The soldiers entered the room, guns up ready for battle. Vince ‘Gamble’ Carone, being gunnery sergeant, took point. Distant chants could be heard coming from a few rooms away. They cautiously walked down the corridors of the stingy warehouse, Gamble checking every room, rifle high, as they went. None of them noticed the 10th soldier, Max ‘Slug’ Shorte, who was guarding flank, get gagged and dragged away. Slug squirmed as two pairs of massive hands clamped down around him. One covering his mouth the other pair reeling him back. He tried to scream but nothing came out. Looking up, he saw nothing but blackness. The remaining nine soldiers walked further and further away, leaving him behind to deal with whatever the fuck had snatched him.

Gamble turned to the other soldiers, still oblivious to Slug’s absence, and silently signaled for one of them to come and open the door with him. The chanting was louder, most likely coming from the next room. Madeline ‘Blossom’ Gertrude came up next to Gamble. She was tall and extremely thin, towering over Gamble she reached over for the door handle. Just as the two of them went to open the doors, Wyatt ‘Boone’ Boonezie turned around to talk to Slug, who should have been manning the back of the group.

‘Oi, Slug what do you reckon…’ Boone stopped in mid sentence, immediately realizing that the elderly soldier was missing. He turned to the rest of the group. ‘Shit! Get the fuck out of here! It’s a trap!’But it was too late. Just as Boone had yelled out, Blossom and Gamble had wrenched open the door. Then all hell broke loose.

Blossom and Gamble were assaulted by a hail of turret fire. Instinctively, Gamble dived right, dropping his assault rifle in mid-barrel role, managing to only take a bullet to hip. Blossom on the other hand, just stood there and made a stupid, horrified face at the turret. A face that knew what was coming next. Milliseconds later she was ripped apart like a piece of paper. The bullets tore right through her, each one a direct hit to her torso, forcing her to stand for a full six seconds after she had already died. Her body crumbled to the ground, limp.

On the other side of the doorway, men burst out of the shadows, about 60 of them. All shrouded in darkness, but even the dim lighting couldn’t mask the 3 and a half foot long swords each of them were brandishing. Boone let fire first, taking out two of them with swift shots to the head. But it was useless the others just kept coming, they would be all over the marines in seconds. And in that very instance all seven soldiers shared the exact same thought. Fucking run.

The majority of them turned left and bailed down another corridor. Boone and

two other soldiers however, spun around and ran into a small room. Slamming the door shut behind them. The two soldiers who had followed Boone, Fergus ‘Davinci’ Manning and Eric ‘Nitro’ Hansen, pressed themselves firmly against the door, sealing it. Davinci, being the bigger of the two took most of the weight.

‘Boone, find a fucking way out of here!’ Nitro called out.Boone searched frantically for a way out, finally spotting a window on the far

wall. He raced over to it and threw back the curtains. Yes! He thought, seeing the fire escape hanging on the outer wall of the window.

‘Boys, I think our luck is taking a turn’ Boone said with a wide grin forming on his face. Nitro and Davinci both turned to see the fire escape and just as Boone had done, the two of them risked a smile. Boone had already clambered out the window and was signaling for them to come. Just then one of the swords sliced through the door missing Davinci’s body by centimeters. The two marines exchanged a glance and simultaneously released themselves from the door and bolted towards the window after Boone.

The reaction was instantaneous, as soon as Nitro and Davinci had taken off a group of sword wielding psychopaths burst through the door. Nitro dived through the window first landing belly first on the cold, steel fire escape. Davinci however, was immediately cornered by one of the swordsmen. The man swung his sword powerfully and Davinci’s head. It made contact. Just not with his head, it had hit his hand. Davinci had reached out and caught the blade in mid-swipe! Streams of blood poured down along the glistening white blade. Once he realized what was happening, Nitro let loose with a flying kick through the window, nailing the swordsman right in the face. His nose shattered and he fell to the floor. Dead. Though it had only spared about a second, Davinci hadn’t wasted it; he was already out the window by the time that the next swordsman had lunged at him with his sword. The three marines continued to climb the fire escape, up onto the rooftop.

Back in the main room, Gamble was facing problems of his own. The one marine who had been with him in the room was Blossom and she was practically in two on the floor! Torn to shreds by the turret placed at the far wall of the room. The only thing standing between Gamble and it was the metallic crate that he had taken cover behind. And just to top things off he had dropped his assault rifle by Blossom’s now deceased body. He reached down and un-holstered his revolver. It wasn’t going to be long before the person standing behind that turret decided to take action, either that or the thirty maniacs outside the room came it swords-blazing. Gamble would only get one shot at this and he knew it. He took a deep breath.

‘Fuck it.’ Were the last words Vince Carone ever thought would come out of his

mouth. With that he quickly leaned out over the top of the crate and took aim.Blam.

Four marines charged down through a corridor taking numerous, random lefts and rights. Leading them… Corporal Sam ‘Shotgun’ Hurlington. Following Shotgun were Penelope ‘Goldilocks’ Mayer, Don ‘Quicksand’ Bates and Lance ‘Boxer’ McIntosh. The four of them barged through various doors until finally they came to a dead end.

‘Fuck!’ Shotgun yelled in frustration.The distant sounds of the swordsmen screaming were getting louder… closer.

Shotgun just closed his eyes and recollected himself. Finally he spoke.‘Quicksand, you take guard, take as many of those motherfuckers out as you

can.’‘On it.’ Quicksand pulled out his extended Barrett Sniper Rifle and knelt down

aiming down the corridor. Shotgun turned to Boxer.‘Boxer, you take cover by the doorway, kill anyone who manages to pass it.’ With

that Boxer quickly made his way to the side of the door and raised his gun, ready to blow anyone away who passed the threshold into the room. Shotgun turned to Goldilocks, he glared at the ceiling. ‘Goldy, I need you to help us get into that air vent.’ Goldilocks looked up to see an air vent protruding along the ceiling.

