So, here it is. I had not realized that I have not updated this story in over a full year.

I apologize to any fan of this story. Here we go again!

By the way, the protagonist of this story is purely evil, but our antagonists are good guys. Just remember that.

Oh, by the way... it's Company of Heroes...

You understand what I meant by that as you read along.


Chapter 29

Earth

USA

Los Angeles

3 Hours after the battle of CDC

Arthur had safely arrived back to the airport of Los Angeles and his expensive limousine was driven to his house, where his silent yet strangely burly butlers unloaded his luggage. Arthur paid no heed to them as he made his way deep into his mansion, and then to the cellar where the copious number of fine wine filled the racks. He waved his hands in a deliberate and staccato movement, weaving his spell and a portal appeared there. Screaming and moaning, the creatures of the Warp that existed only by the immense will of El Sokauron greeted their master as he entered the portal and stepped into a dark gothic dungeon.

It was a horrid place of many rooms of marble and stone, statues of terrifying images and embodiments of evil were displayed so casually as if it was a natural state of things. Daemons of the Terror God, their indigo tentacles squirming here and there moved about in disjointed groups, leaving trails of darkness behind their foul forms. As he stepped into the place, Arthur reverted back to his real physical body, that of the Chaos Lord El Sokauron. The 'Mantle of Loki', now upgraded and improved to defend him better than an average Terminator Armor, was clad upon his flesh as it assembled from nothing and nowhere just as the Power Sword 'Fang of Dread' also improved upon by allowing one of his more powerful daemons to possess its cold adamantium blade. The 'Flames of Damnation' was no longer a simple Inferno Pistol either. Given his increased strength, it was now a proper Melta Gun, though fabulously decorated with writing tentacles of razor-sharp edges and horrific faces of daemons. All these weapons and armor, however, was but a fraction of the immense power that El Sokauron now commanded.

His powers had grown in the last year of staying on Earth, as the raw and clean powers of the Warp filled him in ways that he could not have imagined. Unlike the corrupted and tainted dredges of power left in the Warp, discarded by the other Chaos Gods who had already sucked out what they wanted, the Warp in this universe was far more nutritional for El Sokauron, and he had begun to taint it with his own colors, making it that much more delicious. He had gathered so much power during his time here, and though much of it went into the development of his dastardly plans, he still had enough to birth a dozen Greater Daemons if he had wanted so. Yet, it was neither the time nor the place for such displays. He had moved beyond the initial spree of destruction. He was a soon-to-be god, and his purpose was to sow terror followed quickly by despair. To break the spirit of a man or a nation was not about defeating him physically or threatening him with violence like Khorne. To truly bring despair was not about the inevitability, for all life ends and once people recognize that their end is inevitable, the despair of Nurgle's wrought was also worthless. Some would seek to flee from the terrifying truth about themselves, their ends and their significance in the universe by forgetting it all in endless debaucheries and hedonistic lifestyles promoted by Slaanesh, yet, even that must end sometime. Even the endless schemes and changes and mutations of Tzeentch was but a speed bump in the road to that inevitable end: that everything ends.

Arthur, or El Sokauron as he began to identify more with, knew that he would raise up these humans to their highest, and crack apart their mighty pedestal, dropping them down to the deepest depth of failures and defeat where they would see absolutely no way of clawing their way out of. He would cast them down, break their will, shatter their resolve and drown them in utter despair. They would give up and they would find only solace in him.

His metal boots finally stopped where a broken Astartes clad in elaborate yet tattered Power Armor lay crumpled on the floor before him. Interestingly, the Astartes was very much like El Sokauron. They were wearing almost same armor. It was as if this Astartes was an older version of El Sokauron, or at least as the humans of this world remembered him so.

"Rise, my puppet," He commanded.

The Astartes rose and they stood at equal height, their bare faces looking exactly same. Yet, only one smiled.

"You have done well," El Sokauron commented as he looked at the broken decoy he had deployed. "Were they fooled?"

"Yes, master. They were clearly confused. My defeat would have been seen as your defeat, as you have wanted it so…" The broken fake-Chaos Lord answered with reverence, and in the exact same voice as the real Chaos Lord.

"You have earned your respite, puppet."

With a wave of his hand, El Sokauron withdrew his powers from the broken man, and forms and shapes were discarded from the Astartes and turned him into a grievously injured Chaos Marine, no more special than a normal trooper of their kind. The Chaos Marine collapsed afflicted by his wounds no less real than bullets that pierced his flesh. Indeed, he was standing only through the will and power of his terrible master.

The Astartes disappeared in a thin wisp of smoke, but something remained behind. The three Spirit Stones of Eldar Warlocks bound in a twisted metallic bind with one stone still glowing.

"Excellent. It appears that the deaths and decimation had finally filled the requirements. Though far from what I wanted, it shall do enough to coax these artificial creations into reality." He growled a pleased smile as he fondled the Spirit Stones.


Earth

USA

Washington State

Secret Operations Center for Joint Task Force 999

7 Hours after the battle of CDC

"How is the clean up going, colonel?" Jake asked as he ran his fingers through the hair trying to find that tiny wet spot he failed to properly dry out.

"It's messy. I won't deny that the whole thing took us utterly by surprise, but the manner of their attack really took us down a notch. None of our analyst envisioned our enemy finding monetary resources, logistic infrastructure and personal network to hire so many people," The colonel growled an answer.

"Well, how could they have known? We know virtually nothing about this man… or creature. All we know about him comes from scant approximation of his reality from the fluff writings by some tabletop game company. 'Evil' is the best summary that their written information could give," The younger solider cajoled his superior.

"Sirs, the meeting is about to begin. They are now establishing secure connection to the White House and the Pentagon," Colonel's aide spoke up.

Colonel Hayes and Jake were walking side by side, each carrying yellow paper-folders and documents that were clearly marked top secret in every way except for the actual wording. The limping colonel was attended by lieutenant Hennessy, and though he was a junior officer by rank, Jake knew that younger man to be a capable fighter and brilliant administrator, who has, in the last seven years, helped the colonel maintain the program's administrative side. Although Lt. Hennessy began to work at JTF as a Sergeant Major, he was recommended to become an officer, and armed with a letter of recommendation from Col. Hayes, Hennessy had become a Lieutenant and a highly valued member of the team.

"Alright, Jake, just remember to be careful with your words. Although this is not a formal debrief and nothing will remain in record, it is a grave matter that we discuss," The colonel warned, and Jake nodded.

They finally arrived at the conference room and pushed the door open into a room where six large screens were faced by semi-circular table with seven chairs. All but two chairs were already filled. Colonel Hayes took the central seat and Jake took his place to the man's right. Hayes nodded lightly to everyone sitting around the table, including Dr Tinswood sitting on his left and a CIA and a NSA liaison sitting on the both ends of the table.

"Welcome, everyone, to this meeting," Hayes spoke and he nodded to Lt. Hennessy, who allowed all but two guards and three aides to the members sitting around the table to remain in the room.

"Lieutenant, let's start."

"Yes, sir!"

Hennessy answered and turned on the screens, where the face of the POTUS appeared along with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Director of CIA, the Director of FBI, the Secretary of Defense and the Director of NSA.

-Colonel Hayes, I heard that we have finally nailed that son of a bitch literally down into the ground. Congratulations would be in order, I think, even though the cost of damage to CDC HQ is enormous, it is still preferable to have that monster buried and done away with,- The President of United States began.

Unfortunately, the face of the colonel did not warm up.

"Mr President, you must understand that although we suspect his demise, it is conclusion that El Sokauron, a.k.a the Chaos Lord, will return in time. We do not know if that will be days or weeks or even months, but without a physical proof that he is dead, we cannot relax our guard."

POTUS paused.

-Your preliminary report indicated that he was severely wounded and then was crushed under the falling building.-

Hayes nodded.

"Yes, Mr President. He was fired upon by one of the Abrams M1A2 using its main gun as well as small arms fire from our men on the scene. His final moments had involved the part of CDC headquarter structure collapsing on him."

-Then it is safe to assume he is dead?- The NSA director asked.

-I believe that Colonel Hayes has something to add to the preliminary report, director. Let's hear the man out,- The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs placated the powerful man of the intelligence community.

The President nodded too.

-Alright, what makes you think we haven't killed him yet, colonel?- The leader of the free world asked.

"Our analysts have finally gone through the video and audio recordings collected by the Psionic Team members as they engaged him. This is the footage from Major Adams' armor."

Hayes gestured lightly and Hennessey quickly pressed a button that displayed the video. Each sitting member had their personal screens with the video on, while those in the TV screens were seeing and hearing the footage on their own consoles.

-What does he mean he will return 'more' corporeal? He wasn't corporeal when our boys were shooting at him?-

Dr Tinswood shrugged.

"We really don't know, Mr President."

-What do you know?-

"Well, I think NSA director may have shed a light on something that we've been working on," answered Hayes.

-Well?- queried the POTUS.

-The report suggest that we may have a money trail, Mr President. We've been tracing fund transfers to various secret accounts that these mercenaries controlled, and though it's very vague, I think our enemies have slipped,- answered the NSA director.

-So, we've come to this. We have had CIA, FBI and NSA, and the whole of the military looking for this lunatic and all we have is a vague money trail made by our enemy's mistake. Well, I can see that's going to go well with the Senate Appropriations,- muttered the President. -Well? Go on.-

"Mr President, we believe that one of the mercenary groups received their funds via four accounts in the Cayman Islands, under the names Darrel Smithson, Daniel Sinner, Darcy Shaven and David Saunters. Believed to be code-names, these 'D-S accounts' received transfers from twenty-seven foreign accounts, mostly from France, Germany, Japan, Russia and South Korea. These accounts, in turn, received transfers from seventy-two accounts from around the world."

-Colonel, tell me you've got something from those accounts.-

"Yes, sir. NSA managed to find that one of the transfers to the seventy-two accounts was late, because the account that the money originated from lacked funds. We've since discovered that the delayed transfer received extra funds from a shell company under the name of 'Iridus Industries', which is a subsidiary of another shell company 'Hedron Agriculture', whose main shareholder is 'Onyxia Investments'. While Onyxia Investment is a real company, the company is controlled by a man named 'Dalton Slater', who appears to be a citizen of UK, but he exists only on paper."

-Well, now that's getting ridiculous. Where does this rabbit hole end?-

"Dalton Slater's identity appeared almost beyond scrutiny except that every piece of property and assets was bought by his employer, a 'Hamilton-Lancaster Assets', a subsidiary of 'Connell Industry'. The Connel Industry currently have vested all its stock portfolio to a 'Maross Investment', a company recently inherited by the young son of its founder. Mr Arthur Martin inherited the controlling shares after his parents went missing in a mysterious boating accident, while other founders had found themselves similarly disposed of."

-Are you saying that this boy has done this?-

Hayes shrugged.

"It is more likely that he is a pawn or puppet of the Chaos Lord, and to use him well, the Chaos Lord may have arranged 'accidents'. I am sending Major Adams, and NSA is sending one of its agents to talk to Mr Martin. I thought it may be prudent if we didn't alert our enemy about the money trail. It is our conclusion that in his youth, Mr Martin made a mistake, and thus allowing us to trace it back to him. He may prove valuable if we maintain his cover."

-I may not have been a soldier or an agent, but would he not suspect something if NSA and the military came around asking questions?-

-We have a cover for that too, Mr President,- answered NSA director.

"Maross Investment recently acquired a large portion of Colt Defense and Colt's Manufacturing Company, and we believe that such purchase may be done through the aid of the Chaos Lord. Of course, we are going ask legitimate questions because Colt is a government contractor."

-Good... Just get us anything. This Chaos Lord is not be an enemy just for us, but for the whole world... I'd hate to see a flood of these... science-fiction super soldiers coming alive in the streets of New York or something.-


Earth

USA

Los Angeles

12 Hours after the battle of CDC

Los Angeles was the heartland of America's west coast. Though other cities of remark dotted the line between the continent and the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, only LA stood lit like a brazier full of smoldering coal of sin and desire. It was here that everything that slowly dragged the whole world into an abyss of hopeless despair, but most of the simple minds that infested the planet's surface knew of it, much less understood it.

Someone knocked the door.

Arthur gestured the person to enter his large corner office. Blocked only on one side by a wall, the two windows let in the bright Californian sun while the glass wall with the door opened with a little chime as a beautiful female in clean-cut suit entered with a notepad and a folder in her folded left arm and a pen in her right hand. She looked elegant while maintaining that smart look with her tight golden bun behind her head.

"What is it, Catherine?"

Arthur looked up from his desk, while he continued to use his $7,500 Mont Blanc custom-made fountain pen scribbling away on the paper.

"We have an Agent Stafford of NSA and Major Adams to see you. They have an appointment, made just today by the request of the Governor."

Arthur paused and frowned a little then smiled.

"It must be about the purchase of a large portion of Colt Defense. It's not a problem and we are not in any trouble. Let them in, please."

"Yes, sir."

A moment later, a young woman in black suit and a soldier in full dress uniform appeared, and Arthur watched them with vague interest. Standing up from his chair, Arthur went to greet them.

"Welcome! I am Arthur Martin, the CEO of Maross Investment."

