I glanced around the dropship's cargo hold. Ten of us total, including the pilot and copilot.

Serenity apparently has scales that can turn invisible and shoot venom? At least that's what I heard from a few of the other soldiers in my unit.

My unit alongside a few researchers and support personnel were assigned a new mission to conduct a nocturnal reconnoitering of the nearest encampment of the dragon faction that had attacked the island base.

Talon was here, under the circumstance that he was to observe and train my magical abilities during this operation. Honestly, it seems stupid to send me on a mission so soon, but apparently many of the skilled troops were injured in the last ambush, and Command had decided to swap us in.

Afterall, it was a reconnoitering mission with the optional objective of capturing a prisoner for questioning, if possible, but other than that, this should be easy for us recruits.

Wyrm was sitting next to Irelle, with I on the other side of Irelle. Talon chose to reside in a corner, facing outwards towards everyone. Lastly, there was Captain Clove who was busy on her ICD, presumably checking messages from Command for any late changes or updates to the mission.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

All I have to do is get through these damned lizards before I can kill those Spatial's. It's all just one big journey through hardship and obstacle before I can put those Spatial's back where they belong.

I kept on readying myself and Irelle placed a hand on my shoulder, comforting, "Hey man, you lookin' pretty hard at the floor hm?"

"Huh what-," I began as I realized I was staring at the floor, "Oh, uh, yeah. Just thinking about some stuff."

"Ah come on, now you gotta tell me," Irelle prodded.

"It's... it's just that everything that's happened so far is happening so fast and quickly. Barely enough time to grasp it all," I explained my thoughts to him.

He was quiet for a few moments before mentioning, "Well, we are in the military and stuff can happen pretty fast."

"Yeah, I know. It's just, I'm not used to it at all," I told him while gazing around the others in the dropship.

He gave me a skeptical look before adding, "You literally have fire magic, and this is all still going too fast for you?"

"Hey!" I flared before calming myself, "My body might be okay, but my minds not!" I told him annoyedly, "All this weird magic BS, dragons, energy, strange humans, it just doesn't make sense!"

Irelle then told me mockingly, "Oh, and let me guess, you're weirded out by some dragons and humans teaming up now?"

I scoffed at him and tore myself away from our conversation, needing to clear my head.

Then a question popped into my mind.

Why do we have to reconnoiter the camp? Can't we just use the satellites to spy on the camp?

"Captain," I called out respectfully, waiting to be given permission to speak as taught at the academy.

She looked over to me from her ICD's interface, asking, "What is it private?"

"Why are we reconnoitering the camp when we can just use the satellites for surveillance?" I asked her curiously.

"Weren't you listening to the briefing?" she questioned, and I could hear the annoyance rising in her voice.

"Er, no, ma'am," I admitted sullenly, rubbing the back of my neck lightly.

I had a few moments of silence, and I didn't look into her eyes, even though I could feel her eyes and a few others piercing right through me.

"Hey, we're all new recruits here, you can't be that harsh on us all, can you?" Irelle suddenly piped in, distracting them from me.

She exhaled and decided, "Fine, but if you miss the next briefing, you two are going on washing duties."

"Thank you," I told the captain genuinely, not wanting to annoy her any further.

Then Irelle whispered near me through gritted teeth, "You had better not get both of us on washing duty, ya hear me?"

"Er, yeah," I responded to him before returning my attention back to the captain.

She then explained, "The satellites have trouble picking up the dragon's images most of the time since the AI has difficulty filling in the gaps between images of the dragon's bodies since the AI have had no reference to these dragons and the artwork by artists have many variations of dragons which doesn't help at all. That is why we're going in to reconnoiter in person since the sats aren't able to image correctly and Command doesn't want to lose any of our tech to the enemies."

So that's why...

"Thank you, ma'am," I told her embarrassedly.

After a minute or two, the intercoms of the dropship came to life, announcing, "ETA 1 minute before landfall."

I focused on the small vibrations in the dropship, taking comfort in knowing that despite all the attacks, surprises, and unknown, our tech would prevail and save us from any situation.

"Alright soldiers!" Captain Clove began, capturing our attention while standing up, "Activate your NODs and get ready, we're about to make landfall."

I switched on my NODs, or Night Observation Devices, and all the shadows became lighter while the already lit area stayed the same brightness, with it all being colorized.

I remember when I tried those ancient night goggles from Earth's modern era for my ninth birthday, given to me by our uncle who had a collection of Earth's old items. Talk about a lunatic when it came to those antiques.

Don't know how the people back then dealt with those green and white visions; it would've hurt my eyes for sure.

I inspected my weapon to make sure the battery and barrel were all secured alongside the sights, stock, and grip.

