By Rune Grey
starstrike@softhome.net
(Insert standard disclaimer here.)
There is a beauty to war, a beauty that is not often perceived by those who
are
not participating directly in the fighting. It is through war that we are
able
to fully demonstrate how far we have come in our development and
advancement.
It is through war that the greatest acts of heroism and daring are
performed,
all in the name of some 'worthy cause'. Heroes are forged, fortunes are
won,
all because of war.
I know this... for I have seen war at its most glorious. And at its most
horrid and base.
War is also a demonstration of how little we have progressed in attitude and
manner over the years. No matter how we attempt to justify it, war is the
means
by which a group of humans band together in order to extinguish the life of
an
enemy. War offers justification for the most inhumane and depraved acts
that
mankind has ever committed, all in the name of 'victory'. And the greatest
advancements that we make in war are advancements in how we kill one
another.
My dear Sophia, did you see war like this? Did those blessed eyes of yours
look
upon the carnage that we had wrought upon the enemy with pride, or disgust?
Pride that we were turning back the tide of darkness and evil that was
Solaris
or disgust at the lives that were being lost on both sides of the
battlefield?
I can only hope that it was the latter...
I watch the battle rage above me... a one-sided, futile battle when Ramses
is
controlling an Omnigear and Fei controls only Weltall. While the battle
gear I
provided he and his alter ego is extraordinary on the level of the gears
deployed by Kislev and Aveh, it is no match for the likes of Vendetta.
Damn the Ministry. And damn you as well Miang. Interfering with my plans
for
the Contact and the Anti-type again and again... none of you will be able
to
accomplish my goals, or your own, if you kill Fei...
If only the boy could serve his purpose and be done with it. Blessed with
gifts
that I can only remember in my dreams, endowed with powers beyond the reach
of
his feeble imagination, and he can not even manage to protect himself
without
assistance.
An explosion blossoms from Weltall... apparently Miang's pet general has
gone
completely overboard with his hatred. Even the Ministry would not have give
him
permission to kill the Anti-type under any circumstances.
I watch as Weltall began its meteoric descent towards the surface, my hands
gliding over the controls as I activated Alpha Weltall's sensors. The black
shape, burning with flame and belching black smoke pulmments like a fallen
angel, directly towards the island below. I know the area where it was
going to
land... I'd been there several times before.
"Melchior... seems that I'm going to call in a favor, old friend."
...
The sight of it nearly stops my heart, a bitter anguish that I haven't felt
in
ages...
Not since that day, five hundred years ago, when I stopped being Lacan.
I watch as Fei drags himself away from the crashed Weltall, Elly cradled in
his
arms. I've seen this scene played over and over during my life... and it
rends
my heart in twain every time. He only manages to make it a few feet away
from
Weltall before collapsing... his own injuries are too severe to allow him
to
travel any farther. But he still tries to reach for her, until he too loses
consciousness.
I walk into the clearing, a shadow passing through the trees. Almost before
I
realize it, she is in my arms. Light as a feather... was she this way back
during the war so long ago, or am I so unaware of my own strength? Her face
is
so much like it was back then... strong and caring, an angel of mercy.
I can't let her die again, not before I've realized my plans.
...
"She looks like a ballerina, inside of a snow globe..." I whispered quietly,
the
tips of my fingers resting on the nano-reactor. She floated within,
suspended
by billions upon billions of nanomachines that were working to restore her
flesh
to perfect condition. "Beautiful, perfect... timeless."
Why couldn't have Sophia been this way?
"Yes, I suppose you could say that," Melchior stated as he walked up beside
me.
What a scene we would have made... an old, withered blue man with white hair
and
a figure that seemed to be cut from the shadows themselves, staring at a
naked
young woman inside of a glass tube...
I felt a flash of guilt at looking at her like this, and turned away to look
at
Fei for a moment. Young, handsome, strong... a perfect copy of the person
I
had once been, so many years ago. And would be again, if I had my way with
things. Fei Fong Wong, flesh of the body that I currently inhabited.
