Washington DC...
What was once this pre war city sat something new, raised highways ran through where the United states capitol building stood. The Lincoln memorial? Now the site of a lower income apartment complex. Through the changes though one thing remained the same, its the capitol of the nation.
Below a starry sky lay a modern star fort. Its white painted high walls was an imposing sight from the city and a testament to the military nature of the eastern united states descendants. Inside the walls sat numerous buildings but in the center was the most important of all, the kings residency.
On this night from that residency, lines of people emptied from it lazily. The sound of banter, cheers and in a number of places women pushing gawking men aside. A party had been thrown for his majesty Theodore, the first pre party for his birthday to be held next month. He was no stranger to parties and reveled in their majesty.
"The fasted way to a mans truth is through a bottle of liquor." He would say while his sister would always interject, "to a mans pants."
Inside the main hall were servants of all races cleaning the party's mess and in the middle, King Theodore sprawled out on a lone red couch. Over him stood his sister Charlotte, looking disappointed as ever.
"Was all of that necessary?" She asked calmly.
Theodore shot Charlotte a sadistic smirk, "It's like you think i'm treating them like tools."
She rolled her eyes and walked towards a small table with various bottles of domestic and exotic liquors strewn about. "Brother, this stuff makes you evil. I swear it will be the death of you if you do not stop."
Theodore pinched his eyes as he sat upright. As he opened his eyes and regained his vision fully his hand reached for a nearby glass of liquor. Before his hand could grasp it, Charlottes nimble fingers plucked it from his grasp. "What did I say.."
Theodore pinched his eyes again before standing up. "Fine.. Fine. I just hope you know that on my celebration, there will be flowing rivers of this red mystery 'whiskey'. They said there were crates upon crates found in a warehouse south of here. Isn't that amazing?!"
The care seemed to rapidly dissolve from Charlottes eyes and a monotone voice summed it all up, "Incredible."
"Prude." Theodore said quickly.
Charlotte started away mumbling her frustration as Theodore sat back down. "I think I'll sleep here tonight." he said softly.
--The next day--
Theodores waking eyes caught the sight of Charlotte staring out of a large window. He found himself in his bed, "When did I come up here?" he said while yawning. "How late.. what happened.. You know what, never mind."
Charlotte smirked as her eyes followed the cars driving inside the fort. "Brother, I think it is time we think about the "brazil" region. "Long have we eyed the resources there, free for the taking."
Theodore stood up and walked to a large oak table that sat in front of another large window. "But we have plenty of resources here.. enough for any long term endeavor."
She took a deep breath and turned to him, "Look, we already have Cuba, why not continue our expansion? This whole destiny of restoring the old ways is never going to pay off. Even if you manage to retake the central regions from the UPC remnants, what happens when you face a real opponent like the Cascadians. And even more so the creature race from up north? How long can we trust them."
Theodore shook his head before taking a seat at the desk. He brought his hands to his head and stared at the desk. "Sister, ruling is hard."
She smiled at him, "So long as you keep a strong mind and spirit, you'll be our best king ever."
He narrowed his gaze and nodded, "You're right. The Brazilians will kneel before our might. They will make grand subjects. But we cannot grow hostile towards our fellow Atlantic powers. I have faith our navy can defeat them but the war would be hard fought and possibly open our coast for all to grab."
There was a moment of silence as Charlotte stepped from the window. She turned towards the door and clapped her hands, signaling a waiter to bring in breakfast themed sandwiches upon a gold laden platter. After the waiter had laid the platter in front of Theodore, Charlotte dragged a simple chair from across the room and took a seat. Even in the comfort of a closed off room and her brother being the only company, her posture was still very feminine. Her bites were small and well managed, not allowing any crumbs to escape her lips. Drinks were brought in the form of a pitcher and goblets.
"I suppose you're right concerning the Beast folk in the north."
Theodore smiled at her before taking another bite. It would be hours before any word was to be given but it was clear that the NAU was once again preparing to march on another weakened and disorganized region of this new and mangled earth.
----------------------------
The central badlands, north America.
