The Colony, Residental District 4
It was sunny when Kaga stepped out of her apartment. Dressed in a simple pastel green dress, she timidly looked around her surroundings as she exited the 'evil-ator', still unaccustomed to the scary room that seemed to trap her as it rumbled and shook it way up and down.
Today she was supposed to go to the Academy for her introductory classes and the morning before Billy left for her work, she had acted like an older sister, teaching Kaga how to take the public bus and where to get off, despite being younger and shorter than Kaga.
Kaga gathered her courage and strolled out of her apartment block and nervously looked around. The scenery still slightly different in the day compared to the time she first came in the evening. There were slightly lesser people on the streets and she even saw some people riding on strange contraptions with two thin wheels, working their legs in a circular motion and speeding along the streets.
She saw some children playing around a park as she walked towards the bus stop, they were climbing up and down some kind of tiny castle that even had some kind of slide, which the children giggled and laughed as they zoomed down the slides. Kaga felt conflicted as she remembered her own childhood, that there were no fun times. It was all about learning and training on her spirit techniques, even the other children had to work in the farms or help out in their families stores.
Is this some kind of utopia? She thought to herself as she walked down the clean streets, passing by a park filled with bright yellow flowers, each almost as tall as her. Kaga has not seen such flowers before and she took a detour and stood before one of the massive blooms.
"Little girl, is this the first time you have seen such flowers?" An elder suddenly spoke to her from the side. He was dressed in outdoor work clothes and wearing a straw hat and gloves.
"Ah... yes, what kind of flowers are these?" Kaga frowned as she doesn't recall seeing such flowers in her books that she read before.
"These are called 'Sunflowers'," The gardener explained, "They came from the hoomans."
Kaga looked surprised, "The hoomans? You mean those short eared people?"
The gardener nodded sagely, "Yes, these flowers are not only beautiful, but the seeds could also be eaten or pressed in oil for cooking. Even the petals can be used to make colored dye!"
"I see," Kaga smiled and gave a bow, "Thank you, sir, I need to go to the bus stop now!" And she left the park full of sunflowers. "Interesting."
As she arrived at the bus stop, she saw a row of stores or houses next to the bus stop with many people queuing up. Curious, she went and take a look and her sensitive nose picked up delicious smells of cooked food of some sorts.
Her nose carried her body to the stores before her brain caught up with her, and she saw several shops selling bread, pastries, some kind of 'bur-girls', the soupy long chewy 'nu-dels', and even traditional people's food like fruits and nuts platters in paper bowls, honeyed porridge, and cold cuts.
Kaga's tummy rumbled despite having breakfast, and she jingled the strange colorful coins in her pocket that she received as part of a 'Care Package' that every newcomer gets after registering in the City Hall. Should she get a 'bur-girl'? She pondered long and hard. And in the end, her tummy won the war against her brain.
After she queued for a short while and ordered a wyvern patty 'bur-girl' covered generously in tomato sauce, she happily munched away and saw a bus driving off from the bus stop. She froze as she recognized the bus number as the one that Billy told to take to go to the Academy, and that if she missed it she has to wait up to 20 minutes or more for the next bus!
"Nooo! I'm late!"
-----
The Colony, Academy of Science and Magic
Dr. Sharon, Magister Thorn, and Petty Officer Kristine sat around the work desk in Magister Thorn's office as they looked at the stack of documentation regarding the broken amulet recovered from the Hero. A two live video conference call was linked to UNS Singapore's conference main where several of the top brass were in attendance.
"So in conclusion, this Sun Amulet is from Huītzilōpōchtli, the Aztec deity of war, sun, and human sacrifice. But in this case, human, being the relative word, as we can confirm that it does not limit to human beings but other living species as well," Dr. Sharon said. "The information was given by the girl who witnessed how the Hero drained the life force out, can be concluded that it is a form of sacrifice to Huītzilōpōchtli which most likely, boosted the Hero's life span and also his powers."
