NationStates Jolt Archive

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Midnight. Not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet, and the wind begins to moan.

Memory. All alone in the moonlight. I can smile at the old days. I was beautiful then. I remember the time I knew what happiness was. Let the memory live again.

Every street lamp seems to beat a fatalistic warning. Someone mutters, and the streetlamp gutters, and soon it will be morning.

Daylight. I must wait for the sunrise. I must think of a new life, and I musn't give in. When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too, and a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days, the stale cold smell of morning. The streetlamp dies, another night is over, another day is dawning.

Touch me. It's so easy to leave me all alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is...

Look...

A new day has begun...

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Under the veil of darkness, shadows arose from the mist and took flight to the skies. Silence had masked their ruthless efficiency before, and it would do so once more. Nothing could stand in their way, for it was impossible to fight something that was unknown to exist.

The four men were similar yet quite different, each breaking the silence momentarily before retreating back into the shell in which all good soldiers resided. It was their protection from emotion, fear, and whatever else lurked in the outside world.

The lurkers were what fueled their existence, and yet their job was to eliminate all that existed to oppose. They were to do it methodically: investigate, analyze, destroy, and they were perfect. The night was their's, and each one of them knew it.

They landed unnoticed, and as swift as they had arrived, they began their assault.

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The guns erupted with a vengeance unmatched, tearing through stone and souls alike as the soldiers tore towards the boarder. They moved effortlessly, stealing lives along the way, until the dust had cleared and they gathered for a momentary pause in destruction.

“He looks happy…” someone muttered.

The other men shifted their eyes, either unable to hear or unwilling to listen.

“Look at him…I…he looks happy…” Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari repeated, both amazed and disturbed.

“Who the hell cares?” Lieutenant Adrian Winters asked in disgust.

“But he’s smiling…” Kyle said, not letting the topic drop.

“Lieutenant Kuhari, I put a bullet between his eyes,” Adrian said matter-of-factly. “I doubt he knows what the hell he’s doing.”

Kyle Kuhari stared at the man for a long time as the blood slowly dripped down his face and into his grinning mouth. The poor bastard never had a chance, and apparently Kyle was the only one who felt even a little sorry for him.

“Would you get over it already, Lieutenant?” Captain Andrew Braddock asked, but everyone knew it was an order. The Captain seemed tired, his eyes squinty, his breath short. Nevertheless, a smile came to his face, as it often did. “I sure hope you don’t expect to examine each one.”

“No…” Kyle replied, not taking his eyes off the man. Kyle reached down and closed his eyelids, wiping the blood from his gloves off on his pants. “I wonder if he has a…”

“Don’t even fucking say it,” Sergeant Xase Indra interrupted, pulling a lighter from his pocket. None of the four smoked. “We have a goddamn job to do. So did he. He died, and doing so he failed his job. Now shut your whiny-ass mouth and stop treating this fucker like he’s your goddamn mother.” The Captain’s comm link buzzed and so he stepped away.

“Put that away,” Adrian ordered, nodding towards the lighter that Xase was now playing with. Although he was not as old and didn’t have nearly as much experience as Sergeant Indra, the fact of the matter was that he outranked him. That being said, so did Kyle, although that was hardly apparent.

“I’m just going to send this fucker back to whatever hell he came from,” Xase smirked, igniting the lighter and throwing it onto the dead man’s chest. His shirt quickly caught fire before Adrian stomped on it hard with his boot. The corpse made a sickening sound as its ribs snapped, its chest compressed in the shape of a boot.

“I said put it away,” Adrian, always quiet, contemplating, withdrawn, commanded. The Sergeant scowled and reached down to pick up his lighter but Adrian shot it with his pistol when Xase’s fingers were mere centimeters away. Xase howled in response, cursing his superior in every way he knew how, but Adrian said nothing. He had made his point. Why bicker with a child?

“Gunfire?” Braddock asked, returning to the group, seemingly refreshed.

“I had to neutralize a situation, sir,” Adrian said, saluting.

“And?”

“The situation is neutralized,” Adrian replied in his ever-mysterious manner as Xase glared at him. The Captain and his lieutenant exchanged salutes, and as far as Adrian was concerned, the matter was over. Captain Braddock reported on what he had been told.

“The target seems to have moved,” The Captain told his men. There was little surprise; these things never went as planned. “The trouble is, it crossed the border. We’re going to be walking into a whole lot of political hell when we cross it.”

“When?” Lieutenant Kuhari asked, surprised for whatever reason.

“For Christ’s sake, Kuhari,” Xase exclaimed, shaking his head. “We came here for a mission. Why is that so fucking hard to understand?”

“I’m just…” Kuhari began, but was once again cut off.

“I just got permission to invade from the brass,” Braddock continued, ignoring his second lieutenant. “Apparently intelligence has their teeth in this target as deep as they can get them. Whomever this person is, they’re fucking important.”

“Intelligence, eh?” Xase smirked, “Maybe they have an agent…or maybe a general!”

“What does it matter?” Adrian asked. Everyone got quiet and looked at him. This happened more often than not when he spoke.

“What do you mean ‘what does it matter?’” Xase asked, shocked by the question. “It means could get a reward. It means we could get medals. It means I could be shooting game from my back porch from now on instead of being out here in this fuckhole with all of you.”

“It’s just a job,” Adrian replied triumphantly, but with no smirk or change of tone in his voice. The Captain quietly chuckled. Xase, however, found it much less amusing. “No different than the hundred of other rescues we do. ‘We came here for a mission’ did we not? Now stop stalling and let’s go.”

“Stalling?!?!” Xase shouted. “I’m not fucking stalling you smart-ass piece of horse shit.”

“Sir,” Captain Braddock ordered.

“What?” Xase replied.

“You will address him as ‘smart-ass piece of horse shit, sir,’” Braddock continued, as serious as he could be. “You will also ask me ‘What?’ by saying ‘What, sir?.’ It’s part of your job.” Then, grinning, he quoted the man he was lecturing. “‘Why is that so fucking hard to understand?’”

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The demilitarized zone was purposefully barren, to prevent things such as operatives sneaking from one side to the other. The theory was, the guards in the towers would see them, or that scanners would catch trace their life sights. However, since the ODIN armor masked any sign of life in the zone, and the soldiers’ expert skills at camouflage hid them from sight, there was no knowledge of their presence to anyone on the surface. Nevertheless, someone did catch sight of them, but it was far from unexpected.

“Right there,” an ensign said, pointing at the screen. He was manning a post on the bridge of a starship millions of miles above the border. “They’ve painted the target.”

“A wall, correct?” the captain asked. The ensign nodded.

“Guard towers, gun emplacements, energy fields…and a wall,” the ensign replied. Turning to the tactical officer on duty, the captain issued an order.

“Fire on my mark,” he commanded. The officer shook his head in agreement. “Be weary of the compound behind and the demilitarized done before the wall. There at least two people that need to survive this a target and at least one escort…everyone else…intelligence could give a shit.”

On the surface, the soldiers left their marking lasers where they were, pointed to specific points along the metal wall, and slowly processed toward their objective. They were to cross the wall and enter the compound during the chaos that was due to ensue, hopefully with enough time to rescue the target and escape in the process.

Above the skies, the order “fire” was issued.

Hell rained down upon the metal wall, melting what it could and causing what it couldn’t to form a chain-reaction explosion as the atoms of the wall, and those guarding it, simultaneously lost their charge. All matter, living or otherwise, caught within the blast, simply collapsed.

At the same time, plasma charges set up along a different, yet nearby, portion of wall erupted as the four phantoms quickly made their way through the still-hot molten metal. Progressing through the pandemonium as planned, they swiftly spread out in search of their target without knowing where or who that person was.

There were four buildings in the compound, so naturally the four soldiers split up, hunting for the person who would be their ticket home. This left Lieutenant Adrian Winters alone to work by himself. This was exactly how he wanted it.

Two guards stood watch by the door to the building he was assigned to, and carefully but rapidly Adrian approached them, silenced pistol withdrawn. Extending his arm, Adrian ended one quickly, and by the time the second turned to witness his partner fall, his life too was over.

Scanning the door and then the building in hurried succession, Adrian found two more life signs within, and kicked the door down to enter. A girl about his age sat in the center of the room, strapped to a chair. In less than a second, his in-armor computer had identified this girl as the target and had sent the same message to the other three soldiers. However, the more pressing issue was that of the guard, whose gun was aimed at the girl and who had heard the door come crashing down.

“Ik zal haar doden!” the man screamed in a foreign language, but he had little chance to make good on his apparent threat as Adrian’s bullet tore straight through his neck, soaking the seated girl’s white shirt with blood.

“Come with me, ma’am,” Adrian said as he cut her restraints with a combat knife. “I’ve been sent here from the Empire. I’m going to get you - ” But he was silenced instantly at the sight of her face, for behind the tears, dirt, and blood-stained shirt was the face of Adina Clovis, and to say that they had a history together would be a disservice to the bizarre relationship they once had. Nevertheless, his helmet shielded his face, and for the time being, he was more than glad.

“You’re going to get me what?” Adina whimpered to the soldier, who was oddly frozen in place.

“We’re going to get you out of here, ma’am,” Captain Braddock proclaimed, entering the room with Sergeant Indra and Lieutenant Kuhari in tow. Motioning towards the blood, he continued. “I apologize for the mess.” Shocked, Adina stared at her four saviors.

“H-how did you find me?” She stammered, feeling the tears swelling up in her eyes. “How d-did you get h-here?”

“It’s our job, ma’am” Lt. Kuhari answered. Within his helmet, Xase rolled his eyes and muttered obscenities over the comm. “We’re here to help.”

“Actually we’re here to get you the hell away from this place,” Captain Braddock added, reaching out his hand and helping her up. “Apparently you’re quite the important person.” Turning towards Indra and Kuhari, Braddock issued an order. “Contact the Atlus. Tell them to send down a drop ship now.”

“Yes, sir,” both men replied, then opened their forearm computers to do so.

“Good work, Lieutenant,” Braddock said, patting Adrian on the shoulder. “You always do produce.”

“Er…um…thank you, sir,” Lt. Winters managed to spit out.

“Just damn lucky this time,” Sergeant Indra said over the comm as he typed away at his wrist.

“Hardly,” Braddock said, smiling behind his mask. “He’s damn good…every time…”

“Link established,” Lt. Kuhari reported. “The dropship’s on its way.”

“That’s our cue,” Captain Braddock said, motioning towards the ladder to the roof for the sake of Adina. Everyone else knew that they were to go up. Adrian shifted his stare from Adina towards the ladder, fully aware that nothing felt right about this. As was often the case, Adrian was completely right.

A guard burst through the doorway with his gun ablaze, and high-velocity bullets tore through the suit of Sergeant Indra. Grasping his upper right arm where he had been shot, Xase, ever the hardass, lifted his right arm and with a loud cry pulled the trigger and tore into the opposition. Instantly, the building was flooded with ammunition, and, by instinct, Adrian pushed Adina into the corner by the ladder, covering her with his body as he let loose on the enemy with his rifle.

After a few minutes that seemed like hours, Lt. Kuhari returned his weapon to his back and grabbed hold of the ladder. Quickly he ascended to the roof, and Braddock instructed the others to do the same.

“Get her the fuck out of here, Winters!” he screamed, intrusting Adrian with the care of the target, however she was not just a target…not anymore.

Throwing down his rifle, Adrian grabbed Adina by the waist and lifted her onto the ladder. Swiftly she climbed, with him right behind her, followed by Sergeant Indra, and finally the Captain. The dropship was ready, and the pilot was not happy with the fact that he was being shot at with bullets and not energy, which could be absorbed by shields, and so the soldiers led their target into the ship as fast as they could.

“Fucking right!” Captain Braddock, fueled with emotion and adrenaline exclaimed as he removed his helmet, a successful grin spread across his older, yet still attractive, face. With his glove he pushed back his sweat-drenched hair and sat down, introducing himself to the young woman who was his target. “Captain Andrew Braddock of the Imperial Special Forces at your service, ma’am.”

Adina thankfully shook his hand, and then looked around as Xase and Kyle took their helmets off. Adina turned to Adrian, her savior and protector, who quietly sat alone, his helmet remaining on his face.

“Why were you there?” he asked, his question catching everyone a little off guard.

“I…I was captured…” Adina said, not sure what this man, this Lieutenant Winters, was asking.

“I meant why were you captured?” Adrian said. “What were you doing that would make this culture, more primitive than ours, take your hostage?”

“They captured me because they found me,” Adina replied honestly, but everyone knew that wasn’t the entire answer. “I wasn’t supposed to be there, and I had no identification, no story…”

“Your file says you’re a biologist,” Adrian continued, ever the detective. “What were you working on?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified…”

“Don’t you understand what could have happened?!” Adrian shouted, much to the amazement of the other soldiers and Adina alike. Slowly, he reached back, and took off his helmet.

“Adrian?!” Adina exclaimed, finally putting two and two together. She knew that ‘Winters’ had sounded familiar, and yet she didn’t even comprehend the possibility until this point.

“You should be more careful,” Adrian instructed as a parent would tell a child. “I worry about you.” Now it was Adina’s turn to be speechless, as she stared confused at the man who left her years ago, only to rescue her again.

“Me-first boy showing feeling?” Xase chuckled. “You know I at least thought you had a level head on your shoulders. You’re no less pathetic than the rest of them.”

“Personally I find it enthralling to see a man fueled only by his emotions,” Captain Braddock countered. He pointed towards Xase. “That’s Sergeant Xase Indra…no one really likes him.” Adina managed a slight chuckle at Xase’s scowl. Braddock nodded his head in Kyle’s direction. “That’s Second Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari…no one really knows why he joined the military.” Kyle frowned. “Still, they’re both good at killing things…”

“Guess that’s all you need to be a soldier,” Adina sniped, but it was obviously the wrong crowd. The soldiers strapped themselves in, and Adina followed suit. The dropship flew towards the heavens before the Atlus once again rained down upon the surface, decimating all that had once been there.

Silence resumed as three of the soldiers once again entered their emotional shells, releasing all fear and emotion and embraced the fact that they had survived once more. As they closed their eyes, Adrian sat still, his eyes wide open, for all of a sudden emotions rushed through his body. All of a sudden, he was afraid.

The dropship flew towards the heavens before the Atlus once again rained down upon the surface, decimating all that had once been there.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis

Papa...

Papa?

Papa, can you hear me?

Papa, can you see me?

Papa can you find me in the night?

Papa are you near me?

Papa, can you hear me?

Papa, can you help me not be frightened?

Looking at the sky I seem to see a million eyes...

...which ones are yours?...

Adrian awoke with a start as the dropship latched hard onto its docking bay inside of the Atlus. Embarrassed that he dozed off, he quietly exited the ship, ignoring the others as he made his way towards his makeshift quarters.

The Empire embraced them with the same fanfare as they were accustomed to, which was to say that they arrived in secrecy and were instantly passed through medical inspection and ordered to report to the Director. Intelligence Director Dr. Julian Rane frowned as they walked into his office. After a few seconds they followed his gaze to Xase’s arm.

“No worries, Sir,” Sergeant Indra said, forcing a smile. It wasn’t something he was accustomed to doing. “I’ll be back lifting in a week. It won’t keep me out of anything.”

“So the doctor told you nothing for a month, eh?” Rane asked, smirking and shaking his head. Now Xase’s smile was genuine.

“Yes, sir,” Xase replied. His toughness was well known among the operative inner-circle, and saying he took pride in his reputation would be an understatement. “I was hoping that you would be able to…”

“No problem, Sergeant Indra,” Dr. Rane said. He then shifted his focus to include the others as well. “I’m glad you four made it back both safely and successfully. I cannot begin to express my gratitude…you four are the most successful team I have...” Dr. Rane paused for dramatic effect. “…and from the report, Lieutenant Winters, you were most impressive on this assignment. Most kills, a hit percentage of one-hundred percent according to your armor, and you’re the one who found the target.”

“I do what I can, sir,” Adrian replied. Dr. Rane often put him on the spot, and his team didn’t like him much for it. Adrian truly didn’t appreciate the attention either, and there was something inside of him that told him that Dr. Rane was fully aware of this fact.

“Of course, soldier,” Rane said, nodding. “Now on to the next pressing issue.” The soldiers stared back at the Director with odd expressions. It was typical for them to be issued at least a week of leave after a mission. “Tomorrow you will ship out alongside Dr. Clovis. You will be escorting her on a mission, and other teams from other nations will be doing the same with their own scientists. We don’t want her captured again.”

“Sir, with all due respect…” Lt. Kuhari began but Rane’s glare cut him short.

“It is because of your apparent familiarity with the young doctor that we have chosen you for this assignment,” Rane continued.

“We?” Indra asked. Julian Rane nodded.

“She requested your services,” Rane explained. “It appears as if you all made one hell of an impression on her.” Both Xase and Kyle glared at Adrian. Adrian ignored them. “I’d recommend that you get your rest tonight. It’s a long trip…dismissed.”

“Where to, sir?” Xase asked.

“You will all be briefed in the morning,” Rane explained impatiently. “Now…as I said…dismissed.” They all saluted and then everyone except Captain Braddock left the Director’s office. “Yes, Andrew, I figured there is a reason why you were so uncharacteristically quiet. What’s on your mind?”

“Sir, I simply wanted to remind you that my review board is in two days,” Andrew Braddock explained.

“As much as this may amaze you Captain,” Rane spat sarcastically. “I do know what goes on in my own department. Your commitment to the Empire comes before any attempt for personal gain, which you may desire. Your board will, of course, be rescheduled.”

“This one was already rescheduled, sir,” Braddock complained. “That was two years ago!”

“And we both know why, don’t we Captain?” Rane asked. Braddock nodded. He knew exactly why. “Now…for the third time…dismissed.” Braddock saluted half-heartedly and left the office.

“That fucking self-important, pretentious, pompous piece of shit!” Captain Braddock shouted as the giant gold-plated doors of the Corporate Cathedral closed behind him. “He’s doing this on purpose and he fucking knows it. Goddamnit, I should be a fucking general by now!” Xase stared back at his captain in disappointment. Braddock, in Xase’s opinion, was hardly what a military man should be. Still, they owed each other their lives many times over, and Braddock deserved better than the treatment he was getting.

“So how many fucking times can you get us into something like this, huh?” Kyle shouted, lashing out at Adrian. “This is all your fault. That fucking girl requested you and Intel’s making us tag along. I don’t give a shit if you want to make agent, you son-of-a-bitch, you have to start thinking of someone other than yourself.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know that I’d recognize her?” Adrian shot back, struggling to stay calm. “How the hell was I supposed to predict that she’d request us because of it? …and why the hell do you think I want to do this on one day’s rest? I’m no different than the rest of you…although perhaps more mature…”

“Mature my ass,” Xase said. “Its your fucking fault that the Captain is going to miss his boards. It’s your fucking fault that he’s not going to be promoted. Why? Because you made a little girlfriend and you have to fucking run off and defend her, you selfish prick. I’m sick and tired of you getting us into these goddamn situations!”

“And I’m sick and tired of having you get you two out of these goddamn situations!” Adrian screamed. “You both are fucking dead weight. Fuck you two. I don’t need this.”

With that, Adrian turned and walked away amidst the obscenities spewing from his two teammates. Captain Braddock quickly followed.

“Adrian! Adrian, you know I don’t blame you…”

“You don’t need to console me like I’m some sort of unstable child,” Adrian snapped before adding, “…sir…”

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re alright…”

“Nothing’s alright,” Adrian said, shaking his head. “Nothing is right with this at all. You don’t send teams out on one night’s rest. You don’t make your best assault and rescue team play escort with a scientist who is only twenty-five years old. You don’t keep fucking with the best Captain you have just because you have a grudge against him. It’s all fucking politics with Rane…and I can’t stand it. Look at us. We have no team unity, no sense of command. I’m those cocksucker’s superior officer and they’d rather die than show me respect. I don’t know how much longer I can do this…”

“Is he right?” Braddock asked.

“Who?”

“Kyle. About making agent?” Braddock continued.

“I did once…” Adrian replied. “Now I’m not so sure…”

“You’d make a damn good agent,” Captain Braddock said. “You’re so fluid…natural…you’re one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen.”

“And I take pride in none of that…”

“So what do you take pride in?”

“I…I don’t even know…” Adrian muttered, shaking his head and turning to leave. This time, Captain Braddock didn’t follow. They had a big mission tomorrow, and if Rane was honest about anything, it was that they all needed their rest. In his apartment, Adrian stripped off his clothes, climbed into bed, and drifted off to sleep.

Where are you now that yesterday has waved goodbye and closed its doors?

The night is so much darker...

the wind is so much colder...

the world I see is so much bigger...

now that I'm alone...

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra

The sun rose early on the glimmering city. The year-long winter had passed months ago, and now the soot was gone, the buildings shining in the morning rays. Heat was finally returning to the Corporate Cathedral, both a city and a building, something that the dismal people were quite happy with.

Adrian Winters awoke with the sun. Slowly stripping off his undergarments, Adrian stumbled past empty bottles and day-old food towards the shower. The water was shockingly brisk and Adrian clumsily smacked the water dial further to the right, stepping back out of the way until the water warmed.

Already packed from the night before, Adrian dressed himself in simple clothes, well aware that he would change soon enough. Downing his food and his supplements, Adrian put his suitcase in his speeder and took off silently towards the government building.

The Mitchell Building, as it was called, seemed to rise up from below the ground, beckoning Adrian from afar as he sped towards it. The building itself was the pinnacle of technological advancements within, built in a three-hundred year old tower that was ripe with legend and hauntingly hellish.

Adrian passed through the numerous and thorough checkpoints half asleep, his head throbbing, his body exhausted. He was escorted into a room he had been in many times before, nodded at the same three people of his team, and without words, walked into his locker. It was then that the doors opened, and Adrian quickly realized that there was going to be nothing usual about this assignment.

“Good to see you,” Dr. Julian Rane said, flashing his million-dollar smile to the tired and partially hung over soldiers. Behind him was a flock of guards as well as two women. One was Adina, the other unknown.

“Wish I could say the same,” Captain Braddock muttered. “…sir.”

“You all know Dr. Clovis,” Rane continued, motioning towards Adina with his arm. He turned to the other side. “This is Felicity Shakra, a statistician. She will be accompanying you on your assignment.”

“A statistician?” Xase asked, as if the word left a sour taste in his mouth. It was more likely the fact that she was another civilian that disgusted him more than the fact she was a statistician.

“Sir, with all due respect…” Captain Braddock began, but Rane would hear none of it.

“Your assignment, as you know, is to escort and protect Dr. Clovis while she carries out and completes her objectives,” Rane instructed. “What you don’t know is where she will be doing this…where you will be going. These are no enemy lines you are going behind…in fact…for all we know we still own it.”

“You’re sending us to Steel Moon?” Kyle Kuhari asked.

“No, Lieutenant,” Rane continued. “But that’s a damn good guess. You see, gentlemen, Dr. Clovis here is currently the foremost authority on counter-virus vaccines due to the passing of her mentor. Over the past few years she has been doing experiments on a range of viruses, and we believe that now is the time to put our knowledge into action.” Rane paused, as he often did, for dramatic effect. “As I’m sure all of you know, we used to have a colony on the planet Earth, located within the Sol system.”

There was no need to expand on that statement, and everyone knew it. The soldiers gained a sickening knot in their stomachs when they all at once realized what they would be subjecting themselves to. The most successful assault team in years had just been made expendable.

Years ago, the colony of Steel Earth existed in the Moscow-St. Petersburg area of western Russia, encompassing a generous amount of land in an effort to gain political familiarity within the severely over-populated Sol system. However, the Empire’s endeavors on Earth only made them enemies, and their ability to defeat those enemies only made them more of a target. Emperor Kyou Graav, the leader of the time, ventured to Steel Earth on a routine visit when terrorists struck, detonating a wave of nuclear warheads, hidden in the ground, and wiping out 98% of the colony, including the Emperor. Within the next few weeks, the entire colony was dead, and the Empire abandoned it, leaving Earth forever.

However, that was merely the surface. A virus had emerged on Earth two years prior, a horrific mutation of the Ebola virus, and had rapidly spread throughout all of Asia. Tensions rose and nations fought, blaming each other for the outbreak that would cause its victim to bleed rapidly before dying within days as internal organs ruptured. NiMBUS Biotechnologies, the foremost leader in viral suppression at the time, both gathered samples and attempted a cure, however while they could contain the spread, and did the obvious experiments that damned the Empire for decades later, no cure was found. The Q-virus, as it was named, after the first person that died from the disease, remained contained, but very much alive, in western Russia.

“We don’t know what’s down there,” Julian Rane confessed. “The possibilities are endless. Nuclear holocaust is almost certain, but the virus itself, and what may have happened with the land, are complete unknowns.” His voice dropped in tone. “We also don’t know what all NiMBUS used to try to “cure” the place of the original virus. Nevertheless, Dr. Clovis has made outrageous advancements in viral information, and believes, along with the Emperor, that now is the best time to do an investigation. Still, we can’t take any chances with our leading scientist. That’s where you all come in. As Dr. Clovis performs the experiments and Miss Shakur records the information, you will be assisting and protecting them in any way.”

The soldiers stared back at him with a disappointed sense of awe. There was only one word for this, but no one felt like exclaiming “bullshit.” Instead, they silently got dressed and packed their gear, loading their weapons as they made their way to the transport. They would be traveling the entire distance by dropship as not to attract attention, with the two women sitting up with the pilot and the four soldiers strapped in the back. Their departure was silent and uneventful, hidden by the bustling traffic of the morning commute, and the soldiers were quiet, pissed and confused at the same time. Adrian, surprisingly, was the one to break the silence.

"How do you become something you're not?" Lieutenant Adrian Winters muttered to himself as he squinted at his hands.

"What would you want to be?" Captain Andrew Braddock asked with a smirk on his face.

"What I'm not," Winters replied, as if that was definitive statement. To him, there was no need for further questioning.

"What are you now?" Braddock continued, pulling his hair back out of his face and tying it behind his head. Sergeant Indra grunted in disgust at the sight.

"I'm nothing..." Adrian said without thinking then instantly grimaced for saying it. It wasn't like him to talk like this.

"You're a goddamned soldier," Xase Indra replied in a full voice, booming over the other two's whispers.

"That's all I am..." Adrian responded, but Braddock was unsure if it was a question or a statement.

"You shoot things; you kill things, and if you're good enough, you're rewarded," Xase continued. "Now shut your fucking mouth and leave your whining for someone who gives a damn."

"I know exactly what I am," Lt. Kyle Kuhari chimed in, purposely inappropriate. "I'm a..."

"No one fucking cares," Captain Braddock replied, his voice remaining in the same menacing whisper he had perfected over time, his gaze cutting deep into the other Lieutenant.

"But I'm not the one being..." Kyle began.

"Lieutenant!" Captain Braddock interrupted. "Shut...the fuck...up. That's an order."

The dropship engaged its spacefold drive and vanished into the vacuum of space, heading towards the location in which the different teams were to meet.

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Adrian Winters - Andrew Braddock - Kyle Kuhari - Xase Indra - Adina Clovis - Felicity Shakra - Julian Rane

“Emily how good to see.” proclaimed Jade as Emily entered her office. Jade quickly jumped her feet to properly greet her quest. After the formalities were finished she motioned for Emily to have seat “How Robert doing?”

“He doing good, he’s looking forward to attending Makenzie’s birthday” Over the years the two women had become good friends, and as such their children had become close as well. But from Emily could tell from the look of Jades face that there was more to this conversation then talking about their children, this was about business. “I take it this is about work.”

A bit of smile came over Jades face “I’m afraid that is.” She was surprised at how well Emily could read her. Jade reached into her desk pulling out a data pad “I’ve been contacted by Dr Julian Rane, and we are putting together a joint operation. This particular operations falls under the Sentinel Program” Said Jade as she slid the data pad across the table.

As the director of the Sentinel Program it was Emily’s job to over see all the programs operations. There were some that would argue that due to the fact that Emily was a civilian that she should not hold such a position. However, given the nature of the Sentinel Program and Emily’s unique experience, she was the perfect person for the job. Taking the data pad she took a few moments to read over the report. “You got to be kidding” remarked Emily as she looked over the top of the data pad at Jade. “What can they hope to gain from this?”

“They didn’t say” answered Jade quickly “But I assume that they are trying to trace the origins of the Q-virus.” Since the end of the Orion war both the Government of Steel Butterfly and Tappee had been trying to clean up the mess that NiMbus had left in its wake. It was a task that often proved much more difficult then one might have thought, most operations were done with the up most secrecy, and NiMbus’s legacy had been difficult to trace. One such operation even had cost Tappee an entire colony. “But all the usual factors come into play, and most like one we don’t know about.”

“What kind of man power are the looking for in this mission.” Inquired Emily, she was already trying to put things together in her head

“Given the complications of the procol mission we are keeping this matter within the confines of the Order. As per usual Steel Butterfly and us are sending teams, but I believe that the government of Clairmont will also be providing team.”

“Clairmont?” Emily could do little to hide the surprise in her voice. For the most part dealing with this problem had fallen solely on the two nations shoulders “Do they have any experience in dealing with, they have any idea of what they might encounter of this type of mission.”

“I’ve forwarded them all relevant information, and think they will do fine.”

“All right, I’ll have alpha team prepped and readied for deployment” assuming that the meeting was over Emily rose to her feet.

“Wait!” Jade shot quickly as Emily was about to leave “I want you send Omega team on this one”

It was rare the Jade would interfere in matters regarding the Sentinel Program, she let Emily run things as she saw fit. Emily could only guess as to the reasoning behind the request. “Hobers has had problem handling the team after Jocelyn’s death, do you think that sending them is the best idea?”

“I’m sorry, but this is a subject that is not one to debate” Jade tone changed, it was much more harsh compared to the rest of the conversation.

Sensing this Emily simply nodded as she left the room.

“Do you think that this is a wise choice of action.” said a voice from within the room. Slowly a man stepped out from the shadows making his presence know. Up until a moment ago he had not been there. “Given Commander Hobers past, he might not be the best person for such a mission.”

“He will do fine.” Jade was annoyed by then sudden intrusion, and the challenge to her authority “Since you seem to have all the answers why don’t you tell me what you would do.”

“Things are never that simple.” Answered the man back with a bit of smile. “But that is a conversation for another time.”

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Emily Williams

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Jade Allenson

At two in the morning, the sky did little to provide any type of light, what light the team did have came from the tarmac’s floodlights. It only seemed to provide a sense of a artificial environment. Since the team had been pulled from their beds they had little opportunity to fully wake up.

In a daze Richard fumbled with some his gear, he had yet to fully adapt to life in the military. He was trained as a scientist, not a soldier, and going on little to no sleep was something the he as not use to. Annoyed that he would now have to lift his gear again he stopped to gather his things that had fallen.

“Here let me help you with those.” Said Marcus as reached down to pick up some of Richard’s things. Marcus knew Richard well enough to know that he would never have asked for help, though Marcus was not sure if was due to the fact that Richard was shy, or filled with too much pride. Being well built Marcus had little trouble lifting Richards’s stuff off the ground and throwing it over his shoulder.

“Thanks” said Richard quietly he kept his eyes on the ground, truth was that he was afraid of Marcus.

“You should have let carry his own things” Snapped Carmen as she walked by “You should have known better the coddle him.” Before anyone had time to say anything she was gone, already boarding the transport.

“Richard don’t mind” said Emma as walked up Richard. Emma was the other civilian on the team, and more then understood the challenges that Richard was facing, “Don’t mind her, I’m sure that she has some type of anger management problem.” Her comments brought a quick chuckle from Marcus “Have either you heard as to what is going on?”

“No, I actually haven’t” answered Marcus. Up until an hour ago the team had been on extended leave, a call in the middle of the night had quickly put an end to that. “From the urgency of the call I can only gather that is rather important.”

“Well I’m sure that if Jocelyn was running thing we would know what is going on” Shot Emma impatiently

“Well she’s not” Snapped a voice from behind the three. They turned to find Commander Jeffery Hobers, their team commander standing there. From the look on his face he was not happy “Like it or not I’m in command of this team, and we play by my rules.” He come to command of the team after the previous team leader had been killed in duty. Early on it had become apparent that the team still favoured her over him. However, he was never one to be pushed around. “I’ll brief you in air, now get moving. Time is a luxury that we can ill afford.”

Marcus gave him a quick salute, then continued get the rest of his and Richard gear on to the transport. With arms crossed Jeffery watched, there was something about this mission that caused him worry.

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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

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Marcus

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Carmen Anfiego

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Emma Dalson

*Tagged* Opening Post coming

The military compound felt uncomfortably serene. There was none of the athmosphere of urgency and rushing about from one desperate defense to another. Nobody really cared about the facility these days, there was little point. It had been occupied by the Imperial forces during the invasion and later taken back by the allies. Logistics & Management hadnt bothered to re-activate the base afterwards, not much point. As such, it was a perfect place for the team to meet. No prying eyes or ears about, certainly no-one putting their nose to where it didnt belong.

Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran walked thru the base with the briskness and pace embedded to him by twenty years of service. The cold breeze hammered at him with its best effort, he ignored it, maintaining his alertness. Even though the war had ended, the invasion force annihilated. Several instances of handfulls of Imperial troopers surviving the cleances had come up. During the first year they had been an extreme pain in the ass and nothing had been done for the problem for several months. Eventually though, the 15th Marines with air support had fixed the problem, for the most part atleast.

All the same, he hadn't survived through six years of war by dropping his guard. And he wouldnt do so before he had three defensive perimeters laced with anti-personnel mines and pre-calculated for arty support, around him. Every operative was trained to be paranoid, even to excessive amounts, Kenneth Chinran was a man who remembered his training well.

The small geiger counter on his wrist sent out a warning signal to his helmet display. The radiation levels were rising and he wasnt wearing his regular combat suit. The dosage was not yet high enough to be truly dangerous, nothing atleast that regen and nanos couldnt fix. Ofcourse, radiation poisoning wasnt an exactly pleasant way to get sick-leave.

He searched for the building where the mysterious orders had told him to go. Most of the buildings in the compound were riddled by holes, explosions and gunfire having torn many of them beyond any hope of repair. Ten minutes of prodding through the abandoned base however was enough for finding the access to the underground bunker.


"How nice of Lieutenant Chinran to join us as well." Captain Vincent Naumann exclaimed, his tone humorous but at the same time scolding someone who dared to be late from one of his briefings.

"Great, one more grunt to the team. Im sure we will have a great time when we need to start breaking things." Dr. Catherine Montaigne said frostily. She did not like the military much. Not as if she did not recognize the worth of their achievements, but the Liberalist in her simply rebelled against them whenever the chance arose.

"Oh come on Cathy, you wouldnt want your sweet posterior get blown out from under you when you're busy concentrating on some fascinating piece of rubble?" Doctor Paul Walker chuckled and Montaigne shot him a frosty stare, which only made the other doctor look more amused.

"If you're finished trying to get laid Paul, and if Cathy is finished trying to look angered by his attempt, lets get this shit brick rolling." Naumann said, his voice laced with the command authority he had used twenty years. Silence engulfed the room as Naumann began his briefing, issuing folders for all of the team members.



Chinran wasnt sure yet that this wasnt some kind of stupid joke. He doubted it, if Naumann was the OPCOM and the briefing had seemed genuine, then he couldnt see for the life of him why anyone would dare nor bother with such a joke at a time like this.

"Im not sure if I read that paper right, Zombies? Super-viruses?" Lieutenant Deni Anderson said, his tone full of disbelief behind him.

"Yeah, dont ask Deni. Shit, Im not sure I believe yet myself that the foreign ministry considered this a good idea." Chinran answered her.

"Somehow I have the feeling that this will be a total rat-fuck." She exclaimed, frustration evident from her words.

"'Will be'? This already is a total rat-fuck. They are buttfucking us so they can improve the relations to the Empire. But thats nothing new, Governments do that." He said while putting on the lower body section of his body armor.

She clearly wasnt too happy with the answer.
"Shit Ken, I already hoped that those assholes at High Command would've stopped buttfucking us after Birhat!" She said, her tone bitter. But before Chinran could answer her, a dark and deep voice did the job for him.

"You're nothing more than an asset to them, a means to an end. They can dispose of you at any time and they will if the job asks for it. Accept that, and you'll be fine. It has worked for me for the last five decades." Sergeant Major Black said.

The two Operatives turned to face the man, ready to slap him down for interrupting them but stopping instantly as they saw the golden eagle pinned to the battle silks of the old soldier. Black did not wait for their reply, trotting away to grab his own gear from the armory, leaving the two to gaze at his departing back in silence. Neither said another word as they finished slipping to their body armor.


The high-pitched whine of turbines penetrated the darkness of the night as the team jogged towards the assault shuttle cresting in the landing pad just in the center of the compound. The high-velocity streams of air from the idling turbines lifted up puffs of dust and small particles as the team stowed their gear to the cargo compartment of their transport.

The weapons, thousands of rounds of munitions, rations, communications gear, field research gear and other essentials of the Operation disappeared to the cavernous cargo hold of the assault shuttle like a droplet of water to a bucket. The passenger compartment felt empty as the six team members sat down where-ever they chose. The Iscander type assault shuttles were equipped to transport a full company to battle, for only six people, the flight would be serene indeed.

As the load master of the craft secured the hatches, the intensity of the high-pitched turbine whine increased and the craft rose levelly up to the night skies and left the airspace of Clairmont Island in less than an hour.



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Captain Vincent Naumann

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Doctor Catherine Montaigne

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Doctor Paul Walker

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Lieutenant Kennet Chinran

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Lieutenant Deni Anderson

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Sergeant Major Jonathan Black

Silence filled the cabin of the drop ship; most of the team had used this as an opportunity to get some last minute rest before the mission. This particular class of drop ship had been specially designed for the spec ops, as such, it was almost perfectly quiet, those who were awake were had only their thoughts to keep them company.

Lost in thought Jeffery rubbed the bridge of his nose as he glanced out the window. Through the window he saw it, it cut through the darkness as it served as a silent reminder of what they possibly face. On the ground he could see a half circle of lights, focused on a central focus point of pure darkness. Jeffery knew all to well what he was seeing he uttered a single word “Tatania.” They were passing over the Tatania Quarantine zone. It had been years since the city had fallen into the earth, but the government slacked in vigil if defending the line, from the nightmare ‘scenario’.

Nightmare scenario, his thoughts drifted back to his own personal nightmare scenario. Suddenly he mind was filled of memories of long, visions of death and suffering flashed through his mind. He struggled to put this pain out his mind. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he jumped. Looking up he saw Richard sit down beside him.

“What are they like?” whispered Richard as not to wake the others

“Whom” However, from the look Richards face Jeffery knew the answer to his own question. “ummm” he stuttered as he tried to both recover, and find the right words “You have to stop looking at them as human, it doesn’t matter who that person may have, or how close you may have been to them, they are not human. There is only one thing that drives them. If we have the misfortune of encountering them, then you do one thing, aim for the head a squeeze the trigger, and it doesn’t matter if is any one of us, you aim to kill is that understood.”

Richard nodded as he tried to fathom everything that he had been told. Jeffery knew that he didn’t fully understand, no one could understand, not until they stared it directly in the face.

Glancing out the window Jeffery noticed that the semi circle had inverted, they were crossing out of quarantine zone.

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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

The dropship silently swept through the clouds en route to the destination desired. A cold, white mist descended over the viewscreen, and without hesitation the pilot switched on the scanners. The windshield instantly became a viewscreen, projecting the image that would have been seen if it wasn’t for the snowstorm.

“There is a heavy visual impairment,” the pilot’s voice announced over the comm system. “I’m switching to scanners.” The soldiers, in all honesty, could have cared less.

In the back of the dropship, or the trunk as it was nicknamed, the soldiers were immune to the cold. Their ODIN Armor regulated their body temperature, among other things. It gave the soldiers a sort of unnatural calm that none were grateful for. Men whose job was to be alert did not like their sense dulled.

The ship soared towards the Earth as a hawk circles its prey, unable to imagine the amount of terror the prey would inflict on its pursuer. As it was, fear was far from the minds of even the statistician, Felicity, who was far too concerned with the dropping temperature to allow her mind to ponder the unknown. Adina smiled at her fellow civilian passenger, catching Felicity’s gaze. Felicity acknowledged the woman seated to her right but stopped short of anything friendly.

The dropship stopped short of landing as well, hovering a few feet above the snow-covered ground. The wall separating the cabin from the trunk separated and the pilot turned around to face his cargo.

“I take it we have to jump…” Xase scowled, shaking his head.

“Aye,” the pilot replied, pointing ahead towards the dropship of another team that had apparently gotten itself stuck in a snowdrift. “I could land her…but if we get stuck you’re getting out to push.”

“We’ll jump,” Captain Braddock replied conclusively.

“W-what?” Adina asked.

“It’s a whole ten feet down into soft snow,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes. “This is no place to worry about your nails getting dirty. I’m sure –“ Adrian grabbed him and pushed him up against a wall, his eyes glaring deep into Lt. Kuhari’s.

“We will assist you two,” Adrian said, motioning towards the two civilians. “We will also be a little more civil,” he continued, his glare remaining on Kyle.

“Fucking prick,” Kyle muttered under his breath, a statement that earned him a harder shove against the wall before Adrian let go and opened the hatch.

Sergeant Xase Indra leapt out of the dropship on command and landed on the ground, his boots sinking into the snow almost up to his knees.

“This powder’s fresh, Sir” he reported over the comm. “It’ll be hard to walk in…probably should leave the Predator with us.”

“We hear you Sergeant,” Captain Braddock replied. “Adrian will drive; Xase, you man the guns.”

“Damnit, Captain, what do I get to do?” Lt. Kuhari whined. Braddock smiled and switched his comm to a military-only channel.

“Baby-sit,” he said with a laugh. The pilot chuckled and flipped a switch, opening the hatch below the dropship and releasing the Predator.

The Predator was a harsh terrain transport vehicle or a HTTV that could travel difficult landscapes, such as snow, with relative ease. It was enabled with moderate speed but high armor, and was equipped with weapons and the ability to levitate for a limited amount of time in the event that a canyon or gorge came between the soldiers and their objective. It was also equipped to sustain life for two months in the event that it was stranded and had full interspace comm ability to. Conveniently, it sat six.

Lieutenants Adrian Winters and Kyle Kuhari both jumped out of the hovering dropship as Xase scrambled through the snow towards the Predator. In the ship above, Captain Braddock addressed the two women.

“You’re going to have to jump into the arms of these men,” Braddock said with a smirk. “Dream come true I’m sure.” Adina laughed nervously but Felicity pushed her way forward, leaping out of the dropship and landing in the snow on both feet, knocking down Kyle who was supposed to catch her. “Your turn, Doctor,” Braddock said, motioning Adina towards the opening.

“And who’s going to catch me,” Adina asked nervously. Braddock pointed to Adrian. Adina stumbled clumsily in the ODIN Armor she was wearing towards the hatch, closed her eyes, and leapt.

Adrian caught her just as he planned, but what he didn’t plan on was the weight of the armor instead of simply the weight of a woman. She knocked him over into the snow and landed on top with her arms still around her. Adrian could hear her giggling over the comm as well as the brief laughter of the others before they could switch off their comm.

“No one left to catch me?” Braddock asked but the people were too busy laughing at Adrian and Kyle, for different reasons of course, to pay attention. The Captain exchanged salutes with the pilot and then jumped before the dropship took off towards the skies.

Adrian helped Adina climb into the Predator, and jumped into the pilot’s seat beside Xase. The two exchanged emotionless glances and then both checked to see if everyone was behind them. The Captain was still outside.

“Time to roll, Sir,” Xase said over the comm but Captain Braddock shook his head.

“I’m going to go confer with the stuck dropship,” Braddock said, motioning through the snowstorm.

“We can take you,” Adrian said, giving the Captain a strange look. What was Braddock trying to do?

“I need the exercise,” Captain Braddock, who was in perfect physical form for a man of his age, replied sheepishly. “Lt. Winters, you can assume control. I’ll meet up with you all at the checkpoint.”

“…yes, sir,” Adrian replied hesitantly, the others following shortly behind. Gripping the controls, he started and then piloted the Predator through the snow towards the location where all the teams would meet. Gazing back, Adrian could barely see the Captain through the storm, but he was sure of one thing…

…the Captain had taken his gloves off. With the temperature as low as it was, and the ODIN Armor only effective if everything was sealed, what reason did the Captain have for removing it?

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis - Felicity Shakra

The flight to the target area had been mostly uneventful and boring. The team had spend the little time they had aboard the assault shuttle by checking their equipment and reviewing the intel they so far had, which wasn't much. The assault shuttle had shot thru the skies towards their destination at over five times the speed of sound, leaving little time for anything.

Chinran leaned over Deni's lap to gaze out from one of the viewports in the passenger cabin. A full blown blizzard was venting its rage outside, and yet inside the shuttle they felt none of it. It would take more than a blizzard to severely affect the stability of the six-hundred and fifty ton assault shuttle.

"Hundred klicks to target." Came the emotionless announcement of the pilot from the intercom and the team rose from their seats and went down to the main cargo hold and climbed aboard the M-120 Raider Armored Personnel Carrier attached to the floor of the cargo bay.

The Raider had been viewed as the only good choice of vechile for the team and Chinran agreed. He had used them a multitude of times during the war and liked the good mix of mobility, firepower and protection they offered. Fast enough to outrun anything it couldnt fight (excluding aircraft) and well armed and armoured enough to smash anything up and slightly above its size-class, it was an excellent vehicle.

He cut off the mental review of the vehicle's capabilities, he knew them well enough himself already and settled down on the driver's station. Clicking a few switches brought the vechile awake from standby mode, its electrical engine beginning to purr, sensor systems and weapons powering up to standby mode.

"At drop zone, staying level at fifteen feet." The pilot announced.

"Isnt he going to land?" Doctor Montaigne queried through the intercom, the puzzlement evident in her voice.

"Nope." Deni replied cheerfully.

"Umm... how are we going to get down there in that case?" The Doctor asked. She really didnt want to hear the answer.

"For a friggin Doctor graduate from Irmansul Uni you are supprisingly slow in figuring that out". Captain Naumann said a bit frostily as Chinran floored the gas pedal and the eighteen-ton vechile shot out of the open cargo hold.

The six-wheeler hit the ground in an anticlimatic puff of snow. Both the excellent shock-absorbing system of the Raider and the snow made the fall feel like a slight bumb in the road. As it hit the ground, the APC began plowing its course through the knee high mounds of snow and towards the rendezvous point with the other two teams. The assault shuttle began its ascent to the skies and away from the drop zone.

"Sergeant-Major, take the turret. Deni, the sensors." Naumann ordered casually.

Black climbed to the turret station of the APC, checking the weapons methodically and carefully. As everything checked out, he began panning the surroundings of the Raider with the guns, ready to shoot first and ask questions later in the case of someone attempting a surprise attack. Despite the fact that it was highly unlikely that anyone could jump the Raider without the sensors seeing them first, Sergeant-Major black maintained a healthy sense of paranoia.

Deni adjusted the sensors dutifully, switching them to passive mode. The wide range of detection systems would provide them with an early warning of anything unexpected coming their way. She checked the satellite feeds and drone surveillance data, adjusting them to feed data directly to her screens. Thus far the detection screens were showing nothing more than the departing assault shuttle.

Pleased that the insertion and initiation of the mission had gone without any problems, Naumann settled to the commander's station of the vehicle and checked the map for a confirmation of their position. A quick glance told him that they were a hundred miles or so from the rendezvous point, an hour and a half drive if they could maintain decent speed.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into." Montaigne murmured silently in the passenger cabin. As Walker heard her words, he allowed himself a slight chuckle before replying.

"A journey full of fun and adventure ofcourse Cathy. I'll be more than obliging to provide the fun while our Fearless Quartet will be providing the adventure." He said, the grin on his face telling Montaigne immidiately what Walker had in mind.

"Screw you Paul." She said angrily, which only served to increase Walker's amusement.

"With you onboard, hopefully I wont have to." He threw back, bursting into laughter as he did so.

Before Montaigne could reply, the sharp command voice of Naumann cut over through the Intercom.

"Shut the fuck up, both of you."

The two civilians clamped their mouths shut, leaving the interior of the APC silent as it drove through the snowy wasteland towards the rendezvous.



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Captain Vincent Naumann

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Doctor Catherine Montaigne

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Doctor Paul Walker

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Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran

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Lieutenant Deni Anderson

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Sergeant Major Jonathan Black

The Predator raced over the snow covered hills towards the checkpoint. With the target location in the computer, Adrian put the Predator on auto-pilot. The storm had grown worse and vehicle’s lights were barely cutting through the thick white haze. It was apparently late afternoon on Earth, and Adrian turned to his right to try and see the sun slowly descending over the horizon. He couldn’t, of course, but it was growing darker outside regardless, and according to the Predator’s computer, colder as well. Behind his helmet, Adrian closed his eyes.

”Papa?” the boy asked aloud, quickly sitting up in bed. The room was cold; the energy bill hadn’t been paid in months. Reality set in, as it always did, and the boy laid back down, pulling the covers over his head. He hadn’t eaten in days, and he cried, hungry and alone.

“Winters…”

“Winters!” Xase Indra shouted, giving his superior officer a not-so-friendly punch in the shoulder. Adrian jolted awake. “You should probably stay awake while you’re driving.”

“Wha…” Adrian muttered, looking around the cabin. As he had feared, everyone was looking at him. “The computer can drive…”

“I don’t trust it,” Xase scowled. “Do you?” Adrian pressed his eyelids together tightly and paused before taking off his helmet.

“It’s not exactly new or untested technology,” Adrian replied bitterly. He knew exactly why Xase had woken him up, and while he shouldn’t be falling asleep, Xase didn’t have to be a dick about it.

“Long night, eh?” Kyle Kuhari asked. Adrian just stared at him.

“I don’t sleep well,” he replied, feeling instantly stupid for opening up just a little bit. He turned, pushed his hair out of his eyes, and resumed looking straight ahead.

“So what do you expect to find out here, Doctor?” Kyle, feeling restless, asked Adina. “The abominable snowman?” Felicity rolled her eyes.

“Grow up,” she muttered before Adina could reply.

“Well aren’t we feeling – ” Kyle began, but was cut off.

“Kyle…shut the fuck up,” Xase interrupted, surprisingly calm.

“Doctor?” Kyle continued, ignoring the two.

“I expect to find the Q-virus,” Adina said. “Hence these clumsy suits.”

“They weren’t designed for civilians,” Xase said. “Suits can’t be clumsy…people are.”

“They weren’t designed for women,” Felicity scowled, and she was right. There were no women in the Imperial Military’s active duty, nor were there any female field operatives in the Intelligence Bureau.

“So what do you plan to do with this virus?” Kyle asked.

“Weren’t you guys briefed?” Adina asked, looking at Kyle with a confused expression on her face. These men had to know who she was and why she was here.

“I’m just trying to figure out why exactly we have to be here,” Kyle replied, obviously referring to the military presence. “Seems to me that the two of you could help cure a virus without an escort…much less an interplanetary taskforce. I sure as hell know nothing about diseases…other than the fact that they make you sick…”

“The Q-virus does a little more than make you sick,” Adina said, not backing down from his approach. “In its original form, which we will be encountering in one way or another, it is quite similar to the Ebola virus. When you catch it, you start bleeding from your organs. How fast you die depends on what organs it hits, but if it doesn’t get to your heart, your lungs, or your brain fast, you’re in for a world of pain.”

“So you could like…bleed from your eyeballs?” Kyle asked.

“Or your skin,” Adina replied, shivering as if the idea of it make her queasy. Kyle frowned.

“So why hasn’t anyone found a cure yet?” Kyle continued. “This whole thing happened half a century ago.”

“The virus is highly unstable,” Adina explained. “It shifts transfer methods, mutates forms, and is nearly impossible to track.”

“And you hope to?”

“The nuclear fallout from the terrorist attacks has caused this winter that we’re in right now,” Adina continued. “The extremely low temperatures the constant winter produces slow the virus’s mutations. Together, Ms. Shakra here and I hope to record and analyze the virus’s mutations in order to create an antidote that mutates at the same rate and frequency.”

“You still didn’t answer,” Adrian said, turning around to face them. Adina looked at him in surprise. “Why do you need an escort? Dr. Rane said that it was to protect you from something happening like when you were taken hostage…but there’s no one here to capture you.”

“I…” Adina began, staring at Adrian as if she were begging him to change the subject. Why did he ask that? “There was one strand of the Q-virus that managed to stabilize itself, and therefore we were able to find a cure for it.”

“No offence, Doc,” Kyle said. “But why the hell aren’t they out here?”

“Because…” Adina said. “Because NiMBUS was who found a cure…of course…they did much more than that. The Q-virus…had a nasty habit of keeping those it killed still animated.”

“Animated?” Kyle asked, looking around. Adrian got it instantly.

“Tell me we’re not here to…” Adrian began to ask.

“No!” Adina replied quickly. “That strand…isn’t here.”

“So why are we?” Adrian continued.

“I don’t know, ok?” Adina said, her voice tone raising in desperation. She wanted the questioning to stop. “Maybe as a precaution against one of the other nations stealing my discovery and holding it ransom or something.”

“The bigger question is ‘Who gives a shit?’” Xase said, shaking his head. “NiMBUS is gone, Dr. Ackerman is dead, and this Q-virus isn’t threatening the Empire whatsoever. Hell, Steel Moon is still all infected from the Civil War…why are we here? We left Earth, remember? We said the hell with it! What does it matter if the original virus is cured or not? It’s not effecting us!”

“What?” Adina asked, obviously hurt by the question. “We have allies on Earth! Who knows how long this nuclear winter will last? If this region…Western Russia…heats up in the future, the virus will once again become active and start spreading again! A cure has to be found! If you didn’t want a part of this…why didn’t you say something before we left?”

“It doesn’t work that way in the military, sweetheart,” Xase spat. “We didn’t have a choice.”

“But…”

“No ‘but’s’ Doctor,” Xase continued. “We didn’t want to come here. I want that to be perfectly clear. We don’t give a shit about this virus or whatever reason you have for running around the universe trying to find a cure. We were given a job…nothing more.”

“Xase,” Adrian said softly.

“Not now, Adrian,” Xase said, brushing him off to continue his rant.

“XASE!” Adrian shouted, slamming on the break. The Predator lurched forward before coming to an abrupt stop. “For the last fucking time I am your superior officer. You don’t call me out around other people, you don’t talk back to me, and you don’t fucking tell me ‘not now’ as if what you’re saying is somehow more important. Goddamnit, Sergeant!”

Xase slowly shifted his death glare from Adrian, to Adina, and back to Adrian once more. His fists were shaking in rage, and his face was quickly getting red, but out of nowhere he began to laugh. “This is great,” Xase said, tearing up from laughter. His body began to relax. “This is fucking great. The Captain gives you command for a fucking half hour and what do you do with it? You use it to stop the big bad soldier from picking on your little girlfriend. Lieutenant? Pff…you don’t fucking deserve to wear a uniform, much less have a cute little title before your name. I was out killing all sorts of motherfuckers in the field while you were studying in your cozy-ass dorm room, more worried about what kind of pussy you were going to get next as opposed to if you were going to live through the night or not. I earned my fucking rank in battle…I didn’t pass tests for it in a goddamn classroom…but for some fucking reason you think you have the right to tell me to shut up.”

“I OUTRANK YOU, SERGEANT!” Adrian screamed. “THAT’S ALL THE FUCKING REASON I NEED! You are dead last on the chain of command here, you son of a bitch.”

“You watch your mouth you little…”

“No, damnit!” Adrian continued. “If I hear one more goddamn word out of your mouth I’m going to have you arrested and then court-marshal your ass as soon as we get back! Look at all the witnesses I have, you dumbass! Shut the fuck up!”

Enraged, Adrian engaged the engines and sped towards the checkpoint full throttle. The Captain would hear of this disgrace, and so would command the instant he had a chance to write it all down in his log. Adina sat back in her seat, scared to death of the tempers of these men, while Felicity was simply annoyed. To her, it was just more testosterone-driven chest pounding.

The storm had slowly began to reside, the temperature dropping too low for it to accumulate in the clouds, and Adrian noticed that as the snow on the ground became more easily packed, the speed of the Predator slowly began to pick up. Closing his eyes again in spite, he found himself unable to fall asleep. He was definitely hungry, and even in a vehicle with four other people, he couldn’t help feeling alone.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis - Felicity Shakra

The navigational computer of the Raider indicated their arrival to the rendezvous point with little fanfare. The rest of the instrument's in Deni's panel remained silent. No hostile detections, altough the two aerial surveillance drones had located the Steel Butterfly vehicle approaching the rendezvous point some half an hour ago already. The blizzard limited their range and maneuverability, but they could still do their job adequately.

The armored turret swiveled from side to side, sweeping the flanks of the Raider for any potential threats. Altough told that there were no hostile detections, Sergeant Major Black did not intend to take any chances. He had experienced ambushes in similar situations before, Imperial Marines in stealthed Combat Armour suddenly attacking a Landing Zone from all sides even though the area should have been clear.

Colonel Naumann was carved from the same kind of tree. He grabbed his rifle from the compartment dedicated for the small-arms of an infantry squad riding in the vechile and opened the rear door. The freezing wind hammered at his face, he felt none of it through his helmet however and the autoregulating environmental systems of his combat suit kept the temperature comfortable even in a blizzard such as this one.

He and Chinran stepped outside, scanning their surroundings for anything remotely resembling a threat, rifles raised to their shoulders and ready to fire. Their visors were configured for thermal-viewing, while their suit computers and sensors were filling the HUD's in their helmets with the kind of data their users had modified them to show.

They sweeped the surroundings of the vehicle, constantly maintaining their alertness and speaking very little. No point in using communications gear when there could be a potential hostile nearby, detecting any transmissions they sent. Neither was there any need to communicate verbally during the maneuver. Both Naumann and Chinran were long time veterans, they knew exactly what to do and when, what the other would do at any given time.
After sixty seconds, they had secured the area and relaxed their postures a bit.

"ETA for the Steel Butterfly team Deni?" Chinran asked. They werent particularily in a hurry, but for the sake of Operational Security, he didnt want to stay at the rendezvous point for too long, his paranoia made him dislike any location for a meeting that wasnt chosen by him.

"Hard to say, this weather isnt making it easy to determine. Shouldnt be long though." She replied.

"They better haul ass over here and fast. This place is giving me the creeps."
Walker said as he came out of the Raider into the freezing air outside. Altough the two Doctors hadnt received the MilSpec standard issue Combat Suit, they were wearing civilian issue environmental suits that while lacking the combat data systems and protection of Combat Suits, had excellent environmental systems and the danger of freezing to death became non-existant.

"Dont ya worry Doc, if any zombies show up Im sure they wont bother to eat your pansy ass." Naumann chuckled.

"Well, if they happen to like brains they sure as hell wont be eating you two since you stupid fucking bushwackers really dont have an overabundance of those available." Walker retorted a bit frostily.

"Yeah, fuck me for being so stupid as to forget the meaning of friendly fire." Chinran said back lightly, while checking his rifle.

Walker bit back his reply and stepped back to the passenger compartment of the Raider, leaving the two Special Warfare Operatives alone. Naumann and Chinran allowed themselves a light laugh, seeing the self-important prick getting back into his hole.

They settled in, waiting for the others to arrive.


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Captain Vincent Naumann

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Doctor Catherine Montaigne

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Doctor Paul Walker

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Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran

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Lieutenant Deni Anderson

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Sergeant Major Jonathan Black

“Where is everyone?” Second Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari asked, leaning up between the front two seats and looking at the scanners. Only one ship appeared.

“More importantly,” Sergeant Xase Indra continued. “Where is the Captain?”

“If he’s helping those people in the downed ship, I would assume that he will be late,” First Lieutenant Adrian Winters replied.

“If?” Xase asked. Adrian grimaced…not this again.

“If,” He replied. Xase knew better than to ask for an explanation. Running his fingers back through his hair to get it out of his face, Adrian looked out the window. All he saw was white. “I would like to contact the Sentinel agents though, if just to confer. Supposedly they’re experts on this sort of thing. Don’t see anyone from Tappee out here though.”

“Then who’s that?” Kyle asked, touching the viewscreen with his finger.

“Clairmont,” Adrian said, recognizing the outline of the ship on the sensors.

“I’ve never talked to anyone from there,” Kyle said. “Don’t know if I’ve ever even seen them…”

“They look the same, dumbass,” Xase spat, shaking his head.

“The Captain’s talked to their people before,” Adrian replied, although for some reason it did little to console his uncertainty. “In the meantime, I suggest we wait…”

“I don’t see what makes these ‘Sentinels’ any better at shooting things than we are,” Xase muttered. “From what I’ve heard…they’re just overblow and overfunded ghostbusters. Ultimately pointless.”

“Tappee’s had two outbreaks on their soil,” Adina said from the back seat. “They also fought them during the Civil War on Steel Moon.”

“Zombies, eh?” Kyle asked. Xase grunted in disbelief.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple anymore with all the mutations and experiments,” Adina continued. “There are people out there designed to be weapons…others are simply failed experiments…with unforeseen consequences. Monsters I guess…horrible creatures…”

“Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me,” Xase replied. “Sounds like you’ve been reading too many comics or watching too many movies.”

“You were a Marine, right?” Adina asked. Xase didn’t know how she knew that but he nodded yes. “From what you’re saying I can assume that you didn’t fight on Steel Moon during the Civil War…but surely you heard the stories?”

“So what you’re saying is we have monsters running through the streets of the Empire,” Xase asked, smirking.

“Not monsters, Sergeant,” Adina said. “More like mutants…bioweapons…although we think that even that number is very low. Nevertheless, we aren’t in the streets of the Empire right now…we’re in a known contaminated zone.”

“Well whatever’s out here,” Xase said. “As long as it can be killed…you’ll be safe with us. We’re the best.”

“But if they’re already dead,” Kyle began. “How could they be…?”

“Shut up, Kuhari,” Xase snapped. “You know what the fuck I mean.”

Adrian was slowly taking it all in. It had become obvious to him that Adina was far more than simply a biologist specializing in viruses, however he felt little need to call her on it at the time being. She said ‘we’ as if she were some sort of authority on the subject, and new far more about NiMBUS and the war than anyone at her level normally would. In addition, she had seemingly abandoned her ‘I don’t know what you’re here for either’ position of a half hour ago in exchange for something a little more frightening. It had occurred to Adrian that she knew very well something would be down here worth shooting, and for obvious reasons, that information did not sit well with him.

“So what do you have to think about all of this?” Kyle asked Felicity, who was sitting to his right.

“Excuse me?” She asked indignantly, although merely getting a response was all the fuel Kyle needed.

“You haven’t said more than five words this whole time,” he continued. She rolled her eyes. “Well?”

“Unlike some, I chose not to speak unless I have something to add to the conversation,” Felicity muttered. “All this childish bickering and pointless speculation leaves little room for intelligent discussion…”

“Maybe it’s better if she doesn’t talk,” Xase grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. It was unclear whether he meant it to be that loud or if it just came out that way.

“I’m here to do my job…” Felicity continued. “I record her findings,” She said, pointing to Dr. Clovis. “This isn’t some vacation…I’m not really in the mood to be chipper…”

“Speaking of vacations, Doctor,” Kyle said. “How long is this whole deal going to take?”

“No more than a few days,” Adina replied with a smile. “We don’t need to be here to discover the cure…we just need to collect the samples.”

“A few days for samples?” Kyle asked.

“I need a lot of samples,” Adina responded.

The sun had set over the horizon by now and the sky had grown dark. The storm had stopped, but the blistering wind still swept up snow from the ground and swirled it across the landscape. In addition, the temperature was already far below zero. Adrian rubbed the stubble on his face, took off his glove, and then touched the window of the Predator. The glass was thick, and yet it was still cold to the touch. He couldn’t imagine the Captain taking his gloves off in the middle of the storm. What reason would he have for doing that?

The Predator parked beside the Clairmont vehicles, and Adrian flashed the lights to signal their presence before turning them off for good. The back hatch of the Clairmont vehicle appeared to be open, yet Adrian could not be sure, and didn’t feel the need to turn the lights back on just to clarify something that really didn’t matter. If they want to let that cold air in that’s their problem he thought to himself before realizing that like him, they probably had environmental stabilizers in their suits as well.

“What did you do in the war?” Kyle asked Xase, breaking the silence yet again. He had known and worked with Sergeant Indra for a few years now, but he hadn’t even known that Xase had been a Marine, much less a Civil War veteran.

“I helped defend Steel Butterfly,” Xase said, being purposely vague.

“So you were part of the invasion?” Kyle continued.

“You could say that…” Xase muttered. Kyle’s eyes grew wide.

“Holy shit, man!” He exclaimed, a smile quickly spreading across his face. “You were a goddamn Imperial weren’t you! Holy shit, Lieutenant,” Kyle said to Adrian. “We’ve been fighting with a fucking Imp for how many years now?”

“I’m a patriot, Kuhari,” Xase explained, growing more and more defensive as he talked. “I love my country. I fight for my Emperor, whomever that man may be. At that time it was Nemerov. Now it is Bivens. Nothing’s changed. They’re all the same anyhow.”

“You’re a fucking Imp,” Kyle laughed, sitting back in his seat. Felicity gave him a hard elbow.

“He’s not the only one,” she commented, glaring at him. Instantly, Kyle sat up straight.

“You gotta be kidding me…” He said. She shook her head ‘no’. “Oh for god’s sake…” Kyle exclaimed, throwing his hands up above his head in dramatic fashion.

“What does it matter?” Adina asked.

“What do you mean ‘what does it matter?’” Kyle cried out.

“No she’s right,” Adrian said. “Very few of us actually chose a side…we just ended up on one.”

“Well I sure as hell chose not to be an Imperial!” Kyle said, shaking his head in disbelief. “No way in hell I was going to support that goddamn…”

“Right now we’re all Imperials,” Adrian interrupted. “We all work for the Empire…so just shut up about it, ok?”

“But…”

“Lieutenant Kuhari,” Adrian said, sterner this time. “Just shut up about it.”

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis - Felicity Shakra

[OOC: I know I hate putting OOC messages in RP's more than most people, as it kills the flow, but no one seems to be checking the Seraphim boards lately and this RP has no OOC thread so I'll do it this once. I just finished finalizing most of the story for this RP, and I have to tell you, that this one, in my opinion, will be so much more grand than the other two it's amazing. I have enough content for three or four RP's, but it's all gonna be in this one, and they fit together so well. That being said, it's going to be somewhat of a change for RotR, but the spirit's still there, and it won't be too drastic. In the end, I think it'll be amazing, and I hope you guys will agree.]

“We are approaching the target zone” said the pilot over the intercom. There was a slight sense of turbulence as the drop ship entered into the storm systems, the ship nav computers auto corrected for the disturbance.

“I believe that is our cue sir” said Marcus with a bit of a grin on his face as he glanced over at Jeffery for approval. Marcus was one of those men who felt more at home on the battlefield then any other place.

As Jeffery gave his nod of approval his team jumped into action. With calculated precision the team geared up, and moved towards the end of the cargo hold. One by one they slipped inside the Prometheus tank that was waiting silently for their arrival.

The Prometheus was not the most powerful tank in Tappee’s arsenal, but in this case it was the most ideal. Designed primary as mobile command centre, it communication equipment, observational equipment, but more importantly it had been retro fitted biological testing equipment. In terms of arms the Prometheus had been designed not to kill other tanks, it dual hurricane bolter and twin link assault cannons were perfect for suppressing large crowds.

This time the pilots voice came over the Prometheus intercom system. “Prepare for secondary deployment” No sooner had the pilot finished his statement, when the clamps that held the tank into place were released. Slowly the tank slid back into to separate section of the craft. Alarms begun to sound as doors started to close, and the team found themselves in a entirely separate section. Without warning the section broke way from the rest of the ship, beginning a rapid decent towards the surface. At a certain point in its parabolic fall thrusters slowed the sections fall. Someone at intel had not taken the snow into account, and the section landed hard in a snow bank, a cloud of snow was thrown into the air.

“Umm I believe we are stuck” commented Carmen when the door to the drop pod failed to open.

“Damn snow” swore Jeffery under his breath he tried to think of way to solve a problem. However, he didn’t have much time to think

“I’m reading a signal” barked Marcus

“Hostile” snapped Jeffery back

Marcus took a moment to analysis the signal “Negative, according it ODIN armour”

“A Steel Butterfly soldier” interrupted Emma

Jeffery could not help but sigh, this was not the way that he wanted to start this mission, and the last thing that he wanted was to need help even starting it. Reaching over he flipped a switch opening a channel to the Steel Butterfly soldier “Attention Steel Butterfly soldier this is Commander Jeffery Hobers, please identify yourself.”

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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

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Marcus

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Carmen Anfiego

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Emma Dalson

Chinran's keen eyes spotted the first signs of the approaching Steel Butterfly vehicle the second the scenery of the environment before him was changed by its arrival. He scanned the vechile instinctively, analyzing it as he laid his eyes upon it. He knew Naumann was doing the same, if he hadnt already done so.

"Hmmh, looks like pretty much their equivalent of the Raider" Naumann stated after a short moment, arriving to the same conclusion of his analysis as Chinran had.

