Crusaders: Prelude to Conqueror's End

**Amazing Pan-Sensei** Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:11 pm

Dr. Hal Innsmouth
The Eyes
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September 5th, 2042
Inside The Paladin Walls // Meeting Room

It was about time the top brass of Paladin had met, the war had escalated for months with minimal action from them. Twelve of the highest ranked Paladin Officers met together for the first time in twenty years. They were considered heroes even among the stalwart protectors of the walls. But so far only ten had arrived. They had one reason for this meeting: the war had escalated to an uncontrollable level. Even their allies, The Family and Black Dragon, were impossible to tame. The public would soon realize that No Man's Land was no longer under control. This meeting would determine whether they deployed guards to put an end to this war, or to wait things out and continue to act from the shadows. They all knew one thing for sure though, The Don and The Mistress had to be dealt with. They both had the power to push No Man's Land into further chaos. The ten Paladin officers awaited the missing two, they all sat at a circular desk with twelve seats. The first was Captain Jorge Magnella, a thin, tall man with a pointed goatee, he had slanted eyes that always made it look as if he was scheming. No one truly trusted Jorge, he always seemed to be planning something, but he was a good soldier, and a good leader, his soldiers were eternally loyal to him. The second was Major Stella Smith, before Jo, she was the only female Paladin officer to gain any fame. Her days of combat were far over, she was at the age of 62, and her age had withered her. However, her skills as a tactician were considered the best in the world. The third was a man known only as "Dex", the man in charge of Paladin's engineering department. He was blind, with eyepatches on both his eyes, he had a large, burly beard that went down to his chest. His blindness never seemed to affect him, and you could swear that this man could see even without his eyes. He always had a cheerful smile on his face, and would often hum Madonna songs as he walked around the walls. The fourth was General Marley Poe, a former criminal of No Man's Land. He was once a member of The Family, once he was The Don's right-hand man, but Paladin had found his skills in smuggling and how criminal empires worked to be too useful to stay with The Family. Once offered a chance to join Paladin, Marley couldn't refuse, and he would later grow to become one of the highest ranked Paladin Officers at the young age of 52, he now looks withered and balded, his job has gotten the better of him and he looks much older. The fifth was Captain Giovanni Capulet, whom had become infamous for always taking to the field whenever Paladin would go into battle. He looked and acted like that of a noble knight, flowing blonde hair, a handsome face, and a small scar over his right eye. He always brought a sword into battle, even if he rarely used it. Sixth was the Division leader of the Intelligence Department, a man without a real rank. His face was covered in black clothe, like a mummy, you couldn't even see his eyes. His age was unknown, his face known to no one, not even his voice. His men were equally as mysterious. Seventh was General Pendleton, last name unknown. He didn't have any memories of his childhood, he had started life at the age of 38, his past unknown to even himself. He was now an older man at the age of 59, but he still had spiked, red hair that showed his heated personality. He was known for being an easy man to anger, and he was likely to kill his soldiers just as much as he killed his enemies. He often used a pair of gun-gauntlets, no further explanation used there. Eight was Drill-Sarge Bangel, while he wasn't particularly high ranked, every Paladin recruit had to go through Bangel before they became real Paladin men. Bangel was a large man, with rough features, a but-cut, and a large scar over both his eyes. He never wore the uniform, instead he wore a pair of jeans and a tanktop, his arms were littered with tons of Paladin-related tattoos. Ninth was Colonel Jarl Hampton, a man born in Somalia, he was a crime lord in his home country. He always had amazing talent for leading men in battle, and he was ruthless to his enemies. Paladin saw his skill, and offered him a job, first as a low-ranked officer before he quickly rose in the ranks. He had piercings all over his lips, his dark skin contrasted his beautiful blue eyes, his head was entirely shaved. Despite his background, he was a calm, logical, and friendly man. While ruthless to his enemies, he was great friends to his fellow Paladins. And finally there was Commander "Sam", also known as "Uncle Sam" for his likeness to the famous American figure. While Sam didn't like being compared to a figure from a long-dead empire, he took it in stride and eventually adopted the name. Commander Sam was the supreme leader of PALADIN. Everyone listened to him once he spoke.

