Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to zetaboards. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Force (1/?); AU fic
Topic Started: June 19, 2012, 6:38 pm (1,436 Views)
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Well I haven't written fic in a long, long time. Years, literally. Anyhoo I'm just really trying to get back into it, very very rusty it has to be said. This is an AU fic (because they're fun!).

Disclaimer: No disrespect meant and this is (really rather blatantly) not true nor meant to represent real life or the real people. Just borrowing characters!

Tall grey buildings reached up towards a grey sky, dark, grimy clouds swirling above the city. Windows glittered, reflecting light, soulless eyes that punctuated the skyline. The air was warm, muggy, full of the harsh tang of ozone, telling of the storm to come, the smell of dirt, of oil and water, of smoke and waste that had poured into the atmosphere over so many centuries. The streets below were busy, people hurrying from place to place, vehicles on the street surface and in the air adding to the semi-organised chaos that was life in the city.

On the outskirts of the city there was an underground military installation, all in readiness as they had to be. Nothing really changed, the world was at war once more, the threat coming from other colonised planets rather than from within the earth itself. It had been a long time since planets in other systems had been colonised, and several centuries of peace had passed. Now, slowly but surely there had been the rise of a threat coming from one of the colonised planets, one rich in minerals and ores. The government, such as it had been on that planet had been overturned by one man and his private forces, until the planet had become a dictatorship. He had determined that Earth stood in the way of their taking the known worlds, the home, the birthplace of humankind. Once Earth had fallen, then the home of the human race would be gone, and it would make it that bit easier to bring the other colonies under his sway. Death came swiftly when invasion forces had reached the surface of the planet.
There had been so many attacks, both in the skies and in space between the forces, and on the surface of the earth.

Earth’s resources had been depleted, and where the destroyer planet had rich minerals and ores for creating their own armaments and for trading, Earth was living off limited resources and limited time. They had received assistance from other colonies, but it had not been enough. Too many were hedging their bets and ensuring that they had a foot in the door with the destroyer, knowing that if they took over they would be in a better position to keep something resembling their own freedom.
Below ground James strode down a corridor leading from the main mess hall towards the dormitories. He did not notice his surroundings anymore. The dull, grey metal walls always blended into nothing for him now, he had been in the Force now for longer than he cared to remember. He had joined at eighteen like so many others had and had been unable to leave. He still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to or not. Days like today made him think that it would have been best if he’d managed to get out years ago. He thought back as he walked to that first day when he and his friends, all coming from high school together had signed up to the Force together. Himself, Lars, Kirk, Jason and Robert. They had been so young, so idealistic, so full of life back then. How things changed.

Since that day they had all seen combat, Robert and Kirk in the star fighters, himself, Lars and Jason on the ground as invasion or defence forces depending on the mission, always with a gun in hand, always killing. Sometimes he wondered whether it had all been worth it, but then when the adrenaline took over and he was there, in that space, in that time, kill or be killed, he knew that he couldn’t do anything else. He was too good at it, had done it for too long.
He had spent a lot of his childhood hunting, and to him it wasn’t much different. He preferred hand to hand combat to ranged, but he wasn’t really too bothered. He was a fighter by nature. He didn’t think that he had changed much over the years, maybe he, like Lars and Jason had become more jaded, but most people did. Lars had always been the sharpest one, sometimes James wondered why he hadn’t gone into intelligence, apart perhaps from the fact that he made an excellent sniper, and without his knowledge of hacking and electronics there were many missions that they would not have survived. He hadn’t really changed since they had joined, perhaps his bright green eyes had become wearier, but there was still that driven spark about him, the ready smile, the sharp, staccato laugh. Then there was Jason, always the quiet, serious one, educated, who had wanted to go into research until his parents had pushed him into the Force as his father and his grandfather had been in before him. He was good though, he kept an eye on them all and had an inextinguishable energy about him that rarely left him. Robert, well Robert had always been the laid back one, always ready to goof around, but over the years he had become a steadying influence over them, relaxed, mellow, someone that they could go to, but who was an excellent fighter. Then there was Kirk. James still remembered when they had joined up, he had never killed before, not hunting, not anything. He was young, almost girlish in his face, a mass of dark hair and dark eyes, young and idealistic with a smile that was never far away. Now, he was almost another man, he would still smile, but he was cold, steely. There was strength in him as a teenager that they hadn’t known was even there, as a man, they knew nothing else.

James sighed, rubbing one hand across his face as he entered the dormitory that they shared, single beds set into the walls around the pentagon shaped room, a table in the middle. Belongings were all in lockers above the beds, space completely utilised to its fullest. The five of them had become an elite task force over the years, working together always. Kirk was already in the dormitory, sat at the table, a screen projected from its centre in front of him, his dark eyes fixed on the star co-ordinates that it showed. Now and again he would touch the screen with one slender finger, moving things around, changing things, zooming in, reading rapidly whatever information came up at him.

“We have another mission?” Asked James with a grunt as he took a seat next to Kirk who wiped one hand across the screen, erasing it swiftly, the holographic projection disappearing as he did.

“Not as such, no. I believe we are being summoned for some form of briefing soon though.” Kirk replied, his dark eyes fixing on James’ face for an instant.
“Oh good.” Came a familiar voice from one of the beds. Lars lay back, eyes still closed, arms crossed behind his head, booted feet crossed at the ankles. “I think I know what it’s about though.”

“How the hell do you know that?” Asked James with a frown, knowing even as he said it that the only way that Lars would have known that would be by hacking into the military database and accessing highly classified information.

“You know how I know.”

“You’ll get caught and that’s gonna be it.”

“I’m hot shit at this.” Retorted Lars with a narrowed stare at him, body still relaxed. “And I’m sick of the fact we’re saving their fucking asses and getting squat in the way of information. I’m not a fuckin’ drone, if they want fuckin’ drones don’t get your elite task force from people who actually have brains and know how to use the fuckin’ things.”

“You may be hot shit Ulrich but they ain’t so slack themselves.”

“He’s bored, Het, we all are.” Replied Kirk, joining the argument briefly. “None of us want this war to continue, and if there is a way that we can perhaps stay ahead of the game, perhaps we can find some way of finishing more swiftly than they are currently doing then perhaps we should take the opportunity to do so.”

James leant forward. “What exactly are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what he’s talking about.”

“Going rogue?” Asked Hetfield, his dark voice low, almost a growl as the thought flashed through his mind, considering the ramifications, of losing everything that they had worked so hard for.

Lars shrugged, still staring up at the ceiling of his bunk. “Just not ruling anything out.”

“I want to get the fuck rid of Mustaine and his fuckin’ regime as much as you do, but there are ways and means of doing it. We’re already fighting against him.”

“With a total lack of imagination.” Said Kirk with a slight drawl.

“And you reckon you can do better?” Asked James, one eyebrow raised as he looked between the two of them.

“You think we can’t?” Retorted Lars with a sudden grin, sitting up and looking at James.

“I don’t know.”

“Ye of little faith.” Murmured Kirk, bringing the screen up in front of him again, ignoring the other two as he began pulling up different screens, layering one over another.

“Look, let’s just get this fuckin’ briefing out of the way. I’m not saying I’m disagreeing with you, I’m just not particularly wantin’ to be killed yet. Not by our own force.” James stated, looking between the two, wondering exactly what it was they were brewing up between them. They were incorrigible, on a wavelength together sometimes that he couldn’t quite comprehend. Lars had been his closest friend over the years, but Lars and Kirk could read each other shockingly well, when it came to scheming and plotting.

“We’ll get the briefing out of the way.” Replied Ulrich with a grin, “then, then I think we need to talk because me and Kirk have been working on this shit for quite a while and I think that you need to get on board with it, or at least hear us out.”

“I’ll hear you out, you know I want to get this crap over with, if it means going rogue then we go rogue. He needs to die and this to get finished. If I can unload a clip into the fucker then I’m in. Too many people have died because of him.” Stated James with a sudden grin. He felt a brief flicker of what they had been before, idealistic, certain that they would come through and that the war would end.

Kirk nodded silently, engrossed in the screen before him, a strange language displayed on the screen, one that he seemed to be comparing to another. Before James had a chance to ask more about it Robert and Jason entered, engaged in deep conversation as they walked through.

“Briefing starts in two minutes.” Stated Jason, going across to his bunk, scanning the chip set in his wrist across the lockers above, pulling out a fresh plain white regulation issue t-shirt as it opened. His current tee was stained with what looked like oil and several other grease stains and he pulled it off, his pale torso lean and muscled, the pulled on the fresh one. “Just been checking over the assault vehicle that rumour has it we’re taking with us.”
Robert grinned, looking down at his own grease stained clothing with a shrug. “Yeah, it’s ready to go for sure.”

“And what do you know about our armoured assault vehicles then star jockey?” Asked Lars, shooting him an amused look.

“Plenty. Hell, spent enough time tinkering with vehicles back in the day. Don’t recall you complainin’ too much when I used to sort out your transport.”

“Kid shit.” Retorted Lars with a grin, thinking back to times long gone.

Kirk once again got rid of the screen. “We should go to this briefing. It will give us a chance to see what they have to say, compared to what Lars has seen of what they really want us to do.”

James stood up, stretching, feeling the muscles in his back sliding across each other, tense and hard. He was ready for some action, sick of just waiting around as they had been. Since they had been promoted a few years previously they hadn’t been doing the routine work they had been used to, instead it was up to them to keep up a strict regimen of training waiting for the next more precise mission to come in. He was a man of action and the constant inaction irked him more than he liked to admit.
He walked out with Jason and Robert, Lars waiting behind for a few seconds for Kirk to finish and close the screen once again.

Kirk looked at Lars for a few seconds in silence. Lars moved over to him, pressing one hand lightly against his shoulder. “We’ll get there soon enough. There are only so many places information can be hidden you know.”

Kirk nodded, his slender, strong fingers lightly closing over Lars’ hand. “I know. Once we have the information, we will be able to end this I believe. It will not be easy I fear.”

“Shit like this never is. Robert on board for turning?”

“Yes. He will leave the Force without a second thought. Jason as well. What about James?”

Lars shrugged, green eyes clouding slightly as he thought about it. “I think he will. Kneppe, it’s as though this place has been sucking the life out of him over the last few years, he needs action, needs to feel the thrill of killing, his life on the fuckin’ line. You know what I mean. I’m happy enough where I am, I can keep my mind occupied with what we’re doing. Jason has his habit of tinkering with gadgets of all varieties, and you and Robert, you have the freedom of the stars.”

