Death Smith - Book 2 - Chapter 19 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Heart of a nation Present day. Late-April, 14 AR. United Kingdom, London, Inside GRRO HQ. -Thump- -Thump- Daniel watched as his two knives hit their marks perfectly. One had hit a piece of wood that was fastened on a wall, the other knife had hit a plank in a corner. He frequently changed their position, allowing him to practise throwing with his left hand when he was at the office. ‘Just another minute,’ Daniel thought as he got up from behind his desk and made his way over to a cabinet to grab some things. Moments later, he had placed a pillow on the floor with a bowl filled with water next to it. Having decided it was a worthy throne, Daniel made his way over to his door, having heard the minor commotion on the other side. Opening the door, he noticed Dieter lean over the desk of Daniel’s assistant. His friend was arguing feverously that the Rift-hound wasn’t ‘just an animal’ but an emotional support dog and that Dieter had the right to take Little Hans with him. “And I’ll have you know that this fine young man is a thoroughbr-” “Clark, it is fine. I was expecting them,” Daniel told his secretary as he stepped aside, letting the dog walk past him. Daniel smiled as he watched him claim his throne and gave Daniel an approving look. “You look good, boy.” “He looks overweight. I caught the little devil digging through the rubbish last night. Chewed right through the steel bin,” Dieter said as he stepped inside, giving Clark one last satisfied smiled before he closed the door and patted Daniel’s belly. “Speaking of overweight.” “The mirror is over there,” Daniel rebutted as he made his way over to Little Hans, stroking the dog’s fur a few times before scratching Hans behind the ears. “You’re still growing, aren’t you, boy?” Daniel asked, knowing full well that he was reinforcing bad behaviour. When Daniel got back behind his desk, he noticed Dieter had grabbed and opened a few of the folders, looking at the classified documents and pictures. “So, Dieter, pray tell. What can I do to help, beyond breaking several laws?” “Bah, just tell them I overpowered you. But what is this?” Dieter asked, sliding a picture of a Rift-site in Bulgaria toward Daniel. “This looks wrong.” Daniel nodded, knowing what Dieter was referring to. “It’s outside of GRRO's authority. Their government has classified it as an accident but has shared some of the information to foster cooperation.” The tall German snorted, offering his thoughts on politics in a singular sound. “But this is all wrong. Either they repositioned the bodies and did something with the blood splatters, or someone came out of that gate and killed them all.” “Why?” Daniel asked. He knew what Dieter was referring to but wanted to hear his friend confirm what he himself had concluded. Dieter paused for a moment before he answered. “Looking at the damage, I would say an outbreak has happened… but then the Rift would have looked different, plus we would have heard it on the news by now." He narrowed his eyes on the next picture and read the rest of the information. “Perhaps something went bad inside the Rift and turned the Rifters mad, or they went rogue? It looks like they came out swinging.” Daniel smiled, proud of how quickly Dieter could put two and two together. In a few moments, the man’s heightened Perception allowed him to spot quite a few inconsistencies in the information and the pictures. “All the Rifters have been located and identified. Forensic evidence places them on site when the attack happened, with them dying at the same time as the non-Rifter personnel on the site. All ten of them. Six veterans, three experts, and one Elite.” Dieter went quiet after that, going over the pictures once more, no doubt seeing more details now that he knew what he was looking for. “Well, something came out of that Rift. The signs of struggle point away from the Rift. Perhaps rival Rifters? Hidden among their numbers or near the site?” “Perhaps,” Daniel said, knowing there were plenty of reports concerning this ‘incident’. It was one of the many ‘headache documents’ the GRRO had. Daniel had decided to take a crack at it. When it came to Rifts and Rifters, one needed to expect the unexpected. Even stable Rifts could surprise humanity now and again. “By the way, is this how you treat your best friend when he comes to visit you at Judas HQ? Make him do your work instead of offering him a drink?” Dieter said, placing the folder on the desk as he propped his feet on the table. Daniel chuckled as he slowly materialised several throwing daggers on the table and lined them up. “So, best friend. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked as a knife sped past Dieter’s face to hit the wooden board in the corner. “Just checking up. Me and the lads are taking a job up in Scotland in a few days. Should be gone for a few weeks, a month at most. We still have a spot open for you. You have vacation days, right?” The man teased, picking up a knife and hitting a wooden board with a loud noise, indicating the amount of strength he had put behind it. “I have. And no, I won’t spend vacation days to throw myself in a Rift with you and wade through rivers of blood. You know most people spend their vacations in comfort, right? I was thinking Bali for my first actual vacation,” Daniel said while his mind wondered if he could even relax like a normal civilian. Dieter simply grabbed another knife and threw it against the other board, splitting it in two because of the force of the impact. “We’ll see how long you can endure the civilian lifestyle. So, how is our lad doing? Up to his ears in Rifts and turning your hair grey? I assume that you have been keeping tabs on him like some creepy surrogate father?” Daniel smiled as he