Somebody (Name undisclosed) asked me to put up some other stories in my ongoing series, +~Hero~+. Fun fact: This is MY series, but I've had so much help on it that it shouldn't be that way. =+Pact of the Brotherhood+= By: Jason Haley ====================== Prologue: "Rise, Alias Kado" Nagashi was a man of power, somebody to be feared and obeyed, and somebody who was to be respected with the highest authority. Failure to meet this demanding criteria resulted in one's swift, but often painful, death, and in ways that would instill the chill that seemed to burn through one's spine like a raging volcano. There was a scar across his eye that nobody dared ask about; To do so was to receive his answer, which was always to strangle the perpetrator until they blacked out or died, and if they died, he merely launched them across the room into whatever device that could easily dispose of bodies. He wasn't tall, but everybody who saw him wished they were about ten times smaller so that he might not see them. And behind Nagashi was the obviously taller General Lucas J. Karo, who swore his life into protecting Nagashi, whatever the cost. General Karo used to be, himself, a man of unknown potential, until he met a certain General Auberdyne. Auberdyne disappeared and was swiftly replaced by Karo, and nobody knew, nor asked, where he had gone off to. Especially not around Nagashi; that would delay their instantaneous deaths to the pace of a snail, making it all that more painfully unbearable, giving the victim more time to wish he hadn't said anything. What people didn't know was that Nagashi used to be of little importance; He was once a child himself, and he was once considered useless. That all changed when the legendary hero people often spoke of, Luke Yurill, tried to kill his father, blaming him for the war that was in progress and all the pain and suffering of the people forced into it. Nagashi had stepped in and fiercely defended his father to the bone, resulting in both his father's death and Luke's death. But, unexpectedly, his brother, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, attacked Nagashi in his blind spot, which resulted in the scar over his eye. And one could guess who Nagashi's brother was: General Auberdyne. Nagashi, since then, had grown a distinct hatred for everything. He could never fully relax amongst the peacefulness of Earth, so he retreated into the vast boundaries of space in his vessel, the Asai Yuuki. There, he began training his own pact of super warriors, capable of defeating millions by themselves, holders of ancient magics unknown to anybody else, and accompanied by one of the greatest armies ever known. In battle, they were sent in last, and all enemies who saw them turned and ran in fear, just as they would if Nagashi were to reveal himself in combat. Amongst these super warriors was an Earth child, born and raised. His father had too been killed, and his brother had too betrayed him, but the worst of these misfortunes was the death of his beloved mother. That sent him careening off the edge of sanity into the dark abyss of madness below. Through many years of his life, he grew up fighting everybody and everything, becoming more and more detached from the Earth people, and becoming more and more dark-hearted, to the point where it seemed as if he were made of blackened ice. Well, of course, Nagashi saw the potential in this child and sought him out. Through not force, but words, he convinced the child to become his apprentice, like so many others before him. And who could resist the thought of being trained to exact revenge on those who did one wrong? Certainly not Nagashi, and certainly not this child. He approached the Earthling now, and since the time they met, the child had grown into his young adult years, became a strong and determined fighter worthy enough to be called the Dark Apprentice above all others. His dark red hair covered his face, and his black, belted cloak gave nothing away that might have described the boy. His sword appeared in his hand in a flash of blood red light. Swiftly, as if it had a mind of its own, the blade directed itself to the Earth boy's shoulder and gently tapped it, then did the same with the other. "Rise now, my apprentice; you have learned all you will from me, and therefore, you are ready for the tasks that lie ahead of you. Rise, Alias Kado." Kado slowly stood, and his head slowly lifted itself into its upright position, his icy blue eyes narrowed as he looked on, as if staring into his master's darkened soul. "All who oppose you shall die," he said, his voice dripping with a poison so deadly that it seemed as if the floor might eat itself away from their feet. With an evil smile, Nagashi sent Kado on his way. First mission: Eliminate the invaders on the flight deck. A task Kado was happy to accomplish. ~~~~~~ 1: Enter Alias Kado The doors to the flight deck slid open, and the soldiers on the deck leveled their guns at the person inside, opening fire. Immediately, one screamed in agony as a sword of pure light struck him in the chest and sent him flying across the room. The sword pulled itself out