Satan turned the ring over in his hand, inspecting it in the light of the magma flowing down the sides of the throne hall. Andras was standing nearby with his hands clasped in front of him, along with Abbadon, who was leaning against a rock pillar with his arms crossed. He lowered the ring and looked at Cleevus.
"You've done well Cleevus," he said. The ring caught fire on his palm and vanished in a few seconds. "Now it's onto the next step," Satan said.
"Eliminating Lucifer my Lord?" Andras asked insightfully.
"Yes… but first we must prepare for the coming war," Satan said while walking towards the side of the hall. "I have Mammon and Belphegor as allies, however they themselves will be of little use in overthrowing Lucifer. Beelzebub is unfalteringly loyal to him, and Leviathan will have no interest in a rebellion. Beelzebub shouldn't be that difficult to overcome, however Leviathan would be a serious opposition, should he choose to resist. We must have a plan to destroy him, if necessary."
"What about a nuke sir?" Abbadon asked.
"I doubt that would work," Satan responded. "It's unlikely that any mortal-made weapons could kill him." He reached out with his hand and caught some magma flowing down from a vein by the walls.
A thought of old legendary hell beasts Cleevus had heard of came to mind.
"What about a titan?" He asked.
"A titan?" Andras said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, there's supposed to be one sealed under the surface of one of the planets outside of Hell's system right?" Cleevus said.
Andras turned back to Satan. "My lord, that sounds highly impractical. That titan has been sealed for almost 8 millennia-"
Satan held up his hand. "Quiet. Go on Cleevus…" he said.
Cleevus cleared his throat. "You control the hellborn with Solomon's ring right? You could release it and use it to assist in destroying Leviathan," he explained.
Satan paused. "Not a bad idea Cleevus…" He said.
"That'd get the attention of Heaven's guardians for sure…" Abbadon said.
"It would…" Satan replied.
"Not only that… we wouldn't want a titan just wandering around the realms of the afterlife, my lord," Andras Said.
Satan was silent for a moment. "The angels were able to seal it after it tried to breach the walls of Heaven… it can be sealed again," he said. He turned back towards them with some glowing magma cupped in his palm. He closed his hand and the magma sizzled in it. He then opened it, and ashes fell to the ground. "And so far; it sounds like the only viable way to handle Leviathan. I will find out how to release it. Abbadon; you will prepare the reserve forces of the army, and I will speak to my other generals about preparations."
Abbadon nodded. "Yes sir," he said.
"Andras; tell the ministry to start sorting out sinners who are fit to be drafted to fight. And Cleevus…" Satan turned and faced him. "Go and capture the engineers who are designing the weapons using black magic and deliver them to Marchocias. I'm going to need the best armaments I can get if I want to defeat Lucifer's legions."
Cleevus nodded. "Yes sir," he said.
"Now all of you; go and do as I have told you," Satan commanded.
Cleevus and Abbadon both turned and began walking to the doors, while Andras made a little bow.
"Of course, my lord," he said.
Abbadon scoffed while walking by Cleevus's side.
"Ass-kisser," he muttered.
Cleevus was crouched at the edge of a rocky plateau overlooking an abandoned-looking fuel refinement station as a cold night's wind blew over the rocky and desolate surface of the planet. A vast expanse of multicolored stars and nebulas filled the night sky. His car was parked behind him about 30 meters away, out of view of anyone at the station.
The dwarf planet was a little larger than Earth's moon, and was just outside of Hell's system. It had mainly been used as a refueling point for long-range mining barges coming from Hell.
He scanned over it slowly with a pair of binoculars, looking for any signs of inhabitants. He didn't see anything that could point to it being used as a weapons development facility, all of the vehicles at the station looked abandoned. He lowered the binoculars.
He pulled out his phone and checked his long-range GPS. The station was on the marked coordinates right ahead of him. He put it back in his pocket and walked back to his car.
