Act 11.5 — Life in Hell
Era: Power Unbound (Era 3)
Previous: Act 11 — Temporary Alliance
Next: Act 12 — Expansion into Prioxis
Overview
Life in Hell is an interlude within Power Unbound focused on the soldiers, commanders, machines, families, and everyday culture of the Hell Hosts.
Rather than following a single major war or galactic crisis, the Act consists of fifteen smaller interconnected stories exploring life within one of the largest military powers in the Omicron Galaxy.
Much of the Act takes place on Voridinus II, particularly around Vanguard Tower, its surrounding military installations, barracks, training grounds, hangars, command facilities, and recreational areas.
The Act explores the Hell Hosts outside of major warfare.
Commanders perform inspections and review casualties. Soldiers train, argue, gamble, recover, socialise, and prepare for future deployments. Pilots and mechanics maintain aircraft. Robotic personnel interact with biological soldiers. Military families deal with the expectations created by their names. Some soldiers attempt to enjoy leave while others struggle to separate themselves from their service.
Throughout the Act, the absence of Destiny remains noticeable.
Although the Hell Hosts continue functioning without her, Victoria remains missing following her abduction during Act 7.5 — Nine Months. Her absence affects several of the people closest to her, including Predator, Red Wind, Champion, Enigma (OD-139), Azure Gale, and Bulwark.
Life in Hell provides a rare period of relative normality before the Hell Hosts once again become involved in larger events across the galaxy.
Sub-Acts
11.5.1 — Home
The opening story follows an ordinary day on Voridinus II.
Rather than focusing on a single character, the story moves throughout the Hell Host stronghold, showing different levels of the organization functioning simultaneously.
High Command coordinates military operations.
Doom Corps personnel train and prepare for deployment.
Aircraft move between military installations.
Soldiers eat, sleep, argue, work, and socialise.
Robotic personnel move alongside biological soldiers as an ordinary part of military life.
Characters such as Predator, Azure Gale, Champion, Bulwark, Marksman, Red Wind, and Enigma (OD-139) provide different perspectives on the faction they call home.
Despite the normality, Destiny remains absent.
The Hell Hosts continue without her.
The people closest to her do not.
11.5.2 — We Are the Wall
This story focuses on Bulwark and his responsibilities as commander of the Doom Corps.
Rather than depicting Bulwark through a major battle, the story follows the quieter responsibilities that have earned him the respect of the soldiers under his command.
Inspections, casualty reports, wounded personnel, battalion commanders, memorials, training standards, and ordinary conversations demonstrate the enormous human responsibility behind commanding the Doom Corps.
Warden also appears as one of the senior officers working beneath Bulwark.
The story explores one of Bulwark’s defining beliefs:
The Doom Corps is not simply an army.
It is made of people.
11.5.3 — The Vandrix Name
This story focuses on members of House Vandrix serving within the Hell Hosts.
Major characters include:
Particular attention is given to Striker, one of the younger members of the family.
Surrounded by relatives who already possess significant military reputations, Striker struggles with the fear that his own achievements will always be attributed to the Vandrix name.
The story explores military family expectations, sibling relationships, inherited reputation, and the difference between receiving a legacy and earning one.
11.5.4 — Wolves
This story focuses on the Wolf Unit.
To most of the galaxy, Black Wolf, White Wolf, and Grey Wolf are terrifying hunters associated with disappearances, assassinations, and high-value target elimination.
Away from their missions, however, the three function less like a conventional military unit and more like a family.
The story explores the relationship between the Wolves without removing the mystery surrounding their operations.
Red Wind also takes an interest in the unit, particularly White Wolf.
11.5.5 — The Red Hand
This story focuses on the Red Hand and its three members:
Unlike the Wolves, the Red Hand is designed around escalation, suppression, and organizational collapse.
Its reputation creates an uncomfortable relationship with other Hell Host personnel, many of whom respect the unit’s effectiveness without necessarily wanting to work beside it.
The story explores the people underneath that reputation and provides greater focus on Karma outside of combat.
