Shadow Knights by Emmanuel Edwards

Okay guys i decided to repost my story so here it is. The one and only Shadow Knights

• Chapter 1: Rise of a Shadow ~ Rough Draft ~ First Draft ~ Edits ~ Final Draft
  
  
• Chapter 2: Cries of Death ~ Rough Draft ~ First Draft ~ Edits ~ Final Draft
  
  
• Chapter 3: The Inner Lies ~ Rough Draft ~ First Draft ~ Edits ~ Final Draft
  
  
• Chapter 4: A Frightening Darkness ~ Rough Draft ~ First Draft ~ Edits ~ Final Draft
  

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Chapter: 1, The rise of a shadow

12/7/2015

Sitting at a desk in a luxury suite in a Ramada Inn sat a figure who seemed to be bent over a document of sorts. He scribbled furiously and swore as his pencil snapped. Upon closer inspection one discovers that this is no a document ,but it is actually a diary. The diary is not signed nor dated for security reasons perhaps and seems to be written in a foreign language. But one can gauge the meaning simply by the context of the writer. He seemed perplexed almost happy in awhile. His dark skin and gray eyes seemed to contrast each other as though they were meant to be polar opposites. His lips were set in a sort of scowl like smile that never left his face for a second. He looked up at the clock before looking down at his notebook and scribbled his notes down.

Dear Journal,

My plans for the mass takeover has begun with the destruction of 2 international governments. Though it proved to be more difficult than previously thought, the Australian and New Zealand attacks were flawless as always. I believe that my plans for the group are going to finally becoming true.

Today I plan to visit the world embassy to convince the ambassadors of the world to join my cause. Though the plan is likely to fail I am very confident that the ambassadors will see my way of thinking eventually…

2:35 pm, United Nations Office, New York City , New York

Loud conversations, Bustling ambassadors, Irritated patrons waiting for their turn to speak with the person that represents them in the UN, this seems like a normal day in the UN office. Though, it may be slightly normal for a person who stands at 6’ 8” to be walking around during any time of the day, though it wasn’t as normal as it were supposed to be.

The figure wore mostly dark clothing catching the attention of all the guards in the building, and made everyone slightly weary. His black boots thumped in rhythm as he proceeded down the hallway. His black cloak hid the rest of his clothing excluding his black pants. His hood stayed up the entire time he walked through the grand walkway towards the General Assembly.

The figure looked up allowing his face to be shown slightly showing he had dark or tanned skin, either that or a very good cosmetics agent. He looked to the side without turning his head allowing a passing female to see his grayish black eyes which caused her to stop and stare for a moment before he walked away. He stared at the Foucault pendulum for a minute before turning down the hallway towards the famous meeting area of the UN.

The UN Headquarters building was an interesting place to be at any one time. Located on an 18 acre plot of land on the East Side of Manhattan, it is privately owned by all member states of the UN. He looked around and noticed a large painted glass window. Upon closer inspection he figured it out to be the famous Chagall Stained Glass. Given to the U.N. in 1964 by Marc Chagall himself. “[i[I’ll have to get rid of it.[/i]” he mused to himself.

As he neared the door he noticed the two burly UN guards who were currently standing duty ready to take out any threat that happened to pass their view sight. He coughed slightly before snapping causing the guards to look in his direction. The gave him a quick one over and noticed his clothing and gave him a threat level of orange. They slowly placed they’re hands on the grips of they’re weapons ready just incase he was a threat, which he was.

He smiled softly as he uncovered his face slowly and raised his hand and motioned foreword. Without warning the guards were swept backwards as a course of dark energy sent them sailing through the doors and into the chamber. They laid in a sprawled manner on the floor of the Assembly Room prompting the members inside the room to look towards the entrance. As he walked through the doors and into the massive assembly room he couldn’t help but appreciate the wonderful architecture that stood out against all the normal buildings and rooms around it. He noticed the UN symbol on the far back wall and smiled before continuing into the room.

All of the Ambassadors turned their heads towards the source of the disturbance and watched as the figure stalked into the room and walked up towards the main podium. One of them decided to voice their opinion in a quick witted question “You there sir who are you and why are you here. Only privileged ambassadors are allowed in here”. The man who asked the question smirked figuring that this dimwitted terrorist probably didn't know how much trouble he was really going to be in.

When the person heard that he stopped walking for a second and looked the man square in the eye. “Oh really…” he said in a cool even tone that just screamed death. He held out his arm and black tendril rose up around the man and wrapped him in an air tight cocoon. He clenched his hand tightly creating a popping squelching sound inside of the cocoon as the shadow tendril crushed the man alive. His muffled screams were silenced after a few moments. The figure lowed his hand causing the shadow tendril to unwrap itself after eating a great deal of the bloodied mess. It then sunk back into the shadows where it came from. "Anyone else...", the man questioned as he looked out among the various people there. Seeing no other objections from the silenced ambassadors he continued on his way to the podium.

He looked at all of the ambassadors seated around him and grinned under his hood. “Hello there. I’m guessing you all are wondering who I am....", he said while looking around seeing a few nods he continued. "Well then…I am what stands between the light of my world, and the dark of yours. I control the fate of two worlds while trying to find out the fate of one. I am what is constant for where there is light, there is also dark. And, for where there is dark there are also the shadows. I am Kuro Konpaku…and I am the leader of the shadow knights…”

Kuro smirked as his revelation had the desired effect it was supposed too. It was as if the room were suddenly vacuumed leaving hardly any air inside for anyone to breath. The ambassadors looked on at him with fear and scrutiny as they tried to asses why he was here. Oh it was no secret of what he's done so far but its just rumors.

