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

“Hephaestus… will you please turn that shit off.” groaned Artemis.

“Artemis, are you asking ME to turn off DJ Blyatman? I’ll have you know he is a 21st-century Hardbass genius! Besides, Nyx was the one who enlightened me to his genius, so I’m not the only one who wants to hear it,” Said Hephaestus with a look of false devastation then switching to a coy smile. Nyx was, as usual, just silently nodding her head to the beat in her harness already geared up and ready to go.

I didn’t understand the appeal of this Hardbass music. It just sounded like somebody slapped a drum and base electronics randomly until something came out. Then again, I had yet to hear any music that interested me. Perhaps it was just a me thing. No matter it’s time to get moving.

“Alright, that’s enough Hephaestus turn it off. Get ready we are deploying in 15,” I ordered.

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

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

“Man, I’ll never go back to using exosuits again. This armor is something else,” mused Zeus as the armor seemingly came to life.

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

Over the loudspeakers, a female voice rang out, “This is Foe Hammer we are nearly done over here and ready for take-off commandos, strap in.”

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

The space battle was still going on and everybody knew what that meant. The possibility of getting hit randomly in a battle like this was always on your mind. It was somewhat frustrating knowing there was nothing you could do to increase your odds. The Panther transport crafts had high spec plasma shields and stealth fields, but it didn’t matter if a stray rail gunshot from a capital ship deleted us or a downed Elunarii fighter barreled into the craft.

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

Pray hard, huh? If there was a god for humanity they sure didn’t care much for us. And they sure wouldn’t recognize me as a member of their flock anyways.

I didn’t have much time to ponder this as we dropped out of warp space. It was always uncomfortable, no matter how many times you went through it. It felt like somebody had quickly readjusted your internal organs and only placed half of them back.

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

It seemed like an eternity before Foe Hammer called out once more, “We are entering the atmosphere, prepare for landing, my friends.”

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

The liftgate dropped and we were greeted by a lush green forest. The Elunari were blessed with hundreds of lush fertile planets in their systems and Odeus 5 was no exception. Although the gravity was a little less than what was normally comfortable for Humanity, the planet would make an excellent colony one day. Once we exterminated the Elunari off of it of course. Everybody gathered their packs and slug rifles. It was a shame we couldn’t use our bolters or rail guns for this mission, they were just too loud and cumbersome.

“Stay safe out there Kronos, may God’s hand guide you all,” Foe Hammer sand kindly.

“Of course, thank you for the landing. Let’s move out, Hades Squad. I’ll maintain a speed of 50mph. We should reach the rendezvous point before nightfall.”

The squad answered with a mix of affirmatives and dejected “Yes, sirs” from the Gen 3s. The Gen 3s weren't normally capable of such speeds without their armor and it would be a long run, but they shouldn’t struggle too much.

----

Running through the forest was satisfying as we barreled towards the rendezvous point. The scenery was okay, something out of a picture book. I’ve been on enough of these planets, I’ve seen it all. However, it was so different when compared to the concrete citadel of the Mount Olympus facility on Mars. Or the black metal used in the construction of the Silent Night. Humanity rarely used such vibrant colors in their construction anymore.

Now we were about 8 miles away from the rendezvous point. We only ran into one patrol which we just went around. A welcomed boon. I signaled to activate our active camo as we closed in. We couldn’t maintain the camo forever so it was a waste to use it when we were less likely to be spotted.

The friendly Marine squad began pinging on our radars as we got within range of their camp. When we arrived they were well hidden within the foliage of the forest. For regs, they sure were the best of the best. I located their commanding officer and approached only uncloaking when I was right behind them. Although I couldn’t see the face of the Marine they were talking to, she let out a surprised scream as I seemingly materialized out of nowhere. The commanding officer turned around as well and let out a very unmanly yelp and curse of surprise as well,

“FUCK… can you please not do that, sir…” they breathed out. Looking down at the Marine I replied,

“Sorry, Marine I didn’t mean to startle you.”

After taking a few deep breaths the Marine while looking me up and down responded,

“It’s fine, no worries sir. We just weren’t expecting Hades Squad. Command told us we were getting back up but didn’t think they would send you guys.”

“Sorry to disappoint Sergeant.”

“No... no, it’s fine this should be a cakewalk with you guys. We’ve been scoping out the area and its surroundings for two days now. There is pretty much nothing out there. Forest patrols are sparse and the guard patrols in the facility are a joke. There can’t be any more than 20 guards active at any given time. These Xenos are acting like the planet isn't under siege at all.”

“I see. Then this should be a “cakewalk” indeed Sargent. Send over any of the relative information. I’ll have a plan of attack done in just a few minutes and we can begin.”

