Chapter 37 – War aftermath
If anyone were to ask him how he felt right now, stressed would be his answer.
That would be the basis of opinion currently coursing through father Louise Guerra's body right about now. Currently, the man sat at his computer desk surrounded by his different monitors, having hacked into security cameras to give him feeds on the various militia-based checkpoints throughout the entirety of the Yellow Zone. Each one looked like they were ran by the Marines mostly, but the ones which had his attention were the more… extreme ones, ones which actually restrained and sometimes even killed, random civilians due to them getting too close or too un-cooperative. Ironically, those checkpoints largely consisted of Blackwatch Personal, whilst the lesser ones were delegated to the cooperating Marines.
A restrained sigh escaped his lips as the old priest pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes whilst he mentally prepared himself for another all-nighter. With the way things going, it would likely not be long before his little dealing here would be exposed to the Blackwatch cronies occupying the Yellow Zone. It'd happen eventually, that would be a certainty which he had long since been aware of. He'd been aware of it since he decided to throw his lot in with Mercer, James and KRONOS, but that didn't mean it didn't stress him the heck out.
The thing was, ever since back then, he had been accessing old contacts, re-establishing relations and gathering as much information as he could about the Blackwatch activity that he had missed during his period of brooding and having given up on anything even remotely positive concerning that dastardly organisation. As such, he had a LOT of ground to cover, ground which may put him back on Blackwatch's radar, however thanks to a certain someone alongside his two companions, he didn't fear this outcome NEARLY as much as he had before. If anything, he felt glad and excited again at finally being able to step out of his own depression and get back into the swing of things. Despite being a priest, Guerra still felt the past rebel he had once been wasn't completely dead yet, something which often amused him.
Right now, though, that wasn't the only thing which stressed him though, it was also the fact that his Church had become… livelier, for lack of a better term. A while ago, he had been just minding his own business, when all of a sudden he had gotten a flock of visitors with all kinds of different ethnicities and backgrounds. For a while, they had seemed to be a bit delirious and they sported unstable, erratic behaviours, but they calmed down after a few hours once he had ushered them inside. Upon their complete recovery, one of them being a young girl told him what they had known, how they had come to be by his doorstep.
To say he had been stunned would be an understatement.
He honestly couldn't believe it when he first found out about it. How, from the accounts of the people, one man (he knew it was James from the descriptions of his actions), had managed to break into Blackwatch then set them free, telling them to come here and mention that 'KRONOS said so'. Judging by the phrasing, it meant that KRONOS must still think of him sometimes, the thought of which sending a small, relieved sigh of happiness from the old man. He had hoped the kid would be doing alright after everything he had went through, not to mention what trials would await him in the future thanks to his father, but it seemed that the kid had something to help him along already. For a believer of god like himself, seeing someone who had no faith yet been abandoned by god finally find some form of salvation in all this hellish madness, warmed his heart.
As a result of his church finally being used for something other than his shelter, Guerra had decided to start setting up a small resistance with the people whom had been saved, gathering information from them whilst 'borrowing' some of the equipment he had borrowed from Blackwatch back in the day to arm them with. Currently, the small group operated different tasks depending on the time, having organized a daily schedule which would bring them up to speed as a resistance force. Nothing too major though, since he still wanted to keep a low profile, so he focused on training quality over quantity. It helped that none of the rescued civilians wanted to leave and wholeheartedly supported him in his goals to bring the despicable Blackwatch assholes down to their knees. Things were still in their initial stages though, but preparations still ran smoothly.
"You look like your tired, dear… Has things been taking a toll on you already?"
Just then, his thoughts got interrupted by a soft, warm and inviting female voice. One which spoke with a tone suggesting both age as well as wisdom born from years of life experiences. Upon hearing it, Guerra's eyes widened in surprise, completely becoming baffled upon sensing the presence whom entered the room. He did not expect to have HER come to visit him, not at all when he was usually so busy with Church-matters that he could hardly come back home. With speed not unlike that of a highschooler turning when they hear their first crush calling their name, Guerra's head twisted to look towards the hidden entrance towards his secret office, his eyes catching the sight of a female who looked close to his own age, if slightly younger. The woman looked to wear a simple shirt with a long skirt, her shirt concealed beneath a pink fluffy cardigan. Her feet were covered by a pair of slippers yet strapped to the back of her waist looked to be a 9mm pistol. She may look like a middle-aged woman, but she had a youth in her warm, chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length, dark brown hair seemed to have tints of grey mixed in. The most notable feature though, would be the brilliantly glittering silver Wedding ring on her finger which signified the state of her marriable status.
