“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
-Genesis 6:4
Out of the Frying Pan
Jet engines roared as our aircraft clawed its way high into the black clouds. The view out my small window was a familiar one: Yellow and orange ocean, as far as the eye could see. A monstrous volcano loomed high overhead and rained smoke, fire, and brimstone across an area twice the size of Russia.
I turned to the soldier sitting on the bench beside me. Like me, Enoch was clad in power armor, although his was bigger and much more powerful. My own suit was little more than environmental protection with just enough strength enhancement to make it feel like I was wearing normal clothes, rather than a hundred pounds of titanium and exotic polymers.
"So," I said. "How long have you been here?"
"Ah, who remembers. Enough centuries go by and you stop noticing. Time is marked by change. Can't have one without the other. And ever since the Uplifting there hasn't been a lot of either."
"I guess," I replied. "I've only been here ten years, but I feel like there's been a lot of change."
"Well then I envy you, kid. You still have on foot back on Earth. You still remember family and friends. Me? That's all gone. Did they tell you that happens? Give it enough time and everything just sort of fades away. That's the worst part. You die and your body becomes immortal, but not your mind. Memories fade, and the only thing more cruel than their absence is the fact that you don't even know if you should care."
The armored figure seated opposite us kicked his leg with a clank that echoed through the craft's cavernous belly.
"You're just a ray of fucking sunshine today," she growled.
At first glance the captain of Hell's Angels Squad 13 looked more like a weaponized refrigerator than a human. Bertha was at least a head taller than me, and quite fat. Not just big-boned (although there was that), but corpulent. And muscular. With the power armor she might as well have been a vaguely human-shaped assault vehicle.
Oh, and the gun. To call thing thing a "gun" was a bit like calling a Tyrannosaurs rex a "reptile." Correct, but not correct enough. It looked like a cross between a Mosin-Nagant and a truck. It was easily as long as her body, and I would have been surprised if it weighed less than a small motorcycle. But from the way she hefted it you'd think it was a plastic toy.
"What?" exclaimed Enoch. "You going to fault a man for being realistic?"
"Be realistic when I can't hear you. I'm trying to get a murder vibe going and you're bringing me down."
"Bertha, your default state is murder."
She smiled maniacally, exposing a row of sharpened, yellow teeth. "You know just what to say to a girl."
A deep chuckle came from a shadowed area on the far side of the aircraft. Sitting cross-legged on the floor was the reason we needed a tank transport to move four people.
The man was a monster, a relic from an age long past. Even hunched down on the floor he was nearly as tall as me. Unlike the others he wore no power armor. His only protection was leather armor, some chain mail, and a steel tower shield. Against the wall leaned a hammer approximately the size of three of me. One side of the head was flat, and the other narrowed into a cruel point.
"Is he... is that how he normally dresses?" I asked quietly.
"Yup," said Enoch. “That's his thing. He likes to keep things old school."
"Don't you guys do all sorts of crazy shit? The kind of thing that requires environmental protection?" I rapped my knuckles on the dark metal of my chest plate.
"Well you certainly need environmental protection, being a normal human and all. Bertha and I could probably do without, but it wouldn't be my idea of a good time. You see, 'Hell's Angels' isn't just a pretty name. It's an accurate description."
"I've heard the stories, but I never knew how literally to take them."
"Well the part about us having angels in our family tree is pretty damn literal. But if I'm being honest, my divine heritage is faint. I'd be surprised if I had a whole drop of angel blood in my veins. Most of us are like that. But big boy over there is pure, old-fashioned, middle-finger-in-God's-face Nephilim."
The rear door slowly opened. Red light and roaring, hot wind filled the craft. My heads-up-display flashed a number at me: 60 C. I glanced at the gigantic warrior in the corner.
How is he not even sweating?
The volcano was now clearly visible out the large door. We had finally climbed high enough to look down into the vent. Lava poured from a thousand openings all up and down the burning mountain. Smoke billowed from the center and became the black clouds this region was known for.
"I thought you said it was inactive," I said, looking at Enoch.
