It was another cold morning on New Berlin. Even the walls, which were meters thick, of the Steinhorst Military Facility seemed to have little effect on the cold of New Berlin's winter season. Despite this and his age of sixty-one, Major Gerrit Reuter was up and about.
The halls of the facility were empty. The only thing that filled the halls of the facility was a dark silence brought on by the massive loss of life caused by the Nomad War three years ago. Suddenly there was a disturbance in the silence caused by the automatic doors of the debriefing room which opened revealing a military officer in full uniform The officer had a lighter complexion, something caused by the winter, smooth, dark brown hair, and a look on his face that could only be described as morbid. He walked out of the debriefing room, walking with a limp which had been caused by an injury from a recent battle. He took a left and proceeded walking down the hall, using a walking cane to help. He stopped next to an electronic tablet with a long list of names hanging on a wall, a little ways down the corridor. Reuter starred at the tablet. After a few seconds of skimming through the names, he found a name he recognized: Lieutenant Herrman Blitz Fickel. He was marked as missing in action, or M.I.A for short.
What happened back there...
Although Reuter was an emotionally sound soldier, the sudden death of his long time friend Herrman on his last mission, Operation Feren Horizont, had put him on edge. He had would become angry over the smallest of things, he would sometimes loose his temper over the ship races when his favorite racer, Olpess, would come in second place. This along with the recent death of his wife made him a shell of his former self. These unfortunate events left him with few friends, most of which had disappeared or moved to obscure locations in Rheinland space and with almost no immediate family as what was left of his family was only distant cousins who lived at the edges of the Sirius sector and had been known to be in contact with various criminal organizations.
Commander! - Said Captain Peters with a salute, also interrupting his thoughts.
Ahh, nice to see you Captain. - Reuter said with a irritated voice, also returning the salute.
Peters was still fairly new to the Rheinland Military, he had only graduated from the academy a year ago and had worked his way up the ranks. At nearly point seven meters, Peter nearly reached Reuter's height in spite of his age, being almost forty years younger than Reuter.
Admiral Hasche just gave me the completed mission report, you might want to read it over.
*Taking mission report* So they still print these things in paper?
Although paper was hardly used anymore, it was used for important or official documents such as mission reports or legal documents.
I guess so, sir.
Thank you Captain.
Oh and sir, I think you might find some parts... interesting, if you know what I mean.
I'll take a look through it then, you're dismissed Captain.
Sensing irritation in the major's voice, he hurried off in a seemingly random direction to avoid ticking off Reuter. Annoyed, Reuter looked down at the packet of papers. The old Major took a seat at a bench under the tablet, and began reading the report, starting with the missions description.
Quote:OPERATION: FERNEN HORIZONT
OBJECTIVE: <Blacked out>
AREA OF OPERATIONS: OMEGAS, EDGE WORLD SYSTEMS
SPECIFICS: <Blacked out>
ENEMY FORCES: RED HESSIANS, <Blacked Out>
SPECIFICS: <Blacked out>
FRIENDLY FORCES: RM
SPECIFICS: <Blacked out>
Good 'ol Intel. department... - He thought to himself "...always making sure folks with eyes can't see.
He continued reading the report and came to a page that started with a collection of transcripts compiled from the black boxes of the Rheinland ships that took part in the Operation and interviews with various pilots involved in the operation, although there were few left from the final, bloody engagement in Omega five. As he read through the transcripts, a few lines of text caught his eye:
Quote:-0921-Blitz: I can't shake it! Someone cover me damnit!
-0921-Blitz: Anyone hea... *Static*
-0921-Blitz: Wait, I see ... *Static* ..mp hole, I'm going through.
-0921-Blitz: Sorry... *Static* ... on me ... *Static* ... no shields, hu... *Static* ... 47% ... *Static*
...The Hell... I don't remember this. When did he say any of this!? I could of saved him!
Quote:-0922-Blitz: I've go ... *Static* ... Her ... *Static* ... go!
-0922-UNKOWN [ANOMALY]: *Static* ... keep what is ou... *Static* [UNINTELLIGIBLE].
-0922-[Connection to Blitz Lost]
-0922-Flanker: Blitz? Blitz? Can you hear me? HERRMAN!!! Come on say something!
