Project 13 Book One: From The Shadows

Chapter 15: The Announcement

To begin I walked over to the PA system that was used very rarely, but echoed through every room of the city. I announced the call to stop activities and tune into the localized TV network where we made broadcasts or come to the giant auditorium on the first floor. Then I slid down the banister and walked down the long hallway to the stage door to the auditorium.

Now I wasn't kidding when I said it was giant. The auditorium itself was the width of two football fields (at least I think that is what they were called, in the time before) and the length of another three. In all it would hold about 70% of the total population when fully packed. But it was no doubt that students in class, those in the kitchen, and mothers with children would likely not come. Nevertheless the room filled up to capacity and beyond as people had to stand outside and watch the big holoscreens that floated to either side of me and on the opposite side of the far wall as well as throughout the large space. The sound was likewise broadcast around the room when I put on a little mic. Then I began to speak.

"I am as many of you already know, Lightning Storm, I have been a part of the rebellion since I was little, for 9 years I have guided the rebellion, even to the point where many consider me to be the de facto leader of the rebellion, but in those 9 years you have never really known more about me than my work for the rebellion. Now I am here to shed insight on my past and who I really am.

Now I am sure many if not all of you will have heard of the rumors going around about the possible survivor of Project 13, of the genetically modified female, a mutant you might call her, well the truth is, that is me."

At this point I took off my trench coat and hung it on the small podium to the right of me and stepped forward, stretching my wings as I did so to show their full glory. People at the back craned their necks to see the actual wings rather than the grainy holographic images spread throughout the room. When the gasps subsided I continued.

"At a young age I was captured and sold to the government as a human subject for experimentation. There they modified my body to make me the ultimate weapon, but their plan ultimately backfired when designing a highly intelligent and mobile weapon not brainwashed into their control. I managed to fake my death and escape. As a result, though I have scars for life, I could never walk the streets without my trench coat to hide my wings. That is until now."

"Many in the rebellion have voiced their opinion that it would be useful to have one of the previously fabled mutants from Project 13 to lead the rebellion, but none ever believed that it could already have been so since the very beginning. I hereby refresh my vow to the rebellion that I will fight until the death to overthrow the wretched government that created me to be a devil amongst humans, grown from a test tube and nurtured by pain. I Lightning Storm will lead the rebellion with all my strength, intelligence, strategy, cunning, and power, and I will not stop at anything to dissemble the ruling power that restrains us all."

I paused for the applause that followed. In the crowd as expected I noticed faces that were still shocked, faces that were angry, and faces elated for the new hope. When it died down I continued.

"It is also my pleasure to introduce you to another one of my colleagues who, to my surprise, also turns out to be one of my mutant siblings. May I introduce Georgia, or Techno!"

When she came on stage Georgia was no longer dressed in her welding suit, but in a more practical electrician's outfit, ever with her fix-it bag though. She bowed and then took the mic from me. She also refreshed her commitment to the rebellion and said a few words about her personal experience before joining the rebellion. Then she said her goodbyes and handed the mic back to me.

Before I left though, I put out the announcement of the situation at hand and that processes would be expedited to meet the deadlines. I also mentioned the need to bring new members in if people living here knew others who would help and could join, reminding them that if they did invite anyone they would still have to go through the normal security channels. Then to finish off I wanted to get them excited about the time to come.

"Are we going to defeat the tyrannical government?"

'YES' screamed the crowd

"Are we going to send the elite forces cowering in fear with their tails between their legs?"

'YES' roared the crowd, louder this time

"Are we gonna make the stuck up officials wish they had never been born?"

'YES' thundered the crowd, hands flying into the air across the room. Then I chose to start a chant:

"Down with the elites, rebels will rise"

'DOWN WITH THE ELITES, REBELS WILL RISE' echoed throughout the room repeating itself even after I left the room and they began to disperse. I knew that throughout the next few days I would be hearing the chant across the rebel bases.

When it was all over Georgia came up to me and asked if it would be ok if she accompanied me to my house since she had been residing here and it would be safer for her to live elsewhere at the moment in case someone tried to kill her for being a mutant. I pinged Xu Bing and the council to check that this was ok and they agreed that it would be best for her safety and for the ease of us getting to work on the hunt for the other 10 mutants.

I was about to head back for the night when I thought about how I was going to transport Georgia there and back. It would be hard to fly back up carrying someone, as it was it was hard to carry someone or go up alone so it would be even harder to do both. I decided I would fly down tonight and use my personal jet to fly back up. I would need to finish the modifications on it tonight to ensure that the cloaking device and other features were functioning properly and that it looked normal enough to pass as traditional personal ship.

Hope you enjoyed this newest installment in the Project 13 series. Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter. This is one of the transitional parts of the story, so the chapters are really mainly separated by the important activities, and this particular chapter happens to be in the middle of two larger events.

Read on and have a nice day!!!

-- Lightning Storms