It was a stormy day, rain pattered on the windows of the lower floors of the building. The Chancellor was at his desk, reading a book on the top floor of the Executive Tower, where the fabled White House once stood. The Executive Tower was tall, imposing, and impressive, all words that could be used to describe the Terran Republic at its current state in time. In a way, the tower was the face of it all, a mile and a half high tower that stretched above the clouds. Even Compared to its contemporaries in New York and San Francisco, the Executive Tower made an imposing impact on those who laid their eyes on it. It was hard to think that nearly half a millennia ago, the land was all nothing but swampland.
Even harder to imagine still was that it was the site of nuclear bombardment from the Sino-Soviet Bloc. The Chancellor before him took great pains to rebuild old D.C into the world's capital. The Chancellor never did understand why he was chosen as the successor to the previous Chancellor, though he did try to live up to the position. His rule has been less heavy handed than that of previous Chancellor's, not because he was a bleeding heart, but he just didn't need to be so heavy handed anymore, resistance to republic rule was greatly diminished. Though, there was still resistance in much of the middle eastern and north african provinces, which the heavy hand was brought down.
Afghanistan in particular was being a problem, it always has been for a long time even before unification, though his chosen governor was making progress in the areas pacification. He always seemed to pick the right people for the job, which has done him many favors in his position as governor of the American Pacific Province well before his ascension to being the most powerful man in the world. He honestly thought the position would have gone to the Governor of the Japanese Home Islands. She seemed to be almost groomed for it, close to the previous Chancellor, and whose province was at the time, more influential than his. However, by some twist of luck, she fell out of favor, and he became the chosen successor.
Beyond the pacification campaigns, his administration had focused on scientific development and advancement, similar to his tenure as a Provincial Governor. He had ordered the pursuit of genetic engineering of crops in order to efficiently feed the population and the engineering of IVFs in order to supply the demand for workers and thinkers in the republic. He also pursued a large-scale project for genetically modified humans, though it was still in its infancy.
For now, his position was stable, and barring some unforeseen disaster, it would remain that way. He had attained the highest position of power, without even really pursuing it. He was like the Chancellors before him, one of the most powerful men in history. So for now, the Chancellor read his book, the storm clouds below hitting the lower floors' windows, him being high above the world.
Location: Kabul, Provincial Governor Qurban's Mansion
A portal opened in a flash in the janitor's closet, and three red pigmented figures fell through.
Blitzø, Moxie, and Millie groaned as they got up from the jumbled pile they fell into.
"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea-"
"Ah can it Moxxie, stop a lil bitch would ya? We got a job, and we just got paid a shit ton of money to kill this asshole."
"But Sir, this isn't exactly the most… unfortified place, are we sure that-"
"Oh come on Moxie" Millie said in her usual joyful tone. "They're just humans, never given us much trouble before"
"What about that crazy family?"
"We still got 'em in the end didn't we? Now quit fussing"
Moxie sighed, and took out a bobby pin, and began to try and pop the lock open. Soon enough, the door clicked and they were through. The group quickly made their way out of the closet, closing the door behind them.
They quietly tip-toed their way through the mansion's ornate halls. They went slow to make sure their steps did not create any noise on the granite floor. Their guns were bared, all of them had rifles, for a quick shot, and then Blitzø would utilize the to get them out of dodge.
The group suddenly took cover in the various potted plants that line the hallway, as a security camera turned their way. They stayed like that until it turned in another direction, and then quickly scuttled underneath the camera to avoid detection.
They went on for a ways, ducking behind statues, plant pots, and doors whenever a guard or camera was near. They continued sneaking, getting ever closer to the prize.
"Sir" Moxie whispered. "Why are there so many guards here, who are we even killing!?"
"A target is a target, and money is money and so unless you want to be shitting in a ditch cause we forgot the pay for plumbing last month, I suggest you shut your pegged ass up!"
