First Insurgency War

RAYAN

It was Eastpoint once again.

Ava disappeared, along with the friends he made in his innocent school days. James slipped out of his reach, eyes wide in tormented terror when he crawled back into the darkness of the trees, and rushed from him.

Come back...

But he left him too.

Maia, the other Elite, stared after where James disappeared. "I'm going to get in contact for extraction of both of you," she said.

"No," Rayan rasped. "I'll take Matthey to Meryn, my ship is close." He crawled to the feet of the Elite, to stop her. "I can take care of Aelius, I'll make sure nothing happens to him, but please..." His tears cracked against his cheeks. "Go after him." He motioned at the tree line, where his leg refused to move and give chase to his past.

Maia rubbed her fingers together, then nodded before doing what he was unable to do. Aelius turned to the fireball while sirens rang out in the distant quarantine.

Over and over again.

"Why did you save me? You know what I've done, and still you saved me," Aelius questioned. "You could've avoided all of this if you just—"

Minded my own business? When have I ever been able to do that? Rayan used a fallen branch to lift himself back to his feet with a shake of his head. "I couldn't sit back and watch." He found his balance, and tugged on Aelius' arm to drag him from the roar of ship engines when they tore through the clouds and to the hospital. His knee buckled, and Aelius rushed back to his side.

"Rayan—"

"I don't think it's wise for me to hand myself over to the Sanctum." He groaned through his broken heart. "I can still fly you to Meryn. I know where he is, can you just cooperate?"

Aelius grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. Rayan guided him to the ship, where the Sanctum floats surrounded the hospital with blazing reds. James... He pressed his hand against his scorched heart.

"What's wrong?" Aelius asked.

"Nothing." Rayan climbed onto the wing, and hauled Aelius after him. "Get in."

"But, your leg—"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Tired, but fine. I'll just have one of my own look at it once I drop you off. Okay?" Rayan raised his hand, then nudged Aelius into the back seat of his scout. He launched off the burning planet, escaping from his past once more.

It took too long for him to reach Kestra and to enter the atmosphere. Odaport bloomed across the salt flats, but he dodged the shipyard at the amount of Sanctum ships purring on top of the landing pads. He landed near his old home among the hills, and crawled out. His knee screamed when he hit the ground, and he stumbled to the grass. Aelius rejoined him.

"Ray, please, let me look at it—"

"I'm fine." Rayan grunted. "Meryn's apartment pod isn't too far from here." He forced himself through the pain and hoped Aelius followed. It didn't stop the shaken doctor from swinging his arm over his shoulder, though when he attempted to flee from his assistance, the glare Aelius gave him in return made it non-negotiable. Rayan winced with each step, and when they reached the apartment block on the edges of Odaport, the metal doors slid open.

Panels full of numbers and names stretched across the wall in the entrance.

"Rayan—"

"Worry about yourself, yeah?" Rayan bit and ran his fingers down the panel to find Meryn's name. "I need to make sure you're out of harm's way."

"Harm's way?" Aelius frowned, and when Rayan pressed Meryn's pod number, the door hissed open in response. "Rayan—"

He gripped his burning thigh and sweltered heat formed sweat on his brow. Limping to the elevator, Aelius assisted him into it, and he pressed the buttons. Out of its constricting environment, he hobbled to Meryn's door, and smacked his palm against the bell chimer. It rang on the other side of the door and alerted whoever was within to their presence.

Meryn answered the door, and stress lines creased his brow. He tugged them both into the apartment. Rayan wiped his face off of smudge, shaking out his hand. "The Sanctum is everywhere now..." His legs burned with his exhaustion and his alertness while Aelius slipped onto the couch, hiding his face in his hands.

Meryn closed the door with his clenched fist, and he stepped back when rage contorted Meryn's features. Stars swirled in the darkness when his hip bumped against the table. It sent a shockwave to his heart, and he grabbed onto the cabinet to stop his descent.

"Can you tell me what the fuck is going on?" Meryn snapped as Aelius rushed to his side, hauling him off the ground.

