[Canadian Arctic, 23:45 hours]

High above the frozen wasteland of Canada's Northwest Territories flew a C-130 transport. In its cargo hold stood a dozen Canadian Army Infantrymen from the PPCLI. At the back of the group stood the leader, Warrant Officer McKenna Murphy. Ensuring that his men had their parachutes properly checked and ready for the jump before the hatch dropped open. 

All of them wore heavy winter gear but the height and winter air still chilled them to the bone. One of his men checked his own pack and gave him a firm tap on the arm as the all clear. Walking to the front of the line and grabbing a hand hold to not fall out he spoke through the headset connected to his helmet.

"Alright gentlemen, this is the last training mission before you're all cleared for the third battalion. You were all at the briefing so we'll just get to the point. Make the jump, meet as the designated rendezvous and then we hoof it for the next week in this frozen hell to the extraction point. Everyone clear?"

A series of nods and thumbs ups was all he needed to see. "Alright. Corporal, you're up first."

One by one the men lept from the craft. But just as the last one left and the WO was about to jump, he heard the pilots cry out and a pair of gunshots before the transport shuddered violently and sent the man into the bulkhead. Hitting his head on the floor as he fell. Crawling forward and pulling himself to his feet he made his way to the cockpit. He could feel the aircraft was listing to the left and losing altitude. 

Opening the door to the cockpit he demanded answers. "What the hell happened!?"

All he found however were both pilots dead. One having used his service pistol to shoot the pilot before ending his own life. "Dear god…"

He looked over the controls and shook his head, having no idea how to fly the now crashing plane. Looking through the cockpit glass he spotted something that boggled the mind. A massive metal beast flew next to the falling aircraft. One of its burning irises stared into the cockpit back at him. The Officer blinked a few times in disbelief at what he saw and felt as if the very depths of hell were staring directly at him, gazing into his soul. The transport creaked and shuddered again as the beast came closer and the wind jostled the craft. It was only when the creature came closer that he realised just how massive it was. The burning and yet alluring star-like eye was larger than the entire aircraft, and he could feel heat emanating from it even through the metal hull and freezing temperatures. 

"Shit!"

Not wasting any more time, Murphy grabbed the dogtags of the two pilots and ran for the back of the open plane. Leaping into the air and into the darkness of the Arctic night.

He tried to see the rest of the soldiers that had jumped before him but it was too dark to see very clearly. Pushing the thought to the side he waited a few moments before pulling the cord on his parachute and felt his body jerk violently as it slowed his descent. Grabbing the handles to manoeuvre the chute he looked back over his shoulder at where the C-130 had been crashing. Expecting to see the massive metal beast behind him, but instead saw nothing, no metal beast. Not even the crashing aircraft. At first he thought he might have imagined the whole event after having hit his head. But the pain was still there and in his left hand he held the dogtags of the two deceased pilots.

"No.. That was real. Had to be."

He shuddered as the wind picked up and bit through his suit. And a deep, seductive feminine voice appeared in the back of his mind. Almost as if the voice came from within his head. "You… shall drift."

He flinched at the cold that enveloped him and the voice that despite its coldness, filled him with an otherworldly warmth. "Damn!"

He continued to search the sky for the metal monster he had witnessed. Searching for the light that surely would be emanating from its dangerous eyes. But even as he reached the ice and snow of the ground, he saw no more glimpses of it. The voice returned again as he unhooked his parachute from his back and went about packing it away. "There is no light here."

He activated his helmet's night vision before he grabbed his rifle and pulled the magazine out. Checking that it was working and the rounds were still there in all the chaos. Once more the voice echoed in his mind.

"You… shall drown… In the deep."

Slamming the magazine back home and racking the bolt he muttered under his breath his retort. "You want me? Then come and get me." 

He checked his compass, which was spinning erratically and rolled his eyes in annoyance. Looking around he listened for any sign of life and heard the sound of water breaking against a shoreline. "That's not good. I must have been dragged off course ten kilometres."

Gritting his teeth against the cold he turned to march towards the coastline. "If I get to the water I can walk its edge towards… wait. Water? It's supposed to be negative thirty, how is the water not frozen?"

He picked up his pace in an effort to answer the odd question. As he arrived he saw that the water was indeed crashing against the shore. The ice had cracked and broken apart by some unknown force and he could see the signs of warmth in the water as the heat evaporated in the freezing air. The phenomenon begged several questions that the soldier had no answers for.

He half expected to hear the voice from before, mocking his lack of understanding. Instead he heard a growl from his right and brought his rifle to bear on the sound. A wolf, but something was clearly wrong with it. A thick, black mist flowed around it. And its eyes glowed a blinding white. Only then did the voice make itself heard once more. "Many have tried to stand against the current.  To resist the call of the Deep, and rise above its crushing depths. You will fall, just as all before you have fallen."

Murphy knew the being that was trying to torment him was watching. And did not reply with words. A single sharp Crack rang out. And the mutated wolf fell dead, more black liquid flowing from the wound in its skull. Causing the bizarre wolf to dissipate into the aether.

The voice had nothing to say about that. Allowing the man to smirk slightly in satisfaction. "That's what I thought."

He continued his march westward, or at least what he thought was west. With the compass malfunctioning and the moon nowhere to be seen he had only the water to guide him. At one point he pulled his glove off to check if the water was cold and was surprised when it felt hot, not scalding but hot enough to be uncomfortable.

"What the hell is happening here?" The situation had been off from the moment his men jumped from the aircraft. Tapping on his helmet he tried to radio in to check on them but got nothing but static.

"Weather probably interfering with it. Either that or it broke when I hit my head."

"So quick to dismiss what you already know to be the truth."

Murphy scowled at the interruption to his thoughts and shook his head. Trying in vain to force the voice out. Only receiving a sultry chuckle in return. "Were it so easy to be rid of me, little mortal."

The Canadian was about to retort but was cut off by the sound of a tree splintering to his right and nearly taking his head off. And it would have had he not dropped to the ground a moment before. He looked up from the ground and stared in disbelief at the sight before him. A polar bear, but missing half of the flesh and fur from its body. Its skeleton barely held together through sinew and a glow coursing through the bones. The same as with the wolf's eyes.

Murphy strangled a cry of shock and raised his rifle just as the poor animal charged him. He waited until the last moment before leaping to the side and letting the crazed bear rush past him and into the water at his back. Landing in a roll he took aim and flicked the rifle into automatic before letting loose round after round into the creature as it tried to turn around, hampered by the water around it. It took the entire magazine, half of which tore chunks out of the beast's head, before the mangled animal fell to the ground. Dead.

Breathing heavily and now high on adrenaline Murphy loaded a new magazine into his weapon and swept the area around him for more hostile creatures. "Is that all you got? One wolf and a fucked up bear? C'mon big shot. Impress me."

As if in response to his dismissal of the danger, a large beast that Murphy had no hope of understanding burst through the waves behind him and roared in anger. Its skin was a thick black, nearly identical to the mist inside the previous two animals. With massive musculature and tentacle-like appendages hanging from its mouth. Once more the same familiar red glow in its eyes as it glared at him. He raised a brow and titled his head as he spoke. "Huh."

He didn't want that thing anywhere near him and so flicked the rifle back to semi-auto and started backing away while firing upon the creature. He watched as round after round failed to penetrate the beast's hide as it rushed towards him. Using its massive forelimbs to barrel towards him, sending rocks and dirt flying with every slam of its fists.

Letting the rifle fall to his side, hanging from the sling around his shoulder. Murphy pulled a grenade from his hip and waited for the beast to close the distance. The moment it raised its arms over its head and began to roar, the officer pulled the pin and shoved the grenade into the beast's tentacle filled mouth. Shredding his clothes and cutting his arm and hand in several places. He did not have time to savour his action as the monstrosity backhanded him and sent him flying several metres backwards where he landed in a snow covered bush.

He groaned and lifted his head in a daze to look at the beast as it charged at him to finish the job. He was incapable of moving in his disorientation and simply collapsed out of the bush. He was face down in the snow when the grenade went off, showering him in gore and dirt. He rolled over and groaned in pain. Clutching his chest, he couldn't feel anything broken. "Ugh… alright.. crazy lady. I'm impressed…"

He lay in the dirt and the guts of the creature for what felt like an eternity before he managed to gather the strength to stand up and the voice returned.

"You… surprise me mortal. But your time is now at an end."

Murphy coughed as he tried to calm his breathing. "Look me in the eye and say that."

