Chapter 10: Ethen & Yelena

Having just split up with Tina and Tellius, Sarah found herself walking down a disturbingly clean alleyway, an offshoot of one of the larger shopping streets, when she suddenly heard music coming from a nearby and half-hidden basement bar.

Following the music, she entered the cozy little bar with a few chairs and tables and a long counter at the back of the room where a robotic barkeeper guarded hundreds of liquor-filled bottles.

But what drew Sarah's eyes were neither the liquor nor the barkeeper but the black man sitting at the counter.

Dressed in the uniform of a defense force officer but holsters strapped to his thighs, he looked more like a lawbreaker than a law enforcer, but with the distinct body language of a seasoned veteran, Sarah instantly knew him to be trustworthy.

"So, soldier, where did you serve?..." Sarah asked the man to break the ice. "... I for one served on Thermopylae-6!"

"Thermopylae-6... Thermopylae-6..." The man, clearly drunk up close, was mentally transported back 11 years ago...

...

*Meanwhile, on Thermopylae-6, Commander Warfield and Captain Sarah Lawson heroically defended UCG Space against Corporate invaders but tragically lost their lives...* The radio inside Specialist Ethan Ryan blared as his transport shuttle zipped in formation with others through the snow-filled sky of Hemlock III.

The shuttle, full of exhausted and sweaty soldiers, was one of the cheapest the UCG had been able to purchase orbital transporters From Ares before the outbreak of the war, hence why an air-conditioning unit hadn't been built in.

"Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen!..." His new commanding officer, in charge of them only after their last one had been killed the day before by a stray laser, announced chipperly. "... Our target is Major Redstone, the heir of Senator Redstone. His safety is our highest priority. The combat zone terrain map is on your tabs. Touchdown in five minutes!"

Checking his tab, a microcomputer strapped to Ethan's forearm, the soldier once again realized his commanding officer's incompetence as they only had two minutes left till touchdown.

As more and more soldiers inside the shuttle realized that fact, the already tense mood got even worse as dissatisfied murmurs made the rounds until...

*Pew!* A laser gun discharged into the back of their commanding officer's skull.

The owner of said gun was PFC Morgan, who had been overlooked by the higher-ups in favor of their incompetent and now deceased commanding officer.

"Listen up, maggots! I am the commanding officer now..." Private First Class Morgan, the oldest among them, announced just as the shuttle began its descent. "... We have one minute till touchdown. As soon as we land, I want you to spread out, secure the perimeter, and come up with an action plan on how we'll be able to secure Major Redstone. Understood?"

"Hooah!" Replied the remaining soldiers as one, among them Ethan. ashe wasn't going to defend the incompetent and now dead officer.

A minute later, Ethen & the other soldiers exited the shuttle and spreading out immediately as to cover a wider range and as to not get whipped out by a single mine or handgranate.

....

"... Looks like you guys were even more fucked than us on Hemlock III..." Ethen commented as he leaned over the bar to grab a bottle of synthetic whiskey before he threw it for Sarah to catch. "... Here have a drink on me!"

"Sorry, full conversation..." Replied Sarah and threw it back at the disillusioned veteran, just as she walked over to the counter . "... But can you tell me what the hell is going on with this city?"

"What do you mean? It's just another bad day on Vega VI!..." Replied Ethen before he had a painful laughing fit. "... HAHAHAHA!"

"Sorry, but I didn't get the joke!" Said Sarah while carefully watching Ethen's face.

"Sorry, It's just your outfit reminds me of certain prostitute I once new... Ethen Ryan former Specialist... now Marshall of Vega VI..." The veteran introduced himself with an outstretched robotic hand. "... But to answer your question, most inhabitants have moved off planet with the parks closure."

"Corporal Sarah Sun. With the park? You mean the Grim-Souls Themed Park?..." Sarah introduced herself with a fake identity since Sarah Lawson was just too conspicuous amongst soldiers.

Upon Ethen's nod, she asked, "... What happened to it?"

"Typical corporate incompetence..." Ethen replied before he emptied his glass of whiskey and refilled it. "... When building the park, some corporate accountant used the metrics for revenue estimates from parks on systems worlds to estimate the revenue for us here. See the problem?"

"Yes, of course!" Sarah replied, shocked that such an error could occur in a massive company like Dionysus.

Knowing that the revenue of businesses on planets in core systems are 100× more profitable than their counterparts on the fringes of charted space, it made perfect sense that a Grim-Souls Theme Park would perform abysmally.

