Relentless 1.0

Prologue

In the year 2040, scientists of the United States of America discovered a life-bearing planet in a solar system surprisingly close to ours. With trans-light technology now a reality, the first probe made it to the new planet in an unprecedented 6 months. The probe confirmed that the planet was perfect for life, and the new planet was named Genesis. A manned spacecraft soon followed, carrying scientists and other personnel. They discovered a planet extremely rich with natural resources, and it was so much like Earth the scientists were in rapture to acquire them. The new world had something else Earth had: intelligent life. The beings were secretive and skittish, and almost nothing was discovered about them. But with no small amount of effort, the scientists managed to catch one. To their extreme surprise the being was incredibly similar to a human, but it differed in one major aspect. It seemed to be a living robot. Its skin was made of a metallic substance just as hard as iron, and through extensive testing, most inhumane, it was found that the being was powered by an unknown energy source. They found it could communicate, but the only thing they managed to learn was the name of their race; the Hitori. Before the scientists could perform more tests, other Hitori attacked the ship and rescued their comrade, inflicting casualties to the human forces. The scientists and the military personnel with them made a rash, and very stupid decision. They set out to recapture the Hitori, and did not return. Governments on Earth, having learned about the Hitori from broadcast signals sent back to Earth, unwisely deferred to the assumption that the Hitori had destroyed the previous explorers and were hostile to all outsiders. It took five years of political maneuvering on the verge of war to decide what to do, and even the Supreme Commander of the Order of the Dark Knights admonished the League of Nations to be careful about this choice. Finally, they came to a decision: to go to war. Oh, it had more than just vengeance to it. Several reasons also included Genesis' vast and "untapped" natural resources and desire for political power by owning the new planet. One thing they didn't count on was that the Hitori they had encountered was a tribe relatively set apart from Hitori civilization, and that the rest were technologically advanced far beyond what human researchers had previously thought. The war lasted over 50 years, with various attempts to end the conflict on both sides, with no success. With changes in technology, as the Hitori had also achieved space travel, each adapted to the other sides new strengths and weaknesses. There was no end in sight. Meanwhile, darker things were rising.

