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Chapter two: Awakening Omega

After seeing the creature first hand, Christina had thought for a minute about the name. As her tail swished lightly back and forth in thought, the wolf scientist shook his head.

"Why are we even bothering to name him?" the wolf asked.

"Because, Dr. Moore," Christina replied, "if he's going to be under my command in the field, I want to call him something besides 'Omega'. That just sounds...cold and lifeless."

Ross smiled as Christina thought. Finally, the vixen snapped her fingers.

"Got it!" She smiled, "Let's call him Tobias."

Dr. Moore looked at her questioningly, but his mouth stayed quiet. He knew better than to second-guess the princess.

"Tobias it is." Ross smirked, "Good choice, Princess Christina."

Christina smiled and nodded.

"Then I guess it's time to awaken it." A badger said, his golden eyes examining the creature inside the containment device.

"Yes sir." Ross replied, "You heard him! Get Omega to the armament testing level and release him."

As the scientists got to work, Christina watched them with interest. She could only hope that this creature would bring them the hope they needed to survive this war further, maybe even end it.

* * *

Again, the creature's eyes opened. Only this time, it was not in a tube of any sort. Instead, it was in an enclosed space. A metal box? No, it was too large. It didn't like this place. The cold look of the steel walls and ceiling made it uncomfortable. So sterile and lifeless.

The creature got to its feet and instinct kicked in. The creature took up a combat pose, tail arched over its shoulder for a quick strike with the two-foot long blade on the end of its tail. But as the tail rose up, two, blade-like appendages lowered from his wrists, one on each arm. The slightly curved blades extended just past his elbows, but both were attached at his wrists, rising off of his arms. If the enemy was near, the creature would make short work of them with the sharp blades.

"Easy Tobias." A voice said from somewhere in the room, "Relax your blade, you are not in a combat zone yet. Before you can do anything, you have to be tested. We will put you through a couple of tests to be sure you are as we expect you to be at this point. We are friends, Tobias. Not enemies."

Tobias glanced around and noticed a camera following his movement. He guessed this was how they were monitoring him. So, he did as he was told. His tail relaxed and the twin blades on his arms flattened against his arms once more, making his forearms seem slightly larger than normal, but he was still alert. Tobias examined his surroundings more thoroughly. Several targets had been set up around the room. In the center was a table with a 9mm handgun laying on it. Beside the gun was a loaded magazine. He knew what to do with them.

Tobias walked to the table and picked up the two items. Tobias smiled to himself as he looked at the other targets. Each one was in the shape of a circle, three red rings that ranged from outer most to center. They were set in different parts of the room; smaller ones nearer to him while larger ones were farther away. Some were hung from the ceiling to make them appear harder to hit. The creature scanned each one, assessing the difficulty of each target and putting them into an order he liked. Tobias loaded and cocked the weapon quickly and took aim.

He fired a single shot and struck the target dead center. Within seconds, each of the targets had a similar hole through the center of them. The dragon seemed at ease with the weapon in hand, his mind already targeting the next target once the trigger was pulled, as if in one fluid movement. Fifteen shots in five seconds, not one missed target. Not bad for someone who hadn't been trained in the usual way. Smoke silently wafted from the hot barrel of the 9mm. Tobias set the gun back down.

"Very good, Tobias. Your timing and aim seem to be at full potential." The voice said, "Now walk into the next room and we'll test your bodily reflexes."

Tobias looked to a door that he hadn't noticed before. After opening it, he looked down the hallway and noticed a section of it was mirrored glass. He walked up to it and looked himself over.

Tobias was an anthropomorphic dragon. His midnight black skin and sapphire colored eyes and wings made him look a little menacing, but not by much when compared to the more striking features of his body. What really would have scared anyone were the two-foot blade at the end of his tail and the twin blades growing off his arms that extended just past his elbow in length. In short, he looked a lot like a walking weapon.

As he continued to examine himself, the dragon realized he was wearing long, beige pants and some sort of black combat vest. The vest was ribbed and rough to the touch, designed to be tough to penetrate like some sort of lightweight armor. It may not offer much protection against high-powered weapons, but it would do the job for now.

Tobias nodded to himself, satisfied with his examination. But something nagged at the back of his mind. Why had he been created and who had created him? As he thought about it, the dragon realized he had no memory of anything before waking up that first time in the tube. With a shrug, the dragon looked to a door at the end of the hallway. He didn't have time to worry about it. Right now, he had to test his reflexes. Later, he would hopefully get answers.

As he walked into the large room, Tobias looked around. To him, it was more of a long hallway than a room, the walls at least forty feet apart, more than double for the distance from where he was standing to the opposite end of the hallway. As he stepped forward, the dragon realized that he had stepped onto, what seemed like, a huge tile. It was nearly as big as he was, making it easy for him to step onto each tile without going between them.

