Rise of the Arockalypse (Second Lordi Saga - Story 3)

Chapter 1 - The Assembly

3 years after the events of The Dimensional Madness

"But how did we come to this?"

This fucking question, Ian Redfield had been asking himself over the past few days, without finding the slightest answer. Mind weary from all the crap, the captain of the Red Wolves picked up a cigarette and lit it with his lighter. Dressed in a black suit and tie, but still keeping his pistol tucked under the jacket, Ian thoughtfully blew out the first puff of smoke as he stared blankly down the ornately decorated white-walled hallway into which he stood and waited for almost half an hour already.

Around him, other people, also dressed in a distinguished way, were talking among themselves. Several guards dressed in civilian clothes, recognizable all the same by their dark glasses and the submachine guns in their hands, watched attentively. This building he was in, Ian knew well. It was the White House. So many memories, he who had worked for a while as the bodyguard of the President of the United States before joining the SRDO.

Sigma arrived in turn, she too having abandoned her usual outfit of elite soldier of the squad for a suit and a black tie, her hair done in a bun. She stopped beside Ian, who gave her a small nod.

_"Well? Nothing to report ?" Ian asked after a puff of his cigarette.

_"The ambassadors have just arrived, and the president will be ready soon... Tsss... Why a meeting like this when we should be preparing for what is to come? That's why I hate politicians, they don't know how to think and act correctly."

Ian understood what she meant and rather shared her opinion but remained less expressive of his resentment towards politicians.

_ "I know, but what else do you want us to do?" he said. "You know we've been under heavy surveillance ever since the incident with Councilman Galloway... And Enary, is she okay?"

_ "Not really..." Sigma confessed, thinking of her monster girlfriend who had stayed in Canada at the SRDO base. "I try to comfort her, but I'm beginning to understand her point of view more and more. Why would you want to continue helping humans after you've already done so much for them if it's just to be treated like an enemy?"

Ian saw that this situation also affected Sigma and supported her with a friendly pat on the back. Sigma and Enary had now been a couple for three years, and the valkyrie had even joined the Red Wolves Squad.

_"And our friends? Have they arrived too?" Ian asked.

_"Yes. They have to wait in a room, under guard of course. Just because they saved our world more than once doesn't mean we should trust them." Sigma replied with mock irony in the last words.

Ian nodded slowly, rubbing his eyes because he had slept very badly again that night. But what could have led to such a meeting? A week ago, a terrible and inexplicable phenomenon had occurred. On a day that could have been ordinary like any other, a kind of black hole a hundred kilometers in diameter had torn the sky and had appeared above the city of Los Angeles. The black hole had then caused violent earthquakes, but above all, had spat out a large shower of meteorites. In barely two hours, Los Angeles had been completely destroyed and its population decimated, leaving only ruins and a devastated land. Over 3 million dead in just 2 hours, and the mysterious black hole had disappeared without a trace, as if it had never been there. This disaster quickly went around the world, triggering a new wave of terror and panic in the world's human population, they who had not experienced any devastating paranormal phenomena for the past three years. It had been very painful for Omega, who was originally from Los Angeles but fortunately was in Canada at the time of the tragedy.

Ian and Sigma were then approached by one of the White House guards, telling them that the meeting was about to begin. The two members of the Red Wolves went to get their friends to warn them to come.