Chapter 3: Supply Cache
Samael followed the road towards the spaceport, traveling for more than 2 hours. He passed several buildings that showed no signs of life. Even the undead were sparse and dealt with quickly.
He paused, turning to look at a large building with blinking, holographic words saying "FOOD YUMS". Sam clutched his stomach as it growled.
"I didn't get a chance to eat due to the portal opening taking priority. I wonder if they're already on the other side, drinking and eating?"
He chuckled, pleased with the thought of his friends being safe in Paradise. Melancholy appeared on his face as he thought of his reason for staying in this dying realm. The reason for throwing away a bright future and immortality. The reason being the woman he loved.
He sighed a bit.
"I should probably check out the civilian surplus store for rations."
He walked towards the large building. A shadow across the road watched cautiously as he entered.
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"Man, I really lucked out. Seems like this was a make-shift base for the last defense line before they evacuated to the Heaven's Mandate Training Facility."
He was finishing off a few high-calorie rations, rebuilding his energy lost during his consecutive fights. Though he could eat the civilian supplies to gain back his strength, he would have to eat several kilograms to equal even a single package of the military rations.
Though that didn't stop him from opening several packages of snack cakes and cookies. He had a notorious sweet tooth, but due to protocol, was not allowed to bring in contraband, even at his rank.
Only the occasional demon hunt would allow for him the chance to sneak in a few bites while out of the base.
"That was satisfying. Been years since I had a chance to enjoy myself like this."
He laughed a bit, thinking of the last event he enjoyed before the announcement was made by Paradise. His lover's after party. She had just recently graduated with her doctorates in Molecular Biology.
Her annoyed face when he kept calling her "Doc" and subsequent arm punching being a particularly memorable part of the party. Their final kiss under the starlight after sneaking away from the party.
His eyes grew cold as his memories wandered to the sight of the party guests being slaughtered by several powerful demons. The SATAN class demons that blocked his way as he tried to stop the black-winged angel from taking the love of his life. The bitter fight that left him nearly crippled until he was rescued by that man.
Reginald. A man he owed everything to. His choice to bring him into the Heaven's Mandate Program. Strengthened through Paradise's best gene-therapy techniques and psycho-kinetic implants because of his recommendation. Taught various human and angelic combat techniques by this man. A father figure that supported his decision not to follow into paradise, even factoring in the astronomical resources spent on making him a monster in the flesh of a human.
"I promise you, after I get her back...I will dedicate everything to paying you back, old man."
He reached out, taking in hand a can of ravioli. Instead of pulling the tab to the low strength carbon-weave container, the object vanished with a flick of his wrist. The shelf ahead of himself exploded as the can, traveling faster than sound, collided with it.
A figure jumped out from behind the shelf, rolling up into a fighting stance.
"Why have you been following me for the last half-a-kilometer?"
Samael sat, relaxed and working on opening a box of graham crackers.
A woman with two kukri blades in hand, not moving an inch, stood in a defensive stance. She wore a military-style outfit, including a graphine-woven ballistics compression shirt and vest. She had the air of an "Expert" to her.
"...who are you?"
She asked, frowning. Looking him up and down, sizing him up and not a least be comforted by his sitting position. She could smell the danger on this man. The fact he could tell she was following after him after covering her scent, hiding her killing intent, and use of silent stepping techniques.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Samael laughed a bit. After she came out, he could already tell by her stance and scent that she was a Mars Special Operations Cyborg. A marvel of human engineering 10 years prior, retaining the intelligence and emotions of people, but without the physical weakness. They even had the ability to reproduce like humans thanks to nano-technology and breakthroughs in graphine production.
"...are you from that place? They should all be gone. Why are you here?"
The female cyborg didn't let up on her questions, not relaxing once.
"I stayed behind for personal reasons. Are you the last of the survivors? Human or other?"
Sam stood up, starting to pack rations into his bag. He seemingly left himself wide open, but the android's instincts told her otherwise. She lowered her a weapons a bit, trying to deescalate the hostile atmosphere a single movement at a time. If he was an archangel candidate, she wouldn't stand much of a chance against him.
"I'm the only one from my unit alive. I have yet to find any non-undead civilians that chose not to escape through the temporal gate to Paradise. I would have loved to not be stuck in this shithole, but seemingly Paradise has no use for artificial humans."
The cyborg spit out in disgust.
Sam shrugged.
"Well, that has nothing to do with me anymore. Just passing through."
Samael collected his gear and started to head out.
"WAIT!"
The woman took a few steps, calling out to him desperately.
"Yeah?"
Sam turned, looking at the woman inquisitively.
"...Let me go with you. You plan to leave Mars, right? I want to leave this dead planet. It'll be safer with two of us sticking together."
She put away her blades and offered her hand, her eyes not leaving his.
"...I guess there's no harm in it."
He shook took her hand, holding firm. The cyborg nodded.
"Before we go, there is a supply cache that was left behind in a hurry, so escaped being destroyed by the escaping forces. There should be heavy armaments and Thorium-EXOsuits."
Samael looked surprised.
"Oh ho? That's rare of them to slip up and leave anything good for the survivors. Lead on, then!"
He laughed, following after her outside of the civilian food-supply building.
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"What the actual fuck? There's nothing left of the prick! How the hell am I supposed to figure out where the killer is with no body to do divination with?"
A humanoid demon with a single black horn and scale plating covering his sleeveless arms turned to the demon that served Asmodeus.
"You're the damn tracker. Why should I be telling you how to do your job? Just find the damn guy and bring him in alive. Asmodeus is pissed, so don't screw this up."
The servant-demon faded into the shadows and vanished.
The scaled-humanoid demon sighed. He was a descendant of THE leviathan, why the hell was he being pushed into doing bitch work? He became slightly depressed thinking about how little his family name meant in hell in this age.
"Guess I gotta do it the obnoxious way."
He headed to the nearest police substation and planned to break into the security systems to pull up video feeds of the area.
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CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Sircrackpot
Sircrackpot I guess it's kinda redundant to keep saying "Thanks for reading!" but I am a thankful guy! Ha ha!
Things are heating up a bit, even though the story has technically only progressed a few hours.
The woman will soon share her name, so don't think I overlooked that. *cough*
Stay tuned for chapter 4, coming soon!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone