Warning: extreme content, you have been warned...oh my god...maybe this is a mistake to publish this, it's quite possible the darkest, grimest stuff I've ever written...I might even take it down...depending on what ya think...ok, you may read now...I am so disturbed...
Chapter 38- Promises kept and broken
It was nearing 7 A.M., and everyone was still asleep inside of the barracks. Everyone except Catherine O'Hara, unable to go back to sleep after her nightmare, she decided to make the best of the time she was giving to make preparations. She was up, already in full uniform and quietly sitting at a nearby table, doing some last minute cleaning of her sniper rifle and carefully loading ammo clips and putting them into her ammo belt across her chest and in pouches on her belt. And as she was finishing up, she looked down at her watch and smiled as the second hand was nearing the 12 number on her wrist watch.
"3...2...1" said Catherine softly and sure enough, once she reached one an alarm began to ring loudly over and over again, rudely awakening the rest of the squad as they sat up in their bunks, climbed out and began to run around and prepare to move out.
"Morning Dearies, hope you all slept well." said Catherine, putting her Sniper rifle over her shoulder and heading out of the barracks to wait outside for the rest of the squad.
A short while later the entire squad was up, in full uniform, guns, armoured plates and all and were neatly formed up in organized ranks. With scouts being in the front rank, shock troopers being in the 2nd rank, lancers in the 3rd and finally snipers and engineers in the 4th and last rank. All were holding their guns up and standing at attention, a look of seriousness and determination on their faces as Welkin, Alicia, Largo and Rosie approached the formed up squad.
"Alright, today's the day we take back Bruhl!!" announced Welkin, "We're taking back our hometown from the Imperials station there, is that understood??"
"Sir, yes sir!!" shouted everyone in unison.
"Alright, Squad 7 prepare to move out!!"
And with that, the entire squad moved to a large convoy of awaiting troop transport trucks on the nearby road leading out of the militia base. Once everyone was inside the trucks and the Edelweiss took the lead and Zaka's tank moved to the rear, the entire convoy began to move out, driving down the middle of the road and heading towards Bruhl, the drive would be a long one.
A few hours into the drive, Vyse, who was sitting next to Catherine O'Hara inside the truck as it rumbled along the road towards Bruhl, heard her moaning softly. He looked over and saw that she had her sniper rifle in both hands, held against her shoulder and her head was down. It seems that she had gone back to sleep during the drive to Bruhl.
But what concerned Vyse was that in the corner of her left eye, he could see a sparkle. He looked closer and saw that it was a tear drop. "Mmm… Lance… Ellen…" said Catherine softly, her lips quivering slightly, her eyelids moving around.
Concerned, Vyse reached out and slowly touched the corner of her eye, catching her tear drop just as it fell. This however, awoke Catherine and she slowly raised her head and looked over at Vyse.
"What's wrong lad??" asked Catherine, sitting up more properly as the truck bounced around abit.
"Oh uh…nothing, just worried is all" said Vyse, "You seemed like you were so sad just now, and you had some tears in your eyes as you slept."
"Sorry to worry you Lad, just memories of a time so long ago. Sad memories…." said Catherine, wiping away the other tears in her eyes. "But you don't need to worry about me, remember, I'm a war veteran. I may be sad now, but when the time comes to fight, I'm able to focus on the task at hand and not let my emotions get in the way of my duty."
"Right, we'll sorry for disturbing your sleep" said Vyse.
"No, it's good that you woke me up, we should be arriving at Bruhl sometime soon." said Catherine.
A short while later, the entire convoy came to a halt. And the soldiers of squad 7 all climbed out of the trucks they were in and ran to the front of the convoy and looked out at the small town of Bruhl that lay ahead. Already on the scene was the rest of the Militia regiment sent in early, they had successfully created a perimeter around the entire city and were waiting for the elite squad 7 to head in and secure the town.
The squad took a few moments to go over all of their equipment and make sure they had everything they needed. Aika Thompson was loading fresh clip into her rifle and checking to make sure she had all of her equipment on her belt as she patted each pouch with her hands.
"Spare ammo…check, binoculars…check, protective charm…double check…" said Aika as she patted each pouch.
But as she was going through this routine she happened to look over at Catherine O'Hara, who was kneeling down, giving a hug to Aisha Neumann, the youngest shock trooper in the squad.
"What's wrong Aunty Cathy??" asked Aisha as she hugged Catherine.
Catherine just chuckled slightly and petted the back of Aisha's head. "Oh sweetie, you have no idea how happy it makes me when you call me that. And nothing's the matter sweetie, just been a while since I let you know how much I care for you… If I ever had a daughter, I'd want her to be as kind, sweet and adorable as you." said Catherine.
"I… I feel the same way Aunty Cathy, I'm so glad to of met you." replied Aisha, standing on her tip toes to reached Catherine's height as she hugged Catherine.
Catherine then released Aisha, looked at her with proud eyes and ruffled the top of her head with her right hand. "Good luck kiddo, stay safe." said Catherine, she then got up and began to walk towards Aika Thompson, who was still looking at Catherine. Aika then noticed Catherine lower her head and sigh.
"Something wrong Catherine??" asked Aika, and Catherine looked back towards Aika.
"Oh, hello Aika." said Catherine, Catherine's expression then changed to one of sadness once again.
"Catherine…" said Aika, now very worried.
"Aika… will you do something… important for me." asked Catherine.
Aika was still worried but nodded her head, "Sure… anything" replied Aika.
Catherine then took Aika by the hand and lead her to the back of one of the troop transports, out of sight from the rest of the squad.
