SPECTRE

CHAPTER II

AJ lied in his bed covered by a thin sheet. He stared up at the cracked ceiling, looking at the ceiling fan spin. Every so often a water would leak from the crack and hit the cold hard floor in the middle of his room. It felt cramped without any windows. Nothing to let in natural light. The occasional rumbling echoing through the walls made it hard for him to relax, but he managed.

He wasn’t allowed outside his room and he didn’t have any form of entertainment. All he could do was wonder why he was even in the military. How did he become a spectre? It was simple really. He was born with the ability to use hitek. When the military found out they quickly took him from his home and trained him as a soldier since birth. But he was never great. The military life never hardened him. Sure he was able to fight better than most but he was still constantly doubting himself and fell victim to authority.

He yawned and tossed towards the wall. The muddy colors were dull and depressing. Infact this room use to just larger than most janitorial closet. That was until the East had it turned into his room. A cramped room with just a bed and dresser. It felt more like a prison to him than an actually room. Well, the soldiers living in the barracks didn’t have it any better than he did.

Memories of how him and Sev first met began to dawn in his mind. He remember it like it was just yesterday. He was fresh from the academy when they sent him here. That was eight months ago. Worried, alone and frightened, he had heard stories of how this is the most miserable base ever. Things seemed unbearable until he met Sev. A guy who just came up to him and told him to hang out together.

He wasn’t sure if it was Sev manly personality or a upbeat look on life, but something geared him towards Sev and every since then they’ve done everything together. Walk together, worked out together, ate together. But today was the first time him and Sev fought together, bled together.

He remembered it in all great detail. The morning was dark and damp. The rain fell from the sky and pelted the ground around them. It was a wall of rain too thick to fully see through. Sev and AJ were moving into a village in the midst of being burned down from a proxy battle between the United States and China. The chinese military had begun killing civilians, innocent civilians who had done nothing but live.

The village sat engulfed in flames that roared high. Screamed from the burning people echoed through the rain like an ominous noise. That didn’t stop Sev and AJ from running into the fray. AJ wasn’t prepared for this kind of experience, he wasn’t. But he tried his best to pretend it was a normal simulation.

Down the single road, he saw soldiers as they dragged the women from their burning homes whilst forcing the men to stay inside and die. It was no mystery what the soldiers were going to do.

“Hey you bastards!” Sev shouted. He raised up his katana and glared them down with eyes fueled by fire.

The soldiers looked up, shouting something in chinese. They pointed their gun and pulled the trigger. The barrage of bullets exploded from the barrel at Sev and AJ.

Sev stepped in front of AJ and began cutting the bullets down. He slashed his sword in all directions. Sparks flew out when the bullets smashed against his sword. His speed was quick but he wasn’t able to deflect all the shots. He had to use his hitek to cast a shield around him that did some of the deflecting.

The metal bullets would smash against his shield, tearing itself apart and causing a ripple like effect around him.

AJ gripped his sword tight and ran in. He dragged his sword through the mud, it was a bulk, a slab of metal crafted by the military to focus his hitek power. Once in range, AJ his sword up. The blade tore the first poor bastard in half. A clean cut.