"From the Marines' eyewitnesses, they clearly heard the Hero bragging he lived over 200 years, meaning that the Hero must have routinely sacrificed people to increase his life span," Dr. Sharon added. "But we can't really prove any of that, so all these are just working theories."
"So Doc," Blake's voice came in loud and clear, "How does all this relate to how an ancient human civilization deity came over thousands or even millions of light years to this planet?"
"We suspect that due to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire from 1519 to 1521, which drove the Aztec Gods away. The Spanish inquisitors in Mexico during that time were pretty effective and brutal in enforcing their ways and religion," Kristine took over and explained, "This probably reduced a massive amount of devotees worshipping the Aztec Gods meaning a huge reduction in faith, which was theorized by some that faith is the main source of power for Gods. As for how they travel to other planets, we have no idea. By magic?"
"If that is the case," Commander Ford interrupted, "Does that means that Gods and Deities from America, England, Eygpt, China, India, hell, all over the world are real?"
"Theoretically yes," Kristine replied, "We have a lack of information and evidence here, but we theorized is that the Gods and Deities from Earth had migrated away from our planet when the civilizations they are the patron of, collapsed. As they lost worshippers and faith, their powers or even their presence were weakened greatly and have to find new worshippers in other worlds."
"But how come there isn't any divinity with Christianity or Buddhism or even Islam?" Someone asked. "Why we didn't have a Hero of our own?"
"I think there are, is just that modern people don't believe in them as much as the olden days, I mean look at the old days, there were stories of Heros and even Gods appearing upon men, but over time this became legends and myths." Kristine explained, "We pray to our own religions, and make offerings, but we rely more on technology than faith to power our current culture and lifestyles, whereas, in the ancient times, religion and gods were integrated in every part of their lives and culture, maybe that is why we lost touch with magic as we rely more on tools and technology nowadays."
"So does this means that as long we have faith and belief in Gods, we can use magic too?" Blake asked.
"No, we probably had regressed too much in that matter," Dr. Sharon replied. "Our species have evolved to be more reliant on technology, our brains are more attuned to science. This probably cut off our original roots with magic. That is probably why we can't feel or touch any magical power now."
"So is there a way we can use magic in the future?" Major Frank asked, "Like training or even implants if required?"
"Most likely not in our generation, if we continued to live here, but future generations and cross-breeding with the elves," Dr. Sharon frowned, "I say there is a 60% chance our descendants will be able to use magic."
"As for the use of implants," Dr. Sharon sighed, "If you are willing to sacrifice people to do testing as guinea pigs, then there's a 50 50 chance of success, maybe higher."
"Or we dig up more of these artifacts," Dr. Sharon gestured the Amulet. "Fuse ourselves with this and we can use magic too."
"No, we will not sacrifice people as test subjects on some mad science experiment here," Blake forcefully cut in. "No departments must ever cross that line, or I personally put a bullet in your head, is that clear?"
"Aye Captain!" Everyone replied in unison.
"Good, that line of thought will not be entertained again," Blake growled. "Now, the amulet, is it dangerous? What did Dr. Sharon meant by fusing with the amulet?"
"Dangerous? Not really as it is in an inert state," Magister Thorn replied, "But it is best not to touch it with bare hands, as it might attempt to fuse into the person's body."
"Fuse?" Blake looked worried, "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Well, the amulet doesn't react to anything except when it senses a living body touching it," Magister Thorn explained, "As long no one touches it barehandedly, it should just lay dormant."
"Magister, did you touch it?" Blake frowned.
"Ha..." Magister Thorn looked slightly embarrassed, "I did it under controlled conditions with guards and even Dr. Sharon watching me."
"The amulet seemed to feed off the life force or mana of living beings," Magister Thorn added, "I feel my mana powers draining from just a slight contact of no more than two seconds, which I quickly retracted my touch from it."
