Airic followed the instructions he was given to the letter, and approached on office that he knew was the office of an extremely powerful man. There wasn't a lot know outside about this city, and few of the people who ever came here would take about it. However his father had been one of the First, even though he married a normal human. They knew if they were going to succeed in the long term, they needed to increase the closeness of the Human Genome to that if the Lantean. The quickest way was by using a select few who chose the path, to breed with Humans. The Purists were against it, but as they had been working towards that goal for 50 million years the Council had approved it upon the opening of the Portals. Half breeds like him could be very powerful, especially if they inherited enough of the dominant Lantean Gene's. He just happened to be one of the Lucifer ones, and 78 percent of his genome was Lantean.
He stood at the door only for a moment before he knocked, and heard the command to enter. He slowly pushed the door open, and knew this was no normal meeting when there was a man already seated across from the General. He stepped right up to the center of the two chairs, and snapped to attention as expected.
"Cadet Airic Carter reporting as ordered General." He said as he saluted the man.
General Michael Shank returned the salute impressed at how flawless his was. "At ease Cadet, and have a seat." He said pointing at the empty chair. "I am told you already know the man opposite you, so introductions aren't necessary."
Airic looked at the man as he sat down as ordered, and his eyes went wide as he recognized Lieutenant General Kerrigan. "General Kerrigan." Airic said acknowledging him.
"Enough of the formalities, we have a report to deliver to you Airic, and it is not good." Daniel Kerrigan said handing him his father's skill bracelet.
"When?" He asked simply knowing what it meant as he kept his face Neutral.
"He knew you made it here son, and I tried to intercept you before you left, but you had already traveled here." Kerrigan replied knowing that this made the boy sitting next to him an Orphan. "Your father left clear instructions for what was to happen to you."
Airic nodded as he looked at it. "With all due respect sir, now that I am in the Senor Academy, there is not much outside of my own decisions about my life that need input from others." He said knowing what it meant for an Orphan to be here.
"Normally that would be true, but as you are aware your father was a First. As was his father before him, both wielding that very special power. We need you to assume the mantle, and train as your fathers direct replacement." Kerrigan told him as Airic knew more than they thought.
"What will happen to his possessions, and where is his sword?" Airic asked knowing that it had been a family heirloom for millions of years.
"It is being transferred with his body, and will arrive in 2 days. None of us could touch the sword in order to remove it from his hands. I want you to know he fought bravely to the end son." Kerrigan said as Airic smiled and put his dad's power bracelet on as it turned blue while it scanned his own abilities. Both men were absolutely shocked he did it so casually, and knew that his test scores were no accident. He was close enough to be a First, and he had the power to prove it.
"Thank you General, I appreciate you informing me of this tragic news. I hope you can lead the men while I am in training as required by the law, and will be impressed with what I manage to achieve here. May I be dismissed sir?" He asked.
"We will inform you when your father has arrived so you may retrieve your family sword, as only you can. You are excused from the first days classes." General Shank informed him.
"I appreciate that sir, but it will not be necessary. The one thing my father taught me above all else, is no matter who you lose, life must go on. So I will attend to my studies as we all must go on, the only request I have is to be allowed to attend his cremation." Airic replied knowing Lantean tradition. The body was cremated while everyone watched and remembered the life of the dead, before life went on.
"Very well son, and I know your father would be proud of what you accomplished." Shank said.
Aired simply nodded before he stood and saluted both Generals, and went to his room where the rest of his squad mates were located. Except, unlike the others, his room was private as he realized what it meant. The Cadets formed multiple teams, each with 5 men to a team, the highest rank among them Sergeant. 5 Teams made up a squad, commanded by a Stagg Sergeant, which in turn combined 4 squads into a Platoon Commanded by a Lieutenant. It was a total of 100 men, and while he had his own Team to lead, he also commanded half of the other new Cadets.
He walked over to his computer and turned it on, to find it ready for his login as he held his bracelet to it which immediately identified him. His email was automatically opened, and there it was with his scored and a reply from his father sent via time delay so that he wouldn't get it until he was here. He closed and locked the door before he read it, which was a clear sign he didn't wish to be disturbed.
'Congratulations on your achievement my son, I know how hard you have worked for it. To get into the Senor Atlantis Academey, as well as Platoon Leader is more than any parent could hope for. You still have a lot of hard work ahead of you, however I know you will be up to the challenge as you always have been. Always remember what I taught you as well, no matter how powerful you become, you are only as strong as the weakest member of your team. In case something happens today, I have programmed a series of emails to guide you as best as I can through your journey, as this mission is extremely dangerous. No matter what they try and teach you, remember that only you can fail you. Those who follow you will do so for one of two reasons, fear or loyalty. Of the two I will take a weaker loyal man than a stronger fearful one. Fear is a powerful weapon, but should only be used against those who are your enemy.
