2 Prologue. 2

Aboard a Panther class stealth transport craft in hanger C2 of the HFAX Silent Night.

"Hephaestus… will you please turn that shit off?" groaned Artemis.

"Are you asking ME to turn off the DJ Blyatman? I'll have you know he is a 21st-century Hardbass genius! Besides, Nyx was the one who enlightened me to his genius, so I'm not the only one who wants to hear it," said Hephaestus with a look oAf false devastation, then switching to a coy smile.

Nyx was, as usual, just silently nodding her head to the beat in her harness, already geared up and ready to go. I didn't understand the appeal of this Hardbass music. It sounded like somebody was slapping a drum along with some random electronic noises together until something came out.

Then again, I had yet to hear any music that interested me. So perhaps it was just a me thing. No matter, it's time to get moving.

"Alright, that's enough. Hephaestus, turn it off. Finish your gear check. We are deploying in fifteen," I ordered.

Everybody sounded off and began donning their Commando armor. The armor itself was imposing. Its sleek black finish with red visors gave us quite an imposing appearance. But it was the armor itself that was genuinely terrifying, and even I didn't completely understand it. It was the culmination of years of reverse engineering Xeno technology along with Humanity's natural ingenuity which gave birth to this armor.

Our armor was capable of withstanding repeated barrages from nearly all types of enemy fire, whether it be laser, plasma, or ballistic. Not only did it boast impressive defensive capabilities, but the armor was also individually crafted for each Death Commando, further increasing our physical abilities and allowing us to achieve even more incredible feats with our augmented bodies.

"Man, I'll never go back to using exosuits again. This armor is something else," mused Zeus as the armor seemingly came to life on his body.

"True, the military has this armor under lock and key. I doubt even most of the High Admirals know how it's constructed," explained Nike while doing some stretching in his new armor.

Over the loudspeakers, a female voice rang out. "This is Foe Hammer. We are preparing for take-off. Strap in, friends."

We all followed suit and strapped into the Panther's harnesses in silence. The clicking of mechanisms and the whirling of the interior fans were the only sounds present. There was no need for words during the descent to the planet.

The space battle was still going on and everybody knew what that meant. The possibility of getting hit randomly in a battle like this was always on your mind. It was somewhat frustrating knowing there was nothing you could do to increase your odds.

The Panther transport crafts had high spec plasma shields and stealth fields, but it didn't matter if a stray rail gunshot from a capital ship vaporized us or a downed Elunari fighter barreled into our craft.

"As soon as we drop out of warp, I'm punching it to the surface, so pray hard, ladies and gentlemen," Foe Hammer called over the radio.

Pray hard, huh?

If there was a god for Humanity, it sure didn't care much for me or anyone for that matter. And they sure wouldn't recognize me as a member of their flock anyways.

I didn't have much time to ponder this as we dropped out of warp space. It was always an uncomfortable experience, no matter how many times I've experienced it. It felt like somebody had quickly readjusted my internal organs and only placed half of them back into my stomach.

The craft lurched upwards and launched out of the hangar into open space. There weren't any windows in the ship, and the ride was silent besides the engine's roar now. It was eerie knowing a full-blown space battle was going on just outside this small metal casket.

It seemed like an eternity before Foe Hammer called out once more. "We are entering the atmosphere. Prepare for landing, friends."

The landing was elegant and efficient as always. Foe Hammer rarely disappointed. Most of the regs wanted little to do with us Death Commandos. But Foe Hammer never complained about any of us. She was always kind and cordial to Hades Squad, even going as far as to call us her friends.

The liftgate dropped, and a lush green forest greeted us. The Elunari were blessed with hundreds of lush, fertile planets in their systems, and Odeus 5 was no exception. Although the gravity was a little less than what was usually comfortable for Humanity, the planet would make an excellent colony one day. Once we exterminated the Elunari off it, of course.

Everybody gathered their packs and slug rifles. It was a shame we couldn't use our bolters or rail guns for this mission. They were just too loud and cumbersome. And we had a lot of running to do.

