Chapter 9- The End of the Lucifer Project

Colonel Jenkens stood behind Max in the control room waiting for word that the generator was fixed. Junes had died in sick bay and Jenkens knew Walder, Hanz, and Grant would not survive what ever was happening over there. Two people had died in the dematerialization process when the generator gave out.
He quickly did the math in his head. He'd sent four teams today, and not one of them had returned. That equaled sixteen people total. He shook his head at the horrible death rate for today. Never in the five years the Lucifer Project had been operating, had that many people died in one day.
"Colonel, the generator is fixed, you can restart the teleporter anytime." said the mechanic over the intercom.
"Thank you Lieutenant." replied Jenkens. It had been an hour and a half since it had blown out and Jenkens seriously doubted anyone over there was still alive. "Restart the system." he ordered Janis.
"Yes sir." she replied. Janis tapped a couple of buttons on the control panel and executed the command. The lights dimmed in the transporter room and the system rebooted. "System rebooted sir."
"Time for body recovery." muttered Jenkens. "Call team one down here." Max turned and triggered the base intercom.
"Lucifer team one, please report to the transportation room."
"Warm the system up, get it ready." Janis turned in her chair and again tapped a couple of buttons. The machine hummed and the purple beam connected and team one marched in. The machine shuttered and shut off.
"Sir, I'm getting a strange signal. It looks like the facility is trying to open a portal."
"Maybe its an escape effort." The machine hummed again and a portal materialized below the pyramid. Three soldiers stepped onto the platform. One of them raised their gun and shot one of the team one soldiers. The others fired back and hit two of the invaders. More men in black came through and took down the last of the soldiers in the transport room.
"Security to transport room! Security to transport room!" screamed Janis into the intercom. The soldiers saw the room and raised their guns toward it. Jenkens and Max dove to the ground just as bullets shattered the glass and tore Janis apart. Her riddled body thumped to the ground and a pool of blood formed around her.
An alarm sounded through out the complex and Jenkens drew his pistol. He got up and fired off a few rounds at the soldiers. One of them went down and more teleported in. They opened fire and Jenkens ducked back down. Bullets pounded into the ceiling and back wall. Max opened a small compartment and pulled out an M16. He got up and was mowed down by the soldiers. Jenkens looked at the few monitors that were still working. The heavy door opened and the soldiers moved into the hall and met the security teams. They exchanged fire and three clones slipped away in the chaos. They ran down a narrow hallway and encountered some scientists. The clones shot them and kept on moving toward their objective.
Clone unit 297 was among the small group that was moving through the base. They were to set up a bomb that would detonate and kill all of the people that were in this complex and effectively end the human's interference in other parts of the galaxy.
A lone security guard appeared out of no where and tackled 298. 299 fired at him and killed the guard and 298. 297 picked up the bag with the bomb in it and slung it over his shoulder. A group of scientists ran around the corner and 299 opened fire into them. The scientists tried to run but the bullets ripped through them and spattered gore all over the wall and floor.
Gunfire erupted down the hall as security guards and clones met each other. 297 and 299 kicked a metal door in and found them selves in a wide hallway. Clones and guards were shooting at each other from opposite ends. A bullet hit 299 in thee middle of his head and he slumped to the ground. 297 raised his gun and fired back, hitting the guard in the chest. He fell back and hit the wall. 297 moved behind a small pillar for cover. He looked around and fired at another human as he tried to load his gun. The guard fell, and a grenade left his hand.
It rolled toward the clones that were closest to the humans and detonated before they could kick it away. One of them was thrown against the wall and the other turned into a bloody mess of gore. All of the clones turned and fired at the same time and caught the humans unaware. Most of them were killed and the others tried to fall back when they saw that their friends were dead. The clones moved out from behind their cover and took the last of the resistance down.
297 reloaded and ran across the hall. He entered a door and found himself in a room with narrow metal doors. Names were printed on the top. He swept his gun around the room and made sure no one was there. One door in particular caught his eye. The name on top read "Shephard" in the humans dialect. He recognized the name as belonging to the interloper that was killing his comrades on the other planet.
It seemed that no one could kill him, almost as if he was immortal. The only reason 297 didn't believe it was because he was a clone and knew that there was no such thing as an immortal. He merely followed orders, as did his comrades on the planet and this "Shephard" was killing them.
He decided that the bomb could wait and he ripped the narrow door open. There was nothing special in it. Merely a photograph of four men. He recognized three of them as the men who were killing his comrades. One of them, he was proud to recognize as dead. The other two were still alive and probably raising hell for the operation on the planet.
297 reached up and grabbed it from the door. He pocketed it and moved on. There was another door at the end of the room and he opened it. Two guars and a scientist were on the other side. 297 raised his gun and fired into one of the guards before he could react. The other one swung his gun and 297 caught it. The guard brought his leg up and kicked 297 away. He dropped his gun and the guards' gun. They both slid across the floor. He got to his feet and blocked a punch from the guard and threw one of his own.
The guard stumbled back and recovered. He tripped 297 and drew his pistol. 297 jumped to his feet and grabbed the pistol. It went off, sending a bullet into the ceiling. 297 swung it around and it went off again except this time sending a bullet through the scientist's chest. He slumped over and relaxed. 297 brought his knee up and slammed it into the guard's stomach and ripped the gun away. He brought it around and fired it into the guards chest. The bullet smashed into his chest and 297 fired again into his head. He turned, tossed the pistol away, and picked up his gun from the floor. He opened the door and realized he was in the right place. It was a small closet. He kneeled down and opened the bag. He tapped a few buttons and set the bomb for remote detonate. He turned and ran back through the room with the narrow doors. The clones were now trying to fight their way through the door at the end of the large hallway.
297 clicked his wrist radio and brought it to his face.
"Sir, the bomb is planted."
"Good work 297." came a slithery voice over the radio. The radio clicked and the voice echoed over all of the clones radios. "All units. Return to the transport room for evac. Five minutes." The man drew his S's out which made him sound like a snake. 297 ran back down the hall and waited for several more clones to get onto the elevator before he activated it. The elevator rose descended down to the transport room and they entered the giant room. They passed the bodies of the first humans and waited for a portal to form in front of the primitive machine the humans used. The mission was complete. No more humans would be interfering with their affairs.
Another thought occurred to 297. Perhaps they would be doing the humans a favor. If they were able to stop them from teleporting to other planets, maybe they would stop them from encountering the Nihilanth, or even the Combine for that matter. The portal opened and the clones returned to the war torn planet to combat the Xenian presence and keep it for the commander.

Jenkens stepped out from behind his cover along with the rest of the surviving guards. The enemy had just left, they hadn't accomplished anything. He followed a sergeant into the locker room and saw that one of the lockers was ripped open. The sergeant swept the room and Jenkens saw three bodies on the floor at the end of the room. He rushed over to them recognizing the scientist as Dr. Glenshaw.
He was dead, a shot from a Desert Eagle had hit him in the chest. He heard a slight beeping behind the door to the janitors closet and opened it. He recognized what it was at once. Three. He smiled and exhaled. Two. Jenkens sat down in front of it. One.

An experimental plane taxied onto the runway of Area 51 and was just about to take off when The east side of the base erupted in a giant fireball. Dirt and debris was flung into the air and a small mushroom cloud rose into the air.
Alarms blared and people started running around. Fire crews were getting ready and hazmat teams were trying to get into their suits. Two pilots entered a chopper and started the engines. Within ten minutes six helicopters were circling the site and dumping water on the flaming wreckage of what was once the Lucifer Complex of Area 51.