Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:15:49 GMT
Stokes was still awake at the early hours of dawn whilst the rest of the partying party were either asleep from being drunk or just being tired. He walked over to the serving basin and got a egg and sausage muffin and some orange juice. "Ah i love the smell of alcohol in the morning, i should let the children sleep". Stokes started to wander of and headed to the watchtower to get some fresher air rather than the booze infected air.
Vale sat cross-legged on the watchtower roof with a bacon roll in hand as he happily chewed away. The storm was relenting briefly and so he sat out in the glow of the rising sun. He someone coming upstairs and continued eating.
Stokes heard the sound of chewing and the distinct smell of bacon, "Morning Vale how are you on this fine morning with your new love bacon"
Vale swallowed then hung his upside down over the ledge. "Morning stokes, everyone’s drunk and i'm bored." Vale swung down and landed infront of Stokes finishing his roll upon landing.
"Well what do you want me to do about it, im here to eat my breakfast, and why are you so happy there are no shadows for you, is there something you’re not telling me Vale". This sudden happyness of Vale surprised Stokes to an exstent that he was worried.
Vale just shrugged "I'm smirking, theres a diference between that and happiness. A few of your men thought they could fight me earlier, one actually managed to punch me. I might have flooded the medical tent slightly."
"What, Damit Vale dont do that they dont know whats in there heads they only want to fight so next time dont do it, Damit now im going to the medical tent to check on them, how badly did you hurt them", Stokes asked walking away.
"They're still in one piece, think one of them might be a few toes down though" Vale just shrugged and swung back onto the roof.
"Damit Vale as long as they can still fight". Stokes headed towards the Medical Tent and worried about the safety of his men. Stokes was about to walk into the Tent when something buzzed on his wrist mounted Command Pad. "Great Kurze has new orders for me i will check them later".
Vale didn't understand what he'd done wrong. A group of men had attacked him, he hadn't even killed any of them! He slid of the roof and walked off into the forest to find Kaira.
Stokes walked into the Medical Tent to find 7 of his men in different states of bandages and stiches, "Well so you are the brave lot who tried to take on Vale", "Sir we only wanted to try our luck seeing as you can fight him" one of the Privates said, the other Privates agreed with the one speaking. "Well who said i can fight Vale, He has nearly killed me multiple times and i havent even damaged him granted i have hit him but wounded him no thats Nye on impossible for us Krieg soldiers, So dont do it again or i will tell him to make you come of worse, Ok", "SIR YES SIR" the 7 soldiers shouted, "Good now rest easy boys". Stokes turned and started to walk out of the tent and headed to his quarters to check his orders.
"Morning sister" Vale said throwing a sandwhich at seemingly nothingness. A hand reached out from the foliage and grabbed it. "How are you this morning?" Kaira looked inside the sandwhich to see a simple cheese sandwhich. She shrugged and began eating. "I'm fine, don't quite understand how alchohol can affect humans so much" she said biting at her sandwhich. Vale just shrugged and began to walk back to camp, leaving Kaira to her breakfast.
Stokes was sitting in his quarters on the edge of his bed reading his orders and they came as a big shock to him, Personally from the Warmaster and so he had to follow, "Men im going to need help, we need my tent packed up and i need to pack my things, and be careful there will be a shuttle landing in about an hour so lets get to it".
Vale watched the procedings from the shade of an ancient tree. "Where are you going?" he asked Stokes as the man packed up. "I was under the impression we were fighting a war, or was that just a vivid dream?" he said the slightest tone of sarcasm in his voice.
"I have had new orders Vale from Kurze so im sorry but im leaving the fighting to you and your sisters and Merrick and Celena, my men are still here just me gone so when i hear the war is one here make sure i have men to drink with, Dont worry i will come back to tidy up what you leave".
"Who you leaving in command of the your army." Vale queried.
"Kaira will take control of the Krieg forces here, so when you next see her tell her, now i must finish packing up Vale so maybe our paths will cross again".
Vale just shrugged again and dissapeared as he phased away. He appeared next to Kaira's tree. "Stokes is going" he said bluntly. No response. "He's leaving soon." Again no response. "Your in command of the Krieg forces now." A stick came flying down and hit the ground next to him. "I'm reading!" came Kaira's voice from somewhere up in the tree. "Have you heard a word i've said?" Vale asked. "Of course I have, but i'm trying to relax" she said in an irritated tone. Vale stood there a few more moments before dissapearing again.
the Shuttle landed in the centre of the FOB and the back opened up and Stokes walked onto it he said his final goodbyes to the men and told them to follow Kairas orders and to NOT fight Vale and if Nyx starts speaking to you walk away if you cherish your life.
Vale watched the shuttle lift off from the top of the watchtower just as the storm began to return. The skies had darkened and the rain was back. Vale couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as the storm returned to its earlier ferocity.
Stokes sat in the cargo hold of the shuttle, "Commander we are about to reach Orbital level shall we engage the reheats", "No just keep going at present speed". Then all of a sudden a Large burst of AA started to hit the Shuttle, and Slowly rip it assunder. "Stokes we are taking Heavy Fi...". Before the pilot could finish he was hit directly with an AA round knocking out the controls as well. Stokes ran into the Cockpit and moved the dead Pilot "Sorry Soldier". He tryed to regain control but couldn't. "This is Shuttle 7159 we are going down anyone who can here this we are going down Mayday Mayday". All Stokes could do now was wait for death as the Shuttle plummeted from Low Orbit and back down to the planet.
Kaira heard Stokes transmission just as she looked up to see a fireball come flying in low over the forest. "You see that?" Vale asked as the two of them started running. "Of course I did idiot" Kaira shouted as the two sprinted as fast as they could. A collosal boom could be heard as the fireball made impact with the earth. Kaira looked up to see a huge column of smoke rising up. "Dark triumvirate are going to be all over that crash soon" She pushed her armour to the limit sprinting at astounding speeds until she finally made it into a clearing. tress had been snapped like twigs and there was a huge gouge in the earth finally culminating in a burning wreckege of what had once been a Krieg shuttle. "Glad I didn't ride along with him" Vale said morbidly. Kaira just ran to the flaming wreckege. "Get this open!" she shouted at her brother. Vale brought his Scythe to bear and began cutting an entrance into the shuttle. The rain had doused the majority of the flames. Vale was finally done and the two climbed inside to find a mangled corpse. "Well the pilot's dead" Vale said bluntly. Kaira saw a large chunk of hull near the rear of the shuttle with a boot poking out from underneath. "Help me with this will you?!" she shouted at Vale and the two slid the huge metal slab off of stokes. His helmet was caved in on one side, the visor shattered. His armour was half ripped off with just one shoulder piece holding the chestplate on. "Bloody hell" Vale said looking at the man. "Lets at least get him out of the wreckage" Kaira said stunned at the damage to her friend. The two managed to drag him out of the shuttle into the rain and Kaira pulled off the wreck of a helmet. "Stokes! Stokes goddammit say something!" she shouted at the motionless body before her. "Stokes!"
Stokes just opened his eyes to see Kaira shouting at him "Give me 5 more minutes im tired and just want to sleep". Stokes was shutting down from the inside the impact should have killed him instantly but luckily his armour saved him but he was still dying,
A third person was suddenly stood over Stokes. He wore a long white coat with ornate blue detailing. "Do you want to live commander?" asked Lock as he looked at the dying man.
"What are you saying im going to be fine just let me sleep, Also what can you do for me?". Stokes didnt want to get invovled with Locks crazy experimental stuff he had already been through enough as it was.
Lock went to one knee beside Stokes. "Death is coming for you Commander Stokes. I offer you a chance to cheat it. But I need your answer, yes or no?" Kaira had tears running down her face. Vale stood sentinel as voices began to be heard in the distance.
Lock smirked. "You two. Back to camp, Stokes and I have some business to attend to" he stretched out a hand to the dying man and in the next instant the two were gone. Kaira just blinked at the puddle where Stokes had been. "Kaira! We have to go!" she barely heard Vale's voice. "Kaira! Kaira" she snapped out of it and turned to look at Vale. She nodded and the two left as quickly as they came. By the time the DT reached the crash site the only thing left was scrap and smoke.
Stokes awoke in an unfamiliar setting. He tried to move but found himself to be tied down. The pain suddenly hit him and he coughed up some blood. "Ah your awake." Lock walked into vision. "I've got you on life support right now, but in your condition the only hope really is implants and cybernetics. Lets see, shattered left eye socket, 9 broken ribs, both legs broken, collarbone shattered, pelvis shattered, both arms broken in multiple places, a skull fracture, a punctured lung, one destroyed kidney and a failing heart. Well Stokes. I can offer you the finest in technology when it comes to replacing all this. But it will come at a cost." Lock looked up at him.
"What is the cost Lock"
Lock smiled "Straight to the point it seems. I know you have feelings for my daughter, hence our past confrontation. I know you would rather die than allow her to come to harm. I want to utilise that, you would act as a guardian, a protector. There to defend her and assist her in battle, a comrade, a friend. Your duty would to be to ensure she never comes to harm." Lock looked Stokes in the eye. "Do these terms seem an acceptable trade for allowing you to cheat death?" lock asked.
"If it means she will be safe then yes i will be her protector but i will still have feelings for her your not messing with my memories or any Shit like that Lock".
Lock nodded. "Of course, I don't expect those feelings to fade, quite the contrary, I expect them to help you to excel in your task. I have no need to edit your mind Stokes have no fear. Are you prepared for the procedure?" Lock asked looking at Stokes once more.
Sure just get on with it"
"Well seeing as regular anesthetic doesn't work on you this might hurt a little" Lock brought down his armoured gauntlet onto Stokes skull, knocking him out. "Let's get to work gentlemen" Lock said as a team of surgeons entered the chamber.
When Stokes came to he was weak and could hardly move, and somwhow he was in his quarters on the Nex Krieg joint world, "Ugh... My head i had a horrible dream". Stokes was thinking aloud and didn't notice that there was someone else in ihs quarters.
The figure looked up from her book. "Your awake, how are you feeling Commander Stokes?" she asked
Commander?, No im a Major, That was all a bad dream right, it didn't happen, did it?" Stokes had a pain shoot across his chest and through various places across his body.
"The events of the past week are all real Stokes" she said. "You technically died but Lock replaced the failing body parts to allow you to live. Hows the new eye working for you?" she said motioning to his left eye.
"New Eye?" Stokes had no idea what she meant or who she was.
"You don't even notice do you?" she said with a smile staring at the bright blue cybernetic eye.
"I guess i didnt, who are you by the way?"
The woman stood up revealing a mask across her eyes revealing only one purple eye. "My name is Ania. Father asked me to watch over you whilst you recovered from the surgery."
"Shit, another Sister of Kaira..." Stokes tried to get up "Kaira shit how is she i must see her and tell her im fine" Stokes felt strange and then sat back down on the bed losing all of his strength and just lay there. "Look at me im now even more of a mess ain't i".
"I'm sure she's fine." Ania said "You are awake two days before we expected you to be, no wonder your feeling weak."
