Interval-02: poisonous

Location: Spiral HQ, Haven, town of Spiral knights.

[Desna has taken Type-042, whose name is now ‘Lifeless’, to the Spiral HQ. Kora, who is on night shift filing her nails, Kora wasn’t expecting to see Desna this late in the night. Lifeless, standing emotionlessly beside Desna, stares blankly at Kora. It seems as if Lifeless only respond to Desna’s command.]

Kora: “Desna? What are you doing here? And who is that Gremlin behind you?”

Lifeless: “I am type-042---”

Desna: *interrupts Lifeless* “---Don’t mind him! He is just a volunteer from Ember light…”

Kora: “Okay, your squad have conducted a raid on Herex’s secret lab. Now let’s review the result. Three of your fellow rangers died and Herex got away. From the data you recovered, it seems like Herex is planning on something big, really big.”

Desna: *chuckles* “That is what she said…”

Kora: *rolls her eyes* “Ha ha, very funny… on a more serious note, It seems as if Herex has created the ‘four horsemen of apocalypse’. The four mythical judges of Heaven raining down the divine retribution onto the mortal world…”

Desna: “So, what are you saying?”

Kora: “He has created a four gene altered Gremlins to carry out his plan. And we need to find them and destroy them to ensure that Herex never succeed. I am unsettled by the fact that these data are left behind and not destroyed…”

Desna: “… does that mean Herex’s plan is already in motion?”

Kora: “I have to inform Ozlo and Feron about this... You should have a rest for now…” *suddenly, the radio communicator rings, she picks up the radio* “Hun? Echo two, this is Spiral HQ, what is your status?”

Echo two team leader: *with gun fire in the back ground* “Kora! We need some back up!”

Kora: *responds*“Clam down soldier, what are you attacked by?”

Echo two team leader: *running with heavy footsteps* “We have been cornered by a swarm of noxious, flesh eating mosquitos! They have pushed us away from the exit elevator, we are getting overrun!”

The voice of a Gremlin: *in the back ground* “NOTHING CAN ERASE MY PAIN!”*buzzing sounds of Mosquitos*

Echo two soldier: *firing his gun* “It is him! The Famine! Argh!!!”*sound of mosquito devouring the flesh*

Echo two team leader: “Oh crap!” *sound of his gun been emptied* “Oh, no, argh!!! HELP!! ARGH!!!” *signal is cut off*

Kora: *shudders* “ECHO TWO! Do you copy? Desna! You have to go investigate! Those mosquitos must be another one of Herex’s experiments!”

Desna: “You kidding me? I just lost three of my fellow teammates and now-” *looks at Lifeless* “-you know what, never mind, me and this volunteer will go check it out. Just send some reinforcement afterward, okay?” *aside* “It is time to see what this ‘super soldier’ can do!”

Kora: *salutes* “Good luck Desna, you will need it.”

[Desna opens her locker and takes out a handful of incendiary grenades, along with a machine gun carried on her belt. Lifeless was standing still besides her the whole time, doesn’t even make the slightest of noises. Desna inspected Lifeless further, he is a very tall Gremlin with a body fit for a champion boxer, the muscle linings is completely visible outside his limiter suit, he had a pair of tea green eyes, armed with a merciless glare. Desna, still finding it too quiet, decided to turn around and ask her living dead companion some questions.]

Desna: *takes out additional ammunition and wraps it around her shoulder* “Hey, Lifeless, did you know, for a Gremlin, you are quite handsome! In my standard that is. Think you can get a girlfriend? Not with that kind of attitude.”

Lifeless: *slows turns his head toward Desna* “…why have a love relation knowing that the one you love is bound to die or leave you?”

Desna: *sneers* “Well, you can enjoy the moment!”

Lifeless: “… moment, unneeded, only something that lasts for eternity matters.”

Desna: *tries to argue* “Hey, no one lives forever. You will be forgotten eventually… so why not live-”

Lifeless: *slightly heightened his voice* “--I am WAR, war shall always be remembered by those who survived its horror. Those who survived my wrath will fear me and remember me. I am Type-042, the embodiment of war itself, I am dynamic and merciless. Just like war itself.”

Desna: *frowns* “What are you talking about?”

Lifeless: “I am one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Famine, death, conquest and then there was I, the fourth member of the horsemen.”
Desna: *gasp* “… so you know who you are? Yet you still followed my command?”

Lifeless: “My life is meaningless without a purpose, no directive, no reason to exist, by serving you, I find purpose in life.”

Desna: *tabs Lifeless’ s shoulder* “Fine, enough bull crap, let’s go kill your friend down there, what was his name again?”

Lifeless: “…”

Desna: “I guess we just have to dig down the bunny hole on this one.”

[Desna and Lifeless descend down the elevator to the depth where the last transmission from Echo two is received. The level they ended upon is a ruined city, it was destroyed after Tinkinzar called in a nuclear strike on the city when it is infected by a deadly virus years ago. The elevator opened and a miasma of poisonous fallout flooded in. Desna instinctively puts on a gas mask, she turns around and looks at Lifeless and he isn’t affected by the miasma at all. He takes in a mild breath and walks out of the elevator as if nothing happened.]

Desna: *sweats* “Geez, this guy…” *follows Lifeless*

Lifeless: *hears the buzzing sound in the air* “Be ready, a swarm is coming… the ‘famine’ is here.”

[Lifeless stands in the open while Desna hides herself near a pile of debris. She was shocked by what she witnessed, a swarm of flesh eating mosquitos scoured the land. Four dead knights are on the ground, who are likely to be that of the Echo two. Their flesh are being slowly eaten away by the mosquitos and their larvae. But what makes Desna want to vomit out of her gas mask the most, is an anorexic Gremlin floating in the sky. She can see every ribs beneath his skin and the abdomen is being eaten away by the mosquitos. But strangely enough, the Gremlin is still alive and he is actually supported by a swarm of flying mosquitos. The mosquitos that just finished their meal started to return to the Gremlin, they regurgitated the food into the Gremlin’s mouth, most likely keeping him alive. And gave the rest to the larvae that are still crawling inside the gaping hole of their host’s abdomen.]

