Chapter 13
Yulia’s hair had thrashed about the entire way to the ground as she held onto the drone. The forest below had slowly become clearer as the pair finally passed through the clouds. She looked ahead to see the village just barely over the tree line.
“Reporting, indigenous village located three point four miles east from location. Preparing to deploy.” Yulia said almost robotically via transmission through the Aether.
Her voice had travelled up towards the ship, relaying into the bridge. The drone had lowered her to a couple hundred feet above the forest floor where Yulia released her grip, immediately dropping to the ground. There was a thud that had caused the immediate area to rumble, forcing what little wildlife that had not migrated for winter to scatter about.
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Rei felt the tension building in her stomach as she had finished the second bowl at breakneck speed, immediately belching in relief.
“Thanks for that, I mean it. It was great.” Rei said to him.
“It’s what I do.” Jin replied as he smiled from the praise.
“So, did you ever see the Cosmo Cradle yourself?” She had tried not to get too far off topic. The news of a so-called “Birthplace of the Universe” was as intriguing as the revelation that there was another world outside her own. Jin quickly shook his head up and down before having to double take to ensure nobody was listening. Leaving the village in most situations or interacting with the outside world had been extremely forbidden.
“One time,” Jin turned back to her and continued, “but I didn’t get near it. It’s hard to really describe what it looks like.”
“Can you try?”
“I’m trying to think,” he lifted his hand up to his face and pressed it against his forehead. “It was in the daytime, but the area above it looked like somebody had cut a piece out of the night sky and put it right over the area.”
“You lie!” Rei quickly shouted, intrigued but still cautious.
“I’m not. It’s a long way north. I saw it on a patrol a few years ago. There’s a whole other town there too. We don’t really interact with them.”
“You don’t patrol.” she replied swiftly. Jin laughed once more while locking eyes with her.
“I wasn’t always Daimyo, you know? Someday, I’ll show you it myself.” Jin said finally. Rei gently pressed her palm into the bowl, sliding it aside.
“Is that a promise?”
Jin had nodded his head to the request as the two had finished dinner. Before they could even gather their utensils, Hideo had begun to approach them. Upon seeing him, the two had been somewhat off put by his disheveled appearance. He very rarely would leave the monastery during these hours. The two rose to their feet and gave him a quick but formal bow.
“What brings you here?” Jin asked him. Hideo's face was still pale from the aircraft sighting earlier and had not been able to reply.
“Hideo-san, are you ok?” Rei added. Hideo seemed to finally come back after a few seconds.
“There are a lot of things happening now.” Hideo spoke as he lifted his head to them, trying to find the words as mind raced. “There are things that have happened that might have not made sense, but they had a reason.”
Rei had only become more confused by the statement. She faced Jin, hoping he would have an answer. However, Jin had also been puzzled by his demeanor. “There’s a lot of things that we don’t understand, its ok.” Jin said to him. He had lost his bearing for just a moment, letting a small chuckle come out. “This week is really doing a number on everybody!”
Hideo had remained distraught. Deep down, Rei knew that there was something tearing him apart. The burden was becoming too much. Hideo took a deep breath but had been alarmed by some shouting in the distance. The three had taken notice as a loud blast from a horn had been signaled from one of the posts. “We are in danger.” Hideo finally said to them. Within seconds, he had managed to spot the metallic surface of Yulia’s drone hovering just hundreds of feet above them. The machine let out a very faint buzz as it began to circle the village.
“What is that thing?” Rei asked as her heart began to race. The nature of the contraption only spread fear to the villagers. It had made its way past the monastery, sailing towards Hideo and the others. In a panic, Hideo had started to run back over towards the monastery, leaving Rei and Jin alone.
“Everybody, stay back!” Jin shouted to Rei and Hideo as he drew his sword in preparation for another pass. By that time, Hideo had already fled from the area. This had immediately caused Rei further distress. Instead of standing to fight, she had chosen to retreat—she had to track him down and get answers. Jin took his battle stance to defend against the drone while it approached overhead. After swooping over, it had started to turn in the air, finally coming around for another fly by.
