The Phoenix Chronicle Book 4: Shadow Among Shadows
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 8:42 pm
Three months.
Three long months.
Three months since the drone incursion occurred, they were still picking up the pieces.
Three months since Leon's mercenaries showed their faces.
Three months, of nothing.
There was nothing going on. Nothing at all. A constant state of preserved status quo, and action far beyond the spectrum of Phoenix or his comrades. Nothing for any of them to do. It ate at Phoenix's psyche, ate at his being, ate at his soul. Here, nothing made sense. He hated sleeping in the Citadel or his bunk, not caring about the world and knowing his universe was safe in it's entirety. He hated living a civilian life. How could people live in such a state of boredom? Who would want to live in a world where you had no chance of improving yourself, and kept living the same monotonous life? A constant state of perpetual nothing. Who, who in the millions could stand that.
He thought it was kinda funny, when he was out there, he wanted nothing more than to be back here. And back here, he wanted to be back out there. Out there, in the field, he understood things. Here, things were out of his element. He felt like a beast, trapped in his body. Waiting for the right moment, stuck wallowing in his failures and emptiness without the thrill of battle and warfare. He was nothing without fighting for his country, without fighting for something at least. The galaxy was shifting, right in front of his eyes. He could see it, all of it, and was forced to watch it intently. While he detested the boredom and monotony of civilian life, his wife thought differently. For somewhat obvious reasons, she loved having him at home. Where he wasn't at risk of getting shot, or stabbed, or tortured, or some other horrific death. Somehow, for some reason, she loved his company. She couldn't help but be curious about him and his people. So many questions, so few answers. Phoenix did what he did with Sarah, he answered and ignored her prodding. Phoenix and his people were human, but something was different. Something... off. Like they just didn't, or couldn't care. Maybe all the blood seeped into their heads, and they were so used to it they didn't care anymore. Nihilism, stoicism, cynicism and skepticism all combined into one person, loathing in self hatred and disgust of others.
8 AM: Wake up, eat breakfast.
9 AM: Morning prayer.
10 AM: Military council meeting.
11 AM: Civil council meeting.
12 AM: Lunch.
1 PM: Afternoon prayer.
2 PM: Weapon training.
3 PM: Melee training.
4 PM: Fleetmaster report.
5 PM: Quartermaster report.
6 PM: Nightly prayer.
7 PM: Dinner.
8 PM: Sleep.
Repeat.
And meanwhile, sectors away, Leon was bombing a hair-gel manufacturer on an industrial world soon to be conquered by the rebels, while his small family laughed.
So Phoenix read, read about himself and his history. The history on his people.
It taught him much in the past.
The United Phoenix Federation was formed in 2060, originally Xendra Prime. The planet, on the fringes of Federation space was beautiful, exotic and welcoming to human life. The Federation placed down 3 colonies on the planet. Leviathan, Invictus, and Phoenix. Leviathan to the west, Invictus to the east, and Phoenix in the middle. However, a great nebular storm hit the planet. They were stuck, alone and without assistance. People died, either from the virulent plague that ran rampant through their planet, or starvation, or in the brutal wars that followed for resources. But, in 2100. This grand civil war ended. Phoenix's father lead his colony to victory and named his son after his home colony. This lead to the creation of the United Phoenix Federation, between the colonies and several nearby moons. The nearest moons and even planets were militarized, held as strategic defensive points in place of a large defensive fleet. The UPF had three fleets, large hive fleets with massive flagships as the center of attention. Consisting of 20 battlegroups of 500 ships each. Those fleets being Leviathan, Sentinel and Invictus.
Phoenix was an interesting boy, and his father knew it. When he was 6, he caught the plague and self quarantined himself inside the library, reading. He beat the plague that claimed many, many lives. Much of the day he was unaccounted for, only to be found in the courtyard behind the Citadel, often beating on children who approached him. He was quiet, introverted, and all around favoring of the company of the Citadel Guard (Who he considered husks of people) to anyone. A legend among the troops states that Phoenix was left in the desert wastes of Xendra for several months of his life, and survived against all odds.
But when his father was assassinated, everything changed.
Phoenix was already their leader, but now he had a challenge of dealing with the distrust of his generals. Many of whom retreated into the wastes. He didn't do himself a favor when many religious leaders and their followers (Who disagreed with Phoenix's new religion) also fled there. Phoenix created the Civil Council, a group of five ordered to control the civilian population while Phoenix was at war. And soon those wastes were a haven to rogues and pirates. Or anyone fleeing the will of the Federation. So Phoenix lead his first war, and attacked the rogue settlements. Burned them to the ground, and pushed the rogues off of the planet. Phoenix brought Anna back to his planet as this conflict was happening, and she took note of the soldiers and their behavior while fighting their former brothers. As this battle finished, their second war began. The Federation was not happy with the UPF's independence and dispatched a force to conquer the planet back. The conflict ended (While the Federation was winning, no less), when orders from High Command came down to return back to Federation space to defend against a growing rebel incursion. This incursion grew into the rebellion we know today, as any denizen of the Federation would know. The rebel fleet was hunting a traitor, who held information about them they needed kept silent. And could secure a win for the Federation if it reached the last organized fleet of the Federation. A voice from the pits of Hell whispered poisonous words into the ears of the Rebels. Those words, were orders to invade the UPF. Shock and awe. The conflict ended 72 hours after it began, and claimed a great many lives on both sides. The invasion failed, but only because the rebels were redirected back to Federation space. Following this, a great few months of peace, of nothing. The UPF took it's time to recruit and spread itself all over the galaxy. However, then the Engi rebelled. It was a grand genocide, many lives and ships were lost. As with most of the planetary-based infantry forces.
Those who survived became Phoenix's Dark Marines.
But the result was the same, Phoenix and his people were homeless. He lead his people to a new homeworld, but the growing instability took it's toll.
Phoenix sat in his seat, his head slumped onto his fist, which sat on the arm of the chair. The bridge of the Sentinel. The walls broke away into glass windows, showing the everlasting beauty of space. In the center, a large holographic display. Showing everything from fleet composition, to their new home planet. Phoenix stared at it, absent minded. Waiting for a familiar pair of arms to wrap around his neck, and a soothing familiar voice to ask him what he was doing. And he would drearily answer that he was doing nothing at all. Those familiar arms never showed themselves, not before the holographic globe flickered. And a voice recorder showing the name of the person on the line and the waves of the sound they were making. The speaker was a Tyker (A Citadel tech manager) named Varius. "Greetings commander" He said in his metallic monotone voice. "What do you want?" Phoenix said drearily. "We have recently analyzed our comm relays and channels and found some recordings on an abandoned relay that may be of interest to you. Dated around our assault on the rebel controlled island in Federation space" The Tyker replied. "Who sent them?" The commander asked, sitting up in his seat. The Tyker spoke up "Unknown, however the relays are directed at the terrorist Leon, and sent to an anonymous channel using Federation comm relays" The Tyker could be heard fiddling with his metallic enhancements "It seems we have a traitor in our midst". Phoenix swallowed some spit and then spoke "How many recordings are there? And when are they dated?". The Tyker's microphone whirred "Three of them. Dated during your captivity inside Leon's base". "Play the first one" Phoenix ordered. "This one is dated shortly before our attack on the rebel base where we found Leon, the speaker is unknown and he modified his voice". The hologram blinked off then on again, two recorders for voices this time. One marked "HARTLEY, LEON" and the other marked "UNIDENTIFIED".
Leon could be heard swallowing before he spoke, collected "Report." The unidentified man took a second to speak, beeping of a device heard in the background. "I'm here Leon."
"Do the others suspect your presence as a traitor?"
"Negative"
"Good, then you can relay some information to me. What are they doing now?"
"I'm on the Shadow of Retribution, along with two other ships en-route to your current position"
"Wait what?!"
"Sorry, I couldn't get the Council to put a damn leash on Phoenix."
"Fuck. Now what?"
"Ready your forces"
"Wait a second!"
"Hmm?"
"This a perfect opportunity-"
"To kill Phoenix?"
"No, I don't want him dead. I want him captured"
"I hope you know how bad an idea that is"
"Reprisals are expected, they always are. I'll be fine."
"Leon, you need to do what needs to be done. For god's sake he's out to murder you!"
"He won't, I know him."
"Fine, sir. Out."
Then the recording cut out. The holograms were replaced with large red text stating the recording ended. Then the second recording began to play. The unidentified speaker began speaking in surprise and urgency, Leon could be heard tired and groaning groggily, having just woken. Explosions and faint gunfire could be heard in the distance. Slightly muffled by the talking of familiar friends. Leon was at his house here, when Phoenix was assaulting the island on an old rebel occupied planet.
"Leon are you awake?" Said the unidentified man, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Ugh n-no..." Leon moaned, clearly stirred from his nap.
"Look, Phoenix is moving on your position as we speak. He's breached the outer perimeter and he's moving into the residential district. You need to move, NOW!"
"F-fuck. Look I'll-" Leon's voice cut out for a second.
"... Leon you there?"
His voice returned, now awake and a devious tone in his words. "This is our chance."
"Y-you sure?"
"I'll get my friends and family off world. And I can use this opportunity to grab him."
"... Can I help."
"Where is he now?"
"He'll be there in 15 minutes, tops."
"Alright, I have a plan."
"Right, bye."
The red text appeared with a metallic beep. A short countdown to the second recording, Leon's voice stated in outright, clear contentment over the speakers. As usual.
"Report."
"I junked up the relay, finding these recordings should be a lot more difficult now"
"Good job, we have Phoenix in custody here. I've got my two best men on interrogation duty"
"You need to get out of there. ASAP"
"What?! Why?!"
"Briggs has us charging about the sector on the Retribution."
"You need to get the council to put a leash on him! Before both of us are blown."
"I will not be the only one discovered if it comes to that"
"Are we screwed then?"
"No, not exactly. If I get the council to hold Briggs back for a day or so, he'll hold himself here fighting the bureaucratic resistance. I'll get my contact to contact one of the council members."
"Who's your contact?"
"You know why I can't say that"
"... Fine. Get on that. We need some answers goddammit."
"You won't get anything out of him, stop being a sadist."
"Not my department man. Not my department."
"Heh. Signing off."
