Warning: Contains violence, and swearing. Prologue The rapid fire of a assault rifle rushed past a muscular man with shaggy blond hair that came right above his eyes. He was wearing a military uniform, and his right arm was all bloody and torn up. He was running through a large metal building. He would turn back and fire a few shots from his pistol every so often. "Close the doors! Now!" He yelled. He got through a large metal door just in time before it closed. "Sir what now?" The man who closed the door asked. "We continue as planned lieutenant. Computer give me an estimated time before detonation." The man ordered. "Estimated time in two minutes." A automated voice said seemly out of nowhere. "That's not a lot of time Major." The lieutenant stated. "Yeah if we keep screwing around. Make sure everyone is in their pods. This is going to be close." the Major ordered. The lieutenant gave him a salute and went on his way. After he left a man in medical attire and a med kit ran over to the Major. "Bloody hell, your arm. What happened?" He asked. The medic spoke with a British voice. "I'll be fine. Get to your pod Doctor." The Major commanded as they walked pass a bunch of people getting in small pods. "At least let me stich you up." The doctor replied. "No time. I've stopped the bleeding for now, and the stasis pods should keep me from bleeding out." the Major then turned to the doctor and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Go. We'll need a doctor more then they need a soldier." The doctor gave him a nod, and then went on to a pod. The major made it to his pod and carefully got in. He was in a ton of pain and was trying his best to hide it. "Computer how much longer?" The major asked. "Twenty seconds." the computer replied. "Is everyone in their pods?" the major asked. "All pods except for yours are active." The major smiled then he pressed a few buttons on his pod and laid back as the pod closed. "Error. System error. Automatic activation is off line." The computer warned. "What! Open my pod!" The major demanded. "That action is ill-advised. Detonation in ten...nine....eight...." as the computer counted down the major struggled to try to get out. "Open this pod up! That is an order! Command code Alpha-72894-Delt.....Delt...." a gas filled the pod and the major just couldn't keep awake to finish the code. "Three....two....one." That was the world we came from. We were in the middle of a third world war. My name is Major Trevor Cullen, commanding officer of the Guard Dog unit. The war was in a stand still for years, until the enemy started waving the WMD's around. The allies, which consisted of The United North America, The United Kingdom, most of South America and several smaller European countries, formed a taskforce with the sole purpose of preventing the WMDs from going off, my unit was the taskforce. We consisted of the best that the allies had to offer, some were defectors from the enemy. We all had our own special trait we brought to the team. Our enemy was the allied forces of Russia, most of Asia, Korea, and a lot of the Middle East. I don't remember what caused the war, I'm just a soldier, I just shoot at what I'm told to. In the final years of the war, the WMD's were too many for my unit to handle....I lost a lot of good men. With the increased WMDs and Guard Dog being stretched too thin the allies came up with a plan. They built several bunkers that would protect us from the nukes and would put us in stasis for about a hundred years. The enemy found out and they did everything in their power to sabotage us. The remainder of Guard Dog was sent to protect the bunkers. So here we are. We were meant to wake up a hundred years later, but now.....We ether die peacefully in our sleep when the pods energy runs out, which won't happen for a very long time or be waken up by someone or something else. Not sure which is worse. Chapter 1: Welcome to the New Age Cullen's eyes started to open. His vision was blurry, he could see moving shapes, and bright lights. He was laying flat on some sort of operating table. He blinked his eyes several times to clear his vision. He looked up and saw two.....people. They were both a violet color, with their hair a even darker shade of color, they had three fingers, and three eyes. Their eyes were pitch black, the had two eyes on each side of their nose like a human but they had a third eye on their four head. They were talking to each other in some language he couldn't understand. He glanced over to his right, he saw his right arm was missing. A bunch of monitors began to make a lot of noise. They pressed buttons on it and then looked down at Cullen. By their tone they were surprised. "Where am I? What's