Desert of Solitude

Oh brother, it vexes me to have lost you in such immense nothingness
where my spear means nothing for it has not your eyes, heart or soul
oh the pain to tell father that there is no one to watch my back
on these cold dead nights, when the starts grow bright my fondness slumbers
for there is no brighter, stronger love than yours
for darker blankets and small bonfires, tales of wonder of years past our age
and fortunes calling our names, but aghast I lay with your mouth lost
to my ears, no foul play and no early retirement, just your name amiss
from these times of wonder.


 -In the desert of solitude at the foot of the Mount of Abraxas

El Nodo

La escalera es mas largo de lo necesario, es una escalera de tubos vieja, oxidada, sin ninguna clase de pintura visible, vibraba y se movía ya casi llegando a la cima del edificio de un lado a otro, de no ser por la reja de protección de medio tubo era probable que Miguel y varios de los que se atrevían a subir ya hubiera caído a su muerte mucho tiempo atrás.

No había otra manera de subir o bajar, ni existía otra manera de acceder al edificio, era uno de los pocos que quedaba de pie casi intactos, daba un buen campo visual a lo que quedaba de la ciudad, de aquellos monstruosos edificios que de tiempo en tiempo se derrumban y la gente corre avariciosamente a saquear de todo el acero que pueden.

Llegando al tope del edificio recibió la bienvenida del portero, Otto, le decían, un hombre no muy musculoso pero con suficientes cicatrices para probar que no era cualquier hijo de puta con suerte, tenia las habilidades para sobrevivir y si fuera un poco mas inteligente también las tendría para manejar su destino, dependía, al igual que todos en el área, del intercambio en el Nodo, ahí donde se reunían todos a tomar algo que "todavía apendeje y no mate tanto o que si me mata sea mas rápido que un balazo", donde todavía se podían obtener algunos objetos en buen estado de los tiempos antes del cataclismo y donde de vez en cuando aparecían algunas cosas que cambiaban la suerte del que la tuviera, en el Nodo se podía cambiar todo por todo de igual manera y si la mente es suficientemente abierta y la moral escueta se podían pedir las mas asquerosas y pervertidas fantasías que todavía se pudieran realizar después del fin del mundo.

-¿Que llevas? Pregunto Otto con aquella miraba inquisitiva que le daba a todo mundo al entrar, de brazos cruzados, la piel de su chamarra tronaba y las pisadas de las botas hacían un eco pesado.

-Cosas para el intercambio. Que mas voy a llevar pendejo, pensó Miguel instintivamente y lo vio venir, un putazo que le saco el aire y lo poco que había comido en el día, la cabeza le daba vueltas, miraba destellos y puntos blancos y grises cruzando lentamente por su visión, los ojos llorosos, el estomago sumido, las piernas débiles y la garganta ardiendo, venas brincando de la frente y el cuello, hincado, usando la mano derecha para no caerse, sosteniendo su cuerpo, la mano izquierda cubriendo su estomago.

-Ahí te encargo el debido respeto, camarada. Si, también podía leer la mente, era uno de los raros que había nacido con el fin del mundo, algunos dicen que antes del fin ya existían pero que eran mucho mas raros que en estos tiempos, sea cual fuera el punto lo podía hacer y no había manera que nadie se pudiera defender de eso, especialmente cuando la privacidad mental era algo que todos daban por hecho.

-Si, como no. Respondió Miguel entre dientes, minutos después logro componerse, todavía con el dolor en la garganta, el estomago y el orgullo, paso rápidamente hacia la puerta de metal donde toco tres veces, una ranura casi a la altura de los ojos de Miguel se abrió, no se observaba nada del otro lado, oscuridad.

-¿Quien va? Pregunto una voz que sonaba ridícula, era suave pero quien fuera que hablara trataba de hacer que sonara mas profunda, forzandola mas alla de su tono habitual.

-Miguel. Respondió de manera cortante Miguel, aquí se iba a quedar una media hora si no apuraba a la persona.

-¿De donde viene? Pregunto nuevamente la voz, esta se había tardado mas o menos un minuto en responder, Miguel sabia que estaba leyendo de algún lado y le cansaba tener que esperar todo el proceso para entrar, especialmente después de lo que le había pasado.

-De afuera, no mamen ya dejen pasar.

-Esa no es la-- Miguel le dio una patada a la puerta lo cual provoco un suspiro largo de la persona que estuviera adentro, Otto avanzo rápidamente contra Miguel pero este rápidamente saco un revolver que apunto a Otto.

-Calmado, cabrón. Dijo Miguel a Otto, quien simplemente se quedo parado, el ojo izquierdo entre cerrado, parecía masticar algo, se lamia los labios y los dientes lentamente de derecha a izquierda y hacia algunos gestos como si fuera un simio, algunos ridículos, otros intimidaban, Miguel también había aprendido a mantener la mente en limpio en cualquier situación critica, esa había sido la herencia indirecta de las historias y encuentros que había tenido con Otto.

-Déjenlo pasar ya. Grito Otto, de la puerta se escucho metal chillando horriblemente, se abrió de golpe y una mujer portando un hacha y armadura hecha de placas de automóviles camino hacia Miguel quien fue tomado por sorpresa, su primera reacción fue cambiar de blanco pero decidió continuar apuntando a Otto por que en la jerarquía era el mas alto, era el que mas dolería su perdida y se se iba al menos quería hacer un desmadre para los que queden vivos, pensaba.

-Amanda, cero pedos. Otto le apunto a Amanda quien bajo el hacha lentamente, se movió a un lado de la puerta y dejo pasar a Miguel, Amanda era una figura de un metro y medio de alto, no tenia mucho musculo pero tampoco le costaba moverse con la armadura o blandir el hacha, otra que llevaba años de experiencia en lo que hacia y con quien no queria enfrentarse.

-Gracias mija. Miguel le lanzo a Amanda un beso y esta le miro con ojos de navaja, rápidamente alzo su hacha aunque ya para cuando se ponía en posición Miguel ya se había escapado en la oscuridad del pasillo, de paso le había dado un golpe a quien fuera que lo estuvo deteniendo con las estúpidas preguntas, tenia prisa, no faltaba mucho para que Abel se fuera.

