Chyenne mountains military complex proving site A March 3rd 1995
Hard faces peered stoically into screens displaying reams of data. The situation was grim, people were dying by the second as an unknown force took control of america’s nuclear arsenal and used it upon its major cities. Countermeasures saw the vast majority of the warheads destroyed but that left ten fifteen megaton warheads for every state. The damage to the united states was unspeakable, casualties were in the millions and still being tallied. Communications were restored via satellite long enough for the U.S. to see other worldly creatures touching down all over the planet and destroying everything in their path. America’s armies rushed to return and her defenders super human and mundane were fighting a losing war against vastly superior weapons and numbers. Other world powers were barely doing better either fighting the beings to a stalemate or losing ground at a slightly slower rate. America grew desperate, and in their desperation turned to a man long since locked away for treason. He gave America the cybernetic age, then tried to prevent its exploitation, he had served in Vietnam as an army ranger, then after as a delta operator, though the men who released him doubted his loyalty all agreed he was the single greatest tactician the U.S. ever had. JSOC put him into the most advanced personal weapons system under development and prayed for a miracle.

*mode start T.S.C.S. V 1.0*

*inspecting connections*

*Cranium…..Check*

*Spinal column…..Check*

*Handshake with onboard implants……Check*

*initiating Ten point A.R. Module………%100*

*Calibrating armor plates……….optimal configuration confirmed*

*Analyzing T.S.C.S. structural integrity…….Nominal*

*Analyzing T.S.C.S. operator status…..Nominal*

*Connecting with support drones*

*Gladius….check*

*Pilum….check*

*Scutum….check*

*Panacea….check*

*Malleus…..check*

*Dictum….check*

*armor systems checkup complete…*

*Commence operation*

Hundreds of robotic turrets and holographic obstacles arrayed themselves around the testing chamber as the turrets fixated on the armored veteran in the center he vanished from their sight. The turrets tried in vain to locate their quarry only to systematically taken apart with a minimum of sound, falling to pieces unceremoniously on the cold floor. Hector returned to visible sight and ran his assessment. “There’s a slight delay in the interface module between the drones and my neural uplink and the noise signature is still too high to be effective against the invaders. I’ll be running a diagnostic and swapping out some of the plates for more mobility.” Hector labored to shed the armored suit, his mind running through hundreds of areas for improvement. “I’m going to update the software on this thing myself, have the techs move forward on the redemption initiative.” Hector stared at the stunned silence of the techs and officers on the other side of the viewing wall. “Lets move goddamnit the more time we waste the more people die. By my calculations we’re losing thousands by the day!.” As every man and woman inside of the Cheyenne mountain complex sprang into action the Joint Chiefs of Staff breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like their prayers would be answered.

Invictus belongs to  gurlow

art by  vonboche