E1M6 Cont

“Whew! Okay, that’s the last one!”

I dropped the last pair of barrels onto the stack I’d made in one of the maze’s rooms. The entrance was wide enough to grant the monster access, and the chamber was large enough to let me run past the stack towards the thin wall on the other side.

“This is a crazy plan, John. Only a madman would seriously consider this.”

“Good. Because only a madman could make it work.”

“John, listen to yourself! You’re going to use yourself as bait to lure the beast into this room, shoot the barrels and blow it up as you phase through the wall? This is some Wile E Coyote bullshit!

You’re a soldier, for crying out loud! Act like a soldier! Think this through carefully and tactically!”

“If things made sense here, Colonel, it wouldn’t be called Hell. Gotta fight hellfire with hellfire. Ha! That’s a Catch-22, isn’t it?”

Something blipped on my radar. There were two faint dots at the edge of the display. The first moved down the maze towards me, but the second wobbled back and forth.

That’s my cue.

Guns loaded, mana charged, spear ready, full health and shields.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“I don’t. I think this is gonna be fun.”

“Wait, the second bogey’s gone.”

The Colonel was right. The second dot which had moved in my direction stopped and disappeared, but the first kept swaying in place.

“Probably one of those smaller critters spooked by the big thing, fled to its nest or whatever.

Come on. Let’s catch ourselves a big one.”

I set off in the direction of the monster, occasionally glancing at my radar to check for other movement. So far so good.

Thanks to my previous memorization of the labyrinth’s layout, I had deduced a route that would lead the monster to the booby-trapped room while giving me enough time to get to safety.

Hopefully.

I stopped at an intersection about halfway to the monster, as far as I was willing to go.

“Now what?”

“We make some noise,” I replied before loudly shooting a barrage of missiles at the rocky walls, hearing the blasts echo through the halls.

“YOU HEAR THAT, YOU BIG BASTARD? THAT’S THE DINNER BELL! DINNER IS SERVED! COME AND GET IT!”

I switched to machine guns and let loose a storm of explosive rounds, wildly spinning in all directions.

“WHAT’S THE MATTER, DID I HURT YOU? DO MY GUNS SCARE YOU? DON’T BE AFRAID! COME HERE! HAVE ANOTHER SERVING OF STEAMING HOT LEAD! THERE’S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!”

“Stop. Please just, stop.”

The white dot kept wobbling in place. I equipped my flak cannons and unloaded buckshot on the scarred walls.

“Come on. Come on! Do it! Do it! COME ON! KILL ME! I’M HERE! COME ON! DO IT NOW!”

Nothing. The dot paced in its spot but otherwise did not move. I stopped shooting.

“Something’s wrong. It’s not moving.”

“Will you listen to me now? In this situation a self-respecting soldier would-”

“No, something’s not right. It’s been stalking me this whole time, following just out of my sight to get an idea of how strong I am, and attacking me that one time I gave away my position. But it’s never done this.”

“You think it actually is hurt?”

“…Maybe.”

If it actually was inside-out, then it stood to reason that its exposed innards would make it more vulnerable. It didn’t seem I’d done that much damage for something its size, but there had been blood. Perhaps it wasn’t as tough as it looked.

“Let’s find out.”

I headed in the direction of the white dot, putting away my spear and priming my Flame Wave spell in preparation to deal maximum damage. I walked down the identical corridors and hallways before arriving at the corner behind which lay the pacing dot. I could hear a faint squelching noise around the bend.

I deeply breathed in.

“Okay. Okay. This is it.”

Three, two, one…action.

I leapt around the corner ready to raise hell but froze when I saw the source of the signal.

A mass of corpses from the other creatures that haunted the maze hung from the ceiling by a bright red entrail, held together with thick mucus and swaying to produce the movement my device tracked.

Oh, crap.

“You need to leave…NOW.”

“ROOOOAAAAHHHH!!”

A new brighter dot appeared from the direction I had just come from, blocking off the escape route I had so carefully prepared. The second bogey.

“SHIT!”

I bolted past the decoy as fast as I possibly could, hearing the distant splashing draw closer and closer.

“Colonel! Find me another route back to the trap!”

“Turn left! Turn left here!”

I did as the Colonel ordered and heard the sound of something big smashing through the macabre decoy and all the bodies splashing on the puddles.

“You don’t have enough Argent energy to phase through all the shortcuts in your path!”

“Then I might as well buy some time!”

I turned around and let loose a flame wave behind me, which spread throughout the hall and set even the moist ground on fire.

“BURN, MOTHERFUCKER! BURN!”

A hulking shape turned the corner and roared as the hellish flames engulfed it. A single flame wave likely wouldn’t kill the beast but I wasn’t going to stay and find out.

“There’s a thin wall at your one-o-clock! Go through it!”

I triggered my phase shift and passed through the wall into the adjacent corridor. I glanced at my motion tracker to find the monster running down a nearby hallway.

“Soldier, what are you stopping?”

“That thing’s still running! Why is it running?!”

“Doesn’t matter! You need to fall back! Phase through the next wall in front of you while your shift is still active!”

I raced down the corridor towards the clear wall in front of me. Leaping, I phased through it and landed right in the charging path of the creature.

“WHAT THE-”

The beast pounced and passed through me but I still winced in pain as its jaws clamped shut on the spot my disassociated body was. My overshield instantly broke as the blue bar in my display went dark.

My physical disassociation during shifting wasn’t absolute, and I realized I could still take harm from demonic attacks. The distorted shape of the monster doubled back around and I bolted away from it as my shift wore off.

“You’re going the wrong way!”

“I’m going the right way: AWAY from that thing!”

I fled through the corridors and made a sharp turn to shake the monster off, only to find myself at a dead end.

“The walls are too thick! You can’t phase through them here!”

Something huge and pale turned the corner.

“ROOOOAAAAHHHH!!”

I triggered my phase shift once again and passed through the charging beast while firing incendiary blasts from my flak cannons, but the creature slashed at me as I approached with a long gangly arm. The limb passed through my ghostly form but I still recoiled as I felt my innards violently displaced by the attack. The red bar on my display went down by half.

“AAAHHH!”

“John!”

“I’m alive! I’m still alive!” I yelled to assure myself as much as the Colonel, but I didn’t know for how much longer. One more of those blows and I was surely a goner, even if shifted. I fled away from the monster and phased through the clear wall directly in front of me.

“Yes! Yes! Go that way! Phase through the wall here! You’re on the quickest route back to the trap!”

The beast ran through the halls adjacent to me as it no doubt predicted my movement.

Fine. Let it follow me. I’ve got a dead end of my own waiting for it.

My overshield began to regenerate but I only had enough mana for one more phase shift, the one I would need to avoid getting killed by my own trap.

“The wall on your ten! Phase through it!”

I passed through the wall and returned to the familiar corridor that led straight to the barrel room as my shift wore off. I checked my radar. The beast was close but if I hurried I could beat it to the trap.

“Come on, you piece of shit cyborg legs! Run faster!”

“ROOOOAAAAHHHH!!”

The sound of not-so-distant splashing appeared behind me and I heard galloping footsteps grow louder and louder. I fired my jump pack, desperately dashing forward for every possible boost I could add to my speed.

“ROOOOAAAAHHHH!!”

The roars were only a few meters back, right on my heels. It was going to be close.

I turned back towards the monster for the first time, only barely catching a glimpse of flailing limbs, slimy pale skin, and hanging crimson viscera.

“You’re stupid! And guess what! Now you’re gonna be stupid and dead!”

I passed through the entrance to the room, ran past the stack of explosive barrels, and with a running leap, triggered my last phase shift as I spun around and heard the creature pounce.

Even with the visual distortions it was horrendous to look at. The head was long and snake-like with a drooling toothless mouth, a series of small beady black eyes along the upper edge, and a long gelatinous brain exposed along the forehead. If the creature was in agony by living such an existence, then perhaps I was doing it a favor by putting it out of its misery.

I sincerely hoped not.

I raised both middle fingers at my foe as I launched a single missile at the stack of barrels and phased through the wall.

A deafening explosion ensued which shook the very ground I’d landed on, audible even with my hearing muffled by the phase shift.

“Did we get it?” Asked the Colonel after what seemed forever.

I checked my radar. No movement. Turning back to the booby-trapped room, I noticed that the barrels of shimmering fluid were gone and the room filled with faint smoke, but the ghostly shape of the creature was nowhere to be seen. After waiting a few moments I was certain that the monster was gone as well, and I phased through the wall right before the shift expired.

The walls and ceiling of the chamber were splattered with a dark steaming fluid that ran down in thick rivulets, occasionally pockmarked with small globs of tissue, and the whole floor was littered with large chunks of charred black flesh.

