Chapter 6 Thanatos

David

July 25th, 2017

10:43 AM

Meridian Prime Warzone

No Man's Land

I cough out the dust and shake off the crush as much as I can. Cayce was fine and dandy with a little crisp on him but could still get on his two feet. Cage and the co-pilot were both stuck on their seats in the cockpit and Cayce and I helped them both out. Unbuckling the two and hulling them out of the crash. The captain and co-pilot were able to still stand as well as Cayce and I.

David: Everybody, okay?

Cage: Hardly, but we'll live.

Co-pilot: What the hell were those things back there? Flying dragons?

Cage: They were hydras. If you were paying attention back at base, you'd remember.

Cayce: I don't suppose Heard and Dhaled are KIA? That was one hell of a hit they took.

Heard: (comms) Heard to Cage. Heard to Cage. Come in Cage!

Cage: Heard, you're alive? Where are you?

Heard: (comms) I'm with Dhaled. He took a hit during the crash. Our pilots are KIA so I'm gonna have to treat him myself.

Cage: Just give us your location.

Heard: (comms) A click or two away from your crash site. Please hurry!

Before we left our crash site, Cage had to carry the pilot by his shoulders. The pilot himself had twisted his ankle in the crash.

Cage: Can you walk?

Pilot: I think I twisted an ankle. You're gonna have to carry me.

Cayce: Captain, the place is crawling with Fallen. Why don't we just leave him?

Cage: We're taking the pilot with us. Since I'm stronger, I'll hold onto him and the two of you shoot anything that moves. That's an order.

Cayce: Yes, sir.

Cage carries the pilot by his shoulder as he wants. Cayce and I covered them as we were ordered to. The two of us shoot from our rifles. Cage shoots from his pistol carrying the pilot by the shoulder. Despite the injured pilot slowing us down, he held back ConDef and Fallen as well as we did. What we were all trained to do in situations like these.

After holding off waves of ConDef and hordes of Fallen, the four of us eventually reached Heard and Dhaled's crash site. We see Heard and Dhaled themselves sitting behind their burning helicopter turned into the scrapheap it was. The closer we walked, Dhaled appeared injured from his hip while Heard was patching him up with first aid.

Heard: Captain, thank god almighty you're here!

Cage: How bad is it?

Heard: Bad enough that he needs a paramedic. I stitched him up the best I could but it ain't gonna last.

Cayce: What does his wound look like?

Heard: Punctured hip near the torso. Scrap metal pierced him in the crash. Managed to stop the bleeding. If only Lieutenant – I mean Private Prescott were here. We're just lucky the first aid kit was still intact.

Dhaled: (coughing blood) You should leave me. I don't wish to burden either of you in this battle.

Pilot: He's right, Captain. We can't go on with two injured men. Might as well wait for a –

As the pilot was cut mid-sentence, he hurled for a second. Then something razor pierced through his heart. Killing him instantly as he collapsed dead on the ground. Cayce, Cage, Heard, and I pointed our rifles at the assailant while leaving Dhaled on his injured ground. We had been aiming our weapons at a foreboding figure. Wearing a dark hooded cloak and rope. Pale skin and sharp nails on his fingers. The figure telepathically reeled his sharp projectile off the body of the pilot and gripped it in his hand. Gazing at his maliciously.

Cage: Identify yourself! Now!

Thanatos: Captain Cage, Commander Madsen, I've been expecting you.

Heard: Are we supposed to know this bozo?

Then I recognized him from somewhere. He was one of Ares's thugs who killed Mason back in Beirut.

David: I know you. You're the son of a bitch who killed Mason!

Cayce: Yeah, I thought he looked familiar.

David: You're part of that Dark Order Chronos had mentioned.

Thanatos: You've been educated, Commander. I expect nothing less from the Traveler's sympathizers.

Cage: First, who the fuck are you, and second, how do you know so much about us?

Thanatos: The name is Thanatos. God of Death. Servant of Ares. Acolyte of the Dark Order. I know everything Ares knows about the one you call Maxine Caulfield. I've been instructed to kill all of those complicit in her crusade.

Heard: I think it's gonna take a lot more than some Lord of the Rings orc knockoff to intimidate us, pal. It's four against one and we've been instructed to kill all you Ares's motherfuckers.

Thanatos: Your empty quips mean nothing to me. You mortal soldiers overestimate your odds against one. As all other mortal fighters who've opposed me have. My Hydras could have killed you all on your aircraft in one fell swoop. Now it's up to me to finish the task at hand.

That is when Thanatos summoned more Fallen at his behest. Surrounding himself with Hounds and Revenants to attack us. Some of us were gonna have to take on the Fallen. The rest of us would take on Thanatos. All while protecting the wounded Colonel.

David: How do you wanna play this, Captain?

Cage: Heard and I will cover Dhaled from the Fallen. You and Foley can take the glory with Thanatos.

David: With pleasure.

