It means Adventure in Danish...
Here's the opening chapters of my reeeealy long story... called EVENTYR
Prologue
Their movement was slow and the rain beat down on the tribe. Some of the horsemen notched arrows to their bows and made way for the end of the tribe’s long shuffling line. Wolves had been seen running parallel to the tribe, waiting to pick off the elders. The warriors watched the shadows of the forest for any sign of the animals.
The wolves scattered as the warriors let loose their steel tipped shafts. Several of the pack had fallen to the arrows of the horsemen while others fled. There was an elder who had stood back to watch the young braves fight. A great gray wolf with crimson eyes set his gaze upon the old man and licked its chops. The speed of the creature caught all but one brave by surprise. He moved in front of the elder and let loose the shaft straight into the wolf’s left eye. The force of the arrow penetrated the skull and imbedded itself into the trunk of a great ash tree.
The elder thanked the warrior, known as He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes, and then passed on to the lands of the Great Spirit. The elder did not die without thanking the warrior and told He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes that even if he had become lost from the tribe his future people would be a people of legends to come. Having witnessed the death of the elder it was He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes’ duty to bury the dead man and watch his body for three days time. The other warriors helped prepare the body and formed a great cairn for the elder.
The three days had passed and He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes lit the great cairn and let the elder’s body burn to the heavens in thanks to the Great Spirit. Then he began his long journey to catch up with the rest of the tribe. It had been sprinkling at the time he left the elder’s body and the rain did not let up at all. He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes had lost the trail. The mud that had come down from the hillsides had wiped any tracks clean from the ground. He saw an outcropping of rocks and moved towards them. He came to an immense half circle made of odd colored stones he had never seen before. Maneuvering his horse carefully through the half circle, He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes passed through the portal created by the stones and disappeared from the tales and histories of his people.
1
No Easy Way Out (The Beginning of it All)
Death of the Torqemadas
The snow fell lightly around the trio of Inquisitors. Inquisitor Donatien Prokov, of the Ordo Torquemada, hefted his sword from his left hand to his right and swung at Inquisitor Alphonse Deschain. Not able to move fast enough from Prokov’s blade, Deschain clutched his torn throat and slammed into the snow gurgling face down. The blood that fell to the snow steamed skyward.
“Prokov, what have you done?” said Inquisitor Robespierre Dupalm. He unsheathed his sword and blocked a slash from Prokov’s steady hand.
“I’m killing the Order, Dupalm, what does it look like I’m doing?” said Prokov. His black coif’s chin ties swung around his neck. The ruby at the center of the headpiece gave off an eerie shine as he swung his sword again and again at Dupalm.
“I don’t understand why, Prokov?” said Dupalm. He blocked yet another stroke and then parried with several of his own.
“To have control of the Inquisition of course, then we can finally be rid of the Peacekeepers once and for all. They spend too much time fighting the demons of this world that they have forgotten time and time again to thank us for all our help,” said Prokov. He feigned a slash, which Dupalm fell for, and hacked the other Inquisitor’s sword hand clean off.
Dupalm fell to his knees, clutching his bloody stump. Prokov walked up to him and pointed his sword at Dupalm’s face.
“Yield old friend and I’ll let you live. You’ll be captain of the new Torquemadas. Yield now or…” Prokov turned to look at the severed head of Deschain, whose blood was still giving off steam.
“Go to hell Prokov,” was all Dupalm said. He stared Prokov directly in the eyes.
“As you wish,” Prokov said. He swung the sword with such force that Dupalm’s head rolled several meters away into the snow-covered ground.
Prokov walked over to the head of Dupalm and grabbed it by the hair. The eyes moved for several seconds, still taking in information for several more seconds. Then he laughed and walked over to Deschain’s severed head as well. He reached into his long black cloak and reached inside one of the great pockets to produce a brown sack with a drawstring on it. He placed both heads inside and tied a double knot on it. Then he attached the heads to his belt.
“That should start things in motion, and if not then I’ll just shed a little more blood,” said Prokov. He laughed and moved south towards the Emperor’s palace, Blade’s End, in the land of Falkirk.
Lament
Sid moved inside the gunship’s belly and stood on the landing ramp, at the head of his squad. He put on his helmet and turned the rebreather on. Sid could see out the small slat provided for viewing. Six other gunships were moving silently and quickly through the empty, rain soaked world. Normally Sid would have had Macon Dean with him, and his bodily tattoos that were actually ancient spells of protection, to cover his back. But this job was special. And Mr. Graves wanted this done the right way. No outsiders to perform the wetwork. It needed to be Sid.
“Agent Denker, we’re two minutes to landing. Ground or roof, sir?” said the pilot.
“Ground. I have to check the building with the men first. Thanks for the options though,” said Sid. He slung his rifle low on his hip and clicked off the safety.
“Descending now sir,” said the captain. “Landing in three, two, one, bay doors opening.”
The squad of ten men moved off the ramp and moved towards the abandoned tenement. The rain poured on them harder than when they had arrived. Sid led them to the front of the building where he made way for the soldier with the handheld battering ram. The man stepped into the swing and smashed the apartment’s main entrance to splinters. There was the sound of wood sliding across the floors and the echo that came with it. The demon within the boarded up old apartment would know that the Peacekeepers were below.
