Blood Of the Desert.



Sunday December 15th 2069.
It is 3:00 pm, and the members of team Alpha have followed the trail of the Wrath Riders all of the way to the very end of the Canns Landing Corridor. They now stand at the edge of the Malti Desert, a virtual Wasteland that extends itself for endless miles away from the fringes of civilization. In places, the ground is black, and there are rocky hills, and precious few trees, it is for the most part barren. Samantha Bliss knows that they cannot continue to follow the trail without first returning to Threshold to replenish their supplies, there is special equipment to consider to cross such a place, without first properly outfitting her team with the right gear, such a field excursion would be unthinkable, she calls Lifeguard to arrange for a transport to come and pick them up. As the call is finishing, the unthinkable happens, the Wrath Riders appear from seemingly out of nowhere, only there isn’t five, now Samantha counts a force of ten riders, that cut down three members of team alpha almost immediately, she begins to open fire on the riders with no results. From his vantage point Klinger can see Priss with the first riders sword she is swinging it wildly and takes down two of them, but they are everywhere at once and Klinger himself sustains a vicious attack, he knows that he has been seriously cut open by one of the Wraths, and he falls backwards but is still conscious, there is no sound only blurred visions of the Riders brutal attack, it seems to go on forever there in the dust kicked up by their animals. He can no longer see Samantha Bliss or any of the others, And then as suddenly as they appear the Wrath Riders disappear back into the dust clouds. He slowly turns his head to the left and the vision there is not a pleasant one as he sees his team mate Twitch lying dead a mere ten feet away, it is his own bloody hand that he sees trying to reach out to him, his eyes roll skyward, and Ethan John Klinger sees the Threshold Medical Transport hovering above him, it lands and dispenses a medical team who scan out to search for surviving members of team Alpha, but Klinger only sees the four meds that load him into the transport, his body goes numb and it feels for a time as though he’s floating. He struggles to keep his eyes open, and then he sees nothing.

Inverted Reflection.



Hear what I say, It is a time when even the best men must face what life they have chosen for themselves, all deeds, good and bad are now looked upon with equal and impartial prejudices, why are you here? What did you pray tell do to deserve such a fate?
He can hear the voice, but his body still cannot move, it all seems too familiar to Klinger surreal and familiar, he knows that voice but he cannot outwardly place it, as it is safely locked away inside of that brilliant white light that is all around him.
“Did you tempt fate Klinger?.. The question has changed a bit, but it still stands.. Why are you here?”
“Because I let my guard down, I didn’t move fast enough.. I… don’t know.”
“But you drew your weapon Kling.. I saw you man.. You never hesitated like that before. Why then?”
“She was in my line of fire.. I couldn’t risk hitting her.”
“Ah.. there it is then.. Sweet Priss.. Tell me Klinger, what about Sammy? What do you suppose happened to her?”
Then it comes to him, he knows that voice, it is the voice of his dead comrade Maxwell Creed.
“Max? .. man is that really you?”
“Ever since the beginning Kling, I always thought that you were the toughest s.o.b. that I ever laid eyes on, not an ounce of quit in you.”
“Max.. man I can’t fix this shit, Not with Sam.. Not with Priss, I don’t know what to do.”
“So quitting on Sam is the answer? Leaving Priss behind to face that ugly world all by her pretty self?.. that’s the Answer?”
He does not answer , he tries to close his eyes but the beautiful white light will not allow it.
“Max.. tell me. Please.”
“How many men have you killed brother?.. How many Reds?”
“Max.. I- ”
“Say it Klinger.”
“Say it?”
“Just say it Kling.. Then go make it so.”
“I want to live.”
“You want to live?”
“Yes.”
“Then open you’re eyes you ornery ol bastard! Grab that woman of yours and go make them bastards pay the ferryman!”
“ For Sammy.. For Priss. For Alpha.”
“Yeah Bro.. For Alpha.. Wake up man.. Its payback time.”

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