Chapter 12 While You've Been Out
Character Fenix
Mercy was a dilapidated old town on the whole but it did have some perks, the direct access to fuel was one and a very sturdy church building was another, also the many deserted houses and buildings served as great places to have snipers and scouts hole up and surprise an enemy. Fenix looked around him as he and DC were led into the town, of the humans maybe three hundred were left on the whole planet, the locust were even worse off, only about a hundred. The echoes of many recently dead screamed at him through his paladin senses, the whole world was shouting against the violence it had seen. Fenix shook his head as he, Dom, Coal, Baird, Anya and K entered the church to speak with Hoffman.
"Well you really are the same," Hoffman started.
"Who is that," Fenix asked pointing to a well armored Locust that was seated behind the standing Hoffman.
"You must be Marcus Fenix," the locust said, "I am Throon, last of the elite generals that were supposed to guard the Queen. We failed, obviously, otherwise you would be dead, but as it stands I can look past the fact that you killed my Queen and see you now as the last hope for what is left of my kind."
"So your working with us now that something bigger, badder and meaner than you showed up," Baird said, "Figures."
"Hoffman," Fenix addressed, "Tell us everything."
"Fenix," Hoffman said, "Their ain't much to tell one day the rifts started opening then the demons came, driving human and locust back like straw in a hurricane, until here we are the last of both races huddling up here for the end. We didn't have enough firepower without the Hammer online to fight the demons, and even Throon here could only save a few of the locust siege beasts."
"Yeah what did you get," Dom asked.
"Two Corpsers, four Brumacks, five Reavers and one Rock-worm catapult." Throon replied a hint of sadness creeping into his crackly voice, "those twelve out of a store of almost two-thousand."
"And the demons," Fenix asked, "What kinds are they, shape, size, weapons, any information on them?"
"Some, most of the demons are about twice our height, have spines that they shoot like bullets, some are dog-demons, others are even larger, with wings and fire breath. Then there is their leader, or I hope it is their leader, a massive creature, thousand feet high, I've no idea its weight but it's got some markings on it burned and carved into its flesh and scales, from its spiky snout to its boney tail. No idea what those do but we hit it with the last of our nukes and it didn't even stop that thing."
"The markings," K asked, "Can you describe them?"
"Yes," Throon replied as he handed K a piece of paper, "I made a sketch of them to see if I could find any meaning to the pattern. What do your eyes tell you Seer?"
"Wait what did he just call you," Anya snapped.
"Shh," K replied, "These markings are both good and bad. If the creature has these then it is not one of the five remaining demon lords, but it does make it invincible to anything that is alive or dead, save God of course."
"So how do we kill it," Hoffman asked.
"Hmm, alive or dead huh," Fenix said, "I wonder if Cortana is warmed up to the idea of taking this thing out."
"Well, I might get dirty," Cortana said, "But I guess I can get you to clean up the mess."
"What are you," Throon asked.
"No one knows," K said, "After she became a Sentinel Cortana has not been anything other than... on?"
"Well that's a very simple way to put it," Fenix said, "But I think we may have just run out of time, look." He pointed over the tree line to the south where a large hulking shape could be seen moving towards them. At the same moment the front line of demons emerged from the trees only a thousand feet away.
"Gears take up your posts," Hoffman ordered, "Fenix do whatever you need to, just keep my Gears alive."
"Will do," Fenix replied, "K, Delta is going to get creative, if we kill that big demon will his hoard disperse?"
"More than likely," K replied, "But the threat will remain, just not as organized."
"Then I'll take it," Fenix said, "Zar you and the others mind carrying us?"
"If you don't mind the boney ride," Zar said.
"Just get us in fast and keep the demons occupied," Dom said as he gave a knowing nod to Fenix. He had obviously figured out Fenix's plan.
"I assume that I am going with you," Cortana said.
"Yes, you and Johnson," Fenix replied, "I figured that neither of you count as alive or dead."
"Good cause I'm not letting you have all the fun," Johnson said as he jumped onto NooMauk, the skeleton of an ancient dragon that was brought back from the dead, like Zar.
"Glad to have you," AuRel said. He NooMauk, Zar, Irene and Jizara were all reanimated dragons who had died at one point in time or another. Now their necrotic skeletons once again housed their souls, and they had K to thank for their renewed life.
"So I'll ride in on Cortana," Fenix said, "Each of you choose your partner and lets go."
"We'll stay here and keep the demons out until you finish off the big guy," C said as Cortana lifted off. Then they were on their way, demonic projectiles bouncing off the heavy armor on the ACU.
"Look out, catapult!" Fenix yelled.
"Hold on," Cortana replied as she activated her wrist jets and pulled a three-sixty to dodge the incoming fireball. Fenix held on with one hand as he pulled out his pistol. The next fireball that came at them he shot causing it to explode in the air. "Nice call," Cortana said.
"Thanks," Fenix said, "Now kill that big guy."
Cortana increased the power to her jets and sped towards the mountainous demon.
"Die bugs," The monster boomed, "You cannot harm, Garvex!"
