Ch. 46: A wedding and King Kong

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Sorry about the wait. I am trying to focus on the Halloween Special short story that I am planning for Becket and Alma.

Plus, I think I am addicted to World of Tanks xDDD

I apologize for the lack of action in this chapter. I wanted to take a break from that.

If you are unimpressed by King Kong, don't worry, I have several ideas for some modified EPA's.

Anyway,

Read and review if you want.

"Michael!" Alma screamed in ecstasy while she forced my face against her now very wet womanhood. As she held the back of my head with her delicate-looking hands, the bottom of her thighs rested on my shoulders and the soles of her bloodied feet were pressed against the rough surface of my Dark Signal combat vest on either side of my spine along my lower back. The smell of her musk filled me until it was the only sensation that I was able to perceive. The cloth of the hem of her dress lightly brushed the top of my hair like a spider web as it draped over the top of my head.

My paramour refused to allow me access to fresh air while she rode out her waves of ecstasy. Her tiny frame was deceptively strong as she easily overpowered any attempt on my part to remove myself from her form. There was a time that I would have been very resistant to doing something like this, especially considering her form. However, as symbiotic as our relationship had become, any objections to denying her pleasure failed crossed my mind. Lately, it was difficult, for both of us, to discern whose thoughts were whose. Truly, it would not be incorrect to describe us as two halves of the same entity.

Finally, as I was beginning to fade into darkness from the lack of air, she released me. Her tiny frame continued to tightly hug my own but I was finally able to draw breath. However, I did not gasp for air. Instead, I only retracted from her wet silky flesh enough to gain access to air. Her smell was too intoxicating to leave. My reluctance to leave the proximity of her feminine orifice elicited a purr from my wife. She began to run her left hand through my hair as she stated, "Told you that you would like it, my love."

Finally leaving the nectar of her womanhood, I stood back up to look at her. The hem of her dress fell back down over her knees as I did. My wife gazed back up at me from where she was on the edge of my desk in my office. She leaned back slightly as she placed her hands behind her to prop herself up. Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself starring at her blood caked feet. She smirked as I remembered releasing my seed on the top of the right one.

However, her expression of confidence soon changed to reflect the fragility of her true personality as she asked timidly, "Does it really not bother you anymore, Michael? I'll understand if you don't feel comfortable with it."

I moved my bare hands from where they had been grasping either side of her hips up to underneath her right shoulder with my left arm and to gently caress the side of her left cheek with my right hand. I replied, "I don't see anything wrong with it anymore. Alma, you are my other half…no matter what form you are in."

The next thing that I knew, I was pinned against the floor on my back and her soft lips were mashed against mine while her tongue was dominating my own. Her manner was not aggressive as it had once been. Now, her energetic demeanor was simply out of affection rather than raw, uncontrolled passion. I relocated my left hand down to the small of her back and my right hand to the back of her head before I began to reciprocate her affection.

At the back of my mind, I knew that our physical interactions were along the line of an illusion since my companion was technically not a mortal creature and was instead literally a sentient living mass of energy. Her "true" appearance was that of a glowing orange miasma. I had seen it for the first time in the maintenance area of Wade Elementary during my mission to reach Snake Fist.

However, that did not make it any less real in my opinion. After all, what we both felt was the beautifully chaotic meshing of our life energy "clouds". Basically, at an atomic level, our "bodies" would exchange particles between their atoms. I was not being dramatic or poetic when I said that we could not live without each other. A consequence of our numerous exchanges was that our atomic structures were now unstable.

The only thing preventing us from literally collapsing into dust was the fact that we were rarely apart, if at all, for more than a few hours. Retrieving Alma's music box was the last time that I had been apart from her for so long. Soon afterwards, fittingly enough, we found that both of us would suffer excruciating pain if we were not in close proximity even for a short period of time.

When she finally relented, her body had morphed into her clothed normal adult form. She nuzzled against my neck while she waited for me to catch my breath. When I had, I smiled at her. She giggled and then said, "Michael, you are petting me again." I realized that she was right and that I had been unconsciously running my left hand repeatedly along the length of her back.

