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Description
Chapter 2: His redemption

Zaach had fallen into what seemed like an empty world, with his vision gone, he could only see the darkness, with the only sound being the gentle beating noises of his hearts going at a steady rate, keeping him alive.

Soon, he could feel his hearts beginning to speed up, it was only a smaller pace at first, but soon they began to go faster, it was getting hard for Zaach to keep up with the speed, as well as that, the beating noises were getting louder and louder by the second. Zaach could feel himself shaking uneasily as his hearts continued to speed up, suddenly, his eyes shot open in an instant.

One thing Zaach was sure of, he wasn't dead, but where he was now was a total mystery. It looked like the interior of a human prison, which were pretty much similar to the jails in the Palace, the walls were burnt metal, paint slowly peeling off the sides and Zaach could just feel the cold coming off of them. Zaach knew he was laying down, it felt like a cold, metal bed of nails. Sure enough, Zaach could lift his head up and look to his left and right, he was lying on the frame of a bed, no sheets or duvet, just the frame.

To his amazement, Zaach found that he could lift himself up and move his limbs, the pain that stricken him back in the city seemed to be long gone, save for a few stings here and there. Most of his armour had been taken off, leaving only his combat trousers on, his body was covered in bruises and bandages, he looked like he had only just narrowly come off a battlefield with his life. Zaach managed to get up off the bed and try to walk, he bare feet almost freezing against the cold metal floors of the area.

The door in front of Zaach swung open, a figure approached him, Zaach shook himself to make sure he was seeing things okay. It was a Theron guard that greeted him, but it looked like no Theron Zaach had seen before, it had shorter sleeves, much like RAAM's and the armour was mostly black, with a few hints of crimson red around, the Theron's helmet was neither guard nor sentinel, it had a strange V style symbol going down it. Zaach was wondering if this was the Theron that had saved him from death. It took it's helmet off and revealed it's face.

The Theron was quite intimidating, his bony jaw locked into some kind of snarl, while his eyes were bright, but very sharp looking. Zaach noticed the Theron had some sort of strange thing of his head, a black metal "Mohawk" of sorts. Zaach felt as though this Theron was very familiar, almost like he had seen him before elsewhere…

"At last, you have come to." The Theron said, it has the exact same voice as the one that had saved Zaach, so he knew this was the on. The Theron wasted no time, and got straight to the formalities.

"What is your name?" He ordered, much like RAAM. Zaach cleared his throat, for the first time in a while, he heard the sound of his own voice.

"Z…Zaach…" He stuttered uneasily. "J…Just a Drone."

The Theron took a movement to examine Hakar, it was like when Zaach's superior officer, Sidorax, branded him for the army. Theron's liked to get a good look at the Drones under their command to see if they were worthy troops or just fodder. Though the Theron took a deep breath and blinked before replying to Zaach.

"My name is Hakar" The Theron replied, placing his hand on Zaach's shoulder. "I rescued you from the remains of the battlefield, we need every available soldier, for these are dark times"

"I… See" Zaach said in his stutter.

"Come with me, I want you to meet the rest of us" Hakar then turned around and began to lead the way, Zaach wasn't sure what to think, but he didn't't want to argue, he followed Hakar down a long hallway, surrounded by broken up prison cells and smashed windows, the windows let in long breezes of cold air, which hit Zaach's bare skin, causing him to shiver. Zaach also had to check the floor, as he was bare foot, and sure enough, glass was on the floor. A few jagged pieces stung Zaach's feet, but nothing really serious.

Hakar lead Zaach into a large open room, filled with fallen debris and broken glass, this room must have been the main room where human prisoners were catalogued, then sent to a cell, as a large doorway was at the left side of the room, which lead outside. Over this doorway, what looked like a flag hung over it, it's symbol was much the Locust's symbol, only more crooked and it had what looked like a grinning Skull in the centre, with two Torque Bows at the bottom of the symbol, one facing left, one facing right. A large balcony sat on the other side, two troika machine gun turrets had been placed on them, perhaps for security purpose.

In the centre of all this, three other Theron's sat on the debris chatting away to each other. Hakar stepped forward to the three of them, they instantly stood up and bowed before him.

