NationStates Jolt Archive

[ooc: meant as a Gholgoth RP. International response is welcome, though]

A dark form moved through corridors that were bright and sterile. There was no day or night here, it was allways lit artificially. Delta didn't like it at all and intended to spend as little time here as he could. Pushing open a door, he stepped into the lab complex. "Anything I should be aware of, before we begin?" No one answered, but one of the scientists shook his head. "Good. Thaw him."

As Delta watched, a soldier grown to be the best, to lead an Empire and to defeat all who opposed him slowly began to awaken. He had been grown from cells taken from one of the greatest warlords on Earth and was placed in a cryogenic stasis many years before, when the Black Staff fell. It wasn't an attempt on Azreal's life, as Damien Dreadfire believed, that started that war. It was this project. The Black staff couldn't stop it, so they sought to rob Delta of his power by tossing Delta to the slaughter, then stop the project as a show of good will. Now that they were gone and buried, Delta had revived the project and now revived the cloned warrior.

This had taken decades of planning. Ever since he saw Damien, he knew this was his chance to capture something special. Make it his to control. Make it his to unleash... As the man woke, a mask was placed on his face and he sat up, distinctive bodysuit covering his form. He spotted Delta and immediatly stood, saluting. "Administrator!"

Delta smiled. "My title is now Khan. Nine years have passed. The Black Staff is gone, I died and was reborn. The details of what happened you shall learn later. For now... let us leave this place and plan the future..."

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It was several weeks later that Delta was in Africa, in a part his forces had secured, for the most part. He walked down the street of a town that didn't deserve either of those words applied to it. He was here because a group refused to accept Delta as ruler of Lybia. They had been gathered together in the marketplace by Marines and kept there until the Khan arrived. He stared at them as he stepped from the back of an APC and all but one looked away from the void in his eye sockets. "You. What is your name?" he asked in the local dialect. The man's eyes widened a bit at the fact he spoke his language, but no fear shown on his face. He was shaking inside, but he wouldn't show it to the invaders.

"I shall not tell you. Leave my settlement. Go and bother the cities and let us live our lives. We shall not bow to you or any other master, not anymore. Now go!" He yelled, gesturing Delta to leave. To the man's utter amazement, Delta did turn and walked back to the APC, to say something to someone inside.

Out stepped a tall man, as big as Delta, wearing a full body suit and a mask. This time the man showed fear. "Please... Destroyer... have mercy!"

The man in the red and black bodysuit walked swiftly towards the now terrified man, plucked him up from the ground by his neck and used his free hand to bash in the man's skull repeatedly, showering himself in blood and bone fragments. He dropped the dead body and looked at the others, from behind his mask and behind him, Delta spoke. "There shall be no mercy to those disobeying me." The masked man killed the men one by one, all except for two of the group which tried to run and were gunned down by the Marines. The man looked at Delta and then down at his blood soaked body and made a sound between a wail and a roar ast the heavens.

"You got it all on film?" Delta asked a cameraman that was shooting from the APC's periscope. The man nodded and Delta looked at his creation again. "Good. I think Dreadfire would like to see my newest minion. Redeemer!" The roar stopped and the masked man walked over to Delta. "I will allow you to stay in Africa. You shall travel to any and every area which defies my rule and kill each and every one of those rebels." The man laughed and then bowed deply to Delta. The cameraman looked dumbfounded.

http://usera.imagecave.com/Alpha-Zero/Redeemer.jpg
The Redeemer

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The video aired on the Imperial International Newslink, which was sure to cross Damien's staff's eyes. The video was unedited and showed a man who looked exactly like Damien Dreadfire from his early years ruthless beat a group of 18 men to death with his gloved hands. This Redeemer acted with the rage of the Destroyer, but was not the same man that became Damien. This one was still serving another's will.

Delta watched the report on the news, making sure that it was the top story for at least three days. He then sat back in his new office in Cairo and waited patiently to see what his closest ally would have to say about his new attack dog as a new report came on screen. The Redeemer had completely wiped out a small village, women and children as well, when they would not bow down to the Intercontinental Empire and had fired on the Marines escorting the Redeemer. Delta smiled. "How quaint... his own little version of Total War..."

http://home.earthlink.net/~alpha_zero_usm/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/deltareturn1.jpg
Khan Delta
Supreme Ruler of the Intercontinental Empire

The Redeemer continued his pacification of the African provinces, leapfroging from sector to sector, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

He left the leader of the Sudanesse rebellion in the hands of the Marines, under orders that if he died by any other hand but the Redeemer's, the one that killed him shall die as well.

