Prologue

Visual account of the "Four Corners War" from Milos Obilic, Gage, and Terron. the opening to what i hope becomes a great novel.

Prologue

 

The blade nicked his cheek, Milos rolled back away from the enemy. Sweat trickled down from his hair to his neck, and into his button up dress shirt under his vibrant red cloak, the uniform of the Blayders. His pure blue eyes where narrowed into the direction of the other soldier. He wore peasant clothing, and seemed of low income, he was not a trained soldier yet he was making Milos, who had many years of military training, work to stay alive.

               “I am General Milos Obilic of the Blayders branch of the Minoan Military! Stand down!” he ordered the Gonuran civilian. The man said nothing; he stood straight and smiled charismatically and held his Yue sword up. Milos then pleaded to the man,

               “Pleas I do not want to kill you sir! Put your weapon down!!!” the man ignored the pleas.

The sounds of the cannons where off in the distance, Milos was guarding the tent in which the Fuehrer was in. this one man made it all the way through the battle field, without a scratch. The man then approached Milos closer, his blade now lowered.

               “Young man, you do not wish to kill me do you?” he asked. Milos nodded.

               “When you dawned the uniform of the blood red Blayders, did you not realize that you would have to kill?” the man asked again, his accent was heavy, but his words where clear.

               “I was determined to not kill if I did not have to…” the man laughed at his answer.

               “You humiliate yourself Minoan! If you do not kill me, I will kill you. It is as simple as that.” The man then leapt forward at Milos, as his blade swiped down onto Milos’s own Long sword blade, as they met, violent orange sparks sprayed out between them pushing both of them back. This was the first time Milos had ever seen this phenomena. Milos gritted his teeth in anger, this man was so skilled, and Milos saw it as a waste to kill such a powerful advisory.

               “General Obilic! Stop fooling around with that clown and finish him!” Lieutenant General Aldrich shouted with a smug expression upon his face. Milos despised how much Aldrich belittled the skill and lives of the enemy.

               “Your friend has a point; you could have already ended my life. Why do you toy with me?” the man asked raising one of his thin black eyebrows. Milos sighed then glanced over at Aldrich for a moment.

               “Because I respect my opponent, and only kill them if they give me no choice.” He then looked over to the man again, his arms where slightly bent, but his blade was held at full power and attention as he spoke,

               “You truly are a fool; this is why surpassing you in the ranks will be easy for me. You still see the opponent with a mixture of pity and sadness, how childish.” Aldrich joked as he listened.

               “This war has taken me from the Harappan villages, to the Angkor watt paradise. And this blade, which I crafted by hand, has tasted the blood of exactly one hundred and seventy four souls. Taking a life is not a task that should be belittled.” He then looked at the Gonuran man, who by now was closely listening, Aldrich had left from boredom.

               “Well, my life is one you will have to take if you want to survive. Do you understand that boy? Kill me or I will kill you!”The man shouted running towards Milos holding his Jian blade with both hands in a powerful motion.

Milos leapt back avoiding the strike and swung his long sword at the man’s head, the man ducked and rolled backwards, his speed was unreal in Milos’s eyes. The man’s blade was stained with the blood of Blayders that Milos knew; this filled his heart with anguish and rage. The man now stood from his roll without slowing for a second, he held his blade with the tips of his fingers as if he where only practicing.

Milos ran at the man holding his blade with both hands in a piercing position, the man leapt, and Milos was ready, he quickly switched his hands positions and made his blades tip point up towards the man who was now above him, this moment would have been missed by anyone who blinked. Milos leapt straight into the air only a few feet off of the ground, and pierced the man through the side piercing his kidney; Milos turned out of the attack and landed gracefully as the man fell to the earth with a great thud.

               “Very good…Blayder, Thanks to you, I can rest with my dignity intact and see my daughter again…” the man smiled, and then spurted blood as he spoke. His eyes were filled with tears, and Milos looked into them, greatly weighed down with the death of a fellow man that lived by the sword.         The Jian blade rested silently next to its wielder’s lifeless hand, the wooden handle had worn down markings from being handled the man’s entire life. Its nearly indestructible steel blade was tarnished now, stained by the blood of countless enemies killed in battle, the edges chipped and dented, never to be cleaned or sharpened again. The scabbard made of the same hardwood the handle was crafted from, had metal plates on it, which where inscribed with symbols of the native writings of this land, the land of Gonur.

