Chapter 1: Rookie Inbound
David's POV
Blood stained the ground, along with most of my body. I heard a crack of thunder in the sky, and felt a grin appear on my face. Slowly I tilted my head towards the sky as rain fell. Opening my eyes, I saw a familiar helicopter hovering overhead. That's when I first saw her, the black haired beauty called Raven.
A rope landed in front of me and I went to reach for it, before realizing that something was missing. Looking at the dead Aragami laying in front of me I then saw half of my left arm sticking out of one of the dead Vajra's mouth. I looked at my elbow and saw just a bit of it remaining. My other hand tightened the grip I had on my sword God Arc.
I heard her speak my name and I didn't move or acknowledge her, for I was still focusing on my arm being gone. She took a step forward and I didn't realize what was going on until I saw soldiers walking up behind her, guns pointed at me. I lowered my arm and looked at her, fear in my eyes as I met with her blue ones. She appeared calm as she lowered the hood she was wearing on the long coat.
She wore her black hair in a ponytail and she flashed me a smile, trying her best to calm me down. I took a step back as she reached her hand out towards me, but I tripped on something and tumbled over. Dropping my God Arc as I landed on my back I saw the dead civilian that I remembered I was protecting. Half of her body was missing and I quickly scooted back more.
"David." Raven said, her smile disappearing into a look of worry. "Everything's going to be fine. Come with me, please." She said that last part with tears forming in her eyes.
While the two of us were in the same unit, the four of us were split up to take on different missions for that day. Raven took on a Kongou nest, while I was in charge of taking on the Vajra nest nearby. She heavily opposed the idea of us splitting up but the director made it clear to them all that that's what needed to be done.
"There were more than just one." I said, panicking as I looked at the dead girl laying in front of me. "I don't even remember what happened."
A roar was heard and I instantly shot my head to look at the Vajra that was behind the soldiers sent to aid Raven. She quickly turned around and saw the Aragmi quickly kill the soldiers that were aiding her. Pulling her God Arc off of her back, she aimed the minigun at the Aragami coming towards her.
I pushed myself up and picked up my God Arc, quickly standing next to her. I didn't care that my arm was bleeding right now, let alone missing. The only thing I cared about was protecting Raven. The two of us had that connection that no one else in the entire area could beat.
"David, what are you doing?" She asked me. "You shouldn't be fighting right now."
"Sometimes I don't even know what I'm doing. But cover me while I deal with him." I said as I rushed the Vajra in front of me.
The Aragami saw me coming straight towards him and he jumped at me. I pressed my foot into the ground and pushed up, sending me up into the air to attack from the top. A grin came across my face as I found my opening to attack. Gripping my sword with my one hand, I pointed it at the Vajra and plummeted straight towards it. It wasn't until I was closer to the Vajra, that the Aragami have adapted and knew his personal attack patterns.
Ravens POV
All I saw was a sudden movement by the Vajra and before I knew it, David was gone. His arm sticking out of the Vajra's mouth as it slowly devoured him. I aimed my God Arc at the beast and got ready to pull the trigger, sending it straight to hell. But I never got the opportunity as the Vajra turned it's head and ran off in a different direction.
"Raven!" I heard a familiar voice yell as I turned around to see my team leader running towards me. Wearing the same brown hooded trench coat I was wearing, his sword God Arc on his back. "Are you alright?" I heard him ask as he stood in front of me.
"Nathan." I said looking down at the ground. "David's dead."
"What?" He asked, throwing the hood off to reveal his long blue hair. His brown eyes looking down at me. "What happened?"
"Looks like the Vajra got him." I heard my last teammate say. Looking over I saw the middle eastern man looking at me. His black hair tied into a man bun and a look on his face that said, we need to do something about this. "I'm sorry Raven. I knew he was your friend."
"Thank's Ikashi." I said as he lifted up his sword God Arc onto his shoulder.
"Command, this is Nathan. We need immediate extraction. The chopper's nowhere to be found." Nathan said into the earpiece he wore.
While he talked to command I walked over to Ikashi and stood next to him. He wore a black hooded trench coat and my eyes met with his green ones. He planted his God Arc into the ground and placed a hand on my shoulder. I was still holding onto my God Arc due to the fact that I didn't trust the area we were in. The mountain's surrounding us just had me on my toes.
"We're going to be fine Raven." Ikashi said as he put his hood back up and picked up his weapon. "You need to trust us to get us out of here. David died protecting you and that's all that matters."
