Shogo/Blood: Caleb on Cronus By Hamish Paul Wilson. Edited by Graham L. Wilson. http://blood-wiki.org/index.php/Tome_of_Blood/ http://www.blood-wiki.org/Shogo/Expanded-Canon/ Thanks to Monolith Productions for the Blood and Shogo games and characters. “Show yourself, show yourself!” Caleb screamed in his head as he searched for Gideon, the “sinister genius leader” of the Cabal. It was under his command that it had undergone its transformation from an old fashioned religious cult into CabalCo, a company which had a monopoly on practically all industries. In the end Caleb did not really care about all that though; for him, it was personal. After much pointless wandering and less pointless killing, Caleb finally found Gideon in one of the back storage rooms of the Lafayette Museum of Antiquities. Gideon greeted him with one of his most sinister smiles. “Time to die, chosen one” he taunted, as his bodyguard fired his singularity generator at Caleb. His universe transformed into a world of green. Caleb found himself on the floor when he re-materialized, as if nothing had happened at all. “Son of bitch wants pain!” Caleb cried out angrily, trying to get up. This action however was almost immediately greeted by an assault rifle to the back. Caleb whirled round expecting a Cabal soldier, and he jumped back when he saw what it really was. “What the hell, these aren't Cabal” Caleb murmured as he looked over his strange new captor. The thing appeared to be wearing a big metal combat suit unlike anything Caleb had ever seen before. The thing also seemed to be saying random garbage about heretics, as well as repeatedly swearing its allegiance to someone called Gabriel. “Not the Gabriel I knew of course” Caleb thought idly to himself. In the end all this thinking was immaterial however, and he reached for where he usually kept his shotgun. “Damn, its not here!” he cursed, just as the metal suited thing started firing its assault rifle at him. Caleb tried his best to avoid the bullets, but the thing whatever it was also happened to be quite a good shot, almost hitting Caleb on several occasions. Caleb then saw to his surprise the thing suddenly fall to the ground, screaming out one last chant about “Gabriel”. “Yeah, you like that huh?” a different man said as he walked up to the corpse. He then looked in surprise at Caleb, obviously not seeing anything like him before. Caleb himself also thought this man himself looked rather odd; he wore a rather strange uniform, and Caleb had no idea what organization it belonged to. “Who the hell is this?” the man inquired, eyeing his new found companion skeptically. “I am your best reason to be afraid...” Caleb growled, still not knowing what to make of this stranger either. “That does not quite answer my question” the man replied, gripping his shotgun tightly in his hands. “Just call me Caleb” the old gunslinger said, not used to saying his name. He rarely had to make introductions. “UCA Commander Sanjuro Makabe” the man offered in response, lowering his weapon after noticing Caleb was not armed. “I am afraid I am going to have to take you prisoner.” “Are you joking little man?” Caleb asked, barely keeping himself from laughing. “Well, here you are in Avernus, which is completely dominated by the Fallen. Unless you have a good excuse for how you came here...” Sanjuro to him explained patiently. Caleb was about to try and rip the man's head off when he realized that he did not even know where he was himself. Where in the hell was Avernus? Reluctantly, Caleb decided that at this point it would be best for him not to argue, and allowed himself to be cuffed and lead away. He was taken out of the building, and to his bewilderment could see that wherever he was it no longer seemed to be on Earth. “Where the hell...” Caleb muttered. Sanjuro heard and considered this comment for a moment. “You sound like you don't really know where you are” he observed, considering whether or not Caleb was truly being sincere. “Well, to be honest, no” Caleb replied, seeing no harm in him knowing that much at least. “First I was fighting Gideon and then...” “Who the hell is Gideon?” Sanjuro asked, but was then cut off in return by Caleb. “What the hell is Avernus?” he cried, now more confused than ever. Sanjuro, now pretty sure that Caleb really did have no idea where he was, decided to try his best to explain it to him. “Avernus is on the planet Cronus, which is quite far away from Earth, if that is where you happen to be from. This planet is currently under siege as the CMC, the Fallen, and the UCA fight over control of its vast mineral wealth.” “What do I care, I just want to know how I got here...” Caleb responded coldly. Sanjuro considered this comment for a moment, and responded with one of his own. “Well, you