"It is, more or less. Volcanoes like this never really go to sleep here, they just get drowsy. This one here shits out lava and God-knows-what-else right from the core itself. But the main lava tube is temporarily clear, which means we have a straight shot at the Gates of Hell. You know what that means."
"It means we take the shot," said Bertha. "The invasion starts any day now, and leaving the Gate intact would be giving Heaven a place to retreat."
"So we're just going to walk up and destroy it? Seems like we'd need an army for that."
Goliath stood up and simply walked out into the open air.
"Then it's a good thing we brought one," she said as she heaved her enormous bulk to her feet with surprising grace. The mad smile was back, and her eyes were wild with something other than sanity.
"Squad 13, let's kill shit!"
With that she threw herself from the craft. I approached the edge and watched as Enoch leaped after her. The Sulfur Sea stretched endlessly in all directions, the orange expanse broken only by the occasional burned-out oil rig.
I smiled as I remembered that day. It was terrifying at the time, but ten years later I felt something close to nostalgia. I didn't miss Edward's aroma though. Even now I remembered it, the only smell capable of overpowering the stench of this place.
I stepped into the nothing.
Air roared and whipped at my armor, although I couldn't feel much of it. It was oddly peaceful. I couldn't help but admire the view as I fell through the red sky. Poisonous clouds loomed overhead like mountains while fracturing bolts of lighting danced between them.
"So," I said into my radio. "I guess Goliath knows he doesn't have a parachute?"
The blue dot indicating Enoch's location on my HUD lit up. "The only thing that would do is protect the ground from him."
I carefully moved my hands and feet to steer myself towards the volcano's opening. My heart fluttered as we plummeted head-first into the black unknown.
"Yippie-ki-yay!" shouted Bertha. "I knew this was going to be a good day."
The opening was closer and bigger, and suddenly we were surrounded by black. Green lines sprang into view and outlined the spacious tunnel with just enough detail to avoid major obstacles.
"How far down is it?" asked Enoch.
"Fuck if I know," answered Bertha. "You know we don't have maps that far down. All we know is this tube leads to the Infernal Citadel, which means the Gate is somewhere nearby. New kid, you have the battery?"
I reached back and touched a small pouch built into my armor. A spherical object rested inside. "Yup. What's this for anyway? I'm sure you guys know Leo's power supply holds a ridiculous amount of energy."
"We're counting on it," said Bertha. "There's no telling if our explosives can even hurt the Gate. Worst-case scenario, we set that thing off and bury the whole fucking place."
The tube was mostly straight and clear. We fell for what seemed like hours. With the constant darkness I could almost imagine I was floating in water. Eventually a red light appeared. It was narrow, and very distant.
"Heads up," said Bertha. "Here we go. If we lose communication the rendezvous point is Goliath."
The light rapidly grew larger. Suddenly it was here, and the tube opened onto a new world. My stomach leaped into my mouth as we fell through the ceiling of a cavern larger than I even knew was possible. A vast landscape sprawled thousands of feet below. To the east lay the Infernal Citadel itself. Evil, black spires twisted into the air between ruined towers and collapsing fortifications.
But it was not abandoned. A seething mass of dark creatures emerged from the ruined city and moved towards a bridge that crossed a lava-filled canyon. The long line of demonic troops extended all the way across, and further. From this height I could make out thousands, tens of thousands, all moving west. My eyes followed the marching hordes, and I saw the object of their pursuit: Another army.
Are those vehicles? Doesn't look like demonic tech.
Enoch's voice crackled over the radio."Captain, you seeing this?"
"I don't know what I'm seeing. But I do see where he landed, and something's wrong."
We steered towards Goliath and pulled our chutes barely a hundred feet above ground. My body jerked with enough force to break bones. But in this place mortal wounds were a minor inconvenience. Seconds later I was good as new. These days I barely even noticed this kind of thing.
I slammed into the ground, power armor absorbing most of the impact. Bertha and Enoch were already here, weapons drawn. The Captain's absurd, bolt-action rifle rested in her hands, and Enoch wielded two gigantic revolvers. I pulled out my own weapon. I had always harbored a preference for spark throwers. There was something satisfying about burning down demons in a hail of electril. This one was was small and light, but it hit harder than anything that size had any right to.