The female NSA agent shook Arthur's hand first.

"Thank you, Mr Martin. I am Sandra Stafford of NSA, and this is Major Jake Adams of US Army."

"A pleasure, Major Adams," replied Arthur momentarily meeting Jake's intense gaze.

"Likewise, Mr Martin."

"Please, sit! Catherine, do we have anything to drink?" asked Arthur, who then turned to the two guests.

"Just a glass of water would be fine, Mr Martin," answered Sandra, and Jake nodded too in agreement.

"Well, if that's the case... I will have Earl Grey with a slice of lemon and a spot of milk, Catherine, and two glasses of cold water for our guests."

"Yes, Mr Martin," replied Arthur's secretary who promptly left.

Gesturing the two government people to sit at the sofa, Arthur took his own seat at the head of the low elongated coffee table that seemed to emulate the shape and texture of a tree though encased in smooth glass surface.

"I suppose you are here about Colt Manufacturing Company and our purchase of a large percentage of that company? Or at least that would be the official story," muttered Arthur with gentle smile that made both Sandra and Jake startled a bit.

"Official story, Mr Martin?"

"For now we should talk about Colt. Let's wait until we have our drinks."

A few minutes passed. Tea and water along with a couple of biscuits on a beautiful porcelain dish were placed between them before the secretary turned to leave.

"Catherine, we will be talking about confidential information, so make sure no one disturbs us."

"Yes, Mr Martin."

As soon as his secretary left, Arthur's expression grew grim and he pressed buttons on his little remote that closed the blinds to the windows, turned on the lights and locked the office. Fishing out a small device, Arthur flipped it open and activated it. A small red LED light shone and Jake could almost hear a little buzz pulsating.

"That's not a civilian technology," commented Sandra, recognizing the device.

"Yes, I've got a little present from your friends at CIA. It's quite a gadget, Agent Stafford. So far, I've come to appreciate the necessity of privacy granted to me by this little thing," said Arthur.

Both Jake and Sandra grew quite as Arthur took a sip of his drink.

"Let me start you off, since I know why you are here."

"You do?" asked Jake.

"Yes, Major Adams. I have foreseen your arrival, and everything you have seen has been to bring you here," explained Arthur, confusing the two government agents even more.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Major, do not you think it strange that your people have only managed to find a single ridiculous mistake that has led you to me? How is it that all other venues of capital supplied to your enemy have absolutely perfect cover but one trail that has led you to me stood out?" asked the young man.

"Do you mean to tell us that you've deliberately made the mistake?" asked Sandra in surprise.

"I knew that there were some who were tracking the money trail, but I could not be sure. I needed to know if you were real. Besides, I couldn't just send you an email to an organization that does not officially exist. I couldn't possibly send an email to the White House asking them to send me their most secret agents."

"This is too much... I have like a thousand questions."

"I am sure you do, agent Stafford. Allow me to explain."

The two nodded, and Arthur closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself.

"By now you know of the one called the 'El Sokauron the Chaos Lord'. He is indeed a character from the Warhammer 40K tabletop games created by GamesWorkshop in UK. Unfortunately for us, he is a being of evil, and he had somehow become real in our reality," said Arthur in grim tone. "What you do not know is that he had arrived on our Earth quite some time ago. At least enough to create a network of humans willing or forced to work for him."

"How long?"

"Perhaps some weeks before the bank robbery incident where he had finally exposed himself to the world. It was a surprise, but by that time, it was too late for me."

"Too late for you?"

"I had fallen into his grasp," growled Arthur bitterly.

Jake and Sandra could see the burning anger in Arthur's eyes as the young man stared at his cup.

"There are those he had acquired into his service through various promises and seduction for power and money, and there are those who had been threatened to submit to him. For those he deemed to have a 'potential', he had coaxed and threatened and terrified into serving him. I was one such potential, though I was in a unique situation," said Arthur.

"A unique situation?" asked Jake.

"Other potentials were from anywhere. Some were kids on the street, a prostitute from Mexico, a Russian ballerina and Chinese boy. These were the potentials, or proto-psykers as he had called them. I was unique in that he saw that my parents' company could be a useful tool, and he had demanded the submission of my parents," Arthur said with reddening eyes. "My parents were good people. They had their flaws, but they loved me. They refused... foolishly, perhaps, but their refusal did not go well with the Chaos Lord."

"Oh god... He killed them?" questioned Sandra in horror.

Arthur shook his head bitterly, and gritted his teeth.