"Why do demons talk in third person," Fenix asked.
"Probably because they are full of themselves," Jizara chimed.
"Fenix," Dom called from Zara's back, "You and Johnson are going in, we are going to intercept those winged fire-breathers."
"Don't get crispy," Fenix replied as Cortana headed away from Dom and Zara and towards Garvex, who was sending a stream of crackling, black energy at them. Cortana dodged and Fenix slipped his feet into two holes to hold himself steady while he opened up with his lancer. Cortana followed up with three blasts of incendiary nanobots. Johnson and AuRel came up from the left AuRel's blue fire scorching a path through the few flying demons that came towards them and Johnson's sniper rifle and shotgun sending a rain of lead towards the demon.
Garvex, who was obviously not expecting to be hurt, roared as the nanobots set him ablaze and Johnson's bullets hit home. Fenix saw that there were four of the flying demons that had gotten around Irene and Baird and were heading towards him and Cortana. He adjusted his position and opened fire. Cortana spun around to avoid another beam of energy, the maneuver cost Fenix his position on the fliers and his lancer. He whipped out his pistol again and as Cortana brought him back in line with the approaching demons he fired off the last twenty three rounds that he had, dropping two of the four demons. With a shotgun and a grenade left Fenix was running out of options.
Another spin and he caught a glimpse of Garvex, the demon was not looking happy and a bit crispy and bloody to boot. The first of the two fliers came within range of his shotgun and was subsequently killed by it as was the following demon.
"Fenix," Johnson called, "You got any explosives?"
"Just one grenade," Fenix replied, "Here catch." Fenix tossed the frag grenade which Johnson caught in an impressive display of dexterity. Then AuRel climbed into the sky about the demon's head. Cortana continued to evade Garvex while renewing the stream of nanobots that were slowly incinerating him. With fourteen shots left and with no chainsaw bayonet Fenix was feeling relatively useless as he held onto the ACU as Cortana continued the aerial acrobatics. He looked up as a dark spot caught his eye, it was Johnson in free fall. Fenix watched as his friend fell straight towards the demon. Garvex looked up and opened his mouth, out of which came another mouth that was snapping and following Johnson as he fell. Then AuRel swooped in from behind the demon and caught Johnson just a few feet away from the vicious tongue-maw that was threatening to consume him. Disappointed the mouth withdrew and a beam of energy was sent after the two. But a few seconds later Garvex jerked and the stream sputtered then went out, as did the beam heading for Fenix and Cortana. One massive clawed hand reached up and grabbed at the creatures throat as blood dribbled out of its mouth. With a bellow Garvex ignited, a furious column of flame and smoke burning up through the demon until he was consumed leaving nothing but ash and huge gouges where the massive feet had torn the ground.
"A mix of explosives ingested caused an explosion that severed all the blood-vessels in its neck," Cortana commented, "Surgical."
"Suicidal," Fenix replied, "But I've done stunts that are just as crazy. So is it dead then?"
"Your asking me," Cortana said, "Your the paladin what do you sense?"
"Well the oppressive evilness of it is diminished, only the demon hoard is left," Fenix stated after sending out a spike of awareness. "There is something else though, but I can't place my finger on it. The important thing is if the lesser demons are retreating."
"That they are," Cortana said, "Ivan just signaled me that the attack has turned into a rout, no losses for either the humans or locust."
"You know my father would have loved to have lived to hear that sentence," Fenix said, "He always wanted to see the humans and locust working together. The wars, the Lambent, and now this before we figured out how to cooperate. I guess sometimes you need a bigger evil to kill a lesser one."
Cortana didn't reply but by the way the head of her ACU turned it was obvious that she had heard him. The others grouped up around them as they headed back, with congratulations being directed towards Johnson and Cortana, and disbelief towards both Fenix and AuRel. Anya hopped over to Cortana's ACU and gave Fenix a bear hug which he returned.
"So about us settling down and having a life," She said absently, "I've decided against that. If it ever gets less exciting around here I'll probably go crazy from boredom."
"And I don't guess the not aging part of this crazy adventure has anything to do with that," Fenix replied, "How are you taking the news?"
"Well it figures really," she said, "I guess just hearing it officially is disconcerting. But I'm more concerned about Dom, with his wife and all..."
"Yeah, I'll keep an eye on him," Fenix said, "Now to ask K about what that Throon said."
"The 'Seer' bit," Cortana intruded, "Yes that is interesting."
As they landed back in Mercy Coal let out a "Whoo!" as he carried Johnson through the assembling crowd.
"Hey Fenix," Cortana said teasingly, "want to carry me?"
Fenix and Anya just laughed at that, even out of her ACU Cortana was many hundreds of pounds with her completely metal body. Far to heavy for him, or all of Delta even, to lift. They reentered the church where K, C, Marion, Hoffman and Throon were looking at maps that were laid out over five different tables.
"Ah good," Hoffman said as he look up to greet them, "After you killed the demon the hoard fled, not sure why even without their leader they could have won if it were not for your friends here."
"I'm sure K wouldn't let that happen," Fenix said, "But I do have to ask... 'Seer'?"
