Clouds of Tyranny

  The Returners

  PROLOGUE

  In the year 2084, the United States of America elected its first and last female president in history, 37-year-old Rebecca Brahm who was born and raised in the small town of Carlsbad, California. She grew up akin to a mother employed by the police force and a rusty construction worker for a father, who died when Rebecca was 17 making her valedictorianship in high school bittersweet. In college she majored in business politics with a minor in law, graduating at the top of her class of 13,000 at Harvard at the age of 24. She would spend the next decade or so working with the college as a liaison with new acceptances of the college. At age 35, she joined the board of trustees being their youngest member in history as well as quietly planning her presidential campaign the following year. She didn’t seem to want anyone to know about this considering all the failed campaigns of women over the past seventy-five years. However, on Election Day in 2084 she prevailed in her life-long quest of being the country’s first female president. She would go on to serve four consecutive terms as the President of the United States.

  Upon President Brahm’s death in 2117, a town was constructed in the desolate deserts of Arizona aptly named Brahm. At the town’s dedication a bill was passed; a bill that made it unlawful for any male official to be elected into any authority position within the town limits. The natives of neighboring towns called this segregated town “No man’s land.”

  In the year 2110, Russia threatened the United States of America and Europe with talk of a weapon of unimaginable power and destruction. They are not taken seriously by the United Nations or America for that matter. This angers Russia; so they display their power in the most vulgar way possible: they drop this “ORB”, as they call it (Omniscient Ruining Blast) in the center of Australia. This causes a blindingly bright beam of green light to shoot into the atmosphere, parting the clouds, and destroying every living thing on the continent. The continent itself broke into a dozen small islands and peninsulas that would not settle or be made livable for 500 years. The result from this “demonstration” was a total surrender of the Asian countries to Russia and the renaming of Asia to Sovietopia.

  In the year 2115, the first human clone is created in Switzerland by a team of scientists. The clone was physically flawless but behind the eyes was a different story, it was hostile and violent. Not five minutes after opening it’s eyes it began to attack the scientists, digging its nails into their throats and pulling out the jugular veins of the first three. Then the accelerated learning of the copied brain discovered that a scalpel could do harm to living things. It went on to kill 13 scientists, the last of which actually had his head completely removed and the clone was carrying it around with him as he released his volatile personality on the good people out in the street. It managed to end the lives of 22 civilians and a police officer (bashing one to death with the decapitated head) before being shot to death by the police force. Switzerland was then forced to sign an agreement that they would suspend and disband all scientific research and projects dedicated to cloning of any type.

  In the year 2120, the United Nations, with the exclusion of Sovietopia, made an agreement that it would be for the greater good to simply eliminate their enemy by force rather than have another Nazi power on their hands. Thus, World War 3 began and went on to last for 25 years on every continent killing nearly a fifth of the planet’s humans. Finally, the United States of America had had enough and thought it best to simply drop a few dozen nukes on Sovietopia and end the third world war once and for all. After everything calmed down, the United Nations sat down and discussed the future of Earth and they decided that a worldwide police force was needed to keep everyone in line, much like Interpol but more severe. While the local police officers would handle crimes and rights, the world police would enforce laws by politicians and government officials. Corruption would be dealt with by way of severe punishment of instant execution. Extreme but affective and no one complained.

  In the year 2134, in the midst of WW3, America accomplished what Europeans could not; they had cloned a perfect replica of a very prestigious scientist by the name of Walt Merler. The replica matched him in everyway: intelligence, personality, and looks, it even had his memory up to the second the “real” Walt Merler was put under with gas. Within three years it had become a business and everyone with relatives in the war had been applying for a clone (the application process was arduous and aggravating). By the end of the war, there were over one million clones out in the world somewhere. This is when they discover something “extra” on their first clone, which had spent the last decade working as a scientist in the stead of the now retired Walt Merler. The “extra” can only be described as “magick” and the ability can be passed to their kin. However, only the female can pass it to the child growing inside them and if the child is female themselves the power is intensified (even more so if the father was “gifted” as well.) Since the war had ended and there was now a world police they began to hunt down these clones after a few became evil and vengeful, the worst case they saw was a man that got laid off from a packing company and got drunk and found his boss and melted his flesh and organs till all was left was bones and a brain. The world police would continue to hunt these “gifted” people for the twelve years following World War 3 till Earth had a NEW crisis on its hands.

  In the year 2257, Eduardo Villalobos discovered something through his telescope; he spots a meteor, which is incomplete. The confirmation of its incompletion was founded that the cause was its collision with Neptune on it’s way to Earth. Within weeks of reporting this to Nasa, they discover that there are several shards that are inexplicitly headed directly towards our planet. Scientists gather that one of the shards (the smallest of them) will collide with Earth’s surface: it will strike Canada on October 15th, 2264. Every country has it’s own plan to preserve their inhabitants and their way of life. Japan and China planned to build an indestructible dome over their countries where they would house their civilians, elected officials, and animals for consumption as well as breeding. America planned on a subterranean cavern under the surface much like a movie that had been made a century earlier; in fact other countries joked that it was typical of Americans to take fiction and try and apply it to real life, that and it wasn’t very original. France and England set sail for Antarctica seeing as how it was the furthest from the expected collision point. Africa didn’t make any plans whatsoever with the rationalization that God would protect them and that the strong will survive. South America began construction on a 500-foot wall around their continent to shield them from debris and tidal waves. Canada, being the assumed ground zero point, simply just built bomb shelters and stocked up on supplies to get them by. Canada treated it more like Y2K instead of the biggest disaster the world has ever seen.

