It's been a few days in the road. Several vehicles and a truck swept past the cleared highway away from the Anvil gate.
Marcus and the remaining Delta went into Mercy to gather the Imulsion.
There was a situation that gotten worse that even the Imperium have focus their issues and they are unable to provide assistance beyond what they could handle.. forcing the group to requisition the imulsion from Dominic wife's Hometown of Mercy as the fuel the Imperium uses is not compatible with the submarine that they would acquisition from the docks.
And they were led by Dizzy as he knows the quickest route to head there. And he was a former naval captain on his belt.si his experience was needed the most.
He noticed the situation gotten from bad to worse.
Anvil gate, oversaturated with the refugees from Hanover and other nearby cities, making it the most cramped fortress in the world. And possibly the last haven. As more reports that in space there was a infighting and a fourth party that hated them
They made do with with making underground bunkers constructed by the imperium to prevent the locust from breaching inside.
"Dom, are you sure you want to go there?" Marcus asked with concern about his friend.
"I know that Maria is in space... Somehow it made me to do some thinking... I was told by Alexander, that if he wasn't around... I would have ended up in the locust process site at that locust city and... Maria and Tai would have been broken."
Marcus paused as lately he and Dominic have been given visions of what could had been.. a reality...or perhaps a more darker reality that was diverted by the man they both knew.
True, as of now it was as if the Imperium was acting like a balance to the world.
Marcus, Instinctively felt in his Guts that Anthony, Benjamin and even Tai, they would have been dead a long time ago. And Dom also sense that his brother Carlos should had died in Aspho fields...
Carlos voiced in his comms.
"Brother, Marcus why the seriousness in the conversation. At least we are alive, hey, Brother, be our guide to Mercy. I never knew about your wife's Hometown." Carlos laughter dampen the gloomy mood.
Marcus smiled as his friends is making the mood much more brighter.
But he had a sinking gut feeling that this was the calm before the storm. That he would lose something... Or someone.
He look at the backseat and saw Anya holding onto the dataslate that the garrison commander of Hanover gave her... All the knowledge in that little thing made her spooked to no end.
"Anya, Anya snapped out of it. You been staring at that screen for so long." He chided to Anya, forcing to wake from her stupor.
"Sorry, Marcus... There's so much information... About Alexander... Origins."
Marcus perked his ears as she spoke.
"Look, Of what I gathered from this data, This imperium... Is just a offshoot of the real thing."
"It can't be that bad if it's the offshoot right?"
"The main parent of what Alexander is leading is in constant war..." She gripped the edge of the dataslate.
"Much like ours against the locust and lambent?" Dom jokingly ask.
Her face paled.
"No... It was the galaxy itself. For 40 thousand years." She handed it for Marcus and Dom to look at and the Videos and reports was piled high...
"This was the public recording of what I could get, Alexander may know more."
Marcus nodded as he looked around, until thre was something interesting.
There was a video of a planet that is filled with towering skyscrapers, and the name of the Planet was called Armageddon.
It was heavily polluted, and there was video cams on the ground of some soldiers that looked similar to the soldiers that helped cog. Fighting against the Greenskins like creatures.
"Aren't they just in costume, Playing a fantasy?" Dom asked.
It was until the video gotten worse that they saw how these monsters rip and tore apart the defenders. There was robots bigger than what Alexander sent out to Sera.
There was explosion and wreckages as the landscape beginning to be choked by gunpowder and poison. Corpses piled by the mountains.
Another video shown a similar portal erupted in Hanover, and swarmed out monsters...
And Lastly they saw other races and their fight against humanity.
Each video, was more ghastly and more mind torturing even for the mind of Marcus, who witness 14 years of war.
Marcus watched in horor, if this is what Alexander fought every single day in that hellscape. He would think that fighting the Locust and Lambent was just a normality for them. That he would had looked at the issue with their conflict as mere triffle annoyance. When there was wars raging across the stars.
He saw the vast armadas of ships that their length stretch beyond the horizon. As they amassing for a fleet jump.
"So...this is what Alexander been hiding?"
"No... It was only the beginning...so far, I spoke to him, that if we would be sent to the wars he is participating... He told us that it would take 500 years if it came across his mind."