“Who’s the man? I’m the man.”

“Guess that harebrained scheme of yours wasn’t so crazy after all.”

“Oh, it was crazy alright. It was fun, too. Loads of fun.”

I kicked a twisted piece of metal shell away.

“Barrels of it.”

“You think that was enough fun for one day?”

I headed out the room and towards the center of the maze.

“Sure was. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

I strolled leisurely down the once-haunted halls of the labyrinth. The same gross masses continued falling through the walls and splashing on the floor, but I felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from that cursed place. And from myself as well.

Maybe the poor souls of the original inhabitants can finally rest.

I arrived at a sealed gate with a round depression in the center, from which several dark channels spread out across the surface in straight patterns. I got the impression that the eyeball was the key. I held it up to the gate and the channels shone with red and blue energy, lighting up the surface as the door slid up with a heavy thud.

The door opened into a large chamber that was empty except for a strange apparatus operating in the very center, a tall gyroscopic construct consisting of three rings that spun independently around a shimmering fluid core. The rings had lights around the edges which reflected off the silvery liquid, casting an aquatic glow throughout the whole chamber.

“The gateway. This was part of this place’s original architecture. The inhabitants must have created it as a method to achieve faster-than-light travel.”

“But what happened?”

“It worked, only too well. The gateway tore a hole through our universe directly into Hell, causing the consumption of their entire world. Do you remember the Event Horizon?”

“…Yeah, that classified UAC project, way back before Phobos. The company wanted to build the first FTL-capable ship, engineered from those old Martian relics. Vanished from all scopes and q-coms on its maiden voyage, never to be seen again.”

Wow, I remembered all that on my own? My memory must be getting better. I still feel strange; dazed and confused, as if something’s keeping parts of my brain switched off. But I’ll fight it. I’ll remember who I was.

“Rumor has it the Event Horizon actually broke through to Hell. Some folks say that’s why the UAC doesn’t use FTL propulsion despite being the only company with the technology. Which they only use for short-range teleporters and the Martian Hellgates.”

“So every civilization that develops FTL travel, they’re doomed to be invaded by Hell?”

“Hayden thinks so. Even claims that’s the reason behind the extinction of the ancient Martians.

The Hayden Solution to the Fermi Paradox, the bastard calls it.”

“So why haven’t we been invaded ye…”

My voice trailed off as I realized the reason.

“They’ll start from Mars. The invasion will come from Mars. They’ll use it as a stepping-stone to get to Earth!”

“John, what are you talking about? Demons can’t travel through outer space!”

“Our ships! They’ll hijack our docked ships and use them to invade Earth! You gotta warn them!”

“John, relax! There’s countless layers of security in place to prevent or deal with a major demonic breach! One of the first protocols is to lock down the Spaceport and Starport! If bad comes to worse, Central Command can remotely evacuate or self-destruct all UAC vessels and even bring the ARES array online to quarantine the planet!”

I wasn’t having it.

“I gotta get back to Earth. I gotta find my family!

Colonel! Can this gateway get me back home?”

“Uh, wait. Let me scan it.

It’s taken a real beating, soldier. Doesn’t look strong enough to bring you back, but it should be able to transport you to a viable Hellgate. At least, if your new pal upholds their end of the deal.”

I brought the blur artifact up to my face.

“I need your help. My family, my world is in danger. I know I am very different from you, but you too had loved ones, and you know what it’s like to lose all you hold dear. I can’t let that happen. I’ve already lost myself. I can’t lose them too.

Please…Help me go home.”

The red-and-blue eyeball simply stared at me. I could feel no impressions coming from it, and if it had thoughts, I had no idea what they were.

It suddenly looked down, and a sleek terminal emerged from the floor, its surface etched with thin mobile pieces like those over the door to the artifact chamber. I held the eyeball close to the terminal, the pieces lighting up and moving as the artifact manipulated them. The fluid core inside the spinning apparatus suddenly started to whirr, its surface crackling with electricity as the rings spun faster and brighter. I shielded my eyes as the gateway released a thundering blast of energy, then silence. I brought my hands down.

The rings had stopped spinning, floating still within each other in a single luminous circle. The shimmering fluid had become a perfectly still and softly buzzing transparent sphere, through which I could see some strange shadowed Hellscape.

“Will this get me closer to home?”

The eyeball nodded but then relayed a series of impressions that sank my mood.

“John, what’s the matter?”

“They’re not coming. The alien spirits within the artifact, this is as far as they go.”

“Well, why?”

“They only persisted out of hate. Towards Hell, towards themselves for the ambition that got their people killed, towards the monster that hunted them down. But they say that with that thing gone, they can finally have their release. They’ve been waiting too long, and they want their peace.

They thank me. They’ll transfer whatever strength they have left into the artifact, make it a usable relic so I can keep its powers, but from here on I’m on my own.

They wish me luck on my journey, and hope I find what I’m looking for.”

“…Damn.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say. These beings had lent me their strength and all I could do was grant them death.

“If not for you, I never would have survived this place. I honestly don’t know if I’ll make it the rest of the way.”

What do you say to someone about to die? To aliens about to die?

“You granted me this power, fixed me up, gave me a fighting chance. I thank you as well.”

Where will they go? If this is Hell, and they already exist as spirits here, what happens to them? Do they go somewhere else? Reincarnate? Or just simply…vanish?

“Perhaps one day we’ll meet again.”

Fear, sorrow, loneliness, anger, hope. Maybe we’re not so different after all.

“Goodbye.”

Farewell, friend.

The glow emanating from the artifact faded away as the eyeball changed in structure. After a few seconds, it became an inert red-and-blue sphere that cast only the faintest of light, and the presence upon my mind disappeared.

They were gone.

“John. That machine won’t stay stable for long. If you’re going to take the gateway, you better do it now.”

I stood in silence for a moment before responding.

“…Copy that.”

I walked up to the core and stopped just in front of it, raising my hand to touch the surface. My finger passed through with no resistance and was visible from the other side. I pulled my hand back.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

“No. No, I won’t.”

With a deep breath, I stepped forward and passed through the gateway.

* * *

The Slayer marched on through the Blood Storm. He was almost at the Pyramid and focused on minimizing his exposure to the Storm, his HEALTH already down to 54.

The rains waned as he entered another low-density pocket in the tempest, and raising his eyes over the edge of the shield, he could already spot the irregular monolithic pillars on the mountainous terrain, leading up to the Pyramid where it had shaped the very Hellscape with its dark presence. The pillars were made of the same stony glass as the Pyramid, though far clearer and less opaque; a deceptive medium that Maephisto commonly used for his constructs and which the Slayer fervently loathed. But it was the only way to the Pyramid, so he lowered his shield and pressed on.

He took care not to stare too long into the aggravating images reflected on the surfaces of the crystal pillars, which refracted and distorted all sorts of strange and erratic visions. The Slayer drenched in blood, sweat, and tears as he raced down the Phobos hangar searching for his squadmates. The Dreadnought Colossus looming over the city of Taras Nabad, tearing its way across the Dragontooth Mountains, laying waste to the Argenta planet through all sort of Hellish phenomena and striking down even the greatest of Atlans. The wreckage of a thousand allied starships smoldering amidst the wrecked cathedrals of Argent D’Nur. A young boy crying as his father took away the soldier toy in his hand, not understanding his father’s harsh words or anguished expressions as he explained why playing such games was wrong.

The Slayer paid these memories no mind. They were nothing but ceaseless processions of pain and anger, dulling the Slayer’s focus and bringing his attention away from the now.

Stepping into a clearing amid the crystal pillars, the Slayer stopped as his objective finally came into view.

The Slayer rampaged through the fractal crystal Hellscape of the Naraxian Plains, tearing down the great keystone obelisks and gateway towers as he massacred masses of fleeing demons with a Scalar Wave cannon.

He found his target, a metallic Fallen Host that served as general in Maephisto’s armies and towered above the retreating masses. The Slayer fired his weapon but the blast harmlessly passed through, the demon lord immune to the weapon’s soul disassociation properties, before it retaliated with an incantation that shattered the landscape and seared at his body, only serving to further infuriate him. Racing towards the demon lord, he released the useless weapon and switched to a different arm, a jet-black double-barreled shotgun with gold carvings that visibly radiated power. Recognizing the Retribution, that holiest and most feared of the Slayer’s weapons, the demon lord retreated from the battlefield and to the floating Black Pyramid, a living weaponized fortress that Maephisto had sent to protect the region. The Slayer gave chase and fired his weapon at the Pyramid.

