“You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain” - Harvey "Birdman" Dent, LawSec Prosecutor, Lawyer, Supervillain, Age of Paranoia

"But what if there isn't a happy ending at all?"

"There are no happy endings, because nothing ends." - The Last One Horned Mule and the Sports Drink Made Flesh, Age of Paranoia, Terra.

Captain LawRawn lifted up the macrobinoculars and looked at the industrial site in front of him. The macrobinoculars brought it into focus in glorious lines of crimson and black. Tentacles were hanging out of holes in the sides of the buildings. There were cone-like structures of living tissue on top of the buildings, along with waving tentacles. There were hives in the parkinglot, many of which had cars and other vehicles embedded in their mass. Huge creatures moved through the parkinglot, between the buildings, or flew through the air. Nearly a dozen Ohm Class Dwellerspawn were moving slowly around the industrial park, massive insect looking creatures with dozens, hundreds of legs, stingers, glossy sacs that contained smaller attack creatures, and wide flat mouths full of thousands of teeth and tendrils.

"Yeah, I don't think we're going to be able to handle this," the Captain said, patting her helmet where it was hanging from her equipment harness.

"Ya think?" Major Snip Snip Goes the Pincher asked sarcastically. He looked over to where the shoulder fired atomics were on the back of the truck. "I don't think a few peewee rounds are going to do the trick."

"No, it's got biological battlescreens up," LawRawn said. She sighed and lowered the binoculars.

"Command said they sent a unit to help, but unless it's a unit of tanks, I don't know what one unit is going to do," the Major said. He sighed. "Look at that. Anti-aircraft squirters, point defense pods. How long did this take?"

"Command estimates three weeks," LawRawn said.

"Just more proof you cannot let those things get a foot hold," Snip said.

"Got a beacon moving up. First Telkan Marine Division - Detached Power Armor Unit," Captain LawRawn's radioman said.

"One? One power armor? Are they stupid?" the Major asked.

The Captain shrugged, still staring at the industrial park. Even at five miles, it was glowing enough to make it out.

She stood there staring as a thudding noise got closer. When it stopped she looked over, readying a speech about how one power armor jock, no matter how talented, wasn't going to do anything.

Instead she realized what she was looking at almost instantly.

Just over three meters tall. All angles and armor. A huge gun over one shoulder. The armor practically shone in the darkness, somehow a silvery-black appearance. It gave out the impression of weight and menace just standing there.

She recognized it from old holo-docs.

A Ringbreaker suit.

"Lance Corporal Casey," the pilot said. "Heard you've got a Dwellerspawn problem."

"Uh," the Major said, looking the armor up and down. His psychic senses showed him a heavily built Terran with an attractive female Terran embracing him. He shuddered and turned away.

"Right there," Captain LawRawn said. She pointed at the industrial park.

The armor took two steps forward. "Yeah. It's infested. Not a problem. Have your people take a knee."

Captain LawRawn turned and shouted for all her men to take a knee, following her own advice. She put on her helmet and locked the seal.

"Will we be doing close combat, beloved?" a female Terran asked, her voice low and sultry.

"Naw. We'll do it at range," the male voice said, the armor extending out its right arm.

The cannon lifted up over the shoulder, deployed down so that the right hand wrapped around the heavy pistol grip.

"Range, four point five one three two one kilometers," the male voice said. "Brace yourselves."

The gun went off with a roar that made Captain LawRawn feel like her face was vibrating. Loose dirt clods exploded up from the ground around the Ringbreaker suit and in a fan in front of the muzzle of the big gun for almost fifty meters.

GRAV GRAV GRAV

ATOMIC ATOMIC ATOMIC

AM AM AM

The nearest millipede, the size of a good sized train, suddenly exploded into chunks that foutained up, twisted weirdly, then slammed into the ground before exploding again.

A dull red mushroom cloud began climbing into the night air.

The gun was already firing. Spaced shots, one every two seconds.

