Beginning after the end(1)

A squad of soldiers moved silently through the forest. It was a cold night at the beginning of the spring. But the soldiers didn't seem to mind the cold or the low visibility of the night. They all wore full-body exoskeletons and carried backpacks with explosives with them. The only difference between them was the weaponry they each carried. Some carried high-caliber assault rifles with grenade launchers in their hands and rocket launchers at their backs, and some carried heavy machine guns.

Not far away were the sounds of explosions, gunshots, and screams.

"The fight there must be really brutal," said one of the soldiers.

"Of course it's gonna be brutal. Heh... Did you forget with whom we fight? And it is the last fight in this war with these demons. They must be desperate to defend their last portal. But isn't it funny that the outcome of this war wouldn't be decided on that battlefield? Heh, it will be decided here, am I right, 'Commander'?"

"Indeed, you're right, 'Brother'." Responded the man in front.

"They didn't even know that our main army is just a decoy. They must be thinking that we don't know about those secret passages in their fortress. It's all thanks to you, 'Commander' and the scanner that you made. It looks like all your talking about being a head researcher in the past wasn't a lie."

"What? Are you thinking I am a liar, 'Brother'?"

"Hehehe, of course not, my dear 'Commander'." The man with the moniker 'Brother' answered, chuckling strangely.

After this short conversation, the squad continued their movement silently.

"Stop. We've almost reached our destination." The 'Commander' stopped the squad.

"There are two passages. From now on, we will divide into two groups. One group will be under my command, and another will be under the command of 'Brother'. The team under 'Brother' will go in first and draw the attention of the enemies, and the team under me will go through another passage and destroy the 'gate' before their main army notices. You all know that no one would survive at the end of this mission, so don't think that isn't fair."

No one was dissatisfied with such a decision. The war against demons has been going on for five years now.

It all began with a rumor. It was about a little country that was destroyed by an unknown enemy. This was unbelievable, and there wasn't any proof. But the UN had officially confirmed the truth of these rumors. And panic broke out.

The enemies were a bunch of different species. Some were humanoid, and some looked like beasts. Some had horns, and some didn't.

Some even looked like humans, but their skin was pale and they were afraid of sunlight.

Humanity named them all "demons."

They were powerful, wielded a strange power called magic, and came from 'gates'.

After a month of war, humanity lost half the planet to these demons. The remaining countries' governments became the united government of mankind. And humanity learned more about its enemies, and their advance was stopped there.

During these five years, many people, like these soldiers, lost their homes, families, and friends. Although dying was scary, if their deaths could help win this war, they didn't mind dying.

"For humanity," said 'Commander' and he placed his right hand on his left chest.

"For humanity," replied the soldiers in unison, with the same gesture.

"Begin the operation."

"Yes, sir."

"But before that, I have a question for you, 'Commander'."

"Ask, 'Brother'."

"Have you ever heard the saying that 'the lies will be eventually exposed'?"

"Why do you ask such a question?"

"Heh, I was just thinking that 'Commander' needed to know that there is such a saying." said 'Brother'.

"Let's go, guys." With these words, the group of five soldiers left.

***

"Hey, guys, do you think that 'Brother' has gone crazy? He has behaved strangely lately."

"You only noticed this now, 'Cofi'? He has been like that for a month now."

"Really, I didn't notice."

"Yeah, really. But who can blame him? He is not the only one who went crazy during this war."

"True, but not our 'Commander' though. He's always the same."

"This is the reason why he is the commander, 'Cofi'."

The soldier with the moniker 'Cofi' tried to say something, but the order came through.

"Stop with idle chatting. It's time to move out."

"Yes, sir."

***

The passage wasn't very wide. Only two people could move through at the same time, and it was dark. The group moved slowly. There was only the sound of heavy steps. The further they went, the narrow passage eventually started to become wider. The passage had many twists, and the group stopped before one.

"Get yourself ready. There are signs of enemies up ahead on the scanner. Four hostiles."

And indeed, after the turn, they saw four enemies. They looked humanoid but had red skin, horns on their heads, and long tails. In their hands, they carried two handed axes. Behind them was an iron door. When they saw a group of people, they shouted something in their language and tried to approach them. They were fast, but bullets were faster.

BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG…

Each bullet tears pieces from demons' bodies. They didn't even manage to cover ten meters when their bodies were torn apart.

"It was easy," said 'Fifth'.

"Indeed, but from now on it will be difficult. It looks like the end of the passage. From here on, only the big halls await us. And there are more enemies behind this door, and based on what the scanner shows, they are preparing an ambush. We will need to spread out as soon as we enter the room."

Everyone just nodded in acknowledgment.

"Blow the door up, 'Red'."

"Aye aye, sir."

'Red' came closer to the door, placed explosives on it, and retreated. Shortly afterward, the door was blown up, and the group rushed in and spread out. It was a wise decision because fireballs, lightning bolts, ice spears, and other magic spells stuck where they were seconds ago. It was from the demon mages. They hid themselves behind other demons' backs. But it didn't help them. Grenades landed between them, and they were blown to pieces.

The number of demons was about fifty. And among them were three huge ones. Two were five-meter-tall cyclops with giant clubs in their hands. And one seven meter-tall minotaur with a giant ax in his hands. They were real threats, and lesser demons were just distractions.

'Red' and 'Fifth' were with heavy machine guns, so they were taking care of the little ones. Others were using rocket launchers against the big ones. With two rockets, the cyclopes torsos were blown to pieces, but the minotaur managed to dodge. One rocket missed its target. The minotaur was fast, and in time, when people were trying to reload their launchers, it managed to come closer to 'Fifth'.