"Worse... My parents 'disappeared' and even now they hang in the basement of my house, mutilated and horribly twisted by the unholy powers that the Chaos Lord has in command. I was forced to watch as he transformed them into a single gruesome being. I am reminded each and every day, waking up to the muffled screams from beneath by bed."

Jake nodded in understanding.

"You want revenge," said the soldier.

"At first I did. I hired men to kill the Chaos Lord, but he laughed them off. I saw him crush a former marine's head with his bare hands, and saw bullets bounce off his bare head!" growled Arthur as his hands trembled.

"So is that why you have leaked the money trail?"

"Yes, Major. I have heard of you, because he would sometimes speak of you when he was speaking about the potential psykers on the planet, and how you were the closest thing to a real psyker. He deemed you a threat, and I knew that you could be my key to vengeance."

All three fell silent for a moment.

"What's the plan? This sounds very dangerous for you," said Sandra.

Arthur scoffed.

"You have no idea how I have planned for this meeting. He has no idea, thanks to your timely attack on him. He is not dead. He merely has faded from our reality. I have managed to gather much intelligence from him. He is like a comic book villain, sprouting his grandiose plan in front of his servants as if to boast his might. I am lucky, however, in that I have a little powers."

"Powers?"

"Yes... He said I have a strong telepathic shield, but he doesn't know that I can see into the future."

That made Jake and Sandra gasp.

"The future?"

The young man shook his head.

"It's not that grand. I can see perhaps few days ahead at best, and that was after he made me use this," said Arthur when he opened a small wooden box on the side table.

Inside was some sort of headphone-like object. It was metallic and there were wires protruding from the side as if it would cover the entire head. There were two crystals, looking like amethyst, on each side of the headphone.

"What is that?" asked Jake.

"His invention to awaken the psychic potential. Other potentials are hidden away somewhere being subjected to this device. I was the first one to really benefit from it, so his attention was upon me until his next confrontation with you in Russia."

"So he can awaken the psionic potentials' powers?"

"Apparently, but thus far he has claimed that only a handful of potentials managed to succeed in getting their powers, but even without it I was useful enough to stay alive."

Jake eyed the item. He knew many potentials that the government has managed to identify but their powers were dormant.

"In any case, I did not call you here just to do greetings."

"Of course."

"I know I cannot be trusted enough to be one of your members, Major Adams, and I don't plan on being drafted into the military any time soon. But I wanted to warn you not to lower your guard just because you've temporarily kicked the Chaos Lord out of our world. He has plans, and they are in the present continuous tense."

Sandra was intrigued.

"Can you elaborate?"

"I can tell you what I know. I do go to the gatherings of the Chaos Lord's minions. I know at least seven other members are humans like me, those who had become followers of the Chaos Lord, willingly or forcibly. I saw from their very expensive suits that they are all businessmen of some success and no doubt they were the ones providing the money to purchase their bases."

"He bases?" queried Jake.

"The one I've been to a base in Nebraska, some distance from Interstate 80, but after I've arrived at the designated spot, I was teleported away. There I saw my human accomplices, and the Chaos Lord's true followers," explained Arthur.

"True followers?"

"Chaos Space Marines."

"He has them?"

"Not many, but enough to be a bad news for you, that's not even counting that vague threat that the Chaos Lords has made against you."

Arthur pulled out a roll of several A4 papers and laid them on the table. The pictures were pencil sketches of what appeared to be soldiers from World War 2. Two pictures included sketches of Nazis German soldiers, in the clothing their time firing their old guns in a very modern setting. The other two pictures including soldiers of WW2, but not of German clothing but of American weapons and attire, including a Thompson sub-machine gun.

"That's anachronistic picture. Is that a squad of Nazis soldiers firing at a Prius in front of MacDonald's? This one is M10 Tank Destroyer that should be in a museum firing on a police squad car?" muttered Jake as he looked through the sketches.

"Those are the pictures I have drawn this morning using this device to amplify my powers. I believe this will come true in a week at most. I believe that this is the threat that the Chaos Lord will use against you until he returns. Your defeat of him certainly weakened his plans, but he still has enough Chaos Marines around the world to command these anachronistic soldiers against the world," explained Arthur.

"How many Chaos Marines does he have?"

"At least five squads, that includes an Aspiring Champion, that's their sergeant, and a Techmarine. I have seen them at the gathering. I know that there is at least one squad dispatched to Europe, Russia and Chine, and one squad in USA. The problem you have is the fifth squad, which the Chaos Lord did not mention where they were going."

