This is a fanfic. If you are not literate, or don't enjoy reading unless it comes with Dr. Seuss pictures, don't read any further. Thank you for your opinions beforehand.

Light gray clouds are glistening above an open plain with some scattered trees slightly rustling in the rolling breeze. Three men, sitting, around one of the larger trees are speaking with muffled voices and pointing to various areas on the ground. They occasionally cross their arms when a gust comes by, pretending that the chilling air is not uncomfortable at all. One of the men, Colonel Hobbs, is wearing a military uniform with a crisp appearance. He is closely shaven with broad shoulders and carries the appearance of a very intelligent and organized man. The two men he is sitting with look somewhat nervous and are wearing casual clothing with tennis shoes. Richard, the taller man has a trimmed blonde beard with small rimmed glasses and balding hair. His partner, Demitri, has a stocky figure with short dark hair that's slicked back.

"So what you are telling me, Richard, is that you are not finished with the project the UED has contracted you to do?" the colonel says.

"Well, at this moment we have actually finished the project, we just haven't had enough time to test its reliability and stability." Hobbs puts his right hand up to his chin, and rubs it while giving Richard a deep questionable look and says

"You know you only have one more week before your contract is up," casually pointing and waving his finger loosely in Richards direction, "and you remember what the agreement consisted of, correct?" Demitri looks toward Richard with concern, then addresses the colonel.

"We are aware of the repercussions. I can assure you that we will have the testing finished by the end of the week." Hobbs smirks and says

"Yes, I hope you do finish it, because the general will be very disappointed if you don't. Not to mention I will have to dispose of the evidence of the project in its entirety, which includes you both."

Hobbs stands up and picks up a small metal device that was lying on the ground next to his leg. He presses one of the buttons on the device and places it into his pocket he then turns his head towards the sky. A low rumble fills the air as Hobbs straightens out his clothing and brushes the dirt off of his uniform. A glimmer of light appears on the horizon then fades as it becomes black and grows larger and larger. All of their clothes are rippling with the sudden gusts while the vehicle lands in an open area next to their tree. Hobbs walks up to it then turns around towards Richard and Demitri and says in a loud tone "I trust you boys to do a good job, and I will see you in one week. Don't forget what we have talked about." He then climbs into seat, revs the engine, then soars off, heading south towards the Tobano Forest. As his ship leaves their view, the two men begin to appear relaxed again.

"Rich, you really think we will have this done in a week?" Demitri shrugs,

"I don't know, but we better get to work and not worry about anything but it, for the time being." Demitri nods and walks towards the tree where they were sitting. He pushes on a knob that was protruding from the tree and a small squealing and rumbling sound creeps up from the ground. An area of grass begins to slowly swivel upwards creating a small entrance. Both men step down into the entrance towards a dim flickering light.

"Hey Phil! Could ya hurry up? I'm on my lunch break and I have to run some errands before I head back to central." She said.

"Yah yah, HEY ANYONE IN HERE NOT IN A HURRY???" Phil yells while facing the grill. Everyone in the restaurant looks around for someone to say no, but no one does. "Hey Adrianne, you still dating that hotshot UED officer?" She grins and says,

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Phil turns around for a glimpse of her, then turns back to the grill

"Heh, I uh...have a friend that's interested in you." Adrianne leans on the counter,

"Oh, his name isn't Phil is it?" Phil doesn't respond and finishes her sandwich

"Here ya go, one number fifteen combo with extra fries. Any thing else hun?" Adrianne takes the sandwich, and inspects it for a moment to make sure its right.

"Wow, nothing wrong with it this time, I'm impressed, have you been practicing?" She smirks at Phil, pays him, and leaves.

Adrianne carries herself as a successful and charismatic woman. Her athletic build, soft eyes, and electric smile compliment her personality perfectly and usually allows her to get her way when it comes to men. The sound of her heels clicking and clacking on the sidewalk are almost non-existent downtown with the churning cars honking and street workers chipping away at the old asphalt. That smell of dank air coming from the manholes makes her wince, "I love nature" she mumbles.

Central is, by definition, a military facility for civilians. It houses many of the world's top scientists and advisors. It is a gigantic eighty-story building with a large blue and silver marble C engraved on the steps. Two revolving doors on the front of the building with magnetic card slots for access are the only two visible entrances to the building. Adrianne pulls out her card, swipes it, and enters the building through the two ominous slowly revolving doors.

