FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Damn this blizzard. Can't see a thing.

The Snowcat that we were in was taking it in stride, though. Big enough treads, and you can go through anything. I turned to my fellows in the vehicle with me. I knew several of them just by reputation, though.

There was a raven lady across from me. She looked tired in her large coat lined with faux fur. For some reason, she also had some metal goggles on her forehead. Her name was Natalie. Most called her Nat, though. Easier to say, quicker as well. She was a more common body variant, with wings on the back and normal legs, but she was tall and slender. Heard some other guys saying things about here- nothing bad, just the usual stuff when some young upstarts talk about a good looking woman. She wouldn't be interested in an old veteran like myself- I doubt she's interested in anyone but her rocks and relics.

Just next to me was my old pal- we were running the security, wherever we were being taken. He was a younger cheetah with the name of Jack. He was originally being taken out to this place in the artic alone to run security, but I had pretty much taught him everything he knows, so Jack insisted on my coming. My cold blood won't stop me- I had a warming system implanted ages ago. Alaska is a harsh mistress, come prepared.

Jack was in a large trench coat that somehow had a hood. He also had lightweight boots and a kevlar vest under his jacket. Yes, he was wearing pants; a rather nice pair of artic camo pants.

There were two other scientists in the back; a young wolf and a bat of some sort. The bat looked older, like he had seen things. He may have been in the chaos of the Week-Long-War, only a few years ago. Jack and I were- it wasn't pretty.

I didn't know the other two scientists in the back, nor did I know our candid driver. Just an ADF driver, nothing all to special. He said his name at some point, but I missed it. He didn't look very happy. Probably didn't give a damn about an old chameleon like me, even though my clothing was specially made so I could hide with them still on.

We were going to a large ADF base out in the Alaskan frontier that was supposedly bringing up the remains of another alien race. We were only told that because of the fact that we- or the science guys- were going to study it. Jack and I would just run the security. They need as many of the world's best scientists there; it was a ground-breaking discovery, and they were needed. Or so they say. We've been attacked by one species, and another wiped out a human city-ship. How is a third so damn amazing?

They think the ship crashed way up here in the northern reaches of Alaska. Now, it's just trees. So many ever-greens. The weird thing is, they said the ship was found underground, partially inside a cave. ADF's been excavating the rest of it. So there should be a mine, or something. Or at least a massive damn hole in the ground. So far, trees as far as one could see. We're only a few miles away from a large mountain range at the time- I have a feeling the cave was there, on the side of the mountain. Must be a big cave, if it was under that. It doesn't feel right. At all.

Instead, we turned, seemingly following an unseen path. The driver must take this route a lot. I climbed over the bags and next to him, leaning over his shoulder.

'I would've thought we'd been going towards the cave, driver.' I said.

'Don't worry, old man. I know this route.' The driver responded with a small growl. I backed off- he was probably right. I sat back down.

'Feel like something bad's going to happen, Trevor?' Jack asked me with his Indian accent. He was of Indian and American blood, resulting in the eastern accent but the western name.

'Yeah, it's that old feeling. We're out in the middle of a northern forest in the backwaters of Alaska, studying a few thousand year old alien artifacts underground. Aliens were never good things, especially in this time period. We got the... What were those robots called again?' I asked.

'I think they were called Azarax.' Jack responded.

'Right. Those. They attacked us, killed quite a few, then just vanished. All of them. Who knows what happened, but it wasn't good. Then the human city ship- Abydos, right?- got those Ravager things. Never good news.' I continued. Natalie looked up at me from her book.

'Hey, you never know; we may just get lucky this time. These guys may have been dead for thousands of years. We haven't been all the way through the ship yet- that's why we brought you guys.' She said.

'See? I think it's just you, my friend.' Jack said.

'She said she hasn't been all the way through the ship. So what's in the rest of it, I wonder?' I muttered to myself. The driver halted our Snowcat in a clearing that had just one dead tree that looked like a young oak. Looked burnt too. Wait- an oak?

'We're here!' The driver shouted. We stopped so suddenly we were jarred in our seats. 'Give me one sec.' He continued, stepping out from our vehicle.

'What the hell is that man doing?' Nat asked no one in particular, looking out the window. she had book-marked her spot in the novel she was reading and set it down on her bag. George Orwell's 1984. Hhhmmm...

The driver walked over to the mysterious dead oak and grabbed a scorched branch, then he yanked. It didn't snap like I thought it would, but it just bent on a hinge. It was a lever! He turned to us and smiled.

The ground vibrated and a large motor switched on somewhere below. The ground was lowering- hah, we were on an elevator!

'You'd swear we were entering a military bunker. This is an excavation, not a training ground!' Nat said. The driver got back into the Snowcat as we descended further.

'It's another alien species, and these guys left us tech. If someone was to steal it, who knows what would happen? Anyways, there was an ADF lab and training ground here before; the ship was discovered when they were making expansions. So yeah, it is an excavation, but it's also a training ground. Was. It's been converted mostly for scientific use now.'

'Mostly?' Jack asked.

'The military stuff left is for your team.' The driver said. 'We don't keep very many larger weapons, though. So don't go expecting any rocket launchers or anything of the sort- those are in the experimental sector, and you security lackeys aren't allowed in there.' Lackeys? Really?

The elevator stopped at the end of a large dirt hallway with plenty of room for our vehicle. It was like a classic mine tunnel, with wooden struts and bare bulbs. We started down it.

'We've got about a mile worth of tunnel before we enter the old RAD facility.'

'Rad? What type of word is that for an ADF driver to use?' Nat asked.

'Research And Development. RAD.' The driver remarked. 'Sounds a shit ton better than the old R&D phrase. We're here.' He said as we screeched to a halt. We had stopped at what seemed to be a dock of sorts.

'You guys know your jobs; go to them.' The driver said. We all stepped out onto the dock. It contained several Snowcats in a similar fashion to boats, and I could see an observation platform above. The area was cold.

'So, I guess I'll see you military types at the excavation, then?' Nat asked me.

'Very likely.' I said as we parted ways for now; Jack and I to the security wing, the scientists to the main excavation.

The hallways were bare diamond-plated metal and lit with long ultra-violet bulbs. Glad I didn't have to use my heating system in here, then.

Jack and I passed a few offices and storage rooms, including a door which said "Experimental Wing". If something REALLY bad happened, one of us would have to break in there and steal some big guns.

We were given exact directions to the security wing, but it seemed that we were walking for nearly a mile, if not more through all the turns, stairwells, and the like. We ended up throwing our directions away for some reason once we made it to the security center.

The center was a large room with some weapons racks on the left side, and a long table in the center lined with swiveling chairs. The paw-print emblem of the ADF was on the wall behind us. Our recruits weren't much, just two dozen young ADF marines of varying species.

'Alright then, everyone. You know your job- protect everyone in case of an emergency. First: Introductions. I am Captain Trevor, and I'll be commanding the security here. Don't think I'm too old to shoot a gun; I was one of the legendary Snyprs during the Revolution. That's Snypr with a Y, no E. I know how to fight, and I have been fighting for a hell of a lot longer than you fellows.

'And this is Sergeant Jack- he's one of the best damn soldiers I've ever known and probably will ever know- he's also my second in command. If you see any disturbance, report it to Jack or me, ASAP. Fuck, that shouldn't of rhymed.Anyhow, Jack and I will be giving security to the main excavation, you guys will be protecting the hallways of this rather dark little complex. You know your routes, grab some rifles and get to it!' I said. The recruits got up, grabbed some automatic rifles from the weapon racks, and left the room without a word. They were trained almost too well.

Jack and I were alone in the room. 'So, old friend, what do you expect of this excavation?' He asked while picking up his small assault rifle and 9MM.

'Something which will make me use my old Snypr training again. Probably.' I said, grabbing an old sniper rifle and a pistol. I heard the excavation was in a massive room, a sniper would be helpful.

We exited the room, locked it behind us, and started down the hall.

'Why were we here again?' Jack asked.

'ADF said they'd give us each a villa in Europe and enough money for a retirement. Why retire though, when half the damn world is in ruins and you can survive like a wild animal? Still, I just need a new house. And some cash to travel.' I replied.

'Ah, yes. They said that mine would be based in my homeland, down on the southern end of India. I am so far away from home, though; I hope I don't die down here.'

'With enough luck, we won't have to worry about that.' I said. We stopped at a pair of double door that was being guarded by a middle aged feline of some sort. She was in the security force, but she wasn't at the meeting.

'Oh, so you two are Trevor and Jack, yes?' she asked, noting something on a little note pad.

'That's us, ma'am.' Jack said.

'Well, you two do look like them. In you go.' she said nodding to the doors. We entered.

The room inside was massive- maybe 1000 feet squared? More? Anyways, it was massive. We had entered through a half-finished hallway and we ended up close to part of the ship's wing.

The ship itself was large and only partially uncovered, but its general shape was easily identified. It was large and pointed, with a shape akin to a large cone, but with additions to make it more like a drill. There were four wings mounted in a shape to make the ship spin when flying- one of the wings had stopped the excavations for the hallway. The hull of the ship was missing chunks and it was made of a shiny purple metal. The rear of it along with part of the two back wings was still covered by dirt, and scientists were busily studying it. One scientist stepped out from one of the holes in the hull holding what seemed to be a container of some sort. Natalie was observing the whole ship from a ledge on one of the walls. I joined her as Jack started patrolling.

'Oh, good to see you, Trevor. You're probably the only guy I really like around here. I know you have to watch for disturbances, so I won't take long.'

'Nah, take your time. I'm to watch over the chamber with my sniper ready. This ledge works perfectly. So, I can listen.' I said, readying my large rifle and looking out over the excavation.

'This ship; I've already had a theory about it. The shape- it's made to spin. And the additions make it seem to be an underground vessel. It's not, what type of burrowing ship would need powerful thrusters with three times the power of even ADF's strongest? But it's certainly made to burrow through something. It's not space- nothing to burrow through, that's what the thrusters are for anyways. It's probably not time, so there's only one final option. Dimensions. This thing can plow through dimensions, and do whatever it wants to said dimensions. Whatever controlled this ship was a being of a higher plane!' She said, almost rambling. I didn't quite get her.

'English, please?' I asked. She sighed and looked at me with annoyed eyes.

'Oh, you soldier types. We're in the third dimension- the first three are width, length, and height, yes? We travel in a straight line in the fourth dimension- that's time. Unless someone was to make a time machine, we wouldn't be traveling backwards there. And I don't even know how you could move sideways in the fourth dimension. Anyhow, straight line in fourth, stay in one place in the fifth. I'm not nearly smart enough to be able to identify the fifth, but I think that's which time-line your in, the like. A good example would be those human guys who appeared to help us out in the Week-long war. What were they called again?' Nat asked.

'O.H.A.P., I believe.'

'Alright. O.H.A.P. Traveled sideways in the fifth dimension, from theirs to ours, somehow. They never did tell us how. And god knows what the six is. Well, the aliens which controlled this craft knew as well. The dimension they came from; 4th, 5th, 6th, doesn't matter. Meeting these people and pissing them off would be catastrophic.'

'How so?' I asked, interested.

'We can do anything to a world of flat circles, as shown here.' Natalie pulled out a small piece of paper and drew several circles on it. 'We can add more, erase them, even fold them up to where they touch each other across their two dimensions by using a third dimension. These creatures could do the same to us. Our world would be a plaything.'

'Would a bullet be able to do something?' I asked, ever hopeful.

'You would just remove one pane of them, and who knows how many panes one of these creatures have! A three dimensional form could be split into an infinite amount of 2-D planes, same applies for them. These things would seem like gods, and judging by the approximate age of the ship, these were our gods as humans.'

'Sorry? Are you saying we're excavating god's spaceship? And how could there be so many religions at one time, some with multiple gods, if their gods were these creatures?'

'Multiple panes; one creature. Probably multiple creatures too. This ship would have to have panes as well to be a proper dimension-hopper. It makes sense as well- the Indian gods had their flying cities, the Greeks had Olympus, and whatnot. And this is just a small vessel.'

'So, we should prepare for the worst.' I said.

'Yes, as much good as it would do.' Nat said. There was a loud zap from inside the ship.

'Shit, that can't be good.' She said as we were already scrambling down the hill, towards the ship. A medical team had already dashed in, stretcher ready. When we got to the door of the ship, they were hauling a unconscious coyote with badly burnt hands out towards the medical sector.

'What happened?' I asked Jack, who had been patrolling near the door at the time.

'That coyote was examining things when he grabbed a tank that had what seemed to be a etching of a wild coyote on it, glowing orange. He got zapped by some similarly-colored electricity after he did it.' He responded.

'A coyote etching... On an alien spaceship?!' Natalie exclaimed. 'I must see!' She ran into the ship.

'Keep an eye on the girl, would ya? I'll check up on our burnt friend.' I said. Jack nodded, and followed the raven. I dashed down the hall to keep up with the medical team.

I ran into the medical center a minute or so behind the team with the stretcher. They had put the coyote on a bed and they were examining him.

'Well? Diagnosis?' I asked the avian doctor. Looked like an African grey parrot.

'And you are?' He asked.

'Captain Trevor- the commander of the security here.' I replied.

'Oh, alright I suppose I should be reporting injuries to you.. I've been trying to figure out what happened to the guy- he came in a few minutes before you got here, captain. He's got third degree burns all over his arms, which could be expected of the eyewitness accounts. Same with him being knocked out. Problem is, he isn't just unconscious. He's comatose.'

'Wait- aren't comas the result of a brain injury?' I asked.

'Usually, yes. Thing is, he didn't hit his head. And these burns... Unlike anything I've ever seen. They're spreading.' He said, gesturing to the coyote's arms. I looked closer- the burns were spreading, if very slowly. 'I want to call off the research on the ship until further notice, so this doesn't happen again. Will you do that for me?' He asked.

'I'll see what I can do.' I replied.

'Good. It's weird, but people said that the coyote etching wasn't there before.' He said as I walked out. He was now speaking into a recorder of some sort. 'The patient's name is Lucas Macmillan...'

I met Jack in the hallway just outside the medical center.

'Where's Nat?' I asked.

'Don't worry, she's fine. The etching disappeared, and nothing was causing any trouble. She says it may have been bleed out from another time-line- I understand not.' Jack responded. I let out a tense breath.

'This just keeps getting weirder. What type of ship would etch itself and then zap a scientist? Makes no sense.' I said. 'And you didn't say where the girl was.'

'Oh, sorry. She's still in the ship, wondering why the hell that happened. I'm hungry; shall we discuss this over dinner? I've sent some of the recruits there to watch the excavation over.'

'Sounds fair, my friend. I hear they're having tacos!'

The cafeteria's idea of tacos was terrible, and the meat that they were using seemed to be mystery meat. Usual rations. We patrolled for awhile afterwards before heading to our respective bunks. I stopped off at the medical center to check in our burnt coyote first, but the center was in lock-down. Not good...

I went to sleep with an eye open and my pistol waiting. Good thing I did.

I was jolted up by an ear-splitting scream. I grabbed my pistol and dashed out of the barracks at full speed, pistol ready. I stopped hard when some anthros ran down the adjacent hall, away from something. I aimed my gun at what they were running from- and stopped. It was that coyote! Or used to be- the skin seemed to be totally burnt, and all the fur was missing. He had no clothes on, and did I mention he was floating about three inches off the ground?

The coyote had mutated somewhat as well. The hands had become spikes of bone, and one currently had a dismembered torso on it. The rest of the body was all over the hall, in a massive pool of blood. That same blood splattered the walls and even the ceiling, and gore was stuck to everything.

'And so the Security comes. The wanna-be hero. You can't defeat me, you know that? I'd love to watch you try, though.' It said, just before smacking me into a wall with the side of one of its spikes. I fell into unconsciousness.

I woke up to a nightmare. My pistol was gone, and bodies were everywhere. Or parts of them.

I had to shove off that torso that that... thing had pierced on a spike from off my chest. I was covered in its blood.

The thing that used to be the coyote was gone, presumably causing more trouble elsewhere. I needed a gun, though. Where could one be?

I got up and tried to get as much blood as possible off of me. Whoever that was, there wasn't much left. Similar occurrences were down the hallway- limbs lying on the ground, chunks of flesh all about, but no whole body. I wonder...

One of the partials had been one of my security boys who had tried to stop that...thing. Anyways, his hand was here along with his security vest. The hand was still clutching a small pistol, and there were several clips in the vest. Good, now I can defend myself.

I heard footsteps.

'Hello, anyone there?' I asked. I heard a pained groan from around a corner. I turned the corner, and stopped.

Whatever it was, it used to be an anthro. Actually, it used to be one of my security team. The same one that was holding the gun- I could tell by the fact that his left arm was a pulpy mess with no hand. He seemed almost dead, but mutated. The pulpy left arm had part of the bone sticking out- this bone had grown into a spike. The claws on the feet grew straight and long, same with the teeth which jutted out of the mouth like a broken picket fence. It used to be a candid, but now... I'm not so sure. It tried to slash at me with the bone-spike. I dodged it and put three bullets in the thing's head, splashing more blood about the place. It fell over, seemingly dead.

'What the hell happened?...' I muttered. The thing got back up.

'Oh, no you don't!' I said, unloading the rest of the 12 bullet clip into the thing's forehead. The skull shattered and grey matter fell out just before the body tumbled over. I reloaded quickly.

'So, a massacre happens by a coyote with spikes for hands and he floats a few inches off the ground, and now the dead are seemingly moving on their own! My instincts were right...' I muttered to myself. 'Hopefully, there'll be some Snowcats left to escape in...'

My pistol was too weak. It really shouldn't take unloading a whole clip into one of these things' heads to kill it; I'll need something better. An automatic or a shotgun, hopefully. So I'll need to find the security quarters.

I ran down the hall, looking for any sign of a direction. When I woke up, that torso was still on me, but I wasn't in the same place. This underground facility's huge- I could be anywhere.

More groaning from around a corner. Come on... another? Alright, bastard. Bring it on.

I swung around the corner, my pistol ready. This beastie still had all of its limbs, but the lower jaw was hanging by a few cords of muscle. It used to be reptilian...

I let off six shots into the head, as accurate as possible while dodging a claw. It fell over, dead and with pulp instead of eyes. I call that a solid kill.

I searched the body. Another clip. Odd, that used to be a scientist.

I went nigh invisible- it's tiring, but it works very well. Three of those beasts walked right past me as I continued on. I kicked open a ventilation shaft and entered before going back to my normal coloring. I was sweating and breathing hard after about three minutes. It was hard on me, due to the fact that I had to keep on changing my colors.

I crawled through the vents as quietly as possible, just so the creatures wouldn't follow me in. I went on for awhile in an unknown direction, then fell through a rusty grate and into the service tunnels.

The tunnels were thin, dirty things, full of hissing pipes and whirling fans. Plenty of hazards now, due to the fact that no one was servicing them anymore.

A pipe had collapsed and it was hissing out some type of blue smoke. The smoke didn't seem to be toxic, because I was breathing fine.

I got up from the ground and pulled my pistol out. Nothing seemed to be lurking around here.

I stood in the rotating light of an old fan, wondering what happened. Maybe Nat was right- her dimension hopping creatures may have returned for their ship, and taken over a body for use. These weird creatures could easily be explained that way. These creatures used to be the scientists and workers that studied and lived down here. Now... They all seem to be dead.

Not yet, hero. There are several survivors holed up around here, out of the reach of my minions. Perhaps you'll find them?

That... Thing was in my head...

'Get out of my head, damn it!' I shouted. I heard a laugh and the voice was gone. I hope it was telling the truth.

I traveled on through the service tunnels for awhile, only having to kill one beastie. That one gave me trouble, and now I only have about three fourths of a clip.

There was a part of the pipes where they created a little niche, and some stuff had been piled there. Not alot but some hunks of metal and an arm, but there was a fire ax in the mounted case. I yanked it out- and sirens went off.

'Shit.' I said to myself, and then I started running, new ax in hand. A grate opened above me, and a new creature dropped out, almost onto my head.

It had been avian- emphasis on had. Many of the feathers had fallen out, and the others had pretty much turned into quills. The hand-talons were warped and cracked into grey pincers about a foot long, and the wings were shriveled. The worst part was the face... The beak had been broken off, leaving a gapping hole. Red barbed tentacles writhed from this hole, like the underside of an octopus. The center mouth- which was about two inches long- moved in a chewing motion. This thing tried to latch onto me using the tentacles, but I quickly cleaved the head in half. Years of carrying 50-pound sniper rifles have made me strong, for sure.

The body fell down to the ground, very dead- its grey matter was splattered all over the walls and my tank-top. Remember, this started when I jumped out of bed. Thankfully, I go to bed in actual pants and not pajamas.

'Ugh... damn it, the mess...'

I searched the body. It wasn't Nat- the thing used to be male, and what was left of the feathers was grey anyways. I didn't find much on the body but a personal audio recorder and some bottles of pills. I listened to the recorder- this guy used to be a doctor. Hell, he was the guy who was treating the coyote!

'... The patient's name is Lucas Macmillan-male, species: coyote, and his symptoms are very unusual. He was studying the ship when an etching appeared, and he was zapped by it. He got burned, like any respectable and even some un-respectable doctors would expect, but burns don't spread from the original effected area. These are. That's alien tech for ya- we really should mess with it. Updates will follow.'

Thankfully, someone that thinks the same! I kept listening while I marched through the cold and damp passage- the grate the doctor came in from was to high up.

'Update: The burns have spread up most of his arms, and the poor coyote's limbs seem to be warping. He is also mumbling something about loosing his mind- so not a coma. Thought it was kind of odd. Nothing will bring him up from this half-awake state of his thought; not even the classic smelling salts will work. I don't know if I can treat this here...'

I tried to put my pistol in my pocket, but I was stopped by something rather squishy. I flung out the doctor's eye from my pocket with disgust, and stuck the pistol in quickly. These tunnels seem to go on forever...

'Another update: The burns have progressed over most of his body now, and his hands have become large... only what I could call spikes of bone. He's hardly comatose now; Lucas is screaming and shaking uncontrollably, almost in a seizure. We've had to restrain him, even though his eyes still aren't open. Like a newborn kitten.

'It's odd, he's screaming about the devil destroying his soul...'

I went back to the doctor's body- I forgot to search the pants pockets. I searched and found a radio communicator. Hopefully I can find someone...

'Update: The burns had made all of his fur fall out, and small flames a flickering on his skin. I guess you couldn't call them burns anymore...'

There was a loud ripping sound from the recorder.

'Shit! He's made it out! Oh god no, no, no!'

There was a loud cracking sound, then static.

'God damn...' I muttered to myself. I started up the radio.

'This is Captain Trevor of the security force, does anyone read me? Anyone? Someone respond, please!' I cried.

'Trev, that you? Thank god...' A familiar voice responded.

'Jack! Where the hell are you?!' I shouted.

'I'm trying to defend myself in the main excavation. It's not really working, so I'm going to head to the mess hall...' Gunshots.

'Jack! Respond!' I cried.

'Still here. Had to kill one of those monsters.' I let out a breath. 'So, shall I see you there, then?'

'Hopefully. Mess hall- I don't even know where I am; I seem to be in a service tunnel.' I responded.

'Find your way out of the tunnel and follow the signs to the mess hall. There's only one, so... ' 'Should be easy to find. Wish me luck!' I said. 'Out.'

I ran down the tunnel, ax in hand. Another creature- one of the normal ones- shoved itself out from a hole in the wall. I decapitated it in one swift swing just before another crawled out after it. That one slashed at me before I could get a swing off and raked my arm. Nothing serious, but it stung. I swung, missed the thing's neck but got the ax wedged in its arm. It still reached out to me even though I must of sliced the muscle in half. I expended my last cartridge in the thing's face before removing the ax.

'Hope whatever created these things isn't spread by scratches...' I muttered to myself, stopping the bleeding with a makeshift bandage, thanks to one of those things' shirts. There wasn't anything on these guys but blood.

I entered a crawlspace- rats and spiders crawled in the darkness that was only dimly lit by some red lights.

The crawlspace ended in a hatchway which I kicked open, entering an office. Looked like a mechanic's, if I'm to go by the massive greasy red toolbox in the corner. The hatch was made to look like part of the wall.

I opened up the toolbox- just tools, like one would expect. I found an audio recorder in a drawer under the desk in the corner. I listened to the tape it held.

'This is the audio log of Foreman Andrew Collins. My crews have been trying to fix up some weak piping under the facility; the age-old iron contraptions are starting to fall apart. They're a very real hazard, and a fatal one at that. The natural gas that the marked ones carry are the most dangerous, and certainly the most flammable and easily damaged. One of my workers was trying to nail a part of it together with a nail-gun, missed, and then hit a pipe. The whole passage was covered in the remains. Safety is a needed requirement which is not here! The prices of newer piping are too much for the meager budget they give us. And now with this new ship and everything...' There was a brief moment of silence and a metallic groan. 'They really should give us more help here. That groan came from below, I bet another pipe is near bursting. If a pipe was to be punctured by anything flying at a substantial speed, the pipe could rupture in many places. This is Foreman Collins, signing off.'

I dropped the recording. So, if one of these creatures had used a gun against me and hit a pipe, I could've been killed... Best get to Jack.

I opened the door and out into the hallway. A creature that looked a lot like the usual attacker rushed me- I embedded the ax in her skull. Fire axes seem to be better at cutting skulls then fallen wood. And why was there a fire ax in an all-metal underground facility? Wait- that was in the underbelly, I guess the designers knew the weakness of the pipes.

I yanked the ax from the body and continued on.

The hallway was a bloody mess. A male anthro was splattered against the wall, half the head missing along with the right arm and left foot. Blood was still dripping from the roof.

'They were here not to long ago...' I muttered. I turned to the cleaved beastie behind me. 'But that couldn't of killed him- one thing can't make such a mess like this...

I noticed a sign telling me the way to the mess hall. I followed it.

The hallway creaked loudly. A loud clang echoed through it- from what, who knows. My radio crackled on.

'Trevor, you there?!' Jack shouted.

'Yeah! What's wrong?' I replied.

'Damn creatures are chasing me out of the hall! I'm coming down the main hallway now, meet me there with you weapons ready!' He cried. I loaded my pistol and got my ax ready. I heard some roaring from around the corner. Some gun shots as well. Jack quickly dashed around the corner at full speed- which was way to much for the creatures- and threw a shotgun into my hands.

'Run for it!' He cried, stopping a hundred feet down the hall with another shotgun. Four dozen of those things piled out from around the corner. I dropped the shotgun and ran as well. He had jerked around a corner, and I followed. He yanked me into a closet and shut the door.

'Kinda obvious, don't ya think?' I whispered.

'Shush.' He replied. I heard the group thunder past the door.

'Safe to go out now?' I asked sarcastically.

'No clue- so let's be safe.' Jack replied, opening up a grate that we were standing on.

'Another?' I asked.

'Yes, another. Shall we?' He asked. I followed him down back into the service tunnels.

We stopped in a dirty little room which used to be owned by one of the service techs.

'Glad to see that you're alive.' Jack started.

'Not much can kill me.' I replied.

'That's true- an old soldier like yourself knows combat.' Jack said. He paused for a second. 'So, shall we play a game?'

'A game, Jack? Are you out of your mind?' I asked.

'I mean the name game. These creatures need names.' He responded. You want to go first, or shall I?' He asked.

'I'll go first, Jack. I'll bloody well go first.' I replied, kicking open the door that led into the tunnels. A beastie tried to smash my face in with an arm-spike. I dodged, swung my ax into its side. Jack's shotgun dispatched it. It was one of the usual creatures.

'So, what you going to call that one?' He asked, helping me up. I looked at the burnt body with the spikes and some horns that weren't there on others.

'A demon. Seems fair, don't ya think?' I said.

'I can see that working. We best keep moving.' Jack replied. We stepped around another corner and next to a door.

'You first.' I said.

'Well played...' Jack replied. He opened the door and just narrowly avoided the mouth of one of those used to be avian monsters. Yes, the ones with octopus mouths.

It took a point blank blast from Jack's shotgun somehow, even though it blew a hole in its chest. I swung my ax, missed, and almost punctured a pipe. Jack got thrown down- the monster had him in its claws- and it went after me. It dodged my ax swing, and then another. It almost had me.

'Dodge this.' Jack said just before the thing's head disappeared into a fine red mist. His shotgun was smoking from the shell let off.

'God, those things are tough...' I muttered.

'Yeah, it's best to take those guys out from far away. Your Snypr skills may help.'

'Hardly- this is a confined area; I don't even know why they called me down here.' I responded.

'Because one like yourself could run security all by himself in need be. So, we need a name for these guys.' Jack said.

'Octo-birds?' I asked, shrugging.

'Hardly. The face had six tentacles. And anyways, I'm deciding the name.' He was silent for a second. 'The Hexed!' He cried out. The new name echoed through the misty tunnels.

'Fair enough. Next monster we meet, I'm giving it the name, though.' I said.

'Well, it is your turn.' He said. We walked on.

We had gotten about 100 feet before a creaking sound was heard behind us. There was an alcove where there wasn't one before, and a Hexed one was staggering out of it!

'Ah shit, Monster-closet! Monster-closet!' Jack cried, ducking an angry bite. I threw the ax into the Hexed one's brain.

'Good throw.' Jack said. He grabbed a battered shotgun from the back of the thing. Used to be one of our security boys. He tossed the shotgun over to me; it wasn't much, just a double barrel. ADF sometimes issued them. Jack's was a single barreled battle shotgun.

'Maybe we can find a saw.' He commented. I smiled, kicking open a door. It led into a dark hall with flickering lights.

'Flickering lights are never good...' I commented.

'A bad feeling again, Trev?' Jack asked. He handed me a box of shells.

'Of course.' I replied, loading my shotgun.

'Only one of you has the chance of making it out alive, you know...' The voice of the coyote that started it all said. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

'Who the hell's that?' Jack asked.

'The bastard that started this chaos...' I replied. I could see a shadow in the murky gloom in the hall. It stepped out.

It was massive, at least 8 feet tall. The species it used to be was a reptile of some sort, but now... The leg was broken at the shin, but still strong, if not stronger. They looked double jointed- if that was due to mutation or the person's original shape, who knows. Somehow, this thing got ahold of some security equipment, and the big stuff too. One arm had completely merged with a riot shield, creating a wall of flesh and metal for one arm, and the other hand had merged with a tesla coil that was somehow charged. The face was ripped down the middle, but seemingly sown together, including one eye. The tongue hung out from its face like a piece of damp rope. Same color, too...

I quickly blasted it in the face with my double barreled shotgun. It knocked off chunks of meat, but seemingly had no effect. It charged at us. I ducked, but got nicked in the arm by the tesla coil. That burnt like hell.

Jack took the brunt of the hit, though. His fast feet couldn't stop him from getting the riot shield to the face, flinging him out back into the tunnel. He struggled to get up, but the creature again charged him. The coil's end must of been heavy, because when it slammed down on Jack, I heard a loud crunch. He screamed out in pain. A ribbon of blood got flung from his mouth.

'ARGH!' He cried. I pumped two shells into its back, which made a bloody splash. It was still going at Jack, zapping him with the tesla coil .

'Damn it, RUN!' He cried. He aimed his shotgun at the nearby pipe. I saluted him, and dashed around a corner, a tear in my eye. The explosion shook the whole complex and set off every god damned fire alarm.

I staggered down the hall. Red spinning lights were active, klaxons blaring. I've lost friends before, people I know, people I loved, but not Jack. He was always the other survivor. We had worked together for twenty god damned years, I had taught him right from the academy. Right when he joined, only 18 years old. Very young for an anthro. He was about 40, but most anthros can live to 300 due to the genetic tampering. He was young... I saw the revolution; I know war. I fought in one- no, two of Earth's worst wars. Jack fought alongside me in the Week-long War, but he wasn't even born when I was fighting the Revolution- or the Re-Evolution, as some like to call it.

A Demon rushed me. I didn't give a damn about it or what may be on it, I just blasted it in the face. The head disappeared, along with most of the upper torso. I reloaded.

I should give that thing a name that Jack would've called it. He was almost religious, so maybe... a Goliath. That thing was big enough.

So, Jack was gone. I need to find other survivors. But where could they be?

I turned a corner and found a blockage of crates, barrels, and wire. I pushed through it. It led to a laboratory; with the scientist still working.

'Oh, god! You scared me there for a moment.' He said, lowering the pistol in his hand-paws. He was maybe 5 and a half feet tall, canine, and his lab coat was stained in blood. Looked like he had been wading in the stuff. 'I'm surprised anyone's still alive. You were Trevor, yes?' He asked.

'Yeah. And you?' I asked.

'Nathaniel.' He responded. 'I've been trying to study these creatures as much as possible- they all used to be the crew of this station.'

'I figured that out after the first time I had to blow the brains out of one.' I replied.

'I thought so. But these mutations... I've seen four so far. The common ones that seem to have lost all rational thought, the ones that used to be avians, but now have what seems to be an octopus coming from their mouths, massive tank-like things, and the ones that seem to be infecting any survivors.'

'Infecting? Are you saying that there's some type of creature out there that's creating more of these monsters?' I asked.

'Yes. I'm going to suppose you've met the other three types.' Nathaniel walked over to a laptop on the table nearby. A Demon was on the operating table, sliced wide open. Probably what he was using to study.

'See, these things are new.' He hit a button on the laptop and turned it to me. It had the picture of a Demon with heavily muscled arms, massive razor sharp claws, and a long tongue that hung out of it like a wet rope, like the Goliath. The mouth was mutated too, with four mandibles like an insect's. 'They infect someone by charging right at them and basically surprising them with a snog. That tongue will travel down the attacked anthro's throat and extend barbs. These barbs, as far as I know, are filled with a virus.' He said. 'The mandibles are for latching the mouths together.'

'God damn... I'm surprised I haven't seen any of these guys yet.' I replied.

'Probably because I've only seen two myself. They're rarer than the other types.'

'And what's you call them now?' I asked.

'Kissers seemed a good name at the time.' Nathaniel said. 'And you're alone... May I ask why?'

'All of my friends are dead, that's why.' I replied, walking over to the observation deck that was in the room. There were several Demons inside of the white-washed room below, and one door. The lower walls and ground were completely covered in dried blood. 'Could you make those doors down there general access?' I asked. The scientist hit a few buttons.

'Done. I'm just wondering why...?'

'Wish me luck!' I shouted, crashing through the glass windows, falling ten feet into the same room the Demons were in. One swing of my ax, the head came off from one Demon. Another slashed my side, but it was a small hit. I minced its head with my shotgun, and took care of the third one with a massive cleft chopped right into its chest. Nathaniel was watching the whole time.

'Nice fighting! Here, maybe this could help.' He shouted down to me before tossing a nail gun down, along with some cartridges of nails. The nail gun wasn't really supposed to be a weapon, but the five-inch nails it launches at speed of up to 100 MPH can kill. Each cartridge held twenty of the things as well. The nail gun was also just about silent.

I pocketed the cartridges, readied the nail gun, and grabbed a roughed up leather jacket from one of the Demons. I patched up my side injury with a makeshift bandage from a Demon's pants.

'Thanks, best of luck!' I shouted, running out the door. I entered another hall with only one Hexed One in it. I dispatched it with a nail that splattered the head.

I entered another room, looking for more supplies. It was a workshop; bloodstained with a few dead bodies, but it'll do. I picked up a recorder from one of the bodies while I got to work on my weapons.

'This is the audio log of Scientist S. Hale. I've been discovering a few things about the alien craft, and what it may be linked to. There were inscriptions on it which, roughly, ancient Inuit. Problem is, only one person could understand it, and that was a few letters at most.'

I sawed off the front barrel of my shotgun. The two barrels fell to the blood-soaked ground with a clatter.

'From what we can tell, this ship is very old, and could be the reason religion ever even existed. Seems reasonable, but only a few will listen to my theory. I'm not religious, but the others are. They disapprove of that theory, and will fight me to protect their thoughts.'

I grabbed some electric tape and super glue, attacking the ax to the bottom of the shotgun via the cocking mechanism and the ax's handle.

'This is Hale, signing off.'

I loaded in two shells and covered the ax blade in a flammable- but not spreadable- liquid, and then set it alight. A sawed off shotgun with a flaming ax... Brings a new meaning to "Fire" ax.

I exited the workshop, my badass weapon ready. A Demon was waiting for me- no, its tongue was hanging our for about two feet. A Kisser.

I swung hard and quick at the thing's head, cleaving out a large chunk and setting the area on fire. The Kisser staggered, but did not die. It charged me, tongue lashing. I sliced off the tongue when it got close, and then unloaded a shell on it. The recoil almost shoved me onto my rear, but it blasted apart the Kisser's head and left arm. It was at point blank range, after all.

'Not too hard... they just have stronger heads, that's all.' I said to myself, reloading. I was hungry; to bad I couldn't grab anything at the mess hall.

I entered a large room that was mostly empty. On the walls were some control panels surrounding a massive open area. I looked up- the roof was a glass dome, open to the elements outside. The blizzard was still going.

I crossed the empty room. It seemed to have no power, so the only light was coming from the skylight high above, and this was not much due to the snow. The light was quietly muffled, like what ADF did with this incident. If news had gotten out about it, reinforcements would be here.

There were only two doors in this room; the one I entered, and the other one on the other side. I guess the other one stood for escape; freedom. I was striding towards it when they were roughly smashed off. A Goliath! This one was a bit different, using a door as a shield and a big ax as a weapon. Where the ax came from was a good clue, though. The thing's species used to be a feline of some sort, but the mutations were the same as the first one that I saw. The bastard that killed Jack.

The Goliath roared at me, baring crooked, mutated teeth in a blood stained mouth. Its ax had been part of some larger device- it created a sonic boom somehow. Presumably part of the machinery that was attached to the arm and the back. The boom took out the skylights, dropping snow on me and making it snow inside. The snow almost put out my ax. Almost.

I stepped back, out from the fallen snow and into the area on the edges of the room with an empty floor. The Goliath charged across the snow, sending it flying. It turned towards me and ran at me again. I dodged and let off a shell into its side. It staggered and swung the ax at my head. I ducked, and the ax embedded in the wall. I reloaded and let off two more shells into its back before it nearly cleaved my head off. I ran back into the cold snowy section, leading the monster in behind me. I spun around, loading the shotgun, and waiting for it. It roared at me, shield at an angle, scrapping on the ground. It neared me- and I jumped.

I put my feet on the shield and ran up it, and then jumped off the top, letting loose both shells at the same time at the top of its head. The recoil actually knocked me higher up in the air, but I landed with a roil, relatively unharmed. I watched the Goliath slow down and stop. It fell over when the head fell apart.

'Goliath, meet David.' I said, reloading the shotgun and walking down to the other door, calmly.

The door lead down to another hallway. Blood was splattered all over the left wall and the floor where a body was dragged down the hall.

I looked down to my shotgun. It was one of my best weapons possible- it needs a name.

This gun was my revenge for all the deaths caused. So the name would be the Revenge.

A door next to me swung open and a Hexed one came out. I swung the ax down and sliced off the left arm, while lighting the stub on fire. It tried to grab me, but I unloaded a shell into its face. A red mist floated in the murky air.

Escape is impossible, Hero.

'Nothing's impossible.' I growled.

Only when you have your god stopping you.

'We left the gods years ago.' I said. I blasted open the nearest doors and entered. It was a storeroom with a radio on in the back. There was someone speaking through it...

