It didn't take them very long to find the source of the noise Steber and Cray had heard earlier. They were walking between two rows of boxes when all of a sudden, three blaring lights came to life and shined right at them. The humans each put an arm up to shield their eyes, which almost proved to be a fatal mistake. From out of nowhere, bolts of what appeared to be lightning fried the air between them. Realizing the obvious trap, Steber ducked down and rolled behind a large crate. Cray did the same. Despite the situation, Steber couldn't help but notice a large UAC stencil on the box. Mentally giving his corporation the finger, he gripped the rocket launcher and peered around the crate.

A giant mechanical spider glared back at him. Yet another cross of monster and machine, it was enormous. Six mechanical legs supported a metal base on which a huge pulsating brain sat. The face that stared at him was the living manifestation of a nightmare. Glowing red eyes and an empty socket for a nose were among the spider's features. Steber was still grasping the enormity of what he was seeing when the spider opened fire again. Perhaps a foot below its mouth, a glowing blue spot came to life, which began spewing energy.

Steber watched as the beam tore through crates and left a trail of fire and destruction in its wake. Cray poked his head up as well and the spider immediately took notice and started after him. Steber guessed that it must be at least four meters tall and perhaps six wide and was amazed that it could move as quickly as it did. He heard the mechanical scraping sound again as the monster tried to maneuver around a large stone pillar and get a clear shot at Cray. Seeing that it was distracted, Steber let loose with one rocket, which impacted on the right side of the spider's brain with no damage to show for it. For an instant, Steber saw a ghostly flash of light right where the rocket had hit, indicating that the spider had some sort of electronic shielding mechanism protecting it. Cursing, Steber fired again, this time at the legs. He didn't see the shield activate but even so, the metal supports were so thick that the rocket left no damage except for a greasy black smear.

By now, the spider realized that Steber was the greater threat and shifted its attention away from Cray. The scientist cowered behind a pile of crates, clutching his pathetically small weapons with white knuckled fingers. The spider quickly began firing at Steber, who dove to the floor and slid behind a cement platform, narrowly avoiding death by the smallest of margins. Throughout the fight so far, Steber had been able to tell something about the spider's weapon. It could only fire its destructive energy in brief surges and then needed about ten seconds to recharge. Taking advantage of this, Steber jumped up and began running at the monster, immediately after it fired again. Praying that he hadn't overestimated the recharge time, he ran directly under the beast and began climbing one of its mechanical legs. His gamble paid off and he wasn't toasted in the process. But the creature clearly wanted him to get off and began stomping and thrashing its leg into rows of boxes. Before he could be thrown to the floor, Steber made it to the top of the leg and was desperately searching for a narrow space between the metal base and where the invisible shield began. Sweat stinging his eyes and groping with trembling and bloody fingers, he finally found the edge of the force field and managed to slip underneath it, feeling the squishy tissue of the spider's external brain against his skin. It felt like sliding into a bathtub full of live worms.

Knowing how vulnerable it now was, the spider demon was screaming a high-pitched wail and kept thrashing across the room in a frantic attempt to shake the marine off. Now that he was under the shield, Steber began shooting the brain with his rifle and instantly felt the monster's movements begin to weaken. Not wanting to be on top of it when the spider died, Steber removed two more rockets and primed the manual charges. He then tossed the two explosives in the hole he had just shot out and quickly dove back under the shield and dropped to the ground. He landed on his arm and felt it go numb, but managed to scramble away before the first of the rockets exploded. With the shield still in place, the blast had no place to go but deeper into the spider's soft cranium. By the time the second rocket went off, the shield had already been deactivated and the force of the explosion splattered gray brain matter in all directions at once. The creature was clearly dead and within seconds, the legs began to wobble and the entire body crashed to the ground. Cray began to stand up just as Steber dragged himself behind the sturdiest looking box he could find.

"Cray, get down!" he shouted. The scientist obeyed and not five second later, the spider creature's weapon discharged violently as a result of the explosions. Unstable and random streams of white-hot plasma danced around the room, cutting deep groves into the walls and setting many of the crates on fire. As smoke began to fill the hangar, Steber shouted for Cray to follow him out, taking one last victorious look at the spider's burning carcass. Fortunately, the door to the next room was open. Holding onto each other for support, the two staggered forward, only to stop short a few seconds later. A large brown shape moved ahead of them and the two humans heard a low growl fill the air amid with the crackling flames. Despite the immense heat caused by the spider's discharge, Steber felt a chill enter his body. He knew that growl. The Beast had returned.

