Coming around the bend from behind a row of buildings turned to rubble a huge number of men wearing the same flame symbol Adam had come to recognize as the symbol of War's band began to filter into the camp. Adam was not taking the time to take an accurate headcount but there had to be over a hundred of them alone as they began to flood into the camp looking armed, and ready for a fight.
However that was not what drew Adam's attention, nor anyone else's for that matter. No, what caught everyone's eyes was not the flood of manpower armed for a fight but instead a single man. A lone figure who stood at the center of the pack. The man was tall and imposing as he stared ahead with an unshakable gaze that seemed to pierce the very heavens themselves.
The man's skin was the color of an espresso and his body was enormous. He stood at a mind boggling 7 and a half feet tall, his body was built like a truck with broad shoulders and biceps the size of Adam's head, his legs looked so long and powerful he could outrun a horse and leg press a tank. He wore a mess of armors all woven together to create something truly unique and terrifying. The scary part about the armor itself was that most of it was taken from pieces and parts of T45 and T51 power armor parts. He even saw one part of a T60 too. And it was very clear he was not in power armor, he was simply wearing the custom armor without the support of a power armor frame. However despite the mishmash of armor pieces it flowed together in a brutalist and yet elegant way. At his waist was a rope along which he had strung up various objects, most of which Adam did not recognize, but some that he did. There was a dog-tag, but not one of the US army, there was the revolver barrel of a Sequoia revolver, there was a shiny gold coin with the face of a man he did not recognize and a latin inscription, there was a tooth that must have come from a beast 4 times the size of Adam, as well as a number other trophies all displayed around his waist to show that he had yet to be bested in battle.
However not even his belt of war trophies were the most striking feature; it was the massive sword on his back. There was no mistaking it, the sword that was strapped to his back was one of the blades straight off the wings of a Vertibird. It was heavily modified of course, even with the massive size of this man a vertibird propeller was far too big to be wielded normally, so it was heavily cut down, but still it retained a length that was just as tall as he was, perhaps even more, and it looked sharp enough to cut through steel.
It was only after examining this monster of a man that Adam even noticed his face. A face that held more than one scar but that had a very noticeable one on the left side of his face that seemed to extend all the way down his neck and presumably continued under the armor. One vein-like protrusion, glowing with a luminescent green, sat prominently on his face as if he had radioactive blood flowing through his body. However if one were to examine it, it was clear it was just a scar not a vein, but the visual impact could not be understated. There was nothing about this man that didn't scream dangerous. Even Adam felt intimidated by this man, not least of all because he had well over a foot of height on him and his body width made even Pearl seem moderately tame in comparison.
In fact the most accurate description of this man's body was that of a Super Mutant. He even shared some of the characteristics of the way his body was shaped but not even a small bit of him was a super mutant. He was clearly fully human, just the apex of the species.
Adam was not alone in being intimidated by the figure walking amongst the crowd of War fighters who arrived in the camp. Most heads were turning to look at him, most as unnerved as the others.
There were exceptions, of course, but the true threatening presence of this man could not be explained in words alone. He was deserving of the title of War. Ares, the god of war himself, would bow to him. And worse than all of that he was heading straight for Adam.
The man paid no attention to anyone else, his gaze solely fixed on Adam as he waded through the ranks of his men, who were now fanning out, uncomfortably mixing with the ranks of the rest of the army and helping to secure the borders of the camp.
"You… are Adam Baxter, no?" He said with an extremely deep voice, but a surprisingly thoughtful tone. However his words resonated with a weird sense of power and presence when he spoke. Every word enunciated slowly as if they were chosen carefully.
"I-I am…" Adam said, unsure what to say back to him.
"A favor… for a favor…" He said with a steely and still thoughtful tone to Adam. "I have not forgotten you… act of service." He said slowly. Probably referring to the time Adam turned over the entirety of Second Life to War's men, or perhaps the fact that he killed all the raiders operating on his turf at Second Life? Or perhaps something else entirely, Adam could only guess.
"The fate of the city hangs in the balance…" He said with a slow methodical tone, pausing for a moment at the end. "War has come." He said as he leaned in to Adam, staring down at him for a moment before pulling back. Adam nodded to him. It was clear now that this man did not pause due to a lack of vocabulary, instead it seemed all his words were chosen for impact and clarity, like his lexicon was too large and needed to be sifted through to engage on simpler terms.
"Uh… we were just about to begin the operation, thank you for coming… War…" Adam said, still hesitant. War nodded slowly as he continued to stare at Adam.
"Change… cannot be brought if everyone lies dead." He said with an almost caring tone despite his deep voice. He then looked off to the rest of the army. "Those who follow my banner will stand at your side…" He turned back to Adam. "Go. Do what you must." Adam nodded slowly to him and then turned to Mira who had a strange mix of intimidation and casual indifference on her face.
"Alright, I'll be off then." Adam said, almost instinctually as if he was asking for permission. War simply turned around and rejoined the camp, readying himself for the battle to come.
"Come on Adam." Mira said, grabbing hold of his arm gently. "We have work to do."
(Fun Fact: War was one of the earliest characters I conceptualized for this story. And elements of this story were originally designed for a Roleplay. As such War has a theme song. That theme song is Rave by Dxrk. The Leader of the Cult of Pestilence has a theme song too but that is neither here nor there)