Blake sighed and rubbed his face, "Magister, please do not take such risks, and from now on, no one touches the Amulet, once you all have completed all your findings, I want that thing booby trapped, locked up and buried with the key thrown away. Is that clear?"
Magister Thorn looked dejected, "But its a God level artifact..."
"No..." Blake shook his head, "It's too dangerous, no one knows what will happen if the Amulet fuses with a person. Will that person still be sane? Or the mind has taken over by the Aztec Gods. So no, it is for the safety of everyone, we can't take the chance of another Hero rampaging here, especially in the school and so near the city."
Magister Thorn nodded and apologized, "You are right, I am sorry, I have forgotten about the safety of my students and the people in the city."
"Apology accepted," Blake replied, "Remember no risks, we can't afford to lose any people at all."
"What else do we know?" Blake asked, "Are there more Heroes out there?"
Magister Thorn nodded, "There are a few over the years, but no one knows where they are now."
"I see," Blake frowned, "What else?"
"The inscriptions and pictograms on the Amulets are like a prayer to Huītzilōpōchtli," Kristine said, "Well, with half of the Amulet missing, I could only translate so much."
"But one thing is for sure, Huītzilōpōchtli was here during the Age of Gods," Kristine continued, "So theoretically he should be part of the New Gods, who fought against the Old Gods. But since we do not have much-written records of what happened to the Gods after the Final Confrontation on this continent, we do not know if there are any Gods still remaining on this planet."
"And also what kind of God leveled artifacts are scattered around the world," Kristine said, "If the Empire has on their hands a few of these artifacts, we might be in for a tough fight if they have a few more of those 'Heroes'."
Blake's expression turned dark, "I understand, Tavor, I want you to see if you can set up some spy network, we need to gather more information from out there." Blake turned to the Intelligence Officer who nodded.
"Now, the other problem we have is which other ancient Gods and Deities have come here!"
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Stones! More stones to pay for Kaga's burger addictions!
The Colony, City Hall
Billy pushed a trolley laden with boxes of documents and rolls of parchment. She stopped at the elevator and pushed the button, and as she waited her eyes drifted to the poster stuck on the noticeboard.
<First Summer Festival! Come with your family and friends!> Was written in bold letters, and lifelike colorful images were displayed. Billy smiled, thinking of asking Kaga along to the festival that was just three more days away.
The lift doors sprung open with a ding, and Billy pushed the trolley in, sighing as she returned to her mundane job, despite missing her free life but in Falledge, she was grateful for having a roof over her head, food on her table and the sense of security of the City.
"Endure three more days!"
-----
Northern Forest, Hydro Dam Power Station
Corporal Bartley Jackson leaned his thick muscular body over the packed sand barrier and sigh worriedly. He looked at the large swath of blue-greenery of trees and in the fall horizon, a reddish glow and thick grey clouds of smoke could be seen.
The air smelled slightly acidic, as ashes and the haze from the forest fire was carried over by drifts of wind. Even the sun was blotted out from the amount of haze in the air, making the entire area dim. Lightning flashed in the distance among the clouds of smoke.
Bartley frowned slightly as he stood watch from the three storied tall reinforced concrete watchtower next to the Dam, where a large lake was dammed up, and the constant roar of falling water, that turned the turbines of the dam muted the rumble of thunder. He thought he spotted some movement in the far distance.
He picked up his field glasses and scanned the edges of the forest. A perimeter of roughly 500 meters was cleared around the Power Station, giving the defenders clear lines of fire and making it harder for any enemies or monsters to approach. There were also couple layers of remote control claymore mines planted around the Power Station and barbed wired fences ringing the last hundred fifty meters to the station.
A sudden movement caught his attention, and he swept his field glasses over and spotted a blur of white that appeared in his 10x magnification view. Bartley adjusted his focus on the field glasses and saw a wolf half hidden among the forest edge.
Bartley frown grew deeper as he observed another large wolf appearing beside the next. He keyed his comms, "Tower 2, to Aquarium, I got eyes on two wind wolves, north-eastern quadrant, Over."
