Revelations 2520:
Book One: The Broken and the Damned
Synopsis:
After nearly thirty years of the Revolutionary War, mankind was finally united under the Republic of Man in the backs of the legendary Four Horsemen. These four cyborg soldiers led the more advanced armies of the Republic against the overwhelmed old superpowers of Earth. Yet as the guns became quiet, the Horsemen soon found there was no place in the utopia they fought to create, so they were simply discarded; tossed into a cryogenic facility to be forgotten about until the end of time. But one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.
Now 400 years after the war, humanity has colonized other planets owned by private companies. This colonization gave those eager to escape the Republic and its ideals a chance at a new life. Life in these colonies lacked much of the luxuries of Earth, but came with a lot more freedoms, at least until something went wrong. Desperate to retain control of their precious investment, the Nowich-Paris company enlists the services of the four legends at great risk.
But these four aren’t heroes, and motivation to save the day considering what it cost them before is fleeting. Legends among soldiers, criminals in the eyes of the masses, and ghosts in the books of history, they must learn their place in this new future that they fought so hard to achieve. The Four Horsemen are free, and for the first time in their lives their fate is in their own hands.
Synopsis:
After nearly thirty years of the Revolutionary War, mankind was finally united under the Republic of Man in the backs of the legendary Four Horsemen. These four cyborg soldiers led the more advanced armies of the Republic against the overwhelmed old superpowers of Earth. Yet as the guns became quiet, the Horsemen soon found there was no place in the utopia they fought to create, so they were simply discarded; tossed into a cryogenic facility to be forgotten about until the end of time. But one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.
Now 400 years after the war, humanity has colonized other planets owned by private companies. This colonization gave those eager to escape the Republic and its ideals a chance at a new life. Life in these colonies lacked much of the luxuries of Earth, but came with a lot more freedoms, at least until something went wrong. Desperate to retain control of their precious investment, the Nowich-Paris company enlists the services of the four legends at great risk.
But these four aren’t heroes, and motivation to save the day considering what it cost them before is fleeting. Legends among soldiers, criminals in the eyes of the masses, and ghosts in the books of history, they must learn their place in this new future that they fought so hard to achieve. The Four Horsemen are free, and for the first time in their lives their fate is in their own hands.
Sneak Peek:
1
Rain Forest Plateau; Outskirts of New Athens; Horizon
Life wasn’t perfect out on the new frontier, but it was a far cry better than it was back on Earth. Just over four hundred years ago, the Revolutionary War ended, uniting all of humanity under one banner with the brightest minds on the planet running the show. The problem with that was when using science to run a planet, the human factor is easily lost. This led to great unrest amongst the people and helped the drive to colonize new worlds.
Two of these new worlds lay within the Teegarden System, owned by the Nowich-Paris Company. Naming its twin habitable gems Dawn and Horizon, the company pushed through most preliminary precautions to set up mining operations and settle the planets as soon as possible. The rush had paid off in dividends, and soon the ungodly amounts of money spent on purchasing the rights to the system, transporting entire cities over, and relocating millions of eager workers was recouped.
Dawn was a gem. A beautiful garden world full of small animal life which hardly got in the way of the crown jewel settlement in the new frontier. Morning Star was the envy of every other exo-planetary city, a beacon to those who wished to start new, but still have all the luxuries of Earth. Its chrome and glass spires rose high into the sky, shining to those aboard Waypoint Station in orbit, which was still under construction.
Horizon was Dawn’s twin, but other than similar land masses and oceans, the resemblance ended there. While Dawn was peaceful and inviting, Horizon tried to kill you from the moment you stepped onto it. Here, the animal life resembled pre-Chicxulub event prehistoric times, with reptiles being the dominant form of predator and prey. Ranging from the absurd three-story tall twin-sailed Spinus-Raptura in the Southern Continent, to the smaller seven-foot-tall Crocidillus-Animorphus – Were-Crocs as they were nicknamed – in the North. The latter were grizzly bear shaped creatures with the skin and head of a saltwater crocodile. Weighing upwards to a ton, these beasts appeared to be slow, lumbering monsters until provoked, then they moved with unnatural speed. Add to that an extremely poor temperament, and these Were-Crocs became the bane of the settlers in no time flat.