and flew back into the hands of its master. Alias Kado had entered the flight deck. Bullets began to fly, but they were all swiftly repelled by Kado. Everything, to him, moved in slow motion. So slow, in fact, that he could see the air ripple behind the bullets as they flew past his head. Kado closed his eyes and brought his hands together, calling up a powerful magic nobody could know was coming. As the energy threatened to explode from his hands, Kado threw his arms forward and launched a bright light at the men in front of him, blowing them all away. He jumped onto the platform where a sniper was firing and unleashed a monstrous flurry of blows, his sword like a knife through warm butter, the sniper lurching and jolting as his body fell to the floor, where it was swiftly lifted into the air by an unknown force. With one twitch of his hand, Kado used the corpse to take out another sniper on the rafters far above. The soldiers gazed on in amazement, asking themselves how one person was capable of such destructive power. Their question went unanswered as, one by one, they each fell victim to the blade of the dark hearted Earth boy, and the last thing they saw as they died was the ground slowly falling away from them. Kado took the ring of dead soldiers and suspended them in the air, as he called another massive energy around him, encircling his entire body, now causing him to take on a dark blue glow, until finally, he could no longer hold it, and it exploded out with a massive boom, ripples in the air stretching out across the entire room, and the bodies were launched to various different areas of the flight deck. Some impaled each other on their own weapons as they flew through the air. He didn't bother surveying they damage he had caused, as more gunfire erupted from the opposite end of the room. Kado's arm came around behind him, and then snapped back in front of him, his sword flying from his hand and arcing around the area, soldier after soldier meeting their untimely end as the discus of light passed through them and severed them with little to no mess. Then, the discus remade itself into the sword that returned to the Apprentice's hand as he walked towards his frightened enemies. For invaders, he thought mildly, they aren't too bright. I wonder how well the security is upheld in this place? The rest of the surviving soldiers decided that they'd had enough, but as they went to run, they suddenly found their feet unable to find any friction on the floor, as Kado had used yet another magic and frozen the floor, which would have been hilarious to watch, had he not been devoid of the ability to laugh. The poor soldiers knew that they had become anonymous to the rest of the world at this stage. A great enemy had suddenly appeared and wiped their entire regiment out, and they hadn't even known what had happened. Now, they stood, sliding around, trying to keep their balance, but that wasn't going to happen. Well, at least the bay door would stop them... But Kado noticed this too. He threw his sword at the controls to the door, his aim accurate to the point of impossibility, and the doors opened as the sword hit the control panel, launching the remainders of the soldiers into the once peaceful recluse of space, before sliding shut once more. As he went to retrieve his weapon, the Apprentice thought about what he had accomplished today and what he might do later on in his career. He reminded himself that that was a question for another time. ~~~~~~ Fun Facts: 1. Alias Kado takes the role somewhat of Kento from that one Star Wars game. In a way, they're alike. They're both apprentices and have super sh*t awesome powers. 2. Nagashi is a character who shows up many times as an Uber-Boss in the +~Hero~+ series. He later eventually becomes good and changes his name to Fawxe Hayden, a character from Sylose. 3. General Auberdyne is a character mentioned in +~Hero~+, who eventually relates his past to a certain Sergeant Syricuse of the Sentian Guard, both of whom are defects from the Sentian Military, Syricuse for conversing with the once-was General, and Auberdyne for betraying the kingdom. 4. This is the prelude for the +~Hero~+ series, as it gives introduction to Nagashi and Auberdyne, two people who've caused me to receive mass emails asking who they were IN BETTER DETAIL. 5. Lucas J. Karo is the replacement General for Auberdyne, and also Auberdyne's biggest fan, from how he's described later in the series. He's ridiculously tall, got hair like Dumbledore's, minus the beard, and has little experience with magic. 6. Kado appears later in the series, around the time Returner starts. But it's very brief, and he eventually dies in chapter... 5? 7. LOOKIE LOOKIE! I WROTE A WHOLE STORY BY MYSELF!!! ~Enjoy~
Well, this is certainly Jason Haley style literature. You seem to enjoy referring to any characters without names by their gender/occupation/race/appearance, don't you? (BTW, how's that autobiography going?)
Huh. I thought for sure you had some help on this one too, Jase... Oh, wait, no, that's right, you were helping me out with +~Hero~+, sorry, I was thinking of something else.