Al final de aquel pasillo vio la luz, el Nodo era parte de una vieja nave industrial que fue adaptada con el tiempo por los que pasaron por ahí, la leyenda contaba que los trabajadores originales habían dado forma a lo que ahora era pero ninguno de ellos seguía vivo para confirmar. Viejos hornos industriales y las chimeneas daban lugar a conversaciones, encuentros y peleas, era el único lugar donde era seguro prender algo sin que el lugar se quemara por completo, especialmente con toda la basura que tiraban a las llamas que a veces creaban ligeras explosiones.

Una vieja barra de madera traída de algún bar fue adaptada para servir también como un lobby de bienvenida a nuevos visitantes o mercaderes, las reglas eran sencillas, todas las peleas se resolvían sin armas, podían ser a muerte y eso se resolvía en el ring de concreto.

La mercancía se intercambiaba en el almacén, las rentas de mesas o zonas para venta era dependiendo del espacio que se necesitara y la cantidad de objetos en venta, podía ser relativamente barato si lo que estaba en venta era necesario o de lo contrario deberían dejar buena parte de su mercancía o toda la mercancía, algunos mercaderes yacían muertos en alguna parte del Nodo y nadie se había tomado la molestia de enterrarlos, eran un recordatorio para todos en general de que la administración era dura y no se tentaba el corazón.

Miguel paso la barra, paso varios hornos, los mercaderes, llego con Abel, en el horno A7, poca luz, poca gente, lo reconoció de inmediato Abel y se paro rápidamente dando unos brinquitos, se inclino al frente para dar varias palmadas a un cojín que tenia sobre una caja de madera para conversar frente a frente, emocionado una vez que Miguel tomo asiento este le ofreció una copa de algo que no era necesariamente alcohol pero que tenia el mismo efecto.

-Bueno mijo dime, me tienes todo emocionado pues. Le dijo Abel con aquella voz ligeramente chillona y sensual, se comía las letras de pronto y hablaba barrido de pronto, el mismo se perdía en la emoción de sus palabras, la luz tenue hacia resaltar la falta de cabello en su cabeza o en el rostro, estaba ligeramente maquillado, las cejas inexistentes, unos tubos salían de su cuello y se insertaban en sus brazos, su ropa era una vieja camisa de un color que había llegado a ser un rojo tenue pero probablemente había sido un rojo mucho mas oscuro, unos pantalones cortados a nivel de la rodilla y botas que compensaban la falta de tela para cubrir el resto de sus piernas y pies -Me dijeron que te habían metido unos chingadazos allá afuera, mi pobre chiquillo.

El querer acariciar Abel a Miguel este se hizo ligeramente hacia atrás, Abel sonrió de oreja a oreja y alzo ambos ojos mientras suspiraba.

-Tengo lo que me pediste. Miguel tomo de su mochila una caja negra con dos seguros que abrían con una numeración de tres dígitos cada uno, Abel dejo su vaso rápidamente de lado y tomo la caja, paso sus manos lentamente por el borde hasta llegar a los números.

-Cual es la clave? Pregunto Abel emocionado, Miguel saco un pedazo de papel del bolsillo derecho de su pantalón y leyó en voz baja.

-Seguro izquierdo, nueve siete tres, seguro derecho, seis uno seis. Abel rápidamente acomodo las ruedas en los números. indicados y libero los seguros, abrió parcialmente la caja para observar su contenido y con una enorme sonrisa y ojos que salían de su órbita asintió rápidamente.

-Muy bien chiquillo, muy bien, así me gusta. Abel cerro lentamente la caja, una sonrisa juguetona en su rostro, dejo de lado la caja y cruzo las piernas, manos descansando en la rodilla derecha, inclinado hacia el frente. -¿Que vamos a querer?

-Lo de siempre, pero que estas vez valga la pena. Respondió Miguel, Abel movió la cabeza de un lado a otro mientras hacia bailar sus ojos en elipse de izquierda a derecha.

-Hmm, siempre vale la pena. Abel puso su dedo indice derecho debajo de su nariz, en medio, se quedo así por un momento y camino hacia la mesa donde tenia la botella del liquido que le había servido a Miguel, de ahí tomo capsulas transparentes con un liquido viscoso de color oscuro.

-Lo mejor para mi niño bien portado. Abel le entrego las capsulas a Miguel quien de inmediato las guardo, se arrepintió ya que había guardado las capsulas y tomo una de vuelta, de su mochila saco una pistola con una ranura circular, la capsula entro rápidamente y Miguel la puso en la parte derecha de su cuello, sobre la vena, jalo el gatillo y ahí recibió la descarga de nano-maquinas que le mantenían con vida del cáncer que no lo dejaba ni lo dejaría, las nano-maquinas no estaban diseñadas para durar lo suficiente, vivía como rehén de lo que Abel le pudiera entregar y si es que le podía entregar en el momento.

Miguel cerro los ojos y se perdió en la oscuridad rápidamente en la oscuridad, una noche mas sin aquel dolor que difícilmente le dejaba vivir.

Dementia

There was nothing left during the intervention, the attack had gone through so well that they had cleaned throughly with incredible precision.

It was not common for them, what they had asked them to do was out of their jurisdiction and clearly their boss had been forced into this by the powers that be, far beyond him and everyone else in the department.

The door creaked.

Uneasiness was all around them, the investigation was not going through as planned, they had little to put on record and with anxious hands the typewriter flew, then stopped, a pair of letters, going back and forth, nothing could come out of his mind to fully put the report into motion.

What was he going to tell the chain of command, that his team had lost half the men to an unrecognizable form which they could not hurt with their weapons, he would be considered a mad man if that was the case; if he was to consider writing so far fetched he needed solid evidence but there was nothing to put on the pedestal for him not to take the blame, a horrendous splash of memories flashed through his eyes, blasts coming out from guns all around him, handguns were ineffective, shotguns only seemed to enrage it and the Thompsons did nothing, not a dent, could not and would not force it back and everything happened in split seconds.

