Larnos was not much of a believer in the Faith. But what he had witnessed these last few months made him question his once firm belief in the non-existence of life other than the ones fully proven by science.
They fell from the heavens unto an unsuspecting world. No words of greeting or peaceful intent, all they brought was death.
It was soon discovered that rudimentary firearms did nothing to the invaders. Experimental weapons saw a boom like no other but most would ultimately be a much greater threat than the invaders.
" Larnos? " a voice called.
The thirty-something old man shot a glance in the direction of the voice. A man years younger and with much better hair held out a piece of paper.
With slow and deliberate movements Larnos took the sheet and skimmed through it.
" What exactly am I looking at? "
" The results for the compatibility test with the Mercury model, " the young man replied. " You are more than compatible. "
" When do I begin? " the older of the two asked, catching his companion off guard.
" We've already lost the war, " Larnos stated as his eyes drifted to a screen showing the casualties from a recent skirmish. " At this point, it is just how much destruction we can inflict on them before the inevitable. "
" What happened to you Larnos? " the young man asked, his voice a mixture of sadness and poorly disguised curiosity.
Larnos fully turned to face him. His eyes were lifeless and the light from the screen gave him a look reminiscent of a spectre.
" We tried to fight but in the end it was us trying our hardest to deny the truth, " he answers. " They were simply better than us. Not even our infamous human spirit could save the day this time. "
" How long do you think we have left? " his companion asks. " Before they wipe us all out I mean. "
Larnos fished his pocket for a moment before pulling out a gold-covered thin box. He pops it open, takes out a cigarette, and lights it. The younger man is visibly displeased by this but Larnos ignores him.
" If they wanted to wipe us out they would have done so by now, " he says. "I guess that they are playing with us and only God knows when they will go through with the extinction of man. "
The last ditch effort by man which was still considered to be in the testing phase was a mechanized assault battle suit which was referred to as M.AB.S by the research team.
The current model " Mercury" stood at 15 feet tall and weighed about 45 tons. It had a particular set of weapons depending on the role it was playing.
Assault class Mercuries had two assault rifles with a shoulder mounted cannon that could only be fired when the mech was standing still. The final armament carried by the assault class was a second shoulder mounted MRL ( Multiple Rocket Launcher ). It had decent armor and mobility when compared to the other classes.
The scout class was a lightly armoured model which had two SMGs (Submachine Guns) which had a higher fire rate than that of the assault rifles. Instead of shoulder mounted weaponry scout classes had long range radar with a personal signal scrambler which prevents Raptures from communicating with one another.
The last class was the heavily armoured Mercury with the most amount of weaponry. It was designed with the intention of drawing enemy fire while dealing enough firepower to destroy multiple units at once. Unfortunately its high armor and weapon power meant it could not move as fast as the other two.
" This Rookie, " Larnos's voice called out over the two-way channel. " Approaching region of interest. "
The war, just as he predicted, had gone downhill since he last met that kid. Regions that were within the grasp of human control suddenly fell to the enemy.
" Roger, " a feminine voice responded. " Your objective is to pick up the payload and deliver it to its intended destination. Your chances of survival are below one percent. "
His battlesuit was equipped with an experimental piece of equipment designed to hide his presence as much as possible from radar.
" Below one percent huh? "
He reduced the speed of the twin-turbo engines and deployed a pair of glider wings which aided in gliding across the barren city street. His assault model had been customized to suit his combat preference. Instead of two assault rifles he swapped one out for a nanofiber sword.
With a bit of expertise, he gently brought his five-ton killing machine to a stop.
A few hundred yards away from him was his target. A rectangular box the size of a car sat in the middle of a four-way intersection.
He quickly runs a scan for any potential ambush. The results proved to be less than satisfactory.
Three red dots are arranged in a triangle with the package at the center of it.
' Why not destroy the package in the first place and then set up the ambush, ' he reasoned.
' What if that is exactly what they have done? ' another voice countered.
" Fuck it," Larnos cursed under his breath as he considered his options. Either charge in or dance around the enemy while picking them off.
He fired his shoulder weapon into the group, the force generated shattered multiple glass structures while the impact zone was completely obliterated.
" Multiple signals detected, " his built-in A.I system notified him.
Without missing a beat he grabbed the package and made his way to the next way point.
Explosives began to rain from the sky, with some detonating even before they hit the ground. With a firm clasp using a grappling hook on the explosive resistant casing he pushed his suit to its proverbial limit, dodging and destroying anything that got too close for comfort.
A series of static began to fill his radio. A voice began to speak but the static was too strong for him to make anything discernible.
" This is Rookie, " he called out as the number on his HUD was rapidly decreasing. " Identify yourself. "
Taking a sharp left to avoid incoming fire, he heard the radio come to life again.
" Why do you do this? " a voice questioned.
" This is Captain Larnos of the First Mechanized Squad, who are you? "
" I am what your kind call Rapture," the voice replied. " Again why do you continue on this path? "
" Because I chose to you bastard, " Larnos answered, his voice doing little to hide his hate.
" But you will die, " Rapture pointed out. " Surely you must see the error in this. "
" Fuck you," was all he said before he cut the connection.
He put his remaining power into his engine which caused a critical warning message to pop up on his HUD.
" Are you certain this is what you want? "
His A.I could only watch its designated master speed towards certain death. Granted it had only been paired with him a few months ago but he was quite exceptional.
It could simply watch him die in vain or it could intervene. His body had undergone multiple surgeries to increase compatibility with his suit.
This gave it an idea and it had less than a few minutes to implement it.
" Larnos," it called out to its master. " I have estimated that you will not survive this mission. With that I have decided to increase your already non-existent chance. "
" You know what? Fuck it. Do whatever the hell you want. " He answered.
With permission granted it bypassed multiple security measures and modified his implants to a degree that normally should not be possible.
System securities began to force out the A.I but it remained steadfast to its self imposed mission. It would save its master, even at the cost of its own existence.
Larnos felt different the moment he gave his A.I free reign to do what it wanted. He was going to die anyway so it does not matter what happens.
His grip began to slip but he could not fail, not here. Just what changes was the A.I doing to him?
More Rapture began to pour out of ruined structures, firing at him and some even hurling themselves at him in an attempt to stop him.
His rifle had long run out of ammunition so he turned it into a bludgeoning weapon. His nanofiber blade cut through the armour of any poor unit that got within reach.
The number count changed from three digits to two.
The earth shook as more and more projectiles rained harder than before. His cannon's ammunition had long run out. Discarding it granted him more speed.
The casing had taken a considerable amount of damage but still performed its intended function.
Taking a left his target came into view. Surrounded by grunts stood a humanoid figure no taller than six feet. Normally Larnos would question what he was looking at but he had been told he needed a change of ways by his colleagues and what better time to start than now.
Using a nearby grunt Rapture as a launch pad, he took careful aim, swung and released the case. The force alone cause the cable to snap mid air, cutting through Rapture armor easily.
The humanoid entity did nothing to defend itself as the payload crashed into what Larnos assumed could only be the head.
" I'll see you in hell bastard, " he said as countless projectiles finally pierced his armor, impaling him from all sides but the pain was nothing compared to the momentary joy he felt.
With a flick he turned on the communication to Rapture and uttered a single sentence;
"I win."