"Good afternoon Adrianne" the guard says.

"Good afternoon Chris. Been pretty busy today as usual eh?" Chris gives Adrianne a sarcastic look.

"Yeah, twenty one break-ins, eight murders, and one nuclear bomb. Just the usual." Adrianne laughs.

"Good thing you were here to save the day." Chris smiles, and waves. Adrianne enters the elevator and swipes her card. A holographic image of the complex appears near the control panel.

"Destination Please" a monotonic female voice chimes out.

"Sector four please." Adrianne, barely noticing the elevator starting its decent, opens her purse and pulls out her cosmetic mirror. She checks her makeup and chants in her mind,

"You are beautiful, you are strong, you are going to convince these men that your ideas are better for the company."

*Ding* the elevator finishes its decent and the doors slide open revealing a long gray dimly lighted corridor. She starts walking down the hall, swinging her hips while her heels click and clack, echoing down the hall. The sound of a large group of people talking slowly becomes louder and louder until she stops in front of a wooden door with a shiny silver knob. She fixes her hair and straightens out her business skirt, then proceeds to open the door and enter the room. A huge twenty-foot solid steel table adorned with reports and writing utensils with modernistic steel chairs sit in the middle of this shadow entrenched room. No one in the room notices her entrance, and are still yelling, talking, and debating amongst themselves. She puts her purse on the ground by the head of the table, grabs a thick book on the table and drops it on the table in a loud *THUD*. Everyone stops talking and turns towards the sound.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Adrianne Granetti, and I am very pleased that you decided to make it to our meeting on time, unlike myself." A few muffled laughs scattered amongst the gathering, ripple around. "As you probably know, we all must come to a decision today about our current situation with V-Tech..."

She carries out the meeting using gestures, and strong eye contact to weed out the people who oppose her idea. After identifying with the opposition she flushes their questions out accordingly. She eyes Mr. Baker who has not said anything yet this meeting, and decides to see what he's keeping to himself. "Mr. Baker, you seem a bit skeptical about what I am proposing. Care to give us an insight into what is floating around in your mind?" Baker clears his throat, and in a deep and croaking tone,

"V-Tech has been our premier weapons development group for the last twenty years. They have kept us on the cutting edge of technology for its entire contract and I think its foolish to just let them go because they are raising the prices. They have paid their dues and have been loyal to us."

Adrianne begins to walk around the table with her hands behind her back, folded. "This predicament is somewhat tricky, Mr. Baker. It involves much more than loyalty, which, mind you, is actually fleeting. We have reports of weapons developed by V-Tech being tested and used in non-UED controlled sectors for the last five years. We have not released any of this technical information regarding our weaponry, so it would seem that their loyalty is in question." She is standing behind Baker, in order to intimidate him. Baker looks straight ahead with a dead gaze,

"Well, Ms. Granetti, how do we know that we don't have an inside leak? We can't just blame V-Tech for something that we have not researched or proven." Adrianne begins walking around the room again speaking in a louder tone now,

"Regardless, the new options for weapons development are more feasible for our current situation. Right now I have contracts out with several smaller companies to develop technology for us as a test. If they do succeed we have agreed to hire them at a modest salary, and everything they develop will be ours do to with as we please. We have no need to contract an outside company to do our work." A cool look of satisfaction washes over Adrianne's face as she sees most of the crowd nodding to what she is saying.

Hobbs had taken the scenic route back to the complex by going through Tobono forest. It was always a challenge to dart between the trees at a high velocity he thought to himself. He always pushed himself to the limit, which sometimes caused stress, but in most cases made him feel like the kid he wished he were again. As he approached the base, he saw the typical guard patrols, rigidly pacing the area with their shiny black rifles in hand. He approached the guard post to see the guard already pressing the button to open the main entrance.

"H-h-how did the m-m-meeting go sir?" The guard said nervously

"Oh, it went as expected and on plan. Why are you so nervous today, Leonard?"

"Wellll, I heard that one of the guards is g-g-going to get promoted today. So I'm trying to act my best."

"Oh. Well, loosen up a little, C-Os don't like worry warts. Just be yourself, and you will do just fine."

"Thank you sir. I'll d-d-do my best."

