Oh, finally, here it is - the fifth and final chapter of this (quite prolonged) saga. No more chatter, let's jump straight into the action!

Just one reminder: the main character (Hicks) is supposed to be the character "Phobos" from Quake III Arena. This is an important detail within the overall story ;)

CHAPTER V: EX INFERIS

The gentle hum that pervaded the ship made him feel drowsy, yet Hicks did not want to sleep right now. This was the moment that was going to determine his fate - the ultimate test of his abilities. An off-world assignment could be a direct pathway to joining the elite... or a slippery slope towards the untimely end of one's military career, if things went wrong. No room for hesitation or rash decisions - it had to be perfect.

He kept going over the intel documents again and again. The Phobos base was considered clean and pretty much safe, yet demons kept turning up here and there unexpectedly. The most likely explanation was that a sealed system of long-abandoned tunnels near the base complex had been breached by hellspawn. The best case scenario was a small band of survivors who would be easy to mop up. The worst case - an open portal into Hell, which could spew reinforcements and potentially lead to a new invasion.

This shouldn't be too hard, though Hicks. Besides, I won't be going there alone. I'll have a small squad at my disposal. We'll go in and teach those freaks a lesson, just as we did back on Earth.

He pulled out the schematics and started examining them once again. The tunnel system was convoluted and maze-like, yet he wanted to memorize its layout as best as he could. His survival could depend on this. And he had one more hour to do it.

1 hour later

The Marines' temporary HQ was set up within a building at the northern end of the Phobos base - the Computer Station. It was a relatively small building, yet Hicks managed to get lost within its corridors. Like most of the base, this facility was cleared and re-opened for human use. Only the Military Base and the Phobos Anomaly were still sealed, without any official explanation, though rumors claimed there were active teleporters within these buildings, which could be actual gateways to Hell. The Marines were not bothered by these unanswered questions - at this point it was someone else's problem.

The briefing was very quick and basic - it repeated most of the information that he had already received during the flight, barely adding any new details. Basically, the Marines were to be divided into teams of two and sent into the tunnels, mopping up demons and looking for their potential source, if there was any. Starting mission loadout included a shotgun and a chaingun. Really, no heavy weapons? They had to make do with whatever they could scavenge, though the chances of finding a BFG in the sewers were pretty much zero. They could have at least given us a Berserker pack. I feel like we're going in naked.

Hicks's partner for this mission was Captain Krige - a more experienced Phobos Trooper with several missions under his belt. He supposedly loved plasma weapons and seemed pretty disappointed that they wouldn't be given any from the very beginning. It was during the last few minutes before departure that he finally approached Hicks and introduced himself.

"Captain Krige," he started, "Though friends call me Jack, and I really hope we'll get along."

"Captain Hicks," the younger Marine replied, "Though you can call me Seth, if you so prefer."

"Sure thing, Seth," Captain Krige demonstrated his creepiest smile, "Now let's go roast some demons!"

15 minutes later

As they waited in front of the closed airlock, the two marines did a final check on their equipment and secured their helmets. This was it!

"So," Krige started, "Do you think they would let us take a look at the Phobos Anomaly place after we're done?"

"I don't know," Hicks shrugged, "I heard there was something dangerous in there, so we're not supposed to go yet."

"Well, I heard something else," Krige winked, "I've heard some pretty unsettling rumors about Elite Marines going in there... and I do mean the best of the best, the kind of people you use for critical operations or," his voice lowered to a whisper, "even black ops."

"I don't know, man," Hicks replied sincerely, "I've never heard anything about them. The only thing I know is that they supposedly wear black uniforms. And that's pretty much it."

Krige was about to say something else, yet a gentle hissed signalled that the airlock was about to open. Military reflexes took over instantly and their shotguns were pointed at the door within a fraction of a second. Before them lay stretched a long dimly lit corridor, and somewhere in the distance was a vague glow. The two men turned on their recorders and the timers. The mission had begun.

10 minutes later

They advanced slowly along the grime-encrusted corridor. The air was pretty cold, yet their suits protected them. They had not encountered anything yet, though they heard some distant sounds, which faintly resembled howling. The silence was actually more frightening than any noise they could detect.

"Hey Seth," Captain Krige whispered.

"Yeah?"

"This silence is unnerving," the Marine continued, "It feels like walking into an ambush."

"Oh, I know," Hicks replied, "We had a mission back on Earth just a couple of days ago. We entered a building and were swarmed by imps. Barely made it out in one piece."

"Story of my life, bro," Krige sighed, "Reminds me of that one time in Munich when we were cut off and surrounded at some old factory. And just when we thought it could not get any worse, we saw this huge pack of..."