----

With the information provided by the Marines, we were ready to commence. Artemis and Nyx had already scouted the facility during my conversation and confirmed the Marines’ report. I called back Artemis and Nyx and beckoned the 13 man Marine squad over as well. Once everyone gathered I began the briefing,

“Nike set up a jammer and keep them off comms for as long as possible. Nyx and I along with 5 Marines will enter through the back motor pool where there is only one guard stationed. Artemis will take the guard out and provide overwatch. Zeus and Apollo will lead the rest of the Marines and surround the facility. You are to stay silent in the forest until we trigger any alarms. Hephaestus stay with Nike and keep the jammer up.” 19 arms went up in a salute of confirmation.

“Then let’s do this, for humanity.”

We broke up into our respective teams and began to converge onto the facility. As we got into position I noticed one of the Marines breathing was erratic. I couldn’t see her face through her mask but I could tell she was nervous, “What’s your name, Marine?” I called out to her.

“Private first class, Miranda, sir,” she said with a hint of nervousness in her small voice.

“Don’t fret Private Miranda, stay close to me and watch my back, okay? We are going to make it out of here.” She let out a breath I’m sure she was holding for some time.

The regs didn’t like talking to us, however, not a single one was unaware of what we were capable of. There were plenty of stories of Death Commando squads single handly storming fortified bases and flipping the tides of planetary battles. So a personal oath of protection from one was as good as a ticket home to a nervous soldier. And giving her a more simple command would help her focus.

As we closed in on the facility I finally got a good look at it. The Elunari used bright-colored plastics for most of their construction, however, that’s not what pulled my attention away. This looks more like a hospital than a black site. The building was large and was colored a teal-ish blue color, it was also 5 stories tall. And the front had a roundabout that resembled that of a hospital.

However, the Elunari soldiers in their forest green camo guarding the front and posted up in sentry towers around the facility broke any illusion that this was a civilian site, not that it mattered either way. As we skulked through the forest towards the back of the building, the number of guards dwindled significantly. They didn’t even have guards posted in the towers at the back. How prideful these Xenos were acting, pretending like their planet wasn’t about to fall. And sitting in a weird chair that resembled a purple scorpion at the back door with multiple garage door-esq holes was a soldier struggling to stay awake. Fortunately for him, Artemis could help with that.

I waited a few moments and gave Aremtis the signal. The Elunari had hearing that far surpassed humanity and I doubt they could hear my voice through my helmet but it was better safe than sorry. Just a few seconds after the signal I watched the soldier’s head become nothing more than a red splatter on the wall. Artemis was sitting well over half a mile away on top of a tree as she fired her modified slug rifle. The subsonic tungsten bolt not even making as much as a woosh as it sent the guard into an enteral slumber.

One of the Marines quickly cut away the plastic fencing as we moved into the facility. The guards that would have seen us were already being dealt with. We made a dash for the door as we stuck together. Any fear was elevated as we made it to the door, the equivalent of a bio scanner for a handle was there. Nyx casually lifted the dead guard’s hand and slapped his pink hand across the scanner. The scanner responded with a small beep and the door slid open revealing the interior of the building. She just shrugged and we moved into the building.

Heat maps of the facility showed that our objective was on the 4th floor. That's most likely where they had their server. A quick bio-pulse showed the next hallways were clear so we made our way deeper into the facility. We came through a set of double doors, the teal plastic was replaced with a bright sterile white color. It seems the concept of cleanliness and sterile colored environments transcends species.

Another bio-scan pinged back that the entire first floor was clear. We found some stairs and I signed for Nyx to take 3 Marines and clear the second floor while I took the third. Upon reaching the 3rd floor I pinged for any lifeforms and came back negative again. Strange why don't they have guards in the building?

The building maintained its sterile white coloring as multiple rooms branched off from the hallway. This definitely was a hospital at some point. I was pondering these things for only a moment when I heard Miranda scream.

I turned quickly and saw a white-hot blade piercing the other Marine’s heart, lifting him off the ground. I instantly noticed the small amount of blood that was seemingly floating in the air and sent 3 bolts center mass into the target. I was rewarded with the sound of bones and armor being crushed as a tall Elunari’s body in a sleek set of blue armor crumpled to the ground, their stealth field failing. Impossible.

The Elunari don’t have active camo or wear that kind of armor? And why is it so tall like one of them? The lights flickered briefly from an explosion outside and I saw the distortion of active camo changing behind Miranda,

“TURN AROUND MARINE AND SHOOT!” I yelled at her to get her attention.

