

In response the visor dropped down and I found myself looking into a pair of disconcertingly different eyes, one a sharp green and the other a pale grey; trademark characteristics of Aphelian Special Operatives. “We’re looking for one of our own who has gone missing, our orders say that this Fenister can tell us where to find him. I won’t ask you again nicely; where is Fenister?”

 

It was difficult for me to decide whether or not I should lie; normally I would have no qualms about ditching Fenister and leaving the bastard to fend for himself but this was an Aphelian agent. Leaving Fenister to the Combine states was one thing, but this was on another level entirely; besides, I actually had no idea where the hell the man was. Clearly I was going to have to give these guys some kind of answer though because it didn’t seem as though they were just going to leave me be if I told them that I didn’t know.        

 

“He didn’t tell me where he was going and I haven’t seen him in 24 hours.” I noticed now that the other trooper who had made it was standing just at the edge of my field of vision with a rifle levelled at my skull; even if this officer here wasn’t pointing a weapon at me right now I was going to die if I tried anything funny.

 

“Grace, search the interior for this bastard.” The officer said taking a step back from me and pulling out a handgun. He levelled it at my head and turned back to me, “And you, don’t try anything.”

 

Anyone else trying to pilot the craft will have their brains fried…

 

“You really shouldn’t send her in there, I assure you I was the only pilot.”            

 

“Shut up. Grace get in there and check, I want a full visual report.”

 

“She’ll die.” I said flatly, staring down the barrel of the gun.        

 

“Then she’ll die and I will take responsibility for such.” He said without looking away.     

 

I’d met many cruel individuals during my time in Inersia but this man here was something else; you could see in his eyes that there wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his mind when he said those words. You could tell that something had happened to him to change him, or perhaps…it was part of how he had become an Aphelion special operative. Still, in all my years I had never been faced down with such a cold heartless gaze, it chilled me to the core.

 

“What’s the hold up Grace, surely you don’t believe what she’s saying?”

 

“But sir, what if she’s telling the truth?” the other soldier stood at the edge of the hatch peering uncertainly down into the pool of sync fluid.

 

“I don’t have time to play games and Bernie died during this insertion; there is no one left to tell you whether or not you are risking your life in this endeavour. You have only my orders…and the gun in your hand.” He finally stopped to turn his gaze over to the other Aphelian trooper, “Actually I lied, there’s a third option, being that I use my gun to conclude this stand-off. Remember who you, remember who you serve; death comes for all of us, we are no different. Get inside that thing and check it for Fenister, I won’t repeat myself again.”

 

“Yes sir.” Her salute was stiff and forced but the officer’s eyes barely moved; even as he had turned away to look at the other soldier I could see him watching me out of the corner of his eye, whatever he might be this man was anything but sloppy.

 

“You know I’m glad you didn’t try to lie about the fact that you’re associated with Fenister, it would have been a pity if I had to beat the information out of you; it would be such a shame to ruin that face, scarred or not.”

 

“I’m not sure what I quite understand what you’re talking about.”

 

“We arrived when you did, think back to the airstrip; I know you saw us picking up our bags. Didn’t you wonder what a bunch of uniforms were doing here in Ziforus, a civilian haven?”                              

 

So that was it, this was that group of grey jacketed individuals who had been picking up their bags; I had thought something was off about them but nothing else had come up so the thought had disappeared from the front of my mind. They had been an oddity but the chaos of what had been going on at the time had caused me to disregard them; I remembered now that I had wanted to mention them to Fenister but I had never gotten around to doing so.

 

“What are you doing here?” I said, casually trying to ignore the gun in my face.

 

“One of our agents has gone missing, Fenister is reported to be the last person he was tailing though he did mention that he might have spotted a potential template. We’ve been searching for Fenister for a while now; we know he was here in this building but I guess you’ll have to do for now.”         

 

“Well perhaps that’s because your agent was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.” I growled.

 

The officer gave me a cold stare, “Aphelion goes where it pleases Combiner, have you not learned that lesson yet?”                     

 

I snorted, “And you wonder why we’re on the brink of war.”

 

“The strong trample the weak, that is how it always has been.” He stopped and took a few steps back towards Wyvern’s open hatch. “Gillian, report in.”

 

There was a long silence as the officer peered in Wyvern’s depths, the barrel of his weapon never once strayed from my head even as he circled around searching for his subordinate. At last he stopped directly across from me and gave me a hard look, “What happened to her?”

 

I shrugged, “The machine is synced to me, I was told anyone else who tried to pilot it would have their brains fried.”                     

 

“Where’s her body then?”

“Why don’t you go in and find out.”

 

He waved the gun in my direction, “Why don’t you go do that for me.”

 

I hesitated; getting back into Wyvern gave me the opportunity to possibly get back into the pilot seat and plan an escape, but the Aphelian gunship was still hovering there just waiting for me to do something stupid. I had an opportunity here but not enough of the right pieces were in place, I still needed a distraction.

 

The officer noticed that something was bothering me and inched the gun closer towards my face, always careful to keep it out of arms reach, “Well go on, get in and retrieve my trooper for me, whatever state she might be in.”

 

I moved slowly towards Wyvern’s opening and peered in for a moment before I felt something connect with my back and push me in; the officer’s boot forced me down before I even had time to gasp and I found myself sinking into the sync fluid. Immediately the cockpit hummed to life and ports all around me lit up filling the sphere with light; below me I could see the armoured figure of the other Aphelion trooper drifting listlessly. I swum tried to swim through the stasis fluid towards her but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t seem to make any progress towards her; slowly the sensors in the cockpit sensed my location and began to snake towards me. Wyvern only had one master, but if it activated now they were going to blow me to pieces; I had to find a way to retrieve the Aphelian soldier and get out of here before Wyvern tried to interface.           

 

The Suspension Effect: The tendency for interfacing mediums to inhibit physical movement within their containers in order to transfer these motions into actuation of the larger unit’s physical parts.

 

Xavier always had been a better student than me, he would have recognized the problem here immediately; the sync fluid and Wyvern’s systems had declared the Aphelian trooper as an anomaly and removed her from the main piloting region within which I was now suspended. Though she would remain alive she wasn’t going anywhere until the cockpit was drained in a proper holding bay. I pushed upwards away from Wyvern’s conduits and hauled myself up and out through the hatch only to feel cold steel press against the back of my head.

 

“Where’s my trooper?” the officer growled.

 

“Inside, probably still alive; I can’t her out right now, not without a docking bay.”

 

“Well, we’re out of time; we’re leaving. And you are coming with us pilot whether you like it or not; if you are the only one who can drive this thing then you are an asset I will not lose.” The officer said coldly.

 

I laughed at that, “And how do you propose you get yourselves and this massive walker out of here without being shot to pieces?”

 

He nodded his head towards the gunship which was still hovering there before us. “She fits the bill, plenty of room inside for you as well given how many of the squad are left.” He growled darkly.

 

As if responding to the officer’s movements the gunship drew several meters closer, weapons still trained on Wyvern; out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement in the other direction and I turned to see what I was looking at. Tracking my movements he glanced up in the direction I was staring but like me he saw nothing; whatever had been there, was not there anymore. The officer’s eyes narrowed, and he waved at the gunship whilst still keeping his weapon pointed towards me.

 

“Mantis Two-Six, scan the surroundings.” He snarled into his sleeve.

 

<There’s nothing here that can challenge us, that war machine we’re guarding was the only thing close; relax Lieutenant.>

 

His eyes twitched and a look of irritation crossed the man’s face, “I said scan the fucking surroundings! That’s an order!”

 

<Look, serio->

 

And that was when the Thopter reappeared out of nowhere opening up on the Aphelian gunship at point blank range.

…

 

You were there at the beginning, what existed before Apehlion and the Combine?

 

What do you mean by that? This was always an urban center.

 

The rain band wasn’t always at war with Aphelion at the top of that hill, what happened that set us so against each other?

 

People will always find a reason to fight, it is in humanities nature to be in conflict with itself in order to progress further.

 

Hah, you call this progress? I can hardly see how any of this is beneficial.

 

No one ever said it had to be beneficial, I merely said that the world is always changing.

 

Heck of a world then if all that’s in it is destruction and death.

 

The world is cruel. Perhaps it’s time you woke up and accepted that.

 

Or perhaps it’s time I changed it.

….

11: Familiar Faces

 

We were standing in the middle of a sea of rubble, a towering figure amongst flaming ruins. I took a slow look around me to take in the carnage noting how scattered the debris was; whatever had done this had levelled the building almost instantaneously smashing it into oblivion. I strode off the platform aware of the crumbling stone beneath me, scanning from side to side looking for signs of life; the Springfield Architectural Firm had been a large building full of people, it was impossible that no one had been inside when this happened. Fenister in particular would have survived no matter what had happened, the man was like a cockroach, an indestructible irritating…thing; there was no way he was dead, he had survived somehow, he had to have.

 

<What could have done this?>

 

“I don’t know, but the power of the explosion was truly enormous. I don’t think…that anyone above ground could have survived.”

 

<Fenister made it, he had to have.> I kept on looking, striding forwards through the debris careful not to walk over anything that had a possibility of hiding a body.

 

“Fenister? Can’t say I know the man.”

 

<He was...no is my superior officer, and a friend of Geralt.>

 

“Geralt is more likely than not dead, and the same applies to this Fenister. We should move on, whatever did this could come back.”

 

<I’m inside a seventy four ton war machine, what the hell do we have to be afraid of? We need to find the mother fuckers who did this, or failing that at least figure out what the hell just happened here.> It was hard to express emotion when everything I said was synthesized through Wyvern’s speakers, but I wasn’t about to let Diana’s emotions scare us into submission. Raw destructive power was pointless without a goal; someone had to have had some other goal other than levelling the building. They had been after something, or someone, and I was going to find out what.

 

“I need to see what Ziforus Central has to say about this.” Diana said from above, voice flat concealing any emotion she felt. “The chain of command still exists; I must report in.”

 

<I need…to leave.> Fenister was the only reason I had come here, without him I had no purpose or direction; I had to find him. <I must find Fenister.>

 

There was a long silence as Diana weighed her options; she was actually in an almost tougher position than me in this situation; I at least had cut all of my ties and responsibilities before this. At last from her perch on Wyvern she leapt down, a large distance which she covered with surprising grace considering she was falling almost two stories; she landed on her feet and walked a distance away from me before turning back to face me.

 

“Wyvern is yours now, I can’t take her away from you; if you’re going to find the people who did this then good luck, but I have responsibilities which I cannot abandon. You’re on your own now, though I suspect you’re rather used to that.” She began to walk away and for a moment I was tempted to let her leave it at that. At the last second though I decided to say something; though we hadn’t really gotten along in the short period of time during which we had been together, she still seemed a decent enough person, a little bitter perhaps, but deservingly so.

 

<Be careful, and remember that the underground area survived; if you find yourself in trouble you should return to that bunker below.>

 

“I can take care of myself, just like you thanks. Be careful with Wyvern alright? She’s my baby, don’t scratch her; I’ll want her back eventually so if you damage her in anyways I’m going to come for your ass.”

 

<She’ll be fine, and so will I. Perhaps we’ll meet again.>

 

“Perhaps.” She said, turning away.

 

I was left alone standing there, the flames beginning to slowly burn lower around me. Wyvern hummed silently in the background, and every few seconds a ribbon of energy of some sort would shoot through the stasis fluid dancing between conduits and wrap itself around my limbs before disappearing into one of the various receptors which studded the inside of the cockpit within which I floated. That I had just been left here inside this thing was difficult to comprehend; I was a hunted fugitive pursued by two of the seven Combine states and I was just standing here in the middle of a blast zone in Ziforus in a 37 ton war machine.

 

That was when I saw them, the faint shapes circling around me in the air perhaps three hundred meters up; they were just faintly blurred out from this far but the active camouflage of an Inersian Thopter was still unmistakable to me. It was impossible that they hadn’t seen me, I should have been quite visible standing where I was and even if no one was looking outside of the craft the Thopter should have marked me as a potential hostile; something else was at work here. Suddenly they veered away, disappearing into the distance as though something had spooked them and seconds later a large aircraft appeared thundering out across the horizon headed straight towards me.

 

It was the insectoid gunship which had shot us down over the ports of Obitua; a lanky thin thing with four turbines and thin limbs which were each tipped with massive guns. I began to start moving across the rubble leaping over the debris with long strides even as warning sirens began to blare through the sync fluid as Wyvern signalled to me that missiles were locking onto my signature; the ECM suite hummed and came to life unbidden sending out jamming signals even as I brought the targeting systems up to my eyes to engage the gunship myself. I quickly established a missile lock of my own and fired off three warheads before ducking behind a pile of rubble; around me two missiles from the gunship ploughed into the ground and another soared overhead narrowly missing. Three explosions shook the earth and I sprinted over to another mound with thunderous footfalls; cannon fire rattled along behind me as the Gunship continued to close the distance. I spun around and opened up with the massive auto-cannon that was my left arm, feeling the recoil though the neural backlash even though I was so detached from the action in actuality.

 

30mm shells streaked across the sky and the gunship responded in kind opening up on me with four cannons of its own forcing me to run for cover; a streak of fire marked its location as it rocketed forwards to meet me. A salvo of missiles shot up from Wyvern without me having to issue the order as the ECM suite intercepted another volley of missiles; by now the gunship was right above me and we were fighting a battle to see whose armour gave out first. Rappel lines descended from the aircraft as it fought to maintain its position above me and armoured soldiers descended down the lines to board the walker; I blew half of them to pieces with the auto-cannon and swept aside another three with a single swipe of my arm. The few that made it however        became a nuisance clearly trying to get into the cockpit; I ran then trying to outpace the gunship so I could deal with these infantrymen more easily.

 

I would not have far to go; the gunship swung down and actually came to a halt right in front of me with every weapon trained on Wyvern’s spherical cockpit.

 

“Stand down, combat operative. Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded.” To my surprise the voice came                not from the aircraft but from above me; one of those suicidal bastards who were on top of Wyvern was in charge apparently.

 

I considered my options carefully; I had very quickly picked up on how to fight in this machine since it seemed to be more instinctual than anything else but I still wasn’t aware of what my full capabilities were not having had sufficient time to train in this thing. It was already amazing that I could utilize the war machine with this kind of proficiency, but I doubted that that proficiency would be enough to get me out of the gun sights of this        unknown gunship. Reluctantly I lowered my weapons and brought Wyvern to a standstill, in front of me the gunship continued to hover managing to be almost completely still with its four engines; in spite of the punishment I had thrown out towards it the flyer seemed to have weathered the storm  with only minor hull damage. Whatever the thing was it was far more heavily armoured than the Thopters and Hovercraft I had encountered thus far.

 

Un-natural light flooded in from above as someone opened the hatch and a hand plunged into the yellow-green sync fluid. I released myself from Wyvern’s systems and grasped the hand as the tubes retracted from my body back into their hidden ports; moments later I was pulled to the surface and deposited on Wyvern’s upper surface, a steaming hot plate of metal now puckered with bullet holes. Not my most impressive entrance I supposed, but it would have to do. Two enemy infantrymen had made it out of the squad that had dropped out the gunship; shiny epaulettes glinted in my face as the officer who had hauled me out pulled me onto my feet to look me in the eye.

“I’m looking for a man who goes by the name Fenister, where is he?” the officer’s voice was muffled through the speakers of his helmet but I could tell he was male.

 

“Who’s asking?” I said, staring into the void of the helmet’s faceplate.  

 

In response the visor dropped down and I found myself looking into a pair of disconcertingly different eyes, one a sharp green and the other a pale grey; trademark characteristics of Aphelian Special Operatives. “We’re looking for one of our own who has gone missing, our orders say that this Fenister can tell us where to find him. I won’t ask you again nicely; where is Fenister?” the man’s sharp face was framed by a longish shock of black hair which lightly shaded his right eye.

