Akashic Arcana Nuclear

[Erenkuron66]

Dubai, UAE. The entire city had turned to anarchy, mages from all over the world fighting one another. To any country they could, the Emirates pleaded for help. With the confederacy refusing to help, it was up to the UEU and PACT to move in and control the rioting city.
"This is delta X-ray delta, Approaching LZ. All units prepare to mobilize."
"Roger that, Delta. This is Pequod, entering LZ."
"Roger that, Pequod. Moving in."

2 helicopters set down just outside of town. As men filed out of both choppers and moved into the city, the choppers again raised from the ground, leaving the men to move into the city.

"Remember, guys. This isn't just rioting and crowd control. These guys have magic that's unknown to the world."
"Yeah... you hear the rumors?"
"Of course, who hasn't? But I don't think the confederacy would go this far, to test something out on such a large population. They're not completely evil."
"Yeah, you say that now. Let's just do this."

As they entered the city and walked the streets, it was evident that the majority of the city was either hiding or gone. It was a war zone, if not worse.
The men who walked the streets were from different places, but they were the elite.

Sergeant William "Kain" McTavish.
Origin: North American Alliance(USA)

Sergeant Travis "Delta" Marshall
Origin: PACT(India)

Lieutenant Mosogu shinimasu
Origin: PACT(Japan)

These men were the base team. The others were the support, stationed just outside of the city for rescuing those who were fleeing and to control any mages who tried to escape and attack.

The three men walked down the road, wary of every building and intersection, however they found nothing but empty city so far.

"This place is... dead. Not a bunch of dead people, just... empty." Kain thought as he walked.
"Yeah, but you never know. Magitech is a strange art, and nobody knows its capabilities. It could have disintegrated the people rather than causing an actual wound." Stated Delta.
As soon as he stated it, they spotted a man trudging down the road towards them. They walked quickly, their weapons lowered. Delta spoke up. "Sir, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Then they noticed.
His skin was grey, a darker grey. He had scars up and down both arms, and throughout his visible skin there were ember-like spots, small glowing areas throughout his body. His eyes were bloodshot, and the color was lost in his eyes, leaving them a dull, lighter grey.
The men backed up, gripping their weapons.
"Sir, are you alright? Can you say something?"
He said nothing, but looked at each of the men individually. His eyes finally darted to Shinimasu, and he lunged forward at the man.
He brought up his pistol and after a brief struggle, he shot the man down.
The men looked at the corpse on the ground, before the wounds in his torso were slowly covered by black scales. The men backed up more, weapons drawn as the man's eyes opened. He slowly tried to stand, and as he looked at the men, a voice sounded.
"Vernis' ko mne"

The man's skin became pale, the embers within him fading. He went limp as a puff of smoke emitted from him, dissipating into the air as the man fell forward, dead.

As the man slowly approached him, Delta kneeled down and felt for a pulse. "Gone..."
"What the hell was that...?" Kain shook his head. Shinimasu put away his handgun and looked around a bit. "We need to keep moving. Odds are, he wasn't the only one like that. But if we are going to get through this, we need to figure out a way to kill... these."
Delta looked up. "These? These are people! Someone did something to this man, but he's still human."
"No human could have stood after being shot, especially in the chest, even if they survived the shot."
Delta stood, shaking his head. "Well, we do need to know how to combat these people, because if not, we're good as dead."
Kain thought. "Perhaps a head shot? Destroy the brain, nothing else can function."
Delta looked at him. "What is this, some old zombie movie?" Kain shrugged and he sighed. "Fine. Not like we have anything else to go on. We see another one, we'll aim for the head."
The other 2 nodded and they continued walking, silently.

Suddenly, fire rained on them.
"Quick, we need cover!" Yelled delta. As the three ran to a small building, the bullets stopped. The rounds stuck into the road and ground were surrounded by small clouds of smoke, with embers floating around them.

The three men sat in the dark room, only a few red lights here and there illuminating them. It seemed like the building was some sort of plant, with a group of pipes running the length of the hallway they sat in, only one way to go: A left turn farther down the hall.
"Where was that fire coming from?" Kain looked out the doorway, the fire stopping. He thought for a minute, before taking out a grenade and tossing it out, pin and all.