The red text flared again, no more recordings. Phoenix took a second to interpret this information, and also deciding where he should begin in his search for this traitor. His own group? Maybe. Then, those familiar pair of arms pulled him back onto his chair and wrapped around his neck. He looked up, Anna was smiling down on him. "You look like you weren't expecting me." She said "What's wrong?". Phoenix sighed and squeezed her hand, then looked back up at the hologram before it disappeared. "I... can't tell you right now. S-sorry." Phoenix stuttered, taking a deep breath as Anna looked on, baffled. She smiled and rubbed his shoulder "Alright then" she said "See ya". Phoenix slumped back into his chair, part of him happy he'd finally get some action. A bigger part of him not exactly pleased someone among his was a traitor. He needed to know where to start. So, with the press of a few buttons on the arm of his chair, Varius' channel appeared. "Yes commander?" He asked, pleased to be of service. "Varius, which relays were used in the recordings?" Phoenix asked, feeling a headache forming. The Tyker's metallic whirring could be heard, followed by beeping. "Unknown" He said in his monotone, metallic voice, "However locating the relay should not be difficult. The PDF keeps it's communications in an office within the Vein Military Barracks, south of New Legion.". Phoenix took a second to think, humming to himself. He closed the channel and stood up, and headed out to his bunk in the Sentinel. He walked to the stairs, as technicians and soldiers ran about, maintaining the giant ship. At the top of the stairs however, was a man dressed in modified rebel garb standing next to a large German Shepard. The man had a variety of burn marks running across his face, and looked at Phoenix a sense of begrudging respect. Standing next to him was a man dressed in full red rebel uniform, who looked at Phoenix snidely if anything. The dog barked happily as Phoenix approached, remembering this man (But not his friend) slightly. Then, Phoenix remembered. He was the rebel that he had Briggs rescue when they attacked the rebel flagship yard, the man next to him was an unknown variable however. The first man, with the burn marks, had darker skin and a suave complexion, looking like a soldier who spent a fair amount of time picking up bimbos at the bar in his meantime. The man next to him was smiling sarcastically, like life was a joke to him, and was significantly paler with much lighter eyes. Looking almost like a man who you'd let into your house but then he'd stab you in the throat and do weird things with your corpse. Phoenix could tell he was going to be friends with these two. "You Phoenix?" Asked the first man "Yes." Phoenix greeted, eyes shifting between the two "Do I know you?". The man cracked a slight smile as Phoenix looked on, he could tell Phoenix was acting naive. "The nice nurse lady told me where to find Briggs and now here you are, figured I'd get introduced to the man who saved my life" He said. The dog barked, panting happily as the second man tapped her belly playfully. "Well, let me introduce us. This is Todd and I'm Mark." The man continued, a hint of laziness in his voice "I took him from the rebels after you rescued me. Figured we may be of use.". Todd smiled and waved, acting nice in a sort of serial killer sort of way. "I'm a good shot" Todd said snidely, a hint of suspicion but also playful but cruel enjoyment. "He is, I'm was an engineer." Mark said, his voice deep and deliberate "I'm not a technician, but I'm the next best thing". Todd adjusted the strap holding his rifle onto his back while Mark took a second to lean back onto the wall "Well good to meet you, head to the armory and get some new uniforms. I don't want any fratricide out on the field." Phoenix said, the calm and soft voice fading into a commanding growl. The two ran off to do as ordered, and Phoenix headed down the stairs. Only to be greeted by another familiar face, Katie looking up at him. She had switched outfits from her white Federation uniform into a hood, looking way too similar to Anna. She had slightly long brown hair, a soft complexion of a woman who was a few years away from gaining the grit of your average soldier, losing the look that said "I'm not to be messed with". Her soft, dark green eyes however said a mix of "Can we be friends?" and "Don't shoot" to where there were mixed feelings all around. She looked less like a protective mother and more like a playful sister. Her stature looked like a deadly beautiful, like a woman standing in a dress holding a gun ready to shoot someone. Her face was slightly less pale than Anna, but still looked soft and almost affectionate in comparison to the rest of her hard-ass complexion and stature. Her outfit was clearly built for function over slight fashion. The "fabric" was like body armor in itself, and it was formfitting and a mix between grey and tan, in comparison to the light brown hood. "So, you're... in charge around here?" She asked, a hint of sarcasm and pretentiousness in her voice. "Yup. Got a problem with that sweetie?" Phoenix said, responding to sarcasm with sarcasm. She shook her head "No, but it seemed... off. You don't look like an official, or commander, or general, or leader. You look like a soldier." She said, curiosity tracing itself into her lips, she gestured at Phoenix clothing. "Cuz I am. I'm a little bit of everything. We don't tolerate lazy assholes in the Phoenix Federation" Phoenix wondered if she saw through the trace of altruism and sense of community and uniform duty and realized that Phoenix never wanted to be a soldier, but never regretted becoming one. She crossed her arms "Hmm, is that so?" She did "Well, where do you need me" Phoenix could tell that question brought her into trouble before, and she was hiding her true feelings behind her hard-ass demeanor. "Go to the armory and talk to Mark, and try not to turn too many heads." Phoenix stated, firmly holding his ground against the hard exterior shell Katie had. It was clear she wasn't amazing under pressure, and didn't get along with people. The demeanor faded, and she playfully waved at him, and turned away. Phoenix sighed, then looked behind him, the dog was standing there. Panting contently. Phoenix was tempted to push her away and carry on with his life, but opted to pet her on the head and rub her neck hair instead. And then moved on, ignoring the jingling of the dog's collar as he went to his bunk corner. A few of his team was conversing outside Burden's room, while he stood in the doorway dressed in his sleeping wear. A olive green t-shirt and baggy camo fatigues and boots. The rest of the team stood in the appropriate field clothing, which looked threadbare despite being entirely functional. Phoenix walking over turned heads, Burden suddenly looked combat functional and everyone else turned to face him. "What were you talking about?" Phoenix asked, wanting any treachery to be revealed and soon. "Nothin much" Briggs said, arms crossed. Phoenix shot a stern look about the group. Adrian and Burden both began sweating, respect turning into to fear quickly. A bead of sweat moving down Briggs' face, wondering what the consequences would be if he lied or didn't answer. Griffin wasn't scared of dying, but was still slightly shocked and scared as Phoenix shot his deadly gaze at him. "Well I guess... W-we're... worried about you." Briggs wasn't lying, the conversation was about Phoenix and his slow descent into darkness, and if something was gonna happen when he hit the bottom of the cold dark void. Everyone stopped sweating, even Phoenix could tell he wasn't lying. "Well then finish up and get moving to the armory. We'll meet in the briefing room." Phoenix stated, before moving over toward his room at the end. At the center of the end of the hall was a pillar of names, crew members lost in the Engi rebellion, Phoenix felt like sleeping feet from it wasn't healthy. He knocked onto the door and yelled inside "Anna meet me in the briefing room, hit the armory if you need to gear up!" before he himself headed off into the briefing room. The room was silent, a gathering of people around a planning table, staring into a single large monitor, Phoenix and Harper (The new ECRT commander in wake of Grave's burial) flanking the monitor. Phoenix broke the tense silence (and beating of the giant spider in the ducts) "People, I don't know how to tell you this but... someone is leaking information about us to Leon.". A murmur of questioning about the room, only Harper remained silent. "A Tyker named Varius has a briefing for an opportunity to reveal this traitor." Phoenix continued, flicking on the monitor. The Tyker's metallic voice came over the speakers. "The traitor is using our comm relays and channels to communicate information to Leon, and likely to lure our forces into ambushes if given the opportunity. The Planetary Defense Force located here manages these relays out of Vein Military Barracks, part barracks part apex of training for local forces. If we can gain access to these relays, we can pinpoint the one our traitor is using, old or new, to funnel his calls." The Tyker took a second, and began showing blueprints and orders onto the screen. Briggs raised his hand and asked a question. "So how do we go about revealing this traitor?" He asked, leaning into his chair. "Doing this will be a 3 part operation, none of it will be particularly easy." He said "First, we must locate the relays the traitor is using the funnel these calls to Leon and access the recordings, then decode the encryption on these messages, then we must find a logic drive and trace these relays to their source hub that is transmitting the signals. Finally, we must capture the traitor and question him.". Harper spoke up in a bark "Any questions?". Then Todd raised his hand "Whats the meaning of life sir?", and Griffin chuckled. The team then prepared for the actual briefing. Todd suddenly looking a lot less like a serial killer, went up to Phoenix and asked "Whats the score boss?". Phoenix stepped up to look at the monitor and clicked on new images. "Plan A: We ask. We see any bureaucratic resistance, we fight it and get our records." Phoenix stated stoically "Plan B: Crash and grab the records. Briggs, Burden and I will do the crashing, Katie, Anna, Todd and Adrian will do the grabbing. We play the rest by ear. Let's move people, we have borrowed time here.".
David sat down on the edge of the track, a long and winding oval shape that PDF soldiers and local forces used to train in their meantime. At the end of the track, a large office building with an omega symbol on the entrance. Large glass windows making up the majority of the opening lobby. A young soldier, dressed in blue PDF uniform, took a second out of his run and fell next to David, drawing his eye from the massive office. "You okay bro?" He asked, shaking the soldier "Y-yeah I'm fine..." The young boy stuttered, lifting himself off the ground, and picking his glasses out of the sand. He sat down next to David, sweat running down his face. "You training with the PDF?" David asked, breaking the awkward silence "Yeah, wanted to prove my sister wrong-" he stopped mid sentence, touching his gloves. "She bad for you?" David asked, rubbing the young one's back. He began to talk but only air came out of his mouth, then just nodded. David rubbed his back "Don't risk your life for her man, she's not worth it." He comforted "I-it's not just that I mean..." the soldier started, drifting off. "What about you? You here with the PDF cuz... drill sarge is gonna have your ASS for not wearing the right uniform" The soldier joked, smiling, watching as David jokingly rejected the claim. "Nah, nah I'm with one of the fleet forces, up in orbit. Stationed here for the time being." David said, trying not to brag at the young one. "Wait you go out?! With Commander Phoenix?? Holy shit man!" The young boy yelled, ecstatically excited. "I'm Evan, by the way." The soldier outstretched his gloved hand, David shook it. The two laughed, both continuing to go on about how awful their jobs were and how bad the people they associated themselves were. Chuckling and laughing, united in misery. David only stopped when he saw a truck, with three hooded occupants pull up behind him. "Eh look at that." He said, secretly and pointing at the team of three. "Huh, who are they?" Evan asked, peering over David's white armor to get a look "Dark Marines?". David took a second look at the occupants, one took off their hood and ran over to the building at the other end of the track. "Nnnnnooopppe" David said, putting a bit of humor into the situation. They continued looking, one of the two remaining at the truck took out a PDA and began fiddling with it, while the other held a rifle and checked the sights appropriately. David couldn't help but feel in danger. "Who are these assholes?" He murmured to himself, just loud enough for Evan to hear. Evans also looked, he couldn't make out any of their faces, they had masks on. Before long the other guy ran back to the truck. Said something to the guys at the truck, and entered the vehicle. Then the other two got in as well, and revved up the engines. Evans broke the silence "What the fuck are they doing?" He asked, his eyes fixed on the vehicle. Then, in an instant, the vehicle shot off into the distance and rammed itself into the windows of the omega building. David and Evans looked on, wide eyed, sound of breaking glass could be heard across the barracks. "HOLY SHIT MAN!" Evans yelled, standing up "Shit bro you got a gun or somethin?!" Dave checked his holster, and saw the old engraved pistol his father had given him. "S-should we or...?" Evans started before his companion shushed him and began moving toward across the field. A stoic look of professionalism on his face. The trio's truck breached the windows and created a new entrance. The three hooded men exited their vehicle and readied their weapons. "BURDEN HACK INTO THEIR SYSTEM AND CRASH IT, NOW!" Yelled one "Copy that!" yelled another. The hooded man with the PDA ran over to the computer behind the desk where the nice lady who greeted officers sat, and began working the computer. Briggs and Phoenix began aiming on the few hostages they had. Phoenix touched his ear piece "Adrian the thing went to shit, plan b it is." he said, lowering his weapon for a second. Burden spoke up in the tense room "This isn't the computer!" he yelled urgently. "No shit!" Phoenix barked "It's probably in the back ya goof! Go look there" Burden grabbed his shotgun and moved around the wall and into the back, kicked in the glass to the mainframe room and began working the system. "Crashing in 5 seconds, get bravo team on the line and tell them to get ready!" Burden yelled from the back room. On the roof, the four waited for the signal. Adrian looked down, seemingly wanting to end it all, Katie and Anna shared a seat on a makeshift bench, and Todd sat looking at the two on a chair the janitor would use to sit down and question his life decisions. "So... either of you single?" He asked, figuring it was worth a shot. The two girls looked at each other, Anna looked at the obviously full of himself man staring at her with lusty eyes "No, I'm married" she said defensively, a slight growl in her voice. The woman next to her shrugged and smiled at the creepy man playing with empty shell casings in front of her, but said nothing. Suddenly, Adrian stood straight up and put a finger to his ear, listening to his orders. Then he turned to his compatriots on the roof "That's us, get your masks on meet me there" he stated, stoically calm despite the situation and alarms blaring below him. Adrian proceeded to pull up the mask on his neck, and grabbed onto the ropes before jumping down into a window. Following this, Todd put on his bandanna and followed, Katie put on her balaclava mask and followed and Anna (reluctantly mind you) put on her gas mask and followed. Before long, the entire group was united three floors down. Adrian's calm and focused voice broke the tension of the operation "We're looking for system backups, should be on the far eastern side." He briefed "Watch for security and techies, no bodies, not now.". The team then raised their respective weapons and began moving forward, navigating the maze of hallways and cubicles, until they found themselves at a door titled "SYS BACKUPS", Todd kicked it in and Adrian ran in, grabbing a large data stick before he ran out of the room at Olympic runner speeds. "Got the drive!" Adrian yelled as he barreled down the stairs, running into the truck with all due haste. The rest of the team quickly followed, and they drove off. Leaving David and Evan in the dust as they approached.
