Back on Earth, UAC security forces fought against the dwindling waves of aliens in the halls of the German facility. They fired down a blood splattered hallway, the limbs of killed scientists littered the floor alongside the corpses of demons. Pinky and Imp were charging toward them and falling against a hail of shotgun and assault rifle rounds. Minutes later, their weapons fell silent.
"Sector secure" reports one of the security guards into their transmitter.
In Jupiter Labs, Carla, Diane, Kasper and Henrick stood in front of the large holo monitor above the teleporter's control station, the portal remained dormant on the other side of the view screen.
"Our security forces have now cleared the infestation in Level 8, Sector D. There are only two more infested sectors and security is already in the process of clearing them out. There are still aliens entering the base by manifesting trace alien portals, but automated defences have minimized this threat and the occurrences of these manifestations have slowed and stopped altogether in many sectors. We should be in full control of the facility soon" the security chief explained.
"That is a great relief. Thank you for the report, Sergeant" says Henrick.
"I must resume monitoring the operations, Sergent Flynn out" the call ends and footage from the facility's surveillance cameras resumed on the holo-monitor.
"I thought we were screwed" Carla admits.
"It's entirely likely that the extra procurement of armaments for the security force is the only reason we're not over-run" Kasper comments.
Another call comes over the network, Henrick taps the receiver icon and UAC president Charles Rosenberg appears on the holo-monitor.
"Hello, Mr. Rosenberg" says Henrick.
"It has reached me that another alien invasion has taken place at your facility" the President inquires.
"Yes, that's correct" Henrick replies.
"What is the current state of the portal system?" Charles asks.
"The portal has been dormant throughout the incident. Security forces have been able to stop the invasion before it could reach our sector, Henrick explains, surveillance picked up suspicious activity from some UAC personnel just before the invasion"
The UAC president releases an anxious breath.
"It's a great relief to learn that the teleporter is unscathed. We have been pressured for some time to hand over the portal project to another science team" the president explains.
"The timing for the scheduled maintenance was very fortunate, it seems" comments Henrick.
"Yes, but our luck could change very quickly. If another incursion happens and isn't adequately contained, myself and other aerospace officials could be voted out of office and the portal project will likely be handed to a science team more to that administration's liking" President Rosenberg explains.
"Our team has greatly advanced teleportation theory and has made significant discoveries, we're not going to be intimidated or pushed around by ideologues" Henrick states.
"That's just what I needed to hear. The portal project is the most important scientific development in the history of humanity and I'm satisfied with your team's handling of the technology. The advancements you've demonstrated are significant. I can't promise anything, but as long as we're in control I'll make sure your studies are not interrupted" the President says.
"Thank you, Charles" Henrick replies.
"Specialists have been studying the data from scans of alien portals and have developed a technology to stop them from manifesting. It's still in the prototype stages, but we may soon have a means of stopping the next invasion, wherever that might be" the President reveals.
The small brown rabbit hops down the stone brick hall, leading the Marine into demon ambushes along the path back to the main chamber of the castle. A short distance behind Daisy, demons were blasted into dripping chunks by the Marine. The rabbit makes her way to the entrance chamber and leads the Marine to the central passage. The Marine climbs the stone staircase, it spirals up to the castle's tower. The cramped passage was lit by green flamed torches, the Marine could hear cries of agony from ahead. He reaches the top of the stairs and comes to a wooden door, demonic grunts came from beyond.
He reaches for the looped handle and pulls open the door, a humid, sour odour is released into the stairwell. The door moves aside, revealing a cramped, dim torch-lit entrance. The walls were made from boards of wood, they were aligned with small holes between the beams. The Marine could see large demon moving around through the gaps, he hears groans of suffering from ahead. He builds up his courage and steps toward the open passage, he takes a few steps onto the path and sees something charging him from the shadows. A three-headed canine leaps from the darkness and tackles the Marine, sending him to the ground, the shotgun is thrown from his grip and slides into a far corner.
