"T-The Jacqawin...''One soldier calls, stammering to the sight of the warrior who has finished killing his prey.

"Long story," A member of team B tells the shocked soldier. "But it seems he wants to know what's too?"

"About the disappearances?"

"Yeah. Well, what do you think after seeing all of this, Jacqawin?" The member asks the warrior, waiting for an answer from the one gone silent.

"...These are kidnappings, aren't they?" Kraydor comes, getting help from a soldier as his body still renders weak. "The goblins, they have been the cause of the missing ones, and the monsters, like the boars we're dealing with, were just their cover-up. And...this is happening all over the country, all different types of-ngh...! monsters. The guns, armour, the gadgets"

"These goblins," The Jacawin speaks, gaining everybody's attention with the sounds of his voice. "These are highly organized. They've kidnapped many, without showing any usual signs of their presence; they cover their tracks, communicate through radios, strategize, exercise gorilla warfare, and they have our weapons. A goblin could never have just stumbled on all these components on its own. No matter how much they adapt and learn, even in our modern century...they will always go back to their roots"

"W-What does this all even mean??" A third soldier asks, his body growing weak to this question.

"They were trained...by one of us..." The Jacqawin states, shocking everybody in the wake of a possibility.

"L-Look, heh...I get you're the ultimate hunter for things like this...but come on, that's a bit too off, don't you think??" The first soldier challenges, gulping as to him the warrior turns his head to, looking into the darkness of his helm.

"Maybe it is, but as I've said, it's impossible for a race, that has been the same way for hundreds of generations, to ever evolve to this state on their own. A species does not change its ways that easily unless it makes contact with an outside force. Don't you think?"

"A-Alright...alright. But why us? Why did they suddenly decide to attack us and show themselves like this? Kinda dumb, even for them, isn't it? They were technically non-existent this whole time!" The soldier questions, once more waiting in the silence of the Jacqawin, seeing as he then points to one of the members, Kraydor who looks up, puzzled by the warrior's action.

"You," The warrior says, confusing Kraydor who has just sat. "It's all thanks to you"

"Me...?" Kraydor grunts.

"I've heard you're one of the first to encounter the monsters. For as big as they are, the goblins could still hide them just as they do with themselves. Whatever they killed, whoever they kidnapped, they would make sure to never leave evidence that would lead it to them. The day those people were attacked, it seems you were an upset in their plan, and you just happened to worsen their situation by coming back, more hostiles by your side as well," The Jacqawin explains. "When they saw you fighting multiple of those beasts on your own, managing to escape, they had gotten flustered, giving them no thought but to retreat. Then after, seeing as nobody was entering the forest anymore, they must have regained their composure, their confidence, too much to the point you all manage to kill two of their boars. Then of course...they grew impatient, and going back to their roots''

"I understand," Kraydor sighs. "And what will we do now? We have to save the others before it's too late"

"And the captain! We have to find her," A fifth soldier goes.

"Nobody seems to be answering their radios either," A second member of Team B explains.

"Then we will look for them as best as we can," Kraydor gets up, grunting from the heaviness of his worn body, telling the soldier once more that he is alright, "I believe most of our team may still be at the campsite, as captives"

"Well, let's just hope we find them in one piece," The second member says.

"With those savages?" The first member hisses. "Tch! Let's just pray they're even alive...or haven't suffered for too long"

"Are you alright?" Kraydor asks the woman, getting a simple nod in seeing her dirtied skin, his body jumping back to a heightened state as around them they hear the rustle of the bushes once again, gripping his hammer in the anger of losing to the savages, but calming down as the only ones they see are more soldiers who have arrived. "Ezek"

"Kraydor? Ezek calls, looking at everybody around him. "The hell happened here"

"We also had our troubles, but we're fine now, thanks to Team B and this warrior, the Jacqawin," Kraydor points his head to the man, Ezek looking into the voids in his helmet.

"Jacqawin? Huh, the first time I'm seeing your kind. How are ya?" Ezek smiles, giving him a nod.

"Hm..." The Jacqawins simply replies.

"Damn it...looks like the Captain isn't here after all," Andreas says, all of them disappointed and even more worried.