"... As you wish."

He felt it almost immediately, the air and water all around him began to increase in temperature substantially and the same solar glow that Murphy saw in the metal beast's eyes began to emerge from beneath the waves. The water erupted high into the air and began to rain all around him, drenching him in hot water. He watched in amazement as the metal beast rose from the depths until its full glory stood before him. 

Only now did he realise that the beast was in fact a massive, kilometre tall dragon. Though he noted that it had no hindlegs as he stared at its colossal form and took in the details about it. From the blazing inferno atop its skull, acting like a form of crest. To the two massive three clawed hands that could easily flatten a city block. To the massive turreted cannons adorning its metal wings. What stood out the most, was that despite the metal and fire and guns. He could see that beneath the exterior. Was chitin, and flesh. As if the metal was a form of armour rather than the creature itself and based on the voice in his head he had to assume it was feminine.

He let out a low whistle as the dragoness lowered her head to his level. The heat emanating from her body felt like standing next to an open flame that had lost control. And even when lowered to his level, the massive head towered above him as the sun-like eye bore into his own. "You're a big one aren't ya?"

The dragoness let out a huff of steam. Scalding nearby trees. "And you are an insolent one for a mortal. You will die with the knowledge that you have accomplished a feat that most mortals could not hope to achieve."

Murphy scoffed at her threat. "What are you gonna do? Burn me? Crush me?"

"Those are indeed options. It has been amusing watching you face down those thralls. But your usefulness to me has ended. And so I shall eliminate you."

"Why?"

This caused some hesitation. "Why? Because It's fun, causing death and destruction, and especially tormenting you pathetic mortals."

The Canadian scowled behind his visor. "Seriously? All that power, telepathy, manipulation of matter, and the size of a tower and who knows what else. And you use it for nothing more than mindless violence?"

The dragoness dug her claws into the ground next to Murphy and snapped her metal jaws in his face, missing him by mere millimetres. "You know nothing of what I am."

"You sound like a coward to me. Hiding behind your power and armour. Slaughtering innocents weaker than you."

"I have lived for millennia! You think you could do better with the power I wield? You think that you could best me?"

"I don't think, I know. And if you strike me down now, I will still have won."

The massive iris narrowed in on him and he could feel the ground rumble as the dragoness growled. "How so? You will be dead."

Murphy let out a sharp laugh. "And yet I will die with the knowledge that you were too scared, too cowardly to lose to an equal that you would stagnate your own potential. Instead of taking the risk and laying everything on the line."

"I am not a coward! You want to take me on equal footing mortal? To feel the power of the Deep before you die? So be it!"

She opened her massive jaws and unleashed a torrent of energy directly at Murphy before he could even blink. Striking him full force and launching him backwards and through several trees. Splintering them and slamming into the wall of a cliff almost fifty metres behind him.

The dragoness roared in anger as the blast dissipated. With a sadistic glee she stomped her way inland to find the body. "Mortal? Mortal? Are you dead yet?"

But as she crushed the trees blocking her view she was met with a golden glow emanating from beneath a pile of rocks and rubble. "Hmm?"

The very earth around her was rocked as the light erupted into a familiar roar of fire that she knew all too well as her own. A momentary flash of panic rushed through her when she realised what she had been coerced into doing. But not panic of the newly unlocked power before her. Fear of what would happen should her ruler discover that a mortal, specifically one of her most despised apes, had been granted power from her domain.

She forced the panic down and stared at the human before her as the flames receded into his body. Though even through the man's masked helmet she could see the solar glow of his eyes, identical to her own. "You wanted your fair fight human, you shall have it!"

The dragoness lunged at the Canadian with her jaws to end this quickly, but found nothing but crushed rock as Murphy lept to the side. Drawing his pistol he felt a newfound energy course through his body and into the weapon he held. Watching as it erupted into a golden flame he wasted little time pulling the trigger. The solar rounds struck the dragoness in the side and burned away the armour that housed her body.

Murphy kept moving and kept shooting until he ran out of ammunition for the pistol. Though he had dealt damage the fight was far from over. With a roar of defiance the dragoness swiped at him with her tail, catching him centre mass and hurling him into the air. Searching for something to catch himself he reached out towards a tree only to miss by scant inches. And yet he felt the same energy flow through him again as a green web-like energy shot from his grasp and grabbed the tree he had missed. Allowing him to safely swing back to the ground without injury. 

He had no time to try and reload either of his firearms and simply pulled the utility knife from its sheath on his hip. The once average knife however was enveloped in the same golden flames as the pistol had been. He wasn't able to ponder this however as the dragoness turned her cannons on him and opened fire with a barrage of vibrant cyan beams of energy that left trails of electricity in their wake and fried anything they touched.

He had to constantly dodge and weave away from the blasts of energy as the landscape around the two combatants was torn asunder. Finally having enough of being on the run, Murphy swung his sword in an arc to intercept one of the beams and was amazed to see a blade of solar energy sheer through the beam and cut the source in half.

The dragoness seemingly had not expected that and turned her head to stare at the now useless turret on her left wing. Seeing how effectively the blade dealt with the turret, Murphy sent several more solar blades at the distracted dragoness. She turned her head just in time to see the oncoming barrage and brought her wings in front of her to protect her head. This, unfortunately for her, resulted in the remaining cannons on her wings to become nothing more than molten slag.

Murphy charged forward to exploit the opening he had created. But the dragoness was not so easily defeated. Her tail lunged forward over her head similarly to that of a scorpion and impaled the ground only a few millimetres from Murphy, causing him to stumble and fall forward.

Catalysing on the opening, the dragoness loomed overhead and opened her jaws wide, another blast of energy charging within her plane sized maw. The Canadian looked around for anything to protect himself but saw nothing but dirt and rock. Throwing his hands up in a last ditch effort to protect himself he and the dragoness were surprised by the appearance of a dome of violet energy surrounding him as the energy blast washed over and around it. Though the dome shattered mere moments after the energy had dissipated. 

Murphy was beginning to feel drained, his body having yet to adjust fully to the power coursing through it. But it was do or die and he could not relent, lest he fall to the now seething dragoness. The Canadian reached out with his right hand and gathered what remnants of energy he could from both the dome, as well as his enemy's own attack. 

Seeing this, the dragoness attempted to cleave Murphy The in two with her right hand. But the energy swirled and condensed into a violent black and purple orb that distorted the world around them as it grew. Warping the Eldritch metal and tearing it from her flesh, exposing her scarred and surprisingly human hand. Roaring in pain and anger, she began to back away. 

Too late however, as once it began to become unstable, Murphy hurled it at the dragoness. The comparatively small tear in reality slammed full force into her chest. The same warping and rending that took her armoured hand began to rip apart her entire armoured carapace at the molecular level. Tearing it from her body violently and causing shards of it to rip into her natural black chitin.

Murphy dropped to his knees in exhaustion just as the tear collapsed in on itself and left the dragoness completely without armour. He could see now that the visage before him was a stark contrast to the heavily armoured and cumbersome metal beast from before. Now, hissing in pain at the first wounds received in aeons. Stood a still gargantuan but much more slender creature. 

His eyes took in the scars, burns, and black blood seeping wounds freshly caused. Testimony to countless battles. But he also took in the black chitin that covered much of her lower serpentine body and tail, as well as her hands, forearms, shoulders, and back. It was only now that he noticed the more human features, powerful and toned muscles showed how physically powerful this woman was. And Murphy was more certain than ever that the monster before him was female. 

Loss of her armoured carapace had exposed more than just her natural body, it also left her chest completely bare for the world to see. Swaying like twin wrecking balls with every pained motion she made. His eyes travelled further upwards and saw a familiar solar glow above her chest, in the centre of her collar bone. 

Further upwards he saw that she was glaring daggers at him with her now natural violet eyes. He noted, begrudgingly. That her face was beautiful, and despite the scars to the rest of her body, was almost completely free of blemishes. Only a thin scar running from her upper lip to her chin marred it. And cascading from her head and down to her massive breasts was long silken hair, coloured abyss blue. 

He sighed tiredly and shakily loaded a new magazine into his empty sidearm before raising an unsteady arm to aim at the woman towering over him. "Yield."

The violet eyes seemed to glow for a moment before returning to normal. "You know not what you ask, finish the deed, it is the law of the universe that the strong must destroy the weak."

The human groaned and let his arm fall to his side. Too tired to keep it up. "I do not believe that. I refuse to believe that."

