The second season is out! Can't wait to binge watch it once it's done!
Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!
Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
"Are you ok?"
I looked up from the back of the car to see Sebrina looking at me with worried eyes. I tightened my right hand over my left, clenching it to the point of almost drawing blood. "That-That is by far the hardest thing I have done in my life, Sebrina."
"You have two more to go, Johan and then we can head back to our little base." She softly encouraged me before turning around and starting the car.
I felt the old car rumble to life and lurch forward towards our next destination. Only two more to go. I repeated it in my head countless times. Just two more heartbroken families. But I knew the sentiment was a lie. A lot more people would die before this nightmare could end.
For the first time in a long time I felt helpless as I had to watch families get torn apart by grief. There was nothing I could do for these people except offer some half assed compensation and kind words. And to be honest a part of me wanted to break down with them. Let go of everything and cry with them.
But I didn't have that luxury. It was my decision and my orders that got them killed. My tears would only come across as a patronizing act to the Gold Star Families.
Throughout it all, I must've said "I'm sorry" more than I have my entire life up until this point.
What scared me the most was how numb I was by the time I got to the third family. The whole ordeal went by in an agonizing flash within a couple hours. All the families were in the 85th district so we didn't have too much time that was wasted.
But as I headed back to the Eastern Front on my chinook I couldn't help but think about my own self. Was I the kind of sociopath with a rapidly depleting ability to feel empathy? Or was I just a damn good Intel officer? Already I felt the strange urge to just move on from this. I wanted the funeral to be over with and the families to say their farewells and put all of this behind me.
I leaned my head against the cool metal of the helicopter and stared out of one of the numerous bullet holes to the tranquil scenery below me.
Tomorrow couldn't pass fast enough.
Was I wrong to think that?
I repeated the question in my head over and over again. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even realize we had landed until I saw the ramps go down. I winced as the bright lights filtered into my vision. I undid my restraints and grabbed the small briefcase that was next to me. I stood up slowly and made my way towards the ramp, following in behind Sebrina.
She turned around to look at me from the top of the ramp. I stared at her for a moment, confused as to why she was just looking at me. She gave me a sad smile and moved her hand from the top of her head and down her face multiple times.
To my own embarrassment it took a lot longer than it should've to understand what she meant.
I rolled my stiff shoulders and rolled my neck around and took a deep breath.
Inhale for five seconds.
Exhale for five seconds.
I replaced whatever sad expression that was on my face for something that I had put on every day for the past two years.
A neutral expression where no one but I knew what I was feeling. My own personal feelings were shoved down underneath the surface again.
It was only after Sebrina gave me a thumbs up that I walked down the ramp after her and to the outside world.
Everyone was there, waiting for me in formation. Spearhead to my left, my marines to the right.
Sebrina quickly marched over to her place in front of the Marines and made an about face. As soon as she turned around. they all snapped into a salute in unison.
I stood in front of everyone silently as I contemplated what to say to them.
I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.
I held my salute along with Captain Merigold and her soldiers...Marines. I reminded myself silently. Behind me, I watched from the corner of my eyes as the rest of Spearhead Squadron did the same.
The Colonel stood in front of us with his arms crossed behind his back. As he slowly opened his eyes, the air seemed a little colder and I felt myself standing a little straighter. Right now, underneath the shadows of his cover, the once grey silver eyes were replaced by frigid blue. There was no way the Colonel had some ability to change eye colors right? Something like that was superhuman in nature.
Then again, I could hear the voices of the dead so what can I even say? Maybe the man did have some power.
I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine and the goosebumps along my arms.
"Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday we made history that was long in the making. Yesterday we fought side by side regardless of race or social standing. Yesterday was the largest concentrated attack from the Legion within the last five years and we made it out relatively unscathed. Yesterday was our victory."
His voice was the same as always but unlike before there was something else within it. A sense of authority? I didn't know what it was but it captured my attention.
"I say relatively unscathed because we lost three good men yesterday. All in all, a positive outcome given the circumstances but I am not here to give comforting words but the cold hard truth of why I do the things that I do and the long road that lies in front of us. More of you will die in unmarked graves before this war is over. More of you will find yourselves tested to the brink of destruction but know this. Put your faith in me and I will figure out a way because we will fight and do the hard things not because they are easy but because they are hard." He thumped a hand over his chest. "Give your lives to me! And I will show you the impossible glory that lies beyond the horizon, that is peace. And we shall challenge it, because it is seemingly impossible. But know that the will of man can achieve the seemingly unachievable. You who are my warriors shall lead this endeavor. Where you stand today marks the turning point from which would lead our nation into a thousand years of darkness. We shall preserve for our children this, the last great hope on Earth."