"Stay safe out there, Kronos. May God's hand guide you all," Foe Hammer radioed directly to me.

I looked up at the rear camera on the ship and gave it a nod. "Of course, thank you for the landing."

I turned to my squad, who were already in formation, fanning out just in case we missed something. "Let's move out, Hades Squad. We'll maintain a speed of fifty miles per hour. We should reach the rendezvous point before nightfall," I radioed.

The squad answered with a mix of affirmatives and dejected "yes, sirs" from the Gen 3s. Of course, the Gen 3s weren't ordinarily capable of such speeds without their armor, and it would be a long run, but they shouldn't struggle too much.

---

Running through the forest was satisfying as we barreled towards the rendezvous point. The scenery was nothing special, something I've seen hundreds of times on other planets. I've been on enough of these lush planets to have seen it all.

However, it was different compared to the concrete citadel of the Mount Olympus facility on Mars or the black metal used in the construction of the Silent Night. Humanity rarely used such vibrant colors in their construction anymore. Function came before beauty nowadays. If it couldn't survive orbital bombardment, it was a waste of material.

We were about eight miles away from the rendezvous point. We only ran into one patrol, which we just went around—a welcomed boon. I signaled to activate our camo as we closed in. We couldn't maintain the camo forever since it drained out suits' batteries, so we used it sparingly.

The friendly Marine squad began pinging on our radars as we got within their camp range. When we arrived, they were well hidden within the forest's foliage. For regs, they sure were the best of the best.

I located their commanding officer and approached, only uncloaking when I was right behind them. Although I couldn't see the face of the Marine they were talking to, she let out a surprised scream as I seemingly materialized out of thin air. The commanding officer turned around and let out a very unmanly yelp and curse of surprise as well.

"Sir… can you please not do that, sir…" he said, breathing hard.

Looking down at the Marine. "I didn't mean to startle you."

After taking a few deep breaths, the Marine, while looking me up and down, responded, "It's fine, sir. No worries. We just weren't expecting Hades Squad. Command told us we were getting back up, but we didn't think they would send you guys."

"Sorry to disappoint, Sergeant."

The sergeant shook his head side to side. "No, sir... no, it's fine. This mission should be a cakewalk with you guys. We've been scoping out the area and its surroundings for two days now. There is pretty much nothing out there. Forest patrols are sparse, and the guard patrols in the facility are a joke. There can't be any more than twenty guards active at any given time. These Xenos are acting like the planet isn't under siege at all."

"I see. Then this should be a "cakewalk" indeed, Sargent. Send over any of the relevant information. I'll have a plan of attack done in just a few minutes, and we can begin."

----

With the information provided by the Marines, we were ready to commence. During my conversation, Artemis and Nyx had already scouted the facility and confirmed the Marine's report. I called them back and beckoned the fourteen-crew Marine squad over as well. Once everyone gathered, I began the briefing and gave orders.

"Nike, set up a jammer and keep them off comms for as long as possible. Then, Nyx and I, along with six Marines, will enter through the back motor pool, where there is only one guard stationed. Artemis will take that guard out and provide overwatch. Zeus and Apollo will lead the rest of the Marines and surround the facility. You are to stay silent in the forest until we trigger any alarms. Hephaestus, stay with Nike and keep the jammer up." Nineteen arms went up in a salute of confirmation.

"For Humanity," I said quietly.

A quiet chorus of "For Humanity!" gently echoed in that quiet forest.

We broke up into our respective teams and began to converge onto the facility. As we got into position, I noticed one of the Marine's breathing was erratic. I couldn't see her face through her mask, but she was nervous as she checked her laser rifle over and over again.

"What's your name, Marine?" I called out to her.

"Private first class, Miranda, sir," she said with a hint of nervousness in her tiny voice.

"Don't fret, Private Miranda. Stay close to me and watch my back. We will make it out of here," I said, trying to reassure her.

She let out a breath I'm sure she was holding for some time. The regs didn't like talking to us. Many of them said we gave off a weird aura, and they didn't like being around us. However, not a single one was unaware of what we could accomplish.

