Darkness.
There was no light.
No sound.
No pain.
Rogers didn't know how long he had been there. Time felt meaningless. Everything was silent, as if he were floating in an endless void.
Slowly, however, his consciousness began to return.
Fragments of memory appeared in his mind like shattered pieces of glass.
Fire.
Smoke.
A burning apartment building.
A collapsing staircase.
And a small child clinging tightly to him.
Tommy.
Rogers remembered everything.
He remembered jumping out of the window.
He remembered his body slamming hard into the ground.
And the unbearable pain that followed.
Then—
nothing.
Only darkness.
...Am I dead?
His thoughts echoed through the void.
Strangely, he didn't feel afraid.
Instead, there was a strange sense of calm within his heart.
Tommy survived.
That alone was enough.
If he had to die for that, Rogers had no regrets.
But the moment that thought appeared—
something changed.
In the far distance of the endless darkness, a small light appeared.
At first, it looked like a distant star.
But slowly, the light grew brighter.
Larger.
And closer.
Rogers didn't know how, but he felt as if he were being pulled toward it.
Slowly.
Without the ability to resist.
The darkness around him began to fade.
Then a voice echoed.
A voice so deep and powerful that it seemed to shake his very existence.
"CHILD OF MAN."
Rogers did not hear the voice with his ears.
It appeared directly inside his mind.
Heavy.
Ancient.
And filled with indescribable power.
The light began to change shape.
A massive throne of golden light appeared before him.
And sitting upon it was a figure almost impossible for the human mind to comprehend.
Its body radiated light like the sun.
Its eyes burned like twin stars.
Its aura was so immense that Rogers felt like a tiny insect before a towering mountain.
Yet strangely—
he felt no fear.
Only overwhelming reverence.
The voice spoke again.
"YOU ARE DEAD."
Rogers wasn't surprised.
He had already suspected as much.
"Yes," he replied in his thoughts.
A few moments of silence passed.
Then the voice spoke once more.
"YET YOUR FINAL ACTION HAS DRAWN MY ATTENTION."
The memory of Tommy surfaced again.
Rogers exhaled softly.
"I only did what had to be done."
The light surrounding the figure trembled gently.
As if it were observing Rogers more closely.
"MANY HUMANS SPEAK OF HONOR."
"BUT WHEN DEATH APPROACHES, THEY FLEE."
"YOU DID NOT."
Rogers remained silent.
To him, it wasn't anything extraordinary.
He simply couldn't let a child die.
The voice continued.
"YOU SACRIFICED YOUR LIFE FOR ANOTHER."
"THAT IS A RARE TRAIT."
Then the darkness behind the figure opened.
A vision appeared before Rogers.
A battlefield.
The sky burned crimson.
Massive explosions shook the earth.
And in the middle of the war stood towering warriors.
They wore massive armor like walking fortresses.
In their hands were gigantic swords and thunderous weapons.
Rogers recognized them immediately.
The Space Marines.
Legendary warriors from a world defined by endless war.
The figure on the throne spoke.
"THESE WARRIORS COME FROM A WORLD FORGED IN WAR."
"THEY ARE THE SHIELD OF HUMANITY."
The light around them grew brighter.
Then the vision changed.
Rogers saw a completely different world.
Great mountains.
Vast, dark forests.
Stone kingdoms with towering spires.
Giant monsters roaming among the trees.
Magic burning in the night sky.
The voice spoke again.
"ANOTHER WORLD."
"A WORLD FILLED WITH DANGER."
"AND A WORLD THAT NEEDS WARRIORS."
Rogers stared at the vision seriously.
The radiant figure continued.
"I WILL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO LIVE ONCE MORE."
"BUT NOT IN YOUR OLD WORLD."
"YOU WILL BE REBORN IN THIS ONE."
The image of the Space Marines appeared again.
"YOU WILL CARRY THEIR POWER."
"THE BODY OF A WARRIOR FORGED FOR WAR."
"THE BODY OF A SPACE MARINE."
Rogers remained silent for a long time.
He was already dead.
His old world was gone.
But if this new world needed someone to protect others—
then the answer was obvious.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"If that world needs a warrior…"
He looked up at the radiant figure.
"…then I will fight."
The light around the throne shone brighter.
As if Rogers's answer had been expected from the very beginning.
Golden light spread through the endless darkness like the rising sun.
For a moment—
everything became silent.
Then the voice spoke again.
Not with a long sentence.
Not with a command filled with many words.
Only a single command.
A single phrase carrying absolute authority.
"ARISE, SON OF ELIAS."
Blinding light exploded like the birth of a star.
Roger was briefly startled, but his entire consciousness was soon swallowed by an overwhelming surge of energy.
He felt his body being formed again.
Bones.
Muscles.
Blood.
Every part of him was rebuilt by an unseen power.
But this time—
stronger.
Denser.
More perfect.
His skeleton thickened like reinforced steel.
His muscles grew with immense power.
His heart pounded like a war drum.
His lungs burned with new strength.
His body grew larger.
Taller.
Stronger than any ordinary human.
The voice echoed for the final time within the void.
"YOU SHALL BE THE SHIELD OF THE INNOCENT."
"YOU SHALL BE THE SWORD IN THE DARKNESS."
"AND THIS NEW WORLD SHALL KNOW YOUR NAME."
The light exploded once more.
And everything returned to darkness.
But this time—
only for a moment.
Because a few seconds later—
Rogers opened his eyes.
He took a deep breath.
His body felt heavy.
Yet incredibly powerful.
He was lying on cold ground.
Above him stretched a night sky filled with countless stars.
There were no city lights.
No tall buildings.
Only endless stars.
He tried to move his hand.
But as his fingers moved, golden light suddenly burst from his chest.
The light spread through his entire body like flowing energy.
CLANG.
A piece of metal armor appeared on his arm.
Then another formed on his shoulder.
A metal helmet slowly shaped itself from light and sealed over his head.
Within seconds, Rogers's entire body was covered in massive war armor.
A mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
[Power Armor System Activated.]
And somewhere deep within the forest—
something was waiting.