12 Years ago, Old Northgate City
The sounds of laser machine gun fire, missiles detonating, and horrid screams ignited deep in my memory. The bus window in front of me transformed into an old TV that rewinded to 12 years ago. That peaceful day full of celebrations and smiles, it all crumbled into a fiery hellscape with one drop of a plastic fork. 20 Galleon ships uncloaked, hovering above Old Northgate City. Their shadows crept onto the public streets as all eyes glanced up at the blocked sun, like an early eclipse that shrouded everything in darkness.
“Everyone get down!” shouted a Unitarian Guard, and before the people could drop what they were doing, millions of laser blast bolts, bullets, rockets, and fighter planes rained from the bright, sunny, blue skies. Rubble exploded on the streets, and cars plowed through fire and smoke. The Unitarian Guards on the ground began deploying energy shields and fired back at the Sky Nation Galleon ships. Unitarian Armor rolled in and directed their canons towards the incoming enemy infantry.
“Where the hell is my air support! Get those people to the bunker now!” yelled a Unitarian Commander. “Ground support units, get those shields up before the swarm missiles launch!”
“Understood sir!” The ground support units yelled before activating nearby city shield generators. The generators were laid out across the city next to fire hydrants as an extra precaution. The Sky Nation’s bombardment was laying waste to everything. The moment more Sky Nation fighters launched from their decks, the Unitarian Guard commander’s expression shifted to one of horror.
“Where is my air support! Where is the air support!”
“Commander! The Sky Nation is scrambling our communications, we’re blind!”
“Get those communications back up before…”
Lightning blasts struck the Unitarian Guards, along with fire and flying rubble. It was not just gunfire that was pinning them down, “Commander, we have multiple Enhancers in sight! Lightning blasts at 3 o'clock!” A large group of new enemies stormed into the city with gas masks. Others had creepy smile face masks as they charged the Unitarian Guards inside the bombardment smoke. “3 o'clock! 3 o'clock! Watch your fire! Take out the Enhancers!”
“Damn it, they’ve boxed us in! All units, weapons free!”
The entire Unitarian Guard force present began fighting the superpowered enemies that were charging. At the same time, the Sky Nation above continued dropping bombs onto the city, flattening every piece of infrastructure. “Danger close! I repeat, danger close! Activating close quarters defenses!” The Unitarian Guards closest to the onslaught switched to melee weapons and clashed with the abnormal humans. Everything that was playing here, I remembered all of it, including the red flames that raged elsewhere in the city.
My eyes stayed open for the whole time I sat there on scorched grass. An orange roar of flames engulfed buildings and trees. The sight reflected into my eyes like a calm body of water. Deep inside me, I felt something that I hadn't felt in a while, fear. Holding my stuffed teddy lion closely, a stream of tears began to slip down my cheeks and I clenched my teeth together, sobbing. It’s an unsettling thought since I was only 4 years old at the time. I still remember how frozen I felt, like my legs didn't want me to move, or I simply didn’t care anymore. Maybe it was pointless for me to try to run away.
Out in the distance, gunshots sounded left and right. The cries filled with burning emotions all around the area. It's like they were sounding right next to me. But I was not fazed by those sounds either. No, my focus was all turned to the group of hooded attackers wearing black masks. Their creepy, white, elongated smiles were enough to immobilize me on the spot. One masker, standing on the wreckage of a house, began counting with 3 fingers to one. At the end, the whole group rushed towards me with hungry-looking faces. Like their masks were actually a part of them.
A plasma bolt ignited enormously, leaving nothing but ash spots. The surviving maskers were then ambushed by a single, elite-looking Unitarian Guard who smashed the ground from above. “I thought I told you to stay close!” yelled the armored soldier. I glanced up slowly, and there he was, one of my two greatest heroes in the world, Dad. Beating the shit out of these creepy monster-like people.
“Dad, I’m sorry, but those smiley faces started chasing us, and, and.” My younger self sniffled, the tears not wanting to stop. “I had to get away from them! I’m so sorry for leaving you, Dad!” I cried as Dad grabbed a masker by the torso and jumped back, slamming their head into the ground. Dad jumped back up and gunslinged two other maskers that snuck up behind me. He ran over and grabbed my arm.
“It’s times like these when you need to have a sharp eye! Shred every thought in your head and focus on your surroundings!” He spoke seriously and in a different tone than usual. Normally, Dad speaks with a fun, calm voice, especially when he is relaxed. Now, in the middle of bloodshed, he is a completely different person. Sighing, he calmed down a little since the area appeared to be clear, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to yell at you, son. Come on, Jake, let’s join your mother and sisters.” I took his hand, and we walked away from the spot that would forever be engraved in my memories. The flames were so bright that I could not help but look back at them. In a way, it was almost as if I could see figures dancing in the fire.
“Yes they are. We’re out here, and the buses are way over there.” I pointed.
“Not when you have me by your side.” He placed me over his shoulders before firing his gun behind us. “Hang tight son!” More maskers appeared from the rubble and looked at us.
“Um, Dad there’s more of them!”