"Good..." Ethen said and emptied the glass that he had just filled in one go, before he asked with slurred words as the alcohol hit, "... Now then... how did you end up here, pretty lady?"

"I came by spaceship..." Sarah replied, not really happy with the man's large intake of hard liquor. "... We landed in the outskirts and took tram 31 to the city center."

"A spaceport owned by a woman that looks like an old lady?" Ethen asked, already sobering up, as his implants had already started to filter out the alcohol from his blood.

"Yes, why?" Sarah asked, confused as she watched Ethen fill his glass once more.

"That's Old Mel... Surprising that she's still kicking around..." Answered the veteran, his glass already closing in on his lips as he explained. "... Old Mel is just her nickname. She used to be a well-paid actress hired by the park to act as a park princess. She even had her face done to better fit the role... A pity what happened to her. She's only 23."

"Really? She looks like she's 80!..." Commented Sarah, mortified as the elderly woman was even younger than herself. "... Damn... What happened to her?"

As Sarah's question echoed inside his head, Ethan was once more brought back to 11 years ago as memories rushed to the forefront.

...

"Dammed... What happened to her?" Ethen back then heared PFC Morgan ask the paramedic as that one parched up a female soldier's stumps where her legs had been until a few minutes ago.

"Mine!" Ethen answered as the woman had been right in front of him when she had stepped onto it.

And now he was holding her hands as the paramedic cleaned her wounds with alcohol.

"AAAAAAAA!" The female soldier screamed as the alcohol sterilized her stumps before she passed out from the pain.

"ODIN be damned! The Intel is all wrong!

..." Morgan cursed the UCG's surveillance network that had supposedly been used to generate their terrain maps. "... But that enemy encampment should still be right up ahead."

"HUHA!" Agreed the few remaining and still combat-ready soldiers, Ethen among them.

"Haha... That's what I wanted to hear..." Laughed Morgan before he led the soldiers over the next hill. To the paramedics and wounded, he told them. "... transporters know your location and are coming."

"Huha!" Weakly agreed the few still conscious that they left behind to fulfill their mission.

"Damned! I hope this Major is worth our sacrifices!" Cursed Ethen to the grim agreement of his fellow soldiers.

Having climbed the snow-covered hill, they finally saw the enemy encampment, which was made up of a bunch of igloos built in a star shape around a towering ground-to-air missile system to cover all directions.

"Is this it?" Asked Ethen Morgan as the man was currently checking the map that they had all gotten.

Frowning, the veteran replied with a grim expression. "I guess so. At least it looks like the one Major Redstone is supposedly being held."

Turning to the soldiers behind them, Morgan told them via radio. "Okay men! Now it counts! The target should be in there. Once we have him and their missiles down, the cavalry should swoop in and exfil us out of here. The first round is on me tonight!"

"HUHA!" All replied, motivated as the team split into two with Ethan and a few others to attack from the opposite side from where Morgan would attack.

...

"Capitalism? I don't know!..." Replied the Marshal with a dismissive flick of his fingers. "... All I know is the park was open, she was pretty. Then the park closed and she wasn't anymore. You do the math!"

"So, what now of the park?..." Asked Sarah, interested, knowing that they could easily break into it. "... Is it abandoned or...?"

"It was abandoned until recently..." Answered Ethan, this time drinking straight from the bottle instead of his glass. "... Aaaa... the Grim Reapers, a gang involved in 'free capitalism' took it over. And now I am drinking and waiting for backup! A Marshal's work is never done!"

"On the topic of you being a Marshal..." Sarah asked as she took another bottle of whiskey from behind the counter.

Immediately her account was charged for it as the robot bartender behind the counter watched her and registered the bottle as being purchased by her.

Handing over the bottle, she gave it to Ethan with a question. "... Where are your deputies?"

"All killed by Reaper members..." Replied Marshal Ryan as he grabbed the bottle. Noticing Sarah's strong grip on it, he added. "... Tried to storm the castle twice... First time they killed half my men. The second time the other half. If I attempt a third, they'll kill my wife, Yelena!"

Saying her name, Ethan's mind immediately went back in time to the moment he met his wife for the first time.

...

"All clear!" "All clear!" Ethan heard the other soldiers shout as they stormed their igloos and he himself rushed in, his rifle raised.

Sadly, what greeted him was a horrific sight. Laying beside the frozen corpses of UCG officers was a woman, malnourished and with obvious signs of abuse on her arms, legs, and chest.

"Found a woman!" Ethan shouted as he slowly approached her.