"so what happened my mind is slowly recovering but i cant remember some of the details".
"You were in a rather serious crash, when moving on to your new command your shuttle was shot down from sub orbital levels, your armours the only thing that saved you. Vale and Kaira dragged you from the wreckage. Lock then appeared and brought you back and placed you on life support until you agreed to his terms, and now you've had alot of bone structure and organs replaced to keep you alive." she finished looking for a response.
Stokes flopped back and laid back on his bed, "So Lock replaced parts of me, only bones and other things not Arms or anything Ania?"
"Well you had some reather achaic implants in your legs so we replaced them with muscle compositites so it now looks like standard flesh, but with the strength of Nex armour" she said with a smile. "Your arms were badly damaged but we only had to replace a few bones, others could be repaired. For all intents and purposes alot of your bone structure is at this point reenforced with quantum quatro silica meaning you could be hit hit by a small vehicle and come off unscathed internally." she finished.
"Well this sucks, does this mean Lock is evectivly in charge of me now or am i still my own man and under the command of Kurze with Krieg?".
"I don't know if you remember the terms of all this, but you are now permenantly asigned to Kaira as a guardian. It is your task to ensure she does not come to harm and you will protect her until your dying breath." She looked at Stokes.
Well i am still being deployed somewhere else and she will still be fighting DT on that planet, so how can i protect her when im away fighting in another war?".
"Did you not just listen? Your permenantly asigned to her. No get out, no new orders. You are by her side until the day you die. Which I hope for your sake is before she does."
"So i cant fufil my orders to my men in the other planets, So where is Kaira then i will at least go and See her".
"Indeed, she's still on the forest world. You will be returned in a few days time but for now I advise you rest. We took the liberty of adapting your armour aswell." Ania said.
"Ok well i will go back to sleep, but what did you did to my armour?"
“Just get some rest, we can show you when you next wake up. You should feel privilaged, Evira herself worked on your suit. For now sleep, I will wait here until you wake" Ania sat back in her chair and once more began reading her book.
Stokes fell back asleep and tried to think about what had happend over the past weeks. He found out that he really needed the sleep and was gone instantly.
Ania looked at the sleeping giant. He had been through more than most mortals she thought. His suffering rivaled that of her own. She merely shrugged and went back to reading.
2 days past and Stokes finally awoke, "Ugh... well now i have to actually move again dont i?" he said sitting up and swing his legs of the bed
Ania looked up from her book. "Ah your awake, indeed you do i'm afraid, don't try too much too quickly." she walked over to steady him as he stood up. "Shall we go and have a look at the armour?" she asked passsin stokes a shirt.
Stokes put on the shirt, "Sure lets go have a look at what you have done to it". Stokes stood up and was very faint but he still had the strenght to stand, "You lead the way then Ania".
Ania nodded before walking out into the corridor. Along the walls up until the door were krieg soldiers. As Stokes stepped through the doorway a sergeant shouted "Attention!" All the soldeirs snapped to attention and saluted Stokes. One man stepped forwards and brought an oversized rifle forwards, handing it to Stokes. The soldier saluted then returned to the men lining the walls. Ania smiled "They've refused to leave since you arrived" she said walking off down the corridor.
"My Rifle, They didnt want to leave, there good men some of them will follow me into hell if they have to". Stokes turned to the soldiers "Ok men im fine now go about your duties, I wont be leaving this world just yet". Stokes turned back round and continued followong Ania.
"Yes sir commander sir!" came the reply and the men disbanded. Ania led Stokes into one of the hangar bays. "Lights!" she shouted and the hangar was bathed in white light. At the centre stood a suit of armour. It gleamed in a silvery blue and stood at nearly eight feet tall. It was alot sleeker han its predecsessor Stokes noticed. "This is the mark 1-C Vanguard assault platform" came Ania's voice over a loud speaker that boombed throughout the hangar. "A modified version of your initial Vangaurd suit. We took the basic framework and upgraded systems. The optics have been enhanced to allow you to percieve targets at up to two kilometeres away on multiple sensor spectrums. The motors will now allow you to run at nearly seventy miles per hour for periods of time. The shock absorbers will allow you to fall from nearly five hundred metre heights unscathed and the armour itself can shrug off tank shells and builds in a power cell that will intergrate with your rifle. Other than that the suit contains climate control and high powered communications arrays allowing you to command entire armys from the front."
"So basically im a walking Tank, and a Walking command point, and have i got taller last time i checked i was 7ft tall so how can i wear an 8ft siut of armour?. Stokes was impressed the armour was nice and he liked the new aspects of it and was happy that the Nex got there hands on it.
"After surgery your pushing seven and a half feet. The shock absorbers account for the other half foot. This is a prototype suit so I wouldn't advise over working the suit until its perfected. We'll be expecting service reports on how it operates every evening your in the field." Ania motioned for the suit "Walk up to it, its bio-coded to you and will open to admit you."
Stokes walked up to the Suit and as Ania said it opened to him and then he stepped inside the Suit. "Ok this just feels wierd". Stokes admited. Then the suit kicked into life and Stokes felt its power surging through him, "Ok now i have to get back to the Front, so lets get moving".
"I can't clear you to be shipped out until we get you some training time in that suit." Ania said. "Right, i'm going to run through some target practice with you." at this the framework of a small town built itself in the hangar. "40 VR targets will present themselves, you need a 95% kill ratio to move on to the next stage of training. Are you ready?" Ania asked. "Starting in 3, 2, 1, trainig commence."