2: Nagashi's Mission While Kado had been tasked to clear out the Asai Yuuki, Nagashi had received a task of his own. He was to travel to Barios, a planet home to the fabled Kaen' Ba race, which currently held no alliance, but frequently assisted the enemies of the Kingdom, which included, in Nagashi's eyes, Auberdyne. Upon reaching Barios, Nagashi was to hunt down and eliminate a particularly nasty clan that was thought to be the spearhead of all Kaen' Ba activity against the Kingdom, and take any survivors as prisoners. Of course, when it was Nagashi, there were no prisoners. As usual, General Karo went with him, unable to do much else because of his vow of protection, stating that he would defend Nagashi to the grave. The two reached Barios in little more than thirty minutes, since they were so close to the planet anyhow. They were briefed by a particularly noisy General, who Nagashi swiftly took care of, by strangling him and stating that they were here for their mission, and nothing more. The General stumbled to his feet, his eyes lit with fear as he watched the two walk off towards the oncoming battle. To Nagashi, it all seemed pointless to have to call him in. He could have easily sent in one of his Apprentices, possibly Kado, to handle the dirty work, but that didn't seem to sit well with him. In fact, Kado had made it perfectly clear that he was most certainly not going to show alliance to any military, thank you very much. So, with a heavy sigh of frustration, Nagashi reluctantly went. And now he stood atop a rather long series of bridges and towers, watching as one after another, Kaen' Ba warriors swarmed out towards him. He figured in about eight seconds, the whole bridge would be cleared. "Karo? Eight seconds. Count." Karo silently began reciting the numbers up to eight in his head, while listening intently to the sounds of Nagashi cutting through warriors like they were pieces of paper. Before he reached eight, he saw that the bridge, like Nagashi had said it would be, was completely cleared of any traces of a fight. "...Eight." Nagashi nodded, then turned and continued on. Meanwhile, Karo lingered behind and kept any stragglers at bay, his Partisan making short work of them. As General, he was not only trained to kill in the highest and most efficient degree, but he was also trained in the arts of magic. While he wasn't particularly good at it, it did save him time summoning his weapon into his hand rather than going through the long and tiring process of untying it, unwrapping the triple layers of cloth, and attaching the blades to the double-sided hilt. Sure, he could just as easily do that as summon his weapon, but he preferred that it come up in a ball of light spinning around like a helicopter blade than having to not get hit while assembling it. As he finished off the last of the survivors, he sprinted to catch up to Nagashi, who was busy tormenting one of their own men, presumably for screwing up in some way that displeased the dark-cloaked monster. "Incompetent fool!" was all Karo could pick up before the unfortunate soul went flying past his head and off the edge of the bridge to the ground some hundred feet below. Karo almost winced; had it been a soldier from his regiment, which was currently being led by his own right hand, he might have given his "superior" a good reminder of who was in charge of defending his life. And he had only needed to do that once, when he refused to help Nagashi during a massive battle until he swore he wouldn't offend Karo again. Since then, the two have gone as far as their limits, but no more; Nagashi never assaulted anybody close to Karo, or Karo himself, and the General never gave Nagashi a reason to lash out at him. Nagashi turned his head as he saw the General approaching. Immediately, it clicked in every soldier's head who was present (and not thrown off the edge of a cliff) that should they screw up, either the General in command of the entire military or the one man who could easily kill him would be the ones dealing with their foolishness. They all stood to attention immediately, but Karo paid them no mind as he walked past them without a word. Nagashi had a few choice words of his own, however, and he made sure that everybody understood what he was expecting before continuing. At that point, not even the aircraft spiraling out of control in flames with screaming men falling out of it could top how badly they were about to defecate their silken trousers. Nagashi noticed that he and Karo weren't the only true commanding