Page 2 of Souls of Steel
With our heads covered and our faces shielded from view, we left the bathroom and headed toward the plaza. It was early morning, but already, there was a crowd waiting in front of the stage, breathlessly hoping to get a glimpse of one of the gifts from the gods, the mysterious mechas that had allowed us to chase away the Sun-Dwellers.
My first look at the monolith was underwhelming. The chimera was covered in a thick tarp, shielded from view and presumably, from the elements. As far as I knew, the Chimera Diamond core couldn’t be damaged by any force in the universe, having been granted to humanity by the primordial deity, Tartarus, himself. But I supposed I couldn’t blame the authorities for being extra cautious with something so precious.
Louise and I managed to wriggle our way closer to the stage, but still, the distance between us and our target was staggering. The people moving around the chimera looked like the toys I’d played with as a child. I suppressed a sigh and resigned myself to the unavoidable. I couldn’t get closer and making the attempt would endanger both of us. This would have to do.
It seemed to take hours for General Harold Rhodes to appear on the stage. The screen behind him lit up with the image of a portly man who had more medals strapped to his uniform than hair on his head. I knew better than to underestimate him because of his age and appearance. Rumor had it that, in his youth, the general had been one of the fiercest combatants on the front. He’d never actually piloted a chimera, but that hadn’t stopped him from serving Earth. He had been a member of The Hyperion Star Fleet for decades and had clashed with the Sun-Dwellers in countless battles.
“Good morning, people of Gaia and Tartarus. I am General Harold Rhodes. We are honored to be here, in your wonderful town.”
I doubted that very much. As cities went, New Washington wasn’t very big. The old capital of the United States of America had been heavily damaged by the Sun-Dwellers, and it had yet to fully recover. The presentation was only held here because of the historical value of the place. I’d heard the mecha had been displayed in other countries as well, under similar circumstances. It had been particularly popular in Nouveau Paris.
But most of the Chimera nobility—the general included—looked down on Gaia’s children. They lived up in the skies, risking their lives to protect us from potential invaders. For that, we were all grateful. I would’ve been happier about it if, half the time, I hadn’t felt inferior because I’d been born breathing the natural air of earth, not the filtered oxygen of Tartarus Base.
On the stage, General Rhodes extended his arms, as if he was trying to embrace us all. “We’ve always wanted to share the blessings of Tartarus with Gaia’s children, the way they so generously share Gaia’s Gift with us. To this end, we have brought you one of the most magnificent chimeras to ever be created, the Sphinx.”
As General Rhodes finished his little speech, the tarp on the chimera disappeared. It must’ve been a holographic projection. We didn’t use that kind of technology a lot on Earth, but for Chimera Warriors, it was probably normal. In any case, now that the hologram was gone, I finally got a look at what I’d come here to see. I wasn’t close enough to distinguish the details with my own eyes, but the image on the screen filled me with awe.
As its name pointed out, this particular mecha looked like the legendary Sphinx. With a humanoid head, but a leonine body and the wings of an eagle, it would undoubtedly do massive damage to the forces of the Sun-Dwellers. “It’s beautiful,” I heard myself say.
Fortunately, the men around me were too distracted by the sight to hear me speak. Otherwise, I would’ve blown my cover and ended up in a lot of trouble.
“The Sphinx is one of our deadliest chimeras, a new model designed to have the strength of the Typhon and the maneuverability of a Harpy. With mechas like the Sphinx, we are sure we will be able to keep Terra safe for many years..”
His words sliced through my haze of admiration like a knife. If this mecha was so important, why was he parading it around like this? Shouldn’t it be up in space, in Tartarus Base, in the hands of a well-trained noble who could do more than gawk at it? Why was it dormant?
I wanted to ask, but even if I’d been able to get close, I would’ve never received an answer. And in the end, my confusion and doubts mattered very little, as did General Rhodes’s intentions.
All of a sudden, an explosion shook the stage, setting half of it ablaze. General Rhodes was too close to duck and he was thrown back, straight into the chimera.
The screen that had been displaying the beautiful machine cracked, so I couldn’t see what had happened to him, but I wasn’t optimistic about his chances.
The sound of gunshots and magical blasts filled the air, followed by chanting that was much too familiar for my comfort. “May Gaia’s Gift flow over us and grant us the power to win this battle.”
I felt the earth vibrate beneath my feet and tasted dread in my mouth. A chimera’s core couldn’t be destroyed, no, and the special alloy used for the creation of its body was supposed to be resilient to both heat and other type of physical damage. But I wasn’t sure if that was true for dormant chimeras. Besides, magic had always been a wild card, and some people didn’t approve of the way The Grand Judiciary dealt with things.
“Get it!” I heard someone shout over the screaming of the crowd. “Get the machine!”
Were they crazy? A chimera wasn’t meant to be wielded for any other reason except to protect our planet. To claim it for one’s own benefit and selfishness was an abomination. The gods themselves would punish anyone who dared.
But in the past century, people had begun to forget about all the sacrifices our ancestors had made and everything we’d lost because of our arrogance. My mother, who was one of the Gifted, had always taken the time to remind me, because even if I didn’t have her power, I was still one of Gaia’s children. “We can’t repeat the mistakes of the past, Selene,” she’d often say. “We need to protect this world we were given, at all costs.”
People still believed in the power of the gods, but they also took it for granted. Our attackers were a clear example.
In an ideal world, I could’ve done something about their madness and made them see the error of their ways. But this was not an ideal world, and I was just one young woman in a crowd of men, all of whom were angry, terrified, and wanted to get out of there.
They started shoving each other in an attempt to escape, and within seconds, I became too busy trying to survive the chaos to worry about what the gods thought about this unfortunate development.
I held onto Louise as tightly as I could, intent on keeping my friend safe. In the dim morning light, she looked so pale she was almost translucent and I cursed myself for having dragged her here with me. “Come on,” I said, trying to pull her away from the crowd. “We need to take refuge somewhere.”
There were too many people here, but if we went underground, we’d be safe. We could just toss our disguises aside and nobody would hurt us. Gaia’s followers—even the extremists—very rarely hurt women, so all we had to do was separate ourselves from the mass of men.
It was easier said than done. The number of men was overwhelming, and compared to their general bulk, we were fairly small. I was stronger than Louise and I managed to force my way through, but it was a struggle. The fire was spreading, threatening to cut off our avenues of escape.
That was when another disaster struck. In the agitation, my hood fell off and my hair clips snapped.
Despite all the explosions going off around us, it only took a couple of seconds for our presence to be noticed. With my hair loose, I stood out like a beacon. I wished I hadn’t let my mother convince me to not cut it off.
A wild-eyed man got in my way, snarling at me in a mix of anger and terror. He produced a knife from his jacket and pointed it at me, his hand shaking. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? One of those terrorists!”
