In the Far-Eastern front of the world lies Aus=Eras, in the current language, it translates to Basilisk's Lies. It was not because such a mythical creature took shelter and made it its home, nor does the mythical creature known as the Basilisk lives there to lie towards unsuspecting guests nor visitors. It was named as such because it was once a prosperous town under the leadership of its chief. Until it became industrialized and slowly filled with corruption, what was once a prosperous town then slowly turned into a hybrid of a wasteland and a ghost town.

Indeed, corruption always took place when something is being industrialized or being turned into a profit for the many and the selected few who manages it. This is unavoidable in a sentient and intelligent society that has their own free will on how to wield their lives as they see fit. Either way, this would not stop the corrupted few to grant their desires with the exploitation of various factors.

After and during a large-scale strife is taking place in the region of the Far-Eastern Front, the once desolated ghost town was demolished and turned into a private military operating base. When the large-scale strife continued to exist, the private military that owns the base was then replaced by a military unit of the nation "Ultrea" that has the town originally within their borders, due to various domestic and foreign issues regarding the geographical standpoint of the location.

This tactical location has the benefit of a Maritime logistical ease due to the town adjacent to the Relian Sea that connects to the Klause Ocean. However, the salty nature of the sea explains the lack of underwater life such as fishes. Aside from that however, the location also acts as an logistic point in the mainland of the Ultrean Nation, connecting towards three cities and two other military bases. However, at the current, the civilian logistic is suspended indefinitely due to the conflict in the Far-Eastern Front, it is recommended for civilians to use the civilian maritime transport instead.

Another additional benefit of the location is the 4 kilometer of flat land, with little to no hills. This implies a high level potential of denying enemy infiltrators and black bag operatives. However, this also means that just outside the 8 kilometer of flat land means that it is susceptible to long-range reconnaissance and artillery bombardment.

However, it is by no means that Ultrea is unable to counter them. In fact, the nation of Ultrea is one of the top in terms of military might. They have the capacity to develop and create their own military technology, specializing in high-velocity and minimal time  operations to ease their economic prowess of their war economy while also maintaining their domestic economic prowess. However, if there is one weakness they have...

"They can't do well in night warfare? That's seems too good to be true." A man said as he looked at the Basilisk Compound - The new name that was bestowed at the militarized section of the region, through his goggles, that zoomed in at the compound.

The individual and the team are currently within the mountain tops, just outside the rumored "kill zone" of the compound by a few kilometers away. They were gathering intelligence and performing ground recon on the state of the compound. The compound is shown to have at least a thousand personnel, including the auxiliary and miscellaneous related work individuals.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? GET DOWN!" Shouted another man as he pulled the man that was looking through the goggles, the rest of his team are currently finding cover within the mountain tops just outside the flat land region of the sector. The pair then ran for cover while the compound is shown to have four structures in it slowly raising and then aimed towards the group. The four structures- shown to be static heavy artillery; fired three consecutive times.

The mountain top team ran for cover as the high explosive shells rained down on the mountains, setting a part of the mountain top ablaze. It could be seen that the team from earlier was completely decimated. Meanwhile on the compound, an individual is currently staring at the screen showing an aerial view of the compound alongside its surroundings. This individual has received a notification of something using a recon device on the compound, naturally, as per protocol, the individual has to strike back, the compound is a high value target after all, and the general public has been notified that it is a shoot on sight property, thus, more the reason to execute the protocol. Had it been a basic tool without the advanced functions of a recon device, it wouldn't been detected.

"Direct hit, sending Fox patrol team." The individual said as the person looked around to see his fellow colleagues focused on their respective roles, while the individual's superior nodded towards the individual's actions. Upon seeing this, the individual typed in the various keys as if executing the actions.

On another part of the compound lies a hangar which opened to reveal two armored vehicles roaring their engines as they go out. The two vehicles have a single turret that are manned, the rear vehicle that is following the lead is towing a two wheeled machinery. The two vehicles then proceed their way to the destination, leaving the compound and leaving behind a small dust storm as they proceed throughout the deserted terrain.

