Chapter 15: Uneventful Mission

D1 squad-258 slowly advanced deeper into the tunnels, extra cautious after the sudden attack of nearly a score of rats. Mark, being the expert tracker that he is, was currently trying to discover the rat's cave by reverse-tracking the prints of the group that attacked them. Twice they had to halt as they felt the low rumble of what was the movement of some unnatural entities in some other pocket of the sewers, but for whatever reason, those entities never engaged. They advanced even cautiously after, though they felt confident in dealing with whatever the numbers, they would be too disadvantaged in a protracted battle in such a small space.

Mark's expert tracking eventually led them to a…..dead end.

"Eh? It's a dead end?" Amelia muttered out loud.

"Yeah, so much for your expert tracking Mark" Jessica mocked

"Tch! Amateurs" Mark muttered under his breath, which was unfortunately heard by all as they were conversing using a squad channel.

"Who you calling an amateur!" Jessica gnashed her teeth beneath her helmet.

"Who else" Mark snorted.

"Alright, that's enough" Ian intervened. "This is one of those cloaking crafts isn't it"

"Indeed it is" Mark nodded "Kid's read the Catalogue well, unlike someone else" "Tch!" Jessica's lips twitched but she otherwise said nothing.

"It's the habit of cave dwellers to craft an illusion at the entrance of their caves to fool unsuspecting humans and probably enemy races, though it's still up for debate if these works on beasts" Mark said, facing the wall where the prints began.

"But we've got a problem here, it's solid" Jessica said, her hands on the wall.

"Huhn, most usually aren't but a little extra push is what it takes" Mark muttered, already walking towards the wall.

"Wait!" Ian yelled, forcing Mark to halt. "You forget those on the other side can see out here with no obstructions and could very well have gone to rally their numbers as we speak" he added, already detaching the energy gun magnetized to his back.

"Shit! I forgot bout that" Mark muttered.

"On three, Mark, Sam, and I will push our way in. Minnie and Chris will move in three seconds later. Amy, Jess, and Alex five seconds after I give the all-clear" Ian said.

"Understood" They said in unison.

"One!" They positioned themselves at the supposed mouth of the cave. "Two!" Mark unsheathed his daggers and Sam tightly gripped his hammer. "Three" They simultaneously pushed their way in. They met with a strong, bone-crushing resistance. It felt like suddenly pushing against a large mud wall in two times gravity. They gritted their teeth as they forcefully pushed their way in and emerged in an even darker tunnel. They did a quick sweep and noticed no rats though they did note the few cracks in the walls.

"All clear!" Ian said and exactly three seconds later Minnie and Chris crossed.

"Damn! That wasn't very pleasant" Chris commented.

"That's why no ordinary person can get in here, to most people it's as solid as can be" Mark chipped in.

"All clear!"

Exactly five seconds after, Jessica, Amelia and Alex pushed their way in.

"That truly is very unpleasant" Jessica muttered.

"All right folks, we probably got lucky and haven't been spotted yet. Regardless we're at the heart of our target and expect their numbers to be in the dozens so for safety switch to guns" Ian said, his gun giving off a low hum as it charged.

"Fine by me" Chris muttered as he unstrapped his M416. Cocking sounds echoed in the tunnel as the others unstrapped their guns and sheathed their cold weapons.

"All ready! Advance in duos, Mark with me" Ian said as he took the lead and slowly advanced toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Step by step, they approached the light. In one swift motion, they charged into the light, guns aimed ahead.

"What the…?" Mark muttered, shock evident in his voice.

"The heck!"

"Fuck?"

"The Fuck!"

Despite the dim lighting in the cave, their helmets came well-equipped enough to enable them to see as clearly as day. Littered all over the cave were what looked like dozens of rats, all appearing to be dead. Multiple cracks and craters could be seen all over the large cave that was nearly the size of a football field. Blood and broken bits covered the cave and its dead inhabitants.

"What the heck happened here?" Sam muttered taking in the gruesome sight. "Did another squad get here before we did?"