Removing my hand, I replied, "Oh, sorry."

Giggling, she assured me, "No, it is okay. I like it when you do. It feels nice."

We both leaned in to kiss each other again but a knock on my office door interrupted us. Comically, we both rushed to our feet and hastily began to put things back in place as I called out, "Just a minute." Whoever it was, he or she was very patient because they waited until we had put everything back in place and I was sitting behind my desk.

From the other side of the door, Alpha 1 called out, "Brother, the New Jersey's dry-dock repair is complete. Also, I brought you a cup of coffee."

Relieved, I called out, "Enter." My brother entered with a white porcelain cup in his right hand. He walked to the front of my desk and placed it in front of me. As I took it, I noticed that he looked at me, over to Alma, who was innocently smiling at him in her child form, and then back at me. Though he and I shared a link like the rest of the Replica, he tended to let Alma and I have our privacy. However, he was an unusually keen observer and had the intelligence behind it to either outwit an opponent or to divulge certain actions by the people around him.

He laughed with his repeated grunts before he assured me, "You are both entitled to whatever makes you happy, my brother. Besides, who am I going to tell?"

Alma giggled slightly and I laughed between sips of my coffee. After a moment, I said, "Well, time to go inspect the progress of our boys." They both nodded and we left the room. As we made our way towards the garage, I recalled the events of the past few months.

The enemy fleet had been sunk over the course of the ensuring pursuit which lasted for a period of two days. The victory had come at a heavy price however. Nearly twenty destroyers, the Russian battlecruiser, three submarines, and nearly a third of our entire air fleet had been lost. Following the victory, the fleet had returned to the western coast of the United States for repair with the Spartan ships returning to our home for repair instead of California.

Without a fleet, Akira's Forces were finally vulnerable to invasion on their homelands. However, we were facing a formidable foe. Reconnaissance showed a huge defensive line comparable to the infamous "Atlantic Wall" of Nazi Germany running the entire length of her dominion. Reinforced concrete bunkers with trench networks connecting them, underground networks, deadly railway guns with weapons that were bigger than even Athena's main battery, land-based aircraft, and tank battalions lined their coasts in a seamless wall.

We were in no condition to assault such an obstacle. Therefore, for nearly six months, we had been planning and building up our forces in preparation. The invasion of the former Asian territory would take place in a matter of weeks. According to reconnaissance, it was the only weak point in their defenses in that the tank battalions normally guarding the area were being rerouted to the African continent because of a ruse on our part. The main reason for attacking the Asian continent was that the source of Akira's endless army was in the city of Russia where it had all started months prior. We simply did not have the resources to recapture the entire Eastern Hemisphere. We had to seal off the portal to the Underworld if we wanted a snowball's chance in Hell in winning the war.

We needed a new breed of assault vehicle in order to get through the defensive wall of steel and concrete. Our allies continued to follow the philosophy of tracked vehicles like the M1A1 Abrams. However, my experience at NATO Headquarters had proven, to me, that their time was over. The future belonged to the legged vehicles like the Leviathan and the EPA. Despite the mocking of my allies, I had pushed forward with the development of a true "main battle" model.

The Leviathan was good in the supportive role but the lack of a developed weapon system prevented it from being dominant on the battlefield. As I had noticed at NATO Headquarters, the model had plenty of armor but once it was confronted by multiple enemies, it required additional supporting units to assist it in dealing with them. The main cause of this was that the the model lacked a swiveling turret like those found on traditional tanks. Its weapons were mounted on the front like a tank destroyer. We would need something that was a hybrid between the two.

By then, we had exited the mansion and were approaching the garage. The dark skies were just beginning to give way to the blood red sky of daybreak. The wooden scent of the surrounding forest filled me in a comforting way. The distant call of an owl could be heard over our footsteps as we walked down the path to the garage. Though I could not see them, I felt the presence of a herd of mule deer somewhere in the distance. I noticed Alma smiling as she walked beside me in her clothed adult form. I recalled that, historically, what were called "witches" at the time were said to draw their energy from nature. While Alma was immensely powerful on her own, she did indeed gain strength from being surrounded by nature.

