A Tale Retold, RED MIST

Family

   The view of the vast open space fascinated the eyes of many. One includes a girl, whom admired it every day. She saw how beautiful the space was and wondered, what is the meaning of all of this? But that is a part of another story. This time, the girl was tasked by her school, a history lesson. She then came to her father and asked.

   “Father.” She called to him.
   “Yes, my dear?” The father replied.
   “I was assigned a history task. Could you perhaps help me, father?” She asked to her father.
   “Go on.” The father once again replied. He was in the middle of enjoying his cup of coffee.
   “You see, we were focusing on a subject about Earth!” The girl told him. “It was very interesting to know about a planet that us humans once lived in!”
   “Indeed. Earth is a fascinating topic to learn.” The father commented.
   “Yes, father!” The girl couldn’t agree more. “But.. at the end of the lesson, the teacher was tasking us to write an essay about one of many events that happened in or near Earth.”
   “And what event did you pick, my dear?” He asked to her.
   “That’s why I came to you father. I really don’t know what to bring up.” She said. “I remembered you telling me that grandpa was once part of a military that tasked near Earth. How about that?”
   “Grandpa’s story, huh..?” He thought about it for a second. “Maybe.. maybe we can work on that.”
   “Yay!!” The girl cheered. She sat on the couch near his father. “Anytime, father! I’ll record the story.” She pulled out her phone.
   The dad couldn’t help but chuckle.

   “Fifty years ago, your grandpa was sent along with the others in a rescue operation to Earth. As they got there, all they saw were wreckage. It was supposed to be a giant formation of motherships that all linked together, fifteen of them in total. But all they saw were destruction. They then linked to the remaining port, that still barely functional, only to find that everyone is dead. There, they also find strange substance. An organic one, pulsing like a living creature. All of that weird discovery eventually led to one recording. It was fortunate enough to be saved in a cloud system, so they were able to recover it after successfully giving power to the computers. That recording uncovered all of it. The fate of those who onboard the formation…”

…

   "BV1 to comms, do you copy?" the intercom glitched out.
   They were at a ruins of a city, buried deep within sands.
   "No use. The connection to comms failed." A man said. He was the one refering himself as BV1.
   "I guess we are stranded here?" The other man replied. On his left chest was a patch, read BV2. "Nothing but a dust of sands." He kicked the sands. “Is there really nothing? Like a sliver of signal or shit?”
   “No..” BV1 tried to point the radio to all direction. Then it suddenly beeped. “Oh..”
   “You caught something?” BV2 asked.
   “A pulse. A weak one, but there’s a pulse. Maybe there’s still a barely functional radio tower that way.” BV1 said.
   “Lead the way then.” BV2 said. “It’s better than to die here.”

   They then set their foot into the direction where the signal radiated. Along the way was quiet, with the sun blazing them hot. If not because of their adaptive suits, they were probably fried already. Fortunately, after what it seemed to be hours of travel by foot, they reached the outskirts of the area where the suspected tower was. But the worst part just about to begin. As they saw it, the area surrounding it was polluted by red mist, indicating an extreme level of corruption. red glowing vines also spotted spreading from buildings nearby into the ground.

   “This is it.” BV1 said. “The signal is pretty strong here. We should be connected to comms now.”
   “Yeah.. sure..” But BV2 was more interested in the scenery. He inspected the buildings far in front of them. “Wait..”
   “What?” BV1 asked.
   “Isn’t this..?” BV2 checked their location by coordinates. He then was shocked. “Why is there a signal pulsing from this place..”
   “BV1 to comms, do you copy?” BV1 was trying to reconnect again.
   “One!” BV2 called.
   “Do you copy?” BV1 still trying.
   “One!!” He shook BV1’s shoulder.
   “Yes, what is it?” BV1 finally took notice of BV2.
   “This place! You remember it right!?” BV2 showed the coordinates. “Our ground station! We purposefully shut everything down and abandon it seven years ago.”
   BV1 looked at him through his closed visor. “Is it..?” He looked at the buildings, trying to confirm BV2’s claim. “I see.. there should’ve not be any signal from this place..”
   “See!? I told—” BV2 was cut by a buzzling from the radio.
   “T**s.. is.. c*mm*, pro**ed wi**.. co*muni**on..” The radio buzzed out, glitching at the comms finally reconnected with them.
   “Hello!” BV1 immediately responded. “This is BV1! I’m here with BV2. We lost our carrier ship due to storm. BV765 and 921 are declared dead. We cannot retrieve the body, and are needing immediate extraction.” BV1 infromed.
   “Copy that.” The connection cleared up. “Please state your location.”
   BV1 then looked at BV2. Both looked concerned to answer.
   “We’re at the south side of Fort Magnus. Approximately ten kilometres from it.” BV1 said.
   His reply was answered by a brief silence before finally being replied back. “Affirmative. We’ll begin your extraction now. Please stand by.”

