Chapter 10 Hephaestus, Apollo, and Chronos

Max

July 25th, 2017

11:45 AM

Meridian Prime Warzone

No Man's Land

Me, Alex, Chloe, Rachel, Frank, Bryan, Kristine, Captain Cage, and Lieutenant Heard all make a brigade for ourselves at the checkpoint. Heard is analyzing the targeting computer to look for ways to take down the incoming Titan. Then HQ radios the captain for guidance.

HQ: (comms) Valor, this is HQ. We've uncovered ways you can take down the incoming Titan. There's a missile guidance system on that computer you can link to the harrier Madsen and Foley are piloting. The portal to Mount Genesis is interfering with our targeting systems from our fleets, but you can do so manually with that computer from your position.

Cage: Copy that, HQ. We'll be working on it as we speak. Out. Madsen, Foley, did you hear that?

Madsen: (comms) Loud and clear, Captain. We're halfway to the checkpoint, but you can start linking us now.

Cage: Affirmative, Cage out. You know what to do, Heard. Get that targeting system linked on the double!

Heard: Eye, eye, Captain!

As soon as Heard got to work on the targeting system, we heard a loud echo from near the checkpoint. It didn't sound like Fallen, but it did sound familiar. A sound I hadn't heard since my last visit to this island.

Rachel: The fuck was that?

Suddenly, a rocket was fired from the trees and hit an armored vehicle parked near the checkpoint. Exploding it on our site. Then we caught a visual of our entity and it was none other than Hephaestus. God of Fire and Masonry. Holding a stinger missile launcher in his hand. It would seem he had now been given access to more modern arms for his arsenal. Undoubtedly by ConDef.

Max: Oh, no.

Alex: Ah, no, not this mother fucker again. Is – is he holding a rocket launcher?!

Hephaestus then dropped his launcher and jumped towards us for a closer distance. He landed on his two feet with a loud hulking thump. The fire god himself appeared to be wearing a canister on his back filled with diesel fuel. Attached to a flamethrower gun for his hand. Surplus from ConDef. Befitting for a god of fire and metallurgy.

Hephaestus: I'm amazed you made it this far, Traveler. But this is as far as you get from here.

Max: The traveler has a name. Max Caulfield. And you can tell your master Ares that he underestimates this traveler gravely.

Hephaestus: Perhaps, but sentiments are nothing. Effects are everything. None of you will leave this place alive.

That is when Fallen reinforcements come out from the trees and bushes surrounding the checkpoint for Hephaestus's aid. Ready to assist their god and attack us from all directions. Everything from hounds and revenants alike. Then Hephaestus himself put on his flamethrower wand the slid into his hand like a glove. The fire god himself was about to turn up the heat on all of us.

Heard: Whoever the fuck that guy is, keep him and those Fallen away from me while I redirect the targeting system!

Cage: Valor Team, concentrate fire on the flamethrower guy and those Fallen! No one and nothing gets to Heard! Weapons free!

The whole team, except Heard, all fired their guns on Hephaestus or his supporting Fallen. Alex, Chloe, Rachel, Byran, Kristine, and Cage all shoot at the Fallen while I fire my rifle at Hephaestus himself. My bullets have little effect on the godly brute and shouldn't expect any less from a god himself. That is when he fires his flamethrower gauntlet at me and I use my exo-gauntlet to shield myself from his flame via Time Shard. Using the Time Shield it projects. I can feel the heat warming up my skin from the fire Hephaestus burns.

That is when Frank intervenes and pushes him away from me. Hephaestus ceases his fire as he's shoved to the side by the strength of Frank's exo-power from his exo-suit.

Frank: No one burns my time wielder and gets away with it!

Frank then reached for his laser sword from his back and ignited the laser cutter on the edge of the blade as he held his weapon by his hilt. Heard stocked him up well with his new boy toys.

Hephaestus: You dare challenge me, impudent mortal?!

Frank: Come at me, bro! And you'll see.

Hephaestus then reaches for his large ass sword he pulls from his back. A sword with a blade as thick as a Final Fantasy sword as he holds his weapon from the hilt. And that's when Frank and Hephaestus begin to clash with one another. Hephaestus also used her flamethrower to try and best Frank and Frank himself used his laser shield on his exo-armor to block the flame. That is when shotgun shells came showering over Hephaestus. It was Rachel armed with her double-barreled sawed-off shotgun.