Upon entering the garage, I smiled brightly as the ever beautiful Christine sat in pristine condition. Noticing a spot on her hood that was not as polished as the rest, I grabbed a rag from the worktable against the left wall. It was laden with polish and I quickly rubbed the spot until it was as flawless as the rest of her hood. After returning the rag to its spot, I entered the driver's side of the Plymouth Fury. Alma opened the passenger side door and allowed Alpha 1 to climb into the back. After everyone had entered, I placed my coffee cup into the cup holder and started the car.

Christine's Golden Commando engine roared to life. As it did, her radio powered on and began to play Ritchie Valens's "Come on let's go". After a few minutes of effortlessly thundering down the path between the mansion and the city, we came over the hill to be met by the sight of our transformed home. The main issue hindering our combined forces was the complete lack of an industrial complex. The Americans had long since been devoid of any capacity to manufacture anything of their own. Canada was capable of manufacturing materials for us to use but not in the capacity that we needed. Mexico was also able to manufacture material for us to use but, again, not in the capacity that we needed. Due to the shortcomings of our allies, we had been forced to take up the slack. Though we were small in size, we had a deceptively strong industrial base behind our forces.

Coming over the rise, I saw the endless rows of factories that were city blocks long in length. The city, for the most part, had been bulldozed to the ground and replaced by the military industrial complex that was the engine driving our military might. The raw material of the skyscrapers and office buildings now served as the walls of the factories. The towering red brick smokestacks, easily twenty stories tall, filled the air with black smoke as the factories below them continued to produce the endless supplies for our soldiers. The sound of the machines filled the air with a constant rumble while the vibrations of their use constantly shock the earth beneath us.

Only a few sections of the city, including the apartments and power stations, were left intact. The apartments served as additional housing for our now million plus army of Replica. The repaired power stations were providing the much needed electricity for our factories. Meanwhile, deep beneath our city, our men were hard at work in the mines that ran for miles around the city. The mines, abandoned by the original inhabitants of the area and then by Armacham as their grip on the city faltered, were proving to be plentiful in raw material.

The area around Fairport had originally been a mining town that would eventually become what it was when Armacham took interest in the abandoned military complexes beneath the city. Before then, it had been occupied by Native Americans who had warned the colonists about a group of "devils" that lived in the area. The land was considered "cursed" by them and they performed regular rituals to appease the devils. The translation for what they called them is "The Pale Ones". Upon mentioning that to my beloved companion, she had given me a strange smile before she had chanted something in the same peculiar language that she had spoken during the ritual in the crypt.

Naturally, the original colonists had ignored the warnings of the Native Americans and had set up a settlement along the natural waterway of the area. Within a year, it had been abandoned as the surviving colonists fled into the woods like rats from a sinking ship. The only survivor, found aimlessly walking through uncharted wilderness hundreds of miles away by a caravan headed to California, spoke of madness; of hell on Earth.

He said that it had started with the occasional family pet going missing but had soon evolved into men going mad in the head. Respectable men of status inexplicably went berserk, parading through the streets naked and performing sodomy with each other and the farm animals. The remaining men had locked them in their cells only for the afflicted men to begin to scream and cry like children to not be left alone after dark.

Unnerved, the town quarantined the cell house and merely guarded the perimeter to ensure that the men did not escape but did their best to ignore them. For several hours, the screaming and crying continued. At midnight, they suddenly stopped and silence filled the area. When the bravest settler, an ex-soldier that was a veteran of the Indian Wars, finally investigated at daybreak, he found an empty building. The men were gone yet the cells were still locked and nothing had been disturbed.