The woman leaned forward to meet his gaze closer to his level. "And what makes you so certain that your beliefs are stronger than the Deep?"

Murphy thought for a moment. Still catching his breath. "I am a soldier, a Canadian one at that. My duty, the task I swore to uphold, is to defend and protect the innocent. From warlords, warmongers and tyrants. It is what gives me purpose."

He watched as the woman's beautiful eye bore into his mind, searching for any hint of deception. "You truly believe that. That you fight for peace."

The Canadian chuckled softly at that. "When in peace, prepare for war. When at war, prepare for peace. One cannot exist without the other. Endless peace leads to stagnation and ruin, endless war leads to destruction and ruin. Too much of one will always end in the same way as too much of the other."

"Nonsense, without the constant battle for supremacy then there is no meaning to our lives! What you claim is anathema to every instinct my kind possesses."

Murphy shrugged and slowly began to stand up. His strength beginning to return during the short time to rest. "And yet you lost to me when on equal footing."

Her eyes narrowed at his claim. "I am not dead yet."

The man shook his head and looked up at her. "No, but I've torn your shell asunder and exposed you. If we continue this battle it will only have one outcome. I fight so that others do not have too. Gave up my freedom to defend that of others. My will and reason to fight is more powerful than your wanton bloodlust."

She could not refute that, her desire to kill him was greatly outweighed by the willpower she felt emanating from him. And she loathed to admit it. She could not kill him without ensuring her own demise. "What do you propose then, mortal?"

Murphy chucked a rock at her half-heartedly. "Well first off you need to stop calling me that. My name is McKenna Murphy. You can call me Murphy, but since we aren't killing each other anymore we need to drop the bullshit."

The woman frowned at him for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Very well, Murphy. I was once known as The Void Scourge, and Darkstar. But you may call me…" she searched his mind for potential names and found one in the deities of his ancestors. "Morrígan."

Murphy crossed his arms and was about to protest but hesitated and relented after a moment. "Alright then, Morrígan. Since you killed my pilots and took my ride out of this frozen hell. Did you at least leave the rest of my men alive?"

Morrígan shook her head. "They were the first to fall, their fear was delicious. I expected you to be just as fragile as them."

Biting his tongue the officer sighed. "Alright, then here is what we are going to do. You are going to take me to the south pole in Antarctica. It's remote and not likely to have you seen by anyone. When we get there, you and I are going to carve out a little spot for ourselves and begin fortifying it with this new power you've given me."

This confused the woman greatly. "For what purpose?"

Murphy crossed his arms. "Because if you are here then there is going to be more eventually. And the last thing we are going to do is leave Earth defenceless. You gave me this power, and so you are going to take responsibility for it and help me protect my home. I'll even make you a deal, you can kill and destroy whatever mortal worlds you want. But you will use everything at your disposal to defend this world with me."

Morrígan crossed her arms as she thought this over. Causing her chest to look even bigger than it already was and subconsciously drawing Murphy's defiant eyes. "Like what you see, little man?"

Murphy crossed his own arms in response. "Don't change the subject. Are you in or do we have to have round two?"

With a sigh Morrígan let her arms fall and relented. "Fine! I shall aid you. If only because I have little choice in the matter. Any more exertion of power and the archfiend will be drawn towards us. And she is not so easily convinced to stand down."

This caused the human to raise a brow. Tilting his head in curiosity. "Archfiend?"

The colossal woman nodded firmly. "Ruler of the depths, master of all who reside within her domain. Myself included, as well as you now that you have been bound to me. Even as mistaken as it was."

Murphy brought a hand to his helmeted chin in thought. Running the situation through his mind as he began to pace back and forth. "What are the odds she finds out about us?"

Morrígan sighed wearily. "I'm certain she is already aware of what has transpired. There are few who can escape her gaze. Similar to what I did to you and your… men. But on a far grander scale."

This caused the soldier to frown for a moment. "Then we will need to make preparations for her inevitable appearance. If she is as powerful as you say. And as cruel as her title implies. It would be best to get our shit together and submit ourselves for inspection."

Morrígan shook her head slightly. "You want to submit to her? After you stood so defiantly against me?"

Murphy scoffed. "I don't think she's as gullible as you are to be goaded into fighting me fairly."

An annoyed pout graced the depthborn's lips as she glanced away. "I should have killed you when you were on the plane."

The Canadian began to laugh heartily at that. "Yeah, well now you're stuck with me. So let's get goin!"

He reached out and grasped a paracausal line to pull himself up and onto his begrudging companions shoulder. "If she's going to show up eventually we may as well make ourselves presentable. What better way than forging a fortress in her honour?"

"I thought it was to defend your homeworld."

"It can be both. Besides, if we're going to be living there we may as well make it as comfortable as possible."

Morrígan had little argument to make about that. "As you wish. Hold on Murphy, if you fall off I'm not coming back to get you."

"Uh huh. Just get your big ass into the air."

Despite the warning Murphy still had to redouble his efforts to hang onto the dragoness. Grabbing a strand of hair and twisting it around his forearm to ensure he did not fall. Together the unlikely duo departed the Canadian north and flew across the ocean south. To an uncertain future.

The Ties That Bind.

The unlikely pair, bound by power and begrudging necessity landed in the polar desert deep within the centre of the southern continent. The presence of Morrígan alone began to melt the ancient ice even before she touched down. She cast a gaze towards her comparatively miniscule rider who wasted no time in leaping from her shoulder towards solid ground. "We have arrived, and not too far from one of the few gates on this world to lead into my people's domain. What do you intend to do now?"

Murphy shrugged and, realising that with Morrígan around, and possibly with his own link to her power, he did not need the heavy weather gear and began to remove the majority of the equipment.

"Firstly I need to do a count of my resources here. I spent more ammo than I'd have liked on fighting your little warm up team." Folding the coat and snow pants into a neat pile with routine precision and setting them atop a nearby rock. Along with setting his weapons down with what few magazines he had left.

Morrígan frowned at the back of his head for a moment. "Only the final creature was really a test. The first two were simply an attempt to drive you mad with fear. One that clearly failed."

Murphy simply shrugged. "Yep. Now, are you gonna just watch me? Or are you going to help me? I need you to level the area so we can begin construction of the main citadel."

Morrígan smirked slightly at that. "Level it you say? I can do that!" 

Murphy nodded. "As you do, try to pile the excess rock in a ring ten klicks in radius around where I am now. While you do that, I'm going to try and figure out how to control the power you bound me with."

The depthborn gazed back down at him. "I will have to instruct you on what this power entails if I am to be stuck with you. No ally of mine will be lacking in the understanding of the domain that he serves."

The human nodded and sighed. "You can do that when you finish with the clearing job."

He felt the wind pick up and buffer him as Morrígan turned to begin said task. Using both her incredible size and a few well placed energy blasts to flatten and melt the rock and ice around them. Going so far as to blast the wall of rock and stone, altering its form and turning the natural wall around the area into a glossy obsidian like material.

It took merely a few minutes in order to complete the given task, though only because of the effort given to leaving no imperfections around. When she returned to her little human, the ground was reinforced enough to support her bulk even at such a colossal size. Though she could tell that Murphy was indifferent to her return as he was looking at his hands and concentrating to bring forth the same power he had used the night before. To little success. A few sparks of electricity, a few embers of flame. But not the raging force of energy that had so defiantly stood before her.

She rested her head on her arms as she watched for a little while longer before speaking. "You are trying too hard. Trying to put mortal concepts of fire and lightning into perspective where they are not viable."

The Canadian sighed and dropped his handsitting against the rock by his equipment. "You gonna explain what I'm doing wrong? Or just mock me?"

"I can do both at once. But give me a moment to explain it in a way that your young mind can comprehend."

She held out her hand and a ball of black and purple energy, similar to the one he had thrown at her the night before, appeared in her hand. "This is a power from the domain of Void. the power of cosmic distortion, it is the pull of gravity and the promise of entropy. The vacuum of space, and the gravitational forces that shape it. Void teaches us that emptiness is not nothingness. To wield it, is to draw upon the unfathomably massive, and the incomprehensibly small."

She let the ball of distorted space time collapse in on itself before her hand began to arc with electricity, something he had not done as of yet. "Surge is the element of motion, and conduction. And is created when the electromagnetic forces of our universe struggle to achieve balance. It shows us that change is a fundamental aspect of the universe. To wield it, is to ride the storm of the unguessable."

