LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 9: For All Mankind
>>>[FOR THE BEST VIEWING EXPERIENCE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU SWITCH TO ROYAL ROAD'S DARK/OLED BLACK THEME]<<<
===[Chapter 9: For All Mankind]===
>>> Loading File...
>>> Subject Located
>>> No further updates to situation for now.
>>> Acknowledged
>>> Searching Memory Feed
==[Begin Memory Playback]==
Scatterbrained. Exhausted. Dazed and confused. It was a nightmare trying to slough through the work Overwatch insisted get finished before nightfall. Eli didn't speak, to anyone. Not even Dutch. Everybody was on edge. There was to be a mass exodus from the Nexus come nightfall. He could feel it, see it in everybody’s eyes. Whether they believed Kovic or not didn’t matter. Cato and Rafael's threats to escape seemed less like threats, and more like promises. They weren't budging on their beliefs.
As the sky faded from a vibrant tropical cyan to a hazy cool indigo, their escape would come closer. As Squad Leader, it was his job to report rebellious actions and plots to Overwatch. Of course, he wouldn't do that. Not ever. That would be a violation of an almost sacred trust that existed between all phantoms. It's loyalty that separated the phantoms from the likes of Captain Juma, after all. Nobody else looked out for phantoms, only other phantoms. That was just as true back on Earth as it was here. Even if Eli refused to believe that such a distinction was possible.
He could only hope that most of Misfit would remain. But even having only Cato or Rafael escape was a disaster enough. Matteo was missing, and likely dead at this point. If Cato and Rafael convinced even one of them to join, Eli would find himself in a squad with just three. At that point, Misfit’s fate would be as good as sealed. Fated phantoms living on borrowed time. Just as every other phantom before them. Up against whatever horrors Overwatch and Planet Narva had lying in store for them - alone.
Cool breeze. The sun was approaching the horizon. The jungle surrounding the base looked like a wall of darkness that surrounded them on all sides. Illuminated only by the buzzing LEDs that illuminated The Nexus' interior. Though the base was vast and was already starting to take shape, it still looked primitive. Eli found himself marching in file with a mess of other phantoms, carrying construction supplies from a dumping ground near the first proper foundations of a wall. Security units of course guarded them tightly. Eli was even afraid to look them in the eyes.
Suddenly, there was a crackle through the air. Eli briefly halted - fearing that they were the sounds of another new monstrosity emerging from the darkness. But he quickly settled when he realized that it was The Nexus' announcement system. Words blasted through loudspeakers that had been set up around the perimeter of the base. The words initially phased through Eli’s mind, for he had been too deep in thought to recognize them. But soon enough, he heard Kovic’s familiar voice drone on over the loudspeakers. A pre-recorded message. He listened without any other choice...
“…With this portal, we as a species are on the cusp of something so profound - so remarkable - that it is impossible to describe with our limited vocabulary! The endless possibilities that The Utopia Project will bring us is a saving light! What we are doing out here, we will do for all mankind! Our species stands ready to claim our true destiny as the pioneers of the universe! All in a great advancement possible only in the realm of science-fiction - now science fact!”
The message was somewhat distorted, Kovic’s voice ebbed and flowed. Crackling with the minor faults in the speaker system. Speaking his propaganda over the airwaves to persuade the Phantoms and Prisoners to his line of thinking. But, the last person Eli wanted to hear speak was Kovic. The man at the center of everything wrong.
“We have the power to restart our society, to leave the cradle of Earth from which our species was born, and to detach from our old primitive past like a nursing child no longer fit for milk but instead for something of true substance! We have the tools to start our society the way it was meant to be!” Kovic pleaded. The last part of the message was intriguing to Eli. He stopped what he was doing, and looked up. As did several other prisoners around him. Listening to Kovic’s words.
“No more violent civil war! No more eras of dark and unenlightened thinking! No more famine! No more storms! For the first time, we can truly call ourselves, Human. We are no longer mere animals with tools, we are a species advanced enough to engineer ourselves and our own reality. The Utopia Project will guarantee that the strife which has enslaved our planet will never be felt again in the history of Humankind! We are better than our primitive ancestors could ever dream to be!”
