A Dark History, A New Story... (Prologue)
#1 of A Dark History, A New Story
Greetings SoFurrians, I had posted this a long time ago but I decided to revise it and perfect it as much as I could, so here it is. It's the first story I've written as a pastime. My story will have some fitting music links according to the character's feelings and circumstances they're in, in order to enhance a feeling or sensation. You may as well check the links or not, I recommend it but it's not entirely necessary. Comments, tips and PM's will be obliged. Without further ado, gentlemen, I hope you enjoy it.
- - - - - - - - - -
Every single thing in the universe has a history, but only a few things have a story. What's the difference? You'll have to find the answer.
A Dark History, a New Story...
(Prologue)
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jack, Jack Sears. I'm 18 years old right now, and if you let me, I'll tell you my history, my story and part of the story of those who helped me become what I am.
But before I start my relate, let me tell you about the planet I live in. It is called Garduk after an ancient mythic entity, and it is a planet of great dimensions located in the Lapa System. It is illuminated during day by a sun and during night by two moons, Khyroma and Arjintia. There used to be three moons but the third one, once named Aurintus, was destroyed by means unknown at the end of the last war the planet endured 26 years ago. The day of its explosion marked the beginning of the current calendar by which Garduk is ruled, the Zynattevar calendar.
Garduk is divided for government purposes into 8 continents, 4 terrestrial and 4 underwater. Each of them has a "specialty" or "role" in the world, but they all contain several cities with schools, parks, malls, museums, suburban districts and all necessary public services provided by the government. These eight continents are:
>Rodina.
Rodina is the capital continent of the world, the richest continent and the one with the largest population. It is also home to the recently established spaceport, which is located inside the biggest military facility in the whole world, the Gardukian Armed Forces Base or G.A.F.B. for short, which also holds the castle of the current ruler of the world inside its vast grounds. Its capital city, and therefore the most important city in the entire planet, is Perun.
>Heimat.
It's the industrial continent. It contains factories, assembling facilities, forges, and shops with everything in existence on the world. It is also where the main production of energy for Garduk is generated. Many people think the military has its own way and place for producing their gear, but it's actually here where their equipment is produced. Its capital city is Wainevaar.
>Hazáját.
This continent is responsible of the world's food production due to the vast quantities of fertile soil found in it. Although there have never been starvation problems in the world, new technology is constantly being sent from Bat'kivshchyna to accelerate the time of production and prevent this from ever happening. Its capital city is Ystr.
>Bat´kivshchyna.
It's the leader on research and development of new technology, it's formed by groups of different universities, laboratories, research-development centers and testing grounds, all of them share the same information and communicate their progress to the others to assure a common effort and development between them. The architecture in Bat'kivshchyna is in complete harmony with nature, making its cities the most beautiful in Garduk. Its capital city is Sofía.
>Príliv.
This continent focuses on developing new technology and sciences, emphasizing in Bio-Technology and Bio-Engineering: The sciences of Cloning; Physical and Chemical Enhancement, and Cybernetic Biology. The whole continent is underwater but each city is isolated from it thanks to a gigantic high-tech force field acting as a dome, so it's completely dry inside them. Each city resides within its own dome and maintains it. P?íliv is also the preferred habitat for amphibian Gardukians. Its capital city, Agdaavar, is considered by many to be the safest place on the world after the G.A.F.B.
>Milmul.
Due to the vast quantity of minerals underground, this continent specializes in mining, all the extracted minerals are then sent to Heimat to be forged. This continent lies on the bottom of the deepest sea and is the closest place to the core of the planet. Temperatures are constantly higher than any other places but not high enough to be a problem. Though it is at the bottom of the ocean, illumination and pressure control are possible by technological means, so any creature can live here with the right equipment. It's capital city is Rykhon.
>Shio.
Shio does not possess a solid industry or production of some sort, but this continent is used as a testing ground for new technology, materials and experiments required by other continents. It's also the least populated continent of the world, due to heavy underwater volcanic activity and constant earthquakes. Still, this is the preferred habitat for the biggest intelligent, non-anthropomorphic creatures like Primal Gardukian Dragons and Sea Serpents. It's capital city, and one of the few actual cities in the continent, Tralon, is located on the largest of the countless island on this continent's surface and it's oriented towards the research of the unknown species inhabiting this area and its crimson seas.