I was already moving to take a shot however, she was in the way and I couldn’t make out the target beyond her. They must have been using some version of our active camo. Miranda’s training must have kicked in as she responded without hesitation to my order and raised her laser rifle to fire at the invisible enemy. I began to move in to help her when I realized my worries were spot on. They always come in 3s.

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

My sacrifice slowed down the blade just enough as I weaved around and aimed roughly where the head should be on the tall Xeno. Maxing out my augmented body, assisted by my suit, I punched the air with all my strength. I didn’t feel much resistance as I shattered the visor on its helmet. The strength of the punch sending my arm up to the forearm through what used to be its face. I quickly pulled my arm free kicked up their plasma spear catching it in midair.

I turned just in time to see Miranda have her arm and rifle kicked in, sending her to the ground. I threw the plasma spear barreling down the center of the hallway. The Elunari let out a surprised grunt as the spear went straight through its stomach, sending it flying 10 feet down the hall impaling it to the wall. I moved towards the downed Miranda.

“You alright Marine?” I asked.

She was breathing heavily again as she responded,

“Yeah.. yeah. Arms broke, so is my rifle, but I’ll live. Thank you, sir. For saving me.”

“Not a problem Marine, sorry about him. I didn’t know they had active camo.”

“It’s fine you couldn’t have known, at least he died instantly,” She mourned while looking at her fallen comrade.

I walked over to the impaled Elunari. It was still alive and choking on its own blood. I silenced the Xeno’s moans of pain by crushing its windpipe with a swift punch to its throat.

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

Hell, they were easily the most dangerous Xeno humanity has fought against for the last 20 years. But why are they wearing this blue amour instead of their normal grey? And what are they doing all the way out here at this facility? I needed answers and I needed them now.

I removed the spear from the body and commed over to inform Hades Squad of my findings. Warning them about the possibility of active camo albinos roaming around. The squad list was all lit green confirming they were alive and heard me.

“Let’s meet up with the rest of the team. It will be safer that way.”

There was no telling when more of those active camo users were going to show up. They didn’t register on bio scans so this whole facility could be swarming with them. I couldn’t just leave this marine here either. We needed to regroup and fast.

“Yes, sir. But sir, your hand… do you need help?” Miranda asked me with worry.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. The suit is handling the bleeding and I don’t really feel any pain. Besides this isn’t the first limb I’ve lost and it probably won’t be the last.”

Miranda gave me a dejected nod a followed me a bit closer this time back down to the first floor. According to her file, this was her first mission as a Marine Force Recon member. She has a lot to learn but she is going to make a fine soldier. By the time we made it to what I would assume was the lobby, everybody else was already there. Apollo upon noticing my lack of a left hand rushed over to me,

“Let me take a look at that sir.”

“I’m fine Apollo. Look over this Marine for me will you?”

“Yes, Commander.” I couldn’t see his face but I knew he wasn’t all that happy about me refusing medical treatment. Bad habit of mine.

Apollo began to splint Miranda’s arm as I walked over to Nike. He met me halfway and without missing a beat gave me a quick rundown of how the other squads were doing.

Zeus, Artemis, and their Marines were still clearing the last few patrols that were coming in to check on the facility. Nike had managed to keep the jammer up the entire time and it was still holding, a task worth praising,

“Good work, Nike. Can you possibly scan the rest of the facility for lifeforms, we still have yet to clear it completely and those active camo users are causing us problems.”

“Of course, it should not be a problem, sir. I’ve already begun working on a way to scan for the active camo users since they are most likely using our tech. Just give me a moment.”

Hephaestus was effortlessly carrying Nike’s large terminal on his back that was being used as housing for the jammer. Nike began to tap away on the invisible hard light keyboard that only he could see.

“Got it, sir. I’ve got 4 signatures on the 5th floor. Back of the building, near the roof access.”

“Heph, Apollo, stay with Nike and the wounded Marines. Nyx and I along with any able-bodied Marine will clear out the 5th floor.”

My new team consisted of Nyx, 6 Marines, and myself. We separated at the two different stairwells and began our ascent to the 5th floor. Nike couldn’t get an exact pinpoint on the signatures but we knew they were towards the back of the building near the roof access. Their jerry-rigged active camo was being used to hunt them.

The Marine taking point walked first into the hallway followed by me. As soon as I breached the corner a laser bolt smacked me where my heart is and two separate laser bolts tagged the unfortunate Marine in front of me in both his legs. My armor absorbed the laser round but the Marine wasn’t so lucky. The bolts of energy welded his exosuit and armor to his legs, dropping him to the ground in agony as he screamed.

