Two days later. Order of Human Protection aka. OHP Headquarters.

After Caleb had safely made it out of the frozen tunnels he finally came to collapse in front of the Antarctic station of his superiors, where the return of the party had been eagerly awaited. Sadly he was the only one who made it back and even in a critical condition. Of course the fight with the demonic alien had left its traces on his body. And now it needed a good rest to recover from it.

Meanwhile he was transferred to the hospital of the OHP Headquarters, because his case had piqued some special peoples’ interest. A squad soldier made it out alive alone while the rest of the team was dead? Of course it was known to the higher ups that Caleb was in possession of the newest gear, but it was still suspicious.

“Ugh…”, the young soldier awakened, bright hospital room lights flashing his eyes.

While he needed a moment to orientate himself in the room he could already make out a figure. A young nobleman, almost looking like a teenager wearing a big grin, was watching him.

“W-”

“You’re probably wondering where you are, Caleb Herrera, Squad tag B2Z5, son of Seagull Herrera and Simone Moore.”, the young man cited as he just had practiced that like a poem, but Caleb knew right away that only a higher-up would talk like that.

“Uuugh... I think I already know.”

His head hurt so much, while he was trying to slowly get up. This hospital had patched him up well with all the expensive tools only rich people could afford. He could tell right away.

“Good. I’m vice president Nathan Price. The whole organization has already heard of your mysterious case, Mr Herrera. So…”

He grabbed a chair, turned it around so he could easily lean towards the man in his sick bed.

“... care to tell your boss what happened?”

This kid? Was really the vice president? But he was so young. Well since Caleb met that alien it would be hard to judge a book by its cover now.

“They can talk…”, was the first thing that came to his mind and slowly his head became more and more clear, so he got in a more comfortable position.

“They…? The aliens? You must’ve hit your head really hard. Though there was nothing about cranial trauma on the doctor’s report…”

“I’m not lying. I swear! There was only one alien in that cave and it could talk. It even talked a lot… so fluently… no accent… nothing. After it killed the others of course… I know this sounds crazy. And that I’m alive is even crazier. But it seemed to be very interested in our newest gear. Especially the plasma weapon. I… even cut through its exoskeleton armor…”

For a moment the attention of the vice president seemed to have gone elsewhere as he didn’t want to believe Caleb’s words but the latter got him back on track.

“You managed to cut its armor? Not its general weak spot? That is perfect!” Suddenly the young man rose from his chair and made a welcoming gesture.

“As you know we had only used our plasma technology in the laboratory before… But now this is perfect! The prototype worked just fine!”

“Prototype…?”, Caleb had to ask in slight shock. “We were told the gear was polished.”

“... oh-oh. Whoops.” 

The young man gave him a mischievous wink in response.

For a moment the room went quiet and the soldier clenched his fists.

“We soldiers really are just cannon fodder for you higher-ups and scientists, am I right? Maybe even… test subjects.”

“Oh… you’re no mere soldier anymore, my dear friend.”

The sudden casualty of this kid gave Caleb shivers down his spine.

“You’re now promoted to general. You will get new armor - better armor. A team of your own and a special mission.”

Under other circumstances this would’ve sounded so good. A promotion? Glorious, but the fact that Caleb had lost a lot of dear teammates for that left him with a bitter taste. 

“... a special mission, really?”, he asked, hesitating. Something inside of him was telling him to quit and go home, live the rest of his life in peace until the aliens would eventually take him as well.

“Yes, if what you said is true, I want you to find that talking alien and bring it to me - alive. One way or another. I haven’t heard of any other example that could talk before and cause so many casualties. This must be a special one…”

“But sir, that is just another suicide mission!”

“Is it, tho…? You also safely made it out of this one. If you got lucky with that specimen last time, why not again?”, the young man chuckled as he opened the door to this patient’s room. 

“Be a good general and don’t make me regret this promotion, will ya?” 

And then he left.

With a big sigh Caleb dropped his head back into the pillow, staring at the ceiling and frowning. So he was really gonna go back into the lion's den?

“That little shit…”

At least this time he’d know what would come for him - more or less. He wasn’t so eager to meet that alien again. On one hand, but on the other it did leave him curious. After all, it partially looked like a human and it could talk like a human. Could it be…?

He would have to discuss this further with somebody else but for now he needed to rest a little more to fully recover from this mess.