Chapter 01: Cryptic Illusions

Lane serves his last rounds as a soldier in training for the Cryptic Guard.

Ever since that day, my life hasn't been stable enough to sit still. I wanted nothing to do with the area that was within destroyed hut. Thus, the Cryptic Guard found me and drafted me, though I was in the Cryptic Academy instead of the military itself due to needing to be trained how to fight. I hated it. I had to wear the Cryptic colors, which were a combination of crimson red and black, along with white belts. I sat in my dorm, finding it rather difficult to still stay indoors despite now being at the Cryptic Academy for a good decade. My roommates were already brainwashed, I assumed. They called me strange for reading non-military material and not entirely focusing on combat training, yet I still won majority of the time if I sparred with them.

"Is that the military handbook, mate?" one of my roommates asked in a kind manner. He was a Promus Alpha, a race of canine humanoids which the alpha stated he was a Promus that was unusually tall as they were normally a short race. His black hair was slicked back, freshly combed as he had just come from changing into the restroom after showering.

"No," I answered. "It's a book on the history of Mortion. If I'm fighting for it, I might as well learn about the province, right?" I just chuckled as the boy gave me a strange look. I sat back and continued to read the book, occasionally running my hand through what was left of my white hair. I had to get it cut to stay within the Academy, so I was now sporting a short hair look with small spikes at the tip of my hair. It did resemble a buzz cut from afar, but up close it was more like a flattop.

"Well, you need to study the military handbook if you wish to graduate and get into the action," the same roommate said as he sat on his bed. "I've been studying and I will be put on the field tomorrow, I'm hoping."

I tried to stifle a laugh as I knew being released from the Academy meant being placed under total mind control as I did notice soldiers acting much more obedient after their final training. I wasn't stupid or blinded by a patriotic duty like some of the boys I met year after year within it. I was only in the Academy because I had to be. I didn't have a home otherwise. I feel dirty for saying it, but the Cryptic Guard was technically my home even if I didn't like it.

"Attention!" Commander Vaxis, my division's commanding officer, called from the doorway. "Up and outside! We got a little house cleanin' to do."

I let out a nearly silent sigh as that usually meant we were doing yard work. Though this time it meant the group was lined up while I was called out into the center.

"Silverbane," Commander Vaxis shouted, "why are you still here? You've been in the Academy for ten years now. You should be jumping at the opportunity to serve Mortion and protect it from our foes. Who are our foes? I ask again, maggot. Who are our foes?"
"The Bodaren and anyone who resists the Baron and the Queen's orders, sir," I stated calmly.

"And who else?" he shouted, nearly destroying my eardrum.

"Criminals, sir," I stated. "No matter their hardened resolve, always bring down the criminal even if needing to use lethal force."
"Good, good," Commander Vaxis chuckled. "Now, drop and give me fifty one armed pushups, you pile of trash."

I complied to the Commander's wish and got into position, beginning my pushups almost immediately. My reaction time was as twice as good as it would be with another soldier, it seemed.

"At ease," Vaxis stated. "Silverbane, you've overstayed you're welcome indoors. I filed for you to be sent out into the Jeheree Desert with the next squad to look for people that aren't supposed to be outside of the city."

I stood up, panting and sweating from the pushups and looked at the Commander. My eyes showed my disbelief in the fact he was forcing me to go into the battlefield, but I still answered "Yes, sir!"

"Good," Vaxis smugly replied. "Back to your quarters, Silverbane. Better get ready. The rest of you, pushups. A hundred, now." The rest of my division complied as I headed back to my bunk.

I grumbled under my breath once I knew I was in the clear of any ear shots of any of the Cryptic Guard that "ran" this program. I pulled my tank top off as it was damp with sweat. I then pulled on a clean undershirt before finding my Guard Gear within the nearby closet. The armor was rather bulky and hard to breathe through. The shoulders were heavy and colored a bright red. They glared easily, with the logo on the sides being the most reflective when it came to blinding citizens or other guards with them. I hoisted them onto my shoulders, strapping them into place as I pulled on the protective chest plate. Combined, the shoulders and chest plate alone felt as heavy as a boulder. I then pulled the red leg armor on, snapping it around my legs and waist. The entire suit was causing me to nearly fall over due to its weight as I walked over to the helmet that matched it and put it on slowly, grumbling under my breath since I was still rather angry about being deployed.

