by M. J Kreyzer
There were several different gates that had to open to allow passage, each one being guarded by four Darks. At each gate the car was inspected front to back, some of the soldiers getting slightly aggressive at seeing Luke riding in the passenger seat. Nonetheless, with every inspection the gate would open until, after passing through four gates they entered the main compound.
It was a torrent of activity. The main structure was only a few stories tall. It’s outer walls were a dull, flat auburn. The building was plain and industrial in appearance, with a massive hangar opening up at its front with smaller, pipe-lined tunnels that branched off of it and wove squared, geometric patterns throughout the complex. Outside, assault vehicles from turret mounted ATVs to Machbikes, the subsonic motorcycles of the sky, shot in every direction, threading the gaps between soldiers. Men piloting Raze armor, Monolith-sized metal battle suits, carried weapons, ammo and assorted supplies to one of the many warehouses scattered across the base. Forge tanks, mammoth, frightening machines, sat silently on one side of the yard lined perfectly into rows. There were large cement pads where Darks stood in formation while, just behind the large central building, an enormous green plain sprawled out beneath the Praemon sky dock where military frigates landed and took off. A Helio class battlecruiser had docked at one of the stations four docking bays, the space it took up comprising a significant portion of the base itself and casting an enormous shadow over the open yard. On the side of the building there were large doors that led into subterranean garages where all manner of assault vehicles were being housed, repaired, and modified. It was a hive of military activity and the Dark soldiers that buzzed around it were strangely reminiscent of hyperactive insects.
“Just park us quick.” Luke said, getting visibly anxious as Sable pulled into the basement parking garage on the left side of the complex.
There was a parking spot next to the elevators that Sable pulled into. Without wasting a second, Luke threw the door open and hopped out of the car, stumbling on weak legs as he landed. Seeing Luke’s aggressiveness, Sable became slightly alarmed. “Easy Luke…”
With a grin on his face Hendrick stepped out and checked the rest of the garage. “Vyvyr, Pontious, keep sharp, will ya?” Seeing Sable concerned over Luke’s aggression, Hendrick put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “He’s just here to talk.” He muttered to her as they formed up around him. “He’s just got a few questions. Nothing to worry about.”
Dark soldiers sprinted through the hallways, armed to the teeth and prepared for a fight. All soldiers in the vicinity had been ordered to Central Command, the area of the complex where the highest ranking officers worked.
The alarm didn’t bother Luke in the least, nor did it make the Ditrinity uncomfortable either. But everybody inside the complex knew exactly who they were and made it a point to get out of their way. And as Luke powered through the complex and his companions hurried to keep up, people would part to the sides of the hall, immediately recognize Luke and they’d instantly begin whispering amongst themselves. And though they spoke quietly, Luke could still hear what they were saying. He could hear their spiteful words, and it was clear they every last one of them harbored a good deal of animosity towards him. But his fight wasn’t with them. He was going after Samuel Alighieri.
“You!” One soldier shouted from up ahead. “Don’t move!”
There were two of them, both armed with Infiltrator assault rifles. Hendrick and Pontious moved up ahead of Luke and went defensive. Their pace intensified and they made straight for the soldiers. The soldiers’ boldness faltered and they lowered their rifles and parted. As they passed, Hendrick glared at the one on his right and sneered. “Shut up.”
They said nothing as the group passed through them, while all they found themselves capable of doing was watching the five move menacingly towards the administrative offices.
The door to the offices flew open, nearly tearing the door off its hinges and burying the doorknob in the drywall. Dark soldiers who guarded the door shouted passively at the intruding group as they strode into the empty quiet room.
“Where is he.” Luke growled to the secretary, who shot up from her chair at the sudden burst.
“W-who are you loo-“
“Alighieri. I’m…” Luke trailed off as he saw a door at the end of the office. He didn’t require any further explanation. The secretary, shaking violently, beckoned to the soldiers outside the door.
“H… h-help…” She tried to finish the sentence but could only manage a quivering point towards the office that Luke appeared ready to assault. And when Luke reached it, there was no knock, no notification of any kind that he was entering. The only way he could have made a more alarming entrance was if he had kicked the door down with a machine gun blazing.
There was a group of people who sat all around the office, a giant, a stocky bearded man, a couple younger guys and two young women, each facing a well-dressed, bald black man, who shot to his feet as the door slammed open. His eyes were wide in a strange mixture of joy and fearful surprise. “Luke… what’re you-“
“Everybody out now!” Luke shouted as he continued his path towards Alighieri. This group was different though. None of them backed down from Luke. Instead, the men of the group moved to intervene. Hendrick, Pontious and Vyvyr moved into position. Luke grabbed the front of Alighieri’s suit coat and held him in place. “Where is she.”
“Who you think you are.” Said a twelve-foot giant who had emerged from the corner. He was an ex-Monolith by the looks of him, towering over Luke with his arms flexed and his shoulders squared. Luke turned up towards the man without a blink.
“I’ve strangled bigger than you.” Luke growled, giving no more attention to the giant than he deserved.
