Chapter 3: Ignition
Optional Music to Accompany the Chapter:
Rok Nardin & @samuelkimmusic - CHAOS
https://youtu.be/_VjPDGdUIDI
Late Morning - Early Summer : Year 0 | Month 0 : Arlington, Virginia
World: Earth | Rank: 6 Population: ~1,895,413,000
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- Corporal, Diana Hale ~
*EEEeeeooooeeeeoOOOEEE* The ancient emergency sirens screamed like a kidnapped child that morning, piercing every corridor of the base like echoes from hell, and sending everyone into a frenzy.
But while that was its intention, there wasn't a soul whose fraying nerves resulted from it.
Barely five minutes prior, a massive mana wave blasted through, shattering the calm, flooding everyone's body with fear-baked adrenaline while disabling nearly every mana-operated device like an other worldly EMP.
It was an inexplicable phenomenon, so primally horrifying it felt as if you were staring into the maw of a drake—drooling and hungry...
But even after waking, that gut-wrenching fear never faded.
-S..System open!- *BeEp* Watching a distorted panel flash and flicker before my eyes, glitching with ominous, unreadable warnings at its center, I felt my mind stutter.
The System was omnipotent. An object of objective perfection—a tool of higher beings, only comprehensible by those who created it.
However, at that moment, it was broken, spasming like an old computer desperately trying to cling to life.
And I didn't even have the privilege to question it.
*Tchh* Hearing the chirp of static from the outdated radio I was clinging to like the rope of a life ring, the fog of fear eased. "This is Sergeant Major Samuel Moreno. Does anyone copy?" *Tchh* The voice was unfamiliar, authoritative and sharp.
He was a man I as a Corporal, believed I'd never have the privilege of speaking to.
Today, however, he was the one giving my squad orders.
*bing-bing-bing* Hearing exactly three pings echo from the remote, I shakily pressed the old, squishy button on its side as well. *bing* It was my squads confirmation.
*Tchh* "Good. Be airborne in two minutes. You're going to be acting as recon and rescue. Satellites are no use, so you're our eyes and ears!" *Tchh*
Barely breaking out of my stun with the static chirp, I hurried to secure my boots, bursting from my quarters in a rush. It wasn't just me who was a mess though.
Coming out onto the runway, littered with disabled aircraft and panicked personnel, I forced out a deep, calming breath. "Hooh..." Today of all days, I needed to focus. "Okay..." -Hangar 4, wasn't it?- Fumbling with the ancient key fob I always joked about never needing, I held it to my lips and spoke, my voice more taut than a ship's anchor line. *Click* "Cardinal 7, activate emergency protocol and prepare for immediate 'black-system launch'."
*Tchh* The Sergeant's voice immediately echoed from my hip. "Corporal Hale, you'll launch first. Cardinal 8, and Hawks 3 and 4 are being rearmed." A brief murmur filled the static following his pause before suddenly returning. "You have full runway clearance. Don't. Waste. Time." *Tchh*
"R-Roger that!" Feeling my heart skip for a moment, I steadied my mind with raw willpower, and it lasted.. but only until I rounded the edge of my hangar.
*Rrrumble...* Feeling a deep rumble of the engine in my chest, I ran up to the aircraft, its sleek white hull gleaming with a predatory calmness. In its prime, it was used for surgically precise, long-range strikes, and rapid nuclear deployment—the crown jewels of military aviation.
But that was a hundred years ago now. Over the last fifty years, the Cardinals were largely mothballed, replaced by larger, faster, and more sophisticated, mana-integrated jets called Blue Jays.
