The Year 2031, December
15:00 P.M
Great Corporate United's Military HQ, Sweden.
. . .
The headquarters of the Great Corporate United's main military force was majestic. It was otherworldly. An enormous metal front door made out of pure titanium stood proudly in front of me. The walls and pillars of the building had fine, intricate designs weaved on them.
It was an honor to be invited by the right-hand man of His Supremacy to this place.
"You're Private Derrick Jones of Squad Four. Your former leader was Sergeant Campbell, yes?" said a soldier in golden gears. He was checking my I.D and browsed the military database with his A.I watch. He scrolled down the square hologram that was displayed by the watch and nodded at me.
"Yes, Sir. It was unfortunate what happened to him," I said softly.
The news of Sergeant Campbell's status as K.I.A. during the fight against the resistance was shocking. Two months had passed since the fall of our temporary base at Mansel Island. Sergeant Campbell was an excellent leader of our team.
I could not believe he died. He was much more capable than any commanders and leaders that I knew.
"You're lucky to get out of Mansel Island alive. Our base there was completely destroyed," said the guard as he scrolled the square hologram.
"I was sent to Greece a day after we attacked the island. Is there any order to retake that place?"
"I don't think so. I mean, it was not His Supremacy who ordered the attack. It was his daughter. I remembered it was something about the island's town chief pissing her off, something like that."
"Oh, I see. Though, if His Supremacy wants it, he can just take back that little island. It was His generosity that allowed that place to remain neutral in the first place," I said.
"Yeah. We've got Neo Africa to worry about. It would not be long before His Supremacy's objective to unify the world to come true."
The guard whispered to his earpiece and the titanium door opened slowly. Seeing such a huge door opened before my eyes filled me with anticipation, and a bit of anxiety.
I was ushered in by two other guards to the headquarters' meeting room. They opened the door for me and I entered. A long sleek table filled almost the entire space with chairs at every section of the table. His Supremacy was not in the room but there were a few faces that I did not recognize except Relly Fernandez. He was His Supremacy's, right-hand man. He wore the standard Great Corporate United military uniform, a golden watch, and an eyepatch over his right eye. His dark hair was tied into a ponytail. He sat at the edge of the table.
There were two other people besides him. One of them was a woman that constantly looking at me with bizarre eyes. Her grin was unhumanly wide and her teeth were abnormally sharp, like a tiger. Her dark hair was unruly and too long by the military standard. She had yellow eyes, which I assumed were contacts. Even that was not allowed by the military. The man, however, had his face covered with a blue military hat. 'Was he sleeping?' I thought. Both of the new individuals wore our standard military uniforms.
"Sir! Private Derrick Jones of Squad Four! Reporting!" I saluted at Sir Relly and he gestured for me to take a seat near the weird woman.
"Thank you for coming, Private Jones," said Sir Relly Fernandez with a low tone.
"It's my pleasure, Sir," I replied.
"Then, to start off this quick meeting, I'll introduce you to these two soldiers. You never met them, right?"
I predicted they were exceptional new recruits since very few low-ranking soldiers were invited to the HQ in the past. "No, Sir," I replied.
"This man is Hughes. He's an elite soldier from His Supremacy's personal squad. He's also an Aegis User," said Sir Fernandez.
"What is an Aegis User, Sir? This is the first I've ever heard of such a unit."
"Only high-ranking soldiers and officers know about their existences. They are human weapons made to help His Supremacy achieves his goal. And that woman next to you is an Aegis User too."
The woman kept staring at me with wide eyes. Her yellow irises gleamed under the light.
"Er, she doesn't look like a soldier, Sir."
"Ah, yes. These people are exceptions to our military rules and conducts. Her name is Lily. And don't mind her looking at you like that. She always has an interest in new people she met."
I realized both of them only have first names. "If I may ask, Sir, what are their full names?"
Sir Fernandez leaned back in his chair. "They don't have full names. They were stripped of their origins and pasts since becoming a part of His Supremacy's personal squad." He glanced at both of them before looking at me with stern eyes. "I assume you know why you are called here, Private Jones."
I nodded at Sir Fernandez's statement. "I will be part of a secret operation. That's the only thing I knew, Sir," I stated.
"That's correct. This operation will be carried out in Kazakhstan, where you are required to quell and eliminate the mass rebellion going on there right now."
A mass rebellion.
Since the defeat of our army at Mansel Island, the rebellions were getting more and more critical. "Will you be joining the operation, Sir?"
"I will, but only as a backup. A squad of Teria soldiers and a Vasquez will be in the operation." Sir Fernandez gestured at both of the Aegis Users. "These two will also be there as well."
"Sir, why are you telling me about the Aegis Users? These... human weapons are top secret and only high-ranking officers know about this, as you said before."
Sir Fernandez tilted his chin and looked at me. "That's because you're no longer a private. I also invited you here to inform you of your promotion. As of today, you're General Derrick Jones. You're the new leader of Squad Four."
I stood up immediately after he said that. "I'm a general?! But, Sir, that's a very huge jump from someone like me who was a private."
"His Supremacy requested it," said Sir Fernandez.
I was dumbfounded. Someone having a low profile and background as me was noticed by His Supremacy. Surreal was the only word for it.
"Before you ask why, General. Your deeds and achievement in Greece were recognized by His Supremacy. You are an astounding soldier." Sir Fernandez moved to the door. "But don't forget. Both of them are more high ranking than you. They served under His Supremacy and answered to him directly." He walked out of the meeting room and Sir Hughes followed him. I was left with the odd woman who was my superior.
