Chapter 5-8: Queen's Gambit - Rushing Through the Past

Paul- United Human Faction- Night 49

            The first twenty items in the box were folders from long before they had even created the Institute for a United Humanity. They held essays, drawings, and even postcards on which they had written about the “self-imposed downfall” of their nation. Back then they had loved their lives. Everything was a joke.

            Paul could trace the revolution back to one document, though. It was an essay from Julian’s freshman year in college. He had always been an expert at giving teachers what they wanted in essays, but not in the one Paul held in his hand. It was covered in red marks, with a massive critique written above the title.

This is not an ESSAY; this is a RANT

            Paul smiled. Julian had been the last to take the movement seriously, but  he had always been the most passionate of them all.

            The next page wiped the smile from his face. It was a printout of the homepage of the IUH website, but the banner read “United Human Faction.” Paul knew Karen had been the one to come up with the new name, but he didn’t realize that the name had been written two years before their first actions.

            He crumpled the paper, and moved on to the next document, and the next, and the next. He watched their innocent experiment turn into a secret society, then a private army. All their emotions, all their secrets, poured into a cardboard box. They made the creature out of their fear and hatred.

            The name of the site changed officially when he enlisted Thomas.

5-7: Queen's Gambit - The Prossession

Jeremy- United States Senate- Night 49

            Memorial Tower could never be seen in its entirety. From every angle, some part of the massive structure was invisible. There was always a building, a hillside, even a thoughtfully placed angle of the structure itself blocking off a series of windows. From the top of the parking garage, the peak was completely invisible. For all the pair knew, the building could have been left without the top sixty floors. Jeremy counted only thirteen rows of windows.

            John pulled his backpack out of the pickup truck and began loading it with everything he wanted to save. Jeremy watched carefully as the bag was filled. Three bottles of water, protein bars, a first aid kit; all were essentials. The one item Jeremy noticed out of place was a battered address book. Even as John pulled it out of the truck, pages fell out and joined the lost thoughts littering the concrete. John’s pistol was noticeably absent. He didn’t want any killing in the coming hours.

            Jeremy waited for his partner to pass by before taking it for himself. A weapon may not be necessary, but it felt good to be back in control. Jeremy almost felt like himself again.

            The two behaved as they always would have on the streets of any other city. They had someplace to go, and they took no detours. Where they might think an action was careful, someone living on the streets may notice an oddity. Oddities were not welcome near the headquarters of the Faction. One wrong move would have them caught. They had someplace to go. They were going to arrive quietly.

            John led them into the building, then straight to the elevator. Jeremy stared down the receptionist.

            “I’m not suspicious, I’m just walking through,” he whispered under his breath, willing the woman to think the same.

            A phone call pulled away her attention just in time for John to pull his comrade into the elevator. The doors closed, and the veteran faced the massive list of numbers before him. Jeremy reached past without hesitating, lighting the bold 14 with a dull yellow glow.

            “Do you see a thirteen on that list?” Jeremy asked.

            John scanned the first row of numbers and shook his head.

            “You can’t get rid of something just by hiding it,” Jeremy said, looking John in the eyes. “It’s always there. You can’t hide it behind a mask or a coat. You can control everything if you're willing to admit that.”

            The door opened, and Jeremy immediately left the confined space. John stayed in the elevator, his hand on the pocket holding the battered phonebook.

            “Feeling lucky?” Jeremy asked, slowly opening the first door to their right.

5-6: Queen's Gambit - The Parade

Julian- United Human Faction- Night 49

            Julian felt like he was leading a child into the Memorial Tower. Richard was amazed by everything. The Faction Flags, the bright white and red of the desks and offices, even a simple adjustment of the mask brought gasps of joy from the disturbed man. Part of Julian wanted to end the parade, but without the theatrics, he could never bring the events of the night to the same scale. Richard already saw the mask as a holy image. He couldn't imagine wearing so holy an item himself, but that would change.

            “Julian, where are we going?” Richard finally managed to ask.

            “The proper time,” replied the Masked Man.

            Richard nodded and lowered his chin. Julian was both ashamed and disgusted by the display. He was becoming the creature he had set out to kill, but the urge to continue was too strong. He led Richard into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor.

            “We’re entering the stronghold,” he said, his voice becoming a growl not unlike that of the voice-changers Sharon had recommended.

            Richard continued to walk in single file behind Julian until they reached the door to the mock server room. Paul managed the real servers in their hotel, but his friend's messy pad couldn’t produce any aura of power. Even Karen couldn’t make a real computer look foreboding, but Julian could stand in the center of this room and fulfill even Richard’s expectations.

            “Appearances are everything,” Karen had told him once. “If you don’t look the part, no one will believe you when you tell them who you are.”

            Julian turned on his heels, directing the oppressive attention of the mask onto the small man in the doorway.

