Demon of War

Levi Strauss had just finished the biggest deal yet of his life, securing a 3 billion credit contract with the Imperial Army that could potentially balloon to 30 times that if he played his cards right over the next 5 years. He was celebrating in his office before the announcement had even been made, when his Fianee Olivia St. John walked in holding two glasses of champagne. "Congratulations dear!" she said handing him one of the glasses as he approached her. "To the biggest deal to celebrate the next chapter of our lives." she said toasting him before they clinked glasses. "It is just the beginning my dear." he replied before he downed the glass and she smiled for a moment before she sipped hers. "You are so right about that." she replied as he felt the first wave of woozyness surround his head. Before he knew what was happening, the room spun violently as he collapsed unconscious. He never knew how long he had been out, as it had been dark out when he had been drugged, and it was well into midday when the door burst open and light flooded his mind as he was roughly arrested and taken to the jail. Despite his pleas, it would be nearly a day before they ran any tests on him, not realizing he had done one better on the way to jail. Knowing they would need blood, he had used an exposed screw in the cop car to puncture his leg, so that it was bleeding badly. He would never know how much it saved him, as he was taken to the prison hospital. The next problem was that as soon as he got there he had been rushed into surgery, barely clinging to life by a thread. The coma he had suffered and the time it took him to heal had been months, and he had been so medicated that they had tried him for the crimes before he had even been able to make a coherent statement. His first memory after that night was waking up in a cramped cell, his entire body on fire in pain as the last of the drugs wore off. He knew it had taken days before he had been able to eat anything, the old man in the cell taking care to ensure he had all the water he could handle. It took another month before the meditation techniques the old man taught him, to suppress the pain that his body was delivering to him. Than the process of moving had begun, and those techniques were tested each day for months as he regained his strength. The entire process had left his body weakened, and he knew nothing but determination. He had nothing but time to consider what had happened, and the court papers were more than enough to tell him who had done what. By the time he had regained the strength to run, he had mastered the meditation techniques so well his body no longer bothered him in the slightest. Than his cell mate had surprised him, and asked him what he had done to end up in such a dark and desolate place as The Pit Prison. "I loved the wrong woman who betrayed me when I was blind." Levi had answered and his cell mate nodded his head. "What if I told you there was a path to redemption, but you will have to walk through hell in order to obtain it?" the old man had asked him. "I say hell had best watch out, because nothing will stand between me and redemption." he had answered easily as the old man smiled. Levi had thought he knew pain before, but his training began that day. He was introduced to pains even he did not yet know, always a flash as they were suppressed as quickly as they happened. It took no time at all, and he was mastering every lesson the old man had to teach him. Every day he suffered, the strength of his fury fueling the fire that seared through his veins. One year to the day, and the old man looked at him. "What shall you do when they evaluate you?" "Whatever is needed of me master." Levi replied honestly. No matter what they wanted to test, he was more than ready to go. "When they ask of your Aura, I want you to think of what drives you to walk through the fires of hell for your redemption. For once you succeed today, your life will never again be the same." the old man said with a smile knowing that this man would have an absolutely destructive aura. "Use that fuel, and let that anger and hatred fuel you. Let it seep from every pore as you let it become your entire reason for being. For anything less and we may as well kill you now for all the good you will do." Levi looked at him with a smile, as he had been considering this question a lot lately. "I have no fear of the hell I face Master, as I am the Demon who walks this Earth, seeking his vengeance. It is those placed between me and my objective that must worry, as I will stop at nothing until my retribution is at hand." Levi said firmly as the old man smiled. "Good, you are ready than." he had said before banging on the door for a guard to open it. "One thing before I go old man, what is your name?" Levi had asked him that day. "Leviticus." he said with a smile as Levi was drug away his eyes wide open with surprise. General Leviticus had been an extremely powerful man before he lost his mind and had to be locked away for life. Levi however knew he had to focus on the here and now, as he was put in front of the review board roughly by the guards. The doctors reviewed his medical files, and deemed that because nearly bone had to be reconstructed, he was an unlikely candidate for the Warrior program. "Objection board members. I believe I am allowed a physical fitness test before this proceeds." Levi said with a faint hint of a smile as the doctors he hadn't seen in a year looked at him. For two hours he had done every test the team of 3 doctors could think of, and not one of them could believe he had passed the first test, let alone each and every one of them they could think of. The entire time he showed that despite what the doctors said, he exceeded every physical requirement that even the special forces had. Each and every one of them at a loss when the Board called the session back to order. "We have witnessed a subject that despite physical