Sid turned on the small microphone built into his rebreather and spoke to his squad.
“I want tight formation up the stairs. They’re large enough for two men to walk abreast. Eyes open at all times,” said Sid. He slung his rifle and unbuttoned the two holsters he kept at his hips crisscrossed like a cowboy from an old Hollywood film.
“Sir, Squads Snake, Eagle, Phoenix, Fenris, Skoll, and Felix are all in position on the opposite rooftops, the ground floor and around the building sir,” said a sergeant from another squad.
Sid looked around and nodded to his men to continue moving to higher ground. Flashlights attached to the ends of their rifles bobbed up and down, their beams weaving patterns around the hallways and staircase as they made their way further up the tenement. Sid hand signaled his men to stop. He handed one of the men his rifle and unholstered his pistols. The clean steel shone brightly in the gloom of the hallway. Sid pulled back the hammers and walked up to room 1205. Not wasting any time Sid kicked in the door.
He was blown backwards, hitting the wall and sliding down it. He did not let go of the guns despite the air being knocked out of his lungs and his men went over to him. He took a long breath and then got back up. He looked inside the room and continued into the next room. It was boarded up also. He kicked it down and was again tossed like a rag doll against a wall. He shook himself off and continued towards the bedroom. It was there that Sid stopped and let his guns hang at his sides.
The men funneled into the room after Sid and surrounded the fouled sleeping quarters. There was a large brown mass that did not move. Eyes could be seen, though they were milky white and had the faintest hint of once being blue. The Peacekeepers made no sound and the mass of brown moved. One man was hurled up through the ceiling while simultaneously another was crushed against a wall. The rest of the men fired on the bed and watched as it exploded in sprays of excrement and blood. When the smoke cleared all of Sid’s men were dead.
“You shifted space, didn’t you?” said Sid. He was covered with the blood of his men.
The mass of cloth spoke in a deep guttural voice that sounded like two voices at once.
“Peacekeeper, what do you seek here?” said the demon.
“Your death, nothing more,” said Sid.
“Then prepare yourself for war,” said the demon. The mass of cloth moved vertically on the bed and showed its disfigured body to the last remaining Peacekeeper.
Sid’s arms still hung at his sides. He could hear the sounds of more men coming up the stairs. He took off his helmet and rebreather. The stench of the room made him gag, but he did not vomit. He lifted a hand to his mouth as the demon came forward toward him. He ducked and rolled beneath the demon’s swiping arm and then came to his knees, spun and fired with his left hand. The round burrowed into the flesh of the demon and caused it to light on fire. The demon screamed in agony.
“You shot me with Hellfire rounds?” said the demon. It was engulfed in flames and sunk back into the bed. The bed also went up in flames.
“Orders from on high. No bad feelings okay?” said Sid. He watched the demon burn to death on the mattress.
The rest of the Peacekeepers came up the steps. Sid had put his helmet and rebreather back on. He spoke into the built-in microphone and asked for a medi-vac tube. Several minutes later one was brought in. The soldiers placed the burned corpse into the tube and followed Sid up to the roof. A gunship was hovering just above the roof and landed with a dull thud once the pilot saw Sid with the tube. The landing ramp opened and two of the crew took the tube inside the bay area and strapped it down. Sid sat down inside the bay area and asked his men to leave him with the body. The men filed into the belly of the gunship and the bay door hissed shut.
The pilot called for launch and the ramp lifted shut. The bay filled with the sound of the ramp’s hydraulic system behind the steel walls. When the noise stopped Sid took off his helmet and laid it on the bench he was sitting on. He walked up to the tube and looked at the charred remains of the demon. He pushed a button on the side of the holding mechanism that tilted the tube to a standing position. Sid looked the charred body over and waited.
“Wake up,” said Sid.
The demon’s cloudy eyes opened and stared at Sid’s.
“You can’t talk since your vocal chords have been burned off your body so you are going to listen very very carefully to me. You are not going to be taken back to Control. You’re staying here. This world will be dying soon and you’re going to die with it. Any last words?” said Sid. “Oh that’s right, you can’t talk can you?”
The demon maintained eye contact with Sid. Sid walked back to the bench and put his helmet back on. A small hatch opened beneath the tube and an overhead clamp held the tube from its top. The restraints from around the tube’s body released and fell down the hatch. Sid stepped forward and looked at the demon once more. Then he looked down at the opened hatch and saw the burned out remains of the city they were in and released the clamp at the top of the tube.
“Approaching warp gate in ten seconds sir,” said the pilot into Sid’s helmet.
Sid watched through the hatch as the tube fell and then smashed open onto the empty city streets. Almost immediately the ground and the entire city began to turn black. Sid closed the hatch and walked to the cockpit. The door slid open and Sid watched the warp gate form in front of the gunship. He also saw that the entire area they were flying over was now a thick black in color. The countryside, the city, lakes and even the ocean were all the same inky black.
“Sir, what the hell is happening?” said the pilot as they finally passed through the warp gate.
“That world was dying. And we just gave it a heart attack,” said Sid.
The communication channel chimed on and the pilot took the call.
“It’s for you sir, do you want it on intercom?” said the pilot.
“Yes, put it through,” said Sid.
A gravely voice laughed on the intercom. Then the voice spoke.
“Agent Denker, good of you to finally check in once your mission is done,” said the voice.
