I arrived at my destination at who knows what time. It was at Manawolf’s place, and it looked dismal from when I remembered it. Then again, when I remembered it Gen was there with me… Damnit, I hate this, not being able to help anyone. I hate being pessimistic about the situation too, but I couldn’t help that. Not when the doctors say that I have little time left and it was running out.

I saw the large tree with the burrow, seeming impossible now for me to get through. I looked back at how I could have gotten in and realized I was fairly scrawny since then. The combat and training built me up fairly well, giving me a good amount of muscle compared to most. I almost wished I stayed small and less bulky, made it easier for concealment.

Around me I could see the moons peeking through the clouds, giving that eerie cast around me, the reflection dancing off the pond only making it even more uncanny. I looked inside myself; to the spot I had looked at many times over, to reach the Sense in me. All I could find was emptiness; a void that had been left since I had found out Gen was dying. I concentrated hard and found a spark. Trying hard to rekindle the fire that had once been, I thought of the past, how I used the Sense, and slowly found the spark growing into a fire, which was soon roaring.

“What is it you come to search for?” a voice asked me. It wasn’t a familiar one, yet oddly, I felt as though I knew it.

“I come to find help.” I replied.

“Help for what?” the voice asked, a hint of curiosity in it.

“My friend is dying. I seek Manawolf’s help.”

“Manawolf is not here, she is gone, trying to protect others from the evil that is coming.”

“Then I need someone else to help me.”

“Why is your friend dying?”

“She was on a mission and during it was shot.”

“She is a soldier?”

“Aye, she is.”

“Then you and she must accept the consequences of being one.”

“We accept death, but I will not accept my friend dying without me helping.”

“You must accept it, it is how it is.”

“I WILL NOT!” I roared, not just in my mind. The echo could be heard, bellowing back my response.

“I will help you.” The voice said solemnly.

My eyes snapped open at the touch of a hand on my shoulder. My immediate reaction was to grab my sword from behind me and draw it. My eyes focused quickly, seeing a tall figure before me. It was an old Loupian, his coat long, ears pierced with feathers hung on a piercing. His loincloth went down to his knees, decorated with red patterns clashing against the black.

“I will help you.” He said. He was the voice I had heard.

Slowly, I lowered my sword and sheathed it behind me. He chuckled and extended his bony hand, pointing a gnarled finger at the strap, tracing it back to the handle of my sword.

“You wear it as though it was a tachi, yet it is a katana.” He said, laughing softly.

“I wear it for the style that works for me.” I replied.

He looked me strait in the eyes, studying me, then laughed. “You appear quite tough; your eyes show otherwise. You are a soldier whose comrade is hurt, and you came in search of help. Outside, you seem stronger than the gods, inside you are weak from your friend’s impending death.”

“I do appear strong, yes. Perhaps I do hold a degree of strength and mental durability, but if I am weak, it is not because my friend is dying, it is because I cannot able to help her. You, however, said you can and that you would.”

The man smiled at my words and nodded. “Well said, worthy of my help indeed.” He said to me and patted my shoulder. “Come, we should go now and help your friend.”

With that, he turned, showing his wings that were neatly folded out of view behind him. I blinked, shocked that there were other winged Loupian. Perhaps he was related to Manawolf? It was a question I would have to ask later.

What was I? Who was I? Where was I? Who was I becoming and what was happening around me? These questions went through my mind throughout the journey back to Gen, one of the few reasons that I hadn’t given up. We had stopped to rest a moment or two and my thoughts were only about Gen. Gen. She was far from me, slowly slipping from my grasp, and I could do nothing. Nothing!

“Stop worrying so much.” My companion said.

“What?” I replied, shaken from my thoughts.

“You worry too much. Just relax.”

“What is it I worry about?”

“What is there that you don’t? You need to learn to stop worrying so much.”

“How is it you know I worry?”

He smiled and tapped his head, right between the eyes. “You aren’t the only one who has the Sense.” I heard him say, though not by word of mouth.

I blinked. “How…” I stopped halfway through my question, voice trailing off in wonder. How I didn’t realize the obviousness of his abilities astounded me. Was I really that busy worrying about Gen and everything around me?

The base was in total disarray when I got there, people hurrying to the battlements, others carrying wounded to the med bay, air units soaring overhead dropping bombs around the base. There was a battle raging and I was at the flank of the enemy, alone with only my pulse rifle, pistol, and sword. I had my friend, whose name was Dojin, with me, but I didn’t want him to enter the chaos. I didn’t want to risk losing him. My jeep was too lightly armored to make a run for the base, and I would be thought as an enemy and shot on sight. I would either have to stay put or fight my way through, and it was looking more and more as though I would have to fight.