Sandra suddenly stopped them.

"This all sounds like good intel that you are giving us, but the real question is whether we can really trust you."

They paused. Arthur frowned for a moment before nodding.

"Well, I guess I should have thought of that. I was in such a hurry to give you this information that you may regard me as untrustworthy. Huh..." muttered Arthur as he drained his cut of drink.

"You must admit, that all this is rather fantastical despite the appearance of a tabletop game character in the flesh. If he is so powerful and smart, he could certainly want to plant an agent within our side."

"Thinking like a spy, Agent Stafford? Yes, I suppose that you are right. I have no choice but to earn your trust. Very well. Take this and do something with it. I will find my own vengeance, and I will not hold a grudge against you, though this is disappointing," Arthur said as he sighed deeply.

"Mr Martin, if you do indeed earn our trust, we shall be in touch," declared Sandra.


"Ugh..." groaned Jake as he was getting in the car.

"What is it, Major?"

"I just had a migraine. It feels like a thick fog has lifted from my brains. I must need coffee."

Sandra nodded and rummaged around her briefcase for a small bottle.

"I've got some aspirin, and let's grab some latte at the Starbucks up ahead."

Jake winced.

"Latte? Don't tell me you are one of those people who order some really complicated order at the Starbucks," chuckled Jake.

"What do you mean?" asked Sandra.

"You know like... umm... 'I want a grande cafe mocha, no sugar, no whipped cream, extra dry, with half skim, half full milk. No, I don't want 2% milk, just a mixture of the both. And raspberry syrup, mix with the milk, then the coffee' or something like that."

Sandra laughed as she started the car.

"Wow, you diss people ordering like that when you memorize that stuff?"

"Well, when you are a cop, and you get in line and some girl in front of you takes like ten minutes order something like that when I just want to Americano in largest cup."

"Oh, that's right. You were a cop here in LA," exclaimed Sandra.


Secret Operations Center for Joint Task Force 999

24 Hours after the battle of CDC

"Sirs, that concludes my report," said Jake.

-Son, I know that we are no longer in the realms of impossible, but really?- asked the POTUS.

"Yes, sir. We cannot yet trust this source, but I believe that we must prepare for a world-wide attack."

-By the Nazis and our own soldiers from the Second World War? Dimension jump is one thing, but time travel? Doesn't that involve paradoxes and stuff, Dr Tinswood?-

"It pays to be prepared, Mr President. We certainly have no idea about the limits of our enemy's capabilities. Upon reading the literature on the capabilities of a Chaos Lord, we believe that El Sokauron may be a Chaos Sorcerer Lord, capable of unimaginable things," explained the doctor.

-If it wasn't for that lunatic going crazy on the TV yesterday, I would sound like an escapee from a mental institution when I have to explain this shitball to the heads of European nations, Russian President and the Chinese President. Very well... I will speak with the Joint Chiefs on how to handle a situation if we are invaded by... hell... soldiers from World War 2.-

"Thank you, Mr President."

-Major, I want your teams to be ready to move out at a moment's notice. If this shit hits the fan, your team will be up to your eyeballs in action.-

"Yes, Mr President."

The POTUS signed off, and Jake was left alone with Dr Tinswood.

"Major, a moment of your attention if you will."

"Yes, doctor?"

Tinswood directed Jake toward the research sector, and as they walked, the doctor began to explain.

"We have been monitoring you and your team closely, particularly during combat. Most of your team members are physical boosters, and some have super agility and others even have low level telepathy, but you have exhibited two abilities well in margin of usefulness and third one is developing."

"Yes, doctor. I have been seeing little blurs a second or two before they happen. Yet, they remain blurry," answered Jake.

"Ah, of course. Future is never clearly defined, young man. Each possible future is dependent upon our own choices. In any case, if you can develop your skills, you can be far more powerful. Besides, we now have the strange headphone you have acquired from your source in the enemy's camp," said Tinswood, mentioning Arthur Martin.

"I hope you can figure out how that thing works. It would be good if we can duplicate the effects and help my team become stronger."

Tinswood nodded even as he placed his palm on the scanner. The Research & Development Wing was a highly secured section of the compound, and it was purely through their work that the Psionic Division had come into being as well as all the advanced gears that they have been using.

"Talking about getting stronger... We have been working tirelessly to create weapons and tools with which you can really hurt the enemy. I have been authorized by the President to unlock some of the findings and researches we have in the archives, including everything we've learned from our dabbling into other realities."

