Scapegoat Options

[Dantrag]

This is in no way TES related, but I figured I'd share anyway. It's already finished, but I'm going to post it in small parts so that it's easier to read.

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Scapegoat


“You’ll do it, or you will face a court marshal.” The gruff General McDowell commanded threateningly.

“It’s a civilian ship!” replied a young man of eighteen, sitting in a chair with numerous electrodes attached to his head.

“Damn it, Cedric, the Russians are using it to transport weapons! Fire now!” McDowell shouted angrily.

“Yes, Sir.” Cedric replied reluctantly as he flipped the single switch on the arm of his chair.

Instantly, the image of General McDowell’s angry face was replaced with a view of outer space from the vantage point of a starship’s bridge. He was seeing through the eyes of the ship’s captain, made possible through the use of a chip surgically implanted in the Captain’s brain. Cedric was now accustomed to the feeling of having a passive role in someone else’s body, but at first it had been one of the strangest feelings he had ever experienced.

“Fire.” He commanded, repeating the general’s order through the captain’s earpiece.

“Yes, Sir.” The Captain replied.

Cedric had no sooner seen the explosion than an entire fleet of Russian ships pounced on them, seemingly out of nowhere. The United States had attacked a civilian starship. More than enough cause for war.

“Retreat!” Cedric shouted at the captain.

The captain hesitated, panic obviously setting in.

“Retreat!” he repeated again, this time more forcefully. Cedric’s vision was reduced to static before he flipped the switch to return to his own body.

“Wake up, Cedric,” a thick German accent woke him.