The Commander sat back in her chair. She was holding her right arm with her left and she felt uncomfortable. She didn’t know why; this type of thing was procedural after all.  The room was lit with small light fixture that hung from the center of the ceiling. The hum of the door opening echoed as a tall, tapered man entered. She looked up to see him place a file folder on the table in front. Sitting down he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. She quickly stiffened and saluted him. The man smiled.

“No need for pleasantries Commander Sohee, I am not here to be glorified. I am simply here to figure out what happened during yesterday’s mission.”

Sohee loosened herself and placed her hands on the table.

“My apologies Sir…”

The man smiled again and passed the folder to her.

“I want to start by saying I am deeply sorry for what took place yesterday. It must be awful to lose...”

“Off the record, Colonel Bauer,” Sohee interrupted, “I’d rather not hear those empty apologies.”

“Hmmm, fair enough.”

The Colonel shifted position in his chair.

“So, let us begin, please tell to me what happened yesterday during your mission…”

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The sound of helicopter rotors boomed threw the vast buildings of what used to be New York City.

Sohee glanced through her eye visor, taking another look at her squad’s briefings. Apparently the North American Shared Quadrant Alliance (or N.A.S.Q.A.) had caught a human distress beacon coming from an old industrial area of the city and it was their task to investigate it.

She pulled the eyepiece down towards her mouth and gazed over at her squad. Mauris was to her right, his broad shoulders leaning up against the helicopter door with a vacant smirk on his face. He was smoking a cigarette, as usual. Kara stood across from him, her slender arm holding on to the safety bar above them. She seemed more nervous than usual but Sohee wasn’t worried, she was often nervous before a mission. Ficaro was checking their equipment; he was a shorter version of Mauris but he seemed very unsure about their situation. He always checked their equipment fanatically and today was no exception. She laughed to herself and turned her eyes towards the new soldier who sat across from her. His arms were crossed and his head was down.

“Hey, rookie!” she shouted trying to talk over the roar of the helicopter motor, “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

He raised his head to look at her. She immediately noticed his blue eyes. It was very uncommon to find someone with such a trait. Most of “those” people were infected when the virus invaded the eastern continents.

“First of all the name is Rai and second, you don’t even have your heat disruptor on so you shouldn’t talk, Commander.”

Everyone stared at him. Mauris was the first to speak up.

“How about that! The rookie’s got a mouth!”

Rai curved his head around to look at him. He shook it and turned back towards Sohee.

“Is he normally that dense?” Rai asked motioning his head to point at Mauris.

“Yes,” Sohee couldn’t help but answering.

Mauris looked as if he would protest but then shook it off and put out his cigarette.

The helicopter took a large swoop down towards a near by rooftop and land swiftly on top of it. They filed out one by one, and immediately began scouring the rooftop. It didn’t take long for them to clear the area. Nothing more than shards of glass and gravel lay on the rooftop. There was a dark haze surrounding them.

Rai coughed and looked over the side of the tattered skyscraper.  “What’s with this fog?”

Kara turned towards him and gave a look of irritation.

“Didn’t they teach you anything? The fog is a byproduct of the Slave Virus’s infection of an animal’s nerve tissue. The virus converts each nerve cell into a compound similar to copper. The gas is produced when the cells goes through this mutation. The gases escape from the pores turning the host’s skin metallic. Also the gases are noted to be the main cause of the various mutations of each Slave unit.”

Rai glanced over the side again then turned to face her, a smile on his face. “Textbook answer, but why copper?”

“Because copper is very conductive metalloid, it allows the virus to take control of its host through the brain’s own natural electron pulses. In a nut shell, it turns the body into a living computer and then highjacks it’s system.”
Rai gave out laughed but was silenced by Sohee.

“Ok guys, enough talk we got a job to do,” She signaling Kara and Rai to come over to her.

“Heh, and it was just getting interesting…”

They surround the small entrance way on the eastside of the rooftop. Sohee signal Mauris to open it. He swung the door open fiercely and aimed his rifle into the entrance. Nothing lay beyond the door except for a long and twisting stairway.

“Try not to hurt yourself opening doors, big guy,” Rai probed from behind him.

Mauris gave him a glare, and continued into the building. Sohee and Kara went after and Ficaro and Rai brought up the rear. They crept silently down the staircase until the reached the bottom floor. They walked out of the stairwell and into a giant hall. Pieces of computer equipment and uprooted tiles were scattered throughout the floor. The company logo that uses to sit on a plateau in the center of the hall was now crumbled and destroyed. You could faintly make out the letters N, S, A. As they walked towards it, they all separated to search more of the lobby.

After several minutes everyone met up, accpet Rai, at the center once more.

“Nothing, this is a big waste of time,” Mauris sighed kicking a piece of debris out of his path.

“Pipe down, Mauris, you wouldn’t be saying that if it were you,” shot Ficaro fixing his rifle strap. He turned around and looked at Rai who was still surveying a large file cabinet. “Hey Rai where did u put your rifle, I do remember giving it to ya.”

“I left it in the chopper, I won’t need it.” Rai walked back to the center of the hall to meet the others.

“What?” Ficaro said shaking his head with disbelief.

“Now the rookie’s done it,” Mauris chuckled, “Prepare to feel the wraith of our weapon’s specialist rookie!”

Rai noticed Ficaro turning a very unique shade of red. “Hey hey, don’t go all red like that, I’m well equipped don’t worry.” He pulled back his long black trench coat to reveal two silver handguns.

Ficaro’s mouth opened wide as he stared at them. “Are those …” he stumbled, “9mm Pulse Rackers!”

“Heh, you could say that,” Rai responded, removing one of the pistols from its holster, “I’ve modified it quite a bit though. For instance, the slide usually locks after a certain degree of firing to prevent unwanted discharge. I figured out that the only reason why it discharges so much in the first place is because the shaft is way too long. The shaft keeps stocking in the remains of each bolt in the back until the pressure is too great so it releases the build-up abruptly. Typically the manufacture put in the safe guard system to stop any unwanted mishaps and shoots it out as exhaust. What I’ve done to it is shortened the barrel just enough so the discharge happens during my actual firing so every three shots I get an extra with that stored energy. With that constant problem out of the way I can fire at quite a considerable rate, for a bolt handgun standards.”

“Whoa you know a lot about weapons,” Kara said taking the handgun from Rai, “Maybe even more than Ficaro, I’m impressed.”
Ficaro quickly snatched the pistol from Kara and eyed it over. “You’ve altered every part of this gun, nothing is up to standard on this thing.”

“Ya pretty much, well the magazine is the same. I don’t want to have to change each and every clip you know.”

Ficaro starred at him with a hint of irritation in his eyes. “Does the A.B. know about this?”

“Nope,” Rai answered, “And I’m planning to keep it that way. It’ll be our little secret, alright?”

Ficaro let out a sigh and returned the gun to him.

Sohee cleared her throat. “Alright guys, seriously this time, enough chit chat, you can talk about that stuff later.” They could hear the faint frustration in her voice and they all decided the conversation ended there and returning into their previous formation.
They continued out of the west side of the hall and into the service hallway. They walk, guns ready down the hallway until they came to a fork.

“Hmm, it will be faster if we split up, Kara, you and Ficaro go to the left,” commanded Sohee. “Mauris, Rai, your with me.”
Ficaro nodded and carried on down the left hall. Kara gave Mauris a quick punch and followed. Sohee signaled Mauris and Rai to go and she continued behind them. She pulled up her eye visor to check the building’s schematics but when she looked through it nothing appeared.

“Strange, my visors isn’t working…”

Rai turned around and tapped the wall with his index finger.

“Electrolyte walls, there is no way your going to get reception through these babies,” he said, “I’m guessing this company used to harbor massive super computers and to prevent outside interference they installed these things.”

“What don’t you know rookie,” came Mauris’s voice from in front of them.

“Well for starters, like what’s going on in that small head of yours…” Rai smirked.

“That’s it!!” Mauris suddenly interrupted, grabbing Rai by the collar and pushing him against the wall, “I’ve had it up to here with those comments of yours!”