I hope one day I can reach a level in the ranks to have my own custom weapon.

With the cloaking of the dropships activated, we landed at the beach, with me imagining us popping out of a window in the sky like a bunch of magicians.

It was midnight. The stars and moons shone brightly like specks of fireflies and two circles of ghostly light, with the third moon darkened.

I felt the light ocean breeze pass my suit, causing the temperature to change slightly in the areas impacted by the wind.

The crunch of multiple boots on sand filled the eerie quiet of waves lapping the beach, leaves swaying in the wind, and the occasional critter moving across the ground.

Captain Clove's voice sounded through comms, ordering, "Alright people, head to the trees and we'll organize there."

Instantly, Solaris lit up my interface to label each person, their ranking, and vitals.

With our weapons poised and minds active and searching for any dash movements or sounds, we approached the trees until we were all situated in an area with no hostiles being picked up by the sats or thermal imagers, but my interface was glitching slightly.

Captain Clove's voice came through comms again, explaining, "We're going to be splitting in two groups. Serenity will be a guide for group 1, code named Group Alpha, which will have James, Terrain, Sean, and myself. Group 2, code named Group Beta, will have Talon as a guide and Zen, Irelle, Wyrm, and Alex will accompany the guide with Alex taking charge of the group."

Solaris lit up my partners in green with the other group in blue highlights before Captain Clove continued on, "The camp is 500 meters from our location and we are to reconnoiter the camp's movements, behaviors, and any dragons or people of higher standing. After that, we'll locate an isolated target to subdue and capture."

A moment of silence before Captain Clove ordered, "Let's move, Group Alpha will head along the beach and clear the area while Group Beta heads inland and flank Westward towards the encampment. It's location has been added to your interface. We'll be cutting comms for the meantime until we reach the camp in case, they have any magical devices that can read our links."

After that, Captain Clove went quiet and she motioned with her hands for her group to go this way, with Serenity's scales disappearing into the environment.

"Wha-" I began confused when Irelle tugged my arm, gesturing for us to move.

I followed him with my thoughts filled with what I had just seen.

She can turn invisible?

I shoved these thoughts crowding my mind away and out of reach to focus on the mission, promising myself to ask her later about it.

We continued slowly and cautiously through the forest, the shadows seeming to jump around me from the moving clouds and swaying tops of the trees.

Talon was near the front, guiding team leader Alex while we pushed on.

I heard something scurrying to the right of me and I whipped around to face it to only find in front of me was... nothing.

"Stay focused..." I muttered to myself, and I rejoined the slow advance of the group, stalking through the trees.

I surveyed my surroundings carefully.

If I do well on this mission, I might get a promotion to a higher rank and get better equipment. I just have to not cause any issues. And since it's just a recon mission, it should be really easy.

I listened to every sound that entered my helmet, the brushing of shrubbery and grass against my boots and soft footsteps from the others.

After thirty minutes of stalking through the forest, we arrived at the edge of the forest, surveying the camp after we had secured the area to be free of any hostiles.

We went prone on the ground to lower our profiles to reduce our chances of being spotted, but at the same time Captain Clove came online through comms and informed us, "Group Alpha has secured the position, confirmation of Group Beta?"

Team leader, Alex, then went on comms and replied bluntly, "Affirmative, Captain."

"Copy that, team leader, proceed to reconnoiter the camp as trained," she ordered us.

Solaris then informed me that she had gone offline with her comms and our groups would not transmit messages between each other unless it was an emergency, leaving us to our own.

Then Alex ordered us, "Begin recording all movements, number of humans and dragons, behavior, activities, and supplies."

I activated my enhanced optics on the NODS and zoomed in on the camp, focusing on all the activities.

Most of the dragons were asleep, with humans lying around campfires and dragons, asleep. With at least a dozen humans and a dozen dragons guarding the camp.

I took note of the large naval vessel anchored a few hundred meters away from the shore, with towering masts and sails. Far larger than a normal sailboat. I could see the faint, darkened figures and lights moving atop the ships' deck.

I turned my attention back to the camp and began surveying other parts of it. They seem to have set up in the ruins of some ancient city, with rubble and debris coating the ground, with its inhabitants long gone.

Then I zoned in on a dragon that wasn't like the others. It had armor, but it was lesser than the guards and they were heading to the coast.

Do they plan on flying to the ship?

But what I saw next intrigued me. They slid into the water without much of a sound and disappeared into the murky depths of the ocean.

Wait, I thought dragons couldn't go into the water? They had wings, so I assumed they were primarily land and air based, not water. If anything, I would think the dragons in the ocean would be like the sea serpents of Earth's legends and myths. But this means there might have been dragons in the ocean spying on us this entire time! That would explain how those dragons ambushed our outpost on the island.

