CHAPTER VIII: WAR
Much time passed. Many things happened. Everything changed – I changed, Hell changed, even your world. Humanity had advanced, but learned nothing. Evil was still strong with your kind and it manifested itself in a form that no one expected. During those centuries that passed Hell worked to corrupt mankind, the infernal armies grew more powerful than ever and our knowledge was going beyond imaginable boundaries. It was at a period of upheaval that two unexpected interferences changed much in the ways of Hell.
On Earth, some new warlord had risen to power. I have forgotten the full name – some Adolph of a realm named The Third Reich. This Adolph human was quite obviously intent on bringing total war and conquering the world. I was tasked to look better into that, if memory serves, Hitler person and find out more as the high-ranking demons of Hell felt that there was something unusual about him. Something supernatural... So once again, I was sent to Earth.
When I first saw him, I immediately realized that he was not human. Even now I don't know what he was – he was not a demon and, obviously, not a human being at all. But he was in a human's form and he had come to Earth for some purpose. A member of an alien race that I could not identify. The fact that he sought battles, death, and military conquest made me visit the infernal libraries and search through the ancient tomes. I looked for descriptions of extra–dimensional entities that cherished war, battle and bloodshed. I couldn't find much. One tome told me about legends of a dark druidic deity named Shub-Niggurath, but the descriptions of its actions did not quite match what I had as a current case – that ancient creature preferred, according to the book, subtle corruption and conversion to darkness rather than great military campaigns. I also stumbled upon the name Vadrigar that referred to unknown creatures that enjoyed great noisy and spectacular battles. But there was nothing to assure me that "Adolph" was a Vadrigar or an agent of those mysterious entities. I still don't know – even Baphomet could not tell for sure, though I felt he knew something but was reluctant to reveal anything.
It was in that savage war that a human hero arose – I remember him only as "B.J." – a strong human with a reddish hair and blue eyes. I watched him for some time – he had quite some interference with Hell. In one of his earliest missions, he was sent to eliminate a scientist – Otto von Giftmacher. I know the name exactly because after his death Otto came to Hell to become our master of alchemy and chemical weapons – the newest addition to our infernal arsenal. He was morphed into a Spider Mastermind and ruled over our chemical factory, a place filled with numerous toxic barrels. That man was sick, and that is why I liked him.
The newly morphed demon did much to expand our chemical works – the factory was enlarged at operated at full capacity. Otto had retained the knowledge he possessed in life, and used it to create deadly substances that were to be used as powerful weapons of mass extermination. The mad scientist was filled with frustration because of the failure of the evil plan to use these toxins on Earth, and was determined to give us the best he could. The facility where he worked became shabby and old in appearance – the vapors of the chemicals inflicted their effect on the building and its unique atmosphere. You noticed that the building had the feeling of an old human building – that effect was another of its primary inhabitant's whims.
During my reign on Earth, I left behind many powerful artifacts. One of them was the Spear of Destiny – a weapon that was enchanted in a way that bestowed great power unto any who wielded it, giving them the power to create unique Former Humans that are much more powerful and intelligent than even Former Commandos. As far as I know, some mad Third Reich scientist used the Spear's power to create such zombies (or "mutants" as he called them). The one known as "B.J." was charged with retrieving the Spear from a stronghold where it was kept. And he succeeded. Then happened something that no one expected – the whimsical nature of the Spear's enchantments manifested itself by instantly teleporting that human, together with the room he was in, straight into the sealed lower catacombs of Hell – the domain of the Angel of Death and his army of twisted dark souls. I felt that and I knew that no mortal could enter the lower catacombs or Hell as a whole. I did not pay much attention as I expected the Angel of Death to quickly add the human's mangled corpse to his considerable collection.
But somehow, the human succeeded – he fought against the demon and his spectral army and defeated them. The magical storm that erupted sent him back to earth and Hell was left stunned with surprise. Lord Baphomet was furious – many lesser demons he executed that day. Such an offence it was for him (I still don't know what was so special about the Angel of Death – he never left his sealed sanctuary). Still it was us, the Gatekeepers, that managed to appease our master by preparing a special burial chamber in the upper catacombs. From there, the Angel of Death's remains would emit raw power and strengthen Hell's magical defenses.
That B.J. human also managed to slay that disturbingly mad scientist – Doctor Schabbs. He actually did well – Schabbs's soul (not surprisingly) came to Hell too and he worked a lot to improve Former Humans. Even without the Spear of Destiny in his possession, he was able to design the vicious Former Commandos – some of your toughest adversaries you encountered on your little crusade, marine. He also invented a substance that heals demons well – a mixture of blood and toxic slime. He also created some potions that make demons frenzied and improve their combat skills. His soul mysteriously disappeared after you killed Baphomet and I don't know where he is – but I have a feeling that he seeks vengeance to mankind and he will stop at nothing to achieve this goal.
As your messy human war was nearing its end that B.J. guy managed to sneak into Hitler's bunker and slay him. He didn't feel that there was an invisible presence in the room – I was there, watching their final battle. And when Adolph's soul left his crushed body, I clearly saw that it was not human, but I couldn't look at it better, for it immediately used unknown magic to warp itself into another dimension and escape the underground chamber. I tried to follow it but I failed... This seems to be a mystery I will never unravel.
You see – that human was a great hero, just like you. For some time I even thought that there was some relation between you. Maybe there really is one... After the warlord was slain, that war as brought to an end, and your race started recovering its shattered world, feeling like they had just awakened from a dream.
Things settled. Many more years passed – you humans advanced, went to your moon and were preparing to go to Mars. It was around that time that your space exploration was divided amongst a few very powerful human corporations that were engaged in a fierce war of competition – a war that would be won by the first one to set up a colony on Mars. One of those competitors was the Union Aerospace Corporation...