Trevor is stuck in hell. Alone, lost, his only companion being the AI on the ship he grabbed. And he's stuck for at least 8 years, and the demonic infection seems to be speeding up. But things get odder than that...
Icarus is  lo-carbquine's!

And thus continues the Snowblind epic!
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I blasted across the dust-covered landscape, the SAAF ship traveling at its highest speed. I hadn’t seen anything but desert for the longest time- just dunes, dunes, dunes. Forever unchanging. I felt rather like I was in purgatory, like I was cursed to fly over these dunes forever.
‘SAAF, can you map the terrain?’ I asked it.
‘Correct.’ It replied.
'Do so. We’ll need it.’ I said. We flew over a large boulder about the size of a small house, the only change in scenery for the past thousand miles. A single cross was impaled on it, barely standing under the buffeting of the wind. I knew that meant nothing; this world seemed to of been designed by the Trickster himself, things like that were common.
'You got a name, number, or something?’ I asked the SAAF.
'My number is 83710.’ It replied.
'Well, I’m not calling you that. Already forgot the numbers. SAAF... Saf... Saffron! I’ll call you that.’ I said.
'Saffron?’
'Yeah.’ I replied.
'Name change accepted.’ It chimed.
'Ah, good.’ I said. I could see what looked like a massive plateau in the distance. It had a vague hourglass shape.
'Saffron, do you carry shovels? Or some type of digging equipment, or even something that can bore through sand?’
'The closest thing I have to those is the sonar, which can pass through the sand.’ Saffron responded.
'Use that on the sand while heading towards that plateau. Look for anything which may resemble marine life. Any remnants. I’ve got a bad feeling this used to be an ocean.’ I said. 'Saffron, how long is your estimated life?’
'6 years is the estimation.’
'And what do you use for fuel?’ I asked.
'Composite aircraft fuel.’ It responded.
'How much flight time do we have left?’
'We could circle the planet four times before running out. Plenty.’ Saffron said.
'Hurrah. That’ll be enough.’ I replied. Saffron touched down on the plateau, and I climbed out.
'Keep searching for signs, Saffron. I’ll search the island.’ I replied, making sure the revenge was loaded. Getting shells for her would be hard; the only location for such a thing would be the wrecks of New Germany and the ADF ship- but that cruiser had become rubble strewn over a ten mile radius. Sadly, that’s the only spot I would be able to get fuel for Saffron. Hopefully some survived.
The island that we had landed on was pretty barren. Nothing was here but a large Distributor tower, made of the marble-like metal that all of their constructions were made of. I walked in.
The building was five stories, with the rooms on the outside and the stairs going around the center. The roof had been blown open at some point in time, letting sunlight in.
I was quickly attacked by a Demon, which was blasted away by the Revenge. I reloaded just as a Hexed one leapt from the fifth floor, roaring. I shot it in mid air, flinging it back. I made sure to use just one shell, had to conserve ammo.
Another Demon went flying at me, and I shot it down. I didn’t get a chance to reload before a third Demon tried to kill me- I decapitated it with the Revenge’s axe, reloading while the head smacked to the ground.
I started proceeding to the stairs when more Beasts attacked me. A Goliath had too much speed when it charged off the stairs, flying over my head. I blasted it and turned to face the Octo-gore coming at me. Two of the tentacles pierced my stomach, but I ripped them out. I shot the thing as the wounds quickly healed.
'Well, at least that still happens.’ I commented, reloading. I heard some loud footsteps- a Lurcher. Hell-variant, too. I dodged the massive bone spike that it shot at me and switched to the Bloody Talon. The recoil from the shot sent me tumbling back down the stairs six feet behind me, but it destroyed the Lurcher in a small explosion.
I climbed back up, trying to load another shell into the Talon with its previous breech-loading style. I almost forgot this one had cartridges. I made sure to switch back to the Revenge before I got attacked again.
I found the first door- I guess it used to be a motion-sensing door, but the sensor had died a long time ago. There was a small crack between the two doors, which I put my hands in and started pulling. Hard. My muscles strained against the multi-thousand year old doors, with eons of rust coming off in seconds. It groaned in pain, and then slid open. The decay of generations had damaged the room in such a way that the back wall was open to the elements. Nothing was left inside the room, either.
I did it to the next room. The doors came off when I pulled them open, and I found what must of been a nest. Where the window was had been long ago smashed open and widened, and the inside of the room was covered in some sort of webbing. I saw several cocoon-like structures in the webbing which could’ve easily held a humanoid in a fetal curl. In another corner was a woven hole, similar to a bird’s nest. Inside were remains of some of the Trickster’s Beasts.
I looked outside to see a bird-like shape coming in, flapping its massive wings. I ducked behind the wall, loaded in another shell, and got ready for the thing. I heard a loud clang as the Beast landed, and then a screech. Obviously it noticed the door was torn open.
I held the Revenge at ready when the creature took several loud footsteps. The head peered out of the doorway- It looked somewhat avian; Long beak, bird-like shape, bristle-less feathers. I saw me, and screamed in my face. The beak opened into four parts, and the eyes- all four of them- turned red. I side-stepped just in time as it exhaled fire.
'Son of a bitch!’ I shouted, blasting it in the side. It walked the whole way out, and I could see the rest of the body. The wings doubled as arms, bristle-less and similar to bat wings. they had small talons at the ends. The torso was similar to a small dinosaur’s, and the feet were avian talons. It had a tail that ended in a bushel of bristles. It gouged holes in the metal with every step.
It swung its talons at me, which I just barely dodged. I grabbed the second one it swung and twisted it around, snapping it loudly. It screeched and breathed fire at me again, igniting the bottom of my jacket. I tossed the flaming piece of fabric off and slammed the Revenge’s ax into the thing’s side, causing a spurt of blood. It screeched at me again, and I dodged its razor-sharp beak. I jumped up as it pecked at me legs, landing on its head. I blasted it four times in the neck, finally killing it after the fourth shell.
'Damn, that bastard was tough.’ I commented, reloading the Revenge. I didn’t have many shells left. I went into its nest and tore into the cocoons. Nothing inside but skeletons. Human and Anthro varieties.
I tried the next few rooms. Nothing. I noticed it was getting dark out, should head back.

'Saffron, any luck?’ I shouted to the SAAF as I opened its cockpit.
'Yes, actually.’ It replied.
'Your voice sounds different. More... real, I guess. What’s changed?’ I said, strapping myself in.
'I registered that you didn’t like the normal voice, so I decided to replicate some of my previous pilot’s voices.’
'Ah. Still, test results?’ I asked.
'Didn’t find any coral. But there were fossils of marine life, and very recent ones at that. Within the past few thousand years, probably.’
'So there was life. Interesting. Can you detect ADF and other technologies?’ I asked.