"Yeah, will be interesting to see what kind of heat she's packin" He replied. One of his specializations ,he had acquired during the time he had spent in training to become a Special Warfare Operative, was ground troop weapons.

They held their ground stoically as they watched the Steel Butterfly vehicle approaching their positions. Altough to an outside watcher it might have appeared that they were relaxed, in reality they were on a hair-trigger, ready to react at any moment. It was the built-in paranoia of Special Warfare soldiers, altough in all reality the approaching vehicle represented no threat, all four soldiers of the team were ready to open fire if the need to do so became apparent. Only two weapons actively tracked the incoming vechile, the turret weapons on the Raider and Deni Anderson's 20mm Anti-Material rifle.

She held her position in the freezing cold snow, her camouflage and sensor disruption systems doing their best to hide her from any watching eyes, only the barrel of her rifle moved so very slowly from time to time, adjusting to maintain the Steel Butterfly vehicle in its line-of-sight. She doubted that it would do much good if it came to a fight, altough the rifle fired 20mm depleted uranium electrically fired caseless rounds at over twenty-one hundred meters per second, against modern armor it was a rather puny weapon.

But, it would place a very large hole into any enemy trooper.

As the vehicle came closer and closer, slowly the four soldiers of the team began slightly relaxing. As the Predator halted alongside the Raider, Naumann and Chinran approached it with confident as well as prepared steps. They stopped outside the vehicle, waiting for the Steel Butterfly team to come out. They wished to greet personally those who they would work with during the mission.


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Captain Vincent Naumann

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Doctor Catherine Montaigne

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Doctor Paul Walker

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Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran

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Lieutenant Deni Anderson

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Sergeant Major Jonathan Black

After the original identification and the following small-talk, Captain Andrew Braddock began to assist the Tappee team in their unfortunate situation. Shortly after, two other teams drove past.

“Need any help?” A foreign captain asked. Someone from Tappee rolled their eyes inside their helmet.

“What does it look like?” the person replied. Following a brief conversation, Captain Braddock joined another squad and began traveling to the checkpoint, while the second foreign team remained with Tappee for assistance.

Meanwhile, at the meeting location itself, Adrian put his helmet back on and reached for his rifle.

“What’s going on?” Kyle asked, seemingly speaking for the entire back seat. Without question, Xase did the same as Adrian. “No seriously guys,” Kyle said, looking around and sounding worried. “What’s up?”

“Stay here,” Adrian ordered. Kyle’s expression asked for an explanation. “We need you to protect the Predator,” Adrian lied, opening the hatch. Xase followed him out.

The thing was, regardless of his personal opinions about him, Adrian know that his mouthy and ignorant Sergeant was a damn good soldier. He respected him for this, and subsequently trusted him with his life. It was a shame that Xase didn’t share the same respect for Adrian’s leadership abilities.

“Captain Braddock?” someone asked from the Clairmont grouping. Adrian shook his head and opened his comm signal up to all known Clairmont frequencies.

“No,” he said over the link. “I’m Lieutenant Adrian Winters, XO of the Imperial Squad.” Pointing to Xase, he continued. “This is Sergeant Xase Indra. Our captain is assisting a Tappee dropship that got stuck in the snow. Hopefully he’ll be here shortly.”

During the conversation, various other teams arrived, none of them being Tappee’s. Nevertheless, Captain Braddock emerged from the shadows and approached a surprised Steel Butterfly team. Both Adrian and Xase stopped what they were doing and saluted, with their Captain returning the favor.

“This…” Adrian said over the comm, staring at Braddock’s hands. His gloves were now on. Perhaps he had gotten cold. “…is Captain Andrew Braddock.”

“Andy,” Braddock corrected, extending his hand to the Clairmont team. “What can I help you boys with?”

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra

With the final preparation finished commander Hobers moved to safe location. It had been a while since captain Braddock had left to join the rest of the team. Already they were running behind schedule, and it Jeffery’s fault. With all the help that he had received he had strategically placed a series of explosive charges in the snow.

“Fire in the hole!” barked Jeffery over Comm system. At the simple push of a button the charge detonated in a time sequence. Each explosion wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the armour plating of the drop pod, instead the destructive force bounced off breaking the dense snow easily apart. For a time it seemed as if was snowing once again.

On cue Carmen hit he Prometheus’s accelerator, forcing it through the opening. Clear of the Drop pod, the snow could do little to stop the tanks advance. Triumphant Carman slammed the break mere feet in front of Jeffery.

As he entered the tank there was a cold chilled that cut through the cabin, unlike Jeffery the rest of the team didn’t have their combat suits totally sealed, and were subject to the change in temperature. “Alright, I think that is time that we join this party” he took he seat “Marcus, man the top guns, Carman proceed to the rendezvous point double time.”

Naumann observed his counterpart in the Imperial team come forward and extend his hand. He measured the Steel Butterfly soldier carefully and with the aid of decades of military experience. The quick glance brought him to the conclusion that this man was as much of a professional soldier as he was, and he took the offered hand and clasped it.

"Captain Vincent Naumann. Just Vince." He said.

"Just wished to see what kind of people I have beside me on this particular shit-storm." He continued and grinned slightly.

Chinran also shook Braddock's hand.
"Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran." He murmured, and retracted the hand back to hold the rifle.

Montaigne and Walker had also by now walked to see their counterparts from the Imperium, and were in the process of shaking hands and exchanging greetings. It was obvious from how they went about it that both of them had attended far too many high-class dinner parties.

With the pleasantries having been dispensed with, Naumann shot straight to the business. He did not particularily like having to go on to a mission of which he recieved as little preliminary intel as he had from this one. The higher-ups had been very quiet about specific details, mainly speaking vaguely and offering very little of the precise data Naumann would have wanted such as primary target areas and so fort.

"For starters Captain Braddock, you could indulge us with some intel. What is our current primary target area? Dispositioning of our force? And thus forth, or do we need to think all of that through as we go?" Naumann queried. The truth was, altough he had no problems to operate with an autonomous command structure where no-one above him would be interfering, he preferred to be clear as to how this Op was to be conducted.


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Captain Vincent Naumann

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Doctor Catherine Montaigne

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Doctor Paul Walker

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Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran

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Lieutenant Deni Anderson

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Sergeant Major Jonathan Black

Via the view screen, Carmen could see an icon slowly blinking, and she was doing all in her power to get them there. With each passing moment the distance between them and the icon grew smaller.

“Anything out there” asked Jeffery

“You kidding!” quickly answered Marcus, “With temperatures this cold, and the history of this place, I very much would doubt that there would be anyone out there alive.” Noticing that he was now getting a sharp look from Jeffery had changed his tone. “umm No sir, the sensors aren’t picking up anything.”

“300 meters to the rendezvous point” interrupted Carmen.

About a minute or two later the tank came to a sudden stop. Finally at their destination, Jeffery step out to meet the other mission commanders.

“Our primary target area, Captain Naumann,” Captain Andy Braddock replied to the Clairmont officer. “Is, as of now, unknown. The primary target, and actually the only target, itself is a usable sample of the Q virus that has had its mutation process slowed down because of the somewhat obvious nuclear winter.”

Soon, the soldiers from Tappee had arrived, and Captain Braddock decided to summarize the rest of their mission, not knowing what all these foreigners knew beforehand.

“We are to escort Dr. Adina Clovis and her cohorts from each of your nations, protecting them as they carry out their search for samples and defending them from foreign capture,” Braddock explained. “Dr. Clovis’s work has sparked the interest of a number of foreign nations and terrorist organizations. Her safe return is of the utmost importance,” Braddock smiled impishly. “I’m sure each of you feel the same about your own doctors as well.”

“Dr. Clovis herself thinks the threats may already be here,” Lt. Adrian Winters said, surprising even himself. Captain Braddock was not impressed. “She believes the Q-virus contamination could have led to mutations or reanimation among local inhabitants or former inhabitants.” Braddock had not heard this from Adina herself, but the rumors had been there since this mission started, and the Captain intended to keep them as such.

“Merely legends,” the Captain explained, silently warning Adrian, and Xase quickly agreed. Nevertheless, Adrian could sense the building mistrust already among the different teams, and the Tappee team, in specific, seemed hurt from the Captain’s remarks. “Even scientists have trouble letting go of ‘scary stories’ some times.”

Back in the Predator, Kyle Kuhari was growing more and more tense. Adina and Felicity, however, were surprisingly calm.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Adina asked, counting the number of men in ODIN armor with her finger. Captain Braddock had returned.

“Probably going over mission details and stuff,” Kyle said, gripping his rifle tightly.

“Wouldn’t they have done that before they left?” Felicity asked. Kyle shrugged.

“International forces are always slightly less organized,” Kyle explained. “It’s not our fault…the bastard politicians are always trying to hide things from one another.”

“Seems unprofessional,” Felicity muttered arrogantly. Kyle stared out the window at the meeting. Why did Xase get to go out but he had to stay here?

“Yeah…I guess,” Kyle replied as the outdoor assembly broke and the teams headed back to their respective vehicles.

The side hatch of the Predator opened wide and the three soldiers quickly hurried back into the warmth of the vehicle. As the doors shut, they took their helmets off, and now aware that the situation was stable, so did the others.

“Good to see you, Cap’n,” Kyle said, moving away from the door. With Braddock back in the front, Xase sat down beside him.

“Good to see you all made it safe and sound,” Braddock replied, then turned to Adina. “Everything alright?”

“Yes, Captain Braddock,” she said, looking at Adrian, who seemed visually upset, and perhaps more withdrawn than usual. Adina couldn’t help but worry about him.

“Well we agreed to begin in the morning,” Braddock announced, standing and making his way to the back of the vessel.

The Predator carried enough beds for each of its passengers in a room between the cockpit and the storage hold. Still, designed for soldiers and soldiers alone, there was only one room for six bunks, stacked two by two with two sets parallel to each other and one set perpendicular to the others, and only one bathroom adjacent to the storage hold. Quickly, Adina and Felicity both stood and raced towards the bunks and claimed the ones separate from the others.

“This is bullshit,” Felicity complained, throwing her helmet onto the top bunk as Adina sat down on the bottom one. “Fucking chauvinist society.”

“You can always sleep in the cargo hold,” Xase snapped. The cargo hold was of course unheated.

“Fuck you,” Felicity snapped back. Xase smiled.

“Not with all these people around, baby,” he said in reply. Felicity glared at him and headed for the bathroom. Both Xase and Kyle claimed top bunks, with Braddock sleeping below Kyle and Adrian sleeping below Xase.

It was then that the ground seemed to shake, as the Predator shifted from left to right and back again. What could only be described as a roar erupted from the outside, and everyone inside instantly froze. Quickly snapping back into reality, Braddock and Adrian, now armorless as they prepared for bed, grabbed their sidearms and rushed to the front of the cockpit.

“Sensors?” Braddock asked. Adrian rushed around the controls.

“Nothing,” Lt. Winters replied. “No change.”

“Damnit,” Braddock said, pounding the armrest of his chair with his fist. “What the fuck was that?”

“Most likely whatever’s under this snow shifted,” Adina said, emerging from the quarters. “Try to scan to see how far down this snow goes.” Adrian nodded, entering the requirements into the sensors, only to sit back into his seat as the results read out.

“What? How deep is it?”

“Nearly eighty feet,” Adrian replied, rubbing his eyes with both of his palms. He was quickly growing exhausted. Mouths dropped one by one throughout the Predator. “How the fuck are we supposed to get a sample?”

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis - Felicity Shakra

When the team finally arrived at the rendezvous point, they were exhausted, but the mission couldn’t wait for them to rest, Jeffery and Marcus made their way out tank to meet with the other mission commanders. For the most part there was nothing new in briefing.

However, one comment in particular caught the two men by surprise, “Merely legends” casually remarked Captain Braddock.

Even though Marcus was encased in armor, Jeffery could sense the Marcus’s anger. As a preemptive measure quickly put his hand over Marcus’s chest, holding the man back. At first Marcus tried to push past Jeffery, but Jeffery pushed him back into place. Jeffery shock his head, Marcus knew better then push his luck with Jeffery.

After the briefing the two made their way back into their perspective tank. As the door close behind them Marcus made his distain for the Steel Butterfly commander evident. In a fit anger he threw his helmet across the room, it ricochet off various equipment, startling the rest of the team “Just who the fuck does he think he is!?” barked Marcus “Merely fucking legends my ass!. Why doesn’t he talk too Jocelyn about fucking legends. Not to mention the fact that you’ve actually seen those things Hobers.”

At the mention of Jocelyn’s name the team fell silent. Jocelyn had been the teams’ original commander before Jeffery. She had been killed on the Procul mission, the rest of the team had not been assigned to accompany her that particular mission, and had felt in some reasonable for her death. Following the mission the team had fully briefed as to how Jocelyn had died as to further their training.

Before taking this command assignment Jeffery had heard whispers that there might have been some type of relationship between Marcus and Jocelyn, which would explain his response.

Jeffery had little choice but to address this matter before it got out of hand “True, this Steel Butterfly feels the need to coddle us. Or perhaps the government of Steel Butterfly has trained their team as well as us. Unlike them, we know what we could be potentially dealing with, we know just what might be lurking in the shadow, and unlike them we are ready for them.”

“How many of our friends have to die cleaning up their mess” snapped Carmen interrupting.

“This is the end of this discussion, and that’s an order!” shot Jeffery back “now get some rest we move in the morning” This mission had gone from bad to worse, already Jeffery wanted it to be over. He could only hope that the coming days would be better then this.

Naumann listened carefully as Braddock told him what he knew. It was nothing really new, the basic idea of the mission had been included in the basic brief but he had entertained the notion that perhaps there was something the higher ups werent telling. But there wasnt, the mission truly was as vague as Braddock had explained, which made the entire Operation a far more difficult to digest.

As Braddock finished giving him the rundown, he pounded back to the Raider. Everyone was already present once he climbed thru the rear hatch to the heated main compartment. Deni had managed to slip from even his keen sight by sneaking back aboard the APC from her vantage point outside.

The byplay that had become a rule rather than an exception among the two doctors was gone now and both had succumbed in their work, digesting the mission details, running analyses and generally doing the work they were supposed to be doing.

His thoughts came to a sudden end as a violent tremor shook the Raider on its axles as if it had been a toy. The ground nearly visibly vibrated as he risked a quick glance from one of the side armored viewports. As quickly as the event came it also disappeared, leaving the inside of the APC into silent tranquility.

"Deni?" Naumann asked with calmness in his voice.

"Checking...looks like some kind of subterranean shifting within the snow layer." She answered after checking the data from the Raider's own sensors as well as the reconnaissance drones.

"Holy shit" She exclaimed before Naumann could get the time to say anything.

"What?" Chinran asked from beside Deni who's fingers were dancing on they keyboard, making sure that the data she had was correct.

"From what the recon bird is telling us, this snow goes down for nearly eighty feet." She said. There was a gasp, Naumann noted it was from Montaigne.

"That'll complicate the acquiring of samples a bit..." The female doctor said after a short pause.

Chinran chuckled.
"A lil' C9 knocking at your door doc"

"Yeah sure, the only fucking problem would be that the sample would be atomized now wouldnt it?" She answered a bit frostily.

"I wonder how the hell did you get through the shrink's scanners when coming to Special Warfare Ken, with that fixation of yours to blow up practically everything..." Deni murmured even as her eyes stayed fixated on the screen of the console.

"Dont you remember? It was one our requirements to be criminally out of our fucking minds" Chinran answered.

"Without a working brain, that's not too difficult to achieve." Doctor Walker murmured.

"Allright, that's enough of the bullshit for now. Lets see what the Imperials are going to do and draft our continuation plans accordingly." Naumann said. He could listen to the banter and jokes of the team for a limited time, but the time he allowed to be used for that crap was limited indeed. They had a job to do and he intended to do it.


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Captain Vincent Naumann

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Doctor Catherine Montaigne

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Doctor Paul Walker

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Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran

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Lieutenant Deni Anderson

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Sergeant Major Jonathan Black

“…so the only thing I can think of at this hour is to drill down in the morning,” Captain Andy Braddock concluded over the multi-band comm link to the other vehicles. He shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his eyes. Tomorrow morning would be coming far too soon, Braddock feared. “The Predator at least has a main phased polaron cannon that we could aim at the ground. We’d just have to be careful not to fall into the hole we dig as we’re digging it.”

“And the samples?” a foreign captain asked.

“It’s just the risk we’re going to have to take,” Braddock said. “We don’t do this…we don’t get any samples.” The other captains nodded, bidding farewell, and Braddock terminated the link. Stumbling back to his bed, he noticed that Adrian Winters had stayed with him throughout the conversation. “Lieutenant?”

“Blasting your way down is a hell of a risk,” Adrian said, looking up at the Captain. Braddock smirked.

“Well if you overheard that, I assume you also heard that if we don’t do this, we get nothing.”

“Better to get nothing than lose something,” Adrian replied. Braddock shrugged once more.

“Maybe to us,” the Captain said. “Maybe to the others out there…but not to brass…and our brass is as high as it gets, Winters.” He paused, trying to read what Adrian was feeling. His lieutenant seemed so emotionless. “I think we both need some sleep.”

“Is that an order?” Adrian asked. Braddock raised an eyebrow.

“Do I need to make it one?”

“I don’t sleep much,” Adrian replied. “Mostly because I don’t sleep well.”

“Well I need you at your best tomorrow,” Braddock stated, not doubting for a moment that Adrian would give him any less. He nodded towards the door to the quarters. “At least humor me and lye down. Rest your body if not your mind.” Reluctantly, Adrian agreed, following the Captain back to their bunks.

Everyone else was already asleep, and within minutes Adrian was the only one awake. He stared up at the bunk above him, wondering what Xase dreamed about. Figuring that Xase dreamed about killing, money, or women, Adrian shifted his focus to the entire team. People could be so secretive, but mental mysteries weren’t Adrian’s concern as much as simply trying to comprehend them better. If only they knew what he dreamed about, they would understand. That being said, they’d have to figure it out on their own or guess. He would never tell.

“Open up!”

Men’s voices could be heard from behind the door. Angrily, they pounded on its frame.

“This is the police. We’re here to help!”

All he could do was hide. He had thought about running, but there was no place to go. He had thought about fighting, but that was simply unrealistic, even for the mind of a child. If only his father had been there; he would protect him; he would keep him safe.

The police broke down the door in typical dramatic fashion, storming the apartment before calling it clear moments later. Curled up in the cupboard, he waited silently, unaware that the police had already found him with heat sensors. Without a shred of concern for his well-being, they tore off the cupboard door and grabbed him, hoisting him up into the air as he tried, and failed, to break free.

“The orphan is secure,” the head policeman announced. From then on, he knew that it all would change. They would give him a new mother, and a new father, and expect him to forget everything that had happened. He wanted to cry out; he had a father, but after three months, he had come to realize the truth. His father wasn’t coming back any more than his mother, who died years ago, and he was now sole property of the state.

“Adrian…”

The policeman called his name, pleading with him to stay still as he swung his young fists at the officers as they carried him to their speeder. He would never see his house again. All the memories he had there would be lost.

“Adrian…” Adina whispered. Jolting awake, Adrian grabbed her wrist tightly before opening his eyes and instantly letting go.

“I…I’m sorry…”

“No it’s ok,” she replied, rubbing her wrist with her other hand. It was obvious that he had hurt her and Adrian felt foolish. “You were tossing and turning…almost yelling at times.”

“Anyone…”

“No,” Adina said, smiling. “No one else saw you.”

“What time is it,” Adrian asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Late,” Adina replied, shrugging. There was no clock in the quarters, and neither of them knew why. “Are you ok?”

“I…” Adrian began before he caught himself. He was almost going to say it. He was almost going to tell her everything…but she didn’t deserve it. Not anymore at least. “I’ll be fine.”

“You worry me,” Adina frowned. Adrian yawned in reply.

“Don’t waste your worry on me,” he muttered. “Just get yourself set for tomorrow…we’re going to be drilling down through the snow. We’ll probably need to get those samples and get out fast.”

“Do you always change the subject like this?” Adina asked. Adrian just stared at her. He figured there was no reason to lie.

“Yes,” he responded. “You more than anyone should know that by now.”

“You’re more distant now than you ever were,” Adina commented, her eyes drifting from his to the floor. Adrian wanted to snap back at her. He wanted to throw out some smart-ass remark, some witty comeback, yet although they flowed through his mind, he didn’t see the point. After the breakup they had, it wasn’t outrageous to think that he would be distant. “You don’t even have anything to say about it either…”

“Adina…Dr. Clovis…listen,” Adrian said, almost pleading with her. “It’s great seeing you again…and I’m glad you’ve done so much for yourself…but I don’t want us acting like friends. It’s a mask that takes too much effort to put on.”

“Is that what you were dreaming about?” Adina asked, obviously hurt by what he said. She never was one for confrontation though.

“No,” Adrian replied. He didn’t need to explain himself. Telling her goodnight, he rolled over and pulled the covers on top of himself again. After some time, Adrian’s eyelids betrayed him, and he found himself dreaming once more.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Dr. Adina Clovis

In a panic Marcus ran around another corner only to realize that he had no idea where he truly was. The city was burning around him, pieces of building where falling all around him. Looking up at the last possible moment he jumped aside as piece of debris almost came down on him, he could feel the warmth that flames cast on his face. Despite the obvious danger he pressed on feeling that his objective was even more precious then his own life.

Just around the next corner he heard what sound like a struggle, raising his rifle to his shoulder he darted out from behind the corner with tactical precision ready engage any hostile targets. However, he didn’t find a struggle just a lone woman standing there, behind stood nothing but darkness.

It took Marcus only a brief a moment to recognize the woman that now stood before him “Jocelyn.” His words were only met by silence. He tried to run to her but something was holding him back.

“Jocelyn!” he yelled out again. Suddenly from behind the darkness a bunch of hands reached out, and started pulling her back. Desperate, Marcus fire into the black void, but it was to no avail. “No!” he cried as Jocelyn disappeared in to the darkness.

When she had finally disappeared, he could see to a set eyes glow from behind shadows.
“Come to me Marcus” said a voice.

Marcus shot up out of bed, almost hitting his head on the bunk above. He fought to catch his breath, his hand felt cold and clammy. As Marcus glanced at his watch he realized that they only had about an hour until they were scheduled to start the mission. There was little point to trying to get more sleep, so went to get his gear ready.

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Marcus

The Predator’s main polaron cannon hummed as it tore through the ice, instantly melting the frozen water without even needing direct contact. The other vehicles gathered around in a wide circle as the beam cut towards the solid ground. Within a minute, the hole was completed.

“So what now?” Kyle Kuhari asked over the comm link as he peered down at the earth below.

“Now we jump,” Braddock said, smiling behind his helmet. Everyone knew of Kyle’s fear of heights.

“Jump!?” Kyle exclaimed, staggering away from the edge.

“Not quite…” Adrian replied. He was tired and groggy and didn’t feel like putting up with Kyle’s phobias today. To Adrian it was foolish. Kyle lived either on spaceships light-years away from solid ground, or in an apartment room hundreds of stories high, and feared neither of these instances.

“Stop being such a pussy,” Xase muttered. Kyle simply threw his hands up in defeat.

Each soldier, minus Kyle, pressed a small button on their forearm console, igniting two jets on the back of their suit. Slowly, they began to hover above the ground as the heat from the exhaust began to melt the snow at their feet. As they leapt into the giant hole, Kyle did the same, whining about it the entire time.

Their descent slowed as they reached the bottom, and each soldier quickly disengaged the jets on the ODIN armor. Once again, Kyle was a bit slow with this, singeing the previously-frozen grass beneath his feet, which emitted a terrible smell, had the crew been able to smell through their climate controls. Taking out their Phased Assault Rifles, the crew of the Predator quickly began carving tunnels through the snow as other teams from other nations began touching down on the true ground.

After seven hours, they had found nothing.

“This is bullshit,” Xase muttered over the international comm, making sure everyone on the planet with his or her headset on could hear him. “There’s nothing down here…much less some fucking disease. How are we even supposed to tell if we find the disease anyhow? It could be all around us right now and we wouldn’t even…”

“Trust me,” Adina said over the comm right before Adrian and Braddock had begun to tell Xase to shut up in stereo. “When you find it…you’ll know.”

Soldiers and escorts of other nations slowly but surely began heading back to the main hole to retire for the night and after some time the crew of the Predator joined up with them. The captain and other leaders talked about how they found nothing and then returned to brief their troops indoors.

“Not much news,” Captain Braddock said as the doors behind him closed and he removed his helmet. The other people had already taken off their ODIN armor for the night.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Kyle muttered before receiving a slap upside the head by Xase. Adrian shook his head and escaped back into the living quarters. Felicity got up and followed him.

“Well, Doctor,” Xase sneered. “Did you gather some great research today?”

“Actually I did,” Adina snapped back. “There were no traces of the Q-virus found today and we searched for over eight hours. I’d say that’s pretty impressive. It shows that this whole region is no longer ravaged.”

“For all we know it could be stuck in all this snow,” Kyle said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“No, Lieutenant,” Adina replied. “That would be the radiation. I’m surprised this snow doesn’t glow at night.”

“I’m just glad we were there to protect you today while all those attacks were going on,” Xase continued, brutally sarcastic. “You might not have survived if it wasn’t for our superior tactics and punishing firepower out there. I mean…really…without us…”

“She gets the point, Sergeant,” Braddock said, staring at Xase. Xase glared back at the Captain for nearly a minute before turning around and pretending like he was interested in what the console beside him had to say.

Meanwhile, in the living quarters, Adrian still could not find the alone time that he so desperately wanted.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Felicity asked, turning on him. Perhaps he was surprised, or perhaps he didn’t care, but either way Adrian simply stared at her. “You act like you’re too good for them, ya know? That’s bullshit. We’re supposed to be a team.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” Adrian replied, angry but controlled, without raising his voice. “We’re not some sports team trying to win a game here, we’re an elite military unit that follows orders and the chain of command about as well as three year old girls. It’s an embarrassment. You work with numbers. If you fuck up you have to go back and fix your type-o’s. There’s no backspace key on lives, Miss Shakra. If we fuck up people die.”

“How could I forget?” Felicity shot back sarcastically. “You soldiers have a goddamn superiority complex if you ask me.”

“No one’s asking you,” Adrian replied, as tense yet controlled as ever. “So leave me alone.”

“Oh yeah,” Felicity continued. “Lieutenant Winters…the attractive yet tough lone wolf. You’re a goddamn cliché, Adrian.”

“It’s Lieutenant Winters to you,” Adrian responded.

“Guess I have to fuck you first like Adina before I can call you by your first name,” Felicity snapped. Adrian was nearly shaking with rage.

“Get…the fuck…out…” He snarled through his gritted teeth. Rolling her eyes, Felicity left the living quarters just as a familiar face appeared on the main viewscreen.

“How’s my favorite team doing?” Dr. Julian Rane asked, his glowing smile and designer suits lighting up the screen.

“Didn’t find anything,” Captain Braddock replied before Xase’s obscenities could be heard. “Dr. Clovis says that’s good. She says that…”

“Oh no, Captain,” Rane said, a look of false worry spreading across his perfectly sculpted face. “You see…we can’t run tests…we can’t find an anti-virus…without the virus first.”

“I was thinking in terms of the colo…” Adina began before being cut off.

“Come now, Doctor,” Rane said, beaming at the stunning young doctor. “Once we get this anti-virus we’ll be able to cure the whole colony. Hell, we can open it up as a resort.”

“It’s still completely radioact…” Adina began once more before being cut off again.

“Honestly, sweetheart,” Rane replied. “You know what I mean. No need to split hairs. Rane out.” With a push of a button the smile disappeared. Adina turned around visibly angry.

“He’s a prick,” she pouted. Xase laughed at how she said “prick.” It was obvious that she rarely used similar language.

“You just got that now?” Kyle asked.

“He’s no different than the rest of you chauvinist assholes,” Felicity snapped. “If he would have called me a sweetheart I would have told him where to go.”

“Oh you’re such a hardass aren’t you?” Xase muttered, laughing to himself.

“Hey fuck you!” Felicity shouted.

“Would you two shut up?” Captain Braddock. “I swear to God you two shit out your mouths more than you do your asses. Just cool it, damnit.”

Shaking his head, Braddock said down in the pilot’s seat and cracked open his rations, and Kyle did so as well right beside him. Felicity indignantly began looking over the day’s data and Xase continued to waste his time staring at random consoles. Upset at Rane, Adina stormed into the living quarters.

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Lt. Adrian Winters-Cpt. Andrew Braddock-Lt. Kyle Kuhari-Sgt. Xase Indra-Dr. Adina Clovis-Felicity Shakra-Dr. Julian Rane

“I can’t believe that…that…I can’t believe he’d…Ahhhhh!” Adina shrieked as the door to the living quarters closed behind her. She fell to her knees with her head in her hands before looking up. Instantly feeling the color flush to her face from embarrassment she sheepishly recognized who had just witnessed her immature outburst. “Adrian?”

Adrian looked at her in disgust before turning away and shaking his head. This was why she always got herself hurt, he told himself. She’s never mature enough to handle anything that doesn’t go the way she thinks it should. If she’s criticized…she folds…

“Why are you always…?”

“You’re acting like a two-year-old,” Adrian muttered, not looking at her. It had been an insult that he readily had used in the past, and with good reason, but above all it was an insult that he knew she hated.

“Adrian, come on…” she pouted, obviously not wanting to deal with this all over again. Suddenly she regretted coming into the living quarters more than anything.

“No,” Adrian continued, relentless. He had been a lot nicer when they were together. “Nothing bad happened. Dr. Rane didn’t cancel the mission, or even criticize you. No…he simply disagreed with a random and meaningless opinion of yours and you respond by throwing a temper tantrum.”

Adina, who had begun to stand up, flopped back down on the floor again, kneeling and sitting at the same time. She could feel the tears growing in her eyes and she fought them back with all she could. I can’t let him see me cry. I won’t let him.

Adrian simply stared straight ahead. It was worthless. Everything. Everybody. Even himself. All of it was absolutely worthless. He was living a life without purpose or reason and he resented it at every turn.

“No!” Adrian screamed. “Get off of me! Let me go!”

“This boy has been charged with multiple counts of petty theft,” one of the men reported after getting his bio-readout on display.

“I’m not charging him,” the lead officer said. “He’s been on his own for months. His mom died years ago, but his dad was a veteran…and a friend of mine. This boy’s only done what he’s had to in order to survive. Just like any of us are trained to do.”

“What’s going to become of him?” the other man asked.

“We’ll turn him over to the government,” the lead officer replied, his faith in the Empire never waivering. “They’ll know where he’ll be the most useful.”

Adrian’s eyes batted open. It wasn’t dark, and none of the team members were in their bunks, so apparently he hadn’t slept long .

“Adrian…” Adina said, and everything came back to him. He had dozed off while she was mid-tantrum and now felt foolish for it. Rolling to his right, he found her sitting in the bunk across the central isle.

“What?” Adrian asked, his bad mood quickly returning.

“You…you were crying…” Adina replied, a look of pity and concern spread across her face. She had been watching him. Adrian blinked, feeling the swelling in his eyes and the salty dryness of his cheeks. He turned away from her in shame. “Adrian you can’t just keep it all bottled up that like…”

“Sure I can,” Adrian muttered, staring at the wall. “Besides…it’s not about you…”

“I know it has nothing to do with me, Adrian…” Adina said, frowning. She wanted to make him feel better, to comfort him like he always did to her, and yet he was so cold, so angry, so visibly hurt that she was afraid to approach. “But you have to find someone to help you with whatever you’re going through. I know you’ve had a tough life, but…”

“No,” Adrian snapped, sitting up to face her. “No ‘but.’ I didn’t have a ‘tough life.’ I wasn’t poor, my parents didn’t beat me, and I didn’t do drugs. I had a fucking terrible life that I tried so hard to push away…tried so hard to forget…but I can’t…”

“Adrian…” Adina whispered. She had wanted so long for him to open up to her, but now she almost felt as if she wasn’t prepared for him to do it completely. It was as if she never had expected him to in the first place.

“My mother was a whore,” Adrian said, spitting the words instead of speaking them. Quickly his mood turned from anger to sadness. “My dad was all I had...and then he died. I spent so much time looking out my window, staring at the sky, hoping for some guidance, wishing for a ray of hope...but it never came. I was grabbed by the police and thrown into the system. They told me what to eat, what to wear, what to do, and how to think…but now I'm here, wearing the right clothes, eating the right meals, doing the job I was taught to do…but without guidance...without hope..."

Adina felt the tears well up in her eyes as he talked. They had dated for years, and she had never heard any of it. Her emotions swirled violently, the pity she felt for his miserable childhood fighting the anger she felt because he had kept her in the dark for so long. Regardless, she no longer carried any inhibitions about approaching him, and slowly sat down beside him. Burying her head in his chest, she wrapped her arms around him as she slowly began to cry.

Adrian however was quickly composing himself once more. Something had broken through his emotional wall, be it the dream or Adina, but it was a hole that needed to be fixed. He could not be sad, or angry, because that would only make him weak. He had to be strong, for himself, for Adina, for his father. Adrian remained stiff as she held him, neither returning her embrace or comforting her has she cried for him.

He was an asshole, as he had to be, but he hated himself for it.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Dr. Adina Clovis

Quickly the Tappee team followed the Steel Butterfly team down the shaft. Descending to the ground below. No sooner had the team touched the ground than both Richard and Emma started their work and the rest of the team taking a defensive position, protecting them from what ever lurked in the shadows.

As seconds become minutes and minutes became hours the teams start to become restless. Suddenly the situation came to ahead when one of the Steel Butterfly soldier openly complained about the mission.

“What a bunch of whiners” complained Carman over the teams comm channel “We go through all the trouble of saving their asses during the war only to have put up this shit. It no wonder they needed our help during the war.”

“That is enough” snapped Jeffery back quickly cutting Carmen off before she had a chance to continue “We are Tappee soldier now start acting like it.”

Jeffery glanced over Marcus; he would have normally joined Carmen in her rant. However he had remained silent, Jeffery could tell that something was bothering Marcus, Marcus had not been acting like himself today. For the moment he decided to ignore Marcus’s behavior and focus on the task at hand. He open a direct channel to Richard “Have you found anything?”

Remaining focused on his worked Richard quickly answered, “You know these things take time, it might be a while.”

After the some time the teams made their way back to the surface and their perspective command tanks, one by one the Tappee members took their gear off and utilized this a moment to get some R and R.

“Hey Marcus, is everything OK, you seem a bit distract today” asked Jeffery as he took the last of his gear off.

For a moment the question seemed to have taken Marcus by surprise as struggled to come up with an answer. “Did get much sleep last night, or perhaps it is just this place.”

