Good and bad news, good news is I'm on a bit of a writing spree, I'm working on chapter 4 while 3 is being edited at this time as well as being halfway through Jaune Joestar's next chapter, trying to iron things out for Once Bitten Twice Shy to get another chapter, even doing some re-writes and polishes for Code: RAGNAROK, so things are happening even if slow. Bad news I've been locked out of the FFN app, so I'm quite pissed about that. I can't even log into the app from my phone, I've reset my password and it works on computer but for some damn reason my phone won't let me read anything… at least I can post but damn it I just found out I'm three chapters behind one of my favorite stories.
Anyways, enjoy the upload I'll see you at the end
GOW
Colwell groaned, his eyes burning in pain, before slowly sitting himself up from the floor. He blinked his eyes, trying to remove the white spots covering it. When that didn't work, he decided to change tactics.
"Anyone else up?" Colwell called out, getting silence in response. He grunted before standing upon his feet.
"GEnerAl C-c-C-Collllwel," President Eden attempted to speak after a few more moments. His voice was distorted and repetitive. Damage was done to his processor somehow.
"That's a problem. No one has any idea how it works," Colwell thought with a grimace.
"You the only one up?" Colwell asked.
"P-p-p-Partially. Powwwwwerrrr iiiis at-t-t twwwwo p-perrrceennt-t."
Colwell blinked once more, the white spots disappearing. For a moment, he believed he was blind but a moment later he realized that the Command Center was dark, not a single light or console active.
"Well, shit. That's not good. Anyway for the power to come back?"
"Work-king o-on iit no-o-o-w. Powweer at t-t-ten perceeent." Eden responded, his voice significantly better than before.
"No clue how you're doing it but keep doing what you're doing, sir. I'm gonna start working on waking people up. If I can find them while blind." Colwell's final remark was more a whisper.
After a step, the emergency lights turned on, the color deep red.
"ah, fuck!" The sudden light returned the burning in his eyes. Clamping them shut and wrapping an arm around them.
"You a-are welc-come." Eden sounded even better than before.
That AI works fast.
Colwell, now able to see, worked quickly on waking people up. All of them groaned and bemoaned at their pain.
"Looks like Razz is gonna need a medic," Colwell called out, as he watched Razz vomit out his lunch on the floor, chuckling at the man's anguish.
"Status," ordered Autumn, ignoring the vomit.
"After some concerted effort, I've managed to restore auxiliary power to twenty percent. Our central generators located at Sub Levels 1 and 5 must be looked at by engineers as soon as possible. There are power fluctuations resulting from overloaded circuits, power boards, burned-out modules, and more forms of damage scattered across the entirety of the bunker, on every floor. The most pressing concern, however, outside of power, are the escapees in containment, all the mutants within have been released and from audio reception have begun killing Enclave Personnel nearby. Additionally, our external and internal defenses are offline, I am trying to activate our robot units for rapid response but the message is not being received. I will continue trying." Eden's voice was clearer than before but still carried a filtered distortion to it. Nonetheless, his words were understood and caused Autumn's frown to grow deeper with each added obstacle caused by whatever happened.
"Has that acid storm passed, at least?" Cornagi asked, sitting on one of the nearby chairs massaging her head.
"I'm afraid I don't know. Satellite signals have gone offline, analysis shows no hardware problem instead lack of connection; it's almost as if the satellites disappeared altogether. However, external cameras have been pinged and are shown to still be active. Rerouting power now." Eden explained his words causing Colwell to narrow his eyes in suspicion. Looking towards the other Generals they carried similar looks of suspicion or concern.
"Visuals activated, tuning video towards Command Center screens."
The screen around the Command Center turned on and showed the surrounding area of the mountain. They expected the familiar desolate and destroyed ruins of the Capital Wasteland, covered in dirt, blood, and sand.
Instead, it was green, colorful, and full of life. A tree line as far as the eye can see, its leaves lush with promise. The sky is a beautiful blue, unscarred by radiation. Then there was the grass, untouched and unblemished. It was as if they were watching a Pre-War film.
"Where the fuck are we?" Bruja bluntly asked, confused as well as everyone else.
"How does an energy shield do this?" Autumn confusion soaking his words.