They pushed through a door to another secure door where two armed soldiers guarded the door. Both Dr Tinswood and Jake showed their badges, and they were led into a room where they were scanned before being let out.

"The primary issue is that your traditional guns don't really work against the Chaos Lord, and Chaos Marines that you may encounter in the future. We are still working on that. We have some nifty thing that we may be turning into a basic gun-format. However, in the mean time, I have three things that you can use," explained the doctor as they entered a very white room.

"James. Would you bring out the items, please," ordered Dr Tinswood and one of the scientists in the lab coat pressed some buttons.

The wall on the other side opened and Jake saw an armored suit with thick black fibers running down across the entire body beneath the blackened metal plates. The second item seemed to be a large sword-like object with broad handle. The third item was the familiar Thermal Knife. Tinswood explained the knife first.

"Here, take this."

"It's a Thermal Knife, doctor. We've already been issued this."

"Foolish boy, do you really think I would give you a knife that's not something special?" chuckled Tinswood.

A mannequin partially clad in thick metal armor appeared and came toward Jake on a rail.

"As you know the version of Thermal Knife that you and your men are using is made of titanium, niobium, tantalum and hafnium alloy so that it may withstand the temperature of nearly 1,500 degrees Celsius. The three main problems were the battery, the heat felt by the user and the short lifespan of the blade. We've solved all three problems!" shouted Tinswood in pride.

"Really? That would be great, doctor. I've had more than one friend who had burned their hands using this knife. I know it's a good idea against Chaos Marines, but until now we've had no opponent that we needed to use this on."

"Indeed, Major. Now, listen closely. We've inserted a new proto-fusion battery that creates a super-microscopic fusion to power the knife's direct thermal transfer. We have also added a proper insulation to the hand guard and the back of the blade to provide greater protection for the user. Also, this new blade can withstand total of seventeen minutes of activation, with the battery life matching that."

"That is an improvement, doctor. I suppose you want me to demonstrate the knife's capability?" asked Jake.

"Certainly. I want you to feel the weapon. Use this glove."

Wearing the tough glove of cool metallic feeling, Jake grasped the knife. It was slightly lighter than the previous version and the blade was a little longer, capable of working as a normal combat knife too. He held it carefully and activated it. Within seconds, the edge of the blade began to glow orange and became brighter and brighter. Without hesitation, Jake jammed the knife into the thick shoulder piece of the mannequin's armor. Jake calculated that the armor was about two inches thick, made of solid steel. With sizzling sound, Jack carved a molten hole out of that armor.

Deactivating the knife, he placed it back in its high-tech sheath connected to a small pack which began to glow as the residual heat of the knife was converted into energy.

"This is the new energy pack for the armor?"

"Indeed! We have unlocked our previous research of the nanosuit from the reality portal. Now, we have something good enough to put in mass-production. See! Our Nano-Armor 3.0! Latest in nano-carbon fiber that can simulate the movements of muscles and strengthen the user by approximately 30%! Also, we have wired the heat-energy converter throughout the armor, and made the special armor plating wired to the power pack," exclaimed the doctor in excitement. "While the plates are not the same quality as the alloy used in the blade, it would be enough to withstand substantial heat and convert it into energy for your armor, then you can use that energy to harden your nano-fiber muscles into protection or increase your strength!"

Leaving the raving doctor alone, Jake carefully studied the black armor. It looked good. It looked like the armor in that game Crysis. He had played the game once the reality observation project was revealed to him. He would love to have an armor like the nanosuit in the game.

"What's the last one, doctor?" asked Jake before even looking at the weapon, and then he turned and his eyes opened wide. "Is that a chainsword?"

"Well... It's the best approximation we could come up with. Obviously just sticking a chainsaw into the form of a sword was not an option. The chain would lose too much kinetic energy against enemy armor when you strike them. You are not going to rub your weapon against the enemy in the middle of battle. So, I made this. I call it the Spinsword!" proclaimed the scientist.

Jake looked over and he began to understand. Instead of making it like a chainsaw, Tinswood had attached two layers of five small circular saws with small overlaps. The result was good. It was not so heavy as to be unwieldy, and the thickness of the blade was only about three inches.

"This is actually based on similar technology to the Thermal Knife. Each circular saw in the sword can be heated to 1,500 degrees Celsius while they are spinning. Any excess thermal energy is converted through the casing of the blade and fed back to the engines, which uses advanced magnetic coil technology to reduce volume while increasing the speed to 4,200 rpm. Of course, there are three super-microscopic fusion battery in the handle."

