Back in the Earth's dimension, the Sun's light failed to reach the dark-side of Venus. The small Spec-5 spacecraft arrives at the rendezvous coordinates, an imposing military stealth ship was waiting for them. Dr. Kronos, Dr. Banks, Dr. Mason and Dr. Carmichael were on board, they transmit the secret mission codes through the communication network and the imposing ship responds with the opening of a compartment, blazing white light from within contrasted intensely against the ship's dark hull and the black of space.
The Spec-5 approaches and slowly enters the ship's opening. The small ship lands in the hangar as the compartment door seals shut again and the chamber quickly re-pressurized. The top-level UAC researchers disembark, step into the spacious hangar bay and approach the sealed airlock. The doors split from the middle and withdraws into the floor and ceiling. A man walked into frame on the other side of the passage whom they all immediately recognized as the Former Deimos Colony Head of Security, Master Corporal Revok.
They couldn't hide their surprise, the last time they saw him was a mere thirty hours ago when he was leading the deployment to wipe out the alien infestation in Echo Labs. It was assumed that he was aboard the station when the moon inexplicably disappeared from its orbit.
"Welcome aboard, everyone" Revok says.
"Revok, you're alive!" Nexson exclaims.
Revok stood unmoved, he harboured a distant glare and a chilled demeanour.
It was evident to the researchers that the mission had left its mark on his mind, the psychological effect was gnawing and fresh but the Corporal was able to hold onto his sanity, beyond the point which many others would breakdown.
Banks stepped up to the door and the other UAC officials followed behind, he stepped into the passage and regarded the Former Head of Security.
"It's good to see you, Corporal" he says, Revok returned a muted smile.
"Can you tell us what happened in Echo Labs?" Banks asks.
"The details have become classified, Will, but I will say it was a hell-hole" Revok replies.
"I must know what became of the portal!" Banks exclaims.
"Tough shit" Revok replies.
"Was the portal equipment destroyed?" Banks presses.
"I'm not telling you a fucking thing, former director and if you push me, you're going to pay a very brief visit to the air-lock chamber" The corporal says, his words blazed with angered sincerity.
"I'm not any longer constrained by UAC corporate protocols, this is my ship. A small reward for cleaning up your mess in Echo Labs"
The group was taken aback, this is not the Major Corporal Revok that they remembered. Both Banks and Kronos betrayed their surprise at the Corporal's insight.
"What happened in Echo was an accident!" Banks loudly lies. "The specialists maintaining the systems made an oversight in the established maintenance routine."
Revok rolled his eyes in a deliberate display of incredulity, fuming silently. He looks into the former directors eyes with a sour expression.
"I don't have time for your bullshit, William. I'm going to the bridge. We will be arriving at Phobos in six hours, prepare for deployment" he barks.
After the long flight from Phobos the UAAF Hurricane sailed closer and closer to the Earth, it finally arrives and enters orbit. On the bridge, a message from the Earth's orbital station is received, Pauline input her personal credentials and the crew manifest and uploads them to the station's communication system. Former humans were stationed at the bridge posts, they silently anticipated the response.
The main holographic monitor displayed the words 'standby for authorization'. Aboard Orbital Station Bravo, a clerk was sitting at an elaborate control station, scrutinizing the details of the Hurricane. There were some big issues with the request, the Hurricane is a military vessel that isn't meant to leave Mars' orbit, being captained by a UAC executive. Looking into the computer records, he found that Pauline Wolfe was stationed on Phobos, which is under emergency conditions, as was the Hurricane. It was plausible that this was an emergency flight and that something happened to the marines that the vessel was supposed to be under command of. It was time to ask some questions of the captain, he established a call and Pauline Wolfe appeared on the monitor, all signs of her possession disappeared.
"This is Orbital Station Bravo, am I speaking to UAC Administrative Specialist Wolfe?" the clerk asks.
"Yes, I am Pauline Wolfe" notes of fear with her natural voice concealed her possession, it was a masterful performance.
"It's understood that there is an emergency on Phobos, but you aren't authorized to be commanding your vessel. Do you know what happened to the marines that were commanding the Hurricane?" the clerk enquires.
The former human was almost sobbing "The alien invasion forced us to take the ship, because escape pods in our facility were either all gone or destroyed, we barely escaped with our lives. I had high enough authorization to monitor the marines, when they were in Central Processing they were overwhelmed from all directions, except for Major Martinez"
"What happened to Martinez?"
The former human replied in a demonic voice,
"He is one of us, now"
The orbital station clerk suddenly found himself fighting for control, his mind was under attack, blackness consumed the colour in his eyes. He soon became possessed and could see eye-to-eye with Pauline. The former Orbital Clerk silently authorized the Hurricane for entry. Pauline cackled hysterically as she pilots the ship into the atmosphere.
The UAAF Hurricane passed through the layers of dense atmosphere, the ship's heat shield began glowing a heated red under the intense atmospheric friction. It passes through the condensed air and glides toward the surface, moving closer to the Eastern Hemisphere, modern airplanes resembling giant floating stingrays came into view as the ship moved toward the European continent, along the North-Western territory. The ship enters Norwegian airspace, zero-g hovercars zip along the skies above the cities. Pauline pilots the ship to the UAC headquarters in the city of Oslo, setting it down in an aerospace hangar adjacent to the office tower. Landing lights blazed and the zero-g thrusters fired as the ship set down on the spacious hangar, landing gear sprouts from inner compartments and it settled in an available space.
The access ramp of the ship is lowered, Pauline and three other former humans step casually out of the ship, then making their way among light foot-traffic as another large space-capable ship descends into the spacious hangar from above. They easily passed through a security gate with their host's authorization and were on their way to the Union Aerospace headquarters, it was a glistening 20-story office tower. They walked the wide foot-path and passed through the revolving doors.
The lobby was spacious and spotless, a large rounded desk stretched along one of the walls, a small crowd was standing around it. A pair of paths rounded a central wall that was housing several spanning holo monitors, a staircase spiralled along the wall to the second floor, a large UAC logo was on the floor in the middle of the lobby. A hologram appears in front of the monitors.
"Get ready for another exciting day. Your hard work is putting the UAC on top" the hologram announces
Pauline walks to the middle of the area, the other former humans stood guard around her. Pauline opens her bag and pulls out a large sealed chemistry beaker filled with blood and a brush. The brush was made from human bone and hair, crafted from the remains of killed Phobos colonists.
The passing UAC executives paid little notice as Pauline began to paint a encircled demonic symbol over the Union Aerospace logo. As the encircled symbols became more detailed, more employees begin to take notice of the foreign design. They stop to watch the former human's work.
A well dressed executive stepped closer to the circle, "Is this some kind of art display?" he asked in a deep voice.
The only reply was being pushed back by one of the former humans. Pauline made the final strokes as a group of onlookers gathered, voicing their curiosities. Pauline completes the circle, stands in its center and chants in an alien voice and language. Her chanting grew louder as the curiosity of the onlookers turned into concern.
A pair from office security approach the gathering, calling for the disruption to stop. When security was mere steps away, a tall glowing column of crimson hell energy forms from the middle of the demonic symbol. Pauline lets out an ear piercing screech and a swarm of spirits manifest from the column in the form of small semitransparent skulls. They swarmed outward in a funnel of rotating activity, extending in pursuit of every mortal in the building. Before long, every UAC employee and assigned security in the office tower was transformed into demon worshiping former humans.