It was rumored that two countries that were part of the UN, Australia, and New Zealand, were captured by this mysterious group and forced into an empire. After the capture of the two states communication with the UN was immediately ceased.

Part 2

One of the ambassador’s who found his voice slowly after hearing the terrifying news spoke up in a quiet but squeaky voice. “What are you here for? What to you aim to gain by showing your presence here. You and your group are wanted by over 300 countries world wide. There’s probably an army right now gathering outside the doors of this assembly ready to take your head off” His voice slowly gained strength has he found courage through what he believed to be the truth that he was speaking. “You have no power here and your alone…”

At the alone statement he was cut off with a scoff and snort of laughter from the man. “Do you really think I’d travel all the way here alone? What kind of fool do you take me for? I’ll tell you the real truth…Right now your so called army is being decimated by my foot soldiers. Your countries are now receiving reports that this building has been captured and currently the United States army is approaching the building. From there my men will take care of that pitiful excuse of that army then proceed to capture the city of New York.”

He spoke this with an even tone full of mirth as he watched the worried expressions flash across half of their faces. He continued with full confidence knowing he had all of their attentions. “Now then, when I say so, I want all of you to gather on the right side of the assembly and separate by continent. From there my men will take down your names and countries you represent. Please don’t resist or they will be forced to kill you”. As he finished his dialogue he proceeded down the stairs and walked out the double doors as 5 men in all black coats walked in. All of them seemed to carry concealed weapons and walked with unnatural grace that unnerved all of those present.

The patrons watched the men step in front of the group and waited for their directions. One of the men's arms rose up out of his cloak and pointed to the right wall while the others pulled out single double barreled silenced Beretta's from under their cloaks and pointed them at the group. The members faces showed genuine fear as the shuffled across the room over to where they were directed. They whispered quietly among themselves over whether or not they would be saved and were quickly silenced by a single piercing shot into the ceiling from one of the non-silenced pistols. The looked at the person who fired the round with fear as they watched him make a silencing motion. Some of them gulped as they quieted their chatter and sat against the wall.

The air reeked with sweat as 1700 members of the general assembly were stuffed into seats meant for 600. They were given the basic necessities such as food and water before having their names taken down. Concussion rounds and rifle shots began to be heard in the chamber as the fighting spread throughout the building. The fighting alarmed the members there as they were hopping that the US army was prevailing. After awhile, the concussion sounds soon began to shake the room resounding in the ear drums of those who were not wearing ear plugs which were a good deal of them causing massive inner ear damage which resulted in bleeding in the ear.

One of the patron’s, who’s mindset was on escaping, decided to jump up against his better judgment and run for the doors hoping that the U.S. army could save him. He was suddenly stopped as a single silenced round was fired. His eyes grew widened and dimmed as his blood and brain fluid splattered against the wall in a beautiful mix of colors that made the rest of them sick to they’re stomachs. One of the members in group looked on as the mans body slumped. He could see the perfect hole straight through the mans cranium straight into the hole in the wall where the bullet was embedded. The mans body fell to its knees from the dead weight that was pressing down on it before falling to the floor. The mans blood stained the carpet red and coated it in a sticky fluid that was most likely blood plasma. The man finally lowered his somewhat smoking gun and looked at the rest of them, "Anyone else want to die..?" He smirked to himself when he saw immediate head shakes before turning to the leader who was holding up his hand.

The leader of the group decided to speak up after the man finally finished scaring the patrons, “Any others want to attempt an escape because I can assure you, you wont make it far.” He did a quick glance seeing the spark hope slowly fade away from each of their eyes. “Good now Knights make sure no one leaves while I check in with Kuro.” With that he walked away to let the others do they’re jobs.

The head knight walked back through the public hallway and ducked as a stray ballistic round flew over head and impacted into the support tower behind him. He felt the concussion round that sent him foreword slightly and frowned "Its getting bad out there..." h mused as he walked up next to Kuro. As he stood next to the man who he called leader he could instantly see the differences between them. As he was slightly taller than most people Kuro towered over everyone. He also had that persistent quality that made others want to follow him even if they didn't know what they were doing or where they were going.

"Hello old friend...", Kuro whispered as he watched the small battles outside that seemed to not last for long before entering the larger battle at hand. He looked down at his friend and smirked. In the past four years that they had known each other he and the other gentleman had been through thick and thin together. Kuro knew that his friend would never betray him and that was a quality he enjoyed the most about his companion. "How is the preparations?" he asked whiled looking back out the window.

The man nodded and smirked, "I am fine sir." Kuro blinked as his friend addressed him as sir and scowled., "You know I hate it when you do that Michael...". Michael smirked as he knew that he had successfully irritated his friend. "Sorry Kuro, you know how i am." Kuro nodded gruffly allowing Michael to continue, "The preparations are coming along swiftly. So far that has only been one causality among their ranks. Apparently one of them couldn't take it anymore and tried to escape...."

Kuro's eyes narrowed slightly before flitting over in his friends direction. He could see that the boy was looking out the window as though there was nothing to discuss. "Hmm...once you have down all the names, i want you to liquidate them..."

Michael turned towards Kuro slightly before nodding knowing not to question his friends methods. "It will be done", he said in an affirming tone before turning and heading back down the hallway.

“Good. As soon as this entire process is over Michael, you can go out on leave for awhile. Get well rested then come back”. The man nodded before heading back to the chamber as Kuro continued observing the slaughter of the US army. “Hmm…so much to do…so little time…”. He chuckled as he watched a small contingent of men who grew frightened at the ferocity the Shadow Knights portrayed and broke line before turning head on heels out of there. This was a cataclysmic moment which caused two more groups to break away and turn creating a big mass of men who were instantly mowed down by Automatic Rifle fire. Kuro smiled to himself before turning to head back down the hallway himself, "Almost time..."

