Leon surveyed the area quickly and called the rest of the team ahead. They had been walking for an hour now, with Leon leading as the point man. Leon took a minute to relax, removing his helmet and scratching his spikey hair, as the rest of the team moved forward. He had joined the TITAN unit a year before, hoping to see some action. To this point, he had only been on search and rescue missions, and uneventful ones at that. This element of danger was a breath of fresh air to him. He turned just in time to see Leander making his way over a small ledge, with Raynor close behind. The rest of the team came shortly, and they took a moment to rest. "How much further to the reactor?" Leon asked as he sat the helmet back on his head. "Not far; about a mile and a half. I sent the guide back to the town, so we'll have to find our own way from here," replied Leander, carefully checking his equipment. Leon thought it over, then shrugged as he adjusted the broad sword attached to his back. "Well, lets get a move on then. I want to get this over with and head home." Raynor pulled a pair of binoculars from his satchel and began to survey the area. No sign of the rebels, but the reactor was dead north. "Ok, I got a visual of the reactor. We'll have to get past that ledge to reach it though. There's a valley a little bit to the east that we wouldn't have any trouble passing. That would be our best bet." Raynor handed the binoculars to Leander. Leander took a close look at the valley and the surrounding cliff area. "No. The valley is a perfect spot for an ambush." Leander lowered the binoculars, rolling the situation over in his head. "We'll stick to the cliff. If I'm right, that's where the rebels will be hiding."

After a fifteen minute climb, the team finally arrived at the ledge that Raynor had spoke of earlier. It was just as Leander had predicted. There had been five rebels hidden among the cliffs, watching the valley. The team had made short work of them, but Leander knew that it wasn't over yet. The team began to scale down the cliff edge, and finally reached the bottom. "Ok, it's a straight shot from here. Another five minutes, and we'll be at the reactor," stated Leon as the last team member reached the bottom. The team moved in unison, covering all points of view, watching for an ambush. Nearing the edge of the reactor, Leon motioned the team down. "What is it?" Leander asked. "Found em. At least twenty men; look like militia. All carrying semi-autos. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I think we should play it safe." Leander nodded, and motioned to Raynor. "Take your squad up the middle, and engage the rebels. Leon and I will cover you and take care of any stragglers." Raynor glanced at Leander, then turned his attention back to the rebels. "Got it. Okay guys, follow me. Watch your flanks."

The squad made their way up the middle valley and began to fire on the rebels. The rebels returned fire and quickly swarmed for cover. Raynor motioned his squad to split into two teams, each team taking up a flank and working their way around the enemy. Leon worked his way up the right path, engaging three rebels along the way. The battle raged for minutes, then came to a bloody halt as the last rebel fell. Leon ran to meet the team in front of the reactor, and was surprised when Leander did not join them. "Where's Leander?" questioned Grace, as she looked around the area. "I dunno...stay here, I'm gonna take a look." Leon sprinted to a hill on his left and quickly disappeared.

Leander whipped his sword around as the rebels rushed him. He had been right about the ambush; thirty rebels wielding short swords and stun sticks poured in on him from every direction. Leander's motions were as elegant as they were graceful, as he quickly demolished the raiders. Watching as the last of the rebels fell, Leander twirled his elegant blade around, preparing for more attacks. One lone rebel stood against Leander, a look of extreme terror rounding his bony face, along with an unsettling smirk. Leander stepped closer to the rebel, ready to strike. The rebel fell to his knees, glaring up at Leander's blade, then directly into his eyes. "You've been blinded by them...can't you see? They don't care about any of you! Your just a puppet!" Leander felt an extreme rage inside of him, one that he could not explain. He circled the blade, slicing through the air, ending the life of the lone rebel. He pulled the sword back, his emotions racing. What did he mean by that? Leander wondered to himself as he looked in awe at the blood soaked blade in front of him. He was unsettled by his sudden rage, and confused at the same time by the rebel's last words. A puppet? How could I be a puppet? His thoughts clouded his mind, and he didn't even notice when Leon walked to his side. "Whoa, looks like things got a little messy around here. You okay?" Leon inquired of the bewildered Leander. Hearing Leon's voice, Leander quickly came back to reality and surveyed the scene. "Yes....I'm fine." "Looks like you were right about the ambush." Leon knelt beside a dead rebel, examining the slice around his abdomen. "We took care of about forty of them back there. Anyways...I say we move inside the reactor as soon as possible, no telling if these guys have reinforments." Leander took a moment to wipe his blade before sheathing it. "Your right, let's move on." The two began to walk towards the team waiting over the ridge, but the words of the rebel stuck with Leander. A puppet? Of what?

