A War in Shadows by Chris H (the speed reading book TXT) 📕

“It shattered all we believed in.”

And they came from the sky...

Space. In all of its suspected infinity, it could only be finite due to physical reasons and clearly the fact that each and every quadrant of said space is occupied by infinity-minus-one ETOs (Extra-Terrestrial Objects) and Terran, or Vaporous, Bodies. At the centre of each galaxy in the known universe, was an AGN, or Active Galactic Nucleus, which was a star with such immense gravitational pull, it had built a terrestrial body around it. These, and hence the galaxies, orbited the what had been dubbed the AUN, Active Universal Nucleus. However, whilst its existence was proven, no-one had ever explored it.

And then He came.

The self-proclaimed king, Xaos.

He claimed to have explored the AUN even before he took his position in the galactic government, yet he offered no proof. Of course, his claims were dismissed when he refused to share his research with the scientific community at large. Whilst many agreed with the decision that he was either lying or delusional, others believed that the research had a more sinister purpose...

I put the Book down for a moment to observe my surroundings. I was seated in a cold, metal chair in the centre of what seemed to be a warzone: debris was strewn everywhere, small or large. Only the winds and movement of small animals disturbed it, giving a somewhat surreal atmosphere where one would move, seemingly without propulsion. There were few buildings in my line of sight, instead only ruins, appearing at first to be ghastly creatures that had burrowed up from their subterranean origins and had finally pierced the surface. Blackened and twisted, the ruins resembled nought of what they had once been. I shook my head. How had it come to this?

I picked the Book back up and continued to read.

At this time, the Universal economy was struggling. Shares in businesses had reached an all-time low, much the recessions on Earth, but on a Universal scale. Faith in the Government was running low: the people had had enough of their feeble attempts and many colonies had fallen into a state of disrepair. The parliament was failing, crime rates were up and the Standard, the main currency of the Universe, was falling.

With the help of some contacts within the vast Government, Xaos had swept in and effectively overthrew the Government. Many believe his power-play to be illegal, but all his so-called “corrupt” contacts had ended up dead shortly after. It turned out that the ministers Xaos had overthrown had murdered them.

I shook my head, as I usually do when reading this bit. Like hell they had.

Xaos had then eliminated the Government completely, putting the Universe back into its “primitive” days, where there had been no organization in the operating of planets. Xaos became King of his own small quadrant of the Universe. However, by this point, his armies had been spread wide across the Universe.

And the wars began...

His machines of war are said to be extremely powerful and dangerous if encountered and almost the entire Universe succumbed to them. No-one knows what they are made of, but many theorists believe that Xaos found something on the AUN. Xaos denies this statement, and claims that the Gods are on his side of the war.

I breathed out heavily, before checking my Watch. An old fashioned digital watch, as opposed to the new “built-in” watches embedded into the brain, it told me the time and the date. Of course, the screen was cracked, which made seeing the hour and date near impossible, but the minutes were clearly visible: thirty two. That meant I only had another eight minutes left with the Book. It reminded me of my grandfather's Kindle device: a device for reading multiple books. Of course, literature was banned now and my grandfather had been executed for his sins long ago.

I shut the memory away, and tapped on the Book's sleek screen at an icon that looked like a parabola. I wondered why at first, but I have been told that it is because of Xaos's crest: twin parabolas, one atop the other in an X-shape. This Book was the only book approved by Xaos and, I had noticed, was hugely biased in his favour and didn't tell the entire truth.

As if to prove this to myself, I pressed the search key and typed in “Earth”.

It took a moment, but when the page had loaded, it said:

Earth is the third planet away from the Star, Solar Nova in the Milky Way Galaxy and is capable of housing many different lifeforms due to a balance between the Solar Nova and the Iced Dwarf, Pluto. Human life exists there, along with polar lifeforms, rodents and a vast variation of Aerial and Aquatic species. The technology there is relatively primitive to planets such as Reva Beta, yet are still more advanced than the Tribes around the Universe.

Before Xaos's war, Earth had re-established its economy at last.

I paused to accept the irony here.

There had been a time of peace and during this time, scientific developments such as a manned mission to Mars, the next planet in orbit to Solar Nova were successful. Mankind were finally exploring the stars.

“When the stars came to us.”

“And they came from the sky...”