>Jura.
This continent stands out thanks to its great advances in architecture and civil engineering. It lies underwater and most cities reside inside hollow subaqueous mountains. These mountains may look normal on the outside, but they are like labyrinths in the inside. Each mountain is considered as a single society called "nome", so the mountains sometimes receive that name too. Some of the nomes or mountains reach heights above water. It's capital city is the nome of Pallas.
Though geographically identified, there are no physical borders or boundaries between the continents and everyone is able to go as they please through the whole world. The only division is politically. Every continent has a Chancellor representing it in the Gardukian Great Council.
A Chancellor's job is to oversee the progress of their assigned continent and directly report to The Tyrant himself, the ruler of Garduk since the event that marked this world 26 years ago, the Proteus Incident. The Council is formed by nine members, the eight Chancellors, each representing a continent, and the Tyrant. The council makes its decisions through voting. Each of the Chancellors' votes is worth one point, while the Tyrants' is worth eight. The Chancellors have enough power to stop the Tyrant but not to turn against him under any circumstance.
Though the government is a tyranny, because the power was taken through a coup d´état, it is more of a benevolent despotism. The Tyrant has never overused his power and so far he's been a kind ruler. His government has supported and promoted new ideas and forms of thought, but more importantly, to work as a whole and be united. He's gained the support of the vast majority of the population, and although there are some conservative opposition groups, none of them pose a real treat but one specific faction, a terrorist group calling themselves "The Tyrannicides". They have been plaguing the world for a long time now.
The space technology is the most recent accomplishment of the planet's joint efforts and the Tyrant's leadership. Thanks to that, the first space fleet of Garduk is being constructed now. It's just a small exploration fleet conformed by a fully equipped and armed (GF CSS1C-A) Tyrant Class Battleship to act as the flagship, two (GF EDSS-A) Space Escort Cruisers, and a set of small ships for reconnaissance and light combat that are not yet in development. How do I know all this? Well... you'll get to know in due time.
The space technology development is going without delay, but the Tyrant is reluctant to start an exploration of the galaxy while the world is not in total peace, so he has been improving a new plan to seek out and eradicate every single member of the Tyrannicides. That, though, is in the present time, I have many things about my life to tell you first.
With that said, I shall start with my story...
I was born in Rodina in the year 8 After the Incident, I was born a healthy little ocelot and I was my parents' only offspring. My father was an ocelot too, he was 32 at that time, and he was a strong, 6'6'' tall, warm-looking father. He had penetrating blue eyes, that just by looking at them, you could realize he was hardened by experience. His name was Julian_,_ Julian Sears. My mother was a beautiful cheetah, she was 26 and she was fit and a little smaller than dad, like 6'2''. Her eyes were green just like mine, and unlike my father's, her eyes still kept a particular lively bright. Her name was Grace, Grace O'Reilly. With these parents, I was going to turn out being a spotted feline one way or another,.They were both members of the armed forces.
The Gardukian Armed Forces aren't divided, the previous navy, army and air force were fused into one since the incident, now there is no distinction or barrier between them, they see themselves as a whole, and work as a whole too. There is, of course, specialization of military personnel to perform or excel at a specific task but it's a minor division depending on the unit's training and capabilities.
At that time, my father was a Major of the G.S.F. (Gardukian Special Forces) He was a field officer and as such, he had to lead his team through the many situations that arose. The world was being plagued by The Tyrannicides since then, so he had a lot of missions to attend. In reality, he was attending missions all the time and sometimes he took weeks or months to come back. I was too little to worry, I don't even have memories about this, just stories I was told by my father, my mother, and someone I'll talk about later, the good thing is he always came back. This only lasted until I was two years old though, because when he was promoted to Colonel he was no longer required in the field, instead, he was in the Headquarters the whole time, something he didn't liked a bit because his former unit was disbanded.
