06 - Metal Up Your Ass

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Katie makes an executive decision, and the mere idea is driving Korbin to drink. Pandora wants Katie to learn to fight without her extra “oomph.” For now. The military need support, but few on the merc teams trust them. Is Pandora is finally getting somewhere with Katie's love life? There is something long and hard in Katie's hand, and Pandora is annoyed that it's only the stick shift of Katie’s new vehicle. (Oops, poor choice of words.) The war with the enemy is heating up, and there’s a new player who might ruin everyone’s lives.

PBTD 05/25 (Review from Welcome to the Jungle)

Stephanie's New Plan:

Stephanie tells them of information she has on who the infected humans might be. You know, the ones wreaking havoc on society, fucking with politics and the economy, and generally doing things they aren’t supposed to. There are more demons out there than just the ones trying to kill us. There are old-school ones who try to keep a low profile, helping their human capsules and making deals with the devil. I think we should jump on this. I mean, we are demon hunters, right?” Pandora can give the suspects her "demon test" before they even answer the door. Just let us try it. Let us prove to you that we don’t have to wait for the demons to come to us,” Stephanie argued. “We can catch them by surprise, and take care of it before anyone else knows. We will be taking care of the war on the outside and taking care of the underground on the back burner. Otherwise we win the war but we are still at war, only now they are masked.” “You get one, and I mean ONE, trial run, so pick your best bet here, ” Korbin said.

PBTD 06/1 One and one-half months later, Katie and Stephanie had been so successful that they definitely had started to see a change in the way the rich were doing business, and politicians were up in arms. They were currently in San Francisco, completing another of their missions, to take out a possessed California senator. He was running the Senate like a personal bank. After fighting through the guards at his front door (removing their demons), they entered the house, and, removing the senator's demon, left to go to the next case, then dinner.

PBTD 06/2 Eric's job was to wait in the alleys, with the SUV at ready, watching the girls' backs. Korbin had assigned him that task, and he would fulfill it, even though it was dirty, smelly, boring, dark, cold, and with not even a cat to talk to, as the rats in San Francisco were too ferocious for the cats to come after them for fucking dinner. But Eric did his duty, and waited for the girls, who were accosting seven humans and removing demons from five of them. They found their Senator, removed his demon. the cops came, saw that it was the D Squad, and were satisfied that everything was in order.

PBTD 06/4 Katie reports in to Korbin, all OK.

T'CHEZZ AGAIN, AND MOLOCH

PBYD 06/1 - The Seventy-Two were an enigmatic group of demons with their own structure and authority, comprised of three levels, with each level having three sections of eight. T’Chezz was in the second section of eight in the top level, and his goal was to work his way up to the top eight. He was standing in front of five of the higher-ups, pitching himself and making his future plans known. If he had these demons’ support he could solidify the next steps in his plans. He expresses his plans to conquer the Earth, but with one problem in the way - the weapons. The demons give him permission to proceed.

PBTD 06/7 Moloch had called T'Chezz in for a secret meeting. Where and why are you having the difficulties you are facing now? The hunters have gotten smarter.There are no longer small rogue groups, they have militarized. And they aren’t fighting with fists and swords anymore, our own demons are fighting us. They are called ‘the Damned;’ infected by a demon soul that is too weak to take over the human completely. The human harnesses those powers and fights with them. “They can’t be strong demons, then,” Moloch mused. “They aren’t,” T’Chezz replied. “At least not all of them. But the humans have something that I can’t nail down. It is a new weapon forged of magic and steel, and it gravely injures and even kills demons big and small. That, coupled with the training, and the humans have become a bit of a force. My sources say they are no longer just waiting for a fight, either. One of them specifically hunts down the demons in the most influential positions and sends them back to hell.” “Here is what I’m going to do for you.” Moloch leaned forward. “I will work on a counter-weapon, something that can stop them in their tracks. It can possibly even give them a little taste of their own medicine, and remind them that they are not all that smart.”T’Chezz grinned. “I like how that sounds.” “Good,” Moloch replied, sitting back in his chair. “Can you get these killer soldiers of yours to show up so we can test this new weapon on them when the time is right?”“That won’t be a problem at all,” T’Chezz assured him. Excellent.” Moloch nodded. “Then go; prepare. I will do the same. Moloch was the one who took care of the demon-killing swords the last time they came around. It just takes a little bit of research and the perfect timing.

PBTD 06/8 Moloch was in Wickenburg, in a human form as a disguise, but it was one huge man who covered the monstrosity that was Moloch. Moloch knew what was going down there in just a few days, but right then all he was worried about was creating his weapon; the weapon that would gain T’Chezz recognition and him a pat on the back. He’d be one step closer to Lucifer’s left hand.

