Hellmarine chapter 2 (rough draft)

Dr. Mandy Hughes checked the medical gauntlet for the third time since boarding the drop ship. She’d been nervous many times in her life, but none of them compared to what she was experiencing as the ship careened out of the docking bay and down to the surface of Aonus. The Overmaiden stood close to the cockpit with her hands clasped behind her back, perfectly balanced by the compensators built into her sophisticated mobile emitter. Mandy was stuck back with the Marines. 

“Another glorious day in the corps!” The Master Sergeant hollered over the engines and the sound of the ship hitting the atmosphere at speed. Despite the rough ride, he managed to keep his balance almost as well as the Overmaiden, sparing a hand every so often to hold onto the overhead straps. He was a tall man, even out of the powered armor he wore. In it, he resembled one of the golems of old. The illusion was disrupted only by the fact that the man preferred to keep his helmet off to make room for the cigar he held firmly in his teeth. 

“I love the smell of demon blood in the morning. How ‘bout you, Ramirez?” He laughed as he passed the marine with the name displayed prominently on his chest plate. 

“Nothing better, sir,” Ramirez agreed. 

“Fuckin’ right you do,” the Master Sergeant said, slapping the top of the marines helmet a few times in approval. “What’s the matter, Hughes? You look like you’re about to paint my nice clean deck with puke.” 

Mandy glanced down at the rough, black metal of the deck and raised a brow. “Field work isn’t exactly my specialty. And I’ve never been so close to an actual incursion before.” 

“Well, then we’ll be sure to be gentle when we pop your cherry, Doc!” The Master Sergeant declared loudly before placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Leaning closer, he plucked the cigar from his mouth and lowered his voice. “Don’t you worry. We’ll get you back to the ship in one piece. You do your job, and we’ll do ours.” 

“Yes, sir,” Mandy responded, swallowing nervously despite the encouragement. 

“You can call me Gray, Doc,” the Master Sergeant said before standing upright and replacing the cigar in his mouth. “But I better not hear that shit coming out of any of you fuck-knuckles, understood?” 

“Sir, yes, sir!” the Marines acknowledged. The ship's rocking intensified for a moment as they entered the lower atmosphere before abating. 

Mandy glanced out the viewport to see the damage that had been wreaked on the landscape alone. By all accounts, Aonus had a very Earth-like atmosphere despite its larger size and the presence of three moons. The surface was a little more rugged, but the temperate climate most of the planet enjoyed gave the colonists of the world numerous options on where to settle. Now, it was covered in fire. 

Trees, plant life, and numerous structures had been set ablaze by the incursion. Many of the structures were partially melted, indicating the presence of acid-spitting demons as well as the type that hurled fire from its hands. Mandy had never been an expert on demons, but her assignment to the Midnight Sea was providing her with a crash course. 

“The surface is absolutely swarming with the bastards,” The pilot informed them over the comms. “I’ll need you and your boys to clear an LZ for me before I can set the doctor and the Overmaiden down.” 

“Hear that?” Gray called back to the marines seated along either side of the ship. “We got ourselves a welcoming party!” 

The Master Sergeant made a quick motion with one hand, signaling the men to prepare themselves. Each of the Marines situated themselves upright in their seats before thin sections of the ship opened up behind them. The seats pushed themselves back and rotated, placing them in the readied position. 

“Whooo! Let’s kick this pig!” a Marine with the name “Cox” displayed on his chest plate hollered into the comms. 

“I heard they do something else with pigs where you’re from,” a female Marine by the name of Chambers responded, causing a raucous round of laughter among the others. 

“Get ready,” the pilot announced, cutting across the chatter of the marines. “This is Shotgun Opera to Midnight Sea, about to make contact with the horde on Aonus. Clearing an LZ.” 

“Go ahead, Shotgun Opera,” the officer from the Midnight Sea acknowledged. “And godspeed.” 

The co-pilot counted down the drop and then toggled a switch on the console, turning a red light in the drop bays to green. “Go, go, go!” 

