The Endless Depths(Horror/Blood/Language/Violence)

Chapter 2

As the AI went to work, Balthoron turned towards his troops, "Alright, you will all split into squadrons and search the station, there being four hundred and eighty of you here, I will separate you into four companies." Balthoron looked at a Lupine, "Captain Muller, the first one hundred and nineteen soldiers are yours to take. You shall take what Jessie and I have dubbed Sector One of the station, the decks will be shown on your maps as yellow." The Lupine nodded and saluted Balthoron, "Alright, First Company, assemble!" The Lupine walked to one side of the room and exactly one hundred and nineteen soldiers joined him." Balthoron took a look at a Kani, "Major Jacob, you and your one hundred and nineteen soldiers will make up second company." The Kani Major nodded and saluted, "Thank you sir." The Kani stood apart from the others, "Second Company! Form up!"

One hundred and nineteen of the remaining soldiers moved to form up behind him and Balthoron nodded, "You will patrol sector two, it will be green on your map." Balthoron took a look at a Mus, "Captain Bondeson, you're in command of the third company, gather your soldiers." The Mus nodded and walked closer to Balthoron, "Third Company, Front and Center!" The one hundred and nineteen troops walked to the Mus, "Third Company is ready, sir!" Balthoron nodded, "You are to patrol Sector Three, the color of the sector on your map is red. You'll find that it is situated next to sector one." The Mus nodded and saluted, "Understood, sir!" Balthoron looked at the last remaining one, a Kitsune, "Major Misawa, you are in command of the Fourth Company, your troops are with you already. You're to patrol Sector Four of the station, the area in your map is colored in as dark blue."

The Kitsune nodded, "Sir, yes, sir!" Captain Muller spoke up, "Sir, there is an area of the map that is close to Sector Three that is colored in light blue." Balthoron nodded, "The temperature sensors in that area reveal that it is abnormally cold, if Captain Bondeson wishes to ensure the deaths of his troops, he can go in there. The temperatures we got are as low as negative sixty-two degrees." Captain Muller nodded as Major Jacob spoke up, "Major Misawa has a section of station that is colored in purple, what's that about." Balthoron shrugged, "Simple, anyone that goes in there isn't coming back out alive, you're not in exosuits and that area has suffered structural damage long ago. You'll die from exposure to a vacuum, as well as the radiation that is out there in space." Major Jacob nodded, "That's all, sir."

Balthoron nodded and placed his arms behind his back, "This will not be an easy task, I need everyone to stay vigilant, despite the sights that you may see in this station, we have no idea what we are dealing with right now and until we get any intel, we won't know how to beat it. I do not want anyone moving alone. There will not be any breaking into fire and maneuver teams either. The smallest unit I want you in is a fireteam, and even then, do not wander off too far from the rest of your squad. When you get into your sector, you may split into either squads or sections, it doesn't matter to me. Remember to keep your weapons at the ready at all times and keep your head on a swivel. Do not all face the same direction either, try to have the unit face in the four cardinal directions, being able to quickly train three-fourths of the total firepower of the unit on the target is better than none."

Balthoron looked at them all, "We've have a reputation for getting any job we get hired for, done. I'm counting on all of you." Balthoron closed his eyes, "I will provide you with whatever support I can from here and Jessie will assist me in doing so. You are all dismissed." Balthoron waved his hand, giving a spark of electricity to the door, which opened it. He watched as all of the troops moved out of the room and he frowned under his helmet as the last soldier left the room. He waved his hand and looked back at Jessie, "Do we have any sensors to detect this creature?" Jessie looked up at him, "Motion sensors in Sectors One and Four are still active, there are some in Sectors Two and Three that are still active, we can use those to assist the troops." Balthoron nodded, "Can we configure them to ignore our troops?" Jessie looked away, "No, but I will alert whatever squadron has a single source of movement going towards them."

Balthoron nodded slightly, "What are the chances of success do you think?" Jessie looked at him again, "I was not programmed to guess based off of gut feelings, I am an Artificial Intelligence, remember." Balthoron shrugged and folded his arms, "Answer the question." Jessie sighed, "You won't like the answer." Balthoron scoffed, "Try me." Jessie spoke calmly, "The mission with the current parameters has a minimal chance of success. There are far too many unknowns in this operation, we don't even have the first clue of what we're dealing with." Balthoron nodded, "Yeah, this wouldn't be the first time that I'd have to go into a situation with as little intel as we got now. Nothing is more oxymoronic than the words military intelligence, right?" Jessie shook her head, "I do not understand your joke."

Balthoron sighed, "Bah, AIs." Jessie shrugged, "I apologize, but I wasn't programmed with humor. Balthoron, would you like to monitor the progress of the soldiers?" Balthoron nodded, "In a minute, I'm going to see if I can't get some of the communications equipment working." Jessie didn't speak and this made Balthoron uneasy, "What is it?" Balthoron turned to see Jessie standing where her hologram was, almost perfectly still, "External communications is being jammed. The communications equipment is perfectly fine, but we only have internal communications." Balthoron sighed and folded his arms, "That's just wonderful, you work on your multi-tasking, I'll work on getting past this jamming. There may have to come a time where we might need to just cut our losses and evacuate." Jessie shook her head, "Sir, that's just it, the Jamming signal isn't here... it's in sector two..."

Chapter 4

Balthoron slammed his hands on the panel in front of him, Jessie's hologram showed up next to him, "Losing a squad was within the projections that I had simulated before we arrived." Balthoron sighed, "I know, but if there was only some way we could've seen it, someway we could've stopped it. We could've prevented Jacob's death!" Jessie shook her holographic head, "There was nothing we could've done, this creature clearly possesses a high level of intelligence, and I know what you're thinking, that if we send a larger group towards the jammer, that they'll be able to kill it, it's a coin flip, Balthoron, are you willing to take that risk?" Balthoron sighed, "We need to get rid of that jammer." He placed his finger on his communicator and pressed down the button, "Second Company, Fifth, Seventh and Tenth Squadrons, you're all within range and all can preform a three way pincer on that jamming signal. I need you guys to move in on it."

