“This is Liger Actual; there is an anomaly in the seismic data for this region. The pattern is too regular to be associated with a fault line or anything found in nature. Sensors indicate that the epicenter of the quakes to be located somewhere within the heart of the City, but a report from Central Command specifies that the tremors were on the North Eastern side of the Residential Sector B-1 yesterday morning. Please advise, Captain. -Over”

“Sounds like whatever is causing the rumbling is on the move. Send Bask the report over your Cybercom on an unencrypted channel. Let’s see what happens when we stir the pot a little. -Out.”

“Unencrypted? How copy?”

“You heard me right. Bask will monitor all available channels for any chatter between Survivors and the Bandit Factions. If Command is flying in the dark, then whatever it is, for all the noise it’s making, it doesn’t want to be found. -Copy?”

“Hard Copy.”

“Stay safe out there, Tin-Man. We’re holed up at the checkpoint awaiting your return with our Cargo secured. Let’s not keep the Nerds at the Thinktank waiting too long. -Over and out.”

With a tap to his ear, Liger closed his Cybercom radio connection as he surveyed the surrounding area from the safety of a rooftop gable. On his left, a steep incline where low-income housing had been carved out for the humans and spanning to the lower right; an illegal parish for Beastkin who are without Masters.

*RUMBLE*

“There it is again.” Liger murmured, leaping from his three-story perch to the derelict street below. “If it weren’t for the burning buildings, I could get a thermal reading of the area… something isn't right…”

*BANG-BANG!*

In pulling his pistol’s trigger in quick succession, Liger let loose a volley of super-heated plasma into an entangled mass of wailing Corpses shambling in the streets. Under the low light of shadows cast by the inner-city high-rises looming on the horizon, the two needle-like splinters of energy glowed brilliantly as they pierced through the swarm, carving a path further into the urban jungle.

“Bask; is there any radio chatter corresponding with Lost sightings in my area; Grid Coordinates 0-7-Lamba-Bravo-One.”

After a minute of radio-silence, Liger pressed into the City’s underbelly until the structures no longer resembled obsidian obelisks. Built vertically to house the enormous population of Humans, the enduro-steel and solar-glass dwellings grazed the stratus, losing their tops to the mist ensnared in a perpetual gale.

[Unencrypted Frequency: 33-7FM2: There’s some *TSSS* out there! *TSST* MASSIVE! GOD-*TSSST* AVE US ALL!!! *TST-CLICK!*]

Stepping past the refuse and debris littering the narrow urban labyrinth choked with webs of heavy cables, Liger readied himself for the horde of undead only to find the inner city roadways barren save for the aftermath of the initial outbreak. Broken windowpanes and burned out vehicles posed little obstacle as they were avoided with ease due to Liger’s enhanced agility. With a single bound, he leaped to the top of a lone military transport curiously void of any blemishes.

“What is this doing here?” He muttered to himself, further examining the vehicle’s features for any sign of wear. “This type of personnel carrier could easily push through this traffic, but where are the drivers? The locks on the doors are still engaged, and there isn’t any sign of a struggle, let alone that of a fire-fight…”

[Unencrypted Frequency: 61.7 FM2: Papa… where are you? I’m scared…]

Giving a response pause for thought, Liger pressed his hand through the Armored Personnel Carrier’s window, disengaging the door lock.

[UFQ: 13.3 FM2: Yellow is red and blue is green! Green is red and white is… red… red…. Haha… Redredredredred! It’s all RED!!]

[UFQ: 992.0 FM2: This message will repeat in 5…4…3…2…1 Attention to any Survivors in the Area; Brighthorn Refugee Camp is at CAPACITY; anyone found trying to enter will be shot on sight! I repeat, DO NOT-*CLICK*]

[UFQ: 66.6 AM: Do you hear those voices in your head? They speak and speak, yet never listen to a word you say… hehe… but you already knew that, didn’t you…?]