'This is scientist Natalie, looking for survivors. I repeat, is there anyone alive? If there's anyone out there that can still understand me, find the main excavation, and enter the ship. The creatures won't follow you in there.'

'Nat!' I cried, activating the transmitter. The message was recorded.

So, the excavation, huh? The only way to survive- go to the ship which started all of this. Alright, I'm ready.

I opened up a weapons case to find some newer automatic rifles and several cartridges. The guns were a high caliber and they also had a cartridge that held 40 shots. I took a rifle and all the ammo I could carry. I also salvaged another jacket to replace my current, badly damaged one and some bandaging.

I opened up the door- no one apart from a pissed Demon. I axed him quickly as can be.

I entered a darkened section of hallway. Nothing but a singular flickering light halfway down shining on a new creature.

It looked much alike a Demon- mostly the same mutations, too. But both of the hands had come off, leaving spikes of bone. But the head... The spine had extended right out of the lower half of the head, leaving the bloody lower jaw. The spine was supporting what seemed to be a bit of the intestines, and at the end of the 3 feet of gore was a circular, toothed mouth about half a foot in diameter. The creature staggered along under the flickering light. I stared at it and almost laughed- it was in pitiful shape. One of the legs seemed to be broken and the side of the abdomen was ripped open, showing the inner organs. The pants that were still on the thing were soaked in blood from the massive hole.

I let off a few bullets right into the thing's chest. It got nothing but the recoil and some small holes. I slung the automatic over my shoulder and charged it with the Revenge. The creature spasmed, and the intestines got flung out of the hole and another in its back that I didn't see. They reached out towards me at lengths I couldn't imagine for the norm, and each ended in barbs and acted like its own entity.

I re-lit the ax blade and sliced off one tentacle. It landed, still thrashing. Another nicked me before I chopped it off as well. Each time I chopped off one, it retracted and grew back.

'This is hardly what I'd call fair.' I said, letting a blast off with the Revenge. It shredded some tentacles, but I still had two coming at me. I reloaded and axed one. This whole time, I was slowly approaching it.

One nailed my leg, hard. I fell onto my face, but got back up. I let off another two-shell blast, shredding the "head" off of the thing. It fell to the ground, tentacles akimbo and in a puddle of dark, congealed blood. I checked the wound- it was pretty bad, but I'd live. Just need some medical supplies.

I exited the dark hallway and entered a familiar one. Almost there...

A Kisser got up from infecting a corpse and charged me. I blew its head off. The corpse got up as well, and I axed it.

I doused my ax blade and hung the Revenge on my back, taking out the automatic rifle. I kicked open the door to the excavation.

The excavation was dark and a mess. Scaffolding was either broken or twisted out of shape, and blood soaked the dirt underfoot. Several Demons walked around in a daze, and a Goliath seemed to be sleeping in the corner. This one was using a door from a Snowcat as a shield and a industrial chainsaw as a weapon. I snuck pass and into the ship, which had its door open. I quickly got a pistol pointed at my skull. It was lowered just as quickly.

'Damn it, Trevor! Try to warn me when you enter!' Natalie said, alarmed.

'And wake up the Goliath outside? Hell no.' I responded, nudging her inside.

'So that's what you call those things, huh? I called them Apex Predators.' She responded. 'So, have you found anyone else?' I was silent. 'Not good, huh? What about Jack?' Nat asked.

'He... he didn't make it.' I replied. Natalie hugged me to comfort.

'Sorry, Trevor.' She said. 'Anyhow, you're the best guy I know that can get us out of here, so I'm glad you came.'

'How have you been surviving in here, anyhow?' I asked.

'The entrance allows unchanged creatures like you or I in, but with the things out there... well, it kind of disintegrates them. I ran in here, hoping for a alien weapon or something, but then I noticed that the thing that was following me evaporated upon running into the doorway. So I stayed in here.'

'You made a good choice. Any luck contacting the ADF?' I asked, sitting down on a folding chair. Natalie was on some opened crates.

'They aren't answering my hails, if they're getting out of this hellhole. I'm surprised you got my repeating message.'

'Well, good thing you got that in.' I replied.

'Well, any idea on a plan for escape?' Nat asked.

'Yes. Nab ourselves a Snowcat, and drive the hell out of here.'

'There's only one left, from what I heard. And that Apex Predator out there has its door.'

'But it still drives. I can drive it.'

'But you're a reptile, Trevor! The cold'll get you that way.' Natalie said.

'Hardly; I had a internal heating system put in me years ago.' I replied.

'No use arguing with you, now is there? Alright, but there must be a few hundred of those things in our way!' Natalie said. I held up the Revenge.

'Then we kill them all.' I said.

'Oh, a security guy must of been killed fighting here, because I found this near a pool of blood...' Nat said. she flipped over the crate she was on and pulled a suit of security armor from it, made for reptiles.

'Hell yes! Good find, Nat. Got any medical supplies, by any chance?' I asked, clenching my leg wound. She noticed that.

'Better than that, I have training in first aid.' Nat replied, pulling a first aid kit from the wall.

She patched up my wounds as best as possible before going off into the back room of the ship. I suited myself up in the bulky security armor. It included the full protection helmet, a chest plate, outer arm plates, leg plating, heavy boots with a knife in a hidden slot, and thrusters attached to the back of the torso armor. I clanked over to the back room where Nat was. She was staring at something on the wall.

'What is it, Natalie?' I asked. My voice came from a speaker built into the helmet. The helmet also had a Hud that showed my current ammo. On it, it only registered the Revenge as a normal double-barreled shotgun.

'It's another etching, but a raven this time... Don't you see it?' She asked. I looked at the wall she was looking at.

'I see just a metal wall, Nat. Be careful, I don't need you turning into another of those overlord things.' I said. Nat walked over to the seemingly featureless wall. 'God, I hope my thesis is right...' She said, touching the wall. A etching glowed blue-suddenly there, and then there was a flash of light, and it flung Nat into the far wall. I ran over. I cradled her.

'Natalie! Wake up!' I cried. She opened her eyes. They were burning blue...

'I'm fine, Trev. Better than fine, actually. How long have I been out?' She asked, seemingly not noticing her eyes seemed to be on fire.

'About ten seconds... Nat, your eyes...' I said.

'Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. I know everything now. The Raven's in my head. Or, as the Inuits called him, the Creator.'

'Our theories were correct, this ship was basically what caused religion! These two were the crew of one of the many ships... They created the Inuit myths. The guy out there, the one destroying and killing everything and everyone, that's the trickster from the myths! And the one inside my head is the Creator god from the myths as well... He says that the Trickster thinks of 3rd dimensional matter as his own plaything, no matter if the people scream or not. The two have had a relation like two brothers, but the Trickster's the younger one who keeps on destroying and changing the older one's creations. It's an ageless war... Trevor, take my hand. Now!' Nat said. I shrugged and did so. There was a slight zap.

'The Raven just moved part of his mind to you.'

'Wait, how do I know?' I asked.

Is this good enough, Hero? I sighed. Another voice to contend with.

'I'm going after the Trickster. You; escape. Now.' Nat said.

'Wait, how? Nat, those things will kill you!' I shouted.

'Not a chance. I clear a path out of here.' She said, in a slightly different voice. She stepped out, and the creatures quickly charged. Nat, in turn, materialized what seemed to be a massive executioner's ax in her hand made of flickering darkness and swung it. The creatures, along with some of the walls, slid in half.

'Son of a bitch...' I muttered. I almost let off a shot into the Goliath, but I guess there's no need. The ax in Natalie's hands vanished. She turned to me.

'See? No need to worry. You go, I'll deal with my younger brother.'

'Sorry?' I asked.

'Sorry, the Trickster. Minds are muddled. Just go!' She said, dashing off. I cocked the Revenge.

'So, can you give me those type of powers?'

Hardly, I'm just one plane of the Raven. One miniscule part of the whole. I'm here to give info, so to speak. Be the informant.

'Must you always speak in metaphors?' I said. I slashed down a Demon which had evaded Nat.

Yes. I could just imagine a raven anthro like Nat smirking right now. But I can tell you where and how to escape. First, we'll need some heavy weapons.

I entered the main hallway. Something had exploded, collapsing part of it. I turned to the other direction. There was loud thumping.

And this is why we need heavy weapons. Get to the experimental weapons research lab right now! Move like the wind!

I dashed down the hallway just to meet the thing that was making the thumping. The Trickster had a sense of the grotesque.

Imagine a fleshy worm covered in patches of fur, scales, feathers, the like. It had eight massive, pillar like legs extending from the 5-foot wide and 20-foot long body, and each of these had massive claws. The head was covered in the same patching as well. It was shaped like an arrow head, but it was flecked with eyes. It roared at me with a blood-curdling screech, showing that instead of a tongue, it had two flamethrowers. These were made for dis-infecting rooms, so they had a wide spray. They lit.

'Shit...' I said to myself, rolling under its body just before a massive blast of flame licked the hallway behind me. I dashed under it (The legs were six feet tall.), letting off blasts with the Revenge the whole time. They nicked it, but not much else.

You need an explosive.

'You think?!' I cried, speeding down the hall, being chased by a worm monster. The thing roared again, shaking the hall. The roof was cracking! There was a door ahead, thank god.

I reloaded the Revenge while running down the hall. I took off the head of a Hexed one that got up from the ground, but the body... It merged with the worm thing. Extra flesh for it.

It roared a third time, almost shattering the glass on my visor. The solid metal roof collapsed on its head, just before I slammed the door behind me. I heard the dirt tumble down, bouncing off the door.

'That thing's screeches broke the metal roof! How?' I asked myself.

Oh, you ex-humans. Always stating the obvious. Simple- they're sonic. That armor of yours is fitted against it, so you didn't explode in a bloody mess of scales and gore. And the Trickster's minions are somehow protected against it as well- maybe it's the lack of free will. Who knows.

I pretended to not hear and opened the door. Dirt tumbled out in a pile. The doorway was blocked!

'Damn it. Where now?' I asked. I was stuck in an office with little more than a bed, a desk, and a laptop with a broken screen.

Like any office, this one should have a hatch to the service ducts.

I looked around. Nothing obvious, until I flipped the desk over. There was a hatch- locked, of course. I shot off the lock and climbed down.

'So, it always comes down to this; navigating the dirty old service ducts. Sometimes, I wonder why I bother.' I said to myself.

If you didn't bother, you wouldn't live.

'Yeah, yeah, smart ass. Just tell me how to get out of here and get the closest to the Snowcats.' I replied.

Take the fourth right.

I shoved through the steam coming out of the ruptured pipes, coughing from the shear pressure of it. I took one left to soon and ended up in a room that was barracaded up. The one who blocked it was in the corner with a battle shotgun. He was a Dingo with a metalworker's apron over his usual mechanic's uniform. He had a welding mask over his head and he wore a surprised expression. He seemed to be of foreign descent.

'God damn, I thought I was the last one alive.' He said.

'Hardly. Name's Trevor. Your's?' I asked, shouldering the Revenge.

'Nadek. I'm one of the workers here- was. Was one of the metal workers. Not any more. How'd you survive?' He asked. I noticed a rusty hatchway behind him. A half-made robot was leaning up against the wall, part of the main body missing. Nadek seemed to be working on it.

'Luck, skill, and a big gun. You?' I responded.

'I was working here when those things started attacking. I collected a shotgun and hid. This room collected samples from outside. The hatch behind me is access to a elevator that moved the samples. It can hold about 200 pounds, no more. And it's old, hopefully doesn't break. It's my escape. But it may not get you up. Sorry.'

'No matter, I have my route too.' I said.

'Well, good. Here, catch.' Nadek tossed a recorder to me. 'That's full of my notes on the station's mainframe, air ducts, and the like. I also took a few notes on the creatures in there as well. Won't need it.' Nadek levered open the hatch behind him and climbed onto the platform. He also tossed me some shotgun shells. Good, I was going to need them.

'Good luck!'

'You too, Trevor. Wish we got to know each other better.' Nadek said just before he slammed the hatch behind him. I exited the room. Odd thing, I only came in when he was just leaving. I switched on the recorder and put it into my suit's system. A map of the complex opened up in the corner of my HUD and the recordings started.

'This is Metalworker Nadek Somne. We've been receiving reports of odd things happening in the underworks of the complex. Not just the usually creaks and groans of this ancient place- hell, it was originally made in human times, as a nuclear war shelter. It wasn't built to be added onto and loaded full of artifacts. And the fact that this ship crashed caused cracks in the soil; rifts that weakened the building ground. If something was to shake the main hallway at the right frequency, it would knock out the roof supports and it would collapse, along with several of the hallways surrounding it. ADF spent such a small budget on fixing up the place that some of the original scaffolding is still there, buried in the dirt behind the flimsy walls. If anything bad was to happen- say something exploded in a lab, or a group attacked, the damage could be catastrophic. I've been working on some of these weak points ever since I was thrown here in this barren waste so far from home, hoping to make it just that little more safe for everyone here. And I'm not going to even start on the underground piping. This is Metalworker Nadek, signing off.'

When I turned the corner, I was faced with two things; a collapse and a Demon intent of biting my head off with an overgrown jaw. I axed off the top of the thing's head, but it still came at me. I let off a double blast, blowing a hole about a foot wide in its chest. It tumbled to the ground in a puddle of its own blood and gore. Now I had another problem to deal with- the collapse.

The collapse wasn't much, just the floor caving into the tunnels. I tried to climb up the fallen part, but it snapped off from the main floor. So I ran at it, kicked off the wall, and grabbed onto the edge of the broken floor. I pulled myself up.

I was in a familiar area. I was near the barracks! On the home stretch.

I walked down the hallway, the Revenge in hand. The automatic rifle I had was knocked off awhile ago by the massive ceiling-breaking creature. Huh, never named it. It spits fire, has a massive size, and can't get much damage? The sonic would kill just about anything too...

A Basilisk. Of course.

I stopped at the barracks door. The whole way there, nothing attacked me. Either Nat's destroying them all, or they're off somewhere else. Waiting for me...

I tried the door- locked. I kicked it down, and entered. The room seemed a lot alike. I started one of the other recordings Nadek gave me.

'God, I don't know what's happened or why, but anthros are turning into these... things. I had to run, to avoid being effected myself. I collected the shotgun from under the reception desk- wasn't going to let these things get me. Old Nadek's too hard of prey for these beasties.'

I picked up my old and trusty sniper rifle from next to my bed- the Pestilence. It used special shells which released massive amounts of acid when they impacted, eroding away whoever or whatever they hit. I strapped that to my back.

'I've been observing a few from my old room down in the tunnels. They wander, without purpose, without any soul at all. Their eyes are blank, much like a doll's. The bodies are mutated to the point of the impossible. I never thought something like this could happen. But hey, after the Re-Evolution, I guess anything should be expected.'

I grabbed all of the Pestilence's bullets and as many shotgun shells as I could. I also found a grenade belt with 6 frags and a large revolver that I replaced my 9MM with. There were several dozen bullets for it.

'I came right up with one of the things on my way to my hideout. I blasted it in the arm, actually taking it off, but it still kept coming at me, despite the fact that it was bleeding all over the floor. It tried to swing a claw at me that was on the ground, but to no avail. I took off its head with a shell, point blank range. These things are dangerous.'

I exited the barracks and quickly killed a Hexed one that ran at me. Blood splashed all over the walls. My route was simple- get to the refueling docks, refuel a Snowcat, and drive the hell out of here. Shouldn't be that hard.

Oh no...

'What is it now?' I asked as I walked towards the station. I had maybe a fourth of a mile of hallway to cover.

I am detecting nearly seven dozen creatures heading our way! Including a Goliath.

'God damn!' I cried, and I broke into the quickest dash possible in this suit. I could hear the crowd's roar. So I ran, ran like a rabbit from the hunt. Like a man that knew his life was almost over.

I threw a frag behind me. It exploded, sending body parts flying. I didn't see it, but I heard it and saw an arm flying past.

Some thunderous stomping echoed through the hallways. A Goliath came out of the hallway in front of me, all bloodied. But this wasn't your normal Goliath. The jaw on it was metal, and seemingly a bear trap. One eye was stitched shut, same with the chest. The shield was a door ripped off of a room, and its weapon was a massive pipe that was sharpened at one end. The shield had a body chained to its front, like some doll. The body was limbless apart from the head, and the torso was badly injured- the intestines were hanging out and leaking blood. It was a messy one.

I slid under its legs, letting off a blast from the Revenge. Blood covered me, but it just turned around and charged after me. The body on the front of the shield raised its head and screamed. It was even louder and more high pitched than the Basilisk's, and it cracked the glass on my visor. My HUD flickered but stayed on.

I dashed up the stairs into the refueling room, slammed the thick metal door behind me, and quickly blocked it up with a half-a-ton metal shelf. My suit augmented my strength, I could push that. For good measure I threw a few barrels in front of it. The Goliath, aided by the the creatures, was already shaking the door.

A Kisser was in here before I was, and it tried to infect me, but it was stopped by the helmet. I blew its head off with the Revenge and went to the controls.

This is going to be close...

'I know, damn it!' I replied to the Raven. The station overlooked the docking platform for the Snowcats with a big glass window. There were no Snowcats apart from one, and this one was missing two doors and one window. I told the system to refuel it, and a pipe slowly moved down to it. Down below, in the dock, two dozen creatures swarmed, trying to reach me.

I turned to the doors. They were being throttled now. The shelf almost fell over, and one barrel was thrown against the far wall. I shoved it back into place and held the door with my own weight. Come on, refuel! One of Nadek's recordings started playing for some reason- my helmet may have been damaged by that Screamer.

'I... I have seen how these things replicate. I will spare the details, but I shall say; it is gruesome.' I held onto the back of the shelf as the Goliath tried to smash it down. 15 percent fueled.

'These things can create more, easily. If one was to escape this facility, they could overrun the whole continent before ADF could stop them.'

43 percent fueled. I took note of the distance between the window and the Snowcat. 15 feet over, 15 feet down.

'If anything, I'd say this facility would have to be nuked to ensure the safety of everyone else in this world.'

61 percent. I picked off a Demon which managed to clamber up to my room.

'I am worried that I may not be able to make it back to Persia to meet my family and friends again... I hope I shall meet another survivor, another to carry these recordings for the greater good.'

89 percent. Almost.

'Wish me luck, whoever hears this. And if it was picked up from my dead or mutated body, well... you know what to do.'

100 percent! I let go of the barricade and dashed towards the window. The glass smashed as I jumped right through, over the 2 dozen below, and into the refueled Snowcat. I started it up and drove away seconds after landing, and just as the Screamer/Goliath combo landed. I sped down the dark tunnel, only lit by spinning red alarms and my own headlights.

Hell yes! Good job, Hero.

'I guess I couldn't of done it if it wasn't for you telling me when I was being followed.'

I suppose so.

I stopped on a elevator that was one of three. It started moving up right when I stopped on it.

'Seems that I went the wrong direction. We're going higher up the mountain, on the tundra side!' I remarked to no one in particular except maybe the Raven.

Well, there is a frontier town out there. It was called... Ugh, of all the names. They called it New Venice. It was made out on the shoreline, amidst all the frozen creeks. I would suggest getting there.

'Maybe I should.' I said. The elevator doors opened, and I exited. I was a good few thousand feet up the mountain from what I could tell, with nothing but dangerous slopes and snow around me. Oh, and the blizzard was still blowing furiously. I started down slowly- then heard the other elevators open. Demons on god-damned snow-mobiles. I accelerated to full speed as the Demons started firing upon me.

'No rest for the wicked, huh?'I muttered.

No rest for them, you mean.

'True.' I remarked, dodging a rock. A bullet shattered the glass behind me. They were catching up. Time for my Snypr training, huh?

'You bastards want to fight, huh?' I shouted behind me. There wasn't to many large rocks on which the Snowcat could crash on, so I tried something daring. I spun the vehicle around, shoved it into reverse, and then shattered the front windshield before readying the Pestilence. I took aim.

The Snyprs were some of ADF's greatest warriors during the Re-Evolution, and we still were afterwards. No matter what was happening, we could just focus on the scope, and the target. This is a great example.

I got a Demon in my scope- a ex-feline by the looks of the shredded body. I took the shot, but the Snowcat hit a bump. My shot flew too low, hit the back of the snow-mobile. The acid splash the shot caused leaked down onto the treads on its back, and decayed those away as well. The snow-mobile crashed into a rock due to not having anything to power it in the back, and promptly exploded.

'Hell yes! Haven't had as much fun as this since the Re-Evolution!' I shouted, taking aim at another. I let a shot fly- this one hit its mark. The head on that Demon was eroded away, and the snow-mobile bounced back and knocked another Demon off of his.

'Got ya!' I shouted, reloading. This old bolt-action rifle hasn't let me down yet.

I took aim at a third, but missed when the Snowcat bounced down a small jump. I had kept the pedal down with my foot the whole time.

There was a unsteady tension in the air, like energy was building. Not from the fight, no. From inside the complex.

I jumped over the hole that the observatory room made just as the complex exploded. A gust of fire flew out of the hole, burning my snowplow. Explosions racked the ground, and the top of the mountain exploded. Dark energy appeared from the hole in the shape of a massive raven... Damn, Nat. you know how to make an entrance.

I spun the Snowcat back around to deal with the fact that parts of the ground kept randomly exploding due to the complex under them doing the same. Other areas collapsed. All of the debris thrown up by the explosion was coming down... And so was the snow. Son of a bitch, an avalanche as well?

A bullet pinged off the back of my helmet, knocking out the hud and blacking out the glass. I threw the helmet off just as a large chunk of scaffolding crashed down in front of me. I swerved out of the way; the Demon behind me didn't.

The snow was slowly gaining on us; a white tidal wave indeed. So that was behind us, chunks of the complex were falling from the sky, and Nat seems to be overdoing it on the energy drinks. that shape vanished, anyhow.

A large rock bounced off the roof of the Snowcat, caving in the back half of it. Glass shattered, metal snapped, but the thing was still going.

I jumped a hole that had just been ripped by the explosions, and got scorched by another. A boulder crashed down near me, spraying snow everywhere. This snow- I couldn't tell if it was the snow or ash...

I crashed through a bank of snow and a Demon while running away from a tumbling boulder that had become a snowball and joined the avalanche. I couldn't see head nor bloody tail of the damn things, and I was beating the snow. With any luck...

I heard the loud vvrruummm of a snow-mobile's motor right behind me over the rumbling of the avalanche/explosion.

'Oh, one of you is just so desperate to get killed by me? That's- Shit!' I turned just to see a familiar person driving the snow-mobile that was smoking from its speed, but catching up. Jack's body had gotten changed...

'No! I'm not letting my past haunt me. Jack, old bud, I'm sorry...' I muttered, hitting the brakes and aligning myself with the snowmobile.

Jack had become his own type. He had the massive claws of a Demon, but his intestines were groping around his back, looking for purchase. Half of his head was missing, and a mess of tentacles slithered inside. The lower jaw hung off by a few threads, and the tail had broken off. He was covered in scorch marks, and his clothes were bloodstained everywhere. Blood dripped off of him.

I whipped out the Revenge and blasted the snow-mobile in the side with it from a range of about three feet. The snow-mobile swerved, but straightened back out; flaming. The avalanche behind us was slowing down, and the rain of items was also.

Jack's tentacles/intestines held onto the back of the snow-mobile and the handlebars, still dripping blood. They slid out of his body with a wet Slurp. Jack stood up, allowing his other appendages to keep him steady. He found one of those automatic rifles. And a big-ass cartridge.

I ducked down as shots racked the side of the Snowcat, one bouncing off of the side of my suit, another streaking across my forehead, leaving a bloody mark. That'd leave a scar.

I let another blast from the Revenge fly, and this one was right on target. I hit the engine and Jack's front tentacles/intestines, ripping the things apart. Jack tumbled back into the snow as his snow-mobile exploded. The avalanche covered the damned soul...

I reloaded the Revenge and kept on going, bouncing off a few rocks and dodging a few trees before the ground leveled out. The avalanche stopped, and so did the rain of objects. But I kept on going. And I kept going.

I finally stopped nearly half an hour after the rain of death stopped. I slumped against the steering wheel, panting for breath.

'God damn it, I've won... I've won.' I muttered.

So you did make a hero. You've done good. Now, it seems to be my time to leave you.

'Aw, what do you mean?' I asked. I was tired and hungry. I started searching the mashed, punctured, and torn Snowcat. It was also smoking lightly.

The rest of me comes.

I felt a slight sucking feeling as the Raven's intelligence left me. A raven landed on the hood of the Snowcat at the same time. But this raven was mad of flickering black energy and it was wearing goggles much like Nat's but smaller.

'Wait, where's Natalie?' I asked the Raven.

'She sacrificed her body in order to get rid of the Trickster for this moment...'

'Oh, Nat...' I cried, banging my head against the dashboard. There was a rather nifty dent there just for that- probably from a chunk of rock.

'She's still here with me, though. She's not totally dead.' I raised my head from the dent.

'So, there's hope... But not for anyone else, I'm guessing.' I replied.

'None, I'm afraid. I know- no, we know you had several people in there that you cared about. I know a few escaped, though. They have their routes out. You, though... The Trickster's taint may have gone further, if any creature escaped, especially a Kisser.'

'So I need to check up on New Venice, huh?' I asked.

'Yes.'

'Ugh, always on a mission...' I muttered. I pulled a small box of supplies out of the battered glove-box. There were three cans of very cold soup- I cranked them open and drank them down. Not very good, but nourishing. Best I can do until I get to New Venice.

'Alright, I'll do it. Best I can do.' I replied, starting up the motor. I was surprised to see that the motor started back up again. Wasn't exactly purring, though.

'Good man- er, chameleon. New Venice is north-east. I'll do my best to find Natalie a suitable body. Good luck.' The Raven said. He flew off. The energy vanished, dropping the goggles- the goggles returned to normal size when they landed on my hood. I grabbed them and put them on for eye protection- the blizzard was still going, after all. I drove on, north-easterly.

I was nearing the city when my radio crackled to life, along with the visual. Somehow, that worked.

'...God damn it, are there any survivors?...' A familiar female insect said. I slammed down on the RESPOND button.

'Dokuso! Shit, I don't know a better face to see except maybe General Kenji himself!' I replied. Dokuso was another Snyper back in the Re-Evolution days, and a good one at that.

'Trevor? I didn't know you were put on duty up there. What in god's name happened up there?'

'I wouldn't believe in god now, if I were you.'

'Wait, why? I was never one for religion, but...'

'Shush. Let me talk.' I said. I told her what I could- that there were survivors out there, that New Venice may be possibly infected, and even the higher-dimensional creatures. I told her everything.

'God damn... There's no one else but those few?' Dokuso asked. I nodded. Someone else appeared on her screen, and whispered something into her ear-hole.

'Damn it, ADF's putting up a netting field that covers New Venice and the research complex and all the areas in-between. In 48 hours, they're going to nuke the place... They got reports of violence and creatures from the ADF troops stationed there, but they didn't think it connected to the RAD's predicament. There's a checkpoint on the far side of the city; get there. With some luck, you may escape.'

'Yeah, wish me luck. Dokuso, has your senior officer status gotten you any control at all?'

'I'm still just a Captain, like you, Trev. And anyways, a insect doesn't get much respect around here. You get moving, old bud. Don't want to loose you too, like all those people gone before.'

'Aye, Dokuso. Aye.' I replied. I flicked off the radio as I ran out of fuel. The blizzard was slowing down, so I could see New Venice- it was about two miles away. I can make it.

I got out, slung the Revenge and the Pestilence on my back, and started walking.

After escaping the compound, I was glad to be alive. But no one else was. So many died, just to be pulled back up as those things... Demons, Hexed ones, Goliaths... And more besides. I killed them all. Or so I thought. My battered Snowcat almost rolled into New Venice on its last legs- er, treads. The thing was almost out of gas, the back end was caved in, and the engine was smoking. I abandoned it two miles back.

I walked in through an almost covered road that connected to who the hell knows where out in the far reaches of Alaska. The town was seemingly empty.

I treaded lightly through the thick snow, trying not to step on something which may break with a loud noise. I had the Revenge ready. It didn't have many shells, though. If I know my frontier towns correctly, there'd either be a gun shop or an ADF outpost around here somewhere. Somewhere. But where? If I didn't find it soon, I'd be fighting using the ax on the Revenge only! If the beasties are here.

'Hey, who are you?' I heard someone shout. I looked up to the top of one of the brick buildings to see a German Shepard ADF soldier standing up there, automatic rifle in hand.

'Captain Trevor, security commander of the RAD base. I'm the last survivor, as far as I know.' I replied.

'Well, we did see the explosion. That's why we're evacuating the town!' The soldier shouted back. He went to the side of the roof and came down the fire escape.

'Good idea. But the ADF's targeting this area...'

'I know, Sir. We're evacuating everyone through this main road here- it led into the mountains, through the forests, and eventually to Anchorage. There's some ADF left here to hold the town, to see if there's a way we don't have to nuke the whole damn city. Pardon, sir.' The soldier said.

'Never mind your language, soldier. Tell me the rest of the situation.' I replied.

'The way you came in is the most likely way that they'd come in, so most of the ADF in the city is nearby, hiding. We've seen a few of the creatures.'

'Not good. Your name, soldier?'

'Cadet George, sir!' The soldier responded.

'Take me to your front line, and get me some shotgun shells. 12 gauge.' I said. We ran in between the buildings and through snow-blown alleyways. A Demon was dead in one, riddled full of holes. We exited the alleyways and came to a road. It had been barricaded up with a crashed bus and a trailer truck, boards, and some crates. The spaces between the buildings were boarded up as well. On the main barricade, a dozen ADF troops were firing down at something. We climbed up to the top.

Underneath them, a few hundred creatures were pounding on the wall of debris, trying to break their way in. I could recognize Hexed ones, two of those tentacled creatures (Lets call them Octo-gores, for god's sake.), and several other new varieties I couldn't identify amongst the Demons. I let off two blasts from the Revenge, goring three Demons.

'Best save your ammo, sir. There's too many to kill. We have a stakeout about a mile down the road from here, there should be ammo for that shotgun of yours.' George said, eyeing the Revenge. We climbed down from the barricade and ran down the empty street. I saw some Demons dead along the road, including some odd ones that used to be avian, but weren't Hexed. Just avian Demons. The mutations were becoming odder.

We ran into the food-market-turned-ADF-base. We were greeted by a officer- A lieutenant. Higher ranked than me. Hah; these guys haven't fought on the front line like I have.

'And you are, captain?' He asked. He was a blue jay-lithe, lean, and looked like he had seen war. Unlike most officers. He seemed to be a veteran of the Week-long War.

'Captain Trevor, commander of the RAD base's security. Last survivor of it as well. Sir.' I responded.

'Well, if we're going to be talking... Private, leave us. I need to chat with the captain here.' The jay said. The private saluted and ran out.

Behind the lieutenant was the shop, or what was left of it. The front half of it was in almost mint condition; if it wasn't for the blood splatter all over the floor and walls. There were troops all about, preparing weapons and trying to help the injured. The lieutenant seemed to be running the operation. The back half of the building collapsed, so there was a pile of rubble behind the frozen fruits.

'Name's Finn. I hear you're the best with these things.' He said. I nodded.

'Good, we need someone with expertise. These things just keep killing troopers- we need to know where they came from, why the came, and how to kill them efficiently. That's an order, Captain.' Finn said. I started talking.

I finished telling him about the events inside the RAD base about an hour later. Lieutenant Finn was horrified by what happened there.

'Well, its a good thing you have the security armor. So, we kill them with just simple, shredding power. Shotguns.' He said.

'Yep. Explosives should work well too.' I replied, eating a lunch from what they had. First meal in ages; I was very hungry. Surprising I survived on what little food I was able to pick up.

Finn let me keep the armor and what I had. He was preparing to lead his troops to the checkpoint in 3 hours, fighting our way to it. Once we got there, we would take jeeps and Snowcats back to Anchorage.

'But what if the blockade breaks?' I asked.

'They'd need some serious firepower or just damn brute strength to bring that down.' Finn replied.

'A couple Goliaths or a Basilisk would take it down.' I replied.

'A... Basilisk?'

'Big wormy thing. 6-8 legs, made up of a dozen or two bodies. Has sonic screams, serious strength, a flame-thrower in its mouth-usually, anyways, and a mean temper.' I replied. I heard some gunfire from outside. I ran out, the Revenge ready. Finn was behind me, a shiny magnum revolver in hand.

Outside were some ADF soldiers fighting off a Goliath. This one had merged to a large door as a shield, and it was using a chainsaw as a weapon. As we ran out, one trooper let out a scream before the chainsaw sliced him in half. Guts splattered all over the nearby troopers, but they kept on shooting. Bullets bounced off of the Goliath's shield.

'A chainsaw? That's a new one!' I shouted, flipping out the Pestilence. I let off one shot that decayed the shield into uselessness. The remaining troopers took out the Goliath quickly.

'Even the Re-evolution didn't have as much death...' Finn muttered, seeing the mess. One of the troopers vomited on the ground, and another looked away.

'Sir, we need to go now.' I said to Finn.

'Maybe so.' He replied. 'Get your guns ready, people! We're going to make our final run to the checkpoint!' Finn shouted. The troopers outside saluted and ran into the shop.

'What are our reckoned chances of survival, Captain?' Finn asked.

'What's the population of this town?' I asked.

'It was one of the fastest growing frontier towns in the world. It had about 160K anthros in it before... this.'

'Shit... The RAD base had barely five hundred individuals. How far do we need to go?' I asked.

'About 40 miles. The town's only about 30 miles across, but we do need to cross some barren land to get to the checkpoint.'

'And our usable weapons?'

'Our best weapon is that sniper of yours. Each of us has two grenades, some automatics and shotguns, maybe a pistol each, and a few cartridges for each one. If we can make it fifteen miles in, there's an ADF base near the center of town. They have all kinds of weapons, even an Anti-Riot Mech Suit. ARMS, for short. It's equipped with a 70 year nuclear battery, two chain guns attached to the massive ammo pack on the back, so they each have 500K shots of a .223 magnum caliber. It also has an anti-riot force shield which can stop a crowd shoving on it. The ARMS would kill thousands of the creatures.' Finn said.

'That's anti-riot?'

'Search me.' Finn said, shrugging.

'And how much time do we have?' I asked. Finn checked his watch.

'Seven hours.'

I set my watch.

6:40:34 until deadline.

Finn had rallied his troops out in front of the old marketplace. He had found several vehicles, ranging from Humvees to a trash truck. There were a good hundred or so of us. Time to roll out.

I was just climbing into one Humvee's turret when I heard a loud crash in the distance.

'Shit...' I heard Finn mutter. 'The barricade's down! Move it, fellas!' He shouted. I had just gotten in the turret as the jeep started moving. The two in the trash truck led the way, only because they were the heaviest and could smash through the wrecked and abandoned cars in the road. We made it only a mile before the first Demon appeared. It was gunned down quick, but only for more to replace it. We were being swarmed!

I gunned down a row of creatures just as a Goliath charged out of an alleyway and knocked down the trash truck. It flattened a few Demons, but the men inside were killed quickly. It was also a very useful blockage. They were learning.

An Octo-Gore climbed up onto a Humvee nearby, shredding the gunner and the driver. I shot the Octo-Gore full of holes before it tried to move on to us.

'Shit, we're already being slaughtered!' I heard someone shout. Finn spun the jeep around, knocking into a few creatures. A Demon even tried to hitch a ride on the jeep's hood- and caused us to crash. I got slammed about, knocked out.

I woke up in a daze. The caravan was gone, and my Humvee was wrecked. There were dead everywhere, and a Kisser had its face near mine. I swung an uppercut into its chin, shattering its skull with my metal glove. I had the Revenge and the Pestilence with me, but nothing else. There weren't any bodies in the jeep, so the others must have fled. Thanks for the protection, guys.

I jumped out of the wrecked Humvee, ready for attackers. There were none; that Kisser had been a straggler. Good thing too, because another variant would have killed me.

I ducked into the nearby building, looking for a radio. After some searching and blasting a singular Demon, no luck.

How long was I out? There were lots of dead. And how far behind am I? I checked my watch.

Shit.

4:53:27 Until deadline.

I pushed my way down an alleyway and came out in what seemed to be a parking lot. Each of the vehicles here were damaged or destroyed, so no transport here.

I strode down the center of the open area, my weapons ready. I looked up; it was getting dark. That was the problem about Alaska- the nights could be much longer than the days. At night, the street lights would switch on and the predators would hunt the roads. But I had no time to waste, I needed to get the move on.

I heard a roar from a window high up. A scream next, and then the window was covered in gore. I dashed in and up the stairs, making sure the Revenge was loaded. I got up to the third floor and bashed open the door, hoping to see at least a survivor. I was sorrily disappointed.

A new creature roared at me when I entered. It used to be a feline of some sort, but the thing's torso had been shredded. It had the resemblance to an Octo-gore- the tentacles and all- but it still had the full head- sort of. The head had shattered into toothed prongs without eyes or any sensory apparatus. It also had no arms but stumps, and the legs had merged into a large tail of some sort, made from the signature scorched flesh of these things, and it was about 20 feet long. It slithered like a snake.

I let off a blast from the Revenge, flinging it back into the ripped apart body in the corner. The creature got back up.

'So you can hold your own, huh?' I asked it. It roared, and the tentacles flew at me. I knew how to deal with these; I swung the ax on the front of the Revenge in a wide circle, slashing each of them. The thing roared again, and lunged. I dodged it and let off another blast from the Revenge. It was taking a lot of pellets, because it got back up again.

I slashed its chest before dodging away; it seemed to have bone directly under the skin; like an exoskeleton, but... not. It's going to take a lot of firepower to blow a hole in that thing.

The creature shoved itself off the wall, flying at me again. I threw the ax on the Revenge straight down into what was left of its skull, making it go limp.I grabbed it, then I stepped back and tried to walk out the door. Before I got three feet I heard a hissing noise. It was getting back up again, but this time with half a head.

I ran straight at it before pushing off of its bloody and bony chest, and over its head. I let off a blast into its back, throwing it down. I noticed the hole the tentacles made in its armor- and let off a blast point-blank into it. The front half of the creature's chest exploded all over the floor.

'Not so tough now, huh?' I said, chopping off what was left of its head. I flicked the gore off of myself and walked out.

'Note to self; never go after a possible survivor that just exploded.' I said as I went down the stairs. 'Those Hunters are deadly.'

4:51:13 Until deadline.

I found the first wrecked ADF vehicle from the convoy a short distance down the road from the Hunter. It was a box truck that Finn was using to carry firearms. I checked it. Nothing in there. The troopers must of hauled all of it from the truck.

I heard a growl from the front of the truck. I climbed around to it to see a Demon with an ADF vest on, trying to slash my face. I blasted its off.

I went down to the corner and peeked around. First thing I saw was a dead Basilisk; killed by a jeep to the side. The jeep (This one wasn't a Humvee.) was still there as well, engine on fire. I walked out from the wall to see the rest of what happened.

The rest of the convoy was there, but there was no sign of life. No dead from what I could see, either.

I walked down to the mess. The ADF Humvees had been destroyed by something huge. Not a Basilisk, but something with more power.

The other vehicles were there as well, most smashed. The troop carrier truck had been sliced in half by something large, and the few civilian cars they had to use were completely destroyed. Only one vehicle- a pickup truck- Remained reasonably intact. I went over to it, and a Hexed one lunged at me from it. No, not Lieutenant Finn, thank god. I axed the beastie before trying the truck. The keys were still in the ignition, but the truck wouldn't start. I popped open the hood, just to bat away the smoke.

