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End of and Era Chapter 28
🕑 Added 2023-07-14 13:02:51 +0000 UTC28 chapters in, we finally get a Nina-centric chapter, though not a very long one as while she’ll have her role in things to come, they don’t quite start yet and to be frank, it would be weird to start that in the epilogue for the first book. She was going to be in the last chapter, but while they're all genius, they all shine in different fields. Nina's talents would be closer to her name-sake, Albert Einstein, maybe throwing in some Oppenheimer since she had a very active role in the development of weapons of mass destruction. Lloyd and Cecile would be comparable to engineers, exceptional engineers and pioneers in their field, but in a very different group to Nina.
Chapter 28: She be Death, Destroy of Worlds
It was a quiet afternoon in the Nevada desert, the sun still high in the sky, baking the nearly dead environment below it. One would be amazed if there was any sort of life in such a place bigger than a rat, but to such, they would be in for quite a surprise as rising from the desert plains, buildings stood. This wasn't a town in the traditional sense, there were no markets or children, but researchers and labs. While it was true that there was no reason or sustainable way for humans to live in such a hostile environment, it was the perfect spot to build a top-secret testing site. A site which was amid the final checks before they tested their latest weapon.
‘Are the skies clear?’ A young scientist, barely 30, asked the room full of researchers, engineers and regime personnel sent to monitor everything. Said room was located 20m underground, protected by meters of dirt and reinforced concrete.
‘Yes, across the expected flight path, we’ve detected no abnormalities.’ He nodded, his gaze never leaving the largest monitor which showcase a massive missile set up on a launch pad, beneath it, tunnels designed to allow its scorching thrust to be redirected harmlessly into a series of ditches dug 100m away.
'We're also ensured that 30km to either side of the expected flight path is also clear.' That was good. They had only run this via simulation till now and had to prepare for anything that may happen.
‘Weather stations have reported it, conditions are well within expected parameters.’ He nodded, happy that the weather forecast had been accurate. The missile was destined to be capable of firing in any weather situation, but that was months if not years down the line. For now, it would be best to test it in optimal conditions.
‘Monitoring stations?’ He asked another, an officer of the air branch of the world police.
The 50-something quickly replied, finishing a phone call with his men regarding the issue. ‘Up and running, planes are already in the area in a holding pattern, once the project initiates, they’ll follow it from a distance of 10km to monitor it.’ 9th Gen and above knightmares might have been able to outdo fighter jets in all meaningful regards, but they were few and far between, so for this case, it was wiser to call upon old fighter jets rather than whatever 8th gen knightmares they could supply, especially since the jets could be outfitted with far superior monitoring equipment.
‘Projected target?’ The scientist asked, combing a hand through his dirty blonde hair from stress.
‘We received confirmation last night, nothing of importance is present.’ There was a part of him that wished that he was told that it was nothing period, as he could suspect that nothing of importance meant that they either do their jobs properly and were writing off any collateral, or more likely, they set up “volunteer” subjects. Banishing that from his mind, he focused on his job.
‘Then let us begin the final checks, people.’ He announced as he watched as the support structures were wheeled away from the missile, along with any last-minute personal dashing for their cover position.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Fueling?’ He asked.
‘Completed 2 hours ago and fuel compartments have been sealed and checked.’ Good, the last thing they wanted was the damn thing to explode because some moron forgot to ensure the fuel lines were in proper order and correctly sealed.
‘Switching from external to internal power.’ Now, the missile would only have whatever power its batteries had, batteries which will charge off the engines once ignited.
‘All systems green, no issues to report.’ He took a breath, ignoring the piercing gaze of the officials sent to oversee the entire operation. This will work, it had to work.
Placing his faith in the work he and his team had been doing over these last 3 years, he gave the order. ‘…Then commence. Launch the missile.’
