Trevor's exile continues, but gets even worse. He has been through so, so much, but yet the Beasts keep coming, and people keep getting killed. And now, even Hell's weather is trying to kill Trevor and his team. Will he manage to get out of the storm of icy blades... or die trying?
___________________________________________________________________________
Hell’s weather was a pain. It went directly from sand and heat, to snow and cold with blade-like hail. No one without protection could survive for long out there- not even me.
'We need to find protection for outside.’ Maria said. She has lowered some of her scales so that Picard wouldn’t be minced when she picked him up. Picard has been knocked out by the shock of getting hit by the Blade-storm.
'The hail’s ice- metal should protect us.’ I said. The wreckage around us would be an easy location to get the plating from.
I went back into the hallway and grabbed ahold of a loose piece of metal. I then yanked at it, ripping the plate off bit by bit until it was pulled free with a loud crash. The panel was about seven feet wide and ten feet long; would be enough for us to huddle under.
'Let me just give us some handles...’ I said to Maria, who nodded. I then yanked some piping from the walls, twisted the weak metal into a U-shape, and then attached it to the metal with some repair tape Picard apparently had in his vest. I held the front end up with one hand, and Maria got the back end.
'Ready?’ I asked.
'As I’ll ever be.’ Maria replied, shrugging. We started climbing down the wreckage, still holding up the metal to protect ourselves. The Blade-storm kept on throwing the knife-hail at us, and we kept on hearing them explode on the metal.
'This metal doesn’t seem very thick...’ Maria commented.
'You may be right. Hopefully it lasts long enough until we find better shelter- and find our two missing teammates.’ I responded.
'Also, we should hope that there isn’t wind.’
'Shit, that’s something I didn’t think about! You feel any hint that wind’s going to start blowing, tilt the metal slightly in that direction!’ I said. Suddenly, wind started blowing towards Maria, and fast; we didn’t have the time to tilt our makeshift umbrella. I stood in her place, taking a burst of a couple dozen ice knives in my back and my limbs, making me fall over. Fuck, that hurt...
'Trevor! Come on, stand up! We can’t loose you!’ Maria said, helping me up. I felt blood trickling over my jaw.
'You... won’t.’ I groaned, grabbing my end of the metal again. The winds here lasted only for a few seconds, but they could be deadly. In any case, we continued moving. I didn’t even bother taking out the hail from my back right now; it would cause serious blood loss.
We made it down to the ground, and the hail was still exploding on the metal umbrella. But now, it was increasing in speed and the hail was getting bigger. One embedded itself in the metal- it was nearly a foot long!
'Where the hell could Ahiko and Leon be? And did they make it?’ Maria said. I had the Revenge in one hand, ready to attack and minced Demons if they came our way.
'We came out on the same side they did, so look around. This is turning into a fucking blizzard, so visibility is limited. We don’t know if they’re out there or not.’ I replied. We climbed a hill and spotted their flare- a light in the white darkness of the blizzard, slowly being snuffed out due to this wind. It seemed to be in front of a cave.
'Make for the flare, double time!’ I shouted. We then started running, and the hail lodged in my back rattled against each other. I felt the wind start to change, blowing at our lefts.
'Three O’clock!’ I cried, tilting the metal. The defense was successful, but Maria took a knife to the leg at the last second. She collapsed, dropping the metal and herself on a rock. She was knocked out cold, but under the metal. I levered the metal open so I could slide in, pulling the already unconscious Picard in behind me. I was stuck under a plate of metal with two unconscious people with a Blade-storm hacking away at the metal. Saffron’s advice would help so much right now...
I picked up Picard and put him over my shoulder, grabbing the metal in the process. I then noticed Maria’s scales went down when she was knocked out, so I was able to put her over my other shoulder. I staggered up onto my feet, two of my soldier on my shoulders, my only protection a piece of ragged sheet metal. Snow was already piling up, and I was almost knee deep. Picard and Maria’s weight kept on pushing the hail deeper into my flesh, making me growl in pain.
'I’ve got to... get you... two to...safety.’ I groaned through the pain, trudging on. Now I could even feel the cold trying to make me go asleep and fall into its frozen embrace.
'No... I will not... falter. I... I will persist. Rrraaggghh, come on!’ I roared, doing my best to put on some speed.
The cave was getting closer, but Maria’s scales relaxed for some reason, and then her dozens of bladed scaled slammed themselves into my flesh. I roared in pain as I fell to my knees.
'I won’t fall here! This is not the end!’ I growled. I got up and continued struggling on. The snow was knee-height now. I noticed the blades had become much smaller now, only about the size of small throwing knives, but the wind was getting harder. I neared the cave entrance, but the wind stole the metal out of my blood-covered hands. I hastily put my wings up to protect us, and they started getting riddled with the small blades of ice falling from the sky.
'Aaarrrggghhh! I will continue on, and I will not die today!’ I screamed, getting close to the cave. I stepped onto the hard rock, and then fell on my face. I grabbed both Maria and Picard and started dragging them into the cave, away from the storm. I saw the trail of blood I left just before I collapsed totally.

I woke up to find Ahiko over me, trying to heal my injuries.
'Ugh... Are Maria and Picard safe?’ I asked.
'They are, thanks to you. I’ve healed their injuries, and I’m doing my best to speed along your natural healing speed. I’ve been here for three hours, removing all of the shards in you.’
'How many...?’ I replied.
'132 shards in your back, limbs, and wings. Maria left another 26 puncture wounds.’
'Ugh, damn it. How many have you healed?’ I asked. I tried to move, but found that there was still some of the hail chunks in my back, and I screamed in pain before falling on my front again.
'Not many. It’s difficult getting all of them out without causing too much damage. I’m trying my best, though.’
