Chapter 32 Burn

A new era of warfare began the moment her feet touched the ground. Her knees bending from the height of her fall, the hydraulic pumps in her Mark Nine Combat Armor absorbing the stress of it, leaving her standing with her combat boots cratering the soil.

Behind her, the heavy thuds of her friend's fall repeated with a clang, followed by the whirling of servos and the hissing of hydraulics as the armor left them standing.

Above them, the V-22 rapidly flew away, in order to circle back around and drop off James once they had drawn out the enemy.

Pulling the large GM6 sniper rifle from where it hung on her chest as she took a knee, Monika checked it's ammo feed again. James had personally modified it to be a belt-fed semi-automatic styled weapon, so she would not have to worry about reloading clips of .50 caliber ammunition into it.

"Red, you're up first. Prioritize vehicles and heavy weaponry." She ordered Natsuki.

"R-Right." Natsuki replied hesitantly, leveling her blinding laser across the airfield a quarter mile away.

"On my fire the enemy will zero in on our position, and hopefully come in force. Violet, cover our backs until the enemy closes within your range."

"Got it." Yuri replied, a bit surer.

With Natsuki, she sighted a guard tower a quarter-mile away, on the outer-perimeter of the airfield, with a heavy machine gun sitting on the side. At the moment, the two guards in the tower were straining to see who had jumped from the back of the V-22, looking in their direction. While her armor held her aim steady as she rested on her knee, she used the large scope on the weapon to aim for a guard's face, and fired.

For a moment, nothing appeared to happen. The only indication that the laser was firing was a steady red light in the scope, and a soft, low pitched growl from the weapon, emanating from a speaker that's only purpose was to make alerting noises.

Then, after a second of continuous fire from the invisible laser, the guard screamed, clutching his face. In his panic, the guard reeled back violently, bouncing off the guard tower and slipping over the edge and falling to his death three stories below.

Shocked by the sight of the man screaming and falling over the edge, Natsuki panicked for a moment, almost dropping the laser. Almost. Though not expecting to have killed the man with a non-lethal weapon, she bared her teeth behind her mask, prepared to cripple and kill many, many more.

Before the man had fallen over the edge, Monika had sighted his partner on the guard tower with her weapon. Setting the crosshair over his chest, she pulled the trigger, the entire barrel-assembly of the weapon recoiling from the shot, while the bullet traveled down range, destroying the man's chest and tearing a hole out of him when the explosive round detonated inside of him.

It was utterly disgusting, how much blood and gore a person could produce when they were torn apart. Monika's breath hitched in terrible surprise as her target crumpled and fell off the guard tower. Even so, she shook her head, readying to do much worse before the night was through.

"Keep firing." She ordered herself and Natsuki, while Yuri mournfully watched their backs, keeping an eye on the tree line behind them.

Improvised Command Center / Several Seconds Before

A few crates, a map, and a backpack radio was all The General had left to work with. Set up between the base's facility buildings, he had no command staff, and half of his own command thought he was dead.

Through the radio, he could hear the different company leaders calling out orders or requesting statuses, or tallying equipment. They had accounted for about five companies worth of front-line soldiers, being Spetsnaz and Paratroopers, and half a battalion of the defensive and auxiliary personnel meant to guard and operate the base.

As well, it seemed as though they had just over a dozen heavy vehicles, split between T-72 Main Battle Tanks, BMP-2 and BTR-90 Armored Fighting Vehicles, and Mi-24 Attack Helicopters.

Through the mixture of messages transmitted over their radio, a pair of guards had reported seeing movement at the edge of the forest, below where the enemy transport had hovered near the base.

Then a high caliber rifle report echoed across the base, signaling a man's death.

"What the hell?! Our men are getting shot! Start getting squads out there to fight off the attackers!" The General shouted into the radio. "That was a twenty-four man transport, so they likely have more squads moving in from multiple directions. Keep our guard up, and don't let anyone into the base!"

Stockade

The one soldier she had killed had not given much. One AK-47 rifle, with two spare magazines; a pair of combat boots, a size too large; a belt with space for more ammunition; a knife; and a distasteful and regrettable meal.

