Story [Issue 33] Dawn of War - Part 1

[Kevred 1,586]

List of Previous Chapters

 

Chapter I, The Crimson Blades

-Part I

-Part II

-Part III

 

Chapter II, The Titancore

-Part I

-Part II

 

 

 

 

Twenty-Seven Years and Fifty Days

 

 

“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?”

Edgar Allan Poe

 

*

 

 

 “How is he?”

 

“He’s waking. But his blood pressure is dangerously low.”

 

“Dangerous?”

 

“Hopefully not.”

 

A sharp pain is felt in my right forearm. My eyelids flutter open, but soon close again as a result of the unbearable white light with which my eyes are met.

 

“He’s awake! Quick, the corneal tranfuser!”

 

A cold feeling enters from my palm and makes its way to my mind. The room dims, and I open my eyes for the second time.  The surroundings are shrouded in a strange purple cloud.

 

“Don’t worry, the effects are only temporary. You won’t be seeing life in purple in a few minutes.” A man standing next to me laughs, but the joy quickly dies with the impending silence I’m demonstrating. He has what is referred to as a timeless face. Indescribable and amazing. Standing next to his is a woman in a white cloak, somewhere in her thirties. By her body language, I’d assume the man is more than a friend for her, although clearly Mr. Joker doesn’t have the same feelings.

 

“Welcome to Anavara. You are safe here. It’s great to see you again. You must have many questions, don’t worry, listen to me attentively and you’ll find all the answers you’re looking for,” the man takes a deep breath, as if preparing to run the marathon, “after the disaster of the Titancore, our people found you floating in space. We put you in a temporal-statior, and you’ve been asleep until now.

 

He pauses, waiting for me to talk.

 

“What about the others?” My voice sounded unusually deep.

 

His expression darkens for a second, but the crisped smile immediately comes back.

 

“We’ve found no one else but you. The records of the escape pod indicate someone put you in it, but it’s likely that same person perished, along with the entirety of the armies.”

 

The woman speaks for the first time during my wake. “Andros, the queen is requesting you to discuss the recent sabotage of our generators.”

 

“Tell her I’ll be there in a sec.” He turns his attention back on me, but I’ve lost the little bit of happiness I managed to scrape.

 

“You...you’re dead!”

 

He looks at me, eyebrow raised. “What?”

 

“The Crimson Blades! I destroyed the ship you were in!”

 

“The Crimson Blades…that band of ruffians? I haven’t dealt with them for thirty years!”

 

In my stupor, I don’t notice that my brother Andros is twenty-two years old, and that what he said did not make any sense.

 

“What? You were in one of their ships!” I protest.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Erexa, is his mental fully recovered?”

 

The concerned looks at a screen. “Yes Andy. I've checked and double-checked.”

 

I'm baffled. Is Andros lying? Or maybe he isn't Andros. After all, he's incapable of providing me with any proof, my DNA having been surgically altered after an accident in New London. That’s when a question springs from my logic, so obvious I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier.

 

I measure my words, dreading the answer. “Andros…how long was I unconscious?”

 

The latter remained expressionless. His lips barely moved when he replied,

 

“Twenty-seven years and fifty days”

 

I’m forty-four years old.

 

I hear the heart monitor’s beep as it flatlined.

 

***

 

“His mind is going into mental arrest. The neural implant isn't responding anymore.” Erexa stayed calm despite the tense atmosphere. I put my palms on Arshton’s chest, trying to push air into his lungs.

 

“That won’t work Andy, it’s his brain’s problem, not his lungs. Give him a bio-electrical sting.”

 

I do as told. “Is it working?”

 

“If a brain level of only 2% is normal, than yes. Unfortunately it isn't, so stop staring at me!”

 

“Well you’re the doctor here! Do some-“  Arshton’s eyes suddenly open, making me jump back.

 

“Arshton…Arsh, how do you feel?” I ask, worried.

 

He doesn’t reply.

 

“How’s his status?”

 

“Fully normal, except for a high brainwave activity, but that’s compared to you.”

 

Somehow her humour fails to amuse me. I still owe Arshton so much, and I know I’d never forgive myself if he died right in front of my eyes. If someone deserves to live after death, it’s him. I am fighting a civil war, and I want him by my side.

 

I gasp for air as I'm suddenly lifted off the ground. Two inhumanely powerful hands grip my throat and fling me to the wall. A stabbing pain shoots up my spine as I hear the cement walls crack on impact.

 

“Andy!”

 

Red spots dancing in front of my eyes, I lift my head to see Arshton punching Erexa in the jaw before running out the room.

 

“What the hell was that!”

 

“I don’t know! How am I supposed to know?” She’s cupping her jaw with both hands, lips stained with blood.

 

“Go to the infirmary station, I'm heading after him.”

 

Erexa’s protesting becomes fainter as I head down the aisle, following a path of destruction. I stop at the entrance of the Armory as I hear a ruckus inside. One tought crosses my mind.

 

He’s armed now.

 

Pulling out my knife, I hide behind a corner whilst signalling a level one security breach. Sirens blare as I charge through the broken doors.

 

A bullet whizzes a centimetre from my face as I roll into cover, behind a box of grenades. Cautiously peeking from the side, I see Arshton standing calmly at the other end of the room, a pistol in his hands. His eyes are blank.

