Special Agent Marley Danners was anxious. So very, very anxious. Sending a nervous glance over both of her shoulders to ensure she wasn’t being watched. As the Elysian Fields shuttle passed through the cloud layer, she felt the butterflies in her stomach become stones that pinned her in place. She said little to the well dressed man who welcomed her on to the shuttle, and had to fight to keep herself from fidgeting on the flight up to the station Elysian Fields had in orbit. Her breathing exercises did little for her.

Exiting the shuttle all too soon, Marley straightened her pencil skirt and clutched her dossier tightly to her chest, as if the motion would keep her heart from exploding from her ribcage.

“Agent Danners.” Ernest Blackburn smiled easily as he walked up to her, wearing a well tailored three piece suit. “You had me worried when you said you couldn’t send the update via the normal channels, what’s going on?”

Swallowing faintly, Marley nodded to Ernest as she drummed the dossier. “The case on Voronin has hit a… interesting snag. The Deputy Director is… he’s worried about leaks.”

“Does he suspect you?” Ernest waved her deeper into the station.

“No. And why would he? I’m his best field agent.”

Smiling lightly, Ernest put out a hand, and was rewarded with the dossier that Marley was carrying. “Naturally. Brad has always been too trusting of those he keeps close to his chest. Now, what is the situation on the frontier?”

“Bad and growing worse. Voronin has been making sales every week; militias are popping up like weeds. The UN hasn’t noticed, but our enemies have. Frost Fall colony is going to be the next to be hit, and Voronin is making a delivery there soon. To make matters worse, Foxhound has taken an interest in Frost Fall as well. My mole on her ship has confirmed the delivery, and the attack is all but written on the wall. It’s all in the dossier.”

“Yes… I can see that…” Ernest hummed softly. “And the other thing?”

Marley paused for a moment as they entered an elevator and began to move through the station. She’d never been this deep into the station, and she knew for certain she wasn’t headed for the offices. “Voronin hired on alien mercenaries. They clashed with the mercenaries bought off by Foxhound to kill her not too long ago. They… appear human, but you’ll see from the video… they aren’t. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’ll have my people look into it. What sort of situation are we looking at between VLI and FH? If we’re going to be having a war, we cannot afford to have two major arms dealers coming to blows during it. Especially Foxhound...”

Running her tongue over the back of her teeth, Marley fixed her skirt as the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. “Elias Fox sent Blackwolf mercs after Voronin. She survived the attempt, again, but they’re dialing up their efforts. My guess is they’ll try and strike at her team on Frost Fall to try and weaken her defenses, then tighten the noose around her neck if they don’t get her there. The situation is bad and if given time, it’ll get worse.”

“Voronin is nobody’s fool, she’ll see the trouble coming a mile away, which means she’ll bring her xeno mercenaries. Interesting…” Ernest hummed softly as he scanned his eye over an access pad, before placing his palm on the reader. “Kill a traitor before you kill an enemy.”

Clearing her throat, Marley, glanced at the signage above the door that read ‘RESTRICTED ACCESS’. “Where are we going?”

Walking into the restricted barracks, Ernest nodded to the three massive men inside. “I felt you could do with a bit more reward than usual. Considering your efforts are what’s making it possible for us to continue to operate under the Deputy Director’s nose, I thought you might enjoy meeting Humanity’s newest heroes.”

The three men stood, and walked over, seeing as how they were being motioned over. Marley felt herself tensing instinctively, and fighting to hide her fear and excitement. “Hello.” She managed to choke out, standing rigid straight.

“Agent Marley Danners,” Ernest began. “Meet Mirio Togata, Emanuel Alvarez, and Jack Kessle.”

Feeling her knees go weak but forcing herself to mentally power through it, Marley swallowed nervously as she looked up at the three looming men. Her eyes stuck on to Jack; her mouth hanging open a little as she forced herself to acknowledge the others. “I-it’s… It’s an honor to meet all of you… Your work on Montezair Colony was… it made for quite a read.” Again her eyes settled on Jack. “S-so… it… it is you… Martyr Kessle…”

“The one and only.” Jack waved lightly, before crossing his arms behind his back. The woman before him was hardly much to look at; she was rather short, with sharp features and a soft nose where a set of round glasses were perched. Her mousy hair was tied up in a bun with stray strands poking out wildly. She continued to worry at her clothes as he stared at her; the panic in her eyes forcing him to do his best to appear non-aggressive.