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The Litvyak had maintained its position somewhere around 40,000 feet above the ground. At this altitude, the crew had been able to get a full 360-degree view of everything in the valley surrounding the village below. The sight over the clouds had stretched hundreds of miles, extending even further outwards to the sun as dusk approached. Vic had stared into the beautiful sunset while trying to think about the mission up ahead. It was time for a little relaxation. Inessa took a second to update her progress before trying to signal to him.
“Sir, we are about to enter hover-mode. You should take a seat,” Inessa said to him. Vic had acknowledged her by just turning towards his seat and getting ready for the switch. The very instant he had been seated, Inessa adjusted her headset to continue, “We’re approaching our destination now, everybody standby.”
Vic lightly gripped the arm rest of his chair in anticipation. The command to change gears had been sounded. Within moments, the crew had been greeted with a loud droning noise from the alarm.
“It’s going to get bumpy.” Inessa said aloud.
“This is the fun part!” Vic shouted back as the ship began to rumble. The front of the ship had steadily begun to climb, shifting the weight of the entire crew backwards. Inessa had begun to grind her teeth nervously as she could feel her body sinking into her chair. The turbines beneath the craft had begun to rotate, finally becoming perfectly flushed with the wings, and causing the ship to very steadily level out. The shaking had started to subside.
“We’ve safely entered hover-mode. The Litvyak is slowly descending to 35,000 feet,” Inessa declared as she reached for the controls. With a few quick presses, the ship’s public address had finally been triggered before she said, “All personnel, at ease.”
“Very nicely done.” Yuri commented from across the bridge. Inessa nodded warmly to him before being drawn towards Vic.
“I think you can take the night off. Excellent work, comrade.” Vic finally said to her.
“Thank you, sir.” she replied.
“We will head north at 0500. Yuri,” Vic turned to him, “make sure that the night shift is ready.”
“Will do,” Yuri replied. He had twitched for a second, drawing Vic’s attention as his head jolted again. “Sir, Yulia has informed me that she has finished getting footage from that village.”
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Hideo had a small shack adjacent to the monastery that had contained nothing more than some clothes, weapons, and other miscellaneous belongings. The drone had brought terror back into his heart, forcing him back into hiding. Outside of the shack, Rei approached cautiously.
“Hideo-san, are you there?” she asked softly, peering through the opening. Hideo had sat across the entrance in a corner. Once she stepped through, she asked, “What’s going on?”
“I tried to hide from them, but they found me.” Hideo’s hands trembled as he had barely managed to get the words out.
“Who found you?”
“There’s no easy way to explain this, but I’m going to need you to trust me when I say this,” he shook his head and began to try and get to his feet. Rei quickly rushed to his side, helping him up off the ground. “Everything I did was for a reason, and I knew that someday I would need you and Jin to pick up where I left off.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked once more. At that time, Jin had entered the shack.
“What is going on?” Jin finally inquired.
“There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense, but you both must come with me,” Hideo ordered them. He motioned for the two to follow as he began to make his exit. “I may have made some mistakes, but I will explain everything.”
Jin quickly reached out, grabbing a hold of Hideo’s forearm.
“What have you done?” Jin asked as he tried to hide his fear and frustration.
“Follow me, and I will explain,” Hideo said once more. “They might already be coming.”
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Vic had found himself by the terminal on the bridge staring into the mechanisms on the panel before him as they blinked at him. He took a moment to punch in a few commands on the keyboard. The screen ahead had started to display a set of gears in motion as a small text prompt had displayed “connecting” in the upper left, eventually causing the rest of the monitor to light up. The pixels had jolted across the display, eventually forming a clear picture of Yulia. “Good evening, sir. I have confirmed that there is a village here.” Yulia said after raising her hand to salute him. Vic waved his hand in response.
“At ease,” He replied. “Did you get the footage I wanted?”
“Yes sir. The locals were alarmed.”
