Elsewhere 6:  Project Thanatos

"Major, this is no place to die!", his squad lieutenant said to him as he lifted him from the muddy ground. "Sir. Do we retreat, Sir?", his masked lieutenant asked, an explosion close by. They both ducked for cover.  He had no idea of where he was, instantly, his memory came flooding in. he was the leader of Kill Squad, an elite Special Ops project, financed and Governed by District 6, a Templar initiative.  

"No retreat. No surrender", he didn't know where those words were coming from, nevertheless, he was certain that it was a familiar war chant. "look over there"; he pointed at the launchers on the enemy's side. "we can use that to destroy the others", there was confidence in his voice that equally surprised him.  His lieutenant understood.

They ran past explosions, nearly being gunned down from crossfire as the battle went on around them. Missiles from Jet fighters above dropped, on impact; every think went mute… a siren rang against his ears, but, he kept on running. This was something normal to them. They managed to reach the enemy wall with at least scratches and flesh wounds.

"Sir?", his squad lieutenant paused at the obstacle before them. "we climb", he said whilst launching a rope gun to the top edge.  "c'mon", he said.  Atop, he met at least a dozen foot soldiers. Without even giving a thought, he breezed past them like it was nothing.  He used his throwing knives to take four soldiers out.

The pulse of their bodies collapsing alarmed the others. He performed a quick summersault to grab a heckler & Koch Hk416 from the closest corpse.

The remaining alerted soldiers turned to release fire, however, he hid behind one of the missile launchers.  "where is he!", bellowed one of them. Whilst hiding, he managed to disengage the missile launcher from automatic protocol.  "what's going on", one soldier asked. As the disengaged missiles turned towards them. he mashed all the wiring together and the disengage missile launched. BOOOOM…  "Sir?", bewildered his squad lieutenant, now atop. "I always miss the fun when I shadow you, Sir.", he said mildly disappointed. 

"disengage the others. Switch the angles so they launch skyward", he ordered.  "yes, Sir", his squad lieutenant sped off to work.  "he is showing remarkable adaption", said a female disembodied voice. He turned to look for the owner, yet to no avail. "yes, but, is he ready?", asked another disembodied voice, this time of a man, middle-aged, he guessed.

"If we push him it might not work", the female voice argued. "Athena, we don't have time", said the man, now, irritated. "what are you doing. This is my project", she reasoned.  "I gave it to you, Athena".  Suddenly. Everything went dark. "what!?", he managed.  "what have you done", Athena asked.

The dim began to draw into the light, well, whatever was close to the light. Suddenly he was on a jet ski, speeding towards a collective of tetrapods shielding docks. He didn't understand what was going on. For one, he didn't know how he got there. Secondly, he knew that he lived this moment before.  "Kill Squad, remember…", said a voice via the earpiece. "Yeah… we got it, lady", He replied. He was surprised at his response because he sounded excited. Internally, he was asking himself, why am I here again!?

"Sir, we'll create a distraction whilst you secure the package", said one of his Soldiers. The same one from the scene before, his squad lieutenant.  He stealthily climbed the tetrapods as his team created a distraction.  He zeroed in to locate the package… Deucalion Eisenhower.

From his Barret M82, he zoomed in on Eisenhower. he saw the strangest thing, and as a leader of the Kill Squad, it was the strangest thing he had ever witnessed; a woman, probably in her twenties hovering. In front of her, stood a… soldier!? With some sort of Ironman suit. He held a bow with an arrow that produced smoke.

The Kill Squad leader was not sure if the iron-man was defending Eisenhower who stood not too far behind him. Was he changing factions? His body language was indecisive. The iron man sprouted wings and launched himself against the hovering woman, nevertheless, she sent him slamming to the surface with ease. Solely with a flick of her hand.  "whoa", he muttered in bewilderment.

He momentarily focused on his squad and allies. Who was being decimated by… what!? Giant tattooed lions?  "what the hell!", the Kill Squad leader bewildered. A figure of a man, obliterated his allies like they were practice targets. He moved… no he… glitched!? From one person to another, leaving a trail of bodies behind. He must have been an Enhanced, the Kill Squad leader thought. 

"Focus on the package!", barked the lady in his earpiece. "I'm losing my men, Lady", he argued. "that's what they signed up for!", she bellowed, "the package, now!", yelled the lady. He wanted to protest but that was not the Roman way. He was the Kill Squad leader but first, he was a Legatus Legionis, a Legion Legate of the Ironclad Legion. He returned his focus on Eisenhower, who looked tethered and horrified.    It must have been a confrontation. They knew each other, the Kill Squad leader thought to himself.

From behind Eisenhower, a giant lioness moved stealthily, it was about to pounce on Eisenhower. The Kill Squad leader dropped his Barret M82. He rested his dual rocket launcher on his right shoulder. He aimed and launched either rocket. 

The giant lioness noticed it. Surprisingly, it was able to deflect one of the rockets back to the Kill Squad leader.

Instantly, he threw himself into the seawater to avoid impact. Unfortunately, the explosion consumed him.      

"I told you! He wasn't ready", Athena's voice reverberated in the void dim. "look", said the man's voice.  "it worked?", bewildered Athena, "hit it, he is ready", she must have instructed someone, not the man, someone else was in, well, where they were.

The kill Squad leader knew he was underwater, but, he didn't realise that he was actually inside a water tank. There were cables connected to his limbs, the back of his neck and an oxygen mask covering his head.  The cables began to loosing as the water began to sink.