comic
Previously turnt3chGodh34d
3 Months Ago...
“DAMNIT!”
Chris dropped to a knee, his rifle falling to the wayside as he clutched his arm. A needler round was lodged deep, the pink crystal humming with bright energy.
“Chris...!?” Mika’s eyes widened, looking up from the tablet in his lap. They were taking cover behind a fallen tree, its thick base providing a solid defense. Plasma rounds battered against it, burning through a good deal of it, but the energy and heat dissipated before the log could be ignited.
Chris Redfield turned his body from Mika, just before the needler crystal erupted. Its pink shards sprewed over the tree, embedding deeper through the BSAA agent’s body as he gasped in pain, falling now to all fours.
“Chris!” Mika cast the tablet aside, racing to Chris.
“No- N-No, Mika,” Chris winced, looking back toward the boy as gunfire rang out all around them. Several marines fell to the ground nearby, one of them missing a head, smoke drifting up from the stump left behind. “Keep- keep piloting it...!”
“Chris, I-I...” Mika stared back into the agent’s eyes, before he grimaced and gave a nod. “Okay...”
Chris swallowed, returning the nod as he reached for his rifle with his good arm. This entire situation had been going downhill ever since that damned jackal sniffed out their ambush camp. They’d killed it, but the thing had called reinforcements. Before they knew it... Rubikis was upon them.
The tablet Mika held was loaded with a manually-operated targeting system, connected to a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon, capable of 30 megatons. It had been a saving grace when the UNSC stumbled upon a cache of the things, but after that last Banished assault, they’d lost almost everything - save for this one.
The plan had always been to destroy Stronghold Rubikis with the HAVOK, but having Mika pilot it while Chris bled out from a crystal exploding in his arm? That wasn’t exactly Plan A.
In fact, they were down to Plan E...
“Keep it locked,” Chris told Mika. He knew the boy would rather not be doing something like this, and had taken convincing. They were short on time, luck, and chances. If they eliminated the stronghold, the whole Banished would lose a major chain in their supply link, as well as access to their most profitable mine situated beneath the stronghold.
Rising from cover, Chris one-armed his automatic weapon, firing a spurt into a grunt in the process of trying to scramble over the log. Its bioluminescent blue blood spewed into the air as the grunt let out a cry, head falling apart from the damage before he dropped back into a heap on the ground.
Narrowing his eyes, Chris caught sight of his secondary target: Chieftain Rubikis himself. The great big brute was walking from his defensive line, carrying an oversized hammer, pointing toward a group of marines in the forest for his men to target.
Chris ducked beneath a plasma shot, gritting his teeth. “Mika... is it close...?” He looked at the sideways screen. Sweat was dripping down Mika’s face, his hands shaking.
“Y-Yeah... close...”
Chris swallowed and gave a nod. “Get out of here.”
“...What? Chris, I-I can’t—”
“Kid, please,” Chris spoke through his teeth, wincing as the pain in his arm flared up. “We’re outnumbered. Outgunned. You’re hurt, too. Get out of here, get better, and keep what’s left of us alive. There’ll be reinforcements coming, Mika. Just... just listen to me.”
“I’m not leaving you, Chris,” Mika insisted.
“I’m not giving you a choice,” Chris’s jaw tightened, before he aimed his weapon at the boy. “Go!”
Mika blinked, staring at the barrel for a moment, then back up at Chris. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Chris was serious, and Mika knew what that meant.
Chris wasn’t planning on coming back.
“I-I can take care of your arm,” he said.
“NOW!” Chris bellowed, finger moving to the trigger. Mika knew Chris wouldn’t shoot him, he knew what Chris expected of him, but... he couldn’t... just... leave...
...
Swallowing, Mika held back any tears as he moved the tablet and scrambled away. He cast one look back at Chris, who gave him an encouraging nod. Mika continued holding it together, as best as he could, and took off running, forcing himself not to look back again as he heard Chris’s rifle go off once more.
“I’M HERE, RUBIKIS!” the man screamed. “COME GET ME!”