PBTD 06/10 Moloch goes to meet a group of his followers, and promises them that the time is NOW, that the humans’ time on Earth was drawing to a close. Now it was time for the Reign of the Demons.

06/14 Moloch had brought six demons from hell for the group, and infected them, breathing the soul of the chosen demon into the human body. Once all had received their demon, the six men looked at Moloch. Their eyes glowed bright red as their muscles twitched and strengthened. The demons were already modifying their humans, making them as strong as they could for the moment. But Moloch he knew that he would dispose of these humans when he was done with them, keeping their souls for the fireplace in his office. He gives the demons a pep-talk, and they were ready to set forth on and accomplish their missions.You will have with an opportunity to demonstrate your prowess soon.”(See The Phoenix Incursion, Chapters Ten - Thirteen below)

PBTD 06/22 Moloch has a new plan, to get humans to fight humans, pitting their best against other humans who can match their skills. on Hell's behalf, as Enlightened Ones. And he will show T'Chezz what he means.

THE NEW BASE PBTD 06/1 Derek was in 7th heaven, opening his boxes of computer/digital items that had arrived so quickly. He was looking forward to setting up the new computer workspace, to server room, dedicated to surveillance, research, and operations. (See Locations - Korbin's Base (Compound)) PBTD 06/3 Joshua visits new workplace for first time, takes two of the girls with him as helpers. Walked into space, white tile floor, equipment, shined like new, waiting for him. Weapons to be stored in underground cabinet. Joshua turns on machines, starts working.

Korbin its, staring at the fence, the small yellow flags showing the secret traps, the gun emplacements- those small yellow flags were like doomsday flags waving in the wind…right in his front yard.

Damian was setting up his new chapel, hanging the lighted (neon -06/16) cross. He finally hung it on its hook, and plugged it in. He wanted to create a space that felt comforting and safe to the team, regardless of their beliefs. That was one of the things he had loved about the chapel at the old base; it had been a haven. Conducted a short ceremony o bless the space, with candles, a bible, and his cross, ending with ...Lord, I pray You give us the aptitude, the speed, and the courage to kick those demon assholes right back to hell

06/16 He had festooned the walls with deep red draperies, set up tables with candles all over, and had the old pews redone by some of Stephanie’s girls. There was even a section at the front where pillows had been placed on the floor for lounging and relaxing. It looked like a trendy coffee shop rather than a chapel, but it fit Damian’s personality perfectly. He didn’t play by the rules. He was his own person and believed that his God loved him for that.

The New Transport PBTD 06/5 Right after Katie came back with her new truck, a brand new helicopter flew in, the Eurocopter X3, or ‘X-Cubed, Korbin explained. We can’t keep driving to the airport, hoping to not run into traffic, now can we? The new base is farther away, and this baby will get us to the airport in fifteen minutes flat, if not quicker.” (See Vehicles - Helicopter.)

NATIONAL MILITARY ACTIVITIES

PBTD 06/3 General Brushwood visiting Research Base 221, the main base for demon-related research. Top secret, and most of it happened hundreds of feet below the surface. From the outside it looked like a normal office building, but that was just a façade. Met with Dr. Dolt, who was working n comparing Demon's blood to human, uninfected blood. Big difference. Trying to find injectible that will kill the demon if injected into blood stream. Looking for "demon cyanide".

PBTD 06/6 As the General and Dr. Dolt are walking down the hall, towards a lab, a demon escapes, and is killed by automatic security efforts (guns shootin to all areas of the ha;;way). General is dismayed and somewhat upset by this. The human involved in the situation is not accounted of value - they're lost already - so demon is the only one of importance. “They used to be people.” The doctor glanced at the demons. “We have seen some go from human to completely demon, but others came this way. Still, somewhere in them is the person who used to have that body. They are just too far gone to do anything for. You have to understand that, or you will drive yourself crazy.”“When all the humanity is gone, we will have lost,” the general replied. “I damn sure hope that isn’t anytime soon.”

PBTD 06/9 The General , involved in an incursion in Texas, learns of the incoming information on the one in Whitestaff,Utah. As he is leaving, he learns that although there were no military casualties, there were fifty-two civilian deaths. The General decided that he needed better weapons, and he needed them yesterday. He wasn’t sure if the mercs’ blades were the key to stopping this surge of demons; he needed to find out more. He also needed to talk to Katie, to find out what she knew that she wasn't telling.

PBTD 06/15, 16 Katie and the General : Katie wanted to keep the peace so she could keep her business intact, so she called Brushwood, and made an appointment to share a new product with him, but would need a demon operation to do so. Would meet in New Orleans.

