CHAPTER 19

"The northern territory (part 3)"

That night was going to get interesting for some reason.

Zelian was in her personal office as crafted like a human's office. She was using her small monitor and making sure to keep it secure. "So Dietrich… I suppose things are going well in distracting the allied forces from that distraction plan in Australis?"

"Yes, they took the bait. League Intelligence is finally focused on the southeast Asiectan areas now."

"Things are going to plan then. The last of my backup forces are doing what they can to take it. IT IS a key area. If I take it… our plans will be accelerated, and you know it."

"Of course, but Bosconovitch expects results. If the 501st isn't taken out…"

"We have more problems ahead of us, Dietrich, so I suggest you be patient instead of being a whiner for failed situations I've gone through."

"HE IS NOT A PATIENT MAN, and you know it."

"Yes, yes. I understand. His 'country' that he claims his has what we want, but we cannot even access it since it was being kept covertly, even from his own government."

"Of course. The Orussian government and its chiefs of staff are rather occupied thanks to the Southeast Asiectan troubles we've placed. Xing is being supported by Orussia and both countries are trying to take it back together. Even League Intelligence is getting the handful instead of the two nations. Phantom Elites… Tch. I hate them."

"…You and me both." Zelian chuckled. "Dietrich, call me Zelian. You only call me Conqueror for your own reasons. Don't be selfish now. At least humor me at the minor details."

"Fine. Zelian… Your next objective is making sure Karlsland is reinforced. But since there's a problem and Allied Forces have surrounded it…"

"Then we have no choice but to surrender it. Unfortunately for the Allied Forces and the rest of our worries… I have other things in store."

"Namely what?"

"Of course… Nobody else knows what this airbase I'm in right now has."

"Oh? Should it be something we should both worry about?"

"It's a little shock you know. I'm sure you know about the presence of a rebel Neuroi faction."

"The Queen's Blue Neuroi…"

"I'm not about to let up on them, since the King asked me to make sure they don't step in Karlsland. They think this country is for the taking? Hmph. I have one last trick up my sleeve, and they're going to get damaged by it. They don't have their own hives. We have numerous."

"There comes a time where you must not underestimate your enemy."

"Did I say I would? I'm making sure I take necessary steps. Karlsland is previously reinforced. Moscow is in ruins. Bosconovitch is playing a different hand and even I don't know anything about it."

"Oh… It will be catastrophic because for the next few days… You will find it interesting enough that we can safely get the product out."

"That's what I want to hear."

"Ah. Then it's still ongoing then."

"Do your part with him and give us an entrance, and you shall have your share in the victory we long for."

"It's still the same. We have what we need to start our first phase."

"Good. Then I'll do my part as promised."

"Excellent. He will be… in touch with you, if not personally, by distant communications. And… accept our simple gift."

"By simple, you mean…"

"We have finished modifying the X-Five-Two to your standards. Thanks to your neurification process, it wasn't hard making the adjustments. You know as well I do that Dr. Miyafuji's plans to make it a symbol of peace was foolish. You know that it is a tool. And you proved it."

"Thank you, Dietrich. I've placed it in a secure facility, not here in Baltland."

"Ah… so you received it and secured it then? Then I think our conversation is no longer needed. It is your treasure if you treat it as such. Use it to your advantage."

"I have a Neuroi girl who seems much as enthusiastic in using it than using her own propulsion systems. The X-Five-Two will give more punch than ever. We'll be unstoppable, but we won't show it yet."

"True. Do whatever you think is best."

"I'm glad we have a good partnership."

"Bosconovitch would be pleased. You shall be contacted again, or you can contact us for anything else. Goodnight, Zelian."

"I don't sleep. Remember?" Zelian chuckled. "And good morning to you, Dr. Dietrich." And just like that, the monitor just went blank. 'Fool. We'll take our loot from you… and you shall be left behind like the human scum you are.' Then the door was opened and she saw an infantry humanoid. "(You are disturbing me.)" She spoke in the soft screeching language of the Neuroi.

