Chapter 1: Operation Stone Justice

July 15th, 2029

Two weeks after the string of maritime paranormal attacks, Main Officer Arnold "Center" Bradley assembled ParaCom for one more war. History would be bound to repeat. Recruits from across the globe were called to combat a new generation of evil. Old and new, the operatives were to be familiar with the threat given the history of the First Paranormal War. This war should not be too different other than the nature of the paranormal entities humanity is now combating.

"We have fought beings just like them years ago. A good portion of you were probably youngsters when they occurred, but this time will be your chance and duty to help defeat this menace! If nobody will fight the paranormal and win, who will? The bottom feeders will regret attacking us. The costs may be high, but in the end will all be worth it. If we can win one war against the paranormal, we can win this one too!"

Center was attempting to bolster the confidence of the troops, though he regretted how some of his veterans were injured during the final battle of the First Paranormal War. Colonels Alina Ivanova and Farhad Mehrzad still bore scars of being veterans and took the call to action and duty very seriously. Seasoned and hardened, they expected practically everything the aquatic adversaries will throw at them. To them, nothing was uncertain except for the new recruits.

Koski took the cigarette from his mouth and puffed a small cloud of smoke while listening to the speech. It has been a couple of days since he was transferred to the ParaCom base located in the Pacific Ocean, and while he didn't expect anything grand or awe-inspiring, he had to admit the place was well-built, with even a gym included. While the living quarters weren't anything fancy, they sure beat the paper-thin bunks he was used to back in his days of service in Finland.

"Jees," he agreed while the cigarette returned between his teeth. With his now free hand, he raised a hand to ask a question.

"So, do we know anything about these invaders? Anything about the arms or tactics they use?"

Center promptly responded to Koski's question. "Because of their aquatic nature, their attacks have been mainly from the waters. For that reason, we have made our weapons amphibious in that they work both on land and underwater. Current theories of their weaponry is that the arms they use would be similar to the magitech weaponry we have seen during the First Paranormal War. What we know is that they are a different faction seeking to exploit the power vacuum of the paranormal as well as try to kick us when we're down."

It had been quite the trip for Maya and brought back a lot of memories from the service, but the setup here was completely different than anything she had encountered before. Aquatic weaponry, unknown weaponry she had never seen before. She had been a combat medics, but she knew bullets, and burns, broken bones, and split arteries. She could fix these things, but how was she supposed to saves soldiers lives from these new weapons, much less perform combat life saving techniques. She raised her hand. “Sir as a combat medic, do we have some new techniques or gear to use to save the lives of soldiers in the fields from this… Magitech weaponry? And if so what is the expected time rate for learning these things, and who will be teaching it?”

Similarly with Squaddie Simo Koski, Center promptly acknowledged the question asked by Squaddie Maya Roberts. "We have improved technology that is designed to be used just the same as the conventional technology. It won't take too long to master it as it is very simple to use. You can thank the brilliant men and women that served as scientists and engineers during the First Paranormal War."

A video popped up as a montage of testings and demonstrations. The ParaCom Medikit in particular was a big improvement to address quick and efficient recoveries. Dr. Quincy, head engineer, was the narrator of the video. "Our new and improved Medikit can efficiently treat a soldier's wounds through the use of nanosutures and high-potency stimulants all while being portable." A spray was needed to heal moderate wounds as demonstrated. "While this works well on mild to moderate wounds, it would be ill-advisable to treat critically wounded. The critically wounded instead are stabilized. Seasoned Support troopers can outright revive the patient. Ultimately, it isn't the Medikit. It is the skill of the user."

"Any more questions? I got plenty of time to answer. Though all credit goes to Dr. Semyonov and Dr. Quincy for the advances in technology we have."

-Milo Cash-

Milo sat in the back of the briefing next to his sister, looking at Center again, being called back out from the shelf to be played with once again. Memories flooding back to him over the time he's worked with Paracom, the King Kong sized Yeti that caused Tiffany's injury being in the forefront. Just a few more pounds of pressure she would have been completely destroyed instead of just messing up her back giving her her leg problems. Those days giving him enough stress he started drinking, even at this moment he had a beer in his hand. Milo quietly raised his hand that didn't have a beer, "So when do we get back to killing those bastards, Center?"

