Looking at him wide-eyed Megan’s mouth clamped shut as she tried to think of where to even begin, when the walkway suddenly ripped away from the Minotaurs hands in a shriek of rending metal. All of the remaining legionnaires but one disappeared as the entire stairwell, platform, and walkway disappeared into the black hole before everyone’s stunned eyes. As the surviving Minotaurs were pulled to safety, Lar faced the pit triggering his gauntlets bellowing.
“They come!”
Command Sergeant Major Thompson’s eyes grew wide at the clanking forest of noise that erupted around him as the surviving legionnaires triggered their gauntlets. Within seconds, each Minotaur stood with a massive metal shield and fist spike as Lar began bellowing out orders.
“Circulus circa formationem humans!” (Circle formation around the humans!)
Looking around the volcanic mound with a strategic eye, Lar pointed to the heavy weapon emplacements spread out around the pit and the soldiers approaching from the direction of the camps below. “We do not have enough legionnaires left to stop them from gaining the high ground. We must have the Tuonellians focus their attack on our defensive line, or they will slaughter your people.”
Understanding what he meant, Megan began calling out orders to the Marines around her. “We have incoming! I want everyone to take up positions behind the legionnaires’ formation. We want the enemy to concentrate their focus on our group. Everyone else hold your fire-“
Angrily the Command Sergeant Major yanked Megan back by the collar bellowing. “Belay those orders. Heavy weapons squads, prepare to open fire on my command. Everyone else spread out. We’ll catch these yahoos in a crossfire that will rip them to shreds.”
As the main body of Marines began spreading out into a wide-spaced firing line beyond the legionnaires formation, Lar’s head snapped around in consternation, but as soon as he saw the situation between Megan and her superior, the look on his face said it all. Spinning around, Megan opened her mouth to rip into her boss just as the nightmarish horde began pouring over the rim of the pit in a screeching black wave of fangs and claws. Before she could get out a word, the Command Sergeant Major was backpedaling and swearing out orders.
“Holy mother of mercy!” Slashing his arm forward, Thompson yelled out at the top of his lungs to his Marines. “Open fire! God dammit, everyone fire!”
The Minotaurs’ formation staggered back under the impact of the charging Scourge as the loud thumping sounds of the heavy weapons squads’ M2 fifty caliber machine guns began filling the air, their armor piercing rounds slamming into the horde from a crossfire of four different directions. As the creatures whipped around in confusion and pain, the Marines of second platoon opened fire with their assault rifles in static controlled bursts from either side. Megan heard Thompson’s sharp intake of breath as he swore under his breath.
“Sweat mother of mercy. What in the hell are those things, Sergeant Driscoll?”
Purple blood sprayed in every direction as the wall of superheated tungsten carbide tore into the soft tissue covering the Scourges’ bony carapaces. For a second it looked like the heavy machine guns were working as the rear ranks of the massed horde reeled from the assault, but the confusion only lasted for a few seconds. Instead of cutting the creatures down or driving them back, the rounds just seemed to enrage the monsters further. Shaking off the superficial damage the Scourge in the rear turned their hate on the enemy within reach.
Megan felt her stomach drop as the entire rear of the horde suddenly split away from the main attack. Screeching in rage, the new group charged the Marines. Turning to her superior, Megan swore in disgust.
“Command Sergeant Major, you’ve just killed us all.”
Like a horror movie running in slow motion Megan and her handful of surviving Marines watched helplessly as the slavering creatures crashed over the rest of the platoon in a bloody wave of death. The heavy machine gun squads were the first to be slaughtered. Within seconds the Scourge overran their positions, only to immediately turn their hate-filled gaze onto the individual firing squads still hammering into their ranks at near point blank range. The screams of the dying were drowned out by the screeching cries of the Scourge as they tore the humans apart in front of their eyes. From there the situation only grew worse.
