Aftermath

[x34ds]

So, this is my first attempt at writing a story based on TW/TD/DS
Please let me know what you think of it, I like to hear criticism so that I can improve my writing

Now, without further ado, I give you... Aftermath.


From the Journals of James East, aka x34ds, of CONTRA Elite
November 22, 2154
Location: The Mausoleum, Near the former Control Center

I tried to tell them. Tried to explain. But they simply wouldn’t listen. They think I’m a hero. A hero...hah. Bullshit. I tried to tell them about the true heroes, the men I had fought alongside for so long...even some of the ones I had fought against. They couldn’t be bothered to listen though, could they. Hell, they don’t even know what happened in the war. I suppose I can’t hold that against them, though... I don’t think anyone know what happened for sure. Anyone who would know is now either dead, or far out of reach.

I’m not foolish enough to believe they care about my actions-I realize that they don’t care. If anyone else had survived, they’d act precisely the same way toward him. The winner writes the history books, as the say-or the last one left. ‘Course, some would say the last one left won. Guess I’m not one of them. I think we all knew who won that day, even before the battle. But it was too late to stop anything, and by that point I don’t think we wanted to stop anymore. Things were set in motion, and nothing was going to change them.

It’s been ten years now since it all ended. Hard to believe. I’m here now, looking at the ruins of the central station. Can’t believe this is where he lived for so many years. I wonder how long he was plotting against us. How long he was manipulating us, pitting us against one another, not just to destroy us-but to make us destroy ourselves.

Debris floats through the system now, all of the stations destroyed. I think I recognize some, but I’m just going to ignore them. Damned hard to navigate through. I must be mad to be back here.

Why am I back?

Strangely, I feel more comfortable here among the dead than I do in the world of the living.

Perhaps I am truly am mad.
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Frizz [2:34pm]
*puts on his ban-hat*

[garrow]

*claps* very nice, hope to see chapter two soon!
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[CENTER][/CENTER]

[x34ds]

November 23, 2154
8:23
Location: The Mausoleum, Orbiting Planet 1157, aka ‘Konu’

I’m looking out the window now, down at Konu. Hard to believe this is where the final battle took place, it looks so peaceful. Blue and white clouds shift, constantly covering the planet’s surface. Thank God for that. I don’t want to see right now-but maybe later I will take a closer look...

On the Surface of Konu
11:43

Damn. It’s all coming back now. Knew I should’ve stayed in the ship.

Everywhere I look are the dead-rusting mekas*, destroyed buildings, and people. I think the people are the worst. They’re strewn about the battlefield carelessly, wherever they fell. I can’t bring myself to look; the atmosphere of Konu has preserved their bodies, and I don’t think I could handle seeing somebody I recognized...

Say-what’s that...

Activating the visual recording now, I need a picture of this...

Visual Recording Logs show a man identified as James East holding a flag with an unidentified symbol upon it. Experts have collaborated and confirmed that this flag appears as though it may once have been gold and black, and has a stylized CE on it. East goes on to explain more, and some have made the inference that this flag is the flag of the ‘faction’ he fought for, named Contra Elite.

Never expected to see one of these again... wonder who brought this to Konu for that last battle? There were still a lot of us around at that point... weren’t so many afterward though...

I don’t remember all of it. I’m fairly sure I died that day. Maybe I walked around afterward, but I left something of myself here on this small planet. Maybe that’s why I’m back in this Godforsaken place; hoping to find the rest of me. Hoping maybe I can somehow put myself back together again.

Fat chance.

*’Meka’ was the term used for the legendary war machines used in the battles in the Mausoleum. While no examples survive to date, ‘mekas’ were reputedly the most feared thing in-system, and some sides had hundreds of them, even thousands. These armies were supplied with the exceptional yield of ore from all planets in-system. According to legend some armies still roam those dead worlds, waiting to kill again.
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Frizz [2:34pm]
*puts on his ban-hat*

[x34ds]

November 23, 2154
14:57
The Mausoleum, On the Surface of ‘Konu’ (Planet 1157)

Walked more, found a few more flags. Can’t recognize most of em anymore, but I’m taking them with me anyway. Some things shouldn’t be left in the dust to waste away. I’ve been remembering that battle all day; sometimes it hurts, and sometimes I can’t feel anything at all. I think that scares me the most, the apathy. The realization that I don’t care about a lot of things anymore. Maybe there’s only so much a single person can take before something inside them snaps. Only so much a person can hold inside. Maybe thats why I started this journal; in the hopes of unburdening myself.

Maybe I should give up on hope by now.

I look over the war-torn sands of Konu and I can see the crippled hulks which were once gleaming mekas, shiny and new, pride of their faction. I can see why it’s called the Mausoleum now; the whole system is a graveyard. But the name is wrong; a mausoleum is a memorial. And nobody but me is trying to remember what happened in that system ten years ago.