PBTD 06/16 The New Weapons: Katie asks Damian to go to New Orleans with her, tells him of her plan to share knowledge. Damian and Korbin have a hard time sharing - have been around the military too long, and don't trust them. “Then trust me,” Katie suggested. “This is my life, my business, and my family. I won’t let anyone, government or not, take what is rightfully mine. They will have to pry it from my cold dead hands.” (See The New Weapons), further down this page.)

KATIE'S NEW VEHICLE

PBTD06/5 Because of all of the sand and bad roads up by the base, Katie is considering a Ford F-150 Raptor, a stock truck that can really take rough abuse (Baja Races). A car like her sports car would get sand and dirt in the engine too easily, and keep breaking down. Went to the Dealership, met with Tom, a salesman, bought a race-red, which had all the upgrades, including the heated seats and steering wheel, the rear-view assist package, sprayed bed lining and bed cover, plus the Raptor logo on the rear. The seats were plain leather. Paid $70,000 cash (one big demon and a few smaller ones for the upgrades). Had donuts at the Pinkbox Donut Shop. Pandora didn't like them - tasted like cake, not like donuts. Katie talked about other desserts, including churros. Pandora wanted some of those. Likened them to another "dessert". About the right size, you bite it and cream comes out ...

CHARLOTTE GUTHRIE

PBTD 06/4, 5 Having traveled the country on information trips for Korbin and the team, Charlotte returns to the new base, checking in. Korbin tells her roughly what happened at old base, new base better. Starts report to Korbin. Because not Damned, has taken some serious effort. Found plot to infiltrate humans. To happen in AZ. Will keep working on it. Will report to Korbin every other day, he hopes.

THE PHOENIX INCURSION ( Really Wickenburg, 60 miles away)

PBTD 06/8 Korbin receives a call from Charlotte, concerning an incursion she had found about to occur near Phoenix. she had four tickets, and wanted to go with whomever Korbin sent. Was to be a ladies Spa day, with all of the ladies being infected during their activities. Korbin decides to send Katie and Stephanie, as well as to call John (New York), to see if he could borrow Ella, to go along with Charlotte completing the four.

PBTD 06/9 The Details (from Charlotte) We are going to a spa event in Phoenix. From what I’ve learned, all the women will be untarnished. The goal of the demons is to get in there and change every human they can. They are obviously building an army of some sort. If we can successfully infiltrate it, we can get rid of the demons and save as many human lives as possible. Once that’s done, we can squeeze some info out of the demons who directed the whole thing.”“Sounds good. But just to clarify, we don’t know the exact location yet, how big the incursion is going to be, or even the type of operation we are in?” "Right."

PBTD 06/10 Korbin hears from Stephanie, that all is quiet, but he cannot quell the feeling of unease he has, of disquiet, of evil in the air. he sends Eric and Derek to Phoenix, as unknown back-up, just in case.

PBTD 06/11 Katie is SO sick of the food that she is busting out to get donuts, Pandora is driving her crazy, and she's bored. As she is leaving the grounds, she sees a group of humans/demos coming, and talking about infecting the ladies there, infecting their families, and in ten years do it again. They have no back-up, so Katie phoned Stephanie, telling her the attack was imminent, called Korbin, asking for help. Stephanie told Charlotte to go to her room, hide in any small area (closet?), where she would be out of sight, and could stay. Korbin tells her about Derek and Eric.

PBTD 06/12 Katie, Ella and Stephanie go to the activity area, try to warn the participants that they needed to go to their rooms, lock the doors, etc. Nothing. They tried talking again. Nothing. Katie shot an ice sculpture, destroying it, with a THIS IS NOT A DRILL command. The women went to their rooms. The four went outside, where they could see red eyes gleaming at them. The possessed were surprised to see defenders. Stephanie went wild, and attacked the possessed. Katie, Ella, and Charlotte piled in, and the group demolished the possessed, leaving nothing for Derek and Eric but clean-up.

PBTD 06/13 All report back to base, report to Korbin. Ella goes back to New York. In training practice the next day Katie takes on defending against Eric, Derek and Stephanie, all at once. The three of them bested her when Pandora kept out of it, but when Pandora joined in, Katie took out the three of them in less than a minute. Stephanie now had a better idea of what Katie could do. They had learned that "years of practice don’t make up for millennia of preparation.”

