Chapter 2

Decision

Caius stared at the document with wide, horrified eyes. Did this really mean what it said it meant? He looked over it again and again, but no easy answer came to mind. He was faced with a harsh reality, and he had to make a decision, and fast. “What’s wrong, Caius?” Lysander looked at Caius, concern showing on his face. “N..Nothing.” Caius shoved the document back into the filing cabinet very violently, as though he thought they were toxic. “Nothing’s wrong at all…” Caius was starting to regain his composure, and just in time. Major Regulus reentered the room, and gave the two men a small packet of paper.

“Sign these papers, and your official training to become Centurions will begin next week.” The Major sat at his desk, and meticulously eyed them as they both signed the papers. “Good. Report to me next Monday, and I’ll introduce you to your trainer. You are dismissed to your bunkers.” He gestured the door, and the two men left the stuffy office.

The walk back to their bunker was quiet. Lysander said nothing the entire way there, and looked at Caius with concern. ‘He still has that strange, frightened look on his face…’ He shook of the idea of Caius being scared. Even though he could be a bit stupid at times, the one thing Caius would never be is scared…

They entered their small two-man room, and Lysander carefully looked down both ends of the hall before silently closing the door and locking it. He turned around and looked Caius forcefully in the eye. “What was in that document, Caius?” Caius looked away and sat down on the lower bunk of their bed. “I already told you, there wasn’t anything in that document.”

“I can tell you’re lying, Caius. Out with it. Whatever you found not only effects you, but it effects me too.” Caius took a deep breath and let it out, trying to find the words. “They brainwash you, Lysander. They brainwash you in order to keep you in line.”

“What the hell are you babbling about?”

“The so-called training they give you as an Centurion is a brainwashing session! They destroy your identity so they can assure your loyalty!”

Lysander looked at Caius disbelievingly. “What? Why would Emperor Tybarius ever allow that to-“

“Don’t you get it Lysander? It’s because he’d do anything to win the war! He isn’t the hero the media shows!” Caius bellowed, clearly getting frustrated. Lysander furrowed his brows in anger and clenched his fists, hands trembling. “Shut up Caius! How could he possibly not be a hero if he’s the one who fed and clothed us ever since we where children? How could he possibly not be a hero if he protects his subjects from those rebel bastards?”

“He’s not a hero if he has to brainwash his populace to protect them! A real hero is above using such dirty, underhanded tactics!”

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say you where a rebel...” Caius stood upright and advanced towards the door with a frown still plastered on his face. “Where the hell are you going Caius?”

“To the training grounds.”

Caius heard Lysander say something, but he ignored whatever it was and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He just wanted to be alone, and he needed to think...

---

Caius slammed into the training dummy again in another tackle, trying to think. “I could forge some paperwork showing I was rejected... No, they cross-check those forms...” He muttered to himself, trying to order his thoughts. “Or maybe I could feign an injury...That'll never work.” He turned to another training dummy and started some punch combos on it. “Maybe I could get an actual injury...” He mused this idea for a brief moment, but shook his head. “That'll buy me a month at best...” He sat down on the nearby bench and let out a loud sigh. “I guess there's only one way out for me.”

Aemilia walked in to the training room, looking at Caius with a concerned look on her face. “Caius, what happened? I went to your bunker, and Lysander looked really upset.”

“Did he tell you we fought?” She nodded yes. “Did he tell you what we fought over?”

“No, but whatever it was he's really... angry. And confused. What happened in there?” Caius looked down the halls connecting the training room to the facility, and asked,“Can you promise not to tell anyone, especially the commanders?”

“Of course.” Caius let out another sigh and tried to find the words again. “We where selected to be Centurions. And I found out that the Empire brainwashes Centurions to keep them in line.”

“What? But... How... So that's why Lysander was so upset...I guess it was a good thing I intentionally avoided becoming a Centurion... ”

“You did what?” Caius looked at her with surprise, and she smirked a bit. “Well, the army would either kill me or exile me if the brass found out I'm a woman. And they do a thorough physical to all Centurion candidates, from what I heard.”