"My Brothers, I wish to introduce you to Zaach, a soldier who I rescued from the clutches of both Death, and the evil ground walkers" Hakar announced with great pride. Zaach felt a little uneasy about the way Hakar said that, he couldn't put his finger on why, but it sort of rattled him.

The three Theron's looked straight at Zaach, and he got a good look at them.

One Theron looked as though he was blind in his left eye, as it was dry, white and soulless, there was red marking under the eye, suggesting it was a battle scar. Though this Theron had chosen not to cover it up, no bandage, scarf, cowl or eye patch. It was liked he wanted everyone to know that he was blind in that eye. That was probably his key feature, other than that, he looked like your typical Theron, stoic, strong and menacing.

The second Theron looked pretty standard next to the one eyed one, but he did have a look of angst and annoyance in him. Zaach noticed that this particular Theron looked at him in disapproval.

Meanwhile, the third Theron seemed to have face with an diabolical smile. Either a very proud Theron, or a happy psychotic.

The one eyed Theron approached Zaach.

"This is Onwa, he is our second in command" Hakar explained.

Onwa starred at Zaach for a few seconds, again, he was doing the Theron thing of examining a Drone to see what he was worth.

"Well, you do look stronger than most." Onwa summed up. Zaach didn't know what to make of that, he just watched Onwa walk back and the second Theron step forward.

"Here we have Sauvix, our medic and surface expert." Hakar explained. "Sauvix was the one who healed you…"

"Voluntarily, of course." Sauvix hissed, Zaach could right away tell this Theron was a sarcastic.

… And he knows a good amount about the Ground walkers, making him a vital member of our squad." Hakar continued, completely ignoring what Sauvix had just said, but he had given his annoyance away with a twitch.

Sauvix gave a good hard look at Zaach before announcing his feelings.

"We really must be desperate if we are recruiting drones." Sauvix sighed. "I hope Hakar does not expect me to nurse a Neophyte."

Zaach said nothing, he endured the insult and let Sauvix walk away, finally, the third Theron approached.

"This is Taus, our sharpshooter and scout." Hakar continued. "His skills with a Longshot are indeed an envy to many sniper drones in the hollow."

Taus seemed to laugh at that comment. He didn't really look at Zaach, he just stood back and waited for Hakar to finish up what he was saying.

"As for you Zaach, you are our Neophyte." Hakar said, pointing straight at him.

"Neophyte?" Zaach asked in bewilderment. "Who are you though? Why have I been brought here?" Those questions caused Onwa, Sauvix and Taus to whisper to each other, after a quick discussion, Onwa stepped forward.

"When you were training, were you ever told the story of the soldiers who actually stayed on the surface world?" Onwa asked. "Soldiers who took on missions for the Queen where she felt her normal troops would not be able to complete?"

It sounded familiar, Zaach was pretty certain he had heard stories like that before.

"I… think so." Zaach replied.

"Then that is who we are" Hakar added in "We are the Soul Killers"

Zaach nearly fell over due to the shock of this revelation, The Soul Killers were Locust heroes, Elite Shock Troopers of the Queen and the very Locust that struck fear and dread into the hearts of even the toughest COG soldier. Stories of how The Soul Killers had bought victory after victory for the Locust spread like wildfire across the hollow, but Zaach had always thought of them as a myth, He had never seen the Soul Killers, so he had assumed a story made up to boost the moral of rookie drones.

"Impossible!" Zaach gasped

"Why so sceptical neophyte?" Sauvix asked in a mocking tone "Here we are in the flesh, and you still don't believe in us?"

"But… But… I…" Zaach tried to say, but his nervous stutter was starting to get the better of him. "I thought you were just a story! I never… thou… thought I would be in the presence of you!"

"Well, we are all that's left really" Taus replied "There were more of us, but they are no more."

"What happened?" Zaach asked. At that moment Hakar stood in front of him, he took a deep breath before his explanation.

"Yes there were more of us, but when we heard of the Lightmass bomb, the horde was in a panic. One of us, Lehrak, was offered a position of General if he went to an area called the "Fenix Estate" in and stop a human commando team." Hakar explained. "Alas, he was killed."

Zaach noticed that Onwa, Sauvix and Taus seemed a little edgy about what Hakar had just explained, though Zaach sort of knew what they meant, the way Hakar said "Fenix Estate" and there was a hint of much higher anger when he bought up the human commando team.

"He died serving the Horde, we pay our respects to them" Onwa added

"Even if he did abandon us for a position of power." Sauvix muttered under his breath.

"Two others were in the hollow when the Lightmass bomb detonated. Hakar continued "While the last two were on board the Lightmass bomb's carrier, a machine called the 'Tyro Pillar' they were with… General RAAM and… they were killed by…"

Hakar had been really struggling to talk about that part, he stopped and lowered his head, his face changed, Zaach could see it was a face filled with anger and sorrow. Hakar clenched his fists so tight that they almost went red. He quickly growled before raising his head again.

"…Marcus Fenix" Hakar snarled. Onwa stepped forward and put his arm around Hakar's shoulder, trying to calm the Soul Killer leader down. Hakar was coming to his senses, but Onwa decided to finish Hakar's explanation himself.

"So now it is just us, but even with the hollow gone, we must show the Cogs that the Locust Horde never dies." Onwa summed up.

"Just the five of us?" Zaach asked.

"The Neophyte is quick after all." Sauvix mocked. "You have found a winner Hakar."

Hakar grunted at Sauvix, making him back off. Though Hakar had now calmed down and explained to Zaach about The Soul Killer's strength.

"Our strongest point lies in the element of surprise Zaach" Hakar explained "First, we must disorientate the snake before we behead it, let us show you a 'Demonstration' of our work"

"Yes, a good old fashioned human hunt, you drones love those, right?" Taus added in with his smile.

"Think of it Zaach, this is your one chance to repent for your previous errors and join us, slaying any ground walkers that get it our way" Hakar said with confidence. Zaach quickly nodded with agreement. Hakar took him back down the hallway they had just entered in to get him ready. Though while they did, Zaach asked Hakar a question.

"Why me?" He gulped.

"You are a survivor, that shows strength." Hakar replied. "I like strength in other Locust, and like I said, we need all the help we can get now."

"That's a great comfort." Zaach thought to himself, his self confidence was… questionable.

When they left, Onwa, Sauvix and Taus turned to each other.

"Surely this is proof of Hakar's… state of mind?" Sauvix bitterly asked.

"You need to learn to trust more." Taus replied mockingly. "Surely not all Neophytes are bad?"

"If you remember our history, our Neophytes never really lasted long." Sauvix explained. "Even then, a mere drone that Hakar found lying on the streets, staring death in the face? Yet Hakar still believes he can be a Soul Killer? I don't believe it."

"Hakar must believe it." Onwa replied. "Anyway, you're forgetting Sauvix, that you thought the exact same way about Lehrak" Onwa replied "You never trusted him when he was a Neophyte, and his skills with a Torque bow must have saved us countless times"

"He still perished though" Sauvix said sceptically.

"Maybe so, but the point is, don't judge this rookie yet, he may prove to be useful" Onwa continued.

"It's not so much the rookie that bothers me, more that Hakar isn't stable right now." Sauvix hissed.

"Not so loud!" Onwa snapped, as Hakar and Zaach were coming back to them.

"This talk is not finished." Sauvix whispered to Onwa and Taus.

At that moment, Hakar and Zaach re-entered the room, Hakar was carrying a large metal box, while Zaach walked behind, his neophyte uniform resembled the Soul Killers, only he had no arm sleeves, and his uniforms leggings were shorter, Zaach didn't want to admit he felt uneasy, he kept a straight face and watched Hakar place the box on the ground and opened it. He tossed each Soul Killer a Hammerburst before tossing one to Zaach.

"Let us find somewhere to leave the COG a message… somewhere that'll have our… victims." Hakar explained rather sadistically. Hakar opened the large metal doors, all of them stepped outside, where a Reaver sat waiting for them.

The Reaver happily stomped over to the group, but it seemed most interested in Onwa.

"Ready, my trusted steed?" Onwa asked, the Reaver nodded as if it understood Onwa, while Sauvix made a face that said "disgust."
The Reaver's passenger capacity seemed larger than a standard Reaver, it could fit them all on! Must have been a special breed of sorts.

The Soul Killers boarded, and Onwa was to "Pilot" it. The Reaver lifted of and flew into the skies.

