"My Lord, Prisoner 230888 escaped in the early hours of this morning."
"…WHAT?!"
"Adder was in charge of the security at the time, but he had limited manpower to work with, given your order of sending as many men to the front lines as possible-"
"I do not care, Hawke! So many failures from you and your ilk! Recapture him at once!"
"I have already tried, my Lord. A Recon squad caught up with him not an hour ago, but was ambushed by the Allies' advance guard. He simply disappeared in the confusion."
"…There will be consequences for this, worm. Regroup at the Death Ray installation, and tell Lash that the missile's launch will have to be pushed forward. After we push back the Allies, I will devise a fitting punishment for this immense failure."
"…As you wish, my Lord."
-R-M-R-M-R-M-R-M-
He looked behind him, his eyes turning from the security checkpoint in front of him to view the city behind him - the city that had birthed him, raised him, made him who he was. Its name was Iseba.
Iseba was the capital city of Red Mesa. A gargantuan metropolis that stretched out into the desert like a crimson beehive of activity and life in the harsh landscape, hundreds of sleek skyscrapers punching out from the ground in an attempt to reach the heavens. Threads of its ultra-modern high-speed transport network wove their way through the canyons of concrete and steel, ferrying its citizens to and fro, akin to blood vessels in a living organism. The man smiled, curved lips hidden under a silvery handlebar moustache, and turned to look back at the checkpoint in front of him, until something caught his eye, a massive monolith breaking out of the skyline. Grey eyes narrowed and peered at it intently.
It was easily five hundred metres in height, a massive maroon monolith that resembled Cleopatra's Needle, save the pyramidal point at the very top. The point was replaced by what looked like a massive white crystal, lit up by an eerie glow from inside. The man knew that it wasn't a crystal, though; there wasn't a deposit of that particular crystal large and pure enough to form the diffraction system. No, it was an immense lattice of high-precision reinforced glass coupled with a superconducting network that sat on the apex of the tower. And if he looked hard enough, he could see another off in the distance, the same glow emanating from the top. These towers were the system that had kept his country hidden for so long; the Shroud Towers, throwing an invisible veil between them and the outside world. People on the outside of the field would see what the towers had been configured to show them, but inside the field was Iseba in all its glory. There were five of these normal towers, arranged around the city as the points of a pentagon, and in the very centre stood the Titan Tower. The old man couldn't see the immense structure from his position, near to the ground, but he knew it was a seven-hundred-and-fifty metre tall testament to Red Mesan engineering, the most powerful Shroud Tower they had ever constructed, made specifically to help hide the capital city.
The smile left the man's face, and he turned back towards the security checkpoint, the first of many. In front of him stood a set of metal doors twice as high as he was, somewhere in the region of twelve feet, and at least two metres thick. To his right was the security station, a myriad of detection and scanning equipment pointed at him behind a dome of reinforced glass, and a Red Mesan OMI operative sitting at the computer bank behind another window.
The old man rolled his eyes and chuckled. Trust Awner to install them here so quickly. OMI - the Office of Military Intelligence - was a recent addition to the Red Mesan Army, having only been formed two years ago. They were an idea put forward and led by Shade, who had recently joined the command staff, noticing a lack of dedicated intelligence personnel. Commonly called 'spooks', they specialised in intelligence operations, espionage, and had recently taken over internal security matters, hence their presence here. The man welcomed their presence here; they were highly trained and loyal, although the knowledge that there were hundreds of plain-clothes operatives all over the world, indistinguishable from a normal civilian, worried him somewhat. Still, it gave them one of the best intelligence networks in the world, so he couldn't really complain.
"Good afternoon, Sir," The spook said, his voice coming from the loudspeaker placed above the window. "Any particular purpose for this visit?"
The man shook his head. "Just a normal visit; I like keeping tabs on things," he said. His voice was strong and firm, but not overbearing or loud. "And don't call me Sir," he said, chuckling. "I'm retired now, remember?"
