"Battle stations!" Erik shouted to his team.
"Shouldn't we call for reinforcements?" Zero asked in the presence of the house-high monster, whose pink surface shone greasily. It piled up like a huge lump of clay and tilted slightly to both sides.
"So we can attract even more attention here?" Erik protested. "As if a broken factory and a hundred missing workers weren't enough of a fuss, a big operation should start as well?"
"We'll have to deal with it ourselves. Whether we like it or not, it's our job," JP agreed.
The five looked captivated upwards to the creature that imitated Dawn's form. His entire physique was reproduced by the creature of mere flesh, including his protective plates and his additional compartments.
"Do you know why it looks like me?" Dawn asked.
"No, it's the first time I've ever seen that," said Erik. "Whatever' was going on here, it's too f***ed up. Flesh that forms an organism? I'm getting too old for this..."
"The punch line is that people still assume they're eating meat from real animals while being fed untested chemicals," Jo laughed. "Such idiots."
"Let's put an end to the spook at least for today," Erik said while loading his plasma revolver.
"How are we going to deal with it when it's constantly reassembling itself?" asked JP completely hopelessly.
"Molecular deconstruction?" suggested Zero.
"What exactly are you thinking about? We don't have nuclear fission weapons with us" asked Erik.
"Yes, we do" laughed Zero and pointed to Dawn. "His fusion blades are made of an Inversium alloy, so they can destroy any regular matter."
"You heard it. It's up to you now, Dawn" Erik slapped him encouragingly on the back.
"But what can I do in hand-to-hand combat against this thing, it's at least ten times bigger than I am. Even if it doesn't fight back, it would take ages"
"We'll distract it while you sneak up and let your melee protocol do the rest."
"I'll lead the way," said JP, storming ahead with Dawn in his slipstream to the monstrosity that hadn't noticed anything yet.
As they stood directly below, Erik and Jo opened the fire, firing round after round at the creature's head, which became more and more upset, tearing out entire walls of the factory and throwing them around. In dense dust and debris, Dawn moved into the giant's reach, his Jugem Blades extending out the outside of his forearms and lower legs.
" - - - - - - - - Enemy identified - -- - - - - - - "
" - - - Close Combat Protocol Activated - - - -"
"Why have you taken my form? You defile my face by bearing it."
Dawn's blades sliced through the putrid flesh, not only cutting it into pieces but causing it to disappear as it was struck by the blade.
*** How could I not have noticed this before? Those blades are amazing! ***
Dawn slit his way into the inside of the being until he was in the middle of it. His blades raged at an unfathomable speed, shaking uncontrollably.
Layer by layer, he was annihilated by the effect of the Jugem Blades as the chatter of his allies' gunshots from outside penetrated him, and after a while, the creature slumped to the ground like a lifeless shell, with Dawn continuing to maltreat it. His blade movements had become visible as streaks of air and he noticed the Jugem Blades slowly began to disintegrate.
***My goodness, this thing is persistent. I must dematerialize it as soon as possible.***
SLASH! SWOOSH! SLIT!
With the last thin piece of his blade, the last piece of the mutated flesh disappeared from the face of the earth. Dawn took a deep breath before he remembered to feel no more exhaustion and watched Erik make a call via his arm's built-in holo display.
He traced the call, which took place over a protected channel. Erik greeted "Arthur, I have a perfect scene here, send some actors over immediately."
Jo also overheard the conversation "He's talking to the General" Dawn said.
"No shit, Sherlock."
"Who is Sherlock?" Dawn asked.
"Uncultured swine..." Jo sighed.
After Erik hung up, he explained his plan. "This battlefield" he pointed to the factory around him, which had been turned into wreckage, "might as well have been caused by the Moonfall Legion. It will not be good press for the rebels if they were to attack the town's main food supply."
Dawn considered "Are you saying the incident in here is being staged by us as a rebel attack?"
"Not by us, Arthur is sending his new adjutant and she will take care of it."
Before the arrival of the General's messenger, Dawn had to make an exact 3d map of the entire building complex so that there could be no contradictions later.
Before the adjutant, however, another group entered the factory. They were men in protective suits with helmets, who arrived heavily armed. When Erik saw them he sighed "Zero!" and shouted angrily, "I told you we didn't need reinforcements! Then what' are the guys from the 72nd here?"
"I wanted to be on the safe side", Zero defended his decision.
"Make sure you come up with some plausible explanation for all of this."
Zero twisted his big cerulean eyes and went to the requested forces.
After a long time of waiting and securing the place, a neat lady in a decorated costume arrived. In her hand, she held a semi-transparent glass display on which she nervously typed something. Her face was delicate and narrow and did not meet the expectations of a military woman. Her long blonde hair was tied in a braid that she put over her left collarbone.
"You must be the General's adjutant, delighted," Dawn greeted her as she walked past him, not even seeming to notice him.
After her, a large group of inmates in a prison transport shuttle arrived at the factory, as well as a group of decorators who arranged them within the destroyed scenery according to a certain rehearsed scheme. No detail was left to chance, every angle and every single shard on the floor was precisely adjusted to take a few photos and shoot a few short videos.
The degree of realism of the shots was astonishing and was already post-processed on set with sophisticated software.
The Archetype Commando gathered around Erik and the adjutant on the sidelines, where they took a close look at the scenery.
"Propaganda at its best", Erik said with a smirk.
"But isn't that immoral?" Dawn asked.
"Perhaps. But surely it's practical. It's an explanation for the accident here and it gives the people of the town one more reason to abhor the rebellion. Without popular support, they are powerless."
"But don't they have support in the lower districts? What if food production falls into the hands of the rebels? Would the upper districts starve?"
"It's simple, we must not let that happen. You know why we didn't save them back there?"
"No, I thought it was cruel."
"It was never a question of protecting people from those creatures, but only Lebigot's integrity and therefore that of the Council. Our job is not to save a few lives, but to maintain order in this city to save billion lives" Erik said seriously before being interrupted by the adjutant.
"Sergeant Baker, what should I tell the general about the mission?" she asked politely while talking with McManus via the HMD communication channel.
"Tell him we whipped the sh** out of those f***gaing scumbags, " said Erik. „Those mutants popped open like virgins."
"They had no problems" the adjutant summarized.
"I might ask you not to distort the exact phrasing" Erik objected.
The adjutant blushed and talked very fast and quietly "He said… that they whipped the..."
She seemed to be interrupted by McManus. "I should tell you, you were outrageous and should apologize, Sergeant Baker," said the adjutant with a shy smile and Erik had to laugh too.
"Apologize? That is the tone with us. I'm doing you a favor because I'm offering you a chance to get used to it. Now tell your supervisor that we're done here."
"Your efforts and those of your team will be duly rewarded."
"That's what Arthur has been telling me for years, and I'm still waiting for my reward if you don't count those anniversary gift hampers" Erik joked. "Well, I've had enough for today. You can get along without us?" he asked the adjutant.
"Of course, enjoy your evening, " she said and breathed relieved.