Chapter 10: Spirit Base arc!
"Finally! An opponent worthy of facing off against the great Satania Kurumizawa Mcdowell!"
Satania crouched down on the end of her mech's gatling gun, looking down at Gabriel, Vignette and Raphiel.
"Fufufu...but you are no match for my M61 Vulcan 20MM gatling gun-"
"Satania-san!," Raphiel sang gleefully, happy that she finally had her plaything back. "Come down here! I would like to see your cute face!~"
"C-Cute?!," Satania spat as she stood up. "I am nothing but cute!"
The angel and demon argued back and forth as the battalion of JSDF soldiers spread out across the base, checking every crevice for enemy soldiers. Trucks carrying electronics sped past them, on their way to fix Springs Base's radio communications that Ares had taken out. In all cases, Gabriel and her team had won. They had successfully administered divine revenge, albeit with one casualty, and a very angry man.
She smiled and allowed her body to crumble on the dirt, her arms and legs spread out like she was making a snow angel.
"Gabriel!," Vignette yelped, kneeling down to check on her friend. "Are you alright?!"
"Hm...," was all Gabriel could let out, not bothering to speak due to how painful it was when she did. A combination of plastic lung and getting throttled by a machine of a man would do that to your vocal chords.
Vignette sighed in relief. "Goodness me...come on, we can rest in the medivac."
Gabriel looked at the blue and white flying aircraft which was creating plumes of smoke around it as it touched down, and medics dressed as she was came running out.
"...yes? Ok. Ok roger that," Satania spoke to her headset. "Hmm...lucky you Gabriel Tenma White...I am needed elsewhere. We shall meet again for glorious battle!"
Gabriel rolled her eyes as Satania scrambled back into the cockpit of her silverback and the machine stomped past them.
"...w-wait...," Gabriel hoarsely muttered. She slowly stood up and began walking in a familiar direction. Vignette and Raphiel took notice and followed her, walking in the direction of their barracks. They had walked this path more times than they could remember, except back then there were JSDF soldiers stationed everywhere, and they were always doing things. Playing basketball, cleaning their weapons under the shade or keeping guard.
The trio walked past the dead bodies they had created, boots letting out crackling noises when they stepped on spent brass casings. Gabriel opened the door to the large barracks, which was semi cylindrical in shape and was protected from the elements with a green tarp. The trio walked in and smiled at the familiar sight of the neatly folded beds and footlockers lining each bunk bed neatly.
"At least no one was caught still sleeping when the gas attack begun...," Gabriel thought as she walked over to her footlocker. Vignette and Raphiel did they same, identifying their little piece of the barracks with small stickers and markings they left on their footlockers. Gabriel had a red cross sticker on hers, Vignette had a 'make love not war' sticker on hers which Gabriel had ironically stuck on there, and Raphiel carved a sniper crosshair in the middle of her footlocker lid.
They each spent at least five minutes collecting their items of sentimental value, before a JSDF private barged in, calling for them.
"Ah...you're finally safe now Mr. Mephistopheles...," Gabriel teased, petting Vignette's stuffed teddy.
"U-Urusai...," Vignette embarrassingly muttered. "Raphie! Let's get going!"
Raphiel came running in with a rucksack of personal items clutched to her chest. "Let's go!"
"My my my...," Raphiel cooed as she pet the loli's blonde mane. "Isn't she cute...?~"
"She sure is..."
Gabriel was passed out in Vignette's lap as the medivac flew to Spirit Base. She grumbled and turned her head so that her face was pointing towards Vignette's belly, which caused her to blush as she felt Gabriel's nose tickle her belly button. Raphiel could tell that the exhausted medic was content in that moment, sleeping peacefully while breathing in Vignette's scent. As much as she smelled like gunpowder, sweat and blood.
Raphiel took a swig from a bottle of whiskey before handing it off to Vignette, who sipped at he liquid a bit more gingerly.
"Gah!," she coughed quietly, not wanting to wake Gabriel up. "I...I thought angels weren't allowed to drink?"
"It's allowed in moderation, Vignette-san!," Raphiel chirped also quietly as she was handed the bottle back. "We're just not allowed to get wasted! Unfortunately..."
"Raphie...," Vignette said as she gently caressed Gabriel's head. "Can you do something for me?"
"Always, Vignette-san!," Raphiel replied, leaning in to hear her quiet voice.