"Oh yes," K muttered, "I used to help the locust a long time ago and apparently my involvement in their creation was a bit over exaggerated."
"Over exaggerated," Throon replied, "You were the guiding hand in our creation, no you were greatly under-exaggerated in the stories."
"He did what," Anya asked.
"I may have let slip a bit of genetic engineering to some over eager scientist many years ago who inadvertently created the locust and several of the large predators that roam your world," K continued, "Moroni and I worked for a long time setting those events in motion."
"So this was back from when you were still..." Coal said.
"Still a head of Satan," K finished, "Yes it was and yes the Locust were designed to destroy this world. I am glad that they never did."
"Well we can't change your past," Fenix said, "So even if you are the reason for billions of deaths those are on your head, and I for one will consider that payment enough."
"I... Thank you," K said, "Are you all in agreement with this verdict?"
"I am," Baird said, "The past is gone, unless we go messing with it, no reason to interfere with what we are doing now." Coal nodded his head in agreement, and even Hoffman and Dom, who had both lost people who were very close to them to the Locust weren't disagreeing. Anya just looked at K then at Fenix and sighed before adding her 'Ok' to the table.
Then Throon stood up, "K I hope you know what you just did," said the eight foot tall Locust. "These people have lived out lives in constant pain, grief and heartache because of you and your conspirators creating my people, and they just forgave you for ALL of that. Don't get me wrong I am grateful for my race, my people but that right there is a very powerful thing you've created, far more powerful than us."
"Don't lecture me," K snapped, "I know. Every second I hear the cries of the condemned souls that I caused to fall away from God, every one I killed haunts me, taunts me, this is as it should be until the balance is restored."
"K," C and Marion said.
"Apologies," K said after a deep breath, "No matter how long I have been separated from the others I am still, in part, Condemnation and sometimes that bit of me flares up."
"Skeletons in the closet for another time," Marion said, "Back to finding the most likely spot for the demon gate."
"What are our possibilities," Fenix said eager to put the conversation behind them for the moment.
"Well, there is the old palace for Myrra, the Wastelands, and Char," Hoffman said, "Only places open enough for a portal large enough to fit that big demon through."
"Then lets go check them out," Fenix replied, "Delta will head to the palace since we probably know it better than anyone else save the locust. Who wants to take Char and the Wastelands?"
"I will go to Char," Marion said, "Starkiller, Adam, Riza, and Beast can come too."
"We will be glade to see that haunting figure go," Hoffman said, "That creature is no more right than the demons themselves."
"Careful," K snorted, "I've got forms that make Beast look like a tame puppy in comparison."
"So who gets the Wastes?" Dom asked.
"The Doctor can go," C said, "I know he will be happy to take soil samples from there. River will go with him of course, and probably John, North, and South, ever since the tunnels in Avalar they have seemed close."
"Right then" Throon said, "I'll take you to the palace, how will your friends get to their places?"
"Don't worry about them," Baird said, "they will get there."
"Well this will be a first for me," Fenix stated with that grin-sneer that he picked up somewhere, "Working with a Locust on my side."
Character Marion Hawk
"So this is Char," Marion remarked as she looked out over the ashen city.
"This is horrible," Riza said, "I've seen destruction on planetary scales but nothing this haunting, this mocking."
"Well its my kind of place," Beast said, "Come on Adam lets go look around."
"You two check the crater, we'll go through the remains of the town." Marion said, "Starkiller sense anything?"
"Just echoes, so many dead, you could hide an army of demons in here and go undetected," Starkiller replied, "Riza anything on the motion tracker?"
"All's still for now," Riza replied from inside her ACU.
"Well, lets go," Marion said, "Here let me up."
She climbed up to the shoulder of the Command Unit, while Starkiller jumped to the other shoulder. They proceeded into the city, or what was left of it, looking for anything that was out of place. Even though Riza's ACU was large, the city's remains were much bigger. Occasionally they would catch a glimpse of Beast and Adam as they roamed through the crater that carved the city in half, but they seemed to be drawing blanks as well.
"There are a lot of basements and sub-levels under the streets here," Riza said, "I'd better not take the ACU any farther If I go with you it will be on foot from here."
"Star," Marion asked.
"I don't sense anything out of the ordinary but as I said before that doesn't count for a whole lot around here," Starkiller replied, "best I could do is give a seven to ten second warning about an ambush."
"Good enough for me," Marion said, "Lets park it by Beast and have Adam join us while we comb the underground."
"Fine," Beast grumbled, "I'll watch the robot, just don't get killed down there I don't want to sit here all day."
"Yeah we care about you too big guy," Marion replied, "If we aren't out of there by sunset go get back up."
Beast nodded as he sat down next to Riza's ACU. Riza had gotten out and now stood beside Adam who had handed her one of his many weapons that he carried. It happened to be a light combat rifle, not to much kick, twenty rounds a clip, and fully automatic. Marion still preferred her hand cross bows, if for no other reason than how quiet they were. They were ready and so headed across the bright, reddish-orange clay of the crater and into the dim, cement lined underground of the city. Starkiller was in front, due to his light-sabers and unique abilities. Then Riza and Marion were in the middle with Adam at the back. As the last rays from outside faded, Adam turned on his flashlights and Star his sabers.