Stokes was instantly ready and started to move at speed trying to find the targets, Stokes found a target and Swiftly eliminated it with his Rifle, "That should tell them where i am" Stokes went and found a building and started to went to the top floor and set up a Bouncing Betty by the door way incase of a sneak attack then proceded to set up his rifle on facing out the window and waited.
"Try telling your armour and rifle to interface. We modified your rifle fire high powered shots in a similar way to Kaira's it now Prism bolts that you can vary the power on. Unilimted ammo, but in the cas you want to have fun it still mount a magazine for standard gauss shells." Ania said over the loudspeaker as the first target stepped on the explosive and disapated. 3 more came straight from outside the building.
"Great they know im here, um... Select rounds, High Explosive" Stokes felt the rifle change the rounds, "Great now let go face the enemy", Stokes jumped down from the building landing on one of the soldiers and then fired a round at the 2 left and watched as the 1 second delay went and then the soldiers were gone. "ok that was great, How many are left Ania?"
"Nicely switched. 36 remaining, 15 encircling you." Ania called across the loudspeaker.
"Is there anything that can help when being encircled?"
"You can take advantage of your enhanced speed to out manouvre your enemies" Came her response.
Stokes put his rifle down and got out his Combat Knife, and waited, The 15 enemys encircled him and rasied there weapons, Stokes moved fast and Decapitated 5 of them then the rest of them were slashed open at the stomach, Stokes being Stokes left one alive, who got out his rifle and started shooting Stokes, He walked up to the Soldier and grabbed him by his neck and snapped it, then Impaled him to the wall via his Shoulder.
the 15 targets disapated once more. 8 more began shooting from a rooftop.
Stokes began to take fire, "So thats how you want to play is it" Stokes began to climb the building and then he reached the top and through a Smoke Grenade at the enemys, "Now where am i, Am i here, Nope" Stokes killed 2 of the enemys and then waited to see how long it took for them to notice.
The VR light soldiers cam straight at Stokes from the smoke and began to attack him in melee. Another three came up a ladder and began attacking.
Stokes pulled out his bayonet, it was considerable smaller than his Combat Knife but still effective. Stokes started plunging the Bayonet into the guts of the soldiers and twisting and ripping it out.
"10 left" ania shouted.
"Where abouts Ania"
"Moving towards you across the rooftops" came her reply.
"Ok lets go meet them in the middle then". Stokes started to head in the area that they would be coming from and pulled out his pistol, He saw them coming and fired 8 rounds at the advancing soldiers killing 3 of them.
"7 left, they're going for melee" came Ania's voice.
Stokes dropped his bayonet and decided he would fight with his fists for this one. "Come and get me boys im right here".
The first two came at Stokes glancing off his armour and were quickly dispatched, stokes blocked the third and killed it also. Fourth and fifth managed to stab into the armour joints simulating damage and the sixth and seventh jumped onto Stokes back.
Stokes was getting mad that they were laying hits on him so grabbed the 2 on his back and throw them on the floor, then he punched the other two and layed them on top of the others, Them he proceded to pull out a grenade and nestle it inbetween the four soldiers and then he walked away as the grenade went off. "There we go, is that all of them Ania".
"Congratualtions Stokes, evaluation test complete." Ania said with a smile. She walked down into the hangar and shook his hand.
"So what know then Ania"
"Now we have an actual combat scenario" she said and the hangar door opened revealing a golem stood there. It was twice Stokes height and Cocked its head at the sight of him. "Begin" Ania spoke and the Golem grabbed Stokes and flung him out of the base before following.
"Ok lets not do that again", Stokes looked at the golem trying to calculate its weak points. "Ok this is going to be harder than i thought, i need my Rifle". Stokes rifle was still in the Hangar so to get it he needed to get past the Golem, "Speed dont fail me now". Stokes with the new speed he was given Ran past the golem and grabbed his rifle.
The golem looked at Stokes rifle and grew its pistol and broadword and began firing at Stokes.
"Shit forgot they could do that". An anger built he had just remembers it was these things that had killed his brother and his father. "Switch to Armour Piercing rounds and Rapid Fire". Stokes's Rifle changed to the different submunition and Rapid fired at the Golem. "GET SOME YOU CRYSTAL BASTERD, JUST DIE". Stokes unleashed his anger on the golem.
Stokes bullets ripped straight throught the golem leaving holes whilst the energy shots disappated across it. The Golem swiped with its broadsword catshing Stokes and sending him flying from the impact.
Stokes after the impact regained his footing "Ok, Switch to High Explosive rounds Burst fire mode". The Rifle did the same and changed rounds, "Ok stabalise". Stokes stabalized the Rifle and open fired with the HE rounds at the golem.
The golems right arm was blown off leaving it with just its sword. It lunged at stokes again missing as he dodged. "Nicely done commander" Ania shouted.
Stokes continued to fire at the Golems other arm hopefully destroying that arm as well.
Stokes second burst ripped the majority of the golems torso off but it kept coming swinging at Stokes repeatedly.
Stokes was getting bored now the golem was taking damage but still coming "Ok lets finish this", Stokes ran outside and aimed at the golem, "Switch to the Krieg Special and wait for my order to fire, Stabalize". the Rifle was ready with the round loaded now Stokes Waited.
The golem charged Stokes and began to bring its sword down upon him.
"FIRE". The rifle fired the round into the centre of the golem and the golem exploded into a small nuclear explosion. Stokes braced and prepaired another shot incase the first one did nothing.
The golems legs were all that were left and retracted into a small crystal a palm in size. "Very well done Stokes." Ania started clapping from her command tower balcony.
"Are we done here now can i get back to the fronts now Ania?"