There were plenty of stories of Death Commando squads single-handedly storming fortified bases and flipping the tides of planetary battles. So, a personal oath of protection from one was as good as a ticket home to a nervous soldier. And giving her a more simple command would help her focus on the task at hand.

As we closed in on the facility, I finally got a good look at it. The Elunari used bright-colored plastics for most of their construction. However, that's not what pulled my attention away. This facility looks more like a hospital than a military or government black site. The building was large and was colored a teal-ish blue color. It was also five stories tall, and the front had a roundabout that resembled that of a Human hospital.

However, the Elunari soldiers in their forest green camo guarding the front and posted up in sentry towers around the facility broke any illusion that this was a civilian site, not that it mattered either way.

As we skulked through the forest towards the back of the building, the number of guards dwindled significantly. They didn't even have guards posted in the towers at the back. How prideful these Xenos were acting, pretending like their planet wasn't about to fall. And sitting in a weird chair that resembled a purple scorpion at the back door with multiple garage door-esq holes was a soldier struggling to stay awake. Fortunately for him, Artemis could help with that.

I waited a few moments and gave Aremtis the signal. The Elunari had hearing that far surpassed Humanity, and I doubt they could hear my voice through my helmet, but it was better safe than sorry. Just a few seconds after the signal, I watched the soldier's head turn into a splatter on the wall. Artemis was sitting well over half a mile away on top of a tree as she fired her modified slug rifle. The subsonic tungsten bolt didn't make so much as a woosh as it sent the guard into an eternal slumber.

One of the Marines quickly cut away the plastic fencing as we moved into the facility. Artemis was already dealing with the guards that would have seen us. We made a dash for the door as we stuck together.

Any fear that the marines were experiencing was elevated as we made it to the door. The equivalent of a handprint scanner for a handle was there. Nyx casually lifted the dead guard's hand and slapped his pink hand across the scanner. The scanner responded with a small beep, and the door slid open, revealing the interior of the building. She just shrugged, and we moved into the building.

Heat maps of the facility showed that our objective was on the fourth floor. That's most likely where they had their servers. A quick bio-pulse scanned the adjoining rooms and hallways for signs of life, but it pinged negative in my helmet.

We came through a set of double doors, and the teal plastic was replaced with a bright, sterile white color. It seems the concept of cleanliness and clean colored environments transcends species.

Another bio-scan pinged back that the entire first floor was clear. We found some stairs, and I signaled for Nyx to take three Marines and clear the second floor while I took the third. Upon reaching the third floor, I pinged for any lifeforms, and it returned negative again. Strange, why don't they have guards in the building?

The building maintained its sterile white coloring as multiple rooms branched off the primary hallway. Stretchers and various medical supplies lay scattered around the place. Doors to rooms were open, showing beds and machines alike. This was definitely a hospital at some point.

I was pondering these things for only a moment when I heard something crunch underneath a heavy boot. I looked forward to the space in front of the lead Marine and watched the light distort and warp for a moment. Then, a white-hot blade suddenly pierced the heart of the Marine in front of me, lifting him off the ground.

I instantly noticed the small amount of blood seemingly floating in the air and sent three bolts center mass into the target. I was rewarded with the sound of bones and armor being crushed as a tall Elunari's body in an elegant set of blue armor crumpled to the ground, their stealth field failing.

Have they finally figured out our cloaking tech? Is this the purpose of this site?

At least before now, the Elunari didn't have active camo or wear that kind of armor. And why is it so tall like one of them? The lights flickered briefly from an explosion outside, and I saw the distortion of active camo behind Miranda.

"TURN AROUND, MARINE, AND SHOOT!" I yelled at her to get her attention.

I was already moving to take a shot. However, she was in the way, and I couldn't make out the target beyond her. They must have been using some version of our active camo to hide from our bio-scanners. It's the only explanation.