…

   "Welcome back, BV1, BV2.." A woman dressed in a quite fancy uniform greeted them. She was a high ranking officer, with a patch on her left chest read BV7.
   They were extracted and brought back into the station at Earth’s orbit. Approximately three hundred kilometres above the planet surface.
   "Another failed mission..? Even from you I can't expect much.." An old man also present in the room. His patch read BV0. He was the main commander of the whole BVA force.
   BV1 took off his helmet, followed by BV2.
   "The storm is getting stronger by days. If this keeps going, we will lost connection to Earth completely." BV1 explained.
   "Is there any chance we can retake our planet?" BV7 asked genuinely.
   BV2 stared at her with concern. He then shifted his stare to BV1, who was staring back at him.
   "Only if we can find the source of the storm."

   Black Vulture Agency. An elite force formed as a branch of the United Humankind Military Force or UHMF. They were consisted of many squads, ranging from two to six members each. Commonly deployed in reconnaissance mission, the Black Vulture or more commonly referred as BVA held most of the information about the wasteland Earth. But although they were an elite force, they were not uncommon with casualties and often met with many grief. The condition on Earth was too harsh and violent to live in. This very reason was why those who joined the BVA accepted the terms that their identities will be erased from existence to minimise grief upon members. Once they're in BVA, they're as good as dead.

   After the harsh and rigourous mission, BV1 and two were given a break until the next mission arrived. They, just like the rest after every mission, went to the infirmary for checkups, then to the dining hall.

   "One, long time no see." Someone patted his shoulder from behind.
   BV1 turned around. It was a man, patch read BV9, another high ranking officer.
   "I heard the juniors got wiped out. My condolences to your squad." He said.
   "People come and go, nine.." BV1 replied. "They've done their duty, and they've done it gracefully. We must respect their sacrifice and move on to make the world a better place."
   "Yes.. as I expected from number one rank, such spirit." He nodded respectfully.
   "This?" BV1 looked at the patches. "This but a number. It means nothing when you're down there."
   They gazed upon the Earth.
   "I always wondered what it feels like living down there, you know.. before all of this happened." BV1 said.
   "Someday we'll retake it. Maybe not on our generation, but I have a great hope for humankind." BV9 said.

   Five hundred years had passed since the departure of humans into outer Earth. Ever since the corruption outbreak happened, Earth has become uninhabitable. The data source of why and where the corruption began were lost in transport as people of the first generations decided to completely sealed their mouth shut and erased the memories of the corruption origins, leaving the now generations wondering.
   Humankind has long thrived in space ever since. Leaving corrupted Earth was an option, and that option had been made a long time ago. Now there were only less than 200 station scattered in the Sun's solar system, as the main civilization had moved into other system, several light years away from them.
   The one stopping them from moving on and leave Earth completely was the curiosity of man. That maybe something, if human were able to decode the corruption, maybe they'll gain something unimaginably strong.

…

   Around one of the docks in BVA space station..

   "Seven?" BV1 called.
   He happened to stroll the whole station as it had been months since the last deployment. At one of the dock, in front of the airlock, he saw BV7 already dressed in her expedition suit.
   "Mission?" He asked.
   "Oh.. no.. I'm going to habitable hub 88." She replied.
   "I see.. meeting some friends?"
   "More of a family. Since I can't go to Earth, the command gave me privileges to keep my private life." She said.
   "Oh.. I see.." He smiled to her. "Can I ask you a favour?"
   "Sure. What is it?"
   "I too, have someone in hub 88. My.. daughter. It's been ten years since I don't meet her. Can you tell her that I love her and everything is going alright in here?"
   BV7 looked at him. At first she nodded, then she threw a sad smile, as if she almost tearing up.
   "Yes.. I'll tell your daughter, your whole family." Her voice trembled. "I'll tell Kassandra about you. To mother also. That father is doing alright in here." She was starting to tear up.
   BV1 quickly approached and hugged her tight. "It's okay, Elisa.. everything is alright.."
   "Mother has been worrying about you all this time, you always risk your live so much as if you don't care about living anymore..!" She pressed her head into his chest. "I hate it father! I just don't want you to die! I don't want to see Kassandra cry!" She backed away and stared at him straight in the eyes. "Just.. retire.."
   "Elisa, you know I can't.. I bear the most responsibility in this force. I'm the BV1. Retiring is just going to set a bad example of cowardice towards the juniors." He said.
   "And that's why you also keep going to Earth all this time..?" She asked.
   He stood in silence for a bit, caressing his daughter's cheek, removing any tears from it.
   "Unfortunately.. yes.." He said. "I'm sorry.."
   "Alright.." She tried to wipe her tears off. "If it's for mankind, mother should've understand it."
   But it was all.. just a lie. For his wife and daugher, he was already dead. BV7 just wanted him to come home, she just wanted to stop lying everytime she went home.

