Deathworld Commando: Reborn

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I'm currently hunting for the first time today with Dad. And as I thought, shooting a ballistic or plasma-based weapon is vastly different than using a bow and arrow. Using a bow is a far more challenging task. I have no trouble sneaking up on my prey. I can often get closer than is necessary, but when it comes time to make the shot. I fail to hit the mark almost every single time. Turns out shooting stationary targets in your backyard with a weapon does not translate well when aiming at a target that can move erratically.

Thankfully, the jungle had no shortage of prey. I can often find something to hunt within a few minutes of a failed attempt. It appears my skills in tracking haven’t degraded since being reborn, if anything they have improved even more. My hearing is far more accurate and long-reaching. My sense of direction is also unmatched compared to my old body. Before I had to rely on my instruments to know the cardinal directions, but now, it was almost like I couldn’t get lost if I wanted to. I always seemed to know where I was in the jungle, as long as I had been there before of course.

My dad was explaining to me that there are protective wards around the village and the jungle. Currently, we are in an in-between zone of the outermost wards and the village wards. This zone is mostly used for hunting and allows less dangerous monsters or animals into it. I’ve never even crossed the first set of wards before. This zone should be the safest, well it’s supposed to at least.

When I was attacked I should have been inside the area of the village’s protective wards, yet somehow those shadowling monsters had gotten through them, undetected. I overheard my parents talking to some rangers, which are apparently the equivalent of a military or police force around here. And their search came back negative. They lowered their voices and said some things that apparently surprised my parents, but I couldn’t make out what they said.

“You know son, the wards around the village were actually created by a friend of your mother and me.”

“Really, Dad?”

“Yup. His name is Bowen, goodman that Human. I think he is a professor now at the university in the capital of Luminar. If you ever find yourself up in that frozen place I’m sure he would like to meet you,” My dad informed me.

“I hope he is doing well, heard he was getting married and everything. Wonder if he has a kid yet,” My dad had a wide smile as he reminisced about his old friend.

Huh, didn’t know my dad was so well-traveled. And friends with an important Human nonetheless. It was also good to see that Humanity was inventing new things even in this world. Although the wards failed me, I’m sure they have saved a lot of lives.

But right now I couldn’t let my mind wander. I had finally found what I had been tracking. It was some kind of large lizard the size of a house cat, it was a brown color that matched the trees and it jumped from branch to branch to traverse around the jungle. This creature wasn’t dangerous but was somewhat difficult to find as it didn’t leave any obvious tracks. But if you knew what you were looking for you could find a pattern in the broken branches from when it leaps from branch to branch. Apparently, the scales would fetch a decent price, if you could catch the thing.

My dad stood behind me, his bow ready to clean up my eventual failure. The lizard was 20 yards away crawling up the trunk of a tree. I steadied my breath and aimed, I released the arrow but I shook a bit at the lost moment from my sore back muscles and fired high. Shit.

But it seems I had luck on my side today. The lizard miscalculated and dodged upwards into my arrow pinning it to the tree with a loud thud.

“Yes! I hit it!” I screamed out, I tossed my hands up and jumped around in pure joy.

Finally. After, 4 long hours of being in this hot sweaty jungle I finally hit something. Of course, it was dumb luck, but I would take it anyways. I turned to look at my dad and he was just standing there with a proud grin. I realized I had been dancing around for a few moments like a fool and felt my face flush with embarrassment.

“You need to finish your kill, son. Only the worst kinds of people let their prey suffer unnecessarily. I can help you if you want,” My father said while walking over to the lizard.

“No, I got it,” I answered nonchalantly.

“Yeah… I guess this isn’t your first time ending a life, is it,” My father said solemnly.

Only if you knew, dad.

Both my parents still blamed themselves for what happened to me no matter how many times I reassured them. I quickly ran over to him and gave him a small hug,

“It’s okay, dad. I can do this,” I told him.

I jogged over and scrambled up the tree. I used a bit of earth magic to create small footholds so I could climb it easier. The lizard was still squirming as the arrow pinned it to the tree. I swiftly ended its suffering with a knife as it let out a final squeal.

“Good work. Got a bit lucky with that shot but you are getting better. Maybe if you want, we can come out again after I get back next week ?” My father.

“Yeah, sounds fun. But I’m starting school soon.”

“Ah, you’re right. Eh, we can figure it out later.” He dismissed with a wave of his hand. “Now then, these little guys are pretty hard to find so you got lucky that we managed to get one today. The meat on it is… disgusting." As my father imagined the taste of the meat I swear I saw a hint of green cycle through his tan skin, but he stayed strong and continued, "Normally I would just leave the meat out as bait and take the scales, but today we are gonna clean the whole thing.”

My dad went into great detail and guided me on how to clean and gut my first kill. I finished the deed and in the end, I had a small bag worth of brown scales and a carcass as a reward. I could tell the meat would be disgusting, it was tough and stringy, but the brown scales glistened with slime in the morning light.

“Now. All you gotta do is take that down to the market and find old Whitehelm. He will buy the scales off of you. And take no less than 5 silver for all those scales. If that old Dwarf tries cheating you, just tell him Alanis is going to go sell to Rodan from now on,” My dad warned me.

“You aren’t coming with me?” I asked.

“Nope, I am absolutely starving, so I'm going home. You know where the market is. If you can do this on your own you won’t need me around to go hunting,” My dad said with a stupid grin and gave me a thumbs up.

I wasn’t sure if a 5-year-old going to the market by himself was the best idea my father had, but it wasn’t my first time going into town alone. I had to get to the center of the village where Grandpa Jacob’s office was, so I was familiar with the layout of the village. I’d also been to the market a few times now with Mom to go shopping. I could do this on my own.

—

I have run into a problem. The roads are awfully congested this morning and I really don’t want to wade through the crowds and get elbowed by all these people. So I’ve made the tactical decision to take some back roads. But this in itself was a mistake. I have never actually been on these back roads before. My keen sense of direction doesn’t help me if I am lost in the first place. These roads zig-zag and just lead to houses and back entrances to shops. I’m just blindly heading in the direction to where the market should be when I turn a corner and 4 people are standing behind a shop.

One of them is wearing a snow-white cloak that covers their entire body. I can’t see their face either as it is just covered in a deep hood. The other 3 consist of 2 Wood Elf boys and a single Human boy. They all look to be a few years older than me and are just standing there, mumbling to each other, surrounding the cloaked person.

Not wanting to get involved in whatever was going on here I turned on my heels on the gravel and began to walk away. But it seemed the Wood Elf boy with brown hair heard me and called out,

“Hey, kid. What are you doing back here?” He asked me.

Kid? He was like 3 years older than me max.

“I’m going to the market,” I said as composed as possible.

I really don’t want to be involved with whatever is going on here.

“But the market is the other way…” The blonde Elf retorted while pointing behind me.

“Oh? Thank you, I guess I’m lost. I’ll just head back then. Sorry.”

Damn. Had I really let myself get turned around that much back here? I should have just taken the main road. I went to turn and walk away again when I heard the Human boy speak,

“What are you two doing, grab him, you idiots!” He barked at the Elves.

The two Elves looked conflicted for a moment as they approached me slowly.

“Sorry kid, orders are orders,” The blonde one said.

What are you a Marine? And what did I even do?

“Listen… I don’t know what is going on here and as far as I am concerned I saw nothing, okay?” I tried to diffuse the situation, this was getting out of hand quickly. But the two boys just kept creeping towards me.

I turned to start running when I heard the sound of rushing water and I threw myself to the ground. A bolt of water smashed into the wooden wall behind me, splintering the wood. What the hell?

If that bolt hit me in the head I might have actually died from that. Are these kids insane? Not only that it wasn’t even the Elf that cast the spell at me but the Human boy. I didn’t take him for a mage, he looked like he has been working in the fields since he could hold a farming tool. He was damn big for an 8 or 9-year-old kid. The two Elves looked back at their de facto leader surprised, the brown hair Elf questioned him. I'm going to call him Idiot1.

“Paul? What are you doing, he is just a kid!” Idiot1 shouted.

“What? I was aiming for his legs. Besides, he saw us. Now stop messing around and just grab the kid!” Paul spat venomously. He looked a bit pale now, guess that waterball took more out of him than I thought.

I have no idea what is going on here or what I even “saw”. I just wanted to walk away like nothing happened, but no. This kid was definitely trying to hit me in the head with that spell and it looked like they weren’t gonna let me go. The two other kids would probably be able to catch me if I ran anyways and turning my back to another spell would be suicide.

“Why don’t you just come here? I promise I won’t let Paul hurt you too much, nothing that can’t be healed, okay?” The blonde hair Elf said while trying to coax me towards him. And this is Idiot2.

How merciful of you Idiot2, I’ll make your pain swift.

I let them close in on me and as soon as Idiot1 reached for me I focused all my mana into my right arm and punched straight for his groin. He spat all over my face as I knocked the wind out of him, he didn’t even have a chance to groan as he began writhing on the ground in agony.

“Wow, wait how are you so-?” I cut Idiot2's sentence off with a swift mana-enhanced punch to the jaw. But he was ready and managed to enhance himself with mana in defense. Go figure, I was hoping only the Human could use mana.

He staggered back dazed and I watched as Paul was trying to aim another ball of water at me. Instead of dodging I just ran straight into Idiot2 and used him as a meat shield. His comrade, unable to stop his spell, now blasted Idiot2 in the back knocking him to the ground.

I could see the Human boy was struggling to stand now. The idiot was going past his limits with magic and was about to get mana sickness from it. I didn’t really feel bad for him, if that first waterball hit me in the head I would have been lucky to survive the impact. Besides, this could have all been avoided if they just let me walk away. Idiots.

“Grab your comrades and leave,” I said coldly. I even leaked a bit of my bloodlust in there to get the point across. I didn’t want the kid to die, explaining that to Mom and Dad would be troublesome. And I don’t think the best son in the world went around killing kids either. I was willing to be the bigger kid today.

I watched as Paul slowly raised Idiot1 who was still taking deep breaths on the ground and holding his stomach. Together they picked up Idiot2 who was still down from friendly fire and they dragged him out of the alleyway, never removing their hateful gazes from me.

I decided today, that kids are stupid. Or maybe just those kids are. Also, for that Human kid to be able to use Novice level water magic already was actually impressive. Too bad he decided to use it against me. And his buddy wasn’t too shabby with his mana enhancements either. Although, I don’t feel all that great about beating up a bunch of kids… even if I’m technically younger than them… kind of… meh.

As I was wondering how I was going to explain this all to my parents I remembered the 4th person. I turned around and they were just standing there, unmoving. They hadn’t said a single word either or even reacted to anything that just transpired in front of them. So I just stared at them. I stared at them in silence for a whole minute, waiting for them to say anything at all, but they just stood there like a statue made of snow. Well, this is getting awkward…

“Ummm… I am gonna go now? Sorry about them. I guess…” I tried to apologize but they once again made no moves.

Okay then. Not wanting to be here any longer I went to take my leave. I only managed a few steps before they grabbed my arm. Wow, they are strong.

They had a vice grip on my forearm, I was pretty sure they were going to snap my fragile little arm in half. I turned around to look at the person and their hood fell off revealing themselves. I took a sharp breath in as I was surprised at what I saw.

A pair of fox-like ember orange eyes gazed right into my face. The person was a Beastmen, they looked like an arctic fox mixed with an Elf. Their hair was snow-white even the eyelashes, it was the same white as their cloak. And I was pretty sure they were a she. She just stood there holding onto my arm not speaking.

I winced in pain as she wouldn’t lessen her grip, “Could you please let go of me?” I asked.

It took her a few seconds and she jerked her hand away from me. She looked at me apologetically but still remained silent. We just stood there and continued to stare at each other. Finally, she gave me a “Wait a second” gesture with her finger and began rummaging around in her satchel.

She pulled out a comically large stone tablet. The tablet was completely black and shined like obsidian. She sat down on the ground and hid behind the tablet. I just stood there waiting as this fox girl was doing something with the large stone tablet. After a few seconds, she turned the tablet towards me, and on its black surface were light blue glowing symbols. It was Elvish, and I began to read what she had written,

<Hi.> Was all the tablet said.

She just had the tablet in her lap and was peering over the top of it. I pressed my finger against the tablet and tried to write a letter but nothing happened. I gave her my best look of confusion and she grabbed my finger and glided it across the tablet. I could feel the warmth on her fingertips as she focused mana into them. I replicated the action and focused my own mana into my fingertips. Now I was able to write on the tablet.

How interesting, you could write on this stone tablet with just a bit of mana, it felt like it was sucking the mana straight from my fingertip. I wrote back to her,

<Hello?>

She quickly flipped the tablet back to herself and I could see her smile brightly as she began to furiously swipe her fingers across the tablet.

<Hi! Thank you for helping me. Those boys were trying to take my satchel.> I gave a nod of understanding and wrote back,

<It’s fine. They attacked me so it was no big deal. Bye then.>

Thinking I was done here I stood up to walk away but she quickly grabbed my leg and looked afraid that I was leaving. I have no idea what is going on and why she wanted me to stay so bad so I stopped and looked down at her. She began swiping away again on the tablet and turned it towards me once more,

<Will you be my friend?> She wrote to me.

Huh? This is unexpected.

I was surprised and sat there crouched as I read the letters on the stone. She flipped it back over to herself and began to write some more,

<Kids can’t read and write very well so it’s hard for me to talk to them. And they all make fun of me because I can’t hear them. I don’t have any friends.> She flipped the tablet back to me as I read this. I could see the sadness in her eyes as stared into them.

So, she’s deaf? A deaf Beastmen must be extremely rare. Not only that she must have been born that way since any injury to her ears could just be healed with magic. I couldn’t imagine being deaf, especially since Beastmen were supposed to have hearing that was just as good as Elves. It must be hard for her. And I had seen firsthand just how stupid kids can be. I began to write back to her,

<Okay. Only on one condition.>

She quickly read my response and looked up at me. She seemed surprised and kept rereading the tablet. I could see tears well up in her eyes when she suddenly dropped the tablet and lunged at me. She had me in a bear hug before I could even react. She began to sob while squeezing the life out of me. She didn’t even know what I was going to ask of her. How the hell was she getting bullied? I’m pretty sure she could just squeeze kids to death if they messed with her.

I let her have her moment until she finally calmed down and grabbed the tablet again.

<I’ll do anything!>

Feeling a bit light-headed now I wrote back,

<You are going to have to learn sign language.>

<What is sign language?>

<It’s a language spoken with hand gestures.>

I didn’t have any friends myself and I never had anyone want to be friends with me before. I was friends with Nyx… but she isn’t here anymore. And I could understand her plight of being a pariah. I knew all too well what it was like for everyone around you to not understand you or just outright dislike you for something you had no control over.

So I think I was actually kind of happy that this girl wanted to be friends with me. However, communicating using this tablet was going to be tedious. Also, lugging this dang thing around all day must be awful for her. I knew sign language from my previous life so I could just teach her that. It would be way easier and more practical than using this thing.

<Can you teach me?> She asked.

<Of course, I’ll teach you. What is your name by the way?> I asked.

<Cerila. What is yours?>

<Kaladin. It’s nice to meet you Cerila.>

And today, somehow, I went from getting lost on my way to the market, to fighting some random punk kids, to meeting my first new friend Cerila.

Thanks, Dad.

Have you enjoyed the story so far? If so you can find more on Reddit/Royal Road!

I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to see the deep expanse of the void. Instead, I was laying down staring up at a familiar ceiling. My body felt weak and tired, but that was a good thing I guess. That means I must have survived. And I could fulfill my promise.

My neck felt like it weighed double its normal amount as I managed to rotate it. Old man Jacobs was sitting in a chair pulled up to my bedside and was dozing off. But as soon I gazed in his direction, though it was only a moment, his eyes snapped open and we stared right at each other in silence. I could tell he hasn’t slept very much. His normal amount of bags had extra bags under those emerald eyes of his. I thought he looked ancient before, but he somehow managed to look even older now. Guess that was my fault as well.

“Finally awake, kid. That’s good,” Dr. Jacobs said softly. His usual demeanor was gone and replaced with a warmth that radiated from him.

I tried to speak but I only managed a weak moan.

“Relax, don’t push yourself. ”

Dr. Jacobs summoned a fist-sized ball of water and guided it towards my mouth, "Here you go, kid."

I eagerly awaited its bliss as it splashed into my mouth, the water coated my dry throat and it was even chilled a bit. But I needed more. I reopened my mouth, singing for another round and Dr. Jacobs obliged with a chuckle.

“Thank you… Doctor, you probably saved me too. I’m sorry,” I said sincerely.

“It’s fine. You got lucky I decided to go out there with your parents. You wouldn’t have survived without me. Poison from a Shadowling, broken bones galore, blood loss, and mana sickness to top it all of. You are a really lucky kid,” Reprimanded Dr. Jacobs.

“I’m sorry,” It was all I could say in this situation. I didn’t know what else to say.

This man had gone out there and risked himself to save me, for nothing. I couldn’t offer him anything else other than my sincerest apology. I owed him so much, he was my mentor and asked nothing of me in return. Dr. Jacobs spent countless hours teaching me about mana and magic, an education that was fit for the elite.

Additionally, he constantly healed my wounded and battered body regularly with barely any complaints. What could I even do for him? What did this man even need or want from a failure like me? But maybe… I could do this. No, I wanted to do this. Maybe it was selfish of me to want this but it's all I could think of.

“Hey… Dr. Jacobs. Can I maybe call you Grandpa. If that’s okay?” I asked.

My voice shook a bit more than I intended. I was expecting him to just laugh at me and say ‘For someone so smart you sure are stupid, boy’ or something along those lines. I didn't know why but I wanted to recognize him as family. At this point, he was far more than some mentor to me. His facial features softened even more. He gave me a warm smile that reached ear to ear.