Gripping their weapons tight, the Marines leaped from the ship without a moment of hesitation, the safety harnesses popping free of each one as they went. The distance they fell was much greater than any human would have survived unscathed, but the Marines’ power armor was built to withstand such impact, equipped with various shock absorbers in the joints. 

Mandy clutched the gauntlet even tighter as the sounds of gunfire, accompanied by hooting and hollering, filled the comms. She was seconds from shitting herself while the Marines appeared to be having the time of their lives. 

“Careful of vesper demons,” the Overmaiden cautioned the pilot calmly, her eyes scanning the sky through the frontside viewport. 

“Scanners are clear, ma’am,” the pilot answered. Glancing back at her, he saw that she was staring at him seriously. Clearing his throat, he checked the scanners again. “I’ll keep my eyes open, ma’am.” 

Mandy remembered the vesper demons from the brief, a type of winged demon vaguely resembling a monstrous, hairless bat. They had a tendency to rain acid on ground troops and attach themselves to critical parts of ships in the atmosphere to bring them down. They were fast, stealthy, and capable of hunting by sonar, which doubled as a weapon in some instances. Typically, if they saw you before you saw them, it was already over. 

The ship lurched, and Mandy let out a brief squeak, which caught the attention of the Master Sergeant, who was to serve as their personal escort when they finally landed. “Ground fire. Nothing to worry about. Armor of this bird is too thick,” he assured her. “Check your gear.” 

Mandy nodded quickly and did as she was told. She knew the gauntlet was ready; she’d checked it many times by that point. It had numerous medical functions in the field, including a host of disinfectants, analgesics, and bio-foam for a wide range of wounds. However, the serum was the most crucial component contained within it. 

The rest of her gear was less familiar to her, but she knew the basics. She’d been provided a suit of semi-powered armor often used by the Medical Corps of the Marines. It was white with red trim as opposed to the tan and green of the soldiers. It lacked many of the higher-end features of power armor but provided her with much more protection than the lightweight body armor that the Navy typically used aboard the ship. Her helmet was linked to comms at all times and had a visor that provided her with a useful HUD when things got really chaotic. Her chest plate was polarized like power armor but couldn’t take nearly as much punishment. 

“Coming about,” the pilot announced in response to one of the Marines on the ground, letting them know they had a landing zone open for them. The ship banked hard to one side, setting Mandy further on edge, and then it began its descent. She felt the ship slow considerably before the bay along the back of the ship opened like a large, yawning metal creature. 

The Overmaiden passed by her, confidently motioning for her to follow with one hand as she did. Mandy jumped to her feet and fell in behind the AI’s hologram and the Master Sergeant. It was like a furnace as they stepped off the ramp of the ship. Mandy felt the internal systems of her armor begin cooling her almost immediately to compensate for the heat thrown off by the flames of the incursion. Once they were clear of the ship, it lifted off once again. 

Scores of demon bodies were piled high around them in various states of disembowelment and similar grisly fates. The Marines formed up on their position even as they finished off the last of the stragglers in their immediate area. 

“Ah, I love the feeling of the wind in my hair,” Gray remarked, taking a deep breath in and letting it out dramatically. Mandy resisted the urge to point out that with how short his hair was, there wasn’t much to feel the wind through. 

“I didn’t think you could call that scalp-stubble hair, sir,” Cox quipped as he did a quick local scan with some of the specialized instruments on his power armor. 

“Anything your mother can run her fingers through,” Gray countered, eliciting a chorus of laughter from the other marines. The Master Sergeant plucked the cigar from his mouth as he adopted a more serious demeanor. “Alright, Marines, listen up! We’re going to carve a bloody path into town to see if there are any survivors. We’ll establish a base camp at—.”

“Sir,” Cox interrupted. “I’m picking up an active distress signal routed through the local subnet. Location seems to be the local geology lab of Orco Industries. It’s got a MoonShot tag on it.” 

“MoonShot?” Gray echoed with surprise. Mandy knew the private security company had a sterling reputation among their peers, but she’d never heard of them tangling with a demon incursion before. The Master Sergeant’s gaze shifted toward the Overmaiden, who looked thoughtful for a moment before giving him a brief nod. 