Desna: *gasp* “Is that, the ‘Famine’?”

Lifeless: *recognises the anorexic Gremlin floating in the sky*“He is Type-792. Genetically engineered to act as a queen ‘Night fright’ mosquito. ‘Night fright’ mosquitos have developed a hive system within their population, segregated into classes of warriors, workers as well as a single queen mosquito that rules them all. Herex genetically altered Type-792’s body to emit a special type of pheromone, only secreted by that of a queen. These mosquitos are technically, his loyal subjects…”

Desna: “WHAT? That sounds so freaking freaky!”

Lifeless:*looks back at Desna* “After seeing my regeneration ability, you still think this is freaky? And also, should I eliminate the threat?”

Desna: *shrugs*“I don’t know… make your own decision!”

[Type-792 spotted Lifeless and Desna, he grinned and turned his mouth wide open, a mosquito is shot out of his mouth at lightning speed. It penetrates Lifeless’s body and buried itself deep beneath the ground. Lifeless flinches and quickly regenerated his wound.]

Type-792: *sees that lifeless regenerated his wound* “Type-042? Is that YOU?”

Lifeless: *shook his head* “My name, is no longer Type-042, I am lifeless, the loyal servant of Desna…”

Desna: *sneers* “Servant? When?”

Type-792: “DESNA? NO! You are under HEREX’s command, our creator!!!”

Lifeless: “… Desna, what is my instruction?”

Desna: *shrugs*“Well, don’t just stand there, do something!”

Lifeless: “Understood…”

Are you talking about Lifeless's speech pattern? It is just a part of his personality, he talks in a very mechanical manner, a bit like Abathur from Starcraft2: Heart of the swarm campain, where he skips verbs and only say the nouns, all for the sake of efficiency.

If you are talking about the other guys, yes, I may need to improve on those aspects.

@Annilaton

Some secrets are meant to be kept, my nationality will be kept in secret for now, hellscream-forum knows my exact nationality so ask him.

Note: You can think of this chapter as a filler, where Desna and her mutant Gremlin friend, Lifeless, will have a nice little chat. Nothing major happened so you can skip this if you want.

Interval-04: silent night

Location: Haven, town of Spiral knights

[Desna tries her best to describe what happened to Kora, but no matter how hard she tried, Kora couldn’t believe what she just heard. It was outrageous what came out of her mouth, thought Kora, Mosquito whisperers, reanimated corpses, maggots that can crawl into people’s brain and take control of their body? Is she crazy?]

Kora: *rubs her sweat* “Desna, I think you did well today, you avenged the death of Echo two by killing their assailants. The fallout in that ruined city must have messed up your head. Go have a rest now, you deserve it!”

Desna: “You gotta believe me! Look! Here is the wound left by one of his mosquitos!” *shows Kora the wound on her shoulder* “You see?!”

Kora: *looks at the wound and shrugs* “Desna, that is just what the ‘night fright’ mosquitos do when you got too close to their hive, you must have stumbled upon one and all they did was self-defence. A gene altered Gremlin soldier that can control mosquitos? Don’t be crazy! Herex will never have technologies like that! His experiments must be elsewhere!”

Desna:*sighs* “Forget it… I going back to my home now, but stay on alert okay? I think Herex is really planning on something big, really big…”

Kora: *smirks* “And that is what ‘she’ said…”

Desna: *shook her head* “Signing off… see you…” *she sees lifeless waiting outside the HQ* “Come, we should both have a rest.”

[Desna arrives at her apartment and she is relieved when she opens the door, the day has been exhausting and she buries herself into the bed as soon as she takes off her boot. Our heroine quickly fell to sleep with her armour on. Lifeless locks up the apartment door and wonders across the Desna’s bed room, he sees photos of she and her fellow teammates, a wall of medals and decorations she got from the services. The memories, he thought, Desna has so many of them yet my own past was wiped clean by Herex, not a single trace is left behind.]

Lifeless:*quietly* “Desna…”

Desna: *snores* “ZZZzz… oh yeah… more…”

Lifeless: *flusters* “…”

Desna: *snores* “ZZzzZZZ… Luminite peperoni… more…” *licks her own lips*

[Lifeless sits onto a chair besides a small round table in the kitchen, the table is most likely the place where Desna have her breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lifeless takes a massive raw steak out of the fridge and starts consuming it. Desna is eventually awakened by the sound of Lifeless munching on the steak.]

Desna: *rubs her eyes* “Lifeless… what are you doing?”

Lifeless: *eating the raw steak* “Must… replenish, energy…”

Desna: “But it is a raw steak! Put it in the Oven first!”

Lifeless: “I am fine with it…” *continues eating*

Desna: *changes the topic* “Suit yourself, so, yeah… Lifeless, do you like your new name?”

Lifeless: “That name is meaningless… only when a person has attained a certain level in his society would his name be truly mattered. The name ‘Desna’ must have meant a lot to your fellow comrades… they trusted you, they loved you… and now they are dead, because of me …” *sobers*

Desna: *sighs* “Look, what is done is done, you have already defeated type-792 to make up for it… Herex made you attack my teammates, it is his fault not yours…”

Lifeless: “I would have killed them if they were a threat to me… with or without Herex’s command…” *finishes the steak* “You freed me from his control, I appreciated that.” *a faint smile on his face*

Desna: *crosses her arms* “So is this a debt thing? You follow my command because you think you owe me?”

Lifeless: “No, I need a directive, like a parasite needs its host to stay alive. I need an order, I accomplish the order and I feel complete… it is a soldier’s duty to obey orders, requests and directives…”

Desna: “So, helping Herex destroying this planet will also give you a sense of completeness too?”

Lifeless: “No… Herex never wanted this planet to be destroyed…”

Desna: “What? Then what does he want?”