"Highly unlikely, this wasn't a multiple-team mission" Ian said taking a closer look at the corpses. "And judging from the cause of injuries I can see here, it was most likely a racial war or something"

The team lightly spread out to investigate as Ian spoke.

"Highly likely indeed but only one problem with that theory, there are only rats here" Amelia said, also studying the corpses.

"Then that means there was such a large power difference the rats didn't stand a chance. Or…." Ian speculated.

"There was just one enemy" Amelia finished.

Ian gave a grim nod in response.

"What beast would be strong enough to take down such a large horde alone and more importantly what's it doing here?" Amelia lightly spoke.

"Guys! I think you'll want to see this" Mark's voice echoed across the intercoms. They spotted him near a pile of rocks and moved closer.

"What is it?" Ian asked as he approached. His eyes widened as he got close enough to see the beast pummeled into the stone. "Is that an…"

"An Alpha" Mark finished. "Judging from its size, and large tail, I'd say it was the Alpha of this horde"

The Alpha looked very muscular and large, its muscles the size of a human head. It looked tall enough to dwarf an average human with ease and had a tail that was nearly as long as it was tall. Its head was badly bashed into the pile of rocks. Its heart was ripped out and its skull seemed to have caved in.

"To be able to take down this many rats and an Alpha, this beast has to be an Alpha itself and a strong one at that" Sam said.

"That's if it truly was just one beast that did this and not a rival horde" Amelia countered.

"Some of them even have their hearts ripped out" Jessica commented.

"This just makes things a lot more complicated" Chris muttered.

*Groan*

"Huhn! What was that?" Minnie said, glancing around the cave.

*Groan*

A low groan again echoed across the silent cave instantly putting them on alert. In the distance, a rat could be seen stirring, it was desperately trying to pull itself up only to fall weakly. Setting

off a chain reaction, multiple groans now echoed across the cave as multiple rats also began to stir.

"Shit! These things ain't dead" Chris cursed.

"Crap! Scan for vitals!" Ian yelled. His helmet gave a low beep and his vision was suddenly filled with multiple weak heart readings.

"They're still alive but very weak" Sam said, a tinge of excitement in his voice. "How much do you think we'd get for so many live specimens?" He laughed loudly.

"You're right! Even if they're just rats, this many numbers should net quite the sum!" Chris said, grinning behind his helmet.

"Indeed. This might not count as mission completion but these specimens might just make up for the reward" Mark said.

"Let's knock 'em out before they get lucid enough to resist" Ian commanded. He pressed a small button on his belt and out popped four metallic pills. In one swift motion, he tossed them out in an arc. With a hiss, gas furiously exploded out of the small pills. His suit gave a beep and the following word flashed in his vision- *Gas detected. Shutting off air holes. Switching to oxygen reserves*

The rest mirrored his actions and tossed out the same pills to all parts of the cave. Before long the cave was covered in gas to knee-length, effectively covering all the rats in a strong knock-out gas made especially for beasts.

"Despite missing a heart, the Alpha's body will still net quite a sum" Sam commented. "We really made a killing. Pity we didn't get to have any fun" He grumbled.

"Pity indeed! I was looking forward to more fun!" Jessica yelled in a voice full of bitterness.

"Alright I don't think there's anything else for us to do here," Ian said. "Sam contact clean-up to deal with this shit and let's get the heck outta here" "Sure thing" Sam nodded.

"All right move out!" Ian commanded.

They took one last glance around the cave before heading back into the tunnel not before Sam dropped a small metal-like egg that blinked red every few seconds. They stopped just short of the illusion wall.

"Find and mark the rune powering this thing so it'll be easier for clean-up to destroy" Ian spoke after giving it a thought. Illusions and other phenomena crafted by beasts used runes drawn with their energy. The quality of energy determines how powerful the rune becomes and how efficiently it absorbs the energy in the atmosphere to sustain itself.

Within moments a slightly glowing rune was found at the top of the entrance. They left a tiny ring-sized beeping ball as a mark and finally exited the tunnel putting an end to their uneventful yet rewarding mission.