“Oh shit…” I muttered to myself as I saw a Chattan look at me.

“What?” Dojin asked as I raised my rifle.

“GET DOWN!” I yelled as the Chattan fired off a burst of pulse rounds at us.

I floored the jeep and ran strait into him, a loud thump sounding as I ran him down. I took cover and safety in some shrubs and prayed that no one had seen me. Dojin looked at me, a calm look on his face while mine was a mix between anger and panic. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, giving me the shakes, making my breath quicken and clouding my better judgment.

“C’mon, Shaul. You’ve been in tougher situations than this! Just relax, think. How am I going to get through this and gather as little attention to my position as I do this as I possibly can?” I thought to myself.

“Calm down, think. We are at their flank, behind them. They would not expect anyone to come up this way, and when was the last time that they sent their field commander up to the front lines of the fighting?” Dojin said to me, smiling slyly,

I grinned and nodded, knowing very well I could do what he was thinking. “You stay behind me. If anything happens, reach my friend, Akume. He’ll know where my friend is. Now, let’s go.” I said to him and looked in the back of the jeep, making sure I hadn’t left anything behind. Much to my surprise, there was a small case, inside it a sniper rifle that had been taken apart along with a box of ammo. I smiled and thought of Jed, the bastard had put this here or the gods were smiling upon me. I took the sniper rifle, noting it was a more compact version, and gave the pulse rifle to Dojin.

As far as the way the Chattans waged war, nothing had changed. They sent a good size of their forces out front, backed up by the more skilled soldiers with longer ranged weapons, air unites providing close tactical support, and the commanders staying back and watching, directing with the help of a few and guarded by just as few, very rarely more than a dozen or so soldiers. Needless to say, finding the commander wouldn’t be hard and sniping him when no one was expecting it would be even easier.

Staying low, Dojin and I crept around, avoiding most of the Chattans around us, only having to kill a few, five in total, and wounding over a dozen. Most of the wounded were shot by Dojin while I shot to kill and only wounded one. I prayed that he would die, not wanting him to have to live with only one working arm and shoulder.

Standing behind a few trees, I looked around, and saw a group of Chattans, one of which wearing an officers uniform standing in front of a jeep that was surrounded by two dozen soldiers. I knew right away that this was my man and that he must have been extremely important to have these many people guarding him. I signaled to Dojin to follow me and sprinted to a better location to snipe from.

“He’s right there. Just look through the scope, aim for the fucker’s head, and pull the trigger. Compensate one click for windage and take aim...” I thought to myself.

I looked at the field commander’s face, looking him over. He wasn’t bad looking, actually pretty handsome. I slowly squeezed the trigger, and stopped, a sudden realization hitting me; it was Col. Hriss. He was leading the assault on my base. I cursed to myself, muttering a prayer. It was Dojin and I, the only two in perfect position to take out one of their more sadistic commanders and get even for the hell he had caused me. If I was sure of anything, I knew that it was Hriss’ death. And it would be at my hands.

Slowly and steadily I began squeezing on the trigger, keeping my entire upper body locked in position. I watched Hriss through the scope, only about 75 yards away from him, not too far so that it’d be difficult to kill him but far enough that it would be hell to find me. I watched him, turning towards me until our eyes locked. He had no clue as to what was about to happen, and at that moment time stopped as I had a vision of his body on the ground, a hole large enough to put my arm through without getting it dirty in his chest, his head obliterated and mixed with the blood of others around him.

I fired, the report canceling out any other sound and thundering over them. I could see the vapor trail from my bullet and the heavy caliber round knocking Hriss back off his feet and against the side of a jeep, a perfect shot in the center of his chest. I shot another round and put another hole in his torso, blood splattering against the broken glass of the windows. What was left of his body fell onto its knees and slumped against the jeep, smearing blood as it slid against it and fell to the side. The soldiers surrounding Hriss jumped to attention and fired in all directions but mine. Dojin followed up immediately and took out one of the soldiers with a flurry of energy bursts.

