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๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐โ
๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐: ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
Doctor's prescription: A scalpel a day keeps the vices at bayโ Medic
Commander Blackhound |
"Your son died a hero!"
Beta-squad Captain |
"..."
Commander Blackhound |
"The only good news was that all the bombings were within the abandoned city, which had long been evacuated. These attacks were a targeted strike to wipe us out."
Beta-squad Captain |
"...what's their angle?"
The captain could not control his tears.
Commander Blackhound |
"The Founder's Day parade is tomorrow."
The 20th anniversary of Psycorps.
Commander Blackhound |
"They're trying to bait our leader into showing himself. If he doesn't turn up, the bombings will continue."
The leader, Psycorp's founder, and the head of the city-state known as Bellspring.
Beta-squad Captain |
"So, their goal was toโฆwhittle our forces downโฆso that we can't defend the leader anymoreโฆand keep killing innocents until he shows up..."
The captain spoke in a soft tone, still grieving for his son.
Commander Blackhound |
"It's all over now. We took Anti-psycho's head and retrieved all the stolen prototypes."
Beta-squad Captain |
"...stolen prototypes?"
This was the first time the captain had heard the reason for their deployment.
Commander Blackhound |
"Psycorp was experimenting with a unique division of mechanized infantry for special operations. But, a few of their scientists and researchers went rogue. They smuggled the parts to Anti-psycho and helped assemble them."
Beta-squad Captain |
"The wretched bastards must've been laying low and planning this attack for quite a while!"
Commander Blackhound |
"I'm sorry. Our intel came too lateโฆ."
Beta-squad Captain |
"...What has humanity created!? Monsters are creating more monsters!!! In all my years, I've never encountered anything like this."
The captain spoke in a pained voice.
Beta-squad Captain |
"How could we have known? How could we have prepared!?"
Commander Blackhound |
"Captain, they all did their best! We did as well."
Beta-squad Captain |
"You did!? All this is news to me. Tell me, why did Psycorps hide this info from us?... Did you hide this info from other teams as well!? If they only knew."
The captain clutched his knees tightly.
Commander Blackhound |
"If they knew, captain, the damage would be far greater. Didn't I already explain how members within Psycorps have gone rogue? The enemy is among us! We have to assume that they are listening to these private comms."
The commander retorted in a harsh tone.
Beta-squad Captain |
"That doesn't make sense. Can't you even trust us? Anti-psycho already know what those prototypes are capable of, so what's the harm in revealing it now?"
The captain could not contain his anger and let his direct superior know his thoughts.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Captain, don't you'll get in trouble."
The vice tried to calm the captain before he got into more trouble.
The men felt the same as the captain, but they knew better than to speak up and let their anger quietly burn.
Commander Blackhound |
"You think it's that simple!? Anti-psycho has only scratched the surface! The true capabilities of these prototypes remain highly classified. We can't risk leaking any of their true capabilities on the comms."
Beta-squad Captain |
"That's absurd!!!"
Commander Blackhound |
"Listen. Even disclosing such a thing will get me in trouble. However, I'll gladly sacrifice my points since you lot are all I have left. I rather have my squad in good spirits than have them go off thinking I don't give a damn."
Beta-squad Captain |
"Commander, I apologizeโฆmy head is messed upโฆ"
The captain was quite taken aback at the sincere tone of his commander.
Commander Blackhound |
"Just today, we already discovered one traitor. The survivor from the Delta team. He was their newest recruit. Remember him?"
Beta-squad Captain |
"Yes, I know him. He's a good kid. So he survived?...that's great! But him being a traitor!? How can that be?"
Commander Blackhound |
"He single-handedly killed his entire team!"
The commander spoke with utter anger and fury in his voice.
Beta-squad Captain |
"He did what now!?"
More than one voice exclaimed those words. Hearing such a thing happen brought everyone's morale to an all-time low.
Commander Blackhound |
"He's on death row. We're executing him before the week is over. Claims it was due to the prototype or something."
Beta-squad Captain |
"I don't know what those prototypes did, but you have to vouch for him, commander! He's a clutz, for sure. But he's a good kid. He's innocโ"
Commander Blackhound |
"Innocent? Will that bring back the lives he took with his own hands? I expected more from you, captain. I know he was your son's best friend. But, he could very well be part of Anti-psycho."
Beta-squad Captain |
"Surely this has to be a misโ"
Commander Blackhound |
" A mistake? A misunderstanding? That excuse is too easy. Rather we must assume that he waited for the right opportunity and took it in cold blood!"
