Jack had blood covering his head. His bulletproof vest was broken, and he could feel some of his ribs cracked. Ein was lying on the ground unconscious, her gear and weapons broken. Jack could hear screams, the screams of two people, Jess and Talon. They were being crushed in the monster's hands. Jack popped out the magazine in his M4 rifle and saw he was out of ammunition. He then unholstered his M17 handgun and checked the magazine in that weapon, there were two bullets left.
"I'm gonna have to make these last rounds count," Jack said to himself as he put the M17 back in its holster and pulled out his combat knife. Smiling as he approached the giant thing that looked like a demon.
In Jack's world, something like this would be called a demon. In this world it was almost normal to see monsters, just nothing this strong. Jack ran as fast as he could under the monster, activating a spell that increased his speed, so that he was only visible as a blur. Jack was slashing at the tendons and veins that he could see at lighting speed. Jack jumped as high in the air as he could, with all the momentum he built up from running at that speed it brought him face to face with the beast. As he hovered at the beast's face, Jack unholstered his M17 and casted a fire enchantment on the last two rounds that he aimed for each eyeball.
Jack fell back to the ground and could hear the ear splitting screams of the beast. Jack looked up and saw the beast wailing and rearing in pain, throwing Talon and Jess in opposite directions.
'I guess those were a good use of the last rounds,' Jack thought.
As he watched the beast flail around, Jack saw it and cursed under his breath. The beast's eyes were regenerating back in its sockets.
Jack was the last man standing. Ein was unconscious, as well as Jess and Talon.
Jack was the only thing standing in the face of this demon and now it was angry. Jack smiled up at it and pulled his combat knife back out. Jack activated a dark spell on it so it looked like a long, black blade.
"Come at me you giant piece of shit!"
****
10 Weeks Earlier
"Boss, the Gates are opening slowly, about 2-3 per day now. Creatures are crawling through them and ravaging towns and cities leaving nothing but blood and rubble in its wake," Talon informed Jack.
Jack wished Talon would stop calling him 'Boss' but he knew it was futile to ask. Jack just grunted and nodded at the new information. Gates have been opening up all across the country. New monsters or whatever they were crawling from them and wreaking havoc. At first it was around one gate a month, but as time goes, more and more gates open.
Jack wondered if any of these gates would open up back to his home world, if this was maybe a way to get back. It was a long shot but it was his best theory so far. Jack was sitting in the upholstered chair of his inn room, a giant room that would be considered a hotel suite in his home world.
Jess and Jeff walked into the room and stood next to Talon. They were informed of a gate that opened just outside of the city they were in now.
Jack rubbed his eyes in his fingers, the stress was getting to him. Jack could feel hand go onto his shoulders massaging and caressing them.
"You have been working so hard and doing so much Jack, you have provided us with so much. Maybe we could handle this one for you and let you rest," Ein suggested.
Jack knew she was probably right, and he was definitely tired, but he could never allow them to do an operation without him. He wasn't a general that sent people out to die as he stood comfortably in his room, every op was attended and led by Jack.
Katt was on the other side of the room, she walked over to Jack and sat on his lap. This irritated Ein but she kept her opinion to herself.
"Ein is right, you do look stressed, maybe they can all go and do this op and I will stay behind to relievetension."
Jack sighed and shook his head. He didn't even have to look at Ein to know she had smoke coming out of her ears. Jack stood up, walked over to the window and looked out of it. He stared out into the lands beyond the city, the grassy plains that led to a forest in the distance and even further were snowy topped mountains. He took in the view and turned to face his squad.
"I will lead this op. The fireteam will consist of Ein, Talon, Jeff, Monte, and myself. I want Talon up front and Monte taking the rear. Jeff will be off center left and Ein will take the center right. I will be at a distance in the brush. I will take shots and kill whatever I can from a distance before I flank left and close in. Any questions?"
Nobody said a word, they all nodded in agreement. Jack looked around before he noticed the only person that wasn't around at the moment.
