Chapter 1: New Reality
Air raid sirens go off as explosions outside the club continue to rattle the building. You rub your eyes violently, hoping that this is all a dream. But it is very very real.
The others look around frantically for any weapon they could find among the dead bodies from the encounter with the American Interim Authority soldiers.
"This can't be fucking real..." you utter to yourself.
Fright grips your stomach as you come to terms with the situation. You get up to your feet and begin packing around in circles anxiously.
"We need to go back home and get our money and guns now!" Shaqueel yells. He tries to bolt for the door, but Aaron stops him.
"Are you fucking crazy? We're being invaded!" He shouts, dragging Shaqueel back further into the club
"Guys." You look towards everyone in the room. They stop and listen intently.
"There is no fucking way that the russians couldve assembled their forces, get across the Atlantic that quick and invade our shores. And where the fuck is our defense?! And who the fuck is the American InterimAuthority and what do they want with us?!" You pace around in circles again
"I dont know, but right now we need to get the fuck out of here!" Shaqueel yells. He picks up a gun from one of the dead AIA soldiers.
"We're being hunted, and we're being invaded. We need to go home now and lockdown and regroup. This is officially a war!" Shaqueel hastily makes his way to the door and yanks it open.
"Lets go." You say. You and the rest of the team follow Shaqueel out into the streets, where it is absolute Pandemonium.
What seems to be a countless number of black humvees flanked by soldiers dressed in black camo and tactical gear. Citizens are being shot down in the street while fighter jets continue to buzz the skies. You stay low, keeping out of sight of the soldier's.
(Who are these people? The russians? Or AIA?)
You round the corner, when suddenly you're confronted by a battalion of AIA soldiers. Dressed in fully black tactical gear and masked to the eyes, the armed men confront you aggressively
"Hands in the air where I can see them now!" You, Shaqueel and the rest of the team comply willingly.
"We are members of the American Interim Authority which will be taking over law enforcement in the entire country as we have been tasked with tracking down and executing all remaining Meta humans in the country as well as the filthy terrorists who invaded siberia last week, bringing us to the brink of war with Russia. This is a simple stop and search. Martial law has been declared because the terrorists still roam our streets today and we will not stop until they are found!"
You struggle to keep your breathing under control as the officers search all of you rigorously and thoroughly. Keeping your head down, you try to remove any and all evidence that you are indeed a meta human.
The search is long and jarring, and the soldiers continue to look around you with suspicious eyes.
"Whats happening? Why are we seeing fighter jets shooting at buildings?" Shaqueel asks
"Air support for our troops. Why is it any of your business?" Shaqueel keeps quiet after that.
The search is done and you're free to go.
"So they've declared martial law, locked down the entire country just because of us?" You whisper to the group
"Yes. At first I thought this was the russian invasion, but you're right. There's no way the russians couldve responded that quickly. This is an American government sanctioned military occupation" Shaqueel says, walking low key with the rifle.
You eventually reach an abandoned warehouse, and you and your group take refuge in the dark building. The night sky continues to be lit up with explosions.
Out of breath, you find yourselves in a dark spot, out of view from the streets.
"So what do we do now?" Theo asks, panting heavily
"We have to stay low. Theyre on the hunt for us and we better count our blessings that they have no idea what we look like yet. This whole operation sounds like a nationwide thing, which means--"
"ALL metas will be found and executed. These are the consequences for what we did in siberia" you say with a shuddering breath
"This has to be a russian backed operation!" Daxton yells in frustration
"Why would the government want to wipe out its only genuine weapon that can easily go up against the russians with ease? This is not some martial law shit, we have been invaded and are going to be occupied by the russians! Look at the bigger picture guys! This AIA shit is a smokescreen for the russians to just waltz in here and take over our country! We need to arm up and--!"
"Daxton!" Shaqueel's voice thunders in the warehouse
"We dont have time for this bullshit! We need to go home, regardless of whoever it is out there on the streets!" Daxton says nothing as shaqueel grabs him by the arm and drags him towards the exit, the rest of you following.
The streets of New York have descended into absolute chaos. Dozens of civilians are being rounded up and shot as militants from the AIA, also wearing red helmets, continue their violent implementation of martial law in the city. You duck behind cars, and stay close to buildings, avoiding being obvious targets to these men.
You pass people on the streets running frantically in the opposite direction
Gunfire continues to fill the air as your team hurries back to your home, where hundreds of millions of dollars in cash is hidden in the basement, including your armoury and weapons.
Continuing to manourver your way through the chaotic streets, you finally find yourselves back onto your street, when you notice a Infantry vehicle parked outside your home, with a group of heavily armed soldiers making their way into the house. The only persons who remain in the truck are the driver, and a passenger next to him.
"FUCK!" You yell as the team stops dead in their tracks
"We need to stop them before they grab a hold of everything!" Shaqueel says. You gather yourself as you turn to the team.
(We need to distract the soldiers in the truck while the rest of them rescue our stuff!)