The ten officers waited quietly in the meeting room for the last two, it only took a few minutes before Bangel barked out "Where the hell are they!? I have a job to do-! I'm not gonna wait here any longer-!" Bangel was about to start one of his infamous rants when Jarl interrupted him. The man only lifted his hand to Bangel to stop him "We wait Bangel... there's no need to rush-" but his words didn't stop Bangel for long. The Drill-Sarge punched the table "WAIT!? We still have two Paladin Officers on the field! Officers Beaumont and Ghast will die if we WAIT!" he barked out to the man. Sam was the next one to step in "I understand you have a connected to Officer Beaumont Bangel... just as Shirly does, we know you two care for her like a daughter, but we must wait... we need the full approval of Paladin's officers before we lift a finger..." he told the man bluntly. Bangel stopped then, Sam was right, but he hated the wait. Just as he considered speaking up again, Hal walked in. Hal was the younger of the 12, but just about everyone was familiar with him. He got acquainted with every single inmate in No Man's Land. He was a genius, believed to be the one to be Sam's successor in his later years. Bangel however, hated him "Well looks like the little shit is finally here..." he muttered coldly. Everyone at the table suddenly froze, not from Bangel's words though, but from the men that followed Hal.

Hal looked at the other 10, a smile on his face "Good evening gentlemen..." Hal was followed in by 20 Paladin Guards, all armed and pointing their weapons at the ten Paladin Officers. Sam stood up from his seat "What is the meaning of this Innsmouth!?" Hal merely smiled at the old man. He had been waiting for this moment his entire life. These fools would soon all be out of his hair soon "This message comes all the way from the top... there's gonna be a change of management!'' he spoke out to the officers. Marley was quick to pull a gun out on Hal "We are the top Hal!" but before he could open fire, the Paladin guards shot the man until his body was unidentifiable. Hall shook his head, a smile still on his face "No... the real top... from the REAL PALADIN... and of course..." his snapped his finger, and in a matter of seconds the remaining nine officers were gunned down by the guards "Black Dragon sends its regards..."

A few minutes later, after the guards had finished keeping count, they reported that one man was still missing. They didn't even need to say his name to Hal "Colonel Shirley..." the man in charge of the Special Operations Division. Jo's commanding officer, the man who had sent operatives into No Man's Land without Black Dragon knowing. Unlike the rest of Paladin, he knew full well who was in charge. Hal ran with the rest of his guards to Shirley's office. Yes, he would be there, waiting. Hal barged in, finding the man sitting right in his office. He was a huge man, he had short hair, and a beautiful mustache. A huge, muscular burly man, his physique was contrasted from his behavior. The man was having a nice set of tea at his desk. He smiled to Hal, acting as if the man didn't have twenty men pointing a gun at his head. He slowly raised his head to look at Hal "Hello there dear sport, care for a cup of tea...?" it goes to say Hal took offense to that. All twenty of the guards opened fire on Shirley. In a matter of seconds the entire office was brought down into savage rubble, bullet holes littered the floor, and the desk in front of the man was nothing but shreds of wood. Yet there Shirley stood, his body bleeding out, yet the man was standing there, right in front of his enemies. He was holding something, Hal saw it through the smoke and dust, a large, metal object. It was... a Gatling gun!? Hal immediately ran out the room, leaving his guards behind. The guards didn't even realize their leader leaving the room.

