"We've got a visual," the drone operator says.
The operator ignores the nearby gunfire. This is a minor success, and it has to be the first of many.
The feed zooms toward the glowing organic mass bubbling and boiling inside concrete and stone ruins stacked into a pillar of hatred and death. Just beneath the surface decaying corpses look like they're reaching out beyond the feed to the operator himself.
The feed drifts to the side and sights something familiar.
"I see the beacon."
The Skion troops move up and take better positions. They've been clearing streets and fighting for hours just trying to find this thing. Their ordeal is almost over.
"There we go," Dienekes says, "let's grab that and we can get out of here. Hopefully the whole portal will collapse without it."
In the shadows nearby, some survivors set their sights on the Skion. They believe they are the hunters.
"They're here. You were right, they're after the portal..."
"And now they're right here."
Jirac confirms. "Be patient. We've got them, now. Open up the second you think you have an advantage."
Dienekes, he who sees beyond sight, will not be caught unawares.
Down the street, a different face appears.
"F̵̨͍̍̿̏͘͝i̴̟̰͔̘̅̑̓n̶̜̐̐͠a̶͇̒̄͠l̷̓̌͗͌͠ͅl̵͚̽͌y̸̧̤̩̠̒̈́̈́͑!̶͇̟̣̂̍̔̈́̾!" Eldon growls, "N̶̳͌ő̴̥͊ ̷̦̿m̵̹͙̳̉o̵̧̙̊́͜r̷̡̛̞͆̾̔̚ͅě̸̜̞̽ ̶͈̗̣͕̓̿̋̄̚h̶̛̛͇͈̓̿̇ỉ̶̢͓̘̫͉̈̑͂͝d̴̢͎̩͛̽͑̕į̵͌͊͐͊n̸͉̍̔́ģ̶̇̈͗̚,̴̳̞̪̽ ̴̫͇̒̎͠l̷͔̦̯̰͆͂̿̀͋e̷̠͖̝̮̎͂̀ţ̷͕̎̓'̶̝̖̤̥͆̾̓̅̅s̴̤͆͋ ̶̘̀͝k̴̖̔͐i̷̞̯͎͂̑͂̽͜ļ̴̲̍l̶̢͚͙̰͎̇̄͠ ̵̠̞̬̞̌́͒͆̕t̵̠̻̫̬̋̈́̓̕h̵̹͘ẻ̶̫̈́̈́́̑s̴̫͉̥̊̈́͋e̴̢͎̳̮͍̒͗ ̴̣͇̳̈͝f̶̧͚̲̓͜ŕ̶͚͔̾́͌͑e̸̲̲͔̗̜̋́͂a̷̘͎̹̥͒͒͒̌͜k̸̺̄̌̐͆͠s̵̻͝.̸̛͎̇̋̂"
The Immortal troopers nod, not quite understanding Eldon's increasingly spooky voice.
They're not very far away, and there isn't much in the way.
The street tank roars to life and Dienekes directs the flamers to the survivor ambush. Fire quickly engulfs the ground floor and the survivors have no choice but to flee.
The ones that do escape sprint headlong into the shambling undead in the streets and the swarming fleebnorks. Skion bullets sing through the air, forcing one of the survivors to take cover much too close to the street tank.
Dienekes hardly notices. He is sprinting for the portal.
Bullets rip through the swarming monsters. The tank has a commanding view between a barricade and a burned out ambulance. The undead will simply funnel their way into hot lead.
The tank continues to advance, and the survivor realizes he only has a moment. Jirac is screaming orders but he can't hear them over the machine gun and the dreadful blaze.
He unhooks his comm, it's too much.
"Nobody lives forever," he says to himself, shoving his grenade launcher underneath the street tank's armor plating.
The explosion rips the machine and survivor into pieces. The gun finally stops spinning.
Dienekes is tossed to the ground. Skion infantry make haste to cover him, firing into the alley that is increasingly crowded by targets.
