Charle, the Prodigal (The Seven)

Charle, the Prodigal

The sun has all but set at this point in time. In front, above, and behind me, dark clouds haunt the sky as the reddish-purple light of the sun seeps through the cracks as the night approaches. It’s not expected to storm, and yet all I can see is the brilliant flashes of lightning contrasting the darkness of the sky. Eh. It’s not worth my time; it doesn’t concern me. Good riddance, too.
It’s been so relaxing the past week by my lonesome without any sort of burdensome protocol or regimen to be undergone in the thralls of the Kingdom’s army. I am a Kingdom Special Forces: Artillery and Focus-Fire Division commander. I am virtually the best of the best in the entire Kingdom; only a match for a few thousand, I could hardly be outdone in a snipers competition. So much for that garbage. The Kingdom is just a whole lot of red tape and theocracy. Not enough transparency. This is part of the reason as to why I’m wandering these wastes now. I’m somewhere in neutral territory bordering the kingdom’s domain. I’ve no change of clothes; I’ve only got my Spec. Forces uniform, my ballistics sniper rifle, my shiv, and my pack with a bunch of essentials. As to the other part of the reason why I’m wandering these barren wastes marred by War, to be honest, I’ve become disillusioned as to why we’re fighting this War. I don’t see why the Kingdom are the “good guys” and the kingdom are the “bad guys.” I don’t understand the goal of this War if it’s just all just some big fight to keep things at a stalemate. The Kingdom uses barbaric-like force to take dominion from its foe and for what? To do that some more? There’s never been neutrality in this War, but there’s always been sympathizing. If a territory sympathizes with the kingdom, the Kingdom will target it with the utmost prejudice. Meanwhile, the kingdom fights ferociously too, but it doesn’t forget diplomacy. If a territory doesn’t sympathize with it, it will send diplomats, gifts, promises, and the like in order to coerce them into sympathizing with their cause or outright supporting the War effort. You see, that’s the way a War should be waged; with pens and quills and not with guns and swords. Quite frankly, I don’t even know why the kingdom fights the Kingdom or vice versa. It’s all a blur. It’s like I’m expected to know this from the time I’m put into the Army. Whatever. I can see some sort of building in the distance. I can also see a lot of vehicles parked outside; I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go on in and take a look. As I get closer, I see what seems to be a kingdom armored personal carrier (kAPC) on the other side of the building. This is going to be interesting…… I walk on in and all of a sudden, all eyes are on me and they don’t look friendly. As it turns out, the establishment is a bar, so I just meander on over to the counter and just order a drink.  As I go to pay the bartender, he remarks “hey, this is Kingdom currency. I’m afraid I can’t take that here, girl. We don’t really fancy ourselves the Kingdom ‘round these parts.” “Sorry,” I reply as I turn around and head for the door. “Now hold on for a second here. She doesn’t look like she’s with the Kingdom. Inspect that uniform. Sure she’s got the actual fatigues on with her weapon, sidearm, and pack, but look closer. She’s missing them patches of service, unit, award, etcetera. Something’s not right. What on earth are you doing so far from your camp, girl?” asks some masked man. My immediate thought is that this is not good in the least and I should probably just leave, but something tells me to stay and talk. “You’re right about this, something’s not right here. For the record, I’m not with the Kingdom. I’d rather disregard that former association. It doesn’t suit me and what I want to do. So if you don’t mind, I’ll—,” I go onto say before being interrupted. “Oh no, missy. You stay right there. Not with the Kingdom and in that garment? Hmm…. What are you doing here then?” Asked the stranger. “I’ve gone AWOL and am planning to defect or at least do some sort of mercenary work for the kingdom. I’ve been disillusioned to the cause of the Kingdom.” I reply. “Oh?” Asks the stranger. “Fantastic! Just what I thought I was going to hear you say. It is interesting because, I think you don’t have to look far for something to do. Quite coincidentally, I’m the leader of a team of mercenaries who happen to be sympathetic to the kingdom. Too good to be true right? Clearly it is, but who said that things cannot align in the cosmos?” says the stranger. “Well what is with the kAPC out there?” I ask. He replies with “that thing’s pretty much a thank you gift from the kingdom for all the fun stuff we do. So, do you want to see what you can do with us, girl?...” I reluctantly agree. As it turned out, his