AN: There will be a short rape scene in this chapter. Just a warning for those of you that are sensitive to that kind of stuff.

Chapter 17

The valley before me was riddled with holes and shrapnel. This was my next mission. To get missiles shoved up my asshole.

Missiles.

In my asshole.

Caesar was trying to get me killed. I would show him up when I returned successful. With severe asshole damage, but still there.

The rusted road sign lay on the ground and was painted "BOOMERS! STAY AWAY!"

I let out a tired sigh and took my first step into my journey to my own death.

Oh Mars, may you give all these explosive profligates slow and painful deaths.

My leg was shredded from debris. Rocks and glass stuck out of my skin in painful angles. I was almost there but they were obviously not going to relent.

I shifted my weight to the rubble of the old house on my left and I continued on. I heard the infamous boom of another missile leave the launcher. I heard it rip through the air and get nearer and nearer. The house ended and I spotted a concrete wall. I limped quickly to it and flung myself over the edge in time for the ground I previously occupied to be obliterated.

I rolled down the steep ditch and hit my head on a rock with a loud thud and the world faded to black.

I opened my eyes to see the sky orange and clouded with smoke. Cries and screams filled the air. Women holding children with tears streaming down their faces. Men were being beheaded everywhere I looked. This was a Legion invasion. I don't remember this mission. I was never here.

I stood up from the ground to see my leg was in working condition. I took an experimental step and felt no pain. I looked around to find a man in a metal helmet. He was Frumentarii.

"Where are we again?" I asked the man.

"We're in Santa Anna. Haven't you been briefed?" He replied.

"No, are we taking the women? What is the point of this operation?"

The man huffed, clearly annoyed with my interrogation. "We were to take over this settlement, take the women, recruit the children, and kill the others that are unwilling to be cleansed. Is that everything?"

"Yes. What is your name?" I would definitely remember his name to teach him a lesson in manners.

"Otho. What's it to you?" The man crossed his arms defensively.

"Oh. Thank you for your time." Nevermind.

He turned to leave and I grabbed my knife and pulled him by the throat behind a hut. He scratched at my arms and I slid the knife across his throat slowly. I reveled in the feeling of killing him twice.

I stepped over his body and walked back to the front of the battle that lay before me. A man that was definitely not Legion was standing over a crumpled girl. She couldn't have been over twenty years old.

The man grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into a house and slammed the door. I followed them quietly and opened the door with a screech. The sight I witnessed as I fully opened the door was quite disgusting.

The man's pant pooled around his knees. He was thrusting into the poor girl with such hatred and anger. His hand grasped her throat tightly. Tears stained her dirty face and hair clung to her cheeks. She was terrified and hurting. It seemed that the man noticing me only fueled his hatred and anger due to his brutality with the girl.

I pulled out my machete quickly and took a step towards him. He pulled her up by the throat to shield him from me. He didn't stop what he was doing to her even to save his own life.

The girl looked at me with fear and sadness. It was a haunting experience. Her eyes were black and I could see various bruises on her face through the dirt on her skin. Her hair still covered most of her face. The man pulled her closer to him.

I reached out and pushed her away to the side. I held my machete out and swung. The girl dropped to the floor when his grip loosened on her throat. My machete sat around two inches into his skull. I yanked it out of his head with a wet thunk.

He dropped and I knelt down by the girl. She hid her face from me as she cried in pain. I reached out to move her hair from her face.

"You're safe now." I whispered.

"Thank you." She replied hoarsely.

She looked up and wiped her face. She smeared the dirt off her face along with her tears. The face that looked back at me made my breath catch in my own throat.

Sennia looked from behind her filthy hair with an air of gratitude.

I cleared my throat to regain my composure. "Did you, uh, know him?"

"He was my husband."

A kick to my side brought me back to the mission. I opened my eyes slowly to see a man in a vault suit pointing a shotgun in my face. Everywhere in my body screamed in agony. I couldn't move. What I had just experienced must have been a vision from Mars.

The man spoke but he wasn't making any noise. He was just moving his mouth like an idiot.

I opened my mouth to speak to find that I couldn't hear myself. My ears rang from the many explosions I had survived. My asshole seemed to be intact. Surprisingly.

I was deaf for the time being and would have to make use of my limited nonvocal skills. I pointed to my leg and to the sky and then made an exploding gesture. I pointed to my ears and shook my head.

The man held his hand out and I took it thankfully. He threw my arm over his shoulder and he dragged me into the base. I was in.

He handed me over to two younger men that carried me a long distance to a building. A man in doctor fatigues rushed over and winced when he saw my lg. He pointed the other men to the door and they left.

The doctor held up a syringe and I shook my head quickly and regretted it when a migraine set in at the motion. He nodded and I read his lips saying "trust me, you want this."

"I don't" I mumbled without hearing it for myself.

He held me down and thrust it into my leg and pushed down on the plunger. I screamed in anger but it quickly died down as the medicine kicked in and brought sweet relief. I closed my eyes and the doctor shook me violently.

I opened my eyes again. He shook his head. "No sleep," he mouthed.

"Yes sleep."

He pointed to his head, made a sleeping gesture, and then swiped his finger along his neck and lolled his head to the side.

I was concussed. Why didn't I think about that? He was right. I couldn't sleep. But sleep sounded so good. I would inevitably go into a coma but even that sounded like paradise.

I struggled to keep my eyes open but I stuck through it. The doctor had finished cleaning my leg and I was under the influence of more profligate drugs.

I lay on the bed with a headache and still no hearing whatsoever. I would have to sleep sometime. I would just have to wait until the doctor gave me an "okay."

Several days had passed and my hearing had started to return around the third day. My hearing was almost returned completely. I could almost walk now and I was starting to converse with the head of the Boomers and other important members.

I was the first outsider they had ever seen so everyone was excited and paranoid about me. This was an unorthodox way of performing this operation but it was still going well. These people needed me as much as we needed them. Pearl, the founder I presume, had agreed to join us if I helped them with their own problems such as their ant infestation, plane situation, and array difficulties. I have absolutely no knowledge in repairs so I would really have to work with this group of degenerates.

A child had come in and walked up to the doctor.

"Have you seen Mister Cuddles?"

The doctor chuckled and ruffled her hair. "No, Lindsay, can't say I have."

She looked at her feet in shame. "I lost him again."

"Maybe I can help you find him?" I offered.

The doctor looked at me with a weird expression.

"You will?" Lindsay beamed.

"Why not?"