I fired another round into the chest of one soldier, knocking him down hard and taking out the man kneeling behind him. Odd, there was a human in the group, soon to be a dead one as I trained my sights on his head and shot, gaining the same violent effect that I had gotten from shooting Hriss. What had seemed like eternity was actually less than forty-five seconds. The carnage was the worst I had seen yet, and mostly done at my hands. I didn’t feel any remorse though, I was doing what I was trained to do. There was no adrenaline in my blood, there was no rush, no emotion at all; just the knowledge that I had killed. I was letting the war change me; I didn’t used to enjoy anything relating to violence. Now it was second nature. No, I mustn’t begin doubting yet. Not until the battle is over, otherwise I won’t survive. I didn’t have the luxury of thinking yet, only acting on my own will.

I signaled Dojin to get up and cover me as I went to the bodies, my sword drawn. I went over to Hriss’, snarling at it, and ripped off the sleeves on his uniform. I looked for the area on his arm that looked like it had newer hair and cut into the area. After a few careful cuts I took out the ID chip and placed it into my pocket. It would be a pleasant surprise for Jed.

After a brief pause the radio that Hriss was once holding and talking to began blaring out, reporting the current situational status. It seemed as though their forces had found a weakness in the Lupine defenses and were working on a way to get into it. They were suffering heavy casualties but knew that a way could be made through. A pause followed by static and a request to respond. Another pause. They requested a response before saying that a squad of troops were going to check up on the site. That was my queue to get out of here.

Dojin followed me back to the jeep, keeping an eye out for any enemy soldiers who may have heard the fighting. Nothing came near us, much to my relief. I placed my rifle I the back and began driving away from the area quickly, not worrying about conserving fuel. The closer I got to the weakness they described the sooner I could help try to stop them. I knew that one well-placed sniper could do incredible damage not only to the enemy forces themselves, but also to their morale and act as a deterrent. No one liked having a target shooting at them that they couldn’t see. It was something that made many afraid and just as many dead.

The left corner of the west wall, the least defendable location of the base. It was out by an area that was forested, easily able to hide enemy troops. That section of the wall had also been destroyed from previous attacks and was still being rebuilt, meaning that defenses there had not been installed completely. The few turrets and pillboxes that were around that area looked as though they had been hit by heavy gunfire and mortar shells.

There were Chattans scurrying about around the wall, getting mowed down by a barrage of pulse rounds. The sounds of energy hitting against the personal shields could be heard clearly followed by the sounds of a feline yowling from a round penetrating and hitting them. It was an insane sight in this insane battle. If there were a weakness in this area it would have to be a minute one. If not I pitied the others attacking the other sides of the base. I could hear the screams of fighter jets overhead, meaning that this had to be an all out assault meant to rid our presence. I could not let this attack work, and neither could the forces trapped inside the base.

Out of the jeep and into the woods around us, Dojin covering my back. I took three clips with me and five grenades. Dojin took whatever he could carry, at least four cells for his rifle and more than six grenades. Both of us had swords should it come to that, Dojin taking a Spatha me taking my katana. I found a decent spot, good coverage making me hard to find and giving a good view of the enemy. I looked through my sights around me, trying to find whoever was coordinating the attack. I knew that the person with the radio had to be the one calling in the shots. He would be the first target on my list.

It didn’t take much to find him; he was hiding behind a rock formation next to a radio officer. Adjust sights one click for closer range, another to the right for facing the wind in the other direction… Aim for the head, clean and quick kills here… Fire. Find another target, aim for the head. Lead them just a little, fire; another one down. Damn, they’re noticing where the fire is coming from. One down and another before moving to another spot.

Two were sent after me to sniff me out. Dojin took care of them easily, not bothering trying to keep them alive. He knew as well as I did that we could not give a chance here; not if we wanted to live. A rock formation with a hole blown through it, another sniper rifle? It had to be judging by the way the hole was shaped; a small hole in one area followed by a large crater coming out the other. It was large enough to place the barrel through it along with my sights. It also offered good cover as well as helped me steady my sights.

No soldier got past me for the next clip and a half, meaning at least fifteen went down trying to attack my base or me. Dojin racked in at least twenty kills, impressive considering he was sniping with a pulse rifle. The Chattan army must have been low on shields since most of the soldiers he had shot were not using them if they had them at all. Since they were attacking a heavily fortified base, they would most likely have kept them on; that they didn’t have them. Odd, troops were beginning to retreat; they must have found Hriss’ remains. I got out of my spot and began to head back to the jeep; I didn’t want to be right in the path of the retreat. Staying would have been suicidal and stupid; I would either be found and shot or found and captured. I wouldn’t allow either one to happen.