“As they would be, they’re knuckle draggers,” Vic reached into his breast pocket and pulled a small plastic tube from within. He had opened the top, retrieving a pill from inside and placing it under his tongue. Instantly, the capsule released a small concoction that had greeted his mouth with a tingling sensation. He sighed in relief and said, “I want to go ahead and review it. Broadcast to the terminal at one point five times speed.”
The screen quickly flickered. Vic had finally felt a small rush of dopamine from the capsule shortly after the drone footage had started to play. The first minute of the video was a wide shot of the southern side of the village. There were a few small huts and the monastery in the view, but nothing else had stuck out. The picture had slowly started to produce some static.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“There’s some interference, give me a moment to refresh.” Yulia said after catching on.
“Go ahead.” he replied. The monitor had gone blank for a few seconds with the word “reconnecting” blinking in place. Vic placed the tube back into his pocket during the pause before looking back at her.
“Those are bad for you, sir.”
“I know, it’s just one of the many downsides of being human. Hope that you never have to deal with it,” Vic retorted. The footage had started to play again. From this angle, he could finally make out the shrine in the distance. “I’m surprised they were able to build all of this.”
“Our data had initially suggested that this entire area was deserted.”
“A lot of our intel is very dated. This war has kept us focused on the mainland and away from other fronts.”
Vic had started to ramble for a moment. The video continued, revealing Jin and Rei on the ground next to Hideo. All throughout the review, he had seen people on the ground scurrying away from the camera without hesitation. However, once the Hideo and the others had disappeared from frame, he felt the hairs on his neck rise. He leaned back in and told her, “Hold on, back up about ten seconds.”
The footage reeled back just a few seconds. Vic had glanced at the three once more, gaining a sense of déjà vu seeing Rei and Jin. The feeling had been confusing, but he tried to keep on the trail as Hideo came into the frame just a few seconds later. For the moment he was on screen, Vic could make out his face before seeing him turn away from the drone.
“Back up and zoom in on that guy.” Vic could feel the substance under his tongue combining with the adrenaline in his veins. On the screen, he finally got a clear view of Hideo.
“Who is this?”
“After all these years,” Vic muttered under his breath. Excited, he began to search on the terminal to try and download the image. “Great job. I am downloading this now.”
“Is everything ok, sir?”
“Yulia, my dear, you are the greatest gift.” Vic said warmly. Yulia had lit up after the compliment. Her cheeks had bloomed pink while her mouth had curled up, forming a contorted cat-like smile.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Stand by, I will call you back in just a few minutes.” He quickly pressed a few keys, ending the call. The screen went blank before the pixels had started to light up once more. Vic frantically reached for the container from his pocket as he typed in a command with his free hand. Amid retrieving another capsule, the monitor lit up, revealing a woman on the other end. She was younger than Vic, in her thirties. Her name was Melora. She had been dressed moderately with an overcoat, tie, and silky white undershirt. Over her eyes she had worn a small pair of spectacles that rested over her nose. Her green hair shimmered as the light from the window behind her shined through.
“I was not expecting you to call this soon.” Melora said to him after staring back at the receiver.
“We weren’t expecting to be ready for a few more days, but there’s been a development,” Vic said to her as he began to type away at the terminal. He quickly placed the capsule under his tongue like before, continuing, “I’m about to upload something one of our drones just collected.”
“I see it, but this doesn’t mean anything to me,” Melora said as Hideo’s face had appeared on the screen. She tilted her head to the side and asked, “Who is this guy?”
“Hideo-Jin-Ni.” Vic said firmly. Melora had tried to keep from jumping out of her seat. Although she was relatively young, she knew much about his work—Hideo had been a thorn in their side for many years.
“He’s been missing for decades. I didn’t think he would be all the way out here.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Well then,” Melora added as she adjusted her seat, “what do you want from me?”
“I want to do a full strike, and I need permission.”
“No way, you can’t get away with that one. We have so many resources and it might not be worth it going after him,” Melora turned her head back towards a small electronic tablet to her right. With her left hand, she reached over to drop the call. “Keep on with the mission.”
“There’s a whole village of them now,” Vic said as fast as he could. Melora stopped just an inch short from the button and leaned back in. “It’s a training camp, there’s a couple hundred, maybe more. They have an army with one of Liberation’s former leaders at the helm just waiting to strike.”
