~Chapter 7: Success~
Bladewolf pounced ahead as Raiden and Blade ran in his direction. Raiden kept his eye peeled for any danger; now the trio were actively making their escape, so inevitably they would run into danger since they weren't attempting to keep hidden.
"The outskirts of the city are still heavily guarded," Wolf told Raiden when he had run far enough ahead.
"Right," Raiden responded. "What's there?"
"Cyborg soldiers and two Grad units," Wolf answered. Raiden looked worried.
"Understood," he replied. "I'll deal with them." With that, he ended the call.
"Did he say Grads?" Blade asked while running just behind Raiden, unable to keep up with his pace.
"This fight will be too dangerous for you, kid," Raiden told her. "I want you to stay put this time when I tell you to; I almost sliced you in half earlier when you joined the battle."
"I didn't come along to watch you do all the work," Blade spat. Her comment made Raiden scowl a little.
"What, so you wanna try taking down two Grads with those swords of yours?" he retorted sarcastically.
"No," Blade corrected. "The Grads are yours; while these swords can damage them, one hit from a Grad could be fatal for me. I'll deal with the soldiers."
"You don't know how many there are," Raiden reminded her.
"I'll manage!" Blade snapped, continuing to run until she and Raiden arrived at the city outskirts and skidded to a halt. They were noticed immediately, with about eight cyborg guards running towards them as two Grads followed. Raiden turned to look at Blade as he drew out his sword.
"You head to the right and get the attention of those soldiers," he instructed. "I'll keep those Grad units busy."
Understanding that Raiden had reluctantly accepted her offer to split the fight, Blade nodded her head and ran over to the right. These guards had guns, so she figured that she'd stick close to them so that she could at least stop them from shooting at her; if she was further away, they could all shoot and she could do nothing to stop them.
Raiden, meanwhile, sprinted towards the two Grads to get their attention. Immediately one of them attempted to crush Raiden between two of its flat panels, but Raiden knew this manoeuvre too well so was able to parry it with his blade. The second Grad went for the same attack, and once again Raiden parried it. He chose to run up the side of one of the Grads, digging his blade into the top repeatedly. He was about to make an attempt to cut the machine in half, but the other Grad shot a missile towards him and knocked him flying back down to the ground. The cyborg growled, realising that he had to come up with a strategy which would grant him a quick victory against these large machines.
Blade stood in a ready stance with both of her swords ready for use, her green eyes watching every guard with caution. One grinned and chuckled, although his grin was difficult to see behind his black mask.
"So child soldiers are becoming popular again, I see," he mocked. "Normally they man guns, not swords. Come on, boys; permission to use deadly force on this one!"
The guard pulled out his gun, as did the others, and they each prepared to open fire as they surrounded her. Blade narrowed her eyes, running towards the guard which had just mocked her. He was about to use the butt of his gun to whack her in the head, but Blade ducked and ran her swords through the cyborg's stomach. She swiftly turned around, using this man as a shield as the others opened fire on her. Pulling both swords out to the opposite sides, Blade was able to split the cyborg in half as she darted towards three who were clustered together. She only used one of her swords as she ran past the trio, slicing them in half merely by running by and holding out her sword horizontally. Four down already.
One guard succeeded in shooting her in the leg, causing her to stumble over and collapse. She clasped the wound painfully and glared in the direction of the man who shot her. Knowing that she would have no time to get up and run towards him, Blade chose to fling her sword in his direction. She hit him in the chest, but unfortunately this attack was not fatal. The cyborg guard pulled out the sword and dropped it onto the ground, preparing to fire at the thirteen-year-old.
A howl was heard, catching the attention of the remaining four guards. Before anyon could react, Bladewolf leaped onto the man who was about to execute Blade, viciously pinning him to the ground and tearing into him. Blade used this time to stand up, trying her best to ignore the burning sensation coming from her leg.
The brunette ran towards the remaining soldiers, sweeping her hand along the ground to pick up her sword on the way. She jumped up and tackled one soldier, straddling his hips as she pined him to the floor and proceeded to stab him in the chest and head until confirming that he had been destroyed. One guard ran towards her in an attempt to kick her off him, but she immediately used one of her swords to slice both of his legs, returning to her full height as she brought the second sword into his head. Now the final guard remained. Blade, despite the agony in her leg, ran at him and swiftly moved to the side as he opened fire, moving behind him and impaling his back and head from behind. She slipped the two blades out of his corpse and kicked him to the ground, turning her head to look in Raiden's direction.
