ETERNAL DRIVE OUTPOST A

  AURUS, PRECIDIA - 12:38 PM

  “I’ll help you on two conditions,” Tina tells Zack, who sways his arms to the side.

  “Help me free everyone in this prison, then let’s burn down every goddamn E-Drive institution in Aurus.”

  “Wait! You can’t-”

  “SHUT UP!” Tina yells, kicking a knelt-down Joshua in the ribs.

  “You should be grateful I haven’t skinned you alive yet.”

  “Ugh… It’s not like I-”

  “We have a deal,” Zack says, cutting Joshua off. Zack, Tina and Luke begin to walk off as Joshua desperately tries to catch up to them.

  “There’s no point,” Celeste says as Joshua turns to her.

  “You should just lay here and be grateful that they let you live.”

  “I can’t! Not on my honor as a soldier!” Joshua replies, continuing to move.

  “Honor? You seriously think that there’s a shred of honor in what you do?” Celeste retorts, irked at his comment.

  “If it means protecting the people, then yes.”

  “Protecting my ass. Are you really that oblivious? The people live in fear because of you and your army!”

  “My ideals aren’t defined by my colleague’s actions!” Joshua angrily retaliates before calming down.

  “...If you have been wronged by Eternal Drive, then I am sorry. But I have done absolutely nothing to you!”

  “You’re right. You haven’t done anything to me...” says Celeste as prison cells can be heard opening from down the hall.

  “...But what about them? They seem to loathe you quite a bit.”

  “They loathe me because they know I’m right,” Joshua replies as the two walk through the hall. Zack, Tina and Luke can be seen freeing the rest of the prisoners who scowl at Joshua, one of which even lunges at him. Joshua fends him off with ease as a trained soldier will still best a normal human, even if weakened.

  The downed prisoner bites Joshua’s ankle as several screams and insults are thrown his way. Celeste steps in, separating the two kinetically and pinning them to opposite walls.

  “Jeez, what did you do to warrant this?”

  “That fucker was one of us! A loyal Aurusian, turned lapdog for Eternal Drive!” the pinned prisoner yells out.

  “How am I a lapdog? All I wanted was for you to be safe and law-abiding citizens! But none of you listened!” Joshua retorts.

  “What’s he talking about?” Zack asks Tina.

  “Before this place was an outpost, it used to be a school that my husband and I owned. When Eternal Drive came to this city, they tore down everything we built. And when they killed my dear Liam, they renovated this school and turned it into an outpost. Fast forward to 2016, way before I met Nick, we-” Tina replies, pointing out to every Aurusian in the hallway.

  “-came up with a plan to destroy this very outpost. Joshua over there was one of us, until he pussied out and decided to become a soldier for Eternal Drive,” she continues.

  “Then he ratted you out?” asks Luke.

  “He did. Ended up getting Kate, Michelle, Matthew and Dave imprisoned.”

  “I wasn’t expecting them to imprison you here! I thought they would hold a trial first, and I would help lessen the sentence!” Joshua retaliates, defending himself.

  “Well aren’t you a goddamn saint? The fact of the matter is you still betrayed us. Whether it was for our protection, for our own good, you still stabbed us right in the back!”

  “Hold on, why weren’t you imprisoned then?” Celeste asks as Tina goes quiet.

  “I omitted her name in the list of insurgents,” Joshua answers while Tina crosses her arms.

  “I… felt bad. After what happened to Mr. Ross…” he continues as Tina scoffs.

  “I didn’t know you and empathy went hand-in-hand.”

  “I’m not a heartless bastard. I know… everyone in this room has been wronged by Eternal Drive at one point or another… That’s why I joined in the first place. To try and make a difference.”

  “What difference? Getting your friends imprisoned for over a fucking year?” says Dave, still pinned to the wall by Celeste.

  “Imagine if I had the influence! If I were eventually promoted to colonel, or even general-” Joshua replies before being cut off by Dave once more.

  “Bullshit! You never even did a damn thing to try and set us free!”

  “I HAVE!” yells Joshua.

  “...Why do you think I’m still an E1 Private even after a year and a half?” Joshua mutters under his breath. Everyone else silently exchanges looks ranging from shock, to disbelief, to realization, to guilt, and in Zack’s case, to not caring at all.

  “Captain Cid over there… He would always have it out for me. Always made me do extra drills, extra patrols… All because I asked about the possibility of holding a trial,” Joshua continues, pointing down towards the hall. The man slacking off, asleep at the front desk turned out to be quite the strict instructor.