“Alright, let’s start there!” Gray ordered as the Marines fell into formation. Once they were set, they began to trek west toward the origin of the distress signal. 

“Stay close to me,” the Overmaiden said calmly to Mandy. “The barrier field of my emitter should offer you additional protection.” 

“Alright,” Mandy responded informally, often forgetting the formalities in stressful situations. Mandy wasn’t part of the military, after all. She was essentially a glorified civilian consultant attached to Dr. Cosgrove, who’d taken a particular interest in her work. She was an expert in various fields due to her keen intellect and tireless work ethic, but the ones that interested him the most were her focus on superhuman medicine and biology, along with her deep understanding of human psychology. The fact that she held multiple doctorates in other fields, such as xenobiology, hadn’t hurt. 

The Overmaiden was a fascinating individual to her. She’d briefly studied the theory behind ghost AIs but had never encountered one in person until she’d met her. Unlike standard AIs composed purely of code of an architect’s design from the ground up, ghost AIs were modeled after actual people. Most were made from individuals with exemplary records and accomplishments in a particular field. The experiences of the originals were deemed so valuable that they could be preserved well after their death. The Overmaiden was sixth-generation, meaning that five previous versions of her had existed and been decommissioned, handing down their extensive knowledge and experience each time to the next generation. 

Unlike other ghost AIs, however, the original template on which the Overmaiden was modeled was highly classified. The Overmaiden herself hardly referenced any of the experiences from her original life, which made it even more confusing to Mandy. If they were created to preserve that knowledge and experience, why did the Overmaiden never seem to make open use of it? 

“We’ve got incoming,” Cox announced, bringing his pulse rifle up. Each of the marines was equipped with one. Nicknamed the “Perforator,” it was a favorite of the Marines for its ability to tear through armor and demon flesh alike with magnetically accelerated caseless ammunition. A moment later, someone called out contact as a cluster of hunter demons and soldier demons descended upon them from the ruins of a nearby building. 

Hunter demons moved on four legs, resembling primitive hounds in some respects which had been skinned and refitted with bone plating in places. The flesh across their skulls was pulled tight and deep, empty pits existed where their eyes should be. Lethal, ragged tongues that allowed them to scent prey over great distances doubled as weapons in close combat, and strange fin-like organs on the side of their heads allowed them to detect sound and motion. 

The soldier demons were bipeds covered in bone spikes. They were best known for hurling fireballs and drooling acid from their toothy maws. Mandy’s hand went down to the handgun holstered on her hip, but the Overmaiden gently placed her hand over her own, restraining her. 

“Let them work,” the AI said calmly as the Marines opened fire. Mandy had to remind herself that the main reason—the secret reason—for the mission was to observe the Marines in combat and how they handled themselves. It wasn’t just about their genetics. It was about who they were as people. They needed to know the quality of the soldier as a whole. 

The Marines did not disappoint and did precisely as Gray had commanded them to: They cut a bloody path through the settlement's heart to the Orco Industries complex. As bloody as it was just to reach the complex, it was worse inside. The halls were painted with the blood of staff that had been slain while pieces of their corpses had been scattered haphazardly up and down the corridors. The emergency lighting was barely operational, forcing them to switch to their visors to see in the darker sections of the building. They didn’t want to shine any lights, inadvertently attracting things that dwelt in the darkness. 

“Stay alert,” Ramirez whispered over comms as they turned a corner. Mandy saw why once she caught up from his position near the rear of the formation. The entire hallway had been rebuilt and reformed using the flesh of the people in the facility. “Drones.” 

Drones were the standard builders of the horde, though the term was often used loosely. They were the ones responsible for converting the flesh of the fallen, be it the enemy or their own, into structures that demons could use as bases and other critical infrastructure. They could stretch muscle, reshape skin, and transmute bone with a few profane inscriptions and their bare hands. 

“Probably some forsaken too,” Chambers muttered back as she hugged the left wall tightly. Though not technically full demons, the forsaken were animate human bodies possessed by the demonic spirits or animated by the profane energy of hell itself. Some shambled like mindless zombies, while others could be possessed of burning hatred that propelled them at superhuman speeds with supernatural strength. Where there were drones at work, there were often forsaken. 

