REALITĀTĒ

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   <default>REALITĀTĒ</default>
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Chapter 1

He lay in the underbrush, senses not too keen.  That feeling of - what had that seventy-something year old guy with the mannerisms of a drill sergeant, who was actually a drill sergeant, called it?  Transporting?  Yeah, transporting, that was it.  Transporting still left his nerves feeling all tingly, even days after the fact.  Or it was psychosomatic.  Or his arms were just numb from being pinned between his chest and his rifle.  Yeah, he had a rifle.  It was a device as rudimentary as it was ancient, possibly a musket, with a shank on the end that technically made it a bayonet.  The gunpowder had to be ignited with a fuse lit from a match.  Very rudimentary.  It had to be, to work on this godforsaken planet.  Some sort of curse or crap “impeded the proper function of post-industrial revolution technology,” as Marion Allison, the aforementioned drill sergeant, so eloquently stated.  Marion also dyed his hair black, to pretend to be young, but he fooled no one with his old face all shriveled like a craisin and his lack of political correctness.

The young man in the brush sighed himself out of his listless reverie.  He needed to maintain awareness of his surroundings, not just of himself.  He wiped the sweat off his brow, slid the butt of the rifle-musket-bayonet out from under his ribs, and slid the chamber open.  Then he shut it.  Then he opened it.

He was still listless, restless, and bored.  He glanced to his left and saw about twenty feet up the roadside the glint of a coin flipping through the air, going up and falling down.  He heard the rustle of a page turning in a book being read about thirty feet above him.

The crew was bored.

He took out his logbook and a ballpoint point to scribble on the first page.

Aiden Talmid

September 17

3038 AF

Now 1100 hours of Day 5.  At 748 a mule passed, one traveler, trashy dude, no contact.  At 1033 I saw a blue bird, no contact.  No royal activity.  Having dirt for lunch in 100, can’t freaking wait.

Aiden Talmid sighed again and wiped his brow again.  The temperature was warm presently, not summer hot, but not autumn cold, so his coat was cooking him.  He longed to get up and stretch, but it would undo his precariously prepared hiding place.

The coin was glinting an awful long time.  Then he realized it wasn’t the coin, but a mirror – the signal, and Aiden’s inner voice shut the hell up.  He gave the tree to his right a thump, then he trained his rifle up the road and set his eye behind the rear sight.

He heard the squeaking of wagon wheels, heard the clops of the horses, and saw the horses pulling a tall carriage before sighting the eight-pointed king’s crown emblazoned on its doors.

That meant it was a Morcian carriage.

That meant it carried soldiers of thedude, present dictator of Morcia… and the entire planet, but his main base was in Morcia.  The capital city of Orlan, specifically, just outside of the forests in which Aiden and his merry band of idiots were camped.  In Orlan was thedude’s castle and also thedude’s dungeons, and in those dungeons was a man the mission objectives called Private Lego.

That was a code name of course.  The man’s real name was Killian Talmid.  They were saving Killian Talmid.

No doubt his squadmates had sighted the carriage by now.  When the carriage was forty feet away Aiden clicked the rifle’s safety off and aimed at the third rider’s head.  At twenty feet he held his breath.  At fifteen feet he lit the fuse.

Cracks from gunpowder exploding at various points around him sent birds flying out of the trees and the horses went wild.  Aiden’s target slipped out of view so he turned to the rider’s horse instead.  His gunpowder ignited, the bullet fired, the rider fell with his horse, and he didn’t see what happened next because the carriage exploded in a burst of expanding orange flames.  The heat hit Aiden’s face before his eyes had time to tear.

When the ash stopped falling and the injured horses stopped neighing, Aiden looked up at the... remains of the carriage.  Splintered wood was scattered across and along the path, along with armor and weapons from the aforementioned thedude’s soldiers, now very smashed.  And a man stepped out from behind a tree, a thing held in each arm.  A rocket propelled grenade launcher in his right, and a bundle of cloth in the crook of his left elbow.  A vest with many buckles, light chainmail, and a brown hooded cloak adorned his figure.  Visible on his belt was a black pistol of modern times, and Aiden groaned.