"Where the hell is Monte?"
Everybody looked at Jack as if he already knew the answer. Jack sighed and shook his head walking out of the room and starting down the stairs into the tavern on the bottom floor. There he could see Monte at the bar, already hanging off some woman half his age, and burping whiskey into her face.
"Monte! Gear up! Mission takes place at 1200 hours! Ask the others for the details," Jack said as he turned and went back up to his room to get ready.
The op takes place in exactly three hours from now, Jack was going over it in his head over and over again to make sure it will be okay. He sent Katt out to scout the gate and see if there were any outliers or anomalies. Usually when the monsters come out they stand by their gate for a while until all of them come through, probably so they can attack en masse.
Katt returned with information that they were all normal monsters with no boss or anomalies. They were a type we have seen before, from the wildlands on the other side of the world. This was good news, sometimes those gates opened up to other worlds that gave us monsters no one has ever seen or heard of. These ones were simple, alagors, they were essentially alligator humanoids. They had normally tough hides and were hard to kill but his team were trained and then trained more by him.
'Easy prey,' Jack thought.
It was now 1200 hours and the operation had begun. They met at the city gates and went over the plans one last time before getting in formation. As they marched out of the city, Jack broke off to the left and went for the shrubs and bushes across the way. The gate was not far up the road and already visible, and the city was placed on lockdown so everyone inside the walls were taking shelter.
The Alagors began to march toward the city, about thirty of them total. Jack's fireteam was marching to meet them head on, and Jack was watching in the bushes about three hundred yards away. Once the alagors saw the fireteam, they wasted no time and charged for them immediately with claws out. As the alagors ran, Jack was able to take out seven of them before they reached the fireteam.
Ein was shooting and moving constantly. As an alagor attempted to slash at her with his claws, she backflipped out of reach and nailed a shot right under its chin through its head. The alagors brain matter splattered upward and rained down on her from above. Ein got that crazy smile and eyes she always got when she was excited, and she began her graceful yet violent rampage, shooting and flipping and twirling.
Jeff on the other hand was more sturdy and in place. He was thrusting his spear at the soft spots and keeping a long enough distance so that he could stick them while they could not reach him.
Talon was slashing and stabbing, and blocking the claws of the alagors using his shield and strength. Talon was a giant strong man. He was probably one of the only men in the world that could come close to matching the alagors in sheer strength.
Monte was in the back, still a little bit drunk but able to accurately throw fire arrows straight for his targets. The arrows would set them ablaze on contact. Any alagor that got close to Monte was either shot down from a distance by Jack, or its claws were blocked by a wall of ice created by Monte.
They were a unit, a well trained and coordinated team. Jack was proud of what he had turned these people into.
Jack decided it was time for him to enter the battlefield. He stood from the bushes and casted a speed enchantment on himself. He then made it to the center of the fight in a blur with his M17 in hand and combat knife in the other. Jack used his speed to shoot and slash at any alagor that was within close range to him. Moving and shooting and slashing. Jack decided to put away the M17 and began using his knife and CQC (Close Quarters Combat) skills. Jack was slashing and tearing at these beasts. Grabbing one of their arms, Jack broke it in half with his sheer strength, and shoved the knife deep under its chin, splitting the alagors face in half.
When it was all over, Jack and his fireteam were all covered head to toe in alagor blood. The mangled and twisted bodies of the alagors littered the ground almost unidentifiable. The gate closed and it was over. Ein ran to Jack at full speed hugging him and burying her face in his chest, laughing and moaning.
"That was so fun Jack! I love this life, I love our team, and I love you!" Ein said looking up at Jack, her face glowing red with blush and blood and her eyes wide and crazed with excitement. "When we get back to the room I want to reward you, alone".
Jack shook his head, his adrenaline coming down, and his body getting tired.
The fireteam reported back to the inn room with the reward that the guild put out for that gate. And that night they ate a hearty meal never realizing what was coming, what was causing these gates, and where some of these gates led.