probably could answer that question better than I could.” Soon after Sanjuro said this however, his radio communicator activated. “Sanjuro, what is happening? a female voice inquired from somewhere on his person. “We had a long period of radio silence.” “Everything is fine Kathryn, I just found a prisoner” Sanjuro elaborated into his radio. “Prisoner? We don't take Fallen prisoners...” Kathryn was interrupted by Caleb grabbing the microphone. “You listen. I am not a member of this Fallen, and I am not anybody's prisoner. Anybody who says that again dies.” “Fine...” Sanjuro said, grabbing his radio back. “I shall be bringing back a 'guest' then.” Caleb seemed to calm down after this more courteous descriptor. “Be careful Sanjuro” Kathryn added finally, a tinge of concern in her voice. Their conversation now over, Sanjuro turned back and observed his “guest”. “If you are indeed not a member of the Fallen, and since you are are not wearing either a CMC or UCA uniform, who in the hell are you then?” he demanded, looking for answers. Caleb tried his best to look as menacing as possible. “I am one of the Chosen, once the elite servants of the dark god Tchernobog, the one the binds, the devour of souls” he expounded in his most evil tone. “That is quite a title” Sanjuro responded completely unfazed. “Damn, this person does not scare easily...” Caleb thought to himself bitterly. “We better have a talk about this so I can decide what I am going to do with you” Sanjuro said to him as he entered an abandoned building, taking a seat in one of the numerous derelict chairs. Caleb did the same, noting that the place was obviously rarely inhabited. “What the hell happened to this place?” he observed gruffly. “The Cabal can make an abandoned city, but then there are usually more bodies lying around.” He allowed himself a viscous little smile upon saying this. “Earthquake my macabre little friend” Sanjuro replied, still not allowing his guest get to him. “Macabre, hmm... I like it!” Caleb realized appreciatively. “Then of course the Fallen took the city, as I had already explained to you” Sanjuro continued laconically. Caleb did not care about the history lesson. “What do you intend to do with me anyhow?” Caleb demanded, trying to turn the conversation into a more productive direction again. “Because if it is something I don't like there will be two barrels waiting for you.” Sanjuro chose his next words very carefully. “First of all, I know you are lying. You are unarmed.” “Damn, how did he figure that out?” Caleb cursed himself in his mind. “And secondly, I do not wish to harm you in anyway, despite what you may think” Sanjuro continued, “but I must make sure that I am not helping the Fallen by letting you go. I will make you a deal; I will take you onto my ship so that you can learn further where you are and hopefully how you got here. By doing so I meanwhile get to make sure you stay out of Fallen hands.” Caleb considered this for a moment, and realized he really did not have any better option. “Fine, take me to this ship of yours” Caleb agreed finally. “It better not be similar to typical Cabal construction though, because I find those to be rather easy to down.” Caleb and Sanjuro, after a short shuttle ride, were in the main docking bay of the Leviathan, the massive UCA flagship currently in orbit of Cronus. Kathryn immediately ran up and lovingly embraced Sanjuro after he had disembarked, and then stepped a few steps back upon noticing that Caleb was still with him. Caleb responded to this with a menacing smile. “Do not worry, he has agreed not to hurt anyone” Sanjuro responded, catching the look in her eye. “Shame, it is one of my favourite things...” Caleb commented unhelpfully, still with the same odious smile on his face. None of this seemed to reassure Kathryn much. She soon departed, not willing to spend much time in the presence of the man, despite the fact he also happened to be with her sweetheart. Sanjuro decided it would be better for him to fulfill his side of the bargain early rather than keep his strange friend waiting. “Welcome to Regional Diagnostics Commander” the technician greeted as they entered, and froze when he saw Caleb following him. Caleb quite liked the effect he had on people here. “You can access anything you need to know from these terminals” Sanjuro explained, gesturing to the various keyboards and displays. “I'm no technician, I just mostly hurt people” Caleb commented, walking up to one of the keyboards. It was all a bit much for a man who deep down still felt himself to be a wild west cowboy. He tentatively typed the query “Where am I?” into the terminal, and the view screen changed to show an image of the Leviathan. “The UCASF Leviathan is one of the most advanced in the Fleet, currently