“Sure, kid. If that’s what you want,” said my grandpa.

“Thank you, Grandpa. For everything, I really am sorry.”

I was a little surprised he was so willing to accept me. He didn't even ask why or anything. It made me happy that he was willing to accept me as family.

“Mmm. Don’t worry about it. Nobody could have known a Shadowling pack would come so close to us. The wards around the village are supposed to protect us. Normally we get an early warning. But this time, you being attacked was the early warning. It was completely random that so many monsters showed up, it’s incredibly rare,” Explained Grandpa.

I could only manage a small nod as he continued on, “But it’s fine. I guess in some twisted way you might have saved some people, kid. We have no idea how so many got past the rangers, hunters, and the village wards. Those monsters probably would have come after the village if they didn’t stumble upon you first.”

“Did anybody get hurt?” I asked.

“Nope. You were the only one who had anything serious. As soon as your parents knew you were going to be okay, they along with all the rangers and hunters went into the jungle for two whole days. They hunted every monster or dangerous animal all the way to the next damn village. I almost feel bad for anything that got caught up in their warpath…”

“And where are my parents now?” I asked nervously.

I had so much to say to them. My chest tightened as I thought about what I was going to say. I had made myself a promise. I was going to change, and I was going to be the best son I could be. But more importantly, I needed to tell them, no I had to tell my mom and dad that I loved them.

“They finally just went to sleep. You Elves don’t need to sleep as much as us Humans. But staying up for 3 days straight is bad for anyone. I finally convinced them that I’d watch you for a bit longer if they just got some sleep.”

“I see,” I said a little dejectedly.

My parents spent 3 whole sleepless days slaughtering monsters in retribution for me, then even came home and tried to wait for me to wake up. A ball formed in the back of my throat and as my fatigue seeped deeper into my body. I gotta keep my promise this time.

“You know you are pretty tough. I didn’t think you would wake up soon. But you need more rest, so go back to sleep, Son.”

Grandpa’s soothing voice lulled me back to sleep as I could no longer fight against the fatigue.

—-

Seana Shadowheart’s POV

I might be the worst mother ever. I thought that maybe, once I had my first child things would just come naturally to me. But I was wrong.

I sat here cradling my pride and joy waiting for him to wake up. I let this happen to him. It was all my fault Kaladin was injured like this. Only if I was a better mother, maybe this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. If I had just done a better job…

If I was a better mother I would have the answers. If I had a normal life maybe I would know what to say to him when he wakes up. But how could I possibly say anything to him when he has never even called me mom? I didn’t deserve to have such a handsome and smart son. He looks just like his father with his beautiful black hair. He’s gonna break a lot of peoples’ hearts when he grows up.

Dr. Jacobs had recommended that we love Kaladin with everything we have. But that wasn’t enough. Love wouldn’t help my son’s wounds heal. Love wouldn't mend his conflicted heart. But that’s all I could do, I just have to try my best, and love him with everything I had. And maybe one day, in his eyes, I would be his mother. I wanted nothing more than to be there for him, to be his mother. But I was scared that I couldn’t do it, that my love wouldn’t be enough and Kaladin would drift even further away.

Kaladin stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Our gazes met and I was at a loss for words. Dr. Jacobs had said something was different about him when he woke up briefly a few days ago. And I didn’t understand it, but something does seem different about him. His beautiful multicolored gemlike eyes seemed so soft as I felt their gaze in my very soul. I couldn’t say anything to him, I just sat there and stroked his long hair. It’s getting so long now. My heart ached as he spoke to me softly,

“Hi, Mom,” was all he said to me.

The floodgates opened and I began to cry harder than I ever had. Did he call me Mom? Why now? What did I do to deserve this all of a sudden?

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry,” Kaladin looked so hurt, his voice was shaking.

Why was he apologizing to me? This was all my fault?

Kaladin raised himself up from the bed and embraced me. I couldn’t even manage words through my ugly sobs as I choked on the air. I just hugged him in return and continued crying.

“I love you, Mom, I'm so sorry, please stop crying, I’m sorry...” He choked out.

I could feel his tiny body begin shaking as he started crying along with me. I didn’t understand what was going on anymore. Kaladin never cried, even as an infant he only cried when he was hungry. Instead of trying to make sense of things I just continued to embrace my son and cry with him.

He finally called me Mom, and he said he loved me. I love you too, Kaladin.Please forgive me for being the worst mother ever.

—-

Kaladin Shadowheart’s POV

It felt good to finally tell my mom I loved her. I had been repressing these feelings for so long. I felt the weight of years of pent-up emotions leave my body as I cried along with her. I have never cried like this before. And I’ve never seen her cry like this. I must have worried her so much. Never again. I would never let my mom cry like this again.

We simply cried ourselves to catharsis. After our little episode, she finally spoke to me,

“I’m sorry too, Kal. I haven’t been a very good mom, can you forgive me?” She said while wiping away the snot and tears.

What? This woman has done nothing but support me. I didn’t have a mom in my previous life but I knew she was trying her best. It was my fault for being like this, for causing her so much grief. She felt this way because of me. Gah, I really am the worst. I don’t deserve this at all. I hugged her again and told her,

“You are the best Mom ever. You didn’t do anything wrong. Please don’t cry…” I begged as tears began to well up in her eyes again.

I didn’t know what she was thinking but I knew I had to make it right, so I just hugged her tightly again to stop myself from crying.

“How about we just start over, Mom?” I suggested.

It was a good middle ground. I didn’t even deserve this much. But maybe If we could start from square one, I could make amends, and I could really be her son. She hugged me tighter and spoke softly into my ears,

“Okay, let’s do that, but you have to make me a promise,” She said with a goofy smile.

“Yes, anything. I’ll do anything,” I pleaded.

She began to wipe my snot and tears away from my face and smiled down at me,

“Just promise you’ll never cry so hard in front of the person you like, you are too handsome to cry like this.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at this. If she was willing to joke around now maybe we could really start over. Hopefully, this could be the start of our relationship as mother and son.

“You should see yourself, mom.” I joked.

Looks like I got this ugly cry from my beautiful mother. She gave me a face of mock surprise and pinched my cheeks like she used to when I was a baby.

“That wasn’t very nice,” she pouted while puffing her reddened cheeks out.

We both broke out into laughter. My sides hurt from laughing so hard. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this hard either. I think I can get used to this. It felt way better to embrace these feelings than it did to suppress them.

Just then my dad opened the door to my room, he looked like he had just woken up as his long black hair was disheveled and he was yawning,

“What did I just miss?” He asked.

“Good morning, Dad,” I said.

He just stood there confused moved his hair from his face,

“Uh… yeah… good morning, Son.”

—

It’s been about a month since the events of my birthday. I’ve finally recovered from my injuries and can walk normally again.

I’ve reconciled with both my parents and things are going well. It seems I can finally be their son, for real this time.

I’ve decided that I wouldn't tell anyone about my past. It would probably only complicate things beyond repair, and frankly, as far as I was concerned. Commander Kronos of Hades Squad had finally died in that jungle. I was no longer the same person I was 5 years ago. I finally have these Human emotions that I was robbed of in my previous life. I wanted to truly experience what it was like to live a normal life and not be somebody’s tool. A lot of these emotions confused me, but I knew one thing for certain, that I was happier than I have ever been.

My family and I were currently eating dinner when my dad asked me an interesting question,

“Hey, Kal. Would you like to go to school?”

School? I’ve never been to a school. But I honestly didn't see a reason. I was already getting a top-tier education from Grandpa. Going to school would cut into training time with both Dad and Grandpa.

“There is a little school run for kids in the village. Dr. Jacobs recommended that you attend a few days a week there. If you want to of course,” My mom said.

Huh, even gramps wants me to go to school? It seems my mom is on board with the idea as well. Maybe if I went to school I would be freeing my mom’s schedule more. She could go back to work full time again. But that was beside the point If my family wanted me to go to school. I would go to school.

“Okay, I’ll go to school,” I said simply.

Today is the eve of my 5th birthday. I never had a birthday party before and have only ever been told about them. I was unsure what to expect, but Seana and Alanis were making moves behind the scenes. They asked me if I wanted to invite anybody else over. I didn’t really have anyone to invite, so I asked Dr. Jacobs if he would like to come. And to my surprise, he agreed. So for my very first birthday party, I would have Alanis, Seana, and Dr. Jacobs as my guests. Quite the crowd.

I had a dream again for the first time in a long time last night. It wasn’t a nightmare, thankfully. It was actually rather peaceful. In my dream, I was speaking with Doctor Suárez again aboard Vitality Medical Station. I don’t remember what we were talking about but I had a sense that I was forgetting something important. I tried to recall it but for some reason, it was just so hazy.

Actually, a lot of my older memories are starting to fade away slowly. It’s not that I’m forgetting them completely, it’s just that they are being pushed further back it seems, I doubt I could ever truly forget those days. I don’t know what any of these things mean for me but I am just so conflicted. What is going on, why am I here, and what does this place want from me? I guess I’ll just sleep on it tonight.

—

All four of us are currently sitting around the dining room table to begin my party. After being forced to give up baking me any sweets by Alanis. Seana ended up getting something from the port for the occasion.

“This is a dessert called a cupcake and it has a chocolate frosting, it’s very sweet and delicious,” explained Seana while casually licking some of the frosting off it.

Chocolate? I’ve only had a piece of chocolate one time. Some Marine gave me their chocolate ration bar as a thank you. I remember the taste and it wasn’t very sweet. It was actually really dark and bitter. The chocolate that was covering this cupcake was much lighter in color and I could practically smell the sweetness from here. I was just starting at the cupcake when Alanis urged me on,

“Well, go on now Kal, eat it!”

“But what about everyone else?” The cupcake was pretty small and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to share it with everyone. I could hear Dr. Jacobs smack his face and began cackling,

“Boy, they bought it just for you! I swear, for someone so smart you really are hopeless sometimes.”

“It’s all yours. Go ahead and try it,” Seana reassured me.

I took a bite from the dessert and my mouth watered from the sweetness. Whatever that Marine gave me wasn’t chocolate.

This stuff was fantastic. I was hesitant at first but upon my second bite, I quickly began to devour my dessert. I defeated the chocolate cupcake in no time at all, much to the amusement of everybody around me.

“I guess he likes it,” said Alanis.

With a mouth full of delicious chocolate cupcake I gave a thumbs-up as I finished swallowing it.

“Now we have your gifts, Kal,” Seana gave me a small parcel that was wrapped up in a simple grey cloth. Wrapped up in the cloth was a bright red tunic. I sat there inspecting it for a few moments.

“Come on, try it on,” insisted Alanis.

I had begun to outgrow the teal shirt that was made for me. I tried the tunic on and it fit perfectly. It fell just below my hips and it was made using the mana weave material Seana makes. I could feel the tingling sensation on my skin as the tunic began regulating my body temperature. It was amazing quality as usual. I wasn’t too sure about thread count or anything but this must have taken her a long time to make, it was unbelievably soft. So far this was the most intricate thing she has made for me.

“Now what do you say to your mother, Kal?” Chided Alanis.

“Thank you, I like it a lot,” I said.

Seana had a big dopey smile as she said, “I’m glad.”

“Now it’s my turn.”

Alanis procured a long wooden box and handed it over to me. I ran my hand across the smooth lacquered wood, it was made from the same warm jungle wood that was common around here. Inside the box laid a small bow. The bow was made from a reddish-black wood and had Alanis’s craftsmanship all over it. I had thought that the wooden practice staff was nice, but Alanis had really outdone himself this time.

“Took me about a half a year to make her. That wood is from a tree that is native to our Dark Elf tribal region. I figured I could teach you how to shoot it sometimes if you want?” Asked Alanis as he scratched the back of his head.

It was just something he did every time he seemed to get embarrassed. But I didn’t see a reason to be. Out of all the weapons I had used before, a bow and arrow was probably something I had the least amount of experience in. Yet I still knew this bow was well crafted and took him plenty of man-hours to complete. It even had my name engraved in Elvish.

“Thanks, can you teach me how to use it soon?” I asked. I genuinely wanted to learn how to shoot a bow properly and it seemed I had a willing teacher.

“Of course,” answered Alanis with a warm smile.

“My gift might not be as fancy as these two, but I’m sure you will enjoy it nonetheless. Here you go, kid, happy birthday.”

Dr. Jacobs handed me a stack of 2 large leather-bound books. These books must’ve cost him a lot of money. Books and paper seemed to be pretty rare. Even Dr. Jacobs, who was probably the wealthiest person in the village only had a small collection of books. And most of those were medical-related. One book was titled, Deguzman’s Brief History of Illyricum, and the other book was Deguzman’s Guide to Magical Monsters and More. Seems like he got a buy one get one free from this Deguzman fellow. And Illyricum? Maybe that's the name of this world or continent.

Mmm, a history book and a monster information book. This could be interesting. There was just one problem, it was all written in the Human language that I barely knew. I was surprised the cover was in Elvish. Upon seeing this, Jacobs began cackling once again.

“Haha, sorry kid. Looks like you are gonna have to work a bit for my gift!”

I guess this book would double as material to learn the Human language as well. Even the old man was smiling now. My face hurt a little bit from smiling so much as well. Nobody has ever given me such personalized gifts before. My chest swelled with a warm feeling. This might be the happiest I had ever been.

Wait? I’m really happy? Is this what it’s like to be happy? I…I... don’t understand myself anymore.

The party continued on and we enjoyed a small feast in my name. Everyone else dished out what I assumed to be wine and began indulging themselves in it. The oddly sweet yet strong aroma began filling the room as everyone continued to enjoy themselves.

The event was enjoyable but I just had this sinking feeling in my stomach I couldn’t seem to shake. I began sweating and feeling nervous and uncomfortable in my own skin. I need to go for a walk.

I excused myself from the table, not that anyone noticed as they had become quite inebriated at this point.

—

Alanis Shadowheart’s POV

Today is my son’s first birthday party. I can only hope we made him happy. It was always so hard to tell what the boy was thinking. Even as a baby he always had a far-off look in his eyes like he was in deep thought. But today at the dinner table he seemed genuinely happy about his gifts and the cupcake we got him.

His adorable smile reached ear to ear on his handsome face that looked just like his mother's. But it wasn’t long after that he returned to his usually stoic face. It was almost like he didn’t want to be happy sometimes. I was thinking about these things when my wife asked Doctor Jacobs exactly what I had been thinking. Sometimes I swear she could read my mind.

“Dr. Jacobs… is there something wrong with Kal?” she asked him in a worried voice.

We had always been worried about him. We were told that babies were nightmares. That they could keep parents up for hours on end and were relentless in their attempts to make your life hell. Yet, as a baby, Kaladin would rarely cry.

Instead, he would often just lay in his basket staring off into the ceiling. We were worried he might have been ill at some points. It wasn’t until he began to speak that I finally understood that my son was different. He seemed to pick up on everything extremely quickly. I swear to this day he could understand us completely by the time he hit his first year of life.

“Do you want my honest opinion?” Asked Jacobs.

“If you don’t mind, Doctor,” I replied.

“Well of course something is wrong with the boy. I honestly believe he is a true genius. Not some bullshit kid who is just a little above average in intelligence. I mean a real genius, the type that only comes around every century, type of genius,” said Jacobs.

Dr. Jacobs was a man of many talents with a vast amount of knowledge. He was capable of feats many people could only dream of. Yet when he said this I could only feel conflicted. It’s not that I didn’t trust his judgment, there was no doubt my son was incredibly intelligent. With minimal assistance, he had learned the entire Elven language in under a year and had even begun learning more languages.

And according to Dr. Jacobs, his magic and mana lessons were progressing at blinding speeds. But I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. I loved my son deeply. He is my first child and I would do anything in the world for the boy, yet I couldn’t help feeling something wasn’t right. I also didn’t want him to walk a similar path that we did...

“Honestly, there is no point in attempting to understand your son. Individuals like him are so far beyond our understanding, we would sooner find the answer to life than figure out what goes on in the mind of a genius. In my honest opinion, if you want to help your son. You gotta do two things for him.”

“And what are those two things?” Asked Seana nervously.

“First and foremost. Love your son with everything you have. I can truly say I have only meant one person I considered a genius, and over time they had become so disassociated with their own feelings it was like they weren’t even Human anymore.”

Could it be that Kaladin is already struggling with this? Maybe that far-off look he has isn’t what I think it is. Maybe he is struggling with his own inner demons? Have we failed him already? And how did this happen so soon?

“Second. The boy needs some friends. The kid is 5 years old and has nobody he can call a friend. With all that boy’s intelligence, he has the social skills of a pile of mud, a very smart pile of mud. Even a single friend would keep him from being stuck in his mind all damn day. If you let him stay up in there in that vast head of his, he will never come out of it,” warned Jacobs.

“And how do we get him a friend? I don’t think Kaladin would enjoy being around average kids,” I said.

“Exactly the problem. He shouldn’t be feeling that way, not yet at least. You gotta expose him to kids his age. Doesn’t Aila run a school for kids in the mornings? Send him there a few times a week,” Suggested Jacobs as he downed another glass of wine.

The old man was heading into his 84th year of life as a human, yet he still seemed as spry as ever.

“But aren’t you giving him a far better education?” I asked.

“Going to school teaches kids way more things than just stuff from a book you doofus. I swear for you two living so long you should be ahead of the game. Then again I guess you two didn’t really have a childhood either….” mumbled Jacobs.

True. Seana and I were far from normal. Kaladin really is the perfect mix of us. It really was our fault Kaladin was like this, we should have been paying better attention...

“Maybe we should just ask him?” Said Seana.

That was a good idea. Maybe it would be best to just ask Kaladin himself. I looked around but Kaladin was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh, where is Kaladin?”

—

Kaladin Shadowheart’s POV

I had escaped the house and wandered off into the jungle a bit away from the home. It was just becoming evening so there were plenty of hours of sunlight left in the day. I got a sickening feeling in my stomach as emotions swirled around in my head. I was just so confused and unsure of what I was doing. Here I was, in a fantasy world, living a second life. I just couldn’t come to terms with it all. It defied all logic, yet here I was.

Or perhaps I just wasn’t letting myself come to terms with it. I had grown sick and tired of these games.

“LISTEN HERE, WHOEVER IS FUCKING AROUND WITH ME OUT THERE, JUST KILL ME ALREADY! WHY ARE YOU KEEPING ME HERE!?” I screamed into the evening air.

I hoped some administrative figure would descend from the sky and tell me what was going on and what the purpose of all this was. That the simulation wound finally end and they would either kill me or spare me. Yet, my complaints and wishes were meant with the silence of the evening jungle.

I leaned up against a tree and slid my back down its rough bark onto the ground. I felt nauseous, as my emotions raged on in my head as I tried to make sense of all of this. My stomach lurched as I fought back the bile that threatened to escape my mouth. I felt light-headed and I couldn’t stop myself from shaking and sweating. I stared off into the cloudy sky and tried to calm my nerves.

But suddenly, every fiber in my body screamed at me. I sensed something close to me and began to panic. I was so distraught that I hadn’t even comprehended why the jungle was so quiet. It was because something was in it.

About 50 yards away from me I heard a bush rustle as something slipped out from it. It looked like an inky black dog with no neck or mouth. Its front legs were shorter than its back and it gave it a hunched appearance. It had 2 rows of 6 beat red eyes and sharp inky spines coming out of its slick back. It almost looked like a moving shadow despite the red eyes. I could feel it staring straight at me. I gotta run. Now.

I enhanced myself with mana and began a full sprint out of the jungle. It only took a few moments but I could hear that monster gaining on me. It was closing the distance and fast. Shit, it’s going to catch me.

Out of options and my heart pounding out of my chest, I spotted a tree that looked easy to climb and hoped that thing lacked the ability to climb. I didn’t see claws on it nor did it seem strong enough to just straight-up jump up the tree. I scurried up the tree at blinding speeds for a 5 year old. I was about 30 feet into the air when I looked down at the floor of the jungle. I began to sweat profusely as I could practically drink the bloodlust that thing was emitting. It just sat there, staring at me menacingly.

Then in a blink of an eye, I heard a whoosh then a thud as a black spine lodged itself into the branch right next to where my face used to be. I didn’t have time to think as I could hear the air whiz as more spines were launched at me. I began running through the canopy as fast as I could. I could still hear that monster launching spines and running after me from below.

A spine slammed into the branch I was about to land on and it gave away. I was in a free fall for only a moment, then I slammed into the branches on my way down to the jungle floor. I could feel my ribs break as I smashed through the canopy. I tried to hold onto a branch but instead, I just ended up smacking my head against a new one. I blacked out as I tumbled down to the jungle floor.

I woke up at the base of a tree. It only took one shallow breath to know I had destroyed my ribs and a few other bones. My head swam as I saw stars. Not only that a few yards away from me was that inky black monster. It fired a spine straight into my right shoulder, pinning me to the tree. I screamed out in pain.

I could only watch as it advanced on me. It didn’t have a face but I could tell it enjoyed hunting me as it let out a satisfied purr. My vision blurred as it began to sprint at me to finish me off. Like hell, I’m not going out this easy.

I waited for it to leap at me and I placed my hand onto the ground and willed a spike of earth to come forth. This spell was an Intermediate level combat spell called Earth Spike. Normally casting it only once would drain me completely, but I wasn’t about to let this monster have its way with me. Even if I died from mana sickness.

It leaped and my Earth Spike went straight into its midsection impaling the monster high up in the air. It let out a shrill scream of pain as it attempted to end my life. The inky blackness where its face should have been melted away, revealing razor-sharp teeth that attempted to rip my throat out. Using the last drops of my mana I sent a fireball straight into the mouth of the monster and watched it explode. Smoke fumed from the monster’s mouth. It was impaled on the brown spear of earth that I conjured, unmoving and staining it with oozing black blood.

I sat there, pinned to a tree and bleeding out with broken ribs and concussion. On top of that, I could no longer feel the right side of my body. It seems the monster's spine was poisoned. Everything hurt so bad.

I gazed off into the distance. All of this felt so real. Maybe, it really was real. All this time it wasn’t a simulation, I had actually been given a second chance at life. And instead of keeping my promise with Doctor Suárez and Heimdall to live life a little bit, I squandered a golden chance. I feel awful.

I heard them before I saw them. Looks like the little black ink monster has friends. And they weren’t happy. I looked out through blurry vision and saw a hoard of the monsters closing in on me, bearing those hideous rows of pearl white teeth at me.

Suddenly the closest one to me was blasted apart by a lance of white lightning. I could only barely make out the figure of Alanis descending from the shadows as he danced between the monsters slaughtering them. Only moments after Seana joined him, wielding two silver daggers and glowing a bright white as lightning arced around her licking her arms and legs. I watched as they risked their lives to try and save me. They were outnumbered yet they never stopped fighting.

I couldn’t help but feel so much worse now. Here were the two people who probably loved me the most in the world, risking their lives for me. Yet, I had never even called them Mom or Dad even once to their faces. I had even called my mom a witch and referred to my own dad as a Xeno. In my early times as an infant, I had even contemplated killing my own family. But here they were defending me in my final moments. It reminded me of what I did for Hades Squad and that sickened me even more.

If I had the strength to vomit I probably would. I was furious at myself. I had been living a convenient lie for the last 5 years. I had been lying to myself for 5 long years because it was easier to cover up and hide my new emotions than it was for me to face them. I was a weak little failure.

In truth, I was angry with being betrayed by Zeus and the rest of the Death Commandos. I was mad at Humanity tossing me aside when I was no longer needed. I was sad that I'd never see Hades Squad again. And I was devastated that I let Nyx die because of me.

I’d thought this life was some Navy simulation and not the real deal. And because of that, I failed in the worst ways possible. I failed not only my family in this life but I failed my closest companions in the last one as well. I’m so sorry Nyx, I’m so sorry Doctor Suárez and Heimdall. I should have never taken the life of Kaladin Shadowheart. Things would have been better that way.

I could only watch as they fought. My already blurring vision was filled with tears as I drifted off once again to the void of death. I probably wouldn’t get a third chance at life. And that was fine, I didn’t deserve it the second time anyhow. It’s a shame I am going to die with all these regrets and that filled me with even more pain in my heart.

It’s been a whole year since I’ve started practicing magic under Doctor Jacobs. I am nearly 5 years old now. He managed to convince Alanis and Seana that I am some type of mega prodigy that needed to be nurtured as soon as possible. They apparently weren’t surprised when the old man said this as they just kept shouting, ‘We knew our little elf is special!’ How embarrassing. But it seems they are supporting me at least.

The old man is a very hands-off kind of teacher. He often just sets me with a task and I go head first until I succeed or fail. Of course, he helps me when I need it, but I do prefer his approach. He can only tell me how to read and say a certain word so many times before it becomes redundant.

In the meantime, I have finally learned to read and write in Elvish. Apparently, there are a ton of languages. But nearly everyone here spoke Elvish. Even the Humans and Beastmen. I had also been studying up on the Human language and the Beastmen but it was just the absolute basics.

But on the flip side, I had learned a lot about magic and mana. So far I know that every living thing has mana. That included everything from a blade of grass, to a Human, all the way to giant sea monsters that lived in the ocean. Essentially, magic is just a living thing using its life force to create phenomenons. And these phenomenons are called magic. But, not everything with mana could use magic. People with enough mana and skill to use magic are called mages. Not every mage was capable of the feats.

More often than not, what kind of magic you could use and the size of your available mana is decided by your race, lineage, upbringing, and of course sheer luck. For example, Elves are commonly known for being adept in the elemental schools of magic while having one of the largest pools of mana amongst the races. It is commonplace for most Elves to be good at wind magic, however, outliers like me existed. I could not use wind magic to save my life.

On top of that, I learned that magic is broken up into schools. Most mages stuck to the 4 basic schools of magic that comprise the 4 major elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. However, there are many different schools ranging from plant or poison magic, all the way to light magic. Outside of the 4 elemental schools, these more niche schools are very rare and difficult to use. Normally for a mage to use one of these niche schools they had to either have a large mana pool, an affinity for the school, and more often than not, both.

Currently, the only schools of magic I am capable of using are earth and fire. And I am absolutely terrible at wind and water. I also didn’t have the mana to try any of the other niche schools like light magic. For a single measly drop of magic water, I could make 5 little balls of fire in its place. I just simply have an aversion to water and wind magic for some reason. Instead of wasting my time casting spells that often left me drained and tired, I have been doing two things.

One. I wore this teal mana weave shirt Seana made for me. It’s getting a bit tight on me now, however. Apparently, Elves and many of the other races love this stuff as it is said to increase your mana pool slowly over time as you grow, depending on the quality of the weave of course. And apparently, Seana is very good at making this stuff.

Two. I have been focusing on controlling my mana better. Mana actually has a lot of uses if you could control it. Nearly everyone learned to control their mana at some point, it allowed an average person to run faster, lift things they wouldn’t normally be able to lift, and even heal slightly faster. The simulation had deemed this to be a crucial factor for me so I had been focusing on it wholeheartedly. Before, I could only control a small little drop of mana around my body. And it used to take an extreme amount of concentration.

Now I can control entire flows of mana without even thinking about it. It's like commanding a vast amount of running water in my body. Using my superior control over mana I am now capable of casting more spells and strengthening my tiny weak body. Albeit not a considerable amount more but enough to make a notable difference. Compared to Dr. Jacobs my available mana was a small glass of water and his was a lake worth, maybe even bigger. Not only that, casting spells seemed to help increase my available mana over time. I went from nearly dying from casting a finger-sized flame to being able to cast a few tiny balls of fire.

Of course, it really wasn’t much in the grand scheme of mana or magic. The old man is pretty adamant that my mana pool would increase as I got older, and that by following these steps I am essentially paving the way for having an even larger mana pool in the future.

I had come to respect the old man quite a bit at this point. He went from being a crazy old doctor to an extremely intelligent teacher and mage. The man acted like he was all-knowing but he had the skills and knowledge to back it up. He is capable of using the rare school of light magic. Light magic is a notoriously difficult school to even become a novice in. But humans had a disproportionate amount of mages capable of using it. And being able to use light magic to heal people showed Dr. Jacob's rank in his school.

Mages who practiced a school of magic are ranked by a naming system. Starting at the lowest of Novice. Novices are mages that could use the school of magic without having negative side effects, such as mana sickness. Then there are Intermediate mages, these are mages who have a decent grasp on their desired school and could cast spells from it sparsely, and for not for very long in their chosen school. Most Intermediate mages could use only a handful or so of spells before needing to stop.

Expert is the next rank and this is where most of the capable mages sat at. They are experts with their chosen school and could use magic from it often and in large quantities for longer periods of time. These mages also tended to have decent-sized mana pools to boot. Expert mages also have good control over not only their school of magic but their own mana. Essentially, it is impossible for an Intermediate mage to ever rise to an Expert if they didn’t have control over their mana at this point, even if they had extreme amounts of raw talent for that school.

Then there are the head honchos of a magic school. The Masters and Grandmasters. The old man didn’t tell me much about them other than they are far beyond that of Expert, they are few and far between, and they should be taken very seriously. He guessed that 1 Master mage is worth 30 Expert mages.

As for me… well I am probably at the low end of being an Intermediate mage in both fire and earth magic. So with a lack of interest in anything else, I have now fully devoted myself to learning more about mana and magic. With the occasional language lesson here and there to keep things fresh.

I recognized the familiar footsteps of Alanis moving towards my door and prepared myself.

“And how is my brilliant son doing today?” He asked me while standing in the doorway to my room.

“Okay,” I responded simply.

I felt a tinge of regret as he narrowed his eyes at me. Perhaps that was too cold of me.

“Well, I have decided to begin your physical training. Starting today.”

The way he said it left no room for negotiations. Besides, I suppose I had lost myself in stimulating my brain that I may have left my body behind. But I am unsure what I was actually capable of with this small body.

“Now up you go. Since you don’t have your lessons till later in the day with Dr. Jacobs, you and I will start training in the mornings when I am not working.”

We walked outside to the back of the house and he began to give me a rundown of just what I was going to do. It consisted of running, bodyweight exercises, and stretching. Sounds pretty easy to me.

—-

It was not easy. I vastly overestimated my capabilities in this child's body. Just from running and doing a handful of push-ups for two hours, I am completely spent. It seems neglecting my physical body for favoring my mind has backfired greatly. I will have to readjust my goals and include physically strengthening myself once again.

I felt something poking me in my ribs as I lay down in the dirt exhausted. “Come now, use all that brainpower to spar a little bit with your dad.”

Now, this was something I could do. I might lack the physicality to keep up, but I have some experience in martial weapons to make up for it. Besides, Alanis had been showing off to me all day, now it was my turn. Of course, I couldn't go all out. But I can give him a swift strike in the manhood once or twice.

He tossed me a carved wooden poll that was actually perfect for my body. Even the makeshift training staff felt very balanced.

“I just finished that last week just for you. I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself,” he said proudly while scratching the back of his head.

“I like it, thank you.”

I am a little conflicted over enjoying something so trivial from an entity that only existed in this simulation. But I knew a good weapon when I saw one. Even if that weapon was made for training. It obviously took him a good amount of time to make this for me.

“Alright, let me show you how to-”

Oops. I had unconsciously dropped into the same stance that Alanis uses.

“Where did you learn that, Kal?” He said bewildered, his mouth agape and eyes big.

“I learned it from watching you.”

It was true. I had been observing him for so long this just felt like the natural thing to do. I could tell just by watching him that Alanis knew what he was doing. There was no wasted movement in his training. Always precise and he trained with a clear goal in mind day in and out. At least that’s what I understood from watching him.

“To think you could pick up my stance just by watching me. I didn’t know you were paying so much attention to me.” His look of surprise was replaced with a proud smile as he said this, “Now then, your feet and hands are off a bit let me show you.”

He continued on for a bit and explained his stance in depth. I was surprised to learn I was unfamiliar with it. I had trained in spear stances from not only Humanity but even some Xeno races. Spears are simple weapons, pretty much just meant for stabbing enemies. But on occasion, you could use them as a quarterstaff to maybe knock somebody’s feet from under them.

After his explanation, Alanis walked a few paces away and began to warm up. But it was much more than a simple warm up. The way he was moving was incredible. I had seen my fair share of choreographed moves with a spear, some with actual combat use, and some just for show. But comparing that to what Alanis was doing would be a sin. He is like a painter and the practice spear was his brush while the battlefield was his canvas. I sat there slack-jawed as he continued on for a few more moments before he stopped, and looked over at me. His face reddened with embarrassment and he managed to cough out a few words,

“Let’s begin. Come at me, son.”

I decided to use my small stature and get in close to get a blow in from underneath him. As I ran towards him I dodged one of his thrusts and tried to move in. Only to faceplant into the dirt as I tripped over myself. Damn this small body. I had made that move as if I was in my original body and paid for it by tripping over my own feet. Of course, Alanis couldn’t keep his laughter in as I got up and dusted myself off.

“That was a good try! But you gotta stay on your feet if you want it to work, son, hahaha!”

I could feel my face heat up from embarrassment as he laughed at me. I rushed at him once again in a flurry of stabs.

Of course, this was a futile attempt as Alanis simply blocked or evaded every single one of my thrusts. I then tried a full sweep of his legs only to get a swift bonk on my head from up top.

“Nice try going for my legs, but you are gonna have to be a bit faster than that!”

It just wasn’t fair. He has more reach, was way faster and stronger than me, and he probably has double my experience with a staff. Then I realized that I was trying to fight an uphill fight fairly. What was the point of spending a better part of a year on controlling my mana if I didn’t even use it? I allowed my mana to flow into every inch of my limbs as I felt my strength swirl up.

This time I would let Alanis come to me. He sent a simple thrust straight into my body and I exploded with double my normal speed and strength. I weaved around the thrust and closed the distance almost instantly. I could see his purple eyes get bigger as I thrust at his chest. Gotcha now.

I blinked for only a moment and suddenly I was staring straight up as I felt the weightlessness of my body crash into the ground. I slammed hard enough into the ground to bounce a bit as the wind got knocked out of me. What the hell just happened? I didn’t even see him move.

“Ah, crap! Sorry, Kal. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard,” Alanis said as he crouched down next to me. I took a few deep breaths and nothing was broken thankfully.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t know you could move so fast! I just kind of reacted without thinking, I’m sorry,” Alanis kept apologizing profusely till I reassured him I was okay.

“Umm, I think that’s enough training for today, Kal. And maybe don’t tell your Mom, please?” He said practically pleading with me.

“I’m gonna tell her,” That was all I said. I could see the color drain from his face as he began to panic.

“Listen, Kal… if you don’t tell Mom about this I will… uh… I WILL GET YOU A ROLL OF THAT SWEETBREAD YOU LIKE SO MUCH!”

Mmmm I did enjoy that bread. It was so soft and sweet. But that wasn’t going to cover my humiliation today.

“I want two rolls,” I demanded.

“Of course… two rolls. I can do that...” Alanis mumbled while nodding his head.

It’s been about a year and a half since I have woken up in this simulation. Now I am capable of speaking and walking on my own. And by walking I mean waddling around by throwing my fat legs in front of me quickly. Even now I still fall flat on my face regularly. But I shall persevere. I’ve decided I wouldn’t give myself away yet. I was unsure about my objectives but I’m sure screaming out I was a Human Death Commando probably wasn’t going to help me achieve anything.

I’ve also finally got a good look at myself today. This home doesn’t have any glass for mirrors, but my mother left a bucket of water outside and I managed to see my reflection for the first time. It seems the simulation has pretty much made me a perfect copy of both of my parents.

I have light tan skin that is a mix between both my mother and father. However, I have my father’s raven black hair and my mother’s sharp facial features. But one of my most defining features is my Heterochromatic eyes, my left eye is a purple amethyst and my right eye is a golden pool. My irises, much like everybody else I have seen so far, also swirl around oddly.

I was staring intently into the pool of water when I sensed my father trying to sneak up on me. I quickly turned and stared right at him.

“Did you actually hear me coming?” He asked with a look of surprise.

Well of course. My hearing was amazing. I actually think my hearing is better than it ever was as a human. It took me a long time to control these ears of mine but I finally got them down, mostly. Combine that with my years of hardened combat senses from being a Death Commando, and it was an efficient combination. I also don’t think he was trying very hard,

“Ummm… sorry,” I tried to say innocently.

“Amazing, you definitely got my hearing after all. But you got your mother’s High Elf ears,” He said while rubbing my ears.

I normally wasn’t a fan of being touched, but having my ears rubbed was actually fantastic. They must have had double the amount of nerves in them compared to a Human. But he said something I hadn’t heard before.

“What is a High Elf?” I asked curiously.

I had heard my parents refer to me as their “Little Elf”. I could only assume that is what they called our race. He went on to explain, “Well your mom is a High Elf and I am a Dark Elf. You can tell what race an Elf is by their ears and a few other things. For example, your mom has high pointed ears so she is a High Elf. I have ears that point downwards which makes me a Dark Elf. There are also Wood Elves who have ears that are pointed straight out, almost like in between a Dark and High Elf. And, uh sorry… you probably didn’t understand all of that,” He said while scratching his head.

“Am I a High Elf?” I asked

“Well… yes and no? You are half Dark Elf and half High Elf which is pretty rare, but uh… we won’t talk about that right now. Most people will probably think you are a Dark Elf since you have dark skin like me,” He explained his face having a tinge of red in it now.

“Mmm… okay,” I said.

I had asked a lot of questions to my mother but she would often dodge around questions or answer them with more questions. Seems he is a more straightforward person. Perhaps now would be a good time to ask about magic. My mother had told me she would tell me more when I got older. But I had nothing else to do than wander around the house, my parents didn’t have books that I could find at least. So I had nothing to stimulate my brain. To curb my boredom I had started to pick up random items and bring them to my mom so she would tell me the name of things. Maybe I could get lucky today,

“What is magic?” I asked.

“It’s uh, difficult to explain to a child that isn’t even two years old.”

“I’m smart!” I attempted to say in the most childlike manner I could. I even pouted a little bit hoping to add the extra effect.

“What are you doing? Listen, Kal. Magic is a dangerous thing for a kid. But how about I teach you about mana?”

Mmm. Seems I won’t be getting that lucky. But this is a start for sure. “Sure!” I exclaimed with false enthusiasm.

“Alright, well how about we take a walk around the village, Kal?” He suggested with a smile.

Finally. Since my crawling escapades, that witch has kept me on a short leash. I haven’t gotten a chance to leave this home for more than a few moments. When I was just an infant, that witch of a mother took me to what I assumed was a market at one point. But she had just fed me and I couldn’t force myself to stay awake, so I missed the entire trip!

“Yes, please!” I said while grasping my hands in the air.

He obliged with a chuckle while picking me up and placing me on his shoulders as we walked. I have been able to deduce that they make a decent income. We weren’t peasants nor were we some noble lords. But we seemed to have a nice home that was somewhat out of the way.

I had also deduced that this was indeed a jungle. The humidity was high and tree coverage was extremely dense. It almost seemed like the trees were crafted to shade everything perfectly. Only after a few minutes of walking, we were at the outskirts of the village. It appeared to be a decent-sized village. The village shared the same architecture as our home using the jungle wood and accenting it with plenty of greenery. Although it was much different than the metal square and rectangle architecture I was used to, it was still very appealing. The village just gave off an atmosphere that was warm, kind of like a log cabin in the forest. At least that’s what I think it should be like. I’ve never been in a log cabin before, let alone one in a forest.

We had begun to walk past people on the road. The village seemed to be a good mix of Wood Elves with their pointed ears that came out to the side and Humans. The Humans in this simulation looked exactly like the humanity I was familiar with, besides the whole swirling iris thing.

I even saw what looked like to be some type of animal person. There was a person with a hood on, and a cat-like tail coming out from behind them. I decided to be the “What is that” child and asked as many questions as I could.

“Ah, those are Beastmen. Just like us Elves, they have two kinds and different appearances. That woman is just called a Beastmen, they are beastmen who have mixed blood just like you, Kal. She looks like she might be a Human mix and belong to the jungle panthers race. Then, there are true beastmen. They look just like animals but stand tall like everybody else. They are a very strong and proud race. There aren't too many of them around here, however.” I nodded in response to his lecture. This was very informative stuff.

I see. The Navy really has created a true fantasy world here. It was amazing and so real. But not wanting to get sidetracked from my main objective I continued and pressed on while asking about mana,

"Sooo what is mana?"

“You see, son. All living things have mana. The trees, animals, that Beastmen, and even monsters. Mana is simply just the flow of life,” He explained while pointing at all these things.

“Then everyone can use magic?” I asked

“No, just because you have mana doesn’t mean you can use magic. But you do need to have a lot of mana and be gifted to use magic. Lucky for you, your dad is a very strong mage and one day, when you are older, I’ll teach you everything I know!” He said proudly puffing his chest out.

But he realized too late that he might have already said too much, as the smile got wiped off his face and was replaced with a worried one. Haha. Too easy.

In an attempt to salvage his mistake he continued on with a warning,

“Well you can use magic when you are older, but learning magic when you are so young is dangerous. You could hurt yourself or someone else since you don’t know what you are doing. Of course, if you promise me you won’t try to use magic till you are a bit older, I promise to teach you everything,” He said nervously while sweat dripped down his forehead. I couldn’t help but grin a little as he looked back up at me.

“I promise!” I lied.

—

It has been over two years now. Unlike Humans, it appears Elves don’t really celebrate birthdays yearly, they have one at 5 years after birth. Then at 10 years, then 15. After that Elves tend to celebrate birthdays every decade or so. Apparently, Elves have extremely long life spans. An Elf that doesn’t meet an untimely death can live to be almost 350 years old, that’s if everything goes well. And Elves who have a lot of mana can live even longer. Of course, this applies to everyone else as well. As far as I could tell Humans tended to live longer lives as well. I’ve seen at least one ancient-looking Human so far.

I tried asking Seana how old she was but she wouldn’t tell me. She said it was “Rude for a boy to ask a girl how old they were,” whatever that means. It’s just a question...

Seana was also my mother’s name, my father’s name was Alanis and our family name was Shadowheart. Apparently, when elves got married they would often mix the last names together and make a new last name. So that makes me Kaladin Shadowheart. I’m not sure how thrilled I am about being the child of a Xeno, even if this is all just a simulation.

I have also recently learned Seana was an accomplished seamstress before she took time off for me. That teal blanket she would often wrap me in was her handy work. She explained to me that she could imbue the threads with her mana using magic. Which allowed the garments to have some interesting properties, like helping my mana pool grow.

The stuff also regulated temperature perfectly. Even though this place was unbearably humid, I was never once miserable in the wraps. Even the skin-tingling sensation it gave me was oddly nice. If anything it was so comfortable it was uncomfortable while being wrapped up in it. I used it more or less like a blanket now though.

Seana had begun taking on work again to help Alanis out. Alanis was a hunter. He along with a few other people from the village would take small excursions out into the jungle and clear it of dangerous wildlife, gathering their materials and meat to sell back to the village. It sounded like dangerous work. Yet I had never once seen him come back home injured or even mildly inconvenienced. The wildlife must not actually be that dangerous, especially since he leaves his armor set and spear at home, opting to use a far inferior spear and bow for his work.

Currently, Seana had some coworkers over this morning and they were weaving. This had been happening a few times a week now and it was a perfect time to make myself scarce and go attempt my hand at magic. I hid behind a tree that was behind our home and sat there. So far, any attempt I have made to replicate the few spells I have seen has failed. I simply don’t understand the process.

I have been attempting to create a ball of water I can throw, but nothing happens when I try to make it work. I’ve tried everything from willing it to happen, to manipulating an existing pool of water, to trying to throw water from my hands. It has been a frustrating few months, to say the least. Perhaps I should try a different approach. I remember Apollo was a fan of meditating, he rambled on about how amazing it was and how it helped him focus and achieve his goals.

I didn’t really understand as I didn’t need to meditate to focus on my tasks, but I was willing to try almost anything at this point. I remember him saying to clear your mind of unwanted things, then focus on the thing you wanted. After, control and steady your breathing.

So I plopped onto the ground and crossed my legs. I cleared my mind and focused on wanting to create a small ball of water. I steadied my breathing and relaxed. After about 5 minutes of sitting my ass on the hard ground, I got up and let out a nice '‘FUCK!” into the air. Ah, I feel better. Who needs meditation?

My frustration had hit a boiling point. So I sat back down and shoved my face into my hands and began to wrack my brain around what I knew about magic and mana. Apparently, everything had mana but not everything could use magic. I have seen somebody use magic but that isn’t enough for me to know how to use it myself. I can’t seem to feel anything at all when I try to use magic.

Perhaps the system has created something that I can’t use… no that makes no sense, why would they go to such lengths and not have me be capable of it. I had the foundation I just needed to think… and that’s when I remembered.

I am pretty sure I have had magic cast on me before. When I first awoke that old man did something to me. I was in excruciating pain, and in an instance, it was wiped away. I remember the feeling, that warm spreading feeling from the center of my body as it stretched out towards my fingertips. Perhaps, if I recreated that feeling I could achieve a breakthrough.

I went back into my pose and redid all the steps for meditation again. Instead this time, I would focus on that warm feeling in my chest. After what felt like forever, I suddenly felt a tiny bit of warmth in my chest. It wasn’t anything like when the old man did it but it was something. I focused on that feeling even more. It began to feel almost like a drop of warm water in my chest. I tried to force it to my fingertips but it died away only after a few seconds as I lost control of it. Damn, it.

I am closer than I was yesterday. This is a start. I can’t stay out any longer today but I shall continue to train.

—

5 months ago I started my journey with this little drop of warmth in my chest. It took many…. many… hours of trial and error but I have finally managed to get it to my fingertips. I’m not sure what this does but now I am going to attempt to do…something.

So I sat in my little spot in the shade and guided the warm droplet all the way to my fingertips. Now I was going to try to make even a spec of water, the tiniest little droplet even. I focused deeply on every aspect that I wanted from the droplet; the size, shape, color, how it was going to smell, even the chemical components. And I sat there… for a long time attempting to do this until…. nothing.

I couldn’t do it! Damn, maybe I really needed a teacher or something. Hell, even a dang book explaining this would be easier! I kicked a branch in frustration and sat back down to think, I couldn’t give up, not yet. Mmmm… maybe I should use fire? No, I can’t. If I do something wrong I might burn the entire jungle down along with myself.

Maybe… I could try wind? I have seen Seana use fire magic and water magic. So, if it was based on the elements, then maybe there was wind and earth? I didn’t know what earth magic would look like so instead I focused on making a small gust of wind.

I also decided to adopt another approach, I have never seen anyone use magic while meditating so maybe I needed to be standing for it. I squared myself off with my knees just past my shoulders and dropped my base. I wasn’t sure what kind of stance I should take but I figured this would be fine. Then I refocused and moved the little drop of warmth all the way back to my fingertips where I imagined it turning into a small gust of wind. As soon as the droplet hit my fingertip, an ever-so-small amount of air came out from my hand, it was barely enough to even shake the leaves of the tree. But I did it! I used magic, hell yeah!

But my joy was immediately replaced with a feeling of complete and utter death. Only a few seconds after I made that little breeze I began to feel awful. I felt like somebody had bludgeoned my entire body with a metal bat and kicked me a few times for good measure. I tried to move but instead, I just fell forward as I lost control of my body and face planted into the dirt. I couldn’t move my body at all, not even wiggle my fingertips as I laid there inhaling the dirt. Nor could I speak to call for help. I just laid there, in the dirt, for well over 15 minutes.

Slowly but surely the feeling returned to my body as I regained control over it again. I wasn’t in pain anymore but I was completely drained, I felt like I needed to go into hibernation for 50 years. I waddled my tiny fatigued body back home where Seana called out to me,

“Kal baby, are you okay? You don’t look so good... and what happened to your clothes and face!” She said with genuine concern.

I must have looked as terrible as I felt. She dropped the fabric she was working on and rushed over and began to clean my face.

“I fell and I don’t feel so good,” I said. It was a half-truth. But it was better not to alert her that I could use magic, even if said magic might just be a death trap.

“Go lay down and put on some fresh clothes, I’ll go get Doctor Jacobs right away,” Seana said was scrambling to get ready.

I wasn’t sure if I needed a doctor but it probably wouldn’t hurt, I doubt they would be able to tell I used magic.

—

“So, you used too much magic boy?” Said the old as dirt doctor.

He was the same old man I remember seeing when I first awoke. The geezer looked like he might fall dead at any moment, yet I didn’t actually see him struggle to move around. Alanis was currently away hunting and Seana was running to go get me some soup from one of her coworkers, so it was just me and him.

“No… I no feel very good,” I lied. He once again fixed me with whatever magic he could use. I went from feeling like death walking to just being very very tired in moments.

“Anyone ever told you that you suck at lying boy, I knew from the day I pulled you out of your mother you were gonna be a hellion. But I sure didn’t think you were gonna cast a spell before you even turned 5!'“ He cackled.

So apparently 5 is the age where people can start casting spells?

“I don’t know magic.” I tried to cover for myself as best as I could. I already had a train of lies I might as well double down.

“Listen here squirt, I have been putting people back together before your mommy and daddy even thought about having you. I know what mana sickness looks like, so don’t you lie to me. Now, what did you do?” He said while poking me in my fat stomach.

“I made wind.”

I guess doubling down wasn’t going to work here. There was no point in lying to him any longer. He had clearly seen through me. Now I knew that if I overused magic, there were some serious repercussions.

“Huh, you tried to use wind magic huh? You are an Elf so you should be pretty good at it naturally. But maybe you just lack an affinity for it…? You try anything else?” He asked.

He seemed less concerned for my health and more interested in my abilities.

“I try water. No work.” I said simply.

“So you even tried water magic. Fascinating. Elves are famous for having loads of mana and being extremely adept at nearly all types of elemental magic. They even start casting spells earlier than nearly every other race. But at almost 3 years old? I wonder what you are capable of… ” he trailed off and got a far-off look in his eyes.

Oh no. Suddenly those emerald eyes of his gazed into me and he moved close to my face with a speed that surprised even me,

“I’ll make you a deal, boy. I won't tell mommy and daddy about your little magic experiments. But you have to come with me 4 times a week and train in magic, it will be our little secret.”

Wow. All I had to do was nearly kill myself to learn magic? I should have done this sooner. I’d be an idiot not to accept this. Yet I couldn't help but feel I was making a deal with the devil. I decided against my better judgment and agreed.

“Okay,” was all I needed to say to secure myself a magic teacher.

Currently, I am suffering. I just had my legs blown off from a plasma core explosion and was shot in the stomach with a bolter round. Yet nothing could compare to the pain I was experiencing right now. Matter of fact, this might be the worst pain I have ever felt, actually, this is my first time experiencing any kind of severe pain.

My back is killing me and I feel like somebody crushed me into a tight ball and forced me out of a small hole. I can’t see anything through my blurred vision, and my ears are ringing violently as noises bombard my ears like the cracking of railguns. I can’t make sense of anything, all my senses are under attack right now. I wasn’t a believer, but I was sure now, this was hell and I was damned to suffer here.

Suddenly, a warmth spread through my chest and out through my body, going all the way to the tips of my fingers. It felt like somebody had injected morphine straight into my solar plexus and it made me feel amazing. Almost instantly my body stopped hurting.

More importantly, I could finally see again. My vision corrected and staring at me intently was an ancient-looking old man with thick slabs of glass for glasses. He took them off and his bright emerald green eyes were almost shimmering. No… the iris of his eyes was actually swirling. He smiled at me and without a word he picked me up. Wait, how is that possible?!

I am 7 feet tall and weigh well over 300 pounds, but this old geezer just lifted me with ease. Confused and feeling… angry? I tried to push him away from me only to realize I couldn’t control my…tiny little brown arms. I was suddenly flipped like a pancake and was face down staring at the wooden ground when I got a swift smack to my rear. I attempted to scream out profanities at the old man but instead, my voice just came out as a high-pitched cry. This is awful, hell sucks.

My eyes began to water as the old man turned me back over. He smiled and said something in a language I didn’t understand. What the hell is going on? He is clearly human, and I know nearly all of Earth’s languages. What kind of dialect is that? He walked over a few steps and bent down, he handed me over to somebody else. I tried to scream at him but I was still just letting out a shrill cry.

The new person hugged me tightly to their soft chest and smiled down at me. Her white alabaster skin was gleaming with sweat, she had long blonde hair that went past her shoulders, her facial features were so sharp you might be able to cut yourself on them.

Her eyes… weren’t hazel, no instead they were almost like pools of gold. And just like the old man, her irises were also swirling around. My eyes drifted upwards, poking out of her matted down hair were…long dagger-like ears, just like an Elunari. I am so screwed.

She was an albino, she had to be. I didn’t know they could have blond hair and gold eyes but I guess anything is possible at this point. Even though I should be feeling an insurmountable amount of dread as the most dangerous Xeno known to Humanity held me to their chest, I felt awfully calm about all of this.

