Genesis, p.1
Genesis, page 1
GENESIS
Copyright © 2021 by J.M. Coleman and L.L. Wirtz
Published December 2023
Indies United Publishing House, LLC
THIRD EDITION
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form without the prior written consent of the author/publisher or the terms relayed to you herein, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ISBN: 978-1-64456-688-6 [Hardcover]
ISBN: 978-1-64456-689-3 [Paperback]
ISBN: 978-1-64456-690-9 [Mobi]
ISBN: 978-1-64456-691-6 [ePub]
ISBN: 978-1-64456-692-3 [Audiobook]
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023949506
indiesunited.net
To the women in our lives,
Those who made it this far,
And those who didn’t.
May your love shine through us,
Ad aeternum.
CHARACTER INDEX
The Sicarii
The High Council
Alef (1)
Bet (2)
Gimel (3)
Dalet (4)
He (5)
Vav (6)
The Twelve Squads:
Seraph Squad:
Seraphiel - Leader
Helel ben Sahar - second in command
Metatron
Michael
Jehoel
Squad Three:
Gilroy - Leader
? - Ranger
? - Warden
? - Alchemist
? - Wraith
Squad Four:
Kai - Leader
Tara - Ranger, second in command
Marlowe - Warden
Amina - Alchemist
Piers - Wraith
Squad Nine:
The Black Death Mahta - Leader
Joseph - Warden, second in command
? - Wraith
? - Alchemist
? – Ranger
Non-Squad Sicarii Members
Alphonse - archaeologist, best friend of Kai
Sohei Murimoto - previous Squad leader, owner of Sohei’s Ramen Shop
Haley - librarian assistant in the Greater Library
Sofia - bodyguard of the High Council
Verena - secretary of the High Council
Summer - watcher of the Spire’s plaza
Dr. Henry Mun - forensic pathologist
Dr. Áñez - medical doctor at the hospital in HQ
Unaffiliated Characters
Black Star - freelance assassin, son of Alexander Stromberg
Maria (White Star) - inventor, mechanic, daughter of Alexander Stromberg and sister of Black Star
Alexander Stromberg - environmental scientist, bioengineer, astrophysicist, inventor, father of Maria and Black Star
Sylvia Stromberg (Silver Star) - retired assassin, mother of Maria and Black Star
Red Star - maternal grandfather of Black Star
Cornelius - purveyor of freelance assassin contracts, financial advisor
Sandy Shores - Italian mobster
Konstantin and Sergei - Russian mobsters
Vadim - Pakhan of the Bratva operating in the New States
Lilian Marshall - ex-soldier and CIA operative
Adrian Blom - head of the Swedish Security Service
The Phantom - ?
Ahmed and Adelina - father-daughter duo who run the Hashround Haberdashery
Abe Davidson - skilled thief
Elaine - ex-Engineer, inventor
Table of Contents
Title Page
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
The Lightning Arc Book Two Excerpt
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
ONE
KAI
On an insignificant rooftop in an insignificant city a steel door burst open from a forceful kick. A middle-aged suited man fell backwards out of the doorway and scurried hurriedly away from the shrouded figure following him.
“What do you want!?” he shouted, unheard by the rest of the world. “I’ll give you anything! Money, drugs, women, just please don’t kill me!” In the darkness red stared back at him. In that horrifying collusion of parallel and perpendicular lines the man saw only one thing: oblivion.
“Adrian O’Connor,” the figure stated, his voice as terrifying as his mask. “On the order of the High Council of the Sicarii you have been sentenced to death.”
“No!” the man shouted into the void. “You can’t do this!” He moved quickly, but not quick enough to dodge the sword that plunged into his heart, severing his aortic valves and rupturing all four chambers in the process. The man’s head fell and the rain began to pour. The blood dripping from the assassin’s blade mixed with the water, creating an ocean of diluted ichor between himself and the rooftop. He flicked the blade outwards, spattering the rooftop door with blood like a painter with a canvas. His longsword shone in the darkness, reflecting the lights of The City all around him while revealing the Greek word “θρυμματίζω” (Shatter) engraved on the blade.
“Contract complete,” he sheathed his sword and the interior of his mask lit up a brighter crimson than before.
“Voice recognition confirmed,” it stated in a cool feminine voice. “Target eliminated. Funds added in the amount of one-hundred thousand USD.”
The young man reached around to the back of his neck and pressed a circular, red-ringed button which triggered a collapse, or rather a dissolution, of his helmet into the space in which the button existed. He looked up towards the night sky. As the rain penetrated the troposphere and fell towards the earth he felt for once, in his entire life, a kind of peace as the water droplets struck his face lightly. The helicopters flying above him broke his peace with their obnoxious rotors that tore through the air like vultures through flesh, and because of this he put his head down, reconstructed his helmet, and began walking forward. Walking towards the ledge, the short, messy-haired killer kept his sights on the helicopters as they headed towards a building on the west side of The City. He jumped across the gap in front of him to another roof and followed them. The boot-like footwear built into his suit pounded ferociously against the wet concrete as he moved more quickly westward.