A grin appeared on the young face of the spook, a hand scratching the short ginger hair on his head. "General Shade told us that you still deserve immense respect, even if you have retired, Sir. After all, you practically saved the whole country during the Civil War."
The man shrugged. "I did my duty. Chancellor Iscariot had to be stopped." He sighed as the memories flooded back, and he shook his head to forget them again. "Could I go in now, please?"
The spook jumped and grimaced. "S-Sorry Sir. Let me just key in the code…" he punched a few buttons on the console in front of him, and the metal doors started to grind their way open, sliding into the walls of the military bunker. After they had finished opening (and the loud, metallic groaning noise had finally ceased), the spook saluted. "I've let checkpoints A through J know you're coming, so you shouldn't have to wait for their doors to open. Have a nice day Sir."
The old man saluted, and walked onwards into the downward-slanting, cavernous tunnel before him. The doors ground shut behind him, cutting off the natural light that managed to penetrate inside, leaving him with the dim glow of the fluorescent strips set into the ceiling. Signs were set onto the wall at regular intervals, offering directions to various other sections within this gargantuan installation, often indicating to the reader that they should turn off into other tunnels that branched off from the main one. He continued on the straight course of the main tunnel, the sound of his footfalls and quiet breathing echoing over and over, the distant groan of opening doors off in the dimly lit distance. The minutes seemed to blur by in the deathly still space, until the man arrived at a security checkpoint not unlike the one that stood like a sentinel, back at the yawning mouth of the tunnel. A massive letter 'A' was stamped on the wall to his left, the armoured box that housed the guard on his right. In front of him, the massive metal doors had already opened, the source of the groaning noise that had reached his ears earlier. The guard saluted.
"Got the message from Main Entrance, Sir," came the voice of the guard through the speakers. "Checkpoint B has begun opening its doors, and C is just about to. I'll close mine as soon as you go through; security has been upped here considerably since the start of the war. We've got several Shrikes posted around the tunnels thanks to the presence of several command staff here today."
The man frowned. "Several? What do you mean?"
"Well, there's yourself of course," the guard said, his eyes glancing down to check the records on his computer screen. "Commander Swift has also recently arrived; she's checking the battle records we have on the Allied CO 'Eagle'. She's also given us a message for you."
The man raised a silver-haired eyebrow. "Oh really?"
"Yeah," the guard said, typing away. "It says:
'We haven't had one of our chats in a long time, Henry. We need to catch up on things, and I know you're coming here later today, so why not talk? From, Tatania.'"
The guard looked up. "I didn't know you and Swift were on first name terms…"
'Henry' smiled. "Let's just say that I was there when her father was not, and leave it at that."
The guard nodded, not wishing to pry. "Okay then. I also have a short message from someone named 'Lancer'."
Henry stiffened slightly, understanding who the message was from, and what it was about. "Go ahead."
"He says that…that it was survival of the fittest, and that they were the fittest…most of them, at least." The guard frowned. "I have no idea what he's on about."
Henry grimaced. "I do," he said. "Only command staff and OMI operatives with a clearance of Level Beta or above would understand. I wouldn't pay it any mind if I were you."
The guard nodded, fully knowing that he wasn't supposed to understand. "Okay then Sir. As for the other command staff…Commander Cougar was here in the morning too, viewing recordings of the Essen City battle."
Henry was lost for a second. "Essen City? That was…that was the battle that started this war, wasn't it? The one where Shade was injured…" he nodded. "Yes, yes, that was the one. Mr. Hawking probably wants to relive the joy of bringing such destruction to them…typical of him really." He smiled, and walked on forward through the doors, saluting to the guard as he passed, who returned the salute. "It's nice to know OMI is on top of things, anyway. Good afternoon!"