Well... I remember that... But what is this 'Anomaly'? I'm going to have a 'talk' to the Admiral about this.
Reuter struggled to stand up, despite the pain in his left leg, he avoided using his cane to help him. A stubborn old man, Reuter was a firm believer in the You use it, it gets better philosophy. After dragging himself down to the Admiral's office, to his dismay, he saw no one was in the office.
Great... He must be at lunch with the other high ranking officers.
Reuter took a seat at a chair outside the office and after a few minutes of waiting he took a look at his watch and realized that lunch would not be over for another twenty-three minutes. This made Reuter even more anxious than he was before. As a man of little patience he began to brainstorm.
Maybe he left the door unlocked, I doubt he would think anyone would break into his office. Lets see here...
Reuter stood up and pushed the open button on the door control panel with his cane and sure enough the door opened. After taking a quick look around the corridor to make sure no one was watching, he stepped into the office and closed the door behind him.
Well the went better than expected. - Finishing the thought with a smile.
He moved over to the paneled windows and shut their blinds to keep away prying eyes. Looking over at Hasche's desk he saw there were papers thrown about it.
Hmmm... Looks like he left in a hurry.
It was a strange sight for Reuter, he had always known the Admiral to be neat and organized, as Military procedure dictated. But that was not the only thing that made the desk strange, most of the papers that were left out on it were transcripts, transcripts from the last mission report. Reuter picked up one of the transcripts, the same one he was examining earlier. However, this copy was different compared to his. He laid both his transcript and the altered one next to each other and saw that the Admiral's had the section with Herrman's last words blacked out. Reuter put down the Admiral's transcript and looked through the mess of papers for the front page to the mission report.
I know you're here... Gah stupid paper! - Reuter said as he looked at his right hand examining a paper cut. That's why we have note tablets these days!
After a five minute, paper cut filled search he found what he thought was the front page of the report. When he went to take some extra papers off the back of it he realized that the page had a second print on it. Although the print was half cut off he could see some text.
Looks like a neural-net message...
He stopped at the second line of text on the paper and read it to himself a second time.
All surviving personnel of Operation: Feren Horizont are to be detained by any means necessary or if necessary, terminated.
Son of a...
Before he could finish his curse his watch beeped at the bottom half of the hour. Realizing even if he wasn't seen in the Admiral's office he would still be detained and most likely killed he gathered all the papers he could, and stuffed them into a folder. He rushed out of the office, nearly dropping the folder containing the papers. Reuter cursed under his breath as he passed an officer who was starring at him, like he was stealing something, which was exactly what he was doing.
I knew I should of taken that course on stealth!
Making his way through the maze of hallways he came to his office, but he saw something was wrong. The door was open and papers were thrown all over the floor. Before he could get a better look at what was in his office he saw the shadow of a figure against the door. He, turned around and hid behind a corner at the end of the hallway. From there he watched for movement. Seconds later a guard stepped out of the office and looked around as if he had heard something. The guard was armed with some sort of weapon, most likely a phaser, and, from Reuter's perspective, seemed to be two times taller than Reuter and more than likely in better shape than him.
... My luck...
Without hesitating, Reuter did an about face and started for the entrance to the facility. His leg began to throb with pain from the near endless amount of walking that was required to navigate the facility. Despite the pain, he made record time to the entrance. From behind a wall he checked to make sure there were no guards watching the doors.
*Noticing there are no guards* Coast's clear, looks like my luck's changing!
Immediately after passing though the entrance doors, he heard someone whisper his name.
*Whispering* Gerrit! Gerrit! Gerrit!
He turned around expecting to see a guard with a phaser pointed at him, but to his surprise he saw no one was there.
Strange, I must be getting paranoid...
Bewildered but thankful, he continued on. He began the twenty minute long walk towards the transit station. With no winter coat or clothing he had a feeling that he was going to need some soup when he got home...
Damned guards, if I was younger I would teach them a thing or two about fighting!
The cold bit at him as if it were some kind of mad animal. By the time he had reached the transit station, Reuter had become sleepy and dizzy from the combination of the minus ten degrees Celsius weather and the near blinding pain in his leg. Once he was inside the station, he took two pain killing pills for his leg but he was unable slowly loosing ground to the sleepiness. He approached the ticket stand, almost tripping over his cane but he managed to remain standing only through the sheer power of his will.