"Irelle," I whispered to the person in a suit right next to me, to which he replied, "Yeah?"

"You saw that one went into the water?" I asked him to check if he saw where they went.

He glanced over at me, "Yeah."

"If they can travel in water, does that mean they could be swimming in the ocean around the base?" I questioned.

He looked over at me again, "You don't mean-"

"Yes, I think they've had an edge over us because we haven't been searching the water for them, and so they've been sneaking up on us by the water," I told him.

He then added, "Wait, but if that's true, then they could crawl from the ocean behind us and ambush us."

I contacted team leader, Alex, reporting, "Sir, we have evidence that proves the dragons are partially aquatic creatures."

"Yes? And what does that have to do with you having to break the silence just for this?" he rebuked annoyedly.

I swallowed and added in my best confidence, "Sir, they may be able to ambush us from the water since we never expected them to be able to swim in the water."
Suddenly, Irelle complained, "Hey, why are you being so harsh on us Alex? We're all a part of the same unit!"

Irelle! Why did you say that?!

Argh, my chances for a promotion are basically ruined after this.

With my thoughts frantic at Irelle's sudden disrespect to Alex, I tried to apologize, "Sir, Irelle didn't mean that, I was just hoping that you could inform the captain about the-"

"NO!" he snapped before growling through comms, "I don't care what prank you're trying to pull on me like last time, but I will not have it! Shut the hell up if you don't want any bad info on your report for this mission!"

With that, we went silent and Wyrm cast a curious glance at me while Irelle stared at the encampment.

Why...

I clenched my eyes shut for a few moments, thoughts pacing around my head before opening them again and scouting the encampment once more.

After a few minutes of eerie silence and staring at the camp, watching their movements, Captain Clove's voice came on comms, "Retreat to the forest, twenty meters, regroup at the designated point on your minimap."
A minimap appeared on my interface, indicating the location in green with myself being white and my teammates being outlined in blue, with Group Beta, my group, being light blue in front of me while Group Alpha was being shown as dark blue dots on the minimap, and finally red dots of possible points of danger.

We slowly removed ourselves from our position and stalked towards the location, silent and dark so as not to alert any targets close enough to hear or see us.

Upon reaching the location, Captain Clove spoke, informing us, "We are now to capture and subdue a specimen for testing and a prisoner for extracting information. We have a potential target two hundred meters North of our position."

She then ordered us, "I want Group Beta to head Northeast and flank from the East of the target while Group Alpha will flank from the Northwest so we can approach the target from two sides at once, understood?"

We all looked at each other warily, with no one answering and Captain Clove decided determinedly, "No questions then. Let's get moving!"

She then motioned for her group to follow, and Alex did the same, with each group heading off in the forest, stalking our way to our positions.

Stay focused...

Every sound and lightened shadow seemed to move and disturb me.

I thought we were being followed, just that strange, prickling feeling on my neck and back, as if we were being watched and followed.

Eh, I'm just imagining it. If there was someone following and watching us, then the sats and our sensors would have picked it up by now.

I shrugged it off as nothing, continuing to focus on my step and others around me. Yet my screen kept flickering and small pixels would glitch in and out of place, but not nearly enough to cause any major disturbance in my usage of the software.

After ten minutes, we reached our position from the trees, overlooking a clearing with a dark dragon-like figure in the center of it.

There were some ruins of ancient stone and rock, but nothing else was notable.

Captain Clove's voice came through comms, "Group Alpha is in position, is Group Beta in position?"

Alex then replied, "Group Beta is in position, ready to approach, over."

Captain Clove then ordered, "Copy that Group Beta, proceed to approach the target. Group Alpha will inject it with a paralyzer agent, over."

"Copy that, proceeding," Alex replied formerly before comms went silent again and Alex raised his left arm, before motioning for us to move in, with himself at the front.

We continued to stalk towards the dragon, with my NODS barely being able to render its scale color of white despite two bright moons shining down on us. I listened to the soft steps of my own boots as I aimed my rifle at the target, in case it noticed our presence.

Suddenly, I heard a pop and then a whistling in the air before something went thunk against the dragon and it started to get up before quickly slumping over and falling into a mass of scales on the ground.

Is that... it?

"Alright, Group Beta, secure the area around Group Alpha as we secure the target and transport it to the dropship," Captain Clove ordered before asking, "Copy?"

"I read you Captain, Group Beta will move in to secure the area around the target as it is transported to the dropship, over," Alex responded before ordering us on comms, "Spread out into a perimeter, 50 meters around Group Alpha."