Upon seeing her standing there, warmly smiling at him with her hand on her waist, her other one placed against one of the walls, Guerra sharply stood from his seat in shock. "Helena…!" he exclaimed, striding towards her and quickly pulling the woman into an embrace, his arms sliding around before firmly placing themselves behind her back. An embrace which the woman eagerly returned by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. The two stayed like this for a short while, before they separated with Guerra aiming a confused and nervous look at the woman's eyes. "Why are you here? You do realize that its getting dangerous up here with everything going on…"
"Yet I still married you when you were removing one of your many tattoos, didn't I?" she retorted with a grin similar to one of a mischievous gremlin. Her eyes shined with a twinkle in them which only master pranksters or trolls on the internet (AKA Members and Redditers) could pull off. Guerra wouldn't eb surprised if it turned out she WAS related to this little buggars, ever since they had begun their relationship so long ago, he had always seen her as a little firecracker who liked to play pranks on those, she found annoying. When she'd seen the first episode of that anime called Naruto, she'd LITERALLY went around and did graffiti onto the buildings of important figures at the time and managed to elude the authorities afterwards. To this day, he STILL had no idea just how she managed to pull off, refusing to believe she had pulled the so called 'ninja cloth camouflage' which the anime had done. "Besides, little molly wanted to see you, she hasn't gotten enough papa love since she discovered a nice little something called Reddit." She replied, chuckling.
At this, Guerra shuddered whilst chuckling, showing his complicated feelings on THAT particular matter. Molly, his little girl with Helena, definitely was no normal child. Even though she was about 8 years old (he wanted to introduce her to Adam and his sister Hannah when she'd reached her teens), she took WAY after her mother in terms of developing a sense of humour. More than once he had caught her playing pranks on kids at school, and whenever she did so she would pull out a dance from that popular shooting game 'Fornite' he recalled it being called. He wasn't much of a gamer himself, having been in the ACTUAL military for a large portion of his life, but her pranks and love of reddit and memes always served to put a smile on his face. "I see, well I guess I can't fault you two there, then." He commented good-naturedly, a smirk on his lips. He remembered the time he showed the video of Blackwatch doing the Michael Jackson thriller song to his family, they hadn't stopped laughing up until late at night. "So, where is the little firecracker then?"
"Daaaaadyyyyyy!"
His answer came in the form of a small blur, one which barely reached his wait in terms of height, which practically flew down the stairs and into the man's waist. As it did so, Guerra let out a startled "Oof!" whilst laughing merrily when he realized who it was that had bombarded him this way. There would be only one person who did this, and as he looked down he grinned sheepishly at the young girl that was his little Molly. At 8 years old, she looked quite tall for her age, with the same hair of her mother yet the same eyes of her father. Aside from that though, it would be hard to tell that this was Guerra's daughter since she took so much after her mother, even so he still loved her to death anyways. "Hahaha! Here's my little firecracker!" he greeted with a grin so wide that it threatened to split his face in half. He grabbed her by placing his hands on her waist and lifting her up, getting a bunch of mad laughter from her as she kicked her legs about. He ten proceeded to twirl her around, laughing all the while. "You're doing well, you've gotten a lot bigger since I saw you last!"
"Hehehehe, of course I have dad, its normal! Hahahaha!"
Seeing this, Helena giggled behind her hand at the scene. Aside from a rare few times, it had been rare for her husband to have the time to return home and visit them, if at all. Most nights, he would spend at the church praying for any kind of safety for his family or salvation for the Yellow Zone. In terms of eating, she would bring him food every now and then, which caused him to lose a lot of weight over the years, though every time she did so more and more of her husband would have just disappeared like pieces of him got lost the longer the shit going down went on. Yet, lately the way things were going, she'd started seeing pieces of him coming back, like he FINALLY found what he had been looking for. At first, she had been stunned by the change, but then she couldn't have been happier for him, whatever had helped change her husband forever, gave him back the fire he once had in his eyes, she wished she could meet so she could thank it. That, and seeing how his little girl managed to finally see her father truly smile again after so long would be one big plus in her book too.