The first person after the Monolith was an obvious hothead. His spiked hair and patchy stubble gave him and adolescent and intentionally unkempt appearance. He stormed up from behind the Monolith and shoved Hendrick out of the way. With a harsh chuckle, Hendrick allowed himself to stumble clear.
“After you, Lord and Master.”
The man looked back at him with narrowed eyes and gave a short, low reply. “What a gentleman.”
“Hey,” Hendrick replied with a suave grin. “I know how to treat a lady.”
The man raised both eyebrows at Hendrick in complete, offended shock. “Come again…”
“Easy, Ranjak.” Said another man who stepped up next to him, though his face was the same emotion as Ranjak’s though slightly more subdued. He looked out through his shaggy black hair with pale eyes, glaring at Hendrick who smiled back at the both of them.
“And look how cute they are together.” Hendrick said, looking back and forth at the both of them with an exaggerated, mockingly adoring smile. “Thompson and Ranjak… you just make me wanna… just…” Hendrick clenched his fists and grunted as though he wanted to squeeze them both to death.
“And you’re the Ditrinity…” Ranjak said in reply, his voice sarcastic as he mimicked Hendrick. He turned back to Luke with a degrading smile. “Went to all that trouble to pull this sack of garbage out of prison after what he-“
“You hadn’t even hit puberty when that happened, kid.” Luke rebutted, his attention now drawn away from Alighieri. “Don’t pretend like you know anything about it.”
Ranjak ground his teeth and looked around him, seeing that every person in the room would see him back down if he did. He sneered and stepped towards Luke, putting his face close to Luke’s and speaking quietly.
“You’re lucky these stabilizers are here.” He said with a half-smile.
Luke cocked a brow and set his jaw. “I’d refinish the walls with your insides.”
Ranjak’s smile wavered. He took a step back and laughed shakily, looking back to Thompson, who tried to remain indifferent, and pointing at Luke. “You hear this guy? He has no idea who we are!”
“I know exactly who you are.” Luke cut in, letting his hand stray back onto the hilt of his blade. �
��But until you have more than profane language to hit me with, here’s a word of advice. Don’t piss off a guy with a really big sword.”
Ranjak’s smile disappeared while he searched for something to come back with. He looked all around him as though searching for inspiration. After a moment of taught silence, his attention fell to Hendrick, whose face displayed a massive, toothy smirk.
“You got a problem!” Ranjak yelled as he took several struts towards Hendrick. Hendrick shook his head but stared Ranjak in face without flinching.
“I’m sorry, I… it’s just I find myself completely lost in your eyes. You have a girlfriend or something cause… I’d love to take you out and show you a good time.”
Ranjak shoved Hendrick against the wall and went after him. Hendrick, his grin now gritted into a violent and ecstatic smile, ignited his Blazers and went to punch Ranjak across the face with it.
“Nathan!” Alighieri yelled, stepping between the two before Hendrick’s Blazer could make contact. Before Hendrick could shove him out of the way, more Dark soldiers burst into the room and threw themselves upon the Ditrinity, bringing half a dozen powerful stabilizers with them. Not wanting to escalate things, the Ditrinity didn’t fight back. Hendrick, though, ripped his arms from the grips of the two soldiers that restrained him and kept after Ranjak.
The rest of Ranjak’s companions went to break the fight up, though they seemed more keen towards further provoking it. And with the Monolith’s size, none of the others could forcibly restrain him. So, while allowing themselves to be shackled, Sable, Vyvyr stood back while Pontious and Luke shoved the encroaching Darks away, making it perfectly clear that they wouldn’t be going peaceably.
“Wait…” One of the younger women said, sliding her way into the contention. She was shorter, about five foot four, and looking around eighteen years old. Her straight dark brown hair extended down past her shoulder blades possessed a vivid luster. She was thin but lean. Her arms were more muscular than the average woman as were her shoulders. She had a skinny waist, larger hips and muscular legs. Her face was slender, with high cheek bones, large lips and piercing light blue eyes that could be mistaken for white.
“Back out of this.” Luke said dangerously. He didn’t want to be forceful with her, but he wouldn’t hesitate in doing so.
She didn’t blink. Instead, she stepped closer to Luke and got a better look at him. “You’re… you really are…” She said, her eyes lacking the anger that the others had. “You’re Luke Semprys.”
With all the stabilizers in the room, Luke couldn’t see much more than thin, blackened outlines of people and objects, making it even more difficult to distinguish this woman’s face. But even so, at that distance he could make out her features just fine. Luke knew he should know this woman, but sorting through his memories he found no record of her.
“I’m sorry…” Luke said, her geniality drawing a less aggressive response. “I’m not sure I know you…”
Everybody else saw them speaking and the commotion reached an abrupt halt. Hendrick, who had his hand wrapped around the collar on Ranjak’s armor, released it with a warmed smile upon seeing the two converse. Watching Luke and the woman, Hendrick dropped his arm and casually shoved Ranjak over a nearby trash can, clearing a space around the two. Over against the wall, despite the cuffs that restrained her, Sable smiled as well. And though Luke had just flirted with the line between forceful debate and assault, Alighieri seemed deeply moved by the situation as well. “Luke, she’s-“
“I got it.” The woman said, hushing Alighieri with just a few soft words. “Of course he’s not going to recognize me. He hasn’t seen me since I was twelve.”