Then they arrived, he had never seen them before but he was certainly glad they had reached them, one of them fired at the thing and it squirmed and bellowed hard, one of the "arms" dropped furiously on the agents and he was gone, forever, no, he was not dead per say, he simply was not there anymore as if he had been sucked out of this reality; they continued their assault on the thing, two of them protected the fourth member, he looked old and weary but his eyes flashed with incredible strength.

Then it happened, I was aloof.

In a strange tongue he mumbled, nothing I had ever heard before could be compared to whatever is it that he said, let alone none of them had ever produced such a response, the ceiling and ground cracked open, wood and plaster coming undone as if they were nothing, some bricks became dust and finally that, whatever it was, had released one final scream that pierced my ears, blood coming out of the left one, I instinctively covered my eyes for I assumed it would explode.

It didn't, everything was in order again, the remaining agents and me looked around in confusion, the four men were gone just as they had arrived, nothing made sense but I knew I had no seen things, I was right, I knew something had happened... I remember now.

"Guard, guard!" The man screamed, it took a while for the eventual screaming to receive an answer, a set of eyes came from the small opening on the metal door. "Guard, I know what happened, I know it, yes, it was that thing that made this to me, please, I need to see the Doctor"

The eyes moved to the left and there was a nod, the door opened up with effort and after the cacophony it produced had stopped the man looked in horror at two guards coming at him with a third man holding a small syringe with his right hand, ready to jab it at him as soon as the guards had restrained him.

"No, no, please don't, I know the truth, I know what happened, I need to speak with the Captain!"

"Calm down Frederick, everything will be alright, it is just another nightmare" The man pronounced as the guards held down the man in dementia. "Remember, you have been here for too long, you still think it happened yesterday but it has been quite some time, a decade at least, remember the other Doctor, Frederick?"

"Please, I need to speak with the Captain" The man with the syringe sighed as he approached the man, he delivered a jab at him and slowly released the liquid inside for him to calm down.

"There Frederick, now remain calm and remember that you are here until we can get you back into this reality"

The man smiled, the door creaked.

This is a test.

This is a test.

Apparently the keys don't skip anymore for whatever reason.

This typewriter was made somewhere in Yugoslavia.

Does the red ribbon work. Apparently so, it does work.

There is a mental block right now, funny, you get near this thing and all of a sudden inspiration goes away.

---

This is a story. No, esta es una historia pero no tu típica historia, cuento, mito o leyenda. Esto no es una prueba tampoco, las alarmas de emergencia o el código de emergencia no ha sonado en la radio ni en la televisión, sion, sion, que late en tu corazón, pero si debes poner much a atención por que si no pierdes el avión. Esta es la historia de una canción que se fue volando rápido sin mucha intención por medio de la puerta del ojo de tu meditación, no perdida, encontrada, desvaneciéndose en tus dedos, en tu piel, en tu alma, sin mas camino que el de un valle donde la esperanza de los 300 corazones que cuidas como el ultimo regalo de Dios, vigilar y castigar sin discreción, de valle en valle y de trecho en trecho, de pueblo en pueblo y trinchera a trinchera, con fusil en mano y unn ramo de rosas en el otro, listo para la t area mas difícil de todas, la de fungir como juez y condicionador moral de todo lo que te rodea, un peso mucho may or qu e el de atlas en sus h ombros, siendo poco h ablar del universo y apenas siendo comprendido por el logos y la psyche en nu eve elevaciones, perdidas en tu interior y en los interiores donde te desdoblas, subiendo por la escalera perdida de las tribus, la de los hermanos. Del altar donde se entregoola primera ofensa a la humanidad; atención damas y caballeros que se perdió el tren, si lo encuentran se lo quedan y si lo regresan no se les dará nada mas que las gracias y solo si lo entrega en once a punto de las doce si no se les rebanara la mandarina en g ajos, atención, atención, que el circo va a empezar y la pera que da vueltas corre a todo vapor, ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, todos nos partimos en dos.

El contrato

-¿Donde escribimos con sangre?

-No sea payaso mijo, no es un contrato con el diablo.

-Pues así como la deja caer usted la neta hasta parece que quiere que le deje mi casa, mi pickup, mi perro y mi vieja. Si se quiere quedar con mi vieja no hay pedo por cierto.

-No gracias, paso sin ver.

-¿Bueno, entonces como nos encontramos?

-Ahí esta el contrato, ya le dije

-Si jefe pero con cada palabra me mete un clavo en el corazón, no me chingue si de por si uno ya le ve la jeta a la muerte ahora parece que también quiere que le bese el chorizo.

-No sea dramático y panchero mijo, ya le dije que si quiere levantar este changarro necesita entrarle duro a los putazos. ¿Quiere seguir de gato toda la vida? Imagínese vivir a toda madre en una casa en la Condesa, codeándose con la realeza, nombre, con un carrazo del año y unas viejas que dice uno, nombre que envidia este pendejo. Otra huella mi buen.

-Si pereme, déjeme le pongo el pie en el freno por que usted me lo pinta bien guapo pero creo que lo que va a pasar es que me va a dejar en calzones.

-Ese pensamiento mediocre es lo que hace de este país lo que es, arriesgese, tome la batuta y orale a darle recio pa'delante.

-Deme quebrada de hablar con mi vieja por que la nube esta chida pero no quiero cagarla y dejar a mis hijos miando mis restos y maldiciéndome de aquí a la santa eternidad.

-El contrato es de ya, eh. Si no lo hace ahorita yo encuentro otro wey chiludo y lo subo al barco.

-Ay cabrón... bueno, ¿donde firmo?

Buda

"Ningún hombre puede cruzar el mismo río dos veces, porque ni el hombre ni el agua serán los mismos." - Heráclito el Oscuro

Perdido en un enorme bosque se encontraba sentada una figura sobre una piedra plana larga donde cabia perfectamente, cruzado de piernas, con los ojos cerrados, las manos descansando suavemente entre sus piernas y sosteniendo la una a la otra como si esperara algo, la espalda recargada en un gigantesco arbol del cual no se podia distinguir bien donde terminaba la copa y que le cubria con suficiente sombra para el resto del dia, este le aportaba un beneficio adicional, tenia un campo de vision completa de sus alrededores y suficiente luz para dinstinguir lo que se aproximara.