Moxie mumbled to himself but didn't object further.
They went further through the labyrinth, Blitzø thought it looked like Stolas' mansion, but… with a more modern toon up to it… and a lot more security.
Soon enough they spotted a door with two heavily armed and armored humans on either side of it, their armor looked mechanical and bulky.
Blitzø chuckled, and put down his bag as he and the rest of the group hid behind a wall.
He pulled out a missile launcher, and made a toothy grin.
"Sir…" Moxxie pleaded. "Would a more silent approach be more helpful to our situation?" He questioned.
"Ah can it Moxie, now make yourself useful and hold this" Blitzø threw his weapons bag to moxie, who caught it but tipped over and hit the floor.
The noise reverberated across the surrounding area.
A noise was yelled by the guards, their voice distorted to be almost unrecognizable as a human voice. The I.M.P crew couldn't understand it, as they did not know whatever afghan language they were speaking.
"A fucking damn it Moxie, can't you do anything right?!" Blitzø said as he bared the rocket launcher, and burst out from the corner.
"Take this you tin canned chicken mcfucks- AH!" Blitzø's sentence was cut off with the guard firing a round near his head, causing him to drop the rocket launcher, which in turn, caused it to go off.
The guards jumped out of the way as the missile barreled towards the door.
The Missile smashed into the door before exploding in a bright flash, blasting the door of its hinges, and breaking it into steel scraps. The explosion let loose shrapnel that were stopped by the guards' armor, but otherwise left them mostly unscathed.
The guards yelled something more in whatever language they spoke, the I.M.P crew didn't know. However, soon enough alarms were blaring and red lights were flashing all across the chamber, and presumably all across the building as well.
Blitzø dash back to cover just in time before a barrage of bullets hit where he was not moments ago. Moxie poked out, and fired a pot shot at one of the guards, but it just panged off the armor. Moxie ducked back into cover right before a bullet hit him in the head.
"I told you this was a bad idea sir!" Moxie yelled.
"Oh yea, real helpful Moxie, how about you do less talking, and do more shooting!"
Another voice could be heard yelling from inside the room which had its doors blasted off.
The person yelled out in a very thick Afghan Pashtun Accent, and even though none of them knew what he said, they didn't know Pashto, though they immediately knew that this was the guy that they were sent for. Blitzø waited for the barrage to stop, before getting out of cover, but a guard managed to get a shot off into his shoulder, throwing off his aim. Blitzø's gun went off, hitting their target in the chest, causing him to fall to the floor, while he himself clutched his arm in pain as the bullet hole bled.
"Ah shit" Blitzø seethed in pain.
"Sir!" Moxie yelled with concern, trying to pull him back into cover, but finding Blitzø to be too heavy.
Millie took it upon herself to drag both of them back.
"Oh this is bad, oh this is really bad!" Moxie said hyperventilating.
"Moxie snap out of it" Millie yelled, shaking him.
Suddenly they heard footsteps from behind them, and Moxie and Millie whipped around, Blitzø trying but failing, with the bullet wound restricting his movement. Milline and Moxie saw more guards showing up armed, pointing guns at them.
"Guys… what the fuck is behind us?"
"GET ON THE GROUND! GET ON THE GROUND!" One of the guards yelled in English with a Dari accent.
Millie and Moxie dropped their guns and raised their hands in the air. One of the guards rushed up to them, and kicked them both in the back of the knee, forcing them to kneel.
"Oh…. fuuuuck" Blitzø groaned in defeat.
Suddenly he had a bag over his head, and he was being carried, as he kicked and screamed all the way until his limbs tired and his voice gave out from all the profanity he had to say.
Soon after he felt himself being thrown in what seemed into a metal floor. It didn't take much to realize it was probably a van, even before he heard the engines revving. He felt the vibrations of Millie and Moxie being thrown in after him, and before long, he felt the van moving to some unknown destination.
