I

        The brilliant glow of the orange flames extended along their backs, warming their depths, down to their very souls. So beautiful, she had thought to herself. So undoubtedly beautiful without air nor gravity to tame it. It was far beyond their control, even though they were the initial cause of it: the planet’s return to oblivion, nothingness; the vast emptiness from which it had been born countless millennia ago.

        She glanced over at her brother, her exact equal, gazing into his shining blue eyes, full of life and death, hatred and love, futility and meaning. The two of them looked nearly identical, with only minor exceptions, the two dominant differences being their eye color and the way each wore their hair. While her eyes were pink and his blue, she had her gorgeous, flowing red hair grown long past her shoulders, extending even beyond her waist; her brother had only a very short, trimmed head of thick golden hair. Each of them was imperiously beautiful in their own way, desirable in any and every way possible, the only problem with either of them being that they knew neither love nor hate, life nor death. They were alone together, having nobody but themselves to look up to. However, during the courses of their eternal existence, this had generated no problems for the two of them, and therefore was not seen as a fault of any kind.

        As the searing heat of the planet’s core began to fade, her curiosity slowly began boiling over, the raw power of a God swelling from her lips even as she asked a mere question; a question which may come to either their own destruction or the deaths of an entire prosperous race on a single chosen planet. This was how it always was, though, and they had yet to face their fate—if such a thing existed for beings such as these.

        “Where are we going?” she inquired, still gazing deep into her brother’s eyes.

        His head twisted sharply to look upon his sister’s wholesome face, his eyes dropping slightly to meet her gaze. “There’s another place, not far from here,” he whispered.  “A place with more of those humans.”

        She tilted her head slightly as he spat the word, as if it were some sort of curse upon his very tongue.

        “Do they have a name for it?”

        “Yes,” he answered softly. “Misora.”

 

        The life of Kira Brindar was a peculiar one indeed; peculiar, at least, to the humans of other planets. With a job of simply protecting large, stone columns from the so-called religious terrorism and an empty hole which she called a ‘home,’ her level of happiness was near that of a rooster, with her love for entertainment quickly diminishing into a very similar state. Although a fairly attractive young woman, she had never grown any real interest in men—or even friends—with very few exceptions. Ever since her early childhood, Kira had strangely and unknowingly trained herself for a life of seclusion, as if she knew what her future had in store for her from the very beginning. She learned how cruel life can be through her family’s own instability and constant rejection from everyone around her, which abruptly led to an unbreakable aura of silence, cloaked in a veil of modesty. In becoming such an outcast among her peers, almost all of her sense of human compassion was destroyed in a fire of hatred which burned relentlessly in the depths of her very heart and soul, consuming her, tormenting her as if she was already in the fabled land of Hell. She had learned to deal with it, however, dismissing it all as the path that the Gods had chosen for her—if there were such beings. She often found herself wondering if the path chosen for her was the correct one, or if there even was a choice at all. Who creates the paths for us? was always the first thought on her mind as she woke in the piercing light of the controlled dawn. And who makes those choices for us?

        This morning was no different. Her alarm screamed at her for even thinking about catching some extra sleep, forcing her to open her heavy eyelids and smash the top of the clock in anger. Through the window, the familiar beams of orange light burst through her window, illuminating the few possessions of her apartment: a small bed pushed in the corner, a clock resting on the floor nearby, a rather large dresser, and a television set sitting awkwardly on a rotting wooden stand at the far end of the room. Kira knew it wasn’t much, but it was still home to her. And besides, she would tell herself, you have all you really need sitting right outside.

        She stumbled sleepily from her apartment building into the filtered light of dawn, making her way quickly to the corner of the block where she always kept her most prized possession. Relieved as always to see her black beauty still resting there, she mounted the seat of her beloved motorcycle and sped off with nothing more than a pair of sunglasses and the clothes on her back.

        She soon arrived at the local office for her employer’s company, the Sectional Anti-Terrorist Organization, or SATO for short. SATO was originally started by a man named Alexander Hull, whose family had been killed by the religiously terroristic Eien when they destroyed a pillar on an island called Toride, located on the Sub-Level of Misora. Only he and a few dozen others escaped the city before the surface above cracked open, raining down several hundred tons of rock on the city. Since the extinction of life on Toride, no one has resided there since, although there are sketchy, unconfirmed rumors of an Eien hideout on the island.

