Chapter 13: Deployment!
"Your bug spray?"
"Got it."
"Sunscreen!"
"...why would I need sunscreen?"
"Don't want you getting sunburnt now..."
"Vignette..."
Gabriel clumsily dropped a pile of casual clothes into her suitcase and flopped on the bed like she was a sack of potatoes. She groaned in frustration, that she couldn't stay in Spirit Base anymore and had to go on deployment.
On deployment, separated from Vignette, to be more precise.
"...I don't wanna go...," she grumbled, forearm resting on her head.
Vignette looked at her worriedly. She knew she couldn't stop her from going, but the only thing she could do was make sure she was prepared.
"I know Gab," she sighed, sitting on the bed next to her. She slid her slender fingers down Gabriel's long, semi-oily hair. "After we had just got settled in too..."
"...I wanted to go sightseeing."
Vignette blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"Mhm. No internet. No MMO. Boring games. But I found this cool poster for an anime shop not too far from here."
"Huh...well...maybe we can go together after all this is done," Vignette suggested, tying a braid in Gabriel's hair. "Think of it as...incentive."
Gabriel smiled. "I like it. Anime shop, yakiniku, and we'll be in bed before 12."
"Gab...I don't think we can afford yakiniku."
"Ehh...?...well...street food's fine with me then."
"Roger that. Don't forget to call me. I will...do things to you if you don't call me and make sure you're okay."
Gabriel fished the blocky cell phone from her pants pocket and pushed a button, to which Vignette's started ringing. She held the phone to her ear.
"What sorta things ma'am...?," Gabriel purred sultrily, her voice gravelly over Vignette's speaker.
"I will hurt you."
"Hmm? How exactly?"
"I will delete all the manga from your phone."
Gabriel feigned shock and dropped her phone, hands clutching her chest.
"My my! What monster would do such a thing!," she proclaimed like she was acting in a theatre. Vignette supressed a laugh from the blonde girl and shoved Gabriel's phone back into her pocket, before standing up and checking her list of things to pack. She durned a serious 'mother who was about to send her child off to her first day of school' face and cleared her throat.
"Gabriel! Toothbrush!"
"Check," Gabriel drawled, still lying on the bed.
"Oi. Don't just say check. Are you sure you packed it?"
"Yup. Toothbrush, face cream, lotion, hand-sanitiser, soap, shampoo, conditioner, all hygiene products packed into one zip lock bag, and my shirts, pants, jackets, underwear and socks are all in there. Although not...folded."
"I want them folded and packed neatly by the time I get back from drills, you hear me miss White?"
Gabriel sat up and smiled at the assertive girl, taking in her semi-serious face with her hands on her hips. She really did look like a mother who was telling her kid off for a messy room or something.
"...you're cute."
"W-What?"
Gabriel bit her lip to hold back her encroaching laugh. She looked down at her hands to try and stop her weird fantasies of Vignette being assertive in bed.
"It's not...like that. I just think she's pretty. Stop it Gabriel," she scolded internally. She got up and saluted Vignette.
"Roger that Commander Tsukilady!," Gabriel valiantly chirped.
"Tsu-ki-nose. I'm going now. You better finish packing."
Gabriel nodded and Vignette left the apartment to go do her morning exercises with her newly assigned squad. The door closed shut and out the corner of her eye, Gabriel noticed a sleepy figure stumble on Gabriel's messy bed.
"Morning Gabriel White," Anna sang, although rather tiredly. Her face was buried in Gabriel's pillow. "How was your sleep?"
"Uncomfortable," she replied, sitting down next to her luggage to begin packing. "Yours?"
"Hmm...Vignette talks in her sleep."
"I know."
"Maybe you should calm her down a bit? You know, snuggle up next to her."
Gabriel stayed quiet for a minute as she folded her clothes, letting the thought of her sleeping with the demon-girl flower in her mind. The way she would breathe, the warmth of her body and her scent. Gabriel, living with her for so long, could practically feel it like it happened yesterday.
"Anna. I don't see her like that," Gabriel muttered.
"You mean you don't want to?," she replied back, now awakened by the love talk.
"...maybe. Wha...what if she doesn't see me like that? I don't want to ruin our relationship."
"So you do see her like that."
Gabriel sighed, now feeling a little annoyed and stopped folding to look at the blue-haired girl. "Fine. Yes. I do see her like that. I think she's the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think she's the best thing to have ever happened on this goddamn planet. There. You happy?"
"Woah...calm down. I'm sorry to pry," Anna said, noticing no hint of irony or sarcasm in Gabriel's eyes.
"I mean it. It hurts."
Anna rolled around on her back and looked up at the ceiling, smiling at the conversation. She reminisced her own love troubles back in her teenage years in Moscow.
"Gabriel. Do you love her?," she said plainly.