They continued in that fashion for an hour or so, until Star had them halt due to movement in the tunnel ahead. As they advanced Marion could feel the tension building then the light from Adam's flashlights reflected off two eyes. Eyes, which belonged to an adorable, white-haired, kitty-cat.
"Well hello there," Marion said as she knelled down to stroke the cat, "You haven't seen any demons in here have you?"
"Purr, Purr," The cat replied as it rubbed against Marion's leg then, "Actually yes, would you like me to show you?"
"Wait did the cat just..." Riza asked.
"We've encountered stranger," Adam said, "One of them is still outside."
"If you don't mind," Marion replied, "I'm Marion, this is Starkiller, Riza and Adam. I have a friend who would love to meet you."
"Marion," The cat said as it started to walk off down the tunnel, "Nice name, I knew a gray called Marion. Nice lady, I am Jinxirattuholingtonbumin, or Jinx for short."
"Well Jinx," Starkiller said, "Where did you learn to talk?"
"Oh no where," Jinx replied, "I've simply always known how, watch your step there are spines in this area that will pop up out of the ground if you step on them."
Marion was fascinated by the cat, Jinxirattuholingtonbumin, Anders would have fun with that name. Jinx, seemed totally indifferent to the dangers of the underground city, or their intrusion into it, or the demons for that matter, enough so to make Marion think that maybe this simply was a talking cat. Well that impression lasted until she, for Jinx was female, walked up to a wall and yowled at it, causing a small shock wave to break the wall down.
"Now that is interesting," Riza commented before returning to her conversation with Adam over hair styles. One thing being in DC does for you is take the surprise out of the strange and simple leave you with the wonder and curiosity.
Jinx was a talkative creature, and soon Marion was wrapped up in a conversation with Jinx and Adam about the finesse of a kill and how to rate how much finesse any one kill had over another. Before they could figure it out however, Jinx announced that the demons were on the other side of the wall and would be pretty angry about her knocking down the wall.
"Just do your bit and get behind us," Marion said, "We'll kill the demons."
"The four of you," Jinx said, "Unlikely, but go ahead." She then did the yowl and the wall crumbled to reveal a larger tunnel that had been undisturbed through the many wars on Serra. It also happened to be packed with demons, and in the center was a red portal, a rift. The demons, ranged from the dog-demons, to the spiked variants, to a few large fire-breathers that flew through the tunnel, and one demon whose head was so large that they could only see the glint of light off its fangs at the end of the tunnel. With a collective roar the hoard charged them.
"Back through the wall," Riza said, "Choke point them and then we should be good."
Adam acted as a shield, the spikes that were shot at them ricocheting off his metal body, while Starkiller, Jinx, Marion and Riza went back through the wall before he too followed. He and Star each took one side of the hole while Marion and Riza both set up the kill box with their bullets and arrows, even Jinx would occasionally yowl a demon to death if it got to close to her. The issue that faced them was eventually they would run out of ammunition, then it would be Adam and Starkiller vs the many demons that would be left.
"How many demons are in there," Riza asked.
"As many as that portal can sustain," Jinx replied as she cleaned her paw.
"Then what is making that portal," Marion asked.
"The big demon at the back," Jinx said as after she yowled another demon then resumed her washing.
"Oh the one whose teeth we can see all the way from here, great," Adam said, "Do you know what it is?"
"Smells like a snake," Jinx replied, "Looks like one too."
"You guys are thinking about charging aren't you," Riza said, "If so I want a shotgun"
Adam tossed her one, and Riza raised a green eyebrow, "burst attachment and incendiary rounds? It's almost as if you like me."
"Any girl who can run a mech like your ACU deserves such a gun," Adam said, "Now get all touchy feely later lets kill some demons."
They readied themselves and as they repelled the next wave of demons, charged in. Marion had her bolt gun in one hand and an ax in the other as she simultaneously sent a bolt through a demon's head and spilled another one's guts on the floor. Riza was to her left, flaming projectiles from her shotgun dropping four or five demons per shot. In front of the women were Adam and Starkiller, Adam using his robotic body and advanced weapons while Star used his sabers and the Force to drop demon after demon. A yowl alerted Marion that Jinx had followed them in and was sharing in the slaughter with her sonic voice.
"Nice of you to join us," Marion said as she extracted her ax from a demon head.
"Well what can I say a snake is a snake and I do like their meat," Jinx replied between yowls.
It was with such banter going back and forth that the five of them chopped, shot, punched, and blasted their way towards the large snake demon. Through the fliers, the spikes, and the dogs, and even the occasional surprise demon of another variant, the five carved their way until they were at the base of the big demon's head.
"Well, well, well," The large demon said in a deep, sleepy, voice as they approached, "You've broken my playthings, Now I will have to get some more and Lucifer is not going to be happy about that unless I bring him your cold dead bodies. However I believe a conflict with you would end poorly if my brother Garvex is anything to base an outcome on, so perhaps you would listen to my proposal?"
