LOVE AND SACRIFICE
This is a tale of War. This is a tale of Sacrifice. This is a tale of
Love.
War...
What is war? War is a set of ongoing battles between two or more opposing groups. People die, people suffer, people make
sacrifices for those they love. War is wrong; there's no doubt about
that. Right? So then why do we fight them?
Who knows?
Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of War
The year, 2051. Signs of a war are dawning, and the once peaceful
world begins to quiver in fear. At least, the world except for the
nation Kaita, the very instigator of all the small wars that begin to
break out. Always known as a military-based country, Kaita has begun
to take advantage of its strength and to conquer surrounding nations
in the continents of Eurel and Arasia, forming "The Kaitan Alliance".
The people of the pokemon world do not want a war. They have no idea
what to do; they have no idea how to go about protecting themselves.
But they cannot just sit back and be dominated by this tiny, yet
powerful nation. They need weapons; they need some way to insure
that even if they are conquered, they can retaliate eventually.
They want perfect soldiers.
Sure actual weapons would be a good idea, but in this world of
pokemon, mechanical warfare takes a backseat to pokemon and human
soldiers. Yet to create these idea soldiers, they would need years
and years of research. Years and years that they feared they did not
have to spare.
---
The world conference of professors of various fields:
"Professor Ferina Tavis, you've been disagreeing with all our
suggestions. What do *you* propose we do?" Professor Harold
asked.
Ferina stood up, thinking over her words carefully. She knew her idea
would work, so it was crucial that she presented it in a way that
they would all leap for it. Her bright green eyes seemed thoughtful
and mellow, but then lit up with a pleased sparkle. "For one, I
don't think that we should recruit orphaned babies and try bringing
them up as soldiers. It just doesn't work." She paused, thinking
again. "I also don't think genetically enhancing pokemon will
work. Remember MewTwo? I know that's classified, but I'm quite sure
we all heard about that 'little incident'."
"But what do you think we should do, then?" Professor Jim
demanded. He wanted to genetically enhance pokemon, and Ferina's
quick shot down of his idea struck a nerve.
The young professor bent down and picked up her bag, then set it down
on the table. She took out a pile of pamphlets from her briefcase and
passed them down the table. "I propose we create our own
soldiers."
"Create? You mean-" Professor Nerina looked worried, and
frantically looked around the room then at her sister. "You
can't possibly believe we'll be able to finish in time!" She lowered
her voice, directing her next remark just at Ferina. "And besides,
it was meant to be *our* secret..."
"Finish what in time?" Professor Kris asked curiously.
"Project H/C," Ferina replied. "Open the booklets and
read for yourself."
The other professors read, quickly skimming through. At first,
silence filled the room, but an excited mummer started to rise as
they discussed the contents.
"That's even more impossible than genetically enhancing a
biddable but intelligent pokemon!" Jim scoffed, frowning at the
pamphlet, but he was immediately drowned out by the excited remarks
of the other professors.
"This is great Ferina! Did you and Nerina think this up? Have
you started already?" Professor May Oak asked. She was old, over
sixty, but still one of the most active professors in the pokemon
field, and a very highly respected one.
"Yes, Ferina and I have started. We haven't gotten very far...
Our preliminary experiments consist in trying to add pokemon DNA to
adults to enhance the senses."
"Any success?" May asked.
"Actually, yes. We tried it on ourselves... As some of you may
have noticed, Ferina no longer needs her glasses, and I can hear
again. I haven't had to read lips for some time now."
"This is wonderful! It's a perfect idea!" May exclaimed,
clapping her hands together. "However," she continued
seriously, "we will need to split into several groups. Somewhere
between seven and seventeen."
"But why?" Harold asked.
"Because, if we all work together, and we get discovered, what
will happen to the project? We need to hope that at least one
experiment succeeds."
"Then it should be seventeen groups, one for each type. We can
organize annual meetings to compare notes and results, but other than
that, we should stay separate, for our own safety. Nerina, Ferina,
surely you two have several other assistants who know about the
experiments who can be distributed to different groups."
They nodded.
"Good! Now, on to who gets what type-"
"Excuse me," Professor Taru interrupted. "I thought
there were sixteen types? Lightning, Water, Grass, Fire, Fighting,
Ground, Dragon, Rock, Steel, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Psychic, Bug,
Flying, and Ice?"
"You forgot Normal," May said.
"Normal? But, why would we want to create a normal hybrid?"
"A normal hybrid is more likely to come out looking human,"
Ferina answered. "Plus, imagine if we could create a human with
the abilities of a Ditto?"
"Or the erratic genetic structure of an eevee?" Nerina
added.
"Oh..." Taru said, mulling over the idea. "I think I'd
like to take on the normal project."
"Perfect! I was hoping you would. Actually, Nerina and I already
drew a layout for the various groups..."
