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Prologue

Thunder struck. Rain fell in torrents. Those outside tried to get out of the rain, and in the shadow of a tall building a figure pulls up in his new hovercar. He places his metal feet on the pavement, and walks inside.

Inside, Jonathan Hawkins finishes up the last of his business. He packs up the last of his things when the shadowy figure barges in. “Ah, David, there you are.” says John. “I had just finished up the last of the new AI program. It’s gonna revolutionize the field of robotics. “Oh, it’s gonna revolutionize more than that, trust me.” says David.

“What do you mean?” “You fool… you never realized the potential of what you’re doing. Your neo-cyborg plans… more than 50% of the public’s walking around in new, robotic bodies for convenience, medical, or status reasons, but you prevented tampering to them. I could have unleashed their true potential and changed the world! The same goes for I.S.A.A.C. I’m afraid that now you’re going to see the error of your ways.” he takes out a pistol, and fires it at John.

Chapter 1

10 years later, an 18-year-old boy wakes up from his sleep by his mother. He yawns and gets up. Zach wasn’t a very good-looking boy, and had the reputation of being a geek. He built a suit of blue and silver armor for when he needed to go into the army, as well as making the Quasar Cannon, a weapon that can use a variety of plasma attacks. He had dark hair, blue eyes, and light skin. He would get nervous easily and say things that were, in hindsight, really stupid, which is why he preferred the company of machines. His room was filled with them.

“You’ve slept nearly 6 hours! Aren’t you taking deep-sleep pills?” she says. “Yes…” “Well, get up! Today’s recruitment day. You do have your, um… quasi cannon?” “It’s called the quasar cannon. It’s under my bed.” “Isn’t that kinda dangerous?” “It’s off, duh…” “Oh. Nevermind then. I still don’t like you tampering with plasma cannons. “ “You mean improving. Only the military has weapons as versatile as this multi-weapon system.” “Whatever. Let’s go. You know, son, when father went missing and the Hawkins corporation collapsed, I decided not to remarry and honor his wishes.” “I know. You’re nearly on a fixed income. That’s why I want to earn my own college fund.” “All right. Goodbye, I love you.” “I love you too. Bye.”

2 years pass, and Zach is now a lieutenant. He proves to be as much of a mechanical genius as his father, yet a skilled fighter and commander. However, Zach finds that in times of peace, the military can be really, really boring. That all is about to change.

An entire city was destroyed by an unknown weapon for an unknown reason. Zachary Hawkins, firstborn son of Jonathan, is among those sent to investigate.

Chapter 2

Zachary Hawkins is told to meet his new teammates by his CO. Most of the generals, COs, and the president realized that an unprovoked attack like this could only mean war. Scientists were dispatched to analyze the disaster, and close bonds would be vitally important for when the attacker was found.

Zach looks over his new teammates. The first one he sees is a 40-ish old Asian man wearing a brown uniform and high tech goggles. He was looking back and forth like a frightened mouse, yet his expression was not that of fear. The man next to him was anything but serious looking. He was smiling and not stiff at all. His appearance was the oddest thing about him. His body appeared to be a submarine filled with water with arms and legs. Zach figured there must have been some practical use for body modifications like that. Next to him was a man about Zach’s age with a very serious look on his face wearing red armor. He had red hair and what appeared to be yellow eyes. He looked like the kind of person who would kill you if you looked at him funny.

To his left was a girl wearing a red jumpsuit with yellow stripes. She had shining blond hair, a supple-looking body, and a natural beauty about her. She seemed much less mechanical than others, as if she only changed what was absolutely necessary. Zach made a mental note that she was probably taken. Lastly, there was general Titenis. Roger “The Titan” Titenis was the greatest war hero of his time. Standing at 6’6”, covered in armor and all sorts of magnets (which, in the Neo-cyborg military branch had replaced medals), Titenis was truly a sight to behold. His silvery hair had stood out from his dark brown skin like a full moon on midnight.