Mika wouldn’t look back.
...
He couldn’t...
A desolate desert. Its reddish dirt and opaque sands form rolling mounds under a hot sun, a baked wind kicking up storms of dust on the horizon, revealing red clay beneath. The winds sweep through canyons and valleys, churning their way among a dry sea of caked earth and half-buried scrap metal, leftovers from destroyed ships and vehicles, scattered as far as the eye can see.
The blazing star overhead hangs, and as the day winds down, it grows dim, rather than disappearing over the horizon. Night falls, and the sun has gone completely dark, now the opposite. A hole of black piercing the already dark sky, yet somewhere there must light, as nebulae, moons, planets, and stardust become illuminated, turning the sky into an ocean of wondrous interstellar color.
In the dry desert, the night creatures come out of their holes. Gray lizards, night spiders, cave bats, and twilight dogs who howl up at the night sky. They dart and duck through the canyons and machine debris, across valleys and rolling hills. They steer clear of the larger beasts, the nightcrawler and the gorgon beast who roam in search of prey. As the hours tick by, the black hole begins to slowly glow once again, growing brighter and brighter with each passing minute. The stars and planets, the nebulae and stardust, they all twinkle out of view one after the other as a hue of blue begins to fall over the land. The creatures of night return to their holes, caves, and burrows, awaiting nightfall once more as the day is reclaimed.
A new set of creatures rule the day, like mud snakes, giant scorpions, carrion buzzards, and dust lions. The desert is vast, but it is far from the only thing here. It is the center of the great continent of Augur, but when choosing any other direction to move, one would find more vibrant land with diverse life - and plenty of dangerous obstacles in the way.
Heading north, you would find the alpines, the tundras, and the mountains. Heading to the east, you would find the cities, the marshes, and the swamps. To the west, you’d find the rainforests, the beaches, and the wetlands. On to the south, you’d find the savannas, the grasslands, and the high deserts.
Seasons don’t exist in this land, instead existing perpetually through the biomes they’re confined to. Going on past the Augur deadlands, the creatures got thicker and tougher along the Barrier Sea. They grew slimy and sneaky along the Hecate Bastion. They became fast and dangerous along the Pride of Priscus. They grew bright and poisonous along the Sundering Sea. Life was in abundance in Augur, found in the nooks and crannies of every root and every bush, some more dangerous than the last, others of a friendly and peaceful sort.
[[ OST - Opening Suite I ]]
But there are those not native to these lands, and in the short course of nearly two years, they have conquered almost all of this vibrant continent. They call themselves “The Banished,” a collective of races brought together in pursuit of power and dominance, lorded over by the deadliest of them all; their Warmaster Atriox. With the Banished sweeping across the lands and building their own cities and fortresses, they warped the lands around them. They bore into the earth, ripping out the metals. They carved their legacy out of the vast forests to burn in their factories. They slaughtered the creatures of the land to feed and to feast, enjoying the sport more than the meat. Factions grew in strength among them, an unruly bunch, who prided death and blood above all else. They’re arrival challenged others, people who rose to fight them against all odds - and the odds proved correct.
Time after time, trial by trial, the Banished crushed heroes and champions that rose to meet them, struck down in their prime. The message was clear: the Banished were here to stay.
Despite their claim of the land, and their defense of its fruits, the Banished weren’t here for it. They had never intended to stay long. Atriox came seeking a prize, one that was kept from him. At the edge of Banished territory, the edge of the neighboring continents, sat a small island adorned with tropical beaches, and a stretching mountain. Atop it sat a glorious, almost angelic structure of celestial aesthetic, made of golden and white metals that resembled a large clock, and its internal components. At the heart of this contraption, called “The Nexus,” was its source of power. This entire world, its creatures, the skies and nebulae, the oceans and secrets, it all had been created by the Nexus, matter either generated from scratch or pulled together from across the multiverse, converging the old with the new, the familiar with the strange. Atriox has not cracked the Nexus’ shell. Not yet.
But he’s getting close.
