"It's good to see that you can still do that, Athena. I was worried you might not have been able to," Apollo said beside Sam.
"I am as surprised as you are, but now is not the time for surprise. I don't think these Chaos Marines are going to let up," Athena said.
Athena turned and faced the Defilers. She flicked her hand upward and five pillars of earth erupted from the ground, piercing the Defilers and causing them to explode.
"That should make your job easier," Athena said to Sam.
"Lachlan, Cheyenne, Jareth, make these fools pay for what they did to Matt and Peter," Sam yelled to his team mates.
"Poseidon, Zeus, show the Chaos Marines that they should never have come back into existence," Apollo commanded.
"Sir, yes Sir," they both said, confronting the Chaos Marines with Jareth, Cheyenne and Lachlan beside them. The Chaos Marines began to run toward the marines and the unknown armoured allies. The five of them faced their enemy head on.
"Just who the hell are you guys?" Sam asked, facing Apollo, who was standing next to him. Matthew, Hades and Athena made their way over to them.
Hades' armour was big, black and purple. It had a dog's head over each shoulder and a third over its back. Darkness wafted off its gauntlets. A face of a demon covered the face of whoever was under the armour.
Hades took off his demon helmet revealing...
"Dad!?" Matthew exclaimed as Malcolm's face became seeable.
"We're sorry for the deception, son," Malcolm said to the apparent shock on his son's face.
"Please don't hold this against us, Matthew. It was for your own protection," Athena said, taking off her goddess helmet.
"Mum?! Oh jeez, is there anything else you two want to tell me?" Matthew said, seeing Rachel's face again. "Is Apollo Chris?!" he continued in his frenzied and confused state.
"What? No. That'd be crazy," Apollo said. He removed his helmet and revealed a face neither Matthew nor Sam recognised.
"Really? You can't remember what your own father looks like, Sam?" Apollo asked.
Sam activated his beast mode and pointed his gatlers at Apollo's face.
"If you're my father then why did you abandon me?" Sam asked, growling.
"Look, we can talk about all of that when we get out of here. For now I think it'd be best if we focused on killing the Chaos Marines. We seem to be failing," Apollo said, seeing their allies being pushed back.
13: Marines and Constructs
"Meteor Shackle!"
"Sword Rain!"
"Really? I still don't have a name for one of my moves," Jareth complained. He watched Cheyenne fire one sword up into the air from a bow she could form using two others. What seemed like hundreds of swords rained down upon the Chaos Marines. Lachlan swung his light staff with enough speed and power to shatter bone and break spirits.
"You three, get behind us," they heard Zeus say.
Zeus' armour wasn't like the rest. It had exposed skin and very little cloth to cover the rest but he seemed to have a field of lightning surrounding him, protecting him from most damage. He had lightning bolt tattoos running up his arms. They glowed bright blue whenever he used any of his powers.
"You'll get one eventually, Jareth," Cheyenne said as the three of them gathered behind Zeus and Poseidon.
"Thunder Wave!"
The three of them watched Zeus' tattoos lit up as he and Poseidon combined their powers to create an electrified wave that swept over the Chaos Marines, zapping and killing a lot of them. Apollo, Hades, Athena, Sam and Matthew ran to where the other S1 Marines were. Lachlan and Cheyenne seemed to be out of breath.
"Sam," Lachlan said in between breaths.
"Yeah?"
"You know how we felt after fighting Chaos? Yeah, well, that's how we feel right now," Lachlan said, having to sit down from exhaustion.
"It's the Chaos Element," Apollo said.
"Chaos Element?" Matthew asked.
"Just like the five of us have elements, so does Chaos. Each time you hit a person who has the Chaos element, they absorb some of your power. That's why you often feel fatigued after fighting them."
"Get back in there, Lachlan. We'll come and help soon," Sam said.
"Yes, Sir," Lachlan replied, running back into the fray.
"That's what they are," Malcolm said with a thoughtful look on his face.