Thanatos pointed his finger at the four of us to command his pack of Fallen to attack and that's when they all came charging at us. We fired our guns at them. Shooting all the Hounds and Revenants that moved. While Cage and Heard gave Dhaled cover fire and carried him to a safer place away from Thanatos, Cayce and I holstered our rifles. I picked up my tomahawks to fight Thanatos himself. Cayce held up his two combat knives to fight with. And then, Thanatos manifested two more razor objects out of his hands to fight us two-on-one.

David: Two on one, pal. Ever faced a Chrysalis soldier before?

Thanatos: I have faced many brave adversaries like yourselves. All which have befell before me. You will outcome no differently.

Cayce: Admiral Penske would tell us that history is written by the victors. And it's written by actions. Not words.

And that's when Cayce and I started clashing with Thanatos in melee combat.

Cage carried Dhaled by his shoulders like he did with the pilot. Heard cover him. Then Cage set him down a tree away from where Cayce and I held off Thanatos. The tree is where Heard could finish patching up Dhaled.

Cage: Alright, you'll be safe here with us until we finish stitching you up. Heard, finish up with his wounds. I'll be going back for Madsen and Foley.

Dhaled: You really should have left me by the chopper. I refuse to be the barrier of your Achilles' heel.

Heard: And we refuse to let the Beirut Resistance leader die under our watch. Now stop being a puny child and let's finish what I started.

I clashed my tomahawks against Thanatos's blades and Cayce clashed his knives against them as well. We fought Ares's minion like a fantasy genre set in the modern day. The two of us fought well but Thanatos proved to be a powerful opponent to us.

At one point in the fight, Cayce locked his two knives in with Thanatos's blades. Only for Thanatos to stun Cayce with a kick to the abdomen and push him with a powerful force. Knocking him against a tree as he collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious. It was just me and Thanatos now.

Thanatos and I circle across each other around the clearing we had been fighting in. My two battle axes are in my hands. Thanatos's makeshift razors in his. We charged at one another and continued clashing our weapons against each other. Thanatos prepared to make the fight more challenging for me.

Eventually, Thanatos got practical and swept me away off my two feet with his one foot. Like sweeping the leg in The Karate Kid. I had now fallen on my rear with Thanatos pinning me to the ground. Thanatos and I locked our melee arms in. The disgusting minion hovered and leaned towards me. I struggle against my opponent's strength with my two axes locked into the blades to keep my skin cut free, but Thanatos pressed on further and further. His blades neared my throat to split it open and finish me. Thanatos himself taunted as I was nearing death by my neck cut open.

Thanatos: So, these are the minions the Traveler chooses! Most unimpressive. I'm going to enjoy killing you.

Then suddenly, something sharp impaled through the chest of Thanatos. A long and sharp piece of scrap from the crashed helicopter had stabbed Thanatos through the heart and was lifted upward while being impaled like a corndog by someone. That someone was Captain Cage saving the life of his commander by holding Thanatos up high. The God of Death himself was now choking on his blood to death with what little remained of his acute life he had left on him.

Cage: And I've enjoyed killing you.

Cage threw Thanatos over to the ground with his lethal makeshift weapon. Thanatos's lifeless form hit the ground and bled out near our feet with an open chest wound spilling the blood out of him and his heart poked open. Thanatos lay there dead and defeated by a brave Chrysalis Captain and his pride.

The captain himself gave me a hand and got me on my feet again. Then Cayce came to and saw that we had just killed Thanatos ourselves. Though Cage delivered the killing blow. Cage and I helped up Cayce on his feet.

David: You good?

Cayce: I am now. Jesus, that guy was quick. I thought we were goners.

Cage: Yeah, well if not for me, you both would be.

David: Where's Heard and Dhaled?

Heard: We're right here!

Head and Dhaled returned to us. Dhaled was fully patched up by Heard herself. Thanks to Cayce and I's efforts of stalling Thanatos and defeating him.

David: Colonel, are you okay?

Dhaled: I've been better, Madsen. Just as long as I don't open more wounds.

Dhaled himself was able to walk on his own again. Even if his footing was still wobbly.

The five of us took a quick gaze over at Thanatos's body. Relieved by his defeat.

Heard: Well, well, the God of Death now stares in the face of death. How the mighty has fallen.

David: It wasn't easy. I owe Cage my life.

Cayce: We should try to contact Valors Two and Three. Tell them we're okay if they still are.

Cage: Agreed. Dhaled, wanna get in touch with your men still left alive on this island?

Dhaled: My men are spread thin, Captain. But I will try to –

Then bang! A bullet punctured Dhaled's heart and he fell and died instantly. A ConDef sniper perched on a tree had us in his sights and was the one who shot and killed the colonel. The four of us left alive had killed the sniper with our auto-rifles reequipped.

Then all of a sudden, once the sniper was down, more ConDef came emerging into the clearing firing on his. We fired back at as many ConDef as we could before retreating out of the clearing. Leaving behind the bodies of Dhaled and Thanatos.

Cage: Fall back! Fall back! (firing his rifle)