Rachel came powerwalking toward Hephaestus with her tow-barreled gun pumping every shell into her godly opponent. All of which proved to be ineffective. Rachel holstered her shotgun and equipped her two katana swords to battle Hephaestus. The fire god and the face-painted warrior then engaged in a duel which wouldn't last long. Hephaestus's large-bladed sword proved too great for Rachel's. With every clash and cling, Rachel's swords were damaged by Hephaestus's blade and eventually her two swords were severed in half by the weight of the fire god's weapon. Hephaestus kicked Rachel backward with his large foot faltering her on the ground. Hephaestus was about to finish Rachel with a single fatal impale through her stomach. Until Frank himself intercepts and blocks Hephaestus's strike with his laser sword. Protecting his lovebird at all costs.

Frank and Hephaestus engage with each other again. Clashing their two big swords. Hephaestus was about to use his flamethrower again. Frank was going to shield himself again but in doing so, his shield had jammed and before his shield could activate, Hephaestus's flame had stung Frank. Scorching a good half of his face and skin. Frank cried in pain before Hephaestus knocked him away on the ground with the swing of his thrower.

Rachel: Frank!

Frank fumbled on the dirt ground. Brutally injured and burned by Hephaestus's inferno. I knew Frank would need help and that it would be up to me to take on Hephaestus now.

Max: Go help Frank! I got Hephaestus!

It was just me and him now. A time-traveler versus an almighty god of the Dark Order with a big ass sword. With every swing he struck at me with his massive weapon, I parried with my exo-gauntlet with my Time Shard installed. Using my time shield to block and counter his every strike. I was already exhausted from his attacks.

Then I suddenly remembered Excalibur's Sword that Chronos had lent me back on the Oregon. What was I thinking? I had it holstered with me this whole time and could have used it when Hephaestus arrived. Before Hephaestus could swing at me again, I immediately grabbed the hilt of my sword as its blade manifested from it and a long cling was heard. My sword locked against Hephaestus's. Excalibur became my lifesaver. My opponent and I force ourselves backward as we break away from our locking positions. My sword locked against Hephaestus's felt like taking a sledgehammer to a concrete building block. Even Hephaestus was surprised to see me wielding Excalibur.

Hephaestus: Impossible. It cannot be!

Max: (taking a breath) Oh, I think it can.

I swing my sword at Hephaestus and we both clash in a duel. The magic bound within Excalibur, recognizing me as the Traveler, kept my weapon from breaking unlike Rachel's. It even gave me the strength to keep my defense from breaking as well.

While the two of us clashed, Alex shot her rifle at Hephaestus's fuel canister he had been wearing behind his back powering her flamethrower. A couple of rounds poked holes through the fuel pack. Causing small geysers of flame to spew out. This gave Alex the idea that if they aimed for the fuel, they could use that tactic to defeat Hephaestus. The explosion could be enough to kill him.

Alex: Dad, Chloe, Rachel, Kristine, Captain, aim for the fuel! We can kick his ass that way!

Cage: You heard her! Shoot the fuel!

Everyone starts shooting the fuel tank on my opponent's back. Putting more holes and spewing more burning fuel out from the tank. Every shot my team took was every time Hephaestus tried turning himself around to face either Alex, Chloe, Rachel, Bryan, Kristine, or Cage. So long as he wasn't after Heard either. Then I freeze him with a time stasis bubble via the Time Shard on my gauntlet. Allowing him to hold still while every bullet fired entered the time bubble. The bullets froze in the stutter as well. That's when Captain Cage grabs an RPG from the checkpoint's munitions, aims for Hephaestus, and fires away. The warhead from Cage's heavy weapon rockets its way toward the fire god frozen in time. The rocket stuttered inside, too. Once the bubbles wore out, a massive explosion of fiery fuel was caused. Causing me to fly backward from the force of the explosion. In the explosion, Hephaestus is killed and defeated. Nothing left of the fallen god from the Dark Order but eviscerated flesh, a pair of legs with no body above them, and the head of Hephaestus lying on the dirt floor. The depravity of youth has prevailed.

