The Renegade

by Daniel Evora

  “Then, if you cared, you wouldn’t be mad if I ever considered it. That’s what friends do, Adrana, they support each other. Now matter what..”

  “Which is why I’m telling you to forget about it.”

  “Fine,” I answered as I opened the door to my quarters.

  “You need to stop this before you get yourself killed.”

  “I’ll try,” I replied.

  “No. I need you to promise me that you’ll stop this nonsense. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “Okay.”

  “I need your word.”

  “I promise, Adrana,” I answered, closing the door.

  “What did she say?” a man asked me.

  “Not now, Ben,” I replied to him. “I can’t keep doing this anymore.”

  “Well, I need to know if you want to go.”

  “I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”

  “It’s all up to you, but I highly suggest that you take action soon. I was sent here with a mission, and I plan to complete it. You’re lucky enough I’m offering you something considering you’re not a part of my orders. What about the girl?”

  “She didn’t take the offer.”

  “Did you even tell her?”

  “I tried, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  “Well, I need your say in this soon.”

  I sighed, looking at my picture of Adrana, Sam, and myself. I held it in my hand as I stared at our smiling, innocent faces. I had to choose between my friends and what was right; what was best. Then, I put it back. I let go of the picture and placed it in my drawer.

  “Just give me another day to convince her,” I responded. “I need to find a way to persuade her somehow. I have to…”

  “Alright,” Ben responded, with an irritated tone. “But...only one more day. Look, Nate, I’ve got some intel from my men. The Silents are planning a raid on our station. A village. That’s our window for you and her to escape with us.”

  “But won’t you have to wait for us?” I asked.

  “Yes, unfortunately,” Ben sighed. “But it's our best shot to escape through all the commotion. It’s tomorrow or we're screwed.”

  ...

  I always had my alarm set at about six thirty in the morning or so. I never really changed it much after that, but I still hate to wake up that early. It almost felt like the orphanage from before. The same annoying, loud, beeping sound almost gave me chills to the bone some mornings thinking there was a bomb going off in my quarter. Over time, the reactionary response has faded a bit, but there are some mornings where I’m not having it.

  Suddenly, that same beeping sound intruded on my peaceful sleep, as I quickly hit the off button. Then, I could hear the sound of someone knocking.

  “Come in!” I shouted halfway asleep.

  The door slid open and revealed Adrana already in her proper clothes, with a rifle in her hand and wearing Silent Death armor, with her own surname on the chest plate. On a screen spelling: Lionel.

  “Addie!” I said surprised, while falling out of my bed and rubbing my eyes. “What are you doing here in full gear?”

  “The Silents are launching an offensive on a small town holding about a dozen Rebel squadrons, Sam will be leading this time,” Adrana explained.

  “When will that be?” I asked her while glaring at my digital alarm clock on the dresser.

  “In the evening. About eight o’clock.” Adrana replied.

  “Then why are you in full gear now?” I asked again.

  “Because we have to go in an hour,” Adrana exclaimed, as she handed me a rifle. “The town is near the Skeopel Point district. Go get your outfit on.”

  “Right...It’s uh...Okay...” I attempted to seem enthusiastic. I put on a fake smile.

  Adrana smiled, “I’ll wait for you right here. Just go get ready, alright?”

  “Yeah, definitely,” I answered, while closing the door.

  I opened the cabinets in the corner of the room and opened my chest filled with my own gear. I tossed the rifle in there and used my own custom made one that I won from a Mercenary, in the Krail during a game of Bash, when I was twenty-one. Putting everything else aside I finally got to the armor. I took out all the pieces and placed them on a white marble table. I had my own badges on there and a modified chestplate to make it stand out from the rest of the armor that everyone else had.