More importantly, he had given her freedom from her cell, which allowed her to work unimpeded. As it was, she had to work as quietly and discreetly as possible, else the rest of the base be alerted to her escape attempt. However, if the sounds of large-caliber gunfire was any indication, it seemed as though her friends were here, on the island with her.

Sayori didn't know their plan, only that she had to meet up with them as soon as possible, to get the hell out of this place.

For the moment, she kept the belt off, hanging it over her shoulder in the off chance she needed to play dumb and scared. Slowly hugging the wall, she scooted up to the end of the hall, looking through a small window into the next room.

A single guard, paying more attention to the battle outside than to his duties, stood behind a desk at a crossroads of hallways. Slipping out of the cell block, Sayori inched forward, her stolen rifle slung across her back, the belt hanging over her shoulder, and a knife in her left hand.

The guard before her was intently listening to a handheld radio on the desk, which kept him unaware of Sayori, right until she grabbed him by the back of the head, a knife being dragged through his throat. Pulling him back and down, Sayori ripped the blade from ear to ear, spilling blood all over the floor.

A sound of rushing boots from around the corner startled her. Thinking quickly, she forced the man down, under the desk, and crawled on top of him, hiding from view. The two guards who ran past not even noticing their missing comrade, continuing to transverse the base stockade, in search of information or orders.

Looking down, Sayori grimaced as the light finally left the eyes of her third kill. But she had no time to dwell on that, as she crawled out from under the desk, continuing her escape.

Southern Outer Perimeter

The heavy, deafening pounding of Monika's larger caliber sniper rifle had stopped causing her to flinch after the first shot. Yuri calmly watched as shot after shot from her friend ended men's lives brutally.

All the while, Natsuki aimed back and forth, her laser firing near silently, save the report downrange whenever a soldier would scream out as their retinas burned in their sockets.

Looking back up the slope of the quiet volcano, she noticed movement in the tree line. A four-man squad, returning from patrol, aware of their position. They had expected this, and it would be her job to keep their backs safe while most of the enemies were out of her range.

"White, enemy to our rear. I'll clear them out." Yuri announced with unusual confidence. The simplicity of combat demanding few yet direct words.

"Copy that." Monika nodded.

Standing and facing the enemy squad, Yuri took a deep breath, before breaking into a run. Servos and motors in her armor buzzed and whirled, giving her speed to match Olympic runners. In seconds, she was upon the squad.

Four men, armed with AK-47 rifles, were taking cover behind trees at the edge of the forest. Having seen her approaching at high speed, they leveled their rifles against her.

"Heavy infantry, front! Open fire!" Their leader shouted, followed by the crack of Kalashnikovs.

Not exactly pleased with getting shot at, Yuri continued to advance, keeping her left arm raised in front of her face to protect it, while bullets met her armor. Designed with the expectation of being shot, a lot, the armor held and distributed the kinetic force of each bullet over a wide area, feeling as little more than light punches to her body.

Then when she upon the enemy troops, close enough to hear them breathing, she stopped. The four men firing their guns in full-auto, to no apparent effect.

"S-She's not going down!"

"Keep firing!"

Hesitating for only a moment, Yuri bared her teeth behind her mask, glaring down at these men, the threat before her. Raising her machine gun, she hosed the first man, a half-second burst putting him down.

"Take cover!" The squad leader ordered.

Advancing into the forest after the rest of them, Yuri fired at point-blank into the second man, cutting him down.

The third man tried to flank her, firing short burst as he worked his way to her side. Strafing after him, Yuri's bullets cut into his legs, taking him to the ground with a pained cry.

The fourth man rushed her, the stock of his rifle raised and striking her across the face. Stunned, but not injured, Yuri stood her ground. Placing her left hand on his shoulder, the mechanisms in her armored glove allowed her to squeeze his collar bone, crushing it, as she forced him to his knees. Letting go, she raised her left arm, striking down with the armored panel on that arm, hitting his head, splitting it open.

Looking back towards the third man, Yuri advanced slowly, as he tried to crawl backwards.

"No! NO!" The man shouted in terror, towards the set of unblinking violet eyes. "What are you!?"

Without responding, Yuri fired a short burst, ending his life.

With a hiss of sick satisfaction, she raced back down the hill, to stand with her friends.

