Forest of Magic, 12679 southwest of Misty Lakes…
The forest is a beautiful oak and spruce forest. The trees are not too near, yet not too far away as to become a grass plain. The cool shade of the towering trees provides relief for any traveller going their way. Said traveller also travels through the forest, choosing from many winding paths that snake through the forest. Many Youkai made their home here, as the inherent magical potency as well as its natural serenity appeal to many.
For years, this forest has seen many things. The rise of a powerful family called the Scarlet Devil, the Cold War of Youkai and Human, the Imperishable Night, the Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. This forest has seen many things, and now right around noon 1300 she shall witness a desperate battle of life and death.
The trees and clouds are kind to the soldiers, giving them respite from the sweltering heat of July as they fought their way through a fortification. The squadron isn't a weak one, nor is it an important one. They were just a couple of squads left, protecting a lorry filled with refugees. But the odds are not looking good…
The crude fortification of wood and unholy metal bars the way of the soldiers, posing a challenge for the marines to overcome. Unlike a normal defence's checkpoint, it was manned by several manners of grotesque monsters. The brown, leathery humanoid monster raised the temperature with their flames while their heavier pinkish comrades engage in an all-out brawl with sharp tooth and snapping jaw.
A solitary jeep is engaging in an intense firefight with the demons, posing a dangerous obstacle for the monsters to waltz through with its bulletproof casing and heavy machinegun. Behind it, there were two young soldiers taking cover behind the said jeep. One is a Pakistani-Chinese male, equipped with an M4A1 carbine. His eyes were deep brown, a colour of rich chocolate of Istanbul. His hair however, is a vibrant light green, even though the crew cut you can see the root of the hair permanently stained with green. His eyes are shifting between the refugees and the barricade.
The second soldier is a woman. She also has vibrant green hair. She was beautiful, her green eyes shone like emeralds as the flame dances around the battlefield. Her unblemished white skin is soft to the touch, yet she is not a china doll. While her friend attached a bull's-eye on his helmet, she attached a single hair clip shaped like a frog. The woman is busy reloading her sidearm.
At long last, the young man breaks the chatter silence. "Okay, tell me how many we killed those bastards?" The young man asked. The woman closed her eyes in silence. After a second, she said "Too many to count. I reckon we killed more than what this enemy bunker can hold, unless they have a huge network of underground tunnel to move from."
The young man grimaced at the answer. "Just as I thought" The young man concluded. "Tell me Sanae, how did the demon can move and build at fucking breakneck speed?" he asked the woman, who we shall call as Sanae from now on.
"They had teleporters" Sanae said. She shook her head for a moment. "So that's why they can maintain their position. The problem is, where it is?"
"Probably deep inside their bunker" The young soldier said, looking grim. "Sanae, unless we shut it down, I don't think any of us gonna make it-"
"So what? We just gonna charge in and hope that we shut off the teleporters before we got killed?" Sanae asked him. The young man nodded. "Jeez Hito, I thought you are a fucking reporter!"
"Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." Hito replied, sounding both weary and determined at the prospect of death. "Look around us Sanae-kun, before this we have a whole platoon backing us up and 2 Lorries of refugees. Now we are only down to 12 men and women including us! If we stay here, we die! If we die, the refugees die as well! We can't let that happen!"
Sanae turned her head around, staring at the lorry that is carrying civilians. Sanae growled. She can see the fear in their eyes as the demons gets nearer to the vehicle. "There are children in there" She quietly whispered. She gripped her Berreta M9 pistol tighter.
Hito then produced a single, smoke bomb from his webbing. "Look, this is my last smokey. Once we got the chance, we throw it in there and charge in. The smoke will obscure us enough for us to slip by. Then, it's up to us to find the teleporter."
Sanae smiled. "Then I need a bigger gun than this." She declared. She then raised her head and yelled at the machine gunner. "Hey Louise! Can I borrow your shottie?"