The air was hot and humid, typical afghani weather, it reminded them of swampy battlezones of the wrath ring. Sweat trickled down past their faces and the bags over their faces didn't help much.
What seemed to be an entirety later for the demons, the car would grind to a halt. They heard the door behind them swing open and men climb into the truck. Blitzø felt a hand begin dragging him by the neck as he was forced onto the ground by a guard.
Before he had time to think how he would be able to get out of his situation however, there was a painful bash onto the back of his head, by what felt like a handgun, and was subsequently knocked to the floor like a ragdoll.
"B-Boss!" Moxie called out before he too received a blow to the head by a guard.
"Honey! You Son-!" Millie Yelled out before she was cut out by the metallic surface of a M2011 Handgun striking her like Blitzø and Moxie before.
"Holy shit, do you devils never shut the fuck up?" The guard said with great exacerbation in a Russian accent as he holstered his now bloodied handgun.
"Dimitri, drag these crimson fucks over to the room, let the German have at them."
"The German? Blyat… we might as well send them back to hell…"
"Pfft, they'll wish they were back in hell when he's done, xaxa."
Moxie was the first to awaken out of the trio. What he saw was interesting to say the least. It was cold, metallic, and cramped. A far cry from the hot and openness of the Afghan desert.
"S-Sir! Where are we?" Moxie as he struggled to call out to Blitzø, the pain from the pistol blunt was still fresh on the back of his head.
"Aww... look what the Bolshevik Jackals gifted me today…" Spoke a thick German voice from the shadows.
Moxie looked around the room, trying to see where the voice originated from.
"Ze Russians… may have taken much from me and mein people, but I must commend them for being able to find ze worst trash in ze welt." The voice spoke truimpuatelty as it got closer to the trio, allowing the light to reveal the voice as a Blonde haired man wearing a uniform with a black and grey color scheme.
At this time, Blitzø was starting to regain consciousness and beginning to grasp reality once again.
"M-Moxie..? Who the fuck is this guy?" He questioned as he was looking towards the German Man.
"Ah! Apology for my manners, Mein Freund. Mein name ist Willafried Steinmann, I vork as the main interrogator for the Afghan Provincial Rehabilitation Facility. And I must say…" He said as he leaned over them.
"...You have a fair amount of Rehabilitation ahead of you…." Willafried coldly stated into their faces, with his accent piercing them like a nail on a balloon.
Blitzø laughed. "Rehabilitation? God! You're sounding like Lucy's Daughter! Ha Ha!" Willafried paid no attention to it.
"So tell me… you're the ones who attempted to Assassinate Governor Qurban? Tsk Tsk… I should let you know that he is one of the Chancellor's most favorite…"
"Well Mr Steinmann… we were…" Moxie stammered off.
Steinmann sighed and put his hand over his face. These demons were hiding something, and he was going to find out what.
"I do not have time for this Scheisse. Bring out the Verstandtoxin." He commanded. Soon after, two similar looking men came into the room pushing a cart with three syringes and vials with a red liquid in it. This is when Millie began to finally awaken.
"W-What is going on?" She questioned. "Who are you? What is that?" She questioned as he prepared the syringes.
"Did you know that this is actually banned in 10 Provinces? They cite reasons of "Harmful against the Human Body." But something tells me that it'll do great for you Hellspawns." He said as he took the synergies and grabbed Blitzø's sleeve, ripping it.
"What the fuck man! Did you know how much that cost me?!" Blitzø protested.
"87 and 52 cents of your damned hell dollars, you bought it at the local clothing store on third Pol Pot avenue in Imp City, run by Rexie Flamend." The German man said like it was the most common piece of information on Earth.
"How the fuck do you know that!" Blitzø yelled.
"Oh please, you didn't honestly think you could keep coming up here, and we wouldn't be finding out a little bit about you, or is your kind so very mentally deficient that you didn't think state security cameras would catch you? I must say I am quite offended." He answered as he picked up the first syringe and started to move it towards Blitzø's exposed arm.