 

It was difficult for me to decide whether or not I should lie; normally I would have no qualms about ditching Fenister and leaving the bastard to fend for himself but this was an Aphelian agent. Leaving Fenister to the Combine states was one thing, but this was on another level entirely; besides, I actually had no idea where the hell the man was. Clearly I was going to have to give these guys some kind of answer though because it didn’t seem as though they were just going to leave me be if I told them that I didn’t know.        

 

“He didn’t tell me where he was going and I haven’t seen him in 24 hours.” I noticed now that the other trooper who had made it was standing just at the edge of my field of vision with a rifle levelled at my skull; even if this officer here wasn’t pointing a weapon at me right now I was going to die if I tried anything funny.

 

“Grace, search the interior for this bastard.” The officer said taking a step back from me and pulling out a handgun. He levelled it at my head and turned back to me, “And you, don’t try anything.”

 

Anyone else trying to pilot the craft will have their brains fried…

 

“You really shouldn’t send her in there, I assure you I was the only pilot.”            

 

“Shut up. Grace get in there and check, I want a full visual report.”

 

“She’ll die.” I said flatly, staring down the barrel of the gun.        

 

“Then she’ll die and I will take responsibility for such.” He said without looking away.     

 

I’d met many cruel individuals during my time in Inersia but this man here was something else; you could see in his eyes that there wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his mind when he said those words. You could tell that something had happened to him to change him, or perhaps…it was part of how he had become an Aphelion special operative. Still, in all my years I had never been faced down with such a cold heartless gaze, it chilled me to the core.

 

“What’s the hold up Grace, surely you don’t believe what she’s saying?”

 

“But sir, what if she’s telling the truth?” the other soldier stood at the edge of the hatch peering uncertainly down into the pool of sync fluid.

 

“I don’t have time to play games and Bernie died during this insertion; there is no one left to tell you whether or not you are risking your life in this endeavour. You have only my orders…and the gun in your hand.” He finally stopped to turn his gaze over to the other Aphelian trooper, “Actually I lied, there’s a third option, being that I use my gun to conclude this stand-off. Remember who you are, and remember who you serve; death comes for all of us, we are no different. Get inside that thing and check it for the target, I won’t repeat myself again.”

 

“Yes sir.” Her salute was stiff and forced but the officer’s eyes barely moved; even as he had turned away to look at the other soldier I could see him watching me out of the corner of his eye, whatever he might be this man was anything but sloppy.

 

“You know I’m glad you didn’t try to lie about the fact that you’re associated with Fenister, it would have been a pity if I had to beat the information out of you; it would be such a shame to ruin that face, scarred or not.”

 

“I’m not sure what I quite understand what you’re talking about.”

 

“We arrived when you did, think back to the airstrip; I know you saw us picking up our bags. Didn’t you wonder what a bunch of uniforms were doing here in Ziforus, a civilian haven?”                              

 

So that was it, this was that group of grey jacketed individuals who had been picking up their bags; I had thought something was off about them but nothing else had come up so the thought had disappeared from the front of my mind. They had been an oddity but the chaos of what had been going on at the time had caused me to disregard them; I remembered now that I had wanted to mention them to Fenister but I had never gotten around to doing so.

 

“What are you doing here?” I said, casually trying to ignore the gun in my face.

 

“One of our agents has gone missing, Fenister is reported to be the last person he was tailing though he did mention that he might have spotted a potential template. We’ve been searching for Fenister for a while now; we know he was here in this building but I guess you’ll have to do for now.”         

 

“Well perhaps that’s because your agent was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.” I growled.

 

The officer gave me a cold stare, “Aphelion goes where it pleases Combiner, have you not learned that lesson yet?”                     

 

I snorted, “And you wonder why we’re on the brink of war.”

 

“The strong trample the weak, that is how it always has been.” He stopped and took a few steps back towards Wyvern’s open hatch. “Grace, report in.”

 

There was a long silence as the officer peered in Wyvern’s depths, the barrel of his weapon never once strayed from my head even as he circled around searching for his subordinate. At last he stopped directly across from me and gave me a hard look, “What happened to her?”

 

I shrugged, “The machine is synced to me, I was told anyone else who tried to pilot it would have their brains fried.”                     

 

“Where’s her body then?”

 

“Why don’t you go in and find out.”

 

He waved the gun in my direction, “Why don’t you go do that for me.”

 

I hesitated; getting back into Wyvern gave me the opportunity to possibly get back into the pilot seat and plan an escape, but the Aphelian gunship was still hovering there just waiting for me to do something stupid. I had an opportunity here but not enough of the right pieces were in place, I still needed a distraction.

 

The officer noticed that something was bothering me and inched the gun closer towards my face, always careful to keep it out of arms reach, “Well go on, get in and retrieve my trooper for me, whatever state she might be in.”

 

I moved slowly towards Wyvern’s opening and peered in for a moment before I felt something connect with my back and push me in; the officer’s boot forced me down before I even had time to gasp and I found myself sinking into the sync fluid. Immediately the cockpit hummed to life and ports all around me lit up filling the sphere with light; below me I could see the armoured figure of the other Aphelion trooper drifting listlessly. I swum tried to swim through the stasis fluid towards her but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t seem to make any progress towards her; slowly the sensors in the cockpit sensed my location and began to snake towards me. Wyvern only had one master, but if it activated now they were going to blow me to pieces; I had to find a way to retrieve the Aphelian soldier and get out of here before Wyvern tried to interface.           

 

The Suspension Effect: The tendency for interfacing mediums to inhibit physical movement within their containers in order to transfer these motions into actuation of the larger unit’s physical parts.

 

Xavier always had been a better student than me, he would have recognized the problem here immediately; the sync fluid and Wyvern’s systems had declared the Aphelian trooper as an anomaly and removed her from the main piloting region within which I was now suspended. Though she would remain alive she wasn’t going anywhere until the cockpit was drained in a proper holding bay. I pushed upwards away from Wyvern’s conduits and hauled myself up and out through the hatch only to feel cold steel press against the back of my head.

 

“Where’s my trooper?” the officer growled.

 

“Inside, probably still alive; I can’t her out right now, not without a docking bay.”

 

“Well, we’re out of time; we’re leaving. And you are coming with us pilot whether you like it or not; if you are the only one who can drive this thing then you are an asset I will not lose.” The officer said coldly.

 

I laughed at that, “And how do you propose you get yourselves and this massive walker out of here without being shot to pieces?”

 

He nodded his head towards the gunship which was still hovering there before us. “She fits the bill, plenty of room inside for you as well given how many of the squad are left.” He growled darkly.

 

As if responding to the officer’s movements the gunship drew several meters closer, weapons still trained on Wyvern; out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement in the other direction and I turned to see what I was looking at. Tracking my movements he glanced up in the direction I was staring but like me he saw nothing; whatever had been there, was not there anymore. The officer’s eyes narrowed, and he waved at the gunship whilst still keeping his weapon pointed towards me.

 

“Mantis Two-Six, scan the surroundings.” He snarled into his sleeve.

 

<There’s nothing here that can challenge us, that war machine we’re guarding was the only thing close; relax Lieutenant.>

 

His eyes twitched and a look of irritation crossed the man’s face, “I said scan the fucking surroundings! That’s an order!”

 

<Look, serio->

 

And that was when the Thopter reappeared out of nowhere opening up on the Aphelian gunship at point blank range.

…

 

You were there at the beginning, what existed before Aphelion and the Combine?

 

What do you mean by that? This was always an urban center.

 

The rain band wasn’t always at war with Aphelion at the top of that hill, what happened that set us so against each other?

 

People will always find a reason to fight, it is in humanities nature to be in conflict with itself in order to progress further.

 

Hah, you call this progress? I can hardly see how any of this is beneficial.

 

No one ever said it had to be beneficial, I merely said that the world is always changing.

 

Heck of a world then if all that’s in it is destruction and death.

 

The world is cruel. Perhaps it’s time you woke up and accepted that.

 

Or perhaps it’s time I changed it.

….

12: Inconsistencies

After the initial volley of cannon shells the Thopter let loose a stream of cyan missiles which pounded the Aphelian vessel at close range, the large insectoid gunship shuddered under the impacts and lurched towards the ground as three, then four explosions ripped through its hull. The Aphelian officer seemed to have forgotten about my existence, shouting orders into his comlink on his wrist but I could see him glaring at me out of the corner of his eye the entirety of the time as he kept his gun levelled at my face.

 

“Use the ion cannon and blow the shit out of that bug.”

<But sir, it’s a prototype we have order not to use it unles->

 

“Use the fucking ion cannon, that’s a direct order!”

 

But it was too late for the Aphelian ship; whatever this ion cannon was it was going down in flames as the stricken vessel ploughed into the rubble strewn earth nose first. The Thopter continued to circle the carcass pumping cannon shells into each of the surviving two engine nacelles until they exploded into a fiery mess. The officer had an ugly scowl on his face and I couldn’t help but feel a little concerned for my life; the Aphelian had already pulled his helmet back on and was looking nervously around, rightly uncertain of what to do. He was stranded in the middle of enemy territory with no backup and a fully armed Inersian Thopter was circling around him; were in his situation I would be terrified.

 

The Thopter continued to pound the downed gunship with rockets until it was just blackened metal in a smoldering crater, the officer let his hand drop and sat down beside me with a sigh, taking his helmet off again.

 

“So this is it huh, this is the fate that Aphelion has set for me.” He laughed, a harsh raw sound. He was much younger than I had initially thought up close. “So I assume Fenister’s in that Thopter then?”

 

I shrugged, “I don’t know myself, but that would be my guess; I doubt he died in the explosion.”

 

“What an interesting road life has taken me upon, to find myself dying here so far from home.” He pounded his fist against the metal of Wyvern, “If you could see me now Marcus, what would you say I wonder?”

 

“You’re not dead yet you know.” I interjected.

 

He gave a look, eyes full of bitterness, “My entire squad is dead, I’m stranded in the middle of a supposedly neutral but not actually neutral territory, the new and state of the art Prayer-class  assault shuttle that was dispatched with us is sitting in the dirt as a smoldering mess , and I’m sitting atop a war machine produced by a supposedly neutral state beside its pilot having a nice conversation as though we were merely talking over a cup of coffee.” His modified eyes had a gloomy look to them and his hair seemed to sag over his face making him look as though he was soaked; he was quite different from the arrogant Aphelian officer who had been standing before me holding a gun to my head just moments ago, defeated and exhausted.

 

“Well, can’t say my day’s been going much better myself, I’ve only got the entirety of the god damn Combine after me. You are your squad are just a little more rain on my parade.” I laughed, giving him a wry smile.

 

“Yeah? What’d you do to end up this way?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. In front of us the Thopter finally ceased its circling and came to a halt, engine nacelles twisting to bring it in for landing on the blasted ground before us.

 

“Let’s just say I was in the business of informing the public of just what exactly they were voting for when they supporting Inersia’s government.”

 

“And yet you were one of their own, an operative from the looks of it; you even carry a rapier.”

“How do you know about that?” I had left the rapier behind in my room before going down to meet Diana.

 

“Those secrets are buried in the ruins of that building now.” He said, his smile slight. “If you had your blade on you I would have liked to cross blades with one of the legendary Inersian swordsmen, or swordswomen in this case.” he said, twisting to show off a one handed sabre strapped to his back.

 

“Well, I can’t say I’m one of their best examples of a good operative.”

 

“Really, because I’m the best Aphelion has to offer, and they only send me after the best.” I didn’t know what to make of that because I hadn’t seen this guy in action, but if he was as lethal as he made it sound I wondered why he didn’t just kill me right here. His eyes seemed to laugh as I stared, and he gave me an unsettling grin which made me uneasy.

 

“So what’s the point in you sitting here on this war machine again?” I asked tentatively, not certain where this conversation was headed.

 

“All of us carry a transponder imbedded into our skulls, just behind our eyes; right now I’m sitting here transmitting a signal to the aerial strike team who are going to get me a ride out of here. Whether they make it through the air defenses here well, that’s a different story entirely.” He smiled, though his eyes still reflected a strange sadness. “Either way shit’s about to come raining down so I suggest you get to cover Inersian.”

 

“Summers!” the shout came from below, Fenister strode across the ground in full combat attire flanked by a pair of Inersian shock troopers and another figure in armour I couldn’t recognize.

 

“Fenister, I figured you would have managed to survive.” I growled ignoring the Aphelian officer’s sudden perk in attention as he stared in the direction of Fenister’s voice.

 

“Well aren’t you glad to see me.” He said sarcastically, climbing up onto Wyvern to join me. “I see Aphelion has decided to join us, nice ride you had there.” He said, nodding his head towards the smoking wreck of the Aphelian gunship as he saw the officer sitting beside me.

 

“You’re surprisingly calm given I was sent here to pick you up, aren’t you concerned that I might try something if you show yourself here to me?”

 

“I know your face, though you’re relatively new to the game; intel says you’re quite good, but I don’t think you can take me, not alone anyways. Besides I’m quite sure that if you had any options left to you you would have already acted by now. No sense in waiting and giving me time to respond.”

 

“And what if,” the Aphelian began casually, “I don’t need more than a millisecond-“ he lunged forwards drawing his sidearm from his hip as he did so to bring the barrel up beneath Fenister’s chin, “to get into killing range.” Oddly enough Fenister’s two escorts didn’t seem to respond, and the man himself didn’t seem overly concerned at his predicament.

 

Fenister himself glared down awkwardly at the officer, hand on the hilt of his rapier, “You know pointing guns at people isn’t particularly polite.”

 

“Well then perhaps you should treat me a little more seriously when you’re approaching me don’t you think?”

 

“Even if you kill me it won’t accomplish anything, and I know you had orders to bring me back alive.”

 

“Fine. Where’s my fucking sleeper agent, I know you met him.” The Aphelian operative growled.

 

“You’ll have to elaborate son, I’ve stabbed a fair number of Aphelian agents in my day.”

 

“The one who’s rapier your girl here is now using.” He growled, nodding in my direction.

 

“The bugger back in Obitua? I gutted him and left him in the warehouse where I found him.”

 

An annoyed look crossed the officer’s face, “Great, so I get to go home empty handed then. Fantastic.”

 

The last man who had been with Fenister pulled off his helmet, “Who said you’re going anywhere.” Geralt said angrily. “There is damage here which you need to pay for.”

 

A clear peal of laughter rang out across the barren wasteland, “You can add it onto Aphelion’s tab.”

 

I thought now that this might be a good time to interrupt and mention the Aphelian operative’s supposed inbound ride but there didn’t seem to be an easy way to put it; it was hard to get a good read on the situation as well because I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to believe. There was something off about this entire situation, it seemed…fake somehow.

 

Something hissed through the air and everyone jumped back from the Aphelian as a large black spear impaled itself in Wyvern’s surface; a black box dangled from its rear and the officer sighed and walked over to open it. This time the others tracked his movement with their guns, though he seemed blissfully unaware of this; or perhaps it was that he just didn’t care already having dismissed his own life as over. He sighed when he opened it and his shoulders seemed to slump a little.

 

“You probably want to stand back, this is going to be messy.” He said, and then the box exploded in his face.

 

Julian and Geralt exchanged glances before shrugging, the officer’s death suited them just fine I guessed; I myself didn’t know what to think since everything here made no sense. Geralt and Fenister appeared out of nowhere from the Thopter after the Aphelian gunship arrived to level the architectural firm and the Aphelian seemed to have survived only to exchange a couple of words with Fenister before being executed by his own people, nothing was adding up. There was no reason for the officer to have not shot Fenister in the situation he was in and if Fenister and Geralt had shown themselves immediately we could have just taken out the Aphelian gunship with the Thopter and Wyvern together.