Not if he does, but when, that could spell something terrible for the entire multiverse. Not its destruction, but its enslavement. Those in the path of Atriox would be trampled with little regard, made to be dirt under his heel. It would become a place ruled by criminals, pirates, murderers, and savages. Law, order, hope, and justice would become a distant memory.
But the Nexus calls to those who can stop this. Those heroes and champions who came before were attempts now-past to secure a brighter future for the just and innocent. Those attempts failed, and now, with Atriox so close to obtaining his desired power...
The Nexus calls upon one last wave of heroes to stop him, and his allies across the continents.
Everything hinges on you.
[[ OST - Opening Suite II ]]
I see…
I see…
…
Muzzle flashes. Men, screaming. Fear rips apart their throats. No… something else does.
The odor of decay scorches my senses. A vile, putrid scent.
The sergeant, he’s yelling to the others.
We’re completely surrounded.
I won’t go out, not like this.
So where am I?
…
The officer feels his head throbbing something painful. A hangover? No, he stopped drinking years ago. Not much could get him to pick the bottle back up… and his daughter was safe and sound, back near Earth.
Those… things… had they captured him? It had burrowed right into the armor of one of the marines… like a groundhog through dirt. He could remember seeing one of those for the first time.
He missed Earth.
Feeling something curdling in his stomach, the officer retched, pulling himself off of a metal slab hanging out of the wall, falling to a paneled floor with a grunt. He was barely able to pick himself up in time to keep whatever he’d eaten last from coming back up. Everything was starting to come back to him…
A deep, guttural laugh came from behind him.
The officer panted, wiping some residue off of the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and glanced back toward where the laugh originated. He smelled the creature before he saw it. A brute, big and hairy, fanged mouth twisted into a crooked smile as he watched the human.
Keyes slowed his breathing deliberately, putting more focus onto his surroundings. A cage… a metal cage… and the only bars covered the cell door. Thick rods, no doubt made of something too tough for anything he had to crack. Even spartans couldn’t do much to them. Climbing back to his feet, Jacob leaned against the metal cot that stuck out of the wall for support.
“Enjoying yourself?” the brute mocked.
The captain sniffed, trying to clear his pipes a little – and wished he hadn’t done that. The stench of the brute stung his nose. It was somehow worse than the decay he’d been afflicted with… however long ago. Like death, a bear, and a boy’s locker room had some unholy abomination together. It nearly made him gag, and he felt his stomach about to flip again, but he managed to hold it in this time.
Nothing else in the room was of note. A metal box, with faint red lights lining the bottom portion of the walls, flush with the floor. A small ramp led up to the barred door where the brute stared at him, but aside from that… nothing.
“With such pleasant company? How couldn’t I…?” Jacob replied sarcastically to the brute, his gaze discovering nothing to aid him in an escape attempt. This was strange… the Covenant wouldn’t normally use bars for their cages. They preferred solid energy barriers, and last the officer had checked, the fleet that pursued his ship off of Reach didn’t have any brutes with them. If there had been, he’d have seen them by now in the two short days he’d spent on this damn ring world. Halo… hopefully the Master Chief was having more luck in stopping the Covenant than his captain.
“Get comfortable,” the brute sneered, pressing his face against the bars. Drool dribbled down his chin eagerly. “You will be here for a while…”
“And where is ‘here,’ exactly?” Keyes asked, finally turning to look at the alien again, unintimidated by it. The brute seemed to recognize this, its grin turning into a scowl on a dime.
“Where everything ends up! You will wait here until the captain calls for you. If he doesn’t have time, well…” the brute chuckled darkly. “He won’t care if I have a light snack.”
Slowly, he reached for something beside the cage on his end of the door. Probably a door control.
“And if he does?” Keyes replied sharply. “Your kind doesn’t tolerate disobedience. He’ll flay you, make an example out of you in front of your entire pack. Is one snack worth that?”
The brute snarled, spittle flying from his jowls. Keyes felt a little hit his cheek, though he didn’t wipe it away just yet, staring calmly back into the eyes of the much deadlier beast before him. This only seemed to anger it further, but as it seethed back, its gaze broke away. Its small mind was clearly working, considering the human’s words, before it snarled once more and slammed its hairy fists against the metal rods. They shook under the pressure.