Chapter 1
October 4th 2094
John
         A slight zephyr stirred through the leaves that reminded him so much of Earth. Private John Galeson looked out on a beautiful crimson sunrise that was typical of Genesis. It was his first day in the field, and he was ready for action. In the distance, the medley of artillery and railfires blended together in terrible symmetry. It was his first day in the field, and he was itching for action. He was 20 years old, six foot three, with sandy blond hair, sharp blue eyes, and an easy smile. He had heard of the intense action, and after 8 years of official and personal training, he was anxious to finally fight. He stood up from his makeshift seat and paced around the camp of the 32nd U. S. Army division, while he thought on the coming engagement. On his second lap around the camp, he came upon the division's regimental Dark Knight, Pakari Yacer. He was sitting down sharpening his arm sword, with his back to John.
The Dark Knights were an elite force that, in the early 21st century, were a peacekeeping force that was under no country's banner, outside all law save their own, having been established independently by a one Conner Yacer. Pakari was his grand-nephew, and he held that pride in his bearing. The Dark Knights, (also known as DKs) were esteemed as the best soldiers in the history of the earth, in part because of the medical enhancements made to their body and mind. Those enhancements made them faster, stronger, and more intelligent than the average human, though John had heard some disturbing rumors that the enhancements slowly drove the Dark Knights insane. Pakari certainly hadn't shown any proof to the contrary. You could discern the difference in the way Dark Knights moved, spoke, and thought, though the best indicator was their eyes. The enhancements changed the color of their eyes to the color of molten gold, and they seemed to glow in dim light. John saw the DK, and not wanting to start a conversation, tried to sneak away, though he knew it was futile.
"Meditating? I do it too, before each skirmish." Pakari said with brevity. John sighed. In training, he had been complimented on his stealth, but nobody snuck up on a Dark Knight successfully that John knew of. Pakari continued, "You know, the worst part of a battle is the waiting for it. Knowing that even with a fair amount of skill and a generous dollop of luck, you could be dead by the end of the third hour." He turned toward John, his golden eyes gleaming and his expression indiscernible. "Don't you agree, Private Galeson?" at this, his face broke into a small smile.
         Pakari was tall, thin, and a lot stronger than he looked. He wore the standard jet black uniform of the Knights, and he had messy black hair and a dark countenance. His skill with blades was so great, he could defeat a Raohm in single combat, and his marksmanship was even better. John walked over and sat down next to him. He smiled and replied, honesty unfeigned, "Yes, that is the worst part. But then, is there a good part?" Pakari laughed, a sound that John had not yet heard in the month he had been with him. He had heard that Pakari had laughed more often before Assault 34, a widespread Hitori attack three months before John had arrived. It had driven back the LN forces 20 miles along the whole northern front. Pakari's partner, another Knight named Amy Hutchinson had been classified as missing in action, presumed dead, in that seven- day battle. They had been very close. As long as John had known him Pakari did everything with a single-minded determination, and most other people put it down to Pakari's seeming obsession with redeeming his score with the Hitori.
"I don't care what the High Command says about this war, censure it all they want, I don't think we can salvage any of what the Hitori have taken from humanity." Pakari concluded. And with that bit of counsel, the deluge of booms in the distance intensified, making John jump. Pakari stated, "I do believe that's our cue.", as the call-to-arms signal rebounded throughout the camp. Johns' nerves were jumping and his heart racing, as he though, finally, it comes. With a quick smile and a nod of respect, John left Pakari to suit up for his first battle on the planet of Genesis.
Chapter 2
Mira
On the opposite side of the battlefield, another first battle was about to begin. Raohm Mira Nuva looked across the lines at the approaching humani war machines. Light, there were so many! She shook herself, steeling her nerves. She must not let go of her resolve! A new trainee from the Midnight Citadel, she was only 40 years of age. Ridiculously young, compared to most other Raohm Nuva (rank two of seven, seven being the highest). Almost a child! When most Hitori reached Nuva level, were around 65 years of age.
She looked at the keen edge of her short sword and checked the power level on her Railfire laser rifle and got into combat position. Let the humani come! She was slightly under the average height of six-foot- eight, slender, with dark blue eyes and armor the color of obsidian, with dark blue streaks on her face and torso. Next to her knelt Raohm Vault Shrinr (rank three of seven), a veteran warrior that had fought the humani ever since they had first invaded. Vault was around 7 feet, with dark red armor and golden eyes, and 80 years old. He was a serene middle-aged Hitori, with a very candid sense of humor. He had achieved the rank of Shrinr when he discovered his inner power. All Hitori had the potential to discover their inner power, an ability that gave the individual power over an element or energy. They generally manifested themselves when a Hitori was mature enough to earn it, or in times of extreme risk or stress. Raohm Vault's inner power was the control of Electricity, a very rare and potent ability. Mira herself had not managed to discover her power. He looked at her appreciatively as he said,
