Revelations Discovery Anthology Volume 1

by Rick Graham

  That was when he noticed the sound of someone beginning to cry. The sobbing grew in volume which startled the guard. In anger the guard sprang up and banged on the wooden door several times.

  He peered through a grate built into the door and shouted, “Best keep your mouth shut!” With his back unknowingly to Varius, he didn’t see the Republic inquisitor sneaking up behind him.

  “If you don’t keep your little mouth shut, you are going to end up visiting the butche…” he never got to finish the threat. The inquisitor flicked his right wrist, activating his assassin blade. Grabbing a handful of the guard’s hair with his left hand, he struck the right side of the guard’s head killing him instantly. Yanking his blade out the body fell to the left, the scattershot sliding across the floor.

  He looked through the grate to see a small girl in a torn purple dress tied to a wall with a rope. As the door opened, the child was extremely frightened at the sight of the inquisitor’s black armor and leather outfit and pressed herself tightly into the corner of the room.

  Varius slowly approached the girl and knelt down next to her. He looked her up and down and saw how she had obviously been beaten. Between the dirt on her face, her swollen left eye with a fading brownish bruise coloring her cheek and a scabbed over cut on her forehead he was having trouble identifying her.

  “Are you Lilly Aurelius?” he asked, his voice sounding slightly synthetic as it came from the speaker built into the front of his helmet. He removed his shoulder knife and cut the rope binding her wrists together.

  She did not respond to him. Instead, cowering in fear, she covered her face with her trembling hands.

  “I am Inquisitor Damien Varius. I’m not going to hurt you” Varius said as he pointed to himself and then extending his right hand.

  Hesitatingly the child slowly reached out her hand to his.

  “Are you Lilly Aurelius?”

  She looked at him and nodded as her body continued to shake.

  “Well what do we have here?” asked a voice from behind.

  Varius frozes in place for a moment before standing up slowly and turning around.

  Jonnt and his wife Deborah were standing in the doorway. The inn keeper’s face was twisted in anger to see the inquisitor and he gripped the dead guard’s scattergun tightly.

  Using his body to shield the child, Varius asked, “How long have you been kidnapping people from the neighboring towns Jonnt?”

  “It isn’t what you think Inquisitor!” Deborah said as the two men stared each other down.

  “Oh? What is it then?” Varius asked keeping his focus on Jonnt’s scattergun.

  “We only did this because the government forgot about us here! People from our town went all the way to the capital here on Assembly to try and get food rations sent to us, but we kept getting ignored. We did all we could to prevent this. Please, you have to understand…” the inn keeper’s wife began to walk into the room to plead further but her husband put his arm out in front of her.

  “Deb, this man doesn’t care about our problems.” Jonnt glared at the inquisitor with a deep inner bitterness. “He is just some cog in the machine. Unthinking. Uncaring. We did try to get help sent to us as the drought set in and our crops all died. This is a 1,000 cycle kind of drought. This world wasn’t even colonized last time this happened”

  “Why didn’t you leave the area then?” the inquisitor asked.

  “And where would we go? The entire planet is in a drought. Not to mention, our ancestors have lived in Alachua for multiple generations trying to build this town into something.”

  Varius remained motionless, saying nothing back.

  “Heh…” Jonnt looked down and shook his head. “I do wish this would have played out differently.”

  “Where is inquisitor Kopen, Jonnt?” Varius asked keeping his tone neutral.

  “We didn’t know that little girl was anyone important until he showed up. Decided to keep her locked up until we knew what to do with her. You know, he did seem like a nice guy…for an inquisitor. Always thought all inquisitors would be more like, well, you. No common decency. All that matters is the job.”

  “Where is he Jonnt?” Varius needed to know what happened to Kopen, to know what his judgement would be.

  “Please, you have to understand…” again Deborah tried to plead but again her husband cut her off.

  “Woman! This man doesn’t care about our plight. You want to know where he is? I believe Kopen is at the diner back by the inn. And come to think of it, some of him is probably here too” Jonnt began to laugh to himself.