"The program, though labeled SHIELD, appears to have to be anything but. With all the data I've collected so far this program is more than likely the reason why we have been transported here. Our confusion about its purpose is likely due to the fact the term SHIELD is likely an acronym. Unfortunately, and concerning, is that the document I shared with you all is the only piece of information I have on it in my memory. I cannot find any more records of it in our systems." Eden explained, the distortion of his voice gone, but the noticeable tone of worry clear to all.
"The air…it looks clean," Cornagi commented, staring at one of the screens in hesitant joy.
"Let's see if it is. Mr. President, can you open the hangar doors? Let's give Navarro a wake-up call." Colwell asked his President while he began reactivating the radio and tuning it back to the shared frequency.
"Of course, deactivating lockdown." President Eden responded.
"Hey, Navarro, you ugly bastard, how is the new scenery treating you!" Colwell called out through the radio to his fellow General and old friend
There was no response.
"Navarro, wake your ass up! You've had plenty of time for a nap!" Colwell yelled through the radio, believing he was knocked out like everyone.
"General Colwell, I'm afraid I'm not picking up General Navarro's signal." His words send a cold shiver down many spines.
"What? Where is he!" Bruja demanded, her hands slamming onto the command board.
"Bleh! We…ugh we were transported here, right? And the programs required us to close all the doors to secure us inside. What if he was flung off?" General Razz suggested leaning backward into his chair.
"Shut up, Razz. Navarro closed those doors from the inside. He should still be here!" Colwell told him before lightly punching him in the gut.
"I'm afraid that General Razz is correct." President Eden switched the external cameras and showed a recording of Navarro approaching the hangar doors and closing them from the outside!
"You! Fucking! Idiot!" Colwell screamed before starting into a sprint but was held back by Autumn.
"Hold it, Colwell! This is not the time for you going AWOL! After we secure Raven Rock, we'll put-"
Colwell didn't remember anything after that. He only saw a red haze and mind-numbing rage.
GOW
The camera's lens zoomed out from its close up upon the stairwell door giving Eden a wider view of the Command Center. At the same time, part of his processor was ordered to follow General Colwell, watching as the man leaped down the middle of the stairwell from one railing to the next reaching Floor 0 in record time.
"Did Colwell just assault the general of the army?" Cornagi asked, more to herself than to anyone in particular. Eden cataloged her surprise and Colwell action's under their assigned personality reports.
"Looks like I have another write-up to give him," Razz remarked, swallowing the bile in his throat. The punch to his gut destabilizing his stomach, looking at infrared imaging Eden calculates that Razz will be vomiting in another five minutes.
"Ignore it for now. I'll address it myself later. Cornagi, I want you down in the living quarters making sure everyone is fine, bring some of your Valkirye's with you. Them and the Knights have a good reputation among the common population." Autumn ordered, nursing his jaw. Purely superficial damage, General Autumn moved fast enough to only let the punch graze his face. However, Colwell had, by pure chance, or was it luck, hit Autumn's sensitive scar that ran along his jaw causing the General of the Army to flinch.
"On it," Cornagi affirmed before walking towards the elevator. The radio interceptor confirms her communication to her Squadron while on the ride down to the subterranean levels.
"What other problems do we have to deal with?" Autumn asked, looking around the room.
"Unknown. I'm still running a system diagnostic but at 20% power, it's going to take time. I have sent a message to the engineering department to head towards the areas that require the most amount of repairs." Eden responded he had been processing the diagnostic the moment he was able to.
"Fustrating but we'll have to deal with the problem as they come. Where is Colwell now, he took the stairwell?"
"He is nearing the entrance," Eden informed, watching as the General sprinted down the Floor 0 main hallway.
"Already?!" Razz shouted in surprise.
"It would appear he's moving in full sprint. Furthermore, he has already sent a message to the armory to move his armor to the entrance. Ghost and Tempest of the Devil Dogs have also not left the entrance since they returned from their lunch. I assume they will be going along with him." Eden watched the two Devil Dogs move the trolley into position for a combat lock, a riskier but much faster way of entering a power armor. The risk derives from getting a piece of your body in the wrong place as it closed around you crushing that limb to dust.
"Navarro is missing and more than likely in danger. It's not surprising the guy is going full speed. I have half a mind to join him but Colwell is a literal hound when he's on the hunt. If he can't find him then no one can." Bruja commented, her arms crossed but her grip was tighter around herself.
