Heist of Télos

~ Epilogue ~

The year is 5026....Earth is overpopulated to the verge of collapse. Families reach out for help on the streets of what was once their homes. Boxes now replacing those warm walls that long ago shielded them from the horrors of the outside world. But now they see it...they see homes being destroyed in place of skyscrapers and the introduction of the intergalactic speedway. A train that carries valuable resources across the cosmos...millions are now in operation, linking planets together via trade.  

Not just materials were carried, species, other races and the needy were transported from planet to planet. Our ancestors traveled across countries with the introduction of the train, and now we travel across the universe because of an advanced version of them. Funny isn't it...the parallels that link history together. Back then people robbed those trains, some for fun, but many did to feed their families...the same has happened here. Countless transports have been hijacked, causing a massive step up in security.

The government doesn't care for these people...the lower sections of the planet suffer while the rich and wealthy use up the remaining resources for pleasure. It must be stopped...this must end...this is Eric Jason...i am going to bring back justice to at least this city, to at least my home South Korea..even if it kills me.  

~ Epilogue End ~

Eric rubbed his eyes, finishing his holo-recording for his daily viewers. A part of a growing resistance from the central government and today was the day of reckoning. One of the last transports to the outer rim of the milky way and to it's orbital station where the train could be boarded. Eric had saved up every credit he could just to have enough for one ticket, one shot.

Walking over to the wall sized window, Eric peered out of his apartment, a brand new horizon rising up; it's brightness weaving in and out of skyscrapers and flying transports of all shapes and sizes to reach his eyes. Lowering his head, Eric released a sigh before glancing to the table in the far right hand corner. A picture of his girlfriend loomed there, glaring back at him. A single tear rolled down the side of his cheek before he swiftly turned away and forced his attention on the closet, a section of the wall that folded away as he approached. Leaving room for a huge closet to overlook him, countless shoes lined the bottom, countless coats and outfits hung at the top. Activating a touch pad to his left on the wall, Eric sorted through possible outfit possibilities before selecting one. Immediately the closet shifted to display the chosen outfit; Eric released another sigh.

A form fitting black suit now hoisted over his skin, bits of red glowed from patches in the suit. Some padded sections made it appear as if it were more armor then normal clothes; and it was. An assortment of gear and scavenged parts built through many years resulted in this beauty; a treasure that Eric now holds as most dear apart from a single photo. A photo of his girlfriend he always had with him. But that's a story for another time...

Eric walked up to the front gate, crowds of people flashing their credits to try and get a ticket for the transport to the station. Blue neon holographic signs flashed the words "Telos Station transport arrival" and an image of the transport next to it. Guards smacked needy customers away and scanned for tickets, "Hey! You! Ticket or credits?" he asked, Eric flashed a ticket and gave it to him, "You can pass". Nudging him through, Eric weaved through the crowd and passed through the scanner, beeping to allow him through via a green light. In front of him hovered down an elevator pod, linking to the side of a dome like building. Stepping in, Eric lowered his head, dared not look at the faces of those who still pleaded for entry as the elevator shot up and turned as it reached the first level. All across the sides of the building linked the elevators, allowing people to go up into it's first level central lobby and adjacent docking bays. Blue magnetic lines allowed the elevators to stick and not fall off the sides and were one of the most prominent views of the station at night.

Glancing around, Eric's eyes danced over the countless people walking around the station, some at the central support desk, others heading off to their docking bays. Most strode out towards the shuttles for the Telos Space Station, a group of people Eric quickly blended into as they passed by him. The chatter of Telos the first thing Eric picked up and locked onto, quickly making himself the sixth member of the group and following them. On the way towards the shuttle docking bay, Eric's wondering eyes passed over a blue phone box; immediately he paused and took another look. Every fiber of his being told him to touch it, but instead he rejoined with the group, his mind still focused on the task at hand. His curiosity still calling his thoughts back to the box as the group and himself entered the docking bay, What's that old thing doing here?

