> ‘We waged this war once before, we will most likely have to wage this war once more. As is the nature of the realm we deign to protect.’
>
> - Voidborne to the Sky Cardinal.
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image [https://d.wattpad.com/story_parts/918446810/images/1620b2d90b33ad02907589290442.png]
The Second Era of OverWatch was perhaps one of the grandest times to be alive, provided you had the wit, the power, and the influence to make it by.
Kenya made it by just fine.
He wasn’t particularly witty, nor influential, but he was certainly powerful. So far, that had been enough.
The capital city of 3102-C, colloquially dubbed ‘The City of the Sargon,’ made a few truths far clearer to Kenya, though he had always known them to be fact. One, was that The Empire thrived on the back of the common man, two hundred and nine years of total oppression; complete and utter annihilation for all that would dare oppose them. Kenya had learned quickly that it was safer to do your part. Though personal flair was always a good thing. So long as it got results.
Buildings rose around him in great droves, often cramped together, mostly made of grey metal, glowing with neon signs and advertisements. The sky, once choked with smog, was smothered by thick rain-clouds. Kenya appreciated that for once in what could have been many months, the city appeared sleek. Clean. The way it should have, for the facade it tried to push forward.
Despite the rain, the city was alive. Thrumming. People raced too and fro, shouting to one another about this thing and the next. A general state of alert. That’s why he and his company had been called in.
The rainy day only compounded upon the alert nature of the Local Nexus and its surrounding district. Battering wind and ice cold rain slammed into every part of Kenya's body, soaking him thoroughly. He hadn’t wanted to stay inside of the Nexus, for fear of being caught unawares, but the rain had started to get on his nerves. The distance between the location and the Nexus also would have been an issue, a minor issue, but an issue nonetheless.
Though, in truth, he didn’t really understand why everyone was so full of energy. So prone to wanting to exert themselves, especially considering the fact that, so far, Kenya hadn’t seen much cause for alarm. The warehouse the insurgents were supposedly in was fairly close to the Nexus, admittedly, but there hadn’t been much activity as far as he had seen; to his eternal annoyance.
He had been sent here as the nearest available command unit by both High Admiral Marude and Admiral Kirsk. Neither one had given him much room to debate the issue, no matter how flippant a tone he took with them.
He and his unit had set up a perimeter around the warehouse, and the local guard had taken point on moving in on the warehouse proper. He’d be damned if he risked his own men on another nuisance call.
Men clad in black NanoSteele armour lined the street in front of him, each with an emblazoned gold lettering spelling out "OVERWATCH" on their back, the army company unit's captain directly behind them atop a gun-mounted APC. He spoke into some device Kenya couldn’t see, but it amplified his voice ten fold.
‘COME OUT QUIETLY, AND UNARMED, AND WE WILL GIVE YOU A FAIR TRIAL. AS FAIR AS CAN BE FOR DEFECTORS. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING,’ He shouted.
There was a man next to Kenya, shorter than he was though still tall, sporting mousy brown hair and a boyish face. Sometimes Kenya thought he was a child in armour when he turned his baby brown eyes on him. Especially right now, clad in his usual battle dress uniform. All of the padding and kevlar gave him an almost… big man little baby head kind of look, excluding the helmet. It made him laugh. He spoke to Kenya in a hushed tone.
‘It’s been their final warning the last six times he’s shouted at them,’ he whispered, ‘when do we just storm the place.’
Kenya chuckled softly, ‘I don’t want to risk any lives on such a small call Tobi, we’ve had no word they’re anything other than regular dissenters.’ He said. ‘I’ll give them another minute, then I’ll go in.’
‘Yes sir,’ Tobi said.
The commander continued to shout, his voice almost shrill against the sound of lashing rain. Kenya couldn’t exactly get a good eye on the windows, the rain kept getting in his way, but he noticed movement every now and again, his stomach was rumbling in truth. Kenya spared a fleeting moment to wonder what kind of food he wanted tonight. Noodles, probably. This world was famous for their good noodles. He rubbed his pointer and forefinger together. He had seen less movement up top, maybe he could scare them out. It had certainly been a minute, and in truth he did not want to go in.
