"Hey Neiris..."
No answer.
"...Neiris?"
Silence. And then: "Yes, Heidi?"
"I'm kinda worrying..."
"About what?"
"About this mission, I guess."
"Why? It's just a mission."
"What if we're doing the wrong thing, Neiris?"
Neiris turned to her companion, disbelief on her face. She slung the massive spiked metal mallet she had been holding across her back, binding it there with a series of leather straps that were part of her outfit, and put her hands on her hips. "What are you talking about?"
Heidi shifted uncomfortably. They had been out here for hours. She was getting tired and the weight of her minigun wasn't exactly helping. She sighed, dropping her weapon into a pile of debris and stretching. "Nevermind. Ignore me."
She glanced toward Neiris and instantly regreted it. Her friend was staring at her as if she had dropped from another planet (well, technically, she had) and her violet eyes were dull with silent judgement. Tell me. It was an unspoken command.
"I mean..." said Heidi, "why are we even here? Why did we come down to Earth?"
"You know that we couldn't remain home. What would we have eaten?"
"We'd have found something! Why...why did we decimate the humans, Neiris? Why are we still doing this? They don't deserve it, Neiris! They're just like us. Except...except...they can't fight..."
Neiris turned away, rolling her eyes. Heidi adjusted her beret, brushing a lock of pale yellow hair out of her face. Neiris had her mallet in her hand once more and was now lazily swinging it through the air. Her posture was relaxed but her eyes were cold.
"Answer me, Neiris! Why are we doing this?"
Neiris didn't even bother to turn around. "You know perfectly why we are doing this, Heidi. Now shut up. I don't want to fail another mission because of you."
Heidi growled. "Yeah, I do know. But what's the point, Neiris? We've never even seen her. You know, Her Excellency who made all this happen. We don't talk to anyone ever, Neiris. We just get our orders from Mii and Shizu and come out here. What if Her Excellency is wrong, Neiris? What if this is all wrong? What if these humans are the good guys, and we're the villains?"
"You think too much."
"You don't think enough."
Neiris turned around to face her, and this time, there was a definite rigidity in her posture. "If we're the villains." she said acidly, "then explain that." she pointed at a spot in the distance and Heidi followed her hand with her eyes. She immediately winced.
A little far off, two massive iron spikes protruded from the ground. On each one, a body had been impaled. One was male, with pale skin and dark hair. The other was female, with olive skin and blue hair. The female still clutched an axe in her left hand. There was a plague in front of the two spikes. Heidi was too far away to read the letters engraved onto it, but she already knew what it said.
August 5th. The seventh and the eighth.
The seventh and eighth of their comrades.
"Are you reassured?" hissed Neiris and Heidi sighed.
"I miss them, Neiris." she said quietly and her friend's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline.
"There were fifteen of us, Neiris. Fifteen of us at the beginning. And now, there's only nine. Me, you, Mii, Mazuma, Shizu, Kali, Nafhe, Lirio, and Zaha. Who's next, Neiris?"
Neiris said nothing, only resumed spinning her mallet. Heidi sat down on the ground. "This mission seems really tricky, Neiris. But we'll make it through. I-I... I believe we can..." quite unexpectedly, she started crying. Neiris sighed and walked over to her friend.
"Relax, Heidi. It's just another mission. A little difficult, yes, but still fine."
Heidi said nothing. After a few minutes, she got up again, picking up her minigun this time. Her eyes are green, such a beautiful green. The green of the forests, thought Neiris, but she thinks too much. She always thinks too much.
They stood there in silence until the distant rumbling of hundreds of tanks picking their way through the remnants of buildings started up. The chatter of soldiers and clicks of weaponry being readied soon became apparent. Neiris stood her mallet on the ground. Heidi lifted up her minigun and readied herself for battle.
The noise became almost deafening. And then Heidi spoke and her voice rose above the cacophony.
"All of our people are dying around us."
"..."
"You know who's next, right?"
Ten whole seconds before Neiris answered. "Yes."
In the beginning, there had been fifteen.
And soon, there would only be seven.