"Evac's on the way, again." Nathan said as he joined the other two members of his team. "So I vote we just bunker down and wait it out."
"You're gut picking up any more Aragami?" Ikashi asked our leader, who in turn nodded their head no. "So I guess we're in the clear. Did command say anything regarding David's death?"
"They said that sometime within the next week we're going to get a new recruit. I highly doubt they'll be from the far east branch. Maybe I'll have Lindow tell me something about where they'll be from." Nathan said, smirking as he patted me on the head. "Cheer up Raven, we'll be going back home soon. I'm filing for a request to take us off the front lines for a few days. We need some relaxation time."
"But…" I tried to protest, however I was shot down when both Ikashi and Nathan narrowed their eyes at me. "Yes sir…" I sighed in defeat.
"That's the spirit." Nathan said as he patted her back. "Now I think I know something that should brighten up the mood a bit." He added as he pulled out a beer can and tossed it to Ikashi.
"Thanks." Ikashi said as he caught the beer can and set his sword in the ground, again, before popping open the tab and taking a sip. "That's the good stuff."
"You want one Raven?" Nathan asked me, to which I declined. "Eh suit yourself."
We waited around for about a solid 10-15 minutes before we heard the chopper overhead. It hovered above us before setting itself down in a clearing near us. We grabbed our gear and ran over to the chopper, getting in and closing the door behind us. The co-pilot motioned for the pilot to take off and we did so, leaving the mountains behind us.
Takumi's POV
2 Days Later….
"I got this." I said to myself as I looked at myself in the mirror located in my room. I looked at my blonde hair and saw it parted to both sides, just the way I liked it. "What was I doing again?" I asked myself as I looked at the duffel bag I had sitting on my bed. "Oh yeah, I'm being reassigned."
"Yo Takumi you in?" I heard my friend ask from outside my room.
"Yeah come in!" I said as the door slid open and I saw CJ standing there, his brown hair in a military buzz cut. A black t-shirt and jeans on, while he also appeared to be holding a can of beer in his right hand. "What's up?"
"Just thought I'd see you off. Is that what you're wearing to head to the Far East Branch?" He asked, gesturing to my white short sleeved button up shirt and black jeans. He pointed to my feet and saw the black combat boots I often wore. "You're a strange kid Takumi."
"My parents said that our ancestors came from Italy." I chuckled. "So yeah it makes sense for me to dress nice." I added as I threw a pair of sunglasses on my face, covering my blue eyes. "Anywho, let's head out."
"Well I look forward to hearing about your adventures with your new team. Not many new-types get transferred that quickly." CJ said as he picked up my duffel bag for me and threw it over his shoulder. He stood a head taller than me and often acted like my older brother at times. "So let's get a move on!"
The two of us walked towards the helipad elevator, where we saw an old friend of ours. Lindow Amamiya was leaning up against the wall, smiling to us as we came close to him. He tossed the cigarette in his mouth on the ground and stomped it out with his boot.
"Nice to see you again Lindow." I said as we fistbumped. "I take it you're here to make sure I make it to the Far East Branch?"
"Don't get your hopes up too much kid." Lindow said. "I'm here for some other reason that's beyond my imagination."
"Director sent you here?" CJ asked him. Which in turn earned him a sigh from the Unit 1 leader.
"You're director apparently wants me to train a new batch of God Eaters. Not like I can't do it but Sakuya was pretty mad when she found out." Lindow sighed.
"Oh yeah I'll be sure to send her your regards." I said as patted him on the back and entered the open elevator door, CJ following behind me. "I'll see ya around Lindow. Just don't die."
"I won't kid." He said as the elevator door closed, waving goodbye to us.
After a bit more walking and waiting we finally made to the helipad that contained the helicopter I was to take to the Far East Branch. I had no idea how the bird was able to hold that much fuel to make the trek but I guess it was closer than I thought it was. Going from the American Branch to the Japan branch was a long distance.
"Well be safe Takumi." CJ said as he handed me my bag, before patting me on the back and smiling. "You better come back to visit soon. I need to teach you a few things still."
"Yeah sure thing." I chuckled as I walked towards the helicopter, seeing my blue and black God Arc sitting in it's transport case. "See ya CJ!" I said as I waved goodbye to him.
I got in the chopper and closed the sliding door shut, waiting as the chopper took off. I stared out the window as I saw the city slowly become smaller and smaller, eventually going out of sight. Leaning my head back against the seat I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap while we flew.