Chapter 8
A dark red passage of throbbing energy coursed around Kronos as he travelled the demonic portal, the passage abruptly ends, falling to his knees on the other side and struggling to slow the spinning of his vision. Martinez strode through the gate, he roughly kicks Victor, sending him tumbling down the flesh-covered ramp. He slides to a stop at the base, his hands slipping along the growth on the floor as he tried to stand.
"Authorized user identified, Victor Kronos, Senior Research Officer. Welcome, Doctor" announces the Deimos colony AI.
Victor's sight was still spinning, his stomach heaves with portal sickness, a repeated pounding noise assaults his ears.
"Medical personnel, please report to Echo research complex, laboratory A-10" Luna calls over the public address, her words only reaching the zombies and demons occupying the base.
The demonized marine steps down the ramp as the Spider Mastermind emerged from a nearby passage. Martinez spoke to the demon in a previously unknown language, Victor groans in agony after receiving another kick from the former human. The Spider-Mind lifts Kronos from the flesh-strewn floor with a stream of electromagnetically charged plasma, emitting from a module within the mechanical chassis.
Victor squirms in the grabber beam as he was studied by the hideous creature, fear gripping his senses. The Spider-Mind chants an evil spell, a dark spirit is summoned and is attached to Kronos, he could feel a negative presence siphoning his mental energy. Victor is thrashed around as the cybernetic demon turned and stomped back to the Engineering Bay, still clutching him in the grabber beam.
Elsewhere in the Deimos colony, the Marine steps through industrial waste water that flooded the narrow hall. He approaches a large blood splattered door etched with a UAC logo, the mauled remains of a technician was resting face-down in the fluid. A sign above the frame of the door reads 'Liquid Waste Processing Facility', he opens the sealed door, fluid rains down as it rose into the ceiling. A small platform next to a sizable pool of fluid was on the other side, he steps onto the flooded platform and activates the service lift, bringing him to the sample testing lab above.
Clear vats of green liquid waste were against the facing wall, fluids are suddenly drained and new samples are poured in from spouts positioned above. Scanning modules throb with noise, holo-monitors display readouts of the sample's results, only a few demons stood in his path to the next passage, the bending corridor brought him to Liquid Containment. Branching flesh stretches from a nearby passage, along a row of holding tanks next to the walkway, contact with waste water caused the demonic growth to turn a glowing green.
He steps to the other side, the hissing of demons came from beyond the tanks, Imp pounce in front of the Marine from behind the vats of fluid. He raises his shotgun, a holding tank is pierced as he shoots down the Imp, spilling green ooze onto the grated floor. The Marine moved to the other side of the holding area. Along the winding hall, the Marine finds the control room that should lead to the maintenance bridge.
Inside, he finds a pair of control stations and a table holding small samples of liquid waste in glass beakers, then finding the ladder leading above next to a locked storage cabinet. He climbs up to the Filling Station, barrels moving along a conveyor are filled with liquid waste, then moved to a holding area.
Far below the conveyors, huge tanks filled with waste water stretched to the other side of the installation. He steps to a control panel and activates the service bridge. The barreling process pauses as short platforms began extending, creating a bridge. A harsh grinding, then a bang comes from a lowering section. The bridge had siezed, a sizable gap was still between himself and the path to Echo Labs. He thought there was a chance he could make the jump, but the possibility of landing in the liquid waste made him think twice, he reluctantly climbs back down to the control room. Using the terminal, he finds a layout of the installation and an alternative route to the research complex.
The Marine continued on the bending path, passing the severed torso of a station security guard. He pauses, faded memories rising to the surface. Curious, he turns back and steps closer. He studies the face of the marine, they had met on Mars City before being deployed to Phobos, but couldn't remember their name. Listening closely for nearby creatures, he reaches for the ID, a short burst of activity courses through his shattered memory. In the very next moment the name and face became meaningless, blank spaces in his mind.
He paused in confusion, this dimension was robbing him of his past, he couldn't even remember who he was. Loss, fear and uncertainty invades his thoughts. He struggled to hang onto his sanity, mind spinning.
"Join us" a demonic voice echoes.
His limbs became heavy and difficult to move, strength fading, all he could see was darkness. His head became numb, he could feel an evil presence moving through him. He fought with all his mental strength, the spirit conjoured angered, hateful jabs and ever deepening tides of darkness. He felt that he was reaching the end of his fight, his presence drifting from his body as the evil spirit took control.
