Though Hell Should Bar the Way

Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day…

Tei Tenga is a dead world.

We couldn't have known. How could we? We identified that the planet Tei Tenga existed at Ross 154. We identified that it was tidally locked with that star. A light side and a dark side, with a habitable band at the terminus point. It would take us two decades to reach the star, and a decade to send a lightspeed message back to Earth. But let it not be said that the UAC fears the dark. To the moon, to Mars, to Jupiter and beyond. Always a new horizon. Always a new frontier. Such is the calling of the UAAF.

We were wrong. Tei Tenga is a dead world. Dead, in that there was once life. Dead, in that this life was ended. Dead, in that the creatures of this world cannot be truly called alive. The same creatures that press against our walls, as we struggle to maintain our foothold. Trans-dimensional entities. Creatures of nightmare. Beings that can only be called demons.

Then look for me by moonlight, watch for me by moonlight.

It's a place of twilight here, and I'm going over the Mars research notes that our brethren sent ahead to us. I'm left to ask, how many others? How many worlds have fallen to Hell? Does a frontier even exist for us to explore? I do not doubt the fortitude of our security forces. They trained on Mars, they can hold the line here, the Elite Guard is unmatched by any mortal, for what comfort that provides. But even so, what does the dark offer us? Are all worlds fated to fall to Hell? Does Hell indeed bar the way? Tei Tenga has a single moon, its light cast upon us as if in judgement, but even so…

I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.

There are no angels here. This is not Eden. Heaven is beyond our reach. Heaven is beyond us, above us. Cut off by fire and fury.

So comes the fire.

So comes the end.


A/N

So, in the UAC Manual that comes with Doom 2016, it's established that Tei Tenga does indeed exist in this setting, and that the UAC is interested in exploring the planet, provided that they haven't already done so. Sequel bait, easter egg, I dunno. But it does remind me of an idea I stumbled on years ago, the idea that the 'bone ship' in Final Doom is a hint that Hell has entered the material universe in places outside the Sol system. So, regardless, drabbled this up.