500 years, Marcus thought... That was a long time even for him.
As the convoy trekking across the cleared roads, there was not a locust in site, as if they were scoured cleaned.
But as they arrived to Mercy, it was quiet, as if it was one of the many ghost towns that scattered across sera.
Dizzy hopped out and surveying the area.
"Dizzy, what gives..."
"I dunno, been here a few days ago and this place was a buzzing as a bee hive..." Dizzy looked around and they saw the situation at hand.
To the squad, it was like eerie, silence.
"Dizzy, Jace, You guard the truck, and I take Delta to survey the area, and make sure to jumpstart the imulsion pump." Marcus spoke.
Dom showed around the area of his wife hometown and recalled the people living there... But as they arrived at the graveyard that housed the dead.
Dom got a vision of himself kneeling Infront of the tombstone that was a angel... And Dom wanted to peek, beside his version and saw that it was the name of his wife etched on the tombstone.
"Maria...baby I sorry I couldn't bring you home... But you with the kids now... That's home yeah?
Dom wanted to reach out to this vision, wanted to tell him that Maria is alive.. but the despondent version of him was broken...
"I will see you home one day...
Marcus is busy saving the world again... So I gotta be there for him... Sleep tight, sweetheart. " Dom saw the vision of himself removed his cog tag and hung it around the statue. And the vision was stopped abruptly.
"Dom, ya coming?" Marcus spoke.
Dom looked at Marcus nodded and he looked back to where his vision was supposed to be...
It was a empty plot...
As they followed the pipes, they found several demo charges lined in every valve.
"This is definitely not Imperial Grade, there's no reports of demolition... More like the old Cog Stockpiled demolition charges." Anya spoke.
"But who placed them and Why?"
They saw a human shadow peeking at them and left, Marcus chased after it until they reached a house.
And they reached to the location where the figure ran off to.
A dilapidated house. A hastily boarded up windows and a shotgun was fired from within, with a voice that yelled.
"Stay away! This place is cursed!" It was a man voice that was tinged with fear.
"We are from the Imperium, we are here to help you!" Anya spoke.
"Ya, from Imperium! Did you heard my petition at last!"
"Yes, we are sent to check what's happened to this place. And I need you to tell us what is wrong so that we can fix it."
The door slide opened and the man weary face watched from within with wary eyes.
"Are you folks not cog?"
"We have been absorbed by the Imperium, now open the door and let us in."
As they heard many locks being released.
She got some looks beside her.
They moved a fair distance away from the local hearing.
"Look, the Cog is pretty much a touchy subject and we need information, and if we said we are from cog, no doubt that he would panicked...
Probably he would see reason if we just came in just in the name of the Imperium."
"Is our government that bad?"
"Afraid so, Alexander released the News of what Cog had done to sera, the truth about the rustlung, especially the blackout of the creation of the Locust. And the breeding farms.
And the rich people fleeing to Azure weeks before e-day.
The Cog is pretty much dead in the water. It's hard to know that all I been serving for all my life was tantamount to nothing if this was the extent of the corruption within our government, and it caused the deaths of people.
Would anyone prefer to keep the name?" Anya sighed as the former government darkness was unleashed and the people grow more distrustful of Cog even more, and they began to aligned themselves as Imperials as so far, they're transparent about their beliefs, they wanted to free humanity from the locust and lambent, while the Cog kept lies after lies, secrets upon secrets, even the military families that were loyal to Cog such as the Carmine Family was shattered to their beliefs.
Anya did had doubts... But after seeing the effect of what Alexander did to secure the mainland and he prefers them to stand on their two feet. Even her loyalty to the former regime was being questioned.
And as the doors opened, it revealed the man that spoke to them. His eyes were ghastly and he seemed spooked as he held the shotgun aimed at them.
"I hoped you not turning lambent like the rest of them!" The man screeched.
"Lambent?" Anya was confused.
The man recounted his tale. His body shuddered as he remembered the time.
"Oh, it happened two days ago, this place was doing fine, we supplied imulsion to Anvil gate. But suddenly the miner and workers that harvest the imulsion gotten sick real bad.