Miranda's training must have kicked in as she responded without hesitation to my order and raised her laser rifle to fire at the invisible enemy. I began to move in to help her when I realized my worries were spot on. They always come in threes.

I pivoted only to catch a glimpse of another white-hot blade aiming right for my neck that was nearly upon me. Without any space to react, I did the only thing I could. I shoved my slug rifle and hand right into the blade's path. The white-hot plasma blade sliced clean through my weapon and separated my left hand above the wrist. I didn't really feel pain, just a tiny prick telling me something was wrong with my body. A wound like this would send a Human into pain shock in no time at all, but not me.

My sacrifice slowed down the blade as it bit through flesh and metal. I weaved around and aimed roughly where the head should be on the tall Xeno. Maxing out my augmented body, assisted by my suit, I punched through the air with all my strength. I didn't feel much resistance as I shattered the visor on the alien's helmet.

The strength of the punch sent my arm up to the forearm through what used to be its face. I quickly pulled my arm free, kicked up its plasma spear, caught it in midair, and spun around.

I turned just in time to see Miranda get her arm and rifle kicked in, sending her bouncing across the ground. I took a step and tossed the plasma spear down the hall like a javelin. The spear flickered with white plasma as it barreled down the center of the hallway. The Elunari let out a surprised grunt as the spear impaled it through the stomach, sending it flying ten feet down the hall, pinning it to the wall.

I moved towards the downed Miranda while radioing my squad. "Unknown Elunari Elite units on site. They are using an active camo similar to ours. Bio-scanners do not pick them up," I warned. I got multiple thumbs up on my HUD, confirming my squad had gotten the message.

I turned to the down Marine and shook my head. She was wounded across her left arm, but her exosuit had taken a majority of the blow. "You alright, Marine?" I asked.

She was breathing heavily again as she responded. "Yeah.. yeah. Arm's broke so is my rifle, but I'll live. Thank you, sir. For saving me."

I bent over and helped the Marine to her feet. "Just doing my job, Marine. I didn't know they had active camo," I said regretfully.

She gave the corpse of her fallen comrades a quick glance and turned away. "It's fine. You couldn't have known. At least they died instantly."

With the Marine hobbling behind me, I walked over to the impaled Elunari. There was little threat of a fourth one since they attacked in squads of three but I couldn't waste more time. The Xeno was still alive and choking on its blood. I silenced the alien's moans of pain by crushing its windpipe with a swift punch to the throat.

To confirm my suspicions, I ripped the blue helmet off the corpse and was greeted by the appearance of a pale white Elunari, an Albino as we called them. They were the elites of their race and we didn't understand much about them. They were some abomination of biologically altered Elunari with a severe amount of combat implants. They were far more dangerous than your average Elunari.

Hell, they were easily the most dangerous Xeno Humanity has fought against for the last twenty years. But why are they wearing this blue amour instead of their standard gray? So many questions needed answering, but I had to take the wounded Marine back to safety. She wouldn't survive another attack, and I couldn't protect her from three Xenos at once.

I grabbed a hold of the plasma spear, ripped it out from the corpse, and looked over to the Marine. "Let's meet up with the rest of the team."

"Yes, sir. But sir, your hand… are you going to be okay?" Miranda asked me with worry.

I started a light jog so as not to let her fall behind. "I'm fine. The suit is handling the bleeding, and I don't feel any pain."

Besides, this isn't the first limb I've lost, and it probably won't be the last.

Miranda gave me a dejected nod and followed me closer this time back down to the first floor. According to her file, this was her fourth mission as a Marine Force Recon member. She has a lot to learn, but she is going to make a fine soldier for Humanity.

By the time we made it to what I would assume was the lobby, everybody else was already there. Apollo had just finished treating a wounded marine and rushed over to me upon noticing my lack of a left hand. "Let me take a look at that, sir."

"I'm fine, Apollo. Look over this Marine for me, will you?"

"Yes, Commander." I couldn't see his face, but I knew he wasn't all that happy about me refusing medical treatment.

Bad habit of mine. I know he is just trying to help.

