Pale shadows.

[iceberg]

This was wrote in one sitting. Then again, it lasted 10 hours.





The sky had long ago stopped being blue. The calmful color had been replaced with a hostile red, fitting to what the world outside was at the moment. The only sounds that were heard was the cruel wind, which blew through the barren, dead ground and trees which had lost their life long ago, but still remained still as skeletal reminder of what used to be. But then through the wind, came another sound. A machine was descending from the sky, it was like a long box which had wings on it, with two engines on both of them which spat out a blue flame. Further from the wings, the machine's cockpit protruded, a thick glass and armor to protect the pilot, who grapped a small device which was connected to the operating machinery of the ship. He pressed a button on it, and soon his voice was heard to the back of the ship.

"We're nearly there, everyone take the breathing masks under your seats and put them on."

It was a transport ship, which's passengers quickly followed the instructions, which had been told them many times before. The ship reached it's destination and began to slow down, metallic legs with pads extending from under the ship, which then placed themselves on the ground, the roar of the engines began quieting down as the ship was firmly held above the ground. The area where it had landed was paved and covered, with a large red symbol on it. Near the landing zone, stood a pair of large towers on both sides, with a light on top which blinked from blue to red every few seconds. It had not been needed to guide them where they were heading this time, as the weather was good.

"We're here, watch your step, and try not to break the masks before you get inside."

The ramp on the back of the ship lowered, and slowly connected to the ground below. One by one, the passengers were walking down, masks firmly on their faces. It would have been obvious for anyone that they were from the military, if not for the clothes, then for the fact that only military personnel travelled around Lore anymore. Each of them were carrying a large backbag, which was filled with everything necessary, and a few personal items. The first person to take his first steps in the ground after hours of flight looked up at what was infront of them, as did many others. A domed city unlike any other, Batalon. If this had been a tour, someone would have began telling of the history of the city by now, how it was built on the spot where Battleon used to stand, and how it was the first, and currently only, city which had been built from scratch by both human and Drakel hands. That was common knowledge, written in all history books that they had in schools. They were not to tour around however, and as the pilot of the ship walked past them and told not to stand around while they still had a schedule to follow, the eyes on the city moved their attention to the tall gate which was a short distance from the landing zone. Behind it, was a long sealed corridor which had four different locked doors within. The city did not want anyone unwanted to enter obviously.

The pilot had already walked to the panel on the wall next to the gate, tapping commands to the keys which had been embedded onto the panel. The wind drowned the noise that came from the panel, but as the pilot said something out loud, it was to be assumed that someone from the other side had answered his call. "Troop transport Twenty Four has arrived safely, and request entrance." The other side again said something, which was followed by the pilot answering, a long list of numbers and letters. Again something was said from the other side as the code had been confirmed, the pilot thanked and stepped away from the panel which closed down. The gates screeched as they began sliding to the side, opening for the path behind them. Without a word, the group of people entered the corridor, the gate closed as the last of them walked inside. They carried on, until they got to the second set of doors in the corridor. The first closed behind them, and they were seemingly trapped. "Commencing purification." The noise was rather professional, and without wasting a moment, air hissed into the closed corridor, which lasted for at least five minutes. "Purification completed, you can take the masks off now."

"About time!"

The masks were removed quickly, and everyone took in deep breaths. In total, there were fortyone of them, male and female, but most importantly, human and Drakel. The group was split rather well on gender and race, the atmosphere was good even when in the past the two races had been enemies to eachother. The door in front of them opened, and as they walked on, so opened the last one, and the way to the city was finally open to them. The path which led to this exit of the city was rather empty, ignoring the guard in full armor and a rifle in his arms set to watch and permit entrances whenever anything was scheduled, like this flight to Batalon. Further from their location, towers and normal human-style buildings rose, but there was something which did not allow them to look around too much.

They were being waited by a Drakel wearing the same sort of full body armor as the guard, except for a helmet, and the fact that he was a taller and wider than the other one, both hands held behind his back. They had been told that there would be someone to greet them, and even without thinking too much of the markings on his armor, they knew that this person was the one. The group quickly and orderly formed four lines with ten people in each of them, and saluted their higher officer. That had not been done too much in the past, but a times changed, so had the army. The Drakel saluted as well, and as he lowered his hand, the group did the same. The pilot walked forwards and gave his report. The two talked for a small while, and as the pilot left to gather a few things before leaving, the Drakel turned to the group who still were in formation. "I am Vice-Captain Gaoo, and I welcome you all to this city. You were chosen from your previous posts due to your talents and shown strength, both physical and mental, and in the following four weeks you will be going through various tests and challenges to see whether or not you are fit to join the Eleventh Division. Do you have any questions?" The group simultaneously answered "No Sir!", just like Gaoo had expected. "We will now make our way to the Eleventh Division's base of operations, where you will be directed to your barracks. Use this day to get used to your surroundings, we will begin our work tomorrow!" Again the group answered simultaneously "Yes Sir!", but seeing Gaoo turn around and start a steady jog, it was strange to many, as they had assumed there would be a vehicle or two to pick them up. Sadly, there were none of those available, as they were all out in missions in the outside world. All that they could do, was follow Gaoo, who was feeling glad that their destination was not too far away.

The Eleventh Division grounds were rather large. There were a number of buildings, some used in training, while others contained equipment for the soldiers serving there. After they had been shown their barracks, it was already time to have some food. The dining hall was just like they had expected, large to hold easily over two hundred people, although at the moment there were only about forty of them there, excluding the new arrivals. But those forty people, humans and Drakels, were rather good making up enough noise to cater the whole dining hall. The newcomers went to their own corner in the hall for now, they would have time to know the older soldiers soon, who already had noticed them, heads turned as others pointed. They did not return to the gazes however, as they had already started discussing of things between eachother amidst the eating. "Hey, hey Ghost!" Hearing his name, the brown haired young man looked for the one talking, and soon found her. Her plate was already halfempty, and the last were quickly being chowed down by the girl with long brown hair which had been tied to a ponytail. Seeing how Ghost had noticed her, she grapped her glass and drank down the last drops of water, sighing satisfied after swallowing it all down. "You've been spacin' out this whole time. What's up? You gonna finish that?"

"Sorry, it's nothing. And I am going to eat this, thank you for asking." Ghost answered, tapping his plate with the fork on his hands. "Just tell us what is on your mind. It's beginning to bother me as well." said the Drakel sitting on the other side of the table infront of him. He had been eating fast as well, but with much more grace and precision than Coral and her rushed eating habits. "Well.. this might sound stupid, but I was really waiting to see the Captain." Ghost finally answered after thinking for a moment whether or not say what was on his mind, what both Coral and Gomodo had seen through him. "That's all?" Coral asked, leaning on the table with her elbows. "I told you it'd sound stupid." He was embarrassed to admit such a thing to others. "And why would you be bothered by not seeing the Captain?" Gomodo asked as he put down the knife and fork to the opposite sides of his plate. "Is it really that wrong for me to be interested in the Captain of this unit? I mean, we were all chosen by him as possible recruits. This is the Eleventh Division after all! Not just anyone gets chosen here."

