ARMAGEDDON

18: Recovery

I awoke in a glass tank filled with some kind of fluid. I felt like a fish in a bowl. Through the amniotic fluid, I could make out Daniel observing me with sharp eyes. I looked over to my left arm only to find a stump at the elbow. In place of ragged flesh and exposed bone, however, was some kind of mechanical socket designed to hold something in place.

I must have passed out again until my recovery tank was drained and opened, letting me stumble out of the tank and get a grip on reality. Daniel stood in front of me with his arms crossed.

"Well, looks like your body didn't reject the augmentation socket." said Daniel.

"Is that what this thing on my arm is?" I said.

Daniel nodded, then said "After you lost your arm and killed Orkath, you went down and lost a lot of blood. Things went south for you quick. You weren't even responding to us, you went into this frenzy and didn't stop until everything was dead. When the fighting was over your armor was reading you as flat-lined. We thought you were gone until we put you in the amniotic tank."

So that's why I feel shittier than I normally do.

"At any rate, you need to go see an artificer for your new arm. Your suit is also repaired and back online. After you're done with that artificer, come see Lucian and I." said Daniel, before he turned and walked away.

And so I went to see an artificer. Though he was a stubborn old man, he helped fit me for a cybernetic arm. While he was busy installing the arm, I ruminated on all that transpired between the Specter and I. Whatever it was, I was glad to be rid of something that old and evil. I felt as if the weight of the world had been removed from my shoulders, and it was a great relief.

After the new arm was installed, I admired the artificer's handiwork. It was made of pure steel, the arm's machinery quietly whirring as I flexed my newfound fingers. And the strangest part was that I could still feel and differentiate between textures through touch. The artificer explained to me that it was because the prosthetic itself links to the nervous system, making the brain able to register a sense of touch in the prosthetic arm.

I made my way to the throne of the Nine Emperors, where Lucian resides. When I arrived, I found the room filled with other Hell Walkers. Some were in regular civilian attire, and those that were wearing regular clothing were battered and bloody, with a faint smell of sulfur. Other Hell Walkers were in their power armor. I saw Crusaders, Wardens, and Vanguards all in a giant room together. Almost all the Hell Walkers in power armor had markings that denoted important status and high rank.

The room was filled with tension. I spotted Daniel sitting down upon a marble bench. I sat next to him.

"You like your new arm? Quite the impressive hunk of metal!" said Daniel.

"I'm still getting used to it. What's going on?" I asked.

Daniel gently smiled and said "Lucian has called a War Council. All that you see around you are leaders from different legions within our organization. Now look, Lucian is approaching the podium."

Lucian was at a balcony that had a podium set up. Lucian tested the microphone, and then cleared his throat. He looked around, with his usual cold and formal demeanor dominating his facial features. Finally, he spoke.

"Brothers and sisters, it is so wonderful to see you all here once again! How I wish our meeting were under much happier circumstances! Today, our worst fears have come true. Our sworn enemy is no longer at the gates. As for those of you that narrowly fled Earth with your lives, the worst has come to pass. They have flooded the gates, and the whole world is burning as we speak. At the head of it all is Baphomet, the Prince of Heresy, the Destroyer, the Illuminated. Our foe has many names and just as many faces."

Lucian paused, and waved his hand at the nine statues that hung over us all.

"The Nine Emperors are in agony, their screams echo within my psyche. The age of Armageddon is upon us. As the Executor of the will of the Nine, I must return us to the ancient ways. The Legions will be reactivated, their ships are to be released from dry dock and the Beta class suits are to once again be mobilized and their crews to be released from suspended animation."

Lucian paused once more, then spoke again.

"Few among us remember the old days, when the armies of Hell numbered in the millions and we only numbered three thousand strong. The dead were piled high like mountains and demonic blood ran in oozing black rivers. We held the line all those millennia ago. For the others among us today, you were not yet conceived during the old days. The scale in which we are forced to wage war with once again will be difficult to comprehend."

Lucian looked around at all of us.

"We must go to war, and push the hordes back. Baphomet's demonic alliance is an unprecedented and unified threat, and we must fight harder every step of the way. We must hold the line, for if we fail, then all we have fought for in the course of untold thousands of years will have been for nothing. We will not fail mankind, we will once again reclaim our rightful place as the first and last defense against the legions of Hell. We are Hell Walkers, and though the individual may die, as a collective we are undying! We are Heaven's Wrath, religious fury personified! The Damned shall know God's light! WE ARE THE HAMMER AND THE SHIELD, AND WE WILL DESTROY ALL WHO STAND IN OUR WAY!"

The audience broke out into an uproar of cheering, even those that had just come back from Earth bloodied and battered were fired up by Lucian's speech. A chant in an ancient and long dead language filled the room. As I observed my fellow Hell Walkers, I had started to slowly realize just how powerful all of us are. I realized that as long as I had these people to my left and right, there was nothing that could stop us.

But the war was only just beginning.