   BVA soldiers, erased from existence, they were as good as dead. But some exception made several hundred members unable to go to Earth, rendering them useless to reconnaissance and stuck with more of administrative and technical jobs back in the station. Those members were given the privilege to keep their personal life. They can go back to habitable hubs, or living station where civilization thrives.
   At the hubs, they were heroes as only them go back home, but they were never be proud of it as the reality said otherwise. Elisa, or BV7, was one of them. Regarded as one of the heroes, she was praised by her family and communities. And although her father, BV1, told her to send the family a message, she couldn't do it. Because for them, their father was long gone. His name was already engraved in a prismarine totem at the center of his original hub, as for every deceased person would. He was already dead, and he knows it.

…

   A doorbell rang. It rang multiple times before finally someone opened the door.
   "Who is— Elisabeth!" A woman quickly hugged her.
   "Mother.." Elisa answered back.
   "Oh my sweet daughter! You're back!" She was tearing up. "Kassandra!" She called. "Kassandra come quickly!"
   "Yea? What is it mom? Oh.." A girl stared at Elisa, it was Kassandra, a ten year old girl who was left by her father when she was still a baby. "Hello, sis."
   "Yo." Elisa replied.

   The age gap between the two was quite significant, as Elisa was on her mid twenties. But nevertheless, the bond between siblings was strong, considering all this time, Elisa was the closest to her as a father figure.

   "I haven't prepared lunch yet. You didn't tell us you're going to come." Her mother told.
   "I'm sorry. I'm actually as surprised as you, mom. It's been rough for the couple months and we didn't get any leisure times." Elisa explained.
   "Well I'm glad that you're here." She gently pinched Elisa's cheek. "Come, come. Nothing change though. It's still the same house." She laughed.

   "Elisa.." Kassandra pulled her clothes as she walked past her.
   "Yes?" She bowed down to her.
   "What is it like being a soldier?" She asked.
   "Why do you ask that?" Elisa was a bit concerned.
   "Because I want to be like you, sis." She said.
   "It's been like that for a couple months. She wanted to become a soldier no matter how hard I scold her." The mother said.
   "Well Kassandra.." She kneeled down to her level. "I'll tell you the honest answer, okay?"
   Kassandra nodded.
   "The world out there is a scary place, like really scary. It full of monster you know. It's not good for you to venture there. Your place is here, with mom." She said.
   "If it's a scary place, then why did you become a soldier?" Kassandra replied.
   "Because.." Elisa looked down to the floor.
   "If your reason is to protect us, then I also have the same reason." Kassandra said. "Why sis? Why did you become a soldier? Is it because of dad? Are you curious about the outside world because dad never comes back?"
   Elisa was pinned down. She was out of words.
   "I know he is still alive out there." Kassandra whispered.

   "Kassandra!" Their mom stepped in. She pulled Kassandra away from Elisa. "Your sister had a rough times out there! Don't worsen it!"

   "No mother.." Elisa interrupted. "She's right.” Elisa stared at her mother. “I wanted to know what happened to father, what is it like out there.” She then shifted to Kassandra, Her eyes were watering. “But father is beyond saving.. he's gone.. I watched the final footage of him, of how brutal the monsters had caught and destroy him.. 'Ah.. I lied again..' I don't want that to happen to you too Kassandra!" She was staring at Kassandra deeply. "The reason why I didn't quit right now, is because I don't want Father's death to be in waste. I at least want to avenge him. 'Liar.' I want to retake Earth and stop all of this madness. 'Such a liar.' I became a soldier so that I can save the others. So that I can.. 'I can't keep lying to her..' save you."
   Kassandra shut her mouth after listening to all that.
   "So please.." Elisa approached her, still in kneeling position. "Be a good sister for me. Stay with mom, enjoy your life here. Maybe in a couple years you'll find the one?"
   "What one?" Kassandra asked.
   "You know.. a pretty boy for you." Elisa teased.
   "Ew.. no.." Kassandra giggled.
   Elisa smiled. She had accomplished stopping her sister to become a soldier.

   Elisa then stood up. Kassandra went and helped her mom prepare lunch for them. As she gone, Elisa went and go to her bedroom. She sat on the bed and wondered. A question that Kassandra asked to her.

   “Why did you become a soldier?"

   Although Elisa was not really lying about the father’s part. She still felt like it was not the real reason why she joined BVA. She couldn’t get it too herself. About the real reason of why she became a soldier.

…

   “Alyssa..? Alyssa?” He noticed that the girl fell asleep. He smiled at it.
   He then picked the phone and stopped the recording. Afterwards he carried the girl to her bedroom.