1 Chapter 1 - Prelude

The sounds of water crashing against the coast filled the air of the quiet shore. The sound of a bell buoy resounds as it bobs up and down with the calm waves. Seagulls cry as they fly by, occasionally dropping down to grab fish for their early morning breakfast.

A crescent moon looms above the horizon of the sea on the west. It's reflection faintly shimmering in the blue water. To the east, orange light can be seen peeking through the horizon, signifying the arrival of a new dawn.

Large steel ships, cargo ships, are docked by the pier. Brands are placed on the sides of the ships to indicate which company owns them. Several smaller ships are anchored on the side and are used by the naval patrol to keep pirates and invaders away.

On the land, colourful crates of cargo are stacked on the ground and cover a massive amount of land. Large warehouses are located nearby to safely store perishable cargo that ships bring in. Tall yellow cranes tower over the port, waiting to lift hundreds of tonnes of cargo, and forklifts sit idly on the side, waiting to be manoeuvred by a driver to transport smaller crates.

Strangely, despite the large facilities, not one soul can be seen on the port. None of the places that should be manned are manned.

This is a port in Latvia, a European country that had become a major center of trade after the third world war. This is because of the Riga Port that was connected to the Daugava River, which ran through the heart of Belarus towards Russia.

Although this port may not be Riga, it would still be busy enough to be worked by dozens of men at all times. Despite this, the area is pervaded by an eerie silence, as if heralding an oncoming catastrophe.

*BOOOOOOM!*

Suddenly, a powerful roar shakes the port. The sombre morning light is covered by a bright flash. Then, the surroundings are painted by a scarlet hue.

A massive explosion happened, and as a result, a fire is raging in several warehouses. Gunshots echo in the formerly serene port and human figures can be seen running around in a panic.

"The boxes are on fire!"

"Grab the goods! We'll lose our heads if those things get roasted!"

Near the burning warehouses are several men carrying metal crates out. Some of them were holding guns and were on alert, looking around their perimeter without letting down their guards.

"Who the hell did this and where is he?!"

A man who looked like the leader of the group shouted in anger. He was tearing at his already scarce hair in irritation and anger.

"We lost contact with squads A,C, and D already. I assume he should be coming for us next."

"Dammit! How did the union get here?! Call Squad B and E here right now!"

"Yes, sir."

"Move your arse and do it quickly! Go!"

The man who was yelled at bowed and ran. And the bald leader turned around. But in the corner of his eye, he saw a red flower bloom. When he looked back, he saw the man with his head blown off and another human figure wearing a black full body suit and a helmet covering his head.

"Shoot at that thing! Kill it now!"

The bald leader, frantic with fear and anger screams at his subordinates to fire at the figure. Several men take up their weaponry and open fire.

While the guns they hold seemed like the AK-74 models used by the Russian military, the weapon was very different. A bright yellow glow is emitted by the gun and then a shrill noise rang out. A small projectile barely visible to the eye flew at a speed far beyond the speed of sound.

All the armed men pressed their trembling fingers on the trigger as hard as they could. Bright flashes of yellow light forced them to close their eyes and the painful noises almost burst their eardrums. Despite this, they continued firing at the black suited figure. They kept shooting until every bullet in their magazines were gone.

Dust covered the area they shot at. Wood and stone pulverized by the sheer force and number of bullets blocked their vision.

"*Pant**pant* is he dead?" Asked one man nervously.

"He should b—" Another tried to respond but couldn't finish his words before his head vanished from his body, leaving behind a bloody mess above his neck.

"Cale—" The other man could barely react before his heart had been pierced by a knife and he too lost his life. The black suited figure only delayed for a moment to pull his knife out from the man's chest before he starting running towards the group at a speed impossible for the legs of a human.

"No!" The leader could only scream in horror as he started running away. Naturally with their leader leaving, the subordinates would do the same. Every single one of them scattered in various directions, hoping to escape the nightmare behind them.

«... Eight targets. Intercept route calculated. Initiate.»

The black suited figure muttered under its breath for a moment before it vanished from where it stood. A dozen meters away, a man collapsed into a pool of his own blood bits of flesh scattered when he fell. At this sight, the other men started sprinting away with even more vigor.

Half a second passed before another man fell, his leg shredded and his chest caved in. Another with half his face crushed, and another with his arm torn from his body and his shoulder charred black.

One by one the men fell in horrendous ways, each one being no worse than the last, until only the bald leader was left. He had already ran as far as he could into the maze of crates. He could not see the situation his men were in, and he felt that he would much rather not find out.

He did not feel safe yet. He could still feel a terrible danger looming behind him. He tried to continue running but his stamina could not hold out and he could barely sustain a jog. He panted heavily with cold sweat running down his back.

"Dammit! We shouldn't have taken this job! What kind of monster did the union send after us?!"

His frustration was reaching its limits, but then he heard a soft tap behind him and a terrible chill ran down his spine as his blood turned icy cold. He turned to look back and saw the figure walking towards him at a leisurely pace. His black suit was tainted by a dark red colour. His arms were dripping with red liquid and his boots left behind a bloody mark on the ground.

"Ah- AHHH!!!" The leader screamed in horror and fear. The man in front of him was no bigger than he was, but in his eyes he looked like the incarnation of the devil.

"S-s-spare m-m-me—" His last pleas were cut short before his mouth was filled with the muzzle of a gun. His eyes look blankly at the hand that held the gun before he raised them to see the head of the suited figure.