Michael reentered the room slowly causing all of the Ambassadors to look up at him. As the doors opened they could hear the fading concussion bolts and rifle bursts and knew that the fighting was heading back towards the city. "Is there any hope for us...." moaned out a sorrowful US Vice President as he watched the last remaining people state their names and countries of origin.

One of the Shadow Knights heard the mans whisper and walked up to him. He bent down to his level and whispered softly, "Here hope doesn't exist....here only certainty is key. If you want to survive or at least hope for survival I suggest you take my words carefully. Don't ever hope for the best when you already know the worst is coming. All it does is give you false reassurances that end up coming short in the long run." The man's words cut deep into the VP's heart causing him to truly wonder if hope was futile. The other ambassadors listened in on the mans dialogue without a word. "So the next time you think of praying for something...Pray for the survival of your family and friends. For the need it more than you...." and with that he pulled out a silenced pistol and loosed a single round in the mans head.

The attack came without warning and caused several of the others to gasp out in fear. Seeing that the men would once again not hesitate to end them reassured them that this was the end. There was no coming out of this alive. Then a glimmer of hope came across their faces as the one that had just walked back in stood up. He looked over at the VP and watched the blood from his head stain the carpet red. His eyes flitted back and forth between the men and women and sighed, "All the men to the left, and all the women to the right. I want you to strip and follow their orders. If you do not follow them...you will be shot...in the head...or the heart...whichever one that they feel like shooting first." The men and women cringed at the thought being shot and followed his orders. He blinked slowly and without emotion before sitting back down.

The ambassadors began to strip slowly and were relived of their possessions before being directed into a small rooms on the sides of the General Assembly . There they were told to kneel before 5 Shadow Knights dressed in all black to hide who and where they were. They were allowed to give themselves a small prayer before they were executed. Before the day was over, over 8575 American soldiers will have died. Those 8575 would be remembered for their bravery and courage to protect their nation even if they fled when times became too tough.

But then there's the unknown number. the 1700 UN Ambassadors who were stripped and executed without trial or reason. They will before forgotten in context to those around them. For them their struggle inside of that little room wasn't for recognition or fame, but for survival. In the end, it seemed like their goals failed as they all laid in a giant heap of bodies that formed a pyramid in one of the back rooms of the General Assembly. The blood had been oozing out of their bodies for hours and already had coated the floor in a thick layer of caking respiratory fluid. Would there be hope for those who had been forgotten here today. Some think that there will be, but for others, it seems like hope will never come...never...

Chapter 2: Cries of Death

5/8/2018, Shadow Knights Government Building (Ex UN Building), New York City , New York

Kuro was pissed…actually pissed was an understatement. Kuro was absolutely livid. He had just received news that an insurgent of troops along the Wyoming-Idaho border had retreated into the surrounding mountains giving the American’s a straight forward shot into SK territory.

The American’s and the Shadow Knight Regimen have now been at war for over three years and its still going. Neither side has made any real progress since the beginning months of battle though the Knights plan to change that very quickly.

The Shadow Knight Regimen now consisted of: Australia , New Zealand , Argentina , Canada , Germany , South Africa , Congo , Uzbekistan , Iraq , Half of Russia, Ukraine , Belarus , and most of the North and North Eastern United States. The rest of the world was split between different factions based on continents. The United States Empire Stretched from its northern and western border with what used to be Utah , all the way to the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. It still is a wonder that the States actually managed to last this long since all others wrote them off as being completely taken over before 2018.

The European Coalition consisted of almost all of the remaining Western European countries that had not been conquered by either the Shadow Knight Regimen or the Russian Confederation. So, the world was still at relative peace since many mass armies haven’t been summoned yet. But everyone knew it was just a matter of time before someone snapped and attempted to take more than they could…

7/14/2018, Northwest Ridge, Sierra Mountains , Nevada - California Border

Colonel Roger Michaels is a veteran at war. Having served in Vietnam , Iraq , Iran , Cuba , and Afghanistan it is no wonder he had been chosen to lead the American troops in the fighting against the knights, though his current position as Colonel didn’t really fit him.

“Hmm I should be out there with them. Not stuck in a concrete box. This is ridiculous, I need to help out do something” he continued muttering curses as artillery fire and mortar rained around the building from the fighting outside. He quickly jumped out of his seat and away from the window when a stray shell struck the wall he was just leaning against destroying it completely.

He laid there momentarily quite dazed from the fact he just nearly died but felt the blood pumping through his body from the increased adrenaline pumping through his body, it also had an added effect of making him slightly more insane than he normally was…“Yes that’s it. The near rush of death makes me feel more alive”…well a little more than slightly.


Pounding at the door a corporal cried out trying to catch the fallen and insane colonel’s attention. “Colonel Michaels, Colonel Michaels! The Knights are falling back! The Knights are falling back”. Hearing the news the Colonel quickly got to his feet and checked their positions through his binoculars.

“Hmm…what would they retreat for it’s not like they’re losing…unless.” His eyes widened suddenly as he realized the trap that had been laid for his men. “Call them back, call them back now!” He shouted to the Corporal. After shouting that he threw the binoculars into a corner and jumped through the hole in the wall and landed in a heap. “Ugh..” he groaned as he rolled till his back was flush against one of the walls.

Suddenly the wall was riddled with holes as artillery fire opened up again. Roger didn’t have to look up to see if his men were getting mowed down, he knew it was over for most of them, and if any survived they wouldn’t be going anywhere. He sighed and stayed against the wall breathing deeply knowing that he failed his comrades. His choked sobs were silenced when an artillery shell landed in front of him but didn’t explode. He quickly got up and ran just as it exploded and sent him flying through two support beams of the barracks.