"Same to you Sir!" the guard called, as the metal doors began to close again. Henry continued his progress down the tunnel, these new titbits of information going around in his head. Shrikes being posted in the tunnels meant he had nothing to fear; they were OMI's most successful operatives - mainly because they were so well-trained as to be indistinguishable from a normal civilian or soldier. They could be anyone, especially now that more people were appearing around him…he must be getting closer to his destination. As he passed through more security checkpoints, each designated by a letter, he saw more soldiers, technical staff, and officers enter, exit, and walk along the same tunnel as his. The fact that any one of them could be a Shrike and he wouldn't be able to tell didn't unnerve him; the fact they even existed sang OMI's praises and made him feel he had left the country in safe hands. He smiled, and came to a stop in front of Checkpoint J, the last checkpoint on his journey. The guard said nothing, but smiled and saluted, keying in the code and watching as the door opened, slowly and painfully, revealing a woman standing behind it, an amused smile on her face.
"Welcome to The Red Mesan Military Archives, Victor," she said in a singsong voice. "Is this your first time here?"
"Swift…" Victor sighed, running a wrinkled hand through what remained of his grey hair, smiling despite himself.
"Perhaps you would like a tour?"
"Swiiiiiiift…"
"Also feel free to stop by our gift shop later on for some memorable souvenirs-"
"SWIFT." Victor was looking at her sternly, hands on hips, his moustache twitching slightly, half from exasperation and half from trying to hide a smile.
"Hehehehe," Swift giggled. "You get all stern and fatherly when I annoy you." She offered him her arm. "Where are you off to?"
"Wha- I- Well- Fatherly?" Victor stammered, nonetheless hooking his arm onto the one offered to him and walking off with Swift. "W-Well, I guess fatherly is correct, what with the whole 'father I never had' thing…"
"It's true though," Swift said softly, leading Victor down the tunnel to three pairs of double doors. "You were there…when he wasn't," her voice almost boiling with bitterness on the word 'he'. Victor stopped them both, unhooked his arm and placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes full of understanding.
"I know," he said, voice full of conviction. Swift smiled sadly, nodding mostly to herself, before dragging herself away from her memories and opening one of the doors for Victor. "Are you here to view the records of a certain someone?" she said, entering after the venerable ex-CO.
"Yes…" Victor said, looking around the enormous room they had just entered, and shivering slightly at a sudden drop in temperature. "Blasted air conditioning. I know it's here to keep the databanks running properly, but damned if it doesn't give me a cold every single time I visit."
The room was essentially a gigantic hall full of hundreds of aisles of computer servers, every row given a different designation or letter. The room was clinical, white and tiled, kept as clean and cool and dust-free as possible to help keep technical maintenance down as much as possible. Still, there was so much data stored in the Military Archives that it necessitated thirty full-time techies to keep things running.
"At least it's better than the old Archives," Swift said. "That was a giant library with enough filing problems to kill an Oozium. A pile in Section 555-BRET collapsed near me once; I almost drowned in a sea of paper. And oh God, the paper cuts!" she shuddered. "This is much better."
"Indeed," Victor said, shuddering at the thought. "Right. Section 23-AW, here we come," he said brightly, setting off down the rows of servers, Swift in tow. Half a minute of silence passed between them before conversation arose again, aisles moving past them like a procession of monoliths.
"So, how does it feel, not having the responsibilities of leadership anymore?" Swift asked. "I have to say, I was surprised that you chose Shade as your successor. Everyone had their money on Cougar. There was quite a lot of angry people at the bookies on that day, let me tell you."
Victor laughed. "Trust me, it's quite relaxing not having to worry about matters of state," he said, closing his eyes with a smile. "I still keep up to date with things, get reports and such, but these days I mostly just relax…and keep an eye on events, especially pertaining to my successor." He opened his eyes again, expertly dodging to the side to let a techie pass, his arms full of cables. "As for why I chose him…I hate to say it yet again, but that's between us. I have full faith in his abilities as a leader."
"He woke up yesterday, you know," Swift said, an eyebrow raised.
"Really? That's very good to hear."
"I slapped him."
"That's very bad to hear."
"He deserved it, being such a reckless…"
"Jerk?" Victor's mouth was twisted in a smile.
"I wouldn't put it that harshly…I just worry about him." Swift looked down, her expression hard to read. Victor nodded.
