The pain of impact...
God, it's like a small death.

Cole couldn't do a damn thing as the militia dragged Kuo away, but at least she was alive.

Wolfe... he was gone.
... and without him to guide Cole to the Blast Cores, he wasn't far behind.

At that point, even crawling into the storm drain was a trial of its own.

That thing from Empire City is coming; Cole can feel it.

It's coming for him...
But, he's got no way to fight back.

Four Hours Later

Cole limped to the road, using a nearby light pole for support. His body ached badly but everything seemed to be fine.
Nothing terribly out of place.

"Cole..." Zeke called through the phone, voice shaky and scared. "Cole, you there?"

"Yeah," the conduit replied, narrowed eyes watching the people of New Marais surround the large rock ramp in the middle of the road.
Suddenly, he had newfound anger.

"What the hell happened?"
Zeke's voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Militia got Kuo, and Wolfe's dead."
"Dead?"

Cole went silent and gazed down at his hands, still feeling the way his body electrocuted itself when he landed in the water and shoved through the pain to get out of it.

"Hey, man... I think I have some good news. Come on by when you get the chance," Zeke said, sent the coordinates, and left the call.

With a grunted sigh, Cole trudged for the building Zeke sent the info for. It was close by; a simple scale up a building and one cable wire is all it took to get there.

Cole approached Zeke solemnly, his friend looking through a pair of binoculars. "Hey, Cole," Zeke greets, full of energy.

"What do you want, Zeke?" Cole asks in a rougher tone than he meant but there's no taking it back.

Zeke's smiles falls the slightest bit and he brings the binoculars down from his face. "Cheer up, man. Things have been a crap ton worse for us than this. We always get by."

"I don't know."
Cole looks down, the corners of his mouth falling and his eyes glazing over. "I feel a little low on options here, Zeke."

He takes a step towards his friend, a certain type of pain in his eyes when they lock gazes. "Like it or not, the Beast is going to be my responsibility."

He scoffs hopelessly. "Now Wolfe, the only person who could help me kill it, is dead. And the RFI is paperweight without the Blast Cores; we have no way of finding them."

"What about our friend Brookstone," Zeke tried, staring back into his binoculars.

"How are they supposed to help us? They've done nothing but run away after their deeds are done." Cole goes back to glaring at the floor. "They're useless."

"Cole, brother, that ramp saved your life."

He shook his head before motioning to the view of the city with a weak hand. "Zeke, you got anything for me?"

He gives a simple nudge for Cole to grab the binoculars. "I think I found Kuo."