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Ehrgeiz
The image fades into a dark bedroom lined with posters. There is a CD player on the far wall blasting heavy metal. Outside the window, cars are drifting by at high speeds. The streets 40 stories below are filled with business people, fitness walkers, and hobos alike. Back in the room, a figure beneath the covers on the bed begins to shuffle a little… Then a little more… The covers shoot off and up springs a young man of about the age of 17. The sleep in his eyes and the bed-head are quickly shaken off as he realizes his alarm has been drowned by the music for the past hour and a half. “Damn! Slept in again…!” He exclaims aloud. The boy quickly leaps from his bed feet-first, slamming his feet down on the cold, hard floor. He quickly grabs a pair of black pants from a pile of random clothing, and then a shirt. He reaches into his closet from over the pile and pulls out a charcoal-colored work shirt, blackened in many places from burns and hot pieces of metal. “Looks like I’m taking my board to work…” The boy then run to the far side of the room near the window and grabs a long, wide board, but no wheels. “Here we go!” The boy leaps head-first from his window, with board in one hand, work shirt in the other. Cars honk and beep, nearly hitting the boy straying in their airborne paths. 40 stories… 35 stories… 20 stories… The boy quickly throws the board to his feet, with a long cable attached to the now-visible engine on the end of the board. He squeezes down on a red button close to his ring finger, and the engine whirs to life. Thruster ports under the board light up with a red glow. And as he pushes in on the throttle with his thumb, the red quickly fades to blue. Closing in on the street bottom, the board rights itself and the boy lurches forward as the board screams over the peoples heads. He is quickly engulfed in the sonic boom created from the velocity of his stunt, stricken with a silly face of “friggin’ ouch!” as his ears pop. “Every time… I swear I gotta stop doing that…” The boy rockets off to work.
The boy on the board speeds over a densely wooded road, covered in many fallen trees and dead ends. “Oh man… Johannes is gonna kill me…” the boy thinks to himself. He closes in on a large, warehouse-like building, with many boarded windows (mostly from the boy crashing through them from being late). “I better play it safe and land on the roof…” The boy leans to the front of the board, putting all the weight on his rear foot. As the board begins its incline, the boy grabs the front of the board once it is pointed nearly straight up. As he speeds up past the windows, he is caught off-guard by a hand that shoots out from an open window. The hand grabs him, and he grabs the board. “(Oh crap…) Ahh… Hey! Johnny! What’s up?” A man stares angrily at the boy, pulling him into the window. The man’s name is Johannes Himelslander, a master blacksmith and gunsmith that raised the boy personally. Tall and dark of skin, Johannes was closing in on his older age of 75. “Umm…. Yeah, sorry I’m late Johnny. There was a problem with my alarm clock!” The boy exclaims. “Yeah yeah, it’s always that alarm clock, Leo. Maybe if you didn’t fall asleep with that damn music on, you might hear it in the morning!” Johannes tells the boy. “Now get up and get to work! We gotta get this shipment for this month done by the end of the week!” Johannes smacks Leo on the back of his head, as he scrambles to his feet. “Y-yessir!” Leo Fatima was an orphan all his life and the most he could remember was his own name. He had no recollection of his mother, and never knew his father. Despite this fact, he had grown up to be a lazy and indecisive (and sometimes arrogant), but he was a very strong-willed, strong-headed young man. He was found in an alley way at the age of 4 by Johannes at the start of the Great War. Johannes raised him to the best of his ability (despite never having any children of his own), so naturally he gets a little flustered when Leo screws off. Leo runs over to his workstation (cluttered and stuffy as always), and fires up his bellows. “Johnny! Same thing as yesterday?” Leo yells over. “Yes, and make sure you bore the barrel out to .418 this time! You damn near made me kill myself the other day when you bored it almost a quarter-inch too small! The damn gun blew up in my hands!” Johannes yelled. “Sorry, I’ll get it right, I promise!” Leo ensured.
“Okay, okay… Hey, why did you fire up the bellows? You don’t need them for these gun parts.” Johannes asks.
“Well, you see, I’ve had this great idea for a new weapon. It’s a mix between a specially-designed revolver, and a sword! I call it, the ‘Gunblade’!”
“Gunblade, huh? Whatever… As long as we get the shipment for the army done, then you can screw around with your little toys whenever we finish ALL the guns.”
“Okay, okay… Ya know, you seem pretty stingy today, old man.”
*WHACK!!*
“Oww! The hell was THAT for?!” Leo yelled.
“Oh, you know… You were only AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE TODAY!” The old man retorted. As Leo worked, Johannes “Johnny” Himelslander continuously came back from checking on other workers to breathe down Leo’s neck all day. The image fades to black…
It is a few days later, and the shipment for the army’s new rifles has been finished. The scene fades into Leo, hammering a rather large piece of metal down, for the use of a blade. As he works the metal, his mind begins to wander… He is 4 years old again, huddled into a soggy cardboard box during a rain storm. Everything seems pitch-black, with the exception of the lighting. All he can think is
“Why am I here?”
“Where’s mom?”
“Where’s dad?”
He then remembers Johannes walking by, catching Leo from the corner of his eye. “Well, isn’t this so cliché, my young friend!” a younger Johannes jokes. Johannes took him home that day, feeding him and bathing him and giving him a real home… “I can’t believe how kind Johnny’s been to me… It all seems so surreal…” Leo thinks to himself, still working the metal into a fine blade. He continues to pound then fold, pound then fold, much like the techniques used to fashion old Japanese Katanas. Leo remembers how Johannes began to treat him as a son, and began teaching him the ways of a blacksmith. He taught him many things, like how to construct firearms and fine blades… But he taught him much more at the same time… Patience, honor, integrity… With each strike of the hammer, Johannes taught him a fact of life… “Man… Now that I think about it, I’ve been a royal screw-ball sometimes…” Leo goes back to a day when he was arrested for a fist fight. Johannes approached Leo, whom was sitting down on a bench with his head down, letting his shaggy hair cover a few bruises and a black eye. “Well, let’s see ya then, Leo” the old man said. Leo reluctantly lifted his head, allowing Johannes to see the black eye. “He messed you up good, didn’t he?” Johannes exclaims. Leo retorts with, “Hah, if you think this is bad, you should see what I did to him!” And as Leo said that, the other boy was being loaded into an ambulance, with a broken arm and a few fractured ribs (not to mention many missing teeth and a broken nose). “Just so you know… HE started it. I swear it” Leo says. Leo smiled at this fond memory, as Johannes wasn’t angry with him that day. The statement went “I’m not mad at you, nor am I disappointed, but seeing THAT, just don’t do it again.” Leo continuously works the metal as the scene fades black.