Are you OK sir? - Said a blond ticket clerk
*Ignoring her concern and presenting his ID* I need a ticket to the homestead sector.
...One moment.
Even with his military training, Reuter struggled to stay awake and he began to drift off. He began to dream, he saw an image of something. He struggled to look at it.
Something... orange...
What was that sir? - Said the confused clerk
*Coming out of his dream* What? I didn't say anything, did I?
You sure you are OK sir?
Yeah I'm fine, now what about that ticket?
*Handing him a blue ticket* Here you go sir, enjoy your trip.
Reuter muttered something under his breath and walked off towards the transit. While he was walking he tried to remember what he had just seen.
I must be going insane. Maybe if I can get some sleep on the transit, it will pass.
After boarding the transit he finally let himself fall asleep. What seemed like only seconds after he had drifted off he was already seeing images. Images of stars, heavenly bodies, and what seemed like star maps. He tried to talk but he could not, he could only watch. It reminded him of his childhood, something he seldom thought about or could remember, and how he would watch the light generations in the theater. Suddenly the slide show of images stopped on a single image. Reuter recognized it, it was the image he saw from earlier an orange light, just sitting in space. The light had other lights swirling around it in something of an orbit. It was then he realized it was a jump hole, he had used a few of them to travel with his squadron to Omega-5, an edge world system that had been torn apart by the war between the criminal factions of the Corsairs and the revolutionist faction the Red Hessians. Before he had a better chance to examine the jump hole another image appeared followed by another, followed by another, which was followed by another until it turned into something of a movie.
The movie was something Reuter recognized, he saw five Rheinland Wraith very heavy fighters, or VHF's for short, followed by two Rheinland Snubnose bombers traveling through the most northern asteroid field of the Omega-5 system. They silently stalked their prey, a three ship patrol of Hessian Odin bombers. Reuter recognized his Wraith, which had several markings on it from collisions with asteroids and some painted camouflage which helped to blend in with the asteroids. He was in wait for the predictable patrols along with two Wraiths which had similar camouflage, minus the battle damage. Before the Hessian pilots knew what was happening their shields were disabled and their comm systems jammed by the Snubnoses' jamming systems. The Odins were quickly dispatched and the Rheinland ships proceeded on their way towards a base which was far off in the distance. The Rheinlanders were supposed to keep radio silence but were allowed to use a local channel that could only be heard from a range of fifteen kilometers or less.
It was all silent. Not a sound escaped the endless vacuum of space. Reuter's Wraith proceeded towards the Hessian base which was now just ten kilometers away from him and the convoy. He spotted another group of enemy fighters which suffered the same, quiet fate as the previous ones. Now only five kilometers away Reuter broke the radio silence to announce the intentions of the Rheinlanders.
Attention Red Hessian forces- said Reuter in a commanding tone - you are surrounded, release the hostages now or we will take action.
*Static*
Have it your way then. Schwarze Vogel this is Flanker, phase two is a go, I repeat commence phase two.
An armored transport entered Reuter's omniscient view of the Hessian sector from the north and plowed through the debris and remnants of asteroids to reach the Hessian base. Before the base had a chance to fire on the transport the a combination of wraith and snubnose gun runs disarmed the station of what little defensive weaponry it had.
Everyone brace for impact! - Said the unnamed captain of the transport.
A proboscis like connector descended from the transport and connected to the station. The connector contained a drill which was then used the cut away at the rock until the troops aboard the transport could go through and into the superstructure of the station, allowing them to kill the Hessians and rescue the hostages. Once the hostages were rescued, Reuter remembered, they would take the stable Omega-11 jump hole and make their way back to Rheinland where they would receive a hero's welcome. But like all things, nothing goes ever goes to plan.
Everything went dark then Reuter realized he was still on the transit. He opened his eyes and took a nervous look around the car. There were only a few other people on the transit. Reuter took another quick look around and saw that there were five other people on his car, most of which were sound asleep.
Ha! I bet none of these people had dreams as exciting as mine!