"You two had this all planned, didn't you?" May asked.
The twenty-eight year old twins grinned, identical twinkles in their
green eyes. "Of course," they both answered.
--------
And so Project H/C started. It involved, in the beginning, just
pokemon and a small number of adult test subjects who were willing to
have pokemon DNA added to them. As the experiment progressed, it
became necessary to draft healthy and willing pregnant women in the
early stages of pregnancy to have their embryos experimented on. But
they did not achieve their needed goal until twenty-six years after
that fateful world conference, at the twenty-fifth Project H/C
meeting in December...
--------
"So Professor Mikoto, you claim you've achieved success?"
One of the other professors asked, looking at Mikoto's notes.
"Claim? I have achieved success." He turned to one
of his assistants. "Donna, go bring him!"
The assistant nodded, and left the room, returning later with a
bundle in her arms and handing it to Professor Mikoto.
"Behold! Attempt number one hundred and thirteen!" He
showed them the baby. His right furry shoulder had the roman
numerals "CXIII" tattooed into it. "He is our perfect
soldier!"
"He's a dark type pokemon/human crossbreed! But... that was the
experiment we thought would be the hardest! How did you manage
it?" Professor Taru, now rather old, walked up to get a better
look at the baby.
The Professor smiled, an evil little smirk on his face. "When
you understand the type better, success is easy." And he
proceeded to lecture them on where they had been going wrong, why so
many of the babies either turned out perfectly human, deformed, or
dead.
"But, yours is deformed." One of the professors complained.
"Deformed? So he has fur and ears similar to those of a burakki,
though a little more like a persian. So he has a tail, and glowing
green eyes. But he is healthy, and he has the DNA of dark type
pokemon and humans, so he should be able to learn the attacks that
dark pokemon can learn. He also has the mind of a normal human, with
some bonuses, and his senses are extraordinary! What about him is
deformed? He's as perfect as a two month old baby can be!"
No one answered.
"Here, copies of our files. We duplicated them, one copy for
each project. Although we have succeeded with him, it cannot be
guaranteed that our base shall not be infiltrated, and him destroyed.
For all we know, this may be our last meeting." He handed out
four compact disks to each of the leading professors. "I believe
this annual meeting is over. We've been here long enough."
And so they left. And that was their last annual meeting. The
Kaitan Alliance, having almost entirely conquered Arasia and Eurel,
had enough support to go after the rest of the world.
Love and Sacrifice: This is a tale of Sacrifice
-------
June, the next year (six months later) Professor Mikoto's base - 2078
-------
Bullets flew and found their marks in the soft, mortal flesh of
humans and pokemon alike. Bombs exploded; test tubes, computers, and
walls all destroyed along with the lives of many. The hidden
underground lab in Jerae city had been infiltrated, and the chances
of anyone surviving were dim.
"Tahari! Take the baby and the files." An assistant handed
the young man a smallish bundle and some disks. "You must live.
We will... hold them back. Go!" She coughed up some blood,
clutching the wound in her side, but holding her gun fiercely in the
other hand. "GO! The project must live on! We can't let all our
hard work go to waste! For all we know the other experiments have
failed."
"But... I can't leave you Donna!" His green eyes were wide
with fear, but also admiration for the young lady that stood before
him. "I, I love you!" He blurted out.
She smiled despite the pain. "I love you too Tahari, but I love
my country. I love the world. What are a few lives compared to
millions? I beg you to go! If you love me, you'll leave me..."
"That's foolish logic..." He looked at the baby, then
shifted it and the disks to one side. "I'm taking you with
me." Then, despite her feeble protests, he slid his free arm
around her waist and began to drag her through the rubble.
"You're just ... going to slow yourself... down! We'll get
caught!" She coughed, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.
"Shut up and stay still! There's an exit nearby."
"Charizard! Char zard, Chari!"
"Flame! I'm glad to see you alive! Is Professor Mikoto still
alive?"
"Ri..." The Charizard shook her head sadly, but shrugged
after a moment's thought, signifying that she doubted it but was not
sure. She pointed to an emergency elevator exit, and shoved the young
professor and the assistant towards it. "Char!"
"No! You're coming too!" Why was everyone so eager to die
today? How could one be so dedicated to something?
"Ri." The large pokemon said again, then she opened the
door and pushed the two into it. "Charizard..." She
whispered a goodbye, prepared to fight to her death if only those
three would live. Her eyes fell on a cylinder of highly explosive
liquid, and a sharp-toothed grin spread across her draconic face.
Using her great claws, she ripped it open and took a deep breath. A
bullet tore through her shoulder, but she ignored it and used a
flamethrower on the gasoline.
The lab exploded, and many professors and assistants died along with
their attackers. But Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII, lived on, and
there was still hope.
---------------------------------
Next.
Back