Once again, the image of the dark bedroom is at hand. The heavy metal is still blasting, over powering the sound of the alarm clock. The only difference this time, is that the boy has already left. He is coming up on the building on his board once again, but hears a gunshot. Alarmed by the anomaly in the daily occurrences, Leo speeds to the window he heard it from. Inside, he sees a man dressed in a Black Ops uniform fleeing the building. He looks to the ground and is instantly crushed. Johannes lay dead on the ground, with a bullet in the back of his head. Leo punches out the window and slips inside, screaming for his “father”. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Leo put the board to the side, and covered Johannes in a black drape. “I swear… *sob* I SWEAR I’LL KILL HIM!!” Leo screams. Other workers come rushing in after hearing the gunshot, and see their boss dead under the drape. “I’m going after the guy who killed ‘Dad’!! Please keep everyone calm! Okay?!” The floor manager nodded his head, and inquires, “Wait! How are you going to kill him?!” Leo states, “With this!”
Leo reaches under his workbench and pulls out a long, flat black case, and unlocks it. It opens slowly to reveal a beautiful weapon, constructed of a specially-designed revolver, and a sword. “The Gunblade!” Leo yells out. He picks it up from the case. The revolver is constructed from a .45 magnum, with a long cylinder for more gunpowder in the shell casings. The handle is swept straight back, with a black handle. The barrel of the gun travels down the length of the blade, ending shortly before the opening near the tip. The blade itself is roughly 4-5 feet long, with many curves and crescents in the blade, making many deadly serrations. The blade has a gap between the mount and the cylinder, attaching again just before the trigger, then looping around it for a trigger guard. The blade continues down past the trigger, with a 3 inch gap from the handle, connecting again at the second mount attached to the end of the handle. The blade comes to a sharp point on the end. Leo reaches into the workbench, pulling out a blank box, marked “.45 special” He then opens the box, which contains a small number of bullets made for the Gunblade itself, and grabs as many as he can. He shoves them into his pocket, and slings the gunblade to his belt, making sure that its razor-sharp blade doesn’t cut him or his belt. He grabs his board and leaps from the window again, quickly soaring high into the air. He spots the military man fleeing on an old wheeled vehicle. The side reads “Banshee 450 EX”. The boy quickly guns after the man, drawing the gunblade from his belt. As his speed increases toward the man on the old vehicle, Leo reaches into his pocket and loads 12 bullets into the cylinder. “I hope this thing works like it should…” The man looks back, and sees that Leo is closing in fast. He draws a gun from his vest, and begins shooting at Leo. Leo quickly zigzags his way to the man, miraculously blocking a few bullets with the gunblade. Leo pulls the hammer back, and raises the gunblade at the man (his aim is terrible due to the intense chase). Leo squeezes the trigger and the sound of a gunshot fills the air. The recoil causes the gun to kick back violently, and Leo sees that his aim was off. After a few more shots, Leo is now within 20 feet of the old quad, and has only three shots left. The man is already out of ammo, and can’t reload or he will crash. The man pulls the quad to a stop, and quickly leaps off. Leo backs off the throttle of his hover board, and eventually stops too. Leo jumps down, swinging his gunblade forward to point at the man. “You know you’re going to die… You might as well give up your life right now!” Leo yells angrily. “That seems improbable, young man. I thought you were an S.A! I wouldn’t have fled had I known that you’re not!” The man said in a thick Russian accent. “ENOUGH!” Leo screamed, as he lunged toward the Black Ops specialist. Leo dropped low, swinging at the man’s knees, but the man dove over the blade, and swung at Leo. Leo shuddered backwards, attempting to shoot the man once, only to miss. “Damn!” Leo thought to himself. As the fight continued, each contender had a few lucky hits and misses, so now Leo and the Russian man were all cut and bloodied. During the fight, Leo and the man clashed, and Leo was able to knock the man over. As the man jumped to his feet, Leo shot him in the left knee. Blood spurted everywhere from the bullet passing through with immense power, instantly knocking the man to the ground. Pulling the hammer back for one last shot, Leo calmly walked up to the man on his knees. “Why?!” Leo screamed, as he punched the Russian just below his left eye. The man just lay there, and claimed, “The United Soviets of Russia (USR) believed the old man to be a Zephyr, and so he was to be eliminated… This war is getting bigger than you think boy… All will be consumed by it!” Leo screamed at him, “SHUT UP!” and swung his gunblade. The razor-sharp blade cut through the flesh and bone with ease, and as he cut into the man, Leo pulled the trigger one more time. The recoil worked in an adverse direction this time, as the momentum of the blade was quadrupled by the bullet’s power. The blade swiftly sliced the man in half. Leo began to cry… “I christen this blade ‘The Ehrgeiz’, in honor of Johannes Himelslander!” The scene fades to black…
3 months after Johannes’ death, a state of emergency was declared. The USR had invaded America’s shores and were advancing the war to Arizona. Many in Oregon, Washington, and California perished due to biological missile strikes all along the coast. During this time, Leo had gone back to his work, attempting to construct better forms of his Ehrgeiz. All had failed. It was approximately 4 months after Johannes’ death that the U.S. government had contacted Leo in an attempt to find out why the USR Black Ops had assassinated Johannes, as he was a major supplier of the military’s standard issue rifles. “I told you a million times, I DON’T KNOW!” Leo backfired at a special agent.
“Listen kid, you said yourself the man was practically your father, so you must know something.”
“I’m telling you the gods-honest truth… I don’t know a damn thing!”
“So you’re saying there was absolutely no motivation behind the attack?”
“None.”
“Interesting… Did the assailant say anything before you dispatched him?”
“Well… there was something about a… ‘Zephyr’… what ever the hell that is…” Leo said. The special agent’s eyes lit up with confusion. “So they know… Son, do you know what a Zephyr is?”