According to Eden's records, General Bruja's personal history with General Navarro should have caused her to react the same as Colwell had done. It would seem he would need to update his records of her.
"Agreed. Then we'll let him, for now. Bruja send a message towards Colonel Rivers. Tell her that Colwell is active and out in the field. Order her to come here for further instructions. Oh, and call for Colonel Erhard as well, the Knights need to know about Navarro. However, I want this in-house! No one in this room is allowed to tell anyone of Navarro's disappearance. We don't want any possible panic or loss of morale that would occur if this got out." Autumn scanned the rooms, looking General, officers, and specialists alike that filled the room.
It took a moment of thought, but the entire room nodded in agreement.
"Good, now let's our home back in order!" Autumn announced causing the command center to back to life as it was before the move.
Eden would have nodded if he could. Autumn as General of the Army proves to be the correct decision. His natural charisma and focus at the larger problems at hand made him the perfect leader for the dangers they have faced and continue to do so.
GOW
Navarro jolted awake as he felt a cold sweep through his thigh before that same cold turned hot covering his entire body.
"A stimpack," he thought, remembering the auto-injection feature he added into his armor.
After waiting a moment, letting the stimpack do its work, he could feel his body begin to groan as his nerve endings repaired itself. The pain was negligible and familiar, and nowhere near the worst he's felt.
He examined his armor HUD, relatively functional despite the massive crack down the middle, before requesting a status report through his neural interface. However, before the result was listed, he heard something brush up against some foliage.
Deep growls followed soon after. With a quick glance, he saw four giant wolf-like creatures of solid blackness, bone-white spikes covering their backs and their faces covered in a bone wolf-skull helmet.
"Shit," he mumbled, right before the creatures charged him.
Navarro rolled to the side as two of them crashed into the spot he was laying on. In one smooth motion, in his roll, he kneeled on one knee and unholstered his Plasma Defender. He fired at the one closest to him, one round entering its forehead and melted the creature's skull.
The other mutants, unfazed by their friends death, began to charge again at him but each wolf-mutant was killed with ease. Each one dying to a clean plasma shot their skulls. In a moment of silence after the brief battle he watched as the bodies of the mutants melted into shadow colored ashes.
"That's odd, plasma normally leaves a green goop but they just dissolved completely," Navarro muttered to himself, glaring at his gun before looking back to the black piles of ash.
His armor beeped signally the suit analysis was completed and it didn't look pretty. His armor was cracked open almost entirely, with the only piece of undamaged equipment being his frame, luckily enough. His storage of stimpack was wrecked save for the protected one within his armor that was injected into him. Shockingly, his shock absorbers were absolutely wrecked. His armor held the highest rated absorbers available, reaching to that of 10,000 feet. The fact they were destroyed showed the amount of damage he sustained was a testament to his near superhuman level endurance.
"Thank you, God, for this Blessing." He silently prayed.
Finishing his diagnostic reading of his armor, he scanned his surroundings. He clearly saw the crater he formed, the fresh and pure grassland complemented by woodlands, as well as the distinct lack of Raven Rock in sight.
"Uh oh," he thought in horror. He quickly opened his map from his armor. The best it could provide was a rough outline of his surroundings generated by his armors semi-functioning censors. He pinged for a satellite signal but found none.
That's not good.
"Ok, ok, what was the last thing I did. The doors…the hanger doors needed sealing so Raven Rock force field would work, From there…" he stressed his mind and remembered the shaking, the mountain vibrating at a fierce level causing him to strain his grip to keep the door shut then a bright flash is the last thing he remembered before his grip and consciousness went out.
"Considering the fact I'm not getting a sattlite signal they'll have trouble finding me. Not the first time thats happened and certsinly not the last. I guess its time to walk." His mind made up he looked around once more, no distinct landmarks were around to help him determine his way so he decided to walk east, once more.
GOW
Hellhound was used to shit hitting the fan. Being friends with Colwell since the schoolyard days and being in the same units as him since the Fall of Poseidon meant she's seen no shortage of his dumb ideas and even had a handful of scars on her dark brown skin to show it but this time it may be a little too much.
