“I can’t say. It looks like the connection keeps hopping around. The better question is why?”
There wasn’t anything noticeable in the air, no change in scent or smell or anything like that. Perhaps the citizens in Terra would have noticed a small increase in temperature and the ground a little hotter in certain places. But most of them would probably simply chalk that up to the fear and anxiety caused by the attack on the WC building. They didn’t have anything to worry about, right? After all, they had been assured by the military that they would have everything restored soon and that they would be protected.
One of the power stations turned off briefly, followed by a second. They both came back on but only for a short while before all four turned off. Confusion was the immediate result. A few people turned to the military personnel for answers, although only a handful of them had any idea—the several dozen workers who monitored the cloud city’s power, it’s central core.
For one of these men, it took only a couple of moments for everything to click into place. He did not have time to panic or to try to start an evacuation. Instead, he simply held his wife close as the four pillars reactivated at the same time and the ground began to crack and heat to its upper limits.
Then, as several ships in the back of the blockade suddenly activated their thrusters and rocketed away, the cloud city erupted. The WC building and its entire sector were the first to go, but the force of the explosion expanded rapidly to envelop the first few ships in the line. This was quickly followed by almost the entire left half of the station erupting to obliterate much of the blockade and send both sharp and flaming debris rocketing to the ocean below. The side of Terra still mostly intact began to plummet with nothing left to keep it fully airborne when its engines gave way. Thousands of lives had gone in a moment and thousands more were about to be lost when it plunged into the sea.
One of the modern achievements of man and a symbol of their unity and advancement as a species was destroyed in a single day.
Kaiden’s eyes widened, Chiyo fell to her knees with her hands to her lips, and Genos almost dropped his tablet.
“I am…sorry,” the Tsuna murmured, clearly feeling the need to say something even if he could not decide what.
The ace was speechless. He had never seen destruction on that level before, even in the Animus. It seemed the reality of everything he was familiar with had descended into the chaos of sheer annihilation.
“Good evening, people of Earth,” a voice announced. He looked up and forced himself forward as Genos raised the tablet again. Onscreen, a man with slicked-back dark hair and piercing silver eyes that contrasted sharply with his tan skin stared ahead with only a dark wall behind him.
“How is he broadcasting this to everyone?” Kaiden asked aloud.
“I actually have a destination this time. It says this is coming from the embassy’s emergency channel.”
Genos and Kaiden looked at one another, wide-eyed. “The embassy?”
“I am Merrick Rayne, the leader of the Arbiter Organization,” the man announced. The ace tensed as rage surged within him and he looked at Sasha and Laurie to see their reactions at finally seeing the leader announce himself. Instead of determination or anger, they both looked pale like they had seen a ghost.
“I am the one who has orchestrated all the attacks today with assistance and planning from my associates,” he continued. “I’m sure you have many questions and when I am ready, I will answer them all. But know that as of right now, I have done away with the World Council and am currently in the process of taking control of the embassy.”
“What the hell?” Kaiden murmured. Chiyo looked at him and he helped her up as Merrick continued.
“I know that the horrors today will make you hate me. But in time, that will subside.”
It seemed crazy that he actually believed that. With the enormous and perhaps immeasurable number of people who had died that day, this could easily be the worst loss of life on the planet ever. Given the tragedy that they had witnessed, it was almost impossible to think of a goal that could justify all that had happened.
“There was no other way. Without a doubt, there is a horror beyond what I have done coming to our galaxy, and we need to be prepared.” Merrick displayed six different maps, one of which Kaiden was able to recognize instantly. “Decades ago, we prepared a failsafe. Once the vastness of space became a new frontier for us, we had to be ready for whatever might lurk beyond. At least, that was the initial promise. That was soon forgotten in favor of complacency, but no longer.” Each of the maps flipped to their sides to reveal a holographic image of several different buildings, including one of the Nexus central tower. “We created the Ark Academies and named them as such so they would be what harbored and saved us from the potential threats of the galaxy. They have been used as testing grounds when they should be proving grounds. I have the means to make them what they should have been, and humanity will be the saviors of not only our planet but of this system.”
Everyone on the field looked at one another and many looked at Laurie and Sasha, both of whom grimaced with quiet fury at the man on screen.
“If you want a future for us, be ready. You will have the opportunity to save it,” the man said and his gaze hardened as he continued. “If you struggle and fight against my forces, that will only end in your pain and our doom.” He stood tall. “But if I must make you subservient, so be it. I will see to it that we live on.”
The screen went dark when the connection was lost. The field was silent, some faces grim, others confused, and many grieving.
Kaiden looked at Sasha and Laurie and walked up to them. “You know who that guy is, right?”
The professor lowered his tablet as Sasha nodded. “We might.”
“Might? I saw your faces when he appeared.”
“If he is who we think he is, he’s been dead for over a decade,” Laurie explained.
The ace didn’t budge. “He seems very alive right now.” He fixed his two mentors with a questioning look. “We won’t listen to him, will we?”
The commander shook his head. “Of course not, but we should find out what it is—”
“Look at what he’s done!” he exclaimed. “Even only to us! Add on top of that all the attacks, the destruction of Terra, and now, he’s taking over the embassy? For what? Some vague threat that he probably saw while drugged out?”
“I don’t think anyone would have the drive or ability to put together the resources and effort it would have taken to make this happen if they were merely an addict.” Laurie sighed.
“I don’t care what he believes. I’ll die fighting that insane son of a bitch before I ever help him. He wants the Academy, right? We’ll start by taking it back. From there, we can get the other academies out of his hands..”
“We would still need the might of the military,” Sasha explained. “Even with all the destruction, most of the force must still remain.”
