6 Chapter - 6 - Darkened Halls

On the surface of Earth the marine approaches the spaceport. Commander Thompson kept frequent tabs on the marines progress. The building was very large, about the size of its predecessor, the airport. The marine could make out Cacodemons and hell knights around the perimeter. He was hoping the aliens would ignore this building, he wondered if they were somehow aware of his plan. 'Well, this is hardly the first installation I've had to clear out' he thought to himself. He parked the truck a safe distance from the spaceport and proceeds on foot. The monsters soon notice the approaching marine and fill the air with roars of fury. Soon, more monsters answered the call of the roaring Hell Knights. Cacodemons and Lost Souls came from the huge holes blasted into the face of the building. The front doors then flew apart, demons and former humans began charging toward him. He considered his options for a moment and then gripped his BFG 9000 and charged the chamber. He released the trigger at the last moment, sending the blob of bio-force energy sailing through the air. It traveled past the hell knight and Cacodemon and detonated against the demons not far behind them. The explosion engulfed the central position of the attacking aliens, most of the monsters were wiped out. Residue from the exploding energy hung in the air, the marine loved the smell of death from bio-force energy. He approached the doors to the spaceport, gripping his plasma rifle, he entered the building. Looking all around, it was mostly empty save for a few Imps hiding about. They were soon cooked with burning plasma. The place was very dark, a damaged light fixture flickered quickly. Revolting, growths of flesh snaked around the area. Slowly he walked toward the front desk to examine the computer, a corpse was lying face down behind the desk. It twitched and moved its arms to get up, making an unworldly growl. The marine stopped it with a single shot from his pistol. He looked up at the many terminals on the counter, they all blinked the same message "Network Down" it looked like he would have to find out the condition of the space craft by examining them himself. Looking around he found a darkened map against a column, the hangar for the spaceport was two buildings away. The installation's security room was along the way, he would have to stop in, his supply of energy cells were getting light. He traveled a path to his right, it led to a long square hallway, bathed in darkness. Angry growls could be heard in the corridors beyond. The marine reached for his shotgun and flicked the switch of the flashlight he had strapped to the barrel. Light stretched far into the hallway, different passages and emergency lockers lined the passage. Sparks would suddenly fall from the ceiling, accompanied by the sound of popping electricity. Slowly, he stepped into the darkness towards the distant growls.

The breathing got louder the further he traveled. As he turned a corner his flashlight fell upon the twisted features of a former human, its eyes were lit like a set of car headlights.

"Mortal", it shrieked.

Boom, the marine fired both barrels into the its face. Its exploding skull splattered against the walls, the former human stood on shaking legs for a moment, raining blood from its neck before falling over. He soon heard the sound of footfalls approaching, more former humans were closing in. Two former members of Spaceport Security with burning red eyes came dashing from around the corner, aiming their pistols.

"You will not escape" one shouts.

He fired both barrels at the former security personnel, they were sent flying backwards as their chests threw blood and bone into the air. The marine confiscated their ID-badges, typically, any armoury would be locked.

The marine continued along the passage, further ahead was the security office. It consisted of a door set in the wall and a wide window directly to its right. Peering through the darkened window revealed very little, chairs and tables blocked up the view. The doors were powered down, just like everything else on the installation. He broke a glass panel and pulled a short lever for the manual door release and immediately regretted it.

When the door slid open, a roaring Hell Knight stood before him. He staggered back in shock of having the alien appear right before him. He unloaded another twin barrelled attack, the beast staggered briefly. The marine moves and dodges the clawed attack of the newly liberated alien, it stomped from the room and tossed a ball of plasma. The marine jumped out of its way, the plasma burned through a posted safety notice fixed to the wall. He reloaded and fired both barrels again as the Hell Knight stomped out of the room. Blood sprayed from it's chest, unwavered, it continued its advance. It slashed at the marine with its clawed hands, he jumped back, narrowly dodging the attack. He quickly reloaded and fired again into its massive horned head; he struck his target, some of the bullets tore flesh, some was deflected off its chiseled face. The marine paced back a couple meters, dodging another plasma ball, then another. He fired again, the double shot took off one of its devilish horns

It was consumed in anger, throwing more blobs of energy. The marine stepped around a blob, fired again then quickly stepped around another. The left-hemisphere of the alien's skull fragmented, pieces of bone and brain were blown off. The monster groaned and fell loudly to the floor. The marine stood over the corpse, it lay dead, twitching. He steps around the steaming carcass and walks into the security office. It seemed that the Hell Knight was trying to break out, the terminals were smashed, the work table was warped but the weapons locker was still intact. Using one of the ID badges, he opened the locker and restocked his energy cells, he stashed his shotgun in favour of burning plasma. 'Whoever the hell invented plasma technology was a saint' he thought to himself, '...the only thing the UAC ever did right' He checked a partially smashed map of the spaceport then continued to his objective.

Silence. His footsteps echoed off the walls of the corridor. Approaching a turn in the hall ahead, he heard the sound of munching and growling. He walked toward the sound and the blinding flood of the flashlight revealed a small group of demons feasting on human remains, his plasma rifle turned them to smouldering piles of charred meat. Just further ahead was the passage that leads to the hangar, some sort of movement could be heard in the dark path ahead. He stepped into the hallway and walked a few meters, his nerves were peaked. The sound of unintelligible whispering crawled through his mind, his eyes went wide as green energy swirled before them. Demonic energy glowed within the symbols of intricate pentagrams, then the green flash flooded the area. Portals were ripping open.