The Phoenix Fallacy_Book II_Norm

by Jon Sourbeer,

  “But this will be an intelligence gathering mission,” the Praetor said pointedly fixing the room with a stare. He paused for a moment, struggling with his words, “The last time a corporation made such a bold move, one of our fellow Legions was completely wiped out.”

  There were angry mutterings around Janus, but it was the Praetor that held his attention. Something was wrong, but Janus had no idea what it could be.

  “Cerberus is far and away the most powerful of the Corporations now, and if it has anything hidden up its sleeve, it is a cause for great concern. Therefore, our objective is simple: infiltrate the Cerberus base, discover what we can about their operations, and, most importantly, bring back evidence of that activity. If Cerberus is planning a move, we will need proof to convince the other Corporations and Legions to action.” His voice became very quiet and solemn, “All of you understand what is potentially at stake – we will avenge our lost and dead in time.” His voice rose, “Now, it’s time to show Cerberus what we can really do.” Cheers sounded throughout the gathering. A few of the officers cast guarded looks.

  “The Praetor can certainly rouse the troops,” Marcus whispered, and Ramirez nodded behind him. “But what will we find?” Celes added worriedly.

  “ODIN is taking a major risk pursuing Cerberus,” Lyn whispered. Lyn and Ramirez were both from the Outskirts, the areas outside primary Corporate control, and had spent their life hiding to keep themselves safe.

  “Well, now is the one time he can get away with it,” Marcus added. “Whether or not we find anything, Cerberus is certainly planning something. And all of us want to know that our friends died for a cause.”

  “Too true,” Celes said.

  “No doubt Cerberus will be acting with only its best interests in mind,” Janus grimaced.

  “Tad’ bitter, are we?” Marcus asked, grinning. Janus’ reply was cut off by Lyn’s whisper.

  “Shh, Colonel Keats is speaking.”

  “As the Praetor said before, this will be a small, covert operation. Therefore, we will have two teams infiltrating the base. After much discussion with the officers, it was decided that Sergeant Wouris will lead one group.”

  There were nods of approval from crowd. Wouris was respected throughout Valhalla, and Janus couldn’t think of anyone who he’d rather have at his back, other than maybe his friends, or perhaps the Praetor. “The Sergeant also benefits from having been one of the three Adepts to infiltrate the Phoenix facility,” Hawkes grunted.

  Keats nodded, “Yes. The second leader was a harder choice. Although some disagreement resulted at first,” she paused. The Praetor cleared his throat, urging Keats to continue on, “the officers eventually decided that Lieutenant Janus will lead the second group.”

  This time the murmurs were of disbelief. Marcus looked unsettled. Ramirez clapped Janus on the back.

  “Lieutenant Janus demonstrated excellent battlefield decision-making during our assault on the Titan complex and he too was one of the three Adepts to infiltrate the Phoenix complex.”

  Janus was taken aback – he had only been promoted a few days prior, and already he had his first mission. Indeed, it had been the Titan assault where he had gained some measure of fame for his actions warning ODIN of the trap that had claimed so many of their friends, including his own team. Still, the announcement caught everyone by surprise, especially Janus. Isn’t it standard to brief the officers before? Why didn’t they tell me? Janus wondered darkly, but the voices around him interrupted his thoughts.

  “He’s too inexperienced, he’s a mint,” someone whispered to his left.

  “But he obviously has the ability,” another voice to his right.

  “Maybe they want to test his leadership skills. He has to start somewhere,” from in front of him.

  “Not for such an important mission,” behind him.

  Janus clenched his fists; how quickly they doubted his ability.

  Celes turned and whispered irritably to the Adept behind them, “He and Wouris infiltrated the Phoenix complex just fine.” Janus felt a sudden rush of relief. He was going to turn and thank Celes, but he stopped: Marcus was staring at him with an inexplicable expression. Janus struggled to read his eyes.

  Keats’ voice, speaking to Janus directly, woke him from his thoughts. “…your own group, but you will report to Wouris during this mission. The two of you will select your teams and be prepared to report to us the moment our scouts locate the Cerberus facility.”