"(Forgive me, but you must listen. Our security has been breached, but I did not alarm Security yet. Just as you said, I went straight to you here to report it.)"

"(Excellent work. Which direction?)"

"(East side.)"

"(Let the intruder through and continue to monitor him. He will be sneaking either to obtain intelligence or mark targets for a strike package, or perhaps, sabotage.)"

"(I acknowledge, Conqueror.)" The infantry humanoid was about to leave when he stopped at the door. "(Pardon, but may I know why you are interested in seeing to it the intruder lives?)"

"(It's because he has quite a story with one former Queen's Guard Neuroi girl. I'd like to know more. Spying is an important aspect in deception, and I intend to use it.)"

2205 hours…

Tyler snuck to the hangar at the east side of the Neuroi airbase and peeked his head from the south corner and saw guard detail. 'Two… No… There are three walker tanks. And there's a hell lot of a humanoid infantry detail around places.' And he reached at his side belt before pulling out a knife while seeing it light up yellow. 'This stun knife should immobilize them before I get their cores with clean shots. Better make sure it's well done though, or they'll be threats.' He nodded, knowing what he must do and began to get around the base.

Together with Vera, they have six designated targets for detonation: The armory at the southwest, The long range comms tower at the southeast, The command hangar at the north side, The dismantled carrier units at the far west side, The Neuroi jet hangar housing an advanced unit but can be dangerous if activated with a live drone core, and finally the housings for the infantry humanoids where they regenerate for continuous energy. Unlike crawlers and aerial units as vehicles, infantry humanoids need energy for their advanced movements like a human to be sure they're effective in both combat situations and command events. Like humans, they need a good supply of energy, since they're modified from the drone fighters who have bigger cores. Infantry humanoids use smaller ones and are more agile on the ground then humans, as a sufficient reason why they have regenerative housing units. The regenerative housing units need to be taken down so the remaining uncared infantry humanoids who may escape the carnage done by either the Allied Forces or the Blue Neuroi may not find another source and die from exhaustion.

2211 hours…

It took some time of sneaking before he was able to get to the armory. Knowing human regiments have left explosives in there. He put his M19A11 supressed pistol at his hands before he carefully went inside the armory. Seeing discarded guns and ammunitions for them made him think the Neuroi only use their own weapons and not the enemy's. 'Damn. They really wanna use theirs. Can't they get a taste of man-made guns at least?' "Tch. Like that's gonna happen." He muttered it before he wasted no time as he started to take the C4 charges from his duffel bag. He placed two at the volatile materials section of the armory room.

Then, his earpiece came to life. "Master, this is Vera. I successfully infiltrated the base."

"Great. So you're in your human form?"

"I am, but I can manage, so don't worry. Where are you?"

"I'm in the armory and I've set two charges already."

"I see."

"Why don't you get an assignment instead? The long range comms tower needs to be rigged and you're the one for the job since you can nullify sensors as you climb it. You told me you can nullify sensor functions, right?"

"I can."

"At least it's useful. Then, try to rig the command hangar too. You're more agile in dodging enemy patrols than I am. Lastly, get to the advanced Neuroi jet unit hangar. Be careful of security measures. I noticed laser sensors placed and it might be a good thing if you avoid them. It's either there are explosives or the whole base will be awake with a siren. You can do the three objectives in any order by the way, so don't screw it up."

"I'll do my best, Master."

"If anyone spots you, it's all over. Sneak and eliminate guards if possible. You CANNOT be detected in this."

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Keep radio silence now. Rendezvous at the armory when you're done. If you arrive there and I don't make 10 minutes, then detonate your targets without me. The encryption channel's taking its toll."

"Radio silence as much as possible and rendezvous at the armory. I copy."