"We all do, Tatania," Victor said softly. "Although I wonder why you worry about him more than you do with, say, Cougar or Diesel. I know you were the one who found him out there…"
Swift nodded. "I've seen him at his worst, and it was…it was horrible. I honestly do not want to see him like that again."
Victor nodded. "I understand completely."
"…Why do you trust him?" The question came suddenly, as if Swift had been holding it in for some time. It threw Victor off-balance, and he spent precious silent seconds thinking of what to say.
"…You'll all know why when the time is right," he said softly, slightly uncomfortable as Swift fixed him with a piercing stare. "I…I can't break the promise I made him." He shook his head as Swift kept on staring for over a minute in silence, until he sighed.
"Alright, alright. I can't bear having you look at me like that." He grumbled to himself, while Swift's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't think she'd actually get Victor to divulge anything.
"As much as he wants to keep it secret, Matthew needs his companions, now more than ever. I will tell you only a few things." He took a breath, and began.
"Firstly, as to why he only confided in me…he wants to forget. Shade has had horrible, inhuman things done to him in the past, and he just wants to leave it all behind." His face was grim; already, Swift looked worried, even shocked.
"But…what sort of things?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I can't say; it's maximum security information; if anyone ever found out about what happened to him, it would be a valuable psychological tool to use against him. If they knew what he was subjected to, they could break him, in mind and spirit. I can say one thing however. You've never seen him without those sunglasses of his, have you?"
"…No, I haven't," Swift said, slightly surprised she hadn't noticed before. "Even when its night time and pitch black outside, he's never once taken them off…"
"You must never tell a word of this to anyone, and you must act like you don't know what I'm going to tell you," Victor said, his voice low and deadly serious. "Understand?"
"I understand."
"He never takes them off because he doesn't want himself or anyone to see his eyes. They're a ghostly white, Swift, no pupils…he's clinically blind."
Swift was silent, her face frozen in a mask of horrified shock. Blind? All this time, and she hadn't even suspected a thing!
"Oh my God…blind…but…but how does he-"
"Hide it so well?" Victor interrupted. "He doesn't see like we do, Swift. His powers let him 'see' electromagnetic fields; machinery, electric currents, the natural magnetic field of the earth, the bioelectrical fields produced by the nervous system. He told me once that, although he couldn't see…he could 'see'. A sea of fire, he called it." He sighed and rubbed his temples, while Swift shook her head in disbelief. She looked at Victor, her sky blue eyes full of fear and doubt.
"How could anyone do something like that…" she whispered.
"I can't say any more than that," Victor said heavily. "I'm already in breach of three secrecy laws by telling you what little I have." His pace slowed, and he stopped altogether at a signpost informing them they were now in Section 23-AW. Victor turned to Swift, placing his hands on her shoulders and staring at her.
"You must not speak a word of this, Tatania," he said urgently. "OMI has Shrikes in the building." Swift's eyes widened in shock; she obviously hadn't heard about the increased security. Victor pressed on. "They could be anyone, anyone at all, and if they find out I've told you this, they would have no choice but to place us both under arrest. The scandal would be immense, and I shudder to think what it would do to Shade. We have enough on our hands right now, what with the war and all that."
"I…I understand, Henry," Swift stuttered, her eyes flitting back and forth, suspicious of everyone who was anywhere near them.
"Do you?" he demanded. "There is a lot more at stake right now, Tatania, more than I can possibly tell you. Can you stay silent?"
After half a minute of silence, Swift looked down, nodding softly. Victor took his hands off her shoulders, and looked around. This area of the Archives was sparsely populated, but there was still the chance…
"I-I have to go," Swift managed to say, her eyes downcast. "The analysts predict that the Watt Peninsula is the Allies' next target; an aerial attack is likely. I need to review the recordings we have of Allied airforce operations, and dig up some information on the commander they call 'Eagle'. Goodbye…????," she said, adding the last word softly and quietly. And then she was gone, leaving the aged CO alone with his thoughts. He shook his head, and retreated into the space between the rows of databanks, a few whispered words left for no one to hear save himself.
"I wish I could say…so heavy on my heart…"
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