Tapping the armored antenna over his ear, Liger disabled the open communication setting on his Cybercom before redoubling his efforts on the APC’s interior cabin and the ashes scattered at the foot-pedals.

Produced by the effort in focusing his eyes, a scan swept over the powdery substance revealing a wealth of information about its contents; namely sulfur and carbon.

“Tch…” Liger sucked his teeth in dismay. “Computer; archive this data and send it to Bask over an encrypted channel with the best signal quality available. Attached the following voice message; I have sampled the remains of the Soldiers stationed to APC 7791-47EE-3. Please advise the manner in which they were slain… I suspect I am not alone.”

Seconds later, Liger received a prompt response.

“Liger? Why aren’t you using an active channel? I just got your message.”

“There must be some sort of interference in the area. I have been trying to hail you, but the signal must not be getting through.”

“I don’t need to look at this report you sent me to tell you the two are connected. There should be no reason why your signal is poor within the City. Someone must have an active jamming device. Keep your guard up! If I were to guess what happened to those Soldiers, it would be a high-precision high-intensity laser rifle but-! *CLICK*” The radio shut off unexpectedly just as Liger’s extrasensory ability told him to turn around.

*BANG!*

Whipping his pistol over his shoulder while dangling off the cabin’s entry support bar, Liger placed a perfect shot between the eyes of an Undead that had been silently reaching towards his mechanized boot.

“Bask- I didn’t quite catch the last bit! How copy?!”

Silence.

“Damn it. Computer; lower the broadcast’s frequency for maximum range, are there any discrepancies in coverage that we could back-trace and locate the Jammer?”

[Warning: Low Power Mode – ENABLED]

“Great… Cancel that Command and send out an S.O.S.”

[Warning: Critical Power Levels, SHUTDOWN IMMINENT!]

“W-What? How can that be-?!” Liger inhaled sharply, removing one of the APC’s many mirrors to closer examine the condition of his Power Armor. “There must be some damage to the Reactor, but I can’t see any external signs of wear. Computer; poll basic integrity report!]

[Myrmidon KP9 “Scout-Class” Power Armor Diagnostic Suite]

[Super Capacitor Unit #1: 60.3% Power Remaining – Damage: Null. ]

[Super Capacitor Unit #2: -13.0% Power Remaining – Damage: FAULT/GROUND!]

[Super Capacitor Unit #3: 0.004% Power Remaining – Damage: STRUCTURE BREACH! ]

[Super Capacitor Unit #4: 0.0% Power Remaining – Damage: Null. ]

[Primary Reactor: SUSPENDED! Alert: Chemical Fuel Required!]

[Secondary Reactor: DISABLED! Alert: SCU#2 FAULT DETECTED! FAILSAFE – ENGAGED!]

[Tertiary Reactor: NULL – No Device I.D Found; sub-Info: This model is not equipped with Tri-Stage Auxiliary Unit!]

“I must have caught a bullet sometime during that skirmish with those Survivors. Damn. Computer; estimated time until systems dark?”

[ETA until system wide power-outage; 36:H 12:M 42:S]

“And time until checkpoint arrival from current location…”

[ETA: From Grid 07LDE -> Checkpoint Epsilon: 49:H 1:M 59:S]

“Damn,” Liger growled, casting the mirror aside. “Then I’ll just have to abandon the Power Armor half a day out from the Checkpoint, there’s no avoiding it.”

“Then how about you hand over that fancy suit, we'll be sure to make good use of it!”

*TWANG!*

Before Liger had a chance to react, a bullet glanced off his shoulder plate followed by an angry swarm of lead bees prompting a quick dive roll to cover.

*TWANG!* *POP-POP-POP!* *BANG!* *POP!* *TWANG-TWANG!* !* *POP-POP!* *BANG!* *POP!*

Seeking cover behind a small burned-out husk that once belonged to a small sports coupe, the intensity of the barrage doubled, threatening to tear the metal barrier to pieces.