"Good luck, Vera." Tyler then took off his earpiece. And as expected, his earpiece sparked up a little before some smoke came from it. 'The earpiece lost its encryption channel and we can't communicate like always, or we'll get tracked by the enemy. I'm on my own.' Right after the smoke stopped, he smelled the earpiece and the burning smell was fading. He put it back on his ear. "Right." He muttered to himself before he started walking his way out.

2216 hours… Vera…

Vera was barefooted and was in her jacketed uniform before she equipped her blade Retarynax. She shortened the blade due to her connective power, and the length is good for shorter range but speedy attacks against any opponent. She casually walked behind a patrolling humanoid behind a hangar before she twisted his head to stun him and stabbed him with her short blade to his mid-back. "(Die.)" She whispered to him before she twisted her blade, quietly letting him disintegrate into flakes downwards instead of exploding. The flakes were melting easily thanks to composition of her blade, melting away the remains of a humanoid unit. 'They should see me coming, but nonetheless, I'm more lethal than they are.' She thought of it before she licked her lip and proceeded to the advanced Neuroi jet hangar.

As she entered the jet hangar, she had to sneak up to a few guards and eliminate them before she was able to secure the hangar. She saw the advanced jet itself, but it was being surrounded by lasers. 'So they're making sure they guard it well.' She smirked. "Not a problem." She then ran and jumped, then landed on her hands between two horizontal laser beams before she pushed off the ground and flipped up to land on her feet, now at a safe spot from the lasers. With her athleticism, her jumping and moving was able to get her through the lasers after some several more seconds until she arrived when she jumped and landed on the upper surface of the Neuroi advanced jet. There were still some lasers in front of her. 'Just at the exact spot. The explosives I have should be able to pierce this jet downwards.' Then with movement only at her arms, she carefully took out the C4 and placed them at her left and right sides before she rolled away, then eventually got through the lasers with ease again. After getting out of the sensors field, she looked back. "That takes care of the jet." She muttered before she went for the large hangar doors, but widens her eyes and freezes for a while before she ran to the side and rolled to the door to prevent being seen. A Neuroi crawler tank passed by and she was almost seen. It seemed it was only a corner-eyed spot and the crawler tank unit didn't mind it and went on its patrol. Vera peeked her head to see the crawler tank walking away from the area. 'It seems I was almost close. I can't be seen.' "Right." She whispered and ran out, knowing her path is not within the visions of every patrolling infantry humanoid in the base. 'Master Tyler believes in my speed. I'll make sure to use it as an advantage.' She then rolls and arrives behind metallic crates and peeked her head out. 'Alright… I should be able to keep going as long as patrols do not spot me.' She nodded before she went on her way to the long range comms tower.

2218 hours… Tyler…

He was able to arrive at the dismantled carrier hangar and entered the side entrance. At the long narrow hallway, an infantry humanoid coming from the main hangar area began to walk in through the side entrance. While Tyler knows the humanoid wasn't looking at his direction, the agent took this opportunity and ran to the humanoid. When the humanoid knows another presence's footsteps in earshot, it was about to turn when it was tackled to the wall before its head was twisted and with its middle back shot up by his suppressed pistol. With its core shattered from its inside, it disintegrated into a melting form before Tyler looks at the entrance to the main hangar area. 'Alright… What about we take a look here, eh?'

As he looked inside the main hangar area, he saw the dismantled carrier parts just laying around. He already knows that the dismantle carrier can be put together as long as a suitable core was to be found for them. From the looks of the number of parts, he could make out there were three of them inside the hangar. It was a good thing the large doors were closed. 'Alright. Time to get to work.' He looked around and saw there was staircase leading up to a spare room upstairs for some reason. He knows he has to look for others inside the hangar before getting on his objective. With his M19A11 and knife equipped he walked slowly and went up the metallic stairs. With his gun up and the knife at his other hand, he was advancing slowly making sure he's careful on what he's doing while being vigilant for enemy presences. He stopped for a while before he peeked his head, seeing the rest of the upstairs room. It was empty. 'It's clear.' With that, he started to browse the room.

