- "You kill them from behind."
- ―Dikembe
Dikembe Umbutu is a veteran of the Congo Ground War and the current Congolese ruler of the National Republic of Umbutu. He is also the estranged son of the previous NRU ruler Upanga Umbutu. After surviving his father's madness that cost Upanga's death, Dikembe matured into a respected leader of his people.
Biography[]
Background[]
Dikembe aspired to become an artist in which his profession was disapproved of by his father. He traveled to England to study at Oxford University. He lived in London, where he opened an art studio in 1994. Still seen in disapproval by Upanga, Dikembe could not bring himself to return to his country.
War of 1996[]
Dikembe was visiting his friend Brian Aldridge in Oxford a day prior to the War of 1996. Although initially bewildered by the arrival of the aliens, Dikembe took the news in stride until having witnessed the televised destruction of London along with the other destroyed cities across the planet. Dikembe then decided to return to his homeland. He traveled to the English coastline and reached Weymouth. There, he became acquainted with an American woman named Hailey, who invited him to her yacht where they have a short-lived relationship.
On July 4th, Dikembe was awoken to learn that humanity had finally turned the war against the aliens. Despite humanity's survival, England was still devastated in which Dikembe was caught up in a massive migration of refugees leaving for the European mainland. Dikembe was offered a lift by Hailey to Tunis. After departing from Hailey, Dikembe began his long journey home via motorcycle.
Returning to Umbutu[]
Upon arriving in his homeland, Dikembe was attacked by a group of aliens. Fortunately, he was saved by soldiers led by his twin brother Bakari. He then learned from his brother that an alien City Destroyer had landed in their homeland and Upanga had been waging a ground war against the invaders. After being reunited with his father, Dikembe learned from Upanga that he planned on turning his province into his own nation, the National Republic of Umbutu, and having his eldest son to lead this new-found country's national army. Dikembe was initially skeptical of his father's intentions, but was obligated to help this new nation.
For months, Dikembe fought with the national army against the aliens. During a reconnaissance, he and Bakari were captured by the aliens, who planned on using them to draw out Upanga. Their trap worked when Upanga led his army to rescue his sons. However, Bakari managed to break himself and his brother free. Unfortunately Bakari was fatally wounded by a stray bullet and died in Dikembe's arms. For the next nine years, Dikembe continued his fight against the aliens until their complete eradication. During the war, he managed to decipher some of the alien language in order to give him an advantage. He also discovered an effective strategy by attacking the aliens from behind where the invaders are proved to be more vulnerable.
After the conflict, Dikembe was among the many people that were deeply affected by direct mind-to-mind contact with the aliens. However, the aliens' telepathic intrusions affected him differently than other humans. This left him having recurring visions of alien symbols in which he personally painted these symbols as part of his artwork.
Rebelling against his Father[]
Dikembe was promoted as general of the military. Despite his country's victory, it was left in ruins and its people were suffering from starvation and malnutrition while Upanga firmly enforced an isolationist policy and rejected foreign humanitarian aid. Dikembe tried and failed to reason with his father to make him realize his country's deterioration, and even resorted to secretly disobeying his father's laws such as aiding his fellow countrymen to flee from the NRU.
Dikembe was soon forced to realize that his father was becoming insane. His father believed that the alien threat remains in which his actions are doing more harm to his people. Dikembe ultimately chose to launch a coup against his father.
In June 2013, Dikembe recruited foreign mercenaries to begin his overthrow of Upanga; Dikembe planned to have his father taken alive and removed from the country while avoiding unnecessary deaths amongst his people. However, the coup failed when Upanga realized of his son's treachery and stabbed Dikembe in the process. With the mercenaries killed or bribed, Dikembe was forced to flee on foot and attempt to leave his country. However, he was captured by Upanga's close adviser Zuberi and imprisoned in a pit where he suffered a long series of visions related to the aliens.
After a year of imprisonment, Dikembe was surprisingly freed by Zuberi. After learning from Zuberi that Upanga’s madness had worsened, and he had planned for his son's execution, Dikembe was provided a vehicle and resumed his escape from his country. But upon almost crossing the Umbutu border, Dikembe grew guilt ridden of leaving his people under the tyranny of his father, and turned back to the capital to confront his father.
As he approach Umbutu's capital, he was joined by a large number of his people who are willing to stand with him despite of his pleas against throwing away their lives for his. Upanga and his armed guards soon confronted the gathering. Incensed, Upanga gave a pistol to Dikembe and daring him to shoot his father. Though tempted, Dikembe refused to kill him. This angered Upanga, who then order Zuberi to kill Dikembe. Immediately, the people shielded Dikembe and Zuberi suddenly turn his gun on Upanga and fatally shot him. Soon after Upanga's death, Dikembe became the new leader of his country and proceeded to undo his father's policies.
War of 2016[]
On July 2, 2016, the dormant City Destroyer was suddenly reactivated. Dikembe immediately uplifted his country's isolationism and invited Earth Space Defense Director David Levinson and Dr. Catherine Marceaux to investigate the ship. They soon learned that the ship's previous occupants sent a distress signal. Afterwards, Dikembe discussed his guests of his strange visions and their connections to the image of an unknown spherical object.
The following day, an unknown alien ship—similar to the spherical object depicted in Dikembe's drawings—arrived on the Moon and was subsequently shot down by the ESD. Dikembe insisted Levinson in allowing him to join in his journey to the Moon to learn more from the wreckage in which Levinson reluctantly obliged. As they arrived to the Moon during the 20th anniversary of the War of 1996, the group witnessed the return of the aliens in the form of a massive mothership. Dikembe and the others manage to retrieve an intact container from the wreckage and are dragged to Earth by the alien mothership's gravity before safely fleeing to Area 51.
Dikembe was present to witness Thomas Whitmore allowing himself to interrogate one of Area 51's alien prisoners and learned about the aliens being led by a Queen. When the prisoner turned violent and broke free, Dikembe killed the creature with his personal pair of machetes.
Dikembe helped Dr. Marceaux in translating alien hieroglyphs she has taken from her research from previous patients who experienced similar alien telepathic imprinting. He and Dr. Marceaux realized that the image of the sphere referred to a galactic war between the aliens and their enemies. Thereafter, Dr. Brackish Okun opened the container and releasing an alien artificial intelligence, which it revealed itself as the nemesis of the invaders and was sent to help humanity. Dikembe soon later helped the ESD in defending Area 51 as they implemented their plan to kill the Alien Queen. He also strikes an unlikely camaraderie with American accountant Floyd Rosenberg.
Gallery[]
