Hegemon Drift Darwin stalks his office with the look of a man that is at a loss. His figure is hunched over and his face downcast. His sulking eyes roam his large sterile office for any inspiration until his eyes fall upon the picture of his father. The image is abused and old, sighing the Hegemon straightens himself and fetches the old picture. Fixated on it he slumps into a chair and recounts, what his father had said once to him,
“… It’s up to you and the path you choose… to be lead to the slaughter or to lead the way…The question is… Will you have what it takes?” It looks as if I am leading my people to their doom father… I guess I don’t have what it takes to save everyone. This thought looms in his head before finally putting the picture down & exiting his alienated office.
A scowl crosses his face as he walks through the black on white hallways. Everything is so sterile and disconnected from life that he wonders if his government has gone blind. His wrinkled and dirty clothing looks utterly out of place in this world. A cloud of despair hovers over everyone he passes which just adds more to the weight that he feels every minute of his life. As he rounds a corner he spots Arnim, an old friend, who is on the floor with his back slumped against the wall. When Drift reaches him he stares at his sleeping friend before kicking him lightly in the side
“Get up… I need to talk to someone…” Arnim groans and opens one of his eyes and squints at the Hegemon. His face is distorted with exhaustion and woe. His Brown skin has slowly turned to a pale like color from lack of sun.
“Let me ask you… Do I look ANYTHING like a psychiatrist… because if I do than I have less of a fashion sense than I was led on to have,” This produces a weak smile from The Hegemon who helped Arnim up onto his feet. “It’s not that you look like a psychiatrist… but it is more of a fact that you are the only other insane person in this bunker,”
The Hegemon quickly gets past the pleasantries and jesting and gets right to the point of things. “Arnim, I am going to be doing something that will be highly controversial and I need you to back me up… I am inviting the separatist’s leader into the Inner Bunker. I believe that if he and I talk it out like reasonable men then this entire situation may just all blow over and allow everyone to fight against Emperor Arnold together,” Arnim stares at Drift with a face that blares ‘are you insane’
“Drift, you know I will back you up whole heartily with anything you decide to do… but allowing that man into the heart of what’s left of your government is just crazy… Either way I will back you up but I do think your idealism will be the foil of us all,” Drift nods knowingly but ignores his friend’s advice.
Rounding another corner both men are now at the main access. Soldiers stand guard and await the Hegemon’s orders. They’re clad head to toe in black armor, and their faces are covered in a special re-breather mask that allows them to fight in any field of combat. Drift nods to them to proceed. Quickly the soldiers open the main access gate and are forced to push back a crowd of dirty commoners. Out of the mob surfaces the Separatist leader who quickly gets past the soldiers and shakes hands with the Hegemon.
“It’s a…pleasure to meet you Mr. Hegemon,” The Separatist leader say’s with a sly tone. Drift smiles seemingly oblivious to the man’s tone.
“Come let’s continue talking in the Command Information Center,” Drift guides the man down a hallway as Arnim follows closely behind them with a scowl on his face.
As the trio enters the large terraced CIC it goes completely silent. All the eyes are not on the Hegemon or Arnim but are all boring into the Separatist leader. His ragged clothing look almost ancient compared to the post-modern looks of the CIC and its people. Arnim takes up a position near the center of the CIC while the other two stand in the center and begin their political discussions.
“There is nothing more that I would want than to see both our flocks working together to fight the true enemy… Emperor Arnold… now I know we have been harsh to your people over the last few years but can’t we put the past behind us?” Drift speaks passionately and continues onward while the Separatist leader simply stands and nods quietly.
As the Hegemon is nearing his finale an explosion rackets the entire bunker and throw’s the Hegemon to the ground. The Separatist smiles broadly as he sees the Hegemon on the ground. Slowly the man bends down and stares the Hegemon in the eye.
“You are more foolish than we thought… We would never have peace with you. Say goodbye to your precious government,” The man speaks viciously as he rips off his outer jacket revealing a small bomb belt. Arnim who is quick on his feet charges and pushes the man into a corner, and Arnim whips around grabbing the Hegemon and throws both themselves behind the center Holo Table…
“D…Dri...wake...p…Drift!...wake…up!” Slowly Drift comes to and groans wishing he hadn’t. The room is filled with smoke and his head and side burn horribly.
“What the hell happened Arnim!?” Drift asks through a fit of coughing. His once clean suit is now torn, dirtied, and is covered in someone’s blood.
“It appears the separatists have planned an assignation attempt and a coup,” Arnim says groggily. His head is smeared with blood and his combat armored is dented inward causing it to stab into his flesh.
The CIC is still chaotic as people rush in and out of it trying to get control over the situation. Wounded are slowly making their way out into the corridors. Gun fire is echoing through the corridors and it is getting closer. A large hole in a section of CIC is what’s left of the separatist leader. Slowly Drift tries to sit up and quickly realizes he has a shard of metal in his side as he shouts out in pain.
“What do you have to complain about? My breast plate has banana-peeled inward so I have metal digging into my chest… you big baby,” Arnim says and does a laugh that turns into a liquid filled cough. Drift laughs along with him but his turns into a low groan. Both faces wrinkle in concern because the gun fire has ceased and they hear marching. A group of grimy and tattered civilian soldiers force their way into CIC. They bark commands to the people to all gather in the center. When one spots the Hegemon on the floor slowly bleeding out from shrapnel wounds he bellows a deep laugh that sends shivers down the Hegemon’s (Drift’s) spine.
“Look here! The Hegemon! Looks like your idea of peace hasn’t really spanned out for you? Has it!” The soldier laughs ones more. “It’s time your tyranny ends forever!” The soldier lifts up his gun and fires multiple rounds into the Hegemon.
As the first bullet enters his gut Drift can’t help but laugh like a maniac and his laughter only gets louder and more desperate as more bullets enter his dying and shocked system until one bores itself deep into his cranial cavity.
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