The town doctor, was overwhelmed with the patients, sent them to the local church to provide healing, but they turned and into lambent, started attacking everybody. I along with few others survive the onslaught. There's probably few survivors still linger around.
We managed to corralled most of them in town into the church...
But we noticed that the first one to turned lambent was those that worked with the imulsion the most and those that got rustlung.
I was tasked of demolition, in charge of the mines, I want to blow up the imulsion and ensure that this nightmare is over." He knelt down as if the things he witness was like a nightmare for him.
"What do you mean most of the town is corralled into the church?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, yes, most of the townsfolk is in the church and town hall when it happened we boarded up the entrance... But there are some that still got away... Especially in the mines...and...in...the...sewers." The man began to cough as he vegan to sputtered blood across the floor. He began to panic as he aimed the shotgun at his mouth.
"I will not become like them!"
Before Delta could react, the man blasted his skull out. Splattering his grey matter across the ceiling.
"We got what we came for, let's activate the valves and secure the fuel for the ship."
"But, lambent humans? How is that possible?" Anya muttered.
"If we come across these variant... Mercy killing is the only way."
Marcus and Dom managed to deactivated the charges and open the valve. The sickly yellow fuel leaked out of the cracks of the pipe.
Marcus remember the moment when he spoke with Alexander about the Lambent.
He never would had imagine that lambents would find a way to infest humans.
They followed the line and it was in the underground sewers of the town. Perhaps it was the place that held the valves that lead to the mines, they heard a woman crying... Marcus harden his heart as they silently followed the wail.
A woman sat on the floor with the grime and muck.
Anya wanted to reach out and asked, Marcus Held her back.
"Why?"
"She's too far gone." Marcus eyes noticed a trail of imulsion leaking beside her.
As soon as they approached, the supposed woman turned towards them and the feature scared Anya.
The woman is fully lambent and, what feature of the person is only leaking imulsion on all the orifices and her hands were sharpened.
"Open fire!" Marcus yelled and he pressed his lancer.
Delta team opened fire and despite the fact they placed enough lead into the body to kill a Locust twice... Only then the now turned lambent collapsed.
The gunfire attracted the lambent humans that lingered the area and now they are flooding the underground sewers.
"Hell, how on sera, did that man managed to corralled these Lambent humans!" Carlos yelled as he chainsaw the one in the shoulder, that was about to stabbed him with its claws.
It screamed as dark yellow Imulsion splattered across the ground and sizzled out. And he kicked the dead lambent only for it to explode in a plume of toxic fumes.
As they fought the intricate passageway, they found someone that opened the trapdoor nearby.
"Hurry! Or you be overwhelmed!" A panicked voice called out.
Delta clambered as fast as they could. And they found themselves in a warehouse.
"Who are you and what the hell happen!" Marcus yelled.
The man fell on his back as he stammered.
"I...I am Clive... I was tasked as a warehouse supervisor... This place is hell!
Marcus looked around and found there were several people that was wounded and their bandages was seemingly not washed for a couple of days.
"Who are these people?"
"They... They were the last of what I could get before the town was overwhelmed... Did you met a old guy? Someone that worked for the mines? He wanted to destroy the imulsion pipes."
"He's dead, Blown his brain out." Marcus bluntly spoke.
"I...see, Are you the reinforcements that he requested?" Clive eyes looked hopeful.
Anya spoke.
"No, we are here for the imulsion, and we are the first squad to arrive here. The Imperium would come."
"I see..."
"Do you know the last valve? Seemed like there is still a blockage."
"There's one near the church... But I would advise you not to go near it..."
"We can handle our own...just point us to the direction."
The man showed the location of the valve by using the town map.
Anya, contacted the Imperium and they will sent a mechanized battalion to the aid of the civilians. Along with medical teams in the process.
She spread the news to the people and they were glad...
Her heart was conflicted, because had it been cog... Her request would have been in the afterthought and kept in the backlogs.
"We must better get the last imulsion valve ready!"
"The last one is in the church!"
Delta rushed towards the town last valve.
And Marcus observe the church, it was hastily fortified with wooden boards and welded metal plates across the windows and doors.