"I see someone can't wait for their first battle." She shrugged, and he snorted, continuing, "Why are you eager to die? I was so scared the first time I charged at the humani, my squad's Hagah had to shoot at my heels to get me to run." Mira let out a short laugh, keeping her eyes warily fixed on the still-distant war machines.
"Whoever said I was eager to die? Eager to avenge is more like it." Mira stood up, almost running into Hitora Warali, Mira's squad leader.
"Just what do you think you're doing, Mira Nuva?!" the red-faced Hitori bellowed. "The defensive line is that direction!" he roared, pointing to his left. "You seem to think that you can take on the entire humani army by yourself!"
Mira rolled her eyes at Vault, and he smiled behind na upraised hand, as he furtively slipped away, leaving her to fend for herself. Thanks, friend, she thought sarcastically.
Warali wasn't a Raohm , only a Hitora, thus technically below Mira in rank, but considered everyone, even Vault, below him. He was a short, ugly, brown Hitori that was renowned for his dour presence and brusque nature that followed him wherever he went like a pungent odor. He ranted on and on, complaining how in trouble he would be if she disappeared before the fighting even started. Mira sheathed her sword and raised her hands, smiling,
"All right, calm down! I was just having some peace, before the battle. You can't blame me for that, can you?" He nodded reluctantly and muttered,
"No, I can't. Now get back to the lines, quickly! I wanted you over there five minutes ago!" Mira straightened and yelled, "I obey!"
She then took off, running as fast as she could toward the defensive line. Vault reappeared beside her, his longer legs easily keeping up with hers. Thanks to her rigorous training, she was able to keep that pace the entire way back to the line. While running, she tried to draw in the sight of the beautiful Genesion sunrise. She didn't believe she would ever get used to Genesis's natural wonder. And the Humani wanted to colonize it! As they ran, they passed a rank of gigantic railfire cannons. The huge guns used electromagnetic energy to launch projectiles at ridiculous speeds, but strangely, they were silent. They slowed down, and Mira called out to one of Hitora gunners who were on the ground, instead of in the firing chamber. He waved to them as they approached, and they jogged over to him.
He smiled, fidgeting nervously in the presence of two Raohm. Like most Hitora, he was about five and a half feet tall, but he varied in being green-armored and slight of build, a trademark of engineers. Hitora are the most common of all Hitoran species, and constituted the main population of Council of Light-controlled territory.
"Why are the guns silent? And why aren't you at your post?" Vault asked nonchalantly, a hint of steel in his voice.
The gunner replied with a slight grimace, "The brass radioed me and said something about a... what was it called, a ceasefire?" He looked disbelieving, and continued. "They told us to stop firin', so we did."
Mira and Vault looked at each other in shock, and Vault grabbed the shorter Hitora's shoulders and said, "Are you sure? Absolutely sure?" While the wide-eyed gunner stammered an affirmative, Mira climbed the observation post on the cannon's side. On the top, once over the dense treetops, Mira took out her field goggles and looked across the northern line. She gave a start of surprise. The war machines were retreating!
Back at defense, they came to find that this was hardly a plausible event. After asking around, they learned that the high commanders of both sides, Raohm Aemida Magna (rank seven of seven), Raohm of Light, and High General Thomas Graves had agreed to call a temporary cease-fire, based on chilling accounts of how many lives were being lost. Mira didn't believe it for a second. The humani were a wily bunch, and she knew they weren't above lying under the Light to win a battle. She related her suspicions to Vault. He pondered them pensively, and as they climbed into their places in the defensive trench, he replied,
"I know the Humani aren't trustworthy, but they wouldn't break an oath under the Light. They aren't that stupid." Mira sat back against the packed earth and stone, and stated under her breath, "I wouldn't count on it."
John
He stood to attention along the line of troops making up the 32nd Combat Division. Pakari was standing at the end of the line apart from the other soldiers. While the Major gave the news about the ceasefire, the troops listened in obvious disbelief. Pakari appeared completely lucid and slightly shocked and this momentous news. The Major finished and they were dismissed, and John strode over to where Pakari had collapsed onto the ground.
"Hey man, are you all right?" he asked nervously, because he had never seen Pakari like this before. He looked... defeated.
Pakari replied saying, "Sure.... No! I'm not all right. The war that has been fought for 50 years has just been paused. I didn't even get to say goodbye." He looked up, and John realized in horror that his golden eyes were rimmed with jet black. They heard a cacophony of booms on the horizon. Just as Pakari leaped up, yelling, "Artillery! Take cover!" The air exploded. John was tossed backwards as if a fist had smashed into his entire body. Seeming minutes later, he looked up through a nebulous sheen of red mist while plaintive cries sounded from every direction. John groaned as he stood up painfully, and looked around at the devastation surrounding him. A sense of confusion pervaded the camp. In the center of the 32nd Combat Division was a huge crater, but because of the announcement, many soldiers had not been at their regular spots at this time of the morning. However, there were still many injured, and he gave one last check in his area. Except for some other shocked soldiers, there was no one else. Pakari had disappeared. He wandered to a hastily assembled medical station where some field medics were giving their best to several dozen injured soldiers. He tried to ask to help, and received a curt,