They both saluted each other, and Hobbs zoomed inside and parked his vehicle in the parking bay. There was an unusually high volume of cars parked in the parking bay today. He didn't know why, but he knew something big was going on. After trying to figure out what could be going on, he shrugged and decided just to give the general his report and ask him about it. It took Hobbs about three minutes to walk through the parking bay, because he got such a great parking spot. When he got to the elevator shaft he pulled out a key and pressed the elevator button. The elevator whirrred until it came to a complete stop, and *ding* the elevator doors opened. He walked in and placed his key into a small keyhole located underneath the standard floor buttons. A small panel opened in the rear of the elevator, and four white buttons were visible. He pressed the button for the top floor, floor number forty-two. With a *ding* and a whirr, the elevator started its decent.

Twiddling his thumbs, Hobbs didn't know whether the report he was going to give the general was a good one or a bad one. He was debating on what to say to the general. "The scientists seemed enthusiastic about the launch date, and I believe that they will finish the project on time," He thought he would say. "Na, that's two predictable and too optimistic," Hobbs decided. Hobbs had to swallow so he could clear out the pressure in his ears. Then the elevator came to a stop and the doors screeched open. There was a large two-door mahogany entrance with gold handles before him. No hallway, and no other way out. He knocked on the door and entered.

The general's office is gigantic and filled with anything that any military tactician would want. There is a holodeck for tactical displays and battle management in the center of the room. On the right wall there is a full bar garnished with fine dark liquors and glistening crystal glasses. The general's chair is facing away from Hobbs, towards the expansive holowall that looks exactly like a window overlooking the entire complex. A ring of smoke appears at the top of the chair and floats upwards and away from the general.

"Colonel Hobbs, did you complete the report I assigned you?"

"Yes sir." Hobbs said as he took a seat.

Hobbs is sitting in the largest office in the military complex, which is run by the man who was sitting before him. He has only seen the general four other times, and of those four, only one other time was in his office. During that single visit, the general gave him orders on the new situation with V-Tech and the contracted scientists. Hobbs had never been told what the scientists were researching so it must have been of the highest security clearance. General Kerrigan spins around and faces Hobbs with a bright smirk. He has broad shoulders and a broad face with a rigid look that easily hide the fact that he is only thirty-one years old. His pristine uniform is adorned with many medals and tour badges that would take any other officer many more years to acquire.

"Are the scientists done with the project that we have contracted them to do?"

"Not yet."

"But they are near completion, correct?" Kerrigan says as he leans forward on his desk with a look of concern.

"They are in the final stages of testing, it will be completed soon, and on time."

"Good. This is very fortunate indeed." A generous smile washes across Kerrigan's face as he leans back into his chair and opens his cigar box "Want a cigar?"

"No thanks, smoking is bad for your health." Hobbs says with satisfaction.

"Ha, as if working for the UED was not bad for your health. Hobbs, you cease to amaze me every time you visit me." Kerrigan spins his chair to face the holowall again.

"Sir, I have only been in your office one time."

"Ahh, so true. We shall have to change that after this assignment is over."

"Yes sir," Hobbs says with a grin.

"Did I mention what they were developing?" Hobbs raises his brow

"No sir, I would like to know though if you don't have to kill me to tell me." Hobbs and Kerrigan smile together.

"I can tell you. For some time now we have been developing a system to create a 'Psychic' system for our marines, to create a specialized group called G.H.O.S.T. Unfortunately we have reached a dead end for this project, and require a zero gravity research environment. These two scientists are developing a vehicle that can go into space, and have every environment possible for research. We have deemed it the 'Science Vessel.' The only reason this is a classified effort is because the G.H.O.S.T. project was discontinued by my superiors and I have been funding it through other means."

"So why are you telling me this now? Do I seem that trustworthy to you?" Hobbs looks concerned.

"You are very trustworthy, and if not, I can dispose of you...hahahaha...just kidding."

"Yeah, real funny. Anyways, I'll keep on top of them so that we can get this vessel going. And you know I'm trustworthy because I dislike general Korhal. I'm assuming you plan on overthrowing him sometime in the near future." Kerrigan leans towards Hobbs,

"You are very perceptive, and analytical, just the kind of man I want. We must stay close, I would hate for you to go to the other side."

"What do you mean by that."

"Take it for what it's worth my son."

Stay tuned for chapter two, of the "Birth of a Shogun" chronicles.

Typhoon[cF]