The Serums Tactical Chaos

Sear broke eye contact with Stinger, his gaze turning blank as he stared at the wall. His mind raced. How would they beat an Exo suit? Havoc could at least keep up with one, maybe even match it in a fight. That could work… maybe.

“How many?” Sear’s voice cut through the silence, cold and direct.

Stinger looked at him, horror spreading across his face. “What?”

Sear’s eyes locked onto his, unblinking. “How many Exo suits?”

Instead of answering, Stinger held up two trembling fingers. Two Exo suits. Sear’s mind worked quickly, calculating their odds. It could work if they moved fast enough, before they were noticed.

Just then, a scream echoed from the right side of the door, followed by frantic shouting. “TAKE COVER! TWO MEN SHOT AT THE MAIN DOOR!” It was one of the older rebels, now realizing his comrades had been gunned down.

At the lookout point, tension hung thick in the air.

“You seeing anything, Raven?” Fallow asked, eyes scanning the horizon.

“Of course I do. It’s the one thing I can do.” Raven’s voice was sharp, but a hint of humor lingered in her tone. They shared a brief laugh before gunfire suddenly shattered the moment.

Blip threw himself over Raven as shots rang out. The crack of bullets filled the air, and Fallow ducked down, scrambling for cover. Slick dove into the fray, pulling Fallow with him behind a pile of rocks at the tree lines. The remaining three members of the Fallo Units engaged the enemy, returning fire towards the direction of the shots.

“Slick, what’s going on?” Fallow asked, confusion and worry creeping into her voice.

“It’s most likely the UAF. They must have found us, ma’am,” Slick responded, scanning the area. “Wait—where are Raven and Blip?”

Slick’s eyes darted across the scene, and his heart dropped as he spotted Raven and Blip lying motionless at the same spot where they had started. Panic flared in his chest.

“Wait here, Commander,” Slick ordered, tossing Fallow his gun before sprinting toward his comrades.

He reached them to find Blip barely conscious, blood staining the dirt beneath him. Raven was alive but out cold, still protected by Blip’s body.

“I’ll get you out of here, bud, I promise,” Slick while trying to grab Blip. Blip weakly pushed his hand away.

“Take Raven first,” Blip struggled to say, nodding toward the girl he had shielded with his own body.

Slick hesitated for a moment, then nodded grimly. He scooped up Raven, carrying her back to cover. As he did, he could see Blip attempting to crawl after them, his movements slow and labored.

Slick turned back as he left Raven with Fallow, he quickly started to picking up Blip and carrying him to safety. The sounds of gunfire and screams echoed from both the Fallo Unit and the UAF soldiers in the distance. When Slick finally returned to cover, he saw the full extent of Blip’s injuries—multiple gunshot wounds marred his back, the result of protecting Raven.

Slick fell to his knees, grief threatening to overwhelm him.

“You better not cry, brother Don’t cry for me, Slick. Keep it together, you are a soldier” Blip muttered weakly as his breath grew more labored.

Fallow grabbed the radio, her voice shaking but firm. “All Lookout personnel, come in.”

A shaky voice responded: “This is Mortuus… I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m the only one left… I’ll join them soon… finally… I’ll be free.” Gunshots rang out from the other end, cutting off his words.

Fallow stared at the radio for a extended moment before switching to another channel. “Listen up, this is Lookout. We’re getting attacked by the UAF, under heavy fire. Blip is down, and Fall and Edge are MIA. Mortuus is KIA. We need backup, now.!”

after hearing the transmission from the lookout and the fact that the rebels and UAF knew they were there

Stinger froze in place while he turned pale. “Oh crap… we’re gonna die here, aren’t we?”

Clue glanced at Stinger but quickly turned his attention to Sear that had just turned another one of his dials as he cracked his fingers. The expression on Sear’s face was terrifying—manic, almost. A wide smile spread across Sear’s lips and his eyes blazed with adrenaline.

“Aren’t you the optimist,” Sear muttered. He looked at the others, his jaw tight. “Grab your guns. We’re doing this.”

Stinger was wide-eyed, almost hissing, “You’re crazy. We’ll be dead in seconds!”

Sear’s gaze hardened, his tone unwavering. “Maybe you will, but at least you’ll die while trying to survive, instead of sitting here, waiting to be shot or for me to get tired of you.”