‘Tobi, get them to put a forty millimetre shell into that top story. Let’s try and flush them out before the noodle spots shut,’ he said.
Tobi chuckled, ‘Aye sir,’ he lifted a comm-device to his mouth, ‘Captain Lily put a round into that top story.’
The Captain turned from his spot atop the APC and put a thumb up, relaying the orders with a smack on the side of the vehicle.
Kenya’s own comms lit up, ‘waiting firing approval sir.’
He lifted a hand, moving it into a thumbs up, ‘fire when ready.’
The gun mounted atop the APC shifted with a soft rhythm, the click and clack of whatever mechanism gifted it movement loud enough that it cut through the rain. He watched as the barrel lifted with a certain methodical grace.
They had given them the opportunity to leave unscathed. Kenya would have held up that deal.
There was a soft click, then a thunderous crash, as the gun fired, demolishing a great portion of the second story wall they were facing. Kenya watched as brick and mortar fell away in droves but… He tensed.
The smoke cleared to show that only some of the wall had been damaged, a man stood with his hand out. No, not a man. Some metal thing in the shape of a man. Seven feet tall and covered in metallic scaled armour, the sphere-like thing atop it, perhaps the head, shifted to regard them with a singular purple eye. A visor maybe, should that thing be a head.
It shook off that smoking hand, a noise akin to a laugh rising through the rain to greet Kenya’s ears.
‘Were we not quick enough? OverWatch dogs,’ He chuckled. That voice was male. ‘You would so haphazardly launch ordinance into such a crowded city-scape?’
The metal thing launched from the broken space to land atop the APC, atop the captain, crushing him to its metal top with a profound spray of blood. He lifted a boot to stomp the man’s skull as he started screaming in pain. The death might have shocked him so many years ago. Now he was vaguely bemused by the showmanship.
Kenya nudged Tobi, ‘Pull everyone back and tighten the perimeter. We’ll hold him here until the rest can join us to subdue him,’ he said.
A small part of Kenya was worried. This was supposed to have been a petty call, nothing serious.
He supposed the nature of it had yet to be seen.
Tobi nodded, speaking into his comms device. Kenya brushed back his rain slick hair and approached, plastering an easy smile on his face.
‘We gave you ample time!’ He yelled up. ‘Don’t blame us for getting impatient.’
The thing regarded him, ‘I know your face boy. You’re Lieutenant Commander Kenya, commander of the Marine SIGMA Company.’
Kenya sketched out a mock bow, ‘I’m famous among dissenters am I?’
Men pulled back past him, Tobi bringing up his right side, a standard issue KinSolutions Type 89 assault rifle in his hands. The barrel pointed up.
‘As a model cog, perhaps,’ it said, ‘your blatant disregard for orders and your need to push your tasks onto the next available person are well known. A lazy murderer, they call you.’
Kenya chuckled, ‘A title my colleagues would certainly love,’ He waved an idle hand. ‘I am lazy, so lazy that I’m going to offer you the chance to surrender.’
The thing leaped down, its feet causing creators in the ground. It towered over Kenya a good foot, enough that it had to lean down to speak to him.
‘I don’t bargain with OverWatch trash,’ it bit out.
Kenya winced, ‘wrong answer son.’
Kenya raised a hand and pulled it into a fist, before swinging. He put his entire weight behind it. One might have thought that punching a man made of metal was stupid, and perhaps for the average soldier, it might have been.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Kenya wasn’t witty. Kenya wasn’t influential. Kenya was powerful. A dark tendril dripping black ichor slammed into the metal man, sending him flying backwards into the APC, and then the APC into the building. Kenya shook off his hand, watching as his veins turned black and a sensation like his blood corroding spiked through him. The tendril wavered in the air a moment, before collapsing back into the ground, and then back to Kenya.
‘E.T.A on reinforcements is six minutes sir,’ Tobi said.
Kenya scoffed, ‘We can do six minutes.’ He said.
A flash of movement. Something hard slammed into Kenya’s stomach with so much force he was knocked into the air, spinning and spinning and spinning until he collided with the road beneath him, dragging along it. It burnt his exposed skin, drawing blood. Gunfire. There was gunfire.