The others look around frantically for any weapon they could find among the dead bodies from the encounter with the American Interim Authority soldiers.
"This can't be fucking real..." you utter to yourself.
Fright grips your stomach as you come to terms with the situation. You get up to your feet and begin packing around in circles anxiously.
"We need to go back home and get our money and guns now!" Shaqueel yells. He tries to bolt for the door, but Aaron stops him.
"Are you fucking crazy? We're being invaded!" He shouts, dragging Shaqueel back further into the club
"Guys." You look towards everyone in the room. They stop and listen intently.
"There is no fucking way that the russians couldve assembled their forces, get across the Atlantic that quick and invade our shores. And where the fuck is our defense?! And who the fuck is the American InterimAuthority and what do they want with us?!" You pace around in circles again
"I dont know, but right now we need to get the fuck out of here!" Shaqueel yells. He picks up a gun from one of the dead AIA soldiers.
"We're being hunted, and we're being invaded. We need to go home now and lockdown and regroup. This is officially a war!" Shaqueel hastily makes his way to the door and yanks it open.
"Lets go." You say. You and the rest of the team follow Shaqueel out into the streets, where it is absolute Pandemonium.
What seems to be a countless number of black humvees flanked by soldiers dressed in black camo and tactical gear. Citizens are being shot down in the street while fighter jets continue to buzz the skies. You stay low, keeping out of sight of the soldier's.
(Who are these people? The russians? Or AIA?)
You round the corner, when suddenly you're confronted by a battalion of AIA soldiers. Dressed in fully black tactical gear and masked to the eyes, the armed men confront you aggressively
"Hands in the air where I can see them now!" You, Shaqueel and the rest of the team comply willingly.
"We are members of the American Interim Authority which will be taking over law enforcement in the entire country as we have been tasked with tracking down and executing all remaining Meta humans in the country as well as the filthy terrorists who invaded siberia last week, bringing us to the brink of war with Russia. This is a simple stop and search. Martial law has been declared because the terrorists still roam our streets today and we will not stop until they are found!"
You struggle to keep your breathing under control as the officers search all of you rigorously and thoroughly. Keeping your head down, you try to remove any and all evidence that you are indeed a meta human.
The search is long and jarring, and the soldiers continue to look around you with suspicious eyes.
"Whats happening? Why are we seeing fighter jets shooting at buildings?" Shaqueel asks
"Air support for our troops. Why is it any of your business?" Shaqueel keeps quiet after that.
The search is done and you're free to go.
"So they've declared martial law, locked down the entire country just because of us?" You whisper to the group
"Yes. At first I thought this was the russian invasion, but you're right. There's no way the russians couldve responded that quickly. This is an American government sanctioned military occupation" Shaqueel says, walking low key with the rifle.
You eventually reach an abandoned warehouse, and you and your group take refuge in the dark building. The night sky continues to be lit up with explosions.
Out of breath, you find yourselves in a dark spot, out of view from the streets.
"So what do we do now?" Theo asks, panting heavily
"We have to stay low. Theyre on the hunt for us and we better count our blessings that they have no idea what we look like yet. This whole operation sounds like a nationwide thing, which means--"
"ALL metas will be found and executed. These are the consequences for what we did in siberia" you say with a shuddering breath
"This has to be a russian backed operation!" Daxton yells in frustration
"Why would the government want to wipe out its only genuine weapon that can easily go up against the russians with ease? This is not some martial law shit, we have been invaded and are going to be occupied by the russians! Look at the bigger picture guys! This AIA shit is a smokescreen for the russians to just waltz in here and take over our country! We need to arm up and--!"
"Daxton!" Shaqueel's voice thunders in the warehouse
"We dont have time for this bullshit! We need to go home, regardless of whoever it is out there on the streets!" Daxton says nothing as shaqueel grabs him by the arm and drags him towards the exit, the rest of you following.
The streets of New York have descended into absolute chaos. Dozens of civilians are being rounded up and shot as militants from the AIA, also wearing red helmets, continue their violent implementation of martial law in the city. You duck behind cars, and stay close to buildings, avoiding being obvious targets to these men.
You pass people on the streets running frantically in the opposite direction
Gunfire continues to fill the air as your team hurries back to your home, where hundreds of millions of dollars in cash is hidden in the basement, including your armoury and weapons.
Continuing to manourver your way through the chaotic streets, you finally find yourselves back onto your street, when you notice a Infantry vehicle parked outside your home, with a group of heavily armed soldiers making their way into the house. The only persons who remain in the truck are the driver, and a passenger next to him.
"FUCK!" You yell as the team stops dead in their tracks
"We need to stop them before they grab a hold of everything!" Shaqueel says. You gather yourself as you turn to the team.
(We need to distract the soldiers in the truck while the rest of them rescue our stuff!)
"Theo. I need you to form some sort of windy storm to distract them. Make it as realistic as possible so they don't suspect anything. Stay out of sight while we go and handle the AIA."