'It’s all I can really ask for. Thank you, Ahiko. Keep up the good work.’ I groaned, still hurting. I decided to get some rest as Ahiko continued to try to heal me.

The next time I woke up, I was alone in the tunnel, but I could see a light in the chamber ahead of me. I then got up, and upon finding my wounds healed, I walked towards the tunnel. My torso was swathed in makeshift bandages, though.
I entered the round chamber to find my other team members sitting in the center of it around a small portable over, eating a meal. The round chamber was smooth and clean, so I sat down next to Maria.
'Glad to see you’ve returned to the land of the living, Trevor! Although I’m not to sure if the actual Hell would be worse than this one.’ She said. 'Oh, and sorry about injuring you further. I have to concentrate to pull the scales up, and when I was knocked out, that concentration was lost. So they eventually went down on their own.’
'Ah. No matter, I’ll be fine. Who got this food?’ I replied.
Leon made a small wave at me.
'Leon did. He took your metal sheet and got out there, entered back into the ship, and found supplies. We now have food, water, and some guns.’ Picard added. He handed me a steaming bowl of pasta. 'He’s also good at re-heating these things.’
'Ah, good.’ I replied, taking the bowl and greedily eating the food within. 'How long was I out?’
'Almost 24 hours. The storm’s been going strong ever since.’ Picard said.
'Any sign of the storm letting up?’
'There was a brief period where the fall slowed down; that was when Leon left to find supplies. Sadly, I see no end to the damned clouds that are throwing this shit at us. Thankfully, the snow stopped. Just hail and lightning, now.’
'So we just have to wait it out in here.’ Ahiko added. She looked tired.
'How many days worth of supplies do we have?’
'Just the two.’ Maria said. 'Hopefully the storm dies down by then. But I do have good news, though.’
'Oh? What?’ I asked. Leon tilted his head at Maria, intrigued.
'The World-Cracker ship’s destination on the planet is the pole we’re stuck in. If we can get them to notice us in a week’s time; we’ll be able to escape with them or one of the ships coming with them.’ Maria answered.
'So we have to hold out in this cave for a week.’
'Seems that way.’ Ahiko added.
I pulled out a knife and scratched a three by three grid on the rock.
'Well then, is anyone up for a game of Tic-tac-toe?’

Tic-tac-toe was short lived; I was beaten quickly. But we came up with a plan.
If the storm ever stopped, even for a short time period, all of us would head back to the wreck of the Zeus to salvage a vehicle- preferably a tank or APC of some sort; something that would protect us from any more of the Blade-storm. We would also collect a beacon of sorts and take it with us, and then head as close to the pole as possible. Thankfully, the World-cracker was going to go to this pole of the planet, so pickup would be easy. Hopefully.
But, if the Blade-storm did not cease, then we would have to go out one by one, protecting ourselves as well as possible with what he had. Ahiko would be first, so when she got over, she could heal the injuries of the others who crossed. Then our plan would be the same- hopefully it worked.
On the third day, the storm started to slow down, and there was actually a break in it. I discovered this one morning.
'Men, get your things ready! The Blade-storm’s stopped for now!’ I shouted. It was still snowing lightly, but there were no blades falling from the heavens. I could see the wreck of the Zeus in the distance, covered in snow.
'Damn, Trevor’s right!’ Maria added when she came up. The rest of the team came to the entrance with what supplies we had.
'Get moving. We don’t know how long this reprieve from the storm will last.’ I said, grabbing the plate metal I came in under. The team also grabbed the chunks they brought. 'May start coming down while we’re out there, I don’t know. But we need to get down quickly. Double time!’ I shouted, dashing out of the cave and into the two feet of snow. The team followed.
'Trevor, how are we going to get an APC from a ship that’s been flipped over?’ Picard asked.
'We have a lot of strength between the five of us. We all have demon blood flowing through our veins- that gives us strength, sadly to say. If the APC’s flipped, we’re just going to find some cables, attach the bastards, and yank it onto its wheels again.’ I replied.
'Actually, there’s something I just thought about that we should look for.’ Maria added.
'Oh, what?’ Ahiko asked.
'Mamba class attack ship. Those are almost 200 feet long, 50 across, have four turrets, and enough armor to stand up to the Blade-storm for a month. The Zeus had two of them.’
'They got names?’ I asked.
'Ares and Orion.’
'Ah yes, some of the children of Zeus. Makes sense.’ Ahiko said. Leon shrugged.
'So we need to find one of those, then. Were they docked in the front of the ship, or the back?’
'Ares was docked in the rear of the ship. Orion was in the front.’ Maria said.
'So we’re going to escape in a ship called Area? What fun.’ Picard mumbled. Our conversation was stopped when we passed a chunk of metal rubble that moved slightly.
'Wait, what was that...?’ Maria whispered. I got the Revenge ready.
'Beasts probably survived the Blade-storm.’ I replied. The metal moved more, and then was pushed aside. A Ripper climbed out- and was quickly torn apart by our gunfire.
'What the fuck was that?! Looked like a robot!’ Picard exclaimed.
'I call them Rippers. The aliens that used to live here created the things, and they’re working in tandem with the Beasts.’ I said.
'What’s one doing up here?’ He asked.
'Very good question.’

We neared the ship soon enough, and I could just spot a green flare high in the wreckage. It was burning bright- must of been lit recently.
'Team- get to the back, find the Ares. I’ll investigate that flare, and bring whoever’s at it with us. ' I said. 'Hopefully they’re alright.’
'Let’s hope. See you down there.’ Picard said, and Maria started leading them alongside the wreck. I took flight and landed up in the wreckage with the flare sitting next to my feet. The area it was connected to was a medical sector once, and it seemed empty. I walked over to the nearest intact room and wiped the soot off of its tag. Reconstruction Ward.
