| From: | Erik Jameson <WildSmashr@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Happy New Year Lilith (2 of 3) (graphic violence) |
| Date: | Fri, 1 Jan 1999 01:31:31 EST |
+++++DRONE 3 Audio matting.
Dau moves slightly ahead of the infantry, soldiers moving forward to cover
corners and the entrances to rooms prior to cleansing. A trail of shattered
doors and dead lay behind them marking their progress through the level, the
overlay map from the drone showing the team heading for the entrance to the
lower level. Dau's armour glinting in the backwash from the shoulder
mounted arc lamps, silver streaks creating a twisting pattern across the
front of the armour where bullets have slid over the hard surface leaving
part of themselves behind to mark their passage. Dents and impact marks on
other sections lie markers to direct hits hard enough to damage if not
penetrate the protective suit. The team are paused at the junction of two
corridors while one of the soldiers re-arms the weapon in Dau's suit from an
ammo box delivered by a heavy ordnance drone. The other soldiers grabbing
what magazines and grenades are available and checking their weapons. All
of them weary, dirty and soot streaked. One soldier binds a grazing wound
on a colleague with a field dressing.
Closing the access panel on the armour, the soldier indicates the weapon is
charged again. Lifting his arm, Dau fires a short burst down one tunnel to
check the weapon and feed, and then signals to the troops to move out.
Heading down the right hand turn which apparently leads to a dead end
tunnel, clearing the rooms before heading to the lower level entrance. Two
rooms are cleared before heavy gunfire from the far end claims the life of
one soldier and wounds a second. Only the presence of the armour suit
protecting the other infantry from the gunfire. Two grenades are pumped
down the corridor from rifle launchers and a hail of fire erupts from the
weapon in Dau's suit. Flame explodes at the end of the corridor, engulfing
two of the defenders and scattering the rest, several diving through an
empty door to escape the hungry flames. The grenades explode, killing the
few left and Dau's unit heads towards the barricade, shooting at anything
that moves, including the shadows. Reaching the barricade, the soldiers
inspect the dead while Dau watches the closed and highly ornate door. A
signal from one soldier indicates that the bodies are all dead, and two men
scuttle off down the corridor to clear the two remaining closed doors, in an
effort to prevent an ambush. A few moments, and four grenades later, the
rooms are cleared and they all turn their attention to the ornate portal.
Dau approaches the door, under the guard of the remaining troops and
inspects the delicate carving and symbols. "Tri. Dau. I've found
Shaitan's quarters. We've encountered stiff resistance, but are coping. I
intend entering now, hopefully we'll find something within that will give us
a clue as to the Cabal's hiding place."
"Very well, we've found nothing at our end but have encountered stiff
resistance, I have two troops left, and am now returning to the core. Pump
and Daw are also returning their areas cleared, this has hurt us Dau, and we
still are no closer. Much more of it and we'll be too weak. Magical
resistance has been stiff but limited to supernaturals and wards. As soon
as Chwech is finished with his area I'll send him to you as support."
Dau moves closer to the door, his armoured hands reaching out to gently
trace the symbols carved into the metal plate covering the door. Shaking
his head, he steps back and begins a low chant, hands forward, facing the
door as if preparing to run into it. The air around his hands twists,
warped by some unseen presence which suddenly launches forward slamming into
the door hard, buckling and denting the metal. The troops take up position
in front of and to the side of Dau's armour, as he begins the spell again,
launching and battering the door again, and again, until it finally buckles,
snapping the hinges and launches into the room, carrying a defending soldier
with it, crushing him underneath as it grinds to a halt half way across the
room. Immediately the infantry around Dau open fire, concussion and gas
grenades detonating inside the room, disabling and disorienting the few
desperate troops inside. Brief moments pass, marked in the flash of rifle
muzzles and the screams of the dying and wounded.
Then, silence.
The hard clump of the steel feet of Dau's armour punctuate the silence as he
moves into the room and a desolation that would normally exist only in
nightmares. Statements of shock and horror from the troops break the deep
breaths of Dau as he inspects the destruction in the room. Little of it
caused by his troops. Scorch marks from the concussion grenades lay amid
pockmarks from the bullets, but what claims the interest of the small unit
are the deep scores in the rock, the destroyed furnishings, the burn marks
on the walls, floor and ceiling and the embedded score marks of clawed feet
in the floor of the chamber that have all but destroyed an ornate and
complex magical sigil engraved on the floor in the centre of the room.