He stalked into a marketplace and people scattered. Shop owners ducked into their buildings or behind their stands. He moved quickly to one stand, laden with hand tools and spoke in the local tounge. "How much for your tools?" The man fainted as the Redeemer chuckled, grabbing up a small, three pound sledgehammer. It was old and had a wedge opposite the flat. He placed it in a sack and took screwdrivers, a chisel, pliers and even a very out of place pair of pruning shears and looked over what was left, then turned and stalked away.

Returning to the square where the Marines where, he had them tie him to two poles, by both hands and feet. Horrified people watched from windows and from the perimieter of the square as the Redeemer took out the sledge and very carefully aimed and crushed the rebel leader's kneecap. The man's screams were beautiful to the torturer, as he continuied to smash bones with the sledge, drive screwdrivers and the chisel into his body and remove all of the man's fingers and toes with the shears. He was going into shock from pain and bloodloss by the time the Redeemer ended it, crushing the rebel's skull with the sledge.

And, once again, the execution was recorded and sent to the world, with Delta's full support, attaching a brief statement. "The Redeemer is the greatest tool I have in my arsenal, in terms of intimidation and sheer brutality. Perhaps I will let him try his hand at clearing the Empire's prisons of the most violent criminals."

A sharp pain rang through Damien's head seemingly out of nowhere, and for some reason he could not explain he just had to turn on the television. His Third Eye told him exactly what channel to change to, and as he did he saw the video that was being aired. A feeling of disbelief swept over him as he watched what appeared to be himself manhandle a large group of men.

Damien turned off the TV and immersed himself in deep thought. Indeed his Third Eye had been telling him something for days now, but he knew that there must be more to it than this. He walked over to his throne and sat down, his eyes rolling back as he fell into a deep trance.

Pure blackness he did see, but as he was about to snap back to reality he saw the face of Delta. Hmm....Delta....

Damien knew that the shadowy Delta probably had some sort of hand in this video, which by now had circulated across the world. Surely people would think it was him in that video, and something had to be done about it.

He sent word to Crimmond, more specifically Delta himself, that a meeting between the two leaders was being requested. Delta, my spirit tells me that something is amiss, and I request your presence at the Great Hall...immediately.

It was nearly two days later before any kind of response came. The Redeemer had slaughtered nearly two hundred people. The whole of the African Provence was declaring allegence to Delta and the Intercontinental Empire. Then he vanished from the continent, but could and would return at any time to wreak havoc on any that changed their minds. Delta had also vanished.

The response was one only The Beast in a man's body could perform. Delta knew Damien would not be resting well, knowing the Redeemer was out there, causing terror and confusion.

As he sat in his chambers, a chill ran down his spine and a chuckle rolled down the corridors. As Damien started to prowl the halls, looking for the source, the air grew not just chilled, but nearly freezing as he approached his Throne Room, the doors half open. Pushing them open, Damien saw him. Sitting on Damien's throne of skulls was the Redeemer. The scene was more forboding that night, as it was a full moon and the tinted windows cast the room in a pale crimson tint. The Redeemer's head came up and their eyes met for an instant. He chuckled and looked to the side.

A long, bodiless shadow stretched across the floor and a deep voice cut off the words that rose in Damien's throat. Silence. The voice then droned on in a slow, steady beat. Damien Dreadfire... meet yourself. Meet the Destroyer in all his barbaric glory. This is what you were, once. What you are, now. What you will be, forever. Look into his eyes, Damien. They are your own. He is you and you are he. Even your genetic structures are exact. The body is seperate, but the soul is the same. Look and see. Embrace him or reject him, Damien. Face your demons and gain strength. There is no wrong answer here, Damien...

"Only a choice." The shadow is gone and Delta stands directly behind Damien's left shoulder. The air is so cold that Damien's breath leaves a fog. Delta's does not... "Become the monster that filled whole nations with fear or become the man that fills nations with hope. Be advised... To become the Destroyer again would drive both of your children from your sides, as it did their mother, so long ago. To become the man will cause nations to no longer fear you and they will see you as weaker for it."

The Redeemer stands and walks towards the two and stops in front of Damien, staring at him from behind the mask. Damien saw the dark places of his own soul unleashed in this... being. It was what he saw when he heard the Destroyer's voice in his head, what he felt when he killed his enemies with his own hands. This Redeemer was nothing more than the Destroyer unleashed, more twisted and psychotic than Damien ever remembered or thought possible. Perhaps it was Delta's words, meant to drive needles into Damien's mind and soul. Perhaps not. Three words echoed in Damien's mind...

Only a choice.