Sometimes, one must make the toughest decisions in life. To fearlessly stare down the dark void of that gun barrel and say I'm not afraid to bleed. Fearlessness is not just a statement, it is a state of mind; To get out of your comfort zone and confront time after time the same nightmare that had tormented you for your entire life. To fly without the fear of falling, so you can rise into the air without that doubt in your heart.
Mike clenched his fists as he stared into the white hell outside of a large window. The snow of the Himalayas was violent and unforgiving, yet it remained pure and steady in its shape and purpose. Its wrath is reserved only for those who are willing to challenge it, yet humans still seek to conquer what is beyond them. For Mike, one question remained: Is he the storm, or its challenger?
[Kadyn] - "Did you really have to go? "
Said Kadyn as she stepped beside Mike.
[Mike] - "I've found a secret not even Michele ventured far enough to uncover. Sniper is not invincible; he is a man beneath the facade of a false God. Years ago, I had cast my own fate from the moment I fought against Michele and tore down his rebellion. Now, the time of reckoning has come for me. "
Said Mike in a blunt voice.
Yet, Kadyn could see the sliver of doubt in Mike's eyes. Though he spoke with such confidence, for as long as she had known him, Kadyn could easily tell when Mike was not sure of himself. This single strand of doubt unsettled Kadyn like a needle stuck deep beneath the skin- You can feel the pain, and you can't ignore it.
[Kadyn] - "You will not run away? Not even for me? I thought you said I was the only one who mattered in your life. "
Said Kadyn as she clenched her hands tightly together in sorrow.
[Mike] - "I never said I would die in my duty. Maybe I will come back to you and fulfill your most precious wish. "
[Kadyn] - "Maybe? A simple maybe is not enough, Mike. I need a guarantee, a way to know for certain that the man whom I'm willing to bear the world for is coming back! "
Sobbed Kadyn as she turned and gripped Mike's clothes.
[Mike] - "What I do, I do it for you, for principle, for the duty I was given the day I joined the cyberknights. "
Said Mike in a blunt and serious voice.
[Kadyn] - "Was it principle when you decided to embrace me? Was it your duty as a cyberknight to marry me and fill my head with all those hopes and dreams? Please, Mike, think for yourself for once! Let go of those empty ideas invented by a tyrant to fool good men like you! Accept this before you that is real; Me, the only one you know to have nothing but authentic love for you inside this circle of lies. "
Cried Kadyn as her grip grew tighter around the one person she can't afford to lose.
[Mike] - "If those ideas I lived by were lies of the false God, then how could I have ever opened myself to you? Would we have this relationship if I had never believed in these ideas? "
Mike finally turned toward Kadyn to face her with a comforting smile.
[Mike] - "This is me thinking for myself, and understanding that everyone else, especially you, matters more than the life of a single man like myself. When a world rejects those same ideals of virtue, justice, and honour, someone needs to stand forward and remind the people of the wrongs of their way. My presence is limited, but the ideas endure. "
Said Mike in a compassionate voice.
However, upon seeing that she was losing the fight, Kadyn swallowed her honour in a last attempt to convince Mike to stay.
[Kadyn] - "Mike, I'm pregnant. Are you really going to leave our children without a father? "
Whispered Kadyn as she looked down to conceal her shame.
However, Mike immediately saw through her deception. But instead of calling her out and getting angry at her, he simply smiled and took off his coat.
[Mike] - "It's not very nice of you to lie, ya know, Lemon. "
[Kadyn] - "I'm not lying. I had my way with you during your coma. "
Cried Kadyn, without raising her eyes from the floor.
In a gentle motion, Mike raised Kadyn's head by the chin to meet his gaze. Even as Kadyn still tried to avoid meeting his stare, Mike still eventually managed to find her gaze.
[Mike] - "You said it yourself, you are not that lowly of a person. Coercion is not something my beloved Lemon would use against me. "
Having been exposed fully in her lies, Kadyn finally broke down crying like a wounded child.
[Kadyn] - "Asshole! Dummy! Idiot! You bloody... bloody... brickhead of a man. I lost all my sisters, and I'm about to lose you as well. I know I'm selfish, but I'm not a knight like you. Forgive me if I'm like this... I just need to try, try to hang on to my only dream. "
Cried Kadyn before fully losing herself in a storm of tears against Mike's chest.