Taylor and Lewis. Lewis was supposed to be in there, and Taylor said he was going to stand by him for the whole time. These places are air-tight, too...
I pushed the door open to find its seal had been broken a few days ago. So perhaps not.
I made sure the Revenge was loaded as I entered. The ward was consisted of a main patient’s room with beds, and four operating theaters. The main room was empty apart from an unidentified body that had an arm cleanly severed off. The stub was covered up though; must of been a patient waiting for a new arm, but then was attacked. I decided to check the theaters.
The first one was empty of anything important. A patient was on the table in the center, ripped to shreds. Two Demons were inside, and I shot them down.
'Anyone in here, hiding? Hello?’ I asked. The only response was my echo.
I closed the door and went to the next one. It was empty. The third one was as well. But the fourth was different.
I opened the door and was almost hit with a bone saw swung by a familiar figure.
'Glad to see you’re still alive, Lewis.’ I said.
'Damn it, Trevor! Could you have knocked?’ Lewis replied. He had a new leg- a metal one that was shaped similar to his original one, but it had a built in space to hold his revolver. Taylor was behind him, and the both of them looked tired.
'No time. I’m trying to escape with some other survivors, and we need to get you two down there. Wait a second, you two aren’t infected- and the seal was broken on the ward!’ I said. I leveled the Revenge at their heads. 'How the fuck are you two still normal?!’
'Luck, that’s all. And we’re not, we just haven’t changed. Taylor’s blood type was O, but mine was originally A. But I had lost so much blood, they just threw in type O and so now I’m pretty much officially that. My operation was done a few hours before we crashed.’
'So it was pretty much impossible for anyone to survive without being infected... Damn it.’ I said.
'Yeah. It’s something that we’ll have to live with.’ Taylor said.
'Join the club. We’re all infected here.’ I responded.
'So you’re still with the Tainted? Did they all survive?’
'We lost one when escaping the ship. Died when we crashed.’ I replied.
'Sorry.’ Lewis answered.
'Doesn’t matter now; we should get out of here.’ I said.
'How far?’
'Not much. Come on, let’s get moving. You got any weapons?’
'My revolver, that’s it.’ Lewis responded, popping the revolver out of his mechanical leg.
'Then stay behind me.’
We exited the ward quickly, our guns ready. Two Demons and a Goliath charged at us from inside the ship, slashing Lewis and knocking me away. I leapt back onto my feet and blasted the Goliath, staggering it. I then reloaded and fired at its exposed flesh, ripping it to shreds. Lewis blasted the head off of the Demon that attacked him, and Taylor threw his Demon into an exposed wire, burning it to a cinder.
'That was quick.’ Lewis commented.
'You’ll get used to it.’ I responded, beckoning for them to start climbing down the wreckage. They were swift getting down- Taylor flew down, and Lewis leapt from piece to piece of debris. We landed on the ground, and I grabbed a piece of metal to be sure- just in case it started raining hard.
'To the back then? We have a long walk.’ Taylor said as we neared the edge of the crashed ship.
'Make it a run. We don’t need to get caught out here if the hail comes down.’ I added.
'Golf ball sized?’ Taylor asked.
'Dagger.’
'Oh.’
We started running down the edge of the ship, but after a short while I noticed the storm was getting rougher. A small, pin sized chunk of ice embedded in my shoulder, and I tore it out.
'Shit! The Blade-storm’s back! Get under the metal, guys!’ I shouted, holding up the plate metal. Lewis and Taylor got up to me, pulling in as much of themselves as they could to fit under the metal, and we kept moving.
'What if something attacks us?’ Lewis commented. The ice was coming down hard now.
'Then we kill the thing. Simple.’ I said. We still had a long ways to struggle on, but thankfully the looming wreck next to us blocked some of the hail.
There was an explosion ahead, and a Basilisk smashed its way out of the ship! It roared when it noticed us, and started charging.
'Shit! Grab the metal, quick!’ I shouted, and the two men with me grabbed either end of the metal. I then switched to the Bloody Talon and fired, blowing its head off just before it got within range of its own attacks.
'Shall we keep holding it, and you defend? May be a better idea.’ Lewis commented.
'You’re probably right.’ I replied. The Bloody Talon’s barrel stuck just outside of the metal, and was getting scratched up by the hail hitting it. But we kept moving.
An explosion rocked the air from above- something had blown out of a hatch. We looked up to see a few Wyverns come flying out, screeching first in joy of finding us, but then in pain when they were shredded.
'Hah, you bastards! Get a taste of your own medicine!’ Taylor shouted.
'Calm down, Taylor. We need to get out of this before you can start shouting at those things.’ Lewis said.
'Just keep running.’ I added. We did.

A few minutes later, we were nearing the rear of the ship- we turned the corner, and found a large gunship waiting for us, hovering a few feet off the ground. The craft’s shape was a large kite, with the cockpit at the shorter end. Two turrets were mounted on the front end, two on the back. Its plate metal was a dull grey, and I could see an array of rockets on its back. When we neared, the door on the side opened and Maria poked her head out.
'Get in!’ She shouted. Lewis dropped his end of the metal when we leapt in first, but I caught his end. Lewis leapt in next, and I was the last one in as the Ares started rising.
The inside of the Ares was constrained, but there was enough space for the seven of us. There was a cross-shaped walkway in the center of the ship with a platform in the intersection. Paths from the corners of the platform connected to the turrets, and the longer back held orbital drop bays. The cockpit was a one-man job, and the orbital drop bays had only four slots, with what looked like OEPS suits inside of them. But they looked a bit different...