"Look Aika, I have something here." said Catherine, reaching into her breast pocket and digging around for a moment, she then retrieved a golden locket and chain, held it in her hand and looked down at it, then up at Aika. "Aika… if I should fall in battle today, I want you to give this to Aisha Neumann for me."
"What??" asked Aika, now extremely worried at Catherine's seemingly hopeless attitude towards surviving the upcoming battle. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth, gasping in surprise and fear at Catherine's request.
"Aika dear please, this is very important. This has been in my family for generations, passed on from Mother to Daughter, Mother to Daughter. I never had the honour or privilege of getting married and having children of my own… but if I ever had a daughter or someone I cared for just as greatly, I'd want it to be someone like Aisha. There's no one I can think of passing in onto more then her."
Aika's heart was thumping in her chest as she listened, but she managed to nod her head and hold out her hand. Catherine smiled and placed the locket into Aika's hand and closed it around her locket, holding onto Aika's hand with both her hands.
"Aika dear… thank you so much for doing this for me" said Catherine, smiling brightly and looking at Aika with her two bright blue eyes.
Aika nodded again, "Catherine… why are you doing this??" asked Aika
Catherine sighed and lowered her head for a moment, "Like I said, I am a war veteran… and today, I have a score to settle with the Oka Nieba. I've encountered them before and looks like today is the day we meet once more." replied Catherine, "But just in case, I cannot defeat them… remember what I told you to do."
Aika nodded once more and put the locket into her front pocket, "Yes Ma'am, I promise I'll see to it. You have my word." said Aika, putting on a brave face.
"Thank you deary, I knew I could count on you." said Catherine, she then smiled, turned and began to walk away. Aika waited until she was around the other side of the truck before she let two tears fall from her eyes and fell against the truck beside her. She brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle her sobs as she began to cry over Catherine's sad request.
A short while later, Aika had dried her tears and walked back to the front of the transport truck. She was looking down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with any of Squad 7's other soldiers. But a familiar voice began to call her name.
"Yo Aika, Aika Babe!!" said Vyse's voice, she looked up for a moment and saw Vyse jogging towards her.
Aika cringed, "Oh no… not him, I don't want him to see me like this…" thought Aika, turning her head away from Vyse as he approached her. Vyse noticed right away.
"Hey Babe… what's the matter" a look of concern on his face.
Aika's entire body began to tremble, She then ran forward and wrapped her arms around Vyse and began to hug him. She started crying once again as she buried her face in Vyse's chest.
"Aika… what's the matter??" asked Vyse, looking down at Aika as cried against her chest and held him tight.
"Just…hold me Vyse…please" pleaded Aika, still crying. She couldn't bring herself to mention Catherine's request she promised to do.
Vyse nodded and brought his arms up and held onto Aika, letting her cry against him as he held her comfortingly. He didn't say or do anything else, just let her cry against him like she asked.
However, he soon felt someone tugging on the back of his jacket. He turned and saw Aisha Neumann tugging on his jacket and looking up at him. "Mr. Inglebard, Mr. Inglebard!!" said Aisha over and over again.
Aika heard Aisha's voice and quickly wiped away her tears and tried her best to act normal. She then let go of Vyse and he was able to turn and looked down at her once more.
"Yes Aisha, something I can help you with??" asked Vyse, smiling down at Aisha.
Aisha then grabbed Vyse by the hand and pulled him down, so that now he was kneeling and eye level with her. "I have something to ask you." said Aisha, tapping the tips of her fingers together nervously.
"Sure, what is it??" asked Vyse
"I…I am worried about Aunty Cathy, she's acting very strange today." said Aisha.
"Aunty Cathy??" asked Vyse, unsure about who she was talking about.
"Yes Aunty Cathy, uh…Catherine O'Hara I guess you would know her by." replied Aisha, fidgeting even more now.
"Oh I see… yeah, I know what you mean, she did seem to be acting a lot more differently than she usually does." said Vyse.
"Mr. Inglebard, I was wondering, would you be able to watch over her for me??" asked Aisha
"Watch over her??" asked Vyse.
"Yes, protect her, make sure she stays safe today." added Aisha
"Alright, I'll see what I can do." said Vyse, grinning
Aisha shook her head, "Not good enough, Welkin said the same thing, but he's gonna be in his tank all during the battle. So I want a promise; promise me that you'll look after Aunty Cathy, promise me that you'll keep her safe for me."
Vyse gulped for a moment, before Aika interrupted. "Aisha… why are you asking this of Vyse, there's no way he can watch over her all during the battle. It really isn't fair for him to have to make such a promise..."
"B-but, Mr. Inglebard was the one who saved the princess during the dock rescue, he's the one who went looking for you all by himself at Kloden, he's the one who helped stop that massive tank at Barious and saved Nadine's life… If he can do all that, I know he can keep Aunty Cathy safe." said Aisha.
Vyse's confidence had finally come back after hearing Aisha say all of that, he then reach forward and grabbed Aisha by the hands and looked deep into her eyes and smile. "Aisha… I promise you; I will keep Catherine O'Hara safe for you today, I promise that no harm will come to her." said Vyse with absolute confidence and meaning every single word he spoke.
Aisha smiled brightly, and wrapped her arms around Vyse's neck in a powerful hug, "Oh thank you so much Mr. Inglebard, I believe you when you say you'll do it… thank you!!" cried Aisha, she then quickly turned and skipped away, all her fears gone.
"Vyse… that's a dangerous promise to make…" said Aika, hand against her pocket, touching the locket Catherine O'Hara had given her.
"When I say I'm gonna do something, I do it." said Vyse, grinning and giving a thumbs up to act with complete confidence.