“Mauris lay off!” Sohee ordered removing Mauris’s hand from Rai. “I don’t want to see any of this right now alright.”
She turned to Rai.

“And you, keep those comments to yourself. I understand you’re new but that doesn’t give you the right to say what you want, you here me soldier.”

Rai brushed himself off and cricked his next to the left.

“Just stay, out of my way rookie,” Mauris sneered shoving Rai against the wall again as he walked by.

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Kara loosened her rifle strap as her and Ficaro continued down the hallway. They hadn’t said much since they took a separate root from the others. Kara didn’t particularly like Ficaro and his worrisome attitude but what could she do, it was Sohee’s decision to put them together and she wasn’t about to protest it after all she wouldn’t have to put up with him for very much longer. Still Ficaro’s fidgeting over his equipment was becoming frustrating.

“Could you stop that,” she finally said not even turning around to see what he was doing.

“Look just give me a minute,” Ficaro snorted, “You wouldn’t want to see me dead would you?”

She laughed to herself, if he only knew.

The hallway began to open up and soon they were standing in front of a service door. The door was quite large and had several latches and bars keeping it closed. Ficaro ambled over to the doors computer council, still fiddling with his equipment. He booted up the terminal and began to enter a series of codes, but the council kept rejecting them.

“Stupid machine, won’t let me open the door…”

Kara reached down to her waist and removed a small rectangular box for her belt. She flipped the top back to reveal a small computer screen. She touched the screen a few times and a side panel opened, revealing two connection cables. She tossed it over to Ficaro.

“This should bypass the security.”

Ficaro began to insert the first cable. “Maybe we should inform the Commander before we open it, they must have locked it for a reason.”

Kara shook her head. “Geez, Ficaro you worry to much. If there were any “Slaves” in here we would have come across them, and even if there were they wouldn’t be able to locate us, remember the heat disruptor?” She tapped the hexagonal patch on her right shoulder pad.

The heat disruptor was the latest invention of N.A.S.Q.A.’s development faction. Using electrometric waves, the disrupter, distorts a human’s heat signature. With it, the body is invisible to inferred sensors, which is the primary sensory method that the “Slave” use. This device reduced casualties by an astonishing amount, and soon became a mandatory piece of equipment on every Special Forces team in the company.

Ficaro let out a sigh. “At least let me scan the area first…”

“I’ll do it, just get the terminal ready,” Kara interrupted.

Ficaro turned around and plugged the last remaining connector into the council. He looked back to see Kara looking through her visor. She motioned a thump up. “Its all clear.”

He type a few codes into the terminal, but stayed hovered over the enter command key.

“I can’t do it,” he signed, “I’d rather not get in trouble with the Commander…”

He waited for Kara to object, but it never came. Suddenly he felt something press against the back of his head. He shifted his eyes to the right, and Kara’s head emerged from over his shoulder.

“I think you should reconsider,” she said.

“Ka…Kara what do you think you’re doing?”

“That would be none of your business, now open it or would you like to feel thirty thousand volts pierce through your brain?”

Ficaro slowly reached down towards the council then quickly whipped around grabbing the barrel of the gun and pushed it upward.
Kara reacted quickly to the assault by kicking him in the stomach sending him back into the terminal. “One more stunt like that and I may have to finish you off myself,” Kara said re-aiming her gun at him.

He gazed at her for a moment. “You aren’t going to get away with this, whatever you’re doing…”

“Shut up, just do it.”

Unwilling he turned around and pressed the enter button. The sound of pressure valves and locks unlatching filled the air. That large door slowly slid open to reveal and shadowed assembly line that seemed like it had been stopped midway through processing. Parts of old robots were scattered amongst the machines, making it seem like a battlefield. Kara motioned Ficaro to move. She kept her distance from of him as she watched him slowly back into the room. She fired a shot, hitting Ficaro in his right shoulder. A buzzing sound came from his communicator, signaling his disruptor was losing power.

“Let’s get this party started,” Kara leered.

