"Okay then, kneel." Zac knelt in front of the General. "Zac, I hereby bestow upon you the Rank of S1. Sam will now be your leader. You will follow his every order and live and serve him until you die."
"I, Zac, will now and until I die serve under Sam's every word and order. I will fight alongside him until my dying breath."
"Welcome to the Alpha Sector," Sam said, extending his hand.
8: A Surprise Offer
Sam, Matthew, Lachlan and Zac all walked through the halls to the S1 room. Sam quickly made a U-turn and headed toward the holo deck.
"Sam, where are you going?" Matthew asked as Sam ran past him.
"Tell everyone to meet me on the holo deck," Sam said as he ran off.
Jareth, Matthew, Matt, Cheyenne, Zac and Lachlan met Sam in Holo Room 4.
"Alright team, I want to see everyone's armour. Also, this is Zac. He's a new member of the team," Sam said, pointing to Zac.
"Sam, at this rate we'll have a whole army by the end of next year," Lachlan pointed out.
"Shut up and activate your armours."
Jareth activated his chimera armour. The sleek black and brown armour had fierce reptilian wings which were the opposite of Sam's metallic feather wings. On Jareth's left arm was a shield that looked like a lion's head and mane. In his right hand was a sword that had a cobra coiled around it.
Matthew was next, with the silver armour that had deep red highlights running down both arms, leading to the chain launchers.
Matt's armour was the standard UltraMarine blue and was quite bulky. He had dual gatlers on his shoulders and two in his hands, and he had the ability to turn his two handheld gatlers into a turret, which increased his accuracy.
Cheyenne also had a standard coloured light armour. She had ten swords slung over her back, and each was controlled by one of her fingers.
Zac wore a blood red Space Wolf armour, and a jump pack nestled on his back which allowed him to fly. He had dual bolt rifles holstered on his sides and two swords on his back.
And finally, Lachlan activated his armour. It was a large purple armour with glistening metallic grey claws that extended from oversized gauntlets. The amour had a wolf's head as its helmet and continued its wolf theme with another wolf's head on its stomach. There was a coat of arms of the marine corps on each gauntlet. A long red cape fluttered behind the armour.
"Okay, good. I like what I'm seeing. Chaos will have his work cut out for him if he tries to attack Earth now," Sam said, happy with how his team looked.
The S1 team were practising in the holo deck when Doc called Sam through the comms.
"Sam, there's someone here to see you."
"Who?"
"I think it's best if you come and see for yourself."
Sam headed up to the teleporter room and found Doc talking to a squad of Space Wolves. Davies was with them.
"Sam, this is Commander Garret of the Space Wolves. He's here to talk to you."
"Oh, I know Garret from way back."
"Yes, and it seems you know a few of my top team as well," Garret said, looking at Davies and his squad.
"Well, make yourselves comfortable. The S1 team is training in the holo deck," Doc said, leading the Space Wolves leaving Sam with Garret.
"So Commander, what is it that you came here to talk to me about?" Sam asked as they walked the halls of the base.
"I want you to take over."
"Sir?"
"I want you to take over leading the Space Wolves against the Chaos Marines. They've been a hassle for us for a while now and I think it'd be best if you could lead them against the Chaos Marines. I give you an army to add to your own and then you strike at the heart of the Chaos Army."
"But Sir, I can't lead an army."
"Then how'd you kill off the Xanthos?"
"That was with half of my team and all of Pike's team."
"I still think that you can do it."
"Wouldn't the General be a better choice?"
"No, Sam. I want you to lead the final assault against the Chaos Marines."
"Okay, I'll do it. But I want to run it past the General first."
"You have one week and then my army will arrive and we go get those bastards," Garret said, walking off.
"Yes, Sir," Sam said to himself, feeling worried.
9: Betrayal
The week passed quickly as Sam and the S1 team got ready to fight the Chaos Marines on their home planet, Chaon. There were other squads of lower rank waiting with them. Davies and a few Space Wolf squads entered the hangar. Together they all bordered a spaceship.
"So much for an army," Sam said to Davies as they sat strapped into their seats.