'Welcome to the Ares, guys. Glad to see you rescued some people, Trevor. I’ll introduce them to the rest of the team, feel free to ask about things in here, Trevor.’ Maria said. She started talking to Taylor and Lewis as I approached the OEPS. Picard was trying to suit up in one.
'Is it common for gunships to carry OEPS suits now?’ I asked Picard. Picard managed to put on the leggings as I spoke.
'I know you’re out of date, Trevor- these aren’t OEPS. They’re classified as ORCA.’ Picard said.
'ORCA?’
'Orbital Recon and Combat Armor.’ Picard replied. He fastened on the chest plate of the suit, barely fastening it on his wings.
'Huh. I like it.’ I said.
'They’re even stronger, more well armored, and are built to withstand the Beasts. They’ve even got a better AI built in.’
'You’ve got to be kidding me, another AI? Are they the annoying type?’ I asked.
'Not usually. The one on the right in the back should fit you.’ Picard finished, putting on his helmet and calibrating things. The helmet reminded me of the old OEPS helm.
I slowly put the gear on, noticing the fact that the armor was changing slowly in a fashion akin to the last time I put on a OEPS. It was slowly turning to a shape of crimson, spines were appearing on the wrists and ankles, ect.
I fastened on the chest armor, and it quickly followed suit to the leggings. The front armor reconfigured itself, suiting my torso. The gloves formed their spines, and then large claws of titanium formed. I then grabbed the helmet and put it on. The front of the helmet formed into a hooked shape, and spine grew on its back. The tinted glass on it turned to a red tint, and the HUD flickered, but stayed on. It registered all of my weapons, showing how much ammo I had for each in the corner of the HUD. The AI that was supposed to be built into the suit seemed to be inactive.
'Does that happen often, Trevor?’ Picard asked.
'Does what happen often?’ I replied.
'You suit changing like that. I’ve never seen someone put on something and it change to suit them.’
'I didn’t choose for it to look like this. It’s done this with an OEPS as well.’
'You have so much demonic energy flowing through you that it changed an ORCA suit? Damn, should I be worried?’
'I can control it, so don’t worry.’ I said. We had left two suits that had no built on wing attachments- so only a few of us could use it. Lewis, Ahiko- shit, those were the only two.
We stepped into the cockpit next to Maria, who was piloting the Ares through some of the worst of the storm. Ice kept exploding on the ship’s hull, their shards glittering through the air.
'We need to find a large shelter, somewhere to hide until the World-cracker gets here. The Ares can survive in the ice, but we can’t. So we need- holy shit, Trevor! Your suit!’ Maria said.
'I know. It happens. Just continue explaining, please.’ I said, annoyed.
'Alright then. We need to find ourselves a cave or something as close to the magnetic pole as possible so that we can get to the World-cracker as soon as we can.’
The ship was shaken by some turbulence. Then it happened again.
'That can’t be the weather...’
Turbulence shoot the ship again, and I spotted the shadows of two pairs of massive wings.
'Man the turrets, everyone! We got an attacker coming up!’ I shouted. Picard leapt into a turret, and Leon took the opposite one. Lewis and Taylor took the two back ones.
‘How the fuck is that thing still alive?- It’s raining practical swords out there!’ Maria exclaimed. We shut up about the weather when a massive green-scaled serpent flew past the cockpit, its body trailing on for several seconds. It was twenty feet wide, and at least a few hundred long! It flapped its two pairs of dragon-like wings and almost flipped us over.
‘Hebi.’ Ahiko mumbled.
‘Hebi?’ I asked, confused.
‘Japanese for Serpent.’ Ahiko replied. The ship was shaken so badly again that sparks flew.
'Shit! We need to get rid of the Hebi!’ Maria shouted. Gunfire broke out from our left flank- it was there.
I suddenly had an idea.
'Get it under us, quickly!’ I shouted, standing on the edge of the orbital drop shafts. I drew the Soul-blade; I only used it on special occasions.
Turbulence hit us again, and I saw the scaled side of the Hebi under us, in the shaft. I then leapt into the shaft before landing on the Hebi, my sword impaled into its thick scales. It didn’t even notice.
'Trevor, hang on! We’re going to try to take this thing down!’ Picard said. He was the only one able to talk to me right now because he was the only other one in an ORCA suit.
'Why the fuck do you think I’m hanging onto it right now by a sword blade? I’m going to take it down for us. You just lay covering fire.’ I replied. I got ahold of the edge of a rough scale before pulling myself further up. I then withdrew the Soul-blade and impaled it further up.
'I know you’re here, Hero...’ The Hebi said, its voice echoing in the storm. The Blade-storm wasn’t effecting either of us right now.
‘Good!’ I replied with a shout. I drew the Bloody Talon in one hand- I could see the head of the monster coming my way. It roared- and a huge jet of flame came out!
‘You will burn, Hero!’ Hebi roared. He went at me, flames flickering on the edges of its mouth. I blocked myself with my wing just as he flew past.
I discovered that I wasn’t even lightly toasted. I then fired at his head, but missed. The recoil from the shot almost knocked me off.
‘That puny weapon will not vanquish me.’ Hebi said.
‘Puny? Hah! You don’t know firepower, then!’ I shouted back, getting ahold of the Hebi’s scales again. I fired a second time, this time grazing the scales on its neck. Blood spurted out and scale fragments flew.
‘RRRAAAGGGHHH!’ Hebi screeched. He tried to rip me off with his teeth, but I leapt into the air and then landed on his head. I accidentally left the Soul Blade in the flesh below, though. I grabbed onto a loose scale.
'Time to die, bastard!’ I roared, drawing the Revenge and slamming the barrels into Hebi’s exposed flesh. I loaded both scales into its flesh, but didn’t kill it. Shit, its flesh was tough!
