Shadow Mosses III
When the two MQ-133Cs were struck by the violent gusts of wind, the relentless hail drummed against their fuselages, causing brief interruptions in their holographic camouflage, and the flashes of lightning fleetingly illuminated the horizon.
The two ships deployed their wings in a fluid motion, adopting the aerodynamic stealth silhouette of a flying wing.
Then, in the next blink, the engines roared, shaking the very storm from within.
The sudden acceleration pushed the two pilots against the back of their horizontal cockpits, while the indicators reacted to the sudden change in speed, allowing them to pierce through the fury of the elements with ease, thanks to their advanced technology.
The storm outside was deafening. The winds howled, and the rain battered the fuselage with the force of thousands of tiny hammers. But inside, the radio silence was even more oppressive, like a forced calm before the real storm began.
The darkness enveloped the cockpit, with only the holographic screens glowing, projecting data about the ship, the trajectory, and atmospheric conditions.
Suddenly, a brief static interrupted the silence, followed by a deep and energetic voice: ["How is it, guys? How does it feel!? To fly like a bird!"]
"Like a bird strapped to a remote-controlled rocket..." Jack responded cynically.
"I like it," Sora chimed in, adding with a hint of resentment, "But I would have designed it so I could smoke..."
Though he hadn't planned to speak, his complaints made the Doktor occupy Kevin's terminal. ["That's a practical design flaw in a tactical piece like the one Herr Inazu— I mean, Herr Okami is piloting,"]
After shrugging the Doktor off. ["Okami, Ripper, do you copy?"]
"Yes, Kev, we read you," Jack responded.
["Terrific!"] Kevin said over the radio as his and Boris's faces appeared on the cockpit's holographic screens, and vice versa in the control room. ["Let me inform you, we've finished reviewing the latest analysis. Listen carefully: Shadow Moses is located in the Aleutian archipelago."]
"Which island?" Ripper asked.
["Not which, but which ones,"] Kevin interjected, displaying a detailed 3D map of Umnak, Unalaska, Amaknak, Akutan, Akun, Unimak, and Sanak islands on their MQ-133C screens.
["Due to the storms and thick cloud cover, Lazarus's spy satellites are having trouble mapping Lieutenant Norris's coordinates. But... it seems Shadow Moses extends underwater across several islands of the eastern archipelago, especially the Fox Islands."]
The hologram showed a complex underwater structure connecting the islands, still incomplete.
Boris took over and, with his strong tone, got straight to the point. ["What you're seeing is only what we've been able to detect. It extends from Unalaska to several nearby islands. According to our estimates, it could cover hundreds of square kilometers."]
"Great..." Sora muttered, cursing inwardly for being trapped in 'this coffin' when he wanted to smoke, frustrated by how things were getting more complicated.
Boris understood perfectly and added calmly, ["I know. The difficulty has increased considerably."]
"Searching for servers dedicated to Project Rex, as well as locating the doctor and his family in a base of that size, will be impossible. It could take days!" Jack paused for a second, glancing to the side of his cockpit, where the radar displayed the position of the other twin ship, and added over the radio: ["I might need your help."]
Similarly, the response came without delay: "My mission has gotten more complicated too. If I find anything, I'll mark it on the tactical mission map."
A brief silence took over the channel before Boris, from the operations center, watching Jack reluctantly nod on the screen, continued: ["Given the size of the base, HQ has decided that you infiltrate directly through Unalaska Island. It seems to be the core of the operation and is connected to the rest of the base."]
["The good news is that we believe you'll be able to access Shadow Moses undetected through an old mine"] Boris continued as the screens displayed a digital recreation of the mine entrance, situated between two towering snow-covered mountains, and the documented underground mined area.
["Given the size of the base, according to intelligence department forecasts, there's a 68% chance the mine connects to the base at some point, and an 83% chance it will only need a... small push to do so,"] he concluded between the lines.
Another brief silence fell over the group, interrupted by Kevin's voice: ["Also, long-range radar antennas and anti-air defenses have been identified on the surrounding islands, making any direct approach, even with the 133s, impossible without being detected."]
"The MQ-133Cs won't take us all the way there?" Jack asked, hoping for confirmation.
["No, but don't worry, you won't have to swim."] Kevin responded jokingly. ["Besides, you're already prepared for that possibility; you're carrying gear to cover ground distances."]
The graphic on the screens displayed an infiltration route through the mountains and defense systems, as well as their landing path, which made Sora crave a cigarette and worried Jack, as it looked more like a bombing trajectory.