"Aquarium, Roger, standby, out."
Bartley returned to observing the two wolves, and they both gingerly paused at the edge of the cleared field. By now, remote cameras installed at the Power Station would have picked up the two wolves and he wondered what the new Lieutenant would do.
He checked his MG-1 on the mount, making sure the ammunition belt was not snagged against anything and returned to observing the wolves who seemed to hesitate and kept looking over their shoulders.
"Aquarium to all units, hold your fire. Only fire by my command." The Lieutenant voice came in over the radio set.
Suddenly the wolves seemed to sense something as they stepped out to the cleared land, and faced the forest, their hackles, and tails up in an aggressive stance.
Bartley eyes' went wide as the wolves turned, and saw tiny shapes on the backs of the wolves. "Tower 2 to Aquarium, be advised that the wolves appeared to have pups on them, over."
"Aquarium, Roger."
Just at this time, suddenly a small rain of dark shapes coming from the forest appeared over the two wolves, who leaped and dodged like they were dancing or playing and a small flood of green shapes appeared from the forest edge, rushing towards the wolves.
"Tower 2, I got goblins engaging the wolves over," Bartley reported as he glued his eyes on his field glasses. "Please advice? Over."
"Aquarium, standby over."
Bartley cursed in a soft voice as he rooted for the wolves. "Come on, you can do it."
The goblins encircled the two clearly weaken wolves protecting the pups on their backs, and hidden goblin archers shot arrow after arrow at the snarling wolves. Goblins spearmen kept the snapping jaws and claws at arm's length, constantly giggling and shrieking away.
The wolves barely had much strength left, looked at each other and suddenly they leaped over the heads of the short goblins, breaking out of the encirclement and charged towards the Power Station.
"Aquarium to all units, set your sights at two-fifty meters, make ready!"
"What?" Bartley lowered his field glasses as he listened to the radio chatter. "The Lieutenant wants to shoot the wolves with the babies?" The wolves were limping towards the perimeter fencing with over a hundred goblins chasing after them.
"Aquarium to all units, target the wolves followed by the goblins."
Bartley gave a conflicted look at his machine gun before he detracted it with a determined look and slung it over his back. He hooked his booted feet to the sides of the ladder and gripped the sides before sliding down rapidly, expertly controlling his rate of descent with his gloved hands and feet.
He sprinted out from the tower and ran towards one of the gates at the perimeter fence, praying that he could make it in time. He glanced over at the Power Station's roof, where several helmeted heads could be seen, manning their weapons.
Reaching the gate, he unholstered his revolver and fired at the lock without coming to a stop, and slammed his whole body weight against the small gate with the shot off lock, sending it swinging opening and squeaking on its hinges.
He saw the wolves were roughly 300 meters away from his position as there were colored markers stuck at measured intervals for the defenders to gauge distances. He ignored the squeaking calls on his comms and just ran with full speed towards the wolves.
-----
Lieutenant Starven stood up from his chair from surprise inside the security control room and stared incredulously at the large Marine charging out to the killing zone. "What is that Marine doing?" He asked the roomful of personnel who also stared in surprise at the camera displays.
"Call him back now!" Starven roared, "Who is that mad man? What is he trying to do?"
"Sir, that should be Corporal Bartley from Tower 2!" One of the operators replied, "He was the one that called in the sightings."
"Call him back!" Lieutenant Starven roared angrily. He stared with anger at the moving figure on the display screens. It was not even two weeks he took over command of Battalion 1, Charlie Company, Platoon 4 and those hoomans in his command were disregarding him!
"Sir, he is not responding to our hails!" The operator replied. "The wolves are approaching the 250 mark! Do we still fire? We might hit him."
"Goddamnit!" Starven cursed, "Warn him off now!"
The operator turned back to his radio set and desperately tried to call the Marine that went rogue.