I immediately returned to cover as a barrage of laser rounds flooded the hallway. The Elunari didn’t even bother finishing off the poor Marine as he screamed for help. My perfect memory got a good snapshot of the hallway. It was about 30 feet long and there were 2 on the right side and 1 on the left. Sadly for them, it seemed they were trapped on that side.

Not wanting to risk any more lives I tossed a modified flashbang down the hall right into the group. These flashbangs were specifically designed to counter Elunari. Even Albinos with their armor couldn’t withstand the perfectly tuned sound that was meant to burst their eardrums.

Before the flashbang went off I was already running down the hallway at full sprint cracking the plastic tiles under my feet as I ran. Unlike them, my helmet would mostly negate the flashbang. The flashbang went off with a bright white light and a loud bang as the Eulnari’s active camo shimmered.

They all fell to the ground screaming bloody murder. I quickly finished off the 2 on the right while they writhed on the ground, impaling their heads with my commandeered plasma spear. I thought it best to use this mele weapon in the narrow hallways of the facility. I didn’t have much ammo for my bolt pistol and I needed it just in case we got into a fight in the forest. The spear would be useless out in the open. I didn’t need to tell Nyx anything as she stayed close behind me and finished off the last one with a few bolts of her slug rifle.

“Nyx, tend to the marine. I’ll finish off the last one.”

“Yes, sir.” She ran off to go help the downed Marine who was still screaming bloody murder and who I may or may not have flash banged as well.

I peered through the glass door into the room the 3 Albinos were guarding and what I saw surprised me more than the active camo or the blue armored albinos. It’s a child's playroom?

I entered the room and looked around, I didn’t see anything and my bio-scan showed nothing as well. It was just full of oddly shaped wooden toys and other things I didn’t really understand. But then I heard the faint sound of a door being slammed above me.

At the end of the room was a door leading to the roof. I moved quickly and burst through the door. I looked up the center of the stairwell and rather than climbing them, I jumped straight up. I slammed the spear into the side of the stairs and used it as a platform to hoist myself up.

At the top was a door, I left the plasma spear and pulled out my bolt pistol. Being ambushed out here without a projectile weapon would mean the end for me. I rushed out onto the roof. It was raining outside now, the gusts of wind battering against me.

At the opposite end of the roof were two small figures huddled over the edge looking down at the ground trying to fight the wind and rain. I walked over to them and once I was about halfway I stopped and turned on Nike’s auto-translating AI,

“Stop. You have nowhere else to run,” The synthetic speech from my helmet came out as a garbled mess that was the Elunari’s spoken language.

Now that I was closer to the two children I could fully make them out as they stared at me in complete and utter terror. The taller one was body blocking the smaller one and was wearing a dress. I’ve never seen an Elunari child before but I could only guess she was around 10 standard years old. However, it was the one behind her that surprised me the most. Today just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

Behind her, was of all things, a small Elunari child with pale white skin, hair, and bright pink eyes. They couldn’t have been older than 6 standard years old. So it seems they do start off as children.

I was about to repeat my order when the older one just suddenly began smiling, her bone-white teeth and yellow eyes gleaming off the landing pad lights. She turned to the little albino and said something while the rain poured down her face. Before the words finished translating in my helmet I was already in a full sprint. I didn’t know how I knew but I had a bad feeling about what was about to transpire. My body moved before my brain even registered anything. Time seemed to slow as the AI’s words read out into my helmet, “Please, forgive me.”

I watched in slow motion as the girl's upper body pulled back and tensed. She then pushed the child off the edge of the roof with all her strength. I was already on top of them as they were falling. I swiped out with my left hand to grab them only to remember. I didn’t have a left hand anymore. I could only watch as I swiped the open air. I couldn’t take my eyes off the child’s screaming and crying face as they fell towards the ground. And I’d never been able to forget the sound they made that day when they hit the ground. Why? Why did she have to push him?

As I stared over the edge I heard the distinct fhwoop of a slug rifle being fired. I turned in time to see the body of the girl crumple over, a kitchen knife falling out of her hand as she fell over. My gaze went straight to Zeus who was standing there aiming his rifle. I yelled at him,

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING ZEUS?”

“What do you mean Commander that Xeno was about to stab you in the neck!?” He screamed.

I looked at the dull kitchen on the floor. It wouldn’t have even chipped the paint off.

“She wasn’t a threat,” I growled back.

Zeus seemingly surprised at my response said,

“Commander, are you mad at me? What difference does it make? I believe you said it yourself. Orders are orders. We were to wipe out any and all personal at this facility.” He spat at me. Wait am I angry? Is that even possible? I’ve never been angry before.

“She could have been useful,” I responded half-heartedly.

Man today just keeps getting worse and worse.