Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 693: Meeting FinChapter
The New Eden defenders_ the superhumans, who had been failing miserably_ backed away in shock. They dropped their weapons, watching these mechanical warriors work with terrifying precision. From the bunkers, the wealthy people watched the monitors, breathless.
"We need to hire them to keep us safe!" One suggested, and those with him agreed.
President Finch, unable to stay hidden any longer, shoved past his bodyguards. "I have to see who they are! Open the bunker, I am going out there." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Seventeen minutes. That’s all it took. The street was a graveyard of giant, hairy corpses and steaming craters.
Hades stepped over a severed gorilla arm and hissed as his visor retracted. The air smelled of blood, gunfire and burnt hair. He looked at the hovering drones and the trembling New Eden superhumans.
"The meat belongs to us!" Hades shouted, his voice booming. "Nobody touches a single carcass."
Dr. Roy scrambled to his side, looking horrified. "Hades, are you crazy? This meat is mutant. It’s pure poison! If your men eat this, they’ll die in an hour. We have some mutated meat that is safer."
Hades gave him a dry, sideways look. "Who said anything about eating it? I am taking it with me because I have another use for it." Sunshine would be very happy to see these corpses. This trip had definitely been worth it.
Just then, a blackened armored truck screeched to a halt in front of them. The door flew open, and President Finch stepped out, his face pale and his brown suit covered in dust.
"Roy?" Finch gasped. He looked like he’d seen a ghost, but his eyes quickly drifted to Hades. The man looked less like a businessman and more like a soldier. The apocalypse had changed him completely. His eyes especially, they used to be calculating, now they seemed to have a hint of ruthlessness. "I thought you had really died this time, Roy." He figured it was best to first focus on his man.
Dr. Roy stepped forward, a triumphant, slightly smug smile spreading across his face. He adjusted his visor and stood tall. "Mr. President," He said, his voice brimming with emotion. "I’m back. And I brought company and a lot of supplies."
Roy introduced Hades to the president as the leader of Fortress Four. Everyone expected Hades to bow or at least do that awkward little neck-snap people do when they meet someone who owns a private army and a presidential title. Instead, Hades just gave a single, slow nod. He stood there like a mountain that had no intention of moving for the wind.
President Finch was used to people shrinking in his presence, turning into stuttering messes of "Yes, sir" and "Whatever you say, sir." But Hades Quinn stood tall. He didn’t look like a guest; he looked like the landlord coming to check why the rent was late.
"Welcome to New Eden," Finch said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I hear you’re the man keeping the chaos at bay out there in the West."
Hades’ face remained unfriendly, he knew what this man’s government had done. He blamed himself for donating a single coin. It was because of Finch that earth was a mess.
Roy cleared his throat, sensing the tension. "Mr. President, these men just saved our lives. The gorilla mutant attack... it was bad. Really bad. But the Fortress Four squad handled it in minutes."
"Yes, I saw everything.... thank you Mr. Quinn." Finch said, then pointed at the sleek, exo-suit Roy was wearing. "We need more of these around here. These suits... they annihilated the beasts. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like watching gods fight demigods."
Hades crossed his arms, the metal of his suit clinking softly. "Don’t get it twisted, Finch. It wasn’t the suits. It was the skills of my squad. You could put a monkey in a suit, and it would still just be a monkey in a suit. My people are trained to kill."
Finch chuckled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. "A modest man like always Quinn. I like that. But still, the suits help, don’t they? I’d like a thousand of them."
"They are not cheap." Hades said
"We have the money; do you do mercenary work by any chance? If not, how do we go about acquiring protection from your people." Finch asked.
"A territory only gets our protection if it is one of ours." Hades answered
Finch kissed his teeth, "We love our independence, but thank you. I am guessing that was an offer."
Hades hummed but said nothing.
"We’ve come with something better than a sales pitch, Mr. President," Roy interrupted, stepping between the two powerhouses. "Fortress Four has become a massive trading hub. We’re talking food, medicine, and tech that is so advanced. I told them that you would consider a partnership with them. And as a token of good faith... well, they brought you a gift."
Finch arched an eyebrow. "A gift? Unless it’s an army of mercenaries in those suits, I’m not sure what could impress me right now."
"They brought you Caesar Rommel," Roy said quietly.
The air seemed to get sucked out of the plaza. President Finch’s eyebrows almost launched off his forehead. For a second, he looked like he’d forgotten how to breathe. Caesar Rommel. The man who had betrayed him. The man who had put a bullet in him left him for dead!
Finch started to laugh. It wasn’t a normal laugh; it was the sound of a man who had finally found the missing piece of a puzzle after going at it for twenty years. "Caesar? You have Caesar?" He looked around like a kid looking for a birthday cake. "Where is he? I cannot see him?"
Roy didn’t answer with words. He just pointed at the empty, dark sky.
"Is this a joke?" Commander Pitt, the head of security, stepped forward, his hand on his holster. "There’s nothing there but darkness up there."
Suddenly, the sky became bright, the air began to shimmer. A low hum, like a thousand angry bees, vibrated in everyone’s teeth. Then, the Dragonfly materialized. The cloaking field dropped, revealing the massive, predatory shape of the aircraft hanging just yards above the ground.