You leave theo to his magic while you and the rest of the team look to sneak into the basement from the outside. Wind gusts pick up drastically as theo uses his powers to his full extent. Cars begin to be dragged along the rugged road, serving the perfect distraction for your team to swoop into the house from the back.
You can hear the faint footsteps of soldiers making their way into the home, the faint voices of american voices heard sparsely throughout the house. Flashlights occasionally light up the dark room, as you all stay covered behind a armed and steeled Shaqueel.
Suddenly bullets begin flying.
You and your team take cover as you seek to avoid the shower of bullets coming from high powered AR-15s
Shaqueel begins firing back in the opposite direction as the sounds of guns firing gets louder and closer.
"TAKE OUT THE LIGHTS!" He yells over the ear piercing sound of Gunfire. You're suddenly realise what he means
Using your powers, you take out their flashlights, and the entire house has turned pitch black yet again.
"T-the flashlights are out! I can't see a damn thing!"
"Me too!"
The sounds of complaining voices gives shaqueel an open window to fire back.
Anxious seconds pass by as shaqueel makes his way into the crowded corridor without making a squeak. Bullets begin flying again as your team ducks down for cover. The wind outside continues to blow hard as theo does his best to keep back reinforcements.
You bite your bottom lip, hoping Shaqueel survived the ordeal. Your heart thunders in your chests as screams of agony come from the corridor
The bullets stop, and its deathly silent. The only thing you can hear is the sound of your heart violently racing at breakneck speed. You desperately yearn to hear Shaqueel's voice at the end of it all.
"Theyre all out." Shaqueel says as he strots back into the room, stained in blkkd
You jump and hug Shaqueel tightly, relieved that he survived.
"Im so glad your ok". He softly rubs your back as his gun clatters to the ground.
You pull away quickly, refocusing your mind on the dangerous task at hand.
"Guys, we need to get to theo, now!" You say. Aaron makes his way outside without another word. Anxious seconds pass, but eventually he returns with theo, unharmed.
The sounds of gunfire and explosions continue to sound off in the distance.
You lock the windows and barricade all the doors in the house to keep out any AIA intruders.
"We're safe here. For now. But we will be stuck here for a very long time until this whole thing blows over." Shaqueel says, his eyes pinned to the door window, watching soldiers marching down the streets with Tanks and armoured vehicles in follow.
"Im just wondering how long they had this shit planned?!" Daxton says
"This must be done by the russians. No other explanation." Toby says as he paces around the room anxiously.
"No doubt the russians are in on this. But it makes no sense. This is hours after we came back from siberia. There is no way the government would've found out so quickly." You say
"Which means the government planned to kill us out long before we even plotted to kill Urganov." Theo says.
"All in the name of power and control. And this country's arch enemy has compromised our government." You finish, rubbing your hand through your hair.
You all sit down on the couches in the living room and switch the TV on, revealing the National security advisor reporting live on CNN about the new martial law declaration in place nationwide.
'The newly formed American Interim Authority has Identified Meta Humans as the number one threat to national security and World piece, and with the authority given by President Trump, has declared martial law nationwide until further notice. Security forces have been tasked with identifying and taking out any meta humans seen on the streets of the United states. How they will be identified from non metas? The Department for homeland security has stated that they will be rolling out a mandated microchipping scheme to help identify metas from non metas.'
The TV then shows a person holding up to the camera a magnified picture of a tiny lightbulb shaped chip, the size of a rice grain, with electrical components carefully laid out inside the glass casing. At the bottom, colours, red and green blanket the end of the chip.
"This chip will be for your safety as of everyone else's. Checkpoints will be set up across the entire nation, in every city, town and village to ensure that all 300m of our citizens are identified from the terrorists. We have wireless scanners in every shop, bank, business and border crossing. Once scanned and it glows green, you are not a meta. But once it glows red, you have been identified as a terrorist and will be arrested, detained, and subtly executed. We will not allow terrorism to thrive in our country. With this, we have also been given instructions from the president and the national security Council, to dissolve all state legislatures and leadership, and to reshape the United states and divide it amongst regions, murging most states into these said regions. The American Interim Authority will place its own governors in charge of these regions. This is to stump out any local dissent to the authority. Masss surveillance cameras will be set up across the nation The AIA will be headed by hard man Gaston Flynn, who will lead the operations in this country." The TV switches back to the CNN reporter, and you all are left in shock.
"This is ridiculous! So they're saying that states will be merged into regional territory controlled by a single governor? Just to wipe us out?" Shaqueel asks
"Yes, that seems to be the case." Toby says.
"Looks like we're gonna be stuck here for months. Better start rationing food and drinks. " Aaron says, walking away to the kitchen.
You're sat staring at the TV in shock and horror. You think of Jessica and bailey, who don't seem to have shown any signs of having any powers, could still be potential metas themselves.
The realisation finally settles in that you may now have to really fight for your survival, and your mind wanders as to how you can protect your team from the very government that wants you dead.
