The Chaos Saga

by Samuel JT Pratley

  The arena was in a new section of the base. It had been built into the base of the mountain that was the back wall of the base. It was a large circular pit with rows of seats surrounding it. On one end above an entry gate was where the Base Commander would sit if there was an official battle. As this wasn't official, only the S1, S2 and S3 teams were allowed to watch.

  Jareth and Cheyenne entered the arena through opposite entries, both poised in their armours. Sam and the other 15 marines sat in the seats above them. Most had their eyes set on Cheyenne but Sam was more interested in seeing if Jareth was worthy of becoming an S1 marine.

  The starting bell sounded and Jareth ran towards Cheyenne. She stood ready for the clash. Their swords collided and sparks flew. Jareth's chain swords were grinding against Cheyenne's and sparks were flying in every direction. Cheyenne managed to push Jareth away before any more damage came to her swords.

  They collided again and again until Cheyenne managed to get behind Jareth, put a sword up to his throat and hold him above the ground. Everyone thought that the battle was over. They were wrong. Jareth's light armour began to increase in mass and he began to slowly lower onto the ground. He had changed his armour into the larger version, which very few marines could do. He threw Cheyenne into the far wall and then pulled his pulse shield off his back. He ran to the wall where Cheyenne was, planted his shield, and activated the pulse that protected the shield. Ramming himself into the back of the shield, a pulse wave emitted from the shield. Cheyenne narrowly avoided the wave by managing to run up a wall and back-flip over it. She ran towards Jareth and swung her swords. He dodged and bashed with his shield and managed to grab Cheyenne while she was stunned. He threw her onto the ground, then put one foot on her stomach and a chain sword up to her throat. He had won.

  4: The Youngling

  The next few months went by with Sam accepting Jareth into his team but he still didn't believe that he was his brother. Lachlan had advanced to the S2 team.

  The S1 team were sitting in their room, each on their own bed. The room had gotten bigger due to Jareth joining and there being a need for another bed. The room was in silence until Doc's voice blared through the comm system.

  "Oy, Sam! Get up here! There's something going down on Earth," he said.

  The S1 team reluctantly headed up to the command centre. They arrived to see almost all of the consoles filled with tacticians giving orders to their respective squads. Doc was standing centre stage, waiting for his teams to get into the fray.

  "What's going on here?" Matt asked as they walked up to where Doc was stationed.

  "There are reports of Xantho activity all over the Earth. We've sent most of the squads out but it doesn't seem to be working. Their numbers don't seem to be falling. We need you and S2 to head down there and see if you can make a dent in their numbers," Doc said, not taking his eyes off the main screen.

  "Team! Let's move!" Sam instructed.

  They headed to the teleporter room and found S2 on the way. They teleported to where the combat had started, deep in the streets of LA. When they got to their destination, the 12 of them noticed the ruined buildings that surrounded them. Most were either disintegrated by acid or sliced up. Bodies littered the ground. They decided to split up into four teams of three, each heading off in a different direction. Sam, Jareth and Lachlan headed towards the screams that were coming from the west. They came across several different kinds of Xanthos who were all focused on a singular building. The Xanthos ranged from the giant six-limbed Devastators to the tiny worm-like Creepers, and every kind in between. There were 14 of them in total.

  Sam, Lachlan and Jareth all had their terminator armours on and were ready for a fight but the Xanthos didn't notice them even when Sam bashed his hammer against his shield.

  "What's so fascinating about that particular building? Are there other humans trapped inside?" Jareth asked as they approached the Xanthos.

  "I don't know, but if there are any then we'd better get them out before the Xanthos have an afternoon snack," Sam replied. Xanthos did eat humans.

  "I'll get them out. You two stay here and distract them and I'll sneak around the back and free the humans. If there aren't any there then I'll attack from behind. Sound good? Yep, okay," Lachlan said as he ran down an alley way to try to find a way around the building.

  "Well, I guess that leaves the two of us to fight seven Xanthos each," Sam said.

