The EE unit, a band of misfits, too valuable for The Republic, but too unhinged for a regular army. Their main task? To collect data about long gone times and to exterminate any ancient abominations that are dangerous for the citizens of The Republic.

EE UNIT

MISSION 001

-Commander! New orders arrived, from The Ministry of Defence itself.
Said Coock while entering his commander's office. They were stationed in some small rural area, so it wasn't anything fancy, but he didn't mind, it was somewhat comforting.
-Bring them here
Replied Commander, with his stable, almost monotonous voice. He started to open the envelope, slowly, methodically. You could see him grin stronger and stronger while his one eye was running through the text.
-Go to the rest of the boys, Coock, tell them that we are eating good tonight.
Coock turned 180 on his heel and with a permanent smile painted on his chubby face walked out of the Commander's office.
Commander could not hold it anymore, he jumped out of his chair and started to make some awkward moves, that were supposed to be a little dance, around his desk while laughing like some kind of maniac. New mission equals new opportunities to gain new shiny artifacts, new "forbidden" knowledge all for himself, to add new stuff to his ever growing collection of long lost trinkets, ancient books and other unseen oddities.
-Uffff…hahaha, got so excited that I don't even remember where we are going.
Slowly calming down, he hunched over his desk to read the orders once more.
-Border with Rrat monks… interesting, INTERESTING INDEED!
He was about to start "dancing" again, when suddenly he heard knocking on the doors to his office. He quickly put himself in order, adjusted his mustache, checked his eyepatch and flattened down his uniform.
-Come in!
When doors opened, he saw a young man, on the slender side, with goatee and dark hair
-I came to inform you, that dinner is ready, sir
-Ha, I wonder what this fatty made today! Go tell the others I will be there in about 5 minutes, Newbie. Oh, and close the doors to my office
-Yes sir!
Upon hearing the sound of closing doors, Commander started to twirl his mustache between his two fingers. His mind filled with thousands of thoughts theorizing about what he can find in those ruins. His grumbling stomach broke him out of this state. He only smiled and whispered to himself.
-Interesting indeed…
When the sun started to rise, Scout was throwing the unit's stuff onto a wagon. He was helping Big Guy prepare everything for their upcoming mission. Scout liked this mountain of a man. Big Guy rarely spoke, same as Scout, he never asked stupid questions, was always calm and composed. He got his moments in battle when he went a little crazy, but Scout respected this musclehead nonetheless. Soon after, all unit members were on board, there was a long trip ahead of them. Nothing noticeable happens during their travels, they were playing some cards to kill time, and in the evenings they were telling war stories about long gone friends. Coock was always making some delicious food, Scout was constantly making upgrades to his rifle, good old Smith was toying with some explosives, Newbie and Commander were hunched over the map all day, while Big Guy was trying to keep his body in peak condition.
-Allright, listen up boys!
Commander's voice broke the silence
-We are closing in on our destination. There were rumours about strange cave in the mountains near Rrat border. Local folks say, that the air near it is noticeably cold and you can hear strange noises in the night, but the main reason we are going there is that there have been 3 cases of missing children in just this month.
-That's not all.
Newbie continued.
-There is an old legend that matches our data. Long time ago, apparently before our goddess arrived on this land, there was a group of foreign gods, but one day, an ancient orange dragon banished them from this land. From what I know, their followers dwelled in caves and mountains for centuries, but they slowly died out.
All members were listening with all the attention.
-Isn't it interesting!
Yelled Commander
-Just imagine all the ancient scrolls and artifacts we can find there!
After taking all the gear they needed, all of them hopped off the wagon. Strong gusts of unnaturally cold wind smudged their faces. It was here.
-Load your guns and light up the lanterns, when ready, follow me!
Commander leads the EE unit inside this mysterious cave. Lantern in left hand, rifle in the other, he slowly moved forward, taking every step with caution. This cave system wasn't very complicated, only a couple of corridors branching off the main one, but sure it was long. As they were going deeper, the air started to drop below freezing temperatures, the moist and mossy walls from before were now covered in ice. The ground started to get more slippery, so Commander slowed his pace. After some time, they started to hear some strange, almost beast-like voices. It sounded like some kind of language, but nobody was able to understand a single word. Following the voices, they came upon a large, dark and cold room. Near the entrance, Commander stopped and waved his hand pointing at Smith. The old Smith made couple of steps forward and with all of his might, threw a slowly burning phosphorous bomb into this room.
-Cover your eyes!
Smith yelled
Suddenly a white flash brightened the whole cave, it wasn't just some random room, there were phrases in some foreingn alphabet written on the icy walls, large icepicks hanging from the top, in the middle an altar. It was made of almost white ice with, what seemed like blood, dripping from it. Around it, something like 50 humanoid creatures. You could see every bone through their sickly yellow skin, their eyes were small and narrow, teeth sharp and pointing in all directions. All the creatures started to run from the light, scraping their eyes to the blood with long nails.
-Fire!
A cannonade of bullets ripping through the flesh of those abominations, dropping like flies, one after another. Some of the creatures started charging towards the soldiers.
-No mercy! Kill all those filthy fuckers!
Commander took out his sabre and rushed forward slicing through their skin and bones without problem, Big Guy caught one of those humanoids and ripped its legs out, covering himself in blood, Scout took couple of deep breaths and steadied his aim, there were no escape from his shots, Smith was throwing grenades left and right, the moisture on Newbies and Coocks rifles started to evaporate. It was a bloodbath, nothing new for the EE unit. After making sure that all those creatures are dead, everyone started to wander around this cave. Coock was taking some meat samples for improving his coocking, Smith was collecting claws and bones for crafting new weapons, Big Guy started to stretch, Newbie was writing something in his notebook. As for Commander, he immediately walked towards the altar. There were 3 mutilated bodies of what looked like human children, one of them had a dagger made of crystal stuck in its chest.
-I think we have found those missing children…
He whispered to himself after taking the blade. He cleaned it with his handkerchief, when suddenly something grabbed his leg. He heard a gargling voice
-A… artiaaa!
And then a shot, the grip on his leg loosened, he looked around. Under his feet was a body of one of the creatures with hole in its head, in the far corner of the cave, Spot waving at him. Commander smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
-Ok boys! It's time to head back!
Commander hid his new crystal dagger in one of his pockets and led the unit out of the cave system, there will be a long raport to make.