 

There was also the part where the gunship had appeared out of nowhere, meaning that Fenister and Geralt shouldn’t have had time to get to the Thopter all the way at the landing strip; and yet here they stood before me with an extra pair of armed guards to boot. And the levelling of the entire architectural firm was illogical if, as Fenister had mentioned, the Aphelian team had orders to take him alive; the inconsistencies were enough for me to be hesitant about following the two men in front of me anywhere.

“Fenister, just what are you hiding from me.” I growled.

 

“What do you mean Summers? We barely made it as it is, can’t you be a little more grateful that we made it over here to save your ass?”

 

“No, that’s not it; I saw the shimmer, you guys were here long before that gunship even showed up. You planned for this to happen, didn’t you?”

 

“And why would we do that, the entire goddamn architectural firm has been levelled because those guys showed up; everyone inside died, we only got out because we were lucky and Julian here noticed the gunship coming. There’s no way we would set something like this up.”

 

“Really,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, “because I can certainly see Fenister doing this.”

 

“Ouch.” Fenister said jokingly. “Well I can’t say I’m surprised that you figured some of it out, we haven’t been the most stringent in tying up all of the loose ends.”

 

“So you’re responsible for all of this then?”

 

“Not quite everything; I was aware that an Aphelian team was tracking me, but I was unaware of what their ultimate goals were. So I brought you with me out of the Combine in order to lure them somewhere where I could better control the situation around me as I took them out; that you were to become tangled up in my own personal issues was not the intention I assure you.”

 

“As though I even matter, I’m already dead; you use me as a means to get what you want all the time anyways. But the people who died here today who had nothing to do with the conflict between Aphelion and the Combine, that’s on your hands.”

 

“What you have done in the past orders on the same, I fail to see how you can lecture me on my actions.”

 

“Those lives were sacrificed for the truth! All you were doing here was getting rid of a tail!” I turned to Geralt, “You, how can you tolerate this?! This is your city and your people you’re letting him ravage.”

 

The man shrugged, “He pays well, and in the end that’s all that matters. There will always be somewhere else to live for those with the money to find it.”

 

I spat in disgust over Wyvern’s side, “You two are despicable.”

 

“We do what we have to in order to stay alive in this world Gillian, surely you understand that.” Fenister said.

 

“Whatever, let’s just get out of here. What’s going to happen with Wyvern?”

 

“She’s yours now, but she can’t leave here; we’ll bring her back down to the bunker where she was stored and leave it at that for now.”

 

“And the Aphelian operative inside?”

“She comes with us. Geralt, take her down and get the things we need, I’ll see you two back at the Thopter in forty five minutes.”

 

“Got it Julian, come on girl, you’re with me.” Geralt gestured pointing towards Wyvern’s still open hatch.

 

With a sigh I dropped myself back into Wyvern and became one with the war machine again, walking her back to the elevator upon which I’d arrived with Diana. The damage to Ziforus was clear to me as I made my war there; the city would never be the same again, the greenhouse in particular that I had been watching was gone, vaporized. What I didn’t see though was the armoured fist of an Aphelian operative thrusting itself out of the scorched earth at the gunship’s crash site. Some things just weren’t meant to be.

…

Do you know why the rain band exists?

 

I was under the impression that it was just a geological phenomenon.

 

Really, this massive band of permanent rainfall a geological feature? Let me give you a hint; the rain band didn’t exist before Aphelion became an industrial superpower.

How could you affect something like the weather? No matter how powerful, in the end Aphelion is just another city.

A cluster of towering structures almost 256 kilometers across is not ‘just another city’, its large enough to affect everything around it. Because of Aphelion’s rain shadow and the vast amounts of water she converts into steam we live under a permanent deluge; as long as she still works there will be rain across the Combine.

 

But they’re not intentionally forcing the rainclouds onto us…right?

 

What do you think?

But is that a reason for war?

 

There’s never a reason for war, there just is.
 

Humanity is stupid.

Indeed it is.

…

13: Prisoners

We were on the move once more headed back into the Combine, this time to Teluria, the island state; it seemed as though we would be touring all of the Combine before this was all over. The big three of old, Obitua, Inersia and Glissaria had once held dominance over the Combine because of their roles in the organization of the combined cities, being shipping and transportation, technological progress and industrial technique, and production and management respectively. The sectionalisation and specialization of each of the Combine’s seven states had meant that each region could simplify its infrastructure specializing it for a single task, but this also meant that it could only function as a whole. Rebellion was prevented simply by the fact that they needed each other; even now we were still suffering from food and material shortages ever since Glissaria was razed to the ground. Teluria alone however was different in that it was still entirely self-sufficient; located on the very edge of the rain band and furthest from Aphelion  Teluria alone still produced for itself, maintaining machinery for all sorts of tasks and carried the infrastructure for its own security, production, transportation and residency.

 

Teluria was probably one of the only reasons the Combine had survived Aphelion’s destruction of Glissaria; the whole of the Combine states were now leaning heavily on Teluria to provide them with goods while Glissaria recovered. As for the rest of it I wasn’t clear on what Teluria was like, I knew that it was a rising power now since it had had to absorb so many of Glissaria’s duties but aside from that they too far from Inersia for me to pay any notice for them, so this would be something new to me.

 

The interior of Fenister’s Thopter was heavily customized with padded seats and coverings for all of the interior surfaces which normally would have been left bare; computers and displays studded the walls which should have been smooth blank surfaces and the layers of translucent armour plates were replaced by some sort of opaque carapace through which nothing at all could be seen. I nice change from the usually disconcerting visual of motion through the walls of the Thopter that was the standard, but strange never the less. The main distinguishing feature though was the large sphere in the center of the craft; a tessellated orb broken up into a multitude of fragments through which soft white light leaked.

 

The Aphelian operative who had been trapped inside Wyvern was inside the sphere, somehow kept unconscious by the structure which had closed upon her like the petals of a flower once Fenister had placed her on its surface.  This technology was all new to me, likely the latest product of Inersia’s research and development teams; regardless I was curious to see what it was exactly Fenister intended to do with all of this. I was sitting at a point where I wasn’t quite sure what to believe anymore; on one hand everything Fenister had one up till this point seemed to support his claims that he was trying to help me while keeping me out of his hair, but on the other his actions were inconsistent and hard to read. Throughout Aphelion’s role in all of these machinations puzzled me; though it was unsurprising that they would have agents scattered throughout the Combine it puzzled me that so many of them seemed to show up where I went.

 

I was a nobody, someone who had been erased from the system; officially I was dead by Inersia’s records. Under that logic there was no reason for anyone to be after me any longer; even with all the mess we’d made in Obitua and Ziforus there shouldn’t have been a way for it to be associated with me. Thinking back on it those shock troopers in Obitua shouldn’t have known about my existence either; that they recognized Fenister perhaps was believable given how well known he was within the Combine and what he did but I was Fenister’s personal little project. Few outside the high rankers even knew of my existence within Ops 9, that itself a secretive organization that was kept far from prying eyes. I continued to ponder this as I wandered about the interior, but my movements were rather restricted because of the pair of escorts in my company.

 

The two Inersian troopers accompanied me everywhere I went aboard the Thopter, likely on orders from Fenister; they were a plain looking pair but I could see from the way they moved that they were well versed in combat. They wore gear atypical to standard Inersian fare, more similar to my own special issue equipment with personalized fittings and carbon polymer interweave than standard issue armour; that meant these guys were probably some other guys Fenister picked out for his personal detail. I was confident that I could take them if I was forced to, but for now I saw no reason to provoke the two; they were probably just doing the job they were asked too, typical brainwashed soldiers.

Rain pounded on the tarmac as the Thopter touched down on the rooftop of a massive skyscraper, one of just many that dotted the Telurian cityscape. We had arrived as what was left of the moonlight neared its apex in the sky, shining down from directly above us to flicker in the ripples of the water; up here at this altitude the rain wasn’t just cold, it had enough force to almost sweep you off your feet. Carefully, the two troopers hefted the spherical prison from it berth in the Thopters interior and walked it out carrying it between their shoulders; Fenister paced impatiently in front of them guiding them towards the doors which led inside while Geralt walked slowly behind them bringing up the rear. I dashed ahead, the base layer of the sync suit being all that I was wearing I was soon soaked through and freezing; I hadn’t been able to recover my belongings from the architectural firm before it was destroyed so I was feeling rather deprived.

 

Once we were beneath the shallow canopy Fenister directed us to a shallow circular depression in the center of the antechamber, there the two soldiers deposited the sphere and slowly, the ground around it opened up as bladelike surface plates retracted into the sides of the circular opening and the sphere dropped away into nothingness. After seventeen long seconds I heard a splash and Fenister gestured for us to follow as we headed for a doorway to the side.

 

“What are we doing here?” I asked, my voice echoing in the silence.

 

“We’re here to interrogate the Aphelian operative in order to glean some intelligence as to Aphelion’s intentions in sending them after me. We’re specifically in Teluria because I know an old friend here who can help me to help you; you’re going to disappear here, permanently.” Hah, like I hadn’t heard that one before.

 

“What’s the sphere?”

 

“A portable restraining cell, nothing more.

 

“Where’s your friend?”

 

“He’ll meet us down at the bottom.”

 

“You know people everywhere, don’t you?” I commented dryly.

 

He turned, a funny look in his eyes, “I’m an old man, are you really so surprised that I’ve met so many people over the years?”

 

“I’m surprised so many like you enough to deal with you on a continual basis.”

 

“You’d be surprised at the kind of things I’ve accomplished.”

 

“Not all good I’m sure.”

 

He laughed at that, “That’s just part of the business, it can’t be helped that sometimes you have to do bad things to accomplish your goals.”

 

“That’s what you keep saying, but I’m telling you that that needs to change, that’s all I’ve ever told you my entire life.”

 

“My dear, perhaps we’ll just have to agree to disagree for the rest of our lives then.” He said waving me silent, “We’re enter the laboratory, so be careful where you step.”

 

As we stepped off the final stair we were greeted by a plain grey windowless door and at Fenister’s knock, it slid slowly open to reveal a grid work of metal that spanned on endlessly beneath bright white light. A man stood four meters from the doorway, silent and impassive, a massive figure who must have been almost seven feet tall in a large white lab coat; with his hands in his pockets he seemed more a statue than anything else.

 

“Julian Fenister, back again to peer into the depths of the minds of others I assume.” The man’s voice was deep, and slow, patient and yet menacing.

 

“Arthur, it’s been too long; I’m to see your doing well for yourself.”

 

“And should I, be glad that you’ve brought trouble to my doorstep once again, as Inersia has always done?”

 

“You’ll like what I brought you, I guarantee it.”

 

Arthur stood silent, a massive hand beneath his chin as though he were pondering what Fenister had just said, “Come along then, show me what you’ve brought with you this time.”

 

Our feet rung across the metal as we stepped, beneath us I could see little but darkness which was intermittently lit by small clusters of light; the point of this laboratory suspended so high in the sky was beyond me, but I wasn’t about to ask about it. This place made me nervous, in fact everywhere we went made me nervous; all of this was so foreign to me I was struggling to keep up with the change which was constantly going on around me. The constant fighting and traveling was beginning to wear on my nerves, I was exhausted from all the action; I had been trained of course to live in a world of constant conflict but even so eventually everything took its toll.

 

“Geralt I know, the two stiffs your standard escort, but who’s the girl?” Arthur rumbled.

 

“One of mine, Gillian Summers of Inersia special operative of Ops 9.”

 

“Ah, one of your hyper-regenerative freaks then; tried to have her killed yet?” That made me look up, what the fuck had he just said?

 

“Now Arthur, don’t go along trying to provoke her; she is lethal when she wants to be.” Fenister turned back towards me, “He’s kidding don’t mind him, he just has an odd sense of humour.”

 

“Right.” I said, not quite convinced; this Arthur guy was creepy enough as it was, and what he was doing wasn’t helping in the slightest.

 

Eventually we found ourselves in front of a large panel that was embedded into the wall, a large transparent screen behind which appeared to be a large volume of  transparent red fluid, within which was the spherical containment device that Fenister had brought along. As we watched the fluid slowly drained down to somewhere unseen and the sphere settled perfectly in the center within a shallow depression before unfolding once more to reveal the Aphelian operative within. She was actually a lot smaller than I remembered; perhaps in the thick of all that action I had replaced her figure with that of one more typical to soldiers in my mind.

 

“Ahh, perfect; is this one augmented?” Arthur asked, turning to Fenister.

 

“That I’m not sure of, her companion who was killed certainly was though.”

 

“Well then we’ll just have to check and see, won’t we. Shall we start with standard interrogation procedures, or should we move straight to the fun bits?”

 

“Keep it normal until I say otherwise, we might not get another chance like this.”

 

“As you wish.”

 

They were vague with their terms so it was hard for me to accurately gauge what they were talking about exactly but the four mechanical arms extending from the walls of the chamber were certainly obvious in function; each one of them grasped one of the Aphelian soldier’s limbs and pulled her up into the air, spinning to flip her upside down. She woke with a start, and her eyes seemed to spin everywhere as she took in her surroundings; her eyes narrowed as they settled on Fenister and I.

 

“Where’s Adrian?” she asked, glaring at me.

 

“Other Aphelian operative? He died, your fellows sent him a package which blew up in his face; it’s just you now little girl.” Fenister answered, a strange smile on his face.

 

“Hah, like hell; Command would never kill Adrian, he’s far too valuable an asset.” It was her turn to laugh. “He’ll be coming for your ass, Fenister I presume?”

 

“Indeed; we saw him die though but you can believe what you want.”

 

She gritted her teeth, “He’s coming, and he’s going to rip you to shreds, orders or not.” She growled.

 

“We’ll see about that; Arthur, begin the procedure.”

 

The Telurian scientist stepped inside the chamber through a small doorway producing some strange instruments from his pockets, silvery needle-tipped things which glimmered beneath the spotlights.

 

“Shall we dance the dance of death, Aphelian?”

 

The girl spat at the man in response, but was met only with laughter. He sunk the tools into her chest plunging through the layers of her armour as though they weren’t there; she writhed in the restraints fury in her eyes as she screamed, twitching inhumanly as though possessed by some sort of monster.

 

“What is he doing?” I turned to Fenister who stared on impassively, he didn’t answer me.

 

“What’s going on?” I repeated, waving my hand in front of Fenister’s face turning my back to the horror scene; behind me I could hear the screams continue and a creepy grin spread across Fenister’s face.

 

“Standard procedure.” He laughed, “Haven’t you ever been down to the interrogation rooms at the bottom of Inersia before?”

 

I shuddered, “I thought we were supposed to be better.”

 

“We’re black ops cell, Inersia and the Combine are better than Aphelion, but I myself have never claimed to be an angel; there are no angels on this world, only monsters like you and I.”

 

“I’m not a monster, I’m not like you.”

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, after all even if you have questioned my actions, you haven’t actually done anything have you?”

 

That was true, but…apart from her screaming, I had nothing to go on right? She looked like she was suffering but there was no way of knowing, I needed more information.

 

“Fine, what exactly are you doing to her then? Answer my goddamn question.”

 

“Nothing really, those force probes stimulate nerve endings causing them to fire off action potentials to the brain signalling intense pain, she’s not actually sustaining any physical injury she just feels as though she’s burning alive. Simple and effective, it leaves the body in perfect functionality and produces relatively minor psychological scarring.”

 

“But what’s the point of all this?”

 

“Nothing really, it’s mostly an experiment to see what kinds of pain Aphelian operatives can put up with.”

 

“So…you’re basically admitting to torturing her for fun.”

 

“Oh no, there is a tactical use to this, it just requires that we run some tests first, this is but one of them.”

 

“So this is what Teluria does for you then, you bring them your victims and they disappear here?”

 

Fenister sighed, “No Gillian, I bring my problems here and solve them.”

