It was dark, dark all around. He didn’t know if it was from the blood in his eyes or if he even still had eyes. Maybe they were clawed out in his last battle but the visage all around him was only that abyssal pitch color.

Putting a hand to his face, he wiped and found that his vision returned, but only slightly.

“H-Hello!?” The man called. “I-is anyone there!”

He turned his head to find out who was left alive in his group, but he wished he had stayed blind a moment later. His eyes bulged in shocked horror.

“N-No” He muttered softly. “N-No, I can’t be the---”

But before he could finish his words, he heard a rustle in the darkness. His training kicking in, he surveyed his surroundings. All around him were bodies, bodies of his comrades, explorers, grunts specifically, and they laid silent on the ground around him.

They were the runt of the litter, the tools, the…. Fodder. Death was inevitable for the man, yet even with death at his side the man gritted his teeth.

He pulled his side arm out and began firing towards the darkness. He didn’t see the enemy, but he knew they were there. His voice curdled from the blood in his mouth as his screams echoed off these dark rocky walls. The tunnel behind him led back to the main base and he had to hold it.

Hold it until help came, he hoped.

He couldn’t leave, not even if he wanted to. His legs were gone, he didn’t have time to see it and confirm, but the searing pain in his lower waist that kept him awake made it obvious why he couldn’t move.

His heart pumping, he was running on pure adrenaline and even in this hopeless position, he fought on. For he was a grunt that was forcibly dropped into this nightmare.

Why? He didn’t know. He only knew that he felt like he was bred for this, taught only to fight, fight, fight for the East. So that’s what he did since it was the only thing that made him feel human.

“Come in! East Block Command! This is Unit G21, reporting multiple core signatures emerging from Lower Stratum! Requesting Evacuation and Retreat Orders!”

As he screamed, this eastern man attired in his military equipment of the Eastern Bloc’s military, could already sense a cold patch of sweat on his brow. He clenched the coms device in his uncalloused hands which were smooth and had no signs of ever going through harsh training.

He and his unit were deployed to cull the incoming swarm of monsters from within the stardepths. Their position was holding, but that was until a couple hours ago. He lost contact with many of his forward groups and had deduced a collapse of the now unresponsive 1st and 2nd defense lines.

Waiting and hoping for his requested orders would come down from above like the saving voice of god, the man prayed to whatever god he still clung to. Their position was compromised, only a single line of defense kept them from being surrounded but they were already crumbling. Maybe, just maybe he and the rest could make it out in time before they became a monster’s meal.

“This is Eastern Bloc Command, your request has been approved! Standby for more instructions.”

Relief washed over the eastern man, but his heart pumped in excitement at what command said next.

“Abandon all forward positions and retreat to Upper Stratum. Dispose of all non-essentials. That is final.”

Non..essentials? What did he mean by..Oh!

It didn’t take long for the eastern man to think on what they meant, and it clicked into place. He guessed and realized command meant the grunts of “that” platoon. A platoon full of disposable pawns, drones really. It pained the man to think that he was leaving a useful tool behind, but in the back of his head he knew they could be replaced.

In fact, he felt his trigger finger itch a bit wanting to have some fun. He thanked his lucky stars that he was a higher-ranking grunt and got up from his seat next to the radio. He barked orders to his fellow grunt officers in the tented room and they hopped to.

“Round them up! Get their gear stowed and follow protocol.” He said and his men obeyed, sickening grins on their faces but with content that they knew their next actions were justified.

Gunshots resounded in the camp as men in full faced masks were forced to kneel as they were executed. Now deemed unnecessary, these grunts were quickly culled, and they had no qualms about dying when told to assume the position. In fact, the people in masks walked around in a daze, awaiting orders like a dog heeling to its master.

Seeing that they were half done, the killing was the easy part, but the officers sighed since this was hard. Not mentally, but physically since moving and stripping a corpse was tiring. They just wanted to go home yet before they could leave, the howl of familiar engines reached their ears.

“Is that what I think it is?” One of the soldiers asked and his fellow comrade scoffed.

“About time they got here, lazy bunch of good for nothings.”

While the eastern soldiers scorned who was coming, they did accept their help and had no qualms as they barged into camp. The Eastern troops had no time to react or welcome them since the new arrivals came too suddenly and the officers guessed that they were called in via emergency channels.

Less reactive soldiers read their motion sensors and were relieved that the identification system marked the incoming group as friendly. A line of vehicles and other mechanical contraptions with their accompanying noises filled the camp as the new arrivals drove in.

The words CDU were inscribed upon the hulking mechanical vehicle that headed up the forward command post’s main road that was deep in stardepth territory. But instead of feeling glad they had more allies, the officers in charge frowned as one of the vehicles stopped in front of them.

“Identify yourself!” He commanded but got a sharp glare from a spiky black haired young man. The officer could tell that he was human and was glad this young man was like himself, but.

“You! You shouldn’t be here!”

The officer recognized the young man’s identity and was about to pull the trigger of his core assault rifle, but before he could, the turret atop the mechanical vehicle swerved and fired. Cohort units of the new arrivals acted in concert, likely communicating target allocation over their radios.

It took 3 seconds.

That's all it took for the new arrivals to decimate the forward command of the Eastern Block’s military. For what reason did these fellow humans fire upon their own, that reason was easy.

Some of the new arrivals who wore similar masks to each other looked at a pile of burning corpses from under their black-plated helmets. Many of the dead bodies were freshly shot in the head and the new arrivals recognized those gore riddled faces, even when half burnt.

They clicked their tongues, recorded the atrocity to their wrist devices, gathered the half destroyed dog tags, and went on their way. Burying the dead would come later but they preferred if they could do it presently.

Of all things, right now, they didn’t want to help the Eastern Block’s military and would gladly see they’re people, specifically their higher ups, strung up and killed.

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But that wouldn’t fix anything, it would only give them peace in knowing that they gave the dead retribution.

Not now, they thought, for now they would pick up the slack for their fellow Eastern “Humans”, and more importantly save their allies who were still fighting at the front.

Their true human allies.

Not the ones they just freshly killed, who were posing themselves as humans who professed to hold greater value and better worth.

We all have a role to play, that’s what they all thought, but unlike their burning and dying fellow humans, they’d at least get to choose, unlike the grunts of the East. Urged by this thought, many of those in augmented suits rushed forward, their jetpacks roaring and lighting the dark path behind them for their allies.

Following behind, this was when the spiky haired boy, Ikki, had realized what it took to really be an explorer. Grit, blood, effort, bone, sacrifice, will, and the list went on. He was shocked by the callousness of the CDU soldiers from Andromeda, known as the Core Defense Unit or CDU for short.

These people were all explorers of veteran status and as a child, being an explorer was all he could think about. To be like the heroes from the war who help people and who save the innocent. Yet, these people seemed far from it and more pressingly, he was born with little talent and cast out from what he wanted to become.

He cursed at his fate for a time but found a silver lining. He found his will, his truth and knew what was really at stake. He still had his doubts if what the CDU did was right.

He might never understand but renewed confidence brewed inside of him and the words of those very few who still believed in him stirred him to act, even against his preconceptions and skepticism of his current allies.

“Do your best little brother!” A lustrous voice of a girl echoed in his heart.

“Never GIVE UP!” Another voice, more rough and tumble, but evoking a fire in Ikki’s stomach.

He felt their comforting phantom touch on his shoulder, the hand was large and rough but warm and firm, holding up his spirit. The other was soothing and cool, bringing silent calm to his core. Yet, another touch on his lower chest caught his attention.

***[Meanwhile In The Dormitory]***

Returning from the infirmary, Stella was walking through the dark corridor of the dormitory. It was a bit past curfew and she had come back before Amanda since Stella herself was the least injured and needed only a bit of rest to recover from the simulated mock battle. Amanda needed extra treatment for her bruised wrist and while Stella would have enjoyed coming back with her, she was grateful that she had these moments alone.

She needed to think, think on Itsuki’s words, on what she discovered about Ikki, and reflect on her recent defeat. Itsuki’s words told of how truly naive she was, she felt disturbed by the reality of what explorers needed to overcome and endure, coupled with the weight of her responsibility as a Crimsonia noble.

Her sense of responsibility pushed her to become stronger but, was that really enough?

She did admit to her naivety and now that she knew, she’d step forward, hopefully undaunted at what came next. She knew she had talent, most of all she knew she had the will. It was burned into her, the countless years of training to control her powers, they were no easy feat. They were in fact a labor of love, blood, sweat, and tears.

So many tears in fact, that she shed them as she cried herself to sleep when she was a child, feeling as if she would never achieve control over her powers or content in her nobility that ostracized her from other people.

She did have family, people who stayed by her. Some were supportive, like her big sister and mother, while her father was more so caring about her wellbeing most of all, albeit in a somewhat overly doting manner. She could still remember it, how his hair felt as he carried her on his shoulders, how she nuzzled her cheek to the top of his head as he ran around the garden with her.

“Hehehe.” A chuckle escaped her lips, helping her mood up as she put one foot in front of the other. Left, right, left, right. That’s all it took, effort and will.

“I have to do my best, I’ll become strong enough to protect our lands and most of all, I’ll protect our people.”

Stepping into her room, Stella heard the snoring sounds of a boy in the bottom bunk of the beds built into the room's wall. Remembering who this was, the man she was made to stay with, Stella recalled his profile in the school database. Most of all his manifested abilities, giving her pause. Two swords, one black and one white as if showing the balance of yin and yang.