“Damn- I can’t get a read on where the shooter is firing from!”

*KABANG!* A loud explosion rang out a second before an otherworldly force struck Liger, ejecting him from cover with such force he found himself thrown through the glass of a nearby storefront.

[Warning: Right Shoulder - Hull Integrity Compromised!] [Warning: Critical Hit!] [Warning: Critical Damage Sustained!]

Sluggishly, Liger arose from amid a pile of broken glass and smashed produce as his shoulder crackled and popped with electricity.

“If only I still had my Support A.I, I might have seen that coming. One of those snipers has an anti-material rifle and a high-powered one at that to be able to puncture through my armor, this is oddly specific for Savagers to be waiting in ambush. They hadn’t the time to trace my open broadcast either…”

At first, a faint rumble echoed out in the form of ceramic plates clattering against one another, but as quickly as the noise came about, it intensified until the windowpanes rattled in their joists.

“W-What is this!? An Earthquake…!?” Liger winced, stressing to remain upright, but the cacophony proved to be far too intense to withstand… and then the reason for the chaotic crescendo made itself known.

“Like moths to the flame…” A voice echoed as the ground reverberated under heavy footfalls. “You know; you’ve killed an awful lot of my Warriors, Metal-Man. So I killed an awful lot of yours.”

Stepping through the broken windowpane, an Exo-Suit manned by a grisly Savager approached Liger with a throng of ruffians in tow. Draped around the Exo-Suit’s plated collar acting as a shield for its Operator; the disembodied limbs and heads of civilian model Androids dangled from a band of heavy chain.

“Warriors? The blood on my hands is the color of low-life thugs, a dull brown, crusty and worth less than a pile of dogshit. You sought out vengeance against me? Good. Then that means I no longer need to abide by the rules.”

Biting down hard on his teeth, the Savager Leader cast his mechanized arm forward, commanding his army to attack, and subsequently; the interior of the vendor to ignite in a tremendous hail of gunfire.

With each pull of the trigger, Liger’s pistol glowed even brighter as super-heated plasma tore through shelves of produce and flesh, bone and body alike until the heat threatened to deform the barrel pressing him to cast his weapon aside.

Through sheer force, Liger then retrieved an assault rifle from a Savager along with the Man’s arm before casting the disembodied limb aside and unleashing a torrent of lead in all directions.

[WARNING: LOW POWER!] [WARNING: LOW POWER!] [WARNING: LOW POWER!] [WARNING: LOW POWER!]

“Wh’ya hidin’ blasted Machine!? I can hear that alarm in your Suit a-ringin’! Just how much longer till your batteries run dry!?!”

Just as Liger leaned outward from the center-most isle, a large mechanical fist smashed down through the tower of shelves within a hair’s breadth of his backside, a move unforeseen as the Leader’s voice had not come from behind.

“He better not run them dry, Brother! Our Suits could use some extra juice! Let’s end this quickly!”

“D-Damn, there’s two!?” Liger winced as the second Power Suit stepped through the debris unhindered.

Forced into a dive roll to evade the second set of turbo-charged fists, Liger turned his backside towards the small-arms fire.

*THOOMP!*

Nearly losing his balance, the unexploded shell from a grenade launcher tumbled between Liger’s legs as a result from a direct impact.

[SYSTEM: Kinetic Shielding – ONLINE!]

In an eruption of a micro-volcanic level, the midsection of the store blew outwards in a flash of light leaving a plume of smoke to travel along the ceiling before billowing out through the entrance. Once the dust began to settle moments later, Liger disengaged his Suit’s emergency protection protocol ‘Armor Lock’ that had frozen him in a defensive posture.

“Bwahaha! We got him Brother!” The Savager in the second Suit chortled.

“Who fired that damn grenade!? It damn near blew out me eardrums!? Fucking bastard! When I find out who did that Imma skin yah alive!”

As the Savagers continued to squabble, Liger’s armor slowly released from its defensive form, regaining his mobility and the initiative.