But he and the rest of Delta could hear the growling within the walls of the church.
"Dom, a little help over here! Seemed the valve is stuck!" Carlos grunted.
The activity had sent the lambent into a frenzy. They scream and roared as the scratching was intensified that they broke through the metal walls.
"Here they come!" Marcus roared as they opened fire at the horde of lambent humans.
"Frag out!" Dom yelled as he clubbed a lambent nearby with his grenade mace and sent it flying to a group, where it exploded into a careening mess of imulsion and shattered bones.
The fight continue as Dizzy called in.
"The fuel truck is full, but what in tarnation did you riled up in that place, we got lambent around us!"
Delta formed a fighting retreat as they reached the convoy.
Jace and Dizzy was on the roofs of the nearby building and they took cover as lambent of both human and locust swarmed the area.
But the numbers didn't make sense as if they were attracted by something.
"This is Delta 1, Calling Command, this is Delta 1 to command, we are under heavy fire... Requesting reinforcements... Lambent is in our vicinity in mercy!"
A explosion occured nearby and Locust now joined in the fray, firing both lambent and Delta.
"Scratch that, we have Locust inbound!"
Carlos looked at the truck that is now filled with imulsion.
"Brother...no." Dom watched as his brother getting ready to rush towards the truck. The last thing he ever saw was the back of his brother.
"It is the only way, reinforcements would not arrive in time... Brother, Maria and your kids is waiting for you... Keep Marcus safe ya hear?" Carlos smiled and he ripped off his tag and tossed it to his brother.
Dominic wanted to stop his brother from leaving, wanting to tell him to stay put and waited for reinforcements to arrive.
But a Brumak arrived in the scene and caused havoc, raining bullets and missiles around the battlefield.
Firing bullets upon Marcus and Dom position and forcing them to take cover.
"Carlos don't you dare do it!" Marcus yelled.
But his voice was drowned by the chorus of gunfire and roars.
Carlos managed to clambered into the Truck seat, he found the medkit and injected with a adrenaline shot.
He glanced down at his stomach and found that he been shot.
He rev it up and the truck slowly moved towards his destination.
A voice whispered in his mind.
Malevolent and cold.
"You could have been a hero if you would just let your brother die, you would have been the one that would be the shining example of what a hero truly meant to be!"
"You underestimate my love for my brother, I don't kill my family for glory. I rather be a hero in my own right" He smiled carefree.
The destination was between the fight of Lambent and Locust.
The locust saw the truck rushing in full speed.
And opened fire at it, causing the windows to crack into spider webs. Bullets now rushing into his face, Carlos smiled as bullets whizzed by his face.
"I taking you bastards with me!" He grinned as he almost reached his destination.
"Take care, little brother... And I am sorry... I am not a good brother..." Carlos thoughts faded as he rammed into a lambent horde and exploded the truck and everything around it. The chain explosion of imulsion blown up the surrounding area and even the mines that was meant to harvest Imulsion was blown up as well.
Marcus and Dominic watched helplessly at the burning weeck as they lost someone important to them...
Dom held the last thing Carlos gave to him...
The cog tag, now faded, it was the only thing that his brother that he left behind ...
The reinforcements arrived minutes earlier... But it wasn't early enough.
Marcus wanted to vent and yell at the commander leading this group. But he paused as he noticed the soldiers that was sent to aid them didn't fared better.
Lost limbs and bandaged on parts of the body. And the vehicles they boarded was filled with bullet holes and some part of it even got pierced .
The leader of the group approached them.
"Where are the survivors?" He asked.
"Still in town, Hiding in the warehouse."
"Understood..." The leader walked past him, as men shuffling towards the now desolate town..
Until he called Marcus out.
"Those eyes... You lost someone recently..."
Marcus wanted to pick a fight with the officer.
But what he stared at was a voided expression.
The leader face was scarred and as if he seen war for a lifetime. But his eyes was soft as if he understood Marcus pain.
"I know... It hurts, as a advice to you...it is best if we focused on the living... That's what the one that you lost...would have wanted." He tipped his hat as he followed the soldiers before him into the now ruined town.