I didn't even realize my hand had fallen by my side as I stood, awestruck. For the first time in my life, I was truly at a loss for words.
"Two and a half months from now on the day of the Revolution Festival, we shall change the course of history again." His voice dropped an octave. "By killing those who put us on this sinking boat."
I could hear some of my men gasp in surprise.
He really was serious about this.
"And you may be wondering, especially those of Spearhead….." I tensed up as his sole attention was on us now. I almost forgot to breathe as I stared into those mad eyes. "What if we choose not to follow? What if we choose to die on this battlefield? Well I shall answer the question for you, I will not let that happen. You will not die for some stupid reason because if you are going to die then you will die under my command, for something bigger than just yourselves. If you have any questions I will answer each and every single one of them in private before the day is done so write them down or do whatever is necessary. You are dismissed!"
I watched as the Colonel marched off into the building in silence. A million thoughts ran through my mind as I processed what had been said. Of all days, why the Revolution Festival? Was it because this would be our own revolution? Or was there something deeper? And would they be able to pull something like that off at such a big scale on such a short notice?
More and more questions began bouncing around in my head, so much so I didn't even realize Captain Merigold had approached me.
"Captain Nouzen?"
I snapped back to reality and looked over at the woman. "Yes Captain Merigold?"
"I'm sure you all have a lot of questions." She glanced back at the rest of my unit. "If you would like, I can answer any questions you have."
"Yeah that would be great." Raiden chimed in as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I want to know what kind of mess we got ourselves volunteered for."
She laughed quietly as she motioned us to follow her. "Don't we all?"
We split off from the rest of the Marines as they returned to whatever they were doing. We quickly found ourselves in the hanger bay with the rest of the Juggernauts.
She leaned against the leg of one of the new mechs and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Well, shoot I can answer pretty much anything you need."
Surprisingly Theo marched forward with a rather pissed off expression on his face.
"Well I've got one, why the hell should we die for any of you? Who cares about stupid lofty ideals and cute words when all you want is to use us to your own benefit?! You're no better than that princess, Captain."
I glanced over at the hotheaded blonde but said nothing. Sometimes Theo could use a little tact but what he said wasn't wrong. I knew he was basically saying what everyone was thinking, if a bit bluntly.
The Captain silently stared at the younger male before sighing. "You're a hotheaded one aren't you? Well no matter, here." She took off her cover and tossed it on the ground.
With my sharp eyes I saw something interesting. While her hair messy pixie bob haircut was silver like a typical Alba, the roots of her hair were a light blonde. I saw Theos eyes widen in surprise but no one else noticed yet. Until she took off her contacts.
Beautiful green eyes replaced silver.
There was a round of gasps as everyone else realized. I had forgotten to tell them anything about 86s being under the Colonel's command and it worked out to their benefit.
"Right now I'm not a Captain, in fact I'm not even a Republic soldier. I and the rest of the Marines you see are under the Colonels direct payroll. We have no connection to the military, not anymore." She sighed and pushed some stray strands out of her eyes. "That being said, I understand what you all are feeling. After all, I and many others would've been in your place if the Colonel didn't rescue us. To answer your question though, I'll ask one in return, if you're going to die on the battlefield anyway, why not die for the only man who can change this rotten ass country?"
"Johan is the only one here who is willing to do what is necessary to change this hellhole we're in." She continued. "For me, for that reason alone it was enough to give my life to him two years ago. I live not for me but for him….and nothing else, in fact all of us do. I personally don't care for those lofty aspirations, plans and ideals either, I'm a grunt and nothing much more really. But Johan does and that's enough for me at this point."
"You say that but you don't sound very convinced of all this yourself either, Miss Marigold." Anju added as she gave the older woman a calculating stare.
She merely shrugged. "Then I'm not doing it right. Like I said, I'm a grunt. I was...fuck I was 18 years old when the Legion first crossed our border. I didn't think much back then and I still don't. I just live as I do and aspire to be as my king is, nothing more, nothing less."
"Your...King?" Anju asked as she got a confused expression.
She nodded. "That's right, my King. Who do you think is going to be running the show when heads start to roll?" She gave us a shrug. "And quite frankly, who else in this country has his presence? His leadership? I can't name a single one."