Eli sighed, going back to work. Still the last part of Kovic’s message took him off guard, “Help us build a new home. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? What other alternative is there? Going back to Earth? Nothing of value lies there anymore! It is foolish – disgusting even – for a grown man to crave the safety of his crib! Mankind’s future no longer resides on Planet Earth. Our destiny is of our expansion among the stars! It is good to be here, to be a part of something so much larger. So much greater. For all Mankind…”
The words had struck a chord. Earth. A planet so broken by the forces that ruled it. Almost all the prisoners here were Phantoms. Victims of warfare or disaster. Refugees. The nationless. It was clear what Kovic was trying to do. He was trying to get them to reject the very idea of going back home, to instead replace it with enthusiasm to build a new world. A new… Utopia.
It felt so sinister. Every word a slap to the face.
The prisoners were all given rations by the regulars. It was fine. Easy to warm up on the bonfire that the regulars let them build in the center of the base. But Eli ate his desiccated pork and rice in solitude. He dreaded the night. Feared it even. Like a bogeyman which lurked in the shadows, just out of view. Ready to strike at any moment.
Before he knew it, he was in a cot with only the thinnest of sheets to keep out the gusts of cold night wind blowing into the shoddy tent. All lights were off. Everyone was silent. But his eyes were wide awake. All he could hear were the rustling of leaves, the occasional boot of a regular crushing the gravel outside, and his own heartbeat drumming away in his throat. His eyes refused to close; it was difficult to blink. Sleep would not come tonight.
Kovic’s words repeated in his head. Again and again. This was their new home. This was utopia. This was better than Earth. The fate of all mankind rested on the shoulders of this simple base and everyone within.
And like all the other things Overwatch tried shoving down their throats, Eli refused this one too. He didn't know what "Utopia" was, or what it looked like. But he knew that this wasn't it. People weren't murdered in utopia. There were no prisoners or slaves in utopia. There was no Overwatch in utopia. He never had a real education, and he knew little. But, he knew that much.
Caught out here in a jungle of the unknown. Fighting giant robots, facing off against death, putting their lives on the line. All for what? The mere promise of freedom? The promise of a better life? Isn’t that what they were always fighting for? Wasn’t that always the goal? And hadn't it been through the Coalition's hands that their lives were all destroyed in the first place? It was angering and soul crushing at the same time. Eli didn't know what to feel, staring at the roof of the tent barrack.
There was a flash of light from within the tent, illuminating the insides with the soft glow of orange heat. Somebody had snuck a cigarette lighter inside the tent. They crawled out of bed and began to whisper. Eli listened in, with his back turned to the others as he faced the wall of the tent, “Who’s coming? Come on…”
Eli prayed he’d go alone. That he’d just disappear and leave Misfit permanently. That nothing would come of his attempts to run. But then he heard another boot join Cato. And another.
Someone whispered loudly. It was Badger’s voice, “Eli? Are you sure you want to stay? I know you’re awake. Everyone is.”
Eli kept his eyes pointed on the wall. He didn’t know what he felt. Something involving death. Something bad. But the feeling was indescribable. A whirlpool of dejection, hopelessness, and fear. He hadn’t felt this way since he had been sent to prison. Badger sighed, Eli heard something rustling, “Give me a minute,” she whispered to someone behind her.
“We’ll be outside,” Rafael’s ruffled voice replied, "See you around... Soldier Boy."
Rafael's footsteps trailed that of Cato's and they both left the tent, leaving Eli and Badger alone.
“You know, I fought in the war too. In fact, I was born in Incheon. Moved with my parents to San Francisco when I was six and I grew up in America for the most part,” Badger shrugged, “but I moved back to Seoul when I was 16. When the war broke out, I watched my own neighborhood get gassed. I didn’t fight in the tunnels but I was overground right up until the nuke went off. I was nineteen when I watched my home city get vaporized. It was 2045, right?”