credentials checked out and this was a legitimate deal we were going to set up between he and I. He’s the head of a mercenary crew, called the S’niev Blight, who does off-the-books ops for the kingdom’s military. I agree to be a sort of independent agent of the S’niev Blight as they operate under the kingdom’s army. We exit the old cantina and enter the kAPC. The kAPC seems worse for wear as we ride down a decrepit plateau road towards a kingdom supply depot that is being used as a forward base for an operation about to take place on a strategic Kingdom outpost on the other side of the barren neutral territory. I’m going to be of a lot of use being Kingdom Spec. Forces. Since this particular base, Naecob City, is the base I was stationed at just before I went AWOL, the siege should be a cakewalk. The forces the kingdom’s got prepared outnumber the garrison stationed at Naecob by about four-to-one. After about two or three solid hours of talks with the S’niev Blight mercenaries and their Wraith kingdom contractors, and a side hour of talks on how I am a trustable asset, we were set for an assault on Naecob. The sky is still dark with its lightning so daytime wasn’t going to break anytime soon. This weather is alien, but that didn’t stop us. Even at Naecob, there was this weather phenomenon present, but it still was of no hindrance; therefore it warranted no concern from anyone. This is going to be an op that I’m unfamiliar with in execution since it was a kingdom style op. There are so many patterns of attack that both sides use, but they all follow the same general formula. I’m to be by my lonesome on a hill just a half a klick from Naecob. It’s certainly a danger close type of scenario. I am to do a lot of high value target elimination in terms of personnel and armament. The kingdom and mercs would have artillery, siege infantry, and other standard affair in terms of garrison for the raid. In this realm, there’s no friendly fire so allies of those firing the artillery aren’t harmed. They never revealed their long term goals to me; guess it was all hush-hush, need-to-know kind of business. Don’t care really. And so my first kingdom op begins: “Operation Kill-switch: Lights Out” is a-go. The kingdom’s artillery opens fire on all of the guard towers simultaneously as I incapacitate guards on the railings of the walls. Something doesn’t seem right here. I’m shooting my targets in all crucial target points: the head, the heart, the groin, the abdomen. They go down, but they seem to get right back up afterwards about five minutes after incapacitation. I don’t like where this is going at all. Oh well. Not my deal. I’ve a job to do and a check to get. I keep firing and firing; I keep reloading and reloading my weapon; my shiv is always at the ready to slice up anyone who dares get close, but something is still off. I hear some Voice in my head saying “you may be causing harm and setbacks, but there’s nothing you can do.” I ignore it, but It keeps talking. “Stop shooting. You’re only harming yourself by doing this. Come back. I miss you. I really want you to see the bigger picture…..”. Now It’s becoming a nuisance and all the louder. “This is where you belong. You don’t understand what you’re messing with…. Dancing with the demons is like playing with fire… You’ll only get burned and that’s not what I want for you…”. “Who are You?” I ask. It says nothing. I scream this time demanding an answer asking “Who are You?!” The lightning in the sky intensifies until all anyone can see is the lightning; there’s no more red, orange, or black bleeding through and marring the sky; it’s just purple and white. The fighting in the outpost stops and the artillery stops firing. Both sides stop just to stare at the sky as it seems like this has never happened before. I stop firing as well, but only momentarily. I go into a frenzy of emotion: confusion, anger, you name it. Anything negative I was feeling. I know Who is talking to me. I continue my barrage of sniper volleys, but I’m the only one on the field fighting. I’m hearing commands through my comms to stop, but I refuse and I continue to down enemy combatants. Some of them look like they’re in tears. I don’t know why. I again scream “Who are You?!?!?!?” All of a sudden, a loud voice in the sky booms, rumbles, and roars for all to hear. “I AM the SOVEREIGN!” dictates the voice. I look up as this happens and see a lightning bolt descend on me and I scream like a Banshee with great pain; I immediately go unconscious. All I see is blackness, but soon I start to see a light. I’m waking up seems like out of a daze, but I’m not where I was. I’m in a room of pure white that seems to go on forever. I seem to be upright and I extend my right arm as if I were to start walking…..but I can’t move! I look at myself and it’s like I’ve been absorbed into some mass of pure darkness. It hurts. It burns. It’s like it’s…. eating me alive!!... “Wha-Wha-Wha-What is this?!!??!” I scream. I start to cry and beg for mercy as I can only move my arm and I cannot save myself. I hear the Voice again. “Now do you see where you’re at?” “No.” I reply. “We may rule and reign in the heavenlies, but that doesn’t mean the spirit of a denizen of the heavenlies is hollow. It is either full of light or full of darkness. You understand of course.” The Voice declares. “Does that mean that—“ I ask. “Yes. We are in your heart. You’re heart of the spirit is full of darkness and you’re being swallowed whole by it.” It graciously interrupts. “If you do not see the error of your ways and come back to Me, then you will be lost until you choose to return. I don’t want that. Come back to Me.” It continues. “NO!” I scream. “I don’t want a part of Your War! There’s no point or goal! What You provided wasn’t good enough for me! Everything’s arbitrary and there’s no end in sight! Why?!” I continue. A Figure of pure Light manifests in front of me, pulls me slightly out of the mire, and plunges His hand into my chest. I can see and feel everything. It feels…. Good. He explains to me why there’s this War. It is a plight for the sake of justice elsewhere. We’re the soldiers on the frontlines in places unseen by others in the elsewhere. There can never be neutrality because of there simply being no gray area; one either chooses the kingdom or the Kingdom. It’s darkness or Light. The strong take things by force. The Kingdom doesn’t negotiate with the injustices of the kingdom. The kingdom is set to lose everything at the end of the war and all its promises to those who ally themselves with it are vain. The Sovereign’s standards are violated unless He’s followed; that’s the way it’s always been. I’ve only been part of the Kingdom’s army for a short while it seems. I did know this from the beginning; I just chose to ignore it… With tears covering my face, I scream “Would You ever, ever take back a soldier who goes AWOL, or would you end their existence?!” He retracts His hand from my chest and tells me plainly, “you’ve never gone AWOL. You went MIA. Now I’ve found you. If you were a part of My army, then you always will be unless you renounce Me entirely. Which do you choose? I have great plans for you and the skill sets which I gave you do you want to see what you can do through me for your sake and My sake?” I nod my head. He then conjures a Sword and pierces the darkness to which it disappears like a vapor, as if it had never existed. I fall into the Sovereign’s arms weeping and He allows me to until I can no longer. He snaps His fingers and I instantly wake back up in the initial plane. The lightning bolt is still striking me, but it seems as if no time passed at all. I stand up from where I’m standing and I feel energized. My uniform changes before my eyes. The white and yellow fatigues turn into a set of deep, royal purple and pearly white set with patches of a cross ironed in various places on the outfit; I can sense there’s a large insignia of a lightning bolt on my back. I feel a helmet that materializes over my head that offers protection, target marking, range finding, and enhanced vision. My ballistic sniper rifle changed camos instantly; it went from a matte gray to a weird purple-black pattern. Upon testing it on a nearby cliff, I discovered that it no longer shot bullets….. it shot bolts of lightning!! It never needs reloading. I kept shooting and shooting and never ran out. The area where the magazine was held was now filled with lightning in the shape of a box. My shiv changed as well; the blade was replaced with lightning just like the majority of everything about me. The Sovereign tells me in a whisper that I’m now on a new assignment and not one the enemy had given me. I acknowledged this and began to open fire on the kingdom’s and mercs’ positions. All I needed was one shot per target. Nothing stood a chance in the face of the power and spontaneity of lightning. It was only a short while longer till the kingdom’s forces were routed and I was making my way back to Naecob. The Sovereign explained to me that my weapons, no matter who they came from, could truly stop someone under assignment of the Kingdom. I make my way back to the base. The Sovereign whispers one last time to me that I shouldn’t be scared of what awaits me at the base. For He will not turn me away, but He’ll take me in with opened arms and then some. I stride forward with earnest towards Naecob while looking forward to a debriefing or whatever the Sovereign’s already got in the works. I wonder who or what awaits me in the future. Oh well. I don’t care. I just want to do what the Sovereign wants me to………....

Musical Inspiration: Avenged Sevenfold – Gunslinger