031 - The Sound and the Fury

[Amyral]

[p:28x321en]Logan had never been to Ohio before. He watched as they approached the squat office, his eyes taking all of the sights in as Marco stopped the truck. He had learned about One Nation as they drove up the country. The more he heard the more hopeful he was. New Orleans had never truly recovered from the collapse. Seeing areas so civilized, many thanks to One Nation, had swayed Logan completely.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Marco, Thank you for coming,” a man said as he greeted them upon arrival.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan looked at Croft as he greeted his soldiers. Croft’s soldiers were spread across the nation, but when he put out the call, they flocked to him. Logan grabbed his medical bag and got out, looking at the man.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the man said. “My name is Clarence Croft. I am the commander of One Nation.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan looked down, nodding. “I’m Logan Kincaid,” Logan said, taking Croft’s hand.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Do you know how to use those?” Croft asked, motioning to the swords on Logan’s back.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan shook his head. “I… those are gifts. I’m not a fighter.” He admitted.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Croft, Logan is an old friend of mine,” Scott chimed in. “He’s been studying medicine for several years now; he’s quite knowledgeable in medicine and chemistry.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Croft nodded, smiling at Logan. “An army can never have too many doctors. Welcome to One Nation.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan pulled his medical bag over his shoulder while the others led Logan into the headquarters. It was smaller than Logan had expected for a nation-wide coalition, but Marco had gotten them in early so there was still room in the barracks. Logan set his bag down on a small bed and laid the swords down beside him. He had never thought of himself as a member of anything even resembling an army, but he was in one now.[/p:28x321en]

* * * * *

[p:28x321en]“Looks like Johnson has left his territory, Jessie. This is a major point in his supply chain. Send a message while he’s gone, and do it quietly,” Elizabeth said.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Jet looked down from the top of the building while men shoved weapons into the back of a truck. He grinned, beginning to hum some under his breath. “Folks, let me tell you about Minnie the Moocher… She was a low down hoochie-koocher. She was the roughest, toughest Frail, but Minnie had a heart as big as a whale…”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Jesse! Pay attention! You can’t make a sound!” Elizabeth ordered.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Jet grinned, standing up. “There will be sound, you can count on that.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Jesse! You are not in charge. Be quiet.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Jet scowled. “No… I’ll never be silenced… not again,” he said, grinning. “She messed around with a bloke named Smoky. She loved him though he was cokey.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Elizabeth looked at the monitor, her brow furling as she saw his vital signs begin to increase.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Jet jumped down and proceeded to slaughter the weapons smugglers, his sword slicing through skin and bone. One of them was scalped, another disemboweled. He left them in pools of their blood as he slaughtered. Only one remained, who was stumbling back, trying to flee the unexpected assailant. Elizabeth watched as Jet kept singing. “Hidee Hidee Hidee hi… Oh oh oh oh… hee dee hee dee hee dee hee... Poor Min… Poor Min… Poor Min.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Jesse! Your heart rate! You’re having a panic attack!” Elizabeth yelled to him.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Jet grinned. “Don’t be silly, Elizabeth… I’m simply showing my disgust for the silence,” Jet said, thrusting his sword into the man’s foot. The man cried out, now pinned to the ground. “You see… there’s music everywhere, whether from the harp or from the guitar…” He said, pulling out a knife and slashing the man’s arm. He grabbed it as Jet grabbed him by the neck. “Or by the firing of a gun… or by the way a man gargles when you tear out his tongue…” he said.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Elizabeth lurched forward as Jet illustrated. She held her stomach, staring as Jet dropped the tongue, grinning. “Once they find why their supply chain has ended here, they’ll know Akigiyama is not to be taken lightly,” Jet said in a sing-song voice.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Elizabeth stared, turning off their communication link and opening Jet’s file. She tried to remove the image of Jesse's brutality as she updated his records file.[/p:28x321en]

* * * * *

[p:28x321en]The moon shone over the courtyard when Logan slowly swing the swords down. Logan really had no need to practice. He wasn’t a fighter like any of the others around. Logan always felt himself to be a pretty good judge of people and the types of people he saw on Croft’s side scared him. He could tell that they had seen more of the world than he ever would and experience things he couldn’t imagine.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]The swords were more therapeutic. As he punched up with the spiked pommel and slashed down with the hook, his anxieties would leave him. They reminded him of the days living in the trees. There were few responsibilities, no worries and a lot of fun. It was what any kid could ask for.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“Your form is good, but you lack power,” a voice from behind him said.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan paused and turned to see a man in his mid 30’s approach him. He lowered his swords and looked away. “I wasn’t really practicing. I’m not a fighter.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Glenn nodded. “I can see that,” he responded.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan looked the man over. He could see the sword on the man’s hip and stepped back some. “I mean, I’m not really training. I’m a medic… the swords are just a gift, practicing with them helps me relax.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Glenn smiled. “There’s no harm in learning how to use them, just in case the worst happens and you have to defend yourself,” he suggested, reaching out for his swords.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan nodded. “I suppose not. I really only trained with them an hour a week at the most. Most of the time I’d read medical books or get quizzed by my mentor about diagnosis. He was a pacifist though, so I never really had much of a chance to learn how to use them.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]“It’s a beautiful night. The moon is unhindered by clouds and the breeze is perfect. That sounds like a good opportunity for you to practice. Let me see, perhaps I can show you something,” Glenn suggested.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan handed the swords over without much of a thought. Even with their sentimental value to Logan, he never truly thought of them as anything more than sharpened pieces of metal. Glenn held them in his hand, examining them. They were surprisingly light and extremely sharp. For a man who seemed to have no clue how to use swords, the swords looked like Logan took quite good care of them.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]When he swung one in the air in a quick slash, he paused. There was an odd reverberation in the air. It was like a plucked guitar string or a tuning fork that had just been rung. It wasn’t feel or the look of the weapon, it was the sound. The more Glenn swung them, obstinately as a demonstration of form and power to Logan, the more he could sense something was different about them.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Unlike his own blade, these blades seemed to want to tell him what they could do. He glanced down at Logan and could tell he couldn’t hear the noise.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]These weren’t ordinary swords, they felt strange and they sounded strange and while Glenn could tell Logan didn’t know what they were capable of he got an eerily similar feeling holding them as he did his sword.[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]He looked at Logan, furling his brow before handing the young man the swords back. “When you actually swing for power, it’s haphazard. When you move slowly, you move with finesse. Try to find a good compromise and you’ll be able to use them if you need to.”[/p:28x321en]
[p:28x321en]Logan nodded and looked at the swords in his hand, watching as the man walked away. When Logan went back to practicing, he heard none of the sounds Glenn did.[/p:28x321en]