  “I understand if you won’t believe me… but I only want the best for all of us.”

  “Define best.”

  “For us to live under a peaceful regime. One that isn’t fueled by hatred, revenge, terrorism, murder…” answers Joshua as Zack laughs.

  “Kid, I know you’re only 22, but you don’t know shit about how the world works.” Zack tells Joshua, who glares back at him in offense.

  “I worked for them. Not as the lowest ranked footsoldier, but as their head scientist; I’ve seen everything that they’re capable of. If you think we can solve things with peace and talk, then you’re dead wrong.”

  “We’d be no different if we resorted to their actions. The ends do not justify the means!” debates Joshua.

  “If we don’t take action now, there’ll be no end to what they do. Tell me, can you imagine a future where Estreval is still in power?”

  Joshua goes silent, momentarily reflecting on Zack’s words.

  “All I can imagine is discord and anarchy. People with less patience than us would incite unorganized riots and get themselves killed. Cities would end up like Terminus; hell, Briken's already getting there,” says Zack, who experiences nightmares of living through the worst future every night. He had become so consumed by rage and revenge that he turned taking down Eternal Drive into his life mission.

  “This is our chance to fight back! I’ve had enough, they’ve had enough, the entire goddamn nation’s had enough! Haven’t you had enough?” he continues as Joshua swallows his saliva uncomfortably.

  “I-”

  Before Joshua can continue, the door at the end of the hallway slides open with Captain Cid, now awake, at the other end. He draws his pistol and shoots six bullets at them, all six of which are stopped by Celeste mid-air. He tries to reload, but Luke grabs his arm, pinning it to the wall and swiping his gun away, handing it over to Zack.

  “See? Shoot on sight. How pathetic.”

  “What are you doing, Private Bivelli?! Stop standing there and kill them!” yells Cid.

  “You’ve got some balls for a man with a gun pointed to his head,” Zack says, reloading the captain’s pistol. Cid begins to shiver as the barrel makes contact with his head.

  “Captain… Why?” Joshua asks, as Cid looks back at him bewildered.

  “Huh?!” exclaims Cid, confused.

  “Why did you sign up for this job?”

  “Answer honestly or I’ll pop your skull.”

  “...Because it pays well.” Cid answers as Zack laughs.

  “And there we have it! It’s never been about morality or honor, kid! It’s always money, fame and power!” Zack declares as Joshua looks to the ground, defeated. He sported the face of a child who was just informed that the tooth fairy did not exist. Indeed, Joshua clinged to his naivety. Deep down he knew his superiors were severely corrupt, though he hoped for some semblance of humanity left in their souls.

  “DO SOMETHING, YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT! KILL THEM ALL!” screams Cid, frantically flopping around with Zack still pointing a gun to his head. Zack, having gained an idea, tosses the gun to Joshua, who catches it. Luke, Celeste, Tina and the rest all look at Zack in confusion.

  “This is your chance to make a difference, Joshua. Choose wisely.” says Zack, raising his arms in the air. Joshua points the pistol towards the two as he slowly creeps towards them. Upon reaching the two with mere inches left, he opts to hit Cid in the face with the butt of the pistol, knocking him out. Joshua hands the gun back over to Zack, who proudly looks at him.

  “Attaboy,” Zack comments, who stores the gun. He and Tina walk out the room with the rest following suit, save for Joshua and Celeste who drag Cid’s body outside.

  ETERNAL DRIVE OUTPOST A

  AURUS, PRECIDIA - 1:21 PM

  The rebels, along with Joshua and a knocked out Cid watch as Zack and Luke effortlessly demolish the outpost with heat waves and explosions. Celeste catches the falling debris and pulls them to the side as the outpost crumbles. Zack and Luke return the group, with a smug Tina admiring the destruction.

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  “Is that all?”

  “Good work, but we still have two more stations to go,” Tina replies, looking over to her side. The massive broadcast tower looms in the background.

  “The Broadcast Station?” Luke asks as Tina nods.

  “Let’s finish what your boy started, shall we?” says Tina, referring to Nick.

  BROADCAST STATION

  AURUS, PRECIDIA - 1:48 PM

  Cid, now awake, cuffed and gagged, flimsily flails around while Zack, Luke, Dave and Kate storm the broadcast station. Gunshots can be heard coming from inside alongside Zack’s prismatic lasers dancing wildly, creating huge line-shaped holes visible from the outside. When the sounds of gunshots and lasers stop, Zack’s voice speaks through Tina’s earpiece.

  “No people at all. Just drones and robots.”

