Entering Madam Bourget’s building, they finally reached the fifth floor with no sign of any enemies, guns raised as they pointed into the empty lobby. Hailey put her hand up and sent a few soldiers to the left side while some went right. Both going to separate stairwells, the remaining soldiers looked in the lobby for traps or any attacking opportunities. Gunshots rained as soldiers radioed in.

"Five Killed, One Casualty, Heavy Injury Medical Assistance Required," a manly voice said.

Hailey went to Bam and Boo, touching their shoulders.

"All of them must have gone upstairs. Delta Squad is going up the stairs already, but we can catch them even more off guard. Look at that hatch up there.”

She pointed at the weak point on the floor above. Bam looked at her, grabbing one of his makeshift bombs, and Book walked towards the stairway.

"I'll come with Delta."Based on the reports, we’ll reach a lounge area, and a bunch of them are crowding around. You keep with Alpha and use those boots to jump out of that hatch.

See, you'll be up there, so be safe.” He saluted before brushing off some dirt on his face.

Bam did not, and he looked like some sort of mole rat in Hailey’s eyes. Hygiene wasn't a concern now; she had to focus on the mission.

A medic finally rushed towards the casualty for an examination as Hailey looked at the hatch above. She tapped Bam's shoulder, who only smiled, before latching a bomb to the hatch. A few more soldiers followed as Bam pressed the detonate button.

Somebody shrieked, and Hailey jumped in first. Before using her weapon, she killed two humans. More started to go down the stairs but were stopped by soldiers entering through the stairway. More firing went on in the two-story story lounge room.

This room had stairs that turned circular to the next floor, which had soldiers already climbing up. They are met with multiple soldiers in this bar area. Drinks splattered as guns fired at each other. One soldier fell down the stairs, knocking down two soldiers. The soldiers up there were then hit by an explosive as Bam threw grenades and EMPs to disable their weapons.

Hailey pushed her shoulder inside a metal storeroom. Her gun flashlight automatically turned on when she was grabbed from behind. A knife tried to stab her neck, but she used her leg to kick him down. His grip loosened, and she turned with her gun, knocking him unconscious. Grabbing her pistol, she fired a pistol into his dome. Stepping over the body, her gun went across the room, examining. Dead bodies dropped from the second-floor railing as Boo threw enemies off.

"Bam, get on the second floor; Boo, get down here.” Hailey Screamed.

Boo made a sound of approval and jumped down, grabbing Bam’s hand, who jumped to him and flipped him to end up on the top floor, explosions in his hand. An explosion rang in their ears as the shots slowed down.

"Making good progress, but based on some intel, Madam Bourget is coming down right now, so we are ready.” Boo told Madam Bourget.

"So, when do we expect a battle?” Hailey questioned.

"Some troops entered through the higher floors, and they tried to distract her, but she's a freak man.” Boo said loudly as another explosion rang. “It was brutal just from the audio I heard.

"We got good air support." Hailey rushed.

Right on time, a saucer noise spun, but not one controlled by them, as it pulled into the glass windows. A few soldiers jumped off the balcony. Its machine guns pulled in from the sides as she screamed “DUCK.”

Everyone ducked out of the way behind the red lounge chairs and metal bar stands. Some could not make it in time with laser bullets repeatedly firing. Hailey's shoulder was struck as a hole appeared in her cover. She rolled away, where she ended up next to Boo.

"This stinks; we've got to do something about it.” Hailey reloaded her weapon.

"They won't have unlimited ammo. The instant they stop.” Boo motioned his head to Bam on the second floor with a remote in his hand. “He’ll blow those assholes up."

To Hailey, it seemed they did have unlimited ammo; their lasers were not holding back, with more and more lasers firing. Every single moment they could even peak to see what was happening, a laser fired into someone's head reminded them to be careful.

The soldiers on the balcony fired their weapons for cover fire while some entered the room. Their weapons pointed up, firing point-blank into the domes of the reptiles.

The machine gun firing from the saucer continued its heavy rain of bullets, and Hailey, looking over for a second, had an idea inspired in her head. She remembered what Joshua told her.

"No situation is dire if you take the problem down to its root.” She mumbled to herself. Back when he was teaching them about combat techniques, she learned this from him.

Looking up, she saw Bam holding his arm tightly with an explosive in his hand. She pressed her ear and strained her mind to try and communicate with him.

"Bam, can you hear me?" She grunted.

A long pause came as more bullets fired, killing more and more of their people.

"Yeah."Static came in and said, “What-zz the plaan?"

Hailey smiled. “Toss that explosive imma and take down this saucer myself.”

Bam looked at her confused, but he trusted her, with an approved nod from Hailey. Bam used his mouth to rip the handle of the grenade and throw it on the floor. A bullet fired at his arm, ripping a hole into it as he screamed, but with his remaining power, he threw it in the middle of the lounge.