Horizon’s main industry was diamond and gold mining, both mines were set a few miles West of the growing city of New Athens. Like her sister city on Dawn, New Athens also was a sight to behold, though the inhabitants of this settlement were of a different class than the upper echelon in Morning Star. Most of those in New Athens were the miners themselves, or those running mining operations. The odd Company executive called Horizon home too, but anyone with stature dared not risk the hazardous life on the dangerous planet.
This constant risk is what made Horizon so profitable to the Legion and brought its members in droves to the Teegarden system. As the Republic had no further need for a large armed force, it subcontracted such matters of policing, security, and all matters of armed services out to the Legion. Comprised of heavily armed mercenaries, the Legion was one of the three largest corporations under the Republic. Yet despite its long history of getting the job done, it failed when it was needed most. And that’s why he was there.
Looking up at the morning sky, he could see the docking hub station in geo-synchronous orbit above New Athens clearly. It was a dark disc hanging in the sky, with its communication arrays hanging like icicles off the underside of its structure. Once it was the top end of a space elevator, but that was retracted when the virus that ravaged New Athens was discovered. After it wiped clean over a million inhabitants of the city, and any research team sent to investigate, the city and the planet became quarantined. When Legion soldiers were sent as security for the next wave of investigators, they too fell ill and subsequently disappeared. Soon enough, even the Legion was barred from large missions on Horizon.
With Nowich-Paris’ investment at risk, they looked for any avenue to find out what happened. That’s where he came in. He had many names over his long life, but for now he went as the Shadowman, though it was more an earned moniker not chosen. Being the elite Wetworks asset of DeSa Armory, the largest producer of weapons and armor systems, he had the distinction of being the best in the business, and the most expensive. He never failed, despite many past assignments deemed impossible to complete.
Perched and very hidden amongst the foliage of a two-hundred-foot tree a half-kilometer outside of the city, the Shadowman readied to wait out his second week on the surface. He was long overdue to report to his superior, but things were finally starting to happen. Sometimes all it took was patience, and a severe lack of compassion to get things going.
The rain had slowed to a soft drizzle, the first time in nearly a week the weather on the Western Plateau had shown any want to change. Weather on Horizon was more unpredictable than that of Earth, though in this region of the third continent it was almost always the same. In the midst of a full continental forest of three hundred-foot trees and immense undergrowth, it was always raining. And when it wasn’t, the humidity was unbearable.
During his time here, he began to think about what it was exactly to be a soldier without a war, as many like him had become. To him, a soldier was now considered less than human; a person taken out of life to become a well-trained killing machine, only to be discarded when they were no longer needed. Once back in society, they were shunned and looked down upon, ending somewhere just above a released convict in the social status ladder. Yet he didn’t mind the less than human part, as over his time of service he often wondered how much of his humanity remained, if any.
This self reflection began shortly after the discovery of the creatures themselves. Once human, the virus that had the entire planet quarantined emaciated them to almost mummification standards, yet they moved around like any other feral beast did. From up in his hiding spot, the Shadowman observed them more than a few times, but failed to capture one for study. The little bastards were elusive, so he laid a trap.
Rain Forest Plateau; Outskirts of New Athens; Horizon
Life wasn’t perfect out on the new frontier, but it was a far cry better than it was back on Earth. Just over four hundred years ago, the Revolutionary War ended, uniting all of humanity under one banner with the brightest minds on the planet running the show. The problem with that was when using science to run a planet, the human factor is easily lost. This led to great unrest amongst the people and helped the drive to colonize new worlds.
Two of these new worlds lay within the Teegarden System, owned by the Nowich-Paris Company. Naming its twin habitable gems Dawn and Horizon, the company pushed through most preliminary precautions to set up mining operations and settle the planets as soon as possible. The rush had paid off in dividends, and soon the ungodly amounts of money spent on purchasing the rights to the system, transporting entire cities over, and relocating millions of eager workers was recouped.