Captain LawRawn's acoustic countermeasures failed on the fifth shot and she found herself watching in silence as the millipedes, then the exposed hives, then the buildings started blowing apart into huge bubbles of wreckage that suddenly shrank down, slammed into the ground surrounded by a circle of blue graviton energy, then exploded again.

The last was three fast shots and mushroom clouds that lifted into the sky, the thermal pulse actually registering on her armor and the blast wave buffeting her.

The gun suddenly swung back up into storage position and Captain LawRawn waited for her armor's acoustic systems to reboot. They were in bad shape, and she felt bruised all over, even though she'd been inside of armor, but she still stood up and looked at the armor.

"Lozen says the area's clear. Maybe some spoor ejectors, but nothing my drones can find or she can see," the male said. "I put a couple of shots into it just in case."

"Uh, yeah," she said.

"Anything else you need more for?" the Ringbreaker asked.

"Can you do something about the moon? It gets in the way of me stargazing," the black mantid Major asked.

"No, sorry. Not on the approved target list," The Ringbreaker started laughing.

Everything suddenly went white.

Captain LawRawn heard a scream of absolute agony through the blinding white light.

-----

The exercise trail was exactly what Vuxten wanted. A long, winding, five mile trail, with athletic spots every half-mile, that was largely abandoned at night.

He'd woken up from a nightmare that he couldn't remember but left his fur slickened with sweat, his hands trembling, and the muscles of his jaw hurting. He'd gotten dressed and headed out, walking briskly down the road, when 471 had caught up to him with a group of green mantids driving a little hovertruck.

471 hadn't said anything, just waved to his buddies and jumped to Vuxten's shoulder, his wings fluttering to give him extra lift.

Now, Vuxten was just leaving the exercise trail, wearing his daily wear uniform and boots, breathing heavily as he moved over to the bench beside the parking lot and sat down.

--better-- 471 asked,

"A little," Vuxten said. He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. "The BBQ was nice, but after the fusion plant went offline, I've had a bad feeling I can't put my finger on."

--get it-- 471 said.

Vuxten opened his mouth to say more when everything went bright white. His chest felt like it was going to cave in and explode all at the same time. His cybereyes and cyberears went down. He felt nerve pain all across the side of his face and down his arms. Where his armor control implant connection hub was at the base of the skull suddenly felt like a bar of white fire stabbing into his brain.

He heard 471 give a mantid shriek of pain.

The light, and the pain, slowly faded away and Vuxten laid on the ground in the dark. He was aware his fingers were twitching and one boot was kicking.

He suddenly had a fragment of a memory, crystal clear, a split second. A stone ceiling caving in, liquid pouring into a sudden crack that was devouring the cavern, white fire filling the chamber as the floor caved in under him, dropping him into darkness filled with burning warsteel and flaming rage.

No! NO! I WILL NOT DIE HERE! Vuxten screamed in his head.

His fists clenched. His limbs straightened and stiffened. His cybereyes came back on with a click, everything tinged red.

I WILL NOT DIE I WILL NOT DIE I WILL NOT DIE I WILL NOT DIE!

Growling to himself, he pushed himself up on his hands and knees, thin tendrils of electricity running up and down between his fingers, arcing up and down his arms. He got one knee under his body and lifted up, cracking his neck by rolling his head side to side, then stood up.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

471 was picking himself up off the ground. He shook his head and looked over.

Vuxten was standing still, muzzle slightly up, his eyes glowing red, thin tendrils of electricity moving over the cloth of his adaptive camouflage uniform, around where his boots met the ground, over his clenched fists.

--buddy-- 471 asked.

The linkage to Vuxten's datalink was full of nothing but hashed garbage.

471 threw a pebble at Vuxten.

He didn't move. Nothing moved but the Telkan's chest heaving as he breathed and his lips moving as he whispered to himself.

471 threw another pebble.

Vuxten looked down, his eyes burning red.

471 went down on one knee, pressing his fist into the ground, looking up at Vuxten.

Vuxten nodded jerkily, kneeling down, pressing his fist to the ground, letting his head hang down.