Jack responded sarcastically with a hint of resentment, "Thanks, Kev..."
["You're welcome, brother,"] Kevin replied, his smile audible.
"I wasn't being sincere..." they muttered to each other. ["Mine was."]
Unsure if he should communicate with him privately, since he hadn't been advised otherwise, Boris decided to say it now and take the opportunity to warn Jack: "Okami, about your... undocumented mission. The Boss said that, given its size, it's understandable if you can't destroy it completely. So, focus on confirming the existence of the... Backdoor."
Jack's image on the screen flickered, surprised. 'An undocumented mission?' He might have understood if it were someone like Morgan, but... that wasn't the case.
What bothered him the most was that the Boss trusted the newest member to get a seat, more than him. A metaphorical knot formed in his cybernetic stomach and tightened as he thought about what kind of "Backdoor" could be so worrying that they kept it hidden from the other members.
"Hm..." Sora didn't respond immediately. While reviewing the geological data of the islands, he added, "Tell her not to worry. Even if it's big, I might find a way to blow it up anyway."
Recalling the stories about the explosive talent of the R.A.B.I.T.S. unit, Boris couldn't help but murmur: ["The rumors weren't lying..."] After a heavy sigh, he added: ["Alright, I'll pass along your message."]
Seeing Boris had finished, ["You're a few minutes away, go back to radio silence until landing... good luck, guys."] Kevin's voice echoed through Jack and Sora's cabin before static filled the line, marking the end of communication.
A few minutes later...
The two MQ-133Cs flew in parallel toward the edge of the imaginary "dome" of enemy radar detection. In the darkness of the cockpit, both pilots closely monitored the holographic data that indicated their position in the airspace with millimeter precision.
When the system alerted them through a faint alarm in the cockpit, both planes began to ascend in perfect synchronization, tracing an upward curve in the night sky.
Upon reaching the target altitude and desired trajectory, without warning, the cockpits ejected, freeing themselves from the aircraft, which continued their silent ascent, moving away.
As the cockpits plummeted, spinning on their axes, and the ocean water approached rapidly, Jack and Sora clung to the controls while alarms filled the system and cockpit.
Just before hitting the surface, the small thrusters on the cockpits activated, but contrary to expected logic—not to stop or soften the impact, but to increase the descent speed even further.
Taking advantage of the cavitation effect, the speed and design of the cockpit reduced the pressure on the water's surface, creating a blanket of vapor bubbles around it. These bubbles minimized friction, allowing it to glide through the water with minimal resistance, like a knife stabbing the sea.
The silence of the ocean enveloped the cockpits, and the units began moving underwater, alternating between brief ascents to the surface and rapid dives to avoid both aerial and submarine radar as they approached the island under the cover of night and the storm clouds
-
["Impact in 3... 2... 1..."] the artificial voice of the onboard system announced, cold and mechanical. ["0."]
With a crash, the cabins momentarily submerged underwater surged toward the surface, smashing against the ice plates bordering the island, fracturing and lifting them as if shot up from the ocean floor.
Upon breaking through the thick layer of ice, both capsules slid across the frozen surface, making the structures vibrate to their core until they finally reached an icy, rocky shore where they came to a complete stop.
The cabins then opened, exposing their occupants to the brutal Arctic tundra. The biting wind, accompanied by hail and snow, formed a white wall, reducing visibility to just a few meters. The temperature was so overwhelming that one of the pilots immediately closed the cabin.
"Stop fooling around," Jack growled, deploying the visor to cover his face. "We need to move."
"No!" Sora protested from inside. "I just wanted to step out for a smoke, and I can't even do that. Do you know what the lowest temperature in Night City winters is? Ten degrees!" He continued in exasperation as he forced himself out of the capsule.
After disembarking, the lower part of the cabin unfolded with a metallic creak, lifting the rest of the structure. Crawling out, Eco emerged with his fur flattened from the trip. Shaking himself vigorously, he delighted in his newly regained freedom, rolling and rubbing himself in the snow.
Ignoring him, Sora crouched down and placed his metallic hand on it. In an instant, his armor responded, quickly adapting to the environment. A soft hum accompanied the change in his armor's tone, and the various layers of his poncho shifted from urban dark shades to cold whites and grays, blending with the surroundings.
At the same time, Eco emerged from a snowbank like a fully albino dire wolf, shaking his now pure white fur, making him nearly invisible within the blizzard and the environment around them.