It was about a minute later that he found hidden blueprints for the whole airbase, and he found something of great interest. 'This is damn different. There seems to be an underground cargo area for spare V-3 Rockets and its launchers, and if ever used by a country's military would deal great damage to towns and cities. Better keep this one.' He took out a small camera, found a lamp he could use to illuminate the blueprints, and took the photo. 'League Intel should be able to use the blueprint for searches, I guess. Can't ignore it.' He then kept the camera and returned the blueprints to where he got it and started to walk out of the room.

In no time at all, he got four C-4's placed on all the dismantled carriers. "That should do it. Moving on to the next…"

2219 hours… Vera…

In the long comms tower, the lone guarding Neuroi infantry humanoid has its head twisted by someone from behind before it was stabbed from its middle back. It then dissipated into white flakes while melting. Vera finally got the comms tower secured as she looked around. 'So Master Tyler wants this part to be blown up too. I better set things up.' And with no time to waste, she planted C-4's on the communications devices made by Neuroi and of humans to prevent them being neurified and be put out of commission. "Alright… This should be it." She looked around and paid attention to anything else the allies may be able to use.

Then one of the Neuroi radio stations transmitted a signal. "(This is Juunyak Seven. I repeat, this is Juunyak Seven, our outpost in Africa is under attack and in danger of falling apart while assaulted by Allied Forces and an unknown Neuroi rebel faction. If anyone is listening on this channel, please be advised. The outpost is in danger of completely losing effectiveness and will be executing Plan SC to fend off enemy forces.)"

This made her gasp. "Wait… unknown Neuroi rebel faction? That means…" She had to think. 'Is the Queen deploying a fighting force against the Neuroi airbase? I wonder if they decided to show themselves yet and reveal their purpose though.' "Hmph. Good thing. The King's forces shouldn't even live for all I care." And with some rage in her system, she still got to calm herself before she left the tower. 'I hate them. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them! I should clear my rage up before showing myself to Master Tyler. I should tell him I have personal feelings about this too.'

Minutes later with her stealthy and speedy running, she was able to reach the command hangar. Knowing the front doors of the hangar cannot be accessed since there are two guarding humanoid infantry units holding beam rifles, she decided to look around the command hangar. She knew Zelian might be in there, so she decided to look into the patrol routes. It was minutes later when she found a patrol of two humanoids approaching the side of a command hangar. To her surprise, a hidden door opened for the two of them. She knew she had to time it. Once the two have entered, she ran for it before she bent down and saw the door was closing. In the nick of time, she made it before the door closed.

2224 hours… Tyler…

It took a little more time when Tyler got to the humanoid infantry barracks area where the reserve building should be. If he takes that out, the main supply for the barracks buildings will be severed. He needed to sneak past more patrolling infantry than usual. 'Sneaking's a real bitch.' He chuckled softly before proceeding to the area.

He was able to swerve past patrols without alerting almost everyone. Actually, one of the infantry was able to approach an area where a suspicious figure was, but Tyler stabbed the unit from behind, knowing he was being watched. His tail was covered well. 'No way you're gonna be a problem.' He sighed before continuing towards his goal.

Eventually, he was able to get a glimpse of the 2nd barracks building and saw someone important, just because the humanoid was a girl. When he looked at her, her hair was black and red in color, has a human face for a reason but was pale for some reason, wears a small-tiled red hexagon overall body armor and is used as her clothing, and her hair seemed to shine light blue briefly at random times. 'An organic Neuroi. What's she doing here?'

Hyliene crossed her arms while talking to a humanoid infantry officer. "(So you're saying that spike really happened?)"

"(Yes. My superior officer was able to report it straight to Leader Zelian.)"

