Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame (6 page)

The statue was a Rovanekren warrior of solid marble and of
surprisingly poor condition. There were chips and pieces missing, and very
little detail in the statue itself with the exception of the faceless head. In
place of the statue’s facial features were a few strange markings covering the
place of the eyes. The left was a circle with two parallel lines with
symmetrical L shapes attached near the end of each line. The lines that passed
through the circle disappeared, leaving the circle empty. The right “eye” had
no circle, but a single asymmetrical line of the same design. The statue held a
shield in one hand, a sword in the other, and stood in a stance of victory on a
rock. I looked closer and noticed that the dull and broken blade of the sword
was actually metal, unlike the rest of the statue. The blade was engraved with
a small phrase on its side. “Never meant to be a weapon,” I think it
said.

The instructor came up behind me and startled me. “Ah, yes.
The angel’s High King statue.
This statue is said to have
been carved by angels. It’s supposed to be some sort of savior who will come to
prevent the end of time. As you can see time has taken its toll over the
centuries, but
its
remained mostly intact. The blade
up there is said to be part of the sword that he will wield when he comes.” He
finished. I looked back at the battered blade. The piece looked as if it could
shatter if an insect landed on it. “Uh… huh…” I replied, doubtfully.

He continued. “There’s also a prophecy connected to this
statue,” he pointed to a plaque. “The legend translates, ‘
At
the end of time, when war amongst guardian brothers spills innocent blood, the
eternal darkness shall rise to swallow all light, and all will plunge into
darkness’s gaping maw. But one shall
rise
, a perfect
and imperfect flame, with the armor of Kings and the sword of life, to bring
back the sun and end the night. For love conquers all, and lover’s sacrifice
shall bring the light that will banish the darkness of night.’ Pretty neat
huh?”

The students all started to speak among themselves and the
professor gestured them to continue on to some other unknown part of the room.
I took one last look at the statue and turned to leave. My final test was
tomorrow and I needed all the rest I could get.

We were given the opportunity to sleep until
ten
the next morning, the latest time during the entire
three month training period. They wanted us well rested. Today was the day half
of us would prove ourselves worthy of the title of warrior. By noon, every
remaining recruit had awakened, eaten, and now sat anxiously in the main
theatre, waiting for the final test. We sat uncomfortably for another hour.
Finally, the commander entered the room.

“Welcome, young bloods, to your final test. Today is the day
that you have all worked for, these last three months. Most of you have been
with us for much longer than that. Today, however, half of you will emerge
victorious. These victors will go forth as guardians and protectors of our way
of life. Look around you. Today, many of these men have been your enemies, but
tomorrow you will fight alongside them as brothers.” He paused, and moved onto
the actual test. “Today you will all be assigned to two separate teams: maroon
team and sky team. You will then move to the appropriate side of our outdoor
battleground. There you will be led by one of two generals.” He gestured to two
figures as they walked in. The two generals reached the stage and stood like
monuments of great power and intellect. One wore a black and red cloak while
the other wore blue, white, and gold.

“These generals will communicate with your squad leaders,
who will then give orders to you. They are both brilliant tacticians, so follow
their orders without question. Your objective for this battle will be to
eliminate every member of the enemy team, or to defeat the opposing general.
Your generals will not be joining you in combat, but are allowed to defend themselves
should they come under attack.” The commander walked off the stage and another
instructor took his place. The instructor then read aloud names from a list,
assigning each one to a team. I was on the sky team. We were then dismissed for
an hour of free time, so they could verify that the field was ready. Just
before I could leave I was stopped by Brin and directed to the armory. My armor
was finally ready.

I quickly made my way to the room where I was greeted by the
instructor in charge of the armory.

“Ah! Cartlidge, is it? Your new armor has just arrived.”

“Yes, sir.”
I looked around. “Where
is it sir?”

“You see that machine there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s in there. I just fired it up. We need to give it a
nice coating of paint to finish the customization process.”

“Paint… sir? Why? Nobody else has paint on their armor,
except generals.”

“True, but that’s because their armor isn’t custom
designed.” He began working on his computer terminal. “You see, you father left
enough money in his will to have your armor both
custom
made and custom designed.”

