In a star system located somewhere in the uncharted sectors…
Wraith, starfighter pilot, mercenary, demon hunter… was not having a good time. He was bored out of his mind from the flight to his destination, a secret UAC Warp Gate Facility.
A few weeks ago, he left the Deathstrider, his current 'home'. It was just a temporary affair, he had to do some 'dirty' mercenary work to secure some funds for their increasingly expanding armory.
And ammo prices aren't getting any lower anytime soon…
Currently, Wraith has a contract with the UAC. Whilst he has some reservations working with the United Aerospace 'and Hellish Experiments' Corporation, he needs the money, and this job did pay out a lot…
But, there is a small problem…
"Those damn corpos…" Wraith sighed, flying over the surface of the planet, "when they said 'secret', I didn't expect to have to search all over the damn planet!"
The UAC wasn't kidding when they said this was a 'secret' base. The knowledge of the exact location of this base was restricted to only the personnel staffing the base. They would routinely communicate with the headquarters, mostly for their reports and such.
But for the past week, there have been no communications from the base. And so, that's where Wraith comes in. He has to find the base and then investigate what happened to the personnel and then get out.
A simple mission with a big payout. It sounds too good to be true, but the starfighter pilot doesn't care. If there are any problems, they can mostly be solved with guns.
He flew above a region particularly dense in vegetation. His long-range radar picked up traces of manmade structures around this region. This made the bored pilot raise a bit from his seat, eager to get off his spacecraft and stretch his legs. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found the facility.
Touching down his spacecraft somewhere far away, he exits the vehicle after checking his equipment.
His main armament is the 'Imperator' Modular Battle Rifle, or just MBR. Chambered in 7.62mm, this rifle boasts a considerable amount of firepower, able to down a lesser demon in only a few shots. Along with its impressive fire rate and accuracy, it is a perfect workhorse for any demon hunting needs. It also has a grenade launcher for emergency use.
Next is his trusty 'Mortis' Combat Shotgun. It is a good weapon for close-quarters combat. With its 12 gauge buckshot shells, it can easily kill any unarmored opponents. It was also upgraded to be able to fire in full-auto for crowd control.
For any tougher opponents or bigger crowds, that is where the 'Nightbane' Break-Action Grenade Launcher comes in. Wraith would have chosen a 'Dragonfire' for this, but those are heavy and ammo hungry. The Nightbane is a perfectly good option for someone as ammo-stringent as Wraith currently is. Since the Nightbane uses the same ammo as the Dragonfire, the rocket grenade, it can also be used as a rocket launcher for long-range firepower.
He also has a 'Viper' .50 cal Handgun as a backup. It packs quite a punch for a pistol, being chambered in .50 Action Express. It is capable of downing an Imp in one or two shots.
As for his armor, he is equipped with a 'Shell' Light Armor with a reactive armor upgrade. Along with his suite of stimpacks, potions, and bombs, he is equipped to deal with any expeditions to demon-infested areas.
The UAC may have said that the facility shouldn't be connected to Hell, but Wraith knew better than to trust their words, especially when said facility is working with Warp Gates in secret. That is not a good sign given the UAC's reputation with such things.
And sure enough, there are demons in the facility. Just outside near the entrance, Wraith spotted a small cadre of zombies and demons.
He adjusted his breathing mask and racked his shotgun, and ran off to meet his opponents.
The first enemy, an unsuspecting zombieman, got a buckshot right to his cranium, turning himself back into its corpse state. The other demons heard the gunshot and swiveled their heads towards the interloper.
A pinky rushed towards Wraith, who happily gave it three shots to the face, making it fall limp on the ground bathed in its blood. He then turned to aim at a chaingunner and shoot him before he could spool his gun. He did the same to a couple of zombiemen and another pinky beside them.
Before Wraith could advance, however, a fireball flew past him, prompting him to hide behind a stack of boxes and reload his shotgun.
"Six imps right by the entrance," he counted while leaning around the boxes.
Before he could attack the imps, however, the remaining zombiemen and pinkies rushed towards his position, aiming to surround him.
"Tough luck for them, then," Wraith quipped.
Wraith ran out of his hiding spot to meet the demons. He ducked and weaved through the imps' fireballs as he shot at the zombiemen and pinkies. One particular pinky almost bit him not before hitting it with a mean right hook.