Next, Sora pulled out a pair of tactical goggles from beneath his poncho, with three rounded green lenses forming a triangle. He adjusted them over his eyes, then pulled up the hood and adjusted the tubular scarf that covered the lower half of his face, sealing off any exposed skin from the cold.
After scanning the surroundings, with his three glowing green lenses fixed on Jack, he grumbled, "Let's go, looks like there's a village a couple of clicks northwest." Firmly gripping his Malorian Rifle 8816 on his back, he mounted Eco and disappeared into the blizzard.
Jack shook his head before typing on the pad on his forearm, causing his armor to also turn white, blending better with the environment. He then activated his companion, an Unmanned Gear (UG), a military vehicle used for combat operations, which lacks an onboard human pilot.
The bottom of his cabin opened, revealing the Prototype LQ-84i, which unfolded its four legs from within its body and stood up, resembling the battle suit of Crying Hyena from the B&B team of Lazarus, with a few other... inspirations.
Before mounting the LQ-84i to follow Sora, Jack activated the camouflage on both cabins, which would soon be covered in snow.
After reuniting with him, who was waiting on a hill overlooking the village. Without turning to look at jack, Sora said, "Looks abandoned... but not for long." He kept his eyes fixed on the village. "Most of the buildings and ships still docked are relatively modern or have been upgraded. I'd say it's been uninhabited for three to five years."
"People still live in places like this?" Jack asked with a hint of disbelief. For him, it was hard to imagine anyone continuing to inhabit such an inhospitable place, especially considering studies showing that 9 out of 10 people in the world lived in mega-cities.
While Sora was examining the village, he didn't notice Jack's LQ, but Eco did, drawing his attention.
While examining the village, Sora didn't notice Jack's LQ, but Eco did.
Perking up his ears, widening his eyes, and wagging his tail, he was pleasantly surprised by the rudimentary resemblance to the mechanical wolf LQ-84i. To him, it seemed like a distant ancestor, reminding him of his earlier bodies when he used holographic technology to cover his metal skeleton and simulate fur.
"It's surprising... but it seems like they do," Sora responded, barely audible over the howl of the wind. Meanwhile, Jack observed Eco, wagging his tail happily as he looked at his LQ. Who surprisingly also wagged its tail.
Suddenly, Sora's faint sigh turned into a growl. Jack lifted his head and asked, looking toward the village, "What's wrong?"
"The second-to-last building on the first street from the port," Sora said tensely.
Jack scrutinized the small warehouse Sora pointed out, noticing how its doors were shaking violently in the wind.
He focused his visor on the warehouse, watching the doors rattle. "Movement?"
Sora nodded briefly, then turned to him. "The doors were closed before. I saw something-"
At his sudden interruption, Jack stopped inspecting the warehouse and met Sora's furious gaze. He had lifted his tactical goggles to stare at him before asking, "What the hell are you up to?"
Feigning innocence, Jack replied, "You like it? The Doktor designed it. It's called—"
He couldn't finish, as Sora, irritated, cut him off: "I don't give a fuck. Do I need to report you for intellectual theft?"
Jack glanced at LQ, then at Eco as if it were insignificant, shrugged, and said, "You mean the slight resemblance?"
"Slight resemblance, my ass!" Sora growled. "It looks like a militarized 1:1 copy of the early functional designs of Eco and Iron Beasts that hit the market."
Jack raised his hands, mimicking Sora's crooked smile, and, using it against him, said, feigning ignorance, "You'll have to take it up with the Doktor. I'm no expert in those complex fields."
Giving Sora a taste of his own medicine didn't sit well, increasing the tension between them as Sora tightened his grip on his rifle, seriously considering whether he should destroy LQ, even though they were in the middle of a mission...
Due to how much he hated being robbed, like in the case of Militech with the Blackaquila.
Jack, noticing his dangerous intentions leaking out, slid his sword sheath from his back, bringing it closer to his hand, ready to respond to any sudden move.
Eco, oblivious to the conflict between the two "companions," was delighted by the LQ-84i's resemblance and sent a greeting through the short-range network before heading toward the seemingly abandoned village.
Forcing Sora to keep his gaze on Jack in a somewhat ridiculous manner as he unwillingly moved away.
Upon arriving at the town, mounted on Eco, Sora slowly advanced down the desolate main street, scanning the buildings through various spectrums: thermal vision, echolocation, electric charge detection, electromagnetic fields, etc.
However, the extreme cold and the relentless howling wind, which whipped through every corner, interfered with the readings, even for his tactical goggles, optimized to amplify his perception.