Lifeless: “While he was conducting experiments on me… he said something about his plan, the divine justice that will be brought out by the four horsemen. The ‘justice’ that will convert, according to him, everyone on this plane to their natural state. Tinkinzar and the Spiral order have lumbered, mined and deconstructed many levels of the cradle inners, Herex fears that the planet will collapse due to their ‘greed’, so he created us, who shall bring an end to Tinkinzar as well as the Spiral order…”

Desna: “Any idea on how he would do that?”

Lifeless: “From the evidences I gathered form my memories… It is inconclusive of what Herex is up to… I am only a piece of the puzzle of Herex's Project 'retribution'.”

Desna: “can you tell me a bit more about your life? Who were you?”

Lifeless: “I can’t remember, only small fragments are left behind… but I can see… spot lights, crowd cheering and bell rings…”

Desna: “You sounded like a boxer or a martial artist to me, the way you take down enemies with your hands like that…”

Lifeless: “Perhaps, but memories can be deceiving, just because there are fragments doesn’t mean that they are real, all this could just be Herex’s way of teaching me the CQC techniques while I was in the culture tank…”

Desna: “Hmph, that is that, I going to sleep now…” *takes off her shoulder and breast plate* “wanna join me?” *winks*

Lifeless:*leaves the table* “I will sleep somewhere else, it is not your concern…” *opens the door of Desna’s apartment* “I will be gathering more intelligences of the where-about of the two remaining ‘horsemen’. You should recuperate now… I will meet up with you in the morning.” *closes the door*

Desna: “Lifeless! Wait-” *frowns* “Damn, I hope he doesn’t get into troubles out there…” *returns back to bed*

Lifeless: *reopens the door* “By the way, are you really this desperate that you wanted to copulate with a male from another race? Isn’t that considered immoral in your people’s custom?”

Desna: *blushes* “…” *pretends that she has already fell to sleep* “ZZZzzzZZZ…”

Lifeless: “It is okay, I know you were only trying to bring out the good side of me. But despite all your achievements, you are still capable of such a depravity, is this why no male of your race ever looked up to you?”

Desna: “…They are just afraid of me that is all…”

Lifeless: “I see… you shouldn’t be ashamed by your masculinity… have faith in yourself… and you find the one you loved eventually…” *closes the door and disappears into the night*

I hope people are actually reading this, or is my labour really that fruitless?

If not, here is some thing that I wanna share with my audience(s).

If you managed to read all the story so far, you should see by now that there is a trend to the story line, progression->boss battle->character development->boss battle. You will be seeing this trend alot...

:| Damn, there are atleast five words in (1) that I do not understand... very nice writting, ok, now I am going to make the next chapter, stay tunned for more.

Here are some character profiles for those of you who are intrested, skip this if you don't care.

The four horsemen are four of Herex's gene altered Gremlin super soldiers. The four horsemen in the original book are the war, the famine, the death and the conquest (some recap if you don't already know). The divine apocalypse rained from heaven to the mortal world, Herex named them this way in homage of his retribution against Tinkinzar and the Spiral order. Herex believes that Tinkinzar and spiral knights are ruining the planet so he decided to kill us all to stop that from happening.

The four horsemen:
Type-042 "the war"

Type-792 "the famine"

Type-013 "the death"

Type-991 'The conquest"

Note: there is a fifth and final boss whose name I will not reveal for now, I will leave it as a suprise at the end. you may guess if you want.

Note: This boss battle is sick
Interval-07: empty

Location: Depth 26, an abandoned Gremlin science facility

[Desna aims her sight at Type-013, a burst of machine gun bullets riddle through Type-013’s body, he was stunned but unharmed. The bullet holes on his body disappeared, not healed, but magically vanished. Type-013 raises his arms to horizontal with his shoulder, makes up the shape of a crucifix, he grins at Desna, who is still empting clip after clip on his near indestructible body.]

Desna:*keeps firing* “WHY WON’T you die?!”

Type-013:*soaks up all of Desna’s bullets*“I already died once, I won’t die again…” *tosses a green fire ball*

Desna: *evades the fireball* “Rrr!” *takes cover and reload* “Lifeless! Figure out his weakness! Now!”

Lifeless: *dodges multiple fire balls* “Orders received…”

[Lifeless picks up an iron pipe and throws it at type-013 like a javelin. The bar went straight through Type-013 and dealt no damage. Type-013 lets out a continuous stream of green fire from his right hand, the fire engulfed the entire room and turns the place into an inferno. Desna tried to stomp out the mysterious fire with her boot, but she only made it worse. The fire started even melt the fabricated steel flooring, Lifeless manages to survive the fire stream and climbs up to a vantage point. Type-013 tries to make eye contact with Lifeless, but Lifeless utilizes his agility and jumped from one gas pipe to another, constantly repositions himself, preventing him from making any eye contacts.]

Type-013: *yells* “STAY STILL!!” *tosses another fireball at Lifeless*

Lifeless: *backflips and evades the attack* “… why are you doing this?”

Type-013: “Herex gave me a second chance, a second chance in life to make everything right… I foresee the birth of the ‘conquest’, Herex’s true masterpiece.”

Lifeless: “There is no such a thing as second chance… you should have stay dead…”

Type-013: *chuckles* “Do you want to know what I saw at the end of the unknown passage?”

Lifeless and Desna: “?!”

Type-013: “A little island… floating in the middle of nothingness, away from this world and its trouble… I rested there, my wounds miraculously healed and the place gave me just enough strength to make it to the elevator… the uplifting energy converted me, I felt complete at last. But when I returned to the colony, it saddens me to see that the hovels I born in remained unchanged, people still mistrust each other… Tinkinzar refused to give up his throne and continued his oppression. Herex wanted an end to all this, we can end the fear, the pain, the fury and the sorrow of this world, isn’t that what you wanted? Lifeless?”

Lifeless: “…”

Desna: *yells at Lifeless* “Don’t give in to his words!”

