text: You see where this is going; the Zeropolis Guard is fully intent on their delusional plan and they're going to be the top assholes in this area, so you might as well join them to reap the benefits. It's better than being at their complete mercy and it's certainly better than living in fear of the Shadow Horde, at least the Guard seems to want to restore order.
  
  The next day you go find Captain Salazar who is pretty easy to find since he's currently giving speeches in the streets to the Dust District inhabitants of how they should actively join the Zeropolis Guard. Not too many takers, but none of them are in any position to argue with the occupation. When you go up to Salazar to tell him you're interested in joining, he's pleased to just have someone taking him up on his offer.
  
  Of course he wants to know more about you and where you're currently staying, and you do tell him about the warehouse, just not about the secret GZS rooms underneath. He's a little bewildered of why you're staying there rather than a proper house in one of the neighborhoods, or even your own house. To this you reply that you used to live in one of the Downtown apartments, and couldn't live there anymore due to the danger. You mention during your time of madness you ended up wandering this way and just took up residence there and now even though you're better, you've made it your home and feel comfortable at that place. You also go on to say that you prefer to be away from large crowds of people.
  
  Captain Salazar frowns at that last statement.
  
  "Y'know we are a military unit, teamwork is encouraged here... though I suppose we need all the help we can get right now, so I guess you'll be on scouting duty. Maybe if you prove yourself, I'll put you on sniper duty. As for your living arrangements... I guess you can stay there. That area is pretty empty and there isn't anything there except a few warehouses, we're more interested in the plant and factory. However it's the perfect place where the Shadow Horde might stage a sneak attack from due to its remoteness. So consider yourself the sentry in that area. I wish we could use our radios, but the radiation levels here... well are sort of screwing up the signals. We've been trying to train messenger rats, but so far the little furry bastards just run off to the nearest source of food, so you'll be reporting to me personally every two days where I'll either give you new instructions or tell you to continue what you're doing. Unless I hear otherwise and you don't report, I'll give you one more day and then I'll assume you're either dead or have deserted. If you're dead then you're dead, but if I find out you've deserted, my wrath will be terrible, and you'll wish you were dead."
  "Okay, but what if I was captured?"
  "Ha ha ha ha! You're joking right? Not really much of a chance of that happening. Ferals just kill, and the Shadow Horde might capture you, but they won't let you live afterwards. I trust you won't let yourself get captured then right?"
  "Guess not."
  "Good. Let's see, what can you do... I got everyone else working on other things, right now we're tracking down all the sewer manholes in the area and shoving the remains of cars on top of them. Others have been sent to raid nearby police stations in the hopes of finding more weapons and ammo. Okay what you'll be doing is scouting and clearing out the factory; we've discovered that all the Feral activity in the area has been coming from those places. At least that's where we've seen them all run off to, you can go retrieve your assault rifle seeing as I haven't given it to anyone else yet."
  "Am I working by myself, or with others?"
  "Well from the impression of getting, you'd probably prefer working alone, but that's simply too dangerous for what I'm sending you in to do, you'll need someone watching your back, so I'm sure you're familiar with Private Ackman here... "
  
  You then see the soldier who kicked you yesterday. He doesn't look any friendlier and just nods at you.
  
  "There will be other small detachments exploring various parts of the factory as well so more ground can be covered, but for the most part you two are on your own. Dimissed."
  
  You and Ackman go carry out the mission in relative silence. Private Ackman doesn't seem to care for you, or at best he doesn't want talk to you unless it's absolutely necessary. This doesn't really bother you though since he is a good fighter, and is making this mission a lot easier. The factory is a huge place though even in its current devastated state; there are several sections, multiple levels and it covers a lot of land. It's going to take awhile.
  
  After a few months of factory clearing you and Ackman have the highest Feral body count so far, and their attacks on the Dust District are becoming non-existent. Due to this accomplishment, many of the inhabitants have a little more confidence in the Zeropolis Guard and as a result more people have volunteer to help, either by joining directly or by attempting to fix the power plant. Shadow Horde attacks occur sometimes, but even those aren't as frequent. Zeropolis is a big place, and presumably they've turned their attention to easier areas.
  
