2 Hours Before Troops Arrival in The Forest
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BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
Alarms so loud it could deafen ears kept sounding at the center of The Motherland. "All Core troops in the Tower of Babell grade gold and below, make your way down to the Bridge of Life in an orderly manner!" A man stated through the announcement system in what seemed to be blocks of buildings spread out sporadically. In the center of these buildings, there is also a tall building. A building so tall it was almost touching the sky. This building was called the Tower of Babell.
At the entrance of the Tower of Babell there is a label that spells out 'Core Troops grade bronze and above. (Warning): lower grades who trespass shall be punished accordingly'.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP "All Core troops grade gold and below makes your way down to the bridge of life in an orderly manner" this time an automated robotic voice announced it. "O my daze we get it, we are coming "A young man says whilst wrestling with his uniform to hastily put them on. Now this uniform wasn't a normal one, it was heavy duty, dark grey in color for both top and bottom. Within the top, there were big symmetrical holes both on the left and right side of it. And finally, there was what seemed to be a big rectangular empty space on the back of that uniform; clearly something could fit and lock in place.
"Finally, time to go get my equipment" the young man said. Right as he finished his sentence and was about to open his door – KNOCK, KNOCK. "Who is knocking at this time, it can't be her can it, I told her she can't she'll get in trouble" the young man thought to himself whilst frozen at his doorstep. "Oi Jacob, I know you are in there, lets go grab our equipment together before we get to the bridge, stop acting like you don't know me" the knocker said. After hearing this Jacob opens the door slowly and says, "You should've told me it was you Truth, I thought it was Alana". This young man named Truth, also had on exactly the same uniform top as Jacob but different pants. "Why are you like this, if you weren't a giant, you could've lent me one of your pants, now I am in trouble. Also, why would it be your girlfriend knocking, she's not allowed in..." as Truth is about to finish his sentence, he gets his moth covered by Jacob's hand.
"Shh, this is why I don't like telling you things" Jacob said softly whilst scrunching his face to prove his anger. "Let go of my mouth, you just made her your girlfriend, did you not? If yes, then she's your girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend" Truth kept repeating annoyingly in a teasing manner. "Why did I tell this guy" Jacob thought to himself whilst palming his face.
Jacob whilst closing his door quickly grabs Truths hands and pushes him towards the elevator. As they enter the elevator, Jacob begins to look at which button to pick, but slowly, his finger begins to hover over a button that stands out clearly out of them all, it was coated in an emerald-green color with the shape of a prism expunging out of the elevator.
"What are you doing, none of us are allowed down there!" A young man at the back of the elevator renounced with fear in his eyes. Truth then turns around and enters this young man's personal bubble and says "Ok four eyes, he wasn't going to click on it anyways. Are your glasses working alright today buddy?" Truth says whilst taking the glasses of the young mans face and inspecting it. "Leave him alone Truth. You are right Blake, that's my mistake" Jacob said with a genuine smile on his face. "Ok, ok, so let me get this right, I try to defend you, and you pick his side, can you believe this guy, does he even love me?" Truth said whilst looking at Blake as if he was asking him.
DING!
The elevator reaches the ground floor. As the door slides open, sudden noise talking and panicking begin to arise, as young men wearing the same uniform as Jacob and Truth start to run out the entrance of the Tower of Babel. Whilst stepping out the elevator, Truth shouts out "Jonathan, long time no see!". "Shut up, you are being too obvious about it, you and Jacob come with me, I need to talk to you about something" Jonathan said with absolutely no expression on his face. "We need to talk about what we saw down there last night, when we come back from whatever mission this is, we need to go back again" Jonathan whispered to Jacob and Truth. "Yeah, that was some weird stuff, there is something fishy going on down there. It's got our boy Jacob here so paranoid he thought it was his girlfriend when I knocked" Truth whispered lightly whilst patting Jacobs back teasingly.
"You made her your girlfriend!" Jonathan asked in awe whilst whispering still. "I was going to tell you, but this idiot couldn't keep his mouth shut." Jacob said whilst side eyeing Truth. "Anyways what you are saying is more important, something is not right down there, we are lucky we didn't get caught, but I am down to have a look again, although I must say, I have a really bad feeling" Jacob whispered again. "Uhm guys we have to get to the bridge of life or else I will report you three" Blake said with a hesitant voice. "Oh, scary right guys? Go ahead, report us" Truth jokingly said. But after uttering those words he realized something was off. "Uhm guys, just double checking, four eyes is not related to one of the Ven's is he…?" Truth asked Jacob and Jonathan with a shaky voice. "How have we stayed out of trouble with this absolute idiot, yes he is one of the Ven's sons, now turn around and tell him you apologize" Jonathan whispered angrily. "Damn, Blake you know what, you are so right, we will all go to the equipment sector together. And you know what else, I won't call you four eyes anymore, how about it?" Truth said whilst putting his arm around Blake's shoulders.
1 Hour Before Troops Arrival in The Forest
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Infront if a bridge, close to 50 core soldiers are lined up in an organized manner. They all adorn the same uniform, but what differentiates them from one another is the color and grade of their equipment and accessories. There are rows of Copper, Iron, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Jacob, Truth and Jonathan adorn bronze, therefore their helmet visors, guns, and accessories such as a rectangular metallic backpack that connects to the holes within the top of their uniform manifest this grade. Infront of all these soldiers stands a man who begins to shout out "Our mission today is to hunt down and capture one escapee boy and bring back with us one of the Ven's, Ven Percy. All grades below silver are useless for this mission, you are tagging along for numbers sake. Bronze and below you have one job – you are to stand watch, do nothing, unless you have been told to by the grades above you. Silver and above, anything that's not the Meraki boy or Ven Percy, shoot it dead on sight! One more thing, do not, and I repeat, do not touch the Umbra (Shadow) we shall face on this mission. Now let's head out. WE KILL FOR THE MOTHER - WE DIE FOR THE MOTHERLAND!". In unison the soldiers roar out "WE KILL FOR THE MOTHER - WE DIE FOR THE MOTHERLAND!".