Zach saluted. “At ease, soldier” Titenis said. “You’ll salute when I say so, and only then.” “Yes sir!” “Good. Everyone, this is Zach. He’ll be your new partner from now on. He’s extremely intelligent, and happens to be the firstborn son of Jonathan Hawkins. “muttering can be heard all around. “Silence!” says Titen. “Now, I want each of you to state your name, rank, and specialization for Zach here, starting with Kim and going right.” “Yes sir!

The asian stepped up first. “My name is Kim Sung. I am at the rank of general, and my specialty is long-range attacks.” Next came the human submarine. “I am John Doe. I am a Captain, and my specialty is sea attacks.” The brawler came up next. “I am Blake Pyris. I am a Colonel, and my specialty is demolitions.” The girl came next. “I am Crystal Rose. I am a Lieutenant, and my specialty is plasma sword combat.” Finally, Titen himself went up. “I am Roger Titenis. I am a 5-star general, and my specialty is vehicular combat and commanding. Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, it’s time we start our investigation. Let’s go.”

A large flying ship drops off Zach and the others at the destroyed city of Metropor. Zach is horrified at what he sees. “How… how could someone do something like this?” “That’s what we’re trying to find out. “ says, Titen, speaking in a tone of voice one would use when talking about the weather. Although he was kind-hearted, the long years in the service has made him grow callous concerning destruction. Zach and the others gasp to find a crater 2 miles wide. “Asteroid impact?” asks John. “The radiation levels are too high. “replies Kim, holding a scanner. “ “Atomic bomb?” “An explosion this big would leave more radiation levels. As far as I can tell, this city wasn’t destroyed by any known weapon. “ “That’s impossible!” replies Blake. “We’re with the United States. We have the most powerful weapons. If we don’t have it, nobody does. “ “One must not underestimate our enemies. “ replies Titenis. Crystal yells out “Oh! Over here!”. Everyone rushes over. “I found something. Something important.  “ she says, holding up a videotape, surprisingly completely undamaged. “How’d you find it?” wonders Zach. “I’m a ninja. I’m trained to spot the unusual. “

Zach inspects the disc. It was labeled, “To the servants of the Old World. “ “Old world? What does that mean?” asks Crystal. “I don’t know, but I bet the tape has the answers. “ replies Zach. “All right. Head over to the briefing room and we’ll see what we find. “ says Roger.

Chapter 3

In the briefing room, all aglow with lights coming from computer terminals, robots, and even a couple of people, the military sat in silence. On the screen was the city of Metropol, as it was before the disaster. People were going about their daily lives, unaware that these would be their last moments. A mother tries to calm her screaming child as they walk by the candy store. “You can have some after dinner…” says the mother, trying to comfort him. Zach can’t help but notice the irony.

The action switches to a birds-eye view. A black sphere-shaped object about 5 miles long slowly moves toward the city center. On its bottom side was what appeared to be a small opening surrounded by three rings of thorns inside of each other. They were spinning in the opposite direction of each other, with the center ring spinning counterclockwise and the others clockwise.

There is a flash of light, dim at first, but growing brighter with each rotation of the terrible rings of spikes. The light brightened until in was brighter than the sun. Then, it fired.

A bright white beam shone from the dark craft down to the ground. The shadow it cast was blotted out by the shockwave of the beam hitting the ground. At this point people were running in terror, but it was far too late. Like ripples on a pond when a rock is dropped in, the shockwave radiates out, created by the sheer force of the shining beam. The shockwave blew the city apart like a white tsunami. When the cannon stopped, the city was no more.

The setting changes. A masked figure is seen, and speaks. Something about him strikes Zach as familiar, but he doesn’t know who he reminded him of.

