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

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

“Are you asking ME to turn off the 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 sounded like somebody was slapping a drum along with some random electronic noises together until something came out. 

Then again, I had yet to hear any music that interested me. So perhaps it was just a me thing. No matter. It’s time to get moving.

“Alright, that’s enough. Hephaestus, turn it off. Finish your gear check. We are deploying in fifteen,” 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 genuinely terrifying, and even I didn’t completely understand it. It was the culmination of years of reverse engineering Xeno technology along with Humanity's natural ingenuity, which gave birth to this armor. 

Our 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 more incredible 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 on his body.

“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 doing some stretching in his new armor.

Over the loudspeakers, a female voice rang out. “This is Foe Hammer. We are preparing for take-off. Strap in, friends.” 

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 vaporized us or a downed Elunari fighter barreled into our 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, it sure didn’t care much for me or anyone for that matter. 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 an uncomfortable experience, no matter how many times I’ve experienced it. It felt like somebody had quickly readjusted my internal organs and only placed half of them back into my stomach.

The craft lurched upwards and launched out of the hangar into open space. There weren't any windows in the ship, and the ride was silent besides the engine's roar now. It was eerie knowing a full-blown space battle was going on 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, 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 about any of us. She was always kind and cordial to Hades Squad, even going as far as to call us her friends. 

The liftgate dropped, and a lush green forest greeted us. 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 usually comfortable for Humanity, the planet would make an excellent colony one day. Once we exterminated the Elunari off 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. And we had a lot of running to do. 

“Stay safe out there, Kronos. May God’s hand guide you all,” Foe Hammer radioed directly to me.

I looked up at the rear camera on the ship and gave it a nod. “Of course, thank you for the landing.” 

I turned to my squad, who were already in formation, fanning out just in case we missed something. “Let’s move out, Hades Squad. We’ll maintain a speed of fifty miles per hour. We should reach the rendezvous point before nightfall,” I radioed.  

The squad answered with a mix of affirmatives and dejected “yes, sirs” from the Gen 3s. Of course, the Gen 3s weren't ordinarily 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 toward the rendezvous point. The scenery was nothing special, something I’ve seen hundreds of times on other planets. I’ve been on enough of these lush planets to have seen it all. 

However, it was different 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. Function came before beauty nowadays. If it couldn’t survive orbital bombardment, it was a waste of material. 

We were about eight 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 camo as we closed in. We couldn’t maintain the camo forever since it drained out suits’ batteries, so we used it sparingly.

The friendly Marine squad began pinging on our radars as we got within their camp range. When we arrived, they were well hidden within the forest's foliage. 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 thin air. The commanding officer turned around and let out a very unmanly yelp and curse of surprise as well.

“Sir… can you please not do that, sir…” he said, breathing hard.

Looking down at the 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, sir. No worries. We just weren’t expecting Hades Squad. Command told us we were getting back up, but we didn’t think they would send you guys.”

“Sorry to disappoint, Sergeant.”

The sergeant shook his head side to side. “No, sir... no, it’s fine. This mission 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 twenty 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 relevant 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. During my conversation, Artemis and Nyx had already scouted the facility and confirmed the Marine’s report. I called them back and beckoned the fourteen-crew Marine squad over as well. Once everyone gathered, I began the briefing and gave orders.

“Nike, set up a jammer and keep them off comms for as long as possible. Then, Nyx and I, along with six Marines, will enter through the back motor pool, where there is only one guard stationed. Artemis will take that 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.” Nineteen arms went up in a salute of confirmation. 

“For Humanity,” I said quietly.

A quiet chorus of “For Humanity!” gently echoed in that quiet forest. 

We broke up into our respective teams and began to converge onto the facility. As we got into position, I noticed one of the Marine’s breathing was erratic. I couldn’t see her face through her mask, but she was nervous as she checked her laser rifle over and over again.

“What’s your name, Marine?” I called out to her.

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

“Don’t fret, Private Miranda. Stay close to me and watch my back. We will make it out of here,” I said, trying to reassure her.  

She let out a breath I’m sure she was holding for some time. The regs didn’t like talking to us. Many of them said we gave off a weird aura, and they didn’t like being around us. However, not a single one was unaware of what we could accomplish. 

There were plenty of stories of Death Commando squads single-handedly 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 on the task at hand.

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 facility looks more like a hospital than a military or government black site. The building was large and was colored a teal-ish blue color. It was also five stories tall, and the front had a roundabout that resembled that of a Human 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 turn into a 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 didn’t make so much as a woosh as it sent the guard into an eternal slumber. 

One of the Marines quickly cut away the plastic fencing as we moved into the facility. Artemis was already dealing with the guards that would have seen us. We made a dash for the door as we stuck together. 

Any fear that the marines were experiencing was elevated as we made it to the door. The equivalent of a handprint 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 fourth floor. That's most likely where they had their servers. A quick bio-pulse scanned the adjoining rooms and hallways for signs of life, but it pinged negative in my helmet. 

We came through a set of double doors, and the teal plastic was replaced with a bright, sterile white color. It seems the concept of cleanliness and clean colored environments transcends species.

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

The building maintained its sterile white coloring as multiple rooms branched off the primary hallway. Stretchers and various medical supplies lay scattered around the place. Doors to rooms were open, showing beds and machines alike. This was definitely a hospital at some point. 

I was pondering these things for only a moment when I heard something crunch underneath a heavy boot. I looked forward to the space in front of the lead Marine and watched the light distort and warp for a moment. Then, a white-hot blade suddenly pierced the heart of the Marine in front of me, lifting him off the ground. 

I instantly noticed the small amount of blood seemingly floating in the air and sent three 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 an elegant set of blue armor crumpled to the ground, their stealth field failing. 

Have they finally figured out our cloaking tech? Is this the purpose of this site? 

At least before now, the Elunari didn'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 behind Miranda.

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