Lifeless: *nods his head* “He is right… those are exactly what I wanted…” *jumps down from the vantage point and sneakily picks up a shard of broken mirror from the floor* “Sorry Desna, I am relieved from my duty…” *winks at Desna*

Desna: *sees the wink* “Hey! Lifeless! How could you?!”*aside* “What is he up to now?”

Type-013: *drops his guard* “Yes, we are finally getting somewhere…” *lands onto the floor and walks towards Lifeless*

[Type-013 takes out his right hand, offering a handshake to Lifeless. Lifeless approaches Type-013 with the shard of mirror in his left hand. Lifeless realizes that if Type-013 can attack others telepathically with an eye contact, then it is about time that Type-013 had a taste of his own medicine.]

Type-013: “Welcome back, brother.” *tabs Lifeless’s shoulder* “Miss Desna, I suggest you to leave before you overstay your welcome…”

Desna: *grins* “Well, that is where you are wrong…”

[Type-013, for a moment, realizes that he is caught in a trap, Lifeless, in a blink of an eye kicks him in the groin before slamming his head with a roundhouse kick. Type-013 steps back and quickly fixed up his dislocated jaw.]

Type-013: *red eyes started to glow* “You will pay for that!” *locks Lifeless in the arm and body slams him to the ground*

Lifeless: “OOfff!” *recovers and punches type-013 with a quick right hook*

Type-013: *disappears* “Hah!” *Throws a gas grenade to the ground* “I hope you choke!”

Lifeless: *choked by the white smoke* “Desna! Locate him with your goggle!” *coughs*

Desna: *checks with her goggle* “Damn! He used red phosphorous grenade! Infra-red can’t see through the smoke! Lifeless, back to back!” *draws her sword*

Lifeless: *stands opposite Desna, shoulder to shoulder* “Here he comes…”

[Type-013 levitates off the ground before diving into the smoke, he rushes in with a fireball ready in his right hand. He went straight for Desna, slamming the fireball into her breast plate and knocked her away. Lifeless catches Type-013 before he could disappear into the smoke and attempts to break his wrist, Type-013’s CQC is superior and takes the upper hand. Lifeless is knocked down, Type-013 seizes the opportunity and grabs Lifeless by the throat. He gazes into Lifeless’s eyes in order to break the last of his sanity, but Lifeless, at the last second, pulls out the shard of mirror. All Type-013 could see, is his own eyes.]

Type-013: *shuts his eyes* “ARGHH!!!!” *Falls to the ground*

Desna: *recovers* “Damn! What did you do?”

Lifeless: “He looked himself in the eye…”

Desna:*chuckles* “Ha! About time! Umm, I wonder what he sees in his own past…”

Type-013: “…”

[Type-013 opens his eyes, he sees himself in the sanctuary. He wonders slowly to the centre of the island, there is a fountain there and the water is pristine. In the middle of the fountain stands a mysterious machine, Type-013 steps into the pool and tries to touch the marble exterior of the device, but to his horror, as soon as his finger makes contact with the marble, the machine crumbles and the pristine water turns blood red. Type-013 collapses under his own attack as he drowns into his dark memories, he sorrowfully roars and slams his head against the concrete wall of the facility several times before falling to the ground. He was defeated, Lifeless and Desna stood and watched as Type-013 slowly dissolves into the air.]

Type-013: *mumbles* “Colony HQ, do you read me?”

A voice in the air: *with static*“Izilius, this is HQ, what is your status?”

Type-013: “I have made it to the sanctuary… requesting return…”

A voice in the air: *with static*”Permission granted… an elevator is up ahead…”

Type-013: “… I am coming home…” *explodes into a green fire blast*

Desna: *raises her shield and stand before Lifeless* “Take cover!”

[The entire room that the battle taken place is completely charred, but the green fire disappeared and so did type-013. Lifeless feels a little bit sad on the inside, ‘all of them’, he thought, ‘Both Izilius and Onix, they all fought and died for the cause they believed in… What am I fighting for? Freedom? I hardly know what it is…’ Desna blocks the fire blast but her shield is deformed by the intense heat. ‘It is about time I throw this piece of scrap away’ thought Desna as she discards her old shield.]

Lifeless: “Desna, what is freedom? And why does Herex want it so bad that he created all this?”

Desna: “Freedom is dirt to those who have them… but to those who don’t I guess they are like gold… you have plenty of freedom now, so cheer up…”

Lifeless: *remain confused*“I still have none, I am only taking orders from you…”

Desna: “But didn’t I told you to make your own decisions?”

Lifeless: “I did… at your order…”

Desna: “Well, there you go! That is freedom! You get to make your own decisions!”

Lifeless: “But how could I know that my decision is the best?”

Desna: “That is a problem for another day, you walk your own path from now on. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Note: Desna is not super saiyan, just saiyan... (lol)

Interval-08: betrayal

Location: depth 26, abandoned Gremlin science facility

[Desna and Lifeless proceed to venture deeper into the facility. It was eerily quiet, jars of organs are stored on a few metal shelves, computers with blue screens. At the end of the long corridor lies another large room. The large culture tank that is housing Type-991 is centre, Herex stands up from his chair and greets the duo.]

Herex: *grins*“You are right on time, Miss Desna.”

Desna: “It is over Herex! Two of your four horsemen are already dead! Your plan is ruined before it is even begun!”

Herex: *smirks* “So you think you have ruined my plan?” *laughs* “HAHAHAHAHA!!! Insolent! They are merely the pawns on my chees board! I will sacrifice any piece to save the king!” *activates the culture tank* “Soon, justice shall rain down on cradle for the last TIME!”

Desna: “What?”

Herex: “I have gave birth to the ultimate being! He will rule over all! The weak and the wicked will be purged and the strong will live as they see fit, he will rid of diseases and take this planet to a NEW century! My retribution is complete!”

[The culture tank is emptied and the entity inside blasts out of the glass tank with a beam of electricity. A tall, muscular Gremlin jumps out of the tank, he is dressed in a thick bomb suit and his right eye is severely scarred. Electricity surges around him, he looks at Desna and looks back at Herex. Herex’s face shows pride in his creations.]

