Chapter 25
"Let's go!" Varen yelled standing beside the Interceptor. Andre was already seated inside as the rotors spun overhead. The door leading into their armory swung open and the four Pandora came running out. One by one they hopped up into the transport and sat in the seats. Once they were all onboard Varen climbed in and motioned for the pilot to take off. He sat down beside Chiffon and pulled a datapad out from a pouch on his forearm.
Andre and he were dressed in a new modified Limiter uniform. It was a black set of combat fatigues with sewn in ballistic fiber plates. They both wore a pair of reinforced combat gloves, and a black tactical vest. The bird clutching a sword was sewn into the right shoulder of the fatigues with the word "Nightingales" under it.
The Pandora were also in different uniforms than the standard issue combat wear. They wore a tight fitting black body suit with combat boots and gloves. Over the suit they each wore a black skirt and tactical vest similar to Varen and Andres. The Nightingales symbol for them was on the right chest section of the vests they wore.
Hours earlier they had been working with other faculty and students still clearing the debris from the Nova attack. Things actually looked clean and organized finally after the months of hard work from everyone. You could barely tell that a battle had occurred there. It was midday when the announcement came through for Varen and his team to mobilize. Kyle Monroe was in Asakura and Chevalier knew exactly where.
"Good luck!" A Pandora said as they all ran towards their section of West Genetics.
"Go Nightingales!" Another shouted and it made the six of them smile full of pride. Varen slowed down coming to a stop just as they neared the edge of the central plaza.
"Ms. Kim." Varen said respectfully bowing low as Yumi Kim stood before him. She looked at him and his team. She clicked her tongue and reached up adjusting Varen's collar a bit.
"That's better. Kill the bastard that did this Justicar." She said closing her fist and placing it over her heart. He nodded to her.
"Yes ma'am." He said and ran past her.
Now they all sat getting comfortable for the journey that would hopefully lead them to the man responsible for all the deaths at West Genetics months ago. More than anyone else Attia and Arnette's anticipation was difficult to keep in check. Varen could sense the tension in the air amongst them as they sat in silence listening to the hum of machinery from the Interceptor. The silence meant Varen's mind had time to think. It had only been a few days since that night with Arnette and although he felt that they were both in a good spot with one another he was still unnerved. The visions he seemed to be having of her concerned him more than he thought it would. Was it simply his subconscious creating an alternate world where she and he loved one another?
He had never denied being attracted to Arnette. It had never gone past that though in his mind. He simply acknowledged her as a capable and beautiful Pandora. He thought the same of Attia, and even Elizabeth. His feelings for those three ended at the acceptance of their physical characteristics. Only with Chiffon did his mind cross that line when he looked at her. Maybe because of their relationship that had built up over his first six months attending West Genetics or that she always treated him as an equal. Whatever the reason was, when he looked at her his thoughts did not simply stay within the boundaries of respect and friendship. He thought of her when she wasn't around, and desired her when she was.
Why then would he see visions of Arnette and himself treating each other as more than just friends? Over the past few weeks it had been uncovered that Attia and Arnette both respected him enough that their feelings had developed further than mere friendship. If that had anything to do with it then it still made no sense as he did not have visions of Attia at all. Something about Arnette had to be different and he did not know what. What concerned him the most was that the two girls were possibly only clinging to him after the deaths of their Limiters. It was possible that they were more emotionally troubled than they realized and saw Varen as a man to take the place and cover up the pain. It was those concerns that he feared the most. The last thing he wanted was to cause more pain to either of them.
"We don't know what we're flying into." Elizabeth said bringing Varen from his thoughts.
"Doesn't matter, not this time." Arnette answered.
"No intel on what kind of weaponry or any other things we will run into." Elizabeth continued.
"It won't be enough." Attia responded.
"This could be our last flight together." Elizabeth said.
"As long as he goes down with us, I'm ok with that." Chiffon answered.
"Looks like these girls are ready eh Varen?" Elizabeth asked smirking.
"Yeah, they're ready. We all are. She's right though, we don't know what is ahead of us. We are flying into enemy territory where we are outnumbered. Chances are they know we're coming. We've been working hard for this. I know you all look to me as someone who will protect you, but I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. I won't leave any of you behind." He said.
Chiffon took his hand in hers and reached out grabbing Attia's as well. She in turn reached over and took Elizabeth's and Varen took Arnette's with his other free hand. Together in a circle they all held hands sitting in silence as the transport rocked slightly in the air speeding towards their destination.