  Varius fought the urge to blast the man in front of him into eternity. Instead, he turned to Deborah and asked, “How many in the town know about what is happening here?”

  Jonnt spoke over his wife’s response. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Why not?” Deborah asked, looking to her husband confused.

  “Because hun, he wants to know how many are guilty. He isn’t going to let us leave this place” As the inn keeper kept his gaze on the inquisitor, his wife’s eyes got wide in fear. As she spun around to try and run for an alarm button on the wall outside the room Varius drew his sidearm with his right hand. He leaned to the right to avoid the scattergun blast and used his left hand to push Lilly aside.

  Jonnt fired his weapon and missed blasting a hole right through the wall. He cocked his gun to fire again but was killed by four shots from Varius. Blood sprayed into the air as his body fell. Deborah managed to hit the red button but before she could turn around she was shot in the back of the head. Her body slammed into the wall and slid to the ground.

  A loud shrieking sound boomed from speakers throughout the slaughterhouse and outside. Varius walked back into the room and extended his left hand to help the child up from the ground. “We have to leave this place.”

  Lilly reached out and Varius helped her stand. He bent down and lifted her up in his arm. He peaked out from the doorway and checked his HUD for anyone else approaching. Seeing the room was clear he moved out and headed back towards the slaughterhouse’s entrance.

  Before opening the front door, bright lights shown through a window as if a vehicle just drove up. Varius could hear the sound of doors opening and closing, and the voices of men that sounded upset.

  The inquisitor holstered his pistol and set Lilly down beside him. He opened a pocket on his left thigh and pulled out a thin silver rectangle. Grasping it in both hands he bent it. The rectangle bent back on its own as he placed it vertically on the door near the doorknob and the doorframe meet. The rectangle strip began to glow orange before it faded back to gray. While it cooled it fused together with the door and the frame preventing the door from being opened easily.

  Varius picked Lilly back up and drew his pistol again. He searched his map for another exit. He spotted a door down a hallway and one other door back in the storage room. As he headed toward the one down the hallway Lilly turned back startled by the men banging on the door.

  With his hands full, the inquisitor kicked the backdoor open and stepped out while holding his pistol up ready to shoot. He checked to the left for enemies. Just then a bullet hit him in the right forearm causing him to drop his pistol from the pain. Thankfully for him, the bullet did little more than bruise his arm. Beneath the outer uniform each inquisitor wore a thin suit that tightens at high impact to help deflect bullets depending on the angle of the hit.

  He rushed back inside as more bullets hit the doorway. The alarm continued screaming while Varius passes through the kitchen area as a man with a scattergun rounds the corner in front of him. Spinning quickly and pulling Lilly in towards his core Varius takes the shot to his back. He runs back through the kitchen the way they came and towards the right narrowly missing another shot that punches through the wall.

  Running down the hall he turned left and found a room he hadn’t entered yet.

  “They went in the tunnel!” a voice shouted from somewhere outside the room.

  “Bunke
r?” Varius thought to himself as he looked around. His HUD detected multiple heartbeats approaching them. He sees a door at the other end of the room. Running quickly out of options, he opened the door to see stairs that lead down to a dirt path lighted by a string of lights along the wall of the tunnel.

  Charging down the stairs Varius held Lilly tight and began running once he hit the dirt. The path went on much farther than he could see.

  “This was probably used for smuggling around the sinful acts of the slaughterhouse. Exactly how many of the townspeople knew about what was going on with all of the missing citizens from the nearby towns?” he thought to himself.

  Lilly pointed behind back down the path, “Uh oh!”

  Bullets began to zing passed the fleeing pair. One round made sparks shoot out when it caused a light nearby to explode. Lilly screamed as Varius ducked into a path that lead up to some other staircase. He set the girl down and reached up and removed the laser rifle on his back. As the weapon disconnected from his back it began to unfold and locked into active mode.

