The Luminos Emperor

Chapter 2

At the time, Luminos was in an amazing time of peace. There were no civil uprisings to be heard of, no wars, and everyone was generally happy with their lives. However, in the mess hall, there were constant rumblings about a group called Razor. They were considered a terrorist group, who's only goal was chaos and to destroy people's lives. We'd heard that they would bomb hospitals, shoot the elderly, you name it. Some of our officers even mentioned from time to time that we were training to fight these terrorists. I'd never believed them, until they actually attacked.

It was about 2:00 in the morning when we heard the bombs go off and the sirens filled the air. We were sleeping in our bunks, and we immediately went to the armory to find ourselves some weapons. But we didn't make it that far. We got ambushed along the way, and all of us got knocked out in the middle of the fight. I awoke for a moment to see the group executing my squad mates, and the next gun aimed at me. Until the attacker's head exploded from a rifle round. I looked over my shoulder, to see our sister squad flanking from the side, making quick work of the assailants. I went unconscious immediately after and awoke in the infirmary.

"Clarke, are you alright?" I heard a familiar voice ring in my head, my vision still hazy.

"I'm alive... I think." I responded. I looked up and my vision came back, and I saw Cormack, the squad leader of my sister squad, sitting at the foot of my bed. He was the one who carried me back.

"Can you walk? The General wants to speak with you. It's about last month." Cormack said solemnly.

"Wait, last month? You talking about me taking the extra rations? 'Cause... That was definitely not me." I shifted my eyes side to side comically.

"Hold on, Clarke. Do you know how long you've been knocked out?" I shook my head. "It's been just over a month since Razor attacked us. Since your squad was... lost. You only just recovered. The doc says you're ready to go, but I want to know. Are you ready?"

"Ready for what, exactly?" I tilted my head.

"To fight. Ironhide has a plan for us, but he won't tell us till you show up. He wants you on the mission with us."

"I.... I'm good, just gimme a hand getting up." I extended my arm, and Cormack helped me up out of bed.

I put on my uniform and walked down the hall with Cormack. Well, in truth, I hobbled my way, but I recovered quickly. We walked into the war room, and the General gave me a warm welcome. He hugged me in greeting.

"How you doing, son? You think you're ready to fight?" Ironhide looked me over quickly and stood back.

"I think so, sir. But what exactly are we doing?" I looked around and saw a bunch of officers in uniform that I didn't recognize. The General sat down in his desk, and the holographic map showed up above the table in the center of the room.

"This is Tempra. A small village to the south. The local rumor going around is that there is a Razor operative in the village, gaining intel on our facility here, no doubt to make a second, and final assault. It seems their defeat last time wasn't enough to deter them from attacking again. So, your mission is to find the intel they've acquired and bring it back here for analyzing. Is that clear, Clarke?"

"Yes, sir." I clicked my heels together as I stood at attention to salute.

"You're a good kid, and I'm sure you no doubt want to play a part in these... terrorists, failing in their mission to overthrow the Emperor. So you will be infiltrating the building that we believe to be their secret base, and complete your mission. The rest of the squad here will hang back, to provide reinforcements, should the mission go south. Clarke, you are dismissed to collect your gear. The rest of you, please stay here a moment so I may have a word in private."

I saluted the General once more, and turned around to walk out the door. The heavy oak door slammed behind me, and I proceeded down the hall to the armory. There, I got my armor, my gun, and my sword, all of which I'd had since I was young, as they trained me early. I knew everything about these weapons, but I had never used them. Yet.