CHAPTER 34: The Northern General

One year later, Antigua sat with his back hunched and his head down, his fingers crossing together like a straw basket. Even as he sat there, his height was noticeably different, and his body structure was more filled-in and complete. At last, he had the toned body and aura of a leader. Luna and Oceano were standing, facing him and smiling, both in their new glossy black uniforms with jagged shoulders reminding him of sharpened obsidian. On Oceano's hip, a gold-gilded gun glinted from the artificial lights above. Luna was the proud owner of a curious little cylindrical box with a smooth curved handle all made of a translucent ocean green that complimented her eyes. This "Pandora's box" of mysteries was designed specially for her, just as Oceano's weapon was. He, after all this time, had caught up with them and was given the same rank with his respective animal insignia. All of them now had a rank with one single silver four-pointed star, representing the unity of the four generals of Tangente. He was now officially Antigua, the Great Northern General. Though he wouldn't exactly call himself "Great", the title was given respectively to all of the four. By his side, a large solid weapon that looked like a cross between a shield and a rather sizable sword. The part of the blade closest to the handle guard was as wide as a standard shield, and as the blade dipped down, it gradually grew thinner and more sword-like. The very tip of the blade was thin and sharp enough to do some serious damage to all whom it cleaved through, and the thickness of the blade increased as it got closer to the guard. The general core of the blade dipped in thickness, creating a smooth, almost cylindrical bulge on one of the blade's flat sides. In fact, the blade curved in every so slightly to form the surface of the inlying shield. A curved horizontal handle protruded from the same side as the bulge in the metal, allowing Antigua to grasp it like a typical shield(there was also the long vertical handle that was the typical hilt of the sword). Antigua hoisted it over his shoulder, holding it on his back with the horizontal handle as he was used to doing at this point. The sword was a mirror-like silver color, with fine symmetrical cracks running through the blade like the veins of a leaf, whose purpose was yet to be known.

"See you guys sometime later. Let's get ice cream again when the time comes." He said as he walked through the doors of a building to reveal the huge cavity of the underground city. His first commander ordered attention under his instruction. Gorrion, or in other terms, Sparrow. Unlike the rest of the lot, his long shiny navy-blue hair and matt cyan eyes made him quite the intimidator. Antigua walked up to his soldiers, and looked around at their faces.

"I see we have some northerners here! Good to know some of you will be able to protect our home. And, what's this? Looks to be some descendants of the old warrior aristocracy! How exciting! Now, where did those priests go..." Antigua shouted boldly, alluding to Toltec before Tangente's rule. The higher classes always did find some way of crawling back to power. But that was the past, not the present. He would have to give each man and woman their proper chance to impress. Ah, yes, the women. It was nice to see them amongst the group. After all, the physiological differences between the sexes have closed due to the modification. A female Thirty-seven was just as strong and deadly as a male one.

"Hello everyone, you can call me General Antigua. I am looking forward to cooperating with you all as we work together to protect the vast agricultural province we call home. As for anybody who hasn't lived there, It will become your second home. Now, do you all have any questions for me? Ask anything! Hell, it could even be something stupid."

The line of soldiers seemed to have somewhat calmed. They were probably very nervous that their overseer would be harder on them than even Sparrow was already. They were glad to see their fears were for nothing. Some of them opened their mouths, but one shrill little voice broke through the silence first. A boy, in the ranks?

"What's with that stupid sword?" He said, laughing without any self-awareness whatsoever. Stupid? Damn. Antigua felt a twinge of pain on his sides. Antigua couldn't help but chuckle somewhat awkwardly.

"A graduation present from Tangente. This little guy is one of the few honors Tangente has bestowed upon every general of his army. Would you like me to tell you this relic's brief history?" Antigua laid the massive flat sword down and called his men around. Upon closer inspection, they saw the more intricate details hidden within the blade. It was not one continuous sheet of steel, but a set of metal fragments pieced tightly together. Each fragment had its own scratches and… paint lines? Though the metal was primarily silver, red colored lines were painted across each fragments in a completely different way. Some went plainly across the fragments, while others showed curved lines and even a number or two. Letters or words, all of which were in an incomprehensible language that no one there knew.

"One millennium ago… Tangente and all of the others on the great metal ship IRRIGATION SIX sailed through the sea of stars above, their mission: To find any neutral worlds in a war amongst the many civilizations that make up this massive ocean of a universe. Their path: through the 'dead zone', a great area of space that is empty of life, with the exception of, of course, earth. But High Society's enemies had already gathered their intel. Tangente only remembered the sound of the blast, as light seared through his body and sent him plummeting through the atmosphere. If it weren't for his wife's quick thinking, he and his ruptured suit would have burnt up in the sky. Bodies and debris scattered like a firework in the dawn of an ancient day. Tangente blacked out, only for a moment, before regaining consciousness on the ground. He watched as the ship's implosion overshadowed the orange-lit grassland into a plain of white blue. The light burnt on for another few moments before fading into a vast cloud of smoke, the reward of their mission fading as redness blanketed the earth once again. Nine survivors. Communications broken. In the middle of the dead zone. Bits and pieces raining down across the earth, being swallowed by the land and sea. And to top this all off, a single traitor had survived, though they had no idea. To this day, Tangente and the eight others have been searching for parts of their ship, hoping to mine up the valuable alien debris in hopes of either reviving or destroying it. Of the parts Tangente has found, some could be temporarily reforged into weapons such as this." He tilted his behemoth sword to show its unique glare.

"Now, any more questions?" Antigua asked confidently.

A sly-looking man answered.

"This 'High Society'. What do you know about it? I'm curious."

"Not much, honestly. But I will tell you this. High society was a society based on perfection. Their ideal, as Tangente said to me, was to promote constant change throughout their reach. They were always improving, modifying, adjusting. And their people were a prime example of that. Though immortal, Tangente and the other races that hail from such an empire are extremely adaptable. Not only that, but they had supposedly fixed their primal errors. It is general knowledge that any life brought up in a survivalist world will lose purpose in a world that is too bountiful and provides for all of their basic needs. Most life was made under the preexisting condition that food is scarce, challenges are plenty, and the drive to reproduce must always be sought after. What happens when all of those needs are met? Hollowness. Depression. Substance abuse. Suicide. High Society is aware of this. Life was not MADE for a modern world. Therefore, any sentient beings struggle in such a place regardless. Then what must happen? Change the world so that they can struggle once again? No. They must change how they themselves are hardwired. To any of you who may personally know Tangente, he is never depressed like humans and us modified humans occasionally are. He always has a satisfied smile or a relaxed, neutral face. He is like a worker ant. Yes, he can feel sad, but the concept of motivation and lack thereof doesn't exist for him. He knows his limits, but those are the only things holding him back. He was designed for his programmed ambition, and can do so much more."

"Do you agree with such a concept?"

"I don't quite know yet. It was a lot to handle. Humans have always looked towards the future, yet when it is dangled in front of their face, they are horrified." Antigua realized he was getting quite off topic "Okay, anything about me?"

"How strict will you be?" A gargantuan thirty-seven said politely. Antigua gained his foothold back into the original conversation.

"Oh, it will be as strict as your commander deems fit. Weren't you listening to your commander about the chain of command? I assign people to do the more specific tasks when planning pretty much everything. In fact, I'll assign all the rest of those rolls on the way to the northern province. You ask them about those types of questions first. Your commander over here was chosen by Tangente and I've known him for at least a couple months. You catch my eye, and you can reap the advantages. Now, ANY MORE QUESTIONS!?" Antigua shouted energetically.

"No, SIR!"

"Okayyyy, all clear and outta here! Commander, send them to the garage. They've got nice buses waiting for you to hurry to Star Northern!" Star Northern, the base of, you guessed it, the northern province. Antigua wished he could join the trainees for their first bus ride ever, but more trainees were on their way. The new base was about to be flooded with residents. Today was going to be a long day for Antigua before he could visit the new base himself. Little did Antigua know, he would soon suffer his fair share of blood and betrayal.

In the present day, Antigua was shaving and preparing for the biggest meeting of his life. His "good dream" was full of some great nostalgia. It really shaped Antigua's concept of "the good old times". Times where he felt that he was in reasonable control of the things around him. He went out to his yard, a garden of lush greenery and flowers of all shapes and colors he had planted himself. In the center, masterfully kept twin trees twisted around each other, forming the shape of a double helix. The leaves were soft and petal-like, one tree sprouting neon purple-scarlet blossoms, the other a vibrant aquamarine. Two stones, from that battle long ago, sat side by side at the base of such precious trees. Two names for two gravestones. "OCEANO" and "LUNA". Antigua gazed at them mournfully, and then looked towards the direction of the place of chaos to come in Ethiopia as if sensing the impending bloodshed. This time, things will be different. He will kill Tangente yet again. This time, once and for all.