 

There was a crack, and then darkness.

…

 

It hurts doesn’t it, the truth of your failure?

 

Screw off, he isn’t yours yet. I will win him back and make him see reason.

 

Summers, come now; there is no saving him, he belongs to Ops 9 now.

That’s not true, and I’ll prove it to you by winning him back.

 

Gillian…there are some things in this world which can’t be fixed.

 

Yeah, like your sick twisted mind you fucker, but Xavier, that’s something I’d fight for, something worth fighting for.

 

I don’t know why you try sometimes, honestly girl…

 

I try because I believe, because there are things in this world which are worth fighting for.

…

14: Immortal Souls

Everything hurt, each muscle in my body thrumming with a dull ache and liquid fire was running through my veins. To top it all off, my head felt like it was going to implode, even the slightest of movements generating a feeling of nausea. I laughed, a clear peal that rang through the empty space which I was in.

 

Life is pain

 

I was alive, I knew that because everything hurt; I opened my eyes and harsh white Telurian light shone down on me, images swum before my blurry vision but as I sucked in a deep breath of air and felt the burning of my lungs I couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Fenister!” I shouted as best I could, hearing my voice crack under the strain. The taste of iron filled my throat and my voice was raw and bloody. “I know you’re here Fenister, show yourself!”

 

I tugged against the shackles at my wrists and ankles; I had been suspended in the same manner as the Aphelian operative, someone who was conspicuously absent at the present. I wondered why the world was so bright when I was upside down, you would think that it would be darker that way with your legs and body above you blocking out the light but it was blinding where I hung. The pooling of blood in my brain as I hung upside down left me with an unpleasant headache and I struggled to lift myself up to take a better look around; the room was definitely empty besides myself and there was nothing but clean white floor, there was no indication of what had occurred and all that I was left with was that last memory of Fenister knocking me out.

 

I clenched my right fist and felt the tendons of my arm pull to make it happen and twisted my body to try and test the limits of the chains; they barely gave at all, clearly they were meant to hold someone stronger even than myself, augmented as I was I was almost certain that I wouldn’t be able to break them. There was nothing to do then but to wait and think this through; Teluria was completely foreign to me so if I somehow managed to escape I wouldn’t be able to find my way around without help. I would need a guide, and a cover story for myself to explain my ignorance of the region in spite of my presence here; that I was with the government probably wouldn’t cut it, if they demanded to see my ID they might recognize the name and turn me in, I was sure that by now word of my survival had made its way back to Inersia and they’d made posting regarding my present situation.

 

The fact of the matter was that I had nowhere to run, that I was still alive even now was all thanks to Fenister; it was impossible for me to guess at his motives and because of that it was difficult for me to plan my next move. I needed more information, and for that I needed Fenister; failing that finding this “Arthur” would suffice for the time being. That would of course require me getting out of these shackles first so I strained around once more, searching for a possible way to escape that I might have missed.

 

The sound of boots on clacking across the floor drew my attention and I twisted towards the source, the cold cold eyes of the man Fenister had called Arthur seemed to peer into the depths of my soul as he undid the shackles binding my legs sending me crashing to the floor. I struggled to right myself, straining against the cuffs around my wrists and for a moment I thought he was just going to leave me like that, struggling like a fish out of water; after a moment though he knelt down and undid those restraints too, carefully pulling a gun out as he did so hovering it casually in my direction as I lay there on the floor.

 

“Fenister demands your presence.” He rumbled, his voice the sound of thunder in my ears.

 

“Yeah? Good, cause I wanted to see him as well.” I coughed, pulling myself up. “This how you treat all of your guests?”

 

“Only the ones Fenister brings me.”

 

We walked in silence, the weapon in his hand an ever present reminder that I was here on somebody else’s terms; I had no idea why we were here, only that Teluria was another of Fenister’s playgrounds. Eventually the silence became unbearable when combined with the cold white walls and glaring lights and I spoke up to break the silence, “So what exactly do you do here?”

 

“I am a scientist in the service of the Combine, my actions serve her interests.” The dark skinned man answered slowly, his expression revealing nothing. Gillian was normally good at figuring things out, but this mystery man eluded her; it was difficult to say if he was lying.

 

“And what does that have to do with Fenister?”

 

“Fenister will lead the Combine to a new age. He is progress incarnate, he is the future.” His words carried a heavy weight to them, the man’s belief self-evident.

 

“Why am I here?”

 

“Only Fenister can answer that.” We had stopped before a door, barely visible against the white walls. “Enter.” He said, already turning to leave.

 

“What happened while I was out.” I said stopping him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Ask Fenister.” He said, eyes locked on my hand.

 

“I’m asking you.”

 

“Let go of me.” He said, his voice a deadly calm.

 

“Answer my question.”

 

“Only Fenister can provide you the answers you seek, let go of me.”

 

“Is he in there?” I said, nodding towards the door.

 

“Your future awaits.” He said, ignoring me.

 

I sighed and stepped through turning my back on him, clearly I wasn’t going to get anything out of the man. As I entered I felt the world drop away disappearing behind me as I stepped into a room of slate grey. Fenister sat behind an oval desk, armoured and combat ready with his sword propped against his chair; the Inersian rapier which I had retrieved previously from the Apehlion sleeper agent sat on the desk surface in front of an empty chair clearly meant for me.

 

“Do sit, we’ve much to discuss.” He said calmly.

 

“Why don’t we start with why you had to knock me out and chain me up.” I said, walking up to the chair but still standing.

 

“It was a precaution, I can tell you more about it later, sit.”

 

Reluctantly I did as he asked, eyeing the rapier before me uneasily. Why this still here? It should have disappeared in Ziforus along with the rest of the Springfield Architectural Firm.

 

“You’ve caused a great deal of trouble for me Summers, saving you has been a long journey and I’m quite tired of cleaning up after you; I’ve done my best to keep you alive but the time has come for us to part ways.”

 

I said nothing letting my silence speak for itself; what the hell was Fenister saying? It was his fault that I was a factor in his life at all.

 

“That doesn’t mean that I’ll be leaving you to die however, I’ve made preparations for you to live on elsewhere, though you’re going to be leaving your life as an operative behind, permanently this time, not like what happened at Ziforus.”

 

“And Xavier?” I voiced my one single question; I didn’t matter, my life had been over for years now, but Xavier still deserved a second chance.

 

“Xavier will stay with me in Inersia, he will continue to serve her as part of Ops 9.”

 

“And I’m supposed to accept that?” I said, looking incredulous; I laughed despite the wracking pain which shot through my lungs as I did so, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

 

“You have little choice in the matter, I can no longer allow you to stay in the Combine, not with things as they are. Inersia, Obitua, and even what remains of Glissaria are on the hunt for your head and Aphelion chases you like the fox chases the rabbit; it’s impossible to keep you safe as you are now, you’re too prominent.”

 

“So what do you propose then if you’re not going to kill me?”

 

“The reason why we never succeed in hiding you away was because you always went off doing your own thing; you don’t follow my orders and you always find a way to cause trouble. Gillian Summers cannot exist in this world, it’s not possible with the way she is now.”

 

“Well perhaps you ought to do something to fix that because I’m not going to stop being Gillian any time soon.”

 

“Precisely the problem I came here to solve.” He paused as though waiting for a response from me but I stayed silent, waiting to see what game he was playing this time. “You see that blade before you? You’d think it’s one of ours wouldn’t you?”

 

“Of course, none but Inersia have the right metals to produce a blade so thin which maintains such strength.”

 

“And yet this is anything but the genuine article, this is a copy forged in Aphelion for one of their sleeper agents, and like all things Aphelian… they can track it because they implanted it with several tracers.”

 

“So this is how those Aphelian operatives tracked us down to Ziforus then?”

 

“Precisely, and in addition to the rapier…they implanted a tracer in you as well when you were out cold in Obitua.” He said, rolling a metal cylinder onto the table. “It’s disabled now, but they’ve been tracking our movements ever since then.”

 

“I get that, but I still fail to see how this would amount to me having to leave permanently.”

 

“Everywhere you go Aphelion will have its agents, it is inevitable that some will slip through and everywhere you go they will hunt you down and kill anyone who stands in their path. You’re too prominent a target now and Aphelion never loses its quarry. You need to disappear forever, and with the way you behave that’s an impossibility.”

 

“So that’s it then, you’re telling me that I can’t exist anymore.” I crossed my arms over my chest, “So what are you going to do if you aren’t going to kill me?” I asked coldly.

 

“You have two choices, both of which are currently only available here in Teluria.” Fenister began, not actually responding to any of my questions. He seemed to avert his eyes, unwilling to meet my steely gaze as though he were ashamed of something he had done, unthinkable of course. “The first is to give up your life in the Combine and become a civilian; I’ll work with you to find a proper backstory for your past and we can choose where you’ll relocate to. This will of course…have to be accompanied by a memory wipe, in order to be thorough, you understand why I’m sure.”

 

I shrugged, half ignoring what he said; that wasn’t happening, I wasn’t about to let them wipe Gillian Summers off the face of the planet, “And the second option?”

 

“Arthur, bring in the cart please.”

 

I heard the door open behind me and Arthur walked in pushing a short cart upon which was a massive cylindrical tank within which sloshed a turquoise fluid. A large crystal sat within hooked up to an innumerable amount of cables which snaked through the doorway out of the room.

“What’s that supposed to be?” I asked, not sure what I was supposed to be seeing as the scientist wheeled the thing up beside Fenister.

 

“You may have wondered what the fate of the captured Aphelion operative was; she stands before you, what’s left of her anyways.”

 

I frowned, “Is this some sort of sick joke?” Surely they didn’t mean that crystal in there? I had never heard of a process where a human being was made into…something like that; it was incomprehensible to me what I was supposed to be seeing.

 

“No, it’s not a joke.” Arthur rumbled, “This is just a form of human being you’ve never before seen; she is amongst the first of her kind. This Commander Summers, is an Artificial Intelligence.” He tapped the console at the bottom of the tank and a small circular platform extended forwards, a ring structure that glowed with strange sigils around its border. It hummed and the lights raced around passing through every sigil until suddenly with a flash, the avatar of a young woman appeared. Her plain dress was unfamiliar, but the face was unforgettable, that life and death moment had ingrained her features into my brain; this was without a doubt the female operative who had been trapped inside Wyvern, the ‘Grace’ that the Aphelian officer had sent to her doom.

 

The avatar looked around nervously, only about a thirty centimeters tall taking in her surroundings, the turquoise avatar carrying a nervous expression and demeanour, <What the fuck is this?> she said, her voice sharp and yet barely a whisper; you could hear the fear in her voice.

 

“Welcome to immortality.” Arthur said, his voice steely.

 

“What have you done?” I growled, standing up from my seat, “Just what the fuck have you done here?!”

 

<What’s going on?!> the A.I was almost hysterical at this point.

 

“As predicted, the sync fluid solution stabilized the neural connection enough to allow for a flawless imprint onto the crystal, the system is functioning perfectly.” Arthur said, ignoring me.

 

“So there’s no chance of memory corruption anymore?” likewise, Fenister ignored us as well.

 

“None at all, I guarantee you a stable transfer if you give me the same materials that I received for this procedure.”

 

“Are you even listening to me anymore?!” I shouted.

 

Metal flashed before my eyes and even with my superhuman reflexes, Fenister had the Inersian rapier at my throat before I could react, “Yes of course I’ve been listening. Nothing I’ve heard has sounded like a decision; what it will it be Summers, civilian life, or conversion into an A.I?”

…

 

Fenister, I don’t know what you see in that girl; all she has ever done is bring chaos to Inersia and the rest of the Combine, no matter her talent surely you can see that she’s not worth the trouble?

 

She is the strongest I have ever found, regardless of her rebellious streak she’s far too valuable to give up, her combat record speaks for itself.

 

Fenister…are you sure this isn’t just about Julie? I know she looks like her but this…

 

Leave Julie out of this, she has nothing to do with Summers; I brought her into Ops 9 based purely on her genetics and technical skill alone.

 

Really, because you seem to be awfully protective of her when all she does is cause trouble.

 

I can keep her in line if you’d just let me handle this personally.

 

That’s what you’ve said time and time again, but just remember, if she screws up it’s your head that will roll and I can’t guarantee you that the rest of the Combine leadership will be as reasonable as I am. Be careful Fenister or I won’t be able to protect you.

 

I promise you I will keep her in line, please, just help me with this and I’ll do anything you ask.

 

Make sure this is the last time we have this discussion, that’s all I want. Get it done, Fenister.

…

15: Falling through Time

I stood there unmoving, frozen by the blade at my throat as the Aphelian turned A.I wailed trying desperately to make sense of her surroundings; I imagined that the sensory overload was driving the girl turned computer insane.

 

“What have you done to her?” I said, cold this time. I needed answers, and I preferred to get them while I was still alive.

 

“Arthur is the leading expert on the field of artificial intelligence in all of the Combine; two years ago he approached the Telurian administration with a request for an increase in budget to continue his work but without anything to show for his research other than theoretical models Teluria refused to fund him. I agreed to fund his work both because I saw its potential…and because I enjoy collecting favours.”

 

“Enough idle chatter, tell her what she wants to know.” Arthur rumbled, clearly unhappy with the tone of the conversation.

 

“Arthur discovered a way to implant the human mind into an artificial matrix using the crystal core you see here, and hooking it up to a powerful enough outlet would allow electrical signals to pass through its interior. The specifics of the process beyond that are beyond me, but needless to say Arthur has progressed to the point where the contents of a human mind can be recorded and preserved within the crystal, functional to the extent where thoughts and ideas can be formulated, memories recalled, and all that incorporates the consciousness of a human being to be preserved.”

 

“And the original with the body that once housed the mind?” I asked.

 

“The process destroys the body I’m afraid.” Arthur frowned, “I am working on finding a procedure which preserves the original copy but at the moment the best I can do is to transfer a stable consciousness into the crystal.”

“So her body is…”

 

“An empty shell, yes; the organs will begin to rot away within a couple of hours.”

 

“Neither of the options you’ve given me seem at all pleasant, why on earth would you expect me to take either offer?” I growled at Fenister.

 

“You have little choice in the matter unless you would prefer to die.”

 

“Either of the choices is the same as death already, why would I give you the satisfaction of becoming your guinea pig for either procedure.”

 

“If you will not as you ask then I will kill you, I simply gave the choice to live so that no one could say that I didn’t give you the chance. I’ll ask you one last time, what is your decision on this matter?”

 

Time slowed to a crawl as I raced to find a solution for the situation; there was no way that I was just going to roll over and accept any of this. My eyes flickered around the room looking for an out, for a way to escape or disable Fenister, there were none. Fenister watched me the whole while and a cold amusement entered his eyes as he watched, clearly confident that there was nothing for me to do. My pulse raced and every breath felt like it took an eternity to complete; frantically I searched for an option, and out to the situation even as the blade bit into my neck, the blood that slowly trickled down a hot trial that burned in the silence.

 

In desperation I pit my reaction time against Fenister's hoping my augmentations would give me the edge, throwing myself backwards away from the blade pushing my weight down on the table as I did so to flip it backwards into Fenister; a hot line snaked up from the bottom of my chin up across my right cheek as I did so and I collapsed back onto my hands, stumbling to recover from the manoeuvre.

 

A streak of silver bisected the table and it split in two as Fenister strode through the two halves, fury in his eyes; I was backed against the door with nowhere left to go and that of course was when eighty centimeters of Aphelian steel slashed through the doorway glowing red hot. The Aphelian officer from the crash site strode past me looking only at Fenister, his blood streaked armour along with several other telling signs told me that he had fought his way inside and met some resistance. Fenister was unmoved, as was Arthur who remained by the cart holding the A.I.