Kenya blinked and rose back to his feet on shaky legs. When his vision cleared, he could see the thing was wielding some kind of large hammer, it emanated a faint glow whose light was refracted by the rain. It might have been funny if it hadn’t hurt so fucking bad.
Tobi had opened fire, dodging low against a strike aimed against him. The bullets bounced off of him, not even scratching the armour.
‘I know your name too, child,’ he said as he swung. ‘Lieutenant Tobias. Last I checked you showed promise, how far you must have fallen to end up with a failure like KENYA.’ He swung as he shouted, the insult catching Tobias off guard. He faltered. He really needed to teach his Lieutenant to ignore his enemies' taunts. It knocked him off of his feet, the hammer clipping his forehead as he ducked back.
He raised the hammer again, no doubt intending on a death blow.
Kenya raised his right foot, slamming it down with effort. He knew that his veins took on that dark hue as the corroding sensation returned. He watched several massive tendrils leak off of his body, snaking through the ground like some large carnivorous worm. Each sprouted from the puddle of black tar like goo that collected around him, shifted with him.
They sprouted from the ground beneath the metal thing like a pair of large hands, before sealing him completely within a ball of substance. Kenya brought his hands together, using the motion to help his mental imagery. He was squeezing that ball tight, squeezing that thing tight.
Tobi retreated to his side, a small appreciative smile on his lips.
‘Thank you,’ Tobi said.
Kenya nodded, ‘I’ll always be here to save you Tobi, no need to thank me,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how long this’ll hold’im.’
The thing’s voice rang out from inside the sphere. ‘You rely far too much on your abilities boy. What do you do against an opponent with superior STRENGTH!’ Light began to pepper its way through the sphere, shining out in luminous bands of red.
They still had five minutes, truly Kenya didn’t think he’d be able to hold this thing that long.
Kenya tightened his grip, but he could feel it. The pressure, pushing out against him. His strength was waning, the sphere began to bubble, roiling and frothing like boiling water.
‘Behind. Me.’ Kenya ground out.
Tobi ducked behind him, hunkering down as the sphere exploded into molten light. Mist like steam billowed off of the armoured being, and it heaved slightly. The red light faded, it had been coming from the visor. There was a soft laugh, the noise set Kenya’s teeth to grind.
‘Oh Doc, if only you could see me now,’ it said. The thing raised its hammer at Kenya, at Tobi. ‘Come then.’
Kenya spared a glance for his Lieutenant, placing that unmistakable look of fear. He didn’t blame him, that metal fuck had squashed an entire person like a bug.
He nudged Tobi, ‘Together, yeah?’
Tobi took a steadying breath, ‘Right behind you sir.’
Kenya ground his heel into the tarmac beneath him, he needed to be on that thing now, he couldn’t give him a chance to keep his bearings.
The flesh like goo that leaked from him solidified beneath his feet, a single tendril propelling him into the air at an alarming speed. A faint wisping trail was left attached to him as he flew, he could see the rest remain on the ground, following his shadow.
The being followed his movements, but had to raise an arm as Tobi opened fire. The bullets bounced off of his armour, yes, but Kenya couldn’t imagine it would be easy to follow him properly with bullets bouncing off of your head.
Kenya landed with a grunt not far behind it. It was still facing an advancing Tobi. Perfect.
Kenya raised his arms and opened his palms, closing them slowly as if he were grabbing something. The goo coalesced around its ankles, wrapping around them as if they were his own fingers.
Kenya let out a sharp whistle. The metal being turned sharply, the shock might have made Kenya want to laugh. It was enough that he offered him a mocking smile before he tore his hands apart, the goo following his movements once more. The beings legs were pulled and it lost its footing tumbling to the ground with enough force the tarmac cracked.
Tobi was still moving, still firing. Kenya began to advance himself, an arm in the air willing the goo to form another large tendril, this time spiked. Kenya made to punch down, but he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Movement, a person. The speed they were moving at was perplexing.
Kenya tried to move his arm up to block, but it was like he was moving in slow motion. A fist caught him across the jaw and he was sent tumbling.
There was smoke. Tobi was yelling something. His head spun. He couldn’t bring his focus back, not even as he forced himself back onto his feet, moving his hand to swing wildly with the tendril.
‘Shit, Kenya it’s ME,’ a voice called, Tobi’s voice, ‘where the fuck did they go,’ he said.
