Merits and Rewards

With the real mayor dead and Dupe adding confusion to the situation, the chain of command was quickly broken. Miami officers argued over who should take charge. There was discontent amongst the soldiers due to Dupe's prior mayor framing activities over the last few months.

The Hell Bull drills finally managed to break through from underneath the city walls. As each hole was nearly the size of a house, they easily allowed for the Harmony soldiers, mechs, and steam tanks to march through. This internal breach fanned the flames even more as bloody battles broke out on the streets. Buildings collapsed as they were bombarded in gunfights between the two sides. The city streets were dyed red with blood.

Suddenly, a voice spoke to the mana-radios on both sides. "Attention Harmony. Temporarily stand down. We're calling a ceasefire."

Another voice came from the radios. "This is Officer Garcia. All soldiers are too surrender. We've been promised humane treatment, and we've already lost the battle. There is no point to further sacrifice."

The city grew oddly silent after the radio orders. The two sides stared at each other on the battlefield.

Yet another voice rang out over the radios. "GARCIA! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?! This is the 2nd in command. We have not surrendered. Fight to the last man standing! I repeat, fight to the death!"

Some Miami soldiers heeded the new orders and small pockets of fighting broke out again. However, most of the soldiers chose to throw their weapons down, abandoning the battle. They had joined the military for benefits and to help protect the city from mutants. The idea of fighting a war against other humans had never even occurred to most of them, as it had been so many decades since they had even heard of one.

The Harmony soldiers began confiscating weapons, annexing factories, and setting up patrols. Miami was now theirs, and it was one of the most important cities in the entire war. Miami and Orlando made up most of the state population, had the largest armies, and the most espers. The rest of the war would be much easier as a result of capturing them.

It took nearly a day to organize everything in the base. Some of the soldiers even joined Harmony voluntarily during the process. However, most soldiers chose to return to civilian life. There was never a shortage of labor demands during a war, and they could always work in a factory instead of risking their lives for meager pay.

Early in the morning. Dupe stood in front of the soldiers, disguised as Forge. He praised Officer Garcia for surrendering, and thus saving thousands of lives. The casualties on both sides had been very heavy, with Harmony losing roughly a fifth of their forces and Miami losing nearly half of theirs. It could be considered a very successful battle for the sieging side, but many had lost their beloved friends and family members.

Dupe smiled. 'You'll thank me for this someday Ed.' He spoke into a loudspeaker, the message passing through mana-radios throughout the city. "Today has been a very harsh reality for most of us. We've lost many friends and comrades. So much that we loved was taken from us, regardless of which side you stood behind. However, I want you all to know this. Death is not the end of life, but merely a new beginning. Believe in Harmony and Forge. I will help reunite your families in the afterlife, restoring what should never have been taken by the selfishness of man."

Confused murmurs rang out through the crowds. Both soldiers from Harmony and citizens from Miami were baffled by the speech.

'Did I lay it on too thick?' Dupe wondered.

"What do you mean?" One of the soldiers near the stage questioned.

"How to explain it..." Dupe said. "The government keeps many secrets from the ordinary citizens. The main goal of Harmony is to equalize ordinary humans and espers. However, we have other goals too. One such goal is to improve the spread of information, for that is key to the future development of mankind. One of the biggest secrets in the higher echelons of the esper world is the energy known as faith. When people die, their souls will naturally travel to the esper that the person holds the most worship for. This gives the espers unparalleled power and is what has allowed the government to stay in power so long. If you choose to believe in me, then when you pass, your soul shall come to me, and I will unite you with others that have believed in me as well."

Some more confused whispering echoed through the crowds. It seemed that the vast majority of them still didn't understand, which made sense given the context. Ordinary humans hardly ever came in contact with the mysteries of mana and other energies. Forget about them, not even Dupe understood it all that well. And he was a well-traveled esper that had clones on other continents gathering information.

...

Orlando. Ed suddenly felt the golden thread of faith energy in his body expand several times. 'Weird.' He thought as he noticed the energy continuing to grow. 'I'll worry about it later. I've got other matters to attend to.'

He stood atop a stage at the Orlando town square, a loud speaker in his hand. Much like Dupe had just done, he was preparing his own speech. His voice travelled through mana-radios throughout the city. "Today was the first of many battles to come. We dominated our enemies despite our low numbers, and as a result, we are now one step closer to creating true equality between espers and humans. You should all be very proud of yourselves."

Clapping and cheering rang out from the chimeras and superhumans.

Ed continued, "Ash, Eli, and Ochre did particularly outstanding jobs. We could not have won without Eli and the superhumans outstanding air support. Ash and Ochre were the first to lead the charge straight into the heart of enemy territory, allowing us a swift victory. I strongly believe in rewarding those that give it their all. Thus, I have decided on rewards for these three outstanding officers. Remember, you too may earn these rewards someday. That also applies to those non-Harmony members listening in. If you join Harmony and have the bravery to take great risks, then you may also earn similar rewards in the future."

Ash, Eli, and Ochre stepped on stage. None of them seemed nervous. They stood proudly with their chests held high.

"For Ash and Ochre, I offer the power that most ordinary humans dream of. I shall give each of you the power of an esper." Ed held up his two hands, creating a ball of flame in one and a ball of earth in the other. "Ash will become a flame esper and Ochre an earth esper. I should only need a few more days before the procedure can begin. There is a risk of death, but I trust my two best fighters will be able to withstand the burden."