Beta-squad Captain |
"..."
While the captain wanted to save the boy, due to the friendship the boy had with his dead son, he couldn't deny that he could very well be a traitor. And so he stayed quiet until he could look into this matter himself.
Commander Blackhound |
"I'm going to send the support team now. I just got word that all stolen prototypes have been accounted for, and your team can come home. Good work, Beta team! Stand by"
The commander cut the comms after his orders.
Beta-squad Captain |
"Men! Pack it up. We're going home!!!"
At the captain's word, all the men around him started hugging each other, and a loud cheer went up.
Beta-squad Scout | B-005 |
"Finally! We can get out of this shit hole!"
Beta-squad Heavy Assault | B-008 |
"You said it. I can't wait to go back and be done with this mess. My back's been killing me. I need to get it checked. Know any good chiropractors?"
Beta-squad Captain |
"Oh, before I forget! Collect the samples from the bodies."
Some color was now returning to the captain's face, and his voice had a bit more strength.
Beta-squad Rear Guard | B-006 |
"Sir, you mean the strange dark liquid we found within their wounds when we first arrived?"
Beta-squad Captain |
"Yes, open them up if you have to; those traitors don't deserve an ounce of our respect. Get all the liquid in their bodies into a container. HQ will be interested in investigating what on earth it is."
The captain ordered, finally stepping out of the room and into the carnage outside.
The soldiers who went out all winced. The bodies were so horribly mangled up, dislocated, and jumbled together that they could hardly hold their composure.
Yet, orders were orders, so they switched on their infrared vision. Surprisingly, the bodies still appeared as red blobs on their visors since it hadn't been more than an hour before these men had been so gruesomely killed.
The men winched as their gloves went within the cavity of the bodies lying all over the place. The bodies and blood still were warm to the touch.
Viewing them only through their infrared visors allowed the men to see the fallen soldiers as something less than human. And they began inspecting the bodies for the dark liquid they saw leaking from the wounds earlier, trying to get some of the liquid into their containers.
Beta-squad Scout | B-010 |
"What do you think caused this?"
The scout asked another as he squatted down to cut the body open.
Beta-squad Heavy Assault | B-009 |
"I doubt even a rabid animal could cause such a mess."
The heavy assault cut in, overhearing the two.
Beta-squad Support Carrier | B-012 |
"Then it has to be a machine, right?"
Their newest member pitched in, joining the conversation.
Support Carrier, the mule of the group.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"No, look at the mess. There are no signs of any cuts. Nothing clean. Whatever strange phenomenon occurred here used blunt force to jumble up their innards. In all my years, I've never seen anything like this. It's almost supernatural! But as a man of science, I must rule out the possibility that spirits were involved."
Their new medic answered when he overheard their crazy ideas.
He was new to the team and kept to himself, but today he seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood.
The men all stared at him with awe. Some believed him to be mute; others considered him a moron.
But, what surprised them was that the man had no visor on him, just his glasses that were now clouding over. He happily did his work, cutting open bodies and digging his hands into the hollow cavities, all with a smile.
The men thought that he looked pretty intimidating as some blood splashed onto his face just when he cut open a body with his scalpel. He didn't even bother wiping it off as he was too engrossed in his work.
Realizing his mistake, he tried to calm his team by giving them his widest, most reassuring smile and a thumbs up.
Only to have some entrails from the body he was examining get tangled on his forearm as he struggled to raise his hand to give them the thumbs up. As the medic's teeth sparked and his glasses glinted in the light, the whole team moved away from him, fearing for their lives.
They all decided to leave it to him. After all, no man felt safe working next to the quack medic.
After a few minutes and some precise cuts with his scalpel, the medic was successful in freeing his hands and stood to his feet.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Where's everyone gone?"
The medic, being quite puzzled, raised an eyebrow at his team's behavior.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Oh well, their loss to miss out on such a fascinating scene. This whole scene is bizarre. The captain was right to call it that. It's as if someone put all of them into a popcorn machine and rattled them back and forth."
The medic spoke to himself, examining the roof, walls, and floor, which were all covered with blood.
Beta-squad Vice |
"What's your verdict, doc?"
The vice asked after returning from outside the building, where he was conducting his own examination.
Beta-squad Vice |
"I saw the men all rushing out of the building in a panic. So I came to see what's up."
The vice asked the medic while communicating with him in sign language.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"An earthquake."
Beta-squad Vice |
"..."
He can speak!?
Also, we must file a complaint against the crackhead they sent us.