He laid very still, not making a sound as the Corporal and two members of the remaining company approached his body. They noticed the pool of blood expanding from his body and gave him a one over assessment for damages. Finding none they rolled him over to find his entire back and spine blown out by the combination of the explosion and the collision. The later found out he died from a wooden spike the imbedded itself in his heart when he collided with the first beam.

The remaining members of the company regrouped in the farthest back room of the compound. The faint thumping of the bombarding artillery could still be heard in the heavily barricaded room. “Now then we must plan our own retreat since we fell for there’s. Now obviously they’re not letting up soon, but I know for a fact that this building wont be able to hold against they’re bombardment much longer. So, what do we do. Do we stay here and hope that those…monsters out there don’t get us. Or, do we run out and hope that we escape.

I know its not much of options but currently were in a rock and a hard place. And with most of our company either dead or missing, were not in much of a position to fight back. So again I ask, what do we do?” With that final statement he looked around the room at the seemingly drawn and depressed members of Java Company. He sighed heavily knowing what was on everyone’s mind and checked the weapon’s cartridge in his M-16A4 rifle and walked up to the door.

“Well then…for those of you coming, get ready. For the rest of you, good luck.” With that he yanked the door opponent and ducked to avoid a spray of artillery fire. He immediately kept moving knowing that inaction would cost him his life. He looked back at the door momentarily to see if any had followed him, and was heartbroken to see only 5 members of the 23 remaining crew members. He motioned for the others to catch up with him as a large .385 Magnesium shell ripped through the titanium cube and exploded killing everyone inside before they had a chance to react.

7/14/2018, Upper Ridge, Sierra Mountains, Nevada-California Border

Dominic Hudson, a lieutenant for the 848th Division Militia for the Shadow Knights, observed the battle from his own look out position over the ridge. He was currently smirking seeing his plan executed perfectly. “This will earn me a promotion for sure now. Soon Major Viggins I’ll have your position, and finally recognized for the great things I’ve done.” That was something about the natural order of ranks in the Shadow Knights. Instead of promotions when either a position was empty or created, many were promoted when they had reached a certain level of skill in their rank, thus making it seemingly rare when a person of the militia was promoted.

He continued to observe the battle only allowing himself small moments where he gloated to himself or grinned with glee. “Aim the next shot at the metal room and use a .385 shell this time1” he ordered to his selection of troops. The men nodded and turned the large cannon twenty degrees left and fired a single salvo and watched as it tore through the room and exploded in a cloud of 8000 degree magnesium cooking those inside.

“Action Successful, sir” Shouted a random corporal as he and the rest of his squad continued to watch the battlefield for survivors.

7/14/2018 Lower Ridge, Sierra Mountains, Nevada-California

The Corporal, who had been chosen by the rest of the group he was with to be the leader, continued his way down the mountain to where he hoped was safety. “Well at least they stopped firing” he sighed as he looked back at his rag tag group. He looked up at the sky and frightfully noticed it was getting dark. “Oh no this is not good. We have to get to shelter now. We definitely wont stand a chance against them in the dark…”

His thought process was interrupted by a faint but powerful wail from up the ridge. His skin paled as he realized what it was and quickly scrambled down the ridge shouting for his company to hurry. “Quickly! Find a place to hide now! You wont survive two minutes out there in the dark hide now!” His shouts and concerns were heard by all there as they quickly scrambled for a source of shelter.

Soon the wails and cries were heard closer and closer as the sun began setting lower in the sky. The corporal became frantic when he realized he couldn’t find a cave anywhere. His blood chilled when he heard a wail come from the area they had just left and looked back to see one of the monsters stare down at him.

It looked like a mix between a Raptor and an undead Dragon. It had heavily leathery wings that stretched for over 20 feet that could carry it for two miles in the air before having to flap again. Its sharp jutting snout was lined with razor sharp spikes that upon closer inspection appeared serrated. When it opened its mouth to cry out its death call once again, he could see the hundreds of teeth that lined its half rotted mouth. It quieted down and looked him directly in the eye. Its beady pitch black eyes matching his brown piercing ones.

As he and the monster had a staring match he started to feel oddly calm. Not noticing the monster walking forward towards him, uncovering its complete thirty foot body span and 8 foot tail. It walked swiftly but silently, quite a feat considering it had 12 inch talons for claws.

The beast continued walking towards him, his body relaxing more and more as the creatures influence grew. Little did he know that looking into the beasts eye induced happy hormones called endorphins into the blood stream causing the victim to relax naturally before they were killed. The beast opened its maw slightly white hot saliva dripping down into pools at its feet as it stood before him with its claws raised.

Just as the beast prepared to strike the killing blow five hollow point bullets buried themselves in its skull destroying its brain killing the beast instantly. As the beast dropped the man regained feeling to his body and shook with fear knowing that he just almost died .That thought alone caused him to back away from the beast.

As he looked at it carefully, he realized what it was, a Night Raptor. One of the Shadow Knights most feared weapons for being horribly good at what they did best, which was killing. He backed away from the beast as four more raptors poked they’re heads over the small ridge and looked at him. They’re hungry beady eyes registered him as food and they began streamlining down the cliff face in pursuit.

He realized he had very little time to escape so he pulled two stun grenades from a small pouch in his back pocket and pulled the pin from each. He waited till they were only a few feet away before throwing the grenades and ducking. Both grenades went off without a hitch in a bright flash that blinded the beasts causing them to lose their footing and tumble to the ground in a heap.