  Hawkes stepped forward, “All right, that’s enough for now. Dismissed.”

  Pushing Marcus’ strange glare from his mind, Janus felt exhilarated. Many Adepts clapped him on the back as he left, wishing him luck. Others swept by, obviously not as pleased by the announcement. Everyone stopped to wish Wouris luck and offer congratulations. She shrugged this off and quickly left the mess.

  Celes, Lyn, Ramirez, and Marcus all followed Janus out, and were soon joined by their fellow Sigma squadmates; they at least were pleased by the announcement.

  “Excellent work, Janus.”

  “We knew you were officer material,” Valers gave him a hearty shove to the back.

  “You’ll be amazing, I’m sure,” Jones said.

  “Remember Janus, we’re counting on you,” Celes said.

  “Yeah, don’t let it go to your head,” Marcus said, rather coldly.

  Janus gave Marcus a furtive look.

  “He’s right you know,” a husky voice said. Janus glanced behind him, it was Colonel Hawkes.

  Janus and the other Adepts standing around came to attention, “Colonel.”

  “At ease. I’ll talk to you for a moment, Lieutenant.” He turned away from the group and walked towards a quiet corner of the great hall. Janus followed, somewhat cautiously.

  “Yes, Colonel?” Janus asked expectantly, inwardly focused on his new promotion and mission. Now I’ll get to show—

  Hawkes gravelly voice cut his thoughts off, “I’m sure you realized that not everyone is convinced you should be leading a squad on this mission.” Janus shifted uncomfortably, now hanging on Hawkes every word. Thoughts of his success suddenly seemed to dry up. “However, the Praetor is confident in your abilities and believes you should be given an opportunity to prove your leadership skills. That’s good enough for me,” he paused, “But you should understand that we will be watching you very closely. I expect you to use your head and be responsible. Sergeant Wouris certainly expects the same. You will listen to her during the mission and bring your people back alive,” Hawkes brought his face up close to Janus, “or you will face the consequences. Get me?”

  Janus’ gaze had not left Hawkes during the exchange, and he answered without hesitation, “Yes, sir.” He felt compelled to ask, “Sir, what’s a ‘mint’?”

  Hawkes face was inscrutable, “It’s a term for a new officer. One who lacks – experience.”

  Janus grimaced – he wasn’t sure what sort of experience he had missed during the Titan battle, but he clearly hadn’t impressed some of the other Adepts yet.

  Hawkes shook his head, “Don’t be too eager, boy. I’m afraid you’ll understand it, soon enough. Any other questions?”

  Janus shook his head, “No, sir.”

  Hawkes gave him a lopsided grin, “Good. Now, the team you choose for the upcoming mission will be critical. I recommend that you take some of your fellow Sigma Threes with you. You’ve had the most experience with them as a group. I might also suggest you ask Sergeant Wouris for recommendations on your squad. She knows how to properly run a mission. And spend as much time as you can training with your team before deployment, just to get all the kinks out. Dismissed.”

  Janus rejoined Celes, Lyn, and Ramirez in Sigma 3. Celes noticed Janus first, “So, what did Colonel Hawkes want to discuss?”

  “Just some pointers,” Janus said.

  “And your squad?” Ramirez grunted.

  “I would like to talk to Wouris first, but I think all of you should accompany me. We’ve all traine
d together, which gives us an advantage.”

  “Don’t worry, Janus, we’ve got your back on this one.” Lyn said.

  “She doesn’t want you hogging all the glory again,” Ramirez grinned. It looked good on his normally straight face.

  Janus and Celes laughed at the surprising joke. But Lyn shot Ramirez a disapproving glare and he stopped smiling immediately, his face impassive once again.

  During the Titan assault, Lyn had led a separate cadet squad from Janus, and had ended up getting separated from both Janus’s and Marcus’s groups. In the end, she had gotten most of her squad out, but she had been forced to beat a hasty retreat from the Titan complex, and missed out on the action under the Phoenix ruins.