Aika smiled again for the first time in a long time, "Yeah… I know you do, and I know that you always keep your promises."
A short while later, the entire squad was formed up behind both Welkin and Zaka's tanks, ready to move into the city. Catherine O'Hara and Marina Wulfstan were sitting on top of the Edelweiss, just behind the tank turret, they would ride on top of the Edelweiss as it drove into the city and each would hop off at a given location, most likely in a tall building, factory or tower to give sniper support for the squad.
Welkin was looking through his binoculars, down Bruhl road, the main street of the town. Far down the road he saw anti-tank turrets, and dozens and dozens of soldiers exiting buildings and getting behind sandbags, behind machine gun emplacements or behind solid cover, waiting for the Militia soldiers to come at them.
"Looks like there's going to be a lot of resistance…sure to be snipers all over the plaza as well…this won't be easy." thought Welkin, but he looked back at his soldiers with confidence in his eyes. "Alright everyone, let's take back Bruhl, let's take back Isara's home!. Squad 7 MOVE OUT!!" and Welkin waved his arm forward swiftly.
Welkin's tank then began to charge forward, Zaka's tank moving along side as well, Catherine and Marina remained low, behind the turret for cover. A short distance later the tank came to a screeching halt and Marina Wulfstan quickly got up and jumped down from the tank that had stopped next to a three story house, a perfect location to place a sniper.
"Good luck Marina!!" called out Catherine as she remained crouch behind the turret, bullets striking and pinging loudly against the tanks armour. Marina stopped in the doorway of the house and gave a thumbs up before disappearing inside.
Meanwhile the shock troopers of squad 7 were moving along side the Edelweiss, running to cover wherever they could find it, such as behind rocks and rubble, behind the Edelweiss or Shamrock or behind abandoned sandbags, all while moving and firing forward at the Imperials ahead of them.
Aika Thompson, who was a short distance ahead, with the rest of the scouts noticed land mines planted on the road ahead, she reached down to her radio and raised it to her mouth, "Yo Boss, you might not wanna come up here yet, we got land mines all over the place. Send the engineers first…" but a loud rumbling caused Aika to raise her head and look up, she then spotted a tank crashing through a ruined store front, now in full view. "And better send a lancer or two cuz we got tanks!!" added Aika, ducking behind her solid cover.
"Copy that." said Welkin, "I need two engineers and two lancers to advance forward and take out the tanks and landmines up ahead. Shock troopers, provide cover for them"
"R-right, I'm on it." said Karl's voice through the radio.
"Leave it to me!" replied Nadine a moment later.
"Hang on Sweetie, I'm a coming to blow that nasty tank up for ya!!" said Jann Walker's voice
"Not if I get there first!!" added Rosina
And the said Unit moved forward while the Edelweiss and Shamrock remained where they were, firing shell at distant targets.
At the back of the Edelweiss, Catherine O'Hara was looking up at the tall buildings, trying to find a suitable location to set up at. She spotted a 2 story factory with a lot of windows on the top floor, a perfect place to set up at.
"Alright Welkin, I'm getting off here, give me some cover." said Catherine, and she got low and ready to dash across the street, down the alley and up and into the factory.
"Alright…GO!!" said Welkin, firing his tanks machine gun turret, spraying bullets towards Imperials in front of him, suppressing them. And Catherine immediately jumped down from the tank, staying low as she ran across the street, tracer bullets from a machine gun position firing just over her head and behind her as she moved. She got low behind some sandbags, waiting for a lull in the firing. Soon enough it came and she ran as fast as she could and entered the doorway to the factory, taking out her sidearm pistol and aiming it in front of her, making sure it was clear as she moved nice and slow up the stair case to the next floor.
She did this until she was up at the top floor, the entire place was clear of enemies, so she put her pistol away. She than took her rifle off her shoulder where hung by it's strap and ran to one of the nearby windows, pushing them open and sticking her rifle barrel out the window, looking down at the streets below through her scope. She quickly got her bearings of where her squad was and where the enemy was.
Catherine then began to pick off targets, making it easier for her squad to move forward. But as she was firing, she counted "3...2...1..." counted Catherine, Once all three shots were firing she very quickly ejected the clip and loaded another. Her ammo clips were large enough to hold 3 bullets each, she also laid out her spare ammo clips in a straight row along the window sill in front of her, to save her time from having to reach down to her belt and retrieve them from the pouches that held them.
Every now and then she would press the talk button on her radio, "Marina, how you holding up??" asked Catherine.
"I'm fine, stop worrying about me!!" Marina answered back sternly.
Catherine didn't care about Marina's attitude, just the fact that she was answering back, showed that she was still safe.
Meanwhile in the streets below, the squad was advancing steadily, the landmines were successfully disarmed, the tanks were cleared and the shock troopers were keeping everyone safe.
Back at the factory, Catherine continued to cover everyone from her high position, but kept an eye out all around her. But she was beginning to have doubts about whether the report was true, was the Oka Nieba truly in Bruhl??.
At the same time, on the far right flank, where Ted Ustinov, Nancy Dufour and Juno Coren were, also Lynn, Wendy and Karl as well. Ted, who was firing his rifle up at an enemy sniper, happened to see a flash of black jump from one rooftop to the next, followed by three other blurs of black, but all were moving to fast for him to see what they really were when he looked again.
"Hey Ted, stay focused!!" shouted Juno, the leader of the group.
Ted brought his head back and shook it, getting re-focused on his task. What he didn't know was that four Oka Nieba soldiers had just moved past him and his group and were heading for his friend, Marina Wulfstan.
