Queen of the Damned Part 7
The Doomsguard.
Hell’s very own police and military force, serving as first and last line of defense against those that may try to invade their deadly world. The demons never believed themselves to be evil, not since after the War. They guarded against evil. They kept it down deep inside the darkest pits of their home, where it can decay without ever knowing the warmth of light. They are the ones who guard against the coming doomsday, a tagline that Lord Lucifer himself came up with when naming his honorable militia—evidentally, he was not very good or original when it came to names for that matter.
Established shortly after the long war with the angels, the Doomsguard is the only force keeping order within a chaotic world. The law for the lawless and, if need be, public executioners to those punished. Decked out with black-greyish steel-plated armor head to toe. Armed to the bone with the standard R21-8 Scorch Assault Rifles loaded with 10mm caliber light-armor piercing rounds, the powerful D3-Helblast Shotguns for close combat, the long range L10-18 Scope Rifles for the best sharpshooters, and the deadly Plag-7 Shred Cannons capable of reducing meat into a blood puddle in two seconds flat. There was also a special division that helped those that were empowered harnass their dark gifts and abilities to become powerful magic-users on the battlefields. They were a force never to be reckoned with.
Service within the guard is a great honor but had the ultimate price. An old saying among demonkind was that signing onto the Doomsguard meant you were signing away your life. You will live and die in the Doomsguard, as they said—literally in more ways too. Most of their soldiers and officers consisted of the older generations—the veterans bred from the Heaven-Hell War and the first to don the armor—and the younger, hotheaded generations that were eagered to join the cause, whether to kill scavengers and raiders or protect their homes and cities. Any demon that was qualified: the commons, the Converted, incubi, and succubi alike. Soldiers are needed. Their backstories ranged with either young kids wanting to be heroes, or nobodies needing a home and a family, the guard provided everything you needed. As long as they were legal adults (an age equivalent to eighteen in mortal human years) they could join and grow to become something more.
There were many ranks: Private, Sergeant, Captain, Major, and so on, as like any military rank. The highest rank to achieve for the average soldier was Major. To go beyond and command battalions of Doomsguard officers and soldiers into the frontlines will earn them the rank of General. Only one General can have the alternative title of General Supreme, commanding all of Doomsguard, second only to the devil. And she was only obedient to the devil. All of Hell knew her face from her sky blue skin to her shaven head. (Not to mention her scars and metal left leg told a long history of violence in her elongated life.) If her face wasn’t enough her reputation then was far more recognizable having built a solid legacy becoming was the first ever succubus to join the ravenous demon armies during the Heaven-Hell War, during which she quickly rose through the ranks and became the first succubus general to lead. She was identified by one name alone.
Belial stood in front of the multiple screens. Her light blue eyes stared grimly as usual. The screens broadcasted live feed from her soldiers doing battling with a scavenger horde, and each of the high ranking officers watched their progress, along with several dozen demons on coms, also viewing their own monitors. This is the war room of Doomsguard Central, the headquarters of the whole Doomsguard operation. A massive dome complex located not far from Inferno Tower. The war with the angels may have ended a lifetime ago. Yet out of the ashes of one war rose another for them to fight. They’ve been at war with a deadlier race than themselves. Scavengers. Damned souls corrupted and perverted by darkness. Now reduced to withered, decaying, mindless monstrosities with the sole desire to feed an endless starvation. They may have no use for eyes yet that only increased the danger they possessed. Sharpened nails and gnarled fangs and what seems like endless hordes of them were what made the scavengers dangerous.
A lone demon could have the strength to fend off a lone, hungry scavenger. But multiply that one scavenger by the tens, then the hundreds, perhaps thousands, being devoured alive by these creatures was the worst kind of death. Since their creation they have ravaged the lands of the Inferno, devastating the ecosystem and destroying many villages and colonial homes. The worst encounter happened nearly two decades ago within a former metropolis-like haven for the demons called Ge-Sheol, translated in demon tongues as “The Valley of Shades”. Many demon civilians dead. Many Doomsguard fell. Many scavengers eradicated when six members of the Doomsguard—one of them was a Lt. Ikon Doomslayer, son of Moloch and older brother of Malachi, Dominic, and the rest of their siblings—set off a reactor, leaving much of the once prideful cityscape that would rival the capital city Dis in dusty ruin. It was a day no detizen of Hell had forgotten. A deeper hatred against the scavengers spawned from that day. But no hate from any demon matched against Belial’s own hatred for the scavengers.