"Catch!" the machine gunner replied. The burly African-American man then throws a brown pump-action shotgun to Sanae with one hand while the other is still manning the LMG. "Take good care of my Charlotte wills ya?"
"Won't be a problem! Thanks Lou!" Sanae thanked him. Louise only grinned before getting his attention back to his machinegun. Sanae grinned as she pumped the brown stock of the shotgun, ejecting a shell which unfortunately hits Hito in the eye. Sanae giggled at this. Hito rubbed his left eye, not amused by the turn of even. "Oh come on Hito! Lighten up a bit!" Sanae said to him while picking up the ejected shells.
Suddenly, a roar came out west of their position. Both of the soldiers froze up in fear. "Oh shit." They said in synchronization.
A large demon of 7 foot tall lumbers from the forest, its large intimidating scarlet body towers above many men as he walks toward the refugee lorry. It looks like the classic depiction of the devil, with its goat's leg and goat's horn. It was a terrifying enemy to fight. Not only his powerful arm can rip a marine in half without second thought, the same arm can conjure powerful green blast that can melt a man. And it's coming straight for the evacuees!
"Fuck!" Sanae yelled, loading several shotgun shells into the shotgun. "We gotta help them!"
Hito grabbed Sanae's arm. "Are your shells buckshot or slug?" He asked her. Sanae's face fell into despair. Hito doesn't need answer. Her face says it all.
It's buckshot. And if she fires it, the spread might end up killing the civilian instead. She gritted her teeth. Dammit, there are children in there!
Just all hope seems lost; a pair of soldiers armed with shotgun and assault rifle appeared. They were both shooting at the demon while taunting it, drawing its attention away from the civilians. "It's the Jake Paul duo!" Sanae said, smiling at the sight. "Those crazy fucks always got our ass covered!"
The soldiers, whom we shall call as Jake and Paul fought off the demon. Their combined firepower proves to be too much for the demon, as it slumps down on its hairy goat knees and let out a keening wail. Without further ado, the one with the shotgun blast its head off, killing it for good.
"Damn!" Sanae said. "They got it covered!"
"Not for long they won't. More will come during the fight. If we didn't close the portal, we're fucked." Hito said, readying his smoke bomb. "I don't like this, but we have one shot in this"
"Just make sure you didn't miss alright?" Sanae said, shouldering her new shotgun. "You think we gonna make it through?"
"We're facing imps and pinkies in the bunker. The shotgun is created for cleaning up tight spaces. Guess how much tight spaces we have in a bunker" Hito said, preparing the smoke bomb in his hand. He looked at the barricade, waiting for the opportune moment.
"Wish that pinkies don't swallow this shottie like mine did." Sanae said, loading a new shell from her pack just in case. "I don't want to see Louise cry because little Charlotte went down a demon gullet"
"You'll be fine" Hito said. "Seriously, what could go wrong?"
Once both of the soldiers managed to infiltrate the bunker, they realized one thing. So many things can go wrong.
Hito got a concussion by a charging pinkie, its powerful large head smashing straight to him when he was turning around a corner. Halfway through the journey, he ran out of ammo, forcing him to use the M16 as an ornate war club. It surprisingly worked quite well against the smaller humanoid enemies. Sanae herself doesn't fare well. She got her armour scorched by the imps. But what makes her pissed off is that it burned some strategic holes at her clothing, revealing some (not all) of her pearly-white skin. Most men would KILL to see her thighs and cleavage, but Hito is too damn tired to do anything. All he wants is to shut off the damn portal and resume their journey to the nearest safe zone. All and all, they were just happy that they're still alive.
What pissed them the most is the fucking maze. MAZE, in a bunker. Hito groaned at every dead end, wondering where the hell the demons kept their portal at. The design of the bunker doesn't help at all. But they push on, unwilling to give up.
They succeeded in reaching the portal. The portal is a platform with a pentagram drawing on it. Sanae recoiled slightly. It has a certain malevolent aura that she even wouldn't dare think of. Hito only sighed in relief. Finally! They can shut it off and get outta dodge. But there's one big problem. How?
