30th of March 2072, 3 years after the start of the war.
The cloud formations reflected off Mike's dark visor as he looked at the horizon. He closed his eyes for a moment and allowed the past to play inside his head. All the destruction, deaths, and violence have already burned the peace inside his mind to ashes. Mike pulled a cigar out of his pocket and used his finger to set the tip ablaze.
Suddenly, a flaming jet flew over his head and knocked the cigar off his hand before crash-landing into the hangar wall. Unfazed, Mike moved away from the hangar entrance before a full squadron rushed in to land their damaged aircraft in such similar fashion. Pushing past the crowd of firemen and support staff rushing toward the chaos behind him, Mike was unfazed as he pulled another cigar out of his pocket.
Maybe Mike needed a respite from this war. Cyberknight or not, everyone has a limit. All his duties pestered him without leaving him with a single moment to rest for three whole years. Stepping by another opening for aircraft, Mike lit up his cigar and took a long puff. Just as he was about to try to relax his mind once again, a hand suddenly patted him on the shoulder.
[Karson] - "Oi, lost in your thoughts again, bruv? "
Said Karson with a taunting voice.
[Mike] - "Aren't you supposed to be down there helping the troops? "
[Karson] - "Job's done, bruv, there ain't any crap left to clean down there. Unfortunately, though, I can't find their commander-in-chief. I think that bloody bloke escaped. "
[Mike] - "Sigh... let me guess, you want me to help you find him. "
Said Mike with an unimpressed expression on his face.
[Karson] - "Come on, help a fellow bruv out, would ye? "
Mike sighed and turned to look at Karson with a disappointed face.
[Mike] - "It's been 3 years, Karson. I'm not your dad, I'm your master. You should be graduating and doing your own shit by this point instead of relying on me. I'm busy enough with all the fucking bullshit that somehow always falls on my shoulders. "
Said Mike in a frustrated voice before smashing his fist against a support beam.
[Karson] - "Hey, look, bruv, I'm a bit of a slow learner. Can't blame me for this. "
[Mike] - "Karson, you are my friend, and I will always help you when I can. But one of these days, you will have to take responsibility. Maybe even one day, you will have to mentor and lead a team of cyberknights when you get a promotion. You have to learn to use what you have to solve your problems and not always rely on others. "
[Karson] - "Look at yah, speaking like a geezer while being only wha', 23 years old? "
Mike shook his head before stepping on the edge of the hangar where a 20,000-metre drop awaited him.
[Mike] - "Wanna do this, or you are gonna let the enemy escape? "
[Karson] - "Now that's the Mike I know. Hold on, let me get in my jet. "
[Mike] - "We don't got the whole bloody day, let's do it the fast way. "
Said Mike before suddenly pushing Karson down the ship and jumping after him.
The two fell for a while before passing through the clouds where a whole battlefield was concealed behind. It was Beijing under Imperial siege, with the current battle for the capital being ongoing for almost two weeks. Karson screamed all the way during his fall in panic while Mike observed the situation on the ground. Around them, fighters from the Empire and the Allied Forces exchanged fire like two massive swarms of bees. In a loud explosion, one of the Chinese battle cruisers in the sky unleashed a devastating plasma blast against an Imperial carrier, disabling its propulsion and causing it to crash into the city below.
Due to the carrier's altitude and mass, it reached the ground before Mike and Karson, causing a massive dust storm to engulf the city's east side. Seeing this, Mike abruptly stopped his fall using his ability, while Karson crashed into the ruins below. Pressing on his helmet, Mike began to contact the bridge of the carrier he had just dropped down from.
[Mike] - "Marshal Athena, east side, the 11th fleet lost their carrier. It's time you made your entrance. "
On the bridge, Athena kneeled before Mike's holographic projection out of respect.
[Athena] - "Agreed, my master. It's time we end this conflict. "
Like a roaring thunderstorm, Marshal Athena's massive carrier descended from its position high above the heavy rain clouds, obscuring the sky with its massive body before breaking through the mist like a divine city. On the bottom of the ship, anyone could clearly see the distinct painting of the Greek iconography. After all, Athena's 9th fleet is known as the "Falling Spartans" composed of mostly soldiers of Greek origins.