As they both stared into the vast assembly line, objects started to move and figures began to appear in the shadows. Ficaro raised his rifle and stepped backwards. Kara fired another shot, this time hitting him in the leg. He tried to hold back his cry but the attempt fail. The noise attracted the figures more and they began to advance more quickly.

“Heh…I wouldn’t want you to run away after all, you may endanger the rest of the team and I have far worse plans for them.” Kara backed out of the doorway, her gun still pointing at the wounded Ficaro. She sidestepped over to the computer terminal and hit the command key. “Have fun Ficaro,”

He returned his gaze to the disfigured creatures that were coming towards him. As he heard the doors close behind him and watched the darkness set around him, he was consumed by fear.

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They had reached a dead end and Sohee and her companions all let out a sigh.

“Figures,” was all Mauris said as he leaned back against the wall. He reached to his belt and pulled out a cigarette. He was just about to light it when Sohee snatched it from his mouth.

“Damn it Mauris, what did I tell you about smoking…” She flicked it to the ground and stepped on it firmly. “This isn’t the time or the place!”

Rai laughed. He walked over to the end of the hallway and stared profusely at the wall.

“Hmmm…that’s strange this wall is different,” he said placing his hand on it. “This was put here recently.”

“How do you figure that?” came Mauris who was now behind him.

“Well for starters, this wall isn’t made with Electrolytes.” Rai knocked on the wall.

Sohee looked at him. “Knock it again.”

Rai proceeded to give the wall another tap.

“It’s hallow,” she said starting to examine the wall more closely.

Rai stepped back and pushed some of his blond hair away from his eye. Who would build a small partition in the middle of the hall? He knew that it had been built recently because the materials didn’t matches the rest of the building. Someone must have been here before them. He turned his gaze to Sohee who had just finished examining the wall.

“The wall is fairly thin judging by the sound. I think if someone tackled it, it would probably cave.”

They looked simultaneously at Mauris who was now stand parallel a few feet away from the wall. He cracked his knuckles and gave a grin.

“Ha, looks like you can put that body of yours to some use big guy.” Rai said.

Mauris reared up. “Out of the way Rookie!!” Mauris launched forward. His was quite fast for a full-size person, Rai thought almost forgetting to jump out of the away as Mauris shot by.

Mauris made contact with the wall and went steadily through it. The remaining pieces of the wall crumbled to the floor. Mauris twisted his arm and winced. Rai paid little attention to it climbed over the rubble and stared further down the hall. He squinted his eyes attempting to see further into the darkness but couldn’t see anything.

“Odd, unless I don’t see anything it’s just a continuation. What’s up with that?”

Sohee came up beside him. “Well there’s one way to find out.”

Rai looked at her and smiled. “Is that an order?”

“What do you think?”

Rai shook his head and continued onward but was stopped by a scream. He turned around to see Mauris grab his arm again, this time with much more force. The scream turned to a gargle and he lurched forwards. A black haze grew on his face and Rai suddenly realized what was happening. He leaped forward and pushed Sohee out of the way. Before he could draw his gun, Mauris grabbed him and bit him on the left side of his inner shoulder. Rai let out a whimper and cuffed Mauris in the stomach. He heard a gun shot and Mauris was immediately off him. Rai rolled back and looked at the seizing creature infront of him. Mauris continued twitching for a bit but then stopped, leaving the corridor in silence.


“Damn it…what the hell was that. How did Mauris turn into a ‘Slave’?”

Sohee lowered her pistol and quickly examined his wound.

“I don’t know…” She stalled. “But we have to get you out of here now…”

Rai shoved her off and upholstered one of his guns. “You know what’s going to happen to me. The infection time takes ten minutes and it took us longer to get down here. Not to mention we have to find Ficaro and Kara. You don’t have a choice Commander.”

Sohee raised her gun and pointed it to his head. She hesitated on the trigger and lowered it. “I order you to come with me, I’m not losing another soldier today!”

Rai was about to protest but a beeping signal stopped him. He looked to his communicator screen and noticed it was the distress signal again, but this time there was two. “What the hell…?” He felt a shot of pain in his arm and he dropped the communicator. “Son of a…!”

Sohee aided him up. “It’s Ficaro and Kara I’ll bet.”