  “Come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to be ready the moment those scouts discover the Cerberus facility. Let’s find Marcus,” Janus said. Janus had no intention of losing any member of his squad this time – he would show everyone the way to run a mission.

  Chapter 3: The Flash of Lightning

  They found Marcus in the Beacon of Need. Captain Rogers was instructing him in Ghostblade techniques with a set of dummy Infernus units. The unpowered blade reflected the strange blue sheen of Immutium.

  “Good,” Rogers said. “The blade is used to counter the Infernus’s superior strength and armor. Inferni, when attacking in crowded areas, such as forests and cities, will often land nearby so that they can make use of their flamethrowers. This provides an opportunity for a blade wielding Adept to decimate the Infernus ranks. However, the blade in and of itself is not an effective weapon. Only an Adept who understands how to maneuver, as well as the limitations of being confined to the heavy armor of an Infernus unit, can truly master a Ghostblade. Never forget that when powered, few things can stop the swing of the blade, and therefore you should have no problem in slicing through brush, trees, or objects in order to connect with an Infernus unit.”

  Marcus finished his run through the Inferni by connecting his final swing to the head of an Infernus dummy. He smiled at Janus as he finished. “Janus! What did Hawkes say?”

  “Just some particulars to keep in mind,” he folded his arms over his chest.

  Marcus held up the Ghostblade, “Like it? I wanted to learn how to use one after our experience at the colony. I could have saved us some trouble if I had one of these the other day.” Marcus held it out to Janus, who took it and swung it around a few times. It no longer felt quite so heavy to him.

  “Still interested in using one, son?” Captain Rogers asked Janus. “I was about to take Marcus to one of the platforms outside for some more in-depth practice.”

  Marcus smirked, “Come on, Janus. I can show you how a real Adept fights.”

  Janus took up the challenge, “Well I guess you won’t be the one demonstrating, will you?”

  Many of the other new Adepts from Sigma were interested in learning how to fight with a blade, and the group moved to one of the unused launch platforms, where several Infernus and S.T. dummies were deployed. The sun was high in the sky, and a strong breeze pulled at the uniforms of the soldiers and the white clouds above them. The dummies themselves were made of a special, gel-like “healing” polymer on a Daedulus base. Daeduluses were highly advanced machines that had the capability to move without human input. They, like satellites and many other technologies, were rare now. Humanity had advanced in many ways, but it had also forgotten lessons it had learned long ago.

  Each dummy started as nothing more than what looked like a block of green goo, but the gel was malleable and could form primitive shapes within a matter of moments under a combination of heat and electrical signals sent by the base. Basic armor, weapons, and either Adept or Trooper shapes could be formed in seconds by the gel, allowing for unique and varied combat situations. Each dummy was equipped with a gun that would fire stinging red pellets, and sensors to tell them when they had been hit. By rotating in fresh dummies while the polymer restored itself, there was always a fresh body to chop or shoot.

  Captain Rogers brought out several training blades, plus several real ones, confined to their sheaths.

  Rogers lined them up, a sheathed blade resting along his arm. “Many of you are here because of one of your fellow cadets used such a blade to great effect in our last battle,” he pointed at Janus, “but you should know that the Ghostblade is a difficult and dangerous weapon. It has its origins with many of the martial arts techniques you have learned through your training, and was created to fill the need for a close range, silent weapon to deal with trooper armor.”

  He walked along the line, watching the expression on every face, “When trooper armor was first developed, it was almost impossible to eliminate an armored guard easily and silently, especially indoors. Standard combat knives were rendered useless,” Rogers explained, moving the blade from side to side as he spoke.

  “The Immutium Ghostblade was created as a solution to this problem, and as time has passed, it has become one of many invaluable tools in the Adept arsenal.”