On the blazing mountain top that slowly extinguished.

"What the hell!? Were you not briefed about the anti-recon system the compound has or did that factor slipped out of your mind?!" The man reprimanded the person who made a blunder during their recon mission. Without waiting for the reprimanded individual, the man then followed up with a "Forget it, count who's missing! We're immediately leaving within 5 minutes! Ultrea are fast movers! We also need to deliver information that the kill zone radius has increased!" after saying so, the leader then checked his surroundings for those who are unfortunate enough to be caught in the explosion and fire. They simply need to return back information that the kill zone radius has increased, that in itself is a threat already. They cannot use communication devices as Ultrea has advanced technology in tracing sources and they could instantly be found out the moment they did so.

As two minutes passed by, only five of the originally eight have stood. Three has been caught in the explosion and fire. Seeing this, the leader clicked his tongue as he immediately gave his command "We're withdrawing! Bine and Lores, get their ID's and bury their weapons, but get their mags. The others get their mags too! Ultrea might arrive anytime soon! Now move!"

The recon units quickly done what they are supposed to do before the Ultrean patrol unit arrived. They readied their weapons and began fleeing from the scene. Leaving the three lightly charred corpses of their allies behind.

Meanwhile, the Ultrean patrol unit Fox has arrived at the mountain side. The vehicle stopped while turret gunners on their vehicles stood cautious and alarmed as two soldiers from the rear vehicle dismounted and rushed towards the machine that is being towed. They then operated the machine for a few seconds before the machine's left and right side opened, revealing six drones per side, twelve in total. These drones then activated as the machine protruded an antenna on its top. A clear sign of these drones are continuously operating as long as the antenna's signal is online. It can be seen that there are four drones similar and eight drones that are also similar to each other, these are the recon and attack drones respectively. At the same time, a man on the lead vehicle began to speak while holding a device.

"Bishop, this is Fox-Actual, we're deploying the drones. Are attack drones authorized?"

"Bishop copies, attack drones are authorized as per protocol. Investigate the perimeter and if needed, capture any suspicious individuals and if they have the ability to retaliate, you are allowed to terminate them."

"Fox-Actual copies, proceeding. Fox 7, Fox 8. Attack drones are authorized."

The two soldiers then kept operating the machine, within their helmets visor can be seen a head's up display. The drones then flew towards the mountain top. It wasn't long until the drones found the charred remains of the three recon soldiers from the eight man recon unit. Another drone swarm continued as it saw the footprints and followed.

"This is Fox 7. We have visual on three corpses! The recon drones have spotted footprints not far from the corpses, footprints indicate five individuals. Marking the footprints and linking on my feed." The man said as his HUD showed the direction outline of the footprints and the charred corpses. The footprints continued away from the mountain tops

"This is Fox 8, marking and linking to my feed. I've found the five individuals, they're returning fire! They have no noticeable  identifications! They're black operatives! Marking it on the whole unit! Returning to the vehicle!" The man replied as he operated the machine as the drones returned fire as well with the exception of two drones, which are the recon and observation drones.

The two soldiers entered the vehicle and the two vehicles began to accelerate once again. This time, their direction, location and objectives are now clear.

On the other side. The five soldiers fired upon the drones that are also firing upon them. The leader of the soldiers issued a command; "Fire the airburst EMP grenades!" Two of his soldiers readied the under grenade launchers and fired the airburst EMP grenades while under the heavy suppression of the drones. The EMP grenades created a arc as it traveled on the air and exploded, unleashing an spherical electric field that lasted momentarily. Most of the drones were then fried and shut down. "The drones can only fire 60 bullets per drone! Prioritize covering!"

The five soldiers switched from cover to cover while under the fire of the drones, these five soldiers are unable to be hit even once due to their heightened senses and under the guidance of their leader. Slowly but surely, the drone's intensity on attacking stopped. However, that meant that the main force is arriving soon. The drones were supposed to be a disposable suppressive fire system that is designed to hold out the enemy forces to prevent their advancement or retreat until the soldiers of Ultrea arrives.

