February 2, 2107

  Castle

  War is a gold mine filled with opportunity. Those who know where to look shall have power beyond that most others see in a lifetime. And the smaller the scale, the less effort one needs to carve into that gold mine. While the war between the Alliance of Republic Worlds and Wersillian Legion unfolded on a galactic scale, the war between the species of allsungs was on less extreme scale, a scale that mattered, a more personal scale - civil war. And that’s where the insignificant story of an unimpressive species fighting over a barely habitable planet begins.

  While the Wersillian War plagues the galaxy with its all-consuming famine, many uninvolved species cower on the sidelines. Other species, like the allsungs, just try to ignore the galactic war altogether; instead, the allsungs spend their lives and resources on a civil war years in the making. They traded one war for another. This sad fact was no more apparent than on a minor planet called Xan’Ohmo. On this planet, the Allsung Monarchy and Allsung Socialists continued the fight that migrated with them from their home planet. The reason for that? A simple hope to mine one of the galaxy’s most expensive materials: Stardust. That metaphorical liquid gold is a key ingredient in intergalactic travel, making it a major asset to sell from whichever side can win this planet over the other. All the same, it is on this planet where opportunity lies for individuals smart enough to notice it. One of those individuals is Castle, hired by the Allsung Monarchy to help them beat the Allsung Socialists.

  “Today marks the day you will either succeed in this recruitment program or fail. Should you succeed, a spot in our monarchy army awaits you. Should you fail… other responsibilities will be given to you. I have set up a simulation designed to challenge each of you with situations you may face on the battlefield. Each enemy you will face in this simulation is a hologram. Your objective is to defend the flag from enemy attackers. If you are shot, the lights over your shoulders will blink red… meaning you have died in the simulation. Good luck,” the leader of the monarchy spoke over an intercom high over the gray gates of the simulation training building. This training build was nothing fancy on the outside; just bare. Though, it was built against a mountain; its rock stretched on each side of Castle, almost like railings leading to the entrance of the training building. Nothing past the gate leading into the building was visible.

  Castle stood outside the closed gate in the tundra with his two assigned squad members. This was the first time Castle had met these two allsungs. Like most individuals of the awful species that is the allsungs, these two are of an unimpressive height and strength; two legs, two arms, two eyes, the whole nine yards. Yet there is one attribute Castle acknowledges: They do have impressive resistance to the cold. That’s how they get by on this frozen hell of a planet. Even then, they’re always covered from head to toe in flexible armor. The only way to differentiate them is from the small modifications they make to their standard set of weather-resistant armor; small color changes or design flaws.

  Who are you?” one of the allsungs asked Castle. By her voice, Castle made out that she was female.

  Castle responded, “Ah… no, you’s two’s first. I wanna save the best for last.” Castle’s ego nearly blew both the allsungs off their feet. They looked at each other and laughed.

  The female answered, “Alright, hotshot, I’m Ivinage-Hoi Tyim-Jointhajon III.”

  Before the second one had a chance to respond, Castle stuck his finger on the second allsung’s mouthpiece. He looked back at the allsung that told Castle her name. “I cannot believe those pass as names on this planet. No, I’ll callyah Ivinage, ‘cause I’m not gonna remember the rest. Good?”

  “Whatever.” Ivinage sighed.

  Castle took his finger off the second allsung’s lips. “Now… you have the right to speak.”

  “I’m Frob-Guj Remse-Koallahoo,” he uttered. Frob carried a dumb exaggeration in his voice.

  “Okay, Frob and Ivinage, it is. I’m Castle, and I’ll call the shots here. Good?”

  Both looked at each other, then back at Castle. Ivinage wondered, “Umm, why should we take orders from an omelic? And on that topic, what is an omelic doing here anyway? This is our war.”

  Castle laughed. “I’m the type of character your leader brought in to spice up this little story of yours. See, your leader hired moi to help your cause, but she wants to see me in action before our deal is finalized. Any other dumb questions?”

  Both uttered, “No.”

  “Good, because them gates open in twenty seconds. And speaking of which, I don’t wanna continue this conversation in the middle of battle… actually, I take that back. If I’m kicking enough ass - and let’s be honest, I probably will - then I might spare some time to make fun of you’s two’s some more.”

