A.N- I do not own Monster Musume or Gears of War, all rights to their respective owners. I only maintain ownership of my OC's and some situations that will be implemented in the future.

I am so sorry for the delay in updates!

༼つಥ_ಥ༽つ

-Chapter 2: Aspho Fields-

My earpiece buzzed as I started towards the metal fencing surrounding the AA platform,

"Wahy'a, I got eyes on the second AA. An Indriga, has to be second generation, got dual GAU's." Taelo whispered over the comms, which seemed fairly trivial now that Dave decided to start a firefight just a few courts away, "I count 3 indies, all human. They're on high alert but the detail is surprisingly light considering they just shut off the alarms."

"Copy that Red-Man, neutralize the guards and disable your platform. We need to get to B-B." Stretching and then stepping over the sprawled and twitching corpse of the guard I hopped the chain-link fence and scanned the surrounding area before approaching its power source. The Imulsion generator was protected by a 3-foot thick steel casing and sealed with a thick fuel cap that was 2 feet in diameter. After twisting off said cap and tossing it aside, grunting with exertion as I tossed it aside I removed and opened my pack withdrawing the Satchel charge within. Taking hold of the one-minute-fuse marked with a red pull-pin I yanked hard as sparks erupted from it, the fuse ignited. Quickly tossing said charge inside the generator I closed the fuel cap and re-vaulted the fence seeking refuge behind the Gazebo as I counted down in my head, 30, 29, 28-

—45 MINUTES EARLIER—

The blades of KR-774 sliced through the smoke-choked air above the Ostrini-Coast, once a beautiful coastline straight out of a postcard now polluted to Hell by UIR factories and industrial scale fracking. The more ancient Dryad clans had abandoned these forests over 20 years ago to migrate East where many of the Grand forests now reside, I shuddered to think it would take centuries of cultivation to bring this sorry place into a state of even partially livable standards... I remained stoic, mourning the loss of this once beautiful land until my earpiece pinged and my good friend Dustin appeared in my H.U.D,

"Monarch we're approaching the D.Z, E.T.A 3 minutes." Flicking my eyes to his small pixilated features I said,

"Copy Scarab, maintain altitude and holler if anything interesting comes up while I brief the boys."

Receiving a nod of confirmation from Dustin, his cam powered down and I stood while removing my helmet, twisting left before pulling up and off,

"Attention!" I shouted in a deep baritone causing my two trainees to jump in surprise then snap to attention. That acquired, I spoke clear and stern, forcing eye contact from both of them, "As you both know we are currently above the Coast of Ostrini, en-route to Aspho-Fields. Our objective is to find and secure the schematics for the Hammer Of Dawn. Quite possibly the most ambitious weapon ever to be proposed in this theater of war by the UIR, who, if left unchallenged can and will utilize this weapon as a tool in turning the tides of this war in their favor. So if we want to win this war, we must locate and steal the schematics. However to do this we must first succeed in destroying three separate AA platforms which will allow entrance for Ravens to drop off mobile infantry led by Colonel Hoffman and Lieutenant Dominic Santiago. Their jobs when placed in concert are to destroy a set of Communications towers within the base making sure the Indies can't for reinforcements, so those men are damn well critical if we hope to have any success in this endeavor. If all goes well, we'll send out an encryption to Carmine informing him that the AA's are down and its clear to drop the girls on our position. Once we rendezvous with them we're going to push towards the bunker where the plans for the hammer of dawn are located and rally with the other ground teams. I'll be the first in with Santiago and Hoffman to clear out any resistance and to secure the plans. Once retrieved we're going to blow that lab to hell ensuring all data that wasn't salvaged or recorded is destroyed. More than anything those plans are top priority. If anything happens to Hoffman or Santiago we are to take those plans and extract them ourselves. Any questions?"

As expected both Taelo and Dave both sounded off with a, "Yes Sir." and I continued, "Good." Then softening my voice I lightly placated, "Remember boys we're splitting up so remain quiet and no comms or names until I signal otherwise, and Dave that is not to be repealed unless something goes totally to shit. If patrols are more on edge or the damn sky begins falling. Understood?" Dave was going to argue but reserved himself to a nod and Taelo followed suit, both gesturing with their hands to their foreheads as Carmine's voice cut through my comms,

"Monarch, your drop point is coming up." Exhaling heavily I grabbed my pack and threw it over my shoulders before I finished my piece,

"Once at your drop points maintain low profiles and watch your ammo count, pick your shots, make em' count." Saying what needed to be said, Taelo and Dave both nodded before Taelo added,

"Fight hard wolf." As Dave chimed in,

"Give em' hell Boss."