  Twenty minutes later and I had already taken a shower, brushed my teeth, and, well, all the other things I’m supposed to do in the morning daily. Then, I got to the armor, and put on the thin layered two black two piece made of standard polymer and cotton. I zipped up the jacket and I slid everything else on as quickly as possible. After that, I picked up the helmet, got my special rifle, and started to walk towards the door. But, before I pressed the open button, I stopped in my tracks and looked back at the katana, and the harness. Finally, I put the harness on and slid the katana inside it like I did in Adam’s office. The satisfying sound of the blade made me feel even cooler. So, then I opened my door and walked out in full gear.

  “Where’d you get that?” Adrana asked, while staring at me.

  “What?” I replied. “The rifle.”

  “No, the blade, silly,” Adrana clarified.

  “Mr. West,” I explained. “He gave me the katana.”

  “He just gave you it?” she asked, confused.

  “Yeah,” I bragged. “Sam didn’t want it, so he gave it to me. I don’t know why, but I don’t really care. What? Are you jealous?”

  “No,” Adrana defended. “It just looks nice.”

  “Nah, you’re totally bummed he didn’t give it to you,” I grinned and chuckled.

  She giggled with me. A huge relief on my part, “No I’m not.”

  “No, I’m pretty sure you want it now,” I teased her.

  “Okay,” Adrana smiled. “Maybe I’m a little jealous. But, hey. It’s yours. It suits you.”

  “And it’s Nate one, Addie; zero,” I reenacted, making a small “O” with my free hand.

  Adrana chuckled at my joke. I loved to see her smile. It gave me a warm feeling inside. It had almost been ten years to the day I first officially met her back at the orphanage. On the cusp of being fifteen, our only difference was that she could remember her parents. I couldn’t remember anything. Mrs. Doyle told me I came to the orphanage when I was just under two years old. I asked her about my parents. She always told me she never saw them. Adrana, on the other hand, was about five years old, when she reached the orphanage.

  We both approached the end of the long, white, and brightly lit hallway until we reached the outside of the building. Just near the exit was a vehicle ready to depart to the front wall. Adrana opened the door to the West District of Kalo City. A few soldiers greeted us as they were already seated on the truck. Ready to depart, while waiting for us to get on.

  “Hope we weren’t too late,” Adrana apologized.

  “Just on time actually,” one of the troops replied.

  “Well, that’s great,” I murmured.

  The two of us hopped in as the vehicle swerved around towards the Eastern District all the way up towards the entrance gates. Each side was creaked open as we squeezed through the crevice and drove out towards the Krail. The nearest town in the Krail was known to the locals as Neley. Many Silent Death soldiers roamed throughout the streets of Neley. The most occupied area in the Krail so far is next to right in front of its gigantic walls.

  Our vehicle slowed down as the road forward got much more narrow. The public crowd split on either side of the asphalt, as we moved through one of the busiest roads on the Krail. Many of the residents stared at our vehicle, but most of them stayed at distance after seeing my large rifle as I pointed it up in the air. One of the women in the crowd stood out to me as she walked in front of her children in response to the vehicle passing by. I glared at her while putting away my weapon. I could almost instantly recognize the look on her face. Fear. The Silent Death’s greatest weapon. I coul
dn’t bear to look at her nervous expression anymore. I couldn’t hear her, but I could see her lips moving while quickly looking at the children. However, I didn’t need to hear her to know what she was saying to her kids. I looked away from the women and she went about her business as well.

  As we moved deeper into the town, we eventually reached the center of the city. Filled with street lights, markets, a clock tower, and a torn down statue of a Silent Death general. The only parts left were parts of the lower legs and feet. It had been torn down by the townsfolk many times before, until Mr. West finally decided not to repair it once again for the billionth time. There laid the bronze pedestal

  Suddenly, a couple of goons approached out of nowhere from one of the markets with striped bandanas and pistols. One of the men lowered his mask, and pointed his gun at me. The driver halted our vehicle and brought out his weapon in response to the threat.

  I raised my rifle to him. “Stand down now!” I ordered. “Or else we’ll put more holes in you than swiss cheese, you idiot.”

  “There are seven of us, and five of you,” The man replied, while smirking. “You’re outnumbered.”

  “Are we now?” I asked, while nodding at the people behind the gang.