'That’s right. I could find them, if need be. But they’d have to be big.’ Saffron responded.
'Go to the nearest human technology.’ I replied, and we took off.
'Sir, there is a crashed human city-ship on this planet. New Germany.’ Saffron said.
'I know, I helped evacuate it. There shouldn’t be anyone left on that thing. But the power should still be partially on, it’ll be loaded with food and supplies, and probable fuel for you.’
'Ah, I see your reasoning. Locking course.’
I didn’t have to control the ship at the moment as it had a course to follow. I examined my hands. These tattered, torn, and injured blood-stained hands of mine. The scales were larger, more jagged. Seemed to have claws.
The Demon inside will take over one day, don’t forget. Jack’s voice said.
'Jack, get the fuck out of my head! You’re long dead!’ I screamed.
'Sir?’ Saffron asked.
'Just keep flying, Saffron!’ I shouted before I blacked out.

I found myself in a nightmare. I was standing on a rusted metal platform held up by thick chains, and the bodies of millions were hung for miles in every direction. They weren’t hung over or under the platform, though. I could see Jack on the other side of the platform, looking like he did during the Fall. I found myself in a vicious version of my demonic form- horns, massive wings, sharp teeth, claws, jagged scales, and three tails that ended in massive spikes. I had no weapons, and I must of gained two feet in this form.
'Learn to accept the demon, Hero.’ Jack hissed at me. I could feel smoke coming out from between my teeth as I ran at him. He dodged as I jumped at him, and I landed with a thud. I clawed and swung, but he dodged each one. My talons even went through him without doing anything.
'You’ll have to try harder than that! Yes, keep falling to the demon!’ Jack laughed maniacally.
'No.’ I growled, clenching my fists. I had the willpower to summon the Revenge, which fell from the sky. I caught it, noticing that it looked different too. Each barrel was decorated with intricate carvings of warfare, and the ends of the barrels were carved to look like the heads of dragons. The wood parts were now ebony, and those were intricately carved as well. I noticed that it was belt-feed now, and the ax was larger and decorated with detailed designs of warriors.
'I don’t care if it changes my body. But it will never change my soul.’ I said, taking aim. I fired, and huge bursts of flame came out of the dragon-headed Revenge, sending out so much buckshot that the bodies 50 feet away were shredded. Jack’s arm was blown off by the blast.
I cocked the Revenge, seeing as the belt in this dream-state faded away about ten shells down and kept on appearing when you needed more. Jack fell down, bleeding out.
'Can you kill your own friend?’ He growled at me.
'You’re just a demon in the remains of his body. A hissing, lying, cowardly snake. Can’t fight face to face. Won’t accept that his fight against me is futile.’ I responded. I then fired, blowing its body to bits. Then I woke back up.

'Sir?’ Saffron said.
'How long was I out?’ I asked.
'About an hour. We made it to the wreck of New Germany.’ Saffron replied. I got out, a bit dizzy. I examined myself. No obvious changes. I looked into the glass, noticing my eyes had a slight red tinge. Because of changes or tiredness?
I looked over the massive city that was badly damaged from the fight last time I was here. I ducked behind a fallen chunk of debris and peered over it for enemies. A lone Demon was stumbling about, which I charged at. I dismembered it, then stepped into the city.
Angled tall buildings were at my sides, damaged by the sand. I stepped into the empty street, noticing the Basilisk a distance away. I pulled out the Bloody Talon, getting it ready. It didn’t see me, so I took aim. I spent some time on the aiming to see if I could blow its head apart and nothing else, and didn’t see the Hell-variant Demon sneaking up on me. It knocked the Bloody Talon away and started tearing at my chest armor. It slashed my stomach a few times before I kicked it off and bashed it over the head with the stock of the Bloody Talon. My intestines were almost hanging out, but the gashes healed quickly. Problem is, the screaming the Demon created notified the Basilisk. No time for fancy shots. I fired at its general direction, and all of its left legs were torn off. It crashed to the ground screaming in extreme agony.
I realized my cartridge was empty, and I reloaded. The empty metal canister crashed to the ground, and I loaded another with a sound similar to a small Howitzer. It looked at me, blood covering its face.
'Sorry.’ I said to it, blowing its head off. The shot echoed through the buildings, repeating its sound hundreds of times. With this empty city, those echos of gunfire might just be the echos of the dead.
I stepped into a burnt out bus and found Several metal cases. Insides were cans of beans, pasta, and bags of dried fruit. Enough food for a month.
'Well, that’s one objective solved.’ I said to myself, tossing them all in one crate and strapping it to my back. I switched to the Revenge when I heard something land on the roof of the bus.
'Come out, come out...’ I whispered. I heard it take a step on the roof, and I fired in that location. A Regenerator dropped down, but this one was a Hell-variant. The tentacles ended in huge spikes, it was covered in scales, and it had four muscular arms. The head was very angular and had four red, pupil-less eyes.
'Oh, fuck you.’ I said, blasting it out the front of the bus. It rolled over the ground and then flung itself up, roaring. The damage I had done was already gone.
'Come on then, I can fight you at the same level. Thing is, I don’t have a weak spot.’ I said to it, which it didn’t comprehend. It swung at me, scratching my arm deep. It grew back, giving me the time to grab it by the torso and to decapitate it. The head bounced along the ground, trailing blood while the body staggered about. Then the body grew back a head.
'Now that ain’t right.’ I sighed, blocking its spikes flying my way. They pulled back, and I noticed there were now two of them- the head had grown a body.
'Now that’s just defying physics! Come on!’ I shouted. I made one stab the other, causing them to fight. I reloaded the Revenge, watching them tear each other apart. Eventually, one remained in ragged flesh. I swung behind it and ripped out its whole spine from the tentacles. the thing crumpled to the ground, and I tossed the bloody object away.
'Seriously, stop trying. I’m just too good for you bastards.’ I commented, laughing. I turned the corner to find a crashed fuel tanker truck- which happened to be aircraft fuel, and a decayed body in the driver’s seat. The thing was still drivable, seeing as it had only been here for about a week and a half. I backed it out, the old metal creaking and rubble falling behind it. The sound system in the truck switched on and it started playing some Jazz. Odd for New Germany.
Just as the massive tanker’s speed reached 40, it flattened a bunch of Demons which caused the front bumper to snap. I skidded on blood into where I had landed Saffron.
'Extend your fueling hose, Saffron!’ I shouted, and a hose popped out of the ship’s side. I grabbed it and extended it to the tanker, letting some flow in. When Saffron was fully fueled, I disconnected the hose and jumped in.
'Where are we going now?’ Saffron asked.
‘Exploration.’ I replied. ‘May as well see if there’s any other ruins or crashed wrecks on the planet.’
‘Looking for resources?’ Saffron said.
