In Search Of The Neon City

30 - Tristan

(Two years earlier)

"Commander TK-12," greeted the gray-haired man as I stepped into his office with my helmet under my arm and sweat still running down my back.

I met the hard eyes for a split second before my hand moved up to my forehead in an automatic salute.

"General."

The man leaned forward over the desk and narrowed his eyes at me, his tone was tired. His honor was at stake after all the defeats he'd lead us through. The rebels were smarter than he had expected and it had cost him a lot.

Inside, I could not help but feel an ounce of joy. The man in front of me was an idiot who refused to listen to others, least of all to me. I was younger than all the other commanders, too cocky for my own good, but I got things done more efficiently than most. And he knew it.

"You refused to follow my order." He stated in a threatening voice.

"No General," I replied quickly, "but the situation required some flexibility."

He sighed and shook his head "So, is the problem solved?"

I nodded briefly "the base is annihilated General."

"And the Rebels?"

"A few escaped Sir."

I stood in the exact same position as I entered, straight in the back and my gaze fixed somewhere behind the man who had sunk into his chair to contemplate the next step.

"Your father had been proud of you Calcium" he mumbled in his beard before looking up at me with a look that was considering what he would do with me next.

"Thank you Sir, I hope so."

I stood silent and waited. Sweat stuck under the heavy armor and my stomach screamed for something to eat, but I pushed away the feelings. Since childhood, I was raised to be a soldier and I was used to waiting for the next order. Hunger had to wait.

"The management has paid attention to your talents, and they want to offer you an opportunity to follow in your father's footsteps." He smiled a cold smile when he handed over a disc to me "we have a special mission for you, TK-12, you have been transferred to the Wilderness."

Inside I felt my blood boil, the idiot wanted to get rid of me. Everyone knew that I was his biggest threat, that I was the one who would take his place when he failed to deal with the Rebell situation. I hid my deep sigh before plugging the disk into my link.

"ORION suspects the boy is the solution we need to all of our problems."

Solution? I thought hesitantly as the information flickered before my eyes. But I knew better than to ask out loud. Curious, I wondered what made him so special, compared to the others we'd caught.

The boy looked a couple of years younger than me, he seemed to be a good hacker and lived a relatively ordinary life in a worn camp in the Wilderness.

The older man studied me in detail while all the information was downloaded to my private database. "The information is classified."

"I understand, General." I answered briefly.

"Good," he muttered, "you are dismissed."

Relieved, I left the room and closed the door behind me. For some reason, I got the feeling that my life was about to change completely.

——-

-A/N-

So this is a short throwback to the life he had before he was placed in the bunker to find Lo. 

I drew Tristan as he looked while he was a commander. And I just had to add this cool background and how all his gadgets look.

~ Commander TK-12 or Tristan Kaltium ~