“Aemilia, I've decided what I'm going to do, but you have to promise not to tell Lysander until I do it.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“Because you're the last person left I can trust.”

“Aww, I'm so touched.” She replied sarcastically. Caius looked at her with frustration showing on his face. “I'm serious!”

“So what are you going to do?” Caius let out a sad smile. “I'm running away.”

---

Caius got out of bed to the sound of the Imperial anthem blaring over the intercom. Pulling on his clean uniform, he looked at the calender on the wall darkly. Sunday, June 14, 2026. Today was the Emperor's birthday, and today all students currently residing at the Academy are required to attend a celebration.

But since when did he give a damn about rules and procedures? He had other plans for today. Much, much bigger plans.

Well, not necessarily a plan, but an idea of what to do. A concept of what had to do to run away. A to-do list. Yea, that was a good way to describe it. A to-do list. He knew he had to escape during the celebrations. He knew he needed a gun. But he also knew this was his last chance. If he failed, he'd either be killed, or brainwashed.

And he wasn't very fond of either of those choices. How's that for motivation?

He looked to the bunk that Lysander normally slept in and raised an eyebrow. It was empty, and perfectly clean. Caius wasn't surprised, considering that Lysander woke up early on days like this to help with the festivities. Caius was actually a little glad that Lysander was already gone. They hadn't talked much after the argument they had a few days ago.

Caius finished dressing and went for the mess hall. As he walked down the hall, he looked around the bunker for what he knew was the last time. He'd miss this place a bit...

Caius finished eating his breakfast of eggs and toast and took his tray to the front. Normally, they didn't get very good food here, usually just plain oatmeal and milk. Most of the food had to go to the soldiers on the front, after all. But today was a special day. Caius finished clearing his tray and heard the intercom crackle to life again. “All students and staff please report to the rally hall. That is all.” The celebrations always happened after breakfast and continued through the day. Caius followed the crowd out the door into the main foyer of the academy, looking around at all of the exits. Guards were posted at every exit. No matter, he had methods...

The crowd continued along, quietly and with perfect order. Suddenly, a bang was heard across the hall and purple smoke rose from the center of the crowd. Some people shrieked, others ran. Regardless, the guards ran to the crowd to restore order. Through all the chaos, a figure slipped quietly out of a small service exit. “I knew making that in Chemistry was a good idea. Who says I'm totally incompetent? Though I'm still curious as to what that gas is exactly...”

Caius ran down the empty courtyard, looking around intensely. His eyes rested on a small building on the opposite side of the lawn, the armory. Caius knew that no matter what happened, he could not leave the Academy without a gun. The Ornus Vix1 was a pretty unforgiving place, being the main front in the war. He approached the door and looked around the perimeter of the building, as well as looking in the window. He saw, much to his relief, no guards. Again, he was counting on this. The birthday celebrations could get pretty unruly and guards where pulled from all over the campus to maintain order.

Caius forced the lock on the door open with his knife and walked in, keeping a low profile. He knew that even if security was reduced severely, there was bound to still be guards around the armory. No one was actually stupid enough to leave guns lying around unprotected for people like him to steal. He peeked around a corner and saw a lone guard patrolling the entrance to the gun locker. 'There's no way I'm getting in there with him still here... I can't knock him out, because that would be reported by the next patrol...'

He looked around for something that could help him. To his relief, he saw a room next to him labeled 'Uniforms'. 'Huh, that's oddly convenient. Well, I'm not arguing...'

Caius stepped out of the room, now donning a guard uniform. He pulled the helmet down to cover his eyes, and walked up to the guard. The guard looked at him and grinned widely. “Ah, you must be the relief shift. I thought you weren't coming for another hour though...”

