Though Din attempted to stun using his flashbang and run and gun like an assault, there was another trick up the Saurian troopers' sleeve! Their sense of smell was similar to that of a bear's. Plus, due to their physiology, they showed resistance to the effect's of Din's ploy. It only worked half-way rather than all the way. Din's wild shot actually missed the targets! One Saurian, seeing how deep in cover the group was, decided to prime and throw a grenade right at Din's position. The paranormal grenade was practically a mini-nuke as it compromised both Din's cover and his armor! Other operatives witnessed the powerful action of the paranormal grenade. As a result of the blast, Din was also bleeding from shrapnel. Perhaps one of them can be captured to know more about the weaponry.

Michael used his artillery sniper rifle to provide support to his allies. Aiming for the head, he pulled the trigger, nailing one of the Saurian troops harassing the operatives. William now witnessed a Saurian sniper in overwatch position, aiming for the heads of anyone getting near the dragon. With the Saurian fighters, the mission got a lot tougher.

William grinned. The Saurian thought it could hit the Assassin? Hell no. His training countered the anthropomorphic Saurian's overwatch and he ran like the wind, shotgun held up to his chest. He kept running to the Saurian and as he got close, he took cover next to a nearby scale that had dropped off of the dragon when it crashed, took aim and shot, hoping to blast the Saurians scaly ass to smithereens.

"Shooting at the sniper, I repeat, shooting at the sniper."

"Oi! Din! Where the hell do you think - shit!" Angus barely registered the blinking grenade hurtling towards the insanely gung ho sniper and pulled his body behind cover in time for a loud, bright blast and rocky shrapnel to fly over his head. Once the dust settled, Angus observed that Din was staggered, but not dead by the looks. Crazy bastard. "Poppin' smoke!" Angus declared as he jolted out of cover and tossed a primed smoke grenade between himself and the observing enemy. He had to get out there and pull the sniper out by hand if the grenade hadn't made him smart enough to find some good cover and distance.

Luc searched for targets peeking their heads out. He only had enough ammo in his magazine for another burst of suppression, but he would be damned before he let these bastards get the better of the squad. William had reported in a sniper, but it seemed as though Burkley was taking care of that personally. Just as well, not even he could hit that slippery assault when he got into a sprint. Luc found another overly-brave saurian and decided to put a rain check on his plans of moving, and by rain, he meant bullets. "Keeping one pinned, see if you can get him." Luc's focussed suppression report came alongside an outline of the affected saurian on friendly scopes, courtesy of Luc's holotargeting module.

As Dan was falling down he quickly muttered something into the radio. "I have given you the second you need to kill the Saurians, kill them for me… " Din fell on the floor. He was bleeding all over his body. He had a smile over his face. This is the way he wanted to die. He muttered into the radio. "I hope my sacrifice isn't in vain. Defeat these detected ParaNorms, I wish you the best of luck… I can't believe I wished to join the Paranormal side. I guess I still wished I did. " As Din uttered his last words, he died.

Michael eliminated one of the offending Saurians near Luc and Angus, forcing the lone Saurian to run for better cover. Though Luc had a free shot, the Saurian didn't care and tried to haul tail to better cover. It was hit, but not killed in one shot. That injured Saurian would be perfect for capture as it then hunkered down. Din already bled out due to his reckless action, which Center rolled his eyes at. William's assault worked very well against the Saurian sniper as the sniper missed his shot. The lieutenant was too fast for the shots plus he flanked the sniper! As soon as he pulled the trigger, the sniper was downed thanks to a critical hit! Suddenly a familiar and maniacal voice would break out with laughter. "See you soon! The dying man's wish will soon be granted."

Luc and Angus would hear the voice at it was radioed. It was none other than ParaCom's arch-nemesis, the Head of Death! The Head of Death hinted at his arrival as soon as Din's dying "wish" was uttered. Who knows what experiments he would do to Din's corpse. The brain was still intact, but the same may not be said for the rest of the body. William Burkley may develop apprehension as a result.