Improvised Command Center

The report from the patrol squad had been surprising. Three heavy infantry in black, unknown armor. One armed with a sniper rifle, the second with a machine gun, and the third with an unknown weapon, likely a blinding laser, if the other reports were accurate.

Then, just silence from the patrol.

"Send out Special Operations Companies One and Two to deal with the enemy. Send two BTR's as support." The General ordered, keeping the rest of his forces in reserve. It should be overkill, sending over two hundred men and light armored support to kill three people.

It should have been.

Base Facilities

She was losing count.

How many men? How many lives taken?

How many throats slit and necks snapped and backs stabbed had she gone through? A platoon? A company? How much blood was on her hands?

Inching her way forward, Sayori had collected several more weapons. More knives, more magazines for the rifle, and a pair of MP-443 9mm handguns. How exactly she knew what the handgun was called, she didn't know or question.

Hiding around a corner, she listened to two guards worriedly talk to each other. Silently cursing that she didn't know the language, she waited, hoping for any opportunity. It came then, when one of the guards walked away, further into the building, leaving the other guard to shake his head worriedly, looking the wrong way down the hall.

He was not in an ideal position for an ambush, so Sayori decided to pass him while he was looking the wrong way. Except that he turned around as she was passing, definitely seeing her movement.

A shout then, one that was surprised, but not threatened.

Cursing to herself, she decided to take a gamble. He probably didn't see very much, just enough to tell that she didn't belong. Dropping her rifle and belt while still around the corner, Sayori raised her hands, coming out to greet the soldier in a non-threatening manner.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm lost." Sayori half lied, using her uncertain tone to bridge the gap in language.

The soldier questioned her calmly, confused, but not terribly worried, having lowered his weapon slightly, so that it was no longer aimed at her.

"Can you please help me? I'm really scared." She whined, trying to sound as meek and submissive as possible. She just had to get a little bit closer. Just a few more feet as she approached the guard non-threateningly.

The radio at his waist cracked, dispelling information, and while she didn't understand it, she could read the change in the soldier's face. Eyes widening in realization and fear, his mouth agape in shock.

Close enough, Sayori hissed to herself, widening and lowering her stance, her hands lowered to her sides. She breathed deeply in preparation.

The soldier stuttered what sounded like "No!" in surprise, leveling his rifle too late.

With a shout, Sayori pounced, leaping towards the soldier, transferring all of the force of her jump into him, so that he fell, and she remained standing.

Thrown back by the small girl in surprise, the soldier dropped his weapon, landing on his side. Rolling onto his stomach, he felt hands grab his shirt from just below his neck, throwing him back the other way, landing on his stomach, stunned and confused.

Sayori followed closely, reaching down to grab the larger man by the back of his shirt and belt, lifting him to her shoulder level, shouting in exertion all the while. With one final shout, she thrusted the man in her grasp like a battering ram towards the nearest wall, cracking the concrete and crushing his skull.

Panting in exertion after dropping the dead man, Sayori leaned against the wall, struggling to catch her breath.

But she couldn't stop. They knew she had escaped, and they knew she was dangerous. She had to keep moving.

To keep killing.

Southern Outer Perimeter

Yuri returned to them just as they had finished off the Southern perimeter guards of the base, half of them blown apart, the other half in blinded agony.

The three girls breathed deeply, for the brief lull in the fight, waiting for the enemy to come to them.

At the bottom of the slope, from doors along the Southern wall, more men came, well organized and well-armed, and backed up by two armored vehicles.

"So…can we call Ja-…Orange soon?" Natsuki requested reluctantly.

"No…damn. That's not even half their men." Monika noticed. "We need all of them out before we call him. We'll retreat to the forest behind us, for cover against mortars and those vehicles." She formulated. "But first, blind those light tanks, Red."

"…Those are actually IFV's White, tanks are-" Yuri spoke up.

"Not the time Violet."

"S-Sorry." Yuri apologized weakly.

Aiming for the turrets of BTRs, Natsuki fired her laser, holding it steady on the circular optics for the gunner and commander, removing their ability to effectively target. Well in time, as the illumination rounds from a pair of mortar positions behind the wall had just been fired.

"Retreat." Monika ordered calmly, as she led a rapid advance into the forest, outpacing the cautious soldiers and blinded vehicles. By the time they had reached the tree line, night had already turned to day by way of parachuting flares, and machinegun fire raked the forest back and forth above their heads.