She was attempting to speak to me, her voice was so soft and warm. But I couldn’t understand a word she was saying. She picked me up and gave me a warm smile as she handed me over to a man.

He had long black hair, brown skin, and softer facial features. His eyes swam just like the others, but his were like pure purple amethysts. And coming out from the side of his head were droopy pointed ears, he too was smiling at me. Ah, man….

—

It’s been about two months since I’ve woken up. I have come to a startling conclusion about my current situation. I have somehow survived my battle with Elysium Squad and have been put into a Naval Intelligence artificial reality simulation. It’s the only thing that possibly makes sense. I had heard the Navy was working on something, but to think they could go this far was astounding.

Although I have never felt pain or half the emotions that currently swell inside of my head, they have perfectly managed to replicate what I imagine they should be like. I was unsure what exactly their goal was by making me go through all of this, rather than just ending my life, but I suppose I should play along for the time being.

Besides, the Navy had even managed to fully recreate what being an infant was like. Currently, I am nothing more than a baby. I had gotten a good look at my tiny body when I was being cradled. And to be expected, I was as useless as an infant. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even control my arms and legs, let alone my bowels.

I have slept more in these last two months than I have in the last 15 years. I can not keep myself awake, especially after I am fed. All I could do was eat, sleep, defecate on myself, and drown in my own thoughts. I might actually be going mad.

I stuck to counting when I wasn’t thinking about my situation or crying out when I was hungry. Hunger… that was a new thing for me, I had never been hungry before, but now I feel like I could eat 40 trays of nutrient paste in one sitting.

I was currently laying down in a bed of sorts looking up at the ceiling, thinking about all of these things. The female Xeno walked over to me and began to wrap me up tightly in this INFERNAL CONTRAPTION. Whatever this teal cloth was made out of it gave me a slight tingling sensation on my skin, and the heat it gave off was always perfect. I didn’t have the strength to kick myself out of its warm embrace, while I drifted off to sleep once again.

—

Another 6 months sped by in the blink of an eye.

Finally, after months of boredom, I have finally strengthened my arms to where I can army crawl around. I had been doing everything in my power to gain this ability. With this new power, I can finally gain my freedom. I began to crawl at blinding speeds, dragging my body across the wooden floor. This is my second attempt at investigating this place. This home was rather large but it was only a single story. Everything was made of wood and was in shades of deep brown and green. It was almost like a tribal hut but this was very much a house.

Somehow they managed to blend together modern aspects with nature. There were also no squares or right angles present… Everything was curricular. The chairs, the couches, everything was a circle. Even the walls lacked right angles. I guess that is what makes this feel more like a hut than a house.

I had noticed a distinct lack of technology as well, it appears the simulation has me in some early time period. There are no lights, instead, the only light that reaches the windows is from outside. Not only that, the windows don't appear to be glass, but some kind of transparent wood-like material. I attempted to get a better look but I have yet to master the ability to stand yet, it seems strengthening my legs will take some time. From what I could see, the outside was covered by large green trees. It appeared to be less like a forest and more like a jungle but it was too difficult to tell without being able to look out the window.

I was speeding down the hallway when I noticed a door was left ajar that led to a room I had not yet been in. I forced my fat little body in between the door and the frame and slid myself in. The room was rather small and had a single window illuminating it. Inside was a giant dusty chest. Actually, the entire room was a dust hazard. I crawled over to the chest and attempted to get the lid open but I couldn’t even manage to get my fat little body up. Damn this body, why couldn’t they just make me a bit older.

Instead, I turned my attention to a piece of dusty grey cloth that was draped over something. I moved over to it and pulled down the cloth that was just barely in my reach. The cloth and what felt like pounds of dust threatened to smother my life away. I began coughing and thrashing around as I attempted to get the damn thing off of me.

I finally managed to roll out of the cloth when I looked up. On a wooden stand was a set of black armor, it was elegant and beautiful, it was more like a warrior’s armor than a knight. Its design was intricate yet efficient, the purple gems accenting the metal were eye-catching. I didn’t know much about medieval armor but I knew this was high quality. I also knew the wear probably favored mobility over defense. The armor almost reminded me of my armor.

Laying next to the armor stand was a long spear made of some black metal. It was also adorned with purple gems and matched the armor perfectly. The spear itself seemed to suck the light in from the room; it was such a deep black. I got lost in the armor’s craftsmanship as a voice called out to me,

“Kaladin, what are you doing in here you little speed demon. I swear I take my eyes off of you for just a second and you speed away.”

Shit. I’ve been discovered. These 8 months I have not only been strengthening my arms to crawl. I have also tasked myself with learning the spoken language. It took some time but I finally managed to grasp it. I have also learned what my name is, I am now Kaladin. The system has dictated that this Xeno witch is to be my mother. She scooped me up into her arms and began wiping the dust off my face.

“How did you manage to get in here, huh? Daddy must have left the door open,” She said with a hint of annoyance. But her smile quickly returned as she giggled, “But look at you, you are just so cute with all that dust on you!”

She finished cleaning my face as I gave her a deadpan stare. I couldn’t speak back to her. Any attempt of speech just came out as me gargling my own saliva and moaning like an idiot. This is how low I have fallen. She took me back to the kitchen and set me on the counter in a basket.

“Would you stop glaring at me, you are so cute when you smile, see,” she stretched my cheeks into a smile and began playing with my face. I’ll make you pay for this humiliation one day.

Just then my father walked into the house. He often disappeared for a few days and didn’t come back for a few days at a time. I figured he worked some kind of shift-based job that kept him out for days at a time.

“ Welcome home, dear.”

“Mmm. Good to be back, how is Kal doing?”

“I caught him crawling around in the storage room, he pulled down the cover on your armor. He could have been hurt, you know!” My mother chided.

“Sorry… I thought I closed it all the way before I left,” He said dejectedly.

I stared into my father’s eyes and attempted to create a telepathic link with him. ‘You should keep doors open more often for me’ I repeated in my head.

“I see he still likes staring into your soul just like you used to do,” he said while smiling and walking over to me.

“Hey… I never did that,” My mother pouted.

“I do wonder what he is thinking about, do you think he can understand us yet?” Asked my father as he stared down at me and began to tickle me under the armpits. Damn it. Why do I always giggle? I can’t control this sensation. THIS HURTS YOU KNOW?

“No way, he isn’t even a year old yet… but sometimes I do think he does somewhat understand us.”

Haha… only if you knew, witch. Simulation or not I am still a dangerous weapon. I was just in stasis, awaiting my time to strike. You two will rue the day when I can walk again!

“Well I have to make dinner, can you play with Kal for a little while?” Asked my mother.

“Why don’t I help you and he can sit and watch. Babies like watching their parents do stuff right?”

“Sure… maybe one day I can teach him to be a master chef, fit for a king!” Exclaimed my mother. My father turned around and gave my mother an empty stare with dead eyes,

“I doubt that,” My father said in a cold voice.

She looked like she was about to cry. I had only tasted a little bit of her cooking. It was some kind of rice porridge. I thought it tasted good, it reminded me of nutrient paste. But it looks like he didn’t agree.

My father consoled her and they began preparing the food. I didn’t really pay attention to what they were doing but I actively tried to listen to the names of items when they called out for them. It wasn’t until my mother went to start what I could only assume to be the stove, did my interest finally get peaked. She loaded the stove with wood, and without a match, lighter, or any flame source for that matter, set the wood on fire.

I didn’t see how she started the stove, but I knew it couldn’t have been gas or electricity. So what the hell did this witch just do? I did the only thing I could do and attempted to alert this witch to my confusion by crying out. She stopped and came over to me with a look of concern.

“I think he wants to see how you set the stove up hun,” My father said.

Yes, you are so smart for a Xeno, that is exactly what I wanted. You get me so well.

“Really? Do you think Kal responded to my magic? Maybe he is a fire mage!” She exclaimed practically jumping around with joy.

Wait, what? Fire Magic? Freakin Mages? Is the Navy really going this route, why on Earth would they be going this far?

The witch came over to me and summoned a small orange ball of fire out of thin air. The ball just sat in her hand as she tossed it around. She summoned two slightly different color balls of fire and began to juggle them. I could feel the heat from the balls from here as this witch just casually juggled them around like a circus clown. I was amazed, this looked so real, the Navy had gone so far as to include magic into their simulation.

Aboard the Silent Night orbiting Odeus 5, 2 months after the initial assault.

It was a long 2 months but we finally routed Elunari forces off of Odeus 5. Their fleet had jumped away last week and there were only small pockets of resistance left on the planet. It was a shame we couldn’t just bomb them from orbit, the lush planet was just too valuable for humanity’s future colonies to be devastated like that.

All of Hades Squad was currently gathered in our shared “multipurpose room” as the engineers called it. It was just a small hangar that had been retrofitted to fit our needs. The room had everything from our training grounds, to Hepestus’s engineering bay, to Apollo’s medical station, even Nyx had a little spot where she had a couch to sleep on.

I was rhythmically smacking my hand against a datapad confirming all these damn reports. I had long since given up on reading these tedious AI-generated reports. They were just the same thing over and over again, weapon replacements here, munitions requests there, armor repair over there… Kill me now.

As if responding to my request, the hangar filled with the chimes of our communicators getting a ping. That’s odd. Normally, everybody doesn’t get a ping about a mission unless it goes through me first. I scrolled through the packet on my datapad. A search and clear on an abandoned Elunari space station? The Elunari rarely used space stations. Didn’t make sense for them, when they had so many habitable planets to live on. Not only that, they were orders from a Fleet Admiral, the highest-ranking officer in the Navy. Artemis was who was practically smashing her datapad with her finger groaned out,

“Commander this is bullshit! Why the hell are we going to some abandoned station in the middle of nowhere!?” Artemis asked fiercely.

That is something I wanted to know as well. This station was at the fringes of Elunari space according to the maps. Not only that…

“Who is a part of this Elysium Squad that we know?” questioned Apollo.

Seems I’m not alone. I’ve never heard of this Elysium Squad. And it was the lack of details about the squad that bothered me.

“According to the briefing, they are a fairly new team put together only a week ago, this is to be their first mission,” informed Nike.

Not only that, it was a Death Commando squad fully composed of the new third generation. It was also abnormal that they weren’t being led by at least a second generation. Normally when we worked with a squad I could pull up everything from medical records, past missions, even their specialties. But this Elysium Squad had almost none of that.

“I mean, I guess the information is incomplete if they are new. Makes sense to me,” shrugged Zeus.

“Doesn’t matter. Orders are orders. We won’t be taking the Silent Night out there, so get ready. We depart in 2 hours for the Stormspike,” I ordered.

—-

Two weeks later on the bridge of the dreadnaught class capital ship, Stormspike. In the fringes of Elunari controlled space.

It had been a long two-week trip to the middle of nowhere but we had finally arrived. A short older woman with blonde hair in a bright white officer attire stood at the helm of the dreadnaught, Stormspike. Very few people outranked a Commander of a Death Commando squad. I technically only answered to officials on Mars, but I was often under the jurisdiction of Rear Admirals or higher, sometimes even Marine Major Generals or higher as well.

But to be issued an order by a Fleet Admiral was a first for me. There were only about 20 of them in the entire Human Navy and they were responsible for well, entire fleets. I imagine they had far more important things to deal with than handing out missions to us Commandos, but I guess it’s time to find out. She turned and gave me a wide smile extending her hand and saying,

“At ease, it’s an honor to finally meet you, Commander Kronos, I’ve been looking forward to giving you my thanks in person for years now,” I returned the handshake.

Had I met her before? I must have had a dumb look on my face as I thought this because she answered for me,

“I don’t suspect you would remember me, I was just some lowly Captain when you saved the life of my crew and ship at the battle of Ingor. You knocked out the planetary guns just in time to save us. So, thank you, Commander. I owe you one,” She said thankfully.

Ah, the battle of Ingor was a particularly bad battle for the Navy if I remember. The Zantons were an aquatic Xeno race that had living bio-weapons that ate away at even our strongest metal. It was a gruesome fate to be blasted by one of their weapons.

“Just doing my job Admiral. But I suppose I’d like to call in that favor early. What can you tell me about the situation?” I asked. She smiled commenting,

“Straight to point with you, huh? Well, this mission has two objectives, Commander. You are to search the space station for anything of importance along with the reason the Elunari abandoned it. And you are to be with Elysium Squad on their maiden voyage.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best ma’am.”

“I know you will, Commander. In regards to the space station. All bio scans have come back negative and we believe the station to be abandoned. However, the station’s defense systems are still online. We will jump as close to the station as possible, then the fleet will engage with the station’s automated defenses. Once we wipe them out you will board the station, along with Elysium Squad, understood?”

“Understood, ma’am. We will complete our objectives.”

'“Good. We plan to make the jump in 2 hours. You are dismissed, Commander.” At least Admiral Wilson moves quickly. I imagine everybody doesn't want to be out here any longer than we have to be.

—

Hangar bay of the Stormspike, 30 minutes before assault.

I jolted awake in my harness. Another nightmare. This time was different, however. This time I was that Xeno child. I was falling as a long black arm stretched out to grab me. I felt so afraid and confused. What does this damn dream mean? And why would it change now all of a sudden? While combating my conflicted mind I peered downwards, Nyx was crouched down in front of me staring into my eyes intensely. Her nearly black eyes gazed right through me.

“Are you okay? You normally don’t doze off before a mission, that’s normally my thing,” She asked with a hint of concern.

“I’m fine. Just a dream, that’s all.” She stood up and furrowed her brows at me.

“Actually, I’ve never even seen you sleep before. Do you even sleep?” She asked honestly while tilting her head.

“Yes Nyx, I do sleep when I need to. I just don’t have to very often. I’ve been very tired recently is all,” I said shrugging off the feeling these nightmares left me with.

After Odeus 5, I’ve had this lingering feeling of fatigue over me that I can’t seem to shake off. Not only that, I wasn’t sure why I was telling Nyx my problems. Maybe I just felt comfortable around her. Nyx transferred to my squad after her entire squad was wiped out. She was the sole survivor. She has been with me ever since. By now she should have been promoted to a squad Commander at this point, but she had turned them all down. Maybe I was just looking too much into this, not everybody wanted to be a Commander. Nyx gave me a quick nod and stood up,

“If you say so.”

Currently, Hades Squad was making its final preparations for the assault. It shouldn’t be much longer before we launch out in a Tiger class transport craft. The Tiger class was just a flying tank specifically designed for boarding enemy stations and spacecraft. The craft used an onboard AI to fly the ship, which allowed the vessel to forgo having a cockpit that was normally a weakness on most ships. This allowed the craft to boast an immense amount of frontal armor and a far more powerful plasma shield.

While walking out the back of the craft to grab my bolter, the door to the hangar bay opened up. A group of 12 individuals wearing Navy blue and Marine red Death Commando armor sauntered into the hangar.

Why isn’t their armor black? I had never seen Commandos not use the standard black armor. Not only that, why was the squad double the standard size? Most Commando squads utilized 5-7 members. Perhaps they were trial-running everything with this new squad. A tall lanky man with short-cropped dirty blonde hair swaggered over to me, he was wearing the bright red version of the armor. He extended his hand,

“It feels good to finally meet the famous Commander Kronos, not only that I get to go out on my first mission with him, it’s an honor, sir.”

I took the man’s hand. This was always an awkward situation. Although we share the same rank I was technically his senior, however, he was nearly double my age and had probably been serving before I even popped out of my growth tank. I guess I’ll just take this in stride.

“Likewise, Commander. Say, what was your callsign, I didn’t catch it?” I asked.

In truth I didn’t know any of Elysium Squad’s names, apparently, I hadn’t been privy to that information.

“Ah sorry, that was rude of me. Commander Nicholas Clarkson, former Marine Force Recon turned Death Commando.”

No callsign? What was the purpose of that I wondered? Why would they give the squad a name that was associated with Human gods but not assign names of gods to themselves? I didn’t understand Doctor Octario’s logic on this one, but then again I rarely understood her genius. Apparently not noticing my internal struggles he continued,

“Anyways, I figured since the station has two wings we can just split the station and work through it that way.”

“That’s fine with me. Do you want us to take a few of your members with us? Balance things up a bit more?”

“Nah. No need. Might as well start working together as a team now, you know?”

“Sure. We can do it that way.” I responded a little dejectedly.

I would have liked to take a few of his men and show them how we operated. But I was just ordered to go with them on this mission not hold their hand. This was Elysium’s squad’s mission, I should just defer to Commander Clarkson. Only the best of the Marines joined Marine Force Reconnaissance, and an even smaller portion got chosen for the new 3rd generation God Program. Let’s see what the new guys are capable of.

“Awesome man, well, I’ll see you out there, Commander. Glory to humanity,” he said while giving me a large grin. Guess the guy is a patriot. That’s nice.

“To humanity,” I shot back with a salute.

We parted towards our respective landing crafts. I walked up the ramp into the back of the Tiger. Everybody was strapped in and we were ready to launch. We should be dropping out of warp any time now. I strapped in and awaited the gut-churning suffering that was about to be bestowed upon me.

As we came out of warp the thunderous blasts of the dreadnaught’s heavy rail guns battered away at the station’s defenses. So far, no Xeno race had managed to defend themselves from the sheer destructive power of a dreadnaught class rail gun as they thundered off. A few volleys later, and a synthetic voice ringed out in our helmets,

“Launching in 3..2..1.”

We blasted straight out of the hangar, barreling towards the station. The Tiger class transport would breach into an enemy ship or station by ramming into it using its plasma shield as a sort of battering ram. Once the shuttle gained purchase into the target, it would seal the breach using a metallic foaming agent, of course, any sort of environment would be sucked out into space. But our suits were more than capable of surviving the vacuum of space or any hostile environment.