"We've got you!" the officer shouts, waving more troops into position.
At the other end of the alley, Eldon avoids the shots and sends his own troops out to clear the path.
They are immediately beset upon by falling monsters.
It quickly turns into a bloodbath. Eldon rolls his eyes and waves a flame trooper forward.
There's no friend or foe to the belching flames and the crowd is quickly melted into a pile of ash and blood.
A horde appears from the subway station, drawn to the gunfire and explosions.
Jirac sends some of her troops to cover the horde. It is likely a one-way trip.
Jirac jumps into the street. She's out of options and fresh troops. If she hurries she can beat Dienekes to the portal.
Meanwhile, the horde meets a wall of Skion flames. The flamers call for help, the mass of bodies are overcoming the heat. There's just too many of them. The front ranks protect the rear and the undead feel no pain.
The drone moves down to assist.
Two bombs rip through the advancing horde. Jirac has no time to notice.
Dienekes moves toward the portal, sliding through the broken fence and into the courtyard. Fleebnorks are flowing after him and the infantry can hardly keep up.
Eldon, quite pleased with himself, saunters through the hole in the building. He can take his time and pick his moment.
Jirac is forced to take cover as fleebs cascade over her escort. She doesn't have enough ammunition for all of these distractions.
Skion reinforcements arrive just in time to see the horde break through the wall of flames. Burning corpses claw and bite at the flamers.
"Get moving! There's more behind us!" one of them begs the drone operator. He hardly notices...
A mistake that he pays for with his life.
Dienekes has no time to spare. He dashes up the stairs toward the portal.
"Jirac! Jirac! We're overrun and out of--"
The horde chews up everything in front of it.
Dienekes fights through the undead in his path.
Jirac moves up behind him.
Finally! Dienekes dashes ahead. The fight is almost over.
WRONG!
Eldon hits Dienekes hard across the chest and knocks his OTC glaive to the ground.
"A̸̮͑͜͝ş̷̦͗ ̷̖͓̅i̶̮͊̏f̴̛̭̩͠ ̵̭͔̓ḯ̵̪̾t̴̟̅ ̴̟͉̽͝w̵̠̅̏o̵̖͐́u̵̬̯͊l̶̥͉̕ḓ̶͛ ̵͘͜b̸̬̻͆̕ę̷͍͐ ̶̮͚̐̋t̷̜̘̓͠h̴̛̪̄a̵͍̣̾t̴͙̎̇ ̷̡̠͑̚ȩ̷͊̅a̴͙̓́s̷͓̘͂͠ý̸̪̗!̵̰͗̚" Eldon shouts.
"I can barely understand you, Eldon," Dienekes mutters.
"F̵̬̳̒̎u̵͕̜͗̕č̸̥̺k̶̨͛ ̶͎̓y̸̟̝̎ȯ̸̘̙u̶̗͒̕!̶̱͂ ̴̩͋̉Y̸͚̫̌ǒ̵̻u̶̠̅'̵̰͗̌r̴̡̳̈́͛ė̴͓̉ ̵̢̠̈́ó̸̝u̴̧̦̓ẗ̴͓͜͝ǹ̴̥̪ú̵̻͈̐m̷̤͒b̸͍͖́͝e̵̥̽r̶̛͕e̸̤̲̅d̴͇͑.̸̣͆͝ ̵̀̕ͅI̸͖̐̈́t̸̹̲̆'̸̡̧̾s̶̺̚͝ͅ ̴͙̯̀o̸͈͚͊͌ṿ̷̖̓e̴̢̎͆r̷̨͇̈́̅ ̶͚̪̄f̵͚̭͌̓o̵̼̝̊r̶̳̅ͅ ̷͎͕̌̕y̷̝̏o̴̝͖̚̕u̷͉̳̾!̶̹̂͝:
Boom! Boom!
Jirac joins the meeting of heroes.
