Iron Empire

Twenty-Seven: Origins

Report: Quinn
Just off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Canada.
Alliance home base.
Designation: "The Firmament"

Upon returning from the second battle of Stalnoy, the Firmament's resident medical staff subjected me to a battery of medical tests.

As I had suspended, Harlow's explosive end had also deafened me in my right ear.

Statistically, I was extremely lucky to have escaped the explosions with nothing but a ruptured eardrum. I was diagnosed with unilateral deafness and told that my hearing would likely never return.

Fortunately, medical advances from the time after the Third World War had provided the public with implants used to supplement hearing loss. A device about the same size as a wireless earbud now resided in my right ear canal, allowing me to hear once more. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. As a bonus, a built-in microphone and transmitter system meant that I could now receive comms signals without having to wear a bulky, breakable headset.

I fiddled with my implant during the elevator ride to the bridge, listening to the sound cutting in and out again like a tuned radio. Satisfied that I had it about where I wanted it, I let my hand drop.

"I swear they make this elevator ride slower than the others," Taewi quipped.

Martin, Taewi, Alyx, Kedrick and I stood clustered together as the elevator rose. The wide, circular lift was large enough to accommodate twice our number but wasn't often used by large groups. The effect made the moderately sized platform feel huge and empty.

Excepting Taewi, most of us stood in silence as the lift hummed along the track, bringing us out of the bowels of the Firmament and closer to both the bridge and some much-needed answers.

The coin was heavy in my hands. A comforting weight. I was lucky to not have lost it in Stalnoy.

"Maybe it's slow because getting to the bridge should feel like an important event," Taewi continued, "no matter if it's good or bad."

Nobody responded. Most of us were too nervous.

I'd recounted my meeting with the Exodus pilot to my squad on the way home from Stalnoy, which once again remained neutral thanks to us. After capturing the district and confirming that no new enemies were inbound, Stalnoy had been thoroughly searched for any further evidence of Axion activity. Although we hadn't found any further evidence, both the hard drive and the blueprints had quickly made their way into Mallet's hands.

Although the video of my father had been shocking, I had neglected to consider the implications of the blueprints I had discovered. Project Terminus. What was it?

Those questions were only a few of many that raced through my mind as the elevator slowly made its way towards the Firmament's highest levels.

I certainly wasn't the only one with questions—every person aboard the elevator had seen the Exodus use a stealth ability like my Prowler. Who was the Exodus pilot, what relation did she have to Mallet, and where did she acquire the stealth ability? Why hadn't anyone told us?

Taewi's ceaseless prattle interrupted my endless questions.

"Think about it," he was rambling, "if you did something wrong you're going to be sweating buckets the whole long ride up thinking about what you did. It adds dread! Do something right and you can't get up soon enough. It adds anticipation! I'm just saying, if this elevator wasn't so blasted slow we wouldn't be as—"

"Quiet, please."

Commander Martin Telbus stood to the rear of the lift. He'd been mostly silent since Stalnoy, refusing to share a single detail about our mysterious ally until we were in Mallet's presence.