'Dad would know what to do.' I coughed. I let the smoke blow away to see that part of engine- as in the pistons- was smashed. It tried to start, but the pistons kept on getting stuck. I slammed the hood back down; I wasn't going to have any luck here.

I heard a bestial screech from one of the Humvees. I turned to see a Kisser climb from one. It ran at me, but was quickly dispatched. I reloaded just as most of the convoy got up. As the Trickster's Beasts.

Hero, you have survived for long enough. Time to die.

Oh, shut up.

I ducked as a Demon ran at me. It jumped at me, but it flew over my head and into the pickup truck. Before I was able to get to blasting it, another Demon slashed my leg, denting the armor and knocking me over. I flung it to the ground with the Revenge.

An Octo-Gore climbed out from the back of a Humvee, original head still hanging on the top of the new one. It launched tentacles at me- I reacted to slowly; I only managed to slice two before two more put big holes in my armor. I staggered back just for a Hexed one to jump on top of me. I punched it off and then let off a shell into its face. I used the second on the Demon in the pickup behind me. I reloaded just as more tentacles came at me. I sliced some, dodged others while I ran for the Octo-gore. I let off a shotgun blast into its face, shredding it. Just as I reloaded, a Demon slashed at me again. I beheaded it.

I heard a loud thunk. A Goliath was using a Humvee's hood as a shield, and a mounted gun as a weapon; it must of been one of the larger troopers.

I ducked behind a fallen chunk of rubble as it let off a burst of fire. The gun it was using was a mounted gun from one of the Humvees; it obviously didn't have much ammo. It ran out after the fourth burst. I vaulted over the chunk of rubble as the Goliath stupidly tried to fire at me again. I blasted it twice before it was able to defend. It survived, but I dodged an Octo-Gore's tentacles. Those tentacles pierced the Goliath, killing it. I was close enough to shred the Octo-Gore with the Revenge. A Demon was the only one left, growling at me from a distance. I reloaded.

'Come on, bastard.' I said to the mutated thing, beckoning it with outstretched arms. It roared, ran at me- and got its head blasted off by a sniper in one of the buildings behind me. The sniper wasn't one of my fellow Snyprs, for sure. The shot only removed half of the lower jaw and really shouldn't of killed it if it wans't for the fact that the bullet was a really high caliber and it tore straight through the torso. Still, it wasn't a bad shot at all.

I turned to the sniper. He was very young- teenager. If I'm going by his bright blue dyed fur, that is. He was a canine; probably a wolf, maybe a fox. Possibly a hybrid. The hair on the top of his head was black and black stripes went throughout his fur. He was lean, athletic, and he looked used to this type of living. He was wearing a black hoodie and a pair of badly ripped jeans. He carried the most makeshift sniper rifle I've ever seen. It was an old hunting rifle with half of a pair of binoculars strapped to it with duck-tape. Two metal wires worked for a stand.

'I didn't expect one your age and of your... fur color to be a good sniper.' I said to him. He was in the first story window of the building behind me.

'Don't knock it, it worked!' He shouted, jumping out of the window. I walked over.

'Name's Trevor. Yours?' I asked him. He was tall for a teenager; looked about six foot. I was still a few inches taller because of the badly scratched up security armor I was wearing.

'Shane Wolfe. Some call me Shamed, but I never really liked that name. I take it you're the front of the rescue party?' He asked me.

'Rescue party? Hah; there's hardly enough troops in this whole damned city to make a small squad! Pardon my language.' I said, spinning around. A light flickered off in the distance highlighting a pile of bodies. Bleh.

'I've lived around that language my whole life, G.I.Joe. You best get in.' He said. We climbed in through the window; the door was buried under a pile of rubble.

The inside was small- just a little room with a chair, some boxes of ammo, and a battered wooden bookshelf with a few books on it. I picked up one of them. Romeo and Juliet, by old Shakespeare.

'You wouldn't of seen a girl called Sarah out there, would you?' He asked.

'What species?'

'A wolf. About my age, about half a foot shorter, some green stripes in her grey fur.' Shane responded. I tried the door in the back of the room. Jammed shut. 'That door's blocked by rubble. I looked.' Shane added.

'Well, I haven't seen a Sarah by that description. I haven't seen any Sarah at all.' I responded.

'She's got to be out there! She has to be!' Shane shouted. I shrugged.

'There's survivors out there, for sure. If your girlfriend is one of them is the question...' I said.

'Yeah... I should wait here. Sarah said she would return to this hideout.' Shane said.

'Can she use a weapon?' I asked.

'She's a good swing with a bat, and not too bad of a shot with a gun. I gave her a shotgun that I found in one of the shops.'

'A gun shop?' I asked.

'I think so. They had racks of some older weapons. I couldn't carry much but some ammo.' He nodded to the boxes behind him.

'How far away is it?' I asked.

'About a mile down this road. Go west.' Shane replied.

'I best get moving. ADF's going to drop a bomb on the city in 4 and a half hours. Wait for your lady friend, but give yourself time to escape.' I said before climbing out of the window.

'Isn't that kinda extreme?' He asked.

'Only way of making sure all of the creatures are dead.' I replied. I pulled out the Pestilence.

'Jeez. My old hometown's finally met its bitter end. You get running, G.I.Joe. I'll find my own way out.' He said. I nodded a goodbye and started running.

4:26:07 until deadline.

I stepped into the gun shop. The metal door was hanging open, and the windows had been shattered. Inside was a small room with four racks, each with a dozen rifles. I ran past those- not much there but old hunting rifles and pistols- and jumped the back desk. There was a smaller rack behind it, with six weapons.

The first one was a massive hunting rifle that used .537 caliber rounds. It was a good four feet long, and the barrel was two feet of it. There was a box of two dozen rounds for the thing, and a sign said it had enough power to crash through two trees and go through a deer before stopping. I wonder how much power that would be against a dozen Demons? I took that and the ammo. It was breech-loaded, so I would have to be a good aim with it.

The second was an automatic rifle; an AK-47. Not my type.

The third was a little more noticeable. It looked experimental; the cartridges it used were small and oddly shaped. I popped out a few of its bullets; they were nails. Big ones a few inches long. Each cartridge had 15 shots, and there were six cartridges. 90 shots. Doubtful ammo could be found for this thing- story of my life. I strapped it to my back, also grabbing the .357 magnum revolver under the desk and the small box of ammo for it. The other three guns on the rack were hunting rifles with extra power, but one was a double barreled shotgun much like the original Revenge. I grabbed some shotgun shells as well before I exited. Let's kill them all.

4:12:51 until deadline.

I ducked behind a car husk when I saw a Hexed One shambling down the road. I pulled out the massive hunting rifle and aimed down the iron sights. A Demon appeared behind it. And another, seemingly from the building nearby. I let off a round. The recoil knocked me back onto my rear, but it splattered all three of the creatures on the ground. I loaded in another round.

'Damn, that's a good weapon.' I said to myself.

I heard a metallic noise from an alleyway. I turned, the nail-gun already out. It was a wide alleyway, only lit by a few flickering lights. Two were out, and a body of a Demon was ripped in half in a corner. The other half was gone. In the center of the alleyway was a car- it wasn't much, just a small van. It was intact, though. I walked towards it, my gun ready. The windows on the van were tinted red for some reason...

The van growled at me! I jumped back, letting off a few nails into the thing. I shattered the front windshield, and saw what happened.

Someone had been driving this van before all of this, and the red "tint" was blood. Their body was still inside, but merged. What was previously fur had been turned into the seemingly burnt flesh so utterly common to these things, and the arms had merged with the chair. The body's face had melted off, and so did the top of its head. From what I could tell, the whole corpse was merged with the car.

The corpse tilted over. But leaned back up, and barred a mouth full of broken fangs at me! It had no face, but its scorched mouth and what was left of a snout. I heard something break inside the car as I stepped back. The corpse roared as four massive, insect legs sprouted out from the wheel hubs, sending the wheels flying. The van got up, revealing its underside. It was flesh of a sort, merged in with the lower workings. It took a shaky step.

'Shit!' I cried, letting off a few nails into the bottom of the thing. It roared; but not from the body. I don't know where it came from, the thing had just sprouted legs ten feet tall so I couldn't see the upper half.

I ran out of the alleyway, pulling out my hunting rifle. I braced myself properly this time and fired at where the corpse would be. I heard a wet crunch as the bullet flew through the car and the corpse, causing the van to stutter. It kept on going!

I dashed down the road, letting off a few more shots. Two bounced off the seemingly armored plating on the front of the van, but the other smashed through it. The corpse slid out of the side of the van, but it was still alive!

I switched to the Pestilence. Maybe its corrosive shots would wear down whatever that thing called a heart. Maybe the engine?

I let off a single shell. It connected with the upper half of the front, corroding away a large chunk of it quickly. It roared again, this time in pain. I let off another bullet into the hole the first one made. The thing screeched and fell over with a loud crash. I killed the Auto-Killer.

I flipped open the hood. Inside was a fleshy mess of organs and blood vessels, some of which ruptured. There was a hole in a bunch of large veins and arteries where my bullet went through, but there was no sign of a heart. Did I shoot that out, or did it even ever have it?

3:27:54 until deadline.

I had walked on for a really long time, fighting several different variants. I was hoping for a sign from ADF or something from the Raven, but neither were anywhere to be seen.

Gunshots echoed through the the disturbing silence. They weren't mine, but the rapid firing of a mounted turret. I ran down the street, nailgun in hand. I climbed up the inside of a building, nailing two Demons on the way there. I switched to the Pestilence and ducked down on the roof that was overlooking the square from which the gunfire was coming from. An ADF humvee was parked there, covered in blood from the hundred or so dead creatures scattered around. There was only one soldier left; the one on the gun. I looked at him through my scope- soldier was avian, blood covered, and seemingly crazed. He was shooting at the few Demons that survived the gunner's slaughter.

I climbed down the fire escape on the building and into an alleyway. The gunner had killed those last Demons, and was still shooting them. Yeah; he was mad.

I went to the hunting rifle and let off a few shots. The gunner stopped only because he ran out of ammo. I could hear his cries about the horror, and the loud clicks of his gun trying to shoot non-existing ammo.

I ran over and jumped on the hood of the humvee, and onto the roof. The gunner was some type of more foreign bird; he was brightly colored. Or that may have been the blood that he was drenched in.

'Soldier, are you alright?' I asked him.

'I won't ever be alright I can't ever be alright after all of this all of this shit...' He rambled on, banging his head into the empty turret. I caught his head.

'Pull yourself together.' I said to the insane avian.

'... I can't ever be alright the Trickster's legions will get me in the end I won't ever be alright...' He went on. I slapped him on the cheek.

'I will never be alright again...' He muttered, pulling out a pistol. He tried to shoot me, but the two shots he let off went flying over my shoulder. He slumped down, crying and banging his fist onto the roof.

'You... you stay here.' I said to the gunner. The gunner made no obvious sign of a reply, but just kept on crying. I jumped down and looked into the inside of the humvee. There were six people in it; two in the front, four in the back. A canine ADF soldier was in the driver seat, his front ripped open, and guts splattered everywhere. Another ADF soldier much like the first was slumped over in his seat, spine sticking out of the back of his neck. In the back were some civilians; two adults, two children. One adult had her head missing along with a good section of her arm, the male had died from a massive hole in his chest, seemingly made by an Octo-Gore. The two children were dead as well; One was slumped down in the lower area, in pieces, the other one had tried to flee; he or she became a pulpy mess all over the ground. I almost vomited from the mess. I don't blame the gunner for loosing his sanity. The humvee must of split off to rescue this surviving family, but was ambushed and almost everyone was killed. Such a god damn loss.

I heard a gunshot from the gunner. I climbed back up to the roof; the gunner had put a bullet through his own head using the pistol he had.

'God damn it!' I cried, smashing my hands into the roof. Why must I be the only one that survives, the only one that sees the horror in its full? Why can no one walk by my side? Why must everyone die...?

3:05:57 until deadline.

I knew I was very close to the ADF outpost. I could tell by the fact that there were more Demons; more attackers. They must of been survivors trying to get to the weapons inside.

I ducked into an alcove. A large Goliath ran past- but didn't notice me. It was going after someone else!

I got out and let off four shots from the Revenge into its back. The Goliath crumpled to the ground, its axe slamming into the concrete.

There was a lady slicing and dicing the creatures ahead; quite skillful with a sword. A sword... I need one of those for the Revenge. She was a bluebird of some sort; I could never place avian species with much accuracy. Her clothes were odd for Alaska- Fancy vest with a dark purple inner shirt-also sleeveless, bowler hat, and large pants that were of European origin. She also had a long, red scarf- obviously for the cold. Tourist, perhaps? She stuck her rapier through a demon before noticing me.

'Look out behind you!' She shouted. A Hunter lurched at me- I dodged just in time. I let off two blasts with the Revenge into it before retreating to where the bluebird was. She had jumped into a building- it was one of the deployable ones- and closed the door when I dashed in. The hunter smashed against the door, leaving a large dent.

'That was close...' She said. 'Name's Glemegg. Yours?' She asked, offering me a hand in greeting. She had a noticeable German accent.

'Trevor.' I responded. The Hunter outside smashed into the door again. The tiny, movable hut shook.

'What the hell is that thing?' She asked.

'A Hunter. Extremely strong, extremely deadly.' I responded. I took out the hunting rifle and let off two shots through the door right after the Hunter slammed it again. I heard a loud crunch.

'Did you kill it?' Glemegg asked.

'Doubt it.' I responded. I heard a roar from outside, and several creatures slammed the side of the building, flipping it!

I crashed down on top of a table. Glemegg landed in a TV with a few scratches to show from it.

'You alright?!' I shouted, letting off some blasts with the Revenge. The door was on the roof now.

'Just a few scratches; nothing much.' She said. I tossed her the nailgun and its ammo. She slid the cartridges into her vest pocket and duel wielded her sword and the gun.

'I suggest holding onto something. They're going to do it again.' I said. Seconds after, several Beasts smashed into the wall, sending us flipping again! The door was upside-down, now. I ran over to it and smashed it open, right into a Demon's face. Another one ran towards me; I killed it with a blast from the Revenge.

'Run!' I cried. Glemegg dashed out of the door, firing off the nailgun. She took out two Demons and a Hexed one easily, and a fourth fell from her sword.

One of the Goliaths that was flipping our hut charged at me. I dodged and let off two shells into its back. It collapsed as another larger Goliath ran at Glemegg. She did something smart- jumped out of the way. She killed it quickly. She knew how to handle herself and the creatures out there; a true survivor.

I slashed another Demon with the ax in the Revenge and ducked a slash by another.

'God help us if something larger comes.' I said to myself as I let off a bunch of shots from my hunting rifle into a Goliath. I searched my pockets- those were my last shots. I threw the gun away and into a Hexed one, which Glemegg dispatched.

I shouldn't be surprised you're still alive, Hero.

Trickster, out of my head. Why must you always come at the worst times?

It's a good distraction.

'Watch out!' Glemegg shouted just before a Goliath slammed me with its massive battering ram of a shield. I got flung a good ten feet down the road. Thankfully, my security armor took most of the brunt of the hit; that kind of slam would of killed me without it. It weakened the armor greatly though. I heard the Trickster laughing in my head.

Glemegg took advantage of the distraction and put her sword through the Goliath's neck. It crumpled to the ground.

'Need a hand?' She asked, offering me one. I nodded and took the taloned hand she offered. She pulled me up.

'Good fighting out there.' I said to her.

'Same to you, Trevor.' Glemegg said. She noticed a pickup truck that was parked in the corner, snowplow attached. It seemed in perfect shape. 'And it looks like I have an escape route...' She said, walking to it.

'Wait!' I shouted. She turned just before opening the door. I ran over.

'These things could be monsters as well.' I said. I held the Revenge at ready as I swung open the hood. A blood red heart pulsed inside a gory chamber, the remains of the engine embedded in its walls. I slammed it shut and jumped on top. I let off two blasts into the heart through the hood. The legs on it stuck out and it tried to stand up, but it wavered and fell over, dead. I tumbled off.

'You can't trust anything around here, can you?' She asked.

'Hardly.' I replied, shoving myself up. 'I call those Auto-Killers.'

'Pun intended?' She asked.

'Maybe.' I replied.

'So, which way are you going?' Glemegg asked.

'Towards the ADF base. You should get out of here, the whole city is going to be bombed in...' I looked at my watch. '...about three hours.'

'And what type of bomb...?'

'Either nuclear or something more drastic.' I replied. Glemegg gave me a worried expression.

'But how are you going to escape?' She asked.

'I have my ways.' I said.

'Anyhow, if those ways fail, there's an old train-station that carried supplies from Anchorage to here. It uses a couple of old steam engines, there should be one there at any time. It's about five miles north from the base, and near the oceanic warehouse. You should be able to escape using one of those.' She said. She offered me back the nailgun.

'No, you keep it. The Revenge and the Pestilence can protect me well enough.' I replied. Glemegg reloaded the nailgun with the last cartridge.

'15 shots.' She said. 'Any more around here?'

'Not that I know of.' I said. 'But if you kill a beast that used to be ADF, they may have more weapons. Take care of yourself. And look out for a young fox named Shane; if he's not out by now, yank him out by his ears if you must.' I said.

'Will do, Trevor. Take care.' Glemegg said. I could see the warehouse-sized building that was the ADF base by now.

'You too.' I replied. I dashed off towards the base.

2:49:26 until deadline.

I kicked the door open and entered the dark passage. I looked around; I need light. I searched the several bodies near the door, one had a flashlight. I held it in one hand while I carried the Revenge in the other. The ARMS was supposed to be in a garage near the far end. Problem was, you could only open it through the inside, and I didn't have an explosives to blow the garage open. Anyhow, I didn't have the time to build one or did I want to run the risk of damaging the ARMS. So in I go.

I walked down the hallway, my metal boots clanging against the rusty and damp floors. I heard a scuttle. I swung myself around to take aim. It was just a rat. A normal one; unaffected. Odd.

I opened a door, quickly getting a few Demons to the face. I dispatched two, but one jumped on me before I could reload.

It nicked the side of my face with its teeth as it tried to bite me. I had dropped the Revenge, and I was laying on top of the Pestilence- so neither could be used as a blunt object.

The Demon that was attacking me smelled faintly of cigar smoke but mostly of decay and death. I head butted it. The contents of its skull spilt out as it split. Yeah, I had Demon brain on my chest now. I shoved it off in disgust. That one was decaying- either that, or the previous owner of that body had an un-developed skull. Probably the first.

I looked around the room. It used to be a small barracks room. It was mostly bunk beds in here, punctuated with some lockers. I checked the lockers; nothing of any use.

I was about to exit when I looked at the only locker I hadn't opened yet. It was covered in blood, and dripping in it. In the blood, words were crudely written with marker.

Beware the Priest.

Priest? Ravings of a madman, or a true warning...?

I slowly opened the locker. There was a box of shotgun shells next to a portable radio. I flipped it on and tuned it in to the checkpoint's station.

'...Really gone, can he?' I heard on the other side. Dokuso was still back there.

'No, I'm not.' I said. There was a gasp on the other side.

'Trevor, you're alive?! Holy shit, we thought you were lost!' The wasp shouted back. I heard a cheer on the other side.

'I'm not beaten that easily.' I responded.

'Where are you?' Dokuso asked.

'In the ADF base. I've already got grey matter on me and seen a mysterious warning since I entered it.'

'And the other ADF troops? We've picked up very few life signs out there. None of them had ADF trackers.'

'Those life signs were civilian; I met two myself. A German swordsman and a rebellious youth with a makeshift rifle. Sounded like me when I was his age... Anyhow, as far as I know, all other ADF troops are dead inside the blast radius. I'm the last one to my knowledge, and I've told the two civilians I saw to get the hell out. I'm trying to make my way to the hangar bay to grab an ARMS for escape.'

'Shit... All of them, dead? What happened?' Dokuso asked.

'Our caravan was attacked by a massive amount of bogies. I was knocked out... I came back to consciousness just to fight what was left of the caravan. I haven't seen any sign Lieutenant Finn was changed yet. Yet.' I responded.

'We'll wait for you. You've got-' Gunshots on the other end. A few screams, and a guttural roar. 'Oh shit! Something damned massive just broke the checkpoint! And it's leading other creatures with it! We're going to have to retreat, we're loosing people!' The loud clang of Dokuso's rifle loading. Several very loud gunshots. Wet noises, like her high caliber rounds plowing through several Demons. 'Trevor, get out of there! There's another path; an old train station-'

'I know there's a station there, Dokuso! I'll take it, you just get your men and yourself the hell out!' I shouted. More loud gunshots. A roar, then a slashing sound. Claw against fabric. Dokuso's battle screech, and two more gunshots.

'Dokuso, you alright in there?!' I shouted.

'Yeah, I'm fine! One of your "Hexed ones" Decided to slash my tent down and slash my side, without thinking of my rifle first! Trevor, you get moving! There's less than two and a half hours left! GO!' She cried, before switching the channel off. I pocketed the radio and exited the room. I started running down the corridor.

2:19:59 until deadline.

I crashed through a pile of crates and into a large room- the cafeteria. The crates were being used as a barricade.

I looked around; it was a mess. There was moldy food on the tables along side the dead bodies. Several bodies had been piled in a corner, shredded. The room smelt like rotten meat and despair...

I flipped over a dead canine anthro to see what he was dead on. The body was missing most of its face. Under him was a blood-soaked map of the complex and a small automatic rifle. Acording to the map, I still had another good section of the complex to go through until the hangar.

Bang!

Something was pounding on the door!

I acted quick- I ran to a corner and did something my species should do easily; stealth. I changed my scale color to the same grey as the walls and slumped down in a corner. With any luck, my security armor would appear empty.

The doors creaked open. An anthro- a feline one- came in. He was old; easily born a good few dozen years before the Re-Evolution. He seemed to be some type of house cat species; Siamese, I think. He was wearing the clothes of a priest and a pair of glasses. Odd, religion was a rare thing now.

Beware the Priest.

What? He's an old man. I'm surprised that he survived this long. Wait... How did he survive?

One of the other doors swung open, and a pair of Demons stepped out.

'Lord have mercy...' The priest said, praying. I got up and let off two blasts from the Revenge, killing the two Demons. I switched back to my usual colors.

'Thank you Lord, for this miracle...' The priest said before turning to me. 'I'm Father Bernard. What's your name, son?' He asked. I put away the Revenge.

'Captain Trevor of the ADF. Last survivor of the ADF in the northern Alaskan plains, apart from a quickly vacating camp out there.'

'So everyone else fell victim to the Devil's hordes?' Bernard asked.

'Not the Devil's. The Trickster's.' I responded.

'How can this be anything but the Devil's work?'

'The Trickster's basically the Devil, just not the Christian one.' I responded.

'Have you met him in person? Only a true believer in his holiness can have seen pure evil.'

'Hell, I saw him when he originally attacked! He's been in my head several times!' I responded.

'But he has not taken your soul?' Bernard asked.

'No, Father.'

'You are strong in spirit, brave one. Can you lead an old man out of hell eternal?' Bernard asked. But how...

'I can try. I'm going to steal myself a mech to blast myself out of the city. If you can keep up and stay out of danger, you can exit when I do.' I said.

'That sounds fine. Lead on, son.' Bernard said. I opened some of the door and started down the hall. Right when I opened the doors, a Hexed one appeared. I put my axe into its head.

'You are a great slayer of demons...' Father Bernard said.

'I saw the first one appear. And I'll see the last one die.' I responded. 'And don't try to suggest me using a wooden stake or silver bullets!' We continued down the hall, Bernard right behind my back, trying to use the limited light from my flashlight to see. We stopped at a three way- there was a new creature in one of the paths, opposite of where we needed to go.

'What are you waiting for, son? Kill the demon!' Bernard said. It wasn't doing anything but staring at me. It was hunchbacked and small- it look originally five feet, and due to its back, it was about 4 and a half feet. Its head was enlarged; one eye was merged with part of a microscope, the other swollen but usable. Its mouth was sown shut, along with its nose. A pipe stuck out from the back of its neck, presumably allowing it to breathe. One of its arms was normal, but the other was merged with a surgical sewing machine, of all things. I noticed it had a tool belt, partially merged with it. It was docile, seemingly uncaring of us. I lowered my shotgun.

'It's not attacking... I wonder why.' I said. It walked off into the darkness.

'What- why didn't you kill it?!' Bernard exclaimed, annoyed.

'I fight with honor, Bernard. A priest of all people should understand that.' I responded to him, walking away. He caught up.

2:01:28 until deadline.

I cracked open a door with a hard kick. It was a barracks room, much like the first one I accessed earlier.

'Don't we have a short amount of time until the city's destroyed?' Bernard asked me.

'Yeah, about 2 hours. almost exactly, actually.' I responded.

'And how long will it take you to get out and into safety?' He asked. His voice was a little sore.

'At least an hour.' I responded, searching the lockers. I heard a wet splat behind me, right about where Bernard was.

'Bernard...?' I muttered, slowly turning about, flashlight in hand, and the Revenge in the other.

'Shit...' I whispered, loading the Revenge. Bernard growled at me. His ribcage had opened, revealing his organs and four bloody, bony arms that ended in spikes. His face split right down the middle, revealing rows of teeth. His remaining arms turned into limbs much like the ones that ripped from his chest. The wet splat I heard was Father Bernard's liver falling to the ground. Perhaps I should call him the Unholy Saint?

'Die, Hero!' The Unholy Saint screeched, slashing at me with three spikes. I let off a blast into it; it took the brunt by blocking its chest with its arms, almost as quick as the bullet. What the hell...?

'I can move faster than any of your bullets, Hero. Your mortal arms can do naught against my might.' The Unholy Saint said. It slashed at me really quickly. I barely managed to dodge. The lower shin armor on my leg got slashed right in half.

'I can move faster than you, Hero. You can not hold out for long.' It growled.

'Bernard, that's not you talking, that's the Trickster! Remember how you said that you hated the Devil?! The Trickster is the Devil incarnate, everything opposite to what you devoted your life to! Fight him!' I screamed, letting off two more blasts, each was deflected. A pellet bounced off of the Unholy Saint and skinned my cheek.

'Bernard was killed when I took over, Hero. I was playing his part.' The Unholy Saint said. More of the Trickster talking through him.

I got flipped over when the Unholy Saint struck me hard on the leg with the flat side of one of its spikes. I was actually flipped around in mid air, like I was doing a frontflip. I slammed down to the ground, painfully. If it wasn't for the armor, my leg would be broken right now.

I reloaded and let off a blast from the Revenge, then aimed slightly higher for the second. A few pellets nicked the Saint's head. He can deflect, but he predicts where you're about to shoot. Like a soccer goalie.

'Rargh!' The Unholy Saint screeched, very loudly. I predicted where he was going to go for for his next attack- my legs, again. I jumped. Just in time; a spike went flying under them.

'How-?'

'Never underestimate me.' I said. I let off two blasts- one I aimed for its legs; it was deflected. The second was quickly blasted straight into its chest. It flipped around and landed with a loud Crunch!

I walked over to the body an raised my axe. I was about to slam it down when one of its arms swung straight up and jacked right into my chest. I got flung back into some lockers.

I got up- it hurt like all hell, but I was alive. My armor got shattered, though. Not of much use, now.

'You... you will die, Hero... I am sending many of my beasts to destroy you know, including my strongest. This suit of yours shall not save you for long...' The Unholy Saint said, trying to stagger up.

'Ugh... Shut up.' I said, letting off two shotgun blasts into the back of its head. It collapsed, brain all over the cold metal floor.

I disengaged my armor; it was badly damaged and of little protection now. The Saint's first swing shattered the left shin plate, that stab broke the chest plate, and the fall shattered some of the pistons which helped it move. I was unarmored now. Like a crab without its shell.

I searched some of the lockers I was flung into. There was a bulletproof vest and an ADF trench coat inside; they'll have to do. I put them on, and exited the room. Just outside, a sign was covered in blood. I wiped it off; it pointed the way to the hangar bay. I am so damn close...

I peeked into the hangar bay. It was empty, and the front door for it was at a bad angle, with a small space at the bottom in which snow was blowing through. I could have squeezed through that! All of that shit was for nothing... I groaned. I could of kept my armor.

I looked around; no sign of a mech suit. There were a few broken down jeeps and one tank- a "Slasher" tank. Too bad its blade was snapped in half and across the room. There was also a massive blood stain in a corner. There were several other doors about, along with a Goliath. It charged at me; I dodged, putting a shell into its back. It stumbled, roaring. I jumped onto a jeep's turret and nailed it with several dozen 20MM shots.

I tried the other garages that were on the walls; the first two held jeeps. One was usable. Wasn't an Auto-killer either, it was an open to the air model.

I swung open the third and got nothing but a holding frame for the ARMS.

'Damn.' I muttered, walking towards the serviceable jeep. Someone must have taken the suit somewhere. Just follow the trail of blood, tears, and despair to the tool of death, eh?

1:38:18 until deadline.

I sped down the street, towards the harbor area. I was attacked several times by a good deal of creatures, forcing me to jump to the turret quickly to eliminate the hostiles. These jeeps were made for two men, not a lone soldier of destruction...

I sped down a street, towards the docks, hoping to see the train station. Suddenly, my jeep was flipping through the air! I landed hard, tumbling across the concrete and leaving a slight smear with my own blood. I reached for the Revenge- it wasn't there! Knocked off by the impact, no doubt.

I staggered up; a Goliath did the deed that destroyed my jeep. I grabbed the first thing that came to hand- the bumper from the jeep. The Pestilence was still in the jeep, so I'll have to beat it into submission.

It roared and dropped its shield. Its weapon- a saw used for cutting meat- was still there. the place where the shield used to be was now a mess of grabby tendrils.

It roared, and its saw started spinning, fast. It ran at me, saw raised and its tendril arm forward. It was a lot faster than most Goliaths. That's why it dropped its shield, of course! It was weighed down by it. It swung the saw down when it ran at me; I just avoided it. The back of my coat was sliced clean off.

I jumped up and batted it right over the head with the bumper. The bumper actually bent over its skull! It looked dazed, but alive. Damn.

It growled and charged. I threw the bumper at it when I ducked out of the way. It missed. Will these things ever learn to turn? Hope not.

I dashed towards the wrecked jeep. The Goliath was confused and looking around for me. Good thing this one was an idiot.

I jumped over the flipped jeep and reached under, hoping to grab something helpful. I grabbed a gun barrel, and yanked it out. Not the Pestilence, but the jeep's gun! I aimed it at the Goliath and let off all the shots that were in it into the Goliath's head. It got flung down, head in bits. I discarded the spent turret and searched under the jeep for the Pestilence. I grabbed its stock, and pulled it out. Or at least tried.

I put all of my might and yanked my old rifle out- its barrel was bent at an almost 90 degree angle! Crushed by the jeep.

'And so, we finally part ways, old girl...' I said, unloading its cartridge. It may use specialty ammo, but it worked in any .223 caliber rifle. I pulled out the ammo box for the Pestilence and then laid the gun to rest leaning on the smoldering jeep.

I searched about for the Revenge. I found a hole in the glass front of a bookshop; the Revenge was embedded in some books. I yanked it out and started walking down the road.

1:04:56 until deadline.

I snuck around one of the corners and looked to where I was going. I entered the docks, and from what I could tell, I had but a half a mile to the train station. And half a hundred Demons in the way.

I ducked around the corner and opened the door to a warehouse I was hiding behind. I slammed it shut behind me and locked it. I heard a growl- I ducked just in time to see a Hexed one fly over my head.

I ran over to it and blasted it in the chest with a shell. I reloaded and ducked behind a crate, wary of more attackers. The warehouse was massive and full of crates; these were full of god knows what. Doesn't really matter, now.

I clambered over the crate and ducked behind another. There was a loud growl, and a screech. Something big was out there.

I took a quick look around the crate to see six Demons, three Hexed ones, an Octo-gore, and a Hunter in a large, seemingly communicating group. They hadn't noticed me.

I glanced about, hoping to find something big to take them all out with one fell swoop. Nothing of the sort, not even a crane... But there was a truck. It was a simple cargo carrying truck, nothing special. A wheel hood was missing, along with the windshield and the hood, but that showed that it wasn't an Auto-killer. But it was on the other side of that large group, and the Revenge couldn't take them all.

I vaulted across a space between two crates and tumbled behind another. They still didn't hear me. I axed into a crate and pulled it open; paper towels tumbled out. Now they heard me.

I let off two blasts, killing a Demon and a Hexed one. The Hunter quickly picked up a crate and flung it at me; it shattered in an explosion of packing peanuts, wood, and folding chairs a few feet away. I grabbed a folding chair to club a Demon in the face with it, sending it flying off of the crates. The Octo-gore followed the Hunter's example and tossed another crate at me. This one knocked me over, but only hurt a bit. It also exploded in toothbrushes, of all things. I let off another blast at the Octo-gore, but it didn't die. I reloaded and started dashing towards the truck. I blasted two Demons and jumped into the jeep, scrambling for the keys. Shit! The keys were missing!

I noticed one of the Hexed ones was wearing the uniform of a dock worker. I ran at it and sliced its head clean off. I searched the remains as the rest were attacking, found some keys. I started dashing back towards the truck when the Hunter grabbed me by the foot with a tendril. I got slammed down onto the concrete floor, almost on my ax. I turned and chopped off the offending appendage from the Hunter and jumped into the truck.

The keys worked! I started up the truck and backed it into the Octo-gore, killing it. The Hunter and the remaining creatures charged at me. I drove out the front garage door quicker than you could say 'Escape.'

It was a long, straight stretch of concrete to the station; I could make it. The truck still had half a tank of gas anyhow.

I left tracks through the snow as I sped on. Then I heard a loud crash as a pile of crates on one of the docks was smashed. I stopped to see the creature that was rising from the chilly water. It was a new one...

It was vaguely humanoid, but humanoids aren't usually 17 feet tall! It was comprised completely from the burnt flesh so common to the Trickster's Beasts, but had the shape of a reptilian. It was a Goliath of a Goliath, really; it had a ship hull as a shield and a flippin' anchor as a weapon. It smashed the anchor down, knocking a massive chunk from the concrete. It roared, and the head split from the mouth! It was like a cartoon where a character's face smile so big, his head seems to come detached. The head was still attached, but far in the back. The new split was lined with massive, foot long teeth.

'Oh shit!' I cried, putting the truck into full gear. The creature's tail split down the middle too, revealing spikes inside. I started kicking snow into the Leviathan's face before the truck caught enough traction to move. The thing roared again, slamming its anchor down almost onto the back of my truck! Chunks of concrete and ice pinged off of my roof. I was almost going to ram into it with my truck, try to knock it back into the water, but it had that shield...

I smashed through a pile of crates which were quickly obliterated by the Leviathan. It swung its anchor like a massive climber's pickaxe, shattering the front wall of one of the warehouses. Bricks rained down, one shattering my rear view mirror, and several more landed in the back of my truck. Dust covered the Leviathan and myself as we sped on. Oh, I could really use the ARMS right now...

I ramped over a platform and skidded across the frozen snow. Crates went flying when the Leviathan smashed down its shield in fury. One shattered on the back of my truck.

Two Demons walked out in front of the chaos. I flattened one, demolishing my front bumper. The other one was killed when the Leviathan stepped on it.

I hit only half of a car carrier's ramp, almost flipping my truck. I landed and skidded again, almost crashing onto the ice that was over the water. I quickly turned and dodged another attack by the Leviathan. I could see the station!

I sped straight inside the place, my truck ending up on the tracks. I jumped out and ran towards the only engine left; a small steam engine with nothing more than a coal car and a few flatbed trailers.

There was a roar outside and several dozen various creatures crashed into the station, pissed off. the Leviathan was still outside, smashing away at the wall.

I leaped into the front car on the train and shoveled some coal in quickly, then lighting it on fire with some fuel I found in the cabin and a shot from the Revenge. The train slowly started... but not fast enough!

I sent a Demon flying from the cabin as the body of the attackers made it to the train. I was just exiting the station when the Leviathan decided to actually break the wall. It roared and started running after my accelerating escape engine.

I clubbed another Demon in the face, sending it flying off and into a wall. The train was traveling down the tracks that were meshed between buildings. Each train came from a different place; hopefully I get somewhere good, and out of the blast radius.

An Octo-gore leaped into the coal car. I let off a blast which ripped its tentacles apart and then another which sent it flying off of the now speeding train. A Hexed one was the last one to make it onboard, but it got an ax to the face. I reloaded then; there were no more left and I was traveling through the streets, occasionally flattening a beast. Hopefully the blood on the tracks doesn't derail the train.

I sat down and took out my radio, watching the city go by. This bloody, desperate city will be destroyed soon... Along with all of the creatures inside it. By the time, I should be far away.

0:00:59 until deadline.

I sat on top of the coal car, watching the city vanish into the setting sun behind me. Soon, it'd be a massive blast. I tuned my radio into the ADF techno-babble.

'Alpha squadron, come in? Over.'

'We hear you, Beta. Over.'

'Alpha, how's the bomb deployment going? Over.'

'The BHB will be deployed in now time, we have a drone out there in the mess. Over.'

'And any survivors? Over.'

'None that we could make out, Beta. All I saw that was any sign of life was a train escaping the city. Over.'

'Did you try to stop it? Over.'

'No, Beta. The deadline was almost there, we had to keep to the mission. Over.'

'And you have about 30 seconds until the deadline. It deployed? Over.'

'Roger that, Alpha. Detonating the Black Hole Bomb in 3...2...1...'

'Beta? There was no explosion. Or implosion. Over.'

'Shit! The drone was attacked; the detonator was disconnected! Oh hell...'

'Beta? Respond!'

Screams. Gunfire.

'Beta!'

'Alpha, someone's going have to go in and detonate the BHB manually! Fucking hell, get off of me!' More gunshots. A loud roar.

My listening was disrupted when three jeeps sped out from behind snowbanks and accelerated to connect with my train. I loaded the Revenge; these jeeps weren't ADF. I jumped down just as half a dozen Demons, Hexed ones, and the occasional Goliath jumped from each jeep. A fourth type of creature jumped out of the last jeep in the back; I didn't get a good look. The jeeps each then crashed because their driver jumped out. I blasted the first Demon into another, and then shoved them both off.

'There's more creatures attacking! Beta, respond!'

I reloaded and ducked a slash made by a Hexed one. I kicked it in the chest and off the train. Maybe it survived, we were a few miles into the flat-ass tundra.

'This is Beta, but there's not many of us left! Shit, they're coming again, and in full force this time! One's got a grenade!'

An explosion destroyed Beta's radio as I let a Goliath take out a Demon. The Demon was thrown right off, the Goliath turned and charged again.

'Beta!'

I tuned in my radio as I nailed down two Demons with two blasts.

'I'm not your Beta team.' I said, kicking a Hexed one. It bit my shin and flung me down. My radio skidded away from my grasp as I blasted the Hexed one in the face. That Goliath tried to shove me off the train when I jumped its door shield and blasted it in the back of the head. It crumpled to the ground. I grabbed the radio.

'Who the hell are you?!'

'Captain Trevor of the ADF, part of the Snypr elite, probably the last damn survivor in this whole area apart from you guys.' I axed a Demon and reloaded. 'That train was mine.'