"Ahhh yes, the Eleventh Division." Coral suddenly said, a confident smile on her face. She had been just as thrilled as Ghost had been when she had been told she might be able to join the Eleventh Division. "Home to the "Strongest Division" led by none other than the strongest Captain! Although I heard that the Fourth Division's Captain is pretty strong himself, what was his name again..." Gomodo decided to join in on the conversation, as he did not have anything better to do. "Kur. Captain Kur. I would like to meet this division's Captain myself as well, although I have my own suspicions already of him." A frown on his face, Ghost turned over to Gomodo, who's hands had been crossed. "What do you mean with suspicions?"

"The Eleventh Division's purpose is to strike down any enemies that threaten us without mercy. What kind of a man would you think would lead a Division such as this? If even half the rumours about him are true, he is barely short from a monster." Gomodo's voice was calm as ever, he did not even seem to think of what might happen if the Captain himself heard what was being said about him. But him being a monster? Ghost had to think about such a possibility for a moment, managing to ignore Coral again ask if he was going to finish his food. It was true that he did not know much about the Eleventh Division Captain, but surely he couldn't be a monster? I'll find out eventually. he finally concluded, and to Coral's dismay, he began eating his food.



After finishing their food, they had left out to get used to the division's grounds. They went past armory, the target practice zone, and past the three-floored building. The headquorters of the Eleventh Division were in that tall building, and from the third floor, Ghost thought to had seen someone look down on them. As he had stopped to look at the building, the others were already continuing on, forcing to hurry to catch, but still he gave one last look to the building, and if there had been someone watching, the person was not there anymore.

A day passed, and they had an early waking the next morning. They were ordered to the target practice zone, where their testing would begin. Vice-Captain Gaoo was not the one who was ordering them around though, it was a human who had introduced himself as Sargeant Torren, and considering how loud and strictly he could shout, he had done this before. The target practice zone was within a large building, which had had it's walls reinforced for the gun blasts that it went through. "This is a normal energy rifle." the man said while holding onto the rifle with both hands. "You have used these before, so I expect you not to shoot yourself or anyone else by accident! We will be examining your shooting abilities today, so stay sharp as even one mistake can prove fatal if you intend to join this division!" After the lecture, they were handed their rifles, and one by one, they took their spot behind the metal rail which separated them from the shooting area, a meter or so between each of them. The Sargeant tapped on his Fartalk and after a few words, from the floor, thirty meters from them, rose cutouts which resembled real targets. "Fire!" The Sargeant's order was quickly followed, and after the first wave, the initial report was that everyone was well above the needed level of skill. A few were far above, but still, these targets had been nothing but sitting ducks. From there, their first exam periodically raised in challenge. There were a number of targets for each of them to shoot which popped up randomly, sometimes far away, or then close enough to touch the gun that they held. This part was testing their reflexes as well as accuracy, the faster and more accurate you shot, the better. Then finally the targets began moving, from left to right, backwards, forwards, zigzagging.. Ghost had to admit that it was difficult, but as he hit another target, it was not impossible. As Gomodo aimed at a target which had popped up, he felt a chill. A cold breeze? There was no time to think about it, or his overall grade would go down.

The targets began moving faster as time passed, making it increasingly difficult to hit them, and the real difference between them was starting to show. How long had this been going on now? And when would it stop? The whole room seemed to just stop as a sound unlike any other was heard. It was like an energy rifle blast, except a lot louder. A green arrow of energy whistled as it flew through the air, and burned a large hole into the target which had been aimed by the shooter. Such display easily gained attention, which the Sargeant had nothing against, in fact, he had been waiting for it. Just one glance at the one who had done the last shot was enough to tell his identity. The armor he wore was colored black, but the white robes the shooter wore were a sign of a higher ranking, and the symbol on the robe's back titled him as the one person Ghost had been waiting. "Attention, Captain-" was all that the Sargeant could say before he was interrupted. "I think I'm perfectly able to tell my own name, Torren."

The man easened his grip on the weapon he held, which looked an average blastblade. Crudely put, it was like a slab of metal which's other side had been sharpened to cut through armor had just been added onto a handle, but that was not exactly the case. The weapon was larger than that, and most importantly, blastblades did not have anything to shoot with. But this one.. the blunt end closed as the hatches slid together again, hiding the gunbarrel inside the hollow blade. He shouldered the blunt side of the weapon as he turned to face the people who were waiting for him.

It was easy to imagine why did some call him a monster. Vice-Captain Gaoo was tall and large enough to raise respect, but the Captain.. he was even taller, not too much, but it would have been apparent if the two had stood next to eachother. And no one could imagine Gaoo wield the weapon that the Captain had. Just the length of the weapon was enough to give that impression, as it was as tall as a grown man, well over a meter and a half. It was hard to say how old he was from his face, but he had to be over thirty. One of the things that one would look at, was the eyepatch he had, which covered his left eye, the straps of leather vanished under the black hair he had, which was spiky and pointing backwards. His steps seemed to echo, so silent was the building now, but he finally stopped after passing the twentieth person. He gave a good look to both left and right, turning his head as he did so, then stopping as he looked ahead of him, and raised his head up a bit. "Although this might come late.. Eleventh Division's Captain, Vikagi, welcomes you to this unit. Sargeant!" The way he had first talked had not been what anyone had suspected, but the yell at the end managed to startle a few people. The Sargeant took a loud step forward, and stood in position as respectfully as he could. "Yes sir!" His reply was just as respectful as his stance. "How are their skills?" the Captain asked, and got his answer as soon as he had finished his question. "Recommendable, and seven people have shown even higher skill!"

The Captain nodded a few times. "Just like I expected. I apologize for my intrusion, you can carry on now." Just as suddenly as he had appeared, the Captain had left. So.. that is the Eleventh Division Captain? Ghost thought, but his mind was forced back to his previous task as the Sargeant yelled for them to continue. "What are you standing around for!? The targets are the other way!"



During the following days, the Captain did not visit them again. From shooting, they went to a physical stress test, which left everyone tired out. From that day, they were teached the basics of the weaponry that the Eleventh Division carried on their missions. Blastblades, flamethrowers, energy launchers, which was surprisingly heavy even when it looked like a box you carried on your shoulder. Everyone needed to have at least the basics when it came to all weaponry, and for those who could wield them good enough, they might get signed to act as a soldier to carry that certain weapon. Then came the MPW's, Mini Power Walkers. They had changed a lot from the past, and were now a large sphere held in mid-air by the four legs that made it look like a crab. One could just and just fit inside as the hatch was closed, and from there, you had to learn how to move properly, and to use the small rapid-energycannon which was positioned on the bottom of the machine, and also to move it properly on the rail which went around the machine. Even in motion you had to be able to move the gun where needed, and yourself as the insides could spin around. There were a couple of the older Power Walkers, and of course, you had to learn to control those as well, since if you would be stationed somewhere without the newer PW's, you had to know how to use them if needed. They spent two days practicing with Assault Suits, which were like clothes made of metal and wires. You had to climb in from the back, and slid inside feet first, then put your arms to their places. The design from the original Cyber Suit had been through major improvements, and this extra suit of armor was the result. They had their own custom energy rifles, as the fingers on them were too large to use the general one's, so theirs were a lot larger, and had a lot more firepower. They had to learn how to move, shoot, and strafe with the small engines that the Assault Suits had. The bottom of the feet had small tires on them to use on conjunction with the engines, making it another thing to learn. The tires had only to be used with the engines, not without. Finally came what really mattered. Battle training. The maze-like scructure which they entered was full of cutouts of targets, some were to be shot, but others represented civilians. Shoot at even one of them, and you would be denied of your entry to the Eleventh Division and shipped back where you came from. Soon they were given missions to accomplish in the maze, and each of them were assigned being the leader of a group of ten.