"Hey, when this is all over, marry me." Arnette said and Varen's eyes snapped open looking at her.
"What?!" He asked in shock.
"When this is over, if I don't make it, carry me." She said. Varen calmed himself having clearly misheard her the first time. She looked at him oddly as he shook his head clearing his mind.
"Right, so long as one of you carries me if I don't make it." He responded.
"We'll all make it back. This isn't the end." Chiffon said.
"You all are a strange bunch, but for some reason I think this is going to turn out fine. With Varen I don't think anything can stop us." Andre said and everyone nodded. They had been given minimal intelligence on where they were heading exactly. Varen decided to act on the location without waiting for anything more. He did not want to lose his chance at finding Kyle Monroe again. What they knew was that the Novitiates were spotted in large force near the port city of Kaizu. Local military had already engaged with them, but were losing. Varen believed they wanted control of the port, the reason being the only mystery. Chevalier was preparing a response force from East Genetics to assist, but they would require time to mobilize. West Genetics would remain on standby for backup if needed. This gave the Nightingales the opportunity to arrive first. It was the first time the Novitiates had launched such a bold attack on a city which meant they wanted something.
"East Genetics will arrive within two hours of your insertion. One way or another we are quelling this rebellion today. If you want the glory for yourselves your window of opportunity is two hours." A voice said through their radios. Varen recognized it as general Renalt.
"Copy that two hours we are inbound eta five minutes." Varen answered back.
"Good luck Justicar, do Chevalier proud." The general responded.
"Sir, we have visual ahead. You'll want to see this." The pilot called back. Varen opened the side door to the Interceptor and air rushed into the transport loudly. Chiffon opened the other side and everyone peered out ahead of them. They could see the city of Kaizu ahead, but pillars of smoke rose from all over the city. Traces of gunfire erupted into the air and in the streets.
"Oh no…" Attia trailed off covering her mouth.
"How could they cause this much damage so quickly?" Chiffon asked. Smoke trails flared across the streets in areas as rocket propelled grenades exploded. As they got closer they could see Asakura military forming perimeters trying to delay the advance of Novitiate forces. True to Varen's assumptions the main force of Novitiates seemed to be pushing towards the dock district.
"Sir, what do you want to do?" The pilot asked.
"Northeast corner over there. Novitiates are about to overrun it and enter the dock district. Drop us there." He said leaning his head into the cockpit of the transport and pointing.
"Sir that zone is too hot we'll be taken down the moment we stop." The pilot answered.
"I didn't say we were going to stop." Varen answered moving back to the door and tightening the straps on his vest.
"Roger that Justicar, I'll take us low as I can." He answered. Everyone else began securing their equipment tightly to their bodies. Elizabeth and Andre lined up behind Varen, while Attia and Arnette fell in behind Chiffon.
"When we drop, move fast and stay close to each other! Reinforce the Asakura military and take the pressure off them!" Varen shouted over the rushing wind.
"Ten seconds!" The pilot shouted.
"Watch each other's backs and we will all come home!" Varen yelled.
"Drop drop drop!" The pilot commanded in the radio. Without hesitation Varen and Chiffon stepped out the open doors of the transport as it flew. They were still a hundred feet in the air as the Interceptor crossed over a pocket of Asakura military trying to hold off a Novitiate force that outnumbered them heavily. Varen had practiced this maneuver a number of times with the Pandora and felt confident they could do it successfully. They couldn't risk losing the Interceptor to enemy fire and with time being a factor they couldn't afford to be inserted a safe distance away.
"What is that?" One of the Asakura military regulars asked seeing the Interceptor fly overhead. The Novitiate forces had been slowly pushing them back and now with their backs to the dock district they were making a final stand. They had advanced enough that the Asakura troops could see the Novitiates and even pick out details of their clothing.
"That's a Genetics transport isn't it?" Another answered watching it elevate higher after passing over them and turn to leave.
"They left us…" The first soldier said sadly aiming down his rifle at the approaching Novitiates. A large impact between him and the Novitiate force made him lose his footing. Concrete and dust rained down from the impact. More people struggled to remain on their feet as five more impacts shattered the ground ahead up them sending more dust and debris into the air.
"Artillery?" A soldier asked trying to see through the cloud of dust. What they couldn't see was even the Novitiates stopped advancing trying to discern what had just happened.