"Damn it! Fire another volley of EMP! We're not risking to be captured!" The leader ordered his men to fire their EMP grenades, the two men from earlier did as told as they loaded another EMP grenade into their under barrel launchers and fired. This time, most of the drones were taken out, leaving only a single attack drone and a pair of recon drones. The singular attack drone shortly withdrew from the area while the recon drones increased their altitude. Seeing this, the leader shouted; "To the rendezvous point!". His fellow team members nodded as they quickly made their way towards another deserted ghost town, far way from the sights of the Basilisk compound, but a short distance from the mountains...

"Fox-Actual, this is Fox 8. We've lost combat effectiveness on the drones, we only have an empty attack and two recon drones left. The enemy squad is leading towards a militia occupied base."

"Let the recon drone continue following them from the skies. Mark the targets and the militia then link their real time coordinates to our HUDs. Although our armaments might be insufficient, we're going to kill two birds with one stone."

The Ultrean army cleared out the location a few months ago, however, it was recently occupied by a medium-sized militia force whose individuals varied from place to place, and there is one thing among them that is common, and that is the fact that these militias are also marauders and plunderers. However, one thing for them is that they know which ones to avoid and which one to attack of their targets.

The five man recon team sprinted with their enhanced bodies towards the town, while soon, the two vehicles and the Fox unit spotted the enemy squad. 

"This is Fox 11! I've spotted the enemy formation! Tri-firing!" "This is Fox 12! I report the same!" The two turret gunners immediately opened fired at the five man recon team. The tri-barreled turret unleashed flames as each individual barrel launched out small projectiles that figuratively formed a wall of lead against the enemy squad, unfortunately, most of the shots were not hitting due to the fact that the turrets tri-barrel mode is focused on suppression. 

Grains of lead kept hitting the ground near the five member team however, due to the assistance of their gadgets and their enhanced physical attributes and senses, they are able to avoid most of the bullets, with the exception of some bullets directly hitting on their armor that deflected it or absorbed it, shattering that specific part. Nonetheless, it can be seen that no one in the recon team was injured or damaged in any way aside from their armor.

"Shots are hit but absorbed." The man on the lead vehicle said as he kept firing the turret while his visor zoomed into the five man squad.

"This is Fox-Actual, Fox 11, Fox 12, stop firing. We don't want to rile up the militia too much and force them to request for reinforcements from the neighboring marauders. We're sweeping them instantly. Fox 11, Fox 12, standby on vics and act as suppressors. Fox 9, Fox 10. Drivers, coordinate with your turret gunners. The rest, dismount and engage your neural sharing with output of low threshold with visual perception active only. Use the recon drones to our advantage."

The Fox squad leader halted the vehicles as he and the rest of the squad dismounted from their vehicles and begin sprinting on the same level as the five man team from earlier, this time, they're rushing towards the militia occupied ghost town. As they're rushing, the Fox team leader interacted with something on his neck, the other team members did the same thing. As each one of them operated something on their neck, they felt a slight feeling of seeing a viewpoint that is supposed to be from someone else. Each individual soldier has the slight feeling of seeing a viewpoint of five different people, except themselves.

This was Ultrea's secret of high-speed and minimal time assault operations, nicknamed "Second". Second was solely developed by Ultrea only, it was meant to share senses among soldiers in the battlefield with the exception of pain to increase coordination among team members to another level. Combined with the joint project of several nations developing the enhanced physical attributes project. They're a force to be reckoned with. However, due to the mental burden and the brain processing load of the Second project, it was only solely distributed to soldiers whose mental threshold limits are top of the top. In other words, the toughest special operation forces within Ultrea.

As an added precautionary measure, the technology is only used on heavily investigated soldiers and confirmed Ultrean nationals born within Ultrea and spent at least 25 years within the country continuously. This is to prevent any leakage of the technology, even the slightest information leakage is to be treated as a state of emergency within the Ultrean military and mobilizes its entire dedicated information experts to hide, obscure and replace the leakage. Although this has never happened before, when it truly happens, the entire Ultrean military will investigate officials related to the Second project within a twenty year span. The country was nicknamed in the underworld as a "Warlord" for a reason after all.

