Post by Guardsman Patrick on Oct 12, 2006 23:06:52 GMT -5
Chapter 25: The War That Knows No End
Patrick leaned against a tree, his strange “anti-hat-hat” sat over his eyes as he tried to rest a little after the battle. With no tower, it was hard to think of anything else to do. He needed to rest anyway.
Alex was walking by again, and caught Patrick’s eye. Alex had said his jacket had been burned in the lava. Somehow he had gotten another one, and a different color one at that! “Hey Alex, what’s with the new jacket?” Patrick asked, not moving the hat away from its position as he spoke. It nearly covered his entire visor.
“Oh, it was Shade's. I found it over near the hardened lava, and I decided to keep it, in a sort of memorable way,” Alex straightened the creases out of it. The jacket fit strangely well.
“Memorable?” Patrick pushed the hat off his visor, back onto the top of his head. He stood up and brushed himself off.
“Yeah, he may have been a terrible, greedy, selfish person, but he was still part of my family… the last of my family.” Alex looked at the rip again, thinking that it would be easy to sew it up. It would be as good as new; he just needed to learn how to sew first.
“No, you don’t understand what I meant,” Patrick corrected himself quickly; “I don’t understand why you used memorable.”
“Because this battle is over, and it’s history,” Alex was beginning to wonder what Patrick was getting at. He hoped it wasn’t something he forgot to mention.
“Alex, this war is far from over. You have only just experienced the first sparks of it. This war is not just about you and Shade. This is about the war that has raged for millennia.” Patrick looked at Alex intently, knowing he was confused to a certain extent, and had understanding at the same time, “this is just opening the wounds again.”
“What do you mean it is more than just this?” Alex couldn’t understand fully. They had just defeated the A.O.T. army. He knew they would have to take down other companies, but the A.O.T. was the biggest threat in Andorg. The others would be a breeze, but Patrick was talking about more than even that.
“This is another battle of the War of Light and Dark, Alex. This is the war that my dad called the 'war that has no end'. It’s the Orbs that began the war, and it will rage forever and ever. Don’t you understand? There will always be someone who has the Dark Orb. There will always be just one more enemy, and there will be more Shades along the way.” Patrick was dead serious. T3GM wasn’t going to be as simple as he had hoped. This alone made it more complicated than Alex had wanted it to be.
“You mean to tell me that the Dark Orb is already back in someone’s possession and they are planning to kill both of us?” Alex couldn’t understand how that was possible. He knew the Dark Blade was gone, but he didn’t know how someone was already plotting to kill them.
“They may not know what it is, or even understand it right now, but it goes to whoever it deems worthy, and it corrupts them into wanting to destroy the Light. So, as you can see, this war is years from ending. One of these days it might be able to come to a standstill again, and be calm like it was last year, but it is unlikely it will be soon,” Patrick wanted his point to get across and be plain. T3GM had become more than just the protector of Andorg; it had become the side of good in an epic war.
Zanthor was hooked up to various machines and meters, measuring all his vitals and keeping him alive. He was still unconscious, but he was doing better than he was when he first came in.
“What’s wrong with him, if you don’t mind me asking?” Arcane stood beside the bed, keeping his eyes on the different screens around the room. He could see soldiers running about, trying to get the defenses booted up. He didn’t know if the Gym Masters really planned on attacking, but better safe than sorry.
“It appears he has a high level of inbagadra flower pollen in his cardio tract,” the doctor pulled up a couple of scans showing the blood’s status.
“Why is it making him sick though?” Arcane saw the generators kick on and the shields system become ready. If there was an attack, they would need some heavy shielding.
“He is extremely allergic to it. It has no scent, so he probably only thought the air was bad in that area or something,” the doctor scribbled some notes down on the sheet, making note of the allergic reactions and symptoms.
“Will he be alright?” Arcane was concerned that Zanthor had seemed just fine until he made the speech. There had to be some way the pollen got inside the building, but he couldn’t guess how.
“Oh yes. All he needed was an epi-pen, but that doesn’t mean it still can’t affect him. I’ll keep an eye on him; you don’t need to stay here. I’ll call you up if anything happens,” the doctor shooed Arcane out quickly, closing the door quickly behind him. Arcane was still curious as to how the pollen had gotten in Zanthor’s system.
