Chapter 5: We All Fall Down

Foundation Rehabilitation Facility

A group of Foundation guards entered the courtyard of the facility where prisoners from SCP-4902 are kept, they spread out and shout at the regular soldiers to stand against the wall and pushed them around. Protests from the rounded-up soldiers are heard, yelling and snapping at the guards to stop touching them and pushing them around. The Nobles immediately try to stop the guards from harassing their soldiers, but it's not just harassment.

After the Nobles and regular soldiers are separated, a line of guards aimed at the soldiers standing against the wall, while the Nobles desperately trying to push through the blockade formed by other guards. They loaded their weapons and cocked their rifles. "Fire!" At the same time, 20 Rifles fires at the line of soldiers, blood splattered onto the wall and bodies start falling onto the prison grounds.

The Nobles watched in terror as their soldiers are executed right in front of them and are petrified, some started crying on the ground, some shook their heads, while others are paralyzed. Their eyes wide open and filled with that glassy look. "You monsters!" One cried out from the crowd of Nobles. "You will pay for this!"

Guards start to clean up the bodies of dead soldiers they just shot; they stack them into a neat pile on top of a large wooden plank. Forklifts then come to drop them outside the facility. While more groups of guards entered the courtyard and lead the Nobles outside to the scorching Nevada sun.

They are put into different Black Trucks heading for different directions, of course, they resisted, but the very few people trying to fight back simply get shot in the forehead and the rest stay silent in the trucks.

This process is also happening on all facilities that host SCP-4902 Soldiers and Nobles.

The guards came back to the courtyard and approached the group of horrified and scared Demi-Humans, but to the Demi-Humans surprise, they treated them nicely and lead them outside the facility without harming them at all. Then they are needed to board a helicopter. Many were scared as they never experienced flying before, especially inside a giant metal bird with two revolving metal blades.

But in the end, they gathered up the courage after being told they were being brought to a far nicer and more comfortable place and off from this scorching hot desert, they entered the Chinook helicopters and off they go to the Clackamas County to be taken care by the Wilson's Wildlife Solutions.

[-]

General Marcus Office, Earth

"No no, I understand… Yes, of course, O5-2, I will recall them back through the gate." He ended his call with O5-2, he has received orders to recall MTF Unit Beta-7 "Maz Hatters" back to Earth. With the discovery of SCP-049 now in Falmart, the Foundation's main objective now is to recontain both SCP-049 and SCP-682 from this continent. The recovery of the Uranium Capsules has been deemed unnecessary and obsolete.

Marcus smiles, instead of making him unhappy, this change of plans has made him quite happy. This can only mean one thing, more fighting, and action for him and the MTF units attached to the operation.

He's known for getting straight to the point and no long explanations, and sometimes skip over a whole plan and lead a full-frontal charge. He picked up his Foundation Tablet and connect to the main comms unit and contacted the FOB Director. "Hello, yeah Director, I want MTF Unit Beta-7 to be recalled… Yeah all of 'em, it's an order straight from the O5 Council…"

[-]

Lambda 3-4 "Saturn"

They entered their vehicle, leaving the instance of SCP-049-2 on the side of the road. "Alright, let's go!" Richard commanded, Roomy pressed his feet on the pedal and finally going to their intended destination, Coda Village.

"Remember, even though Gamma-4 said that these are just normal villagers, we need to keep our eyes open. Cover each other sixes, scan the perimeter for any enemies." Richard briefed his team, they nodded in response.

Roomy slows the Humvee down. "Look, we're approaching the gate of the village," Roomy said to the team.

Richard reaches for the radio and informs the other teams. "This is Jupiter Actual to all units, we are approaching our first target, over." He reported.

"Copy that Jupiter Actual, stay safe, over and out." MTF Command answered.

The pull up on the road next to the gate, looking from inside the Humvee, the village looks abandoned, with no one outside. No children playing around, men doing their jobs, and women drying clothes or talking with each other.

"Not like what the intel Gamma-4 gave us, ready your weapons." Richard opens his door. "We're going in."

Larry, Josh, and Cassie cock their Ruger and exited the Humvee, Roomy followed suit after turning off the engines. Opening the gates and enter the village, the atmosphere is strange… almost alien. "It's quiet… Too quiet…" Josh commented aiming his weapon at the doors of the houses.