I saw Daiya raise his hand.
"Yes?"
"How did the Colonel manage to find all of you? You're all former soldiers of the Republic right?"
The captain had a melancholic expression on her face before it disappeared all together. "Well...I'm not too sure myself, he only gave me some half assed answers whenever I asked but as far as I know he used his connections as an Intel officer to find all of us. No idea how he did that under the noses of all of his superiors but he did. He also chose only former Marines, and we're what's left of the Corps. Although I think the guys in Assassin aren't, those guys are scary."
Raiden scoffed. "It's just a few guys with snipers, they can't even dent the armor of an Ameise. How scary could they be?"
Merigold crossed her arms at the comment. "You know I used to think the same….but in the past two years they got the most amount of missions from the Colonel and I think it's no coincidence that some….people ended up either dying or missing within that time frame."
I felt a chill crawl up my spine. "So they live up to their name then?" I asked softly, grabbing her attention.
"Yeah, the Colonel's let it slip that he's almost been caught a few times from some people high in the government. Turns out, I look in the news from some time ago and what do you know, a string of high level government personnel die from a "heart attack" or an "accident" or are never found again."
"Shit." Raiden cursed as he bit his lip.
The others looked uncomfortable at the bit of news and I could understand why. From the brief interactions I had with the people in question they were kind and soft spoken. A stark contrast to what I would expect from an assassin. Or maybe it was because they were assassins?
From the corner of my eyes I saw Kurena rub her arms nervously. "Um…..I can ask, how are we going to win this? Are there more people involved in the attack?"
Merigold just shrugged, surprising all of us. "I don't know, he hasn't shared that with me yet. In fact, I didn't know about the Revolution Festival until today."
"And you all just choose to follow him?" Kurena asked with a hollow voice.
"Yep."
"You would just follow that man to your deaths? Without question?" Theo asked incredulously. He, like me and the rest of us, was in disbelief.
Captain Merigold looked at us with confidence. "Absolutely."
"You're all crazy." Theo muttered under his breath.
"Thanks for the compliment blondie." Merigold chuckled. "Well, are there any more questions I can answer?"
Kaie stepped forward and pointed at the modified juggernaut. "Yeah, do you know what's been upgraded on those new juggernauts?"
She pushed off the mech and stared up at the pristine machine. That one was one of the ones that hadn't seen battle yet so everything was clean. No doubt with use it'll get its fair share of scars. She stared hard at the cockpit and began rattling off information she knew.
"Well I know all the major stuff, anything detailed you'd have to ask the inventor but it's not too different from your old ones. For one, the legs are reinforced so it can take more of a beating. The cockpit was enlarged a bit and reinforced and the interior is mostly the same except with some refinements to the interface with better screens and interior space like seats and such. The Colonel added extra padding near your heads to help with concussions and head trauma injuries. You got a basic first aid kit in there too. The engine is the same but tuned for extra power but somehow your range hasn't changed. Your mounting points for your weapons are all the same so you can customize it however you like."
She tapped her chin as she mulled over whatever she may have missed. "Oh and the biggest change, instead of your juggernauts being made from aluminum beer cans, you have the entire major structure like the main body and frame made from titanium with your major areas being beefed up by some five milimeters. Hard to notice but with the round and angular structure of the juggernaut, you should have some extra protection.":
"Titanium?"
Lev pushed past everyone and took a closer look at the machine. "Titanium is stronger than steel but lighter at the same time….it's a hard metal to come by around here, how'd he manage that? I thought he was limited in what he could build?"
Merigold nodded in approval. "From his superiors, yes but they don't know he modified his juggernauts to this extent. After all, it looks stock from the outside...and I guess they were too lazy to actually take a close look."
For a while I watched Lev poke around the joints of the legs before he got a curious look on his face. "So between paying you all, the tanks, the helicopters…..and this and more that I don't know….how does he pay for all this? His family that rich?"
For the first time the female captain looked uncomfortable. "No his family isn't that well off, compared to the other nobles that is. For example Major Stillen and his family have a combined wealth that is roughly a dozen times more than the Colonels and they certainly help out a ton but most of it is his own money."
My eyes widened.
"So he just gets money from his allies?" Lev pushed.
She closed her eyes for a while but when she finally opened them she gave us a sharp look. "What I say here, stays here, understand?"
We all nodded.
"So what I know is a year and a half ago Johan took control of his family." