Chapter 11
At the Leipzig UAC facility, the military presence was settling into its new base of operations, Brigadier General Naverten was barking directions to his staff as they unload crates of military supplies and intelligence systems. The scar-faced General had bulging muscles and a crew cut crowned with white hair. A wide holo-monitor against a wall displays footage of the demonic invasion. Naverten orders a sizable mapping terminal to be moved to the center of the room as he sifts through intelligence reports. A soldier approaches the General, saluting.
"Sir, Dr. Stone is still making a fuss about her research. The troops guarding the lab are tired of hearing it" they report.
"I thought I made it clear to her who's in charge around here now, I'll deal with this" the General says.
Naverten struts out of the command center and walks toward the genetics lab, Dr. Stone's protests could be heard as he neared the guarded doors. He found Diane standing across from the lab, her arms crossed, her face held a sour expression.
"Dr. Stone, I already explained to you that this matter is settled. Because of its importance, this study will continue under the supervision of military contracted specialists" the General explains.
"Will you stop smoking in the facility, General?" Diane asks annoyed, referring to Naverten's cigar.
"I don't think the health department is going to show up" he explains with a chuckle.
Diane rolls her eyes.
"Look, you have no right to deprive me of my findings. I've been studying this from almost the inception of its discovery, I may not know everything about it but my contributions to the mapping are significant and I risked my life bringing it all the way here from Phobos!" she raves.
"Maybe you would get some credit for that had you handed the research to the military in the first place, you're fully aware of how dangerous these creatures are. Also, I'm aware of your relation to the study, which is why I haven't ordered your evacuation, but this is a state of war and I can't allow my men to be harassed under these conditions" Naverten explains.
Diane's scowl deepens.
"It's hard to see your point when you've stolen my work. Your specialists are fresh graduates who know nothing about the complexity of this sample. You've compromised the study with your thoughtless over-reach" Diane rages.
"Okay, I've heard enough. Sargent, place Dr. Stone in detention" the General orders.
Diane put up a brief struggle before being placed in handcuffs and escorted away. She's brought to a lower level and placed into a confined cell. The soldiers remove the cuffs from her wrists and lock her inside. Feeling robbed and sidelined, she curls up on the bunk and falls asleep. After some time, Diane was tossing and turning, she was having a nightmare that demons had invaded the facility.
She found herself surrounded by sharp fanged creatures, hissing as they pounce upon her. Her heart races, she looks away, bracing for her life. She finally realized that nothing has happened, she opens her eyes, the demon were scattering in all directions. Feeling a presence, she looks around to see the Marine that had saved her from the Data Vault on Phobos, he looked into her eyes standing in front of a UAC teleporter, he then looks down at the control station. Diane could feel the Marine's uncertainty about his ability to operate the portal. The dream fades as she wakes from her sleep, the door to the cell opens and a guard enters.
"General Naverten has agreed to release your detention if you promise not to harass his staff again" they explain.
Diane agrees and is allowed to leave the cell. She takes a lift to the main level of the facility and rejoins the other researchers in an unused lab that was repurposed into a lounge. She walks into the room, a news broadcast was reporting a recent military operation that ended catastrophically, then about the terrible destruction caused by the towering creature that continued moving toward their location. She joins Henrick at a secluded table.
"Hello, Diane. I hope you weren't hurt when they placed you in detention" he inquires.
"No, not much anyway" she says.
"That's a relief" Henrick replies.
"I can accept that they want to review the findings, but there's no reason for them to excuse us from the study. The General has no respect for what I went through to bring it here, I was nearly killed. I could still be trapped in that vault right now if it wasn't for..." her thoughts trailing.
Henrick's face took on a troubled expression.
"...if it wasn't for that Marine. He somehow wiped out all the alien around the entrance to the vault and rescued us" she laments.
"If I hadn't witnessed everything on the surveillance video, I would have difficulty believing you. The military is barely putting a dent in this invasion. How can this be happening? None of it makes any sense" Henrick remarks.
"I don't know but during the study, I examined the Marine briefly. There's something... surrounding him that I found frightening at the time. There was this unsettling silence that consumed his observation room" she explains.