  Four years pass... 
  
  It's been five years since you set foot in Zeropolis, and the place has changed quite a bit, well in your area anyway.
  
  Most of the factory has been safely stripped to help rebuild the district. The nearby plant has parts of it fixed and partial electricity has been restored to the district as well. Feral attacks are completely unheard of in the area now, they've either all been killed, or in a few cases, managed to retain their sanity again.
  
  The Zeropolis Guard has firm control of the area and has been attempting to restore a few old vehicles to work again mainly using jury-rigged steam engines, though the many stills created to make hooch certainly serve the same purpose to create "Garbage fuel" as it were for vehicles. Oddly one thing that has surprised everyone is that new mutants are actually being born! Not many, but it still came as a surprise when one of the female mutants found out she was pregnant, when it was assumed everyone would've been sterile due to the radiation, but then again the fact that you're all still alive is proving that you're all working on a different biological level now.
  
  You've risen in rank with your superior sniping skills, and saving others you've effectively become second in command. You're looked upon as sort of a "hero" figure among the Dust District.
  
  The Shadow Horde is still around, but attacks have less frequent. This perpetual war with them is basically at a standstill. The Zeropolis Guard has many more resources, but not nearly enough people. Captain Salazar is irritated by this fact, but there's not much he can do about it. His big idea of bringing order to the entire City is slowly being crushed as he realizes this might never be possible. In desperation he's sent a few people OUT of Zeropolis in the hopes of somehow getting help, but so far all his efforts have resulted in failure. People don't like or trust mutant, and it's mainly due to another organization attempting to "tame the wasteland" known as The Combine. With most of the outside towns under their control, they've developed "a shoot mutants from the City on sight" policy. Salazar's behavior which was at one time just pleasantly dedicated is now becoming obsessively totalitarian.
  
  However, you're standing by your warehouse home one day when you see some outsiders visit Zeropolis. They aren't entirely human though, they look like cyborgs. Which would explain why they have no rad suits.
  
  There have been reports of The Combine currently at war with their own enemy called the Cybernetic Evolution. You're not sure what it's all about, but you're guessing they probably see themselves as superior to humans. (You've seen enough movies in the past to know that's always the case!)
  
  You can't imagine what they'd be doing here, unless they intend on proving themselves superior to mutants as well. There aren't many of them, but most of them are heavily armed.
  > open up dialogue
  You wonder if you've lost your mind again, because you can't believe you're even considering this... 
  
  "Hey! Uh, hello! This is Zeropolis Guard territory! What do you want?" you call out to the group of cyborgs. One of them briefly talks to its heavier armed brethren and then steps forward to meet you; it's a female, mostly human looking cyborg. She's sort of cute, well cuter than what you're used to around here anyway.
  
  "Yes, greetings. I am AVA-93, former human remade, emissary prototype, from the Cybernetic Evolution." She says unemotionally.
  "Prototype?"
  "Yes, I am one of a kind. The Cybernetic Evolution typically does not believe in wasting time with words. We prefer a more direct course of action as we are attempting to remake humanity to a higher state of evolution."
  "I see... so what purpose do you serve then since you guys tend to shoot first and ask questions later?"
  "Why to make contact with you mutants of course. The Cybernetic Evolution is currently at war with a human organization called the Combine. They refuse to see the light, are a committed foe and greatly outnumber us. So we must find every means available to defeat them. We have heard that mutants are victims of human prejudices and that you are typically shot on sight when found outside the City."
  "Well I suppose you could say that, though I can sort of see why they might be suspicious of us, many of us aren't exactly friendly types."
  "Yes, I have heard that most mutants are completely hostile, I am surprised to see the amount of organization you have shown as I thought this was not the case."
  "Around here, we're the exception rather than the norm, so what did you have in mind?"
  "An alliance of course. We would like you to help us destroy The Combine."
  "Whoa, hold on there. I'm not exactly in charge of this place; you'll have to talk with Captain Salazar, as he runs the Zeropolis Guard. There's also the fact that we're in a war ourselves with a group of mutants that outnumber us, we wouldn't be able to help much. Then there's the whole fact... "
  
  You hesitate, but AVA-93 demands that you continue.
  
