Tides Of Protomis XXI

The journey continues- to Kingston

With the battle in Niopolis finished. It was about time for the five to get a move on. Something that just about all of them agreed on. They would move to Kingston, Bijan having decided to come with them. A day later here they were, on the airship that Kazimir had built. It was silent within, aside from the hum of the plasma jets just outside. At the back, sat two columns of seats, on the opposing walls. Other than some barrels, it was lacking anything otherwise. But, that was to be expected, as good a mechanic as Kazimir was, he was still limited by what parts he could get. Within those seats, Alarick sat on the left side, Bijan on the right, with Zhao sat on the floor near the farthest back end, the hilt of his sword on his shoulder. At the front, Arctaius and Kazimir sat.

The mood within the ship could be described as boring at best. Nobody there said nothing, aside from the occasional cough, or clearing of the throat. Kazimir, in the pilot’s seat, sat quietly as well, looking down at a Photo. There sat a large house, run-down, but large nonetheless. And, in front of it stood a large family. A few children, an old woman, A few men as well. As well as those who looked to be in their teens. Rhuskov, in particular, had focused on a man with a thick mustache, and a small beard. His hair short, only touching his ears. His resemblance to Kazimir was plain as day. Arctaius, elsewhere, looked out of the window, before he once again began glancing around. Toward the back of the ship, and then toward Kazimir. He took notice of the picture he held. He got out of his seat as he walked behind him.

“I’m guessing that’s your family.”

Kazimir nodded.

“Yeah...They got killed in the crossfire back in the war...They were connected in more ways than one. In my research- I found out that the Kaemerge helped Sokol Naumov's coup go smoothly back in the 90s… I'd say that they are to blame for their deaths but… that's beside the point.”

Kazimir focused his eyes on a blue-eyed woman standing beside his father, an inch or two shorter, with a large bust. Her auburn locks just barely reached her shoulders.

“This woman in the center here was apparently my mother but... I haven't actually met her before. If I did, I don’t remember.”

Elsewhere, Alarick let out a tsk as a result of Kazmir's words, Closing his eyes as he crossed his arms.

“Given that the war started as a result of Naumov’s rise to power, and it can be said that they were the core cause...The third world war...An upwards of 1 Billion casualties, and all of them caused by the civil wars afterward. All a result of the Kaemerge’s obsession with that so-called divine of theirs…Disgusting.”

Zhao, taking note of his words, looked up at the rest of them, lazily glancing. Though he normally was not one to participate in talking down upon others, of course, he would make exceptions.

“Agreed.”

Arctaius nodded.

“Yeah…That guy can apologize all he wants, it doesn't change that he knew what they were up to.”

Lafeyah nodded in agreement, as well, as he leaned back into his seat, running his hand through his hair.

“Well, Knowing central command, they likely did that for a reason… It may not be a good reason- but it's a reason nonetheless.”

This caught the attention of the rest of those in the ship. Arctaius turned to face him. Rhuskov, while he didn’t turn, decidedly glanced back. Zhao’s eyes moved over to Lafeyah. As Alarick opened his, setting his gaze on him.

“That so… What would that be?” Arctaius questioned.

“It’s quite simple… We all know how proto-human abilities are activated..”

Alarick leaned forth.

“But of course.”

Alarick paused for a moment, placing his hand upon his chin. He sat there, deep in thought. He knew how destructive they were, they all did. But did they not stop to think about getting revealed? What reward did they get from this risk? He thought, and he thought. Until the gears began moving.

“That’s it… The large loss of life was to activate the abilities of many proto-humans at once because the inherent danger would awaken the protomis in their bodies. That much worked out.”

“Correct- However, that’s not all. I believe that they may have been planning to use these newly activated proto-humans to their advantage, though I suppose we already knew that.”

Arctaius began to pace around.

“To form an army of Proto-Humans… Or rather, to increase what they already have. If they do what they did with those like Yu, they could easily get them to join their ranks.”