"This is it," he said. "It's time for that thing to die."
"Steber, we've got to get out of here!" Cray choked out. "The room is filling with smoke!"
"I'm not leaving yet." Cray was about to protest, but suddenly gave in. "Alright," he said. "Go for it."

No sooner had the scientist agreed, then Steber heard the sound of metal creaking above them. He looked up and saw the Beast on an overhead walkway. The monster snarled and jumped down, its huge claws outstretched. Realizing that he didn't have time to get off a shot, Steber dove to the floor and rolled on his side. The Beast landed less than a foot away, severely denting the metal-plated floor. Had the creature come down a bit more to the right, Steber would have been crushed into a bloody pancake. The Beast took a second to recover from the fall and then turned its attention back to Steber. The marine took advantage of that second of disorientation and kept rolling. When he was over a meter away, he swung his rifle around and squeezed the trigger. The shots connected with the Beast's tough hide and penetrated, but without much effect. The Beast reared up, the flames from the dead spider reflecting vividly on its metal back legs. The creature then brought its front paws down, again barely missing Steber. The marine fired another shot, but this time the bullets simply ricocheted off the Beast's metal half. Steber swore and aimed again. Before he could fire, the Beast opened its mouth and roared.

The sound that came out hit Steber like a punch in the face. It had a sonic property to it, which caused Steber to instantly recoil in pain. It felt as if a grenade had gone off right next to his skull and Steber's eardrums rang wildly. The monster's acoustic weapon was cut off, however, when three bullets fired by Cray hit the Beast in its side. It bared its teeth at the scientist and opened its mouth to scream once more, but never got the chance. Taking careful aim with his machine gun, Steber fired directly at the Beast's throat. Chunks of flesh fell and blood sprayed like a fountain, as the bullets tore through the creature's neck. The monster shrieked, but its cry lacked the physical force that the last one had possessed. Blood flowed out of its mouth and it lowered its head in a defeated motion. Smiling, Steber fell backwards in relief, dropping his gun and expecting the Beast to die right then. It didn't. Despite the hole in its neck, the monster began dragging itself towards the marine. The thing knew that it was dying, but was determined to disembowel this intruder who had wounded it so. Holding onto a railing for support, Steber managed to pull himself up and scrambled backwards.

All around him, boxes of munitions were exploding, adding to the flames and chaos. Cray was out of bullets for his pistol and could only stand by, watching helplessly as the creature advanced on Steber. Backed into a corner, noxious fire and smoke all around him, and with a being straight out of the pits of hell coming for him, Steber felt that this was the end. He turned his head to the side, not wanting to look at the incarnation of death that was approaching him. What he saw then would be his salvation. Next to his face was a UAC box that had burst open. Inside were emergency supplies for the base: a flashlight, batteries, food rations, and lastly, a chemical flare gun. Steber seized hold of the small mock pistol and aimed it directly at the Beast's gaping jaws as it attempted to lash out and bite him. Steber squeezed the trigger and a glowing patch of sizzling light erupted from the barrel of the gun. It streaked directly into the Beast's mouth, which the monster quickly snapped shut in surprise. While Steber found it difficult to read his opponent's emotions, he knew the immense pain the Beast must be in as the sulfur flare burnt the inside of its mouth raw. Realizing that this was his only chance, Steber dashed forward, while the Beast was thrashing in agony. He ran to where he had dropped his gun and immediately snatched it up.

"This is for Crowley, Edwards, and EARTH!" He shouted and fired. Bullets erupted from the gun and ripped through the Beast's already scarred features. Smoke was pouring out of its mouth and much of its face was on fire as the shells impacted. They tore through tortured flesh, cracked teeth, and caused dark red blood to flow like water from dozens of wounds. The Beast opened its mouth one last time to scream in agony, but by now its tongue was nothing more than a charred lump of ruined tissue. Unable to even cry out, the Beast's legs gave away and it collapsed to the floor. The mechanical section twitched fiercely one last time before joining its biological counterpart in death. The monster's massive chest heaved and then subsided. The Beast was dead.

Before he could even catch his breath, Steber felt a pair of hands grab his arm. It was Cray, who was pulling him towards the door they had been headed towards before the Beast's arrival.