Caius deepened his voice a bit to disguise it. “Na, command decided to change up the armory patrol schedule a bit. Go ahead off to the celebrations. Oh, and the lock on the front door is broken, just so you know. ” The guard walked off, handed Caius the keys, whistling a bit as he went. As soon as Caius heard him leave, he slipped into the gun locker. Caius looked around and gulped. Around him where not training guns with stun rounds. These where real guns with real bullets, these could actually kill someone.

Caius eventually decided on a light assault rifle, much like the one he had used in training. He looked the gun over a bit, taking in its features. It was very light, only weighing about five pounds, and was also very compact, only about two feet long. It also had electronic sights built into it, and the clip for it was fairly large, about 35 rounds. Caius took a few extra clips, as well as a back pack full of water and rations for the trip. Now, he needed some transportation...

Seeing as he could hardly walk across the Ornus Vix, he'd need some form of transportation to get away. There where some speeders in the academy garage, and he knew from experience(as well as some fairly painful punishment) that they where pretty easy to hotwire, with proper preparations...

“Caius, this has to be the stupidest thing you've ever planned!” Aemilia cried, looking at Caius with disbelief. “You don't even have an organized plan!”

“Well, I'm not very good at that! I'll just improvise. That's what I always do! And lower your voice. There's people around!” Caius looked around the training room, keeping his head low.

“How are you even going to get across the Ornus Vix, even if you're armed? The speeders can't be hotwired! They have an electronic lock that shuts the speeders down if you try that!” She looked at him with a strong look in her eye.

“Actually, there is a way to hotwire the speeders if I can get into it a couple of days beforehand. There's a bug that shuts down the lock after 48 hours if you type in a combo into the electronic keypad! How do you think I got the speeders for the forklift prank?”2

“Oh... Well, I have vehicle detail tomorrow. Give me the combo, and I'll prep a speeder. I'll also stash some supplies in one. Look for the speeder with a red mark on the dashboard.”

“Aemilia, I have a question. Why are you helping me? You could be killed if the brass find out.”

“I know that. The reason I'm helping you is that you're my friend. Besides, you'd probably end up killing yourself if you tried it without me.” Caius pouted at that, but couldn't help smile a little bit. “Hey, if you're going to go this far to help me, why not run away with me? I hear the Rebel army lets women in the army.”

“No, I can't do that. I can't really explain now, but let's just say I have my reasons. I may run away someday, but not now.”

Much to his relief(and slight astonishment), he managed to make it all the way to the garage without running into a single guard. In the distance, he noticed the loud cheers and music from the celebration. It confused Caius, to be honest. Why did perfectly intelligent people like Lysander conform to the whims of a reigme so easily?

Lysander... Caius preferred not to think about that, but couldn't. He just realized something about what he was doing that made him internally grimace. He realized that by running away like this, he may one day run into Lysander on... considerably less friendly terms. What then? He managed to shake the thoughts from his mind, knowing he needed to focus.

He carefully crept along into the chamber with the Speeders. They where small cars two-seat with a large fuel tank, giving them a long range. Gasoline had been phased out as a fuel source a long time ago, making liquid hydrogen the main fuel for vehicles. They also had great suspension for all-terrain use and a trunk he could store extra fuel and his supplies in. Unfortunately, he noticed that the armor was paper thin, and it was equipped with no weapons.

Caius got in the marked speeder, pried the dashboard open, and began hotwiring the speeder. Suddenly, he stopped working. He could hear a voice in the distance.

“I know we need those speeders for the rally... Yes, they'll be there soon. Be back soon, Major Regulus. Over.” Caius's eyes widened with horror at these words. He knew that voice...

---

Lysander walked into the garage, spotting Caius and looking at him with confusion. “Caius, what the hell are you doing?”

Yes, I'm also ending this one on a big cliffhanger. I don't have much time to write, with all the homework and such I have. Oh, and here's some important notes:

Ornus Vix means “Ashen Plains” in latin. You'll find out later why it's called this...

Don't ask. It's a long story, and I'd like you to make it up for yourself...