Project: Starborn. Chapter 9

[Khaos King]

Convoy of vehicles arrive to the Korean Army camp the Generals Entourage, Lycan watches as he is lifted out of the murky water tank as he fixes on his target. The General's driver pulls over near the tank as the General steps out as he looks around and stares at the american being tortured and than turns his gaze to the Camp C.O.

Korean General: what is going on here?

Officer: interrogation. we captured this america a few days ago.

Lycan raises his head as he looks at them controlling his anger, he could easily shatter the chains and kill the General but it would risk the lives of the prisoners. In the distance bushes slightly moved as it is used for cover, Sgt Major staring at the Korean General through his rifle's scope. His growing conscious at odds with sense of duty as he refuses to pull the trigger at least not till he saves those men.

Lycan: i wasn't captured. i came here by my own free will.

The Officer annoyed orders his men to dunk the prisoner into the tank, the Soldiers release the chains as Lycan slams into the water in order to keep him quiet. The General annoyed looks back at the officer for confirmation.

Officer: So he says, Sir.
Either way a traitor is a traitor.
one can never trust them.

Korean General: so very true.
i am here to inform you that your camp and your men will be moved for an upcoming skirmish.
Have your men ready to move out within five days.
The American forces have moved forward further into our territory.
we will surround them and use your men to cut off their retreat.


Officer: yes, Sir!

Korean General: get what you can from this one and come tomorrow morning line them all up for execution.
They no longer serve any function.

Officer : As you command General.
anything else.

Korean General: yes. show me my room.
i require a bath and get me a female village workers.
a pleasant looking one if you would.


The General looks at the tank and back at the officer realizing that Lycan is not struggling.

Korean General: dont you think he has had enough?

The officer looking at his men gives the signal to raise him out of the tank. Lycan hoisted out groans as the chains bite into his skin.. Angry with hate in his eyes Lycan stares at the Korean Officers as he plans to make them suffer when their time comes. Lycan twisting in the air watches the two men walk away ignoring the soldiers who approach and prod him with life wires as he fights off the involuntary muscle spasms from the electrocution.


Night time has fallen the interrogators have left Lycan hanging in the cold night air too exhausted to continue his torture. Lycan opens his eyes reflecting moonshine as he looks around the camp taking note of the camp security, if they have any hope of succeeded they have to do it under the cover of night. Sgt Major crawling into the camp as he avoids the few village workers and camp sentries. The last couple of days have been used to find the holes in their security and patterns of the camp personal making it easier to get through and what to expect, it helps to also have a shared internal com link.

Lycan: do not harm any of the soldiers at least not till the change over for the night shift.

Sgt Major: affirmative.
standing bye for further instructions.


Sgt major lies beneath a korean army truck watching the camp soldiers walking through for change over. Sgt Major listening to them speak, laugh and smoke. intuitively Sgt Major knows the time right down to the second thanks to the implant as he keeps an internal timer running to keep track of the sunrise and the next change over. 8 hours to kill the General get the P.O.W.'s out and get as far away as possible before the camp army comes after them.

Lycan still hanging from the chain keeps his head lowered as the two new sentries assigned to him and the prisoner pen report for duty. The two too busy talking and laughing, their backs turned from Lycan not perceiving him as a threat. Lycan raises his head looking at the back of the men as he contemplates killing them without making any noise knowing if he breaks free he will splash into the water, annoyed he refrains from breaking free.

Sgt Major running through the camp carrying Lycan's gear hides it behind a tent as he makes his way through the officer's Camp Area, small wooden shacks wired with electricity.. the shacks slightly lifted off the ground the pillars giving support from the swampy loose ground, Sgt Major watches from the shadows as he sees the Village girls turned into sex slaves and prostitutes enter and leave the officer's living quarters. Sgt Major patiently waits as he sniffs the air as he locks on to his target's scent sifting through musk of the various individuals. He waits as he sees a door open and the Korean General inviting the village girl into his shack.

Sgt Major: got em...

turning away he realizes the girl and the General will be busy for a while and decides to head back toward Lycan and the prisoners.. Lycan slightly twisting on the chain decides to speak Korean to the two soldiers in front of him smoking a cigarette.