Checking the time, Reuter found that he had only another six minutes on the transit until he reached the next transit station. Even though the car was heated, the lack of his winter clothing made the car seem even colder than normal.
Time to take a look at these documents. - Pulling out the folder containing the stolen military documents. Maybe I can figure out why I'm suddenly so popular...
Reuter flipped though page, after page, after page of military communications and letters addressed to the Admiral. Suddenly a bump caused Reuter to drop a few of the papers from the bottom of the pile. He cursed under his breath and leaned over to pick up the papers. But something on one of the papers caught his eye. Picking up a piece of paper, which turned out to be half a sheet that someone had torn in half, had a familiar signature. After studying the signature for a few seconds he recognized it as the signature of one of the commanders he had worked with in Operation Feren Horizont.
Colonel Kassner! I remember you... *Reading the date of the letter* You lucky bastard! I thought you didn't make it out of there!
Reuter began to read what he could of the letter but most of it had been lost with the other half.
*Reading to himself*
Quote:... that was when I realized the op. was over. There was nothing we could do to prevent Das Wilde from destroying the base. They came in hard and fast and before I could react they took out Schwarze Vogel and I lost all contact with our other forces. I managed to use the chaos to my advantage and get away, however, I fear that whatever members of the team that escaped may be infested. That is why I am advising you to have all surviving participants of Feren Horizont detained for questioning or termination.
Signed: Colonel Jacob Kassner.
Reuter was stunned. Kassner had been one of his long time military friends who, like his now dead friend Fickel, he had known since he was recruited into the Military.
One friend is dead, and the other is trying to have me killed. Perfect.
The car began to decelerate meaning it was time to begin his trip home. Reuter gathered the rest of the papers he dropped and got ready to disembark when all of the sudden one of the other passengers stood up from his seat and calmly walked over to Reuter. The stranger was wearing a camouflaged heavy winter jacket, like most of the other passengers, and a winter hat, which made it impossible to see his face. The stranger sat down in the seat to Reuter's right and turned to him as if to say something but the man remained silent like all the other passengers.
He just sat there staring at him. His eyes were dark, lifeless even. They had very little color to them and were glazed over, as if his pupils were inside a blueish nebula. His pupils, however, had a very strange color to them. The blue distorted the color to the point where, from a distance, the pupils seemed to be a normal black, but now that he was less half a meter away, Reuter could see the true color. It seemed to be pink at first but then changed to a darker purple and back to the pink as if it was a flash.
*Whispering intensively* Who the-
**Quiet, human you will disturb the other dark ones.**
Reuter was shocked to hear the voice. The stranger had not even moved his mouth and the voice certainly did not come from anyone else on the car. It was in his head.
Who... What are you!? How did-
**We touch other Minds** Telepathy?
**We have more important things to discuss, human.** Like what?
**Other *darknames* seek your being. Seek your destruction.** Well I know that, that's why I'm here.
**No. Your reason is greater. Our reason is greater.** Who's reason? What the hell are you talking about!?
**Your companion you thought lost is found. He is ours.** Who? And what do you mean by your's?
**Time will explain, human.**
The car came to a stop and the passengers began to stand up and prepare to leave the car. The stranger stayed seated and looked towards the opposite side of the car. Reuter looked at the stranger again and noticed he had a sidearm tucked beneath his winter jacket.
Alright, alright. I'll play along
**Good. Your Mind is loyal. An excellent Host.** Host? Host for what? A dinner party?
**In time, human.**
Although Reuter does not have even the slightest idea of who or what he was talking to, he had figured that it is not human. There were few alien creatures that Reuter knew of, let alone any that he knew had the ability to control a human's body and mind. There was one organism that he had heard of. An organism that had caused thousands, if not millions of men in the Military to loose there lives and friends.
It's too damn smart to be a parasite. But... It... It can't be.
**We are not parasites. We are Light. We take back what is Ours.** You're a Nomad! You bastards nearly destroyed us! *Reaching for hidden gun* I guess this is a goo-
A sharp pain went through Reuter's head. Everything went black for what seemed like a minute but when his vision returned he saw that nothing had changed around him. The pain was so great that he almost screamed out but only through pure will was he able to keep his mouth shut.