Purple tendrils of phasic energy so thick it resembled electrical discharge of a Jacob's Ladder squirmed away from Vuxten's fist, feet, and knee.

Vuxten breathed steadily, trying to gain control of his thoughts.

Images kept appearing in his head.

Podlings and broodcarriers torn apart by beings driven insane by the Precursor scream. PAWM ripping apart screaming civilians. Dwellerspawn corrupting, infecting, killing.

help us

please help us

save us

save me

save them

help us

help me

help

HELP!

HELP US, WARFATHER, IN OUR HOUR OF NEED!

471 hopped nervously from foot to foot as thin wisps of glowing red energy began seeping from the Telkan's eyes.

HELP US, WARFATHER, JUST ONE MORE SECOND, FOR THEIR SAKE! JUST ONE MORE BULLET ONE MORE FOOT ONE MORE SECOND ONE MORE PUNCH ONE MORE SCREAM!

Vuxten jumped to his feet, threw back his head, and screamed. White fire poured from his mouth, his eyes burned bright red.

Lightning exploded from his fists, lashing the trees, causing the water in the tree trunks to superheat and the wooden trunks to explode. A halo of pure psychic rage flashed out, rolling over 471, who found himself tumbling ass over teakettle, lighting up the night.

Car alarms went off, the lights flashing.

Vuxten blinked, looking around.

The images had faded.

He could taste scorched battlesteel and propellant in his throat.

Vuxten staggered over to the bench, put one hand on it, bent over, and vomited up fire. He heaved, lit by the burning trees, three, four, five times, fire that pooled and flickered on the ground, electricity snarling in the depths of the liquid fire.

After a moment he was just gagging on the taste and straightened up. He pulled the water bottle out of his pocket, looked at it, sighed, and opened it. A single sniff and he flinched in disgust and tossed the container of blood into the trash.

The pools of fire went out.

--ok-- 471 asked.

"Think so," Vuxten answered.

--looked like this-- 471 said, raising his fist and bladearms to the sky and fluttering his wings. --looked like imperium guys back Second Telkan--

"That's not good," Vuxten said. He sat on the bench and burped, a spark glimmering on his teeth for a second.

Before anything else could be said a grav-lifted dropped down, grav-engines screaming, even as spotlights speared out, panning over the woods, stopping for a moment on the burning trees. Two Tukna'rn in power armor jumped out.

"It's all right!" Vuxten called out, standing up while he made sure his implant was broadcasting. "It's all right!"

"Phasic surge detected by satellite here, Citizen," one of the Tukna'rn said, panning his weapon around. "Your datalink is malfunctioning. Identity unknown."

"It was just me," Vuxten admitted. "Something about the white flash."

"Phasic pulse from the stellar mass. Source unknown," the Tukna'rn said. It made a motion. "You will board the transport. We will escort you to medical experts to determine your status."

Vuxten sighed. He'd learned better than to argue with a Tukna'rn. He bent down and let 471 climb up his arm. "I'm reaching for my ID."

"Slow movements," the Tukna'rn said.

Vuxten pulled out his billfold, opening it, and letting it hang open. He moved forward until the Tukna'rn held out one hand. Vuxten felt a laser play over him.

"Identity confirmed. Vuxten, no other name, Major, Telkan Marine Corps," the Tukna'rn said. It rotated up the weapon so the barrel was pointed at the sky. "Command wishes to know if you need medical attention."

Vuxten thought for a second. "No. I need to consult with someone. Can you find out where Lance Corporal Casey is?" he asked as he climbed onto the grav-striker.

The grav-striker took off and thirty seconds later the pilot informed him that he had found where Casey was.

On an operation to destroy a hive complex that had grown up in an industrial park.

The grav-striker was moving quietly through the night, just the thrumming of the engines, when his datalink clinked.

"Major, this is Warrant Officer Calmetik, your pilot," a voice said.

"Go ahead, Chief," Vuxten said.

"There's a situation out at the site we're heading for," the pilot said. "Some kind of armor malfunction. Ambulances are enroute. Command says its your man, Casey."