Sid rolled his eyes and sighed deeply.
“Good morning Director Daizen. I just finished my mission about three minutes ago. We’re not even docked in Control yet. As soon as we dock I’ll be in your office,” said Sid. He flicked the intercom switch off.
“The director isn’t going to like that very much sir,” said the pilot. He chuckled.
Sid laughed as well. He even managed to crack a small smile. The pilot docked the gunship and Sid was the first one out and running down the landing ramp towards the director’s office. As he came close to the director’s office he had to give up his pistols and combat knives.
Jonathan Daizen was the Director of the Department of Multiverse Activities, or as it was commonly known, the DMA. Constructed ten years ago, the DMA’s main function was to track all Peacekeepers throughout the time stream. Along with the Peacekeepers, the Multiverse’s answer to police officers, are the MTF, or the Multiverse Task Force. Unlike the Peacekeepers, they are trained and live in Control, the massive way station between worlds and times. The Peacekeepers force, created by the Lord of the Rock, Azel Ashtree, lived and trained in a separate world in a desert fortress older than the earth itself. It had taken Sid three years to move up in the ranks of the Peacekeepers and he had learned why they called Azel Lord of the Rock. And what exactly the Rock was.
The office door of Director Daizen buzzed then clicked. Sid opened it and went inside. Director Daizen sat at his black leather chair behind his glass-topped table. The holographic reports that hovered over Daizen’s desk were vast and filled with backwards numbers from where Sid stood. Sid cleared his throat.
“Ah, Agent Denker, good to see you, finally. What is the verdict of the mission?” said Daizen. With a wave of his hand the green holograms fizzled out.
Sid stood at attention and put his hands behind his back, chest out. He spoke calmly, despite having the director test his patience. Had he not been trained as a Peacekeeper years ago, Sid more than likely would have already punched the director.
“Everything went according to plan. Except that he was actually more powerful than you and your people thought. I lost an entire squad of men for this mission Director Daizen and I want to know why you couldn’t have just let that world die with that demon on its own. All the doors to that place were sealed off ages ago, it wasn’t as if someone would accidentally wind up there,” said Sid.
Daizen stood up and sighed lightly. He had a smile on his face.
“Agent Denker, your job is to do as I tell you when you are loaned to me. When you’ve obtained the status of Peacekeeper General, then you may question our actions. This one time I will humor you with your request. Next time I will hold you in violation of directive 4812,” said Daizen.
“That’s a sedition law, it’d never stick Daizen. So don’t try,” said Sid. He stopped his military stance and walked toward Daizen.
“Why Agent Denker, are you threatening me?”
“No, you threatened me for questioning why ten men had to die to get rid of one empty world and a demon,” said Sid.
“Very well Agent Denker, I’ll tell you. Agent Graves and I had been tracking this demon for over twenty years. The only reason we found it was because we tracked it back to you.”
“Me? I had never met the thing before today,” Sid said.
“Ah, but in that statement therein lies the problem. You did meet the demon before; you just had not seen it in that body. And the host was your brother’s body Agent Denker,” said Daizen. He moved back to his desk.
Sid’s eyes filled with tears but he held them back and snapped back to attention.
“That is why I wanted to know when the mission was done Sid. You found the brother you’ve been looking for since you first joined the Peacekeepers, but he had passed on long ago. There was nothing you could do but kill it. You laid your brother to rest peacefully. You fulfilled a part of your oath,” said Daizen. “Dismissed.”
Sid walked out of the director’s office and practically ripped the arm off the guard that held his weapons. He was a hundred feet from the office when a shaft of light a meter long appeared before him. The light was at eye level then opened vertically so that it formed a kind of door. Sid smiled as the light turned a cool blue in color. It was the blue color doors that the Peacekeepers used. Sid was going home.
2
Resurface (Purgatory)
I. The Lights of Control
Director Daizen marched out of his office and down the long winding corridors of Control into the prison set deep within the planet’s core. The message on his wrist communicator had said a power failure was eminent. Daizen had launched every single protocol for this massive emergency he could think of. The next step was to secure his men behind the prison’s walls and seal the prisoners inside the prison for all time.
The warden, a woman named Sylvie Hatch, had been killed when a power beam split from the Electrical Room and impaled her. The rest of her crew had also suffered heavy injuries. Daizen had to see the carnage inside the room himself before he decided to evacuate all his MTF troops. Once the last one had made his way up the access ramp Daizen activated the override program and closed the prison forever. As soon as the doors had slammed shut Control lost all power.
“God help us, we’ll be flying blind,” said Daizen.
“Sir, this is Allen, Charles Allen, the Door Operator, we’ve lost all power to the door feeds and all emergency power as well. We’re out of commission sir,” said Charles.
“Get me the Peacekeepers on the line quickly,” said Daizen. He put his hands to his temples.
II. Activated
The majority of the Peacekeeper force was having breakfast in the immense mess hall inside their home base of Midian, home of the Rock. A claxon sounded and all Peacekeepers stood at their tables. From every wall in the mess hall screens dropped down from the ceiling and showed them the face of Director Daizen. The sound kept cutting out and the picture was filled with static. Behind his shoulder they could see workers frantically trying to seal a large door with their torches.