Thousands of foot soldiers, tanks, and various other machines of war sped past as they fled for their lives. In the middle of the chaos there was a clearing, and in the middle of that clearing was something straight out of the Old Testament. An towering warrior stood amidst the wreckage of several armored vehicles. Opposite him a bald man in black robes sat on a huge, barbaric motorcycle. He lowered a hand at Goliath, and shouted something to his soldiers.
A hail of bullets, flames, and shells impacted Goliath's shield. A tank-like war machine revved its massive engine and made as if to run him over, and Goliath did the same. The giant held up his shield as he advanced. When he was close the hammer came down, and there was one more burning wreck. He smashed his hammer against his shield and roared in defiance.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!" shouted Bertha. "We're friendlies!"
Goliath halted, but his eyes were death. The man in black held up a hand, and his soldiers stopped as well. "And who are you?" he demanded.
"I'm Captain Bertha, this is my squad. We're from the surface."
"The surface? Impossible. There's only one way down here, and that is to die." He frowned. "And I seriously doubt that thing is even human. I will suffer no demonic treachery in my realm."
Bertha approached and stabbed at him with a meaty, armored finger. "Well he is human, and he's my friend. So you and yours better cool it unless you want to tangle with three pissed-off Nephilim."
His eyes went wide with rage. "Nephilim?! Warriors of Sheol, put down the abominations!"
The man pulled a sword from a sheath on his back and leaped at Goliath. The giant moved with surprising speed and met the stranger's charge with his boot. The man was slammed to the ground and Goliath brought down the hammer. He rolled to the side and launched himself back at the giant, sword aimed directly at his throat.
Bertha swung her rifle like a club and sent the stranger flying into a nearby boulder. He spun in midair and landed on the vertical stone face feet-first, before launching himself at the captain. She smashed the butt of her rifle into his face and took aim. A metal slug the size of my fist erupted from the barrel and bounced off the stranger's sword with a loud clang. The shock sent the weapon flying and knocked him flat on his back. She cocked the gun, chunk-chunk, and prepared to fire again.
“I don't need much of a reason to kill, and you just gave me a really good one!” she shouted. “So you folks better cool your shit before someone loses a face.”
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" came a familiar voice. A filthy, bare-chested mariner with a black beard shoved his way between the onlooking soldiers. "Hey, Seth, man, let's take it down a notch! These are friendlies."
The man in black got to his feet, panting. "Friendly? You consider the unholy spawn of angels to be friendly?"
Goliath looked down at Seth and uttered the first words I had ever heard from him. "We chose our fate, not our ancestors."
"I know he's a bit hard on the eyes," continued Edward. "And he smells like the inside of a sailor's rectum, which, please don't ask me how I know that. But believe me, there's no more loyal friend of humanity in all of Hell. Why, I once saw him drink seventeen gallons of whiskey, pass out, and then sleep-murder a thousand angels with nothing more than a toothbrush and a recently-used toilet plunger. Trust me, he's one our side."
"I think I understand the spirit of what you're saying, if not the words. It would be folly to refuse allies in this time." He looked up at the towering warrior. "Even the spawn of angels."
A horn sounded to the east.
"But we need to move. We suffered one defeat this day, and I'd rather not make that two. Samson!"
A tall man with long, black hair stepped forward. "Sir?"
"I need you to buy us some time. Wait until they follow us into the next canyon, then bury them." The soldier nodded and ran ahead.
The pocked, igneous ground broke into a ravine about half a mile down the road. We joined the retreating army as they headed in. The walls were shadowed, and the only light came from the ambient red glow that permeated this place. Titanic stalactites hung from the cavernous ceiling, and between them lay dark recesses untouched by the red glow of the lava.
Before long we emerged back onto level ground. I turned and looked back at the ravine. Terrible sounds came from within, some familiar, and others so alien they made my skin crawl. When the last of the army was out Seth gave the order. A mountain of rock began to move. It was slow at first, so slow that I thought I imagined it. But then it began to slide, and then the entire mountain crashed and tumbled into the ravine with a cacophonous roar. I'll never forget the sound of screaming demons mixed with crashing boulders, all echoing through the narrow gorge and out into the sweltering air. A cloud of black dust billowed from the newly-filled crevasse.
Something leaped out of the devastation and arced high into the air before crashing to the ground beside Seth. Samson got to his feet and brushed himself off.
Seth nodded. "Good work. It won't stop them, but it should delay them until we get home. Speaking of which." He pointed ahead. We were only a few miles from the western side of the cavern. At first I wasn't sure what he was pointing at. The road continued to wind ahead, and then it just seemed to disappear into the wall.
But then I noticed a metal slab built into the stone itself. The size was deceiving. At first glance I thought it was about the size of a house, but as we approached I realized it was more like a vertical football field made out of solid iron.
"God damn," I said Bertha. "I guess you guys don't like visitors."
"Oh, quite the contrary," said Seth, grinning. A giant humanoid skeleton was crucified directly to the metal with brutal spikes. And above it, written in crusted demon blood: "Thou shalt have no gods."
"Holy shit on a stick," said Bertha. "Is that what I think it is?"
Edward laughed. "Well if you think it's one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, then yes."
I turned to Edward. "Wait, really? You guys actually killed one of them?"
"Well, I didn't. This was way before Lucifer's attack up on the surface, so I wasn't here yet. But Seth here told me all about it. I guess Conquest and some of his angel buddies came knocking at the door, looking to cause trouble and, well, you can see how that turned out."
"Ok," I said. "Who the hell are you people? And how have you survived so long, this close to the Infernal Citadel and, I assume, the Gates of Hell? I mean, I see you have an army and decent tech, but how have you not been overrun?"
"It's a long story," said Seth. "But the short version is that after the Uplifting War Lilith left a battalion down here to guard the Gates. And for the past few centuries our numbers have been steadily growing. You are familiar with spawn pits, yes?"
"Never seen one, but I know what they are. If you die on the surface you come back somewhere underground."
"Essentially. Spawn pits were designed by the most sinister of demonic engineers. What better way to torture souls for all eternity than to make death impossible? And thanks to a quirk of Hell's geology, we have a higher-than-average density of spawn pits in this region. Especially over there," he pointed at the gates. "That's why we built a city here. Every time we die we resurrect in a spawn pit, just like anyone else. But for us, we come back right in our own city. We can fight and die, and fight and die, over and over. They can kill us by the thousands, but they can never wipe us out as long as we hold this location."
The enormous gate began to rise as we approached. It slowly disappeared up into the rock, revealing our destination.
We entered another cave. It was smaller than the main cavern, but still larger than anything back on Earth. Before us lay an open expanse of black dirt, and beyond that, a city. The buildings were black and brown, obviously made with local materials They were simple and sturdy. Smaller buildings hung from the ceiling, interspersed with weapon emplacements. Dozens of gigantic rail guns dared anything non-human to step through the city gates.
Seth spread his arms wide and turned to face us. “Welcome to Sheol, humanity's first line of defense against the worst Hell has to offer.”
Enoch whistled in awe as he surveyed the first new thing he had seen in centuries. “This is pretty damn impressive. I thought maybe there were some people down here, but this? I never expected this.”
Another horn sounded. We moved aside as hundreds of soldiers and vehicles entered and made their way across the barren field. The gates started to lower as the horn sounded again. The army began forming up on the field, close to the city but facing the gate.
“No way!” came a shout. A large man wearing a mechanical exoskeleton waved at us from the direction of the city. The mech suit appeared to be nothing but rusted metal, jagged edges, and hydraulic cylinders. He broke into a run and closed the distance in seconds. A huge chainsaw was built into one of the suit's mechanical arms, and the other was adorned with a triple-barreled flamethrower.
