Project Reaper

Chapter 1

Beep
Beep
Beep
The slow and steady beeping of the suit wakes Ezra up with a jolt. He tries to move, but the suit keeps him immobilized. He opens his mouth to speak, but is stopped by three words flashing in the closed visor. Retracting Reaper armor. The armor quickly starts to sink back into Ezra's skin, cutting through the roots, vines, and plants grown overtop of him.
He sits up, the darkness of the night sky on the unknown planet. His eyes adjust to the dim light, as he pats his military clothing down, brushing off the broken roots. He stands and wobbles a bit, before falling onto his face. He rolls over and sits up again, looking around the area around him.
He looks at the large area of blue-green grass around him. The grass sways in the wind, causing the tall, lengthy, fall-colored trees to sway. He keeps looking, then stops his sights on a steady glowing light in the distance. He squints and notices a tall building, much taller than the rest.
He places his hands on the ground to stand, but is stopped by a mechanical voice. "Going somewhere?" Before he can react, a small explosion sends him rolling away from the voice. He stands, still struggling for balance, but maintains himself, trying to get his armor to form. It doesn't react to him thinking of it as a part of his body, as the sound of footsteps gets closer. His legs give out, bringing him to his knees, as his eyes adjust to see a suit of silver light armor, similar to his, stands over him. He opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by it. "I don't know how long you slept, but had I not built this armor, you probably wouldn't have made it this long. But, before you ask, if you want to know who I am, you should go to the tower you saw. This shit is hollowed." The armor opens its visor and face mask to reveal no one inside. "If you want answers, you should come to the tower. Ciao." The empty armor activates a thruster on its back, as it tosses a black hoodie and sweatpants to Ezra. "By the way, I would advise ditching the military clothes. It would make you stand out and delay things. You just woke up, so everything's falling into place. You'll find out the rest, but you should hurry." The armor sends itself flying high into the air and disappears over the maroon clouds.
"What the fuck is going on?" Ezra asks himself, standing up. He finally regains his balance, taking a few steps away from the small crater from the explosion, and changes into the small outfit given to him. "Where the hell am I?"
"You're on the planet Eraciris," Minerva's voice appears in his ears.
"And where the hell were you when I was being attacked?"
"My system was not on until after the vibrations of the suit flying into the sky woke it up."
"Explain what is happening and how I got here. Why were there roots around my body?"
"You have been asleep for..." she pauses for a few minutes.
"For how long?"
"Five thousand, seven hundred and forty eight years." Ezra stands speechless, unable to comprehend what he is told. He looks at his hands, shaking in mixed emotions. He takes a deep breath, clenching his fists, then continues walking, not uttering a word. "You do not wonder if this air is toxic?"
"If it was toxic, I would have died in my sleep or in the moments after the suit opened."
"No wonder you-" Minerva's voice cuts off, as if forced to stop speaking.
"What?"
"I cannot reveal that data. I apologize."
"Whatever. You're probably the stereotype of having the data 'sealed' and can't reveal it, until I reach a certain 'qualification', am I right?"
"I have been restricted from giving you that information, as well. It is what my system gives me access to that I can share. I don't remember why I have been given restrictions, nor who gave me them."
"Okay, I guess that explains a bit of things." Ezra keeps walking, holding his hands in his pockets, as the maroon clouds glide through the air. The dark blue sky turns sunburnt orange, as the red sun rises over the horizon. The maroon clouds change to a garnet red, as they start building together, as green lightning ripples across the sky. It strikes the ground a few yards in front of him, causing him to bring his arm up to cover his face.
The shadow of a slim, four armed figure appears. Ezra sees the shadow for a glimpse, but as soon as the light clears, the shadow vanishes. "The hell was that?" He looks around, looking towards where he came from, hesitating with the feeling of being watched, then looks towards the city and keeps moving forwards.