“Transmission incoming, Kai,” his mask stated abruptly.
“Who is it, Eris?” Kai asked.
“It’s the High Council.”
The High Council? Kai thought. I highly doubt this is a coincidence. Kai’s thoughts flickered with the endless possibilities of the events that were about to unfold, but no training, no understanding or calculations of percentages and probabilities could make him understand this. “Put them through,” he stated.
“Identify,” a younger woman commanded.
“Kai. A-Rank Knight-Hybrid. Leader of Squad Four. Assassin under the order of the High Council of the Sicarii.” This statement was like clockwork to him. It was stitched into the very fabric of his existence, just like everyone else at the Academy. Name. Rank. Class. Affiliations. Any differentiation ended in death.
“Kai,” the young woman said calmly. “Something has happened.” She was upset, afraid, and Kai picked up on her emotion immediately.
“What’s going on, V?” Kai asked, still sprinting across the rooftops, trailing behind the helicopters. At this height falling meant instant death, but Kai wouldn’t fall, he couldn’t fall, because the rooftops were his home, as they had been nearly his whole life. So, when he was up there, above the busy streets, above the disgusting swine that were ignorant of their own world, he was okay.
“Kai… it’s Alphonse…” His heart stopped. His head fell and he stopped moving, teetering on the edge of a roof hundreds of feet in the air. Any thoughts lingering in his mind fled as pictures and memories of Al began flooding back through him. “He’s gone rogue.”
A pulse shot through Kai’s body. He instantly felt sick, and vomit began forming in his gut. Sadness, despair, and frustration overwhelmed his body and poured out of him like an overfilled jug.
“You’ll need the rest of your squad for this one,” the young woman said. “He’s on the roof of the Empyrion Building. You know what must be done, Kai, and the High Council trusts you’ll do it. Transmission over, Eris.” The woman’s voice cut out and Kai stepped away from the edg e and fell to his knees, pressing the button on the back of his neck to collapse his helmet. He began vomiting bile as the shock of his orders overwhelmed him and he hadn’t eaten in over two days. Not Al. He thought. Anyone, but Al. The hard rain beat on his back and head soaking his short, dark, messy hair. He stood up, his throat burning, and wiped his mouth. He looked back up at the same night sky. Ah, fuck, he thought. He pushed his hair back with his hand and pressed the same button on the back of his neck, bringing his mask back. The interior of it began glowing a deep crimson yet again.
“Eris?” Kai asked.
“Yes, Kai?” Eris responded.
“Connect me to the rest of Squad Four immediately.”
“Right away,” Eris confirmed.
“Marlowe,” Kai said shakingly.
“Yes.”
“Amina.”
“What’s up?”
“Tara.”
“Alive and well.”
“Piers.”
“Kai! What’s up buddy! How are y-”
“Track my position and move on me,” Kai ordered, cutting off Piers. “We have a mission from the High Council directly.”
“Copy that,” Tara responded.
“Affirmative,” Marlowe stated roughly.
“On my way!” Amina said excitedly.
“I’m closing in on you now,” Piers informed.
Piers arrived first, a fourteen-year-old cloaked boy with shaggy blonde hair and a knack for hacking off limbs with his scythe. “What’s up dude!?” Piers exclaimed.
“Now’s not the time, Piers,” Kai responded.
“My bad, my bad. What happened?”
“We’ll go over the mission when everyone arrives.” Kai’s harshness bothered Piers and his happy demeanor quickly turned sullen as he matched Kai’s speed, which was easy enough for him since he was a Wraith. Marlowe was the next to arrive, his thunderous stomp shaking the rooftop below Kai and Piers. Marlowe was a massive, male Pacific Islander with the muscles of a bodybuilder and long locks of curly hair encompassing his head. He was large, but he was fast, unexpectedly fast, which made him even more terrifying as a Warden.
As Marlowe fell into formation Tara joined the fray, her dark brown cloak flapping in the wind and rain. Tara was mild-mannered, strong, and rarely spoke. She was a Ranger, and if she wasn’t with the squad she was in the forest hunting with her half-wolf Hastur. Tara’s golden hair was braided down to the middle of her back where she tied it off with a piece of string. She was a true warrior and the second in command of Kai’s squad. Amina showed up last, a petite girl, eighteen years of age with blueish hair and pale skin.
“Yo!” Amina yelled. “Sorry I’m late!”