"Silverbane, you ready?" I heard Commander Vaxis shout from down the hall. "Just put on the suit, maggot! No make-up!"

I walked out of my bunk within the excessively weighed down Cryptic Guard uniform and headed down the hall. I had the official Defiler gun in my hands. It was basically an automatic machine gun, though modified to fire laser bullets instead of the old "classic" kind. I approached Vaxis fully armed and armored up, ready to go out on a rookie patrol of Tonoko City. With a nod, I was let through the gates and approached my escort name Virgil Tanner. He was a somewhat tall man, around five foot, eleven inches. He was a Fastoona, a race of bipedal raccoons that seemed to share the traits of a grizzly bear. He was somewhat fat, around perhaps three-hundred and fifty pounds. His mustache quivered below his nose when he saw me, seemingly pessimistic about my outing. His gray fur rustled a bit in the small breeze outside.

"You sure he's ready, Vaxis?" Virgil asked my commander.

"I'm positive," Vaxis replied. "He has barely seen any action, yet he aces majority of his tests. I want him to be in action though. I want him to see that a damn test is nothing like the real thing. Find some criminals. They're everywhere. We can see anything."

I pondered that a moment as Vaxis talked to Virgil, wondering if the Cryptic Guard really did see everything that happened in Tonoko. If they did, why was there a crime rate still? Why did people still resist them or have ideals that they could overthrow the Cryptic Guard and the Baron and the Queen? I shook my head gently once my name was shouted by Virgil.

"Come on, new meat!" Virgil called out. "Time for your rounds! I'm pairin' you up with Yuno, maggot! She needs her training as well!"

Yuno. That name rung a bell in my head as if it were six in the morning on a Sunday. I knew Yuno from basic training and had befriended her. She, of course, stayed in the female barracks as we were separated, but we did keep each other company when we were allowed to talk to one another. She was heavy on the warfare, though she wasn't crazed about killing people. She only wanted to bring justice in a quick, but not destructive manner. You see, Yuno was a lovely and curvy Festo, which is a bipedal four armed feline race. Her green eyes sparkled every time I saw her, while her sensual sway outside of her heavy plated armor was a bit of a signature of hers. She usually swayed her hips in a gradual motion, letting the eyes settle on her somewhat thick but curvy legs. Her hair was a soft brown color and long, but usually tied into a ponytail. Her blue fur rustled in the wind when she was only in a t-shirt and a pair of cameo pants, which she always wore combat boots with. She was the youngest of seven children, being the only girl. She was toughened more than perhaps a normal girl would be, due to her family having a history in the Cryptic Guard and she was practically raised as a soldier like her brothers. I never knew her last name, but frankly, I didn't care. When a boy my age sees a girl with such beauty as Yuno had combined with the combat skills of a professional assailant, that boy tends to not focus on anything other than the girl herself. When I did see Yuno, my heart still skipped a beat despite knowing and seeing she was covered up with Cryptic Guard armor herself. The armor was so bulky that even her sway wasn't noticeable. The Baron and the Queen figured the designs of the suits to be foolproof, so no one could tell which guard was of what gender, thus disabling the ability to bribe unless the said guard took off their helmet. There was also a device in the helmet that modified our voices, making us all sound like a very deep male voice.

"Morning, Silverbane," Yuno greeted me as she approached me. "Let's head out. We report back every hour, telling Commander Virgil our findings. Lucky and Sean will be helping us patrol, but they're already in the city."
"Understood, Yuno," I nodded before turning toward the gate and heading out into Tonoko City. For the first time, I was on my own with Yuno. Despite the big suit of armor and the hot weather, I felt good about going around the city without the need for a senior Cryptic Guard escort. However, I did question why Lucky and Sean were tagging along. They weren't good guards at all. In fact, they perhaps would arrest anyone they could if they could even plant evidence on them just to be in a good standing with Commander Vaxis. They made me cringe at the thought of any other Cryptic Guard soldier being like that.