The five man black operative squad saw the Ultrean Squad sprinting at them, their speed can easily be as fast as a car just like the black operatives. It could be seen that Ultrea and this unknown squad's origin are collaborators in a project due to the reason that they have the same enhanced bodies granting them near superhuman capabilities. Only 28 countries were involved in enhanced physical attributes project after all, and Ultrea is one of them. The recon squad immediately fired upon the Ultrean squad, one of them got hit but was absorbed by the armor their wearing, still no sign of suppression can be seen on their expressions, seeing this, the recon squad entered the ghost town.

"Bishop, this is Fox-Actual, we're sweeping the militia camp and proceeding to capture the black bag operatives. We only have recon drones operational, the rest are down. I request area saturation with smoke in the militia camp as marked by drones."

"Fox-Actual, this is Bishop. Roger that, we're launching high-speed aerial launcher swarm. ETA 10 seconds. Out."

As soon as the person overseeing the squad said it, the individual immediately made preparations. As soon as the person did, on another part of the base. A hangar's gate adjacent to a runway immediately opened as two objects immediately launched itself from within the gate, staying on the runway for less than a second then propelled upwards, heading towards the skies.

No sooner just as the radio went out, the two objects can be seen as a small dot on the skies, then the object's silhouette  grew larger as a sound also grew more intense, then as if lightning, the whole area was immediately covered with smoke.

"On target, we're proceeding immediately. Use your visors." Fox-Actual said on the communication device as he and his team finally reached and entered the ghost town. The town was desolate however, gunfire can be heard from almost all directions as the local militia were riled up and attempted to find and fire upon who disturbed them.

It was a mess. The militia are in disorder while the two military squads kept their composure and fought off the militia who were unfortunate enough to stand in their way. The five man black operative were slowed down and took some damage by the smoke and their cautiousness were raised up within the town, while the fox squad also suffered by the damage although it was minimal as it can be.

"Remember, we're sweeping this town while we're pursuing. As per doctrine and protocol on sweeping militia camps, we leave none alive, no matter who they are. Fireteams that are on the outer perimeter, suppress the escaping militia and kill them." The team leader of the fox squad said on his communication devices towards the four squad members outside the ghost town, as soon as they heard it, their vehicles immediately move towards areas which could be used as escape points and readied their guns.

Some militia were as expected by the outer perimeter squad, were gunned down the moment they were seen escaping from the heavily smoked area. Some militia who saw this seen went back within the heavily smoked town just to encounter the two squads that were fighting fierce; a squad that is fighting to ensure their escape, and a squad that annihilates anything they see within their sights. This is a massacre of the local militia that set this town as their base of operations for their modus operandi. The sounds of gunfire were contesting each other in this ghost town turned battlefield

A couple of minutes within the ghost town, the obnoxiously loud gunfire within the town were slowly dimming in volume. As a couple of gunfire can only be heard in some while. The smell of  corpses was spreading everywhere within the town and an air of death can be felt. 

"Let this be set as an example to those who thinks of operating their forces within our borders. Their gods may forgive them, but the military of Ultrea will not. We are merciless when we begin our battles." The leader of the Fox squad unit muttered to himself as his squad approached a plaza within the town, boxes of various ammunition and barrels of water can be seen from within as their contents. Most of objects in the area were actually messy due to the sudden attack of the two squads.

Suddenly, the Fox squad leader immediately ducked as a bullet went flying past where his head should had been, he immediately fired a shot only to see the silhouette fade away. The squad leader took notice of a nearby grenade launcher from the plaza's numerous crates then fired a grenade towards the direction. The grenade soon exploded and a scream can be heard before it immediately went silent, however a grenade was thrown back towards the Fox squad from where it has recently exploded. The fox squad members immediately went to cover as he 

"Spread out! These are the black operatives! Use the buildings and surroundings!" Soon, the fox squad members immediately spread out within the thick heavy smoke. Using their enhanced bodies, they jumped from the floor then towards the roof of buildings, then proceed to make chase.

"Damn it! My left arm to the shoulder is burned, my emergency painkillers kicked in!" A member of the black bag operatives said as he continuously poured water on his wounds from his canteen bottle as he and his squad members ran between the alleys of the town.

"Where's our getaway!? We can't risk getting out of here without being killed by their vehicles!" A team member said as a bullet struck him in the back, however, it was absorbed by his armor. No sooner his armor fell and broke apart due to the amount of hits taken.

"It's just outside of this place! We're risking it! There should be anti-armor weapons here!" Said the team leader as he shot his rifle towards the roof and some alleys as his senses tell him too, he already experienced some of it once, and a bullet comes towards his way if he did not shot his rifle.

"From the outdated technology of the local militia!?" Another team member of the squad questioned back as he shot his rifle against a fox squad member on the roof, the fox squad member was hit as he can be seen bleeding but he brushed it off by continuously shooting.

"Fox 6 here, Currently shot on the bicep but combat capable, bleeding out within some hours." The fox member said as he followed the group while firing, although he is still combat capable, his accuracy has lowered due to the injury.

"Fox-Actual, roger that, all squad members, prioritize treatment when shot." The squad leader let out on his communication device as he shot his rifle towards the very front recon enemy.

"They're still weapons! And we don't need to destroy them! We only need to disable their vehicles by one way or--- Damn! Or another! Left Alley! Grains! Place a charge at the back! Others, Don't split up! These guys seem to have a technology to instantly knows where each one of us is! Another left alley!" Replied back the squad leader towards his squad as he was struck on the helmet, however, his helmet saved him from directly hitting his skull. He brushed off the concussion that was made from the bullet.

A squad member placed a very thin cylindrical object behind him as he was the rear of the squad, no sooner just as they turned, a fox member followed from behind. Swiftly the cylindrical object jumped upwards and seemingly homed into the fox member, a large explosion soon occurred. The remains of the fox member were only bits and pieces.

"We've lost Fox 7. Continue pursuing." "We got one! Grains! A charge on the right alley! We're heading straight!" The two squads leaders communicated on their respective team members as a recon squad member threw another thin cylindrical object that soon jumped and homed towards two fox members that were hiding within the alley.  One of the fox members currently has his knife stabbed on the neck of a dead militia. Presumably a straggler unlucky enough to encounter the fox members. The fox member immediately pulled out his knife from the neck of the dead militia and pushed the corpse towards the homing object, the two then quickly took cover as a huge explosion occurred.

Fortunately for the fox team members, they only felt heat from the explosion and resumed their chase. As soon as they turned a corner. They swiftly open fired at the backs of the recon squad, one member of the recon squad ended up being shot in an unarmored part of his body at his thigh, the member screamed but shortly went silent as his emergency painkillers injected into his body.

"Just go and leave me behind! The mission is the priority! Let this be my punishment for being a fool for getting our cover blown!" The squad member shouted towards the squad as they continued running. The recon squad leader glanced at his squad member and nodded before continuing with his squad members.

"Go! Take the sturdiest cover you can find!" The squad leader commanded

"COME AND GET ME! YOU ULTREANS!" The fallen squad member screamed as he noticed two approaching members of the fox squad attempting to apprehend him by drawing out their non-lethal firearms for capturing. As soon as they were near, he crushed an object within his molar.

A huge explosion incomparable to earlier was made, pushing off some of the heavy smoke. What lies in the ground zero was only a medium sized crater, the buildings surrounding the explosion were slowly crumbling. Most of the pursuing fox members were injured by this blast, fortunately for the recon squad, they were able to find the cover they needed within the time and minimized their injuries.

"We've lost Fox 5 and 6, increase aggression!"