going on!?" The major shouted. The aliens looked at each other in confusion. One of them, it appeared to be a female, grabbed a needle like object. She reached for his neck. Cullen grabbed her hand forced her to drop the needle. The other alien, he appeared to be a male, tried to hold him down. Cullen gave him a swift back hand that knocked him to the floor. The woman stared right into his eyes, she was trying something and she was surprised nothing was happening. She then ran over to a panel on the wall, but before she could get to it Cullen took a tray that had a bunch of scalpel like tools, and smacked her upside her head, knocking her out. The man started to get up, before he could Cullen rushed over and kicked him in the head, knocking him out. Cullen was still disoriented from just waking up. Looked around and saw his pistol, he grabbed it. Then hobbled over to what looked like a door. The door opened as soon as he got near it. On the other side was another alien, a different alien. This one was very muscular and had a cat like face. It was obviously a male. He was completely bald, and had two long pointed ears. He had two fangs that showed even with his mouth shut. He had some sort of rifle in his hand. The alien pointed his weapon at Cullen and started shouting the same language that the two before spoke in. Cullen fired two shots in his chest, but the body armor he was wearing was too thick so the bullets just bounced off. The alien took aim and fired at Cullen. The weapon fired a blue energy beam. Cullen ducked just in time. The Major pistol whipped the alien and continued to do so until the guard went down. Cullen grabbed the energy rife and went forward. It wasn't to long until more aliens blocked his way. Their were four of them. Three were the cat like aliens and the fourth was a violet alien. The cat aliens were different colors then the last one. Two were females, one of the females was a light pink color, and the other was a cyan color. The male was tall and more muscular then the first one he met, he is also a dark blue color. By the way he stood he was the leader. The violet alien was another female, she stood behind them. She was talking to the leader in a worried tone. She appeared to be some sort of scientist. The two female cat aliens fired upon Cullen. Cullen ran around a corner to take cover. The violet alien took the leaders arm and her tone was angry. When Cullen heard a brake in the fire he leaned out of cover and fired at them. He didn't hit them, he just couldn't aim well without his right arm. The leader yelled at the scientist and forced her back. The two females continued to shoot at the major. When he heard a cease fire he decided to rush them. He charged at them and shot at them as he went. When he got close enough he tackled one of the females. He quickly got up on one knee and shot at the other one. The shot hit her shoulder and brought her to the ground. The leader grabbed the barrel of Cullen's gun and yanked it out of his hand with enough force that he almost took Cullen's arm with it. Cullen gave him a huge uppercut that staggered him back. Cullen then gave him a bunch of rapid punches to the face. The alien blocked one punch and in that opening he gave Cullen a huge right hook. The punch brought Cullen down to his knees. He spit some blood out, and then got back up. The alien then gave him a bunch of quick jabs. After about ten punches to the face Cullen finally went down. And he blacked out. Cullen woke up in a pure white room. He was the only thing in there was a table and a chair. He woke up in the chair and his arm was cuffed to the table. The cuff was a metal band on his waist and a long blue energy cord that attached it to the table. He looked around the room. There was no door, no windows, nothing. He didn't like it. This looked like some kind of interrogation room. "Hey! Where am I?! Let me out!" Cullen yelled. Finally a door appeared. The alien that knocked him out entered the room. The door he entered in closed. The alien walked around Cullen, observing him. "Who....or what are you?" the major asked. "Can you understand me?" Cullen asked. The alien said nothing as he continued to circle around him. He stopped behind him. The alien took off his gloves. He had four fingers on each hand. The alien placed his hands on each side of Cullen's head. Cullen struggled until the alien pressed down on him. Images flashed in the aliens eyes, as did Cullen's. The alien was 'downloading' information from Cullen's mind and in turn Cullen was getting a few images from the alien. But for Cullen they were jumbled and unclear. After a few minutes the alien released Cullen. Cullen gasped for air when he was done. "Major Trevor Cullen. Human. Born in what was know as New Orleans Louisiana." The alien spoke perfect English now. "How many survived?" Cullen asked. The alien said nothing and went to where the door he came in was. "How many?!" Cullen demanded to know. The door open and the alien stepped through. The alien looked back at Cullen. "Sixty." He said then he left.