MISSION002

-I think it's a good spot for a camp, what do you think, Commander?
Newbie pointed at some meadow near the forest. Our soldiers were getting back from the last mission. Fastest road to their mother base was going near the UUU land.
-Yeah, yeah. Lets just put tents on as fast as we can.
Commander replied, visibly impatient. He wanted to study his newfound dagger as fast as he could. After what felt for him like eternity, the camp was all set. Military tents standing proudly around a big campfire. It was already evening, you could see first stars in the clear sky, Coock was already preparing sosuages for supper, Scout and Newbie were sharpening sticks, Big guy and old Smith were unpacking the rest of gear from the wagon. Commander was already in his tent, preparing his “investigational gear” as he liked to call it. It was a truly strange set of tools, ranging from modern chemical tests to some archaic crystals and graphs. He slowly placed this strange crystal dagger on the table and begined his investigation, very meticulously checking every aspect of his new artifact. The blade was made of milky white crystal, it was almost untouched by any tool.
-It must have grown like this naturally…
It was truly a strange shape for natural crystal, it almost looked like a blade of a sickle. Temperature around it was well below freezing. The handle was made out of metal, the engravings on it were barely readable.
-Like they just melted from immense heat, but the blade is still untouched…
Commander looked at those engravings from every possible angle, used all of his previous knowledge, but was still unable to read those strange letters, they looked so similar to one Hoshimiyos use, yet so different at the same time.
-Commander!
There is some commotion outside of his tent, but Commander paid it no mind, fully invested in his research.
-COMMANDER!
The yelling was getting louder and louder. Annoyed by all of this, Commander finally poked his head outside of his tent.
-WHAT!
He looked around, Scout was pointing at the trail of smoke from within the forest. Everyone stayed silent for a minute, from between the sounds of cicadas, you could clearly hear screams and cries, some of them sounded extremely inhuman.
-So… What do we do?
Newbie asked quietly, almost like he was scared of this question.
-Ready your arms, boys! I may not be very selfless, but it's our duty as soldiers to protect civilians, no matter their nationality.
All members of EE unit were ready in no time, Commander led them towards the source of smoke and screaming, there was no time to wait. As they grew closer, the screaming grew louder, they could see some wooden buildings, all engulfed in flames.
-Disperse around! We need to know who attacked this village.
Everyone had run their own way. Commander was slowly getting close to one building that was not taken by fire yet. He heard a bunch of shots and whistles of bullets near his head, he quickly opened the door to this building and hid inside, slamming them shut behind him. After catching a breath and collecting his thoughts, he looked outside the window. There was a band of forest bandits.
-/uuu/ always had a problem with outlaws taking cover in the vast forest of their land…
He looked around the building, in one of the corners, near the cupboards, was something in the shape of someone sitting holding their knees. After a couple seconds of silence he heard a quiet sobbing.
-Hey… Are you okay…?
No response. Commander slowly prone his way towards this person. They were all covered in some kind of linen clothes, upon closer inspection, their body was rather small.
-A child?
Commander asked himself, getting closer and closer. He reached towards them, repeating the same question.
-Are you okay…?
Suddenly he felt sharp pain in his arm
-What the…
He stopped himself from making any noise, so as to not alert the bandits. The mysterious person stood up, hood covering almost all of their face and in the hand a small knife. Commander, still a bit surprised, quickly stood up too and spoke up, keeping his voice quiet.
-Listen buddy, I'm not here to hurt you, it's quite the contrary, you see…
The small person, now barely reaching Commander's rib cage, rushed towards him, swinging their knife left and right. In the blink of an eye, Commander applied some military tricks he learned in his youth, grabbing the hand of an attacker, swinging them through his shoulder and putting them in a tight grip.
-I'm here to save you, idiot! Stop resisting!
-Aaaaaaaaaaa!
Commander quickly covered the mouth of what, upon closer inspection, was a young girl.
-Shut up, just hut up. They will hear us.
She tried to wiggle her way out of Commander's grip, but tired down after a couple of seconds. Commander could feel streams of tears rolling down his hand, but he paid it no attention, right now he was looking left and right through the window, looking for any sight of enemies.
-Ok, I think they are gone for now. Listen, I will free you, but you need to calm down, do you understand?
Commander asked slowly, trying to sound as calmly as he could. The girl nodded slightly.
-Allright, dont make anything stupid.