“Whatever you do Jake, don’t look back! You hear me, don’t ever look back! Keep your eyes forward son! Now let’s go!” My Dad ran while holding me over his head, firing his gun behind at the maskers. I wanted to turn back and look at what once was. The houses, road, school, and all of the shops were gone. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. Did I do something wrong? Is this punishment for something I didn’t do right? Even now, I don’t have the answers, and every time I think back to this moment, it feels like something presses hard against my shoulder, like a warning to not think back to that anymore.
12 Years later
Static imagery infected the scene I was reliving, then, before I knew it, I was back on the bus with that Gacha Gamer guy Ajax. It all felt too real as I had fallen asleep at some point during the bus ride. I woke up to the sound of Japanese shouts and Ultimate Moves playing. Ajax was really hacking away at his phone there on my left
“Come on, damn it! What’s with these relic sets! I swear the RNG always hates me!” Ajax yelled as I woke up. “Oh, had a nice nap, kid? Hold on, are you crying? You have a tear coming down.” That really embarrassed me.
“I’m good to go! It’s nothing!” Was I really crying? Jesus, no way I was crying in public.
“Never mind, sorry, I tend to rage when I’m gaming. Sorry if that’s what.”
“No its not that, you said Gaming?” I rubbed my eye while trying to process the character on his phone screen, it was the same fox lady on his shirt. “Oh, so you play Astral Impact?” I groaned and stretched a little.
“Do you play too?” he asked.
“Sometimes, I guess.” Why was I telling him that I played too?
“Great, can you help me get a good relic set for Kitsune Shogun?”
“What? Hey, what are you…” Ajax handed me his blue iPhone; it was bigger than mine, but the screen was a little cracked.
“Ah, sorry about that, I drop my phone often at work. You’re familiar with the layout, right?” Ajax said enthusiastically, and he seemed too trusting in handing me his phone.
“I mean, yeah, but I can’t use your phone, no offense.”
“Go ahead Jake, its all good. Help an “old” guy out.”
I sighed in confusion before focusing on the character in front of me. I tapped the top arrow and moved Kitsune Shogun towards the relic farming entrance. She wore a Shrine Maiden outfit, along with mild shogun armor. When she approached the domain entrance, the screen flashed white before her whole team appeared in a new space with enemies. “Okay, well, you’ve been farming the right domain. You just have to keep going through it. I’m not an advanced player, but…”
Ajax crossed his arms in thought before asking, “Whose your main?”
I froze when he said that, plus my face felt a little hot. “Uh, Butterfly?” Ajax snorted and laughed his lungs out. Passengers ahead of us glanced back and were so confused. “What, why is it funny?” I couldn’t stop blushing from the embarrassment.
“My apologies, it's just, I didn’t think you really were into this game!” I could say the same thing, this guy looks 40 or something and he’s surprised I play Astral Impact! “But, it's nice to personally know another player.” That left me baffled, I mean, the only other player I know is Roger, but he’s always busy with sports and stuff. So he misses out on the events and main story quests.
“I see, well, I guess I feel the same way.” Kitsune Shogun’s team fought 12 waves of enemies before unlocking the relic rewards. I only got one good CRIT DMG main stat; the other two were off sets with a few good sub stats, but nothing worth using. “Sorry, that’s all I got. The game is basically rigged, even I haven’t finished farming for Butterfly. But that first relic should be decent, so use it for now.”
Ajax nodded as I explained my thoughts on the build. After I handed back his phone, he smiled and was grateful. “Well, it's alright, I appreciate you helping me. You’re a lot more knowledgeable in this game than you think.” The forest of Northgate appeared by the window, along with familiar streets. We killed time with all that relic farming. “Guess this is my stop, say, what’s your UID and player name?”
“You want to friend me?”
“Of course, you know a lot about Astral Impact, so I could use more tips in the future! Plus, there’s a boss I might need help with. What do you say Jake?” He sounded very genuine, though the bus was coming to a stop. Since I was getting off here too, Ajax sent me the friend request, though I didn’t open it just yet. I stared back out the window for a moment before grabbing my backpack and leaving the backseats. Ajax hopped off the bus and stretched outside. The trees centered around the bus stop were swaying a bit with a brief light hitting through the canopy. When I got off, I noticed the strict Unitarian Guard from earlier met up with a squad. Their blue and white armor platings sent thoughts of Dad again.
“So that’s their squad?” I asked myself, Ajax then approached me one last time.
“They’re about to go on patrol. Lately, they’ve been upping their numbers as well.”
“Do you know why? ” I asked.
“There’s probably been an increase in Enhancer criminal activity. It’s not a surprise, really, the world gets worse by the day with that war. Anyways, well, about time I take my leave. Thanks again for helping my waifu. Till next time Jake!” He brought a hand out.
I stared at his hand blankly, then at him. We shook, and Ajax walked past me. Meeting him was really weird. I tried to forget about it but this guy was something else. Who would have thought I would meet another Astral Impact player? Though he did stand up for me, so there’s that. Oh yeah, and I guess he’s a Unitarian Guard too from the sound of it. “Thanks again for the save!” I yelled as Ajax waved a hand while getting smaller in the distance. My smile couldn’t help it, and I turned the opposite direction, heading towards the place of locked-away memories.
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