limitations, has now passed every test the medical board could throw at him. Subject approved for transfer." they said disappointing Levi as he was taken by the guards to another chamber where he was given different clothes and thrown on a bus with 20 other men. The next morning he woke just in time to catch the Drill Sergeant coming into the barracks to wake them all for morning drill. Levi had excelled at every challenge out before him, and within the 6 weeks of boot camp they had decided he would go to officer training as well right after bootcamp was over. The bus ride this time was during the day, and he and 5 men were driven to Huntington Officer Training Camp. He groaned as he knew for the next 12 weeks he would not be allowed off the base. This was his home, and he could not risk being seen. As such, he had spent a lot of time in the compound, exploring areas and learning things he probably shouldn't have. The instructors on the weekends however never questioned his random appearance, or the fact that come Monday he was no where to be found as he was doing all of his proper drills. Staff Sergeant Meyers had become a friend on the second weekend, sitting across from him as he was eating lunch alone on Saturday. "Prisoner division huh?" he had asked as he sat down. "Yes Staff Sergeant." he had said crisply as he would answer any of the other officers as he was still considered a Cadet. "Drop the formalities son, neither one of us is in uniform or on duty. Why aren't you out causing havoc with the others?" Meyers asked him bluntly. "My hometown, would rather not deal with being recognized." Levi replied evenly as he looked at the man. "Gotta respect that, lot of trouble to be had in a hometown." Meyers said and felt a shiver of fear Rush down his spine for a split second as he looked intonthe Red eyes of the man sitting across from him. "Demon indeed." he mumbled to himself as Levi looked at him curious. "You know Leviticus. What's more is you have spoken with him recently." Levi stated matter of factly to a nod from Meyers. "He said to keep an eye on ya here, and so I shall. Something tells me however you have no need of it, and that one day it would be a good thing to be on your goodside." Levi just nodded as his officer training became a blur of routine broken by whatever advanced courses were being taught on the weekends. He could generally get 5 classes in a weekend, thatbwas more than just the basics of any one thing. And as it was meant for military personnel, they were only held on the weekends and were 10 week courses. He however had no idea the instructors knew exactly who he was, and were gladly teaching him everything he wanted to absorb. He had even found more advanced manuals in the library one day, and begun reading them in the evening to the point he was correcting nearly every rank there was when it came to the Military Code. 12 weeks later, he walked into his final review board. It was filled with Generals and Admirals from the different sections of the Imperial Army, all there to assess his ability to lead troops. The physical part was on file from the courses he had been taking, and he had set the course record for each and every one of them. He had beaten even special forces scores after a year if training day and night for it. His written tests were every bit as good, as he had passed every test they had given him with flying colors. Tests that so far as they knew he had never studied for, he had passed with his lowest score being an 87 on Naval Fleet Combat Tactics. "Mr. Levi Strauss, you come before this Council with the highest scores we have ever seen. The review of your case has been completed, and it has been determined that you were incapable of committing the crimes you were convicted of. As we do not have the power to overturn a verdict, we can only give you two options. You have 9 years remaining of your sentence. You can return to prison," the man said as Levin smiled. "I volunteer for the expungement program." Levi said before the man could finish his spiel on serving in the Army instead. "I am prepared to proceed with the Rank Assessment." he said standing there formally. "Never before have we seen a Cadet from the Prisoner Expungement Program gain scores like the ones the 5 of you this session have. In fact your trainers tell us they have yet to experience your aura, even though they can all tell you do possess one. In order to complete the assessment, your Aura must be evaluated as well." The 5 Star General said from the center seat. Levi did what the old man had taught him, and was surprised at how easily he could draw on the rage and anger the betrayal had caused in him. It was not hard to fuel, as he had months of agonizing pain while he had learned to use it as the notification of injury it was, and ignore it. The more he thought of it, the colder the room felt to him and he opened his eyes lost in the thoughts of how and why he was here as he looked for a target to kill. Each and every one of the Generals and Admirals felt the power of his aura wash over them, as his eyes turned red and his pain and anger washed out in nearly tangible waves. They knew if they presented the slightest threat he was likely to tear them limb from limb before all of a sudden it stopped and the air got warm again. "Apologies sirs, I did not mean to produce such a powerful aura." Levi said as they began scribbling stuff down and looking at everything. "Mr. Strauss, it is customary in this program for the Cadets to choose a new name to begin rebuilding their new lives. What do you wish yours to be?" General Bradley asked him. "Demon sir." Levi said with a smile. "Very well, your name from this point forth shall be Levi Demon. Colonel of the Imperial Army and leader of the 501st Recon Battalion. Good Luck." General Bradley said as he was surprised. Captain was one of the best ranks to come out if this program, and he had just made full bird Colonel on day 1.