authorities on Barios; it seemed as if the Prince had shown up as well. Prince Kaiza was known as Hermes to anybody who ever got into a fight with him, given how fast he moved. He was easily discernible from a crowd because of a golden helmet with white feathers sticking out the back that he wore, which covered most of his face. He always had on a black-and-gold tunic and a gray undershirt, and always wore black slacks. Nagashi was stunned when he first met the sixteen year old heir to the Sentia throne. At this point, Prince Kaiza hadn't seemed to have noticed either of them were behind him. Or he did, but didn't care. Nagashi figured he'd find out soon enough. Well, it turns out, Prince Kaiza has exceptional hearing. "You're late." "My apologies, sire, I had difficulties with those spineless whelps that you call soldiers." Nagashi wasn't about to be polite to somebody who was about ten years younger than him. ...Unless they held one of their two swords to your throat. "Did you forget who it is you're speaking to, Mercenary? I'd mind your mouth if I were you; I'm in no mood for either your attitude or insults. My military was trained to exceptional physical and mental capability, and if you have something negative to say about them, I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the thousand levels of pain that you still have yet to learn about, since you only seem capable of the first five." Karo noticed how quickly Nagashi shut up. It was almost as if he weren't speaking at all. Kaiza lowered his blade, then addressed the General. "Your men have been posted in the military camp up ahead. They're waiting for their mission briefing, and here it is: They're being sent to the rest of the Kaen' Ba planets to restore order there, and quell the uprisings that could prove a threat to the Sentian Kingdom. When that is complete, they're to leave guards on each planet to ensure that it won't happen again." "But, sir, you know how this usually ends, they all rise up in unity and rebel, and our kingdom falls," Karo replied. "It hasn't fallen yet, has it?" Karo had nothing to say. For one thing, the Prince was right, and for another thing, there was never any point trying to reason with either him or the King. It always ended in some kind of explosion, and too many Generals had falled victim to the blade for Karo to want to argue. Luckily for Auberdyne, that hadn't happened, no matter how many times he exploited the royal family's mistakes. The worst that happened was his own ridicule, but he recovered from that quite easily, as he did from most other things. Nagashi, on the other hand, took whatever ridicule came his way personally, and it always seemed as if he were even worse when insulted than when he was having what he called a "good day," which consisted of somehow not reaching his usual death quota of seventeen idiots. Karo dreaded what his bad days might be. The General snapped back to reality and nodded, then proceeded on to the military camp ahead. Prince Kaiza turned back to Nagashi. "As for you, I have a new assignment." "Sire?" "I understand that you might be busy training your own band of minions to aid you in battle, but I believe that you can stray from training for a while. You are being sent to the Emperor. He said he could use some powerful hands such as yours." Nagashi was almost awestruck. Surprised? Yes. In disbelief? Yep. Awestruck? Almost there. Very few people knew of Kaiza's grandfather, Emperor Froyra, but those who did knew that he was ten times as strong as Nagashi, and could easily wipe out entire cities with a snap of his fingers. Nagashi looked up to Froyra because of this, and never dared say ill about him when the subject came up about his current reign. To be called in by him specifically was an honor, and one the Mercenary would not refuse. "I'll go now," he said, then disappeared in a flash of light. Kaiza allowed a smug grin. The fool. Whenever spoken to on other subjects, he would give less of a positive response than a rock, but say one word about the Emperor and he was like a puppy with a rubber ball. ...If that was the correct analogy to use. ~~~~~~ Fun facts: 1. Prince Kaiza is the enemy in Hero, Lost Star, Pact of the Brotherhood, and Returner. He eventually becomes a good guy, but only after a massive beat down by Sora Ashikaga from Returner. 2. Emperor Froyra was originally Captain Neo Froyra from one of my numerous war stories. As you can see, he's risen quite fast through the ranks. 3. A puppy with a rubber ball... Don't know WHERE I got that one...
