Charlotte instantly woke up, rising up in the bed. She looked at herself, nude from last night's revelation. Breathing slowly, she rubbed her eyes again and wandered out of the bed, and slowly started to equip her clothing and armor back on. Turning back to the bed, Charlotte had saw Lorella fully dressed and smiling at her. A second later, Lorella was getting her clothing back on, her face neutral. Seeing Charlotte looking at her she said. "Is there a problem?"
Charlotte shook her head and attached the last piece of armor to her hands and wrists, slightly sore. Closing her eyes and breathing in again, she glanced over at Lorella, who sped dressed, placing her sub machinegun and sword on her hips.
The two exited the room, not even bothered with the rising of the sun as Eric and Otis were looking at the two women, their faces neutral as well.
"We are close to the bridge. Just need to follow the to the intersection of Cain and Antenor Streets and we are at the bridge. And the end of this." Lorella nodded as Charlotte simply said. "No sign of Ethan Orwell?"
"Does it matter?" Eric scoffed, starting the walk towards the objective.
"...No, it doesn't. Finish the mission and we are done." Otis rolled his eyes slightly at both responses saying in a rather sacastic tone. "This will end poorly." Charlotte kept her mouth shut as Lorella said.
"Negative. We have come this far." As the four continued to walk down the streets, the zombies had long black garb as they started to throw items at them, yelling in strange voices as the men absorbed the easy items. A few of them were sharp as it burned their wounds even more.
Soon after, makeshift arrows started hailing down at them from the rooftops and streets as they harmlessly bounced off their scrapped armor and bodies, too numb to feel anything as Eric kept a constant pace. Otis' eyes dilated slightly as he shoved Eric again to move his ass faster as Eric turned around and uppercutted him in jaw. "Don't. TOUCH. Me." he roared slightly, seeing that his technique as off and his knuckles were misaligned. Shrugging it off with a crack, he hurried his pace to elevator up as large sharpened poles started hailing down. The sounds of chopping air started to vibrate as well.
Charging ahead, the Vanguards dodged and knocked down the poles as the chopping air intensified. Just as they reached the elevator up, three helicopters flew above the buildings as Eric and Otis, turned to face each other and raised their weapons at helicopters. Charlotte activated the elevators as she stepped in. Lorella was by the door.
"Complete that mission... Now. You too Otis." Eric growled.
"Fuck you man, I'm going down like this."
"Hm." The two opened fire at the first helicopter as the pilot was killed and switched to autopilot.
Lorella frowned at Otis as she walked back to him as Otis brushed and shoved her into the elevator. Without a single word, he punched the button as the elevator rose. As the elevator rose, it crossed an plexiglass opening as the helicopters unleashed their horde of missiles at the foot of the elevator.
Charlotte looked over at Lorella as they both didn't say anything. The shockwave of the destroyed bottom vibrated up and threatened to break the elevator. Last second, the elevator entered the deeper end of the ship. The bridge.
With a ping, the destination was reached and the doors opened. A man stood facing the plexiglass opening into space. In his hand was a plasma cutter. The two entered the room, dark besides the basic lights for a working live system.
The man turned to face the girls. It was Captain Ethan Orwell. With no emotional intonation he said. "So you finally made it... Now what?"
Neither girl said anything as Orwell sighed. "Just as I figured. Watching you people of course. I could have mocked you coming up here, but choose not to. That would be mean."
"It's amazing isn't it? How with a lift of a finger, worlds can be destroyed. Every action has a reaction. Like Physics. So what brings you Vanguards up here."
"... Still nothing huh? Did we really twist you that much?" Orwell walked over to Lorella and Charlotte, their eyes heavily glazed over. "We stole you from right under your parents, forcing them to watch us take you away from them... And nothing. Just absolutely nothing. All just drained of anything huh?"
Orwell started to walk away from the two as they raised their guns at his head. "Oh-ho! So there is something."
"This place was crashing down anyways. The virus was just an excuse to them to progress to destruction. With anarchy about... I vented Koltanium dust into the air ducts. Really simple too, with the UNC's orders and all. With that, the true potential of people can be shown." He grinned slightly.
"Step two... Expose the Void into the ship. All together, not little bit tiny slices. Nope! A giant hole. Obviously a few more people were obliterated by the simply its exposure, just like the death toll with the Koltanium venting, but it was in hope that-"
"Stop it right there. The UNC knows better than that. Our technologies have slightly improved but they know that only a small number can live with Koltanium poisoning and limited Void exposure. Direct exposure would lead to obliteration and they know that." Lorella rebuked, her rifle still raised.
Orwell shrugged. "So? War is a constant in this world. What the United Nations back in the early years thought that child soldiers were a failure, we made them a success. The Crusaders will always have the upperhand, their mental abilities and Koltanium armors are far numerous than ours. Conflict and destruction bring about seeds of wholeness to grow again. Human ascension. Human evolution. You Vanguards are simply the genetic height of what humanity needs."
"And you reduced the people of this boat into a little science experiment. Some human ascension."