"You think we will fall for that," Marion replied, "You'll just summon more demons through your portal to fight us while you slip away."
"Not so," the demon replied, "I am Ravalon demon general of rationality, I specialize in making people convince themselves that they are right, I could simply talk you into giving me your lives. I simply happen to know the complexity of the history of K, who you follow, and have decided that my aligning with him is more to my favor than remaining in Lucifer's service. Already the angles are considering joining him in the coming revolution, and I do not want to be on the receiving end of their aggression."
"The creature is speaking the truth," Jinx said absently, "It really does want to be on K's side in this fight."
"Well what do we think, shall we take him to K," Adam asked.
"Normally I'd say no," Riza said, "But seeing as it hasn't moved and the portal is closed, Maybe give him a shot?"
"He did close the portal," Starkiller agreed, "But that doesn't mean he couldn't open it again."
"Quite true," Ravalon said, "And there would be an army waiting for it to open ready to spill out into the world."
"An army huh," Marion said, "And they would listen to you, even if your orders meant doing that which they normally would not?"
"Yes," came the demons reply, "so are you accepting my offer?"
"We can't but K can," Marion responded, "If you would follow us, we will take you to him."
"Very well, but be ready to run," Ravalon said, "When I change forms the magma that is held under me will fill this tunnel. I will meet you in the crater."
Then the demon was surrounded in a blue fire, and true to his words red hot lava started pushing its way up through the giant tunnel that housed the rest of his body. Marion and the others ran back towards the exit, back to the sunlight and Beast who was waiting outside. Jinx led the way back, cutting their time in half from their entrance time. When they got back out however Beast was already talking with another demonic figure, Ravalon had beaten them out.
In this tripodal form, Ravalon had three legs that were jointed like a crabs', a hardened shell that held most of his body inside it that was shaped like an ice-cream cone, and the snake-like head on a long neck that stuck out from the shell. He had no arms, or wings, just the head, neck, shell, and legs. He was a deep brown with lighter tans on his legs and on spots of the shell, his skin was black.
"Ah you've made it back," Beast said, "Very interesting friend you have here and who is that?"
"Yes Jinx is very interesting and that Is Ravalon," Marion replied with a smirk. Two which Beast growled and shook his head.
"No the other way round you infuriating human," Beast chuckled, "Your wit is sharper than my claws."
"So you've worked with demons before then," Jinx commented, "Seems interesting, but I bet they can get pretty dull."
"Oh a talking cat," Ravalon said, "Forgot that bit."
"A clever talking cat," Beast added, "Just what we need another Marion."
"Very funny you two," Marion said, "Beast you've got the most experience with demons, what do you think is he ok?"
"Normally I'd say fifty-fifty," Beast replied, "But considering who we've already got helping us, me included, yeah hes ok."
"We thought as much," Riza said as Adam helped her back into the ACU which powered up upon her return.
"Hmm, the humans control the machines directly from inside," Ravalon stated, "Always figured they would remote control it."
"Hey, Ravalon do you know if there are any other gates on the planet?" Adam asked, "That seems like an obvious question to ask now, should have thought of that earlier."
"Two others actually," Ravalon replied, "One in a barren wasteland and the other deep underground, I assume you want to close those as well?"
"Yes, we do," Starkiller responded, "and from the sound of it we already have people at the other spots."
"Then we might want to hurry up and get to the Wastes then," Ravalon said, "The guardian there is the least likely to accept my decision to change allegiance."
"That's where the Doctor's team is," Marion said, "Riza how fast can you get some transport for us and a few extra guns?"
"Depending on how large the guns, between fifteen minutes to an hour," Riza replied as she started construction on metal and energy resource generators, "So do you want a full escort of Czars or just the light transports with some ground troops?"
"Lets go for quick," Marion said, "We can't tell what trouble they've gotten themselves into."
Character The Doctor
"Now that is impressive," The Doctor exclaimed as he, River, John, North and South exited the Tardis. Before him a vast expanse of desert and rock opened up that was filled with carved trenches and pathways; formerly used by the Locust but now filled with demons.
"As much as I hate to admit it," River said, "We may need to get more creative than just blasting every one of them."
"Well a good earthquake could collapse the trenches onto the demons," North said.
"Good idea," The Doctor commented, "But even better is, assuming that I'm not mistaken, there is a magma flow not to far away from the wall of that really deep trench, the one in the middle of the demons."
"Well that's great," South sighed, "But we are over here and it is in the middle of what a thousand demons?"
"Yeah that's going to be hard to get to," John said, "Any ideas?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked," The Doctor said, "Now we will need..."
Ten minutes later The Doctor was holding out an egg shaped device to the others and, as was his habit, explaining much to fast how it worked. "And then this button here makes the air go wibbly and then poof area of super dense fog, even heat detection is confused by the oppressive humidity created by this little guy."
"Ok that is how we get to the wall now how are we going to break it without being melted by the lava we want to cover the demons in," North asked.