Murphy looked at his hands for a moment as the explanations, while still relatively complicated, assisted in picturing what this power was capable of. He looked back up to his surprisingly passionate mentor as her body erupted into the same familiar fire he had seen and wielded before. 

"Neutron energy, my personal favourite. Requires us to both exploit, and rely on the power of stars. But to master it, is to understand the stars' duality. The nuclear force that scorches anything foolish enough to draw near. Is the same force that can be harnessed to heal. It feeds the flora of our universe, just as it begets drought and famine. Destruction and re-creation are a necessary cycle."

This one was the easiest thus far for the human to grasp, and seemed rather odd that someone who lusted for murder and mayhem would mention its healing capability. However the flames dimed down and were replaced by chilling winds and crystals of a frozen substance that was not water, as if the fabric of the universe had been frozen over.

"This is Suppression. It is the power of will and control. It slows, detains, and shatters." To emphasise this she crushed the frozen crystal with her tail.

"Suppression thrives on one's individual will. Control over the self can foster control over others. But without power over the self, destruction runs wild. When you wield this power, you must exercise the ultimate authority over the self, and others. You would do well not to try and use this power against the Primals or our Ruler. Your connection to my power may grant you the capacity to directly challenge even some of my ancient peers should we work together. But to challenge the Primals would be akin to suicide."

She watched as the man took this warning and explanation in and thought it over. She could feel that he wanted to argue, and yet knew that she was not lying. So he remained silent and nodded for her to continue. "Two more for now, there is much more to learn. But overwhelming you with information will only cause you to lose focus."

She held both of her hands out and a series of ethereal green strings of energy wrapped around her fingers. "These are the very strings of the minds of all creatures in our universe. All minds are connected in a web of consciousness that we can see, and feel. To wield it, is to pull on the hidden connected threads. And to use them to create, manipulate, and unravel. Unlike stasis, mastering this requires one to relinquish control. To embrace the connecting threads and flow with them."

She raised a hand and a black portal tore into the air before materialising as a vaguely human shape. Its body was almost completely black, with a black aura that drained the colour of the world around it. Though its hands, feet and eyes all glowed with a white eerie light. "This is one of my corrupted. Beings that I have dragged into the Deep and have corrupted and warped paracausally to serve their given purpose."

She stared Murphy in the eye as the corrupted being walked up to him and with its twitching and spasming arm. Saluted him. Murphy glared up at her for a moment before he grabbed his pistol from the ground beside him, intent on putting the thing down. As he was about to pull the trigger however he hesitated.

"Does it know what happened? Can it understand what it sees and feels?"

Morrígan raised a brow before nodding. "They retain their memories, and their capacity to see and feel. They simply are now subservient to me and have been made eternal. When one is killed, it is simply banished back into the deep. Where I can call upon it to return at my leisure."

Murphy looked up at her for a moment and sighed. He looked back to the still saluting facsimile of one of his men and, holstering his pistol, saluted back. "I am sorry that I was incapable of preventing this… but we have a new mission. A new duty."

He clenched his fist. "We will defend our home. No matter the cost. You and the rest of these… corrupted will aid us."

The dark inversion of a human simply placed a cold hand on Murphy's shoulder, as if attempting to release him from his guilt. They let go of him and suddenly disappeared into the dark portal they had come from.

Murphy hated what had happened to his men. But the alternative was death and at least he knew that these men were competent. As opposed to whatever other unknown creatures or non humans that may lay under Morrígan's control.

He sighed and began to focus on what he had been told. Opting for the easiest to conceptualise first. He thought back to the night before, and how his pistol had erupted in a solar flame. Focusing on that memory, and using the knowledge he now knew. He felt a warmth and weight enter his hand as a handgun made purely from solar heat and radiation took form. Morrígan nodded in approval at the act.

"Good, you catch on quickly." She watched as he took aim and fired the weapon off a few times. Unlike the night before, it did not dissipate after a short time.

"You're already improving your endurance. Impressive, for a mortal. One would almost think you had the drive to improve and evolve of one of my kind."

Murphy ignored her, holding out his hand and focusing the energy into something else. As it shifted and changed, it began to change colour to a white-blue. Both of them admired it for a moment before Murphy drew his pistol and shot himself in the arm. Startling the Ancient woman. "Have you gone mad!?"

Through gritted teeth the Canadian shook his head. "You… you said that…ah, fuck… that this could heal."

Morrígan shook her head in disbelief. "And so you shot yourself to test this!?"

Murphy simply nodded and clenched his fist around the light in his hand. His body began to glow a similar light to the energy in his hand and the pain immediately dissipated. He watched, in a relieved curiosity as the wound he had inflicted stitched itself back together until not even a scar remained from the event.

The depthborn was momentarily slack jawed at the whole scene that played out before her. And came to one conclusion. The man she had blessed with her power was endowed with such willpower and drive that it put even some depthborn to shame. She reluctantly admitted to herself that she found it somewhat attractive. While many of her kind had the natural drive towards evolution and survival. Not all had the willpower and determination to achieve that goal, simple minded and brutish as her kind were when young.

Having tested that his arm had indeed fully healed the man smiled softly before turning to face Morrígan. "Alright, that is a good first step. But right now we should focus on construction of the fortress. Question. How many of those corrupted do you have at your disposal?"

Morrígan was about to answer before stopping. She had long ago lost count of how many species she had claimed as her own, in her endless game of tormenting mortals by turning their own friends and family against one another. Causing civilizations to fall by having them fight themselves to extinction. Only to take the corrupted and add them to her ever growing collection. She glanced down at the man and simply offered a shrug. "A lot."

Murphy eyed her for a moment before shaking his head. "Then use as many as you think necessary to help me build a strong fortified citadel for us to operate out of. And then you and I will have to gather the resources necessary to reforge your armour and weapons. Those same weapons will also make for good emplacements for the fortress."

Morrígan tilted her head. "You would help me rebuild my defence?"

The man shrugged. "If I want to protect the earth. Then I need any advantage I can get. Speaking of which. Why did you even have that armour anyway?"

The colossus smiled softly. "The weapons on my wings acted as a focus for my power, it is more devastating to focus energy into a fine point, like a needle. As for the armour… it keeps wandering eyes away from my chest. It is more difficult to torment mortals when they are busy ogling my breasts and not looking into my eyes with fear. It was also aesthetically pleasing, its visage alone was enough to instil fear into civilizations without me even needing to use my power."

Murphy raised a brow as his eyes drifted to her chest. "Yeah, I can see why people would get distracted by those. We are going to need stronger metals than what we have on earth."

The woman nodded and smirked. "I have just the place in mind. I shall have my thrall to mine the metal used to forge my armour. Our fortress will be as if the Deep forged it on the surface. It may draw attention for the material it is made from. But with weapons similar to that of what adorned my armour. Nothing short of another one of my power will pose a threat to this place."

The warrant officer nodded firmly. "Good, I would also suggest having them tunnel below the continent and build a subterranean hangar from here to the ocean. So you can come and go from the fortress without having to break the thing with how big you are."

Morrígan nodded in agreement. "I... can make myself smaller, it would help keep a lower profile should we need to interact with more of your kind. It would also be helpful to not have to come outside before returning to my natural size in the event of an attack."

Murphy raised a brow at that. "You can change your size?"

The depthborn shrugged. "I can alter my body to become smaller should i desire. Though such a thing is rarely advantageous. Being smaller than those who would wish you dead is not something that promotes longevity."

The Canadian nodded softly, he couldn't really argue with that. "Well, then why don't you do that now and then we can get these thralls of yours to work."

Morrígan sighed and slumped her shoulders slightly. "Oh, very well."

Suddenly her entire body was enveloped in a similar black aura to her thralls and began to shift and change. The process was surprisingly quick given how large the woman was naturally. And once the change had been completed Murphy had to admit the now very human looking woman before him was gorgeous. 

Her abyss blue hair had been bleached to be white as the snow that covered the continent and flowed down to her lower back. She now stood at an impressive six foot seven inches. A full seven inches taller than Murphy himself. Bringing the top of his head to level with her still proportionally large chest. Though while they looked soft, Murphy had no problem believing that they could also stop a cruise missile with zero problems. Not to mention the incredible physique of the woman. The muscles she bore put even some of his fellow soldiers to shame. They weren't grotesque or malformed, but her abdomen looked like it could shatter a Tungsten rod from a 120mm cannon.