A short distance back, Marina Wulfstan was coolly and calmly sniping off enemy soldiers below. But out of the corner of her eye she happened to see something, something fast approaching. She looked away from her scope and saw four figures in black, gracefully jumping from rooftop to rooftop, performing nimble acrobatic front, back, and side flips as they moved towards Marina's position.
Marina quickly brought her radio up to her mouth, "Catherine I have…one…two…three…four enemies making their way towards my position, they're definitely not normal soldiers." said Marina.
Back at the factory, Catherine O'Hara's heart froze in her chest, "They're here…the Oka Nieba are here…" thought Catherine. She then brought the radio up to her mouth, "Marina, get out of there, you don't know what your up against, get back to the squad!!"
"I told you, don't worry about me, I can look after myself!!" replied Marina before her radio cut off.
But Catherine quickly left the window sill she was at, ran all the way across the factory and looked back towards where Marina's position was. And she did indeed see 4 figures dressed in black scurrying along the rooftops towards Marina's sniping position.
"Hang on dear, I'm coming" said Catherine aloud, she then turned to head towards the stairs leading to the lower levels of the factory and proceeded down the stairs. But a figure dressed all in black dropped from an open window on the roof and landed in front of Catherine just as she reached the bottom of the stairs. The masked figure then looked up at Catherine, drawing a long sword from her sheath and taking a fighting stance.
Catherine immediately saw a pair of emerald green eyes looking at her through the eye slit. Cathrine gulped, "Ellen??" asked Catherine softly, holding her rifle to her chest.
"Catherine O'Hara!… I WARED YOU!!, what do you think your doing here!!" said a very familiar voice. And the masked figure removed her facemask, revealing that it was indeed Ellen. Though she was no longer the young girl she once was, she was a full grown woman now, just like Catherine was.
Catherine then glared at Ellen, "Stop this Ellen, I don't wanna fight you, I have to go save a comrade." said Catherine, attempting to move past Ellen. But Ellen screamed angrily and took a swing at Catherine, who was able to bring her rifle up and in front of herself, blocking the blade, she then moved back.
"Why are you still in the military, I warned you about what would happen if I saw you again." said Ellen, bringing her sword up and pointing it towards Catherine threateningly.
"Ellen, I don't wanna fight you, but if you don't let me go and save my comrade… then you leave me little choice." said Catherine, getting into a low, ready position, ready to use her gun to defend herself and as a possible blunt weapon against Ellen's sword.
Meanwhile, back on ground level, Ted, Lynn, Karl, Wendy, Nancy and Juno were steadily moving down a side road, located just to the right of Bruhl road where the rest of the squad was. They were moving to flank the enemy from the side, their mission, to take out one of the three anti-tank turrets and secure a forward supply base along the way.
Just then they heard an explosion go off behind them, everyone whipped their heads back and saw one of the windows of the house that Marina was stationed it blow out, smoke and flames flying out the window, debris raining down onto the streets below.
"No…Marina!!" shouted Ted
"What the…no enemies got past us or the rest of the squad, how did they get to Marina's position without any of us seeing??" asked Juno.
"Come on guys, we've got to save her!!" shouted Ted, eagerly digging his heels into the ground, ready to take off at a moments notice.
Juno stopped and pondered, "Hang on uh…." said Juno, rubbing her hand against her chin, deciding whether to go back and save Marina or press on like Welkin ordered. For her, both choices were tough, cuz they both affected how Welkin might feel towards her afterwards. Disobey his orders or follow his orders to the letter.
"Ah screw this, I'm going!!" shouted Ted, standing up and running back to Marina's position full speed. Nancy looked back at Ted then at Juno. "I'm gonna go help him out." and she too took off.
"Alright, alright, we've sent back two soldiers to help Marina. The rest of you with me!!" shouted Juno, "We need to destroy those anti-tank turrets and secure that base to allow Welkin and the other's to press on, MOVE!!" and the rest of the soldiers with Juno charged forward, continuing on with the mission.
"Please be safe, please be safe" thought Ted as he ran back the way he and the others had come, back to help Marina.
"Hold up Ted, I'm coming to help ya!!" shouted Nancy. Ted looked over his shoulder and than slowed his pace to allow her to catch up.
"Thanks a lot Nancy, I owe ya one" said Ted, smiling at her. The two then ran as fast as they could to Marina's sniping position.
Meanwhile, inside of the giant house that Marina was in, Marina was running down the halls of the giant interior. She had already killed one of the female Oka Nieba soldiers with a cleverly planted trap, blowing that person up when she tried to sneak in through a window. And now Marina was letting the other's chase her, so she could lead them to yet more hidden and deadly traps that she had laid out around the house.
As she ran down the hall she jumped over a tripwire, ran a short distance and stopped just past the doorframe to the bathroom, turned and aimed her rifle down the hall. She saw another female soldier with a sword looking at her down the hall. Marina fired a shot, purposely missing and then faking anger as she pretended that she had run out of bullets, cursing as she pulled rifle bolt back.
The Oka Nieba soldier raised her sword and charged at Marina, Marina got ready to defend herself. But the soldier's legs hit the tripwire and a shotgun came swinging down from the doorframe and fired off a blast that hit the soldier square in the chest, blowing her back and breaking through a closed door down the hall.
Marina smiled, "Two down, two to go" thought Marina, loading a fresh clip into her rifle. But just then she heard something, outside the bathroom window on the ground below. Two voices, two familiar sounding voices.
"Marina!" shouted Ted's voice
"Hang on Marina, we're coming!!" shouted Nancy's voice.
Marina rushed to the nearby window, drew the curtain back and looked down at the ground and sure enough she saw Nancy Dufour and Ted Ustinov rushing towards the front door of the house she was inside.