No, I was not feeling okay. In fact, I'm quite positive that the cheesecake is coming back up on me... hang on... Okay, I'm good. And here's chapter 3. 3: "Eliminate them all" Kado received word from Nagashi that he was to find the traitors responsible for the breach of the Asai Yuuki and "Eliminate them all." The Apprentice wordlessly complied and went immediately into a meditative state. Earth people had one special gift that nobody else had: Since the coming of the "Golden Dawn" many millennium ago, Earthbreds had the ability to locate and communicate with other people using their minds, but it only worked in meditation, and so many Earthbreds hadn't even that ability. Kado, however, had made religious use of it, and he figured he would need it later in his life, just as he had need of it now. An uneasy calm took hold of the Earthbred, and soon, as his eyes scanned the darkness that came when they closed, he saw life forms appearing. All of them human. He needed to find the ones that were gold... ...Wait. There, in the back. There were seven of them, and they looked to be of the Kaen' Ba race. How had they gotten past the security? And more so, could they tell he was contacting with them? Questions blasted through Kado's mind like bullets through wooden targets. Humans were closely bound allies with the Kaen' Ba, many world leaders bound by blood. How would Kado kill them without the retaliation later? And even worse, Kado had friends within the Kaen' Ba race! If he killed these people, and they knew he was human, what would happen to those friendships he had made? Well, these were the trials on his journey. Kado reluctantly used another Earthbred specialty given by the Golden Dawn: Teleportation. Though he could have just as easily walked, he figured the sooner he got the job over with, the sooner he could stop worrying about it, and the faster the less-than-great feeling welling up in the pit of his stomach could be relieved. He hardly even had to concentrate to move himself through the fabrics of space and to his desired location. A general look of surprise came over the Kaen' Ba intruders. Luckily for Kado, he recognized none of them, and he was better off making it look as if he was a Spacebred. After all, he sure dressed like one. Spacebreds spoke a somewhat different language than Earthbreds, so Kado had to remember his literature skills back from the second grade, when it was mandatory to know both Earth and Spacebred languages. "You aren't supposed to be here. And because of this, I've got no other choice but to take you out." Kado pulled out his sword, and as expected, the Kaen' Ba warriors did the same. Unlike Kado, they had access to weapon far inferior to his own, but he knew countless soldiers who fell victim to those weapons. Bows and arrows, knives, maybe a pistol here and there... they relied solely on their magic capabilities to see them through combat with these mostly steel age-era weapons, and because of that, their magic was more deadly than their combat. This was why humanity made such close bonds with the Kaen' Ba, especially after the long years of war had finally ended, in hopes that they might forgive and forget the past, and in hopes that their new alliance would prove useful in whatever war should come next. Kado reluctantly stood in a battle-ready stance, but quietly told the Kaen' Ba warriors in his head that he didn't want to kill them, but had no other choice. Kado wondered if they could read minds, because almost immediately, they lowered their weapons and, after a closer examination, they realized he was an Earthbred. And the obvious thoughts that went through their minds were, wait a minute, if there's an Earthbred on this ship, then that means we've been attacking our own allies! And a Kaen' Ba warrior who breaks a bond has to commit suicide, no questions asked. So that is exactly what they did, and it almost caused Kado to puke. ~~~ Meanwhile, elsewhere in the ship, some of the other Apprentices were silently debating how trustworthy an Earthbred was to Nagashi. "I still think he might rebel. All Earthbreds have a weakness, and they hate when it's exploited. This boy, Kado, his weakness is the lust for revenge, and he might try to overthrow Nagashi at any given chance because of it," said one Apprentice, name unknown, face unknown because of the black and red cloaks they all wore. "If that were to ever happen, Nagashi would put an end to it before it had a chance to become threatening. You know that," remarked another, obviously female. "Is that so?" piped a third, causing heads to turn. He was considered one of the smartest of the group. He stood, and continued. "Remember Auberdyne? Nagashi couldn't stop him before he became a threat, and now look what's happened: We've lost one of our fourteen Apostles of The Dark, and this General Karo person is doing a poor job taking Auberdyne's place. And Auberdyne was no stronger than Kado is now when he rebelled the second time. The first time, he was detained, but he got smart after that. Even if Kado gets captured once, it most likely will not happen again, and he most likely will overthrow Nagashi at some point in the future." "But he sure doesn't seem like he wants anything to do with rebellions at the moment," the second one said again. "He may be harboring those feelings away from our senses. If he is truly on our side, we'll make sure of it. He'll tell us one way or another. The last thing anybody needs at the moment is an outbreak followed by the loss of yet another asset." With this thought in mind, the Apprentices went to search out Kado and make sure he wasn't secretly a spy for somebody else, or worse yet - another Auberdyne. ~~~~~~ Fun Facts: 1. "Golden Dawn" Spoiler was an event in which humanity unknowingly opened a rip in the universe that led to an alternate dimension, just as a radioactive meteor was about to strike. While they saved the other Earth, they unfortunately inflicted mutant-like powers upon themselves, and 5% of all children born from a parent with these powers were likely to obtain them. 2. The Fourteen Apostles of Death were, in a way, kinda' like the Organization 13 in KH 2. Except, they were comprised of mainly military Generals who had become corrupt to the point of no return. Auberdyne somehow regained his senses and disbanded from the group, leading to the title of "traitor" by Nagashi. 3. The Kaen' Ba are a group of almost-elven people who got into a war with Humans originally called the Terran War. After the Terran Wars ended, the Three-Way War started when an enigmatic race, called the Infected, started attacking both sides. 4. I didn't use any stupid analogies this time! Woohoo!