Still confident it their plan, Monika glared down the slope at the enemy advancing steadily on them. "Violet, you and I will fire sporadically, staying on the move but reminding them to keep their heads down. Red, find a good spot and don't stop blinding them."

"Copy." Her friends replied in unison.

Spreading out, Natsuki backed up, using the trees to cover herself from multiple angles, then returning fire. Bits of dust, kicked up by the gunfire in front of her occasionally highlighted the bright, purple beam of light, if only for a moment. Meanwhile, Monika and Yuri took the flanks, firing whenever they could take one or two men's lives, then moved on.

For the enemy, their BTR-90's could only blindly strafe the tree line in a predictable pattern with their autocannons, destroying several trees but being unable to find or focus on a target. The mortars were constantly fired too late, as the enemy was either too well concealed or too quick to target.

Thus, they slowly bled the enemy. Their fates torn apart by .50 slugs, shredded by 7.62mm rounds, or blinded by an invisible beam.

Improvised Command Center / Five Minutes Later

"What the hell is going on out there?!" The General shouted into the radio. "Give me a sitrep!"

"Sir! This is the second in command of the Second Spetsnaz Company." A soldier replied over radio. "We are receiving mass casualties from the enemy. Half our men are wounded, dead, or blind. First Company is without leadership, and the BTR's sensors have been damaged, making them ineffective."

What was ORCA's plan? Why only attack one side? What technology or equipment did they have to decimate so many men so quickly?

"Send out Third, Fourth, and half of Fifth company to engage the forces to the South. Send out all tanks and BMPs, but leave the last two BTRs in reserve. Spin up the Hinds, send them out hunting." The General ordered confidently. If ORCA wanted a fight, they would get it.

"Sir, what should we do about the escaped prisoner?" A Sergeant of the regular forces questioned.

"Send the remainder of Fifth Company to neutralize the prisoner." The General declared.

Base Facilities

There was something she was remembering. Something Yuri had shared when she had talked about an American author's work. Something she was thinking about now.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."

She imagined that is what James must have felt, hunting his own kind with fervent desire. That May must have felt, serving The League dutifully and without question. A week ago, she could never imagine why. A week ago, she had still hoped that she could have changed their minds, to show them that there was something else other than fighting, other than killing.

A week ago, she had still been an innocent little girl, her hands clean and her soul relatively unburdened.

Now though, she stood knee deep in the corpses of armed men she had hunted and slaughtered. Her hands stained deep, and her soul terribly divided. The smallest sliver of herself hopeful, telling herself that this was necessary. Reminding herself that she should not enjoy this.

Because Sayori would be lying if she said she was not enjoying herself.

A gun was more powerful than just it's ability to take lives. A gun gave power to the powerless, hope to the hopeless, and resolve to the spineless. Sayori technically didn't need a gun to kill men, not with her condition. It just made it incredibly easy.

The barrel of her AK still smoking, having just taken down another squad as she advanced in the base, moving swiftly and quietly. Coming to a T-intersection with the front clear, she moved swiftly across the gap, pointing down the corridor. Two men, one armed with a rifle, the other with a shotgun. With only a few bullets still in her gun, she emptied it at the soldier with the rifle, killing him, and took cover to avoid a blast from the shotgun.

Around the next corner, she quickly reloaded her rifle, but kept her spent magazine in hand. Throwing it around the corner, it created enough noise that it took the attention of the shotgun wielder away from the corner she was behind. It was the perfect moment to strike back.

Running quickly, she was in his face quicker than he had time to react, knocking the shotgun out of his hands and down the hall. Screaming all the while, she attacked, throwing punch after punch as hard and as fast as possible, striking the man across the head and chest thirty times in seven seconds. Left stunned and confused, the soldier collapsed to his knees, his hands still raised to futilely protect his head.

By the ninth second after her initial attack, she had recovered his shotgun, and fired it into his head from behind, killing him.

Taking a deep breath, Sayori fell to her knees, loosely holding onto the shotgun. She was so tired, so stressed out, and her chest was starting to really hurt.

But she couldn't stop now. She would be lying if freedom was the only thing she was after.

There were still so many she needed to kill.

