The Pale War

by Max Jager

  His face had contorted itself protruding out way more then normal. Especially his mouth. His ears had grown in size. Those points on them that had grown back on Traxus now were more accentuated then ever. His teeth were now not even teeth anymore. They were razor sharp, pearl colored daggers inside his mouth. Not one tooth even remotely looked flat or square like a human's tooth.

  On his temples were these two huge bumps. They pained Korzen a little but he hardly even noticed them. They seemed to be hiding something. Some demonic feature that hadn't yet quite taken hold of the Yellow Korzen.

  His skin had now become this bright, deep yellow. It was as yellow as Dandelion petals. It also seemed to have this strange yellow type of hair growing out of it too.

  The biggest change of all that Korzen was oblivious to was his newly grown tail! A yellow fur covered tail! It swayed back and forth almost as if it had been there since Korzen was born but it hadn't! It felt as natural to him as all the other changes did which he didn't even care about.

  The Red Firius was his main concern, his only concern!

  Korzen looked around and saw that he had landed in this heavily forested area. He saw these huge, beautiful trees which towered above him. The sun somewhat shined in creating that illustrious, multiple beam effect, customary in dense forests. Where one beam turns into several silhouetted by the trees' shadows making these beautiful, afternoon light columns.

  He looked to his right and saw a small, wooden sign with a glass display. In the glass display of the sign was this piece of paper with writing on it and a big multi-colored shape to the right of the scribble. He walked towards it and read a little of the writing. Reading that the multi-colored shape was a map.

  Above all the writing and the map was big bold letters that read:

  CALCUTTA IV CITY PARK

  ERECTED IN 2048

  IN MEMORY OF THE FIVE FLIGHT BATTLIONS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DEFFENDING THIS CITY.

  Korzen just sneered at the writing and looked at the map. He saw a trail leading right out of the park from where he was. He turned and followed it. On his way he came in contact with a mother and her child. They ran in fear from him. He had hardly even noticed them. He was so locked on killing Firius that he ignored them completely.

  He exited the park and there were two soldiers standing there about ready to enter the park. Probably to find out what had crash landed. When Korzen exited out, first they were thrilled to see the legendary rouge standing right in front of them but as they approached his mutations became apparent to them. They stopped cold and looked at him in horror. They held their issued rifles close. They didn't know if their eyes were playing tricks on them or if they really were seeing this demonic looking agent!

  Korzen didn't stop though, he kept right on walking. He got closer and closer to them now almost out in the city. Only then did he stop. He caught a whiff of a familiar sent. A sent that he had smelled before back on Traxus. The Firius!

  He sniffed the air like an animal and no doubt about it, it was The Red Firius and he had the Leyline with him. Korzen had a sick twisted grin slide across his face. His target was here along with the other. He could kill them both before they even made it to planet Hogarth. He honed in on the sent and began to head in that direction.

  The two guards aimed their rifles and in a quivering voice one of them slightly said, "Uh, you have to show ID of…" Before the rest could even be uttered Korzen had pulled his revolver and blasted both of the two soldiers away! He walked right over their corpses and into town.

  "Firius!" He growled out as he walked down the sidewalk with his revolver pulled.

  He walked for about ten more minutes before he caught sight of them. He swiftly hid in an alleyway behind a wall. He saw them up about five stories high in an apartment building. They seemed to be relaxing. He aimed his revolver straight at the Firius who was by the window. He was going to take his shot but he couldn't be sure of the kill. Not from the range he was at.

  He could bust into the building and shoot it out with him but he figured the young agent would be long gone before he even got to the fourth floor. So close yet so far! Korzen was infuriated with this current predicament.

  He saw a roof across the way from the apartment building and formed a plan. He need a sniper rifle though. He wanted to make sure Firius was good and dead before he turned his attention to the Leyline. He hardly even cared about what happened to her. He just wanted the Firius dead.

  Korzen looked across the street and saw a gun shop. It had more then the usual fair of guns too. It had lots of huge weapons perfect for destroying long rang targets. He started to walk towards it when suddenly he heard a strange noise. All the people were off the streets by now. (They had started running around and finding cover since the fire hit in the park. Korzen having his revolver pulled and his appearance only intensified their panic.)

  Korzen looked down the barren street and that noise kept getting louder. Finally, a huge tank came rolling down the street. Obviously somebody had reported the two soldiers he killed. Korzen walked right out in the middle of the street and awaited for the behemoth transport. Korzen holstered his revolver and then he clasped his hands together near his stomach as if he was just waiting for a bus to arrive.

  This tank was about two times the size of any normal tank known at the turn of the second millennium. It had two huge tank barrels in front and had a huge cabin that swiveled like the older models. This thing though had along with its two treaded tracks; four big metal legs, which pounded the ground and helped the hulking, metal siege machine move along with the tread. It was creating holes in the sidewalks about five feet deep. Not to mention the street itself was being eviscerated by the monstrous tracks.