Smirking I said, "I expect the same from you fuckers. Good luck, 'a ghlóir'."

"Wa-ga-lv-la-di-yv"

"To Glory"

I locked my helmet back on my head as my stomach dropped in tandem with the metal bulk of the helicopter. Over a span of 5 seconds the King Raven's rotors slowed just enough to permit a slight drop in altitude, lowering, and leveling us out just 5 feet from the ground, during which I pulled the sliding doors open and leapt out rolling to a stop on the soft dirt within the base's outlining forest. Carmine pulled up and off saying, "Monarch, scans indicate you have 3 hostiles inbound from the base to your South-West." over the comms.

Sweeping the LZ with my eyes I crouched low and sprinted to take cover behind a tree as I heard multiple voices arguing in Russian and Czech, "YA videl etot grebanyy Voron chut' vyshe pod"yema!"

'Oh good.' I thought as I pulled the charging handle of my Lancer, remembering and eyeing the massive integrated silencer that ran the length of the barrel. I heard the clanking of their armor and the sounds of multiple sets of booted feet pounding the dirt so I took the best course of action and sprinted low to the ground far to the right of my current position taking cover behind a small rock formation that sprouted awkwardly from the forest floor. I took a knee and watched, waiting for the assailants to clear the rise. It took a few seconds before I saw one woman in blue elite and two men in green UIR combat armor, so it was obvious who was getting shot first.

Observing their patterns I watched them fan out in a spear head formation scanning their surroundings for any sign of hostiles, with the woman taking up the front and two me-

"Ah shit." I thought, "Scratch that, the one woman in front, the yelling man on the left, and a Kobold on the right." The moment I spotted his tail the all black K9 froze and began inhaling, I was down wind from him so he couldn't have smelled me where I stood, but he could definitely have smelled my initial drop point and my tracks. Confirming my thoughts he began tracing my path over to the tree I stopped at and inhaled so deep I heard it clearly from my location over 20 feet away. "Zdes' byl chelovek..."

'You don't say you fuckin' mutt?' I thought acidly. I knew I'd berate myself for that thought later but sometimes kobolds really piss me off, though I have no issue with the species, their goddamn sense of smell is infuriating. Swapping my rifle to my left hand I raised it to rest on the rocks and took aim at the Kobold, watching as the two humans followed him. They had kept their Markzas shouldered and were still scanning for a threat as they began getting closer to the rocks which was when the Kobold immediately spotted me. Now he WAS about to shout, but by the time his tonsils began vibrating eliciting a "ZVE-" I depressed the lancer's trigger and 3 sub-sonic ballpoint rounds shredded the Kobold's snout shortly followed by the top of his head. Seeing their comrade's head explode the two remaining hostiles shouted something incoherent in Czech before I diced their bodies with concentrated bursts. The new corpses thudded to the floor as I walked out from the formation with the light *clanking* of my armor marking my appearance. Intent on searching them, I checked the Elite and as I thought she had a basic RFID keycard while the man and Kobold just had an extra pair of bolo-grenades and the incorrect type of ammunition. Seeming a prudent thing to do, I took the Bolos and sauntered off to begin climbing the rise that would allow me to get a full view of the base, and was it a sight.