In less time than it took to blink, Liger scooped up a large fist full of dust, casting it into the eyes of the Lead Savager and the man's brother.

“Shit!” The Leader screamed as he found himself pinned to his backside with the cold steel of a barrel pressed against his cheek.

*BANG!*

No hesitation. Liger pulled the trigger, sending the Lead Savager’s brains fanning along the floor like a crimson feather.

“N-No!!! B-Brother!?!” The Leader’s Right Hand choked as the Power Armor spooled down with the loss of its operator. “I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll wipe out every last one of your kind, Machine! This world is for us humans -your kind is the ones who ruined all of it! GRAAAHHH!!!”

Dodging a horizontal swipe from the Power Armor’s segmented claw, Liger fired into the fleeing bodies funneling and vaulting over the registers before tucking into yet another roll.

“Ah, I see. You must belong to that faction of zealots who believe only in themselves, in a ‘pure’ humanity. The name claimed by your ‘Cult’ suits you well; Cannibal Gear. Merely cogs pushing the agenda of hatred, consuming your own kind in the process. A pity that even in the advent of annihilation, you still cannot open your eyes.”

“Quit your yammering blasted Machine! I’m going to make you into a barbecue pit- no! A footstool when I’m done with you! Now, men ATTACK!!”

But the broken bodies would not respond to the Savager’s orders as they were nothing more than battered corpses riddled with bullet holes.

[WARNING: POWER CRITICAL!]

With no time left to spare, Liger threw the depleted rifle, striking the Savager while opening a window to tear at the Armor’s exposed wiring running the lengths of its limbs.

“You’ll pay!” The Savager repeated, struggling to articulate the bulky Suit in order to remove Liger from his backside. “You’ll pay-you’ll pay-you’ll pay!!!”

And with great magnitude, the ground began to shake until the very structure of the store threatened to collapse.

“Those quakes?! You haven’t anything to do with it!?!” Liger shouted as he and the Savager were torn from their feet.

“N-Now you’ll see we were n-no hatemongers! Were r-right all along! This is our p-punishment for playing God, the product of our own hands come to cleanse us of our sins!”

Uttering a single ‘What?’, a massive wall of red washed over the Storefront’s entryway exposing the grey sky above in its entirety. Stunned, Liger couldn’t help but rub the blood clinging to his fists into his eyes, unable to comprehend what had just witnessed.

But comprehension never came, even when the face of reality met him with a morbid grin of razor-sharp ivory and pulsating vestibules of flesh.

“This should be proof, metal-man, that we tread on God’s domain… that the celestial seat was never vacant. Proof, in the form of a shadow… a shadow we created… Tell me, metal-man, if the Devil exists, can you deny the existence of a higher power, that your creation was a mortal sin?”

As the Savager pilfered both a handgun and a shotgun from the fallen, he turned away, his actions; perplexing- that is until Liger’s reasoning caught up with the present.

Unable to fully identify the monstrosity, Liger took notice of the heavily mechanized frame beneath the writhing mass of tendrils, muscle and sinew fused to the core of a colossal Battle-Mech that when upright, stood over fifteen meters.

In a single breath, the Savager and his Suit disappeared behind the wall-like hand of malformed flesh and metal as the sound of gunfire erupted briefly only to fall silent, replaced by a creeping pool of blood leaking between the Mech’s twisted fingers.

“So it was you… You were the one responsible for the tremors…” Liger whispered as he stared down the many blinking black orbs ingrained in the Mech’s distorted faceplate. “You were the one who called me here.”

Croaking and trilling, the Mech emanated a fan of red light from a tubular sensor that swept up and down the length of Liger’s body as if to scan over his features. Seconds after its completion, the Mech backed out into the street, removing a significant portion of the rubble from the collapsed entryway.