  “That’s… surprising. Did they really send the brunt of their forces to Nazendel?” says Tina.

  “Hah… I didn’t raise a pushover,” Zack proudly replies, smiling as he shoots one last laser through a downed drone that struggles to pick itself up. Meanwhile outside, Celeste approaches Joshua.

  “What did you say your name was again?” Celeste asks, wanting confirmation after vividly remembering something.

  “...I never introduced myself. You stole my IDs.” Joshua replies as Celeste rolls her eyes.

  “Fine. What’s your name, then?”

  “...Joshua Rance Bivelli.”

  “Do you know anybody by the name of Falco Bivelli?” asks Celeste as Joshua turns to her, panicking.

  “You know my uncle?!” Joshua exclaims as Celeste half-heartedly nods.

  “Um, kind of?”

  “He- he’s been missing for over twenty years; do you have any idea what happened to him?”

  “...We put him down. That huge Briken tsunami last month? He caused it trying to drown us,” Celeste answers as Joshua’s face drops.

  “He was tortured for years by Eternal Drive under the demediom project and was brainwashed to do their bidding. Now tell me, are those people really the ones you want to work for?”

  “How… how do you know?” Joshua defeatedly asks.

  “Because I was his inmate,” Zack answers, stepping out of the tower alongside Kate and Dave.

  “Where’s Luke?”

  “Setting up the wires. Told us to leave so as not to bother him,” replies Kate.

  “His… inmate?” Joshua asks once more.

  “Damn right. While you’re out here, enjoying life, mindlessly striding through the streets, we were kept in a facility and tortured for days!” yells Zack, directing his words towards Cid and Joshua.

  “But if you really believe that the grass is greener on the other side, then be my fucking guest,” Zack continues as Luke steps out of the station with an uncannily long wire trailing behind him. He sets the wire down, signals everybody to step back, and ignites the end of the wire with a tiny explosion from his finger. The wire lights up, reaching the inside of the station. After a few more seconds, the entire building lights up and explodes with glass and concrete shattering everywhere. Zack creates a dome to protect everyone from the falling debris as Eternal Drive’s biggest investment in Aurus crumbles to the ground. Zack grabs Cid’s bald head, whispering to the terrified captain.

  “Take this as a preview for what’s to come. The Eternal Tower won’t stand for much longer,” Zack tells the captain while admiring the destruction.

  DOGGONE ROAD

  BRIKEN, GRATA - 2:50 PM

  A humongous crowd gathers on the streets of Briken, protesting the release of an imprisoned celebrity. A hooded Entro makes his way through the crowd, approaching the front which is currently engaged in a shouting match against a wave of Eternal Drive soldiers carrying riot shields and electric batons.

  “FREE EILEEN!” the crowd synonymously chants while applying more pressure against the Eternal Drive soldiers. They do not falter, however, instead opting to push back with their shields and even striking one protester in the shoulder with a baton. The protester screams in pain from the shock, as the crowd grows even more restless.

  Entro taps one protester in the shoulder, who turns to him.

  “What is this?” asks Entro as the protester gives him a confused look.

  “Wha-? Haven’t you heard? The actress, Eileen Uma spoke against E-Drive's treatment of Terminus and Briken! An entire motel being flooded for no reason?! It's bullshit! Now she's being declared missing!”

  “Oh… I see. Thank you,” Entro replies, remembering the interview playing on television the other night.

  “Wh- why are you even here?”

  “I wanted to see what the ruckus was all about. Don’t worry, I’m on your side,” Entro assures the protester who resumes chanting alongside the crowd. One soldier shoves his baton right in a protester’s face, while another forcefully shoves with his shield. With the situation getting more chaotic, Entro decides to take matters into his own hands. He speeds through the crowd, leaping up and above the wave of Eternal Drive soldiers. He manifests dozens of spectral chains, each one attaching to a soldier. With this act, the soldiers are unable to move and the downed protesters are able to recover. Some stare at Entro in awe, while others stare at him in fear. Entro lands on his feet, facing the chained soldiers.

  “Now then, where is Eileen being kept?” Entro asks the soldiers who refuse to answer. Entro rolls his eyes and manifests a massive scythe along with an hourglass.

  “You have one minute to answer. When this hourglass runs out, this scythe will automatically behead each and every one of you,” Entro continues as the soldiers all give him horrified, panicked looks.

  “A- at the Raya Hotel! On the fourth floor, unit 36!” one soldier hurriedly says. Entro looks at another for confirmation, who tries to nod but fails due to the chains’ movement restriction.