It was a monstrosity of concrete and steel, at least 7-miles wide and about 9 long it rimmed the beachfront with tall concrete walls reinforced with steel bracers and barbed wire, dotting the surrounding shore with tank-traps and Caltrops. Multiple watch-stations and towers manned with MG teams sat on the ground and atop the walls as well giving them a perfect 360-degree view of the surrounding area. Oh, and there were snipers to, just in case they thought I couldn't see them. Their positions were scattered but I was able to spot about 5, thankfully they aren't within exact view of each other so I can take care of them easily enough. I could see a gate with an RFID card reader matching the card that I took from that Elite, so that would be my entrance. But those snipers have to go, I can get by those MG teams easily enough but I have to keep an eye out for them going on alert. Dropping flat I removed my pack and set it besides me opening the largest pocket and taking out an ACOG sight, which was directly beside a satchel charge for later implementation. Sliding this atop the picatinny rail and allowing the metal stoppers to click into place I 'shouldered' my Lancer and took aim. At 300 meters this lancer is accurate enough if fired with singular trigger pulls but I hold minor qualms with it, you see normal cartridges go super-sonic due to the amount of powder behind the lead-encased projectile, they are capable of going that distance without any issue and penetrating with even less, but these subsonic cartridges... Re-thinking I doubted I could get these fuckers to penetrate their armor without causing some commotion. So siding with caution, I did the prudent thing and stood, preparing to walk around he steep hillside down the rise until the Earth beneath me gave way and caused me to unceremoniously tumble down the hill in an un-glorified heap. I had tumbled for 10 whole seconds and reached the bottom smoothly rolling forward, grunting in annoyance before almost immediately standing and walking towards the entrance like nothing ever happened, with a slight shakiness to my mannerisms... What truly perplexed me was that there were only three guards at this entrance and the MG teams aren't the slightest bit curious as to where they went? And how had I managed to save myself on that fall? It was strange... Almost felt to good to be true, and it was because after 7 or so more steps I pressed the RFID against the reader unlocking the gate and unveiling the rest of the security detail. Standing in front of me were 4 other Indies along side an Elite that had just come to relieve the second squad that was dead on the rise. They were no doubt shocked to see me as one attempted to raise his Markza only to be met with a hail of silent death. The sound of pinging steel filled the air as I dumped a full magazine into the group killing 3 and wounding two, the Elite took a round to his right arm and 2 to his chest, forcing his Markza to fall and lay on the floor, completely useless. His comrade, no better off, had taken a shot to his throat and was clutching it, retching as blood filled his lungs and pooled in his helmet. Neither had cried out, one unable to as he was gurgling to death on his own life force and the other was in shock, he barely made any noise besides pained grunting and I appreciated that as I pulled out my Snub-nosed pistol (also a-fixed with an integrated silencer) and blew his brain out of the back of his helmet. Their bodies created minor obstacles and after hooking the Snub to its magnetic holster I reloaded my lancer perfectly dropping the magazine in tandem with loading it. "2.3 seconds..." I thought solemnly, "Still slow dammit."

Pulling the charging handle I broke into a sprint through the base sticking to shadows and unoccupied areas as best I could avoiding high activity areas like the barracks and Canteen. Around 2 minutes into the search for my AA I began hearing a distant buzzing sound... originally I had discounted it as feedback from my helm's comm systems but over the span of a few minutes it progressively got louder and louder until I could swear it wasn't in my ear but right- ...over...my head...

Knowing it could come from nowhere else I looked up and my eyes widened, thousands of feet above the base gliding in from the West troop carrier planes from the COG slowly glided over the base, soldiers already piling out the backs and entering free-fall "Oh no..." I thought, "No, No, No!" The voice in my head, MY voice began screaming in despair. Why are they early? Who gave them the all clear? That question was put on hold as I began sprinting to where I believed the AA gun where but I was cut short by three ear-piercing *GRRRRRTS* that could be heard from somewhere in the base along side bright flashes as one of the Condors had a wing torn from the main shaft by large tracer rounds, causing it to jack-knife and tumble through the air in a vortex of Fire and Smoke. Redirecting to the newly found AA I had to reflect that it only took 10 seconds for the whole event to unfold and merely 3 seconds later I heard the distant *boom* that echoed gently through the base as even more distant Air-Raid alarms began howling their mad cries.

-I.R-

Private Tekks, 23rd Tyran Para-Troop Division,

The Condor shook with the vigor of an excited child as it glided through the blackened skies over the dark waters a few miles from the Ostrini Coast. The time was now, no going back. Colonel Hoffman had given the Green Light on this operation and our only objective was to distract and repel any Indie reinforcements that attempt to enter the Stronghold. Woulda been easy enough, if only I wasn't terrified of heights and over 15,000 feet above a pitch black ocean at FUCKING NIGHT. Thank god I was in my helmet or the jump-master would probably have busted my ass. That fuckin' asshole. "Ho-ly shit, what in the fuck is a 5'4 Kobold doing in the Corps? You can barely lift your lancer you damned welp" That cocky motherfucker, he was miserable to spar with and he'd done nothing but talk shit to every single recruit that came through Basic and now he just stood there with a smug grin since he's not the one diving head first into a firefight. *sigh* this shit is gonna suck. I looked around and even though everyone has helmets on I could smell the anxiety and fear. But some didn't have it, their scent was just sweat from sitting in 45 pound armor and the faces I could see showed utter indifference. Some prayed, others let their eyes wander around the hold, most checked their weapons but we all sat in silence, the only sounds being that of the engines buzzing outside. About 25 minutes later when the rear of the Condor lit up green and the JM shouted "ON YOUR FEET". The Condor's rear began to descend and those closest to it were able to see the pitch-blackness of the ocean down below, 'fuck'.