“2046,” The word came out of Eli’s mouth like a pre-programmed message. It was a date he could never forget, and that he was sure Badger hadn’t either. Everyone knew the exact date when Seoul was glassed. She had only said 2045 to see if Eli was listening, which he was. Nobody who was there could ever forget even the tiniest details of it.
“My family was in an underground shelter when the bomb hit. The nuke didn’t kill them but, the shelter collapsed and-,” Badger bit her tongue, her breath ragged, she sounded on the brink of tears, “Look, Eli… the point is that I’m not leaving here because of you. Or anyone really, not in Misfit at least. I’m leaving because I’ve had it with The Coalition. And The POA. They’ve taken everything from us, and demand that we give them more…” Badger sniffled, wiping her nose clear with the rolled up sleeved of her prisoners uniform, “I watched my home and family get vaporized in front of my eyes while I defended my country. And where did I end up? Right here. In the Penal Unit as a Phantom. Then they bring us out here to be used as cannon fodder. Like we were meaningless, like we’re the ones who started the Resource Wars....”
She trailed off.
"And after all of that, they want us to build their utopia. So they can ruin this planet too."
"Maybe this planet's already been ruined?" Eli said to her, half as a joke.
She chuckled, "Maybe you're right. Whether they’re lying to us about being in another world or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m done with them, Eli. But if there’s at least some shred of common sense in you then… come with us. Bring Omar and Dutch. Save them. Get out of here," She pleaded with him, "Please.”
Eli listened closely. Not daring to miss a single word, though his back was still turned to her. For the third time that day he had been moved to tears. Silently, so Badger wouldn’t see. So none of them could see. But Badger knew.
“I’m sorry. Nothing personal,” he sensed Badger standing up. She whispered to someone outside, he heard the entrance to the tent part, and then the rushed shuffling of boots.
When they had left outside, Eli heard bits and pieces of conversation between the trio of deserters.
“This way. Leave ‘em. They want to stay here in this shit hole? Let them. It's their funeral”
That one hurt. It stung. A lot. Cato, Badger, and Rafael. That only left Dutch… and Omar? Had the kid decided to stay with Eli? Dutch he could maybe understand. Of anyone in Misfit, Dutch was always the most optimistic. But Omar? The kid who was so scared he lied about his age in order to fit in? He stayed with him. Had he just sealed their fates? Their blood now on his hands. Decided in one night. Eli was tossed aside. Pathetic.
When the three left the tent, darkness crept into the barracks. He heard Dutch cough. Omar was sniffling. Eli was silent. The trio were all alone, with only each other. What had Dutch hoped to gain by staying with Eli? It was hopeless. He should’ve left with Cato. And Omar? Was he stupid? Didn’t he want to go home? Why hadn’t he run? They all should’ve just left Eli here to suffer alone. Why drag themselves down with him?
Cato was right. He may have been a pessimistic asshole, but their situation was grim from the beginning. They were prisoners, and there was never any chance for them to succeed. Not ever. Not now. Even if they were in a new world and Kovic hadn’t lied to them, they might fare a better chance out there than in here. Afterall, the worst that would happen out there is they’d be killed. In here, they would live indefinitely as slaves. No matter how much some primal part of his ego wanted to, Eli couldn't bring himself to truly hate Cato. Or Rafael. Slavery to most was a worse fate than death. He could deny it all he wanted to, but Badger was absolutely right. If they valued themselves as human beings - free human beings - they were better off running away.
At least if they died out there, they would've died free. If Eli was gunned down by a regular here, what would he have left to stand on then?
It must’ve been hours later into the night when he heard another pair of boots crunch around their tent. Oddly enough, it stopped right in front. The flap that led inside opened and someone walked in. They sighed, coughed, and whispered, “Freeman?”
Matteo’s voice. Immediately, Eli turned to Matteo. The Italian was standing there, perfectly unharmed. In fact, he had a smile on his face. The glow of a cigarette lighter illuminated his face, “Matteo!” Eli nearly yelled, but he managed to keep his voice down, “Where the hell where you man? I thought you were dead… or worse!”