‘Looking for a place to live.’ I responded as we took off.

Saffron’s systems were impressive. As we flew in an orbit around the planet, we mapped the entirety of Hell. The area that I had traversed in my previous visit here was rather small- only about 2 percent of the Damned Planet. The planet had one ocean that seemed red, but Saffron identified it as normal water- red due to it reflecting the sky. A freshwater ocean.... That could mean there’s still indigenous life here. At least it means I have a water source.
Then we spotted the island. It was full of luscious jungles, and at least the size of Madagascar. We started heading for that.
'What do you reckon’s there?’ I asked Saffron.
'Life, at least. It’s a jungle- trees and plants are alive, so perhaps there’s something that eats the plants. And then something that eats the plant eater? Then something that eats that?-’
'So a food chain.’ I added.
‘Yes.’ Saffron replied. 'I also detect ruins- enemy fighters incoming!’
'Shit, must be Auto-killers! Give me manual control, Saffron!’ I shouted, seeing the coffin-shaped fighters flying at me from afar. They seemed to be covered in vines. But their guns still worked.
A joystick, other controls, and a fire trigger popped out, and I grabbed them, pulling up and dodging some missiles. I swung around, firing from the dual machine guns at them. One took a few shots and exploded in a green detonation. The second one followed behind me, locking its missiles. I flipped Saffron around while still going down, rattling off more shots at it. It fired the missile at me, which I just narrowly dodged. I put some holes in it but didn’t destroy it.
'Saffron, give me identification on those attacking craft! I’ve seen them before, they should be in your database!’ I shouted as I dodged another missile. This one exploded in the upper foliage of the trees. I flipped Saffron back forward and just clipped a few branches.
'Metalist Attack fighters- Also known as the Azaraxian fighters.’
'Son of a bitch, those bastards must of crashed here after the war we had against them a few years ago!’ I exclaimed, realizing that I may just have more on my plate than before.
I saw a canyon coming up, and I dipped down it. Saffron’s maneuverability was legendary- and the Metalist fighter couldn’t match. It slammed into the trees, blowing the top off of a few.
'Nice work, sir. All hostiles destroyed.’ Saffron said. 'I shall direct you to the nearest landing location.’
'Saffron, why do you reckon so many ships crash here? It seems that any ship that comes within a million miles of Hell gets pulled in.’
'I’m not sure if this is an error or fact, but it seems that this planet defies laws of physics. Hell has an astroid belt- not compressed enough to be called a ring series- and this seems to contain a gravity field of its very own, but it goes one way- to the planet. It sucks everything in, and then the astroid belt smashes it up, and then when it enters the normal gravity of the planet, it cannot fight back to escape. A rather well made plan, and not natural.’ Saffron said.
'Say we flew up to the space between the astroid belt and the planet. Would gravity yank us down back to the planet?’ I asked.
'There is a thin location where there is no gravitational pull, that is where we were orbiting.’
'Next time we’re up there, we need to examine the asteroids. Perhaps there’s some sort of super-heavy material that attracts things just one way? Say the super heavy stuff is on the outside only?’
'No, the only way that would work is with Neutron star density material. And even then the ship would just be smashed upon the super dense material, being flattened out to molecules. It must be some sort of technology creating this gravity well.’
'I’m no expert on gravity well tech, but wouldn’t that be in the center of the planet?’ I asked.
'There’s the thin space where orbiting is allowed. Thus the tech must be in the asteroids.’ Saffron replied. 'Sir...’
'Damn, look at that.’ I said as we neared our landing location. I recognized the Metalist ship well, even though the cigar shape of it was crumpled on a mountain and the white metal was rusting away. It had carved a trench in the ground- a scar, crossing the land. All it had were tall grasses growing in it, and so we landed within a mile of the huge wrecked ship.
'Metalist attack cruiser, class 2.’ Saffron chimed.
'I thought they were all destroyed. Vanished like that.’ I snapped my fingers. 'So how’d this one survive?’
'I would suggest investigating the ship.’ Saffron said.
'Like I wasn’t. If any more fighters take to the skies, be as inconspicuous as possible. If you’re being attacked, fight back.’ I said. 'I’ll cover you with some grass, to make sure.’
I got out and hacked down a bunch of grass with the Revenge’s ax.
'Good luck, sir.’ Saffron said as the cockpit closed. I threw a bunch of grass over Saffron, covering the ship.
'Thanks, I’ll need it.’ I replied, walking towards the ship wrecked in the distance, its size bigger than the mountain it was smashed on. Plants were already growing on it, amazingly enough. Mother Nature here is a military commando compared to Mother Nature at home. Damn.

As I neared the ship, I saw a few Demons. They seemed rare out here, like the Metalists were killing them. Perhaps there were still some left.
I shot down the first ones to charge at me, reloading when there was one left. I then realized this one must of been a Metalist at one time.
The head was forming a mouth around the bare metal structure that was originally there, and only one eye was organic. You could see veins connecting to wires. One of the arms was biological, clawed like a normal Demon’s, and muscular. the other was fully metal and had a gun attached. The flesh on the head and arm met inside the chest, where a beating heart had formed.
'Well, you’re an interesting one.’ I commented, dodging its swung claw. It fired at my feet, flinging me onto my face as two bullets passed through each foot. I swung up as the injury healed, righting myself and loading two shells right into the things chest, making the heart explode. Blood splashed all over me as the thing got flung to the ground, dead.
I then heard the calls of Demons- more were coming. I could see them on then horizon; cyber-organic versions of the creatures I knew all so well. I reloaded and then switched to the Bloody talon, seeing a Goliath that had a large riot shield coming my direction. I dodged it and Blasted it in the back, which didn’t kill it. Gears and metal went flying in an explosion for sparks and blood, though. When it turned to me, one of its legs was broken down, and the head was at an awkward angle. A demon launched itself at me, roaring- I dodged it and then slammed the Revenge’s ax right into its back workings, breaking something important in it. It died under my feet.
The Goliath slammed me away, almost making me drop the Revenge. I rolled back up and shot the beast down from behind it- the thing started burning, igniting the tall grasses. Shit, a brush fire. Saffron better be fire proof.
I dashed through the grass, shooting down any attackers as I went. When I managed to get out of the grass, I had fired my last shotgun shell.
'Damn it!’ I cursed as I went through my pockets, trying to find ammo. I had none, and the only bullets I had on me were the shells for the Bloody Talon. I decided to keep the Bloody Talon out, seeing as it could be used as a bludgeoning tool one second and then blow up a tank the next. But where the hell was an entrance to the ship?
I walked around the edge of the ship, hoping to find some door. I did find one after some searching, and this one was partially blocked up with dirt. I slid into the ship through the space between the dirt and doorway, rolled, and then looked around. Nothing here but the flickering lights in the corridor. I stood up and started down it, hoping to see some un-infected Metalists. I found some pretty quickly.