Why do I even want to know? It’s not like it’ll help any. Even if I figure the whole damn thing out, they’ll all be just as dead. I want to know anyway though. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it’ll give me some peace, finally.

Yeah, right.

I’m heading back to orbit now; I need a good long sleep. And I have something to look for up there.


November 24, 2154
7:26
The Mausoleum, In Orbit

Looking for the CONTRA station* today; not expecting to find much of it left**, but it’s worth a shot. Perhaps I’ll finally find what I’m looking for there...

I don’t understand anything. Why did I live, and others die? I fought no harder than the others, was no more careful. It’s as if the outcome was decided on a roll of dice. I could list off so many others who should have lived rather than me. I had nothing to return to, no family, no home-nothing. No reason to live.

I wish I had died there with them.

For the better part of five years of my life, I lived in this world. In the year 2144, my world ended. And now I walk alone in this nightmare, praying that I might wake up, but knowing I will not.

*Note: The ‘factions’ each resided on a station, bought with local currency. These stations were reputed to be strong safehouses, invulnerable to attack.

**However, as seen in the Mausoleum, something did indeed destroy nearly all of the stations. Investigations have failed numerous times to discover what was used to ruin the last sanctuary of these people.
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Frizz [2:34pm]
*puts on his ban-hat*

[garrow]

very good! Loved the second "chapter". Shows the emotions that a soldier might have after witnessing such a huge loss.

Third "chapter" was alright, felt it may have been a bit jumbled, but thats prob my mood kicking in, I will reread later


very well done friend, keep them coming!
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[CENTER][/CENTER]

[snorok14]

i like the story so far just one thing doesnt make sense: y were the ppl's bodies preserved in the atmosphere but not the flags? or did something destroy the flags? :s i confused myself i think...

[x34ds]

the flags were preserved; they were damaged in the battle.

same happened with the bodies...but i didn't want to get graphic in my description of what the bodies looked like.

answer your question?
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Frizz [2:34pm]
*puts on his ban-hat*

[snorok14]

yep, continue now

[x34ds]

Longer chapter than usual, enjoy...

November 24, 2154
11:47
The Mausoleum, In Orbit, Near the remains of Station Number 11 (formerly owned by the faction CONTRA Elite)

I’ve found the station... or most of it anyway.

Never thought it would hurt so much, seeing this. Thought I could stand it after Konu. But it’s worse somehow; I look and see that grand old station float by... in pieces. I can see that the caf was opened to space, and the command tower has been blown off. I can see the scoring on the sides, marring the steel skin. But worst of all...

The flag painted on the side is visible. And the flag...

Note: At this point, East switched to visual recording. Historians have determined that the flag he was discussing is now on display before us, and matches the flag he found on Konu. Further sounds, while unidentifiable as words, have been dubbed as muted crying(presumably from East). That this flag caused such an emotional outburst speaks either to how much it meant to him or how much his sanity had slipped by this point.



November 24, 2154
18:14
The Mausoleum, Near Station Number 1(formerly owned by the faction Elite Resistance)

Why did I come back here?

I suppose it could be to look back and laugh; in the end, I’m alive and they’re not. I think back then, I might have done that too. Might have stood on the graves of my enemies and gloated.

I can’t do that right now.

I’d like to; for how long have I fought these people? How many of my friends have died or been hurt at their hands?

But I think I’ve simply outgrown it.

And every time I try to rebuild that hate inside me, all I can see is the faces of the men I’ve killed over the years. Men who, like me, had friends and family. And I realize... I’m just as guilty as them.

And I don’t think I’d want anybody dancing on my grave.

Anyway... there’s a lot left of this station; some of its systems even seem to still be working. I think I’ll go inside later... I’m still trying to remember what happened-what caused that final battle. But I can’t... every time I think back, it seems that nothing could have been severe enough to cause a fight like that. And the part which still confounds me is how nobody stopped fighting. They just kept killing each other, relentlessly...



16:45*

Amazing.

I was the last one. Final survivor. Only person left.

Or not.

They were still here.

Not all of them; not even most of them. But they still lived on, apparently...together. I had even seen PGF personnel here. In the ER station. Madness!

But...

I’m not the last!

I went in the Elite Resistance station today, and I discovered that not everyonee just kept fighting... a small community of people has been surviving here in the Mausoleum for the last ten years. Insanity... how are they still alive? How has nobody found them?

*It is at this time when that it is generally accepted that James East truly fell into the grips of insanity. His discussion from here claims that many men, known to be dead, talk with him and exhibit other characteristics of a living being. While the journals of East following this entry are intriguing reading, it is clear that the man was simply pushed over the edge when he returned to the Mausoleum again, and so nothing stated in said journals can be taken as truth.
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Frizz [2:34pm]
*puts on his ban-hat*