Despite the disturbances, Sora managed to pick up... a faint white frequency, barely perceptible, seemingly emitted from several buildings in the town.
This led them to stop in front of the town hall, one of the main sources of the strange signal, along with the warehouse. Sora dismounted from Eco with a feigned nonchalance that baffled Jack.
And tested his patience, when the first thing his "companion" did was rummage through the pockets of his armor, until he happily pulled out a battered cigarette, prompting Jack to ask incredulously:
"Did you really see something? Or were you just looking for a place where you could smoke?" Jack questioned, his voice laced with irritation at his apparent lack of professionalism.
Sora ignored him as he approached the doors, blocked by a layer of ice. He opened them without a second thought, with a kick that created a loud crash, quickly absorbed by the unceasing howl of the storm.
Taking out an old Zippo covered in scratches and bullet marks, he responded without flinching: "Both. Come on, be a good companion and check the warehouse... I really did see something slip inside there, looked human, grayish, and... naked."
Jack, feeling the cold winter creeping down to his spine, repeated skeptically, "Naked?"
Sora shrugged, with the cigarette between his lips, as he ventured into the gloom of the town hall. He didn't care if Jack believed him, as long as he did what he was told.
-
Satisfied to be out of the storm, Sora shouted as soon as he entered the town hall:
"HELLO?"
There was no answer. The two-story building was engulfed in an unsettling silence. As he moved forward, Sora used his Zippo repeatedly, trying to light his crooked cigarette.
Frustrated when the flame wouldn't appear, he muttered, "Fuck it," generating a faint electric spark between his thumb and index finger to light it.
After a long-awaited drag and a satisfied sigh as he exhaled the smoke, Sora's pleasant moment was interrupted by a faint, almost inaudible, "Puk" coming from the upper floor.
-
While investigating the noise, Jack arrived at the warehouse, where the doors still shook violently under the blizzard. He dismounted from the LQ-84i, scanning the building. The storm interfered with his sensors, preventing a clear reading. Cautiously, he entered.
The darkness inside the warehouse was thick, and an unsettling cold seeped through the cracks of the battered structure. As he moved forward, his eye and the sensor of his patch-bandana scanned the area, spotting a group of people—four or five—huddled under an old blanket. They were naked, with cracked, gray bodies. Their heads, barely visible, were lost in the shadows.
Jack frowned, thinking they might be sick. He approached slowly, cautiously, but with the compassion of someone who had been saved in his darkest moments, said. "Excuse me, are you alright? Do you need help?"
The figures, motionless until that moment, suddenly reacted. As if his simple offer had activated them, they raised their heads in unison. Instead of eyes, glowing cybernetic lenses shone intensely. Then, all at once, they emitted a sharp noise that pierced the air, like an unbearable screech. Before Jack could react, the figures lunged at him with unnatural speed.
-
At the same time, at the town hall.
Sora slowly ascended to the first floor while smoking. Upon reaching the mayor's office, from where the "Tuk" sound was coming, he didn't hesitate. "Here's..."—with a kick and a twisted smile—"Little Johnny!" He slammed the door open.
The "person" sitting behind the desk didn't even react to his "Shining" entrance.
They remained absorbed in their task, repeatedly pressing a dry seal against the table covered with old papers, as if part of a ritual, though without ink or purpose, following the muscle memory of an empty gesture.
Sora squinted, and after cycling through several spectrums of his vision, he let out a murmur along with a heavy sigh, "You're not human... just a—"
Before he could finish, a sharp scream pierced through the storm outside, disturbing the entire town's stillness.
That scream changed everything. The "mayor," as if reset, dropped the seal and lunged at Sora, screaming wildly. Outside, more screams answered the original, coming from all around the town.
-
Back at the warehouse, Jack struggled to process what he was seeing. The figures that once seemed sick were now rushing toward him. Their cracked, gray torsos, previously hidden by shadows and the old corroded blankets, were now visible, revealing they were covered in tubes that emerged from their skin like parasites. And the most disturbing thing of all: their heads were hollow.
The back of their skulls was missing. They didn't even have... "How can they move without a brain?" Jack wondered, trying to find some logic in what he was witnessing.
With no time for further reflection, as the figures were practically upon him, Jack drew his sword. In that instant, his vision flooded with holographic lines, calculating trajectories and analyzing every threat. Simultaneously, his Sandevistan distorted his perception of time, slowing the attackers' movements until they seemed to move through water.
Jack wielded his sword with the ease of a veteran surgeon handling a scalpel. In mere milliseconds, the arms and legs of the husks attacking him fell to the icy ground with a dull thud, followed by the rest of their torsos.