That was how my grandfather had told me it happened. The Book went on, claiming how the war was justified under the flag of Xaos. It wasn't. He gave me the details the Book didn't: the massacres of innocents, the “Games” in which men were made to fight to the death, only for the victor to be torn apart by Xaos's Elite. I continued reading with disgust.

The takeover of Earth was quick and efficient, due to the Earthens' primitive technology. Earth, being of no considerable value to Xaos, had its communications cut from the rest of the Universe and is currently a Forbidden Zone.

I snorted slightly. Didn't anyone else think this was odd? The fact that Xaos had spent all that time to conquer Earth and then cast it aside had to mean something. Of course, the fact that he had never actually won the war on Earth was one thing. He had underestimated us, and that costed him. The first wave we thought, we were well aware of, grandfather said. We had then salvaged the machines: they had not been harmed, but thanks to our biological weapons, we had killed the pilots. We were able to pilot them against Xaos, who came back with more and more each time.

I looked at my watch: 38. Only two minutes left with the Book. Curiously, I typed in the name Xaos. I didn't want to read the biased propaganda, just see the magnificent figure he was: even I had to appreciate it.

A treacherous bastard he was, even betraying the entire Human genome with his insane skull implants, going as far as to transplant his limbs with artificial, robotic versions made not of steel, but of the one, truly untarnishable metal: Gold. Supporters said it represented his own immortality, or his legacy's immortality. He looked impressive. There was no other way to put it.

And that, despite my objections, was who I worked for.

My watch beeped forty, and I knew my break was almost over. I turned the Book off and placed it in my breast pocket, although its lies deserved to be cast away from my heart, rather than close to it.
My machine, or Mech as Xaos called it, stood proudly as a biped should, particularly one that is indestructible. Brimming with weaponry, this was fitting for a being such as Xaos himself.

And yet it was mine.

Mine to pilot into the destruction of my own world.

My own people.

Of course, despite the seemingly deceptive nature of my work, I managed to redeem myself slightly. Checking that there was no-one around, I pulled out my communicator. Using a secure channel, I dialled the resistance leader.

“Nathan?” he asked. “Do you have the serial numbers?”

The serial numbers were for my Mech and Xaos's mech. He always battled with his troops. I jogged over to check my own Mech's number: 2471.

“Mine is 2471.” I responded. “Xaos's is 6924. Aim for that one, and we'll win the war.”

“Affirmative.” the leader replied, leaving only radio silence is his wake.

Xaos had finally trusted me to service his personal Mech, after my long hard years of service and trying to pass as a loyal agent. Of course, my heart was pounding now: all I have worked for is in its final stages now: we were to move out at 45. I checked my watch: 43.

It was go time.

Using the lift-crane near the Mech, I was able to get inside quickly and activate it. The chair in here was nearly as uncomfortable as the one in my hangar, but I persevered. Just one last day...

And the Mech moved forth when I slammed the pedal down and joined the masses of Mechs and ground troops awaiting Xaos's command.

“My...warriors.” Xaos hissed over a loud speaker linked to his Mech, “Today, I believe that this war will finally be over. This day is crucial to us, as it is to the resistance. They will fall today.” His voice was as impressive as his figure: loud, deep and with a power supporting it. “We go. Now.”
The gate in front of us opened, and we ran out of Xaos's grounded warship and onto the ruins of London.

I stayed back, knowing the ambush that was set up. As Mechs moved forwards past the ruins...

The ruins exploded into spitters of shrapnel and flames, each flame licking serpent-like at the Mechs, who backed away, when the resistance Mechs came out of nowhere. I stayed still, before firing at either the ground, the sky or where the resistance where not, so as to not harm my comrades.

They didn't seem to feel the same, and my Mech was battered by bullets as they ricochetted off of the tough, armoured exterior. I picked up the communicator and yelled into it “What's going on? Why are you shooting at me?”

The resistance leader answered back. “Mate, we're not. Most of our fire is concentrated on Xaos's Mech.”

An explosion rocked my Mech, and I threw an arm out to steady myself, knocking some of my papers from the control panel.

And then I saw it.

Four numbers glaring back at me.

6924.

My eyes widened with fear, I could tell.

And then I heard Xaos's voice, “Nathan, you fool. Thanks to you, I'll win this war yet!”

And then another explosion rocked the Mech and I fell into darkness.