"I can say the same for you, but at least I brought more than four squads."
"Four is enough."
"To face an entire army? You're crazier then I thought."
The trip there was a few hours long and pretty quiet. They entered the Chaon system and immediately hit turbulence as SAM missiles tried to shoot them down. Missiles hit the ship a few times and they needed to use the drop pods. Everyone got out of their seats and went to their respective drop pods. The pods were dropped. When the marines stepped out they were surrounded by Chaos Marines.
"You're pretty stupid for coming here, Samuel," Chaos said as other Chaos Marines parted and he walked past them. The other drop pods had landed in various directions, and Sam could hear other marines getting executed.
"That's why I only brought a few low level squads. I kind of knew that this was gonna end badly."
"Then why'd you come?" Davies asked as he took his place next to Chaos.
"What? Davies? How could you?"
"Oh please, Sam. The Space Wolves have been under Chaos Marine control for ages."
"Does that mean...?" Sam looked at Zac as he walked past Sam and stood next to Chaos and Davies.
"I'm sorry, Sam. But right now your base is being ravaged by Chaos Marines and Space Wolves. It's hopeless."
"Humph, not yet it's not," Sam said with a smirk on his face. His team all had their armours active and were waiting for his signal.
Every Chaos Marine and Space Wolf pointed its rifle at the marines.
"Now, Matthew!" Sam shouted and Matthew threw him an armour chip.
"Defender Armour activate!" Sam shouted as bullets came from every direction, disturbing the dust around them and causing a dust storm.
When the storm cleared, a dome surrounded the marines. Sam had activated his new Defender Armour. It was a large metallic grey armour with a metal skirting that went down to its feet, and the skirting was segmented with interchanging green and grey metal. The bulky armour carried a trident that could create shields. It was an armour made for defence. Sam kept the shield up until the Chaos Marines needed to reload. All at once Sam dropped his shield and his marines ran in different directions, taking down every Chaos Marine and Space Wolf.
Lachlan went after Zac, claws pointed right at his heart. He took a few swipes at Zac but narrowly missed each attack.
"Why are you doing this, Zac?"
"We made a pact with the Chaos Marines to wipe out your Faction."
"Why? When?"
"Right after the Xanthos were killed, Chaos came to us and told us that it was your Faction that took down the rightful gods of this galaxy. We made a pact to kill every last one of you vermin."
Lachlan could see darkness in his old team mate's eyes. Davies joined the fight and took a few swings at Lachlan. He blocked it with one gauntlet and grabbed him with the other.
Sam faced Chaos. "I'm gonna end this right now, Chaos. You will fall at my hand."
"Oh, Samuel. You are delusional. I and everyone here have one thing that you don't, and that thing is the reason that you will never defeat the Chaos Marines."
"And what's that?"
"You'll never know," Chaos said, sprinting toward Sam.
Sam activated his shield and watched as Chaos began to pound the shield over and over again, with no success. He was now trapped within
his own shield.
The other S1 Marines were rapidly taking down every other Marine, and the Chaos Marine numbers were quickly decreasing. Chaos Marines didn't die like normal humans who'd collapse after death. Chaos Marines seemed to burst into black shards when struck. Matt and Matthew were back to back. Matthew's chain armour was no use against big hordes of enemies so he was using his axxon armour, slicing and hacking at the Chaos Marines and Space Wolves.
"Duck!" Matt said and Matthew quickly got onto the ground. Matt spun 360°, firing his quad gatlers and slaying marines all around them.
Jareth and Cheyenne were also back to back with swords drawn.
"So, Cheyenne?" Jareth asked as they were once again pushed against each other.
"What?"
"You think that after all of this is over we could, you know, go on a date?" Jareth asked as he blocked an attack from a Chaos Marine.
"Really? We're talking about this now?"
"Is there any better time?"
"Oh, I don't know … maybe when we're not surrounded by people who want to kill us!"
"Well, in my opinion that's the best time."
"Why?"
"Because in the heat of battle, the fear of death can cause people to say stupid things."
"You mean that question?"
"Well, hmmm, yeah I guess."
