“Pilots, this is Major Blyfield! Bring the transports to the ground for extraction! Pilots? Can you hear me? Anyone! Come in!”

In one Arbiter X, Blyfield’s orders echoed through the cockpit from the radio.

Unfortunately, no one was there to hear it.

No one alive, that was.

All three Arbiter Xs were on the ground. Their pilots laid dead in the cockpits. At the front, reinforced glass windows, capable of withstanding brief Gauss Machine Gun bombardment, were shattered like they were nothing. A single spine was in the throat of every single dead Phasewalker pilot.

The “Terminator” air to ground missile pods were still fully loaded. Not a single Arbiter X managed to fire a single round before their defeat.

Several attack choppers burned in the background.

A dozen Phasewalker Airborne Troopers laid dead around the three grounded ships. All were brought down in just instants. Many of their Defender Rifles barely had the chance to fire a single shot.

That was what Major Blyfield and Commissar Welch witnessed when they emerged from the building. A scene of massacre.

Even the most battle-hardened Phasewalker froze at the horrifying sight.

Major Blyfield snapped to the dispatcher and grabbed onto the radio.

“This is Major Blyfield of the 2nd Airborne Battalion calling all Phasewalker units! We are carrying extremely valuable information! All Phasewalker units hearing this message, converge on my position immediately!”

Nothing.

Suddenly, the Phasewalker Major froze. Not far away, a tall figure approached.

At first, the figure was just an ordinary human being. Plain-clothed. Casual. There was nothing special about him. But the expression on his face, the one of a mocking, vicious smile, made many Phasewalkers raise their guard.

Turned out they were right to be cautious. As the man got closer, his body suddenly started to transform. The Phasewalkers watched in horror as his skin and flesh literally moved to the side, making way for countless bones to grow out into the open. Once they were out, these bones spread out and locked in with each other, forming a carapace armor.

Two spines extended out of the creature’s palms. They grew and grew until they were at least one meter long. Suddenly, they broke off from the man. Before the two spines hit the ground, the man reached out and swooped the spines back into his hands. Twisting and turning, the spines took the form of two swords.

Even fools could tell he wasn’t a friend, and the best of the Phasewalker Corps were hardly fools.

“Mutant…” Commissar Welch whispered. What Tier was this Mutant? Tier 2? Tier 3? Even aside from the power level, the fact that he has been sent here to stop the Phasewalkers from leaving only affirmed the urgency of the discovery.

The Mutant tilted his head. Perhaps it was arrogance. Perhaps it was honor. But he was allowing the Phasewalkers to strike first.

At this point, Major Blyfield was well aware he likely wouldn’t live to see the Fatherland again, but that didn't quite faze him. All he did was throw Welch a meaningful glance.

The Commissar immediately got the message.

Suddenly, Blyfield drew his Defender-C. “For Earth!” He let out a war cry before opening fire.

The Airborne Troopers had no real idea of what was going on or who they were fighting, but their commanding officer had given an order. Multiple snipers raised their Defender-III, put the Mutant within their sight, and then pulled the trigger. Machine Gunners rained down death with Defender-IIs. Ordinary Airborne Troopers let their Defender-I roar.

The Mutant suddenly disappeared from sight. The next moment, he appeared behind two Phasewalker snipers and beheaded them with a single swipe of his Spine Blades.

“Maintain distance!” A Phasewalker lieutenant commanded at once, trying to put the brief amount of data they had on the Mutant to use. Phasewalkers, due to their very nature, were terrible at melee. All he could hope for was that this teleportation power had some sort of restriction.

A few Phasewalkers close to the Mutant quickly pulled away. As they hoped, the Mutant didn't blink again. But this time, he pushed his Spine Blades into the ground and raised his palms, facing the Phasewalkers.

Gauss bullets bounced off his Bone Carapace, barely doing anything. They didn't even force him to falter or dodge.

Two openings formed at the Mutant’s palms, and with several flashes, spine after spine darted out of his hands. Every spine pinned a Phasewalker to the ground, killing him or her.

This was how he brought down the three Arbiter X ships and all those attack choppers. What reinforced glass failed to do, the flesh and skull of the Phasewalkers failed at as well.

After taking several casualties in just moments, the Phasewalkers held their ground. Another blink from the Mutant killed three more troopers. By the time the Mutant appeared again, three pairs of Phasewalkers have loaded three rocket launchers and took aim at the Mutant.

Three rockets smashed into the Mutant and exploded into a sea of flames.