Kirk couldn’t help a slight smile curving his lips. That was why he had become a star fighter. That and his natural inclination towards it. There was complete freedom up in the stars, him and his fighter responding to his every touch, almost a part of him, uncanny and natural. “I understand. He will come with us when the time comes.”

“Then let’s get this show on the road we’re late already for this briefing.”

“As if you don’t know it all already.” Murmured Kirk, one eyebrow slightly raised as he got to his feet in one fluid motion, following Lars out and down the corridor.

They walked swiftly down winding corridors, deeper into the complex. The deeper they went, the higher the security clearance necessary, a clearance built into the chips that were set into their wrists. The chips were implanted at birth, containing a person’s identification. As that person grew older the chip was updated to contain a link to their bank, allowing them to swipe the chips for paying for items with credits, and it also contained clearance for them, whether low level allowing them through doors into such places as libraries, or updated all the way through to the top clearance allowing them into the most secure places in the country. The chips were almost impossible to remove, and it was built into the chips that if disturbed it was agonisingly painful to the person it was attached to. As soon as the chip left the skin it was rendered completely useless.

Kirk had never got used to the idea of over a mile of rock and earth above him when they went down into the depths of the complex. He could feel cold sweat prickling at the back of his neck, his chest tightening as they descended. It was an uncomfortable feeling, as though the very weight of the earth above were pressing down on him. He felt slightly light headed and struggled to focus slightly. He took an almost imperceptible, slow breath, pulling himself together. His inward qualms did not show on his face however, it was cool and expressionless, almost a mask. Without hesitation he and Lars stepped through into the briefing room.

Inside it was cool, a large round table providing the focus of the room, the walls painted stark white, a holographic screen already hovering above the black, mirror-like surface of the table. Like all of the rooms it was entirely utilitarian, sparse and stark.

“So good of you to join us, gentlemen.” The gently mocking, icy tone came from General Elise Witcombe. She looked them over, a slight sneer pulling at her thin lips. Her icy blue eyes were piercing, unforgiving and as always she was dressed immaculately, precise in her uniform, holstered gun at her hip, grey brown jacket and trousers pressed into starched perfection, her hair sleekly drawn back from her face. She was severe in dress, attitude and speech and was nobody’s favourite person. Yet she and the Star Fight Commander were some of the most senior figures in the Force and the only option was to suffer through it.

Lars nodded. “We thought it was as well. Since we’re here though, shall we get this shit started?”

General Witcombe narrowed her eyes, drawing in a sharp breath. “There is, Ulrich, a chain of command in this room and you would do well to remember it. Nobody is so important that we cannot replace them, yourself included.”

“Oh, I beg to differ, but do go on.”

“You’ll be on a charge.” She hissed, her voice warning, knuckles almost white as she clenched her fists below the surface of the table. She could feel herself almost losing the concrete control she had over herself, knew she could not stand these men, hated them, hated everything that they stood for. She was there to do a job and she did it well. She was there to keep rigid order, to ensure that plans were carried out to the letter. These men were loyal to each other first, to the Force second. They were not content merely to stay within the accepted boundaries that she laid down, and yet High Command refused to have them disciplined and reined in. She had put them on charges herself, had punished them, but nothing had changed. And now, now she needed them on side and by the look on Lars’ face, they already knew that.

Kirk looked at her, his deadpan stare unnerving. “Why do you not just tell us what our latest orders are. Then we will be able to prepare.”

“And save your ass again.” Muttered James in a dark undertone to Jason who grinned, stifling a chuckle.

Robert leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, y’know you may as well just let us have it straight ma’am. We’re all big boys and we don’t need the sugar coatin’ of how much you need us and respect us and all the usual crap that comes with these things. We’re here to do a job, same as you.”

The Star Flight Commander Rick Wavell was watching with a look of vague amusement. He ran one hand through his greying hair. He had been moving up through the ranks since the five had all signed up together, remembered them as they had gone through training, some of it with him, and he couldn’t help that he regarded them with tolerance. They worked damned hard, harder than a lot of the men there, and had been asked to put themselves into positions of danger that nobody else had. And every time they had done it without complaint, and had brought themselves home again safely, mission accomplished. “Shall we get to it then gentlemen?” He glanced across at General Witcombe who merely nodded.

Commander Wavell reached out towards the holographic screen, sweeping a hand across it. “There is a planet just on the edge of Mustaine’s system where we believe he is building a new weapon. There is a laboratory on the planet and he is, we are told by intelligence, developing a virus. Killer spores that can be released into our atmosphere that will spread, replicate, rain down on the planet. This planet, the people, anything living, will be wiped out.”

“And we are to do, what precisely?”

“Neutralize the threat without us having to send a lot of troops across. We don’t want this information getting out. It is a small planet, more an asteroid or a small moon than a planet really. Should the information get out that he is able to do this, that this kind of thing is currently being engineered, there would be mass panic. It goes against every agreement that has been made in our history since colonisation began.”

“So we need to wipe out the laboratory?” Asked Jason, leaning back in his seat, fingers steepled together as he looked at Wavell.

“And any orbiting station guarding it.” Added Robert, his dark eyes never leaving Wavell’s face.

“We’ll need to penetrate the laboratory, ensure all within have been killed. There cannot be any personnel left alive before we destroy it totally. Don’t want to risk anyone getting out into an escape pod.” Said James with a decisive nod.

Wavell nodded. “Glad that you are caught up here.”

“Not to mention we will need to infiltrate the entire technology system, send in a virus, do a complete wipe of any notes and records, send a search in to gather any back ups, destroy all evidence.” Lars swallowed, thinking just how much work that would be. He didn’t doubt that he could do it, but he didn’t know if he could do it quickly enough, get a virus in there that was fast enough to defeat their anti-virus programme.

“You need something that works like their virus does.” Said Kirk softly. “You need something that will replicate, spread through the system, and will be undetectable afterwards. And we will need to monitor the skies, shoot down any escape pods or anything launched from the laboratory.”

“Shit.” Murmured Jason, running one hand through his short, curly hair.

“We will supply you with anything that you feel that you need for this. Technology, weapons, vehicles...” Wavell said, hands spread, looking around at the five men before him. All of them wore hard, set expressions. He knew that what he was asking them to do was more even than they had asked in the past, that death was something that was a likely outcome. That if they failed the war would continue. That if they succeeded the war would continue. It was just that this needed to be done in the meantime.

“Personnel?” Asked James, eyes narrowed as he looked between Wavell and Witcombe.

Witcombe shook her head, a slight smile just curving her lips. “No personnel. This is a stealth mission, in and out.”

“Show us the schematic. Send it through to us so that we can access all the information. How long do we have to process this and to leave?” Asked Lars, voice sharp, accent more noticeable with is annoyance.

Wavell nodded. “If we felt as though we had any other choice, we wouldn’t be asking you this.”

“Perhaps if people approached this war with more imagination that just throwing bigger and better weapons at each other then we wouldn’t be in this situation.” Retorted Lars with a bitter laugh.

“What are you talking about?” Ground out Witcombe her self-control beginning to slip, sick of the insolence, sick of the lack of respect that any of them seemed to have. Sick of the fact that Wavell was letting them get away with it.

“Nothing to concern you.” Said Kirk smoothly, shooting Lars a sidelong glance. “I believe my colleague Mr Ulrich is merely somewhat frustrated. Now, how long do we have before we need to set out?”

“Twenty four hours.” Replied Wavell apologetically.

Jason nearly choked on the water that he was drinking and James stood up, fists pounding down against the table. “This is fucking suicide.”

“We would give you more time but intelligence that has come back...”

“Fuck your intelligence. This is our lives, and the lives of every fucking person on earth that you are fucking with.” He ground out, blue eyes blazing, incandescent with fury. He was getting sick of it too, sick of being treated as a commodity rather than as a person, sick of risking everything for a Force that really didn’t seem to give a flying fuck about them.

“You have twenty four hours gentlemen. The information you require is being sent through, you will be able to access it on the holoscreens as soon as you return to your dormitory. As always this information is entirely classified. Not a word will be breathed to anybody. If you have any requests for specific equipment then we will consider them and will grant them.”

“Additional cloaking for the fighters.” Said Kirk didactically, tone not brooking argument.

“There is no additional cloaking.” Replied Witcombe.

“Additional cloaking. I know that it exists. If you want us to get there, get down planet, drop Hetfield, Ulrich and Newsted in, and fend off their defence systems we will need additional cloaking. Now, as I am aware, and I believe everybody in this room is aware, there is currently an ongoing project. The cloaking is in a prototype phase, but it will be better than the devices we have at present.” Stated Kirk, never raising his voice, but there was a cold tone beneath it that was like ice water flowing over steel.

Wavell nodded. “There is such a project and it will be installed on both yours and Robert’s fighters before the end of today. Dismissed.”

Without another word the five rose and walked out of the room, booted feet echoing on the metal plate floor as they went back to their dormitory.

Robert kicked off his boots, sliding into his bunk, bringing up a holo-screen in front of him on the ceiling of the bunk, looking through the information that had been sent through. Jason and James did the same while Lars and Kirk sat at the table, a holo screen in front of each of them. Robert looked across at Kirk. “There is an orbiting defence station up there.” He noted, his low voice mellifluous.

“I knew that there would be. What class of fighter are they running?”

“So far as the information goes, nothing more than the standard. They seem to be trying to keep fairly well below the radar.” Replied Robert, scanning through the information, looking up the details of the orbiting defence station, reading through swiftly.

“Nothing that we are unable to handle. You make the drop. I will run distraction.”

Robert shrugged. “Sure. I’ll make the drop. You deal with the orbit station side of things and I will look into planet side.”

Kirk nodded, distracted by the information that he was looking at. He had faith in Robert, knew that he would handle the drop without issue, they didn’t need to collaborate on that. James had gone to sit with Jason on the edge of his bunk, the pair of them going through the plans for the laboratory, making notes, talking in low voices, planning, focussed on nothing but the job at hand.

Lars looked at his screen, the projection one that was run from the chip in the wrist, projecting it wherever they chose to place it. He could feel the familiar buzz of challenge running through him. He could begin to design a virus, but he wouldn’t be able to really know what he was up against until they actually reached the laboratory, until he could actually hack into their system. He relished the challenge, the unknown, knew he would have to make split second decisions, think on his feet, design, re-design, fight in a world where few rules seemed to apply, where he would have to out-programme the computer he was fighting with. It would, be fun. Nerve-wracking but fun.