  In the year 2264, the day finally came nobody’s solution went according to plan and planet Earth lost over ninety-five percent of its population. China/Japan’s dome worked flawlessly, but they miscalculated the date at which they could exit the dome and continue life. For when they opened the hatch and peeked their heads out, the vile and poisonous air killed two-thirds on contact and sickened the rest for several weeks till almost every last person dropped dead. America had the opposing problem, the foundation of the surface above them simply did not hold and all the people of U.S.A. were crushed to death with the exception of minimal survivors, but they had plenty of food and water. France and England did the best of everyone. However, they didn’t quite realize that they weren’t ready for this type of cold. About half died from the blistering cold and the predators that lurked around them. Africa’s surface was wiped clean from the immense waves that the meteor generated, not even a single tree still stood. South America’s “Wall” w
as an intelligent concept but just not sturdy enough; debris and water ripped through it like a katana through a flag. Once again, their population was cut in half just like France and England. Finally, Canada, the humongous populated metropolis was now a baron wastelands like the worlds biggest blank canvas. The “Neptunian Collide” was God’s way of letting us start over, many people believed. People stayed away from the Earth’s surface for many decades before finally emerging and started rebuilding. The few survivors knew they were back in the stone age; they would have to build homes, try to make their own medicine, and hunt their food. Luckily books explaining the past thousand years of life still existed. Only the fit and resilient survived. Over the years mutations occurred in humans and animals. With humans it affected their brains making them either incredibly incoherent or maliciously violent, the latter were killed and burned on sight by the ‘able-minded’, as they deemed themselves. Animals hadn’t really mutated, just evolved one might say, they increased in size or grew wings or merged with another being. For example, you might see a wolf bigger than a pickup truck or a flying monitor lizard or a large cat with spikes and tusks. Hundreds of years would pass before things resembled livable again.

  In the year 2524, the ‘Neptunian Collide’ was a distant memory and the earth resembled that of the historical 1200’s complete with carriages, candlelit huts, swordplay, and kingdoms with castles; the only difference was gunpowder. The ancestors of their founders ran the small towns and the large kingdoms had kings, stewards, or emperors to govern over all. Soon, a national army was born calling themselves the Empire, who situated in central Asia. They would police and negotiate between neighboring kingdoms over property disputes and trade offerings. The Empire was respected and liked by all because their master, Emperor Gerard the first, who was a very generous and loving man.

  In the year 2604, Emperor Francisco Gerard passes away, leaving rule of his kingdom and his Empire to his eldest son, Francisco Gerard the second. The people would not have to wait to see the vast differences from father and son, Francisco had a black heart filled with hate, many would argue that he killed his father before he finished his will, which many believed would give rule to his adopted son Ralph Germ. Soon, people were being executed for petty crimes such as theft and nobody in the large kingdoms interacted with those of neighboring kingdoms and communities. Segregation reigned supreme and trust did not exist within Europe and Asia.

  In the year 2615, the kingdoms of Velxeer and Durma waged war over land and “rights”. The entire world fears the Empire much like the dictators of stories from the past; Kahn, Hussein, Hitler, etc. Rumors flew through the towns of fatalities within the Empire; someone seems to be killing them off, but whom, everyone wondered. Soon the rumors got more heated with talk of a group or rebels that vow to never again idly stand by while the corrupt Imperials rape, slit throats, and ruin the once good lives of the honest people of the continent.

  In the year 2621, the Empire began seeking information on a “spellcaster” to use to their advantage, most likely to do more evil. The rebel group feels it is time to make their presence known to the world in an effort to give peace and hope to all the peoples that have been hurt and persecuted against. After seventeen years they show themselves with a sign of a blue bandana and a name…THE RETURNERS!

  The Returners

  By: John Robert Pond

  Chapter 1: The coal-mining town of Sangrohl

  Run, Run, Run! she kept screaming it in her brain to herself, If you want to live you’ll run like you’ve never ran before…RUN! The trees, although several yards from one another, seem to fly by like a picket fence of thick wood as she ran for her life, literally. She ignored the dangers of the thorny branches and prickly sticks as she raced along the forest. Her legs were scratched, her left cheek suffered a deep gash just under her left eye, she cringed as she kept up the pace to escape the threat of death. She ran faster and faster despite that she was already exhausted; sweat dripped down her forehead, burning her eyes and the stinky juice soaking her cheeks. Her bare feet ached as their bridges were stabbed by jagged rocks and her heels were coated with dried mud that felt like clay. She dared not look back for she had seen them when they began chasing her: five of them with rifles and dress daggers showed up at her home. Something inside of her said to flee, a voice she could not explain, it scared her but she heeded its warning; a sign that would save her life. She had always been an agile young girl and the babbling creek was ahead and she knew she could clear it with a single leap. She could see it quickly approaching signaling her to pick up the pace and… “Ahhh!” A piranha flew out of the water and slipped through her silky hair. The creek was known for its seldom piranha every so often;

