Before he could reconsider, Steber sprang out of the alcove as the Horror made another grab for him. The Sergeant then opened up with his rifle and began spraying the thing, which had now pulled itself fully out of the duct. The bullets did little good. They all managed to puncture the demon's thick skin, but did little damage after that. The Horror kept coming. By this time, the Lost Souls had become aware of what was happening. The flames on the back of their heads became even brighter and they started speeding up, aiming for Steber, who was desperately trying to duck into Porter and Cray's alcove. Now moving at a blinding speed, the first Soul streaked by, just barely missing Steber. The second Soul picked up speed and also missed the marine, but slammed into the Horror as the towering monster lurched out into the corridor. The struck Horror roared and swiped a heavy claw at the Soul, which was battered into the wall. The Soul was damaged but not dead. No longer silent, its motor roared like a racecar and thick black smoke started pouring out of its back. It rose and began screeching a feline-like hiss to the others. Steber and Porter shut their eyes, knowing that this would be the end.

But instead of attacking the humans, all five of the flaming skulls converged on the Horror. As strong as it was, the monster could not fend off such an attack and was quickly enveloped in flames. The Souls took savage bites out of the Horror with their needle-shaped teeth and Porter noted with amazement that wherever they bit the Horror, more flames sprang up. In a last effort of defiance, the Horror smashed one of the Souls into the wall, where its engine went critical and exploded in a deafening BOOM! Razor sharp pieces of shrapnel and bloody flesh flew everywhere. Cray screamed as a large shard of flying metal lacerated his cheek. Porter also cried out when tiny bits of debris peppered his arm, creating a dozen small cuts. Steber felt a sharp pain in his leg and looked down to see one of the Soul's six-inch long teeth stick out from his skin. He quickly pulled the tooth out, fighting back the pain.

Moments later, the Horror was nothing more than a gigantic dying torch and even then, the Souls continued to bite chunks of skin and muscle away. Seeing that their attention was clearly distracted, Steber grabbed Cray by the arm and pulled the doctor to his feet. Porter was already running down the corridor in the direction they had been previously going. Before turning the corner, Steber gazed back one last time and saw one of the Souls rise up and stare back at him, blackish blood dripping from its mouth. It hissed again and accelerated forward like a bullet leaving a gun. Steber cried out and dove to the ground so that the Soul missed him by inches. It plowed into the wall with a loud thud, but turned around to face him seconds later. Steber lifted his face to see the other three souls coming right at him. Even with his ears still ringing from the recent explosion, he became vaguely aware that someone was calling him. Steber turned his head slightly and saw Porter and Cray standing in a dark elevator car at the end of the hallway and motioning for him to join them. Forcing himself off the floor and narrowly avoiding the other three Souls, Steber got to his feet and broke into a limping run, the wild flames trailing behind each Soul providing the only light with which he could guide himself. He was almost at the elevator when he felt a horrible pain in his side and realized that one of the Souls had flown up and bitten him. Momentarily ignoring the flames that were climbing his shirt, Steber clasped his fists together and slammed his hands down hard on the top of the skull, which lost its grip and fell to the floor. Staggering more than ever, Steber finally made it into the elevator and collapsed, unconscious, at Porter's feet, fortunately smothering the flames that threatened to engulf him.

Cray hit the button to close the elevator but with no power, the doors remained open. Cursing, Porter threw the switch for the manual override, which relied on pneumatics rather than electricity to operate. The doors began sliding shut, but not before admitting one of the flaming skulls into the car. Porter ducked as it flew at his head. Jaws that dripped blood, slime, and mucus snapped at him savagely. The Soul turned and began another pass, this time aiming for Porter's chest. The marine shot an arm out to try and deflect the monster, but the skull changed its trajectory at the last instant and Porter's hand went right into its mouth. The Soul bit down fiercely and Porter screamed. He quickly smashed his arm with the skull still attached to it against the wall several times, until it reluctantly let go, leaving behind dozens of deep needle-like wounds in its place. Rising back up, the Soul made an attempt for Cray, but this time the scientist was ready. Bringing up his pistol and firing, Cray emptied the entire clip into the Soul's open mouth. A moment later, the creature exploded with a vociferous bang! that made everyone's eardrums pop. More shards of metal went flying in all directions and Cray suddenly heard something crack above them. He had one moment to realize that the explosion had damaged the roof, where cables held the elevator car in place. A metal on metal squeal erupted from above and finally a creaking snap, as something gave way. Nearly passing out from the feeling of vertigo, Cray held on to the side of the elevator for dear life as it tumbled down the shaft and came to a bone-crunching stop seconds later.