“I think it’s time we talked about something else.” He said suddenly, flicking his screen off with a gesture, looking around the room. He stood up, knowing that he had their attention. “Kirk?”

“Now is as good as any time.” He replied smoothly.

“So good of you to let us in to whatever it is you have been working on.” Murmured Robert with a wink to take the sting out of his words.

“C’mon Trujillo, you know when the terror twins are working on something there’s no stopping them.” Said Newsted with a mock serious sage-like expression.

“Shut up.” Retorted Lars, looking round at them. “If you all want to hear this shit, then you might want to listen up. And open your minds by the way.”

“Consider them open. What crazy fucking shit have you two brewed up between you?”

“No no. Not me, I work with logic, with programmes, with circuits, with things that follow rules and make sense.”

“Then you, Quirk.” Said James, staring at Kirk in some surprise. It had been so many years since he had seen any sign of the old Kirk who had believed in many things that were not quite of this world, who had a strange, skewed way of looking at things, who was more than just an ice cold assassin in the skies.

Robert nodded, not as surprised as James had been. He and Kirk had worked more closely together than with any of the others and he knew him better than most. Nothing ad really changed behind the cold, hard shell. He was more driven, more educated, he had spent years building up a knowledge of languages modern and ancient, specialised in it in his spare time. It was after his first killings he had begun to grow colder, then when he had been captured and tortured only a few years into his stint as a pilot he had really become the person that he was now.

“Yes. I admit that it was in part my idea; it was more something that I stumbled across when I was doing some research quite some time ago. There was something there that caught my attention somewhat. It is of course a legend, but one that may still have some bearing on us here today. I am not sure exactly what it is. Several different texts mention it, but none precisely describe it.” Kirk broke off, sliding several screens across so that everyone could see what he was talking about, the translated texts streaming across the screen.

Lars nodded. “We’ve hacked into several different databases and many other sources to gather the information. It has to be said that it was well buried. This device however, should be on the earth.”

“And what does it do?” Asked Jason with a frown, feeling an oppressive kind of dread as the two men talked, visions of weapons beyond previous imagining, destroying entire galaxies beginning to circulate in his mind.

“It will kill, that much is certain. It takes the souls of those who would harm whatever it is protecting, locks them away. It has been used previously, protecting different things, but always the same outcome.” Said Kirk quietly, obsidian eyes far away, trying to picture it.

“Bullshit.” Said James flatly. “Sounds like a load of fuckin’ useless hocus pocus. Maybe I believed in that kind of crap when I was a kid, but now? No. Guns kill, plasma guns kill, star ships fucking kill and steel kills, but something that we don’t even know what the fuck it is? Something that is just a legend, that we don’t know where it is? Something that steals souls?” He shook his head, letting out a sharp bark of laughter.

Kirk stood up, facing him down, looking up at him, icy anger in his face. “You choose not to believe me then?”

“I choose not to believe horseshit.” Retorted James, turning away from where he had started pacing up and down. It had been a long time since his and Kirk’s relationship had been anything other than professional and mildly friendly. It had been a long time since Kirk had had a real friendly relationship with anybody. Not since he had been captured and tortured. It irked him, irked him in the same way that it irked him that he had not seen action in so long, that they had been cooped up. He could feel the anger that he had no outlet for bubbling up within him, the same anger that had been directed at Mustaine and his men who had done that to Kirk. Anger that for the last few years still hadn’t had any form of outlet, something he had never been able to talk about, hadn’t even been able to kill the guys who had done that to Kirk. It had been Robert who had rescued him, pulled him out.

“Call it what you like, there are a lot of sources from different places, the legend has lived on, this device, whatever it is has been moving around the Earth for a long time. Why is it that you find it so difficult to believe me? I haven’t misled you yet have I?” There was no anger in his voice, just a cold nothingness.

“You haven’t.” Said Jason softly, jumping into the silence, playing peacemaker.

Robert looked between Kirk and James, his dark eyes unreadable. It was hard to watch, two men who had been friends, who had grown up together since their teens so far apart now. He stood up, one hand on Kirk’s shoulder, solid and warm. “Let it go Kirk. Let us know the rest. Het, give him a break, he hasn’t led us wrong before now.”

James glared at Kirk. “Ever since you were fuckin’ captured you’ve been this way. What the fuck died in those days Hammett? You survived, fuckin’ hundreds of others didn’t. Shouldn’t you be fuckin’ grateful not be cold and dead yourself? Fuck, it’s been three fucking years.”

Kirk was white, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, face one of utter fury.

The room was completely silent, until it was suddenly broken a split second later by the sound of Lars’ fist making contact with James’ jaw. His green eyes were blazing with fury but it was Kirk who grabbed his hands, pulled him back away from James. Kirk pushed him to one side, holding out a hand to Robert who looked as though he was about to commit murder, and Jason who looked vaguely sick. “I can fight my own battles.” He said, lips drawn back in a snarl.
Jason stared at them both. It was insane, yes he could understand that James was sick of it all, that he couldn’t take much more. He had seen him growing closer and closer to snapping point but he had seen Kirk when Robert had helped to rescue him from that place, couldn’t bear to imagine what had been done to him. Everyone else had accepted Kirk for what he now was. He had been checked out by the Force psychologist and cleared once again for active duty. He had changed, yes, but that was something that they had just had to accept. He was still one of them, still a superb fighter and skilled tactician and hadn’t yet led them wrong.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Achernar
Member Avatar
I want my dragon back :c
[ * ]
Why I haven't read you before?

look, this thing is great. The way you write, the floww of the words describing the enviroment, the tension between them, is simply clean and wwell done, to the point I could imagine averything in my eyes. And it looks pretty kickass, in a comic version. If I wasn't so busy with university (and my lame stuff) I would love to make a fanart of this <3,

I want to do scenes of all the fics I have read with "that style" (you, know, the style which makes me imagine illustrations of the events ;b), and in those scenes there is one of this fic.

Please, continue it.
Edited by Achernar, June 19, 2012, 11:36 pm.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Achernar - thank you so much! I guess I haven't actually written anything since around 2007 so that might explain why you haven't read anything before, and why I'm so damn rusty! However.... hey ho - I am really glad that you've been enjoying this so far! (I would LOVE if you ever made a fan art of this, it would be amazing - your artwork rocks :) ) This installment is really rather short due to having been at work all day and a pub quiz all evening. Hopefully I'll have more time after ballet tomorrow night!

Should be some real action coming in the next couple of installments! - enough of the preamble...

Here goes:

James felt the rage boiling over inside him, tasting the tang of blood in his mouth where Lars’ fist had split his lip. He lashed out at Kirk who dodged, sliding sideways, landing a heavy hit into his stomach. James let out a snarl of rage, attacking him back, fists pounding into flesh. James may have been taller and stronger, but Kirk was faster, was thinking a few moves ahead of James. Kirk felt a heavy fist pound into his stomach but took a step back even as it did, absorbing some of the impact, ducking down, bringing his own fist up in a sharp uppercut, clipping James’ chin, feeling his head snap back.

Robert and Jason jumped in, Robert grabbing Kirk, forcing him back, Jason doing the same to James. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Yelled Jason, voice almost breaking on the words, fury rendering him hoarse. “In less than twenty four hours we are going on one of the most dangerous missions we have been engaged on and you two fucking idiots are tearing each other to pieces.”

Kirk suddenly relaxed under Robert’s grip, never really having lost his icy control. He had known what he was doing, had wanted to hurt James, teach him a lesson. There was no blind rage for him as there had been for James, pushed over the edge. No, he had in some ways almost enjoyed it. Now, now he was calm, breathing slightly more heavily, a light sheen of perspiration standing out on his golden tan skin. His eyes had not left James however.

Robert felt him relax and let go of him. “James, maybe I should show you something. Maybe I should at least attempt to explain something to you. I’m not the same person that I was before. I have changed and I believe you would have too. Do you really wish to know what it was like?”

Without giving James time to answer he pulled off the plain white regulation issue t-shirt that he wore. He had always showered alone since his capture, since he had been returned to them from the medical bay on the base. Nobody had questioned it. Now he let them see why. His lean, muscled body was hard, but as he turned they could see that his entire back was criss-crossed with silvery scars, others across his chest. It looked as though his skin had been half flayed from his body. All four men stared, Robert slightly less than the others, remembering in that moment staggering down seemingly endless corridors, trying to get Kirk back to his fighter, Kirk’s arm round his shoulders, shirt soaked through in blood, burning with fever. He shook his head, willing the thoughts away.

“There. There are the physical marks. There are the marks of torture you can see. You want to know about the other things they did, marks you can’t see?” Asked Kirk, voice like a whipcrack as he looked at them. “Or do you want to hear about what they were threatening, what they said that they would do to my crew mates if I didn’t give them what they wanted. Do you wish to consider what it was like, that I had to try to decide whether they were calling my bluff? I had to try to decide whether they had you captured or not. Had to decide whether or not you were alive, dead, whether I should try and save you by giving away everything I knew, or whether to take the torture and remain silent. Do you have any idea what that is like as they strip away everything about you, as they drain you physically and mentally every single day? I won’t go into exactly what they did, but you try using your imagination and maybe you will come close. You would like to know why I’m not quite the person that I was before? Because something had to die that day. And that is what and who died.”

Kirk fell silent, pulling his shirt back on without another word, sitting down, flicking his holo-screen back on, pulling up the details of the mission that they were to go on, ignoring the four men around him staring at each other with shocked expressions, nobody sure of what to say. Kirk could feel a trickle of blood running down from the corner of his lip and lightly ran his tongue across it, tasting the familiar coppery tang.
Nobody spoke for a couple of minutes and Kirk looked around at them with a sardonic smile. “Is there anything that you want to say? Or are you satisfied with my explanation?”

Lars shook his head, face drawn in tight lines as he looked at Kirk, lightly massaging his bruised knuckles. James sat on the edge of one of the beds, elbows on his knees, head hanging, staring straight at the floor. A few drops of blood from his nose splashed down onto the grey floor, almost unnoticed. He felt sick to his stomach as he saw what had been done to Kirk, to a man who had been one of his closest friends for so many years.

Jason looked up at Kirk as if about to speak but just shook his head, looking away again. Kirk caught his eye and shook his head. “I’m not expecting you to say anything. Just perhaps to understand. Now, we, as pointed out earlier, have a mission that we might well like to survive, so perhaps it would be best for you to work out how to deal with the ground attack. Robert and I will go and check that the fighters are being dealt with as they should be.”

Robert nodded, moving towards the door as Kirk got to his feet. “A good idea.”