The humidity and putrescence of the corridor made it difficult for Mandy to breathe. Her stomach lurched and turned numerous times as if trying to escape and leave the rest of her body behind. It was one of the single most traumatic experiences of her young life, but for the Marines, it was a Tuesday. 

As Cox passed one of the growths along the wall on the right, it peeled away from the rest of the biomass and hurled itself at the Marine. Cox, as cavalier as he could be, was not caught unaware. As the forsaken leaped onto him, he turned his body to use its momentum against it, slamming it into an opposite wall and placing the muzzle of his weapon in its mouth before pulling the trigger. The sound caused a cacophony of screams and wailing to fill the air from beyond the corridor. 

“Motherfucker,” a Marine by the name of Wall snarled as he stepped up to the front of the line, his weapon at the ready. “Where are we even fucking going, sir?” 

Mandy glanced at the visor of her helmet and decided to make herself useful. Detecting her eye movements, the visor allowed her to move through the menus quickly, delving into the local subnet where she pulled up a basic map of the facility. There, she isolated the signal that Cox had detected earlier and plotted a course for the Marines as they once again opened fire on a nest of demons flooding up from the lower levels. Unfortunately, that was precisely where they were going. 

Curiously, there also appeared to be a sporadic ping of Profane Energy originating from the area as well. She distributed the map and directions to the Marines’ armor while they worked. 

“Interesting,” the Overmaiden noted of the Profane Energy as she accessed the proposed route. 

“This is bullshit,” Cox snarled as he tore a pair of forsaken into pieces with his Perforator. “This is a fucking trap, sir!” 

Gray glanced at the Overmaiden as he turned to face the rear, cutting down a cluster of forsaken that had attempted to flank them. His cigar shifted from one side of his mouth to the other uneasily. Silently he agreed with Cox, but he wasn’t going to issue an order until the AI had her say. 

“Let’s get to that lab,” the Overmaiden concluded with a thoughtful look on her face. “Follow the doctor’s route.” 

“Ma’am?” the Master Sergeant inquired as if he’d misheard her. 

“I’ve got a good feeling about this,” the AI responded, shooting him a confident look. 

That was good enough for Gray, who turned forward and ordered the Marines on. Despite their misgivings, they did as they were told and followed Mandy’s route precisely. Most of the forsaken appeared to have been scientists and other technical personnel, which meant that they weren’t carrying much in the way of weapons. Forsaken could be smart enough to use weaponry but often didn’t seek it out for some unknown reason. 

“The fuck is this?” Ramirez asked as they finally reached the lab. Not only were there numerous human corpses littering the area but also the torn and mutilated remains of various hunter and soldier demons. “Shit got real, eh?” 

“Secure that door,” Gray ordered as the last of the formation entered the lab. Mandy glanced around, her brow furrowed at the decayed chaos that had transpired.

“They must have triggered the distress signal before the demons took them out,” Chambers guessed, turning one of the dead civilians over with her foot. “Poor bastards.” 

Cox approached the end of an observation platform at the far end of the lab, lowering his weapon slowly. “Fuck me, would you look at that?” 

A few of the other Marines joined him, looking down into an open cavern that had been mined. At the center of the cavern’s floor stood a monolithic stone with glowing symbols along its edges, the center of which shifted around like a liquid.

“What am I looking at here, ma’am?” the Master Sergeant asked, his tone bordering on informal as he regarded the formation with dread. 

“It’s an ancient zintari portal,” the Overmaiden answered, observing the formation coolly from behind the Marines. “At least, it was. It appears to have been modified somehow—altered.” 

Mandy’s eyes widened at the mention of the zintari. An ancient class of elevated humans that possessed extraordinary powers and abilities. Few had been seen over the last few centuries, though it was known that they still existed. However, a point of fact was that even the zintari were not true zintari, owing to the fact that the ancient ones of their number hadn’t been human at all. It was a distinction that few bothered to make anymore. Mandy did because it was her job to—Namely, because it was part of what composed the serum for Project Brutality housed in her medical gauntlet. 

