The operators struggled to dodge out of the way as the Cloud shepherd's attacks left gaping craters the size of cars in the mountain soil.
You shouldn't have violated our deal, younglings. You don't know who you're in the presence of, the Shepherd roared. Its mask cracked and twisted into a grotesque smile. Its claws sliced through the air as it raked its disproportionate limbs across the clearing.
"Wait! Please calm down—" Eve tried, but was swiftly silenced as she grunted, dodging under a claw swipe, the massive points cleaving the air in half above her.
"Who the FUCK shot it?" Warrant Falin shouted, barely dodging a claw attack leaving a sinkhole where they had just stood. "God damn it. Safeties off, weapons free. Bring it down. I don't think that we'll be able to negotiate further."
Gunfire erupted across the clearing as all squads opened up at once, bathing the Cloud Shepherd in a downpour of lead. However, the rounds passed straight through it—no impact, no resistance, as if it were smoke.
You should have kept our deal.
The Cloud Shepherd vanished into the fog. Then it reappeared, towering behind a BHISL squad sergeant and his team. Before anyone could react, its limbs shot forward like spears. Talons pierced through flesh and body armor with ease, lifting and impaling all six operators. They didn't even have time to scream. Just a wet crunch, and then silence. They were erased.
Eve froze.
Oh, fuck.
She'd trained for everything in her time at TRACE, but nothing had prepared her for this. Seeing actual death cracked something inside her. These weren't just bodies. They were real people, shredded, torn like paper, tossed aside like broken dolls.
Her lungs wouldn't cooperate as each wheeze became burdened, as if her lungs were collapsing in on her. Eve's legs didn't respond. Her heart raced, hammering against her ribs as if trying to escape. She might've died right then and there if Elisa hadn't tackled her to the ground.
A split second later, a massive claw tore across the clearing, punching a crater into the earth where Eve had just stood.
Negotiation was long gone.
This was slaughter.
The TRACE and BHISL squads—the pride of the Halcyon Federation—scrambled, shouting, scattering, running. Training didn't matter. Rules of engagement didn't matter. Strategy didn't matter. Doctrine didn't matter. Discipline didn't matter. They were in the presence of something they couldn't kill and couldn't understand.
Another TRACE operator went down—then another. They were the first TRACE deaths in years.
Eve ran, trying to stay low as the titan thrashed through the clearing. Somewhere in the chaos, she felt a brutal impact slam into her back. Her vision spun as she hit the ground, hard. Agony bloomed through her spine, sharp and immediate. Her mask filled with blood as she coughed, hacking for air.
Something was lodged in her back. Not a claw—she'd be in pieces. This was something else. The Shepherd wasn't even looking at her. It was busy stomping at a BHISL squad that was throwing flashbangs and concussive grenades in an attempt to disorient it. It was working—barely.
Eve struggled to flip over, biting down on the pain. She reached for her rifle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seo stumble, wounded as well, crawling toward her. Another BHISL operator wasn't so lucky. Something punched through his mask. Something… unseen. Blood jetted from the collapse like a burst pipe. He hit the ground, twitching once, then still.
Eve's heart pounded like a war drum. The haze lifted. Her mind—soaked in adrenaline—snapped back into focus. Combat instincts took over.
Something was wrong. Nobody was aiming at the Shepherd anymore—yet someone was definitely shooting.
Then, it all clicked.
The ambush earlier. BAR had been spotted in the area. They left behind two casualties and never retrieved them, seemingly leaving in a hurry. We never found them. Of course. Suppressed rifles. Subsonic rounds. In the chaos of the Shepherd's screams and howls, no one would have heard the shots, and the BAR were probably the ones who had shot the Shepherd.
Eve cursed herself for not thinking of it earlier. Even though they'd been aware of the BAR operating in the area, they'd failed to account for the fact that the BAR could've been after the Shepherd themselves, and how they could've been aware Shepherd, or even how their mission in the area could've been similar to theirs. How that round had hit the Shepherd while theirs didn't was still a mystery, but if she could figure it out...
"Warrant! Asphodel's BAR is here!" Eve shouted through gritted teeth. She yanked open a pouch on her plate carrier, tore out a combat patch, and slapped it over the wound in her back. The patch hissed as it sealed, with bleed-staunching gel already soaking in.
It would be a sufficient enough solution to stop her from bleeding out until she got back to base to receive proper medical attention.
Warrant Falin answered, their voice strained. "All squads, be aware of incoming subsonic rounds and BAR presence. Don't waste your ammo on the Shepherd."
More rounds punched into the dirt near Eve's head—closer now. The first few had been lucky. Now the BAR knew exactly where they were—and that the Shepherd was here, too.
Eve rolled behind the nearest patch of roots and yanked a morphine auto-injector from her thigh pouch. She flicked away the cap and stamped the needle into her shoulder. Her body shuddered as the cold relief spread through her bloodstream. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough. Across the field, she saw Seo do the same, hands trembling, eyes wide.
They wouldn't get a break, however. The Cloud Shepherd returned. It didn't walk—it simply reappeared in the middle of the clearing. Its chest expanded as it inhaled.
And then, it screamed.
The world broke like fragile glass.
Eve's ears rang as her vision fractured. Her helmet was gone—shattered. Her plate carrier and anything hard she carried lay in splinters around her—her knife, her extra magazines, her guns. She was on her back, blinking at the gray sky above.
Cold air licked her face like icewater.
Then her throat began to close. The fog slithered through the air, curling around her neck like living smoke. Her throat seemingly tightened with slow, deliberate malice as she choked on the anomalous fog. Eve could see the remainder of her squad in the clearing either knocked unconscious by the scream or swiftly collapsing to the ground, helpless without their gas filters.
Eve choked, her vision slowly dimming. The Shepherd was still shrieking. Suddenly, Eve felt someone hugging her from behind. She moved to fight, but paused as she saw the long, flowing, obsidian hair of Elisa gently wrapping over her shoulders and a reassuring pat on her head.
The two could barely move under the pressure of the Shepherd's cries and the fog that choked them. Her life slowly dimming, Eve mouthed words that she never thought she'd ever have to say.
I'm scared. She tried to speak, but her throat wouldn't cooperate.
Me too, Elisa mouthed back. She held Eve in a quiet embrace as the anomalous cloud clogged up their bodies, filling their sinuses, lungs, and body with constant pinpricks of sharp pain. Their bodies slowly ceased to function, as Eve started succumbing to the fog. Eve clawed at her throat, but nothing helped cease the pressure.
The two soon fell to the gnarly and grassy ground, wreathed in fog, Elisa landing on top of Eve. If it were any other situation, Eve probably would've exploded in embarrassment then and there, but between trying to stay alive and struggling to breathe, she really didn't—couldn't—think much of it.
Elisa struggled to get off of Eve, but ultimately failed and gave up, collapsing back on top of her. Their faces were barely centimeters from each other.
Sorry that we never got to go on a proper date after you got your memories back, Elisa mouthed. Both her amethyst purple and frosted lavender eyes brimmed with tears as she smiled sadly.
While it was quite understandable that it could've just been her body screaming to breathe, the tears felt quite genuine to Eve. At least being with Elisa and knowing that they truly cared was one tiny upside to their current situation.
I'm glad you're here now, Elise, Isa, she mouthed.
As her consciousness bordered on black, she could feel the vague sensation of her face being pressed gently into Elisa's chest. The last thing she could feel were Elisa's hands wrapping around her, a kiss on her forehead, and the piercingly cold air and fog crushing the oxygen out of her lungs.