“I see, well then take chance to catch up on some rest, I need you 100% for the next few alright, and that’s order.” Marcus gave him a brief smile. “Get some sleep I need to report in today’s findings.” With that the two men went their separate ways.

While Marcus crew quarter Jeffery went down the lab section, to find Richard working hard. As Jeffery entered Richard briefly turned to see him enter then went back to work, “The days report has already been sent to your folder.” Shot Richard as he fiddled with some equipment

“I know” shot Jeffery back, “That not why I’m here. I need to bring up Marcus’s sleep records from the night before.”

Richards’s head snapped around, it was an unusual request, but not something that he hadn’t been asked to do for. “Alright” Quickly Richard slid his chair across the room to another consol, he typed in a series of commands and a video feed of Marcus sleeping the night before came up.

“Run through it quickly.” Order Jeffery impatiently. Then he watched as the pervious night flashed before him. Suddenly something caught his eye. “There, can you over lay his brain patterns during this period.”

“Sure” answered Richard. Then once a again he ran the section as the two watched. “Look there is a significant increase in his brain wave patterns here and the they are sustained for a long period of time.”

Taking a moment Jeffery looked over the data, “Thanks Richard, I would like to remind you that everything here classified, even the rest of the team, is that understood.”

“”yes Sir”

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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

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Marcus

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Carmen Anfiego

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Emma Dalson

No sooner had Jeffery sat down at the Comm station when an image came on screen “I understand that you had some urgent news that you wanted to share with commander Hobers.”

“Well it good to see you too Emily” answered Jeffery with some what of sarcastic tone, he had been friends with director Williams for some time, and as a result was a bit more casual with her then his other superiors “but yes I do have some urgent news. I believe that Queen bee has made contact with worker bee.”

Through the screen Jeffery could see Emily widen as she realized what he was actually trying to say. “Transmit the all the data that you have on this subject. However, I want drop this matter and focus on primary mission objective, consider this nothing more then a tertiary objective.”

“Is there anything that I should be concerned about, I need to make sure that my team members to have their heads in the right place.”

“Don’t worry, we are dealing with the queen bee as we speak” answered Emily quickly “do don’t need to the know the details but there is a chance that she may try to make contact again. If that happens then let me know.

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Jeffery Hobers

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Emily Williams

Orion Sector

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” General Jack Valkare demanded as the door to the Director of Intelligence’s office flew open. Valkare stormed into the room and slammed a report down on the desk.

“Well I was enjoying my breakfast coffee since it is this ungodly…” Dr. Julian Rane replied, slowly sipping on his cup. Valkare reached across and slapped the mug out of his hand, spilling the hot coffee onto the exquisite rug.

“Don’t fuck with me, Rane,” Valkare snarled, pounding his fist onto the paper. “The Emperor knows nothing about this, does he?”

“It’s perfectly legal…”

“That’s not what I asked!” Valkare continued. “He never signed off on this!”

“He doesn’t have to sign off on it!” Rane replied indignantly as he stood, looking at Valkare face to face. “…or even know about it for that matter. This is purely a matter of Intelligence gathering.” A wicked grin spread across the Director’s mouth. “He’ll get a report on it when it’s over.”

“You’re using militants!” Valkare said. “That falls under the Emperor’s jurisdiction.”

“Militants that were loaned to the department of Intelligence, Jack,” Rane said, shaking his head, the smug and calculating grin still plastered to his face. “Besides…the Emperor doesn’t have a jurisdiction…the fact is…the militants fall under your jurisdiction…and you’re pissed that I’m using them.”

“Get over yourself, Julian,” Valkare spat. “Not everything has to be about infighting.”

“Funny how it always turns out to be that way then, isn’t it?” Rane shot back.

“How could you have possibly convinced them to…” Valkare started, but paused as a look of horror spread across his face, opposite to Rane’s grin. “Oh god…they don’t know do they?”

“They know exactly where they are,” Rane countered, defensive.

“But…you didn’t tell them that…they wouldn’t have went if…” Valkare stammered. “They’re going to die…”

“Nonsense,” Rane said with as much confidence as he could muster.

“When the Emperor hears…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Rane said, slowly regaining control. Valkare paused to think about how it couldn’t matter if the Emperor knew or not. Then it hit him.

“You son of a bitch!” Valkare screamed, throwing the contents of Rane’s desk on the floor. Security came into the room and grabbed the General by each arm. They weren’t going to do anything to Valkare other than take him back to his office. Jack and Julian had a long history of black eyes and broken bones with each other, and the Imperial Palace Security had long since learned to monitor their rooms with heat sensors, and intervene at any sign of a struggle.

As Valkare was drug out of Rane’s office, the Director could only grin. There was little either of them, the General or the Emperor, could do.

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General Jack Valkare - Dr. Julian Rane

Steel Earth
(Western Russia)

“Readings show signs of contamination,” Felicity Shakra, the statistician, said with an odd hint of excitement. The presence of the Q-virus was usually not something that caused much joy.

“No confirmation yet though,” Dr. Adina Clovis added. “It makes sense that there would be some residual infestation at different locations.”

“Still more than we had yesterday,” Felicity replied over the comm. She pointed off to her left. “I’m going to check over there.”

Their second trip down to the surface had been somewhat more beneficial, and yet equally as boring. The frozen caves, carved out by the soldier’s polaron rifles, were seemingly endless. Perhaps that was why that no one noticed that there was no more snow at one point. Felicity learned the hard way.

“HOLY SHIT!” she screamed as a current surged through her borrowed ODIN Armor to her body, frying the ODIN computer as well as her comm.

“Felicity!?” Captain Braddock called, running down the tunnel where he last saw his 2nd Lieutenant venture. Adrian and Xase were close behind. “Felicity Shakra, respond immediately. That is an order!” Static was the only reply the Captain received.

Her body was pinned to what appeared to be an invisible forcefield, or at least it was invisible. The field had come alive when Felicity had backed into it, and now her back, one leg, and the upper parts of both arms were pinned in place. Her helmet had blown of, and she was screaming in pain.

“HELP!” Felicity shrieked as the three soldiers approached her, each not knowing what to do. A disgusting smell was beginning to emanate from the hallway, a smell that could only mean one thing. The ODIN armor was melting. “HELP ME! GET ME OFF THIS! GET ME OFF THIS!”

Adrian and Braddock frantically looked around for something to try and knock her off but they hadn’t seen any debris since they had landed. Xase decided on another approach. Turning his Phased Assault Rifle to its highest setting, he began firing at the field, which absorbed every blow, transferring the firepower into the ODIN suit.

“STOP! STOP! HELP ME!” Felicity screamed, as other people, including Adina and Kyle ran to see what was happening. Not about to let up, Xase had another plan. Swinging his weapon like a club, he connected hard with Felicity’s right upper arm in an effort to knock her down. Unfortunately, the surge simply traveled through his weapon and knocked him back hard. “GET ME OFF OF THIS!”

Adrian stared up in horror. There was nothing they could do. The only way would be to…

“Captain!” Adrian shouted, raising his weapon. “This is a forcefield, right? That means there has to be a reason for it…you know…something inside.”

“What are you talking about?” Braddock asked, not taking his attention from his statistician who was pinned up and withering in pain.

“That means there has to be a way to get inside!” Adrian continued, aiming at the snow wall beside the forcefield. “There has to be a control somewhere.” Captain Braddock nodded, and along with some foreigners, they blasted the snow away in an effort to find a console or a switch somewhere that would turn off the forcefield.

“PLEASE!” Felicity shrieked, much to the horror of everyone present. “PLEEEEEAAAASE!” The metal of the ODIN Armor had melted away at this point, and the force field was beginning to burn, and then melt, where her skin touched. “AHHHHHHHH!” Her blonde hair caught fire and quickly ignited, rapidly burning then falling off of her now-charred head. A single tear rolled down her cheek, hit the armor below her, and boiled off.

Adrian was blasting as rapidly as he could, firing away in all directions, until something caught his eye.

“That thing’s fucking baking her!” Xase shouted as Felicity’s screams became progressively less and less human.

Rushing to the small shack, Adrian blasted the lock and kicked open the door to reveal a small set of controls. There was no ‘off’ switch, but there was a button that supposedly opened a door. Adrian pounded it as hard as he could.

Instantly, the entire forcefield glowed a shimmering blue as a section big enough for a vehicle to pass through opened up. This section was right beside Felicity.

“Damnit!” Adrian screamed as their only hope to save Felicity went to hell before their eyes. Xase was right; between the ODIN Armor and the forcefield, Felicity was literally being cooked. Now a new smell permeated the hallway: burnt meat. Adrian was glad that the environmental aspects of the ODIN Armor prevented any smells from entering.

The web let go of its prey, and Felicity fell to the ground with a disgusting thud. Kyle threw up in his helmet.

“O-oh god…” Adina stammered, her eyes wide with fear as tears began streaming down her cheeks. “Oh god, oh god, oh god…”

“Get everyone out of here!” Captain Braddock commanded to Xase, who quickly corralled everyone except for the Tappee and Steel Butterfly teams out of the hallway. “It was an accident…” Braddock muttered as if he was trying to convince himself. “It was simply an accident….”

“Captain?” Adrian asked as Braddock leaned over Felicity’s melted body, the look of pain and terror still frozen to her hairless and blackened face. Braddock looked up at the Tappee team and then to his own men.

“They wouldn’t understand,” the Captain said, motioning towards those that left. He looked at Adina. “Do we have confirmation?”

“I…I…” Adina whimpered over the comm, sitting down and wrapping her arms around her knees. Adrian walked over and picked up her PADD.

“Confirmation, sir,” Adrian said, quickly reading the data. Braddock nodded. He ordered Adrian to help him carry Felicity’s body into the small control shack beside the forcefield. Laying her body on the floor, they covered her with fuel. Braddock lit a match and tossed it onto her already charred remains. Flames quickly engulfed Felicity’s body, and Braddock shut the door behind him.

Many looked at him in disgust. Braddock ignored them, knowing that he did what had to be done. They had found the Q-virus and each one of them knew quite well what it did. Braddock was not about to take that chance.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis - Felicity Shakra

There was a city beyond the forcefield, a city that was saved from the snow, but definitely not the war. At any other time, this would have been absolutely amazing, however the team was now understandably distracted.

“Hey!” Xase shouted from behind as he ran to catch up with the rest of them. “The other teams are calling it a night. They said they don’t feel like doing anything else today…because of what happened.” Through his helmet, Captain Braddock glanced at Commander Hobers. The Tappee Commander seemed to agree; with a discovery this huge, it would be foolish to stop.

“We…” Braddock began, pausing as he looked back at the hole in the forcefield. “We’re going to continue. We still have a few good hours left.”

“Sir,” Xase said, far more gentle than normal. “I just think that with all that’s…”

“Sergeant,” Adrian said kindly, catching himself off guard. Could Xase have had feelings for her? “Now’s not the time to be getting soft. We have a mission to complete…a mission that’s going to be harder now without our chief statistician. We’re going to have to pick up the slack.”

“We’re going to split up into teams,” Braddock announced. “I’m going with Dr. Clovis. Adrian, Xase…I want you two to look after Kyle.”

“Captain,” Kyle protested. “My helmet…I…there’s vomit in it…”

“I’m not about to have you take it off, Lieutenant,” Braddock replied, his soft tone continuing. Perhaps Felicity’s death had affected him more than he had expected. “Not with this virus everywhere.”

“I request to return to…” Kyle continued, but Braddock cut him off.

“Lieutenant,” Braddock said. “As sick as this all is…we’ve seen death…gruesome death…many times. We need all the soldiers out here as we can get. The other teams left for the day…our numbers are even more important now.”

Adrian and Braddock exchanged salutes, and Adrian watched as the Captain led Adina into the wreckage. Turning around and readying his rifle, Adrian addressed the soldiers, who were now his men, with a head nod. Slowly, they moved out in the opposite direction.

“She was rather headstrong,” Xase muttered over the comm loud enough for the other two to hear him.

“She was a bitch,” Adrian replied, remembering their conversation the night before. She had been so obnoxious and unnecessary. What made Adrian sick was that since she was dead, everyone was expected to act like she was some angel. Still, the other two stopped in their tracks.

“Hey what the fuck, man?” Xase asked shaking his head. “She’s fucking dead. Why don’t you show some goddamn resp…?”

“Shut up, Xase,” Adrian ordered, his voice noticeably hushed.

“No,” Xase shot back. “You hit a new low this time, dickhead. There was absolutely no need for…”

“Shut. Up. Xase.” Adrian whispered through gritted teeth as he knelt down to the ground. Looking straight ahead, Adrian pointed and then laid down prone on the ground. The other two followed suit.

Before them was a man, dressed in ODIN Mark I Armor of years ago, wandering the outskirts of the city, rifle in hand.

* * * * *

“I need to know everything,” Braddock said as he walked beside Adina.

“About the virus?” Adina asked, wondering what more she could tell.

“No,” Braddock replied. “About the colony. We should have known about a goddamn city with a forcefield around it…but it didn’t show up on scanners…and no one told me about it. Ms. Shakra’s death was completely unnecessary…and yet we had no way to avoid it.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much more about this place than anyone who took a college history class,” Adina said, shaking her head. Braddock shook his as well. He had taken such a class. “From where we landed, I’d say we are in St. Petersburg, Steel Earth. It was a Russian city taken over by the Empire when the Empire’s Colonial Era started on Earth. However, I’m pretty sure that the Russians…or any Earth nations for that matter…had forcefields covering their cities that could withstand the weight of eighty feet of snow and that could survive a nuclear holocaust following a viral outbreak, the likes of which this world has ever seen.” She shrugged. “It has to be our stuff…but I’ve never seen the technology.”

“What do you mean?” Braddock questioned. “We have forcefields, or shields on ships, that could withstand a lot more than that.”

“We don’t have ones that attack you though,” Adina said. “Or trap you on them until you die a terribly painful dead. At least…we don’t publicly have them.”

“Could it be NiMBUS?” Braddock asked, fearing the worst.

“Quite possibly,” Adina said, looking down on her scanner. The Q-virus concentration was becoming much stronger the deeper they progressed into the city. She paused, looking up as the weight of that realization finally hit her. “If that’s the case…” Adina said, running through the scenario in her mind. “We probably should get out of here until we analyze the situation and…” she cringed. “…run it through with Dr. Rane. If this field is up because of NiMBUS…then they obviously wanted to keep whatever’s within this field in tact.”

* * * * *

Adrian had been wrong in his original astonishment. The man was not simply wandering. No, he was quite obviously guarding something, as if on patrol.

“Who is that?” Kyle asked. Both Adrian and Xase looked back at him in amazement.

“How the fuck are we supposed to know?” Xase asked, beating Adrian to it.

Back and forth, back and forth, the man patrolled, pausing each time before making his turn.

“Lieutenant Winters?” Captain Braddock’s voice rang over the comm. “Adrian…I’ve decided that it would be in our best interest to head back in with the rest of them. I’m informing the Tappee team as well. We have to re-think our strategy. There will be a full brief back at the Predator.”

“Captain,” Adrian countered. “You have to come see this. There’s…a man out here. He seems to be patrolling an area…guarding a doorway or something.”

“Lieutenant?” Braddock asked, a hint of concern rising in his voice.

“But get this, Captain,” Adrian continued. “He’s wearing Mark I Armor. From like…a hundred years ago.”

“Winters, you listen to me and you listen to me good,” Braddock ordered, his voice obviously tense. “I want you to get your ass and Xase and Kyle’s asses away from there immediately. Rendezvous back at the gateway. I repeat: leave now!”

Adrian nodded, motioning towards the other two, but it was too late. The soldier knew they were there.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis

The man didn’t speak; he merely raised his weapon and stopped pacing. A mere hundred feet away, Adrian, Xase, and Kyle froze, pressing their bodies onto the ground.

“What do we do?” Kyle asked. He sounded woozy. The constant smell of your own vomit will do that to you…

“We take him down,” Adrian said, peering down the scope of his Phased Assault Rifle. “On my mark.”

The man took a slight step forward, cocking his head to look down his scope, and Adrian squeezed the trigger. The polaron blast tore through the man’s inadequate helmet like a torpedo, blowing straight through and out the back. Slowly, the man’s rifle slipped out of his hands before his body was pelted with Xase’s solid ammunition.

For over five minutes they waited, rather impatiently, to see if the man was alone. Scanning the area for life, they found none, and slowly rose, silently walking towards the man whose life they destroyed.

“Stupid bastard,” Xase muttered, shaking his head as they approached. “Why didn’t he just drop the gun?”

“Hey, guys…” Kyle protested. “I know this is intriguing and all…but didn’t the Captain say to return to the snow tunnels?”

“The Captain wasn’t planning on us engaging someone,” Adrian explained, not fully sure himself why he was directly disobeying an order. “Besides…if this man truly is…er…was an enemy, it would be foolish not to try and understand who we are fighting.”

Cautiously, Adrian bend over the mangled man as Xase walked past, trying to find what it was that this man was guarding. Kyle remained a safe distance away. There was little left of the man’s head, as expected, so Adrian pulled out his dagger and cut open the suit itself. Gasping, Adrian reared back in disgust as various bugs crawled out of the suit. The man’s flesh had apparently begun to rot, and by the looks of it, he had been decomposing for some time.

“Guys,” Adrian said over the comm, his voice confused enough for Kyle and Xase to pay attention. With the butt of his gun he crushed a rather obscenely large bug. “Guys get over here and look at this.”

“What?” Kyle asked, peering down at the decaying soldier. Once again, he bent over, throwing up in his helmet.

“The hell is wrong with you?” Xase asked, more disgusted at Kyle than what he saw before him.

“What the fuck?” Kyle shouted, although it was more of a whine. “What the fuck’s wrong with him? He looks like he’s been dead for years!” Neither Adrian nor Xase could argue.

“Captain, this is Lieutenant Winters,” Adrian reported over the comm.

“Adrian?” Braddock asked, annoyed. “Lieutenant, where the hell are you?”

“The enemy engaged,” Adrian explained. “So we took him down.”

“You what?” Braddock asked, his annoyance rising to anger.

“We took him down, sir,” Adrian repeated.

“Well congratulations, Rambo,” Braddock snapped. “I’m sure Xase is happy. Now leave him and get your asses over here now!”

“Captain, you’re going to want to see this,” Xase said. “There’s something really wrong with him…”

“Adrian!” Braddock screamed. “Get back to…” but Adrian had stopped listening, along with the other two. Eight more men had emerged from a hidden doorway, and each had their weapons aimed.

“Captain, we have a…situation…unfolding…” Adrian said as he quickly scanned the environment for cover. The eight soldiers opened fire on the three as Adrian, Xase, and Kyle quickly dove for cover. Kyle, however, didn’t dive quick enough, and a shot hit him square in the left shin, flipping him over and forcing him to land hard on his shoulder.

“AH!” he shouted, clutching his right shoulder with his left hand. The fall had caused the vomit to splash up all over his face and his visor, however, surprisingly, the shot itself had not even come close to penetrating the armor. “Shit! Shit!”

“Kyle!” Xase shouted, rushing over to Kyle.

“It fucking burns!” Kyle shouted, shaking his head violently. “It’s in my eyes…my nose…Goddamnit!” With quick precision shooting, Adrian had managed to take out two of the enemy soldiers.

“Kyle, were you hit?” Xase asked, checking for any penetration.

“In the shin I think,” Kyle replied, clawing at his visor with his gloves. “Didn’t go through…flipped me over though…ah…I think my shoulder’s dislocated…ah…damnit!” Throwing off his gloves, Kyle flexed his fingers before throwing his left hand behind his head and unlocking one of the two helmet latches.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Xase screamed, realizing what Kyle was trying to do.

“IT BURNS!” Kyle screamed, reaching across his helmet and unlatching the other side. His helmet let out a ‘whoosh’ as it depressurized, vomit spilling out from all sides. As rapidly as he could, Kyle wiped the vomit from his face, clawing at his eyes as he coughed it out of his mouth and it ran from his nose.

By this time, Adrian had managed to kill two more and neutralize another, however they were advancing far too fast under far too much cover fire for him to take them out fast enough. Amazingly, as if he could sense the disparity of the situation, Captain Braddock appeared beside his 1st Lieutenant, firing away with Adrian at the oncoming threat.

With them all neutralized, the group decided to leave before any more appeared. Both Braddock and Xase helped carry Kyle out as Adrian followed behind, making sure they weren’t being followed. In the distance, Adrian could see more soldiers emerging, their old armor shimmering in the artificial light, but they never once fired, nor pursued.

Adina felt sick as she saw them approaching, the Tappee team standing guard around her. From where she stood, just beyond the doorway in the forcefield, she could tell that someone had taken their helmet off. As the four men approached, she now saw that it was Kyle. Contamination was inevitable.

“I want this tunnel sealed off,” Captain Braddock told Commander Hobers. “Blast the damn thing.” He turned to Adrian. “One of the nations already left the planet, but left their vehicle here. I’m going to use it to keep Kyle in for observation. Xase and I will take him there. I want you to take Dr. Clovis back to the Predator.”

“Aye, sir,” Adrian said, taking Adina by the hand and leading her towards the surface as the Tappee team collapsed the tunnel leading to the forcefield behind them.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Lt. Kyle Kuhari - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis

The last couple of days had first seemed to be a repeat of the boring routines that had formed the majority of the teams work during the beginning of the Operation. Those feelings had subsided rapidly when something had caused the vast masses of snow beneath the command vechiles of each team to tremor, something that had shifted beneath all that snow and caused it.

The Steel Butterfly team had used their vechile-mounted energy weapon to drill a shaft through all the snow. Neither Montaigne nor Walker could have held their enthusiasm at bay when they waited for the shaft to finish, and the chance to descend down there and start making all those so very fascinating discoveries.

Their disappointment had been... voiced when Naumann had stated flatly that they would not be going down before the Operatives had personally secured the area. Naumann had ignored their complaints, it was enough of a bother to be actually babysitting anyone, much less eggheads and thus he had little patience for whining when the sole goal of the Operatives was to keep the researchers alive. No good deed never went unpunished.

When the scientists had finally gotten down the shaft, their disappointment had become even more profound. The first day had provided them with absolutely nothing, no sample of the virus, nor anything else worth mentioning. While one of the Steel Butterfly researchers had seemed to be very excited about the apparent fact that the virus contamination no longer existed in the land, the whole point why Montaigne and Walker were here was to research this Q-Virus that both Tappee and Steel Butterfly considered as such a remarkable piece of their history.

Though, it had felt to Naumann as if the entire Operation, atleast between what the Steel Butterfly and Tappee people knew, was filled with far more cloak & dagger than the first Op Brief had even hinted. And he didnt much care for cloak & dagger bullshit, especially if it was his people in the line while it went on.

The second day beneath the snow had been far more interesting. One of the Steel Butterfly researchers had ran into some sort of offensive shielding system and gotten herself killed in the process. Chinran and Anderson, who had had the babysitting duty at the time, had been with the Clairmontian doctors on a different section of the snow caverns at the time and had missed the incident, but from what they had heard of it, there hadnt been much left of the Steel Butterfly scientist by the time the shield system had done its work. The first casualty, and by the time Naumann knew it wouldnt be the last.

Interesting though as the offensive shield had been, it was nothing compared to what lay behind it. An entire city beneath all that snow, protected by the umbrella of the forcefield, which had gone undetected by all the sophisticated sensor arrays of the joint teams. Both Montaigne and Walker had quite simply screamed at him to let them go and do their work at the city, and once again Naumann had had the urge to simply shoot them both and save anyone else the trouble.

However, before the two doctors could come even close to the forcefield and the city behind it, unknown soldiers wearing ancient models of Steel Butterfly ODIN armor had emerged from the city. There had been a short skirmish between the Imperials who had ventured into the city and the unkowns which had ended with the tunnel leading to the forcefield and to the city being blown shut.

That had been twenty minutes ago. While the danger from the unknown combatants seemed to have been contained, Special Operations hammered the lesson of paranoia into each Operatives head so tightly that it would never dislodge. Naumann had arranged a constant two-man patrol of the area around the Raider immidiately, set up a proper perimeter watch with the remote sensor arrays and programmed the Raider's turret on automatic fire. Ofcourse, all these arrangements were in case the hostiles actually got up from below the eighty feet of snow and attacked the Clairmontian team, which seemed unlikely.

Ofcourse, that was just Plan B. He still had his GOTH plan and the Clairvoyant Spirit had been holding its position in orbit perfectly for the last two days, if it came to using that contignency.

For the most part the day had started out like all the others; each of the teams had broken apart to conduct their own research in an attempt. Both Richard and Emma maliciously conduct their work while the rest of the team formed a protective umbrella.

“This sucks” protested Carmen as she stood her station. “There no life here, the only thing that we should be worried about is running into the abominable snowman, I think that we have a better chance of finding him then some virus in the snow.”

“Careful what you wish for” said Emma as she finished with her sample “you what they say, you might get what you are asking for.”

There was a brief moment of laughter from the rest of the team “Cut the chatter” snapped Jeffery quickly. However, he could not finish as sporadic chatter filled the comm. channel, it sounded like someone was dying.

One said a word as the team jumped into action, within seconds all members of the team had their weapons raised and where moving in a calculated formation. By the time they had actually got there it was all over, and a member of the lay dead.

For a moment the two teams stood there in silence, it was if they were all privately honoring the fallen. Jeffery saw Captain Braddock glance over at him then back at his team.

“They wouldn’t understand” said the Captain, Jeffery knew right away as to what he was referring too. “Do we have confirmation?” asked the captain.

“I…I” stammered a Steel Butterfly soldier as he went over to examined the corpse “Confirmation, sir”

Both commanders knew the danger that the body now represented and what had to be done. He knew that there would even be members of his own that would find what they were about do disturbing, but it was necessary.

---

Despite the tragedy the mission had to go on, and past the force field lay a new discovery, and entire city that had withstood so much. Given what had happen the other teams had chosen to turn it in for the day, but both Braddock and Hobers had agreed to push forward and see what they could find out.

Jeffery had pulled his team together to formulate some type of game plan “Richard, Emma, I want you two to back to the Prometheus, until we know what we are dealing with here I don’t want to risk another accident.” He then turned his attention to Marcus and Carmen. You two are with me, given the level of contamination down here if it moves, kill it, understood.” Everyone gave him a quick salute and went their separate ways.

Cautiously the three made their way through the ruins, guns drawn searching for any target that may present itself.

“Do you think that we will run into any of those creatures.” Asked Marcus. Like everyone else he had read the reports, but never had seen it real life, there was only person here that had. “What was it like on Steel Moon?”

“Hell” answered Jeffery coldly, it was a subject of conversation that he didn’t particularly like to talk about, and he was among the handful of survivors that had actually made it out of the final battle of the war. “Trust me, you don’t want to ever go through something like that.”

Suddenly the others seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable, and the so the team moved in silence. A beep on her wrist caused Carmen to end the silence. “Sir I’ve just received word that one of the other teams has made contact with and unknown combatant, Captain Braddock has requested his team to fall back to the rendezvous point.”

“What the hell is going on here,” said Jeffery under his breath, as he took a moment to consider his options. “alright lets fall back double time.”

In a panic they rushed back to the entrance that they had cut into the snow, they had arrived just moments before the Steel Butterfly team, and from the looks of things they had run into some serious trouble. One of their teams members was no longer wearing a helmet. “I want this tunnel sealed off,” Captain Braddock said as he rushed by. “Blast the damn thing.”

“Carmen, Marcus you know what to do.” Ordered Jeffery, though he didn’t know what was going on, now was not the time argue. Quickly both Marcus and Carmen planted explosive charges into the walls, and as soon as everyone was clear the denoted the charges sealing the entrance in their wake.

“We need to talk.” snapped Jeffery as he caught up to Braddock.

:( sorry not paying attention

Captain Andy Braddock nodded. He had read Hobers’ file and knew what the Commander was going to say. Nevertheless, disposing of a body that had already died was far different than killing someone who had the potential to die. Of course, it wasn’t him dying that they were afraid of.

“Agreed,” Braddock replied over the international comm. By this time, Kyle was more than able to walk on his own, and so Xase let go of him as well, not wanting to get any vomit on his suit. “Come,” Braddock said, knowing that without a helmet or headpiece, Kyle could not hear what they were saying. “I’m taking him to a recently abandoned vehicle. I plan to lock him in their for observation. He may prove to be…valuable…”

* * * * *

Adrian and Adina had almost reached the Predator. Other than Tappee, all the other nations had already returned. A few, such as Clairmont, were standing guard outside their vehicles.

“They’d be safer inside,” Adina said as they entered the Predator’s first door. Adrian closed it behind them.

“They’re preparing to defend against a threat,” Adrian explained as the light turned red and a light mist showered their suits. “Standard operating procedure.”

“Those soldiers you said you saw aren’t the threat,” Adina said. The light turned normal once more and the second door opened up into the cargo hold. “The real enemy is what is inside them.”

“That’s hard for some people…some soldiers…to understand,” Adrian said, taking his helmet off. Adina was struggling with hers and he reached over to help. “You can’t shoot a virus…the virus can’t shoot back at you…”

“It will kill you just the same,” Adina frowned, watching Adrian as he helped her get out of her ODIN Armor. Why’s he being nice all of a sudden? “Except there won’t be any resting in peace.” Adina’s armor off, Adrian moved onto his own. Pausing, he looked up.

“Kyle?”

“I…I don’t know…” Adina lied. Granted she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, not knowing what strain and what stage the virus was in, but it didn’t take a scientist to make an accurate guess. Most likely, Kyle was infected, and once infected, there was only one thing you could do. Still, that gave her an idea. “I actually need to get a sample from him.”

“Why?” Adrian asked. He could feel that she was holding something back from him. She never lied well.

“There are cures for some of the strains of the Q-virus,” Adina explained. “Back home, Q-virus programs such as the one I’m involved with have made huge advances in the field after studying Steel Moon and Dr. Ackerman’s notes.”

“NiMBUS…” Adrian muttered under his breath. It seemed they just refused to go away. Only now, with the company destroyed and the people executed, the extent of their corruption and entanglement with the Empire was beginning to be realized. Sure, the main facilities, such as Tatania and Steel Moon, had been eradicated, but Imperial teams were beginning to uncover more and more hidden facilities. Usually, there was no harm done. The disaster at Procul was a notably terrible exception. Could this be another NiMBUS facility?

“Anyhow…if Kyle has one of these strains and we leave rather soon, we could get back in time to save him,” Adina continued.

“That’s assuming he is infected,” Adrian added, knowing the truth but not wanting to admit it.

“…yeah…of course,” Adina replied. Adrian took it as a confirmation, walking through the living quarters and onto the bridge. Adina stepped into the shower.

Just then, Captain Braddock and Sergeant Indra stepped into the cargo hold and stormed up to the bridge.

“Get Rane on screen,” Braddock snapped, barely pausing to remove his helmet. “NOW!” Quickly, Adrian went to work at Kyle’s station, sending the encrypted signal back to the Orion Sector. Dr. Julian Rane’s face appeared before them on the viewscreen. He looked annoyed.

”Do you have any idea what time…?” Rane began, but Braddock cut him off.

“You have a lot of fucking explaining to do,” Captain Braddock ordered to his superior. “And you better start now.”

“Excuse me?” Rane asked, deeply offended that this man would ever talk to him like that.

“You knew damn well what was down here!” Braddock screamed. “You knew and you didn’t tell us. You kept it from us, damnit!”

“Are you drunk, Captain?”

“Goddamnit, Rane,” Braddock continued. “We already had our statistician die, simply because she didn’t know there was a forcefield that would fucking attack her…and now one of my men may be infected, because apparently there are fucking soldiers down here living in the wreckage of a fucking city! How could you forget to fucking mention that?!”

“Well…” Rane said, remaining as calm as he had been. He paused, as if he was contemplating something. “Well what did you expect to find, Captain?” Braddock stood speechless. “You were sent down for a sample. What…did you think you were protecting Dr. Clovis from a plant? Maybe an old piece of cloth? You idiots…the virus exists in animals…in people. People are exactly what you were supposed to find.”

“Who were they?” Braddock asked, confusion taking the place of his rage. Why hadn’t he told us? Would we have still gone if we knew? What else is he hiding?

“I don’t know any more than you do,” Rane explained. “They could be foreigners…taking up residence, they could be NiMBUS employees hiding out from the government…they could be…” but he trailed off. Finishing that sentence wouldn’t help his cause at this time.

“So,” Adrian began, thinking of Kyle. ’…if Kyle has one of these strains and we leave rather soon, we could get back in time to save him’ “Say we have a sample already. That means that the mission is complete, correct?”

“Well now,” Rane retreated, covering his ass. You’re smart, soldier…but I know exactly what ‘sample’ you want to bring back. “The sample would have to be confirmed by Dr. Clovis of course, and any preliminary tests would have to be completed on location.”

“But we’d be able to return?” Adrian asked, pressing the issue. “Given that the tests are conclusive.”

“Missions are never set in stone, Lieutenant,” Rane explained. “And I think the…city you found presents a favorable situation for us all. If they are foreigners, well then they’re trespassing on…or perhaps even invading Imperial soil. If they are NiMBUS employees,” Rane scowled at the thought. “Then they obvious need to be…arrested.”

“And if they’re…zombies?” Xase asked, speaking up for the first time. All three men shot him odd glares. No one was ready to cross that bridge yet. Still, the decaying sight of the first slain warrior had been bothering Xase for some time, and all this talk of NiMBUS had led him to no other conclusion.

”Do you have any proof of that?” Rane asked, trying to sound whimsical but coming off as fake. He obviously was concerned. Xase looked at Adrian, unsure of how he should put it. Adrian made the decision for him.

“No,” he quickly but surely replied. “We’re all worried about Kyle…er…Lieutenant Kuhari…that’s all…sir.” Rane smiled. No proof.

“You could learn a lot from your Lieutenant, Braddock,” Rane said. His was his was of insulting the Captain. “He knows how to talk to his superiors.”

“Of course he’s talking to them without permission to talk,” Braddock shot back, but Rane gave no reaction, simply terminating the link.

“My apologies, sir,” Adrian said to Braddock. “Dr. Clovis said that if we returned soon, there is a chance we could…save Kyle, sir.”

“I understand…” Braddock replied, appearing out of it, as if his mind was somewhere else.

“I don’t get it!” Xase exclaimed. “Why did you just let him sweet-talk you like that?”

“Calm yourself, Sergeant,” Braddock ordered, frowning. “He’s obviously holding stuff back from us. I have a feeling he knows exactly who those people are down there. I also think that he’s using us for something…although I haven’t a clue as to what…”

“Well then why didn’t you tell him about what we saw?” Xase said, turning to Adrian. “…with that soldier?”