Herex: “Type-991, carry out my instructions!”

[Type-991 glares at Herex, he shook his head and blasts Herex’s body with a beam of electricity bursts out of his right eye. Herex’s lab coat is fried and he could barely stand up after the attack. Desna, on the other side of the facility is pleased to see Herex finally got what is coming for him, but she is also worried about the new threat, Type-991. A living tank with a beam cannon for his right eye.]

Herex: *on the verge of death* “Why…”

Type-991:*in a deep voice* “I take no instructions from an inferior being, I shall destroy EVERYTHING.” *the sparks around him increased*

[Type-991 generates a beam of electric charge around him, the beam travels through the facility and sent the electronics to a meltdown, the circuits bursts into flame and the interfaces are shattered. In a flash of power, the entire facility is blown to oblivion. The roof is gone in the culture tank room and all of Herex’s work are destroyed. Type-991 walks away from the ruined unharmed. Desna and Lifeless however, are trapped in the debris.]

Desna: *tries to call spiral HQ* “Kora? Are you there?” *coughs*

Kora: *with statics* “Desna! What are you doing down at depth 26?”

Desna: “I will explain it later! For now, send some backup!”

Lifeless: *punches the concrete off his back* “Desna… are you injured…”

Desna: “I am not pretty, but I am tough!” *pushes her way out of the debris*

Lifeless: “Type-991 is free, he poses a threat… should I eliminate the threat?”

Desna: *pats the dust off her coat* “We don’t even know what he is up to!”

Lifeless: “He seems to have electro-kinesis of the highest calibre… Herex engineered him that way for a reason… with power like that, he could easily raze buildings…”

Desna: “Spiral HQ, this is Desna, we managed to eliminate two of the horsemen! But the third still remains large and he is planning on destroying the colony!”

Kora: “That is not our problem! Let Tinkinzar deal with it!”

Desna: “Listen! When he finished the Gremlins, he is going after us!”

Kora: *unease* “Ugh, what did you get yourself into this time Desna?”

[Suddenly, a series of scream can be heard from the dam in the distant, it has already begun. Type-991, after dispatching the security guards at the dam’s foundation, starts to blast away at the dam’s concrete wall. Cracks soon appear and water started to leak, the river is running directly to the great colony.]

Desna: *runs towards the dam*“What is he trying to do? Flood the colony? The dam won’t hold!”

Lifeless: *follows* “I can carry you to the dam within ten seconds, but I need you to beat Type-991, can you do that?”

Desna: *check her remaining ammo* “I still got a dozen of clips…”

Lifeless: *bends his back* “Get on my back…”

Desna: “Ok…” *gets onto Lifeless’s back*

[Lifeless, in a burst of fury, runs in the speed of sound across the cliff that severed the facility and the water damage, he lands near the upstream shore and instantly runs across the calm river. Desna shuts her eyes tightly as the wind is hammered against her face, Lifeless is insanely fast and comes to a grinding stop at the main structure of the dam.]

Desna: *jumps of Lifeless’s back* “Whoa, how did you do that?”

Lifeless: *breathing heavily* “I… used a lot of my energy, must recuperate…” *kneels* “The parasite on my heart send my body to an adrenalin overload… I can feel… it is replicating…”

Desna: “You stay here and try to catch up later!”

Lifeless: *coughs* “Go…”*coughs*

[Desna slides down the dam’s concrete slope while Type-991 blasted the dam to shreds. The structure of the dam is critically weaken and the water can break out at any time. Type-991 suddenly spots Desna and sends out a lightning blast at her direction. Desna jumps at the last second to evade the blast, she rolls and landed on the concrete floor at the bottom of the dam.]

Type-991: “I admire your tenacity, Miss Desna…”

Desna: “Okay, Herex’s favourite toy, what are you up to now? Man, you talk just like Lifeless!” *chuckles* “But he is better looking though…”

Type-991: “My appearance is irrelevant… You are right on time to see my great work…”

Desna: “???”

Type-991: “As soon as the water flooded the colony, I will apply 2 million volts of free electricity into the water, killing anyone and destroying any machine that were unlucky enough to be soaked.”

Desna: “You son of a-!”

Type-991:*interrupts* “-Then, the people of the colony will realize how pathetic their emperor is and anarchy shall reign… freedom will at last back on cradle, once I finished the colony, the Spiral order will be next…”

Desna: *draws her machine gun* “That is not freedom! That is madness! Millions will die!”

Type-991: “Madness?” *chuckles* “THIS IS JUSTICE!” *fires off a beam of lightning from his right eye*

[The beam scrapes Desna and she makes a quick dash before the beam melts her flesh away. Desna fires her machine gun and the bullets bounces of Type-991’s armour, few made through but Type-991 is clearly unaffected.]

Desna: “Damn! You are the worst of them all!”

Type-991: “You are lucky, few can bear witness to the marvel of Gremlin bio technology…”*charges up eight electric spheres*

[The eight electric spheres circled around Type-991, they formed an electric ring around him and Desna. Desna instinctively shoots for his head but the steel ring deflects the bullets while randomly rotates around type-991. Type-991 closes in on Desna, he slowly advances towards her while being protected by the constantly rotating ring. Desna tries to shoot whenever there was an opening, but every time the ring seems to be always right on time to block the bullets.]

Desna: *reloads* “There are freaks and then there are people like you, what the hell was Herex’s messing with? Fire of the Gods?!”

Type-991: “There are no gods, Miss Desna, only men, men with great dreams…” *gets a hold on the electric ring and turns it into a wimp* “And I have a DREAM-”

[Type-991 is not playing around anymore, he lashes the wimp at Desna’s direction, the concrete structure of the dam was caught in the attack, the electrical wimp melts through the concrete wall and the dam is damaged even further.]

Type-991: “-That one day, every men and women on this planet will have control over their OWN destiny!!!” *lashes his wimp at Desna*

Desna: *evades* “Rrr!!”