“I don’t follow…”

“Your armor automatically had to be custom made so that it
could fit your human form. Custom designing, however, means that we can put a
lot more into the final product, the materials, the amount of protection it
potentially can offer and any other accessories you can think of!
Its
almost mandatory for Generals
and Elites.” An image of the set appeared on a large screen. The armor was
silver, and had a smooth design to it. The helmet was a single piece with no
noticeable details, aside from the silver visor that blended almost perfectly
with the helmet. The cuirass was equally simplistic, with the lower half of the
torso left exposed to increase mobility. The arms were covered in three long
plates each, and were strikingly similar to the bones of the human arm. The
waist was covered in a long, silver belt with several clamps for holding
weapons. The legs were covered only by large metal shin guards, which were
specifically designed to be separate from the shoes, allowing for greater
agility and speed. The shoes were clad in light, metal plating that protected
the entire surface.

“Accessories?”

“Attachments, robes, emblems, trophies,
that sort of thing.”

“So… What about the colors?”

He handed me a touch screen device. “It’s your armor.”

I thought hard for several minutes,
then
began drawing with the device. The computer screen updated, covering the silver
armor in a skeletal image. The helmet became a furious skull that had lost its
lower jaw. The cuirass evolved into a ribcage, and the arms and legs were
covered in a dull, grey color. The mesh remained mostly black, except for the
locations of the neck and spine. These areas were painted as vertebrae.

“What an interesting design. I’ve never seen a human so
determined to portray his humanity.”

“Well, sort of. The human skeleton is typically a symbol of
death to humans.”

“Really?
Interesting.”

I handed the device back to the instructor. The then machine
began humming silently as he moved his finger across the screen.
“Anything else?”

“How about a cloak.
Maybe with a hood?”

“Alright.
We’ll have that ready by
tomorrow. Your armor should be ready in a few seconds.” The machine suddenly
stopped, and a large metal door opened to reveal the freshly painted armor. I
quickly put on the mesh suit, then the plates. I left the helmet off. The armor
was heavy, but fit perfectly. I threw some punches and a kick into the air to
see how easily I could move in the set. It was perfect.

“The mesh suit has large fibers that work with hundreds of
smaller fibers to stretch the suit when you move. The suit will feel like a
normal shirt, but retain its overall protection.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“No problem. You better get going, though. The test is in 15
minutes!” I nodded, grabbed my new helmet, and left. I reached the meeting room
for sky team, only to find it already filled with anxious recruits. The
majority of the team had already entered, chosen their squad, and began to
socialize. I wondered if being late to the test meant that a recruit would not
be allowed in. Five more people came in after me, and I quickly moved towards
the squad terminal. Each squad was comprised of five soldiers, and a commander.
Since we were all recruits, the commanders were chosen from those who were
first to reach the room. Most of the squads were already filled, with the
exception of two. The first had only its squad leader and Tek. The second had
only two spots left, and was led by Jevack. I sighed and typed my name into the
first squad. The choice was not difficult, the possibility of conflict made me
feel nervous. I found an empty chair and donned my helmet. Instantly it fused
itself with the mesh suit. I checked it to be sure I could find the release
clips. The two clips were located halfway down my neck, covering the neck
muscles. I opened a hatch in the back of my helmet and pressed the switch that
activated the helmet’s systems. The visor portrayed a list of systems like a
screen.

“O2 filter: online.
Cooling:
online. Audio amplifiers: online. Stand by for window.” I smiled and thanked
the unknown manufacturer of my armor for programming my helmet with Gaia.
Several other systems rapidly joined the list. The visor then lit up with a
green border, as the list shrank and moved to the top left of the visor.
“Unarmed” appeared in the top right. The room was then filled with green dots,
confirming that all my fellow recruits were not hostiles. I grinned childishly.
It reminded me of the typical “Head’s Up Display” system on Earth. I spoke in a
clear voice to the helmet.

“Voice systems: on.”
The helmet
responded, sending “Voice systems: online” to join the list.

“Targeting systems: off.”
That system also
joined the list, but in red font.
The green dots quickly disappeared,
and my visibility was restored. The remaining fifteen minutes passed by
quickly, and our general entered the room to brief us on our strategy. We would
engage the enemy team at the center of the map, while two squads kept watch for
any flanking attempts. If a section were to open up in the left or right, we
were to push around and surround them. Our overall goal was not to attack the
general, but to eliminate his team, forcing him to surrender. The general then
met with our squad leaders for a few minutes to explain each
squads
role in the fight. They were each given a communicator to talk to the general.
The squad leaders then reported to us and told us each of our jobs. We left the
room and made our way to the armory, where we were given the same weapons we
used in the arena. After twenty minutes of preparing, we finally made our way
to the field.