  Korzen could only smile at the lumbering mansion sized tank. A thought raced through his head as his demonic mind was taken off of The Red Firius. (for a few seconds) 'They don't mess around.'

  The tank stopped about five feet in front of him and both barrels were pivoted right at his face. Korzen was staring right down both barrels of this gigantic device. He made a slight snicker.

  Suddenly, a soldier popped out of the left barrel turret and had a megaphone with him. Around this time, Korzen looked back up into the Firius's room to see if any of this commotion had attracted his attention. It hadn't surprisingly. He was still up in the room walking around and was oblivious to the events outside. That, or he was trying to make it look like he wasn't paying attention. Either way, Korzen had to move fast and get himself out of this jam soon otherwise The Firius would soon take notice. It wasn't like the giant, lumbering, spider tank was easy to ignore.

  Korzen's attention was suddenly brought back to the tank. The soldier who had brought out the megaphone began yelling at Korzen through it.

  "This is Calcutta IV City Guard Battalion 4779; HWE (Heavy Weapons Elite) special forces unit. You are under arrest for the murder of two Street Patrol Guards. Surrender and maybe…"

  Korzen jumped in the air and landed right in front of the soldier with the megaphone. He stood tall in front of him and aimed his gun straight down towards his head. Korzen didn't even have to think about pulling the trigger. It came natural to him.

  The soldier's head snapped back like the crack of a whip and he fell down into the gunnery seat. The other soldier in the other turret mount popped out and had a nice size revolver of his own. He yelled out, "Hey…"

  There would have been more but Korzen in one fluid motion blew the back of his head off as well. His eyes not even moving over to the turret commando. The soldier slammed on the metal and stayed motionless on top of the turret in a pool of his own blood. Korzen finally looked over to see the end result of his massacre. He smiled for a split second and then hopped back off of the tank.

  Korzen began walking back towards the gun shop leaving the tank in the middle of town. He was almost to the door when he stopped. He saw all sorts of different killing devices. Light-machine guns, a few dastardly knifes that were more like machetes. Even
a rocket launcher with no store owner in sight. Korzen was, indeed, planning on using all of it but he suddenly got a better idea.

  Why use a rocket launcher when you've got a tank! He knew that there was one more soldier left in the metal behemoth. The driver. Korzen hopped back onto the tank but now he was right in the middle of the two barrels. He only took two steps on the tank before he came to a hatchway. He opened it up and found the driver. The driver was unarmed and looked back up at Korzen wanting mercy for his life.

  Korzen was going to grant it to him. That big revolver was already staring the driver in the face. Korzen spoke. When he did, his voice had changed. It was darker and more sinister. It sounded like his old voice but with a heavy, deep howl over it. "What is your name?"

  The driver had kind of excepted his fate but he still didn't want to experience it. He had a cautious, melancholy look to his face. "Soren."

  His voice was dull and shaky. Sounding sort of pompous but also rich with normalcy. There was nothing extra-special about him and yet Korzen could smell something in him. A power yet untapped. He didn't know what it was but something in this particular soldier drew his subconscious attention.

  "Listen to me! Follow that man up there with this thing and I will let you live." Korzen pointed to Firius with his gun on the fifth floor of the apartment building.

  Soren nodded his head in a slight bit of disgust and Korzen slammed the hatch shut. He then climbed up to the left barrel turret and removed the dead soldier from the gunnery chair. Korzen slid down in and closed the hatch. He holstered his revolver and looked at the tank's firing display. It was a nice size screen with an outlook of just about everything in front of the tank. In the middle was this small, green crosshair in the shape of a circle. He then looked down a little from the screen and saw the targeting joystick. He grabbed it and jerked it to the left. When he did the turret moved in that direction. Same thing when he tested up an down. Just the barrel on the turret moved though but everything seemed to be working right.

  By that time, the driver had already began to operate the tank. He was positioning it so that Korzen could get a better shot at Firius on the fifth floor. The metal legs that were attached on the sides of the tank began to slowly extended. They began to extended like thick huge radio antennas. After one section of leg had grown another section would begin growing out of the other.

  Soon, the legs of the tank were three times bigger then what they were before. The driver then began to move them and the tank itself began to lift up off the ground. The tracks came right off the ground and now the tank had become a mobile, walking, artillery battery. Able to shoot at targets from at least two miles away. It now stood at five to six stories tall. It hovered right up to the apartment window.

  Korzen saw another window to the left side of the building allowing for a much better surprise. He looked for a way to communicate to the driver to pivot the tank to the left. He began stomping on the floor of the turret and suddenly this voice filled the metal enclosure. "Hey, stop that! I can hear you if you just speak!"

  Korzen growled a bit and said, "Head over to the left side of the building." He suddenly felt this hard jerk inside the tank.