His world darkened, but he refused to let go without a fight as Aelius leaped to his defense. "Meryn, don't. He's hurt, and he saved my life," his voice wavered with conviction, but Rayan straightened himself on the wall while Aelius placed himself between him and his understandably raging brother. "It was the Insurgents. He came with a warning... that I ignored." He sucked in his lips with a shake of his head.

"As if that makes me feel better!" Meryn bit. "I was watching the coverage! All those innocent lives, gone! If the Insurgency made a move that large against civilians — Rayan's one of their head guys." He swung his hand, but never hit him.

"Yet, here he is instead of with them," Aelius argued.

Rayan lost his grip on the world. "Wait..."

Meryn's anger faded in an instant, and Rayan dug his hand against his support and tried not to puke up the ash. "I just came to drop off your brother," he whispered, where the words danced on his tongue. "I... I didn't want this to happen. I tried." He blinked back into the world, and moved for the door, but Meryn's arm stopped him from fleeing. "I'll... I'll leave, I promise." He stared into the flames which blocked the door. "I will tear the Insurgency apart, and you'll never see me again."

He fought for all it meant.

He choked Meryn's forearm. "Let me go."

Meryn let him go.

Rayan stumbled and limped past the two.

"Wait, Ray!" Meryn reached for him, but Rayan ducked out of reach. "You're in no condition—"

"Your leg—" Aelius joined in the pointless argument.

He only had the flames for company and left the two brothers in the apartment. Pain rocked through his thigh, but he pushed past the flames and through the field of embers. He stumbled to the nearest underground entrance, into a storage unit of the First Insurgency's Kestran branch.

"Fuck." He fell to his knees and cursed his leg's refusal to cooperate. He tapped his compearl and slid against the tunnel wall. "Garcy."

"Rayan? Where have you been?" he asked, loud into his ear. "Aaron and I ducked out of the Eteran base. It went to hell. There's been some infighting, and Aaron pulled the Insurgents who lost faith in Seeto out of there."

"I was doing something personal," Rayan managed and gripped onto the compress. "Are you here at the Kestran base?"

"Yes, where are you?"

"I'm by the tram station," Rayan explained, and set his burning head against the wall to massage his knee. "I've got... a minor inconvenience."

"Right. You have an injury you're downplaying," Garcy said, deadpan. "I'll bring a hovergurney, but Ray, a lot of these guys are terrified. The Sanctum is amassing a force and they're sending Elites every which way to hunt down the Insurgency leaders."

"Which means Seeto?"

"So far, yeah."

Rayan groaned. "Shit..."

"I see the inconvenience is worse than I thought. On my way."

He stretched out his leg when Garcy clicked off, and tugged the tear back to examine the wound, where Aelius' compress matted with blood. It's not that bad... but I may have overdone it... He pressed his finger on the edge, and bit down on a scream when the flames chewed on his skin. Fuck.

He sank further down the tunnel wall and let his hand rest on the ground, tapping the floor to keep himself awake. Footsteps jolted him back to reality, and Garcy raced to his side. "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"It's not severe..." he mumbled as Garcy and another Insurgent lifted him into the hovergurney. The motion brought back the stars. Others milled about, in disbelief and fear of their ruined ideal.

I need to stay awake...

One Insurgent pressed a towel against his leg, and it hissed him back to reality.

"I'm sorry!" she rasped when he squirmed. "Once we get you into the Infirmary I'll get you something for the pain."

"It's fine, do what you can." Rayan waved the other Insurgents out of his view. "I'll talk to you soon."

"But, Falae, what are we going to do?" Tyro questioned from the corner. "The Sanctum will bring down the hammer because of what Seeto did."

"Let me get this leg patched up and we'll talk about it." White-hot pain punched him back down into the hovergurney when the medic weaved a stitchpen against his skin and worked on closing the wound.

"It didn't crack the bone," the medic reported.

Oh, not batting zero, I see?

Fuck.

Several other Insurgency Medic's joined them in the Infirmary and dove right into action. Rayan pressed his hand against his wet brow. "Can someone get me a cloth?"

