The heavy blast door slid open with a loud hiss.
Jason stepped through first, his rifle raised. He expected to hear the hum of fans, the vibration of machines, or voices from a city of fifty thousand people.
Instead, it was dead silent.
"Check your corners," Jason whispered over the radio.
The squad moved into the service area. The team members walked unsteadily, like drunkards. Some even hopped like kangaroos, jumping ten meters at a time, struggling to adapt to the low gravity. A soldier named Miller tried to run for cover but pushed off too hard. He flew ten feet into the air, legs flailing, before smacking into a wall.
"Get down, idiot!" Austin hissed, grabbing Miller and yanking him down. "You're a floating target!".
Jason gritted his teeth. They were elite soldiers, but here, they were learning to walk all over again. If they fought against enemies who had lived in this gravity for years, they would lose.
Beep. Beep.
The communicator in his helmet suddenly rang.
"Lieutenant Jason? Is that you?".
The voice sounded scared.
"This is Jason," he replied, signaling the squad to hold. "Identify."
"Thank God. It's Dr. Roman. Chief Biologist."
"Doctor, we're inside. What's the situation?" Jason asked.
"It's... it's hell," Roman said, sounding exhausted. "After the Earth exploded, the death row prisoners rioted. They attacked the administration and are planning something... I don't know what. Many people have been hijacked.".
"Who is leading them?" Jason asked. "A riot needs a leader."
"It's a death row prisoner named Calvin," Roman said anxiously. "There are a total of one or two hundred rebels.".
Jason froze. He stopped walking, his boots sliding slightly on the dusty floor.
"Say that name again," Jason said, his voice dropping.
"Calvin. He came from the Federation jail three years ago.".
Cold anger filled Jason's stomach. He knew that name. Calvin, the cult leader of the "Void Religion," and was called the most dangerous criminal. In 2015, the "Ten Thousand People Self-Immolation" case that shocked the world was orchestrated by him in which 10,000 people burned themselves.
He called himself "God's Son" and had promoted the "Earth Destruction Theory," claiming Earth was a garbage dump of chaos and evil that God would destroy.
"He was supposed to be executed," Jason whispered to Austin on the private channel. "I led the team that arrested him. We lost seven or eight brothers taking him down.".
"He's not dead? He was sent to the Moon?" Austin's face changed, and he gritted his teeth. "Those corrupt officials... he must have bought his way out.".
"We caught him once, and we can catch him a second time," Jason said, waving his gun. "This time, we will never give him a chance.".
"Doctor, stay hidden," Jason ordered. "We're coming."
He cut the line. The stakes had just changed. This wasn't just a riot; it was a war against a man who wanted to watch the world burn.
"Move out," Jason signaled. "Follow the smell.".
After walking for about half an hour, everyone finally arrived under the huge glass dome. Jason entered an 18-digit password into a secluded iron door, and it opened with a boom.
"Further in is the inside of the base," Jason said solemnly. "The dome isolates cosmic rays and contains breathable air. You can take off your spacesuits now and travel light.".
"For those who haven't adapted to the Moon's gravity, tie the lead weights to your body to increase your weight. Everyone be careful, I don't want to lose any comrades, understand?".
"Understood!"
The squad stripped their vacuum-suits but kept their armor. The metallic smell of blood got stronger as they moved through the pipes and conduits. It led them toward a low building Sector 4 Storage.
As they got close to the heavy doors, a sound cut through the silence.
A scream. Raw and terrified. Followed by faint moans.
Jason signaled a halt. He crept forward and looked through a crack in the door.
His blood ran cold.
The warehouse was a slaughterhouse. This was originally a storage area covering more than three hundred square meters, but now it had become a paradise for crime.
Inside, dozens of women were lined up against the wall, tied up and hanged. Some were crying; others stared at the ceiling, their minds broken.
In the center of the room, Convicted men and women were laughing. They were naked, covered in dirt and blood, galloping and rolling among the bodies, venting desires accumulated over years of imprisonment. Some picked up sharp knives, scratching bloody marks on the victims just to hear them scream, some are playing with the hostages.
It was pure evil. Without the laws of Earth, they had turned into monsters.
Jason watched a man torment a woman while his friends cheered.
Rage flared in Jason's chest. Beside him, Marcus looked through the crack. The heavy weapons soldier started shaking, veins bulging in his neck.
"Captain," Marcus growled. "Let me go. I'll kill them now.".
Jason grabbed Marcus's shoulder, it was not the time to take an emotional decision.
He looked at Shane, the squad's scout.
Shane, the team's sniper with the best eyesight, checked his scanner. He made a few hand gestures behind him: "93 people, low danger level.".
Ninety-three monsters against twenty-five soldiers.
Jason turned off his external speakers. He looked at his men. Their faces were hard, their eyes burning with hate. They didn't need a speech. They needed permission.
"Listen to me," Jason said over the squad radio. "These aren't civilians. They aren't prisoners. They gave up their right to live.".
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Rules of Engagement: No warnings. No arrests.".
Jason raised his hand.
"Purge them."
He counted down on his fingers.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Breach!".