"You're... Jirac, right?" Dienekes shouts, "Come on and help me. If we can get the beacon out of here we can end this whole nightmare!"
"We?" Jirac screams back, voice dripping with hatred. "WE aren't going to do anything. I am going to kill you for all that you've done here! The nightmare is only ending because there's none of us left! We're all gone and it's your fucking fault!"
"I know it seems that way, I do, but please, help me get this freak out of the way! We're together in this!"
The argument continues around Eldon's chuckling, but outside another hero makes his way to the portal.
"Hurry it up," Artor says to his troops, "We only have a few minutes."
Artor, hero of the Dominion, enters the ruin.
"Artor! Thank goodness you're here! Listen--"
But Artor looks away and raises his arm to interrupt the Skion hero.
"Dienekes, I'm not here to make war with you. I'm here because we have fought and bled together and therefore I believe I must be honest with you. Evana has made demands of us, her people, that we cannot ignore. The hour of our deliverance is here."
"Artor, what is this?"
"Evana has demanded we fight, as we should have done so long ago when your ships found us. We the Dominion are ready to die. But, first, we will take as many of you with us as we can."
"Artor..."
But Artor continued, "I respect you greatly, and it feels wrong for me fight you like this."
Artor stepped aside.
"But my companions have no such reservations."
The mech behind Artor lets loose with rockets and bullets.
Dienekes tries to bail.
Artor approaches Eldon.
"Eldon, I have no quarrel with you. Let me take the beacon and we may go our separate ways."
Eldon can't answer before Jirac starts to nervously shout about the approaching fleebnork swarm.
Dienekes, somehow safe, makes his way to the top of the ruin.
Meanwhile, Artor casually dispatches his troops to take care of the swarming monsters. They wade through the horde with easy, spitting bullets and shredding flesh.
Dominion troops jog to the portal.
"Now, survivor of Ynidon, we of the Dominion will gladly help you retake your planet. I believe we have the resources to--"
The portal sputters and darkens. Artor turns to it, puzzled.
Eldon, quite bored by this point, has grabbed the beacon.
"NO!"
Dienekes pummels Eldon from above. If anyone besides he takes the beacon, it cannot be Eldon and the Immortals.
Dienekes fires on Artor before Eldon has even hit the ground.
Artor reels from the sudden attack and Dienekes grabs his OTC glaive off the ground.
"I've had enough of you, Eldon!"
Eldon drops the beacon and just manages to avoid the shrieking weapon. Jirac and Artor aim their weapons...
The horde, flowing through the ruins like water over rock, slams into the heroes.
Bullets fly, blood spills, and Jirac slips through the madness to secure the beacon.
More Dominion mechs move up to push the horde back. Jirac climbs onto Artor's armor.
"We'll give you the planet back," he says.
The towering masses of metal and violence hack through the hordes easily. The undead can't break through the tide of steel.
Dienekes slips away. He's completely outclassed.
"Dienekes!" Eldon shouts.
"Oh, now you want me to understand you?" Dienekes answers.
"Of course," he grins, "because now I want you to hear it."
"I'm not in the mood for this."
"Oh, behave yourself!" Eldon says, "You get so cranky these days. Are you upset that all your glorious troops are getting chewed out and assimilated just like these poor local saps? You brought so many to the surface to find the damn beacon and, look, you're the only one left!"
"You are in the same situation as I am," Dienekes countered. "Where's your army? They perished the same as mine."
"Sure, sure," Eldon said, "but that's fine. MY troops are nobodies. Completely disposable and interchangeable. YOURS are unique. Special, even. They have different heads and everything! Non standard armor, weapons... and yet... just as dead as everything else here.
"That's all you wanted to say?"
Eldon waved toward the advancing Dominion knights wading through the horde.
"And look at them! They're crushing it! They haven't taken a loss yet! And you know what else..."
Dienekes doesn't say to hear the rest.