They speedily walked to the briefing room, Adrian handed the stick off to a techie who took it to Vairus. They were curious where getting the logic drive would come in, or if this operation was going to be as simple as foreseen. Varius' comm channel appeared on the monitor to the briefing room. "Welcome sir, congratulations on a successful mission." He chirped "While the recovery of the comm link records assists our efforts, we've run into several problems.". His voice began to lower into a moderately depressed modified tone "For one, we cannot retrieve the records from these relays remotely. Our traitor has bounced and copied his recordings off many relays. Tracing these relays will be difficult in itself. Secondly, the only logic drive capable of decrypting and tracing the relays is locked on the Federation homeworld of Earth, finding a suitable port to lock the drive into may be impossible." The room fell silent. Not a peep among the group. Everyone looked at each other, 25% self loathing, 25% curiosity, 50% fear. Anyone (Except Phoenix) could be a traitor now. Everyone's life was in his hands. If there was even a shadow of doubt, if their loyalty was called into question for a second, they could be killed. If Phoenix was wrong, there would be nothing other than bloodshed for a long, long time. The hum of air conditioning was the only sound, those outside were silent. "Now what?" Briggs asked, depressed "We can't just shoot people until we find our guilty party.". Todd nodded, a smirk on his face. "Varius can we trace the relays manually?" Phoenix asked, standing from his seat. The Tyker could be heard roaring to life from his dark corner "Yes..." he schemed "We'll be able to recover more recordings and plans. This will help. However, it will take time.". The team nodded and Harper shut down the screen, then they departed from the room. The flood of bodies from the door gathered in a circle in the hall, a look of distrust among them all. Briggs placed a firm but shaky hand on his weapon, Anna felt her chest for her knife. Everyone went off their separate ways, looking of their shoulders. Phoenix brushed off heading to his room and instead went over to the bridge, the vastness endlessness of space provided some form of comfort, he couldn't help but feel like he was more at home there. He slumped into the captain's chair and waited for something, looking up at the open windows. "Sir, a there has been a new civil development on our planet, the council wishes the speak to you." Said Spyglass's deep, monotone and calm voice. Spyglass was the AI on board the ship, when Phoenix wasn't around he had to be in charge. So he was smart, and informed. Phoenix groggily entered the small frigate he used for transit to a planet, and tried to nap as he entered atmosphere. He landed close to the massive council building, on a specified tarmac for politicians to land in the event of an emergency. He looked up the to the building, it was up a set of massive stairs. Thousands of stairs, the building looked small in the distance. Phoenix quickly ran up these stairs, knowing it could take him all day to get there. Finally he reached the summit, the massive and ornate structure held the council of five who ran the United Phoenix Federation. The structure had two large starkly colored pillars on the edge holding large golden ravens. The door was massive, barely able to be opened by a human. The building itself was made of white painted metal or quartz or some strange native stone alongside gold. In contrast to the bland grey of the previous buildings from long ago or the rest of the residential sector nearby. Phoenix pushed the large wooden door out of his way and walked through the short entrance hall past several guards and into the large and technological center of the building. The council of five sat in their seats in a half oval shape around the room. all of their faces darkened, all of them looking at Phoenix. He moved toward the chair and table set up for his arrival, and sat down. An eerie silence filled the room. "We welcome you commander" Said the councilman in the center of the five "We have several pressing issues to bring to your attention, however, before that..." the councilman's voice trailed off as a local assistant and intern gave Phoenix a letter. Phoenix unraveled the small scroll "We were instructed not to give you the actual letter, we suggest you head to the Citadel after this." said a different council member. Phoenix nodded to himself and hid the scroll. "Now what requires my attention?" Phoenix growled impatiently, looking up at the shadowy faces. One of those from the left spoke up first "There are riots in the streets due to a massive food shortage on the western districts. The PDF is already taking losses in these sectors" He said "We will need to ration our food until our trade convoys arrive". The councilman in the center spoke up next "The plague has followed us, containment units are already failing in many districts. We will have a massive epidemic soon if we cannot contain it soon." Phoenix nodded, this was news. But he had a plan. He extended his hand, signalling for the council to wait for his answer. Then, nodding and looked up, his finger on his lip and a thoughtful look on his face. "I got it..." He started, nodding and looking around "We take those still not infected and move them to the central districts and ration food there, the rest will just have to make do. Have a set of our military devoted to raiding rebel trade and supply convoys, they have to be supplying the ground forces from somewhere". "That brings us to the next issue..." Said a councilman from the group "The rebels... are becoming a problem. They're scaring the populous.". Phoenix looked up, slightly, a look of sadness, helplessness and determination in his eyes. He grabbed the scroll and went to leave, pointing deliberately. The council knew he was going to handle that problem on his own. As he reached for the closed door, he felt a surging headache, and dropped to the ground. He awoke in his chair in the council's chamber. In front of him, five figures. All of which shaded in varying lights. The only recognizable figure was the one in the center, looking happily at him. The entire room was basked in blood. "Ah, you've arrived. I was told you'd be here." Said the figure in the center, Phoenix identified him quickly. Leon. He wanted to growl, but nothing other than air came out. His view shifted to the figure on the far left, Anna. "You alright? You seem tense." She said "Stress isn't good for your mind, it clouds your judgement." His view shifted slightly right, another figure he recognized, his... father? "Her words have no merit, ignore them." He said "You were born for this dammit, this is a burden you can handle.". His view dodged Leon and headed the figure at his right, Briggs. "Hey man are you listening? We need you now! Your mind has to be clear! Our lives are in your hands dammit." He growled. Then his view shifted further right, Graves. "Their doubt casts a shadow on your mind, you will be judged by your own merits when the time comes. I trust you." He comforted. Then his view shifted finally on the right, Phoenix was staring into a mirror, he was sitting in that chair across from him. Phoenix felt the entire world shudder for a second. The mirror of himself remained silent, before it disappeared and reappeared, this time bloody and mangled. "You shouldn't stress yourself, really, we'll be fine" Said Anna's apparition, before she appeared as a corpse, lying bloody in her seat. His father nodded, before he fell onto the ground, a bullet wound in his face. Graves smiled and sarcastically huffed, then slumped over in his seat, leaking blood. Phoenix awoke falling down the massive stairs to the council building. What was that vision about? He had no idea. He continued falling, eventually he hit the bottom, blood and dirt on his face. He gathered himself off the ground and huffed, then looked into the distance. The Citadel. Phoenix decided that's where he needed to go next. He walked that way, walked as it grew bigger. Silent, to nothing but his thoughts. Eventually the Citadel appeared to him. He felt slightly more at home here, but still felt out of place. He walked up the small stairs and into the building, and read the scroll, it said there was a message for him at the bottom of the Citadel's catacombs. He held the scroll to the guard and entered, walked all the way to the end. There, at the end, was a massive room. In it, a dagger and a note. Phoenix walked in and picked up the note, curiously reading it. My dear son Phoenix, if you are reading this, I am dead. I am sorry for leaving you, I know how many strange and odd feelings you are having now and that's okay. I knew from your birth there was something... off about you. You are destined to greatness, I trust this. However, to apologize for my passing. I give you two more gifts when you come of age. Graves is instructed to give this note to you once you are mature enough, he will be your father now. Love, your father. Phoenix picked up the dagger and slowly removed it from it's sheathe. The small dagger was ornate, holding many ancient runic letters on the blade. One side read I am wrath, I am fire, I am the vengeance of Revenants. The other side read I am resurrection, I am steel, I am the golden wings of the Phoenix. Phoenix nodded and waited for the second gift to show itself. He looked up from the dagger. And there was a robed and hooded figure, bearing a blue metal mask with red ruby eyes. The man was wearing an ornate red and gold robe, with hands that looked boney and pale, he stood looking at Phoenix with a hunched back and extended his hand forward. "Hello..." He moaned in a metallic voice clearly not his own "You are the son of... a man that brought greatness to this land... and now it is your own. He wanted me to see into your soul... tell you what needed to be said and speak the words of Xera herself!" he preached, Xera was one of the many gods in Phoenix's religion. The goddess of wisdom and restraint, and adviser to the god of fire and war: Phox. Phoenix nodded as the old man put his ancient hand onto his chest, chanting and whispering to himself. "You..." He started "... are..." he couldn't quite finish as he shuddered "... the GODS have a plan for you boy! You... must... cleanse... the impurity." Phoenix stepped half backwards, what did he mean. "A cancer... a true test of your will. The plague of Acolytes, the bane of crusaders, blade of heresy and evil." He moaned, straining each word. "You are haunted... by things past and things future... you do not feel human... you are not at home" His words were true. "Cleanse the cancer... from your body... with a trial" He pointed a boney finger into his center chest. Phoenix raised the dagger and placed the pointed blade onto his chest. Sighing and breathing deeply, acute pain in the center of his chest where the pointed blade was placed. He took a deep breath and plunged the knife into his chest, cutting and tearing with the dagger as blood was sprayed across the room, into his eyes, onto the Oracle, onto his face, onto the table, the walls, everywhere. He continued cutting, lower and deeper. His vision fading in and out, blood welling into his eyes. The Oracle held up his hand and Phoenix stopped. More hooded Acolytes swarmed around him, wearing ornate gas masks with horns and spikes. Like a germophobic satanist ritual. One of them hit Phoenix with a syringe, he felt the pain fade slightly. "You have cut it from your body, but your heart still beats. Your future remains bleak." Groaned the Oracle in his monotone, almost robotic voice. "One of your friends will throw you to a wolf in a dire situation, who will show you no mercy." He preached "Many people will not look to the truth, and you will answer their prayers and forsake your gods.". Finally, in a hearty breath "The King you will face will outmatch you, victory will occur only with great loss." and then, as the Acolytes crouched onto the ground in prayer, the Oracle spoke once more "Your burden will cause you to miss the traitor and heretic in your ranks until it is too late, and you will suffer as a result.". Phoenix then felt an amazing headache, and collapsed.
He awoke outside the Citadel, Corvis praying with a black obsidian sword at his feet. "Ah, you're awake" He greeted, smiling "I thought you were lost to the void for a second.". Phoenix rose and thanked him, then went back to the Sentinel. Not wanting to talk to anyone about the incident. He didn't know if he should trust the Oracle's judgement. Phoenix went over into his room, and collapsed onto the bed. Ignoring Anna as she read her book, who smiled as she saw him. She moved her legs out onto the end of the bed and rubbed his back, smiling. "You had a long day didn't you?" She inquired, even though she already knew the answer, Phoenix groaned in response. She warmly rubbed his shoulders, Phoenix closed his eyes, trying to relax. "W-why is there blood in your eyes?" Anna stuttered, seeing dry red splotches on Phoenix's face and body, touching them with the tips of her soft finger. "I-I'm fine." Phoenix comforted, a slight hesitation in his voice. Anna could tell something happened, she rolled him over and snuggled up next to him. Smiling and rubbing his chest (and feeling the gash he sustained previously in the process). Phoenix was still concerned. He wondered if she was the traitor, and this was an elaborate ploy to fool him. All to gain info to tell Leon. Curiosity is dangerous, it reveals things held secret all for the sake of greater knowledge. Phoenix thought about it as she rubbed and cuddled him. She was sheltered, born and raised on Earth, her experience in combat was equivalent to that of a soldier but she was still weak of mind when it came to violence, she wasn't from the UPF and so had no motives to see them thrive and she was with Phoenix for quite a while. She couldn't be it. Maybe he was in denial however, he needed more evidence. And fast. For now, he he wanted to relax. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, releasing any tension in his shoulders and snuggling up with Anna. Then Briggs burst in. "Phoenix we got somethin" He said, part of him amused he caught Phoenix cuddling with his girl, for reasons obvious but not.
