Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 1: The Fox

I found Wilson in Valedon about a week after fighting my way out of the Special Forces' base. Apparently, I had been in a recovery tank for eighteen years! Wilson said I was supposed to be in it for twenty years, given my injuries at Watervalley, the last battle of the Third Great War, but he monitored my vitals and status of my cybernetic enhancements every day since I was put on ice, and after looking at them now, he told me that I would be fine as long as I avoided serious combat. Later that same day, we found ourselves walking downtown for something to eat. I couldn't taste anything because of my mutations, but at least pretending to enjoy what I ate made me look more like I belonged with the people of Valedon. I knew what I looked like to them. My skin was pale, almost as white as the Last Winter's snow, my eyes were like a snake's, and my voice was gravelly and croaky as a result of my mutations. I was sure that I looked like a monster that a Guardian would fight against, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, there were quite a few Guardians that I was close friends with before the battle I was injured in, and even a few Ilentia warriors I called "friend". I wondered how they were doing, and I wondered what had changed since I was put in the recovery tank. I wondered about so many things! Wilson hanged his head with sadness, and gave a deep sigh when I asked him what stood out to him the most. It must not have been good.

"We're at war again," he admitted.

"What do you mean 'again'?" I wondered. "We're not in a Fourth Great War, are we?"

"Gods, no," Wilson chuckled. "We aren't at war with monsters. We're at war with each other."

"You mean..."

"The rebellion you've been hearing so much about," Wilson informed. "I'm afraid it's all true. And you've seen the propaganda."

"Oh, yes," I said. "Is there an explanation as to why it started in the first place?"

"Jonathan Chambers supposedly believes that the current government has failed the people," Wilson enlightened. "Ever since the King was killed."

"Gods," I whispered. "What end does he fight for?"

"I take anything said about this war with a grain of salt," Wilson advised. "And I strongly suggest that you do, as well, but everything is saying that the power will be given to the people."

"What?" I gasped. "But the people have always been Chardan's strength. They've always had strength."

"Well, Jonathan is Lord Evan Chambers' brother," Wilson reminded. "And we both know that the two of them are as idiotic as they come. They believe everything can be solved with violence."

"Including each other, it would seem," I sighed. "One big happy family if I've ever seen one."

"A year ago, Lord Chambers attacked his brother's fortification at Chambers' Keep," Wilson continued. "Killed everyone there. All the rebel soldiers, and every civilian, under the assumption that they had sided with his brother."

"So, not much has changed with either of them, then," I guessed. "They always hated each other."

"Not really, no," Wilson confirmed. "But neither has the fact that we're at war."

"I go to sleep for almost twenty years fighting one war, and wake up to find out that we're in the middle of another," I sighed. "What are the chances? Should I be ready for a fight?"

"Well, that's the thing," Wilson answered. "No one in Valedon is being forced to fight, and the rebels are still Chardan's people. You fight for Chardan's people."

"Still," I sighed. "What should I do, Wilson? Are there more of the Special Forces that survived Watervalley?"

"Oh, yes, plenty," Wilson promised. "Out of them, you suffered the most serious injuries there."