Just moments after launch we were violently thrashed around as we slammed into the station. Hephaestus and I would lead the charge using portable plasma shields almost like riot guards as we forced our way onto the station. We weren’t expecting resistance, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The gangplank slammed down and we charged into the station. We were greeted by long hallways painted pastel blues and greens. Although the Elunari used plastics for construction it seems they used metal for this space station. I pinged both squads and got all green lights. Elysium squad must have had a successful breach as well.

We walked carefully down the hallways clearing each and every room we passed. We didn’t even use our built-in communication systems, instead, relying on tried and true hand signals, to clear the station. So far the station seemed rather simple, with plenty of crew quarters and what I can only assume to be common rooms. The station itself was actually well lit and seemed to still have its power active.

We reached a large atrium, an artificial ecosystem was set up, plenty of lush greenery that was common on most Elunari worlds was present here. It seemed almost like a park, with benches and tables to sit down at it. The place even had a running waterfall. Seems this was just some kind of housing station.

I was getting lost in the moment when I peered back up at my radar. Suddenly all of Elysium Squad’s pings had gone away. They weren’t killed or they would still be showing up, also there hasn’t even been a single sound besides us stomping around. I flicked around to see if everybody noticed, only to catch a glimpse of Zeus and Nike standing at the entrance we came in from. Not expecting me to turn around suddenly, Zeus quickly smashed the controls on the wall, dropping the metal bulwark door. Before I could even question what the hell was going on they dropped off the radar as well. I tried beckoning them on the communication implants but I was being jammed.

I looked around to see the rest of my squad appearing to be just as confused as me. Artemis yelled out,

“What the fuck is going on!”

"No idea,” Apollo stated, not even bothering to cover up the worry in his voice. Hephaestus looked over to me and asked,

“Commander?”

“I don’t know. Everybody just dropped off the radar and our comms are being blocked. I can’t even reach the Stormspike.”

Upon my response, everybody dropped into a defensive position. I maxed out my plasma shield core and waited.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Commander,” Nyx whispered from behind me.

Yeah, something was very wrong. Then that’s when I heard the rhythmic thundering of armored feet running on metal. I looked over to the second entrance that leads towards the other side of the station and saw blurs of red and blue in the hallways. We waited a few moments then an enhanced voice called out to, it was Commander Clarkson,

“What's up Hades Squad. Sorry about this but let’s talk things out, yeah? Don’t be doing anything you would regret, okay?”

“What the hell is your problem, Commando?!” yelled Artemis.

“Artemis, stop. We are surrounded,” I ordered.

By this time the last hallway leading out had also been filled with blue and red blurs moving around. It seems Elysium Squad has some alternative objectives on this mission. And I wasn’t about to fire on these humans. Not yet at least.

“Alright now. Go ahead and listen to your Commander right now, miss. He knows what’s best. Listen, we only want one thing you see. I’ll be honest, I’m not too happy about it but I gotta do what I gotta do, you know? Mars has deemed Commander Kronos as defective and we are to terminate him. Simple as that, nobody else has to get involved. Just turn yourself over Kronos and the rest of your squad gets to go home.”

Well. This is completely unexpected. I always knew my time would come in my service to humanity, but I didn’t think it would end like this. Although I couldn’t see their faces, my entire squad looked at me questioning just what I had done. Hell, don’t ask me.

"It’s alright everyone. Really. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

Artemis walked over to me and head-butted me. Although it probably hurt her more than me I just stood there shocked as she began to rail into me,

“Fuck all of that! Like we would let anyone terminate you, I don’t care what you did. You are MY Commander and I refuse to let things end like this”

Everyone voiced their agreements with Artemis. Ah, of course. I couldn’t help but smile a little bit at their kind words. I appreciated it, but it was unnecessary. There was no way around this and I wasn’t going to ask my squad to perish with me, there was no way I could do that.

“Thank you, everyone, I couldn’t have asked for a better squad,” I said as honestly as possible.

I truly did mean it. I’m not exactly sure how I felt about everyone, but I knew I was thankful they were with me. And valued each and every one of them immensely. That's why I couldn't let them come with me. I sadly didn’t give anyone a chance to respond to my parting words.

I forced the injection of my Ambrosia into my bloodstream. It was a cocktail of highly efficient combat stimulants, pain killers, and a mix of other useful drugs. Normally it was only injected when a Death Commando was on the brink of death. Once Ambrosia was injected into you, it was pretty much a guarantee you wouldn’t survive the side effects of the drugs, only us first-generation Commandos could survive it.

With my speed, strength, and reflexes being pushed to the absolute extreme I released the flashbang I was holding in my hand, although our helmets would negate most of it, the blinding light would still affect them for just a few moments.

I opened palmed striked Hephaestus under the chin. He would be the only one that could physically stop me and I couldn’t allow that. I swept Artemis and Apollo’s legs from out under them and dropped another flashbang just to be safe.

I ripped the plasma shield from Hephaestus’s limp hands. I maxed the core out making a makeshift bubble around me as I forced my way through my squad towards the hallway Commander Nicholas wasn’t in. I smashed the door controls in just as Zeus had done and dropped the bulwark as a black figure quickly slid under the falling door and tackled my legs from underneath me. While tangled up under her I yelled out,

“Nyx! What are you doing!”

“I can’t let you go too, Commander. I can’t let you die alone... not like them.”

“It’s suicide! Please don’t do this! They want me not you. It doesn’t have to be this way,” I pleaded.

It wasn’t too late for her to turn around.

“I don’t care. I made this decision a long time ago. You are all I have left,” she said with equal parts conviction and sadness. “I can’t be the last one left, Commander. I just can’t…”

I didn’t have time to argue anymore as bolter fire rained down the hallway smashing into the plasma shield bubble. These things were meant for Elunari energy weapons, not bolters. The shields wouldn’t hold for long.

I rolled over and stood in a closed doorway with Nyx. I didn’t want things to end like this, I wanted to simply put enough distance from Hades Squad so they wouldn't get involved as I turned myself in peacefully. But now… I can’t let her die here. Guess I won’t be getting a medal for this.

I grabbed a shredder grenade from my belt and turned off one of the plasma shields. Normally, a simple shredder grenade would barely damage a Death Commando in their armor. But combine that with a plasma core explosion and they would be lucky to be alive. I used the last bit of energy from my shield to step into the hallway and toss the nade along with the shield core down the hallway.

I took cover as the white-hot plasma shrapnel turned the hallway and its occupants into a paste. I motioned for Nyx to get ready as I unslung my bolter to finish off any survivors. We charged down the hallway and blasted a few stragglers who survived the explosion. As we made it down the hallway a door slammed open as a man in navy blue armor shot me in the shoulder.

He must have had time to close the door and hide in the room, lucky bastard. Nyx reacted faster than him and blew his head off with a single shot. I signaled a ‘Thanks’ and we began to move down the hallways. The only chance we had of surviving was to make it to Elysium Squad’s Tiger.

Suddenly, bulwarks started closing manually as we were running down the hallways. Our engagement had killed half of Elysium Squad and now we were being corralled like livestock through the station. I only had one more plasma core and we were nowhere close to the Tiger, so I couldn’t blow through the bulwarks. We started running again at max speed down the hallway when a thunderous boom echoed through the halls. Time slowed as I flicked around to see Nyx shove me out of the way. There was no doubt that it was a railgun.

Without thinking, I scooped her up into a princess carry and carried her down the hall. I barged straight through a door hoping to find somewhere to hunker down. I turned and began to take stock of her injury.

I looked down at my hands and shoulders that were now smeared in blood. Blood was pooling around Nyx quickly as I noticed the head-sized hole in her abdomen. No… no this can’t be happening. The railgun had gone clean through her, destroying her insides and her spine. Time was moving so slow as I racked my brain to find a way to save her… Nyx dimmed her visor to reveal her face.

“Sorry, Commander…,” She repeated like a mantra over and over again.

“It’s fine Nyx, you are gonna be okay,” I lied. I tried injecting hemostatics, to slow the bleeding down but it wasn’t working.

“Hey Commander, we were friends, right?” she asked, coughing up blood into her helmet.

What? Why are you worried about this now of all times you airhead! I… I don’t know. Nyx didn’t really talk to anyone. I guess she spoke to me the most out of everybody, and I did feel closer to her. It’s not that I wasn’t close with the rest of the squad, it was just that I was closer with Nyx. She always made an effort to speak to me, even if it seemed to make her uncomfortable. I was just thinking early about how I felt comfortable around her as well. Perhaps. This is what it means to be friends. I stopped fiddling around with random medical equipment and steeled myself. I can’t save her…

I dimmed my own visor to respond, “Yeah Nyx, you might have been my only friend… thank you for sticking with me all these years, I probably wasn't a very good friend,” She gave me a genuine ear-to-ear smile I had never seen her smile so brightly before.

“Yeah... you kinda sucked. But I wasn't much better, but I’m glad… and hey, I told you didn't I. That I didn’t trust Zeus and the 3rd Gens,” she said weakly.

She has lost a lot of blood. The fact she was still alive was a miracle in itself. She should have died instantly. I ignored the thundering of metal boots outside, it didn’t matter right now, all that mattered was seeing my friend off.

“Yeah… you did try to warn me, sorry.”

“It’s fine. Sorry I have to die first. I didn’t want you to go alone but looks like I failed.” She said even weaker now, the light was starting to fade from her eyes.

There was no point in sugar-coating it. The odds of us surviving this was astronomically low from the start. Even if we managed to get to the Tiger we were surrounded by an entire fleet with a dreadnaught. We wouldn’t have even made it out of the station alive.

“I’ll be joining you soon enough Nyx,” I said.

With her dying breath, she left me one with one final wish,

“Maybe… if we are lucky, I’ll get to see you again someday, Commander.”

I didn’t get an opportunity to respond to her final wish as her squad light went from a bright red to black. I closed my eyes and I prayed for the first time in my life, not for me but for Nyx. Perhaps, if there really was a god they would be merciful to her. She didn’t deserve to die, not like this. Yeah, maybe one day.

A familiar voice called out to me from the hallway,

“Doesn’t have to be like this Commander, just turn yourself in and this can all be over,” yelled Zeus.

I could see the barrel of the railgun he was carrying from the doorway. Currently, I was in some type of shopfront type room behind the counter. A swelling feeling rose in my chest and reached my head. It clouded my vision and my heart raced in my ears. Is this what it’s like to be angry?

I might have been suppressing this rage since the raid on the facility, not sure what to do with it. I had never felt that way until that night. I prepped and tossed the shredder grenade with a plasma core towards the doorway. Zeus surprisingly stepped into the doorway and activated a plasma shield. He then swatted the grenade combo using the damn shield, right back at me. Shit.

The explosion destroyed the counter I was using as cover. I didn’t need to feel pain to know I was beyond repair. My legs had been ripped clean off from the plasma core explosion. And I had taken an immense amount of internal damage. I was only conscious because of the combination of my armor and the Ambrosia.

I took out my bolt pistol and began firing through the walls. I might be on the edge of life and death but I could still shoot. I heard the distinct noise of Zeus’s plasma shield being battered so I adjusted my aim further down the wall. I was rewarded with sounds of bones and amour being blown to smithereens as my bolt rounds exploded through the walls into anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way. I wasn’t sure to what extent the other members of Elysium squad were involved, but it didn’t matter to me. They will pay for their transactions with their dying breaths. However, I had to reload at some point and I wouldn’t last long after that. My ammo was stored where my legs used to be and those excess rounds just added to the carnage that was my body.

Finally, my bolt pistol clicked instead of fired, the steam rising from the red hot barrel clouding my vision. Elysium squad breached the room and dispersed the haze. Zeus sauntered over to me a crouched down in front of me with a plasma pistol in hand poking my chest,

“Well, you just had to go and make a mess? Do you know how many good men died today because of you? You killed a lot of my friends today... Hey! Are you listening to me,” Zeus continued to yell at me while poking the barrel of his plasma pistol into my injuries. Of course, I felt nothing and I said nothing.

He just laughed, “Look at how the mighty have fallen. Don’t tell me you bled out now, Commander? Humanities finest weapon done in by blood loss? Pathetic.”

Of course, he seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much. Perhaps he is a sadist or something. But he got careless. I may be dying but I am far from dead, as I was beyond pissed for the first time in my entire life.

With surprising speed from what seemed like a corpse just moments ago, I swatted the pistol out from his hand then dragged his arm into me as I put him in a bear hug. I squeezed as hard as I possibly could. I felt my own ribs crack as I shattered his as well. I put every ounce of strength I had left into crushing this bastard.

He was screaming and trying to push away from me. He was far beyond a normal human. But he was nowhere close to my strength on Ambrosia and adrenaline. But it seems I underestimated my injuries as I began to waver. I guess I had lost a lot of blood already, I was probably squeezing even more out now. Eventually, I couldn’t keep the same strength up as he pushed off me and rolled over gasping for air and coughing through his helmet. Nike walked over to us while I began to struggle to stay awake.

“You fool Zeus, you should have just shot him in the chest and been done with it. Doctor Octario only needs his head intact. Now here you are dying right with him. Just because you wanted to play around, you always do this shit,” Nike stood over me now and pointed his bolter at me.

“Sorry, Commander. It really wasn’t personal, but I guess you had to go and make it personal. In my honest opinion, I thought you were a good man and a good leader. And if it helps, I am sorry about Nyx, she shouldn’t have died with a bastard like you. I'll make sure her body gets a proper burial." I heard the bolt crack as time slowed down again. The bolter round barreled into my stomach as I began to blackout.

At least I could die in solace knowing I had avenged Nyx. I used Zeus’s own ribs as daggers to stab into his lungs, stomach, and heart. It was doubtful there would be enough time to save him. I felt the round heat up and expand. Then there was nothing.

I seemed to be floating away in an endless black void now. So, this is what it’s like to die. It was warm, even comforting. No pearly gates or bearded man awaiting me, nor was there a hellish fiend waiting to drag me down to the depths of hell.

Wait, what was that? Who’s there?

The feeling of someone being there was replaced instantly by a bright light. Ah, the infamous light at the end of the tunnel, huh? I had heard many final breaths on the battlefields as Marines called out to the light, embracing it, only for the light of their life to flicker out from them. I had often just subscribed that behavior to the dying. But now it seems it is real. I was moving faster towards the light or was the light coming to me? Guess it doesn't matter. Suddenly, the light began to hurt instead and excruciating painful noises assaulted my head.

Vitality Medical Station in human-controlled space. 1 week after the raid on the Elunari Facility.

“Draining Bio-Sculptor. Warning. Draining Bio-Sculptor,” repeated a synthetic voice.

I sloshed out of the Bio-Sculptor tube onto the cold floor white floor. I began coughing my lungs up as I attempted to clear my system of this awful gel-like substance. I imagine this is what bleach tastes like. After coughing for a good few minutes, I looked up at the man dressed in all white with a datapad standing over me,

“Commander Kronos of Hades Squad?” He asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” I croaked.

Fuck, this gel really dries your throat out. The nurse tossed me a warm bottle of water, which I promptly destroyed in seconds. Ah, much better. Although I need to consume much less water than a Human, water was still so refreshing.

“What is the last thing you remember, Commander Kronos?”

“Being admitted to Vitality Station to regrow my left hand.” I fired back. The nurse began tapping away at his datapad and continued,

“And last question. How old are you, Kronos?"

“15 standard years old.”

The nurse looked confused at my answer and knitted his brows at me as if I was lying. I was currently naked and standing over him. I was easily 2 feet taller than him. My appearance betrayed my age, however, I really was only 15. After a few moments of swiping away at his datapad, he responded,

“So you are… What the hell did they feed you?”

“Nutrient paste,” I answered non-committedly.

With a look of slight disgust, the nurse said, “Nutrient paste, huh… anyways you don’t seem to have any side-effects from the Bio-Sculptor. You are to be aboard Vitality Station for another 3 weeks while your hand finishes the regrowing process. Head Doctor Suárez will be your primary care physician while you are on board… and your room is 117. Clothes are on the table before you leave. Any questions?”

“None.”

The nurse gave me a nod and walked out of the room. I tried to flex my fingers but realized I didn’t have fingers currently. My wrist and palm had regrown over my time in the Bio-Sculptor. But it would take at least a week or so for my fingers to grow. I walked over to the jet-black sleepwear they left out for me and slipped it on.

I disliked this 3 week waiting period. But I was at the mercy of the medical staff while I was here. There wasn’t much for me to do in this kind of situation. I didn’t need to eat or sleep as often as Humans. There was nowhere I could train at this station where I wouldn’t cause damage. And I didn’t do anything else but train or go on missions. So with nothing left to do, I just opted to sleep. Maybe help my hand grow back faster, and get me out of here sooner.

—-

I jolted out of bed sweating and breathing heavily. Damn, another one. It’s only been 72 hours since I rolled out of the Bio-Sculptor and this is the second time I’ve had the same dream. Or I guess people might call this a nightmare. The events on Odeus 5 replay over and over again until I wake up in a cold sweat. I hear the final words of that Xeno child and watch as I fail to grab him.

I’m not sure what’s more problematic. The fact I’ve never had a dream in my entire life until now. Or that this event is somehow affecting me. Not wanting to think about it, I rolled out of bed and hopped into the sanitation unit cleaning myself. I readied myself so I could go get something to eat.

I strode through the halls, the recovering Marines or medical personnel were unconsciously moving out of my way. Thankfully these hallways were much wider and taller than normal so I could walk comfortably down them. I walked into the mess hall, grabbed a tray, and avoided the lunch line. I headed straight to the empty nutrient paste dispenser. Does nobody ever grab this stuff? It’s really good for you.

I sat down in the corner of the room and began chowing down. I had come to enjoy the taste of nutrient paste. I often heard the regs complain about how bland the stuff was, but it wasn’t bad. It was also the most efficient thing a soldier could eat anyways.