Walking across a grassy field, Steber suddenly heard the sound of thunder and looked up at the breathtaking horizon that stretched endlessly before him. It was a beautiful clear day, without a cloud in the sky. Frowning, Steber wondered where the sound had come from. He continued walking alone through a field that looked like it had once been used for farming, but now nature had taken over and the land was beginning to rebuild itself. All around him, weeds grew to waist-height, flowers with bees buzzing between them bloomed, and the trickle of a brook could be heard just behind him. It was a truly gorgeous scene and Steber watched his movements, mindful not to disturb anything. He didn't know where he was, but he guessed it was someplace in the American Midwest. He couldn't remember his name, only that he was a Sergeant in the Union Aerospace Corporation. He stopped for a second, puzzled why he could remember his company's name and not his own. Finally he dismissed the thought and walked on.

Minutes later, he came upon a small grove of trees and decided to sit down and rest. He was tired. Exhausted. He felt like he had been awake since the beginning of time. Sitting down against a tall oak tree, Steber closed his eyes and began to drift to sleep, only to be jolted awake as he heard another clap of thunder, much louder this time. Still, he could not see what was causing the noise. He was just about to close his eyes again when something caught his attention. Lying not ten feet away was a rabbit. Steber got up and walked over to it. Once he got closer, it became apparent that the rabbit was dead, its throat torn away. Steber drew back in horror, wondering what kind of monster would do that to an innocent rabbit. A third bolt of thunder caused him to look up once more. What he saw made Steber immediately forgot all about the slaughtered animal.

The sky had transformed itself from pristine blue to pitch black. Before Steber even had a moment to contemplate this, a swarm of red clouds appeared, silhouetting themselves against the darkness of the sky. The clouds panned out and began moving in a dozen different directions. But they were slowing down and leaving exhaust trails behind them. Steber watched in fear and realized that what he had perceived to be clouds were in fact ships. Landing craft. As they drew closer and flew overhead, Steber was able to see many more details than before. Each one was a macabre construct of flesh, muscle, blood, and bone. Rectangular in shape, they were covered with long lines, resembling veins, which pulsated with a steady rhythm. Steber saw them come to Earth by the thousands, no millions. All of a sudden he realized that he couldn't see the sky anymore through the sea of transports. There were so many of them, each one stretching at least two miles in length. Steber ran back into the grove and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to block out the horrible shapes of the arriving ships. But closing his eyes proved to be his worst mistake yet.

Steber was suddenly flooded with an ocean of images and voices. So much information poured into his mind that his brain immediately screamed from a colossal migraine headache. He opened his eyes again, hoping to reverse the effect, but to no avail. Steber could only collapse to the ground as the thoughts cascaded into his head.

He saw the same scene playing out over and over again across the entire world, sparing no country or territory. And then the ships landed. Bay doors the size of football fields creaked open and unimaginable monstrosities began empting out of each one. Some creatures he recognized, though he didn't know how. Many he didn't.

More visions came. Towering over fifteen feet tall, an enormous goat and machine hybrid walked through a city, (he guessed it was Miami, due to the palm trees and beaches), firing at screaming and fleeing civilians with a rocket launcher that was grafted onto its right arm. Trapped in an alley, a middle-aged businessman held up his briefcase like a shield, but it was a worthless gesture. Unable to pry his mind's eye away, Steber was forced to watch as one rocket from the monster vaporized the man into a swirling cloud of red mist.

In another city, Venice most likely, (the canals gave it away), four oversized skeletons, driven by some unknown force and wired with combat armor and missile tubes on their shoulders, blasted away at a squad of panicked soldiers who were pinned down behind an overturned car. One missile hit the underside of the vehicle and it exploded into a dark oily cloud of fire and debris.

He saw obscenely fat creatures, dark brown in color with beady glowing eyes. They stood at least two meters tall and had arms that ended in steel cannons instead of hands. From these weapons, flames poured out in whatever direction the monster pointed in.

He witnessed the dead being reanimated into zombified parodies of themselves, their only mission being an urge to seek out and attack new victims.

He knew that UAC and each country's military had accepted defeat and given up, as victory was impossible. The invaders were everywhere at once. Steber saw hundreds of monsters teleporting into every capitol building on the planet and either capturing world leaders or slaying them outright. The creatures then reworked those who were taken. Not zombified, the Presidents of Russia, France, Mexico and a dozen other countries were mentally converted to aid the conquerors in their cause. Paris, Moscow, and many other cities easily fell when several world leaders ordered their defenders to stand down, allowing the enemy army to practically walk right in.

Suddenly, Steber felt a spark of hope. Alongside all the chaos and death, resistance groups began to spring up. Disobeying their leaders' orders not to fight, these militant rebels struck back at the creatures that were invading their world. But Steber's optimism was quickly dashed. Next he was shown a picture of the last resistance base, struggling to hold back an armada of demonic tanks. A final image showed the rebel base in flames and Steber knew with great certainly that the resistance had been crushed.