  "How 'bout we make it a competition? The one that takes down the least Xanthos has to buy the whole S1 and S2 teams lunch after this is over. Deal?"

  "Deal."

  Lachlan activated his cloaking field as soon as he saw the first Xanthos. There were at least ten more around the north side of the building.

  "Dammit. Now I have to try and sneak around these guys too, or..." he said to himself as he looked up to see a propane tank that was on top of a nearby roof.

  Lachlan scaled the building with ease. He had no way of igniting the propane without being burnt alive in the process. Due to this, he decided to lift the tank up and throw it at the Xanthos. It was easier said than done. Lachlan tried with all his armour's strength and his own might to lift the tank, with no success.

  He sat on top of the roof for a few minutes, watching the Xanthos and trying to figure out a way to get their attention. He finally figured out that he could puncture the tank without activating his thunder claws, and let the propane flow down towards the Xanthos. They crowded around the strange liquid and all at once Lachlan activated his thunder claws and ignited the propane, which blew up in the Xanthos faces. Most died from being burned alive. The remaining few either ran off or followed the burning trail of oil to the building that Lachlan was cloaked upon. They were directly below him when he jumped off the roof and killed them both as his claws perforated their heads. Lachlan ran for the unguarded entrance to what looked like a local bank. He entered swiftly but then immediately exited and hid behind one the outside pillars. There were more Xanthos inside the building - only about five but they were huge and fearsome.

  Sam and Jareth weren't having any better luck with their Xanthos.

  "That's twelve. How many have you got, Jareth?"

  "Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen," Jareth replied as he sliced another Creeper in half. The Xanthos just kept coming, more and more, like a never ending wave. Sam and Jareth were slaughtering Xanthos but at a much slower rate than the Xanthos were flowing into the area. Soon they were overrun and heavily outnumbered. There was an unending wall of Xanthos between the Marines and the building. They were thinking of retreating when...

  "Yehaw!" they heard Matt say from behind and above them. They looked up to see Matt point his Gatling guns at the Xanthos. He hit the trigger and sprayed bullets down upon them with Peter not far behind, firing grenades into the horde. The remaining Xanthos dispersed with some heading towards Matt and Peter, and others fleeing the scene. The rest moved towards Sam and Jareth, who were both in the heavy terminator armour with their weapons and pulse shields ready. A volley of bullets came from behind and took down three of the six Xanthos. Sam took down another two and Jareth killed the last one. Sam and Jareth turned to see where the bullets had come from and behind them was a tall, dark-haired and bulky marine.

  "Thanks for that, Gareth," Sam said.

  Gareth was Chris' second in command and carried the standard bolt repeater machine gun, which most of the marines chose to use.

  "No problem. Where's your third member?" he asked.

  "Oh, ah, Lachlan snuck around back to see if he could rescue the people trapped in the building."

  By this time Matt and Peter had jumped down from their perch and joined Sam, Jareth and Gareth.

  "There aren't any people in there. You do know what that building is, don't ya? No? Well, it's a research facility, and they experiment on 'aliens', mainly Xanthos. These Xanthos came here to stop the research and free their brothers," Gareth said.

  The five of them ran around to where Lachlan was. They entered
the facility and took down the Xanthos that were in the lobby. They then heard a voice behind them.

  "Thanks for that. I knew that I couldn't take them alone," Lachlan said as he deactivated his cloaking field and appeared not too far from them.

  "What's our next move then? Do we try to take down the remaining Xanthos or should we try to free the ones here?" Matt asked.

  "I think it'd be best if Matt, Gareth and Peter regrouped with Chris and everyone else, while Lachlan, Jareth and I head down to free the Xanthos. Gareth, when you regroup with everyone else, bring them here and hold position until we emerge. Don't let anyone or anything enter or exit this place alive," Sam said.

  While Gareth, Matt and Peter ran off to find Chris, Sam, Jareth and Lachlan headed into the depths of the facility. It wasn't long before they started to hear the high pitched screech of a Xantho. It was its cry for help.

  "Chris, be ready for some heavy battling. This thing down here is screeching its distress signal."