Getting back to the jeep was a pain in the ass; put bluntly. Around me Chattan’s were pulling back through the forest and I was trying not to get caught by any one of them. That would mean not shooting and staying out of sight, something hard to do without decent cover or concealment. As difficult as it was avoiding the massive amount of troops around me, I managed to get to the jeep, hidden among various plants, and drive out to a clear location. I was either good at my job or just plain lucky; most likely a little bit of both.

I was on the main road back to the base; most of the Chattan troops clear of the area. I passed the checkpoint to the base, completely destroyed by gunfire and explosives; most likely grenades since I didn’t notice anyone with mortars. The smoldering wreck of a mech could be seen in the distance, definitely not a Lupus mech, the large particle projector cannon not being one of our designs. Not yet, anyway. I knew that the weapon would be analyzed, taken apart, rebuilt, and reproduced for our military.

I was halfway to our base from the checkpoint, what was left of it, when a large bore rifle round hit my jeep, taking out the engine. Anther round whizzed past my head, taking off a hair. I ducked and grabbed a white cloth from somewhere. Dojin was keeping low, his wings folded back and covering him. I tied the cloth to my rifle and waved the makeshift flag into the air. I kept waving it until three soldiers came over to the jeep, grabbing me and pulling me out. Dojin got the same treatment, acting calmer than I did; not fighting the soldiers. The one who was commanding took one look at me and jumped; surprised I wasn’t a renegade trying to attack the base. He was even more surprised when I told him who I was. I was taken back to the base at once and greeted warmly

Jed met me out in front of the command center. He patted my shoulder and smiled, obviously glad to see me. I returned the favor and rubbed his shoulder, putting the bag down in front of me. Dojin stood behind me, not saying a word and simply smiling friendlily.

“Good to see you again, Shaul.” Jed said to me.

“Good to see you too, Jed.” I replied.

“We thought you were killed in the attack.”

I laughed. “Me, killed? Like hell!”

Jed chuckled. “Who’s your friend?”

I placed my hand on Dojin’s shoulder and smiled. “Jed, meet my comrade, Dojin. Dojin, this is my commander, Jed.”

They shook hands. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.” Jed said.

“A pleasure to meet you too, commander.” Dojin replied.

We went into his office in the command center to discuss some issues, mainly Gen. The door closed quietly behind me, not even making the ‘click’ doors usually make when they close. The entire scene was too quiet and it was making me nervous. I looked at Dojin, who looked at me nervously.

“Gen may not pull out of this one.” Jed said bluntly.

“What?” I replied, my jaw dropping.

“She has a very slight chance of pulling out of her coma.” Jed replied.

“But I still have time!”

“I know, the doc said that time has just been cut by one third.”

“You have got to be bullshitting me!”

“I wish I was…”

“Then let’s go right now!”

“We can’t. The area is being blockaded by Chattans. Nothing goes in, nothing comes out.”

“Then send me and some Special Forces to sneak in!”

“That’ll take at least a day and a half to sneak in and another half of a day to get there without getting caught. If things don’t go smoothly then you and whoever is with you will be dead.”

“I AM NOT GOING TO LET HER DIE!” I roared.

There was a pause. “How much are you willing to risk?”

“Everything in my life.”

“Dojin?”

“I go where he goes.”

Jed sighed. “This is only because you’re a good friend.” He said and motioned over to a screen to our side, “This is the new chopper we received, the Hawk Hunter. Extremely well armed with over a ton of armor on it; main armament is the newly developed Gauss rifle and optional missile pods on the wings. This thing is able to take a direct hit to the nose from a particle projector cannon and still fly strait.”

“Speed?” I asked.

“Over 120 kilometers per hour.”

“Ammo?”

“Twelve hundred rounds for the Gauss; ten per missile pod.”

“Total tonnage?”

“Fifteen tons.”

“Crew?”

“Pilot, gunner, and three extra crew in the back. You can take another with you if you wish.”

I shook my head. “Need that room for Gen.”

Jake nodded. “We have no pilots trained on hand but we do have a few mercs than can pilot it.”

“Names?”

“You may have heard of this guy. Drekovski, Ivanovich. He’s a Chattan but hates them more than he hates us. Defected to our side for a tour of duty then became a free agent. He’s one of the best out there so far.”

“I’ve heard of him. Not too trusting of Mercs though.”

“You don’t have a choice in this. He’s paid well by us and has killed enough people to show his loyalty to this contract. Not to mention if he does break contract before it’s terminated or over he’ll lose a good deal of his business; House Chattan is reluctant to hire turncoats.”

“Ok then. Where do I meet this guy and how soon can we get off the ground?”

Jed pushed a button on the intercom. “Show Ivanovich in.”