I like how this is developing so far. Since I've never actually seen this story, because I was off writing Hero, this is the first I've heard of Pact of the Brotherhood. And I'm liking it so far.
Glad you like it, Jack. And now, here's chapter 4!!! 4: "Tell us, Kado." Nagashi's ship landed at the Emperor's Fortress not too long after he had departed from Barios, leaving Karo to his men. This must be important if the Emperor had sent for him, specifically. What for was beyond Nagashi, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was important to the Emperor enough for a meeting, a once in a lifetime event that he would not miss, nor would he mess it up in any way. The Emperor's Fortress was huge. It could house half an army if necessary, and the mercenary knew that within these silent halls were legions of Apprentices and scholars lurking about, silently practicing their arts and learning what they need to know. It was where he had grown up as a boy, but he had never met the Emperor. Ever. To be finally able to meet him in his own citadel was nerve-wracking for Nagashi, to say the least. The mercenary stepped on to a platform and was immediately shot up through levels upon levels of rooms and hallways, staircases and elevators, such as the one he now rode, until he finally stopped at the top floor, a gigantic room deserted by all but a throne, and the Emperor sat upon it in rigid silence, waiting for Nagashi to approach. With a bow, Nagashi greeted the tyrant that he admired so. "Welcome, Nagashi. I expect your travels were... somewhat pleasant?" Emperor Froyra asked, his deep voice echoing off of every wall and into Nagashi's eardrums like a painful gunshot. One the despised man accepted openly. "the travel was pleasant, yes. But the battle beforehand gave me nothing but grief. There is another uprising on Barios, even after we established our rule there two months ago. I don't understand what these foolish Kaen' Ba people hope to gain from their rampant foolishness." Nagashi had no qualms with insulting a race that he could easily wipe out if he wanted. And it wasn't as if anybody could do a thing to speak against it, if they valued their pitiful lives. Many of them seemed to enjoy living, so they kept their mouths shut as best as they could to avoid any pain and suffering brought on by Nagashi's wrath. "They are a simple people, they live free and do not appreciate having their lives dictated by me. But, in order to keep the peace between humans and Kaen' Ba here on Earth, I have to establish some order on their world, for two reasons: One, to stop their meaningless wars with each other, and two, so that another war between us may not break out. Yes, they have made special bonds with us humans, but when have those bonds ever been upheld by other races? Twice, now, we've gone to war with a race we thought we were close allies with. Who is to say that it won't happen again with these enigmatic people? What we don't know about their behaviors and traditions, their warfare tactics and weapons, that ignorance could kill us. So there is only one thing left to do to make sure they uphold their end of our treaty, as we are upholding ours by not going to war with them again: we must make sure that they don't cause war between themselves and us again by enforcing peace on their planet. Do you understand, Nagashi?" Nagashi was in awe at how well thought out this man's plan was. But he found one flaw within it: "Their weapons are simple, but so many of our men have fallen because of those weapons. Who is to say that these ones will not?" he asked. The Emperor chuckled. "I had a feeling that you would ask that. Well, to put it simply, these men can't be killed. They have special defenses made to ensure no harm would ever come to the user. These defenses have been embedded into their minds by professional scientists, and they are activated whenever anything bad is detected by the person in question. Say, maybe, a stray bullet that they know might hit them. Or, perhaps, an arrow shot right at them. Since these defensive measures are triggered by danger, they will automatically throw themselves in harm's way before it ever reaches the target. Possibly the only thing they can't defend against would be Force Swordsmen or Magicians, such as yourself and I." Nagashi was confused. "You're a Magi-gaah!" he choked as he was violently hurled into the air by an invisible arm around his neck. The Emperor waved his hand and Nagashi fell back to the floor. "I'm surprised you didn't know this before. How do you think that enemy ship two years ago suddenly fell from the sky and exploded in the atmosphere? It was my doing. I pulled it from the darkness of space and made sure it could not go back, and I did it with my mind. Just as you quelled a rebellion with your mind. It is a gift few people have, and even fewer people have the chance, like I did, to rule the planets with that gift. That is why I have Apprentices and Scholars within my halls: So that more of these gifted people may be created." The