I sat alone and looked out into the vast room, everybody was sitting a healthy two whole tables away from me like I was a disease. It didn’t bother me. It was par for the course actually. I was about to finish my food when a short Hispanic woman wearing a dark blue lab coat walked over to me carrying a meal tray,

“Seat taken Commander?” I motioned to one of the many open seats around me. And of course, she sat down directly in front of me. The Doctor in front of me was probably in her early thirties. Brown hair and eyes, average height. Let’s see, and she’s th-…

“Are you checking me out Commander Kronos?” she asked innocently with a smile on her face, wrapping her arms around to cover herself.

“That’s not the word I’d use, Head Doctor Suárez. I’m just simply investigating you, that’s all."

“Ah, well you’re no fun,” Suárez said dejectedly. “Anyways, it’s nice to meet you, Commander Kronos. I’m the lead Doctor on this station. And I apologize that I haven’t had time to speak to you since you have arrived. I was a little preoccupied with a fresh batch of Marines off of Odeus 5.”

“It’s fine. I’m just passing time at your station. I don’t need any extra care while I’m here.”

“Nonsense! I pride myself on being the most passionate and compassionate Doctor in the Navy! It’s unforgivable that I’ve neglected you these last few days, especially someone as important as you Commander!” Suárez stated, standing up from the bench and striking a pose with her spoon in her hand.

Not wanting to draw any more attention than I’m already getting. I attempted to defuse the ranting Doctor,

“Yes, yes, of course. It’s fine. My hand is growing back fine and I’m in no pain to speak of. I’m sure there are plenty of people on this ship who need your help far more than I do.”

“I suppose you are right… however, I want you to come in for some checkups next week.” I was about to protest when she hit me with a “Non-negotiable checkups, Commander.” Not wanting to risk the wrath of the Doctor who decides when I get to leave this station. I simply nodded and agreed to her terms.

“However, there is something I want to discuss with you currently, Commander. I have to admit this is the first time I’ve met a Generation 1 Commando. There aren’t many of you guys left out there after all,” She said with a tint of remorse.

“It’s fine really. To be expected even. We were merely weapons to be used in the service of Humanity.”

“Huh… so it is true,” Suárez said incredulously. “I read some reports about the evangelists being pretty aggressive with you guys, and how you often diffused the situation just by agreeing with them. But do you really believe you aren't a real human, Commander Kronos? That you don’t have a soul?”

Ah shit, here we go again.

I've already had this conversation an infinite amount of times. When I was first deployed many were so zealous in their efforts to demonize us Gen 1s. Spouting how we weren’t real humans and we lacked a soul. Of course, I agreed with them. This would often surprise the vast majority of them. It was hard for them to call out the thing they were complaining about when they just sat there, nodding their heads agreeing with them. I never considered myself to be a real human. Just a weapon for Humanity to wield. I had grown in a tube on Mars after all, and I doubt I had a so-called “soul” if those even existed.

“If you have read my file Doctor, then I am sure you understand my opinion on these matters. I, along with all of my comrades understand what we are and what our purpose is. There is no mistake. We are not real humans and we never will be. Doctor Octario created us in a lab. I spent my first few months of life in a tube, only to come out as an adolescent. Before I even reached my first decade of life I was already a man being sent into battle. We are soulless weapons, not humans.” I stated with conviction.

Doctor Suárez stared at me with a look of shock for a few moments, while tapping her rice with her spoon,

“Have you ever heard the saying Commander, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck? Well, you look like a human, you walk like a human, you talk like a human, then you’re probably a human, Commander.”

“Such a simple line of deduction doesn’t apply to us, Doctor. We are merely weapons masquerading as humans.” The Doctors wrist watch let out an alarm as she sighed,

“Duty calls. This conversation isn’t over Commander. You and I are going to have lunch together till you leave this station.” I raised my finger to protest when,

“NON-NEGOTIABLE! A prescription of a daily lunch with the cutest Head Doctor on the station for a Mr. Commander Kronos!” I sat back down as she beamed at me with her spoon in hand pointing at me. Flinging rice onto my face in the process. I simply nodded to confirm as she picked her tray up and left. I enjoyed the remainder of my cold nutrient paste in peace and silence.

—

It’s been two weeks since I’ve been on this station and I'm beginning to grow restless. My daily prescription dose of Doctor Suárez was really starting to wear me down. I didn’t have a very large social battery but it seemed the Doctor's was infinite. To alleviate myself I decided I’d go on a nightly jog around the station. I had just made it back to the crew quarters when one of the crew doors slide open and out came a familiar face,

“Heimdall. It’s good to see you.”

“Howdy ho, it’s even better to see you, kid. I’d say you look good but seems you’re missing some fingers, their young man.”

My fingers had only regrown the first digit at this point and I could start flexing them now. They looked very awkward.

“I’ve had it worse,” I responded.

“Oh, I know you have, boy. Come walk with me a bit.”

Heimdall was one of the first Gen 2 Death Commandos I ever had in my squad. He eventually got promoted to Commander as well, he even leads his squad now. He was on the shorter side for a Gen 2 and he had some kind of reaction to the implants that greyed his hair out. Even though he was only in his late twenties, he looked 20 years older.

“What brings you to this station, Heimdall? You seem fine to me.”

“Oh you know, just getting a routine checkup. Nothing special, just the usual. Besides, I'd choose beautiful Doc Suárez over old hag Octario any day, aha!”

“In your dreams, Heimdall. You don’t stand a chance against her,” I quipped at him.

“Did you just? Nevermind… Anyways, that was cold, kid. A man can dream can’t he?”

“Not a fan of dreaming currently.”

He winced a bit at my harsh words but didn’t ask, I didn’t mean to say it so aggressively either. Heimdall had led us to the rehabilitation ward. I was about to ask him what we were doing here when he opened a door to reveal a large white room with brown pads on the walls. It had a bunch of Parallel Bars for patients’ rehabilitation. He walked over to one and slid out the metal bar from its housing and tossed it to me.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You are stressed out kid. You haven’t unclenched your fists since we started talking. I can tell they got you cooped up in here with nothing to do but sit on your ass. So, we are gonna spar a bit.”

“Heimdall, I’m fine really. Besides, it's against the rules, you know that.”

“Get the stick out of your ass kid, you know you want to. Besides, did somebody give you orders saying you couldn’t swing a metal bar around with an old squadmate?”

“No…. I guess not.”

“Then let’s get to it. I promise I’ll go easy on my crippled Commander, ahha!”

I spun the improvised staff around. It was difficult when I was missing two-thirds of my fingers on a hand, but I would make do. It felt good to swing something heavy around, instead of just doing bodyweight exercises all day. Heimdall didn’t give me much time to warm up as he ran straight for me, smiling his wicked smile. Crazy man. I mainly just deflected his blows as I couldn’t really challenge him with one hand.

“Say kid, what are you gonna do after the war?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on, the war isn’t gonna last forever. We have already crushed a majority of the Xeno council races. The Elunari might have a lot of worlds but they are gonna run out of them eventually. There are even some whispers of peace talks.” Heimdall said all this why attacking me relentlessly. So much for going easy on me.

“I don’t know. I’ll probably stay with the Commandos till the day I die.”

“Bullshit! A young man like you should have DREAMS! ASPIRATIONS! You don’t need to fight forever. There are plenty of things you can do! You can train the next generation! Hell, you could even go private! I’m sure people would pay top dollar for a Death Commando chief of security.” Heimdall didn’t really give me time to think as he backed me into a corner.

“I haven't thought about it, Heimdall. Besides I don’t think that far ahead about unimportant things. I’ll go wherever humanity needs me.” He swung at my legs as I leaped over him using the bar like a pole vaulter.

“BAH! There you go with that “humanity needs me” shit. You’ve done plenty for us boy! Make your old man a promise, and think about the future a bit, will you? Go settle down somewhere, buy a farm, and live your days out in peace. I’m sure you and Nyx would be very happy together,” He stopped, sweating and staring at me with an intensity I'm not sure I’ve ever seen from him. And when did he become my old man? He’s only like 13 years older than me. And what’s all this talk about Nyx being happy with me? I sighed,

“Sure thing, old man. I’ll give it some thought.”

He just gave me a big stupid smile,

“Good… good. I know that’s all I’m gonna get out of you today. I gotta go kid. I can see you already feeling much better,” Heimdall smiled back at me.

Huh. Maybe Heimdall did understand me. I do feel alot better. Matter of fact I haven’t felt this good in weeks.

“Thanks, Heimdall,” I said honestly.

“Anytime kid. Next time we meet, I’ll buy you a drink or something… ah, wait shit, you got a few more years for that huh? Eh, whatever, doubt anyone is gonna check your birthday you bald-headed demon, haha!” He said as he walked out tossing me his makeshift weapon that was now dented to hell and back.

What am I supposed to do with this?

—

It’s my final day at this station. My hand is brand new and feels perfect. Normally a soldier would just have their hand replaced with a bionic one. But my normal hand was much more efficient than some simple bionic replacement. The month I had to take off would be worth it in the long run. I just have one final examination left and I can return to Hades Squad. They are still on Odeus 5 mopping up the last of the Elunari forces.

“Sooo Kronos, I have a question for you. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a few Parallel Bars being destroyed, would you?” asked Doctor Suárez, eyeing me.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry as in you did it or sorry you don’t know?”

“Sorry,” I replied again.

She just smiled at me and began tapping away at her datapad,

“Serious head trauma… requires two weeks of observation…” She mumbled out.

“Commander Heimdall of Asgard squad did it.” Sorry old man, I apologized internally.

“See that wasn’t so hard. But in the future, please refrain from smashing my medical equipment. They might just have been some metal bars to you, but that stuff is expensive!” Rather than repeating myself again I just gave a nod of understanding.

I really didn’t mean to break the stuff. It just kind of happened. Besides, Heimdall was the one who went hard, not me. Doctor Suárez sighed at me and continued,

“Well, your hand looks good. All your scans are coming back just fine, and your one week of rehab was a success. I’d say you are in tip-top shape. Unless there is something else? Perhaps you wanna stick around just to see me some more?”

Oh no, I definitely didn’t want that. But there was something…

“Do you dream, Doctor?” I asked.

“Huh? I mean yeah of course. Don’t we all?”

"What do you normally dream about? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well… nothing really. They are just dreams. My dreams are just a weird mess of random things that I end up forgetting as soon as I wake up. I mean like, for example, I had a dream last week where I just walked out the airlock and started swimming in space.”

“Swimming in space? I see…” I answered.

“What, do you normally not have weird dreams, Commander?” Suárez asked me.

“No, I’ve only started dreaming recently.” Not wanting to go into detail or mention that they might actually be nightmares rather than dreams I omitted some details.

“Huh. I’m not really knowledgeable about dreams. But I mean you sleep so you should dream, right? I don’t really know what to say… I guess I’ll just report it and Doctor Octario can probably help you out.”

“That would probably be for the best. Thank you, Doctor.”

I didn’t think she would be able to help me. If anybody would know what was wrong with me it would be Octario. She turned her datapad towards me,

“Place your hand on the scanner and you are set to go, Commander.” I did as I was told and was rewarded with a little beep of confirmation.

“Well, this is it, Commander. You are free to go. Just one more thing. Try to live for yourself, just a little bit, okay? And don’t be so hard on yourself either. You are a good man, you don’t need to go through life like this,” She asked me with a wry smile.

“I’ll do my best Doctor and thanks,” I answered.

She gave me a salute as I began to walk out. I technically outranked her anywhere but on this station and she had never actually saluted me before. But I turned and returned the salute anyway. Somebody was waiting for me with a transport craft to take me back to the Silent Night.

I went back to my room and slipped on my undersuit. It felt good to be back into it. I left my room and headed to the hangar bay. A hangar of a medical station always smelt unhealthy, it was an awful concoction of oil and cleaning chemicals that singed your nose hairs. I walked towards the shuttle that had a young woman with black hair waiting for me on the ramp, giving me a warm smile. She really needs to stop making this a habit. Or maybe I should just stop losing limbs.

“Welcome back, Commander,” chimed Nyx.

“It’s good to be back.”

—

Mars. Mount Olympus facility 2502.

“I have a medical report that you should read ma’am.”

“Just send it to me and I’ll get around to it,” said a pale older woman with salt and pepper hair, wearing a jet black lab coat.

“I believe it to be important ma’am. It’s in regards to A002.”

“What’s wrong with it? I get medical reports about the first generations all the damn time. What makes this one so special?'' questioned the older woman. The other woman wearing jet black office attire responded,

“A Doctor Kassandra Suárez of Vitality Medical Station recently reported that A002 had successfully regrow his han-”

“Will you just tell me what is so interesting! My weapons lose limbs all the damn time. I don't care about that stuff!” The younger woman sighed at her outburst,

“Doctor Suárez reported that A002 admitted to having dreams for the first time and sought consultation.”

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

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

“Artemis, are you asking ME to turn off 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 just sounded like somebody slapped a drum and base electronics randomly until something came out. Then again, I had yet to hear any music that interested me. Perhaps it was just a me thing. No matter it’s time to get moving.

“Alright, that’s enough Hephaestus turn it off. Get ready we are deploying in 15,” 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 truly terrifying, even I didn’t completely understand it. The armor was the culmination of years of reverse engineering Xeno technology along with humanity's natural ingenuity that gave birth to this armor.

The armor was capable of withstanding repeated barrages from nearly all types of enemy fire rather 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 greater 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.

“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 stretching in his new armor.

Over the loudspeakers, a female voice rang out, “This is Foe Hammer we are nearly done over here and ready for take-off commandos, strap in.”

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 deleted us or a downed Elunarii fighter barreled into the 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 they sure didn’t care much for us. 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 uncomfortable, no matter how many times you went through it. It felt like somebody had quickly readjusted your internal organs and only placed half of them back.

The craft lurched upwards and launched out of the hangar into open space. There weren't any windows in the craft and the ride was silent besides the roar of the engine now. It was eerie knowing a full-blown space battle was roaring just outside this small metal casket.

After what seemed like an eternity before Foe Hammer called out once more, “We are entering the atmosphere, prepare for landing, my 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. She was always kind and cordial to Hades Squad even going as far as to call us her friends.

The liftgate dropped and we were greeted by a lush green forest. 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 normally comfortable for Humanity, the planet would make an excellent colony one day. Once we exterminated the Elunari off of 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.

“Stay safe out there Kronos, may God’s hand guide you all,” Foe Hammer sand kindly.

“Of course, thank you for the landing. Let’s move out, Hades Squad. I’ll maintain a speed of 50mph. We should reach the rendezvous point before nightfall.”

The squad answered with a mix of affirmatives and dejected “Yes, sirs” from the Gen 3s. The Gen 3s weren't normally 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 towards the rendezvous point. The scenery was okay, something out of a picture book. I’ve been on enough of these planets, I’ve seen it all. However, it was so different when 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.

Now we were about 8 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 active camo as we closed in. We couldn’t maintain the camo forever so it was a waste to use it when we were less likely to be spotted.

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

“FUCK… can you please not do that, sir…” they breathed out. Looking down at the Marine I replied,

“Sorry, 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, no worries sir. We just weren’t expecting Hades Squad. Command told us we were getting back up but didn’t think they would send you guys.”

“Sorry to disappoint Sergeant.”

“No... no, it’s fine this 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 20 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 relative 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. Artemis and Nyx had already scouted the facility during my conversation and confirmed the Marines’ report. I called back Artemis and Nyx and beckoned the 13 man Marine squad over as well. Once everyone gathered I began the briefing,

“Nike set up a jammer and keep them off comms for as long as possible. Nyx and I along with 5 Marines will enter through the back motor pool where there is only one guard stationed. Artemis will take the 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.” 19 arms went up in a salute of confirmation.

“Then let’s do this, for humanity.”

We broke up into our respective teams and began to converge onto the facility. As we got into position I noticed one of the Marines breathing was erratic. I couldn’t see their face through their mask but I could tell she was nervous, “What’s your name, Marine?” I called out to her.

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

“Don’t fret Private Miranda, stay close to me and watch my back, okay? We are going to make it out of here,” She let out a breath I’m sure she was holding for some time.

The regs didn’t like talking to us, however, not a single one was unaware of what we were capable of. There were plenty of stories of Death Commando squads single handly 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.

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 looks more like a hospital than a black site. The building was large and was colored a teal-ish blue color, it was also 5 stories tall. And the front had a roundabout that resembled that of a 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 become nothing more than a red 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 not even making as much as a woosh as it sent the guard into an enteral slumber.

One of the Marines quickly cut away the plastic fencing as we moved into the facility. The guards that would have seen us were already being dealt with. We made a dash for the door as we stuck together. Any fear was elevated as we made it to the door, the equivalent of a bio scanner for a handle was there. Nyx casually lifted the dead guard’s hand and slapped their 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 4th floor. That's most likely where they had their servers at. A quick bio-pulse showed the next hallways were clear so we made our way deeper into the facility. We came through a set of double doors, the teal plastic was replaced with a bright sterile white color. It seems the concept of cleanliness and sterile colored environments transcends species.

Another bio-scan pinged back that the entire first floor was clear. We found some stairs and I signed for Nyx to take 3 Marines and clear the second floor while I took the third. Upon reaching the 3rd floor I pinged for any lifeforms and came back negative again. Strange why don't they have guards in the building?

The building maintained its sterile white coloring as multiple rooms branched off from the hallway. This definitely was a hospital at some point. I was pondering these things for only a moment when I heard Miranda scream.

I turned quickly and saw a white-hot blade piercing the other Marine’s heart. Lifting him off the ground. I instantly noticed the small amount of blood that was seemingly floating in the air and sent 3 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 a sleek set of blue armor crumpled to the ground, their stealth field failing. Impossible.