"We've got to get of here, now!" Cray yelled. The air was so thick with smoke that he could barely see a few feet in front of him. In addition, the room was so hot from the dozens of fires burning, that his skin was beginning to blister. Red-faced from the heat, and coughing their lungs out from the smoke, Steber and Cray stumbled through the door into the next room.

With the power still gone, Steber had to manually force the doors shut. Once this was done and the fire was contained, he then leaned against the wall and slid down it, holding his arm tenderly against his injuries. Cray wasn't in much better shape. His lab coat was deep red with blood and much of the skin on his arms and neck was blistered and inflamed from where the spider's shots had grazed him. Both had inhaled a great deal of smoke.

The two humans weren't in the dark anymore. All of the electric bulbs were dead, but the room they were in glowed with crimson red light from an indeterminable source. Also, it was very warm. A hot, sticky, and foul-smelling heat clung to the air. Steber and Cray stood up and stared in disbelief at what was spread out before him.

They were in a huge chamber that was even bigger than the hanger they had just left. Cray gaped in dumbfounded horror at the room around them. Steber absentmindedly dropped his gun, which fell to the floor with a sickening squish. The walls were coated with oozing slime, blood, and other secretions. Patches of ugly black hair grew from every surface. But the worst part was that all around them, the walls groaned, rose and then fell, imitating a living creature. In the dead center of the room rested a giant structure of flesh with mechanical protrusions sticking out all over it. For a moment, it reminded Steber of the dull shards of metal that had been destroyed Porter's face, back in the elevator. The thing in the middle of the room was about fifteen meters tall and five across and also heaved and groaned in rhythm with the walls and ceiling. All over it, skin bubbled, burst, and then quickly scabbed over. It was a monstrous fusion of technology and pure evil.

Without even being a scientist or having any experience in laboratories, Steber instantly knew what he was looking at. It was a demonic version of the manmade teleportation reactor that they had seen earlier. Except this one was smaller and consisted of a hybrid of biological and mechanical matter to operate. Still, Steber would have bet his life that this one was much more powerful than anything UAC could ever make. Cray seemed to share his sentiments.

"My god," the scientist said. "Will you look at that thing?"
"Yeah," Steber said.
"Incredible. They've been able to build a teleportation device in a fraction of the time it took my team. Do you have any idea what this means?"
"I have a pretty good idea," Steber said. "Once completed, this device is going to bring a legion of monsters to overrun Earth."
"Are you still going on about that?" Cray asked. "Think about what this means to science! If my team could study this thing and unlock its secrets, we'd be infinitely closer to understanding and refining faster-than-light technology!"

Steber stared at Cray as if the scientist had just grown a second head.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Steber shouted. "First of all, your team is DEAD, Cray! Has none of what we've been through in the past few hours had any effect on you? Here I am trying to avert Armageddon and all you can think about is continuing your work!"
"You think you're saving the world?" Cray sneered. "These monsters aren't the threat to Earth. It's what we're doing to ourselves; pollution, overpopulation, and unequal food distribution - those are the threats to the world. As the head scientist of this project, I forbid you to destroy this machine."
"I see." Steber said, balling his fists and releasing them. "Yes, you're absolutely right. You have connections that can put me away for the rest of my life. I wouldn't dare disobey your orders."
"That's better," Cray said, completely missing the sarcasm in Steber's voice.
"Well you can take that order and shove it up your ass!" Steber said. He loaded a rocket, took aim and shot directly at the center of the inhuman construct.
"No!" Cray screamed and watched in horror as the projectile sped away.

The grin on Steber's face melted into an expression of pure horror when all of a sudden, the air around the reactor began to shimmer wildly and the rocket veered off radically to the left, exploding against a wall. The entire chamber screamed with a cry that came from everywhere at once. Where the rocket impacted, the walls cracked and literally bled a dark orange liquid. Moments later, the bleeding stopped and the two humans watched in sick fascination as the wound began to scab over. Within a minute, it had healed itself back to normal.

"And you want to take this thing back and study it," Steber said.
"I," Cray stammered, "well..."