The grenade was quickly shot, the grenade pushed back towards the source. A small bit of black smoke around the grenade as the pin slowly slid out, before the spoon fell.
"Shit, grenade!" The three all ran down the hallway as the grenade exploded, soon escaping but not before Shinimasu was hit by a fragment of metal...

 

[Erenkuron66]

"AGH!"
Shinimasu fell into a wall and looked back at the doorway as a silhouette dropped down in front of the door. He took out his pistol and aimed as the other two looked back at him.
4 shots. Shinimasu shot 3, before a bullet sped into his chest, a plume of smoke around it.
"NO!"
Delta ran towards him, Kain following behind. They looked down the hallway, completely empty. Delta kneeled beside Shinimasu as a small trickle of blood flowed down his cheek from his mouth.
"God... Sir..." Delta looked down, shaking his head. However, feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked to Kain, who was a bit away from him, both hands on his gun.
Delta looked to Shinimasu, and he looked like the man they had met earlier. His skin darkened, small glows of light from underneath his skin here and there. Black scales covered the wound where he had been shot, and his eyes were glazed over. Delta stood and backed up. "S... sir?" The man slowly stood, stumbling to his feet while using the wall as a brace. Delta took out his pistol, aiming for the man's head. "Please, don't make me do this!"
Shinimasu only looked on, before gunning forward, grabbing the barrel of the gun and slinging delta over his back, dropping him on his back. Kain brought his gun up and shot, the bullet going into his back. The man turned, the wound covering quickly. He brought out his own pistol, but not before Kain shot again, the shot going into his forehead. Delta scooted away as the man fell to the ground, the smoke emitting from his limp body.
"What the hell... he was competant." Kain shook his head, leaning on the wall.
"It's like he wasn't himself, but he knew everything Shinimasu did... it doesn't make sense." Delta stood, panting as he looked at the body.
"We need to get back to base. Tell them about this. If this is what magitech is, then we need them to know what they're dealing with."

Delta picked up the body and put it on his shoulders. "Let's move." Kain nodded, and they started walking back through the hallway, towards base.

*3 hours later, 1400 hours*

As they climbed the hill that the forces used as cover, they saw the one thing they had feared through the entire trek back.
Bodies everywhere, many with the same features as the man on delta's shoulders. The others, their heads were either gone or had holes in them. Nonetheless, there was not one man standing in the entire line. As they walked, delta sat Shinimasu's body down and walked with Kain to look at the massacre.
"All of them... there must be 50 people here at least."
"More than that... with the size of the riots, they send hundreds. This was just the support team... if this happened to the rest of them..." He shook his head, looking over the bodies, noticing not many of them were shot in the head. "Wait a second..."
As he said it, a horde of the men stood, raising their guns. Kain and delta were surrounded.
"Drop your weapons. Now."
Upon request, they slowly lowered, setting their rifles and pistols on the ground. The men made a small walkway within them, and a tall man with black hair walked towards the two soldiers.
"What made you two different then the others? Why did you take a dead body all the way back? If you would have kept going, you would have been spared this. So why did you return?"

Delta and Kain both looked at each other before Delta spoke. "We've been taught... never leave a man behind."
The man chuckled. "Well... for following your code, I will give you mercy."
He brought out a pistol and shot Kain in the chest. The smoke quickly moved through his system as Delta kneeled by him. "Kain! NO!" He grabbed his knife off the ground and ran towards the man who shot his ally, lunging at him.
Within seconds, the man had Delta on the ground, the knife at his own throat. "Do not blame me for your ignorance. Your country brought this upon you in the first place as you blindly follow them into your own death." He stood as Kain grabbed his weapons and got up, Delta looking at him. "Who.... are you?"
The man smiled. "I am Eren Kuron... and by order of the Confederacy, I sentence you to death."
He looked at Kain and stood back, before the man sent 4 bullets into delta's chest.

 

[Erenkuron66]

"On this day, 2 years ago, the forces of the world's 'bravest' forces moved into the city of Dubai. their support team was to warn them of any resistance from mages from the city or other sources alike. They were to contain the riots of the city and provide backup if needed. But because of someone within our own ranks, who single handedly defeated this support team, their forces were completely unaware when our bombs fell."