        Over the years, SATO had become the closest resemblance to a form of permanent international government on Misora, mainly because it was the only thing keeping the planet intact without interfering with the way the planet had been set up. Not only that, but it was also the largest corporation on the planet, coming up on ten million workers employed, about half of which served as guardians. The column guardians, or Regulars as they were commonly referred to, were lightly trained in defensive maneuvers, completely capable of defending a pillar when in a small group. The other group of guardians were the Elites, which were highly-trained combatants. These protectors were sent to specific pillars which were suspected of coming under attack, according to SATO’s analysts. The Elites didn’t often enter combat, though: usually, if opposition presented itself to the Eien, they retreated back to the lands from whence they had come and waited for a safer, less dangerous opportunity to launch their attack.

        She pulled into the undersized parking lot for Casen City’s SATO Complex and was greeted by the familiar metal detectors and security pat-downs. Due to her daily presence at the building, however, security was light on her, and she soon found herself standing in the doorway of Alexander Hull.

        “Ah, Come in, Miss Brindar,” he welcomed, lifting his head from his papers for a brief moment. “Make yourself comfortable.”

        Kira only took a few steps toward his desk and remained standing, mindlessly glancing about his office until he was prepared to receive her. A massive stained-glass window was erected behind Hull, taking up a majority of the space of the wall. As the vivid colors glistened in the light, the window reflected a representation of the Enduring Gods, Veron and Laris, revealing themselves gloriously to Misora among a busy marketplace. The brother and sister duo stood at least four times taller than anyone else shown in the picture, surrounded by a holy light and floating slightly above the ground, their eyes closed and hands resting at their sides. Some people were bowing, but whether in fear or in prayer only the artist could be certain, whereas a few of the others portrayed in the image were running in fear. These fearful ones were represented as the Sinners, dressed in loose robes and carrying what were obviously supposed to be stolen goods and money, emphasized by the many broken-windowed stores and buildings lining the street in the background.

        The light pouring so elegantly through this window gracefully illuminated the various other artistic pieces clinging to the walls, most of which were simply abstract paintings or various landscape images, as well as the top of Hull’s desk, which—knowing him—was definitely not an accident. Alexander Hull was a very neat sort of person, constantly cleaning his personal space even though he had hired two secretaries for himself. He was nearest his mid-60’s, although his body would show no hint of approaching old age. Being virtually unwrinkled and containing a full head of dark brown hair, he moreso looked like a man in his thirties. The few indications of his age were practically imperceptible: a slight receding hairline, and gray-tipped strands of hair dangling from his forehead.

        He looked up again, glancing at Kira with just a hint of a smile forming on his lips. “Have a seat,” he said cheerfully. His voice showed a hint of roughness, which had only become apparent in the last few years as the company’s CEO. The man was composed of a seemingly undying strength, though—and besides, there wasn’t anybody who could possibly control SATO as efficiently as he did; there just wasn’t anyone with the business know-how and intellectual capacity to handle such a weighty occupation.

        Kira sat as commanded, shifting slightly in the red padding lining the chair. After she felt she was comfortable, she rested her forearm on the armrest and awaited Hull’s instructions.

        “I’m sure by now you’re aware of the situation in Zentren,” he said calmly, getting right down to business.

        Her heart skipped a beat as it always did when Zentren was mentioned. Zentren, being Misora’s largest city in both area and population, had recently undergone a string of attacks from the Eien: they had already destroyed one pillar and seized a second. Several SATO guards had been murdered in the process, but whether they were killed by the Eien or the first pillar’s explosion was still uncertain.

        Not only that, but directly under Zentren, on the Sub-Level of Misora, was the port town of Mistul, which rested on the edge of the Shira Ocean—the largest clean water ocean on the planet. Therefor, if the Eien destroyed any pillars supporting Zentren or the layer above, it could very easily wipe out both of the cities in one catastrophic blow. The destruction of Mistul and Zentren would severely cripple SATO; especially since SATO’s main headquarters were located in the downtown area of Zentren.

        “Of course, sir,” she murmured.

        “Then you are aware of how serious the situation truly is, for both this planet and this company alike.”

        “Yes, sir.”

        “Good.” He finally smiled now, then silently put his pen back in his shirt pocket. “Because another problem has just arisen, and I believe you should handle this personally.”

        Kira remained motionless, wondering how it could have possibly gotten worse. A large team of Elites had already been dispatched to Zentren several days ago, which was expected to have liberated Zentren within the next month.

        Without giving Kira a chance to object or reply, he asked, “Are you familiar with a man named Andreyev?”

        Her mouth seemed dry as she searched for a response, so she merely gave him a slow, silent nod.

        “He was a priest of the Eien. Widowed several years ago; left him as a single father with a teenage daughter to bring up. His record was spotless, too; no felonies, no fines—not even a damned parking ticket.” He paused briefly, giving Kira a minute to let these simple facts sink in as she tried to piece together what Hull already knew.