KATIE, AND THE BASE

PBTD 06/14 With no demon activities to take up her time, Katie gets a few miscellaneous hings taken care of. She first goes to Joshua, to see if he could modify her quarterstaff to have extendable blades (See Weapons - Quarter-staffs) Derek is bored, looking for something to do for fun, so he and Katie take her new F-150 out for a "proper test drive" in the surrounding terrain. Stay out all day, and when it's getting dark, and Katie complains about not seeing well, Pandora adds night vision to her capabilities. Derek kids her, telling her that the team calls her "The Damned Queen"

Katie talks to Korbin about being more pro-active with the General. She wants to get ahead of him, so wants to offer him 100 rounds of the new bullets before he takes more than that.Katie wanted to keep the peace so she could keep her business intact. Korbin agrees.

PBTD 06/15 Team watches the soaps in the evening, with Katie's popcorn. Ella calls from New York, also watching the same soap, and they all watch it together, coast-to-coast. Korbin makes the mistake of joining them, but sits next to Stephanie, so all is not lost.

PBTD 06/16 Writes Korbin a letter, reminding him that life is short and fleeting, love is strong, and should be grasped at once if it was offered. He should take the opportunity Stephanie has offered, and bond with her all of the way. Korbin didn't know if he could take the risk - if he could go that far.

PBTD 06/17 Calvin visits Joshua, likes his new rooms, shop, chats, decides to go to Las Vegas with Joshua and the girls that night.

PBTD 06/19 Korbin and Stephanie Korbin goes to Joshua's building, to talk to Stephanie. hears her talking to one of the girls about her future, likes what he hears. He asks her out on a "date", and she thinks it's an incursion, only eventually realizing it would be a real DATE, three days from now, on Sunday night. Good food and conversation. Can end our week-end with a "bang"! Exactly!

PBTD 06/21 Katie Meets Noah Rappley, one of Amy's Assassin people. He asks her to dance, and she accepts. Pandora gets busy, and Katie asks him if he likes four-wheeling. He does, so Katie asks him out for a drive. She does the driving, and they have a good time, both when on four wheel and in the back of the truck. (Noah Rappley killed in an incursion he was with, with Assassins, 06/24)

KATIE AND STEPHANIE

PBTD 06/22

Yup, it finally happened. Katie got laid. When Stephanie talks to her the next morning, she realizes that Katie is different (beaming, red cheeks, holding back a smirk and acting all fluffy and light). As Stephanie is inhabited by a succubus, who is sensitive to that, she knows for sure. Besides, having been a Madam, she knows the signs.They talk about Katie's experience. Stephanie also tells her that Korbin asked her out. They went for Italian, and had a good time.

THE NEW WEAPONS: NEW ORLEANS

PBTD 06/18 Katie and Damian met Colonel Adams, your pilot. “We are going to an operation about twenty miles out of town. It started about an hour ago, and the team has already surrounded the place. The General the Colonel are waiting there for you.” The General would want to test the weapons right away. This was her life though; unexpected, always dangerous, and now political in nature. Comes in, greets, is briefed.This is a pretty big event,” the general began. “Not huge—not like the last—but bigger than most we’ve seen out here. It’s a tire factory and only half the workers were here today, so we were able to get all but one to safety. None of the demons have been touched. They are stuck inside, since we barricaded the doors from the outside.” Katie pulls the General aside, gives him the special bullets (trusting him, knowing that they could be used on her and Damian), which he decides to use himself (knowing that she was giving him a special weapon), and the fight is on, a couple demons coming at the General. He shoots one of them in the head, and it dies and turns to ashes. The General wants to be in the thick of the battle, so turns operations over to Jehovivich.

PBTD 06/19, 20 Katie and Damian help, kill demons. Good thing they came along. Military wouldn't have lasted. Six more in the lab. Katie kills six, but one more attacks Damian, which he kills with one shot to its head. Two more BIG ones coming. Katie and Damian to take one, the General and his troops to take the other. The General stunned his with two bullets, heard the other fight, decided not to help (didn't want to accidentally shoot Katie or damian), rests until they come out, but had forgotten about his own demon, who was only stunned, and now came at him. Three more special shots killed him. General asks about terms of use for the special bullets. The four of them talk about the reality of the situation - that Katie, as a demon, could be imprisoned, and that the military was really a terrorist organization, even if it WAS for the good of the country, and lots more. Eventually, the General says, “All right. Let’s reach an agreement, I don’t want this animosity to continue longer than it already has.", and pulls a sheet of paper from his pocket. Katie smiled and walked closer the general as he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and took the pen the colonel reluctantly handed to him. This would give them the opportunity to share resources and help each other, because she knew that one day they might need each other’s help. The demons were rising, and she wasn’t going to just sit around and wait for them to show up.

