The air was alight with energy, a large group around me, dwarfed in size by those in the plaza. Most of those that were with me were Legion, but a few were contacts from the Bulwark. Most that were gathered now had been given a detailed sheet of what to expect in the next few minutes, and a strong urging to remain for the event.
A strong urging. Worded quite politically by Doug, now verily known as one of my most trusted advisors and our public relations specialist in general. Although, I gave them an out, to the individuals who truly had no interest in being there for the event that would be a blend between a celebration and our public council.
That out was to look for our missing team. By now the likelihood that they were just forgetting to check their messages was wholly unlikely. Beyond that, Louis didn’t strike me as the type to have ignored an emergency summons. They’d missed out on the raid on the hive, at the time I could only spare a few teams for a cursory search.
Now, they were entirely missing, and a report about a new strain of biotic up north did not bode well. It was doubtful that such was just a coincidence.
The problem was that the area was rife with basic biotics, even though we’d been clearing them quickly. I wondered why, but decided that my teams would be up to the task of bringing them to heel. Especially considering how many of them got upgrades, and not simple ones either. One team had even invested all their funds in color coded mechs, and hilariously enough, named themselves the Rangers. I had to wonder how much they liked that show, or if they’d change it up later.
I brought my attention back to the seventy or so individuals around me, a few new faces from the Bulwark for a show of solidarity. Among them, James Maddoc clustered closely with Doug Vanderhew, speaking animatedly to a few individuals who would likely be approached by the public, helping to give them talking points. They didn’t go over much with me, though that was because I insisted to give only a few brief words and then surrender the podium. That wasn’t what I wanted for the face of the Legion to the public.
Granted, we would be the stars of the show. Myself, Daniel, Fran, Alice, and Terry, our exploits during the raid and our continued exposure from time to time to the public hadn’t gone unnoticed, and the public seemed fixated on information about us. Supposedly. I honestly hadn’t wandered around since this whole thing began, but Daniel, Fran, and Terry all stated that they were bombarded with questions whenever they went out. Alice was too hard to track, so she escaped the crowds, though I doubted she wanted to be crowded around too much by people she didn’t know either.
There were others, though, that had earned their place. Richard, Tabitha, and Yomar, who was currently sitting in a wheelchair so as to not strain his wounds. He’d woken up only an hour ago, but he insisted on being here. I couldn’t in good conscience deny that. Without them, I don’t know if we would have been able to kill the Hive Queen. It was no small thing, and they deserve the spotlight.
Towering behind us was a large structure obscured by a tarp. It was six meters tall, and the tarp twisted slightly with the thing beneath it, a gentle spin. That would be another topic for the public deal with.
I approached Doug, eyeing the large stage that had been set up in front of the Legion headquarters, the plaza already full to bursting, the obelisk sitting in the center with hundreds of onlookers. Some hadn’t been so close to the obelisk, and now that security had largely been lifted, many touched it directly, admiring the smooth and shiny metal. Buildings that had yet to be repurposed had people looking out of windows, and a few had seats set up, some on top of broken down cars.
“Are we ready?” I asked Doug, who turned to me with a bright smile. James, even seemed to be exuding a palpable layer of confidence, they were infectious. Everyone they spoke to seemed to relax, it was hard not too with that self-assuredness.
“Of course, this’ll be a walk in the park.” Doug chuckled and patted my shoulder, gently guiding our path away from some others, closer to the venue itself. “I’ll be taking the first part, but then you’re up.”
James came up on my other side, “You remember what your topics are?”
I shook my head, “Introduce myself officially, shed light on what we’ve done and what we’re doing in the future, and then hand off to Fran for details.”
They looked to each other, “Well, don’t be too brief.”
This time I sighed audibly, “Look, I’ll do my best here, but I’m not a wizard at this kind of thing.”
Doug looked at me oddly at my comment, “Well, it’s not like I expect that. Actually, I’d recommend that you just not take it too seriously. Granted, that’s not advice I would tend to give someone in a representative position, but I think that would be our best bet.”
That almost sounded like he thought I’d mess up if I put too much effort into it. I decided to ignore that possible interpretation, aside from the potential that he was right, I just didn’t think I could put that much energy into this over and over, so why start off with it?
James put a hand to his ear, looking over to Fran and Daniel who gave him a thumbs up, surrounded by a combination of Bulwark and Legion, covering topics and going over general plans and details.