        He sighed then, rising from his black leather chair and strolling up to his magnificent window. As he gazed up at the sibling Gods, he resumed, very quietly, but his voice grew as he went on, the power, fear and hatred all simultaneously building inside him.

        “We received a letter today, supposedly from the Reverend Andreyev,” he spat. “It informed us of his current stance—his updated stance, if you will.” Tossing an envelope at Kira, he nodded his approval for her to read it. As if he had the whole thing timed, he continued as she read. “As you read it, I’m sure it’s become quite clear that he’s siding with them. And, as I’m sure you already know, he holds a great sphere of influence in his hands. If he truly has become one of them, he could be a dangerous enemy.”

        “Or a wonderful informant,” Kira interrupted, finishing the letter. Hull turned to face her, his eyes gleaming with excitement; or was it fear?

        “What do you mean, Miss Brindar?”

        “Think of it,” she explained. “He’s been such a decent man up until this incident. What do you think could have turned him, after all these years? Something’s got under his skin—something he can’t ignore. Or won’t ignore. Either way, they’ve got something very, very important of his.”

        He dwelled on this for a moment. “And you think if we could get our hands on this item—”

        “Not item.” Kira delayed a moment, letting the thought sink in. “What if they have his daughter?”

        Impressed with her quick-thinking, he delicately reclaimed his chair.

        “Do not mistake my old age with stupidity, Miss Brindar. I have already thought of that.”

        Kira felt a smile tugging at her mouth. “And you have her now?”

        “Would you like to speak with her?”

        The smirk finally revealed itself. “No thanks, Alex. You don’t mind, do you?” she asked, reaching for his small dish of mints set on the rim of his desk.

        “Please, help yourself, Miss Brindar.” It was his turn to smile. “I keep them there for a reason, after all.”

        “Yeah, to make sure you smell good for your private meetings. And call me Kira, will you? You’ve known me long enough.”

        He chuckled at her bluntness, almost completely distracted from what his original intentions were for this morning.

        “That too, I suppose.” Clearing his throat lightly and folding his hands on the desktop, he resumed with his scheduled tasks. “Miss Brindar—”

        “Kira.”

        “—it has been a long time since we have had a threat of this magnitude. So I have an assignment for you.”

        Silently, she waited.

        “Gather up your most trusted comrades—Elites only. Two dozen will do, I think.” He tugged lightly as his collar, blinking furiously. “Take them to Zentren, but not through any of the roads. Go through the desert. The winds should be calm enough: I’ll contact the Administration’s Office there and tell him to close off the airflow to the Desertlands. There’s enough perfectly usable air in that area as it is. You don’t need any more, do you?”

        “No, sir.”

        “Very well, then. Consider it done. And do be careful, Miss Brindar,” he added genuinely.

        “It’s ‘Kira.’” She rose from her seat and glided easily from Hull’s office.

        That girl..., Hull thought to himself as he watched her go. She’d better keep herself alive...

        She took Hull’s advice and gathered her most well-known Elites, assembling a total of twenty-five men, plus herself. Setting each of them in threes, she reluctantly assigned herself a partner—but only one—by the name of Michael Guinan. He was young—twenty-one years old, to be exact—and had the blackest eyes Kira had ever seen. Both his pupil and iris on each eye was solid black, creating the illusion of a hollowed-out sphere in his eyeballs resting between rings of pure white. His brown hair hung freely when it wasn’t being pushed by the wind, coming down to rest just above his bulky shoulders. As the only son of Alexander Hull, he was a highly-respected Elite, mostly because he could have easily avoided such a dangerous line of work. In fact, his father had tried to talk him out of it on several occasions, but it was said that he refused to quit, telling him that he needed to contribute to the planet for all it had done for him. For this reason alone, Kira had a slight sense of respect for him—which was more than what she could say about most people.

        Kira stood her private army, pacing back and forth. This went on for several minutes until she centered herself in the open area and stared fiercely at them, her hands clasped at her waist.

        “Today is a special day for you,” she began slowly. “Today, we’re going to go meet some people.  People that want to destroy the very things we hold sacred.  People who are going to destroy innocents civilians' homes and take their lives, all in a simple yet malicious intent to prove that their religion is the so-called 'correct' one.

        “This won’t be the easiest of missions. Our orders are simple, but substantial: we are to protect a set of three pillars inside the city of Zentren, as the Eien are expected to attack the city. And to make things more complicated, the people of Zentren are refusing to leave their homes. This means no live gunfire—I repeat, no live gunfire—while we are within the city limits. Disobey this little rule of mine and you will all be sitting in containment for a long-a*s time.”

