My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives
Chapter 69 CLEAN-UP CHAMELEONS

Chapter 69: 69 CLEAN-UP CHAMELEONS

They hadn’t stopped moving since boarding their team jet. Once inside, they suited up into back-ups and poorly fit mismatched military combos that would have to get the job done.

Lyra slid out of her sweatpants and hopped into an urban-ops outfit that consisted of cargo pants, knee and shin pads made of reverb-blast enhanced metals and an old fashioned Kevlar-weave jungle infiltrator sprinters jacket. The only familiarity in her kit was her sawed off shot-gun and rapier.

Sgt Isadora was the exact opposite and wore her usual gear.

Cpt. Camo was somewhere in between thanks to his abrupt transformation and was now walking around the jet angrily looking for hats, holds and helmets that might fit his dragon-head.

Rex tried to make a joke about how at least he wasn’t balding anymore and almost ate a bullet from Cpt Camo’s modified desert-eagle.

The rest of the ride was relatively silent. Save for the mission debrief.

But then again, absolute silence was just about impossible with two sworn enemies like Lyra and Isadora on board.

Not that Rex cared. He was in his own mind. He sat at the mission orientation table craning his neck to peer into the cockpit and see where on the map they were traveling. Thankfully, he’d gotten good grades in his map reading and location command courses back in Primary School.

Even though the holographic topographical map was all darkness separated by glowing pop ups and radar scans, he could make use of the details and gain a clear image.

They flew past Vermehlo Village— or what was left of it, and went another two clicks north, towards the main city-state of South-EMRA known as New Brazil. He looked out of the front window and found skyscrapers of reinforced glass and titanium mana-alloying lined railways sending bullet trains rushing through the steel labrynth. Defensive jets with cloaking technology hovered over the lands in mechanized silence.

It was beautiful.

And entirely unlike the horror making it’s way towards the city-state.

The jungled wilds below were a disaster for a three mile stretch. Trees were burned to ash and twisted into the image of creatures, constructs and concepts. All made into a twisted desolate hell zone spilled onto earthly soil.

Within it, small infantry-containment teams fired non- lethal rounds and smoke screens in an attempt to detain the trainees— which were living breathing National defense systems gone awry, and fight off the wild fauna of the jungle.

It was a mess.

And it was there drop point.

Cpt Camo threw three cloud-jumper propulsion packs onto the table with matching seraph-eye helmets. They looked like black metal turtle shells with super car exhaust pipes coming out of the bottom. The helmets were also black shells with sky blue glass visors and an aerodynamic bird shape. They were state of the art. Rex had seen ads of them on billboards back home. Now he couldn’t even appreciate them as he thought about how to get to Syphen and the others.

Then again it was actually quite obvious.

"The same way I get to the ground." Rex thought as he grabbed his pack.

"Remember, use your Gen-sleeper pistols to hit the targets where their genetics align with their Inheritence ability. Otherwise your wasting six figure ammo for fun... that’s not actually fun." Cpt Camo explained.

"Copy." Lyra holstered her pistol.

"They couldn’t have made these snipers?" Sgt Isadora asked.

"You want less in your paychecks?" Cpt Camo asked as he and the others joined Rex at the end of the jet where the ramp wall rattled due to their flight speeds.

"Pistols it is!" Sgt Isadora holstered her weapon. Her pigtails began to spin in the wind as the ramp came down in unison with security nets surrounding all the supplies on the jet.

"Prepare for free-fall." The co-pilot yelled over the intercom.

Rex and the Chameleon IV unit stood before the ramp. Before the sky in super speed motion. The sun was setting. Meaning they were on a time crunch. They had to secure and restrain a handful of nation dependent living weapons before another handful of blood-lusted nocturnal creatures entered the fray.

And specifically for Rex, he had to do it all and still find enough time to check on his own. If they still were that.

"Let’s get it."

Rex slid on his helmet and jumped out of the jet, trying his best to push past his horrific anxiety.

A mission detail spreadsheet glimmered to life in his visor as he fell through the sky.

[Target Priorities: High (H), Medium (M), Low (L).]

[Mission Allies: Jungle-Monkey Recon Unit, Fauve Military-Guild Infantry Enforcement Brigade, Kobalt Kombat-Corps, Price Enterprises Medical Team.]

[Target Focus: Pvt Banet (M), PFC Luce (L), Spc Stein (M), Pvt Drachera, PFC Hugo (H)]

[Target Distances: Pvt Banet (M) (2 Miles/3.2 Kilometers), Pvt Drachera (M) (2 Miles/3.1 Kilometers), PFC Luce (L) (1 Miles/1.6 Kilometers), Spc Stein (M) (4 Miles/6.4 Kilometers), PFC Hugo (H), (4 Miles/6.36 Kilometers).]

Rex watched a hud display buzz in his visor with a more detailed layout of the grounds and glowing icons fastened on each Inheritence Ability users location.

As he fell, his propulsion-pack shifted with the twist of mechanical gears and pressure sensors. Two jet wings unfurled from the sides, he pulled up and began to glide at a downward angle.

He didn’t have time to coast— or lament over the fact that world class military powers were present and on his team. He activated his jet boosters and blasted towards the ground in a blur.

"Hey, hotshot, watch your fuel emissions." Cpt Camo yelled over their shared channel ear pieces.

"Understood." Rex didn’t let up.

Lyra flew after him. Her golden hair fluttered out the bottom of her helmet as she flew beside him.

"Excited to see your buddies?" She asked.

"They’re not my buddies. I barely know them." Rex replied.

"Then what’s the rush?"

"The sun." Rex replied.

"Ah, come on. Night-ops can be fun. It’s like a rave." Lyra spun like a ballerina as she flew downward.

"A what?" Rex asked.