William grit his teeth. "Goddamnit, no...No!" He pumped his shotgun as he heard the all too familiar voice that he despised. He wouldn't allow Din to be used for the sick experiments that his teammate suffered all those missions ago. He scanned his surroundings, desperately trying to find the Head of Death so that he could shoot him in the head.

It was bad enough Din was dead.
He didn't need to kill Din again when he became an experiment of the paranormals.

Will ran yet again, for the hiding Saurian. He was going to get a prisoner, if Din was taken. An eye for an eye. As he got close enough, he yelled out, "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR, REPTILE BASTARD! AND DROP YOUR GUN!" He aimed his shotgun, ready to blast his head off if his foe didn't comply.

"Best o' luck's about to get you out o' this situation, buddy!" Angus replied defiantly into the radio, not finishing in time for Din to hear. With the distance and the smoke he had deployed, Angus didn't realise just how torn up Din's body was until he moved closer. Unfortunately, Angus didn't even have time to take a pulse before he took Din by the collar and dragged him behind a fallen concrete pillar.

"Ah, Oui!" Luc exclaimed as his shots hit the mark of the running Saurian. "I got one with a limp on my position!"

At this point, everyone was quietened by a strange voice that gave Luc and Angus shivers. Burkley's reaction was almost immediate, acting on Luc's advice about the injured one with a new passion and attempting to subdue him. With that, Luc scrambled behind his cover and began to replace his empty magazine, "Reloading." As he did so, he peeked over to the commotion off to one side and observed the aftermath of Din's rambo moment. "Who the hell does that voice belong to?" He murmured.

Dragging Din's corpse had left a red streak along the ground, causing Angus to curse under his breath. With this much blood lost, there was very little chance. By the time Angus pulled out his medkit, Din was gone. "Central," Angus held a low voice as he put the medkit away, "we have a man down."

As if not caring about the fate of the rookie until the mission was over, Luc became impatient about the voice. It made him uncomfortable to say the least. "Would someone tell us what that damn voice was!?"

Once Center scanned the area and affirmed no enemies around, he radioed the group. "That's the Head of Death, the leader of the operation. He's dangerous! Get back to the Little Lady! Philly can fend for itself! Once our captive is with us, the dragon will be taken care of with cooperation from local forces."

The Saurian dropped its weapon, knowing that the enemy was outnumbering it four to one. "You win, but there's more to it..." The Saurian unexpectedly spoke the human tongue, with a male sounding voice to boot! The weapon was dropped and he was a captive. As it was loaded into the Little Lady, "Take my hard earned gold at it too then." Michael took whatever resources he could and secured the weaponry. The Saurian seemed somber, not very defiant, but acquiesced nonetheless.

What were the Saurians' true motives in the war? Can they be befriended? They stuck out from the rest of the paranormal forces. The Saurian captives uniform had unique markings upon examination. He could have been an officer that they have captured!

William looked at the dragon, then threw a grenade at it's face. If it wasn't already damaged, it sure was now.

Afterwards, Will all but sprinted back to the ship. He spoke on intercoms, replying to Luc's question. "Central already said. He's the Head of Death and he is a bastard. None of you are experienced enough to go up against him." As he approached the ship, he didn't loosen his grip on the gun immediately, only when he was in the safety of the ship did he do so.

"Before you rookies came, I was in another squad in Paracom. I'll spare you the details, but the Head of Death made his first appearance there. He dissected one of our men." He stayed silent the rest of the trip. He only glared at the captive throughout the silence.

Luc lowered the top panel of his gun to secure the new belt of bullets he had loaded and gave it a belligerent thump closed with the bottom of his fist. This 'Death's Head' guy must have been serious business if they were aborting already. At first, Luc wasn't convinced that the immediate area was secure when he witnessed Burkley toss a grenade off to something out of sight, but by his gait following the action, there were no more contacts at least. "Dissected, you say? What, like a frog? Sounds like a psycho." Luc commented, scanning down his sights in case anyone was waiting to ambush them.