He turned the radio on. “Havoc, two Exo suits. I’ll take one. You handle the other. The rest of the team kill everyone else.”

The line went silent for a moment before he cut the radio off, signaling there was no room for discussion.

In the warehouse, the Exo suits had been activated, their metallic frames towering over at least two meters. The pilots—an older man and a young woman—moved in sync with the suits, which followed their arm movements like extensions of their bodies. The suits were taller, stronger, and far more powerful than any human, equipped with high-caliber machine guns. They sure were a force to be reckoned with. A few seconds of nothing passed… Then, Bang! Havoc came through the wall and immediately started attacking one of the Exo suits garbing its gun and crushed its barrel, Following him came Flame, shooting her gun from the outside and laying down cover fire as the warehouse descended into panic. Pulse also ran in, beating down some rebels with her metal bars.

When this happened, the other Exo suit turned its back to the crates to move in and help. Sear jumped in and took his chance, landing a slice on an oxygen pipe.

“What the hell?” the pilot exclaimed as she was forced to open a small hatch to breathe.

“You know, turning your back on your enemy ain’t a good idea,” Sear said while holding his dagger toward the pilot, drawing circles with it in the air.

“And standing in front of a person with a big machine gun ain’t either,” the pilot retorted, starting to fire at Sear, who quickly darted behind cover.

“Well, nice job, dumb ass. Now she knows we’re here,” Stinger’s voice was full of panic just like his face.

“Yeah, that means no point in you hiding and whining like a little child anymore,” Sear shot back aggressively.

“What’s the plan, Sear?” Clue asked, looking around. Sear scanned the area and saw another pair of stacked crates just a few meters away.

“Clue, I’ll throw a crate at the Exo suit. You run over to the other crates and start shooting the rest of the rebels,” Sear ordered.

Clue didn’t have a chance to respond before Sear had already picked up a crate. With no time to hesitate, Clue sprinted toward the crates, managing to reach them without getting noticed as everyone else was occupied with Havoc’s team.

Clue started shooting at the rebels, helping Pulse and Flame pick them off with his gun. “So, what’s up with us now?” Stinger asked, looking to Sear.

“Well, you see, our little pilot friend here doesn’t seem like she counted her shots. She fired multiple bullets trying to hit me and as she kept shooting the additional fire at the crates as well, she landed on 28 shots, that means she’s out,” Sear replied, his voice cold, as he glanced at the Exo suit thru a small crack between the boxes.

Stinger gave him a look that seemed more calm. On the other hand something felt off—Sear’s demeanor was strange, distant. “That still leaves the question What do we do now?”

“Simple. We’ll go up there and distract her so she won’t attack Havoc while he deals with the other one,” Sear said, scanning the scene. He glanced at Havoc, who was currently holding off the other Exo suit’s one arm with his mechanical arm while dodging its other arm’s deadly punches.

“So, you ready?”

Stinger took a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They both stood up and jumped over the creates landing next to each other, and once again, the pilot had turned her back to help her partner.

“Hey, over here, you under-average pilot!” Sear shouted as he waved with his entire arm while smiling, hoping to provoke her. The pilot responded as expected.

“Taste this, you big mouth!” she yelled, spinning around and aimed her gun at him.

Sear’s response was quick. He pulled his dagger out of its holster and stabbed Stinger in the shoulder, yanking him in front of himself.

Stinger’s eyes were wide with shock and terror, while Sear’s were filled with an unsettling mix of satisfaction and revenge.

The Exo suit fired three shots directly into Stinger’s back before the magazine emptied.

“Oof, seems like I must have miscalculated the mag capacity,” Sear muttered finishing with an unsettling smile.

Stinger, gasping in pain, croaked, “Why? Why?”

Sear tilted his head slightly, as if considering the question. “Well, you see, I don’t really like you. Remember earlier when you talked about Pulse and” Sear took a deep breath as one of his eyes returned to their original blue “And Fallow?”

Sear’s eyes got darker as he finished talking before they returned back to the serums white, with that he pulled him closer, whispering into his ear, “I didn’t like that, So.” he gestured with his head towards the knife as He almost cracked a laugh but suppressed it, enjoying the moment.