“No clue.”
“Well, a Zephyr is… Well, it’s kind of like a super-human. They have an enhanced body due to radioactive exposure, and as such have greater physical strength, heightened agility, extreme awareness and inhuman levels of concentration. If the USR knows about them, and he mentioned that before his death, that means they think your Johannes was one of them.”
“That’s a load of bull… Johannes was a unique man, but nothing to the sense of THAT…”
“Are you sure? He could have been hiding it from you…”
“Johannes kept nothing from me. I could write his own autobiography for him!”
“Well, it IS possible that the USR made a mistake, but we’re still going to have to seize all of his paperwork and journals. Pretty much anything he kept a history of anything in.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me… That’s really all I have to remember him by!”
“I’m sorry, but it’s a matter of national security.”
“Yeah, that’s what they all say…” says Leo. The scene fades to black…
Days after, the government had cleaned out everything in Johannes’ old home. They took everything from a book to a journal, and his entire hard drive from his computer. Leo had not liked a single bit of this, and began to despise the government he had always hated even more. He spent days and days in the old home, even through the intense war was being fought only a few states over. He turned on the radio to listen for any news about the front lines, to see if it would calm him down a little.
“It has been four days since the Russians pushed into Arizona, and they seem to keep pushing. It’s like they just keep coming!” The radio is continuously filled with the sound of explosions and screams from napalm flamethrowers. It was a sound of true carnage. Even since the first Cold War, Russia and America were at odds. “It’s been about one hundred years, now…” Leo thought. The Cold War never TRULY ended… The peace only meant each side was growing, their armies growing larger. The war actually became “hot” when the second Cold War was about to end. U.S. and Russian ambassadors had agreed to disarm all nukes and 3/8 of their armies. “It was Christmas Day…” Leo thought. 2 years ago, on Christmas Day, there was a nuclear explosion in Moscow. Because of the technology, the blast killed everything within a 750 mile radius of the city, and the fallout was projected to last over 50 years. Russia, having already disarmed all of their nukes, assembled what seemed to be the entire country of soldiers, and began their invasion of America. There was much fighting on the islands in between, such as Indonesia and Hawaii. Millions had died, and many more were being shipped to the front lines. Some soldiers never even did their full training in boot camp. “This is truly a war for the books…” Leo thought to himself, listening to the report. Suddenly, a new report came up. “Warning! If you live in the mid-western area of the U.S., get out! Move northeast, and quickly! The Russians have broken through the front lines and are pushing forward again! Please get out if you can!”
“Oh no… The war is gonna come right over this entire area…” Leo shuttered. “I better start getting out now…” Leo began going around Johannes’ old home, picking out some things he would need. He grabbed many tools, and started to pull books on blacksmithing and gunsmithing off the shelves. He began to pull a rather large book, third from the left on the bottom shelf. Something clicked and the entire bookshelf moved out and away from an encasing in the wall. There was a note attached to the black case inside.
“Dear Leo, if you’re reading this, then I am probably dead already. I let you know everything about me in my life, and you probably said you could write my autobiography for me on more than one occasion I can assume… But this is important. The war will slowly get worse for America, and eventually we will be overrun by the USR. You are a Zephyr, Leo. I died because I lied to the government about you. I claimed I was a Zephyr, so you wouldn’t be put in any danger. The Russians eventually found out, and they got scared. They sent their Black Ops assassin to try and kill off one of the only Zephyr so they had no real opposition. It was shortly after I stumbled across your blueprints for the ‘gunblade’ that I constructed one myself for you, because knowing you, you might have screwed it up…” As Leo read this, he thought to himself, “Thanks for the support, Johnny…”
“I want you to take the gunblade inside this case, Leo. Use it to protect yourself from the Russians and U.S. government alike. They WILL come after you if they find out what you are. The Russians will attempt to kill you, and the U.S. government will only try to use you for their personal tasks. You must flee, Leo… For your sake. –Signed, Johannes Himelslander”
Leo put the note aside, and began to open the black case. It opened slowly to reveal a gunblade very much similar to his Ehrgeiz. The blade was about 4-5 feet long, but its blade was mostly straight, with a black matte color on the broad sides. The caliber of the gun and overall size was still the same, but this gunblade seemed lighter than the Ehrgeiz. Inside the case beside the gunblade, was a second note, and all it said was a name… “Griever”
Leo found a large box of ammunition, labeled “.45 Special”. Next to the box was a special belt, constructed with 2 holsters for what seemed to be for the gunblades. Leo put the belt on, and slid the Ehrgeiz into the right slot. He then slid the Griever into the left slot. “Perfect fit, old man… Thank you so much…” Leo thought to himself… He finished grabbing what he could, and left his home forever…
3 weeks later, all of the mid-western states were consumed by the fires of war. North Korean armies had joined with the Russians to aid them in America’s eradication. England, and (surprisingly) France joined in aid of America. It was still no use, as Russia had developed another nuke, and wiped Paris off the map forever. Canada wanted to help America, but did not, out of what seemed to be fear.
Leo had been traveling on his trusty hover board, sticking to densely forested areas in the north, near the border to Canada. It was when he arrived in a deserted city not to far from his home that the government once again came in contact with Leo. It was the same S.A. that had spoken to him about the Zephyrs that found him.
“Where are you going?” the S.A. inquired.