        “And if the Eien fire on us?” asked an undistinguished voice from the crowd.

        “Non-lethal takedowns only.  You will each be supplied with shockers, tranquilizer guns, and glue bombs.  Any other questions?"  She waited for the space of three heartbeats, then nodded.

       "We're scheduled to arrive at Zentren in two hours time.  We'll be making our way through the desert in three separate armored transports.  Each vehicle will report to a specified pillar, where we will maintain constant contact.  If any team fails to check in after a ten minute period, I'll give the order to abandon post and converge on the threat at hand."  She paused again, allowing the facts to sink in.  "Let's suit up, gentlemen."

        SATO’s garage in Casen was little more than a concrete hole built into the ground beneath the building complex. It was held up by thick pillars, just like the levels of the planet, and could hold several hundred vehicles at once. There was a special section dedicated to EMUs, or Elite Mobile Units, which were, as the name suggests, used only by the Elites. The EMUs were, put simply, completely automated armored cars which could seat up to nine people. Since SATO was a strictly defensive operation, EMUs were not equipped with weapons of any kind, which never sat well with the Regulars and Elites, but was simply dismissed as an unspoken grievance.

         Kira’s team arrived in the Desertlands in less than an hour, their tires immediately kicking up the sand behind them. The drivers of the three EMUs soon caught on to this and lined themselves up horizontally in order to avoid any blinding walls of sand.

          “We have a serious problem here,” Michael said as they continued their journey. He glanced at Kira, who seemed completely focused on scowling at the road before her, and continued. “Didn’t Mister Hull have the windflow to the desertlands turned off?”

        “Yes,” she answered.

        “Then why are there so many sandstorms out here?”

        “Pull up the layout of this area.  I think I know what's wrong .”

        Michael started fiddling with the EMU’s computer system, drawing up color-coded maps and video feeds until he found what Kira was looking for. Pulling the blueprints onto the screen between them, Kira gazed at it for a moment, concentrating on the complicated layout of the two-dimensional images of the terrain that sprawled before them. After brief consideration of her words, she pointed at a circle on the map.

        “See this? It’s an elevator, about a hundred meters out. Somebody must’ve busted that thing up good to cause a storm like this.”

        “An elevator!” he exclaimed. “How could it produce this much airflow?”

        She grinned, as if she were about to tell him about some well-kept secret. “Most people around here don’t know that most of their air comes from their own travels on the capsules. Every time that door opens, it released more and more air into the surface. Those tubes are packed with fresh air. Which means, if someone wants to piss someone else off, they can just bust up an elevator and let all that loose air escape. Not to mention that it prevents us from getting up top or down below with any ease.”

        “But what do they hope to accomplish?” he inquired, his voice filled with genuine curiosity. “Don’t they know that destroying an elevator affects them as much as it does us?”

        “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” Upon glancing at his awe-stricken face, she couldn’t help but release another smirk. “Don’t forget: they want the planet to be a big ball of rock again, they don’t want these layers. They have no need for tubes and capsules leading to nowhere.”

        As Michael mulled this over, the EMU's data lines kicked to life with its own opinion.  "Apparently the Eien just haven't taken into consideration that a dead planet is an extinct planet.  Destroying the pillars will systematically kill every human on this rock, including themselves."

        "Not exactly," replied another data line, presumably from the third vehicle.  "The Eien have a massive series of tunnels built underneath the Sub-Level, carved right out of the planet core itself."

        "Wouldn't the force of impact from the other two layers crashing down cause their tunnels to cave-in?"

        "You would think so," Kira chimed in.  "We're almost there.  We can talk about this later.  For now, just stay focused, alright boys?"

        "Yes, ma'am," answered the other two drivers simultaneously.

        The Elites arrived at Zentren a full thirty minutes ahead of schedule, giving each squad plenty of time to survey the area and give the all-clear at each locale.  After setting up camp, each and every Elite waited anxiously for something to happen.

        Before long, six days had gone by without a sound.  The area had long since been evactuated, leaving the vacant streets to scream out their unaccustomed silence. Gusts of wind still pushed their way through Zentren, mere remnants of what was still spilling out from the ruined elevator a few miles behind them. During the past several days, it had become clear to Kira that if the Eien were going to strike, their arrival would surely be under the cover of darkness. Due to her reasoning, she had called in a favor from Alexander Hull, requesting that the lights in their sector—as well as the sectors her other teams were in—be kept on full power throughout the duration of the night. Maybe then, she could completely discourage an Eien attack.

