The Abandoned (closed)

[DragonKnight]

Kage quickly helped Jasper to the couch. "I was born in Tokyo tower remember? The way I was raised there is nothing like Bastion or Toronto. Here though, everything runs similarly to the Towers. But everyone here is working together. Soldiers, farmers, mechanics. They all do their part to keep humanity alive, even if it's just something small." Kage said. "You grew up in the towers. That's all you've ever known. I know how it feels to be out of your element. Out of everything you've ever known." He said as he placed a hand over top Jasper's. "You helped me. Now it's time for me to return the favour."

[SimonBrownMpreg]

Jasper was weak the next day with a mild fever and throbbing limbs. As much as Kage wanted to stay with him, Jasper insisted the man report for duty. They had to do their part, after all. The military bus picked him up right on schedule and dropped him off at the West Tower with a load of other soldiers. Many of them already knew where to go, walking past Kage to elevators and stairwells. A very clean-cut man stood in the lobby and recognized Kage on sight. "Lieutenant Kage McCollum," he said, reaching out his hand. "I'm Major Ian Gleeson, formerly of the San Diego Tower. I'll be your recruiting instructor today. Glad to have you with us."

[DragonKnight]

"Thank you sir." Kage said as he followed Ian. "Have there been many attacks as of recent?" Kage asked the instructor as they reached the forum.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

"Not on the city itself, but we've seen an increase in Harbinger activity out in the wild." Ian held up a tablet with a cracked screen, outdated compared to the ones issued in the Landmark Towers, and featured Kage's military dossier. "I understand you're from the recently collapsed Toronto landmark. Always a shame when that happens. I can still remember the fall of the San Diego Tower. Activity in the outskirts increased roughly a month before the attack on Toronto, but we're seeing a gradual decrease now. Nocs seem to be hunting in larger packs. I heard from Agent Beta that you survived a night solo out there. I must say, that is beyond impressive, Lieutenant."

[DragonKnight]

Kage stayed silent for a moment after remembering that night. Fighting through countless waves of Nocs, learning about the secret project about Jasper, it was quite unnerving. "I don't die that easily." He said to Ian. "Are there any more soldiers from the towers here in Bastion? Breeders too?" He asked.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

"Absolutely," Ian confirmed. "Well, soldiers, yes. Breeders, no. We're the only City standing in the northeast, so if any Towers fall from Roanoke to Cincinnati to Montreal and to Nutak all the way up in Labrador, they civilians and soldiers are going to end up here. San Diego is a long way from here, obviously, but I believe in Cities more than I believe in Towers. Soldiers like yourself make great additions."

Ian led Kage to an indoor agility course. Plenty of soldiers were in there training already. He picked up a stopwatch and positioned himself at the start of the course. "Alright, I want you to run through this agility course once as quickly as you can. Go."

[DragonKnight]

Kage ran through the course with incredible speed, completing the course in record time. Kage stopped at the finish before looking towards Ian for his results.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

Instead of looking at Kage, Ian was looking at the stopwatch, shaking it, and testing it against his wristwatch. "So uhh... R-Run... Yeah, run the course three times for me, will you, Lieutenant?" Even the other soldiers who had been running the course stopped when Kage passed them at mind-blowing speed. Now, they all gathered along the sidelines so they could watch him conquer the agility course yet again.

[DragonKnight]

Kage nodded before taking a position at the start. When Ian told him to go, Kage ran once again. To Kage, this was a breeze. Kage trained for a good portion of his life to reach his strength. After finishing his third lap, he stopped at the finish line.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

Halfway through Kage's second lap, all the other soldiers started chanting and hollering. This guy was a beast! Ian still looked dumbfounded down at the stopwatch, but recorded the time anyway. "Jesus, kid, that's a record if I ever saw one." He pat Kage on the back and motioned towards the door. "We'll hit the shooting range next. You asked about breeders before, right? Since you came from a Tower, I'm sure you meant the boy breeders. We have a handful of girls, but not any guys. Despite the number of Towers that collapsed over the years, none of the male breeders ever make it to Cities. They all get taken by the Harbingers."

[DragonKnight]

Kage's curiosity peaked at the mention of the taken. Could the experiment that Jasper had also been used in different towers? There were many questions that needed answering. "Are the female breeders kept in the same place? I think Jasper might need someone to talk to who's in a similar situation as he is." He asked Ian.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

Ian chuckled. "We don't have nests here like back at the Towers, McCollum. Those ladies are spread across the city living in their own homes with jobs other than breeding and the freedom to go out and have fun. Y'know, living life. Besides, I don't know how similar their situations really are. Rumors are already spreading about your Jasper and the load he's carrying. Ladies around here only ever have five or six rug rats at the most, even with the help of fertility boosters." They entered the gun range. Just like the agility course, soldiers were here practicing. After getting set up at a station and putting on their safety gear, Ian instructed Kage to empty the clip, but to focus on precision rather than speed.

[DragonKnight]

Kage took the pistol and started to shoot, hitting each target perfectly with great accuracy and speed. Other soldiers watched as Kage finished shooting all of the targets.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

Ian found himself increasingly impressed with Kage's performance. He gave Kage another clip and instructed to focus on speed rather than precision this time. The results were more or less the same, which was good. Kage never sacrificed one for the other and had equal strength in both. Other soldiers gathered around were also impressed. If any soldiers made it from Toronto Tower, they would've been bragging how they knew him.

The next assessment was a maze. Kage had to successfully navigate his way through while using an old refurbished laser tag gun to shoot Harbinger dummies and also avoid shooting civilian targets as they popped up throughout the course. As with everything else so far, the stern soldier passed the test with flying colors. Ian even made him run it a second time in cast the first run was a fluke.

Finally, it was time for the Arena. "I'm sure you're familiar with this from your time in the Towers. We constructed our own Arena with twelve levels. Some missions are kill-only. Other missions include rescue scenarios. I'm starting you at level one and you're just going to advance through each level without stopping until you're dead. Got it?"

[DragonKnight]

Kage nodded as he put some practice armour on. "Start it." He instructed as Ian started the machine. Hard light holograms of Harbingers began to form. Skitters were small, pillbug like harbingers that weren't hard to fight unless there hundreds of them. Hundreds began to swarm around Kage before he took his gun and started to fire, killing dozens of these creatures to keep them away.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

"Help! Please, mister, help me!" cried the voice of a child. A forest generated in front of Kage and a small girl clung to a branch partway up a tree. Skitters kept crawling up out of a crack in the ground and started swarming the tree.

"Mission: Rescue the civilian and return to the safety point." Several yards behind Kage, a pole rose up out of the floor with a green flag, indicating his goal point.

The little girl screamed as the Skitters got closer. She even tried squishing them with her little shoes. "Mister, I'm scared! Help!"

[DragonKnight]

Kage fired at the Skitters as he ran to the target. He grabbed the hologram civilian before going to the goal. He continued to travel across the training area towards the goal post. He reached it in time, ending the simulation.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

"Level One Complete." The hard light holograms disappeared along with the atmosphere. "Level Two Start." The geographical setting reconstructed itself into an open field with zero cover and a flock of Wyverns closing in on Kage. "Mission: Execute entire flock while taking minimal damage. Five injuries allowed before termination."

As it seemed was the pattern, other soldiers gathered around the viewing windows of the Arena to watch the new guy in action. Ian took notes the whole time, marking Kage's performance, strengths, and weaknesses. All the info he gathered would be vital in placing Kage where he'd be most useful. It was a long day for Kage and he quickly rose to the level of celebrity after his performance in the Arena. He made it to level nine before getting killed. Ian said he and a few other ranking officials would need to review Kage's performance data before assigning him a position, but that Kage should hear from them within a week. An evening bus picked up the soldiers from the tower and took them all home.

Back at the little house, Jasper was outside in the backyard. He still didn't feel well and his fever never broke. Regardless, Jasper got dressed using the single complimentary outfit in the closet. The shirt didn't even come close to fitting him, so it was pants-only and belly out. He sat himself in the grass for hours while watching the tree. He was still sitting out there even when Kage got home.

[DragonKnight]

Kage finished his training quickly before returning home. He entered their home, finding Jasper near the tree. "Jasper? Are you alright?" He asked as he went to Jasper, sitting beside him.

[SimonBrownMpreg]

"Hi," Jasper said, smiling tiredly at Kage. He had dark circles under his eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay. I've just never seen a tree before. I've kinda been... watching it all day. It doesn't do much." Outside the city's walls, snow fell from fat grey clouds and the tall trees lost all their leaves for the winter. Bastion's interior was climate controlled to be summer and spring almost all year-round, with a short break for autumn. Jasper brushed his palm over the grass beneath them. "Somehow, I always thought this would be pricklier. I'm glad it's soft."