 

The blade sizzled in the air as the soldier advanced, malice in his stare; he halted two meters from the other men and looked slowly around the room, the sword unnervingly still in his hands.

 

“Where is my subordinate?” he said, voice icy.

 

“Not here, I thought you’d died?” Fenister said, surprisingly calm.

 

“It would seem that I was not ready for death yet.” The officer growled, “Anyhow don’t lie to me, I know she was here, the tracers from her neural circuitry signalled at least three times from this location.”

 

“I guess Aphelion covers all of its bases.” Arthur snorted, which drew a glare from Fenister.

 

“Where. Is she?” he repeated.

The avatar on the pedestal jerked towards his voice, focusing itself for a moment to step forwards towards the officer, there was a sharp intake of breath as he realized what was before him and I saw his fist tighten around the hilt of the sabre.

 

“What is the meaning of this?”

 

“It’s—“

 

“It is the way of the future, the destiny of humanity!” Arthur suddenly shouted, a fervour in his eyes. The officer didn’t flinch, seeming to ignore the man.

 

The avatar of the Aphelian turned A.I flickered twice, “Adrian?” it whispered, voice wispy and weak.

 

“No names, Grace.” He answered, his voice a whisper. “It would seem that the Combine is hiding more secrets than we had initially thought.” He turned his gaze coldly upon Fenister and Arthur and raised the blade in his hand pointing at them threateningly. “This operation here is…unacceptable, to say the least.”

 

“And what, pray do tell, are you going to do about it?” Fenister laughed, “You’re alone in Teluria with no backup and dozens of guardsmen are converging on this position as we speak; you’re in no position to make any demands.”

 

“You’d be surprised what I can come up with.” He said, pulling something off of his belt and flicking it in Fenister’s direction, “Sorry Grace, but I can’t leave you in enemy hands.” He growled as the grenade went off.

 

The explosion was deafening, even from my spot on the floor so far from the epicenter; the walls shook and there was the terrible screeching of metal on metal as the surface fell out from beneath us. Rain flooded into the chamber as we tumbled from the sky scattering through the clouds like flies caught in a storm; a shadow passed below, a shark lurking in the mist, and a Thopter swooped up from below swallowing three of the figures beneath me. I struggled to wipe the rain off my face as I tumbled in free fall thinking that  perhaps this would be my end, but it was not to be; the flickering outline of a Thopter swooped beneath me and with a thud I landed heavily on the hull.

 

I rolled across the slick surface scrabbling for purchase trying desperately to halt myself until a accessway opened in the roof of the Thopter a meter from where I was; I let the rain push me down and slid clumsily inside falling to the floor with a heavy thud. I pulled myself to my feet not sure what to expect, I winced at the pain which shot through my back but I couldn’t help but think that Fenister really did have a contingency plan for everything, damn that man was good.

 

The absorbing floor of the Thopter sucked away the water that dripped down from my sodden clothes leaving no trace of my passing so there were few clues as to where the other three had gone, in fact I was unsure as to whether or not this was actually the same craft that had swooped beneath them as before I had wound up here. There were none of the luxuries that had been found within Fenister’s personal craft, this was a run of the mill standard issue unit so it was impossible for me to be certain that I was in safe hands; I moved towards the cockpit in the center of the craft to ascertain my destination.

 

As before I had to duck my head inside carefully manoeuvring myself around the instruments within the spherical chamber shoving my head towards the navigational instruments; a quick check told me that we were making beeline for Inersia. A clattering behind me had me hastily pulling my head out to see Fenister and Arthur struggling with the restrained figure of the Inersian officer, fighting to get the man against the wall despite the fact that they had cuffed both his wrists and ankles.

 

With a slam they locked him onto a restraining rack built into the wall and they stepped back, breathing heavily; the Aphelian maintained a dignified silence once he ascertained that he was stuck fast, frustrated but determined not to give in. My hands were up immediately once they turned to face me,  apprehensively I  took a step back putting the cockpit between myself and them.

 

“What’s her problem, I thought you were all on the same side?” I heard the Aphelian growl.

 

There was the loud *smack* of a hand impacting someone’s face, “You don’t speak unless spoken to.”

 

There was a harsh laugh, “Hah, it’ll take more than that to keep me quiet.”

 

Another smack, “Come out Gillian, there’s nowhere for you to go now.”

 

I took a deep breath then stepped out and walked slowly towards them; Fenister and Arthur seemed to casually ignore me but the Aphelian officer kept his eyes locked on my figure, cold and calculating despite the two black bruise streaks that were forming over the left side of his face.

 

“Why’d you come back?” I asked him ignoring the other two; if they wanted to kill me they could go ahead, they’d had plenty of chances to do so by now.

 

“Why do you think?”

 

“I thought you couldn’t care less what happened to your subordinate?”

 

He gave me that cold callous look that he wore so often, “It’s complicated; you know what I’m talking about Inersian.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I do.” I responded quietly. Xavier, that was what I had forgotten in all the rush of staying alive; what was the point in surviving all of this if I couldn’t help him? I owed everything to him, the few pieces of humanity that remained within me were all thanks to him; the things he had taught me were the only memories I had that were worth a damn anything, I would do anything for him.

 

“If you two are done your little chat then you should know that a ground team will be waiting for us once we reach Inersia, one of ours.” He emphasized the last part looking at me; what he meant that a contingent of operatives from Ops 9 would be waiting. “He’ll be there to greet you so I would show up if I were you…you might not have such an opportunity to do so again.”

 

I froze for just an instant before I realized that it didn’t matter, Xavier was the only thing Fenister could really threaten me with short of killing me, I should have expected for this. I said nothing, instead giving the man a polite nod as I took a seat beside the Aphelian officer; we were prisoners, the both of us, even if only one of us was in shackles.

 

“Teluria is rather displeased with your conduct you know, they don’t appreciate you bringing down one of their delicate research spires.” Fenister glared at the officer, “There were less destructive ways for you to accomplish what you did.”

 

“Well, you didn’t exactly give me very much room to manoeuvre, now did you? I did what I could in that situation, no more, no less.”

 

“What does Aphelion want with me?”

 

“The only thing Aphelion ever wants from outsiders.”

 

“I have nothing that Aphelion could want.”

 

“You are alive and you present a threat; Aphelion would see you dead for just that. You know this already, why must you ask me?”

 

Fenister’s eyes narrowed and a scowl crossed his face for the first time, “There is something else at work here, something bigger. I can sense it in the way the other states pursue her relentlessly,” he said, nodding towards me, “In the way Aphelion sends people like you out after me; something I am doing has Aphelion unsettled, and few things are ever of such importance to achieve that. Why does Aphelion want me dead?”

 

“I’m just a field operative, the reasons for my actions are beyond my station. You know how it is.” He laughed, hollow ringing in my ears.

 

“What are you talking about?” I said wearily to Fenister, not expecting a straight answer.

 

“Aphelion wants you alive, the Combine wants you dead because of it; I fought tooth and nail for the past seven years to keep you alive so I fought with the high council to find a compromise where you would live. Your actions have not helped me in these efforts in the slightest and I still have no idea why Aphelion pursues you so; help me help you Gillian for fucks sake, take on of the deals so I can at least get the Combine off your back.” He looked tired, exhausted even; I hadn’t noticed it before but the fatigue was beginning to show.

 

I was surprised that he’d actually answered my question for once, and more surprised at the expression on his face; in all my years working with the man I had never once seen him looking anything but assured and confident. Still though it was hard to trust Fenister at all given what had happened in recently; why he hadn’t been straight with me from the start was also suspect. Looking Fenister’s strange patterns of behaviour made his words a little more believable though; they explained his odd pushing and pulling and his unpredictable tendencies to threaten her out of the blue after seemingly trying to help her before.

 

“And why couldn’t you just tell me all of this before?” I said looking sceptically at the man. Arthur rolled his eyes at my comment, looking away; Fenister gave him a look and after a quick frown the scientist retreated into the next room.

 

“It was easier to keep you in the dark, there were questions that I was reluctant to answer, there are questions which I am still reluctant to answer now. There is darkness in this world, in these operations I run which I knew you would not approve of; it was easier to secure your co-operation like this.”

 

“But now?”

 

“There’s no time to play games with you, I need your co-operation now more than ever.” He nodded his head in the officer’s direction, “This man’s people are after us and it will take more than Combine air patrols to keep them out, I’ll need your help to keep us alive even after we land.”

 

“Aren’t you and your Ops 9 sufficient to handle any threat?”

 

“Just look at him! He took a fucking bomb to the face and he’s still standing, these are monsters!”

 

“And what am I then, another monster?”

 

“No, you’re my daughter.”

…

 

This is no time to be playing favourites, I don’t care who she is to you, kill her.

 

Please, there must be something else that can be done?

 

She is a threat, remove her.

 

There ways in which that can be done which do not include her death.

 

I don’t care what you do, make sure she never opposes us again!            

 

There’s no way that that could ever happen; she will always oppose us as long as we have the boy.

 

Then let the boy deal with her since you clearly cannot.

…

16: Bloodlines

There was a long silence where no one said anything, I myself stood there unmoving not believing what I had just heard. The Aphelian officer looked on same as ever, expressing the same apathy to what was unfolding before him that he had been displaying before; still though there was an oddity about his stillness though that I couldn’t quite penetrate, something was off here.

 

“Are you trying to bullshit me?” I growled, teeth clenched, “If this is supposed to be some sort of sick joke it’s not funny.”

 

“Do I have a reason to lie? You’ve caused me more than your fair share of trouble with your pride and arrogance, keeping you alive has been rather bothersome these past twenty three years.” Fenister stood there looking unapologetic.

 

“What kind of father abandons their daughter for the first sixteen years of her life and then spends the next seven making her life a living hell?!” I snarled, outraged by the sheer ridiculousness of the situation I found myself in. “I don’t know what’s worse, what you’ve tried to put me through these past few days or the bullshit you’re coming up with now.”

 

“I had no choice, during the years of your childhood I was unable to attend to your needs due to the sensitive nature of my work; standard genetic screening later revealed that you were a match for the kinds of test subjects, all I could do was ensure that you were under my care.”

 

“Your care?” I laughed, a hollow laughter that rang through the empty space in the hull, “If that’s what you call caring I’d hate to know what kind of caring relationship you had with my mother.”

 

Fenister’s eyes grew dark at my remark, and I felt a dark stab of pleasure at his anger, “You have no right to speak to me that way, you have no idea what we went through to keep you safe.”

 

“And what do I know?” I asked bitterly, “You’ve kept me in the dark all my life, unable to admit anything to me. Just what kind of daughter am I to you really, if I’m just your star soldier who bends the rules.”

 

The Aphelian officer coughed politely from his spot on the wall beside us, “I believe this aircraft is decelerating for landing, perhaps you’d best sort this out another time.” Apparently he was unconcerned with the fact that in just a few short moments he would permanently be in the custody of the Combine.

 

Fenister backhanded him across the face again, “I told you that you were to speak only when spoken to.” The officer grinned insincerely in response, but said nothing else.

 

Regardless the Thopter had indeed slowed to a stop, the deceleration pushing gently against my feet as the vehicle slid into an Inersian hanger bay to land lightly on the tarmac amongst its fellows. Through the translucent plates I could see the escort party that Fenister had mentioned headed our way, but no one aboard had moved.

 

“I still see no reason to believe you,” I said, arms crossed over my chest.

 

“And what pray do tell, could I possibly do to convince you? There is of course genetics testing that is available but I doubt that you would submit to it and even if you did you wouldn’t really care, would you?” Fenister looked miffed, but was otherwise unchanged.

 

“Not at this moment no.”  I glanced around the interior and then back at myself; I was still wearing the undersuit from Wyvern and was in no way prepared to meet anyone else dressed like this. “I’m going to need a new set of armour since you appear to have lost mine.”

 

“And where am I going to get something like that for a scraggly figure like yours?” Our banter had a familiar air to it, but there was a tension there that hadn’t been there before as well.

 

“Find something, I’m your daughter right? Surely you can do that much at least.” I said, though I didn’t really expect much from him.

 

“Fine.” He said tersely, stalking off.

 

“Well that was rather unexpected.” The Aphelian officer muttered, his voice carrying an amused undertone.

 

“I would watch what you say.”

 

“And I would tell you to be careful what you believe.”

 

I already knew that; I had been careful with what I trusted myself to believe for the past three weeks, for the past twenty one years, for the past life time. I had been born into a world of darkness and raised in an environment where I could trust nothing, alone without anyone to rely on I had been forced to become self-sufficient; I put up barriers between myself and the world and built a shell which only I could enter. It had been a hollow life and until Xavier I had nothing and known nothing of how to interact with the rest of the world; he had opened my eyes to the inner light of people and shown me that even in the darkness there would always be lights to look to.

 

He had been taken from me of course, ripped away in the least obvious ways until nothing but a shell remained; he was hollowed out, we all had been. I wanted to bring him back because somehow, I had survived what the rest who had been brought into the Ops 9 program had not; I remembered what I had been before, and I wanted it back so very badly.

 

I strode past the Aphelian without saying anything more; speaking to him wouldn’t help me change anything. I had no idea what awaited me once I stepped outside the Thopter, Fenister was unpredictable at the best of times and the most recent turn of events had me second guessing everything. There was a chance that he was simply setting me up for another of his ridiculous schemes as well though it was somewhat less likely this time, I supposed. The layout of the Thopter was all too familiar and I found myself walking through its empty corridors, fingers trailing on the cold black metal polymers; each compartment held a different memory.

 

I had grown up on these machines, lived, learned, loved; my time between missions and downtime was all spent in the interior of a Thopter winging from end to end of Inersia, the city of tears. Fenister had been ever present throughout, an unknown who had never been predictable; I remembered my first briefing in the crew compartment, the first time I sent a Thopter plunging into a nosedive from the piloting sphere, the voice of its mindlessly cheerful system A.I calmly announcing that it was about to blow our enemies to smithereens. Memories of life I didn’t want, but memories that would stay with me for the rest of my life regardless.

 

All that I could be certain of was that I was in danger still; Fenister had been threatening to erase my existence regardless of who I really was to him. Running was out of the question, an entire squad of my fellows awaited me outside; going after Fenister would likely similarly result in my untimely demise and besides, the man was skilled enough to be a match even for me with all my amplifications.

 

Ultimately I was unable to decide what to do; it seemed utterly hopeless. Left with no options I paced back over to the Aphelian officer to where Fenister had left us to await his return, I didn’t have to wait long as several minutes later Fenister returned carrying a slick white set of issue armour.

 

“Right from the blueprint scans of your frame, this should fit you perfectly.” Fenistered growled, “Now with that done with can we go once you’re suited up?”

 

“And what if I don’t want to leave?”

 

“What, do you want me to force you to go at sword point?”

 

“Well if all that’s in store for me is death or memory erasure I see no point in leaving.” I spat back as I strapped on another piece of armour.

 

“If there was another option available to us I would tell you but at this point your little rebellion against Inersia and the rest of the Combine has caused enough trouble for Command to push your death. The best I can do for you now is to give new life away from all of this, so either bite the bullet now or submit to the memory erasure; either way that escort team is getting impatient.”

 

I could hear the wind howling outside permeating every inch of the hangar bay as it leaked in from beneath the doors bringing trickling trails of water with it, the sound of it was familiar as were the accompanying flashes of the edge of a building, rain slicked concrete and the view of tiny ant-like people below me.

 

“I have chosen death before.” I heard the words leave my mouth more than I felt myself say them.

 

“And yet you stand before me, clearly life seemed a superior option then.”

 

“I would not be so sure.”

 

There was a rapping on the hull, a reminder from the operatives outside that they were waiting; Fenister gave me a look and I knew my time was up as he turned to open the accessway. A dozen operatives in black armour flooded into the Thopter, boots clanging dully against the floor as they marched in. Fenister followed stiffly behind them with Arthur trailing alongside him as they headed towards us; the Aphelian officer hung limp in his restraints, glowering silently his stare fixed on the squad leader.