'Halt.’ One of the two rusty bots chimed. 'Our leader has interest in you.’
'Lead the way.’ I said. The bots lead me down several corridors that I probably would’ve never taken, and then I found myself in the bridge of the ship. There was one skinny robot clicking around, his clockwork buzzing on overtime. Two more battle bots seemed to be discussing something, and a crab like robot was trying to repair a wall. The skinny bot came over to me.
'Drone 352 and Drone 197, you may go now.’ It said, the display on its face showing the soundwaves of its voice. The gear that poked out of its head was turning slowly, stuttering.
'So, where did you come from? You wear the insignia of the ADF, but their ship crashed here a long time ago. There was but one survivor, and he is not one of your own anymore.’
'I didn’t come here by the ship crashed far from here, but on a different fighter ship which is landed about a mile away from this field. And who was this survivor?’ I asked.
'A grey canine, taken over by this infection that can even plague us. I am Commander Drone 12, and your name is...?’
'General Trevor of the ADF. How many of you are left?’ I asked.
'This is all of us that remain, along with a Battle Tower and its crew in one of the hangars. In total, including myself, there remains 9 of us.’
'Well, Commander Dr- I’m just going to call you CD. CD, how big was this crew originally?’
'One thousand. If any of us were destroyed, we would just go back to the production lines to be rebuilt, but those were utterly destroyed in the crash. All of our other ships are gone due to temporal disturbances- we are the last of the Metalists.’
'Just you nine. I was told that the Commander bots and the ship controlled all the bots-’
'No, that doesn’t happen anymore. When the ship crashed, the In-built AI in it was erased. The program which suppressed free thought in the drones was erased with it. We choose to work together, knowing its our only way to survive.’
One of the drones walked towards us, this one painted black.
'He’s right, you know.’ It chimed.
'So, show me your readings on this planet. All of them. I intend for us to get the hell out of Hell.’

What CD and his robots had discovered had proved Saffron’s theory. There was a gravity well surrounding the planet, it being almost invisible. They also had run-ins with the Trickster’s Beasts, which lead to the infected variants which I saw. But these current ones were protected from the infection due to the fact that CD had sealed them all with airtight materials salvaged from the other bots. But he had no clue how the bots could be infected in the first place.
'I was thinking it had to do with the fact that they were organic once. As I said, the Trickster does basically control how this shit infects.’ I said at one point.
'I still do not understand the Trickster. How does this being live on a higher dimension?’ CD asked. We were still in the command room.
'I’m not entirely sure how it works myself, CD. I would point you too one of best friends, but she’s a solid 8 light years away. But since all of your bots were organic once, deep down they wanted that back, which was what probably attracted it. Your survivors are sealed from that happening to them, so our last bots will only be taken down if they get destroyed.’
'Yes, that’s obvious. But there’s no organic material in the drones to even start with. Their original intelligence was moved onto a hard drive for each drone, leaving no need for feeble organic flesh. Problem is, it‘s come back. We‘ve even seen huge Beasts, much larger than the Battle Towers.’
'Hardly feeble, CD. I’ve killed hundred if not thousands of these things, I’m sure as hell not feeble.’ I replied. 'The infection for your bots probably works like a fungus, starts with a spore which duplicates millions of times, spreading and eventually creating a full body around the robot’s metal that it was most likely using as food. God, I’m starting to sound like Nat.’ I commented.
'So, air tight sealant would work.’ CD replied.
'Yeah, it would.’
'Good, because that was the type of seal I put on all of my bots. Perhaps we should try to get some fighting going? The battle tower can hold all of us and has enough firepower to level a small town.’
'Lead us to it.’ I said.
'Everyone, we’re moving out.’ CD said, and all of the bots picked up some weapon and joined us. The crab one started walking along side me and clicked something at me.
'Sorry?’ I asked, not knowing how to speak tin-crab-tongue.
'He asked if you could really save us.’ One of the drones- a red painted one- said.
'Yes, yes I can.’ I replied.
'Oh, I see that your other weapon is out of ammo. We have an armory, you know.’ CD commented.
'If you have 20 gauge shotgun shells, give me the lot. Along with a good pistol, at least.
'That’s possible.’ CD replied. We took a turn and he let me into a room that had the walls decked with guns. I quickly grabbed the ten boxes of shotgun shells they had and then found an odd revolver- a .345 magnum but with three revolving barrels and three revolving ammo canisters, which held nine each. It was a rather large gun, and everything was a multiple of three on it.
'We call that pistol the Tri-shot. The high caliber and rapid speed of the shots would be useful for destroying our enemies.’
'I knew that, CD.’ I said. I loaded the thing up, which took some time, and then took the rest of the extra ammo. I noticed the other robots taking up arms.
'It looks like we may actually have a chance, guys.’ One of the Drones said.
'I hope so.’ Another one replied. We exited the room quickly.
'Now my ship is a one person craft, barely even that. I don’t know how we’ll get you guys off this island.’ I said.
'There was a personnel carrier landed about two miles away from here. It will carry all of us, except the Battle tower.’ CD said.
'How will he get off the island?’ I asked.
'The Battle tower is very patient, he will even roll across the ocean to get somewhere. We’ll find a spot and post a locator signal for him.’ CD replied.
'Are the other Battle Towers infected?’ I asked.
'Yes.’ CD replied quickly.
'Won’t the signal call the infected ones as well?’ I asked.
'Hopefully their receptors are gone.’
'They better.’ I said as we went through a set of double doors. We entered the hangar, where there were multitudinous docks for Metalist fighter ships, but almost all were empty. The ones that had a ship in them were broken down or scrapped for parts. In the center of the room was the Metalist Battle tower- a massive watch tower with two huge rocket pods on the roof, giant 30 foot long treads on the bottom, and a cockpit in the center. The body of the Tower was a solid 60 feet tall, made of plate metal, and some clockwork was showing. I noticed the armor at the bottom was really thick. Smart.
'The armor at the bottom’s new. We lost one when an enemy pitched a grenade in the workings, now that’s pretty much impossible. So we have good protection against the Demons.’ CD said as we stepped onto the bridge attached to the top of the Battle Tower, and the other drones on the top of it greeted us. Some of the drones tossed the ones on the tower some rifles.
'Hey, a Fleshie! What’s he doing here?’ One of them shouted.
'He’s working with us. He can get us the hell out of here.’ One of the other drones responded as we boarded. The black-painted drone stepped into the cockpit, and we were moving.
'You mentioned the tower had an entity in it?’ I asked CD.
'Yes, but only the pilot is able to talk to him.’ CD said.