The man wasn’t part of their squad.

And he’d just blown up their way into thedude’s castle.

Aiden scrambled to his feet, and around him so did his squad.  Twenty feet up the roadside the coin tosser, a blond haired man in a bomber jacket named Luke Mercury, was on his feet as well, except at the sight of the man he’d exchanged his slow firing bayonet for a Nexus Force-spec revolver.

They’d been told modern weapons didn’t work, but this guy had an RPG and a pistol on him, and Aiden agreed with his blond teammate’s choice.  Judging by the fresh carnage, they worked well enough, and a revolver helped even the odds.  Keeping his eyes on the man, who hadn’t made another move, Aiden reloaded his rifle.  The rest of his squad were slowly making themselves visible from their various hiding spots: various points around the road, atop the branches in the trees, all around the rocketeer man.

And the man knew it.  He kept his RPG pointed nonthreateningly at the ground, not that it mattered since it wasn’t loaded anymore, and his other hand cradling his cargo as he looked around at the Nexus Forcers around him.  He made eye contact with some of the men and women.  For a moment his met Aiden’s, and he looked about to speak

Then the bundle of cloth began to cry.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Aiden muttered, and he called out.  “You’re with child?!”

The man laughed.  “That means something different around these parts!”

“We know,” a woman’s voice behind Aiden retorted.  It belonged to Mara Mercury, who had come down from her tree.  She placed herself next to Aiden and whispered, “What do we do with this guy?”

“Enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Aiden responded.

“Let’s be friends!” Mara shouted at the man.

“Hard to say yes when you’ve got guns pointed at my back, and my front, and everywhere else!” the man snapped.

“Right.”  Aiden lowered his bayonet and the rest of the squad copied with their bayonets or other Nexus Force weapons, pistols, rifles, submachine guns.  One woman dressed in combat fatigues with her dark blond hair tied back in a ponytail even carried a sword.  Some people just couldn’t get stop using the retro gear, even though guns were better at smashing Maelstrom, and people, so long as there was ammo.

Aiden and Mara together, Luke from the side, and the swordswoman from behind all approached the man, except the swordswoman kept walking past him and motioned for Aiden to follow.  He shook his head.  She pointed harder.  Aiden set his jaw and sidestepped away.

He and the woman joined at a distance down the road from the gathering of Nexus Forcers, a man holding a baby, and dead knights.  They walked a few yards and stopped when they were discreet.  The woman turned to Aiden.  They were close in height.  She barely edged over him now, since she was wearing boots, and for a few moments they just shared each other’s gaze.

“That explosion scared the bricks out of me,” the woman admitted.

“Yeah.” Aiden related.  “Me too.  Wasn’t expecting it at all”

“I thought we were dead,” she groaned, and she sheathed her sword.

Aiden sighed.  “Yeah… it wasn’t that bad-“

He had to stop talking when she slung her arms over his shoulders and pulled themselves into a kiss.  Her bangs brushed the debris from his forehead, and he let the bayonet drop to wipe the dirt from her face, then grip her firmly back.

She leaned back and whispered, “I thought you were dead.”

“I love you too, Bridget.” Aiden told her.

Chapter 2

The man’s name was James Walters, and he had no qualms turning his back to the Nexus Force to attend to the needs of the child he held.  He laid out a blanket, set the child on it, and gave it a milk bottle, seemingly ignoring the Nexus Forcers while watching the young human.

He knew they were Nexus Force from the little colorful accents on their clothes, blue for Sentinels, green for Venture, and so on; their weapons, adorned with little Nexus Force badges; their speech and mannerisms; but also since he’d seen them land on the planet, five days ago.  Well, more like materialize.  He knew what transporter tech was, but was just surprised to see it in action here.  It was crude.  It was effective.  That made it smart.  He liked smart.

