Mercenaries.
They are freelancers who work for money and profit, taking up requests either through the Galactic Mercenary Board, or by private.
And then there are mercenary groups.
Mercenary groups can have as few as four people inside, up to thousands and even hundreds of thousands. With the largest known having over 20 million personnel, essentially a small interstellar army. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of mercenary groups in the galaxy.
Of course, being numerous in the thousands, only a few amongst them could have a stellar reputation.
A certain mercenary group, Hammer and Anvil Mercenary Company, is one of them.
They are a famed mercenary group, that mainly operate in the Raleigh Arm of the Outer Rim.
They are known for being a small, yet elite mercenary group with only 20 thousand people.
Of course, the focal point of all this fame are its elite personnel, known as the Hammer Squad.
They are the stuff of legends, frequently spoken in fervent hushes amongst bars in countless of stations. Known were all of their fames and exploits. Stories and videos of their operations usually evoked cheers and admiration from other listeners, and many people naturally thought the nature of the people inside Hammer Squad were serious and clear-headed.
Yeah as if. Everyone inside Hammer Squad is either a wacko or completely insane. I mean, we're clearly just goofs, so how did we even get this reputation?
It's 21:20PM. 40 minutes until D-day. Currently, I'm just sitting on a chair inside an office. His office. I was sweating a bit, even with the air conditioning coming off from the vents.
'What does he want me to do this time? Jump off a drone or something? Or could it be he wants me to be bait?'
Usually, I would be assigned as a sniper if the Captain was in a good mood. If we were called here, it means that the Captain wanted us to personally do something insane.
We, as in, me and him sitting on the chair right besides me.
There was a blonde haired dude sitting next to me, flaunting his arms beneath his head as if he owned the place. Something he would never show the boss of course. His face screamed prince charming. Even with his handsome face however, I knew that this person posseses some, unfortunate character traits.
"Yooo Cherry, what's up? Looking at my face hm? Were you perhaps entranced by my beautiful personage? Unfortunately for you, this self is not gay." he said in the most flamboyant way ever.
I ignored him. I didn't even look at him earlier, he was just making it up.
"I know you're ignoring me, Cherry. But I also know, that deep down in your heart, you're interested in me. So why not steal a glimpse from this magnificent I? It won't do you any good to ignore your hearts desire, right?"
He says it in the most, unstraightest way possible, hoping to elicit a reaction from me.
"Aren't I, your loyal friend Cobo, the most closest in your heart? Why must you ignore me so? Must you risk the loss of one of your- nay, your only friend in the world???"
"But even then with all your imperfections, I, Cobo, will steadfastedly remain as your friend! Don't you worry, Cherry! I will never leave a friend behind!"
Haaaaah.
Facepalming in defeat, I finally replied
"...Could you please- just shut up?"
"How discourteous, that is naught a thing to say to a lifetime companion!"
"Stop before I shoot a bullet through the top of your head that goes all the way through your ass."
"Well, don't be so hostile-" He snickers a bit. "I was just trying to get your attention since you weren't paying attention to me for the past 5 minutes.
"How hard would it be to just go about it like, a normal person?"
"Pffft- That's not important. The important thing is to have fun, right?"
"Fun can be subjective, you know."
"Oh cmon, its just being a little silly. You're such a dooze, Cherry."
I rolled my eyes. That's not what dooze even meant.
'This guy...'
I felt like an anime character with those red plus marks appearing on their foreheads. If this was one, I would already have four of them already.
This person is Cobo Kerrel. He's a Command member, but not one that leads a unit. Me and him are part of Hammer Squad, which is the elite squad that the captain personally leads. We've known each other for about, 15 years... In battle, hes a reliable and cool-headed person, but outside of ops like this? He usually acts like a joker, annoying the shit out of everyone excluding the Captain, and usually being a piece of shit. Also he's a gambling addict. And a pyromaniac.
Inside the Hammer Squad, he's pretty hated. In H&A? He's infamous as a troublemaker. But outside, he gets swarmed by girls the moment they know who he is. The infamous Razer- the incendiary specialist of Hammer Squad. Im sure his face is the reason why, most of the time.
Since 15 years ago, me, him, and two other children had been raised personally by the Captain and his Adjutants.
So I guess he's a childhood friend?
'I refuse to admit that.'
"Want to make a bet?"
"No."
"Come on. Just say yes?"
"No."