Across the valley on a cliff sits Sharpshot aiming towards the entrance, he witnessed everything he saw Sear stab Stinger thru his scope, he sat there in shock.

Sear pulled his knife out of Stinger and laid him down on the floor all while the Pilot watched.

“Anyways, Stinger, next time you think of talking ill of one of my people, I want you to think of this moment, okey?” Sear slowly stands up facing the Exo suit.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Sear said to himself as he connects his radio to Sharpshot as he walked looked out the door, right towards Sharpshots position.

“Hey, Sharpshot, how’s the view up there?” Sear voice was calm, but thru the scope Sharshot saw the terrifying view of Sear’s threatening expression.

Sharpshot shaked a bit as he lets go of his sniper and answers,

“Oh, you know, it’s very cloudy up here, hard to see the warehouse, sorry for the lack of supporting fire.” Sharpshot answers nervously. Such an oblivious lie but nonetheless. Sear shook his head at how bad it was

“It’s all fine. However, the lookout point is having problems. I will task you to go and help them since Blackout is needed to deal with anyone if they escape. Got it?” Sear asks.

“Yeah, of course, sir.” Sharpshot responds quickly, wanting to end this terrifying radio call fast.

“Good, over and out,” Sear.

Hmm, Sharpshot doesn’t seem like he will say anything, but I can’t know for sure. Hopefully, the UAF deals with him as he tries to help Lookout point. As Sear finished thinking, he shrugged his shoulders like it doesn’t matter. Behind him the sound of a reloaded gun could be heard. Just like the one he had been waiting for, Sear started to slowly turn around, locking eyes with the pilot “Turning your back on your enemy is a dumb decision,” the pilot says in a mocking tone. Sear quickly throws his dagger into the barrel of the Exo suit’s gun, making the gun explode internal.

“It surely is, unless you want them to do something predictable. Oh, and also screaming before attacking is a bad idea as well,” Sear’s mocking tone to the pilot that was now trying to fix her gun as she quickly back off deeper into the ware house. Sear turned his attention to some of the remaining rebels that Pulse was fighting, he quickly equips his second dagger.

He looks around the room the gunfire echoes off the metal walls. Clue and Flame seemed to have cleaned up at least eight rebels with their guns—well, at least two lay dead at the back door, most likely Blackout’s doing. The sound of metal clashing ensures that Havoc still holds his own against the Exo suit. In fact, he seems to overpower it in strength at least, with his mechanical arm.

He looks at Pulse while he walks over to help she’s fighting a man almost twice as wide as herself. She is, however, faster than the bulky man. Another rebel comes up behind her, swinging a machete over his head, ready to strike. In another quick move, Sear throws his dagger, which goes through both of the man’s hands and pins them to the wall, a loud scream erupts from the man as he looks terrified at his hands.

Pulse lands a hit on the bulky man’s knee, making him kneel, then one hit to the head knocks him unconscious.Pulse puts one of her metal bars on her shoulder while looking down at the unconscious guy, Sear walked up to Pulse’s side, he was looking at the man his knife had pinned to the wall. Pulse quickly walked over to the man

“Ooo, I think this is yours, right, Sear?” Pulse said as she pulls the dagger from the wall. The man fell to the ground to afraid to move and he clenches his bleeding hands.

“You must look out for your stuff better, you know,” Pulse says as she hands Sear his dagger.

“Well, you must look out more overall. That guy could have killed you, you know,” Sear says with a clear hint of annoyance in his tone.

“Why would I need to look out more when I’ve got you already looking out for me?” Pulse says, walking up next to him and stroking the right side of his face as she continued past him.

Sear exhales deeply as she walks away from him. He then kneels down to the bulky man, pulls one of his push daggers out of its hilt on his chest, and presses it into his skull. He then turns his eyes to the still-awake man whose hands he had pierced earlier, Sear smiled creepily as he stood up and walked over, and keeled down in front of the man. He held his push dagger in front of his own face, looking at it, he starts to hum in a creepy tone as he inspects it.

“Please, mister, don’t kill me.” The rebel pleads, his voice shaking, but Sear doesn’t acknowledge him. Instead, he sits there, humming quietly as he looks at his Push dagger.

“Listen to me, son. You don’t have to do this.” The man jumps when Sear reaches into his pocket, he flinches again as he pulls out the cloth and wipes the blade down, as if savoring the moment.

