"So…this new guy. What do you think of him?"
"The same as everybody else, Swift. That he's not all there. The uncontrollable shaking and terrified rambling, you know, indicate as such."
"Ha ha bloody ha, Victor. I meant his abilities. Y'know, the whole…"
"Ah, yes, that. Well, they're certainly unique, and clearly very powerful. I don't think they're really natural.
"You think they've been enhanced somehow?"
"That would be my suspicion, yes. They certainly seem too strong to have come about naturally; even Hawke cannot wield his abilities on such a wide range of scales, even though his power is equal to our guest's. However, our time grows short, and we must concern ourselves with other events. Sleep, for example."
"…Yes. Goodnight, Victor."
"And the same to you, Swift."
-R-M-R-M-R-M-R-M-
Beep.
Kshhhhhhhhk.
Beep.
Kshhhhhhhhk.
Beep.
Kshhhhhhhhk.
The rhythmic beep of the electrocardiograph filled the tense silence of the room, the kshhhhhhhhk of the respirator following afterwards, sounding again and again as it fed much-needed oxygen into the lungs of Matthew Awner, a stone-dead body swathed in white hospital bed sheets. The desperate red of the evening sun that shone through the window opposite to the end of his bed bathed him in a bloody scarlet light, his pale face almost the same hue as the sheets. Dark brown hair was splayed over his pillow and down the sides of his face, a glossy halo of brown fibres, like a pool of melted chocolate. Everything was an ethereal white in the room; the white tiled lino, the white walls and ceiling, the white curtains, currently parted, swaying slightly in the breeze from the blurring blades of the ceiling fan.
Two figures sat by the bed of Matthew Awner, silent, anxious. Both were female, one at least a foot taller than the other. The taller, a young woman called Tatania, was looking down at the prone form of Matthew, a look of deep concern on her face. Her tall, svelte frame and long, glossy black hair, framing a pale face with sky blue eyes, contrasted with the person beside her. She was called Carla; a petite woman with short blonde hair, vivid green eyes shining with a natural mischievous light, like two emeralds set in the eye sockets of her tanned face. She was peering at the ECG by Matthew's beside, a look of intense curiosity on her face. Both women wore very different clothes; Tatania preferred her sky blue t-shirt and white, floaty, ankle-length skirt, while Carla was clad in a white t-shirt under a worn denim jacket, accompanied by faded denim jeans.
The silence dragged on.
The monitor beeped, and the respirator hissed.
At least five minutes passed before Tatania finally turned to her friend, a frown furrowing her brow.
"Why are you staring at the heart monitor like that?!" she said, causing the blonde to break her gaze away from the machine to look at her. "Please don't tell me-"
"I wanna take it apart to see how it works," the blonde said, grinning despite herself. Tatania sighed, running her temples with her slender fingers.
"I knew you'd say that, Diesel."
"Well? Can I?" 'Diesel' said, almost bouncing in her seat with eagerness, her eyes bright with anticipation. Tatania ground her teeth, a vein throbbing in her temple. Carla was just too curious about technology sometimes. Sure, it came in handy considering she led Red Mesa's R&D, as well as being the resident tech-based CO of the Army, but sometimes…
"No." Tatania's answer was short and sweet.
"Aww…but Swiiiiiift…"
'Swift' glared. "When I say no, I mean NO," she said simply. "Not only is it a vital piece of medical equipment, it is currently hooked up to Commander Shade!" Just to push her point home, she jabbed her index finger in the direction of their unconscious superior, who was none the wiser to their squabble.
Diesel pouted. "Oh, fine. Although, technically, it's General Shade."
Swift raised an eyebrow, her head leaning to the side quizzically. "Has Victor finally retired officially, then?" she asked. General Henry Victor was a good friend of hers; many times had the young air specialist and the elderly leader talked, joked and assisted the other in times of need, hence why she was so interested.
"Yeah," Diesel said, nodding. "The whole ceremony of passing on the title and whatnot's waiting until this war with the Dumbass - I mean, Allied Nations - is over. But, for all intents and purposes, good ol' Mr Awner here-" Diesel jerked a thumb at Shade's frail form "-is a General. It's amazing, really…" she said, looking at his pale features inquisitively, "Someone so new to the Army, becoming our leader in such a short time."
Swift bit her lip. "I…I may know something about that." Diesel's gaze snapped to her.
"Whatever it was, he sure as hell didn't tell us. Care to elaborate?"
"Victor always said he had a solid reason for promoting Shade so quickly," Swift said, her eyes downcast and surprisingly guilty. "He never said what it was, exactly…"
Her voice trailed off, and the hospital room lapsed into an uneasy silence. Diesel looked away, realising that Victor had trusted Swift and Swift alone with this information, and that she had pushed too hard in trying to find out. A few awkward seconds passed, and Diesel opened her mouth to apologise-
"He said…I had…unusual…potential…"
A quiet, strained, whispery voice broke the silence, emanating from behind the mask that was on Shade's face. A face whose eyes were now open…tired, dull, but still open. Swift and Diesel both gasped, Swift's turning into an expression of pure joy before she regained her composure. As they opened their mouths to speak, he weakly raised a hand, silencing them.
"Hang on…strength's starting…to come back…" he breathed, his eyes becoming brighter and more alert by the second. "Seems this…is easier to recover from…than a true coma." He took a deep breath, and shifted upwards in his bed, sitting half-upright, wincing slightly as twinges of pain shot through his frail frame. Swift and Diesel sat anxiously, ready to assist if he needed it, but he shook his head and smiled.
"Don't worry…" he said, breathing deeply and calmly. "I'm leeching off the power cables…in the walls to strengthen myself; holding myself up…partly by electromagnetic repulsion." He paused, taking the oxygen mask off his face, looking towards the wall to his left, where a one-way mirror was set into the wall. "The doctor will know I've awakened, but he will most likely…respect our privacy until you two have left." He coughed, doubling over slightly. Swift leaned over to help him, her face one of concern, but he waved her off, settling back into his pillows, waiting a few seconds before speaking again. "So. Get me up to speed."
Swift and Diesel both tried to simultaneously explain the events of the past two weeks.
"You suffered a meditation induced coma due to-" Swift began.
"The Allied Nations decided to blitz us-" Diesel said, both women looking at each other before continuing to ramble.
"Cougar was really pissed, never seen him that mad-"
"It's war officially, the public are mad that the Allies could do something like this-"
"I managed to jump in the ambulance that was taking you to hospital, was terrified you were dead-"
"Your approval rating has jumped to eighty percent, absolutely amazing-"
"Spoke with Doctor Emmerich as they brought you in, told them to give you the best care-"
"Cougar absolutely trashed them, they were freaked out enough after the shroud failed-"
It was here that Shade decided to butt in. "Wait," he said, eyes narrowing slightly, "The city shroud failed?"
Diesel nodded. "Right after you went 'bzzzzt'. Guess it was some sorta fallout from it; all the shrouds on your units went, all at once, and well, added to the storm of electromagnetism from that whole meditation-coma stuff, it's no wonder the city's shroud went down."
Shade nodded, the gears in his mind starting to turn. He looked at Swift. "How did Cougar handle the battle?"
"Brilliantly," Swift replied, flashing a smile. "Capitalised on their confusion and tore them apart in a week. They never made it within half a mile of the city."
"Casualties?"
"Minimal," Swift said. "Anyway," she continued, fixing Shade with a piercing glare that made his heart stop. "An explanation, please."
Shade closed his eyes, subconsciously biting his lip. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Swift kept glaring. "Did you know how dangerous your remote viewing was?"
Silence. Shade cracked an eye open and looked at her, the fearful look in his eye betraying him.
Swift's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Diesel took this as a clue to step back. She did so, rising up out of her chair and backing up to the wall behind her, ready to cringe. She knew how Swift could be when she found out the others had been putting themselves in unnecessary danger.