Dom heard it, it made him ponder of the last moments of Carlos.
The trip to the last imulsion rich deposit nearby is now in char. Due to Carlos Blowing up in the lambent, the imulsion within, have destroyed the mines and the refinery in the town, and making it unsalvageable.
The road is silent, Marcus stared outside, and Dom held his brother tag. Jace was the one that is driving... Anya contacted Alexander on what transpire in their mission.
Delta was supposed to be undefeated, but all they ever found is that they were able to be killed. This is the world they lived.
As the convoy rushed past the outskirts of the city now a relic of the past.
Above Delta was a series of reavers along with a giant flying beetle hovering above them.
Queen Myrra watched the convoy in contempt and she touched the cheek of the laser that Alexander inflicted upon her.
"I will have my revenge..." She muttered as she flew elsewhere.
Jace stopped the convoy and Delta ventured out.
The city was quiet, as if there was no signs of life... Ashes still linger as they fell from the skyscrapers. Figures of ash, still in their state as their last moments of the hammer of dawn landed upon them.
Marcus wondered why Alexander didn't even want to reclaim this city...
"So...this is where it began... Huh?"
"This is one giant graveyard... don't desecrate the dead."
Marcus watched the tomb of a city as he ventured forth. Delta took care of not damaging the people remains.
Marcus and Dominic could hear the voices of the dead and their ghostly figures running away from the city... Their last moments...
"Mommy, Mommy where are you!'
"Damm it where's my wife!" A figure walked the opposite direction where the people is fleeing.
"Is this our sin?" A figure knelt down as if praying to some unknown entity.
"Hold the bloody line!" A squad leader last moments as the figure outline show the last action they made as they died standing.
Marcus and Dom felt the regrets and fear from these... Remains.
As they ventured forth, they found signs of life.
Traps recently made of using retro lancers and explosive littered the area.
They found one figure noticed their entrance and rushed away, but Delta followed after the figure and they arrived at a stranded Outpost.
"Wait... Didn't Alexander told us that all stranded did join the Imperium?
Marcus looked around, and saw the signs of disrepair.
"Doubt it... He wouldn't even touch this."
"Oi, ya cog pigs, get out of our home!"
"We are from the imperium! We are here for the Imulsion from the refinery nearby!"
"Doesn't matter what branding you folks came up with, you did this to us!" The voice from the outpost screamed.
Anya falter as she knew what the figure meant.
Even the effect of the hammer of dawn still linger to the people...
A rumbling was heard and lambent stalks began to burst out of the ground and attacked the outpost.
"Oh, shit you bring them here!?"
"No we didn't!"
Marcus and Delta managed to fend of the lambent, and after a while the activity of the stalk laid in silence...
"We save you and why not let us meet your boss?"
"Oh, boy... Since you helped us... Perhaps I could arrange you folks to meet our boss, come on in."
The door of the outpost opened and they were met with hostile glares of the people around them.
"Don't worry, they are just imps now."
"A cog pig is always a cog pig. Phhff." A man spat at Anya boots.
Marcus wanted to beat up the man, but Anya held him back...
"No, Marcus.." her hands held his shoulder.
Marcus gripped his fist as the group went past the defenders and arrived to the makeshift elevator that lead to a top of a skyscraper.
"Sorry, about that... The boys have lost their family in the hammer of dawn."
"I can see that."
"I talk to the boss first, perhaps sweeten the boss temper with my words. You folks can look around. Perhaps understand our own reasons..." The man went inside the building and Delta looked around.
Many of the folks held in sharp glares.
As if wanting to ripped them apart.
Anya, felt pressurized from the gaze. Went close with Marcus.
"Anya, to command, we found a stranded Outpost in Char... Over."
"We found locals are very hostile to Cog members...please advice. Over."
"Received, caution, advise the group inbound that we don't touch the ash people."
The doors opened and the man from before greeted them.
"What the fuck you allowing the cog I to my city?"
"Sir Griffith, the Imps arrive and they saved us sir from the glowies and they want some fuel sir." The man spoke to the figure sitting at the office desk.
"Boy, get out of here before I lost my patience." The man spoke and the guide for Delta team scampered out of the room.