  "Yeah, okay … be there soon."

  They found the Xantho. It was small, undernourished and had had all of its scales ripped off. Some were in test tubes with a coloured liquid. Others were suspended in fluid and one or two were next to a few broken tools. The Xantho itself was a Runner type. They were small - only around the size of a six year old. They were built for quick long bursts of speed. Their multiple arms had razor sharp claws designed for tearing flesh. They were a lot faster than the larger kinds of Xanthos because of their size and the scales which didn't weigh as much as the others. This Xantho, though, had dark blue-black blood patches where its scales used to be. The Xantho became quiet as it saw the marines.

  There was no-one in the large room apart from the marines and the Xantho. The three of them stared at the Xantho as they approached the experiment table. The Xantho's eyes darted from one marine to the next. It was a shock to the marines to see it in such a helpless state. They stood over the Xantho who looked young even for a Runner.

  "I knew I should've never let them capture one alive. They should've all been eliminated," a voice said from the darkness behind the marines.

  They all turned with their weapons drawn to see the Base Commander step out from the shadows. Lachlan and Jareth both knelt for him while Sam stood and asked, "How did you get here, Sir?"

  "That's unimportant. What is important is that we stop this barbaric practice before we go to war with the Xanthos."

  "It's too late for that. What you did all those years ago started the war between our worlds, when you brought this Xantho back and handed it over to these monsters."

  "Why do you assume I had anything to do with this?"

  "Because you're here. Why else would you be here?"

  "To help you free this youngling," the Commander replied. Sam didn't buy it.

  5: The Chaos Marines

  They were standing over the captive Xantho. All of its limbs had been outstretched and bound to the table.

  "What are we going to do with it?" Lachlan asked. Three sounds came from behind the marines and then came the clicks of a bolt gun's safety being disabled. They turned to see three Space Marines in pitch black armour with blood red highlights. The Ultra Marines raised their hands in surrender. The lead one spoke in a harsh and deep tone.

  "You'll be handing that there Xantho over to us. We're the ones that captured it and brought it here, and now we want it back."

  "How 'bout you lay down your weapons and get away from here before I whoop your sorry arses and release the Xantho so that we never have to go to war," Sam proposed.

  "You say 'we' as if we were one of you. We're not. We are the Chaos Marines. We were bred from pure anger, darkness and hatred, and we will stop at nothing to enslave all of mankind and rule the universe."

  "Well, that's a bit over the top. Don't you wanna start with something a little smaller and more achievable? What do you think, Sir ... of course he's gone," Sam said, looking over to where the Base Commander was. Where he'd stood, Sam only saw darkness.

  "Do we have to forcibly take the Xantho from you, Samuel?"

  Sam was not impressed with the use of his full name. He charged toward the first Chaos Marine, who dodged Sam's arm and grabbed it and pushed up his back.

  "Just for that the three of you will come with us," one of the Chaos Marines said as he opened a Chaos Portal.

  The Chaos Marines led the marines through the portal. It transported them to an open area enclosed by large stone walls. The marines were thrown onto the ground as the Chaos Marines walked away from them and turned to face them about 100 meters away.

  The ground under Sam's hands was cold.

  "Get up! Get up and face us!" the lead Chaos Marine yelled.

  Sam stood up and pulled his grav hammer and pulse shield off his back. He activated the pulse as he heard Lachlan's thunder claws whirr to life and Jareth's chain sword spin up. The lead Chaos Marine whose armour was more pointed and spiky than his cohorts' carried a broadsword that looked like it could cleave a building in half. It was nearly the size of its carrier and was pitch black with a blood red stripe up the middle of it. His companions both carried a bolt pistol and a chain sword each.

  Sam made the first move. He sprinted towards the lead Chaos Marine whose allies ran around Sam towards his team mates. The Chaos Marine swung his broadsword and it connected with Sam's shield. Normally anything that collided with a pulse shield would have been thrown backwards but the Chaos Marine had swung with such a force that Sam was knocked back. Sam got up and threw his hammer at the Chaos Marine, who dodged it by leaping to the side.