"The answer is…" Cheyenne was interrupted as a groan came from the other side of the battlefield. Sam's voice came thorough the comms.
"Cheyenne, Jareth, Lachlan's down. Get to his side. Matt, Matthew, to mine."
10: The Gods
A woman made quick sharp movements with her hands and watched as the ground in front of her began to crack and splinter.
"Ah, Athena, I see that you have not forgotten how to use your powers," a man said, watching her.
"Powers like mine are those that shan't be forgotten nor ever lost. Let us see whether or not you have forgotten, Hades," Athena said, turning to the man.
He flicked his wrist and a ball of darkness formed in his palm. He threw it to the ground and a Golem of Darkness rose from the orb.
"Is that not proof enough of my memory of my abilities?" Hades asked, bowing.
"Yeah, yeah, we can all create Golems out of our elements, Hades. Why don't you show us something we can't all do?" another man said from behind them.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Apollo. Are our abilities not up to your standard?" Hades asked.
"No, it's just I thought that since the five of us have been a team for over ten years, we'd actually learnt to use our powers to do more than conjure Golems."
"I, for one, agree with Apollo," a third man said, walking into the dark room.
"Yeah, well, you're always kissing Apollo's arse, Zeus," Hades replied.
"Actually, come to think of it, I haven't seen you do anything but create Fire Golems, Apollo," Athena said, stepping forward.
"Would you four stop bickering and put that energy into fighting Chaos? Now that he's returned, we have to get back into fighting him."
"Poseidon's right, team. I think it's time to reveal ourselves to my son," Apollo said.
11: The Second Loss
Cheyenne and Jareth quickly made their way to Lachlan, who was lying on the ground unconscious. Zac and Davies stood triumphantly in front of them.
"Come, Davies. These two aren't worth the effort. Let's go help Chaos."
"Yes, Sir."
Cheyenne and Jareth gave them both a look of hate.
"I'll take care of Lachlan. Go make them pay," Jareth said.
"Gladly," Cheyenne said with a tone that Jareth hadn't heard before - hatred.
Matt and Matthew quickly got Chaos away from Sam but Zac and Davies got in between them, separating the S1 Marines from Chaos. Sam got to his feet behind Matthew and Matt.
"Well, well. Isn't this déjà vu?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, but this time we'll make you pay," Davies said, angrily eyeing Matthew.
"Oh, really? Well, last time I checked we beat you fair and square in the arena so what's gonna be different about this fight?" Matthew said, slinging his axe over his shoulder.
"Him," Zac said, pointing at Matt.
Chaos opened a portal behind him and stepped through it, leaving the two Space Wolves with the three Ultra Marines. Matthew battled with Davies while Sam and Zac exchanged blows. Since they were fighting melee style Matt couldn't get a good shot on either of them.
Sam activated his beast mode and sprinted toward Zac.
"Laser Claw Strike!" Sam yelled. He could feel his claws imbue themselves with power as he ran and jumped at Zac. Zac stood his ground by drawing his swords and blocking Sam's claws.
"Is this your feeble attempt at trying to defeat us?" Zac asked under the weight of the beast on top of him.
Zac managed to push Sam off him and onto his back. Zac ran at Sam with swords drawn. He reversed his grips and jumped onto Sam who was lying on the ground. Sam changed into humanoid form and drew his arms closer to his sides, making Zac's swords land a hair's breadth away from Sam's arms. Sam clenched his fist and with one hand he punched Zac in the face. With the other he drew one of Zac's rifles and emptied its magazine into Zac's stomach. He punched Zac again and again until Zac fell off him. Since none of them wore helmets, a punch from a metal fist did some real damage. Sam stood up and threw Zac's rifle away. He looked at Zac and saw blood trickling down his face. A cry came from behind.
Matthew and Davies clashed head on, again and again, axe against chain sword. It was hard for Matthew to fight such an opponent as his axe was double-headed. Each strike with a chain sword ground away at the steel it was forged from. Davies was only using one chain sword but it was still enough to carve chunks out of Matthew's great axe. They clashed again but this time Davies thrust his sword upward, forcing Matthew's axe from his hand. It landed behind Matthew. The axe was now blunter than a hammer and practically useless for anything other than a bludgeoning weapon.