James looked up as Kirk and Robert began to move away. “Kirk,” he broke off then shook his head, pulling himself together. “I didn’t know. I didn’t have a fuckin’ clue what they put you through. I’ll follow you, whatever this crazy shit is you’re planning on pulling. You’re my friend, a blood brother and you always have been so, let’s just get this crap out of the way and we’ll get going on your going rogue.” His voice was gruff as he spoke and he found it hard to meet Kirk’s cool, appraising gaze.

“It gladdens me to hear it.” Murmured Kirk, a hint of warmth in his voice that hadn’t been there for a long time. With that, he and Robert left, the doors hissing smoothly closed behind them.

Lars sat at the table, his troubled gaze on the mirror-like black surface. “Fuck.” He muttered. “Fuck.”

There was a pause before he spoke again, voice rising in an angry cry. “Fuck!”

He slammed his fist down on the table, the anger within him finding some kind of physical outlet.

“Yeah. Fuck.” Replied Jason softly. “I knew it was bad, but, not that. I didn’t have any idea of exactly what he had been through. Hell, I guess we still don’t.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Achernar
Member Avatar
I want my dragon back :c
[ * ]
Characters with cool developments like, traumas, frustrations, and actual tasks, objetives??

Damn, Kirk is a badass here. And Rob...He is all chill and cool, I like it cuz I can totally picture him playing the role of the one who deals with the fights, preventing them to happen.

and I want to know how Lars and James deal with the mission. [No, I haven't forgotten about Jase, he is pretty distant here...]

I love this kind of stuff, dystopic, flirting with sci-fi... ;D

[keep it going]
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Achernar - again, thank you so much. It is a lot of fun writing this, but honestly, I do want to get to the action! I had two and a half hours of ballet tonight and didn't get home until ten - so again, another shortish update, although we do get to meet another character by the end of it!

Haven't got much on tomorrow evening so hopefully can really get stuck in!

Kirk strode down the corridor, his booted feet echoing sharply down the empty corridor, Robert a couple of paces behind him. “Wait.” Robert’s low voice sounded louder in the enclosed space and Kirk paused for an instant, waiting for Robert to come up beside him.

“What?” He asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Nothin’ man.” Replied Robert with a slight smile.

“You think I shouldn’t have done that?” Asked Kirk coolly.

“I didn’t say that.”

“I don’t like losing control like that, and honestly, I am not proud of it, but what’s done is done.”

They carried on walking down the corridor, moving smoothly through doors, going deeper towards the centre of the complex where the laboratories were, that then led out to the hangars for the elite star fighters. He knew that his and Roberts were kept apart from the rest, as per their requests and so that depending on the missions that they were going on, their fighters could be worked on without others in the base being cognisant of the fact.

“I think it might have done James some good. How often is it that someone fights back? Unless they’ve got a gun or some shit of course, and they’re trying to actually kill him.” Rob couldn’t help chuckling, and Kirk unbent enough to smile slightly, a brief flicker of warmth showing in his eyes as he did.

“A fair point.”

They continued down between laboratories, the sides of the corridor now glass rather than metal, and scientists working behind it at their desks, clad in white coats. Shining metal and glass equipment twisted around the edges of the lab, testing bays were blackened from explosions. Delicate instruments formed strange forests behind glass fronted cabinets. The men and women working there took no notice of the two members of personnel going past them, more interested in their own work than the world outside.

They had to pass through one small blast proof door and into a sealed airlock before they could then pass through the next blast proof door and into the yawning space that was the hangar. Although it only housed two fighters in this particular hangar, the ceiling was high above, arching overhead filled with deep shadows.
A gangway ran around the side, where there were engineers and scientists moving about, cutting through to other areas. Below, on the ground, set back from the huge hangar doors that were clamped shut like the teeth of a savage beast, were both Kirk’s and Robert’s fighters.

Kirk felt a shiver run through him as he looked at the vehicle that was his, the star fighter that he had flown for so long. The beautiful vessel never failed to evoke that response in him. She was his, his beautiful, deadly lady, responsive and lethal. Both vessels were black from nose to tail sleek, slender, wings arching back gracefully from the body, thrusters at the rear silent, but ready to be used at a moment’s notice. Beautifully hidden within the body were the lasers and the plasma cannon that could be deployed from below. They were aerodynamic, perfectly designed for speed, stealth, and to kill.

There were engineers working on them, installing the prototype cloaking device onto both ships. Robert paused where they stood, one hand pressing on Kirk’s shoulder to stop him. “Why have you never let me know what you went through, why have you never let any of us know?”

Kirk frowned, his expression hardening as he looked at Rob. “Because none of you needed to know. Because I know you all too well. Lars would have been beating himself up that he wasn’t there to stop me, or save me, James would have just wanted to kill everyone and everything.”

“And Jason and I?”

“I don’t know. Jason would have brooded, and you, how would you have reacted?”

“However you wanted me to. Kirk I’m not stupid, just because you have a pretty face doesn’t mean that I ever thought of you as less of a man. Less of a fighter. Fuck you’re deadlier than the rest of us put together when you have your mind to it. This isn’t like when we were kids and you couldn’t shake that image. You think I don’t know how much that bothered you?”

Kirk swallowed, feeling Rob touch a nerve with him. “Maybe you do know. I made my decision then, and you know now. I’m not the fragile person that people tend to believe that I am. But, thank you. Now, I prefer that we at least go and inspect our vessels.” To soften his last words his strong, slender fingers lightly closed over Rob’s before he turned away.
****

Far across the bleak nothingness of space, on the planet Omiran, there was another military installation. The planet itself was a swirling dustbowl, but filled with valuable ores and minerals. Cities spread across its surface, pulling on its deep reserves of groundwater to irrigate, and water pumped from the deep mines to cool the buildings. The sky had a slightly orange tinge by day, the dust that was held high in the upper atmosphere filtering the light that shone down from their sun. At night, two moons shone blood red through that same dust.

Standing at the window of his chamber in the vast apartments that he had at the base, Mustaine looked out across the roofs and the buildings below, watching men and their vehicles moving from place to place. A smile curled his lips, his hazel eyes feverishly bright as he looked down on them, mind planning his next move, the next wave of destruction that he would send forth into the sentient worlds, slowly but surely choking them, bringing them under his power, bringing them to heel so that they would bow to him, and him alone. He ran one hadn through his flaming red hair, pushing it away from his face, turning away from the window, looking at the familiar room around him, luxuriously furnished with carved grey marble tables, dark wood, and black satin. Everything in there was highly reflective, so dark though the furnishings were, the room was still bright enough. He sat down at the desk at the far end of the room, pulling out a metal canister from a drawer, shaking it slightly before undoing it and lightly touching his finger to the liquid within. He touched the tip of his finger to his tongue.

After an instant there was a race of fire through his mouth, flowing down to his stomach, spreading throughout his body. He felt his pupils dilate, felt alive, invincible. He felt the rage that he usually kept fettered springing up within him, welling up through every pore of his body until he was almost burning with it. He was ready to kill, ready to launch another attack.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
He sat at his desk, pushing the heavy leather seat back, crossing his booted feet on the surface of the table. He crossed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes, losing himself to dreams of blood, death and fire. He yearned for the end, for the time when he was the single most powerful man in the sentient universe, for the time when he had finally won, become more than any other had been. He thirsted for that moment of supreme victory the climax of all his efforts. And yet he feared it, wondered what would happen when there was nobody left to kill, nobody to pit himself against. There would be no more bloodshed, no more thrill of the challenge, no more scheming against others, no more pitting his wits against other generals, against other worlds, hurling his men into battle, taking to the bloody warzone himself, killing, the smell of scorched flesh and material, blood and death in his nostrils.

He shook the thoughts away, snapping his eyes open at the sound of a buzzing from the door. He leaned forwards, hitting a button on the underside of the edge of the table. The small door in the far corner of his room hissed gently open admitting one of his generals. Ellefson marched smartly over to the desk, his booted feet echoing against the black marble floor before he came to a halt, smartly saluting Mustaine. “Sir.” He said, blue eyes fixed on Mustaine’s face, gauging the mood that he was in, seeing the familiar barely contained rage and lust for blood there.

“What do you want?” Snapped Mustaine, arms folded across his chest, eyes narrowed as he looked across at Ellefson, his second in command.

Ellefson may have been second in command, may have held power over the main part of Mustaine’s armies, but he still felt like a lackey before the man himself, still felt as though he was a new recruit. He had known Mustaine for many years, before even his meteoric rise to power, had been there at his side throughout, and had watched his slow spiral into greater madness, greater anger and greater discontent and need to expand his empire ever further. “Simply reporting. All patrols have come back clean. There have been no interceptions of enemy vessels in any vectors. We are expanding the distance of our patrols currently to ensure that a sweep is done of all areas that have been taken by our forces.”

“Good. Good. Ellefson, we will be mobilising our troops once again soon. I am currently working on the information being gathered by our intelligence forces from the closest star system from us. There is a colonised planet there, which I am led to believe is just one for mining. A mining planet will be good to control, the more metals, the more wealth we have, the more weapons we are able to build, the more we cut off the United Planetary Forces from arming themselves and funding their futile fucking resistance against us.” His voice was almost mocking as he spoke, finishing with a grin, eyes gleaming as he considered it.

“Very good. I’ll ready the troops that you feel necessary. When will the official briefing be?” Asked Ellefson, considering the probability of success with an inward smile.
A mining planet would not be particularly well defended, loss of life would be kept to a minimum, at least on their side.

“Two days from now. Dismissed.” With that, Mustaine leant back once again, head back, eyes closed as he heard Ellefson walking away from him. He had known him for years, but soon enough he too would become expendable.

The mining planet would fall to him. The men who worked there would be slaughtered, and his own people would be set to work there. There would be none left on that planet to resist him and his rule. He had plenty of people to do the work, it would not be heavily populated he knew, just a series of mining camps set there for the workers who maintained the great machinery that bored deep into the crust of the planet. It would not be difficult. In fact, he would enjoy it.
Meanwhile he was waiting for his laboratories to develop their next weapon, which, as soon as it was ready, he would unleash on the nearest planet with a breathable atmosphere and a population. He would triumph. That much he was confident of.

****

James stared hard at the plans that they were studying, one finger tracing across the route that he felt they should take. Jason looked at it, eyes narrowed shrewdly as he mentally ran through where James was taking them through the labyrinth that was the laboratory on the asteroid. There didn’t seem to be another viable route, not if they wanted to remain undetected for as long as possible, getting past security before going into the main laboratory, slaughtering the workers and then getting out and destroying the entire facility in the process. It would not be easy, that was for sure. But still he had a quiet confidence that they would manage. They always did somehow.

