Chapter 3, part 2

Chapter 3

For One Impossible Second

Part 2

Something even bigger than the Crowned One was coming through.

The battlefield had fallen silent again.

Not because the fighting had stopped.

Because nobody knew what to do.

The Titans stood ready.

The Iron Fangs held their ground.

HellGuard forces regrouped around burning wreckage.

And above them all, the portal continued splitting the heavens apart.

Max stared upward at the growing nightmare.

The tactical displays in his helmet were still dead. Communications remained crippled by the Crowned One's arrival. Around him, soldiers from every faction watched the widening breach in stunned disbelief.

Then something flickered.

A single green light.

His emergency communications module.

Weak.

Barely functioning.

But alive.

Max immediately slapped his gauntlet against the receiver.

"Come on..."

Static.

More static.

Then a voice.

Broken.

Faint.

"...Echo... receiving..."

Max's heart jumped.

He recognized the channel.

HellGuard Command.

The emergency long-range frequency.

"Tobias," Max said.

Nothing.

Static.

"Tobias, if you can hear me, respond."

The signal crackled violently.

Then came a familiar voice.

Deep.

Calm.

Unbreakable.

"Max."

Relief flooded through him.

"Tobias."

Around him, even Echo Team looked relieved.

If Tobias Ironwarden was alive, there was still hope.

For now.

Max looked back toward the portal.

Toward the Titans.

Toward the Crowned One.

Toward the army gathering beyond the breach.

Then he spoke the words every soldier dreaded hearing.

"The world is truly in for some hurting."

Silence answered him.

Not because Tobias didn't understand.

Because he did.

Completely.

Max swallowed.

"It's now."

The portal widened again.

Miles of burning sky peeled apart.

"It's all of it, Tobias."

Another colossal shape emerged behind the Crowned One.

Larger.

Older.

Worse.

"We need you."

The canyon shook.

"We need Alpha Team."

Far away, somewhere beyond the deadlands, Tobias was already moving.

"We need Delta Team."

Max could hear alarms sounding over the transmission.

Entire command centers coming alive.

Mobilization orders.

Emergency protocols.

"We need Omega Prime."

The name itself carried weight.

Legends.

Veterans.

The monsters humanity unleashed when everything else failed.

Max's voice hardened.

"We need all of HellGuard."

Silence followed.

Several seconds.

Then Tobias answered.

One sentence.

Simple.

Certain.

Enough to send chills through every HellGuard soldier listening.

"We're coming."

The transmission ended.

Across the world, emergency sirens began to sound.

Bunker 13.

Forward operating bases.

Orbital defense stations.

Hidden outposts.

Training compounds.

HellGuard had entered full mobilization.

The Last War had begun.

Back in the canyon, Lord Asp slowly turned toward Max.

The crimson visor regarded him silently.

Then Asp looked toward the horizon.

Toward where hundreds of HellGuard dropships would soon appear.

Toward the armies gathering.

Toward the Titans awakening.

Toward the portal.

For the first time since Echo Team had met him, Max noticed something unusual.

Lord Asp looked satisfied.

Not because Hell was coming.

Because humanity was finally taking the threat seriously.

The Crowned One's laughter rolled across the battlefield once more.

"You summon more warriors."

Its burning eyes swept across the canyon.

"It will not matter."

Then the sky exploded.

A blue-white streak tore across the clouds.

Then another.

And another.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

HellGuard ships.

Coming in fast.

The cavalry had heard the call.

And Tobias Ironwarden was on his way.