We all stood and filed up, I was with team 5 and from what I was informed we would be one of the 2 teams dropping directly into the base courtesy of our 'special forces', as Hoffman put it. We watched as a screen lowered ahead of us and a blue screen displayed a countdown, '5- 4- 3- 2- 1-" The moment the display went black men and women alike began sprinting to the exit and leapt like frogmen. People exited doing flips and others simply dove straight to their designated drop points, my squad was the last to leave and as they leapt the JM called out to me, "HEY TEKKS!"

"GOOD LUCK OUT THERE!"

He couldn't see it but I scowled before the entire Condor vibrated, my teeth chattering as something hit the exterior of the plane and suddenly the whole world seemed to be engulfed in flame for 5 seconds. Moments later I felt me body go weightless as something grabbed my armor and threw me out of the Condor back first and into free-fall. My eyes on the now spinning inferno as I fell through open air. My only thoughts being to straighten myself out before tucking my arm and spinning chest first to free fall. Preparing myself for the fight to come I closed my mind away from the thought of those people still inside the vortex of fire now descending to its inevitable end.

-I.R-

My comms crackled and I listened to the beast-kin growl, "They have kicked the proverbial hornet's nest." Been a while since I'd heard him upset.

Dave, more pissed responded over the sound of what I had known to be sirens and the occasional cracks of gunshots, "MOTHER FUCK! WHY DIDN'T THEY WAIT?! I HAVE RAID SIRENS BLARING OVER HERE AND MULTIPLE SQUADS OF INDIES SWARMING MY PO- *PING* FUCK!" More shots rang out over Dave's comms and the super-sonic cracks in the distance signaled that he was taking fire.

Not a moment passed before the sirens began sounding in my sector as well, I heard shouts from soldiers and base personnel alike as they all went into high alert. Boots pounding the hard-packed dirt as I ducked off underneath a catwalk. Opening comms I quickly relayed orders to Taelo and Dave with a seriousness which betrayed my usually calm nature, "Taelo maintain your silence and locate your AA platform, Dave hold out as long as you can I'll be there shortly. Remember boys the longer those AA's are up the more of our men and women are going to die. Double time it you two MOVE!" Even as I said it I started shredding through the shadows of the base, following the shaking of the ground and heavy clanking of shells until I finally came to an open courtyard where a damned Indriga AA gun was held, surrounded by a chainlink fence and a mini catwalk. Now a little background, the 'Indriga 1' was designed by UIR Mechanics Officer Tyler Pvetrovik, it is an automated system which utilizes a Dual AC - 9 Gatling gun system which fire 60mm H.I shells at a rate of 9000 rounds a minute. The 60mm bullet has a wider diameter than a 32 oz. soda can, while the whole cartridge is over 1 1/2 feet in length. Let that sink in. However the complex gun sat in a simple Courtyard, a stairwell leading above to a steel grate catwalk sat with its door closed just across the yard while in the center was a basic Gazebo, 4 intersecting archways holding up a flattened cone top which, to the designers credit, look quite lovely being made of mahogany wood. Which in turn complemented the square bench set up which surrounded a large concrete planter.

Ignoring the attractive centerpiece I looked to the Indriga and eyed the small security detail assigned to watching it, several UIRs all regular grunts, two of which were Liminals, a Lamia and a Banshee no less. 'She's a living alarm system then, her shit luck' I supposed. Watching quietly from the shadows I observed their patterns, seeing how the Liminals conducted their patrol I sat patiently noting the guards on the Catwalk, which held relatively static positions.