In synchronization, the massive cannon batteries on the carrier turned toward the Chinese cruiser and unleashed a rain of green plasma hell against its opponent. Following the catastrophic bombardment, the last Chinese vessel in Beijing fell, adding more dust to the previous massive dust storm caused by the fallen Imperial carrier earlier. Meanwhile, boarding pods were shot out from Athena's carrier, landing more Imperial reinforcement to the soldiers on the ground.
Meanwhile, Mike arrived at Karson's crash site and removed the debris around his apprentice. Upon seeing the light, Karson recoiled in fear while shielding his eyes.
[Karson] - "Oh shit, oh fuck, am I dead? "
Whispered Karson in fright while curled up in a ball.
[Mike] - "Now, who's the one trembling like a geezer?"
Said Mike as he crouched over Karson.
[Karson] - "Screw you, bruv, this shit ain't fun at all. How do I know I ain't dead? "
Screamed Karson as he jumped out of his crater.
[Mike] - "I used my ability to protect you, so get up and let's get going. You're definitely not dead if you're still whining like a little bitch. "
Mike walked toward the crossroad while Karson slowly crawled up behind him. This portion of the city was quiet and lifeless as it had been destroyed in the ground battle a few days ago led by Karson. By now, no lifeform should be left in the war-torn wasteland as an eerie silence enveloped the area, once broken periodically by the echoes of gunfire and explosions from afar.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang through the air, and Karson collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain. With a lightning-fast reaction, Mike turned around and blocked the second shot with his ability. Suddenly, from the shadows of the ruins, more flashes of gunfire erupted at him and Karson. However, what caught Mike's attention was not the ambush but the fact that the Chinese soldiers were screaming things such as "Demon" or "Devil" as they were shooting at Karson.
[Mike] - "Guilt Extension: Blade of Pandemonium! "
As soon as Mike uttered his technique, a glow erupted from his crystals, visible even under his coat's sleeves. In an instant, each of the soldiers' guns was diced into perfectly even cubes before Mike pulled all of them into the light. However, the sight shocked him as he realized that there were only two real Chinese soldiers out of the 12 men ambush with ten of them being civilians.
[Mike] - "Karson! Where have you been hit? "
Said Mike as he turned toward Karson.
[Karson] - "Bastard shot me in the shoulder, fuck it hurt! "
Yelled Karson as he held his shoulder in agony.
[Chinese soldier] - "Fuck you, demon! I hope you die from infection! "
Yelled the man in pure spite.
[Mike] - "Hey, the war is over! We are here not to enslave you but to free you! "
[Chinese soldier] - "I don't give a shit! Fuck you, you fucking Hitler! "
Yelled the soldier at Karson.
In a fit of rage, Karson stood up and lit up his crystals, ready to dish out some revenge against the man who shot him.
[Karson] - "Yeah? Fuck me? Mate, come here! Imma fuckin' show ya clown some real fucking hate right here! "
Mike promptly restrained Karson and knelt down to the soldier's level. At a glance, Mike immediately noticed that all of them had their eyes fixated on Karson with hatred burning like a forest fire inside them.
[Mike] - "Speak! What happened here? Why do you all hate that man that much? "
[Karson] - "Mike! Just let me deal with these twats already! That mother fucker shot me and you are now sympathizin' with him? "
Yelled Karson in frustration as an invisible wall held him at bay.
[Mike] - "Ignore him, speak! "
Upon seeing that Mike wasn't like Karson, the young soldier finally began to sob as he recounted what had happened earlier. Though the words were in whispers, Mike's face changed from that of concern to that of horror. As the soldier finished telling his story, he and the men around him began to cry or yell out of pain- a pain not caused by Mike's ability but by the scar of what they had witnessed.
As footsteps approached Mike's position, he turned around to find, to his relief, marines of Athena's fleet moving toward him. As they saw his status as the Grand Knight, the marines quickly stood firm and saluted him.
[captain] - "Captain Leonidas of the 1st company of the 3rd Falling Spartan marine division at your service, lord Grand Knight! "
Said the captain as he removed his helmet before saluting Mike.
With an absent mind, Mike didn't look at the captain as he stood up and signalled for Karson to follow him.
[Mike] - "Captain, watch over these prisoners and call in all available civilian aid squad from your fleet. Tell Marshal Athena this is an order from me! "
Said Mike while walking away from the scene.
