It's been a year since Ratchet discovered his powers. From the moment the Iron Lords decided to help him tame them, the now fifteen-year-old boy trained non-stop. Since they had no idea how to approach this unexplored energy, the members of the order taught the boy as if they were teaching a new Lightbearer.
This had quite an interesting effect, as Ratchet discovered that he could imitate Light powers, such as a Sunbraker's Hammers of Sol and Arcstrider's electric staff. The Lords made no secret of the fact that they found it both fascinating and terrifying, mainly because they feared that if Lombax fell under someone's control, that person would have a powerful ally. Therefore, they constantly taught the boy how to resist such actions.
Yet as we all know, some things have to stop and sometimes Lords must answer the call to battle.
The members of the order, apart from Ratchet and Clyde, who are now on Veldin because of a Grim getting ill, were now in the briefing room, where Saladin was informing them about new task.
"Last night we received a message from one of the villages in the north. A few days ago, one of their hunters found a bunker that had what he called demonic noises coming out of it. The same hunter also saw the Fallen from the House of Devils enter this place and come out transformed. Stronger, tougher. The village elders have asked us to take care of it."
"Do we know anything more about this bunker? Symbols that might identify it?" Radegast asked.
"Yes," replied Cazar, who then showed a holographic photo of the bunker entrance. It had a mark on it that Felwinter quickly recognized.
"Rasputin. This is one of my father's bunkers," said the Exo.
This information alarmed everyone. They knew their friend's story well. Unlike other Exos, Felwinter was not previously a living being whose consciousness was transferred into a robotic body. He was a completely created A.I who gained self-awareness and personality over many years. He told others about Rasputin and how powerful and what kind of tyrant he is. With this in mind, the Lords realized that the bunker would not only be well guarded by the Fallen, but they would also be very well equipped with the bunker's weapons at their disposal.
With all this information, Saladin, Felwinter, and Radegast start creating a plan. The other members of the order decided to take advantage of this moment and prepare weapons and ammunition supplies.
It was going to be quite a raid.
A few days after they prepared a plan, the Lords reached Rasputin's bunker. It was open, the bones of those who had fallen prey to the Fallen lay in the snow outside, and a red mist was pouring out of the door.
"Welp, it adds to the atmosphere," commented Efrideet.
Saladin stepped forward and turned to his companions to make a speech.
"Brothers and Sisters. Today, as a pack, we will go to the Devils' lair to end what they are doing there. Alone we may be strong, but together we are stronger! So I'm asking you. Are you with me?!"
"YES!"
"Are you ready to stain your hands with the blood of Devils?!"
"YES!"
After these words, everyone went inside, ready for battle.
Ready to die.
After 30 minutes of fighting the Fallen who had been turned into cyborgs and avoiding traps, the entire team made it to the central room. In front of them was the computer and the captain of the Fallen, which were connected by red threads of nanofiber. Not wasting a second more, Felwinter ran to the nearest console and began working on a plan to send this whole place into the abyss. At the same time, the other members of the Order were protecting their comrade.
Unfortunately, more opponents started appearing, which cause a lot of problems for the Lords. Seeing what a bad position they were in, Radegast ordered Lilith to take his axe and use it as a blockade on the main door while he stayed on the other side and held off the enemy. Of course, she didn't agree to it, but eventually gave in.
After a while, she managed to close said door, leaving her brother in battle to die. As for Radegast, the man decided that if he was to leave this world, it would be with a bang. He adjusted his helmet with two metal horns on the sides, then cracked his knuckles and laughed loudly.
"You guys don't fucking understand. I am not imprisoned here with you… You are imprisoned here with me."
For the next few minutes, the members of the Iron Lords heard only Fallens screams of agony and, much to their surprise, hard-rock metal music, which eventually faded away to be replaced by the sounds of claws scratching at the door.
Impatient with all this, Saladin approached Felwinter, wanting to know what the progress was.
"Fel, how are you doing? Do you have anything?" asked the leader of the Order. He only got a deep sigh from his companion in response.
"Yes, and it's not good news. Rasputin was working here on SIVA, nanobots that can fuse with organic and no-organic material. He intended to use it to create his own army of cyborgs that would turn others into cyborgs as well. They were also supposed to locate me and bring me here."
Hearing this, Saladin cursed under his breath. He didn't like it, oh he didn't like it very much. But he expected a solution.
"But you have an idea, right? We're not going to leave this place just like that." Cazar asked.
For a moment, the black Exo pondered what to do. After a few seconds, his green eyes flashed, indicating that he had a plan.
"Each of these bunkers has a reactor that, if it were to blow up, would destroy everything and everyone inside the place and for a few miles around. We could plant charges there and detonate them."
Saladin agreed to such a plan. It was better than nothing. He and Felwinter informed their companions of what they were planning. Hearing this, Skorri decided that she and a few other Lords would stay here and buy the others time to plant the bombs. The leader of the Order voiced a firm objection, but others didn't listen.
So Skorri, Dryden, Orimund, Crimil, Frostmire, Jorum, Gunnora, Timur, Gheleon, Perun, Silimar, and Orewing stayed in the central room, forming a defensive outpost.
