Bloodfire Heresy / / / Prologue

A fleet breaches into the sky with the loud and thundering crack of their existence made known to the recovering city below. The civilians look their way up to the fleet. It's much larger than a basic fleet that would be used for resupply and recovery, but it's still a fleet. They were there to save them! Some dropped to their knees and prayed, even some SEAF that were aiding.

...Yet no Pelicans came down yet. In fact, the fleet was just hovering above the city how carrion birds would circle an animal on the edge of death. Some were confused, simply standing and staring, while most of the SEAF and other civilians went back to their duties, assuming aid would be down from the fleet eventually.

SEAF Medic 'Karl' was helping in repairing a LIDAR Station, which meant easier contact would come shortly. As the dish rose, there was still no shown support or incoming aid. Karl's communications crackled alive, the voice of a Lieutenant seemingly frantic on the other end.

Karl eagerly waited for the other voice, as it became clearer, "Evacuate the area! Evacuate every civilian and soldier immediately!"

Karl stuttered in confusion before responding to the demand, "Sir, why? Don't you see the fleet above us-"

He was cut off by the Lieutenant with an even more desperate and ever-fearful voice, "That is why we are evacuating! Something is wrong!-"

The voice crackled into static noise, being jammed. Karl had no idea what to make of this, but to follow orders. Before Karl could even send out a signal, there was a faint whistling that grew closer and closer... Then his vision went black.

With a gasp of air and patting his body while holding his head, he woke. The star of the planet having moved later in the day. But anarchy had replaced the environment. The LIDAR Station was razed and destroyed, several SEAF corpses and engineers lined the area, some torn apart, some burned. Buildings too, were burning and damaged, giant chunks taken from their sides like a titanic beast had simply taken a bite from it. Karl stood to get his bearings, his hearing returning to the sound of screams and gunfire, the sound of violence, and shouting... The fleet above still lingered. What was going on?

As Karl stood, he jumped back at the sound of incoherent screeching and roaring from a human man. He bore little armor and a mask that covered only his mouth, strange metallic augments coming from his skull as he ran straight at Karl with a chainsaw. Karl padded his holsters to no avail, before turning tail and running quicker than his legs ever had taken him. He came onto a street, broken and destroyed cars everywhere, infrastructure and debris leveled and cratered, and corpses of civilians and SEAF alike. SEAF! He could acquire a gun!

Karl immediately dashed like a starved lion for the handgun, picking it up and checking its mag to reveal it was halfway. Without a second thought, with the man still chasing him, he quickly aimed and fired two shots center-mass. The man almost dropped to a knee, howling in pained aggression but still frantically swinging towards Karl, instinct kicking in as a bullet was put in between the eyes of the attacker, making him drop dead.

Karl hoped, prayed that something on that man's body would explain what is happening, and why he was so enraged he would try and kill a Medic. He kept the gun trained on his head, walking over as slowly as a turtle. Once he was within reach, he crouched and flipped the man onto his back, looking around his corpse. The man was decorated with bones and scarred from augments and battle, his vest bearing... The Pyre Sentinel's emblem.

But... It was wrong. It was nothing like the Pyre Sentinel's from the 117th. It bore the same symbol of their Commander, but it had a ring of teeth and spikes, skulls inside the black of the emblem.

Did the 117th do this? Or rather, the Sentinels? If so, why? What happened? Why THEM?

His thoughts were cut off by heavy, lumbering steps, and immediately he turned to fire every bullet into the torso. It was a man clad in bulky armor, tusks on his helmet, and illegally modified to make the handgun bullets harmlessly ping off. The armored man walked over to him, looking down before his voice came into the open,

"Bold," he said, "I like bold. I would have crushed you without a second thought had you have simply pleaded."
The man in armor had the same Sentinel emblem, twisted and wrong, and an engraved card that said "VOID".

Karl was too afraid to even speak, trembling, as the man spoke again, "Do you wish to keep fighting for a desecrated cause, little 'blueberry'? Or do you wish to fight for you. For something better and new?"

Karl's fear subsided just enough to be able to speak with a tremble, "...What...?"

"You won't be a Sentinel, officially... But you'll be fighting alongside us. Don't you ever question why that pathetic government just throws bodies at its problems?"

Karl hesitated to stand, before doing so but only enough to keep himself submissive to the imposing man. Thoughts raced... The man had struck something within Karl that made him want something... New. Something that made sense other than 'You must die for your people.'

He swallowed, collecting himself, "Y-yes... I... I want something better than this."

The man picked up a gun that lay near his foot, before stuffing it in Karl's hand as another SEAF Soldier ran towards them, gripping Karl's shoulders, "Karl! Thank Super Earth you're... Alive!"

"Prove you want something new, Conscript."

Karl froze up. Kill another SEAF? Another human...? But that would be devastating to that soldier's family...

...

Yet who stood for Karl in his youth.

The only thought that was louder than the rest of his rationale, was that. So with a breath, and the shaking subsiding, he shoved the soldier off, and rose his gun. Pulling the trigger aimed straight for his head.

The bullet came quicker than the soldier's confusion, making him fall flat on his back. Karl stood and rested the gun at his side, then turning back to the man.

"...Is that why? Are you... Doing this because of that feeling I just got?"

He simply nodded, before Karl looked to the gun, and back up at him.

"...I want more."