The soldier stopped suddenly and stared intently at something further down the corridor. "PINKIES!" he screamed.

Hicks instantly knew his partner did not mean the pastries known for their astronomically high sugar content, but rather the bull-like demons that charged and crushed their victims with their sheer momentum. And if that was not enough, they had plenty of sharp teeth and horns to finish the job.

"Aim for the eyes," yelled Krige as he pulled out his chaingun. The tactic was simple - he would suppress them with a hail of bullets, while Hicks inflicted some more surgical hits. Luckily, these creatures' eyes were bright and easy to see. Each precise shot put one pinkie down, yet there were so many of them. And they came ever closer to the two marines, climbing over the bodies of their slain brethren, unrelenting in their assault.

"Ok, change of plan," Krige yelled again, "We must pull back or they'll overwhelm us!"

Hicks simply nodded and started retreating slowly, using every precious second to shoot one more demon. Without stopping the hail of hot lead, the two soldiers ducked into a narrower tunnel, which could be used as a bottleneck, and also led to a larger room. The pinkies' advance was slowed down, but not by much. The two Marines rushed into the larger room and tried to assess the situation within the few spare seconds that they had. The more experienced trooper noticed something and pointed towards the door agitatedly.

"Hicks, quickly, shoot the blue pipes above the door!"

The young Marine raised his shotgun and shot in the indicated direction. A small explosion obscured his view, and when the smoke cleared, the room's entrance was blocked by a large pile of debris.

"How did you know?" Hicks asked.

"Hydrogen reclamation conduits, mate," Krige beamed, "The sewage treatment plant in my hometown had such a system and I remember that it could be pretty explosive, especially if it hasn't been used for a long time, which causes a lot of gas to accumulate within. And then it makes a good boom."

Hicks just nodded. The important thing for the moment was that the pinkie onslaught was over. But where were they?

"Jack, do you think they can find a way to us?"

"Don't think so," Krige replied, "At least based on what I remember from the schematics I saw. But still, we'd rather not stay here and find out. Especially since we are now low on ammo."

Most of the bullets and shells they carried were spent during the battle, so now they had to pick their fights more carefully. Hicks was trying to remember if there were any supply caches marked on the schematics, when his thoughts were interrupted by a distinct hissing sound. He had heard this sound before, in the training simulators. And he already knew what he was about to see.

A large crimson head with horns and an unnerving smile emerged from a dark corridor and its eye was fixed on the two men. A second later the hideous mouth opened and spat out a large glowing orb of oddly colored fire. The projectile landed right next to Captain Krige's foot and he jumped back startled at this new development.

"Cacodemon," Hicks whispered to himself. Flying, resilient, capable of producing highly-damaging projectiles, but also quite adept at biting a man in half at close range. Can soak up a lot of ammo before going down. He raised his shotgun just as Krige's chaingun renewed its lead hail. The creature was unable to recover from this first hit, and the second one finished it off. It slumped onto the ground, gushing blue blood.

"Are you okay, Jack?" Hicks asked.

"Yeah, it just melted a little of my boot. I hope the cold won't creep in." Captain Krige took a quick look at his backpack and sighed, "And now we have even less ammo. We're almost out, actually."

"I think there is a control station, not far from here," Hicks said, "Maybe we can find some supplies there. It's that way," and he pointed towards the tunnel that the Cacodemon had emerged from.

"Okay, let's give it a try," Krige replied, "If we're lucky, we may even be able to complete this mission."

Once again, the eerie silence surrounded the two Marines. They expected to hear the familiar growl of pinkies any second, yet it seems the creatures were not smart enough to find another path. They were probably trying to dig their way through the debris - well, good luck with that! The corridor was becoming brighter ahead - and there it was, an open door. This had to be the control station. The door was slightly ajar and the troopers approached it cautiously.

There were several bodies on the floor, as well as numerous signs that a short but intense battle had taken place inside. Whatever killed the Marines was long since gone - it might had even been that Cacodemon they faced earlier. A closer look revealed another surprise - they all wore black uniforms. So the rumors were actually true?

Captain Krige kneeled next to one of the dead soldiers and checked the small insignia on his collar.

"Black Omega," he whispered, "The SMC has always denied it. Officially they do not exist. Omega Troopers were long considered to be an urban legend used to scare rookies. And now here they are, all too real."

"And all too dead," Hicks added. He then noticed a communication station nearby - it appeared slightly damaged, but he could probably patch it up. "Hey, I'll try to fix this. Watch my back, okay?"