It was still too soon in order to take that body away from him; having the
patience of ages doesn't mean that you have to enjoy the waiting, no matter
what
Krelian said nowadays.
"Lacan, can I ask you a question?" Melchior said quietly as he again walked
up
beside me.
"Perhaps... but don't expect an answer if I find the topic you choose to be
disturbing." I replied, the thin edge of contempt in my voice barely hidden
from the old man. Let him ask what he wants... I don't care about whatever
pretty goals he has at the moment. Not when I play for the world as the
prize.
"Why are you doing all of this, old friend? Your actions, and the actions
of
Krelian, are catapulting the world to the brink of Armageddon. You used to
care
more than this... what has changed you so?"
"That should be an obvious answer Melchior... I'm insulted that you even
need
to ask why." He had to be digging for something else. After all, he knew
the
story of Sophia and I just as well as Krelian and Miang did.
I had always loved Sophia, even when it became apparent that we would never
be
together. Even when I thought I would have to fight Krelian tooth and nail
for
her...
The old sage shook his head, obviously not satisfied with the answer. "I
know
that Sophia meant a great deal to you... but this is different. You are
working
to undo everything that she worked for, surrendering the world to Solaris.
That
idea would had horrified you when you were young... why are you so eager to
destroy everything now?"
I stopped, thinking over what Melchior had asked. "War is what is
destroying
us... war that has been instigated again and again by the Gazel Ministry in
an
attempt to dominate the world, or to resurrect their moldy, forgotten god.
These wars have laid waste to our world again and again, each time reaping
thousands of lives in payment for their waging. I didn't realize the cost
until
the war demanded that Sophia be the life that would appease its hunger five
hundred years ago."
I had been living in some serene fantasy... the worst thing that had ever
occurred to me was the idea that I would lose Sophia. I hadn't seen the
pain
and suffering, accepted it and fought against it like she had. While the
Great
Mother of Nisan had take the pain of the world upon her own shoulders in
order
to save others, I had been content to live in a world of paint and canvas. I
had
hoped that if I poured my heart into my work, the world might vent its fury
upon
it instead of myself... or Sophia.
When she had died, I had decided to take control for the first time in my
life.
There was no god who would protect me... the only way that I would be able
to
fulfill Sophia's dying wish was to find the power to fulfill it myself.
Both
her wish that she spoke to me over the comm... and the wish she had always
held
in her heart.
Sophia had loved me to the end... I had been certain of that for every
moment
of my life for the last five hundred years. With her dying breath, she had
told
me to become more... to better myself, and to better those around me.
So I would do that... I would put a stop to all of the war, the killing,
the
only way I knew how. If the world were so degenerate that it would not
accept a
peaceful solution to its problems, then I would destroy it and remake it
into a
utopia that would make Sophia proud... I would live to the end of the
world,
and long enough to see a new, better world created in its place.
Perhaps then... I could look at my love again, and not seen the hatred, the
condemnation for what I had become... although a part of me knew that she
would
forgive everything, were I to see her again.
It was my own reflection that I knew I would be unable to face until I
fulfilled
Sophia's dream.
I ran my fingers over Elly's nanoreactor again, looking at her with an
expression that was equal parts love, affection, admiration, and wonder.
She
was in good hands here... Melchior would be able to take care of her. And
Fei
as well.
I turned to go, deciding that being here when they awoke would not be the
most
prudent move to make at this stage in the game. I would be nearby... this
was
my first chance to observe Elly without her being aware of my presence. But
as
I neared the door, I turned towards the old sage.
"I follow my dreams, Melchior... you know that. We all follow our dreams.
No
matter where they may lead us... Because without dreams, we are nothing."
Author's note:
To quote Ray from Ghostbusters... "It just popped in there." I got a flash
of
inspiration for this fic after coming home from a rather boring day of work,
and
created this in two and a half hours of furious typing. If you want to
comment,
criticize, etc (but no flames) mail me at starstrike@softhome.net.