"Really? That sure sounds odd. I wish we could continue searching for him but the General has stopped all studies relating to the portal project. Despite our successes, he doesn't trust us to access the alien dimension, he thinks using it will attract more aliens to the facility, he may be right" Henrick says.
"The portal..." Diane's eyes widen, suddenly recalling the one she saw in her dream.
"Diane, I must confess. I'm the one who leaked your findings to the military. I thought it was the right thing to do" Henrick admits.
Diane was crushed, she sadly looks into Henrick's eyes.
"How could you do this?" she tearfully asks.
"I'm sorry, Diane. I was wrong" he replies glumly.
Location: Echo Labs Complex, Deimos Colony
Dr. Kronos was heaving from exhaustion, resting against the wall of a circular passage. He couldn't clearly remember what he was running from, nor how he got here. The evil spirit coursed deeper into its host through the clouds of confusion, Victor's immense intellect dragged out the process of possession.
"Are you feeling okay, Dr. Kronos? You have an elevated heart rate" Luna observes.
"Huh? Luna, I don't know what I'm doing here" Victor replies.
"According to my records you're supposed to be here. You are a researcher and technician for several ongoing science projects with a level 10-C authorization" Luna explains.
Silence fills the hall as Victor paused in confusion.
"Doctor, I have concerns about our current situation. Did you intend to disable the security measures? I would advise that they should be reinstated" Luna presses, another long silence passes.
Kronos lifts himself from the wall, staring ahead unblinking. The process of possession was complete.
"Yes, Luna. Everything is under control" the former human softly replies.
In an adjoining sector, severed demon trails the path of the Marine as he got closer to the portal lab. A Pinky rushes from ahead, he grips the saw's throttle. The blade grazes the demon, it steps away and cautiously circles around him. The Marine suddenly felt something wrap around his wrist before being swept off his feet. He found himself being gripped by a tentacle of demonic growth that burrowed through the deck.
He tries to pull free but the tentacle had a strong grip, he hears the Pinky grunting and stomping closer. He tosses the chainsaw into the air, releasing the hand guard and snatching it again by the throttle. He cuts through the tentacle, unintentionally slicing away a chunk of his armour in the process. The tentacle oozes with fluid as the Marine swings the saw toward the charging Pinky, quickly slicing through its skull, collapsing at his feet.
He walks further into the growth strewn passage, stepping over a sizable branch on the floor, then noticing a door that reads 'Advanced Portal Research'. Knowing that he will need all the help he can find to operate the teleporter, he steps inside. The computer terminals were all frozen, data sheets were locked in a security cabinet. He was about to leave when he finds a Personal Data Assistant lying on a shelf beside the door. To his relief, the device didn't lock out his access.
The PDA belonged to Dr. Leonard Phillips, an engineering technician. He scrolls through the files, many relating to the portal project, but the confusing technical jargon was difficult to comprehend. He then found an entry relating to a signalling beacon, he squints through the complex language. He managed to understand that a system can detect a beacon's signal, and in the unlikely circumstance that it would be needed, a technician can remotely operate other portals from a single location. It became clear that activating the signalling beacon was his best chance of escaping this dimension, he stashes the PDA and moves back into the passage.
"I understand now that I should apologize to you, Luna suddenly addresses the Marine, My processes remind me that you are a threat, after monitoring your activity, however, I've come to understand your methods. I would like to offer you something that I hope will compensate for my previous actions against you" the AI explains.
Nearby, a door partly covered in gore budges minutely.
"Oh, this door is blocked" she observes.
The Marine cuts away the slab of growth with the saw, the door springs open.
"Excellent" Luna comments.
An advanced suit of green mega armour was at the far end of a cluttered lab.
"I must admit that I do not understand what this is, but based upon my observations and the way it was venerated by the science team, I believe it will help you on your journey" she explains.
He walks closer to the impressive space marine armour, passing an advanced plasma rifle and a long barrelled weapon lying on tables flanking the path. He picks up the helmet, looking over the exquisitely fine detailing. Even with his memories shattered, he was sure that this was far more advanced than anything he'd seen before.
"Luna, can you access the portal's systems? I need to activate the signalling beacon" the Marine asks.
"I'm not sure, I'll try... Yes, beacon activated" she replies.