Hito slumped near a computer desk, too tired after a long engagement with demons in close-quarter combat. Sanae on the other hand is busy chanting some kind of mantra or prayers at the pentagram. Hito only groaned as he stood up and equipped his sidearm. "I swear if you summon more demons…"
The portal lost its pentagram marking, but Sanae isn't finished yet. "I blocked the transmission, but I can't fucking shut this thing down!" Sanae yelled, waving her shotgun around. If Louise saw how she handles his Charlotte it will be funny. Hito only groaned. "Hito, find me something that looks like a power source for demons or something!"
"Fuck it Sanae, I'm done" Hito replied, opting to plop his face at the keyboard of the command control desk. Sanae shook her head, tired of this fiasco. She turned her head back and forth between the portal and the command centre. Dammit! There must be a way for her to shut it down.
As if on cue, she heard a low growling coming from the nearest door. She froze up, anticipating an attack. She put her hand in her packs only to realize that she ran out of buckshot. Cursing inwardly, she opted to one-hand the shotgun like a club while her other hand is wielding her pistol.
Nothing happened, except the portal has lost its unholy glow. She whirled around to see the culprit. Hito was lying face-first at the keyboard, giving zero fucks about his situation. He rolled his face all over the keyboard, eliciting several clicking sound from the action. Sanae unable to compute such absurdity rolled on the ground laughing.
Hito raised his head from the keyboard. "Huh" He said, looking at the deactivated portal. "It actually worked"
"Stars above! Did you actually roll your face all over that and wha- I can't even-" Sanae's sentences were cut off by a fresh wave of giggles. Hito only shrugged.
"Well, let's get the fuck outta here shall we?" Sanae nodded at Hito's word. Picking herself off the floor, she proceeds to take point in the return expedition.
"What's our status?" An unknown soldier said to another soldier.
"We lost 3 men in engagement. Aside that, nobody died. We are bingo on ammo though…" The second soldier replied, fiddling with his bulletproof vest. The vest has a new tear mark beside all the others. The soldier smiled. "Well, at least we made it alive huh?"
"Who was our casualty?" The first soldier asked. Judging by the stripes on his shoulder he was a captain. His piercing blue eyes stared at the private in front of him. The private fidgeted a bit before replying. "Sir, we lost private Jake Paul, private Paul Brooks and corporal Shinmura. The JP duo got ripped up by a fucking Baron of hell. Corporal Shinmura however, got chomped in half by a pinkie."
"Ouch" The captain said. "Those fucking pinkies. I swear to god they are the worst."
"Are they even worse than Pain Elementals?" The private replied. The captain chuckled at the reply. "Hehe, nothing can get on the top of my shit list other than that ugly Cacodemon ripoff."
"Captain Smith!" Hito called out to the captain. The captain smiled at their arrival. "Private Sanae and Hito, you done me proud son." Hito and Sanae saluted him. The soldier beside Smith then whistled loudly. "Damn Sanae, you're looking fine!"
"Hey, mind your manner Private Carl" Captain Smith said. "That booty's mine"
"Excuse me cap?"
"Jeez Sanae-chan, I'm just messing with you." Captain Smith said, eliciting a chuckle from said Private Carl. Sanae proceeds to cover the hole on her shirt, blushing lightly. Hito only watched in indifference of this antic. Then he asked the important question. "Say cap, what happened when we're gone?"
Captain Smith's face became serious, his large bushy eyebrow frowning at the question. "Shinmura and the Jake Paul duo died. We lost a jeep in the fight, but the weaponries still intact. The civilians are safe thanks to those dual rednecks. Worst part, we only has one jeep left so the rest of you gotta hoof it. Any question?"
"Those crazy fucks…" Sanae said, shaking her head. Her vibrant green hair swayed alongside her. Being a soldier, she needs to cut her hair regulation short. But as because the marine forces in Gensokyo is more irregular than the outside, she can wore short helmet-like hairstyle to fit her regulation helmet. She stared at the captain's eye. "Sir, if I may, can I pray for the slain marine? I am after all, their chaplain." The captain nodded. He then pointed at his left. Just a short distance, there is a pit manned by several marines. She nodded and saluted Smith before embarking toward the grave. All of the marine there stood in silence, paying respect for the fallen.
