Racheal Wallace 

The smell of gunpowder and the muffled sounds of rifles, pistols, and explosives is soothing after the attack on the Iron Turtle. It's been a week since the attack, and my squad and I have been going through the wringer. Ren has been taken into custody for unknown reasons. I set my rifle down, wiped the sweat off my face, and went to the small boulders. 

Watching my squad over the past week, I saw why they are top of the class. Diana moves quickly while avoiding swings from the soldiers supposed to represent monsters. She moves like a video game character; each time she shoots and hits one of the “monsters,” her face lights up. 

Meanwhile, William was lying on his stomach, unmoved like a statue, while holding a fifty-caliber sniper. Seeing his shoulders lift as he took a breath, the booming sound of the sniper tore through the air just as the bullet ripped open the many training dummies lined up down the field; about 10 of them were destroyed instantly. 

 I turned my attention to Hanz. He switched from an LMG to a sawed-off shotgun with interchangeable buckshot and slugs. This fits him quite well, just like the other two Hanz blitzed through his training today. Each time he destroys a target, his face expands into a smile. Once training was over, we had a rundown on our progress which had barely improved since the first day. While packing up my gear, a familiar voice called out my name. 

“Racheal, if you don’t mind, I want to talk to you.” Said the voice. 

 I turned to the voice and saw my sister walking over to me. 

“No, I don’t mind, but can’t it wait until after I shower?” I asked with one raised eyebrow

“Unfortunately, it can’t since it has to do with Ren,” she told me somberly. 

I only met him a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t help feeling anxious for him. Especially since they refused to give me any information on why they took him into custody. 

The walk to the detention area was quiet. My sister and I didn’t talk unless it was about monster hunting. We stopped in front of two large metal doors while Elizabeth focused on a scanner that lit up green. The hissing sound of the doors opening only increased my anxiety. We made our way down dark stairs; Elizabeth finally ended our silence. 

“Ren was doomed for either execution or weapon conversion.” She told me it was customary for monsters to be turned into weapons. 

“Why is that? He didn't do anything bad,” I protested, the anger leaking out slightly over my confusion. 

“Well, normally, no, but his body is trying to form a mana core,” She continued, but her voice was hard and stern this time. 

“So why tell me? Do you want me to prove myself by killing him?” I asked with sarcasm.

“Those days are long over, little sister, but the higher-ups and the rest of the generals want to get rid of him.” She explained while opening another set of doors leading down a hallway with a large cell in the center. 

Ren was chained to the wall by his wrist like some dark-age prison. He also had a muzzle over his mouth so he wouldn't bite someone. 

“I told them to give me a trial period of three missions to see if he could use Divine weapon 8.” She announced while walking up to him, making him jolt his head. She took off his muzzle and chains.

“About time, Elizabeth; these chains are really tacky.” He joked with a slight smile on his face. 

“It’s General Wallace, but you are on probation, so don’t get too happy,” she replied in a playful tone. 

Over the past week, He must have been bonding with Elizabeth. I felt myself get irritated as she joked with him. Why does she treat him better than me?

Elizabeth turned to me, still keeping her perfect smile. “Get your squad ready for your first official mission.” 

Ren Vespean 

The sunlight never felt more refreshing before until now. Locked up in a cell didn’t help my already poor mental state. Since the attack: first almost getting killed by a dark elf, getting experimented on, and now the organization I work for wants me dead too. 

But at this point, I’m not complaining. Over the past week, Elizabeth has visited me and asked about my family history. Even though, at that point, I had just woken up from another experiment by Dr.Kirk. I told her that my mom’s grandfather was a part of Jäger, but I didn’t know about my father. Her facial expression when I told her my father's name was strained and disdainful. 

At least she gave me time to prove my worth to Jäger. I didn’t want to worry my family more than I already had since I didn’t answer their calls. I made my way back to my room, and I quickly called my mom; with two rings, she picked up. 

“Ren, where have you been? I tried calling, and you didn’t pick up.” She stammered, fear and worry flooding her words. 

“Sorry, mama, I got myself in trouble with my higher-ups.” I half-lied, but I didn’t want to tell her the real reason. 

“Well, that doesn’t matter, right? What are you doing now?” She asked, the wind blowing into the mic of her phone. 

“Getting ready to go on my first mission, but quick question: do you know if dad was a part of Jäger?” I responded while putting on my suit for the first time in a week. Silence came from her end before she quickly responded that she had to go. 

“Note to self, interrogate her when I see her next, " I thought. I went to the debriefing room, a collection of offices in the main building. Racheal and William waited outside the room for me.  Seeing William was refreshing since I didn’t know what happened to him after I got attacked. 

“Well, look what we have, Mr.Monster,” he joked with a smile; I just shrugged him off as it was too soon for jokes. 

“Don’t be so cold. I was just messing with you.” He said this time more defensively. 

“His life is not a joke, Willy.” Diana mocked, fixing her glasses. After she said that, William's cheeks turned tomato red as he returned to his seat. 

After ten more minutes, Elizabeth walked in with Dr.Kirk. My perception of the doctor changed after he experimented on me the past week, but I kept a veil of professionalism. 

“Okay, we will have you hunt a nasty polar bear for your first mission.” Elizabeth debriefed while putting up a picture of the beast. 