I followed Irelle and we positioned ourselves roughly sixty meters from Group Alpha as they tied the targets wings, arms, legs, and snout before beginning to drag and carry it towards the dropship. We hid in the trees, keeping watch for any movement of an enemy out in the dark recesses of the shadows in the forest.

Irelle, I, and a few others near us moved ahead of the group for scouting while others watched our flanks and behind.

Then Solaris informed us over comms, "Satellites are detecting multiple movements of potential enemies converging on your position."

"What the hell?!" I sputtered, sweeping my gaze frantically through the forest, "Where did they come from? They just popped on the satellites and sensors?"

"Hold your position!" Captain Clove yelled through comms, and we all took defensive positions, feeling the anticipation building up as those eerie red dots grew closer to us on my interface.

Where are they?!

I continued to look through the trees to see nothing, even the thermal imagers weren't picking up.

Then my thermal imagers began to glitch out and the video started to become statically.

"The hell?" I muttered to myself and Irelle looked at me curiously when we heard something thump against a tree in the forest.

I smacked my NODS and the thermal imagers turned off for a split second, to which I cursed, "What the-", at the same time they turned back on and showed three heat signatures the size of a MV transport truck.

"Crap!" I yelled, scrambling my gun to the ready, firing off a shot at one of the heat signatures, missing them entirely and alerting them and causing them to rush at us.

Crap, crap, crap!

Irelle saw it too and all hell broke loose among the other troops.

Roars sounded throughout the sky and lights lit up the area as soldiers fired at the beasts surrounding us with our energy-based weaponry.

As I was recalibrating my weapon, I felt a warmth grow in my hands again.

No! Not now!

My gloves began to get warmer, and I began to panic more and more, and I dropped my weapon.

Suddenly, I felt talons crash into my side and I went flying, straight into a tree and my eyes went dark.

With nothing but the void of black.

My eyes flittered open and my head was throbbing, with a searing pain across my back.

"Erg,"I grumbled to myself, my head spinning and recalling what had happened.

"Right, somehow those damned lizards bypassed our tech and got close enough to engage with us," I muttered to myself annoyed while absorbing the pain from the impact.

How the hell isn't my spine broken from that?

Where's my rifle?

I looked around dazedly for my rifle, finding it a meter away from me.

I staggered to my feet, an uneasy cracking sounded, and a sharp pain pierced my back.

I bit my tongue in pain from my back, causing more pain from my lip.

"Just... have to... get my gun," I grumbled to myself, voicing my thoughts without notice.

Grabbing my gun, I looked around at the mayhem around me and saw the nearest dragon near me.

I raised my weapon, the sights indicating that I would hit, but my interface was bugging out, with glitches causing part of the screen to dissipate.

What the hell is with my gear?

As I was about to pull the trigger, I saw from the corner of my eye a dragon rushing me and pinning me to the ground.

"Gah! Get off my you beast!" I shouted at the thing, lowering their head closer to me and growling.

I struggled beneath their talons.

Now would be a good time for that magic to appear now!

I tried focusing on summoning it, but the pain of the weight of this dragon on my body and from my spine racked my head and I couldn't focus on it.

The dragon picked me up, my arms and torso caught in between their talons, with my legs dangling in the air.

My interface was lit red, the exoskeleton was blinking red from pressure, and showed signs of breaking.

I was handed to another dragon and carried away into flight, watching the faraway shots of lights and fire from the energy bursts that ignited the trees.

The creature carrying me deposited me in the camp we were reconnoitering nearly an hour ago, with dragons and humans alike running around, presumably leaving to the area of fighting.

I was released from the suppressing talons in front of a dragon-sized cage that had other humans in it.

Observing my surroundings, I saw four human guards and two dragons.

Those dragons and humans are no match for my exoskeleton, I can definitely make a break for it.

"Heh, these dragons are no match for me at all," I muttered to myself confidently.

"Sir," Solaris began, warning, "The data shows that dragons muscle strength is greater than your-"

"No!" I cut the AI off, "Our tech is superior to biology and always has been. That dragon before was stronger than my suit, but not these humans and dragons."

"But sir, these dragons are similar to the one that-" Solaris began to argue with me, to which I promptly replied, "No, I know the history of dragons in myths, and they were always slain by human's primitive swords and spears. If anything, I am more than overkill for them!"

Solaris was silent after that while the dragon that took me here took flight and left in the direction we had come from.

Then, one of the human guards in grey metallic armor approached me while holding a spear with their spear pointed at me.

"Oh yeah? You think your tiny weapon can take me on?" I taunted, but he gave not a single hint of understanding to what I had said.