"No no…" thought Marina, rushing out of the bathroom and towards the staircase. But another Oka Nieba soldier appeared and swung her sword at Marina, Marina ducked under the sword swing and the attackers blade sunk into the nearby door frame. Marina stood back up and hit the attacker in the face with the butt of her rifle, then kicked her hard, she didn't have time to waste on her, she had to warn Ted and Nancy about the booby trap she had laid out on the front door.
But, she was too little too late, Ted and Nancy had reached the door. Ted tried turning the door knob but it was locked, not surprising. He tried slamming his shoulder into the side of the door to get it open and the door gave part way, opening up a little more with each hit, but at the same time a grenade with a string tired to the pin was getting closer and closer to having the pin taken out as the string around the pin tightened the more the door opened up.
Ted moved back and rubbed his shoulder in pain, "Alright, stand aside, I've seen this done in the movies and have always wanted to try it." said Nancy, handing her rifle to Ted and rubbing her hands together. She drew her pistol, in case anyone was behind the door as soon as it was open and aimed it towards the doorway. She took a few steps back to get some speed. Nancy then rushed at the door and kicked it open with one leg, then rushed inside.
"Excellent work, girl." thought Ted, he was himself was about to rush inside, but just as he got into the doorway. There was a powerful explosion that threw him back with great force and he landed on the ground hard, sliding across the grass before hitting a fence a short distance away.
Ted's ears were ringing and he had some smoke, dust and cuts on his face, but those were the least of his worries. He sat up and looked at the doorway, the entire frame was on fire and thick, black smoke could be seen billowing out. Ted's mouth dropped open and he was too shocked to say anything, for Nancy had just rushed in moments ago…but was now gone.
"N…Nancy…NANCY!!" cried Ted as he sat on the ground, bloodied and deafened by the blast.
Back at the Factory, Catherine was still fighting with Ellen, both girls had lost their main weapons in the struggle before hand and were now fighting hand to hand. But Catherine's attention was broken by the sound of a massive explosion, coming from the direction of Marina's sniping location. She turned her head and looked out the large window, seeing a tall column of smoke rising from Marina's sniping location.
Catherine was then punched hard across the cheek by Ellen who took advantage of Catherine's lapse in concentration, sending her rolling across the wooden floor. Ellen then jumped on top of Catherine, drawing a large hunting knife as she did. She turned the blade around in her hand and tried to stab Catherine, but she quickly grabbed Ellen by the wrist with her left hand. Both of their hands now trembling as Ellen tried to push the blade closer to Catherine's face, rather her neck and Catherine struggling to hold the blade back.
"You Gallian bastard." snarled Ellen, baring her teeth, "Die!!"
"Ellen stop, Ellen don't do this!!" pleaded Catherine, sweat all across her face, her cheeks bruised from the punches she had received.
"Die!!" screamed Ellen, pushing the blade even closer.
Catherine then summoned all her might and sunk her nails deep into Ellen's wrist, then twisted as hard as she could to the left, Ellen screamed in pain and effort as she tried to straighten her wrist. But Catherine had twisted just enough so that now the blade was no longer pointed at her, and with that out of the way she swung her face forward in a powerful head butt, both of the girls foreheads slammed against each other. A sickening *crack* sound rang out as their heads collided. Ellen then collapsed to the right, hitting the wooden floor hard and remained still, Catherine's head fell back and she closed her eyes and fell unconscious.
Meanwhile back at the house where Marina was, she herself was just starting to come to, the explosion had destroyed the lower level of the house and collapsed the staircase she was running down to try and stop Ted and Nancy from springing another of her traps. Marina started to sit up, coughing and choking on the smoke and dust that was lingering in the air after the explosion.
She then heard a voice calling her name, but it was hard to tell which direction it was coming from.
"Marina!, Marina where are you??" asked the voice.
Once the ringing in her ears began to die down she recognized that it was Ted's voice. "Ted…" said Marina softly, mostly because her lungs hurt. She tried to stand up but her right leg was hurting, possibly from the fall, so she began to drag herself across the floor, moving over bits of broken wood, broken glass and other debris that lay scattered everywhere.
Marina then looked to her left and saw the Oka Nieba soldier she was fighting with earlier laying face down a short distance away, she made her way over and once she was close enough she placed her hand against the soldiers neck, checking for a pulse, and there was none. She then saw why, she had fallen on her own sword after the explosion and impaled herself. Marina shook her head.
"Marina, where are you??" asked Ted's voice, a little closer now.
Marina sat up a little more, holding her hand against her ribs, "Here…" said Marina painfully, it seemed that now she may have also broken one or two on her ribs on her left side as it hurt to breath in deep and speak.
Ted heard this and walked slowly down the hall, some of the walls were still burning and there was smoke everywhere. He was too focused on what was ahead of him that he didn't notice Nancy Dufour's body laying in front of him until he tripped over her and fell to the ground on top of her. Marina heard Ted collapsed and summoned what strength she could and crawled along the floor until she saw Ted through the smoke, he was kneeling next to Nancy, she was already dead.
There were large, deep cuts into her back from the shrapnel thrown by the grenade, as well as burns from the blast. Sadly, she had died with her eyes open, her glasses lay next to her, shattered and twisted, her blue and red barrette hat lay a short distance ahead of her, crumpled, part of it was burned and smoking.
Once Marina reached Ted she reached forward and wrapped her right hand around his throat. Squeezing with all her might in anger and rage. "I didn't ask you to come and save me. Look!, look what you did!!" growled Marina, Ted made no attempt to stop her, he just hung his head in shame and let her squeeze harder and harder, he just sat there gagging and choking. Marina's ribs began to hurt again, so she released her grip around Ted and brought her hand back and held her sides in pain.