"That," River exclaimed as she walked out of the Tardis with a three foot long, metal contraption that operates as a remote drill, "is where this comes in."
"So we muck up the demons vision, cause some confusion, plant the device, and get out," John said, "Sounds simple, how much time will we have to plant the device and then get out?"
"The mist will last for about five or six minutes in these conditions," The Doctor replied, "And the drill can punch through that wall in two and a half minutes."
"So this is a run and gun," South said as she loaded her SMGs, "Good, lets go."
With that cheery remark they arranged themselves so that the Doctor was in the middle of a square formed by River, North, John and South. They crept up to the edge of the first trench and the Doctor primed the smoke egg and tossed it into the midst of the demons while shouting, "Now!" The egg sent out a series of vibrations that caused the air to clump up into a dense fog, making it hard for the demons to see but also restricting their vision. Even with the impairment the five of them managed to cut down the confused demons that stood between them and the targeted spot on the trench wall that the Doctor wanted to open.
"Ok, get the drill in place," John said as River and the Doctor reached the wall. River set up the tripod that the drill mounted on while the Doctor lined up the tip for the fastest penetration. He locked it onto the stand and shouted for them to get out, causing the whole group to start moving again. Soon however the Doctor realized that they must have made a mistake on their return rout. They had arrived at the wall in a minute and now they had been moving for a minute and twenty seconds, there must have been a turn that they had missed.
"Not to alarm anyone but, we might be lost and have a lava flow chasing us down in one minute," The Doctor declared, "We need to find higher ground."
"We can't even use our motion trackers in this fog," South replied, "How do you expect us to find higher ground?"
"Look on your trackers," Doctor replied, "It won't pick up the movement of the demons, but it can detect the movement of thick patches of fog, like near the walls or the base of a protrusion that we could use to get above the lava flow."
"Ok I think I have something just ahead of us and to the left side," North said, "Can I get a confirmation on that?"
"Confirmed," John stated, "Stay close."
"Thirty seconds," the Doctor said as they reached the spot that North and John had designated. Indeed there was a hill there, a pile of rocks that were leftovers from the Locust excavation. Now as the five climbed up them they could hear the sounds of demons howling as the lava was freed from the pocket it was in and started pouring out into the trenches. Those sounds were soon followed by a rumbling that signaled the beginning of the collapse of the tunnel walls, which was accompanied by an increased racket from the demons that were trapped in the overwhelming fog. The fog had another two or three minutes left but they didn't need to see to know when the lava surrounded the rocky pillar they had taken refuge on, since the heat and crackling, sputtering, sound was enough to make their situation plain. Only once the fog began to dissipate did the true gravity of the situation hit them. They were on the only piece of land sticking up from the lava field for a good four-hundred feet and it was only fifty feet across and thirty feet long.
"Well that might have worked to well," River said, "Now what?"
"We will have to get off soon otherwise the heat will kill us," North said, "You and River probably even faster."
"Can we freeze the lava," John asked.
"No its moving to fast," the Doctor replied, "We must have drilled into a tube that leads right into the core for the lava to be moving this fast. The rocks underneath us are probably starting to melt as well which would cause this patch of ground to sink into the stream."
"Great," South said, "I don't want to die again, not like this anyways."
"How fast is the flow moving," North asked, "faster than fifteen miles an hour?"
"Oh yes," River said, "close to thirty I'd say."
"Good," North exclaimed, "Sis get your shielding ability ready, we are going to put up a shield around the rock."
"What how?" South asked, "These things need AI's to work right."
"Or someone who is very fast at math," North said, "Doctor, how about it?"
"That just might work," the Doctor added, "you can use the power from the three suits and the shields can be cross-fired so the coverage is increased while dropping the power drain, and yes it can work, here let me see the generators."
In just under four minutes, the shield generators were linked together and were connected to the three Spartans' suits. After a final check the Doctor flipped the switch and the humm of the shield became audible before the shield became visible. It was a golden dome that spread out from the generators and encompassed the outcropping. "Ok that should be good, now we just wait for rescue," River said.
"Great this will be fun," South said, "What we just have to stand here?"
"Well, You can sit down if you like," the Doctor said, "after all you might as well enjoy the view." Indeed the flow of lava as it speed past them was quite the sight. The constant changing of temperatures, colors, and the swirling of the currents was quite enthralling to his experienced eyes.
Before long however there was something that stuck out at the Doctor the surface of the lava would quiver every three to four seconds, almost like some really heavy hammer was falling, or large foot falls. Foot falls, there was only one creature that was large enough to make the lava stream quake like that, Beast.
"Ready up," the Doctor said as the horned head of Beast became visible over the horizon, "Our rescue is here!"
"Well that is convenient," River said, "See this is why I married you your lucky like that, and crazy."
"Good thing too," North added, "or else we would have probably cooked."
"Well well, looks like we came along just in time," Riza called out through the loudspeaker on her ACU, "We picked up some new friends for you to meet, but first lets get you off that rock. Good job taking out the demons here, lava very sneaky."