A world-splitting blast of thunder roared across the Hellscape as the shot effectively shattered the construct, buckshot penetrating armor and body to devastate its exterior surface and breach a path towards the demon lord. Without a second thought, the Slayer charged through the debris field and rushed into the Black Pyramid through the crater in its side, blinded by sheer unrelenting rage towards the demons he hunted.

As soon as he stepped into the Pyramid’s threshold, countless unseen machinations sprung to life. The Pyramid manipulated the planes of Hell’s reality to restrain the Slayer inside an infinitely recursive series of miniature universes contained within itself. Grunting in frustration over the sudden trap, the Slayer manifested an arcane silver knife and pierced the elemental cage fallen over him with it, breaching the many universes faster than they could form. But as the Slayer surfaced back to the plane of the Black Pyramid, he bore witness to the true nature of this demonic trap.

The Naraxian Plains and the surrounding regions were falling into a gargantuan vortex of unfathomable power. Citadels, kingdoms, worlds, universes, entire planes of Hell consumed by a growing maelstrom of raw infernal energy, with countless souls, legions, lords, and gods devoured by the tempest. What was happening?

Then he saw them. The shadows of the five Heresiarchs, still imprisoned within Tartarus, manifested upon the Shores of Hell. For the f irst time since the First Battle, the Slayer witnessed the five Elder Gods of Hell united in effort against a common enemy: him. They were willingly sacrificing the armies and forces of Hell to fuel a spell unlike any other that had ever been seen in the history of Creation. The Slayer could see the brands of containment, corruption, confusion, degradation and torpor fusing into one paramount incantation, combined with a mystical seal that did not originate from Hell.

The Seal of the Celestial Triumvirate.

The Slayer’s fury turned to frenzy as he struggled to liberate himself before the spell fell upon him. He produced strange and powerful weapons from the Praetor Suit, dimensional resonators and god spears and astral voltrides, anything to escape the countless universes the Pyramid tried to keep him in. He fired the Retribution again and again, the shots blasting through numerous event horizons and crippling the Pyramid from within. The construct struggled to contain the destructive power inside as its very structure began to fracture. Desperate, the Slayer began to charge the Retribution’s secondary fire.

But it was too late. The ritual was complete and the Heresiarchs’ spell descended upon the Slayer with the might of a trillion sacrificed souls, forcing him into a collapsing singularity of pure infernal chaos. His visor cracked and the Praetor Suit flashed in malfunction as its systems were impaired by the cataclysmic spell. The link connecting the Retribution to the Praetor Suit’s weapon matrix failed, causing the shotgun to fall out of his hands and be lost to the maelstrom. The ground became the sky and the sky fell upon him. If he could have screamed, he would have.

Then everything went black.

The Black Pyramid of the Kadingir Sanctum, the kilometer-tall prison fortress that had once entombed him for untold eons, with the colossal scars of the long-past battle still on its surface and the sixth UAC ship docked inside. Five sides, five Sigils from the five Elder Gods of Hell. The tomb that had drained his powers and crippled the Praetor Suit. The one sole artifice that ever came close to stopping the Slayer.

But it had not been enough. He had escaped once. And now he would escape again.

“Slayerrr.”

He turned to face the source of the coarse resonant voice behind him and beheld a five meter humanoid figure of dark twisted metal. The Slayer widened his eyes ever so slightly.

The figure took a step to the side and began to circle around him.

“Serve the Authority. Serve the Corrax Alliance. Serve the Ascended Hosts.”

The Slayer dropped the Basilisk shield and circled around the being as well, keenly watching it with a gaze both intense and regretful.

“My people served. We served our Administrators. Served mankind under Corrax. Served the gods that came down from above.”

The figure’s body of once-living metal now writhed in undead turmoil, the biometallic tissues that could shift to produce tools of discovery and creation now produced only weapons. Such a being would have once been magnificent to behold; now it only evoked horror. And in the Slayer’s case, pity.

“And we served you. We followed your command. Carried your banner across countless realms of darkness. Waged your Unholy Crusade.”

The figure’s eyes once would have gleamed with brilliant emotion. Curiosity, wonder, honor, and compassion for the fellow mortals it met across the cold vastness of the universe. Now, they only blazed with war, violence, and vengeance.

“And you abandoned us.

My people put their trust in you, and for that, our worlds burned and the devils massacred us, hunding us down to the edge of the universe.”

The being was a Hellified citizen of the Verimor, a race of sentient cybernetic organisms that the Argenta once met in their voyages across the cosmos, and one of the founding races of Corrax. They were also one of the many victims from the night Argent D’Nur fell, and another sword of guilt piercing the Slayer’s heart.

“You will not save your world. You will not save your people from the damnation that awaits them.”

The Slayer halted. The Verimor were a respected race of the Corrax Alliance and one of the few which the Slayer held in high regard, but this Vindicator had become demonic, and if it stood in his way, he would not hesitate to cut it down.

“You cannot change their Fate, and you cannot change yours,” the demon lowly growled before stopping too. From the shadows behind the surrounding pillars stepped forth a dozen shorter Verimor drones, little more than automated biometallic sentries forming a ring around him and the Vindicator. He cracked his knuckles and held his hands ready at his sides as his adversaries brandished weapons. Zero point disruptors, dark matter blasters, nuclear decoherers, even blades and maces. The Verimor warrior formed a flaming sword and an ion cannon.

“When you arrive to Earth, it will be only to hold the corpse of humanity as it crumbles to dust on the scorched winds, and walk the ruins of your dead world until time itself dies.

Regretting what was. Regretting what could have been.

Forever.”

In the blink of an eye, the Slayer equipped the super shotgun and raised it at the Vindicator, pulling the trigger and throwing it back with the force of the blast, but the Slayer had already turned to his other opponents.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! He swerved and strafed around zero point beams and the disintegrating rays of nuclear force decay while firing burning buckshot at his opponents. Several Verimor drones tried charging up close to quickly finish the Slayer’s reduced health, but he kicked them away and blocked their attacks with his Bracer. One of them swung a mace at him. Parrying the blow and faltering his foe with the reflected energy, the Slayer pulled his arm back and eviscerated the demon with a Blood Punch. 15 ARMOR, 74 HEALTH.

The Slayer couldn’t risk leading his foes to the UAC ship and portal device at the Pyramid, he needed to lead them away. He switched to the rocket launcher and leapt into the air while shooting straight down, catching most of the group in the blast and faltering them as he soared away from the Pyramid.

A series of metallic whirring sounds bought his attention back down. The Verimor had shifted their body structures into flying jet-like forms, closing fast on the Slayer while unleashing a storm of fiery projectiles. The Slayer switched to his chaingun and opened fire as he fell back to the Hellscape. RATATATATATAT!! The hail of bullets tore through the demons’ thick metal armor and utterly destroyed three of them, their bodies shattering into smoking metal debris that rained on the Blood Keep. The first Verimor shifted back to its humanoid form as it fell towards the Slayer and tackled him, catching him by surprise and crashing the two through the forest of dark crystal pillars. The Slayer quickly regained his bearing as the Vindicator swung around to slash at him with its sword, switching to his phase rifle as he dodged the sword swipes but took several ion blasts to the chest. ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP! PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW! POWW! 62 HEALTH. Dodging and swerving around the Slayer’s attacks, the demon teleported across the battlefield to close the distance to him. He kicked at the Vindicator to force it back and hit it with a heat blast before following up with a left hook. PEW PEW PEW PEW! The other Verimor landed behind him and pressured him with dark matter shots. He switched to the super shotgun and shot the Vindicator in the chest. BOOM! The demon dropped to its knees as luminous red fluid splattered from its devastated torso, but the Slayer strafed away to avoid a dangerously close ray of nuclear decohesion, preventing him from dealing the killing blow. Furious, he grabbed his plasma cutter, took careful aim and fired. POW! One of the Verimor drones winced in anticipation of the shot, which missed and strayed far behind them.

“HARRGH!” It roared in mockery, but the Slayer was already turning to another target.

Hearing a harrowing cracking behind it, the demon turned around just in time to see one of the inclined crystal pillars behind it had been sliced at the base with a plasma cutter shot, which fell onto the demon and immediately crushed it. POW! POW! POW! The Slayer launched a stun bomb and fired other cutter shots at nearby crystal pillars, crushing several Verimor beneath them or leading those who rolled out of the way into blast range of the rocket launcher. BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! Before long, all the demonic Verimor were reduced to scrap metal scattered across the cursed ground of the Kadingir Sanctum.

“RAAARRRGGGHHH!” The Slayer rolled out of the way before the flaming sword fell on him; the Vindicator was still alive. It rushed at the Slayer with Hellfire in its eyes and a body that was falling apart with every attack. He dodged and rolled between the demon’s legs to avoid its slashes and escape its ion blasts.