He comes quite highly recommended, butโฆ
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"A massive earthquake! Enough to bounce their bodies all over the place. Off the roof, the walls, through the hallways. I think we might even find some of them outside?"
The medic said in deep thought.
Beta-squad Rear Guard | B-006 |
"Vice! We found more bodies behind the building. They're all over the place. Some of them are as far as 300 meters away. Captain says it's unbelievable. Almost as if they were placed in a slingshot and shot out the windows!"
The Rear Guard spoke while running in.
Beta-squad Vice |
"300 meters!?"
The vice then turned to the medic.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Must've been one hell of an earthquake!"
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Wait! I've seen such injuries before."
The medic said, realizing something.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Injuries? Doctor, they're dead! I'd think these are a little more than some injuries."
The vice rubbed both his temples in frustration. The vice then turned towards the rear guard.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Go fetch the captain. Doc's got an explanation for it. He'll want to hear it."
The soldier went back out to call the captain.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"It's rare, but such cases have happened to engineers who've carelessly handled dark fluid."
The medic checked for signs of the liquid. Yet, if there was any, it's long since dissipated.
Beta-squad Vice |
"The Dark fluid!!! Hold on. The captain needs to hear this."
Beta-squad Captain |
"Hear what? Rookie told me you got an explanation for it, doc?"
The captain asked, coming up the staircase.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Captain, Dark fluid. Are you aware of it?"
The medic raised himself and crossed over his arms.
Beta-squad Captain |
"The anti-gravity substance that gives our airships flight?"
Beta-squad Vice |
"Isn't it everywhere these days? The monorail that goes to Veritas, which they recently opened, also works with it. Isn't that why it can run on tracks without structural support?"
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"You're both right. They have plans to float an entire building on it down the road. The rumor is that the new Psycorps HQ that the ministry is building at the city's center will use this same material."
Beta-squad Vice |
"You sure know a lot about this, don't you, doc? But, what's that got to do with these bodies?"
The vice asked with a cheeky grin, giving the medic a small pat on his back.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"I believe the shells that these bodies have been riddled with contain trace amounts of dark fluid. Of course, I can't be completely sure unless we take them to a lab and do a thorough analysis. But, I've reason to believe that dark fluid was used in the massacre of these men."
The medic spoke, examining a shell by raising it close to his eye.
Beta-squad Vice |
"These shells are hollow, captain. There's a good chance he's right."
The vice interjected after picking a shell up and looking closely at it.
Beta-squad Captain |
"That's a major war crime, then. The recipe to produce dark fluid is a closely guarded secret. Not to mention that it's a largely untested and highly inhumane weapon. Just look at the state of the bodies. How on earth did it end up here? That's something Psycorp will want to know."
The captain commented while pulling on his beard.
Beta-squad Vice |
"You think the enemy came here with ammo lined with this stuff?"
The vice turned towards the captain.
This whole thing was quite frightening. Imagining an enemy having such a weapon, and witnessing its gruesome effects firsthand, put everyone into high tension.
Beta-squad Captain |
"Our commander has assured me that no unit has set foot in this place. Not on our end, at least, and I trust him."
The captain stared into the vice's eyes with a serious look.
Beta-squad Captain |
"At first, I thought there had to be a third group in play. But, our men found no signs that anyone else had been here. No signs of footprints or other signs. Isn't that right, vice?"
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"How can thaโ"
Just then, their comms flared to life.
Commander Blackhound |
"Captain, the Zeta force has arrived to ferry us back to base. You can give your report once you get back. Our newly put-together investigation team will handle it once we assemble them in a few hours. They'll pitch in until we can properly reform the delta squad."
Beta-squad Captain |
"That'll be hard. We had some good men at Delta. Roger. Vice. Doc. Pack up. We're heading home."
The captain said after hearing the commander's order. He then returned to the room to gather his supplies, with the vice following him.
Now that the medic was all alone, he could finally focus on the investigation, and his brain went into overdrive to devise a reasonable solution to satisfy his curiosity.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"...we heard crazy explosions right before we came in. At the time, we assumed that it was some chain bombings. But now it all makes sense. It wasn't an explosion that had occurred. There are no signs of burn marks, smoke, or flames. It was all due to the dark fluid being fired in live rounds. However, where did theyโ"
Beta-squad Vice |
"Doc, get your ass here and grab your things"
The vice, along with the captain, got their bags packed and walked past the medic, still quite absorbed by the whole scene. Now angry due to the wait, the vice shouted back to the medic from down the hall.