Further down the hill, the rest of Hunter Company that had been ordered up as reinforcements earlier by the Command Sergeant Major opened fire. Within seconds, half the hilltop erupted in explosions as the Marines sent 40mm grenade rounds raining down on the heads’ of the black horde pouring out of the pit as individual assault rifles and light machine guns began hammering at the enemy.
Immediately the small group of Scourge turned towards the source of the newest threat, when three of the four Abrams Main Battle Tanks that had been strategically spaced around the base of the volcanic mound opened fire. Explosions ripped through the packed ranks of Scourge as black bodies and volcanic rock blasted into the air. As the ground reverberated from the impact of the 120 mm rounds, the tanks’ heavy machine guns opened up with everything they had.
The main cannons managed to hammer the Scourge with two more volleys before the creatures were able to pull themselves back together. Bloody and battered the Scourge dropped onto all fours, screeching as one thy raced down the mound like a black torrent in a flash flood. As they ran three smaller groups split off for the heavy armor, while the rest rushed the main body of Marines.
Megan swore helplessly as she watched the nightmare unfold. It was going to be another blood bath all over again. Many of Marines down there were friends and colleagues that she’d come to know over the past two years.
It wasn’t that there was a huge horde of Scourge rushing down the hill in comparison to the massed attack throwing themselves at the Minotaur lines. There might have only been around fifty of the creatures between the four groups, but without any effective weapons for her people to fight back with, the attack was going to be nothing but a bloodbath.
Helplessly Lar met Megan’s anxious gaze as together they watched the Scourge approach her peoples’ spread-out formations when his head jerked up suddenly. “By Akras holy sickle, are those Paladins of Ukko?“
“Paladins of what?” Following Lar’s eyes, Megan immediately saw what the Minotaur meant, even though she hadn’t understood his question. Charging through the center of the Marines’ formation down the hill were six glowing men armed with swords and axes. Their leader was a giant of a man wielding a massive two-handed claymore that burned with a fiery blue flame.
Unbelievably Megan’s jaw dropped open in shock. “What in the hell do they think they’re doing?”
***
Location Earth / Sean MacRory:
It wasn’t that Sean MacRory lacked faith in the All-Father. In many ways, his belief in Ukko was easier to come to terms with than the Protestant upbringing of his youth. Some might simply say it was because it followed the beliefs of his Clan’s Viking heritage, but in his heart, Sean believed there was more to it than just that.
Although he had been brought up on the stories of the Saints and the Bible, he had always loved the legends about the Druids and Norse gods of old. It wasn’t just a Gallowglass Clan thing either. Stories of runic powers and warriors of god had been a part of every human cultures’ history around the world at one time or another. Even in this modern age of technology, this belief in the old ways had never truly died out.
Even though Christianity had dominated Europe for over a millennium and a half, runes from the old gods could still be found in most villages and cities throughout Europe. Critics might argue that the continued use of these symbols were more due to tradition than any actual belief, but Sean would have disagreed with that convenient reasoning. If anything, this continued resurgence of the old ways in modern day pop-culture, movies, and video games were more of a reflection of some primal racial memory that humans carried with them on some fundamentally deeper level than modern science could explain.
Still, wat
ching the nightmarish bone plated beasts tearing apart the Marines in the pit had been a spiritual transcendence of sorts for Sean. It was like seeing the demons of his religion come to life before his very eyes. The Book of Ukko had gone over the servants of Loviatar in great detail, but never in Sean’s wildest dreams had he truly believed they were real. He’d always treated the references like Catholics and Protestants would when they talked about demons. The terrible denizens of the nine levels of hell were treated more as symbols of evil than actual living entities.
Those judging Sean’s actions later might consider him insane for risking his life for soldiers he didn’t even know, but something inside of Sean told him that he had to help. These Minotaurs and Marines were fighting for their life against Ukko’s enemies. In his heart he knew that having Scourge show up here and now was the harbinger of something far more terrible, so he answered Ukko’s call.
