Operation Hockt Part 1

Six Years Later

It was a foggy day with violent winds, the day chosen for the mission Ren and his team had been working on for months. Most of their efforts hadn't been fieldwork; instead, they'd spent weeks infiltrating the systems of four robots working at a weapons facility. Finding a vulnerability had taken months of painstaking analysis.

Now, however, the likelihood of being discovered before completing the mission was slim. Their target was a weapon production facility unknown to the Cotox public. The Hockt Factory was one of many that produced biological and mechanical weapons. It was one of the largest and most heavily guarded. Still, they believed they were prepared for anything.

Secrecy was more important than success; if their involvement was discovered, the organization would stand no chance against Cotox. The Cotox government seemed intent on arming minorities in Glauberg, Ren's homeland, to destabilize the central authority and perhaps incite a civil war. Cutting off the flow of weapons was the highest priority.

Ren hadn’t been with the organization for long, but he was already a well-known hero in his homeland. Thus, he started as a commander here, codenamed “Wolf.” He wanted to handle this mission alone, prioritizing stealth above all else. A single person infiltrating the facility to plant a bomb in its power core seemed like the easiest approach.

However, “101,” the leader of the organization in Cotox, insisted he take at least one person with him. Wolf chose his second-in-command from his own team, a younger man named “Mouse.” Though young, Mouse was skilled, disciplined, and loyal. Quiet and soft-spoken, his steady presence made him an ideal companion for a mission like this.

Three others waited outside the facility for an emergency extraction. Ren wore his nanotech suit, lightweight but bulletproof, which left only his eyes exposed. Over this, he donned a jacket and pants with holsters for his weapons.

The first objective was to bypass the magnetic defense field, a task handled by the team outside. One of the robots under their control disabled the system precisely at 2:00 A.M. The walls surrounding the facility were tall, lined with traps. A robotic army guarded the gates.

That night, for the first and last time, they deployed a device codenamed Geist, a new invention from Glauberg. This small device disrupted the AI of robots and altered their perception. It could only work individually within a short radius of two meters. When more than one device operated close together, they interfered with each other, making fewer operatives advantageous.

The support team left the gate slightly ajar. Tension was high. While the technology had been tested on Cotox military robots, there was a chance it wouldn’t work on some models. Moving like ghosts, Wolf and Mouse slipped through the gate and the robot army unnoticed.

Inside, the chemical fumes were overwhelming; breathing without a mask was impossible. Brownish-purple clouds rose from the floor.

Wolf and Mouse donned their masks. According to the map, the core was on sublevel five. They needed to hurry; if any of the nine simultaneous operations elsewhere failed, emergency protocols would trigger everywhere. The goal was to inflict as much damage as possible in a single night before increased security rendered future attempts impossible.

They scanned their surroundings but found no stairs. They joined other robots in an elevator. The atmosphere was unnervingly surreal, classical music played softly as the elevator ascended and descended, as if it were a peaceful environment. They avoided pressing any buttons, waiting for someone else to select sublevel five.

When the elevator finally stopped at sublevel five, Ren felt sweat dripping down his back. He controlled his breathing and emotions with effort.

Instead of an energy core, they found a laboratory. Strange creatures were trapped in glass cages, emitting anguished screams. Most had humanoid silhouettes, but some bore bizarre tails, and others had lizard-like faces. One creature’s eyes were mounted on antennae protruding from its head, swiveling to stare at them.

The moment they entered, the noise intensified. The creatures screamed, banged on the glass, and shouted incomprehensible things.

One creature looked almost human, but its head was split in half, exposing its throat and mouth. Teeth clashed violently as the head repeatedly opened and closed. It was likely a regeneration experiment. Both soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, ready for anything. No matter what, the mission had to be completed. They had to stay calm.

Then, a faint sound came from a creature whose body appeared melted and was stuck to the glass. Mouse, who had been walking unfazed through the cacophony, froze. Wolf stopped too; he wouldn’t proceed without his subordinate.

Mouse’s eyes widened, his pupils trembling with fear. Wolf didn’t understand what was happening.

Mouse took a breath and removed his mask. “I know her. She was my classmate.”

The small whiff of air Mouse inhaled burned his lungs. Tears streamed from his eyes as he quickly replaced the mask, clawing at his arm to suppress a cough. Ren waited for him to recover.

Meanwhile, garbled sounds emerged from the misshapen mouth of the girl-like creature. They became clear enough to discern: “Help me!”

Wolf turned to Mouse, who was regaining his breath, and shook his head. They couldn’t afford to waste time. Even if these were his own people trapped inside, the mission had to be completed.

As Wolf placed the bomb in the corner, his hands didn’t tremble despite everything he had seen. From the nearest cage, a small child spoke, fluent, unlike the others.

“You didn’t come to save us, did you, brothers? You came to kill us. At least take me out of here. I’ve just been brought in; they haven’t changed me yet. Look at me. What’s different about me from you?”

When Mouse finished with the bomb, he turned to the child. He looked normal, an ordinary boy of eight or ten, with no visible abnormalities. Mouse glanced at his commander, seeking an answer.

The bomb was already counting down from six. Wolf shook his head again.

In that moment, Mouse realized something: the greatest heroes could be monsters to those they didn’t protect, and the greatest villains were often heroes to those they saved.

Wolf started walking, but when Mouse didn’t follow, he shot his subordinate a sharp glare.

Mouse couldn’t leave the child. “What if he’s telling the truth? We could at least take him out of here,” he thought.

The boy pointed to a red button beneath the cage. “Just press this. Please. That’s all it takes.”

Wolf approached Mouse and struck him hard. He didn’t know if the boy was human or a mutant, but he knew one thing: he couldn’t risk the mission or their lives for this. Sacrifice was necessary.

At that moment, the elevator returned, and the sound of breathing filled the air.

A portly, pig-faced man emerged, wearing an old, noisy respirator that covered half of his bloated face.