As everyone reached the little lady, Luc got to look over the squad and give a silent review to himself. The designated marksman, otherwise known as the walking tank, Michael, did his job rather well, all things considered. Rather than praise the cyborg, Luc avoided his eye-contact. Looking at a WREC trooper just seemed to make him cross at the moment. Burkley was effective as always, there was nothing much else to appraise him for as he coaxed their new captive in by gunpoint, and boy was their captive one ugly motherfucker. Angus was understandably quiet as he carried Din's remains up the ramp on his back. His expression was looking like it was hiding a failure on his part, and his new pallor confirmed it.

Luc gave him a nod as he walked up the gangway. "Nutcase rookie. He got the same fate assigned to any who go nuts like that." Luc shook his head, but he seemed surprisingly lacking in empathy for the sniper's death.

"You ain't the one who has to tell 'is family that, Luc." Angus said in a voice that spoke of experience in this matter.

"Correct, we're the ones who survive."

There didn't appear to be any more contacts that Luc could see as the ramp raised shut.

---

On the flight back, everyone in the squad tried to steal a glance at their new guest. He was no threat while unarmed and cuffed as he was, but his presence was still unnerving. He might have been the one who threw the grenade and caused the damage to the corpse of Din buckled into a seat nearby.

Once the colour started to return to Angus' cheeks, he started looking curious behind his facial hair. He eyed the saurian and his markings in comparison to the others, noting that he had communicated with William as one point. "Oi, croc, you're not like the others, aren't you?" Angus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Luc butted in, speaking French while giving Angus a glare, "Angus, don't even try." Luc tossed his glare to the saurian, "This guy is just a killer, like the rest of them."

Angus sent Luc a glance, but wasn't fazed. He looked at the saurian neutrally and gestured to his chest, "My name's Angus, do you 'ave a name, mate?"

"Pfhah," Luc guffawed, crossing his arms and leaning back with a grin, "You're going to make him think that you want to reproduce with him, saying that stuff, Angus."

"An interrogation? Very well. I am an officer among what your kind can call us: Saurians. Our names are quite difficult to pronounce in your human tongues, but you can call me Draco due to our superficial resemblance to the dragons you know of." He was more talkative as he perceived Angus' questions as interrogative. He darted to William after his mention of the Head of Death and the rest of the operatives.

"The Head of Death too is feared among the paranormal forces too. Though some of us paranormal as you call them are soldiers, a good amount of the enemies you fight are enslaved. A minute portion...mercenaries. If you have taken my pouch of gold, you'll see what category my people fall into. Also, we don't target civilians to reassure you. Not part of the Saurian rules of engagement."

He took a somber pause. "If there's a formal interrogation, no need for torture. Because there's nothing I could do for the situation, I won't resist." Draco was no coward, but found it futile to resist. They landed into the base shortly after the informal questions.

Everything that came out of the Saurian's mouth was different to every other paranormal Angus had known or even heard of. These were probably the closest creatures they had to human soldiers, in more ways than one it seemed. Even Luc was raising an eyebrow at the Saurian, and though showing more with distrust than curiosity, he couldn't quite hide his surprise either.

"That's certainly not what I was expecting," Angus replied slowly, before leaning back in his seat and thinking hard. He managed to give one last comment to Draco before they landed, "If you answer correctly, you'll probably not be tortured, but I think I'll have some questions for you m'self." Angus looked at the floor of the dropship and chewed on the inside of his cheek, "I'll see if I can get to ya before the researchers do, might be I stop them from cuttin' you open, yeah?"

"Don't let him lay eggs in your brain," Luc quipped.

Angus gave Luc a slightly annoyed glance, but nothing else. Luc had his own problems right now.

Once they touched down, Luc spoke to no one. His unusual silence hung over him as he handed in his equipment and waited for debriefing. He wouldn't stick around for any longer than he had to before leaving to try and find Anya.