               This country east of his own, across the desert, through the mountains, it was foreign and alien to him. There were almost no plant species he knew of from back home, he was a gardener when he was not on duty, he felt that it gave him a different perspective on life. But here, there was only one rule, one perspective, obey and do as you are tolled. He was as high up in the ranks as possible, but was still just a lapdog for the fuehrer.

The fuehrer, Maximilien Robespierre husband to the late Amelia Athelstan, who was heiress to the throne of Minoa, with her passing, and being the last heir to the throne, he gained full power. He then turned the country into a militaristic superpower, and conquered the neighboring large continent to the south Harappan. He took the old military system, and made it even greater in numbers. But most military men, including Milos a veteran of the days when King Athelstan ruled, believed that they sacrificed quality for quantity. So to appease his soldiers the Fuehrer created a special operations group, a Battalion of soldiers with skills far more superior to those of usual soldiers, this Group, this Battalion of soldiers would be known as the Blayders.  

Soon after the conquering of the Harappan nation, its neighbor to the east Angkor Watt, which is south of Gonur, became outraged by the blatant act of treason. It had been well known that the Harappan nation had no true military force, and was a nation of small tribes that did not even have the ability to make canon powder, the Angkor Watt nation quickly formed an alliance with the left over citizens of Harappan, and in opposition of the excessive force shown by the Minoan military, began an armed insurrection in the Angkor Watt Deserts south east of Minoa.  

But the deadly power of the Blayders Battalion of soldiers proved to be too much for the spear using Harappan nation, or the predominantly archery weapons of the Angkor Watt, neither country was a military super power, the Harappan was still developing, and struggling to survive, while the Angkor Watt had developed as a religious nation that condoned the use of canon weapons and assisted strength bows.  To aid their Neighbor to the south, the Gonuran Military sent their best soldiers, in the battalion they had continued for centuries before the Blayders, known as the Fenghuang. Each one was more skilled than the last. It was a Battalion of four brigades, The Jian, the Peng, the Juiefeng, and the most powerful, the Huang Di.

After the nation of Gonur become involved into the insurrection, it quickly became known as, “The Four Corners War” the nation of Minoa was demonized, and so were its citizens. The Fuehrer was seen as a godlike entity in the safety of Minoa, but out in the neighboring country he was the most evil entity known to man. Milos knew this, and sometimes felt hatred towards not only his leader, but his school years friend, they had known each other since they where young boys and even helped each other form the Blayders Battalion.   Milos knew that this war was not started for good reasons, but since the death of Amelia, Milos never questioned or put strain on his dear friend.

As Milos sat there, adjacent to the body of his fallen adversary, he could hear the footsteps of a soldier approaching from the tents and tanks behind him.

               “General Obilic Sir! The Fuehrer has requested an audience with you in his chamber.” The soldier stated saluting nervously, he was wearing the dark green, almost black uniform of the Minoan Military, and it contrasted to the Blood red duster that is issued to a Blayder at their initiation. On the left shoulder of his mud and blood covered uniform was the overlapping double letter M, the symbol for the Minoan Military. On the left sleeve of Milos’s duster coat was the calligraphy letter B and underneath it, his codename given at his initiation into the Blayders Battalion, “The Mountain Stone Blayder” given to him for his skills in defense, and his ability to show no emotions. He followed the soldier to a small black tent, it was just large enough to fit the five main men of the army, the two generals, one lieutenant General, one Major General, and of course the General of army better known as the Fuehrer. The four men sat patiently as Milos entered the tent. Lieutenant General Ames Aldrich snickered as he entered. Ames Aldrich, also goes by his title “The Sleek Shadow Blayder” given to him for his cunning, and ability to adapt to any situation, he specialized in intelligence gathering, assassination and covert operations. He was the one man on the planet Milos truly wanted to kill, or watch die, he was insane, but treated like a hero by the Fuehrer.

               “Glad you could join us General.” Said Maximilien sitting at the head of a long black table, on his right side was an empty seat, Milos sat in it. To his left was General Nicholas Devout, the only one in the room who was not a Blayder, he oversaw the eastern military command center in East Praygue so that the Fuehrer could focus on the more powerful soldiers with Milos and Aldrich, to the left of Devout was Major General Irvin McDowell, “The Swift Feet Blayder” the title given to him because he is the only Blayder to have ever used a fencing blade in the battlefield, requiring exceptional footwork to use efficiently.  Across from McDowell and to the right of Milos was Ames sitting slouched in an improper fashion. Ames was the youngest in the room, gaining his title for his skills only.