No reptilian or human was safe from the explosion, as it released an orange fire with smoke erupting from all different places. Reptilians escaped and jumped to the second floor while the humans were gunned down. Hailey jumped out from cover to the left of the saucer's machine gunnery.

Hailey used her speed to her advantage and activated her reptilian ability. Some sort of iguana and human-made her, and finally, she tapped into what made her a reptile. Going at around 20 miles per hour, she ran so fast through the smoke that she looked like a ghost. She held her legs and jumped through the window, reflecting Joshua's technique, and now she was next to the saucer.

She looked out the front window, pointed her pistol at the pilot, and fired.

“Bang.” She said.

With perfect aim, the men fell on his wheel, and the saucer started to fall along with Hailey. She turned and pressed on her boots, and she fired herself in mid-air and floated with the boots. Looking down, the saucer exploded and had an impact on civilians who were running. She only looked down with no emotion and rose back into the lounges.

Behind her, a gun cocked as soldiers floated with their boots.

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“Only a girl.” The man said he was surprised.

With no reaction, she turned her pistol and fired one into his head. She dove under the other bullets as Boo looked outside. He looked for a weapon before finding a rifle on the floor in front of him. He staggered and stumbled before eventually grabbing it.

More pistols fired at Hailey as she flew around dodging bullets. Then, with the mag inside the rifle, Boo fired, killing one. Pointing his weapon to the left, he fired another shot. Killing the two by himself. Hailey lowered herself and faced back toward the balcony. She pounded her feet and walked slowly to the lounge.

Entering back into the lounge, she looked around at the destruction. Multiple bodies lay lifeless on the floor. For no apparent reason, she walked up to two of them, who held their hands on the floor. Flipping one of their bodies, she saw the woman from her truck, eyes open, gray but smiling. Flipping the other one was her husband, who also had the same gray eyes. She pressed her hand on their eyes and closed them.

"Rest now.” She said that yet no tears were in her eyes. Maybe she had gotten too used to the war, to the point where she could not feel anything. Bam held her shoulder and crouched, while Boo helped grab the other bodies. Burning them with a match, as it was tradition to do so.

"Let's rest here. There are many injuries here, so we’ll wait an hour on this floor. I expect the ones above to also be thinking about it.” Boo told Hailey from afar.

She only nodded her head while Boo turned back.

"How about Madam Bourget? What if she just comes barging in?" Bam questioned.

"She won't come down in time. She needs to set up her forces as well. A war does not happen in a few hours; it takes time. We need time to rest since we just lost half our squad to that attack.”

A few cries echoed through the room, and Hailey looked at them mercilessly. Maybe in the past, before she trained to become a warrior, she would console them, but they were going to battle. Like Joshua, like Prime, she was going to be as strong as them.

–

CC stood with her rifle, pointing at an innocent soldier. He begged her to spare him as more explosions echoed in the surrounding area. Yet she still fired, and she cried. She could not get that memory out of her head as her father stood next to her, smiling at the destruction in front of them.

"See their screams; we are controlling them. These weaklings have always oppressed us, and look at us now. We will be the victors.” He smiled.

CC did not respond. She did not want to respond and only stayed silent. Her father did not notice her dilemma and walked to an ambassador in heavy armor. Talking to him happily, all of these important figures were so excited about all this destruction below them. Prime’s section was very easy to control. She looked in the distance, seemingly hearing the screams from the Madam Bourgets district.

She was just happy there was no more fighting. But why was she happy? She should not be happy; she killed many. But that was her job. What if she did not want this job? Yet she had an obligation. She could leave at any moment.

Her mind ran through these tough times as she sat herself down. Blubbering her lips, she grabbed her head and threw herself to the floor. Her eyes pointed to her father, who only smiled happily at everything. She remembered her past, having been trained from a young age.

She was not an experiment; she was born with a love of battle like her father. She beat all the other kids in any sort of physical activity or fight. She was the dominant figure. Even beating out the experiments that were meant to save Caldera from humans and create a utopia for reptiles. Every book she read only proved her nationalistic ideals. So when finally the opportunity came for her to prove herself to one of the strongest in the galaxy, she agreed.

Never would she have thought she would learn more than battle. Learning about life past her planet, about matter, and different cultures. While others fell into boredom, she listened attentively.

Even after every combat experience. When her father looked at her in disgust due to her failing expertise and more people falling in front of her, she cut off whatever made her weak.

Joshua told her otherwise. A murderer like him with eyes of regret. Consoling her when nobody would. Not her classmates, not her father, not even the grave of her mother could grant her what she wanted.

Looking at the planet that rose deeply over this minuscule land. Was it even worth it? There were many moons surrounding her planet, but one shined deeper than it all. Even in pitch-dark daylight, the light echoed through her.

The gunfire stopped, roses fell over her body, and a feeling of bliss rained on top of her. The red roses fell on her eyes, but she was interrupted by her father standing over her.

"CC, fly down to a squadron. Their leader is lost, and they want a stronger one. An effort to prove you’re worth isn't right.” Croc commanded.

"So quickly?”

"Yes, this squad is weak, and they need a strong leader. They will be part of a force to raid a pesky supply building in a few hours, and you will lead them to victory, I hope.”

She followed his order. Pressing her boots and floating down. As her boots hit the floor, she looked around. Walking forward, many soldiers talked to each other happily due to the battle. Looking for a certain symbol, she was trying to find her new squadron. One she was going to lead.

Walking even longer, she asked people around her where her NEQ squad was. Most just laughed at her, and her anxiety only grew. Was she going to be able to protect them or not?

Her eyes darted before she finally found a virtual insignia over a group of five people. Walking to them, she kept her hands inside her pockets and closed her helmet. Embarrassed by her face, she was not allowed to meet with them. A secret she wanted to keep to herself.

"You must be Squad 13 for the raid tomorrow.” CC read off her virtual screen on her wrist.

These five were a messed-up ragtag group. Two lizards, one very old and blind in both eyes and the other a lot younger, A humanoid-like child with a middle-aged snake and crocodile along with them. They all wore weakened armor, and their faces were covered with dust.

"So let me introduce myself. I am now your leader, Commander CC of the new reptilian kingdom.”

They all looked at her up and down, and the blind lizard offered his hand, his tongue slipping out.

"Helloooo, names Dan, stupid, I know, and I am happy to be working with you.” He smiled.

The other ones were more reluctant to introduce themselves. Yet, with a push from Dan, the humanoid child with snake-like eyes walked up, revealing his true skin. A chameleon.

"I'm Crane; I'm 12.” The boy reluctantly introduced himself before hiding behind Dan's legs.

The snake then continued, “I’m Barboora, not Barbara. I got five casualties under my belt.” She said it proudly.

Smacking her head was the crocodile next to her. “I'm Creena, her half sister.” The two were about to argue, but Dan stood in between them. His eyes seemingly could sense where they were going to go.

Finally, the last lizard introduced himself under his cloak.

"Names Cronus.”

CC smiled at them, pulling out her virtual screen.

"You all do know about the raid; I hope so.”

Dan replied, “Yes. We are ready for battle, and we will be glad for a leader like you. Our old one suffered such a horrible death, but we are optimistic for you.” He smiled, and the others looked at him. Creena scoffed, and Cronus's breath became shaky for a second.

"So I expect us all to be battle-ready. So let's take a walk to these streets before we get ready for battle.” CC said optimistically. It did not make sense why she was controlling this squad. They were dirty and weak. There was no sense of strength among them. Everyone except the mysterious Cronus. She could smell the battle on him; the only other one was Dan, but he was blind. There was no way he could battle correctly.

They walked silently as she kept her identity secret. There was no need for them to know. The vehicles in front of them started to line up for a new raid. Tank-like objects ran on the streets. There were so many signs of humans around them, and her realization hit that they may all be dead. They had no reason to care about civilians, and it was better to put most of them out of their misery.

"You know, I remember reading some books about a war from long ago.” Dan wondered, breaking the silence.

"Hey, old man, don't start again.” Barboora scoffed.

"Please, I hope she does not mind, but long ago, when I read this book, it explained we were the natives. Suddenly, humans arrived, calling up an evolution of creatures they sent long ago to see if the planet was habitable. They changed the atmosphere, and it took centuries for us to get used to it. It was truly tough; we never did anything. Yet even through this battle, are we?"

"The bad guys.” CC cut him off.

The conversation ended as the boy’s skin started to change with awkwardness.

"I told myself that too.” She responded, “But they started it, didn't they?" She questioned.

"Maybe."Cronus said, “But it's not our choice to decide.”

"But it’s mine,” CC said, turning, and the door automatically opened to reveal the interior of the vehicle. “I have to protect; that is my job entirely.”

The empty gray streets let out a wind as they stood in the empty streets. The trucks lined up in front of them as a man called for them to enter quickly. CC only smiled.

"Don't worry.” She turned back and closed her mask. “I’ll be the hero you guys need.” She smiled, but deep down. She lied.

–

Cold sat in his chair while the council of masked people argued heavily. An emergency meeting, as Cold sat in the middle, listening to both sides of the discussion. The noise rang in his ear—too much for him to handle. He could not hear the recurring and overlapping arguments. The pride reached the room like the devil itself as everyone's true intentions came out.

How could he get rid of it? How would the noise stop? How would his siblings stop controlling him? How would anything stop him? What could stop him? Who was he? He was the king, the true king. So who was he again to be ruled over? But how could he solve this predicament?

So he killed one, then a few, some, then more, maybe twenty dead. Then, finally, everyone became silent.