He stepped inside the elevator and pushed the button that would take him to the bunk rooms. He thought he would catch a little sleep before he went back out to help with the defenses. Besides, he knew nobody would be in there, so that would give him some time to himself to just sit and think. He walked down the hall, passing each door, looking for the one with his regiment’s code on it. He stopped before the door, and turned the knob.
The room he entered was tidy, all except for the beds that each soldier used as his own personal room. He walked to the top right corner of the room and climbed onto the top bunk, stretching out so he could be comfortable. He decided he would wait here until he got the call. Hopefully it would be a while, and he could catch some real sleep for once.
Rachel sat with Alex, listening to all the stuff Patrick had told him. All she could do was shake her head. All of this was a bit too much for her, and yet, she accepted it completely. If this had been a week earlier, she would have laughed in Alex’s face for saying all this, but after the battle she had just experienced, she would believe anything.
“I’m sorry I broke my promise.” Alex looked at Rachel who sat beside him quietly. His arm was over her shoulder, and her head leaned against his cheek. She felt so warm as she sat, and he hoped she wouldn’t move and he could enjoy it for a little bit.
“What promise?” Rachel pulled away from Alex. He sighed to himself and tried to wake his shoulder up.
“The promise I made back when you joined,” Alex shifted over to Rachel again, setting himself up so that she could lean against him again if she felt like it, “I said that T3GM wouldn’t get more complicated than simply protection. Now, unless you count the entire fate of Andorg and the world as uncomplicated, then I broke my promise.”
Rachel leaned over to Alex and put her face about an inch from his. He could feel her breath against his face. “I don’t think you broke it. You didn’t know any more about all this than I did. So unless you could read the future, I can’t blame you,” Rachel leaned away again and shuffled back over to Alex’s side. She leaned against him and Alex began to think on it all. He knew she was right, but he still couldn’t help but feel responsible for it all.
Alex watched as Pairon, Ulptian and Kage lay in a circle, each of them with a wilker that seemed to be quite fresh. He liked the idea of them all getting along, and he hoped they would all continue to work together as a team, almost like a pack, or a family. That was how the world was supposed to be. Not like this twisted, disgraceful world. Everyone was supposed to get along, no matter what they looked like. They were all supposed to protect each other, like a family, but that was asking far too much. There would always be people that did what was easy, not what was right. There would always be a person out there who considered themselves excluded from the family. There would always be evil, and no matter how hard they tried, it would always remain that way.
Patrick leaned against a tree, his strange “anti-hat-hat” sat over his eyes as he tried to rest a little after the battle. With no tower, it was hard to think of anything else to do. He needed to rest anyway.
Alex was walking by again, and caught Patrick’s eye. Alex had said his jacket had been burned in the lava. Somehow he had gotten another one, and a different color one at that! “Hey Alex, what’s with the new jacket?” Patrick asked, not moving the hat away from its position as he spoke. It nearly covered his entire visor.
“Oh, it was Shade's. I found it over near the hardened lava, and I decided to keep it, in a sort of memorable way,” Alex straightened the creases out of it. The jacket fit strangely well.
“Memorable?” Patrick pushed the hat off his visor, back onto the top of his head. He stood up and brushed himself off.
“Yeah, he may have been a terrible, greedy, selfish person, but he was still part of my family… the last of my family.” Alex looked at the rip again, thinking that it would be easy to sew it up. It would be as good as new; he just needed to learn how to sew first.
“No, you don’t understand what I meant,” Patrick corrected himself quickly; “I don’t understand why you used memorable.”
“Because this battle is over, and it’s history,” Alex was beginning to wonder what Patrick was getting at. He hoped it wasn’t something he forgot to mention.
“Alex, this war is far from over. You have only just experienced the first sparks of it. This war is not just about you and Shade. This is about the war that has raged for millennia.” Patrick looked at Alex intently, knowing he was confused to a certain extent, and had understanding at the same time, “this is just opening the wounds again.”
“What do you mean it is more than just this?” Alex couldn’t understand fully. They had just defeated the A.O.T. army. He knew they would have to take down other companies, but the A.O.T. was the biggest threat in Andorg. The others would be a breeze, but Patrick was talking about more than even that.
“This is another battle of the War of Light and Dark, Alex. This is the war that my dad called the 'war that has no end'. It’s the Orbs that began the war, and it will rage forever and ever. Don’t you understand? There will always be someone who has the Dark Orb. There will always be just one more enemy, and there will be more Shades along the way.” Patrick was dead serious. T3GM wasn’t going to be as simple as he had hoped. This alone made it more complicated than Alex had wanted it to be.
