From Russia With Pain
Far East Branch Airspace
The ride had been fairly uneventful so far, thought the girl as she adjusted the large black and red beret which sat on her head as she looked out the window. At first glance the only thing anyone might find strange about the young, blue-eyed, silver-haired Russian girl was her attire, which included a black, vest-like shirt which zipped up in the front while still leaving her midriff exposed, two black gloves, the left of which had went up to her elbow while the other stopped at her wrist where her black and red oracle bracelet rested on her right arm.
Her waist was adorned with a red, plaid skirt which stopped just above her knees, and a pair of black, knee-length boots with red soles. The girl let out a sigh as she shifted position a little, glancing at her personal doctor, Oguruma was his name, who sat next to her, a brown-haired man wearing a white lab coat. The doctor said another new type was already at the Far East Branch, she thought as she gazed out the window again, I doubt he's anywhere near as good as me, but it still might be interesting just to see how they matched up against her in skill.
As she turned to look back out the window, the movement of several dark shapes among the clouds caught her attention. In the next instant, a swarm of blue figures shot out of the clouds and engulfed one of the jets escorting the plane. The sky lit up as the fighter exploded, forcing the remaining jets to scatter as they desperately tried to outmaneuver the massive swarm of what she could now see where zygotes.
That's not good, she thought as she stood up and moved to get out onto the aisle. "Where are you going?" asked Dr. Oguruma. "The jets won't be able to protect us," she replied as the explosion of another one of the jets sounded outside of the plane. "I'm heading outside," said the girl as she fitted a communicator into her right ear and proceeded down the aisle towards the back of the plane, "Get ready to open the bay doors."
Fenrir Far East Branch: Central Command Room
"We've received a distress call from the transport carrying the Russian new type," Said Major Amamiya as she explained the situation to Lindow and Sakuya, "The First Unit is to be dispatched immediately to escort the new type safely to the Far East Branch."
"Well I'd like to say we'll even gift wrap 'em for ya," said Lindow before shrugging, "Except Soma's out on another mission, so it's just the two of us right now." "That'll have to be enough," stated the Major, "No one else is available from the other units right now."
"It's gonna be rough out there for just the two of us," said Lindow as he rubbed the back of his head before an idea occurred to him, "Hey, what about the new guy?" "I haven't had a chance to assign him to a unit yet," replied Amamiya, "Are you seriously suggesting I send him out with the First Unit?"
"Well we already know he can hold his own," said Lindow, "And the more experience he gets with a unit the better, so I don't see why not." Tsubaki let out a sigh, knowing they didn't have time to argue. "Fine," she said after a moment, "But you'll be responsible for keeping an eye on him." "Well that is part of the job as a leader I suppose," said Lindow with a slight grin.
Fenrir HQ Living Quarters
Man the cafeteria here is something else, thought Wyatt with a satisfied sigh as he walked down the hallway to his room, and bonus I got Hibari to laugh at a joke, at least I think it was the joke she was laughing at, well either way, it's been a good start to the day so far. "Wyatt Colt," said Hibari's voice over the intercom, "Please report for mission sortie."
And there goes the rest of my morning, thought Wyatt as he started moving with much more urgency towards his room, didn't know I'd be called out this soon but I should have time to grab one thing from my room and then-.
Upon opening the door, Wyatt's train of thought stopped completely as he realized that his room for some reason had a lot more bright colors, and a very surprised pink haired girl standing in it wearing only an unbuttoned green, dress-like jacket which reached to her waist, and her underwear.
"Right, my room's the next one down isn't it," Wyatt finally said as innocently as possible.
Fenrir Helipad: A Few Minutes Later
"What in the world happened to you?" questioned Lindow as Wyatt stepped onto the helicopter, God Arc in hand. "Wrong room," replied Wyatt as he rubbed the red, hand-shaped print on his cheek, "Let's just leave it at that."
"Get rejected already," asked Sakuya with a playful smile on her face as the helicopter lifted off. "Fortunately no," replied Wyatt, "Just got in a hurry and opened the wrong door." "Yeah, that's what they all say," remarked Lindow with a grin of his own.