"Anti-Armor near the exit!" One of the squad member of the recon squad said as he picked up a launcher just next to a dead militia, coincidentally, a vehicle of the Fox squad appeared and opened fired upon them just as the recon squad member picked up the launcher. The whole squad took cover from the vehicle's turret while the other recon squad members were suppressing the Fox members that are jumping from roof to roof.

"Clear back-blast!" "Clear!" "Fire in the hole!" The members said in continuous execution as the squad members relocated themselves as they reply and moved, the squad member then fired the anti-armor launcher, it's projectile swiftly heading towards the vehicle

"Anti-Armor! Steer clear!" The gunner on the vehicle said towards the driver from below, however, it was too late. The propelled rocket struck the vehicle on the side, the vehicle then turned over its side with the gunner crawling out from the turret and the gunner.

Seeing this chance, the recon squad immediately made a dash towards the sands, the squad leader then halted then checked his surroundings, particularly looking for something before the leader activated a device and soon after, a slight tremor can be felt as vehicle suddenly ruptured out of the ground. The vehicle's appearance takes after a caterpillar, instead of the segments however, this vehicle is slick in design with a cockpit in front of it, all around the cockpits were various outlines of objects for something.

"Cover fire while mounting!" The squad leader said as he opened the vehicle and soon the machine's back door opened. The squad leader entered first as he provided cover fire for his squad members, the Ultrean squad were continuing to pour down lead towards the vehicle. A recon squad member was shot in the side and continued bleeding, he briefly screamed before he began to calm down and began to shoot back.

"We're taking too much casualties. Bishop, this is Fox-Actual, they have self-destruction devices that prevents capture, we've lost three fox members and a vehicle, they have their vehicle ready to exfil. Please advice." The Fox squad leader spoke to his communication device.

"..." Bishop remained silent for a while, making the Fox squad leader frown as he continues to shoot the vehicle's occupants.

"...Disengage, retreat back, gather the tags of your squad members if possible. Send in a mark on the enemy vehicle." Bishop replied after remaining silent for a while, the Fox squad leader remained silent as Bishop replies.

"...Roger that. We're heading back." The Fox Squad Leader ended transmission. The Fox squad leader looked ahead for a while, before giving an order to mark the vehicle. The Fox squad leader then ordered the retreat. Upon mentioning this, the squad member halted their offensive against the vehicle, not before firing a mark on the vehicle.

"Mark has been set. We're retreating! Gather your fallen allies!" The fox squad leader immediately began to retreat while signaling the vehicle that was still kicking alive and well to rally at the squad's position. The squad members gathered their identifications

The squad then entered the vehicle as the enemy's transport burrowed beneath the surface.

The fox squad leader has the tendency to ask questions, however. He wouldn't question his officer because of the deaths of his squad members. It is normal for his squad members to be alive and well and at the next moment, dead. They've signed the contract after all...

Meanwhile at a hidden location lies a command center. A individual lies in front of a green wall of text in their monitor. He suddenly received an encrypted message from Basilisk compound.

"Commander, I've received report from Basilisk compound. A foreign unit has been spotted performing reconnaissance. A Second transplanted squad was sent but to no avail, the foreign unit escaped. Their escape vehicle suggests that it is the military from Linpos. The vehicle has been marked, and the escape vehicle is outside of their territory's jurisdiction." The individual looked at his back to see a person sitting on a chair just along his aisle.

"...If they haven't captured them, their soldiers have the ability to go toe to toe with our Second soldiers, or they have self destruct devices. I suppose the vehicle has been marked, yes? Send a strategic aircraft with enough payload to blow the foreign unit alongside a kilometer around it to smithereens. As for information leak, cover it as a suspected terrorist weapon cache containing WMDs that accidentally discharged. As for the Second squad, send a recall to training at them." The person said straightly as they wrote on the report that they currently have.

As the command center is busy with various reports, the subordinate responded with a salute and sent down the order at the chain of command. As soon as the order was sent, a nearby aircraft can be seen rearming and igniting its thrusters...

Started at an unknown time on the 8th of October, 2021.

Ended at 9:42 AM on the 6th of December, 2021