"What's what who are?" Sam asked, not really understanding what he'd asked.
"The Chaos Marines. They're Chaos Constructs."
"Are you going to continue saying words that us non-elementals don't understand?"
"Oh, sorry. Constructs are minions that can be created out of most elements. I can't think of any elements that can't create constructs."
"Sam, I could use a little help," Lachlan's voice said, blaring through the comms.
Sam turned to see that Lachlan was fighting Zac. A scream came from Cheyenne. Sam could see that she and Jareth were struggling against Davies.
"Matthew, go help Jareth and Cheyenne. I'll help Lachlan," Sam said.
"You got it," Matthew said, activating his chain armour. As Sam ran to help Lachlan, he activated Defender.
"When did you get that armour?"
He saw his father, Malcolm and Rachel running beside him.
"Not too long ago. What are you three doing?"
"We'll take down the rest of the Chaos Marines. Once you're done with Zac, go get Chaos," Malcolm said, giving Sam a thumbs-up as they ran. They parted ways as Sam continued to run toward Zac and Lachlan.
"ZZAAAAAAAC!" Sam yelled as he reversed his grip on his trident and pointed it Zac's heart.
14: Fighting the Betrayers
Sam leapt at Zac, who swiftly dodged the trident by jumping out of the way. Sam's trident slammed into the ground with enough force to lock it in place. The trident wouldn't budge as Sam tried to pull it out of the ground. Zac took the opportunity to draw his swords and try to cut Sam.
"Meteor Shackle!" Lachlan yelled as his spiked ball collided with Zac's sword seconds before it were to hit Sam. Lachlan stood his ground between Zac and Sam, swinging his spiked ball at his side.
"Hey, Sam. What would happen if you were to deactivate your armour now? Would your trident disappear or would it just say there and Defender would no longer have a weapon?" Lachlan asked, tilting his head toward Sam but not taking his eyes off Zac, who gave them both a confused look.
"Really? You're asking this now?" Sam responded, giving up on the stuck weapon.
"What better time is there?" Lachlan said.
"Hah! See I told you, Cheyenne. War is the best time for ask… ow! What was that for?" Jareth's voice came through the comms.
Sam couldn't help but look at his brother, who was on the other side of the battlefield.
Sam managed to draw the trident from the ground. He switched his armour to his beast mode and then into its humanoid form. He then activated his laser blades and gave Lachlan a nod. They both charged for Zac and were about to collide when Zac's jump pack activated and he flew up into the air. He sheathed both swords, unholstered his rifles, pulled both triggers and rained bullets upon the two S1 marines.
Sam and Lachlan activated their helmets and were pinned by the constant rain of bullets.
"Sam, I have an idea but you'll have to get him to stop shooting me," Lachlan said, his voice barely audible through the sound of bullets bouncing off their armours.
"I'll try, but no promises."
Sam tried to move, slowly edging his way out of the rain, and fired a few nails at Zac.
"Full Moon Blaster!" Lachlan shouted in the second that Zac was distracted. The wolf head on his chest opened to reveal a cannon, which fired a beam at Zac that was far larger than the cannon. Zac was knocked out of the sky and fell onto his back, his jump pack now useless. Sam ran over to him and activated his laser blades. He put one up to Zac's throat.
"Now I finish this," Sam said, rearing his hand up ready to stab Zac. Sam brought his hand down but Zac had managed to
open a portal behind him and slipped through it. Sam's hand crashed into the ground.
Matthew arrived beside Cheyenne and Jareth. Cheyenne was lying on the ground unconscious with blood trickling down her face.
"Is she okay?"
"Does it look like she's okay?" Jareth yelled back before sighing. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"It's okay, Jareth. Mum, could you make a barrier around Cheyenne? She's injured and I don't want her to get more harmed," Matthew said to his mother through the comms. A wall of earth formed around Cheyenne and engulfed her in stone and rock.
"Jareth, I know how you must be feeling. You're angry, and filled with hatred and rage. And you know what? The only way to get rid of that is to take down the one who did this," Matthew said, trying to comfort Jareth.
"Davies," Jareth whispered.
"Yes. I'll even let you take the first swing," Matthew said, activating his Axxon Armour.
"Nah, you can have it, but I get to finish it okay?"
"Deal. How does the stomach feel, Davies?" Matthew said, taunting him.
Davies' stomach still had blood trickling from it, but although he seemed weakened he was still powerful enough to take down Cheyenne. Davies revved up his chain swords and charged for them. Jareth stepped out of the way and Matthew ran toward Davies. Davies threw one of swords at Matthew, but he sped up and slid under the sword. Matthew, while in mid slide, swung his remaining hand axe and sliced off Davies leg at the knee. Davies fell on the ground, writhing in pain.
"Any last words?" Matthew asked, standing over the crippled Marine.
"Yeah, an eye for an eye, bitch," Davies spun in the ground and cut Matthew's leg just above the foot. Matthew went down onto one leg and held his leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He saw Jareth climb on top of Davies, clench his fist and begin to punch Davies in the face.
"This is for Peter, this is Matt, this is for Cheyenne and this is for me," Jareth said slamming his Gauntlet fist into Davies face, whose face was now void of any life.
"You've just killed my top lieutenant."
Matthew looked up to see Zac standing over him. Zac swung his sword and Matthew ducked, barely avoiding the swing. Jareth threw his sword at Zac. It collided with his stomach and Zac exploded into black shards.
"Stupid Chaos Constructs," Jareth muttered to himself as he picked up his sword. "How's the leg?" he asked Matthew, who was still cradling his leg.
"Not good I'm afraid. I think I'm out of action for this fight."
"Athena, your son's been injured. We need you to…"
"Matthew!" Athena appeared out of the ground next to her son.
"I'll leave you two to it then," Jareth said, running off.
15: Chaos Demons
Sam, Jareth and Lachlan met up with the adults at the frontline of the very few Chaos Marines that remained. No one seemed to be fighting.
"What's going on?" Sam asked.
"The Chaos Marines are waiting for something," Apollo answered.
A Chaos Portal opened in a clearing through the Chaos Marines. Chaos stepped out, followed by Zac. Chaos held his left hand out, palm pointed to the ground. An orb of chaos appeared in his hand. He clenched his fist and the orb burst into shards. Each shard landed with a soft twang. The shards began to rattle and shake, and each one exploded, creating a Chaos Portal. A few moments passed and nothing happened.
"Come, my Chaos Demons. Come forth from the Chaos Plain and slay the Unworthy," Chaos yelled.
"What's an Unworthy?" Sam asked.
"It's what the Chaos Marines call non-chaos elementals," Poseidon replied.
There was a loud screech and a man-sized thing came through the portal. It was blood red, walked on stilt-like legs and had thin but sharp arms. The Demon carried a sword that looked like it had been forged in a hell forge and drenched in blood. Slowly but surely more and more Demons poured through the open portals. It started off as a drip and then quickly turned into open flood gates as the Demons began to run through the portals. The Demons made a wall between the Chaos Marines and the marines. There were now thousands of them, each one thirsty for blood.
The first Demon made its move but was quickly struck down by a fireball from Apollo.
"Get ready for battle," he said, readying another one.
Sam activated his laser blades. Lachlan's staff materialised in his hands and Jareth unsheathed his cobra sword. They all took up defence positions as the horde of Chaos Demons began their attack.
16: A Father's Sacrifice
The marines were quickly outmatched. One by one they began to take damage but they still fought on.
"I've called in a drop ship. I don't think that we'll all make it but we can make sure the young ones do," Athena said through the comms, still with Matthew and Cheyenne.
"Agreed," Apollo said, slaying another Demon.