[DOUBLEPOST=1379591236][/DOUBLEPOST]Chapter 2 Trust It has been three days since the aliens locked Cullen up. He hasn't ate or drank anything since he woke up nor has he slept, he is a tough SOB. It's not that they haven't gave him food or water, it's just he refuses to take it until he gets answers. The only person that has been in contact with him is the alien that probed his mind. When he probed his mind Cullen got a few images from him. At first they were jumbled and unclear but now that he's had time to sort through them he understands a little bit better. The images he saw were of massive spaceships, a sun exploding, a planet turning into ash. And he got the aliens name as well, Temdimus. A door opened in the room. Temdimus came through, but this time he wasn't alone. One of those violet aliens came behind him. He looked outside the door, this room was heavily guarded. He saw the same violet alien that was with Temdimus when he first captured him. "Temedimus." Cullen greeted. The alien with him was surprised that Cullen knew his name. The alien with him looked at Temedimus who didn't give a reaction. The alien with him was a male, he looked some what older. Temedimus brought a chair in and sat it across the table Cullen was strapped to. The violet alien sat down and stared Cullen in the eyes. "Hello, Trevor is it? How do you know Temedimus's name?" The alien spoke with a soft, calm voice, like a grandfather. "Well when he 'Vulcan mind melded' with me I got a few things from him. And don't call me Trevor. My friends call me Trevor. And your pretty damn far from being one. So call me Major or Cullen." Cullen answered with a bit of annoyance in his voice. The two aliens looked at each other when he mentioned the Vulcan mind meld. "Well I would like to be your friend Major. My name is Spectis. And you already know the General." Spectis said with a smile. "What else do you know?" Temedimus asked with a stern voice. "I saw images. A sun exploding. A planet burning. Massive spaceships." Cullen answered. "Look I don't care about that, just tell me about the survivors. Please." he pleaded. Spectis and the General looked at each other. "Your people are still in stasis. You were injured, we treated you and then we would see what threat you and your people pose to us. Your people are known as the Preceders to us." Spectis answered. "And who is 'us'?" Cullen asked. "My people are known as the Quin'sin. Spectis's people are known as the Kaiin." Temedimus answered. He obviously didn't trust him. "Fine, whatever. So what now? You just going to kill us is that? Why exactly are you keeping me prisoner?" Cullen was a bit irritable due to lack of sleep. "Normally we wouldn't keep you here. You see my people have the ability to read minds. But for some reason we can't read your mind. Your brain waves are unlike anything we've ever seen. The General here wanted to keep you locked up until we knew what danger you pose. Normally we would read your mind or Quin'sin would 'Vulcan mind meld' as you put it." Spectis answered. "My people have the ability to read the history of nearly anything. Be it objects or people. Reading you was very difficult." Temedimus added. "What are you going to do with me?" Cullen asked. "That depends on you. What will your people do?" Spectis was a little optimistic about him, while Temedimus was more cautious. "I...I don't know. I'm just a soldier. But I do believe that you should give us a chance." Cullen suggested. "Why should we give you a chance? You are a failed species that destroyed yourself! We should just wipe you out and get it over with!" Temedimus shouted. "General! Enough!" Spectis yelled. "Un-cuff me first pussycat. Then we'll see who's a failed species!" Cullen slammed him hand on the table. "With pleasure." Temedimus walked towards Cullen with his hand in a fist. "I said enough!" Spectis held his hand forward and Temedimus was tossed across the room, all without touching him. Spectis pinned the General to the wall. "Stop. We have enough problems as it is." Spectis then released him. "Forgive Temedimus. The Quin'sin and Kaiin have a symbiotic relationship of sorts. His people are the soldiers, the protectors. While mine are the diplomats, the leaders. Temedimus is the High General, the leader of the whole military. His duty is to protect us. And I am the leader of our people." Spectis