Vignette's eyes darkened. "Gab's...really reckless. And...a-and I'm worried about her. That she might...you know..."
Raphiel didn't say anything and simply listened as the kind demon formed her thoughts into words.
"...and with her lungs as well...and she isn't...well, can't eat properly. And I won't be there to look after her all the time..."
"Don't worry," Raphiel confidently whispered as she leaned in so that their knees were touching. "I won't let that happen. I promise."
Vignette gave a small smile. "Thank you. It really means a lot."
"Hmm...she really means a lot to you huh?," Raphiel purred, the ends of her lips curling into a small smile.
Vignette tilted her head, confused at the self evident statement, but a second later widened her eyes and looked away.
"I-It's not like that...!," Vignette said as she fidgeted with Gabriel's ear. She tried her best to sound as casual and normal as possible, but the pink haired angel noticed her voice quivered a bit.
"...ok then. But Vignette-san?," Raphiel asked, causing Vignette to make hesitant eye contact. "I fully support whatever blossoms between you two!"
"I SAID!...I said it's not like that," Vignette breathed, trying to control her blush. "I just care for Gab. She's my friend."
"And she's adorable."
"Y-Yeah. That too."
Vignette looked out the small window, noticing wild droves of cows grazing away in a field. She tried to keep her mind off her strange feelings towards the blonde angel, worried that if she does, it'll hurt a hell of a lot more if something were to happen to her.
"Hey...remember when she got asked out by that guy? After school?," Raphiel giggled quietly.
Vignette brightened up at the memory. "Haha! I never knew she could kick that hard..!"
"Pfft!"
The two shared a giggle, remembering clear as day the look on the male student's face after he was kicked in his 'lower' body by an angry Gabriel, which was very un-angellike, to be frank.
"Oh man...I remember yelling off her ear after that happened!," Vignette sighed happily, wiping a joyful tear from her eye.
"How did she react?," Raphiel asked.
"You know. Said something about pigs and humanity, and shrugged it off. No sign of regret whatsoever. Our typical Gabriel..."
"And here she is now...saving people by the hundreds and liberating bases."
Vignette looked down at the sleeping angel and slowly gave her a small kiss on her forehead. "I always knew you were an angel," she whispered.
Raphiel looked out the window and noticed the medevac as well as the two other security vehicles were slowly descending. She put her helmet on her head and grabbed her satchel.
"We've arrived," she said as she undid her seatbelt. "Wake up your girlfriend and let's go!"
"Gab...," Vignette said as she shook Gabriel awake. "We're here. Time to wake up..."
"Grrh...fi...more...mi...utes...," she grumbled, burying her face deeper into Vignette's soft belly.
"You can sleep as much as you want once we get to our rooms...," Vignette tried to convince, but to no avail. She lit up at a thought. "Gab...there's internet here..."
Gabriel jolted awake, eyes wide and looking up at Vignette.
"R-Really?!," she exclaimed. She clumsily got her helmet and vest on and jumped out the door to meet up with Raphiel.
"Raphie! Raphie! MMO! Let's go!," she bubbled, running across the helipad.
"Hai hai, Gab-chan! Let's go!," Raphiel replied as she looked at Vignette.
"Goodness gracious Gabriel...," she smiled, putting on her helmet and stepping of the medevac. "Gab! Don't go running around! You're still injured!"
A medic stepped off the vehicle as well, and walked alongside Vignette and Raphiel, guiding them across Spirit Base. Vignette looked around in amazement at it all. It seems like it used to be a small city before the war, and was now repurposed completely. She saw large turrets and artillery pieces on top of buildings, squads of soldiers jogging through the streets, and combat robots being welded and fixed up in garages.
"Welcome to Spirit Base, Miss Tsukinose, Miss Shiraha. Follow me and I'll show you to your quarters. There you can place your belongings before your medical check-ups with Dr. Sechnov," he explained as they walked past soldiers and generals with badges on their uniforms.
"Yes, thank you kindly," Vignette replied politely. "We've been in real rough shape lately."
"Don't worry ma'am," he said coolly. "Sechnov is one of the best in his profession. You can say goodbye to any plastic lung you might have developed after the attack."
Vignette sighed in relief after hearing that, and followed the tall medic into an apartment with its walls surrounded with sandbags. She looked behind her and saw Gabriel jogging towards her with a grin.