Marina breathed slow, and caught her breath once again, "I told you, I told everyone, I can handle myself…" said Marina.
"I'm sorry Marina…we just came to help you…" said Ted slowly, he was also collecting Nancy's dog tags from around her neck. As soon as he was done with that he closed her eyes for her with his right hand and said a small prayer for her.
"I had everything under control…I had them right where I wanted them…" said Marina, still very angry. She then glared back at Ted who was now standing up and looking down at both her and Nancy with sadness and shame in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Marina…" said Ted
But just then the most horrifying thought came to her, "where's the fourth?!?" asked Marina, looking up at Ted with horror in her eyes. Three of her attackers were dead, but four were sent after her.
"Wha-AAAAHHHH!!" cried Ted, as a blade was shoved through his back, the tip of the sword piercing straight through and appearing out from his chest, blood dripping from the blade. The now mask less face of the 4th Oka Nieba soldier appeared over Ted's right shoulder, she was young, had jet black hair and dark green eyes.
"NNOO!!" screamed Marina, Ted choked on some blood, than looked down at Marina for a moment before the blade was pulled back out of him and he was shoved away hard to the side by the 4th Oka Nieba soldier, his body crumbling to the ground below in what looked like a lifeless heap.
Enraged Marina drew her Father's 8 inch long hunting from a long sheath attached to the back of her belt, sideways and got up, charging at her opponent in a rage. The Oka Nibea soldier moved back as Marina took a wild swing at her, and followed that up with a back handed sweep, both swings missed.
Marina swung a third time, but the soldier ducked under it, stepped around Marina, flanking her, then sliced her blade across Marina's back, the cut however was shallow and it only enraged Marina even more.
Marina turned around, swinging her right hand around as she did and the back of her fist connected with the soldiers face, stunning her for a moment. Marina then rushed at her and tackled her hard to the ground, both girls lost their weapons as Marina and the soldier crashed through a doorway and began grappling on the ground.
The soldier however was not injured like Marina was and she took advantage of Marina's injuries. As they fought on the ground, she would knee Marina hard in the side of her injured right leg, Marina screaming in pain with each thrust. Marina grabbed the girl by the throat with her right hand and tried to choke her as she lay on top of her. This enraged the female soldier even more and she started to punch Marina in the ribs, hitting her already broken ribs, causing great pain. Marina's grip weakened and the soldier followed that up with a punch across the cheek so hard it semi-knocked Marina out as stars began to dance in front of her eyes.
The female soldier looked back and to her right, spotting Marina's sniper rifle laying on the ground. She quickly got up and picked up the sniper rifle and stood over Marina, glaring down at her. Marina began to regain consciousness and now looked up at the rifle barrel aimed directly at her face. An evil smile spread across the female enemies face as she pulled the bolt back, loading a new round in the chamber, Marina just looked up at her. It truly was a defeat worse then anything she could possibly think of, to be killed by her own sniper rifle.
Suddenly the female soldiers eyes opened up wide and she released a gasp of pain and fell to her knees. Ted's head then appeared over her shoulder and he took Marina's hunting knife blade out of her back and stabbed her once more in the side with Marina's hunting knife, yelling in anger as he did. The female soldier cried out in pain once more, and leaned forward, her trembling hand reached down to her right boot, she then retrieved her own combat knife and stabbed Ted in the side as she stabbed her blade backwards into him, both grunted and growled in pain. The female soldier then fell forward and hit the ground dead, while Ted fell back against the floor, breathing hard and groaning in pain.
Marina quickly sat up and looked towards Ted, she used all her might to crawl over to him. She then reached him and laid next to him, looking down at his grave wounds, and she could do nothing as he lay dying.
Ted continued to breath hard, but he managed to look up at Marina and smile, "Marina…your safe…" said Ted, reaching up with his right hand and running it along her cheek.
"Ted…Ted you idiot…I didn't ask you to come save me" cried Marina, her entire body shaking in anger
"You didn't have to, I'm your friend, it's what friend's do" said Ted, smiling a weak smile as he lay on his back, looking up at Marina beside him.
Despite how angry and shaking she was, a small smile began to form on her mouth, "You…you did save me…in the end."
Ted smiled even brighter, reached up a bit further and brushed aside the hair in front of Marina's face, now looking into both of her eyes for the first time. Marina smiled a little more and placed her hand on top of Ted's that was against her cheek.
Ted chuckled weakly, "Hehe...You see I…told you I'd…make you…smile…" said Ted, his eyes closing, his hand falling away from Marina's face and hitting the ground hard. But, the smile he had on his face didn't fade one bit, he had passed on peacefully after achieving the most important goals he has set for himself. Befriending Marina, protecting her and making her smile.
Marina looked down at Ted, she was filled with so many feelings. Anger that she let herself get close to someone only to have this happen, sadness that she had lost a friend, but happy that he died peacefully.
Just then she felt something, something that she hadn't felt for a long time, something running down her right eye. Surprised she touched her cheek and looked down at her finger tips, which were now wet with some moisture. "Tears..." thought Maria, but she shook her head, "No no…I made a promise, a promise to father that I wouldn't cry again…to be strong, no matter what happens."
But she couldn't help herself as more and more tears started to fall from her eyes. She growled in anger and an attempt to stop herself, she also brought both of her trembling palms up to cover her face. A memory flashed through her mind, of her father's final moments before a serious illness claimed his life.
-------
"Marina…you must be a strong girl, you are all that remains of the Wulfstan family." said her father's voice, "Be strong, be proud, and never shed a tear for me."