From their wounds oozed a thick, grayish, almost oily blood that spread unnaturally, as if its very composition prevented it from spilling out in a normal way.
Despite being dismembered, the husks continued to crawl toward him, emitting blood-curdling screams.
"How the hell are you still moving?!" Jack exclaimed, baffled by the grotesque scene unfolding before him.
Their severed limbs began to twitch on the ground. Then, as if they had a life of their own, the severed hands and feet writhed violently, driven by an unnatural force, as though some invisible power compelled them to keep attacking.
-
Sora slithered between the arms trying to tear him apart. With its repulsive mouth, filled with a black liquid like motor oil, mere inches away from biting his face. He calmly continued where had left off.
"You're just a husk," he muttered, placing the silencer of one of his SOCOMs under the monstrous mayor's jaw before pulling the trigger.
The husk took a step back as the bullet pierced its empty skull... but nothing else. Sora raised his eyebrow slightly, murmuring "Have it your way..." before emptying the rest of the magazine into its body.
Each silent bullet pierced and shook the husk's body, causing it to retreat slowly. However, just like the first shot, none managed to bring it down.
Slightly irritated by the creature's resilience, Sora holstered his pistol and pulled his Malorian 8816 rifle from his back. As he aimed, he spun the rifle through its large loop, smoothly working the lever mechanism. The weapon came to life, vibrating gently in his hand as it charged with electricity.
The husk prepared to charge again, but before it could get close, the imposing octagonal silencer of the Malorian 8816 pressed against its chest, stopping it.
At the same time, after taking one last drag from his cigarette, Sora, with his black hand, squeezed the trigger
After a silenced Thum, the husk, barely pushed by the shot due to the speed at which it pierced through, looked down to find a gaping hole in its chest the size of an open hand.
The hole was so large that Sora leaned forward, peering through it and witnessing the destructive trail of the shot as it had pierced through all the walls of the town hall and exited the other side.
The remaining sides of its chest looked as though they would collapse, but... the oily, gray liquid that served as its blood fell like a thick curtain, partially sealing the wound.
Sora, with an expression of disgust written on his face, gave it a kick with the same force he had used on the door earlier. It should have sent the husk flying into the wall, but instead, it only made it stumble back a few steps.
Just enough to spin his Malorian 8816 and fire. Again and again, until it finally stopped moving.... all its pieces.
Sora then heard the heavy footsteps of several husks rushing toward the office. As they all tried to enter at once, they were greeted by an electromagnetic shot that took out three heads in one go.
The bodies kept moving even after falling at the entrance, awkwardly crawling across the floor, partially blocking the others.
Without a second thought, Sora jumped through the window, landing the two-story drop with ease. The husks, without hesitation, threw themselves after him, falling clumsily in pursuit.
Ignoring them, Sora started running. He had barely turned the first corner when Eco appeared, with several husks clinging to his body as he tore another in half with his powerful jaws.
While running, Sora slid his rifle onto his back and, after marking his targets through his IDn, fired a burst from his smart SMG from beneath his poncho without even lifting the weapon. The bullets, before crashing into the ground, changed trajectory as if an invisible force repelled them and, at the same time, pulled them directly toward the husks on Eco, knocking them down.
With his partner free, Sora leaped over the Husk trying to get up and mounted Eco, who bolted off toward the warehouse. As they moved, both could see the town coming to life again: hundreds of Husk were emerging from windows and rooftops, throwing themselves into the streets. Even from the tallest buildings, three or four stories high, they fell like an eerie rain.
Upon reaching the warehouse, Sora shouted, "STOP!" The urgency in his voice was unmistakable.
"What?" Jack responded, shifting his stance from attack to defense at Sora's intervention.
"We've activated them. They're emitting a signal too strong now. Don't attack anymore… we have to leave," Sora warned, sensing the frequency emanating from each Husk... crashing over their heads, amplifying.
As if each one was a small matchstick, and together they formed a bonfire visible to anyone who could "see."
Understanding what Sora implied, Jack stopped using his sword and signaled LQ to prepare for escape. Meanwhile, Sora and Eco began gathering the dismembered remains of the nearby Husk, either throwing them back into the warehouse or hiding the evidence, with Eco biting into Jack's clean cuts to make it look half-devoured.
They managed to cover their tracks just in time before the rest of the Husk descended upon them.
Climbing back onto Eco, Sora and Jack exchanged glances, alerted by the roar of engines rapidly approaching. Running through several scenarios in his mind, Sora reacted immediately: "Follow us."
