Chapter 7: Were Going Base Stomping


Two guards mulled about at a checkpoint, walking past one another and changing direction next to two jeeps strategically positioned to disallow and hinder any would be intruders that would try to ram their way in. They would pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, pass each other, turn and walk, and continue to rinse and repeat steps one and two until ordered otherwise. Oh, and confirm with command of any authorized personnel that is scheduled to pass the checkpoint, and keep out anyone who is unauthorized for entry. A piss poor job, but one of necessity. Boring, but one can't complain with the chain of command. To complain would enact reprimand on their ranks.

Earlier today, the only thing that happened was a car driving down the road that lead to their checkpoint then making a U-turn to go back over the bridge it used to get there. The two guards thought that it must have been a tourist that got lost or something. It typically happens once or twice a month. One of the checkpoint guards decided to pipe up. "Hooooh. Night shift is a bitch."

"Keep that up and you'll be sweeping and waxing the weapons depot floors for the whole day." Was the other guard's response.

"At least I'm looking forward for breakfast. Hopefully the next shift comes soon."

"Maybe the mess hall has bacon and eggs?"

"Heh, if we're lucky. Some sausage and toast would be nice, but I'm probably gonna get the chef's world famous bagels."

"Heheheh~! ... Hang on, something's up." One of the guards pointed at something down the road as he said that. There was a car that had stopped in the distance, on the end of the bridge.

The other guard squinted his eyes. "... Isn't that the same car today?"

"... I think you're right. Should we call command and report this?"

"Better be safe than- OH SHI-" The guard didn't have the patience to finish his sentence as he heard the curious vehicle rev and dashed forward at them. The guards let out a scant amount of shots before they were run down by the vehicle.

One of the checkpoint guards was unfortunate enough to get himself pushed into one of the jeeps and get squished between it and the ramming car. The other guard had his legs broken, but survived as he skidded a ways away. His rifle was knocked out of his hand and he was suffering so much pain that he could not scream. That or the wind was knocked out of him. Or both. The vehicle that injured him and seemed to have killed his fellow officer came to a stop next to him. What the officer saw perplexed and surprised him.

A man in armor with glowing yellow eyes stepped out and walked to the squished guard and chuckled. The armored man then turned and saw the broken yet surviving checkpoint guard and slowly approached. "Hello there."

"*cough cough* Ack. Fuck... ing... shit."

"Nothing personal." The armored man said, bringing out a shotgun and gently placing the barrel end onto the guard's chest, pointing to where his heart is located. "But I need your friends to give me a fight. Now... give me a good looking corpse."

"Ghhhn..." The SNG guard was hesitant in trying to reach for his pistol since he was at gunpoint. Any sudden moves would have prompted this armored man to fire. The guard was in no condition to fight, and felt as though that he was going to die pretty soon anyway. Either by internal bleeding or shotgun blast into the chest. "Who... the fuck are... you?"

"Heard of Stilwater?" Was the armored man's reply.

"... N-no..." The guard opened his eyes as wide as he could. He could not believe it! The Overlord of Stilwater, the Saint Killer, was here in Steelport. Killing this guy would make him famous. But at his current condition and position, there wasn't anything he could do.

"Aw. Well... I'm sure that as a spirit, you can go for a tour there in the afterlife." The Overlord said, sending a hot round of deadly buckshot into the guard's chest cavity, instantly killing him and setting his corpse on fire.


The Overlord chuckled loudly as he left the fiery dead body to ashen on the spot. With his new weapon tested, Carlon can now change his opinion of the shotgun he has now. Namely that it almost made the top of his list of favorite weapons. Almost. Axes are still reserved for the top spot. Can't get more close and personal enough than a good axe at your side, digging and cleaving into your enemies side. Axes are just the best.

With the welcoming committee disposed of, Carlon reached into his right gauntlet and pulled out his cell phone to check the map of the area. A small island that is inhabited by the Steelport Guard makes for the perfect testing grounds for the new equipment he'll be using. "Gnarl. You there?"

"I never left, my lord. That boomstick of yours is truly impressive, now that I got to see it in action." Gnarl said from seemingly within Carlon's helm.

Carlon nodded and proceeded down the street and rounded the corner, hearing boots stomping away from beyond a wall to his right. "Now lets see if my other toys can be as fun."