They all look to each other, Ezek and Andrea's team looking to the others who nod in telling them not to give hope just yet, as now they journey their way back to the campsite of Team A and B, their morale increased by who has joined on their objective, the Jacqawin who walks among them, his presence seemingly calling animals that watch and rhythm to his sight, with Ezek looking atop one of the trees to one of the many forest dwellers who pay attention to someone else, to an owl who sits in silence as it gawks at the elf with hazel-coloured eyes as it twists around its neck, prompting Ezek to wave to its interest. In the progress of their journey. And there they reach, after encountering and defeating the small litter of enemies they face along the way, their company coming to a stop where they spread apart in a formation below the area, seeing atop the hill their comrades, many retrained, and some that weren't as lucky, their bodies hanged and some gone through torture, and the goblins who have done it all, eating the many meals from the campsite they've raided. But one by one, their numbers drop, as in action the saviours take out the ones below, holding posts around the area, their execution quick with their teamwork, making sure to hide the bodies as they move through the terrain, stopping in almost nearing their objective.

"There's still too many of them. Too many eyes. What are we gonna do?" Andreas asks, his heart chilled as before him, her mind gone broken, is a woman he sees lying on the ground, her skin bruised and eyes blank, her voice gone in the heavy screaming they know she has done, her body naked and used to their liking, seeing her hair grabbed by a goblin who has not yet been satisfied, the woman gone weak in attempting to fight. "T-Those bastards..."

And so one makes a choice, as out of his own hiding, the Jacqawin stands before them with a presence that chills their souls, as they sense what is within his own, with one of the restrained shredding tears as regained is their own hope.

"Which one of you will attack first? Is it you?" The Jacqawin points to one of them, the goblin stepping back to his question, seeing as he then points to another, his eyes looking at the goblin who’s arm is the only one with a coloured band on it. " Ah...I guess you're the leader. Then, let me tell you this...the guns you point, the armours you wear, the radios you talk through, you managed to use them well, managing to outsmart us for a short while, atleast. But that all comes to an end....because now you're going to die, you're going to suffer. So go ahead, say your prayers. Because if you choose to fight, you will die. And if you choose to surrender, you will also die. And no matter how much you beg and pray, just know your goddess won't hear your prayers, you will die here, by my hands. And I'll make sure you learn our language the moment I grab your throat, as I'll squeeze every information from those nasty mouths of yours"

With an exhale, his breath calm, he counts their numbers in his thought, as his hunger for blood awakens once more. On his tilt his fingers grip, and gloomy they realize their day sets, as out of its sheath, the Jacqawin pulls his greatsword, tinted indigo steel, a blade they know will do carnage by the will of its master. And steadily he walks towards them, his laugh like a devil's own, as beneath their feet is the ground they feel as is wavers, as in their bodies are minds clutch by the horror they are to face, their breaths stifled by the immense pressure that sirens in their ears, warning them to run. And through those instincts, their blood colder the closer he gets, onto their triggers they pressed, bullets shot off, but not their own, one of their heads cracking open to the taste of its lead, all turning to see another who has returned.

"Captain!" One of the retrained shouts, all joining to the sight of their bloodied leader without a shirt on.

And just as fast, the company fires at the creatures, the goblins screaming as desperately they begin fighting for their lives, as through their bodies is the Jacqawin's sword that reaches deep within and out, calling to the leader of them a great fear of his strength as it shakingly steps back to dark sigh it sees, shouting a retreat that its comrades certainly follows.

"After them!" The captain shouts, her and some volunteers chasing along with Ezek and Kraydor, while others untie their retrained comrades.

And among those who give chase, one who exceeds the rest, the Jacqawin who sets his focus on the leader straight ahead of him, his speed to not come to a pause with Kraydor who slaps away an incoming boar out of his way, along with Ezek who saves him from the strikes of a goblin's knife, the elf picking the others off with his revolvers in a quick count. And the Jacqawin reaching them, halted is his grip as comes another boar that charges to oppose him, one his comrades cannot intercept, meeting his sword deep across its side in burrowing into its flesh, killing it in one strike with him then chopping through the trees in slaughtering the goblins who stands in his way, a power so immense that it calls a whirlwind that paints their blood farther across the land. But so he's met with another thing, quickly defending himself from a bomb that prompts him into lifting his cape, his armour barely affected by the blast that sets a spark of flames within the forest. And there as the fire spreads like a line between the two forces, through its heat and form, it's reflecting in the blood spilt, the enemy leader with its friends look to the man that gazes at them, his eyes like a hell waiting behind their barrier of fire, some laughing, some quiet to his presence, all glad they've escaped their predator as now they run away, leaving their allies who are finished by the company soldiers.