*Bang*

A slight popping noise rung from the gun before his head burst. In his last moments, he saw through the visor of the black helmet, azure eyes with a bright electric glow that couldn't be veiled by the glass. Although it seemed youthful and vibrant, to the leader, it seemed as if he were staring into the eyes of the reaper. In his death, his eyes were vacant, as if his soul had left his body before he fell.

Now only the black suited figure stood in the pier. The scarlet flames still raging not far from where he stood. He looked down coldly on the body of the man that lay under him. Then he lifted his head and looked to where the fire was burning.

«November to Quarter. All hostiles terminated. Four out of six warehouses still fully intact.» He spoke seemingly to himself. But a response came from a radio within his helmet shortly after.

«This is Quarter. Good job lieutenant. Return to base for debriefing. We will take it from here.»

Radio communication was cut there. The suited figure breathed deeply and sighed. His body blurred for a moment before he disappeared. The only traces of him left were the bloody footprints he left when walking towards the leader. No footprints were left behind when he left, as if he vanished into thin air.

.......

At a military base located at a classified location.

A man with brown hair is looking at an image shown by a holographic projector. The images revealed show a terrifying scene of carnage. Heads blown off, arms ripped from their torso and chunks of flesh missing from places where they should be. Seeing the bloody mess, the man shook his head and sighed.

A woman was standing next to the young man. She was stunningly beautiful with her pearly white and smooth skin. She had an excellent body. While more may be desired of her bust, she was tall and had a narrow waist which gave her a nice hourglass figure. She had long black hair that flowed down to her waist, emphasizing her curves. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of vermillion which seemed to glow in the darkened room. Her thin eyebrows curved to a point which made her look more pretty and cute rather than beautiful or amorous.

Those eyebrows were creased together, causing lines to form on her forehead. She frowned as she looked at the holographic images before she spoke.

"Isn't this going too far? Although the smuggling of booster cores is a terrible crime, this kind of treatment is still over the top."

The brown haired man sighed and said, "Leave him be, Corporal. He's venting. Even I would be pretty mad if my last mission was having to deal with the kind of job that you hate the most."

He stood up and started walking. The young woman hesitated for a bit before following after him. The holographic projector automatically deactivated itself and the lights in the room turned back to normal brightness when it sensed its viewers leave.

When they exited the projector room, they ran into a young man with green eyes and wide-rimmed glasses. When the young man saw the pair, he called out to them.

"Major. Lieutenant. I have the compiled report for the Lielupe Incident. 20 crates, each holding 600 units of Z class heart core boosters were seized. It is highly likely that their destination was Western Imperial Russia." He continued to give a relatively brief summary of the contents of the report as he gave the portfolio to the brown haired man.

The "brief summary" took over ten minutes. That is to be expected when the incident is so big that it could've affected the world balance.

As the pair listened, their frowns deepened. The brown haired man then asked, "There are twelve thousand heart core boosters, which means that there would have to be over a few thousand people used as the material for this. Where did they come from and how come the union didn't notice such a massive scale of illegal processing earlier?"

The girl next to him furrowed her brows. She wanted to know the answer to this question as well.

Heart core boosters are a forbidden technology. Even before the Third World War, countries attempted to find a way to make the perfect super soldier. The heart core boosters are a result of that research.

Using the live extracted hearts of various living creatures like bears, tigers, and cheetahs, scientists were able to bring out more of the human potential and break their limits. Unfortunately, using the hearts of animals would cause various side effects to the body and mind of the subject.

Such research would be adamantly opposed by animal rights activists should they have known, but it was a military secret at the time. That is, until researchers took it a step too far and decided to use human hearts as a catalyst. A Chinese research laboratory in African soil used the hearts of slaves to create human heart core boosters, now classified as Z class heart core boosters. These heart core boosters empowered soldiers without giving any major side effects.

They had used this tool to win several skirmishes with countries in the Union with incredible ease. The union caught on soon enough and this became a major human rights incident that caused the removal of several officials from important seats of power in China, and became another spark for war.

The young man with glasses spoke with an indifferent tone. "it is believed that slaves were supplied from Northwestern India, Persia and the Imperial Iberian Union."

The girl gasped while the brown haired man had a stern expression on his face. The first two were expected. Northwestern India is under the influence of countries in the Opposition. Persia is a neutral imperial state that provides goods for money regardless of international law. But if the Imperial Iberian Union supplied slaves as well, it would mean that they've betrayed the union and have sided with the Opposition.

"Of course, it is only speculation at the moment. The implications of an imperial state turning traitor would be catastrophic. A devastating blow to the Union." The young man said emotionlessly.

They stood in silence for a moment before they heard a subtle but distinct humming. The brown haired man fixed his expression, turning it to a milder looking one.

"Let's not talk about this here. We have to look proper so that the lieutenant doesn't have to worry when he leaves."

The girl and young man also arranged themselves accordingly. The girl's face switched from a gloomy look to a brighter one with the corners of her pink lips curved slightly upward. The expression of the young man with glasses didn't change much. He still looked emotionless. He only fixed his glasses using his finger before pulling on his coat.

The frame of the elevator was a large glass tube, making it possible to see where the platform was and who was on it. The military base is quite large and is located several hundred feet underground so the elevator took a bit of time before it stopped.

As the elevator opened, the brown haired man gave a slight smile and said, "Good work, Raiden."