They kept patrolling the courtyard's perimeter on the ground leveled with me so I simply waited for them to pass my position when I made my move. As the banshee shakily wandered past me with the Lamia at her side I stepped out with my snub and leveled it directly at the back of the banshee's head. There were two silent *ckts* and she dropped to the ground silenced forever. As I quickly holstered the pistol and raised my lancer the Lamia, recognizing the silenced shots, rounded on me sprayed in my direction with her Markza, missing 8 out of the 10 round magazine the two lead projectiles that hit dented my chest-piece and threw my aim awry winding me. The un-silenced shots cracking flatly off the walls of the concrete yard alerting the Indies on the catwalk that something was definitely wrong.

The moment she ran out of ammo she hissed before tossing the firearm down and effortlessly sped towards me. I managed to put 9 rounds into her, 4 of which hit her upper torso, while one took a fair portion of her shoulder plate. However she was to fast and within seconds she was upon me, body coiling itself around me and starting to squeeze. "Well shit" I thought as I unsheathed my Bayonet from its chest sheathe and drove it into her lower back just between the steel plate, I missed anything vital and found empty space in one of her many body cavities. She screamed and her retaliation was a feeble attempt to snap my neck. Thankfully, due to her immense strength, she only managed to crush my helmet's mag-lock and wrench it from my head, exposing my face to her claws. Making a swipe for my eyes she was thrown off from shots that originated from above as her allies tried to shoot me only to hit her instead resulting in an utterly unacceptable friendly fire incident. She screamed at them to cease-fire and to their credit they immediately did as her coils loosened on me just enough to permit the opening of a small window of opportunity. One that I happily used to my advantage, withdrawing the blade from her back and sheathing the still-tainted knife I snaked my arm out and grabbed ahold of something I really didn't want to but it was out of 'necessity' to escape her coils. As she was berating her allies I grasped the tip of her tail, which, as many know has the effect of bringing on a sharp and intense pleasure to Lamias. I felt her whole body shudder and muscles contract as I pinched the very tip and snapped my fingers making her scream in either pain or pleasure, it was hard to tell considering she had a helmet on herself. Rapidly repeating the motions as the indies on the catwalk caught on her coils loosened further allowing me to slide out and push off her body sliding across the hard-packed dirt before quickly drawing my snub and firing two shots that hit the snake woman in the head, piercing the back of her now malformed helmet leaving her alive but incapable of functioning ANY part of her body off her own volition, now reduced to a vegetative state by the shots. High-caliber lead pierced the dirt around me a few shots deflecting off my chest sending shrapnel into my chin. I rolled furiously under the catwalk and reloaded my sidearm, noting that my lancer lay in the dirt merely 10 feet away.

"Two down, five to go." I thought as I watched 3 indies scramble for the staircase leading down to the courtyard, the other two remaining above to provide overwatch. Across the courtyard a metal door burst open as the 3 green men broke off in multiple directions taking cover behind concrete pillars and the stone planters that surrounded the Gazebo. Up above, the two grunts adjusted their positions to flank either side of me, effectively trapping me in a kill-zone.

Acting quickly I ducked to my right, underneath the catwalk and below one of the elevated Indies. Watching across the courtyard the second catwalk-dweller came slowly around into my view and received five rounds to his body forcing him to collapse, not dead yet but he would be very soon. Unable to hear the subsonic-shots without heightened hearing and thanks to the gunfire echoing through the base the slide clacking wasn't registered by the other grunts that had hid behind the Gazebo. So, as they were oblivious to my location I simply rounded the gazebo and lined up 3 textbook headshots. Normally I had reservations with the subsonic rounds and penetration but they maintained enough velocity to pierce the armored heads of the Indies this close up. The three lay twitching and spasming on the ground, their pasted brains attempting to send electrical signals to their muscles to move and failing to get fully there. Muffled moaning could be heard from the corpses but I never really registered it as I crept back to my previous location to snag my lancer, I picked it up and dusted it off to be rewarded with several shots that all pierced my armor causing me to shout in agony. Three of them went cleanly through but I could feel the copper coating of the bullets trailing multiple wound channels in my abdomen. Collapsing and reaching for my back out of sheer instinct I wheezed and moaned as I tried to stifle the pain to no avail. A minute felt like an hour as I heard a triumphant laugh from behind, the UIR grunt circled me like a lion would an injured Zebra.

"kha-ha-ha, ty, glupyy sukin syn. Vy deystvitel'no dumayete, chto mozhete priyekhat' syuda i ostavit' v zhivykh? Vy vysokomernyy ublyudok COG?"

