Empire State Building, New York City, NY USA
Arkhon Osirun – Commander of the Reclamation Forces. 

I stood atop one of Humanity’s greatest achievements; a symbol of their hubris and arrogance. They had dared to reach into the heavens, a sin that I could not overlook. 

Our fortress world hung in the sky above me, casting a shadow over us. I stood at the edge of the battlefield, commanding thousands. I was wrapped in my crystalline armor, holding my war sickle, directing the flow of the battle before me. My wings, dark as the void itself, fluttered slightly in the wind. Humanity had long ago forgotten us, lost their way, and it was time for me to carry out their judgment.

“Arkhon,” one of my subordinates said as he approached, bowing low to the ground as he did. “The great war engines of our majesty are ready to be deployed.” 

I smiled, satisfied with the progress we had made in such a short time. It was only natural that humanity, even with thousands of years to progress, would not be able to stem the flow of our forces. 

“Proceed,” I commanded him. 

I watched as our greatest warriors descended from the fortress above— flying to the north, south, east and west. Each of the four battalions carried with them a massive pillar, ready to enact our will when they were put in place. Countries would fall as the land and ocean swallowed them whole. Billions would perish, this was the price of rebirth. Humanity needed to be cleansed, and only those worthy to serve us would survive. 

The battle raged before me, Earth’s forces fought valiantly but ultimately they would bend the knee. Their flying chariots roared through the sky like mighty dragons, their spears streaked through the air, wherever they hit, leaving fire and ash, but our mighty shields protected us.  

Our great warriors, clad in golden armor, wielding divine spears, cut through their defenses like a scythe through wheat. Their cries of agony, of desperation, filled the air, a symphony of blood that would herald the dawn of a new era in this world. 

Hours passed and I saw that despite our superior strength, Humanity held on and even managed to push back our warriors regaining ground previously lost. Rage flickered to life in my eyes, how dare they defy us. What right did they have to resist us? They should gladly lay down and die so that they may serve us. It sickened me.   

My sickle began to grow in my hand, it grew to twice the height of a man, and I descended upon them. Like a great storm I blew through their ranks cutting them down as I went. My massive blade, Serqet, gleamed in the dim light and they stood no chance against my divine might. Their eyes opened wide, their heads fell from their bodies, and through it all I felt no remorse, only a cold satisfaction in fulfilling my duty. 

Hundreds, thousands, fell before me. Their men, their women and children, all of them stood no chance in defending themselves before my strength and power. With a flick of my wrist ten would die, cut down and left to fall to the ground with a thud. The air wreaked of copper, their piss and blood flowed through the streets and the earth greedily drank it up.  

Major General Carter - New York City, Fort Hamilton, Division Commander. 

We were in a makeshift command post, in the lobby of a crumbling building. Maps and communication equipment were spread out on a large table.

Standing there among my men, my heart was heavy with the weight of this command and the truly desperate situation we had suddenly found ourselves within.  In my 25 years of service to my country I had never imagined I would find myself defending our land against such beings. 

While we had been briefed with the details of Operation Starfall, it was another matter to see first hand the absolute might of these invaders. I had acted quickly, having the fifteen thousand men under my command move to predetermined rally points and take up defensive positions. Had I delayed even by a few minutes, our position would have become untenable and we would have been forced to abandon the city or be utterly destroyed.  

I had my men stage ambushes, force choke points and pull fighting retreats within the city. They used the buildings for cover and constantly out flanked the enemy who had slowed dramatically as they became increasingly bogged down in the chaos.

The invaders used what appeared to be primitive tactics, spears that could slice through heavy armor with ease and shields that could take a direct hit from an AT-4 rocket launcher. The trick to killing them, we had determined in our efforts so far, was to catch them without their defenses up.  Several shots from a standard issue rifle to the sides or back of their body and head could quickly kill one of these demons. Their armor seemed to be designed to encourage an aggressive push and gave little to no protection to their flanks. 

Taking full advantage of this knowledge we had adapted our tactics to utilize urban warfare lessons taught to us over decades of fighting in Iraq. The demons began to fall and were even being pushed back in many areas as we pressed our advantages against them. For all their strength and numbers they were ineffective against modern warfare and could not win against us like this. 

It was the sixth hour of intense fighting when I saw him, a warrior with two black wings and a massive curved blade, who descended upon the battlefield like the god of death. He moved like the wind, blowing through our forces at such an incredible speed it was difficult to see as dozens were cut down before him.  

“Sir! We just lost another squad!” Captain Martinez said, his face drawn with exhaustion. “If we don’t do something now, we will be overrun.”

Clenching my jaw, I raised my hand and slammed it onto the table. “Damn it! I know, but with the speed that monster is cutting through our people we won’t last but a few minutes out there if we turn our backs to it now.” No, we needed another plan if we wanted a chance to survive. 

This would likely be my last stand, I needed a way to even the playing field against something that could move faster than the eye could track. As part of the operation we had been given a tactical bomb and were told to use it if we were close to being overrun. It was clearly heading this way, maybe I could bait it into a trap. Use its confidence against it. It was desperate but it might just work.

Shouting through the intercom I said, “Disperse! Retreat within the buildings, quickly!” My voice was raw from hours of directing the battle. My men looked at me with quiet determination in their eyes. We had fought for every inch of ground, never giving up a damn foot without making them pay in blood. This, however, felt like trying to hold back an ocean. 

