Chapter 25 - Monster - Part 1

Gashrian Planes - Dawn

Simon sat alone in the carriage, sipping tea quietly with his eyes closed, "We need to talk, Suavi."

The hair on the back of her stood on end, "Y-You noticed me? H-How? Wait, you know my name?"

Simon shook his head, took another sip of tea, and gently set the cup down before opening his eyes and speaking in a stern tone while patting the bench beside him, "Sit."

She shivered slightly before his piercing gaze and glanced over towards the still sleeping Kayae by the firepit while Simon hands her a warm cup of tea, "Fine."

"Drink," He orders while gesturing towards the teacup.

Suavi's pale blue eyes glow brightly as she stares into the tea.

Checking for poison? But how?

"Hump. I'm honestly surprised it's not poisoned," Suavi rolls her eyes and stares in the opposite direction before jumping up slightly, startled by Simon's sudden fit of laughter.

"Poison? Do you really think I would need poison to kill someone like you?"

Suavi faces Simon with wide eyes. A cruel grin that shows off his teeth is spread across his face.

"You really are a monster."

Simon rubs his beard thoughtfully for a moment, "I am what the world needed me to be. Nothing more, nothing less."

Suavi shakes her head with eyes wide open, "W-What kind of world needs a monster like you?"

Simon spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, gazing into his cup, "A world filled with monsters far worse than me. A world I failed to protect."

"A world you failed to protect? Not even an abomination like you could protect it?" Suavi stared down at her tea and gazed into her own reflection.

"What do you see when you look at me?"

"Everything."

Simon finally lifted his head and stared at the small girl beside him, "Everything?"

Suavi nodded her head, "Everything. Lust, Gluttony, and Greed. Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. Acedia and Vainglory, I see them all within you. Everything a soul is supposed to resist, yet you cling to them, draw strength from them. I see the souls of those you've slain crying out in agony swirling around you. I see their last moments, the terror in their eyes, the horrible ways they died, and the regrets they carry. I also see a gaping wound in your heart and an inescapable void where your soul should be."

Simon nods his head silently while staring down at the cup in his hand with a sad smile, "So, that's why you call me a monster."

"What else could you be?"

"A soldier."

"Liar. I've seen soldiers. None of them are as abominable as you."

"Maybe. They haven't seen the things I've seen. They haven't been forced to do the things I've done."

"Liar."

Simon looks up from his cup and stares into Suavi's eyes, "You say you can see the souls of those I've killed surrounding me. How many do you see?"

One of Suavi's eyebrows lifts upwards as her eyes start to glow. "One hundred, no, maybe two hundred." Her shoulders droop slightly before Simon gently squeezes her free hand.

"That's enough. You can stop. I've already found out what I needed to know."

The glow in Suavi's eyes dissipates as she returns to the world of the living, "What did you need to know?"

"You call me a liar, but I could do the same. You claim you can see everything with your eyes, but you can't even see the surface."

Simon's hand shoots out to stop Suavi as her eyes start to glow brighter than before. He doesn't make it. Suddenly Suavi falls off the carriage and hits the ground hard, convulsing uncontrollably. Vomit escapes from her mouth as urine pools between her legs. Kuritn starts to rush over to the fallen girl, but a raised hand from Simon stops him in his tracks. After giving a slight bow, Kuritn returns to his station and continues preparing breakfast for the convoy. Simon hops down off the wagon and scoops the shaking girl into his arms before returning inside the wagon.

"I tried to stop you," Simon says between closed eyes.

Suavi remains unresponsive with her eyes wide open. Slowly Simon closes the girl's eyes and gently strokes her short blue hair.

Before long, Kuritn comes to the wagon and delivers two portions of breakfast. Simon uses this moment to order him to keep Kayae far away from the wagon when she awakens. No matter what she says or does. The elderly man's eyes peer at the blue-haired girl in his arms, and he nods his head once before departing. Shortly after, the predicted scene plays out as Kayae awakens only to be forcibly dragged off by Kuritn and the other men. Simon briefly peers out of the wagon and sees a depressed Kayae quietly eating her meal with the rest of the men.

Simon looks down at the girl clutching the sleeve of his coat tightly, "Are you awake?"

Suavi nods her head quietly while burying her face in his chest, "Do not look at me with those eyes again. Do you understand?"

Again she nods before speaking in a fearful voice, "W-What were those things?"

Simon closes his eyes and shakes his head while squeezing Suavi tightly.

Ah, She saw them.

"I don't know. Monster, demon, devil, cosmic horrors conceived by the darkest night, we called them many things. None of the names seemed to aptly describe what they are so we eventually just gave up and called them 'them'."

"Y-you fought those things. Entire seas, oceans of them. Alone and you won."

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"I wasn't alone and that was no victory."

"But you were in the end. You stood alone against that foul tide until they swallowed you. Yet you returned."

Simon shakes his head, recalling the event she had seen. The fall of Saturn.

Saturn - Orbital Habitation Ring - City 7 - 3142 AD

"Sir! How the fuck did they get here?! Why isn't the defense grid firing at them?!"

"I don't fucking know! Just shut up and keep firing! Echo Squad, move those damned turrets and cover the evac shuttles!"

A giant blast knocks Simon to the ground, struggling to his feet with ears ringing. He slowly looks to the side and watches as darkness consumes one of the nearby soldiers. Long black tendrils reach into the sky from the soldier's mouth as he tries to scram in horror before dissolving from the inside out. All that remains is a puddle of black liquid that turns the ground around it into jagged black rocks.