"Alright then, 50/50 on whether his plan for us involves orbital entry or dropship infil?"
"..."
"5000 Credits."
"..."
"10000." Cobo raises his bet.
"..."
"20000!" And he raises it even more.
"..."
"30-
"Alright, I get it, could you please just shu-"
With a sudden sound of a clang, the door behind us opened. Since there was a light conveniently placed just on the front of that door in the ceiling, the hulking shadow of a person suddenly overlapped everything in the room.
Instantly recognizing who that person is, I clenched my buttcheeks tight.
'Im so screwed!'
I rolled my eyes to the culprit in question, and he was just facing the table, arms on his hips, with a straight posture, with a stoic face as if he was a Greek philosopher about to undergo a modern job interview.
Fuck you. I said silently in my heart.
Cobo, as if he was telepathic, responded by showing me a slight smirk while looking at me from the corner of his eye.
Gotcha. As if I was a telepathic, I immediately understood what that gaze meant.
'The urge to sabotage this guy's equipment...'
The room that was already air conditioned felt like it had gotten even hotter.
I looked at the time. It wasn't even 21:30 yet. Why did this happen to me?
The person outside the room entered, and he sat infront of us in his big seat, clearly not meant for a normal human.
He had a slightly reddish skin tone, a bulky build impossible for ungenetically modified humans to achieve, and two horns on top of his head, looking like red blades sticking out of his head.
Our captain, the leader of H&A Mercenary Co.
Captain Kerox, known to people amongst the mercenary community and outside as the Blood-Red Ogre.
Kerox looked down at me, and I could barely meet his gaze from his black-coloured eyes.
"Cerr."
His voice sounded deep, with a tinge of aggresiveness yet ladened with years of experience.
"Yes sir."
"Not alot of people have the guts to swear infront of me. Even if its not directed towards me."
"Yes sir."
"Don't do it again. Usually its training with me, but since the operation is in two days... I'll spare you. Got it?"
"Yes, thank you, Captain!"
"And you, Cobo. I don't care about your antics, as long as its not too serious. However. Know when its time to stop. If this was any normal day, you and Cerr would be training together with me."
"Yes, Captain!"
This hulking red monstrosity had already gotten the obedience of Cobo.
Captain Kerox, being an Oni, passively emitted a silent pressure that made me felt as if I was trapped inside a room with shrinking walls.
The sounds of beeping filled the room. Captain Kerox was looking at his personal logs, as if to confirm something.
Him breathing sounded like a grown man gruntling.
"For this operation... Hammer Squad will split up."
"I want you two to fulfill a special mission for me."
A special mission? The undertone of it made me interested in what he was about to say.
'So it isn't going to be a literal suicide mission for me this time?'
Memories of me being forced to do tight high-risk objectives alone resurfaced. Not pleasant memories, since everytime I came back from one I would end up looking like a caveman and emit the odor of an ogre if it was bathed in dozens of chemical compounds.
"I wont mention this mission in the collective briefing tomorrow, so listen up. I'm sure you already well know where were going this time, right?"
"Yes, its a planet designated as Deronia." I answered.
"And its the planet where the Terminus-class Anomaly, the City of Tolling Bells once manifested, right?" said Cobo.
In the past, about 25 years ago, Deronia, once a prosperous colony on Sector 5 of the Raleigh Arm, Outer Rim, inexplicably had a manifestation ocurrence of a very dangerous Anomaly called the City of Tolling Bells. In the first hour of its manifestation, the Colonial Capital of Deronia had already fallen under madness, with people killing themselves due to its influence. In the next 24 hours, The City of Tolling Bells had already fully manifested, and Deronia became only a lifeless, empty planet. Its influence rapidly expanded outside the planet and onto its host star system, OR-RA-1742475SSS.
Its influence would've expanded outside the star system, if it weren't for the timely intervention of the 7th Grand Armada of the Soror Star Federation and several other mercenary groups called for help. Despite major casualties, the influence of the City of Tolling Bells was pushed back to its home planet, and with a ground invasion, the core of the Anomaly was destroyed.
That was the story given to us by the Soror Star Federation.
Of course, that story was heavily edited and exaggerated for the public to see. There were some rumours on a couple of stations in Sector 5, and many of them told a different tale compared to the 'official story' given by the government. The most popular amongst them, being that the core of the anomaly, had actually never been destroyed in the first place, and it was just sealed.
