Alias=Life
Cadet
A/N: Okay, I started writing this story A LONG time ago, but I lost it, then found it, then lost it, and now I've found it again. I really like writing stuff about war and I have fun with it (I'm very passionate about war) so I thought I'd give this a shot. So, I made up pretty much everything you read; the countries, the provinces, the cities. It might be a little confusing, but I'm working on a map that will hopefully clear things up. Until then, use your imagination and just try to picture the warfare, LOL. The date is also set in the far future, since something like this would never happen anytime soon. So, this is a love story between Sydney and Vaughn, but I don't want to give too much away, so just read.
Title: In the Wake of Yesterday
Summary: The Kingdoms of Merchadia and Contiago were once on good terms, living peacefully together; trading, developing, and prospering. That was until four years ago, when tensions began to heat up and the race for power was on. A nuclear missile was fired at a tiny province in South Merchadia known as Sepp, killing three million innocent civilians. This incident would come to be known as the Clover Crisis. In response to this attack, the Merchadian Empire struck back, invading through the bordering mountains and conquering Contiago’s largest agricultural province of Agara, dealing a severe blow to its economy. Contiago issued an ultimatum, which Merchadia declined, resulting in full-scale war.
To avoid extremely hostile actions and future nuclear attacks, the Treaty of Sepp was created, prohibiting both countries from using nuclear warheads, gasses, and other weapons of mass destruction. Other than that, all is fair in love and war, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance (its starts off mostly details about the war, but you'll find it quickly weaves into these two characters' relationships).
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my muse and this computer. They all belong to JJ, ABC, Bad Robot and whatnot. If they were mine, Alias would still be going on for ten more seasons.
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February 25, 3047
The Merchadian Palace, Merchadia
The worried King paced anxiously through his chamber, awaiting word from his most trusted friend. The battle at Eep was progressing well and the Merchadian forces had managed to claim some land. However, if this issue didn’t get resolved soon, then all of that would be for nothing.
A moment later, the chamber doors burst open and through them walked Arvin Sloane, the one who he’d been waiting for.
“Have you heard anything?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, Lord, but nobody in the palace has seen or heard from her. Its been two days; she’s more than likely gone,” he explained.
“But that can’t be! How in seven hells did she evade her entourage and the guards?” the King asked, his worry becoming replaced by anger.
“We believe Colonel Dixon had something to do with it. He, too, is missing,” Sloane replied.
“Dixon?”
Sighing, he grabbed a seat at the large, oak table, burying his head in his hands, “I guess it can’t be helped then.”
“And what is that?” Sloane asked, stepping closer.
“Call off our forces and evacuate Eep.”
“What?” Sloan asked in disbelief, “Lord, we can’t do that, not when we’ve come so far--”
“I don’t care how far we’ve come! All forces are on standby until we find her! I want one fleet from every force searching for her. She’s bound to turn up somewhere. Do you understand?” he ordered.
He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. He was in no position to argue, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Turning around and heading towards the door in which he entered through, the flames of rage burned brightly within them, though he would never dare to show his King.
“Arvin?” he asked.
“Yes?” he replied, never turning around.
“I’m trusting you to find her. I need you to find her. If anything should happen… it could mean the end of this Kingdom.”
“I know, Lord. Trust me, I will find her.”
Exiting the room and shutting the door, he quietly said to himself, “She means just as much to me as she does to you.”
----------
February 26, 3047
Coast of Tansik, Eep, Contiago
“Retreating?” he asked, thinking maybe he heard wrong, “But why would they do that?
“I’m not sure,” his commanding officer, Kendall, replied, “Either they’ve come up with a new tactic, or something’s gone wrong in Merchadia.”
He nodded, finishing the rest of his rations.
Michael Vaughn was a Contiagian soldier, fighting on the front lines. He had lost his brother two years ago and since then, found himself following in his footsteps. For the past two years, he found himself doing nothing but following orders and knowing nothing outside of them; sometimes, he didn’t even know why he was fighting, only that he had to.
“Vaughn!” his best friend, Eric Weiss, shouted, “Did you hear the news?”
“Yeah,” Vaughn smiled, “Its good… at least, I think it is. That means the fighting is over for now, huh?”
“Rumor has it they’re shipping us back to the Kingdom. They have awards for us and everything!”
Vaughn would never be the one to break his friend’s spirit, but he had a feeling that they weren’t being called back simply for an award. Time was too valuable to waste like that, so the Kingdom was likely planning an attack.
