OMNI-CORP INTERNAL COMMUNICATION...
PRIORITY: DELTA-RED
TO: Director Corsus
FROM: Commander Alren Vos, Avansen Ground Command
SUBJECT: D-77A Viral Convoy Interception – URGENT
Director,
We’ve lost the last shipment before it made it off-world. BioMech had us outgunned and outmaneuvered by a two-to-one margin.
Convoy D-77A was slated for departure from the Baloen spaceport, but the site fell to enemy hands. We rerouted through Sector Nine under heavy sensor scramble, but it wasn’t enough. The aeroship escort went down mid-route, and even two KT-86s were found dismantled nearby.
We don’t know how BioMech caught wind, but we suspect superman involvement—nothing else makes any damn sense. Wherever BioMech operates, they follow like loyal hounds, as you well know.
Reinforcements did little. I intervened personally when they failed, but by the time my unit broke through there was nothing left but ash. The containment crate had been ruined and its contents burned. No intact samples remain.
Several guards were infected—early-stage transformation—but as usual, the virus didn’t stabilize. They mutated, seized, and died without ceremony it seems. What remnants of evidence the enemy didn’t purge, we did. Our due diligence.
As far as we can tell, the infection was contained. That’s the good news. The bad news… is what came after.
We left a recon drone to monitor the site, and it recorded several figures—those Shadows—wafting through the flames like smoke. Robed. Masked. Even though the drone was hidden atop a cloudbreaker, they found it almost immediately. We barely recalled it in time.
If they were there to secure the crate, then he sent them. I’ve purged the logs, and no one outside my senior officers knows anything of note.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Pardon my candor, Director, but I’m grateful we lost this world outright. Our tactical retreat puts distance between myself and him, allowing me time to placate his rage. I only wish The Board would consult the Directorate. I’m almost certain they could fish him out, the parasite in our guts. But that’s wishful thinking, I suppose.
Awaiting orders,
–Commander Vos
Former Avansen Ground Command
OMNI-CORP INTERNAL COMMUNICATION...
PRIORITY: DELTA-RED
TO: Commander Alren Vos
FROM: [REDACTED]—relayed via Director Corsus
SUBJECT: RE: D-77A Viral Convoy Interception – URGENT
Commander Vos,
Your candor is noted. As is your survival.
I am aware of the loss. The circumstances surrounding the convoy’s failure are disappointing, but not unexpected. I would rather the shipment be destroyed than captured.
You were right to purge the evidence. Wise to scrub the footage. But know that there is no distance between me and you. I’m over your shoulder, under your bed, the flicker of darkness at the corner of your eye.
And you’re right again, I will require placation.
An agent will arrive within the week. They will not identify themselves, but you will accommodate them and their task. If you wish to live long enough to lose another planet, I suggest you display your finest military bearing.
Scrub this message from your systems. Then scrub whatever thoughts of escape you’ve entertained.
P.S. Director Corsus cannot save you, and neither can the Directorate.
Not from us.
