The dining hall reeked of iron, ozone, and fake bacon.
Metal benches stretched in rows like a military graveyard, and Axel 26 sat among them, pushing cold meat around his tray like it might attack him if he blinked.
Across the table, Braxton 91 was halfway through a synthetic steak the size of a brick, chewing like it owed him money.
"You know, this ain't bad," Braxton said, mouth full. "Better than dragon meat, that's for damn sure."
"We've never eaten dragon meat," Axel muttered.
"Yeah, 'cause it smells like dead socks and explodes when you cook it," Braxton replied, jabbing his fork at him. "You gotta sear it from the inside, not the..."
He stopped when Syne 34 walked by, silent as a shadow. She didn't take food. She never did.
She sat alone, four tables away, unfolding a data slate. Her glowing eyes flicked up once, just once, then back down. Nobody spoke to her. Nobody wanted to.
"Creeps me out," Braxton whispered. "Still say she ain't fully human."
"None of us are," Axel replied, finally taking a bite. It tasted like ash.
At the far end of the room, Reef 77 stood upside down, one hand balancing on a light fixture. He tossed grapes into his mouth between hacking a side terminal and flirting with an automated cleaning drone.
"Hey, gorgeous, you mop with that chassis or dance with it?"
The drone beeped angrily and zipped away.
"Another one that can't handle commitment," he sighed, flipping mid-air and landing beside Axel's bench with perfect grace.
"You know you've got a mission tomorrow, right?" Axel said.
B
"Please. Nothing like murder to work up an appetite. Or indigestion."
The lights dimmed. All eyes turned forward as Vera One entered.
She didn't walk. She strode. Purpose built into every movement.
Her VX-01 Seraph Frame armor gleamed even out of combat, and her long white hair was bound in the standard officer's knot. Eyes sharp. Face unreadable.
"Mission briefing in two. Finish eating."
Everyone obeyed. Even Syne.
The projector activated, painting a blood-red hologram above them. A map of the outer kingdoms: Elves, Vampires, Lizards, Dragons… and the goblins. The display zoomed in on a village tucked into a ravine.
"Goblin holdout detected. Eighty-seven bodies. Nineteen armed. No allegiance to the Empire. Refused to pay tribute. Possible links to rebel networks."
"Tomorrow morning, we strike. Objectives are total compliance, or total erasure."
She looked at Axel. For a moment, her gaze lingered.
"No survivors."
Axel felt the words settle in his chest like concrete.
He wasn't new to this. This wasn't his first village. But lately… he'd started listening more than shooting.
The screams didn't stop when the mission ended.
They followed him home. Got louder in the quiet.
Reef leaned in, whispering, "Hey. You good, man?"
Axel nodded slowly.
"Yeah. Just tired."
He looked at the map again. At the little glowing red dot labeled GOBLIN VILLAGE 087-C.
Just another mission.
Just another extermination.
But somehow, it already felt like the last one.
Absolutely. Here's the continuation of Chapter 1, showing the departure scene, the human kingdom's blind hero-worship, and the emotional contrast between the adoring public and the grim reality the Exterminators live with.
By the time the sun rose, the landing bay was roaring.
Metal doors split open to reveal Black Halo, each member fully suited, helmets locked, weapons magnetized to their backs. The blast shields hissed upward, revealing the transport platform surrounded by crowds of cheering civilians.
Children waved flags. Vendors sold toy replicas of the team's weapons. Holographic banners flickered overhead:
"Praise Our Protectors!"
"Black Halo: Humanity's Shield!"
"Monsters Beware!"
Axel stepped into the light. His suit, Black Wolf, absorbed it, matte black with crimson gleams on the joints. Even his visor couldn't dim the deafening wave of applause.
He didn't wave.
He never waved.
"Ain't this cute?" Braxton said over squad comms, raising a metal fist. The crowd roared louder. "I should've sold merch."
"You do sell merch," Reef muttered. "I saw a toddler with a 'Meat Grinder' plushie. That's a war crime."
"Nah, war crimes are what I do after breakfast."
Reef snorted, flipping up a peace sign to a group of teenage fans screaming his name.
Syne 34 said nothing, walking through the noise like it wasn't real.
Axel scanned the crowd. So many eyes. So much blind faith.
They didn't know what a mission really looked like. They didn't know the smell of burnt skin, the sound of a child choking on smoke, or the way your hands shook the first time you killed something begging.
But the crowd didn't want to know.
They just wanted their monsters dead.
On a raised platform above them, a General in gold-trimmed armor lifted a hand.
"Unit Seven, Black Halo," he boomed. "Humanity's deadliest Exterminators! Our sword in the dark! Our final judgment!"
A booming cheer followed.
"Go forth and remind the beasts why we rule this world!"
Vera One stepped forward. Raised her blade, Heaven Fang, into the air.
A blinding white pulse lit the sky like sunrise.
"Black Halo, deploy."
The platform launched upward, magnetic rails igniting beneath their feet.
The crowd vanished beneath them.
Axel turned his head slowly, looking back, at the kingdom, at the walls, at the banners, at the lie.
Then forward, toward smoke on the horizon.
Toward the village already marked for death.
"Axel 26," Vera said through the comms, calm and composed. "You're second in command. Once we land, I want a clean sweep."
"Understood," he said, quietly.
But inside the Black Wolf, something stirred.
Something he hadn't felt in years.