Eren looked down, thoughts rushing through his mind. These men around him... some tried to protect him, others only experimented and injured him. And the man at the podium... he used Eren as nothing but a pawn. He was a foolish soldier to the man.
"Eren Kuron. On behalf of the confederacy, I commend you for your bravery and will when faced with such odds. For this, I give you the highest prestige available for a soldier of your... position."
The man stepped down from the podium, standing face to face with Eren, putting a metal onto the chest of his uniform. "The Bronze Star. The first part of a medal that I'm sure you'll complete soon enough." He chuckled, before looking to the crowd, all of them cheering for Eren and the man beside him. Eren looked to the man, before walking off the stage.

20:00
Moscow

As Eren went into his quarters, a stone room with a metal slab as a bed, and locked the door. He looked out the barred window, out at the forest nearby. He looked at the stars. "South... east... north, and west." He identified the directions before thinking. "It's time."
Eren fell to his knees, closing his eyes. "духи, спрячь меня от света." Within a moment, a plume of smoke surrounded him, and almost stuck to his body, making him almost invisible. He exited the room and looked outside, where a truck transport was loading supplies for a trip. Eren skulked towards the truck, listening in.
"We have to head southeast for Kyzyl. That's one of our main communication points and if we don't get there fast with these supplies, we may not be able to keep up with our... 'special project'."
Eren narrowed his eyes at the last part, but didn't put much thought into it before he climbed into the back of the truck quietly, soon before the two men shut the back of the truck and moved to the front, Getting in and staring it up, starting the drive.
Not long after they exited, the alarms went off in the base. Even from their placement, they could hear the wailing buzz from the sirens calling something wrong.
"Do you hear that?"
"Yeah, you think we should turn back?"
"I'll radio in, hold on."

"Capital base, this is Transport 88725. Do we need to head back because of the alarm?"
Eren put his hand on the bottom of the truck, a small bit of smoke shooting along the floorboard into the radio, Eren throwing his voice into the radio.
"Negative, it's only a drill. We need the supplies to that station ASAP."
"Roger that, Capital base. Staying en route."
Eren sat down as the smoke around him dissipated, leaving him visible once more, but out of view behind the supplies as the men drove.

3 hours later

Eren woke up from the slight doze he had, feeling the truck stop. He sighed and took out his pistol, standing and walking to the back of the truck. He watched the back opened, the two men seeing eren for a split second before he shot them both in the chest, watching them fall and slowly slip into the state that he had held so many the years before. He dropped out of the truck, walking inside as they stood, continuing their work and taking the supplies inside as Eren looked at the woods outside of the town. He looked back at the comm center, before walking towards the woods. "North... south... east... west." He walked into the woods. "Vernis' ko mne" The smoke dissipated from the men, though he couldn't see from the woods as he walked.
Eren looked around cautiously as he walked, thinking as he moved south.
Then the first snowflake fell.
Eren watched the small white flakes fall to the ground, still walking as he slowly heard a slight crunch with his steps, growing louder over time. He looked up at the clouds, but seeing the stars here and there, he kept in the direction he was moving.
Days turned to weeks he walked, the same direction, almost endless forest. The winter had hit the area hard, and Eren was taking the brunt of it just as much as the animals and plants within the forest. He sustained himself by hunting any animals that he saw, using magic to conserve ammo as he looked. However, he never strayed from his path.
After about one week, he exited the forest, and saw a town. He looked to the sign near it, a language that was slightly familiar, but that he barely knew.
"Tsagaankhairkhan"
Eren shook his head and walked towards the city. It wasn't a great place, but it was away from the confederacy, he said to himself.