"Sure," Captain Krige murmured, rummaging through the dead troopers' belongings. He found some ammo - barely enough to improve their situation, and a few stimpacks that could come in handy. A few minutes later he stood up, holding something in his hand - a PDA.

"This guy must have been this group's commanding officer," the Captain said, "I wonder if I can find anything useful on his... AHA, I knew it!"

"What is it?" Hicks asked.

"The clearance level. Remember how they always tell us that level 5 is the highest possible, yet there are always are concealed things? Well this guy's PDA has a security clearance level 6 and it shows stuff I've never seen before!"

"Oh," Hicks replied, "I thought this could be the case. It was hard to believe they would let us see everything, even the secret stuff."

As Hicks tried to fix the communicator, Captain Krige sat down on the floor and started digging through the PDA. Suddenly, a strange smile crept on his face.

"Hey Hicks," he started, "Do you want to know who Doom Marine really is?"

"Heh, for real?" Hicks answered.

"Not joking, mate. Do you remember that Corporal who got transferred to Mars after assaulting a superior officer?"

"Hmmm, I think so," Hicks frowned, "I think that was Kyle Harlan. He is the Doom Marine?"

"Turns out he is," Krige said, "When the invasion started, the Marines were sent here. Given his history, he was ordered to stay with the ship and this saved his life. And then he became the luckiest bastard in the history of mankind."

"Whoa, this really is amazing," Hicks was genuinely impressed, "I've seen this guy only once - seemed pretty tough, but nothing extraordinary. I don't know if he was lucky or just good at concealing how good he actually was."

A while later, Hicks had almost finished getting the transmitter to work, while his partner was still reading something on the PDA. "What's a Gatekeeper?" Krige asked unexpectedly.

Hicks froze for a second at the sound of this familiar name, yet managed to regain his composure and replied as indifferently as he could, "Never heard of that - we studied a number of demon species but they never mentioned such a thing."

"Well, I was reading about the Plutonia Complex attack," Krige continued, "And it seems this thing led the demon hordes that thrashed the place. And another interesting detail - the Marines stationed there were General Callahan's boys. And they were slaughtered to the last man. Man, I guess the General is really angry that he could not kill that arch-fiend with his own hands."

Hicks shrugged, "I don't know what happened at the Plutonia site, but the important thing is that the freaks were defeated and their invasion was stopped. Do the details really matter?"

"Guess they don't," Krige smiled, "So, how's that radio coming along?"

"Almost done, in fact we should be able to..." Hicks stopped as a cacophony of static and random chatter erupted from the communicator. A few moments later the signal stabilized and a voice could be heard more distinctly.

"Pull back... compromised... -trol station six... assault wave..."

Hicks instantly felt a cold shiver run down his spine. They were in Control Station Six. And if he had heard correctly, there was a wave of demons advancing towards them!"

Words were not necessary - the two Marines quickly grabbed everything they could and rushed out. They intended to go back the way they came, but they could already hear heavy steps coming from that direction. The escape route was cut off.

"Jack, we have to find a way to circle around - they are trying to herd us towards their portal."

"Portal... what portal?" Captain Krige asked with a confused expression.

"According to the intel reports and the security footage, Cacodemons never made it to the Phobos base during the initial invasion," Hicks explained, "Therefore, they must have come through an opened portal. The one that is spewing all these demons, and that we are being led towards!"

The other Marine simply nodded - he finally understood. Yet there weren't many options at that moment - they ran down the tunnel, aware that a horde of demons was not far behind - they could already hear their growls and the scraping of their claws against the concrete. The two men took a sharp turn to the left and found themselves in a large room, where a fierce battle was taking place. A team of phobos Troopers were trying to keep a demonic horde at bay, while retreating towards a series of hatches in one part of the room. More disturbing still was the red glow emanating from the far end of the area - it came from a wound in the fabric of reality, which could only be a demonic portal. Just as Hicks had suspected.

Krige and Hicks got to their comrades just as they cleared a path towards the hatches they were trying to reach. They were approached by a battered young lieutenant who was already bleeding from several wounds.

"Sir," he said, addressing no one in particular, "There are way too many of them, we must retreat or be slaughtered! These overflow gates are way out of here, HQ has almost finished overriding their security protocols. They will open any second now - when this happens, run as fast as you can."

All they had to do was survive - they had shotguns and chainguns with a decent amount of ammo, two plasma guns that were almost out of juice, and one rocket launcher with five rockets left. That was enough... it had to be enough.