Raiden stood on top of the Grad he had done the most damage to, slicing away at the top part of it before it collapsed. As it collapsed he hopped onto the second Grad, running his sword all the way down it. This wasn't enough, so he sliced and slashed at the mechanical weapon's legs until it could no longer stand, then kicking it in the "head" and delivering the final blow with his katana, tearing out its energy core to replenish his own power.
With both Grads now defeated, Raiden turned his head to see Blade limping towards him with Bladewolf at her side. He looked greatly concerned.
"What happened?" he asked her. "Were you shot?"
"In the leg, yeah," Blade answered. "It's no big deal."
"You're limping," Raiden pointed out.
"Don't remind me," Blade snarled. "If anyone from my village saw me like this, they would call me a disgrace to my family name."
Raiden sighed and shook his head, not in the mood to argue with Blade's brainwashed logic. Bullet wounds to the leg could be lethal, but it looked like Blade was lucky. He knew that offering to help her walk back to the helicopter would be an insult to her, so decided to just walk. "Let's keep going," he said. "But when we get back, we're gonna need to pull that bullet from your leg."
The trio wandered back to the helicopter without disturbance, and once again they endured an awkwardly silent journey back to Solis.
Sunny greeted Raiden and Bladewolf when they returned, but Blade just limped past her without saying a word. This action did not offend Sunny since she had become used to it in the three months Blade had been staying there.
"So what happened?" Sunny asked as she sat on the ground with Wolf. "Did you find anything out?"
"Blade and I entered Phoenix's helicopter," Raiden explained. "We found out... various things."
Sunny could see the lack of comfort in his expression, growing concerned. "Sounds bad," she acknowledged.
"Yeah," Raiden nodded. "But we don't know too much about them yet. Think you could try finding the next location of their elite cyborg unit?"
"I could try," Sunny replied. "It's gonna be hard, though."
"Of course it is; they're elite cyborgs who will do anything to keep secrets," Raiden pointed out. "I'll talk to you later; I've gotta keep my eye on Blade." Raiden walked in the direction Blade had wandered in as Sunny stood up and went in a different direction, with Bladewolf following her.
Blade was sitting in one of the few guest wards, sitting on her bed. She had tied the top of her thigh just above the bullet wound and had painkillers and disinfectant on her bedside table. She winced and growled, biting down on her headband which she had removed from her head and stuffed into her mouth in order to surpress any screams of pain as she probed for the bullet in her leg. The round was small, so it slid out with ease but was still agonizing for her.
Raiden entered the room just as Blade was cleaning her wound and preparing to wrap a tight bandage around it. He stared for a moment, desperate to help but knowing that the offer would offend Blade. The young girl saw him and frowned.
"What do you want?" she growled at him.
"I'm just making sure you're alright," Raiden answered, folding his arms as he leaned against the door frame.
"Yeah, well, I'm fine," Blade huffed, proceeding to wrap the cloth around her leg.
"Y'know, when others are concerned for you, it's not too hard to appreciate it," Raiden told her.
"People shouldn't show concern for others, only themselves," Blade shot back. "Anyone from my village would agree."
"So you don't care about them?" Raiden asked, seeing the girl slow down as she bandaged herself. He had struck a nerve, but there was no other way to get through to the girl; she couldn't continue behaving like this. "Are you telling me that you don't care about everyone who was killed? Your friends? Your family?"
"Shut up," Blade hissed, her hands shaking as she finished bandaging her wound. Raiden frowned, knowing that Blade could see his point.
"You keep pushing everyone away. You refuse to listen to anyone and you blame people for worrying about you. You hate it when people care about you, but I know that you care about everyone you lost. That's why you want to avenge them."
"Shut up, Raiden," Blade wavered, her body quivering.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, Blade," Raiden assured. "Nobody here is. Not Sunny, not Wolf, not George... So why can't you see that? Why do you have to keep those walls of yours up, kid? Why won't you just accept that caring isn't a bad thing?"