11.5.6 — More Than Metal
This story explores the enormous robotic and synthetic population serving within the Hell Hosts.
Characters such as Enigma, Viper, B.O.B, and Aeon Unit demonstrate the enormous differences that can exist between machine personnel.
Some machines were created specifically for warfare.
Others developed beyond their original purpose.
Some openly display personality and emotion.
Others insist that their decisions are entirely logical.
The story explores how biological and synthetic personnel coexist within the same military without treating every machine intelligence as identical.
11.5.7 — Fourth Fleet
This story focuses on Necromancer and the reputation surrounding Fourth Fleet.
Necromancer remains one of the most unsettling officers within the Hell Hosts despite his continued loyalty to the faction.
Rather than revealing the truth behind his condition, the story explores how ordinary personnel perceive him.
Rumours follow him through military facilities.
Soldiers exchange contradictory stories about his abilities.
Some personnel avoid him entirely.
Others treat him simply as another commanding officer.
Ranger remains one of the few people apparently unaffected by Necromancer’s reputation.
The story deliberately leaves the truth behind Necromancer unresolved.
11.5.8 — Leave
Ranger and Forsaken attempt to spend time away from active operations.
Their approaches are considerably different.
Forsaken prefers quiet streets, cafés, books, long walks, and places where nobody recognises him.
Ranger prefers drinking with soldiers, gambling, exploring settlements, competition, stories, and whatever questionable activity happens to attract his attention.
Their conflicting personalities turn what should have been an uneventful period of leave into something considerably less peaceful.
Despite their frequent disagreements, the story demonstrates the genuine respect between the two soldiers.
11.5.9 — Barracks
This story shifts attention away from famous commanders and toward everyday Doom Corps personnel.
Barracks life includes:
- Training
- Equipment maintenance
- Inspections
- Arguments
- Rumours
- Competitions
- Practical jokes
- Deployment preparation
- Complaints about officers
- Soldiers returning from operations
- New personnel adjusting to military life
Several younger and less experienced Hell Host characters appear throughout the story.
Rather than portraying the Hell Hosts entirely through legendary soldiers, Barracks explores what life is like for the personnel who form the overwhelming majority of the faction.
11.5.10 — Skyborne
This story focuses on the Aviation Division and the personnel responsible for keeping Hell Host forces in the air.
Pilots, mechanics, ground crews, rescue personnel, and aircraft crews operate within a culture distinct from conventional Doom Corps formations.
Characters such as Skyfall and Hardfall appear alongside the wider aviation personnel.
The story explores squadron culture, aircraft maintenance, pilot-mechanic relationships, inter-division rivalry, and the enormous logistical effort required to maintain Hell Host air power.
11.5.11 — Shadows
This story explores personnel whose duties frequently occur outside ordinary frontline warfare.
Characters may include:
Military security, reconnaissance, covert operations, fugitive recovery, surveillance, and classified assignments all operate beneath the more visible side of the Hell Hosts.
The story explores the soldiers whose work is often unnoticed by the wider military despite its importance.
11.5.12 — After Hours
This story follows Hell Host personnel during their limited free time.
Cafeterias, recreational areas, bars, games, gambling, arguments, jokes, and conversations bring together characters who would rarely share the same battlefield assignment.
The story allows personnel from different divisions, battalions, fleets, and ranks to interact outside formal military structures.
Marksman proves particularly capable of causing problems.
Ranger finds opportunities for competition.
Enigma continues participating in human social rituals despite several of them being completely unnecessary for a machine.
The story also begins developing the relationship between Karma and Magnum.
Their connection remains small and informal, establishing the beginning of a relationship rather than immediately defining it.
Champion also reflects upon his recent experiences working alongside Valkyrie during the temporary alliance with the Free World Order.
11.5.13 — Red Wind
This story focuses entirely on Red Wind outside major military operations.
Despite being capable of commanding soldiers in battle, Red Wind continues to struggle with ordinary social interaction, isolation, and the absence of any memory of her life before the Hell Hosts.
Her quieter interests and routines are explored alongside her relationships with other personnel.