However today, those shiny monsters laid still on the runway, crippled by the wave that spared our older marvel. -And my squad is the only one that knows how to still fly 'em...- Pulling out the ladder and climbing into the cockpit, feeling the engine shake my whole body, I strapped myself in, disabling a number of emergency lights before sealing the cockpit and locking the helmet into place. -I'm gonna demand a promotion if I survive this...-
*Vwoop* Almost instantly, an outdated, yet familiar HUD greeted me. "Systems Booted. Welcome, Corporal Hale..." *Beep* "Connected to Andrews Airforce Base: Central Command," the jet reported calmly, the Sergeant's face appearing in the corner of my visor as my eyes darted around, flipping switches.
"Corporal, your target is Apple Orchard Mountain." *Ping* A holographic map instantly filled the space before me. "The lab confirmed this mana wave as the largest ever recorded on domestic soil. You've been authorized to utilize any and all tools at your disposal, including the False Sun. Yellow-Area nuclear ordinance clearance has also been made for it. Do not hesitate."
A chill instantly shot down my spine. -What the fuck are they sending me into...-
"Your flight feed is being broadcast to the entirety of Command as well. Stay sharp."
My heart pounded even more furiously as I gently pushed the throttle to creep out onto the runway. "R..Roger that... Requesting low altitude afterburner-"
"Granted." He responded before I could even finish.
And while it took my mind a moment to register it, it was all I needed to know. -From this point onward.. I'm on my own...- Following the runway marshal's directions onto the tarmac, I quickly lined up for takeoff, flipping a switch that made the cockpit and all its buttons and switches vanish before the red clearance light in my HUD switched green, and my hand, as if suddenly made of lead, threw the throttle forward. *tss-crackle* *BANG-WOOOOOSH* The Cardinal's old reactor instantly roared to life, the thrust pinning me to my seat as the runway blurred beneath my tires.
In a matter of seconds, the ground vanished, and the cockpit grew quiet, accompanied by the sonic boom warning in my helmet.
"Hoooh..." Letting out one last, heavy breath, my shakiness eased, finding a similar calm to the gently vibrating cockpit.
Unfortunately though, that calm made the 70-second, 250-kilometer flight feel shorter than an instant. "Corporal," Moreno's voice crackled through with some distortion the moment I let my nerves relax. "Radio satellites didn't detect anything large, crack or monster. HQ wants a ground-level scan."
My calm vanished instantaneously. -ARE THEY INSANE?!- A ground scan would put me within an altitude known as the 'kill box' for strong monsters.
But orders were orders... "Roger..." Clenching my jaw as I slowed down and descended, I looked over the rolling Appalachian mountain range with the eye of a hawk, scanning everything with a web of sonars, expecting something to jump out.
But.. nothing ever did. Everything was.. normal..? -What the..?-
Finding a weird, slightly distorted reading on the sonars, I focused the external cameras on the area, only to find a lone figure stretched out on a small outcrop. -Is that.. a person..? Shit, are they injured?!- My panic rapidly settled as my thoughts started clicking a more familiar tune. "Command, a person has been spotted, possibly injured."
"Copy that." Murmurs instantly filled the silence as Moreno paused. "It appears it's civilian. No mercenaries were reported to be in the area today."
-Civilian? There's no way...- "Are we certain it couldn't be an undocumented Foreign System Mercenary?"
"It's highly unlikely. No beacon was spotted..." *Mumbling* "In any case, we will commit to a rescue operation. Hale, keep your eyes on the area—keep scans active. Report anything odd as soon as you see it, I will transfer over to brief your squadmates before they join the channel."
"Roger that." *Beep* Hearing him disconnect, I gently banked the aircraft, starting to turn around while keeping my eyes locked on the person down below. -A rescue mission...- It was a logical plan, and one I was quite familiar with.
Even if.. something about it felt off...
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- Evren Lestir ~
*Chirp-Whistle* Laying on that outcrop, sprawled out like I was trying to hug the sky, the beautiful, carefree tweets of birds mixed with the sound of canopies rustling in the breeze like a perfectly orchestrated lullaby—a melody I hadn't heard outside of dreams in centuries, so masterfully crafted it made me forget... -How long has it been...-
They were the sounds of primitive nature, something I had nearly forgotten existed.
