1 Chapter 1: As The Light Fades

"INCOMING!!!!"

An explosion rocked the interior of the Juggernaut, sending shrapnel through the paper thin armor, it's a miracle that anyone can survive. Well, except for a brown haired, green eyed young man, no one did.

"God damn it, if they hadn't cut corners and tried to keep as much of the funding stored away, things wouldn't be like this," I said as I looked through the optics.

All that greeted me were the wrecks of Juggernauts, their pilots remains shmeered across the grass. I said a silent farewell, then, gripping the controls of my machine, began to scan the tree line for targets.

All Juggernauts, small and light four legged walkers, were equipped with infrared vision and advanced sights, but that's where the good in them stopped. Besides being incredibly maneuverable in the hands of a trained pilot and fast enough to avoid slow moving guns and simple rockets, they were nothing more than walking coffins with light 57 mm cannons welded on top. While the concept itself had revolutionized warfare, the drawbacks were quickly discovered and their weaknesses exploited. Running off of a highly advanced mini fission reactor, their power outperformed the frame, making it very likely you'd lose a little bit more than some paint trying to pull off crazy movement.

I could only shake my head and press the communication device implanted in my ear, "This is Reaper, Lightfoot platoon is taking enemy fire, reporting 80% casualties, requesting immediate support."

Static could be heard in my head as the implant allowed for neurological communication, making information travel at a near instant pace. These little pieces, along with a device worn by our commanders, the Neuro-Link system was developed by none other than yours truly. Hell, the pile of shit that I'm dodging fire in right now was also developed by myself. I just didn't think I'd be piloting one.

Snapping me out of my thoughts came a clear and soft voice, "Ayd-, I mean, Lieutenant Barnett, there are no available support units in your area, and artillery is occupied with the Knight's advance through the southern line. You will have to make due with a couple of Predator drones returning from a mission, they cannot provide fire support but they can give you direct line of sight to targets….. I'm sorry…. That's all I can do."

... I couldn't say I was surprised, the Order has pulled out all the ancient equipment out of storage and using it to try and turn the tide.

*BOOM*

The cab of the juggernaut shook as I fired a round down range, hitting a rocketeer nest on the edge of the treeline.

"Don't worry Lena, you know I can figure something out."

"That doesn't mean you have to put yourself at greater risk, I mean when do you think your luck will run out huh?"

I swear I can hear her pouting over the line, bringing a small smile to my face. "Lena, listen to me, I'll come back to you….. I always do."

"…. I know you do, but I can't help but worry," she sighed, sounding like she expected that answer.

I chuckled as I came within 100 yards of the treeline, shooting constantly then avoiding the mountain of return fire from various anti-walker cannons and missiles. 'These fuckers sure did develop these things fast, it was probably Elon, fuckin brat.'

Elon Wolf was the target that I was chasing, the King of Spades in our Deck of 52. Fifty two high value targets from the Knights of the New World that posed a significant threat to the remainders of the old governments. Cunning, smart, resourceful, and full of fighting spirit, they proved to be the most troublesome. If facing a conventional army we might've been able to hold on against the mass waves of freedom fighters. Alas, things never work out that way. While we can usually take care of the masses, the Deck of 52 started leading the charge, then it all went downhill. In fact, three old buddies, well two and an ex-girlfriend, are at the top of the Deck.

Elon Wolf, an old roommate back in college, son of an oil tycoon and about as entitled as you can get. Smaller guy, more money than a guy his age should even dream about. He always offered to take me and Nolan to amazing places, buy fancy clothes for us, and made huge promises. But he changed.

Now he's one of the self righteous pricks that think they are doing the world a favor, 'down with the governments of old, prosperity for the people!' The same old recycled bullshit that politicians use when they want to gain another turn in office. However, I know better. Looking at it, all it seems to be is large companies like his father's company brainwashing the masses. Amazing how they can pull it off.

"Lena, can you give me their locations?"

"Yes, two are in the main compound, center building, the third is unknown." Lena reported.

"Wait, there are three?" I asked.

That doesn't make any sense, only Elon should be present here, unless….

"Lena, our communications have been hacked and compromised. Switch to personal links for comms, spread the word."

How in the world did these guys do it? Neuro-Links should be secure, any attempt to hack them would lead to the computer frying itself, unable to handle the amount of info flowing through someone's head. At most they could….

"Shit."

"Damn it Lena, power off now!!!"

A panicked voice greeted my ears, "What do you mean?!"