The hell hound snaps its three sets of jaws, barking and growling angrily. The Marine holds it back, the demon was testing the limits of his strength. As he struggled to find a more stable grip, he hears again the cries of suffering mortals nearby. He felt a renewed anger against the demons brewing within him, finding new strength and focus. He wrenches the canine demon tightly and looks around. He sees a rusted blade lying nearby, trusting his strength, he reaches for the blade. The muscles in his other arm were throbbing with pain when he swings the piece of metal, wounding the demon. It howls in pain, the Marine attacks again and began trying to stand, after slashing again he finally climbed to his feet. The demon was snarling from the darkened corner, the Marine reached for where he instinctively knew his shotgun was lying without taking his eyes off the Hell Hound, pumped the forend and fired. The Hell Hound collapses, blood leaks from the demon, streaming along the seams of the wooden floorboards. The Marine nervously steps around the fresh corpse and strays into the passage.
He walked a short distance along the creaking floor, dry screams, the sobbing of mortals, and the grunts of demons could be heard all around him. Through the spaces of the grated walls, he could see demons torturing mortals with crudely crafted bone or rock instruments, other summoned flames or plasma, or using their own claws to extract suffering upon the alien mortals. At a cross in the hall, several zombified mortals wandered into the passage ahead of him. The zombie's faces held the unique features of Mortick aliens. The zombification was the end result of prolonged demonic torture. He reaches for his pistol and and quickly takes down the approaching undead aliens. He holsters his sidearm and notices hands from the other side of the grated walls reaching through the holes. Through the hazy torch light, he looks into the eyes of a Mortick alien, they had obviously experienced untold suffering.
They spoke but no words could be heard, the alien was lying upon a pile of other mortals, they barely had the strength to reach out to him. The flickers of torch fire reveals traces of other mounds of suffering aliens. Upon noticing the Marine, other mortals began to moan and wail, the sour chorus rattled the Marine's nerves and attracts the notice of the nearby demons. Chords of grunting and growls came from nearby, the Marine sees large creatures moving behind the wall. It wasn't long before a pair of Hell Knight and Barons stomped into the hall as Mortick aliens reach through the gaps in the walls, moaning in agony.
The Marine reached for his plasma rifle and remembered that it had been stolen, he was shocked to find the RPG as his only option. Knowing it will be certain death for the suffering aliens on the other side of the walls, he swears to himself and reaches for the rocket launcher. In his moment of hesitation, the hulking demons were already hurling searing blobs of plasma toward him. He ducks under the sizzling blobs, took aim with the RPG and fired. The projectiles collide with the Hell Knight, the demon roars angrily as more rockets closed in. The blasts sever the demon's limbs and blood splatter paints the hall, the thin walls are ripped apart, sending splinters of wood flying. The Hell Baron was still standing and stomping closer, the Marine fires again and brought the demon down as it roared in anger.
The Marine cautiously continued on the path and comes to the remains of the demons, he glances into the holes blasted in the walls. Several Mortick aliens were killed in the explosions, many others still clung to life. Their conditions were horrific, they were emaciated, thin bodies with no muscle at all, lying in a massive pile with other Mortick aliens. He felt terrible, there was nothing to be done for them, nowhere they could go, no help to be called upon. He moved to the intersecting passage ahead and turns into the left-hand path.
The room held a large wooden table, laid upon it was a killed Mortick alien with its skin flayed on his face and leg, a layer of flesh on the abdomen was torn away, the alien's organs beneath had been exposed to the soot and grime of the dirty environment. Hanging from spikes in the wall were some bone or rock instruments of demonic torture. Along the wall opposite to the entrance, a crude cage had been made of crisscrossing wires, behind which held some of the suffering aliens. He could hear that more demons were elsewhere in the tower's halls.
Daisy hops over to a pile of rusted chains in the corner of the room and nudges the links. The Marine walks over and lifts up the chain and finds another long, slim crystal at the bottom of the pile, Daisy chirps upon revealing the shimmering red stone. He picks it up and sets down the chains. He looks at the crystal, it had a shimmering red hue. He pockets the crystal and walks out of the room to explore the other right-hand passage, he finds a similarly chilling space, dead aliens were hanging by rope from the ceiling. Lying on the floor, he finds his stolen plasma rifle. He glances over at some of the rocket blasted mortals on this side of the damaged wall, wishing he had found it sooner. With the crystal and his plasma rifle in hand, Daisy leads him back the way he came.