"So let me get this straight, Pendragon and Fenrir are just gone?" She almost forgot Miles Erhard was here. Just as she was second in command of the Devil dogs, he was second in charge of the Knights. He had brown hair and hazel eyes, and his skin was scratched with scars and blemished with heat-based blister marks.
"Yes, Navarro's location is completely unknown and Colwell left the facility close to two hours ago. Ghost and Tempest were ordered by him to stay and sit, exact wording by the way, but remained unresponsive to any further questions." Autumn clarified.
"Except for assaulting Autumn," Razz muttered.
"Sounds like Fenrir alright," Miles remarked with a laugh.
"Oh, shut it Delta. If Fenrir and Direwolf are MIA, we should be mounting a rescue." She insulted, making sure to use his olf callsign. Miles scowled at her words.
"It's Merlin and now, mutt. Your brain cells must be slow if you think we can mount a rescue when nearly all our systems are down." The man insulted her in kind, getting her to growl at him.
"Easy, both of you, whatever this is about, forget it and focus. Your COs are MIA and just as Erhard said we are too crippled to respond accordingly. Both of you will assume the role as the leaders of your respective squads and lead them as you are ordered to." Autumn commanded, getting a nod out her as well as Miles.
"In that case, I'll head back down and coordinate with the rest of the Knights. Call me when you hear word of him. We'll come running."
"Approved. Go. River's go join him, I don't want any of your men going AWOL themselves." River's wanted to argue but she couldn't put a word in.
Fucking Razz had to talk shit.
"Good call, General. The man's dogs tend to pick up his bad habits." Razz was leaning on the command board before he flinched when River's marched toward him. She was stopped by Miles as he grabbed her.
"See this is what I mean! Colwell and his Devil dogs are just wild animals-"
"Razz! That was uncalled for! You two are excused. I need to have a talk with General Razz for a minute." Autumn ordered, facing towards the other General.
"Yes sir," Miles affirmed as he dragged Hellhound out of the room.
"Let me go Delta! Someone needs to knock that sly little shit down a few pegs." She snarled, flailing in his arms.
"Calm down, hound. You and I both know Razz just wants another excuse to write up the Devil Dogs." He explained to her, entering the elevator.
"Then let me give him one!" She screamed as the elevator doors closed.
"As much as I'd love to watch both of you eat shit. We're too busy for that. You and I both know Fenrir is going to come back here soon enough, likely with a body count bigger than our population. Maybe even with General Navarro in tow. Either way, it's our job to make sure this base is operating for that return."Hellhound took a breath as his words registered with her.
"Why do you have to be right the one time it means I can't beat the shit out of Razz." She asks with a glare.
"You say that like I'm ever wrong. Oh, and it's Merlin, you bitch." He reprimanded her, a smug smirk stretching across his lips.
She didn't respond but she did send smirk back.
GOW
So far walking east didn't work out as well as he'd hoped. Not a surprise to him, he was never the one with luck. That was all Colwell.
He did, however, run into more of those strange mutants. More wolves and a few boar look alikes. They all fell quickly enough to a single shot of plasma. Sadly, he only had three shots left as his energy cells got damaged in the fall. Fortunately, his machete survived and has proved to be a good enough weapon against these creatures. Allowing the General to rip them into pieces with a few swings but, strangely, still causing them to dissolve on death. Seems like a biologically competent on their mutations instead of a result of his plasma.
"How peculiar, we don't see many people out here." A feminine voice spoke out. Navarro whipped his head and saw a woman with long dark hair, skin pale as snow, and eyes a blood red. Her top was some form of red armored half-robe. Her short black skirt showed off her upper thighs while a thick pair of leggings covered her legs to a little above her knees. Her shoes were hardened leather boots. Some kind of sword was on her waist, but Navarro had trouble identifying it.
Next to her were three men who he very easily deduced as raiders. They dressed the part with holes in their jeans and shirts, wearing mismatched pieces of armor finished off with bandanas covering a part of their faces.
"Not really sure where here is. I'm just trying to find my way back home," Navarro responded, waving his hand around.
"Oh? Where might that be? We could help you find it." She said with a smile as her goons chuckled.
"If you want to skip the mugging part and help me with directions, that would be appreciated." He said.
