A single Nemesis soldier was in the middle of the open space. A couple members of the assault element were sprawled around it, leaking blood from deep lacerations. The rest of the MCB were falling back and taking cover. The demon’s scorched, torn flesh was pulsing and throbbing, mutating right before their eyes. Part of it was spouting fur and the other half scales. One arm had been blown off. It turned, revealing a hideous dog face, and when it opened its mouth, a long tongue that ended in a snake head rolled out. The snake even hissed at him.

That was unexpected.

Franks walked forward as he emptied the FN into the demon’s remaining arm trying to cripple it. Dropping the rifle the second it was dry, he pulled two full-auto Glocks, one in each hand, and opened fire. The demon twisted and jerked, trying to scurry away, but this time Franks concentrated on its legs. Sixty rounds of 10mm didn’t leave the demon with much more than bloody stumps, and by the time Franks dropped the two empty Glocks, the demon had flopped to the floor. Franks kicked it in the chest.

“Where’s Kurst?”

“Preparing the way!” the demon shrieked.

The snake tongue lashed out, trying to bite him, but Franks caught it before it could sink its fangs into him. “Wrong answer.” He ripped the demon’s tongue out of its head. A geyser of blood erupted from the thing’s mouth. So much for getting anything useful out of it, so Franks repeatedly stomped on the demon’s head with his boot. He smashed it until his foot hurt. He did it until he was sweating from the exertion and its skull was pancake flat.

That would settle it down for a minute.

“Evacuate the wounded. You two, drag this thing outside and burn it,” Franks told the agents. They immediately did as instructed.

“We’ve got the airfield locked down.” Cueto entered, took one look at his injured men and began swearing. Then he saw the twisted mutant as it was hauled past him. “What the fuck is that?”

“Nemesis.”

“I thought they were supposed to look human?”

“They are.”

“Well that sure as hell doesn’t! I’m assuming this is a bad development?”

“Yes and no.” The demons had not had physical bodies for long; they were powerful, but Franks knew from experience it took a lot of time and practice to maximize your effectiveness after modifying a body. They’d had just enough time to be truly dangerous with their original forms, but now they were somehow shape-shifting them into something else. Demons tended to be greedy and flashy when they found a way to Earth, like they were trying to make up for lost time. There was no way they were practiced in such complex forms yet.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”