“Over here!” Wall called, emerging from one of the side rooms of the lab. A streaky trail of blood and gore led into the room, causing Mandy to question what terrible scene awaited them. She, the Overmaiden, and the Master Sergeant joined Wall in the room while the others fanned out to secure and reconnoiter the area. Two large Marines remained at the door that they’d managed to force closed. 

As they stepped into the room, they found more casualties, but also a group of cryopods that hadn’t been fully installed. After a brief examination, Mandy could see that the research staff had intended to use them to store samples of their new finds deep below the planet’s surface, but they had been interrupted mid-installation. One of the pods—the only fully functional one—was occupied by a person. 

“He’s in bad shape,” Wall noted, directing their attention to the man’s innards, half-spilled out of his body, held in place only with his hand. She noted that, under normal circumstances, the young man would have been ruggedly handsome. Though little remained of his shredded uniform, she could see he was one of the security officers for the lab. 

Mandy stepped forward, her hand moving over the panels of the pod to examine the state of the occupant within. It was just as Wall had said. He was in bad shape. Even if they could get the whole pod out and back to the Midnight Sea, there was a good chance that they wouldn’t be able to save him. The fact he had made it far enough to toggle a distress signal or crawl into a cryopod was a minor miracle. He must have been operating on pure adrenaline. 

“Probably best if I put the poor bastard out of his misery,” Wall remarked dejectedly. The man had thought he’d found a survivor for a moment and was now looking at putting a bullet between his eyes to end his suffering. 

“Take a look at his biometrics,” the Overmaiden said to Mandy. “Compare it to the project profile.” 

Mandy looked back at the hologram incredulously. “You’ve got to be joking. This man is on death’s doorstep. He’ll die within minutes of deactivation of the pod.” 

The Overmaiden stared at her silently until the doctor activated her gauntlet to run the scan natively. Mandy watched the feed come in on her visor and was surprised to find that despite the damage to the man’s body, he was an excellent match to the biological profile. Better than many of the Marines, even. To find such a person in such a remote place, working for a security company, of all things, was incredible. But there was no getting around the massive physical trauma. 

“It’s about one in a hundred,” Mandy reported, looking into the face of the young man. Though still open, his eyes looked dead already. “Assuming he was at peak health, anyway.” 

“Thaw him out,” the Overmaiden responded after a moment of thought. “Then inject him.” 

“Ma’am!?” Mandy objected, stepping away from the pod. None of the Marines present knew what they were talking about. They glanced between the two, waiting to see how things played out. 

“That’s an order, doctor,” the AI pressed, motioning toward the pod with a brief nod of her head. “Trust me. More importantly, obey me.”

Mandy remained silent, looking back at the Overmaiden skeptically before toggling the pod with one hand. As it opened, she was quick to move around the side and place the palm of her gauntlet on the man’s chest before he began to bleed out. The powerful needle of the syringe shot from the wrist of the gauntlet, puncturing deep into the young man’s chest, where it deposited the serum directly into his heart. 

Just as the thawing process took hold, the man’s body seized. Mandy cycled through the readout on her visor, providing her with the man’s vitals. She selected a medication on her gauntlet to prepare her for tissue repair. Maybe, she thought, she could save him if she got his insides back on his inside. 

She injected him again as he seized and spasmed, moving right into carefully jabbing his guts back in through the grievous wound of his abdomen. But before she could get much of it in, the man flatlined and went limp. “Dammit.” 

Mandy stepped back from the cryopod to join the rest of the group, lingering in silence. Wall turned away as Gray glanced between the AI and the doctor in an attempt to discern what had just happened. The Overmaiden remained unmoved, watching the body in the cryopod unwaveringly. 

“I don’t know what you expected,” Many murmured, double-checking the readouts on her visor as she glanced back at the young man. Not only were his eyes open again, but they were also more focused and intense. He lifted his head slowly, looking down at the wound in his abdomen as the damage repaired itself. 

The Master Sergeant’s cigar fell out of his mouth as he gawked at the intestines while they crawled back into the young man’s body. “Son of a bitch.”