Caught

[goldenerasuburb]

"It's the end of the line for me." Kauffman thought, as he sat down before the interrogator, who with the lights dim and Kauffman tied down and blindfolded spat on him. He was being charged with attempting to blow up Headquarters and he knew very well that he was guilty. He had made almost no mistake. The plan was almost flawless. From the obtaining of explosives from a renegade Knight to the organizing of a group of people willing to do the job, to the place ment of the bombs. But the one mistake he had made was not making sure his daughter was asleep. It was her that told on him, that doomed the project from the outset.
Then he got right to the point. "Right now we've already got enough to execute you. But luckily for you, since we're at war with the Spartans, you have a second option..." Kauffman interrupted "You want me go on this crusade against the Spartans in exchange for my freedom. How many ways can I say no? Let's see; No, No way, Not a chance, I'd rather be have mind worms plant their eggs in my skull..." At this the interrogator got angry. "LISTEN SCUM! You can either help carry out God's will, or die horrifically, which come to think of it, I'd rather see you do. Now pick yourself. Your wife wasn't given anything half as good as you're getting..." This caught Kauffman's attention. "Leave her out of this!" The interrogator shrugged. "Sorry, but she refused to cooperate no matter what I said. So she dies... Unless, of course, you have something to say about it. What do you say?" And with that Kauffman submitted, and became part of the crusade.

[Rand Al'Tor]

Heh, very flattered that I inspired you, and I'd love to see a story of an unwilling crusader, but I am planning to take my story a bit of another way, so I'm afraid I'm not going to use your contribution. Also, it's gonna be a teensy confusing for new readers if another part of story suddenly comes in, so if it would be possible to remove the post?

Anyway, I'd love to see what you intend to do with Kauffman. One note I might make is use paragraphs a bit more. One block of text is hard to read.

[goldenerasuburb]

Tom Hensen really should not have signed up. He was suited more to be a priest than a soldier. But when his older brother was killed by the Spartans, he threw caution to the wind and signed up. All his friends and family strongly urged him not to join to no avail. Now he had been give his first assignment; A search and rescue(if possible mission) involving 100 knights on the move towards Spartan territory, all of the vanishing without a trace. The fear was already rising in Tom, eating away at him. He managed to calm himself slightly
With the thought that the vanishing point was some away. But the calm wouldn’t last. Then suddenly, he heard an explosion. All the troops in the transport stood ready. Then another explosion occurred, this time just barely missing them. Thy rushed out of their speeders to find it raining missiles. Some ducked under the transports for safety, only to soon be wiped out by the oncoming barrage. As the devout Believers experienced what must have been hell, they prayed. And when it was over there was but one left- Hensen. As he gazed the vast landscape of xenofungus and rocks, he shuddered thinking of the task before him: He had to voyage all the way back to Believer Territory to tell what happened. The next few days would be looooong.

Meanwhile, Professor Zakharov, who was a longtime enemy of the Believers, was no communicating with Colonel Santiago. One led a faction devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. The other focused her efforts on making war. As different as they were, they had one common enemy: Sister Miriam. “I trust you found my information on Doctrine: Air Power and Orbital Spaceflight both equally useful?” “I did. I have placed Airbases, around my borders and loaded them to the brim with missiles and Needlejets. I trust you’ve put you 750 energy credits to good use?” “I have. Now to get down to business. I am in need of at least 600 more energy credits.” At this she was enraged. “I am not your personal moneylender, Provost. As it stands I have fought your war for you long enough. When Sister Miriam’s faction lies in ruins, there will be a reckoning between us.” At this Provost smiled. ‘There will be indeed. Zakharov out.” The commscreen went to black, and Santiago couldn’t help but shiver at his last words. ‘What are you planning?” she said to herself. “What indeed.”

[goldenerasuburb]

Kauffman’s first destination was House of Martyrs, a fringe base that had only recently been built in response to the Spartan menace. Between this and Spartan Territory, there was nothing but a vast expanse of xenofungus, going as far as the eye could see. It would be hard to cross, but it could be done. For Kauffman, the real trouble would be the other group members.. He would not associate with them, and neither would they with him. They looked at him with an air of suspicion. They would stay the night, and leave for Spartan Territory in the morning. As he sat there trying to get to sleep, and just wishing he had an alcoholic beverage to help in the process, he heard something. ‘EarthKauffman...” It was then he had the suspicion that he must have lost it. Let still the voice persisted. “EarthKauffman...” “Go away.” He muttered. The voice persisted. ‘There is a great threat...” “Only to my sanity.” He replied. The voice went away, and he shrugged it off as nothing.

In the morning as planned they set off, well armed, well supplied, and fully energized The twin suns of Chiron were beating down on the group. It was a slow and arduous journey, which is why when they noticed a human being out all this mess, they at first thought it was a mirage. “Go back! Go back!” But then they caught up to him, and he still kept on wailing “Go back! Go back!”
Soon it got to the point where Kauffman went up and slapped him in the face. "What the hell are you going on about!?" The leader of the unit then came up to the man who had just been *****slapped and and asked "Soldier, what is your name, division and number?" To this the man responded "Tom Hensen, 1st Division 12th Battalion, 33rd Infantry, Company C." That answered one question. "What the hell happened here?" 'We were assualted before we ever got to Spartan Territory. Airborne,Sir. More Missiles and Needle Jets than we could retaliate against." The general turned to face his troops. 'We have learned that the enemy has more advanced technology than we planned. We many need reinforcements. For the time we are to stay here." And that was the command.