Ahhh! Damnit! What do you want from me!? I have no family left, I can hardly walk on my own, most of my friends are dead and the ones that are still alive are trying to kill me! So what the hell can I do for you!?
**The ones you think are dead, live. They have become Us. We touch other Minds. You can walk again. You can see your 'friends' again. You can live...**
The stranger's last word echoed through Reuter's mind. He remembered his family. His wife, his little boy. He could remember walking with his son through a field. There was no pain, no suffering. His friends were there. Everyone was there. Then it stopped. He was back on a transit car watching the the passengers disembark. Everything was slowing becoming faster again. His old watch ticked faster and faster and faster. Then the sound of the people talking and the intercom announcements filled his ears.
Reuter was distraught by the images I... I'll help you...
**Very well, human. Come.**
The stranger stood up and Reuter followed suite and they walked out of the car blending in with the other passengers.
If I am going to help you, I will need to know your name...
**We have no name.** Well, I need to call you something...
**Fine, human. You may call Us by Felix.** Felix it is.
Reuter sat at a bench in the waiting area for Felix to return from purchasing tickets for another trip. Felix had to be the one to purchase tickets because Reuter's bank account uses were most likely being tracked by the Military and because Reuter was beginning to have more trouble walking than before.
**You suffer pain** “Huh. So you don't need to be next to me to talk telepathically. Yes, I do suffer from pain. Great pain matter of fact which is getting worse by the minute.”
**We will nullify your pain in-** “In time... Blah blah blah. I know the whole spiel by now.” **?Spiel?**
“It's human talk, which I'm sure you don't care about anyways. Speaking of now being human... Just what are you? There's no way you could be a Nomad, not after what the combined fleets of the Houses did to you.”
**We are what humans call “Das Wilde.” We are a caste of the race called Nomads.** “A slight technicality. So you're still up to no good, huh?”
**We are beings of Light. We use Hosts to extend our control and to propagate.** “So you are just simply parasites then?”
**In the humans' languages. We are beyond your understanding. Simple minds can not hold what the greater minds can.** “I see... So how do you plan on helping me?”
**You help us, We help you. You will serve the Community.**
Another spike of pain went through Reuter's skull, this time he saw something different. Images flashed by like they had in his dream. He saw the same jump hole, he saw Rheinland ships, a planet, an asteroid field, and the last flash was of what seemed to be another jump hole.
“Agh! So that's why I had that dream! What does this have to do with helping you?”
**You will understand soon, human. Quickly. We must exit.** “OK, but where are...”
Reuter's question trailed off as he turned around and discovered the Wilde was standing right behind him, starring at him with his ghostly eyes.
*Whispering under his breath* “What the hell did they do to you...”
Reuter stood up and followed Felix into another transit car. When he stepped into the car he noticed something peculiar... There was no one else on board.
“How did you manage to get a car with no other passengers?”
**We have... Influences.** “Of course... So. Where are we heading to?”
**Your matter ship.** “I don't even know where my ship is anymore! And if I don't know, then how the hell are you supposed to know!?”
**We have Minds in the *darkname* Military. We know what you do not.** “Apparently a lot of people do...”
The doors to the car closed and the car began to accelerate. Reuter took a seat opposite to the Wilde and tried to keep a clear mind to avoid conversation with the creature. But Reuter's curiosity got the best of him.
*Speaking out loud* “So where are we going, exactly?”
“We have heard your matter ship has been impounded. We have arranged the placement of friendly Minds around your matter ship. We will escape quietly.”
“Ahh... Nice to see you are actually talking to me now. *Trying to lighten up the mood* So... *Nervous laugh*. When will we get there?”
*Taking out an object from his jacket* “There is more to Our plan.”
Reuter recognized the object as an artifact. Artifacts were among some of the most rare objects in Sirius and were very valuable on the black market. Reuter had intercepted small cargo ships that had small loads of them in area in the New Berlin system but he was never exactly sure why they were so important. There was also something different about this one from all the others... It was glowing purple. The Wilde stood up and began to walk towards Reuter with the object in his left hand.
“What are you doing?” - Reuter said nervously while putting the stolen folder of papers on the floor.