Ania motioned to a waiting Nex gunship. "Of course Commander. I expect daily reports" she said with a smile. "Good luck, and do not forget the terms of your continued survival" she said with a nod.
Vale sat cross-legged on the watchtower roof with a bacon roll in hand as he happily chewed away. The storm was relenting briefly and so he sat out in the glow of the rising sun. He someone coming upstairs and continued eating.
Stokes heard the sound of chewing and the distinct smell of bacon, "Morning Vale how are you on this fine morning with your new love bacon"
Vale swallowed then hung his upside down over the ledge. "Morning stokes, everyone’s drunk and i'm bored." Vale swung down and landed infront of Stokes finishing his roll upon landing.
"Well what do you want me to do about it, im here to eat my breakfast, and why are you so happy there are no shadows for you, is there something you’re not telling me Vale". This sudden happyness of Vale surprised Stokes to an exstent that he was worried.
Vale just shrugged "I'm smirking, theres a diference between that and happiness. A few of your men thought they could fight me earlier, one actually managed to punch me. I might have flooded the medical tent slightly."
"What, Damit Vale dont do that they dont know whats in there heads they only want to fight so next time dont do it, Damit now im going to the medical tent to check on them, how badly did you hurt them", Stokes asked walking away.
"They're still in one piece, think one of them might be a few toes down though" Vale just shrugged and swung back onto the roof.
"Damit Vale as long as they can still fight". Stokes headed towards the Medical Tent and worried about the safety of his men. Stokes was about to walk into the Tent when something buzzed on his wrist mounted Command Pad. "Great Kurze has new orders for me i will check them later".
Vale didn't understand what he'd done wrong. A group of men had attacked him, he hadn't even killed any of them! He slid of the roof and walked off into the forest to find Kaira.
Stokes walked into the Medical Tent to find 7 of his men in different states of bandages and stiches, "Well so you are the brave lot who tried to take on Vale", "Sir we only wanted to try our luck seeing as you can fight him" one of the Privates said, the other Privates agreed with the one speaking. "Well who said i can fight Vale, He has nearly killed me multiple times and i havent even damaged him granted i have hit him but wounded him no thats Nye on impossible for us Krieg soldiers, So dont do it again or i will tell him to make you come of worse, Ok", "SIR YES SIR" the 7 soldiers shouted, "Good now rest easy boys". Stokes turned and started to walk out of the tent and headed to his quarters to check his orders.
"Morning sister" Vale said throwing a sandwhich at seemingly nothingness. A hand reached out from the foliage and grabbed it. "How are you this morning?" Kaira looked inside the sandwhich to see a simple cheese sandwhich. She shrugged and began eating. "I'm fine, don't quite understand how alchohol can affect humans so much" she said biting at her sandwhich. Vale just shrugged and began to walk back to camp, leaving Kaira to her breakfast.
Stokes was sitting in his quarters on the edge of his bed reading his orders and they came as a big shock to him, Personally from the Warmaster and so he had to follow, "Men im going to need help, we need my tent packed up and i need to pack my things, and be careful there will be a shuttle landing in about an hour so lets get to it".
Vale watched the procedings from the shade of an ancient tree. "Where are you going?" he asked Stokes as the man packed up. "I was under the impression we were fighting a war, or was that just a vivid dream?" he said the slightest tone of sarcasm in his voice.
"I have had new orders Vale from Kurze so im sorry but im leaving the fighting to you and your sisters and Merrick and Celena, my men are still here just me gone so when i hear the war is one here make sure i have men to drink with, Dont worry i will come back to tidy up what you leave".
"Who you leaving in command of the your army." Vale queried.
"Kaira will take control of the Krieg forces here, so when you next see her tell her, now i must finish packing up Vale so maybe our paths will cross again".
Vale just shrugged again and dissapeared as he phased away. He appeared next to Kaira's tree. "Stokes is going" he said bluntly. No response. "He's leaving soon." Again no response. "Your in command of the Krieg forces now." A stick came flying down and hit the ground next to him. "I'm reading!" came Kaira's voice from somewhere up in the tree. "Have you heard a word i've said?" Vale asked. "Of course I have, but i'm trying to relax" she said in an irritated tone. Vale stood there a few more moments before dissapearing again.
the Shuttle landed in the centre of the FOB and the back opened up and Stokes walked onto it he said his final goodbyes to the men and told them to follow Kairas orders and to NOT fight Vale and if Nyx starts speaking to you walk away if you cherish your life.
Vale watched the shuttle lift off from the top of the watchtower just as the storm began to return. The skies had darkened and the rain was back. Vale couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as the storm returned to its earlier ferocity.
Stokes sat in the cargo hold of the shuttle, "Commander we are about to reach Orbital level shall we engage the reheats", "No just keep going at present speed". Then all of a sudden a Large burst of AA started to hit the Shuttle, and Slowly rip it assunder. "Stokes we are taking Heavy Fi...". Before the pilot could finish he was hit directly with an AA round knocking out the controls as well. Stokes ran into the Cockpit and moved the dead Pilot "Sorry Soldier". He tryed to regain control but couldn't. "This is Shuttle 7159 we are going down anyone who can here this we are going down Mayday Mayday". All Stokes could do now was wait for death as the Shuttle plummeted from Low Orbit and back down to the planet.