  Castle tossed the test gun he was given into the snow, then pulled out a marked, black headband decorated with sigils and tied it around his knee, putting the final touches on his black and white cloth outfit: A belt-like black cloth around his left arm and a plethora of throwing knives along a utility belt around his waist, with more hidden throughout his body. Furthermore, there were stationary tattoos down the whole of his right arm and along his neck and shoulder. Spiky dyed black hair with a purple tint; his emerald eyes glowed with excitement.

  “Hey, why did you toss your weapon?” Ivinage asked.

  Castle gave him a smirk. “I won’t need it.” The gate burst open, and Castle dashed inside before the allsungs.

  Inside, the room was nothing. It was a cramped, white, empty space. Castle looked around, confused. “What the hell is this?”

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  “Ahhhh!” Frob howled as he charged in. He raised his weapon and, without looking, fired aimlessly at the white wall. “Die spi-terrors!”

  “Stop! STOP!” Castle yanked the weapon out of Frob’s hands. “Are you serious right now? I mean, come on… nobody is this dumb.”

  “Frob is.” Ivinage dragged her feet inside, slouching over slightly as she joined them.

  “He--” Castle rolled his eyes. He closed his hands over his mouth and bawled into the clearing they came from. “Are you guys playing a prank on me? You can’t honestly pair me up with this moron.” After there was no response, Castle handed Frob his weapon back, even though he didn’t feel comfort from this action.

  “Look.” Ivinage pointed to the ceiling. Castle glanced up in correspondence with Ivinage’s words. “Select two individuals to be your scouts,” Ivinage read.

  Castle mocked, “What dumbass puts instructions on the ceiling?”

  “Someone who reads backwards,” Frob answered.

  “What?” Castle looked at him like a frozen-over star. “No. No. I’m dreaming… I have to be. This guy can’t be real. He is a figment of my imagination…that’s it…he is a figment of my imagination. It must’ve been the disgusting food here. Oh boy, that has to be it!”

  Ivinage shrugged her shoulders. “I see him, too.”

  Castle dropped his hands. “Annndd there go my hopes down the drain.”

  Frob put his finger over his lips. “Shush! They might hear you,” he whispered to Castle.

  “Frob, it’s a simulation! They don’t hear!” Castle shouted. “How the actual living-mother does Frob here… even get this far?”

  “On this planet, everyone is involved in the war one way or another. It’s either that or death. And our side needs to win to survive, so the bar to get here is, ah… well, pretty low,” Ivinage answered. “So, maybe we should just pick our scouts and get this over with already. I want to lay down and take a day-long nap later.”

  “Fine, you two idiots are the scouts.” Castle pointed at both of them. As he spoke the words, a door left to the entrance slid open, revealing a rockface leading upward like a ramp. Beyond that, Castle couldn’t see anything. Ivinage led Frob inside.

  Castle swiped his finger over a strip of cloth on his wrist and opened a hologram. He selected his intercom. “What do you see?” Castle asked.

  “On a scale of one to ten, I’d say we’re royally boned!” Ivinage exclaimed.

  “What the hell kinda talk is that? Castle asked.

  “You know, we could always just call it quits.”

  “No! Just… just tell me what it looks like out there.”

  “They are surrounding the fortress we have to defend, ready to push in the moment the sim starts.”

  “Okay. Now fire at them as soon as I give the word. Can you dumbasses understand that?”

  “Yes. And we’re not dumbasses… oh… at least I’m not anyway,” Ivinage defended.

  A second door opened, and Castle bustled through. As he hastened into the fortress, he saw the flag in the middle of the floor. There were two pieces of cover inside the room he was in and only one entrance.

  Err-ring! Err-ring!

  An alarm started, and two hologram enemies busted open the front entrance. They were on him in an instant. Castle noticed them, too. Before they fired off their weapons, Castle tossed two throwing knives at both, hitting them in the head.

  He pumped his arm in celebration of himself. “I… am… the greatest!”

  The holograms faded away like leaves. They were created using hardlight technology, as was their weaponry.