“Why does it matter to you? I’m just another teen punk to you guys anyways…”
“Oh no you’re not… You see, we found out the truth about you and your ‘father’s’ secret… We know you’re a Zephyr.” Said the S.A. Leo’s eyes opened wide, and he began to slowly back away from the agent. “We need you to come with us…” said the agent. 2 separate agents grabbed Leo from behind, and began to try and restrain him. Leo thrashed violently, breaking free of the agents’ grips. He screamed as he drew the Ehrgeiz and Griever, swinging and cutting down one of the agents. “RESTRAIN HIM!” screamed the first agent, as he drew a stun gun. The second agent nodded in agreement, and pulled a gun on Leo. The agent tried shooting Leo in the leg. As the hammer struck the firing pin, everything around Leo began to slow down. The slide slowly slid back on the agent’s gun, and the fire from the gunpowder slowly leaked out from the end of the barrel. Leo attempted to move, and was not restricted in any way. The agents seemed vastly slower than he was, and he walked right up to the second agent, watching the bullet come out of the barrel. Leo held the Griever straight in front of the bullet, and cut it in half. Things slowly began speeding back up, and the 2 halves of the bullet zinged right past Leo’s arms, one almost hitting the first agent. “NO! You fool! No firearms! We are to bring him in ALIVE AND UNINJURED!” screamed the first agent. Leo thought to himself, “Oh my god… The old man wasn’t kidding… I AM a Zephyr… I can feel my heartbeat picking up, speeding up all my body functions…” Leo began to smirk to himself, and then began to laugh. “What is so funny you little punk?!” Yelled the second agent. “You’re gonna die…”
Suddenly, in a flash of wind and speed, Leo blurred from sight. It seemed as if his molecules broke down for him to move faster. Suddenly, he stopped, holding the bloody Griever almost against the ground, and the second agent collapsed into a pile of flesh and blood. Leo slowly turned his head toward the first agent, but was suddenly struck in the neck with the stun gun. He felt the surging mix of electricity and poison spread through his body in the blink of an eye, and collapsed moments later. The agent walked up to Leo’s unconscious body and pulled the three darts out of his neck. “Sleep well, boy… You’re gonna need it”
Leo woke up in a dark cell, with his body feeling heavier than lead. He attempted to get up, but couldn’t even move. “Wha… What the hell…? Where am I…?” Leo said to himself. A slit on the door opened up and a bright light shined through. It was the agent again. “Don’t try to move. That’s the poison getting its way out of your system… You got lucky with my partner, you little punk. But thankfully you haven’t realized your true potential yet… But don’t worry, the President himself wants to meet you when you’re all better, and trust me. You WANT to work for him.”
“The hell I do! I know what you’re gonna do… You’re gonna use me for research so you can make more Zephyrs!” Leo struggled to say, while attempting to get up.
“No… You see, you’re the last Zephyr in existence right now. The last one was killed about 20 years ago.” The agent said. He continued, “I don’t think you want to know why either… But I assure you, you will not be used for research. You will lead our armies and fight off the Russians and North Koreans. That way, everything thing can go back to normal, and America can keep these nuisances from even coming back up again… But sleep now, because you’re gonna needs your energy when the President shows up later…” the agent said. He closed the slit on the door, and the room began filling with a thick gas. Leo attempted to struggle his way to the door, but he was knocked out by the gas before he could even get close…
Once more, Leo awoke in his dark cell, but this time, he was chained to the wall. His body wasn’t so heavy this time, but the thick chains proved more than a match for the young man. The door creaked open, and through the door walked the special agent, and the President, George W. Bush 4th. Leo looked up at the men, groaning with a tired sigh. “Son, I believe you know who I am…” said President Bush. He continued, “I need you to do something for me, ok? I need you to open not only your ears, but your mind as well. You see, when we found out that you are the last Zephyr, we scrambled to find you, because we want to keep you protected… Protected from the Soviets. Those bastards want you dead out of fear that you may very well end them in a way that is… Most unsatisfying. Now, we don’t want that for you… We want you to live, and to help your country to survive its greatest war yet… And by helping us, is to help yourself, son.” As the president said all of this, Leo began to think… Maybe if he helped, he might be able to end the war faster… And then he can go back to his normal life, and pick up the broken pieces. The president said to Leo, “Please son, join us, and help your country stay alive! With out you, everyone will be killed by the Soviet bastards! Just like your father!” Leo shuddered.
“You mean Johannes?”
“No son, your REAL father.”
In Leo’s head, his mind began to race. He could find out his past and meaning of existence if he just joined the U.S. Special Forces. He could go to Russia, and he could get all the info… Leo stated, “IF I decide to join… You let me do whatever I want when this is all over, right?” The president nodded in agreement. “F-fine… Sign me up…” Leo said reluctantly…
It was now a month after Leo’s capture and release, and he was in the process of training for the U.S. Special Forces. They ran, beat, stomped, kicked, shot, and tortured Leo to no end. It all seemed very extreme, but with good reason. The Russian’s tactics were much more brutal and much more emphasized on hell than anything. They truly hated America. As the days went by, Leo’s body slowly showed signs of improvement. He could take more beating, more gunshots, and much more tortured. But one day, through his extreme training… He snapped. His Drill Sergeant was screaming in his face when he did, and a massive ball of fire formed in his hand. Without any thought, Leo hurled the fire ball in the DI’s face, sending him flying with many deep burns. Leo’s hand had burned, but only for a second, as his body instantly grew used to the pain in its current state. All of the instructors were shocked and awed. Leo’s body was beginning to show its true potential. After saying many vulgar things to his DI and other instructors, he began training himself. Leo was trying to harness the power his body had shown with the fireball. It went on for about a month and a half until he finally figured it out one day… His powers had to do with emotions. His powerful fireball had obviously came from anger and hatred, and he discovered when threatened or frightened, his senses kicked into overdrive, allowing him to move at incredible speeds. Another day, he had been sitting back in his quarters, letting his wounds heal. Leo began to think about his past with Johannes once again… As Leo began to feel more depressed, his wounds started to heal faster and faster. It seemed that feelings of morose seclusion and sadness increased his metabolism to speed up healing wounds. Ironically enough, it also sped up his appetite. He was rearing his end in training…
Leo was now a man of 19 years old. His training, however, made him look much older. He was outfitted with the latest technology on his black outfit, incorporating a material similar, yet stronger, than Kevlar and other bullet-proof materials. Many Nanoscopic nodes inserted into his nerves on a molecular level were connected to his uniform. They allowed special mechanisms in the suit to react to certain situations, such as extreme cold or extreme heat, or gunshot wounds or even poisoning. Many tiny cameras on his suit were also connected to his nanomachines and nerves, giving him a sense of sight in all directions. He was given back his gunblades, Ehrgeiz and Griever, and both were holstered in their appropriate spots on his special belt-holster. Slinged to his back was a specially designed rifle for his task at hand, a small, but powerful gun with a caliber of .418 and yet almost no sound thanks to his personally made silencer attached to the barrel in various places. Multiple clips of ammunition were kept in tight pockets lining his chest. This boy was decked out.