In a counterintuitive move, Sora directed Eco toward the heart of the town, where a hundred Husk were approaching. Jack, on his LQ, followed closely. Just before colliding with them, they jumped onto the roof of a small building, using it to propel themselves to the next, taller one.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, visibly attracting the attention of the Husk, the sound of engines grew louder, signaling their imminent arrival.
As the spotlights of the AVs began to pierce through the blizzard, Sora and Jack quickened their pace, moving from the rooftop they were on. They broke line of sight with the Husk and ran in the opposite direction, just in time to exit the town before the first AVs flew over the area.
Both of them dove to the ground, hiding in the snow and beneath the dry branches of a snowy grove, from where they watched the arrival of the new force.
Then, six black AVs, heavily armored and armed, flew over the town, releasing the cargo they had magnetically secured in their bellies.
Upon hitting the ground, the "cargo"—large bipedal machines—came to life abruptly and menacingly. Their muscular legs extended with a mechanical crunch, raising the massive bipeds while they emitted a disturbing bellow that reverberated in the air.
The heads—armored metallic structures with 360-degree visors—lit up, sweeping their surroundings with an intimidating red light, scanning the area.
After acquiring their targets, accompanied by a loud ["MOOO"] bellow, the strange bipedal units began to move with an unexpected speed for such heavy creatures.
Upon spotting the Husk... they leaped with surprising agility, crushing them beneath their feet, which slammed the ground with enough force to pulverize the bodies into pools of grayish fluid.
Hidden in the snow, Jack watched the bipedal units in awe. "It's the first time I've seen an Unmanned Gear (UG) like this," he remarked quietly.
Sora nodded silently, though he didn't fully agree. Internally, he didn't share the same idea. To him, those beings weren't entirely UG. Something in their movement, in the strange noises they made, suggested there was something more... inside them.
Despite their power, with only six bipedal units, they were quickly surrounded by the Husk, who began to tear at their artificial muscles and bite into their legs.
However, from the AVs, which hadn't landed in the town, uniformed soldiers descended. Upon hitting the ground, they quickly began firing in a controlled manner, drawing the Husk's attention, who soon charged at them ferociously.
Although their bullets weren't capable of neutralizing them, that wasn't the objective either, managing to slow them down momentarily and buy time for their comrades, equipped with heavy backpacks containing flammable canisters, to prepare to deploy their flamethrowers
For a moment, the flammable liquid sprayed out, covering about a dozen Husk in an apparently harmless way... until, with a thunderous roar, that "innocent hose" ignited, transforming into a violent blaze that devoured a dozen creatures in seconds.
This provoked a synchronized chorus of "screams" among the Husk—the closest word to describe the unsettling screech that escaped from their mouths. Even those who weren't burning emitted the same sound.
But what disturbed Sora the most was seeing how the "frequency" also amplified, as if the Husk's pain was being transmitted through it as well.
Among the soldiers, one imposing figure stood out: a man about 2.5 meters tall, wrapped in a massive black trench coat that covered his armor, leaving his bald head exposed. Hanging from both sides of his waist were two gigantic machetes in their sheaths.
Under his leadership, the troops, completely covered in protective gear, moved efficiently and with extreme caution, ensuring the Husk never got close to them.
The flamethrowers proved to be surprisingly effective, as if fire was a critical weakness for the Husk. When a group of them charged at the enormous bald man, he calmly unsheathed his machetes.
As the blades began to glow, he joined both hilts in one hand, effortlessly transforming the two weapons into an enormous pair of scissors, connected to his arm and armor.
Like a gardener calmly pruning, the bald man cut through the group of Husk that dared to attack him, turning them to ashes as they were sliced by his burning pruning shears.
With few Husk remaining, the creatures tried to hide in nearby buildings. The soldiers, however, threw incendiary grenades or fired their flamethrowers into the entrances, causing the structures to be quickly consumed.
The Husk, engulfed in flames, desperately jumped out of windows, trying to extinguish their burning bodies by rolling in the snow. But their efforts were futile. The fire clung to them, and, unable to escape, they succumbed entirely, their agonized resistance snuffed out along with their "lives."
With the battle over and his men finishing the cleanup, the leader in the black trench coat walked through the town, searching for something to explain the Husk activation. He stopped in front of the charred warehouse, where he noticed a large cluster of footprints. Although many had been trampled by his soldiers' boots, there were too many to attribute to just them.