               The Fuehrer, Maximilien Robespierre was a man of tall stature, and lean build. He was a seasoned soldier, and the first Blayder. He had long golden blond hair and a shaved face, his eyes where dark blue and his skin was slightly tan from being in the field of battle. He had a scar from the base of his left jaw down his neck passed where anyone could see; it extended down to his right rib cage, a wound he received before he had met and married into the royal family. He wore the dark almost black green uniform of the soldiers, with the overlapping double letter M’s on his left shoulder, and the right shoulder, chest fabric and sleeve fabric was the Blayders blood red color littered with metals. The right shoulder had the calligraphy B and underneath it was his codename given to him by his late wife when her father gave him the rank of general before his passed away, “The Kings Guard”.

               “Now that everyone is here, we must decide where to go from here; this skirmish in Assur will not be the last. We must take action a move forward to stomp out anymore burning frays.” Maximilien said in his charismatic and calm voice. Milos was appalled by this statement; he was a known moderate and opposed all military occupation in Gonur.

               “My Fuehrer, I do not think that will be wise, the four of us are here, but besides you, Me, Lieutenant General Aldrich, and Major general McDowell, there are no other Blayders in this battle, it is all eastern commands soldiers.” Milos said in protest to his leader’s decision.

               “Why does that matter?! My soldiers are plenty strong enough to deal with these slant eyes!” Shouted General Devout insulted by Milos’s proposal. Milos then grew a serious expression on his face, he knew the information he was about to expose would bring this skirmish in Gonur to the final corner of the war.

               “I believe, I just made battle with a Fenghuang soldier.” He stated, as he did the tent became silent, soldiers listening in on the outside grew fearful, and Maximilien grew a smile on his face. He wanted this to happen it would give him the Nation of Minoa’s full fearful support. And he would be able to send the entire Blayders soldiers in to wipe out the opposing forces.

               “Very well, enact the Vatican treaties disposal, and bring in the Blayder forces from Military Command, North Praygue, and Activate the Hague contingency plan. We will wipe the Fenghuang force off the Gonur militaries weapon list.” Maximilien said this order with an endless smile upon his face.

 

The call went out, and in two weeks, the entire Blayders regime was sent to the city of Assur where the Minoan Military had conquered and laid waste to any who stayed. From Assur, the Blayders created a path of pure destruction north to the city of Uruk, and then east towards Lagash the military capitol of Gonur, there they became locked into combat with the incredible military might of the Fenghuang soldiers.

Milos ran for his life from a man dressed in solid black, his face was covered with a hood and ceramic mask. Milos could hear the footsteps of the man on the tin roofs of the village housing. Milos held his newly mastered longbow in his hand; his long sword had not yet been drawn.

               “I do not want to have to kill you!” he shouted to the air trying to stop the enemy from perusing him. He knew this was a Fenghuang soldier, and that it would be a challenge to kill him.  Milos then quickly ran from behind a house and drew his arrow, he looked up to the roofs, but the man was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Milos felt his bowstring become severed, and then someone grab him in a choke hold. The Fenghuang soldier had him in a legendary maneuver no one in Minoa was ever able to learn, because no one ever survived being held in one. He slowly began gasping for air; he could feel his life slipping away,

               “You are monsters; our people will not bow to the whim of you.” It was a woman’s voice, a young woman’s voice; this surprised the dying Milos greatly. But as soon as she stopped speaking Milos heard the zip and hit of a whistle Arrow hit the Enemy, as it did she dropped him to the ground and jumped backwards up onto a roof. She drew her Kris blade, an unusual blade to see in this area of the world, and began frantically looking for the arrow sniper. Milos looked up at the Woman on the roof gasping for air. The arrow feathering was that of a red tail eagle, he knew who’s it was. Major Thomas Gage was in a nearby tower waiting for an opportune moment to take down the enemy, but only pierced her shoulder missing her heart.

               “I am going to have to make that boy practice more.” Milos muttered to himself standing up. The enemy’s wound was bleeding profusely, Milos turned his back to walk away thinking that this soldier would leave. He turned as he heard her land on the ground and begin running at him, he expected her to still have her blade drawn, but instead she had a grenade lit in her hand as she attempted the tackle him down. Milos quickly took his bow and batted the grenade out of the young woman’s hand, it exploded in the air knocking Milos and the young woman into a nearby house through the window.

