Prologue
Azure Sword
Retaliation
After hired mercenaries failed to abduct Kira for their employer, The now muscle manipulator and healer is now forced to readapt to her former trade and unite with her former colleagues to track down and deal with the one who ordered the raid. With the aid of Alma, a renown information broker, The 1-7 Mercenary Company has discovered that the one who hired Kira's kidnappers, a former client known as Aelfric. With their target identified, The Major ZaneKantou rallies her company to take to fight to Aelfric and those harboring him...
*FE*
Kira feels a perplexed nostalgia gazing on the set of kitsch armored threads displayed before her in the concealed container. Within that tube holds reliable and battle-tested armor, and so many memories.
Swallowing the lump down her throat, Kira unlocks the container with occipital authorization and with a sharp hiss, the pod's front flies open.
From her simple clothes to her new threads, Kira resembles something of a kitsch Samurai with a smooth blend of azure, black and dark violet colors. Her cuirass is a violet blue polycarbonate laced vest, with customized armor pads designed for durability and flexibility. Her greaves are black mithrum threaded with dark blue stripes tracing down from the outer portion of the body with padded strapped boots designed for any environment with comfort. But what really catches Sothis's attention is the intimidating midnight black menpo covering much of her face, save her eyes. With razor sharp teeth clenched together and a large nose bowing towards the top of the mouth, Kira would appear like a demon or a beast if not for her doe-like eyes.
"You look... bizarre." Sothis murmurs more in wonder than distaste. "Forgive me, it is no insult, but... your attire now... I am at a loss for words."
"Y'know for someone your age, you sure do love carryin' a dictionary around with you, do ya?" Kira teases, her voice faintly muffled underneath her menpo while holding her kabuto in her hands.
Sothis's brows furrow. "What does that suppose to mean?"
Kira snickers. "Nothin'. Forget what I said."
"Uhh... Kira? Who are you talking to?" Gil's voice echoes out from the stone tunnels.
Kira growls, mentally slapping herself for sounding like a crazy woman supposedly talking to herself.
"Sorry, Gil? I say something?" She smartly responds. "Must be your imagination."
"No I thought I heard you-" Gil stops himself realizing what Kira is playing her. "Stop being an ass and hurry up."
Kira ignores him as her eyes remain fixated on the final piece to her threads: A shinning razor sharp katana with a beautiful violet blade along with an equally ethereal wakizashi.
Her hand slowly reaches out for the black handle and gently grasps it, feeling the smooth outline of it. Upon closer inspection, Kira examines the blade itself, and with Sothis peeking nearby, she eyes a unknown but beautiful characters carved into it. Kira then rests the blade close to her heart and inhales deeply before expelling the air from her mouth and sheathing her weapon quick and crisp motions before sheathing it on her waste. She then inspects her secondary weapon before storing upon her hip.
"I've never seen swords like this before. They are beautifully crafted!" Sothis murmurs in wonder
"I could make you one, too, but... ah never mind." Kira mutters quietly before planting the black and violet kabuto on her head, fully equipped with her trademark armor.
Sothis squirms at Kira's transformation. "You are... frightening!"
"I'll take that as a compliment." A completely different voice replaces Kira's natural tone. "Gil? You ready?"
"What in blazes happened to your voice?!"
Sothis yelps and leaps back as Kira's voice is completely unrecognizable, unnatural, and ominous.
Returning to the surface, Kira see's Gil outfitted in his gear that has perfect mixture of elegance and ruggedness. Adorned in a simply dark grey suit with rolled back sleeves, high-quality body armor, and a simple black ski mask, Gil looks something along the lines of a mysterious assassin that has a certain charm to it.
"Still got it." He says in a low confident voice.
"Uh, huh." Kira dully mumbles. "That neo-bank robber vibe leaves a lot to be desired."
"H-Hey!" Gil cries out. "Its not just the style, its also the reliability that counts!"
"Riiiiight..." Kira waves her hand to follow her. "C'mon, Boss and Jill are waiting for us by the shore."
"Lot to be desired, my ass..." Gil mumbles as he stomps behind Kira.
Sothis watches as Kira guides her and Gil to the near undisturbed shores of a beach. Were it not for the presence of Jill, The Major, and two small but nimble looking boats, these shores would be definitely be a perfect place for solitude for all the surprises and bizarre experiences the regal looking girl had witnessed. Not to mention these shores fill Sothis with a sense of nostalgia.
Though, as frustrating as it for her, Sothis does not no why.
However, this irritation is cut short when she catches eye of both Jill and The Major in completely different attire as well! Just when she thought she just saw enough bizarre sightings, those two girls have to surprise her more.
Jill's threads looks sleek and scaly that covers her whole body, like its a second skin that actual clothing. The Major, on the other hand has a remarkable mixture of appearing rugged and elegant, similar to Gil, with sophisticated trousers, a fine looking white short sleeve dress shirt with a red tie tucked tight in her shirt.
"There she is! Konpeki Katana, herself!" The Major eagerly exclaims. "Man! Why didn't I think of that style!"
"Because you donated this armor to me." Kira's new unnerving voice does not make the rest of her friends flinch.
"Ugh! And WHY did I HAVE to give that cool stuff up?!"
Jill's eyelids fall halfway and stares at The Major. "You got your head stuck in the helmet EVERY time you put it on." She dryly reminds her before adding with exasperation, "Boss... how? How did you even get your head stuck in THAT helmet! Its not even design to jam, for fuck sakes!"
The Major scowls and looks away. "Change the subject..."
"C'mon, Chief." Gil quickly butts in. "You're saying your epic yakuza threads are not your thing?"
"This is my old work uniform!" The Major pouts. "Ah well... guess its better than that wannabe bank robber getup your tryin' to pull off."
Gil bows his head and grumbles something possibly unpleasant.
"You children done playing around?" Alma's voice rejoins their shared channel. "Kira, got your EMP toys on the boat on the left. Charges and the big button both. Leonidas..."
"Gil..." He corrects her in agitation.
"Ferdinand." Alma teases. "Nice getup."
Gil's cheeks flush. "Uhh... why Ferdinand?"
"Alright, 1-7! We got our jobs, now lets go dish out the pain!" The Major slams her fist into her synthetic hand. "Shōtaimu!"
"Shōtaimu!" Kira cheers along before getting carefully slipping into the boat as the waves rocks it in all directions.
Gil loses his balance and falls back first, cursing on impact.
It does not take long before the two boats zoom away from the Sentosa shores ready for one of their craziest gigs yet.
*FE*
"Plant looks lightly guarded." Gil report as he scans their target from the safety of their boat. "I count 5- no 6 sentries. Buuut..."
"Bylins?" Kira guesses.
Gil nods. "Bylins." He hands the binoculars to her. "Take a look."
Kira accepts and begins eyeing the plant and sees that the plant is indeed guarded by symmetrical humanoid sentries in matching green digital camouflaged armor, and sleek helmets shielding the face.
"Looks lightly guarded. But lets not take 'em lightly." Kira notes.
"No need to convince me." Gil assures her. "I've seen those guys fight. They're pretty scary."
"Boss, we're in position. Got eyes on sentries: B-Troopers."
"Gotcha." The Major's voice comes clear over the comms. "Dish out some pain, if you have to, but no hazing for you or them. Most importantly ghost your way through that plant."