"Captain!" One of the female soldiers runs to her, planting a hug onto her that tightens on her receiver, her mouth trembling as she looks at Sigrid. "By the gods. You're alive!"

"Of course, I am," Sigrid chuckles. "You guys must have been worried, eh? Sorry, my radio broke"

"It is good to see that you could make it back, captain," Kraydor tells her.

"Captain," A member of Team B comes. "Reinforcement is on the way. We're going home now"

"Hm...let's pack up and go home. We've gotten what we needed," She says, gulping in her relief, her mood still saddened, glancing over at all her soldiers.

Her head down, she takes this battle as their defeat, and slowly she turns to another, the warrior who gazes through flames even though their enemies are gone, then leading the rest in exiting the forest. And done with looking over the flames, follows the Jacqawin who slowly turns away, exhaling as he goes to catch up with the company, his memory of a day recalled in his mind to the sound of the flames that warms his back as he walks away. There at the exit reached, just in time as the reinforcements of soldiers arrive, resting by their trucks where they set up another camp to eat and rest, as into the forest the new company explores to investigate, also putting out the fire that was cast. And more and more, as the streams of clouds pass by, in the back of one truck they see the stock of bodies, all their faces checked, all their names remember, Sigrid opening one of them to one she thought as a favourite, Joshua, whose face has become ruined by his murderer, his appearance scarred the goblin who sent its knife into his mouth, seeing his missing tooth, as his face filled with many stabs.

"Hm. At least you died in battle, Joshua," Sigrid says, closing his eyes left open, as Andreas and the others whimper at his sight.

"Captain...we couldn't find the missing members...not even their bodies," A member of the reinforcement says, Sigrid exhaling with her expression gone dark, onto their calvary, silence on their tongues and no music from the radios of their vehicles, Sigrid looking into the sky that awakes with the morning for a new day, exhaling to the tighten feeling she has within, with most of everybody else looking down to their feet.

"Listen up all of you!" Sigrid calls, everybody turning their attention to her. "What happened up to now, is something we should never try to forget; Your friends who died, that fear you felt, the struggle you went through, all of this...I'm sure this will have taught you what a soldier should be. It's not about having a title or making your ego bigger; We are to protect our nation from problems like these, things that should never happen...but they do anyway. When you get home, make sure you eat properly, have a chat with your families, sleep well...and cry if you need to. Because after that, when we find the rest of these bastards, we're going to make sure they pay for it, every last one of them, and I'll need your help in doing it. We'll show them we are descendants of the great Vikings that walked this damn land, and when we roar, they'll hear our pain turned into our wrath. You hear?! Am I clear!"

"Yes, ma'am!!" They all shout, their voices tired and shaken, some already crying, some already broken.

"And what about you, Jacqawin? What's your plan?"

"This is my country too, so I'll fight. I'll find them and let them suffer for it," He answers, his eyes fading to where he repeatedly clenches his fist.

"Ah. Have you met Ezek?" Sigrid points. "That job you didn't finish, he did it for you. You heard?"

"Hm...so I've heard...Nice to meet you," The man looks to the elf, Ezek looking into his helmet in wanting to see his eyes.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Jacqawin. You could say I'm a big fan," Ezek smiles. "And what job we talking about?"

"Hm," Sigrid laughs, smirking as he looks to Ezek. "That Chimaera you slayed, you remember those scars you saw? That was his work. It escaped, got to live another day, atleast until you and that other boy killed it in his stead"

Ezek hearing her words, he sighs as he puts his hat on his head, smiling as he too begins looking to the sky, imagining how Nahshon's face will be when he tells him what he has heard, wondering what he's up to in the mountains.