Type-991: “Our colony will no longer be flooded with colourful light and charitable act, every men can fight for himself and everyone can start their own war!!!” *lashes again*

Desna: *gets hit by the wimp and got electrocuted* “ARRRGH!!!” *backs away* “So you wanted to purge the weak and everyone you don’t like huh?
There is no justice in any of your ‘dreams’!!! You are just another sorry excuse for a living being!!! I will take you down or die trying!!!”

Type-991: “Then show me why you fight…” *lashes his wimp*

[Desna quickly backs away from the deadly attack and draws her blade, she is pushed into a corner with no way out. Desna’s heart almost bursts into bits by the pressure that Type-991 has put on, never have an opponent struck this much fear into her. “This is it, what would Lifeless do in this kind of situation?” Desna thoughts to herself, “that is right… a weakness…” She took one last glance at Type-991 before embracing him with her sword, “His right eyes… that is where the electricity is coming from… it must be destroyed…”.]

Type-991: *tangles Desna’s leviathan blade with his wimp* “… Sloppy…”

Desna: *chuckles* “Now that I left you in the open…” *takes a nitronome out of her back pocket*

[Desna pulls the pin with her teeth and pushes it straight into type-991’s right eye, Type-991 realizes the threat and blasts Desna away from him with a pulse of energy. The nitronome detonated in the mid-air and the shrapnel critically damaged type-991’s eyes, he is now completely blind. Desna, who is also shell shocked, seizes the opportunity and stabs Type-991 with her leviathan blade, the blade cuts through the bomb suit and Type-991 responds in agony. The fight might be over.]

Desna: “Your dream dies with you!”

Type-991: *laughs* “No, this… is… only… the BEGINNING! I am the conquest and I WILL TRIUMPH!”

[Type-991 grabs Desna by her throat before she could back away. He throws Desna 20 meters into the air and proceed to blasts her with two beams of lightning coming out of his eyes. His eyes are damaged but continued to produce a lethal amount of power. Desna lands on the slope of the dam and runs down toward type-991 for the finishing blow, she jumps and avoided the two lightning beams. Despite type-991's last ditch effort, his head was cut clean off by Desna’s blade. But just when she though the battle is over, Type-991’s body detonated in a violent explosion, the shock wave knocks Desna into a coma. The dam is infrastrure's almost on the vege of collapse, but it managed to hold.]

Kora: *calling Desna from the comlink* “Desna! I am losing your signal! Backup is coming! Desna? Can you read me? DEEEESSSSNAAAAAA!!!”

Lifeless: *oversaw the destruction from the top of the dam* “… It is not over… yet…”

Interval-09: Insurrection

Location: depth 26, Gremlin operated electric dam.

[Lifeless can feel the worms crawling beneath his skin, they are almost at the final stage of their life cycle. Hahn, arrived at the dam against Feron’s order, spots Lifeless succumbing to the parasite within. Hahn quickly takes a needle of antibiotic and injects them into Lifeless’s neck upon approaching him. Meanwhile at the bottom of the dam, Type-991’s husk is peeled off and a cocoon emerges out of his corpse.]

Lifeless: *recovers* “What was that? What was in the needle?”

Hahn: “It is an antibiotic I developed to counter the effect of the ‘rage worms’ inside your body.”

Lifeless: “Rage worm?”

Hahn: “yes, that is the name of the parasite, it sucks onto the host’s heart to extract nutrient from the blood stream, to ensure that the host can survive long enough to sustain its life cycle, they inject a substance similar to adrenaline into host’s blood, making them more aware and agitated when being threatened, hence I gave it the name.”

Lifeless: “What happens at the end of ‘rage worm’s lifecycle?”

Hahn: “… They will start bursting out of your body in seek of new hosts… In another word, you will die once when the parasites are mature…”

Lifeless: “I can’t die now…” *feels an acute pain in his chest* “Argh!!!”

Hahn: “What? Why? I thought it would be over when all four horsemen are dead…”

Lifeless: “… Herex made some kind of-” *coughs* “-back-up plan…” *points at a mysterious cocoon at the bottom of the dam, right next to Desna* “That… is his final work… Hahn, evacuate the area… this fight is going to get ugly…”

Hahn: *moves away* “Okay… you know what you are doing right?”

Lifeless: “Affirmative…”

[Desna starts to recover from the coma, next to her feet lies the cocoon. A dark silvery husk with a vile purple gas emitting out of the holes on its shell. Suddenly, her comlink ringed, it was from Herex.]

Herex:*from the comlink* “… Desna… you are still alive, how intriguing, your body would be a worthy specimen for my next experiment…”
Desna:*responds* “You are still alive?! Damn! I swear if I find you, I will rip your guts out!”

Herex: *from the comlink* “Oh, getting all angry now are we? Do you want to know what is inside that cocoon? I am sure ‘she’ will calm you down…”

Desna: “Another one of your experiments?” *chuckles* “Herex, you know what? Your experiments are nowhere as messed up as you! They had a life of their own and you ruined it for them! They were once people!”

Herex: *from the comlink* “And they joined me willingly…”

Desna: “-?”

Herex: *from the comlink* “That is right, all of them signed up voluntarily, all of them have the same vision as me, and we are here to rebuild this planet from scratch, but first it must be purged first. To do that, I created a new ruler for this planet, one that would surpass Tinkinzar! That was the true purpose of project retribution!”

Desna: *sees cracks on the cocoon* “What? What is inside that COCOON?!”*stands up and recaptures her machine gun*

Herex: *from the comlink* *laughs* “Long story short… 4000 years ago a group of celestials arrived on this planet, we call them the ‘Stargazers’… they taught us how to build, how to live, but now my fellow brethren have become misguided, they become too greedy and stargazers vanished before they could give out further instructions. But I managed to salvage a stargazer corpse deep beneath an ancient glacier, its DNA is severely damaged so I resorted to fill out the gaps with Gremlin DNA, the final product, Type-Ω, the ‘Queen’! Enjoy your last hour of freedom, Miss Desna… because after that, ‘she’ will rule over all…” *closes the Comlink*

Desna: “Herex! HEREX!” *smashes her comlink communicator against the concrete basement* “Alright, Miss butterfly, come out, come out!”