'I won’t die yet!’ Hebi replied, flinging me off. I caught myself in the air and took flight, diving at its head again. I spotted the Ares firing at Hebi from a distance away.
'The gunfire will not injure me, not like that!’ Hebi screamed.
'But this will!’ I shouted, switching to the Bloody Talon and holding its blade high. I slammed it down into Hebi’s exposed flesh, spewing out blood. I then impaled my claws into the monster’s flesh, hacking away further while hanging on. I roared in rage, getting covered in blood at the same time. I hacked down to grey matter, and then shot the exposed brain. The Hebi roared in agony before it stopped its retaliation, and started falling. I fell off, and found myself to tired to try flying. I slammed into the ground, unconscious and with the Blade-storm still going strong.

I woke up to find Picard over me, dragging me into the landed Ares.
'What happened...?’ I muttered. A blade-hail slammed against my visor, shattering on it. Thank god for the ORCA suit.
'You kicked the Hebi’s ass, that’s what.’
'Good. Everyone on the ship alright?’ I asked. I tried to stand up, but fell over. Picard took my hand, helped me up, and supported me as we limped to the ship.
'They’re fine. But you need to rest. Let Ahiko heal you up a bit.’ Picard replied.
'She needs a break too. I can heal fine, I just need to sit down.’ I added.
'Alright.’ Picard helped me up into the Ares, and then pulled himself up. I staggered over to a crate, and laid down on it. The Ares took off.
'Trevor, you alright?’ Lewis asked. He was doing his best to suit up in an ORCA suit.
'Exhausted.’ I said. That thing was the biggest Beast I’ve killed on my own, and the only thing larger I’ve killed was the Gatekeeper- but that was by hitting a button. The battle was surprisingly short, but rough.
'Get some rest then, general. You deserve it.’

I woke up on the crate again, my armor still on and the Revenge laying on the ground next to me. I roused myself and picked up the Revenge, putting it on my back. The red-tinted HUD flickered and an annoying familiar face appeared on it.
'Trickster.’ I whispered.
'Yes, it’s me, Trevor. Back to continue the delightful torment.’ He replied.
'Tell me, Trickster- why do you enjoying ending so many lives?’
'Your kind are like insects to me. And you- you’re the annoying wasp that won’t leave me alone. The one which I continue to try to swat, but miss each time. I could usually just stop your heart, right here and now, but my damned brother the Raven has stopped that from happening. That was his last gift.’
'Last... gift? What do you mean?’ I muttered.
'He got in the way too many times. I destroyed him.’ The Trickster replied. The helmeted coyote face on my screen gave a smug smirk.
'You fucking bastard!’ I exclaimed.
'You don’t have him to help you any more, or to keep the fabric of your reality in shape! You’re finished! My gatekeepers may have been destroyed, but more will come, and the loyal Amon will protect them! All I need is one Gatekeeper, and it can destroy the fabric of your dimension.’
'We’ll stop it before that happens. And don’t even try to say they’re un-killable; I know they aren’t.’
'You of all people would know.’ The Trickster said. 'And others have killed them too. But just one took half a million men just to clear a path to it. True, the three I’ve sent to your world have been killed so far- one by a band of Exo-suits, another by a couple dozen battalions of tanks, and the last one by a few nukes. But more are coming, and they’ll leave more damage then the one destroyed by the nukes.’
'What’s so special about that last one?’ I asked, confused.
'It was located in... you call it California. ADF had no large groups of troops nearby, so they threw every single piece of nuclear firepower they could at it. And guess what? They caused more destruction than I could’ve even done; their nukes hit a fault line. Sunk the western half of America with parts of Canada and Mexico. 23 million dead, haha!’
My jaw dropped at the news. How could ADF be so foolish? And why wasn’t I told of this...?
'Oh, you didn’t know? It only happened a few months ago, so I guess it makes sense. Everyone you’ve got with you left Earth about a year back, and are faster than transmissions to them. They may get the news in a few months, if you people are even around.’
'Yeah, we’ll be leaving.’ I replied.
'No, you’ll be dead. I have my largest force awaiting the World-cracker’s arrival. That thing- it is akin to a poisonous spider. Actually dangerous, but easily beaten. Hahaha.’
'Fuck you, Trickster.’ I said, taking off the helmet. That shut him up.
'Trevor, you sure you’re alright? You were just standing there for a good few minutes.’ Lewis asked. He was suited up in an ORCA.
'Yeah, I’m fine.’ I said, deciding to keep the news to myself.
'Good. Because we’ve got a problem.’ Lewis said. I then realized all four guns on the ship were firing at full capacity right now. I peered down one of the orbital drop chutes.
Below us was what seemed to be a metal land. Metal plating moving like a sea, fluctuating and moving like an organic being- and then I realized it was. Goliaths, hundreds of them! They were using their shields as cover from the Blade-storm!
'You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’ I commented.
'Nope.’ Lewis responded, firing at a few of them from the chute. I decided to open the side doors and fire at them from there with the Bloody Talon. I fired at what seemed to be a larger group of them, and killed three in one blast. They were sheltering Demons below them!
'So they do work together. How intelligent are these fuckers?’ Picard shouted from his turret.
'Seems to be very!’ Maria said. I spotted a Monolith staggering towards us, its back covered in shards. I fired off a shot, blowing its head off. But this wasn’t before it could release a missile barrage at us. Most of the missiles were shot down, but two impacted, blowing off armor and causing Leon to get blown from his turret. He landed on the walkway, battered but still alive.
'You alright, Leon?’ Maria shouted back to him as she piloted the ship higher. Leon gave her a thumbs up before collecting his gun and joining me at the door, firing at the Demons. I stopped firing, seeing as it wasn’t doing much.