Beyond the details of the day, Fran and Alice were taking over on planning something of a celebration, to let the Legion, Bulwark, and people mingle. It seemed like a great idea, but I supposed that would really depend on how the reception of this went. Part of me worried that the people might reject our presence, that we were denying the general populace from getting easy Matter Energy or the like.
As our people moved into place on the huge stage, I realized my concerns were for nothing. All at once the people started cheering, the wave of sound hitting me like a physical slap. I felt my feet nearly falter in that moment, but it was then that I realized that James and Doug weren’t at my sides for no reason. They carried forward, keeping me from being able to freeze, guiding me forward ever so subtly. I found myself amused at that, but couldn’t keep from grinning widely as I watched my fellow Legionaries have their own moments of shock. In fact, the only people who didn’t falter were countable on two hands.
At the approach, the cheering somehow mounted, and then broke away just for a breath as Daniel’s mech climbed to the podium behind everyone, dwarfing the normal man. But even beyond that, the ten other large mechs, each less elegant and vicious appearing than Daniel’s, but rugged and clearly sturdy. Each hardpoint was devoid of any weapon, and clearly they were a notch lower than my best-friends own hulking monster, but nevertheless, it was impressive that they’d found something that they could use. Beyond them, the deluge of Legion who bore personalized weapons and armor, far more bedecked than the day before. The commonality between them all was a cloth band, or a painted insignia, the holographic red skull of The Reaper’s Legion seeming to almost shine in the light.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
‘Smith,’ I thought to my A.I. counterpart with a growing amount of mischievousness, ‘Can we access the local lights from HQ and the plaza?’
[Hmm?... Oh. Yes. Yes we can indeed.] I could virtually feel the relish and giddiness coming from him. I trusted him to know the right timing. The lights that cast a glow over the plaza and kept everything well illuminated. They were, however, all hooked up to our generator.
Ohhh this was going to be good.
Doug stepped up to the podium, double wide to facilitate two individuals at once. James flanked him, both the symbol for the Bulwark and the Legion side by side there on a holographic screen. The black and red shining skull contrasted wildly with the white, blue, and gold design that the Bulwark had. It was new, I noted, because they hadn’t even really had much of anything beyond a hastily put together shield symbol before. Now, while it still looked like a shield, had an adornment of golden patterns that made it look almost regal. I would never expect two such symbols to match. And yet, somehow, I thought it looked quite right.
“Thank you! Thank you all!” Doug shouted out, his voice amplifying across the plaza from the speakers in front of him. The crowds cheering intensified, and I wondered if it was because of the restoration of electricity here, or because they were just happy to see all of us.
“For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Doug Vanderhew, and I’ve been a long time servant of this city, and have been given the opportunity to represent The Reaper’s Legion in public relations. Allow my friend to introduce himself,” Doug nodded to James then, who seamlessly stepped up.
Sharply and professionally, he answered, “I am James Maddoc, many of you know me as a commanding officer here in Gilramore. I am now also a part of The Bulwark to protect this proud city and its people. And I’m the main liaison to the Legion, and we’re here to deliver the public some critical information, and to set the stage for continued interactions.”
“But, we all know you didn’t come here just for us!” Doug stepped in perfectly, and then swept his arms out to the Legion behind him, “Give ‘em another hand!”
And they did. To my absolute embarrassment, they thundered their applause, and no small part of myself wondered how these people even knew what we’d done. Of course, the look in Doug’s eye as he briefly focused on me told me all I needed to know about that. I doubted he did it alone either, considering how smug James looked, too.
“Well get to the nitty gritty, but first, a very special man has a few words for all of you! Please welcome the Reaper himself!” Doug continued, fanning the flames. He and James stepped off all at once, and watched me, my queue to step up plainly obvious. And then for a few seconds nothing happened, and they, if only for a moment, looked at me with concern.
I almost wanted to laugh then, but managed to keep it down, though I wanted to burst into maniacal laughter.
‘Smith.’ I thought to him.
[Understood.] His simple, and yet deep voice reverberated in my head. All at once the lights died, enveloping the world in utter darkness. In a world without light, and all light on my person extinguished, there was no focus. A tremor ran through the air, confusion, a taste of fear.
The sound from the crowd died in that darkness.