It took a few more minutes of fighting for the drop ship to arrive. In that time Lachlan had taken a few good cuts and slices to his body and limbs. Jareth's sword was knocked out of his hand and he was now only defending himself with his shield. Sam's gatlers had been decapitated. The adults didn't seem to be taking a lot of damage but were seriously dishing it out. For every one demon that Sam had slain, Apollo had taken down at least seven.
"Team, make sure my sons get on that ship. I'll handle this," Apollo said to his team.
"But Sir…"
"Have a little faith in me, Zeus. Now go."
Zeus, Poseidon and Hades each grabbed a marine and sprinted to the ship.
"Let me go. I have to help my dad," Sam protested against Hades' grip.
"Sam, please. Your father knows what he's doing."
In the distance they could hear Apollo fighting off hundreds of Demons.
"Fire Burst Destruction!" An eruption of fire burst from Apollo, creating a wall of fire between him and the marines. The heat could be felt from the drop ship where Athena was loading Cheyenne and Matthew onto it.
"Quickly! C'mon," she said to her team as they approached with the marines in their arms.
Once they were all aboard they waited for a few seconds to see if Apollo was going to make it. There was no sign of him or any demons pursuing them. They took off and flew back to base in silence.
Epilogue
The next few weeks passed with no Chaos Marine attacks. It was nearing the end of the year and with no attacks happening, the base decided to close down for Christmas. The S1 team had all healed since the battle with only minor scares and bruises. Sam was sitting in the S1 bedroom when Matthew, Chris and the General walked past.
"Ahh, Sam. It's good to see that you've recovered. Aren't you heading home for the summer?"
"No, Sir. I don't have a home to go to. I've lived my entire life here at the base."
"Well, then, why don't you come and live with us?" Matthew suggested.
"Would that be okay, Sir?"
"Of course, Sam. Any friend of Chris and Matthew is a friend of mine."
"Chris isn't really a friend," Sam said, getting a laugh.
"Hey, Sam. Did you hear that Jareth and Cheyenne are a thing now?" Matthew said as they walked the halls of the empty base.
"WHAT!?"
Part Three - Chaos' Reign
The Chaos Marine threat is at an all time high in the galaxy. Countless worlds have fallen to the tyranny of the Chaos lord and have been forced to embrace the Chaos element. New members and friends with dark secrets surround Sam and the S1 team. Will the new concept of elements be able to turn the tide of the war?
1: The Tournament
As he sprinted through the forest he could hear and feel himself running out of breath. The trees around him shattered as bullets whistled passed him. A loud crack came from behind him and a tree began to fall. He dodged the tree and took refuge in the fallen canopy. The men firing at him ran over the felled tree, not thinking to look around. They were now firing at nothing and wasting their bullets. He waited a while but no-one came. He moved slightly and was hauled ou
t of the downed giant.
"You're not the greatest of hiders," said the person who had found him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm with you," he said, flashing the gold and blue emblem at his captor, who looked at his own shoulder to confirm that they were on the same team.
"Follow me. Quickly," the captor said, running off.
They made their way to a cave not far from the forest.
"Name and rank?" the stranger asked as they entered the cave.
"I'm Sam, from S1," Sam said, still puffing from all the running.
"Oh, crap."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't recognise you without your armour," the stranger said, kneeling.
"Who are you then?" Sam asked.
"My name is Taine. I'm from A6."
"That's not so bad. So how'd you end up in this tournament with the honour of being my partner?"
"My base offered a competition and the marine that got the most enemy kills in a month got the opportunity to enter a tournament and fight alongside a high ranked marine."
"And how many did you get?"
"600."
"600? In one month? Wow, you do deserve to be here."
The two marines were competing in a tournament where two random marines from each faction would be thrown into a simulated environment where the last one standing won, or if both marines from the same Faction survived they'd both win. None of the competitors had access to their armours so it was a fair fight.
Sam and Taine stayed the night in the cave, which was hidden by a thick bush.
"How'd you find out about this cave?"
"We've been in this place for a few days now, while you were fighting. I was scouting out the area, as I know every nook and cranny that this area has to offer."
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