He stopped behind me as I gasped and replied in the same tongue,

"nazyvat' menya samonadeyannym, kogda vy dumayete tol'ko potomu, chto Im shot oznachayet, chto ya zakonchil-" I winced and stifled a shout as my breathing normalized and the pieces of lead were ejected from my body through the same wound channels they created,

"YA ne mogu ne chuvstvovat', chto eto nemnogo Ironichno." I glanced back at him as I finished to see him staring plainly down at me, his grip on his Markza adjusted which moved the barrel off the back of my head. He immediately regretted his decision as I lashed out with my left leg and kicked him in the groin causing him to clench his finger on the trigger and fire twice, shooting the dirt beside me instead of me, AGAIN. He collapsed to his knees grasping himself and I capitalized by grabbing my lancer and whipping it around in an arc which terminated with the bayonet biting through his helmet into his head.

Letting him fall with the bayonet still in his head I struggled to my feet and stretched as my earpiece buzzed. The message relayed while I reached down and wrenched the lancer from his head, the scraping of metal stinging my ears,

"Wahy'a, I got eyes on the second AA. An Indriga, has to be second generation, got dual GAU's." Taelo whispered over the comms, which seemed fairly trivial now that Dave decided to start a firefight just a few courts away, "I count 3 indies, all human. They're on high alert but the detail is surprisingly light considering the alarms."

"Copy that Red-Man, take out the guards and disable your platform. We need to get to B-B." Stepping over the sprawled and twitching corpse of the guard I hopped the chain-link fence and craned my head in every direction before approaching its power source. The Imulsion generator was protected by a 3ft thick steel casing and sealed with a thick fuel cap that was 2 feet in diameter. After twisting off said cap and tossing it aside, grunting with exertion while I threw it down and removed my pack withdrawing the Satchel charge within. Taking hold of the one-minute-fuse marked with a red pull-pin I yanked hard as sparks erupted from it, the fuse ignited. Quickly tossing it inside the generator I closed the fuel cap and leapt from the platform seeking refuge behind the Gazebo as I counted down in my head, 30, 29, 28-

-I.R-

Dave's P.O.V

My objective was not going well, I got inside of the Base, avoided all the guards and personnel that could set off any alarms and even found the AA platform before that fucking buzzing started. I didn't need to look up, I knew I didn't. There wasn't any other sound on the planet more distinguishable than that of a 5-7 Condor trudging through the air as gracefully as a spastic on a hang-glider, it even made the same sound. Unfortunately that condor I didn't care to see, the one loaded to the brim with my old brothers and sisters in arms didn't last long like I knew it wouldn't. The loud *GRRRT* from an AA gun located elsewhere in the base tore the wing from the condor and lit up its falling carapace as soon as its internal computer calculated the proper trajectory. Which took all of about 10 seconds or so, what the fuck would I ACTUALLY count for?

And now thanks to that, I've been stuck in a firefight with low ammo and fuck all for cover for the last 10 minutes while Ethan, A.K.A 'Wahy'a' A.K.A 'Wolf' disabled his AA and Taelo, A.K.A 'Red-Man' (which I still think is a bit racist) did the same. I couldn't complain though, I still had ammo, a pair of bolo-grenades, and about five more seconds until the large detonation somewhere in the base, which was an indicator that one of my squad-mates completed their objective, shook the earth at my feet and the concussive shockwave knocked down both me and the now conveniently distracted 20 odd UIR soldiers long enough for me to lob one of the Bolos off my original target and accidentally besides a gas tank and set around 8 of them aflame. A few of the UIR screamed something at me in Czech but I had no fucking idea what they were saying. "I CAN'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND YOU!" I'd bellowed as I cooked and threw the other bolo killing 3 more.

I was especially happy to see that the little hill the AA sat on was starting to give way from the concussive force of the blast coupled with the weight of the AA and uneven distribution of sediment beneath it made it tilt at an odd angle. Reaching for another Bolo, which I didn't have any more of because I threw them both at the assholes shooting at me. Way to go, fuck-nut.

