Something's not right, it's too quiet... Thomas thought as the silence seemed to wash over the empty clearing in front of him. This is supposed to be a hotspot for the spies, where are they? The wind blew softly through the abandoned grassy field, making him uneasy. Taking his hand off his laser rifle, Thomas squeezed his fingers together activating the heads up display menu on his palm. Pressing the sensors from his pinky, thumb, and middle finger, he unlocked the device which revealed three icons; a house, a phone, and a nuke. Pressing the phone icon, a loud ringing began to echo in his helmet.

"What's the weather like out there?" A deep, gruffy voice asked the second their line was established.

"Bloody, and full of rain," Thomas replied rolling rolling his eyes. "Whoever comes up with these stupid pass phrases really needs to go out and check their own damn weather."

"Go for one, Alpha, what's the situation." The deep voice asked, ignoring his remark.

"It's empty, there's nothing here. The hotspot was a fake." Thomas replied, looking around, again seeing nothing. "Requesting a return to base. Something seems off."

"Permission denied, objective remains the same. Find the hotspot and eliminate it. Our scanner's show a massive camp directly in front of you, magical warding could be hiding it from you." The voice offered, "Suggested course of action would be to activate those implants you're so proud of."

"My eyes?" Thomas questioned, looking around the empty field. "Are you sure your scanner is right? My implants aren't meant for magic detection."

"Just try it," The man demanded in an annoyed tone.

Thomas forced his eyes closed before opening them widely. A large encampment filled with tents came into view as his eyes dilated. "Base located," He said bewildered at the massive camp. "Attempting information extraction and destruction of all hostiles. Contact will be reestablished in t-minus two hours."

"Good luck. Over and out." The voice clicked out and Thomas let out a sigh.

My trigger finger is itchy, and it's time to purge the world of these two-faced Cantorian loving spies! Thomas thought as he looked around into the camp. "You know," He began to mumble to himself as he lifted his mask just wide enough to spit before lowering it. "You were at one point the best spy network our military ever had. It's a shame you started giving information to the enemy. Giving us a letter of resignation was like signing your own death warrant!" He checked his assault rifle, the magazine was loaded with a line of bright blue rounds that were jumping around their small cylindrical cases. "And that's why I'm here." He chuckled loading one of the small magazines with a satisfying click. "A pity really..." He said while looking down the scope of his rifle, trying to line up a target. Seeing nobody, a twinge of doubt ran through his mind.

Something's wrong, He thought looking at the camp. There were no sentries, nothing was moving. The whole camp seemed deserted. Something is definitely wrong here. He thought before crawling closer to the site. They have no defenses enacted!

A panicked scream echoed from inside the camp followed by rapid gunshots. "Get away from me demon!" The voice screamed out in fear. "Somebody help me, please!" The cries for help were quickly silenced, and the area fell quiet once more.

Looking through the spaces between the tents, Thomas saw two people step into view. They were only a few feet away from each other, and one was clearly distressed. "Help me, anybody!" Another voice called out breaking the silence.

Thomas sighed and rose from his cover before heading towards the once invisible location. I can still extract information out of him if he's alive! Thomas thought as stealthily crept towards the camp. As he passed the first tent, he almost tripped over a corpse that lay face down in the grass. Looking around, Thomas saw dozens of corpses all wearing the same brown garb and all face down. Looking back at the pair in front of him, he noticed one reach forward and beginning to choke the other. Looking carefully, Thomas noticed the man choking the other was wearing all black. Forcing his eyes shut again, he deactivated his implants to protect his eyes from the blinding light of the shots he was preparing to make. As he pulled his rifle to his shoulder, he looked down the scope. The man in black had a large red logo on the front which sent shivers down his spine; a burning flag and a pile of gold. "Cantorian!" He growled before squeezing the trigger, sending a bolt of blue light in its direction.

"Cute," The Cantorian chuckled as he disappeared. Thomas looked up from his sights to see the monstrosity in black standing in front of him, bending the metal gun in half. "I could hear you talking to yourself from a mile away kid. Just your breathing was enough to give you away." He hissed in a dark wispy voice.

Thomas took a deep breath and closed his eyes, waiting for death. Instead, a painful force of energy forced him to the ground. The Cantorian turned back to the spy casually dismissing Thomas. "I didn't come here to kill you, boy. I have a job, and I intend to complete it. If you get in my way again though, I will kill you, and I won't make it quick." He took a soft breath and began walking towards the spy. As the Cantorian took a few steps forward, he menacingly pulled a knife from his dark robe and pointed it towards the spy. "You, my friend, I will kill quickly. Just tell me where you hid the journal!"