Being a leader meant that you had much responsibility, and of course, you had much duties, one being to report to Vice-Captain Gaoo once you had finished your mission. That meant a trip to the headquarters, which was normally offlimits to them. Gaoo's office was on the second floor, and as the three leaders of the previous round, Ghost, Godomo and Coral, entered, the room was rather surprising in their opinion for a military leader. A shelf with books on the first and second layer, and a few pictures what seemed to be the Vice-Captain's family, a couple pictures of him with other people who had to be his friends, and then there was the picture where he was posing with the Captain. It was his attempt to bring a bit of home to work. As Gaoo asked how the mission went, each of them answered at their own turn, starting from Godomo, moving to Ghost and finally to Coral. "This is your third time as leaders, isn't it?" Gaoo then asked, reading a few papers that he had on the table in front of him. "Yes sir!" the three answered accordingly. "Well then, I'm sending you three to meet the Captain. I believe he has something to discuss with you."

All it needed was even to think that they were to talk with the Captain to turn their stomach upside down with nervousness. "Middle door on the right in the third floor, you can't miss it." The three replied with "Yes sir!" and were just about to exit when Gaoo suddenly called Ghost back, handing him a few pieces of paper. "Give these to him too."

There were five doors on the right in the third floor, and just like Gaoo had said, they couldn't miss the Captain's door, as his name was on it. The door looked heavy, just like the Captain, but it opened surprisingly easily. The three entered as politely as they could, into a room quite unlike the Vice-Captain's. Where he had made it to resemble his home, the Captain had apparently not even considered it. The room was rather empty, only the table where he sat behind, talking with a Drakel officer who was delivering a report to him. "They believe that the Undeads are being created in the remains of Lolosia, but they lack the manpower to launch an offensive." A muttered curse was let out by the Captain. "Not too surprising for them to use that as a tactic, it's a graveyard all around. Send them thirty soldiers, two Power Walkers and a dozen Assault Suits with energy launchers. If they intend to get rid of their problem, they need to do it in one quick swipe." The Drakel acknowledged the orders, and turned around to exit the room, Coral and Ghost made way for him as he left and closed the door behind him. "You have the papers that Gaoo was supposed to hand over?" the Captain asked suddenly. "Ye- yes sir!" Ghost said and walked over to the Captain, handing him over the papers. He put them in two piles, keeping some of them to his hands, and began reading. Minutes passed, and the whole room was silent. Only Coral was doing something, checking out something which had bothered her for a while already. But no matter how hard she looked from left and right, she just couldn't find what she was looking for. "Gabriel.. which one of you is called that?" the Captain then asked, lifting his eye from the papers to them. "That would be me sir." Ghost answered, Coral snickering to the mention of 'Gabriel'. "Then why does everyone call you Ghost?" The Captain's attention was aimed directly at him, like demanding for answers. "It's a nickname, sir." The Captain looked at the papers in his hand again, flipping them to the next page. "Right. Then don't mind if I call you that as well." Ghost sighed out of relief as he straightened up better. "Understood, sir."

Minutes passed, and the Captain put down the first pieces of papers, then moving to the second pile, and then finally to the third one. "Your overall grade is remarkable. And from what I've heard, your training missions have been going well too. Top of the class. You are being assigned as team leaders from this point on, and will be trained accordingly." For them, who were intending to join the Eleventh Division, such news was the best they could hear. The Captain was still looking on the last papers when Coral suddenly talked. "Sir, can I ask you a question?" The Captain did not look away from the papers, but he did answer. "You may." Ghost was feeling that he should stop her, but it was already too late. "Where are your family pictures?" The only reason she had asked was because of what she had seen in the Vice-Captain's room, and the lack of those in this room had been puzzling her. The Captain seemed more than old enough to have a family of his own. "My family is dead."

He had said it casually, too casually even if what he had said was true. It had been like a flick to the face to the three, especially to Coral, who was stuttering in an attempt to form an apology. "You're training begins tomorrow morning, so be sharp. You can go now." They thanked the Captain, and left the office, Coral first as she could not look at the Captain in the face after asking such a question, and gaining such an answer. As Ghost closed the door, the last thing he saw the Captain do was turning around on his chair to look outside the window.

[iceberg]

Ever since the meeting with the Captain, Coral was nervewrecked. No matter how the others told her that it was not her fault, she was certain that because of her question to the Captain, she would be kicked out. But days passed, and there came no order for her to pack her things and leave with the next ship. She felt a bit better, but the guilt for asking such a thing from the Captain did not ease at all. It had to be a painful topic for him, having lost family herself she knew very well that pain, but to lose everyone.. she could not imagine what was it like.

That day, they were to command a group of soldiers with Assault Suits, and two MPW's to take out a small enemy outpost. This training mission was not done in the maze, but in a built simulated landscape much like the world outside, crumbling buildings had been constructed there just for this purpose, and somewhere within them, was their target. The mission was to be completed with as little problem as possible, eliminating enemies was a priority, secondary objective was to search and obtain any documents or objects which might be useful for them, they could contain information about other enemy locations, or something to better understand how they moved in the outside world.

The mission was a success, and as the group was leaving the area to let the next one enter, Coral, who had led this mission, walked up to the instructor, Vice-Captain Gaoo, who was writing down what he had observed from her and her group's performance to the small machine which was on his left palm, pressing on the small letters on it. "Squad leader Coral reporting, mission accomplished, all enemy units have been eliminated." Gaoo nodded, looking around the battle area to judge was there unneeded damage done to the buildings. "Very good, your skills as a leader are improving. I can see that the Captain was right about you." She felt glad to hear such praise when she had been doubting whether or not she would manage in leadership. "Thank you sir." she said, but something kept her from leaving with the rest. But could she ask the Vice-Captain something like it?

"Sir, can I ask you a question?" Despite her trying to sound calm, nervousness in her voice caught the attention of Gaoo who stopped writing down details of her performance. "What is it?" Gaoo asked, looking at Coral, waiting to hear what she had to say. It took a few tries for her to speak, at first, she was thinking of just saying 'Nevermind', but in the end, she asked what she wanted. "What kind of a person is the Captain?" Gaoo frowned slightly to the question, and turned his eyes away from her, looking at the crafted battleground. "Hmm.. he is very devoted to his cause. That's the image I've gotten from the fifteen years we've been working together, both in the battlefields, and here in Batalon. Even if it doesn't seem like it, he cares for his subordinates a great deal. If not for his duties here, I imagine that he would join the soldiers on the missions on the outside. That's the sort of a man he is." The tone of Gaoo's voice showed that he held respect for the Captain, but it did not fully satisfy Coral. "What was he like before? Before he became a Captain, I mean. Sir." she asked again. "He had joined the army even before we met, back in the days when humans and Drakels were trying to unite their forces in an attempt to solve past differences, and work as one for a better future to Lore. He was one of the spokespersons who helped ease the tension between our two races, and during many of our battles against monsters and the occasional warlords, he managed to gain a lot of popularity among the humans, even when he fought with us Drakels. If not for him, unifying our two races strength would have been more difficult. He was offered a higher rank a number of times, but he refused every time, he said being a soldier who was commanded suited him better than being one to command others." Gaoo kept a small pause again, thinking whether or not to continue. "He should be dead."

