And the inner demon awakes. The Vanguard of the Seven has attacked, will the whole team survive?
Ma-Na is  xlTangolx's.
Icarus is  Lo-Carbquine's.
And Laffy is  Woofstep's.
_______________________________________________________________________
I kept an eye on Mammon as he leisurely walked towards us, his massive, nine foot long greatsword leaning on his shoulder. I couldn’t quite see him too well due to the occasional gust of sand.
The hatch behind me opened, and the team climbed out with their guns ready. Icarus was there too, his chained quad-dagger thing ready.
'Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.’ Kagiso said.
'Ma-Na, Kagiso, get down there, get defenses ready! The rest of us will get out there and fight, try to keep him away from the ship as much as possible.’
'Hell, we take him out, and all of us will be set for the rest of our lives even if we take a single plate of that-’ Jefferson started, before I covered his beak with my hand.
'Don’t think about that, it’s probably what Mammon’s trying to do!’ I barked at him.
'Shit, you’re right. Thing is, that diamond armor is going to withstand just about anything we can throw at it.’ He responded.
'How are we going to cut through it?’ Laffy asked.
'Diamond cutters cut diamonds for rings and such in half with either a diamond-plated saw or a laser. Since we don’t have any extra diamonds, we’re going to need an amazingly powerful laser. Give me 45 minutes, I have a small laser in my lab, I can give it enough power and strength to cut that Beast’s armor within the hour.’
'Well? Go!’ I shouted, and Jefferson leapt back into the hatch. That left the three of us on the roof- Laffy, Icarus, and I.
'Diamond armor, you say? And we need to hold it off for that long?’ Icarus asked.
'If we can lead the fucker away, it should work. You two be the distractions; I’ll attack head on.’
'Wait, how are you going to do any more damage than either of us-?’ Laffy asked.
'Trust me, he will.’ Icarus said, already sliding down the side towards Mammon. We followed.
I landed in the red sands before Laffy- he slid a bit slower and rolled upon landing. Icarus was already flying into the sandstorm- it was picking up again. Great.
I Made sure the Bloody Talon was loaded and took careful aim. I got my sights on his chest, and fired. The bullet crumpled against Mammon’s armor, only leaving a large dent. He barely stumbled.
‘Fucking hell, that’s real diamond alright. I’m surprised even it can hold out to the Talon’s bullets.’ I said, switching to the Revenge. Mammon had no faceplate; his only weakness- it would be easier to get at it with a shotgun, really. I continued running towards the monster.
Icarus attacked first, his quad-dagger weapon lashing quickly. It scratched the diamond somehow, but only that. Mammon blocked half of the attacks, though. He landed next to me.
'I thought only a diamond could scratch a diamond.’ I said.
'Demonic weapons can scratch diamond too, it seems.’ He responded.
'Good. Keep fighting!’ I then shouted, continuing my approach.
Laffy got near and started firing at the Beast’s face, each shot coming close to knocking him on his back. Mammon covered his face with diamond gloves, allowing each shot to reflect off. One crashed through my leg, tearing off a large chunk of it and making me crash face-first into the sand. It healed quickly, and I leapt back up. And suddenly, I found Mammon right next to me, his sword held high. I rolled out of the way just as it crashed down.
'Trevor, Hero, do you not love the material?!’ He roared in Beast tongue.
'I don’t give in to that sort of thing.’ I replied, blasting at him and reloading.
'I can give you anything that you want! Anything!’ Mammon said.
'In return for what? Me killing my friends, my loosing everything for what? Probably a false material inside my own head. Nothing to get rid of you.’ I shouted, blasting Mammon in the face. He recoiled back, and I held my ground, leaving embers in the sand... Wait, the aura... No, not what I needed. Not right now!
'Give in, Trevor! Your body is already being taken over, you may as well have a mental world with everything you want! You’ll become ours in the end.’ Mammon said.
'Mentally, I am strong. Stronger than any of you. Strong enough to keep my mind against the demon inside. And your kind has given my the physical power to destroy the lot of you.’ I replied. Mammon swung his sword at me, but I leapt over it.
'I am Mammon, I have caused the downfall of some of your greatest leaders! I will destroy you too!’ Mammon roared, swinging his massive sword down- I blocked it with the Revenge. If the Revenge was a normal shotgun anymore, it would split in half, killing me. But the Revenge isn’t normal anymore, and hasn’t been for awhile.
I strained against Mammon’s massive strength, turning it into a deadly tug-of-war. My muscles bulged as I did my best to channel as much of that demonic power into defense.
Mammon, in response, flicked a switch on the side of his sword. The blade split in half right down the center, allowing a fucking chainsaw to come out, filling the space between the two blades. The chainsaw started automatically, also creating massive amounts of sparks just as fast.
'Now do you understand?! You cannot win! Good never triumphs over evil in real life! Greed claims everyone! And this includes you too! I will win!’ Mammon rambled.
'No.’ I replied calmly. My tail fell out of its usual curl, allowing it to reach for the shotgun shells...
'What was that?! I can’t hear you!’ Greed cackled.
'No. I will not fall here. I will not give in.’ I gave my defense even more force, raising Mammon’s blade off of the Revenge slowly. 'And I...’ I felt those nubs of wings on my back force against my jacket, aching to get free. '...Will Never...’ I cringed as some horns developed- straight ones that faced backwards. '..., never GIVE UP!’