The final bit of information that blighted Steber's mind didn't come in the form of a picture. It was pure knowledge. He now knew that the monsters didn't even want Earth, nor did they have any particular use for it when they were done. The only reason they took it was because they could. That was the most sickening aspect of it all.

Opening his eyes, Steber could now see the rabbit again. But it was no longer dead, at least not by the traditional definition. It was alive but not. Glowing zombie eyes and a diabolic bestial grin met his gaze. Sergeant Anton Steber, hardened marine, opened his mouth and began to scream. He screamed for a very long time.

"NO!"

Steber awoke with a start and jumped up, as if touched by a live wire. Immediately after, he felt two hands grasp his shoulders. He made a fist, spun around, and punched the shadowy form as hard as he could. But instead of connecting with the tough skin of one of the monsters, his hand felt only soft tissue. And whatever he had hit didn't scream like one of them either.

"Ow! You almost broke my nose, you idiot!" It took Steber's eyes a moment to adjust and he soon realized that he had just nailed Walter Cray in the face. Clutching his nose and mouth, the scientist staggered backwards and leaned up against a wall. Though it had felt pretty good, part of Steber reddened with embarrassment.

"Sorry, doc, I thought you were one of them."
"I'm not so sure about that!" Cray snarled, still holding his nose. His voice sounded funny, as if he had a cold.

Now that Steber was awake, he began to take in his surroundings. They were in a gigantic room, perhaps a hundred meters from one side to the other. The power was still out, so the chamber was extremely dark. The only illumination came from the ceiling, which glowed with an eerie blue florescence. All around them, large boxes that had once been stacked in neat rows were scattered all over the floor in large heaps. He could see that several parts of the floor were covered with yellow and black paint, the international colors for ‘caution'. Steber guessed that this was some sort of shipping / storage area.

"Do you hear that?" Cray asked.
"Hear what?" Steber said and listened. All of a sudden, he realized that the entire room was pounding with the sounds of heavy machinery running at full speed. He recognized several sounds, including pistons, drills, and stamping machines. But there was something else behind all those noises that he had never heard before. It was a loud metallic scuttling crossed with the rising and falling tones of electric motors. Whatever was causing the sound obviously wasn't a part of the UAC equipment and it sent a shiver down Steber's spine.

"Now do you hear it?"
"Yeah. What is that?" Steber asked. "And how are these machines running without power?"
"I don't know, but I think we're getting very close to your source." Cray answered.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Steber said. "Porter, come on. We're almost there." All of a sudden, Cray looked down at the floor.
"What? Oh no."
"I think you'd better come see this." Cray said.

Steber peered into the remains of the elevator car and squeezed his eyes shut.

"After you made it into the elevator and passed out, Porter and I tried to get the door closed," Cray said. "Before we could, one of those flying skulls just barely made it in. It attacked Porter, nearly biting his hand right off." Steber looked down and saw that indeed his friend's arm had almost been severed at the elbow. Cray continued.

"I managed to kill the creature, but it exploded once I did. As you can see, a good deal of shrapnel flew into Porter's face."

That was an understatement. The weapon expert's face was ruined. Shards of metal still stuck out from wounds that had long ago dried up and stopped bleeding.

"After the lift hit the ground floor, it caught fire. By some miracle I didn't pass out and was able to drag your body out of there."
"Thank you," Steber said. Seeing Porter's dead body made him remember his nightmare. Cray must have seen something strange in the Sergeant's face.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just a dream I had while I was out," Steber said. But he knew it was no dream. He felt with deep conviction that it was the future and the fate of the human race. Taking a deep breath, Steber wondered about this. Was humanity's destiny set in stone? Or is the future always in motion? Could he stop whatever hellish plans these creatures had in store for Earth? He believed he could. He was not dead yet, which clearly meant something. One man to save the planet. Two, if you counted Cray, but Steber didn't. He had a strange feeling that the scientist wouldn't be making it out of here alive.

Nor did he have any great faith that he would either, for that matter. After all he had seen, after all the horrors that had been unleashed on Phobos, the only thing he wanted to do was lay down and die. But seeing those ship doors open and an army of demons pouring out over his home planet kept him going. It would be criminally selfish to give up now. The world, whether they knew it or not, was counting on him to come through.

Reaching down, Steber removed Porter's rocket launcher and searched the downed marine for any additional ammunition. He found one more machine gun clip and six mini rockets for the launcher. He loaded his rifle and tossed his pistol to Cray, who now had two guns.

"Come on," Steber said. "Let's finish this."