Milos quickly came to being used to the explosions caused by Gonur grenades, but the woman was not so lucky she was passed out from a sever burn caused by being on the wrong side of the grenade blast. Milos walked over to her and saw that her mask was destroyed, but protected her flawlessly beautiful face from being burned. He disarmed her belt of all weapons, the list including several Gonur flash bombs, many grenades, over ten knives and her Kris blade sword, the wavy design of the sword took year of mastery and was a tool to only be used by experts in the Angkor Watt weaponry arts.  He then began to bandage her arm, he felt it would be dishonorable to kill the opponent while she could not fight back, after dressing the shoulder wound; he had to disinfect the burn. In the first aid kit he kept strapped to his utility belt he had old Vodka for that purpose, he also would take swigs out of it to help him sleep at night. As he poured it onto the woman’s wound she began to scream in unexpected agony, she was now awake but still too weak to even move.

               “Why the hell are you saving me?! Kill me now Blayder!” she shouted using energy Milos would have rather her use for resting. He laughed at her question, and ignored it. She could tell he was ignoring her and then raised her voice even louder asking,

               “Don’t ignore me you worm! Why are you-“Milos then interrupted her,

               “Because I am not a monster, and you are a powerful respectable opponent. I have no intention on killing anyone. I only kill if I must; otherwise I just fight till they cannot fight, or till I can debilitate them.” As he explained this the woman slightly blushed, she had never heard a man compliment her fighting ability, and had never seen a Minoan this kind.

               “My name is Kahra, you are a Blayder, aren’t you?” she asked confused as to whether or not he was actually a Minoan soldier. Milos laughed as she questioned his status in the military seeing as not many other soldiers wear blood red uniforms. The woman was now propped up onto one of the support beams of the now ash covered house. Milos knew that soon Gage would alert his squad leader of his location, and then the woman would be killed by Aldrich, who had seemed to lose his self control and would even kill non warrior civilians.

               “I am General Milos Obilic, and you need t get out of here as soon as you can. The longer I stay here the closer the other Blayders will come, and if they see you they will kill you. This is where I take my leave I hope the next time I see you it will not be on this damn battlefield.” He then left before she could say anything. 

The war had escalated, and Milos had killed many Fenghuang soldiers, their skills where unbelievable, never before had the Blayders ever fought such powerful enemies, but why where they fighting this war? Why did the Fuehrer ever invade Harappan? These where questions that seemed to stab at Milos’s brain throughout the entirety of this world war.  Soon Milos met up with Gage’s team, they where all from the training facility in Minsk, it was also known as the “Academy”.

               “General Obilic! Sir! Are you ok?” Major Gage shouted running to Milos with a unique weapon in his hands, it was a revolutionary automatic bow that would make the arrows travel farther, faster, and more powerful, it was called the “Cross Bow” or “Sword Bow” for being shaped like a cross section, or a long sword intersecting handle and guard. Milos did not like handling them, he believed that they where the beginning of taking the work out of battle. Major Gage was Milos’s nephew in law, married into the family from his brother’s wife, and his apprentice. It was very common for Blayders to have personal teachers, but not many are lucky enough to be trained by a General of the Minoan Military. Gage treasured his uncle as a true master of the blade, and the most honorable Blayder he had ever met.

               “I am fine boy, but the enemy is not so lucky, that shot you made weakened them greatly so they attempted a suicide charge using a grenade, I was able to avoid to blast, but he is now dead.” Milos then looked towards the other six men, all where Blayders, giving them at least the rank of Captain, and then leading the group of Blayders was newly promoted, General Aldrich Ames. General Devout had been killed in the line of duty, and now Aldrich was able to take his place as the General of East Praygue.

               “My my, getting a little more ferocious aren’t they.” Aldrich stated stepping in front of Gage, he seemed to be studying Milos’s belt.  He then turned to Gage with an angered look on his face.

               “Take the other men and search the surrounding area, make sure there are no other Fenghuang soldiers hiding.” He ordered to Gage,

               “Yes Sir!” obeyed Gage saluting. They then headed off, as soon as they were gone Aldrich turned to Milos with his disturbing grin formed from ear to ear. Milos could sense he was up to something.

               “So, you didn’t really kill the slant eye did you?” he asked interrogating Milos. Milos’s eyes widened as he asked this, how did he know that she was not killed? Milos knew he had been caught. He stepped back and slowly reached for his blade, Aldrich had a speed advantage, his Khopesh blade did not have a sheath, and it was on a magnet clip on his belt.