“There's four faces I never expected to see again. How you doing, kid? And, no fucking way, you guys brought the big man himself. Give me some!” He approached Goliath with a hand held high. Goliath grinned, a positively terrifying sight, and returned the high-five with enough force to knock Cain on his back. “Fuck, I forgot how strong you are. Bertha, as always you look like something my dog shit out and then ate and then shit out again. If I had a dog. And if dogs existed in Hell. What have you been up to?”
“Oh, you know. Killing shit. Jumping into volcanoes. The usual.”
“Wait, what? Is that how you guys got down here?”
“Yup. Just jumped right in.”
“Are you kidding me?!” he shouted, throwing up his hands in disbelief. “That was my idea! So many times I was like 'Let's just jump into a volcano and kill everything' and they were like 'No lava hurts blah blah blah.' Fucking pansies. What changed?”
“It's actually happening.”
“You mean...”
“Yup. The invasion starts in a few days. We're here to take out the Gate.”
“Hot damn! I'm going to kill me an angel and use its skull for a cup!”
“I wouldn't drink out of anything that used to be part of an angel,” said Seth.
“Not that kind of cup.”
Seth sighed in exasperation. “It appears you folks have already met my brother.”
“He's your brother?” I asked, incredulously. “I thought Cain killed his brother.”
“Not him,” answered Cain. “Seth was the third.”
“Yes,” said Seth. “After you murdered the second.”
“And how, I ask, was I supposed to know that crushing someone's skull with a rock would kill them? It literally had never happened before. Oh by the way, Seth. The chief scientist whose name I always forget wants to talk to you.”
The city gate was nearly closed, but before it did I caught a glimpse of our enemy. A myriad clawed, horned, or winged creatures hurled themselves toward the city. Behind them the silhouette of two enormous figures, backlit by the red glow from the distant, lava-filled, canyon, loomed over the rampaging hordes. The gate slammed shut with a resounding thud.
A short man with wild hair and a thick mustache scurried forward, but before he reached Seth he turned to me and his eyes narrowed. He pulled a device from his pocket and pointed it at me. “What is this?” he demanded while gesticulating wildly in my direction. “What obscene technology did you bring with you?”
“What are you talking about now, Albert?” asked Seth.
“The energy density it's... It's unbelievable.”
“Oh, this” I said, pulling the spherical device from my pocket. “It's a battery, sort of. Technically it's a conduit for divine power.”
His eyes went wide as I handed him the device. “That old fool actually did it,” he whispered with a mixture of reverence and disbelief. “He put an angel in a bottle.” He shook his head. “That lunatic's hubris is matched only by his recklessness. If I may ask, what do you intend to do with this?”
“Destroy the Gate,” said Bertha. “So give it back. That's one of the most powerful devices in existence.”
“Yes,” he replied. “I'm familiar with the design. You intend to use it as a weapon, yes? If you would allow me to examine it I may be able to increase the potency.”
Bertha looked at Seth. “Can he be trusted?”
“No single person has contributed more to this city's defense technology. I'll admit he can be frustrating, but his mind has no peer.”
“Fine,” she said. “But we'll need it back before the day is out.”
“We were never properly introduced,” said Seth as he turned to face our squad. “They call me Armilus, protector and leader of this city. But I prefer to be called Seth, the name given by my father, who named all the beasts of the field, the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air.”
Cain slapped him on the back. “Yeah ol' Pops was good at the names. I like 'cat', personally. Nice and simple. Not a big fan of 'Abel' though. Wasn't able to see a rock flying at his own face was he?”
“You disrespect our father and our brother, both good men despite their misguided faith.”
“And you are way too serious.”
“I bear a burden you cannot imagine: A responsibility to ensure the safety of this city against the powers of darkness, and the freedom of all mankind against the tyranny of Heaven.”
“Yeah well I'm going to hit the head and drop off a burden of my own, know what I mean. Later, bro.”
“Anyway,” said Seth. “We've got a battle to prepare for. You folks might want to get some rest.”
“So what's the plan?” asked Enoch, turning to Bertha.
“Sounds like we have some time, so I'd do what he said and take advantage of the down time. We're moving on the Gate as soon as possible, but we'll have to wait until the demon army is taken care of.”
