The True Test

You are heading down the secret hallway leading to the teleporter back to Earth. As you make your way to well-earned freedom, you wonder why it seemed so easy to waste the mighty Spiderdemon? Just then, a ghostly apparition appears in the corridor ahead. It is one of your fallen comrades! He speaks to you in a ghostly whisper, but you sense a joy in his haunting voice. He thanks you for rescuing his soul from that monstrous devil. He begins to tell you of his last mission... It seems that of the few space marines who made it to the inferno of Hell, only he had a soul too pure to be corrupted by the teleporter gates. He fought valiantly, but was soon captured-not killed! The hideous Spiderdemon saw a power in that soul he could use for his own. In an unholy ceremony, the Spiderdemon split the marine into two parts--a body and a soul! With the soul in his control, the Spiderdemon would gain even greater power and would be indestructable to any mortal! But, there was one more part to complete the ceremony. The only way for the Spiderdemon to truly possess the soul was to prove that the body was not worthy of it. A test for the human would be the last step of the arcane ritual. The Spiderdemon sent him back to Phobos to a special arena built just for the occasion. If he could fight his way to retrieve his soul, he would be worthy of it. If he failed, the Spiderdemon would become invincible and he would suffer an eternity of torment. If he succeeded, he would be returned to Earth. In the end, he was victorious, but the Spiderdemon broke the rules of the ritual and laid a final trap for him. He was killed and his body taken back to Hell as a trophy. His soul was also brought back and it watched as the Spiderdemon's ritual backfired on him. The monster received a great blast of energy in punishment for his blasphemous actions! The demon was weakened, but very much alive. He unleashed his fury on the only thing he could, the soul of the poor marine! Even though he could never use its power, he was determined to torture the man who cheated him out of immortality. It wasn't until you destroyed the weakened Spiderdemon that he was set free. The spirit turns and begins to float away, but you call out for him to wait. You ask him to tell you more of this final mission. As you look into the misty face, you see a comrade who used to swap tales of adventure with you often. You ask him for 1 last war story. He smiles and begins to tell, in detail, of his most heroic mission. This is that tale.....