Chapter 3

"We have that a specialized unit from the Litothlmeian Empire has infiltrated the kingdom. We suspect that the unit is made up of skilled fractured and magic wielders. To avoid a media leak the we have assigned the mission to you. A battalion is on standby to secure the perimeter and ensure the safety of the civilians. Location data has been sent to your phone. Mission will begin at 24:00. Restriction level one will be released."

Aaron stood stock still, remembering every word. After the Lieutenant hung up Aaron began reading over the location information.

"A suburban high rise, I was half expecting an abandoned warehouse. Nah, that would be to cliche."

Aaron joked to himself as he opened one of his bags. He retrieved a long black case from the bag. After he pulled the case out, he input a code. The case opened with a click.

"It's been a while, wonder if it still fits."

Aaron muttered to himself jokingly as he pulled out a combat suit from the case. The combat suit was pitch black and, contrary to his muttering, fit almost perfectly. Aaron reached into the case again and retrieved two metallic gauntlets. The gauntlets were slim and form fitting, extending to his elbows.

"Now then, shall we have a look?"

Aaron smiled to himself as he wore pants and a jacket over his combat suit.

Later that night, Aaron was sitting on the roof of the high rise. He was monitoring the agent's room through the security buildings security cameras. Although there were none in the room, he was able to confirm through the video logs that they were all in the room.

Aaron glanced at the bottom corner of the monitor to check the time. Confirming that it was almost time he input a code into the device. Suddenly the entire neighborhood went pitch black. Aaron stood up and tossed the device over the edge of the roof. As it fell it seemed to vibrate before becoming dust that scattered in the wind.

Aaron took a breath and relaxed his posture. He slowly walked to the edge of the building. As he peered over the edge, Aaron grabbed a mask that was hanging from his belt and fitted it to his face. The mask merged with the combat suit and concealed his face entirely.

Lightly hopping over the roof Aaron descended ten floors before grabbing the railing on the twentieth floor. Silently vaulting himself over the railing he approached the balcony window to listen to the situation inside.

"Shit, a blackout now?"

"Do you think they have caught on to us yet."

"It's possible, you should all get ready, they could be coming any time now."

From inside the room the voices of two guys and a woman could be heard. The guys sounded similar enough that they were likely fractured. The woman was most likely the leader of the group. According to the data he had collected there should be another fractured duo and one more person.

"What's going on?"

A new voice appeared, a man by the sound, coming from the door to one of the bedrooms.

"A blackout, get ready, it's possible that enemy forces are going to come."

(The enemy is already here, moron)

Aaron crept along the outer wall towards the bedroom window. The blinds were shut so Aaron couldn't peek in the window. However, the blinds worked in his favor. Tracing the edge of the window with his finger Aaron placed his palm on the window. The glass vibrated for a moment before it detached from the frame. The blinds began to sway slightly

"Oi, who left the window open.?"

"Must have been the Lieutenant, she was complaining about needing some fresh air earlier."

"We should probably close it since we're heading out."

"Wait, what if this is part of an enemy trap."

The two voices, most likely the other duo, came from the now open window. Judging their general positions from the sound of their voices, Aaron flicked his wrists. Two pitch black daggers appeared in his hands. Creeping above the window Aaron waited silently for one of them to approach the window.

"Really, we would have heard something if there was anyone, and if they were using magic, we would feel the traces."

"But still-"

"Stop whining about it already, nothing bad is going to happen-"

The fractured who had approached the window was suddenly cut off. As he had opened the blinds to close the window, a dagger had appeared, lodged in the back of his neck.

"Josh!"

The other fractured cried out and ran toward the one who collapsed. As he reached the other fractured, Aaron swung in through the window and knocked him back with his momentum. The fractured quickly recovered as he glared at Aaron.

A fire began to gather in the enemy's right palm. It quickly grew into a ball, which the enemy hurled at Aaron. Aaron rushed at the enemy, evading the fireball by shifting his body to the right. The enemy smiled as he lunged at Aaron with his left palm which was covered in flames.

"Die!"

The fractured screamed at Aaron, sure that his flames would make contact and burn him alive. However, a glint flashed, and his hand fell to the ground, blood spurting from his arm where it used to be.

"Aa-"

As he cried out in pain another glint flashed and he saw blood spurting from his neck where his head once was, and Aaron standing there with two daggers in his hands.

