“Death. Death comes to us all. Whether it be slowly, creeping during the night. Snuffing a soul in their sleep. Or in the heat of battle with the clatter of steel and the boiling led. It will come, and you cannot avoid it forever so long as you inhabit your mortal coil. So thus, I will create kings of steel to govern eternally. So that maybe… So that maybe death will never come to my empire.”

- The Final Emperor

Hugo felt the bile build up in his throat as the General stared down at him. Her presence was oppressive. It was like Hugo was drowning and slowly sinking into the bottom of a massive pit. Never to be seen again. He was afraid. So very afraid. His hands began to shake, and his knees begged him to simply fall. But he couldn’t fall just yet… So, the little Trooper went to speak.

But his voice didn’t work. Even as Hugo tried and tried and tried to speak it didn’t work- then a second later his voice did work. But it wasn’t his own. It was too high, and too raspy, even for him. Like someone else was speaking through his mouth and not letting him control his own body. And then it hit Hugo, he knew exactly what was going on. Silvia was puppeting his body.

“Hello there general…” Hugo’s words were not his own. His own light and airy sort of voice lowered itself significantly and gained an unnatural rasp. And the worst part was that Hugo was utterly powerless to stop his lips from moving. “I take it this is about our little deal, no?” He purred, which just made the little trooper’s stomach roll. What deal? Why was the general doing this? Was Silvia not actually a Niner? Just what the ever loving, High Lords damned, fuck was going on?

The General chuckled, mostly to herself though. And in a strangely mechanical voice she addressed Silvia once more. “Our deal is completed. Your current vessel has been given to you, and I was given intelligence on the Awakened’s Lost City.” The General took a step forward, towering over the little trooper. “You have done well infiltrating them, and then finding your way back to us… But now that you are free, what do you wish to do?”

Hugo wanted to vomit as Silvia forced him to chuckle. It was a horrid, icky feeling. And that feeling only heightened as Silvia forced him to speak, “I believe that I will stick with this little Trooper here. Just to see how his story plays out! He’s kind of fascinating like that… And I do believe he is capable of withstanding the Yggdrasil infusions. Like all those other Blessed… And upon analyzing his genetics he does have a direct lineage to Him. Should be fascinating.” Once again Silvia forced Hugo to giggle.

If she wasn’t in control, he would’ve vomited by now. But the General spoke once again, sending more ice into the Trooper’s veins. “Very well,” And with a snap of her fingers six Scions entered the room. Flanking Hugo. “Sergeant, you are to follow these men and do exactly as they say. Our business is done here… And if you dare to speak of this to anyone, I will personally bathe you in radiation until the flesh melts from your bones. Am I clear?”

Hugo didn’t realize it, but he could speak again… But when the General cleared her throat and spoke again, “I said, Am I Clear, Trooper?” Which elicited a small squeak from Hugo before he finally spoke up. “Aye ma’am! Terra Invicta!” He really was wishing that his voice wasn’t so damn squeaky. He sounded like a girl… Or just a very wimpy guy… It was shitty regardless.

The General laughed- not just a faint chuckle, but a full-blown laugh - and gave Hugo a faint pat on the shoulder. “Terra Invicta Trooper. Now go.” She then turned on her heel and stalked off to High Lords know where. Leaving Hugo to stand and contemplate things. Like his voice. An ongoing issue. And it was an issue that had plagued him to his very core, even since he was a child. It was just horrid and sucky and made him stupidly self-conscious.

It was kind of a recurring thing, wasn’t it? The self loathing and the absolute embarrassment that Hugo was played with… But one of those was made up, take a guess as to which, would you? That was probably besides the point. But the thoughts were burning themselves into his brain. It was getting so insufferable. He just wanted to be fucking normal for once in his damn life.

But Hugo was, once again, ripped out of his thoughts by a rough, mechanical wheeze from one of the Scions. Shit… Yeah, he was about to be put under the knife for something he had no clue about, wasn’t he? Yeah… This was going to be a shit time, wasn’t it? But he was a Trooper, so all he could do was smile and look to his impromptu escorts. “Well… Best not to wait any longer… Lead the way… hehe….” He was so fucked.