"God- *PING* FUCKING DAMMIT!" I cursed as a shot pinged off my armor followed swiftly by a second detonation, this one twice the size of the previous and far closer than the last rocked the base yet again and sent all of the people in the vicinity to the ground, half deaf with ringing ears. I had to have been on the ground for about a minute because that shockwave shook my intestines and bones plus it blew my damn eardrums out. So of course to amend this I cursed, "*Barely Audible* Fuck." and couldn't hear myself so I tried it again, "*Slightly louder* Fuck!" still nothing, I tried once more and bellowed out "FUUUUUUUU-" so loud that my eardrums popped in time for me to hear the "UCK" as the ringing stopped. Shaking my head and nodding satisfactorily I stood and half-casually strolled/ stumbled to the enemies lying deaf and injured, and shot them all. One by one, like Chief did McMurphy. 'Wait he snuffed him with a pillow' I had thought, changing my simile to 'like injured race horses'. Is that any fuckin better? Ah fuck it, it is.

Moving to the AA platform I pulled an exact replica of the Satchel charge both Ethan and Taelo had and simply placed it in the ordnance port of the Indriga. I'd pulled the 30-second fuse and sprinted to cover 100 feet away then waited. It took a few seconds but when the Indriga ceased firing and the only sound heard was a loud mechanical whirring before the satchel exploded, which thankfully wasn't as substantial as the previous two blasts, did its job.

I opened comms and contacted my Squad Leader, "Wolf this is Big Ben, I hate these Callsigns and my AA is down."

"Solid copy Big Ben, Red-Man and I are en-route to your position group on these coordinates."

In front of my eyes I watched as a jumble of codes and words flooded over my H.U.D and quickly deduced the location of their R.V point. I began walking and noticed the oddest sight,

"What the hell?"

I said as I watched a para-trooper that should have landed a long time ago rapidly descend before unceremoniously plunging into a tree and getting stuck, hanging like a marionette 10 feet above the ground.

Reloading my weapon I started towards the figure.

—

Returning to Ethan -

I had braced for the inevitable blast as my mental clock reached zero and sure enough the fire that encircled the Gazebo did not disappoint, I was nearly thrown to the ground from the pre-concussive force alone but held fast as the metal beast groaned and collapsed with a high pitched squeal. As soon as it shook the ground I started running in the direction where I heard the gunshots previously which seemed to have stopped for the time being I heard another echoing *boom* and saw the distant rise of black smoke and dirt followed by the echoing shouts and screams of many Czechs and one undoubtedly Western Seran, "I CAN'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND YOU".

Disregarding stealth now as much of this sector's security was dealing with Dave and everything has gone fully tits up I kept running as another explosion followed by more screams to greeted me. I had fully expected to encounter another squad of Indies on the way to Dave's position or even run into Taelo, but what I didn't expect was for all of the AA's to be so damn close together and for Taelo's satchel charge to detonate with such an Unholy vigor that I was sent flying by a concussive wave which more than likely would have killed me, if only I could die. I rolled hard over the dirt as my ears rang and my body sprawled out. I groaned in only slightly feigned agony and the few moments that passed felt like hours, it was a fucking blessing that the short time my cells took to rapidly repair themselves was even faster than normal. I was up in moments with a minor kink in my neck and my hearing no longer handicapped by the *EEEEEEEEE* I heard previous. I must have had a very colorful expression on my face because in the time it took for me to heal I saw Taelo approaching me from the direction of the explosion with his head lowered in submission after I dusted myself off. A mental scoff followed by 'Beast-kin'.

"Is all well Wahy'a? Your helmet is missing." He cautiously asked and stated as I sighed heavily.

"Yes Tae I'm fine, just lost my helmet in a scrap and-" I touched my ear to find my earpiece missing as well.

Distantly I heard Dave's voice now tinged with an accent bellowing, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

"Fuck's sake," I groaned and asked, "Taelo, may I utilize your earpiece?"

Nodding Taelo removed his helmet to greet me with his slightly ashen and rather handsome face, the boy, for that is what he was, only 19 years of age and one of the last 100 members of his tribe back in Western Sera. His people were uprooted time and time again by the war, but I when I had found them a place they set for it happily, one of the many that I had found through my travels of Sera secluded high in the mountains. His Father, the Chieftain Mojahn Kwakili, only agreed to the location out of necessity for their numbers to regrow and to regain their lost strength, and they have over the 17 years they've called Montë-Pallo (Mon-tea Pai-yo) their home. Strong warriors the lot of them, many enlisted with the COG and then were 'Indoctrinated' under the Blood-Omen of the Harbingers, much like Taelo did 6 years ago.