Everything that was once something, whether it be cupboard, table or chair
is no more than matchwood, the hangings and draperies torn beyond
recognition, and all about the room, cut deep into the rock are the marks of
three toed claws. The power of whatever did this is almost beyond
comprehension, and the expression of horror on Dau's face as he climbs out
of his armour testament to his own opinion of the evidence before him.
Slowly he walks around the room, inspecting the claw marks, the destroyed
sigil on the floor and it's accompanying altar. Eventually he returns to
the centre of the room, and begins to turn slowly, one arm held close to his
chest, palm up, the other held forward fingers spread, and he begins a soft
chant. One that slowly begins to grate on the teeth like the beginning of
an abscess. Slowly, as he turns, sigils and carvings on the walls of the
room begin to glow with a dark light, the letters and graphics flowing as
though the light itself were alive, pumping around the hidden engravings
like thick, black blood.
Finished, Dau looks around the room at the markings he has revealed, and
walks to his armour, keying the microphone in the helmet. "Tri. You need
to see this. We've gained access to what I am convinced is Shaitan's
chamber. It is worse than even I suspected. You'd better get here, this is
important."
"On my way, Dau. ETA four minutes. We've lost contact with Deg, I'm
sending Naw to investigate, Chwech should be with you in the next couple of
minutes. All the others have returned, there's only one place they can be
now, and I don't like the way this is beginning to develop. We've taken
heavy losses, and we're all worn and tired. The cabal have held back, which
means we'll be facing fresh opponents."
"I told you something was wrong. I am not overly cautious Tri, but I do
know how this organisation works, and what they're like. We have yet to
face the worse, and I do not know if we are up to the task. Nevertheless we
are charged with this mission and successful or not, we must complete it."
There is no reply, and Dau returns to studying the room, his face
unreadable, his eyes dark, holding a terrible anger, something that cuts
deep into his being. A fathomless rage as old as time itself. "Stupid
bitch. You really don't understand what you're playing with do you?"
A loud regular thumping and the rattle of equipment signals the arrival of
Chwech and his squad, also showing signs of heavy fighting, fatigue and dirt
decorating the faces of the infantry behind the battered armoured suit. The
dragon helm slides open revealing the sweaty face of the Welshman, a broad
grin in place. "Assistance has arrived oh mighty Stranger, what would you
have us do wise one?" The thick sarcasm eased by the insane grin and the
wide display of white teeth. Chwech's eyes follow the trail of runes and
sigils around the room, his eyes narrowing as he gradually realises what has
occurred in this area.
"You could get a grip and get a life to start with. That might help."
Dau's anger seethes behind his eyes held in check by God only knows how much
willpower, his voice clipped but not unfriendly.
Chwech simply groans in mock pain. "Ah but that I could get a life old
friend, I would surely be able to grip it. However, such is not to be my
fate. I am but a jester, without a circus to entertain."
Dau turns to look at Chwech, the word fuckwit virtually tattooed across his
forehead, but a boyish grin softens the fury in his eyes. "Fool." Climbing
tiredly back into his armour and closing the heavy plates around himself,
Dau powers up the systems and waits for the arrival of Tri which is
announced by a similar metallic clatter and a foul sounding Gaelic
exclamation.
The dragon helmet of Tri's armour snaps open, and his stunned face peers out
at the burning signs on the walls, the claw marks and heavy scorching on the
floor and ceiling. "What the hell has she done Dau? What in the name of
all that is holy has she done?"
"Inspect the runes, they will explain it all. I have work to do. We will
be lucky to survive this Tri, very lucky indeed. She has the assistance of
something that even I cannot gauge, and for once I fear what is to come."
There is no answer, Dau seals his armour and moves back into the tunnel to
take the remaining areas of this section. Chwech following him with his
battered team heading towards what they believe to be the labour force
quarters. Travelling rapidly through the tunnel towards the entrance that
will lead down to the next level, the troops continue their burnt earth
policy throwing fragmentation and gas grenades into each and every room,
exterminating anyone they encounter. The defenders aware that they have no
hope of a comfortable imprisonment fight bitterly, death at the hands of the
invaders or an unknown fate at the hands of Shaitan and the cabal leaving
them little choice. Their determination and resolve evident at every
encounter. This desperate and savage fighting wearing the invaders down and
tiring the troops, a condition that clearly worries Dau and Tri, who are at
least more aware of what lies ahead of them.
Finally the portal to the lower levels is reached and the defenders thin out
to sporadic groups of soldiers left with nowhere to go. The fighting
becomes more brutal, often reduced to close quarters as the defenders wait
in ambush for the oncoming troops. Dau and Chwech's armour showing signs of
severe damage by the time they break through to the lower level revealing
not the labour quarters they expected, but cells and rooms that can only be
best described as torture chambers. The defenders eliminated, Chwech and
the troops walking through the smoke and debris checking the bodies and
dealing a coup de grace to any survivors, Dau strolls the corridor
inspecting the rooms and chambers that riddle this section of the complex.
At the all clear from Chwech, Dau disembarks from his armour in order to
make walking through the narrow doors and corridors easier, a machine pistol
borrowed from one of the troops ready in case of unexpected surprises, two
infantry escorting him as bodyguard.
The expression on Dau's face darkens at each door. The horrors contained
within doing nothing to improve his temper. The troops no longer look
around themselves as they continue through the area, quick inspections
looking for opposition and then they stand in the corridor, looking at
nothing except each other or the walls, the horror in their eyes the only
sign of their emotions and the rapid swallowing an indication of their
reaction to the things their eyes have witnessed. Within the rooms and
chambers are bodies, in some cases the bodies are piled on top of each other
inn a corner of the room. Countless victims to the insane experiments of
Shaitan, metahumans by the dozen, hacked apart by surgeons with little
respect for the pain their victims have suffered. A bewildering variety of
technology attached to various parts of their bodies, directly to the raw
wounds left by the brutal surgery. Some, those still chained to tables and
walls, with equipment attached or embedded in sections of their skulls. The
flesh raw and rotting, exposing the white bone beneath brutally drilled to
accommodate the units. Few of the rooms are empty, most contain nightmares
that have no logic existing in any age, least of all one as advanced as
this. Some of the victims of these bizarre and terrible experiments still
alive. Each one that is discovered alive, groaning in pain is dispatched.
A mercy bullet from the machine pistol in Dau's hands ending their
suffering. By the time Dau has explored half of the complex, power whirls
around his hands and body. Black stream of anger writhing like an eel
around his torso, his arms, and flaring from his hands. No more does he
employ the machine pistol. Simply directing the terrible power at his hands
at the bodies. Destroying their minds and life in a futile assault against
the perverted experiments and the twisted scientists who have subjected
intelligent sentient life to this torture. A light flickers behind Dau's
eyes, his face motionless, the rapid movement of his eyes, and the taut
muscles of his jaw the only indication how close to the edge of sanity he
walks. Tears like black jewels creep from the corners of his eyes,
struggling to understand how any intelligent being can do this to another,
regardless of race or creed. The experiments on the elven prisoners are by
far the worst, though metahuman are not alone in the sick nightmare
surrounding the helpless troops. Humans, vagrants, drunks, even children
have all been subjected to the lunatic experiments of Shaitan's surgeons and
scientists. Many of them still alive within the fantasy world of horror
that has been built for them. Sickened by the constant horror, DAu's
footsteps are heavy, and even the hungry eyes of the drone appear to sicken
at the continual stream of inhuman insanity that decorates every room,
visions that will haunt the dreams of all those unfortunate enough to
witness them for the rest of their lives.
Finally, even the strength of Dau flags, and he returns to his armour,
slumping inside the protective steel as if to cover himself from the horror
around him. A short series of commands into his helmet comm system, and a
bloated drone grinds into view a while later. Starting from the far end of
the long corridor, the drone begins to systematically torch each room,
thoroughly dousing everything in fuel before igniting the rooms and
retreating to the next. Dau leads the horrified and shattered troops back
to the central core, none, not even the jovial Chwech saying anything. Each
carrying the sickening knowledge with them in silence, trying to come to
terms with what they've seen, trying desperately to file it in some area of
their mind and make order of the chaos.