  Fourteen Silent Death troops surrounded the men. For every man, two Silents had locked their weapons on them.

  “Drop your weapons!” One of the troops ordered as his voice echoed through his comms device.

  Each of the bandits raised their weapons in defiance.

  “Drop. Them. Now!” The troop ordered again.

  “Make me!”

  “Fire at will!” The Silent Death soldier shouted.

  All the men went down in the blink of an eye. It happened so fast that it was almost forgettable until I saw the dead corpses of the gang members. The crowd gasped at the sight and were lured away from the scene of the crime.

  “Move along!” Adrana ordered the citizens as they walked past the area, staring at the bodies. She shot a bullet in the air that startled everyone, and forced them to flee elsewhere in town. To act as if nothing had happened.

  Once we were clear of any Bandit gang members, we started to approach the Southern District. I gulped and hid my weapon. The Southern District of Neley was crowded with Mercenary gang members, and Silent Death soldiers. Gang wars in this district were a common occurrence; with the Bandits and Silents respectively. Luckily, we were in the clear for now. Other than that, the Southern District never had an official codename as far as I’m concerned; it was the only one that didn’t have one mostly due to the fact that they needed this place to stand out. That’s what I heard from the local guards around here. Besides the game I won, I wouldn’t spend much time in the Southern District. The place where I won that weapon, in a game of Bash, was coming up ahead. A popular, small pub on the corner of an intersection where the most infamous Mercs would trade weapons, a very common place for a gang war to occur between them and the Silents.

  We started to speed up since the street was much more clear. Along the way to the outskirts of Neley, a few mercenaries glared at me. Many of them intimidated me with their large weapons. Bringing them out. A few even stared blankly at me until we were eventually out of sight. I instantly recognized each and every one of them as I kept my head down, and tried my best not to stare back at them with any form of animosity, or aggression. Every one of them was there at the pub on the day I won a game. Each of them had their eyebrows inclined, grinding their teeth, with the finger on the trigger. But, they wouldn’t pull the trigger on a Silent Death soldier right next to the capital city. It’s the reason they’re Mercenaries, and that the others are simply Bandits and gang members. The Silents love to persuade and bribe Mercenaries to do some of their work here and there. It was much more reliable than going to the Jackals, or the Kings, or the Rider Band. Those three factions were much more restrictive in letting in new members without some insane initiation task or ceremony. Especially the Jackals. But, they all had one thing in common. They all had something against the Silents. Some more than others, but it didn’t matter at that point.

  Finally, we were able to reach Skeopel Point. A not so big fortress checkpoint where we would be put into transports to be flown towards the village.

  The driver stepped on the brake as we walked the rest of the way from the entrance. About a dozen transports were sitting there, waiting for departure. Next one of them was Sam waiting for us. He waved at us to come over. Adrana and I jogged through the supply depot.

  Sam looked different than usual. It was one of the only times he had his general outfit on. It was similar to Adam’s. A black trench coat with a silver shoulder pad. And obviously, his General badge.

  “First day in the field as General, huh?” I asked.

  “Yep, so now you two have to follow my instructions. The irony of it,” Sam grinned. “Anyway, we’ll gather here for now until the evening. Once the sun is down we move out.”

  Chapter 3

  The Man in the White Suit

  The sky was slowly darkening as the Sun began to hide itself away below the horizon. The second hand arm of the clock kept moving round and round, spinning in a circle ticking and ticking until I started to stare at it, and I started to become more anxious by the minute. I kept glancing at my watch every two minutes or so. My left leg was shaking, and I was sweating a bit. It was exactly five minutes before departure. Well, for everyone else at least.

  Adrana caught me awkwardly staring at my watch. She sat next to me and asked, “Nate. Are you doing alright?”

  “Yeah,” I looked down to the floor. “I’m good.”

  “Nate, what’s wrong?” I asked.

  I paused and asked, “Adrana, could I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Yeah, sure, what’s on your mind?” she responded.