And then, slowly, their attention focused on a needle point. A blazing red skull lit across my helmet, digitized, it was a lantern in the dark. And then, almost at once, the HQ behind me began to light up as well, specific lights, holographic displays, and everything that Smith could find lit up red as well, until suddenly the only thing anyone could see was our symbol cast in resplendent, crimson light. And then, one by one at first but picking up rapidly, it seemed that each Legionnaire was cast in a red glow, the symbol on their bodies, wherever it was, shining as brightly as my own mask.
My voice rang out into the darkness.
[“And the Reaper and his Legion cometh”] My and Smith’s voice came across the speaker’s at once. There was a visible recoil, a shiver of excitement in the crowd.
Like a shot of adrenaline, the crowd exploded in sound and energy. I felt my bones shake, the podium rattle, and as they kept crying out, I felt the light grow even brighter. Subtly the lights elevated gradually drawing away the red light to a more comfortable degree. Behind me, my helmet let me see the looks on people's faces, and the look on Doug’s face was the biggest reward of all. He looked like a kid in a candy store, and he wasn’t the only one. Perhaps I could get used to this, if I got to be this theatrical all the time. No. Exactly because of that I shouldn’t do this all the time. I wanted every time to be like this.
I spoke up, breaking the cheering as I rose both hands. They quieted down, and I felt a brief tremor run down my spine. I could really get used to that.
“I am the Reaper, and my Legion stands behind me. We have brought you all before us to share in our vision, to celebrate with us in our success, and to always remember the fallen.” I began, feeling the carefully selected lines that we’d practiced before this meeting melt away as I embraced Doug’s advice. A somber tone fell over the crowd as I finished my words.
I continued before they could go too far down that line of thought, “As many of you likely know, our Legion successfully exterminated a biotic hive, one with creatures we’ve never seen before. In so doing, we shattered the onslaught facing our city, and destroyed them all.”
At that, the energy picked back up, and I continued after giving them a few moments. “However!” I quieted them, “Though we should celebrate, we should never forget that a Reaper’s task is never ending. And thus we will continue our hunts, and we will continue to destroy biotics outside of our city. This, I promise.” The crowd decried their approval.
“But, no hunt is without risk, no war without loss,” My tone dropped, and I gestured to the structure behind us, a whole six meters tall. A few individuals tore the tarp from the construct, revealing what lay beneath.
A multi-layered, shining statue of onyx and gold that vaguely resembles a double-helix structure towered five meters, suspended in the air by a meter with magnetics. It was a combined effort of thought by a few of us, and each bracket currently bore a name, and a place.
To me, one name stood out among the rest, Ziek Callum, who gave his life trying to save a fellow Legionnaire in the mines. He fell, a good man that deserved better.
“Those who fall should never be forgotten. They are those who paid the ultimate price. They are the ones who will remind us of why the Legion exists, and I ask you all to never forget that.” I turned my attention back to the crows as their mood cooled. Satisfied with that, I turned my attention to a select few behind me, “But for every fallen, there also exists those who rise. Please come forward as I call you. Yomar Ebbernick, Richard Borham, Tabitha Daughtry.” They all came forward, their faces stoic, though I could tell that Yomar and Richard were not quite what you could call comfortable being in front of so many people.
“Thanks to the efforts of these three and our fallen comrade, Ziek Callum, we were able to destroy the Hive. Without them, and those like them in the future, we would not be able to stand against the biotics. Without any of these people before you, biotics would run loose. All we ask is that you remember us. Who will you remember?”
The crowd shouted out, but not as one. I tried again, “Who will you remember!?” I shouted.
Then it clicked.
“We remember the Legion!” I smiled, and then all at once the lights went out once more.
I walked past Doug and James, patting them on the shoulders. “All yours.”
They helplessly shook their heads as I disappeared from the stage, quickly retreating through the Legion, slipping between them and going into our HQ.
The lights came on all at once, and Doug and James stood on the podium with a chuckle.
“Well, folks, that’s a hard one to follow up on, right?”
Laughter came from all around at that. I had to hand it to them, they could roll well with improvisation.
Though, I definitely needed to get out of there, I felt my palms getting clammy about halfway through. Definitely not something I wanted to do too much.
But, maybe sometimes. Yeah, that’d be alright… Now I just needed to check and see if I could get my hands on any more upgrades.