Suddenly, Tobias felt aware that something was off. A feeling of unease filled his mind as he walked. An electric energy seemed to cover his skin as he began to hear a soft humming sound. Instinct kicked in as adrenaline flooded into his body.

Suddenly, he bolted left as the ground opened at his feet. He quickly assessed what had happened and felt the ground once again moving. He jumped off the tile as it sunk into the ground. He realized that this was the test. Everywhere he stepped would either collapse or open. If he made one move too late, he'd follow the tile down and fail.

Moving quickly from tile to tile, each one collapsing as he leaped onto and then off of it with lightning fast reflexes, Tobias tried to make his way across the room. Suddenly, Tobias felt himself slam into a wall. He'd been paying too much attention to his jumps and not enough to his surroundings. He fell to the ground after hitting the wall and rolled off the tiles as they fell. The dragon got to his feet and spread his wings as far as he could. A sapphire colored, twelve-foot span on each side.

As the tiles collapsed under his feet, the dragon pushed off the falling ground and was airborne. Flapping to hover where he was, he quickly assessed what his options were. He could either continue to make his way to the other side of the room by flight, or he could land and take his chances back on the ground.

Then, something got his attention. The sound of a small explosion came from nearby and the dragon rolled to the left. As he did, a rubber bullet sped just under his wing at a high speed, nothing more than a blur to his eyes. These people were trying to hit him! If he was hit, it was a sure bet it would hurt like mad and he would fall to the ground.

Tobias rolled again as a second shot passed his right side, forcing him to roll away from it. He spotted the weapon that was firing and knew that it was tracking his movements. At least, in the air it was. On the ground, all Tobias had to deal with was the collapsing floor.

A third bullet was fired and Tobias dropped out of the air. But he hadn't been hit. The shot passed where his head had been only split seconds ago. Instead, he had decided to take his chances on the ground. He landed and moved quickly; avoiding the collapse of the tile he'd landed on. But he realized he'd made a fatal mistake.

The dragon landed on another tile, but was swiftly forced to jump onto and off of the wall nearby to avoid another set of shots from the turret. It had been reprogrammed to track him even on the ground!

Dodging turret fire and the collapsing tiles, the dragon finally made it to the opposite end of the hallway. The turret had stopped firing as the collapsed tiles rose slowly back up to the surface. Hydraulic lifts under them had been pulling them away as the dragon landed on them, and were now lifting them back into place.

Tobias panted tiredly as the same voice congratulated him on passing the two tests of the day. Tobias felt a bit perturbed. He'd been put through an easy test and a more difficult one, but still had no idea why he was being sent through them.

"Very good, you've passed both tests. Now, report to the briefing room in the next hallway for a debriefing Tobias." The voice said as a door opened nearby to him, "There are some creatures that would like to meet you."

Tobias wanted to ask about himself, but decided against it. Maybe they would tell him about why he had been created in the debriefing.

* * *

As he walked in, the dragon glanced around him. The room looked like a briefing room, with a huge oak table in the middle. On the opposite side of the table was an ocelot, a wolf, and a badger, each one studying him carefully. But at the center of the group was a younger looking vixen. She was well built, dressed in a tank top and combat pants with an open, black ribbed combat vest like his. She couldn't have been any older than he was made to be, at least twenty-one years old.

"So far, I have to say that I, for one, am impressed." The badger said, standing up.

Tobias realized that a high ranking officer was addressing him once he saw the badger's uniform. Instinct took over and the dragon saluted.

"At ease, Tobias." The general smiled, sitting back down.

The dragon's hand fell to his side, but his eyes never left the badger's.

The vixen smirked a bit, "Looks like he's already been well trained."

The wolf to her right nodded, "Indeed he has been. Everything he needs to survive is already in his mind. Shooting, movements, commands, even the most advanced training for any soldier is all instinct to Omega. Although these were very simple tests for him, in theory, he is the perfect weapon. Albeit not as...restricted...as our main military might."

The vixen gave the wolf a glare, "We went over this. His name is Tobias."

The wolf nodded, "Sorry your highness. It is all instinct to Tobias."

Tobias noted that the wolf clearly did not like to call the dragon by the name he now knew as his own. But calling the vixen 'your highness' as well? Tobias had a feeling this vixen was far more than just another anthropomorphic creature.

"Alright, let's skip the simple praise and get down to why you are here." The ocelot said, standing up, "Tobias, we are at war with a demon race of creatures we call the Valdye. They take no prisoners, they slaughtered hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers alike, and they are generally a major threat to everything on this planet. You, we all hope, will be our ultimate weapon against them."

"A weapon sir?" Tobias asked.

The wolf nodded, "That's right. You are faster, stronger, and better designed to handle the enemy than anyone in the field already, with the possible except of the team you will be joining."

Tobias nodded, his tail gently flicking back and forth, the deadly blade at the end keeping in careful movement as not to hurt anyone.