protecting Cronus under the command of Admiral Akkaraju” an electronic voice blurted out, accompanying the graphic. Caleb stared at the screen blankly. “How was that supposed to help me?” he cried out discouraged. It was going to be a long day. Caleb was shown to his guest quarters, and a guard was posted by his door. Sanjuro assured him that all of their guests were given such protection, but Caleb was already quite sure that it was only for him that they deviated to such a practice. He sat down on his assigned bed, and considered the facts at his disposal, but could not make any more sense of them than he could back at Regional Diagnostics. “Where is an Ishmael when you need one?” he observed aloud, recalling the wisdom his of lost comrade. Such thoughts always stirred up old memories, and Caleb proceeded to do what anyone would do at his age, and started to reminisce. It was now one hundred years exactly since he had gotten his revenge on Tchernobog, but in the end that had still gotten him no closer to getting his fellow Chosen back. He thought of them all, Ishmael, Gabriel, and Ophelia, and a tear streaked down his rough cheek. He then thought hard on Ophelia for a while, just as he always did when he thought back. In the middle of this, Sanjuro stepped into the quarters. “What do you want?” Caleb inquired roughly, not taking well to being disturbed. “I have orders to check on you every three hours” Sanjuro explained awkwardly, actually feeling the weight of his intrusion. He then looked at Caleb's face, and detected that the man was upset about something other than having his privacy interrupted. “Is there a problem?” Sanjuro asked concerned. “You do not look alright.” Caleb fixed the man with a long hard look. “How would you feel if every one of your friends, everyone you had loved, were taken away from you? How would you feel if the thing that took them from you was someone you had served loyally for years, someone you had believed in?” Caleb was surprised to see some understanding on Sanjuro's face. “I lost my brother, my childhood friend, and my girlfriend all on the same day. The worst thing was I almost got blamed for it to. If it was not for Kathryn, I probably would have committed suicide.” Caleb felt something he had rarely ever felt for anyone: pity. His problem seemed so similar to his own that he could not help but feel affected by it. “I am all alone now” he commented in a depressed little voice, “the last of my kind”. Sanjuro looked at this man now and marvelled. It was amazing that this man was the same bloodthirsty brute that he had met earlier. Still, he should know better than anyone else that these things can change people, and he started to feel all the better for the faith that he had placed in the man. “If I can do anything to help you on your way, I will” Sanjuro promised. Kathryn was waiting outside of Caleb's quarters, and descended on Sanjuro as soon as he had gotten out. “Are you okay, did he hurt you at all?” she inquired suspiciously, having no faith in him at all. Sanjuro looked her straight in the eyes. “If you had went through what he has gone through, you might get a little violent and crazy yourself” he assured her quietly. She was a little taken aback by this comment, since Sanjuro seemed to have been so deeply moved by this strange man. What the hell had happened to him? The next day Caleb took attendance of all the stuff he still had on him. He had his hat, his long weathered leather trench coat, a CabalCo subway ticket that remained from a rather eventful train ride that had precipitated his climactic chase for Gideon, and a book on Cabal rituals that Caleb had just happened to be carrying when he had been attacked. He considered this book for a second, and an idea began to germinate in his mind. Ishmael knew more about these things than he did, but if it was Tchernobog that bound the realities together, stopping them from tearing and making holes between the worlds, maybe that had something to do with his present predicament. “What if I was sent through a tear by that crazy gun of Gideon's Prophet bodyguard?” he thought aloud to himself. It certainly was a plausible theory to work on. “And Ishmael said I was not smart...” Caleb commented, a nostalgic smile appearing on his lips. He returned his attention to the book, and began reading the first page. “I do not care what your opinion is of him Commander, I want that man off my ship” Admiral Akkaraju ordered roughly, still not happy with his subordinates unfortunate backtalk. “With all due respect sir, he has not caused any harm to anyone on board and has not hampered the operation of the ship in anyway” Sanjuro replied, trying to defend Caleb. “If I had left him on the planet he could have joined the Fallen...” “I do not