Nobody's POV:
???:"Come on you can do better than that!"
A voice yells out as rain pours down heavily and the muddy ground sticks to their boots as they run through the training course before stopping at a range and picking up rifles and shooting at different-sized targets and reloading.
???:"Not good enough! Try again!"
Groaning can be heard as they go back and make it through the rain again and through the training course before firing their weapons again at the targets.
???:"Good enough! Get back inside the base!"
The tired and soaked men and women make their way inside the base where their superior waits for them with at ease.
CMD Sieran:"You have passed the selection tests congratulations! You have now become soldiers of the Shadow Breakers 3rd squad of the second infantry company."
Maril:"Oh, thank god! I thought that was never going to end, but it looks like all the effort paid off!"
CMD Sieran:"Indeed, go to your quarters and get some rest. I will have orders for you tomorrow. Your squad leader is already there waiting."
Carmen:"Yes ma'am."
They walk down the hall to their new quarters together before opening the door and entering their quarters, closing it behind them, where their squad leader stands there with their arms crossed.
Monique:"So you're the new meat."
Carijet:"Yeah we are."
Monique:"Good, don't disappoint me, then go to your rooms and rest. We're likely going to be on a dangerous mission tomorrow, and you'll need all the energy you can."
The others don't complain, as they are exhausted after all the training. As they enter their rooms, Sieran walks in and goes over to Monique, where she salutes Sieran.
Sieran:"At ease Monique."
Monique:"Permission to speak about the recruits?"
Sieran:"Granted what do you have to say."
Monique:"Ma'am, these recruits are greener than grass I don't think they'll last for long."
Sieran:"Dismiss those feelings. Monique because Mia Hellios has a consistent record of being an incredible medic and preventing losses, Carijet has the most experience out of all of them, and Carmen is stoic, strong, and remains calm under pressure, along with the benefit of being able to carry more weight. As for Maril, she's got the best aim out of all of them she's the greenest of them all, but she's the most agile of them all."
Monique:"I will put my trust in your judgment, commander."
Sieran places a hand on Monique's shoulder, looks into her eyes, and sighs before taking her hand off.
Sieran:"Monique the last mission wasn't your fault just say the word, and I'll let you out or give you a therapist. They knew the risks of fighting the Black Reapers, and unfortunately, it's common for them to die on their missions."
Monique:"I know it wasn't, but it still hurts Sieran. I knew them on a personal level, and I can still hear and see them in my sleep."
Sieran raised Monique's chin with one hand before planting a kiss on their lips and backing up before walking back towards the door.
Sieran:"I know it isn't easy for you, Monique I.... Wouldn't want to lose you either, so that's why the choice will always remain if you want to leave or seek therapy."
Monique:"I know it does, Sieran. I love you, and I'll try to keep coming back alive for you."
Sieran:"I love you too, Monique. Just keep your promise of coming back alive. I don't want to see you in a wooden coffin."
Sieran walked out of their quarters as Monique smiled slightly before going to her room and getting onto her bed before slowly drifting asleep.
The next day.
They were in their quarters eating breakfast and chatting with each other to pass the time until they got called up.
Maril:"So Mia, what made you become a combat medic?"
Mia:"Well, you see, I come from a family of nurses and medics. I've always wanted to save more people, but waiting in a hospital for them to arrive was not the thing for me. I preferred to save them as soon as possible, so that's how I became a combat medic. I will admit there are a few I've failed to save."
Maril:"Really? Now that's real interesting what about you guys?"
Carijet:"I came from a military family, so I'm continuing the tradition, although I had my own goal of making my mark on the special forces, so that's why I'm here."
Carmen:"Construction worker was boring figured my strength would benefit as the machine gunner."
Maril:"What about you Monique? What's your story?"
Monique:"Drop it I'm not talking about it talk about yourself instead."
Maril:"Oh well, alright, then I come from a family of farmers I'm the oldest child, and I used our rifle to keep stuff like thieves that would try to steal crops or livestock, and the small black reapers that would wander too close to our farm, so I had a lot of practice with guns."
Carijet:"Hey, wait, that means you live on the poor side, right? Where there's little to no military presence, right?"
Maril:"Yeah, that's right. The only reason we survive is because our small community is close together and we collectively defend ourselves since we can't rely on the military."
Sieran entered the room as all of them finished with their meals. As she walked over to them, they all immediately saluted her.