 

“Well well if it isn’t you bunch of stiffs, come to claim your prize at last?” he laughed, eyes sharp and bright in the darkness.

 

“Captain Fenister, Commander Summers, welcome back to Inersia, Command would like a word with both of you.” The lead operative said, ignoring the Aphelian. “They are rather upset at the damage to Teluria, Telurian officials are giving us a hard time right now about the damage you wrought.”

 

“Unintentional I assure you.”

 

“Tell it to them yourself; as for the Aphelian, we’ll take him down to the brig after we escort you two to your meeting.” The leader was a tall man, almost seven feet in height. He glowered down at us in spite of our ranks perhaps finding the courage to act with such disregard because of our current standing with Command.

 

“Shall we be going then?” Fenister replied evenly, unaffected by the man’s tone.

 

“Yes, let’s” the operatives fell in to line, six on each side flanking us as they led the way out carrying the Aphelian on their shoulders. I took the time to study each of them with care; some of them I recognized having worked with them in the past, all of them were ruthless and effective, and all of them were armed at the moment. Each of my fellows was augmented similarly to how I was, but I only I had retained my memories of the past, only I still understood that what we were doing what we were told to do, was wrong. Each carried the trademark Inersian rapier at their hip or slung across their back that meter of tempered steel that we spent years mastering; it reminded me of the Aphelian Sabre that I had lost in Ziforus. I wondered what had happened there, after all a smoking hole that was all that was left of Springfield Architectural now; the image glowed bright in my mind, more blood on my hands. The others before me wouldn’t have thought twice about doing something like that; collateral damage and mass destruction was just another normal day to them.

 

Xavier however had yet to appear; Fenister had said that he’d be waiting but I had yet to see any evidence of that. Never the less I would keep my eyes open for him, if they stayed open at all anyway. They marched us across the tarmac as two of the other Thopters came to life, thrusters taking them up and out of the hanger into the pouring rain; a team of technicians ran over to our Thopter swarming over it like ants. It melted with a terrible mechanical retching as it was torn apart and disassembled, the A.I within whining pitifully asking what it had done.

 

“They’re looking for evidence of misconduct; I hope you were careful about what you did onboard.” Fenister said without looking my way.

 

“It’s just a machine, those screams aren’t real.”

 

“With what you’ve learned do you really thing that’s true.” Arthur rumbled, speaking for the first time in hours.

 

I fell silent at that, and stared at my boots the rest of the time as we walked towards the Command Post. It had been three years since the since I had stood before High Command; last time I had been gagged and bound, kneeling with my wrists chained to a post. I had been beaten into submission, but this time I would hold my head high no matter what happened; it was time to put an end to this once and for all.

 

A heavy knock sounded, the unforgettable vibrations of polymer gauntlets hammering on heavy steel; we had arrived at our destination. Five hundred meters from the central hanger a kilometer and a half above the city floor, the command dome of Inersia, home to the entirety of her command structure we were now in the most secure room of the whole city. The massive doors swung open without a sound and we were escorted forwards into the ring; metal girders towered around us and guardsmen stared down at us like caged animals; electric blue and purple raced across the walls and ceiling, dozens of monitors glowing bright in the ever dark.

 

“That will be all Captain Merideth, you can go.” An officer suited up in full dress uniform waved the Operatives off; his face familiar though I couldn’t put a name to it.

 

“And the Aphelian?”, the lead Operative, assumedly Merideth questioned.

 

“You can leave him here as well, we will discuss his fate in private.”

 

“If that is your wish I must insist on leaving two of my fellows with you as a security measure.”

 

“That will not be necessary Captain; leave us.”

 

A look of protest crossed the operative’s face but not words left his lips; with swift gesture he led the group out leaving us alone in the cavernous pit. Above us I could hear the shuffling of shoes on the metal; dozens of eyes stared down, bright stars against the midnight sky.

 

“Commander Gillian Summers, glad to see that you’ve finally decided to join us.” Three uniformed officers in long black coats studded with awards and accolades glared down at us.

 

“We’ve returned to Inersia as requested, what do you want Holland.” Fenister growled drawing their eyes to him.

 

“Julian Fenister, crown prince of Inersia finally returned at last with your pet daughter at your heels and an Aphelian dog on your leash; you’ve got some nerve to speak to us in that tone given the way you limped away from here last time with your head between your heels.” The rightmost said, pulling his hat up just enough so you could see his eyes. Dark brown hair framed a pair of piercing orange eyes that seemed to be perpetually angry no matter how you looked at them.

 

Fenister, stiff in his body armour shrugged unaffected by the harsh words; I myself was only just processing them and their implications myself. What did they mean by ‘crown prince’? Inersia had no royalty, our leadership structure was made up of a puppet democracy run from the shadows by the military high command, I had seen that for myself. “Last time I had made a mistake, I was no position to negotiate; this time you won’t find me folding so easily.”

 

“Really, I find your position rather unchanged; Commander Summer’s conduct warrants her execution and your promises to us last time that you would keep her under control do not appear to have come to fruition. Furthermore the damage she was responsible for in Obitua and Teluria is severe to say the least, if you are not in the least apologetic I see little reason to continue this conversation; while you are too important to this city-state to kill your daughter certainly is not.” The officer in the middle showed her eyes, taking her turn to push her hat upwards to expose a shock of ice-blonde hair.

 

“Clarrisa, still haven’t kicked the bucket I see. How are the kids doing, well I suppose? Arthur tells me that there was an accident in Teluria when you husband was visiting, I hope he’s alright.”

 

“You’re pretty cocky for someone who was just demoted Commander Fenister.” She responded curtly ignoring the jab.

 

Fenister laughed, “You always did like to talk business; I think we both know though that my rank is irrelevant in the greater scheme of things.”

 

“Shut your mouth Fenister, you’re already looking at months in a cell in solitary confinement; don’t make this any worse for yourself than it has to be.” The last voice I recognized immediately; it was one that had permeated the years of my indoctrination, or training as they had labeled it. Captain Aurelius Turus, Knight Captain of Inersia; head of the Office of Internal Affairs heading crime and punishment, internalized personnel issues, and suppression of the those who would oppose their regime. I knew him well since my conduct had been anything but in line with what they wanted; over the years I had sat down in his office with Fenister and Xavier at my side each time I had infringed on the rules and overstepped my place.

 

His cold steel-blue eyes glared at us from beneath his cap, silent with a fury that burned white hot in spite of his still form; he was cruel beyond measure and ruthlessly efficient but above all he would do whatever was necessary to get the job done. He disapproved of me on principle simply because I was a threat to the order that he held so dear; and I disliked him because he threatened me on a frequent basis.

 

“Where’s Xavier? You said he’d be here.” I asked Fenister quietly.

 

“That’s what I was told, I’m not exactly in the best position to bargain here so you’ll have to bear with it; it’s going to be a struggle to get out of here alive as it is.”

 

“Enough.” The voice echoed through the room silencing everybody; a fourth uniformed officer stepped forwards to join the others. Taller than the rest he towered over them, the cloak on his back sweeping across the floor to fill the backdrop; a massive blade hilt was visible clipped to his side and even through the thick ceremonial uniform you could see the angular shapes of body armour poking out from underneath.

 

In spite of his massive figure when he swept the cap from his head the man beneath was gaunt and thin with bony cheeks and a sharp brow; his blackish brown hair was cut straight and short to set his face in a rectangular frame. He looked like Fenister almost, the resemblance was uncanny, so by that and my new learned knowledge of Fenister’s title I assumed him to be—

 

“Julian I must say it has been awhile since we last met.” The giant rumbled.

 

“Father.”

…

 

Inersia and the rest of the seven Combine states, what do you think they are?

 

The collective states that form an industrial conglomerate?

 

Yes there is that, but what does the Combine truly stand for; what is our purpose for existing?

 

Well, we’re simply another population center attempting to sustain our localized economy are we not?

 

Look to the north and the city on the peak, look to Aphelion and its towering industries and great shipyards; we pale in comparison when we pit ourselves against their might. We specialize in the same things, so why do we look to them with such disdain, why not join them so we can both benefit from each other?

 

Because their values and beliefs are dissimilar from ours, because they’re monsters and we’re not.

 

Are they really that different? Are we really better?

 

That depends on how you look at it I suppose; regardless get to your point.

 

The reason why we are two powers rather than one is a matter of spite, rather than a difference in opinion.

 

Meaning?

 

Have you met the king of Inersia?

…

17: Inquisition

Fenister was on his knees in an instant, an archaic gesture of fealty which I assumed to be necessary once everyone else around me followed suit dropping somewhat painfully to the metal grating that lined the floor. I was immediately alone, the only one still standing and I found myself put in an awkward position where if I knelt now I would immediately be singled out as the last to kneel and show my deference.

 

I considered a moment, then shrugged and remained standing; I had nothing to lose anyway they already wanted me dead. Fenister and half a dozen others were glaring hard at me, and the guards lining the perimeter of the room were shuffling nervously, hands on their weapons.

 

“Girl, did your father not teach you to bow before your ruler?” the giant rumbled, his face stony.

 

“I didn’t have a father, and the closest thing I have to one spends half his time trying to kill me or wipe my mind.” I replied, my voice icy.

 

“Even the most feeble of peasants knows to bow before their king.”

 

“I wasn’t aware that I had one, and I’m not a peasant.”

 

A grim silence fell upon the room as this man, Fenister’s father, took three steps towards me, his cloak billowing out behind him hand on the blade hilt of his massive sword. A flash of steel flickered in front of my eyes and instantly my hand was at my hip bringing the knife at my waist to bear; there was a massive crash and howling of air as I shook beneath the force of the impact, the knife just inches from my face, a gigantic meter and a half long broadsword hovering before me.

 

A booming laughter filled the chamber, a foreign and entirely unexpected sound coming from the thin man before me; in my boots, in my mind I was shaking with fear but my body was frozen in place, pushing against the massive blade that threatened to take off my head.  “You are brave, and strong to block my blade girl. But you need more than strength to survive in this world little one. Only the wise survive, and it is unwise to test yourself against me.”

 

I said nothing, focusing on watching his movements and holding the knife in place to keep the sword from taking off my head. The old man retained a surprising amount of strength, almost forcing me to my knees when I was the operative with muscular and ocular enhancements.

 

“Name yourself, girl.”

 

“Commander Gillian Summers of Ops 9 of Inersia.” I said, my voice echoing through the silence of the chamber, but managing to make the title sound empty. “And you would be?” the question response exited my mouth without my really thinking about it.

 

“A worthy opponent I would think.” The man boomed, amusement in his voice. “It seems that you need some more convincing before you can accept my identity.”

 

All the while I could feel him pressing against me with his blade, testing my strength, trying to push me down and knock me over; the knife trembled in my hands, barely holding the sword in check. If there had been room for me to disengage I would have, but the tense grip of the guards on their weapons made me move away from that line of thought. The contingent of officers that surrounded us had risen, their hands on their weapons but for the moment; Fenister I expected would retain his calm, but the other three were more difficult to read. Aurelius especially was capable of explosive violence, and the Knight Captain was notorious for intervening when the security of Inersia was concerned. Holland and Clarissa were tight lipped, but seemingly trying to look casual and unconcerned.

 

“It hardly seems a fair fight if I cannot even move.” I hissed, desperately trying to think of anything that would get me out of this.

 

“Fair fights do not exist.” There was a hiss of steel as the blade was suddenly retracted and I almost stumbled forwards, “But fortunately for you mercy does.”

 

My knife hung in the air for a moment before I sheathed it again restoring it to its initial position at my hip; beyond preventing my immediate death at the hands of the broadsword it would be of little use now against all the weapons here that could potentially be arrayed against me. I let my head dip ever so slightly, stooping into the shallowest of bows.

 

“I am honoured by your leniency.” I said, trying my best to keep the disdain out of my voice.

 

Fenister’s father laughed again, and I watched silently as the massive broadsword disappeared into the sheath at his side, “You raised a proud one Julian.”

 

Fenister smiled stiffly, “I raised her the way you raised me.”

 

“Are all of your family structures so endearing then?” the half choked voice of the Aphelian operative snaked out from where they had chained him. He had taken on a ghostly pallor beneath the cold white lights of the command dome, though a flush of red returned to his face as at least eight different rifles rotated towards him.

 

Holland walked up to him and wrapped one of his hands around the man’s neck hefting him up by applying what I assumed was an unpleasant amount of pressure to the Aphelian given the wince which flashed across his face.

 

“I would watch your tone prisoner, you should be glad to be alive; had it been me I would not have spared you.”

 

“I’m quite unsure as to whether or not my being alive will remain the case for much longer anyway thank you very much.” The Aphelian hissed back.

“Now now Holland, there’s no need to be so rude to our honoured guest.” The giant rumbled, “He’s come a long way to meet us here so there’s no need to be unpleasant.”

 

“He’s a security risk, like all of your son’s pet projects.” Aurelius sniffed, unimpressed.

 

“I believe this one at least,” Fenister’s father began, drawing his sword to place it just above the Aphelion operative’s neck, “is quite under control.”

 

“I would still rather you let me handle him your majesty; surely you can trust me with any interrogation you have in mind for this whelp.” The Knight Captain said, looking unconvinced, a stance which seemed to make his two colleagues nervous.

 

“Perhaps...but what then of this situation with my son and this...girl then?” the King, or whatever he was asked Aurelius, gesturing towards me with his last few words. “Surely it would be a security risk if you were to have to handle both of these situations at once.”

 

The Knight Captain’s cold blue eyes seemed to grow impossibly narrow, though he directed his gaze downwards so as to keep his expression from being seen by anyone but those to his side, which would be just Fenister and I. He seemed to take his time gathering his thoughts, and though I wasn’t one to play the political game even I could tell that he was weighing his odds; quite obviously he wanted to have a say in what would happen to Fenister and I, but the prize of being the one to pry information from a live Aphelian agent, well, the potential in that opportunity was immense.

 

“I suppose...that I would have to leave that situation to the judgement of you and my esteemed colleagues then your majesty.” He said slowly, letting each word hang in the air.

 

“Excellent!” Fenister’s father clapped, withdrawing his blade. “You can get right to it then.” He said, and with a gesture four guards were hoisting the Aphelian agent up and Aurelius was effectively ejected from the room, the massive steel doors closing behind him with a dull thud.

 

All the while Fenister had been watching the exchange intently, waiting for an opening no doubt; he seemed to think that now was the time to try and seize back some control.

 

“Well then father, if that’s all out of the way why don’t we move on to why you’ve gone to all the trouble to call us back here.”

 

I decided then to tentatively label Fenister’s father as the Regent; without proper evidence I couldn’t possibly confirm that he was indeed some so called “King” of Inersia, but with everyone else here acknowledging him as such it seemed better to give him the benefit of the doubt for the time being.

 

“Well, there is some politicking going on around the Combine as per usual, but it seems that in recent times I’ve been hearing quite a bit about your exploits; your daughter as well seems to have been causing quite a stir here in Inersia with some of the information she’s been spreading around about your...personal project of Ops 9.” The Regent had stepped forwards to address Fenister only, leaving me to the side somewhat ignoring me. Further to the back the woman, Clarissa was rapidly tapping keys on what I knew to be the primary tactical projector bringing up images of Obitua, Teluria, and surprisingly enough, Ziforus. Footage played showing me brutally dealing with the Obituan shock troopers and rampaging through the remains of the Springfield Architectural firm as I engaged the Aphelian gunship; all the while a ticker to the side displayed a steady stream of reports and complaints which had been flowing into the command center here.

 

“And your problem with my conduct here is what exactly?” I let myself ride on the flow of the current Fenister had created.