When I roared that, I pushed Mammons blade so hard, it gave me time to dodge out of his hold. My new dragon-like wings ripped through the thick fabric of my jacket, giving me sudden lift into the air. As this happened, I was using my tail to reload the Revenge, getting ready to deliver the killing blow.
Events happened in slow motion, seemingly. I found myself about two feet above Mammon’s blade, which was embedded in the sands- I was just above his head. He noticed me just as I raised the burning black blade of the Revenge above him...
A massive line of black energy traveled through the sands with a deafening explosion, splitting anything that it encountered. Thankfully, it stayed well away from the ship, only splitting some rocks and seemingly Mammon. I quickly landed, the Revenge still aimed at the Dazed Mammon.
'Greed... Cannot be killed... As long as there is precious, shiny things in this world... I will live...’ Mammon muttered. His helmet and part of his chest armor fell off, split in half by my vicious attack- they disintegrated upon landing, revealing patches of what looked like magma on Mammon’s scales.
'No, you don’t control the essence of greed. You’re a fake. Made by an unimaginative wanna-be god who desired to kill me in some of the most ridiculous ways possible. It doesn’t work.’ I replied. I just about fired, by then Mammon started screaming as his magmatic patches began to smoke. Wait just a minute...
Diamonds, in nature, are formed by massive pressures in magmatic tunnels. This takes millions of years; Mammon, as a master of all things valuable, did it in a few seconds.
The diamond crystals formed from the magmatic patches on his body, and as if spread by an invisible hand, they spread out into the vague shape of armor. It was jagged and organic-looking, but it was another suit of armor, alright.
'You son of a bitch, why won’t you die?!’ I roared, firing the Revenge at his face again. He blocked the shot and picked up his sword again.
‘Greed cannot be destroyed! No matter what is out there, or what you do, Greed will always be there!’ It replied. As it said that, Laffy and Icarus returned to my side.
‘Good lord, Trevor! What happened to you?’ Laffy asked.
‘I’ll explain later! We just have to keep him away from the ship until Jefferson builds that laser of his.’ I replied.
‘As long as you’re still working on the right side, Trevor.’ Icarus said.
‘Always am, always will.’ I said.
‘Good. Now let’s stop this bastard.’ Icarus said. ‘Try to break the armor, Laffy and I can get in hits before it regenerates.’
‘How are you going to know when it comes off?’ I asked.
‘It makes an interesting noise. Believe me, I’ll know.’ Icarus said. He stepped over to the side as Mammon’s sword crashed down.
‘Well then, Mammon. Bring it!’ I roared at Greed, igniting that black flame the Revenge can create. He swung at me, and I had already flown up above him. I then swung a quick slash at his shoulder, blasting that black energy again. The armor cracked, but didn’t break. Mammon reacted quick this time- he swung his sword up, smacking me out of the air with the brute force. I landed on the ground and defended from another vicious chainsaw attack with the Revenge, creating even more sparks. Problem is, this time I was on my back. Kind of hard to force it up this time.
'I will vanquish you, Hero! You are nothing to me, to the power of Greed! With all of the precious things, you can have the best of everything- and this includes my equipment! I’ll destroy you!’ Mammon shouted at me.
‘You forgot something.’ I replied, now holding the Revenge against the onslaught with one hand. I pulled the bloody Talon out from under me, and using my tail, I pulled the bolt and got it readied. Three shots in the cartridge. Better be good enough.
Boom!
First shot. Cracked the helmet.
Boom!
Second shot. Blasted off a chunk, and cracked it further.
Boom!
Third shot. This round blew off half of the helmet, leaving it open to more fire. And due to the crouched position of Mammon, he was really exposed.
‘Say cheese, bitch.’ Laffy said, his revolver pointed at Mammons head. Before it could regenerate the helmet, the medic loaded six high-caliber rounds into its skull. Mammon fell to the ground, his sword falling down, still active. 'Holy shit, I did it. I killed Greed.’ Laffy said, tired.
'Well, you did the finishing blow.’ I said, getting up. I reloaded the Bloody Talon and then switched Mammon’s chainsaw sword off. Icarus landed next to us as I spoke with Laffy.
'True, true.’ Laffy said.
'Does it matter who killed it? We killed one of the seven.’ Icarus added.
'Indeed we did.’ I said. I crouched down next to the diamond-encrusted body. 'And it’s a very valuable corpse, for sure. But don’t think about that, it’s what Greed would’ve hoped for.’
As I watched, the diamond armor on it disintegrated like the extra chunks did before, leaving the armorless body on the ground, its sword right next to him. But that wasn’t disintegrating...
'Hey guys, I got it! Where is he?!’ Jefferson shouted, running out of Ma-Na’s ship while hauling a huge laser-like weapon that was connected to a massive power cable.
'We already killed him! He also left us his weapon!’ I shouted back, picking up Mammon’s massive blade with ease. Jefferson dropped the laser weapon and fell to his knees, laughing.
'How the hell are you holding that thing so easily? It must weigh so much!’ Laffy said.
'Here, catch. Must only weight ten pounds.’ I said, tossing him the blade. It landed on him, knocking him down.
'Damn it, more like ten hundred! Get it off me, this hurts...’ Laffy said, trying to shove the blade off of him. I picked it up easily as Jefferson neared, along with the rest of the team.
'God damn, what happened to you?’ Ma-Na asked.