"So welcome to Griffin Tower, COG or whatever the fuck your are now. It was here before you destroyed Char, and it's still standin' now. And so am I. You've got some nerve comin' around here asking for favors, motherfuckers." Griffith snarled at them.
"Well, sir.. we are here for some fuel and we leave..." Anya spoke
"Bitch, you don't understand shit. You seen those ash remains? Those were my workforce. My employees. My family. I don't like their rest bein' disturbed by outsiders, and especially no fucking COG!"
Marcus stepped forth and his aura began to intimidate Aeron.
"Oh, I think we understand grieving."
"Oh, who the fuck are you?"
"Marcus Fenix.
"Hmm, there's a name I recall, y'know the first rules of business?"
"Remind me."
"What's in it for me? You need fuel and so do I - Ironic. Since I built my empire on it. You help my fuel and I let ya punks keep some of it."
"Well, What's stopped you from getting it yourself?
"Our refinery across way is a little late with the shipment. Shit, they didn't even send the cable car back. So I askin you to progress the order. Get my fuel and my cable car. Can you managed that, Killa?"
"You wouldn't be setting us up now, would ya?"
Griffith snapped his fingers and another door open and it revealed dizzy is captured and accompany by several men.
"God-damned it, git ya hands off me! Sorry Marcus, they jumped on me and took tha truck... They...ugggh." dizzy mouth was gagged.
"Every contract has a performance guarantee, Fenix now your associate is under my hold. So do your best to get that cargo. Ya dig?" Griffith leaned forward to Marcus, unafraid of the man intimidation.
"Don't you lay a fuckin finger on him, don't you fuckin dare."
"You got one hour... Make it count." Aeron smiled as he turned towards the window.
"Let's go Marcus." Anya grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from the room.
"Well, that didn't go well.." Jace muttered.
"Let's go before, Dizzy get the bullet in his head." Marcus walked past the group.
Anya and Dom followed after him.
They reached to the Refinery that Griffith show them... It was deathly silent.
"Lambent..." Marcus Instinctively knew something was wrong, he remembered the old man from Mercy saying that they turned to lambent.
The group nodded as they simply activate the reserve power generator in the basement and used the stairs as they didn't opened the elevator as they heard groaning from within.
Their caution confirmed the situation at the refinery as they reached the top, all the workers and the guards were turned to lambent humans.
Marcus and the rest of the group quickly dispatch the former humans and found the cargo that went missing and placed it in the cable car that that was made from the vehicle carcasses.
Dom found the safety lever for the cable car and managed to released it.
It was in the middle of the transit to the Griffith tower that the locust now attacked them. The tower is now surrounded by locust reavers and tempest.
There were even the locust floating barges attempted to stop them.
"This is Dizzy here, The locust queen is here and starting to slaughter everyone!" The man panicked.
"Anya, make the call!"
Anya nodded as she called for reinforcements
"Command, this is Delta one, we are under attack by the locust, requesting reinforcements! We got wounded in the civvies! Over."
A whirring sound was made and Marcus and the rest watched several fighters from the Imperium was dispatched and rushed towards the scenes... They were more faster and they left trails of blue afterburners and mirages in their wake, the locust slowly noticed their arrivall as they were being drowned in a volley of auto cannons and Lascannon.
And the only thing that fell to the ground was the locust and their flying beast.
They scattered the locust fliers and queen Myrra fled once more.
There was several Valkyrie transport landed troops at the rooftop and head back to base.
"What are those planes? They are not Valkyries." Jace questioned...
Anya recalled a plane in Alexander arsenal.
"Those are called..Avengers."
"Weird name to put on a plane..."
Delta team, managed to arrive at the tower, they met Alexander troops and sounds of lasfire was in the air.
The people was confused of the arrival of troops but they took chances of them saving the people and locust were pushed back from the tower.
They saw paramedics attended to the wounded. And the medics nonchalantly glanced at their arrival and moved on to the next patient.
As they reached the same office and found a Hologram of Alexander staring at Aeron that was surrounded by Alexander men.
"So, by contract, I am taking control of this joint and leaving you in charge."
"You can't do this to me, I own the city?!"