Description
Chapter 2: His redemption

Zaach had fallen into what seemed like an empty world, with his vision gone, he could only see the darkness, with the only sound being the gentle beating noises of his hearts going at a steady rate, keeping him alive.

Soon, he could feel his hearts beginning to speed up, it was only a smaller pace at first, but soon they began to go faster, it was getting hard for Zaach to keep up with the speed, as well as that, the beating noises were getting louder and louder by the second. Zaach could feel himself shaking uneasily as his hearts continued to speed up, suddenly, his eyes shot open in an instant.

One thing Zaach was sure of, he wasn't dead, but where he was now was a total mystery. It looked like the interior of a human prison, which were pretty much similar to the jails in the Palace, the walls were burnt metal, paint slowly peeling off the sides and Zaach could just feel the cold coming off of them. Zaach knew he was laying down, it felt like a cold, metal bed of nails. Sure enough, Zaach could lift his head up and look to his left and right, he was lying on the frame of a bed, no sheets or duvet, just the frame.

To his amazement, Zaach found that he could lift himself up and move his limbs, the pain that stricken him back in the city seemed to be long gone, save for a few stings here and there. Most of his armour had been taken off, leaving only his combat trousers on, his body was covered in bruises and bandages, he looked like he had only just narrowly come off a battlefield with his life. Zaach managed to get up off the bed and try to walk, he bare feet almost freezing against the cold metal floors of the area.

The door in front of Zaach swung open, a figure approached him, Zaach shook himself to make sure he was seeing things okay. It was a Theron guard that greeted him, but it looked like no Theron Zaach had seen before, it had shorter sleeves, much like RAAM's and the armour was mostly black, with a few hints of crimson red around, the Theron's helmet was neither guard nor sentinel, it had a strange V style symbol going down it. Zaach was wondering if this was the Theron that had saved him from death. It took it's helmet off and revealed it's face.

The Theron was quite intimidating, his bony jaw locked into some kind of snarl, while his eyes were bright, but very sharp looking. Zaach noticed the Theron had some sort of strange thing of his head, a black metal "Mohawk" of sorts. Zaach felt as though this Theron was very familiar, almost like he had seen him before elsewhere…

"At last, you have come to." The Theron said, it has the exact same voice as the one that had saved Zaach, so he knew this was the on. The Theron wasted no time, and got straight to the formalities.

"What is your name?" He ordered, much like RAAM. Zaach cleared his throat, for the first time in a while, he heard the sound of his own voice.

"Z…Zaach…" He stuttered uneasily. "J…Just a Drone."

The Theron took a movement to examine Hakar, it was like when Zaach's superior officer, Sidorax, branded him for the army. Theron's liked to get a good look at the Drones under their command to see if they were worthy troops or just fodder. Though the Theron took a deep breath and blinked before replying to Zaach.

"My name is Hakar" The Theron replied, placing his hand on Zaach's shoulder. "I rescued you from the remains of the battlefield, we need every available soldier, for these are dark times"

"I… See" Zaach said in his stutter.

"Come with me, I want you to meet the rest of us" Hakar then turned around and began to lead the way, Zaach wasn't sure what to think, but he didn't't want to argue, he followed Hakar down a long hallway, surrounded by broken up prison cells and smashed windows, the windows let in long breezes of cold air, which hit Zaach's bare skin, causing him to shiver. Zaach also had to check the floor, as he was bare foot, and sure enough, glass was on the floor. A few jagged pieces stung Zaach's feet, but nothing really serious.

Hakar lead Zaach into a large open room, filled with fallen debris and broken glass, this room must have been the main room where human prisoners were catalogued, then sent to a cell, as a large doorway was at the left side of the room, which lead outside. Over this doorway, what looked like a flag hung over it, it's symbol was much the Locust's symbol, only more crooked and it had what looked like a grinning Skull in the centre, with two Torque Bows at the bottom of the symbol, one facing left, one facing right. A large balcony sat on the other side, two troika machine gun turrets had been placed on them, perhaps for security purpose.

In the centre of all this, three other Theron's sat on the debris chatting away to each other. Hakar stepped forward to the three of them, they instantly stood up and bowed before him.

