章 2: Son of a Broken World

What would you do if lost in a forest? No water, no gear, no food. Just you and mother nature.

I asked that once, something of an innocent question. A 'What if?' scenario to my mother.

She said 'It's simple: make it your bitch.'

Her answers were short and blunt. That was the usual routine. I could've furthered the inquiry with a 'how' or 'why.' But there were already too many answers when it comes to making something 'your bitch.'

Manipulation, leverage, force, you could go one step deeper and be more specific. Hold someone or something hostage, abuse the man out of someone to where all is left is but a boy, tell half-truths to be someone worthy of 'respect.'

How does one make a bitch out of nature itself?

An answer I'm sure is too many to come. So I did what I do best, a leisure walk in the middle of the forest. I don't have enough information, no body of water to follow. I don't even know if this world even has people.

Luckily I'm a Primarch. A chosen one if you will. To think I'm related with the Lion, and Reboute Girlyman. Agh– and Fulgrim too. But the point is, I'm not in danger, this forest is. At some point I could just uproot these trees, toss toads and other insects like a fastball. Speaking of which, I think it's time to partake in some animal cruelty.

Not immediately, I don't want to just yoink a random ass animal and start casting fist like it's a saturday afternoon in Armageddon. No, I just walked keeping all my senses high so I don't get jumped.

I'd say it took about five minutes before I came across something interesting. Keeping caution in mind, I hid behind bushes to keep my presence as small as possible. Kind of hard when you're like 12– 14 feet tall.

—Crunch!

"Fuck," I whispered.

A garden ant– nothing to be afraid of– just a normal garden ant… feeding on deer… a giant stack of deer. It was large, comparable to a small house. Black exoskeleton and mandibles able to break men, much less vehicles.

But that wasn't the problem. Its size nor its threatening nature as it feasts upon the dead carcasses of deers isn't what got me to remark a deprecated realization.

It was a sign of a world I've come to enjoy. Well, it was enjoyable behind a screen. Giant insects and arachnids and discount Godzillas roamed Earth, all for an alien species known as Primers to invade and conquer. Earth Defence Force, a goofy game with a tragic story hidden behind explosive gameplay. Shooting ants and spiders behind a screen was fun and enjoyable. But seeing it first hand, the crack of the mandibles, the reflection off the natural armor, their legs digging in on the dirt as it moves. Reality is often more terrifying.

But, I couldn't help but smile. If I truly was in EDF, I could personally experience the joy of eradicating these alien filth. I'm sounding more and more like a Primarch– that's another thing: should I shout and spread the word of the Emperor? Even though he was a shit father, he did good by humanity. His love for us was his weakness. Eh, could't hurt any. Just thinking about it gets the nerd in me riled up and ready for a crusade.

A crusade… A CRUSADE!

I leaped, hands clenched into fist and raised above my head. My sudden movement alerted the ant. But all was too late. It didn't matter that it saw me above it, It didn't matter that it had natural armor, what mattered was that it was my fist made contact with it. What mattered was the feeling of its armored carapace creaking and ultimately breaking under my crushing blow. I was a Primarch– a son of the Emperor. Think it's time for this lost son to act like one.

It fell, head no longer a head. Just mushed soup, its blood– puke yellow– everywhere; fertilizing the dirt and bathing the trees, even myself. My hands and arms were covered in the blood of the alien. My torso splattered in brain matter. Disgusting, but I feel as if it's a rite of passage. Can't go acting grimdark without looking grim.

Fortunately for me, these ants are never alone. Twigs snapped and dirt shifted, I felt all that as more– a horde came my way. Trees toppled, but I couldn't help but make an exciting smile as they came into view, rushing towards me as they screeched in vengeance.

"I am Duraeus Vendrandar, son of the Emperor himself and the Primarch of the Draconian Revenants. Heed my words alien," my fisted hand slammed into my open palm, "I'll rid of your misbegotten kind off this planet. I'll hunt down your kin and maim and rip them apart right in front of you. Cower as your destined extinction speaks to you."

Atop the dead ant I stood delivering that speech. Something about it felt right. It felt normal, my modern self and the ingrained personality and knowledge my gene-father bestowed upon me felt at home, in the fields of battle. Here I shall be forged, and I shall overcome– no– I shall thrive.

I fight for what modernity has taught me, I fight in hopes to visit and hopefully have a hand in saving the Imperium.

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" I shouted. A sudden rush of power overwhelms me.