"Anyway," said Wyatt, trying to change the subject, "Since this is my first time serving with this unit, anything I should know?"
"Well as the First Unit leader, I have three orders," Stated Lindow as he held up his hand, "First: Don't Die, Second: If you're life's in danger, run, Third: Hide, wait for your chance to strike and kill 'em."
"I think that's four," commented Wyatt as he indicated that Lindow was holding up four fingers. "Is it," said Lindow, "Guess I miscounted, but the point still stands, on this mission and every other mission, your first priority is to come back alive so long as you're under my command."
"I'll do my best sir," said Wyatt with a relaxed salute, "So anything I need to know about this target we're picking up?" "Well I'm not sure if Tsubaki mentioned it, but the one we're picking up from the Russian Branch is a new type, just like you." "Well now," said Wyatt, "This mission just got a whole lot more interesting."
Fenrir Airspace: Over the Ocean
They had spent a good portion of the flight reviewing the mission details, but even despite going over the numbers more than once, Wyatt still couldn't quite believe the size of the zygote swarm attacking the plane. "That is a lot of zygotes," said Wyatt as they slid open the helicopter doors and readied their weapons. "No kidding," Said Lindow, "If they keep chewing on the fuselage, that plane's gonna go down for sure."
"It's a wonder the plane's even still in the air," remarked Sakuya. "Are we getting any kind of response from the crew," Lindow asked the pilot of the chopper. "Nothing," replied the pilot, "I'm not sure if there's anyone else alive on the plane right now."
Wyatt was wondering the same thing as he strained his eyes to catch even the slightest sign of life from the plane, when he suddenly glimpsed a couple of flashes. What are those, thought Wyatt as he spotted even more flashes before finally seeing a silhouette running on top of the plane.
"Down there," yelled Wyatt over the sound of the helicopter as he pointed. Both Lindow and Sakuya looked where Wyatt was indicating, also catching sight of what could only be their new type target, a girl wearing black and red with a beret-style hat, wielding a red God Arc which she switched from a sword to a Gatling gun as she skillfully took out one zygote after the other.
"She can't handle all of them by herself," said Sakuya. "Pilot," said Lindow, "Get me on the frequency they're using." "Already patched in," replied the pilot as Lindow put his wireless radio in his ear.
"This is Lindow Amamiya, leader of the First Unit, can anyone hear me," Said Lindow over the radio, "Is anyone there?"
"Yes, this is Alisa Ilinichima Amiella," replied the girl over the radio. "We've been sent here to rescue you," said Lindow, "That plane is a goner, but we can open up an escape route at the rear of the plane for you to reach the chopper." "An escape route," questioned Alisa. "No other choice," said Lindow, "We have to abandon the plane if we're gonna have a chance of getting you out of here."
"Sorry," said Alisa over the radio after a pause, "But I don't need to be rescued." "Did she just refuse our help?" Asked Sakuya, surprise evident in her voice. "She can't be that confident about her chances," said Lindow as he tried raising Alisa on the radio, but the girl was no longer answering.
"Well you know what I think," Said Wyatt as he grabbed a few rounds and loaded up his Vajra's Bane, "I think it would suck to come out all this way and leave empty handed." "Even if she just said she didn't need help?" Questioned Sakuya.
"Well she said she didn't need to be rescued," said Lindow, "But she never said we couldn't help." "Oh I see," said Sakuya as she loaded up her own arc and took aim, "Well there are too many Aragami for us to get close to the plane anyway, so."
Sakuya ended her last sentence by firing off a shot and taking down a zygote. Wyatt joined her as both God Eaters fired their weapons into the swarm of Aragami surrounding the plane, felling one after the other.
While they provided support from above, Alisa continued cutting down or shooting any attacking zygote she could on the top of the plane. "She definitely knows what she's doing with that weapon of hers," observed Lindow.
"Yeah no kidding," Said Wyatt as he shot down another zygote. "Here Wyatt," Said Sakuya as she tossed him another shell for his arc, "Don't want you running out of ammo again."