Matteo chuckled, “No…no, I’m clearly not dead.”
“Matteo?” Dutch’s voice echoed through the room. Eli turned to watch his other two squad mates in the darkness. Dutch and Omar were of course the only ones left other than Eli, and now Matteo, “Jesus Christ dude, we thought you were a goner.”
“Where were you?” Eli asked him.
“With the Regulars. I have experience as a medic, so they took me in as extra hands for the triage,” Matteo grumbled before taking a look through the tent. He saw that there were only three prisoners left. Dutch, Eli, and Omar, “Where is everyone?”
“They escaped, or at least they're trying to," Dutch said.
Matteo shrugged, "They'll be back."
“How can you be so sure?” Eli asked him.
"They're gonna try to escape on an alien planet? The only way back home being through the portal? They'll be dead before the week ends," Matteo spat. In spite of the insanity of it all, Matteo seemed rather calm. He raised a canteen up to his lips taking a deep pause before he begun again, “Working in the infirmary, I was able to overhear some things. The Coalition arrived here about a month ago to explore the world and set up the Nexus. They got into a fight with the locals in the coastal city downhill. They call it, Canau. In the fighting, they took some heavy losses and to recover, they brought us in. All while they made us hurry to prepare the base defenses for an inevitable counterattack.”
“But why?” Dutch asked him, “Why go to another world?”
Matteo chuckled, “I mean… have you seen Earth lately? The question is, why not go to another world?” He shook his head as he rested fully into his place, “Coalition is brining all the rich people out here to restart civilization again from ground zero. The issue is…”
“This planet has already been claimed,” Eli finished. Matteo nodded.
“Jesus, talk about insanity, huh? I mean listen to us, what the hell are we talking about?” Dutch yelled out, “I mean, colonization? A new planet and species? Listen to us man! We sound insane!”
“Who deserted?" Matteo looked around those who were still there. It was just Eli, Dutch and Omar left, "Three of them huh? They’ll find out, sooner or later, that running away is pointless. They’ll be back. Either on their own or in a body bag.”
“How can you be so calm about this? Aren’t you scared?” Dutch demanded the old man, holding out his hand as if his reasoning were a physical matter that could be extracted and given out.
Matteo shrugged, “I’ve been scared since I was made into a prisoner. What’s changed?”
“Uh, maybe the fact that there are giant death machines walking around vaporizing people! I mean, newsflash, we are on another fucking planet!”
“And how is that different from an airstrike? Or being obliterated by a nuclear bomb? What difference does it make? Our situation hasn’t changed!” Matteo shouted back at him, “I’ve seen the injuries firsthand. I was a medic on a coast guard ship before the Resource Wars. I know what war is. And it’s the same here as it was back on Earth. Nothing’s changed. Only the names and the methods!”
“What about Cato, Rafael, and Badger?”
Matteo scoffed, “What about them?”
“Shouldn’t we go get them? We should go out there and -“
“You’re either an idiot or suicidal if you think that’s a good idea!” Matteo shouted at him, “Go out there. You want to leave the Nexus? The only place where it’s safe? And go where?”
“But we have to save them somehow! We can’t just let them die!”
Matteo shook his head, “You can’t, maybe. But I can. They abandoned us. Why should we go rescue them? Let them die. That’s what that idiot Rafael wanted, isn’t it?”
“How can you say that? We’re a squad, we’re supposed to be a team! I mean – can’t- I- “ Dutch flustered over his words, choking up. He was frantic. He turned to Eli, his eyes wide. Pleading with him, “Come on, Eli. Back me up here!”
But Eli didn’t say a word. Like a deer caught in headlight, he stood there. Looking into Dutch’s eyes which pleaded with him like a parent begging for the life of their child. All of them were watching Eli. Watching his next move.
“Come on Eli… please,” Dutch whispered.
Through gritted teeth, Eli confessed, “Dutch, I’m sorry but-“
“Bullshit! Am I the only one who cares that half our team just up and left? I mean whose damn side are you guys on?”
