CHAPTER XXIII: ASSAULT OF THE ABOMINATIONS

When I first saw him, I immediately realized that he was not human.

He sat on the floor of the underground chamber, looking at several observation orbs that sparkled with arcane energies. The Gatekeeper saw the approaching wave of undead and calculated the exact moment for the support to be sent in. On one side, there was a slightly larger orb, which showed a small room where a red crate was placed. The temptation for the demon to go and claim it was great, yet he still felt weakened after being brought back to life so recently. The humans were supposed to succeed with his help...

Kyle used the welding torch from the armor repair kit to seal the lobby front door. This had to delay them until they could assume good positions and prepare to defend against the overwhelming horde of undead. Private Boaventura had aimed the chaingun at the door, slightly nervous about the looming aspect of being shot by unfeeling monstrosities. Major Boyd hoped he could get a clear shot and send a rocket towards the center of the group of mutants, blowing them into juicy pieces. The experienced marine was quite angered about the havoc that the abominations had caused within the base – rockets were the only punishment he saw fit for them.

Corporal Harlan stepped away from the sealed door and assumed his position behind the bench, plasma rifle ready to shoot at the first thing to show up from that direction. Just then, he heard a familiar whisper in his head:

"Human, my support is on the way... but for some time you will be on your own. Make sure you stand away from the northern wall!"

Their position was near the southern wall, so they had to be safe there. Kyle did not know how good the undead's aiming skill was, but he prayed they would not try to target their exposed heads. He also hoped the UAC had not tried to save on colony funding by making benches from weak metal alloys.

"Damn, so far the UAC have only been good at causing trouble," he thought. For a thousandth or millionth time, he asked himself why it was him that had to be so deeply involved in all this madness...

The steps could be heard clearly – they marched with the precision of a machine, approaching the door with the unrelenting determination of a Martian sand storm. The motion detector beeped like crazy and showed that the wave had surrounded their position, and this ring of death was slowly closing in on them. The formation suggested that they would attack from the direction of the sealed door, just as Harlan expected. He tried to calm himself with the thought that a lonely man with primitive weapons had been able to defeat these creatures centuries ago. It definitely had to be possible to push them back.

The heavy steps of many feet became thunderous and surrounded the three marines from all directions. They stopped right in front of the door, and for a few seconds there was deathly silence. What followed was a deafening explosion that blew away the door and a large section of the walls around it. Through the strong smell of the explosive that UAC geologists used and thick smoke, the familiar figures of the abominations rushed into the room, looking for their living victims. Major Boyd gave out a blood-chilling scream and sent a rocket straight into the group that stormed the room. The mutants' bodies flew in all direction, and a separated arm, still holding a knife, fell right next to the marines, still moving and trying to stab at them. Shade kicked it away and opened fire with the chaingun, mowing down the advancing waves of humanoid killers. The walls were bathed in gooey purple blood, large puddles of it already covered the floor. The noise of the battle muffled the howl of the alarms and the warnings of the automatic environment systems.

Having finished the ammo belt, Shade ducked under the battered bench and shouted:

"I have to reload. Cover me!"

This was exactly what Kyle waited for – his plasma gun glowed like a small star and melted the several undead who had already reached the center of the room. The shots of the creatures drilled into the metal of their cover, weakening it with every passing fraction of a second. Two more rockets from the Major had cleared some space around the entrance, which was quickly filled with more and more advancing mutated humanoids. A vile stench filled the room – the smell of decomposing flesh, mixed with the irritating odor of unknown chemical substances.

"Ok, reloaded, clear these freaks by the left side, they keep shooting towards me," the Private yelled. He raised the chaingun and unleashed another volley of hot lead upon the seemingly endless hordes. Another wall was torn down by an explosion, and now the invaders stormed from two directions. Kyle's plasma rifle fried the first advancing waves, clearing the view enough for the three men to see that more and more of the undead came from various corridors, rooms, common areas, and even through the larger ventilation ducts. Major Boyd reasoned to send his rockets towards these ducts, so that the explosion would collapse and seal them.

The gruesome music of the chaingun suddenly ceased. The acrid smoke that rose from it was something every marine feared.

"Overheated! Now we are really screwed," Shade uttered, "I will take the shotgun and take them out as they come closer. Try to hold them back with plasma and rockets... and pray there aren't many more."

Just as he said this, more wall sections were torn down, and the sight that was revealed was a clear sign that there were many more. Kyle could not even try to imagine how many mutants Stalker had produced during the little time that he had. The creatures' numbers were more than their ammo reserves could handle. Just as the Corporal felt he was about to lose hope, he heard the voice of the Gatekeeper in his head once again:

"It is time."

The northern wall of the lobby was instantly torn apart by a powerful explosion, and a group of six Arachnotrons unleashed a hurricane of hot plasma against the advancing legions of undead mutants. The Corporal gave Shade a strong tap on the shoulder and made him a sign to duck and not to shoot towards the cybernetic demons that had just appeared, as if out of thin air. Kyle was smiling – the Gatekeeper had sent them exactly what they needed. At the same time, he was very nervous and felt the desire to take cover and destroy the demons who had hunted him among the ruins of his hometown on Earth... The mutants stopped and tried to open fire against the new threat, but that was their mistake as they were not familiar with the capabilities of Arachnotron armor. A steady shower of plasma mowed them down, leaving only charred remains in its wake. The spideresque terrors split into several directions, moving to chase the retreating last remains of Dr. Stalker's undead army. The sound of the metallic feet moved further away, and weary silence hang in the devastated lobby. Private Boaventura rose from behind the bench that looked as if it was chewed and spat out by an enraged colossus. He looked in the smoke-dimmed distance where the Arachnotrons were crushing the last of the dreaded mutants.