 

“Brother! What are you doing?” I get up, determined to confront him. Contrarily to what I expected, rogue Arshton immediately runs off through the emergency door, which was ironically unlocked when I signalled the security breach.

 

Following him, I comm Erexa.

 

“Erexa Ardeen.”

 

“Erexa! Situation status?”

 

“Oh, you can’t be asking about me, right? You never care about me.”

 

“The base’s situation!” I reply promptly before fully comprehending what she said. A sigh emanates from the comm unit. 

 

“Two dead, and four demolished doors. The computer systems are tracking him, he seems to be heading towards the auxiliary power generators.”

 

“You mean the generators the whole base is depending on?”

 

“Yep, those ones.”

 

“So…if I don’t stop him in time he’s going to disable our entire complex.”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

“And we’re all going to die asphyxiated.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

I silently curse. Women…not even the most perfected machine in the galaxy can understand them. I run to the generators as fast as my legs permit, which is fortunately quite rapid. That’s when all the lights turn off.

 

“Crap.” I continue my way to the lowest level of the complex. The backup lights, although red and rather dim, guide me through endless staircases and corridors, until I finally reach a titanium plated door. And there’s a man-shaped hole in it.

 

“Crap.” I adjust the rifle I picked up on the way to maximum capacity, although I’m hoping I won’t have to use it. I charge into the room just as all the emergency lights turn off as well, leaving me in complete darkness.

 

“Crap.”

 

I’m in a room filled with highly explosive generators, along with a madman that I am unable to shoot. I always knew I shouldn’t have thrown away that lucky charm Erexa gave me.

 

I walk deeper into the darkness, each of my footsteps echoing around the vast chamber. A cold feeling creeps up my back as I turn around as a fist comes my way. My reflexes fail me, and I’m knocked to my knees. The bitter taste of blood filling my mouth, I scramble to get up, before another hit sends me on tumbling into the wall. I roll from a stab of his knife before jumping up again. I never would’ve guessed those gymnastic classes would come in handy someday. He fires a few harmless pistol shots at me, but they’re easily avoided with a few additional rolls. I swipe my nose to find my hands covered with blood.

 

“Oh my gosh, Arshton you complete nincompoop!”

 

His eyes empty, he starts charging towards me. I detec his dim silhouette in the dark, growing bigger by the second. I stand firm, planning to sidestep and send a fist to his stomach, however I underestimated his speed and soon I’m lying on the ground again, my head throbbing.

 

“That’s it, no more cake for your birthday then!” I hide my distraught in humour, even though technically the only person I’m hiding it from is myself. Cursing for not having the intuition of bringing a stun rod with me. I’m completely helpless against the out-of-this-world power that is my brother. Fortunately, even a madman needs rest, and I take the occasion to think the situation through. What did Erexa say? A low level a brainwaves…that’s when I understand. It’s so simple, but so complicated at the same time. I duck as another swipe of his 4-inch steel blade cuts a gash on my forehead. Hot, damp liquid spills down from my front, and blinds me. Not thinking, I shoot at the direction of the sound. A large thump is heard.

 

“No.” Swiping the red liquid away, I see Arshton’s body lying on the floor, his chest punctured by a bullet.

 

My bullet.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by Hexed

[deadtoyou 2,502]

I was on the edge of my seat.....and then he gets killed! :O Oh wait......you didn't' ACTUALLY say that...... :ph34r:

 

Congrats on another great article!

[liverpoolaum 811]

you changed your signature right nice 

[snipe3000 678]

Nice story! Keep up the good work.

[M1-A2 840]

Oh. My. Word.

A suspenseful story as always kev. Nicely written. Keep up the amazing work. Only problem I have is that I have to wait a whole month to hear more of the story. :O in all seriousness though. It's a fantastic series, and I can't wait to read more.

[CombatCat2 248]

I was a bit confused at first (probably because it's been a while since I read the last chapter), but well written as always.

[jazz20 1,181]

Nice work  ^_^

[dj112_TURBO 388]

awesome :)

[r_SERI0US0 128]

red red red ;o

[Kevred 1,586]

I was a bit confused at first (probably because it's been a while since I read the last chapter), but well written as always.

You're always confused  :mellow:

^Felt good to insult you after weeks and months of being nice...ahhh

 

red red red ;o

 

Kev Kev Kev 

 

Oh. My. Word.

A suspenseful story as always kev. Nicely written. Keep up the amazing work. Only problem I have is that I have to wait a whole month to hear more of the story. :o in all seriousness though. It's a fantastic series, and I can't wait to read more.

Here's a trick Abrahams: Read the story 1 day before the release of the next issue :P

[M1-A2 840]

Here's a trick Abrahams: Read the story 1 day before the release of the next issue :P

But... The suspense... The cliff-hanger...

Waiting even longer...

I wouldn't be able to survive.

[george309PRO 0]

Nice story. Gotta tell you that suspense would make it a brilliant success ;)

[Kevred 1,586]

But... The suspense... The cliff-hanger...

Waiting even longer...

I wouldn't be able to survive.

It's all in the self-control m8. And thanks!

 

Nice story. Gotta tell you that suspense would make it a brilliant success ;)

Thank you!

[camea42123 0]

I cant believe he got killed by HIS bullet! So sad :( BUT SO COOL! ;)