Jessie sighed, "You could be sending them to their deaths, you know." Balthoron nodded as he looked at the map, "Believe me, I know. But what choice do we have, the transports took off when we landed and we have no way to contact them if we have to pop smoke." Balthoron watched and listened to the chatter amongst the soldiers, "You're entering the dark zone, I won't be able to monitor your movements, remain extra vigilant and keep your heads on a swivel, no matter how fearful you get, do not break formation, am I clear." A chorus of, "Aye, sir." sounded over his communicator and he smiled softly, "At least I know they're still good soldiers." Jessie spoke up, "Sir, I found something about this place." Balthoron nodded, "Let's see it." Balthoron watched as a readout appeared on the console he was next to.

He started to read the text on it, apparently this was a research station for not only creating bio-weapons, but for training them as well and was created during the Menschilche-Dragon war. Balthoron kept reading and found out that the purpose of this station was to create a bioweapon that was capable of killing a dragon, and that they had failed to do so. He looked to Jessie, "Find any logs by the scientists, anything that can help us figure out what this creature is... if this is an anti-dragon bioweapon, we're in deeper shit than we thought..." Suddenly Balthoron's communicator started becoming abuzz with voices, "What the fuck was that!? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!? KILL IT! KILL IT! IT GOT MARIE! KILL IT!" Balthoron nearly ripped the thing off his ear, because the yelling was too loud, but kept it on, "Calm down, what's the status report!" Balthoron's answer was weapons discharging on the other end.

Balthoron spoke up, "Give me a sitrep!" He heard the anguished screams of someone who was killed and other soldier scream, "Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Nothing we do is stopping this thing!" Balthoron called out, "You have grenades! USE THEM!" The soldiers didn't listen, Balthoron continued to listen to their panicked cries, "Use your damn grenades! You have them for a reason!" Suddenly, there was a loud explosion sound and then nothing. Jessie spoke up, "An explosion happened thirty-two meters away from the jamming signal. Balthoron, there is a minimal chance that anything could've survived that explosion, even the creature." Balthoron closed his eyes and focused on that area in order to narrow down the electrical signals he would receive, though it did tax him slightly, he found that there were fading bio-electrical signals, but one unfamiliar one that was particularly strong.

Balthoron stopped and opened his eyes, "Somehow, it survived... an entire platoon of troops wiped out, and yet... it escaped the blast radius..." Jessie nodded, "I found something, I don't know if it will help." Balthoron nodded slightly, "Just, just give me a moment." Balthoron closed his eyes and silently mourned the loss of the platoon of soldiers he had just sent to their deaths, he wondered how his father would react to this same situation, but knew that he couldn't ask his father. His reincarnation held none of his memories and Emiko wouldn't allow him to enter the realm of the dead to ask him anyhow. Balthoron opened his eyes, "My father... how would he have handled this, how would have he approached this situation." Jessie spoke up, "Your father would've done far worse according to simulations that I have run. Your father would've been with the group that was going to the Jammer."

Balthoron nodded, "So my cowardice saved my life, is what you're saying." Jessie shook her head, "It's your adherence to protocol that has kept you alive so far, Balthoron." Balthoron sighed, "I shouldn't have taken this job, I should've vaporized this station, but we need the money, badly." Jessie nodded, "Do you wish for me to play what I have found?" Balthoron sighed, "Do it." Suddenly a Menschilche hologram appeared, "To whoever is finding this, I can trust that you are neither a Thraxi nor a Neanderthal, as you would've vaporized the station without a second thought. I'm part of a Menschilche preservation group, my team was sent in to preserve genetic material and live Menschilche in order to prevent our extinction. Unfortunately, while we were here, we awoke something that we shouldn't have... something that has been hunting us since we woke it from its slumber."

Balthoron nodded as the Hologram continued, "There are no records of it here, but before we set up a jamming device, I got in contact with high command. The files are heavily encrypted, and there is a lot of it missing, but what I've been able to decipher is that the thing that is hunting us was the only success our kind has had with making an anti-dragon bioweapon. Where both the Humans and the Vampires has failed, this unknown creature has succeeded. Everyone else is dead, if you receive this message, I implore you to kill this creature and bring back the Menschilche people through the humans if need be. And if we're so lucky as to have Balthoron on this station... Balthoron, the Jamming device cannot be shut down normally, you have to give it a three amp shock. Anyhow, I'm going to go die now and join my comrades." Balthoron sighed and put his finger to his communicator, "Prioritize finding and killing the creature, do NOT go after the jamming device."

Chapter 6

The Mus Captain moved together with his squad in Sector Three, the area was a bit hot for his liking and he silently wondered what his ancestor would've thought about him joining the Raptors, especially since Sector Two was reported as a total loss and the survivors of Second Company were being redirected to other sectors. He placed a hand on his communicator, "This is Captain Sigmundr Bondeson, I'm at the rendezvous point." One of the soldiers in his squad spoke up, "I hear that our captain is the great-great-great grandson of the legendary Freja Bondeson, the only person that the Legendary Hero, Yoshiro Miayame would allow to command him." Balthoron spoke up over the communicator, not even bothering to hide his annoyance, "Stop calling my father a legendary hero, he's spinning in his grave." The soldier spoke up, "But your father was a Legendary Hero, Colonel. He ended many wars swiftly, causing a reduction in the number of projected casualties."