The Overlord took out his TEK Z-10 SMGs and dual wielded them. After donning his weapons, he took a cursory glance past a chain link gate and was immediately rewarded with gunfire at his direction. From the quick glance, Carlon could tell that there was soldiers in armor within the compound. How many, he didn't know. But to hypothesize a guess, Carlon would probably say that there might be more than twenty or so soldiers that he had to contend with. He quickly sidestepped and brought out his SMGs and fired at the closest enemies. They were riddled with bullet fire and its fiery payload, some becoming ignited by the deadly barrage. Carlon's armor plinked as bullets was fired at him. Some bullets grazed or embedded into his flesh, but his enchanted armor pushed the bullets out of his wounds and slowly healed him. Even though Carlon took cover on another section of wall, now on the left side of the gate, Carlon was able to take a longer gander in viewing the inside of the compound, taking in additional tactical information. He couldn't help but notice that there was even more soldiers than what his previous count first entailed. But he also saw several canisters and barrels of explosive materials. A wide grin was spread onto Carlon's face.

"Move in on the enemy!"

A frustrated frowned spread onto Carlon's face. There is no way that he would allow these jarheads to get the drop on an overlord like him. Actually, Carlon wasn't sure if these people were part of the United States Marine Corps, but he wasn't going to waste time thinking about semantics when he has a fight to win. Carlon searched his person for fragmentation grenades, picked off the pins and waited 5 seconds before throwing them over the wall he was taking cover in. After he vaulted the fragmentation explosives, they immediately detonated when they hit the ground. Carlon opened the chain link gate with a forceful swing and went into the compound, whipping out his SMGs and quickly blasting down the Steelport Guard, as well as firing at any explosive containers that the SNG soldiers happen to be next to. After using the grenades, Carlon's foes had drastically dwindled.

"Oooh, what have we here?" Gnarl whimsically mused out loud.

"Mm?" Carlon looked around a little to try and figure out what got the minion master excited. He turned to an oblong looking metal shape at the entrance of a warehouse. "That thing, you mean?"

"Yes, my lord. Looks to be of an overly large explosive! Might be useful to take with us, don't you think?"

"I'm sure that we can just use the nether seeds just as effectively." Carlon said, shooting at the last of the SNG guards in the courtyard.

"But you're just not going to leave it here and let them use it against us?"

"... Hmm... You have a point. I don't want these guards following me back home, so I'll just make a netherworld gate with a seed. The gate can destabilize itself when I need it to, anyway. Say, this gate wont connect with the tunnels that the minion diggers have made, will it?"

"Of course not, sire. In fact, I will give the minion diggers specific instructions so as to not connect the tunnels to the netherworld gate you'll be making. By the way, you have company."

Carlon's armor plinked with more ricochet as more SNG officers revealed themselves, hunkering in the storehouse. Carlon scoffed and retreated with a swift brisk. "Might as well open the door and get some backup here."

The Overlord retreated northward and kicked open a different chain link gate that was in his way. He quickly found what he needed. Open earth. Carlon picked out a sack from his person and reached into it. A marble sized object rested in the palm of his hand, shifting in colors of fire and lava, with the occasional blue electrical sparks that danced on the metal of his gauntlet. He summoned his evil presence spell while holding the glowing pebble and tossed it to the grass covered ground on the other side of the road. The pebble erupted into spouts of lava ten seconds later, where by unseen forces of magical magnetism shaped and cooled a spiked construct of foreboding design, sizzling and cooling to the open air as it did. When the gate was fully formed, blue mist flowed up from the 'mouth' of the gate, rising into the sky and dissipating into the air of a cool night that approached morning. After that, four smaller gates formed at the foot of the netherworld gate, marking the completion of its formation.

"Twenty browns, twenty red salamander riders, five greens and five blues! To me!" Carlon shouted at the sinister structure, which prompted it to spit out the appropriate number of minions he requested, as well as twenty shelled reptiles that was forced out from the main gate. The red skinned minions got onto these apparent 'salamanders' and rode to their master, with other minions having to walk instead. Carlon turned and walked back to the compound and neared the entrance of the warehouse, careful not to bring himself into his enemies gun sights. "Reds, roll around in there and attack. And be sure to disperse yourselves evenly when your mount gets wounded enough."

The Overlord's red minions smiled evilly and cackled as they rode into the warehouse. "Chaaaaaaaaarge! Burn everything!"

The screams of panic and general outbursts of "What the fuck are those things?!" were heard by Carlon, and he nodded in approval. Even when the Steelport Guards were dividing their attention to the rolling terrors coming their way, Carlon had the upmost confidence that the red mounts were doing their job. He didn't even need to peek out from cover to confirm it.

He turned to his remaining minions behind himself. "Alright, you petulant torsos of vile enmity. Listen up! While the canon fodder is dealing with the Steelport Guard inside, I want the browns moving that thing to the gate." Carlon said, pointing to the bomb. "Blues, you are to defend here." He said, pointing at the corner of the entrance to the warehouse. "And greens, go invisible at that entrance over there." He then pointed to the gate where he had first entered at the west of the courtyard. "Guard it, and stab whoever so much as steps foot into the compound. MOVE!"

All of his remaining minions nodded in unison and scrambled to fulfill their master's orders. The brown minions circled the bomb and gingerly gripped the platform the bomb was on and lifted the whole thing. They then scooted and moved to where the newly deployed gate had been constructed, with Carlon following after them.

The blue minions that were positioned at the warehouse entrance would sometimes go into the warehouse to try and carry back a fallen red minion, amidst several explosions that was going off within. It's what happens when a red minion's mount sustains too much damage. Basically, their mount goes boom. And booms of that magnitude can turn both minions and humans into instant giblets.

The greens guarding the west gate had the easiest job: Don't let anyone who wasn't minion or overlord in. On the other hand, they did spot a tank that was rolling down a corner south of their position. Luckily, it didn't see them, or the unlucky SNG Guard that got jumped the moment he passed the gate.

Once the browns have lowered the bomb into the gate, Carlon turned and called out to his minions once again. "Alright, everyone! Come back, or you're getting left behind!"

The browns were the first to reenter their minion gate, followed by the blues, the remaining reds, and then finally the greens. A cannon sounded off, and part of the wall of the Sierra Point base crumbled and exploded. Carlon leaned from cover a little and found out what had made that explosion. A tank. It had to be a fucking tank.

"... Welp, I know this song. Time to leave the dance party." Carlon said to no one in particular and escaped into the netherworld gate. No one in their right mind would try and take on a tank. Even Carlon had his limits. Especially when his armor and weapon was not exactly the best equipment to wield against such a force. He thought it best to make a tactical retreat.


The entire base in Sierra Point was abuzz with activity. Several Steelport Guards have made several offensive fortifications facing toward and around the structure, meant to keep whatever came out if it from taking them by surprise, mainly in the form of turret towers. Tanks also surrounded the structure, their cannons pointed at the offending edifice that erupted from the ground. Though the blue mist that once came from its maw no longer flowed, as well as the smaller gates around it no longer being open, it still left an ominous feeling among the guards.

One among them, a staff sergeant named Donny McCane, rubbed his temples heavily as he tried to explain to his higher ups the situation, only to get angry complaints and more orders than he would have wanted. "No sir, we didn't follow him. The intruder had stolen the bomb and went into the structure that had appeared during the intrusion. ... No sir, the structure appears to be closed. ... No sir, we have not tried to open it, but I assume any attempts might result in another attack to our base. ... Sir? ... Yes sir, I'll await for the liaison's arrival." Donny hanged up his cellphone and sighed heavily. He turned to his men and shouted. "Step alive! We'll be getting a guest soon. A liaison will be arriving to asses the situation and provide tactical assistance. Inform the checkpoint asap!" Donny barked. He then turned and headed for the scene of the carnage after informing his men.

Bodies of various creeds, religions and races that gathered under the Steelport Guard uniform were cut down in their prime, indiscriminately. Many bodies were crispy and burned from the assault, and many more have been riddled with bullets from an SMG. Not only that, several craters dot the courtyard that tells the tale of explosive containers exploding, no doubt from the resulting skirmish that had occurred earlier. But the damage here in the courtyard wasn't the worst by far.

Donny turned and headed into the weapons depot. What he saw nearly made him upchuck. As far as he could see, several craters and warping of metal decorated the inside of the warehouse. Bodies were burned beyond recognition, which meant that they would no doubt have to be identified by their dental record. What was worse was the smell. Overcooked meat and rotting flesh tainted the air, making it difficult for a cleanup team to round up the bodies and look at the evidence of the mass murder. Not only that, fragments of what appeared to look like bone and red tortoise shell sprinkled the ground, walls and shelves within. Small scraps of torched leather and warped metal was also present here, but identifying what the scraps were confused whoever might have investigated into the matter.

Donny shook his head and went outside of the warehouse to breathe in relatively fresher air. This was clearly not a good day for the SNG.

His radio clicked and alerted him of a report from one of his officers. -This is west checkpoint. A vehicle has arrived and stated that they have the liaison that is arriving. Orders? Over.-

The staff sergeant reached to his radio and called back to the guards at the west checkpoint. "Acknowledged. Let them through and direct them to drive north. I'll be intercepting them. Over."

-Understood. Over and out.-

Donny settled his radio back onto his person and sighed, marching forth to intercept the liaison that he was supposed to meet with. ... Come to think of it, wasn't this a little too convenient? It was only a half an hour ago that the attack happened, and the higher ups had a number they could instantly call to contact a liaison about this kind of devastating event? Donny shook his head and continued down south. There was a vehicle that he did not recognize approaching him from the distance. Some kind of infantry mobile vehicle, to be sure. Other than that, Donny McCane didn't know what the model is. But he assumed that inside of the vehicle, the liaison is riding within.