Within seconds Goldilocks was on Shotgun’s shoulders and dismantling the entrance to the vent and then the first swordsman arrived. Quicksand took him out with frightening speed. Five more took his place. Goldilocks slowly clambered into the air vent. Quicksand continued to take out the swordsmen, racking the body count up to nine now. Just then, the first swordsman dashed through the doorway. Only to be shot in the head by Boxer’s Berretta. The man’s brains practically painted the wall a sickly pink/red color. Shotgun made his way up into the vent, indicating to Quicksand and Boxer to follow.

However, the two marines were pinned down, barely managing to fend off the horde of incoming swordsmen. Quicksand went dry first, just as a swordsman managed to bypass Boxer and come straight for him sending his broadsword down towards Quicksand, he quickly raised his rifle and parried the blow. Instinctively, he then swung his rifle round smacking the deranged psychopath square in the jaw, knocking him out cold. Boxer fared the best he could firing rapidly at the incoming ‘battalion’. He ran dry. A swordsman approached him, raised his sword and at that very moment Boxer closed his eyes and waited for the end to come.

Three floors below in a small cellar Slug was being carried into a chamber which consisted of a long, rectangular table with leather straps attached to it. Three men wearing long, hooded yellow robes carried him towards it. Another man dressed in a non-hooded brown robe, wielding a broadsword stood by the entrance to the chamber. It was pitch black, the only light coming from candles lined along the perimeter of the room. The yellow-robed men placed Slug on the table and un-gagged him.

‘Fucking Cultists!’ Slug cried out immediately.Slug looked more closely at their faces: each of them bore distinctive tattoos

and markings. One of them mumbled something: a chant; and waved his hand briefly over Slug’s face. It was all he needed. Slug opened his mouth wide and bit down hard on the cultist’s hand. He drew blood – fast. The man shrieked in agony. The other two cultists immediately looked up in astonishment. Slug lashed out. He let fly with a series of brutal kicks, back heeling the cultist on his right directly in his Adams-Apple, knocking it back through his throat. With only one cultist left holding him down, Slug overpowered him with ease. Thrashing around, knocking him to the ground. The brown-robed swordsman by the door came rushing over, sword raised in the air. He was easily half a foot taller than slug, placing him at about six foot three. Given Slug’s size and figure, the odds weren’t in his favor. The swordsman swiped at his head. Slug ducked and reeled up with a lethal upper cut, connecting with the man’s chin. He went sprawling off of his feet and into the air, landing back-first on the ground. Slug leaped on top of him and started pounding away. Battering the man’s face to a spurting pulp. He then picked up the dead man’s sword and javelin threw it at one of the stunned cultist. He left the other one to deal with his partially gnawed off hand.

Slug bolted down the candle-lit chamber towards the double door. He burst through it, sending each door in opposite directions. And to Slug’s horror he found himself staring down the barrel of a Glock pistol.

‘Fuck me, that’s just not fair!’ Blam.The bullet went straight though Slug’s throat, missing his windpipe by a

millimeter. Slug came crashing to the ground, literally speechless. He looked up and saw one of the ugliest faces he’d ever seen, a face that he had seen before, the face of a man Slug had once considered a noble ally. The man just picked Slug up off the floor effortlessly and practically hauled him onto the table, strapping the leather bands around his wrists and ankles. The surviving cultist picked up the sword on the floor and mumbled a chant. Slug stared up in absolute terror; it was like being in some kind of sadistic horror film. His voice box shattered, Slug lay there soundless and the cultist raised the sword high in the air and, brought it back down with

lighting speed: cutting through Slug’s chest like butter. Max ‘Slug’ Shorte, lay there on the sacrificial table. Dead.

On the opposite side of the warehouse, Boone, Nitro and Davinci stood stranded on the roof. The swordsmen close behind.

Davinci said ‘We need to find a way out of here. Now.’Nitro pulled out his Desert Eagle and cocked it. ‘They’ve got fucking swords. I

say that we take the bastards out.’ He said. Boone pulled out his sub machine gun. ‘Good idea.’With that all three marines directed their guns at the fire escape. As soon as the

first swordsman appeared, they all jammed their fingers down on their triggers. The swordsman’s head snapped backwards and he toppled off the fire escape. Davinci was the first to run out of ammo. He dropped his Glock pistol and equipped a sparkling Swiss Army Knife. He charged at them. The swordsmen never saw it coming. The brute of a man just effortlessly shoulder budged one of them off the top of the warehouse. Boone and Nitro stood there in utter astonishment. Davinci swung his right hand around and nailed a swordsman in the neck with his knife. The man tumbled back down the stairs taking four others with him. And then Davinci saw something that shook him to his core. The line of swordsmen protruded all the way back through the window. There was a fucking army of these guys. Davinci spun around.

‘There’s too many of them! We gotta fall back!’He never saw the swordsman come up behind him and raise his broadsword

above Davinci’s head. A shot rang out. The swordsman behind Davinci crumbled to the ground with a bullet hole in his left eye. Davinci just stared at the smoking barrel of Nitro’s gun, wide eyed. The three of them sprinted to the far end of the rooftop. Boone looked over the edge it was an eight story drop. He looked a bit further to see a telephone line, hanging low, and parallel to the rooftop. It was about 6 feet away. No, there was no way they could make the jump. There had to be something else. Another way to get out, Boone searched around frantically but found nothing. Just then something raced past him and went sprawling off the roof. It was Nitro. The young soldier had seen where Boone was looking at and had followed his gaze to the telephone line. The marine soared through the air, arms outstretched. He began to descend rapidly. He wasn’t going to make it. Just then Nitro reached up and clasped his hands around the telephone wire, holding on with his fingertips! He grunted in pain.