The Marine beams with excitement, he just might make it home. He slips on the mega armour, it was supremely comfortable to wear. The system activates, displaying a spectrum of customizable functions over the visor. He picks up the plasma rifle, it was larger than his previous model with curved coils around its square barrel. The railgun was originally conceived as a mining tool used to break apart lunar rocks, but recently its instrumentation was repurposed into a weapon.
After moving back into the hall, he hears a racket of mechanized noise from ahead. He comes to an area almost fully encased with growth, arriving at the door to the demonized engineering bay. Frantic machine noise reverberates from the room, an orchestra of whining robotics. He steps into the workshop, growth-covered robotic arms crowded an assembly line, swapping tools or parts, driving surgical saws and probes at a rapid pace to augment demon that were immediately sent through the portal. At the far end of the line, a Carcas demon was strapping a creature onto an operating sledge. The apparent sophistication of the operation astounds the Marine. An Arachnotron jumps off the production line, screeching in his direction. Determined to bring the evil process to an end, he grips the BFG 9000 and charges the chamber, releasing the bio-force round as the demon drew into range.
The projectile sails toward the demonized robotic arms, the prototype weapon shot green sparks from the reaction core, burning his gloved hand. He drops the smoking, spark-shooting weapon onto the floor as the workshop was engulfed in a bright flash of green energy. The Arachnotron was instantly cooked by tendrils of plasma, the round exploded against the assembly line, turning the robotic arms and other equipment into puddles of molten alloy. He looks down at the ruined BFG, hoping that he wouldn't need it again.
A cargo door behind him rises, he turns to see the horrifying creature he encountered previously, before being forced through the portal and having to fight his way back here. The massive brain pulsates upon the upgraded chassis, its red eyes narrow on the Marine as it stomps closer. The Marine moves to prevent being struck by the mechanized legs, the smouldering BFG is crushed under the flat treads. The Marine slashes the alloy legs of the creature, the demon pulls the chainsaw out of his grasp with the grabber beam. The Marine fires a stream of plasma which dissipates against an energy shield as the creature examines and turns over the chainsaw in its short arms, then gripping the weapon's throttle in the grabber.
The Marine dives from the path of the blade as the chainsaw held by the electro-magnetic plasma wildly slashes through the air. Faced by the flailing chainsaw, he gets some distance and puts the railgun to use. The chaingun mounted to the demon's chassis suddenly fires, the Marine banks behind a huge crate as a stream of bullets streaks across the workshop. Gripping the railgun, he dashes from behind the crate as a full tool chest flies just out of his path, returning fire with a bolt of flaring energy. The cabinet collides against a raised platform, fittings and tools are sent flying. The Marine climbs over an idle repair suite as a flung barrel impacts the floor close by and explodes.
After a few more exchanges with the railgun, the demon's facing shield fails. The next shot causes the creature to scream in agony, burning into its right hemisphere. The demon rages, the mechanized legs loudly stomp toward him and grips the railgun with the grabber beam but the Marine refused to let go, his legs dangling above the floor. Unable to free the weapon from the grabber module, the Marine throws himself onto the chassis of the creature and attempts to pull it apart but the structure wouldn't budge. The Spider Mastermind screeches in frustration, trying to push him off the chassis with its short arms, its arsenal unable to reach him.
The Marine snaps the demon's wrist after grappling it to throw himself on top of the demon, he slips along the slimy trenched surface and grabs one of the thick cables embedded between the lobes and pulls. The Spider Mastermind rages, it races across the workshop frantically trying to throw the Marine off who was hanging with both hands gripping the rear neural transmission cables protruding from each cerebral hemisphere.
The demon convulses as one of the cables slips out of the trench, the rounded chrome tip shooting sparks as it sprang loose. The demon loses control over the chassis, the legs slumping to the floor. The Marine drops to the ground, then notices the chainsaw resting on the floor. The demon attempts to re-wire its system and regain control, the ejected cable dangling out of reach. The Marine grabs the chainsaw, runs up the narrow slumping leg, the demon shields itself, screeching as the spinning blade drew closer. The Engineering Bay vibrates with shrieks and the revving of the chainsaw, the Spider Mastermind became still, its body covered with gaping wounds.