Moments after shapeshifting, she began to clothe herself. Surprisingly this took form in the shape of a very professional black suit with a red tie and black gloves. Giving her beautiful appearance a more appropriate feeling of danger. He likened her new attire to that of a professional hitman or mafioso. Despite the danger she exuded however. Murphy could not help but be entranced.

Her glorious golden eyes bore into his own like they did in the cockpit of the transport plane and she smiled, showing off her sharp teeth. "Do I look that good?"

Murphy shook his head to break the trance he had fallen into and nodded. "You look pretty damn good I gotta admit. You look very professional in that suit."

The woman grinned at the compliment and crossed her arms. Her eyes began to glow white with her corrupted aura emanating around them. "I am commanding the majority  if my thrall to deposit all the ore and metal they can find here so it may be refined and forged by those who used to be engineers and architects. My builders, the same ones that forged my first set of armour. Using their own planet cores to fashion it. This new armour will be far more durable."

The Canadian nodded softly. "Good, I'm going to need you at your best."

Morrígan tilted her head in confusion. "You are very quick to trust me after last night, what makes you so sure I won't kill you the first chance I get? I'm not going to be baited into giving you a fair fight next time."

Murphy sighed and crossed his arms. "I would rather have a powerful threat that I am aware of and can plan for at my side. Over many unknown and unseen foes that I can't plan for surrounding me."

The white haired beauty simply pursed her lips in thought. "Your logic is sound. We could fight each other to a standstill over and over. And if we were to do so we may be vulnerable should another of my kind attempt to take advantage of my weakened state."

The officer nodded in agreement. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer as they say."

As he spoke, Morrígan raised a hand and opened a larger portal where thousands of her corrupted thrall poured through. All various shapes and sizes, and all carrying with them some kind of black ore. The larger ones carried massive boulders of the stuff on their shoulders. 

"This ore will be refined into Depthsteel. It is difficult to obtain in the quantities we need under normal circumstances. However, it is also rare that a concentrated effort by a large force has attempted to gather it."

The Canadian raised a brow at that and watched in awe as several of the smaller creatures began to shape and refine the raw material into massive walls and began to erect them in exactly the way Murphy had envisioned. He looked over to her with a tilted head and a raised brow. 

"You looked at what I was planning?"

Morrígan chuckled. "Your surface thoughts are so very easy to read. It was almost impossible not to know what you had planned."

Murphy crossed his arms and frowned. "Is that so? What am I thinking right now then?"

The woman tilted her head before scowling at him. "I would not be caught dead wearing such a humiliating outfit!"

The Canadian burst into boisterous laughter at her response and clutched his ribs as he did so. "Come now Morrígan, surely a swimsuit of only your chitin would be natural for you?"

Morrígan took a swipe at him in annoyance as he leaned out of the way. Laughing all the harder.

After a minute of solid laughter. The Canadian finally managed to get a hold of himself and take a few deep breaths. "Okay. Sorry, you just made it so easy."

The taller woman scowled at him and huffed in displeasure. "Let's get back on task shall we? What shall this fortress of ours possess in terms of furnishings?"

Murphy crossed his arms in thought. "Well, if we intend to host your people's leader in our fortress then it will need to have accommodations worthy of royalty. But capable of withstanding the movements and weight your kind possesses."

Morrígan scoffed at him. "At this pathetic size our weight is hardly any different than one of your species."

It took only a moment to realise she had made an error when she saw Murphy walking up to her with a mischievous grin on his face. "What are yo-!"

She was cut off by the Canadian grabbing her by the waist and picking her up off the ground, carrying her over his shoulder. "Huh, you weren't lying. Y'know your surprisingly light now."

The flabbergasted woman sputtered for a moment at being man handled over this human's shoulder. "Unhand me this instant!"

Murphy was once more driven to laughter as he set her down. "Alright, Alright."

Morrígan stood straight and fixed her now wrinkled suit. "Do not do that again."

The Canadian grinned widely. "And if I do?"

Her blazing sun-like eyes glared at him. "You will find out just how heavy I can be."

Murphy smirked and waved her off. "Oh very well. Then what say you show me some of your world. Your domain. We have nothing better to do while the corrupted build this place."

Morrígan frowned slightly. "You will not survive such pressures. The crushing forces in such a place make the depths of your oceans pale in comparison."

"Then come and sit with me. If we're going to be working and fighting together. We should at least understand one another somewhat."

The woman watched as Murphy leaned against one of the newly erected walls as the corrupted forces worked around them. He held his hand out to her in an offer to sit with him. And she stared at it for a moment. "I will divulge some of my history to you. If you do the same."

Murphy smiled softly as Morrígan grasped his hand firmly before sitting beside him, resting her arm on a knee. "That's only fair. What do you want to know?"

She ran a hand through her white hair and frowned. "I wish to know what drives you. What force could have protected your mind from my influence and terror."

This caused Murphy to falter slightly, he had an inkling of what possibly gave him such resistance. But opening that part of his past was going to be difficult. "I… I can tell you. But I will need alcohol… a lot of it."

Morrígan raised a brow. Searching his mind, she could feel a darkness inside. Latched and shackled down in the recesses of the subconscious. Even her great and ancient power failed to reveal what was hidden. Instead she elected to find what alcohol was and where to get it.

With a snap of her fingers, one of her thrall appeared before them with several hundred cases of various alcohols. Beer, Whiskey, Scotch, Eum. You name it, and it was there. Murphy sighed softly and reached over to crack open one of the larger cans of beer that had been brought and simply handed it to her, before taking one for himself and taking a long, deep drink. "I'll start from the beginning. About nine years ago, when I was nineteen."

And as the Canadian began to retell his past to the woman, neither were aware that elsewhere on the planet. Another power was growing in South America. High in the Northern icefields at the pole. Deep below the water. A being watched through his mind's eye at the human and the depthborn sitting and talking. The vision disgusted this beast. It was anathema to him that one of his own kind could tolerate such pathetic creatures. Let alone converse with one of these mortals.

And so this ancient beast plotted, and waited. For the time to finally kill the last of his broodmates, and prove worthy of claiming their masters vacant power.

After about an hour of drinking Murphy had relaxed enough to rest his head against the rock behind them. "It would be faster if you just looked into my memories.. I won't resist this time. Just… be quick."

Morrígan had not expected the firey and resilient human to be so vulnerable but took the chance without further prompt. She grabbed his right hand with her left and felt herself seeing the past through Murphy's own eyes.

She saw Murphy and his squad run down a street, checking their corners as they moved. The unit came up to a building and took breach positions at the door. Taking a moment to listen for anything, the squad leader nodded to the pointman who used a shotgun to blast the hinges off the door before kicking it in and moving into the room. Murphy was the last inside and checked a room to the left. 

The calls of clear came through before they regrouped to move into the basement. His squad leader and he were the last downstairs and that's when the men already there triggered an explosion that rocked the building and sent Murphy back up the stairs from the shockwave.

Ears ringing and black spots in his vision, he struggled to his feet, nearly tripping down the stairs as blood ran down his forehead.

As his hearing returned he could hear screaming and loud yelling. Rifle raised, he carefully moved downstairs. Only to find his squad laying in various states of dismemberment and death. With the squad leader trying to save a survivor. But just as Murphy moved to help the CO, the man stood and cursed. He grabed the fallen man's dog tags before grabbing the others and moving to speak with Murphy. 

But as he approached Murphy three men burst into the room from a hole in the basement wall. Before the CO could react he was shot in the back of the head by a shotgun slug, blowing blood and brain matter across Murphy's face and stunning the young Infanteer. His instincts kicked in and he opened fire on the hostiles, killing two men before the third attacked him from behind, wrapping their arms around his neck. 

Murphy lurched backwards, forcing the man into the wall to break free of the chokehold and tried to bring his rifle up to gun them down. Before he could bring it to bear however the enemy combatant kicked from his hands forcing him to resort to Melee. He moved in to punch the man in the face but his opponent caught his fist and punched him in the jaw causing him to trip over debris and land on the floor next to the body of his squadmate. 

He stared into the soulless eyes of his friend and lost himself in an adrenaline and fear fueled rage. Grabbing a wooden table leg that had been blown apart by the explosion he waited for the fucker behind him to get close, before rolling over and smashing it into their knee, causing them to scream. Getting to his feet he swung again and knocked the man to the floor.