“Alright.
Window visors must be
offline. We have to rely solely on eyesight for this mission.” The general
shouted. After a minute we continued.

The battleground was a massive rectangle, with thick,
concrete walls that towered several stories high. At the center was an empty
plain, bordered by several large rocks, logs, trees, and other forms of cover.
Small, rocky cliffs separated the plain from the walls. Large forests covered
both sides. We quickly rallied to an opening in the forest, just southeast of
the field. The general climbed a tree and instructed us to reach the field
where the attack was likely to take place. We walked for a minute before
reaching the line of obstacles. Each squad quickly moved into position in their
designated spot. My squad was the furthest right, without being the lookout
squad. The lookout squads were hidden in the trees bordering the cliffs. The
field was filled only with the songs and smells of nature. We waited for
several agonizing minutes.

“Cartlidge!”
My commander whispered
from behind a large tree. “Move to a different cover. That log’s too old to
give you any good protection.”

“Copy that.” I shifted myself and crouch walked over to a
large boulder near Tek. A shot echoed in the distance, just as the round
scraped across the back plate of my armor and crashed into a tree before
disintegrating. Instinctively I leapt forward and landed behind the rock.
Several soldiers shouted and rounds began to fly. Chaos ignited, and the sounds
of gunfire soon drowned out the song of nature. I grabbed my rifle and began to
fire. The firefight continued for several minutes. Occasionally someone would
fall over, stunned unconscious by the training weapons. The recruits training
to be medical officers were not allowed to help any of the soldiers who were
hit. Often the potential medic would flinch when they saw another soldier fall;
they consciously forced themselves not to intervene. This test was meant to
test not only our own strength, but theirs as well. Roughly twelve minutes into
the fight our commander was hit. Another member of my squad moved to reach for
his communicator, and was struck in the leg. He gave a cry, but quickly
recovered.

“How bad is it?” Someone shouted.

“It stung at first, but then my leg just fell asleep. I
can’t move it.” He tried to shift away, only to be struck down by another
round. I attempted to track the angle of the bullet. It seemed to have come
from the trees, rather than the cover on the other side. Tek quickly made his
way to my spot.

“I think there’s a sniper over there.” I shouted over the
gunfire.

“A what?”

“Sniper.
The …
human term for a watcher.”

“Oh. I’ll see what I can do, but you need to point him out.”
I nodded then carefully scanned the trees. Another shot ricocheted off the
rock, centimeters away from my head. I
hid,
my heart
racing.

“Eleventh tree.”

“Got it.”
He shifted to move but
stopped. “Sorry for fighting dirty during our match.”

“Hey, we both made it didn’t we?” I laughed.

“So far.”
He rolled away, dodging
another round from the sniper, and shifted himself to fire. He fired two
rounds,
then
ducked behind the large decaying log. He
looked at me and nodded. As the battle continued, two more of our squad members
fell. An enemy squad was starting to use the cliff as cover, and the nearby
lookout squads were engaging them, preventing them from moving forward.

“Cartlidge!
I think we’re running
out of teammates.”

“What am I supposed to do about it?” I turned, fired,
then
hid again. “I’m not a medic and our actual medics
aren’t allowed to help.”

“I have an idea. How about we use your arena tactic on their
general?”

“There’s no way we’d make it that far!” I shouted.

“Our team’s gone, so why not?” He began to move from cover
to cover.

“This is never going to work.” I complained, but reluctantly
followed. We made our way to our end of the cliff. Several of the lookout
soldiers were gesturing for us to move away. We ignored them and began climbing
the rocky stairs. We slowly, silently continued until we reached the top. After
crawling across, we fired at the squad that hid below. Surprised at our
advance, three of the remaining five fell before they realized what was
happening. One of the soldiers took cover behind an old log. The tree had been
long dead and the log was in poor shape. I smiled and aimed at the log itself.
I fired three rounds into the log, causing it to fall apart from the concussive
force. The third round crashed into the back of the soldier, stunning him. The
other soldier turned to fire at me, only to have the rifle shot out of his
hands by Tek. I then stunned the soldier myself. I took a moment to examine the
battlefield. We were losing, badly. Tek’s plan had to work, or we would fail
the test. After taking a moment to reload, we snuck into the enemy forest.