"Well?"
Shade's eyes opened fully, and he grimaced. "…Yeah. I knew it could do this."
Swift blanched, mouthed wordlessly, before blurring her hand forwards-
SMACK!
Diesel cringed. She didn't think Swift would actually do it…
"OW! Ow ow ow ow!" Shade wailed, gingerly touching the bright red cheek Swift had slapped. "You slapped me!"
"You're absolutely impossible!" Swift half-shouted, her hands balled into fists, although a rueful grin played about her lips. "Do you have any idea how much I've worried?! How much we've worried?! Agh…you…I mean…just…argh!" Swift said, throwing her hands up. "You're just…impossible!" she paused, before looking back down at Shade. "And yes, I know you're my superior and all, but you deserve that."
Much to her surprise, Shade nodded, a rueful grin on his face too. "But… it all worked out in the end, right?" he said anxiously. "No more reason for slapping me!"
"I dunno…" Diesel said, sidling up next to Swift, a playful smile on her face. "I mean, his right cheek's red. Might as well make the left one match too."
Shade shook his head, mouthing 'NO' over and over, while Swift thought. Eventually though, she shook her head, eliciting a pout from Diesel.
"No. You've had enough, I think. Unless you do something stupid like that again."
"So…no slappage?"
"No."
"Phew," Shade said, leaning back into his pillows and closing his eyes in relief. "Once was bad enough. You slap pretty hard, Swift."
"I've had practice…"
"On whom?"
"Bad boyfriends."
Shade flinched, his eyes opening while he grimaced. "Ow. Wouldn't like to date you, one slap is enough. Not that I'm a bad boyfriend or anything…"
Swift raised an eyebrow at that particular comment, but ignored it. 'Something to inquire about later…' she thought, a smile playing about on her lips. Diesel raised a finger, her lips pursing as she remembered something.
"Ooh! Forgot to say earlier…" she said, looking at Shade. "Try and test the limits of your powers…Doctor said to try to get you to exercise them, see how they'll recover with time."
Shade nodded, raising a hand up to the ceiling. "Let's see what I can do…" he said, clenching is hand into a fist. He concentrated, willing his powers on, being careful not to push himself too much.
Bzzzz-zzt-zzt-zt!
"Aha!" Shade shouted, a smile on his face as he watched blue sparks dance around his clenched fist. "We have power. Now, to see if I can…" his voice trailed off, and he opened his hand, his palm thrust upwards. He closed his eyes.
"Come on…" he hissed, lazily sending his arm in small circles. Diesel and Swift looked around them as, one by one, the electrical equipment in the room started to stutter. The light flickered, the ceiling fan slowed intermittently, and the ECG's graph started wavering and jumping randomly. Shade opened his eyes, a triumphant grin on his features as he lowered his hand and cancelled the effect, all the electrical equipment returning to their normal state.
"So…some electrical generation and electromagnetic interference…" he said, mostly to himself. "That's a good start." He looked back up at Diesel and Swift. "Now, there's something I want to ask. I was going to say it sooner, but Swift decided it was a good time to slap me." Said Swift smiled apologetically, and motioned for him to continue.
"Thank you…anyway, as I was saying. You said Cougar defeated the Allied Nations within a week of the battle starting. Now, judging from this calendar next to my bed," he said, jerking a thumb at the calendar hanging next to the head of his bed, "It's been two weeks since I went into the coma. That leaves us with a week after the battle wherein you should have been keeping tabs on Allied Nations movements. Have you?"
Diesel nodded. "As best we can without the benefit of invisible scouts," she said, looking pointedly at Shade. "As far as we can tell, they've retreated back out of the desert for now, back to their main base…wherever that is, as we've been unable to locate it. They have three targets to pick for their next assault; basically, the city they previously got beaten at, or the two cities within a 20-mile radius that got affected by the fallout of the shroud failure in this city, and can be easily detected." She looked at Swift. "Wonder what they're doing."
