From the Shadows

Liberation

They dragged me by my bloody paws to a dimly lit room. A medical room. Two guards stood on the top corners of the room, and I was strapped down to a medical bed. I looked to my left. Nothing. To the right. A small tray on a table, with a Protogen visor and a small chip-like device.

Several pieces of metal were scattered around, used for Super Soldiers. The metal door to the room opened as in came Raeal. He walked like he was drunk, but he wasn't. Protogens can't get drunk. Or so they say. He walked close to me with a giggle. Part of me thinks he's crazy. Part of me thinks he's insane.

"You thought...you could run?" His words spiraled out. "You...stupid. Bitch."

My expression didn't change one bit. I was highly convinced he was crazy. Part of me got worried when I saw he was holding a knife.

He held the knife close. Close to my neck. I closed my eyes for the inevitable.

"The UFN, is going to die. You think The Uber, was the only one of its kind? Nope. I have hundreds of them, and I will use them to destroy the UFN, and the AFC." Raeal was getting edgy. "And you'll be the key to all, Mia Davidson."

I kept my eyes closed.

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"Drew? Drew! What's your status?" I could hear Fang say in my radio.

"I'm driving a motherfuckin' airship straight to a massive compound." I replied

Raeal's Compound, or fortress, was an unusual one. It used to be a volcano, but somehow, the UPS did something with the magma chamber. It'll never erupt. Now, it serves as Raeal's Compound, with guns all around, and soldiers guarding. Raeal must be hiding deep in the bottom.

"Alright Drew, here's where you get off" Fang said to me "I'll pilot The Elysium and take it as close as I can. Once the guns are out, you fly in and shoot every motherfucking Protogen you see"

The massive airship flies closer and closer as it's guns fire at the guns below, destroying them almost instantly. Enemies from below fire back, but I quickly head to the hanger deck and fly a helicopter out of the hanger.

Enemy gunfire tries to shoot me down, but I arrive at the compound, barely alive. I shoot, stab, and strangle my way through the compound entrance and make it inside. Turning through halls and going down stairs, I make it to a research lab. All the Protogens stay there, afraid. I look at the work they have in store.

Super Soldiers. Raeal kidnaps his own people and turns them into these monsters. Project: Creativity, he calls it. Damn, makes me want to shoot him in the head.

I continue through, and arrive at a massive room. It must be a storage room. I could see the door at the end. I look up, and see a large hatch. Could be an exit, or an entrance. Someone took it one way. I watched as a large Super Soldier leaped down from above, but I looked at it with a keen eye.

Mia?

Parts of fur were exposed, being the same as Mia's. Ears were the same, and so was that tail. I knew instantly it was her.

"How do you like my new science project, Andrew?" Raeal said through the PA system. "I call it, the Mamagen. Don't question it, it's still a work in progress. But it kills, I'll tell you that!"

Shit. Mia. What has he done to you?

It instantly leaps at me, and I quickly evade. It doesn't have a power pack like the others do, but some of its body is exposed. I take it as a weak spot and fire my rifle at it. I was proved right, as it falls to its knees. I stand from a distance.

"Drew..." Mia's voice, in a corrupted tone.

"Hang on, girl! I'm gonna get you out! Just hold on a little while longer!" I shout back.

The new suit must be controlling her or something, because she stands back up and charges at me. I evade once more and fire at the weak spot. A repeated attack and I bring it to its knees once more. I could see the visor on her face, being the same as that of a Protogens. Mia ain't a Protogen.

I run towards her and attempt to rip it off her face, but a good smack launches me back. I stand to my feet and evade another charge. More shots to the weak point seem to make her stronger, but too much strength overwhelms her, and she falls to her knees again.

One more time, I rip the visor clean off her face, and she falls to the ground. She's now a foot taller than she used to be. I kneel down by her body as I look at her face, covered in blood. She coughs as the lights on her suit flicker. She cries.

"Drew...?" Her voice is normal this time. "I'm sorry. The visor, was messing with my brain. I could hear a voice, telling me what to do. I couldn't stop it."

I looked back at the visor I ripped off and picked it up. I held it in my paws as my heart was filled with anger, and I smashed it.

"Protogens don't have freedom. You were hearing Raeal. Every Protogen does. They don't have a mind of their own. Only Raeal." I replied "You're safe now."

Suddenly, I could hear Fangs voice through the radio.

"To anyone who could hear this, Raeal has become a global threat. He's armed himself with hundreds of super nukes and plans to bomb the world. Hopefully there's someone out there who can save us."

"Drew, I know how to save you all." Mia said

"How?"

"My heart, has a controller, controlling the nukes. Raeal put it in me, thinking no one could get it. You can. You know exactly how."

"I'm not going to kill you. I'll get you out of here, and remove it surgically."

"There's no time!" Mia shouted "The whole world will be nuked in 15 minutes from now, and if you don't do something now, we'll all die!"

I stood silent, looking down at Mia as she sobbed. I stroked her hair. I sat her up as her face bled, and I took the chest armor off. She looked up at me, as I looked down at her. She shivered, in fear.

"I'm scared, Drew. I wanted us to live happily, together. Not this. I never wanted this." Mia sobbed

"Me neither."

She laid back down as she continued to look up at me, and I looked down at her. I slowly pulled out my knife as she looked at it.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

War. Riots. Terror. Fear. We live by it. Live in it. Rebelling will kill you. Living will kill you. We drink the very blood of our friends, even if we ourselves were the ones who killed them. Today I killed her, but I didn't drink blood. I drank hope. Hope for a better future. Those few friends who stood beside me, who fought with me the whole way. They make me believe there's hope

Those are who kept me going. Even when I arrived at Raeal's chamber and shot him straight in the visor, I still dreamt of hope. Liberation. Freedom. A better future for all.

No more war. No more suffering. No more pain. No more fear. The stress is, but I still keep fighting, for you, Mia. For all those I've lost.

I watched as several helicopters and transporters landed on Raeal's fortress, and there I stood and watched as all the now freed prisoners flew up to The Elysium. I didn't smile, but dreamt. Hope. Too much hope.

Maybe now, things will be better. War rages on still, so now we'll have to pick up the pieces and fight.

Fight, even when we don't know how.