"May I?" asked Jake as he gestured at the mannequin.

"Sure!" answered the doctor excitedly.

Jake turned on the weapon, and the saws buzzed into action quickly. They began to glow orange too, and Jake felt the heat radiating from the blades of the saws. Then with a strong swing, the Spinsword struck the armored mannequin. The sword and the armor held their ground for a second or two before the weapon cut into the armor in increasing speed. It took five seconds for the Spinsword to cut through the armored mannequin.

"Not too bad. Thanks, doc."

"I have enough of these to equip the Alpha Teams, but other teams will have to wait."

"Sure thing."


Earth

Unknown Location

A very powerful computer was running. It had a large reinforced screen armored in metal cover and plastic screen cover, and even the large main computer was protected. In front of it, Arthur Martin sat in a plush chair as he typed away. He was making necessary adjustment to his latest summon-to-be. Soon, he stopped, and he moved away.

Escorted by two Aspiring Champions of Chaos, Arthur walked down the stone steps toward the massive open arena below. In the empty field as big as nine football fields, there were two houses on each end. The houses were made of red bricks and they looked common. Two floors and perhaps a basement. If it was not for the artificial light shining above, they would have looked like a pair of old houses.

Yet, they were constructed for a reason.

As Arthur walked down the stairs, where rest of his Chaos Marines awaited, he changed in form. He grew taller and larger and his Daemonic Terminator Armor appeared around his person. By the time he had reached the bottom of the steps, he was back to his former self as the Chaos Lord El Sokauron, in his full glory.

"BEHOLD! THE FIRST WAR FOR THIS WORLD IS NIGH! GLORY TO DARKNESS! PRAISE TERROR! EMBRACE DESPAIR!" roared El Sokauron as he held the three Spirit Stones high.

"GLORY TO DARKNESS!" answered Chaos Marines.

"PRAISE TERROR!"

"EMBRACE DESPAIR!"

"I WILL DECEIVE THEM, AND THEY SHALL EMBRACE ME! I SHALL CORRUPT THEM FROM WITHIN AND TERRORIZE THEM FROM WITHOUT! LEAD THESE WARRIORS! LET THE ANCESTORS SLAUGHTER THEIR DESCENDANTS!" declared the Chaos Lord as he poured energy into one of the three Spirit Stones.

The Spirit Stone freed itself from the trappings of the Chaos Lord's hand, and flew toward the center of the arena. There, it opened up a strange portal of Warp, and from it two strains of energy burst out. Like tsunami, the waves of energy engulfed the two houses on each end of the arena. The whole area was filled with dark blue that crackled and squirmed and sizzled and hissed as it covered everything.

Then as the mist of energy subsided, there was a pillar in the middle of the field. Made of charred bones, scorched iron and wrapped around by slime black gunk, the pillar stood about three meters high and the Spirit Stone resided on its top, now utterly corrupted. The two houses on either end had also changed. One was covered in the flags and markings of the Third Reich, the Nazis Germany. The other was covered in American flag.

"Uphir, come."

At his command, a Chaos Sorcerer hiding behind the Chaos Marines stepped forward. This was the fifth squad of El Sokauron's Chaos Marine army on this world. This was a Chaos Sorcerer of El Sokauron's color and he was utterly obedient. The ten Chaos Marines were also different, the code for them re-written by El Sokauron for this mission. These were the Abyssals, and they were El Sokauron's answer to Plague Marines, Khorne Berserkers, Rubric Marines and Noise Marines, all belonging to other Chaos Gods.

The Abyssal Marines were dark and shadowy creatures. Clad in darkened armor, they brought darkness with them. Even in the brightest daylight, they would seem ghostly and they would fight in ominous shades. At night, they were utterly unseen. True masters of terror, they would strike and their enemies would not even know that they were there. Led by a Sorcerer of Diablo, they would strike fear into the hearts of their enemies, literally.

"You have called for me, my lord?"

"The pillar will require hourly sacrifice. The supply must not be stopped, nor the ritual interrupted."

The sorcerer bowed.

"The ritual will last as long as you wish it so, my dark god."

"Good."

El Sokauron turned to his Chaos Marines.

"Enter through your designated portal once enough manpower has been collected. Lay waste to all things, but remember to capture as many sacrifices. Each Aspiring Champion has been issued a portal key. Do not lose it."

They all bowed.

The Chaos Lord turned and chuckled evilly.

"To war."


END OF CHAPTER 29