Dawn was a gem. A beautiful garden world full of small animal life which hardly got in the way of the crown jewel settlement in the new frontier. Morning Star was the envy of every other exo-planetary city, a beacon to those who wished to start new, but still have all the luxuries of Earth. Its chrome and glass spires rose high into the sky, shining to those aboard Waypoint Station in orbit, which was still under construction.
Horizon was Dawn’s twin, but other than similar land masses and oceans, the resemblance ended there. While Dawn was peaceful and inviting, Horizon tried to kill you from the moment you stepped onto it. Here, the animal life resembled pre-Chicxulub event prehistoric times, with reptiles being the dominant form of predator and prey. Ranging from the absurd three-story tall twin-sailed Spinus-Raptura in the Southern Continent, to the smaller seven-foot-tall Crocidillus-Animorphus – Were-Crocs as they were nicknamed – in the North. The latter were grizzly bear shaped creatures with the skin and head of a saltwater crocodile. Weighing upwards to a ton, these beasts appeared to be slow, lumbering monsters until provoked, then they moved with unnatural speed. Add to that an extremely poor temperament, and these Were-Crocs became the bane of the settlers in no time flat.
Horizon’s main industry was diamond and gold mining, both mines were set a few miles West of the growing city of New Athens. Like her sister city on Dawn, New Athens also was a sight to behold, though the inhabitants of this settlement were of a different class than the upper echelon in Morning Star. Most of those in New Athens were the miners themselves, or those running mining operations. The odd Company executive called Horizon home too, but anyone with stature dared not risk the hazardous life on the dangerous planet.
This constant risk is what made Horizon so profitable to the Legion and brought its members in droves to the Teegarden system. As the Republic had no further need for a large armed force, it subcontracted such matters of policing, security, and all matters of armed services out to the Legion. Comprised of heavily armed mercenaries, the Legion was one of the three largest corporations under the Republic. Yet despite its long history of getting the job done, it failed when it was needed most. And that’s why he was there.
Looking up at the morning sky, he could see the docking hub station in geo-synchronous orbit above New Athens clearly. It was a dark disc hanging in the sky, with its communication arrays hanging like icicles off the underside of its structure. Once it was the top end of a space elevator, but that was retracted when the virus that ravaged New Athens was discovered. After it wiped clean over a million inhabitants of the city, and any research team sent to investigate, the city and the planet became quarantined. When Legion soldiers were sent as security for the next wave of investigators, they too fell ill and subsequently disappeared. Soon enough, even the Legion was barred from large missions on Horizon.
With Nowich-Paris’ investment at risk, they looked for any avenue to find out what happened. That’s where he came in. He had many names over his long life, but for now he went as the Shadowman, though it was more an earned moniker not chosen. Being the elite Wetworks asset of DeSa Armory, the largest producer of weapons and armor systems, he had the distinction of being the best in the business, and the most expensive. He never failed, despite many past assignments deemed impossible to complete.
Perched and very hidden amongst the foliage of a two-hundred-foot tree a half-kilometer outside of the city, the Shadowman readied to wait out his second week on the surface. He was long overdue to report to his superior, but things were finally starting to happen. Sometimes all it took was patience, and a severe lack of compassion to get things going.
The rain had slowed to a soft drizzle, the first time in nearly a week the weather on the Western Plateau had shown any want to change. Weather on Horizon was more unpredictable than that of Earth, though in this region of the third continent it was almost always the same. In the midst of a full continental forest of three hundred-foot trees and immense undergrowth, it was always raining. And when it wasn’t, the humidity was unbearable.
During his time here, he began to think about what it was exactly to be a soldier without a war, as many like him had become. To him, a soldier was now considered less than human; a person taken out of life to become a well-trained killing machine, only to be discarded when they were no longer needed. Once back in society, they were shunned and looked down upon, ending somewhere just above a released convict in the social status ladder. Yet he didn’t mind the less than human part, as over his time of service he often wondered how much of his humanity remained, if any.
This self reflection began shortly after the discovery of the creatures themselves. Once human, the virus that had the entire planet quarantined emaciated them to almost mummification standards, yet they moved around like any other feral beast did. From up in his hiding spot, the Shadowman observed them more than a few times, but failed to capture one for study. The little bastards were elusive, so he laid a trap.