               “You really think it would be wise to start a fight with me old timer? Well, I guess it is no better than being court marshaled for betraying your country.” Aldrich said removing his blade from its magnetic clip. They both placed their blades in front of their faces, and at the same time recited the creed of the Blayders,

               “This is my blade! There is none other like it for a crafted it by hand! Without my blade my will is guideless, without me my blade is powerless! Let my heart and soul guide my hand!” they then quickly ran at each other clashing their blades with tremendous force. For the first time in both Milos, and Aldrich’s life on the battlefield, bright orange sparks flew from their blades meeting, a rare sight to be able to see in daylight. They both jumped back, Milos leapt forward and swung his long sword at Aldrich’s face. As the blade hit Aldrich knocked the blade out of his cheek stopping it from going deep, the gash was still slightly deep though blood fell down Aldrich’s cheek like tears. Smiling, Aldrich licked the blood and then began to laugh.

               “Truly amazing, never before have I ever been scratched by the blade of an enemy. My beautiful face has a new admirable feature I guess.” Aldrich said as he stretched. Milos was still tired from his battle with Kahra, and felt that because of Aldrich’s inexperience, and his exhaustion, this battle could go either way. Milos ran at Aldrich again, swiping his Blade at Aldrich’s ankles in a bluff beginners move, as quickly as Aldrich bent down to block the false maneuver Milos had swung his long sword up and pierced Aldrich in the wrist pinning him to the ground.           

Much to Milos’s surprise, Aldrich was smiling and no blood coming from his sleeve. Instead Milos heard the sound of gears turning; Aldrich bent upwards ripping his entire red uniform top off, revealing strange metal contraptions on his arms. Milos was wide eyed in disbelief, he had no clue what these machines where.

               “Amazing aren’t they? I was entrusted with the first production model. The Strong Arm soldier enhancement Vambracers. You have heard of them haven’t you general?” Aldrich brought back horrible memories of the beginning of the war, when Milos worked in west Praygue, guarding the MOBPS, Minoan Optimal Blayder Potential Section of the Minoan military. The Strong Arm was an enhancement tool that he thought had been disbanded years ago.

               “They completed it?!” he shouted in question. Aldrich let out a loud bellow of laughter. He then curled his fist back making the machines turn on, the hum of the pistons and gears sent chills down Milos’s spine.

               “That they did what a waste of a question Obilic! And now I am going to show you just how well they work!” Aldrich then charged at Milos, as Milos blocked his oncoming attack he was flung backwards as if his block was nothing. As Milos landed on the ground he could feel two of his rips crack from the impact. Aldrich then began to laugh hysterically, now Milos knew he had been being toyed with the entire time, Aldrich could have activated the Strong Arm at any time, but chose to play around with Milos until he was being beaten. Milos slowly rose, but before he could do anything, or even think of what to do Aldrich charged him again, Milos did everything he could to block each of Aldrich’s one handed attack, having to use two hands just to stay on par with Aldrich’s mechanical strength.

               Soon their blades where crossed and Aldrich was pushing down on Milos’s long sword. Milos had one hand on the handle and the other pressed against the blade. He then heard a sound he thought he would never hear in his lifetime. His blade began to crack under the pressure of Aldrich’s Strong Arm enhanced blade. Aldrich began to laugh a villainous laugh as the crack grew larger and wider.  Suddenly an arrow landed in between Aldrich’s legs, he quickly jumped back releasing the pressure on Milos dropping him to his knees. The Arrow was Gage’s and he was joined by Maximilien, and Major General McDowell.

               “General Obilic! General Aldrich! What is this ruckus! Are you attempting to shame this military?!” shouted Fuehrer Maximilien.  Obilic stared into Maximilien’s eyes deeply.

               “THIS MILITARY IS ALREADY SHAMED!!!” he shouted tearing off the left arm sleeve of his top uniform, he tossed it to Aldrich’s feet the turned to walk away. As he did Aldrich began to follow,

               “NO! Leave him be! Let the traitor rot in this hellhole of a country.” Maximilien shouted, as he did Aldrich stopped and returned to the Fuehrer. Milos never returned to the Military.