"Yes. Yes. A million times yes. What kind of stupid question is-"
"Then go tell her. Before either one of you dies."
"What the- listen here you foreign bitch...!"
"Seriously. Don't waste the time you have."
Gabriel threw her clothes down in a fit of anger and stormed out the apartment, muttering obscenities at the Russian girl.
"...acting like you're some kind of expert...fucking...nosy bitch...," she muttered as she slammed the door behind her. It was five in the morning, so the hallways were empty, allowing Gabriel to stomp down the corridor and outside onto the balcony. She shivered at the icy cold wind and let it cool down her anger as she lit up a cigarette.
"Fucking...Hensky...the fuck do you know...," she grumbled, the ember on the end of her cigarette getting snuffed out by the wind.
It took at least five cigarettes and an hour's worth of internal arguments before Gabriel could allow herself to come back inside the apartment, her fingertips slightly blue from the cold. It suddenly hit her, after she was calm, that it probably wasn't a good idea to stay outside in her pyjamas for that long. She slowly pushed the door to her dorm open, and saw Vignette standing over a defeated Anna, who was laying on the floor holding her cheek.
"Gab!," Vignette yelled as she pulled her in for a hug. "Where were you? God...you're frozen!"
"Vignette, what's...going on...? Did...did you...hit Anna?"
Vignette remained silent, frantically getting layers upon layers of fabric over Gabriel's shoulders, and sitting her in front of the electric heater.
"Gabriel. Where were you."
"I was outside. Having a smoke."
Gabriel looked behind Vignette at Anna. She was holding her cheek on the floor, and made eye contact with Gabriel. She had an undecipherable look on her face, even after having been slapped hard across the face.
"Out of all the idiotic-"
"Vignette!," Gabriel yelled, standing up and shoving her back. "You...slapped her! What the fuck?"
Vignette's look of concern slowly morphed into one of regret. It was as if Gabriel's look of disgust awoke her from her frenzy. She stood still for about ten seconds, before turning around and helping Anna up, checking her cheek for any scratches or open wounds. There was a large cut on her left cheek, presumably from Vignette's fingernail.
"Oh God...Anna...I'm-"
"It's okay Vignette. Really. Don't worry about it," Anna shrugged off. "My dad hits me harder than this anyway."
Vignette rushed off to the toilet and came out with a bottle of antiseptic and a band aid. She carefully cleaned her wound with the antiseptic, to which Anna didn't even flinch, before closing it up with the band aid.
"Sorry. I didn't mean it."
"I understand. It...was partially my fault Gabriel got pissed."
"Huh? What did you do?"
"Vignette!," Gabriel called, her face getting some of its colour back. "It wasn't her fault! I just got upset, that's all!"
"I...touched on personal topics. I shouldn't have."
Vignette finished applying the band aid onto Anna's face, and looked at her sternly in the eyes.
" You do anything to her again-"
"Vig-nette! I'm fine! See?," Gabriel yelled, getting between the two taller individuals. She held up her hands, physically trying to stop the tense situation from escalating any further. Vignette wouldn't even look down at her, however. "You've got to stop this guard dog act!"
Vignette grit her teeth at the sound of Gabriel's voice. She felt a pang of guilt, and rushed off into the bathroom without saying another word. As she contemplated her actions behind a locked door, Gabriel sat down next to Anna, who was looking away.
"I can't believe it. Vignette hit you," Gabriel sighed deeply with a tone of: 'it's too early for this."
Anna let out a noise of agreement, and the two of them sat side by side quietly for a moment.
"...umm...shouldn't you get going soon?," Anna inquired, taking a glance at the clock.
"Oh shoot! I gotta-"
Gabriel looked at her luggage which had all her clothes neatly folded and organised, and then back at Anna, her gaze fixated on a mouldy stain on the wall.
"I...thanks Anna," was all Gabriel could let say as she quickly changed into her uniform. "Um...let's chat on the phone kay'? This is kinda awkward, even for me."
Anna nodded. "Okay. Get back safe. I'll pray for you."
"Please. Bye bye," Gabriel said mournfully into Anna's shoulder. They released each other from their hug and soon Gabriel rushed out of the apartment complex, her thoughts racing about her imminent future.
"Vignette. I'll miss you. I guess it's all work and no play from now on huh...," she thought, dragging her suitcase onto the elevator. "Bye. Get to bed on time."
Gabriel chuckled to herself, noticing how bits of Vignette were sticking onto her personality against her own will. She had never cared about either one of them getting to bed on time, but it seemed as if she got accustomed living next to her well-ordered routines that she couldn't help it.
She pushed open the glass doors and walked hastily onto the concrete path, wrapping a white scarf around her neck tight to protect her against the harsh cold. There was a red civilian car parked nearby with its engine on, which was her ride to the airstrip. She was just about to open the passenger door when she heard loud footsteps running towards her.