My mother retired from the military in those days, she wanted to take full care of me and she did. She was always with me, she taught me how to speak, how to walk, how to play, how to love... I never knew what she did in the army, I never heard anything either so I can't really tell.
Four years later, when I was six, my father was assigned with protection of some soldiers. I'm not sure why, but since then he was always being protected by two soldiers that acted as his personal bodyguards. My mother and I were also assigned with two soldiers for our protection, this was weird and I never knew the reason until a long time later.
The soldier that was in charge of taking care of me was David Thorne. I still remember when I met him, my father arrived home, he hugged and kissed me as usually, and then he said:
"Come with me, son, I want you to meet someone."
I followed him, and when we were outside, I saw four soldiers standing there. One of them, in the middle left, was a brown lynx with friendly looks; the one in the far left was a shady komodo dragon; in the middle right was a radically serious horned owl with dark plumage and big yellow eyes, and finally; in the far right, was a black wolf with striking brown eyes. All of them had military gear and uniform, we approached the black wolf and my father said:
"Jack, this is Sergeant David Thorne, he will take care of you during the day. You can trust him as much as you trust me, and he'll be with you wherever you go."
"Be with me everywhere dad?" I said worried, "In the bathroom too?!" I was a kid back then and meant nothing with those words, but everyone started laughing. Now I realize that they were laughing at a private joke, my father just chuckled and said:
"No... let's just say he'll always be near you, even if you don't see him around." He turned to see the wolf and said "David..."
"Yes sir?" The wolf answered.
"This is my son Jack, take good care of him and protect him like he was me, because in a sense, he is."
"With my life if necessary, colonel!" The wolf saluted my father, then looked at me and said "Nice to meet you, Jack" He extended his right paw and I shook it.
"Nice to meet you too, David!" I replied "Are you--"
"You can ask him all you want tomorrow..." My father said interrupting me "...go get some rest now."
"Alright dad, see you guys!" They stood firm and saluted me, I still remember how important I felt that moment.
As I was walking back home I could hear one of them saying "You heard David? Even a kid fears your manners, what a shame!" Everyone else started laughing again, and the wolf growledangrily in response, I wondered what they meant at that time... I'm afraid I know that by now.
Next morning I woke up around 7:00 am. I took a shower, got dressed, and when I got out of my room I saw David standing there, I was able to see him very clearly. The wolf had a toned body, was like 6'5'' tall and had a distinctive white lock of fur hanging over his forehead that I hadn't noticed the previous day. It contrasted with his pitch-black fur, and it looked really nice on him. He also emanated a sensation of loneliness, and along with his brown wandering eyes, he gave me an impression of missing someone. As soon as he saw me he engaged with a few words.
"Hey kid, not an early bird, huh?"
"It's half past seven... isn't that early?"
"Well... guess it is, at least for a civilian like you. By the way, your mother is waiting for you down in the kitchen."
"Thanks... I'll go see her." I started walking downstairs towards the kitchen but the wolf didn't follow me as I thought he would. I got curious and asked him:
"Aren't you coming with me?" He stared at me for a second or two and then replied:
"My job's to protect you, not to follow you, Jack."
"Oh, ok. Just... forget it."
"Yeah sure, I'm eagerly awaiting your return." He said in a sarcastic tone as he rolled his brown eyes.
I didn't mind him at all and I went downstairs, where I found the brown lynx I had seen yesterday. This time, I was the one who greeted.
"Hey, good morning uh... what's your name?"
"Good morning! The name's Zephyr, but everyone around here just calls me Zulu."
"Nice to meet you, Zulu, are you the one protecting mom?"
"Yes, indeed, but I will protect you as well in case... you know... if something happens..."
"I hope it doesn't."
"I hope so too, boy, I hope so too..."
He stood idle for some seconds, like lost in his thoughts and then walked off the room. I entered to the kitchen, and saw my mother cooking as usual, I sneaked up behind and hugged her.
"Good morning mom!"
"Good morning, how's my little kitten today?"
"I'm great! The house feels weird filled with soldiers though." I said scratching my neck.