grabbed a knife and threw it skilfully right next to Dieter’s last knife, mirroring it exactly. “I take offence at that slanderous suggestion, ignoring the fact that it is, in fact, a hundred percent correct.” The two of them shared a laugh at that, with Little Hans barking once to share in the excitement. “Lance is… well, he is active. After his little stunt at his birthday, he went in three other Rifts, including a second run in Ipswich when he destroyed the Rift there with the White Clovers. After that, he contacted me for a favour. He wanted to take a temporary GRRO job to help clean up a Rift-site,” Daniel said, cocking his head to the door when he heard some commotion outside. “I figured he might have wanted to take time off but imagine my surprise when his ID registered in a Rift somewhere in Ireland, of all places. Still, it is a level three Rift, so he should be more than fine, whatever level he is at this moment. Eighteen or something?” Dieter took it all in as he listened. No doubt Daniel could see Dieter’s expression soften a bit. “Well, whatever he is doing, he seems to have some sort of plan and he is sticking to a relatively safe route. You, of all people, know how a Rifter can lose himself in a singular purpose after losing a loved-one.” Daniel felt a flash of anger at that. He never liked talking about his past but knew why Dieter had brought it up. He felt that anger leave him as he thought about the loss of his wife and child. “Remind me to punch you later.” “No problem. I can think of a dozen other reasons you sh-” Dieter said before the door opened and Daniel’s assistant came barging in. “Sir, apologies. It is about the situation in France. They are finally addressing it,” the assistant said as he turned on the television in the room. He switched channels until it displayed a live broadcast of a large crowd of people that had gathered near the walled-off city of Paris. The French president and several Rifters were there addressing all of France and the rest of the world. * * * * * “And that is precisely why we are standing here, on the other side of this wall, shielded from the violence that has claimed the heart of this country. The outbreak in our beloved Paris that has been unchallenged for years now,” the president of France said, facing the dozens of journalists that were here for just this occasion. Behind him stood a massive wall that encompassed most of the city of Paris. The military had built enormous towers, spacing them apart to allow overlapping fields of fire. Inside of these towers there were large machinegun outposts, snipers or even artillery platforms. It was all designed to contain the monstrous horde that had overwhelmed the city when a Rift outbreak had occurred there. Although the GRRO, the military and the government had predicted it would happen and had evacuated most of the city, the damage was still beyond description. “For too long have we cowered behind these walls, forced to witness how these monstrous creatures defile the heart of this nation… our capital… our home!” the president said, letting the microphone carry his word. In the background, they could hear the occasional shot from a sniper picking off a monster that came too close to the wall. “But we are not alone in this horror, for these Rifts have been terrorizing our brothers and sisters across the world. Rifts have haunted humanity with their sudden appearance. They have degraded us into sending good people inside of them just to hold back whatever is on the other side,” the president paused at that, large projectors behind him displaying numbers how many Rifts have occurred in France, how many people had lost their lives because of it and how many Rifters had died in the line of duty. “And to make matters worse, these outbreaks have breached into our domain, to spew forth the horrors of the Rift itself. Seven times this has occurred around the world. Even now, years later, all seven outbreaks have endured. Brave souls around the world have given their lives to contain that threat, to wall it off and forever be vigilant,” the president said, emotion clearly felt in his voice. It was public knowledge that the president had lost his son to a Rift several years ago. It was the reason he had fought so hard to reach this position in life. “But no more. We as a nation… as a people… as mothers and fathers… brothers and sisters… as daughters and sons, we will allow this no more. We will show the rest of the world that fire flows through the veins of every French man, women, and child. That righteousness beats in our heart!” he paused, looking directly into the cameras as he prepared himself for what were the most important words he would ever utter. “So, this year, at Bastille Day on the fourteenth of July, we will hear the drums of war throughout the streets of Paris as we reclaim it… street by street, until the very Rift itself is no more!” he stated, his voice raising at the end as he slammed his fist on the small wooden stand in front of him. A high-ranking general took the stand after that and explained what operation Bastille was. There would be months of bombardments, airstrikes, constant gas attacks as the military reclaimed street by street, forming newer defensive lines as they did so. Hundreds of French Rifters would supplement the military, serving as both specialist teams and universal support. They would now also accepting foreign Rifters in certain fields. For months, the entire weight of the military would squeeze on the city of Paris, pushing back the monstrous hordes until the Rift was finally in sight. Then, a specialist squad of Rifters, led by the number one Rifter in France, would carve a path to the Rift. They would trigger an experimental weapon that would destabilize the Rift itself, removing the outbreak