“The good news is these folks seem to have things under control,” said Enoch. “I was expecting more of a fight.”
Bertha sighed. “It's almost disappointing. I haven't killed a single thing today.”
The ground rumbled. A rolling wave swept across the field as something moved below the surface. Before anyone could react a hideous worm of nightmarish proportions erupted from the center of the army, swallowing dozens of soldiers. It arced through the air like a breaching whale before smashing down into a group of tanks. Rows upon rows of teeth ground them to dust as it dove back beneath the surface.
“Fucking, yes!” shouted Bertha. “This is what I was hoping for!”
Hundreds of demonic foot soldiers poured from the new opening like ants. Alarms blared as the human army scattered. The ceiling-mounted weapons opened fire, causing thunderous booms to echo throughout the cavern. Massive projectiles rained from the ceiling and shredded the demons like tissue paper, but still they came.
“Edward, prepare your troops” shouted Seth, sprinting for his motorcycle. “Hit them hard and fast. I will have the head of whoever is responsible for a fucking siege worm sneaking up on us.” The machine roared to life and kicked up a cloud of dust as he sped for the city.
“Good thing 'hard and fast' is my middle name,” laughed Edward. “Did I ever tell you guys about the time I had sex with the entire staff of Singapore's largest brothel, all before breakfast? No? Let's catch up after we deal with this. Good luck.”
“Squad 13, huddle up,” ordered Bertha. “New kid, Enoch, you guys are with me. We're going to grab a vehicle and try to distract whatever that monster is. Looks like its heading for the city, and their big guns are having a hard time tracking it.”
She turned to Goliath. “You, go do some damage.”
The giant smashed his hammer into the ground and roared before sprinting towards the demon army like a psychotic boulder crashing down a mountain.
Bertha ran to the nearest vehicle with a speed that belied her size. The war machine looked like someone had taken a bus, covered it in armor, replaced the wheels with four continuous tracks, and mounted a rotary cannon the size of a tree on the back.
“Hey, you!” she said, pounding on the driver door. “This is ours now. Get out.” When the driver tried to protest she ripped the door from its hinges and threw him to the ground. “Enoch, man the gun. I'll shoot from the passenger seat. New kid is driving. Move!”
I leaped into the newly vacated driver's seat and took stock of my surroundings. A dirty instruction manual lay on the metal floor: “Your Argonaut-Class Assault Vehicle and You.”
Fuck that. Steering wheel. Pedals. A red button I probably shouldn't push. Looks simple enough.
“So I'm pretty sure I can drive this,” I began “but I'd prefer to have a door if I'm going into battle.”
Bertha laughed. “Fine. Move back.” With that she slammed the door back into the frame and bent the vehicle's metal chassis to keep it in place. Then she squeezed her enormous bulk into the passenger seat, punched out the shock-resistant window glass, and stuck the gigantic rifle out the opening.
“Hang on!” I shouted as I stomped on the accelerator. Giant treads whipped the ground and propelled our monstrous assault vehicle towards the battle. As soon as the subterranean monstrosity reappeared I focused my eyes on it and quickly blinked three times, signaling my armor's on-board tracking system to lock on.
No sooner had the creature disappeared from sight than a rough, wireframe approximation burst onto my HUD, showing the creature twisting and winding through the rocky ground. It was headed directly for the city.
The worm breached again and crashed down onto a hapless group of flamethrower-wielding troops surrounded by viscous demon warriors wielding all manner of barbaric weapons. They were crushed into the dirt, demons and all.
The vehicle's gigantic engine roared with diesel fury as I steered towards the worm and gunned it again. A five-foot-tall, horned demon turned around just in time to meet our treads head-on. There was a slight bump as the assault vehicle crushed its armored body. Three demon more unfurled black wings and took to the air, right towards us.
KA-BLAM. A huge bullet leaped from Bertha's gun and blew one of them completely in half. The noise would have deafened me were it not for the helmet. Bertha cocked the bolt-action monstrosity and fired again. BLAM. The second one became a bloody mist. The third tried to run, but one bullet and half a second later it was a stain on the dusty field.
I followed the worm as fast as the craft would move, dodging Sheol's warriors, other vehicles, and demons too large to crush under our treads. At one point a monster the size of a small house crushed another Argonaut-class vehicle with a war club, causing fire and debris and flesh to pelt our windshield. One of Bertha's rounds connected with its torso. The creature roared in pain, but the wound was not fatal. It charged at us, and before she could fire again the club came down.
I thought it was an earthquake. Shock waves reverberated through the craft and a noise like a thousand lightning strikes filled my ears, but we had not been hit. The absurd rotary cannon mounted on the back, the weapon that necessitated this vehicle's size and power, rained metallic wrath on the demon.
The demon reeled, raising an arm to protect its face. It roared with rage and leaped bodily at Enoch's weapon, but before it made contact the hail of lead caved in its skull. The corpse bounced off our vehicle, leaving a bloody smear on the windshield.
“Is this still what you wanted?” I asked Bertha. Her eyes were wild, sharpened teeth bared with either rage or joy. Although with her I wasn't convinced there was a difference.
“It's all that and more!” she shouted. BLAM. A demon's face exploded. “Come to mama!” BLAM. “Bertha must feed!” BLAM.
“Do you see that?” I exclaimed. “What the hell are they doing?” Dozens of soldiers wearing thick vests and riding motor bikes charged directly into a seething mass of what looked like demonic shock troops. They were almost as large as Goliath and wore heavy armor. The row of bikes slammed right into the first line, and bounced off like a insect hitting a truck.
“No idea,” she said. “Those idiots are about to get themselves killed.”
The demons roared triumphantly and moved in for the kill. The entire row of downed bikers detonated with enough concussive force to shatter the front line.
Another row of bombers zoomed through the blood and the smoke and killed the next line. I looked towards the direction they had come from, and saw hundreds more bikers and a few larger vehicles approaching the roaring, slavering mass of demonic warriors. They attempted to take up defensive positions, to no avail. The bikers blew holes in their defenses and jumped off inclines to explode over their heads. The larger vehicles penetrated deep into the enemy lines before detonating. Fire seared the enemy to the bone while concussive waves knocked hundreds more to the ground.
I suddenly realized that I had seen the same person blow himself up twice.
How the hell?
“Fucking amazing,” laughed Bertha. “These crazy sons-of-bitches have weaponized resurrection.”
We were rapidly approached the worm's location, and as we did I saw it change course. The beast twisted around, still underground, and began to surface directly beneath us.
“Hang on!” I shouted. I yanked the wheel to the side, narrower avoid the titanic eruption of flesh and teeth. It sailed through the air in a wide arc and killed a muscular, four-armed creature along with the squad of human fighters it was fighting.
What is that on the worm's neck?
“Did you see that?” I said. “It's wearing a collar or something.”
“Interesting,” said Bertha. “I bet it's important. Let's break it.”
We followed the siege worm away from the battlefield and into the city. The buildings would have been considered large back on Earth, but after ten years among the shining megastructures of New Babylon they looked rather small. Fortunately the streets were clear of civilians.
Does a city like this even have civilians?
The worm emerged up into a building, tearing and chewing a gaping hole all the way through the roof. It sailed out the top, dozens of stories in the air, and came down on another structure. The first building crashed to the ground, raining metal and stone and body parts across the whole area. The second building followed as the worm gutted it.
The beast went down, and then back up into a third building. As it flew overhead one of Bertha's bullets found it's mark. The collar cracked, and as the worm entered the fourth building it came loose. The unfortunate structure crashed to the ground like the others, but this time the worm did not reappear.
“You think that did it?” I asked.
“It did something. I don't know if we pissed it off or let it loose. Either way, it's not here. Let's get back to the fight.”
I turned the vehicle around and headed through the rubble and the destruction, back towards the field. Without the siege worm the city defenses were free to focus on the enemy army. Rail guns blew chunks out of their rear lines while the suicide bombers and the regular troops pushed the demons towards the closed city gates.