"I'm not being disrespectful, those were his own words. When the Fall of Death occurred, he was still on the outside world, without the safety of the domes. It was a miracle that he even got to a dome, considering how he had been carrying two people on his back, a man, and a young girl, who both had died long before he got there. He was rushed to medical care, but it did not look good for him. The doctors were not sure how long he had been outside, as even a few minutes proved fatal to most people. It was a miracle, but in the end, he survived, and as soon as he had fully recovered, he rejoined the army. He did not refuse the proposals of higher ranks anymore, and he eventually got to the position he is in now."

"I think that's all that I know to tell you. You might want to ask the Captain himself, he would be a lot better to answer this than I am." Gaoo said, but Coral did not like the idea of that too much. "No sir, I believe this is enough." The second team entered the battleground, which meant that it was her time to leave. She exchanged a few formalities with Gaoo, and was led outside by the yelled orders of the squad leader.



As the next day came, so did a rare three hours of free time which Coral had intended to use to the best she could. "You seem quite adamant about this." Godomo said to her as three of them were leaving the Eleventh Divisions grounds. Ghost had to agree. "Yeah, if you are this interested on the Captain, why not just go and ask him yourself?" Coral muttered something under her breath. "I can't just ask him, and you know I couldn't even if I wanted. The library must have something about the Captain in their archives."

The library was not far from the Eleventh Division, it took about fifteen minutes on foot to get there. They would have two and a half hours time to look for things about the Captain, and then they would have to hurry back or face the consequences of being late, as they were having more training right afterwards. Coral had told Ghost and Godomo what she had heard about the Captain from the Vice-Captain, and in the end, both joined her to the trip to the library. Ghost wanted to know more of him as well, but just like Coral, he couldn't go and ask the Captain directly. Godomo was interested in the Captain's past as well, even when he felt at best neutral towards him. There was something about him that did not appeal to Godomo at all. The library just might have answers for all three of them.



The Human-Drakel alliance was made a year after the great war between the two races. Things did not go well however, as many humans held a grudge against the Drakels, who were generally thought as invaders and they received little trust because of that fact. In an effort to relief some of the strife, the Drakels helped the humans rebuild, clearing land from hostile monsters, and fighting against warlords who still appeared from time to time, leading vast armies to the territory which now belonged to both Drakels and humans. As time passed, more humans began to join the united armies, and as time passed, people began to think that the two races could co-exist and help eachother, although the grudge never truly left. The greatest step to bring friendship between the two races was the building of Batalon, which was constructed on the remains of the town of Battleon, which in the past had been marked as the home to the majority of Adventurers and the home to the last Guardian Tower, both of them were destroyed in the war however, leaving behind only a few written documents and pictures of them.

See also: Batalon's building, step by step.
See also: The Adventurers and Guardians.

Coral had sat down on a reading panel, after receiving a disk which she had gotten from the receptionist of the Library after asking for some particular information about the events which had taken place thirty years ago. If the Captain had joined the Human-Drakel army back then, it was a good point to start. She clicked on the Adventurers and Guardians link on the panel, and the page containing information about the past defenders of Lore quickly opened.

In the past, Adventurers were something resembling an army. However, their occupation led them to travel around the Lore and search for new areas, which led them to fighting monsters, but when Lore was threatened by a large number of enemies, they grouped together to fight against the threat. Guardians are a special order of Adventurers who had their headquarters in Battleon, which had been named as the Guardian Tower. Armed with the some of the greatest weapons and armors known to mankind, they were a shining light which led their forces through battle to another, always victorious in the end. The number of Adventurers and Guardians plummeted during the great war between them and the Drakel forces, and ended with the defeat of the human army. A small number of both remained at the end of the war, who vanished underground as time passed, only a few of them ever returned to the society.

See also: What are the Adventurers and Guardians today?
See also: Fall of Death.

Coral sighed out of frustration. This was nothing but repeat of the history lessons they had had in school. She knew already about the Fall of Death, so she ended up clicking on 'What are the Adventurers and Guardians today?' instead.

Few years later from the alliance of humans and Drakels, the remnants of Adventurers and Guardians began to act. They attacked Drakel forces, usually buildings, swiftly, their only intention to cause as much damage as possible and then escape. Their usual method of attack was to plant explosive devices within their targets, the devices remains were identified as powersources from AssaultMecha's upon research, but remains from Drakel Power Armors have been found from time to time. It is unknown how many of these powersources they currently possess, as there is little documentation about the number of AssaultMecha's that were brought to the past. The attacks were sporadic, sometimes there were two or three in a month, while sometimes a whole year could pass with only a couple of attacks. It is suspected that with the completion of building Batalon, the remnants of both groups began seeing humans affiliated with Drakels as enemies, the week after Batalon was built, the first attack on a city with both Drakel and human population was done, ending with casualties on both races. This caused for all cities to increase their security, although places without a dome, which were still a majority of population centers around Lore, could not achieve the same level as the dome-cities. But as most of those cities were inhabited by only humans, no attacks on them were even attempted.

See also: Fall of Death.

She was not getting anywhere. There was no mention of the Captain, which did not seem that surprising, considering how this particular disk covered only the general view on history, and did not focus too much to anyone. She clicked on the final link, and the last page that she even had any interest in opened.

A week after fall had settled in, there was an attack done to a medical facility which had been built on Lolosia. The purpose of the facility was to research diseases and to make vaccines for them, which has been defined as the reason for the tragedy which soon followed. The military unit that was positioned in the area found out the group of Adventurers who were going to plant their bomb into the building, and from the five enemies, four were shot in a matter of minutes. The last one was wounded fatally, but with the little strength she had, she activated the device and threw it to the building through a building. The device soon overloaded and exploded, which did not cause as much damage as it would have if it had been placed properly by the enemies, but the damage was already done. A number of vials were shattered in the shockwave caused by the explosion, and their contents were released.

Research into the incident later on showed that when an AssaultMecha's powersource overloads and explodes, a wave of radiation is released. For humans and races similar in size, or larger, that amount is rather harmless, but for the viruses that the medical facility was researching, the effects were something that no one had even expected. Through the radiation, and the mutation that it caused in the viruses, a new strain was created and it began spreading exponentially. As it was able to breed and carried off on the air, it quickly swept across Lore, affecting everyone who was breathing the air outside. When the virus first reached the domes, the systems surrounding the gates quickly alarmed of a potential risk to the inhabitants of the city. As a result, no one was allowed to enter, or leave the cities, until the cause for the alarm would be identified. This decision was what saved a number of both human and Drakels, but for those people who were living without the protection the dome, there was no salvation.

The virus was only able to infect people when inhaled, and it's violent nature caused it to first attack the lungs and then other organs. Those with little stamina were dead within a day, mostly elderly and small children, but even the strongest succumbed to the disease by the third day. The virus affected all living creatures, and even beings which had been thought as "immortal" such as Lichs, Vampires and Werewolves found themselves affected, but not in the same way as mortals. The virus was even more violent in their case, creating horrible deformations to their bodies, which in the end turned them into piles of disfigured flesh which were barely alive, but in constant pain.

Within a week from the incident, all of the outposts on the outside had ceased to contact the domed cities. Scout units with breathing masks were sent out for them to get a better picture what was happening, and as those scouts reached their destinations, they all told the same story.