With each step of his foot, and silenced gush out wind flowed out from the bottom of the boots, which were made of GORETEX. It was the special material made with the boots that gave them a silent step. As Leo left his quarters, the special agent approached Leo. “My my, look at you. Two years ago you were just another punk to me… But now, you’re a respectable soldier bred for his true purpose… To save his country!” Leo rolled his eyes at this remark. “Listen, you guys have kept me out in the dark about the whole war until now… What the hell has been happening?” Leo inquired.
“Well, you see… The Russians kept pushing us back further and further… so now they have a foothold in Michigan, and are working toward getting Ohio. If they keep it up, it’s going to prevent us from retaliating into Canada… So that’s where you come in. We discovered with our U-3 spy planes that the Russians established a base in Northern Colorado. It seems they have been using an old gunsmithing business to construct more weapons.” The agent stated. Leo stopped and thought… That meant that they were using HIS home, and HIS old job place… “Nothing like a home-field advantage…” Leo thought… “When do I leave?”
“Right now. There is a VTOL X-35 (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) with a special scramjet attached under the fuselage. You’re going to be in that scramjet for a hot-drop into the enemy stronghold at 400 hours… We are expecting your first mission to be nothing less of brilliant no thanks to your abilities… Not to mention what you did to Drill Instructor Hamlin… And just so you know, there is going to be lots of firefights, so be ready to dodge bullets.” The agent stated. “This is gonna be fun…” Leo said out loud. He jogged himself all the way to the scramjet’s cockpit, stuffing himself into the cramped space. As he closed the hatch, the VTOL’s engines whirred up to speed, and the vehicle took off into the air. As the plane left its base in Delaware, the plane’s speed began to increase massively as it gained altitude. As the plane neared 45,000 feet, it leveled off. One of the pilots in the VTOL contacted Leo on his intercom, stating that they would be over the drop zone in roughly 5 minutes. As the plane roared over the planet, Leo prepared himself in his head for this grueling task…
They were now directly over the drop zone, and the scramjet’s clamps popped off with small charges. As, the jet began to descend from the VTOL, the boosters ignited, propelling it past the sound barrier. The jet screamed forward, passing the VTOL in all its mighty speed. As it began to propel faster and faster, the jet began to fly straight down. Directly below was the Russian HQ for the frontlines. The base was silent at this early in the morning… As the scramjet screamed past 15,000 feet in its descent, a small pod containing the cockpit slid back and popped off, allowing three parachutes to slow its descent. The rest of the scramjet, however, was packed with a small warhead, that destroyed a small portion of the western wing in a hellish firestorm. The cockpit pod was now within a safe distance of the ground for Leo to jump out and begin his attack. He kicked open the door and threw himself from the falling pod. He fell a small distance, spreading his whole body out to slow his fall. When he landed on the rooftop with a loud thump, he immediately crouched down and began to look around. He gained his bearing and found a small access panel that led him into the air ducts of the complex. Leo figured if he’s going to destroy this entire base, he’s gotta do it by taking out the facility’s weak points…
As Leo climbed through the air ducts, he began to hear many footsteps rushing in many different directions. “It seems that the scramjet threw them off pretty bad…” Leo thought. He continued his path until he fell into a large room filled with many different generators. “Hehe… Bingo.” Leo approached the first generator, and pulled a rather large explosive device from the back of his belt. He set the primer and planted the charge firmly on the generator. He proceeded over to the next one, and the next one after that, until all the generators had charges on them. As he was setting the last charge, a soldier rushed into the room. He and Leo made eye contact for a moment, and quickly scattered for covered. Both knowing firearms would only kill them both, Leo and the Russian soldier prepared for melee combat. The Russian man pulled out a knife and began to slowly creep around the first generator where Leo was hiding… Suddenly…
*SLASH*
Leo cut the soldier in half with the Ehrgeiz. “Stupid p***k… You can’t sneak up on me…” Leo boasted. Leo then pulled a detonator from his belt, and clicked it once to activate the charges. He then looked to the door... From the outside of the door, many soldiers were rushing up and down the hallways trying to figured out what was going on. Suddenly, the generator room door blew off its hinges by the force of Leo’s foot, crushing a small group of soldiers. Leo then came rushing out of the door, firing bullets at as many standing soldiers as he could. Leo rushed to the fork, and turned left. Several groups of soldiers waited for him down that hallway. He turned to the right, and it seemed cleared. Now, naturally, many people would think to take the clear hallway… Leo chose left…
He pushed through as hard as he could, killing many soldiers in his way. Each bullet passed through his adversaries with great strength. Each wound let blood flow like a fresh water stream, flowing its own path. Leo leaped over the bodies as they fell like rag dolls to the ground… “Where the hell is the end of this base?!” Leo yelled into his mic, trying to overpower the sound of the gunfire. The agent returned with an answer, “Turn… Left down this hallway, then make a right. You’ll come to a large door there. It’s the hangar. In there should be at least one vehicle you can escape with.”
“You mean you didn’t have a vehicle waiting for me?!” Leo screamed.
“Well, haha… It’s funny you mention that… Because we didn’t think you’d make it out alive!” Laughed the agent.
“THAT’S JUST GREAT!!” Leo roared. Leo ran up to the door and drop-kicked it, throttling the door into more soldiers. He quickly looked around for a vehicle and spotted a small hover tank. “Hehe… Bad news for you guys…” Leo laughed. He hopped into the cockpit and engaged the main systems, and the hover tank whirred up off its landing mount. The cannon automatically loaded a fresh round into the barrel, and the particle shields engaged. Leo then turned the turret towards the main hangar door, blowing it to smithereens with the main cannon. Leo grabbed the control stick and pushed it forward, and the tank began to lurch through the blast hole. Soldiers came out of the base left and right, firing at their own tank in Leo’s control. Many bullets just bounced of the particle shields, others of the tank itself. The tank loaded another shot, and the turret spun around to the barracks. Leo grinned, then fired the main cannon again. The sheer power destroyed the barracks, and all the soldiers inside.