The corporal, realizing this was his chance to escape, jumped to his feet and began running. He didn’t get far before feeling white hot pain lance through his back causing it to spasm. He collapsed against a tree and turned around. He came face to face with another raptor. His breath was caught in his throat as he stared into the beasts eyes in fear knowing that this was the definite end. There was no help this time. He already knew that everyone in his company was dead except him.

He accepted the fact that he was going to die with open arms and pulled out a cigarette and lit it before pulling out his pistol and cocked it. He placed the weapon against the soft palette under his tongue. He closed his eyes and prepared to pull the trigger as the beast lunged forward.

No shot was heard as his blood splattered against the tree trunk behind him. His head rolled of his shoulders with a peaceful expression on its face knowing he died for a good cause. The beast smelled the corpse and tore into it with a frenzy before wailing to the heavens. Similar wails were heard all over the clearing as the remaining members of Delta company were torn to shreds by the unnatural beasts.

Part 2


9/30/2018, NASA space center, Houston, Texas

Michael Bullock, a man of forty with graying hair and sharp features, walked into the command center awaiting the news on the returning space shuttle that had been launched two weeks earlier. The mission had been to investigate why the communications with the International Space Station had been ceased. As he awaited the news on the crew he popped the report CD in for another look at it.

2 weeks earlier, NASA Space Shuttle, Cape Canaveral, Florida

“Houston we are a go” Flight Command Adam Davis spoke into his mic as the two-hundred ton Space Shuttle lifted off from Cape Canaveral en route to the International Space Station. The mission consisted of four parts. Phase A, Establish a connection with the Space Station and check to see if everyone is still alive. Phase B, Check to see what caused communications to cease. Phase C, Report back. Phased D, Come home alive and with the crew.

So far only Phase A has been completed as they were currently docking the 20 mile long Space Station. The crew stared in disbelief as the looked on at the now partially wrecked station. Parts and pieces of the solar panels were ripped free of they’re holdings. Some modules were completely crushed while others looked like they had been torn into. Sparks flew across the outer shell of the space station from the excess electricity still flowing through the cut wires.

The commander sat in the back crew holding area with his hands massaging his temples as he and his crew discussed ways to approach this situation. “Its best if we send only a crew of two in. They will be able to check the full extent of damages and asses whether there are any survivors.” The rest of the crew nodded agreeing with his idea fully as they began pulling straws to decide who would go.

Flight Co-commander Jason Carson and Science Director Kathy Williams had pulled the smallest straws and began to suit up to enter the now hostile environment of the space station. They knew that this was a vital part of the mission so neither complained. They also knew the full parameters that anything happened to them, no one was coming to their rescue. Both were given 30 minutes to talk to their families before they were sent inside the station.

As the hatch closed behind them, the two members of the search party headed into the belly of the beast, so to speak. The interior was dark and dry. The silent nature of it sent chills down both of their spines. To help them see both flicked on they’re helmet lights and beams of light washed over electric panels and hardware. Sparks flashed every so often as the electricity in them found places to jump to.

Suddenly Kathy saw a something move out of the corner of her eye and quickly drew her issue MLX-7 focus-point laser projectile weapon from its holster and held it in a ready position. She tapped Jason on the shoulder and motioned to her left and began walking slowly toward a panel of cables. She peeked over the edge of the panel and looked to see if anything was actually in there. Finding nothing she turned around and gave Jason the all clear sign.

She walked back over to him and held her firearm at her side still ready to “bust a cap in someone’s ass” as her overzealous boyfriend Cameron would say. Jason sighed and turned to his right and walked toward a hatch that was knock open and left that way. He poked it slightly with his own firearm then motioned for Kathy to follow him as he climbed through.

As he climbed through the hatch he was treated to a scene of absolute horror. And if the smell was anything to go by , he knew he was in for a shock when he searched more. He tapped the side of his helmet turning on the video camera that was stashed inside of it documenting the whole ordeal. “Commander are you getting this” he asked into the mike. Two short beeps confirmed his inquiry and he continued into the module.

Bodies and body parts littered the floor of the module coating it in a thick layer of blood. He bent down to check the pulse of one of the persons and noticed the face to be mauled beyond recognition. He briefly wondered what could do this before continuing on checking the pulse of each and every person.

Kathy mean while continued searching the module for more threats. Finding none she joined Jason in identifying and categorizing the bodies based on their deaths. He pointed to the pile of persons who’s entire skin structure was still intact yet none of them possessed inner bodily parts anymore. “This group it seems were used to collect samples for whoever did this. I’m guessing they’re going to try to study our inner compositions to find a weakness in our body types.”

He then pointed to another stack of bodies that had scorch marks all over their bodies. They had all been found near the hatches allowing him to come to the conclusion that the doors were blasted off their hinges. Allowing the vacuum of space in killing all of those in here in a matter of minutes.

The last pile was a mystery. All of the bodies were identified as neither American nor Russian. And all of them had they’re hearts staked with some kind of metallic rubbery object that looked like a spike. ”Hmm…This is the oddest group of them all. None of them are carrying any form of Identification nor do they have any weapons. They’re obviously not American or Russian because of the build’s and facial expressions…this leads me to believe that this group was not here originally but maybe came to sabotage the whole Station.

A figure began walking out the shadows without alerting either of the scientists. He spoke with a clear but friendly voice. “I see you have found the remaining members of my scouting team…” Kathy and Jason whirled around to look at the fellow both with they’re weapons drawn. They observed that he was unarmed but the look in his eye meant he might have had a concealed weapon anywhere. “My name is Neiko Kusabana of the Shadow Knights, I currently hold the rank of commander of the 32nd battalion. Me and my group were on a scouting mission of this sector of Earth’s orbit when we boarded. We boarded recently so this…” he pointed out “Was not us. I do know what caused it though I wont talk about it here since were already in enough danger as it is.” With that he walked through the hatch not looking back to see if they were following.