"Thanks," said Wyatt, "But if I recall, you ran out first in that last battle." "It was a long day," retorted Sakuya. "Speaking of which," said Lindow as he observed Alisa fighting down below, "She's about out herself."
As Lindow was watching, Alisa attached an emergency rappelling rope to her belt as she climbed down the side of the plane in pursuit of two of the zygotes who were trying to bite the fuselage on the bottom of the plane. Then, positioning herself carefully, Alisa was able to stand upside down on the bottom of the plane with help from the rope as she took aim and fired at the zygotes. But, just as Lindow had observed, her ammo ran out after a couple of shots, leaving her unable to attack either of the zygotes who were eating the plane's engine.
"Sakuya, do you have a shot?" Questioned Lindow. "The engine's too close to my line of fire," Said Sakuya, "And the distance is too far for a clean shot." That's not good, thought Wyatt as he observed the same problem with his own weapon.
But Alisa wasn't fazed by the situation as she pulled the handle out on her God Arc, transforming it back into sword mode as a large, black mouth suddenly shot out from the blade like a snake and seized one of the zygotes, devouring it on the spot. Alisa then transformed her weapon back into its Gatling gun form, her ammo restored.
"Did she just turn that Aragami into energy," Asked a surprised Sakuya. "It's the new type mechanism," Explained Wyatt, "Using our devour function, we can turn Aragami into extra ammunition, it's pretty handy when we remember to use it."
"You got that right," said Lindow as they watched Alisa open fire on the zygotes underneath the plane, "We may get through this after all." Yeah, thought Wyatt as he took aim with his arc, we just might. As Wyatt was about to fire at another zygote, he noticed one of them suddenly extend a neck-like protrusion from their body as a second mouth opened on top of its head, letting out a guttural, inhuman screeching noise.
"Tell me that one didn't just evolve," said Sakuya as she noticed the Aragami's strange behavior. "It's calling for more of them," said Lindow as he noticed another swarm of zygotes emerging from the clouds below. "If they swarm us now we're finished," said Sakuya with a slightly grim tone in her voice.
"Not if we move quickly, pilot get us closer to the plane," said Lindow, grabbing his God Arc, "If we can retrieve Alisa now, we'll be able to get out of here, Sakuya you stay here and provide support fire, newbie you're with me."
"Got it," Said Wyatt, "I've never fought on top of a plane before." "Well today's your lucky day," said Lindow with a smirk.
Alisa was just finishing off the last of the zygotes underneath the plane, when two of them managed to slip past her line of fire. No you don't, thought Alisa as she jumped off of the plane, using the rope line to swing herself around into firing position as she shot down the two escaping Aragami in midair. Alisa then twisted her body around in the air as she grabbed onto the ladder on the side of the plane with one hand, the other holding onto her weapon.
As she was making her way back to the top of the plane, she noticed two figures descending from the chopper above the plane. As she climbed onto the roof, she felt the impact from both of their landings as they slid a short distance before crouching down to avoid sliding any further. "The situation's changed," said Lindow as he pointed behind him at a second wave of oncoming zygotes, "So I think it'd be best if you came with us-hey!"
Alisa didn't appear to hear anything Lindow said as she rushed past him, making her way to the back of the plane. "Wait you need-," Lindow was cut off as he was forced to block a charging zygote, "Get her back here Wyatt!"
"On it," said Wyatt as he shot down a couple of Aragami in his way before running after Alisa, who'd dropped down onto the open cargo ramp at the back of the plane. Dropping onto the ramp after her, Wyatt eyed the dark interior for any sign of the female new type.
"We don't have time play hide and seek," said Wyatt as he spotted Alisa in a dark corner next to the cargo door, "We really need to-." Wyatt was cut off as the she suddenly charged him, lashing out with a kick which knocked Vajra's Bane out of his hand.