'Is that fighting I hear?!' Alpha shouted.

'Yeah.' I responded, blasting a second Goliath. This one blocked the blast with its shield and stepped aside for a pair of Demons to run past. One slashed my arm, but the other got slashed in the face by my axe. 'I have to go, though... I'll keep listening.' I said, switching off the transmitter. I blasted the surviving Demon and reloaded. I got flung down a car when the Goliath smacked me in the face with the corner of its shield. I dropped the Revenge, but it didn't fall off the train. I almost did; I was hanging onto the side by a simple bar. The Goliath roared above me, about the chop me with its scary looking chainsaw. It swung the chainsaw down, but I swung back up on its side. I booted it off into the rushing snow below.

I grabbed the Revenge just to blast another Hexed one in the face.

'Captain Trevor, respond!' Alpha squadron shouted. I didn't respond because I was on the last enemy. And he looked familiar.

'And so we fight again.' I said to the mutated Jack. Mutated again.

He retained what happened to him before, but his legs were much like a Goliaths, without the cumbersome shield. His claws were massive blades, and his re-grown tail had stretched into a ten foot long spiked appendage. He roared like a wolf under a full moon, a beast of utter instinct. He charged, and I dodged. He acted much like the Unholy Saint, but even worse. One of his tentacles grabbed my knee and almost threw me off the side. I dropped the Revenge off the side of the train.

'Now, I'm pissed!' I said, performing a roundhouse kick on him. He couldn't dodge that, and was thusly thrown against a crate nearby. The crate got flung off. He roared and slashed at me with ten spikes and blades. Three scratched me, only one leaving a deep gash in my lower leg. I slammed my fist into what was left of his skull, leaving a big dent in it. The tentacles coming from his skull tried to grab my hand; I pulled away before that happened.

I picked up a pole from the mess on the ground and swung it like a bat. I missed and Jack rammed me almost off the side. I stabbed my pole into the space between the planks on the ground and vaulted over and around Jack. He grabbed onto the edge bars on the car and yanked himself up.

'Why must you always torment me, Trickster?!' I shouted to the sky.

'It's what I do to you damned mortals.' Jack said.

'Out of his body, you bastardized beast.' I said, reaching for the Revenge. Right; it got flung off.

'Not until I leave you dead in the snowdrifts.' He said, slashing at me with his tail. I jumped over it and planted my foot in his face. I heard Jack's neck snap with a loud Crunch!

His head was turned all the way around, facing completely backwards. He grabbed his head and turned it back around.

'You can only destroy this body, you cannot kill me.' Jack said. 'And destruction of your old friend's body is hard for you mortals and your emotions, no?'

'You're not him anymore.' the train was approaching a turn at full steam. There was a loud screech... And we derailed.

I staggered up from the crash. the train had partially exploded, flaming parts all over the area. Jack was thrown down inside the engine, head cut off by a chunk of flaming metal, his body burnt to a crisp. I clenched my ribs, I think I may have broken one. Easily cracked.

I was lucky; I got thrown into a large snowdrift and was sunken into it. It cushioned my fall and put out any flames.

'My god... the creatures are rallying...' I heard over the radio. It still worked?

I clenched my leg gash, it had stopped bleeding but it hurt like hell. I tried walking, but I had to limp.

'Someone has to detonate the BHB, otherwise this whole world may be lost...!' The signal was fading in and out, like it was being jammed. I started limping away from the wreck.

A short while later, I grabbed the Revenge from the snow it landed in, blade in the snow, standing straight up. I could see New Venice; it was burning. If there was fighting in there, Alpha squad was putting up a hell of a lot of combat.

The wind blew ashes and snow past as I loaded the Revenge and checked how many shells I had left. Most had been flung out during the crash, I had about a dozen left. Ihad also lost the extra ammo for the Pestilence. I was injured, low on ammo, hungry, tired, and damned cold, but I had to keep on fighting. I had the willpower to fight, I had the willpower to die if need be.

I cocked the Revenge. 'Let's end this.'

I was hurting pretty bad.

I had been through hell and high water so far, and somehow survived. But one of my ribs was broken, my ankle felt sprained, I was covered in gashes, and I sustained a blow to the head which kept on throbbing. Oh, what I could do for a nano-bot injection to repair the damage. Or even better, a well guarded bed. But no, no time to sleep when you're the only one left alive. Except for maybe this Alpha squadron.

So, I had to detonate the black-hole bomb that was supposed to destroy the city. The drone carrying it was damaged... Hell, why couldn't they drop it in via a jet? The jet would of been sucked in, stupid.

I didn't have much to protect me from the Trickster's Beasts either. Just the Revenge and a torn Kevlar vest. The Revenge was battered; her barrel was scratched up, part of her wooden stock was cracked, and the fire ax I had attached was chipped. It had killed a few hundred of these things; hopefully it can stand up to another thousand or more.

I stood up at the top of a hill overlooking New Venice. Why did they ever call the city that anyhow? I don't see many canals, and didn't when I was battling through the city.

'You know you'll probably die at the end of this, hero.' A familiar voice said. The Raven. I last saw him right after the RAD base exploded.

'Where were you while I was fighting through New Venice?' I asked the flickering Raven sitting on a branch next to me.

'Finding a body for poor dear Natalie.'

'It takes that long?' I asked.

'Sadly, yes.'

'And?'

'I did find her an empty body. Another female crow, but this body was slightly taller and much more Russian.'

'Wait- so where is she now?' I asked.

'In Russia. Her memories were unchanged, I have a good feeling she will be bringing more troops with her.'

'ADF, I persume.' I responded.

'Of course. There's no other military out there, anyhow.' The Raven responded.

'Well, true...' I said. I grimaced from pain in my broken rib.

'You're injured.'

'Well, yeah! I'm not immortal like you, Raven.' I responded, annoyed.

'Sorry, Hero. I cannot help you in this war, but I can do something...'

'Go on.'

The Raven held his talon over my broken rib. I heard a loud crack and then doubled over from the pain it caused. I clenched it; it was healed!

'Sorry that hurt. I can move through time or make something move through time as easily as you walk. So I have to reverse the injuries in time.'

'And make them never even happen. Not even a scar. Thanks for that. Now the others?' I asked. The Raven nodded and held his talon over one of my gashes.

'So, anything you can say about what's going to happen in the future with me?'

'All that I can say is that your Earth will never be the same, nor will you.'

'Well, yeah, doc. Thousands have already died, and I for sure won't even flinch at the sight of a body spread out all over a room- guts and all, in the messiest way possible- anymore.' I grimaced as the gash healed. He hopped over to my ankle.

'I don't mean like that, Hero. Ways you wouldn't expect. And this may just not end with the Trickster...' The Raven responded. I thought on that, intentionally ignoring his comment about after the Trickster. How could it be unexpected? Hell, I'd expect pigs to fly by now! Badly injured, mutated piggies.

'Hero, have you ever wondered what happens to one after they die?'

'Just the end, that's all I would've expected. I've never been religious.'

'Religion got part of it right. There is a place; run by the Trickster and his friends, that you third-dimensioners called the Underworld. Hell. The Abyss. Abydon-'

'I get the picture...Wait, the bastard has friends? There's others like him?!' I exclaimed. I winced as the Raven healed a gash.

'Sort of. He can make himself look however he wants; he usually plays the part of the Christian Devil; sometimes Seth from your ancient Egyptians.'

'I knew he was bad, but this...?' I said.

'Your BHB will not destroy him, you know. But, it will either disperse him to where we won't be able to rebuild himself, or imprison him in his own reality.'

'And those bits do what?'

'Affect people. Some say that's why people like Hitler and Caesar were born. They caught a rather large chunk of this "Hell Energy".'

'So, we either create a bunch of dictators even worse than Hitler and Mussolini, or throw the Devil back into Hell. I don't know which is worse.' I responded. The Raven finished healing me.

'They're both pretty bad. At least the dictators can be killed.' The Raven said. 'You're finished. I'd suggest you go back into town, find this Alpha Squadron, and lead them to the power plant. That's most likely where the Trickster will be. Good luck.'

'Thanks-' The Raven has vanished. 'Well, onward.'

The raging blizzard that was blowing for the past while had stopped at some point while I was on the train, leaving about half a foot of snow on the ground. I trudged through it and into the city streets. I was quickly attacked, like I expected. I let off both shells into the attacking Demon, turned around, and put the axe part of the Revenge into another Demon's head. Blood spurted out and drenched me and the snow.

I reloaded and looked down the street. There were abandoned cars all down it, as well as dead bodies, abandoned backpacks and other goods. When the civilians in the city evacuated, the must of come through here. No wonder there was so much scattered about; the Beasts must of picked them off like Hyenas do to a group of prey. I saw a path that lead out down and into the plains, cut by something large. Hopefully, the majority of the group made it. But there was a large amount of blood all down the path, along with some parts of bodies. There had to be panic. Death. One can sense Death when one knows it well enough.

Speaking of Death...

I heard the signature roar of a Goliath just before it tried to smack me in the back. I dodged and put two shells into its back, crashing it down in the snow. The snow turn a sickly red. Two Demons, a Goliath a short distance behind. There'll be more.

I loaded the next two shells in and spun around, kicking up some snow. A Hexed one was trying to use the Goliath's attack as an distraction to nail me. That didn't happen; I blew a hole right through its chest. The body fell into the snow like a brick.

I loaded two more shells in and searched the bodies; I needed to conserve ammo. One of the Demons was military once; he carried an old MaH-6 revolver. A good piece of equipment; had the accuracy of a sniper. He also had two dozen shots on him. Good. I slung the Revenge over my shoulder and loaded the MaH-6. I had about a dozen shells left for the Revenge, I had to conserve them.

I ducked into a building to do some thinking. By my estimations, the center of the city had to be a good 15 miles away. Where that squadron was, though... Who could say.

I attempted to tune my hand-held radio into Alpha squadron's frequency. I had the frequency right, but I wasn't getting anything. No static, either. They must be occupied. Radio may have just broken, though.

I started walking down an alleyway, but I stopped. There was a car intact in the alleyway- and the windows were tinted scarlet. I readied the Revenge when the car-a bright red hatchback van- creaked. I dashed forwards the put two shells into the space where the engine should be, but the Auto-Killer stood up before I had the chance. This one was different from the first. It had four legs; but these ended in large, flat, and round feet. The bottom front of it creaked, cracked, and broke right down the middle. The result was a mouth which quickly formed rows of razor sharp teeth in the red, stained metal. It clenched its mouth and opened again, like it was trying to roar. I dodged just as it tried to stomp on me. Shit; these guys just keep changing every time I meet one! I let off a couple of shots from the revolver, putting some dents in it. One pierced the fiberglass body, and the hole acted like a bullet hole on an organic creature. A bullet hole from an anti-tank gun, that is. Blood was spraying everywhere, and the Auto-killer was roaring even louder. I heard some creaks and groans from around me. It had backed me into a small store parking lot... And my god; the dozen or so cars were getting up!

They're getting smarter- this was a fucking ambush!

I dashed and slid right under the hatchback Auto-killer before any of the new ones could attack me. As a result, one of the feet intended for me stomped on the first Auto-killer's foot. The Hatchback- let's call it Hatchet for now- Bit the offending one's front clean off. Evidentially, you don't piss off the leader. The offender collapsed, the missing front spewing copious amounts of blood and oil.

I vaulted over a husk of a van and ducked behind it. I let off the three shots remaining in the chamber at Hatchet before reloading. I had loaded a single bullet when Hatchet flattened the van, causing me to drop the other five bullets!

I spun around, aimed, then fired right at where the driver would be. It didn't kill the first one, but you never know...

The glass shattered, and the body slumped out of the hole. Hatchet didn't even twitch from that shot.

I pulled out the Revenge, then jumped right at it. It dodged, but one of the other ones- a grey van- was near. I hooked my ax onto the remains of the axel and let off a blast. I saw the hood go flying off as I jumped away. The van Auto-killer slumped to the ground, dead. The other ones roared for their fallen comrade.

They were mourning?

No, not quite. A call for help; that's what it was.

A nearby building had its door flung off by a pair of pissed off Demons. A Hexed one stood up from the roof, and a Hunter came out from an alleyway. A few more Demons appeared from somewhere. Shit... I had to get out of here!

I jumped then kicked a Demon in the face, scratching it with my claws. I threw off my trenchcoat- I had an idea. I was a chameleon, I should of done this more.

I camoflauged myself to the point where only my weapons were visible. Don't ask me how it worked; must of been something new ADF added into the equipment. But it worked.

I leaped through a broken window into an old hardware store. The creatures outside had stopped roaring, stopped attacking or even trying to find me. I ran through the shop towards the back room and the roof access, grabbing a length of rope and a large sledgehammer first. I smashed a Demon with the sledgehammer before it even saw the thing. I ran up to the roof. The rope was my reins and the sledgehammer my whip. Time to wrangle an Auto-killer.

I ducked behind an old billboard advertising butter. I was waiting for an Auto-killer to get close enough for me to leap on its roof. Ol' Hatchet was out of sight. Not as smart as they seemed.

A rusted brown pickup truck was coming near. This one had a mouth- good.

I took a few steps back for a running start. I leapt over the gap and landed right on its hood, looping the rope through its mouth in the process. I stood up, holding onto the ropes in one hand, the sledgehammer in the other. I banged the sledgehammer down onto the hood, causing the Auto-killer to roar and start running. Perfect.

I dug my rather short claws into the decaying metal that served as its hood, making the thing roar again. We were coming towards a three-way intersection, fast. I acted quickly; swinging the sledgehammer into the left leg. The leg spasmed and the Auto-killer was forced to turn left because its leg gave out for a moment. Well, this was one eco-friendly car! Apart from the fact that it kills people.

I slammed down the hammer on its right leg, swerving the Auto-killer down a side street. I crushed two Demons as it ran. There weren't many around here... Where were they all?

My ride collapsed out from under me when gunfire echoed through the street. I rolled to the ground and swung myself up, hammer in one hand, the Revenge in the other. I then realized that the group of six that shot down the Auto-killer were ADF! I placed my weapons down on the ground, slowly.

'You must be Alpha Squadron...' I said. The squadron- made up of a battered fox, a grizzly bear, a gecko, and cardinal that was carrying a female sparrow over his shoulder. The sparrow looked badly hurt and her chest armor was missing. Each one of them still had their guns pointed at me (Except the sparrow, she seemed unconscious.); Hell- the bear had a flamethrower!

'Stand down, guys. It's Captain Trevor!' The Gecko said, noticing my dog tags. Keen eyes, that one. He was the smallest, yet seemingly the leader of the squadron. How odd. The bear hefted his flame thrower. He was also puffing one a large cigar, the smoke from that mingling with the flamethrower's. He was well armored; his armor was thick and he was the only one with a helmet.

'Name's Nathaniel. Master Gunnery Sergeant Nathaniel. We were sent on a mission to deploy the BHB via drone, but the drone was destroyed. The BHB's still there. Thank god.' I nodded.

'Oh, sorry- sir. Forgot introductions. The fox is our comms officer, Corporal Hale.' Nathaniel said. The fox- a slim looking creature carrying an automatic rifle I identified as a PK-90 nodded to me. 'The big guy's Sergeant Jacobs. He's responsible for most of the killing around here.'

'Afternoon, my friend.' He said. He sounded African-American.

'Hardly a good one, though...' I muttered.

'The cardinal's Dr. McKenzie. Our local medic, doctor, and nurse; all in one!' McKenzie had the sparrow on the ground and he was quickly pulling off the sparrow's armor. He had his pack open and some medical supplies had spilled out.

'The sparrow's Private First Class Elizabeth, but most call her Lizzy for some reason. She wasn't so lucky with that last group that we fought...'

'Is she going to be alright?' I asked the doctor.

'Only if you give me some room and grab some salve from my bag!' McKenzie snapped at me. He yanked off her shirt and her bra, leaving her naked from the waist up. I grabbed the salve from his bag and handed it to the doctor. Jacobs whistled.

'Shut it, Jacobs- That's an order. This is serious.' Nathaniel said. I proceeded to be McKenzie's surgery assistant, helping him patch up a massive gash in the lady's lower chest. He used nanobots...

'New stuff, this. Good stuff too. Saved the life of a very mysterious bird with this same material before.' McKenzie said while he was injecting some nanobots into the woman's chest. 'That was during the Week-long-war. He appeared from mid-air, just like that!' He snapped his talons. 'He was quickly followed by some gunfire and then an explosion; one of the bullets tore straight through his heart. Took out a valve too. I had to fix him in the middle of the field where he came out- all I needed was this.' He held up a syringe of a grayish liquid that sparkled.

'Hhhmmm... not much left.' He said, getting up and packing his supplies. He tossed the woman over his shoulder after putting her shirt back on.

'The diagnosis, doc?' Hale said, standing straight from leaning on the wall. His large backpack of communication equipment rattled.

'A nasty gash that almost clean sliced her lungs and stomach in half. With the nanos, she'll be fine. Give her time.' He said.

'Get moving, men!' Nathaniel said. He turned to me. '...If you think we should, sir.'

'Permission granted. Move out!' I responded. We started moving.

'McKenzie tells that story t'a lot of people, Captain.' Jacobs said to me as we were walking. He handed me a box of shotgun shells from a large bag of ammunition next to his fuel tank as we were walking; I nodded in thanks. 'I doubt the story's true.'

'Well, you never know...' I responded.

We had climbed onto a roof and ducked down on it. I peeked out, camoflauged. The square just beyond the roof was where they lost the BHB- and where a lot of enemies were converging. I pulled back.

'Bad news, men. There's at least 200 of them out there.' I whispered.

'No wonder there's so much noise.' Nathaniel whispered back. 'We need to split up; several of us should cause a large distraction, the others should grab the BHB and get into cover. Simple.' I could see why this young gecko was such a high rank for his age. He was small and weak, but smart. He'd make a good commander. Not one for the midst of battle though; he could take the recoil from his battle shotgun, but barely.

'But who's going to go down there?' Lizzy asked. She had woken up not too long ago, and had displayed her worth by doing some sniping shots that my Snypr colleagues would be surprised by. At the end of this, I'll have to try to get her in the Snypr ranks.

'First off, how much does the BHB weight?' I asked.

'About 90 kilos, sir.' Nathaniel said.

'Alright, I can carry it pretty easily as long as I get some straps for it.' I responded.

'Don't worry; it had two padded wires attached so the drone could move it. Those should work as straps.'

'Good. Alright, Private Lizzy, Corporal Hale, and myself will wait up here for you four to lead as many from the BHB as possible. We can deal with the rest. Jacobs, I hope your flamethrower can deal with them.' I said.

'Hell sir, it'll make Cajun out of 'em!' He said. He reminded me of some Louisianans that I once met.

'And that's what I always like to hear in my soldiers. Hell, it's been a long time since I've done field command. I was going to retire after a few months at the RAD base...'

'You'll get used to it, sir. Old soldiers never loose the skills.' Nathaniel said.

'Very true. Best of luck to you, meet back here in half an hour. Move it!' I shouted, and the three; Mckenzie, Nathaniel, and Jacobs leapt off the side of the short roof and started firing. We had to wait.

It took a minute or so for all of the creatures to move out of the area; with help from Lizzy, of course. She blasted a few of the larger ones inconspicuously.

'That's a good rifle of yours.' I said, watching a few Demons mill about the BHB.

'She's a good one, no? Named the Bloody Talon. Not much of a special sniper rifle like yours, sir. Just a .950 caliber rifle.' She said as one of her bullets blasted through three demons, blowing off massive chunks. The recoil got her shoved back from her laying position by at least a foot. The shell went flying out over the edge of the roof. Lizzy then reloaded the single shot. The recoil would've been more if it wasn't for the fact that the stock was made of a pair of large, air-cooled pistons.

'Private, that's almost twice as big as an anti-tank gun...' I said. It was a bloody large rifle. I've never even seen a caliber of that size in a hand-rifle, much less shot one.

'That's why I use her so much- she's been a family heirloom. Takes care of any of those baddies any day- oh, and it does say her name on the side.' She said, pointing to the white lettering on the side of the rifle's barrel. The Bloody Talon was also painted a blood red, making it look more menacing than it had any right to be. I nodded, leapt down from the roof and ran to the BHB. The BHB was about the size of a kitchen sink, but completely different in shape. The main body looked like a grey propane tank, much like one of the ones you would put in a small porch grill. Instead of a nozzle, it had a digital timer. That was hanging from a few wires- it had two seconds left on it. The tank section of the BHB was held in a cage made of an odd metal, allowing only the timer to come out of it. There were two "straps" on the top of it. I slung it on and called the other two down. I then almost fell over from the weight of the BHB! Christ; it was really heavy!

Lizzy leaped down, the Bloody Talon staggering her. Hale landed almost perfectly.

'Private, how much does that rifle weigh?' I asked.

'About 70 pounds, but it's worth it. I've blown holes in tanks before with her.' She said. She had a satchel on her side that was full of the massive bullets for it. 'The bullets usually cost 40 bucks a piece though, I don't use her much.' She tossed the massive rifle onto her back, then pulled out a small machine pistol of unknown design.

'She's proud of it, as you can tell...' Hale muttered. For a comms officer, he was really quiet.The radio on his back crackled to life; he grabbed the receiver.

'Get the captain on the line!' I heard Nathaniel shout. I took the receiver.

'We're holed up in a coffee shop about 2 blocks down from your position, and the things just keep on coming! We need some backup, sir.'

'Backup granted. We're on our way.' I said. I gave the receiver back to Hale as we started running west.

We ducked into an alleyway. The shop that the others were stuck in was surrounded from all sides by at least a hundred Demons, Hexed ones, Goliaths, and other various creatures of that size. Over their din, I could hear the blast of a shotgun occasionally, along with the ratatatatat of an SMG and the roar of flames, obviously from Jacob's flamethrower. He was torching whole mobs of the creatures with his large weapon. I heard a click from behind me; Lizzy had the Bloody Talon loaded.

'How many could you take out with one of those bullets, private?' I asked.

'They're not armored and most of them are... falling apart. A single bullet could kill at least a dozen, if not two. But it would alert them of our position.' She replied. I told Hale to tell Nathaniel of our position. I made sure the Revenge was loaded.

'Fire at will.'

The shot echoed with a crack almost twice as loud as a normal gun, but a whole line of nearly twenty beasts fell at the bullet before a wall behind them partially crumbled. The whole group roared and started running at us, including the occasional burning demon lit on fire by Jacob. I saw our other three men leap out of the broken windows and start chasing after the mob that was following us. The mob didn't know what to do; their weak mentality couldn't cope with an ambush tactic. It had almost always been me or one other, and never a chance to try an ambush on a large group.

A Goliath rushed me, not confused by the ambush. I dodged and took it down with one shell, expending the other on a Demon which tried to attack me. I reloaded.

Private Elizabeth was handling herself well, dispatching Demons with ease with her AB-10 pistol, partially reloading the Bloody Talon between shots. Jacobs was killing a lot of them; quick too. I was surprised he wasn't a higher rank, he was a good soldier. Nathaniel, despite his size, was taking care of his share of Demons. He wasn't the most accurate of a shot, but his rifle was pretty powerful. McKenzie, despite his job as a medic, was good with his small SMG. He stuck next to Jacobs for defense. Smart.

But Hale, though...

I dashed to him when I heard a blood-curling scream. My axe was quickly into the back of the Goliath that had smashed him straight into a brick wall, its blood mingling with Hale's- they were both all over the wall. I shoved the massive creature off of him.

'Medic!' I cried. McKenzie ran over, protected by Jacob's flames. He slid onto the ground, opened up his pack, and inspected him. Hale was hacking up blood, and his assault rifle lay broken by his side. McKenzie was yanking out the syringe full of Nano-bots, but Hale had stopped breathing before it was injected. McKenzie injected his body anyways. I pulled the medic back.

'No! The Nanos can save him!' He screamed. 'I've brought people back from the dead with it!' I shook my head. Even if he could be brought back, the nano-bots couldn't fix it all. Most of his limbs had been broken, several of his ribs were crushed, and his neck looked shattered. To make things worse, the Goliath had slammed him on top of a broken metal pole that stuck out of his chest at an odd angle.

I got up from the sobbing medic, pulled Hale's dog tags from his neck and put them in my pocket. Nathaniel quickly ran over; there were but a few creatures left.

'No, Hale...' He muttered, clenching his fist. The others were at the alley quickly. Jacobs took off his battered helmet for a moment, mourning his fallen comrade. Nathaniel helped Dr.McKenzie up; they walked around the corner and into the nearest building.

'Well, damn...' Jacobs said, putting his helmet back on. 'Any way we can stop the creatures from using the body?'

'Only if you're willing to cremate him, that should work.' I said, walking past the pair and towards where Nathaniel and the distraught McKenzie went. I heard a whoosh of flames behind me.

I entered the building just as Nathaniel was leaving. McKenzie was on a scratched wooden chair, face in his hands. He was mumbling something about losing another person.

'Will he be alright?' I asked the Gunnery Sergeant.

'Give him time; he's had breakdowns like this before. But he'll be alright.' Nathaniel said. I nodded.

'Shall we camp here, then?' I asked.

'If you think so, sir.' Nathaniel said. He was saddened by Hale's death, obviously. He wasn't his normal self.

'I do. Why don't you grab the others, find yourself a bed. I'll take first watch, then wake you up.'

'Sounds fine, sir. Good night, sir.'

'Good night, Master Gunnery Sergeant.'

Night watch was a desolate time. The stars twinkled; the clouds from the blizzard had departed. Their light was added to by dozens of fires throughout the city. Do the Demons have parties? Do the Hexed ones have friends? Do the Goliaths have bonds with their fellows? Or was that all gone when they became those monsters...?

Perhaps those fires were signs of it.

I remembered Elizabeth's dying words. Open the back...?

I placed the Bloody Talon on the ground and fiddled around with the stock. The black cushion on it had a latch, which opened with a groan. A note and a picture with Lizzie with a male of a similar species, standing in front of what looked like the Grand Canyon. It was sun-baked, ripped, and there was a drop of blood stained into it, over Lizzie's face. I opened the note.

Ha-ha, it looks like I'm dead. Damn it. I'm back with my husband, though.

If you pried my gun from my cold, dead hands in the midst of a battlefield, hopefully ADF won. And if you're some alien invader from Planet X, then I'm going to guess you don't even know what this is, so fuck you too, Martians!

I laughed- even in death, she had some humor.

'But if you're an anthro that cares, well, the Talon's yours now. Yeah, her bullets are custom, but if you need to get more, you could probably custom order them from any well-being munitions manufacturer. I know ADF will comply. And if you're someone who I really cared for, well, treat my old gun well. You deserve it. And if it was passed down to my child, well, you deserve it too. Protect the family name, and protect your fellows. And no matter who this goes to, use it for good. Protect the innocents, protect the ones who can't fight back. Be safe, whoever you are. And if you're some raider asshole that killed me, fuck yourself.

~Elizabeth.

I folded up the note, slipped it back into the stock, and looked at the memento for a moment. Elizabeth's back with who she cares for now.

When I woke up the next morning- early morning-still dark, I felt very rested. I hadn't slept for at least three days, and those three days were very trying. A nap did a world of good.

Of course, I woke up to gunfire. Like usual.

I reached for the Pestilence; thinking I was still in my barracks on the RAD base. I felt the stock of the Revenge instead. I grabbed it, loaded it, tossed on my coat, put on the BHB, and ran outside. Nathaniel was ducked behind a car, pelting shots at several dozen creatures coming our way. Jacobs was up there, flaming them. He was injured. Elizabeth was near Nathaniel, ratting off a few shots from her pistol. McKenzie was alright, taking down a Demon here and there. I was about to run out there alongside Jacobs when a bloody bone spike thwacked into the doorway next to me. I ducked back in. The spike was barbed and nearly half a foot long! It was dripping blood.

'What the hell shot that?!' I shouted over the din of the herd of beasts.

'Something new, captain!' Nathaniel yelled back, letting off another burst of bullets before reloading. Thankfully, the chassis that the two were ducked behind was near the doorway, I rolled in before a bone spike could take me out. Lizzy handed me the Bloody Talon.

'Sir, you best take a look at this.' She said. I looked through the scope.

The first thing I saw was Jacobs backpedaling towards us, but then I got sights on the new creature.

It was as tall as a Goliath, with some of the similar mutations, but this one was... wrong. It had not one, but two shields; these being two oversized doors. They used to be the entrance gates to something big. When it split apart the shields (They came apart with a wet slurch), the head poked out on its bloated and extended, scaled neck (It used to be reptilian.). The head was badly damaged; it had no teeth and the lower jaw was hanging far below the upper one. The eyes were squashed, but still there. The tail also held a third shield merged onto it; a folding table. I ducked when I saw a bone spike appear in its mouth- but it staggered when it did that! Part of one of its legs went limp. Was it using its own bones to make the projectiles?

But it straightened itself out. It regrows them back, I'd guess.

Jacobs ducked behind the car with us. McKenzie had jumped through a window; the couple dozen had been joined into at least a hundred.

'There's too many, sir. We need to get out of here. I could have sworn I saw a jeep on the way here, yesterday. Still in good shape, sir.' Jacobs said.

'Alright then... RETREAT!' I shouted. McKenzie leaped out of the building and flapped up to the roof of the next one, running along side. I started running with the team, letting off a few shots. The herd behind us roared and a few shots were spat at us by that... thing. Let's call it a Lurcher, huh?

We speed around a turn, and there it was. A large ADF Humvee, equipped with twin .531 caliber machine guns. It was a heavy piece of artillery; and not an Auto-Killer. Some of the glass was shattered and one of the original crew members remained in the left turret, dead. I swung into the driver's seat and McKenzie landed in the right turret. Lizzy was about to jump in, but she saw Jacobs stop. He slowly turned around... A bone spike was embedded in his tank, and the tank was loosing pressure fast.

'Well, damn. I'm a goner. I'll hold them off!' He said. He ripped off his dog tags and tossed them expertly through the driver's window and onto my lap.

'What? Throw the damn thing off, man!' I shouted back.

'No time. Go, I'll make a goodbye barbecue for you guys! God bless ya.' Jacobs said, dashing into the fray, screaming bloody fury. I revved the massive jeep and starting speeding down the road after Nathaniel had jumped into the passenger seat and Lizzy had taken the other turret. When we screeched around a corner, there was an almighty explosion behind us...

'Ugh, not Jacobs...' I heard Lizzy say. I had pocketed Jacob's dogtags. McKenzie was silent. Silently grieving. He's taking this really hard.

'We have to face it, Alpha. We've lost two people so far. It may be more...' Nathaniel responded. Everyone was in terrible shape. Nathaniel had been battered all over, sustained several large gashes, and half of his tail was gone. Lizzy's pistol was grabbed by a Demon in the fighting, and one of her fragile ribs was broken. McKenzie was mending several large gashes to his legs and arms that he sustained when jumping through the window and some smaller injuries. I was only a bit bruised and somewhat scratched, those could wait.

I struggled to keep the humvee straight when a Goliath slammed into its side, failing to flip it- but it did knock off Nathaniel's door. The gecko blasted a couple of rounds into the Goliath's face.

'We need to find somewhere to drop the BHB off before detonation!' Nathaniel shouted over the roar of the engine.

'We need to find where the trickster's guise in this dimension is; detonate it right beside the bastard!' I replied.

'I thought he was immortal!' Elizabeth shouted back. Obviously this team was well informed.

'To conventional weapons, yes. But as far as I know, a black hole rips a hole in all the dimensions, sucking in anything close! If we detonate it a distance away from him, he can leave the area before it pulls him in! But if we get close...'

'...We can destroy Evil Incarnate. But where is he?' Nathaniel said. We thought for a moment. The Trickster would want all the power he could get, and it had to be really damn powerful. Ah...

'The nuclear power plant!'

New Venice had one large nuclear station on the western side of town. It regulated the whole city, gave it all of its power- hell, it even powered the RAD base. If anywhere, the Trickster was hiding there. Problem is, we had another 15 miles to go, and a shit ton of beasts in our way.

There was a high-pitched screech as a Basilisk stomped out from behind a building. It screeched again, making almost everyone cover their ears. I kept driving. We had a mission.

The survivors of the squad pulled themselves together and quickly started attacking it. Private Elizabeth was smart, she loaded a round into the Bloody Talon and shot the Basilisk; the shot blew straight through the head, leaving a massive hole. The Basilisk slumped to the ground, dead.

'God damn...' I said, watching the blood pool around the Basilisk. 'That weapon's going to be fucking helpful!'

'For once, I can make a difference.' She said. At that moment, our Humvee flipped through the air...

My vision was blurry; must of whacked my head on something. The humvee was in bits, and those chunks were burning all around. The heat was melting the snow- Shit, did the others survive?

A large foot thudded onto the ground next to me. An Auto-killer foot.

My vision was blurred, but I could see a rifle in front of me. I scrambled to grab it. I rolled over and opened the loading mechanism. Lizzy had loaded it before we crashed; I guess the Auto-killer crushed the hood, and the thing's massive weight easily flipped the military vehicle.

I closed the loading mechanism and aimed. It was Hatchet. It was making a hacking noise, while opening and closing its mouth with jarring movements. Laughing?

I pulled the trigger.

KER-BLAM!

The infamous Auto-killer reeled up in the air, a massive hole blown straight through its front end. I was showered in blood and grey matter from Hatchet when the Auto-killer fell backwards, onto the flaming carcass of the humvee, and its flesh ignited.

My arm screamed out in pain from taking that shot at such an angle; I hadn't the time to sit up or put less weight into it. My shoulder had been dislocated from the shot; I pushed it back in. I screamed out in pain from it; damn, that hurt!

I hefted the large rifle and looked around for my friends and allies. I quickly found Lizzy still inside the back of the humvee. I hauled her out; she was coughing up blood, and for good reason. Her lower half was a bloody mess; I'm surprised she was still alive.

'End of the road, huh...?' She hacked up some blood.

'I bet you McKenzie can save you.' I said. I picked her up, and grunted in pain.

'...Nah, His precious Nanos couldn't save Hale, they sure as hell ain't going to-' She coughed, and her body was racked with tremors. '...Save me.'

'He can try...' I said.

'Hardly. Look... in the Talon's... stock...' She said, right before she died. She died in my arms. Such a promising young life... Gone. I laid her to rest against a nearby wall, before yanking her dog tags off and putting them in my pocket. I also took the satchel of massive bullets she carried, putting it on myself. I started walking away to find the last two survivors. They were behind me, McKenzie supporting Nathaniel. McKenzie had lost his medical supplies and his SMG, but not his life. Same with Nathaniel, but he carried a battle shotgun that must of been in the back of the humvee.

'You two should go. Escape this damned city, I can take it from here.' I said. I picked up the BHB from the ground (It had been thrown away from the crash, still intact.) and strapped it on. I handed McKenzie the revolver that I was carrying, along with what ammo I had for it. He accepted it gratefully.

'No, Captain. We can still fight. We want revenge too, you know that.' Nathaniel said.

'So says the one with the broken ankle.' McKenzie responded to Nathaniel.

'That's an order, you two. I am not going to loose any more friends.' I said.

'Sorry, but we're going to have to disobey that one.' Nathaniel responded. I stared at him.

'Alright.' I said after hesitating. 'You two better not die on me.'

'Yes, sir!' They said together.

'McKenzie, what happened to your medical supplies?' I asked.

'I had found them, but they were crushed. No nanobots this time.' He said, saddened.

'We still have a chance, though. That's all that counts.'

'Aye. Let's move.' Nathaniel said, before trying to walk. He made the mistake of putting alot of weight on his injured ankle. He fell backwards into McKenzie's arms.

'I think you're going to need me, sir.' McKenzie said to Nathaniel.

'Er... Yeah.' Nathaniel admitted.

I slammed down the doors to an abandoned factory. A demon was waiting right behind the doors; I knocked it down with them. I blasted it before it had the chance to get up.

'Right, this factory's supposed to be a vehicle manufacturing facility. If we're lucky, we can find a civilian vehicle to take- perhaps even one of those hovering ones that they didn't have much time to produce. I've heard rumors that they were making more for civilian use.' I said, looking around.

'I've seen them before.We may just... Sir, look down at the factory floor!' Nathaniel said. The lobby that we had entered had one glass wall that looked over the factory floor. I walked over. Well, we weren't going to find any vehicles here. We found the Beasts' hospital instead.

The floor was turned into a lot of operating tables, each one manned by a pair of... things. Hell, I had seen these before, back in the ADF base, just before the Unholy Saint! No wonder it ran away, it couldn't fight well.

On each of the tables that were used to work on cars, lay a Goliath or similar large creature. This must be why I've seen some in odd conditions, usually badly sewn up.

'Sir, if this is what I think it is... We take this out, we can slow down the onslaught. Kill all of those Repairers.' McKenzie said.

'Good plan, but I'm not sure if it'll work. I saw several Goliaths in the RAD base that were repaired by these things, before New Venice even fell. But it will do some damage, yeah.' I responded. I ran over to the cubicle in the corner of the room; the security office. I could see a PK-17 in there, along with plenty of cartridges for the automatic rifle. I smashed the glass on the security office and grabbed the rifle, throwing it to McKenzie, along with a few cartridges. Alarm bells went off.

'Lets kill them all; that's an order!' I shouted. The pair started down the metal stair, I leaped out of the observatory window and rolled to the ground, 15 feet below. I blasted a Repairer, then another before turning to the Goliath they had been working on. It staggered up, the skin on its head hanging in flaps and its brain- what was left of it- was exposed. It was quickly despatched because of its lack of a weapon. Nathaniel and McKenzie gave covering fire from the stairs. They had to move slowly because of Nathaniel's broken ankle.

A Repaired rushed me- this one had a bone saw instead of a sewing machine for a hand. I dodged, reloaded, and fired. Blood splattered all over the pair of Repairers behind that one.

A Hunter that was being repaired tried to kill me. One of its tentacles slashed my side, but did no serious damage. I blasted its chest- but it did nothing. Its chest was wide open, the ribs sticking outwards. The lungs and heart were in a bloody metal box which withstood the blast. I reloaded and then axed the Hunter's distorted head right down the center. A Repaired fell on me, some buckshot in its back- courtesy of Nathaniel. He winked at me- he and McKenzie had made it down the stairs and were doing their fair share of killing.

I put the stock of the Revenge into a half-built Goliath's face and then quickly blasted an Octo-gore that was more of a Quad-gore. I spun around, axed a Repairer, and then slammed my boot into a Hexed one's face. Its mutated brain went flying out of the back- it must of not been repaired quite well if there was a hole in the skull big enough for that. I reloaded and then blasted the last creature- a Lurcher with no shielding. It launched out a bone spike as it died that pinned my coat to the wall. I tore myself out of the navy blue trench coat and reloaded the Revenge again. McKenzie rattled off a few shells into the last Repairer.

'Did any get away?' I asked the pair.

'Not that we saw.' Nathaniel said.

'Good.' I responded. I searched around, looking for an exit or better yet, a ride. I found an exit, but no ride. This factory had been wiped out of vehicles ages ago. The exit was marked with big red letters, though. We walked outside to see that it was snowing again.

'Ugh, all of this snow...' McKenzie said as we strode into half a foot of it. There was slight red tinge to the snow... EVERYWHERE.

'My god... Has there been so much death that even the weather is effected by it?' Nathaniel added.

'Or we could be standing on top of bodies without knowing it...' I said. The pair behind me made two similar signs of disgust before leaping back into the doorway.