  "Crud." Now Sam only had his shield.

  This was the kind of battle that Jareth enjoyed, with swords clashing and sparks flying. He was in his lighter armour and wielded his dual chain swords. He loved getting close to his challenger, especially when he was winning and could see the fear in their eyes. But this time he wasn't winning, and neither was Lachlan.

  Sam ran towards the Chaos Marine with his shield raised, ready to bash him. The Chaos Marine began to swing his broadsword but then quickly moved around and kicked Sam in the back. He then put his broadsword on his back and pulled out a dagger. It was also pitch black with a red stripe. The Chaos Marine picked Sam up and held him by putting his arm around Sam's body. He then stabbed him multiple times until Sam went limp.

  The Chaos Marines regrouped between Lachlan, Jareth and the now dead Sam.

  "Your brother's dead, Jareth, and now you can realise your true fate. Come with us and become the Chaos Marine that you were always meant to be," the lead Chaos Marine said, outstretching his hand.

  It took a few seconds for Jareth to reply. He looked to Lachlan and then to the dead Sam.

  "I'm gonna have to say no. I'm not going to give into my Chaos side. If you wanna kill us then go ahead. We're not going to make it easy though," he said as his armour began to increase in mass.

  His armour wasn't the only one changing. All five marines turned to where Sam's body was. The noise of a changing armour came from his body. In disbelief they saw his body rise and sprout wings.

  Sam awoke to the sound of his armour changing. He thought that he'd died. He had no control over it. The blood red armour loosely clung to his body. It had gold juts, and rims where the armour pieces connected. It had large but proportionate blood red metal wings with gold rims. It only seemed to have a long sword, which was on his back. Then Sam looked down at his wrists to find that they were wrapped in multiple weapons - missile launchers, bolt guns and plasma shooters. Sam found himself more fascinated by the nail launcher. Nail launchers were weapons that fired 'nails' at targets, with enough force to knock them back. After a few seconds, the nail would explode even if it was impaled in its victim.

  The five Marines watched in awe as Sam rose from death. Two bangs could be heard from Sam as two nails embedded themselves in two of the Chaos Marines, knocking them back some distance. They then exploded, killing them.

  Sam took flight with his sword drawn
toward the last Chaos Marine but it wasn't needed. At the same moment that the Chaos Marine was distracted, Jareth stabbed him through the abdomen. He activated his chain sword, which began shredding the Chaos Marine's chest flesh. Before Sam regrouped with Jareth and Lachlan, Jareth asked Lachlan to keep his Chaos side a secret. Sam had landed a few metres away from Jareth and deactivated his armour.

  "That's the first time that's ever happened, to me at least," Sam said, still in shock.

  "Which part? The dying? Or the armour activating itself?" Jareth asked.

  "Both I guess. Whoa, check this out!"

  Even though his armour wasn't activated, Sam still had a full metal gauntlet covering his hand and wrist. It was red like his new armour and had a touch screen on it. The screen displayed both of Sam's armours.

  "I guess now I can choose which armour I want to use. Oh, but it seems to only have eight slots."

  "Oh no, only eight slots. At this rate you'll be full in about ten years, Sam," Lachlan said sarcastically.

  6: The Gauntlet

  The next few months passed with Doc trying to replicate Sam's new gauntlet. The S1 team carried on their duties as space marines. There was a lot more Xantho activity on Earth.

  The S1 team were sitting in the usual spot. Sam was still fascinated by his gauntlet, which didn't seem to work for anyone but him. Doc's face appeared on Sam's bed screen and said, "Sam, the Base Commander wants to see you in his headquarters. He only wants to see you though, Sam."

  With a parting wave to his fellow Marines, he headed to face his fate. Upon arrival he stood facing the Commander's throne, which was empty. To fill in time he decided to tinker with his gauntlet until he heard the Commander's voice coming up the hallway. He was talking to Doc. Unlike most marines who would've knelt at the sight of the Commander, Sam stood at an almost attention pose.