As the medic removed the rest of Aelius' compress, she shook her head. "Most of the blood is dried now."

Both items requested were given. Rayan washed his face off with the cloth, free from the grime of the past. His pain formed into a dull throb around his knee. Minutes slipped back into seconds, and the medic huffed. "I've done what I can, Falae," she said, while morbid curiosity tugged at his point of interest when she wrapped the bandage. One more layer of compress, where it pulsed with calming gold. "This should do the rest."

Rayan hauled himself out of the gurney, though the Insurgent medic gave him a look of disdain at his small act of rebellion.

I have no time.

"Come on." He limped out of the Infirmary. "I have something I need to say."

Everyone followed him to the meeting hall. Defectors gathered around the holotable.

"I can't believe he did it," a young man, no older than him, whispered in fear.

Rayan tapped the table to catch their attention. "I'm sorry," he said. "I barely made it out."

"So, what are we going to do?" Tyro asked. "Seeto knows we defected. We'll be fighting a war on two sides. Eventually, he'll hunt us down."

"He can't with the Sanctum breathing down his neck," Aaron pointed out from beside him. "We have some time. We should use it now."

Rayan nodded, then turned to Garcy on his other side. "Cut the Kestran bases communications with the Eteran Insurgency. I want us to prepare for going under the radar."

"Gotcha."

Rayan huffed and viewed what remained of a good ideal, tainted by innocent death. "We have time," he echoed Aaron's sentiment. "We won't let Seeto get his ground back." He opened up the map. "I know he has a base in Kalto, where he planned to make a final stand. He estimated that the Sanctum would set-up a quarantine under the guise of halting the bioweapon."

"You think they'd send in another dead drop right into the city?" another defector asked. "If they have it ready, why don't they?"

"It's too late for that." Rayan pressed his hand against his brow to wipe off sweat. "I'm going to listen to the Eteran communications. I know how to get in and out of Kalto without much resistance. I want to get an evacuation procedure in place."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to take the fight straight to Seeto once he's cornered himself?"

"It's going to require putting our heads through the Sanctum guillotine, but..." He closed his eyes. "I'll take the risk. Elites will be sent out, and Seeto will have to decide. I want everyone to rest, we're going to need it for the next stage of the plan," he instructed, and tried to hold himself straighter. Weight on his injured leg almost sent him to the ground, but he refused to kneel. "I can get us out of this mess, but we're not going to do it as the First Insurgency."

Rayan winced when Garcy clapped him on the back. "I'm with you, Ray."

"Now," Rayan said. "I won't stop any of you from ducking out of this, but I need help. I won't be able to deliver an ultimatum alone."

Thoughtfulness filled Aaron's features. "You won't be doing much on that leg of yours," he pointed out. "So, who better to start an infiltration than our resident infiltrator?" he asked with a smile. "I'm with you as well, Rayan. Leave everything to me and focus on getting that leg mended. Tell me when you're ready, and I'll get your chosen team on the inside."

"But that won't stop this war," one Insurgent argued. "As long as one leader is alive..."

"We'll worry about that later," Rayan interrupted. "Let's focus on Seeto and avoid getting crushed by the Sanctum." He frowned at the broken morale of the defectors, but he pushed on for the fight. "If you have no questions, let me know if you want to be part of the team. I'll give you time to think about things."

Insurgents shambled out of the room, shattered in their ideals.

Lost without a just cause.

Without the drive needed to win an old war.

No, this isn't about winning anymore.

It's about surviving.

Rayan scowled when Seeto's words echoed through his head.

You're young.

Images of Ava and James danced in his view and shifted with the moments he longed to stay in to paint. James showed him the stars, resting his head against his arm where he was too scared to face the truth.

You don't have the guts to do what it takes.

Fire blazed crimson and chewed James' picture perfect moments. He never reached out again to James' hand, unable to make him stay by his side underneath the star-flecked willow tree.

If that's what he wants...

James stared at him through the darkness, alone.

I'll show him exactly what it takes.

He took his hand off the painted frozen moment, where it, and James, faded into the void.