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US! DELIVER US FROM EVERY EVIL THAT WOULD DO US HARM! YOU WERE THE ONLY THING THAT COULD STAND UP TO THE MIGHT OF THE DARK REALM, AND YOU LEFT US BEHIND!”

He did not! In his many travels, the Slayer once arrived to the Verimor ages before the founding of Argent D’Nur, warning them of the existence of Hell and teaching them how to fight demons, before instructing them to seek the others that would together form the Corrax Alliance!

He had fought with Orinox the Dauntless himself! Stood at his side as he fought to his inevitable death at the siege of Urk-Vitel!

“YOU LEFT US TO DIE!”

The Slayer raised his Bracer before the Vindicator’s unrelenting onslaught and finally faltered it with a parry, the sword shattering as it struck his shielded forearm. Stepping up on his opponent’s knee, the Slayer grabbed the twirling blade out of the air and thrust it through the demon’s head. 86 HEALTH.

He respected Orinox! Always respected the Verimor! He taught them how to save themselves from Hell!

The Vindicator’s eyes flickered and faded to black, coarsely groaning as it fell to its knees and powered down to silence on the wretched Hellscape.

They were better than this! All sentient races across the universe were! They had the freedom to forge their own Fates free from the influence of the divine!

But the being’s words had cut deeper than its blows, and laying it to rest even more so. Everyone lost when Argent D’Nur fell.

A sharp flash of hellish thunder brought the Slayer’s attention to the looming Blood Storm. The low-density pocket over the area was fading, he needed to get to the portal device fast.

The Slayer raced back to the Pyramid as the sky darkened once more and the waves of thunder rolled from beyond the mountains, the Suit’s Harmonic Resonators already thrumming with shrill warbling. He crashed and Rampaged through the forest of pillars, paying no mind to the jagged trail of destruction he left in his wake. Rivulets of corrosive blood rained on the Pyramid’s stones as lightning explosively struck the capstone.

Countless swells of scarlet flame manifested around the Pyramid with legions of imps, pinkies, cacodemons, and Blood Knights emerging from the rifts as the Blood Storm violently swerved over the Pyramid, even the faint lingering power of the malignant entity able to churn and disrupt the infernal calamity.

The Slayer did not halt or gape. He loosened his shoulders and raced even faster towards the Pyramid, the murky stone pillars crumbling to fine dust against the Praetor Suit as he ran at frightening speeds.

Zombies, Damned, and Apostates shambling from the UAC dropship docked within the Pyramid. Flying imps, dark imps and pyroimps throwing all sorts of fireballs at him. Cacodemons spitting lightning bolts and crackling orbs in his direction.

The Slayer drew the Blazing Spirit and spun the cylinder. HEALTH was good, ammo was full, Berserk almost ready to go. Deep breaths, stay focused, keep moving, and always mind his surroundings.

It was time to make the Blood Keep live up to its name.

He leapt into the air while charging a Blood Punch, his fist tracing a bright red path across the sky before landing onto the demonic horde. POWW! RAHH! RAHH! RAHH! Ghostly green light flashed across the Hellscape as the Blazing Spirit released powerful blasts of tormented souls unto the flailing masses, sending limbs and gore flying. The Slayer Rampaged across the horde to stay on the move and avoid the roiling waves and shrieking lightning of the Blood Storm.

Pinkies also tore through the mob as they attempted to ram the Slayer, but a single soul blast from his spirit revolver bypassed their bone armor and reduced them to shredded giblets splattered on the cursed ground. As the horde thickened he switched to the chaingun and opened fire.

RATATATATATAT!!

Pure unfettered devastation. The heavy tungsten rounds from the autocannon passed unhindered through the hides and bones of countless vile beasts, tearing bodies apart, vaporizing organs from the force of impact, and leaving smoldering entrails smeared on the terrain.

And eating through the Slayer’s bullet pool as well.

A pack of Blood Knights charged towards the Slayer and he turned the chaingun at them, felling one and another but his bullet count was already at half capacity and he only had two chainsaw batteries left. He switched from the chaingun to the combat shotgun while strafing away from the Blood Knights’ fireballs and the rest of the horde, charging and shooting several explosive shots at the monsters. The shots hit their mark and several imps around them were torn to shreds by the burning shrapnel, but the Blood Knights continued their attack and the Slayer fell back to keep his distance, the sudden shadow falling over him indicating he was headed straight for one of the Blood Storm’s currents.

They were trying to chase him into the Blood Storm, which they had the power to resist. He switched to the autoshotgun and unloaded buckshot on the Blood Knights, eviscerating two of them but the rest advanced and leapt in slamming attacks, one of which caught the Slayer in its range. 52 HEALTH. Cornered, the Slayer threw the Knight off with a quick punch and raced into the Storm.

50 HEALTH. 48. 46. He winced as the Blood Storm’s rains pierced through the Praetor Suit and ate away at his body, his HEALTH slowly and surely ticking down. The rest of the horde avoided the Storm or wasted away to its power, but the Blood Knights remained hot on his trail and the crimson lightning stabbing at his eyes made it difficult to see and aim. He turned to his Clearsight, the shadow and flashes instantly vanishing to make the demons clearly stand out. He switched to the rocket launcher. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The explosions caught most of the Knights in their blast range and faltered them, and the Slayer switched to the super shotgun to finish them off. POWW! POWW! POWW!

One of the Blood Knights threw a fireball at the Slayer. He swerved around but it struck the terrain behind him and exploded in Hellfire, washing him in the scorching blaze. 18 HEALTH.

The Slayer was at critical health and the horde was nowhere near finished. If he died now, the Black Pyramid might be destroyed or swarmed with entire assault fortresses by the time he returned and the Blood Storm passed. He might not get the chance again to return to 2149 Mars.

He rushed out of the Blood Storm to conserve his remaining HEALTH and raced at a nearby zombie hoping for a quick fix, before a bright beam of hellish energy flashed from a distance and reduced the zombie to cinders. The Slayer stared but he did not stop, bringing his fist through the body of another nearby zombie and quickly recovering 10 HEALTH. It was not enough. There were no pinkies nearby, but if he could bait a dark imp into attacking him at close range, he could stagger it with a parry and then execute it for a decent amount of HEALTH. There was one nearby. He zigged and zagged through multiple speedy and homing fireballs before arriving at close proximity to the demon, watching it raise its claws to slash at him before reading his Bracer for the parry.

Right before the strike landed, a thin hook-tipped tail whipped out of nowhere and struck the imp in the chest, harpooning it away from the desperate Slayer. He turned to the culprit demon.

A low and stout figure with a barbed tail several times its body length. Four long clawed legs and two arms ending with wickedly sharp scythes. Two black jagged horns whose surfaces flashed with glowing symbols, and a single circular blazing rune instead of eyes above its bared mouth. A Velcore.

Strafing around the demon while switching to the HAR, the Slayer lined up a precision shot while avoiding the pulsed beams of hellish energy the Velcore shot from its ocular rune. Velcores were cunning and they frequently struck when the Slayer was at reduced health. He aligned the shot and fired, the bolt striking the demon in the head and breaking off one of its horns. Rushing in while the demon was faltered, the Slayer grabbed a hold of its body and threw it at a nearby caco who snapped at him, the smaller demon vanishing behind a mangled mess of gore and teeth.

The rest of the horde had not ceased its assault and several other Velcores attempted to snipe him from afar, just as the dozens of imps and cacodemons lobbed fireballs and lightning bolts at him. He needed to take out the Velcores first and stat.

He was almost ready to go Berserk. Just had to charge it a bit more.

The Slayer changed his trajectory to lead him straight into the heart of the horde, Rampaging through the demons directly in front of him as he noted the positions of all the Velcores. A wave of imps and zombies swarmed at him. He put the HAR away and raised his fists for melee combat. He kicked an imp away and brought his fist through its face and he rushed past it, raised a zombie over his head and broke its back like a twig, cracked a pinky’s face armor with his knee and pulled its horns to rip its head apart. As the horde crashed in over itself he clambered to the top while avoiding claws and teeth, straining free of the clutching arms while equipping the combat shotgun and reading himself for his next course of action.

He thrust off from the bodies beneath and activated his Iron Sight boost. He pulled his arm free from the latches of a grasping imp, placed the barrel on its chest, and instantly blasted it apart.

The Slayer’s senses became as sharp and precise as a honed knife. He had complete situational awareness and felt the weapon he carried as natural a part of him as the hand that held it.