[captain] - "Yessir! Establish communication with the fleet now. "
Yelled the captain as he turned toward his men.
As Mike walked in silence, Karson was getting more and more nervous by the second. As Mike retraced Karson's path from his earlier fight on the ground, he began to notice buildings ravaged not by Imperial fire but by something more akin to a giant. Looking at the battlefield, Mike could see dead enemy soldiers and fallen Imperial Marines, but most worryingly, civilians.
[Mike] - "What have you done a few days ago? "
Said Mike as he kneeled over a dead woman on the sidewalk.
[Karson] - "The marines from the 11th fleet, they... Shot the civilian after the Chinese navy downed one of their battle cruisers in revenge. "
[Mike] - "I can see the bullet wounds but... Imperial soldiers are not supposed to behave this way. This is not what we do... Why didn't you do anything about this? "
Said Mike in disbelief.
[Karson] - "I was trying to get the objective. I... didn't want to disappoint you again by coming back empty-handed. "
Said Karson while trying to appear innocent.
[Mike] - "Yet your bleeding arse did disappoint me. You did not bring me the enemy commander, you failed to prevent war crimes, and you even let the squad under your command die. "
As Mike turned around, his eyes suddenly caught the sight of something moving. As he moved closer toward a pile of debris, he discovered a girl barely hanging on to her life. By now, the first medical transports were landing in the area, with Mike quickly waving the medics to come help the girl. As the doctors surrounded the girl, Mike stood up and retraced the bloodstains all the way to a tree, all the way to its top.
Using his ability, Mike flew up to take a better look at the tree, only to find that a whole unspeakable scene of horror lay behind the short building before him. As Mike flew higher, he noticed three residential skyscrapers being collapsed one on top of another. Due to the chaos of the battlefield, Mike didn't pay attention to these specific buildings, but now he can see them clearly. Instead of being downed by Imperial ships, the buildings were smashed by something blunt and powerful, like a giant's fist.
After flying closer to the collapsed structures, Mike noticed that there were still people trapped inside. Quickly, he used his ability to dismantle the debris before pulling out over two hundred people from the structures, most of them dead. At that moment, Mike realized that the girl who survived was launched from the building as it collapsed, causing her to fall against a tree, which saved her from certain death.
As Mike landed on solid ground, his hands were shaking with shock and anger while the two hundred bodies landed on the streets. Luckily for some, they survived long enough for the doctors to treat them, but most perished. To regular people, the sight of Mike descending from the sky, carrying the survivors and corpses of the diseased, was like seeing an actual angel in real life.
While doctors and Imperial medical volunteers took off their hats in respect, the survivors reached their hands toward him as if he was a deity. While Mike allowed those he saved to feel his armour with their wounded hands, his eyes were that of silent fury as he stared at Karson, who was getting treated for his bullet wound without a care in the world.
[Karson] - "So, what happened? You look quite pissed, mate. "
Said Karson as he noticed Mike approach him.
[Mike] - "Is there a reason why you killed 200 people by attacking a civilian building? "
Said Mike with a calm voice.
[Karson] - "Oh... I almost forgot about it, right. Ya see, erm, they were partisan militia. Besides, like I did that for the mission. They are just ungrateful, regular people. I'm a cyberknight, for Christ's sake, and they are like an obstacle in my way, so I figured what's preventing me from you know. Like my mom told me, do what it takes to achieve victory. "
Said Karson nervously.
[Mike] - "Yet I didn't find a single fucking gun, you bloody heretic! "
Said Mike with his fists clenched.
As Karson still didn't show a single sign of guilt for his actions, something inside Mike's mind snapped. Before Karson could speak again, Mike savagely punched him in the face with such force that Karson landed on the ground with multiple broken teeth, a broken nose and a broken jaw. Then, without mercy, Mike jumped on Karson before savagely beating his face to a bloody pulp without hesitation.
[Mike] - "You think this war is a motherfucking game? You act like a child given ultimate power with your ability, you treat real people as if they were cattle, and you leech off me as if my patience is infinite. You are not a cyberknight, Karson. With this behaviour of yours, you might as well be the British Government that you helped to take down. "
Screamed Mike in a frenzy of rage.
As Karson breathed in the bubbles of his own face, Mike got up with bloodstains covering his armor and cyberknight insignias.
