Shadows beyond the gate

Crawling from the wreckage of the transport ship, Magnus blinks the blood from his eye. Staggering to his feet, he leans heavily against the wall of the ship. As a footstep sounds close by, he draws the pistol from his belt, relaxing as Celeste comes around the corner.

“Glad to see you alive, sir.”

“The others?”

“Banged up but alive. The pilot didn’t make it.” Cursing under his breath, Magnus climbs back into the ship and retrieves his rifle. Checking the bolt and mag, he steps out and joins the others as they regroup a few feet away from the wreckage.

“We need to move. The demons responsible for shooting us down aren’t likely to leave it at that. We need to get to cover as soon as possible. Can you all move?” Looking up at him, the four women exchange glances and nod.

“Good.” Reaching up to his head as a twinge of pain hits him, he flicks a button and removes the disk off his head. Looking down at the crack running across the electronics, he lets out a curse and kicks a nearby piece of wreckage.

“Damn it. The psionic link is gone. Are your limiters still at level one release?” Nodding her head, Lana speaks.

“They are. Our internal comms are still active.”

“While that’s useful for some things, it’s of no use to me without a psionic resonator. We need to get to town. The armoury there should have a replacement unit. Maintain your formation. Let’s move.” Tossing the shattered disk on the ground Magnus hefts his rifle and takes up his position at the rear of the convoy.

“Stay in formation, move out.”  Gesturing for the women to move toward the town. As they move away from the helicopter, Magnus carefully reaches downs and feels inside his coat, grimacing as his hand comes away wet. Wiping away the blood, he sights in his rifle and marches towards the town behind the women, keeping up with their brisk pace. Slowing down a few minutes later as the town’s walls loom into view. Their large steel and concrete battlements empty of any movement.

“Hold up.” Waiting a moment as the women come to a halt, Magnus crouches down and surveys the town. Looking over the walls carefully, a frown creases his forehead.

“What’s wrong, sir?”

“It’s too quiet. There’s no movement, no sounds. Not even animal sounds. Check your weapons and be …” Before he can finish, shouts come from the walls and a small host of demons leap from the wall above them.

“Contact.” As he shouts, Magnus stands and brings his rifle to bear in one smooth movement. The crack of his rifle sounding a mere moment later. As the first demon collapses to the ground from his bullet, Magnus gestures to the squad.

“Toward the gate. Go. Now!” Following his order, he fires a few more shots, each bullet finding its mark and dropping a demon. Cursing in his head, he turns and runs after the women, taking up his position at the rear. Nearing the gate, Ariane yells from the front.

“More ahead.” Without slowing, Magnus weighs the demons ahead of the squad.

“Lancers, breakthrough.” At his command, the women surge ahead. Their weapons becoming a blur of steel as they crash into the small host of demons ahead of them. Turning from them for a moment as gunshots ring out from Lana’s handguns, he empties a clip of rounds into the host of demons pursuing them. Replacing the empty mag with a full one, he turns and surveys the carnage ahead. Blades drenched; the four women stand in a circle of demons whilst Lana replaces clips in her pistols. Catching up to the squad, Magnus gestures to the open gate.

“Hurry, inside.” Running in, the squad stops a handful of steps into the city as the gates slam shut with the sound of tearing metal as the counterweights are shredded from the force. Spinning around Magnus readies his gun as demons appear from the shadows around them. Before they can move, a figure walks out from the gate house on the battlements above then above them his silhouette barely visible in front of the setting sun.

“It’s been a long time Magnus.” Stepping off the battlements and landing lightly in front of the demons, his red eyes shine in the fading light as his black hair blows softly across his face barely hiding the ugly burn scar running down the side. Smiling at the squad, his sharp pointed teeth shine, giving him a sinister look.

“Hello Brother.”

 

Sitting at her desk, Amirah frowns at the reports flashing across her screen. Picking up the phone, she dials quickly. Waiting a moment, she talks as soon as the line picks up.

“How accurate is this report, Joe?”

“It’s accurate Amirah. The Transport went down right outside of Novaransk. I double checked the data and cross checked with satellite imagery. It went down, there’s no doubt about it. On the plus side, the satellite did pickup six figures moving towards the city shortly after.”

“And their current whereabouts?”

“Unknown. I lost them as they neared the city. We detected a high level of demon signatures before the satellite was out of range.” Cursing silently to herself, Amirah glances at her computer terminal before replying.

“How long before another satellite is in the area to get more data?”

“At least an hour.”

“Dammit. Well, see what you can do to speed it up. And get me that imagery as soon as it is available!” Snapping out her last words, she slams the phone down. Getting up from her desk, she walks to the cupboard on the far wall and removes a black katana from within. Sliding out of her heels and skirt, she reaches inside and pulls out a combat uniform. Sliding on the trousers and boots, she stretches, smiling at the feeling of the clothing. Taking off her white blouse, she slides on a tank top and duster before buckling the sword to her hip. Storming from her office, she stops at her secretary’s desk, surprising the young man sitting at it.

“My L...l… l..ady! how can I help you?”

“Get me a transport ship as fast as humanly possible. I need to get to Novaransk.” Not waiting for the young man to respond, she runs from her office and heads towards the transport pad.