"My Brothers, I wish to introduce you to Zaach, a soldier who I rescued from the clutches of both Death, and the evil ground walkers" Hakar announced with great pride. Zaach felt a little uneasy about the way Hakar said that, he couldn't put his finger on why, but it sort of rattled him.

The three Theron's looked straight at Zaach, and he got a good look at them.

One Theron looked as though he was blind in his left eye, as it was dry, white and soulless, there was red marking under the eye, suggesting it was a battle scar. Though this Theron had chosen not to cover it up, no bandage, scarf, cowl or eye patch. It was liked he wanted everyone to know that he was blind in that eye. That was probably his key feature, other than that, he looked like your typical Theron, stoic, strong and menacing.

The second Theron looked pretty standard next to the one eyed one, but he did have a look of angst and annoyance in him. Zaach noticed that this particular Theron looked at him in disapproval.

Meanwhile, the third Theron seemed to have face with an diabolical smile. Either a very proud Theron, or a happy psychotic.

The one eyed Theron approached Zaach.

"This is Onwa, he is our second in command" Hakar explained.

Onwa starred at Zaach for a few seconds, again, he was doing the Theron thing of examining a Drone to see what he was worth.

"Well, you do look stronger than most." Onwa summed up. Zaach didn't know what to make of that, he just watched Onwa walk back and the second Theron step forward.

"Here we have Sauvix, our medic and surface expert." Hakar explained. "Sauvix was the one who healed you…"

"Voluntarily, of course." Sauvix hissed, Zaach could right away tell this Theron was a sarcastic.

… And he knows a good amount about the Ground walkers, making him a vital member of our squad." Hakar continued, completely ignoring what Sauvix had just said, but he had given his annoyance away with a twitch.

Sauvix gave a good hard look at Zaach before announcing his feelings.

"We really must be desperate if we are recruiting drones." Sauvix sighed. "I hope Hakar does not expect me to nurse a Neophyte."

Zaach said nothing, he endured the insult and let Sauvix walk away, finally, the third Theron approached.

"This is Taus, our sharpshooter and scout." Hakar continued. "His skills with a Longshot are indeed an envy to many sniper drones in the hollow."

Taus seemed to laugh at that comment. He didn't really look at Zaach, he just stood back and waited for Hakar to finish up what he was saying.

"As for you Zaach, you are our Neophyte." Hakar said, pointing straight at him.

"Neophyte?" Zaach asked in bewilderment. "Who are you though? Why have I been brought here?" Those questions caused Onwa, Sauvix and Taus to whisper to each other, after a quick discussion, Onwa stepped forward.

"When you were training, were you ever told the story of the soldiers who actually stayed on the surface world?" Onwa asked. "Soldiers who took on missions for the Queen where she felt her normal troops would not be able to complete?"

It sounded familiar, Zaach was pretty certain he had heard stories like that before.

"I… think so." Zaach replied.

"Then that is who we are" Hakar added in "We are the Soul Killers"

Zaach nearly fell over due to the shock of this revelation, The Soul Killers were Locust heroes, Elite Shock Troopers of the Queen and the very Locust that struck fear and dread into the hearts of even the toughest COG soldier. Stories of how The Soul Killers had bought victory after victory for the Locust spread like wildfire across the hollow, but Zaach had always thought of them as a myth, He had never seen the Soul Killers, so he had assumed a story made up to boost the moral of rookie drones.

"Impossible!" Zaach gasped

"Why so sceptical neophyte?" Sauvix asked in a mocking tone "Here we are in the flesh, and you still don't believe in us?"

"But… But… I…" Zaach tried to say, but his nervous stutter was starting to get the better of him. "I thought you were just a story! I never… thou… thought I would be in the presence of you!"

"Well, we are all that's left really" Taus replied "There were more of us, but they are no more."

"What happened?" Zaach asked. At that moment Hakar stood in front of him, he took a deep breath before his explanation.

"Yes there were more of us, but when we heard of the Lightmass bomb, the horde was in a panic. One of us, Lehrak, was offered a position of General if he went to an area called the "Fenix Estate" in and stop a human commando team." Hakar explained. "Alas, he was killed."

Zaach noticed that Onwa, Sauvix and Taus seemed a little edgy about what Hakar had just explained, though Zaach sort of knew what they meant, the way Hakar said "Fenix Estate" and there was a hint of much higher anger when he bought up the human commando team.