Of course, the thought that an Anomaly could be sealed in the first place is just stupid. The powers and influence that come from an anomaly can be taken advantage of, but the anomaly itself can never be sealed. It either expands until it goes away, or until an outside force kills its 'core'. Both cases would lead to the core being inept. But if it was decided that the inept core was simply too dangerous...
Complete obliteration.
It was either that the Armada just simply left, or the core simply went inept.
But this begs the question.
'Why would they just leave it alone?'
After all, a threat from a Terminus class core could not be understated, and the extraction of the inept core would simply be a net gain for the government even with the major casualties they had experienced.
An inept Terminus-class core would be a literal treasure trove. Imagine all the supernatural weapons you could get from it. Plus, it would be a boon for the scientists researching supernatural forces in the galaxy.
And thus for whatever reasons unknown, a request from a VIP that even I didn't know reached us. Every single person in Command knew what it was, including me, but the information hasn't been given to the grunts. That would occur in the briefing tomorrow.
It was just a 'simple' request to investigate anomalous activites in Deronia City.
'As if it could be that simple.'
From the moment they mentioned 'anomalous', we knew what was in store for us.
Captain Kerox continued-
"Both of you, alongside 20 others, will investigate an unknown energy signature 20 clicks from the main objective point."
"An unknown energy signature?"
"Yes. I recieved a message from them. An unknown energy signature popped up just a day ago. They have absolutely no idea what it is. But it's a constant, weak pulse."
I thought about it for a bit.
"May I ask something, Captain?"
"Go ahead."
"Who are these people we're working for? And why are we going to such an extent for them? Plus, it also looks like they're quite capable themselves."
They were able to isolate planetary signatures and single out a lone pulse? Who the hell were these people? Some kind of secret government agency?
"All you need to know is that these people are very high up in the food chain. Plus, they gave us enough of an incentive."
Captain Kerox tapped his finger on the table.
"I guess its something that I can tell you. Aside from the extra monetary rewards, after the successful extraction of the inept Terminus-class Core, they have signed and promised to us, three supernatural gear of my choosing that comes out of it.
'Jesus fucking christ, three???'
Everyone knew the power of supernatural weapons, and the weakest amongst them could turn a tank battalion into scrap metal in just a second. Sure, technology can do it faster, but some of these 'supernatural weapons' were literally able to pulverize an entire city and sometimes even planets out of existence. Terminus-Grade Equipment were the second best, with some of them known to be able to cause changes in the planetary level!
At that point, it'd be difficult for technology to challenge a single one of those supernatural weapons.
And to think we'd be getting three after this? What a deal!
Of course, every deal has its devil.
Its already known that were getting sent to a deathtrap this time, and rumours had gotten out that we're just cannnon fodder for a more bigger mercenary group to sweep in after we were done. I myself already knew that this would be one of the hardest operations I will undergo through in my 15 years of experience as a mercenary.
I felt Cobo was also suprised as well, he didn't expect such a big incentive. His green eyes flared up like a serpent.
"How much money would they give us, if we perchance succeeded in this operation, Captain?"
"100 billion credits."
"..."
If this was a cartoon, Cobo's eyes would be the dollar sign. 100 billion credits is no small number. In my past life, it was about one USD. This guy being a gambler, cares more about the money.
'It's not like you're ever going to touch a single credit out of that credit pile anyways.' I thought.
"Of course, the original intention is not for us to succeed in extraction, but they have indeed promised to me, with an official Arbiter, to provide all of these, should we succeed in its extraction."
"Which is why i'm going the extra mile."
There was a slight silence after what he said, and then he continued.
"Of course, there are some obstacles to this. We haven't even confirmed if its there yet, or why it would just be left there. However if there is somekind of impedement to our safety as a whole, then I will not hesitate to abandon this extra objective."
The operation was originally just a scout mission, for us to confirm if the City of Ringing Tolls was truly back again. But now, it had turned into something more.
'Naturally. You only live once, so its better to treasure your life than to seek something at the expense of killing yourself...'
Im kind of an exception to that saying, but whatever.
"Alright, thats enough."
Captain Kerox followed in a rough voice.
"Continuing from where I left off, this intermittent ping had caught the attention of our VIP's. And so, for extra monetary reward, they want us to check it out just in case if its something big."
"Lets talk about your general route and secondary objectives as well."
And so, an hour passed while Captain Kerox was briefing us.