-----
"Corporal Bartley, cease your actions and return to your station immediately!" Bartley's comms squeaked, which he ignored as he pumped his arms while sprinting towards the wolves. The two wolves slowed and glared at him as he approached, while also keeping an eye behind them at the horde of goblins at their tails.
"Steady!" Bartley stood before the two wolves who towered over him with at least twice his height. Bloody foam could be seen on the sides of their jaws, while their massive tongues lobbed out and their sides heaved with each pant. Wounds and bloody marks could be seen all over both the wolves when Bartley was up close to them.
One of the wolves suddenly collapsed as its rear legs gave out, and the three dog sized pups cried out in fear, meowing for their mother. The remaining standing wolf positioned itself before Bartley and growled, baring its dagger sized teeth at him.
"Easy! Friend!" Bartley gently said while spreading his hands to the side to show he meant no harm. He slowly moved his hand to his communicator and keyed the mike, "Aquarium, do not fire, repeat, all units do not fire on the wolves!"
"What the thirteen hells are you playing at, Marine!" Lieutenant Starven's voice screamed into his ear. "You will return to the Control Room now and place your self under arrest for the abandonment of your post and total disregard for orders and your superiors!"
"Sir, the wolves are just trying to protect their young," Blake explained slowly and calmly like he was talking to a child which infuriated the Lieutenant more. "They meant no harm to us. We have no need to fire on them."
As they were talking the cries of the goblins grew louder and standing wolf panicked, it tried to protect its fallen sister and at the same time having to be on guard against Bartley and the approaching Goblins.
"Corporal, I don't care if the Gods themselves are out there, you disobey direct orders and abandoned your post!" Lieutenant Starven screamed, "Get your ass back here now!"
"Sorry Sir," Bartley stoically replied, "Since I have already disobeyed orders, I might as well continue."
"What? Get back here n-!" Bartley disconnected his communicator and unslung his MG-1 from his back. He turned and faced the coming goblins and braced himself and fired.
The wolves and pups jumped in shock at the loud buzzing roars coming from the strange two legged creature. They cowed on the spot and covered their sensitive ears from the loud roars, whimpering in fright.
The MG-1 spewed bright tracers out towards the coming goblins, the high powered 8.5 mm rounds torn through their makeshift armor and naked bodies like paper targets, dropping them in scores.
Bartley grunted and fired in a long burst at each cluster of goblins he saw still standing. The heavy recoil made controlling the weapon difficult for most people but not for him and the Orcs as he had a naturally larger build and stronger upper body strength.
Less than five minutes, the remains of the goblin force retreated in fear, screaming and crying in their tribal languages as they ran back to into the cover of the forest.
Bartley lowered his weapon and looked at the very scared wolf standing over its sister. Its tail and ears were lowered and plastered against its skull. It gave a growl of warning at Bartley who gently put his weapon down on the grass, and raised his hands up, "Easy, I am a friend."
The wolf looked at him with suspicion and at the weapon he placed on the floor and decided to trust him, for both she and her sister were totally spent, having been on the run non stop and attacked by monsters for over five days.
It flopped down on the ground and panted, her strength leaving her body and laid there with half opened eyes watching the two leg approach her slowly.
Bartley slowly made his way towards the giant wolf and patted it gently on its head, letting the wolf lick his hands. "Good girl. Friends."
He looked at the frightened pups trying to hide under their mother's belly and smiled. He walked slowly over to the other fallen wolf and found it still alive, but badly injured and weak. A wolf pup the size of a German Shepherd, growled at him, baring its fangs as it tried to protect its mother.
Bartley kneeled down and held out the back of his hand, which the wolf pup cautiously sniffed his hand, before giving it a lick and allowing Bartley to rub and scratch its head and floppy ears.
When the security team of Marines led by Lieutenant Starven came up, they found Bartley surrounded by several wolf puppies, happily licking and playing with him between two giant wolves watching over them.
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Enjoy~