En aquel hermoso silencio lo unico que podia escuchar esa su respiracion y, si se concentraba lo suficiente, el latir de su corazón, fue de sorpresa cuando el silencio fue quebrantado por el movimiento de agua, Siddharta, aun recargado en el arbol y sentado en la piedra, abrio los ojos lentamente para examinar con detalle en lago y captar rapidamente el petalo de una rosa que navegaba por la superficie, pequeñas olas avanzaban lenta pero marcadamente desde el centro de esta y se perdian cada vez que una nueva nacia.

No desespera, cierra los ojos y se deja llevar, escucha con detenemiento el cambio que se sucita e inhala lentamente, absorbe el cambio que destruye el orden viejo del lago y en si mismo, acepta sin resistir el cambio que se ha creado y en cuanto escucha parar las ondas exhala para dejar salir todo aquello que alguna vez fue el y que ya no es mas.

Udan Mijaari

Imperial Police Force Sergeant Udan Mijaari sat on one of the lobby waiting chairs, smoking one of his cheap cigarettes and reading old magazines; he had been ordered by the commissioner to travel all the way from Ateria, the capital of the occupational force on Neera, to the Capitol of the Empire for an important interview.

To him it meant nothing but another boring desk job... one which would probably suit him better than his current one. He started working as an Officer twelve years ago and before that he had participated in three wars, none of them had provoked him to smoke or drink as much as his current job forced him to and neither had they caused gastroenteritis, chronic depressions or migraine.

The building he currently awaited inside was old, probably as old as the Imperial Palace, the Senate or the Office of Internal Affairs. In part it looked like some sort of ancient archive but there were clues provided that it doubled as some sort of operation center since he noticed vehicles were constantly leaving and arriving.

Whatever was to come couldn’t be worse than his current job he kept thinking, just a matter of time before he either broke down or made gold, he thought, and sighed.

“Mister Mijaari?” A soft voice came from the lobby desk where a petit albino woman sat. “We are ready to receive you, please step forward”

With a heavy sigh he dropped the magazine on the table and crushed the cigarette on the ashtray he had managed to fill to the top. His movements were slow and as he walked he passed his right hand all over his face onto the back of his head which pounded constantly telling him another one of his migraine sessions was coming soon, medicine was no longer taking effect and he suspected that doctors would tell him that it was either experimental therapy or he would have to become a guinea pig for new medications, either one terrified him more than being shot, one was a choice, the other wasn't.

“Remove all weapons and place them on the desk please” Distrust quickly populated the thoughts of Udan, back at the station he never had to remove his weapons.

“I would rather not if you don’t mind”

“I would not mind but there is a no weapon policy in the office you’re about to visit” Udan did not want to push the issue, his mind rapidly filled with thoughts about why they would not allow him to carry a gun to where he was going, he was certain whoever was receiving him would be armed and it worried him that it was about some sort of secret project involving genetics or some sort of experiment, he had heard about them while in the army and had his doubts all the time but being injected with strange chemicals during some of his time in the army did put heavy doubt about what was it that they were injecting on him, he never believed those were vaccines that they needed or vitamins or whatever lie the doctors on the field tried to sell them. The other side of him wanted him to push the issue and get through with what he wanted but reason took over him quickly, having being incarcerated and beaten up for misconduct had been a common thing of the past for him, death squad and execution squad assignment had showed him how precious life could really be, the horrors of war had definitely left an impression on him that he could never forget.

“Then take care of them” Udan removed the three handguns he always carried with him on his shoulder, leg and hip, the albino woman nodded, opened one of the drawers on her desk and placed the three handguns inside then once she closed the drawer looked back at Udan with a smile. “Can I pass now?”

“Close quarter weapons too, please” He tried to play fool on it but to no avail, Udan had to let go his Imperial Blade, an eight inch carbon steel knife with the Imperial Brand engraved on the side, a memory of his past days in the army. Once he was clear of all his weapons the woman pointed at a door to the right side of Udan. “You may pass, please take the right hallway then turn left and proceed until you reach the end”

He followed through with the orders they had given him but to his surprise he eventually reached a dead end, at first sight this is how it looked but through examination revealed that the floor had gone through continued abuse of heavy foot traffic and no matter how sparking clean they tried to keep it anyone who paid enough attention to it would notice, this rapidly led him to assume the wall he was looking at was fake, some sort of cover for a secret door.

His suspicions were confirmed when an alarm rang from behind the wall which in turn slid to the right to reveal a vault door opening towards the inside, two figures dressed in suits stood in the vault room, assault rifles at hand, waiting for Udan to move.

“Step inside Citizen” Called one of them.

---

Imperial Police Sergeant Udan Mijaari sat on an opulent office decorated with many framed recognitions from people he had never heard before or symbols from organizations he had never seen. The desk was of ancient production as it looked unlike his or any other he had seen before, on the top sat many papers, two bottles of whiskey, empty, and another one already half gone with a glass sitting next to it; a bag of ice sat on top of what looked like a small tray with a small tarp covering it.

Behind the desk sat the most impressive of all things, a Draconian that stood taller than him, was of a heavier build and constantly snored and whizzed. His dark red eyes pierced Udan as if he was reading his mind and soul, for the first time since the wars he felt terrified at the sight of another living being.

“Imperial Police Sergeant Udan Mijaari” The Draconian stopped after every word for just a bare second as if he was trying to catch air then proceeded to look at some papers on the right side of his desk. “Or should I say Imperial Master Udan Mijaari?”

“That title is only for war times, sir” Udan wasn’t sure who he was talking to exactly but he decided not pass up any chances of brown nosing to him or at least avoiding getting his ass chewed by someone he barely knew, at this point he assumed the person in front of him was part of the Imperial family or somehow connected to them which meant also that he should thread carefully lest he found himself on the gallows.

“We have always been at war here and on the colonies, Master Udan, so the title is and should always be used under any circumstances, that you may show modesty in its use is up to you” He kept reading through the papers which up until now hadn’t caused any surprise to Udan. What called his attention from it was that there were no computers or any other electronic devices inside the office, he was probably speaking to someone from the ancient guard of the Empire, that as usual did not care to pick up with time, but how ancient that wasn’t clear to him and this worried him furthermore, he could be talking to a veteran of a thousand wars. “Three wars, no decorations, barely managed to get a honorary discharge, sentenced more times to prison and solitary confinement that I would dare read or count... served in Death Squad 193rd?”