They were also idiots.

Monitoring their communications was easy.  They didn’t use radios.  They just talked loud.

They were a group of Nexus Force conscripts here to save a Knight of the Old Speech.  That made them allies.

The only question was for how long?

“Sorry about that carriage.” James apologized to the blond guy approaching him from behind.

He came to a stop, and James could practically hear the guy’s brows furrowing.  “You’ve been listening?” he asked after a few seconds.

“No rasch, buddy.” James said.  “You don’t need me to answer that for you.  Use your brain.”

He sensed the guy nod.  “Suppose anyone else knows what we’re up to?”

“I don’t suppose.  I know.  And thedude doesn’t know you’re planning to take Sir Talmid.” James told him.  “I’d help you, if I thought you had a chance.  The name’s James, by the way.”

“Luke Mercury,” the blond responded.  “Unless you already know that.”

“You’re catching on.” James acknowledged.

“So why’d you blow up the carriage?” Luke asked.

“They were getting close to home.” James stated.  Or at least, that’s what they were supposed to think.  “Now, the explosion was large enough to be noticed by other dudites.  You won’t want to be here when they show up.  These guys had swords,” he gestured behind his back at the smashed bodies, “but the guys on their way will have guns.”  He considered.  “And sorcery.”

He turned around to face Luke.  “I can take you to my safehouse- what the harch are you doing?!”

Luke turned so they both faced the road, where the rest of the Nexus Forcers were picking up smashed parts and throwing them into a bag.  “What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

“I need those body parts for the scene!” James groaned.

“We need them to interrogate them.” Luke countered.

James whirled on him.  “And how are you going to do that?  There’s not enough Imagination here to rebuild them.”

Luke pointed at the sky.  “We have a spaceship in orbit,” the blond said, “we’ll rebuild them there and see what we can learn.”

“I hope they’re cloaked.” James warned.  “If the Barney Bots and Red Mythrans spot them, your ship is going kaboom.”

As they watched, two of the Nexus Forcers set the bag of pieces on the ground and the rest began taking positions around it.  From down the road, two of the conscripts, a dark haired man and a blonde woman, approached, and Luke took a step forward but James grabbed his arm.

“Are you all going?” James asked.

“Yeah, our work here’s done for now.” Luke said. "We were going to use that carriage, but it's kinda useless now."

“I think we can help each other if we work together.” James insisted.  “Some of you should stay with me.  I’ve got intel I think you’d find important.”

Luke turned to him.  “Why not come with us, then?”

James picked up the child.  “Are you a married man, Luke Mercury?”

Luke smiled.  “Engaged.”

“Wives,” James whispered.  “This kid’s getting home tonight, and we need days to come up with a good plan.”

“I’ll see who else is willing to stay,” Luke nodded, and he walked backwards towards the others.  “We’re lucky to meet you, James.”

“James Walters.”

He watched as Luke conferred with the dark haired man, his blonde companion, and a woman with dark red hair and sunglasses.  Then the four of them left the group surrounding the parts bag and returned to James.  As they approached, the men and women they left behind were suddenly enveloped in a bright blue glow and a whistling sound filled the air.  It increased in pitch, while decreasing in volume, as the Nexus Forcers and their bag of smashed people began to fade away.  In no less than five seconds, they were gone without a trace.

Transporters spooked James.  He preferred portals.

“This is my sister, Mara Mercury.” Luke introduced the remaining Nexus Forcers.  “Bridget Marcotte.”  The blond woman made a peace sign.  “And Aiden Talmid.”

"Wait...like Killian?" James had made eye contact, or at least tried to with Mara, with each person as Luke introduced them, but at the dark haired man James grew exuberant.  “You’re a Talmid?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” Aiden said, regarding James. "What do you know about Killian?"

James pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in thought as he scrutinized the man.  From the pictures he’d seen… yes.  There were resembling features between this man and the infamous Sir Talmid, leader of the Knights of the Olde Speech, presently imprisoned in thedude’s castle.  It made sense now why these Nexus Forcers were so resolute on rescuing the knight.

“Backup at last!” James shouted, and he picked up the child and spun around into the forest.  “Let’s get out of here.”

...

"...And how would you describe me?"

"That's tough to say. Everyone's complex, but you're.. sort of... complex complex. And that's not good for you. You're determined, that's for sure, but you need to ease up. Let things go."

"I can't."

"If there's two words I never want to hear from you, it's 'I can't'."

"Some things you're stuck with forever."

"Yeah. Like me and you."

"That's why I love you."

Chapter 3

The wind picked up while James led the Nexus Forcers to his safe house.  All the way there, dried and dead brown leaves shimmied down through the air to join their felled brethren to crackle and crinkle underfoot as the five travelers, not including the infant, tramped through the forest.

As much as he strived for competence, Aiden long realized that tracking their course of travel was hopeless.  James made countless left turns, right turns, U-turns, and J-turns.  At one point he made them walk backwards while reciting Fibonacci.  But James knew more about the situation on Militiregnum than any of them, and that made him a valuable accomplice.

He suspected James saw value in their presence, as well.  His RPG slung on his back and his child asleep in a Baby Bjorn on his chest, James led the procession.  Luke and Mara stuck close, followed by Bridget, and Aiden took the rear with a pistol.  They were all armed with appropriate weapons now that they knew they worked.  He wondered how Marion would react to that intel once the squad briefed him.  He was probably giving them grief over letting Aiden and others stay downstairs.  It was a miracle they hadn’t been beamed up yet.

“What took you astronauts so long to come down anyway?” James shot them at one point.  He was referring to the Nexus Force’s blockade around Militiregnum that kept thedude’s influence from leaving Militiregnum, or so they had thought until events earlier that year…

Conversation was a double edged sword here.  It served to exchange information while distracting them at the same time.

“Marion Allison.” Mara muttered, and Luke took a deep breath.

“General Allison,” he began, “is the embouchure in charge of the blockade, and the blockade is one of the Nexus Force’s dirty secrets.  Militiregnum is, too.  This planet aint on the maps.  So you can imagine, getting here while staying on the right side of the law has taken awhile.  Make it ten years.”

James stopped, turned clockwise fifteen degrees, and then kept walking.  Rock walls began to rise on either side that looked a bit tight at spots, but James just slipped through them.  “You poor people,” he empathized.  “Bureaucracy stinks, doesn’t it?  You’d benefit from a Janra.”

“What’s a Janra?” Luke asked.

“A magical device great for bypassing bureaucrats and doing whatever the hell you want, but with great power comes great responsibility.  It creates a link between dimensions.”

Luke glanced over his shoulder, around Mara, and around Bridget, to see if Aiden caught that bit.  The dark haired man was already walking at a faster pace.  “Say that again?” he asked James.  “Did you say dimensions?”

“Dimensions,” James explained, “are pockets of reality floating in a purgatory known as Unverse-“

Aiden felt a tap on his shoulder and his head, with his attention, did a 180 to make eye contact with Bridget.

“A Janra creates a link between dimensions,” she repeated James’ words.

“…if it’s a Janra you wanted to know about, you should have said that, instead of ‘dimensions’.” James chastised, and Aiden turned back to their guide.

“We’re familiar with Unverse,” he told him.  “We’ve… traversed it.”

Now James turned around.  “Ever heard of a Chanora?” he asked, a funny look on his face.

Aiden shook his head.

“Then you haven’t traversed anything.”

“Actually,” Luke spoke up, “we’ve gone to three Maelstrom Dimensions.“

“Pssh,” James waved his hand dismissively.

“Excuse me,” Bridget cut in, “but there’s no need to downplay what these three have been through.  You don’t know everything about us.”