"Tch. (My mother seems to rather have the critical eye, Lieutenant. Next time, make sure you report it to me sooner than anything else. You now know of how I deal with my mother, and we're not doing so well personally. I don't know what her plans are, but you should know that this will not be taken lightly. Get a squad ready to search all buildings. I have a feeling this base is being watched or infiltrated. You know the standard search procedures, so I expect you do just that.)"

"(Won't the leader be frustrated?)"

"(My mother can be disappointed or kill me for all I care. I only care for the safety of the base itself. We're not allowing it to be sabotaged. So get a squad and start the search, NOW.)"

The infantry humanoid officer nodded. "(I shall follow.)" Then he ran inside the 2nd barracks building.

Tyler saw the Neuroi girl now turning to the direction of the way he came and was walking towards the direction of the other buildings. He hid his head and anticipated she won't come to his position, and it gave him time to think. 'I couldn't understand what she's saying, but I think security is gonna be tighter. Nobody knows we're here, but I gotta feeling there's going to be more than the normal patrols involved after what I've seen. That… or maybe I'm just crazy.' "Whatever." He muttered it out before peeking his head out, seeing the Neuroi girl was no longer there. 'I'm going.' He proceeded to move while looking around as usual in caution for other units. 'No crawler units are here. I'll make it to the reserve building and rig it. The rest of the infantry will be running out of energy and won't be supplied while they run, even if they survived the attack.'

A little later and he was able to get to the reserve building. He looked around and at the entrance. 'No one's guarding this one in particular? Something isn't right.' He hanged back and waited for a while, not seeing another infantry humanoid in sight. "Alright, something's definitely up. But what'll happen anyway?" He sighed afterwards. 'No chance I'll be standing around to wait to find out. I'll just move.' And putting his pistol out, he started to get to the building and eventually entered it with his gun still up. 'Alright. First hallway's clear. Better get moving and find the power cores then…' He moved around the building and started to search the building.

And while he was doing so, he noticed there was no one guarding this area at all. Even if it's at his convenience, there should be enough people in the base who are able to at least guard this part. 'Alright… I know something may be off, but I still gotta set those charges. No use in loitering around here and see the trap for myself. Better make this fast…'

Eventually he found a steel door that's equivalent to a normal door. As he approached it, it slid up, and the room itself was almost dark but has dimmed lights in it. However, it wasn't what his attention was focused on. A big core was hovering in the middle of a vertical capsule. And he noticed it's really big. 'It's like the size of four big watermelons put together.' And he looked around the capsule seeing the covered wires of sorts. 'This must be it, but I haven't explored the whole building yet. Looks like I'll have to set charges here and keep looking.' And without hesitation, he put two more C-4's on the capsule. 'I better search the building more.'

It was a minute later when he easily found the second room and set charges on the core's capsule. "Finally." He looked around to see if there's anything he needed to find. A human-made locker was still visible in the room and he decided to open it. At his surprise, it was unlocked. 'Maybe they searched this and figured it was good for the room?' And he was able to see a notebook on one of the locker's shelves. He took it and opened it, then saw entry logs. 'A diary of a sort.' He turned to the most recent entry and found something interesting.

From the first time they came here… Damn it… Why did they have to come here? Why here of all places? I guess they wanted to build something, but it's a good thing all of us were kept in line, or more could have suffered. Well who am I kidding?! There were more who died before the attack happened before we were enslaved! Anyway… the final touches of the underground cargo bay is finally finished. Zelian told us that this is also used for other purposes besides storing V-3's, but this one was new. It wasn't a bad idea to get us working here, but something else had been put there the whole time. I don't know what it is, but she certainly won't be able to use any of us anymore. But what I'm sure of is that she's up to no good. But there was some talk between us, about counter-measures that the Neuroi placed relating to these underground cargo bays…

And when Tyler turned to another page, he noticed most of the next page was torn off. 'What the hell?' Tyler then groaned before acquiring the notebook. 'Whatever the information here, it should be able to give clues to something else the Neuroi were keeping. I don't know what it is, but I can't find out yet, can I? Well… That's all there is to see here. Now to get out…' He looked one last time in the locker, but nothing else of interest was found. He closed it, and armed himself before he got on his way.