Meanwhile, the chambers screams intensified. It was as if Steber and Cray were in the stomach of a grotesque beast, which was seething in agony over the presence of the intruders. Steber picked up his rifle and began firing a dozen bursts at the heart of the reactor. Every bullet was repelled and the reactor continued screaming, pulsating, and swelling until it looked and sounded like it was going to burst. Suddenly, the air began to shimmer again and Steber and Cray felt a flooding chill invade their stomachs once more. Even as the two dropped to the floor, writhing in pain, Steber knew what was happening. Something was teleporting in. There was a flash, another shimmer, and then a shape appeared out of nothingness. Finally the coldness subsided and Steber was able to stand and face the new arrival.

At first, it was formless. Merely a cloud of shifting colors and motions, it glided around the chamber before coming to rest before the two humans. It craned what might have been a neck, as if to examine the trespassers and then backed off a few meters. It began shifting colors again, moving from translucent, to opaque, to transparent, and then finally seeming to settle on a form. It slowly built itself from the feet up. Cray screamed and impulsively ran away as fast as he could, until he came to hide behind the reactor. Every one of Steber's instincts told him to do the same but he held his ground. The monster had molded itself into an undead reflection of himself. Steber could see his own features, distorted madly, but still unmistakable. Where Steber had had combat armor, the demon stood shirtless, but with armor apparently built into its skin. Everything else matched, from facial imperfections to his helmet and camouflage pants. Two glowing eyes, like twin embers glowing out of a stove, shone at Steber and seemed to pierce his mind. Its skin was a pale gray and was red with dried blood in many places.

At this moment, something happened that told Steber exactly what he was looking at. As soon as the creature materialized, the few human lights that had not been broken in the chamber returned to life, though flickering weakly. Also, various fans and life support systems came back online as well. The demon took a step forward and Steber knew at once that he was seeing a physical manifestation of the entity that had possessed Phobos. Now that the creature had shown itself and had gone through the effort to assume a physical form, it temporarily lost its control over the various operations of the research station. Steber also knew that he was looking at the monsters' last line of defense. This was the Guardian of the instrument that would bring about the end of humanity.

It took another step forward, testing out legs that it had never used before. When the thing took a third step towards him, Steber felt all feeling go out of his body. His muscles went numb and he helplessly tumbled to the chamber floor. The Guardian extended its arm and Steber heard Cray suddenly cry out. The scientist was lifted in midair and brought around the reactor, where he was floated to within a foot of the Guardian's face. Steber cursed to himself. Great, it's telekinetic, he though sourly. The creature closed its eyes, but continued to levitate the doctor. Steber then felt a pounding pain in his skull and as in his dream; visions began pouring into his mind. Except this time, they were far worse. Steber squeezed his eyes shut and tried desperately to fend off the ocean of dark images but was not the least bit successful. Giving in, he braced himself and opened his mind, hoping that it would be over soon.

He saw thousands of cities in flames – either roasting infernos or leveled rubble from atomic weapons. Steber now knew that the converted world leaders had ordered nuclear warheads launched at their own most populated cities, as their new masters had commanded.

He saw various scenes of civilians boarded up in houses and behind barricades, hoping against hope that some form of salvation would arrive. But there was no help coming for them. One by one, the monsters broke into these fortifications and showed no mercy for any humans they encountered. Steber saw demons interrogating, torturing, and conducting frightful experiments on captured prisoners of mankind's first war against an enemy that did not consist of fellow humans.

More monsters that he hadn't seen before: a thin yellow creature, slightly taller than a man with a bulbous bald head. A master of pyrokinetics, it raised its arms to the sky and brought down fire and lightning on whatever it wished, burning people and animals into blackened carcasses. A floating red demon that resembled an enormous bloated tomato appeared next. It opened a mouth that was a meter wide and belched out balls of concentrated electrical energy that could melt metal and char human skin. Next, crimson red minotaurs, towering forms of muscle with goat features, were attacking a tank. It's bent barrel still swiveling back and forth in a futile gesture, the tank was helpless against the creatures that were systematically tearing metal plates and rivets loose in a bloodthirsty effort to seek out the humans inside. One of the minotaurs reached into the tank and tore a human arm out. It raised the appendage to the sky and screamed a hellish war cry.

All these images and more flooded into Steber brain and from the look on Cray's face, he was experiencing them as well. For the first time, the arrogant scientist truly understood what they were up against. The visions went on for what seemed like forever, to the point where Steber wished that the monster would just kill them already. Even death couldn't be crueler than this.