“Two months, this battle has been going on,” Vaughn said, wiping the sweat off his brow, “And for two months, they’ve been coming at us hard, from all directions. Why pull back now?”
“I dunno, but who cares!” his friend danced, “I’m willing to bet they have a special medal for you or something! Michael Vaughn; the ace of Contiago!”
Vaughn laughed, “Please. You give me too much credit.”
“Becoming modest now, are we?” Weiss joked.
“I’m just glad we both survived. That’s all that matters. Everything that I’ve done… its been only to survive.”
He hated war. He hated the whole ideal of taking another life just so his country could claim glory. However, if he didn’t kill, then he’d be killed; if Contiago didn’t fight, then Merchadia would take over. He may of hated it, but there was no way he could let that happen. As long as he could breathe, he would fight for what was his.
“But things don’t appear to be getting any better…,” he thought, looking up at the sky which was still covered with thick, black clouds from all of the explosions and gunfire.
“We’ll be leaving at sundown,” Kendall interrupted, “We’re headed for Karina, Eep’s capital. Reinforcements will meet us there and the survivors will be sent back to the Kingdom.”
“Sundown?” Weiss asked, “And when the hell is that? The sky’s too dark to see anything!”
“That’s in six hours, genius,” Kendall snapped, before heading off.
Vaughn laughed as Weiss sulked about being made a fool of. He realized that it really wasn’t that funny, but laughter was the only thing that seemed to be keeping any of them going, so they took it whenever they could get it.
“Hey, Weiss?” Vaughn asked, grabbing his friend’s attention.
“Hm?”
“Do you think this war will end anytime soon?”
“Its… hard to say,” Weiss replied, “We don’t appear to be getting anywhere; we claim some land, they take it from us, then we get it back, but they’ve already advanced through the mountains. Four years, its been going on like this. I’d like to think this will end soon, but I doubt it. We’re too evenly matched, and the only way one of us will rise up the victor is if we use nukes, which we can’t.”
“I thought as much,” Vaughn nodded.
They had already done so much, yet there was so much more still to come. At this rate, he knew both of them wouldn’t live to see the end of this war… if there ever was an end. He didn’t understand why either side wouldn’t just shake hands and call a truce. They were both too arrogant. They both wanted power. This wasn’t one of those great wars they had heard of from the past; the ones that were fought for freedom. This is a war fought for power; lives were being thrown away so one country could call itself the best. But what choice did they have but to fight? The truth was, they didn’t have a choice, which was maddening, but there was nothing anyone could do about it.
----------
February 26, 3047
Desanca Desert, Dreas, Contiago
“Retreating?” she asked, “Why?”
“The King probably issued the order. I’m willing to bet you can guess why,” Dixon replied.
“Yeah. I guess that’s good. Things should slow down and in the meantime, we should have some time to plan.”
Dixon nodded, looking down at the small girl. He served as her guardian; her mentor. When she had told him of her plan, he was hesitant at first. He loved his King, but he also loved this girl more than anything. Plus, with a valid point, he couldn’t say no and found himself following after her.
“I agree. The Resistance should be happy to hear that,” Dixon said.
“I don’t see why. It doesn’t really effect us, way over here. If Merchadia conquered Eep, they’d have to cross through Gordon and Chez just to reach us in the desert.”
“You forget their true agenda,” Dixon explained, “While protecting Home is their first priority, they also want the invasions and attacks to stop. They will be happy to hear this.”
Sydney smiled, nodding her head. This was all so new to her, but not really. She knew all about the military and it’s functions on both sides. She had never experienced it first hand, though. It was exciting, yet very frightening.
“Now’s the chance to prove myself; to the Resistance, to Merchadia and to Contiago.”
“Lets go back inside,” Dixon said, placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her inside.
They ventured into the cave, through the tunnels which had taken years to dig, and found themselves in the command room.
“Ah, there you two are. We’re glad you are here. I’m sure you’ve heard?” Holland asked.
Trevor Holland was the leader of the Desert Resistance; a group of desert inhabitants who had grown weary of the war. Merchadia had tried to invade and conquer a couple of years prior, resulting in a battle between both sides. Cities were destroyed and for such a poor and useless province, repair was the last thing on the Contiagian Kingdom’s mind. One single city was left, filled with passionate people determined to rebuild their province and prevent future attacks and damage to the land of sand which they loved so much. The men in each family came together, digging these tunnels which they called “Home,” serving as a bunker and their own, private military base.