  The gel-like combat dummies moved into position. “Marcus, I’ve seen you use a blade, so why don’t you start us off? The dummies are equipped with safety rounds. They won’t injure you, but if they hit you, you’ll have a nice red welt to demonstrate your failure,” Rogers chuckled. “Everyone should step back now. Marcus will be using a fully-powered Ghostblade for the first time, and you should consider it as dangerous as any live fire exercise.” The group took several steps back, while Marcus stepped forward. Rogers handed Marcus the sheathed blade, and said, “Are you ready, Marcus?”

  Marcus unsheathed the weapon, its red glow turning to a semi-transparent bright blue-white as it left the sheath, casting Marcus in a strange light. He nodded to Captain Rogers, who set the dummies in motion. They popped up into shape in front of Marcus. Marcus quickly dispatched two ‘Inferni’ and then swept through to a third. The gooey adversaries struggled to bring their weapons to bear on Marcus, but he proved to be far too fast for them, quickly hacking his way through the group. For a final challenge, one S.T. dummy popped up far away from him. Marcus made several powerful leaps over to it and decapitated the dummy just before its weapon leveled on him.”

  “Great work, Marcus! Quite good for a first try. Don’t put so much flourish into your strokes though. The key is speed and effectiveness. It doesn’t matter how good you look if you wind up dead. Most impressive; maybe this group will be able to move on to more advanced techniques sooner than expected.”

  The group cheered for Marcus, and he took a bow.

  “Alright, Janus, since you’re the one who got this group here, let’s see what you can do now,” Rogers said. Fresh dummies wheeled themselves out, arranging themselves in a new pattern. Marcus strode up and handed Janus the blade with great flourish.

  “See? All too easy.” Marcus said.

  “Well, then, let me show you how it’s done,” Janus replied.

  “Are you ready, Janus?” Captain Rogers asked.

  Janus tested the blade. It felt good to have one in his hands again, “Yes, sir.”

  With a wave of his hand, Roger’s set the dummies in motion, and Janus rapidly chopped the two Inferni that formed in front of him. It was a simple matter, and he moved through the dummies easily as they wheeled around, forming into passable imitations of S.T.s and Inferni.

  Only a few dummies remained when one popped up directly behind him. Janus whipped around the Ghostblade, leaving a blue trail as it arched.

  He checked his swing just in time.

  It was an Adept dummy. Janus flung the weapon high, chopping the ‘hair’ from the dummy, barely avoiding decapitating his “ally” and throwing himself off balance. There was a gasp of surprise from the group as he struggled to regain his momentum, and two new S.T.s popped up behind him some distance apart. Their weapons swung around and Janus knew he would be unable to get both in time. Janus grimaced as he ran forward to engage the rightmost dummy, noting Marcus triumphant grin. A thought occurred to hi
m:

  Why should I be limited to just the blade?

  As the two whipped around on him to fire, Janus pulled out his pistol. The Immutium blade firmly in his left hand, Janus shot the dummy farthest away while slicing through the other in one smooth motion. Both stopped, destroyed.

  “Excellent! That is exactly how a Ghostblade is supposed to be used!” Rogers exclaimed. “Knowing when to shoot is the key to making effective use of a blade. It wasn’t perfect, and we’ll have to make sure you learn how to check your swings more effectively, but that is the type of thinking that will allow you to deal with large numbers of enemy troopers.”

  “See Marcus, I told you I would show you how it’s done,” Janus bragged.

  Marcus looked slightly ruffled, but congratulated Janus.

  He glanced over at Celes with a smile, but she just shook her head, looking none too pleased.

  The others’ congratulations seemed rather hollow.

  Chapter 4: Gathering Thunder

  The next few days were a blur as the five prepped for the mission. It was constant training – Wouris had agreed with Janus’ selections, and now Celes, Marcus, Lyn, and Ramirez spent nearly every waking moment with him while they honed their skills.

  When Janus wasn’t training, even during the quiet nights when he should have been trying to recover from another rough day, he was awake, contemplating. He was determined to prove that he could handle the mission. During meals, while the others talked, Janus sat quietly, alone in his thoughts. Most of the others in Valhalla let him be, watching him carefully from a distance. Even Celes left him alone, although it may have been because he had become such a brutal taskmaster during their training sessions.