Mercenary almost cried. It was as if his every dream had become a reality, right in this room. ~~~ But, such was not the same for Kado upon the Asai Yuuki. The other Apprentices had tracked him down and knocked him out, and they were now questioning him as if he were some criminal with knowledge they needed to solve the case. "Tell us, Kado. We want to know where your alliances truly lie. If you don't tell us now, we'll have to kill you, and I'm sure that's nothing you want. Not before you've had your revenge," the smart one said, his sword drawn dangerously close to Kado's throat. If anything surprised the Apprentice, it was how calm Kado was when threatened with death. Or anything else, for that matter. Kado's response was to look at the cloaked figure and shake his head. Then, he added, "You've got no place in asking who's side I'm on. I choose my own side, and it's not your decision to make, to kill me or let me live, so I'll tell you nothing. Besides..." The Apprentices were amazed and appalled at this man's audacity. But they listened closely to what he had to say. "...If Nagashi found out that his most trusted Apprentices had killed his newest student, who had so vigilantly defended the ship while he was away, don't you think he'd be a little bit... mad?" This hit home for the Apprentices. He was right; any harm that came to him would reflect back on the Apprentices tenfold when Nagashi returned. It would be them signing their own death warrants. They each cast worried glances towards each other, then reluctantly let Kado go. Before he left, he told them a single word that they couldn't understand: "Fraishabe." Kado knew what it meant: It was the Kaen' Ba word for "suckers". ~~~~~~ Fun Facts: 1. The Emperor is, in a way, kind of like Yoda, but he doesn't talk backwards, isn't short and green, rules all sorts of planets with an iron first, and tortures people. I don't recall Yoda ever doing that. 2. Kado is REALLY good at exploiting weaknesses. 3. Kaiza's right about Nagashi being the Emperor's pet, and I think you'll recognize this while reading. 4. Four chapters, and I still haven't had any breakfast since last Friday? Damn, I'm on a roll!
I'm liking how things are developing so far in this story. And I noticed how much you were trying to avoid spelling errors, obviously knowing that me, being an Editor, would complain about them, right?
Wha? No, I'm actually just avoiding spelling errors so that I don't look like some noob trying to write even though he hasn't got the proper knowledge to write a full fledged story that people can read without getting confused. ...And, I guess, to keep people like you from whining about simple mistakes. So, you were close. 5: Karo's Battle Meanwhile, on Barios, things were not going well for General Karo and his men. Granted, while he hadn't fought in a while because of little activity withing the Asai Yuuki, and because most Generals in the Sentian military are tasked with helping recruits train and sending battalions into battle and other trivialities, Karo didn't think it added much to the fact that he was getting far more beat up than usual. The Kaen' Ba were certainly of no equality to he and his men, but already, seven were lost and fourteen were wounded, fifteen if you were to count General Karo, who had taken seven arrows in his back, a few bullets to his arm, and a throwing knife expertly aimed from afar that had landed close to his heart. Almost none of these affected him, but their poison was slowly setting in, and if Karo didn't get the antidote soon, he would become paralyzed, and then he would die in a way so painful and frightening that the poison's name was the Kaen' Ba name for the Angel of Death: "Galcebe", which, when translated to English, meant "Fearful Agony". Already, Karo's arm was slowly going limp. He could barely keep his grip on his Partisan, and it kept slipping out of his hand. His legs were trembling with each step, and he had no strength to stand up straight, leaving him hunched to the point where his arms nearly dragged the ground. He felt heavy, and not in a way as if you were tired. In a way as if you moved, you broke every bone in your body. Luckily for Karo, his team was made of professional alchemist soldiers and mercenaries, which meant that he had two forms of antidote administration available. And just his luck, a Mercenary on his team just so happened to be nearby. The kid didn't wear the typical Merc uniform, which consisted of a black bodysuit covered by a brown vest with a built in belt, and a hood around the neck of the vest that covered the face. Instead, he wore a black body suit with a typical military equipment belt, covered by a dark purple plate of armor over his forearms, shins, chest, and back. It left many openings, yes, but he didn't seem at all to be hurt. His ridiculously messy red hair was matted down a bit because of his own sweat, but that was the only noticeable change. He saw Karo and jumped into action. "Sir, sit down. We need to get these projecticles out of your