“What do you want to do? Chase after them? It’s over, Dutch! It’s over!” Eli looked over to Matteo, “Look, Matteo’s right. They made a choice, and they chose to leave.”
“Abandon us, more like.” Matteo said.
But Eli didn’t fully agree with that. What Badger had said was too genuine. They hadn’t been abandoned. More, Misfit split to forces outside of their control. It was inevitable, something that couldn’t have been prevented no matter how much Eli kicked and begged and pleaded – the outcome would’ve been the same. They valued their freedom over their safety. And while Eli wasn’t ready to say that he was the opposite, he wouldn’t lie to himself and say that he wanted his freedom first. His freedom would come, he just had to wait. If the others felt they could reach freedom faster by running, who was Eli to stop them?
There was nothing he could do.
And yet as the remnants of the squad calmed down, with Dutch heading back to his bunk teary eyed, Matteo and Eli clambering back into their own beds, and Omar silently retreating into the back of the tent, he couldn’t help but feel a certain indescribable weight that hung in his chest.
Guilt.
Eli had failed his one task, not the one assigned to him from Overwatch. But the one that had come natural between all phantoms. Keeping each other together, safe. He hoped that maybe they’d see reason while they were gone and turn back before they were in harm’s way. But he knew that was an absolutely stupid idea. What would he do if just one of them were killed out there? Or captured by the Headhunters and thrown into solitude permanently? Never to be seen again? He would never be able to forgive himself if that happened…
Like in Korea, watching as a mushroom cloud engulfed the city of Seoul. Watching as the lives of his friends and closest comrades were torn asunder in an inferno of fire and radiation. Was there nothing he could do then too? Or had he been selfish then as well? With the weight of a soul on his hands directly, and the weight of so many others on his back – indirectly. He tried to convince his fellow soldiers to escape, but they wouldn’t… Seoul…
His thoughts raced through the night.
His brain kept his tired eyes from drifting into sleep. He closed his eyes, trying his darndest to wake up from this terrible dream and turn back the clock, only for his eyelids to be peeled back open with another wave of thoughts and questions. Maybe if he stared at the bed above his head long enough, he’d wake up on Earth. Back before the storm took his home, and before the shattered planet’s darker secrets made itself known to his innocent eyes. But nothing he did worked. Nothing. He couldn’t get any sleep, and judging by the sounds of weeping or heavy sighing that would occasionally pepper the air, neither could the rest of the squad.
Eli rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed. He needed fresh air.
He parted the tent flaps as he left. Making his way to the outside world. He kept his head down, knowing that he could be spotted . A new barbed wire fence had been erected around the massive blocks of prisoner tents, and since the flaps had been allowed to open freely – the regulars allowed them free movement within the confines of the wire fencing. A temporary luxury, Eli was sure, only due to a lack of resources or forward planning on Overwatch's part. Most of the other prison camps that Eli was based in were large dormitories or barracks that had every single corner, hall, and door, watched and controlled by armed guards and robotic timetables. Soon enough, The Nexus would grow to become as tightly controlled as those other camps too.
He saw no sign of the others when he poked his head into the outside world. There must’ve been a way to navigate past the guard towers that surrounded them. Where Eli stood was just off to the side of the tent, in a space between theirs and the one next to them.
He sat down against the fabric walls, lying in the rather tall grass. Palm Trees and jungle flora stood like a dark wall on the horizon, kept at bay by the perimeter of the base. The black sky was yielding to a red sun, and yet it was still dark. The stars twinkled in the twilight sky, millions of them uncountable, waning to the rising sun. A cool breeze washed across his body. It felt like Earth. Looked like Earth. Smelled like Earth. But this was not Earth. It was Narva.
There was a moon in the sky, like a round diamond embedded within a sea of dark cloth. But it couldn’t have been the moon. Not the one he grew up looking at. But a fake clone.