“Oh, yes,” Dixon replied.
“That’s good. I’m sure you’re pleased,” he said, peering past Dixon at the young girl.
“I am. Its good to know that things are already beginning to take effect,” she smiled.
“In that case, we’re happy to have you with us. You can prove to be a key player in our fight,” Trevor explained, “People seem to forget what life is all about and how things were before all of this fighting. We need to make them remember. If anything, you can do that.”
She smiled and nodded in agreement, “So what’s our plan of action?”
“Well, the Contiagian Kingdom is sending a fleet to transport the survivors back home. We believe they’re all ready planning some kind of attack in Merchadia’s… moment of unknown weakness,” Holland explained.
She frowned, hoping that her decision wouldn’t put the lives of her loved ones in danger.
“However, our radars have picked up movement by a Merchadian ground unit to our east, not too far. It looks as though this unit alone is disobeying the order relayed by the Merchadian Kingdom.”
“What?” she asked.
“The King will not be happy about this,” Dixon stated.
“If they plan on transporting their soldiers through air, then they’ll have to come through Dreas to reach the air ports the fastest. If our assumptions are correct, the Merchadian units will ambush them on the eastern border of Dreas and Falk.”
“We could stop them,” she said, coming to a realization.
“That is correct. If we don’t, there is a good chance that our last remaining city could be destroyed. We need to act quickly; we have enough weaponry and warriors to fight off this unit, but if they send in more, we’ll be in trouble. Our biggest concern is being caught between the Merchadian unit and the Contiagian Eep survivors. If that happens, we won’t be able to defend ourselves.”
“I understand,” she said, walking over to the map, “The smartest move to make would be to ambush them on the border of Chez, coming into Dreas. If we can intercept that unit and stop them before the Eep soldiers arrive, then we can avoid an all-out battle.”
“Precisely,” Holland said, smirking, “For someone so young and so shielded, your tactics are decent. You might make a good Commander someday. Its no wonder why you were chosen.”
“No thank you. I hope to be done with this,” she replied.
She knew as well as Holland did the predicament they were in. Because the Desanca Desert was such a useless region of Dreas, Contiago wouldn’t hesitate to make it into a battlefield. She wouldn’t let that happen.
“Head into the city and round up the men, would you?” Holland asked, “Make sure to tell Diego and Torres to meet me here so we can discuss the strategy.”
“Will do,” she said.
“And… Sydney?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Welcome to the harsh reality of war.”
Title: In the Wake of Yesterday
Summary: The Kingdoms of Merchadia and Contiago were once on good terms, living peacefully together; trading, developing, and prospering. That was until four years ago, when tensions began to heat up and the race for power was on. A nuclear missile was fired at a tiny province in South Merchadia known as Sepp, killing three million innocent civilians. This incident would come to be known as the Clover Crisis. In response to this attack, the Merchadian Empire struck back, invading through the bordering mountains and conquering Contiago’s largest agricultural province of Agara, dealing a severe blow to its economy. Contiago issued an ultimatum, which Merchadia declined, resulting in full-scale war.
To avoid extremely hostile actions and future nuclear attacks, the Treaty of Sepp was created, prohibiting both countries from using nuclear warheads, gasses, and other weapons of mass destruction. Other than that, all is fair in love and war, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance (its starts off mostly details about the war, but you'll find it quickly weaves into these two characters' relationships).
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my muse and this computer. They all belong to JJ, ABC, Bad Robot and whatnot. If they were mine, Alias would still be going on for ten more seasons.
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February 25, 3047
The Merchadian Palace, Merchadia
The worried King paced anxiously through his chamber, awaiting word from his most trusted friend. The battle at Eep was progressing well and the Merchadian forces had managed to claim some land. However, if this issue didn’t get resolved soon, then all of that would be for nothing.
A moment later, the chamber doors burst open and through them walked Arvin Sloane, the one who he’d been waiting for.
“Have you heard anything?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, Lord, but nobody in the palace has seen or heard from her. Its been two days; she’s more than likely gone,” he explained.
“But that can’t be! How in seven hells did she evade her entourage and the guards?” the King asked, his worry becoming replaced by anger.
“We believe Colonel Dixon had something to do with it. He, too, is missing,” Sloane replied.
“Dixon?”
Sighing, he grabbed a seat at the large, oak table, burying his head in his hands, “I guess it can’t be helped then.”