However, when he went back to the building after he informed the town about his findings, he was heard screaming. A group of men stormed into the building to assist their champion only to find that he too was gone without a trace. Several days later, the bloodied skeletons of several men were found in the surrounding wilderness. However, the body of the soldier remained unaccounted for. For months, the town withered on as it slowly died because the settlers refused to go beyond the town wall. People continued to see things moving just beyond the walls. Individuals continued to go mad and then disappear suddenly in the middle of the night. Finally, the pressure got to them and they turned on each other, each one claiming that the other was the cause of it all. As the man fled the carnage, he said that he had looked back over his shoulder to see two individuals just beyond the gate: a man who vaguely resembled the missing soldier and a pale woman with glowing eyes like hellfire.

The story was soon forgotten and the area had been successfully inhabited several years later. Though there were occasional outbreaks of what was called "The Fairport Madness", the new settlement flourished. As far back as I could trace my own family lineage, my family had lived in the area since the beginning of the new settlement. Alma had joked a few times that my family had been here "before then" but I had never understood what the joke was.

As I observed the new face of the city as I drove us through the streets, I had to fight the urge to vomit. Only fools worshiped the war machine. I knew better. Once the crisis was over, we would restore the city. For now, however, we needed this abomination to continue to scar the once beautiful landscape in order to save it.

I pulled up to the research building, which was next to where the giant hole of the Origin Explosion had once been before we had partially filled it in and turned it into a training/proving ground, and parked. The research building, resembling an aircraft hangar with its aluminum skin and arced roof, stretched the length of a city block and housed our prototype weaponry as well as Jin's office. Whenever we were not a mission, she would disappear inside the building with Point Man. I had tried to joke a few times at them spending so much time together only for Alma to quickly berate me.

As we approached the front entrance, the guards saluted us as they said "good morning" to each of us. Upon giving our respective replies, we entered the building. It was still early in the morning so the interior was silent with its various workstations dark and the items on their desks covered with a tarp. However, in the far end of the building sat a large quadruped behemoth of steel and weapons.

Noticing that the vehicle appeared to be in working order and that a light was on in Jin's office, I made my way over to the door. I knocked on the wooden exterior with my gloved left hand. I heard rapid movement and furniture being rearranged in response. I went to laugh slightly as Alpha 1 sighed. However, the glare on my companion's face stopped me.

Moments later, Jin called out, "Enter." I opened the door and casually walked into the room. Inside, Jin sat calmly behind her desk and Point Man leaned against the right wall. Files were on top of her desk and against the walls were hand-drawn blueprints for weapons and vehicles. Most noticeable of these blueprints was the one pined to the back wall behind her desk. The giant outside was etched on the piece of paper.

Jin was unusually gifted with designing things. The way that her mind worked allowed her to have the natural ability of just knowing how things had to go together in order to work. The same obsession with details in her forensic arts were applied to her designs. Everything had to be just so for her. After taking a sip of coffee, I asked, "Is it in operational condition, Miss Kwon?"

The Korean-American ex-F.E.A.R. Operative replied, "If you meant to ask if it is ready for testing, then yes. If you meant to ask if it is ready for production, then that is up to you and its performance in the proving grounds."

I motioned to the prototype outside her office as I said, "Show me." She nodded and we made our way out of her office. Upon reaching the behemoth, I studied it, hardly believing that such a vehicle had been built in such a short amount of time.

The four-legged monster was a conglomerate of spare parts that had been shaped into what vaguely resembled a beetle. It also resembled a cake in that it was layered with a front and bottom section divided by a vein that ran between them. The front nose was blunt yet, like the rest of the vehicle, had angled armor. Four laser cannon batteries were housed in the nose, two on the top and two on the bottom.

The laser cannons were in revolving circular mounts and could be fired independently or altogether. The weapon system was a traditional laser design that fired a continuous narrow penetrating high-energy beam. The onboard cells provided the laser cannons with enough energy to fire for ten continuous minutes of firing. These cannons would serve as both anti-personnel and anti-material weapons.