The beast was like a typical polar bear, but it had large sharp ice claws with ice spikes poking out of its spine. Its eyes were a light blue, with two tusks on each side of its mouth. 

“This is a 2nd-class monster, so we are using this to test your new weapons.” Dr.Kirk said while moving the picture of the beast to a new tab and showing five weapons for each of us. 

“Why are we getting custom weapons? I thought colonels and generals only get one?” Asked Diana while readjusting her glasses to see what weapons were under her name. 

“You have a point, but seeing how monster attacks are rising and their classes averaging 2nd-class, we need capable fighters.” Elizabeth answered, giving each of us a tablet, “please pick what weapon you think fits you the best, and Ren, don’t worry, we have one just for you.” 

The others took about ten minutes to pick which weapon they thought they would like. Racheal stared at her tablet far longer, and her confident demeanor faded. Her expression mixed frustration and sadness, but she tapped the tablet and set it on the table. 

“Okay, now that everyone has picked, let us begin the full debriefing.” Elizabeth presented.

She made a map of the Antarctic continent with red dots scattered. 

“So the target we dubbed PB-27, has attacked many species in these areas.” She explained, “we sent some other Agents there, and unfortunately, most of them didn’t return.” 

She then put up body cam footage of one of the agents. The camera had a slight frost around the edge of the lens. The agent stopped in front of PB-27, who was eating some penguins. 

“Open fire!” Another agent yelled from off-camera. 

Gunshots took over the audio of the footage. PB-27 was caught off guard, but the bullets didn’t penetrate the beasts' fur. He charged toward the first agent, who was fit but had slightly chubby features and brown hair. PB-27 sharp icy claws ripped the agent in half. Soon after, PB-27 went for the cameraman, and the footage was cut out. 

I looked around; Racheal and William had stoned faces showing little emotions. Meanwhile, Diana was throwing up into a trash can that Hanz had brought her. 

“Unfortunately, this is just one of 15 body footage we have,” Elizabeth told us. 

She turned off the projector, “you have one week to get used to your weapons and devise a plan to exterminate PB-27.” 

Racheal Wallace: 

It’s been a couple hours since the debriefing. Diana locked herself In her room for the night while Hanz went to the gym to work out. I made my way to the living room, which still had a tarp in the place of the hole from the attack. William was sitting on the couch reading a book and writing notes in a notebook. 

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked, walking behind him to see what he was writing. 

“Just taking notes on monster classes and some of the worst attacks.” He replied by picking up his notebook and showing it to me. 

The notebook had the classes from the 3rd-class, the lowest monster class. Then 2nd-class monsters, which PB-27 is, can overrun small parts of a city if left unchecked. 

1st-class monsters can destroy a county or province. The final two classes are a huge jump. First, disaster-class monsters have enough force similar to a  tornado or earthquake, and they rival colonel-rank Jäger agents. Finally, calamity-class monsters are responsible for the deaths of thousands, if not millions. They can even kill a general. 

My body stiffened as I read underneath the calamity-class description, “2016 March of death calamity.” 

“Racheal, are you okay? Your face is pale.” William asked, reading my facial expression

“I’m fine. Do you know where Ren is?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“I think he was on the porch, but that was the last time I saw him.” He replied, taking his notebook away from me, concern lacing his eyebrow

Before I went outside, William called my name. Turning around, he still had a worried expression, but his eyes showed sympathy this time. 

“March of death showed us how little we know about monsters, but it also showed our resilience. Keep your head high.” He told me before going back to his book and note-taking. 

I walked out to the porch and saw Ren sitting on the stairs looking at the starry night sky.

“Hey, got room for one more?” I said to announce my presence to him. He turned and gave a half-smile before responding. 

“Yeah, just taking in the view,” he said, patting his left. I sat next to him. I finally got to take in his facial expression. From the first time I met him, he always seemed to be a loner, but now it looks like he has the world's weight on his shoulders. 

“We barely get to talk outside of mission or training, so what was your life before joining Jäger?” He asked, breaking the silence between us 

“Never really had a life outside of Jäger. My family is one of the founding families,” I responded as a slight breeze washed over us, “what about you?”

“Grew up in Richmond, Virginia, didn’t really have that much money, so I joined to get paid.” He answered, still looking up at the stars, but his voice quivered. 

“To be honest, I never really cared about saving people. To me, this is only a job,” he continued, lowering his head and now staring at the ground, “I don’t know why you decided to join, but I can’t afford to risk my life. I have a family to take care of.” 

Something about that last statement struck a nerve with me. Over the past couple of weeks, something changed in Ren, and why I took an interest in him was gone. 

“I don’t need you to risk your life, but if you put the rest of the squad at risk, there will be consequences,” I responded, this time colder as empathy no longer exists in my body. 

“That’s fine with me.” He said, still looking at the ground.

 I got up and was about to head inside, but I turned to him, “I expect you to fight hard against PB-27.” I said to him before walking inside the barrack. 

Ren Vespean 

I heard the door close, a wave of sadness swallowed me, and regret filled my mind. Was I too harsh with my words, or was I isolating myself so I wouldn't hurt them if I couldn’t control this weapon? Whatever the reason, Racheal was upset, and I was the cause. I saw a shooting star that flew by the full moon, and a dark and eerie thought crossed my mind. 

“Maybe I should get executed.”