"Hahahaha… ahhhh, seeing you two here is nice and all, but what brings you two here?" Guerra asked after finally calming down and letting his little girl stand on her own two feet, glancing over to his wife in order to ask her that. His eyes lost their previous happy glint, only being replaced by a serious, concerned one. Seeing his family again was all well and good, but the possibility of them getting attacked or… well, worse, like with Blackwatch's clutches, scared him all the more. It was largely why he advised them to stay indoors as much as possible. "It's not exactly safe for you two to be outside." He didn't want them to get hurt, killed or worse. There WERE much more horrifying things than death in this absolute hellish cesspool of a city after all.
At this, Helena sighed softly, knowing what her husband was implying whilst Molly, whilst young, managed to figure it out as well. She wasn't exactly dumb, in fact living in a city like this for a couple months had helped her mature quite quickly. She had to, if she wanted to survive in this cold, harsh environment, one not really desirable for parents who wanted to raise their kids happily in. "Well, with the recent craze, we felt it necessary to check up on you, especially when we heard a bunch of citizens showed up at your doorstep. We figured it could be a better time to come out to see you for once, and it looks like we were right. What, it been too long, and you've become stiff over these last few months?" Helena teased with an easy-going grin.
"Hah…"
"Anyways, Molly also wanted to show you something." Helena said as she decided to get the ball rolling before any more talk about depressing stuff could come up. This was supposed to be a happy occasion for the three of them, not sad and dreary! Plus, Helena knew EXACTLY how to fix that potential problem. Upon hearing her words, Molly's eyes brightened up considerably, the small girl quickly rummaging through the pockets of her clothes before pulling out an iPhone. "Kids and their Phones, seems to be quite the craze, huh?"
"This coming from someone who spends over 80% of their internet life on her Phone looking up memes like her daughter?"
"Touche, anyways, a little SOMETHING got uploaded online just recently, and when I saw it with my little girl, we both thought 'this is something you would LOVE to see right about now', so hear we are." The older female explained, her lips curving upwards into a devilish grin which sent chills of anticipation down Guerra's spine. He knew that grin, the moment his wife ever, EVER sported that grin would be whenever something which was guaranteed to cause amusement for her at other's expense… usually he found it similar to a kitsune from Japanese folklore when its pranks fuck other people over. Still, when she took the phone from her Daughter (who wore the EXACT same grin as her, making Guerra slightly more fearful of his immediate future with these two minxes), Helena handed the phone to him.
Upon him looking down at the phone in his hand, he saw a video ready to be played on screen. He looked at the title, or rather he tried to but there was only a set of question marks, so he decided to play the video. What he saw would prove FAR unlike his expectations.
The video starts with a Blackwatch base, one which he remembered had been the one where Rooks had been stationed for that briefing way back when. For some reason though, every soldier in that base looked to be… sunbathing, for lack of a better world, wearing various outfits including pants with overalls, skimpy gym outfits, even just their own underwear… though each of them still wore their own helmets, so him and any other viewers knew it was them.
Seconds into the video though, did things change. In the beginning, some of the men got up and gathered together, starting to… flex their muscles in an extremely…flamboyant manner whilst some funky 80's music started playing. Some flexed their arm muscles; others used their motionless comrades as various exercise tools… and then the one in the front wearing a skimpy gym uniform began to sing.
Body...wanna feel my body?
Body...such a thrill my body
Body...wanna touch my body?
Body...it's too much my body
Check it out my body, body.
Don't you doubt my body, body.
Talkin' bout my body, body,
Check it out my body
By the time the first verse had finished, the men gathered together (the ones used as tools being nowhere on their person) and began doing various dances. There was a slim one dressed like an African Indian, one who dressed like a construction worker, one even dressed like a western sheriff, yet all of them began doing these flamboyant, expressive dances in a 'manly' fashion. All the while, the man in the gym outfit began tossing the next verse.
Every man wants to be a macho macho man
To have the kind of body, always in demand
Jogging in the mornings, go man go
Works out in the health spa, muscles glow
You can best believe that, he's a macho man
Ready to get down with, anyone he can
At this point, the men all threw their fists forwards, slowly rising them into the skies above when the chorus began.
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho, macho man (macho man)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! Ow...
Macho, macho man
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)
I've got to be a macho!
The screen, which had alternated between viewing each of them individually, soon shifted back to viewing them as a group. All the while they began doing more daces together with the gym-like man in front.
Body, its so hot, my body,
Body, love to pop my body,
Body, love to please my body,
Body, don't you tease my body,
Body, you'll adore my body,
Body, come explore my body,
Body, made by God, my body,
Body, it's so good, my body
You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk
His western shirts and leather, always look so boss
Funky with his body, he's a king
Call him Mister Eagle, dig his chains
You can best believe that, he's a macho man
Likes to be the leader, he never dresses grand
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho, macho man
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! (all right)
Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! All Right!
Ugh! Macho..baby!
Body, body, body wanna feel my body,
Body, body, body gonna thrill my body,
Body, body, body don'tcha stop my body,
Body, body, body it's so hot my body,
Every man ought to be a macho macho man,
To live a life of freedom, machos make a stand,
Have their own life style and ideals,
Possess the strength and confidence, life's a steal,
You can best believe that he's a macho man
He's a special person in anybody's land.
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho, macho man (macho man)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! (dig the hair on my chest)
Macho, macho man (see my big thick mustache)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! (Dig broad shoulders)
Macho, macho man (dig my muscles!)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho!
Macho, macho man
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! HEY!
By the time the video faded to black, with the men having fallen back down unconscious in… very exposed positions, Guerra stared down at the Phone blankly. All the while, his wife and daughter looked at him with expectant smiles on their faces. They hadn't seen the video completely themselves, just the first 30 seconds or so, but in that time they had IMMEDIATELY felt that Guerra would love to see something like this. It was more Blackwatch material, but unlike what he had, it wouldn't exactly be bad material. Heck, they knew their husband/father all too well, this stuff will most certainly break out that hidden rebel side to him a bit more, something which had once earned him his wife's affections when they first met.
Slowly, their expectations got met with an… downright insidious smirk forming on Guerra's lips as he looked up at them, a glint in his eyes which matched their own perfectly. A low, deep and ominous chuckle escaped his lips, ideas spinning through his mind of how GOLDEN this material turned out to be. He always DID love it when he saw Blackwatch's name be dragged through the mud, not to mention that this wreaked of the same person who published that Michael Jackson parody video. A plus in his book if he ever had one. "Well, well, well, now THIS is an interesting piece of information, interesting indeed. I would SO like to see what people would think about this, ohohohohoho… Now then… ladies, pleased tell me: has this been published yet?" he questioned with a sickly-sweet tone. His aura suggested that he would be up to something devious either way, but hey who would they be to complain? Especially since this had been their intention the whole time.
A grin so evil it would look better on a devil appeared on his wife's face as she gave her reply, butting on a fake innocent demeanour which the others didn't buy one bit. "Why, it's been so multiple times, but Blackwatch in their defence, have been suppressing it much better than the first video. What, you want to do something about this?"
"Why of course! This is Blackwatch we're talking about here. Girls, grab some extra seats, we'll be working nonstop today!"
"Yeah!"
Up in the Blackwatch HQ in the Green Zone…
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"
Rooks… looked to have a face filled with bulging veins right now when he saw multiple versions of the same video start to get published all over the place. They got attention quickly, and comments slandering their reputation got spread out all across the internet. Social media went wild as the videos went viral, all from unknown accounts as well. Outraged. He stood up and smashed the wall beside him, yet it did little to quell the anger inside of him.
Of course, aside from the news of those damned pests James Heller, Sophie Neller and that brat KRONOS, one other thing could get him this riled up.
…Another music video,
ANOTHER ONE!
Worse, this one seemed to spread even further and faster than the last one! Whoever had begun spreading these videos was getting way too good at evading their suppression attempts for his liking.
It didn't help that the video still kept climbing in the view count, he could just PICTURE the thousands of hooting and howling soldiers throughout the three zones as they barked their asses off at their humiliation.
Of course, the soldiers whom had been victims of this mess weren't too thrilled, if anything they had been reported to be about to go nuclear with humiliation and fury, not like Rooks could blame them.
He himself felt the same way as he had to restrain himself from destroying everything in his room.
"WHOEVER IS POSTING THESE FUCKING RIDICULOUS VIDEOS WILL DIE BY MY HANDS, I SWEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
"GAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEE!"
"… You two are such children, you know that?"