Smith broke the silence. "All right marines get your gear ready and wait for the order to move out. Any question?" No answer from the rest of the dudes. Captain Smith nodded. "Alrighty then, dismiss."
The march was a tense affair. Everybody is on edge, anticipating an attack or two. The last ambush was costly for the squadron. Before, there are 4 jeeps and 2 refugees' lorry. Now, they are down to one jeep, one lorry and 9 marines. Each of them were dishevelled and in several stage of dirt. One is literally covered head-to-foot with demon blood. It may look badass at first, but it's a pain in the ass condition to march in.
"Fuck, I felt like the woods are watching us." Hito said, voicing out his discomfort. His only solace is through his camera, which somehow survived every engagement he fought through. He heard that the camera is created using the technology and expertise of the kappa species. Hito doesn't really care who made them, all he care is that it works and it last long. "Damn" Hito said, still clicking away at his camera. "Whoever made this thing better get an assload of medals."
"Well, that's the kappas for you" Sanae interjected, her eyes following the direction Hito is shooting on. The silent clicking is unheard due to the cacophony of marching boots. "If magicians and wizards are our scientist, then the kappas will be our engineer. Everything mechanical and machine is their forte."
"Fucking hell" Hito said, taking a picture of his marching comrades. "Look at them; they're all jumping at shadows."
"Well what do you expect?" Sanae replied. "We were fighting non-stop at the Moriya District. Then, we were ambushed like what? 30 times? We lost 2 squadrons along the way and we've been marching for 12 hours straight without sleep. I'm surprised they're still standing." She yawned. There are eyebags under her beautiful green eyes. "Fuck, I really need rest…"
"And let the demon take our soul when we're asleep? No thanks." Hito replied, holstering his camera back to his pack. He also unceremoniously yawned. "How long is this damn march?" he asked.
"Show yourself!"
All the soldiers stopped at their tracks, their guns ready for action. Hito and Sanae gripped their weapons, their eyes wandering wildly for the enemy. Damn, Sanae thought to herself. Captain Smith is tired as all hell, but he can still notice something's amiss.
"Jeez, hold your horses will ya?" A child-like voice came out of the wood area. "Chill, I'm on your side."
"Prove it" Captain Smith replied, shouldering his prized hunting rifle. "If you're one of us, you get your ass right here."
"Fine, fine shees." The voice said. A few second later, a prepubescent child then flew toward Captain Smith. She was a blue fairy with icicles as wings. She wore a dark blue Kevlar vest over her blue dress. She also wore a blue Kevlar helmet atop her short light blue hair. Her cerulean eyes twinkled with mischief and confidence as she approaches the captain. "Happy?"
"Yes." He only replied, smiling inwardly. How could he not? Fairies in Gensokyo are always cute, this one is no different. What makes it much cuter is that she's wearing a combat uniform and are wielding a pair of Tec-9 submachine pistol coloured bright blue. She looks like a little girl just having a tomboyish game of war.
Hito turned around to face his comrade. The remaining marines were smiling, happy seeing such an adorable creature in front of them. The fairy's appearance may not seem much, but it plays a huge role in morale. Already the moods of despair were lifted, replaced by a certain gay mood.
"So, what's your name?" Captain Smith asked.
"Ma name's Cirno sir! Captain of the Team 9 Scouting Corps! Eye am right now on a mission sir!" The fairy named Cirno said, making everybody in the corps go 'awwww'
Suddenly, a large muscled man walks toward the fairy. He is a bald, heavy-set Russian man with immense strength. His primary weapon is a minigun, which he carries everywhere without problem. He even fought a Hell Knight in a fistfight and WON. All and all, he's dangerous.