Southern Outer Perimeter

"Well…it's nice to know that we are finally being taken seriously." Monika surmised soberly, watching as nine new armored vehicles led three hundred fresh Special Forces out of the base and up the slope, towards their position in the forest. From within the base, the spinning of helicopter rotors could be heard.

"Time to call 'him'?" Yuri questioned.

"Time to call." Monika sighed, placing a hand on Natsuki's shoulder, prompting her to prioritize blinding the new threats, starting with the T-72 Main Battle Tanks.

"White to Orange. The order is: Fall." Monika called on radio.

"Order received. Entering the battlefield."

Letting out a deep breath, Monika waited for what was about to come.

A reaping of lives and sowing of death.

Hotel One – Over the Pacific Ocean

Lining up an attack run, flying in from the West, Hustler One focused on two different targets with the weapons mounted to the V-22. In the rear of the aircraft, James stood, wearing the Mark Thirteen Heavy Combat Armor, his back facing the open ramp.

Hustler One lined the nose of the aircraft up to just within the Southern Wall's perimeter, letting lose a dozen Hydra rockets into the mortar positions, wiping out the light artillery guns.

Technically speaking, the gun crews were the first humans the A.I. had ever killed of it's own volition. They would not be the last.

Passing over the battlefield, the three Mi-24 Attack Helicopters, also known as Hinds, had been advancing slowly towards the girl's position on the ground, in front and beneath the course of the V-22. Aiming down with the belly mounted M134, it fired a five-second burst into the cockpit of the rear helicopter, killing the two pilots.

Excited by the prospect of battle, Strayed tensed it's legs, ready to become the one thing all men feared on the battlefield.

Death on call.

/EXTERNAL UNIT ATTACHED: MK13 HEAVY COMBAT ARMOR

/BATTERY LIMIT: 30 MINUTES

/MANEUVERING THRUSTERS LIMIT: 120 SECONDS

/WEAPONS:

GAU-19: 2000

RMK30: 50

AT4: 7

PHYSICAL BLADE: NO LIMIT

/MISSION OBJECTIVE: REACQUIRE SAYORI

/MISSION START

A light inside of the bay of the V-22 switched from red to green, forcing Strayed to leap backwards from the moving aircraft, leaving it to fall just above the battle while the aircraft retreated. Spreading it's arms to balance, it engaged the jetpack booster attached to the armor, slowing it's decent. The armor was too heavy to allow for flight, so Strayed glided it, in spite of it's aerodynamics being little better than a brick.

First facing the farthest helicopter, it leveled it's shoulder mounted launcher, aiming for the engines. The Anti-tank rocket left the tube with a heavy bang, spinning it's armor slightly to the right, and tore out the engines of the enemy Hind.

Now on a collision course with the last remaining Hind, Strayed cut thrust just enough to pass below the rotor blades, aiming to land next to the cockpit. Swinging out with the physical blade at the last second, the High-Frequency infused slab of metal tore through the armored glass cleanly, decapitating the gunner and cutting the pilot off at the waist, leaving the helicopter pilotless.

Jumping off the falling helicopter, Strayed coasted it's thrusters to glide it onto one of the BMP's, crushing it's turret under the crashing weight.

In less than twenty seconds, the enemy artillery and air assets had been silenced. The whole of the battlefield turned to face the heavily armored juggernaut of violence and sin. For many, it meant death.

For four on the battlefield, it meant salvation through damnation.

Standing to it's full height within the armor, Strayed looked to it's right, raising it's right arm with the GAU-19 .50 caliber gatling gun. Holding down the trigger for five seconds, it swept through the reinforcements, instantly killing more than fifty men who thought they were in cover from the enemies in the forest.

Behind it, soldiers raised their rifles to shoot it in the back, only for their leader's head to collapse with the report of large caliber gunfire.

"Attack!" Monika ordered with a shout, flanking Natsuki with Yuri as they ran down the slope, hoping to force a crossfire and lead more men to their deaths. In front of them, the three helicopters finally crashed, blades kicking up dirt and fuel fires spreading around the battlefield.

Walking forward after the first burst from it's gatling gun, Strayed jumped off the roof of the BMP, landing at it's rear. Cutting the rear door off with it's physical blade, it fired a single round from it's left shoulder autocannon into the vehicle, detonating the ammo and killing the three men manning it. Walking westward, Strayed leveled it's gatling gun with more men, firing in two and three second burst to cut down more squads.

With it's jetpack still operating, it fired it's thrusters, taking the majority of it's weight off it's legs, allowing it to move unnaturally quickly on foot. Rapidly, it focused the closest T-72, firing another rocket into it's midsection, detonating the ring of ammo in it's center and blowing the turret into the air. Before the spent launcher had even ejected, it had targeted the next BMP, firing a five-round burst of 30mm rounds into it's flank, detonating it's ammo as well. The next rocket spun into place on the launcher was quickly targeted on the last T-72 on the western flank, tearing it apart.

At this time, Monika and her squad had arrived, forcing the hundred men in front of her to scramble for cover, least they be caught in a kill box.

But not all of them retreated, a few brave or foolish men stood their ground. Yuri charged them, making sure that they caught as many of her bullets as they could, while Monika held back, her weapon ensuring death with each pull of the trigger. Natsuki continued blinding anyone with larger weapons, having already blinded the vehicles, just as they had planned.

There was just one small problem.

/WARNING: BATTERY OVERDRAWN

/RECALCULATING…

/BATTERY LIMIT: 5 MINUTES

/MANEUVERING THRUSTERS LIMIT: 60 SECONDS

It just needed to keep fighting a little bit longer. Ignoring the warning, Strayed turned back to the eastern flank, charging the tanks with the rest of the jetpack's operational time.

The rest of the armored vehicles turned to oppose them. Though their gunnery sights had been damaged, they still had the most basic optical sights, human operators. The first T-72 got it's main gun pointed in Strayed's general direction, firing it's 125mm smoothbore cannon. It's blade raised and ready, Strayed managed to redirect the HEAT shell away from it's face and into the Bases Southern Wall. In response, it fired another rocket, detonating the tank. Before the T-72 next to it had a chance to fire, Strayed was already charging up it's forward slope, cutting the gun off, then thrusting it's blade through the commanders cupola, killing the crewmember. Dragging the blade through the cupola, it opened a hole large enough to shoot down into. Jumping off the back of the tank, it raised it's altitude with it's thrusters, shooting down into the cupola with it's .50 caliber, detonating the ammo a safe distance away.

Turning around, it fired another rocket into the front of a T-72, destroying the last main battle tank. It's turret was blown straight up into the air, tumbling back down with a heavy thud.

/WARNING: BATTERY OVERDRAWN

/RECALCULATING…

/BATTERY LIMIT: 2 MINUTES

/MANEUVERING THRUSTERS LIMIT: 10 SECONDS

Using the last of it's jetpack's fuel, it charged the second-to-last BMP, using it's blade to tear through the IFV's left track, disabling it. Turing around, it fired five rounds of 30mm into it's fuel, igniting it. Spinning with it's last second of fuel, it fired another five rounds into the last BMP, hitting it's ammo and blowing it apart.

/MANEUVERING THRUSTERS: EMPTY

/PURGING

/WARNING: BATTERY OVERDRAWN

/RECALCULATING…

/BATTERY LIMIT: 1 MINUTE 20 SECONDS

Explosive bolts separated it's jetpack and thrusters, forcing Strayed to carry more weight of the Combat Exoskeleton. The two BTR's and the last two hundred or so men on the field began to retreat, backing up with the knowledge that they were facing a terrible monstrosity of steel and death.

Having cleared the west flank and leaving only the blind and dying, the squad of three girls closed on Strayed's back, pushing their advance.

Firing the last of her .50 caliber ammunition, Monika shouted, "I'm out! Switching!" Dropping her sniper rifle, with the ammo chute disconnecting from her backpack, she grabbed the M1014 shotgun from where it hung behind her left shoulder. The custom ammunition it was loaded with combined three pellets of 00 buckshot with an armor penetrating, high explosive slug, meaning it was devastating at close range, capable of long range, and able to penetrate light armor.

The shotgun already loaded, all she had to do was flip the safety, and started putting deadly slugs downrange.

In seconds, they killed another fifty men, with Strayed leading the charge with long strides, firing from both the RMK cannon and the GAU-19 simultaneously. If everything went according to plan, they'd be in the base in another minute or two.