All life outside the domes had ended, bodies of humans and Drakels littered the streets the villages, towns and cities. Not even monsters had been spared from the virus, the simplest of Zards had died within hours of infection, and even large creatures as Salamanders and Goggs had fell dead in a couple of days. Recon to the bottom of the ocean showed that not even underwater life had found shelter. Carriers, which took their supply of air from the outside, had become flying tombs for their crews, it would take three years to land them all to the ground and give their crews proper burials, except for two which were reported to continuously rise upwards, until they left the reach of the radars. It was possible that someone from the crew had accidentally caused the engines to lift them upwards upon their death, and had caused for the Carriers to leave the atmosphere, and head to the outer space.

Such a vast extinction of races had last happened when the Devourer had visited Lore. This caused a large debate, as some claimed that the virus was actually a form of the Devourer and it was only a matter of time when would it breach into their domes and claim their lives as well as everything elses. This theory was disproven as the facilities on Isle De Oriens had finished their initial examination to the virus. It was not of a "divine" origin, but one from Lore, which had just changed so drastically. The blame was put solely on the Adventurers and Guardians, but it must be remembered, that it was an unexpected thing to happen, one which they probably could not even anticipate, just like the Drakels.

Even to this day, the Isle and a number of other facilities around are researching into the virus in hopes of finding a method to clear it from the air outside. In closed spaces, such as the entrances to the domes, it is possible to rid of the virus through purification, but as that method is not possible in such a large scale in the outside, it is impossible to rid of the virus. Currently the virus is untreatable with any known method, and the treatment to those who have gotten sick is mostly medicine to ease the pain and other problems that the virus causes. The researchers have reported that it is very possible to rid the air from the virus, but the oceans are a different matter. The virus has piled up in much more intense numbers there, and has shown signs of further mutation. Where they had given a period of at least fifty years to the research on the cure for the virus on the air, none had been given to the oceans. It has been noted, that the quest to the future by Adventurers and Guardians showed that a thousand years from that time, the oceans were polluted. If there was only one future for this world, then a cure for the oceans would never be found. But still, the research into the virus within the ocean has not been stopped, and carries on.

"darn it." Coral muttered as she took out the disk. She had not learned anything new, the chair she had sat on was pushed backwards as she went to give the receptionist the disk back. Maybe Ghost or Godomo would have found something, Ghost was the first she went to. "So, what you've got?" she asked hopefully. "Not much." Ghost muttered. The disk that he had gotten was about the creation of the Eleventh Division, which's sole purpose was to lead direct assaults against the Adventurer and Guardian remnants which had survived to this day. "Eleventh Division was created five years ago, and for it's Captain was chosen a man named Vikagi, who named Gaoo Morrew as his Vice-Captain. The Eleventh Division was stationed within Batalon, replacing the Sixth Division which split it's troops to other cities to serve as defensive force." Ghost read out loud from the page he had open, pointing at the picture of both Vikagi and Gaoo when mentioning them. Both looked quite like what they were today. "And that's about it."

Coral went over to Godomo next as Ghost went to return the disk, and then headed over to the Drakel himself. "Any luck?" Coral asked, although she was starting to feel that this was all rather pointless. Godomo had chosen the disk which told about the eleven Divisions overall, and the specific purposes of a few Divisions. "Captain Vikagi and Vice-Captain Gaoo both used to work under the Fifth Division, and when the Eleventh Division was created, Vikagi was the second human to be appointed as a Captain. There are no further details about him." Godomo said, glancing over to Coral. "Dammit. Where are they hiding the things about him?" she asked more to herself, but Godomo was more than willing to answer. "I imagine that the exclusive information about Captain Vikagi are held within military databanks. However, we are too low of rank to even ask for access for those. Meaning, that for us to learn something of the Captain, there is only one viable course of action." Godomo took out the disk from the machine, and turned over to Coral and Ghost. "And that is to ask the Captain himself." Ghost guessed. "That is correct." Godomo confirmed. "Well darn." was all that Coral could say.



They still had more of a hour left of their free time when they reached the gates leading into the Eleventh Division grounds. "In the end, we got nothing." Coral said out loud, her two companions did not have much to say. It was the truth, if they wanted answers, they would have to go to the Captain for them. They passed the gate and were heading over to their barracks when a voice behind them called out. "Any luck?"

The three turned around and were more than surprised to see the Captain himself lean on the wall next to the gates. They quickly straightened up, but the Captain told them to just relax. "I heard from Gaoo that you've been asking some questions about me." he said as he pushed himself off the wall, and crossed his hands, looking straight at Coral. "I am sorry sir! It will not happen again!" she quickly answered, gulping down the uneasyness in her mind. "Seems like I've put you through some trouble thanks to the last time we talked. You have a hour or so to the beginning of your training." The three answered simultaneously "Yes sir!"

"Good, then we can talk without hurry." At first, they did not understand what was the Captain talk about. "Talk about what, sir?" Ghost inquired carefully. "Isn't it obvious? You have been going around asking about me, and now I'm here to talk to you to give you answers. You don't find those anywhere else."

"I apologize for the last time. I could have specified things a bit better, but.. you know. Busy with work, Undead dragons and those sort of things were being sent against a few domes in an attempt to break them." The dining hall was empty at the moment, words echoed in the room as the Captain talked. "I apologize as well, for inquiring about your personal life." Coral said, finally able to say sorry for the Captain. "No need, I never have said that it was a subject not to talk about. The past is made to be remembered, no matter what it is." The Captain kept a small pause, like waiting for someone to ask something. "Well, now that we're here, what do you want to know?"

As neither Ghost or Gomodo said anything, maybe thinking of something to ask, Coral took her chance. "How exactly did you get to be a Captain?"

The Captain tapped a few times on the table. "That's a rather long story, but I have time."

"I joined the united army rather quickly, pretty much as soon as it was open to humans. After all, it's intent was to protect Lore. Back then I was young, and saw no problem with it, even when it was not done by humans as much anymore as in the past. Things change, and I was willing to change as well. So, we fought against Dragons, an outbreak of Goggs, and even hunted down on some bandits which were raiding villages. I was more of a grunt, ground battle was a better idea for me than joining the Air-force. Battle after battle, I didn't need another reason but to keep Lore safe, both humans and Drakels. We had signed a treaty and made peace with them, and because of my previous experience with Drakels and their technology, this was before the war mind you, I had a pretty good idea what would life be like if they would share some of their knowledge with us.

That continued for ten years, and Lore was starting to seem a bit more peaceful. We didn't have monsters suddenly attacking us anymore, and there were no warlord stupid enough to gather a group of axe and sword wielding warriors against the Drakel weaponry. The only real problems that I heard about during those years were the Adventurers and Guardians attacking Drakel buildings and units. It wasn't too surprising, they were still fighting their war, even when they had obviously lost. There were many attempts to get them to negotiate in hopes of gaining real peace, but they never showed up, they never even answered. And then, they began attacking areas where both humans and Drakels lived. It was this point when they were deemed as a real threat to the safety of both humans and Drakels, and we were given permission to find and destroy their bases, and if deemed absolutely necessary, we were to kill any hostile target. I was in one of those squads as well, but only once I took part in a battle against them. And even then, it was only for a few minutes. An explosion sent a shrapnel of rock straight to my left eye. That's how I got this."