“I… was observing the party in seattle.” She managed to work out nervously. “I… I didn’t recognize you then, b-but… I am… a huge fan of your work, Mister Kessle… I had posters of you on my walls as a girl.” She awkwardly cleared her throat as a healthy shade of pink settled on her cheeks.

With his eyes momentarily flicking to his squadmates, Jack found them equally bemused and nonchalant about the attention he was receiving. Mirio and Emanuel were already pulling off to chat with Blackburn, leaving him with his fangirl.

“you’re bigger than I imagined…” Marley murmured softly as she stared up at him.

With a gentle smirk, Jack sat back down on his bunk, and returned to cleaning the huge 12.7mm pistol he’d acquired. As the woman floundered for words and began to look crestfallen, Jack patted the space next to him, inviting her to sit. “So, Marley was it?”

“Y-yes, Special Agent Marley Danners. I’m erm… w-with the CIA.” She sat down next to him, worrying at the hem of her grey pencil skirt and the chestnut hose under it.

“Wow, you know, I didn’t know if the old alphabet agencies were still around from my time. Colour me shocked.” He smiled lightly to her as he ran a bore brush through the barrel of the pistol, cleaning out the carbon buildup.

“Yes, yes of course, most are… well not around any more, but a good few congealed into singular terran agencies under the UN, the CIA included.” Marley clasped her hands together, if only to stop their fidgeting. “What… was it like? The war?”

Sighing softly, Jack set down the frame of the pistol, and carefully pushed aside the various components. Glancing to Marley for a moment, Jack set his mammoth hand under her two tiny ones, while covering her omnilink with his other hand. “Awful. You lost friends every day and you knew you couldn’t win. We did what we had to do, because nobody else could. So… What brings you up here?” He turned to her, showing her attention as he continued to hold her two hands.

Flushed pink, Marley allowed her hands to be held as she felt his hands in return. “I-i’m… not really supposed to say…” She murmured softly, caressing his palm with her thumb. “b-but… since… since it’s you, M-martyr…” She squirmed in place as she glanced nervously to the others across the empty bay; Mirio and Emanuel were abreast of Ernest, looking out of the viewport toward Earth. Whatever they were talking about, she couldn’t hear a peep. “I’m… helping him to protect the colonies. I have been for… awhile. Ever since my own home on Helen’s Pass was… you know…” She sighed softly, and managed a smile when he gave her hands a comforting squeeze. ”A frontier colony called Frost Fall is going to be attacked soon, but not only that, two arms dealers are going to be coming to blows there… It’s a mess and unless we do something, innocents will die.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack noted a small blip on his own omnilink, hidden from her view. Smiling faintly, he removed his hand covering her omnilink, and settled it on her thigh, earning the faintest of gasps and a little jerk from the special agent. “Then I suppose we’ll be headed there soon. I’m curious though… is no one else willing to keep the colonies safe?”

“No… w-we have the intel, but… the UN wants to avoid another war, so we’re all forced to sit on our thumbs. I… I hate it.”

With a grunt of irritation, Jack ran a thumb up and down the seam of her hose, along her thigh. The shiver that shot up her spine was entertaining, at least. “So they leave the outer colonies high and dry while sitting pretty close to the core. I wish shit had changed, but it seems that nothing ever does. Politics has always given me a headache.” He sighed idly. “We’ll see how they feel about it when Earth gets hit again.”

“Agent Danners!” Ernest called across the bay as he began to approach. “We had best get you back to Langley before your absence is noticed.”

“Oh! Y-yes, of course.” Agent Danners stood, straightening her pencil skirt as Jack stood as well. Glancing nervously toward Jack, she smiled meekly as she brought a hand up to play with a tray lock of her hair. “It was… amazing, meeting you…talking, to you. I hope we get the chance to do this again.”

Wrapping a big hand around her slim hip, Jack gave her an easy smile in return. “Maybe. Keep up the good work out there, Marley.”

“I-I will!” Her smile brightened slightly as she briefly brushed her hip against his thigh, before being forced to quick hustle and catch up with Blackburn as he opened the door. Casting a longing glance over her shoulder, the special agent left the barracks with a bit more pep in her step and a slight sashay to her hips.

As the bulkhead door sealed, Jack cracked a grin as Mirio jumped on his back. “Fuckin ladies maaaan! Hahahaha! Mother fucker, what was that all about!?”

Tossing off the smaller man, Jack grinned and shook his head. “What can I say? She’s a good girl, and we both got something out of it.”

With a brief chuckle, Emanuel leaned against the heavy bunk. “So what’d you get out of it?”

“I know our next vacation spot.” Jack answered as he let Mirio shadowbox his hands.

“Don’t keep us waiting, we had to listen to the old man while you were getting handsy. Granted she was like a six out of ten, but still! Stuck up here with no action makes that six an easy eight!” Mirio smacked one of Jack’s hands, before bouncing about on the balls of his feet.

“Frost Fall, some shithole colony on the frontier. Sounds like we’ll have some crossfire between a few arms dealers as well.” Jack slipped passed Mirio’s defences, smacking him upside the head. “Don’t lie, I know you Helldivers will fuck anything that moves.”

Humming, Emanuel nodded in respect. “Nice. That’ll give us some time to research the colony. Who knows, maybe Mirio will get through this one without getting shot in the ass.”

“That was one fuckin time!”

Cackling, Jack snagged the next blow Mirio sent his way, and quickly swept his legs out from under him. “Mirio, you’re so fuckin slow, my Gran could shoot you in the ass at a hundred meters, and she’s fuckin dead.” As Mirio spat venom in response, Jack grinned and released him. “I’m going to work on my armour, holler if y’all need me.”

With a single wave, Emanuel smirked. “Alright, have fun, Cowboy. And nice work with the special agent.”

Unable to hold back his laughs, Mirio parroted Jack as the bigger man started for the armoury. “Y’all!”

“Ah fuck off, ya spooky midget.” Tossing a bit of trash at Mirio, Jack gave the pair a two fingered salute as he left the barracks, and made a beeline for the armoury, and his armour. Glancing at his omnilink, he winked at the little avatar girl who sat on it’s screen. It didn’t take him long to reach the armoury and his rack of tools. Over the past few months, he’d done all he could to quietly retool his armour to fit a more demanding standard. While his armour was still coloured a flat primer white, he’d left the titanium bare, leaving it shining with a silver luster. He’d refitted the left hand vambrace with titanium studs that lined the back of the hand up to the elbow, and had ordered a pair of custom arc-forge titanium knuckle dusters for both gauntlets. On his right arm was a piece of kit he was particularly proud of; the Pile Bunker. A kinetic mass driver working off his own strength for the initial detonation, and a set of high density rails used to jam high arc-forged steel rods, coated once again in titanium, into any target he struck while the weapon was activated.

His armour hissed open as he approached, doffing his leisure clothes to bare his skin tight link suit. Rolling his shoulders, Jack clambered inside his armour, and breathed a sigh of contentment as it sealed around him, form fitted to his body. “Comms blackout, Sammy.”

“Nothing gets in or out.” Samhain spoke into his ear, sounding pleased with herself. “Would you like to look over the contents of the Special Agent’s omnilink?”

“I will in a moment. I’m more interested in that dossier she handed to Blackburn, can you get me anything in that?” To avoid standing too still and drawing suspicion, Jack idly ambled toward the weapon racks, and began fitting a few choice weapons to his armour.

“Not all of it, it appears the Special Agent was particular in not having a digital copy of it’s contents, but I am able to rip several pages from it using her personal body camera and her omnilink.”

Smiling to himself as he slotted on a micro-rocket rack, Jack began to scan through the contents of Marley’s omnilink. “Make it so. By the by, did you finish subverting the subsystems Blackburn had installed on the sly?”

“Yes, the armour kill switch is no longer active.”

Pausing for a moment, Jack gave his shaved head a brief shake. “Turn it back on. I don’t want our cover being blown too early. Lord knows it’s only a matter of time before he flicks it just to try and put me in my place, and I don’t want that little trump card out of my sleeve.” Scanning through Marley’s contact list, Jack smiled as he came across the exact number he wanted. “Why hello, Mister Deputy Director of the CIA. I’ll just save that number for a rainy day.”