"That team is my team." The vixen stated, standing up, "I am Princess Christina Del, first in line to the throne of the Delsirian Empire and squad leader of the Infinity Team."

The vixen extended her hand to the dragon. For a second, Tobias was curious to the meaning of this gesture, but he took her hand, shaking it firmly. Why he did that, the dragon wasn't sure, but it felt right. Plus, Christina seemed satisfied by his reaction.

"The others might not be so open about your joining the team, but you have my support, Tobias." Christina smiled, "Welcome to Infinity."

The wolf leaned to the ocelot and whispered, "Especially since he has been programmed to obey her every order in combat, no matter what."

The badger nodded and stood up, "Now that you have met your team leader, it is high time we all got some rest. Dismissed."

As everyone departed, the badger stayed behind, looking over at the wolf who was placing his papers away into a folder.

"Doctor, does he remember anything?" the badger asked.

The wolf looked up, "Commander, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Omeg...sorry, Tobias, should not have any memory recall. Our team did a through job."

The badger looked out, seeing an armed bobcat meeting with the dragon to take him to a dorm to be monitored, "You had best hope that he doesn't, for your sake. If he recalls what happened before his 'creation' it could be disastrous. You saw how the princess was watching him. If either of them finds out about-."

"Unless there is some sort of unforeseen circumstance, I highly doubt we have anything to worry about." Dr. Moore interrupted, picking up his folder, "Good day, Commander."

* * *

Night had fallen as Christina walked out of the run down cover for the science bay. As she did, the vixen looked up at the night sky. It was a beautiful night. A clear, cloudless night sky blanketed the world, the twinkling stars above giving a feeling of ease to the vixen as she walked to the dormitory building across the base. It was almost as if the dread and fear from the demons was being lifted away from her body.

"Tobias seems like he might be an interesting addition to the team. Although...I could swear I've seen him before somewhere..." Christina thought as she walked, "Best not ponder on it. After all, I also do not know how well the others will react to having a bio-engineered killing machine on the team."

The vixen sighed, thinking about why her team was together in the first place. They had all lost the rest of their teams, finding each other in the middle of a fight alone. Together, they had escaped the demons and rescued a group of civilians. Since that mission, Christina and five others had become one of the best teams available for combat missions. They had fought together, survived together from the beginning of the war until now.

"Plus, now we have one more member designed only to kill the demons." Christina told herself as she opened the door to the barrack her team used, "Let's hope Tobias can easily merge with the rest of the team."

As she walked in, the vixen smiled, seeing most of her six-man team asleep. One of them, a calico furred cat girl close to her own age was awake, checking her handgun. As Christina walked to her bunk, the cat smirked.

"So, what was the big news?" the cat asked.

"We're getting a new teammate." Christina replied, "A dragon."

The cat's ears perked curiously, "A dragon? But aren't they pretty rare?"

Christina changed into pair of shorts and a tank top, setting her gear aside, "He's...a little different than most dragons. You'll see him tomorrow, Kelsey."

The cat nodded and laid back, her ears pinned back, "At least tell me he's hot."

Christina smirked playfully, "Still looking for that perfect guy huh?"

Kelsey nodded, "You know it. Calvin's cute, but he's a smart ass. And William's got a damn stick up his ass half the time."

Christina smiled and laid back, "I don't know what he's like to be honest. Tobias is...new...to everyone."

The cat nodded, "Well, get some rest. We're on patrol tomorrow in a sector the demons hit yesterday. The old town of Hayder. When one of our supply convoys was hit going through the town, the ammunition and weapons caches and were lost somewhere within the town and our job is to find and secure it for evac."

Christina nodded tiredly, laying her head down on the pillow. Within minutes, the vixen was asleep.

As she slept, Kelsey looked over the other four of the team. Calvin, their sniper, was resting with his back to the wall. Across from him was a border collie girl named Serena who specialized in shotguns and close quarters weaponry. Beside Serena, snuggled close with her arms wrapped around her was another female border collie, slightly younger than Serena. This was Serena's sister, and heavy pistol specialist, Melody. Finally, lying with his front to the door and a machine pistol sitting nearby, was Christina's second in command and the teams explosives/light machine gunner, a raccoon named William.

These four, plus Christina and Kelsey, were the Infinity team. A specialized unit dedicated to missions no one else could accomplish. But more than that, they all had something in common. All of them had lost family and loved ones in the war against the demons. Almost all of them had nothing left to lose besides the bonds they had made in service with each other. But they all also knew their team leader, Christina, was supposedly the last of the royal bloodline. But even that was a well protected secret. Only her team and their commanders knew that Christina was royalty. To anyone else, she was just a squad leader with powerful friends and remarkable tactical and combat skills.

"I really hope this Tobias character can give us the boost we need." Kelsey thought as she laid down, "Who knows? A dragon might just be what we need."