So of course, everything went horribly wrong.

/WARNING: BATTERY OVERDRAWN

/UNIT/MK13 HEAVY COMBAT ARMOR: OFFLINE

/UNABLE TO RECTIFY

All at once, the heavy armor that Strayed wore came to an abrupt halt.

"Wha-Orange! Report!" Monika demanded.

"…"

"Orange! Why did you stop?!" Monika shouted more desperately. By now, the survivors in front of them realized that the enemy advance had halted, and took up firing positions. The BTR's stopped reversing, and began to slowly advance, adjusting their autocannon fire in spite of damaged optics, high explosive rounds landing closer to Strayed.

"Shit! Get back!" Monika shouted, taking cover behind Strayed's large, heavily armored form, Natsuki right beside her.

Firing defiantly, Yuri stood next to Strayed's left side, using her machine gun to keep the enemy at bay.

"White! Try and get Orange going! I'll keep th-" There was a sound like glass breaking, while Yuri's head snapped back, followed closely by her back hitting the ground.

"YURI!" Monika shouted, breaking protocol. Dropping her shotgun, Monika dropped down over her friend, dragging her back behind Strayed. With only a brief glance, she could see the back of a bullet sticking out of the left optical lens on Yuri's mask, blood beginning to leak out.

"White! We're being flanked!" Natsuki shouted, firing her laser at the few men who tried charging. They weren't who she was talking about though.

Driving forward, an enemy BTR took up the right flank from Strayed, strafing with it's autocannon blindly. Some rounds hit Strayed, doing little and nothing to it's armored form. One round did hit Natsuki though, across the panel of armor on her left arm. The force of the high-explosive shell sent her backwards, sprawled out on the blood-soaked ground.

"NATSUKI!" Monika shouted, dread in her heart. Fortunately, Natsuki was still moving, stiffly, aiming her laser with one hand while on her back.

"KSSS!" Natsuki hissed. Monika retrieved her shotgun, taking down two men who had started to approach.

"Nat! How bad is it!?" Monika questioned as she defended her friends.

"Left arm…broken." Natsuki grunted, doing her best to keep fighting.

But there was too many men now, converging on them. Reloading her shotgun, Monika kept her eyes up, seeing a soldier peek from behind the cover of the BTR, a launcher on his shoulder, aiming near them, and firing.

"…!" Hissing, Monika threw herself on top of Natsuki, awkwardly doing her best to cover her from what she thought was an explosive rocket.

It was not.

Hitting the ground just to her right side, the rocket came apart, releasing it's payload of flammable fluid, which coated over her entire right arm.

Monika burned.

Author's Note: I'm hoping you enjoy this chapter. Not a lot, but certainly very different from how this story started. Just finished writing 36, so I might wait to release chapter 33 until I can finish 38...you'll see why when it is posted, but hopefully it doesn't take too long. I'm very excited to share this work with you all, and hope you are pleased with what is to come.

As always, feel free to message or review any time, I appreciate every comment, and I'll see you for the next one.

To TorvaMessor: I'm glad you are liking it, thank you!

To JaphetSkie: As always:

1. Yes, it certainly has.

2. It was unfortunate, and that was why I used ships that were either decommissioned, or yet to be built.

3. Yep, that's what inspired it.

4-5. No, as good as a LaWS is, it's not able to damage a NEXT.

6. It would certainly be an unbelievable situation, helpless before a powerful and merciless enemy.

7. Yes.

8. Something that shouldn't exist at this point in time, as apparent by the kill count she reaches.

9. True, but even so, there is honor in meeting an enemy they have no chance against, and May tries her best to give them honorable deaths.

10-11-12. Yes. And Yes, I needed to level the field so to speak, to give her a reasonable challenge, you will see. And yes, all listed squadrons are from Ace Combat.

13. Embracing the demon within has it's own consequences.

14. Thank you again for commenting. Hope this is exciting as well.

To Schnee One: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and yeah it was one-sided, seeing as they have no idea what they are fighting, but battlefields change and this one will too.

It is setting up "something", but no you are right. Leos is James's ancestor, not the other way around. It won't be disappointing either, I can promise that. And yes, we'll be seeing more of the Ace Combat references next chapter.