"Yeah…" Swift said, her eyes trailing into nothingness, her gaze unfocused. "Probably planning their next attack in retribution of our victory over them…I doubt they'd party like they usually do, given that's only after big victories. They're probably planning it out in such detail they can't even go for a casual drink, let alone party."
-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-
The Social area of the Maxwell Scar Allied Nations base was usually the place to be for all the higher-ups in the Allied Nations Army. It was a luxurious, oak-and-leather maelstrom of a bar, with only the best furniture, pool tables, darts boards, and other assorted leisure items. The bar was a large hemispherical room, with the bar as one long continuous strip along the flat side of the room. It was, as several COs had put it, heaven.
"Eww, Jake! Just what is in that drink? It looks lethal."
"Hey, don't be dissin' my Seven Sugar Supreme, Rach. It's got fruc-tose and su-crose, but most is glucose!"
"Jake, that is decidedly one of the worst rhymes I have ever heard," Sasha said, smiling as she held her cup of tea. "Coming from me, of all people…"
"I agree wholeheartedly," Rachel said, taking a sip from her glass of mineral water. "Natural spring freshness all the way. It's a good thing they serve it here," she continued, looking over to the bar. "Or at least, that cute barman brings some. I swear he knows exactly what we want to drink tonight. It's like he can read our minds."
Jake and Sasha followed her gaze, looking at the bar. Situated behind it was a young man clothes in blue, no older than nineteen, washing and drying glasses. His icy blue eyes (behind silver-rimmed glasses) were focused on the pint glass in one hand, and his towel in the other. As they watched, he reached a hand up to brush his shoulder-length, jet black hair away from his face, and continued his task of drying the glass. Jake and Sasha looked back at Rachel, whose gaze eventually drifted away from the barman back to them.
"I've never seen him here before…" Sasha said, confusion on her features. She looked back, studying him inquisitively over the rims of her reading glasses, taking a sip of her tea. He looked oddly…confident, and he seemed to move with a calm, fluid grace that was very disconcerting. And did he have…was he glowing a soft blue? Sasha rubbed her eyes and shook her head, turning away from the barman and back to her fellow COs. They were sat on three plush armchairs, situated around a small circular table.
"Anyway, back to what we were supposed to be talking about," Rachel said, placing her glass on the table and leaning back. "Red Mesa's COs."
"They're wack."
"You can't say that, Jake, we've only seen one of them," Sasha said, rolling her eyes. "One…rather vicious…CO does not give us an accurate picture of all of them."
"That's another thing," Rachel said, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair, "We don't know how many COs they have. That's another thing we'll find out, I guess…"
"There must be a hot chick," Jake said, gazing into space. "Wonder if she's blonde…"
"JAKE!" Both girls shouted in unison. They paused, looked at each other, and then looked back at Jake. "Like you'd even have a chance, anyway," Rachel said, smirking. "Way outta your league."
"Not to mention we're currently at war with them," Sasha added with a rare grin.
"But we've only fought one battle," Jake interjected. "We got owned badly. Now we're just sittin' here waitin' for enough reinforcements to attack the same place again? Pretty weak if you ask me."
"Actually…" Rachel said, leaning forward and looking at the other two COs. "We're not going back to that city. Sonja has picked up other signals similar to the ones that led us here; she believes that whatever caused their invisibility to fail must have affected the same sort of technology in neighbouring cities. So, we pick a target from one of those instead. Once we have enough troops ready, we'll move out."
"And how long will that be?" Sasha asked. "If we wait too long, this 'Red Mesa' will get suspicious."
"I'd say about a week," Rachel answered, looking at them both. "…Yeah. Definitely. The next attack will be launched in the coming week. The target I've yet to choose, but the time is set."
Jake smirked, lifting his bottle up and downing it in one go. "Ya hear that, Red Mesa fools?" he said to nobody in particular. "You got a week until we bounce on down and knock you out!"
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