Project Nodachi

eclipse

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i n t e r l u d e
Zero's Story
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Last year in Daizen's top secret prison, Zetsubō.

Zero's POV

"What the hell?"

The sound of boots slamming against cold steel jerked me from my raggedy mattress. It had to be as old as me and was stuck firmly to the ground, apparently using time itself for an adhesive. It was usually pretty manageable though, I slept well on it throughout the night despite the disturbance of my "cell mates", which of course were street rats. What kind of prison would this be without small child sized rodents? They were pretty cool though, they've been enslaved here with me for about as long as I can remember.

They even have names. At first I couldn't see them through the thick man-made darkness that filled my cave like "cell", so I only recognized them through the rhythms and patterns in which they ran. That was until my mark awakened and I could clearly see the true magnitude of these fucking rats.

First there was Spider, the smallest and wildest of the bunch. He climbs and swings from wall to wall as if he literally owns the place.

Then comes Space, the middle child of the crew. The guy is more than likely off on his own, in the middle of the room staring at nothing until you pick him up and move him.

Slice might actually be the largest rat on Earth. Yet for some reason, he thinks he's as sneaky as can be. They had to feed me, but they never allowed any light into the cell. So at some point everyday, Dexter appears in my cave with a singular sandwich and a glass of water. Yes, one second i'm alone with rats and in the next there's a weird teleporting butler serving me lunch. He usually drops it and leaves without a word, and Slice immediately seizes the piece of american cheese from it's breaded fortress.

They were my friends though. I hated cheese anyway, and they were the only thing that took my mind off of the hours of forced combat training. I honestly didn't even like to fight, but i've always said it never hurts to do bad things well.

"Noisier than usual." I said to myself.

I climbed to my feet and walked over to the massive steel door that kept me barred in the cave, the actual only part of the wall not covered in stone. I pressed my ear against the cold metal to listen closely to the commotion outside. I had never been let out into the huge prison before, but I had memorized the layout by listening to a particular guard wander around all day. From the sound of it, guards from all over were rushing towards the main entrance.

BOOM!

I stumbled back away from the door, covering my ears in pain. An explosion rang out through the prison, shaking the door and attacking my eardrums. Someone was invading. Who could be dumb enough to try to infiltrate this hell hole?
Zetsubō was the highest level of maximum security to exist, there were never less than twenty thousand soldiers guarding it. Along with some of the most fearsome, elite government warriors who wandered around casually. These guys were no joke, i've trained all my life but some of them were just on another level.

"Secure the prisoners!" I could hear panicked barks floating all around the prison. Gunshots and explosions rang out, echoing ghastly around the metal interior of the building. People were dying. Everywhere.