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-Tiffany Cash-

She sat next to Milo, starring disapprovingly at the drink in his hand, the question he asked didn't help her feelings towards the drink at all. She knew it was her fault he started drinking, but that could never really get to her, she had to many other people to worry about considering she was now one of the doctors here at base she had to take care of what you couldn't out in the field and make sure the recovery goes smoothly, and do her best at making sure they don't end up like herself.

Mysaren sat in the corner of the room, attempting to stay out of everyone's line of sight as her eyes darted around the room nervously. This was probably a bit out of her pay grade. She chewed her lip as she considered everything that could possibly go wrong in this situation. Hell, everything that could go wrong with the base, considering it was underwater like this.

She raised her hand to ask a question. "Uh, pardon me, sir, uhm, sir, uh, what exactly do we know of their strategy besides the fact they attack from the water? Anything special about the way they attack, anywhere in particular they target?"

Center once again answered questions. "Shortly Colonel. We'll be ready." He then turned to the French Squaddie. "If they behave the same as the other paranormal entities we fought during the First Paranormal War, we'll have to be ready for attacks on land. Surely they'd have the nerve to do so around half the time. Also, if their ships rise out of the water to make an invasion for terror, a tsunami may follow. All that water will go somewhere. That's why we will have modified procedures for the bottom feeders."

Mysaren chewed on her thumbnail thoughtfully and nodded. "Uh, yes sir, thank you, sir, I uh, appreciate it. But uh, what exactly are these, uh, modified procedures, uh, if you don't mind my asking, uh, sir." She retreated back into her corner after this question, sitting on her legs and still glancing around the room.

Fuck, this wasn't going to work, she was going to die. She bit her lip as she waited for his response, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of here. This room made her claustrophobic.

"We have two or three methods of modification of our troops. First is the WREC Trooper program. WREC meaning Weaponized Robotic Exoskeleton Chassis. Our variant of the cyborg soldiers. Another is the Splice Soldier program. We incorporate foreign, though preferably paranormal in our case, physiology in our troops. The medicinal field both benefited from our discoveries. Last, but certainly not least, is our magic lab from the First Paranormal War. In here, we test to see if the individual is magic capable. The higher the willpower and rank, the more chance of magic capability."

Center remembered Tiffany's injuries. If it weren't for the armor, she would have been a cripple for life. The good news was that she was able to participate in the First Paranormal War. He also partially blamed himself for Milo's alcoholism. War was the sculptor of the 2020s and humanity was a prisoner to the designs. However, this is a chance to break free from the prison. All we have to do is to bring the fight to the bottom feeders.

"Uh, yes, I do already know about the uh, capabilities of the splice program." Mysaren muttered, nodding in thanks for him answering the question, and going back to worrying about the base. Who the hell thought that an underwater base was a good idea, especially considering these fuckers worked primarily underwater? This was asking for a disaster, she knew it.

The orientation had gone smoother than normal. Nothing to worry about as the recruits seemed very promising. Center decided to check with Dr. Quincy and Dr. Semyonov for consultation. "Amphibious weaponry have optimal results. We have managed to modify existing weapon systems to be able to fire both on land and in sea. We have used darts and high-pressure compressed air in our modifications. Further advancements enabled superiority over the systems of the Cold War. Thanks to the paranormal alloys, they can be used in conventional firearms as well though the railguns make optimal use of the darts as they do not need the compressed air."

"What about our energy weaponry?"

"The energy weapons have also been modified to operate underwater, lasers in particular. Plasma weapons were deemed suitable for close quarters battle while the lasers better for very long ranges. It is recommended that our heavies and our assaults get the plasma while the snipers and supports get the laser weaponry once the tougher enemies come around."

"Do you have any alternatives?"

Dr. Semyonov stepped in to make a proposal. "Seeing that the aquatic life is more vulnerable to temperature changes than we are, I propose a system of thermal weaponry. It should be aquatic and land able. It would most likely be in beam form and we can derive the designs from our energy weapon systems. Once we get enemy autopsies, we can refine the idea much further."

Both concurred. "Once the autopsies are finished, let us know."

"Another question, sir. What about our current gear? Will it be modified sufficiently for the mission at hand?"

Near the back of the room, Cho kept his hand raised. All this time he'd sat in quiet, deep thought, the discussion and question asking going mostly over his head. When it got to the issue of firearms though, he'd gotten concerned. Here they were talking about railguns and air guns and still no one saw the issue that he'd seen: these soldiers were equipped with their own individual gear. He himself had his sniper rifle, his pistol, his SMG, but for them to be modified in a way that would make his regular maintenance drills...moot? He had to get to the bottom of this. And speaking of the bottom of things...