Yuno and I patrolled the first portion of the city at a somewhat slow pace. It was only a half an hour later and we were just arriving at the Tonoko Town Square. I looked around, yawning within my helmet as it had been rather boring already.

"It seems like everyone today wants to be a good citizen," I joked to Yuno.

"It may seem that way, but there could be hidden ulterior motives," Yuno stated. "You just have to develop a skill to pick up on them. Over there, there's an illegal substance transfer happening." She then began to hastily walk toward the direction she pointed, approaching a couple of males. I followed behind her.
"Oh, crap, a Cryptic Guard," I heard one of the boys she stood in front of say. He tried to turn and run, but Yuno was too quick and managed to grab the back of his collar.

"Too late," Yuno said. "You're under arrest for illegal substance distribution. Empty your pockets."

The boy grumbled and did nothing until Yuno stroke him in the back with the butt end of her weapon. It wasn't unethical within our military, but perhaps elsewhere it was. A few purple glowing pieces fell to the ground and made my eyes fixate on them. I had wondered what the substance was as it clearly wasn't something easily obtained. I don't know how Yuno knew about it either. As I pondered this thought, Yuno had the boy cuffed and on the ground. I radioed the commander, and then we escorted the boy toward the center of the Town Square.

The boy was handed over to Commander Vaxis, whom seemed to have quite the gleam in his eye when the boy was given to him, as if he enjoyed punishing those who broke the supposed law. Yuno and I then set back down our patrol path within the city, I found myself dragging a bit behind her, with my eyes sometimes fixating on Yuno's bottom despite being unable to see the sway. It seemed to be a habit of mine whenever I was around her.

"So you're finally out training?" I heard her ask, snapping me out of my strange fixation with her bottom.

"Oh," I said, blinking and then nodding. "Yeah. The commander was becoming a bit impatient, as I didn't seem to want to go into battle. So he thinks this will do me some good."

"I would agree," Yuno laughed. "You did seem to be a bit sheltered in that Academy, Lane. You need to see some action in order to truly know what being a Cryptic Guard soldier feels like. There's nothing better than apprehending a criminal, Lane."

"I can only imagine," I chuckled as I listened to her talk. "Do you have any idea what that substance was and why it's illegal though?"

"Shouldn't you know about it already?" Yuno asked me. "Well, I'm not sure on the exact name of the substance, but I know it can be abused and causes hallucinations as well as having potential to permanently alter one's mind."

"That sounds like one powerful drug," I chuckled. I then heard my Communicator go off and raised my arm to hit the answer button.

"You two," I heard Sean's grizzly voice over the Communicator, "get over here. We have some prisoners that we need you to escort. While you do that, Lucky and I are going to scout the North end of the city. There's rumored to be a resistance movement up there."

Yuno and I both sighed quietly. Lucky and Sean had always dumped their prisoner catches onto others, in particularly Yuno. We reluctantly headed toward Lucky and Sean's location, finding two seemingly innocent civilians cuffed up to one another. One was a scrawny man, whom looked barely taller than a Promus �" which were rather short canines. They only averaged out to a maximum height of four feet, unless they were an Alpha. He barely looked like he was able to hold up much of a fight. His lack of muscle tone was apparent, his arms slightly flabby as he was a bit chubby. His lower lip quivered as he looked especially nervous when we arrived. The other civilian was a younger woman whom seemed to be barely sixteen. She looked like a Festo, like Yuno. She had dark blue fur and an obviously younger complexion.

"Here, take the troublemakers back to the Commander," Sean snapped at both Yuno and I. "We have to search the Upper City for more of these resilient types. Take the evidence Lucky and I found and hand it over to the Commander as well." He pointed over to several objects piled up near the two arrested civilians. I simply nodded as Yuno looked over the two as I approached the objects.

