NationStates Jolt Archive

Tens of millions of people fill the streets of the most economicly powerful city in Europe, the city of Myer. Bringing in nearly 8.2 trillion dollars annually, it was one of the safest too.

Until the terrorists attacked. Hundreds of thousands died from the virillium gas. One half the city was sealed off to conatin the gas. After two moths it was reopened and the city slowly recovered. In the back of peoples minds, they had a lingering doubt about their safety. One they tried to ignore.

The war against the terrorists had gone well. The leaders were dead, along with the supporters. This didn't make anyone feel safer though. After all... the same thing happened decades before and they came back. When the ones captured were asked why, they only said one thing... "Vengence is a dish best served cold." But for now, peace was had.

Shifting views, we now see the millions moving about the capital, Skye. The children at play, the adults enduring rushhour, a strange glowing pyramid in the southeastern portion of the city and there above it all... the ruins of Fortress Skye.

But the masses and old buildings are not our subject today. Today there is a man in turmoil. His mind and heart ripped apart from the inside. His name? Reil Tian, leader of the Empire.

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Reil sat in his bedroom, alone. He watched the sun set over the old fortress. He watched the city take on a new glow. An inner glow as the lights cam on and the Plasma Pyramid's light illuminated the city.

None of it reached his numbed mind though. He had personally led the battle plannng against the terrorists to escape thinking about her. The one they took from him. His heir... his only living family... his sister, Lara. A tear ran down his cheek. Had he not gone to the APTO conference, he would be among the dead, along with her.

"Why?" he asked the emptiness. "Why her? Why not me? I'm a retired merc and a fighter pilot. I gained power because the last guy flipped and tried to kill himself with a hotdog... she was an ambassador, a great politician... the perfect ruler. Now she's..." He couldn't finish. He got up and walked to his office, hiding from himself in paperwork. He couldn't hide forever though.

We now move to the next day, where our subject is still hiding.

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Reil gave the days speechs and annoucements with his usual grace, or lack of it. He signed the reports and when the subject of his sister's funeral came up, he silenced the issue. "There will be no funeral. She is buried already. I do not wish to make the people remember the toll that the attack made on the nation any more than they have to."

In reality Reil didn't want to remember about the toll to himself. The initial fury that filled him was long gone. Now denial and depression set in. He would not accept she was really dead. He couldn't.

That evening, Reil sat alone again. The help staff knew something was wrong and treated him carefullt, as if he were a bomb ready to go off. He watched the news reports of the wars breaking out, the death of Damien Dreadfire, an issue that brought up the doubts again, and finally the recession gripping most of the first and second world nations. "Damn lucky we're a 0.5 world nation..." he turned it off and walked out onto the balcony, leaning against the rail, memories filling his mind. He stepped up on the rail and looked down five stories.

A knock came at the door. He looked back and realized what he was doing. He climbed down and answered it. A woman in a Star Colonel's uniform stood in the doorway. "Saleea. I thought you were still in the mountains."

The young-looking asian shook her head. "I got back a few days ago and thought I'd drop by and say hello."

They talked for hours about the new systems they were testing for the military, Reil sterring the conversation away from the subject of his sister whenever it got too close for his comfort. Finally she left and he was alone again. Thi time he knew his mind was not right. He had never contemplated suicide before. If she hadn't come at that moment... the next thought scared him. It scared him a lot. What if no one comes to the door next time?

OOC: 0.5 world nation: nations that have made mini utopias. The standard of living is incredible and little if no unemployment. Economies can't be stopped by anything short of world catashrophe.

OOC: Comments? No RP doesn't mean you can't leave feedback.

Bump. I didn't type this to see myself type.

And no smartasses post 'Okay, here's a reply' or crap like that.

OOC: Nice. :D But since you did go to the APTO conference, you'd know what a bunch of IC snobs and bureaucrats we are. :lol:

OOC: Oh yeah. I know that. lol I have to check back on that thread, been too busy with other RPs.

[tag]

Ps you spelt month wrong in the first post :P

[tag]

Ps you spelt month wrong in the first post :POOC: (as player of Crimmond also) I s[eel a loth of tings rongh.

:P

Reil couldn't sleep much that night. His body needed rest but his mind just kept going over what he had almost done. Finally exaustion set in and he slept for a few hours. Not peacefully though.