“And what is that?” Sloane asked, stepping closer.
“Call off our forces and evacuate Eep.”
“What?” Sloan asked in disbelief, “Lord, we can’t do that, not when we’ve come so far--”
“I don’t care how far we’ve come! All forces are on standby until we find her! I want one fleet from every force searching for her. She’s bound to turn up somewhere. Do you understand?” he ordered.
He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. He was in no position to argue, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Turning around and heading towards the door in which he entered through, the flames of rage burned brightly within them, though he would never dare to show his King.
“Arvin?” he asked.
“Yes?” he replied, never turning around.
“I’m trusting you to find her. I need you to find her. If anything should happen… it could mean the end of this Kingdom.”
“I know, Lord. Trust me, I will find her.”
Exiting the room and shutting the door, he quietly said to himself, “She means just as much to me as she does to you.”
----------
February 26, 3047
Coast of Tansik, Eep, Contiago
“Retreating?” he asked, thinking maybe he heard wrong, “But why would they do that?
“I’m not sure,” his commanding officer, Kendall, replied, “Either they’ve come up with a new tactic, or something’s gone wrong in Merchadia.”
He nodded, finishing the rest of his rations.
Michael Vaughn was a Contiagian soldier, fighting on the front lines. He had lost his brother two years ago and since then, found himself following in his footsteps. For the past two years, he found himself doing nothing but following orders and knowing nothing outside of them; sometimes, he didn’t even know why he was fighting, only that he had to.
“Vaughn!” his best friend, Eric Weiss, shouted, “Did you hear the news?”
“Yeah,” Vaughn smiled, “Its good… at least, I think it is. That means the fighting is over for now, huh?”
“Rumor has it they’re shipping us back to the Kingdom. They have awards for us and everything!”
Vaughn would never be the one to break his friend’s spirit, but he had a feeling that they weren’t being called back simply for an award. Time was too valuable to waste like that, so the Kingdom was likely planning an attack.
“Two months, this battle has been going on,” Vaughn said, wiping the sweat off his brow, “And for two months, they’ve been coming at us hard, from all directions. Why pull back now?”
“I dunno, but who cares!” his friend danced, “I’m willing to bet they have a special medal for you or something! Michael Vaughn; the ace of Contiago!”
Vaughn laughed, “Please. You give me too much credit.”
“Becoming modest now, are we?” Weiss joked.
“I’m just glad we both survived. That’s all that matters. Everything that I’ve done… its been only to survive.”
He hated war. He hated the whole ideal of taking another life just so his country could claim glory. However, if he didn’t kill, then he’d be killed; if Contiago didn’t fight, then Merchadia would take over. He may of hated it, but there was no way he could let that happen. As long as he could breathe, he would fight for what was his.
“But things don’t appear to be getting any better…,” he thought, looking up at the sky which was still covered with thick, black clouds from all of the explosions and gunfire.
“We’ll be leaving at sundown,” Kendall interrupted, “We’re headed for Karina, Eep’s capital. Reinforcements will meet us there and the survivors will be sent back to the Kingdom.”
“Sundown?” Weiss asked, “And when the hell is that? The sky’s too dark to see anything!”
“That’s in six hours, genius,” Kendall snapped, before heading off.
Vaughn laughed as Weiss sulked about being made a fool of. He realized that it really wasn’t that funny, but laughter was the only thing that seemed to be keeping any of them going, so they took it whenever they could get it.
“Hey, Weiss?” Vaughn asked, grabbing his friend’s attention.
“Hm?”
“Do you think this war will end anytime soon?”
“Its… hard to say,” Weiss replied, “We don’t appear to be getting anywhere; we claim some land, they take it from us, then we get it back, but they’ve already advanced through the mountains. Four years, its been going on like this. I’d like to think this will end soon, but I doubt it. We’re too evenly matched, and the only way one of us will rise up the victor is if we use nukes, which we can’t.”
“I thought as much,” Vaughn nodded.
They had already done so much, yet there was so much more still to come. At this rate, he knew both of them wouldn’t live to see the end of this war… if there ever was an end. He didn’t understand why either side wouldn’t just shake hands and call a truce. They were both too arrogant. They both wanted power. This wasn’t one of those great wars they had heard of from the past; the ones that were fought for freedom. This is a war fought for power; lives were being thrown away so one country could call itself the best. But what choice did they have but to fight? The truth was, they didn’t have a choice, which was maddening, but there was nothing anyone could do about it.