Vuxten looked at 471, who was hanging from a strap on the ceiling.

"Get us there, Chief, ASAP. He's in a Ringbreaker suit, he has a major malfunction, we can lose something big," Vuxten said.

"How big?" The Chief asked.

"Like the moon," Vuxten said.

-----

Vuxten could see the problem before the striker even dropped down.

Casey was surrounded by lighting. The Ringbreaker suit rigid. The main gun was twisted and thrown to the side. As the grav-striker dropped, Casey punched himself in the side of the head twice before the arm stretched out to full extension and dropped.

Vuxten could hear Casey screaming.

"Pogo me in, right at the edge of the lightning!" Vuxten yelled. He turned to one of the privates. "Grab a rocket launcher! Follow me!"

The private nodded jerkily.

"But, sir," the pilot said.

"DO IT! He'll lock you up any second!" Vuxten called out.

The grav-striker dropped hard, for a second Vuxten was weightless, then gravity reasserted itself. The grav-striker's belly-band hit the ground, dirty and rock spraying out behind it, and Vuxten threw himself out the door, hitting and rolling. Shoulder, back, ass, feet, coming up and turning to face Casey. The private stumbled, went down face first, but got up, grabbing the launcher and running a quick function check.

Casey pulled his arms up, bending them at the elbow, then straightened them violently.

Lightning exploded from his fists, blowing craters in the ground.

The grav-striker howled off, throwing chaff and IR flares.

471 landed on his shoulder.

"Get a schematic of Lozen from Third Shop," Vuxten said. He knelt down. "Stay here. Stay linked, I'm going to need your advice."

--careful careful careful-- 471 advised.

"Yeah," Vuxten said. He wiped his mouth and moved to the edge of the circle of phasic energy and lightning. Runes had been carved into the ground, molten rock glowing sullenly, filling the runes with red fire.

"LET ME GO!" Vuxten heard Casey scream.

"NO! YOU ARE MINE FOREVER! THAT HUSSY SHALL NEVER HAVE YOU!" Lozen screamed back.

To Vuxten, she sounded completely crazed.

Yeah, this is a good idea, Vuxten thought to himself as he took a deep breath and stepped over the line.

Immediately, his mind was filled with images. Burning pieces of Niven-Rings tumbling into black space. Cities flattened before the gun of the Ringbreaker armor. Impossible materials shredded by the firepower of the Novastar suit.

Casey laughing wildly as he fired the gun, a dozen men identically equipped on either side of him. Casey holding Peel's hand as they walked down a path between trees with leaves swirling around them. Casey holding one of Vuxten's podlings. Casey standing in the middle of a field of skeletons, screaming at the sky.

Vuxten managed to take a step as the images swirled in his brain. He began to taste fire, scorched warsteel and burning battlesteel, as he took another step. Then another. He had his arm up to shield his face, his muzzle, peeking over the top of his arm.

Lightning reached out and raked at him. His uniform shredded and parts melted, turning into vapor rather than leaving behind clots of molten material to mix in with or adhere to flesh.

Another set of steps.

The surrounding troops watched Vuxten push his way into the circle of lightning and phasic energy. The Warfather's eyes glowing bright red as he took step after step, one arm shielding his muzzle, the other reaching forward, as he leaned into the pulses of light that flashed from the armor.

"EJECT! LET ME GO! DAMN YOU, LOZEN, RELEASE ME!"

"NO! NEVER! YOU ARE MINE NOW AND FOREVER!" the voice changed, sultry, seductive, but still crazed.

"Be one with me," the armor said, her voice barely audible over the crackling of phasic lightning.

Casey screamed again and Vuxten pushed one foot in front of another.

471 went over the schematic, looking for anything that Vuxten might want. Power plant, ammo exchanger, nanoforge power condiut. He kept looking it over.

Vuxten took another two steps.

Over halfway there.

"I can feel your resistance, my love," the sentient armor whispered. "It does not matter. We will be together, we will be one. I will embrace you fully."

The armor twitched, one hand extending out, the fingers opening from the fist, spreading out.