“Why…?” Liger fell to his plated knees as his Power Armor droned in its death throes. “That serial etched in your faceplate…”

[CHM-702]

“I must be mistaken… but it seems you remember me… my Logic Support A.I…. What have they done to you…? Stuffing you in that Assault-Frame…. They told me you had deteriorated, that you were too far gone, that you could no longer be a part of me… I’m sorry… I’m so terribly sorry…”

E. . .l . . W..a

Black…

There’s an echo, but I can no longer hear its contents as it has traveled through the veil of a forgotten sea.

El. .. … . . … W.. . .ke. .

Again, the words never reach me. I am lost, without the faintest idea where I have been or where I am going.

.. .. Wake… p.. . ..

I wish it would just go away and let me be… All I need is another minute, another hour…

Else…?

Wake… up…

WAKE UP!!

Torn from my nightmare by way of an icy splash, threw myself upright with such force that my skull bounced not once, but twice, reacquainting itself with the gravel woven beneath a grassy knoll.

*CONK!*

“Oh, my freakin’ forehead! E-Else, what the heck!?” Revi moaned, pawing at the bright red stain seared into his crown. “Ya stopped breathin after you make a whole bunch of creepy noises! The heck kinda dream were you havin'?”

“L-Leave me~it be!” I slurred as I rubbed my eyes fitfully, hoping that somehow clearing my vision would reacquaint me with my surroundings.

Off to my right not but three meters, a vacant road left to ruin and decay, sparsely populated with small communal dwellings long abandoned before the outbreak, sandwiched in mounds like a child’s building blocks. Tacked to their edifices, sun-faded quarantine tape fluttered in the humid updraft rolling out into the knoll where we found refuge.

“This is the first time I have seen real grass outside of virtual… It stinks…” I hummed as my mind drifted elsewhere, grazing the details of my dream just enough to bring a bitter taste to my tongue. “I guess it’s just not as I expected… it’s diseased, ugly… nothing like the color pallets I’m used to seeing… red… purple… gold… It’s all sickly green.”

“You don’t want to talk about it… I get it… Honestly, Else, if you’re going to faint next time, please do it when we’re not being chased by hordes of Zombies. Dragging your butt for Stars knows how many kilometers really did a number on me.”

“You callin’ me fat?” I snorted.

“N-No! Did you not listen to when I mentioned KILOMETERS as in PLURAL!? At least when I carry a carcass I’ve nicked from a hunt, I don’t have to mind my hand placement or how I go about dragging it back! You soo~ owe me!”

“Alright then; you wanna do it here? I don’t see any Zombies around. These fronds provide a bit of privacy if you’re not into the whole exhibitionist thing.”

Of course, at this point, I would have expected Revi’s timid nature to flush his face, instead; his response left me speechless.

“Alright, I’m normally on top if you don’t mind- but, if you’re up for doggy, we can meet halfway.”

“W-wha?

“PFFT! Bwahahaa~! You should see the look on your face!”

Undoubtedly, the expression on my face is nothing short of a scowl, but I have been wrong before. Perhaps it was my ego that made me pounce the sly fox, maybe it was a bit of residual morning wood- or what Vivian often referred to as; "Sprouting Bean".

“You should see the look on your face, or rather, how much your tail is poofed!” I teased, pinning Revi into the thickest patch of the greensward with a fanged grin. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I could use a bath before we get down and dirty… unless you’re into that kind of thing. I can show you this cool trick I can do with my-!”

“TH-THAT’S QUITE OKAY!!” Revi protested loudly, wriggling to break free with eyes the size of teacups.

“Feet… I was going to say ‘feet.’

“That’s not-!?”

“Alright, alright, I’m just messin’. It looks like you’ve gotten your energy back after dragging my deadweight. Where are we anyway?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He huffed, pulling himself out from beneath me.

“For simplicity's sake, let’s just say I’ve lived most my years inside a box… a very cold, unloving and-.”

“So... you do wanna talk about it?” Revi interjected with his brow raised.

“Nah, I’m good. Are we any closer to where Izumi might be?”