Everyone caught their breaths. Observing the remains of Hephaestus. Three members of the order are down and only one to go. If this was all Ares had to throw at us, then he wouldn't stand a chance against the Traveler and the rest of Team Caulfield.

Alex: Whew, man, gotta hand to ya. He was tougher than my ex, Crystal. We're practically god-killers now!

Heard: I've got it!

Heard had finished linking up the missile guidance system. Not a moment too soon after Hephaestus's defeat.

Heard: Madsen, Foley, do you copy? The link is ready.

David: (comms) We got it, Heard. Targeting the Titan now.

While David on his bird was targeting the Titan; Chloe, Alex, Rachel, Byran, Kristine, Cage, and I hurried over to Frank. Sitting against a tree and badly injured from Hephaestus's flamethrower. His exo-armor was damaged with dented scorched metal and electrical sparks. Half his skin was bleached with burns. He was not in good shape.

Rachel: Frank, are you okay? Don't die on me now.

Frank: No…I'm not okay. How bad does it look?

Rachel: Really bad. You need medical attention.

Kristine: Agreed. He's not gonna make it. His burns are too severe. He won't be able to fight any longer in his condition. Captain, can you call in a medic?

Cage: HQ, this is Cage. We've got one of ours WIA and in need of medical assistance.

HQ: (comms) Copy that. We'll send a medical chopper your way. Just be sure the area is secured first.

Frank: (coughs) You girls were always a pain in the ass, you know that?

Chloe: Yeah, look who's talking. That cuts both ways.

Bryan: You fought well, Frank. That's all that matters.

Frank: (pointing at me) You're gonna win this for us, Max. I know you are. (cough) So don't go fucking this up for us now.

Max: I won't, Frank. I won't.

David on his harrier, still piloting the bird, set up his targeting computer and began locking onto the Titan he was flying towards. David aimed for the head. The crosshairs on the computer locked onto the Titan's head and David fired away. As David's missiles rocketed towards the Titan, flying closer and closer to their targets, they were suddenly flown off course. The missiles unnaturally diverted from their target and hit the ground floor instead. Exploding on impact.

Cayce: What the hell?

Cage: Madsen, what the fuck just happened?!

David: (comms) I don't know! The missiles were on target and they just flew off course out of nowhere!

Alex: And we haven't made a dent. Perfect.

Max: Who could have done this?

Rachel: Look out!

Suddenly, an object came flying in our direction. A tree trunk had been tossed at us and we all dodge out of the way. The tree comes rolling and smashes the targeting computer apart. Disabling any further chance of us destroying the Titan. Then a levitating figure enters the scene. It was none other than Apollo. The last surviving member of the Dark Order.

Apollo: I have.

Apollo lands on his two feet. We aim our guns at the robed God of Truth and Prophecy.

Apollo: Maxine Caulfield, what a tenacious young woman you are. Your defeat of Hephaestus is commendable yet futile. Your defiance of Ares's will ends now.

Max: It won't end the way you think, Apollo. Our last meeting in those shipwreckages was just a warm-up.

Apollo snaps his fingers. In comes more Fallen manifesting into our surroundings. Hounds, Revenants, and even Banshees just to make matters worse. We ready our guns to fight the Fallen and Apollo likewise.

Apollo: You may be the Traveler, Ms. Caulfield. But that does not make you nor your companions invincible. Destroy them.

The Fallen come attacking in every direction. Alex, Chloe, Rachel, Bryan, Frank, Cage, and Heard all fire their weapons at the Fallen. I shoot my gun at Apollo only for him to freeze my bullets in mid-air and fire them back at me. I deflect the bullets as well with my Time Shield. All stuttered in front of me until I maneuvered around them before the stutter wore out. I knew bullets would be ineffective and that's when I pulled out Excalibur again.

I swing Excalibur towards Apollo who then evades my every strike at him. Then Apollo pushes me away from him with his telekinesis. Then whips out a bladed weapon of his own.

Apollo: I see you have Excalibur in your hands. It won't help you.

I stand my ground and hold the sword in front of me.

Max: Watch me.

Apollo and I clash our blades together like a one-on-one lightsaber duel from Star Wars. Meanwhile, my whole team is in distress from the Fallen they're forced into fighting. Shooting their guns in every direction that every Fallen moves in.

Alex: Do these Fallen freaks ever let up?!

Chloe: No, Alex! They don't!

Cage: Everyone, concentrate your fire on the Fallen and give them everything you got!

As my duel with Apollo raged on, my skills with a sword were great. But Apollo's skills with his blade were even greater. We kept on clashing and locking our blades together. Apollo proving me better.

Apollo: Your skills are serviceable but rudimentary.

Apollo pushes me away with his telepathic power. Then lifts me up with his telepathy. Asphyxiating my body with his godly power from the inside. I cringe and weep in pain feeling Apollo's wrath overpower me.

Apollo: The gods chose a ninny for a Traveler.

Suddenly, Chronos intervenes. Pushing Apollo away with a time blast. I falter to the ground as Chronos lands on his feet during his interference.

Chronos: Maxine is no ninny. You are, Apollo.

Apollo: (back on his feet) Chronos, it's unsurprising you'd intercept. I expected as much from a traitor like you.

Chronos: You are the one betraying himself, God of Truth. I was merely corrupted but redeemed by the Sisters of Fate. You, however, betray everything your title stands for. From the truth to a drivel prophecy.

Apollo: Your blasphemy means little to me. Taking sides with the Traveler will be the last mistake of your godhood.

Chronos and Apollo battle one-on-one. The two of them thrust themselves upward in mid-air. Punch and kicking. Chronos utilizes his time abilities. Apollo utilizes his telepathy to his advantage. It was like a fight with Superman between them. Then I had a plan to take Apollo out.

Max: David, come in! Can you hear me?!

David: (comms) What is it, Max?

Max: Chronos is up there fighting Apollo. Can you see them?

David: (comms) I have visual.

Max: I have a plan to take him out. I need you to trust me. Wait till I give the signal. Then fire on him. Got that?

David: (comms) Copy that, Max. I'll try.

I then communicate with Chronos via our telepathic minds through the Time Shard.

Max: (telepathic mind) Chronos, can you hear me?

Chronos: (telepathic mind) What is it?

Max: (telepathic mind) Try holding Apollo in place somewhere for David to shoot him on his bird. I'll signal David once you do.

Chloe, Rachel, Alex, Bryan, Kristine, Cage, and Heard continue defending the checkpoint from the Fallen. Shooting every round, they have at them and giving them everything they got.

Alex: They're fucking everywhere!

Cage: Hold them! Just hold them!

Lynch: (comms) Gray One to Valor. Come in, Valor! This is Lynch!

Cage: What is it, Lynch?!

Lynch: (comms) We hear you're having some trouble down there. Mind if I assist with taking down that Titan of yours? I'm still armed with one more pair of missiles and my targeting system is still a go.

Cage: Do what you gotta do! Just hurry!

As Chronos kept battling Apollo, Chronos himself was able to seize Apollo by the neck and hold him steady inside a time bubble for David to aim for Apollo on his harrier. David then flew his bird around Chronos. Targeting Apollo. Chrono flew away from the line of fire. David locked onto Apollo trapped in the time stutter. He fired his 50 caliber guns at the God of Truth. The bullets when fired, are at first caught in the stutter with Apollo. Once the stutter wears down, the bullets shred through Apollo's body. Bullet wounds pierced through his stomach, legs, and head. Killing Apollo instantly.

Then the fallen member of the Dark Order comes descending from a thousand feet in the air. His body hits the island floor as he flatlines. Chronos flies back down to confirm David's kill. Chronos lands on his feet and sees Apollo's body flattened with massive bullet holes punctured through his flesh and his limbs shredded like cheese. Apollo was dead.

Max: (telepathic mind) Chronos, did we get him?

Chronos: (telepathic mind) Apollo is dead, Maxine. The Dark Order is no more.

Max: (telepathic mind) Good work then, Chronos. Well done. Thank you.

Chronos: (telepathic mind) No, Traveler. Thank you.

David: (comms) Max, did we get him? Is our kill confirmed?

Max: Kill confirmed, David. Apollo is down.

While the rest of my team fended off the fallen, Lynch finally made it over to our area where she could finally target the Titan.