Only Saladin, Lilith, Felwinter, Jolder and Efrideet went to the depths of the bunker.
After another minute of fighting with automatic turrets and traps, five of the eighteen Lords made it to the reactor. It was completely covered with fibers from SIVA nanobots, which made it difficult to complete the task. Felwinter quickly tapped into the nearest terminal, intending to use his privileges as Rasputin's A.I and unlock the reactor. At the same time, three Iron Ladies have set up a defensive point at one reactor door.
"So… any words for the next generation?" Jolder asked.
"What?" Lilith said.
"We know very well, sister, that we won't be able to get out of here. It is the only entrance and exit from this hell and we know perfectly well that on the other side there is a horde of cyborgs who want to kill us. Also, if I had to say something for new Iron Lords, it would be that they should look good. Appearance is the basis of a good reputation," said Jolder.
The other women laughed slightly, but quickly prepared to fire when they heard something moving in the corridor.
"If so, I would like the next generation to try to find a way to bring peace or at least order to the galaxy. Our three galaxies have seen enough death and blood already," Efrideet said.
Lilith thought for a moment. What would she say to the next Lords? In a second it dawned on her.
"Maybe not to new members of the order, but to my dear husband and son. I would like to tell them how much I love them, how happy I am to know that I had such a wonderful family. I would like to tell Ratchet again how proud I am of him and how much I love him. And to Clyde that no matter what happened, even when I had Exo personality crisis due to transferring myself into this body, he was always there for me and helped me. Also to Grim, for if he hadn't adopted Clyde, I probably wouldn't have had a wonderful husband. So in short, I am grateful for a family and I wish the next generation would not be afraid to start their own as well." added the Exo woman.
After a while, the first opponents appeared in the corridor. All three women started shooting or using their powers non-stop. But even that was slowly making them hemmed in by the enemy hordes.
At the same time, Felwinter managed to hack the SIVA nanobots and open access to the reactor. Saladin quickly threw his explosives pack to an Exo and ran off to fight the Devil cyborgs, hoping to buy time for his companion. The Black Exo finished arranging the bombs after a while. When he then saw that he was the only one left from the entire team, and the opponent was running towards him, he pressed the detonation button without hesitation.
And so out of twenty Iron Lords, only two remained in a whole galaxy.
Ratchet still couldn't believe it. His uncles, aunts, and even his dear mother. They're all dead. They sacrificed their lives to protect others from the actions of the Devils.
The mere thought of these monsters made Lombax's blood boil. He let it slip that they wanted to eat him when he was a child, but hurting others just because these guys blamed others for their planet's destruction? It was making the young man sick. Despite all this, however, the fifteen-year-old still held his head high. He had to. For his father.
Clyde was painfully affected by the deaths of the members of the order and his wife. A week has passed since that day. The man was often furious, smashing punching bags, and even occasionally shooting desert frogs jumping here and there. It was obvious he was having a hard time. But despite this, he still does not stop being a good father, son and even sheriff. And even a cousin.
"Ratchet. Pack your gear. We're going to the Reef," said the Awoken man.
Lombax looked up from his comic book at his father with surprise in his eyes.
"Reef? Isn't that where the remnants of your race are, Dad? And isn't that where the Prison of the Elders is? The most dangerous place in the galaxies because of the criminals inside?"
"Yes, yes, yes and yes. My cousin and your aunt, Petra Venj, is the captain of security at this prison. I just got word from her that there's a prison riot there and it needs to be put down, and it will take the Vanguard a while to get there."
Lombax tried to remember his aunt and realized that he had only seen her once at Christmas. And he remembered that she always did cool tricks with knives. So he donned his own light metal armor of the Iron Lords, which was yellow and brown in color and had a black hooded cloak. All of them were made by Radegast. He also put a Rose in his holster, not because he didn't want other guns, but because they turned into dark dust every time he touched them. Interestingly, this did not work on the Omniwrench.
And so the father and son duo went to meet the criminals. It's time to end this prison riot.
It's time... for the Forsaken by universe meet a justice.
Rivet knew she shouldn't be here. Who in their right mind would draft a child into the army? But she had to do it. After several months of searching, the girl finally managed to get into the ranks of the Militia. She lied when they asked her about her age, saying that she was almost an adult and that her youthful appearance was only due to the her race.
And so, after months of hard combat training, young Lombax got her first assignment. She and some other recruits are about to attack a small IMC outpost, the Interstellar Military Corps, which is the military arm of the Nefer Corporation.
When the twelve-year-old and her companions arrived at the place, i.e. on a planet that was not even on the maps of the galaxy, it got hot at the very beginning of the operation. Anti-aircraft guns fired at the transports, knocking down several of them. IMC soldiers were also not idle and used rocket launchers.
Eventually, Rivet and the other recruits managed to reach the ground and go on the offensive. After many minutes of bloody fighting, the outpost was taken over. Members of the Militia did not hide their satisfaction, including young Lombax.
When the transports came for them, before the teenager boarded, she saw out of the corner of her eye a high-ranking Militia officer executing captured opponents and workers.
She felt bad seeing it. She wanted to puke just thinking about it. But deep down she knew.
Such is the price of war, and there is no mercy in it.