Boone and Davinci stared at him, mouths agape, they turned around to see a few swordsmen enter the rooftop. Without hesitation the two of them took a

running start and leaped off the top of the warehouse, both of them barely managing to clutch onto the telephone wire. All three marines dangled in mid-air staring at the horde of cultists opposite them.

Boone caught his grip on the wire and managed to unclip his 9mm Jericho pistol with his left hand. The marine took aim and started to pick of the defenseless swordsmen one by one.

‘Boone! We can’t keep this up for much longer; we’re gonna fall!’ Nitro grunted.Nitro was right; the three marines were bound to fall at any moment. Boone looked around for some form of escape, but there was nothing. Davinci fell first, the big marine lost his grip on the wire and let go. Davinci fell and then abruptly his fall was cut short and the marine lay still in mid-air. He looked up to see that Nitro had released his right hand of the wire and grabbed Davinci just as he had fallen.

‘Holy shit…’ Davinci breathed.Nitro was already straining under the pressure of supporting his body weight and Davinci’s as well.

‘Boone…’ Both Nitro’s hands were swelling with pain.‘Just do as I do’ Boone replied. With that Boone swung himself towards the

warehouse and leapt off from the telephone wire. He dropped like a stone, falling whole 3 stories before clasping onto a window ledge. The impact nearly tore his arm out of its socket. Nitro swung Davinci first, letting him grab onto the window ledge. Then with one final look at the swordsmen above him Nitro swung off the wire and fell through the air.

He fell 3 stories, stretched out to get a hold of the ledge. He missed the mark. Nitro dropped down past the window ledge were Davinci and Boone were. He fell another story, stretched his arms out and crashed against the ledge below. The impact was so great that Nitro’s left arm actually did come out of its socket, dislocating his shoulder. He screamed in pain.

‘Nitro you okay?’ Boone called down to him.‘Shiny…’ Nitro retorted sarcastically.‘Alright, go in through the window and we’ll regroup on your level. Here take

this.’ Boone dropped a walkie talkie down to Nitro; he caught it with his left hand letting out another agonizing yelp. ‘Okay see you on the other side!’ Boone and Davinci climbed in through their window. Nitro tucked the walkie talkie into his belt and clambered through his window.

Blam.Gamble hit the mark and the man at the turret dropped dead with a bullet

lodged in between his eyes. Gamble let out a sigh and crawled forward towards his

assault rifle. He picked up his blood-covered M4 Carbine and limped towards the turret. He could still hear the chanting. Except now, it was closer. He was about to follow the chants into another room when a much more distinct noise caught his attention. A snigger.

‘Who’s there?’ Gamble whispered.When Blossom had been hit she had fired her gun wildly into the air, one of her bullets had busted the lamp on the ceiling plunging the room into near pitch darkness. Gamble’s eye’s had somewhat adjusted to the lighting but everything was still shady. Another snigger echoed in the room and Gamble saw the shadow of someone flash in front of him. He raised his rifle.

‘Who the fuck are you!; He exclaimed.Just then Gamble felt someone breathing on the back of his neck. He swung his rifle round but hit nothing.

‘Fuck this.’ He said finally and with that the marine started firing off in all directions. His gunfire illuminated the room. After about five seconds he stopped and everything lay still. Silent.

Gamble stood there, although he was hiding it, he was scared shitless. Then, a manic laughter broke the silence and filled the entire room. It was a sickly laugh, one of a severely disturbed individual. Gamble turned and was hit square in the face. A stun shot. He crumbled to the ground and a man climbed on top of him and brought his face up to Gamble’s. Even though it was almost completely black, the man’s face was still luminous. Gamble realized who the man was instantly and his blood ran cold. Ewan Krester, A.K.A “The Texas Tooth Fairy”

Krester was one of the most notorious serial killers in the world. Made famous for his killing spree in Texas in 1999. It is said that not a single tooth in his mouth actually belonged to him originally. He’s known to extract one tooth from each of his victims and replace one of his own with it. He then eats his victims alive. Any spare teeth that he collects he apparently adds to a collection of tooth-made jewelry. Interesting fact, Krester disappeared of the face of the earth in 2003. No one had seen him since. Another interesting fact, he has a sadistic obsession with Vince ‘Gamble’ Carone. Only the higher up people knew why Krester wanted Gamble’s blood so badly and Gamble wasn’t much of the sharing type.

Krester grinned, unmasking his repulsive, sharpened teeth all of various shapes and colors. He put his hand around Gamble’s mouth.

‘I’ve been watching you…’ He sniggered. ‘I’m always watching you.’ Krester brought his face millimeters away from Gamble’s and opened his mouth –

‘Hello! Gamble! Blossom!’ Someone called from just outside the room. It was Nitro. Krester grunted and turned to Gamble.

‘It appears that we’ll have to cut this meeting short Vincey.’ With that Krester stood up and quickly skulked away into the shadows.

‘Hello!’ Nitro called again.‘In here…’ Gamble groaned. Nitro dashed into the room obliviously stepping in

what remained of Blossom Gertrude. ‘Gamble… Thank God. Where’s Bloss…’ He cut himself short realizing what he

was standing in. ‘Oh fuck.’ He finally breathed.Gamble stood up and said ‘Nitro, we gotta keep moving we can’t stay here.’‘Why?’ ‘He’s here.’‘Who?’‘Krester.’ Both Gamble and Nitro were silent. ‘Plus it won’t be long till those

cocksucking cultist freaks show up again.’ ‘Boone and Davinci are upstairs; I got a radio, we could regroup with them and

think about what to do from there.’ Nitro suggested.‘No, Boone and Davinci can handle themselves, we’ve already lost one good

marine tonight let’s try not to lose anymore. We’re going after Slug. Tell Boone to try and find the others.’

Nitro keyed in on his walkie talkie and then after mending to each other’s wounds Gamble and Nitro took off down the corridor.

Boxer closed his eyes and waited for the end to come. It never did. Just as the swordsman had slashed at him, Quicksand had whipped out his Typhoon 15-W Muela knife and dived at the swordsman. The two of them rolled around the ground in a desperate struggle. Boxer didn’t miss a beat; he quickly took out his Typhoon and started slashing away at the swordsman in front of him. Quicksand forced his knife down into the swordsman’s cheek, driving it back through the bottom of his brain.

‘Shotgun! You’re gonna have to go on, Boxer and I will find another way to meet up with you two.’

Shotgun turned to Goldilocks ‘Go… we gotta keep moving’‘What about Boxer and Quicksand?’ ‘They’ll have to figure something out, we can’t wait for them’

The two marines started to maneuver their way down the air vent. After a few minutes Shotgun and Goldilocks came to a drop in the vent. It led down to a blue-lit room containing what appeared to be several barren tables. Shotgun gripped his Maverick 88 tightly and dropped down. Goldilocks holding her M4 Carbine did the same. The two of them landed in the room guns up. Goldilocks glanced over at the table noticing something hanging off of them.

‘The tables have straps attached to them’ she whispered.‘Sacrificial tables…’ Shotgun cocked his Maverick 88 and cautiously made his

way down the corridor. Chanting could be heard coming from not too far away. Shotgun and Goldilocks came to a dented and dusty door, they both pressed firmly against each side of it. The chanting was much louder, coming from behind the door. ‘Guns up.’ Shotgun said. Goldilocks nodded. With that Shotgun kicked down the door and the two of them quickly charged the room, raising their guns.

Boxer and Quicksand slowly backed away from the swarm of swordsmen. The two marines stood at the end of the room, back’s pressed against the cold wall. There were about 20 swordsmen just staring at them ready to go in for the kill.Quicksand turned to Boxer ‘Looks like it’s the end of the road for us…’ he said.

‘Not quite mate.’ Boxer reached for his belt. ‘Close your eyes.’ Quicksand didn’t hesitate he just did as he was told and squeezed his eyes shut, Boxer pulled a flash-bang grenade from his belt and pulled the pin. He closed his eyes and a small pop went off, followed by a crackling explosion. The white light filled the room instantly, blinding anything that looked at it. All the swordsmen fell to their knees screaming in agony: clutching their eyes. Quicksand and Boxer opened their eyes.

‘This way...’ Boxer indicated towards the door. The two marines sprinted off down the corridor.

Boone and Davinci were in a massive, empty room, filled with nothing but windows. Boone had dropped his M4 Carbine as he had jumped from the roof to the telephone wire; Davinci on the other hand had had his strapped around his neck at the time. The two of them walked towards the end of the room Boone holding his Jericho and Davinci with his custom black and white M4 Carbine. Everything was silent. They hadn’t been to this level yet so neither of them knew the layout of the floor. Boone gently pushed the door open and a rabid dog manically pounced at him. Teeth outstretched the dog took a swift bullet to the jaw – from no other than Davinci Manning.

‘Thanks, what the fuck are dogs doing up here?’ Boone said shocked at how quick that had all just happened.

‘Don’t mention it and I got no clue, but seeing the shit that I’ve seen today, I can safely say dogs are the least of our problems.’Both of them proceeded through the doorway and down a corridor. They came to a stairwell. Lunatic-like screams were coming from above them.

‘Well we don’t want to go that way’ Davinci muttered. Just then Boone’s radio went off and Nitro’s voice came in over it.

‘Boone you there? Do you read me?’

‘I read you Nitro, what’s up?’ Boone replied.‘I’ve regrouped with Gamble and we’re going to go look for Slug. He wants you

and Davinci to try and find Shotgun, Goldy, Quicksand and Boxer. We’ll give you a call when we get Slug. Nitro out.’‘Copy that.’ Boone turned to Davinci. ‘Looks like we don’t have to…’ The two marines advanced down the stairwell, leaving the psychotic hollers of the swordsmen in the distance.

‘Alright, so last time we saw Slug was a bit before Blossom and I got nailed by the turret fucker.’

‘Think so.’ Nitro replied.Gamble and Nitro walked down the corridor they had came down about an hour beforehand. They came to a corner. Footsteps: someone was coming in their direction. Gamble signaled to Nitro to be quiet. A silhouette passed in front of them and with expert speed Gamble lifted his M4 Carbine and pressed against the person’s temple.

‘Hold it’ he said coldly.‘Stand down marine.’ A voice said back with strict authority.‘Buckley?’

Out of the shadows stepped Colonel. Dustin Buckley, callsign: Predator.‘Yes. Now lower your goddamn rifle Carone.’ He ordered. Gamble did as he was

told and lowered his Carbine. ‘Sorry sir, I was er… unaware of your presence during this mission’‘I was assigned to check up on your squad and investigate the situation at this

warehouse even further. So tell me Carone, what’ve we got here?’‘Well to be frank sir, we’re knee deep in a whole new world of shit. My entire

squad has been divided, with one marine down and another one missing. We got a multitude of blood-thirsty fuckers carrying swords coming at us left, right and centre and we’ve yet to locate the girl.’

The reason that Gamble and his squad of nine marines had been assigned to investigate this warehouse was because it was believed that the president’s daughter had been abducted by a small group of cultists called the “Clan of Sekhmet”. Apparently it hadn’t turned out to be such a small group after all.

‘Which marine is down?’‘Private. Madeline Gertrude.’‘Ah, Blossom.’ Predator said feigning sympathy ‘She was a good soldier’‘You knew her sir?’‘She served under me during the events Operation Enduring Freedom.’

Manic howls filled the otherwise calm corridor. Nitro cut in.‘Hate to cut in on the whole memorial but I really think we ought to get going.’‘Agreed...’ Gamble said ‘Lead the way Colonel.’

Predator, Gamble and Nitro all took off down the corridor, turning numerous corners until they finally arrived at the opposite end of the warehouse facing a downwards spiraling staircase. Minutes later about 30 or so swordsmen filled the corridor they had been standing in.

Quicksand and Boxer moved quickly, sprinting through rooms and halls, moving at lightning speed, literally running for their lives. With the two of them out of ammunition, they would be annihilated if the swordsmen caught up with them. They had barely escaped their last encounter with the swordsmen, saved by Boxer’s flash-bang grenade. The two of them slammed through a flimsy door, nearly taking it off its hinges, leading to a back stairwell. Instantly they both ran into two figures, clashing head on forcing them to drop their Typhoon knives. Defenseless and dazed Quicksand and Boxer dropped to the ground.

‘Quicksand? Boxer?’ a familiar voice said.Quicksand looked up – ‘Boone! Fuck am I glad to see you! We’re been fucking hunted by these psychos!’ Boone extended an arm helping, Quicksand up off the floor; Davinci did the same for Boxer. ‘So what do we do know?’ Quicksand asked.

‘Well I for one want to get the hell out of this Hell, where are Shotgun and Goldilocks?’

‘We split up about ten minutes ago.’ Boxer said utterly breathless from running. Davinci bent down and picked up the two knives handing them to both Boxer and Quicksand.

‘You might need these. How many do you reckon there were back there?’‘I’d say maybe about ten to fifteen of them.’ Quicksand said. Boone cocked his Jericho pistol – ‘Alright, fuck it, we’ve been on the back heel all

day, it’s time to take action. Boxer, Davinci set up some trip wires around here. Davinci you still got your Glock?’ Davinci whipped out a Glock pistol and handed it to Boone. ‘Right, Quicksand take this, you’re with me. We’re gonna nail these fuckers.’

Within two minutes both Boone and Quicksand were cautiously making their way down a particularly long corridor, pistols raised: ready to fire. Quicksand, being an excellent marksman crouched down with his reticules aimed at the end of the corridor, whilst Boone proceeded forward. Boone was near the end of the corridor and two swordsmen came charging round the corner only to receive two bullets to their heads – blown away by Quicksand’s rapid Glock pistol fire. Boone took a deep breath, raised his Jericho and turned the corner. He searched for a target, but there

was no one there.‘Quicksand, its all clear. You sure this is the way you came?’ Boone asked

intently.‘Fucking A’Just then a shuddering boom filled the floor, the ground beneath Boone and

Quicksand shook violently. An explosion had just gone off. Correction, a tripwire had just gone off…

All of a sudden things became very clear to Boone, they’d been tricked. The two swordsmen Quicksand had just taken out were decoys to mask the swordsmen’s actual plan. This was to take out Davinci and Boxer and attack Boone and Quicksand from the back. Davinci and Boxer, only having one gun between them, would be overpowered within minutes. Perhaps the tripwire trap had taken out the remainder of the swordsmen; after all there were only about 15 of them by Quicksand and Boxer’s count. Then Boone heard something that brought a sickly feeling of worry upon him. The sound of machine gun fire. There were obviously more than 15 of them…

Boone and Quicksand didn’t even bother explaining the situation to each other or devising a plan. Davinci and Boxer were their friends and you never turned your back on your friends. So with a somewhat silent understanding the two marines turned around and raced back down the way they came.

It would take about 20 seconds to get back to the stairwell, within 10 the machine gun fire had ceased. That was a very, very bad sign. Boone and Quicksand dashed into the room. One of the swordsmen had his blade an inch from Boxer’s face, the only thing separating the two was the Typhoon knife Boxer had wedged in the way. Quicksand crash tackled the man to the floor sending the sword flying out of his hand. Davinci on the other hand had dropped his Carbine and was ducking blows from two swordsmen who had ganged up on him. Boone delivered with two shots to the back of each of their heads. The two of them crumbled to the ground lifeless.

Davinci dived forward picking up his rifle as he went and rolled along side Boone and Boxer.

‘Quicksand come on! We gotta get out of here!’ Boxer roared. Quicksand was still in a desperate struggle on the floor with one of the swordsmen. At the sound of Boxer’s voice he head butted the man and placed the barrel of his Glock underneath his chin. Blam. The man’s head literally exploded in two. Blood sprayed all over Quicksand Bates’ face. He didn’t even blink. He just got up and ran for the doorway. All four marines legged it. They all darted down the corridor behind them, the swordsmen stampeded after them. Whilst running, Davinci pulled out a new magazine and loaded his Carbine. He spun on the spot and started firing rapidly,

running backwards! Boone and Quicksand copied. And with that the marines raced down the corridor, literally running for their lives.

Shotgun and Goldilocks had their guns trained on seven yellow-robed cultists. All of which were gathered around a table. On the table lay a nine year old girl: Sasha Obama. She was absolutely terrified. Her eyes were wide, tears streaming down her face. All seven cultists immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up.