'I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about the demonic infection.’ I said. All of the team except Ma-Na and Icarus aimed their weapons at me. '...But I’ve gotten it under control. It’s been inside me for way to long, but I’m still on your side.’
'Don’t worry, he’s been working to control it as best as possible.’ Icarus said. The rest of the team slowly lowered their guns.
'I can try to make a cure.’ Kagiso finally spoke.
'Won’t work. People have tried, trust me. But I have the mental strength to control it.’ I said.
'If you turn against us, Trevor, you’ll be destroyed pretty quick.’ Jefferson said.
'I know. It won’t happen.’ I said.
'Better not. Come on, we should do our best to get sleep.’ Ma-Na said. 'In the morning, we’ll have to examine you, figure out how much more it has to go.’
'I doubt it has anywhere else to go.’ I said. I noticed Mammon’s sword had changed- reverted to a steel of some sort.
'Wow, none of the diamonds were normal.’ Jefferson said as we walked back.
'Of course not. It’s a good weapon, though.’ I replied, resting the blade on my shoulder and walking towards my lookout. The others walked back inside, hoping for some rest- except Icarus.
'Do you mind if I join you, Trevor?’ He asked.
'Fair enough. What is it that you’re going to talk about?’ I said.
'How can you endure like you do? You’ve seen friends die, your body change to one of the enemy’s, and you’re stuck in Hell- and mean Hell- for several years. How do yo live under such circumstances?’ Icarus asked. 'When your body changed like it did, I heard the fight keep going. You didn’t even stop, even when your own body betrays you.’
'I actually took advantage of it, haha.’ I replied. 'How do I do it? I have something sacred to protect- Earth, and of course Natalie and the little girl that she’s pretty much adopted, Alexia. I have something to live for. Something which needs my protection.’
'I have heard that a desire to live can keep people alive, but this...? Trevor, you have done everything from escape a black hole to kill your best friend to saving thousands of humans. Yeah, I heard of your works. You’re a legend that won’t ever be forgotten. Ever. The rest of us will most likely be footnotes in your biography.’ Icarus said.
'I doubt it. You’ll be known as the heros that, no matter what I fought alongside to save everything. I’ll make sure that the dead are remembered, as well as the living.’ I replied.
'That’s reassuring. I think. Try to get some sleep, Trevor. I‘ll keep an ear out.’
I laid back on the cold metal hull of the ship and bundled up my torn jacket as a pillow. But I wasn’t even tired whatsoever, which was odd. Could I even sleep anymore?
I raised my hand in front of my face. It wasn’t the same hand I remembered at the beginning of this war- It used to have streamlined scales, thin fingers, and claw-less. It used to be harmless. Now the scales were large and jagged, the hand was muscular, and razor-sharp claws had emerged. The hand of a demon. Not the hand of a hero’s.
The feeling of wings on my back was odd, for they weren’t like bird wings with feathers or anything, but they were membranes instead. Thick, leathery, unknown to myself. But I already knew how to use my wings, like I always had them. Instinctual. It was odd, my body not reacting the same as it did before. I had more muscle power, and yet I was also more lithe, somehow. Quicker, stronger, more powerful, everything was different. And yet, it feels like nothing had changed. Like I was always like this.
No, no. I have to remember what came before. What I’m fighting for. Never forget.

Apparently I could sleep, if I wanted to. Because I woke to Icarus in a pose most would meditate in, listening carefully.
‘Icarus, you awake?’ I asked.
'Yes, Trevor. Never went to sleep.’ Icarus replied.
'Why?’
'This demonic infection stops me from needing to. Not sure why. Doesn’t that happen to you?’
'I wanted to get some sleep. And I did.’ I replied.
'Interesting. Come on, the plans for the next few days are being set up as we speak.’ Icarus said, opening the hatch and leaping down it. We landed in one of the hallways that connected to the main control room, and it was a bit more cleaned up. Demon bodies didn’t litter the floors, anyhow.
Only two people were inside the control room- Ma-Na and Laffy. Laffy greeted us as we entered.
'Where’s Kagiso and Jefferson?’ I asked.
'Killing the other of the Seven without you. Nah, just kidding, they’re working on salvaging more equipment from the ruins of the ship we came in on and the crashed city ship here, plus looking for others. Perhaps they’ll find something nice out there.’ Laffy replied.
'The chances of them finding it above ground are slim, without them being gone for several days, that is.’ Ma-Na interjected.
'Why?’ Icarus asked.
'The two locations within a two hour’s flying range of the carrier craft are the city ship and your crashed cruiser. Using Saffron’s map of Hell, I’ve discovered a few new locations which may be interesting.’
Ma-Na hit a few buttons, and a hologram of the planet activated, shinning a flickering projection of the red devilish planet in the air. There were several holes in the hologram- unmapped, presumably. These were mostly near the poles.
'As you can see- pardon me, Icarus- the poles are covered in snow, which is odd, due to the hot climate on the rest of the planet. If there’s something there, we wouldn’t know due to the holes in the map and the blizzard that always seems to be blowing there. This blizzard is like your Jupiter’s red spot, if you will.
'Next, there’s this odd location.’ Ma-Na continued. She hit a few more buttons and the map of the planet turned and zoomed in to one location that looked like it was just red dunes.
'Zoom in.’ Ma-Na commanded the hologram. It zoomed in some, revealing silver specks.
'Again.’ The specks became geometric, some looking like squares, others triangles, some circular.
'Once more.’ Ma-Na said, and it zoomed in further. The shapes now looked like rooftops.