"And I own the world and beyond, and I sent my men to save your sorry asses, follow my orders and you have a better city than wallowing in the ashes of the old world." Alexander glared at him and his presence through the hologram was more intimidating than Marcus.
"And besides... Delta team already got your precious fuel. So shut ya yapping and get to work."
Alexander noticed their arrival and smiled.
"The fuel is being unloaded and you are good to go. Sorry, to hear your loss about Carlos... Is more than I could say at the moment." Alexander smiled bitterly as he shut the hologram down.
Griffith glared at Marcus, but the subtly cocking of the weapons next to him reminded who was now in charge now.
The convoy, reached the harbor that was needed.
Endeavor Naval Shipyard.
It was the military part of Halvo port where Alexander stood.
It was burned down during the retreat from the mainland, and now retaken and occupied by the imperium.
Many of the ships that were sabotage to deny the locust any naval assets were being raised and repaired.
Marcus arrived with the convoy. And Alexander met them at the gate.
He didn't say anything more about Carlos as he led them to the refurbished sub that was needed to go underwater.
Dizzy went ahead and began to refuel the submarine.
Marcus and Alexander stood at the Harbor bay.
"So... Did you knew about his death?"
"No, Marcus... I didn't expect him to die..."
"So are you a god?"
Alexander stared at the ocean with weary as he spoke.
"I lost men under my care during my lifetimes, I'm not a god... If I did, I would had known if Carlos would jump in that truck, I would had sent reinforcements earlier... I am not omniscience... Every plan I make is always ended up being blasted in my face.
Even in Hanover, I am barely containing the threat that is coming to this world.
"You're talking about the Black legion?"
"Yes, I am sorry that I dedicated all my forces to contain a threat that would devoured this world alive."
"So Anya said was true? That you fought almost a millennia of war? How can you deal with the pain?"
"I am older than you might think, even older than Cog itself. I seen wars, I seen plenty of people die, under my commands and by my hands alone. How did I cope with the lost of the people I cared about? Simple, remember them, their moments, their existence. Remind yourself, Marcus, what are you fighting for? Was it for cog? Or was it your father? I do my duty to the Man emperor of Mankind. And I will keep my promise to save your father."
"What's with you wanting to save my own dad? Making more weapons?"
Alexander laughed.
"No, I already created weapons that would destroy galaxies, I don't want a man being guilt tripped into helping me fight the eternal war. I want him to attend to your wedding?"
Marcus choked as he stared at the smiling Alexander.
"How-"
"Hah,Marcus, if you had sex with Anya in that Island, we know. Why was she so disheveled when she always with you? Why not officially make it official?"
"You really are a freak."
"Hah, I get that a lot from my wife... Beside, Wouldn't you want your father watched you and Anya get married? Hell, even Helena wanted me to attend her daughter wedding."
"Do I get a say in this?"
"Nope... Now go save your pops... We will assist you the moment the weather storm subsided."
Marcus stood up and left.
Alexander looked at the side where Marcus once sat.
A vaguely shaped Carlos watched marcus. As he headed to the submarine.
"You sure you don't want to say goodbye?"
"No, I prefer to make him assured that he is safe.. thanks, Alexander... Can I ask you a question before I go?"
"Shoot?"
"Is the heaven that you speak of is real?"
"Heh, yeah, I been there myself, and it is real. You just say to the God Emperor, I said hi."
"See you again, Alexander. Can you-"
"Yeah, I be watching Dom and Marcus for you."
"Thanks man, I owe ya." Alexander watched as Carlos soul faded as he ascend to heaven.
"No...thank you for your bravery..."
_________
(A/n): sorry, hiding from GW.
Ever since I heard that they are going after fans that love Warhammer content... Again.
They definitely put a Ai and looked for anything that said "Warhammer"
Are they that desperate for cash?
I decided to wait and see approach.
They making their lawsuit in sunny Florida?
I am scared that they might send a letter to my Gmail account, and I constantly checking my spam just to see if I don't have a letter of being sued.
I don't have the money or documents to go across the big puddle of water to state my case as most of my cash is focused on the farm. Hell, I doubt the Lawyers would even bother would make a case...