Maybe I should wait a bit, after all, in the training it said it was much more effective to learn about your enemies first before striking blindly. But surely these primitive weapons couldn't take me on?

Then one of the human guards motioned with their spear pointed at me while telling their companion, "Remove his armor." His companion then began to approach me cautiously.

What, you want to take my armor? I won't let that happen since without it; I'll be basically defenseless!

I scanned the area quickly and the creatures surrounding me. Two dragons perhaps twice the size of Serenity and the four humans.

Pfft, this will be easy, I'm sure my exosuit can deal with the dragons easily and my training can beat these weak humans.

I charged the spearman and bashed into him like the bow of a ship crashing through the waves, knocking him over while the other three rushed at me with spears. I dodged the first one, the movement drilled into my mind from the academy, but my mind was sluggish, and I failed to avoid the second one that pierced my left shoulder.

Grunting in pain from the injury, turning to face the person that had impaled me, my strength and willpower quickly dissipating.

I grabbed one of the spears on the ground and began charging the one that had injured me but then I saw talons coming straight for my face.

"Oh cra-," I began to utter in realization before their talons connected with my face and I flew backwards, the last thing that I saw was the falling ground being replaced by the sky and my vision going dark. Luckily, I didn't black out. But my head was swimming, and I could watch, my body unwilling to listen to my commands.

Everything just... feels dizzy...

The dragon picked me up and threw me into the cage, myself landing on the ground.

I slowly propped myself up, in a sitting position.

My head was hurting, and it felt like I was hit by a boulder yet somehow survived the impact.

After a few minutes, my vision cleared, and I took in my surroundings. A woman was in the corner with faint sobbing to be heard. An elderly man stared blankly out of the cage. Lastly, there was a young man sitting against the bars, looking at the ground with his face shadowed.

Ugh, how did those stupid dragons beat my exoskeleton?

Weren't our suits designed to enhance our strength by a factor of two?

"As if, those dragons probably used some stupid magic," I muttered to myself angrily.

Suddenly, Solaris spoke, "Sir, perhaps you should have listened to my warning."

"I don't want to hear it right now, Solaris," I told him through gritted teeth, pain coursing through my body.

I removed the spear from my shoulder with immense pain and tears welling up in the corner of my eyes. Blood stained the tip that had pierced me, and a gash was left in my shoulder, dark, viscous liquid dripping from the wound.

Is this what it feels like to be a real soldier in combat? Argh, I underestimated my enemies and look at what happened. At least I still have my armor though.

Quickly, I grabbed my med kit that was the size of the palm of my hand and removed the disinfectant and bandage, the only two things capable of fitting in there due to its size and because of that, it was only able to treat minor wounds such as scrapes, scratches, light pierces, and bleeding.

But my injury was much worse than that, I could barely move or feel my left arm.

Crap, did it damage my nerves? If so, this is going to be disastrous for me.

I winced in pain as I applied the disinfectant and then carefully wrapped my shoulder in the bandage with my free hand.

Sitting there, my shoulder bandaged but my left arm unresponsive, I relaxed a bit and took stock of the situation.

Alright, deep in enemy territory, captured, and heavily injured.

Damn it, this just can't get worse, can it?

Suddenly, the young man in tattered clothes and burned, bruised, and cut skin spoke, "You're probably thinking it can't get any worse than this, aren't you?"

I made eye contact with him, and I swear, his eyes were despair themselves, sunken and defeated.

Breaking eye contact, I asked gruffly, "Yeah? And what would make you think that."

"Experience," he told me bluntly.

Then the door rattled open with two human guards, spears pointing at me and the young man.

This is my chance, but I will be killed no doubt in a condition like this. Damn it, what was I thinking?

A third guard appeared and pointed a spear at the elderly man, shouting, "Come quickly, NOW!"

The elderly man that was visibly shaken and rattled, stuttered, "I- I don't know what you're saying."

The guard shouted some more and pressed the spear against his back, forcing him forward.

Falling to the ground, hands scraped, the elderly man wept, "Please, don't do this."

The guard gave him another powerful jab causing him to cry out in pain.

I staggered to my feet, my balance being swayed by my still swimming head and so I stabilized myself against the wall with my free arm.

"Stop, this man has done nothing to you!" I shouted at the guard.

He stopped and looked at me.

I gave my best confidence stand, but it didn't seem to work on intimidating him. His old, gruff face with his stubby beard and metal clad helmet only returned a cold look.

He motioned quickly to one of the guards and they used the butt of their spear to whack me across the head, causing me to fall onto the floor, my head in even more pain. My mouth felt numb.

After a few moments of regaining my mind, I watched as they dragged the elderly man out of the jail, weeping to have mercy on him.