Jason and Kathy looked at each other momentarily both thinking the same thing. They would have continued if they hadn’t heard a sort of screeching noise similar to a plated tail sliding over the floor and soft hisses and snaps. The slowly backed out of the hatch and locked it behind them. “What were those?” Jason asked fearfully.

“Those were Nagalith’s, fierce and vicious alien race with a habit of turning they’re prey into confetti…Their main goal so far has been to study the human race. But it seems this was the first time they acquired samples. Now then do you have any form of transportation that we can use” he asked quickly hearing the scratches against the hatch knowing it was only a matter of time before they got through.

Jason noticing the same thing nodded “Yes its this way” he motioned for them to follow quickly just as the hatch was blasted in. The three patrons quickly scrambled for cover as the first of the Nagalith’s came through the now open hatch. It made clicking noises as though it were communicating as it looked for its prey.

Jason and Kathy prepared they’re MLX-7’s as Neiko looked around for some panel and wires and put a quick projectile weapon together using a few panels and some of the electric wiring from the station. He held the weapon at a ready position as the beast started walking in Kathy’s direction. Just as they were about to fire 4 more walked into the module and stood up to their full height of seven-feet-eleven-inches. They made clicking noises to each other before looking in the human’s direction.

Jason motioned for Kathy and Neiko to head through the access hatch to the shuttle. He backed up against the wall as they both crouched by him and went in to find the whole crew dead except the flight commander. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as he laid there with four holes in his chest. Kathy broke into tears at the sight of the slaughtered crew but kept her composure long enough to start the shuttle. “Ok Jason lets go!” she shouted, her voice sounding cracked and rugged like she was falling apart.

Neiko stood at the opening of the hatch ready to help Jason through as he started climbing through. He was just about in when the tip of a tail shot out of his chest. Blood coated Neiko’s face as he watched with horror as Jason coughed up blood and looked down at the tail before looking up with eyes widened with shock “Oh” was all he managed to get out before he was dragged back lifelessly into the space station. Nieko jumped into action and closed the hatch and typed in the release code for the clamps and felt the jolt as they were released from the station.

Present Day, NASA Space Center, Houston Texas

That had been 2 weeks ago since the last transmission from the shuttle and now just before reentry he gets a transmission calling for help. It sounded very suspicious to Michael but he could not voice his suspicions until the shuttle landed.

He continued to monitor the shuttles progress as it streaked across the American sky. He blinked briefly before looking at his sandwich wondering idly if he should take a bite of it. Just as he was about to go with eating the sandwich, his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the number noticing it said “Private Call”. He decided to answer it and blinked as a cool voice like running water sounded over the receiver.

“Do not turn around. Do not blink. Do not even put down this phone. Just shut up and listen.” he followed the voices commands calmly. “Now then I want you to nod once if your name is Michael Bullock” He nodded slowly still not understanding why the voice was asking this. “Now then I want you to state aloud what your favorite chicken sandwich is…” the voice broke into a series of giggles before going silent as he hung up the phone.

“Damn kids, have no training do they” He stopped when he heard a gun cock directly behind his head and the slight pop of some gum.

“I know annoying little buggers aren’t they.” the voice replied before blowing Michaels brains all over his computer station. “Hmph…” the figure looked at the main screen watching the descent of the shuttle “Perfect…” He turned around and headed towards the door as two guards ran to the entrance with they’re weapons drawn.

“FREEZE!, Get your hands up and your weapons on the ground.” The figure cocked his head to the side and he pulled the hood of his cloak back uncovering his features. “And if I don’t” he replied. Holding his hand out to the side as a clear sword appeared in his hands as he smirked before walking forward.

There was no struggle nor any help for that matter. The guards died in a matter of seconds and the figure just calmly walked out of the building. When he was far enough away he snapped his fingers and the building exploded in a fantastic display of fireworks causing massive chaos all around. He smirked and disappeared from sight just as a bus passed by.

Chapter 3: The Inner Lies

2/7/2019, Great Wall of China, Chino-Japan Empire

It was a cold day in February, as was everyday in February in the Chino-Japan Empire. The main battles of the war against the Russian Confederation were over and peace was imminent. So why were we here. Well lets look along one of the sections and see.

2/7/2019, Northern Sector, Great Wall of China, Chino-Japan Empire

The shouts and cries of war could be heard for miles as army against army clashed along the ancient walls of the Great Wall. Terrible screams of pain overshadowed the roars of overly enthusiastic men ready to cut down their next foe. It seemed that this wouldn’t be the appropriate place to find people watching a war and cheering on an army, but that’s exactly what we find here.

Michael Greenwood, A decorated General and leader of the Shadow Knight Squadron, sat with another of his long entrusted friends, Ana Norvern, observing the battle with an amused expression on his face. He idly wondered why they fought these pointless battles when the Shadow Knights could squash them at any moment, but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the face.

The battles continued unhindered as nobody really paid attention to the fact that the Chinese could easily win by simply attacking from the walls, but then again, Chinese weren’t all that smart anyway.

Click…clock…the sounds of a gun being cocked could be heard from behind Ana’s head as she froze frightfully truly terrified of the now unknown danger that had shown itself. A voice as cool as an iceberg and as hard as steel sounded over the battles as clear as day even though it was very low. “Hmm…Ana Norvern, trusted Shadow Knight Councilwoman my how you’ve grown.”