"SHUT UP!" Blade screamed, suddenly picking up one of her swords and marching right at the cyborg as if ready to attack him. Raiden immediately caught her wrist with one hand, feeling the girl struggling against him. She began to shake more and more, tears in her eyes as she clenched her teeth, her body tensing up until suddenly she collapsed. She broke down sobbing as Raiden let go of her wrist, watching her fall to her knees while dropping her sword. She wept like a terrified but lonely child, her cries close to sounding like distressed wails.
Raiden gazed down at her thoughtfully before kneeling in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Hey," he said as softly as he could. Blade didn't react, instead continuing to sob and sniffle with her eyes closed shamefully.
The expression on Raiden's face became one of sympathy. He hated seeing kids turn out like this. He hated seeing kids hurt because of war. Blade was lucky to cry like this; no doubt crying was physically punishable in her village. This may be the first time she had cried properly in years.
While Raiden couldn't exactly compare Blade to his younger self, since as a child he enjoyed killing if he could feel anything at all, he could certainly understand the troubles going through Blade's head. She had no idea what was right and what was wrong, and she was surrounded by people who could care without fearing people judging them.
Blade also reminded Raiden of his young son, John. Remembering Little John caused Raiden to remember his fear: Rose and John were both being searched for by the Swords of the Firebird and would be killed if discovered, even though they were still safe in New Zealand...
Remembering the fact that his own son's life was in danger, Raiden pulled Blade into a hug, projecting the image of John onto her without even realising it. He could tell that Blade was stiff, freezing herself in shock and confusion.
"It doesn't hurt to feel fear," the cyborg told her, recalling Sunny's past words to him. "It's alright if you're afraid. It's alright if you're upset. It shows that... you're not a monster."
He could tell that Blade's crying was beginning to cease, but suddenly she clung onto him with her face buried into his metallic shoulder in order to shield it; nobody was supposed to see her like this. She wasn't allowed to cry.
Raiden let out a soft sigh and lifted the girl up, lying her down on her bed. "You need rest," he told her. "And you deserve it." Blade's reddened eyes glanced at him before she rolled onto her side and curled up, still ashamed to show her face. Raiden stood there in deep thought for a few seconds before choosing to leave the room, deciding to go and speak with Sunny.
Sunny was sat by her computer with Wolf laying under her feet. She had various files up on screen, but swung her seat around upon hearing Raiden's footsteps as he entered the room.
"Find anything?" he asked her.
"Yeah," Sunny answered proudly. "Using one of the satellites, I was able to track where they went from San Antonio. They went somewhere in North Dakota, but I lost track of their signal not long after they entered the state."
"Damn, they got there fast," Raiden murmured.
"Advanced technology," Sunny pointed out. "These guys seem like they produce a lot of advanced stuff."
"Like those cyborgs," Raiden noted.
"Yup," Sunny agreed.
"They were looking for materials when they were in San Antonio," Raiden recalled.
"They're probably trying to build the ultimate cyborg," Sunny guessed. "They wanna beat you, right? They must be trying real hard."
"Yeah..." Raiden muttered thoughtfully, glancing to the side for a brief moment. "I've gotta stop these guys before they massacre any more settlements; and I've gotta get to them before they find out too much about my family."
"Don't worry, buddy, I've got you covered," Sunny assured with a smile. "I've already put up a bunch of firewalls which are impossible to get by; only I can get through them to access any files regarding you or your family."
Raiden's expression brightened up slightly. "You've done that already?" he asked her. Sunny giggled and nodded her head. Raiden stared at her, wide-eyed, before smiling behind his metal jaw. "Thanks, Sunny."
Sunny put up her thumb happily. "Anything for a friend!" she replied.
A red light suddenly flashed on Sunny's computer, popping up a warning. "Warning," came the female computer voice. "Unauthorized personnel hangar access." The voice repeated this as Sunny began opening up the camera system. Raiden and Wolf stood to attention, with Raiden looking ready to sprint out of the room and deal with the possible intruder.
On screen, one of the jets could be seen preparing to leave the hangar. Inside the cockpit was Blade.
"Blade!" Raiden exclaimed upon seeing her. "Shit!" He immediately ran out of the room as fast as he could, heading straight for the hangar as Bladewolf bounded after him.
But he would not reach the hangar in time, for Blade had just taken off as Raiden arrived. He could only watch as the jet went up and up into the sky, speeding off into the distance.
"North Dakota, huh?" Blade whispered to herself as she flicked various buttons and switches within the vehicle. "I don't need their help; I can stop them on my own."
~End of Chapter~