Udan sensed the disbelief and surprise on those words and he himself would have done the same thing, Death Squad 193rd was a sort of myth and legend intermixed with strange beliefs, he had served there as a last choice for redemption and with nothing to lose he pushed forward, little did he ever know that the reality behind the 193rd was far more terrifying that the majority could ever understand, political criminals, serial killers, psychopaths, criminals from all the corners of the Empire with no regards to race, social class, sex, economical status or education, the 193rd was formed from some of the most ruthless criminals to have ever existed and to make matters far more interesting none of them existed, the Empire erased everything that ever existed about the individuals coming into the 193rd and made them ghosts. In regards to the 193rd it was a suicidal squadron, left to their own devices in extreme conditions it was do or die, escape was almost impossible in most circumstances, few had managed to make it out alive of assignment to the 193rd, Udan Mijaari was one of them.

“Anything wrong, sir?”

“These credentials would not get you far in civilian life, I am surprised you didn't decide to rejoin the army or look for other opportunities in the field like PMC work. I am also surprised you made it out alive of a Death Squad, I have only heard of three cases of survival so far, not the names anyway but I think you would be the fourth one”

“I don't consider it an honor, sir”

“Neither do I but it talks about you, surviving a Death Squad means gambling with death and winning with an all-in. Where did you serve with the 193rd?”

“Terratona, Apivera, The Claw, Hill 1120, Apacea--” As he spoke the words slurred out of his mouth, something had been triggered on him and it came with a horrible feeling of dread and horror, it first started with tunnel vision, agitation, fast breathing, a chest that felt as if something was going to jump out of it, rapid desperation coupled with memories from his times during the war were putting him on edge faster than usual, the figure in front of him remained silent, watching him, only watching. Udan leaned forward, both hands trembling, then observed the figure behind the desk and it came back to him, at first he had his doubts, he knew he had seen the dragon in front of him somewhere before, if memory didn't fail him he was speaking to his former commander. “Colonel Gimbolt?”

“Took you long enough you fucking psychopath” Gimbolt threw the documents over the desk and served himself a tall glass from the remaining bottle.

“I thought you were dead” The memories kept rushing through him, the pain of losing his comrades, the horror of going through hails of bullets and artillery, of land mines and bombs, taking fortified position after fortified position, trench systems and mud banks. “You asshole, do you know how many dead I saw?”

“That is irrelevant for the peace of the Empire, what surprises me is that you are still alive, Udan, I thought you had gone down at Apacea or Hill 1120” Gimbolt took a long swing from the glass, grimaced and served himself to the brim in order to finish the content of the bottle. “No matter, we are a happy family again now aren't we?”

“No, of course not, you just called ma a psychopath and I figured you haven't seen yourself in a mirror for a while” Gimbolt laughed at Udan then took another swing from the glass, he placed the glass down and grimaced then sighed heavily.

“You have them too don't you, the tremors?” Udan was coming down from it when Gimbolt mentioned it to him, the tremors was a common nickname for post-traumatic stress disorder caused from the last wars, for the last twenty years Udan had been facing them without much assistance from the Imperial Administration or Army, it was a sort of taboo subject and civilian reaction was that of confusion, the Empire had always made it clear that soldiers were true heroes, undefeated, invincible, to say otherwise was the equivalent of death. “Can't sleep at night, anxiety, pills, alcohol, fucking, going into a deep trance, looking for a way to forget everything”

“By Mazer, Gimbolt I...” Udan stopped, he felt as if he was going to break down crying but resisted with all his might, with all his heart, willpower wasn't enough to stop tears from rolling down. “It was suicide and I made it out, so many gave their lives for me and I am here, twenty years later with nothing to prove to them that I have lived a half-decent life, is this what the Empire wanted?”

“The Empire doesn't care, we are as expandable as the rest of them, they are their own demise actively and passively” Gimbolt took another swing from the glass in front of him then lit up a cigar for himself from a box he kept on a drawer to the right, before stashing them he decided to offer one to Udan who, with a confused look, took it and lit it up. Those were tense seconds, almost as if they were an eternity, Udan knew something was wrong with Gimbolt too but he couldn't understand why he was so condescending now when he had been a monster during his service. “Why was it again that they sent you to the 193rd?”

“You know why they sent me” Gimbolt was opening old wounds for Udan, he continued to escape his past at every turn, not with Gimbolt.

“I forgot why you were on the one nine three, if my memory doesn't fail me they nicknamed you the green hearse, right?” Gimbolt looked devilishly at Udan who in turn sighed and nodded slowly. Udan was nicknamed the Green Hearse by his unit due to his violent behavior in the battlefield, he was sadistic and cruel, enemies cowered in terror as he walked to them but artillery didn't, you can't fear what you can't see and neither did mines or snipers, hidden all from Udan they had taught him a valuable lesson, you can't kill what you can't see and from there on he adapted and overcame the enemies of the Empire, being one of the few survivors of the massacre at Hill 1120 and repeating the feat at the defense of Apacea. He was a legend of sorts amongst soldiers who called themselves “hot shit” and totally unknown to the general population of the Empire, even to the enemies he remained a figured shrouded in shadows, but someone had probably been smart enough to leave something behind in order to track him down for Gimbolt.

“Why am I here?” Resigned to his current situation and smoking from the cigar he leaned back into the chair and let his figure sit properly, Gimbolt looked on a drawer to his left and pulled a bottle and another glass, one that was clean enough for Udan to see through, which he placed in front of Udan and served to the top. “Bottoms?”

“Bottoms” Gimbolt served himself again and both drank everything in a single swing, they grimaced, Udan thought at first he was drinking grain alcohol but the slight taste of the whiskey hit him after a while and then his stomach rumbled furiously, if he didn't drop dead in the following five minutes he would be fine, he thought. “Why here, because you were recommended”

“Recommended for what?” Udan coughed a couple of times as he spoke then spat onto the glass for a minute roughly while he tried to get the taste out of his mouth.