The Captain tapped a few times on the eyepatch he had. "You seem to have good aim even with one eye, sir." Godomo remarked. "Surprise." the Captain then said, and lifted the eyepatch. While they had been expecting to see an empty eyesocket, there was a black machine shaped like an eye. The Captain lowered the eyepatch again, and the machine seamlessly fit into the hole cut on the eyepatch, making the illusion that it was a simple eyepatch. "They gave me this a week after the incident, and I was back on duty. It took a while to get used to it, as it's not exactly like the real thing. Moves slower. They haven't still gotten past the prototype stage of this one, it takes time to figure out the signals that our brains send to eyes, what makes them move and all that. At least it shows me imagery well. And that's about all that matters. Anyway, back to the story."

[iceberg]

"We were stationed in a small village when the fall came. My squad had stopped there, waiting for further orders, and to resupply. I think it was night when the virus reached us. The next morning, we woke up to cries of the people, just to see that some of the villagers had died during the night. Elderly mostly, but a few children had died as well. We signaled our base immediately, but as it had been close to the outbreak's origin, everyone there was already dead, or in a shape where they could not answer us. The only thing we could do, was to evacuate the people who were still alive, and head to another city. When we finally got there, we had lost over half of the people we brought with us, as well a dozen soldiers. It was horrible, we could not even bury them, as it would have decreased our chance to survive. They were just left behind to rot.

What we found out however, was that the city we had gotten to was not in any better shape than us. The virus had reached it long before we did. The leader figured that whatever was going on, was certainly affecting places which were not protected by domes. If this was an attack carried by the air, those places were safe as they had been equipped with systems to sense such attacks even before the war had began. The domes would be the safest place, so we took direction to the closest one.

..two days. It took that long to get there, and in the end, only three of us were left. Myself, a mechanic called Tirel, and a young girl who's mother had begged us to take her with us. She was in such bad shape that she would have died within a hour or two, but her daughter was a real fighter. I remember that I got as far as the gate, dragging the two on my shoulders, and that's where I fell. So close, but yet so far.

I was lucky though, they even dared to open the gates and the locks just to drag me and the two inside. I did learn later on that they had been dead for quite some time, but.. I tried. Deity's know that I tried my best to get us all alive to there. The doctors did their best to just keep me alive, I was all cut up from all the times I had fell on the ground, and at times I even crawled to ease my legs a bit. I don't remember that much of that time, but for whatever the reason, I was able to win against the virus. However, the wounds on my legs were badly infected, so the doctors had to amputate them from the knee down or else I would have died from the infection. First the right, then the left leg. It was quite a shock to wake up and see that my legs were gone, but I had survived. Took me a whole month to get back in shape, after which the doctors operated on my legs again. Full metal reconstruction, best what they had to offer. I got them to work on my arm as well, considering how I had lost my real arm a long time ago. In the end, I was a new man, a bit taller too. I thought about what I should do next, and after I heard what was the cause of the virus to spread, I joined the army."

"..what about your family?" Coral asked carefully. "My family.. were my friends. I tried contacting them many times, but there never was a reply. There was only one explanation to that, and that was that they had become victims of the virus as well." The Captain kept a small pause afterwards, staring at the table with a sad look on his eye. "Did you want to avenge your friends when you rejoined?" Godomo then asked. Both Ghost and Coral quickly told him to be quiet, but it was already too late. "The reason I rejoined.." the Captain muttered, but never had a chance to finish. From the outside, loud sirens began their alarm, and within seconds, the Captain had already started his Fartalk. "What is the situation?" he asked loudly as he stood up from his chair, looking outside. "Unscheduled entry from the West Gate! There was nothing on the camera, but heat signatures show that something or someone has entered the corridor, currently in the area between the first and second lock! Number of lifeforms is... ten!"

The Captain started to quickly walk out of the dining hall, the three following him closely, curious, no, worried about the reason for the sirens. "Lockdown the corridor, I'll have a team there within five minutes!" the Captain said as he stepped out of the building. "The system has been overridden, we cannot access the locks! Estimated time until the locks open after purification, one minute!"

The Captain cursed out loud. "They got someone working on the inside. Gaoo!" he had already switched frequency where the Vice-Captain answered. "I am aware of the situation, and it's not looking good. They will most likely spread and head out on their own, and we have only fifty units scouting the city or on guard duty."

"What timing.. there isn't any units close enough to arrive as backup either." The Captain said out loud, thinking about possibilities. "What are your orders, Captain?" Gaoo asked. "I want ten people guard the powergenerators immediately, that's where they are headed for sure! Everyone else is to scatter around the city and search for the intruders!" the Captain ordered, and with 'Yes sir!' Gaoo had closed his connection, and was already handing out orders for the soldiers around Batalon. "Squad leaders Ghost, Godomo and Coral!" the Captain suddenly shouted as he turned around to face the three who took position again. "You are to mobilize your squads immediately, I want everyone in Assault Suits within seven minutes and heading out! Also inform Fault that she has just been given the rank of squadleader, and to mobilize her squad as well!"

"Sir, is that really wise? We have still not finished our training." Ghost said as respectfully as he could. "This is not the first time this has happened. The intruders are a bomber squad sent by whoever is leading those Adventurers and Guardians these days, and if we don't manage to stop them, they will destroy the powergenerators which keep this city alive. The explosion which will follow will be strong enough to shatter the dome above us, which their bombs alone can't even scratch."

"Just like Eniskrad two years ago." Gomodo said, referring to the city which's powergenerators suddenly exploded, causing the dome to shatter and fall into the city. "Ten thousand people, both humans and Drakels, along with majority of the Seventh Division died because of that. You have your orders, now go!" the Captain said, and the three could only shout 'Yes sir!' and hurry towards the barracks, and from there to the armory, where the Captain was already going. "Gaoo, I will be joining the hunt myself. Keep me informed of any spotted enemy movements." He closed the Fartalk for now, but kept it on standby.

Just like the Captain had ordered, within seven minutes, every single of the soldiers in training had already climbed into the Assault Suits, and engines roaring, they left the armory and headed out of the Eleventh Division grounds, splitting up into the city. "This is Ghost and the first unit, we're currently heading towards the Western Gate!" Ghost said to the Fartalk built into his Assault Suit, and soon got a response. "Coral here, we're heading over to the power station as backup." Gomodo was regrouping with a squad lead by Gaoo, as ordered. The streets were already empty, people had taken safety in their houses, which was the standard procedure when the alarm was sounded, the only thing moving, were soldiers, and the Assault Suits which had been mobilized.



"The enemy knows we are already here." the Magic cast around them through the Wind Orb was dispelled, and no longer granted invisibility, ten people wearing dull brown cloaks appeared to the entrance of the city. "You, stay here and keep our exit open until we come back." one of them said to the guard, who just nodded, and loaded his energy rifle. "They will be shown that we do not take kindly for our founders memory to be defiled with this unclean city! Everyone, I wish you luck." the person continued, and with that, the ten scattered, some leaving on their own, while six formed pairs of two as they headed out. Wind formed around them, and with a single jump, they rose high enough to land on the roofs of buildings, heading to the middle of the city. They would regret building this place on top of blood, bones and dust from the past.

I think it's about time. the Captain thought as he made his way through the city with his Assault Suit, which's right hand was holding onto the blastblade. He opened his Fartalk which was soon carried through every part of the city.