"Hello there..." Ethan told the woman with a warm smile on his face as he noticed her blind eyes flickering with life. "... I am Specialist Ethan Ryan from the UCG. We're here to help you!"

...

"F**k!" Ethan cursed aloud and threw the bottle of liquor at a nearby mirror, knowing that his partner and wife, Yelena, was once again in the hands of scum.

"Need some help with that Reaper gang?..." Sarah asked, smelling a payday and a very happy little Chosen One. "... For some credits and the promise that we can use the park for a day, my partner and I might be able to help you out!"

"I guess I can't look into any distances in the park for 24 hours. But how much do you charge?" asked Ethan, a flicker of hope in his eyes.

Smiling happily, Sarah told the veteran, "Oh, not as much as others. We only need credits for supplies."

"That I can help you with!" agreed Ethan and held out his hand.

Nodding, Sarah took his hand and said, "Happy cooperation, Mr. Ryan, or is it Marshal Ryan?"

"Ethan is also okay..." Ethan said with a smile. "... Since you're going to help me out with the Grim Reapers and save my wife."

...

Meanwhile, at the park, Tina and Tellius had finally overcome the park's rotting security and successfully entered the park itself via the massive set of stairs leading inside the castle below the Worldtree.

Thanks to Tina's superior hacking abilities, abandoned shops, rides, and other attractions instantly came to life as they approached them.

Fake torches suddenly turned on. Ominous music blared through the loudspeakers, and even some abandoned robots began to fulfill their duties once more. All in all, everything perfectly matched the Grim-Souls theme, and Tellius quickly got a feel for the type of theme park this had been supposed to be.

"Oh, look! Look!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the second floor above the 'Armory,' where an iconic scene from the video series' first episode was being performed by some animatronics.

On one knee, the Chosen One (then a young boy with freckles and brown hair) received the blessing of Immortality from the Eternal Witch.

Then, as the light above the animatronics turned off, some other animatronics a few meters down the corridor lit up. Yet instead of following the story told by the animatronics, Tellius had to follow Tina into the armory.

Inside the armory, all kinds of fake foam weapons hung on weapon racks with price tags attached to them. Checking the price tag on a warhammer of similar quality to the one he had made for the little girl, Tellius nearly choked on the price.

'132 credits! This is daylight robbery!' thought Tellius while watching Tina check out the racks one by one.

Eventually, the little girl turned to  him with a disgusted look on her face. "Why do all those weapons here look like crap?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe homemade is better for getting the details right," offered Tellius, proud of his own handiwork.

Then, suddenly, he felt like he was being watched by a third party and asked Tina to look at a security camera. "Hey, can you tell if somebody is watching through this?"

"Yes, I can, and somebody does..." Tina calmly replied before stating, "... But he's a terrible hacker, and so I prefer to ignore him."

"That's not really reassuring..." Tellius stated, regretting not having brought his Pallas with him on this trip. "... What if that hacker has friends?"

"You beat them up!..." Pointed Tina out as if it was only naturally for him to beat upp people. "... and then I steak all their money! My account for sweets has gotten awfully low on credits!"

Stunned by her honest reply, the hulking cyborg eventually told her, "Sounds like a solid plan, but I expected a salary!"

"Agreed, I'll pay you in sweets!" declared Tina as they left the armory.

A few shockingly disappointing shops later, the two exited the shipping district of the castle for the massive food court.

Surrounding the central seating area were half a dozen themed food stalls that had once sold burgers, fries, wraps, sushi, spaghetti, fish'n chips, and many other unhealthy foods, including a vendor for Ghost-Waffles.

Shockingly, even though the robot managing the Ghost-Waffles stall had basically become inoperable because of rust, his plastic-wrapped goods were still edible.

"Oh, cool Ghost-Waffles!" Tina exclaimed and instantly rushed over to the stall.

Ignoring that what the little girl was doing could be seen as thievery, Tellius decided to sit down at the fountain as the rusted furniture didn't look like it could carry his unnaturally high weight.

And so, looking around the massive food court, Tell began  to imagine the chaos that must have once taken place here as parents and their children ate overpriced junk food.

Then again, at another theme park on a planet in a core system, he had once been such a child, accompanied by his parents.

"Ah, there's Tellius! AAAAAH!" Tellius heard Tina scream, as people in long black robes grabbed her tiny frame.

"Get away from her you sick f**kers!" Shouting, Tellius immediately began rushing to his little girl.

And yet, midway, some guy on a floor above, armed with a bazooka, shouted, "Oh, no! You don't!"

*Whoosh!* The explosive warhead shot out and hit Tellius's position. *Boom!*