Apollo began to splint Miranda's arm as I walked over to Nike. He was furiously tapping away on the keyboard only he could see while Hephaestus was effortlessly carrying the large terminal on his back that was being used as a housing for the jammer. Nike didn't even look up from his work and, without missing a beat, gave me a quick rundown of how the other squads were doing.

Zeus, Artemis, and their Marines were still clearing the last few patrols coming in to check on the facility after destroying all the outside guards. Nike had managed to keep the jammer up the entire time despite the Elunari's attempts to stop him.

"Good work, Commando. Have you figured out how to get a proper bio-scan? We still have yet to clear the facility completely, and those active camo users are going to be a problem if we can't find them first."

Nike turned around and nodded furiously. "Of course, it shouldn't be a problem, sir. I've already begun working on a way to scan for those soldiers using camo since they are most likely using our tech. Just give me a moment to finish this," he said quickly.

It took Apollo another few minutes of tapping away, but he stood up straight and nodded in satisfaction. "Got it, sir. I've got four signatures on the fifth floor. Back of the building, near the roof access."

"Heph, Apollo, stay with Nike and the wounded Marines. After that, Nyx and I will clear out the fifth floor, along with any able-bodied marine."

Everyone got situated, and my new team consisted of Nyx, six marines, and myself. We separated at the two different stairwells and began our ascent to the fifth floor. Nike couldn't get an exact pinpoint on the signatures, but we knew they were towards the back of the building near the roof access. There was also a massive dead zone about the size of an entire room.

The Marine taking point walked first into the hallway, followed by me. He checked the corner and motioned that it was clear and for us to follow. Unfortunately, as soon as I breached the corner, a laser bolt smacked me in the chest where my heart is, and two separate laser bolts tagged the unfortunate Marine in front of me in both his legs. My armor absorbed the laser round, but the Marine wasn't so lucky. The energy bolts welded his exosuit and armor to his legs, dropping him to the ground in agony.

I immediately returned to cover as a barrage of laser rounds flooded the hallway. The Elunari didn't even bother finishing off the poor Marine as he screamed for help. I got a good snapshot of the hallway with just a quick glance. It was about thirty feet long, and there were two on the right side and one on the left firing laser rifles at us. Sadly for them, they had merely trapped themselves.

I banked a modified flashbang off the wall and listened as it skipped across the ground right into the group of soldiers. These flashbangs were specifically designed to counter Elunari. Even Albinos, with their specialized armor, couldn't withstand the perfectly tuned sound that was meant to burst their eardrums. They were so powerful that the flashbang could even blind us through our gear as well.

Before the flashbang went off, I was already running down the hallway at full sprint, cracking the plastic tiles under my feet as I ran. I covered my face with my arm and averted my eyes to the side as much as possible. Then, the flashbang went off with a bright blue light, and a deafening bang as the Elunari screeched in pain.

They all fell to the ground screaming bloody murder while their active camo shimmered and tried to readjust to their constant flailing. I quickly finished the two on the right while they writhed on the ground, impaling their heads with my commandeered plasma spear.

I thought it best to use this melee weapon in the narrow hallways of the facility. I didn't have much ammo for my bolt pistol, and I needed it just in case we got into a fight in the forest. This spear would be useless out in the open, so I needed to take advantage of it now. I didn't need to tell Nyx anything as she stayed close behind me and finished off the last Xeno with a few bolts of her slug rifle.

"Nyx, tend to that marine. I'll search the dead zone."

"Yes, sir." She ran off to help the downed marine, who had stopped screaming at some point, most likely passing out from the pain.

I peered through the glass door into the room the three Albinos were guarding and what I saw surprised me more than the active camo or the blue armored Albinos.

Is it a child's playroom?

I entered the room and looked around, I didn't see anything, and my bio-scan showed nothing. The walls weren't made out of the Elunari's plastic; instead, it was a black metal with a bunch of colorful drawings taped around randomly.

So that's why this is a dead zone. They are using our metal to block scans. This was probably salvaged from a ship. But why would they put it around this room? And why is it decorated like this? The room was full of oddly shaped wooden toys and other things I didn't understand.