The other agents had heard the cries from the bedroom but realized that it was likely that their duo was already dead. The agents crouched behind whatever cover they had, the muzzles of their rifles focused on the bedroom door.

"Allan, Bill, fire a barrage through the wall. George one and two, as soon as he comes out of that room, cut him to pieces."

"""Roger"""

Allan and Bill began to fire shots into the bedroom. The fractured duo began gathering wind around themselves, condensing them into thin streams of powerful air.

(Alright, this was a bit unexpected, but there's nothing he can do now. If he stays in there, he'll eventually get injured from all the bullets. If he comes out, he'll be torn to shreds by the wind from George one and two. And even if he gets through all that, the Empire was gracious enough to give me one of the new model exosuits.)

The Lieutenant of the enemy forces smiled to herself, fully confident in her plan. But, seemingly to shatter her hope, the wall suddenly burst as a bed exited it. George one and two fired their winds blades on instinct. The wind blades shredded the bed, but that was a mistake on their part as the shredded parts of the bed became shrapnel that accelerated towards the duo. What was left of the two were shredded bloody corpses.

"Shit, focus fire!"

The Lieutenant, realizing that the situation was quickly leaving her control, ordered the only two left to concentrate their fire on the hole where the bed had come from.

"Lieutenant!"

Allan shouted to draw the Lieutenants attention. The lieutenant whipped her head around in time to see Allan be decapitated by Aaron. Bill quickly turned his muzzle to face Aaron, but before he could pull his trigger one of Aaron's daggers had already lodged itself inside his forehead.

"Bastard, you'll pay for this!"

The Lieutenant yelled at Aaron as her exosuit whirred to life, covering her body. Aided by the suit the Lieutenant dropped her rifle and rushed at Aaron with a sword she had drawn. Aaron dodged the blow by shifting his body to the left and backed away. The lieutenant whipped around to charge at Aaron only to discover a gash on her right side. The suit rapidly worked to repair itself and fix the Lieutenant's body, but a full recovery would take time.

The Lieutenant groaned from the pain and took her distance. Awoken from her rage by the pain, the Lieutenant began analyzing the situation to find some way to defeat Aaron. However, Aaron didn't give her the luxury of time.

The two daggers in his hands were thrown. The Lieutenant was barely able to dodge one dagger and the other collided with her sword, the force causing her to take a step back. Aaron rushed forward and thrust his hands forwards. His hands clashed with the Lieutenants sword, pushing her back. The Lieutenant quickly realized that the ends of his fingers were sharp blades, almost like the claws of a beast.

Aaron pressed his advantage and the Lieutenant was forced to follow the flow of the fight as her injuries quickly began to multiply. Aaron knocked the sword out of her hands and lunged forwards to pierce her chest.

(Fool.)

The Lieutenant thought to herself. She had let her blade be knocked aside. Her foot whipped towards Aaron's side with the force of the exosuit. She would shatter his internal organs before proceeding to crush his head. She smiled to herself as her plan unfolded. In her mind it was impossible for Aaron to evade as he was to close, and the speed of the suit was to fast for him to react in time.

But, much like the entire night, her hopes were shatter. Aaron shifted his body with an almost impossible speed Aaron shifted his body grabbed her leg with both of his arms. He then whipped her around and through her out the balcony window. As the Lieutenant fell towards the ground Aaron appeared at the balcony railing. The Lieutenant's sword was in his hand. He lifted it to his shoulder as he took a throwing posture and hurled the weapon towards the falling Lieutenant.

(So, this is it.)

The Lieutenant thought to herself, shortly before her blade pierced her head.

"The mission has been completed, all six targets have been eliminated, one of the corpse's has fallen to the ground below, I haven't detected any other accomplices or potential targets."

"Thank you, Sergeant. The cleanup crew will take care of the damage and the bodies, please head back to your dorms until further orders come through."

Aaron finished reporting to the Lieutenant and sighed. He made his way to the balcony to make his way back to the dorm. He had barely made it to the roof of the high rise before a voice began ringing in his head.

(It felt good, didn't it?)

"No, it was necessary, they would have damaged the country and hurt more people."

(Say what you want, but you can't deny that a part of you wants to kill people.)

"You are that part of us, I don't want it."

(True, it is why we fractured.)

Aaron no longer heard the voice of his other half anymore. He sighed to himself as he looked out at the cityscape before him.