[Mike] - "I thought you were better than this! I fucking sacked my entire life in this Empire because I want to see a world in peace, not a world dominated by rot and corruption like the old world we took down. You are a disgrace, Karson! It's not because you are a cyberknight that you can act with impunity. "
Yelled Mike while staring at Karson with disgust in his eyes.
In a swift movement, Mike pressed his finger against Karson's chest armor and carved a black diamond onto it. In the cyberknights' ranks, a black diamond indicated that a knight had been disgraced, meaning they could no longer move up the ranks and should be regarded as a disposable asset by the rest of the Empire.
[Mike] - "We are through, Karson. From today onward, don't let me see your bloody face ever again, or I'll put a target on your face and send the cardinal knights after you. My only fucking regret today is that I didn't kill you in my blind rage. "
Said Mike with anger before leaving the area.
Though Karson seemed to be too injured to react, his fists still clenched shut before a mumble broke through his blood-soaked mouth.
[Karson] - "Fuck you! You took me here, and you want me to hold back. Fuck you! "
Whispered Karson in a hateful voice.
Later that day, after completing the maintenance of Mike's cybernetic forearm, which housed his crystals, Doctor Ethan looked behind the curtain to see the young man still staring blankly at the same wall for the past 3 hours.
[Ethan] - "Ahem! "
[Mike] - "Put my arm back and don't say a single word, Doctor Ethan. I want to go to sleep early today. "
Said Mike in a monotone voice.
[Ethan] - "Come then, let's get this forearm reattached. "
While working on the screws, doctor Ethan analyzed Mike's stoic expression. At the end of the process, Ethan abruptly stopped working.
[Ethan] - "You are mentally tired, kid. You need to go request a break from your uncle. This war isn't doing you any good. "
Annoyed by Ethan's insistence on having a conversation, Mike abruptly got up to leave.
[Ethan] - "Don't even try to leave, kid. I purposely left your neurofiber circuit open, so one wrong move could cause some severe brain damage. "
Mike reluctantly sat back down and placed his arm back on the operating table.
[Ethan] - "You need a break and a long one. No matter how much power you wield, you are still human at the core. Don't be stubborn and listen for once. "
[Mike] - "I'm not tired, Ethan. I have my duties to accomplish. My life is tied to my duties to the Empire! "
Ethan could tell that Mike was clearly lying.
[Ethan] - "Duty or not, one requires at least some distractions. You can't spend your life sleeping, eating, and working, then repeating the same process the next day. "
Said Ethan as he finished the work on Mike's arm.
[Mike] - "Then what should I add to my routine? "
Said Mike in a monotone voice.
[Ethan] - "It's not what you should add; it's about what you are missing. Why not make her a part of your life while also fulfilling your duty to the empire and your emperor uncle? I know ya miss her, boy. "
Life quickly filled Mike's eyes as soon as the thought of Kadyn flashed inside his mind.
[Mike] - "But she's bound by her work. "
[Ethan] - "She's under the command of Special Operations Admiral-General McCain. You could maybe negotiate for her freedom with him. "
[Mike] - "No, it will make our affair public. Sniper would never tolerate such action on my part. "
Ethan leaned forward and stared Mike in the eyes.
[Ethan] - "You are Sniper's nephew and one of the most powerful cyberknights in the empire. It'll certainly get you into trouble, but I'm sure you'll receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist. "
At first, Mike wanted to protest against the idea, but his desire to see Kadyn again overwhelmed his sense of integrity. It almost felt as if he would go insane if he waited any longer to get her back to his side. Suddenly, Mike's hands gripped into fists as he got up from the workbench.
[Mike] - "Fuck her mission, I promised her freedom years ago as well. "
After putting on his helmet and coat, Mike kicked the laboratory doors open with a renewed passion burning inside his heart. Unbeknownst to the two of them, earlier while they were talking, Karson overhead their conversation through the unlocked door of the laboratory. After seeing Mike disappear into the hallways, Karson slowly moved out of cover and started to walk with a devious smile on his face.
[Karson] - "Ma was right. Only I can stand for myself and move forward. I wonder how much Sniper would appreciate his nephew being with a demi-human. "
Said Karson to himself with a smug smirk.
To be continued...