“Agreed then.” Said Lars with a decisive nod. “You two will take on the laboratory once we have taken out the security together and in the meantime I will work at the computer side of things.”

James nodded. “We’re ready to get this shit started then. As long as Kirk and Rob manage to keep us safe up in the skies then we’ll get it done.” He was already mentally running through the mission as they spoke.

Jason lay back on his bunk, looking away from them both. “What was that shit with Kirk?” He asked, slightly wary of broaching the subject, but unable to completely leave it alone.

James shrugged. “Just shit that has been waiting a long time to get out.”

Jason nodded, not bothering to answer. He could tell by James’ tone that there was nothing more to be said, not that night at least. He hadn’t had any real idea of what Kirk had been through in the time that he had been a prisoner and to see the scars had shocked him, to hear the vicious tone in Kirk’s voice, that sounded almost alien, too full of hate to be a real part of him had touched something in his core. He had always been the serious one, the studious one, the one with a goofy sense of humour, and an energy that rarely deserted him, and all that had always been tempered with a strange almost innocence compared with the others. Yet that was being slowly eaten away at one piece at a time, over the years of kill or be killed, of subterfuge and secret missions. Just now he had lost a chunk of that all in one go.
Lars looked at him. “There’s nothing we can do to change it. Kirk lives with it every day. We’ve got more to deal with now.”
There was a low murmur of agreement from the other two, and then silence fell across the room as they each began mentally preparing for what they would have to do the next day.

The next day came far sooner than anyone was truly ready for. Living below ground in the military facility, daylight was something that never came to them. The day was regulated only by the watches that they wore, the alarms that they set for themselves. It was a dreary, palling existence, but one that they had become ever more used to as the years went by. They did go to the surface, but the dull, grey, polluted skies above the city held little thrall for them. There was something almost dead about the grasses, a grey aura permeating everything, be it the concrete, the trees, the grass and crops or the people themselves at times.
Further away from the city, where there was fresh air and open spaces, there was still blue sky, and it was out into this wilderness that they all travelled when they had time off from their duties, when they could just be themselves, drink beer around a fire, sleep under the stars if the mood took them. It was a time to shake off everything that they worked for, everything that mattered so much when they were on the job that somehow seemed so goddamn insignificant when they were lying out beneath the stars.

For now however, they had a mission to run, and a world to save.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Achernar
Member Avatar
I want my dragon back :c
[ * ]
I just finished the third chapter, university is keeping me kinda busy.

god-mode dave is the best dave...

<3 [I love rob...he is so "down to earth"]
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Achernar - thank you so much for reading this - if you're managing to read around uni - I'm just really really stoked that someone is reading lol! And yes, I love god-mode Dave, he's my favourite.

Unfortunately another boring chapter of just getting there - but hey - next chapter it's all action ;)

Kirk went through into the hangar, doing up his flight suit as he did, feeling the familiar sensation of the skin tight temperature controlled suit. He slipped into the pilot’s seat in the cockpit, feeling himself cocooned within the confines of his vessel. As the cockpit roof closed and sealed above him, he felt as though he were part of the vessel himself. It was a one man vessel built simply for fighting, fast, sleek, deadly.

To his right Robert was entering the vessel that he was to pilot, with enough space for himself and the three others to take their places. It was equipped for battle, but not as nimble, nor as fast as the fighter he normally flew. It wasn’t large however, not like the ships that transported the troops, or like the one where they would dock, half-way to their destination to ensure they were ready and had all that they needed. The ship Rob was flying had just enough space for the four of them in the cockpit, built along the same lines as Kirk’s fighter, only larger, easier to exit for a quick drop.

Kirk sat back, strapping himself securely into his seat, ensuring his helmet was comfortable, getting ready for the flight. His slender fingers ran across the controls, flicking switches, pushing buttons, readying the craft for takeoff. He flicked a switch on the side of his helmet, a head-up display appearing on the visor as well, in tune with the vessel. There was the familiar feeling of power rushing through as the craft became ready to move, he could feel it almost pulsing through the shell until it felt like part of himself. Taking the controls in hand he watched in silence as the hangar doors opened, yawning wide, the world outside dark, the sky clear, studded with crystalline stars.

He opened his comms system with the ground crew, letting them know he was ready to go. He waited to hear Rob’s confirmation then powered on, leaving the hangar, feeling the incredible rush of acceleration before he headed up, off the ground, out into the sky. He could feel himself being pressed back into his seat, the g-forces pushing against him hard, right to the limit where he began to see black around the edges of his vision, felt light headed, his chest feeling as thogh there was a great weight pressing down, crushing him. Then he broke through the earth’s atmosphere and the protective heat shield that had covered the cockpit automatically moved back so that he had full visibility as they entered space itself.

There was a sudden release of the pressure as the acceleration slowed and the lack of pressure outside, the great vacuum changed the amount of thrust needed. He relaxed, feeling the usual rush of heady exhilaration and freedom that he always got when leaving the earth and heading out into the black reaches of space. He glanced to the right, seeing Rob’s vessel alongside, could just make out the four men within. He smiled, a genuine smile of warmth and pleasure, flipping his craft into a tight barrel roll, a laugh escaping him as he did. The ship responded instantaneously, almost as though it was a part of him.

Rob saw the barrel roll and grinned. He knew just how much Kirk loved flying, could understand it. It was a sensation like no other, one that sang in his blood as well, a joy that it was hard to describe to any other. He knew that Kirk had named his fighter, he had as well, his beautiful and deadly lady, Giselle. He couldn’t remember what Kirk’s was called. All he knew at that moment was that he missed being sat behind those controls, chafed at being the one making the drop rather than being able to fight as nimbly as he could in his lovely lady. He chuckled to himself, suddenly remembering the name of Kirk’s fighter, Scarlet. He caught the quizzical look from Lars and shook his head.

It was not long before they were ready to make the jump from their portion of space to the portal where they would be able to get to the station where they were rendezvousing before going onwards towards the laboratory.

Both ships were fitted with a rip-drive. It was something that had been developed many years previously as a way of negotiating space. Generally they were fitted only to the largest convoys, the biggest battleships as they had always been something that used an incredible amount of space. Due to advances in anti-matter powering, they had prototypes that were attached to both Scarlet and Giselle, and also now to Rob’s current vessel, small but effective. The anti-matter drives fuelled the vessels themselves, and made for incredible power and manoeuvrability. The rip drive, in essence opened a rip within the fabric of space itself, bending it, creating what used to be called a wormhole, one that with a correctly potted course would be able to route them to their destination. Between the different planets and galaxies that were controlled by the United Planetary Governments, there were portals set up, allowing easy travel between them. It was the invention of the rip drive that had actually really allowed the expansion of the human race between galaxies, allowing travel between to occur in mere hours or minutes rather than the years, and centuries that it would have taken previously.

Kirk flipped a switch, activating the rip drive. There was a few seconds delay before the very fabric of space before them seemed to ripple, shivering as they sped towards it. Seconds before they actually went through it transformed, tearing apart revealing swirling colours beyond, almost a living pulsating thing. Then suddenly there was nothing. The spinning colours gave way to a blackness that was almost tangible, flowing around the crafts, unnerving, unnatural. Time seemed to mean nothing there. You couldn’t tell whether it had been mere seconds, or hours, even days, before passing out through another swirl of colour that seemed to materialise out of nowhere, and then they were out again, back into reality, into space and into the kind of darkness that was peppered with stars and beautiful planets, galaxies that swirled in a seeming dance of colour.

It was breathtakingly beautiful, something that they had all seen countless times before, but it never failed to make an impression.

They docked with the space station as agreed and spent a predictable day there, going through rigorous checks until they couldn’t wait to just leave, get on with the mission. There was a thrum of energy running between them, uncontained and unacknowledged but still ever present. They were ready to go.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Achernar
Member Avatar
I want my dragon back :c
[ * ]
I love how you "tell the tale", I can totally see the colors and their Fighters. <3

[I could not laugh when I read "barrel roll" though :B starfox]

I would love if you tell me a description of Dictator!Dave...you know I love to draw him <3
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jungleland
Member Avatar
HUG PEOPLE
[ * ]
Always nice to see a writer coming back. :)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Achernar - thank you again - I know I've thanked you before but I'll keep doing it! hehehe yeah well you gotta get a barrel in somewhere! ;) Dictator Dave? Well, he's generally got a cannister of his rather feisty liquid in hand, he's obviously fairly tall, his eyes are blazing with mad rage half of the time, his skin is very pale, hair very red, long, below his shoulders. He tends to wear boots and black leather pants, and a dark green silk shirt, undone for the first few buttons. If he's going into battle he's all in black head to foot. How's that?

Jungleland - Well thank you ever so much for reading, it's nice to give writing a shot again!

The next day came too slowly for them, but finally it did arrive, and once more their crafts were heading out into the black of the sky, away towards their target.
As they neared the asteroid there was the familiar sight of a small defence module there in orbit around the planet. Rob and Kirk looked at it with experienced eyes, sizing it up, translating it to the reports that the intelligence agents had given them. James looked at it, pale blue eyes icy as he stared at it, waiting or any sign of life coming from it. “How long before they get started then?” He asked, voice gruff, ready for the drop, ready to get started. Their weapons were in the cockpit with them, grenades stocked beneath the seats. They didn’t think that they would have time to get the weapons out once they made the drop, they had to be ready to just go, for Rob to take off once again and get back into space as they made their way into the laboratory.

“Not long. Drones’ll come out first.” Said Rob laconically, a slight smile curving his lips as his whiskey dark eyes focused on the station before them. “Then if that doesn’t see us off, they’ll send out the ships. We’ll just head straight down. Kirk will deal with the drones, then by the time their fighters are out I should be able to get involved in the fight. That’s the plan at least. It’s up to you guys down below after that. Kirk and I will clear up in the skies, and if you aren’t signalling to pull out, we’ll come in after you.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll kick the crap outta them and have the beers waiting.” Said James with a low laugh, thinking ahead to the action that they were going into, looking forward to it.

Lars grinned. “Well you boys better not expect much help from me, the minute we are in there, I’m heading into my own cyber world. I’ll be holed up nearby with a gun, a stock of grenades and if anyone comes knocking while I’m hacking then they will get blown to kingdom fucking come.”

