Enter the Inferno - Fanfiction

[Omega King]

Chapter 1 - From the Helmsman

My name is Asmodeus, and I see all.

My pseudopods grip the controls as I accelerate to faster than light, roaring through the stars on my trip to the next beacon. The SS Inferno shrieks with speed and I wave my antennae with the thrill of it, feeling the roiling minds of the crew. I sense their thoughts, their emotions, their jealousy and joy.
From here, I am omniscient.
In vision, I am God.


The SS Inferno screams through the void, locked on to the signature of a starship in the distance. At the helm, I can feel the minds of those within that ship, each tainted with notions of false justice. I probe deep into the thoughts of their captain and find what I was looking for: the ship’s alignment. Though its markings are nondescript on the long-range scanners, the captain’s mind screams the name of our rival star fleet: Paradisio.

I activate the pulsing light signature atop the SS Inferno, shouting our alignment with the star fleet Sheol for all to hear. The Paradisio missionary ship recognizes our feud moments too late. I pilot the ship down and past the enemy, sweeping its sides with beams and bursts of laser fire. I feel the mind of Sathanus, my weapons commander, explode with joy as he rakes through the defenses of our rival ship.

We move fast, but it seems not fast enough. I hear the telltale rip in the air as a boarding party teleports onto our ship.

"Captain, they're all over me! I need backup, now!" Shields operative Mammon shouts into the comm.

Reinforcements rush to the shields room, and I abandon my place at the helm to fight off the invaders. Without me evading, our ship takes the full brunt of one missile volley. Weapons go down, and the engine room is breached. There'll be no way to fix them until we're finished with this battle.

I slide up the wall into the shields room and lunge onto the back of an attacker, knocking the weapon out of his hands with my pseudopods as he fires a stray shot that scorches the wall. We Slugs may be soft, but we fight hard. The attacker screams as I constrict my flexible body around him and press my antennae to his temples. With my telepathic connection strengthened, I deliver a mental shock that puts him catatonic. I cover the stunned attacker in thick mucus, which solidifies into an imprisoning cocoon around him.

All around, my crew are engaged in deadly battles with the boarding crew. I slither beneath the lines and fire into enemies with my sidearm, supporting my side of the fight. Sathanus and Lucifer, my strongest attack crew, tear enemies to shreds left and right. By the time the battle is done, the only one left alive is the invader I stunned. Sathanus shivers with glee as he prepares to decapitate the remaining enemy, but I slide I stop him with a raised pseudopod.

"This one we can ussse for interrogation. Take him to the hold."

I slide back to the helm just as the second missile volley arrives. My quick work at the controls allows us to dodge one missile, but the other strikes us directly in the weapons control. With our ability to attack crippled, it seems is if the Paradisio ship may escape.

Grave determination in my mind, I set the SS Inferno on a direct collision course with the enemy. It tries to move out of the way, but our attack had crippled it's non-FTL engines. Just as we come close to impact, I pull the ship into a steep climb and activate the plasma afterburners. Bursts of of raw energy from the engines burn across the top of the ship, cooking the crew from the inside. I feel as each one of them writhes in pain, and sense each mind snuff out. Their death is my ecstasy.

Finally, I can turn my attentions to the prisoner.

I stalk into the hold, where the prisoner lies on his side on the cold metal floor. My antennae twitch in anticipation.

"Sssso prisssoner. It sseemsss we have you in a bit of a tight ssspot."

The prisoner tries to spit on me, but comes nowhere close from his place on the ground. Lucifer hisses at him, giving him a reprimanding kick and waving her sharp mantis blades.

"By the Bloodstained God, I will tell you nothing! The Paradisio fleet is invincible and Sheol will never defeat us!" my prisoner shouts, struggling to break free of the shell of mucus.

I flick out my rasping tongue in a horrifying approximation of a grin.
"You don't have to tell me a thing. I am Asmodeus. I see all."

I wrap my antennae around his temples and dive deep into his mind, searching for intel on the movements of Paradisio.

