Guess who finally learned how to properly format dialog. I'll probably go back and fix the rest at some point. Maybe. But really, I'm actually pretty proud of this one.

Fair warning, this part contains a decent amount of violence and death, as well as a a breif mention of blood, so if that's not really your thing, I suggest you avoid it.

It took a few days, but their next mission showed up. They were once again called into the lion’s office. “So, today will probably be your last mission before it’s been long enough for you to be trusted, and we can tell you a little bit more about exactly what is going on. That being said, it’s a dangerous one. It involves a group known as the dark claw.” Dan nodded. “Dan, it seems you’re familiar with it, but for the rest of you, allow me to briefly explain. The dark claw is a prolific anti-government group. They don’t agree with us, and don’t think we run things well. So they want to take us down. They’ve become quite a thorn in our side, and are responsible for 40% of agent deaths in the past three months. Your job is to go to one of their largest bases, and plant this device on the server mainframe.” The lion took out said device, and placed it on the desk. It was simply a small box, with a screen on one side, and a wire that ended in a USB port.

“And what exactly will this thing do?” asked Rex.

The lion took a look at his papers. “This is a specialized device we took from some human ruins. It should destroy both the physical copies of the data itself, and cause enough damage to the mainframe to keep them out of commission for a little while, at least a few months.”

“But what about backups?” asked James. “Surely if they have all this data on the government, they’re going to expect us to come after them. If they’ve caused this many deaths, they’re clearly competent at their jobs. Anyone competent would back up their data, especially if they’re trying to take on such a powerful group. How can this thing take care of all those backups?”

The lion smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. We have… other agents taking care of those.” Was that a smirk on his face? Rex couldn’t tell. The lion was being weirdly ominous for a briefing, though he did seem a bit out there from Rex’s previous meeting. It was probably the lion’s idea of a joke, so he decided not to worry about it.

“So, if this “dark claw” as you call it is so competent,” asked Timothy “how are we supposed to get into it?”

“It’s simple,” replied the lion. “You’re new recruits. You’ve only been on one very out of the way mission. It’s unlikely that they know you’re working for the government. We already have another guy on the inside, he’ll be showing you around as new recruits for the dark claw instead. You’ll be hidden in plain sight. Simply get in, place the device on the mainframe, and get out. Easy as pie.”

“Who’s our contact?” asked Rex.

The lion handed over a photograph. Pictured was a rather tired and disheveled cassowary. “This guy is another relatively new recruit, though he has been here longer than you four. A few weeks ago, we sent him to the dark claw, posing as a conspiracy nutjob. You know, the government is secretly humans, hidden subliminal messages in the radio are making you lazy and obedient, that kind of stuff. Well they took him hook, line, and sinker. He offered to try to bring some of his “friends” into the organization. Those friends are you.”

Dan nodded. “Simple and easy job. What’s the catch.”

The lion just laughed. “Don’t worry Dan! No catch this time. As long as you don’t blow your cover, in which case the punishment would be terrible. Not that you’d come back alive again anyway!” The lion laughed some more.

“Yeah,” though Rex. “This guy definitely has a few screws loose.”

“Anyway,” continued the lion. “Your black helicopter is waiting outside. It should be quick, so all the supplies are inside.”

The four headed out, and sure enough, there was a helicopter waiting there for them. The entered the back, and the helicopter lifted off.

“So,” asked Rex. “About that lion? Is he always like that?”

Dan nodded. “Yeah, that’s just what he’s like. You’ll get used to it. Don’t take most of what he says directly. Except the punishment part. Failure at a task like this will not be tolerated, and if our cover is blown, the dark claw will probably kill us.”

Rex went a bit pale at this. He was always nervous, and now his life depended on being able to fit in. At least it was with a bunch of people who were probably paranoid, though with his experiences the past few days, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that maybe the dark claw was onto something. Not that he could ever join them. Turning on the government when Dan was right there would be risky, if not downright suicidal.

“Come on Rex, don’t look so glum. I’m sure everything will be fine,” Timothy must have picked up on his nervousness. Rex nodded, though he wasn’t really comforted by Timothy’s words. He just didn’t want to show fear.

A few hours of flight later, and the helicopter landed in a clearing at the end of a dirt road. There was nothing around them but forest, and a white van. When Rex and his friends got out of the helicopter, the cassowary was there to meet them.

“Hey, dudes, my name’s like Gregory. Or Greg. Or Grego. Or Gregor. Or whatever, it doesn't really like matter, man. A name is just like a label for convenience. Nothing can truly capture my spirit. Anyway, the government dudes asked me to meet you here and drive you onto the site. It’ll keep us like sneakier or whatever. Get in the van, okay?”

Rex wasn’t entirely sure he trusted Greg’s driving, or Greg in general for that matter but the trip went without any major incident, and the pulled up to the dark claw compound. Rex was expecting it to be some huge imposing building, but when they got there, it just looked like some warehouses with a fence around them. Upon further thought, that made sense to Rex. It would help keep things subtle.

Greg pulled up to the gate. “Name and purpose?” asked the guard

“It’s me Greg, dude. I went out to get some friends that I think would, like, make really good and helpful members for us.”

Rex didn’t think that Greg would be able to convince them, but the guard let them through without much of a question, so it must have worked.

“Don’t worry dudes, it’s pretty easy to get away with walking around here, i’ll just say i’m showing you guys around. It’ll be simple,” To help with their disguise, and also so that they could get a decent idea of the layout in case something did go wrong, Greg showed them a few places around the compound.

It was all going well, but then one dark claw member tried to make some small talk. “Hey Greg, who are these guys?

“Oh, these dues? They’re like some friends of mine, man. They have like their own beef with the government. Thought I would, like, introduce them to the claw. Get us some new recruits, help with the cause,”

The dark claw member smiled. “Oh, nice to meet you. If you can’t tell, we keep things pretty casual around here. Helps keep suspicion low. Anyway, what brings you five into the dark claw?”

The five looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Timothy was the first to break the silence, to avoid seeming suspicious. “The Government is trying to replace our brains with microchips! It’s part of a plot to turn us into mindless obedient robotic super soldiers to fight for their plot to take over the universe!” He lifted up one of Dan’s shirt sleeves to show off his robotic arm. “See, look at what they did to my friend here! We have to take them down!”

Dan forced his sleeve down. “It’s a stylized prosthetic. We’re mostly just here to keep him safe while he gets used to things. He can be a bit of a hassle. We’ll be out of your hair soon enough,”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Interesting recruit you have there, Greg. Are you sure he’s going to be helpful to the cause?”

“Hey dude, cool your jets. You’re putting out some really harsh vibes right now. He has just as much a right to be here as any of us. He like totally hates the government, why you have to be so rude?”

“Right… anyway, I have to go do some stuff now. Have fun with your crazy friend!”

“Really? Crazy? I get that my excuse was a bit out there, but crazy might be a bit far, given the circumstances,” said Timothy.

“I don’t know,” said Rex. “Robotic super soldiers are a bit out there. As is mind control with technology. Anyone seriously trying to do mind control would use mag-”

“Alright Rex, that’s enough. We need to stay focused on the task at hand,” said Dan. “And don’t go waving my modifications around in public either. My face already brings up enough suspicion, you don’t need to show everybody that I have a robotic arm as well. Plus it can scare people. That’s rude and you shouldn’t do it. Anyway, Greg, which way to the server room,”

“It’s right over here, follow me, dudes,” Greg said, leading then down a few hallways, until they came to a large door with the words “Server Room” written on the door. “As you can see, this is the server room,” The six entered.

“Okay, Rex, James, and Timothy, you three go attach that hacking device to the mainframe. Greg, Thrasher, and I will keep watch,” said Dan

The three got to work, located the mainframe, and put the device down. It seemed that the only way they could attach the device to the server was through a standard USB port.

“Hey James.” Asked Rex. “They mentioned that this is something the found in a human ruin, right? Then why can we just plug it straight into an anthro made server?”

James shrugged. “I mean, they probably had to test it. I’d assume they just saw that it could attach to human computers, and modified it to attach to anthro computers. I found the port, so hand me that wire, will you? Let’s get this thing plugged in and get out of here,”

Rex handed him the cord, and James plugged it into the server. The screen lit up and displayed 15:00. With a loud beep, the number on the screen decreased to 14:59. It was a timer.