But the Scions still escorted him regardless of any words uttered by the tiny Trooper. Practically dragging him out of the command complex and through the rain. Their pace was almost impossible to keep up with- but it just looked like they were lightly jogging. Meanwhile Hugo was running full tilt, still barefoot… He’d need to get his feet checked out after this for any infected cuts.

It was a long three kilometers, even if the time passed by like a speeding bullet. Hugo could feel his muscles scream with every footfall. And he supposed that he hadn’t healed up all the way despite being in the infirmary for a long, long time. It was some shit. But hey! Running was supposed to be good for you. So, there’s a bright side to all of this… Or so Hugo liked to hope. Because without hope what were you? Some hollow shell of a human, left to simply sit and mope about pathetically.

After the little Trooper was ushered to the medical complex and deposited with an entire clade of veteran Troopers. They would’ve been a scary sight if Hugo hadn’t just been thrown into two massive battles against the Awakened. That kind of just took all the fear out of him. It was hard to be afraid of people just like you after going through All That Shit. If anything, Hugo was just tired. Real, real tired.

The Trooper clade ushered him into a restricted wing of the medical complex. Where he was shunted into a small, dark cell. A moment filled with noises Hugo didn’t bother to tune into passed, and a door opposite to the one he entered appeared. Revealing yet another stark white hallway, but this time it had bright blue arrows on the ground. Pointing his path out.

Hugo followed along with the arrows, trailing mud and blood with each step. And it seemed like he was going to walk forever down the stark hallway. But as he walked Hugo started to notice the little details of the hallway. How it was composed of interlocking metal plates, and how every five meters there was a black line in the ground, probably for a door, he even noticed the small cameras embedded in the walls… He was being watched.

After walking maybe a hundred meters more Hugo was confronted with a wall. The hallway was a dead end- or so he thought. The ‘wall’ opened up, a rather spacious operating room. Complete with medical staff and at least a dozen Troopers flanking them… This was just going to be unpleasant. And that feeling only solidified when he tuned back into the world.

A hard, but vaguely feminine voice spoke out first, belonging to who Hugo could assume was the lead surgeon. “Sergeant. Please remove all clothing above your belt and lay down onto the operating table, face down. Make haste, this operation is time sensitive.” Her face was obscured by a gasmask looking device. And she was clad head to toe in a protective suit. Odd garb for a surgery. This only really cemented Hugo’s feelings of dread.

But Hugo still did as told. He unbuttoned his shirt, set it aside, then pulled off his undershirt. Leaving him completely bare-chested. And he took a moment to look down at himself, a rare occurrence that was. And Hugo was- well he wasn’t appalled at what he saw. But it was a pretty bad shock for him, that was for damn sure…

Hugo was lean and wiry. He’d always known this but seeing himself really reinforced that. He had little definition on his body too, just taught muscle… And scars. Dozens of small dots across his torso, which he guessed was where shrapnel was pulled out of him. And there was a pretty bad gas running from the bottom left of his ribcage, running all the way up to his collarbone. Eh… Could be worse couldn’t it.

“Sergeant. Please proceed to the operating table and lay down.” The surgeon snapped. And a few Troopers took tentative steps forward. He probably should comply; it would be bad for his health if he didn’t… Well- this entire thing was bad for his health.

But Hugo still complied, stepping forwards and laying himself down on the operating table. But he couldn’t help but begin to sweat. And that sheer, unrelenting combination of fear and dread spiked once they shaved the back of his neck. Then wiped over it with a strangely cool piece of cloth. Probably an alcohol wipe… This wasn’t going to be good, was it?

Hugo soon got his answer when a syringe was jammed into his neck, and for a single moment his body felt like it was on fire. Hugo couldn’t help but scream. And scream he did. A horrid, blood curdling thing. Like the last scream someone would hurl into the night before their inevitable, gory death. And then- Then nothing. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t feel, he could move, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t even hear Silvia mocking him. Which he was positive she was doing.