I suppose I should explain. Paradisio and Sheol have been warring for decades. They have tried to force their false god onto those who do not follow their beliefs. We have liberated those they have indoctrinated, and stopped any missionary in its tracks.

We will overthrow the Church of Bloodstained God. Our legion is mightier than their false deity will ever be.

I dart within the prisoner's mind, sifting through emotions and memories. His greatest fears are assorted in front of me, along with ever promise he has broken, lie he has told, and secret he has spilled. I probe through relevant information, reaching into his memories of the Paradisio fleet. Finding nothing, I roll back in disgust.

He is no more than a mindless drone of the Paradisio hive mind. I drop the shaking, gibbering missionary to the floor.

"He wasss a wassste of valuable time. Sssathanus, Lucifer, you may have him."

I slither back to the helm, leaving behind the the desperate screams of the prisoner as my crewmembers descend upon him. I'll have to have the blood cleaned out later.


My name is Asmodeus, and this day was one ship closer to the destruction of the Paradisio fleet.
For in reality, we do not fight them to liberate those they enslave.
Not at all.

We fight them because the true Gods are us.

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Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the forum so I thought I might contribute some fic. Anyways, if you all like it hmu and I'll write some more chapters from the perspectives of different crewmembers. Open to any criticism you all might provide. Peace out.

[stylesrj]

Honestly can't find much to fault in the story. I like the Slug Combat; I wish I had thought of it up when I wrote my first fanfics.

Yeah, so keep it up I wanna see more.

[Omega King]

Honestly can't find much to fault in the story. I like the Slug Combat; I wish I had thought of it up when I wrote my first fanfics.

Yeah, so keep it up I wanna see more.

Glad to have some support. I'll start on the next chapter if I get a few more contributors wanting more. Think I'll give you something from the perspective of the bloodthirsty Sathanus.

[Omega King]

Chapter 2 - Blood and Glory

My name is Sathanus, and I am death.

The greatest warriors are no match for my scythes, the kindest peacemakers mincemeat on my blades. I am dancing destruction, pirouetting peril, performing my ballet of blood. Those who have heard tales of me call me Captain-Killer, God-Slayer, and Blade-Queen. I am unstoppable, unbreakable, in every way unkillable.

Paradisio knows me as the Devil's Daughter. They are close, but not quite correct.

I have met the devil.

And I have killed him.


Six days after the battle, I wander the halls of the SS Inferno, itching for another battle. I have been in the simulation room for hours, but tearing holograms to shreds is no contest to the feeling of a body on me blades.

I step into the common room where Mammon always lounges, his craggy body enveloped in a massive armchair.

"Rock-warrior, what know you of the purpose of our flight? We have spent many star-streaks in FTL, and I am anxious for battle." I say, sharpening my claws against each other.

Mammon groans, shifting his vast bulk in his seat. "Idiot mantis. Do you remember nothing? We go back to report to Dante at Sheol Starbase Saraqael. He must know of our findings among the stars." he snorts. "Asmodeus will act the servant, as always, no matter how much pumice-talk he gives him behind his back. "

"Do not insult the soft-bodied one! Without him we would not have been brought such glory. When we return to SSS, I will spin Dante tales of our conquest. He will know the havoc we have wreaked among the stars. "

Mammon scoffs and rises from his chair, revealing his full body. Even for a Rock, he is absolutely massive. Each arm is larger than my abdomen, each finger thicker than my propodium. If I were to battle this monster, I would take out his legs first so I could even reach his head. Even then, I doubt my claws would be able to get through his thick exterior. I am an unstoppable force, but he is an immovable object. As he leaves the room, presumably to find something to eat, a comm message disrupts the quiet buzz of the FTL drive.

"Crewmembersss, we have arrived at the SssSsssSsss." Asmodeus's butchering of the starbase's name sends a shiver of mirth through my body. "Ready yourselves. Prepare to dock and report to Dante."