But while it gave my thoughts a moment to calm.. a moment was all it was.
*Beep* "System wipe completed. Forcing system update through 'Central Server'." At that moment, the system's voice was the single most irritating thing I had ever heard. *Beep* "System has successfully updated!" *Vwoop*
Getting my eyes dragged open by the familiar chime of a panel, I looked up with a grimace, only for my view of the clouds to be obscured by an unfamiliar purple panel displaying Earth's general information—Rank 6 and a population of just over 1.8 billion—a zero replacing the system overflow value that once represented my gold, the currency of the system.
But that was the least of my worries. Opening my inventory, I was instantly presented with a huge, empty grid. Everything I used to own, with the exception of what I had equipped, was gone, and my system skills and upgrades were no different...
It wasn't until I opened my stats page and found the familiar errors still present that my nerves settled slightly, but it too wasn't identical. While every one of my stats, from strength to agility read 'Invalid Calculation', my mana, rather than the abysmal '152' I was used to, read 'Invalid Calculation' just the same as the rest. -What? Where did that come from?- Unlike my other stats, I never knew how to increase or even use my mana.
But somehow, after getting my system wiped, I was granted so much of it that it broke the System's calculator.
However, that was when it clicked. -Wait.. when the system first wiped, it said it released my 'reserved mana'...- Thinking back to the burst of energy I felt following the system's words, I reached my hand up, still distinctly feeling it surging from my body completely uncontrollably, warping light around my hand. -Was mana the fuel for all skills and upgrades.. not just ones for mages..?- Sitting up, my mind started racing with questions for the first time in centuries, my eyes darting across the weathered creases in my palm as if tracing my thoughts. -If that's the case.. maybe I didn't lose everything...-
Curling my fingers, watching the unfamiliar energy ripple from them like heat, my eyes went wide. -If that's the case.. maybe I'm not starting over...- "Maybe the system wipe just.. took the training wheels off..."
Feeling an unfamiliar fire light in my chest, I swiped away the system panels, my eyes wide with realization, my hand shaking with a passion I hadn't felt in centuries.
It was a glimpse through the cracks—a glimmer of light through the walls of a dark labyrinth.
A flicker of warmth that passed through my pupils and landed on the long-extinguished campfire in my soul like a blazing ember—just enough to ignite the dust that had settled over everything.
Hope. The desire to live.
The desire for more.
-I finally have a chance to make my strength my own...- Although it was just one ember.. one of countless I needed to find.. it was enough to create a spark—a flicker of flame so gentle even a subtle breeze could extinguish it.
But feeling its warmth was enough to make me jump over it.. wishing to protect, and stoke it. -I finally have a chance to take control of my fate...- To cut away the threads of the system that had bound me like the web of a spider.
And find what it meant to live again.
However, as I started focusing on the energy surging from me, trying to sharpen the image it tried to paint in my mind, I heard something...
The distant rumble of an engine.
-Hm..?- Snapping out of my trance, I looked toward the noise before 'feeling' something above me, and looking up to see a metal bird circling above the clouds like one of the countless old drones I used to have.
But.. it certainly wasn't mine. -Is that.. a jet..?- Hearing the rumbling growing near as my mind brushed dust of memories, I turned to look back across the mountainside before finding a large, solid matte grey aircraft slowly creeping around the ridge of the trees—hovering, approaching as if cautious—before turning around and opening the rear ramp. -Are they here to pick me up..?-
Assuming the numerous 'gazes' I could feel from the aircraft were of human origin, I slowly stood up and brushed myself off, trying to calm my turbulent mind.
But that was the moment everything went dark.
In that instantaneous blink, the bright blue sky was consumed in darkness, an expanse of space so dark and devoid of stars it could only be described as a void.
A sky unmatchable by even the darkest of nights. -What.. is that..?-
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