He was brought in front of the same dragon that had captured me. She asked, "How old are you."

Quivering and afraid, "Sev- seventy years."

"And what do you know of the land?" She inquired, and he responded shakily, "I-I don't know... much..."

She flicked her tail and one of the dragons took the man and what happened next scarred my eyes. A quick, painless death, and his head rolled. Before I could take in any more of the scene, I turned away, unwilling to face the death.

"We'll be next if we don't provide the information they want," the young man told me.

I asked him slowly, "Then why kill the old man?"

"Because it's to show that we'll meet the same fate if we don't do what they want," he told me once again.

An ounce of curiosity building within me now, I asked, "And how do you know all of this?"

He was silent for a moment before responding, "Because, there used to be ten people here, but now it's just us three."

I would rather not think about what happened to the other seven people.

Okay, I think I underestimated the dragon's strengths and agility, but humans are pretty weak. Well, they're strong but my suit can take them on.

But I still need to think rationally. I'm surrounded, so I will need support. Meaning, I'll have to establish communications with the base or Command.

I began to fiddle with my helmet, but the interface was heavily damaged, and the digitals were glitching out.

"Solaris, I need a diagnosis of the suits condition in detail," I told the AI.

After a few seconds, Solaris informed me, "Communication is unresponsive, the exoskeleton is functioning at 75% efficiency, temperature control is intact, 90% of helmet functions are damaged or offline, battery is at 80%."

"Are communications working at all?" I asked Solaris. He told me, "No, sir, communications appear to be not operating."

I took off my helmet, attracting the young man's attention but ignored it, focusing on examining my helmet. I checked it and there were a few scratches, dents, and components that had been crushed.

The communications module was damaged but didn't look completely destroyed.

I donned my helmet again and asked, "Solaris, are you sure the communications module is damaged beyond repair?"

"No, there is some kind of interference but the damage to the module is also inhibiting some of the functions of it," Solaris informed me.

So, it is damaged, but there is also interference messing with the connection. So, there may be a way to salvage this and reestablish communication with the base or Command.

"Solaris, is the communications module capable of contacting Command?" I questioned, to which Solaris informed me, "Unfortunately, no sir. I have been trying to establish contact them ever since we broke off from the group."

So, long-distance communication is out of the question, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to escape from this place. The worst crime you can commit is giving enemies our technology or classified data.

The anxiety and nervousness kept building up inside me, and I calmed myself down, deciding to study the camp.

I could probably take on five humans before going down, but now I know my suit isn't capable of fighting off any of the enemies.

Taking a deep breath, I decided my best bet was to wait until help arrived, despite the communications module not functioning.

I checked my mana flow, flicking my free, uninjured arm to see if I was still able to summon the flame. But to no avail, it didn't light. I kept flicking my fingers, but I couldn't concentrate enough. The pain, thoughts pacing through my head from the situation, and everything else.

Then Alpha told me surprisingly, "I'm receiving a UEF personnel communications signal, two hundred meters from your location, South."

Someone came?

I got up, peering through the bars of the jail that now with closer inspection looked to be some strange mixture of steel and some unknown metal alloy with a bluish black tint.

"Hello?" A voice began on comms, the part of the module that was still functioning still allowed short-distance communication, before repeating, "Hello? Does anyone copy, I'm at the enemy encampment at-" when their communication was briefly interrupted by static, and they went silent.

"Can you tell me which agent it is?" I asked Solaris, and he told me, "It would appear to be Irelle based on the data signature from the communications signal."

I see, I just have to find a way to contact him now.

Activating my transmitting function of the communication module, I responded, "Irelle, do you copy? This is private Zen, do you copy?"

Come on, I need an answer...

After a few brief, but agonizing seconds, his voice came through, "Yes, this is Irelle, but there appears to be some static in our communications."

Is something still interfering with our comms? But what could it be?

"There's something interfering with our comms, but as long as we can understand each other, we're good," I told him before adding, "I'm currently captured inside of the enemy encampment in their jail, do you spot me?"

After another few quiet moments, he informed me, "Yeah, I see you alright through the optics. Damned situation you're in."

"Yes well, I need to get out of here before they strip me of my suit and tech," I told him to which he replied, "I could cause a distraction, but it would only last five minutes tops if we're lucky," he told me.

I then told him, a bit of excitement and glee in my voice, "That works, just give me the signal in a minute." And he said simply, "Copy that."

I looked around the jail, observing the woman and young man. I couldn't just leave them behind, it was too immoral, too unjust.

"Hey, come on, get up, we gotta go," I told them quickly, with the woman getting up eagerly, looking confused, dazed, and afraid.