And so the battle started anew. The host of demons that had chased Krige and Hicks invaded the room and charged the assembled Phobos Troopers. The hail of bullets cut most of them down, but the stronger creatures continued to push forward, soaking up precious ammo. "How many of these freaks are there?" yelled one of the younger marine, though his voice was lost in the roar of the furious firefight. The last rockets were used up to stop the advance of a trio of Barons, the plasma guns were soon exhausted on the Cacodemons that tried to sneak in from the ceiling. They were cornered and the overflow gates were yet to open.

"What's taking them so long?" grunted Hicks between two shots, "We are running out of time here!"

"I don't know sir," groaned the young lieutenant, "I can't reach HQ. Something is blocking the connection!"

The Captain could not respond to that - he caught a glimpse of something moving very fast, and a moment later a Baron of Hell, gushing green blood from numerous wounds, wedged itself straight into the cluster of marines, separating Hicks from the rest. The creature growled with fury and turned towards the lone marine. Hicks retreated and fired several shots in the demon's face - it didn't even slow it down. How could this thing still be alive?

The other marines noticed what was going on and several of them opened fire against the Baron that was pushing Hicks towards the demonic gateway. The demon's resilience was astonishing, yet it finally fell on the ground, continuing to crawl forward, still trying to get its prey as its life was running out.

Things finally settled down - the onslaught of deformed fiends ceased and for a few seconds the room was completely silent. Hicks was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he was overwhelmed by a strange sensation. The seemingly dormant portal to Hell started to pulse and its glow intensified, enveloping the lone marine and leaving him unable to move.

"Seth, get out of there!" yelled Captain Krige, but Hicks could not. He was paralyzed by the strange power that emanated from the gateway and he felt its power growing, crushing his mind under its cruel heat. He made one last attempt to break his stupor and move, then blacked out...

(unknown amount of time later)

Every joint and muscle hurt. Hicks awakened feeling exhausted and cold. His vision was blurry and he needed some time to make out the details. He was no longer in the sewers - the concrete walls and computer panels around him suggested he was back at the base. But which part of it, exactly? Everything seemed unusually old and dilapidated, untypical for the Phobos base. He managed to sit up and take a look around. Dimly lit corridors and some old crates in the distance. Looked so unfamiliar.

After ten minutes of struggling, he managed to stand up. Where were all the others? Did Captain Krige survive the battle? Hicks still felt unusually tired and infirm on his feet, so he leaned against the wall. Just then he felt something wet on his arm. He raised it and saw some blood smeared all over it - was he wounded? Didn't seem so.

Just then he realized that the wall itself was bleeding - the red drops were oozing straight out of the concrete. Frantically, he started looking around and started to notice some details he had missed a minute prior - like the fleshy growth on some of the walls or the bone-like protrusions "growing" out of several crates.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening. I couldn't possibly be there," Hicks murmured to himself and staggered forward, desperately looking for a window. There were entire wall sections that had transformed into flesh and bone, or into eerie green marble with skull-like ornamentations. This was impossible unless he was in... no, that simply could not be!

He reached a window and peeked out, only to see his worst fears come true. The buildings he saw were strangely deformed and corrupted, yet he clearly recognized them from the photos and schematics he had seen during training. The lost Deimos base. The burning crimson sky above and the eerie black tower rising in the southern end of the base were the last bit of evidence. He had found himself in the one place that every living marine dreads. Judging by his location relative to the other buildings, he was most likely within the base's Containment Area.

A hoarse laughter erupted throughout the empty hallways. Hicks quickly tried to grab his gun, only to realize it was gone. He was alone and unarmed in hostile territory.

"You have gazed upon the Tower of Babel, so you must accept the truth now, mortal," spoke the evil voice, "Welcome to my home."

"Who are you?" yelled Hicks, "Why have you brought me here?"

"I did not bring you here," the voice creaked, "You were brought here by the betrayal of the man you trusted. The invisible hand of beings beyond your comprehension has led you for quite some time. They want you. And they will claim you."

"Spare me your riddles, freak," Hocks growled, "Come out and fight me, if you dare!"

The voice responded with grinding laughter. "Come and see for yourself, mortal..." A nearby door opened, revealing what appeared to be a heavily damaged control room. Hicks slowly walked inside - the lights were flickering and most of the screens were bleeding. The corruption that had gripped the base was particularly strong here. Then one of the monitors came to life - the image was blurry at first but started to clear up. Hicks saw a familiar room - the field HQ back at Phobos base. And there stood a familiar human figure. It looked like General Callahan.

"What is the team's' status?" inquired the figure. Yes, it was the General's voice, though it sounded distant and distorted, as if it came from the bottom of a deep well.