Kaira heard Stokes transmission just as she looked up to see a fireball come flying in low over the forest. "You see that?" Vale asked as the two of them started running. "Of course I did idiot" Kaira shouted as the two sprinted as fast as they could. A collosal boom could be heard as the fireball made impact with the earth. Kaira looked up to see a huge column of smoke rising up. "Dark triumvirate are going to be all over that crash soon" She pushed her armour to the limit sprinting at astounding speeds until she finally made it into a clearing. tress had been snapped like twigs and there was a huge gouge in the earth finally culminating in a burning wreckege of what had once been a Krieg shuttle. "Glad I didn't ride along with him" Vale said morbidly. Kaira just ran to the flaming wreckege. "Get this open!" she shouted at her brother. Vale brought his Scythe to bear and began cutting an entrance into the shuttle. The rain had doused the majority of the flames. Vale was finally done and the two climbed inside to find a mangled corpse. "Well the pilot's dead" Vale said bluntly. Kaira saw a large chunk of hull near the rear of the shuttle with a boot poking out from underneath. "Help me with this will you?!" she shouted at Vale and the two slid the huge metal slab off of stokes. His helmet was caved in on one side, the visor shattered. His armour was half ripped off with just one shoulder piece holding the chestplate on. "Bloody hell" Vale said looking at the man. "Lets at least get him out of the wreckage" Kaira said stunned at the damage to her friend. The two managed to drag him out of the shuttle into the rain and Kaira pulled off the wreck of a helmet. "Stokes! Stokes goddammit say something!" she shouted at the motionless body before her. "Stokes!"
Stokes just opened his eyes to see Kaira shouting at him "Give me 5 more minutes im tired and just want to sleep". Stokes was shutting down from the inside the impact should have killed him instantly but luckily his armour saved him but he was still dying,
A third person was suddenly stood over Stokes. He wore a long white coat with ornate blue detailing. "Do you want to live commander?" asked Lock as he looked at the dying man.
"What are you saying im going to be fine just let me sleep, Also what can you do for me?". Stokes didnt want to get invovled with Locks crazy experimental stuff he had already been through enough as it was.
Lock went to one knee beside Stokes. "Death is coming for you Commander Stokes. I offer you a chance to cheat it. But I need your answer, yes or no?" Kaira had tears running down her face. Vale stood sentinel as voices began to be heard in the distance.
Lock smirked. "You two. Back to camp, Stokes and I have some business to attend to" he stretched out a hand to the dying man and in the next instant the two were gone. Kaira just blinked at the puddle where Stokes had been. "Kaira! We have to go!" she barely heard Vale's voice. "Kaira! Kaira" she snapped out of it and turned to look at Vale. She nodded and the two left as quickly as they came. By the time the DT reached the crash site the only thing left was scrap and smoke.
Stokes awoke in an unfamiliar setting. He tried to move but found himself to be tied down. The pain suddenly hit him and he coughed up some blood. "Ah your awake." Lock walked into vision. "I've got you on life support right now, but in your condition the only hope really is implants and cybernetics. Lets see, shattered left eye socket, 9 broken ribs, both legs broken, collarbone shattered, pelvis shattered, both arms broken in multiple places, a skull fracture, a punctured lung, one destroyed kidney and a failing heart. Well Stokes. I can offer you the finest in technology when it comes to replacing all this. But it will come at a cost." Lock looked up at him.
"What is the cost Lock"
Lock smiled "Straight to the point it seems. I know you have feelings for my daughter, hence our past confrontation. I know you would rather die than allow her to come to harm. I want to utilise that, you would act as a guardian, a protector. There to defend her and assist her in battle, a comrade, a friend. Your duty would to be to ensure she never comes to harm." Lock looked Stokes in the eye. "Do these terms seem an acceptable trade for allowing you to cheat death?" lock asked.
"If it means she will be safe then yes i will be her protector but i will still have feelings for her your not messing with my memories or any Shit like that Lock".
Lock nodded. "Of course, I don't expect those feelings to fade, quite the contrary, I expect them to help you to excel in your task. I have no need to edit your mind Stokes have no fear. Are you prepared for the procedure?" Lock asked looking at Stokes once more.
Sure just get on with it"
"Well seeing as regular anesthetic doesn't work on you this might hurt a little" Lock brought down his armoured gauntlet onto Stokes skull, knocking him out. "Let's get to work gentlemen" Lock said as a team of surgeons entered the chamber.
When Stokes came to he was weak and could hardly move, and somwhow he was in his quarters on the Nex Krieg joint world, "Ugh... My head i had a horrible dream". Stokes was thinking aloud and didn't notice that there was someone else in ihs quarters.
The figure looked up from her book. "Your awake, how are you feeling Commander Stokes?" she asked
Commander?, No im a Major, That was all a bad dream right, it didn't happen, did it?" Stokes had a pain shoot across his chest and through various places across his body.
"The events of the past week are all real Stokes" she said. "You technically died but Lock replaced the failing body parts to allow you to live. Hows the new eye working for you?" she said motioning to his left eye.
"New Eye?" Stokes had no idea what she meant or who she was.
"You don't even notice do you?" she said with a smile staring at the bright blue cybernetic eye.
"I guess i didnt, who are you by the way?"
The woman stood up revealing a mask across her eyes revealing only one purple eye. "My name is Ania. Father asked me to watch over you whilst you recovered from the surgery."
"Shit, another Sister of Kaira..." Stokes tried to get up "Kaira shit how is she i must see her and tell her im fine" Stokes felt strange and then sat back down on the bed losing all of his strength and just lay there. "Look at me im now even more of a mess ain't i".
"I'm sure she's fine." Ania said "You are awake two days before we expected you to be, no wonder your feeling weak."
"so what happened my mind is slowly recovering but i cant remember some of the details".