The man was dressed in rebel garb, not Todd, found by someone. He was scared and shivering, watching as the two hooded men entered the basement on the ship. He had no idea where he was. He looked about, feeling a minor headache and a major feeling of stress. The two hooded men walked in front of his chair, the table behind them holding an endless supply of torture devices. Some looking extremely sadistic, others classic. "We're gonna ask you one question and we want an answer: Where's Leon?" Said the figure on the left, his arms crossed. The man began stuttering, confused. He knew who Leon was, he was well aware, but answering this would be suicide. He blubbered over his words, confused as to what he should do. Then the man on the right threw a punch, that landed on his nose. The man on the left turned back and grabbed a large dagger from the endless weapons. "Briggs you like knives don't you?" He said, fiddling with his knives, the man on the right chuckled and took one of the knives, before plunging it deep into the man's hand and twisting it. The man screeched, terrible pain all at once, then the man on the left turned away again. "One more time." He offered, picking out a pan from the torture selection "Where is he?". Phoenix turned back, holding the pan of boiling water in his hand. He walked over to the rebel and took his boots off, and placed his feet in the boiling hot water as smoke rose from the bottom of his feet. "OH MY GOD THE PAIN!" The main yelled, slightly muffled by his screams of agony. Phoenix decided to let his inner sadist run free and poured the remaining water over the man's chest and head, watching as smoke gathered in the room. Phoenix sighed, part of him wanting to create an act so the man would be all the more terrified and another part legitimately sad he had to hurt the man. The first part overwhelmed the second part, and he kicked the man's chair onto the ground, and grabbed a plastic water jug from the selection of tools. The jug held a green-yellow fluid. Acid. It would burn skin like hot fire, in liquid form. He nodded and Briggs removed the soldier's fatigues, showing his chest while Phoenix poured the hot acid onto him as smoke rose from the burning flesh. "ERGGHH" The man groaned, nearly passing out from pain as acid spread over his body, stopping only for a second as the jug began to empty. The smoke subsided, the man relaxed, his breathing visibly faster. "Who are you, where is Leon?" Phoenix asked, calm in the face of torture. "I-I... Leon moves often, he changes place every other day. I got no idea where he goes I'm just a grunt man!" The man stuttered, trying to give his torturers something of value. Phoenix nodded "Not good enough, give me something else." he growled. The man thought of something to give his torturers while they moved to grab hooks to hang him from. "W-wait a minute!" He said "You know the traitor? T-the guy leakin your shit to Leon? Yeah well he used an ancient Federation comm relay in Lanius space to transmit his last few messages." The man smiled and cheered to himself. Phoenix nodded and told Briggs to lock the man up in case they needed more info, and walked up the rickety wooden stairs back to the main section of the ship. He was greeted by Anna at the top "W-what was that about?" she inquired, partially already knowing what happened "Nothing." Phoenix lied, trying to put on a straight face as Briggs walked a burnt man screaming about a Lanius conspiracy to a cell. Phoenix walked back to the Bridge, accompanied by Anna and (to his surprise) Burden, who trailed behind. He collapsed into his bridge chair, ready for some action. "Varius, we need a trip to Lanius space for a relay hunt, good idea or no?" Phoenix asked, already imputing calculations into the computers. "A trip to Lanius space is easy, however finding our specific sector, beacon and planet will be hard." Varius assured, his voice shifting with mechanical whirs. "Can't we trace the relay?" Burden asked, his brow raised "A broad search at least, we go with it." Phoenix said, sending the orders to Spyglass to relay the orders to the Shadow of Retribution, and to requisition 3 squads of soldiers. Phoenix wandered to his psychiatrist's office (Such people made a killing treating PTSD ridden UPF soldiers), and slowly opened the door. He waited for the man to finish his cigarette and printing the latest psych evaluations before Phoenix went in. He entered, the giant chair was turned away to the desk, the man could not be scene behind the chair. "Doc...?" Phoenix asked, knocking on the door once more as he laid on the therapy couch. The desk turned, and on it was a similarly familiar face, Sarah. Her short blonde hair and brown coat and pants with a black belt were far too familiar, she smiled at Phoenix. He raised himself from his chair before he was pushed down and shushed by her "Relax..." she soothed, holding him down. She gingerly touched his shoulder and rubbed his chest, watching the stress in his shoulders visibly fade. Then she slowly removed his short cape and set it around his arms, rubbing his shoulders. "Ssssh..." she shushed, then Phoenix raised a brow, was this a dream? The room suddenly flickered between covered in blood, dark and normal, then returned to normal. Phoenix smiled back at Sarah, who touched the leatherette couch and nodded as Phoenix adjusted himself on the cold leatherette couch. "So... whatcha want to know?" Phoenix asked, moving his head despite the randomness and strangeness of this event. "Everything you know, if there hasn't been any new developments you've made excellent progress." She stated, grabbing her notepad and leaning back into her chair. "Did I tell you about Derrickson?" Phoenix started before shifting his arms as she stood up and started rubbing his chest "... if not then... nope. Nothing. I'm going out into the field again today." the rubbing stopped, her un-gloved hand was the beginning to meld into his flesh, or so it felt. It was hard like stone. Phoenix rose as the psych evaluation clicked and finished, then left the room, and collapsed as he exited. "W-what... the fuck? The hell is going on?" He whispered to himself, as the edges of the room faded to darkness, then it returned the normal. Something wasn't right. He walked over to the Shadow of Retribution, his breathing increasing as time went on. He quickly moved into the transit pod and entered the Shadow of Retribution, his team and people all there. The Shadow looked slightly similar to the Rebel's Flagship if any Federation soldier saw the plans. The "beak" was extended further from the rest of the hull, and wings were broader and slanted (though still forward facing somehow) and the tail was broad and stumped due to it's double focus as a cargo lift. Phoenix entered the comfortable ship, the three squads of soldiers already there, his team resting around the small and empty space in the cockpit. Phoenix decided the rest directly under it. He yawned "Plot a course for Lanius space, m'kay? m'kay" and then he napped on the warm bed. Lanius space was hauntingly beautiful, the nature of the universe only slightly disturbed by humanity was in it's own way beautiful, but seeing the same thing but a feeling of passive aggressiveness (the wrecks and remnants of destroyed ships didn't help that) was horrifying. Space was normally calm and beautiful, nothing going on at any point and the extensiveness and colorful beauty was all overwhelming. Here it felt like they were watching and going to be butchered at any point. The first planet, a green and lush jungle planet seemed like a good start, Phoenix rose from his crawl space and bumped the pilot "Hit the closest planet, we start there." he ordered as he headed to the cargo bay where everyone was prepping gear. Briggs could be seen napping blissfully (dreaming about relaxing with a girl in a nice meadow on the edges of the galaxy or any galaxy. Everyone, Anna, Burden, Griffin, Todd, Katie, Mark, Sasha, David and the soldiers were all relaxing, sitting on gear and making fun while they had it. Occasionally stumbling as the ship entered atmosphere, until the ship could be felt stopping. "We're here!" the pilot yelled from the cockpit over the intercom as the cargo bay dropped onto the ground. The ship landed on a sandy beach, with calm winds, blue water, an open bar with a sort of tropical tiki theme going on and nearby an empty diner. This planet was abandoned, but it was a tourist world for people on vacation. Everyone smiled a little. Briggs awoke groggily and exited the small bunk, "Anyone here?" he asked the empty room, not even the pilot answered, he walked to the cargo bay. The door was down, so he curiously exited and walked down. The chattering and sounds of waves and things of the like were not just in his head, nope, they were on a tropical world. One squad of soldiers were fishing drinks as the pilot furiously mixed with a smile on his face, another squad was playing poker (a set of loaded on the table just in case) and another squad resting on boxes of ammo drinking bottles of beer. Of his own team, Burden and Griffin were cleaning their weapons (A laser LMG and a plasma shotgun respectively) and talking heartily, Anna was staring at Phoenix and her book under a nice palm umbrella on a glass table. Phoenix was relaxing on his pack of gear, his cape wrapped on his arms, his scarf, mask and hood all used as pillows, his boots were tossed aside and allowed his feet to be dipped into the water as it washed onto him, his sleeves rolled up and revealed his arms, and sunglasses were on his face. Briggs ignored Anna and Phoenix (and they ignored him) and walked over to Briggs and Griffin "Eh! He's awake!" Burden laughed "C'mere take a seat, clean something." Griffin remarked, pulling up a chair over. Briggs began disassembling his weapon and cleaning the various parts, occasionally peering over his head and looking at Anna, who's gaze shifting between her book, Phoenix and the three men. Part of her wanted to the take a blanket from the supply (the soldiers would be too busy gazing at her to care, and too drunk to do anything) and curl up next to Phoenix and relax. She stared at her book, then looked up again, a part of her wanted to lay under Phoenix and see if her arms would be more welcome than the soft fabric of the cape. She imagined it in her head, a loving atmosphere between the two, her pale face would blush and she's snuggle into his back, and fall asleep. She quickly darted back to her book, only moving her eyes toward him. She didn't want to draw attention to herself. No that wasn't helping, she just read her book. She read fast, extremely fast, then stopped and sighed. Was this shame? No no it couldn't be. What was there to be ashamed about? She let out a heavy breath and kept reading, she wasn't helping herself, the butterflies in her stomach weren't helping her at all. Briggs stopped looking over his shoulder, started cleaning again, and then looked over again, then returned to cleaning. "You got a crush on her or somethin?" Burden said, chewing a piece of lemon gum. Briggs began feverishly cleaning his firing mechanism faster, the other two men smiled at each other. Drama was stirring. Powerful drama. Dangerous drama. Relevant drama. Phoenix kept resting in the burning sun, and reached for a carton of cigarettes, and popped one in his mouth, and lit it with his old lighter. It had been through hell with him, there was symbolism there. Briggs looked over his shoulder and decided to shift the conversation to something less friendship destroying. "So..." Briggs started "Any of you got plans" Burden and Griffin looked up, Anna peered from her book, "Once we're done here, with Leon with... all of this, what are you gonna do?" Briggs asked, leaning onto the table. "I'm gonna stay in the army till I die." Griffin stated, shrugging. "Well, I'm gonna leave and settle down with Maria or something." Burden remarked, trying to decide on something "You sure you can settle down? We saw what happened to Phoenix man." Briggs said, looking at Phoenix (who removed his glasses as a few clouds moved overhead). Burden nodded "I'll be fine, I'm not a sociopathic ass." He remarked as Phoenix muttered unintelligible curses at him. "Anna?" Briggs asked, turning around. She moved her dark blonde hair from her eyes "Well..." she started blushing "Whatever Phoenix does, I'll be there.". Briggs remarked for a second and looked at Phoenix "Any plans Commander?" he asked him, Phoenix nodded. "N-no. I'd love to settle down on some abandoned winter planet out in the boonies, with a family, and put this whole life behind me." He stuttered "Hopefully at least, hopefully. Things never go the way you want, and I don't think I can... take being without some action in my life.". The conversation abruptly ended. Griffin rose from his seat "Well, I don't know about you but I need a drink, Phoenix you gonna send Brian's squad to check the forest for that damn ship or not?" He yelled toward Phoenix, who sighed "Fine, BRIAN!" he yelled to the soldiers at the bar. Their fireteam leader moved over to the relaxing commander "You called me sir?" he confirmed "I need you and your unit to check the forest for that damn relay, watch your asses" Phoenix ordered, lighting another cigarette in his mouth. David sat on a stool, chatting with his squadmates as the pilot mixed drinks with the fury of a god, and then their commander came back "Pack your shit and get yourself ready, we're moving out." he said "Heading into the jungle.". Everyone sighed and shuffled their gear so it felt normal and burdensome, and moved toward the endless and everlasting tropical jungle ahead, how deep and empty it was.