Lafeyah nodded.

“Correct… They think that it’ll help them with their goals…”

“Their goals…? And those would be?”

Lafeyah glanced at Zhao, before responding.

“As Tsumetai said earlier. To spread ardam across Earth- Conquer the earth, And probably, the rest of the solar system.”

“I’m guessing there's another part of this grand plan of theirs...But for now- we need to focus on the task at hand.”

Zhao closed his eyes once again, as did Alarick. Arctaius walked back to his seat, sitting down afterward. Kazimir however, simply turned his gaze back to the photo in his hand.

“Yeah...”

Part B

The discussion of the wars began to bring back memories, especially for one Kazimir Rhuskov.

December 2009, Rebel Controlled Arzamas

The Metropolis of Arzamas, while, by no means the largest in the Empire, could hardly be called one of the smallest either. It was for that reason, that, when the rebellions started forming, Arzamas was one of the first cities they grabbed. Vehicles, civilian and military alike moved along the snow covered streets across the city. Including one area in the very outskirts, where a large house sat behind a steel fence.

During The Heat Of the third world war-- in the 2nd Russian empire, the situation began to break down. As they faced invasion from the east. With the Zhuhong Dynasty Shattered- and the rest of their allies going down the same path. They stood on their last legs… Their final plan- forced conscription of proto-humans, regardless of age… This was a massively unpopular move, the country exploded into open rebellion. Russia only became more desperate from here on out. Of course, feeling the effects of all this, where the civilians.

Within a room, the walls painted blue, sat a younger boy with short brown hair. He looked down, his face in a frown. Surrounding him were two people that looked to be in their teens. To his left, A man, His blonde hair slicked back, piercing gaze aimed at his younger half-sibling. Aleksei Rhuskov. To his right one with a much softer gaze sat, her straight, back-length hair blonde like her brother. They took note of the tears streaming down the young boy’s face… And, in all honesty, it wasn’t too different for them.

“Dad... After the government announced that conscription-He-- He joined the rebels and… He hasn’t come back since…”

As his shaky voice trailed off, Irinia scooted closer, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Kazimir… I know you want to find dad, but- it's simply not safe for you out there… the government will take you if they find you out there, and discover that you’re a proto-human.”

Aleksei nodded in agreement, patting his shoulder.

“She’s right-- Kazimir… Even if we don’t have any of those abilities that you do, we can still keep you safe.”

He only said nothing in response... As Kazimir continued to think, some rather unpleasant memories came. But a few days later, Arzamas was turned into a battleground, smoke rose from all over. The city's buildings were reduced to rubble. The younger kazimir ran through the streets, avoiding the falling rubble, Breathing heavily as he did so...Even throughout this, he was reminded of his own actions. As he ran out of his family’s house.

“I can’t stay here, I WON’T stay here! Not while a member of my family isn’t safe.”

From behind, his family called to him, beginning their desperate attempts to get him to stop him.

“Come back!”

“Dad will be fine, don’t do this!”

Even so, he blocked them out, as he continued to run, he would not stop, not now, not ever… He would find his father, no matter the cost. Or, at the least, that was what he thought.The Young Kazimir Would Return to His Hometown in time… But what he saw would not be positive.

A late night in Arzamas. Kazimir silently walked through the neighborhood he used to call home. The destroyed buildings marked with the bodies of dead soldiers, the remains of armored units. Tanks with the turrets ripped off, Husks of HAUs, their cockpits since destroyed. Though, even as he took in the signs of the carnage, he continued his walk forward… Only stopping as he came to the front of the ruins of his destroyed home. On the ground, lay the corpses of his deceased family. He stood there in silence as his eyes widened, a mortified expression making its way onto his face. He soon fell to his knees, as tears began to stream down his face.