  "Yes?"
  "Well there's that fact that if you're trying remake humans into cyborgs, what happens after you defeat all the humans? Will you try to remake us as well?"
  "A thoughtful question. At the present time, you mutants are not suitable candidates for remaking, though what the future holds is unknown. However you can be rest assured that if we ally we will never attack you as long as we are at war with The Combine."
  
  That answer doesn't really make you want to suddenly be their friend, though it was an honest answer. The only thing you can think of is let Captain Salazar decide how he wants to handle this, so you take AVA and the rest to see him.
  
  During the talks Salazar doesn't seem very concerned about what might happen in the future so much as what an alliance can do for him now. AVA mentions that they can supply him with their own high tech weapons to help in the war with the Shadow Horde, if the Zeropolis Guard starts raiding nearby Combine towns. He immediately agrees, and AVA leaves explaining that the first shipment will arrive as soon in the mean time they want an attack launched on the Combine immediately.
  
  You advise strongly against this course of action. The Shadow Horde hasn't even been attacking in large groups like it once did. You don't like the idea of fighting a two front war and spreading your strength so thin, and you still don't like the idea of allying with a bunch of cyborgs with a superiority complex. Salazar doesn't want to hear it though; his vendetta against the Shadow Horde is too great. He wants them gone and is willing to do anything for the chance. In fact he's pissed off at you for advising against it, so he says he's sending YOU along with a few others to start attacking the Combine towns!
  
  You leave Zeropolis for the first time in five years; it's very odd to you. Everything seems different, like cleaner. Even the air seems fresher. You almost feel like you don't belong here anymore, the others traveling with you feel the same way. Soon you approach a nearby town; of course you stay away for awhile plotting of how to approach this situation.
  
  Over the course of a few months you organize successful raids on Combine towns, mostly at night, taking advantage of your night vision. (Which seems perfect at this point)
  While you do feel superior to them, you don't have any particular hatred for humans; this is just job to you, nothing more. You don't have too much resistance for the most part. Most of the Combine force is holding off the Cybernetic Evolution. But you do lose people under your command, some through the attacks, but some due to being called back to Zeropolis. Apparently the Captain is having a lot more difficulty than he thought when he started sending troops down into the sewers to take the fight to the Shadow Horde. Eventually you're all by yourself! In fact you're wondering why Captain Salazar hasn't called you back since you're his second in command, you know he was pissed at you, but if he's calling everyone else back, why not you?
  
  At this point you can't even really do too much, except maybe hang out in the wilderness sniping the occasional Combine citizen or soldier. In fact given this situation, you get the feeling he's pretty much abandoned you.
  
  Maybe you should just leave. It's not like you couldn't survive out here. Your time in Zeropolis has made you better in everyway. You could even withstand long periods of food and water if need be. (Though lately you've been eating the mutant wildlife and drinking their blood to sustain you, so it isn't really a problem)
  > wait awhile
  You figure you'll give it some time; you're not in a hurry to go anywhere.
  
  A week later and you wake up to a little mutant getting ready to push you to see if you're awake, you immediately wake before he can do anything, slam him to the ground and put your knife to his throat.
  
  "Hey! Stop! I'm on your side!" he gasps.
  "Oh? What the hell are you doing here? Did the Captain finally decide to send me some help again?"
  "The Captain's dead!"
  "He's fuckin' dead?"
  "Yeah! He got assassinated by some big ass motherfucker! Anyway that's why I was sent to get you! You're next in line to take charge."
  "Wow. I would've thought someone would've just taken power themselves and left me to rot out here."
  "Well, I think a couple of people had that idea... but then they realized the job wasn't worth it. The Shadow Horde has been taking the offensive ever since Captain Salazar insisted on pursuing them in their sewers. We need a leader to get us out of this mess and you're the only one we have!"
  
  See you knew no good was going to come of this.
  
  "Alright, let's see how much shit we're in... "
  
  You make your way back to Zeropolis and the Dust District is showing signs of battle, which is difficult to do since the place was a wreck to begin with. Dead bodies are being moved out of the street and the people look hopeful that you can somehow get them out of this mess.
  
