In the control room of the AEOC special ops division HQ, a team of scientists were sitting, continuously checking the country for any fluctuations. Behind them was an old man who seemed to be in his fifties. He strolled around, checking each screen with boredom. Then, out of the blue an alarm sounded. The old man turned around with sharp eyes and saw red lights flaring across the room.
"Sir! It's an Alpha class chaos fragment!" A scientist shouted.
The old man narrowed his eyes. "Inform the Lieutenant General, immediately!"
***
A few minutes later...
Several individuals wearing all black outfits rushed into the compartment of a black jet. The doors closed behind them as the air marshal guided the plane in the right direction. After a few moments, it accelerated and lifted off into the thunderous and rainy sky. It disappeared into the clouds without a trace while carrying the first unit led by the lieutenant general.
***
Krishna and Henry were running away from the chaos fragment while carrying Missio on their shoulders. Their movements were in sync like they were the same person. Behind them, Eira and Mary were trailing behind, cold sweat rolling down their pristine faces. Suddenly, a roar came from behind which sent chills down their spines. They ran even faster, pushing their feet against the muddy floor as it rained.
Eventually, they made it to an opening in the forest, a vast plain that stretched for some distance. They placed Missio under a tree and fell beside him. All of them were catching their breath, huffing and puffing rapidly.
"Now…what do we do?" Mary asked, clutching her chest.
"The first unit will take care of this – not our problem." Krishna replied.
"And…they should be appearing…"
As Henry spoke, the team heard the air being cut above them like something was speeding through the sky. Eira glanced up and saw a black jet flying through the clouds.
"As they say…if you can see the C3 raider…you're not its target…" She muttered in awe.
***
Inside the dark compartment, all the members of the first unit were warming up. They stretched and swung their arms and legs, preparing for the upcoming battle. But out of all of them, a group of five stood out the most. The leader was a man with silver hair, crystal-like blue eyes and pale skin which seemed to be deprived of sunlight. He sat with a katana tucked between his arms but the most outstanding part about him was the three-star insignia on his chest. He was Arthur von Ashking – the lieutenant general of the AEOC's special ops division.
Beside him were his teammates – the caring Harvey who was a bulky older man with scars across his body from too many battles. He had dark hair, eyes and a sizable beard. Then, there was the quirky Amelia who was slim woman with pale skin. She had short gray hair with green eyes. The quiet – Kay, a man with terracotta hair and green eyes who hid in the darkness. The lovely – Maple who had long silver hair like Arthur's and blue eyes just like him.
They all stood beside their captain awaiting the moments of when the gates would open. After a few minutes, the door slowly opened, revealing the inside of the clouds being rattled by thunder and hail. The plane lowered and the first unit could see the ground which was crawling with Chaos beasts. Arthur stood up and slowly walked towards the edge, eyeing the grey-skinned monsters. He crossed his arms and opened his mouth.
"Ready yourselves! None shall fall under my command!"
Arthurs resolute voice thundered through the cargo hold, making every head snap toward him. Awe lit their eyes; backs straightened, hands clenched, and spirits flared as energy coursed through them. The Enforcers rushed out of the cargo hold while wearing their parachutes. Arthur's teammates stood behind him, wearing their own parachutes. Maple extended her arm.
"Arthur…you're parachute."
Arthur turned around and took it from her hands.
"Thanks, Maple."
They locked eyes for a moment and then quickly looked away. Arthur put on the parachute and looked downward. As the door started to close, the plane went into the clouds. Arthur pushed off his feet, jumping into chaos. His mates followed and they all fell towards the fragment. Hail bragged them but they shrugged it off like nothing.
They were Chaos incarnates after all.
They passed the clouds and broke out. Arthur lowered his head and saw his unit engaging in battle with the monsters. Painful howls and the sound of death echoed through the sky. They pulled their parachute a few moments after and landed. Arthur pulled his blade in a quick fashion and didn't waste any time. He rushed towards the battlefield when a beast attacked him. He frowned and jumped over its strike. He pierced its chest, and it froze. A moment later, it fell to the ground.
His mates also rushed with him. Harvey moved like a lion, striking with overwhelming pressure. The monster howled as he advanced without fear as if daring the monster to hit it. The monster scowled and attacked him, but it stopped mid-attack. Frozen inches away from Harvey's face, the beast's jaw opened and then it fell on the ground – lifeless. Harvey had pierced its chest and pulled out his blade. He stood over the beast with a cold gaze. Dozens of beasts rushed at him, but he swung his sword, slashing and piercing them like a veteran on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Maple was battling with another crowd of beasts. Some were tall and some were short but none of them could avoid her blade. She danced like a butterfly, delicate and almost fragile but…that was not the case. Sprays of blood gushed out from the monster's chest and then they dropped to the ground like flies. But some survived, they roared in the sky and looked straight at Maple.
'The core…'
According to the Stratos Academy study on chaos beasts, they have something called an unstable chaos core which empowers them at cost of rationality. The cores are either located at the heart or the stomach and unless you directly strike the core; the beast will keep recovering. Although its recovery speed is not tremendous, it is still a problem because the chaos beasts have a chance of exploding due to massive amounts of unstable chaos in their core.
'More monsters coming from the left.'
As more monsters swarmed her, she elegantly danced around the beasts like a butterfly, leaving deep wounds on their bodies. Then, she pierced their hearts one by one. But some did not have a core in their heart, so they took two strikes. Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the land. Lightning covered the sky and small drops of rain poured down on them. The chaos fragment made a low hum and released lots of bolts and then…it expanded. It's void-like inside shook and swirled like a tornado.
The enforcers froze for a moment as they looked at the rift. Standing atop a pile of monsters, cold sweat rolled down Arthur's face looking towards the evolving fragment.
'It's not going through evolution, is it?!'
Arthur thought with a worried face. The evolution of chaos fragment was extremely rare. According to Stratos Academy, chaos fragment evolution happens when a chaos fragment absorbs the surrounding chaos causing an evolution. But most rifts absorption rate is low. So, they considered it a rare case.
'If this is becoming class delta then…'
"Captain! We should retreat!"
Kay shouted at Arthur. Arthur turned. His heart was tight. The chaos fragment was clearly going through evolution but…
'If we can just contain it before it fully evolves…'
"Amelia! Start the containment circle!" Arthur said, gripping his sword.
Kay sighed as if knew this would happen. Amelia's eyes began to glow as a strange blue aura covered her figure. Arthur looked forward and shouted towards the first unit.
"Hold the rear! Only a few more minutes!"
The unit heard this command and began fighting even more fiercely. Only the howls and roars of the dying beats could be heard as blood and bone splattered on the ground. Arthur signaled his teammates follow him as he spoke in a heavy voice.
"Finish off the rest. Guard, Amelia as she finishes the containment circle, don't let any chaos beast survive!"