Shotgun raised his Maverick 88 to one cultists head ‘Release her!’ he spat. The cultist didn’t move. Shotgun’s finger pulled back on the trigg – Thud. The butt of a sword slammed hard against his face and Shotgun went sprawling to the ground. He looked up to see a bulky man, whose arms were the size of tree trunks. The man approached him. Goldilocks let fire with a series of shots, each bullet piercing the man’s torso… He didn’t even break his stride. He just grimaced slightly with each shot and continued over to Shotgun. Blood was pouring out of the man, yet he prevailed, he picked Shotgun up and threw him against the wall. On impact Shotgun began coughing up blood. Goldilocks on the other hand was swarmed by the cultists that had been surrounding Sasha. She held her trigger down, taking out three of them as they charged her. The other four however, reached into their girdles and revealed four glistening daggers. One swiped at Goldilocks’ face, but she ducked underneath it and came back up firing. The cultist’s chest convulsed violently. The bulky swordsman approached Shotgun again.

‘Fuck you!’ Shotgun muttered as he gripped his Maverick 88 and fired it in between the man’s thighs. The man stopped in his tracks, a fountain of blood flowing down from his mouth and legs. Shotgun cocked his Maverick again and this time took aim at the man’s face. Boom. The bulky man’s head came clean off of his shoulders and exploded in mid air. His lifeless body swayed for a bit and fell to the floor.

Goldilocks was in a whole world of pain, she had three dagger wielding cultists taking turns and swiping at her. One cultist’s dagger cut down through the air, zooming towards Goldilocks’ face. She raised her gun parrying the blow. However, the sheer force of the blow caused her to drop her Carbine. As the second cultist lunged for her, she did the only thing she could, she hit the floor. The cultist lost his balance and toppled over her body, falling face first to the ground, cracking his nose on impact. Goldilocks picked up one of the daggers on the floor and jumped to her feet. She drove the small blade into one of the cultist’s gut and twisted it. He dropped like a stone – Dead. The last cultist swiped at her again, she blocked it with her own dagger and swung her hand round, lodging the dagger deep into the man’s face. The cultist-on-the-ground’s head blasted out in a star shaped red color. Goldilocks turned around to see Shotgun standing there with his Maverick 88 in

hand… as usual. They both made their way over to Sasha and untied her from the table. She sat up and hugged Goldilocks, sobbing into her shoulder.

Predator, Gamble and Nitro walked down the corridor, alert.‘Excuse me for asking sir, but where exactly is your unit?’ Nitro asked Predator

curiously. The thought had actually occurred to Gamble before, how come Predator had been alone?

‘They’re outside awaiting orders. I came in alone, well me and three dogs.’ Predator said coolly.

‘You brought in your dogs?’ Gamble asked alarmed.‘Yes.’Predator and his blood hounds were famous; they would only accompany him

on the most prestigious missions, or sometimes the most dangerous. So the way things were looking now, either the President’s daughter definitely was here, or there was something deep going on here.

The three of them paused at a downwards spiraling staircase, lit by candles.Nitro broke the silence ‘Going down?’ Predator shot him a withering look. Then

they all proceeded down the stairwell. Within a minute they had descended three floors and stood in what resembled

a chamber. Chains and scratch marks covered the walls. In front of them was a closed double door with a pool of blood at its base. Predator raised his Bull Pup machine gun; it had the words Ego Sum Campeador stenciled on it in red. Latin for I am victor, Predator held his Bull Pup in one hand and opened the door with his other. Inside the room lay four dead bodies. One of which was strapped to a sacrificial table, wearing marine fatigues: Max Shorte – callsign: Slug. A broad sword was protruding out of Slug’s chest. Gamble walked over to his body.

‘Looks like we found Slug’ Predator sneered. Behind his back Nitro shot him a look that would burn fire. Gamble looked him up and down, noticing that he had a bullet wound on his throat.

‘He was shot.’ Gamble said blatantly. ‘What!’ Nitro exclaimed utterly astonished at the sudden observation ‘So what,

one of these nut jobs is running around with a gun as well?’‘I don’t think so… Why wouldn’t all of them have guns then?’‘What does it mean then?’‘It means that there might be a traitor amongst you.’ Predator cut in.‘Or someone else could be in here with us.’‘Like Krester…’ Nitro said.‘What? Ewan Krester is here?’ Predator called out, amazed. ‘That might’ve been

something that you would’ve wanted to mention earlier…’‘It didn’t seem relevant to the mission sir.’ Gamble retorted blankly. Another

thing that had been bothering Gamble about Predator’s presence was the fact that he had been dispatched to aid and investigate further the situation within two hours of Gamble’s team arriving at the warehouse. It seemed too soon for any additional movements to have been made. Gamble turned to Nitro, ‘Get Boone on the line.’

‘On it.’ Nitro replied. He then whipped out his radio and keyed in on Boone’s channel. ‘Boone, it’s Nitro do you copy?’

Boone, Davinci, Quicksand and Boxer were running for their lives, taking it in turns to fire and the incoming swordsmen. Boone’s radio crackled to life… ‘Boone, it’s Nitro do you copy?’ Boone picked up the radio –

‘I read you Nitro, what’s your situation?’‘Slugs dead; we found his body about three floors below. Looks like he was

stabbed in the chest and shot through the throat. What about you?’‘Davinci and I are still on floor three; we’ve met up with Boxer and Quicksand,

but no sign of Shotgun or Goldilocks. Apparently the four of them split up.’Nitro didn’t reply for a short while, but finally his voice came crackling over the

radio again. ‘Okay, Gamble, Predator and I are gonna make our way back up to the first floor, we’ll rendezvous by the original double doors.’