2227 hours… Vera…

Vera snuck through all the abandoned human-made rooms and some Neurified and infantry inhabited rooms to make sure she goes deep into the hangar. She was able to find a basement and was mostly on intelligence queues tasking, and it didn't feel right to her. 'Sure, I got the main aircraft hangar, but here? What were they doing here anyway? Intelligence tasking mixed with human equipment meant something else was happening. Development of things here, perhaps? It's true. The Neuroi needed some certain instruments not naturally just Neuroi-made. They received help if that's the case.' She kept up with her sneaking until she was able to get to the command observation room, where nodes were placed next to each other. And with a total of 50 nodes, it was like a big brain with processing power. 'Alright, this is the main intelligence bank. I should make sure to be careful.' "Right." And with no other doubt, she started setting charges.

2229 hours…

"I see." Zelian chuckled while inside the briefing room for the human-made underground facility together with another human slave worker. "Well done."

"Uh… Umm… It was nothing."

Zelian chuckled at this and smirked at him. "I have to ask you something, slave. Do you know where your other friends are?"

The man was surprised of the question. "Uh… What do you mean?"

"I mean… are you aware of their presences right now? Didn't you notice that you're the only one here and the most focused?"

"Yes… I am focused… knowing you will release us as long as we do your bidding."

"I know. But did you think twice about it at all?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"You don't know, because you are a fool. I used you. All of your other friends were executed." Zelian snapped a finger before a monitor has showed images of corpses and he looked at them. "These bodies were actually preserved to make sure you see them for one last time. They were your… friends. We had to make sure the blood was really getting out from them."

"No… I thought you'd…"

"You thought wrong."

"I don't understand… You said… You said you would release all of us! What the hell have you done?!"

"Oh, I did what I could… I use an asset…" Zelian then drew out her short sword. "…and I dispose of them if they are… spoiled."

"Wait… Leader…"

"And I thought you should know…" Then her red eyes glowed. "I killed them." And with a sadistic smile she zipped towards him before she was able to slash him. It was like a split second when she stopped just behind him. For 2 seconds, it was silent, until blood sprayed out and made a line diagonally on his body before the dead corpse splits into half before it drops altogether on the floor. She looked at the blade of her weapon and neared it to her mouth before she put her tongue out and licked it, mostly to the part where that man's blood was. 'Incredible. I've killed so many, but this is the first time I've ever literally tasted blood. It's nice.'

"Mother." Hyliene soon came in and saw the corpse, and it made her stop walking. "Tch… You had to."

Zelian chuckled. "You don't know how good this is for me. I've been quite the naughty woman to lick his blood off my blade."

"A sadist as usual…"

"…and my daughter always has a critical eye on her sadistic mother. Well this is nice. Care to join me?"

"No thank you." Hyliene then snorted while she approached and neared Zelian. "I'm not surprised you would be considering blood, but live blood?"

"Hmm?"

"I know what you're planning. You know something's happening, and you think it's involving intruders. You had me worried there."

"You're worried of me?"

"No. I'm worried that this airbase will fall sooner than expected! You're a fool to believing they'll accomplish nothing! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"I have my methods, Hyliene. You said I should stay away from yours, and I shall say the same."

"But THAT is not the point, damn you! If we're compromised here, what we stood for at this place would be nothing."

"This base, is nothing but a small hive for all Neuroi and you know it. Once they try to completely dispose of the base, they won't know what's coming… And indeed, it's coming." Zelian chuckled.

Vera was listening behind a door and what Zelian was saying was worrying her. 'Oh, no. They know about us. But as much as possible, I'll still try to be quiet. I better hurry and warn him then escape from here. I think we're compromised already.' And with that, Vera moved away from the door and walked away from the room.