As we sped across the field I looked out my window and saw Cain keeping pace, his mechanical exoskeleton covering a dozen yards with each step. Behind him were another hundred or so fighters, all wearing similar devices and wielding swords, spark throwers, small rail guns, chainsaws, and all sorts of barbaric murder machines.
The demons were now pressed against Sheol's gigantic metal gates. One last line of bombers impacted their shattered lines, coating the gates with blood and bits of gore. The demons were down to their last thousand or so warriors, and then Cain arrived.
“Maniacs!” he roared. “Kill!” The mechs broke upon their ranks like a tsunami. Cain tore into them with chainsaw drawn, and incinerated anything unfortunate enough to catch his eye. His Maniacs did the same, stabbing and burning and crushing. Demonic bones shattered like toothpicks against their mechanical strength.
Then there were none. A hush settled over the field, and soldiers began to comb through the wreckage. A human life meant nothing down here in this land of immortal warriors, but equipment was valuable.
Bertha and I stepped out of the assault vehicle. Enoch dropped down from the gun emplacement just as Seth drove up on his war motorcycle.
A dark, red spot appeared on the gate. It quickly expanded and began to shed metal flakes. A thundering crash echoed through the cave as something massive struck the gates from the other side. The red spot continued to grow as rust rained upon the assembled army. Then another crash, and a battering ram appeared through a small hole.
“Move!” shouted Seth. “Target the breach!”
Hundreds of soldiers moved back as the battering ram knocked a larger hole. Flying demons swarmed through it and tore into the unprepared troops. They lifted soldiers into the air, biting and tearing them to shreds, before dropping the corpses back into the fray.
The army focused fire on the gate, and the flow of demons was temporarily staunched. By now the entire gate was rusted and decayed. Huge metal chunks fell to the ground, sending up clouds of black dust.
Two enormous beings astride scaled, horse-like creatures stepped through the gate. One rode a black steed and wielding a huge flail with which he smashed the rest of the gate, making way for a new wave of demonic troops. The other figure rode a pale horse. In one hand she held a scythe, and with the other she cast death and decay upon us. Tanks melted into rust, and where her steed touched the ground an evil blackness spread.
Our army was now in full retreat. Bertha, Enoch, and I ran for our vehicle. But before we reached it a flood of demons overtook us.
Bertha spun around and began firing. “Fuck you!” BLAM. “And you!” BLAM. Enoch whipped out his revolvers and I readied my spark thrower, although I wasn't sure what good it would do.
“Make way!” came a cry from behind us. Captain Edward, covered in explosive vests and riding Seth's gigantic motorcycle, weaved through the retreating humans, directly towards the two Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Behind him came another hundred or so bikers, and behind them, a giant wielding a hammer.
Edward hit an incline and sailed gracefully into the air. He released the bike and dove right at Famine and Death before donating his vests. A brilliant fireball lit the cavern, momentarily casting every nook and cranny into sharp relief. The devastating shockwave knocked both Horsemen completely off their mounts. The equine monstrosities reared and prepared to charge, but then a sound like rapid-fire thunder filled and reverberated through the cave.
Dozens of tungsteon-carbine rods rained down on the new arrivals at supersonic speeds. The riders rolled out of the way but the mounts were less fortunate. Kinetic weapons utterly obliterated the creatures, and a fine red mist settled over the dirt.
The rest of the bombers arrived and annihilated the new demon army's friend lines. Famine got to his feet and engaged our own. Death moved away from us, spinning her scythe like a buzzsaw. It shredded flesh as easily as metal as she made a beeline for the city.
Famine immediately began laying waste with his terrifying flail. Goliath turned to Samson, pounded his chest, and pointed a wrist-sized finger at the apocalyptic menace.
“Uh, not sure what you're getting at, big guy,” said Samson. He grabbed the nearest demon and tore it in half. “Unless... No. You want me to throw you? At him?”
Continued in comments.
Submitted August 08, 2015 at 11:02AM by Anus_Blenders http://ift.tt/1hpgejo HFY
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