4In the portal lab of the Leipzig UAC facility, the droning hum of the teleporter coils fade into silence, the plasma of the coursing gate dissipates as the system is shut down. Kasper and Henrick step from the control room sharing the same look of amazement. They step closer to Diane and the Marine standing next to the idle portal.
"You were right, Kasper" Henrick says.
"We did it" Kasper replies, the General silently brushing past them heading for the exit.
Diane stares into the Marine's visor as the portal scientists slap palms and bump fists.
"Please take that off, I want to see your face" she requests.
He releases the seals and she lifts the helmet, her eyes widen.
"It is you. I can't believe you've managed to survive" she says.
He stares back into her eyes, unsure how to explain all he'd experienced.
"We may be a long way from stopping this, the demons have control of Deimos" he finally says as military alerts blare over the public address system.
"I wish I could say you've returned to the world you remember, they've found a way here" Diane explains.
"I know, I've seen it" he replies, staring deeply into each other's eyes. The flow of emotion allows vague memories of his divorced family to resurface, he gasps in shock.
"Billy" he utters, searching his broken memories.
"Who is that?" Diane asks.
"My son, I have to stop this. How do I get out of here?" he asks.
"I'll show you the way" Diane offers.
General Naverten was walking back to the command centre when members of his staff approached with Carla in their custody.
"Sir, we've apprehended Dr. Anders but she's locked us out of the power station" they report.
Feeling conflicted by what happened in the portal lab, he looks to Carla with a regretful glance.
"Let her go" he says.
The soldier stared, a confused expression was upon their face.
"Now! Release her!" Naverten barks.
"Yes, sir" they reply, unlocking the cuffs from her wrists.
Carla silently walks away while rubbing her sore wrists, looking back to the General with a relieved expression before rounding the corner.
Naverten walks back to the command room and steps inside. He rejoins other commanders around the holographic deployment map. He looks over the formations and a feeling of dread grips his thoughts, he had no memory of placing units in the way he was seeing. He could remember coordinating defensive lines, but they were nowhere to be found. Exhausted and over-extended formations were being annihilated. As he made the realization, his command staff began staring in his direction. He noticed that they were all possessed by demons.
Naverten steps away from the holographic map, the former humans following his movements.
"Mortal" they growl.
Naverten tightens his fists as the former humans surround him.
"You will not escape" one says as dark shadows glide along their face.
They exchange blows, fists and elbows jabbing quickly. Naverten and a soldier countered each other's attack, the General grips their limbs and throws them into a security cabinet, knocking it crashing backwards. The other soldiers find an opening, they lock each of his legs and drop the General to the ground. They brawl on the command room floor, grappling and throwing knees. UAC personnel began amassing behind the glass doors of the command room, beating on the barrier and gawking in confusion. Other soldiers arrive and unlock the door, the sealed passage opens and they step inside.
"What are you doing?" a Soldier asks.
"Stop this at once!" Administrator Horn demands.
"They're compromised" the General grunts between strained breaths.
"What do you mean?" Horn asks.
"They're the enemy!" he shouts, voice straining.
The General had one former human pinned in an arm lock, another between his bulging thighs.
The arriving soldiers break up the fight, the possessed state of the former humans became immediately apparent. Their shadowy features and darkened eyes were enough to convince them. They separate the possessed soldiers with some difficulty and place them into custody as they snap their jaws and snarl in a demonic language. General Naverten studies the face of a former human before ordering them into a detention cell.
Back at the UAC colony of Mars City, the security force had been holding their ground against the demonic invasion, UAC technicians appear from the airlock delivering ammunition and oxygen cylinders as flanking automated machine gun turrets fire streams of bullets. Conditions suddenly worsen as creatures began crowding along the edge of the rooftop, their plasma and acidic attacks narrowly zipping past the Marines. Fresh waves of demon course through the area below from flaring Hell portals, the floating demon drew closer to the Marines, the unceasing assault was grinding their nerves.
Security Chief Marceau fires an older model BFG on a swarm of floating demon before their attacks could land, the green blob of bio-force plasma expands along the edge of the roof and explodes with a bright flash. With this model's absence of a reaction chamber, its carefully programmed and formulated proprietary ammunition was in dangerously short supply. Demons continued spilling from Hell portals, leaving the security force with no time to rest. Chaingun rounds rip through Imps climbing the walls of the facility, RPGs burst floating demon into chunks, but the creatures kept coming. On an adjoining section of the roof an Arch-Vile appears, setting the area ablaze, the Marines caught in the intense flames scream in agony.
The others look over to see the demon resurrecting fallen creatures and their Marines into former humans, springing back to their feet staggering towards them with weapons drawn as a major swarm surges toward their position. Corporal Revok could see that they couldn't hold back the demons any longer.
"Fall back" he shouts, a swarm of lost souls drifting close by.