Cirno switched her stare toward the large man. "Ohoho! Who is this human? You look strong!" She then put her fist at her chest. "But eye am the strongest fairy in Gensokyo! You better knew that!"
Suddenly, he grabbed the fairy and squeezed her in a bear hug. "Little fairy so cute!" the large man said in a thick Russian accent. "Heavy likes cute fairy!"
Cirno doesn't seem to be bothered, only hugging back as twice as hard. Heavy smiled at the strength of the fairy. "Little fairy is strong! Heavy likes strong people!"
The captain smiled at the scene. Damn, those two may become good friends. But enough of that. "Why are you here Captain Cirno?" Several of the marines chuckled quietly. Before she could reply, another child appeared in distress. The child is clad in the same uniform as Cirno except the colour is changed to light green. Her hairstyle is the same messy bangs like Cirno, except it is lighter green than Sanae's hair. Her wings have a yellow cricket-like structure. She wields a HKMP5 submachine gun with silencer and red dot sight. Her green eyes stared at the marines wildly before settling onto Cirno. "Cirno-chan! What are you doing? We need to get to the mansion as fast as we can!"
"What? Why? Tell me private!" Captain Smith asked her, making her snap to attention. She turned around and stand at attention while LEVITATING off the ground. At her hip you can see a generic Glock 18 semi-auto pistol at her side. She swallowed audibly. "Sir, there is a large horde of demon coming straight to the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"
"What's their strength?" Captain Smith asked her, his face hardened at the message. The marines lost their smile, gripping their weapons in fear. They were trained to fight against human enemy dammit! Not demons that came from your worst nightmare! But they kept their composure. They're marines for Christ sake.
"40 imps, 40 pinkies, 20 Hell Knights, 35 Cacodemons and 10 Pain Elementals! They came from coordinate 67845 at Marty-6 checkpoint! If we didn't hurry, headquarter would suffer just like that checkpoint!" The green fairy replied. A cold shockwave of fear shoots up at everybody's spine. "That would make 145 demons in total…" Captain Smith said, his voice becoming a whisper every second. Sanae and Hito exchanged looks. She was armed with a new shotgun from the dead marines. Everybody's face paled at the number. Impoverished, encumbered and outnumbered, they're surely fall. The civilians muttering became much more audible. The fathers are muttering sweet lies to their children and their brothers make oath of arms, promising that they'll never die without a fight.
"You better get you butt moving! They'll arrive at this position around half an hour!" Cirno replied, raising her Tec-9s to emphasize her point. "Don't worry! You'll actually 10 minutes march away from here! If you run, you might get there in half!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" A civilian yelled from the bus. "Let's go then!" the others nodded at the response. Captain Smith nodded as well. He turned to face the green fairy, smiling as he did. "You did good private…"
"Daiyousei. Just call me Daiyousei." The green fairy replied. Smith smiled at her reply. "Private Daiyousei, your team have saved lots of innocent lives today." He turned around. "Marines! Get your asses moving! We're nearly there! Private Carl, get the radio! Tell the units from Kilo-five to Alpha-7 that they better get their ass moving!"
"Right away sir!" Private Carl replied, heading toward the lone jeep. He grabbed a single WWII era radio and yelled in the order. The only difference is that it was marked with NSRM-2 with a logo of a green hat and wrench, the logo of the kappas. He then turned to face Cirno. "Captain Cirno! I need you and your squad to protect us as well! We are short on personnel and equipment. That's an order!"
"Sir yes sir! Team Nine assemble!" She yelled. As soon as she spoke the word, 3 more fairies appeared from the woods. One is a cute little girl with pink hair and grey eyes. Her wings are like a pink sparrow, soft and fluffy. She wore a pink Kevlar vest with bandolier draped over it. Her pink helmet has the word 9 on it just like everybody in her team. Like Daiyousei, she carries a HKMP5 submachine gun with the same accessory. The second fairy is likely a girl as well. She has blue eyes, teal hair and a bug antenna, which protrudes from her dark blue helmet. She also wears a blue Kevlar vest as well. Her weapon at first glance looks like an American M16 rifle, but the magazine is a copy of the Uzi's magazine.
