Alue, Mu

Bullets whizzed past Jaeger’s face as he dragged a fallen comrade behind a corner. “Shit,” he muttered.

Pieces of the wall beside him fell apart as incoming rounds chipped away at wood and brick. Occasional shrapnel pelted him, but felt like nothing more than a tickle after having lost most momentum upon impact. Finding a reprieve from the hail of steel, Jaeger took the time to bend down and analyze the man he had just dragged to safety.

He looked down, his blue eyes meeting the cold, lifeless stare of his subordinate’s hazel. He spared little time for prayers for his fallen comrade, instead scavenging his body for essential ammunition. After securing two spare magazines for his STG-44, he retreated toward the marketplace, where the explosives were hidden.

He moved further east, navigating through abandoned stalls as he attempted to lure the 50-strong Muan force chasing him. He spotted an empty building that was taller than the one- and two-story structures around it and ventured in, climbing the steps. Once he reached the third story, he shot open a door to access the windows overlooking the marketplace.

He went into the room and cleared it. Satisfied with the abandoned apartment, he aimed his gun out the window, hiding behind curtains as he watched the Muans funnel into the kill zone that was meant for the supply convoy. To his dismay, the Muans approached it cautiously, likely because they were unaware of his position.

Hoping to intentionally reveal his position, Jaeger shot at a young Muan soldier who seemed to be recently enlisted. The boy in the marketplace grasped his neck and fell to his knees after a well-placed shot. He bled as he was dragged by his fellow soldiers, leaving a trail of blood on the street.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the Muans to figure out where Jaeger was hiding, and they opened fire on his position.

A searing pain bore into his chest while shards of wood and glass cut through his uniform. He stumbled backward, wincing from the sudden pain and subconsciously placed his left hand where the injury was. “Damn it,” he cursed, pulling his hand away to reveal a pool of blood.

He flicked his wrist, tossing the blood on his palm aside before wiping it on his uniform. The hole in his chest continued to ooze scarlet liquid, nipping away at his consciousness with each drop of blood lost. Was this it for him?

The gunfire ceased, followed by shouting as the Muans gave new orders. Jaeger realized that they must be preparing to assault his building by now, which meant that he had no time left. Having resolved to bring as much pain into the Muans as possible, he peeked out the destroyed window to determine if he should detonate the explosives.

“I could get maybe twenty…” he said to himself, quickly counting the figures that were running into the marketplace. His lips curled up into yet another freakish grin. “And any civilians who are hiding in the nearby buildings.”

He pulled the remote detonator from his pocket as his vision grew blurrier and darker. With his last remaining ounces of strength, he gave the trigger a satisfying pull.

——

CIA Outpost

Alue, Mu

Jaeger awoke with a start. The first thing he saw was a bright light overhead, causing him to wonder if he was in the afterlife. His groggy thoughts were then interrupted by the appearance of a white-coated man in a surgical mask, who announced, “He’s awake!”

“Huh,” a masculine voice said, “That amplified healing magic is nothing short of a miracle!”

A feminine voice to his right agreed, “Indeed it is. If this is what Mirishial energy sources are capable of, I can’t wait to test what your people come up with!”

Jaeger squinted, trying to identify the sources of speech as his eyes adjusted to the new environment. “I’m not… dead?” he asked aloud in a raspy voice.

“You’ll wish you were,” the man to his left said. He wore dark sunglasses and a black suit that enhanced his mysterious persona.

“Who the hell are you?” Jaeger spat, mind and body alert after hearing the man’s threatening words. “What is that supposed to mean, ‘you’ll wish you were’?! Huh?” He jerked up from his bed, only to be held back by restraints wrapped around his arms and legs.

The sunglassed American man simply sighed. “I almost feel bad for you. I really would, actually, if not for the fact that you and your accomplices killed 37 Muan soldiers and 24 civilians – women and children included.”

Jaeger, seeing the downtrodden expressions of the man and elven woman, could only laugh. “Sixty one kills, eh? Well, some are a result of my comrades, so I’ll guess that my kill count for this operation is about forty, which brings my total to six hundred…” he looked up, calculating the numbers, “Twenty two.” Satisfied with his work, Jaeger relaxed back on the bed and smiled, “Well then, not a bad record. I could die happy knowing I surpassed the esteemed Dietrich.”

The elven woman gasped, appalled at Jaeger’s reaction. She glared at the restrained GVBI officer, hate welling up in her eyes. “Goodness, do you show no remorse for the innocent lives you’ve snuffed?”

Jaeger gave the woman a cruel smile and answered confidently, “Why would I? It’s not like the lives of primitive barbarians matter in the first place.”

Tears began to form in the woman’s eyes. She stammered, speechless at Jaeger’s unfathomable evilness, “You… You… “You’re a monster!”

Jaeger, enjoying the woman’s reaction to his cruelty, laughed. “So what if a barbarian kid dies? That just means one less barbarian to rise up against us in the future!” He noticed that the wound in his chest was more or less healed, save for a nasty scar. “And to think, you actually spent mana to heal me! At least someone knows her fucking place! Hahaha!”

The man walked over to the elven lady and held her, consoling her. He then spoke to Jaeger with an icy tone, “You talk quite big for someone who’s mercy is at our whim.”

“You couldn’t be any more wrong!” Jaeger retorted with a laugh. He then bit on his cheek, causing blood to fill his mouth. Unfortunately for him, that was all that happened.

The American man held up a small capsule, showing it off in front of Jaeger. “No, I think I’m quite right. Anyhow, thanks for volunteering yourself as a test subject.”