He said it while slowly releasing his grip. To his surprise, the girl slowly made a couple of steps forward and turned around to face him, she had put her hood down and looked up in Commander's eyes. The light of fire outside illuminated her face, her light yellow, almost white hair, her grey eyes glittering with tears.
Commander crouched down, trying to get to the same height as her.
-Sorry for my lack of manners, young lady. Sadly, my name is military secret, but my friends call me Commander, what's your name?
-I…my name is…
She could not finish her sentence, when they heard a loud thud of falling doors. Bandits kicked their way inside.
-Get down…
Commander grabbed the girl's shoulder and pulled her down to the ground, she looked at him with shock and fear on her face.
-Just don't make any noise, this old fart will handle this.
He smiled at her, trying to lighten the mood. He slowly stood up, pulled out his trusty sabre and launched himself forward. First attack took those bastards by surprise, Commander slashed the first guy under the arm, cutting some vital arteries, bandit fell down on the floor, slowly bleeding out. Second one was more prepared, they deflected the first commander's strike with their rifle. Commander quickly striked again, this time cutting through bandits neck like through butter, his blade only stopping on the spine. With the second enemy felled, Commander turned his gaze towards the third and last one. He tried to rush towards this scum, but he was too late, a bullet ripped through his left shoulder, throwing him back a couple of steps.He had no time for pain, he shortened the distance between his enemy in no time, blood flowing down his arm. First strike clashed with bandits' gun, throwing weapons off from the hands of them both. Time for good old fistfight! The bandit grabbed the commander's wounded arm, sticking his finger into the bullethole. Commander felt weakness in his knees and fell down on the floor, the bandit pinning him down. They rolled all over the floor, exchanging some hits in between, none of them seemed to win over the other. By some strange trick of fate, the bandit was able to pull a knife out of his pocket, situation was getting more and more grim for the Commander. He knew he wasn't at his prime, he wasn't the young and full of vigor soldier like he was during the Schizo war a long time ago. He had to think of something quick, this can't be his end! Commander looked around, searching for any bit of hope in this dark room. The Girl! Of course, she may not be the best fighter, but she can use this knife of hers. He used all of his strength to pull himself up, it was now or never! Commander grabbed the bandit by the waist and ran with him towards the cupboard this mysterious girl was standing beside. She was petrified by fear, holding her small knife in her trembling hands. Commander turned his head towards her.
-The neck! Strike the neck!
She looked in his eyes with utmost terror, Commander just smiled and held the bandit with the last bit of streanght in his old body and turned his gaze on to the bandit. Commander took a good look at the bandits face. He was young and healthy, his light blond hair illuminated in the light of fire outside the window.
-Natural selection it is them, heh…
Commander thought to himself, trying to accept his own death, his time has finally come, last breaths on this Godforsaken planet, in this who knows where village. Suddenly, he felt a splash of warm liquid on his face, coming back to his senses, he threw the bandit's lifeless corpse to his side. He looked at the Girl, she was standing with a knife in her trembling hands, eyes closed, blood all over her clothes.
-Thank you very much, young lady, but there is no time for small talk, we better get moving.
He did not wait for response, Commander just tossed this Girl on his shoulder and stormed out of the building, heading straight to the camp.

When in camp, after catching some breath and placing the young girl inside the wagon, he quickly grabbed a flare gun and signaled the unit to retreat to the camp. After some time, everyone came back, some more battered than the others, but all of them in one piece. Commander let out a relieved sigh.
-I'm relieved that all of you came back, it was a tough one, anyway, did any of you have found any survivors?
Everyone shook their heads, it wasn't a regular bandit raid, it was an extermination.
-So I'm the only one…?
Nobody noticed, but the Girl sneaked her way behind Commander's back. She was the sole survivor, pretty sad news, even for EE units standards. Everyone looked at her with eyes full of guilt and sorrow, but she was standing straight, like she accepted her fate.
-Im sorry young lady, we did all that we could…
Replied Commander, he knew that no kid should live through this.
-It wont bring your village back, but I made sure, every single one of those bastards is dead.
Said scout, breaking the long minutes of silence. Why did they attack this village? Why did they killed everyone? Who is behind all of this? Those were the questions in the heads of all unit members. Commander squatted in front of the girl, wiping a single tear from her face.
-We are the first EE unit of the Army of the Republic. I know it's a hard time for you, but may I ask for your name?
Commander tried to sound as softly and as polite as he could, he was no diplomat after all.
-Im…My name is Olive.