Darkness Rising : Pre War

Chapter Zero : Prologue



My life has been peaceful up until this point. No war, no death, no bloody action. The sudden change of events is almost overwhelming. I am the founder and leader of an organization called “Ambrose.” We are both the first and last line of defense in our star system. 'The last line of defense against what' you ask? It was extremely difficult for me to understand and accept at first. We humans had always believed that we live in peace and harmony alone in a single universe. But we don't. We don't live alone.

There are many other beings out there that have finally come to threaten us. Aliens, life devouring monsters, and even demons. There are only a handful of angels left in this part of the star system that are willing to fight.

I formed Ambrose a few years back hoping that I would see some action in my life. I had no luck, until now. When I founded Ambrose I took upon myself to build the ultimate star-ship. Someone asked me why and I told them I was looking for action. I got me a pretty good crew by doing that.

“Lord Vexx, enemy ship inbound.” Says Bill, the tracker.

“Good, Alexei, bring the guns online. Better begin charging the main cannon.” I say.

“Yes my lord.” Says Alexei.

“But my lord, at the rate they are coming the cannon will only be at 20 percent.” Says Bill.

“Then re-route all power from the ship to the cannon. But leave power to the engines and guns.” I say with a little anger.

“Y-yes my lord.” Bill says stuttering.

All of the lights aboard the ship go dim and I say, “Bring up charging progress on screen one.”

“Yes my lord.” Says Ray. Ray is the one aboard the ship that handles the communications and screens.

“Also better bring up their position on screen three.” I say.

“And what of screen two, my lord?” Asks Ray.

“Leave it be.” I say. On screen three I see a high number going down so rapidly. It's at about three-billion now and it's going down millions per-second. “What's the distance calculated by?” I ask.

“Miles, my lord.” Says Ray.

“Alexei, what's the status of the cannon?” I ask after a couple of minutes. “We are at seventy percent, lord Vexx.” Alexei says.

“Will the cannon be fully charged by the time they get here?” I ask.

“It will be close.” Says Bill.

The number has descended down to twenty million. It's slowing down little by little but still coming fast. “They are about to jump out my lord.” Says Bill.

“Get ready to take aim with the sniper cannons. Aim for their weapons. Do not open fire until I command it.” I say.

“Yes, my lord.” Says Jack, the weapons manager.

“Incoming transmission from the enemy!” Yells ray.

“Jack, open fire on-sight.” I say.

“Yes my lord.” He says.

“Ray, open up comm's. Let's hear what they have to say.” I say.

“As you command.” Says Ray. On screen two a strange looking creature appears.

“We will destroy you like the vermin that you are.” Says the creature in a threatening tone. “Is there anyway we can live in peace?” I ask. “Not a chance. We will destroy your ship and your pathetic planet.” It says.

“But why? Why must there be war between us?” I ask.

“Because it's our form of fun. Not that a simple creature like you would understand that.” It says. I look over at the screen that shows the cannon's charge and it shows 'ready to fire'. I let out a weak smile and I say “try and destroy us. It shall be you that falls.”

“You have courage. I will give you that.” It says and with that he disappears.

“My lord! Here they come!” Yell's Alexei. Just as she finishes saying that a silvery bubble-like sphere appears in the middle of everything. A large-scale ship appears also covered in the silver. The bubble disappears but the ship remains silver for a moment. Then from the center-out, the ships silver covering begins to go away.

“My lord, orders?” Alexei says.

“Fire all weapons. Fire the main cannon.” I say. Our ships beam fires along with the sniper-cannons. The snipers were a small red bolt that looks like they traveled at the speed of sound. The beam from the cannon is large and red. There is green and blue lines rotating around the beam as well.

“Sir, they are firing their beam as well. If they collide it will kill both them and us.” Says Alexei.

“Then stop firing and jump to earth!” I yell. Our cannons stop firing and then the worst happens. The beams collide and there is a sickening crack, and everything goes black.

Chapter One : Waking Moments



I open my eyes for the first time in my life. “What do you remember?” Says a voice somewhere to my right. Everything is complete and total darkness. I try to lift my hand but I can't. It would seem that I am strapped to a table. A cold metal table at that.

“Where am I?” I ask the strange man.

“Answer my question.” The man says in a threatening tone.

“Remember about what?” I ask.

“Anything before you awoke.” He says.

“Should I remember something?” I ask.

“No. Sir, operation 'Blackout' is a success.” Says the man.

“Good.” Says another man. This one to my left.

“What's operation 'Blackout'?” I ask curiously.

“Incapacitate him.” Says the man to my left.

“Yes sir.” Says the man to my right. I feel a sharp, quick surge of pain in my right shoulder. For a moment I feel paralyzed with pain, then I feel the needle exit my arm. Once it does, everything goes black.

When I awake I can actually move. I get up to my feet and I examine my surroundings. There are only large, marble, white walls surrounding me. There is only the strong smell of bleach. Have they bleached these walls? I say in my head. All of the walls are barren except for one. The one with the door. To the left of the door is a console that I guess controls the door. To the right is a large mirror that is covering the wall from top to bottom. I walk over to the mirror and look in it.