He popped open the trunk and put the pair of binoculars inside, then pulled out a case and opened it. He took his uzi out of the case and then took out a suppressor and screwed it onto the end of the barrel. He attached a sling to it and slung it over his shoulder. After sticking 2 extra mags in the shoulder pocket of his jacket, he closed the trunk and walked back over to the edge of the plateau. It was a steep, sloped drop to the bottom. He went over it and slid down about 20 meters to the bottom, throwing up a trail of dust behind him.
He skidded back onto his feet and walked across the road that was parallel to the plateau he had come down from. He then walked beside the road leading to the station. When he came to the station's perimeter fence, he went through the broken-down gate, and moved forward while staying low, moving behind old trucks and shipping containers towards the building. The large concrete building was several stories high, some of the windows on the ground level were broken, and he climbed through one.
Broken glass crunched under his boots as he stepped inside the abandoned building. It appeared to be more of an office area, the halls were littered with debris and dust was floating through the air. He walked down the hall from where he was at, then surveyed around himself at an intersection. He snapped his head to the side when he thought he heard footsteps coming from down the long hall. They faintly grew closer, and he stepped back behind a door cutout in the wall.
He listened as the footsteps grew closer. He heard a sending noise from a radio down the hall.
"All clear up here Dom. A car passed by a few minutes ago, turned off and went East though, probably just a scavenger," a voice said down the hall.
"Alright, come back down and finish your shift," someone on the radio responded.
"Ten-four," they replied.
He heard the footsteps grow distant, seemingly turning down another hall. He went out of the cover of the doorway and followed the footsteps down the hall to the left.
The hall led down a few stairways, he quietly followed them down. The dark stairs were lit only by the starlight coming in through the windows. He stopped behind a corner at the bottom level. He heard an automatic door lock opening, then old hinges squeaking, more footsteps, then the door closing. He waited a few seconds then peered around the corner. An old steel door akin to a freezer door was in the wall a little ways down the hall.
He walked over to it, switched on the flashlight on the uzi and inspected the latch, there was an old keypad lock on it. He looked around the halls and saw an iron rod lying on the ground. He picked it up, then wedged it between the latch and the door. He pulled down on it with all his strength, and the latch broke off completely. It fell to the ground and he dropped the rod. He grabbed the empty cutout where the latch was and slowly pulled the door open. It revealed a dark hallway leading down to a lighted area.
He turned the light off, then folded the uzi's stock out and put a round in the chamber. He moved forward slowly, keeping his eyes on the light ahead. He stopped a few feet behind the doorway into the lighted area. The area inside was lit by large fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. In the low level below, there were large tables with disassembled guns, parts, and tools scattered on top of them. There were 2 sinners in dark-blue coveralls sifting through the parts and working on the guns on the table. The weapons on the table looked to be the same kind as the ones that Niccar had been trying to sell at the shipping yard. He spotted a guard behind the railing on the level above where the technicians were working. It was a gargoyle wearing a gray tank top with its wings tucked behind its back, leaned against the wall, facing him. It had tattoos covering its stony forearms, and was holding a glowing cigarette between its claws. A scorpion smg was hanging on a sling over its shoulder. Another gargoyle guard in a black hoodie walked by the other.
"Put that shit out, you know you can't smoke in here," the gargoyle said to the other against the wall.
The other gargoyle sighed in annoyance. "Come on man…" he said.
The guard with the cigarette turned and walked the other direction, and Cleevus used it as an opportunity to move forward. He peered around the doorway, the walkway to the side of the work area was dimly-lit, the right side was clear, there was a sinner guard far down the walkway, facing away from him. He looked back at the technicians at the tables. They seemed focused on their work.
He moved out around the doorway, and stayed in the shadows against the wall. The workshop area stretched out seemingly fairly far. He followed down the walkway until another gargoyle came onto the walkway near the sinner guard ahead. He stopped and watched as the guard walked up to and spoke to the sinner guard on the walkway. They then both turned and began walking in his direction. He quickly ducked behind a cutout in the wall nearby. He waited as he heard their voices approaching.
"Did you see that angel talking to the boss over there?" One asked the other.
"What do you mean an angel?" The other replied.
"An actual angel, from heaven I guess. He's wearing like… knight armor, and he's got a sword."
"Damn… you think he's a rogue or something?"