“How long will it take for them to recover?” Laurie asked. “To quell the attacks, regroup, and secure the cities? And without the central command of the WC, things will be chaotic for some time.”
“Then we’ll have to do it ourselves until they get their shit together.” This time, it wasn’t Kaiden who spoke but Luke. “Look, I’m not saying we force everyone to take up arms or anything. But most of us here are soldiers, right? Everyone is trained to fight in some fashion. We were caught unprepared and overwhelmed, but we’re still here. We can take it to them now.”
“The more we delay and the more we hide, it simply gives the enemy time to gather more power,” Jaxon added and stepped into the group. “Whatever advantages we have now will matter little over time.”
“And they took our friends too!” Amber and Izzy broke away from the crowd. “They took all those students and Flynn and Marlo—”
“What?” Kaiden gasped, clenched his fist, and looked around at the evacuees. “I don’t know who is a soldier here and whether you’re a ma
ster or an initiate. Like Luke said, no one here is being forced—at least not by me—to help us take the Academy back. But you have to know that they will come for all of us eventually. That won’t be a choice.”
There were murmurs of agreement, whispers, and mutterings in the crowd. “This bastard says he’s doing this for our future,” he continued. “I was planning my future—hell, because of Nexus, I actually have a future I give a damn about. I don’t know what his plans are for us are, but I didn’t put all my blood, sweat, and tears into this for him to decide for me. They attacked us, killed our friends and mentors, kidnapped others, and he wants to act like he’s a messiah? I say that if he wants humanity to save itself, that’s what we’ll do by stopping him.”
“And I will be happy to aid you, my friend,” Genos stated.
Jaxon nodded beside him. “I as well.”
“And me!” another Tsuna in the crowd offered.
“So, are we doing this now?” Cameron chuckled and held his weapon up. “I was born for this.”
“Same here!” Mack shouted, and more and more people joined in—students who wanted to take back their home and initiates who’d had their first taste of war wiped the tears from their faces clean and stood to shout their agreement. Police and security officers held their weapons up or saluted.
Kaiden smiled as the crowd became exuberant and any feeling of despair or hopelessness gave way to camaraderie and determination. Sasha walked up beside him. “To think I had once worried that I had given you the wrong advice,” he said and placed a hand on his shoulder. “But you have become a fine ace.”
He chuckled. “Thanks. I’m glad to see I’m not merely being bullheaded.”
“In certain situations, that is what is needed.” The commander looked at the island as the dome’s light grew thicker and obscured it from view. “Come on, let us prepare. We will see it again.”
“Do you think it will be soon?” he asked as they walked through the crowd.
“I think you’re too impatient for it not to be,” Sasha replied as the crowd began to make their way to the shuttles to prepare to reclaim what was theirs.
Animus On Audio
Kaiden and friends are now available in audio at Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Check out book one, INITIATE, performed by Scott Aiello.
Check out book one at Amazon
(Book two - four are also available in audio, with more coming soon.)
Obsidian Detective
Available now at your favorite ebook stores.
Two Rebels whose Worlds Collide on a Planetary Level.
On the fringes of human space, a murder will light a fuse and send two different people colliding together.
She lives on Earth, where peace among the population is a given. He is on the fringe of society where authority is how much firepower you wield.
She is from the powerful, the elite. He is with the military.
Both want the truth – but is revealing the truth good for society?
---
Two years ago, a small moon in a far off system was set to be the location of the first intergalactic war between humans and an alien race.
It never happened. However, something was found many are willing to kill to keep a secret.
Now, they have killed the wrong people.
How many will need to die to keep the truth hidden?
As many as is needed.
He will have vengeance no matter the cost. She will dig for the truth. No matter how risky the truth is to reveal.
Available now from Amazon and other Digital Book Stores
Author Notes - Michael
December 8, 2019
It was never about him… About Kaiden…
Yeah, yeah it was ;-)
We are in the middle of a massive battle for the future of humanity against aliens. The challenge is that those doing atrocious things are humans against other humans because they believe a certain path is the correct one.
And they are willing to kill a large number of innocent people now, on the chance it will save a large portion of humanity later.
This concept is so screwed up (and yet still believed today). I have challenges when considering the arguments for both sides.
For example: “We need to kill some today to prepare humanity for an awful tomorrow.”
That’s just a horrible argument.
1)These are innocents who would have gone on to produce more people for the future. If you are planning a war, wouldn’t you want those people for armed support?
2)Assuming you are using golem-type fighters (thus reducing the need for fighters), you still need a large enough population that it doesn’t get wiped out. Further, what are the chances you have just killed the Michelangelo of the future generation? Seriously, how many geniuses have we killed in the past who might have provided a different future for humanity?
3)Spilled blood does bad things to people. Not everyone can kill and be immune to the mental, emotional, and perhaps ethical quandaries that affect them in life. Future humanity is going to be affected for at least a couple of generations due to this horrible war.
4)What would someone say if the vision of the future doesn’t occur? “Oops” just doesn’t seem to cut it. “I had good intentions” doesn’t either. With the sheer amount of effort that is being expended (and I do find this a viable if idiotic method of trying to protect humanity), one could surmise there should have been a second choice.
5)Well, actually, the more I think about #4, the more I realize it is the acquisition of resources (raw as well as manufacturing and income) that was the point. If you tried to start from scratch, getting to scale would be a huge challenge.
While humans live, we authors will never lack for antagonists.
THANK YOU
We are almost at the end of the series. Just two more books, and Kaiden’s school career will be finished.
I doubt most readers saw this as his finale.
The sad thing is, I absolutely believe the horror we are witnessing in the stories can happen in the future. Just give humanity enough time.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Books by Michael Anderle
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www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
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Invasion (Animus Book 10) Page 21