PBTD 06/21 Katie and the General reach an agreement , but Katie's conditions are not known. The General got another 100 rounds, (use sparingly, with care, more to come when available), and had to promise not to die. Colonel Jehovivich asked about the size of the demon in Las Vegas. Katie sidestepped the question, and the Colonel realized it, knowing she was not telling all. The Killer hadn’t told her how big the demon had been. She’d deflected, passing the buck to the priest—whom she knew wouldn’t ever be interrogated by the government. He was a man of the cloth and therefore had immunity, but Katie—she was playing with fire, and the colonel was determined to watch her burn.

NEW LOS ANGELES CASE PBTD 06/22 Korbin gets call from LAPD - “We had a call that two gangs were coming together, but then something strange happened out in the hills. We don’t really know what is going on, only that people are now missing. We sent a small search party out there first, figuring we would check it out before calling you guys, but they never came back. We heard people screaming into the radios about some kind of monster, then we lost all communication with them. I feel like at this point it is smarter to call you guys than lose a second search team. Those guys were veterans, so if they were screaming about a monster you can be sure as hell there is something out there that is not normal; not even for the hills of Los Angeles.” Korbin felt like this was going to be a big one.

PBTD 06/23 Team loading up, Katie takes special bullets. Korbin pilots (has been learning, no license yet). skip going through the airports, can't take the time, and can't wait for their licensed pilot to get there. It was to an old set used for filming westerns about sixty years ago. LOTS of people around, MANY LAPD cops there, fan club of the Demon Squad, LA Chapter. Katie asked for volunteers to help them (from the cop group), nd three came forward, Adam, a rookie, Pescoville, thirty-something, and Jamie, from the same precinct as the other two. Katie handed them each enough bullets for two loads of their 9mm pistols, with instructions. “I want you to get rid of your normal bullets and use these in their place. These are special and rare, so use them sparingly. That being said, do whatever you need to do to get these bastards locked down. I don’t want to see any casualties. I want you guys to suit up. You are going to be our second string. If any of these demons get past us, you stop them from going any farther.” They promised that they would be the best shots ever, as long as they didn't have to decapitate them also.

PBTD 06/24 Hordes of demon gang-bangers were running wildly around, ripping the limbs from the bodies of the members of the search party. The gang members had been duped. They had come for a fight, but their bodies had been taken over before they could even fire their weapons. Katie and the team wade in, Katie hearing gunshots, and Jamie's voice. some demons had apparently gotten past them.As Katie is fighting, she sees Derek, smiles, and he smiles back. As he does so, two demons stomped toward him, firing their guns., Derek taking shot after shot. Katie goes to rescue him, slashing and screaming. She reaches him, holds him as he dies, asking that she take his ashes to the top of the mountain they had sat on when they were four-wheeling. Katie kills the two demons, then lets Korbin hold her as she cries.

AFTER THE BATTLE

PBTD 06/25 All grieving for Derek. Katie tell Damien that Noah had died, also, at almost the same time as Derek. They called me this morning and let me know he paid his tribute in an ambush with a bunch of innocents. He died almost at the same time Derek did. Three others from Amy’s team are in critical condition.” “I know this is hard to take in. It’s all happened so suddenly,” Damian said.“Everything in our lives is fucking sudden!” she burst out. “There are no easy goodbyes, if such a thing even exists. There are no warning signs or illnesses. Derek looked at me and smiled, then turned around and took a dozen bullets to the body. He thought everything was going to be okay, and in the blink of an eye he was taking his last breath. I’m just tired of saying goodbye. I’m so fucking tired of it.” Damian leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead before getting up and walking back toward the gate. Katie watched him go, knowing that one day her tears would be for him—if she didn’t get it first.Katie and Pandora talk about life and love, something the demons will never experience. At Torn Asunder, with Noah's and Derek's pictures in front of them, and three hunters in the hospital,there wasn’t a dry eye in the place by the time Katie took the stage. The General and Colonel walked in, and took seats by Korbin. Katie again read the Eulogy, and after it, again, a fight broke out, this time with the General and the Colonel loosing their food. And again, everyone laughed, and the General and the Colonel couldn't keep straight faces. Somehow it always ended with a laugh.

“We are the chosen.

The infected,

battling our demons night and day.

Protecting the uninformed from reality.

We fight where the stupid meet the clueless to

perform the asinine for our

teammates every day.

We are cops, military, special forces, and SWAT,

medical techs, priests, and clergy.

We are the dimensional derelicts,

the legion, the host, the forgotten.

The feared.

The sheep can sleep at night because we don’t.

We fight for humanity—yours—and for our own.

We are the Damned, and death is our enemy,

our escape,

and our tribute.