Angus was in a similar situation, but was more open to talking. The reason he was eager to leave was to try and convince the interrogators not to torture Draco, and hopefully to refrain from killing and dissecting the creature. They had enough bodies to cut open from the fight anyway. It at all possible, Angus wanted to get more answers out of Draco and find out for himself what exactly was going on.

While descending the ramp, Angus gave a quick few words to Burkley. "I know they just downed one of our men, sir, but I 'ave a feelin' that somethin' bigger is going on with these Saurians. If they're mercs, that means they 'ave their own price."

Draco acknowledged Angus. "Thank you. I guess I'm escorted to the labs. Also, the gold should reveal my kind's purpose with the paranormal forces." Dr. Semyenov would then analyze both the corpses and Draco as a captive. Semyenov somehow realized that after examining Draco's gold pouch, that the paranormal was quite different from the Saurians in both body and mentality. "Are you really a mercenary? They must have paid you to fight us." Draco affirms that the Saurians have worked as mercenaries. "In recent times, our employer thought we were cost effective, meaning they slashed our pay." Semyenov was intrigued! "Wait, what if we paid double or triple?" "That would be the deal for us. My uniform isn't for show. I am a Lieutenant General, second only to the supreme leader of the Saurian forces involved. Allow me to contact him and tell him of the offer! He would love it!" "Who says that the other side--"

Semyenov was then suddenly interrupted alongside the Lieutenant General when Center caught on. "Doctor, cut this out, I'm the negotiator!" Center ordered Draco to be unrestrained and placed in a different area for further negotiations. Alina and Farhad each escorted the captured Saurian, as it was proven that he was of human similarity. Though Alina was rough with Draco, Farhad attempted to be gentle as not to ruin a first impression. Behind closed doors and with J2K backing, negotiations were underway.

William whistled. Yet another good mission, even if someone died and the head of death appeared. Plus, the fact Saurians were a thing was...Strange, but if they had money, they had an ally. And they needed everyone they could get.

He looked over to Angus and said a few words in reply. "As long as they're loyal to the highest bidder, we'll just get money. Lots a' money. Mercs have their own agenda but unless they don't want pay, they don't betray you before your enemies got more mone-"

William froze. A sudden realisation.

"HOLY SHIT! WE TALKED TO A DINOSAUR, YOU GUYS!" William...William liked dinosaurs. Ever since he was a child he had a fascination for the extinct species. "A LIVING BREATHING DINOSAUR. My God, this is the first good thing the Paranormals did!" He took off his helmet, excited, and waited for the Saurian to get out of negotiations.

He was still mumbling the fact he spoke to 'a goddamn dinosaur!'

After lengthy discussion, Draco was able to broker negotiations with Center as well as his commander. Center even got on terms with the supreme leader, seeing how the humans have a vast amount of collective reserves of precious metals and gems. The Mercenary nature of the Saurians were finally revealed once Center settled for twice as much as the paranormal forces pay: 250 grams of gold a month or about nine ounces worth. And that was for each trooper. Center's haggling paid off. He even slyly promised that it will raise to 300 grams for very good work and efficiency.

For professional courtesy and after hearing of the deal, the science team decided not to autopsy the fallen bodies in respect. The new plan was to trade notes with their new allies. The engineers also got in on the ideas to trade notes with their dinosauroid colleagues. Due to the speed of the Saurians, the paranormal forces did not get wind of the new deal...yet.

The living dead walks, beasts of legend return, Djinn of ancient lore present themselves again, but what has gotten Burkley excited was dinosaurs? Angus raised an eyebrow and was paralysed with confusion for a few moments, but in the end, shook his head and decided not to rain on his CO's parade.

Debrief was not especially eventful. No one was told much of what they didn't know or expect, except to clarify exactly what the last actions of the rookie sniper were. Din had, in fact, not been under much pressure at all, but in that moment he had just snapped and decided to charge. It was a tragedy, but apparently the history of his mental health had made this outcome a possibility. Luc simply felt validated in his opinion that the guy threw his life away. Angus thought it strange that Din was on the battlefield at all, but it was at least a bit comforting that his death was never really his fault. He did all he could, after all.