 

Gage watched his mentor walk away into the destroyed village; he looked at Aldrich as the monster who drove him away that night at base camp. Gage sat across from both Captain Pember, a blond haired athletic beauty her eyes a dark blue color recently slightly scarred under the left, but barely noticeable she too wore the uniform of a Blayder, and Captain Winters a tall, bulky man who was a model ideal citizen, his eyes where brown, his hair was prematurely grey like most of his family, he would soon be a Blayder promoted to Major just like Gage, both great friends of his since they were at the academy, and all three where students of former General Obilic’s training, while Pember and Winters where not as personal students as Gage was, they too where effected deeply by his betrayal. But while Winters and Gage both accepted they duty as human weapons, Pember was questionable of the militaries occupation, she felt that is was drawn out.

               “I thought… I thought the job of being a Blayder was to defend our country from attack.” Pember stated trying to show no emotion, she was commonly looked down upon for being a female soldier, and while she kept her feminine charm, she tried to show absolutely no emotions.

               “I know what you mean, this was a blatant attack from East Praygue, and we are not even trying to conquer any of the lands. It’s just killing every citizen, and then trying to draw out the Fenghuang soldiers into an all out war.” Winters added looking at Gage for answers. Gage was looking into his bowl of beans, the food of a soldier, he was used to it, but it was no comfort for the loss of his mentor.

               “We kill the citizens because that is what we are ordered to do soldier.” Replied the ominous voice of General Ames Aldrich as he entered the camp. Gage felt shivers down his spine as Aldrich spoke. Aldrich sat next to Gage, he dropped his arms onto his knees and began to disconnect to machine from his left arm, the sounds of the needles pulling out almost made Pember vomit.

               “sorry kiddies, but if I leave this thing on for too long it will drain me dry” he remarked with a laugh as he took the machine off and dropped it to the ground, the fire in between them blocked Pember and Winters views, but Gage could see the infected holes and rotting flesh the machines left on Aldrich’s arms.

               “Sir…” Gage felt ridiculous for worrying about this monster, but it was his superior officer, and he had to say something, but Aldrich interrupted.

               “No worries Major, the R and D crew already have a solution ready for when I get back to west command.” He explained. Gage then grew a sense of confusion, General Aldrich would be returning to east command is what everyone was told, but he had just informed gage that he would be returning to west for the R and D department. Gage did not pry any further for fear he might know too much.

                As Aldrich left the log bench carrying the strong arm enhancements in his bleeding arms he headed for the first aid tent, Gage looked over to his friends in horror.

               “Something, very wrong is going on in the military guys. I can’t say for sure, but the Fuehrer is up to something. And Aldrich is his key weapon.” Gage said this looking at his two friends with a face of pure intensity. Soon they finished their meals and went to their bunks for the four hour rest between scouting shifts.

 

And Major Gage was correct, The Fuehrer continued his war until Angkor Watt surrendered, and the Harappan people where all but whipped out. The war ended after the Gonur emperor was assassinated by an unknown assailant. The capitol of Gonur Isin was in complete disarray as the successor to the throne had not been named, and thus the Minoan military left with no apparent reason as to why, they could have taken over the Gonuran country and turned it into their own, but they did not. In the final weeks of their leave there was one last battle fought, in the destroyed battlefield of Assur.

 

The boy looked out at all of the scattered bodies, some soldiers in civilian clothing, others in the

Minoan militaries uniforms, the blood red cloak of the Blayders. In the distance, the sounds of clashing blades, the snap of bowstrings and the whistle of signal arrows filed the air.

Terron did not know much of this war, but he did know that it was worldwide. The same terror he was witnessing was being seen by other kids all over the world. Terron was seven, but always felt older and acted like a grown man, but this war made him realize how helpless and childish he really was. He had been brought here by his mother, a maid in the royal palace, who had come to take revenge on her beloved emperors killers. Terron was a student in the military arts, but was still just a child. He held a dagger in his hand, barely knowing what to do with it; he walked over to the bloody body of his mother, his adoptive mother, the maid of the emperors’ palace. She was barely alive, smiling, and blinking. In her right hand she held a thin Dao blade, its handle was jade, and its blade was made of thin Wootz steel like the Fenghuang soldiers he had heard about since he was first brought to Gonur.

“My son… this is your destiny. You will save yourself… go to the Fuehrer, he will not kill you… tell

him…tell him your mother was Mari” she said coughing blood. Terron was incredibly scared and confused for the woman he was looking at in tears name was not Mari, it was Kahra the woman who adopted him from the shelter, the woman he knew as mother. She handed him the blade, its dark green jade handle was encrusted with blood.