"They have just assembled in the room with the portal," spoke one of the officers by the tactical screens, "They are keeping the demons at bay but won't hold up much longer. We have finished overriding the overflow gate controls. We are ready to open them."

"Negative, soldier," the General replied, "The Phobos Troopers will manage this. It's an opportunity we cannot miss."

"Sir?" The aides were visibly confused.

"If we threaten the portal, IT will come out of hiding and come to protect it. This could be our best chance to capture it!"

"But General, our boys are getting slaughtered in there. We must-"

"Don't teach me how to fight a war, boy," the General yelled, "That THING butchered my boys once, but now it's going to pay. You think I don't have hidden reserves ready to be revealed at the right moment? Cut off the connection!..."

Hicks was sick - he felt to his knees, still unable to fully comprehend what he had just seen. The General - he had used them as bait! They were only tools in his private vendetta against the demon he was after.

"You... you lie! You are deceiving me to break my resolve!" Hicks muttered.

"I wish this was a lie... but remember that Hell would have never become so powerful if you humans did not have such amazing capacity for betrayal. Of all vices you have, this is the one we have always cherished the most..." the voice paused for a few seconds, as if reflecting upon something, "The General was indeed trying to hunt me down. Even now I can sense his Omega Troopers swarming throughout the sewer network. Unfortunately for him, I wouldn't reveal myself just to defend a minor gateway. My meeting with Callahan is to be postponed for the time being."

Hicks stood up and sighed with resignation. The only thing on his mind was one question - Now what?

"As for you, brave mortal," continued the voice, as if sensing the dilemma inside the human's head, "You could either face the horrors of hell as you search for a way back home, or you could embrace the fate that the Strangers from Outside have prepared for you."

"What the Hell do you mean?" asked Hicks, but the voice did not speak to him again. What was that fiend talking about? What Strangers?

2 hours later

Hicks had been walking aimlessly around the corrupted facility for two hours - there was no sign of demons, but also no weapons or other useful supplies. The whole place looked deserted. He was wondering if he had the courage to walk outside and try to explore the other buildings... or even attempt to get down to the surface of Hell itself. Just like Doom Marine had done. Corporal Harlan, actually. Hey, if he could do it, Hicks could too. He considered himself better trained than any regular Space Marine.

Lost in these thoughts, Hicks suddenly felt something different. He saw a bright glow coming from a nearby room. A ghostly voice pierced the silence and uttered strange words:

"...LIBERATE TUTEMET EX INFERIS..."

He cautiously approached the strange new light and saw something that looked like another portal - but this one was different. Hell's portals glowed with an angry red glow, whereas this one shone with soothing brilliance. Hell's portals emitted sounds reminiscent of distant thunder or the buzzing of an angry hornet, while this one chimed with a gentle hum that was almost like pleasant music. Whatever this was, it did not originate from Hell.

Hicks hesitated for just a second. The voice had warned him about "strangers" but he didn't care anymore. All he wanted was to get out of his place.

He stepped through.

Flash of light. Sensation of movement over unimaginably long distances, defying space and time. Then it all stopped. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings. He was in a well-lit room and beyond it he could see some corridors. It seemed gothic, even Hellish in a way. And there were weapons, ammo and other objects lying around, as if placed there deliberately. What was this place?

WE ARE GLAD YOU COULD JOIN US.

"Who are you?" Hicks was really fed up with disembodied voices speaking to him and he itched to grab one of the weapons lying around this place and cause some havoc, "Show yourselves."

NO NEED TO RUSH. WE JUST WISH TO KNOW YOU BETTER.

"You better not try to detain me here," Hicks growled, "I am a trained Space marine, a Phobos Trooper, and i surely know how to fight."

FIGHT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT YOU TO DO... AND FIGHT YOU WILL!

The End

So there it is - finished at last. Well, it still took less time than the "Lost Memories".

If you still don't get the ending - SPOILER: the premise of Quake III is that the Vadrigar, the mysterious Arena Masters, kidnap great warriors from various places and ages, so that they would fight in their arena. And this is what happens to Captain Hicks, or "Phobos", as he is known in the arenas. For the origins of the whole "Phobos trooper" theme, check out "Encyclopedia Daemonica".

And if you didn't get the Latin phrase - it means "Save yourself from Hell" and is a reference to Event Horizon - a horror sci-fi movie with lots of similarities to Doom. In fact, many Doom fans consider ti to be the REAL "Doom movie".

Well, I hope you enjoyed this ride. As for me, it's time I sit down to finish that Quake project that I've been working on. I hope it will be uploaded here within the next few months.

See you then ;)