Intrigued, he began to brush away the snow with his foot, uncovering a severed limb. Something clearly out of place, since the weapons of his troops didn't have the power to dismember bodies in that way. Additionally, the wound looked half-chewed.
"Are these creatures devouring each other?" one of the lieutenants next to him asked, puzzled.
The leader grunted, stopping his examination of the limb when a soldier without a helmet passed nearby.
The leader halted the group, fixing his gaze on the soldier without a helmet. "Sergeant, what's the problem?" asked the same soldier when he noticed his superior's attention.
"Your ear… it's bleeding," pointed out the bald sergeant, indicating the wound with a grave expression.
"Ah… must've been a grenade fragment, sir," the soldier replied nervously, showing his helmet damaged by an impact.
"Are you sure?" the leader insisted.
"Of course, sir. I followed protocol throughout the operation. No infected touched me," the soldier affirmed confidently.
The bald man stared at him for a few seconds before giving an order to the affected soldier's companions:
"Check him and the helmet. Make sure we're not bringing anything unwanted back to the base."
"Yes, sir," they responded in unison.
"No! Wait, I swear nothing's—" the soldier tried to stop them, but he was subdued.
Using a portable device, they took a blood sample from the wound on his ear. Then they released him. Annoyed, the soldier struggled with those who had, just moments before, been his brothers-in-arms. He watched as the analysis took longer than usual, a sign that typically indicated a negative result.
"See? I told you, I only blew up one of their nests with a grenade. This wound is just from a frag—ugh..." his words suddenly choked. A gush of blood filled his mouth, spilling through his fingers as he tried to stop the torrent pouring out.
Moments later... the analysis concluded, with a jarring beep and a grim red light.
"He's infected!" his comrades shouted, backing away and pointing their weapons at him as they noticed the blood—almost colorless, nearly... gray—staining his mouth and gloves.
The soldier looked in shock at his strange blood, lacking any trace of minerals or iron. Unable to believe it, he raised his desperate gaze toward his leader, trying to find a hint of his fate.
He found it in his leader's eyes, which stared back at him, oozing disgust and murderous intent.
Realizing the fate that awaited him, the soldier cried out in desperation: "No... please, no! I am loyal to the ideals!" Searching his comrades' eyes for some compassion, he found only fear and hostility. Before breaking down completely, in the most noble tone his trembling voice could muster, he passionately and desperately exclaimed, striking his chest: "Libertas omni pretio!"
"I believe you..." the leader replied, breaking his stance with arms crossed and resting his heavy hand on the soldier's shoulder.
The soldier's face twisted with hope, his eyes, previously wide with fear, briefly lit up. "Then..."
But before he could finish his sentence, the leader interrupted with the same calm tone: "If you truly believe in those ideals, then rejoice... because a part of you will continue to serve them."
Upon hearing those words, the soldier, in a desperate act, shook off his leader's hand from his shoulder and tried to flee.
But he barely made it a few steps before falling to the ground as the earth shook beneath him—due to the landing of three bipedal units that closed off his escape route. Still, the soldier desperately crawled in an attempt to get away, prompting one of the machines to carefully place its massive foot on his leg… pinning it to the ground with crushing force.
Amidst his own screams of pain, the soldier drew his pistol, causing his former comrades to hesitate for a second, thinking he was going to shoot them. But that wasn't the case. In a desperate act, the soldier turned the weapon on himself, pressing the barrel hard against his temple.
'If I am going to die...' The soldier wanted to do it while he still felt human, while he was still whole. His finger trembled, but before he could pull the trigger, a shot rang out. His pistol flew from his hand, knocked away by a precise shot from one of the lieutenants standing beside the sergeant.
With nothing left to try, the soldier broke down into sobs, his voice cracked with terror. "No... please... anything but that, please!" he begged, as they held him down, pressing his face into the cold snow.
At the leader's signal, two soldiers approached the nearby AV and retrieved a device that, at first glance, looked like a grotesque helmet. It was made of a pyramid-like frame of steel beams, with a circular base. But the truly alarming feature was the cold gleam of the tools inside—foreshadowed a macabre purpose.
Struggling to fit the device on the back of the soldier's head, as he thrashed in vain, the leader stepped forward without a word. Coldly and cruelly, he planted his boot on the man's spine and mercilessly began to increase the pressure.
The crack of breaking bones echoed through the air, while the soldier's screams were drowned by his own agony. At last, the spine gave way under the brutal force, leaving the soldier limp, paralyzed. Even the pain had vanished, leaving only room for panic and despair to flood his mind, fully aware of what was to come.