  He spun around the corner and opened fire. Bright blue beams jetted at his pursuers. Two bolts sliced through a younger man in the chest and upper right thigh. He screamed in pain as he fell. Two other men pressed themselves up against the walls of the tunnel trying to become smaller targets. Varius fired several more shots until his focus was pulled away when his HUD alerted him that two more heartbeats were coming up behind him from the staircase.

  He raised his right arm to lock the rifle to his back again. It folded back up just as it reconnected to the magnet. Grabbing Lilly, he bolted out to the right running further down the tunnel just as the door of the staircase flung open.

  Varius continued running, his heart pounding, as more and more voices could be heard following behind them. Bullets whizzed passed and suddenly that was when a green laser bolt cut through his left leg passing further down the tunnel until it burrowed into the wall somewhere further on. Clutching Lilly tightly, he caught himself from falling and instead rolled into somewhat of a ready stance.

  Another green bolt passed just shy of his helmet. Varius spotted another stonecrete staircase close by. He hobbled over to the stairs while carrying Lilly. With all of his might he fought to get up the stone steps until he reached the door. He threw the door open and peaked inside and saw that it looks like they are in someone’s cellar since he could see through wooden slats for a ceiling.

  No threats.

  After setting Lilly down inside the dusty room he turned back to the door and grabbed a black cylinder from his lower back. A red-light glows on top of it as he activated the device. He waited for several heartbeats as the men approached the stairs. Varius tossed the cylinder in the tunnel and slammed the door closed.

  One of the men down below shouted, “Grenade!” as the inquisitor ran up to Lilly and shielded her with his body. The explosion rocked the room the pair were in, streams of dust descending from above. A metal shelf stood next to the door, its shelves loaded with glass jars full of a clear liquid. He grunted as he pulled the shelf down to block the door to the tunnel. Glass jars fell and shattered on the floor, spilling the liquid all around.

  Before he could turn back to Lilly he felt two hands lift him up and throw him across the room. His right shoulder slammed into another metal shelf with more glass jars. Two of the jars tumbled to the ground and burst. Lilly ran behind a wooden crate to hide from the brawl.

  As the inquisitor stood up prepared to fight, he got a look at his sudden attacker and took a step back in a little bit of shock. The man was clearly a whole head taller than Varius and had some incredibly wide shoulders.

  Unsheathing his knife from his shoulder, the inquisitor took a step towards the large man. The attacker however picked up a nearby plank of wood and smashed it against the inquisitor’s helmet. The plank breaks in two and the man drops the other half.

  Varius shook his head to clear blurred his vision. He flips the knife and catches the blade with his gloved hand. With one quick motion he throws the knife and impales the big man’s right foot to the floor.

  “Raaaaah!” he screamed in pain. The man leaned down to the ground and pulled the knife out of his foot. He uses it to jab at his prey.

  Varius jumped back avoiding the attack. Grabbing a jar from the standing shelf he flings it as hard as he can. The glass jar bashed the man in the face but didn’t break until it hit the ground. Dashing forward Varius blocks another knife attack with his left forearm and flicked his assassin blade out. He stabbed the man four times before the man grabbed his right forearm with his massive left hand.

  The man smiled widely in defiance just before his face was smashed in from Varius’ headbutt. Both men stagger backwards for a moment before the inquisitor regained himself. He reached up and grabbed his rifle. The large man began to run forwards at Varius before he was skewered by multiple laser bolts. His lifeless body crashing into the standing shelf breaking even more jars.

  Varius looks up and sees a wooden staircase leading to the above floor. After picking Lilly up, he limps up each step feeling intense pain in his ribcage. As he gets a look at the above room he realized they were inside the inn.

  Looking out the front window he can see several wheeled vehicles drive up. The silhouettes of more men moving in the contrast of the darkness around them and the bright lights from the vehicles. That’s when Varius saw him. Stepping out from a white wheeled truck was the mayor in his crisp white suit. He held a rifle in his right hand, while he coordinated and pointed directions with his left.

