Chapter 37 Marching Toward Death—The Brave Know No Fear!

“Sir, as the MTFC, your responsibilities are too important.

You shouldn’t be on the front line!” As the commanding officer of MTF Nu-7 “Hammer Down,” Colonel Hans should have been directing the operation safely from the rear.

Yet at this moment, he stood on the front line in full combat gear.

Hearing the operations major beside him urge him to withdraw, Hans shook his head and firmly refused.

“The 702nd and 703rd Battalions, along with the 704th Armored Combined-Arms Battalion, are maintaining the outer perimeter against any possible Chaos Insurgency attack.” “They won’t be facing the greatest danger.” “But the 701st Battalion is acting as the advance force and carrying out the most dangerous part of the containment operation.” “This mission is too important.” “Whether we can contain SCP-096, the Shy Guy, could determine the lives of millions of civilians.” “So I have to be here.” “Hammer, don’t try to talk me out of it.” The operations major, codenamed Hammer, snorted.

“Personally, I respect your courage.” “But as an MTF operator, I strongly oppose what you’re doing.” “If we make it back alive, I’m absolutely reporting this reckless behavior to Commander Ethan.” Colonel Hans burst out laughing and shrugged.

“If I make it back alive, report whatever you want.” “Hell, I’ll personally make your coffee and kneel down to apologize if that’s what it takes.” Major Hammer curled his lips.

“The Kitchen’s serving beef bourguignon today.” “Your coffee will make a fine after-dinner drink.” Hans pointed toward the visor covering his eyes.

“These were developed by Dr.

William Birkin, one of the Foundation’s A-Class researchers.” “The visor automatically detects SCP-096’s face and blocks it with black pixelation.” “With these things, we’ll definitely be able to contain it.” At that moment, the voice of one of the advance scouts came through their radios.

“This is Sickle.” “Approaching the target farm.” “I’ve located a S.H.I.E.L.D.

helicopter, but it’s abandoned.” “Hammer copies.” “We’re one hundred fifty meters behind you.” “Continue searching.

There may still be survivors.” Suddenly— Several gunshots echoed from ahead.

Every operator immediately tensed.

“Drone has spotted civilians!” “Possible firefight in progress!” “Move!” “Advance on the target!” The soldiers of the 701st Special Reconnaissance Battalion broke into a rapid jog.

It didn’t take long before they reached the barn near the target farm.

The surrounding area was a complete mess.

But the only things they could clearly identify were several grotesque piles of blood and flesh that no longer resembled human bodies.

“Multiple civilian fatalities confirmed.” “Weapons located.” “Wait—” “Containment radar is detecting an anomalous signal nearby!” Colonel Hans immediately signaled to the surrounding operators.

“Combat posture!” Every Mobile Task Force operator raised their weapon and disengaged the safety.

At that same moment, S.H.I.E.L.D.

was watching everything through high-altitude drones.

Nick Fury.

Alexander Pierce.

Phil Coulson.

Natasha Romanoff.

Skye.

Melinda May.

All of them watched the Foundation’s operation unfold.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

had already suffered a humiliating defeat and been forced out of the operation.

Even their witnesses and surviving agents had ended up as part of those unrecognizable piles of flesh.

Still, they were curious.

They wanted to see what kind of failure awaited the Foundation now that it had finally run into a truly impossible anomaly.

Then they noticed the specialized visors being worn by the MTF operators.

The experienced Coulson immediately realized something.

“Director Fury.” “Those task-force operators are all wearing some kind of specialized visor.” “Could that be the key to containment?” Fury’s eye widened.

Then he slammed his fist against the table.

“Damn it!” “I should’ve realized sooner.” “The Foundation has an intelligence advantage we simply don’t possess.” “They know far more about these anomalies than we do.” His expression darkened.

“Looks like this monster really might end up being contained by the Foundation.” Pierce’s eyes flickered thoughtfully.

He subtly began steering the conversation.

“Director, the photograph appears to be one of the critical triggers behind SCP-096.” “Something that dangerous…” “Shouldn’t we ask the Foundation to provide us with a copy afterward?” He paused.

“Or if their containment attempt happens to fail, I think we should send a follow-up team and recover the photograph ourselves.” Fury waved him off.

“We’ll discuss that later, Pierce.” “That doesn’t align with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s interests right now.” Nick Fury was an extremely proud man.

Whether the Foundation succeeded or failed, he had no desire to lower himself by immediately asking for something.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

had a reputation to maintain.

Walking up to a friendly organization of supposedly equal standing and demanding access to its assets wasn’t exactly something that could be done casually.

This was one of the fundamental differences between Fury and Pierce.

Fury generally preferred working within established rules.

Only when S.H.I.E.L.D.

possessed overwhelming superiority would he consider rewriting those rules himself.

Pierce, however, quietly began thinking about whether HYDRA could send its own people to obtain the photograph.

Then— A blurred humanoid figure appeared on the surveillance footage.

“SCP-096, the Shy Guy!” Hans’s voice came over the Foundation communications network.

“This is Colonel Hans.” “We have visual contact.” “Team A is approaching.” Major Hammer responded, “This is Hammer.” “I’m leading Team B in destroying all SCP-096-related materials.” A moment later, another transmission came through.

“The visors appear to be working.” “Colonel Hans, SCP-096 is calm.” “It isn’t attacking us.” Team A had already formed a loose containment ring around SCP-096.

Then— The previously docile entity suddenly froze.

It covered its face.

And began wailing in overwhelming grief.

“SHIT!” “The visors didn’t work!” Before anyone could react, SCP-096 lunged at one of the scouts.

“No!” Hans could only listen as scream after scream erupted over the radio.

One operator after another went silent.

He knew his soldiers were dying.

As their commander, every scream felt like a knife being driven into his chest.

But as an MTFC, Hans possessed extraordinary psychological discipline.

He forced himself to remain calm.

Just moments earlier, he had only seen SCP-096 from behind.

Without looking directly at its face, he had memorized the entity’s original position.

Hans lowered his head.

Then he walked past one freshly killed operator after another.

SCP-096 hadn’t yet begun completely destroying the bodies.

The sight around him was horrifying beyond description.

Hans suppressed his grief.

He picked up a containment hood from the ground while silently reviewing his plan.

Step by step, he approached SCP-096 from behind.

His head remained lowered.

He never looked at its face.

Then— He pulled the hood over SCP-096’s head.

At that moment, Major Hammer’s laughing voice came through his earpiece.

“Hans.” “Looks like I won’t be getting that coffee after all.” Hans frowned.

“What are you talking about, old friend?” “We’ve already contained it…” Then realization struck him.

“You—?!” Elsewhere, Major Hammer looked down at a heavily blurred photograph.

Slowly— He removed his protective visor.

Without the censoring system, the image looked completely ordinary.

Just a normal photograph taken during a mountain-climbing expedition.

Somewhere inside it, SCP-096 occupied no more than a handful of pixels.

Hammer calmly picked up a pencil.

Then he glanced toward SCP-096, which was still temporarily calm and had not yet begun another rampage.

He began scratching out the tiny image on the photograph.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

Destroying every visible trace.

The next second— SCP-096 disappeared from outside the window.

Major Hammer smiled.

He activated the public MTF channel.

“MTF Hammer Down.” “Containment successful.” Then— SCP-096, its head still covered by the containment hood, appeared directly behind him.

The smile on Major Hammer’s face remained frozen in place.