Last but not least, there is a cute blonde child without wings. At first glance she seems to be a normal child of ten. Her short blonde hair was donned by a black oversized helmet, which slipped over her face much to the marine's amusement. She has a pair of red eyes and an adorable smile. Out of all her friends, she's the only one wearing something akin to a tactical outfit. A black bandolier over her black Kevlar vest. She was armed with an Uzi submachine gun with a folding stock.
Louise's breath got stuck in his throat for a second. He quickly coughed a little before anybody noticed. But Sanae noticed that. She gave a sad look of understanding at him before changing her view toward the cute army group. She knew who they are all right, but the rest needs introduction.
"Private Mystia Lorelei at your service sir!" the one in pink said.
"Private Wriggle Nightbug ready for action sir!" the one in blue said.
"Private Rumia ready for action sir." The blonde child said at last. Louise the gunner was staring at her forlornly. With a shake of his head he sighed and turns his eyes toward the rest of the marines. Their faces display a look of grim determination. They are within marching distance's to the relative safety of the second headquarter in Gensokyo.
"Hey Sana" Hito said, tapping her shoulder to grab her attention. "Did you notice that they're all armed with 9mm weapons?"
"Wrigglebug's M16 is not a 9mm weapon." Sanae replied. Hito then grinned widely. "That is the Colt 9mm SMG. It was designed to look like an M16. It is chambered in 9mm Parabellum rounds." He said, pointing toward the rifle. Sanae is not convinced yet. "And how do you know that?" She asked. Hito smiled wider. "The fucking magazine is an Uzi mag." He chuckled, and then tapped his temple with his finger vigorously.
Sanae's mind was blown that day.
We made it. We fucking made it.
It was around 1630 that we saw the mansion. The squad literally jumped with joy at the sight of the headquarter. After being on the run for 2 day straight we finally made it through. We survived the outside barrier of the Human Village's defensive perimeter and fought our way through the treacherous demon infested Youkai Trail.
My first impression of the place is that the devil itself must have guarded this place, and the angel decides it's a damn good idea to wreck this place up. The large mansion was covered by 10 foot scarlet walls. The walls are pockmarked with burns, cracks and bullet holes, but it still looks hard and formidable. The watchtowers trained their machinegun on us as we approaches the gate. Sentry bots and soldiers atop the wall aimed their guns at us. The gate however, was busted in. I saw the hinges of the black gates still stuck at their area. The gaping maw however was protected by several concrete barricades as well as machinegun nest. Above all, there's an even piece of scrap metals and demon bones strewn across the perimeter, its sharp edges ready to puncture any stupid demons trying to charge in.
"State your name and unit!"
We were stopped by a commanding voice. It was feminine, yet filled with confidence and pride. Captain Smith replied with the same volume. "I am Captain Erwin Smith; this is the 12th Light Infantry Unit from K-10 stronghold escorting the last of the civilians. We are understrength and in need of relieving miss."
"It's those dudes that we're ordered to take in!" The female voice yelled, probably to her subordinate. "Let them in!"
In a split second, the front section of the concrete barricade moves out of the way. The lorry came in first; you can hear the relief from the civilians inside. I can't blame them; even I would celebrate getting out of a fucking ambush festival.
The next is the jeep. We only have one still operating. Louise cracked his knuckles and sighed in relief. We came in third. The marines were grinning, exchanging joke and anecdotes with each other. They survived the hell trail, that's all that matters. Me? I'm just glad my camera makes it. Hell, the picture of the busted gates look badass as fuck.
"I'm glad you guys made it."
The female voice came in. we turned attention toward the voice. I maybe acting like a fool, but I can't help but let my jaw drop. In that instant I knew that Sanae wouldn't be appearing in my dreams or anybody at all. The marines got their tongue tied, unable to speak. Some bolder men whistled. Heavy got his jaw so low; I think it touches the ground. Louise stared dumbly, his eyes staring intently toward the temptress. Even Captain Smith got his tongue tied.