"I guess I would have to forget about what just happened and never talk about it," he said.

"Exactly, Private. If you prove trustworthy we might explain a few things to you," the Major said with a beaming smile, "Now, reload the chaingun and prepare it – it should have cooled off by now. We will probably need it again very soon..."

The Major was interrupted by a low beeping sound. Kyle looked at the motion detector, where two more dots had appeared. They moved slower than the mutants did, and seemed to purposefully choose their way, trying to approach the demolished sector from two different directions.

"What the Hell is that... some of our boys maybe? The detector seems to recognize them as mechanical units, as if they have a lot of metal in their composition."

"Sir, you'd better step back... I have a very bad feeling about that," Harlan whispered.

The unknown intruders were close, and the marines could hear their steps – slow, heavy, and metallic. The Major gave a sign, and the marines split towards the surrounding corridors, trying to surprise the creatures from behind.

Kyle walked very slowly down a darkish corridor, stepping into a gruesome mixture of purple blood and pale pieces of torn flesh. It was completely quiet, even the noise of the Arachnotrons had faded away. At the end of the corridor was a large common hall where personnel gathered in the evening to talk or play games. It was well lit and he preferred it to the gloomy tunnel he was in... Just a few more meters to the door... slowly, quiet, and cautiously.

Double-barreled shotgun clutched in his hands, he walked slowly into the hall and examined it – nothing could be seen. What was worrying was the fact that the sound of the metallic steps had ceased. Whatever and wherever the creatures were – they were waiting patiently for their prey to come. Right next to Kyle was a door to a restroom... he only needed ten seconds to wash his face, and he felt that he really needed that... His hand reached for the button to open the door...

And it opened before he could press it. Within its frame, the marine beheld what could only be the spawn of a mental patient's nightmares. A deformed humanoid head mounted on a metallic cybernetic body pierced him with its cruel gaze. On the shoulders was the red insignia, which he had come to recognize as the symbol of the Strogg. As if in a dream, Kyle watched the creature raise its right arm – it opened into what looked like a machine gun. Harlan's marine instincts took over, he jumped back and rolled over the floor, as a spray of bullets blew a few chairs into piles of debris. Kyle had very little time to roll over once again and raise the shotgun.

The creature walked out of its hiding place, and came right to the marine, its arm still opened and prepared to unleash another spray of bullets, which could be fatal. Just then, the marine emptied both barrels of the shotgun into the creature's chest. The cyborg was pushed backwards by the blast, and seemed to be confused and lose its balance for a few seconds. They were enough – never before in his life had Kyle reloaded a sawed-off so quickly. The second blast from the shotgun blew away the creature's head. The metal-clad body fell with a heavy clank to the floor, thick blood forming a growing puddle on the floor. Still weary after that shocking encounter, Kyle turned in the direction of the corridors and shouted:

"Major Boyd, Shade – look out!"

The Major heard that yell and stopped in the middle of the storage room that he was currently in. Before he could think about what the cause of distress could be, something walked from behind a crate. Boyd found himself staring at what could only be described as a perversion of science. He immediately ran towards the entrance, noticing that the thing raised its left arm, the construction of which looked vaguely familiar. The Major's fears were proven true when a grenade flew out of the contraption, bowing a stack of boxes into burning pieces, sending a shower of damaged computer parts, maintenance equipment and other objects towards the marine. Another grenade blew a smoldering crater in the floor close to the Major, hidden behind a crate, who felt the heat of the explosion perilously close. He only had a rocket launcher – it would be suicide to use it in the tight space of the storeroom. There was only one thing to do...

He threw a box of tools in one direction, hoping that it would distract the creature. He jumped up and ran towards the door. Behind him, he noticed that the thing did indeed launch a grenade towards the noisy moving object, but quickly turned towards the running human. Its right arm opened.

The door was very close. To the great relief of the Major, Private Boaventura appeared there with a ready plasma gun. The officer quickly fell down on the floor and shouted:

"Shoot, Private, aim for that thing over there!"

Shade murmured something to himself and unleashed a stream of plasma towards the Strogg. The cyborg was hit square in the chest and fell on its knees, sparks coming out of the hole that revealed burnt flesh and damaged machine components. That was exactly what the Major needed – the distance was enough...

"Have a nice day, handsome," the Major said with the grin that he used to scare the young marine recruits. A well-aimed rocket blew the creature into pieces, which mixed with the piles of burning debris from the blown up crates.

When Kyle arrived, he only needed one look at the situation to realize that the battle was over.

"Good work guys... I took care of the other one in the common hall. In its current condition, it will not bother us anymore. I think we have completely obliterated Stalker's private army, and the base is secure, for the time being. Now, let us take the monorail and go get the Stalker himself."

Shade gently tapped on the chaingun.

"Always ready, sir. Lead the way."

Deep in his lair, the Gatekeeper watched as the three humans survived the encounter with the Strogg and boarded the monorail, ready to head towards the laboratory where the primitive human Gate stood. The red crate with the artifact was close... he could feel the seducing power of what was hidden in it.

The demon smiled – he already had the seven essences in his possession, only one element was missing for a portal to the Elder Worlds to be opened. The humans knew this... but what they did not know, was that the missing artifact was in the red crate.