The flight to the station was almost unbearable, most was engulfed in silence as Eric glanced over to the other passengers. Some human, some alien races from far distant planets and universes. One a three eyed green textured reptilian; it's eyes blinking vertically as it glanced at Eric then looked back forward. Eric looked down, Could i actually do this...i'm...i'm just one person. he thought to himself, his eyes drifting over to the window beside him. Endless stars peered back at him, an ocean of color and beauty flashing before his eyes as the shuttle past a distant nebula. "Your one of us" A voice called out to him, a woman from across the shuttle, her eyes locked on Eric as she scooted over to the seat empty beside him, "You're a viewer".

Eric chuckled slightly, covering it up with a flash from his time on Earth, in the dead levels as they had rightfully called them. They were the lowest sections in Earths multi-level infrastructure. The wealthy on top, the poor on the lower levels, the lower you go the more trouble and death there was; the less the government cared. "What does that mean?" Eric finally asked, forcefully snapping out of the gaze he had placed himself into, "It means you see things others don't...you watch...problem with all viewers is that...they always eventually act". Eric glanced away from the woman, briefly thinking about what he was about to do before looking back to ask her another question but just as fast as she came. She was gone.

Before Eric had the chance to really look for the strange woman, the thrust from the shuttle docking echoed throughout the cabin and people immediately began to get up and walk to the ramp. Standing up, Eric followed suit until his boots stepped onto the metal floor of the docking bay, immediately he shifted towards the main lobby of the space station, nearly pacing into a full fledged run while doing so. His legs didn't stop moving until he reached the front desk, even then his hands had to stop his body from flinging itself over the counter and tumble down onto the woman sitting in the chair. "How may i help you sir?" The woman asked, glancing up at Eric then back down to the holographic screen in front of her, waving her hand over it she skimmed through a series of images, "When is the train transport coming?", "Oh, it's docking right now. Hanger 10".

Eric spun on his heel and bolted down the space station main lobby, weaving in and out of groups of people and aliens alike. All watched him run towards the hanger, guards became more alert as they noticed where he as speeding off to. Most wondered why he was in such a hurry, but others, the viewers stared back into the mans' determined eyes and simply nodded. Activating the device implanted in the glove on his hand, a blaster formed, extending out from a slot at the edge of his wrist. This newly formed digitized blaster caught the attention of the guards who immediately swooped in for a pouncing charge. This is it.....this is the moment..my time. Eric swerved out of the way, side stepping the guards and making a b line towards the hangar and the train entry, "Stop him!!" the guards roared. The guards set at the train shifted their attentions to Eric, activating their electrified staffs with a thrust of their wrists, "So let's go" mumbled Eric. The guards got into stance and one extended out the staff, aiming for the neck to paralyze Eric and end his chances on getting aboard the supply train.

“Unconsciously we all have a standard by which we measure other men, and if we examine closely we find that this standard is a very simple one, and is this: we admire them, we envy them, for great qualities we ourselves lack. Hero worship consists in just that. Our heroes are men who do things which we recognize, with regret, and sometimes with a secret shame, that we cannot do. We find not much in ourselves to admire, we are always privately wanting to be like somebody else. If everybody was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.”

- Mark Twain

Eric had never felt so much pain in his life, the surge of stiffness and the overwhelming urge to let go of the edge of the train cart as he dangled on the edge of the oxygen bubble emitted by the train. Guards rushed down the train cart behind him, their staffs held firmly in their hands. Eric grunted, his mind replaying the past twenty four years of his life, the images flashing before his eyes. The image of his mother struggling to keep up with the cost of living, forcing a young Eric to work in local construction company to help. The image of his girlfriend, Jessie, her flowing brown hair and endless auburn colored eyes staring him down from afar, always out of reach. A tear rolled down Eric's cheek as he mustered all his strength together and flopped onto the cart floor, Time....the train his mind shouted at him, urging him to get up.