The moon illuminates the cloudless sky, as the stars shimmer brighter than Ezra has ever seen. The feeling of eyes burning into his body slowly fades, releasing the tension he built up.
"You should most likely rest," Minerva states, breaking the silence in Ezra's head. "You have been awake for thirty-seven Earth hours."
"I don't have any fatigue. I was trained to stay awake for three to four days. It's what soldiers are trained for in order to stay alert and protect everyone, and, on that note, I was asleep for five thousand years." The soldier arrives at a worn out road on the outskirts of the city walls. Run down buildings covered in moss and broken walls line the road all the way to the gates. He rubs his fingers against the rough and destroyed buildings, feeling the unique material of the planet. They look like they're bricks, but they feel different, as if they were taught how to make them with their own resources. He adds the tiniest bit of force to one of the walls, causing the bricks to collapse and the wall to cave in. As the bricks fall, a large cloud of dirt rises.
Ezra looks around, noticing the sizes of each house, as all look relatively the same. Small, stocky, quickly built houses. All destroyed in similar ways: one single strike to the center or corner of a wall.
Before Ezra has a chance to react, a pole is extended out into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him backwards. The blur of a figure flies from the rubble, landing on the highest point of the ruins. The light reveals a young man perched at the top, but the light hides his face.
"Well," a young man says, "don't see many missing people coming back."
"Missing? The hell are you talking about?"
The young man stands up, holding a bo staff up the length of his arm. "Man, you really are clueless, huh? You've been thought a dead man for years. Now, you reappear as if nothing happened."
"As if nothing happened? I almost died right before I blacked out. I have no memories of anything past my blackout."
The young man twirls his staff. "Of course. So, since you're here now, you ain't rusty, right, old man?"
Ezra curls his fists in anger. "Who the hell are you calling old?!" The young man leaps into the air, then lands in an armor similar to Ezra's, but colored in red and gold. A golden headband in the shape of a cloud sits on his head. He swings his staff horizontally at Ezra's head, but Ezra leans back, dodging it and falling off balance. As he falls, he turns, sweeping his leg under his opponent, knocking them both down.
Ezra hops up first, rapidly charging at his foe. His opponent spins on his back, swinging his feet out, trying to keep Ezra at a distance. Ezra keeps his charge up, taking the full brunt of the kick, but before he can react, the heel of the young man's second foot connects, causing Ezra to stumble.
Ezra recovers himself, as a small stream of blood starts dripping from his mouth.
"A clean hit, ain't it?" the young man chuckles. "Must've gotten rusty, huh, old man?" Ezra stays silent, wiping the blood with his thumb, then spits the rest onto the ground. "Speechless, huh?"
The young man starts rambling, as a single thought comes to Ezra's mind, with something only he can hear. Armor Recharged. A small smirk comes to his face.
"Something funny?" Ezra doesn't respond, abruptly sprinting towards the young man. The Reaper Armor forms around his body, blocking the oncoming attack, as the young man swings his staff. As the staff collides with Ezra's arm, it extends, connected by a chain, swinging around his arm, hitting him in the back of the head. Ezra falls over, trying to recover and attack the young man, but fails, falling face first, as the young man takes a step back.
Ezra rolls forward, handspringing at his adversary, landing both feet into his chest, pushing him back. Both fighters rise once more, before the midnight sky, and start colliding with each other once more. Staff against arm and leg, trading blows equally, slowly wearing down the other's endurance. Taking a step back, both try to pace their heavy breathing.
"You're tough," the young man exhales, "I'll give you that. You get silent when you fight, it seems."
"Focus," Ezra replies.
"Did that same focus get used when you were supposed to protect your team?" Ezra freezes. "Your ship crashed on the other side of the planet, killing any survivors left." The young man starts circling the soldier. "You have the Reaper Armor; armor powerful enough to wipe multiple planets out of existence all at once." Ezra starts trembling, seething with rage and sorrow. "Yet, you gave all those lives up, when you could've saved them." Ezra feels his anger skyrocket, snapping through a barrier and causing him to black out. When Ezra comes to, his hands are bloodied, his visor is covered in blood. Slowly, he looks down, seeing destroyed red and gold shards along the ground, with an unidentifiable body with purple bones, sitting under him. Disgust and terror filled his mind. He turns, undoing his helmet, and pukes next to the body. He looks up, noticing the sun rising, then stands up removing the armor. The sight of his opponent's corpse holds all focus in his mind, as he heads into the city walls.