The two officers with the launch keys flipped the plastic covering over their stations, before simultaneously inserting the launch keys and turning them. There was a green light on both sides, the firing mechanism was now primed and ready. They spared him one last glance which he met with a nod as they both reached for the large red buttons that how flashed them. ‘Launching missile in 5…4…3…2…1,’ They pressed the button, and not even 2 seconds later, they were a tremendous shaking and roar as the missile's 6 primary rocket engines lit, blasting fort scorching hot flames billowing as slowly, but then gradually picking up in speed, the missile began to left from the ground. ‘Rocket ignition, we have ignition.’
Even with the closest cameras 500m away from the launch pad itself, it was still a sight that had some turn away from the brightness, but the lead scientist never let his eyes leave his masterpiece as it got 50m off the ground, then 100m, then 200m, then 500m, its speeds increasing as with its altitude. 10 seconds went by in silence before a relieved calm settled in the room. ‘Lift-off, we have lift-off.’
There were cheers, hugs and handshakes but the lead didn't partake in them, not yet. ‘The missile?’
'No structural issues, it's holding.' He smiled when he heard that. it was one thing to run simulations to ensure that the structure would hold up to the massive strains of its flight, but to see it in the flesh…he had no words.
With the missile now nothing more than a bright light, and a trail of smoke in the distance, the screens switched to radar to track it. ‘Navigation is all green, no issues to report. Its course is set, expected time of impact, 17: 42 EBST.’ Considering that the target was in South America, such a travel time was unprecedented as even Britannia had never developed missiles with any range greater than 400km, yet here they were, testing one with a target range of nearly 25 times that.
‘And with that, the world’s first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is born.’ He muttered, both proud of his work, and resigned in how it took such drastic change for him to have the chance to even attempt it.
Line Break
'The launch was a success, you know.' Later, that same head scientist was trying to speak to someone about the launch, leaning on a wall as he reached for a pack of cigarettes and lit one. He had been down with them for almost 30 minutes now, but so far their conversation had been extremely one-sided, with him barely getting a reaction from the other party.
‘…’ They didn't so much as turn to face him, leaving him with nothing but her dark green hair to look at as she read through another book, one of the hundreds she had with her in her room.
Not dissuaded by her lack of interest, as he had known her for years and had accepted that she was an extreme introvert on the best of days, he continued. ‘I’m serious, the missile exceeded our expectations. Even with the documents and other research recovered from the E.U. rocket program. We surpassed the E.U. record by 20%, it reached Mac 22, it reached the target zone in only 25 minutes.'
Rather than words, he was met with the sound of paper moving as she turned the page of her book, acting like she couldn’t even hear him. 'Of course, it had to be corrected mid-flight, its on-board navigation unit still needs work, but we’re hopeful.’ He was hopeful about that, as they had just been using a heavily modified Britannian model navigation instrument, but now that they had proof of concept, they could start development on an entirely new one.
‘….’
'Tests have already been green-lit to have it carry payloads similar in weight to its true cargo, to see how it behaves with the added weight.' Here, the woman finally paused in her reading, turning to him with tired, but still hateful Indigo eyes that even after all this time, made that small part of him he was ashamed of glad that there was a bulletproof glass wall between them.
Nina Einstein though, didn't jump to her feet, and she didn't yell at him. She never acted out, her anger was always present, always burning just beneath the surface but where others would have them explode like a volcanic eruption, hers was leaked out like a geyser field. Sure, there were flash-points but they were rare, more pressure being released than a downright explosion. ‘…Am I supposed to be happy, Nigel?’ She never addressed him by his title or his academic standing, it was either his name for the more common 'boy', despite the fact he was nearly a decade her senior.
Still, he signed as she finally spoke up. ‘I would hope so, this is a massive leap forward, you know. Just imagine it, a future where missiles moving at speeds of Mach 25, flying to the very boundary of sky and space, crossing thousands of kilometers in the time it takes to make a small dinner.’ He dreamed of that world since he was young, of actually restarting Britannia’s old space program which had been shelved in the 60s and been left to root ever since.