The girl has a long shining scarlet hair that shines in the sun. Her double ponytails hang at her visage like the whisker of a dragon. Her eyes are a shining emerald. Her body was insanely curvaceous, her ample rear and D-sized cup destroyed Sanae's in the body department. Last but not least, she wore a revealing cheongsam. Her thick and shiny thighs hold a Berreta M9 as well as several magazines. She wore a short green pants, but it might as well serve as a panty. She wore a bandolier over her tight green cheongsam, allowing us to have the full review of her body shape. At her back, I can see a Chinese made AK-47 slung behind her. I chuckled. Looks like a new entry for the marine's Girls-I-Wanna-Fuck-Before-I-Die list.
"All right boys, while in my base you obey my rules. I am in charge of the defence and you guys are under my command." A marine opened his mouth. "Before you ask, no, I'm not gonna date anybody or do any of those kinky shit you wanna trick me into. I'm not stupid." The marine closed his mouth but the woman isn't finished yet. "No, the maids are NOT free games either. If I had a single complaint from them about you guys I'll kill you personally. Got it?"
"You got maids?" I asked dumbly. The marines in my unit chuckled a little. She smiled. "Yes we do have maids. They are here to clean up the mess you made, so be nice to them or you'll have to answer to ME." I want to ask more, but her eyes challenged me otherwise. I shut my trap quickly.
"So, all that aside; name's Hong Meiling. I'm the commander of this place. So you bastard get your ass right at armoury and stock up. Once you're done get your ass at the barricades. My officers would guide you if you get your dumb ass lost. Any question?" Nobody said anything. She nodded. "Then be ready at 10 minutes sharp, the siege will be here around 20 minutes or so. Move out!"
She left us for another assignment. Moments later, an officer came toward us. He is a simple soldier, a human soldier to be exact. "Follow me, I'll show you the way."
Along the way I snapped several pictures of the area. One thing I noticed is that this place is heavily fortified. Machinegun nest, sentry bots, hell even several flak cannons were strewn across the courtyard, ready to rip and tear any stupid demons coming this way. Second is that everybody is armed in some way. Usually the maids and staff are armed with a single pistol. Even the one without pistols has a bracer at their arm, which I recognized as the NLSA-01. I frowned, Looking at the bracer I worn at my left hand. It was designed as a last stand weapon, but due to the fact that nobody survived being captured by demons, well, you get the idea. I shrugged. At least I have a guaranteed way to prevent myself being captured alive.
We reequipped ourselves at the armoury. I was surprised by the amount of ammo it still have. Oh well, not complaining here. Sanae has exchanged her worn and ripped shirt and vest for a new black tactical one. She trade in her pump-action shotgun for the Spas-12 shotgun. She also changes her buckshot for slug. "Just in case" she said. I just replenished my rifle and pistol ammo. My rifle works just fine, not a jam at all. But I made a cursory check just to be sure.
Exactly 10 minutes later, we got ourselves locked and loaded at our station. I was assigned behind sandbags at the second column beside three machinegun nest. My job is to ensure the nest is not flanked anyway possible. Sanae are with Rumia and Louise, 2 trenches to my left. They look calm in the surface, but they are actually dead afraid. I turned my head around to face my squad mate. One guy wore a space helmet or something, I can't see through the screen on his face. He gave a thumb up to me as he gripped the machinegun. I smiled, taking a picture of him.
I growled deeply, ready for the demon to come. The sun has fallen west at a 45 degree, bathing us in a brilliant orange glow. I trained my iron sight at the road, anticipating the battle. My heart were pumping hard, my grip were strong and true, my eyes were clear and sharp, my resolves are strong and my cause is just…
One more battle,
One more fight,
One more… wait, is that what I think it is? I checked my camera carefully, not believing what I saw.
Somewhere at the corner of the picture, a marine dabbed.
Dammit.