"Now.. this will only hurt for a second… the needle, that is, the rest of it I hear is quite agonizing." The German chuckled as he pushed Blitzø's head to the side.
"Get the fuck off me you-!" Blitzø yelled out before the needle was jammed into his exposed arm and its contents were injected into his bloodstream. After a few seconds of grunting and attempting to break free, his pupils began to widen as body became limp.
"Wh-What did you do to him?!" Moxie exclaimed, horrified at his boss's limp body.
The good doctor smacked Blitzø on the head. "Vhat iz your your name."
"Blitz… the o is silent" Blitzø said in a monotone voice.
"Vhere do you live." The interrogator asked in a cold voice, almost as cold as the tundras of Siberia.
"536 Vlad Street, Apartment 203, Imp City." Blitzø said in the same monotone voice.
Steinmann smiled as he glanced at the needle he had injected the demon with before smiling like a child with candy.
"Ah… never gets old, good to see it works on demons as vhell." He said as he looked at Moxxie, who had a look terror in his eyes.
"Oh mein Dear Moxxie, don't be vorried. Your boss will have all ze information I'll need. Furthermore, I vouldn't vant to do anything zat would make your wife… mournful." He said in fake consolation..
"Now!" Steinnman said, clapping his hands together, "Time for ze real interrogation"
"Vhy did you try to assassinate a regional governor?"
"I was hired by a sinner named Zalaan Bettani for a thousand hellbucks to kill governor Qurban."
Steinnman pondered the new information with a furrowed brow.
"That's a Pashtun name" One of the agents in the interrogation room stated with a thick afghan accent.
"Pashtun…" Steinnman gave a quick glance to the one stated that.
"Vait, hang on for a moment." Steinnman said as he snapped his fingers.
"Get me ze terrorist database!"
Another agent walked over and handed Steinnman a tablet, and he began looking through the hundreds and hundreds of names. "How do you spell zat name?"
"Z, A, L, A, A, N, Space, B, E, T, T, A, N, I" Blitzø said again with his drug induced monotone voice.
"Right, right…. Ah, here it is… a terrorist zat attempted to assasinate qurban before he himself was gunned down by security. I suppose he tried to get you to finish his unfinished business."
"Makes sense… but it's weird. They always attacked lower humans, none of which are in high positions of power. Something doesn't add up." A British agent to the left of afghan questioned.
"Wait, you knew that we were killing humans?" Moxxie asked, turning his head to the agent.
"I mean… I wouldn't call the three of you inconspicuous mate…" He responded, trailing off in the end.
"I mean you looked right at several security cameras just to flip them off, as well as doing some rather… public displays of violence."
"Remember when they shot a kid?" The Afghan next to the British agent said to him.
"It was an accident!" Moxxie called out.
"Doesn't make it any better mate…" The British agent said, crossing his arms.
"You got caught on a state news camera dumping their dismembered body on his crying mother, you sick fuck!" The Afghan said with venom in his voice.
"Yeah, that was…" The British agent said before shuddering. "...t-terrible." He finished before pausing. "Is the integration almost over Doc?"
"Not quite, zis is more a proof of concept so far, another team is coming in after us to grill them more thoroughly, just one more question…"
"Who gave you ze means come to Earth?"
"Stolas Goetia…"
"Stolas… wait, he's the owl guy right?" the British agent said
"Yeah he's a…" The Afghan said before trailing off. "...Ars Goetia. Shit."
"Something wrong Dawar?" The British agent asked, turning to Dawar.
"Lawrence… That's a prince of hell… that's a fucking prince of hell, do you have any idea of what kind of power they wield?!"
"Ah don't worry Dawar, our informants were quite clear that no one in hell gives a bloody damn about imps."
"Then why did he send them to earth and not anyone else huh!?"