I crouched before rushing into the middle of the pack. Fist balled tight as my knuckles whitened. I felt the adrenaline, the thrill of it. The feeling of crushing their armor, the feeling of ripping their mandibles and doing their head in, tossing and using their carcasses as weapons upon their kind. Stabbing and ripping their bodies with the very mandibles that failed to do me in– that failed to cut me– that failed to hold me. I was covered head to toe in blood, sweat, and guts. I was home.

The horde dwindled soon enough, and I wasn't even tired. I didn't see a point in keeping track of time nor my surroundings. It was me and them.

The last stood before me, hesitant. Funny, I smelled fear. I gave it a malicious smile, a head of its kind still in my hands. I lifted it up, made sure it was in view– then crushed it with my bare hands. The blood of its kind trickled down my forearm, to my elbow, and dripped down to the ground. A step back, then another. I felt like a villain, toying with their prey.

It finally caved in as it turned around and retreated. Seeing a thing that size, bigger than me, running for its life. A rush of dopamine envelopes my body, like a first shot of drugs.

"I think I can get used to this."

I could, really, but I had to cut the feeling short. I sprinted then leaped in the air. I landed beside it, left hand in contact with the top of its head. I pushed down, the sudden push against its head, my falling weight behind it, and the speed of which it was going, I dug in its head below ground. Its head popped like a grape though. Its body flipped high in the air as it made a complete 180 in the before plopping down and rolling on the ground.

With that, I wiped out this area of insects… I think. Can't be too sure as they're ants, the only way to get rid of them is to find their colony and eradicate it. Usually underground. But that's a thought for another time, the corpses that completed the art of a blood bath glowed hues of color. If I remember correctly, that indicated the rarity of the item of the beings I killed. It was proportionate to the difficulty of the foe. Meaning, how hard it is to kill in the world, not to me.

I gathered up the bodies into one giant pile before collecting it all into one fell swoop. All it took was a thought, the glow of color slowly faded as I collected it. I guess these guys would be considered decently hard to kill as I mostly got uncommons: green. No whites whatsoever. I guess that makes sense, this world only had guys with guns. Of course the guns vary in damage, but I guess what it's really being compared to was the person itself. A normal Ranger– a Ranger being the basic class you can play as in EDF– with no guns is but a civilian. The only real contender would be the Fencers. The Air-raider is just someone that calls in support and Wing Divers were just women on jet packs that fired plasma weapons on the daily. Take their weapons out, the Wing Diver can't fly for long due to power restrictions and the Air raider is just like the ranger.

The Fencers though were the power house. They carried heavy weapons and dealt heavy damage– as well as taking it. Without weapons, I'd imagine they can still dishout a haymaker or two. I mean, the power suit was made to wield swords the size of tanks… imagine taking a punch meant to wield something that big and heavy? They were the closest to space marines in their world.

I assume it's only green because of them. Otherwise it'd be blue or higher without. But that's just a theory. I don't particularly care.

Seeing as I got all the spoils of war, I decided to dip. Seeing as the ants are already above ground, the invasion has already started. I don't know what version of EDF this world is; it could be within their respective verses like five or 4.1. But there's also the possibility of all of them meshing in together. Either way, I don't want to be found out by EDF forces.

Maybe that's optimistic considering they got satellites. But mainly I just don't want to deal with human politics. I may be made to assure a new dawn alongside the Emperor, but my modern side has seen some shit. The things my kind posted online give me the shivers.

I also want to consolidate my options. I stand by my words, I will rid this planet of the alien scum, but right now I have to explore these systems. Besides, without me here, this world's got its own protag in the form of Storm Team.

So I ran in no particular direction, keeping away from cities and towns. I needed a place to be isolated, and the first step was to be as far away as possible from the crime scene.

Unbeknownst to me yet expected, I was right in making a tactical retreat. Ranger squads with attached Air-Raiders, Fencers, and Wing Divers arrived at the scene. Come to find out the heavy presence of Species Alpha was wiped out; wrapped in a decorated and neatly laid out pile. Upon inspection, no signs of ranged weapons were used. All were ripped and teared down to the very insides. Scattered legs and other body parts lay about alongside the fallen trees and ruffled shrubbery. It was at this day paranoia struck the forces of EDF. Something was out there, strong enough to make a large grouping of ants into a punching bag. The thought was intriguing, but the unknown of it being hostile to humans brought about an uncertain fear within themselves.