“If he deems you unworthy, you WILL be food!”
With that, he lumbered off. Keyes grimaced, raising his already ruined sleeve to wipe away the spit on his cheek. Now alone, he was left to continue pondering this predicament. How long had he been out? It couldn’t have been that long… his clothes were fine, mostly, he didn’t feel any particular nag to eat – granted, he’d just vacated his stomach.
How did one get in this predicament? He needed to backtrack, figure out what went wrong.
Exit from slipspace. Discovery of the ring world “Halo.” Evacuation of the Autumn. Crash-landing on the surface. Capture by the Covenant - the Chief rescued him. Return to established Alpha Base. Re-coordinate UNSC efforts on the ring’s surface. Initiate retrieval and recon missions. Embark on a mission to rumored ancient Forerunner weapon cache. Finding already deceased Covenant. Unlocking the sealed door. Then… those things… one lunged at the captain, its dozens of little legs squirming through the air, reaching for him… then...
Then…
He woke up here.
...
He doubted those things were Covenant – possibly even the reason so many were dead around the cache location. Yet nothing explained how he’d wound up here, in a brute’s cage, threatened with becoming dinner for the next hungry soul who wandered by. None of it added up, or made remotely any sense.
Swallowing, Jacob moved toward the cage door and peered through the cracks into the hall beyond as best as he could. A somewhat dark corridor, lit in similar fashion to his cell, with streaks of crimson light. It gave everything the light touched an angry, ominous glow. Other cells lined the hall, from left to right. He must have been near the center.
Squinting, he tried to look into the cell opposite his own, but the interior was too dark to make anything out. If there was another prisoner in there, the captain couldn’t see them. Setting his jaw, Keyes took a step back- and heard commotion. Heavy, fat footsteps, and multiple of them. A group of brutes, he guessed.
He smelled them before he saw them.
If Keyes were a betting man, he’d have won the lottery. A whole pack of brutes began to move past his cell, and in the dim light, the officer could make out that some of them were carrying bodies like ragdolls. Other captured people? One of them even had a giant mechanical thing tucked casually under its arm. It noticed Keyes staring, and gave a low growl before it scratched its belly.
The cells began to slide open with a grinding hiss, and the captured individuals were tossed within different ones.
“Big haul this time,” one brute chuckled. “Maybe the captain will let us eat some.”
“Do you ever think with anything but your belly?” another brute asked, smacking the back of its paw against the first’s snout, who snarled and stepped away, clutching at his nose. “The Chieftain himself requested they be locked here.”
“Hrm… Rubikis found them?” the first brute asked – and quickly got a punch to the face this time He was slammed against the opposite wall with a loud growl, one of his fangs flying down the hall.
“CHIEFTAIN Rubikis!” the second brute yelled. “You may be a pup, but you still treat your elders with respect!”
“Y-Yes…” the first brute groveled. Keyes noticed that it was smaller than the others, with light fur, almost blonde.
The other surrounding brutes gave chuckles before the collective began to move back the way they came.
Keyes moved again against his cell door to try and look into the others. He still couldn’t see anything, but he knew there were others here with him. They were unconscious, deactivated, whatever word applied to them. Somehow, they were inactive, and offered no resistance to their jailors hurling them into cells.
“Can any of you hear me?” Jacob called quietly out once he was certain the pack had moved well out of earshot. One of these people had to be conscious…
“My name is Captain Jacob Keyes...
And we’re going to need to help each other right now.”
Welcome To...
BOOTLEG BROS. ULTIMATE!
—THE BANISHED CAMPAIGN—
MISSION ONE - GRAKKEN PRISON
Mission Squad (6):Copen
David
JULIAN
“Dumbface”
Kazaak
Keyes
David
JULIAN
“Dumbface”
Kazaak
Keyes
Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside; corpses shift and offer room, a fate you must abide...
Loading...
Mission: Start
Last edited:
