At the dead of night under a starry sky. The seven operators of the Mercury Vipers put on their exoskeletons, a suit of wires, pistons, levers, and nuclear energy that hummed on their backs. They wore the equipment of the future, one that boosted their strength and their speed exponentially. While it didn’t provide protection in the slightest, they made up for it with the jetpack mounted on their backs that gave them the capabilities to dart and dodge incoming attacks, it also added another layer of protection to the nuclear reactor.
Though, the problem with the jetpack was how difficult it was to control and manoeuvre in. Which required for the suit to have stabiliser thrusters built onto each limb of the exoskeleton. What should be an attachment became its very own series of exo-suits for it was required to have further modifications for the jetpack to become usable. One that was flawed at the moment, but had great potential in the future. But to the warriors of the Mercury Vipers, it was a perfect piece of equipment for their line of work.
Spread out throughout the countryside, hiding behind trees and bushes, they waited for their target. Jade was the furthest from the group. She was told by Marcus that she would be on lookout or pop in to get anyone injured out of danger. After a few deep breaths, she looked down at her flare gun and checked it for the fifth time to see that it was both loaded and operational. Jade grabbed her short double-barrel shotgun attached to her hip from a specialised holster to check it as well before holstering. She held onto her HK416F for comfort, worried for what the night would bring.
Jade never admitted it, but she would always feel stressed at the start of every mission. It wasn’t to say she was cowardly or weak, but her anxiety brought about by her constant thoughts about the worst-case scenario. In her mind, she must be prepared for everything and be ready for the idea that she could be dead or the last survivor. No, everything will be okay, it has to be okay! She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she was overthinking everything.
The radio cracked on her headpiece. ‘Time to wake up, target is in sight.’ In the distance, she saw it. A humanoid bat-like creature, its wings spread wide while it looked down below for prey to feast on.
Jade placed her rifle by her sides as to ready her flare gun, her heart thud against her chest, her mind raced to unsavoury conclusions about a battle that hadn’t even started. But she knew she had to keep her composure if she and her team could survive and win. It’s okay, we’ll get out of this. Jade convinced herself.
‘Alight team, ready on five!’ The voice said on the radio, prompting Jade to aim her flare gun into the air while the voice from her headset counts down to five. ‘Fire!’ The moment they gave a signal, seven flares launched into the sky. Soon after, a bright flash followed, blinding the creature and illuminating the entire field brighter than if the sun had touched the surface of the earth. While it was stunned it glided down to the ground for safety, a barrage of bullets came from all sides. Bits of hot metal smashed against the hardened skin of the monster. It panicked, not understanding why it was being attacked.
Then, it saw one of them, a human holding a rifle up high, firing up at the dazed creature. Confusion turned to rage. It offered a hand of kindness to humanity and all it got in return was to be attacked by them. In a fit of rage, it soared down to combat the first human it saw with its million eyes. Activating their jetpack, the radioactive fires from the exhaust helped the human jump out of their way while it fired a few pot-shots at the advancing monster. The monster turned and lunged at them, knocking the rifle out of the human’s hands. However, they were met with a blast in the chest by a shotgun mounted on their wrist. To the surprise of the human, that too did nothing except make the creature more furious. The creature was quick on its feet as it grabbed the human by the chest frame of their suit and lifted them into the air before reaching for their throat to tear it out.
‘Man down! I say again, we have a man down!’ Marcus shouted over comms as he and others rushed to finish off the creature who carelessly chucked away the lifeless body. Jade stayed back, she switched her jetpack on with the familiar hum of its engines and the lightweight feeling of the power it emits made her felt ready to charge into the fray. But she knew she had to stand back, just for a moment.
As Marcus and his small team rushed to face the creature, firing their rifles and wrist weaponry at the monster they sought to kill. The creature fought back. As bullets and pellets bounced off its thick hide, it closed the gap by rushing at the advancing humans on all fours. While their exoskeleton suits provided them strength and speed, it wasn’t good enough to defend themselves from the unimaginable strength of the monster that could tear the exo-suit off them like it was styrofoam. Giving it an opportunity to reach for the meat that hid underneath. Bone and flesh spewed out of the first person as the creature punched through their chest cavity and tore out their heart. The second person had their leg snapped in half by a single kick, though as he collapsed to the ground screaming in agony, his friend, who crashed into the creature to push it away, had their neck snapped and fell off his shoulders the moment the creature turned around and smacked the person who knocked it over.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
While Jade rushed to help her injured comrade with the broken leg. Marcus battled against the creature that had proven itself far more dangerous than any of them had ever expected. That single creature proved that all of their successes and achievements meant nothing when compared to it. Not even their experimental equipment that had given them an advantage that they desperately needed. It proved that hubris and arrogance would only lead to their own destruction.