  First thing you do is order a complete pull out of the sewers and reinforce your defenses in the Dust District. There's no point in pursuing an enemy that's lived in the damn sewers for years and knows them like the backs of their hands. Right now you need to regroup after the losses Salazar has incurred due to his recklessness.
  
  Second thing you do is order no more attacks on Combine towns, you can't afford the man power and you didn't like allying with the Cybernetic Evolution anyway. However, another shipment of weapons was already on its way when you enact this order. The cyborgs who arrive wonder why they haven't heard any reports of mutants attacking the Combine. Seeing that this alliance is over anyway. You immediately have the cyborgs killed (Which is easier than you thought it would be) and keep the weapons to help your own struggle.
  
  A couple more cyborgs arrive a month later probably to investigate what happened to their fellows, and you have them killed as well. Your hope is that the CE will think they're losing them to Combine ambushes and will eventually just forget about you. And apparently they do because no more cyborgs are sent. You just hope the CE doesn't win against The Combine.
  
  Eventually you manage to restore relative safety to the Dust District, its not safe like it once was though, but at least it isn't on the brink of disaster due to Salazar's mad plan. Being in charge isn't exactly a fun job, and its obvious why to as why nobody wanted to do it. Still the people see you as a savior of sorts and generally like you as a leader.
  
  The warehouse that you live in, has been converted into the new head quarters, though you still live in the secret underground part that only you have access to... well at least you thought you did.
  
  One night you wake up in your room to a very pale woman by your bed. Obviously she's a mutant, but she's somehow managed to avoid the ugliness and scaring that goes along with it, though she does have part of her face covered. She holds a pistol, but seems to be inspecting the place more than paying any attention to you.
  
  "Boy this was so long ago and another life time... please don't go for your gun, I'm here to talk... my, you are a pretty one. Almost human looking... almost." she says finally paying attention to you.
  "How the hell did you get past the guards?" you answer calculating how quickly you might be able to reach her before she can get off a shot.
  "This war between our respective groups has taken a toll on both of us for quite sometime... I would ask that we finally have peace." She says ignoring your question.
  
  You gather she's from the Shadow Horde, though you've never seen one like her. She's not brimming with muscles or trying to rip your head off for one thing. (And somehow she actually smells nice and unsewer like!) She is exuding a weird aura though, like you have a great desire to follow whatever she says. It's difficult to shake off these effects, but you try to keep a level head.
  
  "Peace? You're ones always coming out at night to eat people! We were just trying to defend ourselves!"
  "... yes I have come to understand that now... and I appreciate your desire to exist. You have held out against us for years and accomplished much within that time. However I would say that your most recent attack on us was most definitely equally as brutal. You came into our sewers... our home and murdered innocent women and children, decreasing the ranks of our future warriors and birth givers. You came in using weapons of unparalleled power and destruction, unleashing blinding rays of light, incinerating at a touch."
  "Yeah, well like I said, YOU started it... however that recent attack wasn't my idea. I thought we shouldn't spread ourselves out so thin."
  "Yes, I'm aware of that, your Captain Salazar is dead and you have taken his place, which is why I feel I can talk to you about coming to you about putting an end to this conflict once and for all. I know of your deeds and you seem to be a lot more rational and reasonable than your predecessor. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that this conflict is only going to harm us in the long run. We have to think about the future. The future of mutant kind relies on us no longer fighting each other. I thought survival of the fittest was enough when I first embraced my evolution, I believed that only the strong should be allowed to rule... but now I see that isn't enough if we wish to thrive, we have to unite."
  "What exactly are you getting at?"
  "Oh come on, you know that we're the next stage of evolution. Humanity is the past, we're the future."
  "Hmmm, I think I know some cyborgs that feel the same way."
  "Ah yes your cybernetic allies who you temporarily allied with, only to ruthlessly back stab later. Obviously they aren't the future if they needed your help to defeat some humans. Listen to me, this City just isn't divided between the Zeropolis Guard and the Shadow Horde you know... there are other factions. You just never come on conflict with them because you're sectioned off in one corner of the City constantly fighting us and never able to spread out effectively. All these factions fight each other and that's not counting the Ferals. I'm proposing that we could take the first steps in truly uniting Zeropolis. We could first approach in friendship, and if that regrettably failed, we could take by force. Who could stop us? The Shadow Horde has a higher birth rate and the numbers, while the Zeropolis Guard has the resources. You'd attack on the surface and we could attack from below. We could rebuild the world in our image."
  