Kenya’s vision focused, there was smoke all around them. It had dissipated enough that he could see both the Metal thing, and the man that had punched him, were gone.
Kenya rubbed his aching jaw, ‘Search the city, start close. They couldn’t have gotten far.’
‘Aye sir,’ Tobi said with a nod.
Kenya took in his surroundings, the broken tarmac, the glass and stone, the building. They had said dissenters. That wasn’t any simple dissenter. Kenya let his eyeline follow the tops of the buildings before landing on the imposing Nexus spire. Maybe he was a lazy guy, he knew he was, but he really, really, hoped this was a one time deal.
Maybe just this once, Kenya would put out some feelers himself.
Kenya pulled a soldier aside, one of his Ensigns from SIGMA Company, ‘Burtrand, I need you to run a data-acquisition request through the OWISCB, subtly. Anything about traitors, or defectors, in this region.’
He hadn’t been told about any defectors when he had been asked to come here.
There was more to this, he was sure of it.
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The metal being stood on the edge of a rooftop. He had been… saved, somehow. That boy, Kenya, might not have killed him, but he knew he most likely would not have won that fight outright, especially if they had reinforcements coming. The thought vexed him to no end. So many tests, so much planning, all to be forced to run. To flee. From one man, and not even a very exceptional man, if you thought about the wider scope of OverWatches operations. The Doctor had been right. They hadn’t been ready.
He would miss that old man, he hadn’t been able to save him from that APC round. He would pay that man's death back tenfold by the time he was done, he was sure of it.
He turned to face his apparent savour. A young, fair skinned, man who stood maybe a head shorter than he did himself. He would have been tall, had the metal being not been some seven feet. He wore a pair of dark tan pants, boots, and a dark green button up shirt. He even wore a fucking beret. He might have found it all laughable, not for the stern look on his face. The wrath. If not for the fact he had managed to get him out of there.
There was a second man, much older, a fair skinned face framed by greying combed back hair. He wore a suit. A fucking suit.
‘I’m sure you’re wondering who we are,’ the old man said.
The metal being scoffed, ‘I am,’ he turned to the younger man, ‘how did best him.’
The younger man eyed him, ‘I was faster than he was.’
The older man held a hand up, ‘We can discuss these things later, there are more important issues at hand.’
‘Like?’
The old man puffed himself up, inhaling before he spoke, ‘My name is Rythian Jeremiah, I am the Director of the Resistance Initiative, this here is my second in command Aaron Rodriguez.’
‘The… what…?’ It asked. ‘I’ve never heard anything about–’
‘Ironically,’ Jeremiah said, ‘that’s by design. But we know all about you, we know all about you. We know why you fight most importantly.’
‘How.’
There was no way they could know anything about him, he had had every last shred of evidence he had ever even existed scrubbed. Mostly scrubbed.
‘As I said,’ Jerimiah said, ‘we can discuss these things later. I understand you must have a thousand questions for us but I, we, have a proposition for you, if you’d be willing to listen.’
Aaron remained quiet off to the side, but he had an eyebrow raised. In amusement or confusion he couldn’t tell.
‘I suppose I owe you for the rescue,’ he nodded, ‘go ahead.’
‘We want you to join us, act as one of our generals. We know what you can do, we know what you’ve done so far. You would be an invaluable asset. You could lead armies, free entire populations, as one of our elite generals.’
He tilted his head, ‘What’s in it for me? It sounds like I’d be doing things for you, and getting very little in return.’
Aaron shrugged, ‘we meant it when we said we know everything about you,’ he said, ‘we know exactly who you’d want to free, and they’d be one of our priorities.’
‘You mean that?’ He asked.
Jeremiah smiled, ‘we are going to free all of them, every sentient being big and small, from the tyranny of OverWatch.’
The metal being might have taken longer to consider, but he truly didn’t have many other options.
So he nodded, ‘I’m with you, then.’ He would find out more later. They owed him that much. For now he could go along with them, it would do him no harm, should they truly need him this badly. So badly they would intervene in that fight.
Jerimiahs smile only deepened, ‘Then welcome to the fold, second of the four horsemen. From this day forward, you will be known as War.’