The light in Luke’s head burst on, and whatever anger there was on Luke’s face made an immediate transformation into stark astonishment. And in his shock, Luke almost found himself incapable of even the most simple dictation. After a moment of gathering his thoughts, Luke responded in a deep, calmed voice.
“Tess…”
Tess’s eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. After a short, emotional laugh she ran to Luke, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him. She buried her face into his shoulder and rested there, breathing deep and slow as though taking in a moment she’d never be able to experience again. It was unfamiliar to Luke; he hadn’t felt this kind of emotion in a long time. Without waiting a moment longer, Alighieri raised a hand and motioned towards the door.
“Everybody outside.”
Slowly, after giving Luke what harsh looks they could, the Dark soldiers left the room, followed immediately by Thompson, Ranjak, the Monolith, and the other members of the group. Hendrick gave a snappy laugh seeing Sable and Vyvyr in handcuffs and nudged Sable in the side as they went through the door. “You should really get a hand on that aggression issue of yours. It’s out of control.”
Sable gave a small laugh as they exited. Pontious was the last to leave, giving the two one last look before closing the door behind him.
The room was completely empty now, and the two stood in complete quiet. But Luke had barely noticed the change. Feeling his daughter hugging him drew new life from him. For some reason, everything up until this point, even prison, seemed like an afterthought. Luke gave her a moment longer before pushing her back and looking at her.
“You’re a woman.” Luke remarked as though it was something he never thought would happen or he’d live to see happen.
Tess raised her hands and shrugged, averting her eyes and grimacing. “It’s been over six years...”
Luke smiled while feeling her hair though there was discontentment in his voice. “I can’t see too well, kid. This many stabilizers make it hard.”
Tess stepped back and her smile disappeared. She put a hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“So…” She started disappointedly. “So you can’t see me?”
His smile persisted as he replied. “I can see that you have your mother’s face and my hair. You’ve stayed in shape too. I’ve always been afraid of having a fat kid. I was lucky with you and Lazarus.”
“Yeah you were…” She said, her agreement being more of a response to create the appearance of paying attention. She got down to her knees and lowered her head. “Dad…”
“Yeah?” He responded while getting down on the floor beside her. Tess moved her mouth slightly as though to speak but immediately closed her it. She instead put her arms around him and pulled him close.
“The things that you did at the battle in Olsgrad canyon… is it…”
She didn’t finish it. It didn’t seem within her ability. She had said enough though and Luke had plenty idea of what it was she was referring to. He returned her affection and replied.
“I’ll tell you about it someday.” He finished. Tess looked up at him and saw his face still smiling at her. She returned the smile and hugged him again.
“What about the prison?” She asked him. “Can you tell me about that?”
Luke shook his head. Tess nodded and went quiet.
There was a loud thud outside the door that drew both their attention. Tess stepped forward and Luke held an arm out in front of her. “We can go back to my place and talk.” He started towards the door and stretched an arm out to open it, pausing as he looked to his feet and then to Tess, giving her an amused look. “This isn’t how I imagined this to work out at all.”
Tess laughed and went to join Luke.
The door opened and everything outside was teetering on the precipice of utter chaos. Not only were there Dark soldiers everywhere, but Dark civilians had joined into the fray, yelling curses, insults, all aimed towards the Ditrinity. Ranjak and Thompson stood at their front, basking in their celebrity and facing the Ditrinity head on. Hendrick, Vyvyr, Pontious and Sable stood in the center of attention. Sable and Vyvyr kept quiet, keeping a simple eye out for anybody who might become physically aggressive while Pontious defended himself and Hendrick actively antagonized them. But seeing Luke emerge from the office changed the focus
entirely. No longer were the Darks concentrated on the Ditrinity. Their animosity towards the group was based around the fact that they were direct associates of Luke Semprys, and now here he stood, alive and in the flesh, right in front of them.
When Luke emerged, standing at the office’s entrance with Tess at his side, the commotion reached a brief intermission. He stood there, in front of the Darks for the first time since the incident as Olsgrad Canyon, and with his physical presence the Ditrinity became an afterthought.
It all started back up with a single yell, the individual responsible hidden amidst the crowd that filled the spacious hallway. Forming a circle around Luke and the Ditrinity, they drew together for the one, simple purpose of expressing their spiteful sentiments towards Luke.
“Who gave the order to get this jagoff out of prison!”
Hendrick and Pontious zoned in on the man and made towards him. The soldiers that surrounded them prevented them from going any further. That resistance prompted another outbreak in violence as the two sides fought back and forth, yelling at Luke and cursing anybody who stood in their way.
“Enough of this!” Alighieri shouted, stepping out in front of the crowd raising a hand to silence them. “Anybody else who has anything negative to say about Luke Semprys should keep their mouth shut! He’s one of us!”
“Like hell he is!” Somebody else shouted. Yells of agreement cropped up around the room.
“He’s a murderer!” Another person shouted. The statement enflamed the dispute and, after finding that his yells were falling on closed ears, Alighieri bit his cheek and looked back to Luke.