“Status report!” General Belial demanded.
“District 11 is holding out strong, General,” One of the com officers answered. “Scavenger numbers are depleting,”
“Squadrons from Districts 14 and 19 on arrival for support, ma’am,” another one said.
A third suddenly spoke up. “General, we have another scavenger horde developing in Quadrant 11. Squadrons from Districts 22 and 25 are on route to intercept.”
So for, so good. Her soldiers dealt with the scavengers with precision, just as they all had trained for.
The other high-ranking Doomsguard generals were gathered around a holomap, one of the very few technological devices they stole from the angels long ago during the Heaven-Hell War. Their small talk stopped once Belial joined in the circle.
“Damn these scavenger filths,” a common, pureblooded general snarled. “With every passing century their numbers seem to increase more and more. And they seem to get closer to Dis each century too.”
“We’re at least making short work of these scavengers,” one green-furred Kahpra general said.
“Indeed,” spoke a female pureblood. “Our soldiers seem to be in peak condition.”
“It’s not good enough,” Belial growled, her mind still fixated on the battle. “We need to focus on their nesting ground. Eliminate that, stops them for good.”
“We believe we’ve may have located it.” a one-eyed Converted general grumbled. A couple buttons pressed later and the vast wasteland outside their precious city. “Here.” their map highlighted a small red circle. “An underground cavern not far from where our troops are deployed. Just a couple short clicks west. We hit that hard-”
“That’s a nesting ground, not the main hive,” the General Supreme corrected her fellow officer. “Lord Lucifer and I want this scourge eradicated, permenantly.”
Another general then muttered. “Unfortunately, that’s the best we can go on.”
“And,” the Kahpra general added. “at the very least, we can make short work of these scavengers.”
This was not the results Belial wanted. She remembered her meetings with Lucifer as the discussed again and again about the scavenger crisis. Less could she forget that her king warned her of a scavenger, or the possibility of a new breed of scavenger, that had an infectious ability to produce more scavengers. The only evidence for this claim was a remarkable bite wound on the necks of a few condemned souls. Not to mention an old story that Lucifer had once heard from his eldest brother a few weeks back. But what good were the retellings from an angel of Heaven? It was as useless as the angels themselves, the General Supreme believed this to be true. Yet it was still the best course of action, for the very sake of ending this conflict. That she could agree on. “Very well,” she said.
The one-eyed Converted smiled assuredly. “Excellent. Let us carry out this operation.”
“Any thoughts on how we should do this?” the Kaphra asked.
“I believe Lord Lucifer has the final word.”
“But I heard Lord Lucifer was out of commission for the time being,” the female pureblood intervened.
“That’s correct,” Belial confirmed, her gaze still focused on the map. “But we do have one other. Legion and Lilith are supposed to be bringing her-”
No one flinched when a blinding blast of bright green fire blasted sparked inside the war room, only for it to extinguish itself seconds later. As promised, standing where the brief teleporting fire spell took place, was none other than the royal advisor Legion and the succubus secretary Lilith. But standing in front of them, with her back turned against everyone, was Carmen, dressed in her long pink cotton night robe.
Oblivious to her new location, she ranted. ”...you think you two can barge in my house at one in the morning and-” she paused, now fully aware she was no longer home. Awkwardly, Carmen turned around to be greeted by the several dozen faces of new demons she never met before, now present inside a room, as well as a building, she had never been to before.
“Oh...” Carmen chuckled nervously, face blushing hot red as a puckered rose. Her hands cletched the folds of her robe, hoping that no one would notice her lack of pajamas underneath. “Hi there, everybody.”
#sinsofthefather #fiction #fantasy #comedy #horror #demons #hell #doomsguard