Balthoron sighed and cut off communications as Sigmundr looked around, "There is no sign of the Sector Two unit, they were supposed to Rendezvous here, do you think that the bioweapon could've followed them from there?" A soldier spoke up in a panicked voice, "It killed Sector Two's unit, the creature is unstoppable, we're just being sent into a meat grinder to die!" Sigmundr looked back at the soldier, "Enough with that, there is nothing in this universe that cannot die, we just need to figure out a way to kill it. This place is a rather superheated area, I bet if we can trap it into a room with magma in it, it will die." Sigmundr placed his finger on his communicator, "Jessie, are there any areas where magma exists in Sector Three?" Jessie spoke up, "Scanning now, there are a few, however your armor isn't rated for that kind of temperature, neither are your re-breathers. Why are you going to go with this plan?"

Sigmundr sighed, "Then I'll be the sacrificial lamb in this plan, it's what my ancestor would do." Balthoron chimed in, "I knew Freja, kiddo. She didn't do much fighting, but when she did, she fought bravely. However, even this is something she wouldn't do, you're beginning to sound more and more like Uncle Walthari." Sigmundr nodded, "It doesn't matter, direct me to where the creature is." Balthoron sighed, "So you're willing to sacrifice your own life, in order to play bait for this creature, you do realize you're going to die in order to try to put this thing down, and for all we know, it could thrive in temperatures like that." Sigmundr nodded, "That's a risk I'm willing to take, we don't know anything about this creature, other than its intelligence and capability of taking out entire platoons of soldiers at once."

Balthoron sighed, "Third Company, First Squadron, rendezvous with the Second Squadron and form a Section. Sigmundr, the bioweapon is heading to Sector Three, I hope you're ready." Sigmundr nodded, "Point me in the direction of one of these super-heated magma chamber rooms." He put on his rebreather and started to run from the rest of his squadron, as Jessie spoke, "Take the next left." Sigmundr ran to his left and felt the area start getting steadily hotter and hotter as he did. Jessie spoke, "Forty meters, take a right in the hallway. The bioweapon has picked up your trail and is now following you, it knows that you're alone, Sigmundr, pick up the pace." Sigmundr nodded and started sprinting, once at the intersection, he took a right into the next hallway, where he saw at the end, a large door, that seemed to be somewhat cool to the touch.

Jessie spoke up, "The moment that door opens, where you're standing is going to become a furnace. It'll rapidly heat up to at least five hundred degrees." Sigmundr nodded and moved closer to the door, "How much time do I have before the creature arrives?" Jessie spoke up, "Six minutes, it's tracking you specifically now, and seems to be taking its time doing it." Sigmundr nodded and walked over to the console next to the door, he started the process of opening the door, but was going to wait til the creature was almost on top of him, before he opened it. He wanted the maximum chance of killing the creature in one swift blow, even if that meant sacrificing his own life in order to do it, he spoke into his communicator, "Balthoron, we Bondesons have a good friendship with your family, tell my sister, the Queen that I died a hero's death."

Balthoron spoke over the communicator, "It's too late to save you, but your sacrifice will not be forgotten, Sigmundr, you have three minutes before the creature is on top of your location, is there anything you wish to say as your last words?" Sigmundr chuckled, "Nah, that would seem sappy, let it be known that if I fail, I at least tried something different in order to bring this damned thing down." Balthoron's voice sounded over the communicator, "That's alright, two minutes, by the way." Sigmundr sighed and watched the corridor to his left, he wanted to see the creature with his own eyes before he killed the both of them. Time seemed to pass slowly for him, seconds became minutes and minutes became hours, his heart was racing at an extreme pace in his chest and his hands were starting to feel cold.

Sigmundr chuckled, "I guess I do have some last words. No matter how hard we steel ourselves for the inevitable, we're always afraid in the end... afraid of dying. However, it is not how we deal with life that we are judged, it is rather how we deal with our own mortality and eventually death." Balthoron's voice spoke up, "Good words, by the way, thirty seconds." Sigmundr waited til Balthoron spoke, "The creature is right on top of you." Sigmundr didn't see anything except a distortion in the light, he knew that no one in the group of soldiers brought to the station had any cloaking devices or abilities, so he hit the button that opened the door, just before he felt a force knock him to the ground and pierce his heart, though blood came out of his mouth, he chuckled, "I win." The door opened and very swiftly the heat poured through, killing Sigmundr instantly, by cooking him alive.

Chapter 8

A young Lupine Corporal by the name of Annaliese looked at the section that she had gathered. This wasn't her first operation, but she had this eerie feeling that it was going to be her last, something that she couldn't shake as she led the Privates on patrol through Sector One, suddenly a voice spoke over her communicator, "Corporal, come in." Annaliese placed a finger to her communicator, "Yes, Captain Muller?" Muller's voice spoke on the other end, "Second Company has been wiped out and Third Company is being hunted down, First and Fourth Companies are currently safe, but it's only a matter of time before the creature starts hunting us down, I figure if we get it in a pincer attack, it will, hold on a second." The line went quiet and Annaliese feared the worst, however after a few minutes of silence, Captain Muller's voice came back on, "A section from Sector Three is going to be used as bait to draw the bioweapon into Sector Five."

Annaliese nodded, "I understand, sir. Do you think that the plan will work?" Captain Muller didn't even hide his sadness, "No, I don't. Also I need to be on the straight and narrow with you guys. I'm not a descendant of Adalwulf, I am Adalwulf." Annaliese blinked slightly, "So that means that you're my great-great-great granduncle..." Adalwulf spoke on the other side, "Look behind you." Annaliese turned around to look past her section to see Adalwulf standing there with his section, "Sir." Adalwulf nodded, "At ease, I'm violating orders here, but let's form up into a platoon." Annaliese nodded slightly, she felt a bit safer knowing that there were now officers amongst her group, far more experienced soldiers that could handle the situations that the research station were throwing at them, instead of the unproven privates she had been given.

