May 19th, 2XXX.
I hope this letter finds you well, Commander Armstrong. We understand how busy you must be at our underground base in Paris, but we thought you'd like to know how things stand around the globe. The east has almost fallen. The west has yet to succumb, yet it's slowly being overwhelmed by the enemy forces. They have established temporary bases in Beijing and Sydney, while expanding their territory on Buenos Aires and Washington. Many of the capitals have fallen, along with their respective governments. This "Plan Z" of yours is our last chance at avoiding a complete and utter catastrophy. We wish you luck, Commander.
"Do you understand the situation now, Commander?"
"Stop your whining Lieutenant Wolfgang, I told you this project would need time, didn't I?"
"It's been three months and you're yet to make any considerable progress Rhea. If we don't do something now, then it'll be too late."
She let out a sigh, turning away from him and looking at the scientist's work through the glass.
"Do you not trust my judgement, Tim?", her melancholic tone making him clutch onto the letter even harder.
"I trust you, I have always trusted you. Even if noone else believed in you, I would still stay by your side. But if this goes on any longer...I'm afraid our swan song would be nothing more than a cygnet's cry."
She smiled slightly, her gaze still focused there.
"Swans, cygnets, bears, lions, dogs, cats...Flowers, forests...They are all gone. But, we're the ones that destroyed them first. This crisis has managed to unite humanity and the few that would live if we came out on top, wouldn't even remember such notions."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Don't be conceited Lieutenant, we're not defending our planet, we're defending humanity. As long as an Adam and Eve manage to survive, then we would still have succeeded."
His agape mouth betrayed his intention to reply, yet no sound came out of it. He knew she was right, there was nothing to save here, war had reduced Earth to a dystopian state. Suddenly, a metal door slid open and a woman wearing a lab coat over her uniform walked over to them and held out a tablet.
"We made a breakthrough a few hours ago, and the chip has finally been stabilised. Only thing that's left is to begin the process to see how the husks will react."
Rhea studied the readings on her own pace, before handing the tablet back to her. Her excitement shown in her wicked smirk.
"Excellent work Hernandez. Notify the rest of the department, we will join you in a moment."
As the researcher left, she turned to the Lieutenant, putting her hands behind her back while doing so.
"Are you curious to see what exactly I've staked humanity's survival on?"
He glanced down at the lab through the glass, noticing the lifeless bodies in giant tubes and the dozens people working either by gathering data on the computers, or by regulating the central intelligence unit.
"Husks? Chips? What's this all about, Frankenstein?"
She narrowed her eyes at his jab, "Ease your worries and follow me to see for yourself."
They slowly made their way down to the main lab, a jungle of high tech equipment and utilities. His eyes again darting between the countless bodies in tubes and the panicked researchers running around. He wanted to ask her more about this, but they stopped in front of the central intelligence unit, before he could get the chance to speak. Unlike the rowdy situation throughout the facility, only a single, composed man stood before the huge screen, his back turned to them. The Commander was the first to speak.
"I heard the 'soul' has finally been stabilised, this was your work, right Dr. Raghavan?"
The man swang his body to face them in an almost elegant manner, the air of calm around him making them feel more at ease.
"Of course, it has been perfected. Only the 'vessels' remain.", his soft tone not matching his intimidating expression, the look of a man who had lived long enough to know the meaning of suffering. He then turned back around and after swiftly typing something, the machine next to them produced a drawer of tiny metal chips.
"From chips and husks, to souls and vessels. What the hell were you thinking Rhea?"
"Be patient, you still haven't seen anything.", her hazel eyes that suited her crimson-short hair telling no lies.
Guided by Dr. Raghavan, they sauntered amongst the chaos, making their way to one of the open tubes. A gray, lifeless human-like body rested inside its fluids. The body had no features at all, as if it was a chrysalis, waiting to be molded into something anew.
"This isn't an actual human body, right?"
"This is what we call a husk, formally a 'vessel'. It's an artificial composition, mimicking that of a human's. All that remains, is for us to imbue the 'soul' into it."
The doctor's explanation confused Tim even more.
"These husks are the so called 'vessels' and those chips are the 'souls', I get it. But what are we trying to achieve here?"
Rhea flashed him an almost proud look, standing before Dr. Raghavan who was in the process of carefully placing the chip into that body.