STOMP, STOMP, STOMP.
The troops storm through the bridge of life and towards the main gate. "What does he mean by don't touch the Umbra?" Jonathan and Jacob thought to themselves. Meanwhile "What does he mean bronze grade are useless and we must stand watch. Also how is that four eyed bastard silver grade anyways, he's scrawny as hell, he must be smart or somethin" Truth thought to himself. As they go through the gate and step outside the overshadowing height of the electrified fence of The Motherland, one of the soldiers starts running up to Jacob and begins to talk to him in a secretive manner. "Yo, yo Jacob" he whispered whilst trying to get Jacob's attention. He was trying to carry his equipment properly; it was as if it were weighing him down. "I heard that girl you've been seeing got sent out to replace one of the gold grade soldiers. From the things I hear, I wouldn't let her out of my sight if she was mine. I would do other things with her instead if you know what I mean…" the soldier said whilst giggling.
In calm silence whilst reaching the entrance of the forest, Jacob slowly turned and said, "Get away from me, Jerk!". Whilst still giggling, the soldier stepped away back to his group he was marching with. Jonathan seemed to have heard what the soldier said too, slowly he puts his hand on Jacob's shoulder and said, "I knew as well – about Alana". "Why didn't you tell me then" Jacob said whilst brushing Jonathan's hand off. "Because I knew you would act exactly how you are now, and you can't afford to be distracted. I know you love her, but this is why relationships are not allowed in the core, because of situations like this" Jonathan said. "Why will she not listen to me" Jacob thinks to himself with a disappointed expression oozing of his face.
30 Minutes Before Entrance
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SCREECH, SCREECH. "You all hear that, remember what I said, be alert. As soon as we enter this Umbra's shroud, the sun will not exist, thunderstorms are all we will be facing. Don't lose your mind. Most of you are newbie core soldiers, I know this is your first encounter with an Umbra but stick with our tactics and you will be fine. We will use our 'Circles of Incantation' tactic. Once we enter this shroud, surround everything that moves with quick pace. The highest grade on this mission, which is gold, will be the innermost of the circle, the rest of you, use your brain and calculate where your grade will be, understood?" The leader of the mission says. "Yes, Yes, Sir!" the soldiers shouted.
20 Minutes Before Entrance
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STOMP, STOMP, STOMP. Onwards they march, and after making their way into the shroud, some copper and iron grade core soldiers on this mission are struck down by thunder strikes some are snuffled out and thrown around by the strongest winds they had ever felt in their lives. "Keep still keep strong" the leader said. Finally, they encounter the Umbra, Ven Percy and Alana. Quickly they enact their Circles of Incantation. With the bronze grade been the 3rd outermost circle standing watch on this mission, Jacob could hear Alana's voice but couldn't see her. "Ven Percy, Girl, you are to come back with us back to the motherland" the leader of the soldiers said. "No, No, sir, the Meraki boy vanished into this thing here, we can get him out" Alana shouted while sitting near the Umbra. "What is she doing, why is she talking back, use your sense, Alana!" Jacob thought to himself heavily. After hearing Alana say this the leader points out to two gold grade soldiers and said, "You two go take them captive by force".
Ven Percy started to get of the wet ridden ground and begins to speak, "Ven Javos, no need to come with force, we will come willingly, but the girl is right. The boy we need is in there". "I don't care, girl step away from that Umbra now! Did you two hear what I said? Capture them by force" Ven Javos shouted out in rage.
10 Minutes Before Entrance
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"Shit, shit, shit, what will they do to her when we go back?" Jacob thought to himself.
THUD. A black gun with bronze accents drops to the ground. "Jacob, tell your girl – what the, where did he go?" Truth whispered. Whilst Truth was whispering this, Jacob with blistering speed had dropped his gun and was pushing every grade above him in the circle aside. The circles of incantation had been broken.
5 Minutes Before Entrance
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"ALANA!" Jacob shouted. As he shouted out her name, he slipped on the wet muddy ground and mistakenly pushed Alana; falling onto her, and with Alana close to the Umbra, they begin to disappear into the Umbra's body.
4 Minutes Before…
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"Where the hell are we?" Alana asked. "What the hell Alana, why would you come to a mission like this.?" Jacob shouted whilst taking off his helmet. "NO, what were you thinking you idiot, you pushed me!" Alana shouted back.
3 Minutes Before…
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Gasp, Gasp. "That suffocating feeling, feel it, savor it." the man said whilst Chris, Dean and Vince were on the brink of breathlessness. "Hmm, it seems we have guest who want to join this party – don't die yet, I will be right back" the man said with a sadistic smile
2 Minutes Before…
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"Baby you shouldn't be on this mission, you shouldn't be in the core, period!" Jacob shouts out. "O, my, my, you have come to play in my house" the man says whilst swiftly flowing through the shadowy misty like ground.
1 Minutes Before…
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"I will snap your necks like twigs you fools" the man kept saying at a quicker rate each time. "I keep tellin…"
CRACK, SNAP.
A shadowy rope with blistering pace, hooks onto Jacob's neck and snaps it as though it was a twig. Silence falls, it begins to deepen, and as Alana falls to her knees in awe, tears begin to swell up in her eyes as she stutters to say Jacob's name.
0 Minutes After Jacob's Death
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NEXT CHAPTER – November 25th