They slowly walk to the center of the village, where there are a few benches for people to rest. Suddenly one of the doors creaked opened slowly startling the team and pointed their weapons, then a little girl peeked out. "Stand down, just a kid…" The team lowered their weapons.

"Josh you still have that chocolate bar you stole from the cafeteria...?" Richard asked Josh.

Josh seems distressed. "S-steal!? No! I would never steal something I- "

Richard cut him off. "Just give me the damn chocolate bar damn it! What is it Hershey's?" Josh pulled out an unwrapped chocolate bar from his chest pouch, still covered by the aluminum foil and gave it to Richard. Richard then offers the kid the chocolate bar. "Come out, we're not going to hurt you." Seeing the unusual and probably tasty treat offered to her, the girl ran forward and grabs the chocolate bar out of Richard's hands.

Its worried parents burst out of their home and scolded the little girl. "No, no, no it's fine, it's ok… We're not going to hurt you…" Richard said in the native tongue, he turned to Josh to see if he said that right, Josh nodded.

Hearing those words Richard said, the rest of the village goes out of their homes to meet these otherworldly strangers. The villagers whisper and murmurs as they inspect the people wearing black cloth and strange staffs, not to mention the device on their helmets that looks like 4 long eyes.

The village's men started gave Cassie the eye, as her body was slim and tall. Hearing the commotion, the Village Chief decided to walk out and speak with Lambda 3-4.

Meanwhile, In a Small Insignificant Village, Alnus Provence

A woman and her child hid behind a counter inside their home, terrified and trying to not make a sound. The door creaked open and a man stepped in. "Hmm… I can sense the pestilence… There's no need to hide… I'm here to help." The man said almost in a robotic voice, he is wearing a weird bird mask and black cloth.

The man proceeds to search the house for the woman and her child, the two trying to keep silent. A book fell from the bookshelf beside them, causing the woman and child to let out a small yelp. But it's loud enough to alert the strange man. "There you are…"

The woman stands up carrying her child in her arms, seeing the man fast-walking towards them. She threw everything on the counter to slow the man, but it's futile. "Stop resisting, I need to cure you." the man grabbed the woman by the neck and she fell over dead… The child, who is only around 4 years old look up at the man, the man then looked down on the child. "You are free from the pestilence little one, do not worry."

The man stepped outside. "There's a lot of work I need to do…" He walks outside singing and kneels down beside a body bringing out his tools and started working. "Ring-a-ring o' roses, a pocket full of posies, a-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down…" He then cut open the man's gut with a scalpel.

Back with Lambda 3-4

After talking to the village chief and asking several questions, they have gathered some important information regarding the area. The next village they are about to visit is an Elf Village, to everyone's surprise, Gamma-4 did not detail that in the reports.

When asked about SCP-682, or to be put more simply giant lizard, they only mention of this "Flame Dragon" No information about SCP-682, again, this is unnatural. SCP-682 hate humans and will hunt them for fun and enjoyment, but yet, nothing. It just dashed for the mountains up North.

This Flame Dragon might share some similarities to SCP-682, let's just hope it doesn't have Super Regenerative Cells and sentient. They mounted the Humvee and drove for the Elf Village, the sun is setting down, so they have to be quick or they will have to camp somewhere inside the forest they are heading to.

"Well… That went well…" Josh commented on the interaction with Coda Village. "I expected us to get ambushed." He continued.

Richard turns his head. "But there's one bad news, this "Flame Dragon" They kept talking about when we asked them about SCP-682," Richard responded. "It's a bit worrying." He plays with his lighter as they are not allowed to smoke when out on duty.

Josh burrowed his eyebrows. He turned to Larry and asks "Yeah… What you think Larry?" He turned to Larry and asked.

"It is worrying; it can mean we have two SCP-682's we need to contain."

Richard reaches for the radio. "All callsigns this is Saturn Actual, we have made contact with our first village…" Richard paused. "And they mentioned something about a "Flame Dragon"? Supposedly similar to SCP-682… Over"

No answers, at this point the rest of the teams has gotten enough and decide to use the silent treatment when more bullshit comes out the radio. "Good talk, over and out." Richard finished and put back the radio.

"Huh… Looks like they already heard enough…" Cassie said, looking over the Kant Counter still detecting high levels of Hume. "Also… back in that village, the Kant Counter suddenly detected higher Hume levels, much higher than the one it detecting right now."

The team turned to Cassie. "Why didn't you say that earlier!" Richard exclaimed. "A reality bender might be fucking with us, what if that entire village is fucking fake!" Richard continues to yell at Cassie.

"Sorry sir, it just that you are too focused on asking the Village Chief questions. I can't find an opening to inform you about this." Cassie apologized with respect.

Richard sighs, very disappointed. "Fucking hell…"

Lamda 3-1 "Earth"

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round." The team sings, most likely losing their sanity every second. They've been driving for hours and they still haven't reached their destination.

"By order of the galactic senate, you are under arrest…" Digby did an impression.

Scarmu answered by acting as Chancellor Palpatine. "Are you threatening me master Jedi?"

"Guys shut the fuck up!" Rimmy yelled to the back of the Humvee. He sniffs the air "Do you smell it? That smelly smell. The kind of smelly smell that smells...smelly." he pauses, his eyes going wide "...Heresy." Rimmy said. As soon as he finished saying that an arrow hit the windshield of the Humvee.

Livesy, the one driving stopped the Humvee in response. "HOSTILES 12 O' CLOCK!" They exited the vehicle and pointed their guns. A group of 6 guys is charging them with swords, one even has a bow and arrow.

"Lit up these bastards!" Rimmy ordered his team. The team opened fire at the group of bandits, killing them all in a matter of seconds. "Fucking hell, these guys came out of nowhere!" Rimmy exclaimed.

Livesy walks up to the windshield and take out the arrow, the arrow didn't penetrate but made a mark on the bulletproof glass. He tried wiping the mark off but it did nothing. "It hit the windshield hard, I can't wipe off the mark it made."

Rimmy moves closer at the bodies, Scarmu follows. "Just some bandits, not a real army," Rimmy said after inspecting the bandit's clothes. "At least they tried, that counts right?" Rimmy jokingly said at Scarmu and chuckled a bit.

"Well Commander, it's the thought that counts," Scarmu responded.

Digby walks over. "That Heresy line was perfectly timed as well, as soon as you finished, a goddamn arrow hit the windshield!" Everyone laughed.

"Ahhh… Beautiful, alright then. Let's get these bodies off the road then we're going back on track!"

Lambda 3-4 "Saturn"

The sun was already setting on the horizon and they are nearing the forest, the team kept silent along the way, not exchanging a single word to each other until the radio crackles to life. "All callsigns this is Earth Actual, we will be returning to the FOB tomorrow noon so finish up with your villages and get a good night sleep, Goodnight everyone!" Rimmy would then makes a kissing sound over the radio and chuckles.

Everyone shook their head inside the Humvee. "Jesus Christ, they think that this is a goddamn video game…" Lucas commented on commander Rimmy's behavior over the radio.

"That kind of behavior can make some people chuckle, I bet that some of the teams are laughing their asses off right now," Josh responded to Lucas's comment.

Roomy tried to hold his laughter, as the atmosphere is as dense as the center of a fucking black hole. "Yeah, that shit can improve some people's morale." Roomy tried talking to keep his mind from laughing.

Richard sighed. "It's getting dark, we camp for the night and interact with the village in the morning."

"Sir I have a problem with that plan," Cassie said.

Richard shrugs. "What's wrong?"

"Why don't we just enter the village now?"

Richard chuckled and turned to Cassie. "If aliens roll up to your goddamn neighborhood in the middle of the night in their sick spaceship would you like to talk to them?" Richard answered the question with another question.

"Umm… No?" Cassie asked, confused.

"Then you already know the answer." Richard turn back and face the road.

"What is that?" Roomy squinted his eyes and lean forward.

"What?" Richard would then take out his binoculars, only to see a plume of smoke rising over the hill. "Smoke? A big one that is."

Lucas shuffled over beside Richard. "A bandit raid?" Lucas asked, taking out his pair of binoculars and inspects the smoke.