"What do you mean? There's nowhere to go!" The young man told him doubtfully.

He clearly doesn't trust me...

"Alright, look, just trust me this once and just get ready to run!" I told him quickly, only twenty seconds remaining before the distraction would arrive.

The woman still looking shocked simply stood near the exit, unsure about everything, while the young man begrudgingly got up and stood next to me.

"You had better not get us killed," the young man told me seriously, with only ten seconds remaining.

I gave it some thought before deciding to ask, "If you don't mind, what's your name?"

He was silent too for two seconds before answering, "Fett."

And with that, a silvery yellow light rose up high into the sky, a luminance that would transfix anyone who saw it at first.

"What is th-" Fett began in curiosity and awe, when suddenly the light exploded into a million different glimmering lights, blinding anyone that looked at it for too long.

"Come on, just follow me!" I told him, ripping my eyes from the flare in the sky as another thunderous boom sounded across the camp.

Using the strength of my exoskeleton, I busted the jail doors off its hinges with my fists and I directed the woman and Fett across the camp while the bent cell door crumpled into the ground.

Come on, just a few more seconds before we clear the main palisade, then we'll be clear of most of the humans...

But we didn't run fast enough, because I heard a piercing shriek behind us, only to see over my shoulder a spear poking through the woman's stomach. She collapsed onto the ground, a deep red, viscous liquid already staining the ground, herself unmoving.

At that moment, I didn't know what to do. All the training was nothing compared to this. The flare... it was supposed to work, but it didn't. And the human that did it was a quivering boy, no older than seventeen, realizing what he had just done, fear filled his face. A mixture of emotions grew in me, rage, anger, but also fear and the feeling of being lost, unsure what to do next.

Why? Why did I have to be here? Isn't it like those stories? Isn't everyone supposed to survive?!

But before I could do anything, Fett grabbed my shoulder, bringing me back to reality, "Leave her! She's already gone!"

He must have seen my face, because he added quickly, "I despise them as much as you, but there will be no point to this if we don't avenge them later by dying now! So, let's go!"

With that, we kept running, dodging a few of the dragons that recovered before the humans, but even then, there were a few close calls. A claw tore through the air right towards my face, intent on slicing off my head, but I nimbly dodged it, the training from the Academy kept me alive.

I heard the clear whistle of an arrow fly past my ear as I saw it land in the ground ahead of us, more and more of the enemies were regaining their bearings, and we were losing time!

Only thirty meters to go!

Sprinting out of the camp, we only had so far to go before we broke into the trees, where we could make our escape and meet up with Irelle.

Suddenly, Fett yelled in agony, and glancing behind me, I saw him stumble to the ground, an arrow sticking out of his thigh.

I quickly helped him up to his feet as more arrows implanted themselves into the ground around us, my brain beginning to lose it with the fear and adrenaline building up, my drilled techniques from the training slowly transforming into the simple reaction, run.

I tried to carry him, but I could barely move with his weight. My arm was unresponsive and with one arm only, I just couldn't! I couldn't get a good grasp on him to help him up. Arrows ripped parts of my suit off, with one of the exoskeleton's legs being damaged to 50% durability and functionality was falling fast.

He then whispered to me weakly, "Just leave me behind, you need to go."

Conflicted between his command to leave him behind and myself wanting to help him get out of here, I stood there, fighting internally, unsure what to do next as the dragons and humans charged at us, only twenty meters away, with a few dragons flying above for leverage.

"Just make sure you kill them all!" he told me at last with a fiery passion in his eyes before pushing me away and as I glanced at him one last time, his yearning eyes staring back at mine as I let myself fall into the clutches of that primal instinct, run. Myself stumbling over my own legs before getting back on my two own feet, running.

That same memory of when I was a boy, when the Spatial's came to our planet, I ran away like a coward. And now, I'm running away again. From mere humans and dragons.

But my mind was filled with confusion, conflict, mirrors of what could have been but what was. Feeling like I was in the exact same memory.

I kept running through the trees until I slowed down, my legs aching from how much running I had done. My breathing was frantic and exasperated. My mind was a fuzzy mess, a shattered mirror of a thousand pieces. I didn't know what was happening, what to do, where was I? Why am I here?

Peering around myself warily, I didn't see anything big or scary, just myself and the forest.

I leaned next to a tree, my breathing rapidly gasping for air, my thoughts running through my head, rampant. My hands quivered from the adrenaline and shock of it all.

What... just happened?

I continued to stare at my hands.

We had just met; I learned his name... and he died that quickly, mere minutes before he met his end... mere minutes.

I had seen death before, others floating in the cold, silent depths of space, and the fires of cities and corpses rotting in the streets. But I had never gotten close enough to see their faces and memorize them. Let alone their names.