Adalwulf sighed slightly, "Something someone told me a long time ago... there are no heroes in war, we're all fighting to achieve one of three separate outcomes..." Annaliese nodded, "What are those?" Adalwulf sighed, "Death, watching all of your friends die and seeing futility in war... or the outcome that man had achieved, become a cold-blooded killer. When he told me this, I was just a child, a hotblooded Lupine who had a chip on his shoulder and everything to prove." Adalwulf moved his hair out from in front of his left eye, revealing a cybernetic eye, "It was shortly before the battle of Hayat that he told me this, I lost my entire unit there, everyone died because of my cockiness." He tapped the cybernetic eye, "This thing however is a blessing in disguise, I can see into the infrared spectrum with this, meaning that even if the creature is invisible, I will still be able to see it."

Annaliese nodded slightly, "I learned about the battle of Hayat back in school, it was the bloodiest battle the Legendary Heroes encountered. Men, women, even children laid dead in the city streets when all was said and done." Adalwulf shook his head, "Our cousins are not legendary heroes, Annaliese, you would do well to remember that. They were people, just like you and I." One of the Privates spoke up, "You must be even more legendary considering that death hasn't quite taken you." Adalwulf sighed, "I'm not legendary, I was placed in a stasis pod for over a thousand years, I'm getting on in years, but I'm not too old to go out on missions with you guys. I'm a veteran of the old world, but sometimes, you need someone like me to keep you guys from freaking out and running around like you lost your minds."

Annaliese chuckled slightly as they patrolled through Sector One, "Adalwulf, how do you like working with Balthoron?" Adalwulf sighed, "He's a bigger asshole than his father, and his father was quite an asshole at times." Balthoron spoke up over the communicator, "I heard that, Adalwulf." Adalwulf spoke into his communicator, "I'm not apologizing for voicing my opinion, Balthoron." Balthoron chuckled, "Well, it's a valid opinion, one I agree with." Adalwulf sighed, "Annaliese, welcome to our family. Upon waking up, I learned about the Galactic War, something you've probably only learned about in school, and I know more about the Miyamae family's dysfunction right now than anyone else outside of the family. The years have not been kind to either Tsuyoshi, or Balthoron. If Yoshiro were alive, he'd slap some sense into his kids. But alas, he died a long, long time ago."

Annaliese nodded as they took a right and entered a temperate area, which seemed to be a simulated environment, "This is a bit strange, why would they have this on the station." Adalwulf sighed, "Sector Two has a jungle simulation, Sector Three is a desert simulation, Sector Four is an aquatic simulation, Sector Five is Cryostorage and can be used as an arctic simulation and Sector Six used to be a nocturnal simulation, I swear that this sounds like something straight out of a video game..." Annaliese shrugged, "I never heard of it before, I used to be a video gamer, before I joined up with the Raptors." Adalwulf nodded, "The fact that we're being hunted down by a creature that has killed all the other people that have arrived on this station as well as all the researchers on the station is reminiscent of the same game..."

Annaliese thought for a moment as she followed Adalwulf as their platoon arrived at a strange shell, and Adalwulf sighed, "This is even more strange, why would this cocoon be here. Unless..." Adalwulf placed his finger on his communicator, "Jessie, I need you to link up to my cybernetic eye and run a scan on the object that I'm looking at." Jessie spoke up, "Receiving imagery from your eye and scanning..." Adalwulf folded his arms, "If I'm right, then this will prove that this creature can indeed die." Annaliese looked at the cocoon, "What is your hypothesis, ancestor?" Adalwulf sighed, "That this thing is a form of a stasis pod, used by that bioweapon to avoid dying." Jessie spoke over the communicator, "The Sector Five Team is in position and Adalwulf, you have a great hypothesis. Unfortunately the data is still fragmented, I'll inform you when I know more."

Chapter 10

Marcus continued to explore the underwater depths of Sector Four, his squadron had linked up with another one and formed a section, since they were sure that the bioweapon wasn't amphibious, they had split up to investigate the underwater areas in order to try to find something that was worthwhile, suddenly Marcus' communicator crackled to life, "It's been five hours so far and all that's been accomplished is that we lost half the force that we arrived with, two of which not even to... three... Marcus, someone in your section just drowned." Marcus sighed, "Well... shit. Where's the body?" Jessie spoke up, "The body is in a large tank. Will you go investigate." Marcus nodded, "Sure thing." He walked out of the room he was and started to swim in his armor, towards a door that lead to a rather large tank that he could only surmise was for breeding.

He saw that the door was open and swam through it, to find the corpse of a Neko floating in the water. He felt terrible about this person's demise and grabbed her corpse, swimming to the surface with it and upon reaching the surface, taking off his rebreather, as it would be useless to him now. As he swam to the edge of the tank, something hit the hand he was carrying his rebreather in and he sighed, "Well shit." Marcus concentrated on placing the corpse on dry land first, swimming to the edge of the tank. Upon reaching the edge, he pulled himself up, and then dragged the corpse out of the water, where he took one of the dogtags from the corpse and placed it in a pouch, "This will remain safe with me, you won't be forgotten Sasha, I promise you this." Marcus looked back at the tank, "My rebreather fell in pretty deep, I wouldn't be able to get it, Colonel, can you redirect one of my men to find my rebreather?"

Balthoron's voice spoke up, "Sure thing, but why don't you use your fallen comrade's?" Marcus sighed, "Because, sir, her drowning is a sure sign that says that something happened to her rebreather." Balthoron nodded, "Alright then." The line went silent for a moment and Balthoron spoke up again, "Private Jenkins is on his way to retrieve it for you." Marcus nodded, "I hope Leroy doesn't get himself into any trouble." Marcus watched as a figure under the water appeared in the tank and started to swim towards his rebreather, unfortunately, he saw something grab the figure and start to violently shake it, blood seeping to the top of the water and turning it red. Marcus knew exactly what that meant and held his breath while quietly moving away from the tank.