Sean was no Paladin like Startüm Ironwolf, the Prophet of Ukko as many Ukkodians called him, nor was he a Guardian like Roy MacGregor who had brought the word of Ukko to Ireland and the Scottish Isles. He was simply a Protector, but none the less he knew what he had to do. These were the thoughts that churned through Sean’s mind as raced up the rocky slope with his men following close behind him.
“Battalia-abu!" Howling his Clan’s battle cry, Sean felt the power of Ukko flowing through his veins as he lifted Morthwyl Gelyn over his head. As if responding to his will, the runes of the ancient claymore burst into flames with a blinding blue fire as he led the charge into the fangs of the enemy.
“Kanskje.” Instantly a red glow surrounded Sean and his men as soon as the word left his lips. Swinging Morthwyl Gelyn at the lead Scourge, he silently prayed to Ukko that the aura of strength would be enough to meet the power he’d read that these creatures possessed.
Sean felt the jolt through his entire body as the burning blade cleaved through the four Scourge leading the charge as two of Kane’s throwing axes flashed over his shoulder. As the axe heads slammed into the following two beasts, Hans and Wolfgang threw themselves at the next two creatures, slamming into them shield first.
With a strangled cry both Germans were blasted off their feet as the Scourge’s dead bodies plowed through where they’d been standing. Sean only had a split second to contemplate what had happened to his men as he planted his front foot and swept Morthwyl Gelyn up in a backhand swing through the Scourge’s massed ranks. As the blade cleaved another burning swath through the enemies in its path, Sean heard Kane’s hurried yell of warning just as he learned firsthand what had happened to his men, when the charging Scourge smashed into him like a runaway freight train.
The shock of the impact almost made Sean black out as he flew back through the air. Landing hard on the volcanic rocks, he tumbled to a stop gasping for breath as he rolled onto his hands and knees swearing.
Being a large man all his life, it was an easy mistake to make. Mentally he’d known the Scourge were much stronger than humans, but he hadn’t carried the logic over to what that had meant physically, especially in a head-to-head collision. The creatures were so strong because they were so bloody dense! Add-in the basic physics calculations of mass and velocity and he should have figure out the rest.
Hacking up blood, Sean flailed about for Morthwyl Gelyn as his healing energy automatically kicked in. The sharp pain in his chest probably meant broken ribs and his right leg wasn’t working right, but Sean ignored the pain as the screams of dying men and screeching Scourge filled the air around him. Seeing his claymore several meters away, Sean dove for the blade hurriedly scrambling over the rocks on his hands and knees. Half way to his goal the sounds of talons on rock rang out behind him, giving him a split-second warning before a massive weight slammed onto his back.
Sean’s head bounced off the rocks as claws tore at his body. In seconds, the runes on his jack of plates were shredded as he struggled to throw the Scourge off his back. Twisting around to loop his arm around the creature’s bony chest Sean heaved with all his might with absolutely no results, except to twist his body around to face his attacker head-on. A roaring sound filled the air as the creature raked with animalistic fury at the runes of protection tattooed into his skin. Razor sharp claws ripped at his chest and arms when suddenly the attack abruptly stopped.
Shuddering once the Scourge’s lifeless body fell away from his chest. Wiping the blood from his eyes, Sean saw a raven haired woman in black fatigues standing over him with a glowing samurai sword gripped in her hands.
***
Location Earth / Beth Kurwoski:
Beth kicked the headless corpse away as the two V-22 Ospreys heavy machine guns opened fire above her head from where they hovered over the battlefield. The loud thumping sounds of the fifty caliber machine guns were a constant roar as the Pols and Italians dropped the sixty feet to the ground from the back of the hovering transports. As soon as the men hit the ground around her, Beth began calling out orders.
“Kai, Ivan, Janusz help those soldiers holding the Scourge back. Marco, Fabio after those stragglers headed for the Marines.” As the men took off at a run, she called out urgently.