"I promise father, I will be strong, as strong as you want me to be. I won't shed a tear, ever…" replied Marina as she sat next to her father on his death bed in their cabin, holding his hand. Her father smiled and closed his eyes, peacefully pacing on. But true to her word, Marina just lowered her head, didn't cry or shed any tears afterwards, she just said a small prayer for him.
-------
That old memory and the loss of Ted finally did it for Marina, and she threw her head back, releasing a long, sorrowful scream as the tears she held back for so long came streaming steadily out of her eyes and down her cheeks, dripping to the ground.
While all of this was going on, Squad 7 was just a block away from the windmill Plaza, the monumental windmill now fully visible, their objective very close at hand.
But back in the factory, Catherine O'Hara was regaining consciousness, but what she saw when she awoke startled her, a seemingly gigantic blade coming towards her, so she rolled to the left, dodging the blade as it sank into floor board, rather then her.
She looked back and saw Ellen struggling to pull her blade out of the floor boards, but Catherine didn't waste any time as she charged towards her, tackling her and crashing through a pile of crates and hay close by. The shock of the impact knocked a nearby lamp off it's hook and it crashed to the ground below, shattering and igniting a very large, nearby oil puddle from the neglected machinery abandoned in the occupation. And as the fire spread the entire factory was starting to go up in flames.
This however didn't stop Catherine and Ellen from fighting, both girls had lots of bruises, cuts on their face and lips and a black eye each. Catherine still tried to reason with Ellen, even as they fought.
"Enough Ellen, stop fighting!!" cried Catherine, dodging punches thrown by Ellen.
"No!, you Gallians killed my parents, you killed my friends!!" screamed Ellen, punching Catherine across the face, sending her flying backwards. She then saw her hunting knife close by and picked it up, swung her blade through the air and it connected with Catherine's arm, slicing deep, a short ways above the elbow. Catherine yelped in pain and backed away, but bumped into a large wooden crate behind her, she had no where else to go now. Ellen charged at Catherine, pressing her body against Catherine's pinning her against the box. She brought her blade up and tried to stab Catherine once more, but she moved to the right and Ellen stabbed the box instead, she quickly recovered it and took another stab at her, Catherine once more caught Ellen by her wrist and tried to hold the blade back, with the other she was choking Ellen by the throat, while Ellen was trying to choke Catherine as well with her free hand.
All this time, all around the two girls, the fire in the factory was getting fiercer and fiercer, the wooden boxes, hay and oil only helped to spread the fire and make it burn more quickly.
Sweat dripped off of Ellen's face with effort and exhaustion, teeth bared, her emeralf eyes burning and seemingly glowing with anger as she continued to try and stab Catherine with her blade. Catherine was breathing hard as well, doing all she could to hold the blade back, she too was near complete exhaustion from the long fight.
Catherine then looked deep at Ellen's emerald green eyes with her own bright blue eyes, "It won't bring your friends or family back…" said Catherine. Ellen stopped pushing and looked down at Catherine. "But if you must… go ahead, take my life, take your revenge…", Catherine then removed her hands from Ellen's throat and wrist and held her arms out to her side, allowing Ellen to stab her at her will.
But, Ellen remained where she was, oblivious to the smoke, fire and heat all around her. "What do you know about friends… you abandoned me…" said Ellen, her knife hand shaking.
A loud rumbling overhead caused both girls to look up and they saw the roof being to collapse. Without a moment's hesitation Catherine reached forward, grabbed Ellen and swung her hard to the right, out of harms way as wooden beams and tiles rained down on her.
Shocked, but unhurt Ellen remained where she was, but quickly sat up and saw Catherine, laying face down, underneath a pile of wood and metal. She quickly sat up and looked towards Catherine, who looked back up at her and smiled a very weak. "Thank goodness… your safe…" said Catherine, her head slumping forward and hitting the ground.
Back at the Plaza, Squad 7 had just destroyed the last anti-tank turret, all that remained were a few shock troopers, some lancers and an officer, who wasn't about to give up without a fight. But as Vyse was moving from cover behind a pile sandbag's with Aika, he happened to look back and see the factory where Catherine was, he saw some billowing thick black smoke rising from the building as well as some flames flickering from a hole in the roof.
"Catherine!!" shouted Vyse, he then took off running back down the street they had come from. Aika looked over her shoulder and saw Vyse running, "Vyse, where do you think your going?!?" she shouted, standing up and running after him.
Rosie, Largo and Alicia who were moving along side the Edelweiss happened to see Vyse and Aika running in the opposite direction of battle. But they had to focus on finishing the task at hand, which would be completed in moments.
Back at the factory, Ellen had finally gotten up and crawled back to Catherine's side, "Catherine…y-you saved me…" said Ellen.
Catherine smiled from the ground, "Of course I did…you're my friend…" said Catherine, her eyes were closing.
"No-No Catherine, stay awake, I'll…I'll get us out of here, hang on." said Ellen, Ellen then began to remove large pieces of wood and bits of steel that were on top of her.
"Forget me deary, just go…" said Catherine, still smiling as she said those words.
"Catherine…" said Ellen, tears falling from her eyes as she struggled to lift a heavy timber off of her.
But the shifting of the material caused even more debris to come crashing down on top of Ellen this time, now she too was trapped next to Catherine.
Catherine looked at Ellen and Ellen looked back at her, no words were exchanged, both were now trapped and had no way out. Catherine just reached over and took hold of Ellen's hand and gave it a squeeze, Ellen squeezed back and both girls lowered their heads.