 

“Well for starters you’re supposed to be dead. Dead people aren’t supposed to continue to cause problems.” Holland growled.

 

“Well then perhaps you ought to have done a better job at actually killing me then.” I snapped.

 

“And that would be Fenister’s domain of responsibility.” Clarissa said dryly from her perch.

 

“Indeed this whole Ops 9 affair has been poorly managed I must admit; you have some explaining to do Julian.” The Regent added, his face suddenly serious.

 

“Ops 9 was never meant to be a self-contained unit father, it was meant to spread. It is the beginning of the future, a means to producing men of women of fighting quality capable of taking on Aphelion!”

 

There was silence as the others seemed to take a moment to process what Fenister had said. Taking on Aphelion, such a thing as unthinkable; the technological and industrial juggernaut far outstripped the abilities of entirety of the Combine, let alone Inersia by herself. I had spent the entirety of my life with this understanding, literally living under the shadow of Aphelion and its massive spires; we were told over and over that we had no way to really compete, all seven of the Combine states together could not muster enough strength to take her on with the size of the army she fielded.

 

“What you’re suggesting is foolish beyond belief, madness!” Holland gestured emphatically as he spoke, an act that betrayed just how lightly built the man was beneath the shroud of his cloak.

 

“Holland is right there is no way that anything we do could possibly allow us to challenge Aphelion, they crushed us when they fought to become an independent state. They hold too much of an industrial advantage, and from what our intelligence personnel tell us technological they are decades ahead of us as well; if we pick a fight with Aphelion they will leave us in a state of devastation. Just look at what happened to Glissaria, do you want to end up like them?!” likewise Clarissa was similarly agitated with the idea, though she seemed less openly frantic about it than her colleague. For the moment the Regent observed the happenings impassively without speaking, but I could tell he was listening carefully, noting how everyone was reacting.

 

“Nothing will ever change if we don’t work to progress forwards from this pathetic state that we’ve been reduced to! How can you claim to be our leaders if you won’t even stop to consider that nothing, nothing we have done in the past decade has done anything to improve our position. Will you have our people spend the rest of eternity grovelling at Aphelion’s feet? Something must be done, something has to change! I have provided a solution, I have a plan with which we can bring this juggernaut to its feet, to reclaim our place in the world and stand atop as we once did!”

 

“And what plan would that be Julian?” the Regent rumbled, stepping up to Fenister as if to show just how different in physical build they were, the giant dwarfing the Captain.

 

“Before I discuss such sensitive matters I need this axe over my head removed.” Fenister responded stiffly.

 

“Hmmm.” The Regent put two fingers against his chin, thinking carefully, “I can give you a chance to prove to us that your plan and continued administration of Ops 9 is warranted.”

 

The other two officers looked unhappy with the situation but it was quite clear that there was nothing they could do to go against the word of their leader; I waited impatiently alongside Arthur to see where things would go now.

 

“And how do you propose I do that exactly?”

 

“Well first, we’ll deal with the problem of your daughter, in private. You will come with me as we attend to that matter.”

 

A cadre of impressively armed and armoured guards materialized at my side from seemingly out of nowhere, it was going to be a long day.

…

 

I always hated the window in my room.

 

Why is that?

 

It was a pointless view, it opened out towards the waters of Lake Arity…except it was also in the shadow of one of Aphelion’s great spires. It was a perpetual scene of darkness, barely illuminated by the lights on the shore of the lake.

 

Almost all the Combine is like that, dark and sodden in the shadow of Aphelion, haven’t you gotten used to it by now after all of these years?

 

If I had been around when they fought that war this never would have happened, I would have prevented Aphelion’s ascendance.

 

It’s all in the past now, there’s nothing we can do. Aphelion is too powerful to challenge.

 

I can’t accept that. I will never accept that.

…

18: Tyrants on High

The guards marched me down to the lower levels, a place I had been many times before though usually accompanied by Aurelius and Fenister rather than the giant just behind me. In the past I had wondered at why the ceilings of the halls were so high, and I now I had my answer; the entirety of this building had been designed with him, or at least someone of his stature, in mind. The Command Post was a black place for the most part, dark and shadowed in spite of its large size and thin turrets, its architecture distinct from the rest of Inersia, sharp edged and lethal in appearance rather than boxy and utilitarian. When I really thought about it, the citadel that was the Command Post resembled an Aphelian structure, perhaps a reflection of the ambitions of those within though I could not be certain of the veracity of that line of thought.

 

I thought briefly about the fate of the Aphelian officer that we had captured. Having experienced Aurelius’ fury first hand I could imagine the hell that the man must have been going through right now. For a moment during that battle at Ziforus I had felt as though he and I were somewhat similar given the predicament we had been in; the feeling had been somewhat dulled by the fact that he’d been rather unpleasant given he had been shooting at me, but I had definitely felt something never the less. For the moment my thoughts served as a pleasant distraction from whatever grim fate lay in wait for me; I hadn’t liked the tone that the Regent had used when he commanded Fenister and I to follow him along, and the armed escort wasn’t helping my nerves either.

 

We walked for what must have been at least half an hour through the bowels of the citadel until the dark dimly lit hallways receded into a massive antechamber distinguished by a dozen marble pillars illuminated with hundreds of live flames.  The Regent and Fenister were silent throughout, never once turning their heads in spite of the fact that they were side by side with each other.  What was most apparent though, was the sheer volume of water that pounded down on this region; through the layers upon layers of thick armour plating, you could still hear the dull thunder of rain splattering on metal and the roar of the turbines powered by those mighty torrents.

 

Fenister had never mentioned his father, generally he had never spoken much at all about his personal life. And I had never felt any impetus to ask about it given the mess I had found myself in for most of my life. There had never been the time or place where such a thing had felt appropriate. I was at a loss as to what kind of relationship might exist between the two men in front of me due to the chaotic life that I had led.  Even now with them both right in front of me I could still hardly believe that such a relationship existed between the two; indeed I wasn’t even sure I could trust their story that this giant was our so called King, I certainly hadn’t been educated about the fact that we even had one.

 

Still, that the giant was here before me now was quite convincing with his regal cape and stylized dress. Never before had I seen anyone behave in such a pompous manner in this military state. But there were many things that I’d never seen before, so I remained reluctant to trust anything that this man claimed to be. But that was something beyond my control, and at the moment I had larger concerns looming on the horizon. I couldn’t be sure of Fenister’s true intensions, and the things that the Regent had said to him as we were being brought were anything but reassuring. My fate it seemed, was out of my own hands.

 

The Antechamber led to what could only be described as a throne room. The black seat was perched atop a set of golden steps, overlooking an ornate pattern in tiling of the floor. A simple desk had been placed at the foot of the stairs, but other than that the room was bare of any accessories. The guards escorted Fenister and I over to the plain fixture, while the Regent marched slowly up to the top to take his seat some five meters above us. There were no seats, the desk it seemed, was a mere courtesy, or perhaps a simple marker to show where guests were to stand. Fenister seemed familiar with the procedure, but I had no interest in what was going, besides the fact that there were going to be gun barrels pointed in my face if I didn’t cooperate at a basic level. I settled for leaning against the desk, a casually disrespectful posture. That drew a grimace from Fenister, something that I took distinct pleasure in noting.

 

As we entered, the guards that had escorted us stepped away into the shadows at the periphery to disappear from sight. I tried my best to make out where they had gone, but even with my augmented eyesight I could find no trace of them. We were now alone in this massive throne room, I was alone, with Fenister and this megalomaniac.

 

“So Julian, it has been quite some time since we were last here. You’ve spent a lot of time away from home.” The echoing of the man’s voice was almost deafening in the chamber, the sound slamming into my ears from all sides. It made my head ache, the unpleasant pressure creeping against my cranium at my temples.

 

“As I said before I departed, it is difficult to accomplish anything of consequence while I remain close to the Inersian center. The meanderings of Combine politics are a quagmire that I have no interest in joining, and even its proximity would be an inconvenience due to the stagnation it would incur.”

 

“The treasuries of this state are great, but not infinite. What you label as political meandering are the necessary processes which must be executed in order to ensure that our coffers do not empty due to reckless expenditures. Your projects are both expensive and eccentric, and have no place here as far as I am concerned. You did not really expect me to allow you to use Inersia’s funds for such foolish endeavours did you?”

 

An ugly grimace twisted Fenister’s lips, “Fortunately despite the fact that we often do not agree on things, you are still open to me finding my own ways to ensure that what I want to do becomes a reality, is that not so father?”

 

That drew a smirk from the Regent. “My foolish son, you never change do you?”

 

A frown appeared on Fenister’s face. “Shall we get down to business, or did you really bring us all the way here just for some small talk?”

 

Through all of this, I was a silent observer allowing the two men to talk. I was bold, but even for me there was a limit to the kinds of risks I was willing to take by opening my mouth. The fact of the matter was, it would accomplish nothing if I annoyed either of these two, and as much as I hated the situation I found my desire to stay alive intact.

 

“Well then girl, what do you have to say on the matter?”

 

I pursed my lips, “Does my opinion even matter?”

 

“Of course. What you say now will help to decide your future. Inersia has no room for someone who cannot even speak up for their own cause.”

 

“Well that would depend on what your problem is with me.” I was aware of course, that much of my activities in attempting to educate the populace of the atrocities committed by Inersian High Command ran counter to their plans. It was one thing to control through fear, but provide enough of an aggravation such as the knowledge that Inersia was using children for some…less than legal military purposes, and control would become impossible.

 

“Your work, as you have been told countless times by the Knight Captain is disruptive to our efforts to bring lasting peace to the Combine. If we are to achieve any kind of stability in this region then we must be able to maintain control of resources and trade, an effort which requires a strong military. I know…that you have personally found some of our methods in strengthening that fighting force to be objectionable, but never the less it remains that these things have to be done.”

 

I was less than impressed by the man’s words. I didn’t give a damn what they wanted, my youth and innocence had been forcibly stripped from me, and I’d been thrown headfirst into combat more times than I could count. And to top it off, after I’d left to try and find my own way, they’d sent people to hunt me down, intent on trying to kill me. That we were having this conversation here and now was a mere courtesy, a function of the fact that in some ways I had become important, somehow. Fenister, this man who claimed to be my father, seemed to think that I was important somehow. I could see no other reason for why I might still be alive. But now I had to play this dangerous game of figuring out the way in which I was useful to him. That was the only way in which I could re-secure control of my own life, without that I was entirely dependent on Fenister’s good will, something that had already proven to be dangerously mutable.

 

“Well you’ve tried several times to kill me, not that you’ve been very successful with it. Don’t you think that would make me feel inclined to oppose the things you’re doing?”

 

Fenister gave me a sour look, but our host seemed more receptive to my response; the big man laughed, a boom sound which filled the chamber, something which I had come to expect, but nevertheless still found a little intimidating.

 

“Julian, you should not have put so much energy into stifling your daughter’s growth. She could have accomplished great things if you had just brought her to be raised here at the Citadel.”

 

Fenister stiffened at my side, “If it had been me, would you have allowed such views? I raised her away from this place to get away from you, because I was afraid you would have her killed for the things she believed in.” There was a vehemence to Fenister’s words that I’d not heard before.

 

I didn’t want to be here. I had no desire to sit here while these two sorted out whatever familial issue was between them, especially not while Xavier’s life was potentially at risk. Fenister still hadn’t delivered on his promise that he would be here, and though I was somewhat cavalier with my own safety, I was not so callous with the lives of others. Not that…Xavier would care much for my concern, these days, all that mattered to him were his orders.

 

Proud, downturned lips and dark glaring eyes peered down at us from above as the Regent’s fingers went to the hilt of his broadsword, the giant rising to his feet. “I raised you to be a prince, my successor. I taught you of the ideals required to be a dutiful ruler, someone who wouldn’t bring this state to ruin if  you were to ascend to the throne. Do not presume to be so righteous in what you have done.”

 

“I am doing what you never could achieve! I will bring us back into the light!”

 

“You’ve been talking too much with that scientist friend of yours son. Your delusions of grandeur must end here or everyone will suffer, including your daughter.”

 

Being referred to as though I wasn’t there didn’t sit very well with me either. “Look, this is going nowhere and I don’t give a damn about little feud, I just want to know what I need to do to stay alive. Can we just get this over with so I can leave?”

 

“Do not give me such lip!” The sword was drawn far too quickly in spite of its immense weight. How did the man do it?

 

I would have shouted back, if not for the arm that Fenister raised in front of me. In another time I would have ignored him and continued forward, and even now I didn’t trust him at all, but something in his face made me pause.

 

“Perhaps it would be best father, if we concluded our business here instead of wasting more time.”

 

“See here, the way I raised you, at least you have some manners.” The big man had turned his head away, refusing to look us in the eye. Certainly for a ruler he was rather quick to become outraged, perhaps unused to the defiance that I was capable of exhibiting.                                                                                                   

 

“Something which I assure you I am most grateful for. However, rude as she is my daughter is correct in the fact that we should come to a conclusion as to what we are going to do.”

 

There was a long silence before finally, the giant sheathed his sword and sat back down upon the throne. “Well then, shall we move to the topic of discussing what exactly it is you need your daughter alive for when she is such an inconvenience to our city-state?”

 

“Because she is the beginning of something that will cause Aphelion’s downfall, the first in long line of steps that must be taken to change the state of this region to one where reunification is possible.”

 

The Regent sniffed, an unpleasant sound in the large room that echoed for far too long across the ceiling. “You will need to be more specific than that Julian, nepotism will not be tolerated when your daughter has inflicted so much damage to us and the rest of the Combine. Obitua is furious with what occurred down by the docks, and Teluria is not particularly happy with what happened out there either.”

 

“I need Ops 9 so that Aphelion has something to be afraid of. We know that they have designed weapons of war that we cannot hope to match with our conventional arms. Ops 9 aims to bridge the gap between the capabilities of our servicemen by giving them enhanced utility and abilities.”

 

“You know that physical augmentations, especially those preformed on armed personnel or children are outlawed by international treaties. You are risking our position on the world stage.”

 

“What position on the world stage? Ever since Aphelion’s ascension we have been nothing more than a second rate arms manufacture for those nations not rich enough or on good enough terms with Aphelion to purchase equipment from them. All of the Combine together could not hope to match Aphelion’s industrial capacity, we are living in their shadow as we have been for the past two decades, and nothing will change if we continue to ignore this fact.” Fenister’s scathing tone made it clear that this debate was an old one.

 

“I will not risk bringing war to Inersia, and it sounds as though your actions spill over to the rest of the Combine. How do you think the other states would react if they knew of what you’ve done? No matter what you think of our current state, can you really be so blind as to believe that what you are doing will change any of that?”

 

It was as though I had disappeared from the room. The moment that the affairs of Inersia had been broached as a topic, I had faded from their minds, my presence no longer significant. In spite of the fact that initially the question posed to Fenister had been centered around why my life should be spared, the mere mentioning of Fenister’s ambitions had led to a down spiral of infighting that eclipsed the small amount of verbal sparring that had been going on earlier. I wished that I could just walk out of here, but that was sure to draw the attention of the guards that had to be watching, and even if we were truly alone the thought of facing the Regent and his massive broadsword alone unarmed was not something I relished.

 

“War is coming, whether we would like it too or not. Even if the rest of the world turns a blind eye to Aphelion and its work, we as its direct neighbours cannot afford to pretend that we are not under threat of being absorbed into its mass. Once, they were one of us, working as part of the system to help bring wealth and trade into this cluster of city states but since their separation they have done nothing but to work towards selfish aims to further themselves, at our expense. If they do not engage in open war, they will strangle us slowly until we wither away into nothing under their shadow!”