They passed by Cleevus and continued walking.
"Dunno… maybe."
Cleevus waited until they were some distance away, then he left the cover and continued down the walkway. The large chamber turned at a right angle, down it was another work area and a large hangar-style door at the end of the chamber. He walked down to the end of the chamber and ducked behind a door. Below the walkway was another work area, this one had large containment cells holding glowing white ectoplasm on carts. There were more work tables and what looked to be a shooting range set up against the hangar door.
There was what appeared to be a makeshift hazmat containment room with plastic wrapped over the windows inside the wall of the chamber. There were people in white radiation suits handling the containers of ectoplasm inside of the room. An older-looking sinner with a clean-cut beard and slicked back hair in a black suit was standing over a table at the shooting range, holding an ectoplasmic rifle similar to an M-16. There was a group of other sinners around him, mostly in suits. He fired a round and the white projectile lit up the chamber with blinding light for a moment. It hit a steel plate set up against the door, and melted through it easily.
The sinner put the rifle down on the table, then walked back to a pair of clean-cut sinners, one in a blue long-sleeve, the other in a white one, standing nearby.
"I am impressed with your work," the head dealer said in a thick Russian accent. "But I want to know; will they overheat? The last guns you sold us… the ET-79s, the barrel on one of them melted after going through one magazine."
"No, they won't. The barrels on these are a forged atonium alloy. They can withstand up to 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit," said the engineer in the blue shirt, with his arms crossed.
The dealer nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. But I must know where it is you are getting these materials from… I thought no one in Hell has access to ectoplasm," he said.
"That'd be me…" a voice said nearby them.
A familiar man in silver armor with a blue cape draped around his shoulders revealed himself from behind a crate and walked towards the group. Cleevus narrowed his eyes when he recognized the guardian angel.
The dealer chuckled at the sight of the angel. "What is with the costume my friend?" He said, smiling and gesturing with his hand.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"It's not a costume, sinner," Eren replied, standing beside the engineers.
The dealer tilted his head curiously.
"You are an angel?" He questioned.
Eren nodded.
The dealer folded his arms and stroked his short beard on his chin.
"Then why is it that you are supplying people in Hell with weapons?" He questioned.
"That doesn't concern you. Are you buying or what?" Eren asked.
"Take it easy my friend…" the dealer replied. "Yes, I'll take 5 of these M-160 rifles. And for the cartridges… How many are in one of these cases?"
Cleevus's attention was detached from the conversation when he heard footsteps thudding on the walkway nearby. He looked up and saw a sinner guard walk around a corner of the walkway. The guard made eye contact with him.
"Hey!" The guard yelled, drawing his handgun.
Cleevus snapped his uzi up and sprayed the guard with several rounds. The guard staggered and dropped. He looked back at the group of dealers and engineers nearby, the dealers were drawing their handguns. He briefly made eye contact with Eren, who narrowed his eyes and looked at him with the same disdain as he had before.
"Kill him!" The head dealer yelled, while drawing a desert eagle from under his jacket.
Cleevus ran and ducked under a covered part of the railing as bullets flew around him, ricocheting off the wall behind him. He rolled over a meter out of the cover and shot between the railing from the ground, taking note of where the engineers were across the chamber. The people in the white radiation suits were running out of the containment room and headed in the direction he had come from to escape. He stood up and lit-up the area the dealer's guards were in with rounds of 9mm. He dropped several, and the rest took cover. From the corner of his eye, he saw a gargoyle flying in from the right to flank him. The airborne gargoyle sprayed him with smg fire.
He ran back and took cover behind a stack of crates, then shot the gargoyle down around the corner of the stack. Two of the dealer's guards came onto the walkway nearby to his left and he lit up both of them with the uzi, emptying the mag on the gun. Another gargoyle landed behind him and sprayed his back with smg fire. The plates took the rounds, Cleevus turned around and pulled his knife out, and slashed at the gargoyle, it blocked the attack with the natural armor on its forearms.