“What…?” Jaeger trembled, fear and blood escaping into his voice. Terrified of his fate, he grasped at straws to no avail, “But… You’re American, right? Americans don’t engage in torture! That goes against your principles!”

“You really believe that?” The man asked with a look of disappointment plastered across his face. “Anyway, I doubt your superiors are going to come get you, unless they want to admit to sponsoring terrorist activities. Like I’ve said before, your life is in our hands now. We’re judge, jury, and executioner here.”

Jaeger opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but his voice faltered and he was only able to utter a mere squeal.

The man turned to the woman. “Varica, are you okay with testing the nightmare curse on him?”

Varica – who had earlier shed tears for the deaths of the innocent – was now filled with fiery rage. Ready to exact vengeance for those who could do so themselves, she nodded. “Yes. How long do you want me to set it for?”

“I’ll be back in three to four hours. I have to go to a meeting. Langley’s got new orders and information for us.” The man walked toward the exit. “Oh, and make sure he doesn’t get a heart attack from the curse. I want to interrogate him when I come back.”

“Of course, Sir Moore,” Varica nodded. She then turned her attention to the squirming officer on the bed, reduced to a shell of his prideful former self. “I truly regret that I’m not able to send you to hell, but I guess I’m okay with being able to give you hell on Elysia.” With a look of hatred twisting her beautiful face, she shoved a machine onto Jaeger’s chest.

The machine burned into his skin, releasing smoke as it laser-carved a rune onto him. Jaeger screamed and screamed, until he passed out from the molten pain.

——

Jaeger’s eyes fluttered open. He was conscious, lucid in his dream. Yet, he could not control the horrible apparitions that suddenly appeared in the dark, nor could he control his own movements. His legs were sluggish, trapped in an invisible mud that drained him of energy and forced him on his knees.

Unable to escape the approaching horrors, he could only scream as unholy beings tore away at him, crushing his soul and sending him into the depths of despair. The first to strike him was a ghostly figure that traveled into his body, plunging him into freezing waters. The imagery around him adjusted accordingly, and the dark area he was previously in was transformed into an endless ocean of ice.

He saw the outline of Ragna as it tumbled off the edge of land, crumbling as it sank to the endless water. People screamed and Antares warplanes fell from the sky, propellers frozen. The Grade Atlastar was covered with a sheet of ice, sinking under the weight of an iceberg that had toppled over it.

Trapped underwater, he struggled for air. Anytime he tried to breathe, chilling water entered his lungs, filling them up. The cold depths additionally forced pressure onto his body and crushed him physically. As a man afraid of drowning, this scene was one of his worst nightmares.

He began to lose vision, and when he finally couldn’t grasp on to life any longer, he was instantly pulled out of the water and placed in the streets of Ragna. At face value, his transportation was a relieving reprieve from the horrors of the sea. However, his recess did not last long.

A stinging pain pierced his right arm. He looked over to identify the source of the pain, only to find his arm deformed, twisted and growing into a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and bone. He looked at his own reflection in the window of a nearby car, watching in pure horror as he was transformed into a monster.

Then, against his will, he turned around to face his family. They stood on the sidewalk, stunned at the transformation. Out of nowhere, Jaeger felt the urge to consume the people in front of him. He fought as much as he could, but his body rejected the commands of his mind.

“No, no, no!” Was all he could say as his legs trudged forth with a mind of their own.

He screamed in terror as his scythe-like arm was raised into the air, ready to cut down his own flesh and blood. No matter how much he tried to hold his arm back, it sliced forward. His mother, father, and wife were cut in half. As if this wasn’t enough, he felt his mouth open.

Jaeger tasted blood and another unfamiliar flavor: human flesh. The pain and guilt of being forced to commit such a grave atrocity continued. After consuming his own family, his monstrous body turned toward fleeing civilians and chased down after them, tearing through them without mercy.

——

He begged for the nightmare to stop, and to his surprise, it did. He shot up from his bed, almost snapping his own bones as he reached the elastic limits of the restraints. He looked around and found Moore and Varica standing there, unfazed.

“Back in the land of the living, huh?” Moore looked up from a thick notebook. “Well then, I’ve got a lot of work to do so I’ll make this quick. What’s your name?”

“Biltz Jaeger,” he said softly, still recovering from the shock of the nightmare.

Moore scribbled down something in his notebook. “Okay. Tell me the names of the people in your squad, as well as your ranks.”

Jaeger complied and Moore recorded the information.

“Alright. Describe the other operations that the Gra Valkas Empire has planned in Mu.”

Jaeger balled up his fists and flared at Moore.

“Defiance, huh?” Moore said nonchalantly. “That’s okay. We can find out about them on our own, just like how we found your attempted ambush on the convoy.”

Jaeger wondered if Moore was bluffing, then realized that there was no possible way their plan was leaked. They took utmost care in covering their tracks, and even used short-range encrypted radio to reduce risk of interception. They also operated with radio silence for the majority of the mission, only utilizing it to coordinate the ambush.

“That’s too bad,” Moore sighed. “In any case, we’re at least getting valuable data on new interrogation methods.” He yawned, “Varica, let’s go home. We’ll come back in the morning.”

“Should I put him to sleep again?” The elven lady asked.

Moore waved his hand dismissively, as if torture was an insignificant occurrence to him. “Sure. Just make sure his heart won’t stop in the middle of the night.”

A chill crawled down Jaeger’s spine as the elf approached him. Then, he blacked out, forced to endure another nightmare.