Mounted on top of the behemoth, behind the cabin, which was similar to the cabin of the EPA except surrounded by angled armor, directly in the center of the vehicle was the heavy hitter. Housing in an open, revolving mount was a 240mm howitzer. The modern version of the infamous World War 2 and Korean War artillery piece was custom manufactured for the vehicle and sported a long barrel that reached the end of the nose when aimed directly forward.

To compensate for its recoil, the end of the barrel sported a large break. Though the turret was open, the operators were protected by a circular band of armor mounted on either side of the barrel. The piece itself was mounted on top of a wedge to allow it to have an unusually low depression angle. At nearly thirty metric tons in weight, the piece was just shy of being designated as a railway gun. With modern advances, the piece could achieve an unheard of fire rate of four rounds per minute, nearly double what its predecessor had been capable of. Its immensely destructive power would be vital to punch through the defensive wall that we would encounter.

The four massive articulated legs were thick and stout. The rear legs were slightly taller than the front. The legs were made from spare hydraulic steel presses that were used in the factories. Housed in cylindrical armor tubes, the presses allowed the vehicle to lift its massive cup-like feet that were nearly the size of an Abrams battle tank. To turn, the internal gears allowed the legs to be independently extended outwards at various angles. Moreover, they could be independently raised and lowered by the operator. A unique feature was that they could be compacted like a toilet paper holder to lower the vehicle completely onto the ground.

The rear was slightly blocky due to the internal electrical power plant being housed there. Essentially a larger version of the ones found in the EPAs, the internal power plant supplied ample energy to the massive behemoth. Though yet untested, the onboard cells had a life expectancy of, theoretically, thirty to fifty combat hours on maximum yield. Restricted to only essential components, the cells could be stretched to one hundred combat hours.

As Jin went through the various components with long-winded explanations for why certain parts had been designed in such a way, I noticed several notches on the bottom section of the nose where a circular chain mine sweeper or a bulldozer-like attachment could be mounted out in front of the vehicle. She explained that the vehicle sported multiple countermeasures similar to the Leviathans and had similar high-grade composite armor as well. It also possessed the same auto-repair mechanism of the EPAs but it did not require the compete evacuation of the crew in order to junction. In addition, it sported a revolutionary feature: a continuous energy shield between the outer armor and the internal mechanisms.

Overall, the vehicle was eighty feet in length, sixty feet wide, twenty feet tall, and weighed in at nearly one hundred metric tons. A crew of four, the commander, the gun operator, the assistant gun operator, and the engineer, was required to operate the vehicle. Jin explained that she had streamlined the controls to be very user friendly and that the operator only had to be qualified up to a Class B License. As she finished, she smirked before she informed us, "My assistants have nicknamed it, 'King Kong'."

I smirked in response before I said, "Hell yes they did. In fact, I like that. That is going to be their name. So…when can we see it in action on the proving ground?"

She replied, "This afternoon, if you want."

I nodded and then said, "Set it up and have Foxtrot 813 be the pilot for the test."

She replied, "Roger that, Becket."

A few hours later.

"Head's up." I called as I lightly threw the white with red lace baseball at Amara. My daughter expertly caught the ball in her glove. Upon retrieving the ball with her left hand, she happily waved it above her head in triumph. I smiled before I said, "Very good sweetie. You are such a fast learner." She ran to me. I went down on one knee and caught her in my arms as she wrapped hers around my neck.

As she looked at me, she asked, "Did you play baseball when you were my age, Daddy?"

I replied, "No, I just learned how to play little by little."

Curious, she inquired, "Why not?"

I explained, "I was not the athletic type Amara."

She smiled before she said, "I think you would have made a great baseball player."

I went to reply but Jin interrupted us as she appeared from the inside of the observation bunker, "Becket, whenever you are ready."

I replied, "Coming…" I looked back at Amara and said, "Want to watch?" She giggled and nodded happily. I smiled and then stood before leading the way into the bunker. Alpha 1 followed close behind and Alma materialized in front of us as we made our way to the front row of the viewing area.