'Alright. Continue about a mile down the trail your ship craved, We’ll find my ship. I’ll lead the attack, clear out a route for you guys.’ I replied. Then the ground shook.
'What was that?’ One of the drones asked.
'Whatever the hell it is, it’s bigger than anything I’ve fought. Except the Gatekeeper.’ I said, pulling out the Bloody Talon. Ground shook again, and some flying creatures left the trees. A large one tumbled down.
'There!’ I shouted, pointing to the disturbance. The missile pods whirled to place, and the drones took aim. The ground shook again.
'This thing should move faster! At least stay away from the tree line!’ I shouted, and the tower started turning away from the tree line. The dried, burnt grass was flattened in tracks behind us.
The ground shook again, and some of the flying Beasts came soaring at us.
‘Watch out, we’ve got Wyverns coming our way!’ I shouted, creating a name quickly. The big creature stomped into view, roaring. It was four legged, the legs ending in giant flat feet. The body seemed to be made partially of metal, suggesting this thing used to be a Battle Tower. The main part of the torso had more holes that Swiss Cheese, and Wyverns kept flying out. Spikes of metal jutted out of its back, and the head was partially armored with the remains of the cockpit. When it roared, the mouth opened up toothless., but a jet of flame came blasting out. The eyes were almost not there at all. It was at least forty feet tall and twice as long. I also noticed missile pods were attached to the sides of its head.
'Shoot it!’ I cried, and missile started flying. I blasted off a chunk of one of its legs, making it tilt. The missiles from it went flying, knocking chunks off of the tower’s body. A missile detonated on the tower’s cockpit, sending me flying. I slammed into the railing and almost fell off, only keeping ahold on the railing with one hand, hanging right above the massive Beast’s head. Let’s call it a Monolith because of its size. The Monolith didn’t notice me hanging above it as it destroyed the Tower, and I guess it wouldn’t care. I could feel intense rage against this thing. Demonic rage.
I kicked my boots off at it, stretching new talons. I then dropped down, said talons digging into the thing’s flesh. I then switched to the Bloody Talon.
'Die, you fucker! Die, die, DIE!’ I roared, unloading a shell through the Monolith’s skull. Then another in a different location. Then another. Then another. The thing’s head fell apart when the Monolith crashed to the ground, and I ran out of ammo. I tried to unload another twenty shots before I realized I had to reload.
I reloaded the Bloody Talon and stepped off, switching to the Revenge. The Tower fell over and exploded, scattering debris through the air. I side-stepped a massive gear flying my way and took another small one right to the stomach. I yanked it out, watching it heal. A Wyvern started diving at me, I shot it out of the sky. I quickly reloaded, and then took down another. I laughed loudly, reloading again. Many of the Wyverns were gone already. The last one torched me as it flew past, igniting my clothes but not my flesh. Apparently I was fire-proofed.
I blasted it down, my rage receding. I looked the same, including my now dirty feet. I found my boots, put them back on, and then looked around the wreckage for any surviving Metalists. I found none, only finding parts. I picked up CD’s head, looking over it, holding it like I was about to shout “To be or not to be!”. I tossed the hunk of metal away, continuing to where I parked Saffron.

'How’d it go?’ Saffron asked as I got in.
'I lost them. The remains of a species that could of changed, gone. I barely survived myself.’ I replied.
'I’m... Sorry.’ Saffron said.
'I am too.’ I replied. 'Let’s continue searching the planet, look for anything which may help us. Perhaps a place to call home.’ I said, and we took off.

'Sir, I would suggest we work on destroying the gravity well. If it isn’t destroyed, then hope is lost of rescue.’ Saffron said.
'We have eight years, my friend.’ I said.
'Any version of it will take at least three years to destroy, at the most seven.’ Saffron replied.
'We should find allies. Anyone. Anything. Something to help us in these insurmountable odds.’
'Perhaps we should scan for life-signs?’ Saffron asked.
'But we’ll get all Beasts.’ I replied.
'I can scan for non-Beast life-signs.’ Saffron replied.
'Do so.’ I said, looking outside. We were in orbit again, looking over another empty ocean. It was very lonely out here, stars and the void on one side, and Hell on the other. Certain death or certain suffering.
'There are several not completely Beast life signs. None at all that are intelligent within ten thousand miles of here. Those life signs include you, sir.’
'Yeah, I know.’ I replied. ‘It’s been like that for awhile. I’ve learned to cope.’
‘But sir, your species will fully change within the next six years.’
‘Six? I was told it was eight.’ I replied, confused.
‘The speed of it is progressing. Six is if it stops accelerating.’
‘So less.’ I replied, looking at my hands. I did have claws, now... ‘How long?’
‘A few months, perhaps.’ Saffron said.
‘A few months? God damn it.’ I said, banging on the control panel.
‘Do you reckon you will still have control?’ Saffron asked.
‘I’ll never, ever loose it. I made a promise to a young bird that I would return to Earth.’ I replied.
‘I’ll do my best to help you keep that promise, sir.’ Saffron said.
‘Glad to know that.’ I replied. ‘So, where’s this nearest not-totally-Beast life-sign?’ I asked.
'Within ten minutes travel time. Shall we approach?’ Saffron asked.
'We better.’ I said, and we dived into the atmosphere, engines roaring. We seemed to be approaching a location in the middle of one of the expansive dead deserts.
When we came to ground level, we leveled out and started blasting across the sand dunes, leaving a trail. We passed a few Demons, and one vaporized against Saffron’s front- but nothing large. The largest one we saw was a Leviathan staggering around out in the distance.
'Nearing life sign.’ Saffron chimed as a huge, decrepid palace came into our view. It was made from the same metal that many of the Distributor’s constructions were made of, and it was on just as large of a scale. There were four towers on each corner of the somewhat square palace, and the main roof domed upwards, going at least 200 feet up. The palace itself was a solid kilometer long.
'The life-sign’s in there?’ I asked as we landed near the main gates.
'Yes. Along with 569 Beast signatures. Some are very large.’ Saffron replied.
'I best get moving.’ I said, jumping out and making sure the Revenge was loaded. I dashed across the hot sand, leaving tracks which quickly blew away. I then jumped into the tall doors, entering a large main hall. When I stepped away from the doorway, a massive metal wall fell in it to stop me from exiting.
'How the hell does that open?’ I wondered out loud, noticing a control panel in the far corner with a keypad. Damn, I’ll need a code.
A Leviathan stomped out from one of the other doors, dragging its massive wooden cross behind it. It roared at me and started charging, imitating a massive Goliath. I dodged.
'What the hell are you doing here, Hero? You should not be here.’ It growled at me in Demon-tongue.
'Surviving, that’s what.’ I replied, switching to the Bloody Talon. It saw the massive caliber rifle coming, and ducked just as I fired. It swung at me , but I jumped over the cross, rolling and then firing again. This one put a hole the size of a basketball in its stomach, and the injury seemed to be crumbling, causing more damage.