"They've reverse-engineered the Neuro-Link! If its who I think it is there is no telling how much damage could be done, switch to encrypted chats running through the auxiliary comms devices and shut down the transfer of info!" I said as a shell came dangerously close to my walker.

'Alright, wanna play dirty do ya? Let's dance!'

With Lena frantically switching off all neuro comms and switching over, I had finally reached the tree line, and oh boy was I met with a sight that will put the fear of god in any man. Before me was an entire tank column, soldiers jogging alongside the tanks in full combat gear. Nearly every soldier had a shoulder fire anti-walker missile launcher on their backs.

But that wasn't all, in the center of the nearby base I finally saw them, staring back at me through my optics. Elon, with a smug grin across his face, Nolan with a toothy smile with sinister undertones waving at me, and….. her.

"Abbi…" I muttered under my breath.

Abigail Winters…. Quite possibly one of the most beautiful women on the planet, and that isn't just my opinion. Long blonde hair with icy blue eyes and a small but defined body. If there were fairies in this world, she would probably be their queen. A cold persona to go along with those looks and there is no doubt about it. She's everyone's little crush, well almost everyone. We met at one of Elon's goofy rich people parties, the one's where the average person in there is worth about seven figures at least. Except for two, Nolan and Abbi. Nolan was a scholarship athlete playing God knows what that attached to Elon like a leach. Abbi on the other hand, well, she was full scholarship as well, just for her smarts as well as her athletic ability. Me on the other hand, I only got a few thousand in scholarships but because my family had a relatively large farm in the Midwest, you could say I came from a decent amount of money.

Anyways, Abbi only ever had one boyfriend in her life, how do I know, because I was that boyfriend. Now it was not for a long time but I would say that I made a little bit more of an impact on her than I originally thought. I never lusted after her like a crazed dog or tried to sweet talk her into an unfavorable position. Nor did I follow her around like a little puppy, treating every word she said as if it was written in the bible. I treated her like a normal human being, unlike the celebrity she, I treated her like a real and true friend. We ended up going out after a particularly cute love confession. Surprisingly, it was her giving the love confession.

We ended up dating, doing all the things normal couples do, restaurants, the movies, taking day-trips, hanging out, just the simple stuff, but that was enough for her. But that all came to an end when the war broke out.

During the outbreak of the war, the rebels, now known as the Knights of the New World, engaged in a Taliban-style campaign that saw mass suicide bombings of major centers and targets around the world. Politicians, military targets, centers of civilian infrastructure, anything that would cripple society. I was visiting my family in the Midwest when it happened. We had gone out to supper and on the news we watched the events unfold with stern faces and disbelief in our eyes. As we went to leave a van crashed with police in hot pursuit. A man stumbled out of the rear doors; a suicide vest strapped to his chest. He looked at the restaurant goers and the police chasing him and made a decision. 'Take as many as I can with me'. He ran at us and raised his hand to the detonator and screamed at the top of his lungs words that are ingrained with hatred and anger into my mind, "FOR A NEW WORLD!!!!"

A flash of white engulfed my eyes as my parents and brother we blasted to pieces in front of me, their bodies acting as a shield to absorb the molten metal and shrapnel. When I came to I was trapped under a car, broken ribs and cuts all over. But what really got me, what really took the color from my life, was the old, beat up Tonka Truck toy that my little brother loved. It had somehow, someway been blasted right next to me and landed upside down next to where my body lay. The only thing I can remember is, "Bobby, you left your truck here." I passed out from the pain soon after and woke up in a hospital.

When finding out that my whole family had died it's like a wire snapped inside of me, now I just wanted blood, and by God there would be enough of it to fill all the rivers in the world.

After that Abbi tried to call and get ahold of me, she was telling me that she was going to join the Knights of the New World and wanted me to come with her. After that, I ended things with her and signed up for the army.

Years passed by and while I was making waves with new technology for warfare, Abbi became a brilliant strategist, leading victory after victory. She also gained a personality too, a sadistic one. There were instances of her ordering troops to shoot civilians to force the military to confront them on their terms, leading to the encirclement of many pursuing forces. Her exploits were well known but for why she changed, no one knew until she contacted me with a proposal. Her terms were to switch sides, become hers, and live in a safe zone with her. If I did that, she would resign from her post and take up a support role while living with me. The way she sounded when saying it, she only had her humanity back when she talked about me, when I wasn't involved, she gave war criminals a run for their money with her brutal tactics and ice-like personality.

"Why is she here?"

Asking that question got me a low toned answer, "What do you mean SHE is here, Ayden?"

Fuck.

"Lena, calm down. Notify command that I am about to engage the Ace, King, and Queen of Spades, I request additional troop and fire support."

"NO, no, no, you get your ass out of there now, I am not handing you over on a silver platter to that bitch. Ayden, please…. come back to me." She was sobbing at that point, begging.

"You know I can't do that right? This is the best chance we have at wiping out the most dangerous leaders of the Knights, I am the only one who has a snowball's chance in hell to take them down." I replied as I moved my Juggernaut into firing position.

"Ayden… please don't, you need to retreat, it's fine, we will have another chance---" Lena began to say before I cut her off. "Vladilena, listen to me, get me the support or I'm doing this by myself. I kill them, and I have a home to return to. If I don't, the capitol will be overrun, and I'll lose you before I can even return. I need to do this."

Lining up my sight, I prepared to fire, taking a deep breath, right before I squeezed the trigger, a voice, one full of twisted love and coldness, came over the comm piece.

"Hello there D-A-R-L-I-N-G, you'll be in my arms soon enough."

An explosion rocked the walker as my cannon fired, hitting the platform they were on. Silence ensued as the column of tanks and soldiers stared at my position. Then I heard the alarm go off, a missile struck the side of the walker, shredding the armor. I was launched from the cab by sheer force and landed thirty feet away from the walker as it burned, releasing smoke and flames into the evening sky.

Footsteps approached, one vasty faster then the others. Hands wrapped around my neck as a pair of lips interlocked with mine, a tongue entering my mouth, wrapping around mine in a battle that I lost at the very start. Opening my eyes, I saw the scariest sight in my life. Looking down at me, was Abbi, her blonde hair blowing in the wind, a loving gaze directed at me.

"Hi there, my darling, are you ready to go home?" she said in a voice that sounded sincere and kind, but deep down, I knew if she took me now, I'd never see the light of day again.

Just when I thought it was all over, Lena's panicked voice sounded over the comms device, "Ayden!! Take cover now! Air support is almost there!"

"Honestly Abbi, what is it about this trash that you love so much, he fell right into our trap like a fucking retard, how can you love someone like that?" I heard Elon say as the blood loss got worse. I had shrapnel in my legs and I'm sure that my femoral artery was cut. If the bleeding doesn't stop soon, I'll be dead in no time.

Look up I saw him and Nolan standing there, smug looks of superiority on their faces, "Yeah, my boy Elon is way better than him, you can't even see how far apart they are."

"Yes, you're right, I can't see how far apart they are," Abbi said while still caressing my head. Just when I thought I was done for, the craziest thing happened. Abbi whipped out her sidearm, aimed it at Elon's head, and pulled the trigger.

Elon had a look of utter surprise on his face when he died, he fell backwards and was dead before he hit the ground.

"WHAT THE—" was all Nolan was able to say when a bullet ripped through his skull as well, killing him before he could register Elon's death.

I looked at Abbi with a confused look on my face, she turned and smiled, "You would not believe the things they tried to do to me, trying to take me for themselves," she said as she spit on the ground next to their bodies, "But you should know darling, that I will only be yours, forever."

'Fuck me sideways.'

I thought, but as soon as Abbi was about to wrap my leg and capture me, I heard what sounded like music to my ears.

BURRRRRTTTTTT

Abbi's eyes widened as she dove on top of me, clinging to me as the tank column was engulfed in the full fury of an A10s 30 mm chain-gun. Vehicles exploded, tanks stopped in their tracks and soldiers were shredded beyond recognition.

"No. Why, why, WHY! I was so close! So utterly close to getting him back." Abbi sat up and started talking hysterically. "No matter, as long as I can stop the bleeding and---" she started to say as she looked down, seeing the huge chunk of metal sticking out from her abdomen.

"Haaaa….. I was too careless, I'll never make that mistake again…" she said as she fell on top of me, saying her last words. "I love you Ayden, I'll find you again my love."

Her body grew still and she passed away holding onto me.

"Crazy women….."

Just as I said that, Lena's voice came over the comm channel, "AYDEN!! Are you there, are you ok, talk to me, please, don't worry reinforcements are on the way! We broke through the encirclement and are sending forces to your location now!"

…..

…..

…..

…..

"Goodbye Lena," I mustered with the last of my strength, the light slowly fading from my eyes as I heard her say,

"No…"

"Don't go."

"I love you."

"I love you to---" was all I could spit out before the darkness closed in, and I felt my soul leaving my body.

'Mom, Dad, I'm coming home."