Grace stood guard at the entrance of the reactor as Raynor, Leon, and Leander made their way inside. By this time, Leander had regained his focus and lead the team into the heart of the reactor. Along the way, they encourtered the corpses of several rebels, but no resistance. As they entered the reactor chamber, the three stopped to survey their surroundings, and Leander made his way to a row of small capsules circling the reactor. Upon first glance, they appeared to be normal energy cells, powering the reactor. However, as Leander began to inspect them, he made a startling discovery. Leander backed away from the capsule, a look of surprise and disgust in his eye. Seeing this reaction, Leon quickly turned to the capsule, examined it, then looked back to Leander. "What's up Leander? Why the weird face?" Leander stared blankly at a small view port in the side of the capsule, and motioned the other two forward. "Take a look in there," he replied calmly. Leon walked over to the capsule, Raynor following closely behind. As the two reached the port, Leon pulled himself up to look inside. "WHOA!" Leon shouted in shock as he fell backwards onto the floor. Raynor, surprised at the reactions of the two TITANs, quickly looked through the view point. What he saw filled him with both surprise and disgust, although he remained composed. "What the...is that human?" Leander walked to Raynor's side, and looked once more through the view port. "It appears to be...although heavily mutated." Leon picked himself up and adjusted his sword. "Who could have done this? The UES was never authorized for human experimentation. Could this be the reason that the rebels wanted inside the reactor?" Leon questioned as he thought the situation over. Deep in thought, Leander began to examine the rest of the capsules, and found the same results in each. "No...the rebels couldn't have done this. These uniforms...these men were soldiers..." Raynor felt the hair on his neck stand out, as he tightened his grip on his assault-rifle. No one could tell how long these experiments had been going on, but it certainly explained the recent dissappearences of UES personal on the outskirts.

As the team arrived back at the town, Grace and the others began to question what Leander and the others had seen inside the reactor. Leander said nothing, but went straight to the command post. Leon and Raynor kept their mouths shut, mostly from disbelief. The UES had been experimenting on human beings...not only was it unethical, but it was against everything they had been fighting for. Leon quickly pulled Raynor off to the side, and talked quickly. "Raynor, whatever that was in there, we can't let the others find out. You know that's gotta be top-secret stuff, and if it spills to the public, who knows what they'll do to us." Raynor nodded in agreement. He was uneasy about the entire situation, and a bit paranoid as well. Mostly, he was concerned about Leander, who had been acting very different since the discovery. "Right. If this gets out, we're in for it. Leon, you'd better keep an eye on Leander. He seems pretty shaken by this. I'll think of something to tell the team." Leon agreed, and the two made their way back to the command post.

November 26, 2053

The two days following the reactor incident had been uneventful. Leander had severed all contact from the others, staying inside the command center, reviewing UES records. Leon had tried to talk to him, but was quickly ushered away by a message from the UES headquarters in Matan, the capital city. The message ordered the team to explore an area south-west of Tellar, which had recently come under rebel attack. Leon thought the order over as he gathered the team together. "Ok guys, listen up. I'll be leading a small group of you to an area south-west of here. There's a rebel insurrection going on that needs to be put down. The team will consist of myself, Seargeant Locklear, and Private Easton. We'll head out within the hour, so get your gear ready. The rest of you will remain here and monitor the area. Watch for anything suspicious. Leander is...reviewing the mission logs, and will be out later." In truth, Leon had no idea what Leander was doing. He had barricaded himself inside right after they returned from the reactor, and Leon was beginning to worry. The team, on the other hand, had not noticed the change in Leander, and accepted Leon's explanation without question. After preparing, Leon and the others went on their way to end the rebel insurrection.

Leon stopped the truck about a mile away from the reported rebel hideout. Raynor began to unload the equipment as Leon surveyed the area. When Leon returned, Raynor was unloading the last satchel from the truck. "There's about fifty of them at the camp," reported Leon as Raynor began to check the equipment. "They don't seem to have more than semi-autos, but we can't be sure from here. We'll go in on foot." Leon motioned to Private Easton, and the three began their trek to the rebel encampment. Leon stopped the group about fifty yards from the camp, and the three spread out to get a better view. Raynor checked his sights as he lay prone on the ground, preparing his sniper rifle's bipod. The plan was simple: Leon would work his way down to the camp and engage the rebels on foot. For a normal man, it would be suicide, but for a TITAN, it would be a walk in the park. Raynor and Easton would provide support fire from the neighboring hills. Raynor waited for Leon to strike. With amazing speed and agility, Leon entered the camp and struck two rebels, the others shocked at his presence. The rebels quickly regained their composure, and began to swarm around Leon like flies. Raynor took careful aim and pulled the trigger, dropping two rebels with his first shot alone. Chambering a second round, he struck a rebel who had came up behind Leon. Easton followed Raynor's example, putting down several of the rebels on the outskirts of the camp. The situation seemed to be under control, until Raynor noticed a startling development. Easton, being a raw recruit, had failed to cover all points of view, allowing a small group of rebels to sneak around his postition and attack him from the behind. The young private didn't stand a chance in the battle that ensued, and Raynor silently cursed to himself as he swang his rifle around to Easton's postition. Easton was already dead by the time Raynor sited the rebels, but was soon avenged as Raynor quickly put the perpetrators down. Taking a moment to pray for his fallen comrade, Raynor turned his attention back to Leon, who had seemed to wrap things up on his own. Raynor shouldered his weapon and made his way down the hill and met Leon in the small valley below. "Easton's dead. They got around him and attacked him from behind," reported Raynor, as Leon clenched his fist in regret. "Poor kid...let's go ahead and prepare for the burial. And call in a strike team. There's another rebel camp to the west."