He swore he could remember this place. Not this spot in particular, but he’s been to places in the jungle. He’s seen sights similar to this. How could this be a new world? It made sense as an explanation, but at the same time, it wasn’t even believable. How? How? How? That question replayed itself over and over again in his mind endlessly. The only explanation was the one given to him by Kovic and Matteo. But he refused to accept it.
And then his mind drifted back to the moments that followed just before they stepped foot here. The red glow of seemingly unworldly energy, the massive steel frame, the jelly like air that separated Earth from Narva. The moment he took a step through that portal, nothing would ever be the same.
The flaps to the tent opened behind him and he heard boots crush the dirt behind him. His heart sunk as he feared that it was a regular, but then he heard a faint voice, “Mister Freeman?”
He turned to see Omar’s small frame standing in front of the tent, looking at him with those big dog-like eyes of his. His face looked grim, his usually ruddy toned skin was a pale color. The blood drained from his face he was so scared. How could Eli blame him? The kid had gone through a lot in just one day. And what’s more, this must’ve been the first time Eli’s heard the boy speak. At least, outside of screaming for his life.
“Omar? What’s the matter?”
“Uhm… I don’t know, I kind of… I just…” Omar struggled for words, he held his arms together in front of him, his left foot passively kicked the tiny stones of the gravel. His eyes focused on something in the horizon, but Eli knew there was nothing there.
Eli gestured to the floor next to him. The gravel hurt but it was more comfortable than standing around doing nothing. Omar nodded his head and made his way next to Eli, sitting on the ground in the same fashion as he did, “You alright?”
“It’s… It’s…” Omar averted his eyes, and then sighed, “It’s this morning. The whole mess with those, Behemoth, thingies. Thank you for uh... for rescuing me, I guess. I didn’t mean to break down like that.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Eli shrugged, “It’s natural. I think.”
“Well… soldiers are supposed to be strong and brave. Right? They have to know what to do, and I just lost it.”
“We aren’t soldiers,” Eli told him, “We’re penal unit. Plain old humans. And humans get scared.”
“Listen, Omar. It’s fine. You were terrified. And I was too.”
“That didn’t stop you from saving me!”
“I didn’t have any other choice. What was I supposed to do? Let you die?” Eli patted the Patch on Omar’s ill-fitting uniform. The blue delta within the orange circle, “You see that? It means you’re a Phantom. And Phantoms look out for each other. Nobody else will. Doubly so since you’re in my squad.”
“But I’m not a Phantom! I just… I want to go home,” Omar’s voice wavered. He was on the verge of tears again, “I don’t want to be here. The last time I saw them, a bunch of men with guns had came into our camp and they just took me away! I don’t want to be here anymore…”
Omar brought his knees up to his chin and held on to them tightly. Omar was kidnapped? And then of all the places to put him in, they put him in the Penal Unit? What the hell was wrong with Overwatch?
His confusion subsided into something else. Anger. Rage. At none other than Kovic and the leadership of the Coalition. It must’ve been the feeling of rage at that Badger described. Betrayal by the people who were supposed to be responsible.
“How old are you Omar?” Eli asked him, trying to dig deeper.
Omar hesitated. He moved his foot around and looked at nothing in particular. But eventually he gave in, “Sixteen.” He said.
“Really?”
Omar nodded, “I was born in 2034. Chattogram, Bangladesh. I had my mama, dad, and my two sisters. But around four years ago, during the Monsoon season, it started to rain. The water came down, like we expected it to. But the rain never stopped. Our entire city was flooded before we knew it. In the street, the water was up to my chest.”
“Typhoon?”
“Typhoon Nisha. I think that’s what they called it. We couldn't stay in Chattogram anymore. We fled the city and joined with a bunch of other families to get out of Bangladesh and head to the Indian border.”
“That’s when you were kidnapped?”
Omar nodded.
Eli couldn’t help but feel sorry for the boy. His story was so similar to almost everyone else’s here. Even Eli’s own mirrored Omar’s in a way. But for Omar to not only lose his home, but to get sent here in the Penal Unit at so young – he could only wonder how devastating it was for him.
"Who kidnapped you?"