----------
February 26, 3047
Desanca Desert, Dreas, Contiago
“Retreating?” she asked, “Why?”
“The King probably issued the order. I’m willing to bet you can guess why,” Dixon replied.
“Yeah. I guess that’s good. Things should slow down and in the meantime, we should have some time to plan.”
Dixon nodded, looking down at the small girl. He served as her guardian; her mentor. When she had told him of her plan, he was hesitant at first. He loved his King, but he also loved this girl more than anything. Plus, with a valid point, he couldn’t say no and found himself following after her.
“I agree. The Resistance should be happy to hear that,” Dixon said.
“I don’t see why. It doesn’t really effect us, way over here. If Merchadia conquered Eep, they’d have to cross through Gordon and Chez just to reach us in the desert.”
“You forget their true agenda,” Dixon explained, “While protecting Home is their first priority, they also want the invasions and attacks to stop. They will be happy to hear this.”
Sydney smiled, nodding her head. This was all so new to her, but not really. She knew all about the military and it’s functions on both sides. She had never experienced it first hand, though. It was exciting, yet very frightening.
“Now’s the chance to prove myself; to the Resistance, to Merchadia and to Contiago.”
“Lets go back inside,” Dixon said, placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her inside.
They ventured into the cave, through the tunnels which had taken years to dig, and found themselves in the command room.
“Ah, there you two are. We’re glad you are here. I’m sure you’ve heard?” Holland asked.
Trevor Holland was the leader of the Desert Resistance; a group of desert inhabitants who had grown weary of the war. Merchadia had tried to invade and conquer a couple of years prior, resulting in a battle between both sides. Cities were destroyed and for such a poor and useless province, repair was the last thing on the Contiagian Kingdom’s mind. One single city was left, filled with passionate people determined to rebuild their province and prevent future attacks and damage to the land of sand which they loved so much. The men in each family came together, digging these tunnels which they called “Home,” serving as a bunker and their own, private military base.
“Oh, yes,” Dixon replied.
“That’s good. I’m sure you’re pleased,” he said, peering past Dixon at the young girl.
“I am. Its good to know that things are already beginning to take effect,” she smiled.
“In that case, we’re happy to have you with us. You can prove to be a key player in our fight,” Trevor explained, “People seem to forget what life is all about and how things were before all of this fighting. We need to make them remember. If anything, you can do that.”
She smiled and nodded in agreement, “So what’s our plan of action?”
“Well, the Contiagian Kingdom is sending a fleet to transport the survivors back home. We believe they’re all ready planning some kind of attack in Merchadia’s… moment of unknown weakness,” Holland explained.
She frowned, hoping that her decision wouldn’t put the lives of her loved ones in danger.
“However, our radars have picked up movement by a Merchadian ground unit to our east, not too far. It looks as though this unit alone is disobeying the order relayed by the Merchadian Kingdom.”
“What?” she asked.
“The King will not be happy about this,” Dixon stated.
“If they plan on transporting their soldiers through air, then they’ll have to come through Dreas to reach the air ports the fastest. If our assumptions are correct, the Merchadian units will ambush them on the eastern border of Dreas and Falk.”
“We could stop them,” she said, coming to a realization.
“That is correct. If we don’t, there is a good chance that our last remaining city could be destroyed. We need to act quickly; we have enough weaponry and warriors to fight off this unit, but if they send in more, we’ll be in trouble. Our biggest concern is being caught between the Merchadian unit and the Contiagian Eep survivors. If that happens, we won’t be able to defend ourselves.”
“I understand,” she said, walking over to the map, “The smartest move to make would be to ambush them on the border of Chez, coming into Dreas. If we can intercept that unit and stop them before the Eep soldiers arrive, then we can avoid an all-out battle.”
“Precisely,” Holland said, smirking, “For someone so young and so shielded, your tactics are decent. You might make a good Commander someday. Its no wonder why you were chosen.”
“No thank you. I hope to be done with this,” she replied.
She knew as well as Holland did the predicament they were in. Because the Desanca Desert was such a useless region of Dreas, Contiago wouldn’t hesitate to make it into a battlefield. She wouldn’t let that happen.
“Head into the city and round up the men, would you?” Holland asked, “Make sure to tell Diego and Torres to meet me here so we can discuss the strategy.”
“Will do,” she said.
“And… Sydney?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Welcome to the harsh reality of war.”