'Good Luck my son, and Congratulations on your amazing accomplishments. I am proud of you, and your mother would be as well. Time to go, so farewell and until we meet again. General Carter.'
Airic felt the tear slipping from his eye, and closed the email before he put it on a save folder and noticed he had several more emails from officials. There however was another that caught his eye, as it was from his General Kerrigan. He thought he knew what it contained, and was right when he opened the attachment.
'Son, if you are reading this, that means I have met the end of my life, and have gone to join your mother in Paradise. I know you are feeling hurt and grieving right now, but this is what I have wanted for a long time. It isn't that I do not love you, as you are the world to me. You are the only thing that brings me joy and happiness in a dreary world that must be protected from monsters and beasts that would see us destroyed.
'Even though you grieve for me, we must always carry on, no matter who we lose. No matter how much it hurts us, and no matter how much we wish we could join the other person. The irony of this letter, is you are in the other room sound asleep, worn out from the carnival and all the rides we went on.
'But there are things you must know, some of which I am sure you have learned already, others that I hope you never have to use. I wish that I could tell you in person, and perhaps I will next year. The powers of our family are what many consider wild, however they have been of a select few for many more generations than even I can recount. You can likely access the records in the Lantean database if you wish, if they will allow you access. Unlike others, you will be able to use more than one of the accepted Elements, and may even discover you have wild talents that do not conform to any of the established abilities that are known. How you wield these powers, is what will determine how you are viewed by history. Will you allow the pain of my loss to drive you mad and become a tyrant? Or will you heed my teachings and help your fellow men and women to become better than they ever could have been alone.
'My job is not to change the world, but to defend it from an enemy that is both cunning and ruthless. While I would be proud to one day fight side by side, and rid our world of the enemies that threaten us. I would be even more proud to see what you can do to change how the world perceives those as weak, and strengthen them into a force that will show the strong theybare nothing without others watching thier backs.
'I wish I could hold you now son, but if you are reading this, I never will again. I can only hope you follow your heart, and not allow it to harden because of what you have lost. You will find my Last Will in my data bracelet, and Kerrigan has strict orders to deliver it to you. Use it wisely my son, and know I will always be with you.'
As soon as he read the last words he stood up from the desk, and grabbed his sword not caring there was only an hour left until curfew.
He ran to the training simulator, and began the program at level 6, knowing he wanted a challenge. And a challenge he received when he began, as his sword cut through an endless supply of monsters.
He didn't know how long he had been in here when he heard the door open, and someone began watching as he kept working through his grief and anger. His father had been correct in wild powers, as he had already learned the advanced techniques of 5 different Elements, and was using them freely in the simulator as he summoned an earth wall, just to rip it apart with his telekinesis and use the little shards like bullets as they flew through the simulator obliterating the monsters it had summoned.
"Computer, freeze program." The voice yelled before Airic stopped the bullet sized rocks from flying around the room and held them there. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING CADET?!" The voice demanded as he stood there barely breathing hard.
"Training sir." He said allowing the pieces to fall and dematerialize along with the monsters as the program was frozen.
"Why are you in the first year training simulator?" He demanded.
"Am I supposed to use a different one? I thought it was open to all first year Cadets sir?" Airic asked confused as he heard the man approaching as he had not even saluted the man yet which was normal procedure.
"STAND AT ATTENTION CADET!" He yelled his voice booming across the room as he stomped over to Airic who turned and did just that, snapping to his salute finally. "NAME, RANK AND YEAR?!" He yelled getting in Airics face.
"Cadet Lieutenant Airic Carter, 1st year sir." He replied formally still holding the salute as the man looked at his wrist and saw that the bracelet was not standard issue for the Academy.
"Where did you get that?" The Sergeant demanded.
"General Daniel Kerrigan gave it to me after retrieving it from the corpse of my father, sir!" He replied still holding the salute as the Sergeant stepped back and looked at him before returning the salute and allowing Airic to relax.
"General Carters son, you have my condolences." He said as Airic looked at him.
"Respectfully sir, stuff your condolences up your ass." Airic replied making the Sergeant smile. "I do not want your pity or your half hearted I wish it could be different. I would like to continue training, if you do not mind." He stated plainly making the Sergeant laugh.
"What is your Element son?" The man asked him.
"Wild sir." Airic replied with a smile of his own as he saw the confused look on the mans face.
"I am not familiar with that one." Sergeant Miller said as he walked to a cabinet and got one of the swords before he strapped it to his waist.
"I don't imagine you are Sir, but I may as well tell you now. I can use all 9 Elements and have Advanced Certificates in 5 of them." He said as the Sergeant looked at him.
"Than this will be weapons only, no use of Abilities." Sergeant Miller said meeting him in the middle of the room. "Unless you would rather return to your bunk with 2 demerits?" He asked with a smile as Airic raised his sword in a proper salute with it before sinking into his battle stance and waiting.