Slinging the shotgun around and pulling the trigger, he immediately knew the explosive shot killed the Velcore pouncing behind him. He brought it back around and sniped another velcore hundreds of meters away, switched to the HAR and instantly put a precision bolt through the ocular rune of another one behind a dozen other demons without even a moment to aim.

The Iron Sight boost amplified the Slayer’s tactical capabilities and allowed him to land pinpoint shots without even the faintest of effort. His aim was true, his bullets found their mark. An imp all by itself threw fireballs at him. He charged a shrapnel shot and fired it. The imp was now all by itself in multiple locations.

Phase rifle. ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP! The plasmoids found their way to the targeted cacodemon and vaporized it in a burst of moist blue tissue.

Rocket launcher. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A Velcore slinked behind a pinky in the belief the armored demon would shield it from the explosion.

The rocket that curved around the pinky and killed them both proved it wrong.

The Slayer spun around.

BOOM!

A foolish Blood Knight had attempted to charge at the Slayer behind his back, the rocket reducing it to a steaming red gibs that splashed onto the Praetor Suit.

He was doing surprisingly well. Ammo pools were good, the horde was almost gone, and his HEALTH was 74. All that was left to fight was-

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

Two Barons of Hell.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

Ten meters of muscular crimson flesh, twisted ebony horns, wicked talons and jagged teeth roaring with infernal ferocity from the peak of the Black Pyramid as scarlet lightning flashed behind them. Arcane runes of power floating over their hands and chests while a bright hellish halo adorned their heads. The greater offspring of Abaddon and major demon lords of infernal battle-fortresses. Semi-wild beasts of the untamed Hellscapes, often serving as forward command and heavy attack units on infernal sieges or in invasions of mortal worlds.

The dull grey pillars surrounding the Pyramid immediately morphed into deadly sharp blood-red spikes, and the Blood Storm changed from an unguided tempest to a directed force of calamitous destruction, bending under the Barons’ powers and descending upon the Slayer.

The Slayer immediately raced away from the Pyramid as the Resonators’ steady tones crescendoed to a heavy thunderous cannonade, rushing away from the chasing Blood Storm and aiming the rocket launcher at the Barons, although he knew it wouldn’t do much good. It would take a dozen direct rockets to kill a single Baron, ammo which the Slayer no longer possessed, and the Tracker component on the upper right corner of his HUD indicated Iron Sight was almost depleted.

The two Barons began charging towards the Slayer, rushing down the sides of the Black Pyramid and crashing through countless demons in their path. The rockets the Slayer shot curved towards their targets and struck. One, two. The missiles exploded and blasted hide and flesh from the hulking demons, faltering them with their sheer force, but the Barons remained standing and turned to the Slayer with abominable fury.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The entire demonic horde around the Pyramid screeched and rushed at him with increased ferocity, the Barons’ violence and command manifesting in their lesser minds as blood-crazed frenzy.

The Slayer turned the rocket launcher away from the Barons and towards the mob falling upon him. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Limbs and gore flew everywhere but the demons grew too close to use the launcher safely. He punched away the foes that came too near, but their blows were fiercer. Harsher. 47 HEALTH.

He pressed the trigger on the rocket launcher once more, which clicked emptily.

ROCKETS – 0

The bar beneath the Iron Sight icon in his HUD went dark as the honing boost to his senses disappeared. The boost was gone.

Chaingun!

RATATATATATATAT!!

The barrage of piercing incendiary rounds decimated the masses around the Slayer and cleared the Hellscape in his vicinity, unobstructing his view of the colossal green fireball laying waste across the mountain range straight for him.

BOOM!

Direct hit. 12 HEALTH.

The Slayer flew backwards as his Blood Rage flared and the smoldering Praetor Suit recovered from the massive hole blasted in its front side. He crashed across the Hellscape before gathering his bearings and recovering his balance, leaving a ravaged trail of devastation across the rocky terrain.

The Barons were still a distance away but Hellfire was already gathering in one’s fists. Widening his eyes, the Slayer rushed to avoid the incoming attack. The Baron leapt high into the air and slammed the ground.

A blazing wave of Hellfire erupted from the impact site with the force of a bomb, laying waste to the masses around the Pyramid, shattering the blood-red crystal fields, and rapidly approaching the Slayer.

Thinking quick, he manipulated the Hellscape to raise a stone barricade in front of him just as the scorching wave reached his position, passing over his cover and melting the edges of the infernal rock.

“Eeeeee…”

OH SHIT!

“PEWW!!”

The Slayer rushed from behind the slab of rock and onto the charred terrain as a blinding beam of Hellish energy vaporized his meager cover, right in front of the other charging Baron and its massive claws falling upon him.

He reflexively raised his Bracer and parried the swipe. POWW!

The Slayer was thrust back with the force of the blow, and even the Baron briefly faltered but remained alert. Acting quick before the demon attacked again, he leapt upward and quickly focused a Blood Punch, the heavy blow amplified further by Blood Rage from the Slayer’s reduced health. The punch landed squarely on the Baron’s groin.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

He hurried away from the pained demon to quickly recover distance before it attacked again.

His Bracer could block a direct hit from a Baron of Hell in its entirety, but it’d still be unwise to engage a Baron at such close range, especially at 12 HEALTH.

Furious, the injured Baron gathered Hellfire within its hands and launched colossal waves of flame towards the Slayer. Rampaging at full speed, he swerved and strafed around these as they thunderously struck again the nearby mountains, reducing them to charred rubble and boiling lava.

Turning in the direction of the beam that had pulverized his cover, the Slayer spotted a horrific hyperdimensional construct of amalgamated crystal shards and demon gore, incensed with bright energy and forged by the Barons’ latent power, hovering and folding unto itself above the Hellscape. A Blood Prism.

Blood Prisms were slow and fairly easy to take down, but they’d take his attention away from the Barons and pressure him from a distance. And the longer the Barons were present, the more Prisms would appear.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The other Baron opened a dozen summoning circles and spawned a ring of Blood Knights that immediately chased after the Slayer. They’d try to chase him into the Blood Storm again but at such reduced health he’d never survive it, and he wouldn’t be able to dodge any more hits from the Prisms or Barons.

Sometimes though, the best defense…

The Slayer slung a grenade at the Baron behind him while launching a stun bomb at the other closest to the pack, before brandishing the chainsaw and charging a Blood Punch.

…WAS A GOOD OFFENSE!!

In a single twisting motion, the Slayer brought the chainsaw across the chest of the nearest Hell Knight before swinging his left hand and landing the Blood Punch on its shredded chest, the amplified blow releasing a crimson explosion that eviscerated half the pack.

Fresh ammo, 32 HEALTH. Better than nothing.

He strafed away from the remainder of the pack as the Baron in front broke out of the stun and threw a fireball directly at him. He swerved out of the way and the projectile exploded as it struck the Blood Knights, but these were unaffected. Hell Knights were completely subservient to the command of Barons and carried immunity to their attacks as kindred Hellspawn of Abaddon.

What to do now?

Another Blood Prism had formed from the shattered crystal fields and demonic cadavers, and he could spot a third in the process of coalescence. The first meanwhile was folding itself into a long, pronged sniping configuration and charged a beam in the Slayer’s direction.

“Eeeeee…”

He maneuvered himself into position and raised his Bracer.

“PEWW!!”

A brilliant beam of energy erupted from the construct and struck the palm of his Bracer, converging into a crackling focus of light shining within his clenched fist. He turned towards the more-injured Baron and released the energy towards it. POWW! The beam struck directly in the monster’s chest and seared a deep smoldering crater. It buckled and stooped to its knees while clutching its chest but was still alive.

Now was his chance!

He switched to the rocket launcher and opened fire on the injured Baron while charging towards it. BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! The missiles struck and blasted great chunks of flesh of its body and exposed grisly glistening tissue and ebony bones.

The Slayer entered into range of the Baron’s melee attack and leapt.

The Baron slashed at him one last time, but he keenly parried the blow and finally staggered the monster. Landing on the demon’s shoulders, the Slayer grasped one of the twisted black horns and tore it free from the skull before swinging it like a bat and smashing the Baron’s head off, its accompanying halo likewise vanishing in a burst of ashes. 57 HEALTH.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The remaining Baron roared with enraged savagery as its companion was slain, fiercely intensifying its attacks towards the Slayer. It threw one fireball after another while launching great surges of flame that soared and exploded against the Hellscape.

He swerved and strafed around the attacks which shot past into the Sanctum, vanishing into the emptiness or reducing the mountains to smoldering embers. One struck close to a Blood Prism and triggered an iridescent shield.

He needed to lessen the pressure on him from the Prisms, which were not only armored but deployed vigorous defense fields.

Phase rifle! ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP!