“We also have her tracking tag, likely the same used by her handler. We can track the special agent no matter where she is with it.”

“Might be handy.” Jack’s eyes lingered briefly on the folder holding her photos and videos. After a moment, he closed them away, leaving Marley her privacy.

As he began to walk to the testing range, Sammy chirped once again in his ear. “Dossier recompiled.”

“Put it on screen, left side.” Idly firing off a few rounds to dial in his weapons, Jack began flicking through the dossier. “Frost Fall… Gorsians, interesting… Ah, fuck.” Jack exhaled through his nose as Olivia’s profile came up, and was followed by long distance shots of JSOG engaging human mercenaries. “Why the fuck can’t anything fucking-! FUCK!” Cursing a brilliant blue streak as he fought to keep his external composure, Jack soon slowed, and let out a long, pained breath through his nose. “Great. Sammy, can we slip through the comms net again? My arms dealer has gotten herself neck deep in it.”

“Debatable.” The answer earned a hard scowl from him. “The security of the station is far superior to that of an omnilink. I believe last time, we were simply lucky with server maintenance.”

“Great.” Jack sighed. “Great. Can’t warn them right now then. We’ll have to try and warn them when we can, or just prepare for the worst. Alright, let’s see what else we have.” Skimming through the dossier, Jack found himself frowning just a little more. “Sizable xeno population in the colony… That’ll mean trouble. Sammy, gimme a sitrep on what a ‘Codruxji’ is.”

An image of a tall, lanky humanoid popped up on the left side of his HUD as Sammy began reading their entry. “The Coduxji are a race of bipedal humanoids with four arms, standing two meters tall, and weighing seventy kilograms on average. Their defining facial features include large forward facing eyes with yellow sclera, a lack of iris, and moderately sized black pupils. Primary sexual dimorphism includes large skull protrusions, with male Codruxji having swept back ridges under their hair that terminate at the back of the skull, and females having side swept fin-like protrusions that terminate by the cheeks.” A clearly male and female Codru stood side by side, spinning in place to show him.

“They look fairly human. Any similarities?”

“Ninety six percent match for standard biological functions.”

Whistling softly, Jack turned over the heavy rifle he’d picked up, pretending to be interested in it. “Rare. So why are they on a human colony?”

“Political relations with Codruxji are stable, and in many cases friendly. Lacking a centralized government, many clans have gravitated toward human space due to similar beliefs, and lack of tailored medical advancements elsewhere. It appears that the species suffers from a rare ailment known as ‘Asthma’, and often settle on human colonies for treatment. In addition, it appears that the species as a whole are historically mistreated by the Council Races, sharing a similar history with humanity in not agreeing with many legal decisions, political machinations, and spacial claims laid out by the Council.”

Smiling a little, Jack continued to pretend to be doing things as he flicked over the dossier on the aliens. “Sounds like they shouldn’t be a problem, they’re almost human as it is. Anything else?”

“Unfortunately, due to tensions on the outer colonies from unchecked xeno aggressions, the Codruxji have been facing some backlash, and violence from fringe xenophobic groups.”

There was a long pause as Jack swallowed the information. “Are we one of those groups?”

“As far as records show, no. Due to the lack of aggression towards Humanity the Codruxji show, our xenophobic militant group has not had any recorded clashes with them.” As Jack breathed a sigh of relief, he found it interrupted. “However, it appears that Foxhound Industries has been charged, but found not guilty, of multiple counts; kidnapping, torture, murder, and assault. Foxhound Industries Public Relations assures us that any cases of violence are fringe events acted out by unsanctioned elements, and while they are looking into them, they will not be held accountable.”

“So in other words ‘Fuck you, we do what we want.’ Typical.” Setting the barrel of the heavy rifle against his shoulder, Jack stared at the target down range and the ultra tight grouping he’d plugged into it. “And Foxhound will be on the surface. That’ll make things interesting… We’ll have to try and intercept any attacks.”

“Affirmative, Father. Shall I re-engage video and comms?”

Heading back to the racks, Jack nodded. “Yeah, do it.”