  Outside, the tank quickly pounced to the left and wedged in between two buildings. The apartment building and a smaller building behind the tank. The legs were buried in the ground like giant metal spires. The tank itself was at top with the left cannon about ten feet away from the window! Korzen was shocked the tank could move that fast for how big it was. He figured it could even move faster then that.

  Korzen could see everything in the apartment clearly. He wrapped his hand around the joystick and had his index finger half-an-inch away from the trigger. The crosshairs on the display were dead center on Firius. "Now, you're mine!"

  Planet Whitmore: The Spider & The Firius

  Alerius was resting in a chair in the room. Aurela was sleeping in a bed to the immediate right of him. She had the shotgun still with her. It seemed to give her a sense of security. The real reason she was holding onto it was because she felt like it was a gift from Alerius. She would never let go of it.

  Alerius didn't realize this though. He was too busy being worried about her safety then her herself. Again, he was ignoring his and her feelings. He didn't know how long he could keep that up though. He just wanted to get her to Hogarth. Maybe after he got her to the Viseus Pyramid he could finally complete this mission and be done with this emotional turmoil.

  Then, he wouldn't see her anymore. He wanted her. Little did he realize he was tearing himself apart and his mental fatigue was weighing heavy on his body and mind. He was exhausting himself and because of this, his alertness was dying down. His senses were becoming nullified. His guard was dissolving away and he didn't even realize it!

  Before he had gotten the room, him and Aurela had visited a few shops. Alerius had gotten himself some new clothes and Aurela had gotten herself some too. She had gotten this nice blue and white outfit with white shoes. It was tight fitting which tortured Alerius even more.

  Alerius had found a dark red t-shirt and a new pair of blue jeans. He also found a black leather jacket with a red Celtic-inspired designs that out lined the black leather jacket.

  Alerius didn't have to pay for any of it being an agent. He got special privileges on Whitmore being in the military. Good thing too because he didn't have any money. They then went to a restaurant. Alerius nor Aurela had eaten since Traxus and Alerius was not even aware of when he had since the calsins took care of him when he was passed-out getting his leg fixed.

  They had a nice meal together but didn't say much. Aurela had tried at least three stout attempts at mild conversation but Alerius shutdown. He was enjoying himself and, once again, he was trying not to get too emotionally evolved with her. Scarred of what might happen. Again, Alerius didn't have to pay a dime.

  Then, the two found a gun store. Alerius traded in the SMG from Traxus and the grenade bandolier. He looked around a bit in the gun store but not before trying to find more plasma shells for the Steed's shotgun. He found none. The store owner knew about plasma ammo and only one person had ever made plasma weaponry or ammunition. The Turquoise Steed.

  What Alerius did find though was a pair of other SMGs. These were very unique. They seemed out dated but very effective. They had these tiny metal bars over them and circled up and around the tiny barrels of the SMGs. These bars were actually folded stocks that fit snuggly right over the top of the guns and could be unfolded. Kind of looking like a scorpion's tail. They also had a rust color to them and seemed to be sporting larger clips then what they seemed to be capable of holding. On both they had black scorpions on their pistol grips. Scorpion twins. Alerius couldn't take one with out the other. He fell in love with the two. He even found a nice hip holster pair for them with extra ammo.

  Finally, he had gotten the room. It wasn't anything magnificent but it would do. For the small wait for the refueling of the ship it would suffice.

  Alerius got up from the chair and went over to the window. He looked out across the town. He saw lots of people running around like crazy. He looked at it strangely but disregarded it. (This was where his mental fatigue was starting to effect him. If he had been just a bit sharper he would have noticed something wrong.) He was too tired to really worry about it. It wasn't effecting him or Aurela so why should he care.

  Suddenly, Aurela twitched in her sleep and he heard her murmur out one word. "Korzen!"

  He went from the window and began to pace back and forth. Was The Yellow Korzen dead? He thought to himself. This traitor agent was his biggest concern. He could probably pass off as an agent himself! Alerius thought back to Traxus and how much Korzen had changed. Alerius knew he was starting to become a demon. Somehow the hellion forces were changing him to be a hellion himself. How though?

  Alerius was lost in thought and heard a small ruckus outside. He stopped pacing and looked out the window from where he was. All he saw was the sky so he really
didn't worry. 'Probably some stupid parade or something.' (Again, mental and physical fatigue starting to take hold.)

  Alerius went over to the other window which looked out to a small building across the way. Again, Alerius began to think about The Yellow Korzen. 'How could he do this?' He thought to himself. Betray the military, kill The Turquoise Steed, kill that migzight ally back on Traxus, let his emotions destroy him like that?

  Alerius turned away from the window. He thought back to Yellow Korzen's words back on Scalabore:

  "So I approached the high commanded one day. I told them I was going on my last mission. They said no. That I could transfer to one of the more safer parts of the universe. They said it was to keep up military moral. I know what they really wanted! They wanted me to stay on the battlefield so that they could say I was still in action. They wanted me to either die out there or keep fighting until the war was over."