The winds carried them quickly towards their destination, and just as four of them landed near the power station, it was heard. "This is Captain Vikagi of the Eleventh Division, announcing a lockdown of the whole city. People of the city are advised to stay indoors as there will be no building to enter ten seconds from now. I repeat.." The doors leading into the power station began to close. "Hurry!" one of the Adventurers shouted as he leaped forward, and in the same moment, two green lightnings tore open his chest and flung his now lifeless body aside. As the others looked to the direction where the shots had came, a number of Assault Suits were closing in on them, and fast. Two guards leaped out of the closing doors of the power station and opened fire with their rifles as well. One of the intruders leaped high into the wind again and began retreating, while the other two began casting some sort of Fire spell, aimed at the Assault Suits. "Oh no you don't!" Coral shouted and accelerated suddenly, which caught the enemy off guard, ending with her deal one single hard kick to the guys head, effectively killing him. As she landed her feet to the ground, she quickly spun around, and with two shots, the second enemy was dead as well, the spell left uncompleted. "This is Coral, three hostiles down, one escaped and is heading back towards the Western Gate!"

Three of the hostiles had stopped near an alley, and hidden behind shields of earth raised by one of them, creating their line of defense, showering the Assault Suits with a variety of Fire spells, which kept them from advancing. All that they could do, was to shoot from a distance. "Vice-Captain Gaoo! The retreating enemy is closing on your position!" Gaoo however, had no time to look for some single enemy jumping on the roofs of buildings, he was busy enough with the three ahead. There was a loud scream, and he corrected himself. Two ahead.

As the second of the last line defenders prepared to throw another batch of Fire on their enemies, he saw movement from their right side. Something was coming towards them, and fast. He turned to face whatever was coming, and the last thing that he saw was a large mass of metal drive towards them, and the left metallic palm which crushed his head to the building behind him, wrapping tightly around the remains before activating the engines. That's the Captain's Assault Suit. Gaoo realized, and as the engines roared even louder, the machine began sliding on the wall of the building, upwards, but for what reason? The third, and last defender had turned around to avenge the death of her friend, but her attempts to scorch the Captain ended when a blast of energy split apart her head.



Things were bad, really bad. They could not get into the power station now, and there was no mention of secondary targets. They had failed, all that he could hope, was that the others would retreat as well. The second he landed onto the roof of the rare square building, something else appeared in front of him. A machine leaped high into the air, flinging something that it had been holding onto with it's left hand before landing on the roof. All that he saw was a brown flash, and as he turned around, he realized what it was. "Marcus.." The face of his friend had been crushed, but that wedding ring on his left hand was more than enough to identify him. The back of the machine opened, and by the time he had turned around, the man riding it had already gotten to the side of the machine, and grapped the large sword that it carried, swinging it to his side. "Leaving your friends behind? Is that what they teach you to do these days?" the Captain said to the intruder, who threw aside his cape, revealing partially shiny Guardian Armor, and a Guardian Blade that he unsheathed in a flash. "Silence, you traitor!"

"Guardian Blade? Been long since I last saw or held one of those." the Captain said after whistling admiringly. "But things are not looking good for you. There's only four of you left now. Three near the power station, two down there, and one.. well, you already saw that." the Captain said, and from the eyes of the young man, rage was building up inside him. The long black spiky hair that he had, which somehow managed to defy gravity reminded the Captain of the past, just like the armor and the weapon that the young man had. "Tell you what. If you manage to kill me here, my troops will let you and your friends leave without chasing after them."

Gaoo was listening to the Fartalk which the Captain had open, as did many others. Even when he tried to contact the Captain, the device was currently set on transmit-only, it did not accept any connections from others. "What?" the young man asked, holding tighter on the Guardian Blade that he held with both hands. "I'll even let you do the first attack. If you know what you're doing, you might even kill me in a single strike." the Captain continued, standing perfectly still. "The more you wait, the better are the chances that more of your friends die."

The young man still held his stance, his eyes burning with hatred on the traitor of humanrace. The clothes matched what they had been told of the enemy, meaning that this was a Captain of a Division, in this case, the Eleventh Division's. Did he really mean it? Was there something on the armor that he wore that made him so confident on letting the enemy deal the first strike? Had the Drakels developed shields around their units to deflect attacks with? If I decline, then he will just kill me, but if I attack.. I can do it. Stab through his throat, just like they teached us. He changed his stance a bit, and Wind began forming around him. "So you decided?" the Captain asked, still waiting like before. The young man shouted out of pure hatred as he leaped forward, propelled by the Wind that he controlled around his body, the Guardian Blade aimed perfectly to stab through the Captain's throat.

It all happened in a flash. The Captain suddenly moved, swinging the weapon on his hand upwards, the blunt end shattering the armor on the young man and smashing to his chest. Held above the Captain, the young man was coughing as air had escaped his lungs. His eyes found the Captain's, and even when he could not speak, his eyes did the talking for him. You lied.

The Captain tightened the grip on the blastblade, and the hatches on the end opened. Without blinking, the weapon shot through the young man, and a few seconds later the weapon on his hands fell as they turned limb. The Captain shook the corpse off from his weapon, as it fell to the ground it gave a lot of noise thanks to all the armor he had on him. "Three left." the Captain said to his Fartalk, and without a single word or look on the corpse, he went for his Assault Suit and climbed aboard again.

[iceberg]

"Come on!" the traitorous guard shouted as he motioned with his hand. The first of the three had reached the entrance to the Western Gate, but she was not alone. Ghost appeared from one of the streets, and instantly realized the situation. There was no one else around at the moment. The exit was open, in the worst case, they would open all the locks and let the air from the outside enter the city. There was only one possible course of action. He raised his gun and pulled on the trigger.



Five minutes later, it was all over. The other two had been gunned down by two soldiers, one from Gomodo's, and one from Fault's squad. Right after Ghost had shot one of the intruders, the guard had seen best to commit suicide with the weapon which he had, but it took a single shot to destroy the weapon that he had. A soldier from Ghost's squad immediately moved in and pinned the guard down under the massive weight of the Assault Suit. Ghost had stepped out of his Assault Suit, and had walked over to the intruder whom he had shot. She was young, too young to do something like this. "Revenge was never on my mind when I rejoined." said the voice of the Captain as he walked next to Ghost, looking at the corpse of the young girl. "All that I wanted, was to protect Lore. I'm sure they wanted the same, but now.. if Lore is to survive, we must stop them as soon as possible. It will be a bloody road filled with corpses, but it is better than to just stay in our domes and hope that what happened to Eniskrad won't happen to us. They are too fixated on the past to realize that the path they are hoping to accomplish has no future. Brainwashing kids from the beginning to believe that there will be a new and better Lore on the end of their road.. where did things go this wrong?"

Ghost was left to think on his own what the Captain had said, and what he had just done. "We're detaining the guard for now." Gaoo reported as three soldiers walked off the guard, who was obviously broken within that he had failed to take his own life. "Gaoo. I want you to get to the bottom of this, find out what he knows, whatever it takes." the Captain said as he looked the guard be taken off. "Yes sir." Gaoo said, managing to take only one step before the Captain continued. "Gaoo. Whatever it takes."

Gaoo quickly realized what the Captain meant. "I understand, sir. It will be done."

As the troops were ordered to return to the base, others were told to clean up the city in those areas where they had been through battle.



Two days later, after reporting the incident which took place, the Captain had suddenly left. Apparently he did this at least once a year, going to the outside on his own, with just a blastblade with him.