“You get used to it after a while; recommended for a position at NIDO”

“And NIDO stands for?”

“National Internal Defense Organization. Created by Emperor Dracontyr himself as a means of defense against traitors and infiltrators, we began to exist around the same time the Empire was barely learning how to shit in its own pants and still sucking on a teat”

“What, how big is this operation?”

“The Empire is our field of operations, we move wherever and whenever they need us, we are always conscious of what happens throughout the underground, we know who is who and who does what at any given time, this is the power that NIDO”

“Hard to believe” Udan laughed at the thought of something of such magnitude, for something to exist for so long there should be some sort of awareness throughout the population.

“You have been living at Complex 37th, Floor 322nd, Apartment 12, currently you live with another officer who you are mentoring, a process which has barely gone for a week now, you have had seven sexual encounters this week without any sort of protection, you have two newborns of which you are not aware of” Gimbolt made a dramatic pause and it had effect on Udan, he shook his head in a rapid motion and raised his right index finger which he waved.

“No, no, no, I don't have any newborns--” Gimbolt took out a folder from his right side and started placing photos on the desk one by one, they depicted Udan in different locations, walking on the street as a civilian, dressed as an officer, having dinner with a friend, getting a prostitute to get in his car, buying drugs from a dealer at a restaurant he frequented, visiting families and friends, some he could not even remember, Gimbolt eventually dropped the last photo and then left the folder on the left side, Udan went slowly through some of them and with the photos raised at sight level he looked at them with his mouth wide open. “What?”

“We know everything, when we need to monitor someone we do it in such a way that you are never aware of what is happening, we call this subject inclusion”

“Subject inclusion, inclusion to what?”

“In time you will learn that, well if you wish to join us first of all”

“I can't honestly say I am intrigued about this, I am terrified that something like this has existed for so long without anyone outside of a designated group becoming aware of this”

“Because that is the beauty of it, no one knows we exist and no one would believe we exist, we do our work and go unnoticed”

“And what have you done?”

“We recently stopped the separatist rebellion at Neera”

“What rebellion?” Asked Udan surprised as he leaned back

“Exactly” Gimbolt grinned as he served himself another glass. “What rebellion?”

“That's...” Udan was speechless, while he could discard this immediately as crazy talk the air around Gimbolt told him he was telling the truth, he wanted to know how but at the same time he wanted to get out of there and get his memory erased just like he wished so many times before but now more than ever.

“So, tell me” Gimbolt drank from his glass and cleaned his nose with care. “Before I insist on you joining NIDO, how is it that you made it out alive at Hill 1120?”

“That's a long story” Udan was triggered by the words again, the visions of war flooded him rapidly as he felt the cold mud over his skin, his face resting on the side next to a pool of muddy water and blood, staring at the corpse of one of his comrades in the 193rd. “Very long”

“I have time, you have time, what is the problem?”

“If you insist, I have time then”

“Let's go further back, why the fuck did you ever join the army. You are not army material and surprisingly enough you made it out”

“Volunteered”

“Now this is a story I most definitely want to hear”

0019

Classified Area. Codename: Green Hell

The factory bustled with activity, it had been abandoned for years until a group belonging to a rebel faction found it with the old machinery still in workable condition, slowly it became an outpost and by the end of that same year it was one of their main operation centers, people working left and right to manufacture and load supplies, weapons and ammunitions into small vehicles parked on the old docking bays, the officers coordinating troops from the old offices on the second floor and a small team dedicated to communications and code breaking.

A radio signal from a nearby dropship had been intercepted, the codebreaker team had to rapidly work their way through encryption and get as much information before being cut off or found out.

"TY-1 here, unit 0019 has been deployed" Said a soft voice, the sound of turbines roaring could be heard on the background, quickly there was a reply.

"Understood TY-1, report back to base, operation commencing for unit 0019" Said a second voice, the voice faint and full of static.

"Roger, I am coming under heavy fire. Permission to engage?" Asked the pilot

"TY-1 you are authorized for to fire on will, give them one thousand brands of hell" Said the second voice

"Roger, TY-1 out" The pilot and the other operator went off the line.

"Sir!" The man who had intercepted the conversation rapidly finished writing it down on a piece of paper and handed it to a Lieutenant who had just approached him. The Lieutenant wore, as the rest of the troops, civilian clothing adapted for their situation, there was no rank visible anywhere except for a white star on the cap the man wore, the symbol of their rebellion.

"Where are they now?" Asked the Lieutenant as he speed through the conversation

"They just finished their communication sir. No locations were given, the only clear statement was the deployment of a unit" Replied the man who had intercepted the conversation

"Where?" Asked the Lieutenant

"I don't know sir, no information about it was given either" Replied the man and got slapped by the Lieutenant

"Useless!" Said the Lieutenant and returned to a table in the middle of the room where other officers sat, most of them were only losing their time there having conversations, joking or gossiping, smoking or having something to eat, their dedication was to themselves and no one else. Outside, just a mere feet away, was a different story. The people working outside went through excruciating shifts of sixteen to twenty hours a day non-stop, sleeping was a luxury they could not afford and if working a twenty four hour shift was possible they would be doing it, supplies were always on short stock, scavengers had to go further and further away into the nearby towns and cities for material, going on foot had gone from an hour or two to entire days, food was another problem, with not enough around of them to go they had to relay on crops which the surrounding area could not properly sustain due to the drought the region was currently going through, mining, while possible, was out of the question as it was too dangerous to proceed with the original deep mining operation that was going there before the civil war and without enough personnel, fuel and people with the knowledge to operate the machinery it would be pointless to restart it, the idea of a smaller mining operation was tentatively put into operation but without proper tools it became obvious it would take too long to get enough material. Additionally the nearby front was draining them of everything on a daily basis, it was reaching the point where command had to put into consideration if it was viable to keep their front here or if they had to accept being pushed back and take the machinery with them.

While all of this happened the nearby front had stalled at a major city some twenty miles away, neither forces was making any progress and while limited in resources the rebels made due with that they had, tenacity wasn’t something they were missing and neither was ingenuity. Their well applied guerrilla tactics served their purpose in this environment, retreating was very common for them but only after they had managed to disable some important objective or harassed the enemy long enough for them to reposition or try and chase them.