After a moment that flickered between a scant second, and a towering eternity Hugo was able to feel. He could feel his extremities first. And then the upper parts of his limbs. And finally, he could feel his core. Next came his thoughts. Which were just a jumbled mess of sensory hell. Then was his voice, allowing him to croak out a single word… just barely though…

“Caesar…”

And finally, his hearing came to him. But the scary part? Everything was quiet. Hugo knew he could hear, but there wasn’t anything to hear… Though he could taste mint. He had no idea why, but his mouth was minty. Hugo didn’t like that. Or anything mint flavored… The guy, Mint, was alright though… Not quite ‘good’ in Hugo’s books, due to his connections with the General, but Mint was alright.

Before he could really think anymore Hugo was peeled off of what he assumed was the surgical bed… But his eyes- eye wasn’t working right. And his prosthetic wasn’t online yet. So, all he could see were blurry outlines of what he assumed were med-techs. But Hugo could still feel. And he could feel himself be shoved onto a gurney. Hell- he could even feel it when he was rolled down that long hallway.

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Hugo could also hear words, but for the life of him he couldn’t make them out. Every time he focused on them; they’d get all garbled. It was getting pretty damn annoying, pretty damn fast. Hugo, once again, found himself absolutely helpless in a scary situation. And once again he couldn’t act even if he wanted to. It was scary- no. It was terrifying. The entire situation was terrifying the little Trooper to his very core.

But Hugo shoved those thoughts aside. Trying to focus on the good…. Caesar… He remembered her! He remembered her ferocity, and her valor. But Hugo also remembered her smile and the softness she had shown him in the infirmary proper. Sure, they hadn’t known each other for very long. But he trusted her implicitly. She had his back when it counted, and he had hers. And that was what mattered.

Those happy thoughts ignited something within the little Trooper. Causing him to focus more on the garbled words, trying to make them out. Slow and painful as it was… But it was working. And slowly he was able to make out bits and pieces, better than nothing. Or so he supposed.

“Evacuate… Protect… Dragonfly… Aurelian… Now… GO… GO… GO…”

Aurelian… He had heard that before, but where? . . . Caesar! That was her last name! He was being evacuated too. Which was probably a bad thing. A really bad thing. Troopers don’t really do the whole ‘retreat’ thing. Not often at least. Mainly because the ground they stood on was worth more than any individual’s life. Hell, a square foot wrapping around the wall was worth the lives of an entire legion. And those Troopers would gladly die to defend it.

He was also being protected, which was good. But that was just an assumption. And assumptions were dangerous. Because you could assume that a room was clear, and that room could be very much so not clear. A mistake like that could cost your, and your fellow Trooper’s lives. That same logic applied in virtually every situation a Trooper was in. Trust, but always verify.

Then it came. A soft burning in the back of his skull. Much like one Silvia would torment him with… But… But it felt different. Like something was moving beneath his skin. It was moving, it was burning, it was trying to break free…

A moment later the pain intensified. Like someone had lit his flesh on fire and wouldn’t let it bleed through the skin. That fire underneath his skin started to move. It moved and squirmed and wormed its way around Hugo's body. Wreathing his organs and enveloping his bones. It was smothering him from inside out. And he, once again, couldn’t find himself able to scream.

This thing beneath his skin was worse than Silvia. It was more invasive, more malicious. The fire underneath his skin wanted him dead. It hated him. And in that moment, Hugo hated it. He hated it so much that all he could think of was hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate consumed every neuron in his brain and every muscle fiber that wrapped his bones. He hated it for hurting him. He hated the world for hurting him like this.

Then…

Hugo felt like he was floating. Floating in an inky black void that had swallowed the world. Like he was in the belly of some gargantuan serpent or other monster. This Leviathan had consumed him… And he could now feel it slithering throughout his body, in a strange, paradoxical way. He was the serpent that had eaten him, and the serpent was him.