“What did you see?” Braddock asked, looking at Adrian as well.

“I got the same feeling you did,” Adrian told Captain Braddock. “He was keeping too many things to himself…keeping us in the dark.

“What did you see?” Braddock repeated, taking a step towards Adrian.

“The first soldier we killed…he…he looked like he was already dead,” Adrian explained. Concern shot across Braddock’s face. “He looked like he had been dead for some time.”

“Son of a bitch…” Braddock whispered, looking out the Predator’s windows towards the abandoned vehicle that Kyle was now locked inside.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis

Lieutenant Kenneth Chinran had no particular love for the patrolling that the Captain had ordered them to conduct. The fact that the land beneath them was potentially radioactive as well as contaminated by viral agents did not make it any more pleasant. But he swallowed his distaste for it was a necessary precaution that he had agreed to.

Before the encounter with the unknowns beneath the snow, the Captain had not seen an immidiate need for perimeter guarding. However, seeing that there were clearly hostile combatants in the area of operations, he had quickly changed his mind and ordered the perimeter around the Raider to be guarded 24/7. Potent as the APC's onboard armaments were, the actual coverage around the vechile that the team could achieve with those armaments left much to be desired.

"Winchester-One, Winchester-Two, call it for now. Winchester-Three will take your place." The voice of Captain Naumann came through Chinran's earbuds crisply and clearly. He acknowledged the order and headed back for the Raider while Sergeant-Major Black took his place.

Before he could even get in to the main compartment of their makeshift base of operations, he could hear the excited sounding chatter of the two scientists, altough he could not make out the actual object of the discussion.

"... we just have to ask them. We didnt come along for this joyride just to see the damn scenery!" Walker was finishing when Chinran stepped from the rear compartment of the APC to the space that acted as the work space for the two scientists.

"I agree. Besides, wasnt part of the point of having so many teams along, that they could use the combined brainpower from many different nationalities." Catherine Montaigne replied.

"And what nefarious schemes are you two planning at the moment?" Chinran asked flatly.

The two gazed at him as if they were looking at someone who was far intellectually inferior to them. It might have annoyed Chinran when he had been 14, now, he brushed it off. He liked being underestimated, it meant that he would always have surprises left in his bag of tricks for those who had done such a mistake.

"Well as you know, one of the Imperial soldiers was apparently contamined during that little skirmish down there. What we would like is a blood sample from the guy so we could finally start with the real objective of this foray." Montaigne replied after a moment of silence.

"I see. You asked the Captain about it?"

"Uhh.. not yet."

"Hmh, ok. Well while Im not particularily thrilled about the prospect of bringing any risk of contamination within this vechile, I agree that you must start doing some headway with the reason why we came here. I'll forward your request to the Captain and see if he can arrange something with the Steel Butterfly team." Chinran said. While he had his doubts about the Imperial Team reacting co-operatively to the request, it was worth trying nonetheless.



Captain Naumann checked the clip on his battle rifle by reflex. Not that it was necessary, his combat suit told him exactly the number of rounds in the magazine. Nevertheless, it was a habit, a reflex action that he always did when he was contemplating a situation at hand.

Judging by the initial data from the confrontation with the unknowns as well as the brief they had been given on the Q-Virus as well as the history of this particular area, it was high propability that those soldiers that the Steel Butterfly team had encountered might be the results of the Q-Virus. Ofcourse, Naumann did not have proof as of yet but it was an explanation that made sense. And the prospect of engaging these... living dead or whatever the fuck they were was unsettling, but hardly frightening.

Ofcourse, there was no quaranteeing that they even would have to meet much less fight the enemy again, seeing as to how the Steel Butterfly team apparently now had a sample of the virus, albeit in the form of one of their own.

"Winchester-One, Winchester-Two. Eggheads are requesting a blood sample from the supposedly infected Imperial trooper. I concur with their request, if only to finish this piece of shit of an operation and get back to doing something important." Kenneth Chinran's voice told him, snapping his focus back from the matters he had been considering.

Naumann contemplated the idea. Altough he really despised the idea of possibly contaminating the entire team he was supposed to protect by getting that blood sample for the two doctors, he also understood that it was a necessary step towards the completion of the operation.

"Winchester-Two, Winchester-One. Tell the docs they'll have their blood sample." Naumann replied, and began trotting towards the Steel Butterfly command vechile.

Orion Sector

Dr. Julian Rane strolled triumphantly into the office of the Imperial Commander, General Jack Valkare. Valkare looked up only to sink back into his chair in disgust. He didn’t have time for the Director of Intelligence’s gloating.

“Do I even want to ask?” Valkare snarled, taking off his reading glasses. They made him feel old, but then again, at forty-five, he was no longer the swashbuckling man of his youth. While he was in excellent shape and quite possibly could fight with the best of them, “Lionheart” had been confined to a desk far too long for his liking.

“Guess what they found?” Rane asked, smug as ever.

“I suppose you’ll have to tell me who ‘they’ are first,” Valkare replied. He had far too many people spread out across the entire galaxy for a vague term like ‘they’ to automatically inspire thoughts of exact groups of people.

“Operation Restoration,” Rane responded, knowing full well that this wouldn’t help Valkare in the least. “The mission to Steel Earth.”

“When did it get that name?” Valkare asked. I should have know this is what it would be about.

“Since the beginning,” Rane lied, although he didn’t care if Valkare knew it was a lie or not.

“What did they find?” Valkare asked, half-interested. “A sample?”

“A colony,” Rane said, a smile spreading across his cheek. Valkare didn’t find it as amusing.

“Do you have confirmation?” Valkare questioned, now far more interested. “Any NiMBUS facilities?”

“Our team engaged a group of soldiers, dressed in Mark I ODIN Armor,” Rane said, prompting Valkare to look amazed. Chalk one up for me…

“You have to get them out of there! They aren’t equipped to deal with such a situation! There could be millions of these soldiers down there!” Valkare exclaimed, standing to leave. The Emperor had to be informed at once. Bivens had brushed off his suspicions last time, but now, with their conversation being recorded, the Emperor would have to believe him completely. “Especially the foreign teams. They cannot be allowed to learn that remnants of NiMBUS are still out there. That is a fact that is to stay between Tappee and us exclusively.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rane said, brushing it off. “They won’t be returning to their nations anyhow.” Again, Valkare’s suspicions had come true. “One of our men is infected.” It was just as he feared.

Soon after the Civil War concluded, with all life on Steel Moon being decimated by the Hellfire Cannon, Emperor Bivens had realized that all traces of NiMBUS Biotechnologies had been wiped from the Orion Sector. Of course the Emperor knew that there were fragmented research facilities hidden all over the galaxy, so he made it illegal for anyone who came in contact with the Q-virus ever to return to the Empire unless the virus was contained by a very strict set of standards.

Rane knew this all along. He knew that this wasn’t going to be a simple sample gathering. He knew that they could come in contact with unregulated forms of the virus and would not be allowed to return. Could he have known about the colony?

“So what do you plan on doing?” Valkare asked. Rane only smiled. “I think we should send troops in. Our team needs support.”

“And start a war with the undead…on earth?” Rane laughed. “Oh I’m sure they’ll be lining up at the door for that assignment. The goddamn international press will have a field day too.” Valkare frowned. Rane had a point. “I have already suggested to the Emperor that we use the Hellfire Cannon.” Valkare stared at him dumbfounded. “It has proved highly effective in dealing with Steel Moon.”

Steel Moon had been overrun when NiMBUS unleashed their experiments on the troops, and in response the leaders of the Resistance, who were now the leaders of the Empire, had fired the experimental Hellfire Cannon at the planet as a last ditch effort to eliminate NiMBUS for good. While it was wildly successful in eliminating the monsters and the Q-virus alike, it had quite literally killed the planet. No life existed, and according to scientists, no life ever would in the foreseeable future. One shot engulfed the planet in death.

“You…have to be shitting me,” Valkare said, stumbling over the words. “You can’t shoot that fucking thing at Earth! Do you know how many nations…how many people are on that planet? You’re out of your goddamn mind!”

“We would shoot a less concentrated beam to try and…”

“Bullshit!” Valkare screamed, shoving Rane out of his way en route to his door. There was no time for this. He needed to talk to the Emperor now. “Maybe you don’t know this because you weren’t involved,” Valkare snapped. “But the beam we shot at Steel Moon was a goddamned test beam. It was one tenth of the size we thought we needed to take out the city. It ended up engulfing the planet. It sets off a fucking chain reaction, Julian. You can’t stop it!”

“Calm down,” Rane laughed, shaking his head. “I knew that would get a rise out of you.” Valkare glared at him, enraged. “The Emperor turned it down.” Instantly, it felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off the General’s shoulders. “However he did agree with me on one thing.” Rane paused for dramatic effect. “I’m sending those people back in there.”

“You’re condemning them all to death…” Valkare said, calmer now. He shook his head as he slid back into a chain. “For no reason at all.”

“We need to learn more about it,” Rane said. “This is the original strain…the ultimate strain. It has no beneficial uses. The others could produce monsters…or super soldiers…or fucking supermen for all anyone knows. This one…it just kills…and it kills fast…and it kills everyone…then it brings them back to life, for no reason whatsoever. We have no cure for it because we have no knowledge of it. If this ever got out, it would be the end. The end, General. These people can never leave that forsaken place, but what they do will potentially save how many lives?”

“They won’t all come in contact with the virus, damnit,” Valkare protested. “They have suits on for god’s sake.”

“Are you willing to take that chance?” Rane asked.

“What are you talking about?” Valkare shouted. “There is no chance. It’s sad, and the one who got infected will have to die…but everyone else can return following proper procedures.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Rane said. “We’re taking out the whole colony…and these people will be the ones to do it…even if it is for their own survival.”

“They can still return!” Valkare demanded, almost exhausted.

“If they survive,” Rane said. Both men knew what the chances of that were.

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General Jack Valkare - Dr. Julian Rane

Steel Earth
(Western Russia)

Captain Braddock scowled at the computer. Commander Hobers, who Braddock had managed to avoid talking with earlier, was on his was towards the Predator, now joined by Clairmont Captain Naumann. Braddock wanted to talk with neither of them, simply because he didn’t know what to say. Of course he had his suspicions, but they were neither backed with evidence nor able to rightfully be discussed with foreign powers. He wasn’t about to cross that boundary yet.

“Sergeant,” Braddock said to Xase, returning his helmet to his head. He and Sergeant Indra still hadn’t taken off their ODIN Armor. “It seems that some of our friends want to talk. You will be escorting me.” Xase grunted, unhappy about not being able to relax. Braddock turned to Adrian. “Keep an eye on the Predator,” the Captain said. He smiled. “And Dr. Clovis.” The two of them stepped through the dual doors into the snow, which had begun to fall once more.

Stretching his arms, Adrian felt gross. He had sweated through his clothing in multiple areas and desperately wanted to clean him self off and fall asleep. Walking back into the living quarters, he noticed Adina, dressed in a towel. He looked at her, un-phased as she dried off her hair with another towel before putting it up into a ponytail in the mirror. He had seen it, and more, a thousand times over.

"What's going to be done about Kyle?" Adina asked, turning to see him. Adrian frowned; he didn't want to think about it.

“Didn’t you say…?”

“I heard it from the shower,” Adina explained. “I just wasn’t going to let that prick see me like this. We’re not going back.” She seemed concerned. “You know what that means?”

“Yeah,” Adrian said, taking off his shirt and wiping his face with it. His body was trim, muscular but not overpowering, with the look of soldier chiseled by years of war. At least it feels that way, Adrian thought himself. In truth he was merely twenty-three. Tattoos graced both of his upper arms, a dagger with a rose wrapped around it on his left, a wolf’s head on his right shoulder, and a band around his right bicep. The wolf was for his unit, the dagger and rose for his father, and the band was simply a spur of a moment.

“It’s such…it’s such a terrible way to go…” Adina replied, looking at Adrian’s body with fond memories. She quickly shook the thought out of her head. This was not the time.

Adrian nodded his head, stepping into the small bathroom on board. The sonic shower was cleansing for sure, but it was nowhere near as refreshing as the usual water showers back home. Apparently Adina had agreed, washing her hair in the sink and making somewhat of a mess with it. Adrian dropped his pants and stepped into the shower, closing his eyes as the rays swept the dirt and sweat off his body.

By the time he got out, Adina had fallen asleep and Braddock and Xase still hadn’t returned. Adrian sat down on his bunk, pulling the covers down far enough for him to climb into, and stared at the empty bunks of Felicity and Kyle. One was dead, the other even worse off, and yet it didn’t feel like it.

There were no tears like at family funerals, with everyone crying and telling stories of their lives. There was no solemn respect like at military funerals, with salutes and weapons fire and honor. It was if they weren’t actually gone or close to it. Adrian easily imagined both of them simply walking back in the door with the Captain and Xase.

Lying down, that hadn’t been the first time Adrian felt that way. He pulled the covers over his shoulders and shut his eyes.

”Daddy?” Adrian had said, waking up in the middle of the night. The other kids told stories of little Adrian crying in his sleep, or more commonly, asking for his dad. Still, he was old enough to know that no amount of tears could bring his father back.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Dr. Adina Clovis

As Naumann came closer to the Imperial vechile, the Steel Butterfly Captain in charge of their expedition exited it along with the Sergeant Xase. Naumann approached them briskly and with confident steps, stopping a couple of meters away from them.

"Captain, Sergeant." He nodded to both of them before going to business.

"Right off the bat I want to apologize for even asking what Im about to ask. But as you understand perfectly well, civilians often tend to forget certain military courtesies and unwritten rules. Now with that unpleasantness out of the way, we got a word that one of your troops, namely one Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari, potentially was infected with the Q-Viral agent short while ago. Since this is primarily meant as a research and explorative expedition, my eggheads are requesting for a blood sample from your troop to conduct their research." The Captain said, without even attempting to make it sound better than it did. He knew how he would have reacted if some foreigner came to ask him for a blood sample from a trooper that had been wounded in action, and he had a fair clue how the Imperial Captain would react now. Regardless, there was a shrewd logic behind the request, or otherwise Naumann would not have agreed to forward that request.

He observed the reaction of his counterpart closely, expecting for the reply.


"I wonder if we're going to go back down there." Deni Anderson muttered out loud while taking pot shots from the mug of recaf she held in her right hand.

"Propably." Sergeant Major Black answered matter-of-factly.

Deni raised her gaze on the Cadreman who was conducting maintenance on his battle rifle while munching down an MRE. The way the man was doing the maintenance was proof enough for Deni that he had done it thousands of times before, a result of which was that he propably knew the gun as well as any part of his own body.

"You figure that the Steel Butterfly higher-ups will want more than their team can provide them now?" She asked the man curiously.

"Mm-hmm." Black murmured.

"You talk a whole fucking lot dont you?" She said and chuckled though receiving no reply.

"Going down there though means propable combat with those unknowns again. Zombie troops with body armour, makes me wish we had brought in some Battle Armor." She said.

As Deni finished voicing her complaints, Black had reassembled the M-98 Battle Rifle and patted it lovingly in an obvious display of sarcasm.

"Indeed my fellow Cadreman, indeed." She agreed.

Sound of keystrokes cut through the silence in the Prometheus as Jeffery finished writing his report and sent it to command. No one had said a word since they got back, they all knew the procedures, and just how dire the situation actually was, and that the chances of them actually returning home were growing slim with each passing moment.

“Alright, I think that is time that we have chat with the other team leader now” said Hobers as he sat back in his chair. He glanced over Marcus, the strain of his position could be seen his face “Marcus you’ve got shotgun.”

Letting a out brief sigh Marcus put his helmet on, and then the two men stepped outside to make their way to meet the others.


“Do you think that they will actually issue the order” asked Richard, his voice was a bit shaky, and he stuttered a little.

“What does it matter if they do, we all knew the risk” snapped Carmen back. Richard and her had never really gotten along; she had been trained as spec ops soldier, and had always seen any of scientists as nothing more then liability. She was here to protect them, now she may never leave, and for a moment she almost resented them.

Sensing the tension between the two Emma quickly tried to chance the subject “What do think is actually down. Do you think that those creature may down there.”

“If they are, then they will dealt” answered Carmen as she slammed her rifle into the weapons locker. She then started taking off the rest of her gear. “I would suggest the two of you get some rest while you still can.

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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

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Marcus

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Carmen Anfiego

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Emma Dalson

“How’s operation Canistrum coming along?” asked Jade as she looked over the top of the file that she was reading. Jade Allenson was the director of the Tribunal, the most powerful organization in the country. Sitting across from her was Emily Williams director of the Sentinel Program, as was responsible for protecting Tappee against any biological threats. They had come together for the daily briefing, and where currently sitting in Emily’s office.

“Good” answered Emily, she took a moment to adjust her glasses before over at Jade “Our agent reports that the player are coming together to decide how best to proceed.”

“What’s wrong” with her years as field agent Jade could easily pick on people emotions, even from things as subtle as their words tones.

Normally Emily would have been caught by surprise by the question, but the two had know each for long enough, and Emily knew what Jade was capable of. “Are you sure that this is right way to do this.” Asked Emily as she took her glasses off and placed on her desk. “Is getting more intel on Queen Bee that important, is it worth the risk.?”

Jade closed the file that she was reading and placed it on the desk. “At the moment, Queen Bee has been given more priority then even that of the Rhine Maiden. I’ve ready wasted enough manpower and resources on Queen Bee, so why would I not let others take the risk for me.”

Suddenly there was knock on the door as one Emily’s aids poked their head out from behind the door, and from the look on his face there was something wrong. “Ma’am we seem to have a situation. We have just received a report from Commander Hobers, that you may want to see.”

“ Let me see.” Said Emily as she got to take the report. As she went to sit down she glanced over the document. By the time she was seated, she was concerned. “Take a look at this.” She quickly passed it over to Jade.


“Well this is most certainly interesting.” Proclaim Jade she finished reading. As she finished she glanced over at the aid “I want you get me Dr Julian Rane of SB intelligence, and get him now. Patch him through to this office, Emily I’m going to need your office for a moment.”

Nodding with agreement Emily once again got up. “What are you going to do if he asks about Operation Canistrum?” she asked as she reached the door.

“I will tell him the truth, or at least part of it.” answered Jade quickly.

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Emily Williams

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Jade Allenson

Slowly the snow fell the ground, only adding to the surreal feeling around them, Jeffery and Marcus could hear the snow being crushed as the walked through it. From the surface one could never tell that there was hidden horror waiting beneath.

“Kind of depressing isn’t” said Marcus referring to the landscape.

“You want hope, join the peace core.” Snapped Jeffery back quickly. Such a response was not normal from him, but he had given up on trying to baby sit his team, the universe was not a nice place and had seen most of its horrors. Just off in the distance he could see Captain Braddock and one his soldier waiting. “I need you to let my people examine your soldier, and that is not a request.” Demanded Hobers as they got close enough, now was not the time for pleasantries.

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Jeffery Hobers

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Marcus

Captain Braddock snorted at the Tappee Commander's demand. The Clairmont Captain had been far more eloquent. Then again, they were not politicians, and given what the situation was, high tempers could easily be excused.

“Gentlemen,” Braddock greeted them, shaking hands like the politician that he supposedly wasn’t. “It seems we all want the same thing here.” Braddock looked over his shoulder to Sergeant Indra, who tightened his grip on his rifle. “But he’s my man.” Braddock looked at both of them, trying to envision their eyes behind their masks. He had to try. “We’ll take the sample and when we’re done…we’ll share the data.”

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Cpt. Andrew Braddock

“They want samples,” Dr. Julian Rane muttered to himself aloud in disgust as he rummaged through his desk. He was unusually uneasy, but that was understandable considering the situation at hand.

Over an hour ago Valkare had met with the Emperor, and now, being that the General had not emerged from the Imperial Office, Rane could only assume what was being said. The Emperor’s office was perhaps the only place in the Empire, no, the whole Orion Sector, that Rane could not listen in on. The sharp feeling of weakness was nearly sickening.

“Sure,” he grumbled to himself sarcastically. “Lets give them samples. Hell, lets just hand them the keys to NiMBUS…tell them how to do the experiments too. You know what? We should just fucking sell it to everyone who can buy it. Give the entire goddamn galaxy the Q-virus.”

“Sir?” an aide questioned, standing at attention. Rane instantly felt ridiculous, and almost felt his face blush. Trying to shake it off, he rose an eyebrow as if to ask “what.” “The information you wanted is here.”

“Ah!” Rane exclaimed, rushing over to his aide.

“The abandoned ship they are using is of Walten origin, sir,” the aide explained. “Probably bought used at a intergalactic market. Still…”

Rane didn’t have to listen to the rest. Walten had been a long time ally of Steel Butterfly the first time they had landed on Earth, and had fought along side the Empire in many of the Colonial Wars. What all this meant to Rane was one thing: they already knew the codes to the ship.

“You are dismissed now,” Rane told the aide, who promptly placed the datapad on Rane’s desk and left. Smiling, Rane walked to his desk, sat down, and turned his intergalactic comm link to the highest level of encryption. If there was one thing Rane wasn’t going to allow, it was for more nations to get their hands on that bastard virus.

* * * * *

Second Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari could do little but cry. He was a prisoner of his own people, people he had fought beside, people whose lives he had saved many times, and he could do nothing about it. From what they said, his life would be over. It could take days, or as little as a few more hours, but sooner than later he would die, and then be consumed with an unholy desire to feed.

The thought sickened him more than it frightened him. Even as a wimpy soldier he had come to terms with his own death long ago. Death was a necessary part of life. Sure, it came earlier for some, and later for others, but ultimately everyone died. What made him sick was the manner in which he would die, and the manner in which his shell of a body would carry on after his consciousness had long since drifted away.

“Lieutenant?” a voice called, static and garbled. “Lieutenant…Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari?” Slowly it was becoming clearer.

“Y-yes?” Kyle asked.

“Lieutenant, this is Dr. Julian Rane,” Rane announced. “I think we can help each other.”

“Bullshit,” Kyle replied, his rising hopes instantly crushed.

“Excuse me?” Rane asked, taken back.

“Prove it!” Kyle demanded. Instantly Rane’s face appeared on the viewscreen of the abandoned ship. He was less than pleased. Kyle wiped his tears from his eyes and scrambled to his feet, saluting. “Dr. Rane!”

“Enough, Lieutenant,” Rane muttered.

“If you can save my life I’ll do anything you want!” Kyle exclaimed, his face lighting up once more.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Rane replied, grim. “The fact is, Lieutenant Kuhari, you’re going to die.” Kyle almost burst into tears. “The Q-virus will kill you. There is no known cure to the original strain, which is now flowing throughout your veins. All men die, Lieutenant. What I’m offering you is the chance to die with a purpose…to die with dignity.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Kyle asked, sitting down in a corner.

“Look at you, locked in a cell like a dog sick with rabies,” Rane said, shaking his head. “There will be men coming for you, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, to take samples from you…to use you like a lab experiment…only to throw you aside, destroying your body after they’ve taken what they need.” Kyle felt queasy again. “They want the virus, Lieutenant, but I can’t let them have it. Here’s where the deal comes it. I’ll let you escape. I’ll show you the way back to that hidden city. I’ll let you die free, and in peace. In return, all you’re giving me is the security of knowing that the poison that courses through your veins will never fall into the hands of those who want it.”

Kyle barely had to think about it. “I…I’ll do it!” he exclaimed, standing and looking towards the door. “Just get me out of here.”

“There should be a datapad nearby,” Rane instructed. Kyle quickly looked around and found one on the floor. “Plug it into the comm. I will download onto it the security codes for the vessel you’re trapped in, as well as a map towards the city you just came from.”

“Why do I want to go there?” Kyle asked.

Because they’ll follow you! Rane wanted to exclaim. Lying, he said, “Because you’ll be away from the teams.”

Kyle nodded and did what he was instructed to do. The codes opened up a weapons locker, which Kyle would use to melt the snow tunnels. More importantly, however, the codes opened the door to the ship.

Looking out, Kyle could barely see the men in the distance. From the armor, he could tell that two of them were Imperial. Shutting the door behind him, he ran off into the night.

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Kyle Kuhari - Dr. Julian Rane

Naumann had been persistant with his request of the sample, but after fifteen minutes of coersion he had deemed the debate a waste of his time. He had pointed out to Captain Braddock that this was a joint venture, that if the Empire wished to badly to keep their loose ends hidden from the eyes of others, they shouldnt call for their allies to join them in exploratory operations such as these. The Clairmont team was here to investigate, and thus far they had very little of any objective material to investigate. Naumann hoped that the Imperial Captain would at some point change his mind and provide the sample, but at the moment he opted not to hold his breath waiting for that to happen.

He stepped in to the warmth of the Raider, leaving the rifle and helmet at the rear compartment. The two eggheads were obviously waiting for him to provide the sample, he would have to smash down their hopes.

"Sorry Docs, as I expected Captain Braddock is not too thrilled about the idea of allowing us to use his wounded man as a lab rat. Though he did say that they would examine Lieutenant Kuhari and forward the findings to us." He stated flatly.

The expressions of Dr. Montaigne and Walker changed rapidly into scornful anger.

"Oh thats just fucking wonderful. So noble of them to do all the work while we just get the best bits." Montaigne said, her voice dripping sarcasm at the last remark.

"Why did they even invite us along? Are we the comedy relief of this expedition or something?" Walker asked.

Naumann took a gulp from the cup of recaf he had poured himself and answered bluntly.

"Seriously Doc, I have no idea so you can quit whining to me about their decision."

"I never thought I would say this, but Walker has a point Sir. What is our function in this operation if the Imperials pick and choose the findings they want to share and those that they dont." Chinran said.

Silence hovered for a moment as everyone was thinking for the alternatives and a possible answer.

"Support, or if need be, sacrificial lambs we are." Sergeant Major Black said out loud from his position at the turret. Nobody liked thes uggestion he had made too much.

[OOC: Be sure to check The OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10936925#post10936925)]

Braddock and Xase could tell that the foreign team leaders were upset to say the least but there was little they could do about it at this point. Turning around while the other two glared at them through their protective masks, the Captain and his Sergeant walked back to the Predator.

“Why can’t we just let them see him?” Xase asked the Captain over a secure comm link.

“What does it matter?” Braddock replied, as he had been conditioned to do. “If he has the virus, we’ll find out and tell them. If he doesn’t, we’ll find out and tell them. There’s no need for them to get a sample.”

“Doesn’t Tappee already have samples of the virus?” Xase continued.

“Only because they have had outbreaks of the virus on their own soil,” Braddock explained. “They were never given samples for the hell of it. NiMBUS was…cruelly intelligent. Outside of the main facility on Steel Moon, all other high-level experimentation facilities were kept out of the Empire, and in many cases, out of the entire Orion Sector. It seems even they had a bit of national pride.”

“So what do we do now?” Xase asked.

“What we’re here to do,” Braddock replied. “Dr. Clovis needs two vials of the virus. Two vials of virus-infected blood should do the trick.” He paused, looking at Xase, knowing that the career-soldier would understand what had to be done. “After that we have to take care of Kyle.”

Perhaps a normal person, or a civilian, would have thought differently. It only made sense to care for the sick, so there would have been a chance, had Braddock been talking to someone else, that they would have taken what he said in a different light. For Xase, there was no chance; he knew exactly what the Captain had meant. The Q-virus was simply far too dangerous.

Xase didn’t frown, nor scowl, nor whimper at the thought. The survival of the group was far more important than one of its members. It felt strange for Xase, so disenfranchised by the purpose of this mission originally, to have such a strong sense of purpose all of a sudden. Seeing that already dead soldier fight them before dying once more had changed him. Suddenly he had understood the need for Dr. Clovis to find a cure for that virus. Suddenly he didn’t mind being her escort, now that he finally saw the need.

The two of them reached the Predator and passed through all the necessary detox before entering the cargo hold. Captain Braddock stared at the two suits hanging up as two distinct thoughts crept into his mind. For one, Adrian and Adina had been out of their ODIN Armor for a few hours now. He and Xase, on the other hand, had put in a full day’s work in theirs, and their bodies were starting to feel the strain of all the extra pounds. The second thought was far more dismal. There were two other places for suits to be hung, and neither of those two suits would even be returning. The Captain shook his head. He could kill a hundred men and not bat an eye. He even was going to kill one of his own to save the rest of them. Still, every man, or in this case woman, he lost caused a very distinct chill to run down his spine.

The two of them walked through the crew quarters where they saw Adrian, asleep in his bunk. Instantly the two of them felt fatigue come down like a hammer on their minds as they realized that the night wasn’t even over for them. Luckily, as they stepped onto the bridge, they discovered that Adina was still awake.

“The natives are getting restless,” Captain Braddock said in reference to the foreign teams. Adina looked at him strangely, not getting the reference. Braddock decided to ignore it and move on. “It’s time to get our samples before everyone else does.”

“…I don’t need to come with you, do I?” Adina asked. Braddock stopped to think. It’s true, he thought. And I’d much rather her not see Kyle in the state he is now. We can’t have her feeling bad for him.

“You’ll be awake when we return, correct?” Braddock asked.

“I’m exhausted, Captain,” Adina responded, yawning with perfect timing. She frowned. “If we’re not going home either way, I’d rather start work tomorrow after a full night’s rest. I’d recommend the same for both of you.” Xase snorted.

“Civilians,” he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for Adina to hear. Xase turned to look at the Captain, who for the third time today, reached down for his helmet and put it on.

“We might as well go on a date after all this time we’re spending together,” Braddock joked as he and Xase exited the Predator. Xase didn’t find it amusing. The two of them approached the abandoned vehicle carefully, but with caution.

“Who would leave their fucking vehicle?” Xase asked, shaking his head. By now, Braddock didn’t know. Three or four teams had left following the Felicity and Xase incident, and Braddock didn’t know exactly whose land vehicle they were storing Kyle in.

“Apparently someone who really doesn’t care about his or her vehicle,” Braddock replied, knowing that could anyone. “Or someone who just wanted out of here fast,” he added, thinking that option was more likely.

The foreign vehicle was a bit older than the others here, and Braddock wondered if whoever had brought it were actually the ones who built it. Ship and vehicle trade was abundant throughout the galaxy, and many nations sold off their old technology through storefronts. The Empire hadn’t done it for years, since Emperor Kyou Graav’s day. Nemerov and Bivens both thought the idea was disgusting.

“Rifles ready,” Braddock ordered, raising his as well. Kyle would be a desperate man, but he was also a highly trained killer, two combinations that didn’t quite suit each other. Entering the key code, the cabin decompressed and the door quickly opened, revealing the dark interior. Flashlight on, Xase entered the vehicle quickly, followed by Braddock, to find the first room empty.

”Clear,” Xase announced, moving onto the next room. Braddock made sure to shut the door to the outside. The two of them progressed through the next two rooms, both times coming up short. Still, the idea of Kyle escaping didn’t even enter into their minds. Quickly they searched through every compartment they could find in the vehicle, ultimately coming to the conclusion that Kyle had found a hidden compartment that they were unaware of.

As Xase continued to search, Captain Braddock investigated the vehicle’s main computer. His goal was to search the vessel for life forms, but he found something far more interesting…something that scared him to his core.

“Xase,” Braddock called. “Xase, get your ass over here, now.” Xase heard the urgency in the Captain’s voice and quickly came to stand beside him. “Look at this,” Braddock said, pointing down at the screen.

“Fuck,” Xase said, gritting his teeth. The screen showed many things, but one was definitely a code that had been entered from the inside…a code that had unlocked the door.

“A-alert the others,” Braddock stammered, feeling sick as he said it. “That son-of-a-bitch escaped.”

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Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra

Lieutenant Kuhari had gotten out. As Dr. Julian Rane sat smiling in his seat, victorious and beaming, a small bell rang from his desk. Irritated that someone had interrupted his triumph, Rane grumbled as he checked on the sound.

A transmission was incoming from Tappee, and raising an eyebrow, Rane opened it to find the very attractive face of Jade Allenson staring back at him. Flashing her his best smile, he shifted his mood.

“Ms. Allenson,” Rane said. “What did I do to deserve such a meeting?” he paused for effect. “Is there something specific I can help you with?” Rane winked. “If not I’m sure I could make it to Tappee for dinner.”

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Dr. Julian Rane

"What the hell...." Deni Anderson muttered as the sensors and recon drones she used to effect surveillance of the area started showing a LOT of commotion within the Imperial team.

"Something is going on cap'n." She said almost immidiately to Naumann who took a short look at what the screens were showing and motioned to Chinran and Black.

"Ken, Sar' major, you're with me." He said, and the two acknowledged.

All the four soldiers of the team kept their combat suits on nearly 24/7 so that they would never have to waste time on taking them off if the shit hit the fan. Now Naumann, Chinran and the Sergeant Major simply picked up their weapons and donned their helmets before heading outside to the cold.

Standard operating procedure dictated that obtaining situational awareness was key. At the moment, the Clairmont team lacked that very situational awareness as they had no idea what was going on.

"This is Captain Naumann to Captain Braddock" Naumann said as he called through the comm, wincing internally at the lack of proper communication protocol.

"What's the situation Captain?" He asked simply.

”The boy tested with excellent physical skills and mental capacity,” the orphanage headmaster said, resting his hand hard on Adrian’s shoulder. Young Adrian looked up at the three men surrounding him, wondering why they were talking about him like he wasn’t there.

“He seems like a perfect candidate,” one of the men told the other.

“I was under the impression that all orphans who passed the entrance exam were admitted into the Orion Military Academy…” the headmaster said. The two men looked at each other, pausing, as if trying to come up with a lie.

“That is correct,” the second man said, allowing the first, apparently his senior, to elaborate.

“However, certain programs have…certain requirements…” the first man told the orphanage headmaster. He took a deep breath and told the truth as vague as he could tell it. “We pick certain students to observe throughout their stay at OMA. We believe young Mister Winters, there, will be one we keep an eye on.”

Adrian opened his eyes. He felt groggy, and he could tell it wasn’t morning yet. Still, it was close, and yet Adina was the only one else in her bed. Wondering why he woke up, he rose to splash some water on his face.

Staring into the mirror, Adrian frowned. His typical four o’clock shadow had become much thicker over the three days on Earth and he wasn’t a fan of his new beard. He pressed his eyes together hard as he gathered the cold water in his hands, throwing it onto his face as the sound rang once more. That was what had woke him up.

Slowly he walked to the Predator’s Cabin and opened the comm, expecting to hear Captain Braddock on the other line. Why were Xase and the Captain outside? Instead, it was Captain Naumann from Clairmont.

"This is Captain Naumann to Captain Braddock" Naumann announced over the comm. “What’s the situation, Captain?” Adrian looked around the cabin again just to make sure. No, he told himself. All alone.