‘Yes, a future where rather than needing time for his orders to travel, a single person can with the push of a button, erase entire cities from the map.’ Nina replied, sounding both enraged and resigned at the same time.
‘I wish that you could see the sliver in the clouds, Nina.’ Nigel wasn’t stupid, he knew why he even got funding to begin with, to create a superior delivery system for the regime’s superweapons, but he hoped that he could make a stronger case for them to use this to better the lives of the people, not torment them. If for nothing else, then to help people accept that under their new government, things could be good if they left things alone.
‘I wish there was silver to be seen, but it would appear whatever clouds you’re looking at are different to mine.’ Nina mocked him, the woman, small and skinny that she was, carrying herself with the same bleak outlook on life that his war vet father had before he finally kicked the bucket at the ripe old age of 56, drinking and driving never mixed well.
'The government does not need to use them in such brutish ways, Nina. The F.L.I.E.J.A. is similar in weight to a small satellite, at least in weight. If we can prove its use, then we can propose more peaceful methods to use it. My God, we could finally send probes to Moon, to other planets.’ Nina laughed at him, but it seemed like not even she could put much into it and merely did it in some sick form of courtesy as if she knew he wanted a reaction and which one she wanted to use, but barely felt invested enough in the conversation to put anything real into it.
‘You put such faith in Schneizel, that he’ll agree to ever use his precious super weapons for anything other than maintaining his control.’ Nina snarled when she mentioned the name of the Chancellor, something that once freaked him out as he knew what could happen to something to speak less, but he had grown used to her extremely negative outlook on their leader. Besides, it wasn't like the guards ever did anything about it.
‘He doesn’t need to, Nina! Who would he even fire them at? Whose there to fight?’ He asked her, tired of her continued hate of the situation. Over her continued insistence that Schneizel was a madman. Was he good? Oh God no, but was he smart and rational? Yes. The last 5 years proved he could keep things in order.
‘Everyone.’ He came up short at her reply, spoken so casually and quickly as if she didn't even need to think about it.
‘What? How the hell could he still have “everyone” to fight? He already defeated the coalition forces, there isn’t an army left that can stand against him. For God’s sake, there are no armies period.’ Did she think that the Black Knights could pose any threat? They were barely hanging on as is and considered a victory to be not dying that day. What could they do against the literal millions of world police, and thousands of Argus agents shifting through the populace?
Nina turned away from him, looking back at the book she had been reading, grasping it in her hands with such care he would assume it was a holy text if he didn't know she was an atheist. 'Right now, but they will be,' She seemed so sure of it. ‘Do you read, Nigel?’ She switched the topic of discussion.
‘Of course, I do, but mainly scientific and nature books.’ Nigel replied as she held the book over her shoulder for him to see its cover, reading that its title read “History of Medieval China: 900 – 1800 a.t.b. by Willian Rockheart”.
‘So do I, with a healthy dose of fiction thrown in for times when I needed to destress, but recently, I’ve been reading up on philosophy and history as well, since I have so much free time these days.’ He tried to ignore how her room had little else to do, absent of anything that could be considered dangerous. It frankly looked more like the rooms that would put insane patients into, sans the restraint jacket. With 6 cameras hanging from the ceiling, she was rarely given privacy, with the only private space being the small bathroom.
Nina was smarter than him, he would happily admit that, but she was also a prisoner of the regime. Forced to work for them, never given the space or tools to act out. he didn’t see it but she had a smile on her face. 'This one is my favorite. It covers almost a millennium in just a single country, yet you can tell from its appearance how much happened. Do you know how many rebellions broke out in those 900 years?’ He wasn’t sure how to approach this, as it sounded like it was serious but he decided to try his best.
‘I would assume a lot.’ She laughed at him again, sounding more amused than anything else.