In Reil's mind, The War was being fought again. Though not in any official history books, the war in the asteroid belt had been horific. He was in his fighter again, leading a strafing run on a pirate criuser, all around him were explosions. His wingman screamed as his fighter was hit. Three others out of his five were gone in seconds. It had turned into a suicide run and Reil and the other pilot knew it. They dove at the cruiser, heading towards the bridge of the ship. Seconds before they hit, the cruiser jumped to hyperspace. Reil looked up and saw why. A heavy battlecruiser was overhead, looming over the other ships. Had he kicked in the afterburner, he'd be dead seconds before the battle was over...

Reil woke up in a cold sweat, sunlight streaming down through the windows. He went to his office and cancelled all his morning appointments. He didn't want to have to make decisions when he was like this.

He needed to do something soon... he was driving himself insane.

At around 11 am, Reil was still in his office, trying to keep his sanity. Being alone didn't help. Lukily he would be saved again by a knock at the door. "Enter."

Saleea walked into the office, wearing a different style uniform than before. This one was a flightsuit. Obviously she had been out on the training fields earlier. "I heard you were locked up in here all alone. What's going on with you Reil?" She asked, ignoring the fact she was a colonel and he was the leader of the nation. They had known each other since The War.

Reil shook his head. "I dunno... I... I cant think. I can't sleep and I don't know if I can do this anymore. Damn it. Damn them."

Saleea blinked. "Damn who?"

Reil looked confused. "I don't know. The terrorists, I guess."

Saleea nodded. "They caused a lot of devastation to Myer. They got what they deserved in the en-"

Reil slammed his fist down hard. It throbbed but he didn't care. "NO! They didn't get half of what they deserved! Scum like that should be wiped off the face of the planet! They killed hundreds of thousands of people, they killed... they..."

Saleea stared at him. His reaction had scared her and that was a hard thing to do. "Are you okay Reil?"

Reil looks down and sees his finger is broken. He felt no pain though. "No, no I'm not..."

Reil sat in the infirmary. His finger was set and he'd heal fine, but the doctor kept him there for observation after what Saleea had told the doctor.

He drifted off into the depths of his mind again. This time he was back to the day he found out Lara was dead. Fury ran through him. He was suddenly back to years earlier, when both of them were almost killed when a leader went insane and shot the place up, then blew up the damn building. A different kind of fury went through him. A betrayed kind.

Soon his mind drifted and he floated alone in a void of grey. He tried to move but that only caused him to tumble. There was nothing to move to anyway. No... there was something. Two somethings. He hadn't noticed until he started tumbling. One was a bright opening that scared the hell out of him. He didn't know why. The other was a black hole, that was indeed pulling him closer. He didn't like that either, but between the three... it was better than limbo. He let it draw him ever closer.

Reil woke up to darkness. He got up and walked out of the infirmary, the orderly never noticing him. Within minutes he was outside and soon wandering around the capital. Alone, unprotected and half out of his mind.

Reil wandered into an alley and out the other side, finding himself at the base of a statue. He read the inscription, a quote. "Honor is not without it's cost, nor is freedom ever free. One must be prepared to sacrifice all for his nation and not let another die for him, lest his nation fall because it is full of cowards that will not fight." -Vladimir Saratov I
First Ruler of Crimmond, killed by General Marhan Andrews, better known as High Commander Andrew IV

He wandered through the garden and saw many more statues. He was in the Field of Heros. The great leaders were all there, along with others that gave everything for the Empire. He wandered to another statue, one of a soldier. "A leader need not answer questions of those he leads. It should be enough he says something and they do it. If he says run, they run. If he says fight, they fight. If he says die... they die." -Colonel Robert Panther
Died in the line of duty, WWV.

Reil leans against the base and slumps to the ground. He didn't know who he was or who these people were. He was slipping ever closer to the black hole in his mind and only now saw it was as frightening as the light. He fought but only managed to hold his ground, unable to pull away, but not sinking further.

Saleea walked along the streets, looking for any sign of the missing leader. Several squads of soldiers were moving through the city, also searching. They were discreet though, moving around like soldiers out for the night, only carrying sidearms. They stopped in a few bars, got some drinks and asked about anyone fitting Reil's description. No one had seen him so far.

A few hours into the search, one group walked through the Field of Heros, telling jokes and talking about exploits. At lest until one saw the figure on the ground. They turned him over and sure enough, it ws Reil. "This is Unit 6. We found him. He's passed out in the FOH. Request medical assistance."

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Two days later Reil opened his eyes to a hospital room, gaurded and watched with cameras. They weren't letting him get away again. He heard voices on the other side of the curtain.

"As I said yesterday, his body is fine. Some fatigue symptoms, but nothing serious. It's his mind I'm worried about. I don't want another High Commander on our hands."

"I know, but what can I do? Your a doctor, I'm a diplomat."