Sieran:"At ease, Shadow Breakers, we've got information that there's been a confirmed hive underground in an old city, along with a threat from an evolved alpha variant black reaper inside the hive."
Monique:"Sieran, with all due respect, that's a death sentence! We need better equipment for that."
Sieran:"I know it would be a death sentence, which is why I've requested and acquired NVGs and higher caliber weapons for you to help with the underground hive, along with a German APC with two controlled MG3s."
Monique:"Thank you ma'am."
Sieran:"Gear up at the armory and go to the garage your equipment and vehicle are waiting there. It should only take a 5-hour drive there and back."
Monique:"You heard the lady! Get moving!"
They all quickly leave their quarters and go to the armory, where they receive their weapons and equipment before making their way to the garage and being met with the mechanic.
Mechanic:"Your Eagle V German APC is ready to be used. There's spare gas in the back if you need it."
Monique:"Thank you."
Mechanic:"Don't sweat it, ma'am it's my job to make sure your vehicle stays running and that you hopefully come back alive with it."
Monique got onto the driver's side of the APC as the others got into different seats before taking off for the road. Monique loaded up a digital map for them to follow.
Monique:"Carijet, you're on the remote turrets on top use the tablet back there to control them if we run into trouble."
Carijet:"Understood."
Monique:"The rest of you keep an eye out."
5 hours later.
Monique stopped the vehicle and took out the keys, along with turning off the digital map as she looked back at them.
Monique:"We're here. Exit the vehicle and secure our position."
One by one, they each exited the APC with weapons raised as they looked around the old, destroyed buildings before Monique spoke up again.
Monique:"The hive will be right in front of us. Expect evolved variants of black reapers. Prepare your NVGs. You know our mission is to exterminate the evolved alpha variant."
Mia:"Yes ma'am."
Carmen:"Copy."
Carijet:"Understood."
Maril:"Alright!"
They attach their NVGs to their helmets before cautiously moving forward towards the hive, noticing the hole in the road that led down to the hive. They looked around one last time before slowly entering the pitch-black hive, turning on their NVGs, and making their way through the underground.
Maril:"You smell that? Smells like decaying corpses."
Monique:"Quiet they'll hear us."
They kept slowly walking before coming across corpses of frail malnourished black reapers as Monique crouches down to inspect them.
Monique:"This must be a new hive where food isn't plentiful this would never happen in a full hive. Keep on guard, though, because that evolved alpha variant is still around-"
There was the sound of crying in the distance that cut off Monique. As she slowly stands up and signals to move up, they come across a wandering black reaper covered in cuts, impaled with multiple small blades, and its left arm and right leg having some barbed wire around them stained with dried-up blood as Mia slowly aims at it before Monique quickly grabs the barrel of the gun and lowers it.
(If you want to imagine what it sounds and looks like if you know what the sickler is from decaying winter it's like that)
Mia:"Why did you stop me?"
Monique:"Do not shoot it that's a tormented variant of a black reaper. They are a pain in the ass to kill but remain passive so long as you don't alert them by shooting them or getting too close. We can sneak past it."
They slowly and quietly started to sneak past it, but it got too close to Maril as she tried to sneak by and was about to alert the hive with a loud scream as Maril panicked and stuffs its mouth with a strip of beef jerky as it slowly looked at its mouth and began to chew. It looked at Maril, looked at the ground, and began to eat the jerky as Maril quickly sprints away to the others, with Monique looking the most shocked with her weapon raised.
Monique:"Maril what in the fuck did you do!"
Maril:"Well, it looked like it was about to scream, so I had to stuff its mouth with something, and considering what you said about them starving and that I had nothing else on hand, I stuffed its mouth with jerky, and it got pacified."
Monique:"I have no fucking idea how you thought that was a good idea instead of emptying your entire magazine into its head, but it worked."
They quickly continued to move away from where they were and moved deeper into the hive, where the smell of dead corpses grew stronger, before they came across the evolved alpha, eating both anthro and black reapers alike to stay alive as they all took cover.
Monique:"That's an evolved crusher variant aim for its legs to completely cripple it, then we can finish it off."
