{14:03 PM, 09/07/2024}
{Burns POV}
As I stared at the convoys prepared for us, my mind began to drift towards the possibility that not everyone here was coming back home to their family or friends. Still yet they waved, smiling and happy.
It only meant I had to be strong as a captain so as to not repeat my last mistake.
John, Rita, Joan, ken, Rukius and Martha. Those were the members of my squad, and only three of them had served in the army. The rest had received combats training either as a part of their circumstance or personal decision.
Rukius had finished top of the program for the first batch and according to the Intel i received, he was very skilled in physical and supernatural combat.
His flame manipulation ability was definitely going to come in handy based on the fact that it was one of the two things that were able to actually harm the negrons. Ken's mimicry and Rita's barrier manipulation would also come in handy, and as I tried to workshop all their usefulness ahead of time, our passage had been cleared and it was time to depart.
"I'm coming Kate, just wait for me!" I braced, signalling the rest of my team.
Immediately we passed through the rifts, all parties split up and headed to their various destinations. We had assigned various tasks to various parties in the mission and it was obvious that we would work more effectively with more manpower.
The doctor had found a way to establish a form of psychic connection through the symbiote of every member of a particular squad and also to base. That way we could track our progress and even find lost members if need be.
It was definitely a big step up from our last reconnaissance mission, and I was grateful for the achievement. Our squad was tasked with locating and destroying the orb as well as Joe's team. Six and Nelly's team were charged with surveillance of any possible outpost that were unaccounted for in the maps.
It would take a total of three days to reach the checkpoint and like a week to make it back after completion of the mission, based on the fact that we would have to use a longer route back. There was of course, a contingencies plan just in case things didn't go as planned.
I tried to start a conversation in order to lighten the mood but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. I was going to let them deal with the nervousness themselves because no form of comfort would prepare them for the monsters they were about to face.
"These negrons, how big are they cap?" Ken asked, leaning over as he peered at me. He was a wild card even amongst the many wild cards that had signed up at the task force.
As i stared at him I recalled reading through his file and seeing an alternate version of him now- in real time.
He had a lanky build but well padded muscles that even I could notice behind his leather vest, enough to make him seem a threat.
His hair however did nothing to compliment his look but it did his personality; dark, spiky and and long, reaching the nape of his neck but short enough to stop before his eyebrows.
" Yeah.... How big we talking cause I've actually only seen them on television and during our briefing as images. I've never actually stood in front of one" Martha followed, her boyish tone clinging strongly to her words.
"Well you'll soon be meeting one.... Hehehe" Rita snickered quietly from behind, enough for only a few to hear. Her brown eyes quivered each time she spoke, and so did her lips, which she bit each time she talked for a while.
I had mistaken her for someone who was schizophrenic the first time I saw her, but there was nothing of such in her file.
She tugged at her hair as she stared at Rukius, tilting her head a bit till the fiery red tip glossed over her laps.
Thanks to ken who had opened up the conversation, the mood had finally diffused completely. As for the answers to their questions, I was going to try a more subtle approach.
"All you need to know is whenever you're faced with one, it's either kill or be killed. They have no sense of reason and will not even hesitate to tear you to pieces".
I turned to look at their faces and the terrified looks that greeted my stare was confirmation enough that i had done the direct opposite of what I wanted to do.
Rukius however, remained unusually quiet through out our conversation. He had a very stern look on his face, as if he was in deep thought over something.
"Hey Rukius, aren't you going to join in?" Ken taunted.
"Nope"
"Tch, no fun as always. You know, sometimes it would actually help if you could just let loose sometimes"
"Yeah... And then get yourself killed right. We have to stay vigilant, we could get attacked anytime, don't tell me you didn't keep up with the briefing?"
They were both right, we couldn't let our guard down but we still had to relax because building up more tension would lead to a nervous breakdown which eventually would lead to death.
"Why haven't we come in contact with any negrons so far?" Joan spoke, hardly audible enough for me to even hear.
I looked towards her and nodded my head in approval of the question she had asked. She was the only person who hadn't spoken since we had made our way into Omnicron. Heck she hardly even spoke at all, not even during the training and briefing. She had a very shy but caring personality and it was what made her close to all the members of my squad.
"That's because they must all be at the checkpoint. We can't say for sure though, the residents of this planet aren't very much predictable and could even send them as we speak. But we'll just go with that guess for now."
I didn't want it to jinx our situation, and I even hoped we didn't come into contact with them till after we had actually made some progress with our journey. Any contacts with negrons would further disorient our team but it would also be advantageous moving forward, as it would help give some sort of exposure into what they were likely to face.
"Speak of the devils, captain I'm picking up zeta radiations from up ahead." Martha chimed happily, squeezing the device she held.
"Numbers?" I asked looking away from her frenzied gaze.
"Hard to say though, they are in a cluster but likely twelve or thirteen."
Martha was very good with the tech that the doctor had made and was also naturally smart. She had also listened throughout the entire briefing seeing as to how she used the term 'zeta radiations' rather than heat signature.
The negrons had a very different makeup than any organism back one earth. Their bodies didn't produce heat which was a very essential by-product produced by all life forms in whatever process. Rather it emitted a certain form of radiation similar to the zeta fluid, which acted as it's form of energy for pretty much everything it needed internally.
That meant they were pretty much invulnerable to any form of a mild change in climate conditions and even mild changes in temperature of the surroundings. They were like machines that ran on one source of energy but didn't produce any heat upon work.
A very advanced type of predator species than any on earth, and therefore, very much deadlier.
"Rukius, John, you're up" I beckoned, tapping on the responder as I watched the negrons come into view.
"Yes sir"
"Huh?... We're gonna fight all of them?"
"Yes"
Rukius agreed right off the bat and I couldn't attribute it to whether it was his confidence in his skills or ability while john on the other hand wasn't as much motivated as his partner. John's ability wasn't that bad though, in fact if it was anything as i had read in his file, then he was clearly more of a threat to the negrons than any of us.
The only problem though was his lack of self esteem. He had only been recorded to have used his abilities once during testing, details were withheld and the cause wasn't recorded because it was unknown to anyone what had pushed him to do so.
'His combat proficiency should suffice' I thought, glancing over the possible outcomes of their battle in my mind.
I watched as Rukius jumped off the moving vehicle, charging at the negrons in haste without even wasting a second, he easily eliminated the first one that approached him by piercing it's core with his symbiote with ease and then struggled for a while before taking out the second and third. After that he used his ability to finish off the next five that approached him, all while keeping his cool.
His flames burned so brightly and intensely that we all felt it from over ten feet away. It became even more intense the more he battled, so much that Rita had to put up a simple barrier.
John on the other hand had not used his ability but was carefully exterminating them one by one whilst keeping his distance. His moves were very flexible and refined, I had almost felt like it was all going to be an easy run but unfortunately, I had started getting the wary feeling that something was off.
Not only had their numbers increased by twice the previous amount, but they were also more composed in their assault than before. It was like they were constantly adapting to the battlefield the more they spurned from the corners from which they came.
The doctor had postulated the possibility of them being controlled by an external force but still ruled out the theory based on lack of proof, but what I was seeing was definitely close to that.
"Oh no, John!!" A voice reached out from behind me, probably Joan's.
I was already so submersed in my thoughts that I didn't notice the negrons running to John at top speed. I had almost rushed forward, but John signaled for me to halt by waving that it was all under control.
'What's he thinking...Oh....' It finally occurred to me.
He was about to use his special ability and the looks on the faces of the rest of the team was proof enough. I too was intrigued as to what the ability would be like in person.
"Oh shit, here it comes. The God of death's punishment "