“I’m not to sure, they both have signals but only Ficaro’s is showing,” He pushed Sohee away once more. “Look I understand what your talking about but I’m not going to endanger you. Not like Mr. Ego over there.” He nodded towards the blackened Mauris and took his communicator from the floor. “Here, will meet back on the roof. If I don’t make it back there go on without me. I’m going after the other signal.”

He could see the protest in her eyes but he knew she understood. He placed the communicator in her hand and reached for his heat disruptor. He pulled device out and handed it to her. “I’m on a 5 minute reserve. You’re going to need this more than me Sohee.”

She took it and placed it in her side bag. “That’s Commander to you Rai.” She saluted him and ran back through the hallway. As she disappeared into the darkness, he felt somehow that this wasn’t the last time he would see her.

He felt the pain in his arm return, this time greater than before. He clenched his teeth and continued, he would not let it end this easily he thought. Two degrees longitude, forty degrees latitude, those were his coordinates, he repeat them in his mind as if to block out the pain that he was starting to feel in his head.

He remembered the text that he had read about the “Slave”s manipulation of the human mind. The virus found its way into the cerebrum and settled itself there, plaguing on the host’s initial movements, its analysis of information, it’s reasoning and finally its emotions. He knew that sometime or another it would become difficult for him control his actions but he had a job to do first.
He noticed a fragment of his hair fall infront of his eyes but it wasn’t the blonde he had expected, his hair was turning grey. He pushed it back quickly. This isn’t over he thought again.

He came to a service door and looked to his digital compass. Two degree’s longitude and thirty-seven latitude. This was it, whoever was contacting them was through this door.

He reached for the doorknob but was stopped by a shooting pain through his left eye. He listened to it squish and spit within his head. Dark tentacles shot forward from his eye socket, latching on to a small part of the left side of his face. They buried into his skin all the way down to his bone. He fell against the door and slowly reached to his gun. The pain caused him to convulse several times until he gained enough strength to place the gun to the side of his once blue eye. It burned red now, signifying his soon infestation.

Voices started to emerge in his mind telling him to give in. Let the virus claim him. He pushed the shaft of the gun closer to his eye. He could never let it. The voice kept persisting, it’s not worth it; it will control you no matter what. He dropped his Racker and held his face. With one final bout he let out a horrifying scream.

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Sohee didn’t stop at the sound of her former comrade’s scream. She knew far to well, that he had saved her from having to kill him. She couldn’t take killing another member of her squad. She thought of Mauris at that moment and stopped, consumed with anger.

“Darn it all!!” She yelled into the darkness. She placed her hands to her mouth. That was a big mistake. A stir came from a side panel on the wall. It shook violently and then irrupted from the it. Another similar noise came from behind her forcing her to draw her rifle. A lizard like creature slinked silently out from the newly expose door. It’s sharp red eyes fixated on her.

This type of “Slave” was known as a Creeper. As their name suggested they were artist of the silent kill. With the only drive of spewing blood, they were easily outsmarted but she knew she could not out run it.

The Creeper let out a small hiss, tilting its head towards its left. It circled around but when it got to her side she saw another coming from the other. They could not see her because of her disruptor but still something here had drawn their attention. Sohee slowly shifted her position, pushing her right foot forward and arching her back slightly to hold down a curl stance. The stance was specifically designed by her to prevent a “Slave” from getting on top of her back. She couldn’t fight them both if one was lashing at her shoulders. She looked to her feet for a final stance preparation and noticed something interesting. The crushed cigarette that she had taken from Mauris was still on her shoe. She slowly bent down, stopping twice as to not alert the Creepers. She tossed it a little ways behind her and aimed her rifle. She took a breath, said a prayer and fired. The blue bolt of electricity stuck the bud straight on, bursting it into flames. The Creepers jeered loudly and jumped towards the heat. While they were hooked to the flame Sohee switched her rifle to automatic and let the bolts fly. She mowed them both down in a couple of seconds and then holstered it back around her shoulder.

“I’m glad you didn’t take my advice,” She whispered as she continued her sprint down the corridor.

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Kara was still laughing as she came to the staircase to return to the helicopter. This plan was so easy, she thought. She would deal with her companion and turn the commander into a new “Slave” Prototype at the same time. N.A.S.Q.A. would be pleased.

She removed her laptop from its pouch and typed in the flight plan into the helicopter. NAS appeared on the screen and below it read the words, North America South. She found the name of the colonies rather absurd but they were all named after their directional point on the continent and it made it easy to deliver supplies to the colony that needed them.

Kara removed her Special Forces tags and threw them over the handrail. She wouldn’t need them anymore. She laughed and continued up the stairs until she heard a clank a few floors below. She stared over the railing and saw Sohee hurrying up the stairs.

“Shit, how did she…” Kara snorted, Mauris had not done his job; she slammed the railing. Kara removed her heat disruptor and its emergency pack causing uproar of noise on the lower floors of the skyscraper.  She continued up the stairs until something came to her left.

A Creeper had gotten to her but before she could raise her gun it kicked it away. With another kick she was flung against the wall. She saw red and a pain rushed through her abdomen. She looked done to see a piece of jagged metal poking out of it. The Creeper sloped towards her licking its jaws with an elongated tongue. Suddenly shots were fired and the Creeper fell in front of her. She looked to the stairs and saw Sohee standing there with her rifle raised, taking a look over the rail.

“Kara are you alright?” Sohee turned back to her.
She shook her head and pointed to the unwanted metal emerging from her abdomen. “Commander I…can’t get free…”

“Where is Ficaro…?”

“We…we…got separated.” Kara looked away. Sohee didn’t need the truth.

“I see…” Sohee looked to Kara’s wound and knew that there was no way she could help her. She passed her rifle to Kara. “Give’em hell for me.”

Sohee darted up the stairs once more and left Kara within the noise of the howls and hisses.

Kara only had one thing on her mind. “Where did I go wrong…?”

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Sohee bashed through the door, just as Rai’s disruptor failed. She was now a moving target and she needed to get the helicopter ready.

She slid into the side hatch and climbed into the pilot seat. They had flown down automatically but she couldn’t trust the computer to make the right judgment now. She flipped the manual override and punched in a series of commands. Brakes, support rotors and the gun turret buttons flashed to attention and she flipped one more switch. The helicopter motor began to rave and she climbed back into the hatch.

She grabbed the rifle that Rai had left behind and a few concussion grenades. She had to hold them off for five minutes until the engine was ready to lift off, how she was going to do it she didn’t know. Jumping from the hatch to the gravel, she positioned herself to the stairway door.

It opened and she let of a slew of bolts. The creature side flipped to dodged it.

“Geez…what do…you think you…. firing at!!”

She stared in utter confusion at the battered Rai standing, slightly hunched a few yards away.. Ten minutes had surely past from when she last saw him yet Rai was there talking and breathing hard. Sohee lowered her rifle but stayed ready. She had heard in some extreme cases that certain  “Slave”s retained former memories and used them against their own friends.

“Rai…I don’t understand…how did you…aren’t you?” She couldn’t seem to finish her question; every time she tried one, three more would take its place.

“I’m…trying…figuring that…out also…” His words were scrambled as if he was trying to relearn his speech. She could see the fear in his one blue eye, but saw anger in his red one. It was truly frightening to her. She raised her gun as he took a few strides toward the chopper.

“Don’t come any closer…” She hesitated and looked away. She suddenly realized what she had done and quickly looked back but he was gone. She turned around to see a Creeper lunge up, its claws flaring in the darkened sky. She heard a crackle of bones and suddenly a blade irrupted from its chest cavity. It squealed in pain and lashed out to something behind it. Sohee took the opportunity to launch a few bullets into the Creeper’s skull. It fell limp and was then tossed away by the blade. She looked to the figure and noticed it was Rai. She took a step back but was halted by the door of the helicopter.

“The…helicocoter is ready…you…take it alright…I will hold them…down…here…”

She looked to him and his Slave ravaged body. The virus had taken control of the top left half of his body and face turning it a black metallic colour. His arm had gone under a heavy amount of mutation, turning his under hand into a knife blade. Adding to its sinister appearance jagged spikes protruded up his arm. As she looked to it more closely she could see it was made of bone, his bone. She held her stomach.

“Are you sure…?”

Rai left out a crackled laugh and patted her on the head with his uninfected hand. “I know…what…I…m…doing. Besides…I’m…designed to…kill.”

Sohee looked at him and tilted her head slightly. Designed? Why would he say something like?

“Did you find something…?” Sohee grabbed his arm out of anger. “As your Commander I order…”

Rai ripped his arm free and placed his hand to her neck and raised her off the ground with little strain. Sohee gagged as she peered down into his eyes. The red and blue emotions were battling inside him and it seemed that he was losing. She raised her gun as best she could and placed it against his chest. He looked down and quickly snapped away from her, releasing her in the process.
“Don’t…touch…me!!” Rai’s red eye pierced out to her just before he turned away.

Sohee felt what she thought was fear but found that it was more out of pity. She could see that the real Rai was still with her but she couldn’t help the fight with his new inner demons. Bowing her head she climbed into the helicopter. She turned around to look at him. “Rai…I’m sorry.”

He looked at her again showing only the clear side of his face. “I’ll find you again…and tell you what I found…” With that phrase he leaped towards a pack of creepers that had just emerged through the door.

Sohee climbed into the cockpit once again and batted away at the terminal. It had been awhile since she had flown one manually, but she didn’t have time to remember the last time she had. She shifted the throttle and the rotors began to roar. She pulled back on the stick but was met with resistance. She felt a massive pressure on her right shoulder and then was ripped away from the controls. Before she could realize what had happened she was on the gravel rooftop again. She looked up to see a massive fist coming down on to her. She rolled to the side and then forward to her feet. The creature grunt as it turned to face her.

It gargantuan size meant it was only one thing. A Titan. The largest “Slave” ever recorded. It relied on pure strength and its upper body demonstrated it quite literally. Massive arms that dangled down in front and a giant hunch on its back, it looked as if its top half had been blown up like a balloon.  It’s head and legs remain the generic size of a human making a very abnormal creature.

Sohee gritted her teeth. She had to admit she had never came face to face with a Titan before and she had no idea how to fight it, especially without her gun. She had lost it in the altercation in the chopper and all she had now were a few concussion grenades.
The Titan roared and launched towards her, using its arms as pole-vaults. She jumped to the side as it past her.  It turned around and repeated its charge. Sohee saw again the use of its arms and figured that if she could knock it off balance she’s be able to neutralize it. She pushed in the button of her grenade as he made its fourth sweep. She dodged to the side and tossed the grenade between the Titan’s arms and abdomen. It bounced around a bit inside the gap and finally exploded. The explosion sent the Titan stumbling forwards into the spinning blades of the helicopter. In a mess of blacken blood Sohee could only watch as the Titan was thrown a few feet away from the copter. Her plan had worked but she nervously laughed at the unexpected twist.

She looked towards the door and saw Rai finish of a few more Creepers. He was remarkably swift with his action and did them with utmost precision. “Thanks for the help!!” Sohee joked, waving a final gesture of her hand.

Before she could re-enter the helicopter and familiar voice called out to her.

“Commander!!”

She turned to see a limping Ficaro come around the nose of the helicopter. “Ficaro your alive!” She couldn’t stop her self from giving him a hug.

He leaned his face to her ear and whispered, “Kara she…” A shot was heard and Ficaro wilted. Sohee took a look over his shoulder to see Kara holding her puncture wound with one hand and the other holding her rifle out infront of her.

“I told that kid not to endanger you…”

Sohee lower Ficaro slowly to the ground and returned her gazed to the panting Kara. “Why…why did you shoot him!”

“He’s was going to tell you I was a traitor, but I would rather tell you myself. You see since you buried your nose where it didn’t belong and got Ryker killed N.A.S.Q.A. decided that this squad should be terminated. To save myself I offered to help them. Besides I also had another interest in the matter.” Kara stumbled but regained herself and pulled a needle from her side pouch. “This. I injected it into Mauris and it was suppose to pass to you but it seems that our rookie got in the way.”