But then I heard the faint sound of a door being slammed above me. At the end of the room was a black metal door. I moved quickly and burst through the door, looking up the center of a stairwell. Rather than climbing the stairs, I focused all my strength on my legs and jumped straight up instead of climbing them. I slammed the plasma spear into the side of the stairs. It made a hissing sound as it quickly cut into the plastic and used it as a platform to hoist myself up.

I left the plasma spear, pulled out my bolt pistol, and breached the door. Being ambushed out in the open without a projectile weapon would mean the end for me if there were more on the roof.

The door was sent flying as I ran out into the rain, gusts of wind battering against me. I didn't see anywhere to hide, and there was no shimming of active camo. Only…

Two small figures huddled over the edge at the opposite end of the roof, looking down at the ground, fighting to stay standing against the wind and rain. I walked over to them, and once I was about halfway, I stopped and turned on my translator.

"Stop. You have nowhere else to run." The synthetic speech from my helmet came out as a garbled mess of sounds that was Elunari's spoken language.

Now that I was closer to the two children, I could fully make them out as they stared at me in complete and utter terror. The taller one was body blocking the smaller one and stretching her arms out wide as if to protect the other. Her light pink dress was fluttering in the storm, but she was glaring at me now. Her fear had turned into defiance.

A slight pang ran through my chest, but I ignored it. I must have lost more blood than I thought.

I've never seen an Elunari child before, but I could only guess she was around ten standard years old. However, it was the one behind her that surprised me the most.

Today just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

Behind her was, of all things, a small Elunari child with pale white skin, hair, and bright pink eyes. He couldn't have been older than six standard years old.

So it seems they do start off as children. We always wondered if Albinos were born or made. But it seems we have our answer.

I was about to repeat my order when the older one just suddenly began smiling, her bone-white teeth and yellow eyes gleaming off the landing pad lights in the darkness. She turned to the little Albino and said something while the rain poured down her face. I was already in a full sprint before the words finished translating in my helmet.

I didn't know how I knew but I had a bad feeling about what would transpire. My body moved before my brain even registered anything. Time seemed to slow as the translator's words read out into my helmet.

"Please, forgive me."

I watched as the girl's shoulders and arms pulled back and tensed in slow motion. She pushed the child off the edge of the roof with all her strength. I was already on top of them as they were falling.

I swiped out with my left hand in an attempt to grab them…only to remember I didn't have a left hand anymore. My painkillers had numbed both my mind and injury.

I couldn't take my eyes off the child's screaming and crying face as he fell towards the ground. And I'd never been able to forget the sound he made that day when he hit the ground.

Why? Why did she have to push him?

As I stared over the edge, I heard the distinct fhwoop of a slug rifle being fired. I turned in time to see the body of the older girl crumple over, a kitchen knife falling out of her hand as she fell over.

A weird static feeling rushed my mind. Everything felt numb like I had lost a ton of blood, but my injury wasn't bleeding. I've never felt like this before. Let alone react like this.

What is wrong with me?

In my confused state, I gazed toward Zeus, who was standing there, aiming his rifle. Before I knew it, I was standing and pointing an accusing finger at him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ZEUS?" I yelled at him.Yell? When have I— when have I ever yelled at anyone before? My head just feels so empty…

"What do you mean, Commander?! That Xeno was about to stab you in the neck!?" he screamed. I couldn't see his face, but I could feel the unsure and angry look he was giving me.

I looked at the dull kitchen knife on the floor. It wouldn't have even chipped the paint off my armor.

"She wasn't a threat," I growled back.

What am I…

Zeus, seemingly surprised at my response, said, "Commander, are you mad at me?! What difference does it make?! I believe you said it yourself. Orders are orders. We were to wipe out any and all personnel at this facility," he spat at me.

Wait, am I angry? Is that even possible? I've never been angry before.

"She could have been useful," I responded half-heartedly, unsure of my own words.

I am… confused.