At that moment, while Kadyn was lost in her sorrow, she failed to notice that Mike also shed a few rare drops of tears. Yet, Mike knew he couldn't afford to appear weak if he wanted to comfort his wife, as he quickly shrugged off the sadness on his face. With a swift flip, Mike placed his coat around Kadyn's back, its warmth somewhat soothing her pain.
[Mike] - "The coat looks good on you, so keep it. "
Said Mike before he gently kissed Kadyn on the head.
The gesture finally calmed Kadyn down as she slowly let go of Mike and pushed herself off his chest.
[Kadyn] - "If you truly want your ideas to carry on, then make sure to come back. We'll watch them grow in a loving home surrounded, not by the bloodshed of war or the cold embrace of indoctrination, but by the warmth of great parents. "
Said Kadyn as she tried to clear the waterfall that was still wetting her cheeks.
Suddenly, Mike grabbed Kadyn by the waist and shared a long, passionate kiss with her. Closing her eyes, Kadyn pushed back and asserted herself in the kiss, savouring every single moment as if it were her last. However, all good things must end, as eventually, Mike turned around and walked away, with their hands having a hard time separating as Kadyn even followed Mike briefly to get a good feel of his touch.
Inside the prison facility, McCree slept on his bunkbed while singing some country songs. He had just finished his last meal and was awaiting his execution. Just as three prison guards began unlocking his cell door, they suddenly vanished without a trace.
[McCree] - "Huh? What in tarnation? "
Exclaimed McCree as he approached the cell door.
All of a sudden, a hand smashed through the handle and pulled the entire door out of its frame.
[Mike] - "Sentence commuted, wanker. "
Said Mike as he threw the door on the side.
[McCree] - "Christ! Well, ain't that a surprise? "
Said McCree as he recoiled against the wall in fear.
[Mike] - "If something were to happen to me, you will take Doctor Ethan and my wife Kadyn to the Allied Forces and make sure they are safe from the Empire! That's my only condition for your freedom. Do we have a deal? "
[McCree] - "A smart man can recognize a good deal, so I won't argue with it. "
[Mike] - "Good. I hope you have a strong stomach. "
[McCree] - "Wha-? "
Mike suddenly grabbed McCree by the collar and threw him into the wall. Instead of colliding with it, he phased through several floors until he crashed into Ethan's laboratory. Though not violent enough to cause him harm, the unnatural feeling of falling through solid matter caused McCree to burp and almost vomit out his dinner.
[Ethan] - "Ya must be the prisoner Mike talked about. "
[McCree] - "Oh, son of a gun, what kind of damn buster throws a man like that! "
Said McCree as he pushed himself off the ground.
[Ethan] - "Allow me to introduce myself, Doctor Ethan Conagher, the father of the cyberknights and all crystal-related research. "
[McCree] - "Agent McCree, Allied undercover intelligence agency. "
Said McCree as he shook Ethan's hand.
[Ethan] - "I'm looking for a job after my current resignation. Could ya arrange that for me? "
[McCree] - "You allied with that young fella, I reckon. Sure, I'll see what I can do for a fellow Texan brother. "
[Ethan] - "Perfect, now we don't got much time. Follow me. "
Said Ethan as he grabbed his bags.
As Ethan stepped into the hallway, he quickly met up with Mike on his march toward the hangar. To avoid suspicion, McCree was given a hooded robe to resemble a servant of the cyberknight order as he walked behind Mike.
[Ethan] - "Where is Kadyn? "
[Mike] - "She'll be taking an alternative route to join you in the hangar. Do you still remember what I had instructed you on? "
[Ethan] - "Yeah, so if a manhunt is declared for us, it means you have failed, so all three of us will escape to the Allied Forces to seek shelter. But I gotta ask, why don't we leave now? "
Said Ethan as he avoided an Imperial pilot on his path.
[Mike] - "Leaving early would arouse suspicion. I dealt with the prison's alarm system earlier, but your ship leaving or me dropping you three in Allied territories would alarm Sniper and leave him with time to prepare for my treachery. I need to catch him by surprise if possible. "
Said Mike as he saluted back at one of the officers saluting him.