"Gab!," Vignette scolded, gently dragging her inside by the arm. "Where were you? Come on, let's get to our rooms."
"Vignette!," she burst. "Computers! Over there! Can I-"
"Yes yes, we can play on it if you behave, okay?"
"Why does it sound like I'm parenting my daughter...," Vignette thought tiredly as they walked in the elevator. "Geez...isn't this the girl that just killed at least two hundred men?"
"Ah, Miss White," the man said as Gabriel walked in the elevator with them. "It's an honour to meet you." He gave a small bow as they shook hands.
"Huh? Who are you?," Gabriel responded, surprised at how rude she sounded.
"My name is private Nichirin. I'm also a field medic serving with the 32nd battalion. It was incredible watching your hostage rescue."
Gabriel remembered how she recorded that night on her helmet cam, the entire six hours of her healing every hostage and moving them to their truck.
"Umm...pleasure to meet you too?," she awkwardly said. "Sorry. I'm not so good with compliments."
"It's no problem at all," he politely responded as the group got off the elevator and walked down the carpet hallway. "Perhaps we can work together in the field one day. I have a lot to learn from you."
"So humble!," the trio thought as he opened the door to their room.
"Here is your room. Please excuse the mess. You will be sharing it with two other privates of the same gender, private Preobrazhensky and private Torres."
Vignette recoiled back a little at the mess of clothes, magazines and tools on the floor of the living area. There were two bunk beds and one single bed to the right of the room, a dining table to the left, a bathroom near the doorway and a separate small kitchen area. The trio chose a bed: Vignette chose the one under Gabriel's top bunk while Raphiel chose the bottom bunk next to Vignette. They dumped their stuff on top of the bed before following private Nichirin down the elevator and out the building.
As they followed Nichirin to the military treatment facility (MTF), he informed them about the current news updates these past few days. The Osaka satellite building was decimated with an air strike shortly after the hostages were rescued, a large force of JSDF as well as Alex Defence Company (ADC) are moving in to retake Spirit Base, and nuclear weapons were used on the factories of China and the United States.
"Oh God...," Vignette muttered in response. "This means..."
"Yes," Nichirin grimly spoke. "Nuclear winter. Which means our forces are scrambling to stockpile resources to hopefully outlast our enemy. We must act quick if we are to survive."
"Roger that," she agreed.
Nichirin nodded at the two guards standing at the entrance of the facility, who nodded back and opened the double doors for him. The inside of the clinic looked like a regular hospital, but there were large blood stains on the floor, coloured brownish-grey indicating it must have happened a long time ago. Gabriel, Vignette and Raphiel sat down on the row of seats as instructed while Nichirin entered the doctors office.
"It smells like home here," Gabriel joked, leaning back in her seat. She took a deep breath of the antiseptic smell, reminded of her first official job in the military, working as an assistant at the emergency room.
"Urgh...I'm getting sick," Vignette gagged. "I hope you won't work here Gab."
"I hope I don't work at all," Gabriel quickly deadpanned, holding her hands out like she was playing her game on a computer.
"For the first time in my life, I wouldn't mind that you do that."
"...doctor!," Nichirin scolded, his voice muffled behind the door. The three girls looked over curiously at the office. "...how many times do I have to tell you!"
They heard the sounds of glass bottles breaking on the floor, and the clanging of metal medical tools.
"...Spring Angel! She's here and needs treatment! Do your fucking job for once please!"
"Spring Angel?," Vignette thought pridefully, looking over at the nonchalant blonde. "I like that. It suits her."
They overheard muffled, indecipherable chatter before the door opened and Nichirin walked out holding his forehead in frustration. Behind him was a shorter, older man, around his mid fifties, wearing a lab coat and holding a bottle of liquor by the neck.
"Oh God," Vignette muttered.
The drunk doctor took a slow look at the three girls, and leaned in closer to Gabriel. He eyed her up and down as Gabriel tried not to gag at his stench of booze, cigarettes and sweat.
"You the girl they talk about huh?," he asked with a strong Russian accent. "Small and fragile."
"Doctor!," Nichirin reprimanded.
"Whatever. You gonna patch us up or what?," Gabriel responded nonchalantly. She could understand how the doctor was feeling, after seeing so many patients die despite her best efforts.
"Hm. This way," he grunted, taking a swig from his bottle.