The black one could grant him additional strength at the cost of mental burdening, while his white one could increase his speed at the cost of physical suffering. Stella didn’t know how his ability felt to be used, but she knew that Ikki was likely in pain throughout the entire mock fight they had.

Yet he fought on, equaling her and pushing her to defeat with his swordsmanship alone, all while his mind was being torn asunder.

Impressive didn’t even cut it, it didn’t even scratch the surface of what he accomplished in the end.

“One Blade of Hell.” Stella whispered, recalling when Ikki shouted another of his manifested abilities.

The records say that it was a technique Ikki developed on his own. Joel had explained later on as she was being discharged that Ikki achieved this with no help or assistance. Stella could only imagine how long it took.

She had the benefit of teachers, but Ikki? He had no one, he was alone, disowned and while he had Itsuki as a friend, having one friend as abrasive as that guy didn’t seem healthy.

But his abilities did not seem healthy either. Using the power of both his blades and the uncanny amount of control he had over his body and mind, Ikki was able to temporarily take off his human limiter, effectively letting him use his manifested abilities to an endless extent and safety over enhance himself with power.

If Stella had done that, which was unlikely since she had no idea how to tap into such a strength, she would have burnt herself to cinders, but Ikki, Ikki controlled it and bore the pain that she could never imagine, all while fighting coherently at the same time.

How was he able to stay conscious while the records of biometrics stated that his mind should have been broken, yet here he was, sleeping soundly in bed as if nothing happened. Perhaps if she got a closer look, Stella could find out the secret to his strength.

Inspecting him with her vermillion eyes, Ikki was out like a light, the cost of bearing so much pain had likely driven all the stamina and core energy he had out of him, so he was left somewhat defenseless.

Stella felt like she could get away with being a bit intrusive, so with a hand, she tapped his cheek, just to make sure he was in a deep sleep. His brow twitched but that was all, he turned over on his side and Stella hurriedly stepped away, fearing he might have woken up.

But all that filled the room was more of his snoring.

“Phew. Thank goodness he’s a deep sleeper. Quite odd though.”

Settling her nerves, Stella gazed at Ikki’s back, his healthy brown skin showed from his pulled-up shirt, and she became more curious.

“So? This is what a man's back looks like? It’s…different from my father’s.”

Stella poked him with one of her fingers and felt the supple pushback of Ikki’s skin. His back seemed small, yet wide and somewhat burly, not as much as her father’s but to the point that she could tell that Ikki had trained himself well and radiated a good amount of masculinity.

But at that moment, strange thoughts began to swim in Stella’s head, but she shook them away and returned to her initial query.

Just what was his secret? Was it how he trained? Which muscles did he use the most in the fight? Could she develop herself in a physical way that gave her more strength like him?...God, why are his muscles so hot?

Stella was less muscular and somewhat dependent on her talent with core affinity and her manifested abilities. While she had plenty of practice with a sword, the mock fight showed she still had much to learn.

Placing her whole palm on Ikki’s back, she let her senses sharpen as her core energy flowed to her hand. It allowed her to get a more detailed read of Ikki’s finer musculature and his inner energies.

But she was shocked. What shocked her was how little core energy he had, if her energy was a cup of water, by comparison, Ikki’s was like a single rain droplet.

This demoralized her, to think that someone with such low talent and core energy was able to beat her, but she mentally reprimanded herself. Reminded of what the headmaster had told her. An explorer's true strength was not measured on core energy or manifested abilities alone, or the standards set by the world.

If Stella retook everything into consideration, Ikki was stronger and the better explorer in training. He was able to achieve so much on his own, making her own accomplishment seem like pennies rather than the gold she thought it was before.

Lost in thought, Stella didn’t notice when Ikki had flipped back over and reacted too slowly, getting her hand stuck under his back. She tugged lightly, hopefully trying to get her hand free since she didn’t want to wake him and have him see her in this compromising position. She wasn’t a pervert, and she’d stay by her mental declaration.

Unable to get into a good position to pull her hand out, Stella carefully tried another. Getting on the bed, she thought to pull it out by using her other hand to get some leverage on the bed. Even after all the noise she was making, Ikki didn’t seem to be affected at all, whatever he was dreaming had his attention.

“Just what the heck am I doing!” Stella mumbled at how silly she was and how out of context her position was.

It was as if she was crawling into Ikki’s bed like some harlot from a brothel, but not sparing a thought more on that, Stella redoubled her effort and finally got her hand free.

She sighed in relief and while she was about to get off of him, she couldn’t help but notice the six pack abs that were peeking out from under his shirt. As an instinctual reaction, a slight rush of blood went to her head.

[Itsuki’s Submachine Gun] [P9CR12]

(CR12-Core Rifle 12)

image [https://i.postimg.cc/ZnrzZXVH/1695713267744.jpg]