It was not Jim’s first rodeo in this weird place, this Nexus. In fact, he had been one of the first people--Heroes, he reminded himself, we’re called heroes… all of us—to arrive here and begin competing, gladiatorially, for… for what? He still hadn’t figured this out and was thankful only that Matt Horner, his closest friend and the captain of Hyperion, had also found himself stuck here, though as a support for Jim, rather than a boots-on-the-ground warrior himself. Every time they returned, no one seemed to have noticed their absence, ship included… even when they were aboard the ship when they left. It was always just the two of them. Matt had been hesitant to describe the conditions aboard the bridge during their travels to the Nexus and Jim hadn’t pressed, unwilling to board his own flagship if its own captain was reticent to share information. He trusted Matt’s judgment.
Nevertheless, companions or not, Jim was always unsettled to be here, sure that the next blow to his power armor would end him and he wouldn’t go back, or that the Nexus and whatever might be in charge of it, might keep them prisoner for eternity. More unsettling than that, however, was the place’s unique ability to reproduce places he’d seen before—thatmany of them had seen—with such vibrant realness that he could smell the hydraulic fluid at Braxis holdout, or the sulfurous stink of the demonic half of the Battlefield of Eternity (whatever the hell that was).
When they had touched down in a beautiful rock garden, surrounded by traditional Japanese structures and falling Sakura, he had been struck breathless at the sight of it. This place was downright peaceful, compared to many of the other battlefields, though the peace hadn’t lasted. Genji seemed to know the place well and he and a new warrior, a short fellow with a severely groomed beard that made Raynor feel like a space hobo, maneuvered their way about the field of combat to shake victory from the claws of the opposing team. Jim was stepping out of the respawn portal at their home base when the victory cheer came.
He’d been put there by a wingblade through the chest of his hardskin. He grasped at himself absently as the rest of his team returned and together, they re-entered that same portal, deposited at the Hub, an indescribable place that everyone saw just a little differently. Flipping the visor of his power armor upward, hiding the skull upon it and revealing his own, sweaty face. He turned to Genji, with whom he’d begun to form a strangely easy friendship. The younger man was vibrant, seemingly unfazed by anything and everything, and almost joyful to be here, as if this was fun for him. He envied the guy that, at least.
“Seems like ya knew that place, man, wanna fill me in?”