She flinched at the sound of her name and slowly but shakily asked “Who are you and why are you here?” The voice chuckled which sent chills up both of their spines as the gun cocked again. This time a second barrel was aimed at the back of Michaels head and the voice clicked his tongue thoughtfully.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you…never know how…slippery my finger can be.” Using his superior hearing Michael listened as the person pulled the trigger slightly though the shot not ringing off the sound was deafening. He quickly stopped attempting to draw his sword as the barrel was pushed closer to his head as another figure walked up.

“Thank you Iving, you are dismissed.” The figure nodded and withdrew his firearms causing both persons to sigh with relief know assured they were not going to die. The second figure stopped the now formally named Iving as he passed him and slipped on of the firearms away from him and silently cocked the weapon before approaching both of them. He sat down in front of them and smiled gently.

“Well hello…Its good to see you again Michael, and Ana, Iving was right you have grown. Very proportional now I see” He gave a smile perverted smile at Ana as she looked slightly disgusted at the insinuation. She frowned and crossed her arms over her ample chest and held up her hand to stop Michael again from pulling out his blade as the man turned his head to the side and smirked.

She huffed and spoke indignantly “So you know us, so who are you?” She noted his appearance and rose an eyebrow at the slight blandness of it. The man wore a black vest over what looked like a black long sleeved shirt or sweater. He wore black fingerless gloves and black pants. His pants tucked into his black steel toed boots and he wore a black cloak over it all. His black metallic face mask only covered the lower half of his face and had air vents in the front of it allowing him to breath. He wore dark shaded goggles even though they could see the skin underneath.

He smirked “Why should I tell when your going to die in about…” He checked his watch to see what time it was causing tick marks to appeared on both Michael’s and Ana’s foreheads “…Five minutes anyway. “ He said this in an extremely cheerful manner causing more tick marks to appear on their foreheads. He turned towards the battles and watched with a contented sigh.

Michael began to get impatient again and started to draw his sword while the man was distracted and watching the war. He figured one quick strike will have the man down and they can go back to their business. He quickly drew his katana and prepared to strike him down when the man turned around and shot him in the shoulder making him drop his weapon. He shot him again in the side and Michael dropped. Ana went wide eyed with fear as the man began walking up to her. She could see the blood beginning to pool under Michael as he laid there. She knew if he stayed like that for too long he would die of blood loss and shock.

She returned her focus to the man just to stare down the barrel of a gun again. “I got a message for kuro” he said plainly. She blinked then huffed again.

“And that would be…” She replied in a sarcastic manner. He smirked slightly causing her to be sort of unconcerned about Michael for a second as time slowed down for her. A single shot rang out clear as day over the battle. The man looked down at the form of the now dead Ana, who’s blood was pooling out of her head quite quickly.

“…you” He smirked before turning to Michael’s gasping and wheezing form, his life force diminishing as he knelt beside him and placed a hand on his back. The hand glowed as he healed the boy. “You must live to tell kuro this. I’m back and him and those who helped him are as good as dead.” He finished healing the boy and stood up. “Hurry up and find a mode of transportation. The quicker you get the message to him, the longer you shall live.” With that he disappeared without a trace leaving Michael and the long dead Ana behind.

Michael wheezed before lifting his head in Ana’s direction. He cried out in grief when he saw the blood pooling around her head knowing she was dead. He punched the ground and pulled out his communicator. He typed the code for the jet to be brought closer and watched as it arrived. He finished getting up and limped to the vehicle before buckling himself in.

After two minutes of no movement at all he unbuckled himself and walked into the cockpit “Yo, whats taking so…” The words stopped dead in his throat when he saw the two dead pilots and the blood covering the windshield. Taped to the lower dashboard was a note titled ’Learn to Fly’. He growled before moving one of the pilots and climbed into the seat. He cleaned off the windows and put on the headset and flipped the switches for the plane to be ready . The plane took off without a hitch and cleared two thousand feet before heading out to a little known island in the pacific called Midway Island.

2/8/2019, Aboveground Faculty, Midway Island

The plane landed on the grey and black airstrip a day after the incident. Its fuel supply low from the long flight with no stops . Michael sighed as he placed his head against the controls. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. The fact that he had, had no sleep in over 48 hours since leaving the Chino-Japan empire finally hit him and he passed out.

2/10/2019, Belowground Faculty, Midway Island

He woke up two days later with a massive headache and groaned before looking around. He blinked a few times to clear his blurry sight before resting his eye sight on a figure sleeping in the corner. He blinked again before recognizing who it was. He tried to call out her name but couldn’t make the sound. After a minute or two of trying he finally managed to make a coherent sound “Hailey…”. Her head rose up for a second and looked at him. She walked to the side of his bed table and sat on the chair beside it.

“I’m here baby what’s wrong?” She asked in a very concerned tone. She had never seen him beat up like this before. And where did all this blood come from when there was no wounds. She traced the muscles along his chest and felt the scars from his life battles. She heard him sigh and looked in his face.

He could see the worried look on her face. He knew why and how she got as worried as she did. He knew she didn’t like him in this particular set of work seeing as it was the most dangerous thing he does. But he also knew that she knew he did his job best and that’s all she could ask for.

She climbed into the bed with him snuggling up beside him trying to get warm. She gave him a quick peck on the lips before falling into a light slumber leaving him there to think about what is going on. ‘Hmm he said I had to tell Kuro something anyway. So I guess I’ll pay my friend a visit’ With that though he wrapped his arms around her and fell into an even lighter sleep as he tried to finish recuperating from his wounds.

.

Part 2

8/5/784, Tekihydo Imperial Dojo, Kyoto, Japan

In a large room inside of the imperial palace sat the leading teacher of martial arts, Kyobi Terikida, a master in the many arts of taipou and kenpou, sat meditating under a large oak tree and sighed. “So what brings you here now my great student?”