want strangers on my ship Commander, and I want him off as soon as possible. I will not stand for insubordination.” “Yes sir, right away sir” Sanjuro acknowledged a little facetiously. Nathanial Akkaraju gave him something of an arched eyebrow, but allowed the comment to pass unmolested. “Eo inter lokemundux” Caleb verbalized as he practised the lines of a certain Cabal ritual he had discovered in his now well read tome. It had been a long time since he had spoken Cultist; he had never liked the language all that much, and much preferred to use his own native tongue whenever possible. It always seemed to him to be much better to intimidate people in English. Sanjuro entered the room just then, interrupting his earnest preparations. “The Admiral is not happy I brought you on board, and he wants you off the ship immediately” he explained. Caleb realized what this meant and cursed to himself; he did not want this ritual to be rushed, not when everything was at stake. “In five days I will be off this ship for good” Caleb promised him, “if your Admiral can not take that for an answer, he may have a rather unhappy guest on board.” He then once again showed off his most menacing of menacing smiles. As it happened, Admiral Akkaraju was indeed not happy with Caleb's response, but did in the end after some persuasion allow him to stay on board for a little while longer. It was a good thing that Caleb never actually got a chance to meet the old man in person; somehow he would have drawn parallels to another white haired gentleman who held a position of command, and that would not have been good for anyone at all. Still, the final arrangement they reached was acceptable to Caleb; he wanted to go home just as much as the Admiral wanted him gone. He spent the next two days preparing for the ritual that lay ahead of him, and really wished that he still had his old fiend Ishmael to guide him on his way. One day perhaps, but not today. On the fourth day of his time on the Leviathan, Caleb knew that he was ready. He needed two other people however, so he took advantage of Sanjuro's orders to get him off the ship to conscript both him and one other person as an accomplice. A few minutes before midnight, Sanjuro and a rather unhappy Kathryn entered Caleb's quarters. Sanjuro needed someone he could trust, and despite how much she both loathed and feared Caleb, her love for Sanjuro was still strong enough for her to get over her own disgust and do what was best for him. “Now listen very carefully” Caleb ordered in a very commanding tone. “You will do exactly as I say. Hopefully the result will allow me to return back to my reality. If not, we may have a problem on our hands.” Caleb then took out a knife and cut the tip of his fingers, letting a few drops of his own blood fall into a cup he had placed on the floor earlier. He then gestured for Sanjuro and Kathryn to do the same. Sanjuro was the next to cut himself and let a few drops of his own blood join Caleb's in the cup. Kathryn very unwillingly followed suit, but only after closing her eyes and gasping rather dishearteningly. Caleb then started chanting the speech that had taken him days to learn. “Eo inter lokemundux, reverto mihi domus-bhaava.” Caleb then repeated these words several times before lighting a match and placing it into the prepared cup. A large flame appeared, and Caleb inserted the CabalCo train ticket that he just happened to have been carrying on him. With this link to his own reality now secured, he disappeared in a great green flash. Caleb was once again lying face down on the floor, only this time there were no strange guards with robotic armour shooting at him. He got to his feet and saw that he was in again the Lafayette Museum of Antiquities, right in the exact same spot where he had departed from the place earlier. His sawed-off shotgun was also still there with him, and he picked it up and secured it fondly. He then proceed for the exit, knowing that he now had absolutely no time to lose. This time Gideon would face the barrel of a gun, and unlike him he would never got another chance to come back from it. Back on board the Leviathan, Sanjuro and Kathryn continued to look at the spot where just moments before Caleb had been. After a little bit of contemplation they left the room hand in hand, both glad to have seen him gone for vastly different reasons. “You should probably get some sleep” Kathryn said into her boyfriend's ear sweetly. “The Admiral has a big mission planed for you tomorrow that he says should cause the Fallen to collapse once and for all.” Their immediate purpose having now been fulfilled, the two of them retired to bed, and waited for whatever was going to follow next. THE END March 30, 2008 Review read and cleaned up on September 18, 2014.