Lifeless: *jumps down to the bottom of the dam and lands next to Desna* “Desna…”

Desna: “Oh hey, you sure are a nice sight for my sore eye.” *sees that the ‘Queen’ is almost hatched* “Any idea what is inside?”

Lifeless: “It seems there is only one way to find out…”

[The cocoon bursts apart in a beam of bright light, Desna covers her vision for short while and when she moves away her hand from her eye, Desna’s jaw drops. Hovering in the air, is Type-Ω, she has a head of a Gremlin with goat horns on her head. In addition, a pair of butterfly wings on her back. Her body is disgustingly deformed, three sharp fingers for each hand and foot. She has four arms, two of the four arms are fixed onto where her breasts were supposed to be. But what makes Desna wants to cringe the most, is the fact that her skin is furless, hardened and bleached, with throbbing dark veins bursting out of the cracks on the skin. These veins are pulsing with dark, satanic red energy, Type-Ω casts an ominous glare at Lifeless and Desna. She inspects her hands and smiled.]

Type-Ω: *in a mechanical tone* “I am… I am… the QUEEN…”

Lifeless and Desna: “…”

Type-Ω: *sees the destruction around her* “So much death, so much pain, so much sorrow and so much despair… I am putting an END to this…”

[Type-Ω extends her wings and a blast of spores are secreted from the holes on her back. The spores fly across the sky and headed for the colony. She starts to take notice in Desna and Lifeless, seeing them as peons in her soon to be empire, she spoke.]

Type-Ω: “I know you want to stop me… Type-042… or what she would call you… Lifeless… but please, understand me, I am only here to prevent a bigger slaughter…”

Desna: “What slaughter?!”

Type-Ω: “See the dam behind me? It is nearly destroyed, one more blast and it is done for…”

Desna: “What about it?”

Type-Ω: “A knight like you, standing here with the dam crumbling down, you may have averted a disaster, but Gremlins can simply blame you for the destruction… you became an escape goat, a saboteur… the excuse Gremlins have been looking for to start a new war against Haven…”

Desna: *chuckles* “sure, but a few dead Gremlin security guards and a crumbling dam are tragedies. But nothing to start a war over!”

Type-Ω: “But it is a spark, the spark Tinkinzar needed to boost the war production after the fall of Grand arsenal. If you stop me now, Tinkinzar will raise a new army and desolation will ensue, I am here to prevent this slaughter… by using the spores…”

Desna: “Spores?”

Type-Ω: “Mind control fungus, upon inhalation I would have the minds of the entire colony population. Through me, they will understand love, unity, serenity and peace. I will oversee them, guide them to a better future… don’t turn against me… I am trying to undo the damage…”

Lifeless: “…No…”

Type-Ω: “Then my hammer of judgement will rain down upon you…”

Lifeless: “I was never engineered to fear termination, directive-01 made by Herex, my original commander instructed me to bring about the freedom of the entire planet. I initially did not understand the definition of freedom. However, that changed when Desna came to my aid. I now established my own understanding of freedom and a set of directives that I choose to obey.”

Type-Ω: “You do not fear death?”

Lifeless: “My biology tells me that it is necessary to pass on all genetic information to the next generation, but this counters the purpose of that directive, freedom and liberation must be attained at any cost, even if it means my termination.”

Desna: “You don’t have to do this!”

Lifeless: “It is too late, the parasites inside my body are almost at the end of their life cycle. My death is imminent, I must carry out my own directives, a sets of directives that I chose to obey.”

Desna: “Lifeless! As your commander I am ordering you to stand down! I will find a cure. I promise!”

Lifeless: “Negative, I am my own commander now…” *jumps towards Type-Ω*

Interval-10: OMEGA

Location: depth 26, Gremlin operated electric dam.

[Hahn’s antibiotics only worked half well, the rage worms erupt out of Lifeless’s body in the mid-air, but somehow, Lifeless can feel as if he can control the parasites. They twitched erratically outside his skin but seemed to be moving the same pattern as his muscle movement. He reaches out his left hand at Type-Ω and the worms reached out towards her as well, the worms act as tentacles, seized one of her upper arm. Type-Ω, unalarmed by the attack, delivered a deadly slash at Lifeless’s torso with her three claws. Lifeless’s suit was shredded into pieces but he continues the assault by grabbing the veins outside Type-Ω’s skin, he forcefully tears off some of the veins but Type-Ω is unaffected, as payback, she blasts Lifeless to the concrete basement with a beam of lightning. Renders Lifeless unconscious, Desna meanwhile, fired her last clip at Type-Ω’s exposed veins but had little effect as well.]

Type-Ω: “I am the ultimate being, you cannot destroy me…”

Desna: *empties her machine gun* “Damn! I am all out!”

Lifeless: *Stands back up* “That lightning? The same as the ones from Type-991, the mind control spores resembled similarity with Type-792’s maggots that can reanimate the dead, her hovering ability is taken from Type-013 and her combat instinct, it must be…”

Desna: *sweats with concern* “Taken from you? What, are you telling me that she is the combination of all four of the horsemen? How can we beat something like that?”

Type-Ω: *harnesses the mist energy around her, solidifies into the shape of a hammer* “Judgement awaits.” *slams the hammer at Lifeless and Desna*

[Desna certainly regretted discarding her shield when she was fighting Type-013, the hammer made of pure mist energy slams the concrete basement with great force, large chunks of concrete disintegrated upon impact. What is worse is that the hammer exploded upon impact and the mist energy was dispersed as a wave of extreme heat, Desna’s hound coat was badly burned during the explosion and she gasped when she saw Lifeless’s entire right torso was completely melted off.]