        Her plan did not work, however. After the long wait, their collective patience finally paid off.

        “Hey,” Michael whispered softly, nudging Kira’s shoulder. She shifted sleepily before she realized she had been dozing off, which only got her angry at herself, then gazed up at Michael. “You see it?” he asked without turning away from whatever had caught his eye.

        Following his gaze, she found nothing. Whatever Michael had seen, she was blind to its presence. She thoroughly scanned the area for several minutes before giving up, but just then, Michael spoke once more.

        “There!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pointing wildly. “It’s on the move!”

        “Yeah,” she responded, slowly rising to her feet. “I see it now.”

        A simple figure, the details of which were obscured by the dark, was fluttering among the shadows a mere forty yards away. For a human, Kira remembered thinking, he was exceptionally stealthy. After all, it was a rare occurrence when someone could sneak up on a team of watchful, trained Elites, especially in a fully-lit sector.

        As Kira was still getting over the shock of their intrusion, the furtive silhouette stepped into the center of the street, as if aware of his own detection. He hung his head low, gazing at the drab pavement beneath his feet. A long black cloak hung about his shoulders, fastened tightly around his neck. His short brown hair waved slightly as he stood frozen among the buildings, while his left hand fiddled silently with a small device in his hand. Kira was more worried about his right hand, though—it was currently hidden behind his back.

        Suddenly, as the distant spy raised his left hand over his hand, clutching the small box-shaped item in desperation, a devastating cry came from the man, lasting only for a moment, although to Kira it felt like an eternity.  With each passing second, Kira’s sense of fear and suspicion multiplied, and she soon found her hand touching the grip of the gun at her side. When she thought the terrifying sound would never end, it did, just as suddenly as it had began.

        Little did Kira know then, the horror had only just begun.

        “Now is the time!” the man shouted for all to hear. A hint of sadness could be heard in his voice, but it was obvious he could not be stopped. “Misora must now become one!”

        His hand mashed against the device quickly, evidently pressing a button of some sort, and threw it aside. Finally he revealed his right arm, gun in hand, and fired a wild shot into the crowd of guards before him. The Elites all instinctively drew their own weapons and fired, the bullets ripping through his body, spraying blood through the air as he fell. 

        Her weapon still drawn, Kira carefully took one step forward, then another, her sights still trained on the body in the street.  "Michael!" she called back.  "Find whatever it is he threw.  Now."

        Footsteps rushed behind her before falling in on her left, matching her pace as they approached the man.  He was obviously dead from this distance, a thick pool of ever-growing blackness rushing down to meet them, even from twenty feet away.

        "I've got it," Michael called out.  He carried it over to Kira as he spoke.  "Looks like a homemade detonator.  Doesn't seem like it works."

        "What makes you say that?"

        "Well, did you hear a bomb go off?"

        She pursed her lips for a moment.  "You're right.  This is a short-range transmitter, it can't possibly—"

        An explosion suddenly rocked the earth and threw them off their feet. The entirety of Zentren was quaking beneath them.

        “Everyone! Get back in the bird!” Kira ordered quickly. The men dashed back to the safety of the armored car, soon followed by a very anxious Kira, who did a head count immediately upon her arrival.

        "Alright," she started, gasping for air.  "Alright, three of you are with me.  Everyone else, make a perimeter twenty yards out.  Michael, get on the data lines, update the others with our status and find out if any similar incidents occurred."

        As soon as she jumped out of the EMU, Kira was paralyzed by shock.  Less than a mile away, smoke billowed up from the core of the city, rising straight through the topmost layer of the planet crust.  Huge chunks of earth crashed down onto the buildings, crushing them like insects and trembling the Mid-Level of Misora.

        "Captain!"  Kira turned to face Michael, whose head was just barely poking from out of the EMU.  "Team B is reporting a situation identical to ours, but I'm not getting any response from Team C."

        She swallowed her panic and mustered up the strongest voice she could.  "Regroup!  Give the order to converge on Squad C's location, now!"  She hoped against hope that her mind was mistaken, but she knew she was right.

        They had failed, and Squad C's pillar had been destroyed.

       

Reviews

[C.L. Wilson]

aww... :(
why'd you delete the next chapter?
it was getting good.

wouldn't mind more details on the city but other wise it's imgagnitive and i like the way you combine sci-fi and fantasy (or more like how your going to) just by reading the first part i can see a little foreshadowing.

[Carouvett]

Very descriptive piece, I enjoyed reading.

[Faeshifter]

i found this really intriguing, would definitely be interested in reading some more.