"But noisy," the Doctor said, "Sometimes I really do feel sorry for these poor creatures."
"Those 'poor creatures' would just as soon rip your head off as look at you," River pointed out.
"Well so would most of my enemies," the Doctor replied, "Though I will admit that the demons are much less chatty than even the Daleks. Well what are you all just standing there for get us off this rock."
Character Throon
The tunnels smelled of home to Throon as he and Delta, a human task-force comprised of Fenix, Dom, Baird, Coal and Anya, made their way through the gloomy, old, mostly abandoned, tunnels towards the old palace that used to be the heart of the Locust empire, his people. It was thanks mostly to Delta that his people were on the verge of extinction but he also owed them for saving the last roughly three hundred Locust. They were going because the Seer, Kalathanon, said to go and look for any demonic activity. K had already sent out two other task-forces to scout two other likely places for demons but Throon believed this to be the most likely of the three. Before long he was proven right.
The six of them arrived at a large over hang that looked out upon the massive cavern that housed the palace, once home to the Queen, then flooded, then the Human HQ, and now the primary staging area for the demon advance on his world. Every inch of the massive and complex roadway system that his people created was being used to transport demons of all shapes, sizes, material, and presence across the cavern that stretched almost a hundred miles.
"These vermin should not be allow to inhabit this place," He said.
"Agreed," Fenix replied, "So lets put our heads together and see what we are going to do about it. There are six of us, capable as we are, and tens of thousands of them."
"I suppose letting K send in some help is out of the question," Anya said as she pointed to a large red pool on the floor through which demons were coming in and out of.
"Definitely," Fenix said, "What we need is something that will kill as many of the demons as possible, close the portal and make this site unusable for the demon's portals in the future."
"There are three main supports," Throon said, "They were drastically weakened by the flood you all let in but still standing. We could probably drop the ceiling if we took out the supports at the same time. There is one on the north-west side, east side and south-west side, with tunnels that lead to the back of the supporting columns so we are not crushed in the process."
"Dom, your with me," Fenix said, "Baird, Coal, you take the south column, Anya with the bug, you two take the east column. We are going to hit the north column. Lets bring the roof down on these demons."
"Ok grubby," Anya said, "You know this place better than me so you lead."
Throon took the abuse quietly and nodded as he first pointed out the passages that the other groups should take before leading Anya down the passage that would go directly under the palace to the east column.
"Ours is the farthest away," Throon said, "but the passages that lead to it are the smallest, which should give us an advantage when the demons try to block our progress."
"Why did you want to come with us," Anya asked as she nodded her understanding of his previous statement, "I'm sure you want the demons gone but why go with us?"
"Because the only hope for my kind is to live with yours, not against yours," Throon replied, "Already the town of Mercy is turning against us. It is my hope that if your people see me the Locust leader helping to defeat our common enemy, and if they see you, their heroes, accepting my help, then perhaps they will start to look past the hatred for my kind and we can live in peace."
"I... I don't know what to say," Anya said, "It never occurred to me that your kind could even consider peace with ours. I must admit, I still can't believe that you are living in the same city as us."
"Without Myrra to drive her hatred for humans into us we began to see the error of fighting you," Throon continued, "We should have listened to Adam from the start, we should have asked for help against the Lambant but instead we chose war. We were fools, but no more, our creator, Kalathanon, has changed for the better and so too have we. Remember that when next you carelessly toss around those insults, most of my kind are still just as sore about the war as you all are."
"Well that's something to think about at least," Anya replied, "But later listen."
Throon heard it, the sound of claws clacking off rock, the demons were heading their way. What came out into the tunnel was shaped much like the rock worms that inhabited the planet's underground, but this one, instead of having the short pudgy legs, had corpser-like appendages that ended in clacking, scissor claws. As it turned to face them they were treated to an impressive display of ten yellow eyes, totally unnatural for the normal creatures, and a mouth from which darted three tongues that had spikes protruding from them. It was also much larger than a normal rock worm, big enough to ride actually.
"Don't shoot," Throon said as he walked up to the creature's head and patted it on the snout, "This is Pestilence, my mount and companion, I was hoping to run across him here. Well get on this will make the trip faster."
He could see the hesitation in the human's eyes as she climbed up onto Pestilence, but after plowing through the first wave of demon-dogs without slowing that hesitation started to turn into an appreciation for the tank-like bulwark that a rock worm mount provided. After another two rounds with the demons, including one of the large, fire-breathing, mega-demons, Throon observed that Anya was now much more comfortable hiding behind one of the raised plates of armored scales that Pestilence provided. Popping up from time to time to unload a few shotgun rounds into any demons that got past the constantly lashing tongues and the first two sets of clawed legs.
As for himself, Throon carried a hammer burst AR, a boltox revolver, incendiary grenades and a longshot sniper. In these confined spaces however the revolver was getting the most use due to its large rounds and short barrel. They were soon at the base of their support column and were waiting for the word of the others arrival at the other columns. Baird radioed in first with confirmation that they had reached the south-western column now it was just up to Marcus and Dom. Anya seemed to grow more nervous as the minutes crept by without any communication but then she got a transmission.