Whatever that journal is, I need to get it before the Cantorian does! Looking at the spy with distaste, Thomas had a small feeling of pity flick through his mind as the brown robes gave him a monk-like figure. "I'm afraid I can't let you kill him." He explained in an attempt to bolster his confidence. The Cantorian turned around and glared at him, his eyes seemingly piercing his soul. "You see, my objective was to gather intel by any means necessary, then destroy the location. So if this journal, or whatever, is a part of their camp, then I have to either hog it or lob it."

The Cantorian continued to look at Thomas with malice, then turned around and started walking towards him, his long cape flowing behind him. "I told you if you interfered again, I would kill you!" He growled as he lifted the knife, the long black cloth in his robes pooling under his boney arm as he aimed the blade up for Thomas' chest.

"I wouldn't do that." Thomas sang out casually making the cloaked creature pause to look Thomas over, the blade inches from his chest.

A guttural rumbling that almost sounded like laughter emanated from the being. "And why wouldn't I? I bent your gun like it was made of cheap plastic. What makes you think you can stop me when you have no weapon?"

"The C-4 I have stacked in my pack..." Thomas replied, silencing the laughter-like sound. "I knew this mission might end in my death, so I rigged it all to blow if my heart stops. Just in case I can't manage to get out of this alive. Now like I said, I can't let you have that journal."

The cloaked creature stood silently before retracting the blade from Thomas's chest, and the two silently began to size each other up and plan their next move. The spy on the ground looked over to Thomas with tears in his eyes. "Y-You are going to blow us all up? You son of a bitch, after all we did to get that journal for you?"

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked, keeping his eyes focused on the cloaked being in front of him.

The spy tried to crawl away stealthily, but the hooded man turned his neck until his head was backwards. With a few cracking sounds, his eyes made direct contact with the spy. "Hold your tongue if you wish to keep it!" He threatened, silencing the spy immediately and forcing him still.

"I feel like you really aren't in a position to make threats here." Thomas replied, continuing his bravado act. Raising the visor on his helmet casually, he began to scratch his forehead, revealing brown eyes, a crooked nose, and small beard stubble. Shutting the visor back down with a casual smirk, he looked back to the Cantorian before letting his hand fall back to his side. "You see I'm the one with the boom-boom here. If you mess up, we'll all go up in smoke, including this precious journal that you're trying so very hard to acquire. I'm sure you think you're invincible just like the other Cantorians, but I know if your kind are sent on a mission to retrieve something that sounds as trivial as a journal. It means there's more than meets the eye. If I blow it up, your leaders wouldn't be very happy now would they?"

The cloaked figure let out a small sigh and returned his head to its original direction with a sickening crack. "Well well, seems you're a big boy after all. Though you don't have the whole picture. You see-" The hooded man paused before splitting into two copies of the same creature, then both spoke in unison. "What you don't get is that the two of us can cut through the sound barrier. I can have my clone rush forward and kill you, then taking your corpse so far away, that we won't even see the explosion from here. Therefore removing both you, and the bundle of explosive playdough your kind seem to enjoy using."

"What's so important about this journal that your masters would send you to go get it? Seems like a milk run to me, maybe you pissed off the wrong person with your snarky attitude?" Thomas joked, trying to keep calm as he tried to think of a countermeasure.

"That's none of your concern." The Cantorian voices replied in unison with a disgruntled growl.

Not good... Thomas thought before pressing his palm to his knuckles, popping them all at the same time activating the emergency contact. Then popped the others to continue the charade. "Well I think, it is my concern. I'm sure am curious to find out about this journal that you're willing to kill for. But I think you should be leaving about now. I have friends coming, and no matter how fast you Cantorian doubles think you are, my friends know how to carpet-bomb places so fast that not even the sound barrier can keep up. So even if you can speed your way out of the range of my playdough, those bombs will destroy you and your freaky twin here." A small acknowledged beep was made as the line disconnected. The Cantorians both looked at the helmet with annoyance, the same distasteful glare in their eyes. Thomas smiled sheepishly as they continued to look at the helmet. "I assume since your hearing is so good, you both heard that. I'd say you have about thirty seconds before a fifty-mile carpet bombing takes place. I suggest you get out of here while you can."

The creatures looked at each other, then nodded their heads as unspoken words passed between them, then looked back over to him with obvious displeasure. "This isn't over soldier boy," They both spoke in unison before merging back into one, then turned around and began running in the other direction so quickly that it seemed like it had simply vanished from view.

"You've killed us both!" The spy cried out in despair. "That journal is worth more than you can even know!"

Thomas glared over at him and unshouldered his backpack. Unzipping the front pocket, he revealed a small silver box. It had a large button on the center, and it glowed with magical power. "Don't shit your pants yet, I still have this. Where's this book you almost died for?"

"The spy looked at the silver box greedily, quickly recognizing it. The man scrambled to his feet,  then sprinted towards Thomas. "I'll go get it, give me the box and we can get out of here!"

"Ha, I'm not stupid!" Thomas replied as he slid the strap back over his shoulder and adjusted his backpack. "We're running out of time traitor. Get the book and come back here. This portable shield will fit us both if we get close." The spy growled, then raced over to a small tent. He pressed what looked like a piece of tent, and a small compartment slid open revealing, a small brown box.

"Ok I got it, let's go!" The spy exclaimed before he raced back towards Thomas, his brown robes flowing. "This is the Flara's greatest weakness, and we finally got it!"

"The Flara? What do the Flara have to do with any of this?" Thomas questioned as he looked at the spy with skepticism.

"That's not important right now! Listen, we knew that if we wanted to root out something as big as the Flara corporation, we needed to go big. So we denounced the allied forces, then infiltrated the company in one big tactical job." He finally got to Thomas as the sound of engines went barreling overhead.

"Good timing," Thomas chided as the spy came to a stop a few steps away. "Another few seconds and you would have been toast!" Thomas put the box on the floor, then tapped the button on top with his foot. The box started to unfasten as a small object protruded from the center before surrounding them with a large energy force that created a large bubble of protection around them. The space was cramped for the two, but it didn't matter.

The second that the bubble fully formed, the whistle of falling bombs began to echo around them. As the bombs connected with the ground and detonated, the device was flung into the air sending the two of them spiraling. "Ow!" The spy cried out as Thomas's body crashed into him, shoving the wooden box into his stomach.

The noise-canceling effect from the inside the beam protected the two as the bombs detonated around them. "Where... are we going?" The spy yelled out between explosions as a bomb detonated directly above them.

"Home!" Thomas shouted out making, the spies face pale. "What's wrong? Scared of going on trial?"

"No!" The spy cried out terrified, "Both sides are corrupted! We can't take the journal to them! We-" A small round ball of green light pierced through the energy field and shot through the spies chest splattering blood onto Thomas's visor. The spy fell to the ground as the bolt of light hit Thomas's armor. The green bolt began to hiss and fizzle as it began melting the protective plating directly in front of his heart. The bolt continued to force its way through the armor until it suddenly blinked out of existence. The spy suddenly began to laugh as blood began to leak down his chin. "I guess they got me too, I shouldn't have expected to get out of this alive!" He laughed out before forcefully shoving the box up into Thomas's hands. "Don't. Trust. Anyone...!"

Thomas accepted the old wooden box and looked down at the spy. "What did you mean that both sides were corrupted?" The spy was silent. His breathing had stopped, and blood dripped down out of the field, passing through the magic barricade. "Damn it!" Thomas screamed out as the bombs started to detonate further away. Lifting his free hand up, he pressed his fingers together and unlocked the device before pressing the call button. "Alpha One to nest, this is a code one. A Cantorian has been spotted in the area. He seems to be able to split himself into two, and can move at the speed of sound. We need to evacuate now!"

"Negative, Alpha One," A sinister voice growled into the com before a guttural laugh sent shivers down his spine. "I don't think your friends can hear you anymore."

"Run, Thomas!" A weak voice in the background cried out before a sickening crunch broke through the coms, then a thump as the body hit the ground.

"You shouldn't have messed with us Thomas..." The voice came again, closer to the microphone. "I'll see you soon!" It said before the Cantorian hung up and left Thomas to sit there. 

He took down our base? All by himself? What could possibly be in this journal that he would kill an entire organization of spies and a military base for? He thought, looking down at the locked box.

Trying unsuccessfully to open the box, a small clink of metal bounced against his glove pulling his attention. A tiny padlock clinked as it bounced against his finger. Thomas reached into his combat pouch and pulled out a thick plasma knife. Forcing it into the metal lock, a loud hissing sound began to whine out as the smell of melting metal began to leak out of the hole. Waiting a few seconds for the metal to heat up, Thomas quickly twisted the blade to the right, melting the keyhole and unlocking it.

Inside the box was an ancient-looking black journal, filled end to end with writing in dark black ink. "What the hell?" Thomas mumbled, looking at the book, then down at the shield's power meter. The shield won't let me out for another twenty minutes. I should read some of this, see what I can glean from it. He paused for a moment, thinking about the dead spy in front of him, then decided to read it. His eyes began to water, but he quickly forced them away as he tried to ignore the frustration and despair that washed over him at the death of his squad. Delicately opening the journal, Thomas turned to the first page and sat down on the beam next to the spy before reading the first page.

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Hello friends, make sure to drink lots of water! If you want to make my day how about leaving a few comments? Maybe even vote for the story? It really would make my day! I hope you have a fantastic day, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter! 

-Asted!