While the tactics we had employed until now had worked well, it was time to pivot. I turned to my personal guard and those in the command post and said, “Time to move out, order everyone to disperse into the city and continue hit and run tactics. When they run low on ammo, have them retreat and meet up at rally point Delta.” 

I then looked at the Captain in charge of our engineering core, “is the ordinance in place and ready?” He nodded gravely, “Yes sir, we have it wired” and handed me a transmitter that had been rigged to send a signal to the explosive once I let go of the trigger. It was a last resort, but I knew that it would only be minutes until that demon with the black wings was on us. 

“Good, please evacuate.” I said, my voice hard and unwavering, making it clear that I intended to stay. 

First Sergeant Braddock spoke up next, “Sir, with all due respect, you do not have the authority to order me to let you die like this. It should be one of us that stays behind.” 

Touched by his words, I could only smile as I knew full well that I would be the target of that demon. If I left now I would be placing everyone else in danger and by staying I had a good chance of taking it out with me.

“No, I will not be leaving here.” Conviction in my voice, “pull back to the evacuation points.” 

It took a moment but he eventually nodded in understanding at my order and quickly made his way out of the tent. The rest followed and I was soon left alone inside. Looking down at the transmitter in my hands, I breathed out heavily and armed it, my grip firm on the trigger. If I let go, it would all be over. I then left the tent and went to stand outside.

To my surprise around a hundred men stood around the entrance to the tent, “Sir, we have all agreed, we will not let you die alone.” First Sergeant Braddock said.  He gave me a wry smile and then gave an order to his men, “Do not give an inch! For the General!” in unison a hundred voices answered him, “For the General!”   

Their display of loyalty nearly broke me. I could only nod as I accepted their choice. 

We would lure the enemy into the kill zone, and hit him with everything we had. As we waited the tension only grew.  The sounds of battle, of men dying drew closer, and the air was charged with anticipation. 

When the two winged demon finally appeared, he was a vision of deadly grace. He moved through the streets with such a fluid precision, his sickle cutting down anyone in his path.  The signal was given, and my men opened fire. Bullets hit their target, but fell off of his armor like the rain.  

He moved faster than any human possibly could, his powerful wings pushing the air behind him creating visible eddies in the smoke and dust as he moved through it. His sickle flashed through the air, and he closed the distance between us at a terrifying speed. In the span of a heart beat, he was upon us. 

My men fought with everything they had, their determination shining through the fear they must have felt within. They fired their guns, threw grenades, did everything they could to bring down this demon. But, he was relentless. He cut through them as if they were nothing. 

As he approached, I could see his eyes now, they were golden in the shadow of the buildings around us. I raised my gun, and emptied my clip at his face but nothing I did would bring him down, each shot left a feeling of futility in my gut. 

He reached out, and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me off of the ground. His eyes bored into mine, and I felt a chill run through my body.

He smiled, like a cat that caught a mouse, “Dear commander, you thought you could possibly win this against us?” He laughed and continued, “You’ve led your people astray, you humans have forgotten who you once served. How arrogant you have become in our absence.”

My vision began to darken as I fought for breath, in my desperation I struggled against his grip and tried to kick out with my legs. He only studied me for a moment, before he seemingly lost interest and then cast me aside. I hit the ground hard, my body twisting in pain.  I tried to stand, but something was broken inside me and I could only groan in pain. 

I still held onto the transmitter, and in my last moments, I thought of my family. I missed them so much and I could only hope that they had made it out of the city okay.  I let go and in a flash everything ended. 

Arkhon Osirun – Commander of the Reclamation Forces.

To my right, around a hundred feet from me, I saw a small man who appeared to be giving animated and frantic orders. His uniform marked him to me as someone important, and he was well guarded with dozens of men surrounding him. They appeared vigilant and well trained, staying in a practiced formation even in the midst of this chaotic battle. 

I turned towards him and made my approach, shooting forward at a speed that these mortals could not comprehend. I heard the shouts of his men, their warnings of my approach and the sounds of thousands of small explosions coming from their odd looking metal rods. I felt dozens of impacts against my body, but they were nothing to me. A smile began to grow on my lips as I continued to approach their leader, each swing of my sickle cutting down several men, their arms and legs failing them as the blood flowed from their bodies. 

I finally reached him, his eyes defiant, burning with anger and fear. I grabbed him by his throat and lifted him off of the ground to bring him eye to eye with me. “Dear commander, you thought you could possibly win this against us?” I said sarcastically, laughing before I continued, “You’ve led your people astray, you humans have forgotten who you once served. How arrogant you have become in our absence.”

He tried to kick at me, flailing his legs even as his face grew red and his eyes began to slide into the back of his head. I studied him for a moment, his name sewn into a patch on his uniform, “Carter.” He had two stars emblazoned on each shoulder and while he was covered in dirt and blood I could see that he was disciplined in his appearance.

With a flick of my wrist, I cast him aside. His body twisting and contorting in mid-air, his body hit the ground several feet away. 

I turned away, and raised my hands, signaling my forces to move forward and clear out the remaining survivors of the human city.  As I did, I saw a sudden blinding flash of light, followed by an immense pressure and finally an incredible heat. The world around me inverted, and my last thoughts were ones of rage.