What used to be a semi-stable nation known as the UPC was now a mere shadow of its former glory. Skulls of men and women alike littered small towns that had been long since destroyed by warring humans and all of that was shadowed by a larger menace, the Grogar. These beasts were fabled to rip the turrets off of tanks and tear a helicopter in two. In reality it wasn't the case, even as strong as they are. These tales were meant to keep the soldiers watchful of the beasts, keep them in the mindset to always watch their backs. So far it has worked, when heeded.
This small town was the stage for yet another disastrous victory.
"Get down!" was the last words of a startled NAU soldier as a make shift grenade landed in their trench. All around was the sound of gunfire as NAU troops had breached a Grogar barricade. Supported by two tanks, forty soldiers had rushed in too far and too fast, a officer that wasn't leading with his head but more so his heart.. a heart set on earning medals.
The leading soldier, Lieutenant Fox, was pleased when the architect of this failed advance died, Captain Harris. Fox was a proficient officer but this operation had already failed from the get go. He radioed for artillery to the point that the gunners were peeing on their cannon barrels to cool them.
Meanwhile in the towns center, the two Davis tanks were firing wildly into buildings. Many had already completely collapsed from the sheer power of excessively powerful High explosive shells. Due to the lack of Grogar tanks and the Groger's natural mobility, the government had developed a potent tool to remove them in large numbers, and it was very effective.
Shrapnel flew in all directions as a two story building collapsed. The sound of Grogar screaming in pain was a pleasant sound for the nearly exhausted soldiers. For a time it would seem that Fox had a real chance at victory.
"Blue squad, get your damned machinegun in the second story window. We do not have time to fuck off like this."
"Yes sir!"
From behind Fox, one of the Davis tanks slowly rolled up before completely stopping. From its hatch a man popped out, "Sir, our radio just went out. Damned Grogar with a rocket launcher hit us."
"You ok?" Fox said with real concern.
"Yes sir, we're-"
Behind Fox one of his men pointed towards the Davis, "Get down!" he yelled as two Grogar leapt from a wall of rubble. The tank was no match at this distance and the first beast scaled the tank in one bound, literally removing the tankmans head with a large knife of sorts. The other dropped a grenade into the turret that exploded too early. Both the tank and the Grogar exploded in a flash that sent Fox to the ground. All around him now a new Beast offensive had begun. Within a minute, over half his men were dead alongside both of his tanks. Word had reached him that the artillery position had been overran as well.
"Sir we have to get the hell out of here!" a soldier yelled before firing his weapon again.
Fox tried to shake off the shellshock but the stress from this new turn of events was prolonging the effects to the point where Fox couldn't even see straight. A few more moments passed and now over three quarters had fallen.
"Shit." he said despairingly before reaching for his radio. "Tac-com, Delta four four, requesting air support danger close. Coordinate three five five."
"Roger"
Within seconds the roar of NAU jets could be heard and it was enough to even send some of the smaller Grogar running in fear. Beside Fox though, the ones that weren't afraid were within visual range of Fox. A pistol was drawn by the Lieutenant and his trigger finger was fast, depleting his magazine of fifteen in less than ten seconds. Enough to send the Grogar to cover thinking he had a machinegun or something equivalent. There was no time to reload though as the young Lieutenant caught sight of the incoming fighters contrails. Time even seemed to slow down for the officer as two large bombs detached from its wings.
And before they hit, two more fighters came into view but it was all blotted out by fire.. fire that even hell would be impressed with. The wave of napalm washed over the city, filling in the cracks with the burning death. Grogar never screamed as their lungs were pulled dry by the inferno. The same went for Fox and the remaining NAU soldiers. All for Fox was fire but it soon faded to black.
Hours passed, maybe days...
"Wake up." a nearly robotic voice sounded.
Fox awoke and with only one eye now gazed upon an NAU power armor bearing down on him. To Fox's left a Grogar moaned in pain as another Armor walked up upon it. Who knows if the Grogar was cursing the men for existing but a casual shot from a point blank high caliber weapon literally detonated its head into a thousand pieces. More motors could be heard but Fox was in now condition to assess the situation.
"You're safe now." the Armor said before lifting Fox off the ground. Fox arrived a whole man but left only half as he saw his right arm and left leg laying where he once was.