“Irina… Aleksei, Darya, Desya...Everyone is… If- If only I was here… I could’ve defended them… they wouldn’t have been killed if I had just stayed put…”

He continued to stay on his knees, as the tears continued to flow.. Until, he heard the familiar Hum of an HAUs vernier, and, as his gaze shot up, he saw a blue light streaking across the sky, as well as the balls of light that appeared, likely the result of the ongoing battle… Soon followed by the sound of Sigma Particle beams, and bursts of railgun fire, as well as the many explosions that raged around him. Finally, the young boy snapped out of his stupor, rising to his feet... He kept his gaze on the bodies for a few more moments, until he turned away from them.

“They must still be fighting here… I need to get out of here…”

In the present, Kazimir looked down. Continuing to comb through his memories. Basic day to day things that he’d never have thought about before then, where the things he remembered most. Though, even as he remembered this, his expression remained unchanged. As he began to push these memories to the back of his mind, putting his gaze on the verdant forests that lie below the ship. He undeniably had a hand in what happened there, he’d come to terms, and there was no use acting any different, was there? Even so. He found himself slamming his fist into the dashboard.

“Dammit…”

Elsewhere, Bijan looked around the room. The change of mood became apparent. Going from something that was at least somewhat normal, to something this gloomy.

“I think I’d better change the subject.”

Bijan glanced toward Kazimir and opened his mouth, but, given his actions just a few moments before, he closed his mouth, deciding against it. He instead chose to put his gaze onto Arctaius.

“Corde-- How long until we reach Kingston?”

The youth reached into his pocket, pulling out his holo-phone once more, and, tapping the side, bringing his display up. Bringing up a map that showed him the area around them. As of right now, they’d begun to cross into Santa Maria’s northern territories.

“At this speed, we’re looking at 4 Hours.”

Alarick stood, as he began to pace around.

“That gives us more time to talk about our plans, then… We don’t know what kind of forces they have.”

“Hopefully we don't have the misfortune of running into another apostle this time around…” Kazimir mumbled.

“ In this state-- that would be a disaster.” Arctaius mumbled.

And, as such, the airship became silent once more. Their travels over the South American continent, and then, over the Carribean sea. Eventually, the group found themselves in a gigantic metropolis, that many would know as the crown jewel of the Carribean. The city known as Kingston, of the North American Federation. They walked down the street, making sure to stay grouped up, so as to not get separated in the walking masses. To most of them, the feel of the city was unfamiliar, having not been there before, but, to one Arctaius Corde, it was the opposite.

“Kingston… Isn’t the first time I've been here, I used to have family here, visited about every summer…”

Alarick glanced at him.

“Then I’m sure you can help us navigate.”

“Where to get good food, maybe… But as for our original goal, We’ll need to gather some more information before carrying on with the attack.”

Zhao nodded in agreement.

“There’s still the question of where to look.”

“But of course…” Responded Alarick.

“Lafeyah-- Have you ever been to this fortress before?” Arctaius Questioned.

Lafeyah shook his head.

“No- Not yet. Since I abandoned my communicator in Santa Maria to keep from being tracked- I can’t exactly provide a map either…”

Kazimir shoved his hands into his pocket as he sighed.

“Well… There goes that route, that data only had general locations… Guess they were somewhat prepared for a leak.”

“Unfortunate, I suppose that we’ll have to search as best we can…”

As Alarick spoke, Arctaius began to step ahead of them.

“Well, either way we got some downtime… Didn’t eat since we got into Santa Maria. What do you guys say w-”

He paused, both his speech, and his movement. Soon followed by his allies doing the same, as they all felt the same sensation, the tingling on their spines. And, they all knew what that meant, another proto-human was nearby.Elsewhere, a certain martial artist had noticed five others as well. And, he took note of a certain familiarity. Even so, he began to walk toward the street corner, regardless. And, soon, the five did the same. And, as both groups turned the corner, there they all were. Zhao was the first to step forward, stopping in front of his fellow martial artist.

“Yu Liang-- What a coincidence…”

To Be Continued