I sharpen my claws on each other and deepen the etches of the Sheol symbol in my thoracic carapace, displaying my alignment to all who can see. I feel the telltale shudder of the starship as we dock and assemble outside the airlock with the sicks other members of the crew. Our ship may be vastly overstaffed, but the strength and diversity of crew has allowed us to absolutely annihilate Paradisio for decades.

We parade out of the airlock, myself at Asmodeus's left side and silent Belzebub (our engines command) at his right. In front of us stands the most important person in all of Sheol: Dante.

"Welcome, crew of the SS Inferno. I assume you have returned to tell me of your advances in the destruction of Paradisio?" Dante's voice booms much to far for his puny meatsack body. Any other creature like him would seem easy prey to me, but Dante's eyes gleam as black as meteorite steel. There are rumors about him that fly. They say he isn't truly human, just something inhabiting that meatsack body. I am not one for superstition, but this I could believe.

"Asmodeus, come with me to discuss. You may leave your... escorts here." The two of them walk into a room down the long starbase hall, leaving us to stare at Dante's slew of bodyguards. Each one totes a gun as long as my scythe, and they all wear custom-fitted Sheol uniforms. I get a few strange looks from other Mantises, considering I wear nothing.

Those looks are met with a flare of my wing covers and a sharp hiss. I am the Alpha female of any group I come across. No one should give me a stray look. I fight without clothing or armor because I am strong, like the ancestors. Anything else is hiding the glory of our warrior carapaces behind flimsy coverings.

A human once asked me why I fight naked.

I killed him.

About 20 minutes of awkward fidgeting later, the two return. Asmodeus's antennae are slicked back in obeisance, but Dante stands as imposing as ever.

"I must say, Asmodeus, I am rather disappointed with your performance so far. I would have expected a lead on Paradisio's starbase at this point." Asmodeus's head drops even lower. "But worry not. We'll simply have to give you a new assign-"

Blaring sirens roar over the comms, and a young zoltan comes running down the halls.

"Dante! The Paradisio fleet! They've found us!"


A shudder rocks the hull as the telltale sound of pinging lasers and missile fire shoots through the starbase. Before I can even move, dozens of fighters beam into the room and rush for Dante. Instinctively I jump forward to protect him, and a veritable circle of his bodyguards and our crew surrounds him in a wall of bodies. Two Paradisio shock troopers rush me, firing wildly with their laser pistols. I feel a shot rip through the side of my carapace, but pay it no mind. I lunge for the first soldier and slice off his pistol arm with my blades, ducking under the shots of the second. I kick the legs out from under the one with all his limbs and drive a claw into each of their chests consecutively.

Another shot hits one of my legs, and I feel myself lose balance and begin to teeter. Dragging that leg behind me I whirl through the sea of enemies, slashing and biting as my carapace becomes dented and torn. As the tide begins to abate, I feel the cold barrel of a pistol on the back of my skull. A human voice laughs.

"Not so invincible now, are you, captainkill-"

Idiot meatsack. I slash his throat before he finishes his monologue. Too much drama can be deadly.

I turn again, but realize that in my bloodlust I have left Dante behind. I rush back to defend him, then stop as I see the havoc he has wreaked. A circle of corpses lies around him, bodies burned and broken. Dante calmly holsters his laser pistol, then looks down in disgust at his now blood-covered uniform.

"Damn." He says, stepping over the ring of bodies. "This was my good shirt."

"Sathanus!" I turn to see Lucifer has cried out to me. "It's Mammon! We have to get him to a medbay, fast!" Mountainous Mammon lays on his side on the hull, rocky skin blasted away and bleeding magma on the floor.

It takes the entire crew to pick him up and drag him towards the docking platform. The advanced medbay on the ship will be able to help all of us. No one is looking too good, and two of my leg's are non-functional.

Abaddon, a zoltan crewmember still in training, scouts ahead to the airlock to get everything ready. Almost immediately, He returns.

"Um, Asmodeus?" He says, as we walk out into to docking bay. "You're not gonna like this."