  “Funny that a struggling army with barely any jemns can afford this high-tech room,” Castle snickered.

  He dashed out the open entrance and saw a ramp leading down to the fortress. Along the left and right of him was a pathway full of cover and weapons to choose from, and above him he saw Frob and Ivinage, at the ready. Hologram enemies become aware of their presence and came at them hard.

  “Now!” Castle yelled up to them.

  Frob grabbed hold of a turret and fired recklessly at the clearing, hitting mostly rocks. Ivinage took behind a cover and supported Frob.

  Castle took the opportunity to dash straight towards the enemy. In seconds, all the hologram foes fired weapons at him. The steaming hardlight shells left a trail of radiant light as they closed in on Castle. He smiled, and a dark purple field of energy jumped off his body.

  Each plasma bullet was blocked centimeters in front of Castle, and he coasted towards the guards unharmed. Castle wondered what the spectators were thinking as they saw this seemly impossible feat play out before their eyes.

  This omelic is unbelievable. He’s a gift from the gods. Castle chuckled at his own egocentric thoughts.

  From behind him, Frob and Ivinage shot their plasma weapons at the guards, taking some out – and that was when Castle stopped screwing around. He motioned his hand at one guard, and it perished from a blast of Castle’s aura field. He did the same until all the guards were wiped out, fading away like the strings of code they were.

  “I got the rest under control. You’s two’s just wait for me at our starting position,” Castle commanded over the comms.

  Castle jogged deeper into enemy lines. From behind, a guard tried to knife him, but the knife was stopped centimeters away from Castle’s back. Castle spun and flicked his hand, and his field smacked the guard into a rock and crushed him. Castle proceeded to rain hell over the remaining video-game-inspired enemies, all high and mighty.

  Outside, in the snow-covered plain, he was welcomed by well-deserved claps and cheers. Many more individuals had gathered around to congratulate him, which only fed Castle’s ego.

  He downplayed the cheers. “Guys. Guys. I couldn’t have done it without Fritz and Frat over there.”

  He gestured to his teammates. Frob had no clue what was happening, and Ivinage stared back at Castle with jealousy.

  Castle smirked at the envious Ivinage. “What was that you say… a lie? Correct-a-moon-doe, it is a lie! I definitely could have done this without those two.”

  The leader stepped out from the crowd. “Okay. That’s enough, guys. Go back to your stations. I want to speak with Castle alone.”

  The crowd disbanded, and the impudent Castle and leader were left alone.

  “Am I in trouble, Evwei?” Castle teased the leader.

  She laughed. “No. That was great. You broke the training simulation record. I couldn’t be more excited about hiring you for our cause.”

  Castle grinned and winked. “I don’t work for free.”

  “We will pay you handsomely. How does ten thousand jemns a mission sound?”

  “Uh… possibly.” Castle played coy, just to be an asshole.

  “Ten and a half?”

  “Deal.” Castle reached out his hand, and they both shook.

  “I want to know something first,” said Evwei.

  “That would beee--?”

  “How did you do it? First there was nothing, then suddenly you have some kind of mist blocking everything. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Castle boasted, “I’m an ace. Gotta handy-dandy aura field around me. It protects me and listens to my commands. It’s like a glorious, wonderful extension of my body.”

  Evwei continued. “Well, I’ll be damned. You will make one hell of an asset against the Allsung Socialists.”

  Castle flicked his finger at her. “You… are a hundred percent right. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  Castle jogged down the snow-covered hill leading away from the mountain. He kept moving until he was at the edge of the camp, an unsettlingly quiet part of the camp. His breath was visible in front of his face, and his body shivered at each gust of wind. If it weren’t for the God-given clothes he wore, he would already be a block of ice - and for somebody as interesting as he was, he couldn’t allow such a disservice.

  “Boy, why did it have to be here? Like… of all the places in the galaxy--” Castle complained to himself.

  Down a ways, following that same mountain as before, he found a secluded area between some massive, snow-covered boulders. He wiggled his way into the miniature cave and glanced around. After he noted that nobody was present, he made a call.

  “Control, I’m in.”