            “Welcome to the heart of the revolution.”

Chapter 5-5: Queen's Gambit - A Change in the Darkness

Sharon- United Human Faction- Night 49

            The pitch black was unnerving. Sharon not only experienced the fear herself. She could feel it in everyone around her. The calm before the storm was more frightening to her than the storm itself would be. Sharon was never frightened by action, but the act of sitting inside a barely-armored sailboat, at the mercy of both the elements and her foes terrified her.

            A soldier grabbed her shoulder and whispered, “We’ll get off this boat. I don’t know what will happen after that, but we’ll get off this boat.”

            Just after he pulled back his hand, the fighters launching from Anning’s carrier became audible. The roar of the jets mixed with the sound of alarm bells on every vessel large enough to carry one. Some of the sailboats even rang their bells. Anning called out to all of his forces, including the sailboat holding Sharon’s team, on the radio.

            “The CLA claims it feels no fear,” he yelled over the wireless, “they say they are the pure will of their puppeteers back in China. But what they don’t know is that we have our own pure will. We have the will push them out of our nation. We have the will to break their bones, and send them dragging their fallen comrades back their own continent. They feel no fear because they have never had anything worth fearing. But tonight, we’ll give them something to fear. Good hunting.”

            A resounding cheer erupted from the fleet. Uniformed or not, the men of the Faction were united in their goal. They would not rest until the Chinese were pushed back to their homeland, or every last Faction member was dead. The Plan demanded that China be kept occupied overseas until the Faction could cut a foothold into the Chinese West, but she could ignore the long-term if it kept her men safe. Sharon hoped they could achieve quick and painless victory. For the first time, she hoped her plan would fail.

Chapter 5-4: Queen's Gambit - Paul's Surrender

Paul- United Human Faction- Night 49

            The last memories Paul kept were scars. The cuts running in every direction across his arm, the hideous discoloration of his shoulder, the burn still healing on his neck, all were remembered in vivid detail. Where his subconscious would have pushed every moment out of reach, Paul's guilt kept every second close to his heart.

            No other memory compared to the scars left by the friends he had known before. His best friend, Julian, now walked the streets with neither a face nor a soul. Sharon was prepared to give her life, and the life of all those around her, in the name of an idea she had never believed in before. Thomas had retreated into the submission he had so long condemned. Karen chose to leave.He was left behind.

            Paul opened the safe he kept underneath the bed in his home. Inside was an unlabeled package. The cardboard was warped by the relentless California fog, and the tape was beginning to peel off, but the he knew the contents would be safe.

            Paul carefully sliced the tape on the top of the box off, and revealed a massive pile of file folders. There was a single note lying on the top of the stack, scratched out in red ink.

            It read, “Take out the papers one at a time. Don’t look inside until they are all gone.”

            Paul smiled. Karen had always been more theatrical than he could stand. The night he had met her, she faked an elaborate conflict to earn his attention. He ignored her for days just to prove a point, but he never lasted alone for long. Tonight, he thought, he would give in one last time.

Chapter 5-3: Queen's Gambit - An Audience with a God

Richard- United Human Faction- Night 49

            Richard made his way through the crowded streets of the city, completely ignoring his surroundings. Everything but the destination was a blur to him. Even with his experience, Richard had never been forced to deal with travel in this kind of an environment. In the run-down gang territories, there were no guards qualified to oppose him, there was no watchtower to recognize his face. San Francisco was different. The orders to corrupt his name had originated not in John's head, but in this city. The plan came from behind the security cameras and black glasses which dominated every street corner. The idea of being discovered terrified him. The Faction was his holy director. If he could not fight in its name, there was no place for him to retreat.

            “Agent Campbell. That’s a good name. You should use it more often,” it said.

            Richard turned immediately, and was shocked by what he saw. A thin man stood before him, arms crossed behind his back. The people walking by all turned to acknowledge his presence, marked by his stark black hair and the brilliant white mask covering his face.

            “Julian,” Richard gasped, barely audible.

            “Do not look at me like I am your god. If I died, a thousand others could take my place. We all wear a mask, I just choose to make mine less complex than yours. Never forget that,” the Masked Man growled.

            Richard was speechless. He had dreamed of coming face to face with the leader of his revolution hundreds of times, but never believed he would actually be able to experience the twisted fantasy. The man standing humbly on the sidewalk was his superior, whether the voice behind the mask would admit it or not.

            “You would follow me to the end of the Earth, wouldn’t you?” the Masked Man asked.

            Richard only stared in awe.

            “The question is, would you lead the way,” the man said, extending his upturned hand.

           Richard looked through the mask at the cold, dark eyes of the so-called vigilante mastermind. For the first time, he saw his leader as a human being. The Mask had always been the one giving the orders, not the disgruntled valedictorian who wore it. For the first time, he saw a weakness in the Masked Man, and that weakness was the man.

Chapter 5-2: Queen's Gambit - Toward San Francisco

John- United Human Faction- Day 49

            John and Jeremy arrived in San Francisco only minutes before sunset. The city was darker than he had remembered. Even after the Korean bombings, the city hadn’t lost its light. Now, though, it was a different place. This was not “Frisco,” where a sailor and his buddies could have a party on shore leave. This city was the heart of a revolution, and it was dying under the influence of the whole.

            “Where do your loyalties lie, John?” asked Jeremy, watching the skyline.

            “I’m not sure,” was the solemn answer.

            “We’ll find out soon enough. Our destination is the Memorial Tower. We’ll find the Masked Man there. Until then, you don’t have to decide anything.”

            John turned onto the Golden Gate Bridge, prepared to face his own decisions in the center of the revolution. John knew Richard was planning revenge. His partner always was, and always would be.

5-1: Queen's Gambit - The Last Green Flash

Sharon- United Human Faction- Night 49

            The Combined Faction Navy prepared for full assault on the Chinese in Hawaii. The situation was far worse than anyone had anticipated. Anning hid his fear under a cloak of protocol and kept his men occupied with constant drilling.  San Francisco's Admiral watched for the green flash each night, memorizing the radio cues given to him by his more experienced counterpart. Sharon regretted the decision to only bring two units from the mainland. While the crews of her escort ships would be able to hold their own, they didn’t have the experience of those who had seen combat in the central states. She wouldn’t be able to control the battle with so few men. The Chinese had the upper hand.

            On the fourth day of drilling, the an enemy drone spotted one of Anning’s reconnaissance boats. The Faction would still be able to strike first, but the decision of when to strike was decided by fate. They would attack within the following ten hours, or they would lose the war.

            "Everyone needs to be ready in two hours. We're taking the western islands immediately to cut off the enemy supply convoys, and after that we'll need to count on a civilian revolt on the Big Island," Sharon muttered over the map spread across the USS Gerald R. Ford's CIC, talking more for her own sake than for the officers'.

           "There's no way to know what will happen within the civilian population," Anning interjected. "Who exactly brings a gun to their honeymoon? This is a vacation spot, not a militia training ground. Hawaii wouldn't have involved itself at all had the Chinese not arrived. We need to rely on solid tactics, not luck."

           "Yeah, and I bet you would have said the Faction was just a bunch of kids with hockey pads if we hadn't shut down half the country right underneath your nose, eh?" yelled one of the Faction captains.

          "Show some respect. You don't stand a chance against Miyamoto's fleet without this ship's support," said one of Anning's sailors, standing and turning from his post.

          "Miyamoto. That's a Jap name, right? Sure seems like there're a lot of turncoats in these seas, don't it?" the young captain spat, turning to Sharon and leaving the room.

          "Excuse our men's rudeness," apologized the Faction Admiral. "We've all seen a lot back home. This isn't a clean war."

          The captain's words struck Sharon first with doubt, but then with inspiration. There was no chance of her forces fighting Anning's once they engaged the Chinese, but perhaps one of the enemy could be swayed. Japan had been brutally crushed by the Koreans while America refused to fight, but the humiliation of Chinese rule outweighed America's sloth. They didn't stand a chance in extended conflict. She would have to rely on luck and just a pinch of political psychology.

Chapter 4-8: Trading Game - Situation Report

United Human Faction- Day 40

            Long Beach Harbor was filled to its limits by the Faction’s Navy. Every form of civilian ship would be joining Sharon and the Admiral on their trip to Hawaii. Vessels covered in heavy plating and brimming with weapons seemed the norm; only those boats incapable of making the journey across the ocean were left unarmed. There were yachts with sheet metal covering the bows, ready to ram and sink Chinese vessels. Larger sailboats were armed with machineguns, while their smaller counterparts were pained blue to blend in with the sea and sky. The Faction’s largest assets were large cargo ships left behind by Chinese and Indian industries. The behemoths were covered with metal plating and many had massive artillery emplacements bolted to the deck.

            The backbone of the Faction Navy, however, was the fleet returning from India. The former US Admiral Anning had defected within days of the first attack, but it had taken over a month for him to sneak his forces through Chinese waters.

            Sharon, taking command of the new “Faction Overseas Network,” split the forces in the harbor into two distinct forces. Her Admiral’s forces, as well as five shipping vessels and one carrier from the south, would serve as the Northern Offensive Navy. Admiral Anning would take charge of the majority of his forces, as well as the modified ships from Long Beach and the surrounding ports, to form the Southern Offensive Navy.

            The two Navies cast off forty-two days after the mass abduction. They would not stop until they reached their destination.