“This is First Lieutenant Adrian Winters,” Adrian replied. “Captain Braddock is no present at the moment.” He looked down at the clock. “It’s 3:30 in the morning,” Adrian grumbled. “There is no sit…” But he was interrupted as Captain Braddock and Sergeant Indra stormed from the cargo bay to the bridge.

“Captain Naumann, this is Captain Braddock,” Braddock said over the comm. Xase quickly got on a monitor to search for life forms. “I apologize. I was not on the Predator until just now.” He paused, looking at Xase for conformation. After a few moments, Xase turned and nodded. Braddock shook his head. He had feared this.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news, Captain, that I need to tell all of you.” Quickly Braddock patched the comm to every team that was on Earth. “Second Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari, the infected soldier, has escaped from the vehicle he was held captive in. We believe he discovered codes which opened the security locked doors, as well as a weapons locker. He is to be considered armed and most dangerous, due both to his advanced training as well as the virus coursing in his veins.” Braddock let what he was saying settle in. “I’m not sure if it is lucky or not, but our computers have shown that Lieutenant Kuhari is heading through the tunnels towards the one that we locked off…the one towards the city.”

Adrian looked at Xase, who answered him with a nod. Quickly, and as alert now as ever, Adrian rushed to the cargo hold to suit up. Xase stood from the console, and put his helmet on and latched it before following the Lieutenant to the back of the Predator.

“It’ll be up to all of you to decide individually,” Captain Braddock explained. “Because it is our problem…but we’re going back in there.”

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra

Naumann frowned slightly at his colleagues announcement that Lt. Kuhari had escaped. However the details worried him. What had provoked the young lieutenant to the point that he believed it would be within his best interests to escape in the first place for starters. Second, where the blazing two hells had he gotten the codes to escape, Naumann did not believe god would be delivering such codes to anyone and at the moment the old man up there was as good a suspect as anyone.

"This is Captain Naumann, we copy you on this announcement. We will naturally assist you in recapturing Lieutenant Kuhari." Naumann said over the line then began barking orders in rapid fire.

"Push the drones out to eight kilometer perimeter, just in case Kuhari actually attempts go somewhere on the surface. Deni, you will remain at watch, keep the guns hot and go live on the autofire protocols. ROE Delta in effect." He said first to Anderson who acknowledged briskly and began punching commands to her console.

"We will go after the good Lieutenant using a three-man fireteam configuration. Sar' Major, you will be our support element with the plasma rifle." He said to Chinran and Black.


A minute and a half later their boots struck the snow and they began sprinting towards the hole down to the snow caverns where the expedition had first encountered the forcefield, the city beneath it and its bizzarre occupants.

"Ok, we know that Kuhari swooped a weapon before he got off so we can assume he will use it against us if we try to apprehend him. However, primary objective is to bring him back alive so we will proceed with ROE Echo." Naumann wasnt too happy about having to go with Rules of Engagement Echo. It hamstrung their capabilities significantly by dictating that opening fire against the objective was allowed only, if it at the moment presented a critical threat to the force against it. The colonel however had every intention to bring the man back alive but he could not guarantee that Lieutenant Kuhari had any wish to be brought back at all.

The frigid air of the frozen tunnels was cold to his face, but Kyle was still more than grateful to be otherwise fully encased inside his ODIN Armor. The scent of vomit was barely noticeable anymore, although his right shoulder still ached, his right arm still difficult to lift.

As he blasted through the snow to get to the hole in the forcefield, Kyle knew not what he expected to find within the city, but just as doubt appeared in his twisting mind, the datapad he held in his right hand beeped, and Kyle quickly switched it on.

“You’re almost there,” Dr. Julian Rane said, as if he was trying to hide a smile. Kyle nodded, frowning. “Don’t worry,” Rane replied, noticing Kyle’s reaction. “Your actions and contributions will be remembered.”

“And my body?” Kyle asked. “For my family?”

“I wasn’t aware that you had any,” Rane replied, holding off on calling him a liar. The Director of Intelligence really had no time for this, but this was not the occasion for Rane to be angering his pawn.

“I…I don’t…” Kyle responded, as if it was the first time he actually realized it. His stomach felt sick, his head was throbbing, and he was walking towards his impending death. It was enough to make anyone sentimental.

“I didn’t think so,” Rane said. “But that’s simply perfect,” You truly are perfect for this. “No one will miss you…and yet everyone will honor and remember you.”

No one will miss me, Kyle thought to himself. Is that the case? He had always gotten the idea that Xase and Adrian didn’t care for him. He was, after all, higher in rank than Xase, however Xase had always treated him like a child. Adrian simply didn’t give him the time of day. Neither expected much out of him, and neither allowed him to prove them wrong. But the Captain? Captain Braddock did commend him on occasion, and kept him around through all of his shortcomings. The Captain will miss me…I’m sure of it…

“You must hurry, Lieutenant,” Rane ordered. “I’m sure they’ve noticed by now…”

“Hurry to where?” Kyle asked, his view shifting from the screen on the datapad to the doorway in the forcefield that was directly above him, the small room that had been Felicity’s final resting place mere feet from his present location.

“It’s an abandoned city, Lieutenant,” Rane said. He was growing tired of leading this man around by the hand like a child. “I’m sure you’ll find some place to live out your life.”

“And if I see any more of those…soldiers?” Kyle asked, not knowing what exactly to call them.

“You’re an elite soldier, Lieutenant,” Rane said, impatiently. Then again, perhaps Kyle could serve his interests even more. “You fight them.” Just then, a primal roar thundered through the abandoned city.

“What was that?” Kyle exclaimed, dropping the pad.

“I’m sure it was just the snow shifting off of the domed forcefield,” Rane replied from his new place on the ground. Instantly he was proven wrong.

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Kyle Kuhari - Dr. Julian Rane

They had already descended down to the caverns. Luckily, the tracks left by Lieutenant Kuhari were more than visible and easilly followed. They had to be close to him by now, his armor would slow him down a bit not to mention the need to blast through the snow to find the forcefield and the city beneath it again.

As they continued pursuing their prey, suddenly a thundering roar came echoing through the caverns from the direction of the city. Whatever it was, it most certainly did not sound friendly and most likely it would have objections against taking Lieutenant Kuhari back alive.

Naumann boosted. He felt the Combat Neuro Stimulant inject itself from the CNS gland to his bloodstream. Naumann felt his awareness increasing, time seemed to slow down and his body found twice more strength than it normally had. He knew Chinran had already triggered his CNS, or as the Operatives called it "boosted", as well and he did not worry too much about the Sergeant Major. The Cadre had a very impressive set of biomechanical implants they used to enhance their troops and Black could most certainly match Chinran and Naumann's pace.

"That didnt sound too pleasant..." Chinran muttered over the comm.

"Polar Bear?" Black asked, though it was obvious he had said it with an edge of sarcasm.

"The possibility of that being a polar bear is as high as it being a mutant squirrel. Though I wouldnt count that out." Chinran retorted.

Naumann knew that the light-hearted chatter was only a cover, both of the two were nervous. Anyone who claimed to be perfectly and utterly calm before an impending battle and possibility of death would be clinically insane or lying.

The three sprinted onwards, following the tracks of Kuhari and the source of the sound, hoping against the odds that they would be there in time to actually do something.

Jade stormed out of the office to find Emily waiting in the hallway resting against the wall. “Well how did it go?” Emily asked casually as she saw Jade make her exit.

“It went is well as can be expected.” Jade quickly answered. She knew that the conversation was going to go well, Rane’s reputation had preceded him, and she had known full well what to expect. Jade hadn’t been to pleasant during the conversation either, both of them knew how the game was played, and both could play it well.

“Well” said Emily suddenly “They have their secrets and we have ours.”

Jade took a moment to think. “I want you to increase our satellites in the area. If there is any change in the situation I want you tell ASAP.”

“All right, not a problem” said Emily as she went to reclaim her office.

-----

All through out the tank alarms were sounding, “What the hell is going on Carmen?” demanded Jeffery as he made his way onto the command deck, the rest of his team was right behind him.

Carman quickly turned to face him, she had been the unfortunate one to have been the one watch. “Sir we’ve received word that the infected SB soldier has escaped.”

If someone could have Jeffery’s thoughts, they would have heard a long list of profanities in a rather short period of time. However, his shock did not last long. “Gear up, get ready for some action, we are going after him.”

Anticipating the order, members of the team had starting putting on the rest of equipment. Since they were maintaining a state of alert, it did not take them long.

“Seems kind of fishy to me.” Said Marcus as he grabbed his helmet. “not so long ago they refused to allow access to him, now he’s escaped. Mistakes like this are not supposed to happen in our line work.”

“Are you saying that they simply let him go.” Said Emma surprised by the comment

“That is exactly what he is saying.” Jeffery paused for moment as he looked over his team. “Trust no one, is that understood, only the people that are currently standing in this room.”

Everyone shook their heads as they put their helmets on. As the armor sealed up they team moved into the airlock then into the outside world. Quickly they joined with the other teams falling behind the Clairmont team in an attempt to keep some distance between Steel Butterfly team. Suddenly there was a giant roar that filled the cave.

“What was that?” asked Richard

“I don’t know” answered Jeffery quickly, he could tell the members of his team where now nervous so he tried to change the subject, he switched over to secure line that only his team could hear. “I you have chance to take down the escapee, take the shot, that is an order. I’m sure if the other team can take that opportunity if it presents its self.”

Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari stared up in horror at what had crushed the datapad and silenced the Director of Intelligence. Its massive frame was now standing mere feet from his body, frozen with fear.

* * * * *

“Damnit!” Dr. Julian Rane shouted, pounding his fists on his desk.

“Julian…” General Jack Valkare said, calm yet menacing, as he stepped into the Director’s office. “What did you do?”

“I…” Rane replied, nearly shaking with rage and confusion. “I’m doing what I have to.” His legendary charisma was cracking.

* * * * *

The Steel Butterfly team tore through the tunnels at accelerating speed with Clairmont close behind and Tappee farther back.

“How the hell could this happen?” Captain Braddock wondered aloud.

“Captain…now’s not the time for that…” Adrian replied.

“The time for what?” Braddock asked. There was an awkward pause as Adrian looked over at Xase, who was apparently not paying attention.

“The time for self doubt, Captain,” Adrian replied. Braddock laughed to himself.

“Why would I be doubting myself, Winters?” the Captain responded. Adrian almost stopped running.

”Captain…?”

“Winters, what the hell?” Braddock said. “Are we catching Kyle or not?” Adrian looked at him for what seemed like hours. After a few seconds had past, it almost seemed like the Captain himself realized that something was wrong. “Lets go,” Braddock ordered, his tone becoming much more serious. The two of them ran faster to catch up with Xase.

* * * * *

“What the fuck did you do?” Valkare almost whispered, as calm and menacing as ever.

“I am directing them and they are following orders,” Rane replied, struggling to restrain himself.

“Something went wrong,” Valkare said, slowly walking to the desk that Rane was standing behind. “What went wrong, Julian?”

“Nothing,” Rane replied. “Minor setba-“

“Bullshit!” Valkare exclaimed, his voice rising as he reached the desk. “What the fuck happened?!”

“Kuhari…escaped…” Rane said.

“Excuse me?”

“He…escaped…”

“How could he escape?” Valkare fumed. “He was locked in a Walten vehicle. They are all locked with access codes. There is no way he could have found out what the codes…oh you son-of-a-bitch!”

“There is no way I can allow those other nations to get their hands on the virus!” Rane screamed. “It simply cannot happen.”

“I’m placing you under arrest,” Valkare announced, pressing a button on his watch. Instantly four guards ran through the door. “Dr. Julian Rane, you are under military arrest in the name of the Emperor. As Commander in Chief I have the executive authority to…”

“Where is the Emperor?” Rane asked, as if a thought had suddenly appeared in his mind.

“…the Emperor left for the Alpha Centauri system a little over a half hour ago,” Valkare replied. “Don’t think he’ll get you out of this one, you jackass. He’s absolutely fed up with your abuses of your…”

“Stand down, right now!” Rane shouted at the soldiers who were slapping the cuffs on his wrists. “I will sentence each and every one of you to death if you continue.”

“What are you waiting for?!” Valkare shouted at the soldiers as well.

“When the Emperor is outside of the sector, the Director of Intelligence assumes temporary control of the Empire, not the Chief General,” Rane said. “Right now, I’m Emperor,” Rane grinned, taking the cuffs off his wrists and slamming them onto the desk. “And I say that no crime has been committed.”

The soldiers stared at both of them in unparalleled confusion.

* * * * *

“What the fuck…?” Xase exclaimed as he sprinted through the forcefield, freezing in place.

“Good…lord…” Adrian muttered, staring up nearly two stories. The Clairmont team arrived as well.

“You gotta be shitting me…” Braddock said, staring past the enormous monstrosity to the soldiers who were appearing on the horizon.

“G-g-guys…” Kyle whimpered as the giant lizard opened its gaping maw and stared down at the soldier below him. As if in slow motion, Braddock, Adrian, and Xase all lifted their Phased Assault Rifles. “I d-d-don’t wanna dieeeeeeee!” Kyle wailed as the creature leaned down and bit Lieutenant Kyle Kuhari in two. Blood squirted all over the lizard’s mouth as Kyle’s legs remained standing for a moment before collapsing in a bloody heap on the ground.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Xase screamed as he tore into the monster with his PHAR.

“Xase, no!” Braddock shouted. “Cease fire! Cease fire!” But it was too late. As the phased rounds hit the creature’s skin, it turned to see multiple teams standing less than a football field away. Adrian and Captain Braddock grabbed Sergeant Indra and dragged him back towards the other teams.

“What the fuck is going on?” Xase screamed, scrambling to his feet. “What the fuck is this?”

The beast roared, shaking the ground around them. As if it were some sort of cue, the soldiers who had been slowly moving forward opened fire on the living.

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Kyle Kuhari - Dr. Julian Rane – Gen. Jack Valkare - Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra

There was no time for hesitation, no time for doubt. Captain Naumann was filled with wonder, horror and dread as he faced the giant creature that had so effortlessly killed Lieutenant Kuhari. He didnt think, he acted instinctively, squeezing the trigger of his combat rifle.

The roar of gunfire erupted as a thirty centimeter long tongue of flame burst out from the barrel of his rifle. Twenty rounds per second came out of the combat rifle and went streaking towards the monstrosity, every third round was an armor-piercing-discarding-sabot round while the others were caseless ceramic. Naumann did not believe for an instant that the burst that would reduce a normal human being to a torn pulp of flesh could immidiately prove fatal to the creature, he fired nonetheless.

Kenneth Chinran was at his right side, moving in a blaze of motion that a human without the aid of CNS would have difficulties focusing on to. His rifle spat fire as well, tracking the creatures head with uncanny accuracy.

A bolt of bright blue lightning erupted from behind them as Sergeant Major Black opened fire with the plasma rifle. A tiny pellet of hydrogen was fed every three seconds to the firing chamber of the rifle where lasers heated that pellet into a state of fusion, the bolt of resultant plasma shot out of the barrel of the weapon at an immense speed, striking its target in fraction of a second. Plasma rifles by no means were the heaviest variants of the technology, but even the weapon carried by the Sergeant Major packed enough punch to turn the upper torso of a human being to ash.

Roughly two seconds had passed since they had opened fire, and Naumann could only hope that they packed enough firepower to bring Lieutenant Kuhari's killer down before it munched the two Operatives and the Cadreman as well. However the giant lizard was not the only reason to worry, Naumann's HUD systems displayed atleast a platoon worth of soldiers appearing from the city behind the creature with more undoubtly on the way.

"Shit." Chinran muttered as his HUD began drawing the icons of the enemy soldiers as well.

"Ken! Establish a base of fire on those bastards! Sergeant Major, try to hit this fucker in the head!" Naumann barked over the squad communications net and Chinran obeyed the order immidiately, shifting his fire from the monster to the armor clad soldiers behind it that were opening fire.

He carefully measured each one of his bursts, Boost gave him plenty of time to think and react thankfully and he smiled grimly as the first of his bursts hammered through the helmet of one of the enemy soldiers. He was already acquiring a new target before the rounds hit their target.

Another squeeze of the trigger, reacquire, squeeze, reacquire. He continued on it like a machine, unconcerned of the fire that was zapping past all around him.

"Grenade" Chinran warned out loud as he fired a duo of high-explosive anti-personnel grenades from the 40mm underslung grenade launcher in his rifle.

Despite the firepower they carried, despite the training they had, despite the fact that they had been in sticky situations, they were badly outnumbered and Chinran swore under his breath as it began to seem more and more as if they were well and truly screwed.

Braddock had a split second to make a decision that every urge told him was right but every emotion told him was wrong. The fact was, they were the closest to the oncoming soldiers, they knew the exact weaknesses of the Mark I ODIN Armor, and they had already engaged this opposing force. They were the perfect candidates to ignore the best and focusing on the amassing opposition. Nevertheless, there wasn’t an Imperial man who didn’t want revenge.

“The others will take care of the motherfucking dragon,” Braddock commanded to the remainder of his team, spitting out the first word that came to his mind to describe the giant lizard. In truth, it looked little like the dragons of lore, but then again, none of them had any doubt in their minds what Braddock was referring to.

“Bullshit!” Xase shouted in reply. Adrian reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. The Lieutenant’s strength caught Sergeant Indra by surprise, and knowing full well the situation that they all now faced, Xase dropped his usual resistance and complied.

“There must be a hundred men…” Braddock told no one in particular over the Imperial comm. Unsure as to what kind of weapons the enemy had, there was no way Braddock could advise his team to simply stay put and hidden, so quickly they searched for cover.

“Captain,” Adrian said, pointing straight ahead at the charging force. “There’s cover up there. It’s our only chance”

“What the fuck?” Xase screamed. “Run at them for cover?”

Adrian’s option definitely seemed possible, though highly dangerous and generally stupid in Xase’s opinion. The opposing force was rapidly charging, but they were still nearly three hundred yards from the edge of the broken city. All three soldiers looked directly at their enemy. Nearly two hundred yards ahead was the edge that the enemy was approaching, and there was more than enough wreckage to provide the Imperials protection, or at least more protection than they were receiving out in the open and snow-covered field.

Braddock sighed, shaking his head. I can’t believe I’m doing this, he thought, but Adrian was right. “Do it,” Braddock commanded.

Rifles raised, the three Imperial soldiers sprinted through the shallow snow towards the edge of the city. Though the enemy opened fire, their aim was far off, and the three Imperials reached the city edge without much difficulty. With his heavy PHAR, Xase laid down a hail of cover fire as Braddock and Adrian tried to come up with a plan.

“If nothing else,” the Captain shouted over the sound of Xase’s PHAR. “We have to slow down these fuckers enough to get the other teams out of here.”

Adrian could only nod in agreement. If nothing else… Instantly his thoughts raced back to Adina, who was most likely still asleep in her bed, unaware that their teammate, their evidence, their sample, was now being digested within an unimaginable monster. She was probably dreaming of happy times, perhaps even with him, without any thought or idea that she may never see any of them again. Do I…miss her…?

Xase, however, only thought of glory. They were on Earth, and the Battle of Thermopylae, an earthen tale of military heroism, had reached even the Orion Sector. Never a fan of geography or international history, Xase wondered to himself how close they were to Sparta, the nation that stared down insurmountable odds in a glorious last stand. Wouldn’t be a bad way to be remembered…

The rational hope that rested on Captain Braddock, however, was slowly unwinding. Adrian had noticed a change in the Captain’s behavior as the day had progressed. The Captain wasn’t one to swear without reason, yet now his profanity was rivaling that of Xase. Also, a cool-headed commander, Braddock was now acting rash and heroic, giving unofficial orders and nearly abandoning the chain of command. There was something wrong with the Captain; Adrian was sure of it.

The enemy was now less than twenty yards away. Xase ducked down again as the return fire was growing more and more concentrated. Adrian gripped his PHAR tightly and leaned his back up against the rubble guarding their location. If nothing else…They were not, however, drawing fire from the other team. The enemy simple fired straight ahead in their seemingly thoughtless charge.

Then, with the booming crack of metal, the rubble broke down the center, and the enemy rushed in. A soldier aimed his weapon at Captain Braddock, and for what seemed like the longest time, Braddock did nothing. Adrian stared at the Captain in disbelief as time slowly inched forward, realizing that the Captain wasn’t going to react. It was if Braddock was lost, staring up at his personal angel of death in nothing short of confusion.

“Captain!” Adrian screamed, firing across the gap towards the enemy whose gun was aimed, dropping the man where he stood. His crumbling body collapsed onto Captain Braddock, who jumped back, away from it.

Xase opened fire through the crack in the metal, tearing down body after body as they continued their relentless charge. The enemy neither attempted to flank or surround them, and many ran past without even paying them a moment’s notice.

Finally, one ran through the crack and knocked Xase over, his gun firing wildly in the air. Xase quickly withdrew his dagger and ran the enemy through the neck with the knife. However, without the hail of weaponry, others easily rushed through. Adrian tried to pick them off with his PHAR, but there were too many, and the enemy continued to ignore the fact that the Imperial team was mowing through their ranks.

Ultimately, overrun and lying on their backs, Xase and Adrian could only look at the backs of the soldiers in utter shock and confusion. The enemy continued to charge, continued to fire, now with a gaping hole in their lines, heading straight for the lizard and the others, though apparently not paying any more attention to them than they did to the Imperials.

“Get back here and fight, motherfuckers!” Xase screamed over the comm causing Adrian to wince in paid before turning down his volume. Noticing that the Captain was still on his back, Adrian ran over to Braddock and lifted him over.

“Captain, are you hit?” Adrian asked, propping Braddock’s back up on his knee.

“Nah,” The Captain replied, relaxed and groggy. “Just a little tired. Can’t remember the last time I fell asleep on duty.” Adrian dropped him to the ground.

“You…f-fell asleep?” Adrian stammered, as he felt the rage boiling up inside of him. There was something wrong with Captain Braddock, something terribly wrong, and Adrian had the feeling that the Captain knew exactly what it was.

“Adrian…” Braddock whispered, pointing to a compartment on his leg. “Open it up and put it into my air supply.”

“What?” Adrian asked shaking his head. An enemy army was charging towards their allies and Braddock wanted him to do what?

“Hurry…” Braddock begged. “I haven’t had time for it today…I didn’t have a chance down here to…” Quickly, Adrian dropped his gun and opened the metal pocket on Braddock’s right leg. Inside was a vial. “Inject it into my air supply. Don’t worry…it will turn into a gas. H-hurry…”

“But…infection…” Adrian argued. Braddock shook his head no. Taking the Captain on his word, Adrian opened a small hatch on Braddock’s air supply and thrusted the needle with the vial attached into it. Braddock breathed deeply twice before quickly scrambling to his feet.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Xase screamed at both of them. He seemed like he was in shock. “How can you just fucking stand there?” Adrian glared at Braddock through his mask but Braddock shook his head no.

“We cannot re-engage at the risk of friendly fire,” Braddock commanded, his old self once more. “We must get to the side of their line and flank them. Lets move out, go, go, go!”

Captain Braddock picked up his rifle and ran to his right, and Adrian and Xase close behind. Neither trusted him anymore, but neither had a better idea. Xase was still furious at their general indecision and ineffectiveness. Adrian had a much bigger picture in mind. The Captain had much to answer to.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra

"Reloading!" Chinran yelled over the squad comm as the last round from the magazine was fed to the chamber and fired.

Sergeant Major Black immidiately moved to cover him while he reloaded, clicking in another mag and continuing what had essentially become a turkey shoot.

The attacking soldiers knew nothing of cover, base of fire, flanking maneuvers or any basic small unit tactics that had been hammered to Chinran's head during the first couple of months of training. It was as if they did not value their lives or fear death at all. He immidiately chuckled at the prospect, how could the dead fear dying again or value life that they did not have.

He finished going thru the new magazine in quick order but nothing seemed to stop the incoming tide of enemy soldiers. More and more of them dropped as they charged relentlessly but still they came. In a couple more short moments, the range had dropped to a few meters and Chinran quickly threw the rifle to hang in his back, pulled the Merrill Mk.13 Sidearm he carried always and the Wakizashi from its scabbard. In five more seconds, the tide was around him.

He was fully boosted with Combat NeuroStimulant, he had activated the exoskeletal artificial musculature of his Combat Suit, blade in his right and the Merrill in his left, he was the avatar of death.

The Wakizashi moved in graceful yet lightning fast slashes, every motion he made with it cutting throats, arms or legs while the pistol tracked the heads of the enemy, snapping off two round bursts as it found one. But to Kenneth Chinran's amazement, the enemy did not seem to stop and cluster around him but instead continued past, still firing as they went. He glanced over to Naumann and Black.

The Captain had also assumed a melee posture, using a relatively short Katana in his left hand while the sidearm barked shots in his right. Sergeant Major Black was still engaged against the giant lizard that had killed Lt. Kuhari, and the creature seemed to have better endurance and durability than a damn Main Battle Tank.

He cut through another throat, blasted apart another head and then the wave of enemies was past him, still charging and uncaring of the Operatives who were now in their rear flank, momentarily stunned of the behaviour of their enemies. It seemed strange that they did know how to use weapons and still they made these kind of errors, or perhaps they were simply blind. That atleast would explain their marksmanship.

"Winchester-One, Two. What the hell?" He murmured to the comm.

"Tell me about it." Naumann replied in a couple of seconds.

It appeared that the Captain was as clueless and shocked of the behaviour of the enemy as Chinran was. However, one could on occasion avoid checking the mouth of a gift horse. He thought as he threw in a new mag to the rifle and began snapping off shots at the backs of the still charging armor clad enemies.

Adrian stopped running, causing Xase and Braddock to stop as well. It was far too ridiculous. A giant lizard, a mindless army, a city buried under eighty feet of snow yet protected by a giant force field: it was simply preposterous, and yet it was right before their eyes.

“We gotta get out of here,” Adrian said, surprisingly calm as if the idea has just dawned on him. Xase and Braddock shot him glares from behind their helmets. “We need to get back to the surface…”

“Hell, no!” Xase shouted to Adrian. He turned to face Braddock. “Captain, look around us. They need us here!”

The battle around them seemed to slow down once more. Various teams were having various levels of success with either the soldiers or the monster, and yet the Imperial team stood still, in the distance, observing the battle like gods from Olympus. It felt wrong, unnatural, but then again, nothing about this felt right to Adrian, and yet he remained still, watching friends and foes alike die from tooth and gun, claw and dagger.

People are exactly what you were supposed to find. Dr. Rane had said. Adrian pressed his eyelids together tightly. There are people out there designed to be weapons… Adina had tried to explain to them all. …others are simply failed experiments…with unforeseen consequences. Monsters I guess…horrible creatures…

Failed experiments…unforeseen consequences…horrible creatures… Adrian thought over and over again, the conversations of the past few days rushing back into his mind in full force. He looks like he’s been dead for years! Kyle had exclaimed in disgust. People are exactly what you were supposed to find.

It hit Adrian like a ton of bricks. The weight of the realization made him dizzy, and so he sat down on the snow. People are exactly what you were supposed to find. Adina had looked at them all in confusion, wondering why they didn’t know more about their mission. Adrian had felt that Adina was withholding information from them all when she gave them information, but he had decided not to call her on it. Now was the time.

“We need to go back to the surface,” Adrian repeated. Xase offered a similar response. Captain Braddock remained silent, as if deep in thought, although that worried Adrian as well. As soon as they returned he would confront the Captain. “I think…” Adrian started, shaking his head as if to delete what he just said. “No…Adina knows…”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Xase screamed through the comm, standing inches away from him.

“Adina knows what’s going on,” Adrian said, unsure if he wanted to be right or wrong in his assumption. They all desperately needed to know what they were dealing with, however Adrian wasn’t sure if he wanted it to be Adina who was keeping them in the dark. “We have to get her to tell us.”

“You can’t be fucking serious?” Xase screamed, stepping away and beginning to pace in rage. He was shaking his head furiously. He turned on his superiors. “Do you two even get where the fuck we are? People…our allies…are fucking dying over there because of a charging army and a giant fucking lizard! Even if we could…even if it was the right thing to do…how the fuck do you expect to waltz your pansy ass over to the exit?” He glared at Adrian once more.

“Soldiers move to locations all the time, Sergeant,” Adrian said, struggling to keep his cool. “Besides, the Captain is obviously sick. We…” Adrian started. He didn’t like how he was going to go about this, but it had to be done. “…need to take him back to the Predator for observation and treatment.”

“You have absolutely no fucking honor, Winters,” Xase spat in reply. “You are a goddamned embarassement as a soldier.”

“Honor?” Adrian snarled. By now, Xase’s rage had become as infectious as the virus that surrounded them all. “What the fuck do you know of honor, Sergeant? What the fuck does that word mean to you? Is it blind combat?” He took a step towards Xase. “Is it senseless rage?” Another step. “Is it gaining that so-called ‘glory’ of the battlefield?” Another step. “Look around you, Xase…look around and see all the fucking glory there is. People are dying…is that glorious? Our statistician was melted alive…is that glorious? A friend and soldier was fucking eaten, Xase…is that glorious?!”

“Lieutenant, please…” Braddock said, trying to stop the two volcanoes from erupting. Adrian brushed him off.

“What do you know of honor?” Adrian repeated, his hands clenched into fists. “Killing? Fighting? No…honor is having enough courage to do what you know is right. We need to talk to Dr. Rane,” Adrian said, now sure of himself. “We need to talk to Adina. Everyone’s lives depend on it.”

“I’m sick of all this fucking talking!” Xase shouted, shaking his head. “We’re soldiers, damnit. We fight. We kill.”

“Soldiers have to think, Sergeant,” Adrian countered. “You’re no better than the enemy over there if you don’t think, don’t plan, don’t adapt.”

“You guys do whatever the fuck you want,” Xase said after a few seconds pause. “I’m staying here to fight. When we return, we’ll let the brass determine who to reward.”

“Soldiers are good for dying, Xase,” Braddock, who had been surprisingly quiet through this whole ordeal. “That’s our other purpose. Killing and dying. You can’t have one without the other.”

“Good luck with that then,” Xase replied as he picked up his gun and held it in both hands. “I’d rather die a brave man then live as a coward.”

Both Braddock and Adrian stared at him in disgust and disbelief. Still, they had delayed long enough. Xase turned his back to them and ran towards the battle. If Xase wanted to die, by now they were ready to let him.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra

Thing had gone from bad to worse then to terrible, it would seem that they had followed the escaped solider into the depths of hell itself. Now they faced a giant lizard that had taken one life, and group of mindless soldiers that were now bearing down upon them, options were running out, and they were running out rather fast.

“Carmen load up an RPG” barked as Jeffery as he brought his rifle to his shoulder firing down on the enemy that had rushed passed the Clairmont force an up towards them. “Take down that Giant SOB.” He yelled once again over the chaos.

In smooth motion Carmen pulled a long pipe from her backpack and dropped down to one knee. Taking a moment to prime the weapon, and acquire her target she paused for a moment before she fired the grenade shot out from the launcher, and like a snake moved through the air quickly closing the distance between Carmen and the target. Within in moment the grenade found its mark, the resulting concussion rocked the surrounding area.

Surprised the creature stumbled back; a giant wound was visible in its chest, its blood seeping down to the ground. Still it didn’t prove to be enough as the creature pushed forward still.

“You have to be joking me” said Carmen, truth was no one here had really been trained on how to deal with a situation such as this. Glancing over her shoulder she could see that enemy troops were still advancing even though they were being cut down by enemy fire. Again she turned her attention the creature, it was clear that the lizards skin had taken most of the impact, but now the was a opening in it defenses, it would almost be impossible to put another RPG in the wound, so she had a another idea.

Leaping to her feet she ran as hard she as could towards the creature, jumping over some debris she drew closer and closer. In response the creature started towards her. As she approach throwing distance she pulled out thermal grenade throwing it deep within the creatures wound. There was a brief delay before the explosive went off, however this time it caused a lot more internal damage compared to the previous attempt. It momentum carried it the creatures body forward as it fell towards the ground dead. Carmen’s victory was short lived, she didn’t have enough time to manage to get completely out from under it as it fell.

As the dust settled Jeffery desperately tried to see Carman fate, that when he seen her lying next to the creature. “Richard, your with me, Marcus give us cover fire.”

Jumping from the safe of the position the two quickly made their way over to Carmen, what they found was the worst case. Half of her body had been crushed under creature, but she was still alive.

“Don’t worry Carmen, we’ll get you out of this.” Said Jeffery as he knelled down beside her. At this point he was just trying comfort her, it didn’t take a doctor to tell them that she was dead it was only a matter of time.

“Please sir, don’t let me become one of those things.” Pleaded Carmen as she reached up and grabbed Jeffery’s arm “Please.”

He could her the desperation in her voice, he knew that she was now facing one of the teams greatest fears. Nodding he took of her helmet then took aim with rifle at her head, for a moment he hesitated

“PLEASE” she pleaded once more

Closing his eyes he squeezed the trigger, and watched as Carmen’s head snapped back and her body relaxed, free from the pain that had come near the end. He looked up at Richard, even through the armor he could tell the man was upset. He was going to say something but picked some thing up on his motion sensor. It was another one of those creatures, but this one was much smaller, then he saw another one. “”We got more of those creatures but smaller” he proclaimed over the international Com line, “I think that now would be a good time to fall back to the surface.”

Sergeant Xase Indra got back to the pack in time to witness the giant monster come crashing back down to Earth. Writhing in pain and fearing reanimation, the hero from Tappee, Carmen Anfiego, was put out of her misery by Commander Hobers. As he watched Adrian and Braddock retreat back into the tunnels, he felt his mind focus, his body relax.

“I think that now would be a good time to fall back to the surface,” Commander Hobers suggested over the international comm as the enemy passed through Clairmont forces, albeit taking much damage. They continued, not pausing, as they continued their charge to the door in the forcefield which led to the tunnels.

Now he had a purpose; now he had an objective, and he was sure as hell going to complete it. He would be the hero. He would be the savior. He would be awarded as those two cowards were chastised for retreating.

“We have to hold the line,” Xase replied over the international comm., as if he were in a position to be giving orders. Perhaps in the confusion of battle they wouldn’t notice who was speaking, or perhaps they’d simply agree and follow. He and the Tappee forces were the ones closest to the doorway in the force field. There weren’t many, but they would have to do. “We can’t let these motherfuckers into the tunnels.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Winters and Captain Braddock raced back through the tunnels towards the surface.

“You talk to Dr. Clovis,” Braddock said as they jetpacked out of the gaping hole in the snow which led to the tunnels. In tandem, both of their feet landed on the snow and they continued their sprint. “I’ll contact Dr. Rane. We’re getting this settled right now.”

Adrian shook his head as he ran. You’re damn right we are, he thought to himself as they rapidly approached the Predator. Just as Captain Braddock reached for the door, Adrian spun him around and threw him up against the vehicle.