The Prism folded its structure into a broad flat configuration, increasing its surface area towards the Slayer to maximize the shield facing him. He sustained the stream of plasmoids as the shield shimmered and finally shattered.

Chaingun! RATATATATATATATAT!

The rounds passed through the construct’s hard crystal armor and organic interior, setting fire to its structure before demolishing it in a burst of shards and gore that exploded in a bright cross of crimson light.

One Prism down. Keeping an eye on the remaining Baron, the Slayer turned the chaingun towards it and opened fire. The rounds found their target but the Baron was immune to their incendiary effects and pressed on through the barrage of bullets.

Rocket launcher! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Baron raised its hand and produced an ethereal runic shield that blocked the incoming rockets, but ceased its advance and moved around the Slayer for the duration of this guard.

Two Prisms to go. The next one folded itself into heavy attack configuration, morphing its crystal shell into the shape of an inverted pentagram and baring a small red spherical core as an infernal aura formed in preparation of its attack.

“Eee…”

The Slayer switched to the HAR and lined a precision bolt just as the construct lowered its shield to fire its beam. POW!

The bolt hit and the core exploded in a burst of blood, the Blood Prism quickly folding unto itself and closing with a solid clang.

“EEEEEE!!”

With an ear-splitting screech, the Blood Prism recoiled in mortal agony and took on a dark spiny form before its structure came apart and finally crumbled to dust.

Only one Prism left!

Desperate to kill the Slayer, the Baron reached out and forced the crystal fields under its control. It freed a multitude of blood-red spikes from their bases and reformed them into long thin lances which floated in the sanguine sky before turning to the Slayer and shooting in his direction like a macabre rain.

Chaingun! RATATATATATATAT!

The heavy piercing rounds reduced the barrage of crystal lances to a drizzle of fine dust that rained onto the Sanctum and harmlessly chinked against the Praetor Suit.

With lightning-quick movements, the Slayer grabbed one of the incoming lances out of the air and returned it to the immobile Baron. The lance struck and embedded itself deep within the demon’s shoulder, which stumbled back and roared in excruciating agony.

“Eee…”

The Slayer quickly switched back to the HAR and fired a precision bolt as the last Blood Prism attacked. The shot landed and the construct’s beam missed, exploding against the terrain far in the distance, although the bolt had just grazed and cracked the Prism’s core.

But it was exposed!

Grabbing one of the last crystal lances, he switched to the Blazing Spirit and launched consecutive soul blasts at the construct to keep it hitstunned while rushing at it. The Prism morphed into a spinning forked structure and shot a volley of beams at him, which he strafed and zig zagged around.

“Eee…”

He leapt at the Blood Prism with lance pointing straight forward. The lance passed clean through the construct’s defense field and sank into its crimson core. The Slayer fired his jump pack for one last momentum boost and fractured its heart, leaping off the crippled Prism before it impaled him in its death throes.

Clang!

“EEEEE!”

67 HEALTH.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The Baron of Hell roared in violent despair. Heavily injured and at the end of its power, alone against the Slayer with no other demons on the battlefield. With the last of its strength, the demon lord raised its arms to the sky and called upon its infernal creator, the Mark of Abaddon appearing above it as it implored for a blessing from the Elder God of War.

The Slayer quickly switched to the Blazing Spirit and fired all six barrels at the demon lord to finish it off, but it was too late.

A great surge of infernal power exploded unto the Hellscape and the Slayer watched a colossal rift in Hell’s reality form above the Baron, the sky erupting into many rings of black and red as the Blood Storm swirled around the vortex and the demon lord vanished within the hellish radiance.

A new legion of demons burst forth into the Kadingir Sanctum. Imps, Hellions, Velcores, Cacodemons, Hell Knights. Blood Prisms. Mancubi.

Basilisks, their great serpentine forms slithering through the rift and roaring upon locating the Slayer.

And at the center of it all, the Baron of Hell absorbed the crimson energy channeling from the rift, healing its body and restoring its power.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The radiance vanished and the Baron of Hell roared amidst the Hellscape, body fully restored and Hellfire blazing in its eyes.

The Slayer wasted no time in returning to battle, equipping the chaingun and opening fire, but his ammo was running low and with the Baron’s ferocity coursing through the horde, his HEALTH surely and steadily ticked down.

41.

He dodged fireballs and searing beams, caustic missiles from Mancubi and a Basilisk ramming into the Hellscape in an effort to devour him.

The Baron appeared in front of him.

He raised his Bracer in defense and the monster’s swipe glanced off it, but in its blood craze the demon resisted the power surge and immediately followed with another attack. POWW! The Slayer was being thrust back with every blow and could not escape the monster’s assault. POWW POWW! POWW!

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The Slayer raised his Bracer one last time.

The timing was wrong.

He watched the defensive field fade from the Bracer before the strike had even landed.

Had the Baron purposefully baited him?

He thought he spotted something resembling a grin appear on the demon’s jaws before the blow landed and claws tore through his body.

“Please have a seat.”

He and another half dozen inmates groggily sat down on the steel chairs in front of the officer, handcuffs and chained boots clinking loudly, but the armed guards holding rifles to their necks remained standing.

“Time is short so I’ll be brief.

At approximately 0000 Coordinated Mars Time, multiple UAC research facilities on Phobos and Deimos were attacked. Who, or what, is responsible remains unclear, but both moons are presumed lost and Mars is on full planetwide alert. Our fleets stationed at the moons, of the US military and the Union Aerospace Corporation, are gone, and no survivors are confirmed.

No communications were received from either moon during the window of the attack, apart from one emergency message. The transmission is heavily corroded but was recorded and will now play.”

A grim silence fell upon the room as the voice’s deathly scream faded away into nothingness. Some of the inmates fidgeted uncomfortably, others frowned in confusion. The Marine made no response, but the man seated to his right sat up straight, while the woman to his left whistled in surprise.

“Crikey,” she muttered with no indication of concern or unease. “How about that.”

The officer continued.

“No further transmissions have been received nor further activity observed from either moon. Deimos has gone dark but we have established visual contact with Phobos, and plan to send a team in for recon, situation assessment, and if possible, extraction of any survivors.”

“Here it comes,” whispered the voice to his left.

“We plan to send you.”

The room immediately erupted with the inmates’ protest. Responses ranged from accusations of unethical treatment to declarations of an unwillingness to die.

The Marine turned to the woman beside him, who replied with a sly grin. Told you.

The armed guards prodded the inmates with their rifles and shouted at them to be quiet. The officer waited calmly until the room returned to silence.

“Question, sir,” inquired the woman while leaning forward.

“Squad leader Ashford.”

“We all know why you’re sending us instead of normal troops. But have you tried unmanned recon?”

“Unsuccessfully. Whatever jammed the comms during the attack remains in effect, and all drones we’ve sent have failed due to interference.”

“So we’ll be cut off as well,” Ashford affirmed while resting her chin on her hand. “A single unit of six max-security military inmates sent to investigate an attack of unknown origin. No comms to report back or call for extraction. Plenty of guns, expensive equipment, and possibly escape pods.

Bugger me if that’s a great idea.”

“You were brought here because you were the best at what you did. For the moment, your past crimes are irrelevant. You’re all highly trained and skilled professionals, and your psychological profiles have been deemed acceptable for this mission.

I won’t lie. The fact is, this is a highly dangerous operation with a considerable chance of failure. Two of the best defended locations in the Solar System have been lost to an attack of unknown nature. Command needs an assessment ASAP to formulate the next course of action, and you’re the only platoon with spec ops experience for fifty million miles, felons or not.”

“We may be felons,” spoke the man to the Marine’s right in a low but firm tone, “but we still have rights. Our cases were closed, our death sentences pardoned, and you can’t simply throw us away to die like dogs.

My men and I are not expendable.”

The other inmates clamored in agreement, but the officer quickly rushed to quiet their complaints.

“Private Osborne, no one is throwing you or anyone else away like dogs. You have the full choice to refuse this mission.”

The turmoil immediately died.

“…Choice?”

“Command is offering this platoon the opportunity to carry out this operation, in exchange for certain accommodations to your present circumstances.”

“What accommodations could you offer us in this shithole colony?” Osborne asked in irritation. “Monthly leaves to the toxin refineries? Lifetime supply of nutrient paste? Visitations? I have two hundred years of off-Earth imprisonment with no parole or outside contact.”

“I have three,” Ashford whispered on the verge of laughter.

“Look, gentlemen – and lady…”

Ashford winked.

“We don’t have much time, and Command is willing to negotiate after the operation is complete, but they’re ready to transfer you to less-restricted installations with more favorable commodities, limited employment and access to commercial utilities-”

“Joy,” Ashford sighed as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Lab-grown meat and that diluted piss which Americans call beer.”

