Blessed by Night

alachi reappeared on the mountain that housed the base, in different clothes than the ones Aubrey had seen him leave in.

He now wore a standard pair of black boots that traveled up to his calves and black tactical pants with a matching jacket.

As he planned his route, he thought carefully about what would be the best way to get to his destination.

Naturally, traveling through the shadows would have been a good option.

But for the past few days or so, Mal had been more reluctant to use them.

Perhaps this was just his way of coping with the fact that he wouldn't get to use them forever, and trying to get adjusted to that reality.

'Guess I have no choice then...'

Just before Malachi left, he heard the sound of rustling coming from the trees behind him.

Almost on cue, a very large and unnatural predator came sauntering out of the bushes like she'd been waiting there a long time.

"Hey, Lolo. Why aren't you sleeping?"

Lolo sat on her hind legs and gave Malachi a look that said 'I could ask you the same thing.'

"I'm just stepping out to run a little solo mission really quick. That's not a crime, is it?"

Lolo sat up and nudged Mal with her snout.

'Take me with you.' She wanted to say.

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Malachi smiled wryly.

"Now girl... don't take this personally, but you're not really suited for a stealth mission, y'know? They generally require you to be a lil bit more… inconspicuous."

Lolo did not look dissuaded in the slightest.

"…Alright fine, but you're staying in the shadows the whole time. And you don't get to eat someone unless I say so."

Again, Lolo did not seem to like those stipulations.

But at the end of the day, the chance of getting food was always better than no chance at all.

She let out a gruff grunt in response and sank into the floor alongside Malachi.

'Now... let's just hope this all works out fine and dandy.'

-

The location that Malachi had chosen to pay a visit to was a army base located in Montana.

It appeared to have been destroyed in a wave of N'Kai attacks, but was now miraculously up and running once again.

In fact, it seemed to be thriving.

Three large trucks load down with supplies pulled in to the cargo bay of the base.

The men stepped out of the trucks one by one and looked around in clear confusion.

This cargo bay certainly wasn't supposed to be empty.

"The hell do these guys have going on..? They sent so many delivery requests that you would think they'd move with some damned urgency!"

One of the men sighed and reached for the radio sitting on his vest.

Before he could press the button on his communicator, his eyes were tricked when something whistled past his nose.

Looking around, in a daze, he tried to find whatever had crossed his face, but he found nothing wherever he looked.

'Weird…'

-

Inside the cargo container of one of the eighteen wheelers, a strange occurrence took place in the darkness.

A living mass of shadows rose up from the floor.

It had no identifiable features or characteristics, but it did have a pair of glowing violet eyes that darted from crate to crate.

'The first truck had vats of chemicals and med supplies, the second had rations and MREs, but no weapons or ammunition… this isn't a military base anymore .' He realized.

*Ker-chunk!*

The sound of the door being unlocked caused the shadow to sink back into the ground and disappear from view.

When light poured in to the crate, the first thing that the shadow saw were a different squad of men in white uniforms.

"What the hell do you all need all this crazy stuff for? Everytime I come here I always see you same five squads." One of the drivers asked.

"And what kind of facility is this anyway..?" another added.

The man standing at the front of the uniformed guards turned up his nose in disgust.

"You all are decades away from possessing the level of clearance needed for me to answer you. Just be good dogs and do what you are told without making us ask twice, yea?"

Ignoring the now agitated drivers, the men in white began unloading all of the cargo from the three trucks in record time.

As the last vat of chemical components was about to be unloaded, a small whisp of black shadow leapt at the foot of a soldier as an effort to hide itself while continuing it's recon.

Entirely oblivious to this, the soldier soon left the area while the rest of the materials were put away by his subordinates.

On the other side of the hangar, there was a thick metal door with a bio scanner just opposite it.

The man placed his hand on the scanner and then placed his eye up to it next before the door opened.

He carried himself down a long white corridor with the only sound being that of his boots rapping off the floor.

Finally reaching his destination, he stepped inside of the lab and addressed the one superior he actually respected.

"Everything is accounted for, Dr. Michaels."

"Wonderful… I was worried that since we nearly doubled our amount of requested materials this time around."

"Indeed. But perhaps they know that your breakthroughs are the only thing keeping us afloat and giving us a fighting chance in this war."

"Yes, well speaking of advancements… I believe I am about to make another one right now."

In the middle of the white laboratory, there was a young woman strapped to a table with an IV inserted into her arm that was keeping her asleep and unresponsive.

In his hand, Dr. Michael's held a syringe with a dark colored liquid inside.

Just before he could stick the syringe into her arm, a shadowy hand reached out to grab him by the wrist.

" G-Gah! What the hell is this?!"

Suddenly, the shadows solidified as a tall man with black skin and long flowing dreadlocks that moved with their own minds like serpents.

Malachi plucked the syringe out of the good doctor's hand and stared at it with cold, calculating eyes.

"Now I wasn't the biggest science buff in school, but I'm suddenly developing a real interest. Why don't you tell me exactly what this little guy does?"