Inside the room were various representatives from our allies as well as branches of our own military. The project was a well-kept secret, even amongst our own military. As far as they knew, they were here to see a demonstration of a new weapon system. The bunker was situated atop a cliff of what was once the rim of the crater. Below us was the filled-in area of the crater that could best be described as a dry lake bed. It was perfect for testing out new weapons and for training exercises.

Dotting the crater floor were the hulls of M1A1 Abrams and T-72 Main Battle Tanks as well as various light tanks. Four simulation concrete bunker and trench defensive lines were spaced out evenly from one end of the crater to the other. Remote controlled anti-tank guns were also placed within the obstacle course either in the bunkers or in the remains of the tanks to simulate combat conditions. In addition, four remote controlled Apache Attack Helicopters were hovering above their respective defensive line. Live ordinance would be used to demonstrate the survivability of our new weapon system.

As I reached the front of the room, I turned and addressed the representatives, "Several of you have continued to claim that the tank is still the dominant fighting vehicle on the battlefield. However, I respectfully disagree." Our ally representatives mumbled in disagreement while the representatives of our military silently waited for me to continue. I motioned to Jin, who contacted Foxtrot 813. As I heard the research building's rear doors open, I said confidently, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kong: the Eighth Wonder of the World!"

At that moment, orange warning lights began to swivel around the exit to the research building as the double doors completely opened. Out of the darkness, the massive dull grey behemoth appeared. Shaking the ground with every step, the vehicle took its first steps as Foxtrot maneuvered it towards the edge of the crater wall. The reaction from the representatives was nothing short of what I had expected. Some applauded, some sat silently in disbelief, and some scowled in disgust.

The blood red clouds illuminated the quadruped with a red glow as it stopped by the edge of the crater. At the opposite side of the wall, a set of orange lights indicated the finishing line. Without looking back at the representatives, I commented, "Let's see a demonstration shall we?" The loud shriek of a starting whistle temporarily filled the air and the giant began its march towards the finish line.

Taking a step forward, King Kong began to power its way down the side of the crater wall. Any tracked vehicle would have flipped over or began an uncontrolled acceleration downwards. However, the giant's unusual proportions and weight allowed it to gracefully navigate its way down to the bottom. Moreover, the cup-like shape of the feet created a weak suction force that helped secure the vehicle to the side of the crater wall as it descended.

As the giant's front left foot touched the crater floor, the first line of bunkers, tanks, and the Apache opened up on King Kong with machine gun, rocket, and cannon fire. The thick armor easily absorbed the small arms fire, the angled shape of the behemoth's exterior deflected the cannon fire, and its countermeasures fired into the air to neutralize the incoming rockets from the Apache. The four laser batteries on the nose swiveled upwards and began to fire at the Apache's remaining rockets. Seconds later, the Apache exploded as it was destroyed by its own warheads. The laser cannons powered down and returned to their standard position facing straight ahead.

Upon getting all four feet onto the crater floor, the giant lowered its legs so that it was sitting on the ground. As rounds continued to strike its exterior, King Kong's 240mm cannon began to aim towards the leftmost bunker of the four that were in its path. The two-man team of the piece could be seen making final adjustments for a moment. Meanwhile, the laser batteries began to fire upon the two M1A1 Abrams. The high-energy beams quickly sliced the vehicles apart like a surgeon in an operating room.

Shaking the very Earth to its core and ejecting a huge column of flame, the 240mm howitzer fired its 360 lbs. warhead into the first bunker. The warhead annihilated the structure, throwing up chunks of concrete and a huge cloud of dust as it did. The gun crew quickly took aim at the rightmost bunker and began to reload. Fifteen seconds later, the behemoth fired its second round and annihilated the bunker. Repeating the process, they soon destroyed the third bunker. Only one more bunker remained for the first defensive line. However, to even my surprise, King Kong stood and began to calmly stomp towards the last obstacle.

I contacted Foxtrot through our link, "You know that the point is to destroy everything right?"