The Elunari don’t have active camo or wear that kind of armor? And why is it as tall as one of them? The lights flickered briefly from an explosion outside and I saw the distortion of active camo changing behind Miranda,

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

I was already moving to take a shot however, she was in the way and I couldn’t make out the target beyond her. They must have been using some version of our active camo. Miranda’s training must have kicked in as she responded without hesitation to my order and raised her laser rifle to fire at the invisible enemy. I began to move in to help her when I realized my worries were spot on. They always come in 3s.

I pivoted only to catch a glimpse of another white-hot blade aiming right for my neck that was swung down at me. Without any space to react, I did the only thing I could. I shoved my slug rifle and hand right into the path of the blade. The white-hot plasma blade sliced clean through my weapon and separated my left hand above the wrist. I didn’t really feel pain, just a small prick telling me something was wrong with my body. A wound like this would send a human into pain shock in no time at all, but not me.

My sacrifice slowed down the blade just enough as I weaved around and aimed roughly where the head should be on the tall Xeno. Maxing out my augmented body, assisted by my suit, I punched the air with all my strength. I didn’t feel much resistance as I shattered the visor on their helmet. The strength of the punch sending my arm up to the forearm through what used to be their face. I quickly pulled my arm free of their face and kicked up their plasma spear catching it.

I turned just in time to see Miranda have her arm and rifle kicked in, sending her to the ground. I threw the plasma spear barreling down the center of the hallway. The Elunari let out a surprised grunt as the spear went straight through its stomach, sending them flying 10 feet down the hall impaling them to the wall. I moved towards the downed Miranda.

“You alright Marine?” I asked.

She was breathing heavily again as she responded,

“Yeah.. yeah. Arms broke, so is my rifle, but I’ll live. Thank you, sir. For saving me.”

“Not a problem Marine, sorry about him. I didn’t know they had active camo.”

“It’s fine you couldn’t have known, at least he died instantly,” She mourned while looking at her fallen comrade.

I walked over to the impaled Elunari. They were still alive as they were choking on their own blood. I silenced the Xeno’s moans of pain by crushing their windpipe with a swift punch to their throat.

To confirm my suspicions I ripped the blue helmet off the corpse. I was greeted by the appearance of a pale white Elunari, an albino as we called them. They were the elites of their race and we didn’t understand much about them. They were some abomination of biologically altered Elunari with a serious amount of combat implants. They were far more dangerous than you average Elunari.

Hell, they were easily the most dangerous Xeno humanity has fought against for the last 20 years. But why are they wearing this blue amour instead of their normal grey? And what are they doing all the way out here at this facility? I needed answers and I needed them now.

I removed the spear from the body and commed over to inform Hades Squad of my findings. Warning them about the possibility of active camo albinos roaming around. The squad list was all lit green confirming they were alive and heard me.

“Let’s meet up with the rest of the team. It will be safer that way.”

There was no telling when more of those active camo users were going to show up. They didn’t register on bio scans so this whole facility could be swarming with them. I couldn’t just leave this marine here either. We needed to regroup and fast.

“Yes, sir. But sir, your hand… do you need help?” Miranda asked me with worry.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. The suit is handling the bleeding and I don’t really feel any pain. Besides this isn’t the first limb I’ve lost and it probably won’t be the last.”

Miranda gave me a dejected nod a followed me a bit closer this time back down to the first floor. According to her file, this was her first mission as a Marine Force Recon member. She has a lot to learn but she is going to make a fine soldier. By the time we made it to what I would assume was the lobby, everybody else was already here. Apollo upon noticing my lack of a left hand rushed over to me,

“Let me take a look at that sir.”

“I’m fine Apollo. Look over this Marine for me will you?”

“Yes, Commander.” I couldn’t see his face but I knew he wasn’t all that happy about me refusing medical treatment. Bad habit of mine.

Apollo began to splint Miranda’s arm as I walked over to Nike. He met me halfway and without missing a beat gave me a quick rundown of how the other squads were doing.

Zeus, Artemis, and their Marines were still clearing the last few patrols that were coming in to check on the facility. Nike had managed to keep the jammer up the entire time and it was still holding, a task worth praising,

“Good work, Nike. Can you possibly scan the rest of the facility for lifeforms, we still have yet to clear it completely and those active camo users are causing us problems.”

“Of course, it should not be a problem, sir. I’ve already begun working on a way to scan for the active camo users since they are most likely using our tech. Just give me a moment.”

Hephaestus was effortlessly carrying Nike’s large terminal on his back that was being used as housing for the jammer. Nike began to tap away on the invisible hard light keyboard that only he could see.

“Got it, sir. I’ve got 4 signatures on the 5th floor. Back of the building, near the roof access.”

“Heph, Apollo, stay with Nike and the wounded Marines. Nyx and I along with any able-bodied Marine will clear out the 5th floor.”

My new team consisted of Nyx, 6 Marines, and myself. We separated at the two different stairwells and began our ascent to the 5th floor. Nike couldn’t get an exact pinpoint on the signatures but we knew they were towards the back of the building near the roof access. Their jerry-rigged active camo was being used to hunt them.

The Marine taking point walked first into the hallway followed by me. As soon as I breached the corner a laser bolt smacked me where my heart is and two separate laser bolts tagged the unfortunate Marine in front of me in both his legs. My armor absorbed the laser round but the Marine wasn’t so lucky. The bolts of energy welded his exosuit and armor to his legs, dropping him to the ground in agony as he screamed.

I immediately returned to cover as a barrage of laser rounds flooded the hallway. The Elunari didn’t even bother finishing off the poor Marine as he screamed for help. My perfect memory got a good snapshot of the hallway. It was about 30 feet long and there were 2 on the right side and 1 on the left. Sadly for them, it seemed they were trapped on that side.

Not wanting to risk any more lives I tossed a modified flashbang down the hall right into the group. These flashbangs were specifically designed to counter Elunari. Even Albinos with their armor couldn’t withstand the perfectly tuned sound that was meant to burst their eardrums.

Before the flashbang went off I was already running down the hallway at full sprint cracking the plastic tiles under my feet as I ran. Unlike them, my helmet would mostly negate the flashbang. The flashbang went off with a bright white light and a loud bang as the Eulnari’s active camo shimmered.

They all fell to the ground screaming bloody murder. I quickly finished off the 2 on the right while they writhed on the ground, impaling their heads with my commandeered plasma spear. I thought it best to use this mele weapon in the narrow hallways of the facility. I didn’t have much ammo for my bolt pistol and I needed it just in case we got into a fight in the forest. The spear would be useless out in the open. I didn’t need to tell Nyx anything as she stayed close behind me and finished off the last one with a few bolts of her slug rifle.

“Nyx, tend to the marine. I’ll finish off the last one.”

“Yes, sir.” She ran off to go help the downed Marine who was still screaming bloody murder and who I may or may not have flash banged as well.

I peered through the glass door into the room the 3 Albinos were guarding and what I saw surprised me more than the active camo or the blue armored albinos. It’s a child's playroom?

I entered the room and looked around, I didn’t see anything and my bio-scan showed nothing as well. It was just full of oddly shaped wooden toys and other things I didn’t really understand. But then I heard the faint sound of a door being slammed open above me.

At the end of the room was a door leading to the roof. I moved quickly and burst through the door. I looked up the center of the stairwell and rather than climbing them, I jumped straight up. I slammed the spear into the side of the stairs and used it as a platform to hoist myself up.

At the top was a door, I left the plasma spear and pulled out my bolt pistol. Being ambushed out here without a projectile weapon would mean the end for me. I rushed out onto the roof. It was running outside now, the gusts of wind battering against me.

At the opposite end of the roof were two small figures huddled over the edge looking down at the ground trying to fight the wind and rain. I walked over to them and once I was about halfway I stopped and turned on Nike’s auto-translating AI,

“Stop. You have nowhere else to run,” The synthetic speech from my helmet came out as a garbled mess that was the Elunari’s spoken language.

Now that I was closer to the two children I could fully make them out as they stared at me in complete and utter terror. The taller one was body blocking the smaller one and was wearing a dress. I’ve never seen an Elunari child before but I could only guess she was around 10 standard years old. However, it was the one behind her that surprised me the most. Today just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

Behind her, was of all things, a small Elunari child with pale white skin, hair, and bright pink eyes. They couldn’t have been older than 6 standard years old. So it seems they do start off as children.

I was about to repeat my order when the older one just suddenly began smiling, her bone-white teeth and yellow eyes gleaming off the landing pad lights. She turned to the little albino and said something while the rain poured down her face. Before the words finished translating in my helmet I was already in a full sprint. I didn’t know how I knew but I had a bad feeling about what was about to transpire. My body moved before my brain even registered anything. Time seemed to slow as the AI’s words read out into my helmet, “Please, forgive me.”

I watched in slow motion as the girl's upper body pulled back and tensed. She then pushed the child off the edge of the roof with all her strength. I was already on top of them as they were falling. I swiped out with my left hand to grab them only to remember. I didn’t have a left hand anymore. I could only watch as I swiped the open air. I couldn’t take my eyes off the child’s screaming and crying face as they fell towards the ground. And I’d never been able to forget the sound they made that day when they hit the ground. Why? Why did she have to push him?

As I stared over the edge I heard the distinct fhwoop of a slug rifle being fired. I turned in time to see the body of the girl crumple over, a kitchen knife falling out of her hand as she fell over. My gaze went straight to Zeus who was standing there aiming his rifle. I yelled at him,

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING ZEUS?”

“What do you mean Commander that Xeno was about to stab you in the neck!?” He screamed.

I looked at the dull kitchen on the floor. It wouldn’t have even chipped the paint off.

“She wasn’t a threat,” I growled back.

Zeus seemingly surprised at my response said,

“Commander, are you mad at me? What difference does it make? I believe you said it yourself. Orders are orders. We were to wipe out any and all personal at this facility.” He spat at me. Wait am I angry? Is that even possible? I’ve never been angry before.

“She could have been useful,” I responded half-heartedly.

Year 2502 aboard the Tesla Super Stealth Carrier Silent Night in warp space to enemy-occupied Odeus 5.

I stood outside the operation’s room of the Silent Night. I heard a commotion and decided to wait at the door so I could observe my squad using the interior cameras through my implant. It appears my squad is bonding well today. A tall Human man with brown hair and green eyes dressed in a skin-tight red Marine Force Recon Nano undersuit seemed to be pleading his case.

“Listen I’m telling you Hephaestus the Elunari are practically space elves, they have pointed ears and everything!”

A large well built Filipino man with black hair, caramel skin, and piercing hazel eyes. He lounged around in a green tank top, muscles practically bursting out from the thin cotton. He nonchalantly answers back his new comrade while lazily slapping his legs on top of a desk,

“Zeus… beyond the pointed ears what do the Elunari share with any fantasy elf? I mean their skin is bright pink along with their blue-shaded hair. Whatever cocktails Doctor Octario is dishing out to you she needs to bring the dosage down a bit because you are tripping my friend.”

A supermodel of a man with his perfectly gelled blonde hair and deep blue eyes wearing a graphic tee reading “I’m the medic” with a heart on it makes an off-hand comment,

“I suppose if one squint hard enough they could see how the Elunari could be considered the elegant space version of Elves.”

“See Heph! Apollo agrees with me!”

A tall Native American Woman with long flowing black hair and bright brown eyes scoffs,

“Those weren't words of agreement kid.”

“Who are you calling a kid Artemis! I'm actually the oldest one here!”, voiced Zeus, his face getting redder by the second.

A Human man with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a dark blue Naval Intelligence Nano undersuit, chimes in with his French accent,

“ I believe the saying goes maturity comes with experience, not age, Zeus"

“Marcel... Shit! I mean Nike! You are supposed to be on my side here man!”

“I don’t recall picking any side Zeus, we are all on the same side after all,” Nike responded with a devilish smile.

It appears things are not going as well as I thought they were. I should stop things here before we derail any further. I placed my hand on the bio scanner and the door slid open with a silent hiss. I strolled into the massive operation room. The room was rather large for only 6 occupants. The lecture-style seating could fit at least 300 Humans comfortably. I stepped to the front pedestal, and activated it, instantly pulling up on many images of a lush green planet. Hephaestus seeing me upon entering stands at attention and calls out,

“ATTENTION!” Upon hearing the call, all 6 people in the room stand and salute.

“At ease everybody, I’m glad to see everybody getting along. But space Elves or not, I hope you understand we are fighting the Elunari and their little Xeno council, lest you forget, they would have had the entire human race sterilized 20 standard years ago.”

“Yes, sir, of course, it was just banter amongst comrades. I would never fraternize with the enemy, sir.” Zeus responded. His face was now a red of embarrassment rather than anger.

“I understand. Now then, let us make this official and begin. With the passing of Commando Hypnos and Commando Demeter, I would like to welcome Commando Nike and Commando Zeus to Hades Squad. Although it seems you have introduced yourself, Zeus, for the record, please reintroduce yourself.”

“Yes, sir! My name is Michael Andrews designation, Zeus. I was born and raised on the colony world of New Nevada and I am 26 years old. I joined the Marines in my teens where I then trained to join Marine Force Recon. I was then recruited to the God program on Mars. I’ve graduated top of my class and I am part of the first batch of Gen 3 Death Commandos. And uhh… I am also an explosives expert, please treat me well!”

“Thank you Zeus and welcome to Hades Squad. Nike, would you please do the same.”

“Sir! My name was Marcel Edwards, designation Nike. I was born on Earth and I'm 25 standard years old. I was part of Naval Intelligence and was offered to join the God program, I happily accepted and promptly graduated. I’m an expert in Xeno communications and technology, I’ve also designed and created the auto-translating AI that is present in all our helmets.”

That statement earned a few glances of admiration from everyone present, myself included. A reaction that was sorely missing from poor Zeus’s introduction.

“Thank you, gentlemen, please take your seats. On behalf of Hades Squad I would like to officially welcome both of you, may you serve Humanity until your final breaths. Now then let us begin,” I sent them the mission outline over our closed communication implants.

“In 48 hours we will be dropping out of warp above Odeus 5. The planet is currently being fought over. The Navy has engaged the enemy in space along with Marine and Penal squads on the ground. Naval Intelligence has intel on an Elunari facility that they want us to secure. We will be dropping 400 miles away from the site where we will have to make our way on foot through the forest to rendezvous with a Marine Force Recon squad. We will reach the facility by nightfall the same day. We expect little to no defenses on route as the battle lines are nowhere close to the facility yet. The facility should also be lightly secured.”

“Sir, question. If this facility is so under-protected why can’t the Marines handle it?” Questioned Apollo.

“Naval intelligence believes this might be one of the first Elunari black sites, so they want the facility intact and all data to be secured.”

Apollo gave a nod of understanding as Zeus inquires with a concerned look on his face,

“Uh sir, how are we supposed to cross 400 miles of forest on foot in like 8 hours?”

“Well Commando Zeus, that's easy. We run of course,” I said nonchalantly. 

“Yes, sir of course…. we just run,” Zeus had the look of a dead man as he simply nodded to my answer with a far-off look in his eyes.

“Any details on Odeus 5, the situation on the ground and orbit, and the mission are present in packets that I have sent to your implants. Zeus and Nike make sure you head to requisitions and gather your new under suits and gear for the mission.” 

Both sounded off with a “Yes, sir”.

“Other than that, free time is allocated to you until we exit warp jump. You are all dismissed.” 

I walked back into the hallway to head back to my room. But I could hear somebody silently approaching me from behind. She always moves so silently, without my augmentations and implants I doubt I'd ever be able to hear her. I turned and looked at the young woman, she was short for a second-generation Death Commando, her jet black hair and eyes so brown they might as well be black. Her dark appearance contrasted against her pale skin. She rarely spoke to anyone besides me or the recently departed Hypnos. I was curious about what she wanted from me, “Yes, Commando Nyx?”

She gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “I’ll never be able to sneak up on you Commander Kronos, huh?” she said playfully. 

“I’m afraid not anytime soon Nyx, do you have a question about the mission?” I asked curiously. 

"No, sir. Permission to speak freely?”

Huh, this is uncharacteristic of Nyx. All the second generations seem to have some form of quirk or a distinct personality trait. I didn’t mind that about them at all, it made them easier to understand, yet it was difficult for me when they deviated from their normal patterns. 

“Sure. Perhaps we should take a little walk?” I suggested.

“Of course, Commander.”

I turned around and slowed my gait to match Nyx, being over a foot taller than her made walking next to her difficult in these small hallways. It was technically night on the ship. Most of the regs were sleeping since we were in warp. Only the engineers and navigators needed to be awake to keep the ship running, so the hallways were empty. Everybody who wasn’t essential was trying to squeeze the most amount of sleep they could out of what little time they had left. After some time I inquired about Nyx’s concerns, 

“So what is on your mind Commando?”

“It’s the Generation 3 Commandos, sir, I don’t like them... I mean Nike seems okay… but Zeus bothers me I mean they are essentially just supped-up regs.” 

Uncharacteristic indeed. Like me, most of the Gen 2 had suppressed and altered emotions. For Nyx to speak out like this, something must have caught her attention that I missed. Perhaps she was onto something though. 

These 3rd Generation Commandos were fundamentally different from myself and the second generation. They are regular humans who have lived most of their adult lives already before becoming Death Commandos. They weren't raised for war like the second generation or created for war, like me. I could see how their personalities and world views would clash, but I was ordered to make this work, and make it work I shall,

“Your concerns are noted Commando, but my hands are tied. You should attempt to get along with the new generation, you will most likely be seeing and working with many more of them. After all, they will double the number of generation two and nearly quadruple that of my first generation. I understand they are no replacement for Hypnos and Demeter, but orders are orders.” 

Nyx winced at the mention of Hypnos, she was close to the former stealth specialist. I suppose they might have been closer than I expected.

“That’s not what I mea-….Sorry, sir. I understand. Thank you for your time.” She cut herself off mid-sentence and seemed… frustrated?