‘Wow, wow, wow Predators here?’‘Yeah, says he was sent to check up on us and investigate the scenario even

further. Anyways, double doors, Nitro out.’ The radio went silent. Boxer turned to Boone.

‘Did he just say that Colonel Predator is here?’‘Yeah he did…’‘Well at least that explains the dog.’ Davinci added. Boone had completely

forgotten about the dog upstairs, if the dogs were upstairs then Predator must have entered the warehouse by roof. Just then Quicksand called out –

‘I’m dry!’ With that, Boone cocked his Jericho and turned around, firing at the swordsmen.

Shotgun, Goldilocks and Sasha made their way back up to the first floor and proceeded to the warehouse entrance. Shrieks filled the hallways. Shotgun peered out a window to see two whole squadrons of Delta troopers with their guns trained on the warehouse.

‘Thank God.’ Shotgun breathed. ‘What is it?’ Goldilocks asked, appearing next to his shoulder.

‘Backups here.’ He said with a widening smile. ‘Looks as if we might actually make it out of this alive.’ Shotgun turned to face Goldilocks and kissed her gently on the lips. After about three seconds they released and the three of them walked out of the warehouse together.

Immediately a man with a piggish nose and a shaved head roared at them over a megaphone.

‘Stand down! I repeat stand down! Release the girl or we will open fire!’ The man’s name was Pablo Enrico, callsign – Saturn.

‘What the fuck…’ Shotgun muttered.‘This is your final warning, release the girl or we will open fire!’ Saturn boomed

through the megaphone. Shotgun didn’t hesitate he just pushed Sasha forward and instantly two Delta troopers ran to her and escorted her away from the premises. Shotgun and Goldilocks were taken over to a hummer and pushed on to the knees, hands bound.

Predator, Gamble and Nitro walked up to the first floor and made their way to the original double doors, where Blossom’s shredded body lay in front of.

‘Get a hold of Boone again, see where he’s at.’ Gamble said to Nitro. Nitro obliged and pulled out his radio again.

‘Boone, we’re here, where are you guys?’ Nitro said over the radio.

Boone, Davinci, Quicksand and Boxer made it to the stairwell on the opposite side of the floor. Nitro’s message came in over Boone’s radio again.

‘We’re descending to the first floor now Nitro, will be there in about two minutes. Boone out.’

Within two minutes the seven soldiers all rendezvoused at the original double doors. Boone turned to Gamble.

‘Have you guys heard anything from Shotgun or Goldilocks?’‘Not a word.’ Gamble replied. Davinci interrupted – ‘What about Blossom?’ Nitro stepped aside, revealing Blossom Gertrude’s

mangled body. Davinci gulped sadly. ‘And judging by what happened to Slug as well, we can only assume the worst

for Shotgun and Goldy.’ Nitro said. Gamble eyed everyone seriously, including Predator. ‘Okay, we’ve lost two good

soldiers today and I grieve for them deeply, but we still have to look at the bigger picture here. President Obama’s daughter may still be in this warehouse and it is our duty to get her out safely. Ooh Rah?’

‘Ooh Rah!’ everyone replied, except for Predator.‘I’m sorry to inform you Carone, but that’s where you’re wrong. It is not your

duty to extract the President’s daughter safely, it is the United Sates of America’s duty and frankly your assistance is no longer required on this assignment. There is a hummer awaiting you outside, ready to take you back to headquarters. My unit will take it from here.’ Predator said.

Gamble was completely dumbfound by this statement, but being outranked he reluctantly obliged.

‘Yes sir.’ He said, grinding his teeth. ‘Come on marines let’s get out of here.’Gamble, Boone, Nitro, Davinci, Quicksand and Boxer all made for the entrance

and left the warehouse’s premises.Predator pulled his wrist up to his mouth talking into a miniscule microphone.‘Take them hostage for the time being, I’ll deal with them personally when I get

out.’‘Affirmative Colonel.’ Saturn’s voice replied.

The remaining six marines exited the warehouse and we’re instantaneously met by the sound of 30 or so Delta troopers cocking their pistols simultaneously. Saturn’s voice was projected over a megaphone.

‘Lower your weapons and raise your hands or we will fire. I repeat we will fire.’Each of the marines did as they were told. Gamble noticed Sasha Obama

standing over by a car on his far right, guarded by seven or so Delta troopers. Gamble and the others were then bound and pushed to their knees over by a hummer. Also on their knees by the hummer were Shotgun Hurlington and Goldilocks Mayer.

Approximately five minutes later Predator walked out of the warehouse and approached the eight marines. They were all lined up against the hummer, on the far left side was Boxer and on the far right side was Shotgun.

‘These men are being prosecuted under treason and are believed to have been working with the Clan of Sekhmet and are also believed to have been the one’s to snatch Sasha Obama herself.’ Predator called out to the Delta troopers.

Everything became clear to Gamble, how the swordsmen were immediately aware of his teams presence in the warehouse, why Predator was on the scene so early, how Slug died. There was a mole, working with the Clan of Sekhmet and it was Predator.

Now he was making them out to be the traitors! Gamble’s mind was racing he knew what was going to come next and so in a final attempt he began to scrape the rope around his wrists against the corner of his fatigues.

Predator raised his Bull Pup, leveling the inscription with his face, he read it

aloud.‘Ego Sum Campeador.’ He said flatly. He then translated with a wide grin on his

face. ‘I Am Victor.’Shit! Gamble’s mind screamed in frustration! There were only a few threads left

on his rope if he could just – Predator placed his Bull Pup against Boxer’s forehead – Gamble began moving his wrists up and down at a ferocious speed, wearing

down the rope so that – Blam. The sound was sickening. But the sight was worse. Boxer’s skull exploded

outwards, forming a small hole in his forehead. His head snapped backwards and his brains practically covered the window of the hummer behind him. Lance ‘Boxer’ McIntosh fell forward onto the concrete road: a bullet to the head: dead.