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I've always loved the night sky. Stars breathing life all scattered. The brightness seemed like a distant nightlight. My search took the shifting of the day before I finally settled in another area of a forest. I took the time to get the lay of the land and even infiltrated towns and cities. I know I said to avoid them but I need a reference on where I was.

Well, it didn't work out, most of the towns were destroyed, cities burned and plains were burned as bodies of both insects and humans littered them. If I had to guess, somewhere east, and checking the inhabitants of this country, possibly the U.S. Amusing, the U.S. being the first place I'll be liberating before considering I was born and raised here.

That also means I won't be directly tied to the plot as most of the action shown in the game is centered around Japan. Canonical though, EDF HQ is in North America, so that's something.

I stopped in an unknown part of the forest and rested on a nearby stone. The cold air kissed my coat and skin. On the way here, I took a dip on a lake or pond to get rid of the gunk on me; a little hard considering it dried from the wind during my jog.

Enough of that, I'm more interested in the items I've gathered.

Already over 4k LP, that should be a good amount to start. 18 Junk items increased it by one when scrapped to currency and converted to LP. Fencer armor was nice but I won't be needing it. Same with the Buster Blade; I believe that's Final Fantasy… not too sure, wasn't my type of game. Silver Garb, essentially a trench coat. No idea where this comes from but it does look nice.

With a thought, the trench coat was draped over me. Once fully equipped, I felt a new feature. A long stinger– silver, neon red lines highlighted with black secondary colors– protruded from the bottom of the coat and wrapped around me; spear end pointing towards wherever I wish. It felt like a third arm, it bent and curved wherever I wished. With more testing, I figured the range was long with a maximum range of a spear– which is usually about six to eight feet long. Plus the goat was nice and comfy, protecting me from the cold night as well.

The Fencer suit and the Buster Blade was assimilated into the Legion system.

[New technology ready for research]

Checking the upgrade tree, I was immediately overwhelmed. Rows upon rows of armor, weapons, vehicles, support items, and assimilated tech. I had all of them locked, no surprise, but the cost is freaking expensive. 4k just to upgrade a Bolt Pistol to a Heavy Bolt Pistol. 9k for a Combi-Bolter or 9.5k to have that Combi-bolter be a flamer– 10.1k for plasma or 10.6 for a Meltagun Combi-Bolter. These upgrades were nuts. Don't get me started with the vehicles. Just to unlock the Razorback is 32k LP. To unlock the Predator is a whopping 56.8k LP!

The bright side is I have the basics. I currently have the basic Tactical Marines, Assault Marines, Scout Marines, and Devastator Marines. The only available vehicle is the Rhino, a transport vehicle. The vehicle cost 5.47k LP. Tactical Marines are 1k, Assault Marines are 1.15k, Devastator Marines are 1.21k, and Scout Marines are 975 LP. With me having only 4,555 LP, these prices were steep.

Looking at the assimilated tech, I can't just have them equip the Fencer Armor or the Buster Blade. The Fencer is what would be a passive skill. An example being grenades. My Tactical Marines are only equipped with a standard bolter. But if I unlock grenades, all Tactical Marines would then be able to use them. Weapons are similar with rng being the only defining factor. If I were to unlock the Flamer and spawn a marine, there's a chance of that marine equipping the flamer. Same with Power Swords, Thunderhammers, Storm Bolters, etc. Equipment is rng based unless I specify the equipment, which would increase the cost. Same thing for vehicles.

But Assimilated tech adds another layer of complexity. They function under the same rule as passives and weapons; but some, like the Fencer armor, add new abilities not known in 40k. The Fencer is known to wield weapons intended for tanks and heavy vehicles– often carrying two weapons intended for tanks and the like. But these suits also have boosters and thrusters, able to propel them in any direction. That's where the complexity comes in: these upgrades have stages. First stage upgrades is the strength of the Fencer allowing astartes to wield tank weaponry with relative ease. The second stage are the boosters. These are more for Assault Marine for they benefit from dashing into any direction not just up. Third are thrusters, increasing the height of which Assault Marines can ascend.

To recap, passive ability upgrades like grenades are automatically equipped by their respective upgrade tree. Weapon base upgrades are RNG based; assimilated tech are both, with the given benefit of giving the marines new abilities and stage upgrades.

If I had assimilated the Silver Garb, the best guess would be each marine would then be able to utilize that stinger. At a later date maybe.

For now, I summon my legion to fight this growing infestation.