//------------------------------// // Broken Beginnings // Story: To Fix what is Shattered // by Rikion Invictus //------------------------------// Desperation can make a sane man do insane things. 'I regret this life I chose simply out of desperation.' "This is Strike Team Titan calling HQ! Hercules has led us into an ambush! Requesting immediate evac!" 'So many lives I destroyed, so many families I torn apart. And for what? For this? This mockery of living?' "Watch the rooftops! Those things are jumping from ARGG!" 'But I can't turn back now. Not when Alex is hanging a blade over my head, ready to drop the moment I decide to go against him.' "Stay in formation or we're dead! Oh shit- JUGGERNAUT INCOMING!" High above the slaughter of Strike Team Titan sat a lone figure on a ledge, watching it all with a gaze of pity and remorse. The figure was a 13 year old boy with messy black hair and deep brown eyes. Pale and skinny looking, he wore a simple black jacket with a white inside shirt and jeans. To Blackwatch, he was Hercules and one of the most powerful Evolved that Alex Mercer had under him. To the Evolved, he was Adam, Prince of Monsters and master of the Hive Mind. Second only to Alex Mercer himself. Jumping from the ledge and shattering the concrete upon landing, Adam heard a cough and turned to see a Blackwatch soldier on the ground, legs bent at a horrible painful angle. The soldier glared at him with anger and disgust before lifting a pistol. "Die abomination!" He fired several shots, each one finding their mark but completely ineffective while, with a mental order, a Brawler came closer to them. The boy stared at the soldier before softly saying. "I'll make this quick." One mental order and the Brawler crushed the man's head, making his death painless. Adam made his way to what was a formation and went about in completing his objective. "I heard that Blackwatch has some kind of new device that is about to be tested on the field. I want you to find it and bring it to me." "How am I suppose to find it Sir?" "You'll be acting as bait since Blackwatch apparently gotten information that the infamous Hercules was seen around the outskirts of the Red Zone. They won't be sending normal grunts so be prepared with your best." Shaking his head to clear the memory, Adam went through the bodies of Blackwatch soldier's as well the husks of vehicles. A shame really, they sent several Thermobaric tanks, D-Code soldiers, attack helicopters and several APCs filled with battle hardened soldiers only for them to fall into a death trap. Even if the device was worthless, Blackwatch would be seriously weakened from this failed plan. Ripping off the door of an APC and finding nothing once more, Adam sighed in annoyance. 'It appears that this mission is a bust. Too bad, lives wasted for nothing once more.' He was about to jump away when he heard someone whispering from underneath the wreckage of a tank. "Major John Shade calling Red Crown, Operation Gaia has failed. I repeat, this operation has failed." He told a Juggernaut to bring the soldier to him and a moment later, there was a blond hair and blue eyes soldier on the ground before him with what appeared to be a futuristic RPG on his back with glowing blue lines across it's length. It also seemed to lack any form of ammo but perhaps it didn't need it? John looked at him, fear clear as day in his eyes, and Adam wasn't surprised by that at all. First of all, this soldier looked like he belonged to the U.S. military as opposed to the near fearless Blackwatch and second was that he was surrounded by six Brawlers to prevent escape. Not to mention the two Juggernauts near Adam along with a dozen Flyers landing nearby. 'Probably sent by Alex to make sure I won't let this man go,' Adam thought bitterly. 'Too bad for you Major John, I truly regret doing this.' The major was fumbling with the RPG as Adam lifted his hand, forming his fingers in the shape of a gun. Once John gotten the RPG ready, he fired a single digit of harden biomass at his head, piercing flesh and bone with arrogant ease. Unfortunately the last action John's brain sent was to fire the device which his body still did, even with the death of his brain. Adam had expected for the device to be some type of new explosive weapon or perhaps some kind of energy weapon. However when a blue light shot out and impacted the ground near him, quickly expanding in size, the young Evolved realized that it was something else completely. Unfortunately he realized this a second too late as the light engulfed him and his group of Infected. When Blackwatch came by the sight later, they would find only the destroyed remains of their vehicles and all of the bodies missing. The young Evolved sat on the ground, going over the knowledge that the consumed soldiers had given him. Apparently the RPG was a form of energy converter with it's main function to convert organic matter into pure energy, serving as a capture device. However there was a major flaw in it's design as if the beam of energy impacted anything inorganic, it's energy would expand, engulf everything in several feet, and transport everything organic somewhere else. Somewhere else was apparently a forest in the middle of nowhere... at night despite Adam being pretty sure it was daytime. The Evolved closed his eyes, using his Hive-Mind to see what Infected came with him. It appeared that group consisted of two Juggernauts, six Brawlers, and the dozen Flyers that Alex had sent to watch him. He told the Brawlers and the Juggernauts to look for a cave to serve as a temporary Lair while the Flyers were sent to find out where exactly he was, acting as mental cameras. As his Infected did all this, Adam attempted to get into contact with Alex via Hive Mind, failing each time. 'I have to be careful for a while. If the military of whatever country I got transported to catches wind of me, they might come down in full force.' A mental alarm told Adam that a Brawler had found a cave not too far from here and was in battle with the owner, most likely a bear or something. He made his way to it, thoughts going through his head. 'This group might be consider a small army but it's still small nonetheless so I have to remain out of sight. And why can't I make contact with Alex? The Hive Mind should have allowed me to do so by no-' Adam's thoughts just came to a screeching halt when he made it to the cave or more accurately, what he saw the Brawler was eating. It was big with a lion's body and mane but it had wings on it's back and a scorpion's tail instead of a normal one. "A manticore," He recalled, getting the knowledge from a teacher that he consumed once. "An honest to god manticore." Okay he had just discovered, and indirectly killed, what was supposed to be a mythical animal from Greek legends. An alarm from a Flyer caught his attention and this time, he dove into the Hive Mind in order to see what the Flyer saw. "Well that was a great night with our friends, don't you think Lyra?" Bonbon asked her marefriend as they walked back home. Lyra grumbled, an annoyed frown on her face. "I still wish you hadn't shoved that salad into my mouth. I nearly choked on it!" "You were just about to bring up your human talk again so I did what I had to do." Bonbon replied, waving off her marefriend's anger with practiced ease. It wasn't the first time she had to stop Lyra from going all out on her human theory again. "But I'm telling you that its all true!" The unicorn shouted, eyes looking around with a paranoid gaze. "Humans are watching our every move and our lives are nothing more than entertainment for them! How else do you explain that all the crazy stuff only started once Twilight came to Ponyville." Bonbon sighed, already feeling a headache coming on. "Oh geez I don't know. Maybe its all coincidence or something?" "You'll see Bonbon. One day, I'm going to prove that humans are watching us and I'm going to rub it all over your, and everypony that doubted me, face." Not to far away, a Flyer watched them as everything they said went back to it's leader. Adam stood stock still, mouth wide open as his eyes stared blankly into the distance. The rest of the Brawlers and Juggernauts had caught up with him, all of them standing around him. Finally he found the ability to speak, voice filled with disbelief and worry. "Okay I'm either somewhere in the world that is more isolated than North Korea or I'm in another world entirely," The young Evolved closed his eyes and began to talk to himself. "Stay calm and don't panic. I can still find a way out of this and besides, its not like this world has dragons." Another alarm and this time, a Flyer sent him images of what appeared to a large group of dragons, sleeping around hordes of gemstones. "...Forget it. Panic time." A roar echoed across Everfree and beyond, leaving countless to wonder what kind of creature could produce a roar of such volume.