"They stopped fighting all together and started to help one another. All for the advancement of humanity. Why else do you think this boat still has power? Why else do you think we are still able to breathe normally?"
"You reduced them to pain and suffering. How in the world did all that many people survive initial infection by Koltanium?"
"We stopped their class segregation. We stopped their violence against one another. They didn't survive. That massive horde in the beginning? They have been following you since you had shown up. You eliminated most of them with the gravitron wave, and the survivors simply found a military helicotpers from the base. All of their death. Your fault."
"And that's your excuse. Humanity doesn't deserve to end up like that. Fuck you."
Orwell scoffed. "And what a contradiction that you Vanguards are. We raised you to be the epitome of humanity and yet you are both from the worse of humanities traits. You're supposed to be champions... and yet there's that massive crater in the center of the city." Charlotte fired at Orwell's shoulder as he was knocked down to the ground, his shoulder completely dislocated.
"We had no idea."
Coughing and chuckling, he rose again, grabbing the plasma cutter from his dead hand. "You should have went home. You should have just fixed the radio on the Charon and everything would have been hunky doory for you people. But no, instead you continued. If you really were soldiers, you would have tried your best to reestablish contact with Upper Command. But no, that idea of a Super Soldier was stuck in your head. You and me. We aren't so different in the end."
Charlotte and Lorella just stood their frozen. He was right. But there was nothing that they could do about it. The past was the past, and it had affected their present. Leading to their immediate present with the destruction of thousands of people in the block alone.
"But... You little shits won't get the satisfaction of killing me... No, you little shits won't..."
"Charlotte, this is the last part. Orwell had instructed a purge to this place if it got out of control. Void hole fixer. There was no virus here at all. Just madness. I issused a SOS as well." Lorella said, as she had appeared by the lit controls. When Charlotte had looked back at where Orwell was, he was on the floor, his head sliced off by the plasma cutter device he had. No blood as the heat cauterized the split. Shaking her head, she walked over to Lorella.
"Just press the button and this will be all over." Charlotte looked over at Lorella with an expression of nothing. "This place won't change." Pressing the button, the anti-virus vented into the main of the city as the infected sounds of suffocation ringed in their heads. Slowing walking over to the elevator with Lorella, she turned to see Orwell standing again.
"This place... Is your tomb." He said with a smile.
Charlotte shook her head and attached the last piece of armor to her hands and wrists, slightly sore. Closing her eyes and breathing in again, she glanced over at Lorella, who sped dressed, placing her sub machinegun and sword on her hips.
Code:
Daytime Cycle InitiatedThe two exited the room, not even bothered with the rising of the sun as Eric and Otis were looking at the two women, their faces neutral as well.
"We are close to the bridge. Just need to follow the to the intersection of Cain and Antenor Streets and we are at the bridge. And the end of this." Lorella nodded as Charlotte simply said. "No sign of Ethan Orwell?"
"Does it matter?" Eric scoffed, starting the walk towards the objective.
"...No, it doesn't. Finish the mission and we are done." Otis rolled his eyes slightly at both responses saying in a rather sacastic tone. "This will end poorly." Charlotte kept her mouth shut as Lorella said.
"Negative. We have come this far." As the four continued to walk down the streets, the zombies had long black garb as they started to throw items at them, yelling in strange voices as the men absorbed the easy items. A few of them were sharp as it burned their wounds even more.
Soon after, makeshift arrows started hailing down at them from the rooftops and streets as they harmlessly bounced off their scrapped armor and bodies, too numb to feel anything as Eric kept a constant pace. Otis' eyes dilated slightly as he shoved Eric again to move his ass faster as Eric turned around and uppercutted him in jaw. "Don't. TOUCH. Me." he roared slightly, seeing that his technique as off and his knuckles were misaligned. Shrugging it off with a crack, he hurried his pace to elevator up as large sharpened poles started hailing down. The sounds of chopping air started to vibrate as well.
Charging ahead, the Vanguards dodged and knocked down the poles as the chopping air intensified. Just as they reached the elevator up, three helicopters flew above the buildings as Eric and Otis, turned to face each other and raised their weapons at helicopters. Charlotte activated the elevators as she stepped in. Lorella was by the door.
"Complete that mission... Now. You too Otis." Eric growled.
"Fuck you man, I'm going down like this."
"Hm." The two opened fire at the first helicopter as the pilot was killed and switched to autopilot.
Lorella frowned at Otis as she walked back to him as Otis brushed and shoved her into the elevator. Without a single word, he punched the button as the elevator rose. As the elevator rose, it crossed an plexiglass opening as the helicopters unleashed their horde of missiles at the foot of the elevator.
Charlotte looked over at Lorella as they both didn't say anything. The shockwave of the destroyed bottom vibrated up and threatened to break the elevator. Last second, the elevator entered the deeper end of the ship. The bridge.
With a ping, the destination was reached and the doors opened. A man stood facing the plexiglass opening into space. In his hand was a plasma cutter. The two entered the room, dark besides the basic lights for a working live system.
The man turned to face the girls. It was Captain Ethan Orwell. With no emotional intonation he said. "So you finally made it... Now what?"