One of those groups was returning back to their current safehouse, a blown out three story building from which they used the basement, and were taking quick considerations as to what was the best route for said purpose.

"Through the back alley, lets go" Said the Sergeant as their team had stopped at an intersection.

"Sir, we could easily be ambushed through the back alley" Said a Corporal who was catching his breath

"We are not going back through the same street, they probably have it figured out by now which means an artillery run that will easily tear us apart" Replied the Sergeant as he eyed the other streets and possible routes.

"Sir, with all due respect, if we go through that back alley we may not make it out alive, we have better options going through an open street where we can rapidly find cover than a small alley" Said the Corporal

"Corporal we have twenty seven men left and from those seven are injured, we need to get out of here and we need to do it now" Replied the Sergeant who was becoming noticeable angry.

"Sergeant come on, be reasonable, we need to find another way, what about the top floors?" Asked the Corporal

"We could try and pull something on the top floors but not with the injured men and I am not leaving anyone behind" Replied the Sergeant

"What about a distraction?" Asked the Corporal

"I doubt we can make a distraction that bit for the artillery spotters, I am not willing to risk it anyway since they could just barrage the entire area. At this point we are lucky to not have been blasted away" Said the Sergeant

"Well no shit, sir..." Said the Corporal who took a big swing from his canteen until there was no more, he froze right there as he felt something cold on the back of his head "Sergeant?"

"Yeah?" Asked the Sergeant who was busy checking the map, he did not turn to watch the Corporal.

"What the hell do I have on the back of my head?" Asked the Corporal who began to raise his hands and in turn was given the full attention of the Sergeant.

"Holy shit--" The Sergeant had tried to act quick, his right hand had reached for his main weapon and now his right hand was stock to grip of the weapon by a large dark protruding from the top of his hand, the Sergeant immediately panicked trying to get the dart out, the Corporal closed his eyes and began to breath rapidly while whispering -This isn’t happening-

"Please" Said a soft voice coming from behind the Corporal. "Avoid making this any more complicated"

"Sir, stop freaking out and give me a hand!" Demanded the Corporal as he began to grit his teeth

"When I get this fucking thing out of my hand I will stop freaking out!" Yelled the Sergeant as he continued to pry the dart out.

"Try not to make a mess Sergeant, you will die relatively quick if you miss" Said the voice. "And you too Corporal"

"Wait, why--" The Corporal peered to the left and with horror saw the rest of his unit on the ground, necks broken, heads in odd positions, arms and legs as if they were rag dolls, blood still spilling out of some of the bodies, dead eyes everywhere "Oh shit"

"Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword, so sad for the young ones though, they could have served another purpose" Said the voice coming from behind the Corporal

"You monster" Said the Sergeant as he began to loosen up the dart, as soon as he managed to remove it he could feel his hand warm, blood slowly pouring out from the wound which the Sergeant immediately clogged with some pieces of cloth.. "Taking away their right to live a free life"

"I am not the monster Sergeant, I am a solution to a problem that has been going on for too long. You and all your people, on the other hand, are the ones that wish to continue fighting, pointless" Said the voice.

"You won't win, whoever you are, we will get our freedom" Said the Corporal

"Freedom to oppress others is just the continuation of a vicious cycle, you do not see it right now but you are the seed for another civil war waiting to take place in a few decades, just like those who you are fighting right now, so the question is, how long before you become that which you so ardently fight?" Said the voice

"You can--" The Sergeant tried to raise his weapon but it was useless, his right arm slowly went numb and rapidly his shoulder and neck followed, the Sergeant dropped to his knees trying to say something but he could only mumble incoherently until he dropped down with his tongue out, swollen, and eyes rolling up as his body slowly became a swollen purple mass.

"Ah shit" The Corporal, traumatized by the sight, could only thing of how he would die. “If you are going to kill me please do it fast”

"Answer me a three questions and I will grant you that" Asked the voice

"OK, what’s the question?" Asked the Corporal

"First, where is your Headquarter?" Asked the voice, the Corporal hesitated for a second, sweat running down his forehead as he stared at the blob that now was his former commanding officer.

"An abandoned factory twenty miles south of this city, the map on the Sergeant will reveal the location" Replied the Corporal

"How many?" Asked the voice

"A hundred or two at the most right, the operation used to be bigger. You may find some vehicles too with weapons and ammunition caches" Replied the Corporal.

"Final question, how many people do you have in the streets right now?" Asked the voice

"I honestly would not know that, we don’t keep communication with each other but taking a shot at the dark I would say at least one thousand troops" Replied the Corporal

"Good" Said the voice and then there was silence.

The Doctor

Space Station Antioch, Orbiting Uninhibited planet

"We have made rather interesting discoveries in our latest batch" Said a man wearing a transparent lab coat with a black uniform underneath. He walked a group of what looked like first year students to a room he called, "The Incubator, here we breed and raise our subjects"

"How long does it take to breed and raise a test subject?" Asked one of the younger students.

"We take around a month at most, two is the farthest acceptable time period for the subject to achieve self-awareness. Once they begin to do most basic interactions we commence the induction process" The man approached the door and it opened revealing a room filled with at least five hundred small metallic tubes, ordered in several lines, connected to their network sentient computer that analyzed every single input from the test subjects. "Right now we are running only half of our tubes due to a lack of subjects but we await to have the rest by the end of our planetary cycle"

"Professor" Another young man, blond haired, rose a hand which was immediately lowered as the man placed his on the man. "I mean, Doctor Helger"

"Never forget. I am a Doctor not a Professor, I don't follow nor would I ever follow any of the academic methods or procedures, to follow through with the established paradigm is to eventually die a fool, we must push boundaries, never mind the academy and the government funding this project, ignore their lackeys, the hunt-hounds and the political trash that dare step into our station, they are only a mean to reach the true objective” The young man remained silent for a second wondering if he should say anything at all. "Their little minds lack the power to understand what the true power of becoming a God means, for them it is only an economical gain or a tactical superiority, it sickens me” The Doctor clenched his fists as he looked to the ceiling and began breathing in a controlled pattern. “I am sorry about that, could you repeat the question again?” Seeing no answer from the student the Doctor berated him immediately “Come on I don't bite, I may be angry most of the time but ignore that, it is part of being me. What was it that you wanted to know?"