The base itself was a marvel to Cho. Never before had he seen a full military base...on the water before. Floating cities, yes, but only in movies or in books. This was something else entirely. It had a full submersible bay, docks, even a full-sized hangar and runway for incoming aircraft, along with a helipad for good measure. The whole place was a rounded out, honest-to-goodness base, facilities and everything. His chopper ride onto the grounds was a memory he'd keep with him for a good long time. Now that he was here, though, the only thoughts he entertained were those of quiet, contemplative vengeance. To issue down destruction onto the beasts that had claimed the lives of half his family...this he had sworn the moment he had taken up his rifle and dug into the first snowbank in the mountains during his special forces training. He had suffered alongside friends, comrades who would fight other wars, die in them, be honoured, but none as strange or as important as his personal fight against the demons from below. Right now his full arsenal was locked away in a gun locker in his bunk, but soon he would unleash it unto the evils that lay beneath the waves.

Right now, though, he focused on the task at hand. If he couldn't get a full grasp of the situation before they jumped right in, he'd be out of place and a burden on the team. So might as well he ask all on his mind, right? With hand still raised, Cho continued.

"And sir, may I ask about the conditions we will be fighting in? I understand fully the implications of land-based fighting, if there is any, but what about underwater? Will there be any more signficant natural hazards we will face, and if there are, what sort of equipment or gear will we be given to neutralise these dangers?"

Center responded to Cho's question with, "Oh yes. We have modified conventional weapons to fire special underwater bullets. If you check the armory, we have very impressive technology. Railguns, energy weapons, we have them all. We'll also have special armor for improved maneuverability and protection in the water as the water is their home turf. They get an advantage and our science and engineering teams are countering that. Try them out in the armory and you'll see our progress."

"But you haven't answered my first question, sir. What about those of us that already have weaponry? Will they be modified as well to fit the situations we will be facing?"

More questions would come as the Colonel rambled on. For now, he stuck to his guns. Literally.

"Sorry about that. If you already have weaponry, all you have to do is apply an adapter sleeve. It's not permanent as it can be removed at any time. That way you can be amphibious in that you can use conventional rounds and our proprietary rounds. That way you can be more versatile. Also, you can switch back to normal bullets once you do land missions."

A few hours later, alarms across the base rang and blared. Paranormal action has been detected in the waters of Japan. An enemy ship made of what seemed to be an adamantine material was tracked to be kilometers below the surface. It was a sea mission to intercept and prevent further casualties. Submarines were prepared, in particular the proprietary ParaCom Moray submarines. They were powered by Cosmodium, the element discovered and utilized during the First Paranormal War. For that reason, a design was utilized to ensure that the operatives would arrive to the area of operations faster than a Google search.

"You know what that means folks! Get ready to test your mettle!"

"Alright!" Koski shouted in excitement, and went to prepare his gear for the mission.
"Let's get down to business," he said, mostly to himself, as he hopped into the Moray, ready for action.

The Moray opened up. Squaddie Koski was the first operative to enter. "Large Cloud once again reporting for duty!" Large cloud was THE veteran pilot for the ParaCom project. Flying and transporting operatives for numerous missions, he knew exactly what to do. Because they were going underwater, each operative had artificial "gills" from their armor. The device was able to create air for the troops to breathe. With a nuclear ability to convert surrounding water molecules to breathable air molecules, this was the product of an experimental crash course program for underwater combat. The good news that it had years for mastery and testing.

-Milo Cash-
Milo quickly chugged what was left of his Corona, "Squadies quick tip: don't die, it helps you do your job," he called as he popped into the armoury to get his armour and grab a sleeve for his rifle, good Ol' Bastard Jack, his pistol, and his machete (they never did let him get a sword probably for the better). Quickly he ran down to the Moray.
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-Tiffany Cash-
She watched disappointed as her brother chugged his beer, but she couldn't wait and nag him for it. She did her best to scurry off to the medbay to prep it incase worst comes to worst for their first round of operations.
The voices around her, those who refused to look at her didn't bother her, she didn't even notice them, she was a little to busy thinking about what new aliens she might meet once the team returns.