Jason grinned, it had been a long time since they’d been on a mission together. Yes, death was a risk, but he could feel his energy building until he was ready to explode. He ran his hands over the knives strapped across his chest, the guns strapped to his thighs, and the grenades attached beneath the knives. He would also take his main gun which lay down beside his seat. “Let’s get down there then.”

Rob threw him a mock salute and pitched the nose of the vessel downwards, straight towards where they were to land, seeing out of the corner of his eye the first of the drones leaving the orbiting station, heading out straight towards Kirk.

Kirk saw them a split second before Rob did, being somewhat ahead of him. He accelerated forwards to meet them, lips slightly parted in anticipation, eyes focussed on the drones. He threw his craft into battle, lasers cutting through, streams of light that seemed too beautiful to be the harbingers of death that they were. He fired again and again, wheeling between the drones, watching as they were destroyed before him, avoiding their firepower as he did. He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up between his lips, couldn’t help the feeling of joy that flooded through him as he felt his craft responding to his every touch, always one move ahead. He knew they were only drones, but they were a good warm up for the fighters that he knew would come.

Rob pushed the comm on for a few seconds. “Kirk? We’re making the drop. I’ll be back ASAP.”

There was a second’s delay before Kirk’s voice came back over the system. “No problem. I’ll save a few for you up here.”

There was a warmth in his voice that was lacking save in battle, something that the others didn’t fail to note. Jason glanced at Lars. “We have to do something about that.” He muttered. Lars nodded, not needing to ask what he was on about.

Rob took them down, landing by the laboratory. Even as they landed the other three were readying themselves to go. There was no atmosphere on the asteroid and they were all already suited up. They wordlessly clicked their helmets into place, squeezing out of their seats, and to the back of the cockpit where they entered the airlock and left swiftly and silently onto the planet. Rob could already see the first of the security force running out of the building, he watched as James dropped to one knee, plasma gun to his shoulder, taking out the first two, while Jason and Lars moved round to the sides, dropping round, taking out the next ones. Rob watched for a few more seconds as they ignored the bodies, heading straight to the entrance to the laboratory.

Rob grinned, taking to the skies once again.

James, Jason and Lars made their way to the airlock, entering the laboratory. All three of them had memorised the schematic of the laboratories and knew where the next forces would be coming from. Lars had already picked out exactly where he would manage to hole himself up. They went down the main corridor, blasting their way through the first two doors that they came to. Lars split off to one side, heading down a one of the side corridors that branched off from the main one. It led to a small control room, that much he knew. He crouched low, moving forward slowly, gun cocked and ready. He could just hear the sound of voices, two men talking, laughing among themselves. He felt a bead of sweat slowly trickle down his back, his every sense on edge, every sound amplified, his every movement tense like a coiled spring. He rounded the final corner towards the control room and even as he did he pulled the trigger, his first shot taking out the man sat in the main seat at the controls. His movements translated to a fluid roll as he avoided the second man’s shot which ricocheted off the metal floor as he fumbled with his weapon, giving Lars enough time to let off another shot which left a smoking hole through the man’s chest. Lars smiled to himself, swiftly going forward, pulling them both from the chairs, letting the corpses fall to the floor.

He sat himself in the main seat, hitting the controls to have the blast doors close behind him. The men who had died had been sloppy. The door being closed would have bought them extra time as he had to rewire them to get through. He flicked a few controls, then brought a screen view up inside his helmet so that he could see exactly what was happening. Without bothering to look down he pulled out a keyboard and began typing commands, entering their mainframe. A grin spread across his face as he started getting deeper into their system. Battle had been joined.

James and Jason continued on, both pressed close to the wall, half crouched, moving swiftly. James was half a step ahead, and then paused, raising his hand, showing Jason two fingers. Jason lightly tapped him on the shoulder to signal that he had understood. They both went round the corner of the corridor, opening fire as they did, dropping the two men in seconds. Jason grinned beneath his helmet as they moved forward into the main part of the laboratory.

Up in the skies far above the asteroid Kirk and Rob were fighting hard against the enemy craft that had entered the fray after the drones had been shot down.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
James and Jason worked methodically and silently, moving down the corridors, taking out the guards before there was any time for them to send out an alert. Heavy blast doors throughout the facility deadened the sound, making their job easier. Lars was working furiously as they did, cancelling out distress calls from the orbiting station, cancelling any from within so that those working within the complex were oblivious to the carnage being wreaked.

High above Kirk and Rob were working in tandem, a well oiled partnership, both knowing what the other was about to do before they even did it, trusting fully in the other as they banked and turned, fired on their pursuers, those who were fighting back at speeds that required split second decisions and timing. It was a thrill, a joyful rush and they both revelled in it, pushing themselves and the craft that they flew to the very limits of their endurance. Around them laser fire tore through the blackness, Kirk watched as Rob’s ship, less nimble and responsive than his own took a hit to the starboard flank shearing off one of the outer panels.

“All good.” Came Rob’s voice almost instantly over the comm. Kirk smiled to himself, diving steeply, firing on another enemy craft coming up from below. He watched as the laser shots tore through the upper part of the vessel, ripping through the cockpit, killing the pilot almost instantly, destroying the craft itself.
“How many more then do you think?” Asked Kirk, flying instinctively, mind focused several stages ahead of where he was, playing out the aerial battle in his mind before it ever became reality.

“Only a few more. Small station like that can’t hold many more than this.” Replied Rob nonchalantly, settled back in his seat, not as comfortable as he usually was, knowing that his craft wouldn’t respond quite as he wanted it to, adapting to the altered feelings, the slightly different control, the heavier feel.
“Then we’ll take down the station.” Replied Kirk with a smile.

“I guess then we’d better go help the guys on the ground.” Said Rob with a long suffering sigh, a grin on his lips as he fired hard at a fighter coming at him head on, pulling out at the last second, knowing even as he did that it had been destroyed.

“I guess we should. That one nearly clipped your tail you know.” Replied Kirk, a teasing tone in his voice.

“Miles out.” Retorted Rob with a laugh. “What would they do without us? Almost single handedly taking this one on aren’t we?” He couldn’t help laughing as he spoke and Kirk chuckled in return, Rob’s laughter infectious. They both knew well that the guys on the ground were working hard, fighting and laying their lives on the line, that even now they could be dead, but it wasn’t something they could allow themselves to consider, not while they were up there, not while they were in the thick of fighting.

Far below Lars was pushed to his limits in the dark control room within the laboratory facility. He sat back in the seat, keyboard on his lap, fingers moving furiously as streams of data ran down before his eyes. He was picking holes in it, working as quickly as he could, sending in viruses, ones that would duplicate invisibly, eating away at the security modules, replacing them with its own decoys as it did so. He knew that he was getting close, and that Kirk and Rob were doing their job because the distress signals that he had been forced to keep cancelling out from the orbiting station had become more frantic, more insistent. Then they had stopped, as though those within the station knew that there was nobody coming, that the alerts had gone entirely unheard, either that or they had been destroyed altogether.

He was getting so much closer to the information he needed that it was almost tangible, he could almost taste it. The streaming data was dizzying, he could feel that he was sweating, a cold sweat of fear that drove him onwards. He knew that the system was fighting back, he had been ready for it to do so. He had to back track over things he had already done, setting up defences once again, slowly but surely worming through to the core of the facility, finally finding the data systems that he was looking for. He didn’t take the time to read the information that was there, merely set about destroying it, his work paying off as he watched the streams of data get smaller and smaller, the system almost completely destroyed. The only parts he left intact were those parts that controlled the lighting and the doors, and the atmosphere generators. Everything else came crashing down into oblivion.

James and Jason had made it through to the laboratory, knowing even as they got to the doors that they would be moving into a wide open space, one where there were no other exits, one where they would be forced to kill quickly, hoping that they were not going into somewhere that there were a large amount of guards resulting in a firefight that would see them both likely killed. Jason instinctively gripped his gun tighter, finger loose on the trigger, ready to go. He looked at James for a second then motioned towards his helmet, telling James to make sure that he had his own breathing and filtration system on before they went in there. James nodded, then raised a hand to the door panel, pressing through for entry.

Jason watched the doors hiss open, taking everything in within the blink of an eye, long trained to do so, get all the details from a scene that he would need, where people stood, how many, whether or not they were armed. The laboratory set up was as they had expected, and moreover there were no guards there either. It was the part of the job that Jason hated the most. The scientists within the laboratory, hidden in and around their shining instruments were staring at them with horror, completely unarmed. He knew that they had a job to do, but there was no way, no time when this became any easier. He knew at the back of his mind that they were working on something that would destroy the planet entirely, that they were going to kill millions, but in that moment he could just see the utter terror in their faces as they saw the two helmeted black clad men come through the door, holding death in their hands.

Far above the fighters had been destroyed, and Kirk and Rob were circling the orbiting station, getting to where they knew the weakest spots were. They both only had so many shots of their plasma cannons before they overheated and each one would have to count. They did. The shell of the orbiting station blew as the outer layers were breached, as the core died in a series of explosions. They knew that they didn’t have much time before the main generators went and accelerated at speed out of the area, watching as the orbiting defence station became nothing but shattered remains floating in the inky blackness, twisted metal and bodies gone into the cold and the dark.

Kirk smiled, an icy cold look that told of a job well done. “We’d best get down there then.”

When he and Rob landed they saw James and Jason already standing outside, and Lars just emerging from the depths of the facility. They couldn’t see their faces behind the helmets, but knew that there would be a weariness in their eyes a tightness about their mouths that they had seen countless times before. Wordlessly the three boarded Rob’s vessel again. Once safely through the airlock they removed their helmets. “All clear to strafe it?” Asked Kirk over the comm., voice emotionless once again.

“Clear.” Replied James as they once again took to the air. Kirk circled back, away from the others, strafing the laboratory repeatedly with laser fire until there was nothing left of it. Then he wheeled his craft upwards to join them.

“Back to base then?” Asked Rob, glancing back at the other three.

“Base.” Confirmed Kirk over the comm. “Let’s just get the debrief over and out of the way.”

There were murmurs of agreement all round as they headed straight back to base, through the rip, and back to earth once again. The crafts were taken back into the hangar to be repaired and to be checked over. The five of them went through to the main conference room where they met with Wavell and Witcombe once again to report and for their debriefing.

It was several hours before they were free again, granted leave to go off base if they wanted to unless called back in an emergency. Without a word they filed back into their dormitory and Lars closed and locked the doors behind them.

Jason looked round at the four men in the room, all looked exhausted, the telling lines of strain around their eyes and mouths. “This war can’t continue.” He said simply, voice gruff, undertones of determination there.