One former Marine Sergeant spoke this whilst looking he wanted to be anywhere but where he currently was located at this moment in time, as he beheld the spectacle that they had been informed of by Próta whom had been monitoring things outside the Lair. How she had done that James had little idea, but more importantly he didn't want to know. If there was anything that James Heller could use to describe the two cackling idiots before him with, it would have been the adjectives which he had just used, two children cackling like maniacal pranksters watching their hard work unfold. He had known for a while that Sophie had begun influencing the kid in terms of embracing the ways of the prankster, it had become something impossible to prevent at this point even, however that didn't make actually witnessing it any less pitiable…
For the enemy that is.
'Pft, fuckers got what's coming to 'em if someone asks me…' the man thought whilst snorting to himself, picturing in his mind what the many Marines whom he used to work with and the rest of the populace must be doing right now. If the infected even had intelligence like what recent rumours had been stating, then they would probably be thinking 'THESE are the fuckers keeping us from fully conquering?' with looks of both pity… and disappointment. Mercer'd probably be having a field day with this shit. Other than that, what the two had done was yet another 'consented' recording using the manipulation of herbal narcotics that Lucy had developed, as well as Adam's 'Parasitic Domination' ability.
It had been something which he'd gotten as a Mutation from fucking eating up that invisible chameleon like infected way back when, as it had the ability to plant parasites into its enemy's bodies and control them from their brains like marionettes with it being the puppet master. Damn nasty shit if one asked him, but the kid's strain of the Virus made it all the worse due to how powerful the strain itself was, though until now he hadn't really had a chance to test it properly, which only added a dark depth to the humour which had taken place. The kid now could create Parasites for all sorts of different purposes, for example he could plant them inside an infected to increase their mitosis ability, enabling faster and more effective regeneration (something which he'd done to his Scorporilla as a reward for a good job in housing his mind, the kid had reasoned, not like the Infected in question had any complaints, it didn't even have a real personality). Then there was the whole marionette ability thing which the youngest of their little trio could do…
So, combine that with Sophie's Spores, and what does one get?
One hell of a pain in the ass.
On the other hand, though, it had made for some pretty damn fucking entertaining comedy, usually at Blackwatch's expense but hey, those fuckers deserve it. Why give them the sweet taste of death when a lifetime of humiliation could be OH so much worse? Well, that had been how Adam had phrased it once before this whole laughing fest, and Sophie had been all for it. It reached to a point where James actually pitied the poor bastards over there, since with these two, death would be arguably the better option when facing them on the battlefield. Infected didn't realize how fucking lucky they were.
It took a short while, but eventually the two hyenas in the form of people managed to calm their asses the fuck down, resulting in them wheezing whilst having assumed sitting positions on the floor of the Main Lair they currently resided in. With all the Lairs in the Yellow Zone captured under their control, despite the majority of their resources having been pretty much wiped out of their genetic database (as Próta had pointed out to them, meaning they couldn't really get much out of them. Various hollering had followed from Adam and Sophie when they got told this), they STILL held a HUGE amount of resources now. They could potentially do the thing which the trio had been conflicted about since the very beginning and build up a freaking army of infected with their own 'Broods', AKA their own personal batch of minions they could call on whenever they wished, either for reinforcements, distraction or some other tactical ploy.
Why the hell did they get so many advantages over Blackwatch now? They had practically gotten closer to what they'd need for taking over the Yellow Zone to be perfectly frank.
"Anyways, so what's our next move?" James questioned the two of them, crossing his arms under his chest whilst narrowing his gaze like a shark homing in on its prey. Little surprise there, given his codename POSEIDON. "Now that the scuffle with those pansies down below has been dealt with, we need to get our asses into gear and start taking the fight to Blackwatch." Both Adam and Sophie nodded their heads in agreement with this, their eyes reflecting the serious nature the conversation had taken. Aside from their Infected hordes now being put on standby for the time being, they needed to focus on their current enemy, an enemy which they had been neglecting to pay attention to now that they thought about it.