Lynch: (comms) Lynch to Cage, I'm in the vicinity. The Titan is in range.

Cage: Go for it, Lynch! Blow that Titan to the ground!

Lynch's targeting computer locks onto the Titan and then presses the trigger. Unfortunately, her missiles malfunction. As her targeting computer read. A triggering error of some kind.

Lynch: Fuck!

Lynch takes a moment to think. Without any other alternative, she decided to make the ultimate sacrifice she never thought she'd make.

Lynch: Cage, my missile loadout has malfunctioned. I don't know how but I think I'm out of options here.

Cage: (comms) Malfunctioned?! What the fuck, Lynch?!

Lynch: Shit happens, Captain. Now's the time for the last resort. I'm gonna kamikaze this bitch instead.

Cage: (comms) You're gonna what?!

Lynch: You heard me, Cage. You and Mason said it best. No sacrifice is too great. No mission is too difficult. I'll be seeing Mason, Wheeler, Newblood, Logos, and your wife and kids on the other side. Be sure to give my parents a good eulogy for my funeral as well. There and back again, Captain. It's been an honor serving you.

Cage: (comms) Lynch, do not – (static)

Lynch cut her communications and flew directly towards the head of the Titan. David and Cayce could see Lynch flying her harrier near the Titan as they were flying near her airspace. Ready to go Independence Day on the Titan.

David: It's Lynch.

Cayce: What the hell is she doing?

As Lynch went full throttle towards the Titan, its eyes were glowing blue. Ready to fire its laser eyes away. But not before Lynch could execute her sacrificial kamikaze.

Lynch: Alright, you Titan asshole! In the words of my generation, up yours!

And not an instant too soon, just seconds before the Titan could fire its eyes, Lynch collided her bird against the head of the Titan. Causing a mass explosion. Killing Lynch and her Titan target. As Lynch's harrier was destroyed, so too was the Titan. The headless Titan then came collapsing backward like Lady Liberty falling down. Then Titan's body hit the island floor with a loud boom. David and Cayce were in the air as well as me, Chloe, Alex, Kristine, Bryan, Rachel, Frank who was still sitting down wounded, Cage, and Heard all watched from the ground. Lynch's death wouldn't go in vain.

Heard: She always did want to go out in a blaze of glory.

Moments later, David and Cayce landed their fighter jet near the checkpoint. Chronos was back on the ground with us as well. A medical helicopter came to pick up the wounded Frank. Loading him on a stretcher. Still in his exo-armor. Rachel said her goodbyes to Frank before the trauma team brought him on board the chopper. As the med chopper flew off to hospitalize Frank, some APC drove inside the checkpoint to pick us up for a lift to Mount Genesis. David and Cayce regrouped with us for a talk.

David: Max, thank god you made it.

Max: It didn't look good.

David, the rest of the team, and I walked forward to take a closer look at the portal the Titan had been guarding before Lynch destroyed it. Our gateway to High Providence. Through the portal open on Mount Genesis.

David: It gets worse.

Max: Of course, it does.

David: Penske just reported in. Several Hydras and Ares's Chrono Dragon have decimated most of the battalions. They're headed here.

Max: The Chrono Dragon?

Chronos: Ares knows we're close and he knows Apollo, Hephaestus, Nemesis, and Thanatos have been defeated. He'll be making immediate work out of all resistance, including us, just to keep us from reaching the ark inside High Providence.

Cayce: We still don't even know what we'll find when we're through that portal.

Max: We find the ark. A pyramid-like structure is at the center of the hidden city under Mount Genesis. That's what the portal is taking us to.

Cage: Alright, saddle up, everybody. And get me Admiral Penske. We're still just a few baby steps away from victory.

Chronos: I'll continue to keep watch from the skies. Good luck to you all.

On that note, Chronos took flight again and the rest of the team boarded the APCs. I, Alex, Chloe, Rachel, Bryan, David, Cayce, and Kristine get on one APC. Cage and Heard get on the other. Then our armored transports drive us down closer to Mount Genesis. Where our victory was closer at hand for all of us.

Note: At the time of completing this chapter, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure has been announced. Where Max Caulfield after all these years finally returns as the main protagonist! Brought to us in part by Deck Nine themselves. Looking forward to it like the rest of you all! ;)