"Just calm down mate! They're probably viewed as expendables. Doc, you won't mind if we step out for a moment?" Lawrence said, putting his hand on Dawar's back.
"Fine, I'll just stay with these demons, I have to analyze their vitals to make sure the serum won't kill the interrogated half way through interrogation." He said, standing over the imps.
"Alright buddy, let's get you some air, and maybe some lunch." Lawrence looked down at his watch "It's around that time now"
"I could go for some Kebabs…" Dawar said nervously.
"That's the spirit mate! It'll be my treat alright?" Lawrence said, leading Dawar out of the interrogation room.
"So what are you thinking of? That place up in 23rd stre-?" Lawerence asked as they exited from the room, closing the metal sliding doors shut behind them.
Suddenly they heard a noise, a screeching noise from inside the room. Looking back, they saw a dark red light coming out the small space between the door and the floor, like it was from an independent source.
"What the fuck was that!?" Dawar exclaimed, pulling out his standard issue handgun from its holster.
"I-I, I don't kn-!" Lawerence responded, also pulling out his own handgun. He was cut off as the desperate screams of someone entered into his and Dawar's ears, making them cover their ears.
"Doc!" Dawar yelled out, spiriting back to the metal door. Suddenly, as he reached the door, he felt the hard SMASH that made the solid metal door jolt, barely being held from its hinges.
Lawrence grabbed his personal radio, "Emergency in interrogation room 094, requesting immediate support!"
"Lawrence… I don't think support is going to help…" Dawar gravely commented as a thick red liquid began to seep from the bottom of the door and come into contact with his soles.
A bright flash flashed out from the door, making Lawrence and Dawar cover their eyes. After the light disappeared from the bottom of the door, the two agents rushed to the handle of the room, trying desperately to make it open.
"Hang in there Doc! Just hang on a moment longer!" Lawrence exclaimed, trying to get the door opened. Finally, after some effort, they were able to get the damaged sliding door to open.
What they saw initially was peculiar to say the least. The chairs that the imps were sitting on had their ropes cuts and their occupants disappeared. There were two human sized impact holes, both were covered with blood. All across the room was a slim stream of blood in a circular motion. But there was one thing that they couldn't see: the good doctor.
"Jesus Christ, Doc, you in here?" Lawrence called out, looking around the room.
Lawrence turned back to Dawar, his face turned from worried into pure unadulterated terror. He put his hand over his gaping mouth as he struggled to make full words.
""Lawrence… Grimoire, we have to warn the labs! It was sent to them for analysis!"
"Tell them… to run." Lawrence could barely get out of his mouth as he continued to look at Dawar's direction.
"Lawrence… what's happen-?" Dawar questioned before it apartly stopped as he turned to see what Lawrence was looking at.
Smashed hard onto the pure metallic door was… somebody. It's leather uniform was ripped to shreds, like it was in the possession of an insane cat. It's head was smashed beyond comprehension as brain matter and blood spurted out of it like it was a leak from a hose. It's body entire body was much like it's head, smashed with its inner functions and bones exposed from its body like it was some human anatomy doll. In addition, in place of its eyes, were the same needles from before that the doctor had used against the demon.
"Damn it!" Dawar snarled, grabbing his radio.
"Attention, the lab that has the Grimoire is under grave threat! Get everyone out of there now!-"
"It was rather rude for you to take what was not yours~" a mocking voice came from the radio.
Lawrence and Dawar quickly froze as the voice exited from the radio.
"YOU!" Lawrence yelled out as he snatched the radio from Dawar.
"Yes it's me~, who else but me" Stolas Goetia responded condescendingly from the radio.
"Tell me you sonuva bitch, why! What the fuck do you have to gain from getting our people killed!"
But all that came back was static, the agents waited a few moments for a response, but none came.
"Fucker hung up" Dawar cursed.
"DAMMIT!" Lawrence screeched out, kicking a chair causing it to be flinged across the room.