But... this was a person I knew... I had actually gotten to know, and they went away, just like that.

I felt like crying, curling up and blocking out the world. The very same way I had felt when I had separated from dad and JJ.

After taking a few deep breaths, I contacted Irelle through comms, nervously, "A-are you at the rendezvous?"

Silent for agonizing seconds on end, causing doubts to fill my head if he was still alive, but thankfully he responded, "Yeah. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Copy that, proceeding to the location now," I told him robotically, an attempt to mask the emotions coursing through me.

He was silent but I took that as his agreement and I started heading to the location, asking Solaris for the coordinates and directions.

My interface, still buggy and glitching out, managed to display the coordinates and directions on the minimap and my interface, adapting to the environment around me.

I tapped my helmet a few times but to no avail. If anything, it made the fractured display worse.

Grumbling to myself, I continued on my way, often being misdirected by the glitched data.
Eventually, I reached the rendezvous where Irelle was already waiting for me.

"Hey, good to see ya made it out alive!" he greeted jubilantly, approaching me before noticing the absence of anyone else, mentioning, "Hey, weren't there others with you back there?"

I didn't make eye contact, shame filling me from how I had fled like a dog with a tail in between its legs, fleeing like a coward, the memory returning once again. I admitted to him quietly, sadness coating my words, "They... didn't make it."

Irelle then grabbed my shoulder sharply, causing me to look up at him in surprise, "Don't sweat it, you know that we can't save everyone. We were taught that despite our strength, we can't save everyone."

"Yeah, you're right," I told him quietly before telling, "Let's head back to base and call for retrieval."

He nodded his head and with his still functioning helmet and communications, he contacted Captain Clove, who we met up with in the next hour or so of walking through the forest until we reached the beach. Where Serenity and Captain Clove were waiting with three other team personnel.

I flicked my fingers once more, checking to see if I could activate my abilities, but to no use. Nothing happened. It was as if the warmth had disappeared.

"You trying to use your fire magic?" Irelle asked suddenly.

I gave it another flick but to no avail before answering, "Ya, but it seems like I've lost my touch."

"I'm sure that uh-" he began, looking for the name of the researcher that was in charge of the science behind my powers, "What was his name again?"

"Talon?" I told him simply, filling in the blanks for him.

"Ah! Yes, that guy! Super weird but really knows his stuff from what I heard!" Irelle finished before adding, "I'm sure he could fix you right up and get you using that fire magic again."

"Yeah, probably," I answered him distractedly, thoughts still pacing through my mind as we boarded a dropship.

I caught the words between Serenity and Captain Clove, about obtaining more fragments of intelligence about the dragons of Pyrrhia, or whatever continent we were on.

Asking Serenity about her changing invisible since the question still lurked in my mind, I discovered it was an ability of hers, that an entire tribe of dragons had, just like her. It scared me that there could be more dragons out there, hidden, invisible, waiting for you to fall into their grasp.

But as we returned to base and attended the debriefing, we headed to our quarters, the entire time passing by like a flash, a blur of motion of colors. I was there, but really wasn't. My mind wasn't there.

Then, I found myself lying in my bunk, staring at the bottom of the top bunk, thoughts racing through my head.

Memories continued to playback in my head, the young man's last face before I fled, the dragon that attacked me on the night of the ambush of the base, their eyes and expression ingrained into my mind now after the video and experience, calling back these memories. The memory of watching the dragon cry out in pain and agony, suffering from the flames of my magic. The old man's head rolled. The young woman that looked timid and afraid, young and innocent, gone like that.

Was... was this how fragile life was? So much death...

I felt my breathing increase, my heartbeat faster, as if I was reliving the moment.

The mistakes came back to me. The mistake of thinking I could take on that dragon with just me alone. The mistake of me underestimating the dragon's ability to recover, resulting in the young man and woman's death.

All... because... of me...

The startling realization had just occurred to me.

This wouldn't have happened if I had been more careful, more planned. Simply better.

Fett wouldn't have died. The young woman wouldn't have died. And most importantly... I might have been able to... to... to save dad and JJ.

No! They're alive, I didn't see them die! Just because the Spatial's came didn't mean that they would be dead!

I continued to reassure myself, despite my knowledge that the Spatial's were brutal in their conquests, they spared no one. But because I hadn't seen their dead bodies or faces, I kept the hope that just maybe, just maybe that they might still be alive. And that kept me going.

I awoke the next morning, my mind fresh and clear. The darkened thoughts had retreated to the recesses of my mind, but I knew they would return later in the evening.

Nonetheless, I got ready for the day.