"You were in a rather serious crash, when moving on to your new command your shuttle was shot down from sub orbital levels, your armours the only thing that saved you. Vale and Kaira dragged you from the wreckage. Lock then appeared and brought you back and placed you on life support until you agreed to his terms, and now you've had alot of bone structure and organs replaced to keep you alive." she finished looking for a response.
Stokes flopped back and laid back on his bed, "So Lock replaced parts of me, only bones and other things not Arms or anything Ania?"
"Well you had some reather achaic implants in your legs so we replaced them with muscle compositites so it now looks like standard flesh, but with the strength of Nex armour" she said with a smile. "Your arms were badly damaged but we only had to replace a few bones, others could be repaired. For all intents and purposes alot of your bone structure is at this point reenforced with quantum quatro silica meaning you could be hit hit by a small vehicle and come off unscathed internally." she finished.
"Well this sucks, does this mean Lock is evectivly in charge of me now or am i still my own man and under the command of Kurze with Krieg?".
"I don't know if you remember the terms of all this, but you are now permenantly asigned to Kaira as a guardian. It is your task to ensure she does not come to harm and you will protect her until your dying breath." She looked at Stokes.
Well i am still being deployed somewhere else and she will still be fighting DT on that planet, so how can i protect her when im away fighting in another war?".
"Did you not just listen? Your permenantly asigned to her. No get out, no new orders. You are by her side until the day you die. Which I hope for your sake is before she does."
"So i cant fufil my orders to my men in the other planets, So where is Kaira then i will at least go and See her".
"Indeed, she's still on the forest world. You will be returned in a few days time but for now I advise you rest. We took the liberty of adapting your armour aswell." Ania said.
"Ok well i will go back to sleep, but what did you did to my armour?"
“Just get some rest, we can show you when you next wake up. You should feel privilaged, Evira herself worked on your suit. For now sleep, I will wait here until you wake" Ania sat back in her chair and once more began reading her book.
Stokes fell back asleep and tried to think about what had happend over the past weeks. He found out that he really needed the sleep and was gone instantly.
Ania looked at the sleeping giant. He had been through more than most mortals she thought. His suffering rivaled that of her own. She merely shrugged and went back to reading.
2 days past and Stokes finally awoke, "Ugh... well now i have to actually move again dont i?" he said sitting up and swing his legs of the bed
Ania looked up from her book. "Ah your awake, indeed you do i'm afraid, don't try too much too quickly." she walked over to steady him as he stood up. "Shall we go and have a look at the armour?" she asked passsin stokes a shirt.
Stokes put on the shirt, "Sure lets go have a look at what you have done to it". Stokes stood up and was very faint but he still had the strenght to stand, "You lead the way then Ania".
Ania nodded before walking out into the corridor. Along the walls up until the door were krieg soldiers. As Stokes stepped through the doorway a sergeant shouted "Attention!" All the soldeirs snapped to attention and saluted Stokes. One man stepped forwards and brought an oversized rifle forwards, handing it to Stokes. The soldier saluted then returned to the men lining the walls. Ania smiled "They've refused to leave since you arrived" she said walking off down the corridor.
"My Rifle, They didnt want to leave, there good men some of them will follow me into hell if they have to". Stokes turned to the soldiers "Ok men im fine now go about your duties, I wont be leaving this world just yet". Stokes turned back round and continued followong Ania.
"Yes sir commander sir!" came the reply and the men disbanded. Ania led Stokes into one of the hangar bays. "Lights!" she shouted and the hangar was bathed in white light. At the centre stood a suit of armour. It gleamed in a silvery blue and stood at nearly eight feet tall. It was alot sleeker han its predecsessor Stokes noticed. "This is the mark 1-C Vanguard assault platform" came Ania's voice over a loud speaker that boombed throughout the hangar. "A modified version of your initial Vangaurd suit. We took the basic framework and upgraded systems. The optics have been enhanced to allow you to percieve targets at up to two kilometeres away on multiple sensor spectrums. The motors will now allow you to run at nearly seventy miles per hour for periods of time. The shock absorbers will allow you to fall from nearly five hundred metre heights unscathed and the armour itself can shrug off tank shells and builds in a power cell that will intergrate with your rifle. Other than that the suit contains climate control and high powered communications arrays allowing you to command entire armys from the front."
"So basically im a walking Tank, and a Walking command point, and have i got taller last time i checked i was 7ft tall so how can i wear an 8ft siut of armour?. Stokes was impressed the armour was nice and he liked the new aspects of it and was happy that the Nex got there hands on it.
"After surgery your pushing seven and a half feet. The shock absorbers account for the other half foot. This is a prototype suit so I wouldn't advise over working the suit until its perfected. We'll be expecting service reports on how it operates every evening your in the field." Ania motioned for the suit "Walk up to it, its bio-coded to you and will open to admit you."
Stokes walked up to the Suit and as Ania said it opened to him and then he stepped inside the Suit. "Ok this just feels wierd". Stokes admited. Then the suit kicked into life and Stokes felt its power surging through him, "Ok now i have to get back to the Front, so lets get moving".
"I can't clear you to be shipped out until we get you some training time in that suit." Ania said. "Right, i'm going to run through some target practice with you." at this the framework of a small town built itself in the hangar. "40 VR targets will present themselves, you need a 95% kill ratio to move on to the next stage of training. Are you ready?" Ania asked. "Starting in 3, 2, 1, trainig commence."
Stokes was instantly ready and started to move at speed trying to find the targets, Stokes found a target and Swiftly eliminated it with his Rifle, "That should tell them where i am" Stokes went and found a building and started to went to the top floor and set up a Bouncing Betty by the door way incase of a sneak attack then proceded to set up his rifle on facing out the window and waited.