Before us float the torn and missile-blasted remains of the SS Inferno.

[Omega King]

Chapter 3 – A Step Back

Before us lies the wreckage of the starship Inferno, fragments bouncing off the walls of the docking bay. It’s crewmembers stare in horror as their friend bleeds out in their arms, the medbay that was to be his salvation reduced to scrap metal.

Before us are just one set of Dante’s pawns. Mammon, less a Rock than a mountain, is in the arms of two Mantises, a Lanius, and an Engi. A Slug and a Zoltan stand slightly in front of the medley crew, solemnly watching the pieces of their ship bounce off the walls in the zero-g environment.

Mammon cries white-hot tears as he bleeds out in the arms of his crewmates. His greed to defeat all in battle has killed him. As the life slips from his eyes, Sathanus screams, wracked with anguish, deprived of the only thing she could call a friend. Belzebub drops the corpse without a word, and the other two holding him soon follow, letting his magma blood pool around his torn and broken body. Sathanus rakes the floor with her claws as she mourns, wishing she had been there to save him, knowing that her in her glee in battle she had forgotten to watch his back. She blames herself, more than the attackers. More than the dozens of Paradisio goons that tore his rocky skin to shreds and riddled him with bullet holes. And beneath her grief rises a vengeance. She raises her head and shrieks once more, not in anguish but in wrath.

Asmodeus watches her bolt out of the docking bay looking for something to exact her revenge upon and sighs, knowing there is nothing left to do. Momentarily he worries whom will man the shields, but remembers: there are no shields to man. Involuntarily, his antennae shudder with sadness. Being a captain was all he had, and now it is gone, his dreams raked apart by halberd beams and Hermes missiles. He flicks out his rasping tongue as if to taste the air, to tast the sorrow and anger and fear he senses in the minds of those surrounding him.

He cannot sense Belzebub. Belzebub’s thoughts are silent.

Lucifer cleans her claws, drawing them against one another, trying to get the blood of her crewmate off of her blades, disgusted by what has just transpired. She is terrified by the simplicity of Mammon's death, terrified of how easy it would be for her to go the same way. Now she is hyper-aware of every dent in her armor, every small wound, worried that they, too, will lead to there demise.

"Asmodeus," she hisses "we must find a medbay on the station. It is too late for Mammon, but not for us! Please, let us heal!"

Every moment lets her fear expand, but Asmodeus only stares onward at the wreckage of his glory, paralyzed by what he has lost. Neither species can weep, but if they could tears would be spilling onto the floor.

Abaddon, the zoltan, is deeply confused. He doesn't understand. Everything has happened so fast and his world is spinning like a hubcap, as he watches the destruction all around him. He is halfway between normalcy and a panic attack, and anything could push him over the edge. More than anything, he wants to cling to Asmodeus's side and let him make it through. They all know Abaddon is too young for this destruction. They all know he deserved better than condemnation to the Inferno.

Belphegor, the Engi, is nearly as silent and Belzebub. He thinks so slowly it barely registers in his mind that his friends has died. Mammon, despite his tough outer shell, was the most easily befriended on the ship. His connections linked the bristling personalities of the rest of the crew. Belphegor's servos whirr as he processes, fiber optic cords sending messages from his hands to his flesh-and-blood brain. As he realizes, he drops to the ground in shock. He is horrified by the events of the past hours. He doesn't want to live with them still in his mind. At once, his circuits shut down, sending him into temporary hibernation. Those around him do not notice. They are too consumed by their own thoughts.

Only Belzebub is unaffected. Ever silent Belzebub kneels next to Mammon's chest and places a hand above his dead crewmates stopped heart. He splays his seven fingers out. His arm begins to glow white with energy, channeling his innate power through the hard metal. When it glows so bright it is unbearable to look at, he releases it into Mammon's chest, and his body spasms with force. Belzebub lowers his head to the dead man's chest and listens close

Mammon's stopped heart lies beneath Belzebub's ear.

Ba-Bum.