Starting Fires

We stuffed ourselves into luggage; that was Titan's brilliant idea. To be honest, it was actually quite clever, but at the time it was extremely uncomfortable, stuffing myself into a bag and sitting still for... I lost track of time, actually. However long the flight was, which felt like at least ten hours, we landed in Berlin's Tegel Airport. Once we were through the conveyor belt system, Titan sent the signal to all of our Tactical Gauntlets and we zipped our way out of the bags. Harrison kissed the ground, and Eddie had a complete system backup and restore start when he started climbing out.

"Someone carry him," Titan sighed, motioning to Blackjack who shrugged and picked up the cumbersome android.

"So, how was the ride for everyone?" I asked, rubbing my neck.

"Did anyone else hear Eddie lecturing, or was it just me?" Jack inquired, patting the robot on the back.

"No," Haven replied, her brow furrowing. "What did he have to say?"

"Well, he went on about the history of the Soviet Union," Jack explained as we walked out of the terminal with all eyes on us. "Said some things about the comely revolution in Batman led by John Lennon who hired some bullshits at a Comic-Con. There was also something about Joseph's stallin' car that won the War of the Worlds by driving straight to Berlin, and the Ice Age and how it caused cultural differences between Nate-o and the Star Wars Pact."

"He's pretty well versed," Titan stated, chuckling. "Well, at least we have a robot. Who else can say they have a functioning military-grade android?"

"Military-grade?" Harrison asked, taking it as a joke.

"Our standards are pretty damn low," the Commander pointed out. "Eddie was a lot better than I expected."

"Really?" Donald grunted sarcastically.

"No, I expected something that could actually tell me that the capital of China is Beijing, not Gandalf," came the gruff reply.

We continued to walk towards the center of the city, earning plenty of amazed remarks from Berliners and tourists alike. All they needed was a quick glare from Jack and Titan to set them back in line. Perhaps they thought we were part of Die Kraft, Die Treibt. We didn't look German, though.

Our destination came into view after a few minutes stroll through Berlin. The Reichstag loomed over us, just as an imposing destination as it was in the '40s. There were guards armed with MP5s standing at the base of the stairs leading to the entrance. I bit my lip, turning away.

"Shite," Titan swore, pivoting on his heel to walk away. "I thought the Krafties would try to pull some bollocks like this."

"What?" Haven asked, looking at the security force.

"Don't you watch the bloody news?" the Commander growled quietly. "The French have sent a negotiation team to the German government witch is endorsing the Krafties. The French don't want to be attacked, too late for that, so they sent a team of diplomats over to try and calm down their feisty neighbors so they don't kick their Frog arses again. As usual, their being given a grand tour of the city with an armed guard. I happen to know the security force of the Reichstag and those four are not in any of the personnel files. They're going to kill the the ambassadors to start a war."

"How do we stop it?" I asked.

Titan threw up his arms and belted out a quick laugh.

"We don't," he replied. "You'll learn."

"There's always a way," I argued, grabbing the weapons bag.

"Wait," Haven called. "The guards are going inside."

"Then we stop them," I stated, pulling out my PPSh.

I marched up the stairs, gaining more anxious glares and nervous gasps. There was a group of men and women in suits, half talking their native German, the others talking in the same language with heavy French accents. The guards raised their submachine guns, but I fired first, mowing through the four of them before they had a chance to turn around.

"Was ist das?" one of the German officials asked me.

"You stupid fuck!" Titan roared, dashing into the Reichstag. "If you want to be a Solarmancer, you better learn how to be discreet because I am not going to cover all of your mistakes."

"Mistakes?" I scoffed. "I saved their lives."

Gunfire erupted once more as Titan tackled me out of the way. Four more guards who had walked into the reception hall opened fire on the crowed, killing the group of diplomats. I kicked and swore, trying to break free from Titan, but was unable to escape his grip.

"Elevator," the General whispered into his Tac-G. "On me."

The rest of the group entered the building as the guards ran off in the other direction. We hopped in the nearest elevator and rode up to the dome. I packed my gun back into the bag, looking down at my feet.

"All hell's about to break loose, isn't it?" I asked, frowning.

Titan nodded.

The elevator stopped at the top floor and we got out, walking out into the dome. It was quite a beautiful sight, but I had no time to look. Titan and the group were running out onto the roof and there was a patrol of Krafties on our tail. I ran with them, hearing the bullets fly, and hitting the ground behind my feet. They swore in German as we cursed in English, dashing to the front of the building, where Mikhail Minin once stood, waving the Soviet flag over the Nazi city of Berlin, proclaiming the end of the European Theater of World War II. Why did I picture that so vividly in my mind? Right above the entrance, we stood as a purple glow began to rip through the air. Titan pulled out his Desert Eagle and placed four expert shots into the bodies of each of our pursuers before calling me to jump in. Harrison and I were left alone as we stared at the strange portal. Do we... What will happen? Where will we end up? Was this safe?