Heading back to the others, Jack couldn’t dispel the sense of unease that had settled over him like a fog. He returned to training, but constantly began to pick away at the op on Frost Fall, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It didn’t take long.

Wiping hot water from his face as he stepped free from the shower, Jack found himself just in time for a group call between Ernest, Emanuel, and Mirio. “Jack!” Ernest called. “You’re just in time, I was about to send someone to retrieve you when I couldn’t get through.”

Smiling for the camera, Jack continued to towel off. “Just got out of the shower, Boss, anything wrong?”

“Not in particular. Now, we find ourselves in a unique position. Thanks to the efforts of Special Agent Danners, we know where our enemies will attack next, and as such, we’re going to set an ambush for them.” Ernest smiled broadly, pride clear on his features. “It’s our turn to strike first.”

With a gentle sense of unease settling over his shoulders, Jack began to walk back to the barracks. “What’s the op?”

“You three will be infiltrating Frost Fall colony with the help of a squad of Thanatos Operatives who have set up an operations center within city limits. You will scope out the local area, and prepare for the attack. Elysian Fields will be dispatching evacuation shuttles just prior, so most civilians should be evacuated before the shooting begins. We may have additional players on the field, in the form of the local PDF, and two arms dealers. You’re to avoid direct contact, but if they threaten our objectives, you all have full authority to put them down. Your shuttle leaves in thirty minutes, so start packing.”

“Question.” Mirio spoke into the mic as he began setting clothes into his bag. “How exactly are we supposed to ‘infiltrate’? Fully kitted, each of us weighs just about a thousand kilos and we’re bristling with firepower. Dunno if customs will want to let us through.”

“Leave that to the Thanatos Operators. They’ll get you in. One last thing, it’s likely that the CIA will be operating on the surface due to the the conflict between the arms dealers, so watch your backs, and remember, ‘covert ops’.”

“Copy.” Closing out the video connection, Jack finished drying off and quickly pulled on his linksuit. “Covert ops, right. About as covert as a Mexican border strip bar.” Snorting idly as he started for his bunk, Jack couldn’t help but smile a little to himself. He’d be seeing some familiar faces on Frost Fall, one way or another. He just hoped that it wouldn’t be from either end of a weapon.

Within twenty minutes, the trio were marching in tandem down to the hangar, and loading into the ship with their full kit, and several small bags between the lot of them. Settling into the crash harness in his armour, Jack shifted back and forth to get comfy, before letting out a sigh as the heavy bars thumped down over his breastplate.

“Hey Jack.” Mirio spoke from across the way, sitting with a rifle secured between his legs.

“What?”

“You think they’ll let us off the leash for a bit?”

Laughing, Jack let his head rest against the hull of the ship as the cargo bay pressurized and the flight crew ran about running flight pre-checks. “No. Why, you got something better to do?”

“Nooo, well… I mean yeah. Don’t get me wrong, love my job, but I need a good burger and a beer. These tailored diets are driving me crazy.”

Pausing for the briefest of moments as he lifted his head, Jack swiftly let it fall back again as he groaned. “You’re a son of a bitch…”

“Now I got you thinking about it too!”

“Eat a cock.”

“Why are you booing me? I’m right!”

Chiming in on the conversation, Emanuel cradled his multi-barrel rocket launcher. “There’s a Chili’s on the colony.”

Mirio was the first to respond, jerking forward. “It’s a date! We get set up, slip the net, and get fucked up!”

“Chili’s is still around?” Jack muttered into comms, making a face.

“Yeah, Old Man.” Emanuel responded with humor in his voice. “Chili’s is a reputable establishment. Really fancy.”

“You are so full of shit, Manny.”

Laughter bounded back and forth between the three warmachines as the ship lifted off, and slipped from the shackles of the massive space station. Once free of Earth’s gravity well, the ship jumped to FTL, and the journey began. Slipping into the trade lanes, the ship made good time in crossing over Humanity’s stellar claims, passing by planets and suns, asteroid fields and gas giants. The trip was spent by the Nemesis operatives tending to kit, playing with digital cards, and bullshitting back and forth. The ship crew did their best to avoid the three, and while they did it as respectfully as possible, it was clear they were uncomfortable.