The greetings of their fellows at the core go unanswered, and even Tri looks
to the teams with concern, unaware yet of their discovery. Dau stops facing
the tunnel where Deg has disappeared, silent, his anger almost visible even
through the protective armour. The stance he has taken telegraphing his
temper and appearing ready to leap forward at whatever should present itself
from the tunnel for his attention.
Tri approaches, the head of the armoured suit turning towards Dau, a
dismissive wave from Dau, and Tri decides not to question the angry combat
mage. Whatever he has found will be revealed in it's own good time.
Eventually Naw returns, only three of his squad left, the armour badly
scored and battered, barely on the edge of functional. "Deg has gone. I
can find no trace of her or the team with her, though there are signs of
heavy fighting. Presumably she has been taken by Shaitan's forces.
Whatever, she is no longer with us. However, I believe that we have located
the cabal. There are traces of power in the corridor, and a sense of power
beyond the rock. If they are not ahead in one of the remaining rooms, they
are hidden behind a concealed portal, but whatever they have done to cover
themselves they are here, and they are ahead, waiting for us."
"If they have Deg," Tri's voice sounds strangely tired, a note of defeat
that is only just discernible. "They will know the strength of our forces
and who we are. We cannot wait any longer. Whatever occurs now, it is
imperative that Shaitan is killed. She has begun a process that only her
death can reverse, and it has become a matter of need that she be destroyed.
We shall wait for munitions and then begin the final assault."
The infantry, although wary of the tunnel and anything that may emerge from
it, settle themselves down to wait for the drones carrying ammunition and
grenades, readying themselves for the final assault on Shaitan's hideout.
While the infantry prepare themselves, Tri moves up next to Dau, "What is
wrong, Dau? It is unlike you to be this silent."
"She must die, Shaitan. She /must/ die. Her and all the inhuman monsters
that serve her." There is an edge to Stranger's voice that wasn't present
before, something indefinable that sends cold shivers through the spine.
Something final.
"That is our mission, Dau. It has not changed since the time we entered."
"No, you don't understand Tri, but you will. It is already too late to
repair the damage she has done and to destroy the creature she has brought
through to this world, but whatever else happens, she and her minions must
be ground into the dust until they themselves are dust. Nothing must be
left standing, no sign that she or this foul organisation ever existed must
remain." The passion in Dau's voice climbs until the words tumble over
themselves in a rush to get out. "It is more important than you can imagine
Tri, more important than even I imagined."
For a moment, Tri simply stands looking at the distressed mage, huddled
inside the protective shell of his armour. A white face and darkly burning
eyes hidden amidst the clutter of the open helmet. "Very well, Dau, if that
is what is necessary." Turning Tri walks back to the elevator, the ammo bin
in the arm of his armour opening to allow a soldier to replenish the
depleted munitions. "Acer, Echo-Bravo niner. Send two teams, rig the place
with every ounce of explosives we have. Upper level and as much of this
level as possible. If we do not return within 2 hours, blow the place off
the face of the earth. If you receive a signal before the two hours are up,
wait until we exit, and then blow it. Either way, I want no trace of this
installation remaining, nothing. No piece large enough to identify, just a
crater. Is that understood?"
"Acer, this is Echo-Bravo niner. Committing teams now, it will be as you
have ordered within 35 minutes. I thought Un required that we leave this
installation for investigation?"
"The situation has changed Echo-Bravo niner, I will take full personal
responsibility."
"Acknowledged Acer."
For the next 20 minutes, the mages and infantry prepare themselves.
Whatever lies ahead of them, they know that they will have to fight hard to
achieve it. The remaining defenders are caught in a cul-de-sac section of
the complex. With no-where to run, the defenders will put up a savage
fight.
Out of his armour, Tri walks among the troops, talking to some, inspecting
the dressings and equipment of others until he gets a sign from Saith
indicating that most of the upper level is mined, and the troops are ready.
Climbing back into his armour, he looks at the still motionless Dau,
standing at the tunnel entrance, and sighs deeply, offering a quick prayer,
he seals the armour and motions the troops forward.
Advancing in pairs, the infantry enter the tunnel, followed by the armoured
mages.