 

“Do not throw us into the waiting jaws of the wolves with your decisions, you must cease your ridiculous endeavours! With or without Aphelion beneath us your actions will incur the wrath of forces against which we cannot hope to contend. Do not forget that we are merely a collection of city-states who happened upon a position of power due to the situation of our territory above such rich mineral deposits. In the event of the outbreak of war against opposing nations, we would be obliterated.”

 

I let them talk, retreating into my own thoughts as I relieved the desk of my presence stepping about a meter away in order to gauge whether such an act would provoke a reaction from either of the two men. I crept further away as they continued on, oblivious to my movement stepping lightly so as to avoid making any unnecessary noise. The marble tiles beneath me shuddered ever so slightly with each step, as though they were just slightly loose in their fittings. This was an odd place, all told, buried in the bowels of the citadel. The air was stale this far down, but in spite of that I could feel a faint breeze filtering through from above our heads.

 

I glanced back towards Fenister and the Regent, who had since stepped down from the throne to tower over the Captain. The armoured plates covering the Regent’s torso shone brightly as light filtered down from above, peeking out from beneath the sweeping crimson cape as he strode forwards, boots clattering against the floor. Fenister appeared unphased, perhaps well versed in the man’s antics if he truly was his father. They were still arguing, now face to face, fists clenched but at their sides demonstrating a level of a discipline that I would never have been able to execute.

 

I was unarmed of course, and still wearing the deactivated sync suit, the simple skin tight layer somewhat lacking in the ways of insulating qualities it felt a little exposing outside of the Walker.  This was made all the more unbearable by the openness of the room and lack of control of the situation. No matter what happened here today, if I survived I was getting away from this place.

 

“Commander, where do you think you’re going?” By the time Fenister’s voice echoed across the empty space, I was already some thirty meters distant from the desk where we’d been standing.

 

“It seemed as though you didn’t need me for your little discussion.” I said coldly. The Regent was staring at me as well, though he made no motion to speak.

 

If Fenister registered my response, he didn’t show that either. Lately it seemed as though he couldn’t be bothered to do anything other than scowl. His hands remained close to his hips, and his eyes didn’t meet mine. Typical Fenister, it was difficult to believe that he could ever have been a parent at all, let alone my father. What a ridiculous story, I wondered at what kind of trick he was trying to pull on me. “Well then, shall we go through the motions as we discussed?” his question seemed to be addressed towards the Regent, rather than me this time. All that the giant armoured figure did was nod in response.

 

His tone however, stirred something within me as it was unnervingly unfamiliar, lacking in emotion more so than most times. Usually I could get a good idea of Fenister’s mood from the way he spoke, but just then he had sounded peculiarly…detached. “What do you mean by going through the motions exactly?”

 

“Exactly what it sounds like. Fulfilling the terms of my new agreement.”

 

And at that moment,  Fenister’s hands finally left his hips as the pistol whipped upwards to empty a round into my skull.

…

 

Aphelion is not a foe to be trifled with, and your father would be displeased if he were to learn of what you are trying to achieve here with Ops 9.

 

My father understands nothing of progress, too obsessed with his politics to see past the affairs of the Combine. He is blind to the suffering our people incur under Aphelion’s shadow. I must be the one to lead us to our freedom, because no one else will.

 

Life isn’t a game Julian, you don’t have to beat everyone else down to win.

 

Don’t get cold feet on me now, our work is just beginning.

 

That’s not what I meant. I just want you to be careful Julian.

 

Do your part, and all the pieces will fall into place. I prepared everything myself after all.

 

Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little cocky?

 

My friend, such is the price of true genius.

 

…

19: Seasons of Change

 

Seasons of Change

 

Seven years ago

 

The first time I met Fenister I was fourteen. By then I had already come to realize that I was not like the rest of the people around me. They were all pasty, invisible people who couldn’t understand that the world around them was flawed to its core. Too reluctant to seek change, or perhaps simply too ignorant, whatever the case I knew that I was alone in my belief that the system that we lived under was unacceptable. My youth had been a tumultuous time, moving from home to home. Oftentimes I would only stay in one place for a couple of days before moving on living in the shadow of residencies beside the heating outlets, huddled against the wall and concrete as the endless rain pattered outside. I wasn’t a street rat, but being a prisoner to the system, shuffled between reluctant families, wasn’t much better.

 

I know that once, I had been a member of a normal family, but for reasons unknown to me that reality didn’t last long. I was taken from them, waking one day to find that I was sitting on an unfamiliar bunk bed tucked into a darkened alcove. No one said anything to me, suddenly, I was just another kid stuck in the cell block, one amongst many who had arrived here without any explanation. I knew it was a government compound because of the uniforms the staff wore, stark Inersian black and grey with the signature sword crossed null set symbol, the circle halved diagonally by an Inersian rapier. But there was little beside that to identify where I was. I had no way of contacting my family, no one I could talk to who could tell me what was happening. Instead, there was just an abrupt, traumatic transition to this terribly drab compound.

 

We were given no instructions, instead we were simply allowed to wander the facility so long as we remained within the bounds that were set out for us. The barriers were abundantly clear, marked by tall windowless doors and pairs of armed guards who waited impatiently in the observation cells that flanked the entrances. My attempts to find out why I had been brought here were met with no success, no one would answer my questions. The other children were unhelpful in that regard, they knew nothing, only that it was better to remain silent, quiet, and to follow the rules that we had so arbitrarily been given. Each day there would be lessons, on mathematics and science primarily, followed by calisthenics and computer sciences. They wanted something from us, that much was clear, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to all this effort to gather and secure us here.

 

In the beginning, I thought that somehow, some way, my parents would come and find me. I knew from the start that I wasn’t really their child, they had been open about my status as an adopted orphan. But still, they loved me no less for it. But as the days went by, it became increasingly clear that nothing was going to change. Perhaps they had been worried, perhaps they had even looked for me, but none of that mattered. Whether they had tried at all was meaningless, because if they had they had failed. I was on my own, and though I tried my best not to resent them for this as time passed I began to make efforts not to think about their whereabouts.  Instead, I focused my efforts on trying to get myself out of this place.

I was careful to limit my work to simple observation of others in the beginning, taking note of the things that other kids tried to do to escape. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one who wanted out of here. You only got a couple of attempts before the label of “troubled youth” transformed into that of “delinquent”. I’d seen it happen to a lot of the other kids at the orphanage; they would cry and protest at their entrapment, then fight with the attendants and make a break for it at every opportunity.  That was a sure way to earn yourself a security escort, and eventually when they tired of that, a permanent booking to the 2nd floor down below where escape was an impossibility. I watched and waited, biding my time, observing where and when the adults came and went. When there were no trouble makers to draw their attention, the attendants were lax, lazy. They didn’t care, we were nothing to them, just an irritating feature of the job.

 

I wandered frequently, venturing further and further through the halls on the heels of the attendants when they came and went, hiding behind corners when they turned, finding alcoves within which to wait for opportunities to return when I could continue no further. I mapped out the facility, a ghostly cartographer trailing behind the staff, until eventually I knew where all the things were that I would need to execute my plan to escape this place.

 

Collecting the tools was easy enough. You could access to equipment locker by leaving the general recreation area set aside for us through the ventilation ducts which were connected to the neighbouring rooms. Most of them were too small for this task, but the primary duct that opened up directly into the center of the ceiling was just about large enough for me to squeeze through it. Or at least, it looked that way anyway from my estimations. When night fell and it was time for us to head over to our bunks, a carefully placed knife from the cafeterias prevented the doors from locking completely shut. After that, careful sneaking around to avoid the guards was good enough to get me back into the recreational area. This was the limit to the bounds I could move within without security access, so this was do or die.

 

Getting up there was the crux of the problem. The place was still dimly lit by some scattered lights around the perimeter, but besides that the place was barren. There were of course, the usual tables and chairs which remained where we had left them, but there wasn’t any readily apparent means for me to get myself up to the ceiling. But I knew what I was doing, the way for me to get up was coming, I just had to wait for its arrival. In addition to seeing the different parts of the orphanage I had also overheard a great deal of useful information as I shadowed the attendants. Tonight, a robotic servitor was scheduled to perform routine maintenance of the ventilation shafts, including the one here in the rec area.

 

I’d never seen one of the robotic servitors before, but it was unmistakable for anything else when it finally trundled into the room. It was a large, insectoid thing with six multi-jointed limbs and a mass folded metal atop its carapace. According to the attendants, it was something they’d acquired from Aphelion. Even then though I had known nothing on the politics of the Combine, I had been able to hear the disdain in their voices when they spoke about that place. Still to myself then, it had seemed an impressive sight to behold. It shambled past me, unaware, or more likely unconcerned with my presence, simply raising the array upon its back to reach up towards my destination.

 

I clambered onto its armoured shell, wary of its spiny splayed limbs that were just centimeters from my body. The sharp edges would cut easily into my flesh if it made even the slightest movement, and with just the slightest movement and it could throw me off. Fortunately for me, it remained completely still as I climbed up its back toward the duct. There would be a tiny window for me to get inside just after it finished it work. I could see flashing glints of metal moving in the faint light as the servitor’s metallic appendages whirred through the interior of the duct, precise and deadly. Even without knowing exactly what it was doing, I knew that if I tried to go in there now while it was still working it would cripple or kill me simply because I was in its way.

 

When the robot was done, I leapt into the duct, my fingers scrabbling at the edge when they found it. For a few sickening moments I hung there in limbo before I found the strength to haul myself up that final stretch back onto solid metal. It was cramped inside the duct, there was barely enough room for me to wriggle forward making my progress forward an arduously slow task. But my destination was close, and that knowledge kept me fervently moving, clawing at the space in front of me, breaths laboured in the stuffy duct.

 

Eventually, I finally found myself standing on the grate above the equipment room. Now, all that was left was to break through and get down. Not an easy task for one such as myself; the metal bit heavily into my palms when I pulled at it, and no matter what I tried the grate refused to budge. This was going to be a little more complicated than I had anticipated. There was no going back, but I had no way to get past this grate either. If I got caught up here, there was no knowing what they would do to me.

 

There was still one chance I had though, if I had been fast enough. It wasn’t as though I had any other choice but to wait and see now at this junction. I stood there in the dark for what seemed like hours, until finally a flash of movement followed by a reverberating thud that rumbled through the grate brought me back to my senses. Today, for once in my life, I was lucky. The servitor that had opened the gates for my entry into the ducts had moved on, and found its way here. For one gleeful second I allowed myself to be caught up in my elation, before the sickening pull of gravity and the departure of the steel grate beneath my feet had me falling through the empty space.

 

A hot streak of metal lashed up past my body leaving a red hot line where it travelled causing me to let out a loud shriek as the fire raked across my torso. I was promptly silenced by the heavy impact of my body against the servitor’s metallic carapace which knocked the wind from my lungs. Better for me in hindsight, but it still hurt like a bitch. I slid slowly down its side, before tumbling painfully to the ground. I’d made it, for or for worse I was where I needed to be. I pulled myself to my feet, distancing myself from the robot which might heedlessly impale me on one of its spiny limbs. It had served its purpose, now I was truly on my own.

As expected, the equipment room had been left with all the tools just lying out on the shelves. The attendants had no reason to believe that we had the means to leave the general living quarters, and no one in history had ever attempted what I was doing now, at least, not that I’d heard of. So it was easy to take what I needed, before sauntering out into the open.

 

I’m told that I was tall for my age, but even so the attendant’s uniform was loose around my body. It was uncomfortable walking to the kitchens in those baggy clothes made me nervous that someone might recognize me for what I was. Fortunately I never had to put my disguise to the test, and I was able to reach the kitchens without encountering any of the patrols. Inside, the cooks were largely absent, gone for the night after setting the machinery to begin the preparatory work for cooking tomorrow’s meals. Nothing was locked, no security measures were there to stop me. Clearly, no one cared enough about us to take real measures to keep us from leaving, or to keep us safe from someone slipping inside. That detail helped me escape that night, but for the rest of my life I would remember the ease with which I escaped the facility as a reminder of just how little value Inersia saw in us.

 

I left through the back door, stumbling a ways in the pitch black rain, stumbling through the unfamiliar alleyways until I caught sight of a glimpse of hot neon. It was cold in the now soaked uniform, and as I shambled onto the bustling street, the sidewalk filled with the night’s crowd of shift workers and more casually dressed party goers. I learned later that parties were uncommon in Inersia, and that outside of military personnel and shift workers it was uncommon for people to be out at night. I never did found out where those people in their bright clothes were going.

 

But I had more pressing concerns, and the clinging damp against my body kept me moving as I shivered in a feeble attempt to warm myself. I had no means to pay for food, and nowhere to go, but at least I was free. I tried to hold onto that one thought as the rain continued to pound down without mercy, the fat droplets icy cold as they struck against the back of my neck. First I needed to somehow get out of the rain, afterwards I could worry about figuring out how to feed myself.

 

I clung to the edge of the sidewalk, watching the vehicles hiss past through the crowd, the rain rolling off of their smooth contours in thick rivulets as the hovering machines glided along the lanes. I must have looked out of place in the teal attendant’s uniform, but no one stopped to say anything to me. My guess was that they thought I was just another shift worker, headed to or from work for the evening. I walked for hours, until the crowds thinned down to just a trickle and the chill from my clothes had sunk deep into my bones.

 

“You’re not one of them, are you?” the voice was quiet, close, a whisper to my left from the shadowed alleyway.

 

I whirled about finding myself face to face with a ragged looking girl, her frayed hair strewn over the front of her face. She wore unfamiliar clothes, loose fitting and monochromatic, made from a stained, unfamiliar fabric.  I flinched when she took a step forward, unsettled by her appearance.

 

“You don’t belong here.” There was another voice, behind me again from the other side now.

 

“She’s one of them, we should be leaving. Look at the clothes she’s wearing, she’s just smaller than the rest is all.”

 

“But she left from the back, I followed her all the way like I told you. She’s different, something else.” That one was a boy, older from the tone of his voice.

There must have been at least a dozen of them, all dressed similarly in their rags,  dirty and skinny, with haunted looks in their gaunt faces as though they hadn’t eaten in days. The rain did what it could to hide their features beneath matted hair, but anyone could tell that they were far from well off.

 

I stood silently between at their center, at that moment very aware of my vulnerability. I was cold and hungry, and in spite of their ragged appearances they seemed unaffected by the frigid downpour.

 

“Why do you care who I am?” I said finally, unsure of how I should respond.

 

They pressed closer, a shrinking ring of human flesh and blood, their presence stifling. They were an uneven band, but even then I could tell from the way they stood that the girl that had spoken to me first was their leader.

 

“Do you think that she’s the next summer child?” her voice rang clear over the pattering, her unusual question sparking a fire in all their eyes. They stared relentlessly down at me, their eyes burning with some unknowable fervour.

 

“She fits the description. I watched her run.” The older boy from before, far bigger than rest I could see now, nodded as he seemed to give his affirmation to their leader’s strange question. “But we must know for sure.”

 

“The Inquisitor will know.”

 

The Inquisitor will know.

 

They whispered it together, as if reciting some secret phrase to a children’s game.

 

“Come, summer girl. The Inquisitor awaits you.”

…

They say the future is written already, in the events of the histories before it.

 

Many things are said, and most of that is worthless background noise. What is your point, Fenister?

 

Don’t you ever wonder how it came to be that Aphelion, one of eight Combine states, was able to rise up and gain independence from the seven? It seems as though it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t it?

 

They had ships, while we had armies. Ships are much bigger than rifles.

 

Why did we give them those ships?

 

They controlled the foundries, they controlled the shipyards, and they owned those deposits of metal.

 

We gave them those foundries, those shipyards, that metal. We had the largest army, it was ours to take. Why did we ever grant them such leeway?

 

Aphelion was always one of our allies, the formation of the Combine would not have been possible without them. It was part of the initial pact that granted them those lands.

 

Then that pact was a mistake. One that I do not intend to repeat ever again.

…