Emanyeru sat next to the man and sighed with him “Just came to visit you master that’s all.” He began meditating with the man as he slowed his erratic breathing and finally came to rest.

“You don’t come nearly sixteen hundred years in the past just to see an old geezer like me. What’s wrong my pupil?” He asked again as he cracked an ancient eye open to look at the boy and noted he looked the same as he always did albeit a bit younger than usual.

Emanyeru sighed “Well there are some minor problems but nothing I cant take care of. How have you been master” He bowed in respect to his sensei and resumed his mediation.

The grandmaster sighed before humming in unison with his pupil. They stayed like this well into the night discovering the true meaning of meditation.

12/8/2020, Norte Dame Cathedral, Paris, France

Remmington Pattenson, trusted royal knight of the Euro Kingdom which had changed its name from the European Coalition after a long war and debate on the fact, and his partner Carlos Delgadillo relaxed on one of the top banisters at the world renowned Norte Dame Cathedral. Both were enjoying mass this morning as they calmly waited for the orders they would be receiving later.

Remmingon tapped his communicator as he received a small beep and nodded before tapping his partner and slipping away, Carlos followed closely behind. They kept silent as the exited the building careful not to alert the other patrons who were enjoying mass.

As they finally exited the building, Carlos sighed deeply before turning his back to the building. The continued along the road as a loud explosion sounded out behind them as the front section of the cathedral exploded with fury and collapsed crushing everyone inside to death. Several explosions followed as the rest of the cathedral crumbled to the ground leaving thousands dead. The two men stared at the scene with disbelief as they wondered how they escaped in time.

Suddenly Remmington’s phone rang as he shakily answered it. “Hello…” his voice quivered as he heard only static on the other end. Suddenly a sharp noise sounded over the receiver causing him to pull away quickly before placing the receiver to his ear. He heard pained groans and moans from the people still alive in the now totally destroyed cathedral over the voice speaking in his ear.

“Hello Royal Knight Remmington, I have something that you need, and your organization has something I want. So I propose a trade.” Remmington’s eyebrow arched as he motioned for his partner to answer his phone as well as he pulled out his PDA.

“Go on…” He quickly jotted down the notes and flipped his phone shut. He nodded to his partner before sprinting down the street heading towards the canal where they’re private boat waited.

12/10/2020, Report on the World Crisis

It had been two years since the space station incident and already NASA was planning on blowing it out of the sky. All previous planned flights to the station had been cancelled after the remaining member of the crew and another man crash landed in the gulf of mexico and were taken to JPL to be studied for any adverse effects they might have.

After they had been cleared Kathy and Nieko stuck together for awhile before parting ways, Kathy to her family, and Nieko back to the Shadow Knight Headquarters in New York. Though they didn’t realize it they had become experiments of the United Empire, the new country after the Collapse of the United States which had finally conquered all of Central America and half of South America.

The United Empire, who’s capital was still Washington D.C., currently controlled a large and vast empire, even stretching around the Shadow Knight Empire and conquering parts of what used to be Canada. Though the war between them and the SKE had been long and costly the UE continued to be a world leader in economics and power.

The Euro Royal Empire which now consisted of ever Western European developed country had become the second most powerful nation in the world. The royal families personal guard the Royal Knights which recently responded to the Norte Dame terrorist bombing, had reported that the bombers have been found and have been charged with over two-thousand counts of third degree murder.

The Chino-Japan Empire and the Russian Confederation have finally made a truce pact in terms of fighting off the SKE equally as they have finally made their intentions known since the December seventh United Nations takeover, five years ago. With reports coming in around the world of the gruesome battles that occur we can only hope it’s a matter of time before this is all over.

2/7/2021, Outer Earth Orbit

Outer Space, One of the still unexplored regions of humanity. A calm place on an average day if you don’t count the thousands of radioactive particles trying to kill you at ever single moment while your exposed or the fact that there is no air nor water in space. But that didn’t deter many like Aden Kallinbach, trusted NASA scientist and advisor to the phoenix program.

The phoenix program consisted of two parts, Destruction and Rebuilding, NASA had proposed a nearly 20 trillion dollar program to fix the “Space Station Problem” as they called it. They proposed a plan to quite literally blow the space station out of the sky then rebuild it.

Now you may be wondering what Kallinbach’s position in this program is, its basically design and destruction of the old and new space stations, the length of the time it takes, and how much its going to cost. So basically he’s the leader of the program if that’s what you want to call it. Nothing gets said or done without him saying so. So even if the rebuilding plan fails they still somehow succeeded in blowing the space station out of the sky.

Today was the proposed date to destroy the space station and all eyes were on the launch site, if it went off without a hitch then the newest threat to humanity. But knowing how things worked this was going to cause more bull than a little.

3...2...1...lift off, suddenly the rockets shot off from their holding area in a newly designed space craft that was built for this exact mission, shot off towards the decaying space station. The missile impacted with the already heavily scarred outer shell and exploded demolishing several modules in seconds. In seconds after impacting the space station was nothing more than embers and melted steel.

The remaining carcass began to slowly drift closer to the Earth’s atmosphere and glowed bright cherry red as it entered the thick atmosphere. Slowly disintegrating and breaking apart as it fell.

The crew cheered at the success of the first phase of the mission as they were unknowingly watched by another figure. Neiko scoffed at the fools thinking that this was the end of their problems and slowly began to walk away. He walked outside the new Houston space center and looked towards the sky to see some of the remaining embers of the old ISS falling towards earth ‘And it only gets worse from here…’ he thought to himself. He looked to the left and pressed the unlock button on his key chain and hopped into his red and black Porsche and pulled away