He quietly reached a door and left the room itself before placing a finger on his communicator and whispered into it, "Sir, the bioweapon is an excellent swimmer. It's currently in front of the only exit to the whole underwater area and there's no way to get my section out, I'm sorry." Balthoron's voice sounded quietly over the communicator, "I'm not going to risk lives to get them out of there, I know you don't want to leave your men behind, but form up with another section in Sector Four." Marcus nodded and started to quietly move through the corridors of Sector Four, the eerie silence was making him more afraid than knowing that his comrades were dying and that there was nothing that he could do about it, if this thing didn't die by fire or by drowning, how could it be killed, he wondered silently.

Marcus got an idea and pulled out the knife in his belt, and placed his gun on his belt, before placing his finger on his communicator, "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think I'm going to make it to another section. Tell me where it is and I'll try to wound it, if it can't be wounded, we must try to eject it into space. If it can, we should continue our tries to kill it." Balthoron sighed, "Lieutenant, you realize that you will be giving up your life in a foolhardy attempt to kill this thing on your own." Marcus nodded slightly, "I know, but at least I won't die in vain. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to lead this creature to another section. Tell me where it is." Balthoron sighed, "I'm honored to have people like you in the Raptors, if you're really dead set on finding out if we can kill this thing with our weapons, then let's do it."

Marcus nodded, "Thank you, sir. I won't let you do." Balthoron spoke over his communicator, "Alright, I think I can help you out here, the creature is heading your way, Marcus." Marcus nodded and stayed behind the wall that he was up against, knife in his hand, he whispered, "Tell me when it's right on top of me, I'll plunge my knife into what should be the thing's eye." Balthoron whispered back, "Thirty seconds." Marcus waited, the moment was extremely tense as Balthoron whispered, "Twenty seconds." Marcus could feel his heart start beating faster and harder, his breathing slowed down considerably as this happened, he was scared, but right now, this was his only chance to prove if this creature could even be harmed or not. Balthoron whispered over his communicator, "Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... now!"

Marcus wheeled about the corner and jammed the knife into the side of the front of the light distortion's highest point, he heard a shriek of pain, which sounded over his communicator as blood of an unfamiliar color oozed out of the wound and down the distortion's head. Marcus backed up and grabbed his pistol, firing at the other side, and another shriek of pain sounded, however, before he could fire another shot, an intense pain shot through his chest and out his back, and he looked down with a smile, "You... can... be killed... you son of a... fucking bitch..." Marcus coughed as he felt an intense pressure on his head, "I have... no... regr..." Marcus was cut off as the creature decapitated him, the last thing he heard was Balthoron's voice sounding off on it, "The bioweapon can be killed! The bioweapon can be killed! All troops, focus on trying to hit soft targets on the bioweapon!"

Chapter 12

Balthoron looked at his shotgun and took the clip out of it, checking on the amount of ammo that he had in it. He then made sure that there wasn't a shell chambered in the weapon, before he began to his routine weapons check, Jessie spoke up, "You're not planning on going out there, are you?" Balthoron shook his head, "We still have a single company standing, Fourth Company is almost wiped out and they need someone here to be mission control." Jessie nodded her holographic head, "Your weapon doesn't seem to be listed in any database that I've ever seen." Balthoron looked down the iron sights of the weapon to check if the aim was still right, "That's because it's not, this is a fully customized shotgun that only someone like me can handle." Jessie tilted her holographic head, "Someone like you, aren't you being a little cocky and pretentious with that statement?"

Balthoron shook his head, "I'm a third-generation Kawal-type super soldier, my father was a second-generation and my grandfather was a first-generation. Being mixed in with non-super soldier blood, my father lost much of what made my grandfather what he was. Dad only inherited Grandfather's speed, durability and endurance, though with Erasmus' training, he was able to achieve Grandfather's strength. He could only access the speed when he stopped consciously thinking and entered flight or fight mode. I merely inherited Dad's endurance and durability, my daughter would've been the first generation in my line that was clean of the super soldier genetics and I was happy about that. This shotgun, being a kinetic projectile weapon has recoil." Jessie looked at him, "That's a kinetic weapon? I didn't think those were still in use today." Balthoron nodded, "This violates some laws on Terra, something they call Conventions of War or something, so this technically isn't allowed to be fired in human territory."

Jessie looked at him, "What is the weapon and aren't we in human territory?" Balthoron shook his head, "Since the Menschilche in stasis are alive, albeit barely, this is still Menschilche territory and they have no laws against a shard gun." Jessie looked surprised, even for an AI, "A shard gun!?" Balthoron nodded and started to disassemble his weapon as Jessie spoke, "Fourth Section of Fourth Company the bioweapon is closing in on your location, Sixth Section, meet up with Fourth Section and form a Platoon, hurry." Balthoron inspected each of the parts individually and started to clean them as Jessie spoke up, "The remaining Platoon of Fourth Company has been formed and the bioweapon is still moving closer." Balthoron had a bit of a thought, "The only wounds that were inflicted on the bioweapon were with bladed weapons, when the bioweapon cried out in pain, there wasn't gunfire from the person that was closest, have them use their knives."

Jessie nodded and spoke up, "Attention, all soldiers, guns are useless against the bioweapon, use bladed weaponry in order to cause damage to the creature." Balthoron heard one of the soldiers speak up, "That's suicide! Are you and Balthoron trying to get us killed!?" Balthoron called out, "Do you honestly think that two whole companies and the rest of your company failed to hurt this thing with weapons fire, and that now, you're suddenly hurting this thing?" The soldier cut off his communicator and Balthoron sighed, "Chalk up Fourth Company as being Code Black." Jessie looked at him, "But there is no way that you know this, Balthoron." Balthoron started to reassemble his weapon, "I do, actually. In fifteen seconds, they will encounter the bioweapon, they will be dead within two minutes."