"Copy all. Out." Kira acknowledges before scanning the view. "What's my strategy?"
Gil shakes her head. "Whatever you decide, I can't bring the boat any closer unless we wanna get made."
Kira grimly nods. "Guess I'm goin' for a swim." She takes a deep breath before carefully rising to her feet admits the rocking of the boat. "Phew... ooookaaaayyyy..."
"Don't think. Just dive in." Gil advises her.
"Thanks." Kira dryly responds before letting out a gravely sigh and slides her backpack off her back before throwing it to Gil. "Do NOT lose this! My Three Kingdoms novel is in there, I will never forgive you if you get it wet!"
Deep breaths that sound ominous to outside ears are heard from Kira before she mutters. "Freezing water, here I come!"
As she positions herself to dive in, Kira gracefully leaps forward making a goofy sound that would have been a squeak in her natural voice before piercing the aquatic barrier.
Kira feels her body being jabbed in all directions by the ice cold water and forces herself to adjust to the water by instantly swimming to the shore.
*FE*
"You think the rumors are true?" One of the sentries casts his query to the trooper next to him.
"Rumors?" Responds a young masculine voice that sounds identical to the former sentry.
"About troopers being held prisoner on the rig." The former clarifies. "Some of the locals talk about pirates klepping our patrols... for the troopers."
"Locals say a lot of things." The latter easily dismisses. "And even if it was true, there's not a whole lot we can do. Not with the defenses they have. Besides, bastards have Zaibatsu protection."
The former lets out a frustrated sigh. "What a waste of good genes."
"Alright, lets get back to our r-GREEEUUUGHHH!"
"What the-"
The first trooper is stopped in place as a jolt of electricity spirals across the outline of his body before falling to the ground. The lone trooper is powerless as an arm around his neck renders him unconscious.
With the two sentries incapacitated, Kira carefully sets the trooper to the ground and casts a quick glance in all directions to see if the coast is clear.
"Goodness!" Sothis gasps. "Such efficiency and grace. Is it strange that I feel poetic right now?"
"Don't make me uncomfortable." Kira dryly answers. "This is K. Boss, you and J are outta range?"
"ZaneKantou here, safe and bored as ever waiting!"
Kira nimbly slips past one guard who had his back turned before she slips inside the interior where jolts of electricity zap from generators.
"Please hurry! The deep void of this water is really making me nervous."
"Copy. G, keep that boat running, setting the charges and hightailin' it back to you."
"Do you think it is wise to stand so close to these devices?" Sothis asks sounding genuinely concerned. "They appear too volatile!"
"Which makes them ideal for our strategy." Kira mutters quietly.
"Got it!" Kira crisply says as she begins to plant the charges onto the generators, each one making a satisfying compressed clicking sound each time she does so, drains her immensely as she directly applies her software to the charges to enhance the power. "Aaaoofff... okay... Charges set! Hang in there, G, I'm heading back to you!"
"Oh, thank the gods!"
As she steps outside, nearly staggering over as her vision struggles to adjust, Kira's ears pick up the alarmed gasp of Sothis.
"Behind you!" The mysterious girl cries.
Without thinking, Kira acts on instinct and twirls sharply, unsheathing her katana from its handle as she executes a sharp side swing. She can feel her blade facing stubborn resistance, but it cleanly cleaves through strong armor of the trooper flying back from the strike.
"Nice catch." Kira curtly praises Sothis.
The girl huffs and curves a smirk acknowledging Kira's compliments.
Seems she is somewhat capable of mannerisms after all. There may be hope for this one, yet.
Kira kneels over the downed trooper and rips off the helmet to accurately assess the man's pulse.
Upon seeing the soldier's face, Sothis lets out a quiet gasp. "He... he resembles you a great deal, does he not?"
The man appears rather young, somewhere around Kira's age. Aside from his oval face and brooding features, Sothis is not wrong that there is some resemblance, specifically with the light cream skin and deep blue hair with a regimental style.
"He's still breathin'." Kira notes before ripping his chest piece off revealing the deep but clean cut displayed on his black body suit.
"Oh my..." Sothis breathes. "How is he still alive?"
Kira brings out the device she used earlier to heal herself and nails it precisely on the wound. "That'll stuff up that gash there."
With six high-pitch monotone beeps, bursts of energy spiral around the unconscious trooper and his body arches up and twitches before the vibrant bursts subsided in the body.
"It seems you save his life." Sothis sounds relieved and rather surprised by Kira's actions.
Kira stands and begins to depart. "Be a waste of good genes if I didn't."
*FE*
"What took you so long?" Gil dramatically asks.
Kira heaves herself on board, disregarding the rocking of the boat and Gil's nervous demeanor.
"Sorry for the wait." Kira curtly says. "Hadda close call, but I'm okay."
"Not hurt are you?" A worried Gil brings up.
Kira shakes her head. "No. Little dizzy right now, but it'll pass. Now petal to the metal! We need make some distance, and alotta it!"
"Hang tight! Putting her at full speed!"
Despite the sudden jerk forward of the boat, Kira is quick to recover from it and looks back at the plant but has her mind set on another matter.
"Charges are set." Kira informs over the holo. "We're moving outta range now."
"Set you guys designated spots on through your links." Alma informs both teams. "Reach them before you set off the fireworks. You'll watch the view from a safe distance."
"Once we go in, I'll take point." The Major informs the team. "Jill, just stay behind me and watch my back."
"As if you need someone watching your back, Boss." Jill mumbles.
"Hey! I love your company, y'know!" The Major tells her.
A minute and a half passes before the boat comes to a slow and gradual stop with the plant still in view.
"K, here." Kira sounds off. "We're at the RV. Waiting on you, Boss."
"Just arrived at our spot!" The Major says before cheering with the enthusiasm of a child. "Now hurry up and start the show!"
"G, button! Pass it!" Kira barks.
"Coming a'cha!" Gil throws the device to Kira, who catches it with crisp precision.
With the button in her hands, Kira begins the countdown, "EMPing in san, ni, ichi..."
Her thumb hammers the button and a small burst of energy from the plant quickly erupts and envelops vast amounts of space in all directions.
"I'm lovin' those pretty lights!" The Major says in awe. "Should be hitting the riiiiiight... HA surprise motherhumpers!"
Kira watches from afar as any small dots of light illuminating from the plant zap out, reducing it to a mere husk.
"Holy shit... definitely did more than the trick! Defenses are down, net security, even counter hackers are fried! Love what you cooked up there, Kira!" Alma reappears on the holo looking elated. "Allllriiiight... EMP's died down. Should be safe to approach the rig now. You guys do what you do best, and have fun!"
"FINALLY! Full throttle, J! I'm gonna tear off some pipes, dents some skulls, hammer marks 'till they're layin' six feet under! They're all mine!"
"Jesus, Boss!" Jill lets out a nervous laugh. "Don't use up all your energy NOW!"
"Smooth and steady, G." Kira coolly instructs.
Comms are silent as Kira and Gil speedily approach their target. As they enter the danger zone, the two infiltrators are quick to notice a chilling sight: several patrol boats remain floating in place with the occupants keeled over motionless as sparks and small flames fly out of their bodies.