Revok punches a skull sailing, then fires a rocket barrage on a Cacodemon. A lost soul crashes into a Marine and explodes with Hell energy, more skulls began ripping their armour with sharp needle-like fangs. Chief Marceau roasts the attacking demon with a spray of plasma, then dragging the injured Marine back into the facility as fresh waves of demon appeared. The rest of the Marines retreat inside, continuing to fire plasma through the narrowing airlock hatch upon the Caco and Elemental that were now gathered around the passage.
The airlock cycles and they step back into the facility, UAC personnel pause from their tasks as they overhear the wailing of the injured Marine. A medical team places the patient onto a stretcher and they're brought to an operating suite. A UAC official steps over to Chief Marceau.
"I guess things aren't going well" they inquire, Marceau silently shakes his head.
"Those things are eventually going to breach the facility. We need a plan" Corporal Revok says.
"We can mount the strongest defence by staging in the command centre, we must move operations there now" Chief Marceau explains.
Back on Earth, military aircraft follow the Icon of Sin's path of destruction through downtown Leipzig, numerous buildings lay in ruins. The dark clouds above are illuminated by the thrusters of falling drop-pods as the titan drew closer to the shining corporate headquarters of Union Aerospace. Alloy beams of the office building whine, rubble crashes to the ground below as the titan smashes its way through to the wide city street on the other side.
Some distance from the crumbling UAC office tower, the Marine steps through the winding halls of the Leipzig facility, Dr. Stone was still by his side. He silently strode into the reception area, military and UAC personnel pause from their work, staring in disbelief. The rumours they all heard about him over the last few days were true.
A female scientist pushing a cart full of shining tools steps closer to the Marine.
"Excuse me, I'd just like to collect some of these samples" she gently explains as she removes tangles of demonic growth from his armour with a pair of tongs and collecting them in a metal pan.
Henrick and Kasper appear from a sealed passage hauling a large crate, placing it on the floor and lifting the lid. Another rocket launcher and rows of missiles were within the cushioned lining, the Marine looks over the crate and the men with a sense of deja vu as the scientist continued lifting the tentacles from his armour. He recognizes their faces from the message sent along in an identical crate he found in Hell, he lifts the rocket launcher from the case.
"Were you the ones who sent me that other weapon?" the Marine asks.
"Yes, a crate actually reached you?" Henrick replies.
"It was a big help" he says, nodding.
"I told you he would find it" Kasper brags, smiling.
Carla walks into the room, stepping closer to glimpse the Marine she risked so much to save.
"Oh, this is Carla. She played an important role in the process of bringing you back" Henrick explains.
She silently stares in surprise.
"We wouldn't have been able to power the teleporter without her help" Kasper adds.
"I didn't think you would actually make it back, but I'm glad to be wrong for once" she admits after a long pause, the Marine returns a grateful smile.
He walks closer to the exit, a pair of soldiers guarding the door nervously step aside as the Marine strode past. Diane walked alongside, she unlocks the sealed security door at the end of the short hall. The heavy alloy barriers slowly retract. The Marine silently walks through the passage and into the dark, empty street. Carla and Diane watch until he disappears from view before sealing the doors.
The Marine strode down an abandoned road, the smell of approaching demon reached his senses, he could feel himself being drawn toward them. He soon crosses into the city, its abandoned roadways were draped in darkness, the hissing of demon reverberates along nearby buildings.
Back inside the Leipzig facility, General Naverten and Administrator Horn study footage from detention cells, the former soldiers were throwing themselves against the walls, raging in a demonic language. A chill runs down the General's spine, realizing that he could have been in this state as well.
"I'm starting to question what it is we're accomplishing here. I don't know when I could be compromised again, or anyone else for that matter" the General reasons.
"This is extremely dangerous, we don't know if someone could already be afflicted by this condition" Horn explains.
"I know, I don't think I can trust my own staff. Anyone in the chain of command can be compromised" Naverten concedes.
"I dread this thought, but it could be that the ones being afflicted are being intelligently selected" the Administrator says.
"I've never liked the idea of using the artificial intelligence but it has to be safer than orders coming from a potentially compromised command" Naverten replies, stepping over to the computer terminal.
He rings up the AI command program and enters his authorization. The artificial intelligence comes online and takes control of the command and deployment protocols. Naverten and Horn stand around the table-top holographic map, they observe the AI quickly analyze the conditions and begin issuing orders, supporting vulnerable units, organizing defensive lines and supply chains.
"Alert, special armoured division bravo not responding to orders" the emotionless voice of the artificial intelligence announces.
"Bravo division? Those units are located farther South, they're not responding?" Naverten says.
"We can't afford to lose those weapons. If they fall into enemy hands, it could be over for us" Horn explains.
The General carefully considers his options, watching the AI continue to formulate battle plans.
"Redeploying units to the garage will disrupt operations, but it isn't that far away. I could face a court martial hearing for this one day… I'm going to secure those weapons, there's still time" he says, suddenly moving towards the door.
He gathers weapons and a few members of his staff, then loading into an army vehicle stored in the hangar. The large panelled door raises and the truck disappears into the streets.