“-and supervised use of pre-recorded communications to Earth.”

The inmates murmured to each other in surprise. Ashford blinked and raised her eyebrows.

“Phone rights, you say?”

“Supervised and pre-recorded, but yes.”

“Hmm.”

“Time is running out, people. I need an answer now.”

“…I could do with a phone call home. Got a mate I haven’t talked to in ages.

Huh. What do you say, boys?” Ashford asked the platoon while leaning back on her chair. “Up for one last ride?”

“…I’m down.”

“Sign me the hell up.”

“

“Sure. Why not? Maybe now they’ll let me watch restricted flicks in the rec room.”

Ashford turned to face the Marine but she already knew his answer, and they both nodded in agreement.

She leaned forward to look at a doubtful Osborne, who remained silent.

“Phillip?” She asked.

The private glowered but reluctantly sighed.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“We’re in.”

“Roger that,” replied the officer. “You’ll be escorted to your briefing room where you’ll be given mission details, conditions, and instructions.

Good luck, marines. And Godspeed. Dismissed.”

With urging from the armed guards, the six inmates got to their feet and loudly shambled out of the room. Just as the Marine thought back to the person he would call as soon as the mission was over – and thank for sparing his life – he felt an elbow at his side.

“Don’t worry, big guy,” Ashford gleamed. “I’ve got your back.”

The Marine was a full head taller than the squad leader and had to look down to make eye contact, but he cracked a smirk, both out of camaraderie and uneasiness. Ashford responded with a smile as bright as it was nefarious.

Don’t worry, big guy. I’ve got your back.

1 HP.

Berserk. Activated.

The Doom Slayer erupted in a blinding beam of scarlet lightning as flames embroiled his entire body and rage flooded his mind.

Pure, raw, unfettered rage.

His HEALTH instantly rocketed to 100 and he rose suspended into the sanguine sky of the Kadingir Sanctum as the tones from his Resonators climaxed into a grand booming choir and the demonic horde veered away from the overwhelming surge of power.

He recoiled and grimaced, his rage scorching at his mind and something slicing its way from within, something like twisted blades stabbing through his body.

He stared as his hands twisted and contorted into a horrific form, his fingers morphing to become long wickedly sharp claws that tore through the Praetor Suit and gleamed with a scarlet aura as his Dark Claw rune came into power.

The Slayer would have yelled in fury and agony, but the Chains that bound his lips remained sealed as they were at the First Battle, and he voiced nothing.

So, he attacked.

He Rampaged through the horde and blindly slashed at everything that moved in his crazed fury. He slashed at a Velcore and dismembered it in a single swipe. He slashed at a pinky and reduced its armor and body to long hemorrhaging rinds. At a Hellion, a Blood Knight, a Cacodemon, one demon after another, all dissected and severed in a single fell blow.

“Eee…”

The Slayer charged at the Blood Prism preparing to fire its beam.

“PEWW!!”

He swerved around the blinding beam as it struck and vaporized a dozen demons behind him. He leapt at the crystalline construct and swiped a clawed hand at it, slicing through shield and armor and shredding its core in a single slash.

“EEE-”

The Prism almost erupted in dark glossy spines before its contained energy burst through its shell and exploded in a bright scarlet cross, leaving a large smoking crater amid the frantic legions.

“ROOARR-WAAHH!”

A Mancubus fired its bile at the Slayer and washed away countless demons beneath a wave of filth, and its attack landed and began to eat away at the Slayer’s HEALTH.

This only made him madder.

He charged through demons and bile alike in his ravenous bloodthirst, his glaring eyes set only for the Mancubus. He swiped his claws in its direction even before arriving close to it, but the claws launched crimson waves that pierced through the Mancubus’s armor, severing an arm cannon in a single strike. He slashed again. The next wave sliced open its belly and spilled its foul innards onto the Hellscape, and the Mancubus roared in agony. The Slayer finally reached the Mancubus, and effectively passed through it with a single swipe, already long gone before the upper half of the demon’s body even hit the ground.

Another Mancubus launched fireballs at him. Too far to attack it with his claws, the Slayer rushed for a nearby Velcore and buried his claws in it. The impaled Velcore shrieked as its body began to deform under the malignant power of Dark Claw, liquifying into a writhing black-and-red mass.

The Slayer tossed the Velcore’s remains at the Mancubus, which soared through the air before impacting and immediately erupting into a barrage of long spiked tendrils. These impaled dozens of nearby demons and harpooned them towards the Mancubus before exploding in a blast of arcane crimson energy.

He impaled further nearby demons and tossed them as one biobomb after another, the battlefield darkening beneath the shadow of the tendril barrages and the downpour of flying body parts.

“ROAH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH!”

A Basilisk slithered in the sky and doubled back around in approach of the Slayer. He leapt off from the ground of the Kadingir Sanctum towards the colossal serpent and swung his claws at it, the attack cleaving through the Basilisk’s shell and almost slicing its head off. The demon roared as thick black blood flooded from its fatal injury and its head hung limply from its sputtering body segments. The Slayer landed on the Basilisk’s horns and brought both clawed hands down on the beast, utterly shredding its massive head and falling back to the Hellscape on the collapsing corpse. The Basilisk’s body broke apart and its segments crashed down on the demonic legions as the Slayer leapt off and sliced his way across the mob.

“ROAH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH!”

Another Basilisk roared as it charged at the Slayer, bringing its great jaws down onto the terrain and cleaving a trail of devastation across the horde towards him.

The Slayer had had enough.

He Rampaged towards the monster at full speed as it bared its many mandibles and its flaming maw, leaping off in a great soaring arc and passing directly into the Basilisk’s throat.

Not even a moment later, massive fiery claw marks appeared on the serpent’s shell as something sliced its way from within. They stretched the entire length of the demon’s body and twisted around in great gyrating motions, its entire structure crumbling into massive ribbons of shell and tissue before the Slayer finally erupted from the back, Suit and claws glistening with demon viscera.

Most of the horde was either eradicated or fled, but the Slayer had one more demon left to exterminate before his Berserk expired. He searched throughout the fleeing masses for the last Baron of Hell before finding it moving away from him, still tossing fireballs and flame waves in his direction, and immediately headed for it.

“RAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!”

The Slayer strafed around one fireball and another, laying waste to the Hellscape and remaining demons as much as he did as he charged for the Baron. The demon lord gathered Hellfire in its hands and released it in a thundering smash that quaked the ground and expanded in a flaming shockwave. The Slayer continued in his Ramage and willingly passed through the blast in his ravenous fury to annihilate the Baron, paying no mind to the large chunk of HEALTH the attack took away. He had almost arrived at the Baron but chose not to use Dark Claw’s long-range attacks. He was going to make it personal.

The Baron of Hell raised its arms in futile defense, and for the briefest moment something resembling fear appeared upon its face.

The Slayer raised a clawed hand and in a single swipe sliced away the Baron’s legs. Another swipe reduced its torso and arms to dark ribbons of shredded flesh. He raised both hands one last time, and the Baron’s decapitated head gaped in deathly terror before all the Slayer’s claws destroyed it.

His rage expended, the Slayer recoiled in agony as his skin crackled with scarlet lightning and released his fury in a violent explosion, scorching the mountainsides, vaporizing the last demonic stragglers, and searing the scales of the remaining Basilisks as they slithered away into the sanguine sky.

He stood silently amidst the smoldering Hellscape of the Kadingir Sanctum while breathing deeply, watching the Blood Storm dissipate overhead. With the power of Berserk expired, the Dark Claw rune returned to dormancy and his hands were back to normal. He listed to the solemn and haunting choir produced by his Suit’s Resonators, chanting in worship and adoration of power untold.

He was alive.

He had arrived at the Black Pyramid, fended off legions of demonic beasts, slain two Barons of Hell, and was alive. Perhaps he was not as weak as he imagined.

A notification appeared on his visor’s HUD, and he turned to read it.

SAVING THROW RESTORED – GET ONE CHANCE TO SURVIVE A DEATH BLOW

RESETS ON DEATH

Saving Throw. One of the Slayer’s more advantageous powers, and one that had saved his skin more times than once. Considering his relatively low defensive capacities, it was useful when fighting against the higher powers deep within Hell.

Speaking of which, how did he ever kill those two Barons of Hell back on Phobos?

He paused for a moment as he dredged through long-forgotten memories, buried beneath ages of violence and suffering across worlds and realms.

He didn’t have the Praetor Suit back then. He didn’t have its armor or ammo fabricators, its weapon matrix or Vanguard Bracer. And he certainly didn’t have any of his powers that he now possessed. His strength, his speed. His ability to draw strength from his fallen foes, resist the dark forces of Hell, strike fear into the heart of evil. The power of immortality. He had possessed none of it.