Omar shrugged, "I don't know. It was a bunch of masked men in army uniforms. They had guns and approached our group. Told us that they had a place waiting for us where we would be safe and they started taking us aboard their trucks. I was taken with a bunch of other kids, and I never saw my family again. I thought they were taking us to a shelter in India or back to Bangladesh or something but," Omar gestured to the prison around them, "That obviously never happened..."
That was a story that started to sound familiar. All across the world, phantoms were unwanted. They were seen as criminals, murderers, robbers and burdens on society at large. Eli was almost deported across the Atlantic to one of the largest holding pens for Phantoms in Europe, the FERZ. Groups of people, sometimes supported by their governments, would lure refugees with the promise of a new home. Only to smuggle them thousands of miles away, and dump them into "free" territories where they would either remain indefinitely or be sold off as slaves.
As he looked the boy in the face, he saw that his brown eyes were tearing up. Staring at the dirt underneath his ill-fitting boots. He was small for a sixteen-year old. Then again, Phantoms were rarely ever well-fed. Eli’s brain pondered for some kind of solution to the problem, before he realized that there was none. Eli could not fix Omar’s situation. If he could, Eli wouldn’t even be here on Narva in the first place. He’d be back home, where he wanted to be.
But if there was at least something Eli could do or say that would let Omar know that he wasn’t alone. At least not completely. He’s been around as a Phantom for well over a decade at this point, and by far the worst feeling was the constant feeling of being alone. The friends he managed to make were never around for long before they were moved away, and his family was – for all he knew – dead. Being constantly subjected to the unfairness of the world by oneself was terrifying. And out here on Narva… Eli could only imagine how scared Omar was.
“Listen, Omar. Trust me. I can’t promise we’ll make it back to Earth but… I’ll do my best to look after you. So long as I’m still alive. We’re both phantoms. You know what that means?” Omar turned to look at Eli, a tear slipped out of his eye and traced its way down his face, “It means we have to look out for each other. That’s the only way we can get back home. That’s the only way phantoms can survive. But I need you to trust me. Do I have that at least?”
The boy sniffled, not directly responding. His eyes trailed off looking for words to say. His mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out. He looked down at the gravel and opened his mouth again, “The reason I didn’t go with Cato was because I trust you Mister Freeman. You stayed behind and looked out for me. Nobody has done that since I’ve been… a phantom.”
And just like that, everything made sense. The darkness that sat inside of Eli’s chest suddenly felt a little less omnipresent. Through all the madness, he found clarity. His purpose was not just to be squad leader for Misfit. It was something much more than that. He had to be their guardian. And maybe, just maybe, they’d do the same for him? A squad built off the ideas of trust and reciprocation rather than fear of punishment or whatever High Command believed was their task.
Eli leaned back a little bit, turning his eyes to watch the sun rise higher above the horizon. He smiled, “Omar, it’s gonna be alright. I swear to you and everyone else in this squad, that I’ll get you back home in one piece. One way or another.”
“What’s the use? I haven’t seen my home in years,” Omar muttered.
His story was too familiar to Eli. Looking at the kid, Eli began to see his own past. Scared, lost, confused. Terrified of the world around him. And for Omar to be taken from his family and sent to fight in the Penal Unit?
“How did you become a Phantom, Mister Freeman?”
“Just call me Eli, and…” Eli grimaced, “It’s - erhm. Complicated.”
“I’ll understand. Eli.”
“Well. I guess I started off as a normal kid , I mean - normal enough. I had my parents, a school, a home. Just like you. We lived near Newark. But when I was eleven a storm hit my city. A river burst its bank and flooded my neighborhood. My mom was trapped in the basement while my dad went downstairs to rescue her. I was left on the second floor, in my room hiding…”
“Your parents drowned?” Omar asked him. Eli saw that his face was full of nothing but concern and intrigue. Maybe hearing about how terrible Eli’s life was distracted Omar from his own suffering? Or maybe he was finding it relatable. Either way, it was better than the crying mess he had been earlier. His face dried up, still tear stained though better now. The sniffling had ended too. Eli continued with a nod of his head.