"Goodness... so much death..." Sothis murmurs in horror.
"Fuuuuuuuck meeeeeee..." Gil whispers, shocked at the sight. "EMP really did all this?"
Kira nods. "With those implants, blast like that definitely hazed them." She cocks her head back to Gil. "Don't get too comfortable. Plenty of naturals in there that are bound to be on edge."
"Hey... there's bound to be some form of light in there, right?" Gil nervously inquires.
"Maybe emergency lighting, but nothing else." Kira responds before asking, "Why ya ask?"
"Nothing!" Gil hastily dismisses. "Just... want to be sure that there is some reliable source of lighting in there!"
Kira cocks her head to Gil, and if that ominous kakuto and menpo is removed, Gil would be able to see Kira's harmless curious gaze.
"Please don't stare at me like that." Gil mutters. "Its freaky."
"Pfft." Kira scoffs before muttering quietly. "Big baby..."
Gil takes in a deep breath before her brings the boat close to the rig with the platform towering over them. "Okay... we arrived, Chief." He alerts The Major over the holo. "I see some stairs. Kira will take that rout and... huh? WHAT THE-"
Gil's peripheral vision catches sight of a flash of a figure leaping high into the air, and its only when he twists his head he sees Kira gracefully twirling high above before disappearing onto the platform.
"HEY!" Gil cries. "We're supposed to stick together! Don't let me take the stairs all by myself!"
Kira can barely hear his shout down below, but ignores them nonetheless as she kneels on top of the concrete surface before rises with poise.
"Just how were you able to leap with such range and power! Such a feat must be impossible."
Kira smirks. "You think the holo is the only implant in my body?"
A sharp feminine cry, echoing all around, causes Kira to unsheathe her katana quick and crisp like, ready for a fight. Its only when she sees the figure of The Major rolling onto the platform is when Kira relaxes.
"Boss... what the FUCK!" Jill exclaims over the holo.
"Language, J!" The Major sternly reminds her. "There are children on this holo."
"Who ya callin' a child?" Kira challenges.
"Boss, I was supposed to tag along, remember? You even said it yourself when we were going over the plan!"
"Well the plan's changed!" The Major shamelessly responds. "Got Konpeki Katana coverin' my butt in there now!"
"Uhh... we never really thought that far ahead in this plan did we?" Jill queries sounding somewhat worried.
"You're really noticing that NOW, Jill?" Alma dryly asks.
"Toldja all those years ago, Jill. I don't think about things, I just act on 'em." The Major coolly responds.
"Uh, Sis..." Kira gets her attention. "Your... hand?"
"Huh, oh yeah!" The Major laughs realizing her synthetic hand is dislocated from the wrist with a thin but durable wire stretching from her wrist to the edge of the platform is still present.
In a quick second, Kira watches as the wire sinks into the arm until the hand clicks into place, attaching in place.
"Geesh! That is unnerving!"
"Our lucky guy and gal are likely still down there." The Major hypothesizes as she moves with a brazen strut towards the heavy metal door with a metal bat with needles in it and Kira accompanying her. "Probably crawlin' with Kuso-amas that are probably unhinged after our little show. Keep close, K. Worst case scenario, we go back to back. Got it."
Kira nods. "Loud and clear."
"Chief, what about us?" Gil asks.
"You and Gil do that perimeter thing and make sure no one gets in or out." The Major orders. "Need you guys to be our eyes on the outside."
"And what exactly are we supposed to do with just the two of us? Our boats don't have auto-turrets or some top shelf shit!" An agitated Jill objects.
"There's two of you!" The Major responds carefree. "Believe in yourselves!"
"Alright." Kira starts unsheathing her katana. "Ready to move."
"Hold up," The Major stops her with her arm. "Gotta surprise for you. Need access to your lobby."
Kira cocks her head. "What are you plannin' on putting in my head?"
"I don't wanna ruin the surprise!" The Major cryptically answers. "You'll love it! Promise!"
Kira sighs but lowly responds, "Caaaaaaan't wait."
Alert: Request for shared lobby detected
Accept?
"'Kay, got it." Kira accepts the request and a small jolt that she has grown accustomed to before high-pitch squeaky voices started ringing out throughout her head. "Is this KIT-E?!"
The Major chuckles at her sister's excitement, "Singin' the full intro soundtrack of MWJ. In the Japanese dub. Ya welcome!"
"Sis... you're the friggin' bomb!" Kira gleefully says, her modified voice sounding goofy.
"What ear-piercing garbage did you allow inside you?!" Sothis cries covering her sharp ears wearing a strained expression.
"Two birds with ONE stone!" Kira chuckles sinisterly. "Ohhhh... this is gonna be sooo much fun!"
"I will NOT forget this!"
This just in: Sothis hates weeb music!
"Figure we can listen to tunes while we work." The Major says. "Now... Neri-ko sumasshu!"
With the swing of her bat, The Major breaks the door off, sending it flying into the metal wall and catching two petrified guards. The two girls are quick to make quick and easy work with them as the legendary song within their shared lobby begins to pick up.
"Aww yeeeaah! Its gettin' to the good part!" The Major cries with a childlike smile teeming with excitement. "Stay close!"
"Slow down!" Kira shouts back but shares the same eager grin as her big sister.
As the two girls race down the dark creaky corridor, they stop in place when they bare witness with several vicious looking foes who happen to look very terrified.
"No! Nononono! Is that The Major ZaneKantou?! T-the fuck is this shit?!"
"And Konpeki Katana... another ass-lickin' legend!"
"C'mon, guys we can totally take the two of them with all of us, right? Right?!"
Kira snickers from that voice.
Yeah you fools totally got this, don't worry!
"Ladies and gentlemen," The Major brashly begins swinging the bat on her shoulder and strutting forward. "THE MAJOR ZANEKANTOU OF THE MAJOR LEAGUES!"
Like a speedy predator pouncing onto its prey, The Major springs forward and swings her deadly blunt weapon. The result is gloriously brutal as several foes are flown into the air before flopping to the ground, making several echoing clanking sounds.
Kira is quick to lunge forward executing quick and precise strikes across her first three victims with her Katana.
"Here comes the best part!" The Major alerts Kira to the music. "Back to back!"
As the song is only seconds away from the best part, the duo glue their backs together as new and more seasoned looking enemies arrive.
"Fuckin' waste 'em!" A beastly looking man with the face of a feral rhino growls. "I wanna see some heads rolling!"
Two fierce looking men charge forward with nasty looking machetes, but Kira is quick to strike first piercing the gut with her blade.
"Suplex! Six o'clock!" Kira alerts The Major as she swings her sword towards her partner with the impaled man with it.
Before anyone can blink, The Major is quick to perform a sharp pivot and gripping the man from Kira's Katana, a squishy fleshy sound is clearly heard.
"SUCKA!" The Major howls as she lifts the massive man over and slamming him onto the other one, savagely incapacitating both charging foes.
"Star charge!" The Major barks. "GO!"
With a spring in their step, both girls leap into the thick of the enemies surrounding them and easily turn this standoff into a one-sided bloodbath.