Welcome to the jungle.
Three long months.
Three months since the drone incursion occurred, they were still picking up the pieces.
Three months since Leon's mercenaries showed their faces.
Three months, of nothing.
There was nothing going on. Nothing at all. A constant state of preserved status quo, and action far beyond the spectrum of Phoenix or his comrades. Nothing for any of them to do. It ate at Phoenix's psyche, ate at his being, ate at his soul. Here, nothing made sense. He hated sleeping in the Citadel or his bunk, not caring about the world and knowing his universe was safe in it's entirety. He hated living a civilian life. How could people live in such a state of boredom? Who would want to live in a world where you had no chance of improving yourself, and kept living the same monotonous life? A constant state of perpetual nothing. Who, who in the millions could stand that.
He thought it was kinda funny, when he was out there, he wanted nothing more than to be back here. And back here, he wanted to be back out there. Out there, in the field, he understood things. Here, things were out of his element. He felt like a beast, trapped in his body. Waiting for the right moment, stuck wallowing in his failures and emptiness without the thrill of battle and warfare. He was nothing without fighting for his country, without fighting for something at least. The galaxy was shifting, right in front of his eyes. He could see it, all of it, and was forced to watch it intently. While he detested the boredom and monotony of civilian life, his wife thought differently. For somewhat obvious reasons, she loved having him at home. Where he wasn't at risk of getting shot, or stabbed, or tortured, or some other horrific death. Somehow, for some reason, she loved his company. She couldn't help but be curious about him and his people. So many questions, so few answers. Phoenix did what he did with Sarah, he answered and ignored her prodding. Phoenix and his people were human, but something was different. Something... off. Like they just didn't, or couldn't care. Maybe all the blood seeped into their heads, and they were so used to it they didn't care anymore. Nihilism, stoicism, cynicism and skepticism all combined into one person, loathing in self hatred and disgust of others.
8 AM: Wake up, eat breakfast.
9 AM: Morning prayer.
10 AM: Military council meeting.
11 AM: Civil council meeting.
12 AM: Lunch.
1 PM: Afternoon prayer.
2 PM: Weapon training.
3 PM: Melee training.
4 PM: Fleetmaster report.
5 PM: Quartermaster report.
6 PM: Nightly prayer.
7 PM: Dinner.
8 PM: Sleep.
Repeat.
And meanwhile, sectors away, Leon was bombing a hair-gel manufacturer on an industrial world soon to be conquered by the rebels, while his small family laughed.
So Phoenix read, read about himself and his history. The history on his people.
It taught him much in the past.
The United Phoenix Federation was formed in 2060, originally Xendra Prime. The planet, on the fringes of Federation space was beautiful, exotic and welcoming to human life. The Federation placed down 3 colonies on the planet. Leviathan, Invictus, and Phoenix. Leviathan to the west, Invictus to the east, and Phoenix in the middle. However, a great nebular storm hit the planet. They were stuck, alone and without assistance. People died, either from the virulent plague that ran rampant through their planet, or starvation, or in the brutal wars that followed for resources. But, in 2100. This grand civil war ended. Phoenix's father lead his colony to victory and named his son after his home colony. This lead to the creation of the United Phoenix Federation, between the colonies and several nearby moons. The nearest moons and even planets were militarized, held as strategic defensive points in place of a large defensive fleet. The UPF had three fleets, large hive fleets with massive flagships as the center of attention. Consisting of 20 battlegroups of 500 ships each. Those fleets being Leviathan, Sentinel and Invictus.
Phoenix was an interesting boy, and his father knew it. When he was 6, he caught the plague and self quarantined himself inside the library, reading. He beat the plague that claimed many, many lives. Much of the day he was unaccounted for, only to be found in the courtyard behind the Citadel, often beating on children who approached him. He was quiet, introverted, and all around favoring of the company of the Citadel Guard (Who he considered husks of people) to anyone. A legend among the troops states that Phoenix was left in the desert wastes of Xendra for several months of his life, and survived against all odds.
But when his father was assassinated, everything changed.
Phoenix was already their leader, but now he had a challenge of dealing with the distrust of his generals. Many of whom retreated into the wastes. He didn't do himself a favor when many religious leaders and their followers (Who disagreed with Phoenix's new religion) also fled there. Phoenix created the Civil Council, a group of five ordered to control the civilian population while Phoenix was at war. And soon those wastes were a haven to rogues and pirates. Or anyone fleeing the will of the Federation. So Phoenix lead his first war, and attacked the rogue settlements. Burned them to the ground, and pushed the rogues off of the planet. Phoenix brought Anna back to his planet as this conflict was happening, and she took note of the soldiers and their behavior while fighting their former brothers. As this battle finished, their second war began. The Federation was not happy with the UPF's independence and dispatched a force to conquer the planet back. The conflict ended (While the Federation was winning, no less), when orders from High Command came down to return back to Federation space to defend against a growing rebel incursion. This incursion grew into the rebellion we know today, as any denizen of the Federation would know. The rebel fleet was hunting a traitor, who held information about them they needed kept silent. And could secure a win for the Federation if it reached the last organized fleet of the Federation. A voice from the pits of Hell whispered poisonous words into the ears of the Rebels. Those words, were orders to invade the UPF. Shock and awe. The conflict ended 72 hours after it began, and claimed a great many lives on both sides. The invasion failed, but only because the rebels were redirected back to Federation space. Following this, a great few months of peace, of nothing. The UPF took it's time to recruit and spread itself all over the galaxy. However, then the Engi rebelled. It was a grand genocide, many lives and ships were lost. As with most of the planetary-based infantry forces.
Those who survived became Phoenix's Dark Marines.
But the result was the same, Phoenix and his people were homeless. He lead his people to a new homeworld, but the growing instability took it's toll.
Phoenix sat in his seat, his head slumped onto his fist, which sat on the arm of the chair. The bridge of the Sentinel. The walls broke away into glass windows, showing the everlasting beauty of space. In the center, a large holographic display. Showing everything from fleet composition, to their new home planet. Phoenix stared at it, absent minded. Waiting for a familiar pair of arms to wrap around his neck, and a soothing familiar voice to ask him what he was doing. And he would drearily answer that he was doing nothing at all. Those familiar arms never showed themselves, not before the holographic globe flickered. And a voice recorder showing the name of the person on the line and the waves of the sound they were making. The speaker was a Tyker (A Citadel tech manager) named Varius. "Greetings commander" He said in his metallic monotone voice. "What do you want?" Phoenix said drearily. "We have recently analyzed our comm relays and channels and found some recordings on an abandoned relay that may be of interest to you. Dated around our assault on the rebel controlled island in Federation space" The Tyker replied. "Who sent them?" The commander asked, sitting up in his seat. The Tyker spoke up "Unknown, however the relays are directed at the terrorist Leon, and sent to an anonymous channel using Federation comm relays" The Tyker could be heard fiddling with his metallic enhancements "It seems we have a traitor in our midst". Phoenix swallowed some spit and then spoke "How many recordings are there? And when are they dated?". The Tyker's microphone whirred "Three of them. Dated during your captivity inside Leon's base". "Play the first one" Phoenix ordered. "This one is dated shortly before our attack on the rebel base where we found Leon, the speaker is unknown and he modified his voice". The hologram blinked off then on again, two recorders for voices this time. One marked "HARTLEY, LEON" and the other marked "UNIDENTIFIED".
Leon could be heard swallowing before he spoke, collected "Report." The unidentified man took a second to speak, beeping of a device heard in the background. "I'm here Leon."
"Do the others suspect your presence as a traitor?"
"Negative"
"Good, then you can relay some information to me. What are they doing now?"
"I'm on the Shadow of Retribution, along with two other ships en-route to your current position"
"Wait what?!"
"Sorry, I couldn't get the Council to put a damn leash on Phoenix."
"Fuck. Now what?"
"Ready your forces"
"Wait a second!"
"Hmm?"
"This a perfect opportunity-"
"To kill Phoenix?"
"No, I don't want him dead. I want him captured"
"I hope you know how bad an idea that is"
"Reprisals are expected, they always are. I'll be fine."
"Leon, you need to do what needs to be done. For god's sake he's out to murder you!"
"He won't, I know him."
"Fine, sir. Out."
Then the recording cut out. The holograms were replaced with large red text stating the recording ended. Then the second recording began to play. The unidentified speaker began speaking in surprise and urgency, Leon could be heard tired and groaning groggily, having just woken. Explosions and faint gunfire could be heard in the distance. Slightly muffled by the talking of familiar friends. Leon was at his house here, when Phoenix was assaulting the island on an old rebel occupied planet.
"Leon are you awake?" Said the unidentified man, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Ugh n-no..." Leon moaned, clearly stirred from his nap.
"Look, Phoenix is moving on your position as we speak. He's breached the outer perimeter and he's moving into the residential district. You need to move, NOW!"
"F-fuck. Look I'll-" Leon's voice cut out for a second.
"... Leon you there?"
His voice returned, now awake and a devious tone in his words. "This is our chance."
"Y-you sure?"
"I'll get my friends and family off world. And I can use this opportunity to grab him."
"... Can I help."
"Where is he now?"
"He'll be there in 15 minutes, tops."
"Alright, I have a plan."
"Right, bye."
The red text appeared with a metallic beep. A short countdown to the second recording, Leon's voice stated in outright, clear contentment over the speakers. As usual.
"Report."
"I junked up the relay, finding these recordings should be a lot more difficult now"
"Good job, we have Phoenix in custody here. I've got my two best men on interrogation duty"
"You need to get out of there. ASAP"
"What?! Why?!"
"Briggs has us charging about the sector on the Retribution."
"You need to get the council to put a leash on him! Before both of us are blown."
"I will not be the only one discovered if it comes to that"
"Are we screwed then?"
"No, not exactly. If I get the council to hold Briggs back for a day or so, he'll hold himself here fighting the bureaucratic resistance. I'll get my contact to contact one of the council members."
"Who's your contact?"
"You know why I can't say that"
"... Fine. Get on that. We need some answers goddammit."
"You won't get anything out of him, stop being a sadist."
"Not my department man. Not my department."
"Heh. Signing off."