'We need to have some sort of weapon with an area of effect. Like chain lightning or explosives.’ I said. Leon pulled a dozen grenades form under his jacket.
'We need bigger, I’m afraid. This is a gunship; it should have missiles!’
'Should. But it doesn’t or some reason.’ Maria replied.
'I think a Monolith took them.’ Ahiko replied.
'Damn it.’ I muttered. 'We need to get away.’
'Agreed.’ Maria said. She was nearing the clouds, and the gunfire stopped. With the Goliaths below us, we didn’t have to worry.
We passed through the storm clouds, and were battered by dozens of massive shards that were floating around up there. One shard the size of a greatsword slammed into the hole that was once Leon’s turret and became jammed in there, but didn’t hurt us.
We exited the clouds, and for a brief moment it was silent. Above the clouds it was... well, pretty amazing. The sky was tinted dark red, and the sun was high in the sky. But that brief moment of respite was short...
There must of been another Monolith below us, for a missile impacted the underside of the Ares and blew out the directional engines. Red lights started flashing as we began to plummet back through the clouds.
'Fucking hell! We’re going down!’ Picard shouted. He bailed, and Lewis jumped out after him. I tried to stagger to the door, but I spotted the ground before I reach it. We slammed into the sea of Goliaths, and I was knocked out.

I woke up to find myself in the snow, fires burning all around. Goliaths were slowly approaching me from all around, but I jumped up and held the scorched Revenge at them. They backed off.
'Guys? Hey, where is everyone?’ I shouted. No one replied but the growls of the Goliaths. One started towards me.
'Back, bastard! Back!’ I shouted, aiming the Revenge directly at it. It fell onto its back, and the storm killed it.
'Maria! Taylor! Leon! Hello?’ I shouted. I spotted Ahiko near the other end of the wreck, badly injured, so I ran over to her.
'Ahiko! Damn it, why aren’t you healing?’ I shouted, trying to pick her up. A chunk of metal had impaled itself in her chest, and she was covered in other injuries. Thankfully, she was under an alcove so she wasn’t getting hit by the storm.
'I can only heal others, Trevor. Not... myself.’ Ahiko replied. 'If you make it back, find my kits. Tell them that their mother misses them so much...’ Tears streamed from her eyes.
'No, Ahiko! You’ll survive this! You’ll get to see your children again!’ I shouted, doing my best to pull out the metal in her chest. She stopped me.
If you removed that, I would bleed out... Go,Trevor. Save the world.’
'If I channel some of my power, I can heal you. You have to live!’
'I would bleed out too quickly for you to heal me.’ Ahiko said. 'Behind you.’
I turned to see a Goliath trying to creep up on me.
'Get back, you god-damned bastards! Back, back, back!’ I roared at it in Beast-tongue, swinging the Revenge in its direction. I felt the Aura flickering over my skin. I then turned back to Ahiko.
'Alright, I’m going to yank this out and then try to heal you. Wish me luck.’ I said. Ahiko started shaking her head and trying to tell me to stop, but I yanked the metal out. Blood spurted out, but I laid my hands on her skin and used as much power as I could to heal her. The wound started to shrink, but her eyes closed.
'Come on!’ I roared, trying to heal her further. The massive wound sealed up, but her eyes remained closed. I felt for a pulse- nothing. She was gone.
'RRRRAAAGGGHHH!’ I roared in rage. There weren’t even any bodies of my lost team members left- it was just me now.
I spun around and fired at the first Goliath in my way, blowing it apart. I then reloaded and charged at them.
I leapt onto the first Goliath, ripping its shield of scrap metal way from it and throwing it into another one. I then switched to the Bloody Talon, as it had a bigger blade. Right as I pulled it out, a Goliath leapt on top of me, flinging me onto my back. Another Goliath leapt onto me. And another. And another...
I was covered in a pile of Demons, and I could feel them trying to tear into my flesh, but my armor stopped them. I couldn’t move... But I could feel the aura surging in power.
I somehow caused an explosion which flung the mound of Goliaths off of me, sending them flying into the blizzard to die. I got up, and the heat of the Aura was melting the snow around me. The heat was tremendous, but my armor withstood it. The Demons didn’t, though. They retreated from me just to get killed by the storm.
Sadly, I could not hold the powerful Aura for long, and the flames of vengeance flickered out. But I still fought.
A Leviathan clad in heavy armor walked towards me, its massive hammer dragging along behind it. It roared in delight, seeing me without the power of the Aura. It then swung downwards, but I side-stepped its attack. It then pulled back and slammed the ground again, flinging snow everywhere and flinging me back with the shock wave. I flipped onto my feet and fired the Bloody Talon into its face, knocking it back. I then leapt onto its massive, 15 foot hammer and ran up it, the Bloody Talon held high. It regained its concentration just when I sliced through its arm. It screeched in agony, and then I hacked into its jugular when it was distracted. I landed on my feet as the Leviathan crashed to the ground. And yet, more attackers came.
Demons charged at me, crashing through the storm’s hail. Two fell to the storm, but the other dozen kept on going- so I grabbed the nearest thing to me; the Leviathan’s hammer. It must of weighed several hundred pounds, but I swung with all my might and it impacted my attackers. The bodies flew, and the weight of the hammer made me drop it.
Two bone-spikes slammed into my armor, but I dodged the third one. I then spotted the attacking Lurchers, and then fired at them. The Bloody Talon’s round blew both of them up, and during the fight, I could see some conflict happening further off. So I pushed ahead to it.
Two Demons charged me, but I slammed them away. A Goliath then charged, but I jumped it and sliced into its flesh with the Bloody Talon. I switched to the Revenge when I landed and then used it to blow two more Demons away. The conflict that was ahead was close, so I charged through.