They all nod as they come out of cover and raise their rifles before firing at the legs as they scream out in pain, alerting whatever remained of the hive. There's a collective scream as more black reapers flood out. Different variants fill the room as the group throws grenades and reloads their weapons to clear out the horde. The evolved alpha slowly stands up and begins to sprint towards them, wanting more prey. As they barely finished off the horde, it grabbed Maril and tossed them across the room into a wall, breaking one of her arms as she screamed in pain. Carijet fires multiple rounds into its back to take it down, only for it to turn around and punch him into a wall, breaking multiple ribs as he lays on the ground, unable to do anything as the alpha steps closer. Mia barely misses striking its head and instead strikes the side of its neck as it screams out in pain again. It rushes over to her and grabs the barrel of her gun before she can fire a shot at its head and lifts her into the air before squeezing her arm as it slowly crushes it with a creepy grin as she screams out in pain, only to be drowned out by the tormented black reaper as it pounces on the alpha's back and begins to tear at its neck with its razor-sharp claws.
Monique:"It.. Helped us?"
It started to dig into its skin and began to feast on the alpha, tearing it apart with its teeth and claws as Monique and Carmen checked on Mia and Carijet. By the time they were done, the black reaper had devoured nearly the entire arm and legs of the dead alpha before it slowly stood up and walked towards Maril before Monique raised her rifle and aimed at it.
Monique:"Not a step closer to her!"
It looked back at Monique, but strangely, it had no eyes, only a mouth, as it seemed to look at her before slowly looking back at Maril and sitting down, still looking at Maril, clenching her arm in terrible pain.
Monique:"The fuck is going on it's actually listening. I thought black reapers had barely any sentience besides eating and killing."
Maril would slowly stand up as Carmen picked up Carijet, and Mia stood up slowly as well, all of whom were staring at the black reaper in disbelief before they slowly made it back to their vehicle, but it stood up and started to follow them back to the vehicle, where Monique grabbed the radio in the APC and contacted Sieran.
Sieran [R]:"Report."
Monique [R]:"Mission completed, Alpha is dead, but we need medical care immediately after coming to base. Carijet has broken ribs, and both Maril and Mia have broken arms. There's also one last concerning thing."
Sieran [R]:"What would that be."
Monique [R]:"Well, how do I put it gently? Uh... Maril pacified a tormented variant black reaper, which helped kill the alpha, and now it's following us. What should we do?"
Sieran [R]:"I'm sorry can you repeat that?"
Monique [R]:"No, you heard exactly what I said correctly."
Sieran [R]:"This is our perfect chance to observe and research a black reaper. Bring it back to base, but restrain it completely! I want absolutely no risks when bringing it back if you have to kill it if it becomes aggressive."
Monique [R]:"I.. Understand Sieran we'll try to do that."
She hesitantly grabbed the chains inside the back of the vehicle and approached it before chaining up its arms to its torso, as it didn't resist but just "looked" at her as she did so before stuffing him in the back of the APC after refueling it.
Another 5 Hours Later
They park into the garage as medical staff and multiple other fully armed military personnel stand there as Mia, Maril, and Carijet are taken away as Monique and Carmen step out of the APC before taking out the black reaper as it looks around while it remains the center of attention before it gets transported throughout the base into a soundproof, padded research room where a professional researcher observes through a one-way glass with two guards and Sieran.
Sieran POV:
Sieran:"What's the case with this thing?"
Researcher:"Well, it would appear passive like other tormented black reapers that aren't alerted, but judging from what I've heard about it, there is a rare chance that a black reaper has much more sentience than others, and it seems like you've captured a rare one."
Sieran:"So what does that mean for us?"
Researcher:"Well, the current theory for now is that this one has been "tamed" as I'd like to say, as it doesn't show any aggression at all, but that's merely my analysis of the situation."
Sieran:"What would you like to do with it for now?"
Researcher:"I will observe it for now to understand its behavior, but if you could after today, could you ask what the name of the person it was Maril correct? To come here and enter the room with it, as it perhaps seems to be more fond of her."
Sieran:"That is correct. Maril was her name, but I'm afraid I have to reject that outright as I cannot risk a valuable soldier who currently has a broken arm going into the room alone with it."
Researcher:"That's a shame, but it is your call. I will stay here for a bit, but you may leave. I'll inform you if anything happens."
She would leave the room and walk down the hall, concerned that she had agreed to have this black reaper inside of her base researched.
(That's the end of this chapter I had been tossing around the idea of some sort of sci-fi apocalypse kind of story for awhile this chapter is 2592 until next time)