Not far from Batalon, was a single large building which had stood up against the passing of time. The dome around it had long ago been dismantled as the building had gone unused. The glassdoors were still there, and as he pushed them open, they did so, smoothly as ever. As the doors closed, he left the blastblade to lean on the wall next to the doors. No weapons indoors. Every step he took echoed in the building, which would be full of spiderwebs if not for the virus claiming the life of even those of the insects. But dust, there was a fair share of that in the building. He looked around, but just like always, the only things seen from it were his previous footprints from last year. The building was quite secure, wind could never get inside to do it's tricks.

The room where he headed over, was the same one he had been visiting so many times in the past now. The bench was still the same, and so were the machines in front of it. He clicked a few buttons, and with a hum, the machine started. Letters scrambled through the monitor on it, and with a few swipes, they were more clearly seen under the dust. After a few minutes, it was finally finished. Just like old times. he thought to himself, and pressed a button. From the speakers around him, carried off a voice which was being transmitted through Lore. "BTN!" was sung, each letter sang out clearly. He grapped a small device from the machine, and pressed on the button on the side of it. "Happy birthday, us. Party at the usual place."

With that, he closed the machine. After the third year, he had already admitted that there was no one left who would understand what those words meant. No one but him. Sometimes he came here just to think of the past. Sometimes he came to check if the remains of Pedro's cookings had spawned new life resistant to the virus. Not yet, but it had began growing some purple mold. It was a start. At times, he stopped by just to view through old records, which was the only way for him to hear their voices now. He had lost much of his hair from before, but it still held the same shape as so many years ago.

"Guys.. what should I do?" he asked, but like always, there was no one to answer. He was all alone now. If there had been someone to answer, what would have they said? Would they had approved of what he had become and had done? He played the last record that they had ever done, with that one promise that only one of them could keep.

"Attention Lore! This is BTN! As you all know, with the rebuilding of Lore, people are asked to help on it, be it building, or patrolling the area in case of monsters! We are heading out to do just that, but don't worry, we'll be back! See you in summer!"

That summer never came. They were always too busy, or in the middle of something when they were meaning to group together in their little safeplace from the world. And then came the fall. Ever since then, he had taken time off from his work, no matter what it was, just to get to this place, just like they had promised. But he was getting old. Tired. Compared to what he had been back then, he was nothing but a pale shadow. How much more could he take, how much longer could he go on? He just wanted.. he just wanted to take a long, deep breath, his hands reaching over to the hatches which held the breathing mask still.

The noise from his Fartalk startled him, he almost had torn off his mask. "Ye- what is it?" he asked, almost talking like in the past. "The guard finally gave in and told us everything he knows. Even the location where the attack force came from." The one who had contacted, and almost killed him, was Gaoo. "Right. I'll be there in half a hour, I want a full squad of men, two Power Walkers and couple of men with flamethrowers ready to leave." Gaoo replied 'Understood.' and closed the connection as the Captain stood up from his chair, and walked to the first floor, grapping the weapon which had been waiting for him. As he opened the door, he looked behind him, like it was the last time he would be in there. "I'll be back next summer."





"We were the first full squad to have a 100% success rate when it came to entering the Eleventh Division. We had to wait a few days however, as the Captain himself led a group of soldiers as they raided the remains of a town, and the caverns that had been carved under it by the enemy. The mission was a success, the enemy had not left the base when they got there. Over a hundred enemy soldiers were killed, and we were finally able to find how they were able to survive in the outside world. A Wind Orb had been used to create a zone of fresh pure air for them, and there were five more inside the base, apparently they took two of them with each mission, one to grant them invisibility, and one to create them air to travel safely with. With that discovery, it took only a month before the science department created devices which were like a radar, showing where Wind Orbs were. The Third Division was given these devices, being the information squad, and with the information that they were able to give, on enemy locations and occasional enemy attacks, the Eleventh Division set out on a massive operation led by the Captain himself, our singular mission was to achieve total victory over the enemy to ensure the safety of everyone living in the domes.

It has been two years now, and seems like it is the end of the road.

"Where is our darn pickup!?" Gaoo shouted to his Fartalk, crouching as a fireball flew overhead. Two Assault Suits slid on the ground as they chased down the enemy, leaving behind the Vice-Captain, Squad Leader Coral and Captain Vikagi. "I don't care if the weather is too bad to fly, Captain is down! We need pickup, NOW!" Gaoo shouted again sounding furious. The Captain was leaning onto a large rock, his breathing already irregular. "Come on Captain, just hang on for a while longer!" Coral said, almost crying out. "He- ...heh.. why is it.. that whenever I get hit.. it's always a piece of rock.. and always to the face.." the Captain chuckled, looking at his mask which had been shattered a while ago by a shrapnel from an explosion. The following five minutes went by silent, only sounds were the sound of artillery raining down on the enemy which had been surrounded to the remains of a small village. "I know already." the Captain suddenly said. "I'm going to die here."

Before Coral could say anything, the Captain lifted his head, looking into the distance. "Seriously.. it's always the same. I know." He was not speaking to them, in fact, it was like he was speaking to thin air, but from the look he had, someone was right in front of him. Then the Captain did something which they had not seen happen in years. He smiled. "Good, I hated being alone already, leaving alone would have been worse. Lead the way then." He raised his hand like to grap someone's hand, which was the last thing that he did.

"Captain Vikagi was pronounced killed in battle one day before summer was to officially begin.

There were many people in the funeral, even when it was held in such a dangerous place. In the outside world, near an old building that only a few knew about. Only a few Captains had showed up, but the one who most clearly left a mark in my memory was the Fourth Division's leader, who said something quite cryptic when he paid his respects on the grave. "It looks like I won in the end."

Vice-Captain Gaoo was appointed as the new Captain, and the current position of Vice-Captain is undecided to this day. The decision was done by the soldiers, that the one who could lift the blastblade that was left behind by Captain Vikagi would be the one to become the next Vice-Captain. Many tried, but it was a lot heavier than anyone had suspected. There were only two people who managed to make it even budge, Gomodo, and me, Ghost.

The number of enemies had drastically decreased thanks to Captain Vikagi leading us, but there were still a few left, but until those would be found, the Eleventh Division would wait, train, and grow stronger. Just like we all tried lifting the blastblade once a year, we also visited the Captain's grave. But this year, what we saw, was simply said a miracle.

From the tree near the grave, a single flower had bloomed. It was summer again.

[yogurtfresh]

Thats alotta-a-reading, i know what it's like to write somthing and have people abandon it or not even bother posting on it and not really care about how you may feel if you just stop reading, forcing you to stop writing and leaving your ideas hanging in wind never to be written down again because people just dont sppreciate the work you've put in to writing it and for some reason discoveringthat another persons story that was otally orgional is still being read even after they have stuck gundams and custom robos in it and making ouwonder why you dont just crawl up in to a corner and die so thats why i'm osting even though you wrote this weeks ago and noone posted because i like this story and i'm going to appreciate it!

sorry i had a moment there. good story.

[iceberg]

Even I don't appreciate most of the things I write.
They are just too generic, rely on usual things for getting attention, or some feeling from the reader.

Still doesn't stop me from writing though. No one is perfect, and to better one the best they can, practice, repeats of literature are necessary. It's only natural to shoot some blanks from time to time.