‘A lot he says,’ She repeated as if he was a child that just said something funny and didn't realize. 'Try 145. It's a shocking number, I know. It makes you wonder if spaced out evenly, that'll mean that every 6.2 years, in some corner of the Chinese state, there was some commotion that spilt over into an open rebellion.' She told him, not needing to see the surprise on his face as he had known that the old Chinese Federation was a fragile state, who didn't but he had never thought there was such a time when even just being a fragile peace was considered to be an achievement.
‘You wonder why? Why so many rebellions against the state, that they must have been good times for most people mixed in there somewhere, right?’ Nina asked him, patting the cover of the book. ‘They were, quite a lot of them, but that didn’t stop things from spilling over.’
‘What does this have to do with the missile program.’ Nigel asked, with Nina turning n a dime to face him, her fierce eyes and snarl making him jump back in fright.
‘It has everything to do with it!’ She yelled at him, patting the book even harder as if it would get her point across. ‘Time and time again, against odds that should have logically been enough to keep them passive, people have risen when they believe that the status quo is unjust.'
‘It’s within human nature to fight, Nigel. To combat what they see as unjust, evil or just an enemy to whatever the hell they think the way should run. Schneizel’s entire regime is built upon trying to ignore that fact.’ She told him, ripping apart the logic behind Schneizel’s “peace”, how it ran against human nature.
‘Or more likely…he’s counting on it.’ But…she had suspected he knew that. a man as devious and calculating as him would surely be as well read as she was now, if not more so. Surely he knew that fear of force wouldn’t work forever.
‘Why would he count on such a thing? Any opposition wouldn’t stand a chance!’ Nigel cried, to which she gave him a morbid smile, one where her insanity came close to the surface, mixing with the dark amusement she was feeling.
‘But they’ll serve as reminders. People will forget the terror of Damocles, they’ll forget the power of the F.L.I.E.J.A. and start to organize again, start to agitate again. And when they do, Schneizel will happily remind them why he's in power. Over, and over…' She took a step closer as she repeating over, coming closer and closer to the transparent wall between them before she was right on top of it, starring at him with indigo eyes that seemed to see nothing but destruction in the future, that saw entire worlds on fire and crumbling to dust. ‘And over again.’ He felt his soul-shaking in his chest as he looked into those haunted eyes, finding no lie, no fault-she truly believed in what she spoke, saw no other alternative which only made him shake even more.
But then she backed off, her eyes losing that apocalyptic visage and returning to their normal look; bored, resigned, and bitter as she turned away from him and returned to her little desk, taking a seat without a sound, turning her back on the man on the ground. ‘That’s what this has to do with the situation. A despot would sooner burn down his kingdom than allow it to fall from his grasp.' Schneizel might have styled himself a God, but he was no different to any power-obsessed despot.
And she the fool who bought his lies, hook-line and sinker.
'So long as Schneizel has his wonder weapons. He's always never far from a match, and thanks to our work, that fire can travel far and wide.' Just like in the Emblem of blood where a prince blew a damn to deny access to it and a town to Charles, killing over 80,000. Just like Napoléon, destroying the Rosetta stone then letting it fall into British hands Just like Neo, prosecuting Christians as a means to cover his ass, unknowingly causing a major rift within his empire. The history books told the same story, seemingly repeating over and over throughout history. Now, she wondered if she would make it to 50 before Schneizel’s ego made him cleanse hundreds of millions rather than concede defeat and be brought down from his false throne.
‘But…’ Nigel could barely make a sound, his mind unable to process what he had just been told, or accept the implications that his life’s work would play a sinister role in the doom that may come. ‘That’s…’
Nina snorted, having lost patience with him and the rest of the staff she was forced to work with a long time ago. ‘I don’t expect you to get it. It boggles the mind, defies all known methods of reason and logic.’ She told him, turning the page in her book. ‘But Schneizel thrives on confusion, of never being predictable. Like any despot before him, he sees himself as God and as a God, he and he alone holds the right to destroy anything or anyone to suit his delusional grand designs.’