He replied with a humorous tone, "Yes, sir. Trust me, you are going to enjoy this."

As I watched, the giant stopped just in front of the last concrete structure. I admit that I was bewildered even as the giant lowered itself down onto its nose. Then, it used its powerful leg mechanisms to launch itself up into the air until it was effectively standing on its back legs like a bear. King Kong slowly moved forward to be standing directly above the bunker and then, shocking everyone further still, it brought its full weight down on top of the bunker as it fell back down onto its front feet.

The giant's one hundred metric ton frame easily crushed the structure while it also shook the ground violently. The representatives stood and applauded the machine as it continued its rampage through the remaining test course. By the time that it had destroyed the last defensive line, I was certain that any doubt about the end of the dominance of the tank on the battlefield was gone. King Kong finally approached its final obstacle: the crater wall. It had to ascend it in order to reach the finish line.

I confess that I was worried that the giant would be unable to overcome such an obstacle. After all, it was nearly sheer. Very few vehicles in the world could conquer such things and they were all purpose-built competition machines. The room grew deathly quiet as we all watched in worry that the prototype had finally met its match. However, the behemoth once again rocked back onto its back legs and I noticed huge spikes emerge from the center of the front feet.

Foxtrot slowly guided the giant to the edge of the wall. Then, it used its weight to plunge the spikes deep into the cliff face. One step at a time, the giant inched its way up the sheer crater wall. A few times, the quadruped seemed to slip only to catch itself. The articulated joints of the legs groaned loudly in protest from the strain. The repurposed hydraulic presses of the legs could be heard straining as they powered the one hundred ton monster up the thirty story cliff face. Effectively, King Kong was climbing up the side of a skyscraper much like its namesake had done in its fictional story. No one dared to speak for fear of somehow causing the machine to fall to the crater floor. Even Jin seemed to be questioning herself for putting her prototype in such a dangerous situation.

Finally, against all odds, the behemoth reached the top of the crater wall and powered its way through the final stretch and soon found itself on the opposite side of the crater rim. Stomping forward, it made its way towards the finish line. The uproar from the individuals in the room was deafening. I went to congratulate Jin but stopped when I saw her hugging Point Man.

Alma asked beside me, "They are good together…aren't they?"

I looked at her and smiled before I replied, "Yes, they are."

She smiled sadly for a moment before she remarked, "I guess...if he is happy…then I am happy too."

I smiled and hugged her close to me. Jin approached us and asked, "So, what do you think?"

I withdrew from my wife and looked at her. Then, I replied smugly, "Does it come in olive green?"

Hours later

As we sat around the large dining table eating dinner, we were conversing about the newest addition to our arsenal. Though most of the claims were exaggerated, I did not correct them. It was refreshing for my team to be filled with renewed vigor. Sitting to my left, Alma asked me, "Did the steak turn out okay?" Alma had taken it upon herself to learn the fine arts of cooking and, surprisingly, she was a gifted culinary artist. The steak was from some individuals of the large cattle herds located deep below Sparta in repurposed Armacham Facilities. Removed from the poisons of the factories, our cattle herds produced milk and meat that rivaled anything that was produced in other countries.

I replied, "It is wonderful, my dear." Alpha 1 mumbled in agreement to my right. Suddenly, a loud clanging sound came from the other end of the table as Jin tapped her glass with her fork. The room grew quiet as both she and Point Man stood.

She seemed nervous as she said, "I have an announcement to make. Point Man and I…are…well he asked me to…we…have agreed to be married." I started clapping and everyone else soon joined in. Soon, the applause was joined by cheers.

As I returned to eating, Alpha 1 commented, "About time…" With steak in my mouth, I mumbled and nodded in agreement. Alma was silent though I felt her place her right hand on top of my left thigh. Though I was happy for her, I idly wondered if Jin had any idea what she was getting herself into. Though I hated to admit it, sometimes it really did feel like my beloved family was something like the fictional Addams Family.

