The Alliance Archive

The beginning of the end

I sighed, looking around the dead room. Well, in my eyes it was dead. Artemis was still just talking and talking and talking. Man, he could go on forever with this crap. I groaned and stood, walking out the door and to the break room to find Syd. Trouble was going to kick me out of the room anyways. I found Syd lying on the table, napping. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed another fizzy drink from the fridge and plopped down on the counter. After a moment of silence, Jene walked in, her eyes wide.

“You guys better get in there.” I nodded, leaving my drink behind and was about to leave when I remembered the sleeping Syd. Turning, I went to wake her when she sat up, muttering something under her breath before hopping off the table.

“Hey sleepy head! Something’s going down, lets get to it!” She smiled and followed me into the room. As soon as we walked in, the room fell silent. On a large TV screen on the wall there was a silhouette of an elf. After a moment, he started talking, his voice distorted but not to the point of nonrecognition.

“Well, hello ladies. It’s been a while, Birch, Stella. I’ve waiting a while to see you two together once again. Too bad it’s not the real you that i’m seeing.” He let out an evil chuckle. “Now, if I may continue.” Birch and I looked at each other in confusion.

 “Now, as we speak, a few dozen Mare Bestiam are on their way to Atlantis. They are not friendly, as Birch can recall. They have been programed to destroy and kill anything and everything they can find, and Practically nothing can stop them!” He silhouette laughed once again, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

We all sat in a slightly stunned silence.

“Who the hell do you think you’re up against?” Trouble finally growled. “We have the best weapons, the best soldiers! What do you have? A threat of Mare Bestiam? Well, we can send out pods and destroy them, evac Atlantis, and stop you. You are nothing in the eyes of the LEPrecon. Get over yourself.” The Elf Started to laugh again, before hitting a button and changing the screen. We could now see about 6 long, dark figures that seemed to be moving down.

“These are the Mare Bestiam’s. Notice the head pieces, the collars. Notice the look in their eyes. One’s  of pure hatred and pain. They cannot be stopped.” Trouble looked to Foaly and Foaly got closer to the screen. After a moment, his eyes widened and he stepped away, an awed look on his face.

“That can’t be! Why- I- How could you?!” He stuttered. The screen flicked over to the silhouette once more. The elf leaned closer to the screen, looking around to make sure he was alone.

“I am so sorry, my old friend, but I have no choice. I seem to have a- ah, hypothetical gun to my head.” He said quietly. “As you can see, this is my old version but I’m made quite a few upgrades. Have fun.” The screen quickly went black and Foaly stared at the screen in a silent shock.

“Foaly.” Artemis spoke slowly. “Who was that?” Foaly looked over at Birch, then myself. He had a sad look in his eyes as he answered.

“It was Lucas Mortes.”

The room fell into a stunned silence before Artemis composed himself and stood. “Well, this might be a shock, but we need you to explain as best as you can, Foaly. We’re going to really need you to stop this.”

“I know. Everyone get comfy, this might take awhile.” Everyone sat down. “Okay, a while ago, there was a team dedicated to the Mare Bestiam. They wanted to be able to use the beasts for good and use them to build or ship supplies to and from Atlantis. They worked and worked on new technology for a few years, with no outcomes. Nothing was working on them. The higher ups finally stepped in and ended it, but some on the Tech’s were so dedicated that they took the supplies and worked on it in secret. Lucas was one of them. Then, this whole thing with Stella and Birch happened.  He went under. I mean, his two closest friends just disappeared and he did not take it well. It was just a normal night the day he snapped. He just got up, tipped his desk and stormed off, muttering something about Atlantis. I haven’t seen him since and now he’s working for the bad guys.” Foaly looked shaken.

“Wait,” Artemis questioned. “Could this be related to Holly and Butler’s situation? Could they possibly want us to not do anything about it or they kill them?” The screen flickered to life once more.

“Well, good job boy genius. You figured it out! Right-o. So, if you do anything or say anything about the Mare Bestiam, your friends will be killed. Very slowly and very painfully. Tell anyone outside this room and we will send Arty a message. Five words.

Hope it was worth it.