[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.