Immediately after debrief, the entire squad sat up in eagerness to get on to other things. Luc gave a cursory glance to Smith's standard augments as he left the room; the day-to-day cybernetic limbs as opposed to the huge WREC suit that he wore before. He knew where he was going. Angus went straight down to the labs to check up on Draco.

Luckily for Draco, it seemed that the Dr Semyenov was open-minded enough to consider the mercenary as a potential resource, so Angus didn't really need to say or do much at all, not that his opinion would have carried much weight as a simple soldier. He and Burkley watched the negotiations to their conclusion. Everyone had a feeling that this deal would kick the advantage in ParaCom's favour, at least for now.

Luc reached the infirmary as quickly as he could. Anyone who spotted him couldn't tell whether he was angry or worried, but the truth was somewhere in between. A nurse on duty advised that Anya was in recovery at the moment as was currently sleeping, but Luc insisted on seeing her anyway. The sight he saw was honestly quite confronting. Anya lay on her back on a clean bed with nothing covering her but a patient's gown. On her pale sleeping face was a clear plastic mask that made her slow breathing slightly audible, with a plastic hose extending to a mechanism nearby. A number of instruments surrounding the bed kept track of her vital signs and made their various beeps to report activity. However, what really widened Luc's eyes was that Anya's limbs were missing. They had been replaced by polished metallic stumps that didn't seem to have any discernible transition into her flesh except by the sore red skin that bordered them. They were clearly a part of her body now. Each that Luc saw had flecks of shiny joins that evidenced their purpose in interfacing with cybernetics. It was honestly one of the most horrific things he had ever seen happen to a family member. "Anya, what the hell have you done?" Luc breathed in French, before turning to leave.

"Luc," a weak, clearly drugged voice sounded behind Luc and he stopped, but didn't turn around. Anya barely opened her eyes, but she knew who she was talking to. After an uneasy breath in, she continued. "Give your little sis a hug, I get to make a name for myself now."

"You're an idiot, Anya," Luc said bluntly, before starting to briskly walk away. Betraying his own emotions was not something he wanted to do.

"Luc, wait," Anya wheezed, trying to reach for him with an arm that she no longer had. Instead her shoulder flexed slightly off the surface of the bed and a number of the mechanisms on the end of her arm-stump began to buzz in movement. "Be happy for me..." Anya watched the door close, "...arsehole." Anya might have cried in her morphine-induced stupor, but she was too tired. She fell asleep again before she could so much as shed a tear.

Luc was in a foul mood for the rest of the day and didn't engage with anyone that he didn't have to. He couldn't care less about whatever the business with the saurians was.

As the operation was finished, Anya had the two choices for her combat subsystems. The two choices from the engineering department were the following: A melee system that can also destroy enemy cover and provide mobility or a devastating flamethrower. With further research, more subsystems can be invented and utilized specifically for Anya. Ultimately, it is up to her for requests.

Draco left the negotiations area satisfied. A new deal for his kin was unraveling. The Saurian leader might even make a business visit to check on his second in command. Also, trade to the Saurians would not be an option, but a necessity. When it came to studying the weaponry and equipment, Draco even stuck around the labs to assist the human scientists on the functions. For now, nothing too bad should happen.

---

"Are you serious? Do you understand how important that dragon was? You have shirked from your duties and look at the results! Unless you have a believable excuse, do not object to this order: Draw out those ParaCom dogs! Spare their heads for my laboratory!" Kalleh-e Marg was furious at what was considered to be a debacle. He also told one of his minions to redouble the forces and perhaps to "outsource" if needed.

"But my lord, we'll have to change our tactics and strategy! They keep stealing our technology and using it against us!" The minion attempted to point out the truth.

"So what if they make a new set of toys? Once I get involved, there will be for sure more surprises. Also, under my training, the troops will be doubly competent! Boro dige! We have little time!" The Head of Death was already losing his patience. He already made it certain that direct intervention will be applied.