“Do you want to live in a world without war? Without destitution? Without strife? “ “He destroys a city and talks about ending war?!?” yells Blake angrily. “Most people thing of Utopia as nothing more than a dream. Not me. I see Utopia as something that can be achieved. However, it is impossible to achieve this dream without a unified government. A government…” he pauses “run by me”

“I am no mere dreamer. As you have seen from the video, I have the power. The Black Hole is no mere battle station. It is powered by a new type of nuclear generator. It is protected by a shield that can repel any kind of attack. It carries a cannon that can destroy more than a mere city, as well as hundreds of other types of turrets. This is only a fraction of my army. If any military or government officials are seeing this, then allow me to deliver my ultimatum: Surrender to me, or I will destroy more than just this small town of 500. You have 48 hours upon receiving this message to deliver me your answer. “ he gives his contact information, and the video ends

“General Titenis, how are we to reply?” asks a recruit to Titenis, who was currently on a podium. “Tell that madman that we will never surrender to a terrorist like him. Gather as much information as you can in the next 48 hours. “ “Yes sir. “ Zach looks at the man. He was wearing a helmet with built-in shades, as well as a leather jacket. The rest of his body was painted black and silver. Other than that, he looked rather inconspicuous, considering that in this particular section of the military, people wore tacky armor instead of actual uniforms. Camoflauge paint was expensive anyway.

Titenis spoke. “All right, men. A would-be emperor has just destroyed a city and threatened to destroy more. He has a very powerful weapon, however what we have is more powerful than any weapon: freedom. History is filled with examples of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Do you want someone like this terrorist to control us? Or do you want freedom? Freedom from tyranny and oppression! Freedom from emperors and kings! Freedom to pursue happiness! Do you want that taken away from you?” “No, sir!” came the response from the crowd. “Then let us fight for what is precious to us. We will fight… for freedom!” Titenis wishes he had a giant flag to wave in the background. He was doing a great job as is, but he needed something to drive the point home. That didn’t really matter to him, though. What mattered was defeating whoever this was before he defeated them.

Chapter 4

Zach walks out of the briefing room, saddened. He had just seen a city destroyed just as a “demonstration”. In other words, they died just to make a point. At least, that’s the way he saw it. His adversary saw things quite differently. Do the ends justify the means? That was the question.

Crystal catches up to Zach. “You know… how about we talk some? It’ll take your mind off that guy. “ she says. Zach tenses up. If he still had his sweat glands, he’d be drenched in sweat. “W-w-why sure… I love… talking. “ he says, and would have then banged his head against the wall if he was alone. Crystal giggles. “Fairly normal reaction.” “Really? I never would’ve guessed.” he lies.

Crystal replies. “So, Zach, how’d your father disappear?” Crystal asks. Zach takes a deep breath. “Well, my father was the president of a huge technology company. He invented the neo-cyborg, and for years they were the only producers. When he disappeared, he was working on two projects: A super-advanced AI program and something he wouldn’t tell me about. He disappeared along with the vice president, David Mortiar. The projects appear to have been stolen. Strangely enough, the projects never resurfaced, so they couldn’t have been stolen to be sold for profit. ”

Zach continues. “My father put the company into debt anticipating the profits that the projects would’ve made. When they disappeared, the company went bankrupt. My mother decided not to remarry, so we ended up scraping by on a middle-class existence, living only on mom’s part-time job and dad’s life insurance. Dad even put his savings into those projects. That brings me to where I am now.”

Crystal gasps. “How awful! Do you know who did it?” Zach shakes his head. “No body was ever found. No weapons. No DNA evidence. All we know is that a neo-cyborg was responsible, which in those days, narrowed it to about 1/3 the population.” Suddenly, he realizes something.

“No! That bastard! I know why that voice seemed so familiar! David Mortiar was behind the destruction of Metropol. He killed my father and escaped with company property! “ Crystal gasps again. “That means…” “Yes, Crystal. David Mortiar has access to the technology of the Hawkins Corporation. And I have a good idea what that last project was…”