"You have no need of her or any other," Lozen whispered. "You have me. I am all, I am everything, I am the only thing you need in this universe, Ring Breaker, Knight, Lover."

The armor started to take a half step forward and stopped.

471 saw it. Not much of a chance, but, hell, this was so far out of manufacturer's tolerance there wasn't even an appendices to help. He tossed it to Vuxten four times, hoping one signal would get through the signal.

Vuxten got it as he took another step. He gritted his teeth as he felt the lighting scour his fur down to the flesh and blister the flesh beneath in a long line across his forearm, up his biceps, and across his shoulder.

He threw a message to Casey's datalink. Not the military channel, but the channel they'd used when Vuxten had meditated for endless hours beneath Lady Keena's hard gaze.

He took another step, pushing away the images of shattering Niven-Rings, broken Doomtubes, burning planets, of a barren wheat field full of skeletons. He pushed away the images of murdered podlings, of sickeningly rent broodcarriers, of smashed tadpoles, crushed squirmlings, shredded hatchlings.

Pushed images from Casey's memories as well as his own, using the lessons Lady Keena had taught him.

Vuxten put a hand on Casey's head, on the back of the helmet.

"Even the Telkan is here to witness our fusion, beloved," Lozen cooed.

Casey reached one hand up, putting on the back of his helmet, and pulling slightly.

Then harder.

With a yank, he managed to get a small gap at the base of the skull to appear.

471 saw the tiny gap and launched the attack frame warbois he always kept around for special occasions. The warbois flooded Lozen's input ports, snapping at her with teeth tipped with maintenance access codes even as they used clawed hands to push the ports open wider.

Vuxten rammed in the blade, twisting it, feeling the superconductor datacable snap on the edge of the blade at the same time as he slapped his other hand on the dataport.

He triggered not only a command authorization and command, but a maintenance command headered order.

Lozen screamed as she straightened up. Her arms went out to her side.

The front of the armor opened and Vuxten threw himself back, rolling, feeling the last of the lightning rip and tear at his clothing and fur.

Those watching gasped as they saw the flesh, fat and skin, liquified and steaming, pull away from the muscle of the pilot. Tendrils of writhing warsteel broke free of the muscle and liquid poured out onto the ground, a huge cloud of steam bursting up from it. The eye, burning red, somehow stayed in the skull as the skinless being took two steps from the open armor, through the puddle of fluid. It took two more shaky steps.

Somehow, the Warfather was on his feet, his uniform shredded and smoking, cruel jagged lines of burned and blistered flesh showing through where the fur had been burned away.

Vuxten ran up, putting his arm around Casey's fleshless waist, ignoring the stomach churning and the agony it had to be producing for the Terran. He grabbed Casey's hand, putting it on his shoulder.

"FIRE!" Vuxten yelled.

One of the troops, armed since the grav-striker, fired the rocket launcher that was loaded up with HEAP. The rocket screamed out of the tube, the booster barely had time to kick in, before the weapon went off and a lance of molten burning warsteel slammed into the exposed interior of the Ringbreaker armor's cockpit.

The gunner thumbed the reload as the armor tried to close and fired again. And again.

The third time the armor fell to the ground, whatever animating it fleeing.

Vuxten was aware of medics running up and he got Casey beyond the circle of runic patterns that Lozen had stood in the center of. He could hear Casey breathing raggedly, smell the blood and roasted meat of the Terran's skin.

"i will not die i will not die i will not die" Vuxten could hear Casey mumbling.

"We've got him, sir, we've got him," a medic said. Two others were laying out a sterile burn-sheet.

Vuxten let them take the injured human and sat down in the dirt. A medic ran up and when Vuxten tried to push the Rigellian female away, she smacked him and knelt down, pulling out a depilatory and running it over the burns on his skin.

Vuxten tried to push the medic away, to get a look at Casey, but she stayed in the way, not listening to his protests.

She even ignored him when she laid him on his back on the sterile burn-sheet and gave him a shot of knockout juice.