  “Very well. What did you plan on doing with her?”

  “They’re going to stage her death! Slit her arms in a bathtub, force her to swallow a hundred painkillers!”

  “Is she still alive?” Entro worriedly asks.

  “I don’t know! They just told us to expect a declaration of suicide!” the soldier replies as Entro dissipates the hourglass and scythe. The chains, however, remain as the soldiers are left immobilized in the middle of the street.

  “You heard the man, to the Raya Hotel!” Entro yells out, rallying the people of Briken. Half of the crowd begins marching towards the hotel while the other half keeps watch over the frozen soldiers.

  RAYA HOTEL

  BRIKEN, GRATA - 3:07 PM

  Chaos erupts as the Brikenian mob storms the Raya Hotel. Leading the march is none other than Entro Gruff, engaged in battle with the soldiers inside. He deflects their bullets with his scythe, cutting them up and immobilizing them with his chains.

  Upon arriving at the fourth floor, a hallway completely occupied by soldiers and guards stood in the rebels’ way. The regular soldiers open fire, which Entro deflects by spinning his scythe around. He dispatches them as two elite soldiers come swinging through the windows. Entro blocks one with his scythe, kicking the other away. He signals the mob to stand back as he battles the two elites, their blades clashing as they dance through the hole-filled hallway. Entro hits one in the throat with the back end of his scythe, stunning him momentarily. The other elite soldier lunges at Entro, but Entro completely spins his scythe around, parrying the attack and splitting the stunned soldier in half. With the parried elite also momentarily stunned, Entro brings down his scythe, severing the man’s left arm. He pulls the scythe back upwards, the blade piercing the elite’s chest. As he continues down through the hallway, he continues swinging his scythe around, cutting up the immobilized soldiers from earlier. He stops in front of the 36th Unit, peering through the peephole before quickly leaping to his right.

  The door explodes, with the explosion just barely grazing Entro. Had he not reacted with quickness, he would have suffered the same fate as his family, all killed by Eternal Drive soldiers. Inside the unit, a soldier reloads his grenade launcher, but Entro quickly steps inside and catches him with a spectral chain before he can fire once more. He approaches the soldier before beheading him with his scythe, and signals the mob to move again. A large crowd of about twenty people gather inside and around the unit, as Entro comes face to face with the bathroom door. He kicks it open, hoping to save the kidnapped actress.

  Unfortunately, they were too late. Inside the bathroom was Eileen Uma, laying in a bloodied bathtub with her arms cut vertically. Foam pours out of her mouth, with a mixture of saliva, blood, vomit and other bodily fluids from the drugs she overdosed on.

  Entro freezes at the horrid sight, remembering how his daughter died in a pool of blood as well. He comes back to reality after hearing the yelping and screaming of the Brikenian mob, in grief and rage at the actress’ murder. Zack’s words repeatedly ring through Entro’s head as he uncomfortably leaves the bathroom.

  “I can’t accept a future where those people hold so much power.”

  “Estreval’s a mortal man, just like us all.”

  “We’ll never know unless we try.”

  ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR

  EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 3:22 PM

  Trent enters Damon’s office, the latter fixated on a broadcast showing the concurrent chaos in Aurus and Briken. He briefly glances at Trent before resuming his watch.

  “What is it?” Damon mumbles.

  “I assume you already know,” Trent replies, staring at the broadcast. Damon sighs, clutching his forehead in annoyance.

  “When will these idiots ever learn that they’ll never amount to anything?” Damon comments before shutting off the broadcast. He changes his focus towards Trent after sighing once more.

  “How goes Altair’s torture?” asks Damon as Trent approaches his desk. He places a jar containing an eyeball on top of it, much to Damon’s curiosity.

  “You took his eye out?” Damon inquires as Trent proudly nods. He admires the jar, shaking it lightly.

  “...He’s been here for only two days.”

  “And I promise to make every single day a living hell for him,” Trent declares.

  “...Fine. Go ahead and take whatever else you want from him. His nails, his limbs- but do not take away his will. We want that boy to think he could save Elena, somehow. The moment he breaks, we’ve lost our biggest leverage,” Explains Damon.

  “Does she really love the boy that much?”

  “She does. I’m even willing to bet that she’d choose him over the entirety of Lavia. She’s nothing but a treasonous renegade, after all,” Damon answers as he inspects his ring- a silver ouroboros.

  ETERNAL DRIVE OUTPOST B

  AURUS, PRECIDIA- 3:36 PM

  Upon arriving at the second and final Eternal Drive outpost in Aurus, Cid makes a sprint for the front door. Celeste, however, stops him in place and throws him to the side, his head colliding with the pavement.