It slashed his face with its claws and he stabbed it in the neck. He sheathed the knife, turned around, and saw more gargoyles flying in from the other end of the chamber. He ran across the walkway, staying low, over closer to where he had last seen the engineers. He looked over the cover, and saw the engineer in the white shirt nearby more of the dealer's guards. He swapped the uzi's mag, then pulled a small smoke grenade out of his jacket. He pulled the pin out then tossed it over the railing into the work area. He waited till he heard a pop, then he vaulted over the railing and into the lower work area, which was now being filled with smoke.
He shot 1 more of the dealer's guards with a burst who was visible nearby, then moved forward through the smoke. He came up on two more of the dealer's guards who were behind a shooting table they had turned over to use as cover. They both shot at him, and he killed the one on the left with a burst. The other one pulled out a switchblade and lunged forward around the table. Cleevus caught the hand with the knife in it before it reached his neck and he twisted the guard's wrist around almost 360 degrees, making the guard drop the knife and yell in pain. He kicked the guard in the stomach, making him stagger back several feet, then sent a burst of lead into the guard's chest. The engineer in the white shirt then popped up from behind the table with a glock in hand, and fired several rounds into the side of his head. His head was knocked to the side from the impacts, then he faced the engineer and approached him.
The engineer fired 2 more into his chest and Cleevus grabbed the engineer's wrist that had the hand holding the gun and pointed it away from himself. He punched the engineer in the side of his face with his free hand, not quite with full force. The engineer was stunned for a second, and Cleevus pulled out a sedative injector from his jacket that Marchocias had given him, and jabbed it into the engineer's neck. He pushed down the plunger fully, then pulled it out. The engineer stepped back, dazed while holding his neck, then fell to the ground after a few seconds. He tossed the empty injector to the side.
The smoke from the grenade was beginning to clear now. The head dealer was up on the walkway, and saw him in the smoke. He began shooting at Cleevus with his deagle. Cleevus fired back with the uzi and the dealer ducked behind his cover. He looked to the side and saw the other engineer on the walkway running into a room against the chamber wall nearby. Two more sinner guards were running toward him on either side of the walkway. He put a fresh mag in behind one of the shooting tables. One of the guards threw a grenade into the area near him and he kicked it back in the opposite direction. It exploded and shrapnel ringed off the walls, the guard who threw it was hit by some and took a knee. Cleevus sprayed the other guard with the uzi, then finished the one on the other walkway.
He shot down another gargoyle in the air, then was taken by surprise when a pair of gargoyles flew in simultaneously, grabbed him by his arms, and lifted him up into the air. He dropped his uzi in the process, and as he was struggling to get one of his arms free, another gargoyle flew up as he was being lifted up into the air, and began viciously clawing at his face and neck.
When they had brought him about 50 feet up near the ceiling, he was able to rip one of his arms free. He drew his knife and stabbed the gargoyle clawing at him in the gut, then swung around and stabbed the one holding his other arm in the neck. The gargoyle began to fall and Cleevus held onto it as it tried to use its wings to slow their descent. They both hit the floor, Cleevus pulled his knife out of the now dead gargoyle's neck, stood up, and sheathed it. He drew his automag and fired several shots at the last gargoyle in the air. After a few precise hits, the gargoyle tumbled through the air to the floor.
He looked around at the battle-field around him. He spotted the door that the engineer had gone through up on the walkway, and strode up the stairs, with the automag in hand.
As he pulled open the door into the dark storage room, he was met with a bright white flash, and a force that felt like getting rammed by a bull hitting his chest. His body rebounded away from the door, and was hit by a second blast of white light a few seconds later. The force pushed him over the railing behind him, and he fell down into the work area below.
He got up on his knees, feeling a burning sensation on his chest. He looked down and saw 2 large singed holes in his jacket, still smoking. The projectiles had melted deep into the kevlar plates inside. He looked up and saw the engineer in the blue shirt walking down the stairs into the work area, holding a large bolt-action rifle that looked to be an ectoplasmic weapon. Cleevus quickly got up and grabbed a steel pipe laying on the floor nearby, then ran at full speed at the engineer.