Neither girl said anything as Orwell sighed. "Just as I figured. Watching you people of course. I could have mocked you coming up here, but choose not to. That would be mean."
"It's amazing isn't it? How with a lift of a finger, worlds can be destroyed. Every action has a reaction. Like Physics. So what brings you Vanguards up here."
"... Still nothing huh? Did we really twist you that much?" Orwell walked over to Lorella and Charlotte, their eyes heavily glazed over. "We stole you from right under your parents, forcing them to watch us take you away from them... And nothing. Just absolutely nothing. All just drained of anything huh?"
Orwell started to walk away from the two as they raised their guns at his head. "Oh-ho! So there is something."
"This place was crashing down anyways. The virus was just an excuse to them to progress to destruction. With anarchy about... I vented Koltanium dust into the air ducts. Really simple too, with the UNC's orders and all. With that, the true potential of people can be shown." He grinned slightly.
"Step two... Expose the Void into the ship. All together, not little bit tiny slices. Nope! A giant hole. Obviously a few more people were obliterated by the simply its exposure, just like the death toll with the Koltanium venting, but it was in hope that-"
"Stop it right there. The UNC knows better than that. Our technologies have slightly improved but they know that only a small number can live with Koltanium poisoning and limited Void exposure. Direct exposure would lead to obliteration and they know that." Lorella rebuked, her rifle still raised.
Orwell shrugged. "So? War is a constant in this world. What the United Nations back in the early years thought that child soldiers were a failure, we made them a success. The Crusaders will always have the upperhand, their mental abilities and Koltanium armors are far numerous than ours. Conflict and destruction bring about seeds of wholeness to grow again. Human ascension. Human evolution. You Vanguards are simply the genetic height of what humanity needs."
"And you reduced the people of this boat into a little science experiment. Some human ascension."
"They stopped fighting all together and started to help one another. All for the advancement of humanity. Why else do you think this boat still has power? Why else do you think we are still able to breathe normally?"
"You reduced them to pain and suffering. How in the world did all that many people survive initial infection by Koltanium?"
"We stopped their class segregation. We stopped their violence against one another. They didn't survive. That massive horde in the beginning? They have been following you since you had shown up. You eliminated most of them with the gravitron wave, and the survivors simply found a military helicotpers from the base. All of their death. Your fault."
"And that's your excuse. Humanity doesn't deserve to end up like that. Fuck you."
Orwell scoffed. "And what a contradiction that you Vanguards are. We raised you to be the epitome of humanity and yet you are both from the worse of humanities traits. You're supposed to be champions... and yet there's that massive crater in the center of the city." Charlotte fired at Orwell's shoulder as he was knocked down to the ground, his shoulder completely dislocated.
"We had no idea."
Coughing and chuckling, he rose again, grabbing the plasma cutter from his dead hand. "You should have went home. You should have just fixed the radio on the Charon and everything would have been hunky doory for you people. But no, instead you continued. If you really were soldiers, you would have tried your best to reestablish contact with Upper Command. But no, that idea of a Super Soldier was stuck in your head. You and me. We aren't so different in the end."
Charlotte and Lorella just stood their frozen. He was right. But there was nothing that they could do about it. The past was the past, and it had affected their present. Leading to their immediate present with the destruction of thousands of people in the block alone.
"But... You little shits won't get the satisfaction of killing me... No, you little shits won't..."
"Charlotte, this is the last part. Orwell had instructed a purge to this place if it got out of control. Void hole fixer. There was no virus here at all. Just madness. I issused a SOS as well." Lorella said, as she had appeared by the lit controls. When Charlotte had looked back at where Orwell was, he was on the floor, his head sliced off by the plasma cutter device he had. No blood as the heat cauterized the split. Shaking her head, she walked over to Lorella.
"Just press the button and this will be all over." Charlotte looked over at Lorella with an expression of nothing. "This place won't change." Pressing the button, the anti-virus vented into the main of the city as the infected sounds of suffocation ringed in their heads. Slowing walking over to the elevator with Lorella, she turned to see Orwell standing again.
"This place... Is your tomb." He said with a smile.
Charlotte instantly woke up as she found herself in the bathtub to a low humming sound. She felt that her body was wet, but didn't see visible liquid on her. Looking around she saw Noel looked at her with a stoic face. She didn't have her armor on.
"No-Noel... What was...?"
"You're experiencing what all Wardens and Vanguards experience." she replied.
Charlotte climbed out of the tub and hugged Noel tightly as she started to sniffle and cry into her shoulders. "[sub]Why..? Why do they do this..?[/sub]"
"Because we can handle it. Because we know what humans are capable of. Why things are like this... But it doesn't mean that we stop with just that."
"[sub]Wha...? What do you..?[/sub]"
"You already know what you believe in. Each Vanguard and Warden have their own views about the Universe. Now that we have that belief, we make sure that others can follow it. So tell me Charlotte Chapman, what do you believe in?"
"I... I don't know." Noel nodded as she brought Charlotte into the room of the hotel. "That's fine. You will find it yourself..."