Planetfall came within a day as the ship lurched out of FTL, arcing gently into the snow covered planet’s atmosphere. Ceramic armour flared as brilliant flames licked across the ship’s skin and deceleration measures were taken. The bumpy ride was quickly over as the ship came in low, setting down in a seldom used Starport. “Welcome to Frost Fall, population one million, six thousand and ninety nine.” The pilot announced as a single tone klaxon blared obnoxiously through the confined space.

Standing and stretching, Jack groaned gently as his back popped and clicked. “Now we gotta wait for the other big boys to come and get us.”

“Come on, Cowboy. Hurry up and wait.” Emanuel smacked Jack on the shoulder as he collected his bags and ambled over to his armour case, which stood as a large upright steel container next to Jack’s and Mirio’s.

Rolling his eyes theatrically, Jack joined the other two men in seeing to their kit, and preparing for the low profile ride that was on its way. Soon, however, the order would come down that the three were to armour up, and enclose themselves inside the armour station crates. A chorus of groans arose from the order, but it was followed regardless.

“I feel like a rented, redheaded stepchild.” Jack muttered into comms as a crewman closed the metal door before him, locking him inside the steel cargo container.

“Unwanted?” Mirio asked as he engaged squad vid-coms.

“Essentially.” Emanuel murmured as he closed his eyes and rested his head inside his helmet.

The cargo bay door opened shortly after the containers were closed up, and a squad of Thanatos operators and their ground crew moved on, quickly securing the containers to haul out to a flatbed truck.

“Scratch last, we’re livestock.” Jack called out as a pair of men ratcheted his container down.

“Heavily armed livestock.”

“Moo.”

The flatbed truck started with a hum, and set off with it’s low profile escort. Quickly tapping into the vehicles cameras, Jack patched the others in as he got comfy. The colony was more upscale than many he’d been to in his short stint with the Nemesis program, the city being fairly sprawling, and quite vertical. It was night out, and snow blanketed everything save for the areas that were protected by warmly glowing heat lamps. Bundled up Humans and Codruxji intermingled as they walked too and fro from stores to shops to restaurants to homes, seeing to errands and personal needs. Letting out a gentle sigh, Jack smiled at the sights before him.

“Nice place.” Mirio commented before yawning.

One of the men from the escort squad patched in with his voice. “Stay on your toes, Frost Fall is a co-op colony, so we’ve got lots of xeno contacts all over. It might look nice, but it’ll turn into a nightmare to fight in.”

“Only if you shoot at the wrong xenos.” Jack toned in. “The Gorsians hate the Codru just as much as they hate humans, and that's a lot.” Watching his two squadmates smirk at the chastising, Jack continued. “Besides, even if it does become a street fight, this place is laid out perfectly square. Impossible to get pinned down for long and plenty of places to duck into for cover if you need it. If you’re mobile, an urban setting is the best place to be.”

“It’s not that simple.” The Thanatos operator returned.

“It really is. The Gorsians come down here, they’re in for hell. Don’t tell me you’d rather fight in an open field?”

“Hey-” A new voice chimed in. “Police traffic stop, cut the chatter.”

Settling down, Jack crossed his arms across his chest, and began idly toying with the barrels of his BFG. The truck came to a gentle stop, and he could hear the officers questioning the driver and his companion.

“Hey.” Emanuel motioned to the side with his head. “Turn on high yield thermals.”

Doing as he was instructed, Jack watched as an officer walked by the crates, holding some sort of device in his hands.

“Scanner.” Mirio muttered.

“Cans are shielded, but…” Jack, Emanuel, and Mirio all watched the officer take his sweet time, scanning each box. If he could see what was on the inside, it’d be doubtful that he’d want to stick around, considering each of the Nemesis operators was more heavily armed than a main battle tank.

“I could scare the this guy shitless, right now.” Mirio stared at the officer as he circled the truck, taking his precious time, much to the chagrin of everybody involved.

“Let’s not piss off the babysitters just yet.” Emanuel spoke softly. “If we want to do anything on the side, they gotta be on ours.”