“Ah, there we go. Nice and clean,” Sear murmurs, his voice low and almost detached as he slides the dagger back into its hilt. The man’s eyes are wide with fear, his breaths shallow.

“You know I can’t let you go, right?” Sear finally speaks, his voice cold as ice just like his face, Sear tilts his head as he pulls the dagger from his belt, the gleam of the blade catching the dim light.

“Please! I’ve got a family—please, have mercy!” The man pleads, his voice cracking as his hands tremble.

“Oh, well, that changes everything, doesn’t it?” Sear’s voice drips with sarcasm, his eyes narrowing as he circles the blade in front of the man, just within reach. “Does it really?”

The man, shaking uncontrollably, manages to speak, his words stammering as he was crying. “I—I don’t want to die…”

“Hmm… let me think.” Sear presses the tip of the dagger to his own forehead for a moment, as though deep in thought, before he lets out a small, humorless laugh. “Nope. Doesn’t change a damn thing.”

With a swift motion, Sear grips the back of the man’s head with one hand and presses the tip of the dagger firmly against his forehead, just a few milometers from piercing the skin.

“You know, that ‘I’ve got a family’ line? It kind of sounds like an insult to me.” Sear’s voice is low, almost whispering as he holds the blade steady, the eyes of the man shaked. After a few seconds Sear pressed the dagger gently into his skull, his gaze unwavering.

The man remains silent, his breath quick and shallow, frozen in place. Sear takes his time before he pushed it deeper, studying the fear in his eyes, before slowly retracting the knife. He wipes the blade on the man’s shoulder one side on the right and the other on the left, leaving trace marks of blood, the motion casual, as if cleaning off dirt.

“He was nice… yeah, he was,” Sear mutters under his breath as he slowly nodded to himself, as though reflecting on an insignificant detail.

The man slumps against the wall, lifeless. Sear stares at him for a beat, still holding the knife.

“Rest well, my friend,” he says, his voice taking on a strangely solemn tone. But it’s not empathy. It’s a final acknowledgment before he moves on—no different than any other task.

The situation at Lookout Point was falling apart—no backup, one soldier wounded, and an unknown number of enemies closing in.

“This is bad, Commander. Really bad,” Slick whispered, his voice tight with tension. He and Fallow spoke in hushed tones, trying not to disturb Blip, who lay against the rocks, struggling to rest.

Fallow swallowed hard, glancing toward where enemy movement could be heard in the distance. “I know,” she murmured. She had sent a distress call earlier—no response. Then came the gunfire, a relentless barrage from the direction of the warehouse. The fight had begun. And no one was coming.

A sudden crackle broke the air, followed by the piercing whine of a megaphone.

“Unidentified soldiers, come out from hiding and face us with honor. Your friends already have—you might as well join them.”

The air went still.

No one moved.

Slick gritted his teeth, glancing at Fallow, who clutched her rifle tighter. “They’re playing with us.”

Then, after a long, sickening pause, the UAF soldier spoke again.

“Well, we gave you a chance.”

Laughter erupted from the enemy’s position—casual, mocking. Then, the unmistakable sound of something flying through the air.

It landed with a dull, wet thud.

Slick’s breath caught in his throat. His hands trembled as he stepped forward, forcing himself to look. His stomach lurched.

“Fall… it’s Fall’s head.”

A choked gasp escaped Fallow, but before she could react, Blip was already moving. Despite his injuries, he lunged forward with a ragged, desperate breath. He snatched up the severed head, his fingers digging into bloodied hair.

He shoved the head away, barely choking out the words—

“I’m sorry, Fall. You will be missed.”

The few seconds after it left his hands—

Boom.

The explosion sent dust and debris flying. Blip staggered back, barely keeping his footing. His whole body trembled, his breaths short and shallow. His legs almost gave out beneath him.

Slick grabbed his arm. “Blip, hey—hey, stay with us!”

Blip swayed, his face pale, his eyes darting wildly. He clutched at his side, blood seeping through his fingers. His voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Head bombs. The UAF’s favorite.” A ragged inhale. “They’ll throw the others next… in the order they died.”

His hands clenched into fists. His body shook—not just from pain, but from fear.

They weren’t just losing. They were being taunted.