“Until I was eighteen, I lived in a shelter with a bunch of other kids who were refugees like me.”
“What happened when you turned eighteen?”
“The draft happened. War in Korea, a bunch of us kids got draft letters from further up. And then… you know the whole thing with my deserting and… that’s not important.”
“Of course it is, it’s your past.”
“The past doesn’t make the person. What’s important is that… well I guess I’m still figuring that out myself. I’ve never been one to give motivational speeches.”
“I thought you did fine.”
Eli smiled, “You’re a good kid, Omar. I’m sorry that you have to be here. Penal Unit is no place for anyone. Much less someone your age. And I can’t even imagine how it all must be to find out that you’re here. On a whole new world. Narva.”
“I guess it’s alright. So far, it isn’t really that much different from Earth. Right? I mean, outside of the giant alien robot thingies, when you close your eyes it feels like home. I think,” at that Omar frowned, his eyes sunk down to the ground once more. It was true that it looked like Earth but no matter what they tried to say to convince themselves, it was not home. Nothing about this place was. This was a punishment, and Command made it clear from the beginning that as prisoners everything around them would be hostile.
Nothing more was said between the two as they sat watching the sun rise over the landscape. The mountains to their backs, coast to their front. The dark night faded fully to dawn and, in that special moment, the whole world seemed just a little bit brighter.
Even if it was only for a moment.
>>>[Verifying...]
>>>[Loading SitRep A-2...]
>>>[Going through File Directory]
>>>[Standby...]
==[Loading Complete!]==
==[THE KALEIDOSCOPE]==
As the fires of conflict consume Planet Earth, few regions have garnered as much international attention as East Asia's Pacific Coast. Situated in a vital overlap of ancient Cold War era conflicts and modern geopolitical tensions between the Coalition and POA, war is not a question of 'if'. It is a matter of 'when'. In the 2040s, after the collapse of global telecommunications networks during The Space Wars and massive flare-ups in tensions around the world, The Korean peninsula - home to a conflict buried almost a century ago - once again became the focus of the world's superpowers. South Korea had a rough entrance in the 2040s, numerous economic and demographic issues combined with an increasingly corporate-dominated political scene had squandered much of the republic's potential as a economic powerhouse for the Coalition. With an increasingly isolationist America (Prior to the Washington Coup) and an increasingly hawkish Chinese ally, a new North Korean Supreme Leader saw opportunity. In 2042, with some support from the POA, North Korea launched its invasion of the southern twin - crossing the border in some of the deadliest fighting since the Russo-Ukrainian war began two decades prior.
Despite the bold offensive, the war ground to another stalemate as American, South Korean, Australian, and Japanese forces repelled a Northern assault on Seoul. And to the North's dismay, the war would gradually turn in The Coalition’s favor after a breakthrough in 2044. A desperate North Korean leadership launched a nuclear assault on Seoul in 2046, to stop the advancing Coalition. The nuclear attack left Seoul devastated, and it isolated North Korea from POA support. Close to the war's conclusion in 2048, The Chinese Council would conduct its own invasion of what was left of North Korea, establishing a PLA-controlled mandate that would separate the advancing Coalition forces from its Manchurian border. "The Chongjin Military District" would became a safe haven for the exiled North Korean officers as they worked in the shadows to rebuild the hermit kingdom, meanwhile the district would become a new zone for unwanted refugees to be dumped by careless superpowers.
Though there is now only one Korea, the peninsula remains as divided as ever. The new government must now deal with the literal fallout of Seoul's nuclear bombardment, and though many in The Coalition saw themselves as liberators in the conflict - they must now contend with a brutal guerilla conflict from the numerous die-hard loyalists of the old regime. And to the north, the Chongjin Military District would continue to spark skirmishes between POA and Coalition forces, while the scars of the war fail to heal for good.
==[DIRECT IMAGE LINKS FOR CLEARER RESOLUTION]==
>>>[THE KALEIDOSCOPE]
==[END TRANSMISSION]==