"Anya, Baird, Coal, anyone, we are pinned down just south of the northern column if anyone can provide assistance we would much appreciate it."
"There is an over look on the other side of the column," Throon said, "We can use the longshot from there."
"Then I'm using it," Anya said as she tossed him her gnasher for the sniper. He traded the weapon off without complaint. After instructing Pestilence to guard the entrance to the balcony he pulled out his AR to provide close support for Anya while she sniped the demons that were harassing Marcus and Dom.
"Marcus, you two keep your heads down, I'm going to be pulling off some very long shots here," Anya said over the comm channel. Throon set himself up behind a wall near the middle of the overlook while Anya took up a position that was at the edge of the balcony. At first there were no demons near them but after Anya's first shot rang out the demons began moving in. The first thirty were easy since they had no real ranged attacks, but once the Spikes set up on a ridge in the rock-face no more than a hundred yards away the fighting got interesting. Anya would wait for his all clear before setting up for another shot then quickly ducking back down behind the railings as more Spikes and a new fireball throwing demons made of what looked to be molten flesh replaced the previous attackers.
"Anya, there is just one more demon that is really making trouble for us," Fenix said, "See what you can do about it."
Anya obviously saw which demon it was because she set up for the shot while there was still a spike demon on the ridge. Throon simply reacted, he saw Anya come up out of cover and the Spike demon change its focus from him to her. In a burst of speed Throon managed to beat the spike that was aimed for her head and take the hit in the left hip. Anya simultaneously took out the last of the demons that were preventing Fenix and Dom's advance, while Throon pumped five rounds into the Spike's head even as he fell to the ground due to his shattered hip.
He hit the ground with a thud and a hiss, his weapon clattering to the floor. Anya made her way over to him and helped him crawl back into the tunnel where the demons could not shoot at him. Pestilence was waiting for them with a pile of demon corpses behind him.
"Plant the grenade," Throon said as he pulled himself behind his old friend, "Then get behind Pestilence."
"Marcus, Baird, Are we ready?" Anya asked.
"Yeah sure," Baird replied.
"We are ready," Marcus said, "Everyone alright?"
"Throon has a shattered hip," Anya said, "He can't walk."
"Who... oh right the grub," Coal replied, "Sucks to be him."
"What did he do to shatter his hip," Fenix asked, "And can you still get out of there before the roof blocks the exits?"
"He took a spike that would have blown my head off," Anya replied sharply, "And yes we can still get out on time, so can we detonate?"
There was silence then, "Yeah go ahead," from Marcus.
The distinctive sound of a grenade being punched into the rock face rung out then Anya was landing beside Throon behind Pestilence. The sound of an explosion followed shortly after.
"Good," Throon said, "Now help me up onto Pestilence so we can get out before the roof collapses."
"Thanks," Anya said as she helped him up onto his mount, "For saving me. Huh never thought I'd be saying that to a Locust."
"No thank you for sticking up for me even against your friends," Throon replied as he guided Pestilence through a series of tunnels that would lead back to the surface, "Though I suspect that one of them is more than a friend?"
"Marcus Fenix," Anya replied, "I don't know what the customs are in your culture but in ours a married couple usually assume the same last name. My name is Anya Fenix."
"I figured as much," Throon said, "your actions were enough for me to figure it out I just wanted to be sure. The only way for us to have peace between my kind and yours is for our races to understand each other."
A few feet into the tunnel and the ceiling behind them collapsed, proof that the cavern had collapsed. Throon hurt everywhere, his broken hip sending a wave of pain through him with every jar and bump in the tunnel, but he knew it wouldn't last for long. All of the generals got two bonuses, one was a pet the other was a genetic enhancement. His pet was Pestilence and his enhancement was a rapid repair body. So while he knew that even a shattered hip would only hurt for about an hour it still was hard to keep up the pace that they were setting to meet the others back above ground.
"There is the exit," Throon said about a half hour later, "lets see what damage we've done."
The rest of Delta was waiting for them at the door that led up to the surface. Fenix eyed Pestilence but said nothing as he opened the door and they proceeded through it. What they found on the outside however was not what they were expecting. Instead of a giant crater filled with demons corpses there was a massive demon that rose up from the ground with its torso sticking out of the glowing portal that was on the floor of the cavern. It had six pairs of arms and three heads, each one with fangs, four embers for eyes, twin slits for a nose, two drum-like ear stubs and horns that ringed each head. The demon was a light gray-green with splotches of black and red on him that enhanced the lines of its outstanding musculature. Each of its twelve hands had three fingers that were like war-hammers.
Now the demon was bad enough but the army that was still alive and gathering around it was even worse. A combined force of Apocicas, Spikes, Fliers, some demons with whip-like appendages, and skeletal demons that had scissor hands, dagger like teeth, four legs and a tail with edges that looked sharp enough to slice right through metal. Yeah the demon commander was bad but the army would probably be the worse bit.
"Well blarg me," Baird said, "Do we really have to fight all that?"
"If its in our way," Throon said, "Why not?"