"Volt weapons, deploy!" A voice said from within the smoke. A second later red beams of light arced out from the cloud piercing into numerous Novitiates. After the initial shock of it they returned fire blindly unloading their clips into the dust that was now settling. Small glints of light reflected off of metallic surfaces as multiple figures burst out from the smoke. The closest Novitiate didn't live long enough to understand what had happened. Chiffons gauntlet buried itself through his chest and out his back killing him instantly. Beside her Arnette spun her scythe above her head leveling it around cleanly severing another's head.
"Pandora!" A few of the Novitiates cried out.
"Shoot them!" Another said as they turned their gunfire towards Arnette and Chiffon. The two Pandora dashed sideways avoiding most of the gunfire. Arnette spun her scythe nimbly deflecting the other bullets. Chiffon held her gauntlet ahead of her like a shield as the bullets ricocheted harmlessly of hits surface. Another volley of laser fire streaked over the two Pandoras as Elizabeth aimed her satellites at the Novitiates.
"Freezing!" Andre called out throwing his hand forward sending a wave of blue lights out holding a large number of Novitiates in place. From the flank Attia accelerated spinning her meteor hammer above her head. She let the momentum of the weapon carry her around as she sent it crashing into a Novitiate held still by Andre. All he could do is watch in terror as the spiked ball raced towards his face.
As the last of the dust settled the Asakura military could finally see the Novitiates being cut down mercilessly by the Pandora. Varen still stood where he had landed watching as his team dispatched the Novitiates efficiently. He turned facing the Asakura military and began walking towards them. They looked at each other nervously as Varen approached them.
"You're a Limiter from Genetics?" A soldier asked and Varen looked over at him.
"Correct are you in charge of this area?" Varen asked.
"I am, Captain Abrahams of the Asakura military." The soldier responded.
"Good, I need to know everything about the Novitiate's attack. Numbers, strengths, purpose, everything." Varen said. The man eyed him cautiously.
"With all due respect Limiter, this is a military matter. Your shoulder patch says West Genetics. We were told you were on standby and East Genetics would be scrambled to assist. Furthermore you are a Limiter not a Pandora. Field command is given to a Pandora not a Limiter." Abraham said. Varen narrowed his eyes at the soldier.
"I don't have time for war politics Captain. I am here on Chevalier's authority to bring the leader of this rebellion down. My team just saved your hides at the risk of our transport and lives. Now tell me what you know." Varen commanded stepping closer to the man. The man swallowed hard looking around nervously. The Nightingales had routed the Novitiates and were walking towards the Asakura military.
"We have procedures Limiter you don't have the authority…" Captain Abraham trailed off as Varen's team came up beside him.
"People are dying and you are worried about procedures? Let me educate you a little. Your job is to hold this section of the city. Thanks to us you have succeeded where you would have failed. We have a job to do here and we are going to do it with or without your help. If you impede our progress or jeopardize our mission with your incessant babbling and insubordinate tones I will relieve you of command." Chiffon said firmly. Her emotionless tone of voice left little room for argument and clearly struck a note with the man.
"This is Varen Askiligar, the Justicar of West Genetics. General Renalt had given him operational command here. We are the Nightingales, a group sent in for the sole purpose of finding and eliminating the leader of the Novitiates." She continued.
"I understand. Please forgive me I did not mean to insult you sir." The Captain stammered.
"The information, please." Varen said.
"They seem to be moving towards the waterfront. I've heard they have monsters with them. Big ones that are near unstoppable. They came at us without warning we barely had time to form a defensive line." He quickly answered.
"What do they want?" Varen asked.
"We don't know, but it has something to do with the waterfront. They are throwing everything at us to get there and they will make it." He answered.
"What about command? Where are they being commanded from?" Varen asked.
"Central city plaza. Last I heard the bulk of their force was there as well as most of those beasts. It has to be there." The captain answered. Varen looked in the direction the captain was referring to and nodded.
"Thank you." He said.
"You're going there with just you six?" Captain Abraham asked incredulously.
"Yes, we will try to cut this off at the head." Varen responded. He started jogging towards the center of the city where he hoped he would find Kyle Monroe. The rest of his team ran behind him keeping up at they turned around the corner of a building.
"Never seen a Limiter leading Pandora like that." One of the men said to the captain.
"No, nor have I heard of any small strike force called the Nightingales either. What is that West Genetics facility up to?" The captain responded.
"Whoever he was those Pandora didn't exactly look weak and they fell in line behind him without question." The man said and the captain nodded.
"Which makes me wonder just how strong he is." The captain responded.