The red text flared again, no more recordings. Phoenix took a second to interpret this information, and also deciding where he should begin in his search for this traitor. His own group? Maybe. Then, those familiar pair of arms pulled him back onto his chair and wrapped around his neck. He looked up, Anna was smiling down on him. "You look like you weren't expecting me." She said "What's wrong?". Phoenix sighed and squeezed her hand, then looked back up at the hologram before it disappeared. "I... can't tell you right now. S-sorry." Phoenix stuttered, taking a deep breath as Anna looked on, baffled. She smiled and rubbed his shoulder "Alright then" she said "See ya". Phoenix slumped back into his chair, part of him happy he'd finally get some action. A bigger part of him not exactly pleased someone among his was a traitor. He needed to know where to start. So, with the press of a few buttons on the arm of his chair, Varius' channel appeared. "Yes commander?" He asked, pleased to be of service. "Varius, which relays were used in the recordings?" Phoenix asked, feeling a headache forming. The Tyker's metallic whirring could be heard, followed by beeping. "Unknown" He said in his monotone, metallic voice, "However locating the relay should not be difficult. The PDF keeps it's communications in an office within the Vein Military Barracks, south of New Legion.". Phoenix took a second to think, humming to himself. He closed the channel and stood up, and headed out to his bunk in the Sentinel. He walked to the stairs, as technicians and soldiers ran about, maintaining the giant ship. At the top of the stairs however, was a man dressed in modified rebel garb standing next to a large German Shepard. The man had a variety of burn marks running across his face, and looked at Phoenix a sense of begrudging respect. Standing next to him was a man dressed in full red rebel uniform, who looked at Phoenix snidely if anything. The dog barked happily as Phoenix approached, remembering this man (But not his friend) slightly. Then, Phoenix remembered. He was the rebel that he had Briggs rescue when they attacked the rebel flagship yard, the man next to him was an unknown variable however. The first man, with the burn marks, had darker skin and a suave complexion, looking like a soldier who spent a fair amount of time picking up bimbos at the bar in his meantime. The man next to him was smiling sarcastically, like life was a joke to him, and was significantly paler with much lighter eyes. Looking almost like a man who you'd let into your house but then he'd stab you in the throat and do weird things with your corpse. Phoenix could tell he was going to be friends with these two. "You Phoenix?" Asked the first man "Yes." Phoenix greeted, eyes shifting between the two "Do I know you?". The man cracked a slight smile as Phoenix looked on, he could tell Phoenix was acting naive. "The nice nurse lady told me where to find Briggs and now here you are, figured I'd get introduced to the man who saved my life" He said. The dog barked, panting happily as the second man tapped her belly playfully. "Well, let me introduce us. This is Todd and I'm Mark." The man continued, a hint of laziness in his voice "I took him from the rebels after you rescued me. Figured we may be of use.". Todd smiled and waved, acting nice in a sort of serial killer sort of way. "I'm a good shot" Todd said snidely, a hint of suspicion but also playful but cruel enjoyment. "He is, I'm was an engineer." Mark said, his voice deep and deliberate "I'm not a technician, but I'm the next best thing". Todd adjusted the strap holding his rifle onto his back while Mark took a second to lean back onto the wall "Well good to meet you, head to the armory and get some new uniforms. I don't want any fratricide out on the field." Phoenix said, the calm and soft voice fading into a commanding growl. The two ran off to do as ordered, and Phoenix headed down the stairs. Only to be greeted by another familiar face, Katie looking up at him. She had switched outfits from her white Federation uniform into a hood, looking way too similar to Anna. She had slightly long brown hair, a soft complexion of a woman who was a few years away from gaining the grit of your average soldier, losing the look that said "I'm not to be messed with". Her soft, dark green eyes however said a mix of "Can we be friends?" and "Don't shoot" to where there were mixed feelings all around. She looked less like a protective mother and more like a playful sister. Her stature looked like a deadly beautiful, like a woman standing in a dress holding a gun ready to shoot someone. Her face was slightly less pale than Anna, but still looked soft and almost affectionate in comparison to the rest of her hard-ass complexion and stature. Her outfit was clearly built for function over slight fashion. The "fabric" was like body armor in itself, and it was formfitting and a mix between grey and tan, in comparison to the light brown hood. "So, you're... in charge around here?" She asked, a hint of sarcasm and pretentiousness in her voice. "Yup. Got a problem with that sweetie?" Phoenix said, responding to sarcasm with sarcasm. She shook her head "No, but it seemed... off. You don't look like an official, or commander, or general, or leader. You look like a soldier." She said, curiosity tracing itself into her lips, she gestured at Phoenix clothing. "Cuz I am. I'm a little bit of everything. We don't tolerate lazy assholes in the Phoenix Federation" Phoenix wondered if she saw through the trace of altruism and sense of community and uniform duty and realized that Phoenix never wanted to be a soldier, but never regretted becoming one. She crossed her arms "Hmm, is that so?" She did "Well, where do you need me" Phoenix could tell that question brought her into trouble before, and she was hiding her true feelings behind her hard-ass demeanor. "Go to the armory and talk to Mark, and try not to turn too many heads." Phoenix stated, firmly holding his ground against the hard exterior shell Katie had. It was clear she wasn't amazing under pressure, and didn't get along with people. The demeanor faded, and she playfully waved at him, and turned away. Phoenix sighed, then looked behind him, the dog was standing there. Panting contently. Phoenix was tempted to push her away and carry on with his life, but opted to pet her on the head and rub her neck hair instead. And then moved on, ignoring the jingling of the dog's collar as he went to his bunk corner. A few of his team was conversing outside Burden's room, while he stood in the doorway dressed in his sleeping wear. A olive green t-shirt and baggy camo fatigues and boots. The rest of the team stood in the appropriate field clothing, which looked threadbare despite being entirely functional. Phoenix walking over turned heads, Burden suddenly looked combat functional and everyone else turned to face him. "What were you talking about?" Phoenix asked, wanting any treachery to be revealed and soon. "Nothin much" Briggs said, arms crossed. Phoenix shot a stern look about the group. Adrian and Burden both began sweating, respect turning into to fear quickly. A bead of sweat moving down Briggs' face, wondering what the consequences would be if he lied or didn't answer. Griffin wasn't scared of dying, but was still slightly shocked and scared as Phoenix shot his deadly gaze at him. "Well I guess... W-we're... worried about you." Briggs wasn't lying, the conversation was about Phoenix and his slow descent into darkness, and if something was gonna happen when he hit the bottom of the cold dark void. Everyone stopped sweating, even Phoenix could tell he wasn't lying. "Well then finish up and get moving to the armory. We'll meet in the briefing room." Phoenix stated, before moving over toward his room at the end. At the center of the end of the hall was a pillar of names, crew members lost in the Engi rebellion, Phoenix felt like sleeping feet from it wasn't healthy. He knocked onto the door and yelled inside "Anna meet me in the briefing room, hit the armory if you need to gear up!" before he himself headed off into the briefing room. The room was silent, a gathering of people around a planning table, staring into a single large monitor, Phoenix and Harper (The new ECRT commander in wake of Grave's burial) flanking the monitor. Phoenix broke the tense silence (and beating of the giant spider in the ducts) "People, I don't know how to tell you this but... someone is leaking information about us to Leon.". A murmur of questioning about the room, only Harper remained silent. "A Tyker named Varius has a briefing for an opportunity to reveal this traitor." Phoenix continued, flicking on the monitor. The Tyker's metallic voice came over the speakers. "The traitor is using our comm relays and channels to communicate information to Leon, and likely to lure our forces into ambushes if given the opportunity. The Planetary Defense Force located here manages these relays out of Vein Military Barracks, part barracks part apex of training for local forces. If we can gain access to these relays, we can pinpoint the one our traitor is using, old or new, to funnel his calls." The Tyker took a second, and began showing blueprints and orders onto the screen. Briggs raised his hand and asked a question. "So how do we go about revealing this traitor?" He asked, leaning into his chair. "Doing this will be a 3 part operation, none of it will be particularly easy." He said "First, we must locate the relays the traitor is using the funnel these calls to Leon and access the recordings, then decode the encryption on these messages, then we must find a logic drive and trace these relays to their source hub that is transmitting the signals. Finally, we must capture the traitor and question him.". Harper spoke up in a bark "Any questions?". Then Todd raised his hand "Whats the meaning of life sir?", and Griffin chuckled. The team then prepared for the actual briefing. Todd suddenly looking a lot less like a serial killer, went up to Phoenix and asked "Whats the score boss?". Phoenix stepped up to look at the monitor and clicked on new images. "Plan A: We ask. We see any bureaucratic resistance, we fight it and get our records." Phoenix stated stoically "Plan B: Crash and grab the records. Briggs, Burden and I will do the crashing, Katie, Anna, Todd and Adrian will do the grabbing. We play the rest by ear. Let's move people, we have borrowed time here.".
David sat down on the edge of the track, a long and winding oval shape that PDF soldiers and local forces used to train in their meantime. At the end of the track, a large office building with an omega symbol on the entrance. Large glass windows making up the majority of the opening lobby. A young soldier, dressed in blue PDF uniform, took a second out of his run and fell next to David, drawing his eye from the massive office. "You okay bro?" He asked, shaking the soldier "Y-yeah I'm fine..." The young boy stuttered, lifting himself off the ground, and picking his glasses out of the sand. He sat down next to David, sweat running down his face. "You training with the PDF?" David asked, breaking the awkward silence "Yeah, wanted to prove my sister wrong-" he stopped mid sentence, touching his gloves. "She bad for you?" David asked, rubbing the young one's back. He began to talk but only air came out of his mouth, then just nodded. David rubbed his back "Don't risk your life for her man, she's not worth it." He comforted "I-it's not just that I mean..." the soldier started, drifting off. "What about you? You here with the PDF cuz... drill sarge is gonna have your ASS for not wearing the right uniform" The soldier joked, smiling, watching as David jokingly rejected the claim. "Nah, nah I'm with one of the fleet forces, up in orbit. Stationed here for the time being." David said, trying not to brag at the young one. "Wait you go out?! With Commander Phoenix?? Holy shit man!" The young boy yelled, ecstatically excited. "I'm Evan, by the way." The soldier outstretched his gloved hand, David shook it. The two laughed, both continuing to go on about how awful their jobs were and how bad the people they associated themselves were. Chuckling and laughing, united in misery. David only stopped when he saw a truck, with three hooded occupants pull up behind him. "Eh look at that." He said, secretly and pointing at the team of three. "Huh, who are they?" Evan asked, peering over David's white armor to get a look "Dark Marines?". David took a second look at the occupants, one took off their hood and ran over to the building at the other end of the track. "Nnnnnooopppe" David said, putting a bit of humor into the situation. They continued looking, one of the two remaining at the truck took out a PDA and began fiddling with it, while the other held a rifle and checked the sights appropriately. David couldn't help but feel in danger. "Who are these assholes?" He murmured to himself, just loud enough for Evan to hear. Evans also looked, he couldn't make out any of their faces, they had masks on. Before long the other guy ran back to the truck. Said something to the guys at the truck, and entered the vehicle. Then the other two got in as well, and revved up the engines. Evans broke the silence "What the fuck are they doing?" He asked, his eyes fixed on the vehicle. Then, in an instant, the vehicle shot off into the distance and rammed itself into the windows of the omega building. David and Evans looked on, wide eyed, sound of breaking glass could be heard across the barracks. "HOLY SHIT MAN!" Evans yelled, standing up "Shit bro you got a gun or somethin?!" Dave checked his holster, and saw the old engraved pistol his father had given him. "S-should we or...?" Evans started before his companion shushed him and began moving toward across the field. A stoic look of professionalism on his face. The trio's truck breached the windows and created a new entrance. The three hooded men exited their vehicle and readied their weapons. "BURDEN HACK INTO THEIR SYSTEM AND CRASH IT, NOW!" Yelled one "Copy that!" yelled another. The hooded man with the PDA ran over to the computer behind the desk where the nice lady who greeted officers sat, and began working the computer. Briggs and Phoenix began aiming on the few hostages they had. Phoenix touched his ear piece "Adrian the thing went to shit, plan b it is." he said, lowering his weapon for a second. Burden spoke up in the tense room "This isn't the computer!" he yelled urgently. "No shit!" Phoenix barked "It's probably in the back ya goof! Go look there" Burden grabbed his shotgun and moved around the wall and into the back, kicked in the glass to the mainframe room and began working the system. "Crashing in 5 seconds, get bravo team on the line and tell them to get ready!" Burden yelled from the back room. On the roof, the four waited for the signal. Adrian looked down, seemingly wanting to end it all, Katie and Anna shared a seat on a makeshift bench, and Todd sat looking at the two on a chair the janitor would use to sit down and question his life decisions. "So... either of you single?" He asked, figuring it was worth a shot. The two girls looked at each other, Anna looked at the obviously full of himself man staring at her with lusty eyes "No, I'm married" she said defensively, a slight growl in her voice. The woman next to her shrugged and smiled at the creepy man playing with empty shell casings in front of her, but said nothing. Suddenly, Adrian stood straight up and put a finger to his ear, listening to his orders. Then he turned to his compatriots on the roof "That's us, get your masks on meet me there" he stated, stoically calm despite the situation and alarms blaring below him. Adrian proceeded to pull up the mask on his neck, and grabbed onto the ropes before jumping down into a window. Following this, Todd put on his bandanna and followed, Katie put on her balaclava mask and followed and Anna (reluctantly mind you) put on her gas mask and followed. Before long, the entire group was united three floors down. Adrian's calm and focused voice broke the tension of the operation "We're looking for system backups, should be on the far eastern side." He briefed "Watch for security and techies, no bodies, not now.". The team then raised their respective weapons and began moving forward, navigating the maze of hallways and cubicles, until they found themselves at a door titled "SYS BACKUPS", Todd kicked it in and Adrian ran in, grabbing a large data stick before he ran out of the room at Olympic runner speeds. "Got the drive!" Adrian yelled as he barreled down the stairs, running into the truck with all due haste. The rest of the team quickly followed, and they drove off. Leaving David and Evan in the dust as they approached.