body before I can give you the antidote for the poison, otherwise it'll be pointless. Hold still, this may hurt..." Typically, Mercs weren't equipped with anesthesia, given that they were normally thrown into action the moment they were hired, and therefore had to pull any bullets or projectiles embedded into their skins out and keep going, despite the pain. That situation was no different here. Karo winced as the bullets and arrows were removed with a sharp tug, and gasped in pain as the knife was swiftly removed. Kaen' Ba knives were made to go in easy and come out easy, but in such a way that it still caused immeasurable pain to those who got hit by them. Karo now felt that lingering pain as the antidote for the poison was administered to his wounds, but not before they were flushed with water to clean them of infection beforehand. Mercenaries weren't doctors, but they knew what they had to do to survive, and they used whatever methods necessary to do so. Karo was grateful, but he made a mental note to request better equipment for Mercenaries. In fact, he even changed the note to beg for better equipment for Mercenaries. Karo stood up, cordially thanked his Mercenary medic, then went off to help his men further up the path. When he got there, he saw what he was expecting: More Kaen' Ba rebels had engaged his troops, who were standing in perfect lines, front line down, back line standing, and any snipers in the trees taking aim at enemies further off. The front line had their own set of shields that rose high and defended the back line, as was customary for Sentia military combat for troops without vehicles. All arrows and bullets bounced off, while rebel after rebel fell to the massive onslaught of automatic weaponry. Karo smiled. He had trained his men well, and because of it, they fought professionally, effectively, intelligently, and brutally. It was once in a blue moon that this squad ever fell victim to an attack. There was a point in time where an Assassin had attempted to slaughter them in the night with the quietest method, but Karo was a light sleeper and killed the man before he had killed more than two people. Karo stepped forwards and ordered a cease fire, just as the last rebel fell against a tree clutching his stomach as it bled out over his clothes, turning them a deep red. Karo approached the fallen rebel, and tore off his mask. He was revealed to be their leader, of all people. Surely, the Prince would enjoy knowing that they caught the man behind it all, but Karo knew where one fell, another took his place. Another rebel would step up and take this man's name, continuing the rebel's march against the Sentian Kingdom. But for now, all that mattered was turning the real one in. Karo ordered his troops to seize the rebel leader, bind him, and then return him to camp, where the Prince would no doubt be waiting. Kaiza had made it clear, he had no intention of killing anything. He was there to merely apprehend any rebels and put them on transports to the King, where their punishments, issued by the Emperor, would commence. Karo remained behind with a team of Mercenaries to search for any hidden bases to report to the Prince, who would issue the demand for more troops, and then plan out a raid and capture any other leaders of the rebellion. Somehow or another, this uprising would be quelled, and whether it was General Karo, General Shujinko, Prince Kaiza, Nagashi, or even General Auberdyne who did so did not matter. All that mattered was that all things eventually come to an end, and this event would not end with the bang it was expecting. ~~~~~~ Fun Facts: 1. "Merc" is a slang term for Mercenary that I learned of not too long ago while I was in the Marines. It's also been used to describe Mercedes Benz cars, and to say that somebody has been murdered. Originally, it was Merc, but now it's been changed to Merk. 2. General Shujinko doesn't appear until the last of the Hero series. Basically, he is superior to General Karo in every aspect of the word, and he's twice as old too. 3. In this story, and the second, Auberdyne is still the presiding General of the Sentia Military. It's only in +~Hero~+ that that all changes. 4. Alchemist Soldiers were recruited by professional female Alchemist, Cissiero, who doesn't appear until +~Hero~+. Note, in this series, there are only three well-known female Alchemists, and Cissiero is the only one who has red hair. 5. The Mercenary outfit I describe in this story is similar to the Rogue outfit used in one of my other stories, Deadly Jack Knife. 6. Karo wasn't expecting to get b*tch slapped by the Kaen' Ba, and I bet that's what many people are going to be thinking when they read this, heh heh heh...
Wait, what the hell happened? Did you throw chapter five into that reply, or were you trying to reply, but your computer glitched and put chapter five in with that response?
I'm not sure myself. I think it might be that my computer had a bit of a glitch problem, because I meant to put chapter five in an entirely different response.