[Mike] - "In the worst case scenario, where you can't make your escape, you shall contact Athena and Jerry to ask for their assistance. However, remember, only if the situation is desperate! "
[Ethan] - "Yeah, for sure, but why don't you call Athena or anyone else to back you up in your fight? I reckon some reinforcement could offer ya some greatly needed help. "
[Mike] - "I'm not involving Athena in a suicidal mission. Not to mention, I'm not sure who I can trust in this Empire. It's one thing to see how many people are loyal to me, but loyalty is a dubious concept when their God-Emperor commands my execution. Besides, this is my personal fight. "
Said Mike as he exchanged salutes with a few Imperial officers he passed by.
Soon, the group arrived inside the massive main hangar of the Everest Mountain base, where upwards of six vertical rows of jets and transport crafts are stacked against the walls. Pointing toward the 4th level of sector C, far ahead inside the busy hangar, Mike motioned for Ethan and McCree to follow his finger.
[Mike] - "The third transport craft on that level is your getaway ship in case things go wrong. I had rigged explosives on the central deployment rack to prevent any pursuing fighters. On the other side, I rigged the communication system and command tower with EMP charges to block communication and the launching of AAM toward your craft. Finally, Kadyn had designed and installed a stealth system on the craft, which can further increase your chances of escape. "
Said Mike while pointing his finger at each of the relevant areas.
[Ethan] - "Understood, son. Ah... Can't wait to go home and meet my son after all these years. Good luck on your fight, my boy. "
Said Ethan as he tapped on Mike's back.
As Mike prepared to leave, he noticed Kadyn standing on the catwalk to the escape craft. With one last shared look, Mike reluctantly left for his possibly one-way trip.
Soon, Mike landed like a shooting star in the main hangar of Base Taj in India. His sudden appearance shocked the personnel and other staff working at the hangar, as people immediately saluted or kneeled before him out of respect and fear. Sniper had chosen the place of the meeting carefully after all, as Base Taj was the same place where Michele made his last stand before being killed by Sniper himself. It was a clear message to Mike about his fate if he were to disobey Sniper, yet the Grand Knight walked fearlessly without carrying the trophy the Emperor demanded in his hands.
Arriving at the back of the gigantic hangar, Mike soon found Sniper waiting for him, surrounded by a group of six Grand Cardinal cyberknights. As Mike arrived before Sniper, he simply stood his ground without even the slightest intention of showing him respect by bowing or kneeling. Shocked by the disrespectful action of the Grand Knight, the six knights around Sniper immediately activated their crystals in preparation to eliminate the transgressor. However, with a gesture of his hand, Sniper immediately signalled for the six knights to back off.
[Sniper] - "You've got guts, Grand Knight. However, Michele also has guts, and it splashed onto the ground like an unsavoury insides of a rat as that traitor gasped for air like a dying fish out of water. So again, I will give you the opportunity to consider: Where does your loyalty stand? "
Said Sniper, chin raised out of arrogance and pride.
[Mike] - "My loyalty stood with the Empire, the code of the cyberknights, and the people of this world. It doesn't belong to the corrupted mouth of a false God. "
Said Mike as he pointed his finger directly at Sniper.
The act offended the six knights, who Sniper had to signal a second time to stand down.
[Sniper] - "The Empire, cyberknights and people are all but an extension of me. I built this road, so you could ride on it. Maybe I don't understand the source of your mental corruption, but what's 23 more years, Grand Knight? Just like Michele, you are replaceable. You are not special! You are nothing more than a tool made to serve. Your power doesn't come for free, Grand Knight, it flows from my lineage as a unique gift of those who share blood with me. The price of your power is your servitude to me, your creator, your God! "
Said Sniper with confidence in his voice, while looking to belittle Mike.
Yet, Mike would not yield. Despite the shockingly cruel words of Sniper, considering what Mike had done in his name, the Grand Knight felt nothing but more resolve in his heart.
[Mike] - "I am my own master now! You don't own me! "
Proclaimed Mike as he defiantly stood before Sniper.