Soon enough, the officer walked away from the trailer, and the truck was waived through. Staying quiet for the most part, the three men stood about, waiting until they reached a warehouse on the edge of the commercial zone. Rolling doors were opened as they approached, allowing the truck and it’s escort to pull in and circle around. The moment the cans were unlocked, the trio exited, stretching out and scanning the area. The warehouse was large, but hardly sprawling. Several military grade armoured combat trucks sat nearby, painted matte black with tinted windows. A mobile command center sat in the center, with heavy duty power conduits running every which way. A team of roughly thirty milled about, but had stopped to look at the newest additions to the crew. Despite the multiple operations they’d already run, the Nemesis team was still a double black asset, and all but a handful of people knew about their existence. Thus, they earned more than a few awe filled glances from the normal human crew, and several jealous looks from the previously top of the line Thanatos operatives.

Assisting with the unloading, the trio only exited their armours once their maintenance racks were powered, and the massive war-armours could rest on them properly. As they stood in their link suits, a short man wearing a blue beret approached, before stopping on a dime and snapping a salute.

“Colonel Roh of the Wolf Brigade. Welcome to Frost Fall, gentlemen. Follow me to the op center and we’ll get you filled in.

Nodding once, Emanuel took the lead. “Glad to be here, Colonel. We’re Operators Hitman, Courage, and Watchdog. Lead the way.”

Quickly turning on his heels, Colonel Roh walked quickly to the mobile command center for a man of his height, but even his swift strides couldn’t outpace the unnaturally long ones of the Nemesis operators. The inside of the command center was more spacious than they’d anticipation, but with the three of them piling in, it soon became almost uncomfortably cramped. Crowding around the holographic display, Colonel Roh brought up a map of the colony.

“Gentlemen. This is Frost Fall.” He gestured to the cramped sprawl of buildings. “Population of roughly a million souls, and in less than a week, we’re going to turn it into a warzone. Gorsian forces are rolling in hot and heavy, bringing some considerable firepower to bear. Why they’re focusing on Frost, we don’t know. However, what we do know is that there will be multiple vessels, and at a minimum, a battalion of Gorsian shock troops, including support. From our tactical predictions, we’ve figured that their most likely primary insertion point will be central park, which is a large, kilometer long, half kilometer wide park. Plenty of space for a group of troop carriers to land, and plenty of ways for them to go once they’re down. Heavy assets will likely be spread out around the colony, striking at the pdf, police forces, and setting up to take down any fleeing ships.” Colonel Roh marked out several locations of note as he spoke, forming a map with multiple red locations.

“What’s the plan for the civilians?” Mirio asked as he rubbed at his chin.

“Glad you asked. We’re avoiding them for the most part, as corporate is sending evacuation ships and supposedly roping in the pdf. It’s a big colony, however. The little time they have may not be enough, so we’re to protect those evacuation ships with everything we have. Primary targets will be Gorsian heavy weapons teams and anti-air batteries.”

Thinking for a moment, Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “You mentioned multiple ships. What’s the call on them?”

“Don’t worry about the ships.” The Colonel smirked, drumming his fingers on the edge of the table. “We have some tricks up our sleeve. If all goes well, then they won’t be an issue.”

“I don’t like going into ops in the dark if I can avoid it.” Jack said as he looked down and met the Colonel’s gaze. “If it’s possible, I’d like to know, but I understand that we both have our orders.”

Staring at Jack for a long moment, The Colonel smiled briefly. “We’ve managed to slip several weaponized stealth satellites into orbit, which are currently running on silent. Once the Gorsian ships enter orbit, we’ll hit them with the God Rods.”

Pausing for a moment, Jack chewed on his cheek. “How many shots do we have?”

“Three per satellite, nine in total. The rods carry enough kinetic energy to down a shielded cruiser.”

He’s hiding something. Mark’s voice tickled Jack’s ear, wrapping around his skull as he hissed truth that was readable on the Colonel’s face.

“I’m aware.” Jack spoke out loud, but quickly moved to cover it. “Anything else? Where will we all be deploying?”

“Deployment zones will be fluid until we have confirmation of hostile landing points. We have several forward recon units that will deploy prior, and send us up to date info.”

“When’s the attack slated?”

“Two days from now, if not sooner. We’ll know when they arrive in system.”