"You can talk to him, when he comes around. You are one of the few he will trust. You have to help him."

"Doctor, he's awake now."

The figures came around the screen, the doctor, nurse and the diplomat. A tall woman, bald... yet not ugly as one would assume. She was rather pleasent to look at, Reil noted. "Larea..." he whispered. She was her head of Interspecies Relations and one of his oldest friends.

She smiled and sat down as the doctor and nurse left the room. "It is good to see you Reil. How are you?"

They began to talk. It was hard for him to speak about anything at first, but he soon begin to talk about what he saw in his dreams. Disturbing things. Things no man should ever dream about. She listened to it all and tried to help him understand it. Part of him drifted off slightly at one point and he was in the void and in the hospital at the same time.

He fought the pull of the hole, but could not win. Then a hand reached out to help him. It was Larea. She was guiding him to where he was before. But the pull of the black hole continued to pull harder. He fell backwards and she pulled him forward.

He was still half out of his mind, but he wasn't gone yet. He knew it.

bump

Tag that deer!

*points to the 'Comments Welcome' sign*

Tag's are okay, but I'd like some feedback, if you've read the entire thing.

Reil fell asleep about an hour later and Larea refused to leave. She stayed by his side during the night, not moving, just watching him. Hoping that just her presense could help.

Reil however found himself alone again. He wasn't in the void now. he was in a plain white room, sitting in a chair. There was a door on three of the walls and a painting covered the other. He didn't want to see what was behind the doors, so he walked up to the painting, a mural really.... After looking at it, he realises it is the history of Earth all displayed in a vast spread of gaudy colors.

At the begining, Charles Darwin walks arm in arm with an ape in a wedding dress. Next to thta he sees a youthful Egyptian pharoh in mummy wrappings dancing in front of, according to the sign, the Radio City Museum of Unnatural History. Proceeding along he sees a masked cowboy on the back of a Tyrannosaurus, hot on the trail of a mustachioed man wearing a swastika. A fat man in red rides a sleigh pulled by eight red F-15s and is dropping assault rifles to King Arthur's knights so they can battle Gengis Kahn and the Yellow Peril. Yet further on, a powerful being in dark robes sits in a land of fire and industry(worked by elven slaves under the watchful eye of a Sky Furnace), is arguing with an elven queen holding a plasma rifle. Next is an immense fleet of battleships, flying under flags marked GDODAD, a bald man with a beard and a man in a red mask at the bow of the lead ship, the one in the mask is slumped over the rail, as soldiers all around have their heads bowed in respect. Next fleets of ships are seen in orbit, battling it out as thousands of nuclear bombs explode on the earth. Finally, at the end... the ape in it's tattered wedding dress squats over a charred plasma rifle.

Reil blinks. The mural didn't show just history. It showed his idea on how the world would end. He looked to the doors. Which to choose...

Comments:

A good read...although I wonder if a reference to the Epic Rp will be given. It definately degenerated the minds of those involved...for what they saw...and what they could have seen. That plus the death of his sister who he just got back in the Epic Rp...and the terrorist attacks...god knows what his mental state must be...

OOC: Probably no reference to the Epic RP. Only four people(still alive) know about it and Reil doesn't know that Larea knows about what happened. Larea knows the cover story about the deaths of Reil and Lara is a bunch of BS, but she doesn't know they were brought back because of the timelines being messed with.

Reil's mental state... f*cked up is a good approximation. He's never going to really recover, if he even comes out of this. I haven't decided yet.

One thing is for sure... that mural is going to be getting more significant.

OOC: Well...I tried :wink:

Anyhow...I hope you'll be back for Part 3 of the Warheit Saga...since you wouldn't know the full story of Part 1, the Epic RP, without it.

Reil chose a door. He opened the one to his left and found himself on a winding mounatin trail.

He looked down out and could see for miles. He looked down and could see a lake a thousand or so feet down. He smiled and started walking up the trail, arriving at a dirt road leading down the other direction and a cabin. Looking at it he saw a redheaded woman walk through the door....

Lara.

She ran up to him and smiled. "Have a good hike?"

"Uh yeah, I guess.... where are we?"

She smiles. "Wherever you want. Or wherever your mind takes you. Anywhere, anytime. It's all your in your mind."

Reil looks blankly at her. "But... how are you here?"

"I told you. All of this is in your mind. You put me here and that is part of the reason you are here in the first place. You won't let go of me."

"You are my siste-"

She interupts. "No. Lara was your sister. She is dead and I don't even exist in reality. Let go of her. Let her be dead and move on."

Reil woke up in the hospital bed. Larea was beside him in a chair, asleep. "Larea..."

Her eyes opened. "Huh? Oh. Reil. How are you feeling?"

Reil considered. "I feel... like talking."

bump

Over the next two weeks, Reil was tested and retested and finally released from the infirmary and instructed not to leave the palace. He did as he was told and contented himself with sitting on his balcony.

Larea stopped by everyday, talking with him and helping him through this. He didn't seem to be the way he was before Lara died, but he certainly wasn't the way he was two weeks before. The most promising thing is that he seems to have accepted Lara was dead and that he should let her be dead.

Larea slowly stopped coming over after a month, stopping by only on occasion. Reil missed her visits, they had offered comfort he needed to recover and compaionship he wanted instead of being alone. He put that aside and tried to stay out in the hallways, talking with staff and other officials in the break rooms about whatever.

One day, while walking through the main hall, he looked up at the wall opposite the main entrance. About fifty paintings hung there. It looked cold and museum like. He had always hated it, but never had an idea of what else to put there...

Until now.

bump

{british accent]Welcome to Masterpeice theater, todays selection is an excellent peice of rhetoric provided by talented writer, and accomplished author Crimmond/Baggera. In this story he gives a stunning display of Character Development with a national Leader who lost his sister to....some war. And in continues on to a point where he is forced to make a choice internaly as too how he must proceed with the Leadership of his nation.[/british accent]

Is that a good Comment? :lol:

Very much so. Nice touch with the rhetoric thing to. ;)

It was a terrorist attack that killed his sister, though. One using weapons from Baggera, as a matter of fact. Nothing proven though.

Very much so. Nice touch with the rhetoric thing to. ;)

Ah, thank you!

It was a terrorist attack that killed his sister.

Ah, I knew that!! **hits self in head repeatedly**

bump

Overnight the entire wall was cleared and a curtian and scafolding set up. The workers the next day were told that it was a project Reil had commisioned.

Reil looked at the wall. It was covered in white primer he had put up. He started on the background. A mixture of several different colors, spread in spirals and wide bands.

After a few days the background was done(OOC: It's a big wall.) and he had started on the main part. He worked from that one memory of the mural in his dream. He skecthed out the first quarter with a small brush and if one were to look, they would see a man and an ape, arm in arm. They would also see Reil, paint splattered on his jumpsuit and face. He worked in absolute silence, working long into the night on it, refusing to speak with anyone more than he needed to, eating only when forced and ordering the doctors to leave him be until he was done, which could be weeks. Larea had pleaded with him to little avail. He did take one test to prove his sanity and health, then went back to work.

Over the next month the mural became a reality. Reil had gone without sleep for at least 40 hours and without food for half that, working on the mural costantly. He put the last touch on Gengis Khan and stepped back, smiling.

He revealed it in a ceremony the next day....

At the begining, Charles Darwin walks arm in arm with an ape in a wedding dress. Proceeding along he sees a masked cowboy on the back of a Tyrannosaurus, hot on the trail of a mustachioed man wearing a swastika. A fat man in red rides a sleigh pulled by eight red F-15s and is dropping assault rifles to King Arthur's knights so they can battle Gengis Kahn and the Yellow Peril. Yet further on, a powerful being in dark robes sits in a land of fire and industry being worked by slaves under the watchful eye of what appears to be a Sky Furnace, and is arguing with an elven queen in brightly colored robes holding a plasma rifle. After that there is a city, a strange, deadly, fog rolling through it and a man that looked like Reil gripping his head in pain. Next is an immense fleet of battleships, flying under flags marked GDODAD, a bald man with a beard and a man in a red mask at the bow of the lead ship, the one in the mask is slumped over the rail, as soldiers all around have their heads bowed in respect. Then, the man that looks like Reil is shown, painting a miniture of the mural.

The mural ends here, only half way across the wall. "It is unfinished as history is unfinished. Time stops for no man and the events of the world will be recorded on these walls." he said in his speech.

With that, he walked off into the palace, intending to get some sleep. He ran into Larea before he got to his room though. "So... you still think I'm nuts?"

She smiles. "A little... but I don't think I'd want a perfectly sane ruler. They aren't any fun."

He laughs and reaches for the handle to his door, "Care for some tea?" he asks, like he always did.

Larea shakes her head. "No... but I'll come in anyway..." She kisses him softly and steps inside, pulling Reil in after her.

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Now we see the capital city again. The Plasma Pyramid glowing ever bright... the mountains with Fortress Skye. And our subject? I think he'll be just fine....

OOC: Story completed.

For now.

bump

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