[Mike] - "I never wanted this, I never wanted to turn against you. But you betrayed us! Together, we banished the ignorance of the old world. Yet, you betrayed the very code of honour you created and lied to your knights. Any of you standing beside your so-called God, have you no shame serving a man who burned this world just so no one could call him out on his hypocrisy as a false God? Have you no shame in killing civilians and burning cities in the name of a just Empire? "
Though Mike spoke with passion, he also understood that the rot went too deep inside the Empire for anyone to openly agree with his ideas, even if they knew them to be true. Holding no delusion when, predictably, none of the bystanders or the six knights reacted to his speech, Mike continued.
[Mike] - "I know there is no convincing anyone here of the wrongs of this bloody bastard in his crimson-stained crown, so let's set this straight. When you joined the Empire, was this what you expected? The same rot that plagued the old world remaining, but just under the administration of newer faces? The worship of a self-proclaimed God as your duty when he is but a man, just like any of you under that helmet? The execution of anyone who dared to oppose him, just like the brutal dictatorships all of you bled to take down? I saw the face beneath that mask, and I know he is no God! Humanity has but one chance; if none of you will cease it, then I will! "
Yelled Mike as he accusingly pointed his finger at Sniper.
Looking around, Sniper saw no reaction from the crowd. Taking this as confirmation of his divine rights as God, Sniper clapped a few times for Mike while laughing cruelly at him as if he had just heard the most amusing joke of his life.
[Sniper] - "Truly, Michele must be rolling in his grave right now. "
However, Mike didn't feel discouraged, as he saw what Sniper couldn't see through the lens of divinity. As a man, Mike saw the subtle expressions on the faces of the crowd that Sniper couldn't understand. Before him, Mike witnessed the uneasy movements of the knights, whom Sniper didn't bother to analyze. His message was well-received, yet people needed a spark to start their fire.
Suddenly, a distinct white glow flashed before Mike as Sniper activated his crystals.
[Sniper] - "Existential Judgement: 12 Labours of Hercules! "
Just as Mike was preparing to defend himself, he was suddenly launched out of the mountain base. Once in the air, the hills around him rose from the ground and crushed Mike under thousands of tons of soil. Just as Mike was about to escape his prison, gas crystals formed from the air and stabbed him in the back. But with a single cast of his defensive technique, Mike shielded his flesh from any further injuries.
Meanwhile, the sheer amount of gas crystals kept piling on Mike until they forced him to crash into a river below. As soon as he found himself under the water, a massive amount of pressure suddenly began to crush him like the centre of a planet. The pressure was so great that Mike had to use all of his power just to keep himself alive. Soon, the water turned to ice before eventually turning into plasma out of sheer pressure.
Mike thought for a second before coming up with an escape plan. Using his ability, he began to generate a reversed drilling motion inside the plasma, which caused the pressure atop him to translate into a rotational force which went under his body. With this gap, Mike finally escaped from captivity by smashing through the area of lower pressure. Now, Mike finally understood why so many feared Sniper. What he just experienced was nothing but an appetizer. Sniper has yet to unleash the full extent of his power.
To be continued...
*EXTRA:
- Profile: Mike
- Complete name: Mike Gioacchino Mundy
- Ability: [Distant Dreamer]: "One of the rarest abilities obtainable for a crystal user, with only 3 known cases. Mike's ability can manipulate molecules and energy in any way he desires as long as it follows the rules of physics and chemistry.
A limitation of the ability is Mike's lack of a specific ability. For example, a crystal user with a flight ability can use his ability easily without spending much mental effort, while Mike has to focus and formulate the thought of flying in his head. In Mike's case, the more complex the task, the more mental efficiency and focus are required.
When Mike's mind or ability is idle, a passive molecular shield is activated subconsciously, which protects Mike from unexpected harm. Mike often prefers direct fist attacks and basic molecular shields as they are the easiest abilities to conjure and maintain. On top of that, a basic kinetic punch often carries more power than spending your time conjuring weapons from your environment. "
-Ability stats:
Power - S
Speed of the ability - S
Speed granted by the ability - A
Range - A
Durability of the ability - S
Durability granted by the ability - S
Precision - A
Potential - S