  This rant is followed by her putting down her pistol, climbing on to your bed and seductively crawling closer to you, while taking off her strange protective mask revealing that the rest of her face isn't all scarred or mutated either. You feel really compelled to give in to her, and it's not just the fact that it's been awhile since you've been with a "human looking" chick. It's whatever aura she's exuding. It must be some sort of weird mutant ability she developed, but even though you're aware of it, that doesn't make it any less likely for you to want to resist. She's making a point you haven't considered before... you're in a position of power, why not use it effectively?
  
  Her face is an inch away from yours and the only thing you can sputter is... 
  
  "What's your name?"
  "I'm known as the Queen by the Horde, but you can call me Lisa." She replies before kissing you passionately.
  > give in
  You have no desire to resist her advances and you totally give in to consummate this new alliance in a very special way... 
  
  Afterwards you and Lisa get to know one another a little better. It's funny that she finally returned to the GZS research outpost after all these years. At the time you were kicking Owen's ass to take refuge here, she was attacked and nearly killed by Ferals and had to hide for several days struggling to survive. She mentions how she nearly died, how she got sick, how she came to accept the changes in her body, and how she managed to unite the sewer dwelling mutants.
  
  You and Lisa talk about how you do both feel a sense of superiority to humanity, though it would seem Lisa has felt this way for a lot longer than you have and has stronger feelings about it, whereas you never really thought about it until you were actually killing Combine members. Indeed she does have a stronger feeling of only the strong should survive mindset, though that might be due to the harder path she had when trying to survive during those first few years.
  
  You and Lisa begin to make plans for unifying Zeropolis. It isn't widely accepted at first, as there are hard feelings on both sides. Your side is willing to stop the fighting, but their a little leery of an alliance. However, your standing is good so you don't suffer outright rebellion, just a lot of grumbling. Lisa's side is even less receptive; you honestly don't know how she manages to keep those big hideous freaks in line even if she does have mutant pheromones and a strong force of will. As it turns out, the Shadow Horde for the first time splits and bickers among itself. Lisa manages to keep control of most of it, but not without an underground civil war.
  
  After all the smoke clears, the Shadow Horde and the Zeropolis Guard (Which you've renamed the Zeropolis Legion) maintain a shaky alliance.
  
  Five years pass... 
  
  Ten years have passed since you decided that going to the City would be a great place to find supplies... 
  
  Unification of Zeropolis has been going as planned, but its still slow going. Most of the Ferals still alive have managed to overcome their relentless need for violence and food, but that doesn't mean they are any nicer. The Shadow Horde has more success with those types as great display of strength, intimidation and fear work well. On your end you've managed to employ more peaceful means of incorporating the less hostile groups of mutants, such as restoring power to their areas and rebuilding. (The messenger rat system for long range communication even works well now)
  
  You and Lisa could be considered "together" but it's a distant relationship. She runs her part, you run your part and every now and then you get together. She has some sort of feelings for you, but she's very much in her own world sometimes. Though the same could be said for you, but you do have feelings for her as well.
  
  Lisa has also had your child. (Predictably 9 months after your "agreement" to the alliance.) A son, though you don't get to see him too much, mainly because Lisa wants him to be closer to her. In fact you get the impression one of the reasons she had sex with you was in order to have a fairly "normal" looking child. She called him Adonis. It would seem that for all her talk on mutant supremacy, she still holds the "human" standard of beauty in high regard, (though to be honest so do you!)  She's already training him to be self-sufficient with minor "tests" she sets up in the sewers; however despite this rather harsh training Lisa is very protective of Adonis.
  