'That weapon...’ It said, falling over.
'It’s not one you want to end up on the receiving end of, now is it?’ I replied as the Leviathan died. I entered the next doorway to face several dozen Demons and Hexed ones.
'Come and get me.’ I hissed, switching to the Revenge, calling upon that demonic rage inside of me. The first demon was blasted from the air, landing on one of its fellows. I reloaded inhumanly fast, blasting another down. Soon, all of them were in my face at once, and I did a roundhouse kick that somehow made them get flung into the walls ten feet away. Only a few got up.
I put the Revenge away and let some of the remaining Demons charge at me. A Hexed one dashed my way, just to end up with my hand in its chest. I ripped out its heart, roaring as I did so. Another one leapt at me, but I caught its face. I held it high, letting the skull get slowly crushed in my grip. Another charged me, and I did the same thing to it. I smashed the two together, letting the bodies crumple to the ground. the others fled, except one that had a broken leg. It was trying to crawl away, but I stood next to it and turned it over.
'Look at me when you die!’ I roared, then I blasted its head off. But then I collapsed.

I woke up in a cold sweat, remembering everything. Was that what I was becoming? A ruthless demon that would rip out hearts and crush skulls with its own bare hands? One that would take pleasure from seeing its enemy’s scared faces as they got destroyed? A demonic bastard that was the exact opposite of everything I held dear?
'Haha, you’ll help lead my Beasts well.’ I heard a familiar voice say. The Trickster in his original armor materialized in front of me. I got up from the ground, Revenge already loaded.
'I will not become that monster.’ I said.
'Ah, but you already are.’ The Trickster replied, tapping his back. I felt mine, and found little stubs. The beginnings of those wings.
'The body doesn’t matter. Your virus has really shitty ways of trying to change my mind, though.’ I replied.
'Ah yes, using a person’s best friend or hero. It usually works.’ The Trickster said. 'But you aren’t the type to be tricked that easily. I guess that’s why you haven’t died yet.’
'It’s more than that, bastard.’ I said. 'My family may be gone, but I have a potential to begin another, and billions of lives to protect. I have meaning, and your’s is to just destroy. That’s why when you falter and die, I’ll be there, laughing over your crumbled fourth-dimensional body.’
'Hehe, we’ll see about that.’ He laughed, and he stepped back. A Hell-variant Basilisk landed in the floor between us as the Trickster disappeared.
I leapt over the flame it spat out, swinging under it and blasting the Revenge into its underbelly at least three times. It turned as I ran down the hall, loading in shells to the Revenge. I could hear the monster running after me, shaking the ground. Then I saw the only door up ahead, slowly closing.
'Son of a bitch!’ I cried, sliding under the door. I found myself in a dark room as the door crashed shut on the Basilisk’s head. The only light in this room was coming from the gap between the door and the floor that the partially crushed Basilisk was making.
'I wondered if you would make it here in time.’ I heard a voice say in the dark. A singular light switched on in the center of the room, then started flickering. I saw Jack walking towards me, holding a 12-gauge shotgun in hand, his uniform in perfect shape.
'So, how’d they create you again?’ I asked the re-animated Jack. His feline eyes were glowing red.
'Sure, I was vaporized, but there were still microscopic fragments. Those can be rebuilt.’ Jack replied. He then tore off skin from his hands, revealing the metallic claws that he sported in the Fall.
'Always fighting. Why can’t you come back to me, Jack? I need you, bud. I’ve missed you. Come back to me.’ Jack didn’t change his expression. But I knew that, deep in there, he was hopefully still intact.
'Jack is gone. I follow my lord.’ Jack’s body said.
'Are you sure? Remember the Seven-day’s war! Remember all the good times we had before this shit! Remember ADF!’ I shouted to him, putting the Revenge away and walking towards him.
'I... follow my... lord...’ Jack croaked.
'Remember the RAD base! Remember your hatred against the Beasts! Remember your family!’ I shouted to him. Jack dropped his shotgun, remembering his family. He did have a family, but he neither of us spoke much about stuff outside of our work.
'Yes, your family. Your wife, Annabelle! Your children! They didn’t even know that they had lost you!’ I shouted. Jack dropped to his knees, clutching his head.
'I... I... S-s-serve...’ He stuttered.
'You only serve the ADF, and your family. Not the Trickster. He is the Devil. Evil Incarnate. Remember you always said you wanted to be the good in the world? Help who you could? You have to be that. You’re not a demon. You‘re Jack.’ I said.
'Trevor... Old bud...’ Jack said, tearing up. I dropped down to my knees and hugged him tightly. Then I heard him growl at me, and I let go. No, not Jack. The eyes were still glowing red, and his shape was becoming more fluid.
'Damn it, how the hell did I ever think he was alive again?!’ I shouted, aiming the Revenge at the morphing monster. It morphed to something totally different. It was covered in black scales, and the legs were double jointed. The feet were large and ended in several clawed toes. The torso was heavy-set and muscular, mounting four arms. The hands had large, straight claws, and the head was horned as well as somewhat similar to a normal reptile’s.
What got me the most was the fact that what I thought was one tail split into a massive mesh of dozens of thin, spiked tendrils. It was at least fifteen feet tall.
'You’re not Jack, for sure.’ I said, raising my aim at its head.
The Beast roared loudly, then started attacking. Several of the Tendrils came my way, making me dodge them like an Octo-gore’s. Then more came. And more.
I ended up somersaulting throughout the storm of tendrils, trying to blast the monster. Then I came to the wall.
I guess I must of called on the Demon in me, because I ran up the damn wall. As I did it, I switched to the Bloody Talon.
'DIE!’ I roared, grabbing onto the ceiling, swinging away from the wall, and then firing at the monster. When I landed, one of the monster’s arms was blown off.
'I see that you will join us soon...’ The monster said, growling.
'I will NOT!’ I roared, shooting the Bloody Talon one handed. I held to the recoil well, but the monster somehow dodged it, only loosing two tendrils.
'Damn it, die!’ I shouted, unloading the cartridge and grabbing another. I slammed it in and loaded it with a sound similar to a small Howitzer.
The monster ignited a fireball in its remaining hand and hovered it over its bloody stump of an arm. The arm started rebuilding from what seemed to be ash. It then flung the fireball at me, which I dodged.
As I dodged, I noticed I had an aura around me. Wispy, dark apparitions of my demonic self, and they surrounded me, caressing gently. Willing me in. But no.