Sophie was the one to bring it up verbally though. "Yeah, aside from #snicker# my little prank," she began, though her lips twitched upwards with a slight snicker escaping her, though she soon suppressed it. "those fuckers likely will have had time to prepare for any of our future moves. Not good on our end, if I'm honest." True though, Blackwatch, as weak as they were compared to the trio in terms of ability and overall strength, were STILL a rather crafty bunch of garbage pieces, so it wouldn't be wrong for them to assume that they've been getting into mischief whilst they weren't looking. Mischief which may as well have given them some new weapons to use against the trio once they made their grand return from their business underground. Part of her wanted to curse at their lack of foresight in this situation, but in the end, she had to do the adult thing and take it up the ass… take that in whatever context one pleased, she didn't care, she'd done anal before.
"Well, the way I see it…"
Adam began, bringing the topic over to himself which caused the two adults to look at him. He'd long since gotten used to the intensity in their eyes though, so he didn't flinch as visibly. Instead, he took a gulp of air down his throat before continuing his words. "From what I've figured out, it seems that our past operations have mostly involved James Heller and you big sis. They actually haven't gotten that much info on me or what I can do, I may as well have dropped completely off their radar." He explained, and it wasn't really wrong either. Compared to him, James and Sophie had been WAY more active in fighting Blackwatch than Adam had since the said Prototype had been cooked up in his Lair the whole time, building up knowledge and strength without much interruption. It helped that he had a greater understanding of the virus than Blackwatch, so they didn't dare risk attacking the Lairs, plus it didn't seem like those guys knew the fact that he had taken them over since it had just happened recently. In that case, they still had a strong element of surprise in both himself AND their newfound resources. "It only makes sense for me to go out there instead of you guys, switch things up as it were. You two stay in the Lair and train yourselves, get used to your new mutations whilst I go out there and fucking wreck some ass."
WHAP!
"Language!"
"B-But big sis-!"
"No buts!"
"Eek! S-Sorry!"
A whack of the head and a stammering apology from Adam to Sophie (who had whacked the kid upside the head with her 'big sister' face on) later, the teen held the top of his head which sported a comically sized bump on it. Still, as he rubbed the spot his big sister figure had hit Adam still let his words sink in to the two, and he could tell that they had begun deliberating it due to sensing a series of conversations taking place within the Hivemind. He didn't intrude or anything though, since he respected the two enough for that. Though, internally, Adam couldn't help but have another reason for suggesting this. Aside from him having the element of surprise against those fools…
He had been cooped up in here for FAR too long, in his eyes. He wanted to stretch his legs and remind Blackwatch what it meant to piss Adam off! He wanted to make them pay for what they did to his family, his mother, his sister. He wanted to know what had happened to his father as much as he detested the man for… reasons which he would rather not get into since he likely would end up losing it, as fucked in the head as Adam was. So far, the only lead he had to find those answers, would be Blackwatch, and he had put it off for far too long now.
It was time for him to get back into the fight.
In the end, it took about 30 minutes before the mental convo between James and Sophie came to an end, a convo which remained hidden from Adam's gaze since their expressions had remained neutral the whole time. Looking back to him together, James became the first one to speak. "Well, sounds like a plan if you ask me. You've been missing out as you said, however it'd be best if we wait till Guerra or something else comes up, since we can't go into this blindly. As powerful as we are, Blackwatch is STILL for all intents and purposes a large Military Organisation. They could still have some secret ploys waiting to open up a can of whoop-ass on out behinds."
Sophie nodded her head in agreement, as during the conversation it had been made VERY clear that she would… well, lets just say that should Adam fall in battle, there'd be NOTHING she wouldn't do to get him back. Lets not mention what she'd do should her little brother figure get himself axed off for whatever reason… "Yeah, so for now lets lay low for a little bit, perhaps start working on developing new blueprints for our Broods. Since we have these Lairs, might as well get them working for us on pumping out Infected, and the stronger we have them the greater chance we have at taking Blackwatch by surprise. Sounds like a decent strategy to me." She commented, with Adam and James nodding their heads in consent.
'There is also another issue to take note, everyone.'
Just then, Próta spoke up through the link, catching the trio by surprise as evident when each of them abruptly jerked their heads upwards. Still, what she said quickly got their attention and made them snap to their senses quick enough. 'What do you mean, Próta? Is it something related to the Infected?' Adam questioned, frowning as dark green Tendrils rippled over him.
'Yes and no, unfortunately. Remember that our Lairs can create Transporter Tendrils to attack other Lairs? Well, upon examining the former enemy ones, it turns out that they have the potential to do the same, albeit we stopped them before this could be completed. However, I am sure that the enemy Kéntro Alex Mercer, Codename ZEUS, will have figured out the same thing, therefore we can expect some assault of some kind of Guerrilla Warfare tactics from him in the future.'
"Don't like the sound of that." James hissed verbally, getting their attention away from Próta's ominous words and onto him instead. "Bastard's been chillin' in the Red Zone this whole time, haven't seen much of him since we first got like this… even the kid hasn't seen 'im as much these days, so the motherfucker HAS to be doing something." Now that he mentioned it, Sophie and Adam realized that he had a point, something which caused them to blink several times as if they needed a moment to regain their mental faculties, their Tendrils rippling over them to show their emotional states. With how Alex had practically grown so powerful, one could expect that he had some sort of motive going on, or at least would be fighting Blackwatch out on the field like the rest of them. However, they hadn't heard diddly squat from him since then, so that begged the question:
What the fuck was that guy up to?
In the end though, since they had no leads on that side of things, Sophie decided to stop thinking about it for now and focus on the current problem. "Anyways, we can worry about that when we need to, right now lets focus on making Blackwatch's life a literal hell." She declared… a rather sadistic smile forming on her lips as her eyes gleamed menacing not unlike someone who just got admitted to a mental asylum. "I already have a FEW ideas I could use for pranks after all… then there's the whole minions thing… ufufufu ufufufufufufufu…" She spoke, giggling softly yet it sounded like the most terrifying thing on earth to the two men. Like the saying went: got your back jack, bitches be crazy.
Chapter end:
Index revolving Blacklight Hierarchy:
Eláttoma – Greek for 'Defective', this is a classification for the 'Defective' Infected like those who undergo Viral Fusion, a process which permanently fuses more than one Infected together but with some nasty side effects. They cannot be controlled by the main Virus Hivemind, and as such they are generally killed off before they can cause trouble. One could call this an 'outcast' kind of infected reminiscent of the bandits and other criminals which have plagued human society throughout history.
Ergátis – Greek for 'Worker', this describes the lowest tier of infected, the cannon fodder one could say. Many infected types fall into this classification due to their stature within the Hivemind, their own roles preventing them from acting out against the Hivemind itself. Not like they would due to lacking any personality of their own. Worker type infected are like the general infected Civilians, Walkers, Brawlers, Hydros, Alpha Hydros etc. The Ergátis class infected are the lowest in the hierarchy system, well, second lowest compared to the Eláttoma. They are the main forces that the Virus creates, though they are by no means weak. These Infected can vary from extremely weak, to lethal when encountered. Versatility exists the most within this class of Infected. They are the mainly battle oriented Infected such as the general infected Civilians, Walkers, Brawlers, Hydros, Alpha Hydros etc. They serve the second class, which is the Genikós types.
Genikós – Greek for 'General', this tier suits the Lairs, as they act as Generals directing armies through the use of a single 'Guardian' infected against any threats that manage to get inside. There can only be one Guardian-class Infected within any given time in a Lair, and as such are given greater priority in the Lair in terms of command should the Kéntro not be available for whatever reason. Genikós are the ones who control their infected Broods either under orders from the Kéntro or independently, and as such have a significant level of intelligence meant for forming strategy and tactics on the battlefield. These Infected do not fight typically, as they are the commander-type infected. That is their role, the role they were designated for. They do not have means of combat themselves, so they have evolved special characteristics like complex thought patterns, decision making, deception, calculation, cunning. They control the bulk of the Infected hordes, keeping the in line yet also serving the wishes of their one true leader. They also promote intense, unwavering loyalty and trust between one another, giving no rise to the thought of betraying the whole Hivemind. Infected like this would be the Lairs and Hives that were encountered in the first Outbreak.'
Kéntro – Greek for Centre, this classification applies to the only existence above the Lairs themselves, the infector and creator of the infection themselves. The Kéntro class Infected are the, as the humans would say it, the 'top dogs' in the hierarchy system. They are the apex Predators, the top of the food chain. They have both the ability to lead, as well as the ability to fight alongside the lesser infected on the front lines. They are the ones that are hardest to kill, borderline impossible to do so, as well as have the most potential to evolve beyond their limits. This advantage is what makes them as dangerous as they are, beings like them would annihilate anything in their path with nothing but death and destruction in their wake. Beings like KRONOS alongside ZEUS, HERA, and POSEIDON would fall under this category.