Removing the earpiece he kneeled and gave it to me ceremoniously cupped in both hands, to which I couldn't help but groan inwardly,

'I hate tradition with a burning passion.'

I took it gracefully and brushed my hand over his allowing him to rise and re-don his helm. There was one final *boom* and soon after I heard Dave's distasted voice over Taelo's Ear-piece before inserting it into my ear,

"Wolf, this is Big-Ben. I hate these Callsigns and my AA is down."

Sighing with relief I replied, "Solid copy Big Ben, Red-Man and I are en-route to your position rendezvous on these coordinates." Opening my Tac-Pad, courtesy of our resident genius, I tapped out a series of codes and symbols that makes up our hidden language (that curtesy of the now-Pallën people) and swiped up sending out the encryption. Swiping left I typed out one more,

"Beir. Leis. na. gCailíní."

-I.R-

Five miles away Dustin's H.U.D lit up with a red emergency inquiry. He opened it up to see the encryption within and when he did his comms flared up, "KIRA, TANNER, TIO, AND MYRA MOUNT UP!"

Across the clearing where the Raven was touched down ears shot up and arms were bared, Tanner, the resident Vampire hefted her Gnasher with distinct glee,

"FEEDING TIME"

Kira silently detested that notion seeing as she knew Tanner would literally drain people of all their life force mid-fight to strengthen herself, that meant gorging herself to the point of gluttony, "Tanner that's gross."

"Wha? You never eaten raw, bloody meat before Mutt? It's pretty damn good!"

"Of course I have, but not just the Blood before, all syrupy and warm *gag*."

Tio shook her head at her squad-members antics, "Tan-Chan, Kira-sama, can we perhaps argue about this later?"

Myra tossed in her two cents with a grimace, "I second that, but speaking of bloody meat Gods Steak sounds good later. Think I can get the boss to cook it for us?"

Tanner smirked before teasing, "Oh I bet that's not all he'll do for you."

"Tanner I can and will stake you with my claws."

Tanner relented with a huff and the Quad-Squad reached the Raven filing in order of Myra, Tio, Kira, and Tanner last due to the size ratios. She slammed the door and Myra banged on Hull,

"ALL SET GET US UP!"

"Gaining altitude, brace for turbulence."

Just as Dustin stated a few moments after lifting off the Raven shook before evening out above the Wind-Line.

In the cockpit He grinned knowingly to his right,

"Ladies and Ladies if you'll look to the front of the Raven you will see the seatbelt sign is now off and you are free to explore the Cab-" He silenced himself when Violet, his best friend and co-pilot for the duration of the Pendulum Wars, punched him hard enough to make his arm go full pins and needles.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFF-" He deflated.

-I.R-

Back at the base I was jogging towards the rendezvous with Taelo in tow when distantly I saw the falling figure of a paratrooper disappearing behind a distant Barrack. I quirked an eyebrow and looked to Taelo who nodded to show his agreement in investigating this as well. As we rounded a corner into a courtyard marked by what only members of The Harbingers can call Dave's Stapled handy-work, bullet holes riddling the concrete, craters from exploded ordnance, bodies and carnage with a hint of cooked flesh.

"It appears David was at work." Taelo remarked and I simply nodded in agreement,

"Yea, let's hope he didn't get himself killed. Come on, that parachute fell just over-"

Just beyond the concrete wall there was the sound of something falling hard to the ground and two people grunting in exertion. I looked at Taelo for a split second before sprinting towards the commotion; we rounded the wall to see Dave's armored form laying flat on his back with a young Kobold straddling his waist and laying into him with precise, damaging blows that any normal Seran would have been rendered unconscious by.

-A.N-

OKAY! THE POSSIBLY LONG AWAITED CHAPTER 2 pt.1 of IMMORTAL RAGE! I cannot express enough how sorry I am for the delay in updates, unlike video-games, porn, and masseuse parlors not everything has happy endings. Between work, school, the IRS and other frivolous crap I'd been a little busy. But I am happy to say that I am back and plan to update this, My other NEW story Fallout : Newer Vegas, and Grand Galaxy. Thank you for the support and I can't wait to see what ya'll think.

As always I am IC,

And Safe Travels.