As the hover tank gained speed, it began speeding into the forests that Leo was so accustomed to. Many soldiers chased after him on smaller, more maneuverable air-bikes. Leo began to program a set path through the forest. “Come on… Come on… Just accept it, dammit!!” Leo yelled at the cross-com. The computer beeped in acceptance to the coordinates, and the auto-pilot engaged. Leo took this opportunity to open the hatch up and fire shots at the pursuing soldiers. Bullets flew back and forth between them, and with each miss, Leo became a little more enraged…
He felt his blood began to boil, and he felt hot as fire after too many shots missed. He suddenly screamed, hurling a massive fireball toward the middle soldier. The explosion wiped all of the soldiers out, and even damaged the hover tank. Leo look at his hands, and small black flames still danced in his palms. “I let that happen…?” Leo thought to himself…
Seeing as he was free to drive, Leo disengaged the auto-pilot and accelerated out of the forest. On the edge of the forest was the safe zone for detonating the bombs. Leo pulled out his detonator once more, and squeezed the button again. A massive explosion was heard way off, and the force of a nuke rushed past Leo. He sat and watched all the trees around him push and pull slightly to the force of the blast… As if they were dancing to the inevitable end of the Russians…
Just days after that, Leo ditched the tank. He figured it was too noticeable to get back to the base. Along the way, he had many small skirmishes with groups of soldiers patrolling each area, and in turn he wiped each one out. Eventually, he ran out of ammunition. “This is just great… No ammo… No idea where I am now… AND the radio’s dead… Military Equipment… Always works…” Leo said out of sarcasm. “Looks like I’m sticking to Ehrgeiz and Griever…” Leo fought his way through dense forests and high plateaus, hoping to gain the ground back to the U.S. base. As he plowed through the Russian forces stationed in each area, the forces gradually got bigger and bigger until Leo stumbled onto another HQ built near the front lines. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” Leo said, desperately trying to figure out a way to either get around the base, or destroy it. “Let’s see… 2 charges, 24 gunblade rounds (12 being in each already), and enough rations to last for 3 more days… Its gonna be a squeeze…” Leo stated to himself. Leo crawled up onto the hillside where the base was, sneaking as close as possible without being spotted. The base itself was large. In fact, just as large, in not more than the first base. It had an open courtyard for training the troops with high walls surrounding the entire base. He pulled out some binoculars from his pack and began to size up the forces and difficulty of his attempted mission. Through the binoculars, he spotted 2 snipers on the western tower and 3 on the eastern tower. The front gate had twin 20 mm cannon batteries as well as a .50 caliber machinegun turret. From his hillside, Leo spotted many barracks within the walls of the base. Off to the northern end of the base was what looked like an armory, and western of that was a small vehicle garage. Leo began to think to himself, “Well, I could see if there’s another tank in the garage… Or I could take out some of the barracks… My best bet is probably to sneak into the armory and get more weapons…” Leo imagined what could happen if this worked… His scarred face pulled into a slight smile at this hope. He put the binoculars back into his pack and slid back down the hillside quietly. He began to move north towards the outside of the base, keeping out of sight of the snipers in the western tower. He began to sprint quietly along the tall grass, keeping his head low. He stopped at a small tree, gaining his bearings on the area. He slowly leaned around the side of the tree and took off sprinting once more. As he approached the corner of the west and north walls of the base, a hover tank rolled around the corner. Leo was frightened by the tank’s sudden appearance. Everything slowed almost to a halt, and Leo planted his foot firmly on the base’s wall, running along then leaped 15 feet right over the tank without making a noise. He quickly turned around to see if he had been spotted, but heard no alarms and the tank just kept strolling along its path. “Phew… Damn, that was way too close…” Leo thought to himself. Leo reached the side of the wall just beyond the armory. He reached into his pack and withdrew a folded grappling hook attached to a long, black rope. He gently pulled out enough rope and began to swing the rope clockwise, watching for anymore tanks or troops. He threw the hook up onto the ledge, and it sprung open halfway up. The grappling hook landed with a quiet “thud”, scraping some of the reinforced concrete, and then latching onto some pipes running along the wall. As Leo began to climb, he would fit the rope back into his pack, leaving no trail of his entry. He slowly poked his head over the wall, examining the towers for movement of the snipers. “All clear…” Leo thought. He quickly put the hook back into its folded position and stuffed it away in his pack. Leo leaped from the high wall, landing as softly as he could on top of the stone house armory. He looked over the brim on the building and spotted a few soldiers simply conversing and walking their rounds. He waited until they passed, then leaped down the left side of the building, again landing as softly as he could. He pressed his back against the wall, reaching over with his left hand to open the door. At the same time, Leo pulled out a semi-small knife from the sheath strapped to his right boot. The door opened up, and Leo used the broad side of the blade as a mirror, observing the inside of the room. After seeing no one, he crouched down off the wall and snuck into the room, quietly closing the door behind himself. On the walls were various firearms. It looked like they were arranged by the caliber of the bullet, smallest starting left and largest to the right. Leo took this time to re-stock his ammunition, grabbing a silenced Glock 20 outfitted for .45 ACP rounds. He grabbed a few clips and holstered the gun on the front of his vest, in its respective holster. He also saw some of what looked to be American-made weapons. He spotted M4 Carbines and old M16 assault rifles. But he then saw his most favorite gun, the M1029-A “Pariah”. It was a gun constructed for .308 caliber bullets, outfitted with a multi-purpose launcher slung under the barrel. The gun itself was of a bullpup construction, holding the ammo clip and trigger mechanism and housing behind the trigger itself. The handle and stock were one piece, with a large hole for the thumb. The x2 zoom scope was integrated into the gun’s body design and sat flush with the top rails. Mounted between the barrel and launcher was a long-range green laser sight. Leo instantly grabbed this gun with glee, slinging it to his back after screwing on a special silencer designed strictly for the gun. He stuffed as much ammo as possible into his vest’s ammo clip pouches. Leo finished by grabbing a few more charges and many grenades for the Pariah’s launcher off the other wall.
Leo pulled a special black head wrap out of his bag and wrapped it around his face and head, covering his entire head except for the eyes and special holes cut for breathing. Leo crouched down against the door leading back outside, using the knife once more as his mirror. But this time, instead of seeing Russian soldiers, he saw Russian AND American soldiers, standing together, conversing as if they were the best of friends. “What the hell…?” Leo said quietly. He holstered the knife and snuck around the far side of the base, avoiding all troops. As he made his way to the back sides of the barracks to plant the charges, Leo began seeing propaganda posters with his face on them.
“REWARD: Find this man and receive 6.5 million U.S. Dollars! (Whereabouts unknown, last spotted in Colorado, fleeing in Russian HELKATT hover tank)”
“Oh crap… It’s in Russian and American… Even German and French… It’s in every language! What the hell is going on here?!” Leo thought to himself. Things were not adding up… Leo began to think back to Johannes’ last letter to Leo. “The Russians will attempt to kill you, and the U.S. government will only try to use you for their personal tasks. You must flee, Leo… For your sake. –Signed, Johannes Himelslander”
“Oh my god… That’s what it meant… Everyone is trying to kill off the Zephyrs because of their powers…” Leo’s rage began to build, despite his best efforts to keep himself calm and his head cleared. He could feel his body heat rising, focusing itself into his fists. An American soldier spotted something glowing softly over near the barracks… “Hey, what they hell is that? Another one of your crazy Russian gizmos, Igor?” Joked the American. “No, it isn’t mine” Replied this “Igor”, in his thick Russian accent, as they both walked over to see what was wrong. Leo began to panic, trying to think of something… The soldiers’ sounds of foot steps sounded more far apart each half-second… Leo turned around, and time was almost at a stand-still… “Good…” Leo thought. He instantly shot from around the corner, Ehrgeiz and Griever hand in hand. He sped past the soldiers, cutting them with great force. Leo leaped as high as he could, just barely landing in the loft of the eastern tower with the snipers. He cut them into pieces quickly, and then leaped down again. As he fell, time began to return to its normal state around him… The first soldiers spun around quickly, falling apart into several pieces each. The snipers did the same in a very bloody passion. Leo noticed this change, slamming down on the hard ground with a small shockwave. He shot his head up to see the snipers on the western tower spotting his landing. They raised there guns and quickly pulled the triggers. The bullets left the barrel but slowed very quickly once more. Leo ran past a few soldiers leaving the closest building, cutting them down quickly with Griever. He ran up the wall and used his momentum to leap up into the loft of the second tower, slicing the bullets and guns down, and then spinning into his swing, cutting the first sniper in half. He dispatched the remaining just as quickly, swinging the blood away from the blades. The blood slowly crept away from the blades, glistening in the now-rising sun. He looked down the far wall to see a soldier, almost dead in motion, trying to activate the alarm. Leo leaped from the tower so hard a sonic boom broke as he returned back to normal time. Again, the soldiers and snipers nearly exploded from the force of the wind hitting them as they fell to pieces. Leo sliced through the soldier with grace and speed as he landed, but it was too late, as the soldier had activated the alarm while dying. Leo’s eye grew big as he spotted another propaganda poster with his face… “This isn’t right… THIS ISN’T RIGHT!!” he screamed. At that very moment, many more soldiers began to rush out of the barracks. Leo chuckled, “Haha… Bye bye!”
*BOOOOM!!*
The sound of explosions filled the air with Leo tightly gripping the detonators. He grinned and began looking for the garage, hoping to escape. Leo put the Ehrgeiz and Griever back in their respective holster slots as he ran to the closest building. As he ran in, on the wall was a computer screen showing a GPS Satellite image of the surrounding area. “Oh my god… It just keeps going, doesn’t it?” Leo thinks to himself. He looked on in awe at the screen. He was in the U.S. base, being shot at by U.S. soldiers.
“Magnificent how moronic some people can be, isn’t it?” Time slowed down as Leo was startled and he spun around to see the Special Agent standing behind him, smiling. To the agent, a sonic boom erupted within the room. To Leo, he quickly ran up, Ehrgeiz drawn and swinging. In mid-swing, Leo was knocked to the ground with a loud crash. Time resumed to its normal speed. The agent was still standing, seemingly glowing blue through the translucent barrier. “Foolish punk… The war has been over for weeks now… It was resolved over when America discovered Canada had nuclear superiority and nuked Russia to start the war. Canada was wiped off the planet clean by combined U.S. and Soviet forces… As for you, you’re a marked man now… America and Russia both signed the Second Armistice, stating that we would work to becoming one nation… ‘We’ being REAL humans, not like you… A Zephyr punk… So now, the world has agreed to a bounty on your head of 6.5 million large in American currency and the whole world sprang to it… You walked into the worst possible place to be, too… Russians and Americans… Even a few German scientists! Hah! You’ve basically given your life out on a silver platter…” The agent told Leo…
“This is unreal… Did I really take that long to reach this base…? Did I really fall into this trap? Or was I played into it by your president…?” Leo said out loud.
“Well, about him… You see, the Democratic and Republican parties bickered back and forth too much, so the governing branches of the military and special agencies such as the F.B.I. and C.I.A. on both sides staged a little “accident” involving some bombing and some deaths… Mr. ex-President just happened to be there too, so seeing as I was his top body guard, they voted I should move up to his seat and lead our nation!”
“Oh my god, YOU’RE the President? Things just keep getting worse around here… But why me? Why am I a target?”
“I already told you, you’re the last Zephyr. That means you are the last living… THING… That could enslave the human race, or even destroy it. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how fast you are, and how powerful you’ve become, can you? Something was launched from space that will actually kill you right off! At this very moment, 2 nuclear bombs are traveling to this very spot at Mach 6. They’re actually pretty small, as each bomb has the power to take out 30 miles of land mass and will leave a fallout projected at about 7 years. Now times that by 2 and you’ll understand that you’ll never get out alive! In fact, the bombs will be here in about… Oh, I would like to say… 15 minutes? Better start running if you’re going to get out!”
Leo’s eye instantly widened. He knew there was now way that he could get out, nor could he get deep enough to avoid the blasts. Things in the base were also getting very hectic at the moment, as the alarm was blaring for the bombs now. Many soldiers didn’t even know what to do…
“Hahaha…” Laughed the “President”. “What’s so funny?! You’re gunna die too!” Leo yelled. “No I am actually not… This room I am in is encased by a special ‘Primal Shield’, which works with the force of the nukes. So basically when the nukes hit, the shield will get stronger, keeping me alive, and you dead.” The Agent retorted. Without thought, Leo began to swing furiously at the blue glowing shield. Each hit would surge 500,00 volts through his body. Just one touch would kill any normal human being. Eventually Leo gave up and ran back outside to see total chaos everywhere… Buildings burning, soldiers killing each other, and worst of all, the nukes. Leo looked around the fire-blazed hysteria for the garage to find a fast vehicle. As he began running towards the armory, a man on fire broke the door down, with another using a flamethrower to gun the first man down. Leo saw the man looked from the first man to him, with a demented, twisted smile. Leo slung the Pariah from his back into his hands, shooting the man several times in the face. Leo began to run-and-gun his way through the base, killing all opposition in his way. The nukes kept getting closer and closer. They were now 9 minutes away. Leo finally reached the garage, busting the main door down. As the dust settled, he looked around to spot some older vehicles that still had wheels. It was a Mark & Hammer XRT-17 “Crow”, a newer motorcycle that utilized a Double rear-tire system for traction and control. The front swing arm only used one wide wheel. The engine was a V-6 engine, constructed with a large cylinder bore and fuel-injection system for faster speeds and acceleration. Leo grabbed the vehicle immediately.
“Keys… Where are the damn keys?!” Leo searched frantically. As he looked around, he spotted something shiny in a dead man’s clenched hand… Leo pried the man’s cold hands open to find a key, but it was the wrong one… “DAMN IT!” Leo yelled… The nukes were now closing in even faster, being only 6 minutes away. Leo could see the nukes more than ever. In his frenzy to get out, Leo quickly pulled his knife from his right boot, jamming it into the keyhole on the right side near the ignition. He twisted the knife clockwise and the engine began to turn over. “Come on, come one… GOT IT!” And the engine roared to life. As fast as he could, Leo put the knife back and shifted the bike into first gear. He popped the clutch and throttled out of the building on an impressive wheelie, slamming the front wheel down on an unfortunate soldier in his way. Leo sped through the base as fast as he could, searching for the front gate. As he roared past many soldiers, many more began to try and grab Leo and the vehicle. Leo pulled out the Griever with his left hand and began to cut down as many soldiers as he could to get them out of the way. Much dirt and rubble was kicked up as Leo sped past the dying soldiers in their fiery grave. As he slid the back end around the last corner, Leo reached into his pack and pulled out an explosive charge. He set the detonator with his left hand, Griever and all, and leaned back, letting go of the throttle and threw the charge at the front gate. As the charge flew through the air, Leo pulled the switch out of his pack and detonated the charge the moment it hit the large gate, blowing it to pieces in a hell storm of fire.
Leo leaned forward and grabbed the throttle again, speeding back up and shooting through the fire of the front gate. He as did, the 2 main cannons open fired on him. Leo reacted as quickly as he could, knocking the rounds away with the Griever. The rounds exploded over his head, blowing the near-by trees to smoldering ashes. Leo sped away from the burning hysteria of a base as fast as he could. The nukes kept getting closer and closer… Leo’s speed kept getting faster and faster… The nukes were now only 3 minutes away. Leo shifted to the highest gear and pulled the throttle back as far as he could… 200 mph… 225 mph… 250 mph… Leo was traveling away at almost 5 miles a minute now… “Damn it!! Still not fast enough!!” Leo screamed aloud as he looked over his shoulder. The nukes’ outer shells popped and disengaged from the main body, allowing the nuke to spin and prepare for the detonation…
“DAMN IT!!” Leo screamed…
255 mph…
2 minutes left…
265 mph…
1 minute and 50 seconds left…
275 mph…
Leo was speeding as fast as he could, but the Crow was reaching its limit… The RPM gauge began to skim the red zone as the engine screamed… “COME ON!! DON’T GIVE OUT ON ME!!”
1 minute left…
280 mph…
“Oh no… Oh no oh no oh no!!!!” Leo screamed, as he began to doubt the bike’s power…
30 seconds left… 20 seconds…
The RPM gauge read almost the bottom line in the red zone…
286 mph… 10 seconds…
9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
“AHHH!!”
Upon the initial hit, the explosion seemed as beautiful as the sunset, casting a gentle red-yellow glow across the land. The chaos and sorrow that engulfed the base had been washed away by the gentle titan of a blast… All the fire… All the screaming… All the death… The base itself disappeared within the beautiful red nova… It was all consumed… It swallowed the land for 60 miles, cascading all the land in a quiet sunlight…
As for our hero of the story, Leo Fatima… No one knows… The last scene of the story is a younger Johannes Himmelslander, smiling down on the earth, and a small boy running around, laughing… Living his life the way he should… Johannes looks down on the earth, turns away, and begins to walk away… “Thank you, Leo…” Johannes says. “Hey, did you say something daddy?” the little boy asks with his 3-year-old voice… The vision fades back down to the earth, desolate and barren… And all that can be seen is the Ehrgeiz and the Griever, stood in the ground side by side. A cloth with some writing hangs from the Ehrgeiz…
“Kein mehr Kummer...”
 Asharru · Wed Jun 27, 2007 @ 08:55pm · 0 Comments |
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Ah, such a fine day... Fights breaking out in school, People getting into car crashes, general arguements about....
I love this day. Nothing bad has ever happened to me on Friday the 13th (knock on wood).
I believe it is on this day that karma truely shows it face. For those who have suffered, shall see a light in all things, and truely enjoy themselves on this day.
For those who have lied, and cheated, and stolen their way through life.... Are doomed to a lifetime of bad karma.
Maybe im wrong... Maybe im even crazy... Who knows? But I do know that Friday the 13th is about bad luck, and "taking all the wwrong turns".
You know what I say?
.... Bring it on!
Asharru · Fri Apr 13, 2007 @ 04:52pm · 0 Comments |
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Hello, my name is Asharru. Some could say i'm a seeker of power, knowledge, maybe even freedom. Personally, I consider myself somewhat of an exile. Not so much an outcast, but an exile from my own state of mind... My own freedom of speech... My own God damn existance.
Realistically, I wouldn't trade my painful past for anything. It made me how I am. I am entirelly sick of people complaining about, "Omigod! My parents treat me like crap! I HATE MY LIFE!". Isn't that the most over-abused phrase these days? "I hate my life". Please, spare me the story of the tragic hero.
Let that be my complaint about my life. Let that serve as some window into my world.
Into the world.....
Of the Exile
Asharru · Tue Mar 27, 2007 @ 12:51am · 4 Comments |
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