"Hey wait a minute," Wyatt tried to say as he held his hand up. But Alisa grabbed his arm and yanked him downward as she attempted to wrap her legs around his head and right arm. But Wyatt saw the move coming in time and managed to wedge his left arm between his head and her leg, preventing her from choking him out. With a bit of struggling, Wyatt was able to free his trapped right arm and force his way out of the hold as he backed up a few feet to give himself some breathing room.
But Alisa wasted no time in leaping back up and closing the gap between them as she came in with a nasty right hook. Why does every new girl I meet today want to hit me, thought Wyatt as he moved out of the way of her first few punches, blocked a kick aimed at his midsection, then caught a chop aimed at his neck as he maneuvered around behind her and forced her against the cargo bay wall, pinning her arm behind her back as he did so.
"Would you cut it out," said Wyatt as he struggled to hold her against the wall, "We don't have time for your personal space issu-OOOFF!" The pitch of Wyatt's voice raised slightly as Alisa brought her foot up into one of his more sensitive areas, causing him to loosen his grip. The girl used the opening to elbow him on the left side of his face, knocking his goggles out of place as he staggered backward. Alisa then spun around, knocking him in the side of the head with a vicious spinning kick, knocking Wyatt's goggles off as he tumbled the rest of the way to the floor.
"It's useless to try forcing me to go with you," said Alisa as she walked over and picked up her arc, "I'm not leaving this plane." As Alisa turned and headed for the door to the plane's passenger section, Wyatt grabbed his goggles and set them back in place over his eyes as he picked himself up off the floor. Alright then, thought Wyatt as he rubbed his left cheek, I guess there's no being nice about this.
Quickly crossing the cargo bay, Wyatt flung open the door ready for a fight this time. "Hey we're not done here little Miss Soviet, we need to-," Wyatt's temper vanished as he looked over the numerous injured passengers and crew members who were lining the hallway as Alisa was setting down another man at the end of the hallway, a doctor by the looks of his white lab coat. "Oh you've gotta be # # joking," whispered Wyatt.
"You'll have to bear with the pain, but I promise we'll be fine," said Alisa to the doctor as she stood up and took a breath, "It's gonna get a little rough, but there's no need to worry, we'll make it to the Far East Branch just like I promised."
"Hey," Wyatt called out to Alisa, "Mind explaining why you didn't bother to mention the dozen or so wounded on board?" "Were they on your list of people to rescue," questioned Alisa in a somewhat hostile tone.
"They could've been on mine if you'd just said something," Snapped Wyatt, his patience wearing thin, "Then we could've avoided all this unnecessary mystery and our fun little tussle in the cargo hold, because nothing makes my day like having my voice raised an octave!"
Alisa, and a few others, raised a curious eyebrow at that statement. After a moment, Wyatt sighed. "Give me a sec," Wyatt said as he keyed his radio on, "Yo Lindow, we got another problem down here."
"What's the issue," Responded Lindow. "Turns out we got wounded on board, and way too many for the chopper to carry." "So that's why she refused to leave," said Lindow, "Well our mission is to get Alisa out of here, so if we just take her we might have a chance."
"Sorry," Said Wyatt, "But I'm a God Eater, and our job is to help and protect people, so you'll understand if I'm against any plan which involves leaving these folks behind."
"I see, Sakuya," said Lindow over the communicator after a pause, "How's our ammo looking." "Unfortunately we're stocked full up here," replied Sakuya with a sigh. "Well in that case I might have a plan, if you're willing to join forces Alisa," said Lindow. Alisa nodded her head in affirmation.
"She's in," confirmed Wyatt over the radio. "Great, then listen up, because this is how it's gonna go down," said Lindow as they readied themselves for the next wave of Aragami.
And that brings us to the end of this chapter, but the battle isn't over yet. Hello again everyone, first off, sorry I couldn't get this one out the same day as my other story (busy weekend), but I hope you all enjoy this as a part of your Monday. And as always, I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers for contributing feed back and especially ideas for making this story better and more entertaining. Be sure to stop in next time as the four God Eaters face the rest of the zygote swarm, and Wyatt and Alisa further demonstrate their new type skills. 'Til next time.