        “Take it my son… you are important to the Fuehrer, you will not die here…”she said in her finalwords as her head collapsed to the floor, her neck giving up, and her hand dropping the blade into his hand. The boys breathing began to grow heavier and heavier, he then let out a tremendous yell, a cry of anger and sadness. He shouted the name of the Fuehrer of Minoa Next, his voice changing from that of a Childs, to that of a young man’s. He then stood and ran off into the battlefield, swinging his blade at any soldier who stood in his way, weather it was Minoan or Gonuran, Blayder, or Fenghuang.  He ran for what felt like an eternity until he arrived at a clearing, in this clearing where several battalions of soldiers dressed in red, they all stared at Terron, the only Gonuran citizen in sight.

               “Well I’ll be damned, looks like he found us again…” said a man with long black hair and cold eyes, his arms had strange metal contraptions on them; he turned away and ran towards a series of tarp tents behind the other soldiers. Terron immediately dropped to the ground, he had not stopped running for several miles, the muscles in his legs felt like they had been taken away.  He lost track of time as he was being stared at by the Minoan soldier, but he knew in between the man speaking and now, it had begun to rain, and most of the other soldiers had left, but a few where standing there still trying to figure out where the black haired man went. Soon two black boots where in front of Terron, he looked up at a tall man with long brushed back blond hair, and a blond beard, his eyes where as blue as the sky.  The man looked into Terron’s Black eyes, as his black hair was being soaked by the rain, and his tan skin covered in mud.

               “I am Fuehrer Maximilien Robespierre, why have you come to this encampment child?” he asked in a calm soothing voice. But as he said his name Terron was filled with fear and rage, he quickly picked his blade up and swung at the Fuehrer in rage, but one swing was all he could manage, in the blink of an eye the man parried the Dao blade with a shining mirror coated Saber blade and the Dao flew out of Terron’s hand. The man’s blade tip was now pointed at Terron’s throat.

          “My mother, told me to tell you, that her name was Mari…” was all Terron was able to say before he passed out from the intensity of the situation. Maximilien’s eyes widened in delight. He sheathed the blade and looked over to Major Gage and Major Winters who where both watching in awe.

“Take this boy to Brigadier General Schreiber; tell him to perform a Level E modification and leave.

Understand I want no questions asked.” He ordered, the two soldiers complied immediately and took the boy to the personal tent of Brigadier General Schreiber.

The Fuehrer walked over to the boys disarmed blade and picked it up; he admired the fine craftsmanship of the weapon and then handed it to General Aldrich. He then signaled for Aldrich to follow him. They walked for a while along the rain covered road, until they reached the fuehrer’s personal tent; they entered and sat down at the discussion table.

               “I cannot believe he returned to us.” The Fuehrer said in shock as Aldrich placed the blade on the Table. Aldrich sat and looked over at the Fuehrer,

               “What should the next plan of action be? Should we see if the Gonuran government found anything out from him?” he asked hoping for another assassination mission. The Fuehrer shook his head and then leaned back in his chair,

               “No, I will take this boy to my home and raise him as my own; he will be a powerful asset in the end. Schreiber will perform the necessary modifications on his memories just like he did five years ago.” He said walking over to the map; the then drew a large X over the cities of Assur, Lagash, and Uruk. Aldrich had a face of disappointment.

               “Where is the damn blade of Damocles hidden?!” Maximilien shouted slamming the pen down on the table. He then sat in his chair and began planning the rout back to Minoa, the Four Corners War had ended… for now.

Author's Note

if this makes it big i will continue, here is the link to the original prologue
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/shaneberry/583932/

this one has more detail on the world itself, and the war. the cities have names and locations, i have spent allot of time reading tom clanseys novels and "the third reach" as well as many different militaristic authors from different times to see what i should do and play around with.
i also have talked to several real soldier sto get their feelings on how soldiers react in times of war, so i am hopeing this is more realistic than the original, but let me know if you think it is crap pleas and thank you!!!

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Reviews

[Dragon]

You did an awesome job on this one. I really love the actions you give the chararcters and their different personalities. The details you give them were just moving with the story. Good-no, GREAT job! :)

[Coyote Poetry]

You are amazing. The story was strong and the characters interesting. I like the storyline and the way the story is moving. I will re-track and read the rest of the story. I like the feel of WW2 in this story. A excellent chapter.
Coyote