and cutting the remaining monsters off from reinforcements. Several Rifters then stepped forward, including the number one Rifter in France; Viviane Beaumanoir. She and the other Rifters stood proudly in their highly specialised gear, each of them showing signs of past battles, with nicks and dents adorning their armour. As dozens of Rifter’s names were called, all eyes were on Viviane. Although of average height and a modest appearance, there was a brutal determination in those eyes. Every citizen knew of her achievements in the past, from her being the sole survivor in her first Rift, to her being the only Rifter in Europe that has cleared a level thirteen Rift on her own. She had not been on the news the last few months, with many speculating about whether she had retired. People could now clearly see by her appearance that she had been constantly training, getting as much experience and levels as she could get in the shortest amount of time. All to get her ready for what was to come. When the names of the Rifters had all been called, she moved forwards, addressing the people without a microphone. “My message is not for the people of France, for I know we will all unite in this singular purpose. I direct my message here today towards the Rifters around the world. I don’t care if you fight because of civic pride, for status, or for wealth. The thing I care about is to see you stand with us when the time is right, to do what is required to free Paris. For if we can remove one outbreak, we can remove the other six blights upon this world as well.” Her voice was powerful enough to reach the crowd in front of her. And although her message was in French, she knew that every Rifter around the world could understand her in that moment. “So, stand alongside me, or hide in the shadows while we shoulder the burden.” * * * * * “Bloody hell,” Dieter said, running a hand across his jawline, feeling the stubble there. “What kind of weapon can destabilise a Rift. I have never heard of something like that.” “Indeed,” Daniel said, nodding to his assistant that he could go. He stayed silent for a moment after that, hearing his friend go on about the sheer scale of that operation. The outbreak in Paris had happened a while back, thus there was no shortage of monsters inside of the city, with more spilling out each day. To fight against that monstrous horde, human ingenuity would use artillery, aerial bombardment, gas attacks and many other lethal options. They would thin out the enemy numbers as soldiers would start its slow advance, street by street, brick by brick. And if the president could keep the country united and committed to this plan, then hopefully it would liberate their capital. Dieter suddenly grinned before he spoke. “I am getting goosebumps. I mean, just how many Rifters will flood to that city? Usually, I dislike working with any form of government or bureaucracy, but can you imagine the sight of hundreds of cannons going off at once, seeing the air force concentrate all their effort in one place?” Daniel nodded slowly. “You are right. But there are many variables at play here. The monsters have had a lot of time to make the city their own. There are countless of different types of monsters out there and we can only guess what their exact number is. Not even factoring the weapon itself. They called it experimental, so that brings with it even more layers of uncertainty,” Daniel said, holding up his hand to cut Dieter off. “But, even just pushing back the hordes, say… several streets, setting up in more strategic areas to better protect the rest of the country. Even that would be a monumental achievement. That act alone will echo through the rest of the world, letting them know that there is hope.” He smiled softly, seeing Dieter nod in agreement. “So, why the sour expression?” Dieter said as grabbed a small snack from his pocket and threw it towards little Hans that eagerly caught it mid-air. “The sour expression is because of what I watched in the background.” Daniel grabbed his laptop and found the clip they had just watched. A moment later, he spun the laptop around to face Dieter. Dieter watched the footage again, seeing the General and the President address the people. “I don’t s…” he paused as he spotted a name on the list that was displayed in the background. The list contained all the names of Rifters that had already pledged themselves to operation Bastille. “Louis Vidal,” Dieter said slowly, feeling the weight of it. “Correct,” Daniel said, leaning forward to grab the last knife on his table as he balanced it on his finger. “The same Louis that had been under investigation by the GRRO, along with two others. The same Louis that might have played a role in the death of Thomas,” Daniel said as he lost himself in the reflection of his knife for a moment before it left his hand in a violent flash of acceleration and electricity. It crashed into the wood and shattered it, the blade imbedding itself deep within the wall behind it. “And seeing the monumental nature of this project, that list with his name will receive more and more attention. Every major news agency in the world, if not all of them, will cover it,” Daniel said, closing his eyes as he tried to imagine what that might do to Lance. “And imagine what it will do to Lance when he finishes his current Rift and steps out and finds his world changed. A world that will now constantly remind Lance of the fact that one of the three reasons for Thomas’ death is still walking this world as a free man. And even worse, laud him as a hero.” “We need a drink,” Dieter said finally, his hands balled into fist. At that, Daniel could only nod and agree with his friend. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Author: Osirium Copyright: 2022 OsiriumWrites Released: 2022