"Well, I wanted to know about the current batch of subjects, has at anytime any of the subjects become fully aware of what is going around him?"

"As in?"

"Have they awakened?"

"A very Interesting question you just brought up. To this point we haven't had a subject that has achieved such thing but we are also speaking about subjects that have never been--" The station suddenly quaked as if it had been hit by something. "Hercules, report"

"Hercules on-line. The source of the impact is located in the thruster A, it is unknown at this point what hit us, nothing was reported on sub-space scanners" Reported an almost Human voice but still revealed the taint of a mechanical being. "At this point no security or emergency deployment is necessary as per current damage assessment, the Chief of Security and the Chief of Engineering have both been informed of this incident to investigate further"

"Good Hercules. Thanks for the report, keep me informed of the development"

"Hercules off-line"

"That is our advanced defense system, also a prototype from the early days of the station, he has been assigned to protect us ever since we released it to the station and now has reached a point where it also runs the experiments of this station, at this rate it will not be necessary to have human interaction with Hercules when our first batch is released into a protected environment"

"Hercules on-line. Doctor Helger I will advice you to--" The signal crackled and went out for a second. "Please proceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." Slowly the voice began to get deeper and to fade away to the point where it died.

"Hercules, Hercules?" The Doctor walked past by the students and when trying to enter the room where the super computer was located the door wouldn't open. "Damn. Well I think our tour for today just ended and I just hope security has--"

Lights went off on the station together with the life support system, everything slowly stopped around them and with it panic slowly grew with it, panic turned into horror when the emergency systems did not go off-line and the group found itself floating in a cold hallway, struggling to breath. From both ends of the hallways horrible squeals could be heard, metal being ripped apart and something breaking down, machines and glass. to ensue when the backup system was not coming on-line and when horrible squeals could be heard from both ends of the hallway.

"Everyone remain calm" The Doctor, holding from a side bar next a window looking at the planet, awaited for security or engineering to do something about the situation, it worried him that he had seen no answer yet and was fearful that they would not survive whatever was coming at them, specially with the squealing becoming louder and no gunshots around them. "Damn..."

Suddenly one of the doors on the hallway opened and a massive figure appeared on the frame, it was someone from security as the Doctor recognized the mechanical sounds of a power armor, when it walked into their sight it became apparent that the situation was worse than he had thought, the armor had been terribly damaged with cables coming out of the left side of the torax, the left shoulder and upper arm missing, the top part of the helmet ripped apart by something that looked like a claw and a clank and buzz coming from both legs. The eyes on the armor pulsed with a bloody red and analyzed the surrounding area until they found the Doctor.

"Doctor Helger" The voice, a mechanical dead voice, came from the armor, the Doctor was not sure who the person was, he had doubts he was part of the security team to begin with. "You are coming with me"

"Who are you?” Asked the Doctor with a low tone of voice

“Salvation” The mechanical voice echoed as the squealing and destruction approached them ever faster. “There is little time left for you to come with me”

What if I don't!" The man pointed his rifle at the group of students. "No, wait, stop it, what do you think you are doing?"

"Leaving a bait for those things, they are not a priority or of anyones interest” Red and yellow lights lit up on the hallway and slowly life support systems picked back up, the Doctor took a deep breath and looked again at the power armor. “Doctor, you have little time to choose and if I can't take you willingly I will do it by force”

“Fine, fine, don't hurt them” Light violently returned to the hallway and with it came a moment of blindness.

“We must prepare”

"Prepare for what?" The readjustment to light took longer than what the Doctor had expected, as he slowly picked up his vision he saw in horror at the body armor, the damages he had seen with the poor lightning was nothing compared to the reality of the power armor, scrap metal was the correct word for it, furthermore no one was inside the suit, the suspicions of the Doctor were slowly being confirmed, the impact had probably been a drop pod full of automated suits that were looking for him. From the open door came more of the suits and service robots that had probably been reprogrammed as they now held weaponry. The body armor extended the left arm toward the open door. "Please, proceed"

“Don't do anything stupid” The Doctor said while facing the machine and walking to the door, the message had been intended for the students but they did not listen, instead the students tried to push through and run, the Doctor was in shock as the machines rapidly worked their way through the feeble attempts of the students to go through them and soon there were only pieces of them laying around, flesh and bone ripped apart, sinew and organs littering the ground, the machines had no heart and seek only the best way to resolve an issue and by their calculations this would avoid them any additional quarrel with whatever was coming to them for long enough for them to get out.

"You retarded mongoloids, this will not go unpunished, Earth will respond to this violation--" The powered armor pushed the Doctor through the open door and quickly through the hallway until they reached a door with a the emblem of a cog and a triskelion. "The Empire of the Machines, really?"

"Doctor Helger you are of interest to the Empire of the Machine, this is why we have come this far to include you in our current set of plans" The mechanical voice rang through the hallway and as soon as he had finished the door with the emblem opened, inside a cryogenic tube open and waiting.

"Are you aware of the repercussions this will have, you are mad, they will hunt you to the end of the universe if necessary!" The powered armor pulled the Doctor into the room and threw him into the cryogenic tube. “Fools!”

"Humanity could not even begin to understand the power we hold. The Empire of the Machines cannot be stopped by your armed forces or space fleet, we have begun to transcend such idiocies" Robots ran through the hallway at full speed into the room, some stood back firing at an unknown danger rushing towards them. “Deploy”

The machines moved inside the ship and the door closed and pressurized, there was an explosion and the room had been expelled from the station, it continued to be pushed out of reach of the station until it gravitated towards something not visible through normal sight. The Machines had placed the Doctor in cryogenic stasis at that point and connected themselves to the internal battery of the room to wait for their time to wake up.

It would be centuries before they reached their destination.

Brothers in Arms

We are brothers in arms
We leave no one behind
We fight for one cause
But a question remains
Will we die all together
Or will we wait for our time? 

I wish I knew you better
So close and so distant
Afraid to make the simplest question
The one that will tear me apart
I can't take the pressure no more
If I asked you, would you kill me now?