Jessie's hologram walked over to a corner of the room that had a readout of the stars in the sky, "How do you know this?" Balthoron tapped his helmet, "I created a link up with the map that we're using in my helmet, I can keep track of all of the soldiers through the motion detectors in the station." Jessie turned around, "But how did you do this without my knowledge?" Balthoron chuckled, "Because that chip I put into the computer is part of the linkup, I had a data readout on my visor the entire time, it's just not as large as yours." Jessie sighed slightly, "You are an interesting specimen, Balthoron. You seem to be prepared for every occasion." Balthoron nodded, "Which is why I brought the shard gun." Jessie nodded, "So you never told me why you are the only one in this unit that can handle it."

Balthoron shrugged, "It's simple really, the first shotgun I ever used was kinetic, it busted my arm up, though it blew off my brother's hand. It was from that moment that I got training in how to hold the thing properly in order to stop the recoil from damaging my arm. On top of that, when I got my implants upgraded, I had a recoil dampening system installed into my right arm, I could hypothetically fire this shotgun with one arm. The problem is, with the amount of kickback this weapon provides, I still need my other arm to not completely mess up my arm." Jessie nodded, "So how does the weapon work?" Balthoron looked at it and chambered the first round, before setting the safety to on, "Simple, the shell bursts and the weapon fires off shards of sharpened metal. It's designed as an anti-bioweapon weapon."

Jessie nodded, "What's the choke on it?" Balthoron smiled and placed it on the ground, "Ten meters will be a full on hit, whatever I hit with this weapon, will be shredded to point of being unrecognizable. Like I said, it's only purpose is to be used against bioweapons like the one we're dealing with, mere super soldiers are now a different class and it's against the laws of war to use something like this against them." Jessie nodded, "So you really are prepared for any occasion, Balthoron..." Balthoron nodded slightly, "Of course I am, by the way, the bioweapon is working its way into Sector One, pretty soon it'll come in contact with First Company, hopefully they listened to us and started to get their bladed weaponry out." Jessie nodded as well, "I don't know if they did, but I guess we're about to find out."

Chapter 14

Adalwulf ran through the station's corridors, not looking behind him or slowing down. The Lupine placed his finger onto his communicator as his hand hit his rebreather, "Shit." Jessie spoke up, "What happened?" Adalwulf sighed, "Well, this is going to be a one way trip now. Knocked my rebreather off and I don't have time to pick it back up." Balthoron's voice spoke over the communicator, "If you listen to what I say, you'll be able to survive and get back into the station, but for now, focus on getting to the entrance to Sector Six." Adalwulf nodded and ran through Sector Two, he ducked and weaved through the jungle habitat on his way through the place, noticing the blood stains that were comrades that had been killed by the bioweapon itself, he didn't let this unsettle him in the least as he continued to run through the station.

As Adalwulf came to the entrance of Sector Four, he noticed blood splatters on the walls almost immediately. He didn't slow his pace though, not knowing if the bioweapon had escaped from the predicament that he put the thing in. Adalwulf ran through the corridors of Sector Four, he could hear the water moving gently in the tanks in the rooms near him, but he paid no mind as he continued his pace through the station. Eventually, his foot slipped out from under him on a pool of blood and he landed back first on it, "Ungh!" Balthoron spoke up, "Don't worry cousin, the bioweapon has only started to free itself, besides it'll feed before it comes after you, you have plenty of time to get to the blast door that is keeping Sector Six sealed off from the rest of the station." Adalwulf nodded and picked himself back up, before running to the entrance of Sector Six.

Adalwulf sighed slightly as he looked at the blast door, "So this is it, huh... I always lived in the shadow of my cousins, always looked up to Yoshiro as this great hero..." Adalwulf closed his eyes slightly as Balthoron spoke up, "For what it's worth, Adalwulf, I'm proud of you... you were one of my finest soldiers, I promise that I'll find some way to recover your body." Adalwulf nodded, "Yeah... hey, Balthoron... did your father say anything about me before he died?" Balthoron sighed, "He called you an idiot who would rush into situations without thinking and getting people killed while you survived. The first time you didn't do something like that, everyone around you died anyhow and now your number is up." Adalwulf nodded, "At least I'll finally die the hero that I've always wanted to be, you know..."

Jessie spoke up, "The creature is free and currently feasting on the remainder of First Company." Adalwulf sighed slightly, "Just thinking of that thing eating my descendant fills me with rage, but I have no more mana to attack it, I'm weaponless, I'm magicless, but I'm not helpless. Through my final action, I swear that this creature will die." Balthoron spoke over the communicator, "It's not too late, you know, you can duck through sector five real quick and go through sector three to get to sector one and come to the operations room." Adalwulf sighed, "Even if you found me a way to get through Sector Five without getting hypothermia, I've made my decision. This is where I will make my final stand, my final move against this creature." Jessie spoke over the communicator, "The creature has finished eating, it's coming your way, Adalwulf, and it's moving quite fast."

Adalwulf nodded and placed his hand on the keypad, "What's the code?" Jessie spoke up, "Four-Seven-Nine-Five-Four-Three-Eight-Zero-One-Five." Adalwulf nodded and inserted the code into the keypad, a compartment opened to reveal an emergency open switch lever and Adalwulf grabbed it. Adalwulf waited, "So all I have to do is hold my breath?" Balthoron sighed, "No, Adalwulf, that's a terrible idea. Your lungs would rupture immediately, which would make your final moments of consciousness extremely painful, if brief from my end." Adalwulf nodded, "So hyperventilate and remove the air from my lungs first?" Balthoron spoke up, "Yes, that's what you wish to do, you'll have about fifteen seconds of consciousness, but to you, it will feel like an eternity." Adalwulf looked towards the corridor, "Where is the creature now?" Jessie spoke up, "Sector Four, after pressure is lost in that area, the automatic override will kick in and close the blast door. If you want your body to be recoverable, walk behind it."