I took the loaded Revenge in the other hand and somehow managed to duel wield my pair of weapons. The angered chameleonic monster roared and started lashing at me with its tendrils again. I somersaulted out of the way, slid on my knees, and fired off the Revenge at it, and the shell ripped through it, drawing blood. I then flicked it open, unloaded the empty shells, and then somehow tossed two more in using my tail. I snapped it back closed, firing off the Bloody Talon at the same time. The shot penetrated the monster through the hip, making it crash to the ground.
'Let that aura bring you to where you belong...’
'No! It shall not, will not, and can not!’ I roared, firing off another shell into it, making the monster’s head explode. I relaxed.
'It’s gone... but where are the rest...?’ I muttered, collapsing.

I woke up to find myself over a furred shoulder. A survivor?
'W...where?’ I whispered.
'Safety, that’s where.’ The person replied. I could hear him making quiet clicking noises with his mouth.
'Who are you...?’ I asked. I noticed the Bloody Talon strapped to the back of the wolf anthro carrying me. The Revenge was still on mine.
'Call me Icarus.’ He replied. I noticed the latter half of his tail was just blood and bones, and a pair of black feathered wings on his back were somewhat blending in with the darkness in the tunnel. Matter of fact, how did he see?
'Here, let me down. I can stand.’ I said. He did.
'I think this is yours.’ He said, handing me the Bloody Talon as I brushed myself off.
'Thanks.’ I replied. I took it from him, noticing the fact that he had no eyes. Just empty sockets. He also had a pentagram- aligned upwards, the good way- carved onto his chest. Looked like it was self-inflicted. I guess he didn’t have to see at all.
Then I noticed that several upright pentagrams had been scratched onto what remained of my body armor. I wonder why.
'My name’s Trevor. General Trevor.’ I said.
'I’m afraid rank doesn’t matter here, Trevor.’ Icarus responded, making more of his barely noticeable clicking noises. I presumed that was how he “saw”, similar to a bat. His ears were constantly turning to catch sounds. I also noticed his weapons- they looked like two large daggers. One was a dagger, for sure. But the other was different. The handle was longer, and the blade seemed to be made of four individual ones. A cylinder was attached to the bottom as well. These were strapped to his battered ADF trooper pants.
'So, can you explain the pentagrams?’ I asked him.
'I’ve discovered that they can ward off demonic infection. Flip them over, and they speed it up. Only ones carved into the infected’s flesh can totally stop it...’ Icarus said, feeling the scars on his bare chest.
'But mine heals too quickly. So a symbol won’t help me.’ I said.
'The ones I carved onto your armor should slow it down, at least.’ Icarus replied. 'It’s better than nothing.’
'Damn right.’ I said as we kept on moving. I followed his footsteps, since he knew where we were going- also, he knew where the obstructions were.
'Watch your step.’ Icarus said, pointing to a large hole in the ground.
'Where are we going?’ I asked.
'I have a hideout not far from here.’ Icarus replied.
'And how did you get here?’ I then asked.
'Long story.’ He replied.
'Long walk.’ I said.
'Tell me, how did you get here?’ Icarus then said.
'I’ll presume you met the Trickster.’
'Ah yes, that bastard. Give him a beating, but he still knocked me down.’
'Let’s just say, I’ve saved hundreds of lives and killed thousands of his Beasts, and he doesn’t like me much because of that.’ I replied. Icarus handed me a box of matches. I took off the remains of one of my jackets, wrapped that around a rotten timber I almost tripped over, and lit the rags. I had a torch.
'So you’re that Trevor.’ Icarus replied.
'Yeah, that-’
'Shush, don’t you hear that?’ Icarus interrupted, clamping his hand over my mouth. His ears swiveled like a pair of radars.
'No, I don’t hear anything.’ I whispered.
'I guess my hearing is too developed...’ Icarus added. He took out his odd-looking dagger.
'What’s with that blade of yours?’ I then asked. As I said that, a Demon came running at us from the darkness. Icarus squeezed the handle on his knife, and the blade went flying out attached to a chain. It then split into the four blades in a X shape, which was spinning through the air. The blades smacked right into the Demon’s shoulder.
'Get over here!’ Icarus roared, retracting the whip. The demon got dragged, and that’s when his other blade came in handy. When the demon was yanked to him, Icarus slammed the knife into its skull. The Demon staggered for a second as Icarus grabbed his knife’s handle. His whip had retracted to its first state by now, and that was used to slit the Demon’s throat. It gurgled for a moment, and then Icarus kicked it away while still holding onto his knife embedded in the thing’s skull. The head came clean off.
'Alright, good explanation.’ I commented, loading the Revenge. Icarus flicked the head off and sheathed the knife.
'There’s no more coming for now. No need for the shotgun.’
'Whatever you say.’ I said, still keeping it ready.
'We’re almost there. Just a few more hundred or so feet...’ Icarus replied.
When we entered, I noticed we were in a tower a short distance away from the palace I was in before. The top room was where he stayed, I guess. There was a bedroll, several crates of foodstuffs, and some firearms with their ammo laying around.
'Nice place.’ I said sarcastically.
‘That’s why I picked it. Well protected, well away- That was a joke, wasn’t it?’
‘Yup.’ I replied. I had nodded first, but he wouldn’t of known that.
‘Yeah, it needs sandstorm protection. The lack of windows is the problem.’ Icarus said. He then spun around, his sockets “looking” straight into my eyes. 'Now then, I’m going to try to teach you how to control the inner demon. I cannot stop the change physically, but I can mentally. And seeing as how I heard your screams against the inner demon from on the other side of the building, I reckon it should be easy.’
'I scream that loud?’ I asked.
'Remember, I have strong ears. I can hear your heartbeat, loud and strong. I can hear what many cannot.’ Icarus said.
‘No wonder you heard that Demon coming.’ I said. Night was setting. 'So, can you tell me how you got here now?’
'I suppose. Perhaps you saw a wrecked ADF cruiser while you were patrolling the surface of the planet?’
'More than that. I entered it after the wreck, fought through it, and used the Ship Buster to destroy a two dozen mile long Beast that I called the Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper destroyed it in its last moments. Obliterated.’
'Well, glad to see it was able to do something. That was my ship.’ Icarus replied. 'We were sucked in due to some gravity well, and only a few of us survived the crash. I was in one of the rear store rooms, along with some fellow marines. We managed to escape with only some injuries, but we also had the equipment to last us a lifetime. Then we started getting killed, one by one.
'Eventually, there were three of us left, fighting a huge horde. A heap of these spider-like things ran at us, exploded in our faces, and left us breathing that damned gas. I was the only one that staggered out of there with any sanity left. The creatures that my friends became are still out there.’
I was silent for a moment. They had survived the crash, somehow. And this one man remained.
'How did you loose your eyes? Or is that too personal?’
'In this type of situation, nothing is too personal. And it isn’t, anyhow. One day, when I woke up, I just found myself blind. Something must of plucked them out like a pair of ripe cherries.’ Icarus simply responded.