I held the Revenge’s blade high, hacking through Beast after Beast. I was stopped when a Goliath rammed me, throwing me into the crowd of Demons. They started hacking and bitting me, but the armor stopped them. I then grabbed the Demon trying to break my visor, grabbed it by its neck, and then threw it into the others on me. I jumped up again and landed a foot in the chest of a nearby Octo-gore. It staggered back, giving me a chance to slam the Revenge’s ax into its flesh. I then ripped the ax quickly out and continued charging towards the conflict ahead. I ended up rolling into it, and almost knocked over Picard. Lewis was fighting alongside, and both were suited up. I stood up, and the three of us were in a triangle, fighting off the attacks from all sides.
'Trevor! Glad to see you’re alive!’ Lewis shouted. His armor was badly scratched up and one leg plate was missing, exposing wires.
'Yeah, but what about everyone else? We lost Ahiko, though.’ I replied. I punched a Demon in the face, breaking its skull.
'Damn it, another loss! We haven’t seen the others, though!’ Picard shouted. His visor was cracked and the armor on his left shoulder was badly dented. He had found a shotgun, and was shooting through the Demons like it was no one’s business.
'We need to get out of here! I’ll pick up Lewis, we’re getting out of here by air!’ I cried over the roar of the Beasts. I then gave Lewis my hand and pulled him up, taking off. My equipment was heavy, and so was Lewis, but the jets on the ORCA helped the burden. Picard took flight shortly after me, and we both spotted something important in the distance.
'Looks like one of the storage units that got ejected from the ship! Didn’t go far because the Zeus went down quickly!’ Lewis shouted.
'Dying gifts from a lost ship. We need to reach it!’ I replied, darting towards it. Lewis and I took a good few bone spikes as we neared, and Picard did too, most likely. I landed next to the doors on the ejected cargo hold, dropping Lewis as I did so. The horde was a small distance away, but it was far enough to give us some time.
Picard skidded to the ground next to me when I grabbed the handle of the doors and then tried to pull them open. They barely moved. Then the door broke free of whatever was constraining it, and flew wide open. Inside... Well, we got damn lucky.
'Oooohhh damn.’ Picard said, reacting to the massive four-legged, 70 foot long, 20 foot wide, 30 foot tall, armed with dual cannons tank machine. It’s armor was angular and jutted up to where the turret rested, a solid seven or so feet above the rest of the vehicle. The turret’s guns reminded me of an old battleship’s, but they were larger. The legs were 20 feet each and ended with five-pronged feet that looked like they could form into spikes. The vehicle was painted dark blue. 'I doubt you would know this vehicle, Trevor- it’s a new-ish model, made a few years ago.’ Picard continued. ' We call them the Devil-Slayers. Powerful six-wheeled vehicles of destruction. Cannon’s simple; same design since almost the Re-Evolution. You man that, Trevor. I’ll get it ready to drive; Lewis- get it refueling.’
'Right!’ Lewis shouted. I now noticed the large machine in the dark corner of the room that was made to fuel this monstrosity of a vehicle. Lewis hooked it up and started pumping as I climbed to my turret. Picard had already entered the cabin.
'What’s the top speed on this thing?’ I asked out of curiosity- mostly. In part of the fear that the Gatekeeper would resurface.
'170. Runs on good synthetic super diesel.’ Picard replied. 'Kind of the reason they aren’t used much. Better get firing, Trevor. They’re coming.’
I leapt into the turret and then took aim. I could see a horde coming close- so I started firing.
The cannon fired in bursts- the left barrel fired off four rounds, then the right. As one fired, the other reloaded. Each burst fired off quick, and would blow some serious craters. Bodies flew as I fired, and they kept on getting blasted away. But I couldn’t turn the turret yet- the vehicle didn’t have any power.
'We better fuel quickly! I can’t turn the fucking turret!’ I shouted. Several rounds missed attacking enemies, and so I had to shoot them down with the Revenge by leaning out of the turret.
'Almost 40 percent!’ Lewis replied from below, picking off the occasional Demon who made it past us.
'Only fuel it to what we need, we’re only getting out of here!’ I responded. I blasted a Leviathan apart from long distance as I spoke.
'70 percent should do it!, it could run on that much for a long while!’ Picard said. He did something, and my turret’s hinge unlocked. Now I could aim.
'Thanks!’ I shouted. I cleared the general area of the doorway, killing a dozen Beasts on the spot. Blood splattered everywhere, but I kept firing.
'58 percent, guys!’ Lewis shouted over the gunfire. Almost there.
The turret jammed, and to fix it I pulled the firing lever a few times. The jammed shell flew out the side access, and the turret continued working. Just in time to, because a Leviathan jumped into the fire path. It took a series of a few dozen rounds before being blown in half.
'69 percent! Go, go, go!’ Lewis shouted, leaping onto the back of the Devil-Killer. The motors on the massive machine roared into life, and the thing crawled out of the storage unit. It stood at full height- perhaps 40 feet. We then started running, smashing a few Demons with every step. The ground shook; and so did I.
'We need to get to shelter! Get away from this endless horde!’ Lewis shouted.
'Gatekeeper tunnels! The Devil-Killer can support itself in those!’ Picard shouted. We could see some Gatekeeper tunnels on the mountain side a short distance away. I cleared two Basilisks out of the way as we dashed towards it.
'But what if the Gatekeeper’s in them?’ I replied.
'Then we better fucking hope that we can outrun it.’
The Devil-Killer kicked a boulder out of the way as we ran, crushing a Leviathan. I finished it off with a burst of fire, whittling down the other attackers from behind. As I did so, a bone spike crashed into the turret’s chassis right next to me. Fucking Lurchers.