With his upgraded speed, courtesy of AceCorp, he ran laps around the demons while barely breaking a sweat.
After mopping up the attacking demons, he turned his attention to the imps. He quickly closed the distance with the imps with his enhanced speed, firing shots at each of them. Their fireballs never as much grazed him as he strafed a bit to the side before firing his shotgun.
Seeing as the area is clear, he paused a bit to check his ammunition. He only fired two dozen shells from that engagement, not bad, he supposed.
No hits as well. Those upgrades to his legs really did wonders. If only he could pay it off.
Now, on to the mission. He looked at the massive door in front of him. He activated the switch, revealing a whole slew of demons inside.
Wraith could only rack his shotgun in excitement.
Unbeknownst to him, someone is watching through a small gap in space as he enters the facility.
"I'm bored…" said a succubus as she stared out the window of the Flagship Deathstrider. The massive ship was currently docked at an AceCorp Station.
It's been a few weeks since Wraith, along with Freylis and Balthazar left the ship to pursue contracts from far off systems. Visse was lounging around the flagship with nothing to do. Sitting across the table from her is Anastasia, one of the Deathstrider's arms dealers. She brushed aside her long white locks from her eyes as she looked at Visse with a raised eyebrow.
"There are a lot of holovids on the ship. Didn't you buy them for this exact occasion?"
"But I got bored with them!" Visse whined.
"Well… that's your problem." Anastasia sighed. It's true that the Deathstrider felt a little empty with the others going off on missions.
Though, isn't this just like years ago? Before that fateful encounter with that starfighter pilot. The only occupants of the ship were her and her sister, Visse, the Traveler, and her Father. They're not a particularly cheery bunch, especially her Father, and the sisters are frequently out of the ship due to their jobs as merchants.
"Hey, how about you join us with Lilith on our next supply run?"
Visse paused a bit at Anastasia's proposition. "Anastasia, you do know I'm a demon, right? You know how I feel with strangers staring at me, right?" she stifled a shudder. "I know I'm a succubus, so I should be used to it, but they still creep me out…"
Anastasia looks at her long-time friend for a moment. It was true. For a demon, Visse has a very human way of thinking. Anastasia sometimes wondered why Visse is what she is, which gave her Father a reason to spare her. "I know that. Look, Lilith and I are going to a fairly remote agricultural planet to sell some supplies. There wouldn't be many people there. And, you probably need some fresh air, given you're stuck here for quite a while."
"Fine…" Visse relented. "I probably do need some fresh air." She said as she looked out of the window again. The sea of stars fill her vision. She wonders which of them are where their comrades are located.
"Wraith… I wonder how you're doing…" She whispered quietly, but Anastasia managed to catch her words, leading to teasing for the next minute or so.
"Damn!" Wraith cursed as he dodged the twin fireballs launched from a now-dead Mancubus, its head blown off by a grenade.
This is getting much more intense than he'd anticipated. He silently thanked his leg upgrades for the speed boost required for dodging dozens of projectiles.
During his expedition throughout the facility, he found several logs detailing the events that lead to the current situation. It talked about the facility having two warp gates: one was in the same level Wraith was in, Warp Gate 2, and the other in the upper levels, Warp Gate 1. The logs told him that the Warp Gate 1 is the one connected to hell.
He would've liked to investigate the upper levels, but the lockdowns prevented any access to other parts of the facility. Oh well, he can deal with that later. What he can go to now, though, is Warp Gate 2. The logs didn't tell where the gate was connected. But, if it led to a human settlement, demons would pour right into their doorstep. He couldn't let that happen. And so, Wraith blasted his way through hordes of Imps, Revenants, and Hell Barons until he reached the warp gate.
"This is it," he said as he looked at the indescribable boundary between this place and wherever the gate was connected to. Just in case, he switched his ship to auto-pilot and prepared a beacon. Chances are, the gate connected might get cut off, and he has no guarantee he can hitch a ride on a spaceship or even have an interstellar comms station on the other side. In the event the connection does get cut off, his ship would try to locate the beacon in real space.
Wraith took a deep breath, "Here we go…" He said as he took a step into the unknown.
"This is where it begins." Said a feminine voice from a world located between worlds. "Now, how will you fare in my land, outsider?" She commented as she closed off Warp Gate 2.