Adalwulf nodded, "So the seal between Sector Four and Sector Six will be restored?" Jessie spoke up, "Yes, by the way, start hyperventilating." Adalwulf started to hyperventilate, as he saw a heat signature head his way. He felt a bit light headed but eventually released all of his air as the heat signature entered the same room as him, he didn't speak any words as he threw the switch. The door opened suddenly and the air rushed out of the room rapidly, Adalwulf taking the opportunity to let go and jump through the doorway, when on the other side, he noticed the artificial gravity wasn't working in Sector Six and as the blast door slammed shut silently, he noticed he couldn't hear anything. What Balthoron said was true though, time slowed down significantly for him as his past flashed before his eyes.

He suddenly saw himself in front of Bruno when he told him that he was going to fight alongside the Kitsune in the war against the Menschilche bioweapons. He had no idea that the war was ultimately about revenge. Suddenly he saw his cousin's wife, Shaelyn before his very eyes, telling him that she felt sorry for him. Then it flashed to a more recent time, he looked upon the face of his own wife, he wasn't ever going to get to see her again and he was filled with regret that he'd never get to see her or his children again. The oxygen was rapidly leaving his blood and the images faded away as he turned his head slightly and silently gazed at the stars a final time, before the darkness ate away at his vision. Before he fully lost consciousness, his final thought was, "A beautiful sight... to die to..."

Chapter 16B

Balthoron heard the noise outside the blast door, and put his helmet back on, "Well Jessie, this is it. It's here for me, hide yourself and don't reveal yourself until the creature is dead or the next group comes in." Balthoron grabbed the shotgun, "Let's see if I can't shut off your cloaking." He passed a current through the shotgun, electrifying the shell that he had chambered as he readied the weapon. He nodded slightly and no sooner did the door open did he open fire, the kickback shoved the shotgun into his shoulder and the barrel up, but he readjusted as he watched the shards fly into the distortion of light, shocking it and stunning it slightly, the cloaking field finally dropped on the creature allowing Balthoron to see an abomination of a half dragon that was roughly twelve feet long, with long and sharp metal claws. Balthoron smirked as the bioweapon leapt towards him.

Balthoron fired the next shell at the bioweapon, the force from his weapon putting a hole through the chest, however, the momentum of the bioweapon was great enough to knock him to the ground. The shock was great enough on his left shoulder to stop him from holding the weapon, but as the bioweapon raised a claw and went to attack with its mouth open to bite soon after, Balthoron shoved his shotgun into its mouth and pulled the trigger, unleashing the third shell into the creature's mouth. The force was great enough to dislocate his shoulder and tear at his elbow, the bioweapon on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate. Without anywhere else to go, the force from the shotgun blast wound up decapitating the bioweapon, killing it instantly and finally ending Balthoron's nightmare. The momentum of the bioweapon's strike however, allowed it to fly true and his left shoulder was punctured.

Balthoron grunted in pain as he used his arms to remove the bioweapon, despite the incredible pain he was going through. As the claw was removed from his shoulder, he started bleeding from the wound. With a bit of electrical stimulation however, he was able to use the heat from the electricity to cauterize the wound as he grabbed the desk with his left arm and pulled himself back up onto his feet, "Jessie, the bioweapon is deceased, the head is pretty much all over this place and my visor." Jessie's voice spoke up, "Alright, I guess you're going to go to Sector Two now?" Balthoron nodded slightly, "I have to disable the jamming system that has been plaguing us from the beginning of our mission here." Jessie nodded, "Your injuries are more severe than you thought though." Balthoron nodded, "I know."

Balthoron limped to Sector Two, and to the Jamming device that he had lost most of Second Company to try to stop from sending out the jamming signal. He focused his mana into his left hand and threw a bolt of electricity at the thing, he was relieved when he watched it shut down and finally placed his finger on his communicator, despite the pain it caused him, "Killian's Pride, come in. This is Colonel Balthoron Miyamae." A voice spoke over the communicator, "Balthoron, the Killian's Pride assumed the worst and they called us to back you guys up." Balthoron was never as relieved to hear Tsuyoshi's voice as he was now, "Big brother, it's good to hear you." Tsuyoshi chuckled, "Now that's a first, usually you hate my guts. Tell me, is everything alright?" Balthoron sighed, "No, please, come in a transport to the hangar and bring a cryosquad and a cleaning team."

Tsuyoshi nodded, "Alright, I'll be there in about twenty minutes, we were going to wait for another four hours, but, it's good to hear from you." Balthoron limped back to the operations room and back over to the console that Jessie was in, "Let's head out, Tsuyoshi will be waiting for us." Jessie's hologram popped up, "Alright, let's go." Balthoron pulled out the chip that she was on and placed it into his helmet, "Feels good to be back home, doesn't it?" Jessie spoke up over the communicator, "It does, Balthoron. Two transports just landed in the hangar." Balthoron limped towards the hangar as armed soldiers of the Rapier Mercenary group ran towards him. He knew that they were following protocol and as he leaned against the wall, he raised his good hand slightly, as one of the soldiers spoke to him, "Sir, we found Balthoron, he's injured, but seems mostly okay!"

Tsuyoshi walked over in his armor and grabbed Balthoron from the wall, wrapping Balthoron's good arm around his shoulders, "Come on, I'll take you back to the transport." Balthoron nodded, "We need to permanently remove all data of this bioweapon from the system and destroy all evidence that it existed. Also in the cryostorage area, one of the soldiers' corpses is there, frozen to death. As for Adalwulf..." Tsuyoshi nodded, "I got a third transport recovering the body there, he's already floated out of the station itself." Balthoron nodded, "The Menschilche aren't extinct after all." Tsuyoshi looked down at him, "Wait until we get to the transport, little brother." Balthoron nodded slightly as they walked to the transport, he watched as Rapier Soldiers ran past them in order to preform their duties. Soon, they entered one of the transports and Tsuyoshi placed Balthoron in a chair, before taking off his helmet.