'3-D representation, at 130 degrees.’ The map changed its angle, getting a good look at the rooftops. So it was a city! Only a few of the tallest towers poked above the sands, but it was there. Looked like it was made by Distributors.
'A city. Ancient, who knows who built it. Probably a good location for loot, haha. May also be one of the Seven there, not sure.’
'Ah- Six. We killed Greed.’ Laffy said.
'Correct. Anyhow, next.’ Ma-Na replied. The map zoomed out to the main view, and then turned to the green, leafy island where I was not too long ago.
'This landmass seems to be untouched, not sure how-’ She started.
'Stay away from it. I was there before I met Icarus, and it’s swarming with specialized Beasts. Another alien species- cyber organic ones- crash landed there. They’re all dead now. The only reason I would suggest going there would be to raid their ship, retrieve some of the armaments they had. Perhaps steal a ship or two.’ I interrupted.
'How good are their weapons?’ Laffy asked.
'I lost a revolver like weapon there that had three chambers, fired three shots at a time, and held six in each chamber. Powerful weapon. But it’s very dangerous down there...’ I replied.
'I’ll put that last on the list, then.’ Ma-Na commented. 'Zoom out.’
The map zoomed out even further, away from Hell. A tiny moon of sorts appeared in the hologram. One we had never seen.
'How’d we never notice that?’ I commented.
'Due to the rotation of the moon and Hell, we always see the dark side of it. It spins at a normal speed, but its orbit is so slow it pretty much stays in the same place. We may see a thin sliver of a crescent shape in 20 years, to give you an idea.’ Ma-Na replied.
'Really?’ Icarus asked.
'I may have sarcasm occasionally, but this is a serious matter. Map, reorient to the moon. Rotate the moon map 90 degrees, give us a view from the side. 3-D.’ Ma-Na said. The hologram of the moon was darkened and only half there, but it showed us something important.
'You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ Laffy said.
A tower of some sort jutted from the surface of the moon, at least a twelfth of the moon’s radius. the massive circular body of it was circled by several dozen rings, and the base was a massive bulky orb.
'Remember us saying that the gravity well must be some giant super-Beast in the core of the planet because we couldn’t find an entrance? We should’ve looked up. The moon’s about 12 miles wide, so the tower’s still gigantic. About two miles tall, and it actually reaches the top of the moon’s thin atmosphere. You can still breath on its top, but the air’s real thin. So it’d be hard.’
'How the hell are we going to take that tower out?’ I asked.
'The orb at its bottom? It’s a power core. We overload that, tower falls apart from below. Of course, remove a tower with that big of a ratio to the landmass its on, and it’ll send the moon’s orbit crazy. So it may just either send it crashing into Hell, or send it flying into the depths of space.’
'So how are we going to blow the hell out of it without stepping on the tower or the planet?’
'Asteroid would be a better term. But if we remotely detonate the core- Say with some C-4- it may work. May.’ Ma-Na continued.
'But how are we going to stop it from crashing into Hell? And what happens if it does?’
'If it does, Hell will burn. The crater would take a large chunk out of the planet, and turn the rest of the planet’s surface to magma. Map, run simulation of moon collision. Fast speed.’
The map zoomed into a proper position to where we could see both the moon and Hell. The holographic tower on the moon exploded in flat, holographic planes, blasting the moon downward. It continued on its orbit, but it spiraled towards the planet. A minute later in simulation time, it collided. A huge explosion eclipsed the planet, and a dust cloud shrouded it. Shortly, a piece of text appeared in place of the hologram.
'Total Destruction. No Survivors.’
'Bloody hell.’ Laffy said.
'No, fiery hell.’ Ma-Na said as the simulation faded away. 'I’m currently working with Kagiso to figure out how the tower will explode, its infrastructure, everything. I’ve already determined a way to get there.’
'How?’ Icarus asked.
'The gravity well is strong, but a small craft can break through if it goes fast enough.’ Ma-Na replied.
'The troop carrier can’t move very fast.’ Laffy said.
'But Saffron has the power and speed to circle the planet in under half an hour. He reaches Mach 5, if I push him.’ I added.
'But Saffron can only hold one, can’t he?’ Ma-Na asked.
'Two if we’re not hauling cargo.’ I replied.
'But we need to take a stash of remote explosives.’ Ma-Na said.
'So it’s a single man job.’ Icarus said. 'So, who’s going to go?’
'I can go. Need need for any of you to risk it.’ Jefferson said when he entered.
'No, I’ll head into the fight. I have the most skill at working alone, and I have one of the highest chances to escape.’
'Alright, I’m not going to complain. Kagiso and I found some small vehicles that would be good for exploration of the area. Just a pair of quads and a bike similar to the one built into Saffron- I can modify them if need be.’
'Good, because I have some specifics for one of those quads.’ Icarus said.
'You can drive?’ Jefferson asked.
'I only lost my sight upon landing here.’ Icarus replied. 'I can drive, but with modifications.’
'Alright, come with me. We’ll have to discuss that.’ Jefferson said, and the two walked from the ship bridge, talking about something. This left Laffy, Ma-Na, and I in the bridge.
'So, is attacked the tower our first move?’ I asked.
'Up to you. We can go after the tower, another of the Seven, or search for more supplies.’
'One question, how is the asteroid able to have two miles of atmosphere if it’s only twelve miles wide itself? That makes no sense.’ I asked.