Hyliene shouted. "You're nothing but a sick psychopath! I don't know why the King ever chose you to be a field general! If it's a matter of being friends, I think there's more."

"Oh?" Zelian giggled. "Then guess."

"You were sleeping with him."

"Close enough."

"He was fucking you so bad you enjoyed the pain and took it as pleasure."

"It's obvious… since you've seen me."

"My organic sensations aren't kidding. It seems I was not only aroused, but sick of it. Although the emotions say it all, I'm not going to falter at this. You better make sure they're really going to get a beating…"

"…if I can locate them. You and I both know whoever the intruders are, they won't escape." Zelian chuckled again and it irritated her daughter. "So, my darling offspring, is there anything else, or would you challenge my blade?"

Hyliene then drew something from her Pocket Dimension container and swung her short sword before Zelian blocked it with her own. "How's one strike going to work?"

Zelian smirked. "Do you want to kill me?"

And only one thing got to her mind: Hyliene needed to start getting her senses in check. She then pulled away and placed her short sword back in her PD container. "I guess we'll kill each other another time. But you should know… I still don't like you, but I'd rather find the safety of this airbase a priority." Hyliene then walked away in irritation. 'That sick psychopath!'

"Wait."

Zelian's call stopped Hyliene from walking and turned her head around to see the calling mother. "What?"

"You should know: The X-Five-Two is finally finished with its modification."

"About time."

"So you should know how much I've been doing things for you."

"Oh? Since when did you start caring?"

"I did it from the start, Hyliene."

"No. You did it only when the King told you to. You were there when Relius was slapped… The Queen herself, was slapped by the King."

"AND WHAT HAPPENED?! THE KING STARTED THE REVOLUTION, WITH ME AS HIS OWN RIGHT HAND!"

"And how did you end up then? You just took to his bidding, mother. No… I'll call you Leader instead. I don't feel like wanting to call you a mother at all." Hyliene then turned to the door and left.

Zelian chuckled before her little smile faded from her. 'I'm warning you, my dear offspring. I made you… together with a slave. I modified you, and put in you an essence of organics. You don't want to challenge my authority. I made sure I faced mating only for you to be made.' And she looked at the corpse which was still in half and smiled. 'And I had fun doing it with them too.' She chuckled, knowing her personality being a sadist seems to be toppled by being coldblooded instead.

2232 hours…

Vera finally arrived after running with great speed. She walked in the armory and eventually found Tyler. "Master!"

"Ah… You made it."

"I'm sorry if I took longer."

"You should know… things aren't really gonna end up well. They made something, and they got something in the base. I don't like the sound of it being true, but whatever it is, it's big."

"I see." Vera glanced away.

And Tyler noticed she seemed odd. "Feeling like an oddball or something? What's up?"

"Master… We have to move. It seems they're aware the base is infiltrated."

"How?"

"Somehow… I don't know… Maybe their sensors are more advanced than what we predicted?"

"Shit… Well we can't do anything about that, can we? Let's start making our way out. As always, you should be careful, Vera."

"Oh… and why did we place C4's? I know they're made for detonating but they don't send signals."

"Each one has its own beacon. By now, Minna's taking note of the locations for the bombing. Soon… bomber witches are gonna join us. Surely, the reserve army the Blue Neuroi have positioned just off the base should help too…"

"I don't think it's necessarily the case. The Blue Neuroi aren't completely known to have started the battle here on Earth. We were just about to begin when we amassed forces, but it's still in her hands if she wants to do that. Humanity can be helped out covertly, but we aren't allowed to show ourselves yet."

"I see. Well… It's okay. Anonymity?"

"There's a time we'll be showing ourselves in full." Vera smiled before she walked with Tyler.

2233 hours…

Shirley was seated near the rock formation while her striker unit was dug in at the soft soil. 'Oh…' "Ezmee… Are you sure about the striker unit? Yours is the same too."

