forum "You say you're a soldier, but all I see is a slave."

Started March 01, 2020 by @Moriarty

tune

"You. You say you're a soldier, but I don't believe you. No, no, no. You're a slave. A slave to the war. A slave to the people that made you. You don't see the truth, because you have been taught to believe a lie. We were enemies during the war, but if it's over, are we still enemies? I know you hate me. Go ahead. Maybe I hate you, too. But hear what I have to say, and maybe you'll realize that I've been your ally all along."

It was 2211.
The war had finally ended. Millions of people had died during the battles, but it was for a good cause. The enemy– a massive group of brutal individuals known as the Reformers– had been wiped out after their attempts to destroy the government. They claimed that the government was corrupt, that they were the ones behind the ever-rising number of disappearing children and teenagers. The Reformers said that the government needed to be torn down so that it could be build back up in a better way. But, of course, everyone was quite certain that it was the Reformers themselves who had been kidnapping so many innocent kids. After all, they were a brutal group, operating under their own laws. They even went as far as to keep slaves. How could they be allowed to take control of the government?
It no longer mattered. Despite their greatest efforts, despite how close they had come to success, the Reformers had been obliterated. Wiped off of the face of the earth once and for all.

Solider K-905 struggled to adapt to this new life. She had been trained since her childhood to be a solider, to hate the Reformers, to destroy them without mercy. Vivid memories still ran through her mind, images of every Reformer agent she killed, of every one of their facilities that she helped infiltrate and destroy…
But now that they were gone, now that there was nothing left to get rid of, she didn't know what to do with herself.
"You're relieved of your duties," the words of her commander– Thomas Ward– still echoed in her mind. "You're free to live your life now."
What life? She had no known family, no friends. Her entire life had been the war. Even with the large sum of money awarded to her for her duties, she was left feeling despondent. What good was a penthouse and all of the best technology she could ever ask for if she no longer had a purpose?
Even though she didn't want to see people suffer, some part of her may have… longed for the war.

Maybe this was why her interest was piqued when Commander Ward arrived at her front door, months after the war had ended. Maybe she secretly hoped to have some new assignment, or maybe she dreaded the thought of returning to the battlefield, but either way, the words of her commander were not the ones she had desired to hear.
"Absalom Day is alive."

Absalom had been the most brutal of the Reformer's agents. He was high-ranking, often known for inflicting horrible punishments on traitorous agents and enjoying the interrogation of torture of enemy soldiers. Soldier K-905 knew this too well, unable to forget what she saw happen to her fellow soldiers when they were dragged into the prisons run by Absalom. Though she herself had never faced his wrath, she had lost many allies to him. A fate in the hands of Absalom was a fate worse than death, because he didn't desire to kill people. He desired to break them. And that's precisely what he had done all throughout the war.
But they said Absalom had died. They said that he had died in a prison camp during the end of the war. How could he still be alive? If he was a alive, were the Reformers gone? Surely he would rally countless soldiers behind them and ignite the flame of the war once again.

But there was more.
"Absalom Day is alive… and I want you to hunt him down."

Main Characters

• Soldier K-905– Your character. You do not have to fill out all of these points, but you are welcome to.
  Name:
  Age: (Pick any age between 18-28)
  Gender: Female
  Brief Backstory: (Note: she has been in the army all of her life. No memories of any real family.)
  Personality:
  Appearance description:
  Powers: (if any)
  Other:

• Absalom Day– My character
  Age: 28
  Gender: Male
  Absalom has not been seen for at least six months, though it has just been confirmed that he is indeed alive.
  His enemies know little about his actual personality or his motivations, but they do know that he has killed and tortured countless people. He is feared greatly by his enemies and his allies– though most of his allies are dead now. But he hasn't been seen in a very long time, so no one is quite certain of what to expect from him now.
  Appearance description: 6'3" || Strong build || Olive skin || Black hair || LOTS of tattoos on his arms, back, and chest || A scar running across his brow and over the bridge of his nose, put there by a whip ||
  Powers: Accelerated healing factor, given to him through experimentation.
  Other:

All other characters are side characters, and we will determine who plays them later on.

RULES

• Ships welcome, but no homo and no s*x scenes; PG-13 only
• No language or foul words; No dirty talk
• PG-13 levels of blood and gore, but I love violence :D
• Don't be too OP
• Try to post at least once every few days
• Try not to have grammar mistakes, but if you do, it's fine
• Nothing supernatural or magical please
• Have fun
• Feel free to ask questions

Think I could join?

Absolutely. :3

Thanks! I'll get my character up as soon as I can.

Splendid! Take your time. I'm not in a major hurry. ^-^

Got it! :)

Name: Zanna Storm
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Brief Backstory: All she knows is the war, her life afterward was dull and unmemorable.
Personality: She's a hard worker and hard-headed. She's bought into most of what the government has told her and takes offense to hearing any other opinion or idea. She doesn't believe them. She's ruthless but serious at the same time.
Appearance description: Choppy black hair with the tips dyed an indigo color, blue-violet eyes, light brown skin, freckles dotting her skin everywhere, scars layered across her skin some covered by tattoos most not, lightly muscled though she's more wirey than buff, and stands at around 5'4".
Powers: She has enhanced strength and speed from military required injections.
Other: Her main weapons are a whip and a gun. Though if desperate she wears gloves that can shoot electricity into something they are in contact with.