‘No!’ Quicksand cried out. Predator ignored him and moved onto the next person in line: Davinci. Davinci gulped. Predator coldly raised his Bull Pup to Davinci’s forehead.

Gamble had nearly cut all the way through his rope, he kept scraping, and suddenly something became very clear he wasn’t going to make it in time save Davinci. He rubbed harder just as –

‘Fuck you!!’ Gamble roared. It was the only thing he could think to do to catch Predator’s attention. It worked. Predator shifted his eyes to Gamble.

‘Wait your turn’ he said, lowering his machine gun for a moment. He then placed the Bull Pup against Davinci’s head again. Davinci closed his eyes. Gamble had only bought them a second or two, but it was all he needed, he scraped his hands against the corner of his fatigues again and snap the rope came undone. Gamble didn’t miss a beat.

He stood up and immediately crash tackled Predator to the floor. Predator fired his gun anyway, but he missed his mark due to Gamble’s actions, instead of hitting Davinci he had hit the only Delta trooper standing by the hummer, right in the bridge of his nose. Gamble and Predator rolled around on the floor; he dropped his Bull Pup on the ground and engaged in the struggle with Gamble.

‘Stupid, motherfucking marines. Never know when to leave better off alone…’ Predator elbowed Gamble in the nose, breaking it. But luckily enough the blow hand sent Gamble flying backwards, just far enough to land directly next to Predator’s Bull Pup. They both saw it and in an instant they both knew who would emerge as the winner from this fight. Gamble scooped up the Bull Pup machine gun and aimed at Predator, he risked a smile.

‘Ego Sum Campeador.’ Gamble said. Predator grimaced. Within milliseconds

Gamble pulled down on the trigger and unloaded the entire magazine into Predator. His body convulsed violently, geysers of blood spraying out everywhere. His ribcage literally exploded. Colonel Dustin ‘Predator’ Buckley had died a supremely brutal death. Gamble translated – ‘I Am Victor.’

Just then a volley of bullets sprayed across the roof of the hummer. Gamble ducked and attended to the rest of the marines. Wincing at the sight of Boxer’s body. After about 20 seconds everyone had been unbound. Davinci twirled to face Gamble.

‘Thanks boss, I really owe you one.’ He said.‘Don’t mention it.’ Gamble casted Boxer a look. ‘I just wish I could’ve been

quicker.’Everyone picked up their weapons – Shotgun picked up his Maverick 88,

Goldilocks, Davinci and Nitro all picked up M4 Carbines, Quicksand snatched another Glock pistol from the ground, Boone pulled out his Jericho pistol and Gamble took the infamous Bull Pup that had once belonged to Predator Buckley.

‘Okay marines, listen up, we’re gonna have to make a break for it. Our best bet is to go back into the warehouse, seeing as out here we’re like sitting ducks; we’re out numbered and out gunned. So on my count… 1… 2… 3.’

All seven surviving marines stood up and began sprinting for the warehouse; it was about ten yards away, but the Delta trooper’s response was immediate. They all simultaneously let loose with pistol fire. Luckily they hadn’t been expecting them to break cover so soon, so most of the bullets missed. About six yards in Boone took a bullet to the shin and he broke down to his knees. No one noticed.

No one except Nitro. Nitro spun around on the spot and went after Boone; he grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him to the warehouse with one hand while firing his Carbine in the other.

‘Boy, do you owe me’ Nitro mumbled to Boone. Boone raised his Jericho and began firing. Within about six seconds they were all in the warehouse.

The seven marines took cover in the warehouse; it was surprisingly silent. All the swordsmen must have evacuated the building as soon as all the commotion outside started.

‘So what do we do know? Wait for Saturn and his men to come in?’ Quicksand muttered.

Gamble’s mind was racing again; he had no fucking clue what to do… Boone interrupted.

‘Predator…’ He groaned. ‘Predator brought his dogs in with him…’‘Yeah we know. So what?’ Nitro said.‘So – I ran into one of them upstairs on the fifth floor, which means that

Predator must’ve come from the top downwards.’‘This means that he must have had some means of entrance on the roof!’

Gamble exclaimed. ‘Marines, looks like we’re going up.’

Within ten minutes, the seven marines were on the roof of the warehouse. Davinci and Nitro were supporting the wounded Boone. Right in the middle of the roof was a helicopter with the word “Predator” painted across it in red.

‘He must have got here as soon as we went downstairs.’ Nitro said.The remainder of the marine force clambered into the helicopter; Goldilocks,

having been ex-air force, piloted the vehicle. At 1:09 am Gamble and his unit of marines departed from the warehouse in

Colonel. Dustin Buckley’s helicopter.

Minutes later Saturn and his force of Delta troopers arrived on the roof of the warehouse to find nobody there.

Several days later in Washington DC, the entire situation at the warehouse (later to be referred to as Operation Obama Back) had been resolved and Predator’s betrayal and injustice had been brought to light. Public apologies were made by Saturn Enrico. A funeral was held for each Blossom, Slug and Boxer. Each of the seven surviving marines were honored admirably and thanked personally by President Barack Obama.

Residing in the TV room of the White House was the newly reunited Obama family. Thanks to the actions of:

Gamble Carone Boone Boonezie Nitro Hansen Goldilocks Mayer Shotgun Hurlington Davinci Manning Quicksand Bates Boxer McIntosh Slug Shorte Blossom Gertrude