'...but we aren't. Come on.'

The red snow had passed, thankfully. We never did figure out why it was that color.

We slammed down dozens of creatures for a good six miles... But all good things must end.

We stopped at a partially blown up house for cover, ducking in the garage. Three Lurchers had set themselves up about 20 yards out, right in our way. They weren't shooting, so they were damn near invincible.

'Sir, remember you mentioning hovercrafts?' Nathaniel said while I was trying to line up a shot with the Bloody Talon.

'Hardly the time, Nathaniel.' I responded.

'It may not be a slasher tank, but its fast... sir.' Nathaniel said. I decided to look to where he was pointing. We had ducked into a hovercraft's garage- best yet, it was a racing hovercraft!

'Jackpot!' I said. It was one of the dark-side of legal crafts- half way military, half way speed machine. They usually had some type of weapons and a top speed of 700 MPH or even higher.

But... The drivers usually trained for five years or more. And this is an extremely tight area for such high speeds, especially since those are supposed to accelerate VERY quickly. This one was large, orange, triangular, and equipped with a duo of gatling gun turrets.

'We could use it to escape!' McKenzie said.

'Sadly, not. We can't drive it; unless one of you two isn't telling me something.' I said.

'Wouldn't it be just like driving a Slasher tank?' Nathaniel said. 'I used those quite a few times before, especially during the Week-long war.'

'This thing has no saw blade, has a top speed nearly ten times one of those Slashers, and you need training. And they're all custom built anyhow; we wouldn't know how to drive the damn thing properly.' I said. I stepped over a body- presumably the owner's- and looked the craft over.

'We can try. Keep it in low gear?'

'Even then it'll still reach 150. The guns may help, but piloting it is out of the question.' I responded. I heard a roar from outside- a large group was amassing! I ducked behind the wall again.

'Shit... There's a good 200 creatures out there or more! Got any ideas?' I asked. I heard Nathaniel ask McKenzie to let go and lean him against the wall. He did.

'None, sir. How much ammo you got?' McKenzie asked.

'About 70 shells, which means only about 45 blasts. When they're that compacted, I could destroy two with one shot. But I don't have enough ammo... how about you, Nathaniel?'

'Only about a cartridge.' McKenzie responded. There was a clatter- Nathaniel's shotgun! I looked up to see Nathaniel saluting me form the cockpit of the hovercraft. It slowly drifted out of the garage.

'No, damnit!' I cried. Before I could do something, the rear thrusters on the craft ignited and the large racing craft was sent flying straight into the crowd at about 500 MPH! We ducked behind the wall of the garage just in time, for the flaming shrapnel from the explosion would of shredded us. I picked up Nathaniel's battle shotgun, took his dogtags that were tied around it, and tossed the shotgun to McKenzie, along with a box of ammo. The Cardinal took it, but had the look of absolute shock, like he just lost a loved one. Where they really that good of friends...? He loaded the shotgun.

'This has to end. Now.' He said, pissed. I agreed. We stepped out into the street, our shotguns ready. Nathaniel's suicide tactic had wiped out just about everything on the road. We dashed through the flaming metal, killing what beasts remained. There wasn't many; Nathaniel did what he could.

McKenzie had taken low flight, his speed kicking up the powdery snow. I couldn't keep up!

I stopped, but McKenzie kept on going, eventually speeding around a corner and out of sight...

'McKenzie, wait! That's an order!' I shouted as he flew off. I proceeded to cuss a few times before walking on. Alone again. That's always my fate.

I could see the power station not far from here- maybe half a mile. Smoke was pouring out of the top of it, it was in full activity. But why...?

I heard a growl from behind me. I swung around, blew a Demon's head off. There was just one, though. They always travel in groups. So where are they all? Trying to get to a larger city, perhaps? Spread the plague, spread the fear...

I reloaded the Revenge and started dashing towards the power plant. Maybe if I stop the fear at its source, then all is not lost.

I ducked behind the entryway door frame at the power plant. I heard growling inside, obviously the plant was guarded. So the Trickster had to be in here...

I swung in, took out the two Demons, reloaded, and then blew a Hexed one's face right off. I reloaded again, axed a third Demon, and then dodged an angry Goliath. I let off a large blast into the Goliath's back, splattering blood all over the wall. More had to be coming.

I loaded in two more shells and axed one of the fire alarms, setting off the rest. The fire sprinklers activated; maybe that'd slow the creatures down.

I ran towards the first door, but it slammed shut before I could get there- fire precautions. Damn, why did I do that?

I looked around; the room was a simple lobby with posters advertising the cleanness of nuclear power and the amount of Gigawatts it generated and whatnot. There were chairs about, along with a single lonesome table that had some magazines. I noticed a rectangular hole in the wall, just above the floor and behind a chair. Wasn't very large; maybe a foot long and 6 inches tall; takes an experienced eye to notice something like that. I shoved the chair out of the way and searched for a button. I found one on the left wall in the hole, which I pressed. A slot in the wall slid open, and it gave me access to what looked like maintenence tunnels. Who knows how radioactive they are...

I jumped down, landing in about a foot of ice-cold; but not frozen; water. This must be the water that's used to cool down the core.

I shot a Demon as it tried to sneak up on me through the water. Good try, but this water does make a lot of noise. Another one approached me, this time along the walkways on the edge. It jumped on me, knocking me under. I forced it off, blew it to shreds, and yanked myself out of the freezing water.

The tunnels were dark, damp, and oddly warm. Makes sense, though. Hopefully it doesn't cause the BHB to detonate on my back...

An Octo-Gore rose out of the water; it was deeper in that area. It launched tentacles at me; One scratched the side of my face but I dodged the others. I let off one close-range, well aimed buckshot. Should save ammo.

A Hexed one roared from around a corner and rushed me while I was reloading. Idiot forgot about my ax, which spilt its grey-matter into the water.

I took a left and then jumped behind the corner again- there was a Basilisk on the other side, wading through the water!

I took out the Bloody Talon and loaded one of its massive bullets into it. I kneeled down just at the edge of the corner and fired at the Basilisk's head.

KER-BLAM!

The recoil knocked me back into the rusty railing, but the shot took out the Basilisk and left a hole through the wall. The Basilisk whimpered and then crashed into the ground. I unloaded the Bloody Talon's shell and then replaced it for the Revenge.

'Lizzy, your rifle hasn't let me down yet...' I said, kissing the Bloody Talon's Barrel. I continued straight, and towards the core.

I stopped at a hatch which yellow beams of light shown through. I kicked it open, and found myself a shock. A... creature had latched onto the pylons that held the reactor in the water- it seemed to be sapping the radiation. It looked much like a skin-covered blob with vague arms and legs...

I held the Revenge at ready. The ground was covered in gore and other body parts, making it fairly slippery. The creature's tendrils had reached down into the water and thus the reactor. Shit. The blob had to be a good 45 feet around!

'So you've arrived, Hero.' The Trickster said.

'Really, Trickster? I thought you were supposed to be the incarnation of evil! The Devil, for God's sake! Not this... this... Blob!' I said, my arms held out wide. I felt triumphant; maybe I could destroy him in this weak form.

'I am gathering my power, Hero. But... If you insist to fight...'

The Blob peeled itself away with a sickening wet noise and slapped onto the ground. It was forming itself, though... It stood up on a pair of muscled- but not skinned- double-jointed legs that ended in spread claws- four in a cross pattern.

The torso formed next. It was well muscled, but also missing skin. No tail formed.

The arms- the four of them- grew out next. They were normal and muscular; no skin, of course-, but they each ended in a single massive spike of bone almost ten feet long.

The head formed last. It had a snout and horns, but no muscles. Just the goat-like skull, a long tongue hanging out, and its blood-shot eyes, staring lidless from the sockets. The inside of the skull had flesh, though.

'You've got to be slow like that.' I said, the revenge ready. I shrugged off the BHB, which landed with a clang.

'You cannot run forever.' The Trickster said, his voice low and full of bass. The floor almost seemed to rumble under my boots.

'Can you?' I asked just before I jumped behind the BHB and activated the timer- it had two seconds left. If I understood this thing correctly, the black hole's radius slowly expanded as the black hole gained electrons. Thus, one could run from it.

I started running for the door across the room when there was a tick, then a loud, suction-like noise. The viewing station was being sucked in, along with all the stuff nearby. I had already started dashing up the stairs on the other side of the door before the Trickster realized what happened. Hah- tricked the Trickster.

The Trickster's scream was almighty and painful. It sounded like the reactor was exploding over and over again. Perhaps it was; it was getting sucked into a mini black hole after all.

I pelted down the battered hallway at full speed, not stopping to blow away any thing that wasn't directly in my path. I took a quick glance behind- the hallway was stretching off at an angle, and getting darker. Damn, the black hole grows quick! What lights there were on were flickering, their power source fading.

A Goliath tried to run me down; I ran up its shield and kept on running down the hall. The Goliath, presumably, got spahgetified.

The hall took a hard left down the stairs to the floor below which was the ground floor. I took the more direct route: Through the window. I vaulted through it and landed hard in the snow, but I kept on going.

The smokestacks behind me collapsed in on themselves. I didn't hear it though, because the blackhole sucks in sound as well. Light as well, a radio wouldn't work now if you tried.

I chose quickly- a pickup truck with a snowmobile hitched to the back on a trailer was in the parking lot exit. I jumped in and started it up; the previous owner must of ran without taking their keys.

I smashed through the crossing block as the power station fell in on itself. The lights in the city flickered and then went out.

I checked the gas gauge- nearly a full tank. Great.

I swerved onto the main street that was facing directly away from the black hole and then upped the gear into the fourth gear, which was its highest. We need speed.

The BHB was sucking in the snow, now. Snow shouldn't fall sideways.

I slammed through two Demons and then a bicycle. Snow was kicked up as I skidded before regaining my course. I was traveling at about 90 in a relic of a pickup truck down a town road. Fun.

I turned sharply to the left as a much lighter car got lifted and sucked away. I adjusted the rear view mirror- even the ground was getting sucked away behind me!

The windshield wipers on the truck were at full speed due to the snow splattering all over it. Thankfully, the snow came off just as quick.

A Hexed one made a bloody- but unnoticeable- bump. I wouldn't want to see the front of my pickup.

I was entering an area that must of been a market of some sort; there were tables, stalls, and chairs scattered about on the cobblestones, all under the snow. I knew it was cobbles because they were getting sucked up and flying through the air! I ducked just as one smashed through my windshield and out the back. 'Holy shit!' I cried out.

I looked back; my snowmobile was hanging on. And a veritable tide of creatures was coming from all sides now, except the front. All of them had to be swarming on my position, and the ones that weren't were getting sucked in. The group behind me kept loosing Beasts, which flew right up into the air.

I dodged a Lurcher, slammed through a Demon, and winded a Goliath. The Goliath almost sent the pickup doing donuts, but I straightened it out. I smashed through a market stall, sending wood boards flying. My side view mirror on that side got snapped off because that stall was near the wall.

A Demon that was trying to board my truck from the front got sucked up, its feet slamming into my windshield. This is total anarchy... I then realized I was heading straight towards the frozen section of the harbor. No time to fix that now.

There was an almighty groan as several buildings alongside my speeding truck were ripped right out of the ground, foundations and all. They crumbled and were sucked back in mid air.

I almost flipped the truck when I ran a Hunter over; it caused me to balance on my two left wheels for a short time. I heard a noise much akin to a shaken soda bottle being opened up- the gas was leaking! Crap! I looked back- the snowmobile. I hope that it's fueled.

I grabbed the keys for it off the dashboard and quickly looked around for something to depress the gas pedal. I threw an extra box of twenty shotgun shells on top, and it was stayed down. I swung open the door- which got quickly sucked away. I swerved the truck out of the way of a chunk of a building before swinging out into its back- the wind was blasting me, along with the snow. I blasted a few creatures with the Revenge before leaping onto the snowmobile. I stuck in the keys and started it up. It had gas!

I kicked away the supports that held the snowmobile on when I started it, and it was quickly going at full speed when it dropped off. I speed on, past the slowing truck and still getting chased. The truck got sucked up. Come on, if I can reach the harbor, the vast amount of water may stop it...

A building directly in my path was coming loose. Bricks were flying my way. One whacked me in the shoulder, and another one bounced off the front of my snowmobile. But I wasn't really touched. Then the concrete foundations came undone. I ducked as the massive slab of stone flew right over me, only where my head was a millisecond ago.

I could hear a helicopter above- I looked up. An ADF helicopter! Better yet, this one had mounted machine guns and was giving supporting fire. I could see a trooper on it with a loudspeaker.

'Captain Trevor, there is a large rock out in the ice in the harbor that works as a ramp- It leads to a helicopter. Get there now, it leaves if the black hole gets too close!' He said.

'Took you long enough!' I shouted back, but I could barely hear myself over their gunfire. Damn it.

I flew over the drop onto the ice in the harbor, sending cracks behind me. Snow was blowing all around, buildings were crumbling, and the ground was collapsing. A oil tanker ship that I was speeding alongside was starting to lift from the ice, and it was getting sucked in by the black hole.

More Demons assaulted me. I dodged, ducked, and swerved. These things will not take me down, not ever!

I dodged a ten foot long piece of ice that was just ripped from the rest that went flying at me. Of course, seconds later, the tanker got ripped out and was being dragged along the ground. It left a massive hole in the ice, which was starting to collapse. But I could see the lone helicopter waiting next to a triangular rock which I could easily use as a ramp. I changed course and started straight towards it. A Demon ended up under my skis, which almost crashed me. I hit the rock hard, the skis getting shredded. I then jumped from the snowmobile and grabbed onto the landing rail of the helicopter as it was just taking off, my snowmobile exploding into pieces on the ground. The helicopter was moving fast, the two gunners rapidly firing at the masses. A wolf's hand reached down and helped me up.

'Welcome aboard, capitan.' He said. Looked like a Timber Wolf. Attire of a Gunnery Sergeant. 'Best hang on to your lunch, this is going to be a hell of a bumpy ride.'

'Didn't have it.' I responded. We were flying above the city- or what wasn't sucked up yet. Will I finally escape?

At that second, the tail of a helicopter that was being sucked in slammed into ours, sending us towards the black hole!

Will I ever escape?

'Brace yourselves!' The wolf shouted to the 6-anthro crew.

'You can't brace yourselves for a black hole!' I replied to him. I could see the front end of our helicopter being stretched into the pure darkness of the hole and then... nothing.

I woke up with my face in red dirt. I shoved myself up and grabbed the Revenge, which had its axe blade embedded in the ground. I expected to see a wrecked helicopter around me- if I had woken up at all. Thankfully, I did wake up.

I was in a massive field of this red dirt with mountains in the distance- at least a mile or so away. the sky was a scarlet red. Behind me was a Gigantic pile of... Well, I'm not sure what to call it. They looked rather like extremely long noodles; same color even. The pile was at least a mile in radius and nearly 300 feet high!

'That's the remains of New Venice, Hero.' I heard the trickster stay behind me. I quickly spun around, the Revenge ready. He was there- in the shape of an anthropomorphic coyote wearing black and scarlet medieval battle armor. The armor was details with demonic symbols- pentagrams and such. ' Everything was stretched to this... stuff. Then dumped here. Dispersed me back here too.'

'And why'd I live?' I asked,the Revenge still pointed at him.

'The Raven saved you; I'm not sure why. It's not like you third-dimensioners live long, nor do you ever do anything that important.' The Trickster was silent. '...Hah. He thinks you can escape. That is near impossible.'

'I can escape over mountains, easy.' I said. The Trickster laughed hard.

'Oh, You don't know where you are, do you? You're in my domain now. Abydon. The Abyss. The Underworld. Welcome to Hell, Hero.'

'Hell? That can't be right, the tales of the Underworld were made to keep kids acting nice! Its just a figment of all the religions!' I shouted, confused.

'All religions have an underworld, all with different names. But its actually the same place, and that's here.' The Trickster responded.

'But what the hell's the punishment supposed to be? Walking for ages with nothing but these... these... noodles for company?' I said, gesturing to the New Venice material behind me.

'Hahaha, you'll see.' The Trickster replied. He started walking off, and his body faded away. I sighed. This war has crossed a boundary from crazy to just plain absurd. This absurdity won't kill me. I started walking.

Grey sand whipped around me, forcing me to protect my eyes. The Trickster said I wouldn't be able to escape- maybe not, but I was already in hell. I'd put up one... er, hell of a fight before going down. I was nearing the mountains, though. But what would be on the other side?

Something crunched under my boot. I lifted the boot away to see a skull- a human skull, of all things- looking back at me, a large crack arching across its forehead. It was grey with age and wear. But what was it doing here...? Perhaps Hell's the same for all species.

I left the pile of stretched matter far behind me, and I could see varying sizes of other piles of stretched matter scattered throughout the sandy plain. The Trickster's done massive damage with these things... Or were these his fault at all? It's not like he detonated the BHB anyhow.

He had disappeared pretty quickly after he had welcomed me to the Underworld. Where to, who can say. But this was his realm. Who knows where I'll find ammo.

I tripped over something mostly buried in the sand. It looked like a metal case... I grabbed the handle and yanked, falling back when the ammunition case exploded out from the sand. The case had the ADF emblem on it! This makes no sense, it was full of shotgun shells... It of course, packed away as many of the things as possible. But why were there shotgun shells in hell?

Was this really hell?

I eventually forced my way into a space between the steep mountains- that I know identified as solid cliff faces. Damn.

I slung the Revenge over the Bloody Talon and started pulling myself up the rocks. I eventually ended up at the top, and quickly heard a roar. I rolled to the side just as a bone spike thwacked into the ground just where my head was. I looked up and saw Hell's Lurchers. Hell had variety.

These ones were well made- much more so than New Venice's. Their flesh was smooth, scaled, but still scratched up, like they had been attacked. Their shields were made of some type of thick marble, each slab complete with a carved satyr head. The bottoms of the slabs were bloodstained. Yeah, heavy.

I ducked behind a boulder as another spike impaled itself in the sandy ground. Should I use a Talon bullet? No, not yet.

I unslung the Revenge and leapt over the rock, then I ran for more cover, which presented itself as another boulder. I heard a loud thunk as one of the Lurchers took a step. Damn, those slabs must weigh a ton! They must make good protection, too.

I was about to try to shoot one when I noticed they were coming this way! Shit... I had to do something. Time to take them out the way I do sometimes with Goliaths.

I swung out and ran straight up one of the slabs the muscular Lurchers used, unloading a shell into one's head. It crashed to the ground, but the other one scratched my leg with a bone spike. I fell down, but got up and reloaded the Revenge. My leg was bleeding a bit; would have to bandage it.

I ran out, up the shield, but this Lurcher actually lifted one of its shields to protect from my shot. I landed on the slab, and it flung me off and into a rock wall. I slammed into it hard, and it knocked the wind out of me. I staggered up and rolled behind another boulder. A bone spike flew right past my tail.

I'm going to have to take this thing down somehow. It doesn't lurch from a bone spike, and it can protect itself from attack on high. But it can only protect itself in one place... But that tactic would only be helpful if there were others with me.

I really hope there aren't many Lurchers in hell...

I slammed the Revenge into the ground by its axe and pulled out the Bloody Talon. Its bullets were so damn massive they could easily pierce the marble slabs.

I loaded in one of the massive bullets and braced myself about ten feet from the Hell-Lurcher. It roared, and a bone spike appeared in its distended mouth. I fired, which flung me onto my back. The marble slabs exploded with... blood? No, that was from the Lurcher, I think. It slammed to the ground as the bullet impacted in the wall behind it. It pierced two slabs as well! God damn, can anything stop one of these bullets? I kissed the Bloody Talon only because that thing had saved my life several times. I looked around, seeing little but the dead bodies of the two Lurchers and a path running down from between the rocks. I shouldered the Bloody Talon and picked up the Revenge. I carried the Revenge on my shoulder, very relaxed. I really shouldn't be that relaxed. But so far, Hell hasn't put up much of a fight.

I leapt down a few rocks, killing a few Demons on the way down. These ones were wearing torn military uniforms and they seemed almost... burnt. They weren't any stronger than the ones at New Venice, though. I stepped onto another flat rock, and it collapsed under me. I fell about ten feet into a dark room with marble walls, marble floor, and rough ceiling. It was very dark, but what I could see were mangled bodies hanging from the ceiling. Human bodies. These weren't aged like that skull, though. Each of them were hanging either from meat hooks or rope.

'What type of horrible beast would make a room like this?' I said to myself.

'Hah; I would.' I heard a familiar voice. I aimed the Revenge into the dark. That voice wasn't the Trickster's, nor Jack's... Where was it from?

'You should expect this, captain. You're in Hell.' The voice said. I heard some chains rattle from behind me- I swung about and fired. All I did was mince some of the hanging bodies. I couldn't place that voice...

'I endured having you take all of the fame, having you wrestle command from me.'

'Who the hell are you?!' I cried out, reloading the Revenge.

'The ADF treated me badly, and so did my fellows. I'm fed up.'

I rotated around, hoping for a glimpse of my mysterious attacker. Then the identity came to me as the chained creature charged me.

'Flynn.' I said, blasting the mutated bird. Flynn had no clothes left, and his mutations were similar to a normal Hexed one. Thing is, his arms and legs were heavily muscled and he still had usable wings. He was also partially chained up, but he carried the massive chains like they were weapons. The blast hit him square in the chest, but the holes healed in seconds.

'Bah. Gunfire cannot harm me.' Flynn said, the small tentacles moving about inside his still intact beak. The beak was bloodstained- he's killed before.

I was about to swing at him, but he dodged, very quickly. The extra muscles allowed for quicker reactions and his wings remained intact, allowing for increased movement. He roared and charged at me with his chains swinging. I ducked one, but the other smacked me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and throwing me into the ground. I got up before he could smash my skull in with his other chain. I noticed that each of the chains ended in a piece of metal that looked like they attached to a wall, and the chains were manacled to his arms. So, he was held down here...

I blasted off another blast straight at his legs. He got knocked down, but the mess I made of his shins healed up in seconds. I was about to axe him before he dodged, again.

'You are fighting a losing battle, Captain. Give up now, and it shall be painless!'

'Oh, I doubt that!' I replied as Flynn dodged off into the darkness. I reloaded. 'And what the hell are you going to do in the corner, huh?' I shouted out. A mutilated body rolled next to my feet, a hole through its skull where a meat hook used to go through. Oh, shit...

I raised the Revenge just in time as a meat hook went flying at me, getting stuck on one of the shotgun's barrels. I yanked the Revenge back, carrying the lightweight Flynn with it. I was holding the Revenge behind me, and so I did what I could. I punched Flynn right on the side of the face, baldy damaging the skull, beak, and actually knocking an eye out. One wonders how these bodies stay together.

Flynn staggered, his eye making a wet splat on the dirty floor. He was silent as I aimed the Revenge towards him, but he started laughing before I could pull the trigger.

'So, these bodies aren't as strong as they should be. Heh heh heh...' Flynn pulled himself upright on his knees, in front of me. His beak was cracked, and several plates had fallen off. The side of his face that I walloped was a bloody mess, and his empty eye socket was oozing blood. His other eye was to, from the tear ducts; this stained what feathers that remained with blood. He was crying blood...

'Die.' I said. I pulled the trigger just as Flynn's laughter hit a peak. I aimed for the head, but one of the chains that was attached to him knocked the Revenge's shot downwards, causing the shot to shred his torso. I pulled back, noticing that the chains had suddenly grown some flesh around the links. He swung his much more mobile chains at me again, one actually slicing through a rotting corpse hanging from the ceiling. The body exploded in a mess of guts.

'Jesus, Flynn! I respected you, you were a strong officer, one who knew war firsthand! You could fight with the best of them, ya know that?!' I shouted at the mutated and mutilated Flynn. His other eye had fallen out now- not sure why; perhaps part of the shotgun blast took it out. He had no eyes now, how did he see me?

I dodged one of the chains slamming into the ground- it cracked the solid marble! Good thing I wasn't under that.

Flynn was laughing even louder now, his face the face of a crazed, sad man. I ran as far across the room as I could and I pulled out the Bloody Talon. I slammed the chipped ax head of the

Revenge into a nearby body.

'That won't do anything, you hear? NOTHING! I am the god of war! I am DEATH!' Flynn screamed. Whatever was left of the lieutenant was gone now.

I fired, and the bullet blew off one of Flynn's arms and one of his wings. Flynn staggered before he began marching towards me. I loaded in another bullet, and fired again. I ripped off his other wing and arm. The bloody stumps were spewing blood as he fell to his knees again. I slung the Bloody Talon over my shoulder again and picked up the Revenge, loading two more shells in. I walked over to the still-alive ex-officer and leveled the barrel of the Revenge with his head. He turned his head to face me, his neck cracking as he did so. The eye sockets were oozing congealed blood.

'You know, you had potential. I was glad to see officers like yourself out there, but this... It makes me sick. You should have fought to the end, even when you were changed into the monster you are now. You should never of let them take you alive. You are a disgrace, Lieutenant Flynn. I hearby strip you of your rank because you are a traitor of the ADF. Goodbye, Flynn. You bastard.' I said before pulling the trigger. His body fell backwards to the ground, missing his arms, wings, and head. I reloaded and started looking for an exit.

I found a doorway in the darkness that led down a large, marble-walled hall. I took a corner and entered another hall, but this one was well-lit by torches, instead of some ambient light in the previous hall. I heard footsteps behind me; I spun around, the Revenge ready. I was stopped by the Trickster's hand on the barrel. He lifted it off and wagged a finger at me. He was wearing the same armor that he had on when I entered Hell.

'Nuh-uh, your weapons won't do anything to me. So don't try. I just wanted to say that you are entering the Catacombs of my domain- survivors like yourself, Hero, have gone mad down there. What dies down there and what lives down there are the walls, ceiling, and floor down there. Your survival amuses me; I've always wondered what it takes to make a mentally-well trained soldier to crack.' The Trickster said. I lowered the Revenge- it would fulfill its name when I found the Real Trickster, not this solid projection.

'So why are you telling me this, you bastard?' I said, casually.

'Why is it that you throw pitiful insults at me, Hero? They mean naught.'

'They make me feel better. Now answer the damn question.' I responded.

'I enjoy watching you suffer, Hero. It amuses me. Down in the Catacombs lies almost certain death; but up above, your suffering can continue.'

'...I would say you want me to live, but you just don't want me to die as of yet...'

'Of course.' The Trickster said, before fading away.

'Damn it, why does the bastard do that?' I said, angry. I continued down the well-lit hall. I had proceeded a hundred feet when a gust of wind hit my face, and all the torches were snuffed out at once. I was in complete darkness.

'...Watch out for your old foes, Hero... Watch out...' The Trickster's voice floated on non-existent wind as I tried to camouflage myself, hoping the darkness would help. I held the Revenge at ready, awaiting an attack. I saw none.

I stepped out from in between two torches and started walking again, slowly. At the far end of the hall, two glowing red eyes appeared in the dark. They blinked. I stopped and checked that the Revenge was loaded. It was.

Another pair of eyes appeared. Then another. Then another! There was a clatter as one of the torches near the creatures fell over and briefly lit as it hit the ground. I could see a ghostly, canine form in front of it. it was grey, walked on two legs, and was hunched over. Its hands ended in large claws not unlike a Demons, but the thing was... It wasn't really there. It looked like cigar smoke. Actually, I could see right through it. I would say it was just a trick of the light, but its eyes... they were red patches inside the creature, with a black slit inside of them, to look like a pupil. One hissed- and I turned tail. I started dashing, noticing that where the original hallway turned, a second hall had appeared. This one was lit with more torches. Good...

I see what the Trickster meant by "old foes". Not Jack or anything like that, but my irrational childhood fears. Every child had them- fear of the dark, fear of clowns, the like. I was somewhat a fearless child, where I grew up in the forests of Maine. But I was scared stiff of the dark, and of tales that my father used to tell. These tales spoke of the Wendigo- ghostly, wolf-like creatures with glowing red eyes that prowled the forests at night, looking for run-away children to snack on. I was young, so I believed the silly tales. I never even looked outside when it turned dark, for the fear of a Wendigo looking back. These creatures were what I feared the most all those years ago... I still had nightmares about them, sometimes. Now they're here, to give me hell in hell...

The floor suddenly disappeared under my fleet feet. Stairs! I tumbled down them for a good 30 steps before rolling to a halt, bruised all over. I could see a Wendigo at the top of the stairs. Its presence alone snuffed out the flames on the nearby torches...

I got up, leaning against the wall for support. Felt like I twisted my ankle, damn it. I aimed the Revenge at the Wendigo, and fired. The shot did nothing, and the shell flew through the creature, marking up the wall behind it.

'Shit!' I cried, trying to run. I reloaded and then fell, knocking over a lit torch. It somehow lit the floor on fire... The fuel! Each of these torches must use liquid fuel!

I limped on, letting the fire burn behind me. The Wendigo couldn't pass the massive fire.

'No, don't go...'

'Come back, Trevor... We need you...'

Those were the voices of my old nightmares. I'll leave them behind me, shall I?

'There is still hope... Captain Trevor of the ADF... Hope...'

I turned around to face the spirit-like creatures through the roaring flames, which I added too by tossing a few more torches into it.

'Hope?! This is Hell, damn it! No one has ever escaped it!' I screamed back at the nightmares.

'This is not your underworld...'

'...Not death...'

'Wha...? Not the underworld? This isn't Hell?!' I shouted back. There was no response; the creatures were gone. Replaced with mystery. And my own misery.

I limped out of the tunnels, but it wasn't much brighter outside- it was night. But there weren't any attackers, nor any signs of creatures, living or dead. I sat down in the sand and tested my ankle. It wasn't twisted or anything, just bruised. I could walk, but it hurt like hell. I had sat down next to a torch- a few lined the rocks.

I looked up to the night sky. It looked rather like a normal, night sky. But all the stars could be seen, along with nebula and other formations. The stars were in a different configuration too, so we weren't in the solar system. Hell, maybe not even the Milky Way!

So this isn't Hell...

Well, that could explain the dead humans I've seen. Humanity's probably all over the cosmos in their city-ships by now, just away from Earth. We kicked them off the planet, but let them live. We kept no tabs on them, so the 100 or more city ships could be anywhere. Perhaps one had sent down some people to explore the planet, and they didn't return...

The Trickster's got a hell of a big explanation, if he comes back.

I pushed myself up when I heard a roar. A demon tried to charge at me, but I quickly took it down. A Hexed one came in right after; it didn't last long. They both came from around a corner in the rock. I reloaded- and grabbed my last two shells. I looked at them like they were strange objects before loading them in.

'Shit...' I muttered to myself. I undid the fastenings that held the Revenge's ax on and then slung the actual shotgun on my back, keeping ahold of the axe. A Demon charged at me again from around the corner, but it got my axe embedded in its skull.

'Come after me, you bastardized beasts!' I bellowed. I ran towards the corner, lighting the axe blade on fire using a torch- Hah, that still worked. I dashed around the corner, chopping down a Demon as I went. I rounded another corner in the tight pass, and I ended up in a large, open area. There was one Goliath in the center, waiting for me. It was familiar, armed with a tesla coil and an ADF riot shield. It was the Goliath that killed Jack. Didn't I kill it?!

The area was lit by six torches, each one flickering about an equal distance from each other. A mutilated body- couldn't tell the species- was staked on one of the torches. The ground was made of hard, red stone.

The Goliath roared and charged. I rolled out of the way as it slammed down one of the torches, dimming the light. How was I going to kill it without any shells? Right- I still had two. I pulled out the Revenge, dodging the Goliath again. I steadied myself- didn't want to waste the shells- and almost fired. The Goliath was facing me, shield up. Damn, this one was fast. It was snuffling like an ox in a bullfighter's ring. I might as well had been carrying a red cape instead of the Revenge.

It charged, and I attempted to run up its shield like I sometimes did. The Goliath smacked me off by shoving the shield aside, causing me to load my last two shells into the ground! I got up, dropping the Revenge. I held the axe with two hands; it was still burning.

'Bring it on, you bitch!' I shouted. The Goliath roared, but did something a Goliath has never done. It let down its guard!

I dashed forwards as the Goliath swung its shield at me. I slammed the axe down right into the Goliath's skull. There was a loud crunch as I pulled away, trying not to get zapped by the Goliath's tesla coil. I held my snuffed-out ax tightly as the Goliath staggered. I relaxed on my grip, thinking the beast was dead- but it straightened out. My shirt was stained with the blood that ran through its half-dead brain, but it still lived...

It roared- not a normal one, but one of rage- and it lifted its shield away. Half of its skull had slid off, revealing the sliced brain. I must of gotten the unused hemisphere of it. But the large hole was burning...

I rolled out of the way of a savage charge which snuffed out two of the torches. Damn it, how isn't this Goliath dying?! Argh, this just shows how much I need bullets.

I prepared myself to dodge. The Goliath turned, roared... and fell over. It died from the massive brain damage. Good. I walked over and quickly slammed my axe down on the limb that held the shield. The arm retracted its tendrils and fell off, leaving me with a perfectly good riot shield. I picked it up, wiped it off with my tattered coat, and tested it out. It was a bit slimy, but it worked. Good, because a couple of Demons had just leaped from the rocks... Time to do what those damn Goliaths always do- defend.

I slammed one out of the air with the shield, slamming the axe blade into its skull. Another scratched my arm, but I kicked it down quickly. I smashed its head in with my boot, and then spun around to the next Demon. It almost bit my face off, but I took it out before it could. I Blocked a third one's ravenous biting and slashing with the shield, before slamming it away and then embedding my axe in its neck. I yanked the axe out and the Demon's blood spurted everywhere.

'Sometimes, you gotta feel like a god when you've survived everything from a black hole to ravening monsters...' I said, catching my breath. There was a clatter of rocks from above me. 'Damn it, will you creatures ever give me a single break?!' I said. But this wasn't the normal creature. It was reptilian, red, and looked completely alive. It was humanoid, but it had a pair of large, red, bat-like wings. But that wasn't what startled me the most... It was wearing an ADF regulation trench coat that was in about the same state as mine, and it carried a shotgun similar to the Revenge. But this shotgun had four barrels instead of two and had two chainsaws attached to the bottom instead of my usual axe. Also, it had a face that looked like mine...

'What- wait!' I cried out, dropping the shield as I scrambled to climb up the rocky face. The figure chuckled before walking away, his coat billowing in the wind. I managed to climb up, but the being was gone... But there was a box of shotgun shells where he was standing. I picked them up and loaded two into the Revenge, pocketing the rest. I looked around- nothing but sand as far as the eye could see! Where the hell did he go off to, and why did he leave me ammo? And why the hell did he have my face...?

I had climbed back down into the rocks and continued following the path. It was long, but I had ammo. Thankfully, the Revenge's axe allowed me to conserve most of my shells, except when I fought that Octo-gore. But one thing was stuck on my mind. Who was that?

I had kept the shield; it may come in handy. This land was an uninviting place...

I had finally left the tight rocky passes, and I entered a massive open area. Well, it would be open. There was what seemed to be a gigantic tower made of marble standing in the center, and it leaned at about a 15 degree angle. Bodies were hung from the face that was facing downwards, and I could even see them from the half a kilometer I was from them- there were at least a hundred on this massive tower; it was at least the size of the Chrysler building in New York City. One wonders how this thing could exist...

'Whoa.' I said. a large gust of wind sent sand flying, and it all bounced off of the tower's western face, which was the one with the bodies. The bodies bounced and shook from the sand bombardment.

I slid down the rocky face and stumbled into the sand. I could see dunes all around, and the tower in the distance. I started plodding through the sand.

The wind was like a whip, arching across my side as I did my best to shield myself from the elements. This wind could take out a helicopter. Hah- if one could make it here.

I looked the direction the wind was blowing- I could see something way out there. It was at least a few dozen miles away, and whatever it was, it was huge... A city? Can't be, can it? What I could give for some binoculars right now...

I cautiously walked into the tower. It wasn't actually built from marble, but a metal that had a texture similar to it- presumably from the wind and the sand.

The lobby of the tower was worn down due to the missing doors, but one could tell what it was, once. A broken down metal sculpture of a humanoid stood in the center of the large room- the statue was so worn and rusted away telling what it used to be was impossible. A skull- anthro this time, looked feline- was hanging from what I presumed to be a sword that the statue was holding. A Demon was also sleeping in the crook of the statue's arm. I blasted the Demon- and woke several more.

I kicked down one of the ones that had extracted themselves from the chair frames in the corner before axing down a second. I then smashed in the first one's skull. A third knocked me down and sent my shield bouncing. I punched the Demon in the face a few times as it tried to bite mine off; I then axed it hard. I wiped the blood off of the Revenge's chipped axe and then looked around. I picked up my shield from the ground, noticing that it had crushed something. I picked the small item up- no, it was a creature. Seemed to be a bug, similar to a spider. But the thing had a body similar to a centipede, still with the thorax and all of the usually buggy parts. It was black- was. It made a green splat on the shield, mixed in with all the red. No matter.

I booted open the door that I spotted and then got quickly knocked down by a Goliath. It roared, raising its marble shield high above its head to smash me with- but I shot it first. I reloaded as the Goliath toppled over, back onto the wide stairs. I climbed over it, getting blood all over my boots.

I heard another roar- damn, this place was infested- just before a Hexed one jumped on me. I blocked it with the shield, sending it tumbling down the stairs. It made several loud crunches, barely audible over the copious roars the next group of monsters was making.

I took down another Demon with my axe and then held up my shield to protect myself from the Octo-Gore near the door to the second floor. Its tendrils slammed against the metal shield, creating barely noticeable dents. I got up to it and smashed it with the shield, making the gory thing stagger. Its "head" actually went through the hole in the shield made for eyesight, and its small, piranha sharp teeth snapped at me. I quickly grabbed it under the mouth and squeezed. The mouth came off, and the body fell over, dead. Hah.

I spun around, smacking into a nearby Demon. I axed it, and then kicked its body down. The hand that I had grabbed the Octo-Gore's head was dripping blood. Yuck. I should get some gloves. Fingerless leather ones that true badasses wear.

There was a loud crash from the stairs several floors above, and a Hunter fell past me, smacking into the side of the slightly tilted stairs. I laughed as it grabbed ahold of the side of the stairs- but it wasn't so funny when it got up on the stairs. I ran up, two shells loaded. The Hunter roared and sent out all of its tendrils at me. I got behind my shield just in time, blocking all the attacks. I slowly progressed up the stairs, avoiding the Hunter's attacks. I eventually got up to where I could smell its stinking breath...

I slammed it with my shield, knocking it over. It hissed at me, its face splitting into four like they always do. I jammed the Revenge right down its throat and pulled the trigger, causing the back of the Hunter's head to blast out. I loaded in the next two shells and put on more speed as I progressed up the stairs. The top floor on this tower may allow me to see what that was on the horizon.

Another Demon rushed at me. I chopped it down.

'Come on!' I cried out. 'You guys aren't going to kill me- I'm stronger than you all! I never give up!' I shouted at the next attacking Demon. It tried to bite me, but instead got the twin barrels of the Revenge. Its head then exploded.

I reloaded, continuing up the stairs. The tower was at least twenty stories, so I had a while to go yet...

I started running up the stairs, knocking down a few more attackers. A Goliath tried to charge at me, but I dodged and it fell three floors. Another Hexed One ran at me, mouth wide open. I jammed my axe in its neck, knocking it down and sending it flying off the side.

There was another loud crash from above- the door to access the fourth floor had been smashed open- along with the frame- and a Lurcher had come out. This one looked more like the New Venice variant, using three ancient, rusted doors as shielding. A bone spike thwacked into the wall next to me, causing cracks to arch from the hole. I made sure that the Revenge was loaded, and then I ran towards the large creature. It roared; a guttural, choked roar, before firing again. The shot took out part of one of the stairs, almost causing me to fall. I ran up the shielding and then blasted the Lurcher right in the head, causing the massive creature to crumble to the floor. A Demon charged me, angry. I kicked it, making it stagger. I then shoved it off the stairs, causing the railing to snap. The whole length of it fell off with the beast.

I then proceeded up the next 10 floors or so, not taking out many of the creatures. Come the last three floors, there was a massive roar from below. I looked down, seeing about a hundred below. I started running up the last stairs, hoping for some type of weapon or at least a massive, thick door.

I crashed through the disappointingly thin door, entering half of the twentieth floor. The other half had collapsed, along with most of the roof. The remains of the room were empty, apart from a large, metal cylinder with a large cable attached and a pedestal with something on it. I picked it up- the weapon was compact, especially since it was a gatling gun. It had six revolving barrels, and they were all attached the the small body, akin to a normal gatling. The body was a battered- but not corroded- metal box with a large bolted metal cylinder on the side. Ammo pack? A handle came up from just behind the barrels, equipped with a large trigger. There was sort of a stock that came from the back, and there was a plug in on it... I wonder...

The Beasts were smashing down the door- the metal barricade was buckling under the sheer weight of the creatures! I pulled down the full-hand trigger halfway to get the barrel spinning. It worked! A panel on the side slid open, showing what seemed to be an energy gauge. It was at a small line near the bottom... Better be quick.

The door burst open, and a Goliath spearheaded the way through. I pulled the trigger down, and thin, piercing laser blasts came out, connecting with the Goliath and shredding through it. But they were thin, not doing much damage by themselves. I raised the light gatling gun, ripping apart the Goliath's head like it was a ripe fruit. I then took down two more Demons quickly using the same tactic- aim for the head. I then had an idea- I grabbed the cable that attached to the large metal cylinder and jacked it into the back of the gatling gun- and the lasers gained width. They ravaged the creatures that attacked me, tearing them limb from limb with searing hot light.

I braced myself as I wiped out dozens of enemies that were entering the bottleneck, their bodies either piling up on each other or falling down the center of the staircase. The attack stopped for a moment, and I let the firing stop. I counted... 79 bodies, and maybe another two dozen fell down the stairs. But all of those were the weaker variants- creatures like Goliaths, Demons, Hexed ones, and the occasional Octo-gore. I almost unjacked the gatling gun until I heard another massive roar. Here we go again.

The door frame and most of the wall exploded as a Basilisk smashed out of it. This Basilisk was actually fully scaled and really breathed fire, not from an absorbed flamethrower. Its mouth was also a maw of red, mindlessly groping arms. I didn't hold back, not with that shit.

I dodged the Basilisk's flame as I let the lasers sear its flesh. The shots from the new weapon were a good foot wide by now, but the Basilisk's scales were tough. And it was smart as well, smashing down the generator instead of trying to go for me. As my extra power disappeared, I ran back down the stairs as the Basilisk roared at me, trying to follow. I dropped the Gattling gun and yanked out the Bloody Talon from where it was under the Revenge. I leapt down to where the stairs turned, and the floor was flat. I fired at the crispy basilisk, blowing its head right off. The body fell down, taking a chunk of the stairs with it. I loaded the Bloody talon, taking note that I had 30 shots left. I went back onto the last floor, my new weapon in hand and my other two on my back. The sun was rising over the object in the distance. It looked like a city, but there were ruins all around it... Including whole buildings, wrecked spacecraft, and the occasional massive chunk of debris. I pulled out the Bloody Talon and used its scope to examine the area better.

The first thing I saw was a large chunk of metal- nearly a hundred feet long, I'd reckon- almost a mile from my location. It had a flag on it; an old Earth flag, from before the Revolution. But which one it was was a good question, it was to scorched to tell. Was this a mirage?

The next thing I saw was a massive tendril of about the same size reach from the sand and yank the metal through the sand. Oh, good lord... Something's in the sand. Something massive. Something that just couldn't get to New Venice- thank god.

I raised it towards the city-shaped thing on the horizon. I couldn't make out much different, but those were buildings, with out a doubt. Can't be, can it...?

My observations were broken by a roar coming from the stairwell. Screw it, I'll get back to the rocky area, stay out of the sand, and make my way through the rocks to the city- thing, if I can.

I slung the miniature gatling gun and the Bloody Talon, replacing them for the Revenge. More fighting, then...

I exited the tower with minimal killing, oddly enough. I looked towards the city, it was at least 40 miles away, by a rough estimate. It was easy to cross the kilometer of sand or so to the rocks, but the forty miles to the city? With... whatever that thing was.

In time, I crossed into rocks. I got up to the top, and my stomach grumbled at me. Ugh, I was so damn hungry... My thoughts were broken by the sharp crack of gunfire. Either a Goliath had gotten ahold of a gun, or there were survivors. I started dashing down the dusty rock paths, dodging Demons.

I chopped down one Demon, blew threw another, and then reloaded, not even stopping. And the gunfire continued. A shotgun blast shattered the air, and a large machine gun peppered the previous silence.

I leapt over a large boulder and ended up on a ledge above the fighting. There were four ADF troopers fighting off a horde of the Trickster's Beasts! The four of them were protecting a downed helicopter, which was what they presumably came in on.

One of them- a high ranking officer if I was going to go by his actions- was a tall, scarred grey wolf. He wore a battered officer's uniform that was decorated with a good few medals, and he also wore the similar cap. He was standing inside the cabin of the wrecked helicopter tearing down beasts with the mounted machine gun.

A second soldier fought along side him. She was a female reptile of some sort- alligator, I'd say. She wore a tattered trooper's uniform with only one sleeve, the other being wrapped around her leg. She blasted down the attacking beasts with her large Russian rifle- an AK-103 with a drum cartridge.

The next trooper was a muscular bird of some sort- some type of Asian hawk I couldn't recognize. He wore garments that were sort of a cross between a martial arts suit and the common trooper's uniform. His wings were based on his back, and they were just about as large as he was. He used two weapons- a katana and a simple machine pistol with an extended cartridge. He would kick down some beasts then slice at them with his sword or blast them with the machine pistol. I also realized that he had three weapons- his talons were his third. One Demon knocked his pistol away, but he sliced its stomach open with his talons, grabbed the pistol again, and then loaded several shots into its head.

The last soldier looked so young and ragtag that he may have just been given an ADF kevlar vest and thrown onto the battlefield. The young lion wore a simple black shirt and rather skinny red jeans, and he was only equipped with the iconic Savage Pump-action shotgun. He nailed quite a few creatures, but he had to stay nearby the officer on the turret due to his low attack power.

I made sure the Revenge was loaded before leaping into the fray. I blasted a Goliath in the back and then cut down a Demon, catching the small horde by surprise. I pulled out the gatling gun as I reloaded the Revenge, cutting down about a dozen creatures with them both. Suddenly the gatling guns stopped firing- Ah... it needed charge.

I tossed the gun at a Demon, knocking it down. The young soldier blasted it with his shotgun, tossing me a box of shells right after. I caught it and loaded two shells into the Revenge- just in time, as a Hunter tried slamming me down. The shells pushed it back, and the hawk's sword sliced it right in half. He bowed to me before cutting down another beast. Yeah, that guy was Asian. They always bow.

There was a loud crash as rocks went flying- a Basilisk had entered the area!

The four started firing at it, doing some damage. I pulled out the Bloody Talon and then blew its head off.

'And another one bites the dust...' I said, reloading. I really must stop using the shots so quickly, I've only got 20-something left.

'Hell yeah!' The young trooper exclaimed as the smoke cleared.

'And who are you, exactly?' The female soldier said, reloading her rifle. The Asian and the officer were silent. Did they recognize me? I was getting quite well known...

'Captain Trevor, ma'am. And who are you four?' I asked.

'Nice to meet you, Captain. You've made quite the name for yourself.' The wolf said, shaking my hand. 'Name's Major Kennedy. The lady with the rifle's Sergeant June, and our local Japanese man is Gunnery Sergeant Shinji. The Young one's Private Jake.' He said.

'Good to meet you, sir. I've heard of you during the fighting. The legendary Captain Trevor... I'll be glad to work alongside you, Cap.' Jake said, resting his smoking shotgun on his shoulder. 'This is my first assignment, though. Guess it just means I'll be better at the others, unless this is what the ADF usually does...'

'Hardly, child. We're usually going against terrorists or small conflicts. Nothing like this since the Seven-day-war.' June said.

'Please June, can you stop calling me "Child"? I'm not that young, you know. I can fight.'

'Shush, you two. That's an order.' Kennedy said. The pair quickly shut up.

'You wouldn't have any remaining rations, would you?' I asked. Shinji walked towards the wreck of the helicopter and pulled out a satchel.

'You could call these rations, captain.' He said, in reasonable English. He handed each of us a bag of the usual ADF rations- a large, dried biscuit thing. They didn't taste great, but they filled you up when needed. Oh, that was so good. Each biscuit had adrenalin infused in it, so it would keep you up for a very long time. Something I really needed.

I sat down on the broken off tail of the helicopter, glad to have eaten something. Shinji had also grabbed each of us a dirty bottle of water, each labeled with the ADF insignia. Great to actually have some food, especially without getting attacked. Hell- or wherever this is- can be rough.

'So, how'd you guys end up out here?' I asked.

'Similar to the way I would expect you did- sucked through the hole that the BHB made. We saw one helicopter get sucked through, and we strayed too close. We got hauled in.' The Major said, cleaning the barrel of his weapon- a large M-17 with a curious attachment- a railroad spike strapped on haphazardly, but on to where it could be used like a bayonet. 'We flew around for awhile, looking for signs of life. Shinji was our pilot, I was co-pilot, and Jake and June were manning our guns. We actually took out a great deal of creatures, our two faithful and skilled gunners using quite a bit of ammo in the process. Some creatures that were shooting spikes at us actually hit one of the rotor's blades, somehow. Lucky shot as opposed to skill, one would hope. Anyhow, We came down hard. We lost three when we crashed.' Kennedy said. He stopped when he said the last sentence.

'Who were they?' I asked.

'Two of them were civilians. Never asked them their names. They were sitting in the front, where part of the rotor slashed into in the crash. The third man to die was a medic named McKenzie. Good man, said he met you.'

'Hell, I worked with his squadron for awhile! He was the last one to live... Last one to die.' I said, remorseful. I was sharpening the axe blade on the Revenge.

'His makeshift grave's over in the corner- he's the one on the left.' Kennedy said. 'He asked us to give you something if he didn't make it, and if we found you. Well, you found us but it still counts.' The Major added, tossing me a small, battered tin that may have been used for mints. I opened it up while paying my respects to the medic's grave. His cross was made from two of the rotor blades from the tail, tied together with ragged rope.

Inside the tin were two items- McKenzie's dogtags and a folded piece of paper. I slipped the dogtags into my pocket, realizing I had the only remnants of a whole squadron, laying there in my pocket.

I opened the paper- it was a note.

Dear Captain.

If your reading this, then I'm probably dead. I'm sorry that I flew away like that, I was angry for loosing the whole squadron. Especially after the last death. I wanted to make my own Revenge, fight for freedom of these damned creatures. Everyone's got to have a reason to live for. Without that reason, you just can't live. For me, that reason was revenge. I first thought it would be the end, and that there was no hope. I almost blew my head off a few times. But I realized that if I had a reason to live, something to fight for, I could keep on living through the chaos. I learned that from you, sir. You had a reason- to avenge the dead, then help the survivors. It had to be the only reason you kept on living. The only reason you were covered in the blood of hundreds of the demonic bastards. You had a reason to live. Keep on living, sir.

I closed the note and slipped it into my pocket. Good words, McKenzie. Best of luck in the afterlife.

I walked back over to the Major.

'Sir, permission to take over the mission?' I asked.

'Permission damn well granted, Captain. You're a hero and you know how to kill these things sure of a hell lot better than us.' Kennedy said.

'Good.' I said. 'Have there been any other survivors?' I asked.

'Perhaps.' Kennedy said.

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'We saw three other helicopters get sucked in, and we know one must of been yours. We saw one troop carrier get sucked in- one similar to ours. It was coming from the docks area.' Kennedy responded.

'That one was probably mine.'

'Alright. Two more came down- er, were sucked in. I saw a freighter chopper get sucked in, hauling cargo. It came from the military base, so who knows what was in it. I lost track of it when it came down. The last one was an attack ship- based on a helicopter's design, but not really one. But they have serious firepower, and if it still works, we would have hit the motherload. It's unknown if anyone survived the two of them going down.'

'We could try finding them. Contact them.' Jake said. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a compact walkie-talkie, then he tossed it to Kennedy.

'Thank you, Private. Let's just hope the creatures can't listen in to radio.' Kennedy responded. He handed it to me. 'Captain, you best do this. You know the terrors of this land and its creatures, so maybe you should tell them.' I agreed, and switched the radio onto full range broadcast.

'This is Captain Trevor of the ADF, calling any and all ADF survivors in this area of... Wherever this is. Hell, the Abyss, whatever you want to call it. We have food, water, and some shelter. We also has numbers- there are four of us now, and I hope that that number will increase. If anyone can hear me, follow the signal to its source, and find us. We will be searching for more survivors, and with luck, we will be able to escape. This isn't the Underworld, take a look at the sky. The stars are different, and it's already getting dark; these days are only about 6 hours long. We have a chance. Please, survivors, respond!' I said, switching the Walkie-talky to receive. I waited for almost a minute.

'Are there none...?' Shinji muttered. There were several burst of static on the walkie-talky, but nothing legible. If someone was trying to get to us, we couldn't understand them.

'I would swear someone was trying to get a hold of us.' June said.

'Tweak the receiver a bit, they could be talking from a civilian radio!' Jake said. I did so, and got a few words.

'We... Help... Attacking...' Someone said. The transmission cut out. I could hear screams and gunfire behind the voice.

'Son of a bitch, someone's out there!' I said, tossing the walkie-talkie back to Jake. He pocketed it.

'Alright squad, we've got a mission. We also need a name for the squad. Were you guys ever given one?' I asked. They shook their heads.

'We were deployed too quick for one.' Shinji said.

'Alright, we can be the Hellrunners squadron. Fitting name, and you guys better live up to it! That transmission had to be coming from a good distance away, I'd say about 30 miles away. Jake, you're the one with the communicator, would you agree?' I asked.

'With that type of interference and the short range of these radios, I wouldn't be surprised. Either that or something's cutting off communications, Cap- er, sir.' Jake responded.

'No need to "sir" me. We're survivors. Now, I saw what seemed to be a settlement about 35 miles from here, it looked almost like a city. Perhaps survivors took residence in it?' I said.

'A city... in Hell. This is getting weird.' Jake said. 'I thought your initiation test was weird, but this...'

'Oh shush, child. Wasn't that hard.' June replied. They were commenting on the grueling ADF entrance test.

'Alright, so 35 miles of walking...' Kennedy muttered.

'Not quite, sir!' Shinji shouted from the back of the helicopter. He pushed out three snowmobiles! 'Are those exactly suitable for this terrain?' I asked.

'We brought them along for the Alaskan climate, only because we didn't expect to wind up in Hell. If one drives and one rides, we can make it about 30 miles on the full tank of gas each of these have. Then we should just walk the rest of the way. One hopes they can handle alright on the rocks.' Shinji responded.

'They better. I'll drive- Shinji and Jake, get on one. Kennedy, June, get on the last one.'

'You sure you'll be alright by yourself on a snowmobile, on rock?' Kennedy asked.

'Major, I escaped the BHB blast on a snowmobile, a lot of it on cracked, uneven ice. I'll be fine.'

Snowmobiles on rocks are shit- in handling, anyhow. The skis snapped off of Shinji's snowmobile, so we came up with a rig that held the front of it to the back of Kennedy's snowmobile. The hastily-devised train-like thing went at about the same speed if they kept the back motors moving.

We moved at about 40 miles an hour on average, out running all but the fastest of Demons. I usually acted as a scout, protecting the train. Travel got easier when the ground turned from stone to sand about 15 miles in.

'God, hell is hell for snowmobiles.' Jake joked. 'What would happen if we took a snowcat onto the rocks?' He asked.

'Snowcats run in a similar way to tanks, their tracks are just three times as wide. Of course it would work on rocks.' Kennedy said. He shot down a Demon that we were approaching. We sped down a corner, and entered sand. It was a wide open plain that went down to our destination, seemingly. It was composed of the same, grey sand that Hell had. But... There were these massive, wooden crosses everywhere. Each one was made of two, large slabs of solid wood, and stood at about 15 feet tall each. From some hung bodies- varying ones in states of decay, species, and status. I saw some ADF soldiers, some humans, some skeletons... and a baby- only the top half of it.

'God damn...' I said. There must of been hundred- no, thousands- of the crosses. Most of them had at least one body. There were several thousand bodies, all strung up on these crosses.

I turned to the squad. June was trying not to look. Kennedy kept a strong face, staying as a role-model. Jake looked horrified, and Shinji had his katana impaled in the seat, leaning on it- he was mourning them.

'Stay stolid, men. We'll make it through here.' I said. A loud roar echoed through the plains. The Hollowed Plains.

'Get yourselves ready!' I cried. We stopped, and everyone got their weapons ready. The plains were silent, apart from the rustle of chains and the wind. Where the hell did the roar come from?

There was a loud crash from behind me. A cross had fallen over, revealing a... the crosses were attached into the ground with massive blades. Damn.

'Um, guys...?' Jake said. Another cross had fallen over, crushing one of the bodies that was chained to it. Some sand moved near to the first cross that fell over. Then so did the cross- the massive, half a ton wood cross moved!

'We got something big coming!' I shouted. Then there was a massive blast of sand nearby the first cross. A creature came out of the sand- it was similar to the creature that chased me towards the train, back in New Venice. A Leviathan. But this one didn't use an anchor. Not really. It had a massive, anchor-worthy chain attached to where its left hand should be, and the chain attached to the end of the cross that was underground- it attached to the end of the blade. There was a loud noise behind me- a second one had come up! Suddenly, I was very afraid. I had never successfully killed one of these before.

'Leviathans coming in!' I screamed over their loud roars, quickly swapping the Revenge for the Bloody Talon. The gatling gun still had no charge.

I rolled out of the way as one of the crosses smashed into the ground, kicking up sand. I came up with a quick idea.

I jumped onto the cross as the Leviathan was trying to rip it from the ground and ran up it. I leapt onto the Leviathan's arm with the Bloody Talon, ready for it to try to fling me off. I was then able to make it onto its shoulder and let off a shot directly into its skull, causing me to fall from the shoulder and slam into the ground, ten feet below. The Leviathan staggered, but it stayed up! Blood was spewing from its skull, and some grey matter had fallen out. It was having a hard time hitting me.

'Give it suppressing fire, stop it from attacking me! I have an idea!' I cried out, running towards the other one. I reloaded, braced myself, and fired right into its eye. Then its other. It started swinging widely.

'Move away from it, squad!' I ordered, and we dodged away. The blinded Leviathan kept on swinging widely- and the other one received it as a threat! Fight fire with fire, I guess.

We stood aside as the two crossed- well, crosses- and then swung at similar angles at each other. One got sliced in half, and the other one lost its head. They made quite a mess, but our vehicles stayed intact, apart from being covered in the Leviathans' gore. Jake vomited because of the length of intestine that landed in his lap.

'Alright, you really do know how to take these guys out.' Kennedy remarked, spitting at the Leviathan's massive head.

'Actually, that was luck.' I said.

'Is that why you've survived?' Jake asked. I turned to him.

'I've survived because I have a reason to live. I have a purpose, and one I will not give up. And that's to protect the innocents, and get back to Earth. Perhaps you should do the same.' I responded. We got back onto our hell-mobiles, and sped on.

20 miles of crosses, each holding bodies. I felt like I would go mad due to the amount of sheer death in the area. We were nearing the far wall- and we saw a large hole in it. Exit. Then we heard the sharp crack of gunfire, the boom of artillery, and the screams. Damn, those screams...

We turned the vehicles into high gear, and jumped through the hole. On the other end, there was a city. A city-ship. Actually, it was one of the ones that they put humans on in the Re-Evolution. It had just crashed, if I was to go by the state of the buildings and the smoke rising from the end that had smashed into the sand. It was a tiny one- compared to most. It was only about 5 miles long, so it must of belonged to a small country. But that doesn't matter. About a fourth of a kilometer away, I could see several hundred human troops in grey camo fighting against a massive horde of creatures. My snowmobile smashed into a rock, sending me flying. I got up, loaded the Revenge, and started dashing towards the fight. My squad was following close behind, trying to draw some of the creatures. Come on legs, move faster!

I had innocents to protect.

'I'm coming for you bastards!' I cried out, raising the Revenge up high. Let the match begin...

Run, run, run. Is that all it comes down to? That and shooting, of course.

I dashed down the slope, aiming the Revenge for the first Demon that got anywhere near in range. And one did.

I blasted it down, reloaded and kept on running. The city ship- I identified it as New Germany, if I was to go by the flag- was holding them off, but backup was obviously needed.

I jumped from a rock with a flying kick- and landed my foot directly into another Demon's face. I thus knocked it down; I took advantage of that by giving it an axe to the head. I quickly felt the claws of a Hexed one scratching at the scales on my back. I spun around, decapitating it. My squadmates finally ran in, firing in a frenzy. I saw Jake take down an Octo-Gore single-handily by blowing off its "head". He's getting good.

A Goliath ran towards me, roaring and swinging around a mace like a maniac. A mace... Big one at that. I dodged it, grabbed the mace, and held on. It dragged me a good thirty feet before I blasted it. Hurt, but didn't much.

I got up, brushed the dirt off of me, and reloaded. When I had turned around, I had found that my squadmates were running my way, partially because the fight had ended. The humans had called in some heavy artillery; a machine gun turret mounted on a truck.

'Damn Trevor, must you run off like that?' Kennedy asked.

'Sorry, I wanted to end that fight quick.' I replied. I looked over to the startled humans, who were staring at us, very confused. They were speaking German, I think; and one started running into the badly damaged city ship.

'Give me a sec, I know German.' Jake said, walking over to the troopers. They exchanged a few words and the soldiers relaxed. Their guns- regulation rifles- were lowered.

'They're alright, guys! I've asked for them to take us to their leader!' Jake shouted to us. I slung the Revenge and walked over, and the other followed. We stepped into the German ship.

The end that we entered by was what hit the ground first- the buildings were twisted and broken, bodies were in odd places, and debris was everywhere. I felt a spark hit me- a body was wedged up in the wires above us, and it was causing said sparks to fall. It smelt like BBQ.

All around us, people were trying to clean up their city. Injured were in the streets, soldier were patrolling, and crews were cleaning up the dead- human or not. The city had been attacked many times, if I was to go by the bodies of Demons around.

We took a corner and walked towards a damaged bus. Jake talked to the driver.

'The bus was originally used to carry civilians, but its now made to carry whatever's needed. It's got a mile to go to the main "palace", as it were.' Jake said, translating for the driver. I nodded and got on.

The bus used to have a roof, but a hole was blown in it that took off most of the roof and a portion of the walls. The seats were somewhat gone, but it didn't really matter. They were made for human bodies, and we didn't really fit; so we just hung on to the rods that were connected to the ceiling and stood. There were a few other passengers, and they just stared at us.

'Well, I've read about this. This was New Germany, but it was still going about last time I checked.' Jake said.

'Something must of caused it to crash. But what?' June asked.

'Good question, my not-so-human friend.' One of the passengers said, looking back towards us. He had a kindly face that was partially hidden by a thick mustache and beard. He wore a torn grey suit and a simple black cap. 'My name is Dr. Eisenhower. May I ask, where did you come from?' He asked.

'We came from E-' June clamped her hand over Jake's face before he mentioned Earth.

'We came from one of our own ships. A portal had appeared, and it had sucked us five and some equipment in before closing. We're as lost as you are.' June said.

'But we're strong fighters. And we intend to make sure as many of you as possible get out of this hellhole.' I said.

'So, there's more of you?' Eisenhower asked.

June quickly came up with a good story. 'Not as many. We were on a ship that was crewed by only a hundred or so men, and we were tasked with making sure the equipment was in good shape. For some reason, the portal opened.' June responded.

'I am interested in these things. Tell me, what are your names, holy ones?'

'Holy ones? Oh, we're hardly that.' I said.

'But you saved us from that attack...' Eisenhower muttered.

'Your artillery did. We're just here.' Shinji said.

'Should we get on with the introductions?' I asked. The others nodded. 'Well, doctor Eisenhower, my name is Trevor. The feathered one is Shinji, then there's Jake, June, and Kennedy.' I said, pointing to each one of them as I said their names.

'Such normal, human names...' Eisenhower whispered. 'Tell me, will there be more of your kind coming?'

'Oh, I very much hope so.' I responded. The bus stopped, and we jumped out the back. Our guide- one of the soldiers- led us into a large building. It was the size of a large skyscraper, but it was made of solid, once painted plate metal with the occasional window. A large emblem; a swastika inside a simple circle had fallen from the front of the building and gotten itself stuck in the ground. We walked in, and the soldier left us after saying a few words to Jake.

'We've got to enter the elevator and go to the top floor.' He said.

Shinji looked back towards the massive swastika embedded in the ground behind us. 'Great, are they Nazis?' He asked.

'The Swastika used to be a good symbol, Shinji, before WWII. Perhaps it means that here.' I responded.

'I really hope so, it would be sad to see my home country fall to such a thing again.' Jake said. We found the elevator and we hit the top floor number- floor 80. The button was green, as opposed to yellow, like the rest of them.The elevator started moving.

'So, why do you suppose Eisenhower called us "holy ones"?' Jake asked.

'Didn't they wipe the memories of the humans on the city-ships before sending them out?' June replied.

'That's right. Each city-ship was led by an anthro, or multiple anthros, that we picked for the cause. Their memories weren't wiped, but all of the humans' were. So the anthro on the ship leads, knowing what to do and just how to do it. Also, each one of them took assumed names that were relating to the country's largest religion, or the one that originated in the country.' Kennedy responded.

'You know your facts, Kennedy.' I said.

'I remember seeing them being sent out. Anyhow, this is Germany, so I'm not quite sure if this had a main religion that could have been assigned. Could have been Christianity, but that'd be awkward.' Kennedy continued.

'Why's that?' Jake asked. Shinji looked on, interested.

'We'd probably have to call him Jesus.' Kennedy said as the doors opened. Jake let out a little 'Ah.' as we walked into the chamber.

The chamber was dark, cold, and lit by a few large lanterns-the lights are out- and a hole in the ceiling. I could see someone sitting in a seat behind a desk at the far end. The figure got up.

'No need to call me by some diety's name, gentlemen and... lady. Please, just call me Claus, no one has called me that in ages. Everyone calls me-' He switched to a loud, bombastic voice. 'Our Highness, The 17th Grand Ruler- or something like that. Welcome to New Germany, ADF.' The figure said. He was a lithe wolverine of all things, clad in a thin and long leather coat that was striped down it to make the three colors of Germany's flag. His pants were similar, and he carried a long rapier partly hidden under the coat. He looked more like a clown than a leader. 'Wait, is it only you five? Where's the calvary?' He asked quickly, confused.

'Eh, we're having problems of our own with the Beasts on home turf.' I said, trying not to look at his clothing. 'We ended up here by accident.'

'Really? Well, my dear fellows, I'm glad there was at least some assistance at all!' Claus said. He noticed June and Shinji obviously turning their eyes away from his jacket, which was still bright despite the horrid state of his chamber. 'Is the jacket hurting your eyes? Shall I stand in the nude before you, so that your eyes don't ache? I may have fur, but it's not much down there.' He said.

'No thanks.' Shinji said, shaking his head.

'Fair enough. I'm afraid you haven't introduced yourselves to me. Could you do so?'

'I am Captain Trevor, and I'm currently leading this mission. That's Kennedy, June, Jake, and Shinji.' I said, pointing to each of them in order.

'Very much a motley crew.' Claus said, looking through the hole in his roof. Water leaked from a broken pipe in it, and some dripped on his face. He wiped it off. 'You know, I haven't seen the sky since- god, when I left Earth. Even though this cheap-ass red imitation isn't nearly what we had on Earth, I'm glad to see it anyhow. Hell, I was almost happy to see New Germany crash! Apart from the massive damage, deaths, and so on. I said almost happy.' He said, turning to us. He held two of his fingers, as if to show how almost happy he was. 'But never mind. With this damage, the life-pods are in bad shape. Even though our population went from almost two million to a measly 20 thousand or so, we still don't have enough. We're repairing them, but it could take a few days. We need defense; you and your squad up to it, captain?' Claus asked me.

'I'd be glad to.' I replied.

'Great!' Claus exclaimed, claping his hands like an excited schoolboy. 'Of course, they're be five seats on a pod, if you need them. Or is the Anthro Defense Force coming to pick us up?' He asked.

'We have no clue how far away from Earth we are, nor if they know we're here, or even if we're in the same galaxy or not.' Shinji said before I spoke. Claus turned to him. 'I've had New Germany stay within the Milky Way to ensure a chance of rescue like this. But for those others, I have no clue. So the Life-pods are probably our best bet. You should get moving, perhaps? We need to find where these monsters are coming from.'

We started walking, but Claus called back out to us. 'I would suggest splitting up, go off in different directions into the rocks. I'll send two dozen of my best trained soldiers with you. They know some English.' He said. We had already walked into the elevator and were heading down.

'Are we going to follow that half-assed plan?' June asked as we went down.

'We'll have to, he leads here.' I replied.

'What an eccentric.' Jake muttered after a few moments. 'It's sad to see such a person running this country. Running my homeland.'

We exited out the door of the elevator and continued out the building.

'Is anyone starving?' I asked. Everyone nodded.

After the first real meal in several days, we headed to where we came into the city, and found a good hundred or so soldiers waiting. Five of them came up to us, one to each of us. Mine was a battered old officer, and he handed me a small radio.

'You best use this to keep in contact with his Highness. I'm afraid it's only tuneable to his frequency, though. Use it if we find out where the beasts are coming from.' He said. I took the radio, but then spoke out.

'Are you seriously saying that your "Highness" is sending out his hundred best soldiers and the five troopers which may just be able to save him from attack?' I asked. Claus was an idiot for planning this.

'It's strategy!' One of the officers called out.

'Damn it, it's called removing your defenses.' I said. 'I'll go on this mission, but if when we return- if we return- New Germany's a smoking heap of metal spread all over the dunes, don't come crying to me.' I said. 'Squad, split up. We're going to have to.' And with a few wishes of good luck, the Hellrunners squad split up.

A few hours latter, I was leading my troops down the rock side of the Hallowed Plains, hoping for an opening. We were already getting attacked, and we had lost two.

'Keep firing, and aim for the head! Use whatever concussive weapons you have, knock them around!' I shouted over the roar of the gunfire and the Beasts. I blasted a Demon, and then turned to a Hunter. It slithered at me, roaring. I blasted it, causing it to reel back. I ran up to it, axed it, kicked it, and then planted my foot on its chest. It writhed under my boot, but I had already reloaded. Its head was splattered all over the grey sand. I then reloaded again, turning my attention to the rest. The troops were terrible at this, only maiming the creatures. Their rifles were laser rifles, actually- the injuries were cauterized by the intense heat. So the Beasts kept on attacking.

'Aim for their vitals! Come on!' I screamed, taking a claw to the arm. I gave the creature the boot, shoving it back. I slammed the butt of the Revenge into its face, splintering the creature's skull. Hexed ones make messes.

Then the Screaming Goliath came in. It was very similar to the one that I had fought back in the RAD base- well, more of run away from. There was a scorched, mutilated body chained to the front, and all that was left of it was the torso, one arm, and the top half of the head. The bottom half still had a mouth, and damn, did it scream. Its screams were just annoying, though. To me. Humans aren't resistant to such a frequency, though. When it screamed out its piercing, blood-curdling cry, all of my troopers responded with their own chorus of screams of pain. Each and every single one of them dropped their weapons and clutched their ears. There was blood coming from them!

I dashed towards the Goliath, the Revenge ready. I swung down my axe, but all it did was lop off the body's remaining arm. Damn it! I could hear wet pops from behind me, and each pop signaled the end of a scream.

I blasted the body, actually blowing through the slim wooden shield and killing the Goliath behind it as well. When I looked back on my allies, all of them were dead, their heads gone. Just like one can do to glass with a correct frequency, you can do to a human head- shatter it. I salvaged what I could from the remains- a dozen frag grenades, a few combat knives, and a lonely medic's pack. I patched up the gash that the Hexed one made and continued, on, tossing the Medic's pack away. It was almost empty, apart from that bandage. Alone again. I wonder where the rest of the squad is.

I pushed on. I had found a different access back into the rocks, going towards where Shinji had gone.

'Captain Trevor, where are you? Captain!' Claus shouted into my radio.

'The Beasts attacking you yet?' I asked.

'Thankfully not. I was coming to check in with your squad. Have you found their origin yet?'

'Claus, it's been only half an hour. Do you know nothing of military expeditions? And your so called best troops are all already dead. Sonic waves blew their heads off like ripe melons. You should have expected that, damn it!' I shouted back in.

'Really? I was getting similar reports from the others. Some type of screaming- Goliath, is that what you called it? It's screams were just annoying to me, but I didn't expect-' Claus stuttered.

'Claus, did you ever learn simple biology and science? We're not totally human, so our frequency range is different- what we can hear, it's much greater. So it would take a much higher frequency injure us. But for humans, it can kill them, like sticking a glass in front of a bass-heavy speaker. Learn your fucking science, Claus. Over and out.' I said, smacking the switch on my radio so hard it almost broke. Alright, he's an idiot and an eccentric.

I heard a scratching noise, and I spun around. A Kisser was climbing on the wall alongside, but it looked different. the tongue was barbed, and it constantly drooled some sort of acidic substance. It hissed at me, but I had already blown its head off.

'Haven't seen one of you asses in awhile, have I?' I remarked, spitting on the corpse. Hell just keeps trying to kill me or convert me, it seems.

I proceeded up the path, watching out for more enemies. All I found was a few bodies on spikes, long worn away by the wind and the ages. The path continued along a large ridge that crossed over a massive drop. I looked down below- jagged, sharp rocks and thousands of bones. Don't want to fall that 50 feet.

'...Turn around...'

I swung around, kicking some sand off into the pit. The thing with my face was back! And its four-barreled, two chainsaw'd shotgun was pointed right at me. It was keeping itself aloft with its two massive wings that reached at least 20 feet in width, and its coat was flapping in the hot breeze. Its duplicate of my face had a big sneer on it.

'...Know true fear, Trevor. Know Fear...' It hissed. I started running, just in time as its shotgun took out a massive chunk of the walkway behind me. I turned around and let off a blast at the thing. It barely did anything! It reloaded its Revenge (I presume it was a demonic Revenge) by taking something from a satchel at its side that had four shells attached, slid it in, and then discarded the holder before closing it again. Just about as fast as mine. I kept on running; I would have to try the Bloody Talon soon. Speaking of which, it had one too...

It landed on the ridge and pulled out its massive Bloody Talon, shouldering it. It was different, mostly for its even longer barrel, a shotgun loading mechanism, and a cartridge. Son of a-

one of the shots from it fired, impacting in the rock next to me, creating a small explosion! Oh, so they just had to explode to, didn't they?

I tumbled along the ridge, almost falling off. I staggered back up and kept on running as another shell exploded behind me. Then another. I could hear it laughing, too...

I dashed down the slot in the rocks, not stopping for a few sleepy-looking Demons.

'...I'll let you live for now, Hero...'

I stopped running after a few minutes, breathing heavily. That thing... It was like a demonic version of me, conjured out of my nightmares. I had always feared that I would gain power, but it would control me... Just like this... thing.

I sat myself down on a rock. That thing, if it got to the city, it would cause serious problems for the people. It may just kill them all- Claus won't do shit to stop it, likely. I wonder, is that where its going next? I flipped open my radio.

'Claus, respond!' I said into the radio. 'Claus!'

'I'm here. Sorry, was having lunch. What is it?' The Wolverine responded.

'I take it by the fact that you're eating that there's not something attacking you, now is there?'

'Not yet, why? I didn't think you cared.' Claus said.

'About you, no. About the people, yes. I was just assaulted by a creature that had my face and much more powerful versions of my weapons, and it escaped. I was making sure it isn't terrorizing the people with its quadruple-barreled shotgun and its damn near explosive rifle.'

'Wait, that was it...? It wouldn't happen to be red and have wings, would it?' Claus asked.

'Yes, yes it would.' I sighed.

'It released a volley of fire on us from above but didn't do much after. It just left.'

'I won't belive that.' I responded. 'It must have another objective.'

'Its the truth! You gotta believe me!'

'You're a hard man to believe, Claus. I'm going to keep on with this mission, but I'll return if it starts attacking again. Just call.' I responded.

'Will do, captain.' He responded before cutting out the transmission.

I was worried. That thing was brought from my worst fears, so would the same happen for my squad...?

I finally found Shinji's squad, or what was left of it. Shinji had ducked behind a rock, occasionally letting our a volley of fire from a laser rifle around it. Three soldiers were ducked behind some more boulders, and one was badly injured and bleeding out. What they were fighting confirmed my suspicions.

The creature was a massive eagle of some sort, but its feathers were pitch black. It wore traditional samurai armor and helmet, and it had a pair of flags attached to its back between its massive wings, and the flag were decorated with Japanese symbols. It carried a massive katana almost twice the size of Shinji's, and a large cannon-like thing. The cannon was wooden sided and had a singular barrel on the front, and its handle was similar to my gatling gun's. Its face was almost exactly the same as Shinji's.

'Hey, over here!' I shouted at the thing, the Bloody Talon pointed right at it. It roared at me, and fired its cannon before I could let of a shot. The explosion it caused made me cover my eyes due to the blinding flash of light. When I uncovered my eyes, the creature was raising its sword above me. I rolled out of the way as its sword slammed down into the ground, tossing dirt and stones into the air.

'Naze anata wa shinu koto wanaidarou ka?!' It shouted at me. I have no clue what it just said. Shinji let off a volley of shots at its feet, making it basically dance.

'Koko kara dete jigoku o ny?shu!' Shinji cried back. It hissed and flew away. I climbed down to him.

'What the hell did you say to it? Matter of fact, what did it say to me?' I asked. I knelt down and tried to help the injured soldier.

'I told it to fuck off. It said something similar to you.' Shinji replied.

'Ah... So, that thing seemed similar to you.' I said.

'Just like a traditional demon of my home country. Scared me witless. I've always been afraid of those- that one day, one would come and set fire to my town.'

I helped bandage and make a splint for the injured trooper. He stood up and leaned against a rock, nodding a silent thanks.

'Our darkest fears... I met a version of myself too. It was a bestial, almost dragon-like creature with insanely powerful version of my weapons. It was what I've always feared- I would become very powerful, but loose my mind. This thing had a quadruple barreled shotgun, Shinji. It's dangerous.' I said.