“Maintain firepower! Use grenades!” Major Blyfield wasn’t convinced this was victory, and rightfully so. Strings of bullets lashed across the smoke, only to be deflected by something. As vision became clear again, the painful truth was revealed. The Mutant was barely wounded.

The Mutant blinked again. This time, he reappeared in the middle of the grenadiers.

A Phasewalker drew a High Explosive grenade and tossed it at the Mutant. The Mutant snapped around and, with the side of his Spine Blade, knocked the grenade to the side. The explosion sent three Phasewalkers flying like rag dolls. After they hit the ground, they never got up again.

A Phasewalker launched himself forward the Mutant. His Defender-I roaring in endless fury. The Mutant stood his ground. As the Phasewalker hit him, the Mutant ran his Spine Blade through his heart.

Without a word, the Phasewalker pulled the pin to a grenade on his belt and then grabbed onto the Mutant with his final strength.

Boom!

The intentions were well. The effect wasn’t. The Mutant emerged from the flames once again, practically unscathered.

At this point, it has been obvious that the Phasewalkers weren’t going to end up the victors. Not this time. But not a single Airborne Trooper abandoned his post. They were soldiers of the 2nd Airborne Battalion! They were the blade of the Phasewalker Corps! They were the hope of Earth! In their rule book, death was a hundred times better than desertion.

Sergeants and lieutenants alike yelled out orders. Airborne Troopers emptied their arsenals on the Mutant. Grenade after grenade exploded beside the Mutant. Eventually, the Mutant was hit with so much firepower that his seemingly invincible carapace cracked.

But before the Phasewalkers could cheer, the bones mended themselves once again.

Another blink. This time, the Phasewalker was a bit luckier. The strike from the Spine Blade cut his Defender-II into two but left his body unharmed. Without thinking, the man pulled out his Army Knife and jammed it into the Mutant’s side. In return, the Mutant sliced his head off.

Sometimes, whether one could win was one question. Whether one would fight was another.

Within minutes, over 40 Phasewalkers laid dead on the ground. These were the best of the Corps, but they didn't stand a chance against the Mutant. Finally, almost annoyed by the resistance, the Mutant jumped out behind Major Blyfield, running his blade through two of his bodyguards in the process.

“Your sacrifice is meaningless! Your precious world will burn.” For the first time, the Mutant said something.

Major Blyfield emptied half his magazine into the Mutant without a response. Almost annoyed, the Mutant ran one of his Spine Blade through his neck, killing the Major in command of the 2nd Phasewalker Airborne Battalion.

The body of Major Blyfield hit the ground. Beside him, the Mutant proceeded to terminate Phasewalker after Phasewalker, despite all resistance. But Blyfield wasn’t facing all those massacres. Instead, his body was tilting slightly to the side.

To where one of the Arbiter Xs were parked.

“Everyone, spread out!” A lieutenant ordered before being stabbed in the heart from the back.

But his message got through. All the Phasewalkers spread out across the field individually. Did it increase the chance of killing the Mutant? No. But what it did was force the Mutant to spend more time killing time. They were selling their lives, and with it, buying time for their comrades.

Another Phasewalker fell. It was the radio dispatcher.

“For Earth!”

“Take him down! Take him down...ah!”

“Maintain suppressing fire!”

Finally, when all the war cries died down, and the sound of machine guns and rocket launchers ceased, the Mutant found himself standing over a field of Phasewalker corpses.

But...something felt off.

The Mutant snapped around. Beside him, one of the Arbiter X was slowly lifting into the air. Its engines were working at full power. The Mutant assassinated all the pilots to take the ships down. Efficient, but that meant all the ships themselves were intact and fully functional.

When the Phasewalkers fell one by one, Lieutenant Commissar Welch and four other Shieldbearers found their way into one of the Arbiter X. In a sense, that was the true nature of the Shieldbearers. When the common Phasewalkers could die a glorious death, the Shieldbearers had to do the more cowardly thing for the greater good, even if it meant leaving their own brothers-in-arms to die.

The Mutant roared in frustration. The next moment, he jumped into existence right in front of the ship. Two spines flew out of his palms and buried themselves into the skull of two Shieldbearers. Their black face shields did nothing.

Another Shieldbearer raised his Defender-II and opened fire. He fell dead one second later, but that bought enough time for the fourth Shieldbearer to bring the Arbiter X into the air.

The Mutant blinked again, this time right in front of the cockpit. His body was in mid-air, not that it stopped him from grabbing onto the rim of the cockpit. Another spine put down the second Shieldbearer pilot.