The man tried to get up and started begging for mercy in broken English as Murphy kicked him back to the floor but Murphy hit him in the face, and again, and again, and again. Until the table leg snapped in half and the terrorists skull was a mangled pile of flesh, bone, and blood.

It was as Murphy began to come down from this berserk high that his mind began to process what happened and effectively shut down. He numbly moved to his COs body and grabbed their tags and the tags of the others. Grabbing his fallen rifle he limped his way upstairs. Once on the ground floor he collapsed in a corner and radioed for backup. Breaking down into tears the moment the confirmation comes through.

Before Morrígan had a chance to process what she had seen, the scene shifted to another. Murphy walked along a desert road staring at the ground and walking agonisingly slowly as he kept watch for anything that looked suspicious. Behind him was a convoy of three humvees and an LAV III. He carefully gestured for the driver of the lead vehicle to halt as he bent down to inspect a shard of metal sticking out of the sand. Breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only a broken piece of some car or truck. He stood up to gesture for the convoy to keep moving but was stopped when one of the men in the middle humvee cried out.

"RPG!"

It happened quickly, like a match to gas. One moment the lead vehicle was in front of him, the next he was on his back and the vehicle was scorched and ablaze having been struck by the explosive weapon. Murphy rolled over and tried to get up as a second RPG struck the jeep in the rear of the formation. The shrapnel impacted his helmet and some cut his face, but nothing serious was done.

He pushed himself to his feet and fired in bursts in the general direction of where the enemy fire was coming from. Moving behind the LAV as its autocannon pounded the ridge above them. It's familiar thump thump thump as the gun fired was a comfort in the chaos. For as long as that gun was firing, they would drive the enemy back. That was when one of the survivors climbed out of the burning wreck of their jeep. Crying out for help, Murphy tried to move towards them but had to duck back into cover as bullets struck the dirt next to him. Forcing him to listen to his comrade burn alive, the crying for help began to turn into calls for the young man's mother.

He fired blindly around the side of his cover and when he thought safe enough, he broke from his spot and ran towards the burning man. Too late, as by the time he got there the man had been burned so badly that the shock from the pain had finally been what put him out of his misery.

Murphy clenched his fists tightly and punched the side of the burning vehicle. He heard the Sergeant behind him giving the order to fix bayonets and charge the enemy position while the LAV suppressed them with its autocannon. Pulling his combat knife from his belt and locking it into place below the barrel of his gun we waited for the gun to open up.

Thump Thump Thump Thump.

Murphy and five other soldiers broke cover and charged up the hill that the insurgents had been shooting at them from. The gun stopped shooting only seconds before they reached the top so as not to hit them.

Murphy was first to the top and crested the hilltop, he spotted a pair of men with rifles who were still cowering in the dirt. He wasted no time in shooting them. A round in the chest and head each to make sure they were dead.

He heard whimpering from his left as the other soldiers got to the top and began to sweep the area. One of the insurgents had taken shrapnel to the leg and was clutching it in pain. Murphy watched his comrades move out and they found a few dozen more RPGs and two more insurgents hiding in the rocks. They didn't last long under concentrated fire from the experienced and well trained Canadians.

Murphy turned to face the wounded insurgent who was looking at him with defiance and pain. Murphy glared back. "You killed my friends."

The insurgent spat at him and said something in Arabic that Murphy assumed was an insult. In response he placed his boot on the bleeding leg causing the man to stifle a scream. "Orders are to bring survivors alive for questioning."

The man looked almost hopeful at that, believing that he would live. Saying something again before Murphy again put pressure on the leg. Kneeling down to the man's level Murphy pulled the bayonet from the end of his rifle and held it in his hand. "It's a shame we didn't find any survivors."

The insurgents face went from hope to teffied to angry and he started to scream at Murphy. Only for Murphy to slash the man's neck with the blade. Cutting his vocal chords and severing the jugular. "Choke on your words. And beg for mercy from your god. Because you wont get any from me you subhuman filth."

Murphy flicked the blood from his blade and wiped it clean on the dying man's clothes. Standing up and sheathing the blade he radioed in to the Sargent. 

"No, survivors sir. ETA till backup arrives?... understood sir. Regrouping at the LAV."

The ancient woman was rather surprised at the callous and brutal action coming from the man who had claimed to defend his people. But she was far from opposed to it. She felt her respect for the man grow slightly as the scene shifted once more. 

Murphy lay atop a building overlooking a long street with civilians walking around and a patrol unit walking down the street. He watched individuals through the scope of his sniper rifle, looking for anything or anyone suspicious. It was as the point man was about halfway down the street when Murphy spotted a woman and a child who was running around. The woman had some kind of long wooden box and kept looking from the child to the patrolmen.

"Be advised, woman and child fifty metres to your North, woman has suspicious box."

He felt his stomach tighten when the woman called the child over to her and opened the box. Handing the kid something that he couldn't quite make out. "Woman is handing the kid an unknown object. Please advise."

He heard the officer in command of the patrol reply. "Use your judgement. If you think it's a threat to us then take the shot."

"It's a child."

A pause. "I hate this too, but it's us or them."

Murphy felt sick but couldn't disagree. He eyed the child and muttered to himself. "Don't go towards them… please don't go towards them…."

His heart sank when the kid started running towards the patrol. "Forgive me…"

He pulled the trigger and the child dropped like a sack of potatoes. The woman ran to the body of the child as the patrol brought their files up having heard the shot. Instead of going to check on the child like he had hoped. The woman picked up the object from the child's lifeless hands and brought her arm up to throw it at the men in the patrol. Murphy didn't hesitate the second time and put a bullet through her head. A moment after the woman dropped, a small explosion detonated from the object she had tried to throw.

"Threats…. Eliminated…"

Murphy felt something inside him die that day. And swore to not hesitate again. No matter what the target in his sights was.

Having observed mortals and used their morality and attachments to their families against each other countless times. Morrígan knew that the act of killing a child would weigh heavily on those of sound mind. And as much as she reviled in committing such acts. She could understand that it would affect the man beside her greatly. Once more however, the scene shifted to another.

Murphy was running with another soldier while ducking rock outcroppings as bullets tore all around them. "This is bad Lieutenant. I can't raise anyone on comms."

Murphy grabbed his subordinate, a young woman, moments before they stepped onto a landmine. "And now this. We aren't even supposed to be here."

Murphy remained silent and simply moved around the mine. He tapped the younger soldier and pointed at an opening between the rocks. "Take position there. We're going to ambush the ambushers."

The woman nodded softly and moved towards the rocks while Murphy ducked in behind a waist high rock and put the landmine in his rifle's sights. "C'mon you bastards."

The two Canadians didn't need to wait long as the sound of several men running the way they came from. Murphy saw the first one gesture for the other five behind him to watch out for the mine and kept moving towards the Canadian position. But just as the third man came up on the mine, Murphy pulled the trigger and shot the explosive device. The detonation eviscerated the two closest to the mine and showered the other three in shrapnel. They cried in pain as the woman came out of cover and gunned down the one in front closest to her. Murphy took aim at the one in the back trying to run and shot him in the back of the head. The last one dropped their rifle and raised their hands in surrender.

Before Murphy could say anything the younger soldier took a step too close to the man and was caught in an explosion as the insurgent detonated an explosive somewhere on his body. He watched as the woman was sent flying and landed in a heap a few metres away.

"Corporal!"

Murphy waited for the smoke and fire to clear away and listened closely for any more potential hostiles that may be closing in on them. When nothing came he broke cover and ran over to his fallen comrade. Pulling her over so he could check her wounds he frowned deeply when he saw that her abdomen had a large shard of jagged metal sticking out of it where the bullet proof vest failed to cover.

The woman slowly started coming too, having been knocked out. "L-lieutenant?"

Murphy kept silent as he tore open the woman's medical kit and pulled out the gauze and the sanitised dressing to cover the wound around the metal shard. Wrapping it tightly he gave her some painkillers to ensure that she didn't go into shock. "What… what happened?"

Murphy sighed softly. "The last one had a bomb vest. Detonated it when you got close."

"Oh…"

Murphy tried to call for med-evac on the radio but nothing but static returned. The woman looked up into the sky and coughed slightly. "LT. Look at the moon. It's funny, I never noticed how beautiful the moon is here. Do you think anybody noticed?."

He eyed her as he held her upright, using his leg as a makeshift pillow.

"Stay quiet, the bandage is in place but you're still bleeding."

