Planet: Eteran, First Insurgency Compound

First Insurgency War

RAYAN

It rang in his ears with the sirens he ran from.

Data poured into the portable screen in front of him while the world blurred and his throat tightened with water bubbles. He sniffed through the congestion, fighting to read what the Insurgency gave him to break. Victory through desperation, and the question remained of how long it'd take the First Insurgency to cross the line.

He wiped his cheeks to stem the tide of his failure while James screamed out for help and he ignored him, turned on him, and shot him. He pressed his hands against his stomach to stifle the vomit stirring in the surface while he tried to catch his breath and fight for his ideals.

I'm just a coward.

He used a cloth to wipe his inability off his face as the streams of data beeped out sections of interest for him. He pulled it closer to the edge of his boots to try and peek past his own tears and fought for the patterns within the words. His fingers danced along the keys, but he wanted to paint a picture.

Knives dug a line through his heart while James reminded him of what he failed to do.

'You're the reason my sister is dead!'

If only I had just—

"Rayan?" Aaron asked from the door to the cold room.

He snapped his head up from his arms, where Aaron stood in the light with an appraising gaze around the room. "Well... this wouldn't be my first choice to do my codebreaking," he admitted with a smile. "Seeto wants to talk to you, but if you're not up for it—"

"I'm fine, Aaron." Rayan swallowed the rest of his tears and closed the portable screen and tucked it into his arms. "I'm getting close to something. I'll be there in a minute, I just need to figure one more thing out."

Aaron nodded and left him in the dark.

His attention faltered once more to James.

So long, and I thought you were dead.

Who he faced on the catwalk in the evacuated base wasn't James, and it never would be.

Vengeful ringing plagued his eardrums, and he rubbed his ear out of habit, then sat back down and returned to his work. But... there's something that's been bothering me since that day. Mom said she can't explain it — and never directly answered my questions. Unscrambled words. Unscrambled shapes. Rayan ignored his drumming brain which overpowered Mom's voice, but he pushed through. Rayan leaned closer, almost to the truth yet far out of his reach. I'm still missing something.

James' anger immolated his heart, but he fought for change.

He pulled up every pandemic report and every listed quarantine.

But, she did make one thing clear. The Sanctum's divided. I don't think she quite knew the scope of what's going on. Her rage echoed through Eastpoint's despair with the Strike Forces creating a noose. Yeah, I remember... she was on vacation, she didn't even want the Forces in Eastpoint. But after some Insurgency movements nearby they put them in Eastpoint and saddled Mom with the command.

He scowled and dug his fingers into his scalp. Elites... just cogs in the machine — nothing more than old weaponized experiments... experiments?

He gazed at the codes, then rolled through the scrambled patterns. None of it usable to paint a picture, until a name caught his eye.

'You don't always need to fill your world with flowers,' James instructed in the art of his own world. 'Make them mean something. Make them have weight. Less is more.'

You were always the type that could throw a hard punch in words from saying nothing at all. Rayan longed to turn back the clock, to return to the hidden base, to embrace James and tell him the truth, but it burned at his fingertips.

Aelius Matthey.

Deja vu turned the sirens to screams. It rang with intensity the longer he stared at its gaping, bloody maw.

Experimentation. Aelius Matthey. This string of recent controlled epidemics which always hits where... we were going to be. Rayan choked at the snowbound memory. He said something back then. Something about an experiment he was participating in with the Sanctum Research Branch...

He completed the painting to reveal the ugly landscape.

"Holy shit," he rasped, grabbing the screen and jumping off the floor, fumbling to write stuff down on his datapad. No, he couldn't have known. He made it sound so innocent. Unless... Unless they misled him as to the purpose. He pursed his lips. And that would explain why Meryn thought he was acting strange.

"Holy shit," Rayan echoed with Aeilus' own damning realisation.

"I can't explain it," Mother admitted with his echoed despair. "I can't."

Aelius came to the manor days on end, stressed and in a panic, with a need to speak to Mom.

No, I'm right. He was figuring it out at that point, but by then it was too late. Oh, shit. Mom knew, and she tried to stop it... and it hadn't worked. His hands trembled with the knowledge he uncovered underneath the painted fumes. I wanted to be wrong, all that bio-weapon crap was a bluff to try and get her to say something. I know better than to rely on coincidental rumours... but Mom was serious? Rayan closed the code with his datapad full of information while the truth slipped past his own lips, "They created a bioweapon to draw us out... and lost control of it.

We need more information.

Rayan raced out of the cold room to rush to the meeting area of the Insurgency circle. Blast doors trembled with age and rust when they fought to open the way for him. Seeto and several of his lieutenants hovered around a holographic table with their next plan of attack against the Strike Forces.

Aaron Lexin leaned against the wall with a small nod of acknowledgement his way.

"Ah, Falae," Seeto said and stretched out his broad shoulders. "Did you figure out the code?"