"You should be treated yourself, soldier, but we need to treat the worst off first, and a red cross chopper is heading over soon.", one medic told him, and another snapped, "Before that, get your butt out of the way, please." That was that.
As he stared out at the now derelict camp, what had just happened started to sink in. This was an omen of the coming destruction of the Hitori that was manifest of their dishonesty, John thought as resentment burned in his heart. He growled out loud,
"Those fiends!" A voice spoke next to him,
"I would agree, but there's something wrong here." John wasn't really surprised when Pakari sat next to him, his golden eyes gleaming with concentration on the ruined bivouac. The darkness was gone.
"What do you mean, something wrong!?!" John stood exclaiming, frustrated. "We make a truce with them, and one hour later, they fire on us!" He wanted to kick something. Pakari also stood, making calming gestures, saying,
"I know that it looks like the Hitori, but have you ever seen one of their railfire cannons do that?" pointing to the crater.
John stopped pacing and looked closer at the small abyss that had opened up. From their vantage point, they could see the entire thing, and John noticed something he hadn't before. In all the stories he'd heard told by other senior soldiers, railfires received their amazing destructive power from extremely high velocity. Along the edge of the crater, everything seemed... melted. Pakari followed his eyes and stated, "Railfires have earned the epithet, "silent death", because they impact about five minutes after fired. But this...." He left the silent question unanswered.
Mira
She looked through the aperture of her rifle scope, seeing only confusion. The Humani lines were in disarray after the reports of artillery blowing holes in their defense. The booms had long since abated, but she knew what the repercussions of this would entice. The pestilence of war and anger would spread among human ranks, and they would be at war again. Sadly, she had known it would never last.
Vault was in search of answers, and he had run all the way to the temporary command center to find out what was going on. He was briefing her on developments via headlink.
"Command is working on exactly where that salvo came from. The general area is marked as unoccupied by both sides, for the extreme terrain, and they have no records of forces over there." He paused, and Mira could hear the general tumult through the headlinks.
"The Hagah (division leaders, rank five of seven) say that the humani are furious and they demand information now, or they will command their armies to attack immediately." She relayed the info to the cluster of other Hitori soldiers around her, and they began to murmur worriedly.
Then a loud noise jerked her attention away. At this unexpected harbinger, she looked into forest at the edge of the defensive line, about 100 meters away, and tersely commanded the others to be silent. She stayed at attention, and another Hitora tried to ask what was wrong, be she silenced him with a glare. She raised the scope of her rifle to her eye, scanning the forest's edge. Everything was still. Suddenly a small object flew from the leaves and landed next to the nearest bunker. The Hitora defending it gathered around the object, weapons raised and ready. They disappeared in a blinding flash of light and an enormous cloud of black smoke. Dark figures rushed out of the forests edge, and several much larger figures solidified behind them. Not humani. Some of the figures knelt and raised weapons that fired black energy. Definitely not humani.
She yelled into her head link, shouting "We are under attack, I repeat, under attack!", as she raised her rifle and returned fire. The others were doing the same, using their top-rate training and hastily formed defensive positions, but they were at a disadvantage from being attacked side-on. Vault tried to say something, but Mira interrupted him and cried, "Not humani!" She heard cries of surprise at the other end, but she had her own problems. The dark figures had finally materialized as a horde of Vahci, a type of war robot used by the Council, about six feet tall and wielding a variety of weapons. Mira began to run towards the newly formed line but stopped as she saw one of the larger shapes materialize. "Oh, Light help us." she murmured. It was a Requiem, a rare Hitoran species renowned for their ferocity and enormous strength. It was about forty feet tall, with thick armor covering its entire body and thick spikes jutting out of its back. It roared, its cry shaking the earth with its power, meter-long tusks sticking down from its upper jaw, and its small eyes blazing with barely contained fury. On the monstrosity's shoulder sprouted a mid-size railfire cannon, which suddenly erupted in a burst of plasma. Instantly, the projectile destroyed the nearest bunker in a haze of fire. Even 100 feet away, the shock wave pushed her back.
She recovered and on her headlink, mentally dialed the railfire battery she had visited earlier. "Yes?" replied the head gunner. "I need some ordnance dropped immediately on these coordinates." Mira cited her position while the gunner replied, "What? I was ordered not to-", "I don't care!" Mira interrupted savagely, "we're under attack, and they have armored Requiems! Fire only low- velocity shells! We need them now!" as she hung up, the first of the enemy Hitori were reaching the defenders, who drew swords and charged to meet them. They were grossly outnumbered, but what else could they do?

Genesis

Parker Yancey

         

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