Finally the pictures and sounds mercifully stopped and the Guardian brought Cray up even closer to its face. The Guardian smiled, but it was an expression devoid of any humor or compassion. Cray screamed in terror and pain as his features began to melt along with those of the Guardian. Soon Steber realized with repulsion what was happening. Through an excruciatingly slow process, the Guardian was devouring Cray, but not in any natural way. Over the course of five minutes or more, Cray's body was completely absorbed into that of the Guardian. Steber shut his eyes but was unable to drown out the doctor's cries and later moans as Cray's mouth vanished into the Guardian's flesh. Steber had previously thought that the Lost Souls and the spider were horrible, but nothing compared to this. The Guardian was absolute hell incarnate. Finally Cray stopped screaming and a loud sucking noise signified that the monster was finished with him. Now noticeably larger, the Guardian licked its lips and turned its gaze back to Steber. It began moving forward again, reaching out with long hideous claws. His legs still paralyzed, Steber could only use his arms to pull himself backwards, away from the certain death that groped for him. Dragging the dead weight that was his lower section, Steber managed to slowly pull himself away. Still, he couldn't move fast enough and he knew the Guardian would catch up with him in seconds. Steber closed his eyes and reached his hand forward again, hoping to grab onto something that could be used to put a little more distance between him and the Guardian. To his surprise, his hand eventually closed around something that was cool and cylindrical. He turned his head away from the Guardian to see what he had come across.

It was the rocket launcher, already loaded with the one remaining missile. Steber grabbed it up and pointed it directly at the Guardian, which froze in surprise. It took a step backwards.

"So now you can be killed," Steber managed to choke out. Since he took up the weapon, the air had grown very thick and it was suddenly hard for him to breath. He had no doubt that the Guardian was adjusting the conditions of the reactor chamber to make it uncomfortable for the lone marine facing him. Steber's foe took another step back and for an instant, its glowing eyes flicked away, betraying it. Steber followed its glance, which led to the reactor. The machine had now changed color. Instead of an angry red, it was a weak and fleshy pink. It still pulsated, but had sped up. Now the thing beat with the intensity of a hummingbird on speed.

"I see. Now, what happens if I do this?" Steber said with a sick grin and depressed the firing trigger on the launcher. The last rocket shot out and the Guardian shrieked, its cry echoing around the chamber. The rocket continued its course and impacted against the reactor. For a moment, nothing happened and Steber feared that he had just thrown away his last chance at saving Earth. But then the rocket detonated in an explosion that ripped the very center of the reactor apart. Chunks of organic material and metal fell to the floor and Steber had to crawl away as fast as he could to dodge them. The Guardian was in an absolute fury. It tried to regain its formless shape and go to the reactor's defense but wasn't fast enough. Murky yellow liquid that looked like pus poured from the wounded machine, bathing Steber in a sticky flood. With the Guardian weakened, Steber found that he could stand again and rose out of the liquid before it could drown him. More parts of the reactor exploded, showering disgusting red, yellow, and orange juices everywhere. Steber witnessed as a wave of a blood-like substance washed right through the Guardian. Apparently it was already in a state of semi-physical existence and could no longer be touched by tangible matter. Though it was almost invisible at this point, the Guardian spread its arms and the air in front of it actually began to ripple and stretch. The space then turned black as an inverted teleportation gate appeared out of oblivion. Steber stared at this and knew what was happening. In their death throes, the Guardian and the reactor were working together to open a door to where the monsters had come from. The gate flickered and almost collapsed inwards, but held so that the Guardian could step through.

In the next instant, Steber had to make the most important decision of his life. For all intents and purposes, it appeared as if he had thwarted the invasion. The reactor was destroyed and its protector had just evacuated itself out of this world. But he was not completely sure. And in this situation, not being completely sure left the fate of Earth and the human race up to chance. It was reasonable to assume that the monsters had been stopped but there was only one true way to know. He could either enter the gate, transporting himself to wherever the Guardian had gone, or he could escape this nightmare and leave the dying reactor and Phobos behind. He knew that the first choice was loaded with danger. He would literally be placing himself in the hands of the enemy if he teleported himself to their world. And if he chose this option, there was no guarantee that he could ever return.

He longed for the second choice, though. Every part of him wanted to believe that the invasion was over, that Earth was safe. All he wanted to do was sprint back to the dropship, and make it back into space, satisfied that he had destroyed the source that so many of his friends had sacrificed themselves to reach.

The time had come. The choice had to be made.