"Try telling your armour and rifle to interface. We modified your rifle fire high powered shots in a similar way to Kaira's it now Prism bolts that you can vary the power on. Unilimted ammo, but in the cas you want to have fun it still mount a magazine for standard gauss shells." Ania said over the loudspeaker as the first target stepped on the explosive and disapated. 3 more came straight from outside the building.
"Great they know im here, um... Select rounds, High Explosive" Stokes felt the rifle change the rounds, "Great now let go face the enemy", Stokes jumped down from the building landing on one of the soldiers and then fired a round at the 2 left and watched as the 1 second delay went and then the soldiers were gone. "ok that was great, How many are left Ania?"
"Nicely switched. 36 remaining, 15 encircling you." Ania called across the loudspeaker.
"Is there anything that can help when being encircled?"
"You can take advantage of your enhanced speed to out manouvre your enemies" Came her response.
Stokes put his rifle down and got out his Combat Knife, and waited, The 15 enemys encircled him and rasied there weapons, Stokes moved fast and Decapitated 5 of them then the rest of them were slashed open at the stomach, Stokes being Stokes left one alive, who got out his rifle and started shooting Stokes, He walked up to the Soldier and grabbed him by his neck and snapped it, then Impaled him to the wall via his Shoulder.
the 15 targets disapated once more. 8 more began shooting from a rooftop.
Stokes began to take fire, "So thats how you want to play is it" Stokes began to climb the building and then he reached the top and through a Smoke Grenade at the enemys, "Now where am i, Am i here, Nope" Stokes killed 2 of the enemys and then waited to see how long it took for them to notice.
The VR light soldiers cam straight at Stokes from the smoke and began to attack him in melee. Another three came up a ladder and began attacking.
Stokes pulled out his bayonet, it was considerable smaller than his Combat Knife but still effective. Stokes started plunging the Bayonet into the guts of the soldiers and twisting and ripping it out.
"10 left" ania shouted.
"Where abouts Ania"
"Moving towards you across the rooftops" came her reply.
"Ok lets go meet them in the middle then". Stokes started to head in the area that they would be coming from and pulled out his pistol, He saw them coming and fired 8 rounds at the advancing soldiers killing 3 of them.
"7 left, they're going for melee" came Ania's voice.
Stokes dropped his bayonet and decided he would fight with his fists for this one. "Come and get me boys im right here".
The first two came at Stokes glancing off his armour and were quickly dispatched, stokes blocked the third and killed it also. Fourth and fifth managed to stab into the armour joints simulating damage and the sixth and seventh jumped onto Stokes back.
Stokes was getting mad that they were laying hits on him so grabbed the 2 on his back and throw them on the floor, then he punched the other two and layed them on top of the others, Them he proceded to pull out a grenade and nestle it inbetween the four soldiers and then he walked away as the grenade went off. "There we go, is that all of them Ania".
"Congratualtions Stokes, evaluation test complete." Ania said with a smile. She walked down into the hangar and shook his hand.
"So what know then Ania"
"Now we have an actual combat scenario" she said and the hangar door opened revealing a golem stood there. It was twice Stokes height and Cocked its head at the sight of him. "Begin" Ania spoke and the Golem grabbed Stokes and flung him out of the base before following.
"Ok lets not do that again", Stokes looked at the golem trying to calculate its weak points. "Ok this is going to be harder than i thought, i need my Rifle". Stokes rifle was still in the Hangar so to get it he needed to get past the Golem, "Speed dont fail me now". Stokes with the new speed he was given Ran past the golem and grabbed his rifle.
The golem looked at Stokes rifle and grew its pistol and broadword and began firing at Stokes.
"Shit forgot they could do that". An anger built he had just remembers it was these things that had killed his brother and his father. "Switch to Armour Piercing rounds and Rapid Fire". Stokes's Rifle changed to the different submunition and Rapid fired at the Golem. "GET SOME YOU CRYSTAL BASTERD, JUST DIE". Stokes unleashed his anger on the golem.
Stokes bullets ripped straight throught the golem leaving holes whilst the energy shots disappated across it. The Golem swiped with its broadsword catshing Stokes and sending him flying from the impact.
Stokes after the impact regained his footing "Ok, Switch to High Explosive rounds Burst fire mode". The Rifle did the same and changed rounds, "Ok stabalise". Stokes stabalized the Rifle and open fired with the HE rounds at the golem.
The golems right arm was blown off leaving it with just its sword. It lunged at stokes again missing as he dodged. "Nicely done commander" Ania shouted.
Stokes continued to fire at the Golems other arm hopefully destroying that arm as well.
Stokes second burst ripped the majority of the golems torso off but it kept coming swinging at Stokes repeatedly.
Stokes was getting bored now the golem was taking damage but still coming "Ok lets finish this", Stokes ran outside and aimed at the golem, "Switch to the Krieg Special and wait for my order to fire, Stabalize". the Rifle was ready with the round loaded now Stokes Waited.
The golem charged Stokes and began to bring its sword down upon him.
"FIRE". The rifle fired the round into the centre of the golem and the golem exploded into a small nuclear explosion. Stokes braced and prepaired another shot incase the first one did nothing.
The golems legs were all that were left and retracted into a small crystal a palm in size. "Very well done Stokes." Ania started clapping from her command tower balcony.
"Are we done here now can i get back to the fronts now Ania?"
Ania motioned to a waiting Nex gunship. "Of course Commander. I expect daily reports" she said with a smile. "Good luck, and do not forget the terms of your continued survival" she said with a nod.