Illuminura wondered about at the edge of the forest. All around her the signs of the savagery of the Minotaurs stood tall and brazen in the sun. Hundreds upon thousands of spikes lined the forest's border with a decapitated head. They may be days, perhaps even hours old but they all told the same gruesome stories of violent demises. Illuminura understood the warning as well as anyone should. On pain of death, no one is to trespass on the Minotaurs' territory.

"Our enemy is gathered at the fortress." Illuminura said into her mic.

"Roger that! Let's get 'em!" boasted a Venusian.

A chorus of cheerful gusto echoed throughout the comm network as a fleet of transports and gunships flew overhead. They charged into the distance as a celestial knight slid silently to a halt just above her. Materialising her wings she launched herself into the air and flew to the back of its head.

A section of the plating lit up in golden light and disappeared revealing a passageway to the cockpit in the centre of the head. She stepped inside looked about in the familiar surroundings of the round room and the pool of amniotic fluid in the centre.

Behind Illuminura the wall rematerialised behind her, sealing her in. As she walked through the room her armour unbound itself piece by piece and gently broke free of her body. The pieces flew all around the room. Then they reassembled in the centre of the ceiling.

The room was small and surrounded a pool full of life-preserving fluid. Illuminura levitated to the centre of the room as she lowered her naked self into the pool. She relaxed feeling the warm liquids flow around her ankles then up her thighs as every second she lowered herself ever deeper into the pool. Soon She was completely submerged in the pool and found her senses numbing as she allowed the machine to take her mind.

Afterwards, she regained her senses but not as a mere celestial but as a mechanical giant flowing through the air with grace and harmony. She felt the familiar intensified power flowing her new mechanical veins. She felt the air flow around her as she moved on and she saw the war brewing yonder.

"Alright, everyone form up on me. Wedge formation. Clear a landing zone for the transports." Ordered Godfrey.

Godfrey identified through his scopes the mess of fleeing enemy troops as he and his company swooped down for a massed strafing run. Godfrey's fourth company hailed laser fire from the heavens and vanquished their enemies.

"Fire zweihänders now!"

The earth-shattering eruption of multitudes of high explosive detonations followed, carving huge craters into the ground. The death toll may have reached to the hundreds Godfrey thought. Like masters of fire and war, they reaped a terrible toll upon the foe with every pass.

Once their strike was complete the Martians shot back up into the air and broke up into their squadrons. Cheers and cries of applause echoed throughout the comm network as the human flight crafts divulged fire and death down upon their foe with relentless fury.

"Ah combat at last! Thought I'd die of labour and boredom." Luke said over a private channel.

"Indeed" Godfrey answered.

Godfrey watched as large, navy blue twin-engine powered elongated ships touched down with assault ramps in the rear bursting open. Then out poured Venusian marines ready to unleash hell upon these monsters. Godfrey highlighted various mobs of enemy troops closest to the landing zone.

"Target these units first. We don't want them encroaching on the transports." Godfrey ordered as he set the information to the rest of his men.

Soon his men let fly more zweihänder missile salvos wreaking havoc upon the dogs of war below. Under the covering fire, the infantry advanced, forming a firing line. Amidst the fiery red of the burning grassland and the endless torrent of explosions, the world flickered blue as plasma rounds flew across the air.

It was not long before the wardens were deployed. Huge metallic bipedal constructs that bore avian bodies with digitigrade legs with an array of plasma weaponry. A quad plasma rifle on its nose and to each side was mounted a much larger calibre equivalent. Unleashed from specialised transports they lumbered into position and hosed down enemy positions with overwhelming firepower.

Mages blasted bolts of energy that detonated in the air all around the cuirassiers. Godfrey saw what could be a mere squad of mages spread out as they acted as an anti-air artillery battery. He cursed as he witnessed them cone one of his men and relentlessly gunned him down from all sides. Blast after blast of energy overloading shields and melting the mechanical body of the craft. The death cries of pilot Ferdinand echoed through the comm channels amidst roars of anger.

"This is Martelis to all squadrons beware of enemy triple A. Search and destroy priority! Stay focused men!" Godfrey ordered calmly.

Like birds of prey, they swooped down one by one to have at the mages. Beams of red light danced with that of purple as they fought on. Godfrey swearing with frustration as he discovered that these foes would not die so easily.

The earth grew black, scorched with warfare as the might of the horde was finally unleashed. The Venusians found themselves surrounded but by the grace of technology they held the line. Humanity held strong against the rising tide of monsters and freaks.

Towering thirty foot tall Cyclopes surged forth with every titanic stride. Around them skittered the many beasts of the world. Minotaurs, centaurs, chimaera and many others flooded onto the field. A massive tidal wave of mutant beast threw themselves at the United Forces.

The Venusians held faith in their ways as they fought valiantly against the oncoming storm.

In the skies high above Godfrey strained as he weaved left and right dodging waves of griffons, dragons and wyverns. They swarmed the sky from every crevice of the ruined fortress they hailed from. A once clear sky now filled with vile winged creatures of all kinds.