Lycan: you boys, mind if i ask for a smoke?

The soldiers turn around to respond to Lycan.

soldiers: yeh, we do mind........

before they can finish raising their voice in annoyance and finishing the sentence a shadowy figure from behind them moves with lightning speed snapping one of the soldier's neck and cracking open the other soldier's skull like an egg shell.. The soldier's fall silently to the ground never knowing what killed them their rifles never having been fired in self defense, The shadowy figure steps forward as he stares at Lycan and whispers.

Sgt Major: need a hand?

Sgt Major walks toward a pillar on the side of the tank as he unhooks the chain and quietly drops Lycan into the water tank, Lycan fully submerged snaps the chains as he climbs out of the tank, reaching down he grabs the still lid cigarette and takes a deep puff before flicking it into the water tank..

Lycan: thanks, "Chong."
really needed that..

Lycan turns to look at the Sgt Major who is quietly opening the cage to release the P.O.W.'s who are sleeping. 13 in all plus 5 Korean prisoners. Sgt Major wakes each of them nudging their shoulder and quickly placing his hand on their mouth and a finger over his own for silence..

Sgt Major: Shh..

The P.O.W.'s looking over their shoulder see the two dead soldiers and Lycan standing over them and for a split second see Lycan's eyes shine catching the moonlight before Lycan turns away.. Lycan strips the korean soldiers of their uniform throwing it to the prisoners in the cage.

Lycan: two of you put these on.
Sgt Major get moving get them out of here.


Sgt Major : The General's shack is at the end of the camp. it is the middle one from the.....

Lycan: i'll find him.

Sgt Major: your equipment is placed in the back of tent behind two drum barrels, from the second tent role.

One of the korean prisoners wakes up and notices what is happening and speaks..

Korean prisoner: take me with you, pls..
i'll scream if you dont..

as the korean prisoner speaks others begin to wake up.. Lycan annoyed opens up the cage pulls out the prisoner so that the others can see what he is about to do.

Korean Prisoner: dont be stupid.
you know what will happen.

without remorse Lycan snaps his neck as he looks at the other prisoners.

Lycan: we will not be blackmailed or extorted nor compromised.
is that understood? ( the prisoner's shake their head in fear).
you will all come but do not try what this idiot tried.

Sgt Major begins to make his way alongside Lycan the prisoners quiet and scared as they watch the two americans sneaking through the dark killing the sentries and soldiers without making any noise.. efficiently without remorse they remove their clothes as they bring them back to the prisoners so that they can blend end with the camp and make it easier to leave unnoticed. Lycan reaching the tent with his gear begins to put on his equipment, custom flak jacket, gloves, rifles and special alloy k-bars and side arm.


The group reaching the outskirts through the swampy rice field try to walk out past the few villagers who look up to see in the dark hard to make out figures leaving the camp into the jungle.. they ignore them as they see the rifles and uniform believing them to be camp soldiers off for patrols..

Lycan: now leave head West, 80 miles from here you will be in american controlled area.
Sgt Major, help them, get them started do not stop.

Sgt Major: roger.

Lycan turns away as he heads back into the camp to complete the mission and will take joy in killing not just the Korean General but the Officer.

.............

[Khaos King]

Lycan back in the Camp glides through the shadows easily evading the guards the dead bodies he left behind moved out of sight, Lycan's eyes shining reflecting the moonlight as he makes it back to the Officer living area. Sniffing the air he locks unto the scent on the night breeze like a visible trail he sees where it leads into a small shack middle of the other shacks. his eyes turn red as his infrared vision kicks in and sees the body heat radiating from behind the wooden shacks. The General moving around with another figure small, petite a young village girl. Lycan looks to the other shacks some doing the same as the one before, finally he sees a figure inside his shack alone and sniffs the air recognizing the scent and smiles as he stealthily crosses the open area to the shack.

Lycan waiting biding his time hides beneath the floor board and waits till no one can see as he steps out from beneath the shack to knock on the door.

Korean Officer: who's there?!

Lycan mimicking a high nasal korean voice accent responds.

Lycan: the General wishes to give you something, Sir.

The officer annoyingly answers the door and is immediately shocked at the person before him, the Officer gasp for air to scream only to be silent by Lycan as he grips his throat and cuts off his scream.. Lycan lifting him up walks into the shack closing the door and carrying the officer who is struggling trying to break his grip. Lycan looking around sees the officer's small desk military plans, journals and pictures of his girlfriend or wife and other pictures of a small child..

Lycan: what is this?
Wife, sister, Girlfriend?
you have children?

Lycan reaching into the desk picks up the picture as he shows it to the Officer, the Officer desperate pulls out a small knife and stabs Lycan on the side of his stomach hitting his liver. Lycan looks down and back up at the officer and frowns, that wasnt very nice, the officer than stabs Lycan on the side of his face shattering the blade as it hits his nano covered alloyed skull. The officer looks in horror as the wound closes before his eyes and Lycan stares at him his eyes turning red as his face becomes partially distorted taking on a feral like appearance his ears becoming leaf like and his canines growing as he speaks.

The Officer Gasping struggling to speak..

Officer: you're a demon.......

Lycan: if am, what does that make you?
why would i be here?

Officer: i had no choice. i fight for my country for my family... gasp..

Lycan: does that include killing and murdering defenseless prisoners?
executing them like rabid animals, do you not have any remorse?

Officer: if i do not, others will and i would be joining them....
pls dont kill me..
i have a family..

Lycan: better you died with them than return to your family with blood stained hands.
what do you tell them of what you do?

Officer: this is war, people die....

Lycan: yes, ppl do die in war in battle on the field.
it shouldnt be by executions in camps by defenseless prisoners, beaten and broken, starved and used as slave labor.

Officer: This is our country, we decide our destiny not some outside government.
they dont care about us, why should we care about them?...

Lycan having heard enough snaps his neck dropping his lifeless body on the ground, Lycan stares at the lifeless body and mumbles as he stares at the pictures and the people on them turning them around reading the message written on the back. Lycan's implant scans the picture the faces and message storing it into it's data banks.

Lycan: you should have cared, we should have all cared....

Lycan walks over the body as he opens the door to peer out to see if anyone is around turning off the shacks lights allowing him to hide in the darkness. as he walks out he is flooded by memories slamming him into his consciousness, he sees himself surrounded by fellow Marines and soldiers entering a familiar looking compound during winter . the ground covered in ice as his boots cracks it under his weight, He remembers looking around as he sees tall soldiers in black uniforms being lined up and escorted out from the camp. He remembers opening a door and bodies piled on top of each other, He sees small movement beneath the bodies as he slides them off as he reaches in and carefully lifting the person up , he sees a small child. he remembers the hate and rage the burning tears as he holds the child covering her up in his jacket offering his rations as he hands her off to the medic before marching off toward the C.O. in charge of the camp. He sees the C.O. who smiles back at the approaching american Ssgt who gets tackled by his own men while his Gunnery Sgt offers the C.O. amnesty for Intel authorized by the american command.


All of a sudden he's back in the Korean camp the memory subsiding as he steps into the night to finish his mission and eliminate his target, He crawls underneath the shacks making his way to the General's and waits for the village girl to leave. He waits and stares through the floor board watching the two bodies generating heat that allows him to see them, hours pass before the village girl finally crawls out of bed, grabbing her clothes as she leaves. Finally Lycan can finish the mission , Lycan pulls out his knife as he cuts the floor board like butter silently removing them pushing them aside as he climbs into the shack. Lycan stares at the General sleeping not sure if he should kill him in his sleep or allow him to know who killed him. Lycan extents one of his finger claws as he swipes it across the General's throat, The Korean General wakes up gasping for air as he gurgles on his own blood.

The General instinctively grabs the person next to him believing it to be the village girl as he looks up he sees the american prisoner from earlier staring down at him with red glowing eyes as he dies with fear, Lycan watches making sure his body ceases functioning......