“We still have some ways to go,” Kai said. “Don’t worry.” Amina was an Alchemist who wore leather vestments over the standard, black Sicarii suit with vials of poisons and potions in the holsters built into her waist and chest, and two hardened steel daggers strapped to her thighs. She was the medic of the squad, and every squad needed one, but she was much more than that. Amina was deadly with a blade and even deadlier with the toxins she carried around.
“Who’s the target?” Tara asked.
“Alphonse has gone rogue,” Kai replied. Piers’ heartbeat began to race and his face became red. “Damn it…” he whispered under his breath.
“Target location?” Tara responded.
“The Empyrion Building on the west side of downtown,” Kai replied. The Empyrion Building was a prominent science and research facility on the west side of The City. Genetic testing and pharmaceutical research were two of the many complex ideas studied by the Empyrion scientists within its glass walls. From the sky, the Empyrion Building looked like an eye, and was referred to as such by most citizens.
“Distance? Amina asked.
Tara pulled out a rectangular piece of metal that fit neatly in her palm and pressed a button on the lower half of it. The metal split horizontally and the two pieces moved away from each other. A thin, reinforced, glass screen began forming in between the two metal pieces until they were six inches apart, where the pieces stopped moving and the screen lit up. In her hands, Tara held the newest line of mobile devices by Trytek, the largest and most powerful producer of all things technologically advanced from artificial reality to military-grade weaponry.
“3.7 kilometers,” Tara stated. “At our current speed, ETA is approximately eight minutes and twelve seconds.”
“Let’s step it up,” Marlowe insisted. The five continued flitting across the rooftops, their thoughts on the massive building in the distance, except for Kai and Piers - their thoughts were elsewhere. Alphonse was their friend, Kai’s brother, and had been since the very beginning, since their rescue, through the Academy, and up until now. What happened, Al? Why you? Kai thought. Where is all of this coming from? Alphonse was always a good kid, always bright, always willing to learn. He wasn’t the strongest, or the fastest, but he could outsmart just about anyone and he was a hell of a good strategist. If Kai was five steps ahead of his opponents at all times, Al was twenty. He didn’t need strength or speed when he could read the minds of his enemies and force their hand.
“We’re 1.6 kilometers out,” Tara stated. “We should be seeing the perimeter soon.”
An explosion on the roof of the Empyrion Building caught their attention and they stopped running. Smoke began billowing into the crisp night air.
“What the hell was that?” Marlowe exclaimed.
Al…, Kai thought. “Split up,” he ordered. “Marlowe and Amina, move towards the north side of the building. Get to the roof by whatever means necessary. And Amina,” Kai said while unbuckling his sheath, “take my blade. I won’t be able to carry it where I’m going.”
“You can count on us!” Amina said excitedly while taking Shatter. Marlowe and Amina dashed off quickly onto another building and disappeared in the lights of The City.
“Piers, I need you to create a distraction. Move into the building from the upper floors and do whatever you can to keep the police and their SWAT units away from the roof.” Piers nodded his head and moved towards the south side of the building to breach from higher up.
After Piers was out of sight, Kai stared at Tara. Tara was shockingly beautiful by society’s standards, but such things mattered not to him. Kai was a soldier, not a lover. An assassin, not a significant other. To Kai, beauty was fleeting and love even more so. The only thing true and honest in the world was Death. Because Death always came for everyone.
“I’ll enter through the front door.” Kai stated.
“How are you going to do that?” Tara chuckled.
“It’s hard to see who’s under those black uniforms of Kevlar and cloth, don’t you think?” Tara smiled and nodded her head in agreement. “You know what to do, Tara,” Kai said, pointing behind him in the direction of a cluster of buildings. “On it,” Tara responded, catching a glimpse of the three snipers on the rooftops of businesses at the north, south, and west perimeter of their target location.
Kai smiled a half, crooked smile, hiding this time behind an internal mask. “Thanks Tara. Let’s go.” Tara smiled back, ignorant of Kai’s façade. She moved across the rooftops towards her first target as Kai hopped down the fire escape towards the dank city streets. A few hundred feet in front of him was a roadblock and a cluster of law enforcement vehicles, their red and blue lights illuminating the buildings surrounding them. He moved closer towards the roadblock and saw three SWAT officers directing the westward traffic on a detour that went north around the police line. Kai moved deep into an alleyway close to the walking, talking, traffic lights. A man clad in Hyper Kevlar and a standard issued SWAT uniform began walking towards the alleyway. Kai made noise to attract him further.
As the soldier moved deeper into the swaying darkness, Kai flanked him and locked his arms around the man’s neck to restrict his airflow, causing him to lose consciousness within seconds. Immediately, Kai threw on the SWAT uniform over his own suit and pressed the button on his helmet, collapsing it down to just the piece that surrounded his jaw, and placed the balaclava over his own head. Kai put the SWAT helmet on and hid the body and walked out of the alley assault rifle in hand. Across his upper back scrolled the words SWAT and POLICE in a holographic display of authority.