‘It’s okay, I’ll fix you up.’ Jade said to the desperate man who screamed at the top of his lungs, unaware that Jade was even there to help him bandage his wound and causing the exo-suit to lock up to act as a temporary splint until the mission was over, or back up would arrive to evac the team out of there. ‘Heresy, this is Mike Victor, requesting casevac immediately!’ Jade said into her headset.
Jade looked up and saw Marcus battling against the creature, only keeping his distance by repeatedly shooting at it with his wrist weaponry and darting out of the way from the onslaught of attacks brought by the furious monster that only wanted to understand humanity. Yet the Marcus’ constant invasion had proven frivolous, low calibre weaponry couldn’t hurt it, nor could the constant retreating from Marcus do anything to slow it down. But what made Jade terrified and made her rush her treatment on her down teammate was Marcus was losing his footing. He was getting sloppy, and the monster knew it.
It pinned Marcus against a tree. It opened its mouth to reveal its four metallic teeth, ready to bury its fangs into the neck of the human who dared attack it. Marcus raised his arm to shield his face from its teeth, yet the beasts didn’t mind at all. The jaws of the creature clamped down, bone snapped, muscles tore, and the metal of the exo-suit buckled and bent. Marcus screamed. He tried to push the creature away, but it wouldn't budge. It knew the human was in pain and it wanted him to suffer.
‘No!’ Jade yelled, she ran away from her injured comrade and charged at the creature while her jetpack propelled her. Jade knew that she couldn’t fire her rifle at the creature or shotgun to not risk injuring her beloved Marcus. So, a radical approach was necessary. With a switch of a lever, a plate folded over her left fist.
Chi-chunk!
Before the creature could react, she punched the creature away from Marcus. Its left eye popped with a yellow liquid oozed out from its wound. After it crashed on the ground and regained its footing, it glanced up at a woman standing between it and the man whose arm was bitten clean off. She pushed a button on her right wrist and a small chainsaw protruded out from under her right arm with a roar. She stared the creature down, her jetpack humming with energies, she showed the creature that she was not to be messed with.
But deep down, she believed she couldn’t win against the creature. But she knew she could hurt it, make it bleed, and cause it to regret its decision in stepping against humanity. Even if it never intended to. Yet her posture gave the monster a direct and clear message. Stand and fight!
The monster hissed at Jade as it felt its popped eye. It reasoned that a continued battle would prove nothing, but most importantly, that it could lead to further injury and possibly death. As the creature turned and tried to fly away, Jade took flight and chased the monster. In midair, Jade slashed her chainsaw at the foot of the creature, causing it to whimper. Knowing that retreat was impossible, it had to fight back. It turned around and flew at Jade to swipe at her, only for its hand to be caught by the teeth of the chainsaw, trapping the creature and disabling its capabilities to fly.
However, it made the situation far more difficult for Jade. Now she had a large and ferocious creature stuck onto her. Thinking fast, she punched the creature with her power fist directly where its nose would be to stun it so she could manoeuvre herself to latch on to its back. Before the creature could get its bearings, she punched it on its side where its kidney would be while she readied herself.
With the help of her thrusters, she barreled her way down to the Loire River while holding onto the creature. As she rapidly descended, she tried to unclip her chainsaw attachment. ‘Come on!’ She muttered while the creature flailed around, trying to get Jade off its back as it noticed what she was trying to do. ‘Fuck it!’ Jade reached for her shotgun after she deactivated her power fist and jammed it between the joints of the chainsaw attachment and the exo-suit. With a pull of the trigger, flesh tore from her right arm as she broke free from the grip of the monster as it plummeted violently headfirst into the river. She pulled up, her legs smacked against the water like it was concrete, and dislodged a stabiliser on her left leg. She groaned in pain before she managed to lift herself into the air before ramming into a tree.
She stayed up in the air, looking down, waiting. Her body tensed from the sudden surge of adrenaline. Then the body of the monster emerged from the waters and floated down the river. Jade slowly descended to the ground, barely keeping her up straight. Yet the moment she touched the green grass, she passed out from pain due to both of her calf bones snapped when she struck the water.
But before her mind could shut down to prevent the surge of pain from engulfing her body, she heard the familiar sound of a Butterfly Legion armoured transport car rushing to her location.