How the hell did one man manage to slay two major demon lords with the power to fell capital ships, overtake two highly fortified moons, command entire legions and rend mountains asunder?

He was surprised he had never actually considered this before.

He had the Retribution. The UAC had possessed plasma rifles and portable rocket launchers back then. Med pack technology had just been invented, even modular armor plating. Body armor at that time was nothing spectacular but it could resist the odd imp and zombie.

But…two Barons of Hell?

There was a gun, now that he thought about it. A prototype heavy plasma cannon, a 2700 series, perhaps. What was its name?

The FOG?

No, that wasn’t it. Its real name was an unpronounceable dozen-syllable mess concocted by the science geeks, though the jarheads often called it by a coarse but reverent title, which he couldn’t seem to recall.

He sighed in defeat.

Well, whatever it was, it had certainly been one very large gun.

The Slayer realized he’d become awfully reminiscent ever since awaking on Mars, far more thoughtful and reflective than he’d ever been before.

Scoffing, he broke out of his quiet introspection and dusted off the rubble and gore on his Praetor Suit, equipping the combat shotgun and feeling its comforting weight on his hands before turning and calmly walking towards the Black Pyramid.

Ever since Phobos, his mind had been a broken mess of rage and pain, existing only to fight, to kill, to destroy. His nights were long ordeals of terrible nightmares, and everywhere he looked he saw the encroaching claws and eyes of demon-kind.

There’d been a few times in which he’d broken through his madness, maintained sanity and focus long enough to accomplish higher goals. When he arrived before the races that would one day become the Corrax Alliance and guided them on the path for survival. When he’d arrived at Argent D’Nur, climbed the ranks from outlander to fellow soldier. Making brothers, breaking bread, and shedding blood alongside the Night Sentinels long before receiving his power.

When he met him.

The Slayer’s heart panged with a sensation he’d not felt in ages, and even if he could speak he would have been unable to describe it.

He who’d shown him how to calm his mind, exist in the present, focus his anger. Gifted him his power.

His guardian angel.

The Slayer scowled at the child-like thought as he reached the Pyramid and began climbing it, minding his footing as he hiked and jumped over the deep gouges on its battle-scarred surface.

So much for that. If there was anything the Slayer had lost in his ageless slumber within that cursed sarcophagus, it was his focus. He’d never been distracted or inattentive in battle before. Or worse, contemplative of all things. Back then he’d been keen, sharp, a ruthless killing machine as efficient as he was deadly. Whatever the Elder Gods had done to him, they’d taken that edge away.

…Or had they?

He still had his anger. He still felt that ceaseless need to break and maim the bones and flesh of demonkind. To rip and tear. He still had that drive, but it was no longer the one thing that occupied his mind.

The Night Sentinels on Argent D’Nur. His squad mates on Phobos. When was the last time he thought about them? Remembered their faces, their names, their voices? How he lived and fought alongside them? Found their mangled bodies broken by the hands of demons?

For those he ever managed to track down. He found one squadmate on Phobos suspended by his own viscera and another’s still-twitching body impaled on a piece of rebar. The last one was…fortunately dead after what they’d done to him. Ashford was nowhere to be found.

Had he forgotten what was truly important? Perhaps he had forgotten what he fought for?

Had he forgotten her?

The Slayer arrived at the massive breach left on the surface of the Pyramid by the Retribution. He placed his hand on the edge of the aperture, feeling the lingering energy of the broken seals that had imprisoned him for so long. Absolute seals of both infernal and celestial origin, used by the highest powers in Creation to imprison the greatest force of destruction that ever existed, and Samuel Hayden had broken them all.

How did the cyborg ever do it?

The Slayer slowly took his hand of the rough stone before cocking his shotgun and stepping into the Pyramid.

He walked along a single long and straight corridor, footsteps echoing loudly across the featureless stone walls.

No matter how great their power, the Heresiarchs had not imprisoned him on their own. They’d received help from above. From the others. The cursed slumber they all placed him in had greatly placated his rage and calmed the Slayer down, that was for sure. Had that been the plan all along?

Whose plan was it?

The Slayer arrived at the heart of the Pyramid.

He stepped into a wide chamber whose every surface lay covered with strange shimmering runes and images. The spells of confinement, the seals of the five Heresiarchs, and the Slayer’s own Mark. Ethereal symbols filled the air as they floated from cracks in the ground, occasionally taking the form of vacant screaming faces, though the Slayer could sense no life or thought within the Black Pyramid. But these were not what he focused on.

In the center of the chamber was the sixth UAC ship, its structure unfolded into an arching manifold that stretched throughout the Pyramid’s interior. Despite its strange appearance, it appeared intact and unharmed from Hell’s dark magics. The interdimensional drive had been disengaged from the ship’s structure and retrofitted to form a provisional portal device. The armored body of the last red guard sat motionlessly by it, its helmet and face gouged out by its own hands. Apart from these two objects, the chamber was empty.

Feeling the quiet lingering air of a human presence still echoing within the Pyramid, he widened his senses one last time.

Within the chamber, the Slayer beheld the towering aura of Samuel Hayden standing stoically above a sealed stone sarcophagus. The cyborg paced softly around it, as if wary and apprehensive of what lay within, yet intrigued and fascinated.

Hayden reached out, and gently placed his hand on the sarcophagus. The Slayer thought he could see faint arcs of lightning spread from his hand to the inscribed stone surface.

What did the cyborg have to do with all this?

How did he find him? How did he break the Pyramid’s seals? How did he return?

…

The Slayer listlessly slumped his shoulders. Perhaps he really had lost it.

If he kept standing still like an idiot, doing nothing but thinking to himself, he might as well build a new sarcophagus and go lie that one too. Perhaps he’d do a better job of detaining himself than the Elder Gods ever did!

He turned to the portal control terminal situated beside the transporter ring.

FORWARD RESEARCH STATION TELEPORT CONTROL

TARGET DESTINATION: UAC FACILITY RECEIVER

ACTIVATE PORTAL?

Focus, focus, focus. All things considered, the Slayer’s cursed slumber now allowed a unique opportunity for growth. Recovery of his old powers and arsenal was a given, but he now had the chance to recover his focus too. Not just immediate combat focus but long-term as well.

If the Argent Fracture had been breached, Hell would send forward command units to Mars. No doubt a few minor Summoner-class demon lords, but perhaps a pair of Barons as well. The Barons would settle somewhere on the planet and command the entirety of the invading force, while the Summoners would begin reverse-engineering the UAC’s ships to build vehicles conducive to demonic travel across space. With sights for Earth.

First things first. The Slayer would have to find the Martian Spaceport and destroy any remaining human vessels to slow down the demon lords’ progress. Next came locating the hidden Summoners and Barons, dealing with them, and finally finding a way to close off the Martian Fracture for good.

That settled his long-term focus. At least for the near future.

As for short-term momentary focus, it was just a matter of time and practice, he supposed. As it’d always been. He’d been out of the sarcophagus on Mars for what, a few hours? As long as he stayed disciplined and stuck to his old routine, he’d be back in shape in no time.

The Slayer stepped into the transporter ring and reached for the control terminal.

He was going to make things right. For the Sentinels, for the Verimor, for the Corrax Alliance. For his fallen brothers, for his slain squadmates, for Ashford and Osborne. For her. And for Earth.

He exhaled. Here goes nothing.

He tapped the panel and triggered the portal activation button.

ERROR: SPACE-TIME SYNCHRONIZATION TO SELECTED DESTINATION NOT FOUND

His outstretched hand slowly clenched into a fist as the Slayer grit his teeth and trembled with rising fury.

He pulled back in preparation to smash the panel before noticing the second message on the screen.

REFRESH TRANSPORTER MATRIX?

The Slayer closed his eyes and shakingly tapped the refresh prompt, struggling to maintain his composure with every ounce of his will.

ACTIVE SPACE-TIME TRANSPORTER NODE FOUND!

TARGET DESTINATION: MARS SPACEPORT

ACTIVATE PORTAL?

…

The Slayer’s rage immediately evaporated though not without leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Whatever. As long as he could leave this godforsaken place already.

He tapped the activation button and looked on as the retrofitted portal device whirred to life, the drive core spinning above him as energy surged from the ship’s power banks into the expanding vortex.

The Slayer poised himself in decisive anticipation as he was flung through the rift between dimensions.

He was going back to the Mortal Realm.

Back to Mars.

And when he did, there was going to be Hell to pay.

* * *

KILLS - 11%

SECRETS - 26

TIME - 15:00