Sothis watches in complete awe as both sisters overpower their opponents with two completely different styles. Kira's movements are quick, disciplined, and terrifyingly precise in every step, every strike, and every finishing blow. The Major on the other hand, shows no restraint in her thuggish and brash style, all while laughing like a gleeful child, and crying out every strike and blow she makes in a proud melodramatic fashion. Despite differences in style, Sothis senses these two girls are in bliss as they bonded over something dangerous as fighting. It is rather strange for the elegantly dressed girl, but her heart feels a lukewarm joy at the sight.
"How ya holdin' up over there, Kanto-jin?" The Major teases.
"Way better than you, wise-monkey!" Kira muses back.
"Ha! Keep dreamin! Gotta long way to go to catch up to me!" The Major boasts as she swings her weapon back and unleashes a blow knocking several foes back.
"Oh man, forget this!" One heavy armored foe cries. "I'm outta here!"
"Yeah, fuck this! I'll take my chances with sharks!"
Kira and The Major watch as their enemies scramble down the corridor, tripping and stampeding all over each other to escape a lethal fate, completely disregarding the well-being of their own.
"OI! Get back here!" The Major yells stomping on the skull of one of her victims as she swings her weapon around. "Come back, I say! I wanna decent challenge from you punks!"
"RRAAAUGH!" The Rhino faced brute roars in frustration. "Most bloodthirsty mercs my ass! Buncha pussies! Guess I get to ram these cuts of fuckable meats myself!"
"What... is THAT?!" Sothis cries. "How is such a beast so... humanlike yet so... unstable?!"
The Major, seeing the monstrous beast in front of her, simply sighs and mutters. "Please don't tell me, you're the best The Crimea has to offer. Seriously, dude, can't you just give up?" She then turns to Kira with a humorless grin. "Don't hate me for humorin' him, 'kay?"
Without warning, The Major throws her bat to Kira at such speed that would have been difficult to react if the younger sister's split second reflexes didn't clutch it with her hand. Resting her older sister's favorite weapon by her hip where her katana is sheathed, Kira watches with disinterest as the duel begins.
"No! What is she doing?! Is she mad! STOP HER!" Sothis watches in terror as the white-haired girl bravely rushes towards the titan juggernaut and lets out a soft squeak, and stretches out her hand, watching as the girl and beast's motions rapidly slowed before they could deal deadly blows to each other.
"What did you do that for?" Like before Kira is the only one who is unaffected by Sothis's power.
"Why do you think?" Sothis hotly says. "Would you rather see your sister be butchered by that fiend?!"
Kira raises a brow and snickers.
"Do you think this is a joke?!" The green-haired girl does not look amused.
"Clearly you never seen my sister fight." Kira states confidently. "And besides, we've ran into this mofo before. Loses every time he goes up against my sister."
Sothis's expression cools to a scowl, but reluctantly nods her head. "I will trust you."
With a raised hand, Sothis resumes the flow of time and watches with held breath as The Major and the monster of a foe begin their brutal duel. As expected, the fight is a complete one-sided bloodbath, but much to Sothis's horror, its The Major who is getting battered in this brawl.
Seeing the brute land his giant fist into The Major causes Sothis to gasp with both hands clutching her mouth fearing the worst. She watches as The Major is thrown up into the ceiling with a savage uppercut before peeling off and crashing onto the floor. Her hands cover her mouth as she watches the monster brutally smash her several times into the floor until The Major vanished into a deep dent in the ground.
"BWAHAHAHA!" The bulky rhino humanoid lets out a maniacal laugh. "Told ya, Dana Girl! Told ya I'd settle the score between us!"
Sothis watches as Kira crisply swings her katana to the side before slowly bringing the blade close to her cheek ready to strike.
"Heh, think you can take me after flatlining your own sister?" The brute shamelessly taunts. "Don't bring cosplay getup to the major leagues, sweet cheeks."
"Says the chump who thinks Apex Alex is a sick name." Kira counters. "Couldn't come up with anythin' more fitting? Given your sketch track record?"
He growls and bangs his fist against a pipe, forcing steam to leak out. "Lets see how you're still Konpeki Katana after gettin' a broken sword and broken bones!"
As Apex Alex blindly charges towards Kira at full speed, Kira shifts her Katana to have it resting down to her hip. At just the right moment, she swings diagonally upwards delivering a punishing strike to her foe.
Apex Alex's fiery expression dims into utter shock as he feels something tearing off of his own body. After a horrid shredding sound, he glances down in fear to find a truly horrid sight: his favorite attire has been shredded leaving him without any form of clothing. Apex Alex shouts in horror and acts on impulse to cover himself for decency sake.
Sothis lets out a morbid cry and shields her eyes.
"You can come out now." Kira lowly calls out.
Sothis watches as Apex Alex is delivered a punishing blow to a sensitive spot between the hips before flying up into the air breaching the ceiling squealing a high-pitch cry. The cause came from a steel looking arm sprouting from the floor before The Major climbs out of there looking completely unscathed.
"How'dja know?" The Major innocently asks.
Kira shakes her head. "I even need to ask?"
The Major chuckles. "Touche."
"Dana... she is..." Sothis glares at Dana, her back slouch and her mouth gape. "She is unharmed!"
Kira casts a sideways glare to Sothis and smirks. "Told'ja. When it comes my sis, she's practically a friggin' one woman army!"
The Major waltz's over to Kira and roughly pats her on the back. "Y'know he's not gonna let that slide anytime soon, right?"
Kira giggles. "Oh, I'm countin' on it."
The Major rolls her eyes flashes a toothy smile. "Well, c'mon! Lets go bag Queen Bee and Rocker Boy!"
Kira nods, humming proudly.
The two sisters waste no time charging down the labyrinth of corridors and intersections. If it wasn't for a series of signs pointing in the direction of the VIP section, and Kira thankfully pointing them off, Sothis would have no doubt that the duo would have gotten lost. More specifically, she would think that The Major would be the one to be lost while Kira would always be in the right path.
"Chief!" Gil's voice rings on the holo.
"We read'ja, G!" Kira smartly responds.
"And yes, we're workin' on baggin' our victims. Can'tcha just chill?" The Major states in an annoyed tone.
"We are!" Jill chimes in.
Gil chuckles. "We just don't know how'da kill time right now."
"Eh, jack off. Jill you can throttle him senseless!" The Major carelessly suggest, barely shrugging her shoulders. "But 'member, want you guys to keep an eye out, 'ncase these guys got any tricks up their sleeves."
As Kira and The Major make a sharp turn into probably the hundredth crossroad of corridors, the sound loud crackling and strange twanging ring off nearby.
The Major is quick to pivot in front of Kira, acting as her willing shield. "Stay behind me." She firmly instructs.
"Got it." Kira nods and turns to Sothis, quietly motioning her arm to scout ahead.
The floating girl softly casts an irritated sigh, but nods her head before gracefully hovering ahead to peek over at what is calling all the commotion. Her brows rise to see that a similar figure spewing fire from a metal stick in his hands, similar to the ones Kira and her intruders used when they battled in her home.
No... no, it could not be the same boy from earlier. His armor is different, yet bears similar features...
Sothis watches as this dark grey armored warrior valiantly faces off several foes with that fire stick of his, downing many of them before they could even dangerously close in on him. She watches as the warrior's weapon ceases to work properly and the remaining enemies decide to sprint ahead to charge him. He retaliates by ripping off his helmet revealing the blue hair style identical from the one earlier, and catapults it into one of the wicked ones head. A brutal brawl commences with the warrior's finesse countering mindless brute strength, but despite his superior skill, the barbaric denizens are quick to overwhelm him.