“This..not a test...Control is without power...jail is sealed...containment is possible...Ashtree if you can hear me, please send your Peacekeepers to us. That is all,” said Daizen’s voice.
One Peacekeeper, who had been sitting down at a table by himself grabbed a staff he had with him and ran out of the mess hall. He was half way down the hallway when he saw Azel Ashtree, Lord of the Rock and leader of the Peacekeepers.
“Daizen...emergency...Control without power,” said the man, out of breath.
“I know Dominic, I already heard the message, in its entirety. I’ve already sent a force to deal with his problem. Let’s make sure the men don’t get too excited and tell them what their duties will now be,” said Azel. His all blue eyes glowed as he looked directly at Dominic.
III. Get Moving
“You are now the official police force of the Multiverse. Until Control comes back on-line, we will be flying a bit blind. But we do have the doors, so use them when necessary. And remember, this reality is huge, take each assignment as if it were your last,” said Dominic Amon. He sat down beside Azel.
Azel thanked Dominic and approached the podium. He looked at the massed troops that composed his Peacekeepers. Men, women, humanoid creatures and various species of alien life, all wearing the uniforms of the Peacekeepers and listening intently to their assignment.
“You came to this place because I found you. Your people did not want you. You were all outcasts and without homes. Now, after your training, every world in existence wants you. You can live in any world when this is over. You are all heroes, not because of the uniform you wear. No, that’s just cloth and thread. You are heroes because you have chosen to protect that which is the most important to all of us. You have chosen to protect reality from all threats. There is a threat,” Azel said. He placed his hands on the podium, creating a V shape with his arms on the wooden podium.
The Peacekeepers began to talk among themselves. Azel raised his hand and then it stopped.
“Director Daizen does not know that I have found the threat that has rendered Control and the MTF impotent. He tried as best as he could to hide it from me, but to no avail. My brothers and sisters, this threat had come from beyond anything we know. It’s come from the Dark Tower at the center of creation to destroy us all. Your job is to stop it any way you can,” said Azel. He looked at Dominic.
Dominic’s face resembled that of every Peacekeeper’s, mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief.
Azel raised his hands once more. A hush fell over the soldiers.
“Save us from our enemies,” said Azel. He left the podium.
3
The Other Worlds (Next Door)
Night came to Corellis once every twenty years and lasted for only a week. The rest of the time the sun stayed out or was obscured by clouds in a perpetual haze. In the far north of the planet lived the creatures known as the Kushagi. For eons they had lived in immense rock spires that jutted towards the sky for hundreds of kilometers. The Kushagi themselves were a peaceful people that lived in harmony with the entire planet. One of the Kushagi elders moved into the vast planetarium to view the stars as she always had. Upon fixing the lens she noticed that the planet’s sun was being swallowed by a great black void. Within minutes the void could be seen over the planet. Within an hour the planet was no more.
Several planets away on Sefris XIII, the planet had begun a mass exodus. With their warnings being spread throughout the galaxy, the inhabitants of Sefris XIII were on their way to a planet called Earth, where it was said that a group known as the Peacekeepers would know what to do. It was said that they traveled to the worlds next door and that they would have the answers.
4
City of the Dead
I. Necronomicon in the Necropolis
Dominic and his force of Peacekeepers had traveled north from the city fortress of Midian, home of the Rock, towards the ancient and crumbling castle of the demon known as Pazuzu. Every century a new man would rise and be the host of Pazuzu. For some time there had been no demon activity in the Armageddon Desert. But then the demons began raiding the villages and cities outside the desert and it was decided that Dominic and a portion of the Peacekeepers would stay in Midian and patrol the desert. On one such raid a secret chamber was found in Pazuzu’s old castle.
Inside the chamber was a library the likes that Dominic had never seen save for when he visited the Black Library of the Imperium. Shelves of books filled the room. There were also towers of books that had been handmade and covered with the flesh of humans and demons alike. Most bore the symbols of Pazuzu and there was one that bore the Imperial Seal, which Dominic held for several minutes. It was that book that Dominic was now on his way to retrieve.
The Librarian of Midian, a conglomeration of ancient sorcery, modern technology and bits of human flesh that refused to die, had called Dominic into his chambers for the purpose of retrieving the book. The Librarian told him that in that book might be a way to stop the darkness that was eating star systems whole. Dominic told the Librarian he would not fail in the book’s retrieval.
II. Fear in a Handful of Dust
Pazuzu lay doubled over on the cold stones of his fortress. He was born from the blood of Dominic’s fallen men. Their blood had seeped into the primordial crypt below the throne room and splashed onto the intricately wrought sarcophagus that held the ancient evil. He also knew that Dominic had taken the book with the Imperial Seal on its cover.
III. They Got Out
Dominic raced across the desert with only a handful of men in tow. The hibernating demons that had attacked them in the castle were not expected. It had been a blood bath and Dominic knew it. But the book had to be taken back to Midian. Especially if there was a way to save all of creation.
IV. The Prophecy
“The Hidden One walks among you as a soldier. You take him in as a friend yet he will be the greatest betrayer of all. He is the one that unleashed the Legion in the first place, long before the book was taken. He was chosen by the dark gods of chaos to be their emissary. Pazuzu is nothing in comparison to him,” said the Oracle. She let her third eye close and she sighed heavily.
