Cerberus HQ, Main Building: January 16th, Tuesday, 8:00 AM
Two weeks after the destruction of the Belfry in the Deadlands, Claire was summoned to the main building by the new CEO to discuss her next operation. Having recovered from her injuries, she was trusted as the sole wielder of Juno&Jupiter and the spectral bike.
She strode through the dirt path on the green field in her way to the building, multiple members with their white and gold uniforms could be observed performing combat and physical exercises on the training grounds. Arriving at the main building, she found Yeon already waiting for her at the entrance of the building with a cup of coffee in hand.
“My name is Yeon Ki-Joon, it’s a pleasure meeting you in person.” She casually introduced herself.
“Thanks for receiving me, ma’am.” Claire saluted to her superior with a perfectly modulated voice.
“No need to salute, lieutenant.” Yeon claimed, taking a sip of her coffee. “I’m just here to drop you off and drink my coffee. Now please, follow me.” She said, leading the young rookie through the spacious main lobby of the building as the many busy officers of Cerberus ran from one place to the other with documents in hand.
Arriving at the entrance of an office with a wooden door and small golden plaque in the last floor, Yeon excused herself immediately after without much of a word. Making her way inside, Claire noticed the empty office as her eyes moved from side to side trying to locate a single soul in the room. She used the time to study the empty place which contained a few environmental posters, plant pots and a desk at the end of the room with a large window behind it, looking at the snowy city of Kaldstein in the distance.
“Hello…?” she spoke softly, unsure of the need of her presence in the room.
The sudden bump from the desk caught the lieutenant’s attention, as she quickly turned towards it. “Ow sorry, sorry.” A man wearing a black suit popped out from under desk while holding his head, he had fair skin, short black hair and square glasses that made his dark brown eyes look bigger.
“You must be Lionheart, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” He said with an enthusiastic voice.
“Yes, sir!” Claire stood firm with her hands behind her back, “I was told you wanted to see me.”
The man sat on his chair and he finished rubbing his head from the impact, “yes, please take a sit.”
Claire silently sat down in front of him, her curious and anticipating expression betraying her eagerness to know about what comes next in her career. Having joined the company to reunite with her father; she dedicated her time, sweat and blood to the company in exchange for knowledge, skill and the experience to fight specters as well as the possibility to see her father after he joined Cerberus a few years back.
“Thanks for coming, my name is Arwen, Arwen Rhys,” the man introduced himself with a smile. “You see, after your performance two weeks ago. We decided to promote you to a new unit we’ve created,” he proceeded to explain. “It was made specifically with the purpose of operating outside of the Deadlands; we believe you to be perfect candidate to lead this operation.” Arwen finished clarifying.
“Outside?” Claire leaned forward in surprise, puzzled by the purpose of such an operation. “I thought our job was to fight specters, sir.” She voiced while maintaining a respectful tone.
Nodding at her comment, Arwen stated the support Cerberus received from multiple backers over the years, including countries within the Hemel continent. However, the company began to lose reputation and many abandoned their support towards Cerberus.
“We need as much backing as possible if we are to defeat the specters,” He began to explain, taking his glasses off to wipe them with a cloth. “that’s why I need you to sail for the empire to the east.”
The Gladean Empire, a powerful domain that held the entire continent to the east. Taking its name from the goddess of creation, Gladea, the empire was founded by a powerful conqueror who was said to possess the strength of a thousand men. It had lived for almost a thousand years and ignored Cerberus’ requests for aid over the decade.
“You will be given a team of special forces to carry out this operation,” Arwen continued. “We want you to bring this letter to Duke Albury, the head of the house and ruler of one of the strongest provinces within the empire." he carefully handed over the letter to Claire. "After that, you should return here for your next assignment.” he concluded, putting his glasses back on. “You will meet your team tomorrow first hour in the morning; I know you won’t let us down, lieutenant.”
Claire stood up from her chair and saluted, “I won’t disappoint you, sir.”
Making her way towards the exit, Claire safe guarded the letter and prepared to head back to the barracks. As soon as she stepped outside of the main building however, Yeon stood at the entrance waiting for her.
“I hope you don’t feel disappointed by your new assignment.” She brought up casually, “just know that it’s for the best.”
“Ah…” Claire was taken by surprise by the sudden statement, compressing her lips and releasing a small sigh before speaking. “I will do what it takes for the company’s sake, ma’am.” she stated plainly.
“I know, the boss trusts you a lot,” Yeon responded. “But there’s definitely more than he is letting on.” Although she tried to keep a softer tone, her voice was enough for Claire to hear the claim.
“What do you mean, ma’am?” She tilted her head slightly.
“Sorry, you weren’t supposed to hear that part.” Yeon fixed her glasses, casually moving onto a different subject. “You were expecting to see your father again, were you not?”
Going through many emotions in a mere couple of seconds, Claire’s expression changed from puzzlement to surprise to clear disappointment. “It doesn’t matter, I will do my job to put an end to the specters. That's all that matters.” she stated with her usual expressionless tone.
“If you say so, make sure to keep that letter safe,” Yeon told her. “I would hate to write it all over again,” she remained pensive for a brief moment while resting her thumb and index finger on her chin. “Also, please stop calling me ma’am; makes me feel older than I actually am.” She looked at Claire with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am!” Claire shouted firmly.
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“Yeon, call me Yeon.” Her smile disappeared promptly after.
Somewhere in the Deadlands: January 16th, Tuesday, 12:00 PM
“We’ve been walking for a while now…” A dark brown-haired woman with a white and black headband tied on her forehead spoke, wearing the white and gold uniform of Cerberus. “And you, Xun... can that thing of yours make less noise?” She queried to her companion.
An extremely short woman piloting a fairly tall mech suit, her black hair styled in a bob cut and round glasses over her green eyes. “My suit needs to cool off, Aria. Do you prefer it stops in the middle of a fight?” The tiny woman wearing the white and gold uniform offered her snappy answer.
A tall man suddenly emerged from within the thick red fog of the Deadlands and joyfully approached the pair. He had a strong build with tanned skin, amber eyes and short black hair. “It shouldn’t be a problem, right?” he gushed at the pair. “I believe we’ve taken care of most specters in this area, a bit of noise could add to the atmosphere.” The man turned to Xun, Patting the mech suit on the arm with a sparkly smile on his face.
“I don’t agree with that…” Aria muttered before a long sigh. “Did we really need to disobey orders like this too, major?” she cautioned. “Venturing this far into the Deadlands… It’s a bit dangerous, no?”
“You are talking to a stone wall, Aria,” Xun dished out. “The major wouldn’t know reason if it hit him in the face.”
The man laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Well, I wouldn’t put it like that.”
The trio continued pushing forward within Deadlands, known inside Cerberus as the Heretic unit; a group of scouts led by major Sebastian Lionheart, followed by captain Aria Baker and first sergeant Xun Tingting.
“Wait!” Sebastian made an abrupt stop while looking straight into the fog, as if trying to pierce it with his eyes. “They are here,” he softly announced to his team.
Detecting the sound of steps circling around them, Heretic took positions with their backs against each other. Keeping a close eye on the fog from all directions, the group spot a dark figure jumping out of the shadows to attack Xun and retreat back into the fog immediately after.
Xun blocked the strike with her mech's arm, which recoiled at the force of the impact. “Ugh, this is no ordinary specter…” She groaned, looking at the dent on the mech’s arm.
The dark figure circled around the trio and aimed for Sebastian next. Using the large sword on his back, the major managed to repel its attack and lock it in place for an instant. The specter responded by punching the blade of his sword and retreating right after, putting space between them to confront the group face to face.
“That’s…” Aria squinted her eyes, staring at the peculiar looking creature.
A woman, whose face and most of her body had mutated to resemble a specter. Bearing armored scaly skin with streams of red energy flowing through it, a left arm resembling a shield made of her own skin and glowing crimson eyes.
“Major, more specters on the way!” Xun promptly announced.
Taking the sawed-off shotgun from the holster on his left leg, Sebastian prepared to fight the half-human specter in front of him while the other members readied themselves to fend off the horde. Xun adjusted her tall mech loaded with guns and missiles and Aria activated her exoskeleton equipped with shock gloves and boots, both gears developed by Cerberus and Xun herself.
“Don’t fall off your robot.” Aria said playfully.
“It’s a mech suit, you dingus.” Xun responded, a more serious answer that Aria was expecting.
“Let’s get this done with…” She frowned.
The heretic unit engaged the specters in a fierce battle, highly trained to spot the creatures within the fog while maintaining visual on their companions; aided by the white uniforms with the shiny gold strips. Sebastian remained locked in combat with his target, using the wide range of his sword as well as his shotgun to chip away at the enemy.
The specter charged with its shield up, its sturdy surface protecting it from the sawed-off shotgun’s shells. The successful charge of the specter lifted the major off his feet and carried him away in a forceful rush. Wrestling around it, Sebastian broke free of its assault and forced the specter to the ground, continuing his assault with a strong punch against the mutated creature on the ground. The specter woman protected herself with her shield and responded with a Strike to Sebastian’s face which knocked him on the ground, proceeding by lunging at him from above in an attempt to pin him down.
Rolling out of the way, the major quickly flanked the specter and grabbed her from the back. Pulling her up with incredible strength, Sebastian held the specter over his head and proceeded to pull backwards even further, arching his back. Falling at an incredible speed, the specter hit her head on the ground with a magnitude that shook the ground slightly. Repositioning himself to check on his opponent, Sebastian noticed the woman picking herself back up slowly; mostly unaffected by his attack.
“Might need more gas for this one.” He said with a chuckle.
“Stop messing around, major!” Aria yelled, her sparking gloves releasing a sharp snapping sound. “This is a good time for that gear of yours, you know.” She suggested hastily.
Xun jumped in line as well, reloading the machine gun installed in her mech’s arm. “We took care of the mob, let’s deal with this thing,” she reported. “You’ll pay for putting your claws in my inventions,” she glared at the specter.
“Alright, let’s finish the job.” Sebastian’s body began to emanate crimson energy from within his chest. Flowing into his weapons, both the sword and shotgun absorbed the energy that ran from inside his body, turning into his spectral gear. The giant sword, Ares and the sawed-off shotgun, Callisto.
The power flowing inside him transformed Sebastian’s body partially, giving him an appearance similar to the specter woman he was facing. “Let’s do this!” he shouted with a smile full of excitement.
Sebastian rushed with a strong frontal attack, swinging his sword horizontally. The impact shattered part of the specter’s shield as she tried to protect itself, launching her away with tremendous strength. Standing back up, the specter rushed with its shield up, switching targets on its way and leaping towards Aria instead. A powerful barrage from Xun’s missiles however, stopped her in her tracks as she flew into the ground.
“Do it now!” Xun shouted.
“Take this!” Aria roared while charging her boots and rushing towards the distracted opponent, dealing a strong back kick to the creature’s face. “Major, finish it!”
Sebastian’s shotgun radiated an even brighter light, gathering blue sparks of lighting around it. Gently pulling the trigger, the major released Callisto’s crimson shells forward; piercing through the specter’s core and shattering it into pieces. The specter fell to the ground, its motionless body turning to ashes that dispersed over the Deadlands and joined the fog.
“Phew... where did this one come from?” Aria wondered while trying to regain her breath.
“I’m not going to ask questions right now, although I have plenty.” Xun said while jumping off her mech suit, displaying her extremely short height. “All I can think of right now is a couple of cold ones...” She said, checking on the damage in her mech.
Sebastian kneeled where the specter’s body dispersed into ashes, picking up a military dog tag and a small white flower in perfect condition.
“A flower? Where did that come from?” Aria asked with a soft voice.
“That’s a Cerberus dog tag too; I thought her uniform looked familiar.” Xun stated as she walked in closer.
“Her name was, Viktoria Engel,” Sebastian read the tag. “She and her group were sent here last year, a test of sorts if I remember correctly.” He explained, cleaning the dirt off the tag and gently placing it in his pocket.
“I remember that, they went missing a few days after their arrival here.” Aria said, “not that anyone had hopes of them being alive…”
“Major, you might want to see this…” Xun interrupted while slowly walking backwards.
Lifting his head from the white flower in his hand, Sebastian set his eyes on the massive structure that has just appeared in front of him and his team. Dispersing slowly, the fog revealed a gigantic castle with a structure similar to the spectral gear and the belfries. The castle itself was heavily damaged and its energy veins completely inactive, as in a state of deep slumber.
“What is this…?” Aria found herself lost for words at the intimidating structure.
“We made it,” Sebastian stated with beaming eyes and a wide smile in his face. “To the center of the Deadlands.”
END OF CHAPTER