The train sped through the cosmos, it's automated system coordinating where it should go, speed and slight turns and everything in between. It was Eric's mission to override the controls, shift the course of the train to one of the access ports into the lower levels of the planet. Feeding those who need fed, supplying those that had nothing and giving them hope for the first time in hundreds of years. Eric ran as fast as he could, finding that last bit of inner strength to get up and make the long trip down the carts to the main hub. Weaving in and out of boxes in one cart and jumping over crates the next one, Eric quickly made his way to his main objective, only stopping once facing down the dual guards that guarded the hub cart.

Eric smirked, glancing over his shoulder to the two guards still pursuing him a few carts behind, "This is where your road ends!" the guard in front of him roared; Eric turned his head to the man, "Yes..but this is where a new one is made from the ashes of my own.". The guard attacked, flinging his staff at Eric, missing him thanks to Eric's quick agility to lean out of the way. Extending out his blaster, he pulled the trigger and the eager guard slumped down then fell over the side and down into the endless ocean of stars. The other guard looked up, how long he had been working as a guard now showing it's colors as he dropped his staff in pure terror, "Please..don't kill me!!" he pleaded. Eric lowered his blaster, "Tell the other guards to use the escape pod and get every living thing off this train...you won't like the outcome if you don't".

The guard, shaking like a Chihuahua seeing a stranger, nodded his head and bolted past Eric, leaving him to walk into the hub cart of the train alone and to do is work. Eric scanned over the controls as he put his blaster away, he rubbed the back of his head, "Ok..so...green means go right? No wait...ugh, i hate technology" he complained. Kicking the console with frustration, Eric started to press random buttons just to see what they would do. Oddly enough the first button he pressed released the train from auto pilot, leaving the train in his hands, untrained and uncertain of how to pilot the speeding transport as the outline of Earth began to come into view. Eric gulped, glancing up then peering back down, "Ok. Handles for steering. Got it. Umm....this should control speed then this...brakes? Ah screw it".

Grabbing the handles, Eric thrust forward, causing the train to ride the blue beam across the stars with new found speed and urgency. Normally the beam lead directly into one of the capital buildings supply depots, but Eric was aiming for a target completely different. In all the districts stood giant gaping holes in the infrastructure, holes that ships and transports used to hover down the various levels of each designated district. If Eric could get the train, or at least the carts containing food supplies, down into the Zero district, where Eric had lived and arguably had the biggest population of starving lower class citizens, then he could give them much needed supplies. That was unless he was shot down or crashed into one of the countless skyscrapers. But Eric had planned everything out, down to the ti of where certain buildings were and the depth he needed to travel down the hole in order for the supplies to reach the people that needed it.

Looking over the controls once more, as the train began to descend into Earths atmosphere, or what was left of it, Eric's eyes landed on the secondary engine section. "Booya" He proclaimed, running his fingers over the controls until he heard and felt the engines kick in just in time to give the train enough boost to derail from the beam and roar freely through the maze of skyscrapers. It's also when the escape pods began to eject, all ten down to the surface below. Eric set his sights on the hole, "Party time" he mumbled, slamming his fist on the ignition and forcing the train to hit it's maximum speed as it descended into the hole. Level 5.....4....3 The screen began to count down, Eric gritted his teeth, "Come on, come on. Faster!". Suddenly the screen lit up red as three fighters came into radar, their weapons opening fire on the carts before flying over head and around the train, making ready for a second pass.

Eric stood firmly as he could, grabbing the control console to ensure his balance as the train rocked from side to side from the blasts, "You want this train...come and get it". The hole opened up, revealing the lower level city beneath the glimmering technology of the upper world, green gas filled the air along with an overwhelming sense of death. Punching the side emergency thrusts, the hub of the train began to tilt up and forward, while the rest of the train fell past the opening of the hole. Just as he was about to release the clamps on the carts, blaster fire did the work for him, sending the carts plummeting to the city below. An extra round of blasts lit up the hub of the train where Eric stood, watching as the bolts roared towards him...then there was nothing...nothing but black just seconds before the bolts reached him....Am....am i dead Eric thought, looking around, unable to see anything, "No...." a feminine voice replied.