The wounded soldier ignored him and spoke again. "There's something I've always wanted to know. Your call-sign. Ghost. What does it mean?"

Murphy ignored the question and tried to urge her to focus. "Stop talking. You've got to hold tight until the med-evac gets here."

The woman winced slightly but would not be deterred. "You finally have an excuse to show that you care and... let me ask you something. Just one last thing. It won't hurt, I promise. What was I to you?"

The man felt his throat tighten slightly for a moment. "What do you mean? You're a soldier. A soldier with a promising future ahead of you. You're...a soldier."

The Corporal's retort was immediate. "And you're a ghost, aren't you?"

Murphy was caught off guard by that. "What?"

The soldier in his arms coughed again. "Feelings pass right through you, don't they? So cold and unforgiving in every choice you made in battle. Pure soldier. I think that's what let us trust you so-"

The lieutenant cut her off. "Don't talk, save your strength."

The Corporal closed her eyes for a moment "I don't need it."

Murphy did not like the implications of that. "Come again?"

The woman opened her eyes and stared into his own with a soft smile. "I need you to be strong. Strong enough to do what you've never done in your life. Can you be strong enough to allow yourself to be—can you just be human? not for your sake, for all of us. If you would just allow yourself to feel something... maybe you wouldn't be a ghost any longer."

The lieutenant couldn't say anything in response to that and felt as if the last piece of his soul had shattered as he watched the light fade in her eyes.

He felt rage, fear, sorrow, and resentment. At everything and himself. It all boiled over as he screamed to the sky while clutching the body of his friend.

A few minutes later, having calmed down. He rested the woman's head atop her helmet and took her dog tags and rifle. He stood from her body and began to march away towards the nearest friendly FoB. He stopped for a moment and looked back at the fallen woman with regret before turning away and continuing his march.

Morrígan withdrew from his memories and saw the man beside her, pain evident on his face as he continued to speak.

"I made up my mind that day. The night I let my platoon die. I looked up at that moon and something died inside me. A conscience is something that gets in the way. That's all a soul is. An obstacle. Something to overcome. I can't atone for failing to protect them."

The Eldritch woman looked into his eyes and felt a pang of… pity? No… empathy? Is this what that felt like? She didn't know. She frowned to herself and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "You sound like one of my kind. One of the few who have come to question the why of what we are and the reason behind their actions. You have endured more than many mortals and yet you continue to press on."

She tightened her grip slightly to comfort her company. "You possess an indomitable will and a fire in your heart. Do not turn away from your past, do not lament your failures. Use them, let them fuel your evolution into something greater. Survive and grow stronger so that what you have experienced will never happen to you again. That is how you atone."

Murphy looked over at her for a moment and then back to the bottle in his hand. Tilting his head back he downed the last half of the bottle and tossed it into the empty box. "You're right. I need to keep pushing forward."

He stood up and offered her a hand to pull her up as well. "Will you help me do that? Guide me to become stronger? Teach me how to be like you?" 

Morrígan looked at the offered hand for a moment and then back into Murphy's deep blue eyes. Hard and set on this course regardless of what she said. But she saw a hint of something else in those eyes. Hope. That such a feeling was directed towards her where she was used to being the destroyer of such tripe was odd. And yet she felt something stir in her heat at the idea that someone was hopeful for her guidance. 

The Depthborn nodded firmly and grasped the Canadian's hand firmly and pulled herself up with his aid. "I will, you will be my…" she searched his mind for the words. "Apprentice."

Murphy nodded and smiled softly. "I'll have to take the time to teach you how to fight like one of my kind as well. You may be strong. But if you are going to be spending any time around humans you need to be capable of fighting without using your more obvious abilities."

The ancient woman frowned slightly before sighing. "Very well, I shall indulge your lessons. If only because there is little else to do here. But the longer we remain here, and the more we fortify and grow in strength. The more likely your world is to be caught in the crossfire."

Murphy sighed. "I know, but if I do not stand and fight then I spit on the graves of my friends. Even if it is a lost cause, I would sooner see my world go out in a blaze of glory than simply abandon it for my own safety."

Morrígan smirked slightly at his response. "There's the fiery soul I like. We shall see if that fire grows, or is snuffed out when the whelps come crawling to your shores."

Murphy crossed his arms and frowned. "I'm not concerned. After all, you're going to help me kill them."

The woman scoffed at him. "Yes yes, don't get smug with me."

The human chuckled and looked up at the ever growing fortress. "Come, let's get started on this training of yours. It will give us something to do while we wait for the citadel to be built. Which will be nice because I haven't slept in an actual bed in months."

Morrígan simply nodded and gestured for him to follow her. Her body began to glow with distortion energy and she turned to face him. "Let's begin."

It had been six months since the unlikely duo of Morrígan and Murphy had found themselves tied to one another. In that time they had spent the vast majority of it with Morrígan teaching Murphy how to utilise the power she had bestowed upon him. Though her teaching methods were equal parts explanation and trial by fire. Quite literally at times.

But no matter the challenge Morrígan threw at her little human. The lieutenant met every one with vigour and passion. She had earned herself more than one broken tooth learning that the Canadian had quite the powerful left hook.

Their time had also been spent with Murphy teaching the Depthborn ancient how to better mimic humanity. As well as how to fight like them, should more mundane threats arise that they had to deal with. At first, Morrígan dismissed the idea of learning how to fire such primitive firearms. Especially when her recently re-crafted armour had paracausal weaponry. But she had begun to enjoy the feeling of the weapons punching her in the shoulder, and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

It was a more brutal and primal way of fighting that, while hopelessly useless against her kind. She could respect and enjoy. Especially the very heavy, to a human anyway, rifle that Murphy had acquired for her.

It was unnecessary for her to use, and would never be capable of harming any of the threats in the unknown. However, it was the thought that counted. And she was fond of the weapon, having rebuilt many components using more sturdy materials from other realms to ensure it was capable of surviving her channelling her power into the weapon.

What she enjoyed most about the weapon was how it felt to shoot it. The feeling as it punched her in the shoulder hard enough to shatter concrete, the smell of ozone as the air and atoms were charged into a beam of pure energy. And the sizzling sound as the energy melted and burned the targets it hit. 

At the moment, they were testing Murphy's reflexes. Morrígan and several dozen of her taken souls had taken up positions surrounding the Canadian. Morrígan herself was perched atop the highest tower of their arctic fortress. The black walls that had become their home since their fateful encounter provided excellent firing positions for this test. 

The ancient woman brought her eye up to the scope of the weapon and looked upon the face of her companion. She lined up a shot on one of his now blood red eyes, a trait that had come around as the human strengthened his connection to her power.

Morrígan watched him sidestep a shot from one of the Taken that was behind him. Followed by another shot that he rolled to avoid. It was while he was recovering from the roll that she struck. She pulled the trigger on her weapon and felt her body jerk from the recoil. But Murphy had become faster in the time they had been together and reacted to the beam of energy with fractions of a second to spare. He twisted to the side and just barely managed to bend backwards to let the beam sail past and obliterate the arctic landscape behind him.

She allowed herself a small smile of pride at the progress her human had made. Had she taken that shot when they first met, the Lieutenant would have been vaporised along with the landscape. Standing from her perch she snapped her fingers and her large rifle dissipated from reality before she leapt from the tower and allowed her human facsimile to grow her wings to glide upon the Arctic air to land before her companion.

"You are getting faster."

Murphy nodded and brushed off some dirt from his clothes. "The Taken are getting better at shooting. It looks like the training is working for them as well. Their shots are more accurate now."

Morrígan nodded with a grin. "I allowed your former soldiers to regain some of their free will, in exchange for their roles as commanders of the lesser Corrupted."

The Canadian nodded firmly. "I appreciate that. It will never really be easy to get over that my men are now basically dead and enslaved."

Morrígan frowned slightly. "It is a better fate than what could have befallen them."

The Depthborn crossed her arms over her chest and Murphy eyed her for a minute. Having rebuilt the draconic armour that had been destroyed using Depthsteel to replace the previous materials. Morrígan had begun to change her human appearance to reflect that. While sparring or training, she appeared in very durable armour that covered her chest, arms and legs. Though it was impossible to miss the fact that not only the armour, but her underclothes left her toned abdomen exposed. 

Not that it would matter, her body was far more durable than the illusion of the armour would have been. She often wore a ballistic mask that covered her nose and jaw while she was training with him, but currently wasn't wearing it.