"That's what I wanted to talk about with you..." She served breakfast and sat on the table "Jack, these soldiers are here to protect us, and I don't know how much time they will be here, it could be weeks, months, or years, but they will leave someday and you may never hear of them again. That's why I want to ask you not to get involved with them."
"Sure mom, I won't." I said with a smile "Can I eat now? It smells delicious!" She discreetly rolled her eyes and said:
"Yes you can, but I hope you listened to something of what I just said, Jack Sears." She let out a sigh. "You're just like your father."
I wish I had...
Later that day I was able to talk with David, he was a great guy after all. Maybe around his comrades he seemed like a different person, or maybe he was a different person with me for still being a kitten, I still remember that conversation...
"Hey David, are you there?" I said looking at the closed door of my room. It opened and David came in.
"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?" He sat casually on a small couch near my bed.
"I just wanted to say sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"I don't know, but I feel like you're mad at me for something, so...?"
"So what?!"
"Do you forgive me?" He sighed and shook his head before replying.
"I'm the one who has to apologize. I have no reason to treat you like that, you're just a kid."
"Then..." I offered him my paw "...are we even?" He looked at me and said:
"No Jack, I owe you one." He said and shook my paw with a smile on his face.
"That's great David! Hey, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?" I asked curiously, tilting my head to a side.
"Alright... but you can only ask me three questions, I can't spare too much time." I nodded and started asking:
"How old are you?"
"I'm 27. That's one."
"Um... why did you become a soldier?"
"Good question. I wanted to help change the world, and back in the day, when the opportunity showed up, I enlisted into the Tyrant's army during the Proteus Incident. I was 19 back then, and I don't regret it. I still believe the world changed for good, and I'm proud I helped at least a bit. That's two."
"Wow, you sound just like my father. My last question... do you have any family?"
"I do! I have a beautiful wife and my little puppy, he's just your age, but you're a little older by months. And that's exactly why I won't stay here for the night like the others." He clapped his paws and said. "And that's three. Gotta get back to work now, see ya later!" He was about to leave the room when I stopped him saying:
"Wait! You miss them, don't you?" He rolled his eyes and said with a smile:
"Of course I miss them, they're my family!"
"Hmm... then why doesn't my father feels the same?!" I said in a frustrated tone "He just cares about his work!" The wolf got close to me and placed his paw on my shoulder.
"Listen to me, Jack, why do you think I am here? Do you think it's because I prefer work over my family? No, it's because I have to be here even if I don't want to, because this is my duty and because I knew the consequences of joining the armed forces. It pains me not to be with my family, and I'm sure it pains to your father as well, but we can't just leave our careers just like that. We took a responsibility, we need to follow it and face the consequences." He stopped briefly "I'm not expecting you to understand all I just said, I just want you to know that your father suffers more than you think for not being able to spend time with you. I'm sure the time will come, just hold on until then and don't judge him, ok Jack? Just think about it."
After saying that, he gave me a pat on my shoulder, stroked my head, and left the room. I was too little to comprehend what he had just said, but I would remember those words in later years.
That was just one of countless conversations that we had, but several weeks passed and I did what I shouldn't have, I started caring for him. I started seeing him as a big brother, a protector, and a friend. I became attached to him and him to me. It's funny how sometimes he called me son by mistake and didn't realized it, it's a pity he had to spent more time with me than with his own pup... I imagined how his boy was feeling not having his father around much, because... I had been feeling that for a long time.
Apart from that hidden guilt I carried, everything was great for me, every single moment I felt great. I had my family, some friends, I was great at school, and I was always with a bodyguard who was my friend too! Those were from the happiest days of my life and I don't think I would change something back then. Unfortunately, in a few years my life was going to change radically, for the worst.
Five years later, we were still assigned with protection, I was happy having David around but then something happened, the first of the many sorrows I would feel in my life, the loss of someone I loved and cared about, the beginning of my dark history...
[Outro](%5C)
Thank you for reading. As I said in the beginning, every little tip and comment helps, so if you have a minute or two, I'd be glad if you could share your opinion about my first story.