Balthoron started to remove his, with some difficulty, but Tsuyoshi grabbed it and removed it for him, "I got it, little brother. Are there any other survivors?" Balthoron shook his head, "Aside from the Menschilche locked in Stasis, no. But ultimately that's for the Humans to decide what they want to do with. As their progeny, it's only fair that Humanity chooses what to do with their creators." Tsuyoshi nodded sadly, "I'm sorry for your loss, Balthoron, I know that it can't be easy knowing that four hundred and eighty men under your command died." Balthoron looked at his hand, which balled into a fist, "It hurts so much, but I'm too relieved at being alive in order to cry right now." Tsuyoshi hugged Balthoron who hugged back with his left arm, "Little brother, we're going to get you back home, alright?" Balthoron nodded slightly, "Thanks, Tsuyoshi."

Chapter 17B

Six months had passed and Balthoron stood in front of a monument that he had personally funded and engraved every plaque on it with the name, date of birth, date of death and rank of the soldiers that had died under his command. He felt a bit uncomfortable in his blue General's uniform, he looked at his hands, which had white gloves on them and sighed slightly as he closed his hands and then looked out into the crowd, "Are we all gathered here?" Balthoron looked across the crowd, and then spoke into the microphone, "Six months ago, I personally accepted a contract from the human military, I brought four hundred and eighty soldiers with me onto the station and as the commanding officer in charge of that mission, it was my duty to bring them back alive, so that they could see their families again. Ultimately, I failed all of you."

Balthoron closed his eyes, "There are no words that I can speak on this day that will ease the suffering or the pain in our hearts. To me, each and every one of these soldiers were not my men, but my friends. We would spend much of our time off on base, goofing off and bonding with each other. On the battlefield, we were close knit. I have given each and every one of you a picture of your loved one, that was taken while on base." Balthoron opened his eyes and motioned with his hand to the crowd, "I ask each and every one of you, will you please finish the monument by placing their picture next to the plaque with their name, when the medal awarding ceremony is done?" The crowd spoke up, "Yes, sir." Balthoron felt a bit of warmness in his heart, but it did little to ease the pain.

Balthoron stood up straight and placed his hands behind his back, "For their incredible bravery in the face of danger and willingness to fight to the bitter end, despite a seemingly impossible task, I award every soldier except Yoshio Sakamoto with the Alliance Medal of Valor. As for why Yoshio isn't given this award, when the time came for him to face the bioweapon, he chose to flee, instead of going with the plan. Perhaps if it wasn't for him, many of these people would still be alive today. For their incredible heroism and courage to lead soldiers into each of the combat zones, despite impossible odds. All of the Squadron Leaders are hereby awarded the Silver Eagle Medal. As for Sigmundr Bondeson, Marcus Anderson, Yoshiro Misawa, and Adalwulf Muller, their thinking to use different tactics instead of the same old tactics and attempts to stop the bioweapon at all costs, even going as far to try to kill it solo... they are to be awarded with the highest honor, the Alliance Medal of Honor."

Balthoron motioned towards someone, who started placing the medals on the plaques, "When they are done, you may come up here and place your pictures on the memorial." Balthoron sighed and turned away to see a pair of people standing near his podium, "Silvio, Aiko, what are you doing here?" Silvio looked at Balthoron, "My father's dead, isn't he?" Balthoron nodded, "He was in Sector Four, he was killed by the bioweapon, yes." Silvio nodded, "I understand." Balthoron sighed and placed his hand on Silvio's shoulder, "I know how much you dislike your father, but regardless of what you want to say about him, the man was an excellent soldier." Silvio nodded, "He abandoned my mother and I when I was young... I never thought the man to be selfless." Aiko hugged Silvio tighter, "I hope you don't mind, but we're dating."

Balthoron shrugged, "I'm just a Brigadier General, and though older than you, you're my grandaunt, Aiko. Even if you are my father reborn." Aiko nodded, "I know, but... Yoshiro wouldn't like the look in your eyes, Balthoron. You have survivor's guilt, the same look that he always had in his eyes." Balthoron nodded, he knew she was right, "I feel guilty." He felt someone tap on his shoulder, "Sir, we're done." Balthoron nodded and leaned into his microphone, "You all can come up and put the final touch on the monument. I'm going to head off and let my Uncle Lathron take over, he's better about this." Balthoron walked away from the podium and took off his hat, running a hand through his blue hair, before putting it back on.

Silvio looked at him, "Where are you going to go, Balthoron?" Balthoron spoke in a tongue that Silvio wasn't quite familiar with, "Non ho ancora capito." Aiko spoke up, "What did you say?" Balthoron turned around, "Walk with me, for a moment, will ya." The two lovers walked over to Balthoron and flanked him on each side as he continued to walk down the path, "I was awarded medals for the mission, but I rejected them. They tried to give me a Purple Heart and an Alliance Medal of Honor, but I don't feel like I earned either of them." Silvio nodded, "You're depressed, the fact that you survived when everyone else died in that horrific place is haunting you." Balthoron shook his head, "It's not haunting me, it's eating away at me. It was my job to bring them back alive and... I failed."

Akio frowned, "Hey, don't beat yourself up like that. As the reincarnation of your father, I will not have my son talk like that." Balthoron looked at her with an arched brow and Aiko chuckled slightly, "I thought that would at least get you to smile." Balthoron shook his head, "You had me going there for a moment, I thought that you had decided to become my father for a moment." Balthoron turned back to look forward, "I'm glad that you decided to stay away from combat and the battlefield, the solace I can take from all this is that at least my father's soul is not only at ease, but is at peace." Aiko nodded slightly, and then placed her hand on Balthoron's shoulder, "Look, if you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me, alright?" Balthoron shook his head, "No offense, Aiko, but you should focus on your life. I'm just an old soldier, this is what I deal with on every mission..."