  The main faction standing in the way is one that has somehow gained momentum relatively recently over the last few years. A cult of mutants called the Glow Children, have taken over a great portion of Zeropolis through their weird faith. They follow a leader calling themselves the Savior. In your experience, groups with any type of religious faith behind them are never willing to negotiate and they aren't an exception. They are utterly fanatical and devoted to their cause. They also engage in attacks from the sewers as well, causing you to believe that ex-Shadow Horde members fill their ranks. They've made their headquarters (or Cathedral as it were) at the old hospital.
  
  You and Lisa are supposed to meet tonight with the rest of your respective cabinet tonight to determine how to best approach the Glow Children problem. You're walking out of your headquarters with your guards when from out of the street a very very LARGE creature appears with the biggest fucking gun you've ever seen. Its resemblance to humanity is superficial even by Shadow Horde standards. You haven't seen ANYTHING like this before.
  
  "Goddamn it Lisa what the fuck are your people doing!? You're supposed to be defending that area!" you yell to yourself ducking back inside your headquarters and lying flat. The creature's weapon rips through the door and the walls, killing many of your men. You hear gun fire outside followed by screams.
  
  You know damn well it's probably going to laugh at normal weapons so you run to grab those old CE weapons you haven't used since the Alliance. Time to use those plasma guns again.
  
  The creature breaks through the remaining bit of wall ignoring the bullets flying into its back, a Shadow Horde member presumably coming from the sewers jumps on it and stabs it in the head, but the giant aberration only grabs him and breaks his neck with a squeeze of his own enormous hand and throws the lifeless body through the nearby wall. You've never seen a Shadow Horde member treated like such a mere annoyance, and for once in a long time you really are scared.
  
  You grab a plasma gun while the creature is still preoccupied with your guards doing their best to bring it down and that's when you fire a hot bolt of plasma into its massive body, again, again, and again, until the damn weapon overheats and burns your hands, causing you drop it. Fortunately you've melted enough of its internal anatomy to cause it to finally collapse and die.
  
  "Alright what the fuck IS that thing?!" you shout wincing from the pain in your hands.
  "It's a fucking big ass freak, that's what it is." One your men says. "You don't think it's a Horde member do you? You think they... "
  "No, no, shit I hope not. Besides I just saw it kill a Horde member with its bare hands like it was nothing, never seen that before. Might've been an Ex-horde member at one time though."
  
  Another one of your soldiers comes in through the hole in the wall and has more news for you.
  
  "Just got word from one of the horde, they got a similar attack on their Queen. Don't worry though, she's alive and so is your son. She said she'll be arriving soon."
  
  That relieves you on several levels; you were sort of worried about them even if you all aren't exactly a proper family unit. You and some of the others inspect the body of the fallen creature. Damn thing is huge, but what disturbs you more is the fact you're seeing cybernetic implants... not to mention its weapon is pretty high tech stuff, similar to the same ones you received from the Cybernetic Evolution... 
  
  "Oh shit, we got cyborg mutants." You say.
  "What? But how? I mean... last we heard The Combine won that war. Just barely, but they won." One of your soldiers replies.
  "Yeah, well it looks like there were survivors and they probably want revenge on us and what better way of doing that then by helping our enemies? (Sigh) the only good thing is that they can't possibly be able to have access to a lot of this high tech stuff anymore; they don't even have the means of manufacturing it since we own the factories. They're probably just using scraps and pieces they managed to take with them after the beat down they suffered from the hands of the Combine."
  
  Though those "scraps and pieces" can still do a lot of damage, and that's not even counting the regular fanatical cultists. You'll really have to get this attack plan with Lisa organized quickly. Suddenly you hear MORE sounds of battle! The Glow Children have sent more of their suicidal attackers to wreak havoc in your territory, most likely attempting to get to you though. Your guards suggest you descend down into you private quarters for protection, until Lisa arrives.
  > wait in your quarters
  It won't do anyone any good if you're dead so you decide to follow your guards' advice and enter your quarters. Should at least be safe down there.
  
  At least that's what you think. When you enter your living area, you're immediately attacked by another hidden assassin! He stabs you several times before you throw him off of you. You weakly pull your pistol and blast the mutant cultist several times, but he absolutely refuses to die!
  
  "FOR THE SAVIOR!" he screams and finishes you off by shoving his knife in your throat, before he dies.