"Gabriel!," Vignette called, waving a phone in the air as she ran up to her. "You forgot your phone!"
Gabriel patted her very empty pants pocket and laughed awkwardly as she received the phone. "Umm..."
"Save the excuses," Vignette sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Listen. Call me every night. Before bed. Don't you dare pull off any stunts that involve you and a firearm. And you better take those multivitamins I packed for you."
Gabriel closed the trunk before giving Vignette a tight hug. "Geez Vignette...," she muttered. "It's not like I'm being sent off to the frontlines or anything. I'll come home in one piece. Swear."
"You better. Or I'll...I'll..."
"No yakiniku for me. Right?"
"Well...I'll go broke but sure."
"'We'll' go broke. But we could probably have at least one meal there."
Vignette squeezed her friend even tighter. "Mou...you...stupid angel."
Gabriel got in the seat and closed the door, waving goodbye as the car slowly accelerated away from Vignette. She could already feel herself getting lonelier by the second.
"Come back home safe...," she thought, clenching her teeth in anxiety. "Please. Please. God...I don't want to..."
She trailed off in worried thoughts, before shaking her mind clear and mournfully walking back into the apartment building.
Gabriel crouched down with the rest of her squad mates, looking up at the commander who was preparing a briefing. He was old and tall, looking like he was in his mid-fifties. He stood still and waited as the rest of the troops got off the plane and knelt down under the large sunshade. There were around a hundred soldiers he was speaking to.
"Welcome to Sakai," he spoke confidently, his voice booming on the megaphone. "The place your parents wouldn't want you coming to."
Everyone but Gabriel let out small laughs. "If he said it...what the fuck am I doing here?!," she thought to herself nervously. She picked at a sticker on the metal of her exosuit's forearm limb as he talked. It gave her some comfort that soldiers were authorised to use their own equipment, so long as it was inspected by the higher ups.
"We're here to guard several tonnes of shipping containers in the bay area. They contain shit the Chinese and their employed corps want. Intel highly suggests chemicals for Doctor Haruo's latest genocidal concoction."
A transparent video appeared on Gabriel's holographic HUD. It was of a paralyzed man trying to open his mouth to allow a spoonful of food to enter.
"As you all might have heard, a smaller batch of this stuff was used against our troops in Nara. Nasty nerve gas. This shit will paralyze you for life if you breathe it in. Don't take your eyes off the enemy unless you want this to happen to us."
The video was replaced with a timetable and a visual map of the port, with arrows and highlighted areas.
"Here is the schedule for the marines on watch duty. You'll be monitoring the cameras and drones surrounding the port and react accordingly when the enemy makes a move. Air strikes, EMPs, artillery, you name it and we'll authorize it. Just don't let them get their hands on those containers."
The commander cleared his throat. "Medics will tend to the injured on bay 5, and be on standby to patch up our boys if they ever get into a firefight. Most of them were shot half to death yesterday and need surgery to remove bullets and shrapnel."
He looked over at Gabriel's squad, and they all nodded.
"Also, nuclear fallout has been coming in from the ocean and settling by the beaches, so this place is irradiated to hell. Send drones whenever possible and don't stay near the port for too long unless you have a death wish. Apart from that, wear your suits and masks, take your iodine tablets and I'll see too it that this operation goes off without a hitch. Dismissed."
The soldiers, a mix of Japanese, American and Korean faces roared in unison, before dispersing far and wide around the area, under the command of their squad leaders. It was an extremely large urban area, with the charred skeletons of wide factories struggling to stand upright under the destroyed concrete underneath them. Pipes and cranes, shipping containers used as makeshift cover for their makeshift outpost, as well as the ever-present signs of war: large bullet casings scattered everywhere they walk, and bits of dirt splattered everywhere from explosions.
Gabriel walked into the gate of this outpost with her teammates, and was guided to her quarters. She was now living, for the rest of the week or so, in a cramped bunkbed, setup in a dilapidated single story building. They dumped their bags off on their respective beds, and rushed to the tents where the injured were. Although Gabriel didn't know a single soul in her squad, they still moved like professionals during medical operations, Gabriel and company knowing exactly what to do and when to do it.
"Deaver retractor," Gabriel absentmindedly said, looking at a gunshot wound through her magnified glasses. Her colleague handed her a odd looking tool, which she used to keep the patient's gut slightly ajar.
"Uh...I'm seeing multiple entry wounds here," Gabriel said. "Bullet fragmented into around five pieces. We'll take out what we can while we're still here."
"Tch...hollow point bullets...? Pain in the goddamn...," she thought as she calmly removed small bits of metal from his intestines. She always hated bullets which were made to split into multiple chunks when they impacted a target. It made surgery and recovery take twice as long.
"Say Tenma-san...," Eun-Kyung said. "What do you think about this war? As a medic."