I see black hair that is extremely short. I have deep grey eyes that keep changing color. I think of the last moment I was awake and it's like reliving the pain. My eyes turn a deep black. I become slightly angry with them and my eyes turn blood-red. I clear my thoughts and my eyes turn pure white and then my pupil and all make their return. My eyes go back to their ashy grey. I walk over to the console and a red light begins to flash. I press the red button on the console hoping it will open the door. It doesn’t. I press it a few more times and then the door slams open. I walk outside of the door and some big guy tackles me. His arm wraps hard around my stomach and I fall to the ground. I try to get up but he holds me down. Another guy runs into the room and sticks a needle into my neck.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I say in a pained voice.

“Never go near that door again. Or else.” Says the man with the needle.

“Or else what? What will you do? Keep me here? Kill me?” I ask.

“Worse.” He says and walks out of the room. The guy that tackled me gets up and walks out the door. He presses a button on a console outside the room and then the door closes and locks. Leaving me here in the room feeling worse than ever. I try to get up after a few minutes but when I try I get a sudden rush of pain up my spine. So I decide to just lay there and hope for death.

After about an hour a woman in a white lab coat comes in. She has deep blue eyes and black hair that falls just below her shoulders.

“How are you feeling?” She asks while kneeling down.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I ask in a pained voice.

“Your past care-takers have been arrested. My name is Dr. Mercier. I will be helping you from here on out. I assure you, you need not fear us. This place is no longer your prison. It's your home.” She says with a smile. “We will be adding some more, comfortable, things. I'm sure you will find it to your liking over time.” She says.

“You mean once you put more of that stuff in me?” I ask in a slightly harsh tone.

“Like I said, you don't need to worry about anything anymore.” She says. She gets back up and heads for the door. Just before she walks out she says “feel free to come and go.”

Go? Go where? I know nothing of the outside world. I don't even know much about this place. Just after Dr. Mercier leaves a beautiful girl that looks of the age 17 comes in. She has bright silver hair and hazel eyes. I try and sit up with little luck. “Let me help you.” She says kindly. It takes a little effort but she helps me sit up.

“Thank you.” I say.

“How are you feeling?” She says sweetly.

“Half-dead.” I say.

“I'm not surprised. No one has ever survived what you have.” She says.

Survived what? These people? “What have I survived?” I ask.

“You should know.” She says.

“Survived operation Blackout? Is that what all this is about?” I ask.

“What's that?” She asks with a little concern.

“I'm not too sure. I woke up and couldn't remember a thing.” I say.

“Don't move. I'm going to get my mother.” She says and runs towards the door.

“I can't move.” I yell after her with a slight laugh. Before she is out of sight she looks back at me and smiles. A few moments later Dr. Mercier comes back. Along with the young girl.

“This is your mother?” I ask.

“Yes.” She says.

“Alright, what's so urgent?” Asks Dr. Mercier.

“Sometime yesterday I woke up. I couldn't remember anything. Who I was, or am, or even what happened the day before or any other part of my life. They called it Operation Blackout.” I say.

“Hang on, I'm going to go pull every file I can about an Operation Blackout. Luna, stay here with Mr. Thorn.” Says Dr. Mercier. She gets up and walks quickly out the door.

“Mr. Thorn?” I ask.

“It's your last name. Your first name is James.” She says.

“And yours is Luna right? Luna Mercier?” I ask.

“That is correct.” She says. Dr. Mercier comes walking back in with a file.

“Here it is. 'We have not had a successful trial with Operation Blackout until this date. Test subject 487, James Thorn, was the leader of a group called Ambrose. He was found floating in space with extensive burns, but he has made a remarkable recovery, even while unconscious. We applied the serum and he woke up, not remembering a thing. We now know that we can destroy the minds of others and make them fight for us. The past sixty trials were declared failures as the subjects have died. We have...” Says Dr. Mercier trailing off.

“Have what?” I ask.

“We have found out something strange about James. He doesn’t seem to be human. He can't be. We found out everything about what had happened and we suspect that he was floating in space for 3 months.” Says Dr. Mercier looking up slowly. “What are you?” She asks.

“None of this makes any sense. If I'm not a human, what could I be?” I ask.

“I don't know, but whatever you are, I think they were protecting mankind.” Says Dr. Mercier.

“Or even yourself.” Adds Luna winking. I look at her and she looks as though she has something more to add.

“So are you telling me you are going to make me stay here as well?” I ask concerned.

“No. You are free to go. Just be sure you be careful. I don't know what you are capable of.” Says Dr. Mercier. She turns around and walks away.

“She will be monitoring me, won't she?” I ask Luna.

“Maybe, I can't be to sure.” She says.

“But I am sure that I will not leave you alone.” She says.

“Why not?” I ask.

“You fascinate me.” She says looking in my eyes.

“May I have your arm then?” I ask while getting up.

“Sure.” She says and grabs my arm. We walk towards the door and I stop just before I exit.

“It's OK. Really, it is.” She says. I close my eyes for a second and when I re-open them I walk through the door. We walk down a long hall and out another door. There are green trees to the left and right and a long path that looks as though it goes forever.

“But where will we go?” I ask.

“I don't know. How about the park?” She asks.

“Park?” I ask.

“Come on. I'll show you.” She says while half dragging me into the woods.