“You mean to tell me that the Dark Orb is already back in someone’s possession and they are planning to kill both of us?” Alex couldn’t understand how that was possible. He knew the Dark Blade was gone, but he didn’t know how someone was already plotting to kill them.
“They may not know what it is, or even understand it right now, but it goes to whoever it deems worthy, and it corrupts them into wanting to destroy the Light. So, as you can see, this war is years from ending. One of these days it might be able to come to a standstill again, and be calm like it was last year, but it is unlikely it will be soon,” Patrick wanted his point to get across and be plain. T3GM had become more than just the protector of Andorg; it had become the side of good in an epic war.
* * *
Zanthor was hooked up to various machines and meters, measuring all his vitals and keeping him alive. He was still unconscious, but he was doing better than he was when he first came in.
“What’s wrong with him, if you don’t mind me asking?” Arcane stood beside the bed, keeping his eyes on the different screens around the room. He could see soldiers running about, trying to get the defenses booted up. He didn’t know if the Gym Masters really planned on attacking, but better safe than sorry.
“It appears he has a high level of inbagadra flower pollen in his cardio tract,” the doctor pulled up a couple of scans showing the blood’s status.
“Why is it making him sick though?” Arcane saw the generators kick on and the shields system become ready. If there was an attack, they would need some heavy shielding.
“He is extremely allergic to it. It has no scent, so he probably only thought the air was bad in that area or something,” the doctor scribbled some notes down on the sheet, making note of the allergic reactions and symptoms.
“Will he be alright?” Arcane was concerned that Zanthor had seemed just fine until he made the speech. There had to be some way the pollen got inside the building, but he couldn’t guess how.
“Oh yes. All he needed was an epi-pen, but that doesn’t mean it still can’t affect him. I’ll keep an eye on him; you don’t need to stay here. I’ll call you up if anything happens,” the doctor shooed Arcane out quickly, closing the door quickly behind him. Arcane was still curious as to how the pollen had gotten in Zanthor’s system.
He stepped inside the elevator and pushed the button that would take him to the bunk rooms. He thought he would catch a little sleep before he went back out to help with the defenses. Besides, he knew nobody would be in there, so that would give him some time to himself to just sit and think. He walked down the hall, passing each door, looking for the one with his regiment’s code on it. He stopped before the door, and turned the knob.
The room he entered was tidy, all except for the beds that each soldier used as his own personal room. He walked to the top right corner of the room and climbed onto the top bunk, stretching out so he could be comfortable. He decided he would wait here until he got the call. Hopefully it would be a while, and he could catch some real sleep for once.
* * *
Rachel sat with Alex, listening to all the stuff Patrick had told him. All she could do was shake her head. All of this was a bit too much for her, and yet, she accepted it completely. If this had been a week earlier, she would have laughed in Alex’s face for saying all this, but after the battle she had just experienced, she would believe anything.
“I’m sorry I broke my promise.” Alex looked at Rachel who sat beside him quietly. His arm was over her shoulder, and her head leaned against his cheek. She felt so warm as she sat, and he hoped she wouldn’t move and he could enjoy it for a little bit.
“What promise?” Rachel pulled away from Alex. He sighed to himself and tried to wake his shoulder up.
“The promise I made back when you joined,” Alex shifted over to Rachel again, setting himself up so that she could lean against him again if she felt like it, “I said that T3GM wouldn’t get more complicated than simply protection. Now, unless you count the entire fate of Andorg and the world as uncomplicated, then I broke my promise.”
Rachel leaned over to Alex and put her face about an inch from his. He could feel her breath against his face. “I don’t think you broke it. You didn’t know any more about all this than I did. So unless you could read the future, I can’t blame you,” Rachel leaned away again and shuffled back over to Alex’s side. She leaned against him and Alex began to think on it all. He knew she was right, but he still couldn’t help but feel responsible for it all.
Alex watched as Pairon, Ulptian and Kage lay in a circle, each of them with a wilker that seemed to be quite fresh. He liked the idea of them all getting along, and he hoped they would all continue to work together as a team, almost like a pack, or a family. That was how the world was supposed to be. Not like this twisted, disgraceful world. Everyone was supposed to get along, no matter what they looked like. They were all supposed to protect each other, like a family, but that was asking far too much. There would always be people that did what was easy, not what was right. There would always be a person out there who considered themselves excluded from the family. There would always be evil, and no matter how hard they tried, it would always remain that way.