Lyra rolled her eyes in her helmet, "We’ve gotta get you out more."

"We’ve got a party tommorow." Rex replied.

"We do. So let’s survive today. No soloing godly powers, got it?" Lyra asked.

"Can’t make promises." Rex replied.

"Of course not." Lyra smiled.

The rest of the flight was relatively silent. The ground came to meet them in their shared speed until Rex could make out the dents, scorch marks in the earth and wounded over top.

A distance meter in his peripherals told him he was fast approaching.

He flipped, recalling his wings back into his propulsion pack at the same time so he was falling straight downward with the thrusters at full blast.

He landed like a space craft in a cloud of smoke and heat.

The others landed at his sides and they hit the ground moving.

Thanks to Rex’s training— and lived experience, he wasn’t left in shock as he ran past wounded infantrymen. Even if they were technically Victor’s guild relatives.

Some sported nasty gashes and burns while others seized on the ground as Price Enterprise medics got to work hauling them away in shuttle buses.

Rex leapt and bound across the war-torn jungle with boosted jumps from his propulsion pack. His team followed with their weapons drawn and eyes peeled.

"Target demand?" Lyra asked.

Cpt Camo croaked, "Pfc Luce. He’s closest and we can determine the ability shift and strength level of the others through him."

"Starting with the lowest threat target priority sounds like a good warm-up." Sgt Isadora said.

They closed in.

The jungle density thinned. Trees burned and toppled across rivers and streams cluttered with blood.

On Rex’s visor he eyed a glowing outline. DNA signature scans told him it was their target.

Pretty much in unison they all eyed their target.

He was hiding in a log a few hundred feet out.

"See why we need snipers?!" Sgt Isadora asked. "Now we have to get up close and personal. I hate jump scares."

"Can it." Cpt Camo took the lead with his gun drawn as they landed in a clearing of scorched earth. His reptilian eyes zeroed in on the hollowed out tree-stump.

Rex took up his flank. All the while he tried to remember his classmate.

"Pfc Luce. Marcus Luce, son of the

Illumiknight Infiltrator Guild. He has the Inheritence Ability known as Flash-Flare. He can supercharge himself with a bioluminescent thermal flare that blinds and burns anyone in a small radius. He also has the passive ability to absorb heat and light and use it to empower his flares. He mostly kept to himself. Or at least out of my way. Now I’m in his."

Cpt. Camo stopped about one hundred feet away from the tree and held up a fist.

"Your grandfather’s radius was about this far out." Cpt. Camo said, "I helped him get it to that point because I used him in every mission I had. He kept a lot of good men alive."

Rex could hear Pfc Luce shivering inside the log.

"Just leave! Just come back when the lights are gone. I can’t.... It’s not safe!"

Cpt. Camo shook his head, "I’m not going anywhere soon. I suggest you step out and work with your comrades. Let’s get you back to base. The nations safety depends on it, Private."

Rex was almost in shock by Cpt. Camo’s suddenly hopeful and determined tone. Usually he spoke of humans worse than monsters.

Rex could almost smell the lies.

Pfc Luce must’ve as well. He didn’t budge.

"Let us help you. Or we’re going to harm you first." Cpt. Camo hissed.

"Oh that was great." Lyra rolled her eyes.

"The patience of a dragon." Sgt. Isadora murmured.

"You can’t! No more hurt! It’ll attract that.... thing! He can feel our emotions! Don’t! Please!"

The air warbled and green fissures of electrical essence rippled around them.

"Simon..." Rex recognized the energies physical appearance.

"AH!" Pfc Luce screamed, "It’s too late!"

The trainee jumped out of the tree stump. He was average in almost every way. Average height and average military build. Due to his Inheritence Ability his curly black hair was flecked with gold and his skin had a unique mutated form of melanin output that made his skin ink black and eyes fiery gold.

He hit the ground with wild eyes and a hospital gown that was burning to ash. Rex’s predatory instincts took over at the sight of the running boy who reeked of fear. In his heightened focus, time seemed to slow. It was then that Rex noticed how he flinched at the setting suns rays coming from the east.

Rex gave chase.

Pfc Luce took off.

More accurately, he took one step. Suddenly he was standing in a ray of sunlight.

Almost immediately, he burst into pure light essence with an explosive flash.

Rex was knocked backward from the blast.

Cpt. Camo caught him as if one of his arms still had super strength. Rex recovered immediately and with the others he watched as the focused flurry of light teleported to the next nearest source of light before teleporting out of sight.

"Holy shit that’s cool!" Sgt Isadora said.

"Also gonna be a bitch to catch!" Cpt Camo roared smoke.

Rex was about to reply when his system screen went off.

[Bastet’s protection activated....]

"What?" Rex flinched as more of the green electrical cracks of Psionic energy infected the air.

Then a pulse wave hit.

Rex readied his weapon, "Simon’s still four miles away. Must be residual Psionics? Is that a thing..."

No response.

Rex turned around to face his group, "Guys?"

His stomach turned as he found them standing limply. Like zombies. Their eyes glowed green and green electrical currents like fingers caressed their helmeted heads.

"Lions....panthers.... Leopards..... they’re everywhere.... They’re mixing and clawing and growing... why are they hunting me!?" Lyra, Isadora and Cpt Camo said in Simon’s voice at the same time.

"Mind control...." Rex said, "Simon went from mind blades to mind control. What the fuck..."

Cpt. Camo hissed in Simon’s voice, "STAY BACK CREATURE!" Immediately after, he spit a fireball at Rex.

Suddenly Rex was less worried about his classmates and more worried about his teammates.

And what Simon was seeing as he looked at Rex.

Or what he’d been seeing for that matter. As Rex flipped and dodged attacks from his team, he began to realize how many of the twisted wooden constructs they’d passed looked like cats....