"In order for us humans to fight off the foreign invaders, we upgraded our air defence systems, we matched their weaponry by redeveloping modern melee weapons, but we lost every battle we fought. Their mech and soldiers flattening ours..."
Her speech caught the attention of almost everyone there, as people started crowding them while she continued talking.
"Humanity finally banded together and created this very organization, the Global Defence Force, only a few years ago, yet we kept on losing. This is because we lack morale, we lack eccentricity. We have been constantly unable to catch the enemy off guard. Those damn Iliads have been mocking us since the very first day of this war. We lack the names to boost our soldier's morale and instill that sense of primitive fear into those fools. So, in order to teach those aliens the cruelty of war, the true nature of humanity, we put all our efforts into this final project. Plan Z."
The lab had gone silent. Dr. Raghavan had finished the process of imbuing the husk with the 'soul', twitching as if it was about to combust at any moment. Despite that gruesome display, she turned to face it and continued speaking.
"Those chips contain all the known data about a certain 'character', fictional or historical, it doesn't matter. By recreating the very essence of their 'soul', running myriads of simulations to precisely estimate their appearance and personality as accurately as possible, our final trump card, we entrust this war to them."
Just as Rhea finished her speech and the crowd was about to go into an uproar, the husk had finally begun its metamorphosis. Growing much larger and more muscular, jet black hair resting on its shoulders, it took the form of a man of ancient times. His eyes snapped open, grabbing onto the side of the open tube to help him sit straight, glaring at the unsuspecting crowd around him.
"I present to you, Agent #001, the legendary warrior of the three kingdoms, Lu Bu.", announced Raghavan, as Tim's eyes widened in disbelief. Lu Bu got up and out of his pod, his wet and commanding footsteps echoing across the facility as he towered over the Commander.
"Are you the leader of these people?", his deep and hostile tone sending shivers down their spines. However, Rhea stood tall and extended her hand towards him.
"That's right, I'm your Commander, a General like you. I'm sure you're confused, but don't worry, you have but one goal-"
She was cut short by him simply narrowing his eyes, his bloodlust making her take an unconscious step back.
"I bow to no-one and I make no alliances. I remember, I remember everything. I won't fall for the same trick again."
She sighed and put her hand away.
"That's fine by me, as long as you know who your enemy is."
"Foreign thoughts and memories plague my mind, is this your doing?"
"Correct, you're almost two thousand years in the future. We tweaked your mind a bit so you grasped the most important details, making sure you were available for battle immediately."
She waved her hand to some of the soldiers behind her, bringing him a set of futuristic armour. No-one else even dared to interrupt them as he put it on.
"Any questions?"
"No, I understand what I'm supposed to do.", four of the soldiers then also brought him a giant halberd. Lu Bu's smirk widened at the sight, before he effortlessly took hold of it. "A perfect fit. With this I shall split the heavens and send my opponents to hell."
"You mustn't forget that you now fight for the whole of humanity, whether you like it or not. You're part of this organisation and I'm your Commander, so-", she was once again interrupted by the sound of his halberd hitting the ground, shattering the ground beneath it.
"I have no equals, if you want to order me around, then prove yourself in battle and don't hold me back."
She glared at him, before turning to Tim.
"Lieutenant Wolfgang, you're to lead him and your unit outside and clear the area, so we can finally advance onto the surface and get out of here."
Tim was still very unsure about this, but he didn't dare to complain, nodding hesitantly. As he lead them outside, Lu Bu shook the ground with each step, causing the Lieutenant and the rest of the soldiers to worry slightly about the fragile nature of the corridors. He had also refused to wear protective armour over a grand tattoo of clouds on his upper back, explaining that he simply wasn't planning on being struck from behind. The catacomb doors groaned open, a blast of acrid wind rushing in. The light was not sunlight but a sickly, smog-drenched orange, casting broken shadows of jagged ruins across the ashen ground. Craters pocked the earth, black scars where fire had rained from alien skies. The skeletal remains of towers loomed like monuments to forgotten gods, their glass-and-steel spires shattered into gnarled fangs. Overhead, a shadow streaked, a sleek, alien craft buzzing like a hornet, its thrusters screaming as it vanished into the haze. Beneath it, a sound—scratching, scuttling—grew louder. Lu Bu grasped the handle of his halberd tightly, taking on a fighting stance as he prepared himself.
"They are coming."