Beyond Control

10

Supreme Leader Alexzander Hayward sat silently at his desk, waiting for the good news to reach his office. He sat silently, finishing a report that could mean the turning point in the war. Hevastwa had control of the war for about as long as he'd been in office, and that was going on two decades. It was time that changed.

But how? With Hevastwan forces making their way into Riland, what was the best way to drive them out? He tried doubling the number of troops in certain cities where Hevastwa was trying to create bases but this resulted in little success. It was only delaying the inevitable. Riland was hanging by a thread.

The truth was that Hayward struck first. After several years of political disagreements, war has ravaged both countries which have since led to hundreds of thousands of combined casualties that even Hayward agreed needed to stop. For over fifteen years, the Rilandish-Hevastwan war has affected the citizens of both countries tremendously.

Little did Hevastwa know, Hayward had an ace up his sleeve. It was against common law to experiment on humans, much less babies, but what was expected of him when his back was against the wall?

He'd done a good enough job of containing their forces until Project Next Gen entered its next phase. The subjects were now old and mature enough to have uncovered and manifested their powers to their basic level. What was next, you may ask?

That would be uncovered very shortly.

After printing his signature on the latest document, he rose from his seat and stepped out of the office. The staff that passed him down the hallway bowed respectfully, but Hayward never acknowledged them or their nervous faces. He kept walking until opening the door to the next corridor.

A while later, he entered a small cafeteria, where a number of his soldiers were finishing breakfast. They were engaged in casual talk before one of them noticed his presence. The six of them sprung to their feet and stood at attention.

"At ease."

The soldiers relaxed, but still awaited the Supreme Leader's orders. He scanned them for any possible miscue but had yet to find one. Hayward looked at the second soldier's name sewn on his uniform.

"Horvat, explain to me the main mission of Project Next Gen."

"Yes, sir!" Horvat exclaimed with a fearful expression. "Project Next Gen is designed to use our newest weapons of war against the forces of Hevastwa, sir!"

Satisfied with his answer, he moved on to the next soldier. "Pavlin, what is your role in the next phase of Project Next Gen?"

Pavlin stuttered over his words, progressively losing his composure. "Y-Yes, sir! My role is to...monitor the main grounds, sir!"

Hayward stopped and turned to face the soldier, whose legs were quivering with fear. "I don't believe you're being honest with me, Pavlin. Are you sure that's what your role is? Now's your chance to be sincere."

"I-I don't know, sir! I haven't looked at the itinerary yet, sir!"

The Supreme Leader took two steps forward to get right in Pavlin's face and spoke low and threateningly. "If I recall correctly, General Murray released the itineraries at 2000 hours last night. It is almost 0900 and you're telling me you haven't even bothered to look at it?"

Pavlin was speechless. His body was shaking in fear. Hayward smiled maniacally and stepped away, pacing in front of the soldiers. "Tell me, soldiers. Do you have families?"

They all nodded. He continued. "Do all of you have wives? Perhaps children?"

Five of them nodded, including Pavlin. Hayward stepped forward again and slowly raised a pistol to his forehead. Pavlin froze in fear along with the rest of the soldiers. "P-Please..."