  That was all the evidence he needed.

  He looked around the inn and spotted an oil lamp hanging on a nail in the wall. It wasn’t lit, but would do nicely. He set Lilly down and grabbed the oil lamp and threw it at the bar. It burst and oil covered the countertop, alcohol and the padded wooden stools. He also tossed in some other tie-down cushions from the chairs at a small table.

  Activating his comm link to a staging point far outside of the town Varius spoke, “This is Inquisitor Varius, code 146-A7. I request an airstrike on the town of Alachua.”

  “Roger that inquisitor” responded the female operator. “Fighters inbound. T-Minus 10.”

  “Have the fighters stay to the South of the town. I will order when to strike” the inquisitor said as he grabbed his rifle and aimed it at the front windows. He fired multiple shots through the glass, more to halt the coming assault more than anything. The men outside ducked for cover.

  “Wilco inquisitor” the operator said before the line was cut.

  Varius set his rifle down on the table and took a flare from his left thigh pocket. Using his right hand he ignited the flare and tossed at the bar. He grabbed his rifle and Lilly.

  “Get in there and kill him!” shouted mayor White to his men. Several gunmen approached the front door while three others opened fired. Bullets tore through the windows and walls.

  The inquisitor limped further inside the inn searching for a backdoor, finding it at the end of a hallway next to the laundry room. After blasting the doorknob, he kicked the door outwards and once more peaked his head out into potential danger. Voices could be heard coming up closely behind them as they entered the inn. The inquisitor limped as fast as he could down the alley.

  As they entered the foyer of the inn, the new attackers noticed the fire as it began to spread.

  “He probably went out the backdoor. You two follow him, I am going to get help to deal with this fire before the whole inn goes up in flames” said one of the men. The other two charged for the backdoor and found it open.

  Varius stopped at the edge of the alley and checked for enemies. He could see the edge of the town and made for a tree line that lead up a hill. Turning around to check if anyone was following them he saw the two large columns of smoke reaching up into the sky. The fire must have found some good kindling somewhere in the bar because smoke began to billow out of the inn.

  As they continued their escape, Varius realized
his leg was bleeding badly from the injury. He stopped behind a fritzy tree. After placing his rifle on his back, he set Lilly down. He pulled out a long cloth bandage from one of his belt pockets and wrapped his leg several times before using a clip to hold the bandage in place.

  Looking at Lilly he asks, “Are you okay?”

  She kept staring at the glow of the fire back in the town. Varius leaned from behind the tree to see two men following them up the hill. He barely had time to grab Lilly and pull her back before they began opening fire. The bullets burst chunks of wood from the tree trunk.

  “Lilly, run up the hill. Go now!” Varius shouted as he grabbed his rifle again and removed it from his back. It slid back into active mode and he fired three shots at the man in front. The attacker didn’t have a chance to do anything but die as all three pierced through his torso. The other dove to the ground for cover.

  Varius turned to look up the hill and didn’t see Lilly anywhere. He quickly looked around to only find her still standing right next to him.

  “Lilly, you need to run!”

  Several more bullets hit around them.

  “Gah!” the inquisitor grunts as he fired several more bolts at the other attacker. One shot hit the man in the head killing him before he even saw the flash.

  Varius groaned in pain as he lifted Lilly up again and made the arduous trip up the hills heading for a hill that was well outside the town but would give them a good vantage point below.

  It seemed like an eternity before the inquisitor and the child finally made it to the top of the highest hill. They hadn’t been followed by anyone else, and Varius saw why when he turned back around. The fire had completely engulfed the inn and had now spread to two other buildings. He set Lilly down once more, this time though so he could use his scope to see a magnified unfolding of the town’s effort to fight the growing fire.

  A team of firefighters fought valiantly to spray other nearby buildings with water so that they would also not burn while citizens brought in buckets of water to try and assist the first responders. Varius could see mayor White frantically ordering people about.