“It is though. And we just keep fucking fighting until there’s no other fuckers to kill. I know what this shit is about, it’s those scientists. Those bastards would have killed billions of people without a second thought. You know that as well as I do so there’s no point in pussying the fuck out at this point.” Growled James, kicking off his boots, stripping off his sweat soaked shirt, sitting on the edge of the bed, running one hand through his short, tousled blond hair.

The others, in various states of undress paused. Kirk stood there, stripped to the waist, no longer caring about the others seeing the scars that criss-crossed his skin.

“Unarmed?” He asked coolly, looking at Jason appraisingly, seeing the shadows behind the dark blue eyes.

“Yeah.” Replied Jason, rubbing a towel across his face where he had tipped water over his head, trying to get rid of the feeling of filth and grime before he showered.

“You’ve done it before, and as James so succinctly put it, they would have killed billions of people.” Said Kirk, pausing, glancing over at Lars who nodded. “But, I do agree. This war cannot continue. That is why we need to leave now, get out of here and go after the device that Lars and I have been researching.”

“Don’t just dismiss this. We’ve spent so fucking long researching this, and I’ve hacked into things that if anybody finds out, my life won’t be worth shit anymore.” Said Lars, voice harsh. He was mentally exhausted after what he had done that afternoon, taking down the laboratory mainframe, and he was not in the mood for more discussion.

“But we need to basically give up our lives to do this.” Said Rob with a nod, understanding, knowing what it was to go rogue. There was no way back from that, if they deserted the Force, they would be on a death charge.

“Yes. But if we succeed, I get the impression that they will welcome us back with open arms.” Replied Kirk, stretching, working out the kinks in his back from lengthy time spent in the cockpit.

Jason shrugged. “I’m in. Whatever it is must be better than killing unarmed men and women, even if yeah I know they were going to kill billions of others. It still kills me a bit every time I’ve had to do it. I feel as though I have blood on my hands and that’s something that’s not going to wipe clean.”
Rob put one hand on his shoulder, a heavy warmth that Jason appreciated. “I’m in as well. Because I want this war over, because I want Mustaine to go down, and because hell, I’ve been in on everyone one of your other crazy schemes over the years. What’s one more?”

Lars gave him a weary grin. “James?”

“Like fuck you’d keep me out of it.” He returned, looking at Lars, the man who had been his best friend for so many years. They would follow each other to hell and back, it was one of the bonds that kept the five of them so closely together and had done since they were teenagers.

Kirk nodded. “Then we go, tonight. We have leave, so we go and we move out; go out into the wilderness to camp. We can take one of the small transports, we don’t need to take much ourselves. About two hundred miles from here is the last place that we can find indicated by any records before the trail goes completely cold. When we get there, we need to disappear.”

“And how are we doing that then?” Asked James, one eyebrow raised as he looked between them. “It’s pretty much impossible to disappear, we’re logged and tagged, army property is logged and tagged, they have all of our information, can track us by our chips, by our fingerprints, you name it.”
Lars shrugged. “We remove our chips. Leave them in the desert. We’ll burn out the vehicle. Before we leave, I will hack into our records, I’ll change the details, everything about us. We’ll disappear, be ghosts.”

Jason swallowed. “Shit. There’s no coming back from this is there?” He asked, voice serious, low.

“Extremely unlikely.” Replied Kirk with a shrug. “But I believe what we’re doing is necessary.”

Rob nodded. “Couldn’t do anything else. Let’s pack and get ready to go. Lars, if you can, may as well get hacking our records.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jungleland
Member Avatar
HUG PEOPLE
[ * ]
I can't believe you're not getting more comments for this.

Anyway, that was some nice action, and I'm looking forward their actually going rogue!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Thanks Jungleland :) I'm glad that just a couple of people are reading it! I guess it's not really too many people's cup of tea - but that's all good, you like what you like, right?

Anyway, I'm just having a bit of fun writing it and trying to get back into the groove again :) - Thanks ever so for reading though!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shayi
Member Avatar
Bring me that horizon
[ * ]
Mustaine let out a roar of soul searing fury, hurling the glass he had been holding against the wall, watching it shatter with blazing eyes. “What the fuck do you mean the laboratory is gone?” He demanded, the anger emanating from him in waves.

Ellefson stood in front of him, stiffly to attention, refusing to make eye contact, looking just past him at a spot on the wall. “Unfortunately the laboratory in Sector 7 has been destroyed, sir. A supply ship that was due to dock there this morning found only wreckage left where the orbiting station should be. They did a fly past on the asteroid itself but the laboratory was no longer viable.” He stated stiffly.

Mustaine seemed for a couple of seconds incapable of speech, incandescent with rage. They had dared to go against him, had dared to infiltrate his forces, because how else would they have known how to get to him, how to destroy the latest weapon that his men had been working on. He swallowed some of his ire, eyes narrowed as he looked at Ellefson, leaning forward over the desk, hands planted solidly on the mirror-like black surface. “Are there any survivors? Any evidence of who it was who did this?”

“I have sent a search party down. They should be reporting back soon. Currently there appear to be no survivors.” David’s voice was blank, emotionless, just reporting. He could feel the emotion in the room, an electricity around the place. He knew what the next question was going to be and he was dreading having to give the answer, knowing what the reaction would be, steeling himself for it.

“Have you downloaded all of the information from the files? Get it sent to one of the other laboratories, have them pulled from whatever the fuck it is they’re doing and get them back working on this shit.” Ground out Mustaine, a muscle in his jaw twitching, fingertips white as he pressed down against the table as though somehow he could channel the anger through to the ground.

Ellefson swallowed hard. “All information was wiped before the attack was finished. There is nothing left. We logged in externally and explored the system. It’s blank. The only things left were the parts controlling atmosphere, lights and doors. I’ve run it through our top experts and they can’t get anything. A virus ran through, took it all out...”

“Trace?” Asked Mustaine, grinding his teeth together, knowing exactly who it was who was responsible for it – the only person he knew who could be responsible. He knew it was Lars, had gone to school with them, then taken another path in life. Lars he knew was one of the top hackers there were, and he was certain that it was him, him and the other four that always worked together. The rage and hatred that filled him threatened to choke him.

“No trace at all.” Replied Ellefson woodenly, feeling cold sweat starting out over his skin as he spoke.

Mustaine grabbed under the edge of the table, letting out a scream of rage as he hefted it over, the heavy desk with the obsidian surface upended, cracking down the centre as it landed hard against the marble floor. Screens smashed as they hit the floor and everything else just spread across the floor. To Ellefson’s credit he didn’t even move, just continued staring straight ahead, entire body tense. “I am going to fucking kill them all. I don’t care how fucking long it takes, how many fucking planets I have to destroy I am going to fucking kill each one, slowly, by hand. Hammett came off lightly last time. Get yourself down to the research laboratory and let me know what is happening with that particular project. I want a full report by the end of the day. I also want reports from any intelligence agents on what the fuck Hammett and his band of merry fucking assholes is up to as well. Get to it.”

Ellefson saluted smartly, turning on his heel, marching out. As soon as he got to the other side of the door he rubbed the perspiration from his palms on his trousers, letting a shaking breath go. He licked his dry lips, mouth feeling like a desert. He vaguely wondered how long he could keep it up.

Back in his rooms, Mustaine opened his canister once again, touching another drop of liquid to his tongue, feeling the familiar fire race through him, burning him from the inside. He would go out, go hunting, would visit the prisoners that he held in person. There would be a way to vent his anger, at least until he had the men he wanted within his grasp.

****

Back at base, night was drawing in. Lars, Kirk, James, Jason and Rob had packed their gear and were ready to leave. They hadn’t taken much with them; just what they deemed to be the essentials in their haversacks, Lars had amended all of their records, the amendments to fill in within two hours of their leaving. They scanned themselves out of the building, logging out as they always did, nothing about their departure anything out of the ordinary.

They got into the transporter and James fired it up, feeling the heavy vibrations run through them all as it began moving across the parched, dry ground that surrounded the base. Climate change had wrought havoc on the landscape over the centuries. So much earth was grey and dead. The seas had been depleted, polluted, and land was at a premium. That was why people had been leaving the earth, why they had colonised other planets. Kirk settled back in his seat, looking out of the window as they went, reflecting back on films and pictures of the earth the way that it had been, with lush vegetation, with beautiful countryside and blue skies that seemed to stretch forever. Over the centuries though that had all been re-drawn, had all changed in the same way that countries and political forces had changed altogether. The world was a small place now, more like a global country, different planets fulfilling the roles that different countries and nations previously had. They were now just earth, historical boundaries all but erased.

Slowly but surely, lulled by the constant sounds of the engines and the feeling of moving across the landscape, Kirk drifted off to sleep, his dreams full of death and destruction. Beside him Rob tried to stay awake, but slowly he too succumbed to sleep, followed not long after by Jason, until it was only Lars and James awake, sat in the front of the vehicle, the darkness stretching out before them. From the ground they couldn’t see the stars, not so close to the city. There were too many clouds, too much light pollution coming from the city. They were heading out on the co-ordinates that Kirk had given them away from the city, travelling a couple of hundred miles out into what was now wilderness. Nobody ever went out there. Much of the wilderness was out of bounds to all but military personnel, which was why they chose to go there.
Lars had his boots off, feet up on the dash of the vehicle, while James lay back, one arm against the window, not bothering to open it. That close to civilisation there was no such thing as fresh air. They had some music playing, slow and lazy in the background. James looked across at Lars, noting the weary lines on his face, the exhaustion writ deep in every line of his body. It had been so long that they had been fighting for, so long with no release from it. They had all grown up fighting, had lost their families, lost people they knew, friends, everything. The only constant in any of their lives had been each other. Vaguely he wondered if there was anything else in life, whether actually this was it until eventually they were killed.

“C’mon then man, what’s on your mind?” Asked Lars, his eyes fixed on James’ profile, reading almost every thought there. “I know that look. Been seein’ it more and more lately and to be straight with you man, I don’t really like it there. This will be over one day, and we’ll be free one way or another, whether we get ourselves new identities, or whether we get welcomed home like fuckin’ heroes. Whichever, we’ll come good man.”

“Yeah, I know. Shit we always said that we would be the ones to end this war, but when does childish idealism end and fuckin’ reality kick in?” He asked, reaching under the seat for the regulation beer that he had managed to smuggle out of the base with him.

Lars raised one eyebrow and grinned. “That shit tastes like piss man and you know it.”

“Didn’t have time to go shopping. Was a bit busy yesterday.”