Gabriel pointed at the wound, to which Eun quickly sucked the blood away with a surgical vacuum. "I think it's unnecessary."
"Don't we all!," Eun laughed, muffled by his face mask.
"As a medic...? I...guess its frustrating. I mean...you could spend days...weeks helping out one person, only for them to off themselves as soon as they can walk."
"I hope that didn't actually happen. D-Did it?"
Gabriel put down her forceps. "Tapered needle. Going to patch up the intestines now. Yeah..it happened. More than once."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Cowards. I guess they didn't deserve to live," Gabriel growled, letting some of her old pessimistic fire burn through.
Eun stayed silent as he watched the angel do her work, intently focused, each movement precise and planned.
"But as a girl...as a human being? As a teenager who didn't want any of this to happen?," Gabriel whispered, barely audible. "I think this war is necessary."
"What exactly do you mean by that Tenma-san?"
"Well...I guess now's the only time we can see who we are. We've all been through tough shit. We've all made tough choices. I guess now at least I can die knowing who I was. Straight needle."
He swapped out her curved needle for a straight one, and she rhythmically moved her hand back and forth on the wound, neatly closing it up as she moved down. The movement was efficient, perfected after hundreds of hours in the clinic back when she was starting out.
"Who...would you be? If-If you don't mind me asking," Eun hesitantly asked.
"Ehh...who knows. I'll let you decide."
Gabriel cut the string off the suture, and wiped off the wound with a disinfectant wipe before protecting it in a thick layer of gauze. She stood up and stretched, sighing in relief and letting her fingers relax before the next patient is rolled in two minutes after.
"Man...," she muttered, looking down at her bloody fingers. "What am I even doing?"
"Tenma-san! I can handle it from here. You go take a well-deserved break okay?," Eun said as the two thoroughly washed their hands.
"Really? Thanks man. 'Preciate it."
"'Pre...ci...ate? What does that mean?"
"A-ppre-ci-ate. Means I'm thankful."
"Ah. I 'preciate our little philosophical conversation!"
"Sure. Catch you later."
"Another one down. Whaddya think Vin?," Gabriel thought to herself as she left the tent. "You owe me head pats. Stat."
Gabriel heard the whirrs of a dozen drones flying overhead, and she looked up to see what they were doing. She could make out large camera modules mounted to the bottom of every drone, right after they disappeared past the ruins. Her mind instantly wandered to the thought of her flying a small drone with Vignette. Maybe they could tie balloons to two of them and see who can pop each other's first? And hopefully it'll be a real sunny day...
Gabriel shook her head. "What the hell...why does everything I think about have to involve you."
She left the mess hall with a burger in hand: bread, lettuce, cheese and a meat substitute. She tried to ignore the taste of fake meat by letting her eyes wander around the base as she walked. There was scaffolding to an uncompleted building, which looked relatively intact. Gabriel noticed a ladder, and immediately began climbing up it with one hand. She reached the top of the building, wiping off the soot and dust from her hand as she took a bite from her burger. The cool breeze combined with the lack of screaming and gunfire eased her mind, reminding her to do something important.
"Hey. Can you hear me?," she said, sitting at the edge of the roof.
"Gab! You okay? Not hurt?"
"Actually..."
Gabriel finished off her burger, staying quiet for ten seconds which worried Vignette.
"Gab?! Where are you hurt?"
"I'm completely A-okay."
"Why you little...! Don't say 'actually' then! You gave me a heart attack!"
Gabriel let out a hearty-laugh, which Vignette rejoiced at hearing. She needed a good Gab laugh every now and then.
"What're you doing right now? Watching that scary movie I rented?"
"Paperwork. Boring linguist stuff which I'd rather watch that movie than do," Vignette replied, pretending to sound tired (she was very chipper that Gabriel called her). "You?"
"The usual. Saved a bunch of puppies, rescued a kid from a burning building, yadayada. Oh and I patched up injured soldiers. Lame."
"When will I ever get tired of your sarcasm...?"
Gabriel stayed quiet as another wave of drones flew loudly over her head.
"Hear that?," Gabriel asked, holding the phone up in the air.
"Kinda sounds like buzzing. What is it?"
"Drones. We have to guard a bunch of chemicals or something."
"Go on?"
"Apparently Haruo needs it to make nerve gas. You know the one used in Nara?"
"Medusa Gas. Yikes."
"Yikes indeed. You know, it's getting real irritating not being able to do reckless things."
"Suuure it is. I'm sure you want to risk tripping over a rock and cutting open your hazmat suit."
"Nuh uh. Anything but the radiation. Vignette...my Geiger counter's going crazy here. I'm defs gonna give you a buzz when I come back."
"Ahh! Stay away from me you little irradiated monster! Phone calls only- oh crud. Gotta go Gab. We'll chat tonight?"
"You got it. See ya."