Rayan shoved his datapad into the projection slot. "I did, but you're not going to like what I found," he replied and information fed into the table, where menus danced through the pixels. "My theory was correct — they used a bioweapon and lost control of it. Originally, that's what the quarantines were for, to corner us in the affected areas... and it didn't work."

None of the Insurgents spoke.

Seeto's jaw clenched while swallowing infernos entered his grey eyes. "Are you certain of this, Falae?" He rested his calloused hands on the table and glared at him.

"I wish I was."

Seeto flicked through the information he uncovered. "They even have a list of scientists who worked on this," he commented with a shake, and the Insurgents shifted in discomfort.

"What do we do?" Aaron asked nearby. "It's not like we have the ability to storm every Strike Force compound — their defenses are too wide and they have too many Elites."

James... Rayan tried not to cry while Seeto glared at the weapon he gave him.

"One of these names — Aelius Matthey." He clicked through more of the datablocks.

"What about him?" Rayan asked.

"If the Sanctum wants to hit us, we hit them back."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you refer to?"

Seeto turned off the table. "I don't know about the rest of the scientists, but I do have a general idea as to where Aelius Matthey resides. He's in a Sanctum hospital with military targets, so we have a couple options in front of us."

Desperation screamed, and Rayan slammed his hands on the table. "No, Seeto!" he snapped. "Attacking Sanctum personnel is one thing, but laying siege to a hospital for one man? Really? That's your go to?" He waved his hands at the Insurgents, who eyed him. "We need more information. If you want Matthey, capture him, but don't kill him. Have you lost your mind?"

"It won't be enough," Seeto barked. "You're young, Falae. You don't have the guts yet to do what it takes. This war has been going on long enough. If this won't send a message nothing else will."

Rayan trembled with his own rage when Seeto turned his back on him, but Aaron stepped into the light of the table.

"Hold on," he broke in, and Rayan choked on his relief at one person's ability to speak out. "We shouldn't jump into this. If we aren't careful the Sanctum will unleash their iron fist. We can't make any rash movements if we want to keep our heads."

Ice dripped down his spine when James curled around him with crimson red eyes, the Sanctum's weapon of destruction.

Seeto turned back. "I'm listening, Aaron."

Hopeful of Aaron's input, Rayan begged for him to see sense.

"I agree fully with Rayan's approach," Aaron said with a steady tone, where his rage almost swallowed him. "Information is key for our next steps. We need Matthey alive, and we don't need to attack a hospital to do that."

Rayan choked on the silence until Seeto sighed and nodded at a guard. "Lexin, I'll leave it to you to gather information. Rayan Falae, thanks for the help. You're free to do what you wish until I have further need of you."

Rayan left the room with Aaron, where the older Insurgent guided him farther from the meeting room with an empty expression which betrayed nothing. "Thanks, Aaron," he whispered and wiped his eyes.

"Don't thank me," Aaron said in a quiet voice. "I like you, Rayan. I like the fact you've got a brain between your ears — so I'm doing this for you and you alone." He headed down the corridor to the hangar bay. "If I hear anything out of the ordinary I'll take it straight to you."

"Why?" Rayan asked and dogged his steps. "You risk pissing off Seeto."

Aaron turned with a smile. "I've known Seeto since we were both boys ourselves. I'll take that risk," he said. "Because you have people among the Insurgency who trust you more than they trust Seeto." He tucked his hands together and tipped his head at him. "You see both sides to the coin — and a borderline genius with strategy." He bowed his head. "I know what my friend has turned into, so I'm on your side to avoid the disaster that seems to be looming over us." He disappeared past the rusty blast doors.

Trust... Rayan pinched his chin. He raises a good point, who here do I really trust?

James caught his strike and cracked it past his enemies to win the goal. He stumbled to him, and he caught him into his arms and supported James through his pain.

I just... don't know. I trust Garcy and Aaron, they both think things through before leaping. Rayan sucked in a breath. It's Seeto I don't trust. I need to find Aelius and his location before things get worse. I need to stop this before...

I need to get back into contact with Meryn.

He rushed down the same path Aaron took to the hangar, where the metal barrier slid open. Insurgents moved about, and his scout hummed to life when he approached it. He hopped in, flew outside of the range of the base, then connected his compearl to the comms.

Come on, Meryn.

Meryn answered, "Hello?"

"It's Ray." He banked his scout for his destination.

"Oh." He heard Meryn's face fall in an instant. "Hey, Ray. What do you need?"

"I want to meet up."

"Where?"

Rayan released a shuddered breath. "I want you to meet me at the old Falae estate by... by Eastpoint," he forced out. "It's the only place where we won't get overheard."

"Odd place to choose..."

"Meryn, please?"

"You sound serious," Meryn said with a huff. "Okay, Falae manor. I'll be enroute soon."

Rayan hung up and directed his course to Eastpoint, where his life went to hell, and he lost everything.

Where I couldn't keep my promise...

He slammed his fist against the wheel and refused to cry.