“Hilarious. What you want is some of this.” Replied Lars, reaching into the cargo pocket of his utility trousers, pulling out a small clear bottle full of an amber liquid.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” Asked James, blue eyes suddenly wide. “Is that Tempico?”

“Sure is.” Replied Lars with a grin, pulling out the stopper at the top, taking a swift pull on it. “Better than godawful piss military issue beer.”

He passed over the bottle, letting James take a pull on it, feeling the fire burn down, pooling warm in his stomach. “How the fuck did you get hold of it?”

“Well, shit, we’re not going to be flavour of the month anyway are we now back at base? And since we’re disappearing, I just decided to liberate the contents of General pain-in-the-ass Witcombe’s private liquor cabinet. Who knows where we’re gonna end up? We’re on one of Kirk’s crazy rides and I for one want to be prepared.” He stated, taking another swig and passing it over.

James couldn’t help laughing. “Shit. Uli, you never fail to fuckin’ surprise me.”

“Life would get boring huh?” Retorted Lars, tapping his feet in time with the music against the windscreen. “Look, whatever happens, wherever life goes, we’re a team. Take it head on like we always have. Keep your fuckin’ chin up and all that shit, if you think life’s nothing but this war and fighting, you’re wrong. There’s friendship, and drink, and all the other good shit that goes along with it. And now we’ve got this mission which lets be fair, ain’t gonna be like anything we’ve done before is it? We’re searching for a fuckin’ soul-stealing doomsday device under the planning and direction of Kirk our current crazy researcher. I know I’ve been in on it, but I just did the hacking. This is his show now. So buck the fuck up Hetfield.” Lars finished with a flourish, waving the bottle of Tempico flamboyantly, letting go of the day, feeling the buzz of alcohol rushing through him.

James grinned, taking another shot of Tempico, a feeling of relaxation slowly coming over him. “Sometimes you just make too much fuckin’ sense Uli.”

“Hey, I know I’m good.” Replied Lars with a chuckle, letting them both lapse into a comfortable silence again as the miles went by beneath the tracks of the vehicle.

It took them a few hours, but they reached their destination, down in the bottom of a deep gorge. The five of them slept for the night in the vehicle and woke with the dawn the next day, cramped from sleeping in the vehicle. Jason stretched hard, feeling his muscles cracking as he did, slowly loosening up. He stepped out into the grey dawn light, looking around him, yawning widely. “Man that was some sleep. Guess I needed it.”

“Yeah save a thought for us poor fuckers driving your asses around.” Retorted James, heavy eyed as he got out into the light, followed by the other three. “We in the right place?”

Kirk looked around, his dark eyes taking in the scene around him. “I believe so. The co-ordinates were correct as far as I am aware, and everything else has led me to believe that this place is the key to the solution to where the device will be found.”

“It’s not actually here?” Jason stared at him, then sat down on the floor with a groan, pulling some rations out of one of the haversacks.

“No, apparently this place will lead us to it though.” Replied Kirk, sitting down, sharing out the rations between them. The five of them ate swiftly, a soft buzz of conversation moving between them all until they had finished when Rob stood up, dousing the vehicle they had arrived in in fluid, ready to burn it to nothing, leaving no traces of them within it.

“It’s ready.” He said quietly, pulling out a knife that was strapped to his boot, sitting down.

“Right then, everyone, get your knives out.” Said Kirk, pulling out a pack from his bag. He unrolled it, spreading out the contents on the ground before them. It was a simple first aid kit containing gauze, a miniature cauterising gun and some skin spray. There was also a set of anaesthetic wipes that he handed round. “Swab the area, it will prevent some of the pain but it won’t prevent it all, careful as you go because I don’t want anybody bleeding to death by accident. You know where the chip is located, if there’s too much bleeding we can cauterise it, but hopefully we should be able to make do with gauze and skin spray.”

Kirk swiftly wiped over the inner surface of his wrist with one of the anaesthetic wipes. It felt strangely liberating what they were about to do. The chips had been a part of them since they were born, had been updated, had been their link into the net, had been their access into different areas, different places, had been the way that they were tracked and monitored for their entire lives. And now they were about to remove them, destroy them, and in essence cease to exist. Without hesitation he picked up the knife slitting the skin, cutting it away to reveal the chip before slowly levering it out. A wash of blood greeted his efforts, and he could feel a horrible pulling as he tore the chip free. A gout of blood followed the exit of the chip and Kirk pressed a gauze pad to his arm, holding it tightly. He swallowed hard. There was no turning back for him now. He was off the grid.

Without another word the other four did the same, tearing out the chips, leaving them in a bloody heap with the rest of the medical equipment. After a few minutes Kirk pulled back the gauze to look at the wound. It was still bleeding sluggishly, but it wouldn’t take long to stop. He sat still waiting for the sluggish bleeding to stop before spraying the skin spray over the wound, sealing it off so that it would have a chance to heal. The spray seemed almost plastic as it went on, but then melded to his skin, seamlessly bonding. He methodically cleaned off his knife, then tossed the heap of chips into the vehicle that they were to burn. The other four followed suit, then stood up, hefting their haversacks onto their backs.

James drew out a flare, firing it straight into the vehicle, watching with a strange sense of satisfaction as it burst into flames that leapt up high into the morning air. Nobody would see the smoke from the fire, there was nobody around for over a hundred miles. They were completely alone. Lars let out a slow breath. “Fuuuuuuck.” It felt strange to be offline, unable to connect to the interplanetary net, unable to move around in the cyberworld as he had done all his life. He felt naked, vulnerable, and surprisingly free.

“Where are we heading then?” Asked James, looking around at the bleak landscape. Scrubby grass covered the gorge, not a natural one, one that had been gouged out of the landscape by machines, mining for metals. The town that had stood there was long gone, but the mining caverns remained and the gorge stood there as testament to what had gone before. It was a lonely place, of scrubby grasses and a few birds nesting in the heights of the gorge’s sides. There was something cold and dead about the place, something that they could all feel, but none really wanted to acknowledge, not now that they were trapped out there, several hundred miles away from the base and from their lives.

Kirk pointed to the far side of the gorge, a way ahead of where they were. “There are some old mining passages, if we follow the main passage to the end I believe we’ll find what we’re looking for. This is where the clues became truly cryptic. All that I could find was a number.”

“So if this is the wrong place then we’re stuck out here, basically to die?” Asked Jason, eyes wide, staring at Kirk with unashamed horror.

Kirk shook his head. “Ye of little faith.” He murmured. “No. About twenty miles from here to the northeast there is a ship hidden, ready for our use. We can get off the planet.”

“A ship?” Asked Jason, nearly spitting out the water he was swallowing while James and Rob looked incredulously at Kirk.

Lars chuckled. “Fuckin’ right a ship. Do you really think that me an’ Kirk are dumb enough to strand us out here? Although you three seemed to be going along with it...” He broke off with a laugh, seeing the expression of James’ face. “No, there is a ship out there don’t worry. We can get to it, we’ve rationed enough water for that. It is I freely admit a complete heap of shit, but it’s the only one I could manage to lose in the paperwork and get out here without questions being asked. Kirk flew it out and knows what it’s like. As far as the military is concerned, it’s in a scrap yard somewhere.”

Kirk nodded. “It is a piece of rubbish compared to what we are used to. However it has fully functional shields, lasers and a plasma cannon. I’ve done what I can with the engine to make her as fast as she can be. We do have an out if necessary, or if we need to travel elsewhere. There is rudimentary shielding so unless she is particularly being sought, which I doubt, nobody should be able to find her.”

Rob shook his head. “I am glad we’re all on the same side. So, let’s get our asses over to those mining passages and on with saving the world then.” He said, recovering from the surprise, giving Kirk a lopsided grin.

Together they walked away, heading for the passages about a mile up the gorge from where they were. When they reached them they didn’t hesitate before walking in through the entrance that stood open to the elements. There had been a door in place there, but over time it had corroded, acid rain stinging away at it until there was enough space for them to climb through the rusted metal.

Inside it was cold and dank. Water trickled down the walls as they went deeper, the darkness pressing in around their torchbeams, seemingly trying to swallow the light. Underfoot there was loose rubble, and all five of them had their weapons drawn as they went. Now and again they could hear the rustle of creatures, snakes withdrawing into the depths, eyeless, nameless things, used to a life of complete darkness, evolved down in the depths of the pits. It was oppressive, the only sounds that of their breathing, the scrunching of their booted feet on the ground, the rustle of the mine’s inhabitants and the steady drip, drip of the water that coursed through the gorge. Stalactites and stalagmites grew down and up, partially blocking the passageways in places, in others serving as columns to support the roof.

They followed their passageway down until it met another, much wider, used by heavy mining vehicles to blast through the rock. They followed the main passageway down, keeping going until finally it hit a dead end, deep within the living rock. Kirk could feel the weight of the rock above, pressing down around him, combining with the darkness until it felt almost suffocating. He shook his head, clearing a wave of dizziness and took a sip of water.

“Where now?” Asked Rob, glancing around as far as they could see.

“This is it.” Replied Kirk, concentrating his torch on the end wall. James and Jason did the same, while Lars and Rob took the walls to the side.

“I reckon this is it.” Said James, tapping his torch against the dripping wet rock, the shivering light making Kirk stride over to him.

Before him was a metal panel with a series of numbers cut into it. Each number was just about the size of a human fingertip, enough space for Kirk to push his finger in and trace the numbers that he had found in his research.

Nothing happened. There was a deafening silence in the cave as they waited. “Good job you got a fuckin’ ship.” James narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kirk who shrugged.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am convinced we are in the correct place.”

“Shut up.” Hissed Jason, face pressed almost flush to the rock.

Silence fell. Silence broken by a rumbling, grating sound, the sound of stone agonisingly dragging against stone. In front of them, the wall began to fall away, revealing a blackness that even their torchlight couldn’t penetrate, a blackness that was almost solid.

Without hesitation Kirk stepped forward. “I believe this is the next stage in the journey.” He said, an air of cool detachment about him as he spoke. Without pause he reached out, pushing his hand through the blackness, drawing it out again. “It’s not going to kill us.”

“Then let’s get the fuck on with it.” Replied James, teeth bared in a grin, eyes blazing with the light of adventure, feeling truly alive again for the first time in a long time.

“If we all die now, it’s been one helluva ride.” Said Lars with a wink.

Kirk nodded, then stepped forward through the blackness.

The other four looked at each other for a split second before they followed suit.

They stepped out blinking into bright sunlight.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create your own social network with a free forum.
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Inactive Metallica Fan Fictions · Next Topic »
Add Reply