Murphy sighed softly. "I know"

Morrígan was about to speak again, but was cut off by one of her Taken humans appearing before them. "Delta Bravo sighted twenty klicks off the southern shore. Two ships in the vicinity, one already destroyed."

Murphy scowled and looked towards Morrígan who simply shrugged. "Time to show me just how well that training has paid off. Little one."

The Canadian frowned. "You aren't going to help me?"

Morrígan shook her head. "You want my help? Prove to me that you can handle the weakest of my kind."

Murphy glared at her and clenched his fists. "Fine, but I want the fortresses weapons online and ready to strike the target on my mark."

The taken man looked to Morrígan for her decision. When she simply nodded in affirmation, The buildings and weapons that made up the base began to glow a crimson red and those that could began to point towards the location of the depthborn.

"Well, you can at least give me a ride there."

Morrígan smirked and grabbed him by the back of his collar. "As you wish."

Murphy grunted slightly as he was suddenly lifted off his feet and into the sky. Morrígan rocketed off in the direction her Taken had indicated and it was not long before they could see the smoke from the wrecked ships. Only one was still moving, currently being chased down by a massive beast resembling a cross between a crocodile and an octopus. 

Morrígan flew over the fleeing ship and dropped Murphy. She chuckled and practically sang to him. "Good luck~"

The lieutenant growled and reached out for the threads of reality and gripped tightly to slow his descent and land on the deck of the fleeing vessel. Some of the crew looked at him in bewilderment and fear but he ignored them. He had far bigger problems to worry about.

He looked up and realised that the beast was now looking directly at him. Its scale would have been impressive, had he not known Morrígan. He had little time to consider that it was only a few hundred metres in height before its eyes narrowed. As if it could sense the connection he shared with Morrígan. It let out a savage roar and increased its pace to close the distance with the ship.

Murphy drew his rifle and took aim at the beast. Allowing his instincts and training to take over he pulled the trigger and began putting round after round of neutron energy blasts into the creature's hide. He targeted the eyes first, and successfully blinded one of the eyes with a shot, the charred and melted eye hardly even phased the creature. It roared in pain but continued its charge. 

The ship lurched to a stop and Murphy noticed the tentacle thay had wrapped around the stern of the ship. It fought the engine with relative ease and something exploded in the bowels of the ship, knocking the power offline.

Realising he had to do something fast, Murphy slung his rifle over his shoulder and drew his combat knife. Allowing the superheated power of a neutron star envelope the blade and lengthen it into a sword. Without hesitation, the Canadian charged towards the tentacle and began to slice through it with the blade.

The depthborn whelps flesh gave way to the blade easily enough, but there was a lot of it and time was running out. Murphy let loose a roar as he swung the sword up and unleashed a wave of energy from the blade. The powerful attack cleaved through the offending appendage with ease before continuing and leaving a deep gash in the beasts neck. The ship rocked again as tbe tentacle released it and the beast roared in anguish. Bleeding from its eye, neck and tentacle Murphy was astonished at just how much punishment the thing could take.

But continue it did, bringing up tentacles from beneath the ship and punching through the hull and up into the deck. The two appendages began to shear the vessel in half, dooming the crew.

Murphy shook his head in annoyance before summoning a wave of ice to freeze the tentacles in place before leaping off the side of the ship and landing on one of the frozen limbs. The beast eyed him with unbridled fury and tried to throw him off, but he simply drove his sword into the tentacle and began to run up towards its head. Cutting through its flesh the whole way up until he reached its head. It made to snap at him with its jaws but he simply blasted them snout of the beast with millions of volts of electricity.

This caused the beast to rear back in pain and expose its neck, still bleeding from the attack before. He drove the sword into the open wound and began to hack away. Before he could do anything substantial Murphy was sucker punched by a tentacle which sent him flying back into the sinking ship.

Murphy groaned in pain and noted that his left leg was bent in the wrong direction and he felt pain in his ribs. Wincing as he looked back towards the beast as it was beginning to regain itself for another round.

Punching the deck and channelling the healing light within him he gritted his teeth as his bones knit themselves back together and he pulled himself to his feet. Holding his hand out and curling his fingers, he began to create a ball of distortion energy. The gravity of the miniaturised black hole began to rip metal from the deck and warp the hull.

He waited for the whelp to close in for a lunge with its massive jaws before hurling the ball of energy into its maw and throat. The subsequent explosion tore a gaping hole through both sides of the depthborns throat. Cutting off its agonised roar as its vocal cords were rented asunder. 

At first, Murphy believed that such a wound would finish the beast off. But to his surprise and annoyance. The whelp was not dead. Murphy could hear the wheezing from the beast's throat as air was sucked into the hole that had been caused.

"You have to be fucking kidding me."

Murphy rolled his shoulders and slung his rifle back over his shoulder and took aim at the beast's face once more. He poured dozens of neutron rounds into its head, charring and burning its flesh. He struck gold when the beast coughed as its lungs sucked in its own blood, the uncontrolled movement caused its eye to become unprotected as it jerked its head to the side.

Murphy grinned as he watched the beast's last eye burn and melt. With it now blind, Murphy reached out with his power and pulled himself towards the hole in the whelps neck. Thinking quickly, he hoped that his gamble would work and he channelled all his rage and desperation into the power of Suppression and filled the open hole in the throat with paracausal ice. Sealing the wound closed and completely stopping the beast from breathing.

Murphy was knocked off the beast as it began to thrash about in an attempt to force air into its lungs. Not relenting, Murphy opted to continue to hammer the beast with neutron energy. Continuing to barrage the beast even as it sank beneath the waves as it suffocated to death and choked on its own blood.

Finding a large piece of debris to rest on he allowed the power to leave him and started to catch his breath. Watching out into the water he could see several survivors in the frigid ocean some in life jackets others in rafts. "Morrígan… I think it's dead… fuck me I hope its dead…"

He didn't get an immediate reply. Not until he saw some of the survivors in life jackets disappear beneath the waves. Initially he thought that somehow, the beast had survived its decapitation and was back to round two. But then he noticed the waves began to shift and roll and recognized the familiar sight of Morrígan's true form rising from the waves. The remains of the whelp he had killed in her jaws, easily being crunched and crushed by her immense teeth and allowing her to swallow the beast.

But he also noticed that the humans that had disappeared were in her left hand. He was about to question her when she simply raised them to her mouth and devoured them as well, causing the survivors in the emergency rafts to begin to scream. 

Murphy was too tired to do anything other than watch in awe at the display of her predatory instincts. He watched as she froze one of the rafts solid before pulverising it with two of her fingers. And another was simply pulled into a ball of distortion energy that crushed and compressed the raft and its occupants into an atomized nothingness as she chuckled to herself.

It was the last one that she allowed to get far enough away before she submerged beneath the waves once more, only to resurface before the ship with her massive, supple lips parted and tongue out slightly as the raft ran right into her waiting maw. With no chance of escape Murphy watched as Morrígan sealed her lips and any screams that he had heard were silenced, incapable of piercing her flesh. As Morrígan swam back over to Murphy he heard an audible and intentionally loud gulp. Despite the raft being far too small to be noticed in her throat, he was still enamoured by her display of dominance.

He simply flipped her off and groaned. "Those were innocent people!"

Morrígan grinned in devilish delight. "Indeed. And they would have frozen to death in these waters, or succumbed to starvation if that failed. Killing them now was a mercy that I granted them on your behalf. I would have simply let them suffer before."

He wanted to argue with her, but he knew that the Antarctic ocean was an unforgiving environment. The moment the survivors had fallen into the water they had been doomed.

"I hate it, but you're right.… you're getting better at your logical arguments than when we first met."

Morrígan laughed at that and gave him a smirk. "Well, acting on instinct and anger didn't help me with you. So I've had to change tactics."

The Canadian just groaned in acknowledgement. "Have I proven that fighting you to a standstill wasn't a fluke yet?"

Morrígan scoffed at that. "Not a chance, little one. However, you fought admirably. For a mortal. Now, let us return to the fortress."

Morrígan held out her hand softly and Murphy felt his body become weightless as he was pulled into her grasp. The familiar warmth that radiated from her body helped ward off the chill in the air that his body could not do alone with her power.

He tried to roll over but was too tired to move much and so he was stuck on his back as Morrígan held him against her massive chest and took off in flight towards their Antarctic home. The beating of her heart in conjunction with the beating of her wings began to lull him to sleep. And the last thing he thought before drifting to sleep, was how soft her breasts were.