 

[Erenkuron66]

As Eren entered the town, he examined the buildings. He could already tell, he was somewhere in the Chinese Federation, perhaps in Mongolia... he wasn't done running. However, since his very existence was kept a secret, perhaps he could slip through china towards PACT, unnoticed and unknown. However, as he walked the streets of the town, he heard a strange chanting. Speaking in Chinese, followed by a loud and quick sound off by many others. Eren shook his head and continued searching for an escape, before seeing it.
A large courtyard, walled in with one exit. Many men were inside... training. The man at the door to a large temple-like structure shouting one move after another, all of them following in unison.
This was what the Federation was doing... Martial arts? Close quarters combat was something Eren was used to, but in an open battlefield, how would they fight? They would be decimated. However, as soon as he thought this, the men lined up, targets set up in front of them.
"Zītài!"
the 6 men in front of all others bent their knees, raising their arms in a fighting stance.
"Zhǔnbèi!"
They pulled back their right arms, bending them with their fists balled up.
"Huǒ!"
They jab punched, yellow balls of flame firing like bullets from their arms, hitting all targets dead center.
"Huǒ!"
They used their back legs to spin around and got back as before, and each fired another shot, again landing dead center.
"Shōufèi!"
They all ran forward towards the target, the man at the door speaking once they were close, but still running.
"Gōngjí!"
They all used their legs to flip, a yellow flame engulfing their arms as they all chopped straight through the targets, all 6 slowly falling into 2 pieces. They stepped aside and stood beside the steps leading to the temple as 6 more targets were set, the next 6 in line ready to do the same. Eren shook his head and walked away from the building quietly.
Eren noticed a pickup truck in the road, a man carrying boxes into the tailgate. The man was about 60 or 65, Eren thought, but was doing the work of a 20 year old. Eren approached the man slowly.
"Do you need any help?" Eren asked in the man's own language. He only smiled and nodded before Eren helped him load the boxes.
"Where are you bringing these?" Asked Eren.
"Shanghai. Giving some food and utilities to the PACT embassy, hoping to improve relations..."
Eren smiled a bit and nodded. "Sounds very noble. May I travel with you there?" The man smiled and nodded once more. "It would be an honor."
And with that, they were off.

 

[Erenkuron66]

2 days they drove, and all the way Eren was unsettled. Military checkpoints, driving so close to the confederacy, only about a mile away from the border... it almost scared him, like at any moment the immortals could burst from the trees and attack. But as he watched, nothing of the sort happened.
Eren turned the radio, listening in as he heard a confederate broadcast.
"Attention all citizens. We have an emergency situation. Last seen in telecommunications post 263, soldier Eren Kuron has gone AWOL. sources say he is believed to be headed southeast. any hint of aiding and abetting this man will result in immediate execution, and the Chinese federation has agreed to help the confederacy in their search. If you see this man, please contact your local authorities immediately."
The Russian speech was lost to the man driving the truck, so Eren didn't mind listening for a moment before turning the radio off. He looked behind them as a small convoy passed, headed the other direction. He hoped that the town that he had passed through would be alright...
He looked out his window again, and noticed... a nuclear test site. Too far away to do anything to them, but he could tell by the destruction so far away, that that place had endured great terror. Then a light... a trail of smoke behind a flickering light in the air. It seemed like the area hadn't suffered enough. So he watched, as the light flew to the spot that lied the shallow but large crater. And in a flash, the crater deepened and grew.
Eren watched the mushroom cloud, a purple light glowing within the huge plume of smoke. "My God... if they use something like that on people..." The driver looked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "If the chinese and PACT could become allies... perhaps we may not have to worry." Although it had no emotion in Chinese, Eren knew that the man meant well.
As shanghai came into view, Eren looked at the military checkpoints set up around the city, and the wanted posters made to capture Eren. He looked at the driver who was pulling over, about a mile from the city. "This is where we part, my friend." The driver said. Eren nodded. "Did you know... all this time."
The man only chuckled. "When you get to my age, you see things in everyone you meet. You have had a rough life, but you keep to as many morals as you can. In this society... there's not much more you can do. I wish you luck." Eren nodded and shut the door, letting the man drive on towards the checkpoint.
Eren thought for a moment, looking at the sun and thinking. "It's morning, so... east, west, north, south." Eren nodded and walked towards the city, entering between buildings and around checkpoints. He made his way through the city quickly, and soon reached the docks. He looked through the boats, and saw one that was carrying passengers and supplies. He crouched beside the boat and whispered, "духи, спрячь меня от света." Soon he was consumed by a cloud of smoke and he became almost invisible once more. He snuck onto the boat and hid on the lower deck, and felt the boat move as the engines started, the boat leaving port.