She still had her mad eyes on me, as if she saw me as her prey.
"Er, Ma'am. How may I help you?" I asked Sir Lily. She did not say anything and started to walk out of the meeting room too.
"Nice to meet you, Jones," hissed Sir Lily while she was at the door. Her eyes were leering at me. A few moments later, she closed the door behind her with a loud thud. I was alone in the meeting room.
. . .
Human weapons that served under His Supremacy were a squad of Aegis Users. I never knew the Great Corporate United had started to create human weapons, and be successful at it.
"Human weapons that are stripped of everything, huh," I muttered.
I walked down the streets of Sweden's capital city, Stockholm. I volunteered to do a patrol for one of my colleagues since he had to go back to his hometown on the same day. For me, the scenery was about the same every day with people bustling around the main streets and soldiers patrolling every inch of alleys and narrow pathways.
A few soldiers saluted at me as I patrolled.
'Wait, did the news spread already?' I thought. It was only yesterday that I was officially promoted to the rank of general, and the day after that, everyone already knew.
"Sir!" A patrol came to me in a hurry. From the looks of his face, something had happened in the area.
"What is it?"
"An old man attempted an assault towards another patrol."
"An old man? I don't think he can be that much of a threat to a soldier."
He rubbed his forehead. "Er, he has a gun, Sir."
A civilian possessed a gun and it was an old man to boot. "Take me there."
. . .
"Don't come near me! I'll shoot!"
An old man was holding a pistol nervously at a few soldiers. They were trying to calm him down and take the gun away but the old man grew more desperate as time passed.
The patrol from before led me to one of the streets in Marieberg of Kungsholmen borough. The old man was certainly panicking over something. I shouted an order to the surrounding soldiers and they backed off. I approached the old man cautiously with his gun in mind.
"I said don't come near me!" yelled the old man.
I raised both of my arms above my shoulders. "As you can see, I'm not carrying any weapons with me. Please, talk to me, mister."
"Talk?! Don't you soldiers dare say that word!" He moved a few steps back. "You didn't even reason or give any kind of excuse when you barged into my house!"
Soldiers barging in a house? "Care to tell me more, Mister? I'm interested in what you just said."
"Don't you act dumb! You barged into my house and kidnapped my daughter!"
"What?!"
"I haven't heard from her since. You took my precious daughter away from me." The old man had his gun lowered.
"You must have been mistaken. Those actions clearly violate our conduct. Without a search warrant, police officers are not allowed to enter a civilian's house, much less a soldier at that. But to kidnap is something else entirely." I could not believe the old man. He was not lying judging from how he acted. A high-ranking officer must have abused his or her power to carry out something like that.
"Don't you act like you don't know! You guys have been kidnapping women and young girls from their homes. You used them as your tools! Everyone knows that!"
"Those are rumors, mister. You must not blindly accept them," I said with a restrained voice.
"Blindly accept?! Have you not heard what I just said? You kidnapped my daughter in my own place! I saw it with my own eyes. You soldiers are corrupt! The government is corrupt! You do whatever you like and no one can do anything since you all are the ones in power. You treated people unfairly. Unify the world? More like destroying the world that's more accurate!"
The rumors had spread for a while but to think that it was true all along was a bit frustrating. An officer who used his or her power for such things cannot be forgiven. I should let Sir Fernandez know about that matter directly after I handled the situation at hand.
The old man closed his eyes and collapsed suddenly in front of me. I was startled.
"What just happened?" I rushed to check his condition and he appeared to not be breathing. In fact, I was sure he was dead. "How the hell? Call the ambulance right now!" The soldiers dispersed after hearing my order.
"General Jones."
My head turned towards the voice. It was Sir Hughes, one of the Aegis Users, and also a soldier that ranked second to His Supremacy. His dark eyes were drooping as if he would start sleeping any time soon. His long, grey hair covered a portion of his face.
"What happened to that old man? Don't tell me he's also joining one of the rebellions? We have plenty on our hands right now." He tapped my shoulder and looked at the old man. For a second, I thought I saw a speck of what seemed like a diamond on his right hand and it disappeared.
"Er, Sir. He suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing. I'm afraid he's... already dead. It could be a heart attack," I said.
"I see."
A thought came to my mind. "Sir, the victim said something about his daughter being kidnapped by the military. If I may be so bold, can you help me to look into this matter?"
Sir Hughes' eyes caught a glint. "Do you believe the old man, Jones?"
"I'm not sure myself. But he said he bore witness to such incident and I thought it was worth investigating."
"Rumors can be spread easily to the common folk. Sometimes, they would even try to fabricate evidence in order to prove such rumors."
I was taken aback by his statement. Surely an old man would not have that kind of thinking. "Are you suggesting he was lying, Sir?"
"I was just stating the obvious, Jones. Of course, I'll look into this matter on your behalf. You should continue your patrol." With just that, Sir Hughes left the scene and vanished into the stream of people.
"Wait, I don't think anyone knew that I was patrolling the area, except for a few soldiers that I met earlier." Not to mention, he arrived as if he was watching that whole thing unfolded and started to involve himself only after the old man collapsed.
"What am I thinking? I'm being suspicious of Sir Hughes, but for what reason?" I brushed the idea off my mind and asked one of the nearby soldiers to assist the ambulance when they arrived. I continued to patrol Marieberg district until late that evening. Something about Sir Hughes and the Aegis Users kept bugging me for that entire patrol.
And also the whole incident about the kidnapping of the old man's daughter by the soldiers.