Prologue
Their movement was slow and the rain beat down on the tribe. Some of the horsemen notched arrows to their bows and made way for the end of the tribe’s long shuffling line. Wolves had been seen running parallel to the tribe, waiting to pick off the elders. The warriors watched the shadows of the forest for any sign of the animals.
The wolves scattered as the warriors let loose their steel tipped shafts. Several of the pack had fallen to the arrows of the horsemen while others fled. There was an elder who had stood back to watch the young braves fight. A great gray wolf with crimson eyes set his gaze upon the old man and licked its chops. The speed of the creature caught all but one brave by surprise. He moved in front of the elder and let loose the shaft straight into the wolf’s left eye. The force of the arrow penetrated the skull and imbedded itself into the trunk of a great ash tree.
The elder thanked the warrior, known as He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes, and then passed on to the lands of the Great Spirit. The elder did not die without thanking the warrior and told He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes that even if he had become lost from the tribe his future people would be a people of legends to come. Having witnessed the death of the elder it was He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes’ duty to bury the dead man and watch his body for three days time. The other warriors helped prepare the body and formed a great cairn for the elder.
The three days had passed and He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes lit the great cairn and let the elder’s body burn to the heavens in thanks to the Great Spirit. Then he began his long journey to catch up with the rest of the tribe. It had been sprinkling at the time he left the elder’s body and the rain did not let up at all. He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes had lost the trail. The mud that had come down from the hillsides had wiped any tracks clean from the ground. He saw an outcropping of rocks and moved towards them. He came to an immense half circle made of odd colored stones he had never seen before. Maneuvering his horse carefully through the half circle, He-Who-Has-Gray-Eyes passed through the portal created by the stones and disappeared from the tales and histories of his people.
1
No Easy Way Out (The Beginning of it All)
Death of the Torqemadas
The snow fell lightly around the trio of Inquisitors. Inquisitor Donatien Prokov, of the Ordo Torquemada, hefted his sword from his left hand to his right and swung at Inquisitor Alphonse Deschain. Not able to move fast enough from Prokov’s blade, Deschain clutched his torn throat and slammed into the snow gurgling face down. The blood that fell to the snow steamed skyward.
“Prokov, what have you done?” said Inquisitor Robespierre Dupalm. He unsheathed his sword and blocked a slash from Prokov’s steady hand.
“I’m killing the Order, Dupalm, what does it look like I’m doing?” said Prokov. His black coif’s chin ties swung around his neck. The ruby at the center of the headpiece gave off an eerie shine as he swung his sword again and again at Dupalm.
“I don’t understand why, Prokov?” said Dupalm. He blocked yet another stroke and then parried with several of his own.
“To have control of the Inquisition of course, then we can finally be rid of the Peacekeepers once and for all. They spend too much time fighting the demons of this world that they have forgotten time and time again to thank us for all our help,” said Prokov. He feigned a slash, which Dupalm fell for, and hacked the other Inquisitor’s sword hand clean off.
Dupalm fell to his knees, clutching his bloody stump. Prokov walked up to him and pointed his sword at Dupalm’s face.
“Yield old friend and I’ll let you live. You’ll be captain of the new Torquemadas. Yield now or…” Prokov turned to look at the severed head of Deschain, whose blood was still giving off steam.
“Go to hell Prokov,” was all Dupalm said. He stared Prokov directly in the eyes.
“As you wish,” Prokov said. He swung the sword with such force that Dupalm’s head rolled several meters away into the snow-covered ground.
Prokov walked over to the head of Dupalm and grabbed it by the hair. The eyes moved for several seconds, still taking in information for several more seconds. Then he laughed and walked over to Deschain’s severed head as well. He reached into his long black cloak and reached inside one of the great pockets to produce a brown sack with a drawstring on it. He placed both heads inside and tied a double knot on it. Then he attached the heads to his belt.
“That should start things in motion, and if not then I’ll just shed a little more blood,” said Prokov. He laughed and moved south towards the Emperor’s palace, Blade’s End, in the land of Falkirk.
Lament
Sid moved inside the gunship’s belly and stood on the landing ramp, at the head of his squad. He put on his helmet and turned the rebreather on. Sid could see out the small slat provided for viewing. Six other gunships were moving silently and quickly through the empty, rain soaked world. Normally Sid would have had Macon Dean with him, and his bodily tattoos that were actually ancient spells of protection, to cover his back. But this job was special. And Mr. Graves wanted this done the right way. No outsiders to perform the wetwork. It needed to be Sid.
“Agent Denker, we’re two minutes to landing. Ground or roof, sir?” said the pilot.
“Ground. I have to check the building with the men first. Thanks for the options though,” said Sid. He slung his rifle low on his hip and clicked off the safety.
“Descending now sir,” said the captain. “Landing in three, two, one, bay doors opening.”
The squad of ten men moved off the ramp and moved towards the abandoned tenement. The rain poured on them harder than when they had arrived. Sid led them to the front of the building where he made way for the soldier with the handheld battering ram. The man stepped into the swing and smashed the apartment’s main entrance to splinters. There was the sound of wood sliding across the floors and the echo that came with it. The demon within the boarded up old apartment would know that the Peacekeepers were below.
Sid turned on the small microphone built into his rebreather and spoke to his squad.
“I want tight formation up the stairs. They’re large enough for two men to walk abreast. Eyes open at all times,” said Sid. He slung his rifle and unbuttoned the two holsters he kept at his hips crisscrossed like a cowboy from an old Hollywood film.
“Sir, Squads Snake, Eagle, Phoenix, Fenris, Skoll, and Felix are all in position on the opposite rooftops, the ground floor and around the building sir,” said a sergeant from another squad.
Sid looked around and nodded to his men to continue moving to higher ground. Flashlights attached to the ends of their rifles bobbed up and down, their beams weaving patterns around the hallways and staircase as they made their way further up the tenement. Sid hand signaled his men to stop. He handed one of the men his rifle and unholstered his pistols. The clean steel shone brightly in the gloom of the hallway. Sid pulled back the hammers and walked up to room 1205. Not wasting any time Sid kicked in the door.
He was blown backwards, hitting the wall and sliding down it. He did not let go of the guns despite the air being knocked out of his lungs and his men went over to him. He took a long breath and then got back up. He looked inside the room and continued into the next room. It was boarded up also. He kicked it down and was again tossed like a rag doll against a wall. He shook himself off and continued towards the bedroom. It was there that Sid stopped and let his guns hang at his sides.
The men funneled into the room after Sid and surrounded the fouled sleeping quarters. There was a large brown mass that did not move. Eyes could be seen, though they were milky white and had the faintest hint of once being blue. The Peacekeepers made no sound and the mass of brown moved. One man was hurled up through the ceiling while simultaneously another was crushed against a wall. The rest of the men fired on the bed and watched as it exploded in sprays of excrement and blood. When the smoke cleared all of Sid’s men were dead.
“You shifted space, didn’t you?” said Sid. He was covered with the blood of his men.
The mass of cloth spoke in a deep guttural voice that sounded like two voices at once.
“Peacekeeper, what do you seek here?” said the demon.
“Your death, nothing more,” said Sid.
“Then prepare yourself for war,” said the demon. The mass of cloth moved vertically on the bed and showed its disfigured body to the last remaining Peacekeeper.
Sid’s arms still hung at his sides. He could hear the sounds of more men coming up the stairs. He took off his helmet and rebreather. The stench of the room made him gag, but he did not vomit. He lifted a hand to his mouth as the demon came forward toward him. He ducked and rolled beneath the demon’s swiping arm and then came to his knees, spun and fired with his left hand. The round burrowed into the flesh of the demon and caused it to light on fire. The demon screamed in agony.
“You shot me with Hellfire rounds?” said the demon. It was engulfed in flames and sunk back into the bed. The bed also went up in flames.
“Orders from on high. No bad feelings okay?” said Sid. He watched the demon burn to death on the mattress.
The rest of the Peacekeepers came up the steps. Sid had put his helmet and rebreather back on. He spoke into the built-in microphone and asked for a medi-vac tube. Several minutes later one was brought in. The soldiers placed the burned corpse into the tube and followed Sid up to the roof. A gunship was hovering just above the roof and landed with a dull thud once the pilot saw Sid with the tube. The landing ramp opened and two of the crew took the tube inside the bay area and strapped it down. Sid sat down inside the bay area and asked his men to leave him with the body. The men filed into the belly of the gunship and the bay door hissed shut.
The pilot called for launch and the ramp lifted shut. The bay filled with the sound of the ramp’s hydraulic system behind the steel walls. When the noise stopped Sid took off his helmet and laid it on the bench he was sitting on. He walked up to the tube and looked at the charred remains of the demon. He pushed a button on the side of the holding mechanism that tilted the tube to a standing position. Sid looked the charred body over and waited.
“Wake up,” said Sid.
The demon’s cloudy eyes opened and stared at Sid’s.
“You can’t talk since your vocal chords have been burned off your body so you are going to listen very very carefully to me. You are not going to be taken back to Control. You’re staying here. This world will be dying soon and you’re going to die with it. Any last words?” said Sid. “Oh that’s right, you can’t talk can you?”
The demon maintained eye contact with Sid. Sid walked back to the bench and put his helmet back on. A small hatch opened beneath the tube and an overhead clamp held the tube from its top. The restraints from around the tube’s body released and fell down the hatch. Sid stepped forward and looked at the demon once more. Then he looked down at the opened hatch and saw the burned out remains of the city they were in and released the clamp at the top of the tube.
“Approaching warp gate in ten seconds sir,” said the pilot into Sid’s helmet.
Sid watched through the hatch as the tube fell and then smashed open onto the empty city streets. Almost immediately the ground and the entire city began to turn black. Sid closed the hatch and walked to the cockpit. The door slid open and Sid watched the warp gate form in front of the gunship. He also saw that the entire area they were flying over was now a thick black in color. The countryside, the city, lakes and even the ocean were all the same inky black.
“Sir, what the hell is happening?” said the pilot as they finally passed through the warp gate.
“That world was dying. And we just gave it a heart attack,” said Sid.
The communication channel chimed on and the pilot took the call.
“It’s for you sir, do you want it on intercom?” said the pilot.
“Yes, put it through,” said Sid.
A gravely voice laughed on the intercom. Then the voice spoke.
“Agent Denker, good of you to finally check in once your mission is done,” said the voice.
Sid rolled his eyes and sighed deeply.
“Good morning Director Daizen. I just finished my mission about three minutes ago. We’re not even docked in Control yet. As soon as we dock I’ll be in your office,” said Sid. He flicked the intercom switch off.
“The director isn’t going to like that very much sir,” said the pilot. He chuckled.
Sid laughed as well. He even managed to crack a small smile. The pilot docked the gunship and Sid was the first one out and running down the landing ramp towards the director’s office. As he came close to the director’s office he had to give up his pistols and combat knives.
Jonathan Daizen was the Director of the Department of Multiverse Activities, or as it was commonly known, the DMA. Constructed ten years ago, the DMA’s main function was to track all Peacekeepers throughout the time stream. Along with the Peacekeepers, the Multiverse’s answer to police officers, are the MTF, or the Multiverse Task Force. Unlike the Peacekeepers, they are trained and live in Control, the massive way station between worlds and times. The Peacekeepers force, created by the Lord of the Rock, Azel Ashtree, lived and trained in a separate world in a desert fortress older than the earth itself. It had taken Sid three years to move up in the ranks of the Peacekeepers and he had learned why they called Azel Lord of the Rock. And what exactly the Rock was.
The office door of Director Daizen buzzed then clicked. Sid opened it and went inside. Director Daizen sat at his black leather chair behind his glass-topped table. The holographic reports that hovered over Daizen’s desk were vast and filled with backwards numbers from where Sid stood. Sid cleared his throat.
“Ah, Agent Denker, good to see you, finally. What is the verdict of the mission?” said Daizen. With a wave of his hand the green holograms fizzled out.
Sid stood at attention and put his hands behind his back, chest out. He spoke calmly, despite having the director test his patience. Had he not been trained as a Peacekeeper years ago, Sid more than likely would have already punched the director.
“Everything went according to plan. Except that he was actually more powerful than you and your people thought. I lost an entire squad of men for this mission Director Daizen and I want to know why you couldn’t have just let that world die with that demon on its own. All the doors to that place were sealed off ages ago, it wasn’t as if someone would accidentally wind up there,” said Sid.
Daizen stood up and sighed lightly. He had a smile on his face.
“Agent Denker, your job is to do as I tell you when you are loaned to me. When you’ve obtained the status of Peacekeeper General, then you may question our actions. This one time I will humor you with your request. Next time I will hold you in violation of directive 4812,” said Daizen.
“That’s a sedition law, it’d never stick Daizen. So don’t try,” said Sid. He stopped his military stance and walked toward Daizen.
“Why Agent Denker, are you threatening me?”
“No, you threatened me for questioning why ten men had to die to get rid of one empty world and a demon,” said Sid.
“Very well Agent Denker, I’ll tell you. Agent Graves and I had been tracking this demon for over twenty years. The only reason we found it was because we tracked it back to you.”
“Me? I had never met the thing before today,” Sid said.
“Ah, but in that statement therein lies the problem. You did meet the demon before; you just had not seen it in that body. And the host was your brother’s body Agent Denker,” said Daizen. He moved back to his desk.
Sid’s eyes filled with tears but he held them back and snapped back to attention.
“That is why I wanted to know when the mission was done Sid. You found the brother you’ve been looking for since you first joined the Peacekeepers, but he had passed on long ago. There was nothing you could do but kill it. You laid your brother to rest peacefully. You fulfilled a part of your oath,” said Daizen. “Dismissed.”
Sid walked out of the director’s office and practically ripped the arm off the guard that held his weapons. He was a hundred feet from the office when a shaft of light a meter long appeared before him. The light was at eye level then opened vertically so that it formed a kind of door. Sid smiled as the light turned a cool blue in color. It was the blue color doors that the Peacekeepers used. Sid was going home.
2
Resurface (Purgatory)
I. The Lights of Control
Director Daizen marched out of his office and down the long winding corridors of Control into the prison set deep within the planet’s core. The message on his wrist communicator had said a power failure was eminent. Daizen had launched every single protocol for this massive emergency he could think of. The next step was to secure his men behind the prison’s walls and seal the prisoners inside the prison for all time.
The warden, a woman named Sylvie Hatch, had been killed when a power beam split from the Electrical Room and impaled her. The rest of her crew had also suffered heavy injuries. Daizen had to see the carnage inside the room himself before he decided to evacuate all his MTF troops. Once the last one had made his way up the access ramp Daizen activated the override program and closed the prison forever. As soon as the doors had slammed shut Control lost all power.
“God help us, we’ll be flying blind,” said Daizen.
“Sir, this is Allen, Charles Allen, the Door Operator, we’ve lost all power to the door feeds and all emergency power as well. We’re out of commission sir,” said Charles.
“Get me the Peacekeepers on the line quickly,” said Daizen. He put his hands to his temples.
II. Activated
The majority of the Peacekeeper force was having breakfast in the immense mess hall inside their home base of Midian, home of the Rock. A claxon sounded and all Peacekeepers stood at their tables. From every wall in the mess hall screens dropped down from the ceiling and showed them the face of Director Daizen. The sound kept cutting out and the picture was filled with static. Behind his shoulder they could see workers frantically trying to seal a large door with their torches.
“This..not a test...Control is without power...jail is sealed...containment is possible...Ashtree if you can hear me, please send your Peacekeepers to us. That is all,” said Daizen’s voice.