Sothis mentally scolds herself, nearly forgetting what she is sent to do and cocks her head back in the two sister's direction.
"It is a warrior! From before!" Sothis cries out. "He needs aid this instant!"
Upon receiving Sothis's call, Kira gently jabs The Major in the arm. "No gunfire! Sounds like a struggle!"
The Major frowns but nods. "I'll take point!"
Kira huffs in acknowledgement and rushes ahead behind her sister, throwing caution to the wind.
Upon coming onto the battle, the warrior kicks one of his attackers off of him, but is slammed in the back by a makeshift pipe. The Major is quick rid of him by seizing his head and throwing him into the steel walls. Kira easily makes quick work the few others with her clean slashing maneuvers, saving the warrior.
As blue haired young man grunts and shakes his head, he glances up at the two girls and scowls, but softens when he sees Kira.
"Thanks for the help." He tactfully greets.
"What happened here?" Kira asks.
The trooper shakes his head. "I'm not sure. Initially we were... making our rounds within the Strait when we were ordered to intercept pirate raids." His stoic features show hints of confusion. "I don't know what happened next, but next thing I knew, I woke up in some sort of holding cell, and half my squad was missing."
"You have any idea what mighta happened to 'em?" The Major chimes in.
"You got me there, ma'am." He coolly replies. "All I can say is armed guards escorted us out individually. I don't know for what, but... the troopers that went out never came back." He glances back at the dead pirates. "They were about to round me up, but then the power went out. Rest of my unit broke out amidst the panic and we began preparing for a raid into the VIP room." He bows his head and a grim expression looms. "By the time we fought our way close enough to our objective, I was the only one left."
The Major furrows her brows and crosses her arms. "So you huntin' the Kuso-ama that ordered the hit on you?"
"Yes, ma'am!" The blue haired man smartly responds. "No visual confirmation, but target's name is Aelfric. Surname unknown, but according to our security detail, he's quite interested in Bylins in particular, regardless of models."
"What a coincidence!" Sothis remarks. "It seems he hunts the same prey as we do!"
"Luckily for you, we're huntin' the same prey." Kira tells the man fishing up his helmet. "Might as well stay stay close to us and be a team player. Oh... and it would be REALLY appreciated if you didn't report us to your bosses that we were here with you."
Without warning, the Major hurls the helmet at the soldier. Thankfully his reflexes are sharp and catches it with ease.
The man appears unfazed. "That's not necessary. Besides, protocol states that your safety is paramount in situations like these."
"Protocol? I assume this man is a protector of yours?"
"Long story." She replies. "And not important right now."
"The VIP section is straight down this corridor." The trooper makes a crisp motion with his hand. "I'll take point. Please stay close."
"Got it." Kira readies her Katana.
As the trooper cautiously takes the lead, his weapon tugged close to his cheek, Kira and The Major follow not far behind him.
*FE*
"AELFRIC!" The Major abandons all cautions and bravely marches up to the heavy suited door and breaks it down with the ramming of her foot. "WHERE YA AT?!"
As she enters the room, The Major encounters no foes cowering before her, no idiots dumb enough to take her on, not even Aelfric or even Queen Bee White Knight. Nothing but the aftermath of a bloody battle inside a battered bar.
Green armored troopers lay still on the floor, their bodies dented, or sprayed with bullet holes before they took the whole bar and their patrons with them. But the Major is quick to notice something peculiar about one of the Bylins. She relaxes her bat and waltzes over to the corpse of a Bylin laying face down, and gently turns him over revealing what looks like his chest armor is severely charred and blackened.
"Boss?" Kira catches up to The Major with the trooper flanking her side. "What's up?"
"Somethin's off..." The Major mutters quietly. "Someone definitely made sure that this fool's chest plate was cooked high charred. Almost like a fireball BBQ'd him."
Kira kneels down beside her sister, her head slightly glancing away from the corpse. "I dunno about that. But somethin's definitely weird about this. Usually combustion attacks are more widespread but this... this is more specified and more impactful."
The Major nods. "Definitely gonna have a word with this Aelfric guy." She turns to Kira. "But its gonna be just me and him. Capiche?"
"Uhh... okay, but why just you?" Kira bashfully presses.
"Just in case. If this fool's got some more tricks up his sleeve, I wanna make sure he wastes 'em on the wrong girl."
Kira is silent for a second but quickly responds with a clear, "'Kay."
The Major smirks and rises to her feet. "Gotta admit though," She strolls over to the cracked windows with several bullet holes denting the glass. "VIP's do get the best seat in the house do they?"
Kira is quick to flank her sister's side and gently removes her kabuto and menpo. "Thinkin' of startin' up a new VA-11 Hall-A?"
The Major smirks. "Well now that ya mention it..." Her cheerful demeanor dissipates. "Sorry we couldn't bag your mark. Guess I shoulda known our Queen Bee wouldn't sit 'round here. Not after the show we put on."
"We'll get 'em." Kira promises. "And given the circumstances. I think it'll be safer to tag along with the 1-7 for awhile."
The Major immediately scowls. "Noooooo."
Kira is flabbergasted. "Sis..."
"You're not missin' one day of work, young lady." Her bossy tone reminds Kira of Sothis, rattling the blue haired girl's nerves. "Besides, somethin' tells me that this guy is next-level scary. Definitely not up to par with yours truly, but he's no pushover."
Kira gasps softly as Sothis walks through her and straight in front of the Major, fearlessly closing in on her face.
"And your best course of action is to leave her unprotected?! I know that you cannot hear or see me, but that does not change the fact that your plan is something an ill-mannered infant would come up with, you impulsive loud mouth brute! That Jill character is right: you NEVER think things through!"
Kira's eyes widened, somewhat concerned for the green-haired girl's safety. She knows that her sister is never one to be easily provoked over hostile words. Still, its unsettling to see that Sothis is poking the bear.
But The Major's oblivious face to Sothis's appearance reminds Kira that her sister cannot see this mysterious girl.
"Hey, you okay?" The Major asks softly.
Kira quickly nods her head. "Yeah... sorry. Just... whats the plan if those two order another hit on me."
The Major smirks. "Way ahead of ya!"
Group Holo Request
Major ZaneKantou
Accept?
Initially taken aback by her sister's quick action, Kira accepts the call and footage of Jill, Gil, and Alma appearing.
"B-Boss?!" Jill stammers, looking all flustered and unkempt. "Didn't hear from... shit, get this thing on me... you guys in awhile! Everything okay?"
"Got some bad news and good news." The Major starts off. "Which one you guys want first?"
"Bad news!" Gil cries out.
"Good news!" Jill loudly choruses.
Kira stifles her laugh on how quick both teammates were in sync with their responses.
"Bad news is Queen Bee and Rocker Boy aren't here!" The Major delivers the unfortunate bit first. "Good news is, you guys are on extended vacay! Much needed extended vacay!"
"Oh finally!" Jill gutturally cries out, her shoulders slumping. "I was worried we were gonna go on a manhunt or something after we JUST got on holiday!"