"Aisha…sweetie, I'm sorry…" said Catherine softly as the flames burned even more intensely all around them.
Just then they heard a window break and two figures could be seen running towards them, one was Vyse, the other was Aika. Both of their uniforms were drenched with water from a water barrel outside, both had wet blankets over their face and mouths.
"Miss O'Hara!!" shouted Vyse as he reached Catherine and knelt beside her, looking at all of the debris piled on top of her.
Aika and Vyse then proceeded to carefully take pieces of wood and other objects off of her. Catherine then looked over at Aika, "Aika, help my friend as well, we've got to save her too." begged Catherine, Aika looked over at the Imperial soldier trapped beside Catherine.
"An Imperial??" asked Aika, Catherine shook her head.
"NO!, My friend, help my friend!!" instructed Catherine.
Aika thought for a moment then nodded her head, and as Vyse attempted to free Catherine, Aika started to remove debris that was trapping Catherine's friend. But Ellen held her hand up, "Soldier, just focus on getting Catherine out!!" ordered Ellen, another very large piece of timber fell from the ceiling and crushed Ellen's trapped legs, she screamed in pain, Aika fell back. "Get Catherine out!!"
Aika nodded and moved back to Catherine, and attempted to help Vyse free her.
"No!, Please guys, help Ellen!!" pleaded Catherine, but everyone, including Catherine knew that not everyone could be saved, so Vyse and Aika kept on working on trying to free only Catherine.
Another large wooden block fell on top of Ellen, and started to crush her, she coughed up some blood as the mighty weight of all the debris on top of her began to crush her. But Ellen raised her head, "Not yet…I won't die yet…" said Ellen, she then reached up to her neck and removed something, and handed it to Catherine. Catherine immediately recognized it as the pendant she gave to Ellen during the 1st Europan war.
"Ellen wha…" started Catherine, but Ellen just smiled, some blood dripping down the side of her mouth. "It was all I had to remember you by…" said Ellen, softly.
Catherine was just about freed now, "Please Ellen, don't give up…" begged Catherine.
Ellen smiled once more once she saw that Catherine was now freed, injured, but free, Vyse and Aika were supporting her, once under each arm, a wet blanket over all three of their heads.
"Ellen…my friend…" said Catherine, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Ellen's eyes began to close, "Thank you…I had always hoped…that you would call me friend again…" said Ellen.
The entire roof now began to creak and squeal, it was ready to come down at any moment. Vyse and Aika quickly ran forward, dragging Catherine along with them as she looked back at Ellen, still trapped.
The roof then began to come down, Ellen looked up, saw the falling wreckage, then looked towards Catherine and filled her lungs with as much as she could for one last scream "GO Catherine!!" she screamed, before she was buried underneath the flaming wreckage of the rooftop.
Catherine witnessed this, and brought her head back and looked down at the ground as Vyse and Aika were supporting her as they ran as fast as they could. She then threw her head back, "ELLEN!!" she screamed in extreme emotional pain and anguish. This tore Vyse and Aika's heart out as they attempted to outrun the collapsing rooftop.
Back outside, Juno Coren and Audrey Heitinga were doing their best to hold back young Aisha Neumann. "Let go!, Let go of me!!, Aunty Cathy is still inside we have to save her." she cried, kicking and screaming, trying to go in and rescue Catherine O'Hara herself.
Juno then looked up at burning building, seeing how weak the structure was becoming. "Move back, the whole things gonna come down." and both of the girls picked up Aisha and moved to cover behind a large pile of sandbags nearby. The building started to come down moments later.
Aisha saw this and began to scream in anger and agony, "He promised me…he promised he would keep Aunty Cathy safe!!" screamed Aisha as she pounded the ground with her fists.
Juno lowered her head in sadness for a moment and looked back up, she then saw something through the thick some of the open doorway... moments later Aika, Vyse and Catherine all came crashing through the door, rolling along the ground, choking, gasping and breathing in some fresh air. Juno, Aisha and Audrey rushed forward, over the sandbags, Aisha and Audrey grabbed a hold of Catherine and began to drag her away from the collapsing factory, while Vyse and Juno dragged Aika away and everyone was now safely back behind the sandbags, away from danger just as the factory collapsed in on itself.
With everyone safely behind the cover of the sandbags, they all breathed sighs of relief. Aisha crawled over Juno, Aika and Vyse towards Catherine as she lay back, breathing deeply in and out. As soon as she reached her she wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her, crying tears of relief and happiness now.
"Aisha…sweetie…" said Catherine, hugging Aisha back, ignoring how much her body hurt.
Aisha then looked over at Vyse with teary, red eyes, "Thank you so much , you kept your promise!!" cried Aisha. Vyse coughed and tried to get his breath back but he nodded his head and gave her a thumbs up.
Aika sat up and looked down at everyone, "Hang on guys, I'll go get a medic!!" she said, and she ran down the street, hand against the side of her mouth, "MEDIC MEDIC!!" she yelled over and over again.
Audrey and Juno then took Catherine to the shade of a nearby tree and laid a blanket and another rolled up blanket to use as a pillow for her head. They carefully laid the injured Catherine on the blanket and watched over her as they waited for a medic to come.
But Catherine sat up, despite the concerned looks from Audrey and Juno. Catherine looked back towards the destroyed factory, where her old friend and student lay buried.
"Ellen…" said Catherine sadly, she then looked down at her gloved right hand and saw the G-shaped pendant with the red, white and blue background in her hand. The same one she gave to Ellen during the 1st Europan war, but that Ellen had now returned to her. A few more tears rolled down her cheeks before she closed her right hand softly around her pendant, "Good-bye….Ellen…"