'Shit, you’re right.’ Ma-Na said, going to one of the control panels. 'The readings don’t say anything about it being able to support an atmosphere. Must of been created by Distributors.’
'So if we destroy the tower...’ I said.
'The atmosphere dissolves along with it. That’s worrying, to say the least.’ Ma-Na said.
'We need a spacesuit for Trevor, then.’ Laffy said.
'Jefferson went to the ruins of the Spirit of Louisiana, didn’t he? Did he collect anything more than just vehicles?’ I asked.
'What do you mean?’ Ma-Na responded.
'OEPS.’ I said.
'Sorry?’
'Orbital Engineering Protection Suit. Those things can survive falling from orbit and they’ll save whoever’s inside. I found one when I was there myself, not sure if any remained.’
'Go ask Jefferson.’ Laffy said.
'Good idea.’ I said, walking out of the control room and towards where Jefferson was.

I found Jefferson’s workshop near the back of the ship, next to the bay. He had one of the ATVs in there, and Icarus was helping Jefferson fix it up. His workshop was messy, with bits of guns and machines everywhere. Kagiso was working on something in the back.
‘Muffle the engine, just not too much. Make sure I can use the sound to easily echolocate.’ I heard Icarus say as I came in.
'That it?’ Jefferson asked.
'Should be. Thanks for the help.’ Icarus said, walking out.
'How do you make a vehicle for a blind man, anyhow?’ I asked Jefferson.
'He uses echolocation, similar to a bat. If we muffle the engine and set up a special system of amplifiers, he can use the sound to navigate.’ Jefferson replied, adding some sort of padding to part of the engine.
'Interesting. Tell me, did you find a special type of suit, by any chance?’ I asked.
'Do you mean one of those?’ He asked, pointing to a battered OEPS slouched in the corner.
'Amazing job! Does it still work?’ I exclaimed, running over to it.
‘From what I can tell, yes. You’re going to use it, won’t you?’ Jefferson asked.
‘Preferably.’ I replied.
'It’ll need modifications, then. Ugh, more work. Kagiso, you mind getting that OEPS ready for modification?’ Jefferson shouted.
'Can do!’ Kagiso replied, picking up the heavy suit and laying it on the table. Jefferson got up from the side of the engine and put down the panel.
'Anything special we’re adding to it?’ He asked.
'Make sure the armor’s just as good, and give these horns of mine somewhere to fit in the helmet.’ I replied.
'Alright, fair enough. Any specific color you want?’
'Not really. Get it done.’

Several days later, after simple wandering around and defending the base, Jefferson finished the OEPS suit.
The finish suit was on a table, fully equipped. The armor was fixed, and fully mobile. There were wing-covers, but all they seemed to do was protect the wing limb, not the membranes. The helmet didn’t shift in shape, but the visor was already heavily angular and resembled a bird. The feet and hands were made for my talons, and it was equipped to hold a lot more equipment. It was also painted a dark blue with the ADF symbol painted on the chest armor.
'We designed it so that it was lightweight, and yet could protect from pretty much anything. Hud’s still intact, and it may not look like there’s wing protection, but there is.’ Jefferson said as I put on the foot armor, and then the pants. The armor plate on my tail was made up of many small plates, which felt odd.
Jefferson also handed the Bloody Talon back to me- I had given it to him for modifications. It now has a massive blade a good four feet long and two feet wide under the barrel, with enough room between the blade and barrel for hand room. She was a brutal weapon.
'How?’ I asked, putting the torso armor on, sliding my wings in.
'Put the rest of it on, then you’ll see.’ Jefferson said. We were the only two in his workshop- Kagiso was somewhere else in the ship. I put on the gloves, and then the angular helmet. I then heard a light buzz as the pieces of armor locked together and the HUD activated. I could also feel some sort of practically weightless film slide over the membranes on my wings.
'You should have enough power to lift yourself, especially when you’ve got those rocket boosters attached between the wings.’ Jefferson said.
'Makes sense.’ I replied. The HUD showed a double-barreled shotgun in the corner, alongside the ammo count- 200.
'It working? Try moving around.’ Jefferson commented. I walked around a bit, then tested jumping. The weight of the suit knocked several items off of shelves.
'Perhaps not like that. Seems to work, alright. I was talking with Ma-Na earlier, she has a plan for taking down the tower.’ Jefferson said. 'Good luck out there.’
'I’ll need it.’ I said, walking into the hall, towards the control room. I didn’t expect the alarms to go off.
'Enemy Approaching, code red! Massive numbers!’ The automated voice chimed.
'Time to test out this new OEPS.’ I muttered, exiting out the nearest airlock. It was one of the ones that ended well above ground when Ma-Na’s ship had crashed, so I fell a good ten feet. Not a problem, the suit was made to endure much, much larger.
When I pulled my helmet out of the sand, I looked around. Nothing but sand.
'Wrong side, Trevor.’ Jefferson said from a speaker in my helmet. I flew over to the top, and then I spotted the horde.
It contained dozens of Demons, if not hundreds. There were also plenty of different types, ranging from normal Demons to Wyverns to Leviathans. They were all charging at us.
'Relay a message to the team, would you? This horde is massive- defend, don’t attack head on. I’ll do the attacking.’ I said in the radio.
'Got it.’ Jefferson said as I started running down the side of the ship. Suddenly, all of the Beasts turned their attention to me.
'Bring it!’ I roared, leaping off of the ship and into the sand, creating a sand-splash. The first attacker was a Goliath- idiot.
It swung its massive sword at me really fast- I dodged the first swing, jumped the second, sidestepped the third. It roared and then swung at me even faster. A Demon even got caught in one of its swings.
But I stopped its sword. It pushed so hard, but all it did was create sparks in my palms.
'Good try.’ I said. I yanked back with the strength to rip the Goliath’s arm off, and it did exactly that. The Goliath collapsed, giving me its weapon.
A swarm of Demons charged me. I swung the sword through three of them, and bludgeoned the fourth with the side of the blade. A fifth one tried to sink its teeth in my arm, but instead broke them. I ripped its head off with my hands.
The crowd parted, revealing some new Beast. It’s odd, seeing these bestial creatures follow orders. This Beast was commanding them.
It was reminiscent of one of the first Goliath variants I had met- akin to the one with the screaming torso on its shield. There was a similar torso with a complete head on this Goliath’s shield, and the torso was garbed in the remain’s of an officer’s blood-covered gear. The shield it was on was an actual shield- an ADF riot one. The Goliath itself was even stronger than the normal ones, with its muscles almost tearing out of what of its original clothing was left. Both eyes were some sort of camera that had been absorbed, and it wore armor. The shoulders, torso, knees, and feet were protected with thick plate armor, similar to ADF security armor. It had a massive chaingun as a weapon, attached to a huge ammo drum on its back. Both the weapon and the drum were merged to it, and the torso seemed merged to it as well.
'Stand down, Hero. We would prefer not to kill you if need be, your power would help our cause greatly.’ The torso seemed to say in perfect English. But its mouth seemed about half a second off from the actual sound.
'Never.’ I replied.
'Trevor. Trevor Locke. Do you not realize that my current weapon fires anti-tank rounds at four a second? It will rip through that armor, in time.’ It said.
'I’m just surprised you knew my last name. I don’t even think it’s on the ADF roster.’ I replied.
'I know all.’ The Commander said.
'So why do you hide behind that body?!’ I shouted. I smacked the torso’s upper head off, leaving only the lower jaw hanging from the bloodied neck. The Goliath started spinning up its massive gun.
'Then burn in the fires of Hell.’ It said. So it was the Goliath itself saying it.
I rolled out of the way just in time- the Commander eviscerated three of his own Beasts instead of me. I took flight, Bloody Talon already prepared. As I flew, I noticed the Commander was unable to command the Beasts below- and I also noticed the fact that they all were ex-ADF. So, when I severed that torso’s head, the Beasts registered their commanding officer being dead. So they’re controlled by a vision of their old officer. Too bad I don’t have my General’s uniform right now.
Massive bullets whistled past me, and it did nothing but waste ammo. I, on the other hand, fired.
The bullet, due to the angle and the amount of danger all around me, missed the Goliath’s torso. It instead shattered the shield and broke the gun in two.
'Open fire!’ I heard Laffy shout from back at the ship- he was right next to the rest of the team, all firing upon the crowd. I landed in the middle of the crowd, already ready for more.
An Octo-gore lashed at me- I dodged the first two and caught the third tentacle. I yanked it back towards me, and then I gave it a hard enough punch to the chest to crush its organs.
A Basilisk was next. It breathed fire right on me, but it didn’t do anything but scorch the outside of the suit. I spun around and then blasted it with the Revenge, making it stumble. I decided to jump on its back, the demonic aura already encircling the Revenge and me. I started slashing at its neck, rapidly.
'Die, you son of a bitch! Die, die, die!’ I roared, mincing its spine. When I stopped, the slices slid apart, dropping its head on the ground along with a dozen bits of neck. I stepped off and blasted a Demon who was waiting there, stunned.
I reloaded the Revenge, ready for the Leviathan that was charging at me. This one was different- it wore armor and wielded a massive hammer. It was also a proper hell-variant, complete with smooth scales, a tail, and sharp teeth.
'My master will return. And he will eat you all.’ The Leviathan said.
'Eat us, huh? I will admit, that’s new.’ I replied, the Bloody Talon already out. The Leviathan swung its first blow at me, and I deflected it with the Bloody Talon’s blade. I swung, and the Leviathan stepped out of the way. I swung again, and it blocked the attack with the hammer’s head. It took the chance to smack me with half a ton of iron, flinging me across the battlefield. I somehow kept ahold of the Bloody Talon.
I checked the armor integrity- 98 percent. Damn, this armor is strong.
I jumped up and fired at the Leviathan from a distance away, blowing off its head. It collapsed.
'Nice work!’ One of the team- probably Ma-Na- shouted to me. I gave her a thumbs up just before the ground started rumbling.
'Is that Amon?’ Jefferson asked.
'No, it’s coming from under us!’ I shouted.
The ground shook violently under us, almost knocking me off my feet. But that rumble sounded somewhat familiar. Sounded like a rumbling stomach.
Tendrils blasted out of the ground, sending red sand arching everywhere. And more tendrils kept breaking out. And they were hungry.
Each tendril was covered in grey skin, and at the end of each tendril was a head that had only one thing- a mouth full of hundreds of sharp teeth. The skin around all of the teeth was bloodstained. In all, I estimated around fifty of these twenty foot long things appeared from the ground. A last one appeared, just much larger- about fifty feet long, ten feet wide. This one also had six beady eyes that were almost covered in folds of fat hanging from the main tendril.