'Good lord, it is! We need to get back to New Germany, protect them.' Shinji replied.

'Yeah.' I turned to the men behind me. 'Move out, be careful of his leg!' I shouted, we started moving.

We stepped out from the rocks overlooking New Germany a short while later. There was a large cloud of dust off to the west. Something was approaching, and fast. I had an idea to take care of it- and it included the dead gatling gun on my back. I turned to my fellows.

'I've got an idea. You catch up, I'll see you down there!' I shouted. I started running back down the dunes, tuning in my radio. 'Claus, get all the power in New Germany you can into one single wire, make it a copper wire about half a foot in diameter! Get as much damn power into it as you can, I'm coming down!' I shouted.

'What, why?' He asked.

'Damn it, have you looked out your window? You've got something gigantic coming your way! And I don't mean a Leviathan. Much bigger! And numerous!' I cried.

'...Alright, I'll get as much power into that wire as possible. Should be most of the city's power from her three working generators- that's a good seven hundred gigawatts! What the hell are you going to do with that much power?!'

'You'll see! Call back the rest of my squad, and prepare for the fight of your life! Get every non-combatant to any shelter possible, and speed up the repairs on the life pods! There's going to be hell to pay!' I pulled out the Bloody Talon for a moment, using its scope to get a better look at the oncoming flurry of dust. I could see hundreds of various Beasts, including a few dozen Basilisks and Leviathans.

'Son of a bitch...' I said. 'Get everything mobilized! There's hundreds of them!' I screamed into the radio, shutting it off right after. I slung the Bloody Talon and the Revenge, replacing them for the alien gatling gun. It showed very little charge- the shots would do next to nothing. But if it's alien, who know how much it can hold... Its a shit-ton of risk, but it may work.

I slammed onto the cold metal ground of New Germany, running alongside the fleeing, screaming crowds. I slid over a pile of rubble, only stopping for a second to grab a roll of electrical tape from a toolbox. I wrapped most of the roll around the handle of the gatling gun as I ran. I doubt it'll withstand that much power, but it's something.

I made it to the front end of the ship in time- the approaching force was very close! Within 1500 feet! Claus was holding a wimpy sniper rifle, picking off a few creatures here and there. A worker handed me the massive wire, which I wrapped each filament from it onto the plug in on the back of the gatling gun. Now Claus noticed me.

'Holy shit captain, how's that going to work?!' He exclaimed.

'With luck. Charge it up!' I roared, and a couple workers turned a massive wheel. The bar on the gatling gun that determined energy quickly rose to 300 percent, and then kept on spiraling up.

1000 feet now...

'Claus, get the hell back! This may not end out well!' I screamed at him. The creatures' roars could be heard loudly from here.

'Will do. I'm not going to get blown to bits; my people love me too much!' He said. I noticed two of the workers rolling their eyes. That made me laugh.

500 feet. And the charging stopped.

'Damn, 9003 percent...' I muttered. 'Everyone get back!' I shouted, aiming the gun toward the oncoming masses. I got the barrel spinning- it was glowing red from the electricity and the occasional arch of electricity would dart from it. I steadied myself- even more so than for the Bloody Talon- and fired.

Then shot was vastly different from when I fired it last- the bolts were at least a foot in diameter, exploding from the barrel in their bright red glory. And the shots flew across the battlefield, not dispersing on anything. Also, the sound it made was a massive sound similar to thunder.

I held my ground, the shots ripping across the hordes attacking. The gatling gun started hissing loudly, like something was overheating. I stopped it for a moment- the hordes were still out there, and a couple bone spikes smacked into the walls behind me, and one landed right in a trooper's chest. It was then when the squad ran in; and June was in Kennedy's arms. I tossed the mega-gatling gun to Shinji. 'Keep the horde away!' I cried. He yelled out a confirmation and started firing, sliding back as he did. I helped Kennedy lay down June on the ground- she was bleeding out from a massive gash in her side. Her arm also seemed broken.

'Son of a bitch, what happened?' I asked.

'Ambush. A dozen Goliaths, a few Lurchers, and four Octo-Gores. Killed all of our troopers, and we both survived with injuries. Our squadrons had met up a short time before. I managed to carry her back. Get a medic down here, damn it!' Kennedy cried. One slid into the scene, but stopped when he realized his patient wasn't human.

'Patch her up, doc. She's out cold, so you're not going to have her wrath or anything.' I said. The medic nodded and started unpacking things. I looked over the Jake- he was lighting a methanol cigarette with an ADF lighter. He lit it, and grabbed a sniper rifle from a table of arms nearby.

'I'll give what help I can!' He said, letting off the occasional round.

'Wait a sec...' Kennedy said. He got up and calmly walked over to Claus. He was watching the medic mend June.

'Claus, you motherfucker. You sent us out on that damned mission, let your city open to attack and almost killed one of our own!' He screamed in the Wolverine's face. Claus kept a straight face, until Kennedy slammed his fist into Claus's jaw.

'Kennedy, save it for later! We've got a horde coming!' I shouted to him, tossing another rifle to him. He nodded back and loaded in a few shots. He spat on Claus who was crouched on the ground, examining the bloody tooth that Kennedy knocked out.

I personally took out the Bloody Talon and aimed for the large creatures. Before I even took a shot, I heard Claus scream something and run away. I aimed towards what he was running from, and so did the others apart from Shinji, who was still firing. The things about to attack us were just five creatures; just five. One was the demonic version of myself in the front, and just behind him was the demon Shiniji. The rest of the team was here too. And of course, June pushes herself up right now.

The demon version of Jake was standing alongside demon Shinji. He was a classic zombie- part of the chest missing, some organs showing, the whole lot. Its eyes glowed bright red and it continued to generate saliva. It carried a version of Shinji's shotgun that had what seemed to be an attachment which made it an automatic, carry 50 shells at once, and it also had a large bayonet on its end.

Behind demonic Jake stood what I could only presume was Kennedy's demon. It was also a wolf- sort of- but it was a good eight feet tall, extremely muscular, and wearing a massive suit of full body armor, similar to the security armor I wore during the last fighting in the RAD base, but its helmet visor was opaque from this side. It carried a large hammer in one hand and a sickle was attached to the massive rocket launcher it carried. Oh, the hammer and sickle sign was on its chestplate. Communist demons. Could this get any worse...?

The last one was June's without a doubt. I couldn't quite tell what it was though; a super-thick cloud of dark gas hung around it, shrouding it from view. It seemed to be sucking in the light... So Jake's afraid of the classic brain-munching zombie, Kennedy hates communists, and June's scared of... What waits in the dark?

'Holy shit!' Kennedy cried.

'You should be scared.' His demonic version said, with a heavy Russian accent.

'Cap, what do you reckon we should do? The horde's really weakened, but there's still a couple hundred of them coming.' Jake whispered to me, still aiming his shotgun at the demon Jake. He looked frightened.

'Jake, get to the life-pods, make sure everyone's boarding them, and tell them that hell's coming. And you best be ready for your twin to come chasing.' I whispered back. He nodded, and started running. His twin roared and started running after him, but June quickly got up and smacked it down. It hissed at her and kept on running, out of our range.

'God help him...' She said, clutching her side injury. 'So, our worst fears have come to haunt us again...'

'They have.' I said. I took a quick look at her, and when my eyes returned to looking at my twin, he was already revving the dual chainsaws on his Revenge.

'Time to fight, squad!' I cried, slamming the axe from my Revenge into my twin's shoulder. Blood gushed out. 'Scatter, lead them apart, break up their strength!' I shouted. They all agreed, and started firing at their twins. Chaos ensued, and everyone went to their own. My twin roared at me and swung his Revenge down, only contacting the metal ground and causing a shower of sparks. I kicked my twin and then started running down the street, reloading the Revenge as I went. My twin got up and took flight, aiming its massive Revenge at me. I dodged out of the way just in time, as it blew out a panel on the ground, revealing some of the undership service tunnels. I leapt into the hole, knowing my adversary couldn't fly in the confined halls down there.

The halls were thin, just barely spaces in between copious amounts of piping with metal planks on the bottom pipe. I heard something slam onto the flooring in here behind me- the other Trevor. He reloaded and fired just as I had ducked behind some piping. Several pipes exploded from the shells.

'You're finished...' The demonic twin hissed.

'Not yet!' I shouted back, dashing down the corridor. I let off a blast from my Revenge, causing even more pipes to rupture. Each pipe was spewing some sort of gas- and that could do damage. Thankfully, I was able to avoid the jets. My twin didn't, but still stood! Damn thing was strong.

I turned down a path the branched off, where the roof was lower. I slid under it and ended up in a plate-metal corridor with a couple of crates in it. I vaulted over a crate and kept on running. The passage I came from exploded behind me, and my demonic self walked out of the smoke. It put away its Bloody Talon and fired its Revenge at me, only scratching the side of my cheek. I turned again, and found myself running over a catwalk that crossed a cavernous space, where two massive generators could be seen below and the fleeing crowds of New Germany could be seen on a massive platform in the center. They were running to the life-pods, which I could only assume were down here.

My twin stepped onto the catwalk and then shot off his Revenge onto it. The walkway cracked and then fell off to the next pillar! But thankfully, I was past that point. My twin took flight again, reloading at the same time.

'You'll never kill me, demon!' I shouted at it, switching to my Bloody Talon. I aimed and took fire, but my demonic twin somehow avoided it. I put it away, knowing that it probably won't kill him.

There was another loud crack as the catwalk just below my feet started to come apart. I ran past one of the pillars that held it up and slid to a stop, firing at the twin again. This time, he actually recoiled from the impact. Was I actually doing damage?

A large metal beam crossed below us, which I leapt onto- my landing caused me to stumble, but I kept on running. It connected just above a much stronger walkway near the end of the massive chamber. I kept running. Damn it, if Shinji hadn't run off with my gatling gun...

There was a loud bang when the shells from the demon's Revenge shattered a good section of the beam, making it creak.

'At this rate, you'll never stop running!' The other Trevor roared, slamming in the shells into his Revenge. I jumped down from the beam and landed on the walkway, making the weakened railing shake. I dashed past a squadron of scared soldiers, who opened fire on the other Trevor when he smashed through the railing. There was a chorus of screams behind me- that Trevor's shotgun took out half of them in a singular blast! I dashed around a corner and picked up a large riot shield that a dead trooper had dropped- just in time, as my twin's chainsaws slammed into the shield, screeching and grinding against the tough and light metal. It tried to bite at my face through the slot for your eyesight, making me reel back. I then shoved him down, let off a blast right into its chest (Which did little), and ran back through the corner, hitting a button that I saw earlier- a door lock button. A thick metal bulkhead slammed down, splitting the twin from me. Only seconds later, my radio caught a signal.

'Captain, come in! Come in, captain!' Claus shouted. I picked the signal up.

'Claus, where the hell are you?!' I shouted.

'About to ask where you are.' He replied.

'Inside the ship, near one of the walls. Is the horde inside New Germany?' I asked.

'Yeah, and they're massacring people. I have an idea though. You may want to cover your ears.' He said, and the signal went out. I looked up to the roof of the chamber, and saw some blinking lights that weren;t there before...

KRA-BOOM!

They were controlled explosives! Claus detonated a good section of New Germany's upper surface, causing millions of tons of metal, buildings, and debris to fall through the massive hole and crush anything below. Claus was smart with this one- for once. He had manipulated the explosives so they didn't do any damage to the life-pods, their access, or any of the walls. The massive swastika that had been on the front of the palace crashed in last, falling over with a massive Thoom! I could see ant-sized specks of Beasts falling in the mess.

'Claus, you did something right for once! I just can't help thinking that my squadmates were in that...'

'I got in contact with them. Kennedy was out on the far end of the ship- apparently he and his rival had ended up chasing each other in some of our buggies, and Jake had somehow lost his twin. Shinji and June weren't picking up though.'

'I need to find them!' I replied. I started running back to find an access to the ground level.

I shoved open a trap door and stepped out into the light. Suddenly I heard a loud cry- sounded like June!

I ran down the completely deserted street, shooting down the occasional Beast. Thankfully, Claus's tactic actually eliminated a good deal of the creatures, leaving me with only a few to fight. I could hear gunfire and screeches coming from one of the last still-standing buildings, which was once a hospital. Right before I entered, a Goliath swung around and hit me hard, throwing me back, away from the door.

'I don't need this right now...' I commented, swinging around the Revenge to meet the beast. I blew its head off as it turned, but I took note of the fact that it used to be ADF- it wore the uniform and its shield was an ADF riot shield. But the uniform was worn by wind and sand, and so was the shield. It must of been here for awhile... So ADF was here before.

I dashed down the hospital corridor that was only lit by red, flickering lights, hoping for some stairs. The fight was happening on the third level.

I opened a door, ducked a swung claw from a Demon, and then kicked it away. I swung my axe down into its head and ran up the stairs that were inside. I quickly went up three levels and ran down another corridor. I ran into the fight.

June was staggering alongside a wall, bleeding from several wounds and her old ones, firing rapidly at her attacker with her rifle. Her attacker was muting out the light, I could barely see June or it! I ran into the darkness field- which was at least 100 feet in diameter- and looked around. I couldn't see worth shit. Where'd I come in from?

'June, where are you?!' I shouted.

'...Over here...' She replied. Her voice was faint.

'...Sssso, we have a new opponent. What fun!' Something hissed in the darkness. I guess it was the demon June. 'You are creaturessss of light. I am a creature of the darknessss. I sssshall win in the dark.' It continued. I heard a whoosh. Something flew past my head- it was small and piercing. A dart? Hopefully not poisoned.

I thought I saw movement, and I fired. All I heard was the crack of shotgun pellets hitting the metal walls.

'I am the night... You cannot win!' It hissed again.

'Doubt it!' I shouted.

'Don't tempt it, captain! It's vicious!' June shouted out from somewhere.

'You watch me.' I responded. I camoflauged myself- my black trench coat was hard enough to see in the dark, so I was nearly impossible to spot. One could only see my weapons.

'Hey, demon! You ever fought against a chameleon before? Or better yet, a Snypr? The two of them are experts in stealth. And I'm both. I think I've been called the "Night" before as well. But I have training. You're just a creation of one soldier's fears! A conjuration of irrational frights! You don't belong!' I screamed at it.

'Mere liessss.' It replied.

'Hardly, bitch.' I said, taking aim with the Revenge. I felt the subtle currents of the air, the feeling of movement nearby. Drawing on my Snypr training, but this was used to detect someone sneaking up on you while you were aiming. I used it to find something in the dark.

I fired, and the darkness faded away.

The creature that fell to the ground was similar to June, but its lower half was a massive, jade snake tail. Its head, from what I could tell, used to be snake like. Used to; I blew half of it off. Its claws were massive, and seemingly hollow. They must of fired the darts.

I ran over to June. She was badly injured, and there was a massive gash in her side. I picked her up.

'I'm not going to loose you yet...' I said. She dropped her rifle as I tossed her over my shoulder. I felt something warm ooze down my arm- her lifeblood.

'I'm afraid you might...' She said, coughing. That thing had beat her up bad. I realized I was in a hospital, but I was no medic. I took her down the stairs.

'I've lost too many people! So many people I've lead, and all of them have died! I'm not going to let another one fall!' I shouted. I started dashing down the main corridor.

'You may have to...' June whispered. she hacked up some blood and then was silent. I slowed down- there was no reason to go so fast; I had lost another friend. I propped her lifeless body up against the doorway and undid her dogtags, stuffing them in with the rest.

'I won't forget you. I won't forget any of the ones I've lost.' I said, saluting her. I ran out the door, in search of my remaining squadmates.

I kept running- one could do nearly anything under certain circumstances. And these circumstances fit.

I found a pedestrian car smashed into a thin metal wall, its alarm going off and its front windshield smashed in. I nailed an Demon trying to rush me, and then jumped in. The previous owner was dead inside- thankfully it hadn't become an Auto-killer.

I backed it out and switched gears, attempting to rev it. It wasn't a very good vehicle, but it'll do. I reloaded the Revenge an aimed it through the remains of the front windshield, ready to gun down any attackers. I sped it up to about fifty, and attempted to reach my squadmates. I heard someone shouting for help.

'Jake! Thank god you're alive!' I shouted to the battered young lion, Swinging open the door for him. He climbed in, wincing when he banged a badly injured arm against the seat. A gash on his arm was bleeding, and his side looked like he had slid across concrete for several yards. Probably did.

'Got some shells?' I asked. I handed him a handful, and he loaded a few into his shotgun.

'So, what happened to your twin?' I asked. I heard a massive roar behind us.

'That. Drive!' Jake responded. I kicked it into high gear and sped up. I adjusted the side-view mirror and saw Jake's twin coming up on us- and it was running. At 50 miles an hour!

It looked even more ragged than it did when I first saw it. Its intestines were bouncing off of the road, and one of its eyes was missing. It ran on all fours, its shotgun missing.

I swerved around the corner. 'Shoot at it!' I cried.

'Was about to!' Jake responded. 'I'm not that quick!'

I slammed into a Demon, tossing the body over the small car and leaving a large dent in the front bumper. I'm not using a Snowcat, I've got to be careful. Jake kept on firing. He ducked back in to reload- just as a hail of bullets rattled against the car, shattering all the windows.

'Son of a bitch!' I shouted, looking back. The thing had a machine pistol in its mouth, and it somehow fired it! It must of had it in a holster earlier.

'Damn good thing it's not a good shot.' Jake commented.

'It was using its mouth to fire it! At sixty miles an hour!' I replied.

'I... knew that.' Jake commented before letting off some more shells. We entered a raised highway-type path. I took a jump off the side, fell about ten feet, and slammed down.

'I think we lost it.' Jake said, after looking back. There was a loud slamming noise on the roof of our car, and some intestines hung from the broken back windshield. Slammed the Revenge onto the roof and blew straight through it. There was a loud splatter, but I could see its claws still hanging on. It roared, and started ripping the roof!

'Shoot it!' I shouted, attempting to reload the Revenge with one hand. I really need to learn to do something like that.

Jake fired half a dozen shells into it, actually severing its lower half, which bounced off the ground behind us. It roared again and then tried to clamp its bloody jaws on Jake's shoulder. He gave it his shotgun to bite instead. It reared back, leaving scratch marks on the shotgun's side.

'Don't like the taste of that, huh?!' Jake shouted, clubbing his twin with it. I managed to reload the Revenge and then proceeded to blow the thing's head off.

'Always shoot them in the head. Not the shoulder.' I said, commenting on Jake's bad placement of his clubbing.

'Well, sorry for not have killed as many as you!' Jake relied, shoving the remains off the roof. We could see a few people running down an access shaft.

'Must be an entrance to the life-pods.' Jake said.

'Agreed. You get on them, Jake. You're younger than the rest of us, and someone should live to tell the tale.' I said.

'Um, what about you guys? The rest of the Hellrunners squadron?'

'Shinji and Kennedy are still to be found. June... She won't be returning home, let's just say that.' I responded.

'Damn, poor girl. Alright, I'll protect the life-pods and then get on last. Should I wait for you guys?' He asked. I thought for a second.

'No, we have a score to settle. You go once you've gotten everyone on board.' I said. He nodded, smiling.

'Will do, sir. Best of luck to you, Cap.' He said, dashing down the stairs with the people. I got out of the car and grabbed another, more intact one. This one was also larger; good. I had to hot-wire it, but then it started. I have a feeling Shinji's going to be high up...

I slammed on my brakes when Shinji slammed right onto my hood, his blood splattering all over the car.

'Damn it!' I shouted, kicking open my door and pulling the badly injured Shinji from the hood. He rolled off just as his twin dived down and slammed his sword into the car, causing it to smoke heavily. Shinji staggered up, obviously not dead. One of his wings was limp and broken, and he was covered in bruises everywhere. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and his beak dripped blood.

'Stay back, Kyaputen. This is my war...' Shinji said. We pulled away just in time as the car exploded.

'Kare wa tatakaumashou! Kore wa omoshiroidarou!' Shinji's twin shouted. Sometimes, I wish I knew Japanese. I ran at it and fired. The pellets from my shot dented the armor, but barely even slowed down its swing. I dodged his sword with my life- If I had blocked it using the Revenge, it would have just sliced right through it. And probably my head. I reloaded as Shinji let off a volley of shots.

'?, ima sore wa k?seina shiaida.' The twin said, seemingly happy the fight was harder.

'I'll kill you!' Shinji screamed, throwing his pistol away and swinging his sword like a madman. The demon easily blocked all of his swings and swung down hard- severing Shinji's head from his neck. His limp body tumbled to the ground, dropping his katana.

'No!' I shouted. I ran to his body, firing off a shot right into the twin as I did so. I grabbed his katana and swung towards the demon's neck. I missed, and it cawed at me.

'You killed one of my friends. One of my last friends. I'll make your death slow and painful.' I said, brandishing the katana in one hand, and the Revenge in another.

'Watashi wa mokuteki no hidari o motte imasen.' It said, actually dropping its sword and cannon. 'Watashi no mijikai jinsei ga okonawa remasu. Watashi o korosu!' It screamed at me, holding its arms wide open. I took the advantage and sliced its stomach open with the katana, causing it to fall over and scream in pain. It may take it hours to die. It probably expected me to chop its head off.

'You fucking deserved that.' I said, spitting in its face. The katana clattered to the ground next to Shinji's dead body as I picked up his bloody dog tags. I put them in with the rest of them- memento mori. Sadly, the poor guy didn't even have my gattling gun. Maybe I'll find it again. Hell, it doesn't matter.

There's only one left to locate. Kennedy. Where the hell is he?

I walked down the street, taking down the occasional attacker. The city was pretty vacant.

I tried to ring up Kennedy on the radio. This time, I did.

'Kennedy! Respond!' I shouted.

'I hear you, Trevor. Where are you?' He asked calmly.

'Near where we split up.' I said. I could see that end of New Germany, although it was a distance away.

'I'm in the green building that was nearby, I'll wait for you on its roof.' Kennedy said. 'Glad to see you're alive.'

'Same here.' I responded, switching off the radio.

'I'm surprised he survived.' I heard a familiar voice say. I swung the Revenge at the threatening voice, but the Revenge was caught- By the Trickster. He was wearing the same getup as before; armor, satanic symbols, the lot. He let go of the Revenge.

'Damn you, you son of a bitch! You've killed two more of my best allies!' I shouted at him.

'But you cannot do anything right now. This is just a plane of me, it would not matter if you killed this mere form. I'm quite surprised my Wendigo and your fears haven't killed you yet. Your stronger than you look.'

'Your Wendigo hinted that this place isn't really Hell.' I said. I started walking towards where Kennedy was.

'Ah, them. They're right, you know. I'm surprised, some of them still have intelligence... They used to be this planet's species that was on the top of the food chain, you know. Went by a name that isn't even speakable for your tongue and throat shape, but it loosely translated to the "Distributors." They said they created all life in the galaxy. Bah.' The Trickster spat.

'Is that why you killed them? Because they claimed to have created all life?' I responded.

'No, they were arrogant and dying anyways. They actually did create all life- the Raven did help, though.' The Trickster commented.

'Why are you telling me all of this?' I asked.

'I like you, Hero. We would have made the greatest of allies, if circumstances hadn't split us apart. I could bring you into my dimension, turn you into a god of war to these pitiful mortals. If you join me, I'll let all of the survivors live, and even leave the planet peacefully- you'd just have to join me in the siege of other worlds.'

I was silent for a second. 'Trickster, you word is worth less than shit. I'll get everyone off, mark my words.' I said.

'Hah, best of luck with that. Your twin doesn't know the difference between right and wrong- Hell, I'm not sure if he knows the difference between right and left; but he'll find you. Did you even realize where you tossed him?'

'Oh, where?' I asked.

'In what used to be an airlock. He'll escape, I'm sure.' The Trickster said. I looked away from him for a second, and he had vanished. It was because I had found the building that Kennedy was in, and he stepped out of the door.

'Who were you talking to?' He asked. I sighed.

'Myself. Come on, we're the last two that can fight. Let's get out of here.' I said. 'You kill your twin?' I asked.

'He didn't go down without a fight, that's for sure. But he died in the end. Old American cunning and intelligence, that's how you beat the Commies! Even the demonic ones.' He said. 'So, where's the rest of the squad?'

'Jake's staying with the humans on the Life-pods, and attempting to give them what protection he can muster. Shinji and June... Well...' I answered. I lowered my head.

'Damn... So, we're the last two of the Hellrunners left on the planet?' He asked as we stepped onto the sand. As if on a cue, dozens of blue comets flew up into the skies from inside New Germany. 'Well, now we're the only two. That's the Life-pods. Raven, help them.' I said. We stopped next to an abandoned jeep that was originally driven by some human troops- they were dead now. We shoved them out and started it up.

'Raven?' Kennedy asked.

'Long story. We have to find the leader of the Beasts- the Trickster. Or at least find what's making the portals, and shut it down. And, somehow, get off the planet.'

'And we don't have a checkmark in any of those boxes. So, we drive?' Kennedy asked.

I started up the engine.

'We drive.'

The jeep kicked up sand as it leapt over a dune, giving Kennedy and I more to look at.

At this range into the sand, one couldn't help wondering where the hell the Beasts were... we saw none at all, even after driving for about 15 minutes.

'Kennedy, what do you know about aliens?' I asked him as I kept driving. We had no destination or mission but to stay alive for as long as possible.

'Only about the creatures that attacked during the Week-long-war and what I learned in the briefing for this mission. So not a lot.' He replied.

'And the conspiracies about how life on the planet was made?' I asked.

'I know the science; that random chemical reactions caused it.'

'The Trickster said that the dominant species that used to be here created all life in the universe- seeded the cosmos, if you will...'

'That can't be right. Can it? I mean, his name is the Trickster, after all.' Kennedy replied.

'If I could talk to the Raven again, I could confirm it. But we're in the Trickster's territory. No way a helpful god can get in here.' I mentioned.

'Hell, we need a god's help...' Kennedy said. 'So, there was once a dominant, intelligent species here. Explains the ruins we've seen.'

'Yeah, it would. It would also explain the gatling gun I found. Sure as hell wasn't ADF made. Thing handled the power of a whole city and didn't explode. Didn't even overheat! I just wish I had it now.' I said.

'Thankfully, we haven't been attacked yet. Yet.' Kennedy replied. 'So, how much do you bet we'll find either ruins of these Ancients cities or the ruins of something ADF out here?'

'20 bucks the first thing we find is ADF.' I said.

'You're on.' Kennedy joked, smiling.

We screeched to a halt alongside a river that seemed to be flowing in blood, just through the sand. It smelled quite metallic.

'That can't be blood!' I shouted.

'I doubt it.' Kennedy remarked. I got out and walked over, the "blood" was moving rather fast. I bent down and tasted it.

'No, not blood. Water, with a load of iron and... I want to say copper, but I could be wrong.' I said.

'So, something natural.' Kennedy said.

'With what's been thrown at us, I think it's made to frighten.'

'Frighten whom? Just us?'

'Probably.' I said, brushing off my hands. 'We should follow it downstream. It's our best lead to anything.' I said. Kennedy agreed.

We drove on for only another mile before we stopped. The stream had turned into a "bloodfall", if you will. Below, we could watch it drop down a chasm, and below was blackness. Who knows how deep the chasm is, and it's at least 20 feet wide. I couldn't see the end of it, either.

'It's like the ends of the planet, like it's flat...' I said.

'Remember how the Trickster mentioned this wasn't actually Hell, but sort of a replica? It's a planet made to resemble Hell. Maybe this is the edge of Hell. And on that other side lies salvation.' Kennedy suggested.

'Oh, I doubt that. Ugh, if we had Shinji...' I responded.

We heard a growl coming from the edge just as a Demon clambered onto the sand. It charged at us, but it was shot down just as quick.

'How much do you bet that's where the things are created?' I asked.

'Not that 20 bucks. Come on, let's find a way down.' Kennedy responded.

We were climbing for at least an hour- sometimes on the rocks, sometimes down the thin paths that ran alongside the wall. There seemed no end. We couldn't even see the sky any more!

Kennedy stopped on a ledge that was only about five feet wide. 'Ugh, enough climbing. This chasm could lead to the center of the planet! We've already gone down at least a mile by this point.' He said, tired out.

'Have faith, Kennedy.' I said. I picked up one of the dark red rocks and threw it into the darkness. A few seconds later I heard not a crack from it hitting anything, but a harsh sizzle, like someone was frying bacon on a massive frying pan down there.

'Sounds hot down there.' The wolf said.

'Lava?' I said.

'Perhaps. Alright Trevor, I'll keep going. I'll bloody well keep going.' He said, getting up. We kept climbing down.

There was a loud series of crashes from above us. We ducked under the ledge just as the jeep bounced down the chasm.

'Son of a- You think the beasts threw it at us?' I asked Kennedy.

'Probably. Or they just got pissed. No matter, let's get down below.' I replied. We climbed down a little farther until we got to a small ledge. This ledge hung over a large pit of magma- so I was right. We followed the ledge until we got to a large cavern that branched off the side. Thankfully, this cavern was dry. I noticed large scratch marks on the rocks.

'Magma? Really Trickster, so cliche!' I shouted to the sky. A roar responded back from inside the cavern. There were loud, metallic footsteps.

'Oh, shit!' I cried out, ducking behind some boulders. A shredded freight container skidded past and sunk into the lava- then the gunfire started.

'When the hell did they start using guns?!' Kennedy shouted out from behind a different rock, blind firing. at our attackers. I quickly peeked over. I wanted to tell him about the gun-firing Demons when I escaped from the RAD base.

'Kennedy, remember the Auto-Killers?' I asked him over the gunfire.

'Yeah, why?' He replied.

'Same thing happened here, but with the ARMS!' I shouted. I looked over again, firing at it where the pilot would usually be.

The ARMS was a simple exo-suit- pilot sits in the middle, and his limbs go into the bases of the suit's. He moves his limbs, and then so does the ARMS. In the center was a large metal pod that surrounded the pilot, protecting them from attacks, and the limbs had only some steel plating. It also had a massive ammo box mounted on its back that was linked to two just as large chain guns. This one had no pilot protection, or most of the plating on the limbs, so it was just a skeleton. The creature that had jumped in had grown along the limbs, making the thing a giant monstrosity.

Kennedy looked around the edge of his rock, pulling back in just as bullets shredded the dirt in front of him. 'How the hell are we going to stop that?!' He shouted. I had noticed some Demons were running alongside, and they were all ex-ADF. And each one had some grenades. One ran right up to me, just to get its head blasted off and splattered on the ceiling ten feet above us. I took its grenades.

'Blow it up, that's what!' I shouted. The grenades were simple frag grenades- I pulled the pin, waited three seconds, and threw it. It exploded right in the ARMS's face, stopping its guns from firing. I ran out, loaded a shotgun blast into its leg, staggering it. I then pulled the pin on the second grenade, shoved it into the hip joint, and ran for cover. The leg flew off into the magma, and the rest crumpled to the ground. I reloaded the Revenge, axed down one of the remaining Demons, and then took its grenades. I almost stepped out from my cover until I heard the ARMS's chain guns still spinning.

'Damn it, it's still alive!' I shouted.

'I'll distract it, you kill it!' Kennedy shouted back. I suddenly heard an exchange of fire. Better move.

I ran out of my cover, noticing that the body was leaking oil and blood form where the leg had been blown off. Thankfully, it had landed on top of its massive ammo container, and it couldn't see me well from the angle it was at. I ran up its leg, blasted it in the chest with the Revenge, and shoved an unpined grenade in its toothy mouth. My hand was scratched up a bit as I yanked it free and ran from it. I jumped right over a large boulder just as the grenade exploded. Somehow, the explosion set off all the ammo in the container on it, and all the bullets went flying. I got up, and so did Kennedy. Success.

'Did you have to blow it up?' Kennedy asked.

'You told me to kill it.' I replied.

'I thought you were going to shoot it, not wedge a grenade down its throat! We could have used its guns.'

'The guns would have to be used with the half-ton ammo container anyhow.' I replied. I looked up the chasm. 'So, how do you think the ARMS got down here?'

'Well, obviously it fell while inside the container, lost a lot of its armor in the fall, and a creature found it.' Kennedy replied. 'The freight helicopter was carrying several crates, it must of dropped one by accident.'

'So where are the other crates?' I said as we started walking down the dark chasm. Kennedy grabbed two flashlights off of the dead and tossed one to me.

'No clue, Trevor. Come on, let's get down to the bottom of this.'

There was a guttural howl from inside the darkness and a Goliath charged at us, swinging its mace. I dodged, and Kennedy got slammed to the side. It stopped and spun around, dropping its mace. It then somehow summoned up fire in its hand, and then threw a fireball! I was so surprised, I almost got hit.

'Fireballs, come on! Stop it with the stereotypical demon crap!' I shouted. I dashed at it, dodging its shield. I tried to do what I usually did with Goliaths- run right up their slanted shields and blow the head off from above- but this one swung its shield over its head, throwing me behind it, right into a rock! I dropped the Revenge when I landed. Ugh, that hurt...

The Goliath made some noise that was similar to laughing as it lit more fire in its hand.

'Hey, over here!' Kennedy shouted. The Goliath turned, and Kennedy put half a dozen bullets into its skull. He helped me up.

'Damn things are getting stronger.' He remarked.

'Evolving too. When the hell did they use fireballs?' I asked.

'No clue.' Kennedy responded as we walked into the darkness.

'Hah- I just realized.' I said.

'Realized what?'

'We're a threat. That's why the Beasts are stronger, that's why we're having a harder time. We're a threat.'

'Imagine that! Us mortals, a threat to the Devil himself! Hah!' Kennedy laughed. There was a growl from in the darkness, we shown our flashlights on it- an Octo-gore. This one just about attacked us, but it was too full of holes before it could. We heard another roar, then another, then another...

'Listen for the noises! Then shoot, but be careful who you're shooting!' I shouted. I heard a hiss from behind me- I swung around and sliced a Hexed one's neck almost in half. I saw a fire in the dark. Another Goliath spitting fire. I dodged the fireball, and it splashed against the rock wall. I blasted it, and then reloaded.

A Demon jumped on my back, knocking me over and shredding my coat. I kicked it off and blasted it onto the ceiling, quickly reloading. Another Demon charged me- I yanked my coat off, whipped it around the demon And then blasted it. I loaded in some more shells, leaving the coat. It was practically rags now.

'We need to find a way out of these caves!' Kennedy shouted as he gunned down a pair of Beasts. I shot down another Goliath, and then the attack stopped.

'Was that it?' He asked, confused.

'Seems like it was.' I said, wiping the blood from my face. I reloaded as we kept on walking. Kennedy was limping and holding his side.

'Did they get you?' I asked. He nodded, his face in agony. He raised his shirt- there were several large claw marks, oozing blood from in between his ribs. His leg had also been hit, and looked scorched.

'Fuck man, why did you have to get hit?' I asked.

'Things are out to get me.' He responded. There was a massive roar from behind us. 'Here, take this.' Kennedy groaned, pulling off his dogtags.

'What? No, I can't lose you too!' I said, supporting him. Kennedy pushed the tags into my hand. I closed it.

'There's no alternative. You go, you're meant to stop this and survive. Not me, I'm the old soldier that has no reason to stick around. You've got the will to survive. You're the one that the people want. I heard people talking about you- you're a legend. A hero to the whole world. No one had even heard of me. Oh, I bet I'll have some statue erected for me in the Alaska or something, perhaps a highschool named after me, but you? You'll get talk-shows, book written about your struggle, hell maybe even a crappy but flattering sitcom about this. Oh, a lot more than that. I met some Russian girl, a crow or raven or something that was looking for you, and I heard she worked with you for awhile. Her name was Natalie.'

'She's alive! I could kiss you for that info, Kennedy.'

'No need, Captain. Now get moving, and that's an order.' Kennedy said.

'...Yes, sir.' I replied, and I started running. I heard his shouts and the gunfire. I didn't hear his scream.

I almost passed a rusted metal door built directly into the wall as I was running. I stopped and kicked it down, and found a large room- it remind me of the factory where those Repairers were mending other Beasts... Repairers included. One ran at me, bonesaw high in the air. I dodged it blasted it down, and then kicked its light body towards another Repairer, which was staggered. I wedged my ax in its skull, creating a geyser of scarlet blood. Several nails flew over my head and way off their mark, shot from a Repairer with a nailgun. I slammed it down, blew off its head, and picked up the nailgun. A Demon that had most of its brain exposed charged at me, and its brain was quickly splattered by the nailgun.

'You've killed everyone I know, everyone one I love! No more! I've got one person left for me back home, and I intend for you bastards to not to leave here- no matter what it takes!' I shouted. I cut down another Repairer as I reloaded. 'This is my vow! I won't allow you bastards to break it!' I kicked down a Demon then blasted its guts open. Another Repairer swung its claw just over my head, I quickly dodged. I reloaded and then blew open its stomach. I flopped to the ground, growling. I walked away, slamming down the last Repairer and killing it.

'Soon, you'll have no one, Hero...' The Repairer with the open stomach hissed at me. I turned around.

'What do you mean by that, exactly?' I asked.

'My lord is planning to invade the whole planet...'

'How? His entryway to Earth was destroyed when I detonated the BHB! He's got no way in!' I shouted at it.

'There are... others.' The Repairer said.

'Other ships? Really?'

The Repairer made a noise similar to laughing. 'You fool, we've won! There's dozens!' It cackled. 'The Alaskan attack was just a spearhead, Hero! My lord will rule, as he has done on so many other planets! And your precious people will be destroyed.'

'I'll stop that, even if it's that last thing I do.' I said. I blew the thing's head off. Dozens more ships... I have to contact the ADF, warn them. But how? I'm on a different fucking planet...

I walked over to a door at the far end of the room, taking care to get rid of the Beasts on the tables. I pulled open the door, and found another corridor. This one was rough dirt and had wooden struts holding the ceiling up, resembling a mine shaft. And it was dark.

I flicked on my flashlight, scaring away the small, spider-like creatures that were climbing on the struts. Resident lifeforms, or more demons I should look out for? One hopes for the former.

I reloaded the Revenge and checked my ammo reserves. I should keep on the look out for more, I'm getting low...

The tunnel was blissfully peaceful. No Demons, no ghosts, no creature after my blood, nothing. I could happily stay here for awhile, but I had a mission.

I took a turn and found some blood smeared on the ground, and an assault rifle on the ground next to it. I followed the smear, and found a dead canine ADF trooper on the ground, his hand pointing to the left passage on a three way split. I took it, and found light ahead, and a crooked metal door blocking the exit. I opened it, and found myself on the dunes once again. Of course, there was a dark blue ATV parked nearby, and another dead trooper on the ground, leaning against the wall. I took the ATV, seeing something smoking on the horizon. I revved up the ATV, and started driving.

I then realized something- I turned around and stopped back at the dead trooper. Did he have a radio? I flipped up his ragged vest, finding a battered walkie-talkie. I flipped it on.

'Hello? This is Captain Trevor, last survivor of the RAD base in Alaska, and perhaps the last ADF survivor in this damned planet- respond, anyone!' I shout into the walkie-talkie. Static returned my call. Am I alone in hell? Am I the only one not dead?

I strapped the radio to my belt. A shadow passed overhead- I looked up. Against the stark, red sky, there was a flying, humanoid form. Was that an avian trooper? Oh shit...

I rolled out of the way just in time as an explosive shell flipped over the ATV and kicked up a massive amount of sand. My demonic twin was still alive! I ran to the ATV, righting it and jumping on. I started speeding down the dunes with my twin hot at my heels.