“Oh dudes, now that it’s plugged in, I can tell you. That thing’s a bomb. Turned on by like, usb or whatever crazy computer stuff you use nowadays. Can’t be turned off. I suggest we like run or something,”

“What?!” shouted Rex. “A bomb?!” We were told that was just going to destroy their computers! Not their entire base!”

“Yeah, man. That was like totally a lie. I suggest we get out of here. And stop yelling about the fact that we set up a bomb. It might get us caught,”

“Set up a what now?!” said the same dark claw member from before. He quickly dialed his phone. “Hey, got some new guys, and Greg here. Claim they set up a bomb,” When he hung up, alarms started to blare.

“Intruders in the facility, likely of government origin. Make sure to get ID of anybody you see. They are likely using shapeshifting technology, and cannot be assumed to be identifiable by sight alone,” A pre-recorded message blared out over the entire facility.

“Shapeshifting? Asked Rex. “Does the government have that sort of stuff?”

“Not as far as I know,” said Dan “But now isn’t really the time to ponder that!”

“Okay, we should run!” shouted Dan. And they did. Back down the twisted and confusing hallways, hoping that they would find an exit.

“Wait, Timothy. Let’s spirit fuse, Just in case we need to later. Take advantage of that rare permanent fusion we have,” said Rex

“Right. Good idea,” Said Timothy, placing his hand on Rex’s shoulder

Rex took a deep breath, concentrated, and the magic fields came into his view. “Guys, big disturbance in the field down that hallway to the left, probably someone’s spirit. Take the next right,.” They did, but the disturbances started to move. They were people after all, and those people were chasing them.

“Hey, you guys! Get back here!” one of them shouted. They kept running, but the dark claw members were catching up to them fast, and eventually caught up to them. One leapt forward, and tackled Rex to the ground.

“Rex!” shouted Timothy, readying himself just in case it came to conflict.

“Show us your identity card! Now!” Shouted the figure that was pinning Rex against the cold stone floor. Now that Rex got a better look at the figure, it looked a lot like Timothy, or at the very least, was another hawk. The figure got his gun out, and put it up to Rex’s head. “Identity. Now!” Rex stammered for a bit, unable to think of something, anything to try to save his life.

He was saved by Timothy stepping forward. “We’re new. Our friend Greg was showing us around, and we haven’t gotten our ID cards yet,” Rex could sense Timothy preparing to use magic, and began to rearrange the magic field to help Timothy get the other hawk off of him

“Sure. Whatever. I’d be willing to buy that, if you hadn’t mentioned sensing magic fields before! How did you do that! What kind of crazy technology is the government working with! Tell us, and maybe we’ll let you live,” Somehow, Rex knew that either way, they weren't planning to let him get out of the confrontation alive. Luckily, Timothy had other plans. Thanks to Rex’s manipulation of the magic field, the was able to get the other hawk off of Rex, and threw him against a wall incredibly hard. Rex was able to quickly get up and run away, though the hawk that Timothy pushed wasn’t so lucky. He was leaned against the wall, blood pooling on the ground as it ran out of his body. Rex could see it happen. Rex saw the hawk’s spirit, though it was still unconscious, leave the body of the hawk. There was no denying it. The hawk was dead. Rex didn’t have time to deal with thinking about that though. For the sake of surviving, he had to get up and start to run again.

“Timothy! Come on! You’ll have time to be horrified at your actions later! Let’s get out of here!” Given the amount of blood running out from under the bricks, Rex was pretty sure that the hawk wouldn’t be any more trouble for them, beyond the long lasting psychological damage. Thanks to Rex and Timothy’s spirit fusion allowing Rex to sense the spirit fields, they were able to reach the exit without any more close encounters, but it had taken almost all of the rest of the time on the bomb.

They ran as far away from the base as possible, and heard the explosion. From the sound alone, they could tell it was a big one. They knew the base had been destroyed, both by the sound, and the debris raining down on them. They were lucky that nothing large hit them. When the dust had cleared, the five took a moment to calm their nerves before confronting Greg.

“Greg! What the hell?! You lied to us! Do you know how many people we probably just killed?!” shouted Timothy.

Greg nodded. “An unfortunate fact, but a necessary one. We needed to show the dark claw we weren't like messing around anymore. Plus, it was like a great way for a loyalty test. You guys bail on me and join the dark claw, and you get killed by the explosion anyway,”

“So you were in on this the entire time?! You knew what was going on?! And you still let it happen!” Shouted Rex. “Why?”

“Like I said before, it was your final test. All of you passed wonderfully!”

“Passed? We probably killed hundreds of people! And your biggest concern was that we passed a test?! I’d kill you right now, if I didn’t already have such a high body count” said James.

“I mean I hardly think that dark claw members can be considered people. Think of it more as… pest control,” said Greg

“What the absolute fuck is wrong with you, and the entire goddamn government!” screamed Timothy.

“Nothing is like wrong with us, man. That’s the way the world works. Kill or be killed. You’re young, so I get your excuse. But you all need to wise up,” replied Greg.

“Dude. That’s messed up. And I say that as an assassin myself,”

Rex couldn’t think of anything to say, and Thrasher was already crying from the guilt.

“Look softies. You want to make it in the government, you’re like going to have to get used to this. Our ride is here, let’s go home,” said Greg.

The flight home was quiet and awkward, so Rex and Timothy used the time to separate their souls. When they landed, the group decided that they would go to their boss and complain. Even for Dan’s line of work, so much death and destruction was needless, even if the dark claw was as large of a threat as it was made out to be. The group marched down the hallway, anad slammed open the door to the lion’s office.

“Ah, Dan and his friends. Glad to see you made it back alright. Did everything go well?”

“Shut up.” said Timothy. ‘You know what you did. So why? Why did you make us do it. You tricked us into killing hundreds of people!”

The lion nodded. “Sorry. But it had to be done. It was the perfect way to show the dark claw that we aren’t messing around, and to make sure that you wouldn’t defect. It was the perfect opportunity to do so, and you would have been killed by the bomb if you defected. Seeing as you’re all here, I take none of you did. Good.The plan was a massive success,”

“Massive success? There are thousands of ways you could have done that with less violence and bloodshed!” shouted Thrasher, who had finally recovered

“Yes, but it wouldn’t have left as big of a mark. Listen. The dark claw is cruel, and the dark claw is brave. We needed to make as visible an attack as possible to show that we’re not backing down. This wasn’t just an attack to kill people. This was also an attack to prove a point. That the government is not to be trifled with! We had been planning this for months, and the stars finally aligned for this plan to do so much for us. You were new, so the dark claw wouldn’t recognize you. You needed to be tested, and this plan would get rid of any of you who failed. Of course, as much as I would have liked to, I couldn’t tell you about the true nature of the plan. Given the… ethical concerns you raised about the last task you were assigned, it was far too much of a risk to tell you about the true nature of this one. I would have used anyone else if I could have, but given the circumstances, you were literally the only possible choice. I’m sorry you had to go through the trauma, but I’m not sorry for what I did, not in a million years. Now please go back to your rooms, I’m very busy today,”

Rex and his friends begrudgingly obeyed, and went back to their rooms. Rex and Timothy both sat down on their beds, forlorn.

“I can’t believe it Rex. Even outside of the context of the bomb, I’ve killed someone. With my own two hands. I’m a murderer,”

Rex got up, and sat back down next to Timothy. “Look. It’s just as much my fault at yours. I was the one manipulating the magic fields. You had know way of knowing how strong I made them. It’s just as much my fault that hawk died as it is yours.” Rex took a deep breath. “And I’m sorry,”

The two sat around quietly for a bit, not even really knowing how to proceed or what to do in this sort of situation; they were just trapped with their emotions.

“Hey, Timothy,” asked Rex. “So you know, that hawk’s spirit? It’s probably still around in the spirit realm, and probably will be for a while. Unless he’s another edge case like me, he just died today, so his spirit is probably going to linger around for a good month or two before it fades away. I don’t know where or when we can, but at some point, we can try to talk to him before he fades out, at least apologize, and explain exactly what happened,”

Timothy wiped away a few tears from his eyes. “Y..Yeah. I think that’s the right thing to do. This was a pretty big base, so it’s likely that there’s going to be information on the news. We can decide what to do from there. I don’t really care how, but I want to make things right!”

Rex nodded. “I think that’s the right thing to do.” he said. “But it’s getting late. We should probably at least try to get some sleep tonight. Goodnight, Timothy,” said Rex, struggling to hold back his tears at that point.

“ ‘Night, Rex,” said Timothy.