"Regredior! Regredior!" Shouted a srgt, before a magnum round caved in his head.

Across the battlefield, the scene was being replayed, Regular squads ordering a retreat, only to be ferociously slaughtered by Werenaughts, or one of their many cultists. Shadow Lord Msel the Harbinger took in the scene of carnage and grinned. Each death would fuel the five, and would elevate him in their eyes, maybe even allowing him to enter their blessed realm as one of theirs. This brought a twisted smile to his face, which curled at eh ends and revealed teeth like rusted knives.

"Lord Msel," One of his underlings cowered, punctuated by hacking fits"the enemy forces are...in full retreat. Those B.S.S. scum...will feel the divine grace of our gods."

"Do you think I don't know this?" Msel replied, "I am the chosen of the gods. I alone know how this battle will end."

It was at this point, that Msel noticed movement. He leveled his shadow claw (a gift from his gods) and checked a large mound of bodies, formed by his men before the slaughter began.

"Lord?" One of his underlings asked.

Msel gouged his hand in the pile. He pulled all the bodies off one by one, and, when he reached the bottom, he simply scratched his head.

Msel walked back towards his underlings and said, "I could have sworn-"

Then the laser took him full in the back. But it wasn't one of the normal lasers Msel was used to, it was at least twice as thick, and an odd shade of dark purple to boot. Msel tumbled to the ground and saw that, despite his inspection, there was indeed someone alive in that pile. And how Msel missed the man was beyond him.

"Lor-" one of his underlings screamed, before a laser took him full in throat.

The man in question was clothed in armor plating, which made him look like some Feudal-world knight. But the armor was painted a midnight black, and had other equally dark colors gracing it in such a way to make it look like camouflage. His helmet was also in an odd style, look like some attempt to be a bird. In his hands was cradled a weapon which was devoid of anything as fancy as art: it was a weapon of assault through and through. He quickly leveled it at another man, who recognized what he was.

"Irritum Aequoreus!" He shouted, before his head disappeared.

Across the battle field, similar shouts were echoing across the battle field in increased regularity, as similarly "safe" area were suddenly found the be housing the best infiltrators the B.S.S. had, the XIII Legion. In no time, sniper shots began to ring out, picking off any man or creature which showed any inkling of competence in command. Many of the cultist and Werenaughts thought that, to deny the enemy the use of their guns, they should get in close. They only realized the folly of their mistake when power swords began hacking through both mortal flesh and immortal hide as easily as one might slice air.

Msel took in this massacre for as long as he could, his eyes stead fast refusing to believe that any mortal could kill his gods, let alone, without suffering even a single casualty in return. To make matters worse, the Regulars had rallied and were aiding in the slaughter. The last thing Msel saw, was the boot of a Regular.

********
"And.... CUT!" Image-Director Gaeilson screamed.

Bells began to ring as actors helped each other up, and also started trading jokes and about how hard it was to be dead. The "XIII Legion" was the most grateful for the end, as they could discard that sweat-inducing paper-board and plastic. Some people even began to hand out plastic- and iron-skins, with people liberally gulping down the "Water". Gaeilson was the only one who didn't share in the euphoria of a job well done, as he was to engrossed in the script.

"Like this ever happens," he muttered to himself, allowing his hand to scratch at the scar tissue near hi Technotic-eye.

If only he hadn't "volunteered" to make an image-show for the B.S.S., then he wouldn't have a thing to do with the army again. Still, the gold was good, and its not like anyone ever watches this stuff.

"Places everyone!" He bellowed, as the actors reluctantly came back for the last scene.

He was about to scream action, when someone burst into the room.

"Hey!" he shouted, "We're still-"

"How fast can you make a news-show?" the man blurted.

Gaeilson stared at the man.

"I can make one as soon as I'm done with this but-"

"Good!" The man shouted. "Because the planet of Delfor-V is in open rebellion!"

more to follow