“I can’t say I do, to the latter.” James agreed.  “To the former, just ignore it.  I’m an idiot sometimes.  But I can say you’re grossly inexperienced and greatly uninformed of the situation here, and downright unprepared for your rescue mission.  But I’m trying to help you, and I don’t care if you trust me, but you can just follow my lead and that’ll be great.  And we’re here.”

The rocky crevasse suddenly opened into a small clearing, so small that the treetops and their web of crisscrossed branches still completely covered it.  At its center was an old stone structure, its surfaces covered in fallen leaves, vines, and moss; a natural camouflage against distant viewers.  Rocky heights popped up at various spots, and a slow, clear stream wound through the terrain.  For some reason neither the sun was visible in the sky nor the shadows cast by it on the ground.

“Where is this place?” Aiden asked.  James continued towards the structure, but the Nexus Forcers stopped to admire the sights, and get their bearings.

“My sense of direction and I parted ways half an hour ago.” Bridget said.

“We’re a mile east and twelve hundred feet north from our landing position.” Mara reported, pocketing her compass.

“Nice.” Aiden said.  “You counted that?”

Mara nodded.  “If one piece of tech had to prove Marion right, it was the GPSes.  They’re still useless.”  Her hand came back holding a small gray device.  She pressed its power button, to no effect.  They had been like that since they landed.  They were quick to attribute the so-called ‘technology curse’ for the death of that, and their other electronics, but now they wondered if the transporter had killed them.

“You’re not useless, though.” Aiden told her.

“Aw, thanks pretty boy.” Mara turned to flash Aiden a wide grin, when a red dot appeared on her temple.

Chapter 4

A door burst open into the outpost’s antechamber, before the main chamber, and James stepped in.  It was a stone room with walls and floors as unfinished as the outpost’s exterior design, or so it was meant to appear.  Everything looked in order, James observed; the traps were in place, the hiding places were still hidden, and a woman had a sniper pointed out the western arrowslit.  James could infer where it was pointed.

“I’d like it if you don’t shoot those people.” he said, and Rebecca turned to face him.

“You brought them here?”  She said it like a question, but the real question was unstated.  It was an implicit why?  James answered with a shrug, and Rebecca removed the rifle from the window, stood up, and brushed the dust off her knees.  “You’re a korchring idiot.”

“Hey, they’re on our side at least.” James said.

“At least?” Rebecca repeated.

“They’re Nexus Force, not that that means much.” James admitted.  “I made contact when they started shooting at that carriage, the one we were tracking.  Oh, and they have this guy who’s related to Sir Talmid, like a son or nephew or something.”

Rebecca folded her arms.  “Interesting.  Why is the Nexus Force stepping in now?”

“They seem like a splinter group.” James said.  “I don’t fully know their motive yet, though.”

“And you still brought them here.” Rebecca chastised, and James held up a hand.

“They want to rescue Killian, I know that at least.” James said.

“Don’t we all,” Rebecca muttered.  “That doesn’t mean their goal is consistent with the resistance’s.”

“I know,” James nodded.  “They want Killian out of Orlan.  We want thedude out of Orlan.”

“There’s a lot in between the two.” Rebecca said.

“Aye.  And, that’s not the end of it.” James reminded.

“So, how much can they help us with that?”

“We’ll have to ask them,” James said.

“Let me remind you, you’re supposed to find these things out before bringing them here.”

“Like they even know where here is.”

“I wouldn’t put it beyond anyone.” Rebecca warned, “certainly not an offshoot of the Nexus Force.  Look at the Rogues, for instance.  They’re as lucky as they’re stupid.”  She picked up the rifle and headed for the door, and James followed his wife.  He let her lead.  It was better to let her do the talking concerning the info they were about to share with the Nexus Forcers.

They needed an army.

.--

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  It’s not your fault what happened.  It’s not your fault at all.”

“So?  Fault makes no difference if you’re upset or not.  Saying ‘I’m sorry,’ it means someone cares about you.”

“That’s good to know.”

"It means I care."