[goldenerasuburb]

For Morgan, it was the last straw. His pact with Zakharov was like the relationship between a leech and the animal it clings to. The energy credits that were as dear to the CEO as his own blood had for too long seeped into the hands of Zakharov and the "project" he kept on mentioning. If he could, he would cancel the pact and leave Zakharov on his own. But alas, he was too wrapped up in the situation to escape by merely canceling the Pact. Because of Zakharov, had angered Sister Miriam of the Believers to the extent that she would never forgive him, to the extent that she was now determined to destroy him at all costs. but despite all this,he saw a way out. There were rumors circulating of a mercenary probe team of incredible skill. They were legendary, they were in fact was suspected to be empaths. And the lot of them were just what CEO Morgan needed.

"So basically, what you are asking me to do is smuggle information into the hands of the enemy? Just how suicidal are you?"

"The tactical information will not be the only part of the package..." The CEO pointed out. "On the disk is also a virus that will cripple every major Believer network on planet. It will lay dormant untill you activate this. To do this. You must get inside their faction, gain their trust and stay long enough to give them the information needed to destroy Zakharov. Once they have done this, then cripple them. I have an inside guy that will help you. 'What inside man?"

It was night onn Chiron, and Kauffman was hearing the voice again. 'Earthk...." 'Shut up! You are not real!" 'he screamed. "You think this because you want to." The voice replied. 'But you will soon know better." It was at this Kauffman woke up. The alarms were blaring. This was not good. The reinforcements promised to them would not be there till the next afternoon. If this was an attack then they might be screwed. All his efforts would be for nought. The sound of a missile smashing onto planet's surface. confirmed his worst fears. He rushed out of his tent as fast as he could. Needlejets soared through the air shooting down both those who fought and those who ran. One worng step mean certain death. He was bareley holding together, about to slip of the edge. And then,seeing Tom Hensen lying there missign a leg, as missile were falling all around him just lost it. At that moment something latent in Kauffman emerged. He rushed toward Hensen and pulled him out of the way just as a missile hit the ground where he had been. As he ran with this man, who at this point was more a boy,in his arms, The missiles and needle jets seemed to not notice him- Like he was not there. It was not till he had gotten far out of their way and regained consciousness of his actions that he realised what had happened. Now the question was how it happened. But before he had much time to ponder this, he collapsed in exhaustion.

He woke up. "Where am I?" He thought. He'd tried to move, but couldn't. There were people in the room that he heard talking. What he managed to pick up amounted to this:" 'I still don't get it. The CEO said he would be far away from here." said one of them. This frightened him. These peope were in Believer uniform,.but fro what he had just heard, they worked for the Morganites. Were they double agents. "He fits the criteria. But how the hell did he get out here?"
Kauffman could tell that there were only two people they could be talking about: The kid, or him. BUt what did they want from either of them was the question that was in his head.He now struggled harder and harder to emrge from the sleep paralysis that gripped him. Till at last he did. He burst out of bed, looking for a gun. But then he realised that even if he found one, from where they were, he'd be dead before the trigger could be fired.
So he simply do what any soldier would do in this situation: Give them his name, his out fit, and his number. Nothing else. But something told him that his was not the one they wanted.

[goldenerasuburb]

"Relax, It's him we want." they told him. "I suspected that." But what two two Morganite posers want with a believer Soldier?' This question put them at unease. 'So you you heard us from your coma. Looks like there is only one option."
They reached for their weapons. But before they could fire, Kauffman thought of something quick. "Look, if you are trying to get something out of that kid, you're going to need help. That kid may lok like easy pickings, But I've dealt with him, and he is steel. You won't get nothing." There was a pause, and then one of them responded. "You are a Believer. What makes a Believer betray his cause?" "I was a University citizen before they caught me. If I didn't go to war against the Spartans, I would lose everything dear to me. I have no true loyalties to those zealots." They stopped for a moment. Their leader then spoke up, "We'll let you live for now. But first we'll take our chances. Private Anderson will escort you to the place where you will held till we need you. But if you are wrong, we will kill you. Understand?" Kuaffman had no choice but to nod. And that was that.

[goldenerasuburb]

Now Kaufmann's fate was in the hands of Tom Hensen, someone Kauffman was certain would let him down. If they got the information from Hensen easy enough on their own, then they would decide that Kauffman was lying, and then he would be killed. After the first few hours, however, Kauffman began to have hope. Was there more to this kid than he had thought? An hour more and the question was answered. "You were right. We can't get a word from him. Now we have another question for you. Are you familiar with this man?" They showed him a picture. It was of one of the Believer's Knights, and with it's sideburns, brown hair, it looked like very much like Kauffman. "It's my brother." Kauffman responded." "And do you know where we might find him?" "He was apprehended for treason. He's probably dead right now." "****!" one of them said. Kauffman was finally putting it all together. "You need some one on the inside of the Believer military. Perhaps I could help." "You don't know what we're trying to do." "Perhaps you can tell me." And so they did. The commands from CEO Morgan. How they had stumbled on the wreckage of the battle/massacre between the Spartans and the Believers, where they found the barely alive bodies of Kauffman and Hensen. And when they were done, Kauffman said, "O.K, We get back to Believer territory, and deliver this tactical data to them. First however, there's the issue of how to get you in. "We'll take the identity of some of the dead that lie scattered around our encampment. What about the other survivor." 'I can deal with him." Kauffman said. And it was left at that.