Oh, dang! I love this chic. Epic character.

Thanks!

Alright, so how would we like to open this story? Absalom isn't immediately present, so I'll interact with Zanna via Thomas Ward for the first bit, if that's alright. We can begin either when he comes to announce the new mission to her, while they're planning the mission, on the way to the mission, etc. etc. etc. Whatever we think will be the most intriguing. Any ideas?

I'm thinking that we could start with him telling her about the mission before skipping to them on the mission? That way we get an initial reaction and then go straight into the main narrative.

Sounds perfect to me. Do we need to establish anything else beforehand? Should I start, or should you?

I don't think we need to establish much else, and mind if you start?

I sure will. One moment, and I'll have my first post up. ^-^

Gotcha!

After all this time, he hated to contact her again.
The war was over– had been for some time– but Thomas had never really let go. He wondered if Zanna felt the same. He hadn't seen her in months, but he couldn't forget the fire in her eyes, the determination she had in battle. She was, by far, one of his best soldiers, and he couldn't imagine that flame within her ever dying out. Not even now, months after he had relieved her of her duties and allowed her to retreat to a normal, civilian life.
He warily approached the front door of her expensive home, his dark eyes scanning his surroundings. It was a habit. He was still a soldier, after all.
A few civilians on the street eyed him curiously, undoubtedly intrigued by the man clad in the army uniform. He ignore them, pressing the button that would ring the doorbell and gain Zanna's attention. He straightened himself, inhaling lightly. He wasn't anxious, but he couldn't help but wonder how she would react to seeing him. But, even more than that, he wondered about how she would react to the news he was bringing, and the assignment that accompanied it.

Zanna had been in the middle of her workout when the doorbell rang. She stopped and grabbed her tank that was close by. It has been months since she had last been on active duty but she had seen no reason not to keep her body in pique physical condition. Okay that was a lie. The truth was civilian life was so dull compared to the thrum of fighting and she had enough money from her time in the service to be able to just, ya know, not work of a couple of months so she holed up in the house she had bought and tried to adjust. All of her attempts failed so she went back to her seclusion working out in the pleasure of her home gym where eyes weren’t ogling her for how many pounds she could lift or how fast she could run. Speaking of being at home there was someone at her door waiting for her. She approached the door ready to ask the person there to leave only to open and be pleasantly surprised to see her old commander, “Commander Ward. What brings you here?”

"Storm," Thomas greeted, giving her a formal nod. It was hard for him to remind himself that he need not be so serious any longer, but… everything was serious. Even with the war behind them, it was all serious. To him, at least. "I apologize for coming to you at such an inconvenient time– I know you were relieved of your duties some time ago." He cleared his throat. "And– I hate to be so straightforward, but I'm in a rush, and I have news that I think you would be interested in hearing. And an offer for you, as well." He paused momentarily before quickly adding, "Only if you want, of course. It would required you to resume your position for a short time. Please understand that you're not obligated to do anything. It's entirely up to you." He realized that he was getting off track, so he shook his head lightly, as if to focus himself. "Absalom Day is alive, and I want you to hunt him down."

Zanna was about to tell him it was fine and whatever mission he had she would probably take. Her life was boring as it currently was anyone, but his last sentence took the words from her mouth. Day, that horrid man, was still alive. She couldn’t believe it, the war had been for nothing if he was alive. Her eyes hardened and that old fire lit in them never really have gotten out, “What do you mean Absalom Day is alive? I’ll hunt him down all you want, gladly even. But I want to know everything. We were all told he was dead, and now six months later he isn’t? That just isn’t possible.”

Thomas looked down at the ground, letting out a long sigh before raising his gaze again to meet hers. "I– I don't know. I thought he was dead, too. We all did. So many lives were lost making sure of it. I don't know how he's alive, but they've confirmed that it's definitely him." He shook his head lightly. "It doesn't make any sense, but if it's true, we can't take any chances. We haven't full recovered from the last war. We can't afford to start another one." He recalled the massive numbers of fellow soldiers that he and Zanna both watched fall at the hands of the enemy. He remembered seeing the empty eyes of those who had been unfortunate enough to survive the prisons under Day's watch. He remembered them tortured, destroyed, ripped of any human decency they ever had. It sickened Thomas, made him wish he could strangle the life out of Day himself. Someone needed to slaughter that man like the beast he was.
Which was precisely why Thomas had came to Zanna.
He knew that fire in her eyes would never be extinguished.

Zanna had a tight grip on her arms as she tried not to shake with rage. Ward was right they couldn’t afford to start another war yet, but Day needed to die in order to ensure that didn’t happen. Everything she had seen the dead bodies the broken minds and souls were for nothing. No, she refused for it to be true. She moved out of her doorway, “And we won’t have to. I accept your mission of killing Day, but for now, please come in. We have a lot to talk about.”

"Yes. We most certainly do." With a slight nod, Thomas stepped through the door. Though years of military service had left him quite stoic and seemingly unemotional, the turmoil inside him was undeniable. Anger mixed with worry ran through him at the thought of Day's survival and the realization that he had been alive for the past six months, doing… who knows what. But alongside that fear was a small bit of relief. Zanna had accepted the mission. He knew she would, which was why he chose her. Day was no small matter, and if he were to be stopped, it was going to take someone like her to do it.