One Peacekeeper, who had been sitting down at a table by himself grabbed a staff he had with him and ran out of the mess hall. He was half way down the hallway when he saw Azel Ashtree, Lord of the Rock and leader of the Peacekeepers.
“Daizen...emergency...Control without power,” said the man, out of breath.
“I know Dominic, I already heard the message, in its entirety. I’ve already sent a force to deal with his problem. Let’s make sure the men don’t get too excited and tell them what their duties will now be,” said Azel. His all blue eyes glowed as he looked directly at Dominic.
III. Get Moving
“You are now the official police force of the Multiverse. Until Control comes back on-line, we will be flying a bit blind. But we do have the doors, so use them when necessary. And remember, this reality is huge, take each assignment as if it were your last,” said Dominic Amon. He sat down beside Azel.
Azel thanked Dominic and approached the podium. He looked at the massed troops that composed his Peacekeepers. Men, women, humanoid creatures and various species of alien life, all wearing the uniforms of the Peacekeepers and listening intently to their assignment.
“You came to this place because I found you. Your people did not want you. You were all outcasts and without homes. Now, after your training, every world in existence wants you. You can live in any world when this is over. You are all heroes, not because of the uniform you wear. No, that’s just cloth and thread. You are heroes because you have chosen to protect that which is the most important to all of us. You have chosen to protect reality from all threats. There is a threat,” Azel said. He placed his hands on the podium, creating a V shape with his arms on the wooden podium.
The Peacekeepers began to talk among themselves. Azel raised his hand and then it stopped.
“Director Daizen does not know that I have found the threat that has rendered Control and the MTF impotent. He tried as best as he could to hide it from me, but to no avail. My brothers and sisters, this threat had come from beyond anything we know. It’s come from the Dark Tower at the center of creation to destroy us all. Your job is to stop it any way you can,” said Azel. He looked at Dominic.
Dominic’s face resembled that of every Peacekeeper’s, mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief.
Azel raised his hands once more. A hush fell over the soldiers.
“Save us from our enemies,” said Azel. He left the podium.
3
The Other Worlds (Next Door)
Night came to Corellis once every twenty years and lasted for only a week. The rest of the time the sun stayed out or was obscured by clouds in a perpetual haze. In the far north of the planet lived the creatures known as the Kushagi. For eons they had lived in immense rock spires that jutted towards the sky for hundreds of kilometers. The Kushagi themselves were a peaceful people that lived in harmony with the entire planet. One of the Kushagi elders moved into the vast planetarium to view the stars as she always had. Upon fixing the lens she noticed that the planet’s sun was being swallowed by a great black void. Within minutes the void could be seen over the planet. Within an hour the planet was no more.
Several planets away on Sefris XIII, the planet had begun a mass exodus. With their warnings being spread throughout the galaxy, the inhabitants of Sefris XIII were on their way to a planet called Earth, where it was said that a group known as the Peacekeepers would know what to do. It was said that they traveled to the worlds next door and that they would have the answers.
4
City of the Dead
I. Necronomicon in the Necropolis
Dominic and his force of Peacekeepers had traveled north from the city fortress of Midian, home of the Rock, towards the ancient and crumbling castle of the demon known as Pazuzu. Every century a new man would rise and be the host of Pazuzu. For some time there had been no demon activity in the Armageddon Desert. But then the demons began raiding the villages and cities outside the desert and it was decided that Dominic and a portion of the Peacekeepers would stay in Midian and patrol the desert. On one such raid a secret chamber was found in Pazuzu’s old castle.
Inside the chamber was a library the likes that Dominic had never seen save for when he visited the Black Library of the Imperium. Shelves of books filled the room. There were also towers of books that had been handmade and covered with the flesh of humans and demons alike. Most bore the symbols of Pazuzu and there was one that bore the Imperial Seal, which Dominic held for several minutes. It was that book that Dominic was now on his way to retrieve.
The Librarian of Midian, a conglomeration of ancient sorcery, modern technology and bits of human flesh that refused to die, had called Dominic into his chambers for the purpose of retrieving the book. The Librarian told him that in that book might be a way to stop the darkness that was eating star systems whole. Dominic told the Librarian he would not fail in the book’s retrieval.
II. Fear in a Handful of Dust
Pazuzu lay doubled over on the cold stones of his fortress. He was born from the blood of Dominic’s fallen men. Their blood had seeped into the primordial crypt below the throne room and splashed onto the intricately wrought sarcophagus that held the ancient evil. He also knew that Dominic had taken the book with the Imperial Seal on its cover.
III. They Got Out
Dominic raced across the desert with only a handful of men in tow. The hibernating demons that had attacked them in the castle were not expected. It had been a blood bath and Dominic knew it. But the book had to be taken back to Midian. Especially if there was a way to save all of creation.
IV. The Prophecy
“The Hidden One walks among you as a soldier. You take him in as a friend yet he will be the greatest betrayer of all. He is the one that unleashed the Legion in the first place, long before the book was taken. He was chosen by the dark gods of chaos to be their emissary. Pazuzu is nothing in comparison to him,” said the Oracle. She let her third eye close and she sighed heavily.
posted by Ren at
9:00 PM
1 Comments:
we should just print out all this and trade em like candy...
really good bro...
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