  “Just my luck,” she said aloud as her legs instinctively slid out from under her and she slid feet first along the moist dirt shoring the creek. She wanted to spring to her feet, but was too exhausted and just stared into the sky at the sunset’s fire piercing through the leaves causing her vision to blur. Her spirit was diminishing; she was caught…maybe doomed to die by these imperial soldiers whom she had only heard about. She breathed heavily as she heard the men approach, too many footsteps to count, and began to tear: the water filling her lashes as she wondered what would become of her; nineteen and doomed to die. “Ugh!” not thirty feet from where she was she could hear a large thump on the ground, maybe a body, then a series of moans, grunts, and gunfire. She rolled onto her side and looked toward the shadow-covered ground beneath the towering oak trees and saw the last thing she expected. From the darkness emerged a soldier, a soldier crawling for his life, as the oak’s shadow passed his head she could see him holding his throat, but the blood flow pouring from his jugular was too much for him to contain; he was doomed. She had caught her breath, yet her heart beat even harder than at the height of her dash for life. She could faintly hear a single set of footsteps; it was either one-hundred feet way or he was light-footed, then she saw the man who was obviously not with the corrupt and tyrannical Empire, much too dirty. He emerged from the shadows: six feet tall (with boots on), dark brown hair coming down past his ear lobes, dark, narrow eyes, and slight scruff coating his jaw from left ear to right. His attire was gray cargo-pants with extra thick patches on the knees for durability, a vest with five palm-sized pockets (three on the left and two on the right), wrist and knuckle guards on both hands to protect against broken fingers, and a blue bandana holding his hair from his eyes, but she had seen (or heard) of the blue bandana. He stood there looking at her in the eye, but all her focus was on his arms: to his side a medium-sized sword and throwing daggers scattered from head to toe. She couldn’t move, not that it would do any good, and her breathing seemed to stop. “Name?” he said, his voice was stern and tough but not loud by any means, he gave off a very docile aura; he was in control. At that moment he appeared as an alpha wolf; quiet and reserved until it was time for action. “Speak! I wont hurt you…unless I have to,” he yelled across the fifteen yards separating them as he tightened his fingers around the sword on his left side with his right hand. “T-t-t-terra. I’m not armed.” He walked closer to her, “From what I hear, you are always armed.” She sat on her butt with legs flat on the dirty ground and her hands up in a surrendering way, “No, please?” He could see the submission in her eyes, the desperation emanating from her body, and eased his grip on his blade as he looked at her. She was a docile girl, not more than nineteen with a red ribbon in her long silky brown hair with green highlights, white tank top, and parsley green skirt draping down to her knees. She looked innocent, nothing like what he had heard of her, especially with her gold anklet of angels holding hands around her right ankle. “Stand!” said the man and she complied, rising to her feet as she smoothed the skirt’s end so it glided down to the ankles now (a modest young woman). She now stood there with the fear of God in her eyes, “Well?” she said shivering at him. “I’m here to save you. I just like to be on my guard no matter what? I’m Locke, I represent the Return
ers and we should probably go.” “Returners?” she retorted, she had heard very little about his group, just that they were rebels to the Empire. He stood there scanning her up and down: if it weren’t for the intense look it would appear to be sexual desire, but he was simply being cautious. “Well?” said Lock She stammered a bit and replied, “Oh, sorry…Locke. I am Terra…Terra Bordague. A pleasure…I guess.” He nodded partially and urged her, “We should really go!” She looked around, “Where?” “I have a safe house in Sangrohl, follow me, don’t stray.” He began walking without her. She followed, though she did not know why, he was definitely scary but he could protect her and she had no one else to take on that task.

  Locke ventured through the trees pushing branches from his path not looking back to see if Terra was clearing them as well. Finally, after two hours of traversing the forest, they reached the green field leading to their destination; the coal-mining town of Sangrohl Locke stood there looking toward the sunset in the west, too bad we’re going west, he thought. After several seconds Terra staggered out to Locke, tripping over a log as he caught her from falling to the grass by catching her by the waist. She straightened herself up and now her natural height was obvious; they’d be of equal height if not for Locke’s tall combat boots. Without looking at her he pointed north and said, “Sangrohl, that’s where were headed, I’d say a good-“ “ Thirty minutes,” Terra interrupted as she looked up at him. “Funny, you don’t seem like that would be a often visiting sight for you.” She sneered at him, seeing it as an insult, “Never been there, but I know it’s up there.” He glowingly said, “Ah.” He knew it, she was a bit damaged; like he had her pegged, just because she’s a young girl doesn’t mean she’s weak. She speed walked north past Locke, “Comin?” she said without looking back.