'Beelzebub.’ I muttered under my breath. Gluttony found us.
'Mammon was foolish! He did not know the taste of true victory!’ The main tendril of Gluttony screeched. 'I shall feast on these intruders!’
'Get back into the ship! I’ll handle this alone!’ I shouted back to the team, who could be easily torn apart by those sharp teeth. I spun around to fire at the main tendril, but one of the smaller ones grabbed me and tried to bite down. My armor shattered all of its teeth.
'Ah, the Hero is stale!’ The main tendril laughed.
'I’m just protected from your shit.’ I replied. Another tendril tried to take a bit from me, but I lopped its head off with the Bloody Talon’s blade quickly. Blood spewed everywhere.
The ground rumbled like a stomach under us again. This time, Beelzebub ate a few of the Demons.
'I need food! These decayed morsels are worthless! Mere snacks! But you, Hero, are a lavish feast.’ Beelzebub cackled.
Another tendril attacked me- this one I sliced down the middle. Beelzebub roared in pain.
'Enough! I will enjoy your meat, Hero.’ Beelzebub said, and then I noticed the ten tendrils surrounding me. I took flight just in time, as the tendrils bit down on each other where I was just standing a moment before. Only a pair of tendrils pulled out of that intact, the rest were sucked into the ground.
'Ah, so I must fight for my gourmet meal.’ Gluttony cackled.
'Enough with the fucking food references!’ I shouted as I circled him. I fired off a round from the Bloody talon at the main tendril- several smaller ones took the brunt of the bullet, but it still impacted. It tore a large chunk of flesh from the tendril.
'Damned hero, flying away from me! Maybe this’ll make you return.’ Gluttony said as the sand around it started churning. Suddenly, Beelzebub stepped out of the hole it had created.
The body of Beelzebub was a massive fattened orb, with enough room for all of the tendrils- and more, actually. The body was a solid 100 feet around, and was held up by eight tree-trunk like legs. When it revealed itself, even more tendrils came with it. All of the remaining demons were eaten by now, probably because of the energy needed to move that body. The dead tendrils still hung from it like vines.
I landed, and the demonic aura started floating around me. Shit, how is that going to effect me inside the OEPS? Will it effect the OEPS?
I rolled out of the way as a dozen tendrils smashed down on my location, sending sand everywhere. Another dozen tendrils started spitting fireballs at me.
I took flight above Gluttony, firing the Bloody Talon at it. A few tendrils were removed, but the fire continued. One hit me in the face, sending me tumbling out of the air. I landed and set the Bloody Talon’s blade over me, facing out. When a tendril attacked, it got sliced in half, split like a peeled banana. I got covered in sickly-smelling blood.
'Don’t worry, Hero, your digestion will be slow and painful...’ Beelzebub growled.
'How is that reassuring?’ I shouted back as I leapt up.
'It isn’t.’ Beelzebub laughed, attacking me with the main tendril. I dodged it and then fired, blowing out another massive chunk of it. But it just kept coming. And I kept blocking.
Behind the main tendril, I saw parts of Beelzebub being blown off by blue explosions. Saffron!
'Looked like you needed backup, sir. Couldn’t just wait in the bay.’ Saffron transmitted to me.
'And I’m grateful. Keep it up.’ I replied. I received a confirmation signal as Saffron stunned the main tendril. I leapt on top of it and started slashing, digging deeper into the fatty flesh of Beelzebub. But the Beast broke out of the stun, flipped its main tendril up, and caught me inside of its mouth. I landed in the dark and sticky maw of the beast, but didn’t stay there long. The demonic aura circled around me faster and in larger quantities, until the mouth started to smell like methane. Is this thing going to vomit me up?
As I struggled to find something to hang onto, my armor changed, modified by this mysterious power that I called the demonic aura. The hands became spiked on the armor plating, giving my hands a spined appearance. When I made a fist, it became the most spiky- when my hand was flat, there were no spikes. My feet did something similar as well.
The helmet changed drastically too, becoming hooked at the end like a raptor’s beak. A similar growth happened on the back of the next as did the hands and feet, so the helmet always had some sort of “plumage”. The armor had also gone a dark shade of red.
‘Beelzebub! Your reckoning has come!’ I roared, imbedding the Bloody Talon in Beelzebub’s flesh. I then started pulling it through the gut lining of the Beast, tearing it open. Steam hissed out as Beelzebub screeched in agony.
‘This is the pain that your kind’s legions have caused to the innocent! To the ones who never deserved horrible deaths! To the ones who should have gotten better!’ I cried, tearing straight through that flesh. Muscle behind it. I put away the Bloody Talon and held my claws at ready- the claws on the suit mimicked my own..
'I will bring death upon all of your kind! And upon your leader, the Trickster, he will die a thousand times over! I will make damn sure of that!’ I continued, now clawing through the muscle in the side of Beelzebub. Blood spurted everywhere.
'You... You are a pain in my side...’ Beelzebub groaned.
'One way to put it!’ I roared back, still tearing through his flesh. Fat got flung everywhere as my claws impacted it.
‘Fitting I should be killed by something I ate...’ Gluttony mumbled. I hit a large vein- probably its version of the Jugular Vein- before I tore out. I fell a good thirty feet and then landed gracefully in a cloud of steam and a puddle of bodily fluids. Beelzebub’s body teetered and slammed to the ground in a massive, fleshy crash behind me. I then walked towards the base, steam still surrounding me from the death of Gluttony. When I emerged from the mess, the team was there, guns aimed at me because they thought I was one of the Beasts, if only for a moment. The hordes of Beasts were dead or fleeing, courtesy of my team.