"W-what about our mark, Chief?" Gil sheepishly asks, his face having a fresh morbid look.
"Oh, he's still going to get hammered." The Major says all cut and dry like. "But I'm goin' solo. So want both you NEETs to make yourselves useful and keep my imouto outta harms way until then!"
"Uhh... a what now?" Jill asks puzzled.
"Later, Jill!" The Major quickly chimes in, eyeing Kira as she was about to explain NEETs are. "Keep those engines running, you two. We're making our way down to-"
"Woahwoah, Chief! Hold up!" Gil frantically cuts The Major. "That a transport? J, you seeing this?"
"Do I have eyes, G?" Jill cheekily says. "Of course I see it!"
Kira's brows furrow in concern. "Alma, you gotta visual?"
"One sec... yep! Looks like a commercial transport, but its not showing up on any shipping manifests."
Kira's purses her lips. "Looks like our gal and mark are still here." She hypothesize. "Alma, can ya pinpoint all the landing pads on this hunka junk?"
"I won't be able to access Crimea's system 'cause you frying it, but I'll pull some footage and pinpoint all the spots! One sec!"
"Hey, Boss." Jill starts, sounding less frantic than before. "Don't take this the wrong way, but... how come K is never in charge of gigs?"
"Ya sayin' that I suck at what I do, J?" The Major lowly asks with furrowed brows.
"U-uhhh... ummm..." Jill stammers and only relaxes when she hears The Major snickering. "Not cool, Boss..."
"Hey, speakin' of gigs," Kira begins scanning the room. "Where'd our stray run off to?"
The Major sprouts her head up as a faint beeping barely reaches her ears. As she twirls around seeing the trooper now kneeling over a dead Bylin, her eyes widen as he jerks back after seeing a blinking red light illuminating from the corpse.
"Bomb!" The trooper cries.
"Thought you could klep me, fuckers?!" A compressed female voice roars from the corpse. "That all you could muster?! Well look where that you got ya!" Maniacal laughter follows suit before the beeping rapidly increases.
"Dammit!" Kira shouts and with lightening speed, swings out her pistol and unloads on the glass only to have it absorb her bullets. "You freakin' kiddin'?!"
"Not to worry!" Sothis reassures and summons her glyphs to rewind the hands of time, but it quickly falters and the girls cries out falling to her side.
"Ahhahgrrr..." Kira feels a sharp pins and needles sensation wrecking her body and collapses with one trembling arm keeping her up.
"Kira! SHIT!" The Major dives down and seizes her sister before looking back at the bomb and back at the trooper. "C'mere, scrublord!" She barks at the trooper, aiming her metal arm at him before it springs out and seizes him by the leg.
The trooper shrieks as he is hastily reeled over, his armor screeching against the hard floor, producing vivid sparks from the collision.
"Buckle up!" The Major barks, gripping both people in her grip. "Gonna be a bumpy ride down!"
With a raw and powerful roar, The Major raises her natural arm upwards before slamming it down onto the floor. The result is something Kira could not even register, but she feels her body experiencing a sudden rush, like one would feel on a roller coaster taking a sudden nose dive. Only her back also feels a rising heat that is warmer one second then subsiding the next. Its only when she hears screeching crack of floors breaking is when she realizes that her sister, the Bylin, and herself and falling through multiple sets of floors.
Its only when the three merely dented the next floor, but not break it is when the momentum ceased. Thankfully, they are now more than safe from the blast from the VIP section.
"Everyone good?" The Major asks thoroughly checking Kira for any signs of scraps, burns, or wounds in general.
Kira clears her throat. "Yeah... yeah... all good here."
"Nothing serious." The Bylin reports, roughly knocking his helmet a few times before twirling his head around and reaffirms his status with a thumbs up.
The Major smirks at the trooper and lightly jabs him on the arm. "She totally saw that comin' by the by."
"Definitely." Kira lies.
"That could not be far from the truth! Goodness... It seems I
Kira rolls her eyes before resting her kabuto back on her head and cloaking her face with her frightening menpo. "J, G! you guys still there?"
"Holy fucking shit! You guys nearly gave me a heart attack!" Jill cries out. "What the hell happened up there!"
"Another close call! The uze." The Major casually answers. "How's that evac lookin'?"
"It started peeling off the second it saw that blast!" Gil reports.
"Not anymore!" Alma chimes in. "Yours truly hacked into their comms and sounds like its coming back! I'll let you guys tune in now!"
A few seconds pass before static rings out in Kira's ears before a clear and a slightly unhinged woman's voice is heard.
"...listen here, dickwipe: if my evac isn't here in 30 seconds, I'll drydock your corpse and feed you to the fucking sharks! Is that getting through to you now?!"
"Roger! On route to Platform 4! Please be present!"
"She seems spirited." The Major jests. "What the... Alois, can ya boost up the volume a bit?"
"ALMA!"
"I know what I said. Now volume! Chop chop!"
A long drawn out sigh is heard, but Alma complies and a panicked man's voice is heard in the background.
"Unhand me at once, or I'll have your wretched- ARGH!"
"Zip his fucking mouth! Had enough trouble from his virgin ass..."
Kira and The Major share the same determined glare and nod in agreement.
"C'mon Imouto." The Major grins patting her back. "Time for you to party with the big kids."
Kira lets out an annoyed sigh but nods nonetheless as she is glad her sister is by her side in this mess. "We're movin' onto Platform 4!" She declares over the holo. "G, J, you guys do me a solid and get some distance from that transport, 'kay?"
"Same as before, I'm taking point." The Bylin says readying his weapon. "Please stay close!"
"Yeah, you don't have to tell us twice!" Jill's snippy response is all the two sisters needed to hear.
"We'll be outside the Crimea's grid." Gil informs. "Call us when you need us, Chief."
"Hah! As if we ever need backup in the first place, J-Face!" The Major cockily answers before turning to Kira with a toothy grin. "Lets move out, Ms. Badass!"
Kira huffs proudly. "I'm with you."
*FE*
"How the fuck do you not have any fucking implants!" The boiling voice of Victoria Knight glancing back at her hostage that is all bruised and bloodied. "There anything on him?! Anything at all?!"
"Just a necklace." Her deep rich voice bodyguard calmly answers. "Aside from weird markings, there's nothing that screams tech or hardware on it."
Victoria scans the small stone like object that reminds her of a golf ball, other than the fact that graceful purple markings stretch throughout the it's sphere like surface.
"Just leave it on him!" She hotly orders. "We'll play 20 questions with him once we're away from this shitstorm!"
"Understood!" Her guard smartly answers.
As soon as Victoria returns her focus forward, she hears a bitter chuckle coming from a voice she wishes she can get rid of!
"Perhaps you should just leave me here." He says coldly. "Unless you have the stomach for what I have planned next!"
"Grrr... why is he still conscious?!" Victoria snaps.
No answer is needed as she hears the satisfying thud of a head being blundered by the butt of a pistol.
Exiting the interior of the wrecked Crimea, Victoria steps out onto the small platform where her transport is just now descending onto the landing space. Her eyes squint as a strong gust of wind is summoned by the roaring engines of the vessel.
"Took you long enough!" Victoria spits as she her foot steps into the compact passenger space.