Ranger continues attempting to include her in social situations.
Bulwark provides one of the few environments where Red Wind feels little pressure to perform or explain herself.
The disappearance of Destiny, one of Red Wind’s closest friends, also continues to affect her.
The story provides Red Wind with something rarely available during war:
Time to think.
11.5.14 — Blood
This story focuses on Blood before the events of Act 15 — Blood’s Ascension.
Rather than focusing upon the power Blood will later acquire, the story establishes who Blood is beforehand.
Their routines, relationships, friendships, military role, and place within the Hell Hosts are given greater attention.
The story deliberately avoids treating Blood’s future Ascension as inevitable.
At this point in their life, Blood is still simply a member of the Hell Hosts.
11.5.15 — Calypso
The final story focuses on Calypso before the events that will eventually lead to Act 18 — Calypso’s Ascension.
Like Blood, Calypso is explored as a person rather than through the abilities and consequences that will later define part of their story.
The story serves as a quiet conclusion to Life in Hell.
Across Voridinus II, soldiers return to barracks.
Night shifts replace day shifts.
Aircraft continue moving between installations.
Fleets enter and leave orbit.
Machines continue working.
Commanders finish reports that will be replaced by new ones the following morning.
For once, there is no enormous battle deciding the future of the galaxy.
Life simply continues.
Characters
Life in Hell features a large ensemble of Hell Host personnel.
Major characters include:
- Predator
- Azure Gale
- Bulwark
- Champion
- Marksman
- Red Wind
- Necromancer
- Ranger
- Forsaken
- Enigma (OD-139)
- Viper
- Warden
- Deadeye
- Doom
- Striker
- Wolf Unit
- The Red Hand
- Karma
- Magnum
- Blood
- Calypso
Numerous additional Hell Host personnel appear throughout individual stories.
Destiny remains missing during the Act and does not physically appear.
Factions
- Hell Hosts
- Free World Order — referenced following the temporary alliance
- Angel Swords — referenced through previous conflicts and military history
Locations
- Voridinus II
- Vanguard Tower
- Hell Host military installations
- Doom Corps barracks
- Training facilities
- Aviation facilities
- Recreational areas
- Fleet installations
Additional locations may appear during individual Sub-Acts.
Major Events
- Everyday Hell Host military life is explored in greater detail.
- The internal culture of the Doom Corps is expanded.
- House Vandrix receives greater development.
- The Wolf Unit is explored outside active operations.
- The Red Hand is explored outside active operations.
- Synthetic and robotic personnel receive greater focus.
- Necromancer and Fourth Fleet’s internal reputation is explored.
- Karma and Magnum begin developing a closer relationship.
- Champion continues processing his developing connection with Valkyrie.
- Red Wind receives greater personal development.
- Blood is established prior to Ascension.
- Calypso is established prior to Ascension.
- Destiny remains missing.
Deaths and Casualties
No major deaths are associated with the Act.
Life in Hell primarily takes place during a period of relative stability between larger conflicts.
Lore Introduced
The Act significantly expands everyday life within the Hell Hosts, including:
- Military family culture
- Barracks life
- Off-duty activities
- Relationships between ranks
- Doom Corps traditions
- Aviation culture
- Robotic and synthetic military life
- Military leave
- Memorial culture
- High Command routines
- Inter-unit relationships
- Life on Voridinus II outside major battles
The Act also establishes a clearer personal baseline for several characters before later events dramatically change their lives.
Consequences
Although Life in Hell contains no single galaxy-changing event, its character developments influence several later stories.
The Act strengthens relationships between Hell Host personnel and establishes parts of their lives that continue into later conflicts.
Most notably, it provides greater context for:
- Act 12 — Expansion into Prioxis
- Act 14 — Rescue of Destiny
- Act 15 — Blood’s Ascension
- Act 17 — Cabin Gathering
- Act 18 — Calypso’s Ascension
By focusing on the people living inside the Hell Hosts rather than the wars fought by them, Life in Hell establishes what those characters actually have to lose when the larger conflicts of Power Unbound begin escalating again.