Hey

I'm working for the next four days, one of which is a training day. So I don't think I can create a new chapter between all that. I will be as quick as I can.

!!!DARK CHAPTER!!! - You have been warned. 

Let's get back to it. 

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Three days after the meeting between Chief Wei and the Enclave, multiple Enclave Orcas disembarked Farsight's division troops in the slums of Lungmen. The city of lungmen was unaware of the large troop deployment in the slums but soon would wake to the sight of them openly marching in the streets. Moreover, the Orca transports had been upgraded with their stealth fields.

The slums were soon filled with armoured Enclave soldiers, sweeping every street and alleyway. While the Enclave had yet to be given an Embassy building in the higher-end portion of Lungmen, they still had their pre-established Base to work from. 

Chief Wei, two days prior, announced to the Lungmen public that there was a new agreement between them and Enclave faction. This announcement shocked not only the city but most of Terra. Once again, millions of eyes turned to multiple screens across Terra and watched Enclave soldiers with exotic weapons and armour march in columns through the slums of Lungmen.

Many criticized Chief Wei for his decision to ally with the new, previously unknown faction. Still, Wei was unapologetic and relatively happy with the militant power the Enclave was deploying against Reunion, criminals and Infected, even if no infected civilian was being harmed.

News reporters and their camera crews followed squads of Enclave soldiers, attempting to ask questions but were soundly ignored. A few Sankta in the crowd were taking pictures and writing things down. Laterano did send people to look for the Enclave after all. As long as they kept their distance, no trouble would ensue.

Many LGD officers were around the slums watching the better-equipped soldiers rush around doing what was supposed to be their job, making many of them annoyed, but they knew better than to act on their annoyance.

At the front of the LGD officers was an angry Ch'en, flanked by officer Hoshiguma and Superintendent Swire. Ch'en's companions observed the Enclave soldiers but were impressed by their discipline. However, Ch'en made no remake to her colleague's comments. Instead, she stood there tapping her foot impatiently. 

The armoured Enclave soldiers had already arrested dozens of people. But unfortunately, many of those detained were nothing more than Drug dealers, gang members and deranged thugs hiding in back streets. 

In one of the more open streets of the slums where most reporters, LGD officers and onlookers stood. In the middle of it was an Enclave female Aegir Lieutenant in standard armour with no helmet and a long earpiece overseeing the soldiers around her. Her officer retinue around her with a large map pointing to different sections. A short pulse carbine is hanging off a shoulder strap.

The Lieutenant was giving orders to her soldiers. Her dedicated radio operator was standing close by to dish out direct orders as she deemed necessary or receive updates from her soldiers currently cleaning out the slums of criminals and Reunion. 

The occasional sounds of Enclave gunfire and shouting could be heard across the slums, making the onlookers jump in worry at the loud cracks, regardless of how distant or muffled they seemed. 

The Radio operator was talking to one of the officers further down in the slums and looked back and forth from the crowd to his Lieutenant. His face was hidden behind his helmet, but he looked stiff and rigid. After receiving the update from the officer, he walked swiftly to the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant," He calls, butting in the chatter amongst the officers around the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant looked up from the map and looked at him deeply, making him uncomfortable.

"Well? Speak, R.O.," She replied formally. (A.N... R.O. = Radio Operator.) 

"Update from Fire-Caste-Squad-13," He replied, shifting on his feet. 

"Did they inform the Platoon officer? Why are you updating me on this?" The Lieutenant replied coldly. She trusted the officers she chose for this operation to inform the overall Platoon officers to handle mundane matters, giving her more room to command. 

The Radio operator gulped at the increasingly cold Aegir. This Lieutenant is one of the stricter ones in the Division, and she has something of a Sadistic side. One of the reasons she was chosen for this type of operation, she would have no tolerance for criminals of any kind and certainly no sympathy. 

"The Platoon officer has asked for your intervention on a sensitive matter, Ma'am." 

"And that would be?" The Lieutenant was angry at the interruption, but it must be important if one of her Platoon officers wanted her attention. 

"A secret base was discovered, and there is something you need to see personally," The R.O. replied with a quiver as he mentioned it, making the Lieutenant raise an eyebrow. 

"*Sigh* Very well, Stay here and continue the operation. I won't be long," She says to her other officers, who nod in acknowledgement. The Lieutenant takes her bodyguards and leaves with the R.O. to the mentioned Base. 

After forty minutes of walking, passing many civilians in rags, most were infected and looked at the Enclave group passing by with fear and suspicion. However, the children mostly looked at them with wonder and excitement, only to be ushered away from the  Enclave by scared parents. As they continued, the occasional Enclave squad could be seen down other alleys or streets.

 They soon came across Fire-Caste-Squad-13 and a queasy Lupo Platoon Officer outside a large rundown office building. The Enclave soldiers of 13 sat outside with their helmets off, and one was around the corner, heaving after throwing up; they all looked pale.  

"What's the meaning of this?!" The Lieutenant demanded, not used to seeing her soldiers lounging around with their helmets off. The Squad and Platoon officer stood quickly and saluted at her before the Lupo Platoon officer gestured shakily to the door to the office building. She brushed by her Lupo officer with little regard.

The Lieutenant stormed into the building, wanting to know what had shaken her soldiers. Her R.O. and bodyguards quickly followed with no complaint. The first scene was nothing but a dank and dilapidated hallway. The only thing that truly caught their attention was the disgusting smell of rotting flesh. Even through their helmets, they could smell it; it was overpowering their helmets filters.

"UGH!" The smell hit the R.O. quickly, making him heave behind his helmet. Soon the bodyguards stiffen with disgust at the overpowering smell. 

The Lieutenant looked back at her soldiers with pity but moved forward, not going to show weakness in here, even if the smell sickened her and made her want to gag. 

They moved down the hallway, noticing the dried blood that caked the floor. The walls even had blood stains across them; making it worse was that many bloody handprints could be seen and dragged across the surface as if people had been pulled as they resisted.

They moved to the end of the hallway, where a dim light was coming through the seams of the heavy doors, and she gestured for her soldiers to push it open. Two soldiers moved forward and pressed a door open each. A new wave of rotting flesh smell washed over them, making the R.O. quickly pull off his helmet and throw up his breakfast against the wall. 

The sight beyond the door made the Lieutenant freeze in shock and disgust. The soldiers behind her were no better as they stared in horror. The Lieutenant walked forward slowly, pulling out a cloth and covering her mouth from the putrid air around her. 

Across the room were a dozen rusty metal operating tables. Every one of them had a body laid onto it. Thankfully, they were covered in dirty blankets. One of the group's bodyguards, who doubled as the squad medic, moved to the other side of the room and looked under one of the blood-crusted blankets. 

He stared at the corpse for a few seconds before he immediately regretted it. His Cautus ears flopped behind him quickly as he ripped his own helmet off and started heaving, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group and the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant moved over quickly to the hunched-over Cautus bodyguard and patted his back. 

"Well?" She asked him, voice muffled by the cloth over her mouth and with zero emotion. 

"Female, Ursus, roughly 25-30 years of age, Pregnant," He said with a shudder as bile entered his mouth. 

"Pregnant?" The Lieutenant asks in surprise and anger. 

"*Ugh* Y-Yes, Ma'am..." 

"Cause of death?" She dreaded the answer. 

"Vivisection" His voice sounded broken. 

"A Vivi what?" One of the Sankta bodyguards asked the rest of the group and came over to listen. 

"The practice of performing operations on live and very much awake individuals, for experimentation and science." The Medic said with hatred. 

"That's disgusting!" One of the other bodyguards shouts. At the same time, the rest looked at the Medic in horror. 

"Check all of them!" The Lieutenant commands, and the bodyguards look like they want to argue but reluctantly move to other operating tables. 

The Lieutenant notices the R.O. is at the end of the room by a desk looking behind it and not moving. She walks over to him and sees another body behind the desk. In the background, she can hear calls of disgust and heaving from the rest of the group. She was going to speak to the R.O. when the Medic walked over and grabbed her attention. 

"Ma'am?" 

"Yes..." She asks with a low voice. She may be a sadist, but this was not acceptable. 

"Same thing for the others... Same fate." Came the medics' sombre tone. 

"...I see...and that one?" She quietly replied. She pointed at the small body behind the desk. 

The medic moves around the desk and kneels beside the R.O., staring at the body with tear-stained cheeks. The Medic gently rolls the body over onto its back. The R.O. starts sobbing at the sight. 

It was just a child. 

The Medic quickly examines the young male Cautus boy before shaking his head in dismay. 

"Well?" The Lieutenant asks.

"Strangulation," Medic replied softly, pointing at the neck, a quicker death at least. 

"Who would do this!?" The R.O. shouts in anguish. 

The medic looks at the younger male and points to a dirty, blood-stained flag on the back wall with a Reunion symbol. The R.O. stares at the flag before he starts crying quietly to himself. 

"Ma'am!" One of the bodyguards calls, coming over to the Lieutenant and handing her a blood-stained piece of paper. 

"What am I looking at, Soldier." Not sure of the relevance of this. The bodyguard points at a specific line at the bottom of the page.

'Hehe...The experimentations failed, but I learned so much from these subjects... Unfortunately, I have run out of suitable subjects so I will have to find more... I will move my operations and start with new test subjects - Mephisto.'

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Done!

Wow, that was dark, even for me...

I'm sorry for such a dark chapter. But I think it got its point across. So, how do you all feel about Mephisto now? 

I might have to add a Mature rating...

Thanks for everything and the Votes!

Zero-