"No, it's too big for a bandit raid…"

Falmart FOB, War Room

"Sir, we got reports from one of the drone operators tasked to watch the Northern mountains." An officer said to General Marcus and other Foundation Military officials.

Marcus crossed his hands. "Well, what did they found?"

The officer gave Marcus several images taken from the drone's camera, it's a scene after a battle. Bodies scattered everywhere and getting buried beneath the piling cold freezing snowstorm, blood tainted the beautiful white snow. "It's an aftermath of a battle, it seems that the primitive civilization has attempted to attack SCP-682 in its natural fortress in the Northern Mountains. Of course, their attempt results in utter failure." The officer explained.

Marcus looked over the images. "How long ago were these taken?" Marcus asked flipping over to another image.

"30 minutes ago." The Officer said, but he then continues. "But seeing from the bodies already covered in snow, we presume the battle was commenced 3 days ago."

Marcus sighed and gave the images to the other Military Officials. "Stupid bastards, tell me, boy, how many did we kill in Ginza?" He asks the Officer a question.

The Officer would answer confidently. "Seeing from the reports, over than 70.000 men are killed, and 2000 were imprisoned by us."

Marcus nodded. "Good, good, and how many bodies did we count in the previous two attacks?" Marcus asked another question.

"Over than 75.000 bodies sir, they are now rotting under the ground."

"That's well over 120.000 men. From what I learn from history class in Middle School, Medieval countries have a military of at least 100.000 men plus those siege things, and we just killed 120.000 of their men, that's 1/3 of their entire army, almost half even." Surprisingly, Marcus did his math right.

The Officer is taken aback by the General's calculations. "Y-yes sir, and I suppose you are going to ask how many died in the Northern Mountain ranges?" Marcus nodded in response. "Well, we don't have an estimate and most of the bodies are probably hidden under the snow." He pauses for a bit.

The Officer did a bit of mental math and speculated. "I say around 30.000 men sir." Marcus nodded. "But I must say, sir, the one we defeated before was not the same enemy we fought in Ginza. They're a coalition of different countries-"

Marcus cut him off. "That's not the point, the point is they lost half of their world's militaries." Marcus stands up from his seat. "Looks like we just fucked this world in the goddamn anus."

Officer chuckled. "This does bring some good news sir, this means Primitive Interference will be very low and very unlikely." He then takes a look at the clipboard he is bringing. "But sir, I must inform you, the O5 Council calls for the immediate capture of SCP-682 and SCP-049. We are given 2 months to get the job done."

Marcus takes off his sunglasses. "Why am I not the first one to be informed by this? I'm the leader of this operation…" Marcus asked, with anger in his eyes.

"W-well General Marcus, it might be that you are no agreeable type." The Officer proposed an explanation.

Marcus sighed deeply. "Whatever, tell them to fuck off. If they want 682 back so badly, we need to do it properly and it might take more than 2 months." Marcus just gave the O5 Council the middle finger.

The Officer steps back. "M-me? Sir?" He asked confused.

"Yes, you, who else? You're the one who got the orders then you need to tell them my response."

"V-very well General, I'll… be sure to tell them that." The Officer quickly leaves the room sweating.

"You better!" Marcus yelled at him.

Lambda 3-4 "Saturn"

The sun is gone and has sunk into the horizon and it's in the middle of the night, the team has gotten up the hill and is looking down on the burning forest. "Jesus… A forest fire this big?" Josh said while looking around.

Richard, looking at the forest using his binoculars said. "It's not a forest fire… take out your binoculars and look at 135." Josh and Cassie took out their binoculars and look at the direction Richard said, what they saw make their feet weak.

"A-a-another one!?" Josh stuttered as he said that. A giant red dragon, almost the size of SCP-682 is burning down the forest where the suspected Elf village is located.

Cassie quickly looks away. "… Fuck, there are people down there…" Cassie cursed.

Larry put down his binocular. "Guess that's the Flame Dragon the villagers mentioned, they're not lying alright…"

"Yeah, well this is another reason we can't get inside the forest right now, those fires are too hot, the thermals says they're around 147 degrees." Richard filled in. He puts down the binoculars. "Looks like we're staying here until the dragon goes away, I'm going to tell Rimmy and MTF Command about this…" He walked back to the Humvee.