“How about you tell me. -Look.”

With his index finger, Revi pointed to a tall structure fitted with the familiar switchback of stairs off in the distance. To the right, a soft aura of pink radiated from a shorter building next to an orange… AN ORANGE PARACHUTE CAUGHT IN THE POWER LINES!!!

I’m sorry, I couldn’t contain myself. I should be apologizing to the Fox I re-pounced, really; my dial had cranked itself all the way to a ‘9’!

“Revi! You beauty! Come-here-lemme-give-you-a-kiss!!”

Two smooches and a pinch to the cheek to the effect of Revi’s tail furrowing into a pine-cone! I couldn’t believe it; Izumi, my goal, fulfilling my promise- I can literally taste it!

Sorta bitter…

“Revi, your cheek tastes bitter. Were you crying!?”

“No, stupid! I’ve been sweating my tail off draggin you around, ya lump! Now g-get off! I’m not a prey item! I’m a-!”

“Scavenger~!”

“R-Rude!” He blushed, attempting to flatten his tail fur with his hand. “We’re probably a day out while we wait for the rest of the group to get here. I’m sure the Zombies are hella thick after our run in with those soldiers.”

“WHAT THE HELL, REVI!?”

“W-What’s wrong? I mean that the density of the Zombies would be thick!”

“No, not that- why did you call the rest of your party!? What the fuck!? I thought this would just be you and me?!”

And then something dawned on me…

“How the hell did you manage to contact them!? Shouldn’t they be pissed that we snuck off on our own?!”

“Well… err…I…”

Amid Revi’s defensive gesturing, I noticed the same gun holstered beneath his jacket seated next to a small, old-fashioned radio almost entirely concealed beneath a leather band.

“Oh, you sneaky little!” I hissed, swiping towards his jacket. “Whatcha hiding that damn radio for?! Hah!?! Don’t tell me this isn’t what it looks like!?”

“W-What do you mean?!” He back peddled into the street, my adrenaline surging. “We’re going to save your friend, honest to God! It’s j-just…”

“No, you little rat-fuck! You were waiting for me to confirm Izumi’s location so you can steal whatever’s in Liger’s Pedo/Peeder tent to make up for the loss of the Carepackage!”

“J-Just hear me out alright! I called everyone from camp to help move Izumi along with the tent! You said she was injured, right!?!” Revi spat, his chest heaving as he struggled to make sense of the situation. “Now just think for a minute; why would we leave those supplies behind!?! If I wanted to hurt you, why would I have dragged your sorry ass all the way out here!?”

“If this is all straightforward as you say; then why hide it from me, explain that!?”

“Because you’re so damn impulsive I didn’t think you would listen! For fuck’s sake, Else, just look at what we’re doing!”

As Revi’s shoulders fell with the weight of the truth, he continued in a tone a parent would use to console a child.

“Had I said no in the first place, you would have left on your own, wouldn’t you?”

I nodded, biting my lip, biding back the anger and embers leaking from my teeth.

“I came because I knew you’d end up getting hurt trying to do the impossible. You can’t just bang your head into the wall and expect results! Trust me, I’ve tried! I’ve tried so many times to get em' to notice- ah!” Catching himself with a slap to the mouth, Revi then averted his eyes, and in doing so, discovered that we were not alone.

“The hell are you doing!?” I gasped as he forcefully took me by my injured wrist, guiding me into a burned-out corner store painted black with ash.

“Zombies…” He murmured. "Be still..."

“Don’t bullshit me, I didn’t see a- *HMPT*.”

Pulled into the depths of Revi’s jacket with a hand firmly in place over my mouth, my eyes widened.

A horde, their number so immense they overtook the entire breadth of the four-lane street spilling into the greensward, blanketing the bake-shop entry until it became dark with putrid bodies.

“Please don’t make a sound...” Revi whispered into my scalp, muffling his voice further with my hair.

I choked, then nodded. No amount of help could save us now.