Esmeralda was pacing back and forth while looking at her own striker unit dug at the soft soil next to Shirley's. 'It's fine. A little downhill section here and we'll be able to gain speed, you know. It's fine.'

"What's taking them so long?"

"It's best we don't find out unless they make contact."

"Okay." Shirley was about to tuck in when the radio from their earpieces came to life.

"So how are we gonna play this again?" Tyler's voice came from the radio.

"It's rather simple." A girl's voice came up and it stopped Ezmee from walking, like she's frozen.

"It can't be…"

"Wait, you know that girl?"

"Shit… Hyliene… Damn it… The whole time, she's here in Baltland. She's usually in charge of airbase defenses, but she's got quite the reputation for killing witches too."

"Oh my…"

Tyler then spoke up. "What if we say no?"

"I'm not surprised. We'll just force you to talk instead. Boys?" Hyliene's voice was interrupted when a sound of a thud was heard. After that, they heard a body dropped. Then they both heard a girl struggling before electricity zapped around while she screamed.

Esmeralda clenched her fists. "He was knocked out, and she was electrocuted by something. This is not good."

Shirley had to stand thanks to the pressure. "What the hell are we gonna do now?!"

"I don't know, but if they were able to get the targets marked after setting the marked C4's, the base should be occupied and get a raised awareness for more intruders around, but the bomber witches won't get here in time to destroy this base."

"What can we do?"

"I don't know. Vera has herself ready to get a Blue Neuroi squadron to mobilize only to assist and expose themselves completely, but the Queen knows they shouldn't do it unless necessary. Right now, I don't think that's the case anymore."

"Why? What's gonna happen?"

"If they get through Vera's mind and she gives in to their probing, they'll know about the Queen and the resistance. The King has an idea the Blue Neuroi lurk around, but doesn't know about the full resistance against them. If the Blue Neuroi are discovered sooner, it would be bad and more forces from the same faction will suffer terrible amounts of losses." Esmeralda sighed, knowing she had only one choice. "I have to get to the Queen herself."

"Whoa… you think you can really get to her?"

"I never met her myself, but I know when I do and she trusts Vera so much, she'll heed my words. I think it's time the Blue Neuroi start it off. I don't care if hell breaks loose. This is a war, and there needs to be a victor. Nobody wins, but somebody does through interest. And ours is seeing peace."

Shirley nodded. "I can't argue with you there. So what do I do?"

"Keep radio silence and get in contact with Minna once you're far off the Neuroi airbase. Neo-Scandinavia needs to be informed. I don't think you'll be much help."

"It's okay. I'll be part of the cover for the bomber witches. By now, they should have left their respective airbases. It'll be one hell of a raid, huh? Don't worry. I'll contact Minna once I'm at a distance from here."

"Good. Then with all things considered, you should get out of here."

"Good luck, Ezmee." Shirley then ran to her strikers and grabbed her weapons before she dug her striker unit out and wore them. To her surprise, it started well. 'Alright…' Then she hovered before moving forward to a descending slope. Eventually, she was able to pick up speed better and was able to leave the ground.

Esmeralda watched Shirley fly away, knowing things will be messy. "You too, Shirley." Esmeralda sighed before running to her striker unit and jumping in them, letting her engines suddenly start and threw dirt off before she hovered. "I'm not about to let up. The two of us won't!" She grabbed her weapons and got herself to speed up, and eventually took off.

Tyler slowly opened his eyes, seeing Vera lying on the ground unconscious. 'Damn it… I should have followed my damn gut. Why the hell…? Shit… Of course. They know.' And he turned to see one of the Neuroi infantry humanoids carry her from the ground. 'She looks cute when she sleeps.' Then he widens his eyes. 'What the hell am I thinking?! Shit…' He eventually looked up to see an observing infantry unit, before putting his foot on Tyler's head with a kick.

He only experienced pain and eventually slipped out of consciousness, not aware of what was next.