"Good," Sean stated. "We're goin' now. Get those low-lives to the Commander ASAP." He then marched off, making me mutter an insult under my breath.

I've never liked either Sean or Lucky. They were perhaps the worst Cryptic Guards I've ever seen. Though I was surprised that they managed to catch more criminals, as for the first time the Dunce Duo had begun to capture quite a few criminals. To me, it was suspicious. They had a terrible track record until only a couple of weeks ago. After examining the supposed illegal objects, I did find something interesting.

I then used my Cryptic Guard helmet'ss scanning utility, primarily used for crime scenes. Luck and Sean's handprints were all over these objects, which shouldn't have been possible if they were wearing their Cryptic Guard gloves. That told me that perhaps these objects were placed around the two civilians, trying to purposely frame innocent people to gain reputation from Vaxjs and the Baron and the Queen.

"Yuno," I said. "Come here. I need to talk to you about something."

Yuno shrugged and kept her Plasma Rifle aimed at the civilians, walking over to me. "What is it?" she asked.

"These objects have Lucky's and Sean's DNA all over them," I said quietly. "If they were in uniform, that wouldn't happen."

"DNA?" Yuno asked. "Are you trying to defend these low-life criminals? I know that Lucky and Sean are morons, but that's not an excuse to blame them and then set the criminals free."

"Yuno, it's quite obvious to me that Sean and Lucky planted this evidence," I said. "Don't let your supposed friendship with them blind your judgment."

"It's perhaps your judgment that's being blinded as you dislike them," she humphed. "If you refuse to do your actual patrol duties, I might as well arrest you, too."

I blinked at that, being legitimately surprised that Yuno said what she did. I was perhaps her closest friend, yet she was willing to turn me in. I bit my lower lip and sighed, as that was the last straw.
"Fine, but round up a Carrier Wagon," I said, bluntly. "We can't escort them halfway across the city without causing a panic or a riot. If they are terrorists, then we shouldn't give them the pleasure in striking fear into the citizens."

"There's the proper Cryptic Guard procedure," Yuno laughed, nodding. She swayed in the opposite direction of me, trying to flag down a Carrier Wagon.

Luckily, there wasn't one terribly close. I approached the two prisoners and knelt down before them, undoing their cuffs.

"W-What…?" the man asked in belief as the woman only shook and looked like she was about to run, but she was obviously frightened.

"Go," I said, pointing in the direction ahead of me.

"But…" the man said, which he then took off while grabbing the woman's hand and bringing her with him.

I stood there, sighing as I was alone now. I had just freed two innocent people that were going to be wrongly sentenced, but the way anyone else would see it was very different. To any of the Cryptic Guard, I had just committed a form of treason.

Immediately, I was turning to walk away. I wanted to run, to hide. I kept my pace, however, to avoid any suspicion. Though to my surprise, I heard the whirling hover jets of a Cryptic Carrier Wagon less than a minute later. There was one closer than I thought. Yuno hopped off of it, looking around for me and the two supposed 'guilty' citizens. Spotting me, she ran over to my position.

"Lane!" she shouted out, though I continued to walk. "Lane! Get your a*s back here! The prisoners have escaped under your supervision!"

I looked back at her momentarily with silence and a glare that she couldn't see. Prisoners? They weren't even arrested yet. I then slowly lifted my Cryptic helm off of my head and narrowed my eyes at her.

"I will be part of no military that wrongly arrests and accuses the innocent," I bluntly stated. "I also will not befriend someone who isn't phased by the acts of Sean and Lucky. Planting evidence is illegal, yet you condone it. Come and get me, Yuno."

I then moved and threw my helm to the ground as she stared at me. When she began to walk toward me, clearly ready to arrest me, I turned and took off as fast as I could. I had challenged her, but I wasn't going to be arrested; at least not under these circumstances.

Author's Note

This is the original Chapter 01 story. I plan on eventually revising it a bit, but I'd like to know your constructive critiques on it!