“Stay back! *Reaching for gun* I know how to-”
Reuter froze when he realized that his gun was no longer on him.
*Starring at the Wilde open jawed* “He must of taken it of me in the station! Blast!”
The Wilde remained silent and continued walking towards Reuter. When the Wilde reached him, he stopped and put his right hand out towards Reuter's head. Reuter stood up in disagreement with the Wilde but it was too late.
*Pushing his right hand against Reuter's head* “Sleep.”
Before Reuter could react to the Wilde. Everything went black. He thought he felt himself fall back into his chair but then he felt nothing. There was no sound, no nothing. Just black. Suddenly there was a terrible pain. A pain that felt many times worse than his leg went through him. He could almost tell which parts of his body were where by the pain. But as quickly as the pain came it dissappeared. Now he began to feel again. He felt... strange. Like he was floating on water yet falling through the air like a rock in freefall. He tried to breathe but he could not. He was starting to feel claustrophobic like the walls of a room were slowly closing in on him. Then he heard something. A whisper, then another whisper, and then another. The whispers began to turn into talking, as if people were having conversations around him but there was no one there. Everything remained black. There was more talking. Most of it was unintelligible then he heard more and more. The talking began to escalate into shouting as if people were yelling. It got louder and louder and louder. Reuter could not hear himself over the voices he could not breathe. He began to gag like he was holding his breathe but he could not force him self to breathe. His heart began to beat louder and louder and the shouting began to become understandable. But his heard was so loud that he could barely hear what the voices were saying. Then he heard them chanting:
Reuter opened his eyes and gasped for air. His vision faded in and out. He saw the Wilde standing over him. It had a smirk on its now unclothed face. He wanted to stand up and rip the thing in two but he could not move. He was frozen, stuck in place. He wanted to swear at the creature but he could not move his mouth. He could not move anything. The Wilde's mouth opened but Reuter heard nothing, just silence. Then something began to echo though his head.
Reuter's vision began to return. Like before, everything was blurry and seemed to be out of focus. The familiar sound of the transit train decelerating began to enter his head and his slowly returning vision confirmed he was still in the train. There was a difference though, he was standing up.
I fell asleep standing up?
He tried to look around, but he could not move his head. He tried to walk and move his arms but nothing happened. To his dismay Reuter noticed he could not feel his body. He knew everything was there but his limbs refused to budge.
I must be dreaming...
*Unknown voice* **This is no dream, human.** Agh, that you, Felix? You worm ridden parasite.
**This is a nightmare.**
The train came to a complete stop and the doors of the car opened revealing an empty courtyard. It was dark and, most likely, cold because Reuter could see his own breathe in the moon lit night. Although he did not know the time, Reuter guessed that it had been roughly six hours since he left Steinhorst.
Where am I? - Reuter said, contemplating his location.
**We are far from the Community.** - Whispered the weak, unknown voice. Far from who?
Felix began to walk forward and Reuter's body followed suit.
**The Community** No kidding. So who's that again?
Reuter began to hear whispers. They were quiet, very quiet. They became louder but he could not understand what they were saying. Even if he could hear them, he would still not be able to distinguish each voice from another because there were so many. As quickly as the voices came, they died out.
What was that?
**The Community. We are far. We can not hear them well. We must return to Our stars. Our Light.** So we're going to your home system, no?
**Our stars will heal Us.** That's good to know because I didn't know we were hurt...
**Your limb is darkened. We must bring it to the Light.** Ahh... So you're trying to help me. Well at least I'm getting something in return for losing my body...
After walking through streets, back passages between buildings, and other odd places for what seemed like twenty minutes, the group came to a gate. The gate was guarded by a single guard who had fallen asleep inside the booth next to the gate.
Heh, if I had known my life was going to get so messed up, I should of just got a job as a guard!
**You should be happy human, many do not see Our Light.**
With little effort the group of Wilde jumped the gate and continued walking. There were many vehicles parked along the sides of the lot which was surrounded on all sides by six meter high walls with laser wires placed on the top to prevent people from climbing over. However, a meter and a half section of the wall had fallen over leaving a gap for intruders to simply walk in.
You would think they would put my ship somewhere a little safer, no?