I ducked as a volley of spikes slammed into the body of the turret, two cracking into my armor.
'God damn it, we need to get out of here!’ I shouted, popping my head over the edge of the turret and firing again. The massive turret ripped through the horde, but the spikes kept on impacting. I peered back up again just as we flew into the tunnel. The place was massive- the roof of the tunnel was several hundred feet above. I noticed something at the edge of the tunnel...
'The Demons are stopping at the edge of the tunnel...’ I stated.
'Is fear stopping them?’ Picard asked.
'Would make sense. Or perhaps just simple avoidance of a danger zone, like how an ADF soldier would stay out of the way of a tank.’ Lewis added.
'So, you’re saying that they’re staying out of the way of their heavy guns?’ I said. We sped down a three way tunnel, and started downhill.
'Their heavy guns being a Gatekeeper...’ I responded. A huge, echoing roar shook the tunnel, raining dirt on us. Then I spotted light from behind us, from the three way we didn’t go down.
'Oh, you’ve got to be fucking joking! Hang on tight, and strap yourselves in!’ Picard shouted. The roar echoed again, and the tunnel started rumbling. The Devil-Killer strafed to the side, and then started climbing on the wall. The feet had formed into spikes, and they were keeping it up. I strapped myself in just in time.
'Gatekeeper!’ I roared, spotting the monster’s face in the darkness. 'You will not claim our lives, not today!’
The dirt tunnel partially collapsed behind us as the Gatekeeper screeched in rage. Tendrils flew at us, almost toppling the Devil-Killer. But in response, Picard flipped the flexible Devil-Killer’s legs over, leaving us running upside down for a moment. The other half of legs flipped next, righting us out and allowing me to fire properly again. We had just narrowly avoided a large collapse as we ran.
'Fucking tunnels are all dirt! Nothing stable in sight!’ I shouted.
'Alright, why the fuck did the Gatekeeper not tunnel through stone?’ Picard responded.
'Perhaps it can’t! Picard, find us some stone- perhaps a cave or something to hide in! We can escape that way!’
'Better be a fucking long cave! Don’t forget the tendrils!’ Lewis added.
'Then we better fucking drive- er, run.’ I replied, firing at the Gatekeeper as fast as I could. Small chunks of flesh flew from the Gatekeeper, but it didn’t even react much. The explosions that the gun created was all the light we had.
Half of the tunnel ahead of us collapsed in a huge explosion, and the Devil-Killer just narrowly avoided it. I brushed the dirt from my visor as we sped past. Stones bounced off of the vehicle’s hull, one almost cracking me in the head. We spotted large stones in the wall- we were getting deep underground. We sped past a side path, and we could see what seemed to be a dead end ahead.
'Shit, what the hell are you doing? That’s a dead end!’ I screamed.
'No, look closer! Eagle eyes are good at spotting those caves!’ Picard shouted. He was right- I could see an almost perfectly triangular entrance ahead. It seemed to be just large enough.
A tendril smashed through rocks nearby, chucking a boulder onto the side of the vehicle. It left a large dent and staggered us, almost slowing us down to the point to where the Gatekeeper crushed us. The Demon-Killer slid into the hole and kept on thundering down the tunnel, which was now a thin, stone shaft. The Gatekeeper slammed into the entrance and tried to slam us with its tendrils, but to no avail. We had just escaped.
'Fuck, we made it. Good piloting, Picard.’ Lewis said. 'And Trevor, was the gunfire even doing anything?’
'Nope.’ I responded. I couldn’t turn my turret at the moment- the space was too thin. My head was also almost hitting the roof, so I ducked into the turret and relaxed somewhat.
'I can’t even see the end of this tunnel. It better open up somewhere, anyways.’ Picard added.
'And what if it doesn’t? What if it, after a dozen or so miles of stone tunnel, just ends?’ I speculated.
'We better not be thinking like that.’ Lewis added, nervously.
'You’re right. This tunnel is rather cleanly cut- probably Distributor made. So it should open up somewhere. What speed are you going at, Picard? We need to compute the length of this tunnel, and the angle of it.’ I responded.
'Don’t worry, I’m already measuring it. We’re going at a... shit, an exact 30 degree angle. Yeah, this tunnel isn’t natural.’ Picard said.
'No shit, Sherlock. We need to get to the end of this thing, and soon.’

Ten minutes later, we could spot a distance light at the end. It was distant, but there.
'We’re getting somewhere, finally. Hasn’t even been a change in the tunnel, either. Picard, how far are we down?’
'Let me think... ten minutes at 120 miles an hour... at 30 degrees... We’re about ten miles down, perhaps a little more. It’s deep. We also traveled about 20 miles down that damned tunnel.’
'How is it that you’re so good at math?’ Lewis asked.
'Don’t you remember high school geometry?’ Picard replied. 'I may of been a football player in high school, but I wasn’t stupid. Unlike the rest of the team.’
I chuckled at Picard’s joke as we neared the entrance, but then shut up when we got out.
The tunnel exit led onto a massive stone beam which reached over what looked like a magma lake. This “lake” reached off into the distance and into the darkness, but it still lit up a lot.
I could see countless stone bridges crossing the mile long span of lava, and from them hundreds of cages hung. Balconies dotted the cliffs alongside the lava, and Beasts could be seen on it. We could even see what we thought was a Gatekeeper skeleton below on a rocky island in the magma. It seemed to be in the process of being built. Fires burnt all around, filling up the air with smoke.
'Holy fucking shit... Trevor, have you ever been down here?’ Picard muttered.
'Never. Furthest I’ve ever been down is about 500 feet. If I’d been down here, I would’ve either been killed or cleared the fuckers out. But we actually may be able to sneak in... Get ready men, we’re going deep into the Underworld.’