I swallowed the piece of steak and then wondered aloud, "I suppose that we should get them something."

Alpha 1 suggested, "We could get them a microwave that will then be re-gifted for about ten years." I laughed slightly in response.

Several weeks later, we all stood on the observation deck of the Harbormaster's Tower in the harbor. Below us, our battalions of Replica soldiers stood at attention with REV6's, EPAs, several modified versions of EPAs, Leviathans, and now, four olive green King Kong's mixed in with their columns. The eve of the invasion the likes of which had not been seen since the D-Day Landings was rapidly approaching, but, for now, we would enjoy the occasion.

Jin and Point Man were standing where Alma and I had been standing during our wedding as Dr. Green went through the various speeches. As I waited anxiously for the moment that I had been looked forward to for the past several weeks, Alma asked me with accusation in her tone, "Michael, you weren't thinking about recording the only time that my son will ever speak in his life were you?"

I replied, "No of course not. Come on, Alma. You know that I would never think of doing that…but you did…so...we'll do it!"

As it got to the part where Point Man would have to say "I do", I motioned to everyone. Everyone present, except for Alma, retrieved some type of recording device as we waited in anticipation. The Replica were using their helmet's built-in recording device and I was using my HUD glasses' recording device. I noticed that Holiday, Morales, and Keira were comically using production set equipment like boom mics to record the only time that Point Man would ever say anything.

We all waited in anticipation for several agonizing seconds. However, Point Man, still in his F.E.A.R. armor, simply took Jin's tiny hands in his own bear-like hands as they both looked at each other in silence. The implication was clear: no words were needed for their love. Too moved to be upset about being cheated out of hearing him speak, we all applauded the couple. I noticed Foxtrot shaking and asked, "Foxtrot, why are you crying?"

He shook his head before he replied, "I don't know, sir." Then, before I could react in time, he suddenly hugged me. I awkwardly hugged him back while glancing at Alma for help.

Later, in Wade Mansion, I observed the new couple from the railing of the floor above them. I had to admit, they did make a great couple. "I think so too, my love." Alma said as she materialized next to me in her child form.

Looking at her, I sighed before I remarked, "Alma…I…I've been a fool."

She teased me, "I would not disagree normally…" She asked me in a serious tone, "...but...what do you mean?"

I explained, "All this time…I have never said that I am sorry…just…too stubborn I guess. You know I would never purposely try to hurt you…right?"

She morphed into her adult form and took my gloved right hand into her fragile looking hands before she assured me, "I know…you have nothing to be sorry for. The you that tried to hurt me was not the person that I fell in love with. So…you have nothing to be sorry for."

I started to reply, but she interrupted me as she said, "Come now, my love. Let's leave them alone." As she guided me towards our room, I reflected on the daunting task that lay before us. Assuming that we managed to get through the coastal defenses, stormed our way across the continent, and reached the portal to the Underworld, we still had absolutely no idea how to seal it.

However, we had no choice but to proceed on blind faith that we could figure it out. Even with the massive buildup of our army, we would be at a severe disadvantage. I feared that I had finally encountered an enemy that was insurmountable.

"Aw, is the great Achilles afraid?"

I scowled at the raven-haired goddess in front of me before I retorted, "Blow me, daughter of Athena."

She giggled before she said, "I already did that today, but if you insist…"

She started to get onto her knees but stopped when Alpha 1 walked towards us as he commented, "You could at least wait until you were in the privacy of your chambers, Mother."

Alma sighed as she said, "Just like Achilles, my noble Odysseus…you mortals are no fun."

My brother replied, "There is this thing called human decency."

She giggled before she remarked, "Those two words are contradictory."

He replied, "Not as long as there is one fool left who still believes in it."

She narrowed her eyes as she said, "Well played, my son."

Before one of us could say something else, Amara ran past us in her nude child form in her daily protest of taking a bath. As we chased after her, I could not help but smile. No matter the cost, the safety of my family would be worth the trials that lay before us.