The loud richechet of projectile fire hitting the transport causes Victoria to jolt. She twists her head back to see the two legendary mercenaries that she has always hated and feared the most.
"You have got to be FUCKING SHITTING ME!" She cries out and yanks her former client in front of her, and throwing him into the transport. "Get ready to get this bird in the air! NOW!"
She glances back in fear seeing The Major ZaneKantou and The Konpeki Katana racing towards her while one of those clones executes perfect headshots off her two bodyguards with one of their helmets flying off and into the transport.
Victoria growls and fishes up the dented helmet and hurls it hard at The Major, knocking her flat on her rear. Konpeki Katana looks back and sees The Major grunting and struggling to unplug the helmet from her head. That altered ominous sigh from that neo-looking samurai gives Victoria the chills, but its only when Konpeki Katana rushes ahead is when the her blood runs cold.
"FUCKING TAKE OFF!" Victoria screeches. "ASCEND! ASCEND!"
The sudden jerk of the transport catches the notorious Queen White Knight off guard, as she slams her head against the side cursing loudly. Her eyes dart to the floor as the barely living Aelfric rolling around like the rag doll, threatening to throw himself out the transport with the side door still open.
Victoria rushes over to the handle and pushes forward with all her strength, threatening to burst several blood vessels. "ClosecloseclosecloseCLOOOOOOOOSSSSSSEEEEEE!"
When she darts back outside she sees Konpeki Katana leap into the air with her renown katana aimed directly at Victoria. The former White Knight becomes paralyzed as her eyes keep their gaze on the sharp edge of that blade that has taken so many lives, and now she's still registering that she may become its next victim.
Its only when a loud creaking sound from that katana piercing the side door is when Victoria is snapped back to reality. She cries out in terror and jolts back to the other side of the transport. She quickly slides her out side arm and fires at the door close to where the sharp edge of the blade is only to have the bullet bouncing across the the interior until it grazed her in her arm.
"Sonuva-" Victoria breathes sharply through her gritted teeth as she bandages the wound with her hand.
When her fearful eyes turn towards Aelfric, she knows right now that beggars can't be choosers.
She lunges towards the man struggling to cling to his life and readies Med-booster in her collection. She lines him up straight as best she could through the turbulence and with a clear opening, jabs the needle into his heart and pushes down on the button letting crucial fluids run through the man.
Aelfric lets out a drawn out gasp and his head arches up with eyes wide as saucers before he begins panting heavily.
"Heyhey! HEY!" Victoria desperately calls to him. "Listen, someone's trying to slice their way inside here. Got another one of those magic hand thingies on ya?"
Aelfric looks less than amused. "You wish for my aid now? After you butchered me?" He lowly growls. "You truly more fickle than I thought."
Another piercing screech at the door makes Victoria gasp in fear as she sees a new sharp edge appear just below the original one. She begins to see a pattern where one blade retracts before running through a more superior angle, and the next edge following suit.
She's climbing the fucking thing!
"Enemy of my enemy is my friend? Ever heard of it?" Victoria rapidly spills jabbing her finger at the side doors. "Right now, that's our biggest problem. So c'mon, man! Do the magic hand thingy!"
"That 'magic hand thingy' has a name, you imbecile!" He mutters, his voice dripping with venom. He grunts and leans against the side gripping his necklace. "Our salvation... rests in this now... So... you may wish to hold onto something..."
*FE*
"Boss... when this job is done, we're going to have a serious intervention!"
"THAT wasn't my fault!"
"Will ya ladies pipe down already?!" Kira cries out in annoyance while desperately fighting off the strong winds and the turbulence of the transport. "Can't this stupid thing fly steady?"
"Kira! What are you doing?!" The Major's voice is strained with stress and fear. "Drop now!"
"I am NOT losin' this fool!" Kira defiantly responds finding stable footing.
"Friggin' hell! Catch up to her, G!" The Major barks. "Somthin' happens to my sister, and its on YOUR ass!"
"Already on their tail, Chief!"
Kira growls in frustration. "Outta all the times to be a big sis, THIS is not the time, Dana!"
"Oh no..." Sothis murmurs in fear. "Please hurry! The sky is brewing a storm, and there is something... unnatural about it!"
"Whadda ya mean- What the..." Kira twists her neck to see that the partly cloudy skies are quickly intensifying with an ominous shift and change in their formations. The increase of the wind and the violent bashing of the ocean confirms that Kira is in a precarious situation. "You friggin' kiddin' me?!"
"Uhh... Kira? You seeing this?!"
"Typhoon, I know!" Kira hastily responds. "Gimme a sec!"
"I can't! I can't even see you!"
"Dammit!" Kira curses underneath her breath. "Okay, G, find land! Any land! Too risky to let go, anyways!"
"Kira if something happens to you, The Chief will-"
"I'll handle my sis! DO AS I SAY!"
Kira terminates her call on the holo and devotes her full attention to her new plan.
"We cannot keep this up!" Sothis warns her. "Whatever scheme you must conjure up, do it now!"
"We're hitchin' a ride!"
The unstable turbulence of the transport allows Kira to slide across the hull and down towards the glass windows leading into the cockpit. Her Katana easily breaches the glass and allows her to slip in, rendering the pilot unconscious with an elbow to the cheek. She is now piloting the transport now.
"C'mon! C'mon already!"
Kira struggles to maintain control of her vessel and the vibration on the steering wheel is not helping her. And with nothing but dark clouds with flashes of lightening illuminating from within, Kira has to rely on the elevation and formation systems to maintain control. Her fingers rapidly work on the controls, to try and balance out the power and bring the transport under stable control, but it hardly makes a difference.
"Why is it still volatile?!"
"I've never done this before!" Kira hotly defends. "That's it! All power to shielding! Should help with impact!"
"Ahh! At last! The sky is clearing! Oh! And I see land!"
Kira looks out amongst faint misty clouds and can see the outskirts of a untouched beach teeming with tropical flora.
"Okay..." Kira breathes. "Okay... gonna divert some power to engines, see if I can slow this tin can down!"
Kira can feel the engines warming up again, and increasing in power, slowing the speed of the transport but enough to make a difference.
"Argh! Okay... fasten your seatbelts! We're skippin' across water!"
Kira then pulls on the wheel with all her might, grunting then shouting to the point her veins are visible. Her efforts bear fruit as she is able to hurl the nose of the transport slightly above the center. That and combination of the decreased speed, increases the chances of survival.
As the transport attacks the ocean, the aquatic surface barely deflects the flying hunk of metal into the air. It tries again to breach the barrier, but again, the ocean bounces it back into the air. This continues until the transport scars the sandy beach, twirling to the side before coming to a complete stop amidst several ravaged trees and crushed flora.
"Phew... I can't believe that worked!" Kira's voice fills the intense silence.
"Wait... Let me process what you just said: You mean to tell me that we would have died from that fall?!" Sothis, who appears completely untouched by the ordeal, has a look of complete shock, and utter frustration.
Kira, under the other hand, shakes her head to clear her distorted vision, and struggles to stand admits the sand and damaged armor on her body. "Trust me... been through worse..."
Kira, still recovering from the crash landing, stumbles out of the cockpit window and falls flat on her back on the soft sand. Seeing Sothis towering over her all haughty and condescending like with her arms crossed wishes she can just rest without having to see that green-haired girl's face.
