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The third installment of the âSHILOH Transmissionsâ. Part 2 provides background to the events you are about to read.
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âWe seek peace, but itâs always just beyond our grasp, like a twisted trick.â
âWe give all we have to science. Is it worth our lives?â
âShy, please donât do this.â
âDonât go.â
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Shiloh jolted awake, her stained tank-top drenched in sweat. The haunting words echoed in her skull, his image on her mind. She hadnât heard that nickname in a long time. Nevertheless, time was running out, and the hour pressed close. She was anything but ready.
âYou have 1 week Shawâ The glowing red text popped on her secretive device. Kurtzâs reminders were brief, but conveyed the message well. All she could do was wait for the moment she had been planning for months. Until then, she was one of them.
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From warehouse to bridge, bridge to freeway, freeway to suburban road. The Guard continued to drive the KLG division further and further out of the city. All the while, the 25-year-old Shiloh continued to work and talk with Flatline.
The two began to develop a strong friendship. Shiloh genuinely respected and admired her compatriot, and did her utmost to protect her from Lawgiver metal. Likewise, Flatline was persistent in her work, protecting Shiloh from the hand of death. The bond of war ties people close to each other, and these ropes were pulled taut.
âItâs amazing that you use your tech to support the Guard. How did you even obtain a weapon like that?â, Flatline asked while the team prepped for another push. Shiloh owned a unique quantum-distortion rifle, an intimidating weapon on the battlefield. She was often asked about it.
âWell, Papa worked in Kaucher Industries before the war, when I was very young. He taught me a lot, and brought lots of fun stuff to tinker with. I guess I had a knack for inventing.â She handed the rifle to Flatline, the attached energy platelets pulsating as she gripped the stock. The paramedic was clearly impressed, taking several looks down the sights.
âYour father must have been very fortunate. I wish mine brought me things like what you described.â She handed the weapon back with a mellow smirk.
âOh he was very fortunateâ, Shiloh responded. âOur family managed to deal with the war pretty well. Papa stills works with tech actually.â
Flatline seemed surprised by her remark, but didnât question it. The two then clarified mission details and preparations before suiting up for the evening offensive. It was like every mission before: Identify and use cover, force the enemy out of their own protections, and push them back.
The mission went perfectly according to plan, and the KLG pulled back once again in retreat. With every defeat, they lost more and more men, and were increasingly driven from the other divisions. Their plight was getting more extreme by the day, and hope failed among them. Even Yanlong Hwang, the meditative, composed irregular among them was distressed. Why wasnât Kurtz coming to help them?
In a week, they found themselves on the southernmost outskirts of the vast city, pushed to the breaking point. Most of the Guard thought Kurtz was âtryingâ to supply and reinforce them, but had failed. Shiloh knew the real reason.
âI need this medic alive and unharmed. Colonel Lehmann and the 4th Lawgiver Division will NOT threaten my plans for her. All they need to know is that reinforcements âare stretched thinâ. To them, Iâm doing everything I can, and the fight is ultimately their responsibility. Once you complete your mission, Iâll make sure the Peopleâs Guard is neutralized. Just remember, donât forget why youâre there.â
This unsettling revelation from Kurtz kept Shiloh on the burners. The Lawgiver soldiers, many of them she grew up with, were losing their lives for her mission. The longer she took, the more who would lose their lives. At the same time, the longer she delayed, the more likely Kurtz would intervene. Those that were âcorrectedâ didnât stick around for very long.
She had reached the dilemma, and she couldnât put it off any further. After much deliberation, she knew what she had to do.
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She prepared. The tools she needed, the vehicle she would drive, and the time and place. Everything for the last step was in place; now all she needed to do was wait.
Rays of sunlight caught the country grass as it swayed in the wind, and the morning mist hugged the ground. It was the dawn of the final assault. The 4th KLG Division was held up in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city, their last line of defense. There was nowhere to flee, with empty country to the south and the Peopleâs Guard to the north.
To keep running was futile, a last stand their only option. Yanlong hoisted his mortar in position and dug his heels into the wet gravel, bracing for the coming onslaught. With a barrage of gunfire and wrath, the Guard moved.
Shiloh and Flatlineâs team took up the rear, watching over the teams spearheading the attack. Enemy bullets shattered against the rippling shield dome, leaving her unharmed and undeterred. As they approached the ridge leading up to the factory, she readied her skills for use. An Equilibrium Shield would provide enough distraction to knock Flatline out, carry her to the hidden vehicle nearby, and make a speedy escape. It would all work out. Her skill was just aboâŠ
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It never charged. Shiloh fell to the ground convulsing, two sparking wires imbedded in her neck. Flatline, taser in hand, stood a ways off.
Stern bitterness was written across her face, tears welling in her fiery eyes.
It was over.
âIâm sorry for your poor decision. Give Kurtz my regards.â
The paramedic violently grabbed Shilohâs head, and with a sudden lurch, sent a full revive into her body.
The sky blacked out and pain swept in. All the young woman could remember was the sudden rush of agonized throbbing to her torso, as if Guilt had armed itself against her. She wanted to speak, but her voice had vanished, leaving only a stifling silence. In a faded delirium, Shiloh realized she was now very alone and very afraid. Once again, just like the dream, his words swayed through her fractured mind:
âThis isnât right, none of it is. We need to leave it all behind us.â
âI fear that what weâve done may destroy us, destroy everything.â
âIâll always come for you, Shy. Donât let go.â
âDonât go.â
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Shilohâs story will continueâŠ?