“I’m listening.” Melora instantly felt a chill as she whispered back.
“Twenty years ago, he led them in several successful attacks that killed hundreds. We managed to snub out most of the resistance, but we never did get him,” Vic leaned forward and closer to the screen. “One day, he just disappeared, Liberation fizzled out, and things went back to normal. Now, fast forward a few decades, enemy forces are making moves around our territory, and it turns out ahead of intel that enemy forces are starting another offensive, we find that a key figure training an entire army. Back then, they had small numbers, but they were exceedingly difficult to deal with when they had the equipment.”
“I see where you’re going with this.”
“Do you think it will be good for us once O.W.O. forces in the area arm ten times the number of Liberation forces? Did you think Hideo was a problem? Try one hundred of them. Do you think the Premiere would want us taking a chance?” Vic asked rhetorically while slowly backing away from the screen. He spoke again, “These knuckle draggers by default don’t stand a chance against us, but if they get the equipment then we won’t have a chance trying to combat them in the field. There’s a possibility they could be assembling other forces in the area. Give me one of the cyborgs and I’ll flatten that village. You get the data, none of our human forces get hurt, we stop this uprising, and then we finally win the war.”
“Alright, I get it. Make it quick, quiet, and no survivors.” Melora finally demanded before pressing to end the call. Vic had only begun to swell with excitement now that he had the ok. Yuri had stepped over to him, gazing down at him with his fiery red hair and blue eyes.
“I’m ready for your orders.” he spoke.
“Get me the troops on the oncoming shift on standby and prep a drop ship. I’m not taking any chances with this one.” Vic finally ordered.
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Hideo had led the two across the village and towards the shrine again. There had only been one troop posted in front, as usual. “You there,” Hideo pointed to the man guarding the door. “You’re dismissed for the night.”
The order had puzzled the man on post along with the others. However, he had taken no time at all to bow and make his way home.
“Why would you do that?” Jin asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hideo grabbed onto the handle of the door. With a quick press, the door had slid open to reveal the scrolls inside. “Come quick, we don’t have long.”
Rei stepped past before leading Jin into the building. The two had scanned the inside of the shrine, seeing that it was still barren and covered with dust. Hideo glanced over towards the furthest wall to see a few urns sitting below the scrolls.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the inside of this place before.” Rei said as she scaled the room.
“This area is for the elders only. Of course, sometimes you might have somebody slip through,” Hideo said to her. For a second, Rei thought of her encounter with Tetsu months earlier and the following battle. “The only thing I worried about was somebody finding this.”
Hideo had reached down towards the floor and grabbed onto the edge of an old shaggy rug that had been resting there for ages. Jin stepped away and watched as his father began tapping his fingers across the wooden beams beneath. Near the edge of one of the boards, Hideo had managed to slide his fingers down the side and through the floor. He signaled for them to step back before giving a pull. There was a loud creak. Following a brief struggle, Hideo finally dislodged the large plank from the deck.
“You’re going to break it!” Jin proclaimed after hearing the wood snap.
“It doesn’t matter after this.” Hideo replied as he tossed the large piece to the side. The moldy smell of dirt from the area below had started to creep up from beneath the floor. In the dwelling below, a large staircase had stretched down towards a metal door.
“How long has this been here?” Jin asked as he peered into the dark hallway.
“Decades ago, when I had returned from my journey, I had to hide something here.”
“I barely remember that,” Jin had instantly recalled some of his earliest memories. Years earlier, he had remembered helping his mother during her final days. For part of his life, it was just him and her alone while Hideo had left the village. He spoke, “You told me when I was younger that you were lost.”
“I was,” Hideo nodded and stepped over towards a few candles that had been lit previously. After grabbing hold of the candlestick beneath it, he made his way towards the stairs. “I was young, and I had decided to leave the village. It was nothing more than a mission, but I had found something bigger.”
“Enough of your cryptic nonsense, explain yourself!” Jin demanded angrily.
“Please, follow me. We do not have much time.”