“Right now,” Adrian said, his tone serious and fierce. “No bullshit, no lies, no misdirection, and nothings more important. Right now you tell me face to face, man to man, what the fuck went on down there.”

“I don’t know any more about those things than…” Braddock began but Adrian, holding him by the shoulders, slammed him up against the wall again.

“Not them,” he snarled. “You. What the hell is going on, Captain?” Braddock tried to push back, but for some reason, Adrian was far stronger. Perhaps he was just still weak.

“I…” Braddock began, thinking of the various lies he had told throughout his life. Still, after what they had been through, he felt as if Adrian deserved more. “Only two people know, not including myself,” Braddock said, closing his eyes behind the mask of the helmet. “Its been a condition I’ve struggled with for years, Adrian. It’s not that I’m spacey or insane or anything…I just don’t have any natural short term memory.”

“What?” Adrian asked, releasing his grip on the Captain’s armor slightly.

“I was in an accident when I was a first a Captain,” Braddock said. “In my first mission as a Captain my team was ambushed. No one else lived. I survived because they thought I had died. Bloody, battered, and not breathing, they left me, but the sensors of another team found my body and saved me. Still, my lack of oxygen had caused a certain part of my brain to die…the part which houses short term memory. Ever since that day, I have not been able to form new memories on my own.”

“But,” Adrian said. “You learn new things all the time. You didn’t know me then, but you most definitely know me now.”

“I said, ‘on my own,’ Adrian,” Braddock explained. “Apparently someone thought I was worth saving. My personal doctor used me as a guinea pig for a new experiment. It was highly successful, with the protene he gave me enabling me to form new memories, but was thrown out along with NiMBUS in the post-Civil War biomechanical purge. Still, my doctor continued to produce and give me the protene, so I was able to live a normal life.”

“So why did you freak out down there?” Adrian asked, starting to understand, although not completely believe yet. Then again, if there were giant lizards and zombie soldiers who could shoot weapons, why not this? “Did you forget to take it?”

“Intentionally,” Braddock replied. Adrian didn’t like the response and tightened his grip once more. “We should be leaving tomorrow morning, but we’re not. Rane’s keeping us here. I have to take the protene daily, or else I’ll gradually forget information. I…I only had enough for the days we were to be here. I tried to ration it…to skip a day. You saw what happened.”

“Does Dr. Rane know this?” Adrian asked.

“Yes,” Braddock responded, shaking his head. “Rane’s the second person who knows, and the only other one outside of my doctor, and now you. Rane allows it to continue, but he uses it against me every chance he has.” Braddock paused, a deep tone of resent entering his voice. “That’s why I’m still a Captain to this day.”

“But if Rane knows,” Adrian questioned. “Why would he keep us here extra time? Couldn’t he just send another team and bring us home…or at least send new supplies?”

“That’s what I need to talk to him about,” Braddock said. “I could fight without short-term memory. I still remember now. But…I’d have no clue why I was fighting…or even who I was fighting. I’d have to guess…and I don’t want to guess wrong.” Adrian nodded, letting go of the Captain. He was still pissed off at the man for putting them in danger, however there were more pressing issues at hand now than his personal vendettas. “You talk to Dr. Clovis,” Braddock repeated, opening the door of the Predator. “I’ll contact Dr. Rane.”

Adrian followed the Captain into the detox room and then into the cargo hold. Taking off their helmets but choosing to leave their ODIN Armor on, the two of them made their way into the sleeping quarters. Adrian paused, kneeling down beside a sleeping Adina, but Captain Braddock continued towards the bridge, ready to confront Dr. Rane over the video link.

Adrian stared down at Adina sleeping. She was so calm, so peaceful. Adrian couldn’t remember the last time he had slept peacefully. Dreaming was far too painful, and far too frequent for him. Taking off his glove, he gently rubbed her shoulder. Slowly, she turned her head to face him.

“Morning already?” she asked, smiling with her eyes half open. Quickly they darted open completely at the sight of his suit. “Did I oversleep?”

“No,” Adrian said, shaking his head. He was sweaty and dirty, and his eyes were fatigued. Adina sensed something was wrong.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Lieutenant Kuhari…Kyle…escaped,” Adrian began. Adina gasped, sitting up in bed, but Adrian raised his hand as if asking for permission to explain. Adina silently agreed. “We followed him down through the tunnels…but he was eaten by a giant monster. We fought the monster…and a horde of invading enemies…but Captain Braddock…” Adrian paused, realizing how much she had missed. She would have so many questions which would take forever to answer. “But that’s not the point.”

“What do you mean that’s not the point?” Adina asked. “Kyle was eaten? What are you talking…”

“No,” Adrian interrupted, standing up. He scowled. “We’ll talk about this later. You have a lot of explaining to do first.”

“Adrian, what are you doing?” Adina asked, looking at him confused and annoyed.

“You’ve been withholding information,” Adrian accused. “I’ve known it sense we got here. You’ve always been a terrible liar, but you’ve actually put effort into this one, so it must be important. What are you keeping from us?” Adina seemed wounded.

“You think I’d lie?” Adina asked. “You think I’d intentionally put you in danger?”

“I think that you think you have to,” Adrian replied.

“What do you even think I know?” Adina asked, trying her best to be bewildered.

“Why we’re here,” Adrian replied. “Why you’re here…and what we’re really supposed to be doing.”

“We’re supposed to be finding a cure,” Adina said.

“In infected people!” Adrian shouted. “In goddamn zombies!”

“I never lied to you about that,” Adina said. “I told you when Kyle was infected that I needed a sample.” Adrian winced slightly, remembering their conversation.

“Why aren’t we going back?” Adrian asked.

“We haven’t found a cure yet,” Adina said.

“No,” Adrian replied. “You said we don’t need to be here to find a cure…but when we had Kyle in custody, Rane said we still couldn’t go back right away.”

“There is thought to be a NiMBUS facility here on Earth,” Adina said. “The Empire has an interest in this colony still. However, with the virus ever-present and a facility still hidden, the Empire cannot begin their return to Earth. It…makes sense that a city designed to survive eighty feet of snow would have something to do with NiMBUS. They have a history of not wanting their abandoned facilities to die out due to what they leave behind in them.”

“Rane wants us to destroy the facility?” Adrian asked. “With our guns and this ‘cure’ of your’s…he wants us to clean up NiMBUS’s mess?”

“Rane wants us to preserve the facility,” Adina said. Adrian raised an eyebrow. “He believes that NiMBUS already has a cure, but even if they don’t, the best way of discovering one has to be going inside the facility to investigate. Nothing else has worked so far…and why would NiMBUS produce a virus that even they don’t have a cure for?”

“You’re working for him aren’t you?” Adrian asked of Rane.

“We all are, Adrian,” Adina replied.

“But you…you support him,” Adrian said, disgusted. “You support him throwing us to the wolves…you support him leaving us hang out to dry…”

“Your job is to protect me while I complete the mission,” Adina said. Her tone was dark, menacing, and nothing like Adrian had ever heard come from her mouth. “But so far, two people have died, and we’ve not even found the facility, much less gotten inside it and done research.” Adrian looked at her, unsure of what to say. He had a throbbing feeling that from now on, she should be left out of whatever conversations Xase, Braddock, and he would have. Adrian felt betrayed, and his suspicion of her was growing exponentially. She looked at him, serious as ever, and said, “So far, we’ve done absolutely nothing.”

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Adina Clovis

Captain Naumann caught Commander Hobers' suggestion over the International comm and gave it his consent. They were badly outnumbered, and altough their enemy was for all practical purposes a big bunch of running target signs with guns, there were a lot of them. And numbers were a quality all in their own.

"Winchester Two, One. Fall-back."

"Copy One." Chinran replied quickly over the sound of gunfire.

As they began galloping back towards the exit, hordes of the enemies saw their flight and rushed. Chinran triggered a long burst from his rifle, the alternating SABOT penetrators and Ceramic Antipersonnel rounds finding the arm of an enemy soldier, blowing it off from its torso. But still it came on. Sergeant Major Black's Plasma Rifle vaporized all but the legs of that torso.

Atleast the Tappee team had brought down that damn lizard, Chinran mused. Black had gotten off two good shots with his plasma rifle on the creature, blowing huge chunks out of its flesh. But the RPG and grenade from the Tappee team had brought it down for good.

His thoughts were cut off as one of the zombie soldiers rushed him from behind the cover of some boulders, there was no time to turn the rifle as the range was too low. Chinran began a gracefull spin, pulling the Wakizashi from its scabbard and chopping the head off from the oncoming attacker. As the now headless carcass stumbled right past him to the snow, he continued running.

He glanced behind him at the doorway through the forcefield where one of the Steel Butterfly soldiers had gathered some of the members from the other teams and was attempting to make a, futile, last stand. It was stupid, outnumbered and badly as they were, it would only serve to generate more soldiers to the army of the dead that now charged them. As it was, they lacked the strength to take the objective at which point SoP dictated to fall-back and formulate a new plan or call for reinforcements. Apparently, Sergeant Xase Indra was not aware of this. Chinran shrugged and concentrated on running.


They reached the surface fast, sprinting to the Raider as fast as they could. As they stormed in to the vechile, they were met by a fusillade of questions from Dr. Walker and Montaigne and a curious looking Operative Deni Anderson.

"The escapee, Lieutenant Kuhari is dead. Eaten. And it appears the city there is full of hostiles. Estimate atleast Battalion strenght, propably more." Came the simple reply from Naumann. Another fusillade of questions came at him.

"Eaten? By what!?" Walker screamed.

"Hostiles? The same soldiers as before?!" Montaigne intoned.

"By a giant lizard, most likely not a natural creation. And yes Dr. Montaigne. Altough they seemed to lack even the most basic understanding of tactics and warfare, they knew how to use weapons and attacked with ferocity." Naumann said, and raised his hand before more questions could assail him.

"At the moment, we are very badly outnumbered. A mish-mash group of troops led by Sergeant Xase Indra from the Steel Butterfly contignent stayed to try and hold back the enemy. Though it is most likely that they will not succeed in accomplishing anything else than their own deaths. As it is, we can expect to engage at any time once more and considering our situation Im activating the Thunderbolt contignency." Naumann continued.

The two doctors seemed oblivious to Thunderbolt. However, there were no such masks of surprise on any of the soldiers faces and Naumann nodded to Deni.

She activated the automated communication protocol that re-aligned the satellite transmitter on the Raider and attempted to activate a comm channel to one of the orbiting ships around the planet. A simple Clairmontian Merchant Vessel by the name of Clairvoyant Spirit. Outside appereances however could be...deceiving.

The face of the Merchant Vessel's bored looking comms rating came on Deni's screen as the protocol established contact. And the facade of boredness escaped from the young man's face in an instant as he checked his screens and Deni gave the authorization codes.

"This is Captain Naumann. Activate Thunderbolt." He said over the channel and the comms rating delivered the message to his superiors.


A thousand kilometers above the Clairmont team's position, half a platoon worth of Cadre Drop Commando's were entering the drop tubes in the belly of the Clairvoyant Spirit, preparing to shoot through the athmosphere to their designated drop zone.

Only three minutes after Naumann had sent the message, sixteen tiny pods shot out from the magnetic accelerators in the drop tubes straight towards the blue planet below them. They entered athmosphere like tiny meteors, burning brightly as they did so.

As they dropped lower, their braking thrusters began going off, slowing down their descent enough for the occupant of each drop pod to survive the impact. Regardless, they hit the snowy ground like small missiles, puffs of vaporized snow marking their landing spots as gouts of steam came off from the craters where they had landed. As the pods began bursting open, the Cadremen and women began immidiately to arrange into formation and head towards the site where the International Teams were gathered.

"Hydra One to all Hydras. ROE Delta in effect. We will proceed to Site Able at maximum speed." Cadre Lieutenant Tannis Cateau intoned through their squad comm.

Instantly the formation of sixteen troopers in Battle Armor began a galloping run towards the site that Contignency Thunderbolt called for them to reinforce.

With Hober’s and his team being the closet team to the exit it was only expected that they would provide cover for everyone else that still had to fall back. Richard and Jeffery were the first two who had made their way to the exit and where joined a short time later by the rest of the team, as well as sergeant Xase. They had collapsed around the exit to maintain as tight of a formation as possible, and maximized their field of fire.

It looked like a killing field more then a battle zone, with each passing moment more and more enemy soldier fell, but one fell two more rushed up to replace them. Despite the enemy huge loss they still pressed forward with little concern for their own personal safety.

However, unlike everyone else this was something the Jeffery had experienced before, this was quickly becoming like the battle for Steel Moon. “Save ammo and time” shouted Jeffery “Aim for the head.” It had been his experience that with the exception of a headshot, it would take more then one shot to kill these creatures. Given their rate of advance and their numbers they would have to make every shot count.

As the last of the Clairmont team passed them, Jeffery gave a quick hand signal ordering the team to fall back on the tunnel. One by one his team disappeared into the tunnel with Jeffery being the last team member to stand to make the journey back. It was then that he realized that one person still remained “Sergeant Xase” said Jeffery as he grabbed the soldier by shoulder. “He can blow the tunnel as move back. Now come on we’ve got to go.”

Xase’s Heavy PHAR tore through the enemy as it charged on his location. The Clairmont team had already left, and one by one the Tappee soldiers were retreating towards the surface. The weapon’s fire ripped into the old-fashioned armor, searing limbs and organs alike as the mindless horde fell over the broken remains of their fallen comrades.

As Commander Hobers told him to leave, Xase felt stupid, worthless, and weak in the face of danger. He had put up such a front in the face of his own team members, vowing to fight to the death, and now he was going back, alive, with his personal mission incomplete.

It was then, as he reluctantly retreated along side the foreign team, that he began to hate them all. Hobers, Naumann, Adrian Winters, Captain Braddock…he hated all of them. They had ruined his victory, his success, and the whole lot of them undermined his superiority.

They’re holding me back, he thought to himself, his resentment rising as the snow tunnel collapsed behind him once more, sealing the evil within. They’re holding me back…

* * * * *

Now weary of Adina and where her allegiance lied, Adrian followed the Captain onto the bridge. Braddock was in the middle of a heated debate with Dr. Rane.

“Send an additional force!” Captain Braddock screamed at the face on the viewscreen. Rane shook his head, visibly annoyed. Braddock looked down at the scanners. “Clairmont sent an additional sixteen soldiers to assist their main team.”

“Well then…there are your reinforcements right there,” Rane replied.

“You and I both know who’s running this,” Braddock snapped back. “Our statistician and one of our team members is dead, and Sergeant Indra has taken his insipid inability to follow orders to nearly mutinous levels.”

“You deal with him as you see fit,” Rane said, straying from the subject. “I give you full permission to…”

“We need more men,” Braddock interrupted.

“Impossible,” Rane replied, shaking his head again.

“We can barely even complete our original objective,” Braddock pleaded. “We can’t go back in there an take down an entire NiMBUS facility…” Apparently their conversation had gone similar to Adrian’s.

“Captain Braddock you either take down that facility or you die trying,” Rane replied. “This mission is more important than any of your individual lives. You are soldiers of the Empire, not soldiers of fortune. You fight for me.”

“Why?” Adrian asked, stepping forward.

“Excuse me?” Rane asked.

“Why do we have to take down this fortress?” Adrian asked. “You’re not letting us come home either way. You’re not even supporting us for the mission you want us to do. Why the hell should we do what you say?”

“If you eliminate the NiMBUS facility on Steel Earth,” Rane explained, his honesty catching even him off guard. “You will return.”

“I’ll be long gone by then,” Braddock begged, alluding to his mental state if not his life. “At least send us supplies.”

“Far too risky,” Rane replied. He was already treading in shallow water. He had placed the Commander in Chief under arrest for treason, a charge he new wouldn’t stick once the Emperor returned, but for four days, he would be able to do whatever he wanted. Rane looked at Adrian in the eye. “I have faith in you, Lieutenant. I know you’ll succeed. Rane out.” The comm was disengaged.

“He abandoned us,” Adrian muttered, sitting down as he put his head in his hands. It was so infuriating that he couldn’t even take it. “He’s fucking leaving us here to die.”

“No,” Braddock said, slowly analyzing the situation that they were in. "He didn't abandon us, Adrian. He didn't leave us to die. He sent us here to do that...and the sick fucking thing is that after tomorrow I won’t remember any of it.”

“I’m afraid that Adina is…” Adrian said, feeling compelled to tell his superior officer and his friend. “…in league with Rane. She knew all about the facility all along.”

”We should tell the other teams,” Braddock announced. I guarantee that they weren’t let in on Rane’s little secret. They should be recalled back to their homes. Perhaps we could catch a ride with them. No one else needs to die.”

“No,” Adrian replied, shaking his head. He wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet. “I say we take down the facility.”

“He won’t come for us even if we do,” Braddock replied. “He’ll have some other reason, some other excuse.” He paused, sighing as he closed his eyes. “I’m afraid we’re all alone out here. I have a very strong feeling that no one else in the Empire knows of Rane’s little mission here.”

“Then we find the facility,” Adrian said. “Take it out, and show the whole of the Empire what we came here to do…what Felicity and Kyle died trying to accomplish. Ten different nations landed on this hellhole because of one man’s whim.”

“Is it even worth it?” Braddock asked, now ignoring the chain of command in place of an honest conversation between friends.

“We take out the facility,” Adrian said, clenching his hands into fists. “And then if he doesn’t let us return, we go somewhere else, and we find a way to make him pay.”

“How do we even find the goddamn facility?” Xase asked, walking through the living quarters to the bridge. Adrian and Braddock stood and aimed their weapons at him. “Put your fucking guns down. We’re dealing with something a little more important than the goddamn chain of command right now, agreed?”

“Since you’re here,” Adrian sneered. “You must have killed them all, correct?”

“You think you’re fucking cute, don’t you?” Xase asked, stepping towards the Lieutenant. Adrian returned the challenge.

“I think you’re a fucking jackass, Xase,” Adrian snapped. “I think you’re a fucking traitor. I think we’d be better off if you fucking left.”

“Xase, I don’t know why you think you can come and go as you please,” Captain Braddock said, pushing himself between his two men. “But you need to start understanding something. I'm not out there running my mouth for the fucking hell of it. I give orders for a reason, jackass, and those orders are followed, or people get hurt. They die. The next time you so much as hesitate to follow one of my orders, I'm going to shoot you, and I will continue to shoot you until you do what I say. Is that clear?"

Xase glared at both of the men before him, detesting them both more than the enemy eighty feet below.

"Is that clear, Sergeant?" Braddock repeated, his eyes on fire.

They’re holding me back, Xase thought once more, and without a word, returned his helmet to his head, his gun to his hands, and stormed out of the Predator into the night.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Sgt. Xase Indra - Dr. Julian Rane

"Hydra One, Winchester One. Approaching your position from the east." Lieutenant Cateau called through the comm at Naumann to confirm that no-one would be accidentally shooting the Drop Commandos that were soon going to burst to the site where the International teams were gathered.

"Winchester one, Hydra one. Copy." Naumann replied briskly back.

It was usually a good thing to notify any friendlies in the area when the Cadre moved around. Due to the stealthiness of their Battle Armor, they usually could and would go unseen to any sensors before A) They were very close B) There were obscenely powerfull sensors searching for them.



Back at the Raider the two Doctors were screaming for information and Naumann's patience was running to an end. It was bad enough to have to look over a duo of grown up children, worse for them to be screaming to his face practically 24/7.

"What the fuck is Thunderbolt Captain!?" Dr. Walker was saying.

"Reinforcements." The Captain answered simply.

"The mission brief said nothing about reinforcements!" Montaigne chorused.

"No it did not, and it didnt for a good purpose." He replied, still calm.

"We had a full right to...." Walker started.

"Yes, you have a full right to shut the fuck up right now. As this has clearly become a military operation now with the open hostilities with those...'things' down there, you will adhere to my command and shut the hell up. You will be called when you are needed." Naumann said, raising his tone. Icy daggers in his eyes told the two Doctors not to push the issue and they both sat back down, grumbling.


Chinran glanced around the main cabin of the Raider, noting the absence of Sergeant Major Black and went outside to see where the Cadreman had gone. As he came outside to the freezing wind, he saw Black meeting his comrades who were now appearing out of the dark night to form a protective circle around the Raider.

Naumann came out behind him as well and the Cadre lieutenant approached the two Operatives in a quick stride. She did not salute, it was generally considered a sniper check to salute in the field and the Cadre as well as Special Warfare avoided it for that reason.

"Lieutenant Tannis Cateau." The Drop Commando said simply as she came close enough to be heard without comms.

"Captain Vincent Naumann." The Captain replied and there was a professional appreciation of each other in the air immidiately as the two observed the other.

"What's your configuration lieutenant?" The Captain asked, wanting to know exactly how much firepower was in his disposal.

"We dropped in a medium-heavy formation. Two support fire elements, One Wing with Heavy Plasma Rifles, One with Heavy Tri-Barrels. Remaining six Wings with Heavy Combat Rifles." Cateau explained quickly. The Cadre used 'Wings' instead of fireteams in their squads. Each wing had two Drop Commandos and each squad had eight wings.

Naumann was pleased. Due to the Battle Armor the Cadre had, they could carry and use heavy weapons with practiced ease and that gave the Captain a good amount of solid firepower in his disposal. Which essentially meant that now he was much more confident about taking on whatever was down there than he had been before.

"Sounds very good Lieutenant. For now, we arent immediately going anywhere, not before we formulate a clear plan on what to do next. Im assuming you already are aware of the current situation and the events of past few days?" Naumann said.

Cateau nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yes, I downloaded the data dump during the drop."

"Ok. At the moment, the Steel Butterfly team has the call if we go down again or not. Most likely we will, so I want your people prepped to support us and whoever we will have going down there the instant the situation arises."

"That wont be a problem Captain."

"Excellent." Naumann replied and hopped back to the Raider.

"Open commo to the Steel Butterfly vechile Deni." He said as he went back to the main cabin. He waited for the channel to be open before speaking.

"Captain Braddock? This is Naumann, we have just been reinforced by a squad of our Cadre Drop Commandos. Im informing you so that no-one mistakes them for hostiles. They are here to assists mainly our team but also provide whatever support they can to other teams. Im providing you with the frequency to the Squad Commander, Lieutenant Tannis Cateau." He said, sending the frequency information to the Steel Butterfly vechile.

The Cadre would be an immense help during the Operation. Naumann wished he could have had more of them in his disposal, but the single squad was all that was still left on Earth. The others, or those that had remained after The War, had already left to the new home of Clairmont. Ofcourse, if worst came to absolute worst, he would have Orbital drop the bar before he would allow those things under the snow to be unleashed to the waiting world.

“You’re not the only one with news, Captain,” Captain Braddock replied to Captain Naumann’s comm. “Although I must say that yours is much better.” Adrian sat down and pushed his hair out of his face. “It seems that we have numerous situations on our hands at present.”

At that moment, Adina emerged from the sleeping quarters, freshly showered, and sat opposite Adrian in the back of the bridge. Captain Braddock stood at the front, patiently considering what to say and how to say it.

“My news only gets from bad to worse,” Braddock said, switching the comm from direct with Clairmont to international so that Commander Hobers from Tappee could hear. “First of all, it seems that we have a renegade on our hands. At the risk of being naïve, I’m going to let his unacceptable behavior go until we return home, because unlike you, Captain Naumann, we don’t have anyone else coming.”

Adrian grimaced at the thought of Xase doing whatever he wanted, potentially ruining whatever plans they had. Adrian and Adina met glances with each other and Adina shied away, embarrassed, as Adrian’s glare grew in intensity.

“That brings me to my next bit of news,” Braddock said hesitantly, obviously angry as he said the words, yet trying to restrain himself. “Apparently there is a NiMBUS facility within the underground city. The Empire’s Director of Intelligence has just informed me, along my team, that we are to search it for a cure. Whether we discover one or not, we have been instructed to destroy it afterwards.”

He took a deep breath, as if thinking out loud the next part. “Obviously this presents a variety of problems for us. First of all, both prior attempts to enter the city have been met with increasingly stiff resistance. Second, we neither know where the facility is located, nor what it looks like. Third, this is NiMBUS Biotechnologies we’re talking about…there are bound to be more…complications like that…lizard…we faced. Lastly, we would have to eliminate a facility that was designed to withstand most things and escape. The issue there is, I estimate that once the facility goes under, so will the forcefield holding up all the snow above it. We could be in a very difficult position following the explosion.”

Braddock paused, letting the information sink in. He had one more thing still to tell. “Finally, I have a medical condition that could jeopardize my position as Commander of this mission. I feel that because…the Director of Intelligence refuses to supply me with additional medication that I require…it is my duty to inform you all of this. I have a mental condition that, without medicine, stops me from creating new memories past a certain point in my life. I likewise will gradually forget anything that happened up to that point. While I’ll still be a soldier, a Captain as a matter of fact, I will know nothing about who you are, what we’re doing, or why we’re doing it. Due to this, I give Lieutenant Adrian Winters full authority to assume command at any point, as well as give him the temporary rank of Field Captain.”

Adrian gaped up at the Captain in shock. He began to open his mouth in protest but thought better of it. The foreigners would be skeptical enough. He didn’t need to add gasoline to the flames.

“You all need to know that this is not a matter of ‘if’ but a matter of ‘when,’” Braddock continued. “I have one additional vaccine, and then most likely another day of normality left. After that, expect Lieutenant Winters to assume control. I trust that each of you will follow him as you have followed me, as well as assist him in any way possible.” He then addressed the foreign team leaders specifically. “You have more experience than he does and he recognizes that. Any way you can possibly assist him will be more than welcome.”

Adrian stared at his Captain. Does he know I’m still here? he wondered, a confused expression on his face. And why would he give me this huge vote of confidence only to express that he doesn’t trust me.

“We will move out tomorrow,” Braddock said. He then checked the time and realized the ridiculousness of his statement. “er…later today. I recommend rest to all of you. We have a difficult mission ahead of us. Braddock out.” Closing the comm link, he turned to face Adrian and Adina.

“You could have told me first,” Adrian said. “I don’t think I’m…”

“You’re more than ready,” Braddock explained. “You just don’t have the years put into the service, the experience. If ranks were awarded on talent, skill, and leadership alone, we both would have been made generals long ago.” Adina, however, had another worry.

“What do you mean Dr. Rane won’t give you your medicine?” she asked indignantly, as if expecting Braddock to admit that actually it was his fault.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” Braddock replied. “I need my vaccine to be competent. When Dr. Rane extended the mission, I asked him for new supplies, my vaccine being one of them. He knows my condition perfectly well, and yet he still refused.”

“Hmm,” Adina muttered. “That doesn’t really sound like him…”

“Adina,” Adrian snapped. “That sounds exactly like him. He’s setting us up to fail…and on the off-chance that we succeed, we’ll still have accomplished what he wanted.”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Adina replied. “Why would he go through all this just to…?” She trailed off, unwilling to complete her sentence.

“I can think of reasons for Adrian,” Braddock said. “And even more for me. Is there anything about you, Adina, or anything you’ve done that would jeopardize your standing with Dr. Rane?”

“Of course not,” Adina replied, however her lie was unconvincing and both Adrian and Braddock instantly caught it. Something had shaken Adina. Something just now had caused her to loose faith in who appeared to be some sort of mentor to her: Dr. Rane. Rane had something on her too, and Adrian swore to himself that he would find out what it was.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock - Dr. Adina Clovis

Orion Sector

General Jack “Lionheart” Valkare was rather upset that his own soldiers could be bribed so easily. Then again, he was also glad to be getting out. He had been sitting in the small cell for almost a day now, and with each passing minute he hated it, and Dr. Rane more.

Valkare had only spend a total of a week in the brig during his entire career, and that was for defending a female officer from a drunk man in a bar fight. Unfortunately for Valkare, the Academy had honed his physical skills to perfection, and he had easily broken the man’s nose and arm, as well as dislocating his knee in one hit each. It was a single stain on an otherwise spotless career, but Valkare took pride in it more than anything. He was standing up for someone unable to fight effectively for themselves. That was exactly the military’s role in the Empire.

Each of the faces of the guards who had taken Rane’s order over his flashed through his mind. They would each hang before the week’s end. Rane’s authority, as he had claimed it, was completely wrong. There was no “If the Emperor is not present” rule in existence and there never had been. It was stupid to think that the Emperor couldn’t make important decisions while out of the Sector, and yet Rane’s lie had worked on the guards who threw Valkare into the cell.

Of course, Rane wasn’t the only one who had lied. Valkare’s meetings with Emperor Bivens had gone far worse than he had reported. Bivens still trusted Rane more than he trusted himself, and Rane was skilled and experienced enough at feeding the Emperor bullshit to get his way over Valkare’s. Both times the Emperor had brushed off Rane, and even included a lecture during their second encounter.

“What is your name, soldier?” Valkare asked.

“Corporal Jacob Briggs, sir,” the guard replied. “Mobile Infantry.”

“I would reward you, Corporal Briggs,” Valkare said as he stepped out of the cell. “But I think not punishing you for accepting a bribe is reward enough.”

“I don’t want your money, sir,” Corporal Briggs replied. “Someone needs to save the Empire from the politicians. I would have let you out either way.”

“Strength and honor, Corporal,” Valkare said, extending his arm in the traditional military handshake instead of the more formal salute. For a General, much less the Commander in Chief, to shake hands with a Corporal was unheard of. For Briggs, this was one of the greatest honors he could receive.

“Strength and honor, sir,” Corporal Briggs replied, stepping back and saluting anyway for good measure, a beaming smile across his face. He stood aside as Valkare collected a handgun from a fellow guard and placed it inside his jacket before disappearing down the tunnels.

* * * * *

Steel Earth
Western Russia

Sergeant Xase Indra sat just outside of the collapsed tunnel leading into the underground city and examined his weapon. He would have to move fast, and be willing to take some hits, but if he had learned one thing this mission it would be that the enemy’s old-fashioned rifles didn’t penetrate the Mark III ODIN Armor.

Kyle Kuhari had been hit square in the shin, and yet while Kyle had been knocked down from the force of the blow, he received no wound from the gunshot, nor was there damage to his armor. Even if they shoot at me, Xase thought to himself. Even if they knock me down…I have to keep moving.

It was Xase’s full intention to reach the NiMBUS facility before everyone else did. This was his victory, his glory, his shining moment. No one, not Naumann, not Rane, not Braddock, not Hobers, and especially not Adrian could take it away from him. Slowly, he began blasting through the snow with his PHAR.

He arrived on the other side of the force field’s door to an astonishing sight. The enemy soldiers, located right on the other side of the door, were gathered around various campfires, apparently celebrating some sort of victory. The oddity of the sight ruining any “shoot first” instinct that Xase may have possessed, he looked on at them in amazement before realizing that absolutely none of them noticed him.

They were there, playing instruments, dancing around, but they were also sharing in what only could be described as silent conversation, as well as cooking food that didn’t exist. It was if they were only going through the motions, singing silent songs, drinking empty bottles, and doing whatever they thought soldiers should be doing at a time like this, if they were truly thinking at all.

Xase stared on at them in wonder, not fully knowing how to comprehend the situation he now found himself in. He walked from campfire to campfire towards the city, stopping briefly to test the soldiers. None of them noticed him there.

It was as he reached the last campfire that he truly began to comprehend who he was among. An enemy soldier, oblivious as always, was cooking a non-existent piece of meat over the fire as others looked on. When the soldier somehow determined that the meat was done, he grabbed it with his left hand, and with his other, unstrapped his helmet.

The head underneath was terribly hideous. It was rotted out, with skull exposed in various areas. The gums and lips had decomposed, as did the eyes, which now existed as black sludge slowly dripping out of the sockets. Xase swallowed hard, trying to hold back his last meal. He was glued to the soldier’s head, and even after he had left the campfire for the broken city itself, Xase could not get the picture of the head out of his mind.

He was silent, for there was no one to talk to, but he was not afraid. Perhaps his apparent lack of fear was what was making him so uneasy.

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Gen. Jack Valkare – Sgt. Xase Indra

Naumann didnt much care for the pieces of information that Captain Braddock had provided him. It was one thing to encounter an enemy force that had massive numerical superiority and which had not been mentioned in the initial brief, and an other thing entirely for the CO of an Operation have a mental condition that would severely affect his command decisions. Which, funny enough, had neither been mentioned before the Op took place. And to finish the otherwise magnificent clusterfuck, Sergeant Xase Indra apparently had decided that the general approach to the enemy was not gung-ho enough.

Naumann sighed. He didnt mention it to Captain Braddock, but if Sergeant Indra would in any way jeopardize the lives of those under his Command, he would put the good Sergeant out of his misery personally.

Considering the general situation, calling Orbital to drop the bar was starting to feel an ever better proposition. Sure they wouldnt get the cure, but personally Naumann did not care. The Q-Virus was a problem that was none of Clairmonts concern. Politics being politics, assholes being assholes, calling Orbital was not an option, yet.

"Locate and investigate NiMBUS facility for cure. Objective covered by battalion or higher strength tactically as well as otherwise braindead enemies and giant lizards. Exfiltrate facility after investigation and demolish." Chinran mused as he put together the general assesment of the current objectives of the Operation.

"Sounds about right, though you forgot to mention that General Op commander has a mental condition that affects his command capacity. One allied soldier has gone renegade and the Op command can fall on to one measly Lieutenant at any time." Deni added, chuckling lightly.

"And what the hell do you think is funny about this entire puddle of piss that became of the research Operation?" Dr. Montaigne asked coldly from Deni.

"The fact that this is such a classic fuck-up." Anderson replied, still chuckling.

"Dont worry Doc, all we have to face is a few hundred, or a few thousand, armed zombies, mutant monsters and potentially unknown hostiles. It will be a cakewalk." Chinran said cheerily. Inside however, he was much less confident. The whole situation was fubar'd. They lacked intel, manpower and time to do this properly.

"And no matter how screwed up it sounds and most certainly is, we are going to do it." Naumann said and called Lieutenant Cateau.

"You heard Captain Braddock Lieutenant?" He asked simply.

"Yes sir. We're up for it sir." Came the short and to the point reply. The Cadre were well known for their no nonsense attitude and their habit of getting the job done.

"Ok. Since we have a bit of time before we move out, I want everyone to get some shuteye. Check your gear, load up plenty of ammo, I have a feeling we'll need all of it." He said, addressing Chinran, Anderson and Black.

"What about us Captain?" Doctor Walker questioned, feeling frustrated and useless as the events had taken their turn and pushed the two scientists out of the Operation.

Naumann seemed to think about it for a moment.
"You will stay here. The Raider's defense suite can operate automatically and Deni will show you some basics about its operation. If you are needed down in the caverns, you will be called for."