Sohee turned her head away. How could this have happened? She pressed her hands into fists. “This was only supposed to be a rescue mission! What did we do to make this happen?”

“It’s not worth my time to tell you, you’ll be dead soon enough…” She pushed the needle into her arm. “This formula was designed for one thing…maximum power. I suggest you get a head…start!” Kara seized up and let out a gargle. Two spikes exploded from her back and wrapped around her arms, giving the look of blacken vines. Her already pale skin turned a deep grey colour and her eye’s flushed red. Her legs grew longer and slimmed dramatically. Within minutes Kara had changed into something Sohee had never seen. Her body had fused with the virus.

Sohee could not imagine how it was possible but at the moment it dawned on her. N.A.S.Q.A., the purpose of the Special Forces, everyone suffering was a lie. They were never trying to protect the people they meant to destroy them.
Kara hissed. “Do you like my new looks?”

“How could N.A.S.Q.A. do this…?”

“Simple, power is lead by fear, we cannot be free without fear on our laps…it’s the law Commander.” Kara lashed out with one of her spikes but Sohee was narrowly able to escape it. “Can’t you accept death now that you understand?”

Sohee didn’t answer. Nor did she ever want to. Sohee looked up to a mighty snarl and saw Rai comedown onto Kara.

“Get out of here Sohee!!”

Sohee took a few steps back and climbed into the helicopter.

Rai tossed Kara to the side and tackled her with his spiked arm out infront. She went flying side ways to the tip of the building where she planted her spikes into the ground.
“Pick on someone of your own kind…”

“Haha…my own kind? Your nothing Rai…you’re still human.”

Rai choked but took a swing at her. Kara dodged effortlessly and grabbed his plain arm and pulled it close to both their faces.
“See? Still flesh, with this you hold no power!”

Rai raised his infected arm. “This does though!” He jabbed the blade into her abdomen. With a squeal of pain Kara fell back over the side of the building. Rai felt the stab of one of Kara’s spike in his shoulders and he was forced down on to the gravel. He dragged on a bit before he used his one blade to dig into the ground.

“Rai!” Sohee’s voice could be heard above him. He hadn’t even noticed her take off but now that his attention was drawn the power of the wind from the rotors was causing him to sway violently.

He watched as she lowered down to try and give him something to hang on to but it only pushed him further towards the edge. He only had one option now. He turned to look at the dangling creature that was once one of Sohee’s comrades, flailing violently.
He smiled. “It’s time to fear your death bitch!” he released his blade and they both fell into the vast space between the canyons on New York.

Sohee could only watch as they disappeared into the black fog, tears welling up into her eyes. She pulled back on the throttle and took one last swoop around the building. She could see Ficaro still lying there, “Slave”s swarming around his body fighting for their first meal in a long time. She couldn’t bear to watch and more. She pulled up and followed the coordinates back to N.A.S.

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Commander Bauer finished off his cigarette. A large number had accumulated in an ashtray he was holding “That’s quite some story, Sohee.”

Sohee felt the uncomfortable feeling return.

“It’s one thing to accuse one of your own of jeopardizing the squad but to incorporate that N.A.S.Q.A. had an involvement it completely absurd.” He motioned someone from the one-way glass to come into the room. An officer entered and saluted him. Bauer positioned himself to look at the both of them. “Can you get Miss Anderson’s paperwork ready, she’ll be leaving the Special Forces.” He leaned in and took the file folder. “Sohee, I understand the trauma you’ve gone through and sometimes things get hectic…”

“I know what I saw, James…” she interrupted.

“That’s irrelevant, you are to be discharged at your own accorded. I do not want to put insanity on your card Sohee you have donated a lot of your life to us…consider it a favor…” The Colonel took his hat, placed it on his crew-cut hair and proceeded out of the room.

Sohee placed her hand on her face. How could this be true? Did Kara lie? No everything fitted into place to perfectly to be a lie. She looked up and thought of Rai at that moment. He had giving her the truth and a life to continue, a life to stop N.A.S.Q.A.