Easley was in a beautiful state in the summer, ready for an artist to come along and paint it in vivid watercolour. It was a little farming town with a small centre, the focal point of which lay in its windmill which powered the grain processing facility and procured the day's breads. All surrounding were lush green fields and farm houses, with speckles along to indicate various flowers growing amidst it all; most frequently popping up were the yellow-headed dandelions. At this time though, they were white, puffy balls of seeds that would explode each time the wind blew by, flinging them around the air.
Grimsley was lying on his back staring up at the sky, little seeds brushing over his young face and tickling his cheeks. His blond hair was messed and his small red cap kept falling off his top and onto the ground. He pulled out the small pistol he kept by his side in its holster and examined it. He took an edge of his dirtied red jacket and cleaned off a smudge on the weapon, his gun the only thing he kept spotless. His black pants were old and stained, his jacket sullied, while his sidearm was gleaming.
He pulled his cap up over his eyes to block out the sunlight and started to drift to sleep. It was only just as darkness overtook him and his mind began to open up to dreaming that he heard the patter of leather boots running through the fields towards him.
When he heard them stop beside his head he blew his hat back with a whistle and opened a lazy eye to see his younger sister leaning over him. Her thin blonde hair dangled down around her face and was lit up by the sun above.
"What do you want Gretta?"
"Come on Grimsley, why are you sleeping out here? Aren't you supposed to be training with the militia?"
"Hawke was sick today, had a stomach ache so we were let off today." Grimsley was one of the most avid supporters of the local militia of fourteen young men. He normally trained everyday or was off patrolling the outskirts for enemy sightings. His sister did time in a local auto shop, learning to be a mechanical engineer at the young age of fifteen.
When she wasn't in the store she was at home in the barn at the edge of town where an old battle tank was stored, a relic from their deceased father who used to pilot it. Nobody around had a clue how to repair it to working order but it was suspected of being an old Goliath-killer tank built to bring down Goliaths and since there were no Goliaths ever coming near Easley nobody cared to see it restored. For the memory of their father though, Grimsley demanded it be fixed and Gretta was ready to comply.
"Then why don't you help Aunt Shauna at the farm? We can't leave her doing all that work alone all the time."
"She never wants any help. She's such a stubborn old lady. So I'm having a day off today to myself. Shoot me."
Gretta snatched the pistol from Grimsley and pointed it down at his crotch and shut an eye. "Give me a countdown and I'll do it."
Grimsley pulled his cap back over his eyes and pretended to snore. "It's not loaded."
"Umm excuse me?" It was a sheepish, soft, high-pitched voice that cut the moment between the siblings. Gretta dropped the pistol onto Grimsley's stomach and he sputtered in shock at the impact. "Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Grimsley recognized only one thing about the voice: it was female.
He tucked the gun away and straightened his hat. He somehow flipped up onto his feet in a flash and was greeted by a girl his own age near twenty, with long, brown hair in pigtails and matching leather coat for travelling. She had on a hiker's backpack with a sleeping bag rolled up on top. Clipped to her right hip was a large tome of an ornate cover featuring woven golden silk and inlaid gemstones while on her left hand was a thin glove with the emblem of the church of Enia on it.
"No, no, there's nothing here. Don't worry about her, she's just my sister." Gretta rolled her eyes behind Grimsley. "I am Grimsley, a member of Easley's official militia here. What can I do for you?"
"Not going to introduce me, brother dear?"
"Quiet Gretta, it's my duty to introduce a traveler as part of the militia."
"Since when?" scoffed Gretta.
"Actually," the young traveler leaned to look around Grimsley at Gretta. "I was hoping to talk to you." She gave a smile as warm as the sun above.
"See? Step aside brother and let us ladies talk." She pushed Grimsley out of the way and walked up to the girl. As she went by, Grimsley's jaw went slack and he could be heard muttering "Bu...bu..bu...but..."
Upon Gretta's arrival the wanderer reached up and plucked a flower out that was tucked in behind Gretta's ear. The girl grabbed her book on her right and let it open in her own hand, the pages immediately falling until a blank page was revealed. Grabbing a pencil from within her hair, the young traveler began sketching out the flower with her left hand, leaving the flower sitting on the opposite page. "Yes, I haven't seen this one before. Quite curious, very beautiful."
Both Gretta and Grimsley were now both aghast as they stood and watched. "She didn't want to talk to me..." They said in unison.
Finished taking notes, the girl returned the flower to Gretta and flashed her smile again. "Thank you for that. I'm Raven from the central botany division. I came out here in my travels to study your flora here."
"Flora?" The siblings looked at each other in confusion.
"Yes, mostly those," she said as she pointed to the dandelions. "It's the perfect time to study them as they are reproducing. They are the last non-modified plant in existence, if our reports are right."
"Well Raven you are certainly welcome to stay at our house while you are here. We have plenty of room and tons of dandelions, right Grimsley?"
But Grimsley was not there anymore, at least not mentally. Instead he was envisioning Raven surrounded by flowers raining down, her smile shining towards him. "She likes flowers," he mumbled.
Later the three arrived at the sibling's household, Gretta and Raven chatting happily while Grimsley towed behind and attempted to interject every so often. They opened the farmhouse door to see Aunt Shauna holding onto her favourite iron frying pan. Grimsley looked up at her and was greeted with an open slap from the cookware that sent him flying back out the door, twirling through the air with blood streaming out his nose.
"Oh my!" Raven exclaimed in shock.
"No worries Raven, that's Aunt Shauna's famous country cooking prize punch. She's won eight blue ribbons with it. Grimsley is the only person who isn't sent into a coma from it."
"How dare you young man!" the old lady bellowed. "You bring a beautiful girl like this home, a sweet and innocent flower, and you don't even offer to carry her bags?!" Aunt Shauna gave Raven a smile as she passed her. "Please come in, make yourself welcome." She then set to beating Grimsley continuously and comically with the frying pan and sometimes her own fists.
"Don't worry about him Raven, he'll be fine." Gretta tugged the astonished young woman up the stairs to the attic where Gretta's room was. "You can sleep here with your sleeping bag. It's safe here from Grimsley and we have our own bathroom right over there." She pointed at a small room with a door that was slightly ajar. "Make yourself at home."
"Well this is all extremely lovely of you but surely you must need some compensation for all of this. I couldn't possibly stay here for free."
"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you're ever hanging around the house when Aunt Shauna is around she'll put you to work right away." Gretta hopped back to the stairs and motioned for Raven to follow. "Come, I'll show you something cool." She led Raven down out of the house into the barn, which was taken up by tools scattered around the outside, alongside spare vehicle parts, and a large black shadow in the middle. Gretta flipped on a light and the bulbs above flickered and hummed into life, displaying a massive steel tank sitting idly on its tracks, the barrel on its gun almost twice the size of Raven's head.
"Wow, I've never seen a tank like this before. And they have plenty of them sitting around at the capital but nothing quite like this one."
"Yes this is an old Goliath-killer. They don't really make them much anymore because they just make Goliaths instead, but back when Goliaths weren't everywhere they used these things to bring them down. My father helped my grandfather build it and then he used it during one of the wars. When he died they brought this back to us. It was pretty beaten up but I've gotten it to a decent condition so far. It's almost ready to start; I just can't seem to get the ignition completely lined up."
"I'm sure you'll get it soon. I wouldn't know the first thing about machines. Only flowers are my real speciality. I'm so envious of all you brave people helping the war cause. Your brother seems like a good soldier."
Gretta was bending over to pick up a wrench and stopped when Raven made the statement. She shivered a little, coldly, and stayed bent over, her voice becoming very quiet. "Yes he is a good soldier, very dedicated. Just like dad was..."
"I-I'm sorry Gretta, I was just saying-"
"-No it's alright." She straightened up and flipped the wrench in the air, deftly catching it again. "At least he will have me to protect him!" The two were giggling together as though they were best friends from childhood when the door burst open and Grimsley fell in, his face swollen and bruised.
"Re...report from the town...they say there are...Goliaths coming down...on drop. Something is happening." Upon hearing this, Gretta went around to the far side of the immobile vehicle and an engine started up, a small motorized one. The doors to the barn swung open automatically and a small motorcycle pulled out slowly with Gretta riding, a passenger seat attached to the side.
"Let's go then guys! We can't miss out on seeing the Goliaths come out! We have to get there before the crowd gets too big." The two girls dragged Grimsley to the passenger seat and threw him across it, and then they both hopped on the bike and sped away down the dusty dirt trail that lead into town.
* * * * *
There was a hum from the various machines running in the laboratory. Some of these devices never turned off, always required to be doing their jobs, and it was their light that mostly lit up the dingy room. In the center was a raised, circular, metal pedestal where the shape of a man stood, various cables and tubes running into the body. Around the edges were a couple of scientists flipping from one monitor to the next, taking notes or adjusting dials.
A hiss came from the door as it slid open and light from the outside hallways leaked in, throwing the man in the doorway into shadow and lighting up the central humanoid on the pedestal. It was a cyborg of some sort, or perhaps an android, with the body of a man infused with purple metal along the arms, legs, and torso, and in scattered places it showed through. The face was completely human at least but the eyes were closed.
The doorway shut and the room fell to darkness once more, the head scientist having returned from receiving orders from his superiors within the Enian Federation. He approached his second-in-command and motioned him aside. "I spoke with them about it. They think the test results show he is ready."
"Ready? Yes he has been ready for a long time; it's just a matter of getting things at optimal performance. We just have to eliminate the final few...bugs."
"They think it is as good as it will ever get and I tend to agree with them. It needs field testing; we can't keep it in here forever. I've invested my whole life to this thing and I'd like to see it used while I'm still alive."
"But sir-"
"We don't have a choice." The lead scientist let out a sigh and wiped a little sweat from his forehead. The tiny room felt hotter than usual. "Activate Sigma." The co-worker turned to a console, shaking his head, and pressed the input code for start-up. In response the android's eyes shot open and it gasped for air. There was something mechanical in those eyes, that within them you could see thousands of calculations going off per second, streams of computer code compiling and flying past on a display inside the being's head.
The eyes each had a purple iris.
A/N: Sigma has finally awoken while the sleepy town of Easley prepares for war. Just how powerful is Sigma and what can he do to change the war?
Hope you enjoy reading! I'd love to hear back from you on what you think of the series so far and where you'd like to see it go or think it's heading.