Suddenly a man is shaking his shoulder, and Simon turned to face him.

He's speaking?

{Artoria, what is he saying?}

A low muffled sound echoes inside his head.

{Artoria? I can't hear you.}

Again the muffled sound appears. He turns his head back towards the man holding his shoulder and notices him pointing towards the orbital defense guns off in the distance. They had become blackened and charred, slowly turning into mist.

{Ah. They destroyed the orbital defense grid.}

"-mon! We've got to move!"

"Artoria! What the hell is going on with him! We can't stay here!"

"I don't know! I've already repaired the damage caused by the blast!"

"God damn it, snap the fuck out of it already, Simon!"

Abraham delivers a powerful slap across Simon's face, bringing him back to his senses, "Abraham, Gather the remaining squads. Jack, Quincey, go with him. Now. We'll regroup outside the civilian evacuation point."

"Sir!" Abraham gives Simon a quick salute and dashes off across the city-turned battlefield.

Simon turns towards the only remaining man beside him, "Arthur, How the fuck did they get past the defense grid on Jupiter?"

"Sir, According to the communications team, we received a report of their arrival in the solar system from the outpost on Pluto three hours ago."

"Three hours ago?!" he screamed "Why the fuck wasn't anyone told!"

"Sir! The message was in Russian morse code. Command believes the operator responsible for sending the message panicked and didn't have time to translate it into English before the outpost was destroyed. It took some time to find someone capable of translating the report!"

Simon slams his fist down on a nearby metal crate, crushing it instantly. "This kind of thing is exactly what General Ironwood said would happen! We aren't divided by countries anymore! We need a standardized language already!"

"Agreed, Sir. But now's not the time for this!"

Simon nods his head while checking his rifle, "Aye, It's not. Artoria, Have the comms relays been destroyed yet?"

"Yes, They went down when the defense grid was hit."

"Fucking idiots. If we survive this, I'm going to rip the heart out of whoever decided to place the comms relays next to the guns. Arthur, since the comms are toast, go find General Ironwood. Last I heard, he was still in command bunker alpha. Tell him what happened and get him on a shuttle, alive. I don't care if you have to drag that bastard onto it or if you have to knock him out. Get it done."

"Sir!" Arthur salutes and runs off in the direction of the command bunker. Meanwhile, Simon heads towards the rally point by the evac shuttles.

{How is the evacuation going?}

{The last report I was able to access showed that roughly 12% of the population has managed to escape the city. No word from cities 3-6. It's likely they were wiped out before they could even react.}

{Shit. Please tell me High Command at least ordered a full-scale evacuation, not just some bullshit half-measure order like relocating the civilians to city 1.}

Silence.

{Artoria.}

{All remaining forces have been ordered to regroup at city 1 and hold the position at all costs. All evacuation shuttles are to head towards city 1. According to High Command, reinforcements from earth and mars are on the way.}

{Reinforcements? They have no fucking idea what we are dealing with. We'll be long dead before those ships even reach fucking orbit.} Simon shakes his head as he arrives at the rally point.

"Aberham, Status report!"

"30 shuttles have already been launched! Jack and Quincy are on the way back with another group of survivors as we speak."

"Have you seen Arthur or General Ironwood yet?"

"No, Sir. Are they heading here?"

"Yes. Have a shuttle prepared for them immediately. I want the general off this fucking ring the second they arrive."

"Understood!"

"Now then." Simon stares out atop the severely damaged boundary wall protecting the evacuation point. "All units, Hold the line. Not one of these bastards gets past us while we draw breath. The civis didn't sign up for this. We did. At least ya'll did. If anyone tries to run and board a shuttle." A single shot reverberates across the evac site as a feeling soldier collapses onto the ground. "I'll kill you myself."

--- 10 Minutes later ---

"Lieutenant!"

Simon turns to the person shouting at him from below the wall and swiftly jumps off, landing in front of him and giving a quick salute. "Sir!"

"Cut the bullshit! We don't have time for that. The city is lost. Get those men on shuttles already!"

Simon shakes his head once, "Sir, Please rescind the order to relocate to City 1. We have to retreat."

General Ironwood's face fills with rage as he shouts, "No shit! I already have! If we make it out of this mess, I'm going to execute the fools responsible for issuing that order!"

Simon salutes sharply between bared teeth, "Sir, requesting permission to assist in the execution."

General Ironwood laughs loudly, "Granted. Now let's get the hell o-"

A large object smashes against the nearby wall causing it to collapse, crushing everyone on top and below.

"You can't be fucking serious."

"Sir, that's a -"

Simon, Artoria, and Ironwood all speak at once. "Behemoth."

Simon grabs the General by the neck and hurls him towards a shuttle. Seconds later, the behemoth's front leg strikes him and sends him flying through the air. He manages to land safely by rolling across the ground, but his arm is broken. Arthur starts to run towards him but is stopped by Simon's orders.

"Don't worry about me, and do your fucking job already!"

The man quickly turns around and spots General Ironwood already on his feet rushing toward the behemoth. Clenching his teeth hard enough for blood to seep from his gums, he nods his head and throws the kicking and screaming general to the ground. Jack and Quincy arrive quickly and help suppress the large man, followed by Abraham and a squad of soldiers. The General breaks away from them three times before one of the men eventually knocks the general unconscious and loads him onto the last remaining shuttle.

Simon can see the quiet gaze of his men through the shuttle's window as they disappear across the horizon. He wipes the blood from his mouth with his remaining good arm and reaches for his sidearm before charging at the behemoth head-on.