Leander hung his head as the words of the rebel and the images from the reactor poured through his mind like a river. It wasn't right for the UES to do this...they had preached about morality and ethics to him in basic training, but they couldn't uphold their own ideals, or so it seemed. Leander examined the photographs he had taken at the reactor, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead as the images of the disfigured men haunted his mind. What had happened to those men? Questions rolled through his mind, overtaking his thoughts. He pulled several files from the data library stored on his PDA, and began to examine them. Old data, he thought to himself. He had already seen those, but what of this town, this reactor? He accessed a sub-folder on his PDA, containing the history of the UES Scientific Research team. After sifting through the data, he noticed that parts had been erased, or were imcomplete. Why? He began to search for hidden files, and found a single document entitled 'TITAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT'. Curious, he opened the folder, and was shocked at the data before him. On the screen, a list of names were displayed: The TITANs. Next to the names were dates, blood types, and reports of reactions to genetic engineering. Underneath this data, however, was a message from the UES Science Team.

RE: TITAN Biological Research
FROM: Philip Lamar, UES Science Team
TO: Jacob Harmon, Chief Scientist, UES Science Team

August 7, 2032

We are pleased to inform you that our recent efforts in bio-engineering have been successful. Specimen 01 has shown signs of increasing mental capacity, as well as visable physical enhancements. At the moment, we have recorded no side effects or flaws due to the engineering. We will continue to monitor Specimen 01 as we continue our research.

Report on Specimen 01:

Name: Leander Ailis
Age: 8

Mental Changes - Specimen 01 has advanced to college level educational material. Strong cerebral enhancements.

Physical Changes - Specimen 01's physical appearance is the same of a well-built 16-year-old male, as well as muscle strength.

Other noticable changes - Reports of a high physical energy level. This energy emanates as a bright blue aura, primarily from the specimen's hands. Further research pending.

We will continue or research on Specimen 01, as planned. Included is a list of current research subjects, along with personal data. We have also included a list of subjects who reacted negatively to the engineering. These subjects have been placed in protective care at the Tellar Generator Facility. Please review each of the current subjects carefully and reply with your personal recommendations at the end of the week.

Sincerely,
Philip Lamar, UES Science Team

that sounds awesome to me, keep going

actually, me too. im trying to write a book myself, but its still not finished, and it sounds rather corny.

i dont think i wanna read it then.

have you started writing it?

Just so you guys know, I've quit working on this story. However, in another few months or so I have another one that I co-wrote that will be done (we currently have almost 400 pages), so I'll try to compile it and post it around here somewhere.

i'm still working on mine, but i've had to postpone production due to external stuff.  i.e. school, and other stuff.

i prefer to type on my laptop so i can sit in the recliner and type, but since the circuit city scandel, i haven't had time to get everything back up and running on it, and i may have to go back to that damn store again, but anyhoo.  i don't really care for typing on the desktop as far as storys go, but i may start doing that because i don't know when i'll have time to sit down for like four to eight hours and work on the laptop.

another reason that i'm putting it on hold for now is that i've got an assignment in biology, and one of the options is to right a biology based short story so that's the option i'm going for, and right now i'm working on that.  it's only going to be like 10-20 pages so yeah.  i'll post it on the forum when i'm done so everyone can see it.  i will say this, it won't have a happy ending.  i've got till the end of march to work on it, but i'm going to do research on the biology material i'm going to use, and map out the story and characters.  i'll have the first week of march off for spring break, and i'll write it during that week

kannibalkaney

well i have every intention of finishing my story, and working on several more.  i've already got like several ideas for several more stories, but i'm going to finish this one before i start those.  the largest reason that i've been at a stand still on this is because of school, and i won't lie, but when i get some off time, i have to be in the "mood" to type   if i'm not in the mood then i'm just wasting my time trying to write

well i'm going to post some more then get ready for bed in a few

kannibalkaney

i'm mainly trying to get in touch with my creative side.  i can't draw worth a sh** so i'm trying my hand at writing

plus i'm really into science so maybe i can talk about all of these theories i know in an interesting action packed way

kannibalkaney

well.... I have a book I been working on it for a little while.. its called Paint on a sidewalk..... its a love story...typical me hehe

As for me, the RP is the most serious thing I've written in. Before that, I only did comedies.

Yeah, well, I think its high time Tyler posted something, but he never gets on.

Heck, there's a 2% chance he'll even see THIS thread.

 

uh Mitch and Kaney.. may I ask who the heck Tyler is? And all this book stuff.. Garnet I really think you could go far with a love story. I mean look all the latest movies and books are love and horror.

Well Iam less confused. Iam so damn bored.