He raised his hand and signed 'stop', prompting the vehicle to come to a halt. After it had parked, the passenger door opened, which revealed an African-American woman in plain looking flak armor. At least Donny assumed that it was flak armor. She stepped down from the vehicle to turn and stared straight at Donny with a serious expression. "Are you in charge here?"

Donny nodded. "I am Staff Sergeant Donald Duff McCane, of the Steelport Guard, stationed here at Sierra Point. You must be the liaison that was sent to investigate the attack. Am I right?"

"That would go without saying. I am Lieutenant Commander Kia, of the Special Tactical Anti-Gang Unit. Where did the attack happen?"

"That's some name for a unit." Donny said, unsure if it really was a real unit or not. Was this another division?

"Where. Did. The attack. Happen?" Kia said slowly. Donny now realized that she was not the one for idle chat.

"... This way." Donny said, turning around and going back north. After walking into the courtyard of the Sierra Point SNG base, Donny waved his hand and gestured to the scene of destruction. "This is where the attack happened. I'd recommend not going inside the warehouse, but..." He saw Kia going into it anyway. "... Yeah, you're gonna go in there anyway."

Kia took a glance and skimmed over the destruction within the depot. She didn't seem to mind the smell of rotting flesh. She knelt down to inspect a shell fragment. "Hmm... When did the attack happen?"

"About half an hour ago." Donny replied.

"And this smell?" Kia asked.

"I'm assuming that it's from the bodies."

"In this climate and humidity, it would take two to three hours for the smell of decomposition to become noticeable. And considering the nature of the enemy that I have came here to confirm the existence of... I still need the last bit of evidence before I report to command. Your higher ups said that there was a structure?" Kia said, standing back up.

"It's north of here. This way." Donny turned and walked to where the aggressor was last seen.

Donny and Kia eventually approached the black and spiked structure. It had several stalagmite spires that curved as fingers that closed around the entrance of the structure. The obsidian colored stone had slight wisps of steam spouting off of it at odd intervals, while the grass around the structure burned heavily from its recent formation. The bomb that the SNG once had was squirreled into it, and now this black thing lies here as a testament to the Steelport Guard's failure to protect their base.

Kia approached the structure and tapped one of the steps with her foot. "Hmm... Doesn't look like it's open for business."

"Yeeeaaahhh, I wouldn't recommend going into it. ... Though, the thing looks kinda closed off for now. Considering how hard we got our asses handed to us, going into an enemy territory now would be nothing short of suicide. We just don't know what's on the other side." Donny said, nearing his hand to his holster in case the structure reacted to Kia that was stepping on its steps.

"Then let me make this easy for you to understand." Kia said, stepping away and taking out a device from her person, only to throw it at the structure, and then taking out yet more devices to throw at the structure. Donny looked at one of these devices and recognized what they are. Satchel charges. Kia then turned to Donny with a detonator in her hand. "Don't leave any loose ends."

Donny backed away, realizing what she meant. "EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" Five seconds later, several explosions had rocked the ears of everyone nearby as the structure was assaulted by the explosions. Everyone was pelted by black broken rock. When the dust had settled, the structure was badly damaged, many of the finger like protrusions would crumble and collect in the closed entrance or were launched from the resulting explosion. Kia however, never budged from her position. Donald gingerly peeked up and over the cover that he took and stared at Kia. Donny approached her and started shouting. "Are you fucking crazy?!"

"Just doing something that would have bit you in the ass had you neglected to do it the first place." Kia turned to Donny and handed him a sheet of paper. "Here's a radio frequency to contact us if something like this happens again."

Donny looked at the sheet of paper and crumpled it with an angry fist. "Are you not going to tell me what the hell attacked us? As a liaison, you're supposed to tell me what kind of enemy had attacked us."

"... Fine. You deserve to know at least some things. Ever heard of Stilwater?" Kia said, sighing. It was obvious to say that she would rather be somewhere else than stay here any longer.

Donny's face scrunched into a confused expression. "... The quarantined city that was taken over by a guy called Overlord?"

"The same. And from what I noticed here, the fires, the explosions, the structure that I got rid of for you, the intruder you faced today might as well be the same person."

As Donny soon realized it, he looked down and sighed. So the Saint Killer of Stilwater is here? That would explain the burned bodies and explosions. The man had a reputation for burning nearly everything that ever presented itself as a problem to him.

"Other than that, we don't know much else about The Overlord. If you fail in detaining him, or the other gangs in this city, then we will have no choice but to convince the US senate to activate our unit and take over from here. Now if you'll excuse me." Kia said. She then turned around and headed for the vehicle she rode on.

Donny was dumbfounded. Judging over what Kia said, it would appear that she had much more powerful friends in higher places than he ever hoped to have. The pit of his stomach suddenly felt heavy. Donny realized that this was a gut feeling. He can tell from such an instinct that worse things that he couldn't fathom were going to happen.