"FORGE!" The two men saluted. Ash was nearly in tears from joy.

Ed nodded towards them and continued. "As for Eli... I cannot currently give him the power of an esper. This is because there is a preliminary procedure that is required, which only the chimeras have been given at the moment. Additionally, the manullium in his body would interfere. However, there are always multiple paths to power. In Europe, it is not the espers that rule, and instead technology is king. Therefore, to Eli, I reward a exo suit and vibro-knife. Harmony only has a few of these unique sets of armor from Europe, and they give humans strength equivalent to that of a C grade esper. I've also modified the gear to work perfectly with superhuman limbs."

Eli stepped forward and saluted, a somber look in his eyes. Ed noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder. He whispered in a low voice. "This was my personal exo suit in the past. I know Orlando was your home, and this has been a tough journey for you. We will make the world a better place. I believe the dead shall forgive our sins, but if they don't, then I alone carry the burden for those that have fallen."

Eli trembled as he nodded and stepped backwards. It was hard to say if this message had comforted him. Of course, the low whisper had travelled through the mana-radios throughout the city. It was a low-key ploy to increase the feelings the citizens of Orlando had for Forge and Harmony, with Ed acting as if the whispered information wasn't supposed to have been heard.

With the speech over, Ed returned to his underground lab. They would be holding the fort down at Orlando for a while as they waited for the main forces. The plan was for the main army to march north from Miami, conquering some minor cities on the way. Then the forces would reunite and jointly attack Tampa together. Once the rest of the Florida west coast cities were conquered, then they would march north to conquer those cities. Last would be Tallahassee, which was the capital, and the base of Governor Bustion. Of course, there was the chance that the governor would press the attack before then, but that would be an even better scenario. Defense is easier than offense, and Ed would gladly welcome such a scenario.

...

Within the lab were piles of dead bodies from the deceased Orlando soldiers. Ed drained the blood from each body and tested their blood types and mana affinities. There were some ordinary soldiers in a separate room, where they would be unable to see the dead bodies. These were members of the local Orlando forces that chose to join Harmony. They had also volunteered for the mana-infusion surgery.

After Ed gathered enough blood, he matched the compatible types to the volunteers. There was a total of 50 of them. It was a cumbersome process matching up the blood-types. This was because mana affinity added a factor of seven. Ed mainly focused on collecting blood type O since it was a universal donor before factoring in the mana affinities. This let him create only 7 different types of mana-infused blood, as opposed to over 20.

The blood infusions began. Just like he had done originally, he only replaced a small amount of blood within the soldiers' bodies during each infusion. However, he increased the mana dosage when compared to the first batch of mana-infused humans. He also increased the frequency of how often he provided the infusions.

Several days passed. The new mana-infused humans were ready for the next phase. Ed had created a hydraulic press within the last few days. 'Artificial mana-cores.' Ed thought as he compressed mana-powder into small orbs. 'Ordinary humans are unique in that they all only have a single mana-type. In other words, multiple mana affinities are required to become an esper under normal circumstances. If I succeed in creating artificial espers, I wonder how they'll compare to the original?'

Soon, it was time to begin the surgery. Ed melted a hole into the head of the first mana-infused soldier. He carefully used a tong-like object and scalpel to nudge the artificial mana-core into place. Then he used his powers to melt some brain tissue and and attach it to the mana-core. A wave of power pushed out from the mana-core, shocking the brain tissue. The mana quickly spread to the rest of the brain, killing the man.

'One of these days, I'm going to succeed on my first try when attempting something new.' Ed chuckled to himself as he moved onto the next soldier. One after another, he continued his attempts. It wasn't long before only a single soldier remained.

'This time for sure!' Ed encouraged himself as he began the operation. He slowly lowered a dark mana-core into place. This time, he was extremely careful as he attached the brain tissue. He had to attach all of the surrounding tissue at exactly the same time. Otherwise, the burden of the mana shock wave generated from the connection would kill the man. It was a lot harder tinkering around with the brain than any other part of the body, which was why Ed had failed this same procedure so many times already. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he quickly attached all of the brain tissue to the mana-core.

The soldier's body began trembling heavily. The mana-core released repeating shock waves of mana, causing the man to be covered in sweat. Fortunately, there was no actual pain from the process. Soon, the trembling calmed down. The man opened his eyes, which were now releasing an eerie black glow. He looked down at his hands and smiled. "This power! It's... It's!"

Suddenly, a black orb appeared in the esper's hands and shot into the air. It went straight through the esper's head, killing him instantly.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Ed yelled in shock as he stepped backwards. It took a moment for realization to set in as he concluded what happened. 'The idiot killed himself on accident?! My first ever successful artificial esper, and he fucking kills himself on accident?!'

He was so shocked by the incident that he stood still and muttered to himself for nearly an hour before calming down. 'Whatever.' He snorted as he burnt the dead body to ash. He had no desire to look at the dead body of the world's greatest moron. 'I wonder if it's common for newly awakened espers to kill themselves on accident?' Ed pondered as he scratched down some notes in his notebook. 'I better take some extra precautions when artificially awakening humans. If Ash and Ochre kill themselves on accident, I swear I'll kill them!'