Davies stood back and looked at the defenceless Matthew. He let out a laugh at how pathetic Matthew looked in such a bulky armour with no weapon. Davies once again drew his chain sword and it revved to life. He ran toward Matthew, who responded by standing with one hand behind his back. Matthew had taken a capsule from the many that littered his hips. He clicked it behind his back and it extended into a full sized dual headed battle axe, which he split down the middle to produce two hand axes. Matthew swung one at Davies to block his chain sword. The axe was quickly shredded but it gave Matthew enough time to swing his other axe across Davies' stomach. Davies fell groaning and clutching his stomach. A cry came from behind.
Sam and Matthew both turned at the same time to see Matt fall and Chaos standing behind him, claws drenched in Matt's blood. After Chaos stepped over Matt, a loud crunching came from Matt's back as Chaos seemed to apply pressure as he stepped on Matt's back. Matt began to scream but his voice was cut off as his life was squashed out of him. Chaos walked passed Sam and Matthew. Zac and Davies joined him and they walked back to the Chaos Marine army. Sam and Matthew ran to Matt.
"Matt! Matt, no! C'mon Matt, you're stronger than this," Sam said to the lifeless husk that was moments ago his best friend.
"Sam, I'm sorry. He's dead. There's nothing you can do but fight on. That's what Matt would've wanted … Sam! Behind you!" Matthew yelled as he saw Zac behind Sam, ready to slice him in half.
"Meteor Shackle!" Zac's blade exploded as a spiked ball of light slammed itself into the blade. Zac ran off and Sam turned to see an armour that looked similar to Lachlan's but not quite the same. The armour had a flowing white mane instead of a red cape. His clawed gauntlets were replaced with normal ones with glowing orbs on the top of each gauntlet. Each orb shined like the sun. The armour carried a large two handed spear with one end shaped like a crescent moon and the other ended in a spiked ball flail. The armour was indeed Lachlan. He unclenched his fists that carried his weapon. It dispersed into light and his gauntlets orbs light dimmed.
"Sam,
c'mon! Get up! We still have a war to fight," Jareth said as he ran over to Sam and helped him up.
"Glad to see you two."
"That'd be three," Cheyenne said, also walking over.
"Oh, crap. Poor Matt. Sam, I'm sorry," Cheyenne said, seeing Matt's dead body.
"It's okay, as long as we punish those for their crimes," Sam said, looking over to Chaos who seemed to be laughing.
"Defilers, take aim and fire. Blow these insolent fools to hell," Chaos said in his deep voice while raising his hand. Out of the ranks of the Chaos Marines rose five walkers. Each walker had four legs which connected to a large black box. Two sets of laser cannons jutted out of each side of the box and a large cannon extended from the front.
Sam and the remaining S1 marines braced for the explosive death that was coming.
"Sam, can't you use Defender to create a shield around us?" Matthew asked.
"You're the one who designed it. Shouldn't you know?" Sam asked back.
"Oh, right. Even Defender can't defend against such an attack," Matthew replied.
The Defilers fired and the world went black.
12: The Elements
Explosions could be heard but they were distant. Sam opened his eyes and saw a giant wall of earth in front of them. The wall had blocked the explosions from the Defilers.
"Come on, Sam. Get up," a man said, hauling Sam onto his feet. Sam looked at him. The man was in an armour that was yellow and red from head to toe. It had fire flaring out of its gauntlets and down its back. A small sun floated above its head.
"Who are you?" Sam asked.
"My code name is Apollo."
Sam took a look around and saw three other unknown people in armours helping his team up. There was another one in front of the wall with its arms spread. Sam guessed that it was the one controlling the wall.
"Athena, get ready to drop the wall. Hades, Poseidon, get on the other side and start killing those bastards," Apollo yelled.
Athena dropped her arms and the wall collapsed before she walked over to Sam. Athena's armour looked like it was cut from marble, being a white armour with grey marbling. The armour had a goddess' head as the rest of the armour was slim fitting.
The Chaos Saga Page 8