Somewhere in the inky black distance of the Leviathan’s innards Hugo saw a light. A faint, soft, blue light. And through sheer power of will alone he moved himself forwards. Swimming through the innards to get to that light- or misty collection of lights. It seemed so far off… His arms hurt so much… His soul hurt so much… It wouldn’t stop. But- strangely, Hugo didn’t mind the pain from moving. It didn’t quite feel good. But it was better than feeling nothing at all.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hugo found himself in the blue mist. Which quickly enveloped him. Soothing the pain in his arms and the pain in his soul. It was like a mother’s warm embrace… Or as close as Hugo could imagine. He didn’t really have those kinds of memories.

The memories he did have were not warm, or even remotely motherly. But Hugo really didn’t want to dwell on those thoughts- he could just taste the bile building up in his throat. Which was odd- because he couldn’t feel anything else besides that and the lingering burning underneath his skin. But between the two? Hugo would take the bile any day of the week.

But after a few moments of the pain slowly fading Hugo was numb again. He couldn’t even taste the bile at the back of his throat, thank the High Lords for that small mercy. The little Trooper was simply just left with the warmth, not unlike Caesar… Just more intangible if that made any sense… But at this point Hugo didn’t know what really made sense at this point. It was like everything, everywhere, all at once had been taken from him on that table. Leaving Hugo drifting around in his own psyche.

The warmth soon faded back into obscurity- save for a little tingling running down his back, and an even fainter tingling running down what Hugo assumed were his nerves. So, if he had to guess, something had just inserted itself into his nervous system. Which was a gross thought which made Hugo really regret reading those medical textbooks. Hugo had found that the less he knew about the world, the less horrified he would be with it.

That was a shameful thing, to Hugo at least. He, quite obviously, loved to learn and to explore. But the cruel cruel world he lived in, knowledge always came at a price. A damn steep one. Not just sleepless nights, but a life of constantly being horrified by what he had discovered. Take the Lusus Naturae for example. The very weakest of humanity’s foes.

But the weakest of the weakest was still capable of tearing a Trooper to shreds whilst shrugging off everything that poor soul threw at it- and then some. Hell- Hugo had been deployed against them before. It was a training exercise between ten full clades of cadets. Only half that number made it back. Yet for some damnable reason they were commended for keeping casualties to a minimum.

That entire train of thoughts was even more infuriating than the last. That he, a human, one born free of sin and vice, was to be forced against such harrowing threats. Threats that wanted to utterly decimate and defile him for simply existing. It made Hugo furious. And his anger only swelled when he thought of all the people who he knew that were just gone… Like Sally… Poor, sweet Sally.

Ripped in half during a brutal melee against the Awakened. She wasn’t even twenty! She was a child. A fucking child died like that. It was horrid! Absolutely horrid. And that wasn’t just Hugo’s feelings for her- that he has shoved very far down -speaking. He was simply just appalled. Beyond appalled eve. He was so utterly disgusted that he had run out of words to describe the feeling.

The burning returned, yet this time it was paired with a slight chill. Creeping its way to his bones… Then Hugo’s fury changed… It didn’t go into remission. It just changed. And the gears started to churn inside of his head. About life, and just how he was going to get out of the belly of this Leviathan. And about what he’d do once outside of it, finally conscious. High Lords above, he just wanted to leave.

Hugo didn’t just want to leave, he wanted to break free. He wanted to tear this monstrous serpent to bloody ribbons from the inside out, just so he could crawl out covered in gore and viscera. Hugo focused on the burning, on the chill, and on his fury. That unrelenting fury. Directing it all to his hands. Shoving it out of his mind and onto his body.

Which- Well- It sounded odd. But it felt right. Shoving his emotions into a body part. It was a foreign concept; Hugo wouldn’t deny that much. Yet… Pouring his molten Id out of the crucible that was his soul and into the mold of his hands just felt so right. He was doing something, he had no clue what, but Hugo was doing something.

Then it hit him. What he really wanted. What he really, really wanted… Who he really really wanted. Causing a singular word to come to mind. Burning itself into his psyche like a cattle brand. Hugo normally would’ve been taken aback by his greed, yet in this moment? The young man fully embraced it. Letting greed worm its way through his mind and down to his hands like all the other emotions.