  I took her hand and I walked her over towards a much more discrete area in the fortress. She widened her eyes at me as I quickly escorted her throughout the place. Then, it was really quiet. I scouted around to see if there was anyone who could possibly overhear the conversation. No one had looked back nor cared about our conversation like I had very much hoped so.

  For a moment my mouth opened, but nothing came out. Until I finally forced them out to tell her. “There’s a mole in the Silent Death,” I confessed.

  “Who?!” Adrana shouted. I quickly shushed her.

  “Keep quiet,” I muttered. “Do you want someone to hear us?”

  “Who’s the mole?” she asked.

  “His name is Benardo Perez,” I explained to her. “But, I’ve been checking in with him for a couple of weeks now.”

  “You what?” Addie replied, with her jaw dropped. “Nate--”

  “I know, but look,” I interrupted her. I raised my forearm and pressed the on button to my Interface device. The watch showed a white screen, then turned off to reveal a flat map of the village that we were preparing to raid. “The raid is taking place on his post. His men are already prepared for the attack. The Silents attack the village, and we escape through the commotion.”

  “You’re asking me to commit an act of treason with you. I can’t do that,” Adrana said, her mind boggled. “I’m going to have to tell Sam about this mole.”

  “Addie…please…”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t go down that path with you,” Adrana answered straight.

  “What are you so afraid of?” I asked angrily.

  Adrana started to tear up, “Nate, I’m afraid for you. Don’t you get it? I’m scared, because I don’t want to lose you over this!”

  “Then come with me,” I begged. “I don’t want anything to do with the Silents anymore.”

  “Do you hear yourself?” she asked, as my eyes were glued to the floor. I stood speechless. “It’s either stay here or die. Where would we go?”

  “We could join the Rebellion,” I suggested, after searching my thoughts for a couple seconds.

  “What makes you think they’d want to take any of us?” quizzed
Adrana, while she pointed at our name tags.

  “You don’t know that,” I answered, as I put her hand down. She looked up at me and shook her head.

  “And you do? Nate, if you go through with this and none of it works. There’s nowhere left to go for you. I don’t want to be put in that situation, but I will if you continue to deny my warnings.”

  She made her point, and she made it well. I ran straight into a brick wall and was frustrated that I couldn’t find a way past it. I could not respond to that instantly. So, I stood there thinking about it. She was right, how could they take in someone like us? But, then I thought about Ben. He took me in. Then again, Ben was only one man in a faction of millions of others on another side of this land. Who knows what they would think of me? And I have not one thing to offer them other than being a part of the Silent Death.

  I nodded my head, and let go of her hand. I rubbed my forehead trying to look within myself for a response to one made so clear and upfront. Then, I spun back towards her eyes and let out a big sigh of realization. “Yeah...you’re right.”

  “Okay, then,” Adrana nodded as well, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “C’mon let’s go.”

  We both made our way towards the transport vehicles to get us in the air. Adrana and I went into the same one and were in the very back as each of the three transport was filled with about a dozen soldiers. Sam took his own transportation as a General. The two of us stared at each as we held on to the metal supports connected to the roof of the compartment. Neither of us smiled, nor held frowns. I gulped and looked away from her. The entire transport shook as I could feel myself lifting off from the surface. Each of us held onto the restraints as we buckled up for the ride ahead. Adrana sat right next to me as she buckled her seat belt.

  Suddenly, the transport instantly accelerated, as each of us inside jolted all at once to the opposite side!

  ...

  Ben waited, and waited. Tapping his feet and looking off into the vast, empty land. Waiting for them to come. To hear the sounds of the troops marching closer. To hear the coil whine of the transports rushing through the air. The sounds of an approaching battle were all too familiar for him. He turned around from the desert and watched as the townsfolk prepared for the inevitable raid. He slowly walked throughout the small town. Some of the children looked at him, and then his rifle, with a blank stare. No smiles. Some of them Ben looked back at, and others he only glanced at for a tiny moment. Everyone hid behind the firing line where the Rebellion put down bags of sand, and metal shields and a small turret on the way to the village.