Sofox Central
The machinations of fate dictate what is on this page...
The machinations of fate dictate what is on this page...
To the EN Team,
I have been following Exterminatus Now for quite some time and it really does amuse.
However, despite the fact that you have all have worked constantly on EN for years, that you constantly keep the comic's quality high, and this is all entirely your own personal project which you all work on in your free time, I still have several suggestions for things you could do in the comic which I feel would be of great benefit and greatly improve the standard of the comic if you were to take them on board:
1. Lothar should have an existential crisis based on his sudden realisation of his own disregard to human life after a stray shot from his plasma cannon, aimed at a fleeing heretic, grossly incinerates a 6 year old boy who was playing hopscotch on a quiet suburban road. Then Eastwood should come home one day in the nick of time to prevent Lothar from hanging himself. After an emotional battle as the tempers between the two flare again, Lothar breaks down and confesses to Eastwood that the souls of all the innocents he unduly departed now hang around him, and how can he possibly live a life that will give him salvation of all the sins he has committed. This begins a year long arc (there should still be space for the Halloween pictures if managed well enough [Lothar should be Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, a nice comparison showing how the disdain for the unpleasant aspects of human nature and insecure nature leads to a self perpetuating circle of self enforced loneliness leading to violent and psychotic outbursts at society at large; though I feel not all your readers will get it]) where Lothar has to regain his self esteem and sense of self worth as a human being.
2. Eastwood's womanising ways come back to haunt him after he finally gets a girl pregnant. This girl should be Jamilla Townsend, who was the only woman to offer him the closest thing to tenderness outside of his mother. It should happen after the Inquisition Office Party, where the two awkwardly meet, and after an evening of stubbornness from Eastwood against Jamilla's at first good natured but then sulky prying, Eastwood finally opens up about how a lifetime of pursuing females purely for sexual gratification has left him empty and desolate inside, and how perhaps his overeagerness in initiating mating rituals had less to do with pure unrestricted libido, and possibly more do do with a deep seated sense of loneliness and possibly a desire to be loved? Touched by this unexpected display of vulnerability, Jamilla kisses Eastwood, she draws back, they look eachother in the eye, and in that moment the floodgates break as the two give themselves to eachother, two lonely souls desperate for companionship as they live their lives on a single spec of dust spinning it's way through the cosmos (You might want to make a joke involving the photocopier since it is taking place in an office setting).
3. The strain of emotions between Jamilla and Eastwood should question the very nature of what sort of relationship they have, or whether it was just a meaningless fling. This should be complicated by Jamilla's workaholicims and dedication to the job, refusing to accept her pregnancy as a limiting factor and Eastwood's fear over becoming a parent having never had such (personal) responsibility before. The issue of abortion should be raised in a 5 comic arc until the simple chance sighting of a single bird feather, wafting through the air and landing on the nose of a baby in a pram outside causing him to laugh with childish delight, smothers all discussion of ending such a precious life before it even has the chance to begin.
However, as Eastwoodd resolves himself to become a better father, with the help of his friends and the expression of his darkest fears to those who support him; and as Jamilla softens and learns that undistracted dedication to work isn't everything, and a child can bring something that no amount of job satisfaction can compare to.
It is discovered that through ultrasound, that the baby has some strange abnormalities. This brings weeks of tension as Jamilla goes through the final stages of childbirth, and as her and Eastwood squeeze eachother hand in the delivery room as she pushes new life into the world, it is discovered that the baby has Down Syndrome. This crushes the them, being an unmarried couple now wondering if they can face the demands that the baby will bring.
4. The two above plotlines should cross over with eachother frequently, as Lothar's quest to bring meaning from the lives he removed from the world parallel with Eastwood's quest to bring meaning from the life he is about to bring into the world. As they continue their journeys, alone but together, they find solace in eachother company in seeing someone going through as bad a time as they are and, I dunno, maybe they could go drinking together or something?
5. With Lothar dejected, and Eastwood also having his own emotional trouble, Virus should be is the one most on the ball in noticing some disturbing shifts in the Inquisitions upper management. It appears that the Inquisitions often fascist and strongly militaristic approach have earned it a great deal of opposition, even within the Inquisition itself. Fingers are being pointed, and it seems a movement to unseat Schaefer is underway which would disable the single piece of leverage the group over the Inquisition. So begins a determined trek as Virus weaves his way through the very fibres of the Inquisition itself, uncovering who is responsible for the unrest and disruption as he makes his way through the tangled web of bureaucracy. What begins as a simple quest preserve the status quo for his friends, soon becomes something far more darker and sinister, as a great plot is uncovered that will determine the lives of millions of people on the Planet Mobius. Through quick thinking and taking chances that bring him within an inch of losing his life while having to make alliances with untrustworthy people, Virus is able to knock out a key foundation of the massive conspiracy and bring it crumbling to the ground.
6. Rogue during all this time, has grown disaffected with the rest of the group. His brief return visit to Taika reminding him of how much he is a foreigner in a foreign land. His restlessness and search for people to understand him brings him on a lonely trip where he tries to associated with a local Taika community. While his cultural longing is briefly salved, small things about the communities behaviour unsettle him, and he suddenly discovers a big a drug dealing operation right under his nose. They protest, they cry out that they had no choice, as immigrants how else would the gain the money needed to survive in this unforgiving country? However, forced to arrest his very countrymen for doing things that his very nature abhors, Rogue is forced to come to the conclusion that perhaps being a member of Taika isn't about the country you grew up in, but rather the values it taught you that you keep in your soul.
7. You might want to throw some daemon hunting into these storylines here and there just to remind readers what the guys do for a living.
8. My idea is that this will all build up to an emotional and tense climax where the entire nature of the universe that EN takes place in is changed. You see, a prophecy, once ignored, comes to light. When the prophecy starts to come true, it becomes inevitable that the entire planet will be ravaged by a full force of demons. When the EN crew are sent to investigate a small disturbance, they are utterly overpowered and barely escape with their lives when facing only the tiniest sliver of what the prophecy says the full demon horde will be. Portals start opening up everywhere around the planet, and while armies are sent to contain them, they are quickly overpowered and more and more demons flood in. It becomes clear that the only solution is the unthinkable, an Evacuation. Of the entire planet.
9. Since they have no means to get to the nearest habitable planet, and none of their ships can support life for more then a few decades, the powers of the Void and technology are combined to come up with a new plan, a way of transporting the population into another dimension, one where the planet is still there and habitable, but uninhabited by intelligent lifeforms. But to use such a technology would destroy the planet, so the population is herded into evacuation ships where they will enter outer space and make the jump there. But tensions are high. The EN crew is torn between racing to safety in the ships or holding off the demons long enough for the others to escape. While a few years ago, the decision is a foregone conclusion, now Harry knows he must send Jamilla and their son off while he fights for their survival. Likewise Lothar, still somewhat haunted with his past, sees this as a final godsent opportunity to redeem himself by saving the lives of thousands. In a pledge worthy of brothers, Virus promises Eastwood he'll escort Jamilla to the ships and safety, and look after her if anything happens to Eastwood. The group says what might well be their final goodbyes (Maybe a boob joke as they hug?), and Eastwood and Lothar travel towards the Demon horde while Virus, Jamilla and the child travel in the opposite directions.
10. Fighting the demon horde with the rest of the army, it quickly becomes clear that their efforts are useless and that the horde is advancing almost unimpeded by the resistance. Demented about protecting Jamilla and his child, Eastwood throws himself onto a demons neck and fires point blank into his eye, but in it's death throes Harry is thrown back away from the horde into the city. Lothar, knowing that time is short, throws himself into the horde, firing hot plasma as he dives forward, a quick slice of a demons claws bring him to his knees as his robot legs are cut off. Looking around and seeing the demons encircle him, Lothar looks forlornly around inevitable as time seems to slow down. He looks down and closes his eyes, then looks heavenward a tear in his eye. "Perhaps now.... I can finally find peace" he says, and with that overcharges his plasma cannon, detonates it and causes a massive explosion completely annihilating the front line of demons and sacrificing himself in the process.
Meanwhile Eastwood lays groaning in the rubble, leg broken and ready to accept his fate as the demons will soon return; but suddenly sees Virus, who, as a true friend, came back for him after he got Jamilla on the ship. Helping him onto his feet, they climb into the Spectre with Virus taking the helm as Harry is in no state to drive (now would be an excellent time for a callback with how Virus is finally let drive the Spectre). Thus begins a climatic race though the city remains as the odd demon explosion survivor tries to jump onto the Specter to damage it only to be shot or shaken off. The reach the launching of the final ship but crash just short of it and have to make the final dash.
But the demon horde is catching up, and just when they think all hope is lost, a craft drops nearby and out come Rogue and several of his fellow daemon hunters. There is frantic and tense fighting as they gradually fall back to the ship and try to stop the demons from damaging it. But they make a last minute dash for the entrance to the ship just as the door closes, and the rockets start up utterly obliterating all the demons placed under it.
11. Harry is tearfully reunited with his Jamilla and his child, and in that instant they decide to get married in the ship's chapel. It is a moving ceremony by all that are there as the tension of the demon horde and near annihilation finally showed just how strong their love was for eachother. Harry gives a meaningful eulogy to Lothar, his lost friend who sacrificed everything so that they may survive, and hopes in the eyes of the gods, he has gained salvation through his final act. The ceremony ends and the team leave the chapel in relatively good spirits. They meet at a wide open window that gives a great view of the planet Mobius and the great vastness of speckled space that it lies within. As they watch this, the ship joins the rest of the fleet, and the dimension hopper is activated with a flash.
12. As the flash fades, they see, in Mobius's place, a new planet. Untouched, ripe for cultivations, and with millions upon millions of survivors looking down on it ready to make it their new home. What they are seeing is New Mobius.
A single piece of text appears:
"This was Exterminatus Now!
Thank you for reading!"
So guys, those are just my ideas for how Exterminatus Now should go. Now of course, it is your comic so you can do whatever you want with it, but I will be very highly offended if you do not implement every single one of my suggestions above.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Your appreciative fan,
Sofox