explained. "Oh well I forgive you. Why don't you un-cuff me so we can hug it out?" Cullen mockingly said. "You must really want to die human." Temedimus growled. "Go deepthroat a knife!" Cullen yelled back. "We must get going now. It has been very enlightening Major." Spectis gave him a small bow and the door appeared. Cullen looked out the door as they left and saw that same Kaiin from before. Spectis and Temedimus rounded the corner and went into a small room. In the room was a large window that looked into Cullen's cell. "General, do you believe we should awaken them?" Spectis asked. "After talking to the Major I believe we.....should." Temedimus replied. Spectis was happily surprised. "Really? Why is that old friend?" Spectis has known him for as long as anyone, and he still find new ways to surprise him. "The Major is a warrior. A respectable one. From what I can tell he was very respected among his people, a hero. He commanded great warriors. I can't speak for the other humans but I believe he may be an asset." Temedimus explained. "Very well then. But for a sign of good faith I think it best if we move the Major to more....hospitable room. And see what the engineers can do about his right arm. Maybe we can give him some cybernetics." Spectis ordered. "As you wish." Temedimus placed his right hand on his chest and gave a small and then left.
Chapter 3 Refugees It has been one week since Cullen was released from his cell. He was put in a fairly nice apartment like building that wasn't to far from where he was held. Cullen has finally been able to relax a bit. He's been able to sleep, eat and all that good stuff. Things are finally looking up for him. After speaking with Spectis, he's agreed to wake up the others. Of course only after Temedimus has taken necessary security precautions, which Cullen can respect that. Cullen walked out of his bathroom and looked outside. He had his hair slicked back and was growing bit of a beard. He still couldn't believe everything that changed. It still looked similar but still different. There was still a few buildings from his time barely standing. The were just old scars now, reminders of what he's lost, his failure. Cullen rubbed where his right arm used to be. He heard stories about soldiers who could still feel their lost limbs. He never really believed them until now. A loud beep interrupted Cullen's reminiscing. The front door then opened. It was the same Kaiin that was watching him when he was locked up. "Your a little late today Doc." Cullen greeted her. The Kaiin was Dr. Karinee. A expert on the Preceders. She has been seeing Cullen everyday since he got out. "Yes, sorry Major." The doctor apologized as she stumbled in. She had tons of digital pads in her arms that she was constantly dropping and suitcase with her. Cullen grabbed a few pads she dropped and the suitcase and placed them on the kitchen table. Karinee dropped the pads on the table and let out a big sigh of relief. "More papers for me to review?" Cullen asked. Since he's been released she constantly takes him science articles about Preceders for him to point out anything wrong. Most of it was wrong. "Well yes. These are mostly about government. One by a very distinguished archeologist who believed your government was ruled by a hive mind.....this was when we believed you to be a insect-like race. Then there's a few about economics. For a while it was widely believed that you didn't have a currency system. That you traded for items." The Doctor pointed out. "Oh and I have something I think you'll like." She said as she opened the suitcase. Inside of the suitcase was a cybernetic arm. The arm was a little bulky and mostly white. "If you want we can give you implants so you can control this arm." Karinee pulled the arm out and laid it on the table for him to look at. Cullen picked it up and it was surprisingly light. "Great. When can they attach it?" Cullen asked. "Well we're still learning your physiology. I'm sure in a few days we'll be able to give you the implants Major." The doctor answered. "Any word on when my people can be woke up?" Cullen laid the arm back on the table and walked back over to the window. "That's the other reason why I'm here. They're ready now." Karinee replied. Cullen turned back to her and gave her a big smile. "That's great! Let's go now!" Cullen was ready to jump out the window to get to them. "Ok, ok calm down. We transferred them to the lab where you woke up. Spectis and the General are waiting on us." By the time she got finished with her sentence he was already out of the door. "You coming Doc?" The lab was just a five minute walk from the apartments. When they got there they took a elevator down to the lowest level. Cullen was already getting stir crazy by just waiting in the elevator. Karinee was just as excited. The elevator finally reached it's stopped after what felt to him like hours. The room was huge. All the pods were lined up next to each other. There was a ton of medical supplies along with several tables littered with food on them. "Ah, Major. They are ready to be woken. Shall you do the honors?" Spectis handed him a pad with a big button just begging to be pressed. Cullen was about to press it but stopped just before. "Here Doc. Chances are there is somebody in there that can give you better answers then a broken down soldier." Cullen handed Karinee the pad. She was speechless. She took the pad and pressed the button. All the pods opened at once. The people all groaned almost simultaneously. Cullen walked around to see who was left. He saw the Doctor and Lieutenant he talked to before he went under was alive. That made him happy, they were good men. Cullen continued to look for someone special. "Damnnit." Cullen said when he realized he wasn't there. "Something wrong Major?" Karinee asked. "Yeah he's not here." Cullen replied. "Who isn't here?" She asked. "The President. He was with us. This isn't good." Cullen said in a worried tone. Everyone started to wake up and began freaking out. "Hey everyone!" Cullen yelled to get their attention. "Look I know this is confusing, but don't worry. You can trust them." Everybody then started to calm down a bit after that, they were still on edge but most of them trusted the Major's judgment. "Bayou? Is that you?" a Spanish woman about the same age as Cullen asked. "Trick Shot?" Cullen replied. She came over to Cullen he confirmed it was him. She gave him a salute before she noticed his lack of a right arm. "What the hell happened Bayou?" She asked him. "Long story. Tell you later. I'm glad at least one Guard Dog made it." Cullen said with a smile. "Oh, Trick Shot this is Dr. Karinee. Doc this is Corporal Zoe 'Trick Shot' Rivera. She was the Guard Dogs sniper. One of the best shots I've ever seen, next to me of course." Cullen almost forgot that Karinee was standing right next to him. "Your never going to let Singapore go are you Bayou?" Zoe gave Karinee a good once over before she turned back to Cullen. "She's a friendly." Cullen said. "Um, why do you keep calling the Major 'Bayou'?" Karinee asked. "That's my nickname. I grew up in the bayou of Louisiana. Most of us in Guard Dogs had nicknames so we mostly referred to each with our nicknames instead of our rank like we were suppose to." Cullen explained. Meanwhile on the other side of the world a bug-like alien forced a bunker's door open. There was several of them. They were tall, had grasshopper like legs, and two arms with mantis like scythes on each arm instead of hands. They had a thick natural armor plating covering their bodies. Their heads looked just like a Ant's. They spoke to each other with a series of clicking sounds that to anybody else sounded exactly the same. They came to a stasis pod. One of them rubbed the frost off of the pod and saw a human inside.
Chapter 4 By Right "I don't like this Major. These Aliens taking our home. What we bled for." A man in a very expensive suit stated to Cullen while he looked out his window. This man just oozed slime. "What we destroyed. Don't forget that part." Cullen said as he folded his arm over his new cybernetic arm. It still had that new robot arm smell to it. "They haven't done anything that says we shouldn't trust them. They've given our people homes, and are helping them get jobs, Senator. That's about as friendly somebody can get." Cullen really disliked politicians. The Senator was William Burke. A real up and coming way back when. "And just because your the only politician left, praise the lord, doesn't make you the goddamn president!" Cullen shouted. "Remember your place Major!" Burke replied. "Nah, I know what this is about." Cullen said with a chuckle. "Oh? What's that?" Burke asked. "This is some racist-ass **** that we put behind us years before the war." Cullen stated. "No, this is about what's ours." Burke said with annoyance. "Whatever. Dress it up however you want to. Now I respectfully ask you to get your ass the hell out of my home and go play president someplace else." Cullen barked. "Fine. But just know that I'm looking after the best interests of humanity. And us being on the same page will benefit everyone." Burke said before he left. "I really hate politicians."
Chapter 5 Time Capsule Cullen, Zoe, and the Lieutenant met with Temedimus and Karinee in a hanger bay. "Is this all your taking?" Temedimus looked over Zoe and the Lieutenant. "I trust Trick Shot with my life. And as for Lieutenant Jack Michaels here, he's a good soldier. You said we might run into trouble out in the Badlands. We can handle trouble." Cullen assured him. "Sir, I don't see any point in going back to that bunker for these 'time capsules'." A male Quin'sin pilot stated to the General. "Well if you don't have the balls, or whatever you have for balls, for it then I'll fly. I'm not that bad of a pilot myself you know." Jack interrupted. "Nobody flies my bird." The Quin'sin replied. "Enough. I asked for you personally Qiuan because your one of the best pilots I've seen. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think you couldn't handle it." The General interrupted. "Fine. Let's just get this over with." They all got into a large heavily armed gunship and took off. They flew out of the cities walls and into the Badlands. The Badlands is overgrew with vegetation and over run with the large mutated beasts that once lived there. The Quin'sin and the Kaiin have been slowly but steadily extending their borders into the Badlands, but the wildlife hasn't made that easy. After they were a good ways out Temedimus decided that they need some new toys. He grabbed a sniper rifle first. "For you Corporal I have one of the best sniper models we have." Zoe took the rifle and checked it out. It's scope had different modes to it. It had night vision, and thermal vision. Very cutting edge. Temedimus next grabbed a standard issue energy assault rifle his own troops have. "For you Lieutenant. It's standard issue. I'm sure the Major can vouch for it's fire power." Jack took the assault rifle gladly, he felt a little naked without a weapon. Temedimus was about to reach for another assault rifle but Cullen interrupted him. "I don't need a weapon thanks to my arm. I had a couple engineers mod it. But I wouldn't say no to a pistol if you have one." Temedimus gave him a nod and a energy pistol. He also gave Karinee a pistol too. "I'm not too comfortable with guns. Or weapons of any kind." The doctor tried to give the gun back. "You'll need more then your telekinetic abilities if we run into trouble Doctor." The doctor reluctantly took the pistol. "We're approaching the LZ sir." Qiuan announced over the comm channel. Qiuan landed perfectly near the bunker. Cullen was the first one out of the Gunship. When he stepped out he took a big deep breath in. He looked around at the decimated bunker. Plants have mostly cover the bunker. Temedimus signaled for them to follow behind him. He lead them to the entrance of the bunker. The entrance was blasted open when it was first discovered. Cullen took the lead from then on, he probably knew the place better then anyone there, he was there when it was first built. He lead them to the eastern part of the complex, that was where the capsules were stored. They were about to round a corner before Temedimus stopped them. He pointed for them to look ahead. Ahead of them were four large armadillo like creatures. Cullen smugly pushed Temedimus aside and went ahead of him. Cullen whistled to get there attention. They growled at him and charged. Cullen fired at them with the laser in his new arm. But he only hit there near-invulnerable armor plating. "Damn." Cullen muttered. The leading one leaped onto the Major. Cullen was using his left arm to hold the beast at bay. "Screw this." Cullen held out his robot arm and a pure blue energy blade came out from his knuckles. Cullen drove the blade up it's skull, killing it. The beast collapsed on Cullen. The other three creatures came charging at him. "Damn it. Come on get off!" Cullen muttered as he tried to move the creature to naval. Temedimus walked from around the corner and tossed a grenade in the beasts way. The grenade let out a low hum that they couldn't stand. They ran off shortly after. Temedimus and Jack helped move the dead creature off of Cullen. "You had that grenade the whole time and didn't use it?!" Cullen yelled. "Yes. I wanted to see what would happen. I'm pleasantly surprised you weren't disemboweled." Temedimus helped Cullen up and then went on. It wasn't long after that did they find the capsules. Some of them had been forced over by animals, but for the most part they were intact. "Alright Qiuan we're good. Get as close to us as you can." Cullen said over the comm. Cullen looked around and found his pod. "What did you leave in your capsule Major?" Karinee asked. "The most important thing to me." Cullen replied. "Oh don't tell me." Zoe rolled her eyes. "My music." Cullen said with great pride. "Ugh." Zoe grunted. "He only listens to the same bands. And they were like fifty years old back then." Zoe stated. "Hey! Black Sabbath is timeless!" Cullen was very serious about his music.