But, if the vice knew this man, he would know better. When the medic got interested in anything, there was no stopping him, and so, like a mad beast, he ran down the stairs but not to go with the rest. Rather, he had a different reason in mind.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Yes, that must be it!"
Beta-squad Vice |
"Good, don't make us wait! The ship's waiting, doc!"
But, the medic shot right past the vice, waiting for him by the building door. Instead of following the vice out of the building, the medic went down one more floor.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Oopsie, I left my bag downstairs. How clumsy of me!"
He's up to something, thought Vice.
Wait.
Is doc the traitor!?
Hold on! Let's not jump to conclusions.
Maybe he left his field rations down and really loves those tasteless bars!?
Beta-squad Vice |
"Hurry, doc! Or else we'll be leaving without you!"
In the distance, outside the building, the sound of the airship's engines firing could be heard as it prepared itself for take off.
The medic frantically searched the entire basement.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Where is it? Where is it!?"
The medic spoke to himself while searching all over the place for any fragments he could find. Seeing none, he threw away his first conclusion.
These were not the work killer drones! He assumed that if this were the work of drones, then he should see signs of some kind of struggle. Perhaps the men were able to take one of them down. But he really could not find anything.
Ruling out drones only left one possibility.
The killings were done from within the building by some unknown group.
Shivering at the thought, he ran into the storeroom and tapped against each floor plank with his scalpel.
*Thump*
*Thump*
*Ting*
*Thump*
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Hold on! I heard a ting!"
The medic became ecstatic over the odd sound one of the floorboards made.
Beta-squad Vice |
"And you'll be hearing plenty of other things if you don't get your ass on that ride!"
The vice said while forcefully dragging the medic away.
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"Nooooo! My discovery! I was so close! Hold on, vice! There's a floorboard that soundedโ"
The medic said with a sad look after being dragged away before seeing what was under the board.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Sounded strange? Why yes, there's an underground tunnel from where the intruders could easily massacre the men hiding here."
Ah, that makes sense!
Wait.
How does he know!?
Beta-squad Medic | B-011 |
"N-n-no way!!! Are you the traitor?"
The medic asked as his eyes popped. He tried to turn his head back to meet the eyes of his assailants. He was in terrible danger, so he hid his scalpel in the sleeve of his suit.
The vice stopped dragging him and let him go. The medic was laid flat on the ground, with the medic's head towards him. It was a compromising position if the vice wished he could stomp straight on the medic's head.
The boots of their squad were lined with metal, and one good stomp from the vice could crush the medic's head like a tin can.
Unfortunately, they had to forgo their exo-suits, or else the medic was confident that he would have the upper hand as he had better control of it than anyone else on his team.
He had trained himself with it to the point that it felt like second nature. However, in doing so, he had grown quite weak physically and wasn't prepared to have a death match with the vice.
Any sudden or clumsy movements from him and vice would do him in right there.
The air was heavy, and his life was flashing before his eyes. Amid the tension, he could only think about the element of surprise he hid within his sleeve.
But then again, the vice was smart. How the situation would turn out would be anyone's guess.
Just when the medic was about to spring into action by slipping the scalpel into his hand from his sleeve and slitting vice's Achilles tendon, vice did something unexpected.
Vice sighed and crouched low, looking straight into the medic's eyes as he squatted, bringing his face close to the medic.
This is perfect!
The medic now had the advantage. He was confident in his ability to kill with his weapon of choice.
This little scalpel in his trained hands was like a jack knife or a machete. He could use it to completely sever the man's Carotid artery, directly cutting off the blood supply to his brain and killing him.
Over the years, he had performed many surgeries, and this awkward angle would not stop him. The element of surprise was his, and he started calculating the best angle for his fatal kill.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Traitor?"
The vice had a puzzled look on his face.
Beta-squad Vice |
"Psycorps sure has a lot of enemies, huh!?"
The vice had a dangerous look on his face.
The medic grimaced in disgust.
This man is truly dangerous!
Why would he kill his own group just to throw us off?
Just how far is he planning to take his vendetta?
Does the captain know?
If vice is the mole responsible for leaking our intel, then doesn't that make him responsible for everything?
Our entire squads were wiped out all because of this man!
Letting him go now will put all my friends in danger, so I must stop him here and now.
My next move will decide everything!
The medic then readied his improvised weapon for the life-and-death struggle about to commence.
Even if I die, I swear to avenge them all!
Beta-squad Vice |
"Doc, I hope you're not planning anything stupid?"
***
๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐
๐๐ก๐ traitor amongst us
โ๐ฐ๐๐โ
๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ~