The Halleaux

Collection: Ages of Youth/the Halleaux/Canon - Chronicled by Valhel
{Recommended Listening for Reading: "No Time For Caution" by Hans Zimmer or "StarWaves", "Waking Up" by M83 }

​ The moonlight cast a strange hue over the surrounding dunes, its blues and violets rippled through the sands as a northern wind drifted over the desert. The ominous silhouette of Roanoke stood black against the scene, the walls of iron having been too corroded from hundreds of years of exposure in the badlands to play with the moonlight.

Petra waited atop one of these dark walls, gazing out over the arid sea as if watching for some great beast or enemy. A little further down the wall was Mechlaughlin, he was busy configuring a noticeably rough device and placing it over an archway to a turret.
“I’m not sure how much longer we can keep using this before it’ll burn up into a pile of singed frames and wires.’ scolded Mech, shaking a wrench in Petra’s direction, ‘These gateways were never meant to be temporary, let alone built, taken apart, and rebuilt over and over…”
Petra kept looking out over the horizon.
“I’ve no doubt in your expertise or your ability to keep the gate operational for as long as we have need of it.” smiled Petra.
“Well that makes one of us…’ muttered Mech as he tightened a bolt down upon the arch, ‘The gateway tech is fairly new, it’s crazy that we’re actually using it this early in development.”
“He knows the risks.”
Mech traced two cables back to a metal box that he had placed upon the wall, set his goggles over his eyes, and readied a switch, “Here goes nothing!”
A flash of light and a spark of blue roiled down the cables and shimmered upon the brackets in the arch, there was a sound like scraping metal and then silence. Then the yawning darkness of the empty turret began to stir, and a glare of crimson pierced the shadow.
“Well done, master technician.” spoke a corse voice from the dark of the turret.
Mech, replacing his goggles upon his top hat in relief, nodded, “Even I surprise myself.”
Petra paced toward the archway, “Someone may have seen that flash, it’s best for you to remain in the shadows for now.”
“Of course.” The voice was somewhat disguised through mechanical means, giving up a sort of crackling with speech.
“We would have bounced you in the base directly to avoid being seen were the walls not solid metal…’ said Mech, ‘We can’t get a signal in the lab, so our next best bet is to ping the gate when it’s Marius’ watch on the wall. That way we won’t have too many of our people looking around during your little visits.”
“Back to the matter at hand, what is your report?” said Petra to the shadows.
“A revolution will not be easy. There are no simple political means to assume control over the Authority, nor are there any tactical advantages to be found in assaulting the capital. Even if we could there would be many casualties, it would be a hard won battle. You’ll need more men.”
Petra glanced over to her shield, “Perhaps there is another way.”
“Your blitz raids upon the Authority’s compounds afford you little influence in the realm of firepower.”
“No.’ said Petra, ‘But there are other realms of power. Where is the bread now?”
“The Bible? It was taken into containment along with any other findings when Haven base was destroyed.”
“But where is it?” prodded Mech.
“That is hard to say. The book has caused too much trouble for the Authority to just leave it in some vault. They also dare not destroy it, for they believe they can learn from the text about your…fanaticism.’ the voice gave a metallic sigh, ‘For now, the Authority keeps the tome hidden in research transports, shuffling it from one outpost to the next at random so as to prevent your rebels from rapturing it away.”
“How do you know when and where it will be moved?” asked Petra.
“I don’t. My former lieutenant was placed in charge of the project, he arranges the ‘when’ in secret with his captains. The ‘where’ he keeps all to himself until it’s time to roll out. It has been impossible to predict.”
“Perhaps it’s not the where and when as much as it is the who.” suggested Mech.
“Right!’ said Petra turning to the crimson glare, ‘Watch for a pattern to emerge. Only a handful of researchers and guards will be trusted with the Word. Once we have that we may be able to collect our prize.”
“Forgive me,’ came the voice from the shadows, ‘but what good to you is this book now? I thought you had fashioned copies already? And what good to you will it be in a battle?”
“Inspector,’ smiled Mech, ‘chain of evidence is important when making your case, isn’t it?”
“Furthermore, it may not be our key to turning the battle,’ said Petra, ‘but the Word of God may be our key to turning the hearts of the people.”
“I see.’ rumbled the voice in the darkness, ‘I shall report back to you when I have something to share.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, and Petra, I must caution you.” A figure stepped out from beneath the archway, the crimson glare was revealed to emanate from a grim mask. Silver hoses ran from one side of the jaw to a harness upon the man’s back. Though she did not show it, the narrow stare of the visor struck a chord of fear within Petra’s heart. The metallic rasp of the mask seemed to cause the man’s next words to haunt the midnight air, “Petra, it wasn’t us.”
Petra’s eyes grew wide.
“I don’t know who it was, but I know it wasn’t the Authority.’ the towering figure turned to Mech, ‘I must return before I am missed.”
“Understood, step inside the gateway please.” Mech threw the switch back and a the gateway sparked to life.
Breaking away from fear, Petra spoke once more, “Godspeed, Javert.”
Nodding, Javert stepped into the gate. With that awful sound and a shimmer of blue and white the gate burst and closed, returning the Inspector to his post.
Mech and Petra stood in silence for a few moments before Mech went about dismantling the gateway. Petra paced to edge of the wall again to look out over the dunes with a distant fixation. The violets had faded and the blues had turned darker.
Mech finally ended the quiet, “If our intruder was not the Authority, who else could be trying to infiltrate Roanoke?”
“I don’t know, Mech. I fear we may have a new enemy.”
“And an advanced one too! We can’t even dream of porting within the base, the walls are too dense for a signal. Whoever this is their technology is beyond even what the Authority could imagine.”
Petra said nothing, and so Mech continued, “Stranger still, whoever it was took nothing. They didn’t even try to sabotage us, it’s bizarre…I heard that Marius reported a suspicious crate being found, but that’s it.”
Petra turned to gather her shield and a few parts from the gateway to help Mech back to the lab, “Any news on your other project, Mech?”
“The new apparatus? We’re still playing with it, but I believe that Marius will be able to jump within a few weeks, so long as we don’t have any interruptions.”
“Good work. We’ll need all the help Marius can find if this revolution is to be won.”
“You know, Petra,’ Mech ventured, ‘if we’re successful, and people can hear about the gospel freely, we won’t be the only faith that will gain freedom again.”
Petra looked down and smiled, “I know… but our faith is the only faith that can set people free.”
“Watch changes in three minutes.” buzzed Marius’ voice over Petra’s radio.
“We’re on our way over, Marius. See you soon.”