'Is there anyway you can be badass without being menacing? Seriously, I almost shot you!’ Laffy said.
'Sorry, you can blame this demonic infection. Seems to effect mechanics as well.’ I replied.
'You killed it. That’s all that really matters.’ Icarus said. 'I can smell the mess you made. And hear the dripping of blood and... what’s that other noise...?’
'Probably fat. I had to tear through a layer of it.’ I mentioned.
'Lovely.’ Icarus said.
'Is anyone hurt?’ Jefferson asked. Kagiso shakily raised her hand, and then collapsed, her other hand still clutching onto her massive stomach wound.
'Help her!’ Ma-Na said, picking the badly injured scientist up. Jefferson helped support her. 'Get her inside, now!’ Ma-Na continued, and they started running in.
'Kagiso’s hurt...?’ Icarus asked.
'Badly. Come on, we should help.’ I said as we ran back in.

Kagiso was mortally wounded. The Beast that had ripped into her tore part of her large intestines in half and broke three ribs. One of her kidneys was also damaged beyond repair. Things were grim for her.
I stepped out of the medical bay where she was after hoping for her for several minutes, along most of the team. Ma-Na was waiting for me outside.
'Trevor, are you up to taking down that tower?’ Ma-Na asked me.
'What, now? I’ve still got bits of Gluttony stuck to my suit.’ I responded.
'Yes, now. It seems to be... Well...’
'Spit it out.’ I said.
'The moon seems to be falling.’ Ma-Na said.
'What?!’ I exclaimed.
'Just joking, it’s still in its normal orbit, for now.’ I breathed a sigh of relief.
'Wait, what do you mean, for now? Is it going to start falling in soon?’
'Not quite. The gravitational field the tower’s generating seems to be increasing, and not stopping. It’s growing slowly, but its growing, alright.’
'Is it increasing in power?’ I asked.
'Yes. If you don’t launch within the next few hours, we won’t have another shot at it. And soon, the gravitational field will envelop the moon as well, dragging it down. It’s a ticking timebomb for Hell.’
'How long...?’
'As I said, only a few hours before we can’t stop it. If we didn’t stop it, it’d come down on our heads within the next month or so.’
'Let me go clean up, and I’ll attack it head on.’ I replied, starting to run down another hall. Ma-Na stopped me, a piece of paper in hand.
'This is a printout of Kagiso’s research. It describes where you can find everything, what to expect, and what to attack. Read it over on the way to the tower, I know that Saffron can drive while you do that. Go, make sure Kagiso’s research is used well. She would’ve wanted it that way.’ Ma-Na said. I started running.

Within ten minutes, I was already taking off inside Saffron, and I was still wearing my OEPS suit. It was cramped in there with the suit and the C4 in the back.
'Just like the good old times, isn’t it, sir? Just you and me against the world.’ Saffron said.
'Good old times? You act like it was just the two of us together for years, not a single night and day.’ I said as I was analyzing the research. The reactor core was surrounded by a massive fifty feet of armor made from some sort of composite metal. A power channel ran through the center of the tower, energizing the whole building, but this was also protected by several feet of some sort of alien transparent metal that had enough resilience to survive half a ton of TNT. If it was blown up, somehow, the signal it would send back to the core would overload it. But the armor that surrounded the core would hold the detonation, funneling it out, up the energy conduit, and out the top. This explosion would continued being funneled down the conduit, destroying the tower floor by floor until there’s nothing left. The only escape was a jump off the side with an OEPS, letting gravity take me away from the exploding tower. I would then board Saffron and fly back.
The one thing that stops us from just landing on the roof and then flying off before detonating the C4 is the energy shield that the tower creates. The bubble of energy has a good fifty feet of space between the tower and the edge of it, but it’s still dangerous, and the fact that it’s power from within the armor that protects the core make it an impossible thing to destroy, and a resolute defense against the explosions causing debris to fall to Hell. Smart design. Impossible to normally escape. Normally.
The field had a small hole at the bottom, where the entrance was. The hallway there would collapse quickly once I detonated the core, but the hole in the field would remain.
I wanted to detonate the C4 once I was safely back on ground, but the range of the detonator wasn’t even 500 feet. I’d have to detonate it, and then jump.
Saffron blasted at full speed through the atmosphere, leaving a trail of smoke from his jet boosters behind him. He could barely get the proper speed to escape the atmosphere now, but he did.
'We have exited the atmosphere. Heading towards the moonlet now.’ Saffron said.
'ETA?’ I asked.
'Six minutes.’ Saffron replied. 'Is your plan sound, sir?’
'Should be. In case something happens while we’re in the air returning... Saffron, would you easily be able to eject your AI core to me?’
'The hatch over my controls is where that is inserted. Why would it need to be removed?’
'Just in case.’ I said as we neared the moonlet. The tower was obvious, sticking off of the side like a cancerous spike, eclipsed by the local sun. It was faintly tinted green by the energy field, I presume.
'God damn, that is huge.’ I muttered under my breath.
'I am detecting life signs within the Ziggurat, sir! Many of them!’ Saffron chimed.
'Beasts?’ I asked.
'Not sure, sir.’ Saffron replied.
'That’s worrying. Set us down, Saffron. Time to attack.’