The normally swirling maelstrom that was Hugo Marce’s mind was calm on the surface, yet boiling underneath. And almost as if by divine intervention Hugo began to move through the Levithan, to the very extremities of its gargantuan gut. And he placed his hands on it. Feeling what should be soft tissue being hard as Adamantium. Yet, for some reason, Hugo didn’t feel afraid. He simply knew what he must do.

Hugo forced all of those swirling emotions out of his body with a silent scream. He forced them out, and through his fingertips. Slamming this divinely unknown force on the steely wall that confined him in this void-like hell. He wanted to burn it all, and he wanted out.

He wanted out. He wanted out. He wanted out. He wanted out. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT. HE WANTED OUT.

The little Trooper’s wish was granted. The wall was sundered in twain. Revealing a steel gray ceiling and a blisteringly bright fluorescent light above him. He was out! He really was! He was out and alive. Thank the Emperor. Thank the High Lords. Thank whatever God that had let him out.

And like a typhoon the world slammed back into Hugo. Dozens of voices, hundreds of sounds, and a plethora of colors. All slamming back into him… But Hugo didn’t mind. Not one bit. There was a sudden, and completely newfound appreciation of life, and what it meant to be alive that also slammed into Hugo. Sure, it was more subtle, but it was very much so there.

The next sensation that hit him was a biting sting on his cheek, and then a very familiar voice rang out. “YOU FUCKIN’ FUCK-” Caesar… She was alive! And sobbing by the looks of it. “YOU- YOU- You almost died there you fucker! I-I-I w-watched you flatline, you selfish prick. You can’t be doing that y’hear? DO Y’FUCKIN’ HEAR ME?”

Hugo attempted to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse wheeze of air, so he nodded. Just to be yanked out of his bed- quite painfully he might add. There were all sorts of things stuck into his arms and chest. But it was safe to assume that Caesar didn’t give much of a flying fuck about any of that… Hugo couldn’t blame her, he didn’t care either.

After being plucked from his medbed, Hugo was plopped in one of the moderately uncomfortable seats on what Hugo assumed was an aircraft. Wait… He remembered these seats! He was in a fucking Dragonfly. But the real question was ‘why?’ because Hugo was utterly stumped as to why he was in a Dragonfly… He also didn’t know what in the name of the High Lords was happening.

Slowly, but surely Hugo croaked out a scant few words, “Where… Where… Are… We?” Immediately his throat started to burn. That same bile from before started to rise up in his throat. The pain just felt so surreal. To the point where the little Trooper had to blink the tears from his eyes, as he tried to not look weak in front of the others. To little effect though… It was kind of hard to look strong after a surgery.

But the mood of the crew bay instantly chilled. It was like dropping ice into a bucket of water. The entire world froze for a moment, the dozens of Troopers who were idly chatting, playing dice, or other activities froze. Which was a shame, because Hugo had just been able to tune into the entire crew bay. He was really enjoying the mood, and like an idiot he went and killed it.

It was John, who Hugo realized was sitting to his right (with Caesar to his left), who spoke up. His voice was like music, so beautiful- yet so pained. “The… The Wall was breached by something. We have no idea what it is exactly. But there’s a fifty meter gash through it. All Troopers stationed there are gone. Shortly after that a large force of Awakened flew through. We’re estimating in the millions, at the least. And to top this shit-sandwich off. The fucking Lusus Naturae pushed in.”

John cleared his throat, and finally looked down to Hugo. His graceful features contorted into a grim frown. “We… We lost it all. Full retreat to the High Wall. And… And the only reason why we’re still here is because the Lieutenant General assigned us to be your guard. She- they did something to you, and now you’re more valuable than anything else from that base. Congrats… We’re also still on track for the Academy…”

John took another breath in and slipped a hand into his fatigue pants. “I’m- I’m sorry for this. But orders are orders. And you’re not to be conscious until we reach safety. So please don’t resist Sergt- Hugo…” The way that John spoke moved the little Trooper, who simply shifted his head to the side, opening up his neck.

In a flash something was jammed into his neck, and Hugo was out like a light. Luckily Caesar was able to catch him, strap his lower body in, and lay his head on her lap. Hopping to provide even a small modicum of comfort… She truly didn’t know what was about to happen. And that thought scared her shitless.