In his coursing mental fog, he sees a tiny figure coming closer, running straight for him. The darkness suddenly receeds as it hit.
"Daisy!" he says, her presence casting away the evil spirit.
He cautiously opens his eyes, vision hazing back into focus on the pipe strewn hall around him. He felt the presence of his childhood pet, could smell her fur, hear her chirps and see her in his mind. Her memory had been resurfaced by the alien orb on Hell's surface, but this was different. Daisy's spirit had tracked him across dimensions.
"Thank you, Daisy" he says into the empty hall, a wave of goosebumps glides along his flesh.
On a nearby crate, Daisy's spirit materializes to him in full form before disappearing again. She was the only personal memory his mind could conjure, the one being that grounded his sanity, he would never forget her ever again. Blazing flashes of anger crosses his mind, a nerve was pinched, a line was crossed.
He moved through a growth covered passage, leading to an elevated work floor. A nearby canal carrys rushing waste water into a collecting reservoir below, repair robots float through the air, zombies sealed inside environment suits wander the elevated walkway and next to the surging fluid below.
He jumps across a destroyed section, then stomps down an alloy staircase, angrily throwing the zombies in his path over the railing. He steps onto a wide path with a curved office window along the left side. A Hell Knight appears at the far end of the path, the demon jumps onto the walkway and charges. The first and second rockets missed, sailing into the massive support braces on the wall. The rugged eyeless demon was closing with frightening speed, a rocket explodes along a row of gas cylinders. The tanks rupture, flammable gasses combine with blast residue and the ensuing explosion severs the Hell Knight's torso and destroys part of the walkway, the platform rocked beneath his feet. Support braces whine from stress as the walkway tips downward, the Marine tried to hang on but went sliding below, dropping into a narrow crevice and slamming into a few intersecting pipes along the way down. He lands in an open shadowed area, his vision struggling to adjust.
Groaning and deep belches echo around him, a mancubus demon climbs out of a large drainage duct, the piercing green eyes glow in the darkness, the belching of other mancubus reaching his ears. Another appears from a higher duct above the sediment strewn pit, it dodges the Marine's rocket by jumping to the ground below, the blast sending shattered sheet metal flying. The demons throw streams of flame and fireballs, criss-crossing through the area, illuminating the wide concrete support columns. His plasma disperses the firey attacks before impacting their torso, he dashes between the support columns for cover. Some time ago, this many hulking demon in close range might have caused him to panic, those voices were now silent, he had the patience and skill to make short work of the hideous abominations. The Marine angrily carves smoldering gaping craters into their bodies as they fell defeated.
White light floods into the drainage pit as wide barriers rise all around him, numberous Arachnotron advanced. He braces against a concrete column, allowing them to get closer as he charged the BFG 9000, he steps from the column, demon were still spilling from the passages when the bio-force blob was released and sailed a short distance. More than a dozen arachnotron were consumed in the BFG's blast, but the demon were still coming, sizable chunks of brain and mechanized parts are sent flying after the Marine fires an angered barrage of rockets, wiping the demon as the emerged.
Using another service lift, he makes his way back to the level above, then takes a door leading to the Pumping Station, the snarls of demon echoes through the area. From a passage ahead, a large horde of Pinky spills around the corner, their figures bathed in shadows. He reaches for the RPG as they charged ahead, some stumbling as they made the sharp turn. Rockets sail toward the horde, explosions briefly cast away shadows, severed limbs colliding against the moving machinery.
Slime covered zombies reach out from the pools of waste water beside a walkway as the Marine passed, a cargo elevator was at the end of another winding hall connecting to Echo Labs. After rising to the level above, a shadowy, gaping passage was ahead.
He steps from the elevator and into the passage, crossing a barely visible energy field. The plasma rifle spasms in his hands, it falls to the ground in pieces, the nano-tech assembly of his arsenal disintegrated into tiny shards, only the prototype BFG was unaffected. His pistol suddenly assembled from its compartment, the marine caught it from the air. The nano-tech assembly was stabilizing, the tiny parts snapping back together. He vaguely recalls from military training that these pistols were designed to withstand nano-disruption fields.
He angrily looks down at his destroyed arsenal, the station AI did this, she likely also disabled the service bridge. He picks over the remaining energy cells lying in the debris.
"Luna! I know you did this...! Luna!" he angrily shouts before realizing the futility of arguing with the artificial intelligence.
"I would advise you to leave the facility" Luna's emotionless voice unexpectedly echoed through the dark hall.