Shirley stood there, hoisting his Gatling gun in front of the soldiers as the smoke cleared "Now then old sports... let's say we have a good rustle, yeah?" he opened fire on the soldiers, a hail of bullets blasted them away, along with the wall behind them. Hal watched in horror as the bullets flew out of the room, he didn't stop for a moment, he just kept on running. Shirley had managed to bring down Hal's guards "That's for ruining my tea time... now where's Hal? Oh where could he have gone...?" Shirley casually walked out the room, the Gatling gun still in his hand as he whistled a nice tune. Hal on the other hand, was running through the walls of No Man's Land as fast as he could. Shirley was prepared, but how did he figure it out!? No, Hal realized, Shirley was smart enough to realized what was really going on. Hal kept on running, the Krieg Forces or Heavenly Truth could take him down easily, yet, he would return with reinforcements. These ideas were quickly cut short as Hal bumped into something, falling on his butt. The man slowly looked up to see what he had bumped into, only to meet with Shirley's glare, contrasted his pleasant expression. Hal opened his mouth, but he didn't let out a peep until he said "Oh shit..." Shirley brought his gun down to Hal's face. This was it "I'm afraid it'll be over my dead body that Black Dragon wins Mr Innsmouth... cheerio!" but Shirley had gravely underestimated him. Hal quickly threw powder on his person to Shirley' blinding him "Hah!" Shirley didn't even seem to be affected by it. But Hal knew better, he had a few seconds, and he made use of them. Hal quickly kicked at Shirley's knees, before kicking at his groin then disarming him. Shirley was not ready for Hal's trickery. But once he regained his eyesight he threw a quick punch toward's Hal's face. Hal took the hit, and ended up flying back across the halls. Shirley approached Hal, then continued to beat the man with his bare fists "It's over Hal! These losses have not been for naught! Jo will deal with your boss, and of course... I'll teach you some MANNERS!" Hal took the beating, every punch causing pain through his body. He could feel one of his arms breaking. Hal knew that the usual tricks wouldn't work against Shirley, no, he had no chance of beating this man alone.

Hal managed to put himself together for a moment only to realize the current situation. He was on the ground, bleeding, as Shirley enjoyed a good cigar over him "The fight is over now... your deaths have been avenged... everyone..." Shirley let out a single tear, his ten comrades, his dearest friends, they were all gone now. Killed by a man with delusions of power, and a twisted lust for a criminal overlord. The man looked down to deliver the final blow to Hal, only to see him running to the armory "Oh come on good sport... you already tried guns... it'll take a lot more then you to take down a real man.." he muttered as he followed. Shirley opened the doors of the armor only to be met with hundreds of soldiers pointing their guns to him. No, not hundreds, thousands, from all over the three floors of the armory, tanks, machine guns, rocket launchers, all pointed straight at him. Shirley smiled, what a fool he was. It took him a few moments to realize that he was the only man loyal to Paladin now, he was alone. Everyone opened fire at once as Shirly lunched out at the army before him. Machine gun fire ripping through his flesh, shrapnel from explosives digging into his skin. It didn't matter anymore, he had one goal now, to kill Hal. He used his bare fists to break through the ranks of the army like a behemoth. Hal looked in terror, was this man even human!? Hal watched his enemy get closer and closer, until Shirley was limping towards him, his hands lunged out towards Hal.

Hal's eyes dilated, a look of pure terror on his face "..." this was it, he was going to die. At least, those were his thoughts until Shirley dropped down right in front of him. Colonel Shirley was dead, the last guard of Paladin was gone. Hal's expression of terror turned to pure happiness, or at least it was an twisted illusion of happiness "Heheheh.... HAHAHAHA!" Hal began to stomp on Shirley's limp corpse, he continued on and on, his blood splattering over Hal. The man laughed over the corpse of the once great man "I WIN! That's it for you! FUCKING SCUM! HAHAHA" Hal turned to his army, the combined forces of Paladin, their numbers in the thousands "THIS IS IT MEN! WE ARE THE CRUSADERS FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER! THE MIGHTY MEN OF PALADIN CHARGE OUT INTO BATTLE AGAINST THE INFIDELS! WE MARCH ON NO MAN'S LAND!" what followed was a cheer made up of thousands of men. They were in bliss, as they were now part of a much greater being then themselves. They would change the world, starting with today.

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"We meet again. I know what you're thinking... matter a fact, I know what you're about to say, and what you're going to do... Everything about you."
Innsmouth Theme - Psycho Soldier

Crusaders: Prelude to Conqueror's End Shirly_zps2f646582

Crusaders: Prelude to Conqueror's End Shirly_zps2f646582