They speedily walked to the briefing room, Adrian handed the stick off to a techie who took it to Vairus. They were curious where getting the logic drive would come in, or if this operation was going to be as simple as foreseen. Varius' comm channel appeared on the monitor to the briefing room. "Welcome sir, congratulations on a successful mission." He chirped "While the recovery of the comm link records assists our efforts, we've run into several problems.". His voice began to lower into a moderately depressed modified tone "For one, we cannot retrieve the records from these relays remotely. Our traitor has bounced and copied his recordings off many relays. Tracing these relays will be difficult in itself. Secondly, the only logic drive capable of decrypting and tracing the relays is locked on the Federation homeworld of Earth, finding a suitable port to lock the drive into may be impossible." The room fell silent. Not a peep among the group. Everyone looked at each other, 25% self loathing, 25% curiosity, 50% fear. Anyone (Except Phoenix) could be a traitor now. Everyone's life was in his hands. If there was even a shadow of doubt, if their loyalty was called into question for a second, they could be killed. If Phoenix was wrong, there would be nothing other than bloodshed for a long, long time. The hum of air conditioning was the only sound, those outside were silent. "Now what?" Briggs asked, depressed "We can't just shoot people until we find our guilty party.". Todd nodded, a smirk on his face. "Varius can we trace the relays manually?" Phoenix asked, standing from his seat. The Tyker could be heard roaring to life from his dark corner "Yes..." he schemed "We'll be able to recover more recordings and plans. This will help. However, it will take time.". The team nodded and Harper shut down the screen, then they departed from the room. The flood of bodies from the door gathered in a circle in the hall, a look of distrust among them all. Briggs placed a firm but shaky hand on his weapon, Anna felt her chest for her knife. Everyone went off their separate ways, looking of their shoulders. Phoenix brushed off heading to his room and instead went over to the bridge, the vastness endlessness of space provided some form of comfort, he couldn't help but feel like he was more at home there. He slumped into the captain's chair and waited for something, looking up at the open windows. "Sir, a there has been a new civil development on our planet, the council wishes the speak to you." Said Spyglass's deep, monotone and calm voice. Spyglass was the AI on board the ship, when Phoenix wasn't around he had to be in charge. So he was smart, and informed. Phoenix groggily entered the small frigate he used for transit to a planet, and tried to nap as he entered atmosphere. He landed close to the massive council building, on a specified tarmac for politicians to land in the event of an emergency. He looked up the to the building, it was up a set of massive stairs. Thousands of stairs, the building looked small in the distance. Phoenix quickly ran up these stairs, knowing it could take him all day to get there. Finally he reached the summit, the massive and ornate structure held the council of five who ran the United Phoenix Federation. The structure had two large starkly colored pillars on the edge holding large golden ravens. The door was massive, barely able to be opened by a human. The building itself was made of white painted metal or quartz or some strange native stone alongside gold. In contrast to the bland grey of the previous buildings from long ago or the rest of the residential sector nearby. Phoenix pushed the large wooden door out of his way and walked through the short entrance hall past several guards and into the large and technological center of the building. The council of five sat in their seats in a half oval shape around the room. all of their faces darkened, all of them looking at Phoenix. He moved toward the chair and table set up for his arrival, and sat down. An eerie silence filled the room. "We welcome you commander" Said the councilman in the center of the five "We have several pressing issues to bring to your attention, however, before that..." the councilman's voice trailed off as a local assistant and intern gave Phoenix a letter. Phoenix unraveled the small scroll "We were instructed not to give you the actual letter, we suggest you head to the Citadel after this." said a different council member. Phoenix nodded to himself and hid the scroll. "Now what requires my attention?" Phoenix growled impatiently, looking up at the shadowy faces. One of those from the left spoke up first "There are riots in the streets due to a massive food shortage on the western districts. The PDF is already taking losses in these sectors" He said "We will need to ration our food until our trade convoys arrive". The councilman in the center spoke up next "The plague has followed us, containment units are already failing in many districts. We will have a massive epidemic soon if we cannot contain it soon." Phoenix nodded, this was news. But he had a plan. He extended his hand, signalling for the council to wait for his answer. Then, nodding and looked up, his finger on his lip and a thoughtful look on his face. "I got it..." He started, nodding and looking around "We take those still not infected and move them to the central districts and ration food there, the rest will just have to make do. Have a set of our military devoted to raiding rebel trade and supply convoys, they have to be supplying the ground forces from somewhere". "That brings us to the next issue..." Said a councilman from the group "The rebels... are becoming a problem. They're scaring the populous.". Phoenix looked up, slightly, a look of sadness, helplessness and determination in his eyes. He grabbed the scroll and went to leave, pointing deliberately. The council knew he was going to handle that problem on his own. As he reached for the closed door, he felt a surging headache, and dropped to the ground. He awoke in his chair in the council's chamber. In front of him, five figures. All of which shaded in varying lights. The only recognizable figure was the one in the center, looking happily at him. The entire room was basked in blood. "Ah, you've arrived. I was told you'd be here." Said the figure in the center, Phoenix identified him quickly. Leon. He wanted to growl, but nothing other than air came out. His view shifted to the figure on the far left, Anna. "You alright? You seem tense." She said "Stress isn't good for your mind, it clouds your judgement." His view shifted slightly right, another figure he recognized, his... father? "Her words have no merit, ignore them." He said "You were born for this dammit, this is a burden you can handle.". His view dodged Leon and headed the figure at his right, Briggs. "Hey man are you listening? We need you now! Your mind has to be clear! Our lives are in your hands dammit." He growled. Then his view shifted further right, Graves. "Their doubt casts a shadow on your mind, you will be judged by your own merits when the time comes. I trust you." He comforted. Then his view shifted finally on the right, Phoenix was staring into a mirror, he was sitting in that chair across from him. Phoenix felt the entire world shudder for a second. The mirror of himself remained silent, before it disappeared and reappeared, this time bloody and mangled. "You shouldn't stress yourself, really, we'll be fine" Said Anna's apparition, before she appeared as a corpse, lying bloody in her seat. His father nodded, before he fell onto the ground, a bullet wound in his face. Graves smiled and sarcastically huffed, then slumped over in his seat, leaking blood. Phoenix awoke falling down the massive stairs to the council building. What was that vision about? He had no idea. He continued falling, eventually he hit the bottom, blood and dirt on his face. He gathered himself off the ground and huffed, then looked into the distance. The Citadel. Phoenix decided that's where he needed to go next. He walked that way, walked as it grew bigger. Silent, to nothing but his thoughts. Eventually the Citadel appeared to him. He felt slightly more at home here, but still felt out of place. He walked up the small stairs and into the building, and read the scroll, it said there was a message for him at the bottom of the Citadel's catacombs. He held the scroll to the guard and entered, walked all the way to the end. There, at the end, was a massive room. In it, a dagger and a note. Phoenix walked in and picked up the note, curiously reading it. My dear son Phoenix, if you are reading this, I am dead. I am sorry for leaving you, I know how many strange and odd feelings you are having now and that's okay. I knew from your birth there was something... off about you. You are destined to greatness, I trust this. However, to apologize for my passing. I give you two more gifts when you come of age. Graves is instructed to give this note to you once you are mature enough, he will be your father now. Love, your father. Phoenix picked up the dagger and slowly removed it from it's sheathe. The small dagger was ornate, holding many ancient runic letters on the blade. One side read I am wrath, I am fire, I am the vengeance of Revenants. The other side read I am resurrection, I am steel, I am the golden wings of the Phoenix. Phoenix nodded and waited for the second gift to show itself. He looked up from the dagger. And there was a robed and hooded figure, bearing a blue metal mask with red ruby eyes. The man was wearing an ornate red and gold robe, with hands that looked boney and pale, he stood looking at Phoenix with a hunched back and extended his hand forward. "Hello..." He moaned in a metallic voice clearly not his own "You are the son of... a man that brought greatness to this land... and now it is your own. He wanted me to see into your soul... tell you what needed to be said and speak the words of Xera herself!" he preached, Xera was one of the many gods in Phoenix's religion. The goddess of wisdom and restraint, and adviser to the god of fire and war: Phox. Phoenix nodded as the old man put his ancient hand onto his chest, chanting and whispering to himself. "You..." He started "... are..." he couldn't quite finish as he shuddered "... the GODS have a plan for you boy! You... must... cleanse... the impurity." Phoenix stepped half backwards, what did he mean. "A cancer... a true test of your will. The plague of Acolytes, the bane of crusaders, blade of heresy and evil." He moaned, straining each word. "You are haunted... by things past and things future... you do not feel human... you are not at home" His words were true. "Cleanse the cancer... from your body... with a trial" He pointed a boney finger into his center chest. Phoenix raised the dagger and placed the pointed blade onto his chest. Sighing and breathing deeply, acute pain in the center of his chest where the pointed blade was placed. He took a deep breath and plunged the knife into his chest, cutting and tearing with the dagger as blood was sprayed across the room, into his eyes, onto the Oracle, onto his face, onto the table, the walls, everywhere. He continued cutting, lower and deeper. His vision fading in and out, blood welling into his eyes. The Oracle held up his hand and Phoenix stopped. More hooded Acolytes swarmed around him, wearing ornate gas masks with horns and spikes. Like a germophobic satanist ritual. One of them hit Phoenix with a syringe, he felt the pain fade slightly. "You have cut it from your body, but your heart still beats. Your future remains bleak." Groaned the Oracle in his monotone, almost robotic voice. "One of your friends will throw you to a wolf in a dire situation, who will show you no mercy." He preached "Many people will not look to the truth, and you will answer their prayers and forsake your gods.". Finally, in a hearty breath "The King you will face will outmatch you, victory will occur only with great loss." and then, as the Acolytes crouched onto the ground in prayer, the Oracle spoke once more "Your burden will cause you to miss the traitor and heretic in your ranks until it is too late, and you will suffer as a result.". Phoenix then felt an amazing headache, and collapsed.
He awoke outside the Citadel, Corvis praying with a black obsidian sword at his feet. "Ah, you're awake" He greeted, smiling "I thought you were lost to the void for a second.". Phoenix rose and thanked him, then went back to the Sentinel. Not wanting to talk to anyone about the incident. He didn't know if he should trust the Oracle's judgement. Phoenix went over into his room, and collapsed onto the bed. Ignoring Anna as she read her book, who smiled as she saw him. She moved her legs out onto the end of the bed and rubbed his back, smiling. "You had a long day didn't you?" She inquired, even though she already knew the answer, Phoenix groaned in response. She warmly rubbed his shoulders, Phoenix closed his eyes, trying to relax. "W-why is there blood in your eyes?" Anna stuttered, seeing dry red splotches on Phoenix's face and body, touching them with the tips of her soft finger. "I-I'm fine." Phoenix comforted, a slight hesitation in his voice. Anna could tell something happened, she rolled him over and snuggled up next to him. Smiling and rubbing his chest (and feeling the gash he sustained previously in the process). Phoenix was still concerned. He wondered if she was the traitor, and this was an elaborate ploy to fool him. All to gain info to tell Leon. Curiosity is dangerous, it reveals things held secret all for the sake of greater knowledge. Phoenix thought about it as she rubbed and cuddled him. She was sheltered, born and raised on Earth, her experience in combat was equivalent to that of a soldier but she was still weak of mind when it came to violence, she wasn't from the UPF and so had no motives to see them thrive and she was with Phoenix for quite a while. She couldn't be it. Maybe he was in denial however, he needed more evidence. And fast. For now, he he wanted to relax. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, releasing any tension in his shoulders and snuggling up with Anna. Then Briggs burst in. "Phoenix we got somethin" He said, part of him amused he caught Phoenix cuddling with his girl, for reasons obvious but not.