Either way, I stepped in with my eyes shut tight. As I felt a cool breeze carry me through the air, I opened my eyes too see nothing but a deep, mottled purple flashing through my vision. Shapes began to form. Trees? Buildings? People? We were in an underground facility where the portal was maintained by two great pillars of metal. The rough rock walls towered over us as we lay on the ground. Harrison was the last to walk through, collapsing with the rest of us.

"Welcome home," proclaimed a voice above us.

I looked up to see a haggard middle-aged man wearing the military garb of the Atlanteans as well as a beret with a single star on it.

"I'm glad you all made it back through that thing alive," the man stated, turning away to rub his temples.

"It's not your fault, Bullock," Titan reassured him. "Now, could you take us to my team. I have some... business to take care of."

"Eon's right over there," Bullock pointed to a man about Jack's age who looked up at us and smiled.

"Commander," he exclaimed giving a quick salute. "So good to see you. Mission successful?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Titan replied, glancing towards me. "Wasn't quite what I expected, but we'll work with it. Also, the robot is a piece of shit."

"Yeah, I kinda saw that one coming," the white-clad Marine codenamed Eon mumbled, looking at Eddie. "Well, you can't rush an innovation. Give us another decade and we might be able to give him a more human persona. But we don't have a decade."

We stood in silence. From the white tunic and trousers, I drew that Eon was a Solarmancer like me. Brilliant; I had myself a mentor.

A girl came jogging up through the crowd of technicians wearing the same black garb as Haven, and about her age as well.

"Lucky!" Haven exclaimed, meeting her for a quick hug. Lucky drew back and began smoothing out her shoulder-length brown hair. Haven herself was a blonde.

"So," I said, "if white denotes a Solarmancer, what's black?"

"Umbramancer," Titan replied. "The wielders of shadows. All-female group. One of their defining qualities is beauty. And believe me, everything they do is a work of art. But let's get going. It's been a long day and I'm sure you're all tired. We're heading back to the barracks. The Task Force has dormitories with some added amenities one usually doesn't have in a military base, especially not Privates like the lot of you."

"Privates?" Harrison asked, slightly insulted.

"Yes," Jack scoffed. "We're all newly enlisted. What, did you think we all had commissions and a squad to ourselves? No. We move up the ranks like any other Marine. It just so happens that we were chosen from training because we have great potential."

"Try not to sound so uppity, Blackjack," the one called Eon sighed. "What we do doesn't exactly make people happy."

"And on that note, welcome to Stellis," Titan stated, walking us to the exit. "Capital city of Atlantis. Tomorrow you'll meet the Emperor and get our mission directive. For now, good night. Eon, Jack, Haven, and Lucky will show you to your room."

We walked into a poorly-lit hallway and walked down to a door at the end which led to a rather lavish hotel room. There were two more Marines sitting on the couch, watching TV, one a rather lanky guy wearing a red uniform, the other a strikingly beautiful blonde girl wearing blue.

"Brody, Stun," Eon snapped. "We got new roomies."

The blonde looked over at us, shrugged, and looked back at the TV. The other one stood up and shook our hands.

"Hi, I'm Brody," he said, a wide grin on his face. "I'm just about the most powerful Pyromancer on the squad. Just sayin'."

"Yeah," the Jack scoffed. "Now all you need to do is learn how to use magic properly."

Indeed, Brody had no eyebrows. Coincidence? I think not. I subsequently retracted my hand, my smile weakening somewhat.

"And that's Stunner," Eon pointed to the girl. "She's kind of an angsty rebel type. I think she's in a mood, now, so..."

Stunner whipped around to look at me.

"You were there," she inquired. "Are the French diplomats really dead?"

"I..." I was caught off guard.

"And the Eiffel Tower was destroyed?" she went on.

"Well..." how did I answer that. I felt so damn guilty.

"Great fucking going," Stun sighed, sitting back to watch the news. "You're more clumsy than Brody."

The room was silent when she finished speaking. The TV was turned off not long after that and we all shuffled off to our own bedrooms, unsure of what to say to each other.

"G'night," Brody said, closing his door behind himself, eliciting no response.

There was a set of pajamas laid out for me on my bed and I changed into them and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth before flopping down on the bed for some well-deserved sleep.