"I retract my earlier statement on you be troublesome."
"Ugh... what did I do to get cursed by an oni...?" Kira whispers beneath her breath.
"YOU ARE OUTRIGHT SUICIDAL!" A squeaky high-pitch voice booms out, making Kira snicker. "Do not laugh at this! Are you an imbecile that throws herself into any life threatening situation?! No! Even an imbecile has more sense!"
"And YOU'RE the most snotty and obnoxious Candy Cane I'm cursed with?" Kira grumbles.
"Ah! I beg your pardon?!"
Kira hops to he feet and walks past Sothis. "That's what Imma start callin' you. That getup you have, the hair, even the streamers on her wrists, all of it screams Candy Cane, 'cept, of being sweet and minty, you're loud and annoying!"
Seriously, who sports streamers on their wrists like that?
Kira casts silly thoughts aside and trudges towards the crashed transport that has been beaten and bruised by the elements. As she approaches close enough, the side doors creak open and a familiar woman staggers the side, cursing profanities and pressing the palm of her hand on her head. When she see's Kira, who is still adorning her Kakuto and Menpo, the color from her skin drains.
"'Kay, look... I'm just the middle gal, 'member? The guy who wanted you knapped? He's in there! Still alive!" She tells her with her gravelly voice trembling somewhat. "I'll get him for ya, but one thing. I go free. Deal?"
"Bring him out and the 1-7 won't bring you any harm." Kira's amplified voice is still present, instilling more of a chill in Victoria.
*FE*
Other than the black void, a mild ringing is heard throughout Aelfric's head as all other sensations are numb. As he dares to open his eyes, a sharp pain hits his head and forces them close again.
The second time has more success behind it as the pain has subsided. Aelfric's vision paints an image of his arm and hand facing outward with his necklace laying atop his open palm. The same necklace with glowing glyphs that are now fizzling out before they darkened.
To Aelfric that only means one thing.
At least I have returned. Though... I wish... it was less... chaotic.
Before his vision blackens from a heavy head, Aelfric sees a limping Victoria tip toeing inside the room and towards him.
When his eyesight is restored, Aelfric can feel lukewarm humid air hitting him and the view of the ocean waves hitting the floor. But most importantly, Aelfric sees her!
"Ugh... man... dude needs to drop a few pounds." Victoria groans stepping in front of Aelfric, her hands on her knees. "Alright... go'head and ask'im all the questions you want! Right now I could u-"
Victoria's words are cut short, as well as her life, as Kira unveils her weapon and fires point blank into her head, sending her dropping on her side motionless as a statue.
Aelfric feels his blood running cold as her fears that his bound to be executed next. He cannot die here! He still has a goal to accomplish! A promise to keep! A dear friend to see!
But when the terrifying warrior removes the head and face ware, Aelfric finds comfort in a familiar face. That blue hair, those warm matching eyes and that loving smile. Oh how he misses her so much!
But as she approaches him, he thought his eyes are beginning to play tricks on him. Her appearance begins to subtly but permantely change. Her skin starts to shimmer with an unnatural surface, her eyes are no longer their blue self but white with black irises and uneven rings circling them, and that smile he so adores is now a cold and hostile scowl.
He reaches out with his trembling hand, and gasps out her name, but she harshly dismisses him.
"QUIET!" She angrily snarls before knocking him unconscious with a foot to his face.
*FE*
After the possible kidnapping, the crash landing, and worse of all the risk of missing a day of work, Kira could not care less about how bloodied and broken this man looked. If anything, Aelfric deserved this.
"You promised her that you would guarantee her no harm!" Sothis snaps, provoked by that thoughtless execution.
Kira rolls her eyes, unfazed by Sothis's shock. "I said my friends would let her go." She casually clarifies before starting up a holo connection. "KK here. Anyone readin' me?"
The other line is met by static.
"1-7?" Kira presses. "Anyone?"
"...repeat, is anyone reading us?" Gil's voice breaks through the static. "C'mon Kira, talk to us!"
"G! Its KK." Kira immediately responds. "Ya readin' me?"
"Oh, thank god! Man... please don't ever do anything like that again!"
Kira chuckles. "Don't worry, I'll make sure Sis doesn't have your ass. I'm onna beach right now, 'lotta vegetation nearby. Neural hardware's kinda on the fritz right now, but I'll tryda give ya guys a signal. Jill get that helmet off of Sis's head yet?"
"K..." Gil's voice murmurs, sounding reluctant to continue. "J and your sister... I can't raise them..."
Kira pauses for a second before finding her voice. "Whaddya mean by that?" She asks keeping calm.
"I don't know. The second typhoon cleared, I couldn't get into contact with them! I can even pinpoint their location! K, I can't even find the Crimea!"
Yeah, that whole typhoon felt off! How'd it just form outta nowhere then poof like that?
"Alright, take it easy!" Kira calms him. "Where are ya at right now? Paint me a pic!"
Uhh... I see a beach... lotta palm trees, and kinda looks likes something wrecked the place. That you?"
Kira nods. "Sounds right on'da the money. 'Kay I got our mark, and I'll wait for ya on the shoreline. Just follow the mess I made. Once we meet up, we'll come up with a plan!"
"Okay." Gil replies sounding calmer than before. "I got some stowaway with me. A Bylin to be more exact. Said he was on rig with you?"
What's he doin' with Gil?
"Rings a bell." Kira says. "'Kay, I'll be waiting here. Cargo in tow."
"Gotcha. On our way. And Pleeeeaaasse don't do anything crazy will you? I already hit my quota!"
Kira chuckles. "Well hurry it up, then G-Man."
With their conversation over and a plan in place, Kira looks back at the tree line and notices something odd about the wildlife.
Place is brigin' on a vibrant vibe I've never seen before. Flora's lookin' like it's fulla life, and... okay either my optics are playin' with me or I'm seein' wisps of light flowing around branches.
Kira watches with childlike amazement as the colorful orbs of aqua, green, and blue dancing around the flora. It's almost looks magical, like something she would see in a some far away wonderland from a fairy tale.
What happens next spooks her: the orbs of light begin to twirl around each other like they're dancing with glee. Suddenly Kira can see them shifting into a figure of a winged creature. Its wings proudly spread out and its head cranes towards the sky letting out a soft roar that feels serene to her ears before the figure flickers away in all directions.
Kira's eyes blinked, in disbelief of what she just saw.
"What the hell just happened?"
"I... I feel like... I remember this beach... but then again... I cannot! I do not how to describe it!"
Kira lets out in annoyed sigh. "If you're gonna talk in riddles, at least let'im be helpful!"
"Shush!" Sothis sternly commands. "Listen: I cannot help but feel there is some sort of connection to these shores! This is the first time I am... experiencing something like this!"
"Whaddya sayin'?" Kira presses.
"Ignoring your rude mannerisms and thuggish dialect," Sothis swipes her hand in front of her face in a pompous manner. Then her expression softens. "What I am saying is that... we may be in another realm, now. One that I feel I have remembered before."
*FE*
Phew! Another Long chapter out of the way! I'm sorry for the wait, but between working on the this chapter and work itself, it's been crazy. I hope you guys are loving this story and more chapters are on the way!
Thanks again!