Rei nodded in response, immediately following him towards the stairs. Jin relented, trailing closely as the three continued down the steps and towards the door. It had been covered in rust from countless years of neglect. The front of the door contained some writing across the top.
“What does that mean?” Rei asked Hideo after inspecting the words.
“This is something that the people of the ancient world called a fallout shelter,” Hideo replied. “This area was meant to keep people safe from some type of weapon. We do not know what happened to the people who lived here, as there is a lot about the old world we do not know.”
“Do you mean that Shugo was telling the truth the whole time?” She felt her spirits starting to rise. Jin tried to remain calm.
“I do not know what he told you, but he must have known more about it than we may have thought. When the village was young, we had not decided what to do with this area,” Hideo had grabbed onto the handle for the door, giving it another tug. “I was trying to keep us away from the outside world.”
Jin lowered his head again. The large metal hatch finally opened, revealing a small shelter beneath. Inside, there was nothing more than a partially empty bookshelf.
“Why would you hide this stuff?” Jin brought himself to finally ask.
“All of this may sound devious, but after I returned, we had no choice but to cut ourselves off. I had gone off on my journey and found myself fighting another battle.” Hideo stepped over to the shelf. He placed the candlestick on top, causing it to illuminate two robes folded neatly on the top row. “When I came back, the elders and myself at the time had chosen to destroy what remnants of the old world remained. After that, we finally chose to cut off the outside world. We could not risk anybody finding out I was here.”
“Why though?” Rei asked as she glanced over.
“I was afraid that the trouble would find its way here. We managed to stay hidden for a few decades, but they are going to be here soon,” Hideo added as he lifted the first robe from the shelf. Rei was captivated instantly by its design. “Hurry up and put this on.”
“You’re leaving a lot of details out of this,” Jin said.
“There is no time to explain,” Hideo said after pushing the suit into Rei’s hands. “We need to be ready to stop the enemy before they get here.”
Hideo forced the second robe into his hands. Jin lifted it closer to his face, glancing at the insignia on the front and then thinking back. None of this had landed. Jin only found himself starting to think of the final days of his mother’s life.
“Did you abandon mom and I?” Jin asked him. There were no words spoken by Rei or Hideo.
“I did not! When I had left the village, I was forced into this fight. If I did not do it, then they might have come sooner.” Hideo said to him.
“We needed you. Mom thought that you were dead, not off fighting some battle that does not affect us!” Jin’s confusion and anxiety over the situation continued to surmount as he spoke.
“Jin, I was going to explain this one day when you were old enough, but I did not count on them finding me,” Hideo reached to him, trying to calm him as he placed his hands to his shoulder. “I need you to put this on. It's a combat suit meant to increase your dexterity and strength. The enemy is very advanced, and we will not have any chance without it.”
“She was sick. There have been so many people who have died because we couldn’t leave the village,” Jin started to squeeze the cloth in his hand as his voice trembled. “So many of us have been punished over your sick little system. For what? To keep us safe?”
“Jin, please stop,” Rei interrupted him. She had been just as confused as him but chose to listen. She reminded him, “You told me before that it's for the bigger picture.”
“Bigger picture? We could have allied with other villages and increased our strength,” Jin added before turning to Hideo. “But we had to bury our heads in the dirt to hide you. You brought them here! What do you expect us to do?”
“Please, put these on. I am not going to let them destroy the village. They want me. What I need now is for you both to be prepared for a counterstrike. We may need to evacuate tonight.”
“You just ran away from your problems and expected the young to prop you up, coward!” Jin finally said before throwing the cloth back towards him. The robe had landed over Hideo’s face before sliding down into his arms. In that moment, Jin had made his way back up to the surface. As Rei walked to the few steps, Hideo intervened and called out to her.
“Please, don’t go,” he pleaded with her. Rei had stopped in place and faced him. “I saved these for you both.”
“Why me though?” Rei asked him.
Hideo had been visually disheveled from the thought. For the first time in years, he had started to think of the days of the war. He looked back down to the floor, and with a tear running down his cheek finally said, “Because I broke a promise."