“Remember don’t go head-to-head with these creatures, they’re too strong for a direct assault!” As Thanos and his men landed next to her in two groups of four, Beth quickly sent them chasing after the Scourge ripping apart the tanks at the bottom of the hill. Kneeling down next to the injured man at her feet, Beth instantly recognized the runes of power tattooed into the man’s skin as she hurriedly ripped away the shredded remains of his shirt and armor. Although blood was everywhere, Beth breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she saw the gaping wounds were already knitting themselves back together. Concentrating, Beth added her own power to speed up the healing process as she called out to Ryan and Klaus.
“We need to get these men healed up and get an update on the situation. This is looking like another incursion.” Beth heard the sound of zip lines as Marines began repelling to the ground around her in fast succession. Seeing Sergeant Carlucci land next to her, Beth grabbed his arm with her free hand. “Sergeant, have your men help the wounded. My team and I will handle these creatures.”
“Are you freaking insane? I have to find my Captain or Command Sergeant Major and-“, the Sergeant’s voice died away as he tried to yank his arm away from her, but it didn’t budge an inch. Beth’s knowing smile only added to the man’s hesitation as he suddenly remembered that her whole team just free-jumped down from the hovering Ospreys sixty feet up.
“Now that my feet are on the ground I am in charge, Sergeant.”
With a little more respect in his voice, Sergeant Carlucci forced himself to calm down and explain. “That might be the case Ma’am, but you are still not a part of my direct chain of command. I still have my duty.”
“How about we compromise Sergeant? How effective were those tank rounds against these things in comparison to my team’s weapons? How effective do you really think your team is going to be at fighting these things?” Seeing the Sergeant’s mouth open and close several times as he considered and reconsidered his answer, Beth continued releasing the Marine’s arm. “Trust me, Sergeant, if this is a new incursion we have a much bigger problems to deal with than just these creatures here. Detail your men to help the wounded and find me whoever is in charge. I need to speak with them now!”
Looking at the raging battle at the top of the hill and the nightmarish monsters pouring out of the ground, the Sergeant snapped to attention. “Yes Ma’am, I’ll get my Marines on it.” As he turned away, Beth stopped him. “And Sergeant, I need a radio setup to coordinate with Admiral Wright.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
This time, Beth let the Sergeant go as she turned back to the wounded man who was already trying to sit up. “Take it easy there. You were torn up pretty bad.”
Shoving her hand away the large man rolled to his hands and knees. Recovering his sword, he used it as a crutch to push himself to his feet. “My men-,” Beth
overrode his words, “are fine.”
Meeting her gaze, he looked to where she nodded. The tension visibly left his shoulders as he saw his people being helped to their feet. “My thanks for your timely rescue, but who are … Klaus is that you?”
Beth saw the old German’s head whip around in surprise as he shouted out happily. “MacRory you old wolf, what are you doing out here?”
The two men clapped each other on the back in a bear hug as Beth raised a questioning eyebrow to Ryan “Larissa had a major dig going when these Yanks suddenly showed up. You?”
“I was invited along by these Amis.” There was a twinkle in the old German’s eye as he introduced them both. “I’d like you to meet Agent Ryan Moss and Beth Kurwoski, from the American Ukkodians.”
With a sheepish look, the large man gave her a small bow. “Captain Sean MacRory of the Triumph.”
Beth snapped her fingers as she remembered the report about the Special Ops teams being captured when they boarded the archeologist’s ship. It all started making sense. “Captain, we were on our way out here to speak with Doctor Evans when the proverbial shit hit the fan. We need to know what’s going on and coordinate a response with whoever is in charge.”
Nodding behind them, Sean pointed towards the main battle still in full swing at the crest of the volcanic mound. “The Special Ops team that followed us from our ship said that the Marine’s Command Sergeant Major took direct command of the operation once everything went south. He’s probably the man you want to talk to.”
Turning as one, they all stopped to stare. From where they stood on the irregular curving slope, they had a perfect shot of the action. The Minotaurs had created a strong defensive position by backing up to the very edge of the mound. The sides of the slope were too steep for direct attacks, so the Scourges main assault was focused on the front arc facing the pit. It was like watching a thin wall holding back a growing tsunami.
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