Chapter 3: Ignorance of the Unknown

It was a dark, scarlet canvas of curved landscape surrounding the environment. Although it wasn’t a bubble, the onrush of traffic and movement made life seem like a busily one-way single road. The region of Ignopolis was normally a spotlight of flowing business men and women traveling for important meetings. However, one day that would all change for the worst. News broke out about a foreign invader breaching city limits, but that wasn’t a surprise considering the sky altered from a scarlet red to a pitch black darkness. No one knew who these attackers were; only their intent to wreak havoc within eyesight was seen as their primary objective. Everyone panicked as they rushed to their destinations, leaving behind their crucial belongings and cares for the sake of survival. But, it wasn’t enough to forget everything behind, as several people were slaughtered and captured by the foreign invaders.

 

The military took action against the invaders, who even gave them the name “Septons” according to a confidential document they found in their plans. Thousands of troops were trained, coming from all sorts of branches of military units. From the IRT troops deployed as reconnaissance and restoration workers, to the RAID soldiers establishing defensive lines along Ignopolis, the military seemed to be in well-order…

 

During the first battle, the Septons demolished RAID with EMPs that fried their communications, preventing any forewarning about the enemy’s abilities. The Septons swept RAID without any mercy, continuing to expand their territory across Ignopolis. The stakes were high, considering the Septons still-unknown technology. However, one person decided to take matters into his own hands.

 

“Now, from what you’ve heard, it may seem like a typical story of war and rebellion against the dominant forces. But no, it was a desperation for survival”, noted by Apollo. As the war ragged on, Apollo examined the Septons, lurked diligently across the ravaged, barren landscape of Ignopolis, like an animal stalking its prey. He too was also unknown like the Septons, but stood a lone man amongst an army of mongrels. Once he obtained enough information about the Septons, he made his move on the invaders.

 

Apollo unified RAID and IRT troops for an action plan against the Septons, deciding to create a surrounding barrier around the enemy. The IRT troops relayed communications and provided rations to the surviving civilians in Ignopolis, while sharing feedback to the movement of the enemy. RAID established anti-EMP weaponry to latch onto the Septons to initiate a destruct sequence; a clear mechanism to rid several of the enemies with limited resources. Civilians evacuated themselves to the upper and lower regions of the city to clear space for the battle.

 

In a blink of an eye, the battle began in a flurry of bloodlust. Both Apollo and the rebelling military early yielded themselves as they recaptured their land little one step at a time. The Septons were very perceptive of the rebelling army, and attempted to evolve their combat troops, yet the organization of the rebellious fighters prevented any hope of an easy victory for the Septons. Instead, they introduced a juggernaut, a synthetic monster with a resistance characteristics unimaginable to Apollo and his fellowing battalion. Once again, Apollo and the military were backtracked by the seemingly impervious juggernaut who overshadowed the newly created anti-EMP technology.

 

However, Apollo and the military invented a new plan, a new strategy to combat the juggernaut: An evolved juggernaut of their own. Both monsters battled as both sides witnessed a constant stalemate for days too long to count. As the IRT troops continued to communicate, the RAID troops were unable to maintain a steady pace of transportation due to the defensive pressure of the vicious Septons. Bloodshed continued to ravage between the two sides, one neither dominating the other, yet the slaughter of soldiers seemingly decreased moral overtime. It wasn’t until RAID and IRT unleashed a unique attack that the tides would turn.

 

They would eventually seal the opening trenches from which the Septons came from, creating a wall of thick, impermeable material that even the juggernaut could not penetrate. However, the unlikeliness of the events occurred when rain poured onto the city of Ignopolis; a somewhat “acidic rain” that corroded the Septons. Apollo and the military units destroyed the weakened Septons whom were in disarray from losing the battle. One by one, each Septon was killed, or perished from the corrosive rain decomposing their bodies. It wasn’t until Apollo, RAID, and IRT drove the invaders away that they realized that the rain was a beckoning call, a foreseeable event for what would eventually come.

 

But, nonetheless, victory was a mere price to the damage to the way of life in Ignolopolis. The citizens were eventually allowed to come back and reside in the city with the help of IRT reconassaince, and RAID scouted the exterior edges of city limits for any undetected Septons. The land was once again a safe haven, a community once again busily like a backed up highway on a one-way single road. The atmosphere returned to its scarlet pigment, and the slowly, it appeared as if the landscape was repairing itself after the Septons left the city. While the damages caused tremendous turmoil and shock into the lives of every survivor, they too obtained a sense of awareness and resistance to the sly Septons, who educated the everyone about their society.

 

Apollo did not receive any praise for his actions to unify a successful military battalion, yet he continued to travel the world, seeking new land in need of innovation, renovation, and even liberation. The world seemed at ease when Ignopolis was finally rebuilt with fortified walls of material derived from remnants of Septon technology. Moreover, guards began patrolling the city, and a political committee was formed to create programs and policies towards learning about the Septons. The IRT and several citizens in Ignopolis alerted nearby cities about the characteristics and defensive mechanisms against the Septons, and how to react if another foreign invader were to arise. The world appeared to be ready if any threat were to appear again, but that would be a foolish assumption to make as Apollo discovered a dreadful realization. “This not the end, nor is it the beginning of the Hell plunged into the real world”. It wasn’t until Apollo ventured half way across the world that he saw the atmosphere once again painted black under the dying sun.

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