The scene was so brutal that even Jack, despite knowing it was an enemy, felt the urge to intervene. He forced himself to hold back, but the words slipped out in a whisper: "Do we attack?"
He knew perfectly well that they couldn't—and shouldn't—but something about that brutality stirred his own memories, making Jack picture himself in the desperate soldier's place.
Sora didn't even glance at him, much less entertain his 'companion's' idea for even a second. "I can see you're an idiot, but I won't bother saying it. So I'll just say: no."
Jack persisted, still searching for a way. "If we hit fast, the four of us could—" But his voice abruptly cut off when Sora shot him a look that, if he had skin instead of metal, would have made his hair stand on end.
With a cold, emotionless voice, Sora 'warned' him: "If you try to help that guy… I'll deactivate your frame. I'll leave only your vital functions running, and you'll be stranded here, waiting until I finish my mission. Your call."
Though Jack knew Sora was right, the threat didn't sit well with him. He had to hold back, take a deep breath, and change the subject. "What the hell do you think that is?"
Sora, watching the structure inside the pyramid, filled with tiny arms equipped with scalpels, saws, forceps, and other surgical tools, replied coolly, "A field surgery machine."
"Surgical?" Jack asked, his eyes following every move of the soldiers as they manipulated the strange device.
"To be more precise, extraction. I would say." Sora responded in a cold, emotionless tone, already knowing what was coming next.
With a clear discomfort in his voice, Jack frowned and asked, "Extraction of what...?"
Sora remained silent for a moment, just long enough for Jack to start feeling even more uneasy. Then, his answer came, blunt and direct. "There aren't many organs in the head you'd need something like that for... If you're so curious, just watch."
Once activated, the device emitted a mechanical hum as its robotic arms extended toward the immobilized soldier's head. The small saws began cutting into the back of his skull without hesitation or mercy.
The soldier tried to scream, but the sound remained trapped in his mind, unable to escape. He could only move his eyes, which reflected pure panic. Despite his paralysis, the pain was unbearable. He felt every cut, every vibration of the metal as it sawed through his bone and flesh. And almost worse than the pain itself was hearing every crack and tear with horrifying clarity.
A few moments later, a robotic arm carefully lifted the top of his skull, exposing his brain to everyone. Jack was overwhelmed by his own traumas, looked away for a moment.
The robotic arms delved deeper into the soldier's skull, starting the extraction. They had to push and tug as if the flesh and nerves were unwilling to surrender what was theirs.
The soldier's frozen face, locked in paralysis, reflected unspeakable suffering, his eyes brimming with sheer terror as he felt himself being torn away from his own existence.
It was as if he were being pulled from the inside out, but without the mercy of being able to scream. With each mechanical tug, his mind unraveled, memories faded, until at last, with one final pull—everything, including the pain... fade away.
Jack watched in astonishment as the process ended with the brain being placed in a cylindrical container, which was sealed airtight. "What... what the hell was that, what are they planning to do with it?" he whispered, unable to comprehend what he was witnessing.
Now understanding the state of the other husks, Sora replied without blinking, "A harvest. They're going to use it to fuel some grim technology... though it's no longer him."
The leader in the black trench coat picked up the fallen soldier's dog tags. The rest of his contaminated body, reduced to irrelevant waste, was left behind without a second thought.
From a nearby rooftop, something caught the leader's attention. A faint smile curved his lips as he turned to his lieutenant and, with a slight nod, ordered, "Shoot the crow on the opposite rooftop. It seems to be the one that activated the infected."
After a single shot, the bird dropped lifeless onto the roof. Satisfied, the leader gave the order to retreat. With nothing else to do, the rest of the soldiers withdrew silently toward the AVs.
In the air, they aligned precisely over the bipedal units and, with a metallic snap, latched them to their undersides using powerful magnetic clamps before ascending rapidly, heading back to their base.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked, watching Sora grab his rifle.
He didn't respond. Calmly, he took a black, nail-shaped 'bullet' from the pouch attached to the wood stock of his Malorian 8816. With a soft click, he raised the lever loop, aligning the sights toward one of the bipeds. An almost inaudible thum followed as the electromagnetically fired projectile shot out, striking one of the biped's legs. It groaned and wobbled in the air, momentarily destabilizing the ship.
However, the projectile's nanobots activated instantly, spreading across the artificial muscles, leaving nothing visible.
"Now we'll know where they'll land," Sora finally responded, as he slung the rifle back over his shoulder and patted Eco for a job well done