"Aww that's the best part, though." One of her goons said, causing the rest of them to laugh. The women did not.
"I figured you'd say that, so who am I fighting first?" Navarro asked, his hand hovering over the plasma defender on his waist.
"How about all of us," One of the goons said with a laugh, the three of them began circling him while the woman stayed back observing.
'She's their leader then. Considering her appearance and quality of clothing, I'm not too surprised. Likely stronger too, raiders tend to follow the might makes right mentality. I'll need to save at least one round for her."
However, Navarro gave up on using his plasma defender as they closed the distance faster than he expected. All of his assailants were using melee weapons, short swords specifically. The first of the three rushed at him. Confident that his armor, though heavily damaged, would protect him, Navarro shifted his blade sliced against his metal armor, scratching it. In response, Navarro beat the machete into the raider's arm, causing a screech of pain as the rogue retreated slightly to nurse the new cut he had.
"That armor is something special isn't it?" Another goon asked.
"Atlesian, no doubt about it, probably worth a pretty penny." The third responded. Navarro had no idea what Atlesian was but knew well enough to keep his mouth shut, as an old friend would say why dignify the dead?
The last two charged at him, and he once more took the blows to his suit, feeling their impact against him as he went in for his own counter. Nothing fancy but definitely violent as one of them felt Navarro's blade beat into his chest hacking into his flesh and cracking some bones making the man wheeze in pain.
The last one tried to reposition himself only to be met with a charge from Navarro, knocking him off his feet with his shoulder before bringing his machete down into the bandit's head.
"You bastard!" The first man spat. With his uninjured arm, he grabbed his sword from the ground and slammed it into his back.
The man screamed, lunging with his sword in hand. Navarro raised his fist, slamming into the man's chest. The sword never reached his armor as Navarro's power-armored fist made a hole into his chest cavity. Choking on his blood, the bandit watched as Navarro stabbed his own short sword into his heart.
"Impressive, not too many people around these parts can stand up to the Branwen tribe, any chance you'd consider joining? We could use someone of your strength." The woman explained, carefree and confident. Unafraid of the potential damage Navarro could do to her.
"I'll have to pass, I'm still trying to find out where I even am." He responded his machete at the ready.
"Oh, that'll be simple. You're on Anima." She said, approaching him, sword hand cradling her weapon handle.
"Assuming you're telling the truth, why help me? I just beat up three of your goons." Navarro stood, patiently for her blow.
"Because they were weak and you're clearly not, you're strength alone has earned you some respect and hospitality." She spared a glance at his former fallen comrades. Looks like Navarro was right on the might makes right philosophy.
"Alright then, what's Anima?" He asked, causing her to look surprised as she stopped moving.
"Anima, one of the three inhabited continents, better known as the kingdom of Mistral?"
"I see…"
"You have no clue what that is?"
"Not really, but I'm used to people naming things differently from how they're supposed to be. If you could point me in the direction of Washington DC I can find my way."
"What's that?" She asked, now her turn to be confused.
"Washington DC, the American capital Pre-War?"
"None of those words mean anything to me."
Navarro froze at that, his head pounding a little and his body shaking. It wasn't unheard of in the wasteland for people to not know about their history, but to not even be aware of the Great War?
Something was up.
"How about you come back to camp with me? We can have a better discussion there and get you rested, besides my scouts have seen Grimm running around this way in larger numbers than normal. I'd rather us not be caught while talking." Navarro thought about her words for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, that might be a good idea, I'm Navarro, by the way."
If he had a choice, he would have preferred to kill her and move on, but a camp implies supplies. Supplies imply electronics. Electronics implies radios. If he could get a message out, he could get picked up faster than he expected.
"Raven, I'll lead the way."
GOW
Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't upload this sooner, I'm really happy I didn't because there was a glaring mistake my beta/co-author and I talked over in chapter 3 that was in here that I didn't notice until I did my last editing round, I'll let you speculate on what it is but still happy it's out now. Oh and the last general! You've met him now. Out of curiosity tell me who your favorite general is thus far and we'll see if it changes by the end of the story, you can always comment hit like fav bookmark follow whatever the sites allow, (I love reading your comments) but I do have a discord too, it'd be great for you to join the server and chill, I plan on doing polls for some stories eventually.
/5B4kC2qSG3