'Heavy sleeper?’ I then asked, almost jokingly.
'Apparently heavy enough to miss my eyes being stolen.’ Icarus responded. 'Sorry that I don’t have another bed roll.’
'It’s alright, I’ll keep watch during the night. The Beasts know me, they’re likely to attack then.’
'The only person they’d be attacking that much is the “Destroyer” they keep chattering about.’ Icarus responded.
'You’re looking at him.’ I replied.
'Really?’ He asked. I nodded. 'Damn, you’re right.’
‘Try to get some sleep, Icarus. I’ll keep watch.’ I said, and he nodded and laid down on the bedroll. I noticed a dust cloud on the horizon, which I took aim at.
'Shit! Get back up man, I guess it’s not the time to sleep!’ I shouted to Icarus, who rolled out of his bed and up next to me.
'It’s just a sandstorm.’ He said.
'Look at it through the scope.’ I said. His jaw dropped.
'There must be thousands of them!’ He exclaimed. We were looking at the largest horde of Beasts I had ever seen, ranging from Demons to Monoliths. They were all running, coming this way.
'There’s no way in hell we’ll be able to kill them all, especially from this range.’ I said.
'Well, we are in Hell, so your argument is valid. I can fly out of here, but your wings haven’t developed yet. That Horde’s only about a mile away, not enough time to go through the palace and get you to your ship. I have an all-terrain motorcycle below, on the second level of the tower. Grab some supplies, that thing will be your only way out of here intact.’ Icarus said. I grabbed a water recycling unit and a few dozen ADF full-meal wafers and followed him down the stairs.
'I can hear the horde already...’ Icarus mumbled as he opened a door for me. We stepped into a room where a singular motorcycle was parked, its only exit being a hole in the wall. The cycle itself was large- the wheels were about half the size of an oil barrel but just as wide, and both had suspension attached that reminded me of a dune buggy’s. In between the suspension was a solar panel- perhaps the thing was electric. There was a rack on the back for supplies, and a windshield protected the driver from the front because he had to lie down to drive it properly. It was painted red- odd for an ADF vehicle. I also saw a few month’s worth of wafers strapped to the rack on it, along with a helmet.
'Keys are already in the ignition. Hopefully we shall meet again, and not with you on the end of my whip’s blades.’ Icarus said. 'Best of luck.’
'You too, Icarus.’ I replied, getting onto the bike as Icarus flew out the hole and up. I revved the bike as the ground started to rumble from the massive size of the horde. I put on the helmet.
‘Let’s rock.’

The bike landed hard on top of a Demon, quickly gaining speed. I looked back to see the Horde charging after me, piling on the sides of the tower. I took out the Revenge- it would help with anything that got too close- if I hit anything at this speed, it wouldn’t be good.
I swerved out of the way of a rock and into flat sand, watching the Beasts tumble over it. When I looked back ahead, I heard a huge crash. The bastards brought the tower down with their own weight!
Several Wyverns tried to attack me, somehow reaching the 300 MPH I was clocking at. I blasted one out of the air and dodged the other two’s attacks. I loaded the next two shells in with my tail, using them to take down the two remaining Wyverns. I reloaded again, noticing that the space between the horde and myself was decreasing. But then I saw why.
I was traveling on the steep end of a huge sand dune, hoping to use the cover for something. Instead, the Beasts started tumbling over it, trying to catch me. Hundreds of Beasts poured over the edge of the dune, moving more like a liquid than a solid. Some of them with fireball or bone spike capabilities were at the top, firing at me. I was able to dodge the fireballs easily.
I put the Revenge away and switched to the Bloody Talon, seeing as I could shoot it one-handed now. That was a good idea when I ramped up an oncoming sand dune.
I flew over the heads of a group of Demons, landing underneath a Monolith. It roared as I sped under it, almost stomping on me. I sped out ahead and then spun the motorcycle around, facing the charging Monolith. I took aim, and then the thing’s head quickly developed a hole in it. It crashed to the ground, crushing some Beasts and blocking the advance of some others. I switched to the Revenge when I saw a Goliath charging at me, giant sword raised high. I shot it down, stole the sword, and leapt onto the bike again, sword in one hand. I also grabbed its shield. The horde was getting closer...
'DESTROY THE DESTROYER!’ They all cackled as one.
'Good luck with that!’ I roared back at them, seeing the dark phantom limbs appear again. I drew the massive slab of a sword as I revved the motorcycle, aimed back at the palace. If Saffron was still intact, I could get out of here.
I accelerated towards the horde, sword held out to one side, the Goliath’s stolen shield protecting the other. I was able to balance the bike as I slammed straight into the mess.
The sword was sharp enough to where it cut through the Demons easily. The horde was so thick I was driving on bodies instead of ground, and the blood from the sliced Demons became a wave. I roared gladly as I did it, basking in the death of my enemies. When I came out on the other side, at least two hundred had fallen to my blade. But I had lost the shield and part of the sword- I tossed the remains of the blade away as I sped back towards the palace. I could see Saffron, still intact.
I heard the horde change course, trampling the ones slow enough to not turn in time. I jumped a dune, landing with an explosion of dust but without a loss of speed.
'Saffron, come pick me up! Now!’ I shouted to the ship, which took off and headed towards me. It left part of the center behind, though...
I sped on, wondering what the hell just happened to Saffron. But then the ship started hovering above me, the hole in its bottom fitting perfectly to the bike I was riding- You’ve got to be kidding me.
The top of the ship meshed perfectly with the bike, the controls converting to ship controls. The only thing a bit different now was the sitting position.
'Give me manual control, Saffron!’ I shouted.
'Right, sir.’ He replied, and I took us up into the air. I flipped the ship around and commenced a bombing run on the horde. I took out another hundred as I blasted away.
'Sir... What happened in there? You’ve changed...’ Saffron said, sounding emotional.
'Many things have. But don’t worry, Saffron. You’re one of my friends, I’d never hurt you. But where are we going to go now?’
'Follow that bio-sign?’ Saffron asked.
'Where did he go, anyhow?’ I replied.
'Deep underground, away from my sensors.’ Saffron responded.
'So we’ll have to find him another time.’ I said.
'This is true.’
We were silent as Saffron orbited Hell.
'What location is nearest to all of the remaining Bio-signs which may be intelligent?’ I asked. 'It has to be a building, a cave, some sort of hide out.’
'Heading there now. The plan, sir?’ Saffron replied.
'Find the others, develop a team, destroy the gravity well. Perhaps we can escape this planet together when the ADF arrives.’
'But how will we collect everyone?’ Saffron asked.
'You collect one person, take them here, I collect another, and we take trips. Simple.’ I replied.
'So we have a plan, then?’
'We have a plan.’