Lifeless: *coughs out a tremendous amount of blood* “Argh... Superficial damage…”

Desna: *gasps* “Are you insane? You are in no condition to fight!”

Type- Ω: *chuckles* “And that, is the difference, between a man, and a GOD…” *harnesses the mist energy and creates another hammer* “Your defiance will be your undoing!” *slams the hammer at Lifeless and Desna*

[Time pauses in front of Lifeless’s eyes, this is his end. The next hammer strike will no doubt wipe him and Desna out from face of this planet. He will cease to exist, but his heart remains beating even after receiving critical injuries, “Why am I still alive?” Lifeless asks himself, “Why did I remain even after all that have happened?” He looks back at Desna, who is about to draw her sword and meet her end, “Perhaps, I lived, for her… and for those who are too weak to protect themselves, this planet, it, it is worth fighting for… this is my choice, my own directive…”]

Lifeless: *worms started to emerge out of his missing right torso, the worms formed the shape of a savage claw, he shouts in a great anger* “ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” *eyes glowed red and breaths deeply* “This ends now…” *lunges himself towards Type- Ω*

[Type- Ω smiled as Lifeless throws himself at her for the second time, she swings the hammer at Lifeless, believing that it will crush him like a bug. But to Type- Ω’s surprise, Lifeless blasts himself through the solid energy of her hammer at the sacrifice of multiple severe burns and headed straight for her. Using his new right arm, Lifeless was capable of unleashing a deadly strike on Type- Ω’s chest, the claw rips off a large chunk of Type- Ω’s flesh and a red throbbing heart is revealed in the centre of her chest. Type- Ω, realizing that her weakness has been compromised, grabs Lifeless’s newly formed right arm with two of her hands and rips it clean off. Lifeless miraculously ignores the temporary pain and retaliates by ripping off one of Type- Ω’s two rigid horns with his still intact left arm, he breaks off the horn and jabs it into Type- Ω’s heart, her heart is instantly impaled by the horn and she loses her balance and falls to the ground. But Type- Ω wasn’t finished yet, she stands up and catches Lifeless while he is trying to land and uses all four of her arms in an attempt to break his neck, all four arms are locked tightly against Lifeless’s neck, like a python, strangling its prey.]

Lifeless: *struggles, tries to break free* “Argh!”

Desna: *intervenes but slashing Type- Ω’s arm with her blade* “Let go of him!”

Type- Ω: *releases Lifeless after her arm was cut deeply by the blade* “Argh!!! This… cannot... be!!!” *kneels due to exhaustion*

[Desna sees the pulsing heart of Type- Ω exposed out of her chest, she realizes that this is her opportunity to end this once and for all, she takes out the last three nitronomes in her back pocket and shoved them down into the open wound. The bombs erupts in Type- Ω’s chest and her heart was punctured through by the shrapnel. Lifeless, on the other hand, is slowly being taken over by the parasites, more and more rage worms crawled out of his skin. He is scared beyond recognition. The thickness of the worms increases as Lifeless slowly succumb to the pain, they begin to coil around what is left of his former body. Forming a layer of new purple flesh.]

Lifeless: *consciousness slowly fading away* “Desna… run…” *the purple worms now taken form of his left and right arms, his head and parts of his legs are all that is left of his former self.* “Argh! I will finish her…”

Desna: “But she is already dead!”

Type- Ω: *reawakens* “NO, you haven’t seen… anything… yet!!!” *heals her wound with the mist energy and lands onto the ground*

[Type- Ω discards her wings and replaces them with a sharp tail, she now shares striking similarity with the devil himself. Her body starts to glow red with crimson energy bubbling around her. Her arms are now more muscular and the claws are sharper even than before. Type- Ω isn’t playing around anymore. She teleports quickly between places to closing distance with Lifeless. She appears behind Lifeless and punches through his body with one of her left fist. Lifeless, unmoved by the pain, seizes the Type- Ω‘s left fist and body slams her to the ground. He then jumps onto Type- Ω’s stomach and unleashes a deadly beating on the demon’s face, punches after punches until Type- Ω’s face is completely covered in blood. Frustrated by her own incompetence, Type- Ω brushes Lifeless away with a red energy blast. She casts four fire balls into each of her hands and tosses them all at Desna, Type- Ω was cunning, she senses that the death of Desna will greatly disorientate Lifeless and she will soon gain the upper hand. Desna, didn’t stand around and get hit, evades the first three and deflects the fourth with her leviathan blade.]

Desna: “Hah! Is that all you got?”

Type- Ω: *rushes for Desna with her claws stretched wide* “DIE!”

Lifeless: *shouts* “Desna!!!” *tackles Type- Ω before her claw could reach Desna, ramming Type- Ω onto the dam’s foundation wall.*

Type- Ω: *breaks away from Lifeless* “Insolent! Fear my wrath!” *fires a beam of lightning at Lifeless, Lifeless is temporarily stunned* “When I am done with you… this world will be mine…” *stands before Lifeless, with blood dripping down her claws, ready to finish him off*

Lifeless: *twitching violently from the shock* “C-c-can’t continue… termination… eminent…”

Desna: *yells* “LIFELESS!!! Remember your directives!” *throws her leviathan blade at Type- Ω, the blade bounces off from her nearly indestructible skin*

[Lifeless, regained his consciousness at the last second, caught the sword before it fells to the ground and impaled Type- Ω’s chest with its sharp blade. He uses what is left of his strength to push the blade as deep as it can into Type- Ω’s chest, severing her heart in half. The mist energy from the heart starts to flood out of Type- Ω's body, her muscles begin to shrink and the hardened skin started to peel off, exposing red flesh, it is the end for the "Queen", but Lifeless can feel the uplifting energy in the air, as if new life could be born beneath this blood stained world...]

Type- Ω: *With blood vomiting out of her mouth* “H-how? …”

Lifeless: *smiled, his tone changed from mechanical back to normal* “…At last, I am free…” *closes his eyes*

Type- Ω: *in agony* “I am… I am… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”