As they walked along the collection of ground vehicles they eventually came to series of four landing pads. The first three were empty but on the very last pad Reuter recognized his Wraith which was parked there.
There she is!
**We must *inherit* your mattership before We are discovered.**
As if life itself was out to confirm the Wilde's words of caution an alarm wailed at the group's approach to the ship.
Leave we will keep the humans at bay! - Said Felix who was too preoccupied with trying to find his pistol that he had forgotten he was speaking out loud.
Ya! They are near the landing pads! Get die Polizei over here now! - Said a voice from the other side of the plot.
Haha! I guess he's a light sleeper!
**Escape now.**
Without wasting another second the Wilde moved off in the direction of the guard's voice. Reuter's body seemed to gain something of a speed boost as Reuter watched in horror as the Nomad forced his leg to move at running speed. The feeling of pain began to sting him, it was the first time he had felt anything in something of an hour and now he could feel the rest of his body, which may have not been a good thing because the Nomad was pushing his body far past its limits.
Damnit! Be careful with my leg you fool!
Reuter practically leaped into the fighter once the cockpit had finished opening and he sat down in the pilot's seat. Flashes of sidearm laser fire flew past Reuter from various directions, causing him to duck behind the Wraith's control console. This caused the multitasking Wild to loose control of Reuter's body for a quick second which, accidentally, caused him to drop the packet of stolen documents all over the ship's floor.
**This matterbeing slippery.**
Reuter was beginning to notice the Nomad has a lot of trouble with multitasking. This Nomad seemed to even be weaker than the other one.
Free my arms! I'm going to need them if you want to get out of here in one piece!
**We understand.**
Feeling came back into Reuter's arms as he rotated them around to counteract the painful numbness in them. Reuter reached up and input a series of commands into the Wraith's console. A confirmation sound beeped as Reuter's override commands took effect and started the ship's engines and closed the cockpit. Within seconds, the Wraith was in the air and on its way to freedom.
“Location confirmed: Omega 11.” - The NAV computer beeped upon the ship's course being plotted
The last hour and a half of blockade running had exhausted Reuter to near death. His Wraith has also suffered significant damage from the combined Police and Military task force that tried to keep him from escaping Rheinland space, but they were no match for the Wilde's knowledge of the secret passageways through Rheinland's systems.
**We are *tranquil*. Our -Community- is no longer *terminate*.** “That's great, but we still need to get to Omega 41!”
Without warning Reuter's arms went numb again. Reuter struggled to move them but he could not even feel them.
“The hell are you do-” - Reuter was cut off from finishing his sentence when a blinding pain went through his body.
** -Humans-, *blackness* that *path* (follow) the *great* *deceit*. We are One.**
Reuter could notice the Wilde's voice was much stronger than before, maybe even more commanding. The pain going through his body was made worse by Omega 11's sun, which the Wilde had set a suicidal course towards.
“Are crazy!? If you wanted to fly straight into a sun you could of just done it yourself!”
Reuter was answered by a disembodied laugh as the Wilde put the ship into a hard turn towards the edge of the system.
**The Community *strength*. We are *to *Rockhome* **
“Huh? Rock?! What are you up to!?”
Reuter had absolutely no control over his body now. All he could do was watch as the Wilde brought him to whatever hell-hole they were bound for. Reuter began to notice the sounds of other voices. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but there were other voices in his head.
The voices were beginning to fill his head. They became so loud that Reuter could not hear himself think. It was like the other time on the train, but this time the voices sounded deeper, darker, and more insidious.
**You are Ours now.**
Reuter wanted to respond but the voices were suppressing him. His vision was becoming darker and darker. He was passing out.
Reuter could see something in the distance. As they approached it he could make it out to be the same orange, fluctuating jumphole from his dream. That was when he realized what was going on. Reuter mustered the last of his strength and muttered:
“You... Basterdsss...”
With those final words, Reuter's vision went black along with his consciousness. His journey was over. However, their journey was no where near the end.
The Wraith entered the jumphole and disappeared along other some-what expensive military hardware and one Major Gerrit Reuter. What the official military report failed to mention was the loss of multiple classified military documents containing information on previous and yet to be conducted military operations, something that would soon cause the upheaval of Rheinland's military.