Neither of the two seemed exactly satisfied by the Captains decision. However, they had learned during the last couple of days that when Captain Vincent Naumann made up his mind on something, nothing short of the hand of god could turn his head.

The team dispersed, Black went to sleep while Deni and Chinran began the methodical check of their equipment in preparation for the mission ahead. Naumann sat down at the work station in the main cabin of the Raider and began thinking about the best way to fight the enemy on the basis of the information they had on them and the forces he had in his disposal. It would be a difficult mission.

“We’re fucked,” Adrian announced in somewhat of a whisper as he pulled a muscle shirt over his head and walked onto the bridge. He had just gotten out of the shower, and his long hair was still wet. Braddock, who showered before him, had the same problem with his own hair, and Adina was already asleep.

“Maybe,” Braddock replied, shrugging. It wasn’t exactly the vote of confidence Adrian was looking for.

“They don’t trust me,” Adrian continued, not whining, just merely stating a fact.

“It’s not just you,” Braddock responded, forcing a grin for a moment. “They don’t trust me…they don’t trust our team…they don’t trust our leadership.” He paused, shaking his head. “I don’t even trust our leadership.”

“This is the most unorganized…” Adrian started, but Braddock knew what he was going to say.

“Yeah,” the Captain replied. “Yeah, it is. It is a failure already. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, honestly. With you and Xase always at each other’s throats…and who the hell knows why Kyle, rest his soul, joined the military in the first place, let alone tried out for an elite group such as this one.”

Adrian snorted. Calling them elite anymore was a joke. Not even a week ago they had stormed past enemy borders under cover, faced an overwhelmingly larger force, and extracted a hostage, all in once piece. Now, they’ve been forced to retreat twice, taken two casualties, and Xase all but defected from the team. What happened to us?

They were an international embarrassment, and yet, it was as if it was meant to happen. It was as if their past was finally catching up to them, as if karma was, at last, rearing its ugly head. There was no solution in sight, but while the other teams fought towards one, they, the supposed leaders, sat by and felt sorry for themselves.

“This is pathetic,” Adrian said, standing at looking out the window towards the gaping hole in the snow. “What the fuck are we doing?”

Captain Braddock looked out at the hole from behind Adrian’s shoulder. What do we have? he asked himself, squinting his eyes in concentration. Clairmont has reinforcements. Tappee has experience. What do we have? The answer came to him slowly instead of hitting him quick, and he felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier.

“We have the Predator,” Braddock said aloud. Adrian turned around as if to say “no shit.” Once again, Captain Braddock felt foolish. What toll was his lack of medicine taking on his mind already? “Tomorrow…later today…we will go down in it. I bet the other teams have already thought about it.”

“The tunnels are wide enough,” Adrian replied. “The armor is stronger than our personal armor, and the guns are larger. We’d be able to tear right through the city I suppose.”

“Adrian…” Braddock said. “Why didn’t we do that first?”

“We didn’t think it was necessary,” Adrian replied. “No one did. We had no clue what we were going to find.”

“But then the second time?” Braddock asked. “When we went down to rescues Kyle. Perhaps if we had it…”

“Kyle was a dead man walking,” Adrian responded, wincing at what the saying meant in the context they were now in. “He was done,” Adrian corrected himself. “We both…we all knew it.”

“That’s not the point,” Braddock said. “There was no planning to this mission. No information. Why did we even go out on foot at all?”

“I don’t…”

“I don’t know either,” Braddock said, shaking his head in disgust. And I complain about only being a Captain.

“It’s not your fault,” Adrian said, one broken man to another. Suddenly the Captain seemed foolish for being so hard on himself. Adrian pushed his hair out of his face again. How many times in the last few days had he done nothing but feel sorry for himself? I’m turning into a whiny bitch

“When my memory goes…”

“I’ll lead the teams,” Adrian said, more confident than he had been for days. “We’ll look for a cure and we’ll take down that building. Fuck Rane. Fuck Xase. This is our job. It’s what we do. Sometime over the past few days we forgot that…forgot what being a soldier is. We sit around and talk and complain and whine to ourselves, and in the meantime our world is falling apart around us. This is what we were trained for. This is what we do.”

“Lieutenant Winters,” Captain Braddock said, standing and walking towards the door to the living quarters.

“Yes, sir?” Adrian replied, formal since Braddock had called him “Lieutenant.”

“I’m honored to serve with you,” Braddock said. It caught Adrian off-guard: cheesy yet heartfelt at the same time. Still, Adrian felt a swelling sense of pride within him that he barely remembered. As he followed Braddock to the living quarters, he felt strangely secure, although, as he said himself, the world was falling down around him.

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Lt. Adrian Winters - Cpt. Andrew Braddock

Lieutenant Tannis Cateau wished briefly she were somewhere else. Fighting for the Freehold of Clairmont was her job, one she had dedicated her life for but it was exactly these sort of Operations that sometimes made her question the sanity of High Command. Mutant lizards? Zombie soldiers? It had the stench of a bad B-movie, except that it was reality.

She glanced at the readouts of her squad, ammunition, weapons, armor and health status information flowed to her through the squad datalink and she smiled a smile of satisfaction at the readiness of her people. They would soon fight against something they had never seen or believed existed and despite the unknown that they would face, they were calm and full of professionalism.

It was a slight comfort from the otherwise screwed operation.

She looked over at the direction of the Steel Butterfly vechile and shook her head, hoping that the Imperials would be able to do their job despite their commander being practically incapable of commanding due to a medical condition and one of their number having gone rogue. She couldnt understand how such a bunch could have survived this long in the battlefield, but it was not her place to question their capability survived as they had.

She glanced at the chrono superimposed to her HUD. Nightfall was approaching and with that the mission to search and destroy the NiMBUS facility beneath the snow. She had spent the last couple of hours drawing up a general battle plan, plotting lines of advance and formations with the NCO's of the squad and it looked good.

They had the firepower and training to take on the enemies that she had intel on. However as no battle plan survived first contact with the enemy, the best she could do was to plan the best contignencies and base the impending mission on those contignencies.

Her augmented hearing caught the sound of combat boots hitting the snow behind her and she turned to look at Sergeant Major Black as he exited the Raider.

"Lieutenant." The veteran murmured.

"Sergeant Major." Cateau acknowledged.

The Cadre was full of exceptional samples of humanity. For one to be a Drop Commando, superb physical, pscyhological and intellectual traits were absolutely necessary. And yet, Sergeant Major Black was one of the few Cadremen who was known to every single troop within the Cadre.

The one of the three surviving holders of the Banner of Honor, to have him along in the Operation was a relief to Cateau.

"What kind of approach will you be taking when we get down there Lieutenant?" Black asked.

"Two wings with Combat Rifles lead the way, One support element in the middle of the formation, one at the back. Remaining wings at the flanks." Cateau replied.

Black seemed to think about it for a moment before he responded.
"I recommend you maintain one wing with plasma rifles close to the front, these lizard things take a hell of a pounding to take down and if we encounter them, we need to deliver that pounding at them fast."

"Hmm, I'll take that under advisement Sar' Major." Cateau said back. Other Officers might have been insulted or annoyed if an NCO came to tell them how to do their jobs, Cateau was gratefull of Black's advice. The man had infinitely more experience than she did.

"If you thought that this Op is a clusterfuck now Lieutenant, prepare yourself when we get down there. It wont be pretty." The Sergeant Major said and left, to trot around the perimeter surrounding the Raider.

Cateau believed him, and despite the training they had, despite the hardware they had, she had a nasty feeling that all of her people wouldnt be coming back.

No one spoke, as the team finished prepping their gear for tomorrows mission, following Carmen death no one really wanted to say anything. Death was part of the job, it was a fact that they all accepted, but when one losses a team member it is still hard.

Jeffery’s thoughts drifted to not to the coming days but to the past, to the events of a battle long past. It was the closing days of the Orion war there was but a single objective left to claim, the headquarters of the notorious NiMbus technology. In theory it seemed like a simple mission, nothing more then a planetary assault, but what they found was nothing more then normal. In a last desperate measure, NiMbus released their virus creations on the advancing armies.

To say that the mission had gone badly would have been understating the facts, almost the entire force that had landed were killed or worst. As more and more died, the army of the of the undead swelled and was only stopped when the entire planet was destroy. Jeffery had been one of the lucky ones that had got out, but there were times that he wished that he had died there.

Memories came flooding back, he was no longer sitting in the comfort of the Prometheus tank, but found himself in the heat of battle. Every where he looked they stood, with gentle moans they advanced, how do you fight something that does not fear death, or can not die. Raising his rifle he fired into the coming crowd, each shot hit its target, but they simply keep coming. In panic, Jeffery fell back to fining himself pinned, he turned to face the coming onslaught firing randomly in the crowd. In that crowd Jeffery could see a number of Tappee soldiers, some that he had fought beside for years and called friend, now their mind was dead but their bodies pressed on driven by the simple desire to feed. Then he heard it salvation, a gunship pulled up, it powerful antipersonnel weapon cut the crowed apart. No sooner had their bodies hit the ground when some of them start to rise, but the attack proved to distraction long enough for a landing craft to touch down a pull the remain survivors to safety.

Snapping back to reality Jeffery looked up at the rest of the team, he could only hope that history would not repeat itself.

“Get some rest everyone” he said ending the silence “you will need it.”

The third trip down to the city of the damned was strangely surreal. As the Predator tore through the ice and snow en route to the entrance Adrian sat quietly in the co-pilot’s chair. His eyes were open, and yet to say he was looking at anything in particular would have been terribly inaccurate. He was in another place, another time…anywhere but here.

Adina and Braddock were equally silent, the anticipation of what they would encounter growing with each passing moment. The situation they now found themselves in was equally frightening and disgusting, but the worst part, the both mused, was the fact that there was no obvious way out. They were stuck here, with no guarantee of salvation, so semblance of hope.

As the Predator passed through the forcefield, the tension within the cabin was growing exponentially. The foreign vehicles followed behind, each with the same realization: if they fail, there will be no place for them to live, and no place for them to sleep. They were literally bringing what little homefront they had straight to the middle of the war.

Surprisingly, if not lucky even, there were no warriors to be found. The city seemed more empty than ever as the vehicles passed through its snowy streets under broken buildings and on cracked roads. Within the Predator Adrian, Braddock, and even Adina were dressed in full ODIN armor, ready for anything, but praying that nothing occurred.

“The NiMBUS building should be obvious,” Captain Braddock said over the international comm. “They all have a specific look to them.” Just as he said it, the strange spherical building, identical to those on Steel Moon and in Tappee, appeared in the distance, beckoning the parties to approach. “Straight ahead,” Braddock ordered. “Easy now.”

There was no sign of Xase anywhere, Adrian noticed, coming back to reality. There was no carnage, no destruction, nothing out of the ordinary. Still, Adrian anticipated meeting his nemesis soon enough, for there was no where other than the NiMBUS facility for Xase to go in this begotten city. At the base of the facility, Captain Braddock parked the Predator, and grabbing his weapon exited through the rear hatch. Adina and Adrian quietly followed.

“I see little need for all forty or so of us to be rummaging through the building,” Braddock ordered over the international comm. “I leave it to the team leaders to select three people per nation to enter the facility. The others will set up a perimeter out here, securing the area.” The teams did as they were told. Then, with only a hand signal, the three-man teams walked through the door.

The lobby of the facility was typical for a large business, and even with only flashlights or night vision lighting their way, the soldiers all could see the intricacies of the design. The other floors were no different. Offices, cubicals, computers…all typical business necessities. This building could have housed an insurance firm from what it looked like, and if it weren’t for the stylistic “NiMBUS” logos scattered throughout the floors, the teams would probably have had second thoughts. Still, there were no signs of Xase, or any laboratory, which were the two things Adrian was concerned about.

“It wouldn’t be here anyhow,” Adrian said over the team comm. “They’d be foolish to keep anything out in the open.”

“There’s no basement to this building,” Braddock replied, looking over the floor plans on his forearm console. “Perhaps we’re in the wrong spot.”

“Perhaps,” Adrian said. “But I still think it’s here…the labs always have been in their main location at least…” And then, they came to the fifth floor.

The fifth floor was designed like all the others, except while the others appeared to be quite literally frozen in time, the fifth floor was wrecked, trashed almost beyond recognition. And then, from behind the rubble, came Xase, completely without armor.

“Freeze!” commanded Adrian as Braddock and he raised their weapons. Adina merely looked up him in shock.

“What are you doing without your suit?” Adina asked. Xase merely smiled.

“Sergeant Indra, you are under arrest,” Braddock ordered as he and Adrian slowly approached their teammate.

“Honestly Andy, what’s the fucking point?” Xase replied. “By the time we return, I’ll be a hero, and you’ll simply look foolish.”

“What are you talking about?” Braddock asked. Xase smiled once more. “Did you find the cure?”

“It’s not here,” Xase groaned, laughing still. “I read it all in the database. It was stored on Steel Moon…and our government destroyed it. They destroyed any hope of a cure.”

“Why the fuck is that funny?” Adrian asked, his weapon still aimed.

“It’s not what I’m laughing at,” Xase replied. “You’d be amazed, Adrian, what a person can find in the NiMBUS database. Records of all experiments for one thing...”

Just then, from behind Braddock and Adrian, a pulse shot through the air, hitting Xase square in the chest, and sending him flying from his feet. Adrian and Braddock turned to see who fired the shot, but although they knew who it had to have been, seeing her standing their, weapon drawn, was still unsettling and confusing all at once.

“Adina…” Adrian said in a low voice. “Give me the gun…”

“I finally get you two,” Xase said, rising from the floor, the gaping hole in his chest slowly closing before their eyes. “I finally understand.” All three of them simply stared at him in horror. “When I found out, Adrian…I was no longer mad. I was no longer jealous. I knew that your superiority was actually warranted…but I also knew that I could never live with that knowledge. Luckily, of all places to be when I make that revelation, I find myself here…at NiMBUS. Adrian…together we can complete the mission at hand. There is one reason why we’re not allowed to leave…and she’s standing right before us all.” Adrian and Braddock stared at Adina, who slowly backed herself against a wall, the PHAR still firmly grasped in her hands.

“What did you do to yourself, Xase?” Adina asked, the fear apparent in her voice. “What did you do…”

“I made myself better,” Xase replied. “Stronger, faster, more durable…all in a matter of moments. I’m sure you understand, Adrian…don’t you?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Adrian said, still in the low voice.

“Oh that’s right,” Xase laughed. “You wouldn’t know…would you?”

“Why did you say Adina is keeping us here?” Braddock asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Xase replied. “Her ‘tireless search for the cure’…and for what? Who in the Empire is honestly infected?”

“Xase you shut up right now do you understand?” Adina pleaded. “I’m so close…”

“I’ll tell you who…and I’ll tell you the real reason that Rane won’t let us leave this shit hole...” Xase said, his smile fading. “Adina is infected.”

“What?”

“The virus is contained within her,” Xase said. Adina turned white. “It has been for years. A scientist found a way to keep it dormant, but Rane…Rane thinks that’s far too big of a risk…as he should…”

“But you just infected yourself…” Adina said, her voice trembling.

“I wasn’t about to be the only one left out,” Xase said, grinning. “We have our cute science experiment, and our super-soldier…and what exactly do you think it is that allows you to keep your memory, Andy?”

“Where the fuck are you getting this?” Braddock demanded.

“It’s all right here in the database,” Xase explained. “I couldn’t be making this up…”

“I don’t know what the hell is wrong with any of you,” Adrian exclaimed. “But there is no way in hell I’m a…super soldier…for Christ’s sake. There’s nothing super about me. This is all fucking insane. You’re under arrest Xase, stand down.”

“Ask her if you don’t believe me,” Xase said. Adrian turned. By the embarrassment in her face he didn’t have to ask. This can’t be real… “And while you’re at it…ask her the name of the scientist who kept her alive.”

“Adina?” Adrian asked, begging her with his eyes for her to tell him that Xase was lying, but he was beginning to realize that Xase’s story was far from wrong.

“It was your father, Adrian,” Adina replied. Adrian felt his head begin to spin.

“B-bullshit,” He muttered, taking a step back. “My father wasn’t a fucking scientist…and besides…he died…”

“…on Earth…” Xase added.

“How did you…?” Adrian questioned.

“I told you,” Xase said. “The database…”

“But I…” Adrian protested. “I was raised in government service.”

“You say you were raised in government service,” Xase said, shaking his head. “Who do you think experimented on you? Who was the government’s lead scientist on the Q-virus? Who helped Adina when NiMBUS wouldn’t?”

“Perimeter to Braddock,” a soldier said over the comm. “We have company…they’re approaching fast…”

“You’re a fucking liar!” Adrian screamed.

“Hard to accept, isn’t it?” Xase said, the smile still plastered to his face. Above everything now, Adrian hated that smile. Nothing else seemed to matter. There stood Xase, his nemesis, his rival, the bane to his existence, mocking his father and the love he once showed. If his father infected him, Adrian told himself, then it was for a good reason. Xase’s conspiracy is only based on what was in the database…not on what was omitted.

“They’re almost here, Captain!” the soldier shouted. Gunfire could be heard over the comm.”

And then, as if an invisible force had wrecked his body, Xase fell to the ground. He clutched his head in his hands and wailed in pain and Adrian simply glared at him. Adrian focused all of his anger, and all of his frustration, onto that bastard man before him on the floor as Adina and Braddock could only watch in horror. A power that he had never felt before had just been released upon the unveiling of the truth, and Adrian would be sure that the messenger would pay. He felt the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the desks, the chairs, the computer, and Adina and Braddock, but most of all he felt Xase, and that Xase’s life was slowly leaving him.

Looking back, Adrian would never be able to explain or justify his actions, or how his latent ability seemed to manifest itself at exactly that time, but without poison or flames, without gunfire or suffocation, but instead with a simple glare, Adrian killed Xase, as the hordes of hell marched on their location.

Adrian smashed the window of a side office and reached through to unlock the door. Once opened, he ran into the office itself to look outside. The armies of the undead were swiftly closing in on the location, with the soldiers outside their only defense.

“Captain,” Adrian said, walking back to the cubicals. “Get Hobers on the comm. They’re somewhere else in the building…we have to let them know.”

“What…what did you do to him?” Adina asked, looking up at Adrian in both shock and confusion as she took a step back. Braddock silently approached Xase’s corpse.

“Captain!” Adrian repeated, ignoring Adina. Braddock turned his head, annoyed.

“Quiet,” he ordered. “There seems to be something wrong with this man here…”

“What?” Adrian asked. “Xase’s dead…”

“He’s dead?” Braddock asked. Adrian nodded his head. He really didn’t want to get into it. Everything was happening so fast “You know his name…” Braddock said, checking Xase’s pulse. There wasn’t one. “…do you know how he died?”

“I…wait…” Adrian said, catching himself. Did the captain just ask…? “Of course I know his name…he’s in our squad…”

“…oh,” Braddock replied in a way that was obvious he had no idea.

All of a sudden, Adrian simply froze. Not literally, of course, but his mind suddenly went numb. Adina was afraid of him, and now, what the Captain had said was coming true. Braddock’s mind had reverted back to some time, years ago.

“Captain, we have to go,” Adrian ordered, lifting Braddock to his feet by his shoulders. The Captain quietly obeyed as Adrian opened his comm link to the Tappee leader. Adina followed reluctantly behind.

No had said much during the ride down to the hidden city, Carman’s death had taken the team by surprise. Though death was part of the job, one never took the death of a team member easily. During the endless hours of training that they had all went through, they had become as close as a group of people could have come.

Gathered on the Prometheus’ commanded they all sat quietly and as the allied convoy tanks broke through the protective field around the city, and began the perilous journey towards the NiMbus headquarters.

“Richard, and Emma” said Jeffery finally ending the silence, “activate the primary defensive systems, if anything even comes near thin tank I want it dead, is that understood.”

Nodding that she understood Emma about start up the Prometheus main defense system, as she something struck her as odd Jeffery’s voice. It was cold as always, but to her there seem to be a slight undertone in fear in his voice. It was something that she had never heard before, and given his past it was something that caused her to worry her self. Emma allowed her self a glance over he should in Jeffery’s direction, trying not to let him know that she was looking. Jeffery was going over something with Marcus, but there was still something wrong and she could not put her finger on it. Worried that she was giving in to her own fear and being paranoid the quietly put her thoughts out her mind and went back to her assigned duties

Suddenly a voice came over the intercom, which everyone recognized as the voice of the Steel Butterfly commander, Captain Braddrock informing them what the destination look like, though the Tappee team was fully aware of what they were looking for, Commander Hobers for one had visited one of these facilities in the past. However, Hobers knew that the comment was more directed to their Clairmont teammate then them.

Once they had reached their final destination, Jeffery and Marcus geared up to proceed with the team that would investigate the main building. Grabbing his rifle Jeffery turned to Emma and Richard, “Man the guns, it anything that moves comes near this building kill it no exceptions, is that understood.”

“Yes sir” quickly shot Emma and Richard as Jeffery and Marcus put on their helmets and made there way into through the air lock.

As they made their way into the lobby Jeffery was surprised as to how uniform all NiMbus facilities actually where, this build was built well before the battle for Steel Moon, yet it was almost identical.

In an attempt to cover more ground the team broke up into smaller group and began searching the building floor by floor, Jeffery and Hobbers were assigned the third floor. Cautiously the two moved through the floor searching for anything that might be of value. However, there was little hope of finding anything. They were in nothing short of tomb, a thick layer of dust had settled over the age, items were scattered over the room untouched since they fallen there centuries before. There was nothing here to find and the two of them knew.

“What are we looking for here” asked Marcus in frustration as he kicked in nearby chair. “This is no lab, we shouldn’t even be wasting our time.” His lack of sleep was quickly becoming evident.

Jeffery to a moment to look Marcus over, in his mind he could not help but wonder if things moving faster then anyone had anticipated, and for the first time he wondered if bring Marcus on this mission was a mistake. “It has been my observation that with NiMbus that the smallest piece of information can be extremely important. Now keeping looking”

As the two men continued their search in the building, things outside the building were not going as smooth. Alarms and warning were going as smooth. In a panic Richard was typing in several commands into his consol as a message came over the intercom. “Perimeter to Braddock. We have company coming… they are approaching fast…” this was no revelation to Richard how could see very clearly in his sensor scans the trouble that they were in. Emma was the first to react as she jumped into the tanks gunner seat.

Her first action was to move the tank into a better firing position, quickly the thanks turned ninety degrees in an attempt to increase it field of fire. With in moment the AI system began tracking an engaging the hostile targets. Spitting out fiery death, the tanks Hurricane bolters began cutting the enemy advancement.

Sounds of gunfire resonated through the halls the facility. In an attempt to grasp the situation Jeffery and Marcus ran to the nearest window, and what they saw surprised only Marcus, Jeffery had seen this scenario unfold once before. Before he had time to give any order he got a message from someone with the Steel Butterfly team, informing him the situation. They to start moving, and fast or they would be overrun, time was not on their side. “Meet me on the fourth floor.” Answered Jeffery back to the Steel Butterfly team.




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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

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Marcus

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Emma Dalson

For the first time since he could remember, Adrian simply quit fighting what was put before him. He let everything in, his father, Xase, Braddock’s memory, his newly discovered abilities, the dead soldiers…everything, accepting it all as if these things were common practice. En route to the 4th floor, Adrian stopped running.

Both Captain Braddock and Adina stopped and stared at him with blank expressions on their faces. Braddock was most certainly confused; he knew not where he was running, only that he was. Adina, however, had so much to ask, so much to say, but she didn’t know how. Adrian returned each one of their gazes with his own, thoughts racing through his mind faster than he could comprehend them.

“You…” Adina began, tilting her head to the side as if it would help her understand. “You did that…back there to Xase…didn’t you?” Adrian merely continued his gaze. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she knew the answer. “How?”

“I…” Adrian replied. “I don’t know. I hated him…I hated him so much. All I did was think about it…I focused on him…focused on him hard. And then…and then he died.”

“Adrian,” Adina said, approaching him. “You said your father died…do you know what he did?”

“Not really,” Adrian said. “I know he was in the military” he paused. “…I don’t know much about him at all.”

“I met your father once,” Adina said. Adrian’s eyes grew wide. “I mean…I knew that you didn’t have parents when you were young, and I don’t know why I didn’t realize it until now…but I met him.”

“What?” Adrian asked, his voice rising. Why hadn’t she told him before now, of all times?

“Your dad was a doctor, Adrian,” Adina continued. “More specifically…he was my doctor.”

“I…I don’t know if I can…”

“I’m…I’m infected, Adrian,” Adina said. “I have been since I was young. Your dad localized the infection and contained it within me so that it wouldn’t spread. He was going to cure it…but he died before he could. Years after, the cure was found, but no one knew about my condition, and after the war, I couldn’t tell anyone I had it.”

Adrian’s head hurt. This was too much to handle in one day.

“Then we’ve never needed a sample,” Adrian said. Adina nodded. “We’ve had it all along.” He rubbed his eyes in his palms. “Then why did we come here?”

“Someone like me…alone…without equipment,” Adina began. “can’t possibly make a cure for what may be the most complex virus known to man in a couple of days. The cures for the many strains of the Q-virus were formed over years and years of testing. It has always been said that there is no cure for the original strain, which we face here, and which is contained inside my body, but Rane and I agree that the story must be wrong. NiMBUS would never have conducted experiments if they couldn’t administer a cure, and the cure for the other strains would never have been found it there wasn’t a cure for the original.”

“So we were sent here to find it,” Adrian realized. “In this place.” It didn’t make sense. “Why weren’t we just told that?”

“Because it would prove that the government had knowledge of a NiMBUS facility on Earth that hadn’t been decimated during post-Civil War reconstruction, as all the others had,” Adina explained. “Besides, after the nuclear explosions and the fallout, no one is sure if the cure is still in tact.”

“But it would be here…?” Adrian asked.

“Precisely,” Adina said.

“And we can’t leave until we find it?” Adrian continued.

“Rane found out about my condition,” Adina confessed, her eyes tearing up. “If I don’t find this…they’re going to kill me…”

Inside Adrian’s mind, a beam of piercing light shot down through all the chaos and confusion. Though he imagined it would never all make sense, and things such as what was done to him would never be entirely cleared up, what mattered at the moment was what had mattered to this team from the beginning. Adina was the reason they couldn’t leave.

“Have you been…?” Adrian asked, his voice calm, almost comforting. “Have you been lying to Rane to keep us here?”

“Every day,” Adina whimpered. Adrian cringed, although the anger he expected never surfaced. Instead, Adrian felt himself open up to Adina. As she began to cry, he firmly wrapped his arms around her. He wasn’t going to let anyone kill her.

Their embrace was only broken by the explosions which rocked the stairwell they were conversing in. An entire wall had caved in, and Adrian felt Adina quickly slipping from his grasp. As the stairs collapsed beneath him and Braddock, Adrian stared down in horror as Adina fell with them. Fueled by instincts, Adrian jumped, as the confused Captain looked on in amazement.

Adrian managed to catch her mere moments from contact with the floor, and miraculously grabbed hold of a broken piece of wall which the collapsing stairs had ripped out, holding both Adina and himself up with one hand. Adina quickly wrapped her arms and legs around him, and from within, Adrian felt a burst of energy, as if a sun had ignited within his chest. Letting out a scream, he attempted to pull both of them up with his one hand, but instead the stairs which had fallen rose to his feet and continued to lift them upwards.

Braddock watched in amazement as the broken metal stairs rose through the stairwell, carrying Adrian and Adina to safety. Slowly, Adrian and Adina stepped off to where Braddock was, and the ruined stairs gently collapsed to the bottom of the stairwell. However, Adina did not let go of the man who had saved her.

“Hobers to Steel Butterfly,” Adrian heard over the comm. “Where the hell are you guys?”

Through his armored helmet, Adrian looked at Adina’s, wishing more than anything that he could just see her face. “No one is going to kill you,” he promised himself. He would fight for her, fight Dr. Rane himself if it came down to it. He would fight for her, even if no one else would.

Lieutenant Cateau and Captain Naumann had changed the original plan at the last moment. Deciding rather to take the APC with them down to the depths than leave it separated from the main group. It would provide them a quick means of extracting from the danger zone back to the surface and some additional firepower if needed.

The ride down and into the city had been mostly uneventfull. Discounting a few bumps in the road, the International force had met no opposition during the trip.

Once inside the city, the Drop Commando's and Special Warfare Operatives deployed in the predetermined pattern. The Operatives would lead the way, scouting the route ahead for the Drop Commando's while the Cadre members secured the flanks and the APC.

The situation went from calm to shit hitting the fan in less than a minute as the undead soldiers and obscure mutated creatures emerged from their hideouts and began an unrelenting assault upon firstmost the Steel Butterfly team locked within the NiMBUS building and the rest of the International force.

The platoon comm rapidly became filled with quickly delivered reports and choruses of acknowledgement as the team reacted against the emerged threat calmly and professionally. The Cadre used their advanced Power Armour to its greatest potential, swiftly slashing at the hordes of enemy forces with their deadly combination of mobility and heavy armament.

"Target one-alpha terminated. Target mike-seven locked...firing. Target mike-seven terminated. Reloading... Targeting..." The suit systems of Lieutenant Cateau illustrated the battle monotonously as the Drop Commando eliminated targets in her field of fire with precise bursts of 10mm penetrators.

"Winchester-Six, Romeo-Six, regroup and proceed to point Bravo." Crackled Captain Naumann's voice in Cateau's suit and she obliged, turning two more hostiles to permanently deceased corpses.

The team was forming up on an arrow formation, attempting to penetrate the enemy forces and reach the Steel Butterfly team, and offer them any help they would recquire.

Outside in the Prometheus thinks where not looking so good. Emma watched from her turret as on the chest of one of the enemy solider blew open as he took a direct, only to see that same solider rise to his feet and continue his advance. Unfortunately system was designed from crow suppression, and lack the accuracy to have the killing head shot needed to finish off one these enemy soldiers. All that they where achieving was slowing down the advance, but given the sheer numbers that they where facing they didn’t have much long. Meter by meter the undead soldiers made their advance, until they were within a arms length away, at this close range the tanks primary defenses were far from effective.

It didn’t take long for panic to find its way into the cabin, with Richard being its first victim. “What should we do” he asked, his voice was shaky and weak.

“Relax, everything will be ok” quickly answered Emma, though she was not sure who she was trying to convince, Richard or herself. Taking a moment she tried to consider their options. There was building blocking them the rear, and the enemy surrounding them. They could sit here and wait from the Clairmont forces to fight their way to them, or they could try to use the tank and plow through the undead army.

With little hesitation Emma transferred control of the tank over to where she was sitting, and slammed hard down of the accelerator. It took mere seconds for giant metal beast to lurch forward, crushing all those the stood in it way.

As it gained momentum, it seemed that they would make it through this, and for a brief moment Emma felt a brief a sense of victory. However, a hallow sound coming from outside of the hull changed all that. It took the two of them a but just a moment to realize that some the creatures had pulled them selves on to the tank. Looking a an exterior camera they saw the almost the entire tank was cover with the fiends trying to fight their way in.

“I can hand this” proclaimed Richard seeming have found his confidence once again. He reached over to hit a near by switch.

Moments before Richard was about to hit the button, Emma had run the most likely scenario to the outcome and it caused her stomach to drop. “Richard No!” but it was to late.

Outside the Hull charged up then release a sever electrical current immediately electrocuting any being still in contact with the hull. In theory this was considered to the most effective way to deal with a undead mob holding on to the tank. However, it was designed to subdue a unarmed mob, not one armed as a normal soldier would.

It didn’t take long for the current to set of the undead soldier munitions setting off a chain of explosion that would eventually find its way into the tank itself.

In the blink of an eye the Prometheus Tank disappeared into a fiery explosion. Concussion from the explosion quickly raced out knocking down anyone near the tank, then tore into the NiMbus building shaking it a its very foundation.

Caught by surprise Jeffery was stumbled and hit nearby wall, his momentum carried him right through the wall. Fortunately his Armour took most of the impact. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts. “Hobbers to Emma, what the hell just happen.” His plea was only answered static. Deep in his heart he feared what this might have meant, but another incoming message caused him to shift his thoughts.

“Hobbers to Steel Butterfly, Where the hell are you guys?”

Collecting himself he got to feet a started up the stairs running up to the meeting point “We are coming up on your position now.”




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Jeffery Hobers

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Richard Xian

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Marcus

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Emma Dalson

"Holy shit!" Chinran exclaimed as he saw the fireball that engulfed the command tank of the Tappee team. He queried the reconnaissance drone hovering above the ruined city to take a look at the explosion site. A large number of burned and disintegrated corpses of the Zombie soldiers were lying on the ground as well as two of the Cadre troopers, who had been propelled through a wall of one of the nearby buildings by the blast shockwave. They might have survived, but they most certainly werent combat effective at this point.

The report of a heavy gun echoed between the buildings and Chinran recognized it as the anti material rifle of choice that Deni had fallen in love to during Special Warfare training. Three shots echoed in succession, each blowing apart torsos of the undead soldiers as the large rounds tore through them.

The advance of the Clairmont team towards the NiMBUS building was proceeding, but as more and more of the undead soldiers piled in on the streets, it began slowing down and eventually would halt in the middle of the ruined city.

"Romeo-six to Romeo units. Romeo-three continue sniping, Romeo-two engage optical camouflage and join Romeo-lead." Naumann's voice crackled in Chinran's earbud.

He did as he was told, and turned on the optical camouflage that would reduce his visibility by 95%. Hopefully, the undeads did not know how to use sensors and wouldnt put as much attention towards the two Operatives now sneaking towards the NiMBUS building than the Cadre Drop Commandos ravaging in their midst.


The fighting had nearly turned into a melee as the sheer mass of Zombie soldiers pressed closer and closer on the cohesive formation of Cadre Drop Commando's. In places, some of the armoured figures already had to use their armour muscle unit assisted arms and legs to stave off the assault.

Lieutenant Cateu glanced at her ammunition indicator, the box magazine attached to her battle rifle was running through its load of penetrators at an alarming pace. She had already expended 55% of her ammunition, and the rest of the platoon wasnt in much better shape. If they didnt find a way to extract from the combat zone quickly, the battle would turn into a total melee.

A flight of payload mortar rounds arced over the ruined buildings from the direction of the APC. The canisters opened above the mass of zombies blocking the Cadre from proceeding, Dozens of small submunitions were dispersed among the horde and they detonated in a staccato ripple of explosions, blowing apart limbs, heads and torsos of the undead. Under the onslaught of destruction, the pressure from the zombies directly ahead of the Cadre decreased for a small moment, and the Drop Commandos surged forward aggressively. Doing everything in their power to reach the trapped Steel Butterfly team.