Hidden moves

The sight of the thing hanging mid-air with four mechanical arms emerging from a hole in its chest and two lenses peeping out from it was intimidating, but Regis didn't dare to bother with the sight. He jumped backward and rolled to his right side as soon as he was back on the ground.

The tree that had been just behind Regis slipped towards the side and fell down. Regis slid backwards using his hoverboots. He was able to avoid being crushed under the tree. The feeling of his forearm was coming back to him. Regis didn't get distracted and focussed all his attention on dodging the swinging tentacles which altered between sharp blades and circular pipes.

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The corpses of four out of the five cadets that had been injected with the Asceptus nanoarmour bots were creating havoc in the assignment while the fifth one was also approaching a cadet who was already busy fighting another one.

The Asceptus were referred to as a warring race that was engaged throughout multiple wars in more than two galaxies. The Armitibium was a metal that was dull grey in colour and would develop a layer of brownish oxide at the ends of its structure. This metal was found exclusively in the Asceptus territory and was one of the cores to their warring efforts.

Armitibium was used to make the Asceptus nanoarmour bots. These bots had the ability to propagate inside the bloodstream of the Asceptus and were designed to execute the commands received from the brain of the user. The Armitibium was the only known metal that could be programmed in such a manner while also retaining its shape and strength.

To add to the benefits, this metal somehow had an adverse effect on all lifeforms except the Asceptus. Only a rare few among other alien lifeforms could manage to prevent the metal from drying up their bloodstream and destroying their nervous systems.

The five corpses creating the havoc were a classical example of what happened if a human was injected with the Asceptus nanoarmour bots made of Armitibium but they, the one who had injected the bots inside the five cadets were different. Not only had they survived the nanoarmour bots, they were also granted an incredible amount of strength.

A smile threatened to appear on their face as the scenes of the battle were projected into their mind. They could also see the instructor and his assistant who had entered the assignment zone while taking down the isolation barrier.

This was what they had been waiting for. This was what all their plans had been aimed at. A super high frequency wave was transmitted from a beacon created inside their body by the nanoarmour bots and spread around the entire assignment zone.

"Did you feel the sudden peak in energy in the air?" The instructor turned and asked his assistant.

"Hmm… no sir, but I think that it might have something to do with the disruption caused by those five cadets." The assistant replied while moving forward.

"That sounds reasonable." Lieutenant Dantes, the instructor said while checking the blackout zone on his holowatch. Both of them quickly made their way through the forest, any topographical feature in their path was instantly converted into flat ground as soon as they reached it.

The super high frequency waves spread from the instigator and reached the five items that had been dropped by the dead cadets in different areas of the forest. These devices immediately picked up the encoded signal and responded by dispersing in different directions. The barrier of the assignment area had been taken down temporarily. This was the best chance for them to release surveillance and data collection bots on Planet Cerberus because the soldiers had to pass through very strict screening if they wanted to leave the Camp with or without permission.

Also, they were not allowed to carry private spacial expansion devices out of the camp. Military issued spacial expansion devices were used for that purpose, but those devices kept a strict check on what was stored inside them.

"Sir the five cadets have spread in different directions and something strange is happening…." As soon as they were just a kilometer away from the blackout zone, the assistant placed his hand on the ground and activated his mystical element skill.

"What strange thing?" The instructor asked.

"I can't feel the lifeforce of five cadets." The assistant replied in a grave tone.

The instructor nodded, "Notify all the cadets that the assignment has been called off and that they should immediately make their ways back towards the camp. Also share the full view and tell them to avoid the blackout zone. I have already disabled the terrain manipulator." The instructor stepped forward.

A bluish light emerged from the instructor and he directly arrived at one of the four locations that his assistant had mentioned. Dantes was a man with a rather mild temperament, but what he saw immediately caused his blood to boil.

"Damn you!"

'Boom!'

'Forest guardian'

An enraged kick from the instructor hit the four mechanical arms that were emerging from Belem's corpse. A shockwave was created upon impact and the corpse was sent flying backwards. Just a few meters into the flight, the corpse was restricted by a large number of thin vines emerging from the ground. These vines coiled around the corpse, preventing any form of movement.

Before the deformed mechanical arms of the corpse had a chance to reform themselves, another shining blue kick reached the corpse, aimed directly at the cavity in the chest.

'Boom! Kacha!'

The impact of the kick spread a shockwave inside the corpse, destroying everything inside be it mechanical structures or the internal organs. The back of the corpse burst open and parts of broken machinery were caught by the cushion of vines.

The assistant who had arrived a few seconds later couldn't understand what had taken place. An unconscious cadet was lying on the ground, bleeding from his head and with clear signs of broken bones all over the body. Another cadet or rather a barely intact corpse was hanging midair, covered in vines. Despite the forest being artificial, these vines were very much real plants.

The assistant was able to recognize the Lieutenant's mystical skill and proceeded to provide first aid to the unconscious cadet.

'Skill: Grass cradle'

Small delicate grass emerged from the ground and covered the cadet. A healing solution was sprinkled on the grass. The grass absorbed the solution and released tender green light on the cadet. The injuries began to heal at a rapid rate visible to eyes.

Regis was in a very unfavorable condition. He had already used the healing solution more than ten times over the last few minutes and yet, both his hands were seething in pain. He could feel a vicious glow in the two lenses peeking out of Heim's chest cavity. The thing before him was unharmed despite a few of his attack connecting, Regis had dealt no apparent damage.

'Boom!'

A muffled sound came from somewhere in the forest, but Regis didn't have the time to contemplate the source or location of the sound. He rolled sidewards and pushed his leg against a tree to change his direction.

'Boom!'

'Boom!'

Two more muffled sounds, but they seemed to be getting louder.

'Boom!'

It was only after the fourth sound that Regis knew the source of the sound. The sound this time was very close. Before he even heard the sound, something large hit the corpse before him. Due to its immense speed, the object that hit was barely visible. Vines grew in the path of the flying corpse and caught both the corpse and what had hit it.

Then, a streak of blue light emerged from the direction that the second corpse had come from and drew an arc cutting through both the corpses. The movement was so refined that it didn't create any sound while the kick cut through the chests of both the corpses effortlessly.

Regis could feel the immense power radiating from the instructor. He released the breath he was holding and immediately took out another healing solution from his spacial expansion device.

"You did well cadet Kleeve. The assignment has been called off. Return to the camp and remember to not share anything that happened here without getting the clearance from the authorities. That's an order from your superior." The instructor didn't look at Regis and continued to stare at the two corpses and the multiple machine parts with complicated eyes.

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They who were the instigator of the entire incident smirked while they saw the instructor destroy the corpses one after the other. That junk was meant to be destroyed in the first place. But due to the smokescreen created by the junk, they were able to fulfil their mission without anyone noticing. As for the evidence, all evidence was destroyed the moment that they stopped forcefully restricting the nanoarmour bots in the bodies of the five cadets. The five witnesses were dead and no mystical or technological means could make the dead speak.

With a smirk, they left the forest.