I had so much trouble writing this. It turns out that writing stuff that comes too close to militaristic settings and actions makes my skin crawl! So there was a lot of revising to get this to where it sounded more like a scene from Mad Max than one from the news channel.
So. Have a dystopia with a totalitarian government and a rebel group trying to take them down.
CW for implied minor character death, off-screen violence.
“Is everyone in position?” Leader’s voice crackles over the comms.
“Ready,” said Sniper.
“Bring it on,” said Bomber.
“In position,” Youngest replied.
“All right,” Leader said. “Let’s do this.”
The Weapon had just been deployed against a city, leaving little more than burned-out husks of buildings behind. The people there had just wanted clean drinking water after Government had contaminated theirs. They were protesting peacefully. But Government couldn’t let that stand, couldn’t let that challenge to their authority go unchallenged. So they sent in The Weapon.
The rebellion hadn’t gotten the information in time to stop The Weapon on its way in, but the team was able to do something now that The Weapon was leaving.
The Weapon was being transported in a convoy of armored vehicles. It was the middle car, the most protected position. You would have to be an idiot to try to attack it.
The team was just that kind of idiot. They made a plan that was just crazy enough that it might work.
The convoy pulled up past their position, and they put the plan in action.
————–
Somehow, the plan worked. The other cars got scared off, leaving only the one with The Weapon. By the time the rest of the team arrived, Leader had already dealt with the driver and guard. They all walked to the rear of the vehicle where the cargo compartment opened.
“I still say it’s a bomb,” Bomber said.
“Of course you do,” Youngest muttered.
“Areusablebomb?” Sniper asked skeptically.
“So a bomb delivery method, then!” Bomber said. “My point still stands.”
“Well, we’ll know for sure once we get this open. Then we can destroy The Weapon for good,” Leader said.
Youngest got out their lockpicks and worked at the lock on the cargo area. After a few moments, it clicked open.
“Okay,” Leader said, pushing the doors open. “Let’s see just what this weapon is.”
The inside of the compartment was dark, and it took the team members a few moments to make sense of what they were seeing.
There was something in restraints in the middle of the compartment. But it wasn’t a machine. It wasn’t anything they would have thought of as a weapon.
“Is that…” Bomber said, leaning closer.
“What the fuck,” said Sniper, quietly but with feeling.
“That’s,” Youngest started, but broke off.
What was there to say? They all could see what was right in front of them.
Restrained in the cargo compartment was not a piece of machinery, but rather a body. The head, covered in a blindfold, turned towards the sound of their voices.
“The Weapon… is a person?”
Ok, I went back to read the first chapter and it’s official, I love it. Everyone go read this series now!!! (mind the tags tho, as most whump it might not be for everyone lol)
In a dystopian society controlled by an authoritarian government, a rebel group intercepts a convoy carrying The Weapon: an unknown device capable of destroying entire cities. When they investigate, they find not a machine, but a person: a living weapon.
This story features a lot of dehumanization and, in the case of Weapon, internalized dehumanization. This includes the use of “it” as a pronoun.