Mission accomplished. The Mutant smirked and jumped off the Arbiter X. His legs created two giant sets of cracks as he hit the ground. But as he looked up, assuming the ship would just proceed to crash, all he saw was the Arbiter X peacefully flying into a distance.

Inside the cockpit, over the bodies of four dead Shieldbearers, Lieutenant Commissar Welch brought the Arbiter X into full speed.

When all was said and done, the man sat back and sighed. Hundreds of Phasewalkers. Half the 2nd Airborne Battalion, gone just like this. Even with everything required taken care of, it would take the 2nd Airborne Battalion ages to recover to its former height. The loss of so many precious, experienced soldiers meant a lot more fresh recruits had to die.

But it was all worth it. The information he, and he alone, carried could save the Earth from a conspiracy that could torch down everything in its path, from the Phasewalker Corps to the United States to the entire Earth. Compared to that, hundreds of casualties were more than acceptable.

His thoughts were cut off by a spine through his neck.

Pain erupted, but it wasn’t as bad as the terrifying realization that all was lost. In the end, all the sacrifice meant nothing. As the Shieldbearer choked to death, he watched helplessly as another Mutant, one with a different look but similar powers, walked up to him. The second Mutant let out a small, victorious smirk before raising his palm at the dying man.

And then, everything went black.

Caity stood at the gates of Fortress Alpha. She watched, with a stoic look, as truck after truck drove into the Phasewalker fortress. This was a common sight for the past days. The only difference was this time, instead of bringing in advanced technologies or terrified locals, these trucks were bringing fallen Phasewalkers back to their homes.

150 Phasewalkers. Elite Airborne Troopers. Fully equipped with air and fire support. All slain by an unknown, mysterious foe. They didn't bring down a single one of the hostiles to their graves.

Throughout all the previous raids, less than 50 Phasewalkers have died. That was an acceptable loss.

Even Major Blyfield was killed in action, marking him as the highest-ranked officer ever killed in the history of the Phasewalker Corps.

For some reason, the Commanders of the 2nd Airborne never lasted long.

Ryan walked up to Caity.

“I had the entire facility swept. There was no sight of the assailants, nor anything out of the ordinary.”

When Blyfield’s detachment first lost contact with Fortress Alpha, a squad of Arbiter X were dispatched to investigate. They discovered the field of bodies. After that, Ryan led the 1st, the 4th, and the rest of the 2nd Battalion to investigate. They were accompanied by the 2nd Rebirth Support Battalion and Mutant Taylor.

They were ready for a gruesome battle, but the result was anticlimactic. There were no foes to kill. No secrets to discover. All Ryan discovered was hundreds of dead comrades.

“It may be some sort of Mutated Animal. Extremely powerful. Maybe they turned on our people when they stumbled onto their territory? And...maybe they left when you arrived?” Caity frowned. She was doing her best to throw aside her sorrow and think. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Perhaps.” Ryan wasn’t convinced either. “But the Lieutenant Commissar, Commissar Welch, was found a distance away from the battlefield. He was with four other troopers in a downed Arbiter. He looked like he was trying to escape with something.”

If it was anyone else, Ryan wouldn't have suspected this was no more than a simple act of desertion, but he knew Welch was a Shieldbearer who has faced his fair share of danger. Plus, without a proper reason, he could never have convinced the other 4 Shieldbearers to desert with him. He didn't have that kind of authority unless he had probable cause.

So what was he trying to escape with? An item? Or...maybe a piece of intel?

“This demands a full investigation.” He declared.

“I agree, but without any solid evidence, we don’t have the resources to spare.” Caity agreed with Ryan, but as the Commander, she had to think of the bigger picture. “The airfield has finished construction. The satellite is ready to be launched soon. Reinforcements will be arriving tomorrow. 2,000 Generation IV Phasewalkers. They will spend a few days to merge with the current forces, and then, we will be moving onto New Sara.”

Moving on New Sara has been the objective for a while. The metropolis contained an endless array of potential assets for the Phasewalkers, including locals, technologies, and even industries. For this, hundreds of Phasewalkers have already given their lives. Unless something was seriously wrong and it was evident, Caity couldn’t delay that for too long.

Plus, whatever the threat was, if the Phasewalkers could get more forces and more weapons, then they would deal with this threat a lot better than if they just dropped everything else and futilely searched for the threats like headless chickens.

Ryan nodded and backed off. As Caity turned to the trucks and the bodies that were being unloaded, a strange thought suddenly went through her head.

The Hall of Martyrs might need to be expanded soon.