Message from the Author: Sorry for another long wait. Here is the next chapter, enjoy.


Presence

"How could you let this happen?"

"What?"

"The men, you let them die." 2LT Joseph was hearing voices and seeing faces. This was the voice of his platoon sergeant, SFC Harrison.

"I—"

"Gone, sir! What are you going to tell their families?! What are you going to tell my wife?!" The thought weighed heavily on the young officer's conscious.

"Lieutenant! Where are the men?" another voice boomed. This was his commanding officer's voice, the voice of CPT Derrick.

"They are dead, sir."

"Joseph! How could you let this happen? Those are my men; I didn't put you in charge of them to get them killed! You damn fool!"

"Sir, I—"

"The men, lieutenant, MY MEN!"

"Michael?" This time, it was a familiar female voice.

"Renamon?"

"Why did you abandon me?"

"I didn't!"

"Then get up!"

"I—"

"GET UP!"


"Michael, please. Please, get up." Renamon said. 2LT Joseph had passed out and fell onto the floor, laying face up. Renamon was stuck in the chair, unable to move. "Michael, GET UP!" She yelled.

"Ahh!" The lieutenant let out as he awoke with a violent jolt. He had a hard time moving. "Wha—, Renamon?" The reality of the situation had dawned on him. "I gotta get you out of there." He tried reaching up, but his arm grew weak.

"Michael, we have to get out now, we are running out of air."

"I—, I can't move." He was slow to respond. "Everything is getting blurry."

"Michael! Stay awake. I wish I could help." As she said that, 2LT Joseph's digivice started to beep and glow. "Michael! The digivice! Use it!"

"I can't see." The lieutenant looked down to his vest and saw a glow through his blurred vision. He reached out blindly, unable to make out his hands. "I—, uh." His ability to feel was deteriorating rapidly, as well. When he was blocking the light with his hand, he reached down and found the pouch. He pulled the flap open and grabbed the digivice. With his sight practically gone and his tactile sense faded, he mashed at the buttons on the device, hoping to press the right button.

And with that, he passed out again.


Several soldiers were stacked up outside a door to a large facility. One nodded to another across the doorway, and the other kicked the door in, leading the file in through the doorway. Each stepped quickly through the doorway, swinging inwards, rifles shouldered. Upon entering the hallway, they found it unoccupied and in a sad state of disrepair.

"Damn, this place is trashed." one said.

"Shhh." another hissed in response. He lifted up his left hand with two fingers raised. Two soldiers stepped up. He gave them a few more articulate hand gestures, and they pressed up front and made quick work checking the few side rooms in the hallway for enemies.

"Clear." they muttered after each room they checked, the rest of the squad following.

"Leonardo." the leader whispered.

"Yes, sergeant?"

"Check these rooms for any clues or anything useful."

"Yes, sergeant." The pointmen reached the end of the hall, where two large doors separated them from the room beyond. They looked back, the sergeant gave them a thumbs up. One nodded to the other, and kicked the door in.


"Ah!" 2LT Joseph awoke suddenly, instinctively reaching around him for his rifle. He found it quickly, no company-wide linked arm search needed. As his vision came into focus, he saw someone familiar looking down at him.

"Are you okay, Michael?" Kyubimon asked.

"You evolved… again?"

"Yes, and with my new strength, I was able to get us out of that terrible place." The lieutenant looked around and saw that they were in a hallway, not in the interrogation room. He became aware of the alarms still going off, the current situation dawning on him.

"Good job. Unfortunately we gotta keep moving." He stood up. "We need to find Corporal Ku and Veemon." He did a quick PCC of himself to make sure he had everything, he did. "Let's go."

"Right." 2LT Joseph lead, with Kyubimon following closely behind. They made their way down some hallways, the lieutenant pieing each corner carefully. Finally, as he pied one corner, he spotted two North Korean soldiers. He put two rounds center mass into one as the other started to fire back. The deafening booms of the rifle fire, combined with an enemy round grazing the side of the lieutenant's helmet, caused him to become disoriented and slip, falling onto his side.

Kyubimon rushed forward quickly, her great speed and size allowing her to get to the enemy soldier so fast he couldn't train his rifle onto her. She lunged at him, biting his neck viciously and throwing him down the rest of the hallway, He was flying fast enough to hit the end with an audible smack, dead before he hit the wall.

Woah, she's powerful. The lieutenant stared in shock.

"Are you okay, my tamer?" she asked, walking back to him, fresh bloodstains visible around her maw.

"Yeah, bullet just grazed my helmet." He stood up. "C'mon." The lieutenant headed to where the two solders are standing. They were guarding a door. He opened it, and found a man wearing a labcoat sitting in a chair in front of a large control panel. His hands were raised above his head.

"Please don't shoot me, I surrender. Don't shoot. Don't Shoot." the man said.

"Stay still! I have no idea what you are saying." The lieutenant walked up to him, rifle trained at his head.

"Michael, look!" Kyubimon said. 2LT Joseph looked to his left, and saw through a window Veemon, strapped to a chair, and CPL Ku, passed out on the floor.

"Release them! NOW!" 2LT Joseph yelled at the man. He didn't seem to understand what the lieutenant was saying. The lieutenant pointed at Veemon, "Unlock!" The man, unsure of the order, slowly lifted a protected button's cover and pressed it. The straps that bound Veemon were released. The lieutenant eyed the door into the other room through the window. "Come!" he bellowed at the man, gesturing with his left hand as well. The man obliged, standing up and walking in front of the lieutenant.

The three walked out of the control room and to the door to the 'Interrogation Room'. "Stop! Open." The lieutenant pointed at the door. The man tried to open it, but had a hard time with the large wheel-like locking mechanism. The lieutenant helped, and the pair managed to open the door. The three of them walked into the room. "Watch him, Kyubimon." 2LT Joseph gestured at the man. She growled at him, intimidating the man into standing still.

"Ku. Corporal Ku. Are you alright?" The lieutenant walked up to the knocked-out corporal. He kneeled next to him and flipped him over. He shook him. "Corporal, wake up." The corporal was unresponsive. The lieutenant gently slapped at his face, becoming slightly stronger every slap. "Ku! Get up." The corporal was roused.

"Lieutenant. You're here?" the corporal responded with an air of disbelief.

"Yeah, bud. C'mon, time to get up." The lieutenant stood up.

"They trapped me in here when I tried to help Veemon. Filled the room with fire-suppression foam, snuffing the oxygen out. I passed out."

"Yeah, well, let's get Veemon."

"Yes, sir."