"He died serving the Horde, we pay our respects to them" Onwa added

"Even if he did abandon us for a position of power." Sauvix muttered under his breath.

"Two others were in the hollow when the Lightmass bomb detonated. Hakar continued "While the last two were on board the Lightmass bomb's carrier, a machine called the 'Tyro Pillar' they were with… General RAAM and… they were killed by…"

Hakar had been really struggling to talk about that part, he stopped and lowered his head, his face changed, Zaach could see it was a face filled with anger and sorrow. Hakar clenched his fists so tight that they almost went red. He quickly growled before raising his head again.

"…Marcus Fenix" Hakar snarled. Onwa stepped forward and put his arm around Hakar's shoulder, trying to calm the Soul Killer leader down. Hakar was coming to his senses, but Onwa decided to finish Hakar's explanation himself.

"So now it is just us, but even with the hollow gone, we must show the Cogs that the Locust Horde never dies." Onwa summed up.

"Just the five of us?" Zaach asked.

"The Neophyte is quick after all." Sauvix mocked. "You have found a winner Hakar."

Hakar grunted at Sauvix, making him back off. Though Hakar had now calmed down and explained to Zaach about The Soul Killer's strength.

"Our strongest point lies in the element of surprise Zaach" Hakar explained "First, we must disorientate the snake before we behead it, let us show you a 'Demonstration' of our work"

"Yes, a good old fashioned human hunt, you drones love those, right?" Taus added in with his smile.

"Think of it Zaach, this is your one chance to repent for your previous errors and join us, slaying any ground walkers that get it our way" Hakar said with confidence. Zaach quickly nodded with agreement. Hakar took him back down the hallway they had just entered in to get him ready. Though while they did, Zaach asked Hakar a question.

"Why me?" He gulped.

"You are a survivor, that shows strength." Hakar replied. "I like strength in other Locust, and like I said, we need all the help we can get now."

"That's a great comfort." Zaach thought to himself, his self confidence was… questionable.

When they left, Onwa, Sauvix and Taus turned to each other.

"Surely this is proof of Hakar's… state of mind?" Sauvix bitterly asked.

"You need to learn to trust more." Taus replied mockingly. "Surely not all Neophytes are bad?"

"If you remember our history, our Neophytes never really lasted long." Sauvix explained. "Even then, a mere drone that Hakar found lying on the streets, staring death in the face? Yet Hakar still believes he can be a Soul Killer? I don't believe it."

"Hakar must believe it." Onwa replied. "Anyway, you're forgetting Sauvix, that you thought the exact same way about Lehrak" Onwa replied "You never trusted him when he was a Neophyte, and his skills with a Torque bow must have saved us countless times"

"He still perished though" Sauvix said sceptically.

"Maybe so, but the point is, don't judge this rookie yet, he may prove to be useful" Onwa continued.

"It's not so much the rookie that bothers me, more that Hakar isn't stable right now." Sauvix hissed.

"Not so loud!" Onwa snapped, as Hakar and Zaach were coming back to them.

"This talk is not finished." Sauvix whispered to Onwa and Taus.

At that moment, Hakar and Zaach re-entered the room, Hakar was carrying a large metal box, while Zaach walked behind, his neophyte uniform resembled the Soul Killers, only he had no arm sleeves, and his uniforms leggings were shorter, Zaach didn't want to admit he felt uneasy, he kept a straight face and watched Hakar place the box on the ground and opened it. He tossed each Soul Killer a Hammerburst before tossing one to Zaach.

"Let us find somewhere to leave the COG a message… somewhere that'll have our… victims." Hakar explained rather sadistically. Hakar opened the large metal doors, all of them stepped outside, where a Reaver sat waiting for them.

The Reaver happily stomped over to the group, but it seemed most interested in Onwa.

"Ready, my trusted steed?" Onwa asked, the Reaver nodded as if it understood Onwa, while Sauvix made a face that said "disgust."
The Reaver's passenger capacity seemed larger than a standard Reaver, it could fit them all on! Must have been a special breed of sorts.

The Soul Killers boarded, and Onwa was to "Pilot" it. The Reaver lifted of and flew into the skies.