Nodding slightly, Jack looked to his compatriots. “Let’s get settled and find some chow.” Nodding to the Colonel, Jack continued as he held the door open for Mirio and Emanuel. “We’ll see to ourselves, and try not to get under foot.”

“Thanks, oh, and by the way.” Jack paused as he looked back over his shoulder. “If you boys order anything out, set the address a block away, east, for drop off.”

Smirking a little, Jack gave Roh a two fingered salute as he exited the mobile command center, and regrouped with his squad.

“So,-” He clapped his hands together, grinning. “Chow.”

It was hours later, when the sun had set completely and the hidden base switched to night shift, that Jack was able to slip away and start to explore. Mirio and Emanuel were sound asleep, among burger wrappers and empty pizza boxes, crushed cans of local beer, and more than a few other little needless extravagences. It had been a good night, though it was little more than a moment to unwind and forget what they were. As Jack slipped away, and crept through the dark base, he cast his gaze back and forth, noting the guards as they watched the security station monitors. They were watching outside, not in.

Walking over to one of the walls, Jack leaned on it, and shielded his omnilink from sight. “Sammy.” He whispered softly, earning a chime from it. She was sequestered firmly inside his armour, but he could attempt contact from his omnilink, as he was now. “Sammy, are we clear to make calls?”

“Negative, Father. They have a security net up that will catch our calls.”

“Fucking hell.” He grunted softly. “Okay. Can you check for tags? Who do we have on planet?”

“Special Agent Danners is on site.” There was a brief pause as Jack cast a look over his shoulder, to check and ensure he was still alone. “Miss Voronin has some staff on the ground, and Foxhound employees have been sighted as well.”

“Alright.” Jack took in a breath, before running his hand down his face. “Sounds like the gang’s all here.”

There’s something nearby…

The words made Jack frown hard as he lifted off the wall. So far, Mark had nearly been silent, save for a few smarmy quips here and there, but now...

The box, there.

He stopped just a few feet away from a large reinforced crate, which was sealed tightly and marked with all kinds of biological hazard markings. Atop the hardened container was a strange sort of maneuverable emitter of which Jack had never seen before. Along the side was a darkened control interface, which was currently recessed into the side and protected by a drop down screen. “What am I looking at here?” Jack rumbled softly to himself.

You can’t feel it? It’s magic, Jack. Whatever is in that box is magic.

For the first time in a long while, Jack felt a pang of fearful trepidation pass over him. Casting his gaze back and forth, He slipped closer to the box, and began feeling for latches. “Sammy, shut off any alarms this box might have.”

“Yes, Father.”

Soon, his big hands grazed the latches and with all the caution and quiet he could muster, Jack undid the locks, slowly cracking open the container. In the dark, a soft blue light shone back at Jack as he opened the lid, and revealed it’s contents.

He had discovered Minty Lemons, or rather, what was left of the poor mare. Her head was completely shaved, severed mid neck, and had all manner of thick tubes running into the stump of her neck, regulating fluids back and forth with the aid of a small pump. A thick, clear gel-like substance surrounded the dead mare’s head, and a heavy, intricate framework that was more akin to a power weapon barrel than anything else, sat upon her bisected horn. More tubes ran from the severed head, connecting to several thick, heavy duty bags that contained some sort of roiling substance. As Jack’s features crinkled in shock and disgust, Lemons’ lidless eyes rolled up to stare at him through the clear gel. As Jack’s mouth fell open in silent horror, Lemons emitted a noiseless scream, causing the gel to bubble gently.

Quickly closing the lid to the container, Jack stood back, hands planted firmly on the lid as he failed to keep them from trembling. “Blackburn…” He rumbled softly, as anger slowly injected into his bloodstream.

He had to act. It was time.

“I’m gonna burn this whole motherfucker to the ground.”

Author's Notes:

A bit of a shorter chapter. Originally, I planned on a jumpcut back to JSOG, but I've decided to lump that in with the next chapter. Speaking of Chapter 67, It's going to be a very, very big one. If I do it properly, and fully, I expect it to be close to 20k words, so the question is, do you, the readers, want it all in one big lump, or split into two chapters.

One big chapter will take me some time to get out, and two chapters will mean a cliffhanger.