The engineer fired another round at him, the sound of the weapon echoed off the walls of the chamber. The projectile hit his shoulder with immense force, but he shook it off and kept running at the engineer. The engineer quickly pulled the bolt back, ejecting a large, smoking ectoplasm cartridge, and racked another one.
Cleevus flung the steel pipe at the engineer, it hit his face, making him stagger back and unalign the gun with his target. When he reached the engineer, Cleevus grabbed the barrel of the rifle and pointed it away from himself. The engineer fired the rifle and the projectile hit the wall of the chamber. Cleevus then ripped the rifle out of the engineer's hands and hit the side of the engineer's head with the stock of the rifle, holding it by the barrel, with a limited amount of force. The engineer fell to the ground and groaned.
Cleevus dropped the rifle and pulled out another one of the sedative injectors. He took a knee next to the dazed engineer, and jabbed it into the engineer's neck. He pushed down the plunger fully, then pulled it out. After a few moments, the engineer's arms and head dropped to the side, and he laid still. He tossed the empty injector to the side, then heard a creaking sound up the stairs above him. He quickly stood up, drew his automag, and aimed it at the person at the top of the stairs.
It was the head dealer in the black suit with the red shirt underneath. He was holding his deagle, which he pointed away from Cleevus and slowly raised his hands, as if to surrender.
"There is no problem here… my friend," he said, smiling. He bent over and placed the deagle on the walkway, then backed away with his hands up. "Nyet problyem. The guns… they are all yours…"
Cleevus strode up the stairs to the dealer while breathing heavily.
"Just take it easy… gah!"
He was cut off by Cleevus hitting him in the head with the butt of the automag, not holding back this time. The dealer fell to the floor, knocked out. Cleevus holstered his automag, and took a knee.
He was exhausted, and the burning sensation from the ectoplasm rounds on his chest was getting more intense. He looked in one of the windows into a storage room against the wall, and saw his reflection. He had deep cuts slashed across his face and neck, the skin on the side of his head where the first engineer had shot him was missing, exposing the bloody side of his skull. He carefully took his jacket off.
The ectoplasm projectiles had melted through the kevlar plates on his jacket and burned through his shirt, then leaving deep 3rd degree burns on his chest and shoulder. If his body wasn't so heat resistant, they would easily have burned into his chest cavity. He pulled a small leather wallet out of his jacket.
He opened it, inside were 3 small vials filled with whitish-brown bone powder, given to him by Lamashtu. He took one out and pulled the cork cap out, then poured it onto the palm of his glove. He held it below his nose and inhaled the powder.
Immediately he felt a warm sensation all throughout his body. He looked down at himself, all of his veins were becoming red and inflamed as the powder worked its way through him. He felt the burning sensation peak on his chest, and the wounds began to heal. He got up, and noticed someone standing near him out of the corner of his eye on the walkway.
He quickly drew his automag and aimed it at the head of the person standing a few meters away. It was Eren, standing and looking at him nonchalantly. Cleevus stood there for a moment, holding the gun aimed at Eren's face.
"Don't bother," Eren said. "This is only a spiritual projection of myself."
Cleevus lowered his gun and holstered it.
"Aren't you special," Cleevus muttered.
He walked past Eren down the stairs to where he had dropped his uzi and picked up the gun, then slung it over his shoulder. Eren followed him down.
"This is the third time now that you've interfered with my affairs, Slayer," Eren said, walking down the stairs. "Are you planning on serving the personifications of evil until the end of time?"
Cleevus sighed while patting down the unconscious engineer in the blue shirt, looking for weapons.
"If you think you're going to win me over with a lecture on morals, save your breath," Cleevus said while pulling a folding knife out of the engineer's pants pocket. He stuck it in his back pocket.
Eren walked up and stood a few meters away from him.
"Then what about an exchange?" He asked.
Cleevus looked up at him. "What do you want?" He said.
"A truce," Eren replied. "If you stay out of my affairs in Hell, then I'll repay you."
Cleevus stood up and looked at him, raising an eyebrow slightly. "With what?" He asked.
"How would you like to see your daughter again?" Eren said.
Cleevus paused for a moment, taken back by the question. He took a step towards Eren.