The man was dressed in rebel garb, not Todd, found by someone. He was scared and shivering, watching as the two hooded men entered the basement on the ship. He had no idea where he was. He looked about, feeling a minor headache and a major feeling of stress. The two hooded men walked in front of his chair, the table behind them holding an endless supply of torture devices. Some looking extremely sadistic, others classic. "We're gonna ask you one question and we want an answer: Where's Leon?" Said the figure on the left, his arms crossed. The man began stuttering, confused. He knew who Leon was, he was well aware, but answering this would be suicide. He blubbered over his words, confused as to what he should do. Then the man on the right threw a punch, that landed on his nose. The man on the left turned back and grabbed a large dagger from the endless weapons. "Briggs you like knives don't you?" He said, fiddling with his knives, the man on the right chuckled and took one of the knives, before plunging it deep into the man's hand and twisting it. The man screeched, terrible pain all at once, then the man on the left turned away again. "One more time." He offered, picking out a pan from the torture selection "Where is he?". Phoenix turned back, holding the pan of boiling water in his hand. He walked over to the rebel and took his boots off, and placed his feet in the boiling hot water as smoke rose from the bottom of his feet. "OH MY GOD THE PAIN!" The main yelled, slightly muffled by his screams of agony. Phoenix decided to let his inner sadist run free and poured the remaining water over the man's chest and head, watching as smoke gathered in the room. Phoenix sighed, part of him wanting to create an act so the man would be all the more terrified and another part legitimately sad he had to hurt the man. The first part overwhelmed the second part, and he kicked the man's chair onto the ground, and grabbed a plastic water jug from the selection of tools. The jug held a green-yellow fluid. Acid. It would burn skin like hot fire, in liquid form. He nodded and Briggs removed the soldier's fatigues, showing his chest while Phoenix poured the hot acid onto him as smoke rose from the burning flesh. "ERGGHH" The man groaned, nearly passing out from pain as acid spread over his body, stopping only for a second as the jug began to empty. The smoke subsided, the man relaxed, his breathing visibly faster. "Who are you, where is Leon?" Phoenix asked, calm in the face of torture. "I-I... Leon moves often, he changes place every other day. I got no idea where he goes I'm just a grunt man!" The man stuttered, trying to give his torturers something of value. Phoenix nodded "Not good enough, give me something else." he growled. The man thought of something to give his torturers while they moved to grab hooks to hang him from. "W-wait a minute!" He said "You know the traitor? T-the guy leakin your shit to Leon? Yeah well he used an ancient Federation comm relay in Lanius space to transmit his last few messages." The man smiled and cheered to himself. Phoenix nodded and told Briggs to lock the man up in case they needed more info, and walked up the rickety wooden stairs back to the main section of the ship. He was greeted by Anna at the top "W-what was that about?" she inquired, partially already knowing what happened "Nothing." Phoenix lied, trying to put on a straight face as Briggs walked a burnt man screaming about a Lanius conspiracy to a cell. Phoenix walked back to the Bridge, accompanied by Anna and (to his surprise) Burden, who trailed behind. He collapsed into his bridge chair, ready for some action. "Varius, we need a trip to Lanius space for a relay hunt, good idea or no?" Phoenix asked, already imputing calculations into the computers. "A trip to Lanius space is easy, however finding our specific sector, beacon and planet will be hard." Varius assured, his voice shifting with mechanical whirs. "Can't we trace the relay?" Burden asked, his brow raised "A broad search at least, we go with it." Phoenix said, sending the orders to Spyglass to relay the orders to the Shadow of Retribution, and to requisition 3 squads of soldiers. Phoenix wandered to his psychiatrist's office (Such people made a killing treating PTSD ridden UPF soldiers), and slowly opened the door. He waited for the man to finish his cigarette and printing the latest psych evaluations before Phoenix went in. He entered, the giant chair was turned away to the desk, the man could not be scene behind the chair. "Doc...?" Phoenix asked, knocking on the door once more as he laid on the therapy couch. The desk turned, and on it was a similarly familiar face, Sarah. Her short blonde hair and brown coat and pants with a black belt were far too familiar, she smiled at Phoenix. He raised himself from his chair before he was pushed down and shushed by her "Relax..." she soothed, holding him down. She gingerly touched his shoulder and rubbed his chest, watching the stress in his shoulders visibly fade. Then she slowly removed his short cape and set it around his arms, rubbing his shoulders. "Ssssh..." she shushed, then Phoenix raised a brow, was this a dream? The room suddenly flickered between covered in blood, dark and normal, then returned to normal. Phoenix smiled back at Sarah, who touched the leatherette couch and nodded as Phoenix adjusted himself on the cold leatherette couch. "So... whatcha want to know?" Phoenix asked, moving his head despite the randomness and strangeness of this event. "Everything you know, if there hasn't been any new developments you've made excellent progress." She stated, grabbing her notepad and leaning back into her chair. "Did I tell you about Derrickson?" Phoenix started before shifting his arms as she stood up and started rubbing his chest "... if not then... nope. Nothing. I'm going out into the field again today." the rubbing stopped, her un-gloved hand was the beginning to meld into his flesh, or so it felt. It was hard like stone. Phoenix rose as the psych evaluation clicked and finished, then left the room, and collapsed as he exited. "W-what... the fuck? The hell is going on?" He whispered to himself, as the edges of the room faded to darkness, then it returned the normal. Something wasn't right. He walked over to the Shadow of Retribution, his breathing increasing as time went on. He quickly moved into the transit pod and entered the Shadow of Retribution, his team and people all there. The Shadow looked slightly similar to the Rebel's Flagship if any Federation soldier saw the plans. The "beak" was extended further from the rest of the hull, and wings were broader and slanted (though still forward facing somehow) and the tail was broad and stumped due to it's double focus as a cargo lift. Phoenix entered the comfortable ship, the three squads of soldiers already there, his team resting around the small and empty space in the cockpit. Phoenix decided the rest directly under it. He yawned "Plot a course for Lanius space, m'kay? m'kay" and then he napped on the warm bed. Lanius space was hauntingly beautiful, the nature of the universe only slightly disturbed by humanity was in it's own way beautiful, but seeing the same thing but a feeling of passive aggressiveness (the wrecks and remnants of destroyed ships didn't help that) was horrifying. Space was normally calm and beautiful, nothing going on at any point and the extensiveness and colorful beauty was all overwhelming. Here it felt like they were watching and going to be butchered at any point. The first planet, a green and lush jungle planet seemed like a good start, Phoenix rose from his crawl space and bumped the pilot "Hit the closest planet, we start there." he ordered as he headed to the cargo bay where everyone was prepping gear. Briggs could be seen napping blissfully (dreaming about relaxing with a girl in a nice meadow on the edges of the galaxy or any galaxy. Everyone, Anna, Burden, Griffin, Todd, Katie, Mark, Sasha, David and the soldiers were all relaxing, sitting on gear and making fun while they had it. Occasionally stumbling as the ship entered atmosphere, until the ship could be felt stopping. "We're here!" the pilot yelled from the cockpit over the intercom as the cargo bay dropped onto the ground. The ship landed on a sandy beach, with calm winds, blue water, an open bar with a sort of tropical tiki theme going on and nearby an empty diner. This planet was abandoned, but it was a tourist world for people on vacation. Everyone smiled a little. Briggs awoke groggily and exited the small bunk, "Anyone here?" he asked the empty room, not even the pilot answered, he walked to the cargo bay. The door was down, so he curiously exited and walked down. The chattering and sounds of waves and things of the like were not just in his head, nope, they were on a tropical world. One squad of soldiers were fishing drinks as the pilot furiously mixed with a smile on his face, another squad was playing poker (a set of loaded on the table just in case) and another squad resting on boxes of ammo drinking bottles of beer. Of his own team, Burden and Griffin were cleaning their weapons (A laser LMG and a plasma shotgun respectively) and talking heartily, Anna was staring at Phoenix and her book under a nice palm umbrella on a glass table. Phoenix was relaxing on his pack of gear, his cape wrapped on his arms, his scarf, mask and hood all used as pillows, his boots were tossed aside and allowed his feet to be dipped into the water as it washed onto him, his sleeves rolled up and revealed his arms, and sunglasses were on his face. Briggs ignored Anna and Phoenix (and they ignored him) and walked over to Briggs and Griffin "Eh! He's awake!" Burden laughed "C'mere take a seat, clean something." Griffin remarked, pulling up a chair over. Briggs began disassembling his weapon and cleaning the various parts, occasionally peering over his head and looking at Anna, who's gaze shifting between her book, Phoenix and the three men. Part of her wanted to the take a blanket from the supply (the soldiers would be too busy gazing at her to care, and too drunk to do anything) and curl up next to Phoenix and relax. She stared at her book, then looked up again, a part of her wanted to lay under Phoenix and see if her arms would be more welcome than the soft fabric of the cape. She imagined it in her head, a loving atmosphere between the two, her pale face would blush and she's snuggle into his back, and fall asleep. She quickly darted back to her book, only moving her eyes toward him. She didn't want to draw attention to herself. No that wasn't helping, she just read her book. She read fast, extremely fast, then stopped and sighed. Was this shame? No no it couldn't be. What was there to be ashamed about? She let out a heavy breath and kept reading, she wasn't helping herself, the butterflies in her stomach weren't helping her at all. Briggs stopped looking over his shoulder, started cleaning again, and then looked over again, then returned to cleaning. "You got a crush on her or somethin?" Burden said, chewing a piece of lemon gum. Briggs began feverishly cleaning his firing mechanism faster, the other two men smiled at each other. Drama was stirring. Powerful drama. Dangerous drama. Relevant drama. Phoenix kept resting in the burning sun, and reached for a carton of cigarettes, and popped one in his mouth, and lit it with his old lighter. It had been through hell with him, there was symbolism there. Briggs looked over his shoulder and decided to shift the conversation to something less friendship destroying. "So..." Briggs started "Any of you got plans" Burden and Griffin looked up, Anna peered from her book, "Once we're done here, with Leon with... all of this, what are you gonna do?" Briggs asked, leaning onto the table. "I'm gonna stay in the army till I die." Griffin stated, shrugging. "Well, I'm gonna leave and settle down with Maria or something." Burden remarked, trying to decide on something "You sure you can settle down? We saw what happened to Phoenix man." Briggs said, looking at Phoenix (who removed his glasses as a few clouds moved overhead). Burden nodded "I'll be fine, I'm not a sociopathic ass." He remarked as Phoenix muttered unintelligible curses at him. "Anna?" Briggs asked, turning around. She moved her dark blonde hair from her eyes "Well..." she started blushing "Whatever Phoenix does, I'll be there.". Briggs remarked for a second and looked at Phoenix "Any plans Commander?" he asked him, Phoenix nodded. "N-no. I'd love to settle down on some abandoned winter planet out in the boonies, with a family, and put this whole life behind me." He stuttered "Hopefully at least, hopefully. Things never go the way you want, and I don't think I can... take being without some action in my life.". The conversation abruptly ended. Griffin rose from his seat "Well, I don't know about you but I need a drink, Phoenix you gonna send Brian's squad to check the forest for that damn ship or not?" He yelled toward Phoenix, who sighed "Fine, BRIAN!" he yelled to the soldiers at the bar. Their fireteam leader moved over to the relaxing commander "You called me sir?" he confirmed "I need you and your unit to check the forest for that damn relay, watch your asses" Phoenix ordered, lighting another cigarette in his mouth. David sat on a stool, chatting with his squadmates as the pilot mixed drinks with the fury of a god, and then their commander came back "Pack your shit and get yourself ready, we're moving out." he said "Heading into the jungle.". Everyone sighed and shuffled their gear so it felt normal and burdensome, and moved toward the endless and everlasting tropical jungle ahead, how deep and empty it was.
Welcome to the jungle.