I consulted with a lawyer relative in my country and he said that, since I didn't monetized my work and I have no P*treon or go f*nd me pertaining to the Warhammer... I am technically...(Safe?).
We lost Eaglepolis in helldiver... Jeez, I participated there, until harvest time and it collapsed, we still losing... Well, good luck Fellow Helldivers.
I miss the old days when we did our basic in Mars... It doesn't feel right these days. I really wished Sony didn't have their greedy hands on the psn debacle...
We sure could use those men in the country that they banned.
But I hope the Og Helldivers of Halo would join us soon with the steam into x box... I meant the XBox fans rejoice... We could really use their expertise right now...
Depression is part of the job description these days. We called ourselves christians... But we forced to lie about our job description.
When the bible tells us don't lie or you go to hell..
But we are forced to lie, to get job, and lick people boots to feed their egos, only to get jobs with pay that is barely called survival wage... Are we no different from a slave?
People think that farmers is rich... Ugh that is those that have their farms up and running.
Most farmers like me is struggling to making ends meet. Hell, my current dream is to make a saving of 300k $ worth of my country money...
Looking at the world, it is like a pressure cooker that is about to blow up.
For the guy that was a soldier and had a kid, that spoke to me a few weeks ago, during my meltdown...
Thanks man. I hope that your family stay safe. The west gotten so Insane, that even speaking is now a hate crime... I wonder when will they ban breathing?
All I can do is to provide something to just ease the pain of the hardship of reality.
If I was a shill for china, I would have always inserted "thanks to china" or "benevolent china have helped" " the motherland" "blah blah" I don't want to shove ideology into a tired population that have their news shoved in their faces 24/7 by both side of the aisle that pretended to care about you as they want more control.
Been watching movies from Hollywood from seven seas, and this is the best we have got?
Fight club
Falling down
Bruce almighty
Terminator 1&2
And Saving private Ryan is more better than this movies of today...
I just burnt out.
Girl bossing, and Black washing... And how they spectacularly killed characters in the movies.
Movies, telling men like me to be a slave to the system, to be a cog in a unforgiving society that judge you for your gender, not your character, that I am a demon from the moment I was born... And we have no incentives or choice of will, but to die meaninglessly for a war we never wanted.
Funny, when people scream false racism, I was racially discriminated by my father side of the family, because they cared about purity of bloodlines of their nation, yeah, i know what's like of being racist for bloodlines...
And I was a black sheep of the family, not because I was not full blooded Chinese nor I was not born from a first world spouse...
Because I stuck between both worlds, China and the west.
How my cousins born from foreign wives that is from America and Europe was more showered with adoration...
Than us from the branch family that was from countries like Indonesia, Myanmar and Philippines... We were treated like dirt, hell punching bags by the mainland family even if they had such thoughts.
My family is pretty much half the world? And the family gathering is more like a dick measuring contest of who is more successful. Especially the American branch that is more narcissistic than the mainland branch.
God those assholes slapped me with a hundred dollar bill and wanted me to lick their foot to get me to feel shame for being poor, sorry for them, I have no shame, because it was ripped from me...
My mother lineage was a naval American British man that laid with a local in their tour making my family tree a weird one...
Yeah I am talking to you navy bois that didn't keep your pants up, you pretty much indirectly made me.
ma lived in the slums until she got my dad fancy and taken to the mainland... Yeah, by definition of my father side of the family... I am a abomination, a Chimera of genetical failures.
Overheat easily, panic attack more frequently, and easily gullible, delayed sense of pain, had my arm fractured and it took 3 business days to made me feel the aftershocks.
When I met my mother side for a meeting... That probably the time I am grateful for meeting my grandparents... At least they don't called me a freak behind my back.
First time I had hot showers or food that is cooked.. miss grandma apple pies... Hell, I met my American cousins that were more chill... Well other than smoking pot and dragged me to DND and Warhammer... I have no qualms about that. It's their choice.
Since when did the west make good heroes and villains these days?
2015? 2010?
Don't let me get started about the Eurovision... What the hell is all about drinks?
Sometimes I do worry about the future that we leave the new generation to face.