"How do you know about my daughter?" He demanded.
Eren just looked at him for a moment with his unchanging expression.
"I have my ways. If you don't interfere with my dealings amongst sinners for the next 3 months, I can take you back to the first life on Earth to see her," he said.
Cleevus was silent for a few moments, cracking his knuckles while thinking it over.
"And how can I trust that you'll keep your end of the deal?" He asked.
"I am a servant of God," Eren replied. "I do not lie. But regardless, I think you know it's worth the chance to be reunited with your only loved one."
Cleevus paused.
"And how will I find you when the 3 months are up?" He asked.
"Don't worry, I will come to you," Eren replied.
"Deal," Cleevus said. "But I still have to bring these engineers back to Wrath."
Eren looked to the side for a moment, seemingly thinking.
"You can take him." He motioned with his head at the engineer on the floor nearby. "The other one comes with me. You can tell your superiors that he was killed in the fight."
Cleevus shrugged.
"I can probably make that work," he said.
Eren nodded, then turned and walked back over to where the other engineer was lying on the floor in the shooting area. He looked back at Cleevus.
"Don't forget our agreement," Eren said.
A cyclone of white light formed around Eren and the Engineer on the floor, intensified until they were no longer visible in it, then vanished. Eren and the unconscious engineer were now gone.
Cleevus stood there looking around the area in silence for a moment, then grabbed the unconscious engineer next to him, pulled him up, threw the engineer's arm over his shoulder, and held him around his armpit so that the engineer's body weight was leaned on him. He pulled out his transit stone with his free hand.
"Ultion Arms office, City of Carvinoff, Wrath," he said.
Marchocias stood by his desk, holding a lit cigar, with his other hand in his pocket. Orange light from the setting sun outside filled the office.
"Killed in the gunfight you said…" He remarked.
Cleevus nodded. He was now wearing a fresh shirt, and had cleaned most of the dried blood off himself.
Marchocias nodded slowly. "Shame that," he said. "But the live one you've brought us ought to be enough to get a start on production of our own variants of these weapons. I'll send some of my men to retrieve everything that was at the refinement station, but for now, I believe you've accomplished what I've needed." He snuffed out the cigar in a brass ashtray on his desk, then looked back up at Cleevus. "Now, as for payment…"
He walked over and punched the code into the keypad on the door. Cleevus walked over and stood nearby. After having his eye scanned, the door opened and Marchocias walked in.
He picked up the wood case off the shelf where he had placed it the last time and walked out with it in hand. He stood in front of Cleevus and opened the case, showing all 7 of the silver cartridges inside, then held it out to him.
"As promised," Marchocias said.
Cleevus took the case and looked over the cartridges, then closed it.
"That'll do," he said.
Marchocias nodded. "I'll be in touch if there's anything else I might ask of you," he said.
He held out his hand for Cleevus to shake it, and Cleevus shook it firmly.
"Pleasure doing business, as always," Marchocias said with a smile.
Cleevus gave him a nod, then turned and walked out of the office.
Marchocias closed the door of the vault, then turned and casually walked over to the windows of the office, and looked out at the city. He folded his arms and smiled.
"Business is good…" He quietly said to himself, smiling as he heard what sounded to be gunshots in the distance.
Cleevus placed the wood case in the safe against the wall in his bedroom, then closed and locked it. It was later that night, his hair was damp from just getting out of the shower. Dreyus was in his bed in the corner, with his head between his paws. Cleevus rubbed the dog's head between his ears, then walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. Before he turned off his lamp, he looked at the framed photo on the nightstand.
He picked it up, and stared longingly at the photo of the young woman in the graduation robes, the image of her joyful smile burning deep into his mind. In the corner of the photo, 'Class of 2051' was written in black marker.
He had found the photo stuck in the gauge cluster of his car when it had been given to him by Satan 2 years ago. Satan's cold words echoed in his mind.
Don't become attached to your living memories, Cleevus. They are of no use to you anymore.
He placed the photo back on the nightstand and turned off the lamp, then got into bed. He closed his eyes, and fell asleep minutes later.