'This is the end, Hero! Your time is now, fight me!' It screamed.

'Do you realize how many times that's been said to me? Just saying that never works, you know.' I replied, jumping around a dozen feet off a dune. My destination was the smoke on the horizon, perhaps there's something I can use to fight back. I then decided to spin around the ATV, taking aim with the Bloody Talon. My Twin had his Revenge and was flying straight at me, its chainsaw roaring. It should know never go straight towards someone with a sniper...

BOOM!

My twin slammed to the ground, one of its wings blown off in an explosion of blood. I loaded in the next shell as it came over a dune. It was torn, bloodied, and it remaining wing flapped uselessly.

'This is the final standoff, Hero. Either you or I leave this alive, not both.' The twin said.

'I intend that to be me.' I replied. I fired off the next shell- the twin moved so that instead of it loosing a head, it lost half of the other wing.

'Damn.' I swore as I reloaded. My twin roared and move so quickly that it was a blur. I found it over to the left, taking aim with its Bloody Talon. I drove out of the way just in time, the shell blew a considerable hole in the dune. I kept on driving towards the smoke.

'Get back here, Coward!' It roared. I stopped the ATV and swung it around, skidding sand. My twin took aim again, and this time around I had no time to drive out of the way. I jumped off, and the ATV was blown to smithereens when the creature's shell hit it. I got up, the Revenge in my hands.

'Coward, huh? Never.' I said. I walked up towards it. It, in turn, swapped to its Revenge. Mine had two barrels and an ax, its had four barrels and two chainsaws. Shit.

It slammed the chainsaws into the sand, causing them to grind. As it was lifting up the heavy weapon, I fired off a shotgun blast into its arm, knocking it over. It quickly retaliated, swinging its chainsaws right at me, I pulled back quickly enough to dodge. It jumped to its feet, growling. I had reloaded by then.

'You're not me. You have no compassion.' I said. I blended in with the sand, discarding my shirt. I had already figured out this thing had bad eyesight. 'No will to live.' I said. I fired at it, staggering it. 'Nothing to fight for!' I reloaded, slamming the shells in. 'These are what separate us! You are not even close to what I am!' I shouted. I snuck up behind it.

'I am the Last.' I snarled. I put the Revenge right against its head and fired, shattering its skull. It fell to the ground, dead. 'The Last one to make it out of Hell, that is.' I briefly contemplated switching my weapons for the much more powerful demonic counterparts, but I had no clue what those would do. I instead just took the ammo it carried, but sadly, its Bloody Talon had even larger shells than mine, and they were... odd. Glowed faintly red. I did take its jacket to replace mine, though.

I put the torn tank top back on under the coat, and then continued walking towards the smoke. It seemed fainter now, I should hurry up.

I started running, my boots leaving prints in the sand. I quickly kicked them off, as they were worn down, had several holes, and the left one's sole was hanging. Must of kicked a Repairer a bit too hard.

I looked out to the horizon, shielding my face from the wind. Sandstorm's coming. Shit. I increased my speed, hoping to god that there was something at the smoke that could shield me. If there are gods.

I slid down the side of a dune, getting sand in my mouth. I spat it out, and saw what was creating the smoke. Kennedy had mentioned several craft had crashed in Hell as well, and one was a cargo helicopter. This thing was massive, at least a hundred feet long. The twin rotors were gone, and the smoke was coming from where they used to connect. Its cargo bay door was open, and several metal cargo crates were scattered behind it. I quickly ran down inside its bay as the sand slammed into its side. I closed the bay door, and sat down. I heard a hiss from inside one of the two crates remaining inside the craft.

'Still more of you? Come on!' I shouted, looking into the crate. A Hunter awaited me, along with a pair of Lurchers- all three were city mutations. ADF must of been trying to capture the things...

Both of the Lurchers fired at the same time, their shots blasting through the wall behind me. I dodged the Hunter's thrusts, and led them all out. Let's play this one smart.

I swung around behind the group quickly, to the point where only the Hunter could follow. The Lurchers were so heavy, they took several seconds to fully turn around. The Hunter jabbed at me, and quickly pierced through one of the Lurchers. They started fighting, locked together in a fatal embrace. That left me with one Lurcher to take out at this time. I allowed it to fire, easily avoiding the shot. I then slid under it, slicing its stomach with the Revenge. I came out the other side, and its guts slipped right out. Ouch. It quivered, and then collapsed.

Just as I got up, the Hunter finished off its Lurcher. I gave it the finger, then reloaded. It roared.

'Don't like that, huh?' I said. I blasted it, kicking it back. Several of its tentacles were gone, and it was full of holes. I sidestepped its lunge, and then swung the Revenge down in a quick arc. What could be called its head rolled off, and the body collapsed. I sat back down. I'll just have to wait out the storm.

I was injured all over, but they were nothing but scrapes and bruises. I'll survive.

Ugh, this metal wall seems so comfortable...

I woke up from my sleep several hours later. I sure as hell needed that. I got up, and made sure nothing had broken in. Nothing did, but I could hear Demons scrambling at the door. Not yet.

I checked the other crate. I found an arsenal of weapons! Everything from pistols to RPGs.

'Up your arsenal, baby.' I said, slinging some ammo belts over my shoulders. I then realized I'm going to need as much firepower as I can pack. Badassery time.

I strapped half a dozen pistols with holsters to my hips, the ones on my left magnum revolvers, the ones on my right machine pistols. On my lower legs I strapped two combat knives each. I grabbed a new pair of boots that was specifically designed for kicking- spikes on the bottom and front, that is. I also strapped six grenades to my waist with a belt, and then in between each one, I put extra shotgun shells for the Revenge. I strapped two SMGs to my lower chest, and six cartridges for each one on the inside of my jacket. The Bloody Talon faced directly upwards on my back, right alongside a rocket launcher and the Revenge. I had six rockets for the RPG pinned to a bandolier around my torso. I then also strapped another dozen pistols to the inside of my jacket. The weight of the guns was ridiculous, but it'll do. Why, exactly?

I climbed into the tilted cockpit as I was strapping on all of the guns, and I picked up some binoculars from the dead pilot. There was something massive, almost as much as New Germany in the distance. It was an ADF cruiser! Fully equipped with a Ship-Buster too. I knew some were lost in the wars, and others from various incidents, but one got out here? Damn.

Yeah, that's why I have the firepower. Those things have a skeleton crew of 500, and are usually around 3000. They are also full of all kinds of tech, and the mutations in there probably merged with it. It'll be hell, but those ships also dock all kinds of smaller ships, and perhaps my chance for escape.

I walked over to the cargo door, hearing the several dozen Beasts outside it. I pulled two assault rifles from a rack, and hit the button. The door actually fell off, crushing two Demons. I created a field of bullets, gunning down another six Demons quickly. I then threw the guns, causing two more Demons to slow. I grabbed two more from the rack, rattling off their ammo just as quickly. More fell to my bullet hoses. But they just kept on coming! I picked up from another rack of laser rifles, aiming at their heads for a few seconds. But ADF laser rifles have a special feature- a switch on the side overloads the gun, and then it can be used as a grenade. I flipped the switch on both the rifles, then threw them into the crowds. A dozen or so bodies flew into the air, smacking bloodily to the ground. I did it again, and the crowds started thinning. I swapped to the Bullet Hose rifles (Yeah, that's their common nickname.) and riddled another six Demons with bullets. The last thing to attack was a Basilisk.

I threw the rifles down, pulled the RPG up and fired. One of the thing's legs was blown up, and its face was smeared against the ground. It groggily got back up and roared, spitting fire. I loaded in another rocket and shot. This time, it landed right in its mouth. The head exploded. I loaded in another rocket and put the thing on my back again, grabbing more ammo from the crate. I grabbed two assault rifles from the rack to finish of the stragglers. There were none, so I checked the other crates. Most of them were even more guns and other weapons, and one carried a bunch of bloodstains, but the last one had a pair of jeeps. I started one up, and headed towards the cruiser, throwing the rifles in the back along with another RPG and a shit ton of grenades.

Hopefully I'll find escape...

This cruiser was a smaller one, but it was still a reasonable two miles long and half a kilometer wide. The massive ring that was the Ship-Buster laser was situated in the center, around half a kilometer wide itself. Those lasers could destroy whole cities. I wonder if it works... Son of a- I may need it.

The ship was partially sunken in the sand, and the ring- usually situated higher up on the ship- had some sand going through the center of it. There was something bloody massive on the other side. Something alive. The creature must of been what was making the disturbances that I saw miles away. It was a massive serpent of sorts, its red, fleshy length easily spanning a mile. Dozens, if not hundreds of extremely thick tentacles arced out from under its large head, and most snaked into the sand. The head was a massive skull, seemingly created to scare. Reminded me of a bull's skull, complete with the horns. But these curled inwards several times. In the deep eye-sockets, eyes faceted into millions of tiny planes moved slowly. Thankfully, the thing's supposed good eyesight didn't do it shit; it obviously didn't notice me. Either that, or it didn't care.

'Meet the Gatekeeper, Hero.' A familiar voice said, but there was no one around.

'So you're back, Raven. But in my head again?' I asked as I passed the massive creature.

'Best that I could do. I've been trying to help hold the defense on Earth, and most of me has been occupied. Some survived the BHB, you know. They proceeded to take down several more towns, and are advancing on Anchorage. But that big creature- it's called the Gatekeeper for a reason. It creates the gates. If it was destroyed, all the gates would shut after about half an hour. And the invasion of Earth would stop.'

'So I have to kill the big guy. Thankfully, it's facing right towards one of the most powerful weapons ever made. Does the gun work?' I asked.

'The Ship-Buster works, yes. But the ship's jets don't. When the Gatekeeper's destroyed, you'll have around half an hour to escape and prevent anything from following. I can lead you to a gate, easy. But you need to kill the Gatekeeper first, and finish this.'

'I intend to.' I replied. I drove the jeep into a hangar bay that was wedged open and partially full of sand. I halted the jeep, quickly yanking out the RPG, ready for an attack from an Auto-killer or something. Nothing. I tossed the extra RPG in the back and took two of the bullet-hoses. I then jumped out and headed towards the door into the ship. I rested my hand on the door's edge- it was a double door, and the mechanism was broken. There was a space between both of the doors, and it could be wedged open.

'So, one and a half miles of ship corridors, a shit ton of guns and demons, and a several mile long devil waiting to shred me just outside. Fucking fun...' I muttered. I yanked open the door, and came face-to-face with a variety of monsters.

I started firing.

As the bullets flew, as the shells clattered to the ground, I suddenly realized what the Raven had meant- that this would change me. I've learned what it takes to be a hero.

When the cartridges ran out, I threw the guns at a pair of Demons, quickly leaping back into the jeep for some more rifles. I had removed a little less than a dozen Beasts with my gunfire, and I was ready for more.

I grabbed two laser rifles, overloaded them with the cartridges, and threw them into the fray. Bodies went flying. When the smoke cleared, I was shooting again.

'Do you bastards realize why I am still alive?! Why I am blasting you to shreds, right now?' I shouted as I shot.

'A WILL TO LIVE THAT SOON SHALL NOT MATTER.' All the Beasts said at once. I was so stunned, I almost stopped shooting.

'Alright, so all of you bastards speak, but only at once. The Trickster, of course.' I replied, whittling off my last two rifles. Only three Demons were still alive; I quickly picked those off with one of the pistols. I used the extra RPG to create an explosions inside the door, making sure that there was nothing hiding back there. I heard a screech as something was ripped asunder. I threw the launcher into the piles of bodies and then walked into the doorway, the Revenge ready.

'There are some seriously demonic creatures on this ship. Worse than anything that stupid coyote could conjure up~ what the hell did he do to get them?' The Raven muttered in my head.

'Raven, please don't mutter in my head. It's bad enough your being in it, generally. What is it that you're going on about?' I asked, dispatching a Hexed one in the process.

'The Trickster's got some of the worst creatures from our dimension in this ship. These things are going to be your toughest fight yet, Hero. They defy every known and unknown law in your dimension.'

'So, what are they then? Humanoid shapes made of water climbing up walls and spitting dark matter at me, or something?' I asked. I pushed open a door, being careful to not disturb the bodies littering the corridor behind it.

'Could be. I know they're here, that's all.'

'Terrific.' I said. I tried a door control. Nothing. It was sealed tight. I gave it a sharp kick.

'Damn it! Raven, where the hell do I go? Be a godly GPS and give me a detour, would you?' I said.

'There's only a broken wire. Take off the panel and twine the two ends of the green wire back together.' the Raven responded. 'Godly GPS, indeed!' He sounded rather annoyed.

I pulled off the panel and found that the Raven was right.

'How the hell do you do that? See though walls and whatnot?' I asked.

'I live in a higher dimension than you, think, Hero. You can see over the 'walls' of a two dimensional plane that the local cannot, I can see over yours.' The Raven responded.

'So why the hell can't you tell me where those real demons are?' I asked, opening the door. A Demon was waiting on the other side; I quickly slammed its face in with the Revenge.

'They're... different. Powerful. They can shield themselves from my sight.'

'Well, damn. That sucks.' I said. The room I had entered was large, and the walls seemed to be made of piping. The ground was a simple grating over more pipes. Several more important looking systems crossed the room. There was another door at the other end of the room, which I walked to. I stopped when I heard a loud noise come from one of the pipes. The pipe then dented outwards, like something was trying to get out. I fired, and it was silent for a moment, but then continued trying to break through. I reloaded and got ready.

'They're in the vents...' I whispered. The pipe then burst open, sending shrapnel everywhere, one chunk almost cutting into my face. An Octo-Gore climbed out, its limbs being ripped from the sharp metal. It didn't care. I blasted its stomach open, and its tentacles went limp. I slammed the Revenge into the ground, axe embedded and pulled out one of the revolvers. I then blew off its "head" with one solid blast while it was dazed. Just as I had dispatched that one, three more Beasts crawled out of the pipe- A Hexed one with a fireball in hand, a Hunter, and a burnt Demon. I shot the Demon, dodged the oncoming fireball, then shot down the Hexed one. The Hunter had wrapped its tentacles around my arms, legs, and torso then. It was dragging me towards its open, four pronged mouth. The tongue had a smaller mouth on it too, and it was trying to bite me.

'Eat grenade, asshole.' I said. I managed to yank my left hand free and grab a grenade, which I unpinned with my mouth. I then shoved it down the Hunter's throat. It let go and I jumped out of the way as the creature exploded in a mess of guts and gore, turning my whole back side and my weapons red. I threw the exhausted revolver to the ground.

'Son of a bitch, how much blood was in that?' I shouted, flicking off the blood from my hands. 'Remind me to never do that again.' I said. I grabbed the blood-covered Revenge from the ground, reloaded it, and then looked around. I tried the door out- it was completely busted, no luck there. I then peered down the vent. 'How far does that go down...?' I muttered.

'A good 200 feet. Those Beasts climbed their way up.' The Raven responded.

'Screw that!' I shouted. I took out the RPG and blasted the door open. One of the door panels flew back and nearly sliced a Kisser in half.

'Haven't seen one of those in awhile.' I said to myself as I walked past the body. I put the RPG on my back, alongside the Revenge. I pulled out two SMGs.

'Which way?'

'A left. This'll lead you to a docking bay, which you'll have to cross. There's likely to be tons of Beasts inside, but there's also a chance that there's some large guns to get rid of them. Get up there.'

I ran up the passage and stopped at the door. Thankfully, this one was in pristine shape apart from a big blood splatter on the front of it. I put my ear to the door, and heard the guttural noises of at least three dozen Beasts, and at least one Basilisk or Leviathan. I opened the door and started shooting.

Three Demons fell almost in an instant, being right in front of the door. I then shot down a Hexed one and an Octo-gore before I turned to the bigger ones. I was wrong about their being a Leviathan or Basilisk- it was instead a variant of an Auto-Killer, but this one wasn't an automobile. It had merged with one of the ADf V-shaped Fighter ships! It had but three legs, each coming from the three jets in the center and on the tips of the wings. The sinewy, skin-less legs were a good fifteen feet tall, which made sense. The fighter was 20 feet wide, and equipped with large gatling-gun type weapons. I quickly rolled behind an armored APCS (Armored Personnel Carrying Ship) and killed a Demon that was behind it as well. I shot down a few more Beasts running my way and threw the SMGs over the APCS, distracting the Auto-Killer for a moment. I then had the RPG in my hands. I jumped out, and fired. The rocket flew through the air and exploded where the cockpit should be on the Auto-killer, staggering it. I then quickly pulled out the Revenge, blasted down two more Demons with one blast, and slammed it down into one of their bodies. The Auto-Killer got back up, and kept firing!

I pulled out the Bloody Talon, loaded it, and then took aim and fired. One of the bullets from the Auto-killer grazed my side, causing me to fall over. But the shot stayed true, causing a massive fountain of blood to erupt and a hole to appear in the ceiling of the bay. The Auto-killer crashed to the ground with an earth-shaking THOOM!

I breathed a sigh of relief, and then yanked out the Revenge from the body, reloading it as I did so. I got rid of the RPG, it was too heavy and had no rockets either.

I peeked from the edge of the APCS, and saw a good few creatures, and an open door on the far end. I pulled out two machine pistols. Time to run.

I dashed out, firing upon some smaller Demons as I ran. A Hexed one lunged for me; I kicked it down and kept on running. As I dashed, one of the enclosed ADF rovers actually sprouted fleshy legs and started running after me, obviously pissed. Obviously another Auto-killer, too. I started running up the wing of one of the fighters, sliding over the smooth cockpit and dashing down the other wing. I shot down a few more Demons and then threw the guns at the last one- it must of been badly damaged because the flying pistol made its head make quite the wet noise. It also died too... I pulled out a revolver, shooting through the gaps in a Goliath's shield as I ran past. It crumpled to the ground and I ran up the pot-marked door that it had used. I leapt off, and then used the momentum to slide under an APCS and knock out its landing gear in the process. It almost landed on my head.

This made the ever-increasing amount of attackers have to go around and lose time. I was close to the doorway. It had closed, though. I unloaded the last bullets into the crowd behind me and then threw the gun at the door's controls. It smacked into the big button, and the door opened with a hum. I slid in just as they closed, and I could hear the creatures banging on the other side.

'Yeah, fuck you too!' I shouted through the door. I checked my supplies and ammo. The Revenge and the Bloody Talon were still with me, although a bit scratched up now, they were alright. I still had half of my pistols, and two SMGs. One of the Beasts had ripped off two of the knives, though.

'How far now?' I asked.

'There's a ventilation duct to your left. It goes for about half a kilometer. Take that, and then follow the signs to the command deck. You shouldn't have much distance to cover from there.'

I looked to the sorry looking grate, which I axed off. 'Half a kilometer of crawling...' I said, ducking into the vent. 'Fun...'

Half an hour later, I kicked out a grate at the other end of the shaft, and painfully crawled out. I stretched, and got the Revenge ready. The lights in this hallway were absurdly bright, and they showcased the gore and bodies all over the white walls and floor. Ceiling too. Damn, some ADF put up a hellacious fight.

'Shush, Hero. One of the Demons- a true Demon- is just on the other side of that door...' The Raven said.

'But where am I supposed to go?' I whispered.

'There's a door to your left. It's limited access, but one of the bodies should have a keycard. It's a catwalk that crosses just over one of the trio of nuclear reactors that runs the ship. That one's the only reactor left working, so that's why the lights here are way too bright.' The door was rimmed with yellow, rectangular lights on its sides.

'Wait, if it crosses over a nuclear reactor, aren't I going to get radiation poisoning?'

'It's 400 feet of walkway. Stay in there for five minutes, and you will. It's much higher than the reactor.'

'Alright. Alright!' I said. I searched the bodies. Nothing. 'Shit.'

'I'm looking for it... Oh dear...'

'Let me guess...'

'The demon has it. The true demon.'

I cracked my knuckles, the Revenge ready. 'Hope it likes buckshot.' I replied. I kicked the door open.

The room inside was circular, and very messy. Bodies covered the floor to such an extent that you couldn't even see the floor, and the walls were splattered with gore. Bodies were nailed to the walls with massive pegs, and many mutilated corpses hung from the ceiling. Bodies were piled up in the far end, and a large, solid throne of stone was embedded in them. What I could only guess was the True Demon sat on it, looking rather bored. It fiddled with the yellow keycard in its claws.

The whole thing was composed of what seemed to be fire, with an anthropomorphic bid's skeleton to hold it all together in the center. The beak was serrated, and its claws were curved. Its eyes were floating balls of blue inside all of the red flames, and they watched me intently. A massive weapon- a drill, complete with motor and a makeshift handle, rested against a wall, which the demon picked up. It left the keycard on the armrest of the throne.

'So, I finally meet the infamous Trevor. Welcome to your death.' It said in perfect English.

'I've already killed several thousand. I can fit in another.' I replied, leveling the Revenge at its head. As I was pulling the trigger, several Beasts leaped down from the ceiling, and one took the brunt of the shell. The others turned to the True Demon and held their arms open wide. The Demon then speared them through with his drill, creating a rather large club from the bodies! He swung it, and I barely avoided it.

'I'll presume you're going for the keycard...' The Demon said, slamming its club into the bodies on the ground. Several chunks of flesh were kicked up. As the Demon walked, the bodies under it were burnt to a crisp. Some were actually set on fire.

'Oh, you presume, do you?' I shouted at it. The demon slammed the drill into the fleshy floor and looked at me.

'You're a hero at heart, that I see. I don't intend to kill you here, Trevor. You still have a long ways to go in this war. Take the keycard, we shall meet again.' The Demon said. It left the drill embedded in the floor and walked away, through the door I came in through. I ran to catch him, but he had vanished around the corner. I went back into the gory chamber, grabbed the keycard, and took it to the door, noticing the bloody footprints I left.

I slid the card into a receiver on the doorframe. I pushed open the door and started running down the strangely and comfortably warm walkway. Down below was a massive, circular chamber which went far up and far down. Below was a blue glowing ball, suspended by a few thick pipes. As I ran, the walkway creaked. Then the first mutated Demon climbed over. Its once furred skin was bubbling- yes, bubbling- and one of its eyes was a swollen ball of red blood. Its teeth were gone, and the claws looked melted. It limped towards me, but I blasted it with the Revenge. More blood than it had any right to have exploded backwards, showering the three mutants behind it. I quickly reloaded the Revenge and put it on my back. I then took out one of the SMGs, aiming for their heads. They exploded in fountains of red, and the bodies fell down. One tumbled off and disappeared in the darkness. I looked at the bodies, like I pitied them, and then finished the crossing. I heard a massive crunch from behind as a swollen, mutated Lurcher fell from above. Its weight allowed it to take two steps before the walkway gave out, just as I stepped off.

'Now what the hell was that about?' I said. The Raven gave a mental shrug.

I opened a second door and found myself in a small equipment room. Several protective suits had been removed, but one remained. It was a OEPS- an Orbital Engineering Protection Suit. It was similar to that security suit I wore at the RAD base, but this one was airtight, could survive falling from orbit with someone inside- although they may break something, and was painted a military grey. It was made for orbital excursions, so it could withstand all kinds of space-junk smacking into it at the speed of a fast bullet. This thing could withstand most things. I put it on, and then realized that I was only able to carry my ammo and a few less weapons. I ditched the remaining SMG and strapped back on the Pistols, the Revenge, the Bloody Talon, and I also tossed a few grenades into a small toolkit that was on the side. The visor on the helmet shaped itself for my head, and the limited HUD activated. It consisted off a small ADF logo floated in the upper left corner and rotating, a small ammo counter and a representation of the suit, showing the percentages of armor integrity on it. The suit was heavy, but easy to move in it. The compressed air tank was on the hip. I also strapped on that small radio I had.

'Hell of a find.' I said to myself, exiting the equipment room. I was quickly slammed into a wall by a Goliath, and the wall dented. I got up, my suit only being scratched. Integrity was still at a hundred percent.

I returned fire with a Blast from the Revenge that shattered its skull. It crumpled to the ground.

'How far?' I asked as I reloaded.

'Take a right, keep going straight. It's about a hundred meters.'

I slammed down the door to my right and started running down the hall. A Demon with an ADF officer's uniform tried to jump me, but I quickly axed it down. I shoved open the next door and found myself on the main bridge. It was littered with bodies- apparently the captain went down with his ship,a nd most of the officers with him. Her, actually, if I was going by the female fox in the captain's chair. I searched the controls around the main viewport, which was shattered. The viewport was open to the wind, and let in sand. Sometimes, a powerful gust would stir the dust.

I found the previous gunner, and shoved his eviscerated body off of the console. There was a big red button labeled "The Big one" with a Sharpie. It had the words "Fire Ship-Buster" on the side. I peered out the viewport to see the massive Gatekeeper. It didn't know what I was doing...

'Hero, remember. You'll have only about half an hour to find a ride and get off the ship and to the portal. This side of the portal will stay in place, but the other one will be de-stabilized. You could end up anywhere on Earth.'

'As long as I get back.' I said. I slammed down the button, and nothing happened but a hiss.

'Was that it?'

KRA-KOOM!

The shot shook the whole massive carrier, and the proceeding roar shattered what glass that was left on the ship.

'Time to run!' I shouted, dashing through the door. The ship kept on rumbling.

'Take a left when possible, then go through three doors until you reach a four-way. Take a right, and you'll find a small vehicle bay used for scouting. There's plenty of vehicles there, take a pick. And Run.'

And that I did. I didn't stop for the creatures, just shoving them out of the way. When I came to the four-way, a large beam fell from the roof and almost blocked my path. The ship, only on the one reactor, was blowing itself apart! Using the Shio-Buster must of been too much for it. I ran down the hall and jumped through the empty door frame, skidding into the small bay. There were a few fighters, an APCS, a few rovers, and a ETSU- An ExTraterrestrial Scouting Unit. This thing had armored tires, an airtight body, and armor made to survive the horrors of a different planet. I jumped in and started it up.

'Why the hell didn't you tell me about this bay?' I asked as I drove out. I quickly fell 10 feet, thrashing me into the back of the seat. The ETSU was fine, though.

'That's why. Drive, you have 26 minutes and a good 50 miles to cover.' The Raven said. I restarted it and sped onwards. 'Keep going forwards, through those canyons there. Be careful.' I drove towards them at the ETSU's max speed of 130, kicking up dirt and chunks of metal behind me. The beam from the Ship-Buster was boring a hole through the rocks, and creating a smooth, but too high up, path. Then, the laser just stopped. I looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed massive tentacles wrapped around the ship. Sand and debris was falling from the ship.

'Oh son of a bitch... is it still alive?' I muttered.

'Most of it's blown off, but yeah, it is. And no, it shouldn't have the strength to throw the ship.' The Raven responded. It suddenly was pulled off of the ground, and I could see the Gatekeeper there, a massive hole blown through its side. Gigantic organs were spilling into the sand with thousands of gallons of blood.

'Shouldn't? Well, it does!' I shouted. Then it threw. Thankfully, it was weakened, so the throw didn't come anywhere close as it died, but the ship was already badly damaged. Fragmented, strained, and ready to snap. When it was thrown, it shattered in a multitude of massive explosions, and parts were flung my way. In seconds, I found myself speeding through a field of debris bouncing the same way I was driving, and at a similar speed. I swerved to miss a giant chunk of corridor that had just impaled itself in the sand, and then I just narrowly avoided a massive pipe that was flung over my roof. I could also see the bodies flying- Beasts and the former ADF both. One Demon landed, got up, and was quickly flattened by the ETSU.

'24 minutes and counting.'

Just as I zoomed into the canyon, more massive chunks of debris landed above or damaged the red rock walls, causing boulders to tumble down. As I drove, I could hear rocks bouncing off of my rooftop. A really large one caused me to loose control for a second and left a dent in the roof. The HUD on my helmet was warning me about incoming debris, level 6. I'm not sure what the level meant, but I'm sure it was the highest level. I saw some desperate Demons throwing themselves from high places, trying to get down here to stop me. I had closed their way into Earth.

'I'm surprised, you actually killed the Gatekeeper.' The Trickster said. He had appeared right beside me, but his form seemed not really there. I could see though him. 'I know you're escaping through to the same portal I used to get my Beasts there, but I've moved it. You'll die soon after exiting, trust me.' The Trickster added.

'Agh, damn it! He's pulling me out! Hero, keep on driving until you reach the plain that you came in from. Just follow the path.' The Raven said, his voice fading. 'Input the cordinates 21.3, 42, and 7...'

'Damn you, Trickster. Damn you to hell.' I said.

'Hah, we're already in it!' He cackled, and then he vanished. The Raven's presence in my mind was gone as well.

'Damn it!' I shouted, speeding up a hill. The debris was slowing down now, finally. I input the coordinates into the on-board GPS system. It gave me a destination. I hope this works.

There was a large path coming up, and the GPS showed water. It was a large lake of that blood-like water! There was a wide ridge traveling around the side, and I was able to follow it. I crushed several other beasts while speeding up, their blood splattering all over the front of the ETSU and covering the windshield. Several times I had to use the windshield wipers to clean off the blood.

The Race there was just a heated drive to escape. No massive explosions, no hordes of monsters... well, not until the end.

I halted at the top of one of the large hills that rimmed the open plain. Beasts of all sorts were migrating towards the portal, and flattening each other in the process. There were thousands of them, and of all kinds! Varieties I knew and could spot, like Basilisks and Leviathans, and others which I didn't recognize, like a giant serpent-like creature that was a good 30 feet long and several larger creatures that looked like Auto-killers made from some alien craft. I searched the button on the console, and found one for sawblades on the front- made for cutting rocks. It'll cut a lot more than that.

I deployed them, and then started speeding towards the crowd, just head first towards the portal. I made sure to put the windshield wipers on max.

All I heard were the screeches of Beasts being torn down, and the splattering of blood all over the front of the ETSU. Even though the wipers were at max, they weren't doing anything. Hell, I think they broke.

There was a loud crunch as I chopped through something thick, and continued thumps as bodies kept on bouncing off of my vehicle. The glass cracked, and then I heard nothing. Just wind. And a cackling, familiar voice.

'So, you've survived this far, and killed me twice...' He said, and I somehow heard him through the vehicle. I opened the hatch, and saw that we were in free-fall. I pushed away from the ETSU, and saw that the whole front was like someone threw chunky red paint all over it. I also saw who was talking. Jack! I was almost happy to see him, apart from the fact that he seemed to be completely stitched together, his eyes were red, and his hands and feet were missing all skin, and their bones had turned into razor-sharp metal that went through the muscle. He was also covered in blood and only wearing the remains of pants. He was expertly staying in place, like he was a proper skydiver. I altered my course towards him. All around us was a swirling, purple vortex.

'Damn it, why the hell won't you stop haunting me?!' I shouted. I fired off the Revenge, the shot kicking me back in the air. The pellets ripped through Jack, but he didn't even flinch.

'It'll be the last time. Because you'll be dead.' Jack growled. He then dived away, towards the expanding portal below. He went through, and I exited after him. Son of a bitch, we were actually in free fall! We were dropping down from orbit!

'See what I mean, you'll die from the fall! Hahahaha!' Jack roared fanatically.

'You Idiot. You're all idiots. I'm wearing an OEPS. It's made to fall from orbit and protect the wearer. I'll survive, and none of you will. I should be the one laughing!' I shouted. Jack looked confused, then really pissed.

'I'll just have to dispatch you myself!' He roared. I put the Revenge on my back; I didn't want it to get melted. I then took out the Bloody Talon. I had more than a Dozen Bullets left, I had been too conservative with them. I let one loose, and it missed. Jack was trying to reach me, but not having much luck. We were entering the atmosphere- my boots were on fire. I only knew from the fact that I could see it. These things were good protection...

I loaded in another shot as Jack floated nearer, his body on fire. His ashes were carried up behind him. His metal hands and feet seemed to be creating even more fire, though.

'Hah, looks like you'll be burning up!' I shouted. My second shot just grazed his skull, knocking loose a chunk and removing what was left of that ear. Jack didn't care.

All around us were the burning bodies of the Beasts that leapt through unknowingly, already dead or nearly. There were also some rocks and other debris flying about. Jack shoved one of these at me before lunging. I caught his claw and twisted it around, breaking his wrist. Or, it should have. The metal bent, but didn't break. His head then turned all the way around and tried to bite my helmet. I let go and tried to blow off his head. The shot missed, but tore a massive hole in one shoulder. I could see the metal bones. I reloaded.

'Hahahahaha!' He roared. Jack's skin was peeling away from the heat, and his blood-red eyes were bare. His thrice-reincarnated body had gone mad, it seems.

I ended up near him again, and I did a move that only belongs in fighting games. A flaming kick. His head spun around, and I heard a loud crack. He must of been like an owl; can turn 180, but not 360. But he straightened it out.

For a moment we lost each other in the thick cloud cover. When we exited it, I found myself just above him, and the snowy streets of what looked like a Russian city were a few thousand feet below. I strapped the Blood Talon to my back and dived towards him, slamming into him hard. I grabbed him and would not let go. For good measure, I blasted him with the Revenge once, which I had pulled out for a moment.

'I intend to destroy you right here, right now. Prepare to die for the last time, old friend.' I whispered in his burnt remaining ear-stub. He roared in rage and fury, and then...

THOOM!

A few minutes later, I found myself awake, sore, but alive. I had created a massive crater in the cobblestone street, and Jack's ragged skeleton was under my feet. The glass was shattered on my helmet, and the hud was flickering. I dropped the helmet, and climbed out. A heavy blizzard was blowing. I took out my radio and discovered it was nothing but a strap on my belt and some melted slag. I tossed that away, and pulled a cell phone from one of the dead bodies that littered the streets. This city had been hit hard.

'Hello? Yeah, get me ADF command. Better yet, get me Admiral Kenji. It's Captain Trevor.' I said to the secretary on the phone. Kenji told me that he had a pickup coming my way, and that I was to be rewarded with rank when I got back. Honestly, I didn't need it. I just wanted to go home...

But I had none. Nothing other than the barracks. I decided to find myself a car. I then examined my weapons. All of my extra weapons were gone, but the Revenge was in the shape it was in before the Fall. It had finally lived up to its name, though.

The Bloody Talon had melted, and the barrel was twisted out of shape. I noticed a bent metal pipe and had an idea.

A few minutes later, I had turned the Bloody Talon into a cross with that pipe, and I had tied all of the dogtags that I gathered from my dead fellows on it. I grabbed a piece of metal and etched these words in:

This is the last monument to some of the ones lost during the war. They fought the Demons valiantly until their last breath. They shall never be forgotten.

I paid my respects. I wanted to leave the gory past behind, but not forget it. I had mounted the jagged monument in the center of the plaza I landed in, so it could be easily seen. I left the past behind that day, trading my suit for winter gear, and trading the Bloody Talon for a car, I took to the road. I wonder where it'll take me. Hopefully far away.

_ Epilogue _

Two days later, after the war...

The storm was blowing really bloody hard. The car that I grabbed was having a rough time handling the wind, snow, and the fact that the road kept vanishing beneath gusts of frost. I hit a bump, and the Revenge and a box of shotgun shells in the back seat bounced up, clattering to the floorboards. Hopefully they wouldn't have to be used again.

I attempted to tune in the radio. I finally got a news station, and I listened while I tried to figure out where the hell I was. The announcer was speaking English but had a heavy Russian accent.

'...Welcome to MLN, channel 101.9. We're still covering the series of events that's put Demons on our streets and the fearful in our homes. Moscow has been cleared of Demons, but the bodies still adorn the streets like confetti after a festival. If you must go out, do not take the weak of heart with you.

'In the other news, why did the attacks stop? What happened to the Hero; the American Captain Trevor? He called for pickup after he escaped, but he was no where to be seen. But he did end the invasion in Alaska. Mother Russia should be safe.'

I found that why I was getting a station for Moscow was the fact that I was only ten miles away from the outskirts on an abandoned highway. A bent sign marked Route 178. I started up the battered car and continued down the road. The corner of a hood poked out from a pile of snow on the side of the road, along with a frozen, blue hand. Reminded me of New Venice...

I shuddered. I had to try to leave that in my past.

'Well, ADF has suffered heavy casualties.' The radio continued. 'They have lost several thousand men, and one of their cruisers, The Pride of Louisiana, was lost in search of the planet that the creatures were coming from. Its last message said it found it, but it ended in static. All lives aboard the ship were lost.

'Also, one of the Human City Ships was destroyed on, apparently, the same planet that the Pride crashed on. Due to the interventions of Captain Trevor, several thousand people escaped, along with the ADF soldier Private Jake. He was one of the few to survive the horror, and the rest of his squad is either dead or stuck on the planet, which is now officially nicknamed "Hell". But we should be safe.'

I could see some flickering lights through the blizzard. For a second, my car lost control and I almost lost them as well.

'Damn this storm...' I muttered. There was some whispering on the radio.

'What? Are you sure?' The announcer said away from the microphone. 'I've just received a report of more Demons in the streets! These things are spreading like a plague... Everyone, arm yourselves! Return to your homes, and stay with your loved ones!' There was the sound of shattering glass from the radio, and then a scream. 'Holy shit, they've broken in!' Gunfire. The screeches of Demons, Hexed ones, and a few I didn't recognize. Static.

Crack!

My car almost flipped as it smashed straight into a frozen Goliath that was missing most of its shield. The car crashing into it killed it.

I grabbed the Revenge, loaded in two shells, and tossed the rest in one of the cavernous pockets of my thick coat. Two days of rest, and they're back...

A Demon charged towards me from the fog, from the direction of the city. I blasted it, and the Demon flopped down to the ground. There was another one just behind it, which I wedged my ax head into its side. I pulled out the blade, and the handle part of the ax shattered! The head of the ax landed in the snow with a soft crunch. Well, it killed hundreds of creatures, when it was made for chopping through maybe two dozen burning timbers in one lifespan. Can't expect that much, but it lived well.

I butted the injured Demon in the head, stunning it. I reloaded, and then blasted a chunk of its chest out the other end. It fell forwards, turning the snow scarlet. I started walking towards the city. I shouldn't be doing this- but I have to. I have a mission, and that's to stop these things from destroying everything. Protect the innocent.

The Demon I killed was ex-ADF personnel, and it carried an assault rifle on its back. I picked it up, loaded in a new cartridge, and slid the other two in my pocket. Will this war never end...?

I started walking back into the fray.

Meanwhile, in "Hell"...

The red sand dunes stood silently, adorned with mementos of Trevor's escape. Metallic wreckage from The Pride of Louisiana was scattered about, sometimes catching the sun. There was a massive, still smoldering trench in the rocks above, and hundreds more lay dead beyond it. The carcass of the Gatekeeper was already starting to decompose; massive rotting hunks of flesh falling off with loud booms. Surviving Demons flocked to the gigantic corpse, tearing its meat off in chunks miniscule compared to its whole. Even in life, the Gatekeeper may not have noticed Demons eating it.

A different corpse lay dead, blasted into pieces by the Hero's weapon. It had two firearms with it, and demonic ones at that. They were destined to lay there, rusting away... But...

A clawed hand clasped the damaged handle of the massive shotgun, dragging it alongside. The shadowy figure also grabbed the rifle, put it on its back, and continued his walk through the sand. It then stopped, picked up the arm of a dead Demon, and slammed it down into the sand again. A portal opened up, and on the other side snow could be seen. It walked through, emitting a sound similar to laughing...