He fired burst after burst of energy, scything through countless monsters. He flinched as his screens reported the total loss of a second cuirassier. He growled as he was blinded by dragon's fire washing over his ship. He could see the slight flicker of blue amidst an ocean of fire as his shields laboured to shelter the cuirassier from the immense heat.

It wasn't long before he broke free of the breath only to yelp as his ship ploughed through a griffon. Godfrey winced as he strained to pull up to avoid a collision with a friendly cuirassier. All around him the battle devolved into an indecipherable mess of flying creatures and fire. This would not do.

"Men climb to altitude forty thousand. Get out of this mess. Attack from above." Ordered Godfrey calmly.

Thomas touched down with the second wave with Alice and Barbarossa following close behind. As one they joined the battle line. The sizzling scream of plasma gunfire crackled in the air all around him as his unit bolstered the Venusian fire line.

All that mattered now was the glory. Glory in slaying the foe, glory in repelling the mutant and glory in reclaiming mother earth herself for mankind. He blasted away one creature after another in the heat of the moment.

They were all mutant monsters in his Venusian eyes. They weren't worth much as they cried out and roared in pain and hatred. His foe bellowed a mighty war cry as they waded into battle only to find a slaughter. All that mattered now was the demonstration of human superiority.

The earth rumbled and vibrated beneath Alice's feet. She looked to her comrades only to find them staring back. She reached out with his hand as she saw the ground give way.

"Get back!" He roared.

The earth ruptured before Thomas' eyes knocking Venusians aside in a cloud of dirt and rubble. A manhole opened up in the earth, out of the hole surged three mighty Gorgons. Vile serpentine creatures with horrid hissing snakes for hair, four sword arms and a body clad in scales that shimmered every shade of green.

Using their immense speed they waded into the ranks of Venusian troopers with reckless abandon. With scything blades and skilful precision, they slid their blades into the thin gaps between the tough Venusian plate to pierce the soft, juicy flesh beneath.

The Venusians turned their guns on them and fired away. A futile effort for the gorgon's scales proved its worth against the plasma as the heat dissipated upon contact. Men were tossed about as the gorgons proved their strength. Thrice the size of a man these creatures seemed unstoppable.

Thomas flinched as he saw one charge at him. These serpentine creatures were worse than death; they were rage, pain and suffering incarnate. Thomas thought as he stared into the face of these serpentine demons. His eyes widened as he fired round after round at the charging one.

His breath deepened as his shots splashed harmlessly over the creature's tough hide. His heartbeat quickened as hell itself came within a hair's breadth of claiming his life. A blade lashed out from the side deflecting the creature's attacks.

Thomas looked and found Barbarossa challenging the beast. Mighty warriors of Mars his men charged into the fray. The creature turned to the Martian and glorious combat is joined. Thomas charged in letting his rifle hang from its connection to his breastplate. He drew a combat knife and roared as he rammed the weapon into the gorgon's massive tail.

It stiffened up and wailed in pain just as Barbarossa decapitated it. As if connected somehow the other two wailed in anger and pain. They looked to each other, their faces wracked with rage.

They had felt their sister's death in their very souls and flew into a berserk fury. Sickening light of greens and yellows sparked within their eyes and mouths as they concentrated their radiating magical power.

These were the manner of creature that inhabits this world. Fierce, terrifying and strong, they were the Terrans, the terrors of this world. To ever lower one's guard on mother earth would be to invite death upon oneself.

They wailed in pain was they strained to unleash their most powerful weapon. They gazed upon all around them. One after another Venusians and Martians alike turned to stone when they strayed too close.

"Warden Squadron Four! I need those things dead now!" Ordered Thomas.

Responses of acknowledgement Barbarossa pulled his men back as the wardens stomped into position. They hosed down the monstrous beasts with their heavy calibre guns firing at full beam.

While the monumental levels of plasma being blasted onto their bodies had little effect on both serpents' seemingly invulnerable scales the immense heat cooked their bodies from the inside out. The gorgons wailed in pain as they collapsed in smoking heaps.

By the end, these three masters of death had slain nearly twenty times their number. There was little time to count the dead as the looming presence of the oncoming Cyclopes appeared through the smoke and flames.

The ground shook with every titanic footfall as the twenty-five-foot tall horrors closed in. The survivors turned all guns on them. The massive giants absorbed the relentless barrage of bright blue plasma with ease.

These one-eyed giants boasted mighty armours, too thick to be harmed by the standard hand-held weaponry of the infantry. It proved invulnerable against the small arms but the heavy weaponry of the wardens proved its worth yet again.

They all collapsed to the floor screaming their death cries as large calibre plasma bolts blasted into their bodies. The men cheered, getting drunk off of the glory of victory, the laurels of triumph shone brightly in the eyes of men.

The United Forces held the field this day as the horde routed en masse into the surrounding land. Thomas regrouped his men and marched them on. They desired the fortress and the promise of reward and promotion for such a capture drove them on.