  “You really are a pathetic creature,” Zack comments as he enters the building. Awaiting him are two soldiers, one of them being an elite. Upon seeing Zack’s face, the two quickly react, with the regular one drawing his gun and the elite rushing for the kill. The elite’s attack is blocked by Luke, however, as Zack slices up the soldier’s gun into pieces with a laser.

  Luke and the elite clash equally for a while before Zack fires a homing laser that strikes the elite in the back, leaving him vulnerable. Luke charges up his rod and strikes the elite in the stomach, sending him flying and blowing up a portion of his body. As the elite bleeds to death in the corner, Zack signals for the rest to enter. Joshua stares at the elite in pity, taking the latter’s helmet off. The elite bleeds profusely from his mouth, unable to say a word to Joshua due to the amount of blood flooding his jaw. Joshua picks up a pistol, pointing it at the man’s head and pulls the trigger, giving him a merciful death. This garners the attention of the Aurusian rebels, who become relieved when Joshua unloads the gun and tosses the magazine outside, where a knocked out Cid still lays on the ground.

  Zack and Tina enter the hallway containing the prison cells, all of which seem to be empty. Upon arriving at the very last cell, however, the latter is taken aback by what they find. The cell is occupied by the rotting corpse of a man whomst Tina immediately recognizes.

  “Darren…” Tina mutters as Zack opens the cell and approaches the corpse, turning it over to reveal a bearded and grizzled Darren Watts as the outpost’s prisoner.

  “...Fucking animals,” says Tina as she gets on one knee, inspecting Darren’s corpse.

  “Political power is an illusion in this country. No one has authority over Eternal Drive,” Zack comments.

  “Right… They didn’t even attempt to bury his body…”

  “I’m sorry. These people are rotten to the fucking core.” Tina whispers to Darren’s corpse before getting up.

  “...We should at least give him a proper burial,” Tina tells Zack, who nods.

  “...A courtesy most South Lavians will never experience,” Zack thinks to himself as he picks up Darren’s corpse. The two emerge from the cell, coming face-to-face with the rest of the Aurusian rebels who look at them in shock, especially Joshua who seems particularly horrified.

  “...Mayor?” Joshua mutters as Zack walks through the hallway. Omega’s deceit, falsehood and propaganda have corrupted Aurus for far too long.

  “What did they do to him?”

  “They took away everything…” Tina replies before turning to Joshua.

  “...and I’m gonna take it back,” she continues as she and the rest of the rebels begin walking out of the area.

  “...Fuck it all,” Joshua comments, having come to a realization.

  “No… you’re not alone in this,” he follows up as Tina stares at the faces of the rebels surrounding her. All of them, wronged by the megacorp. All of them, looking for retribution. All of them, desiring justice.

  DOGGONE ROAD

  BRIKEN, GRATA - 4:03 PM

  Entro stands atop a vehicle in the midst of the street, with a massive crowd surrounding him. The crowd screams and chants as Entro rallies them. A helicopter flies by, recording the historic event.

  “Damon Estreval! Your days are numbered!”

  “JUSTICE FOR EILEEN!”

  “For years you have terrorized this country, raped it with the technology of the devil, and ruled it with an iron fist!”

  “JUSTICE FOR BRIKEN!”

  “No longer shall we stay silent!”

  “JUSTICE FOR GRATA!”

  “No longer shall we stay indolent!”

  “JUSTICE FOR LAVIA!”

  “ETERNAL DRIVE WILL FALL!” Entro concludes his speech as the crowd erupts. With the fire in his heart reignited, he takes a direct look at the helicopter, as his eyes virtually meet…

  ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR

  EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 4:04 PM

  …with Damon’s, who looks unamused at the live broadcast. He clenches his fist in anger, before taking another look at the jar containing Nick’s gouged out eye. He smiles once more before shutting the broadcast off.

  TINA’S TAILORY

  AURUS, PRECIDIA - 4:04 PM

  On the Aurus side of things, the rebels intently watch the broadcast in Tina’s Tailory as the roar of the crowd echoes through the room. Previous men have tried and failed to triumph over Eternal Drive, however they lacked the sheer numbers and power of the rebels of today. It took years of anguish, tyranny and punishment but perhaps this massive uprising could finally be the moment the megacorp falls. This is not merely Nick Altair’s battle. This is not merely Zack Evergreen’s battle. This is Lavia’s battle, and it may very well be their last chance.

  To Be Continued…

  an entire nation.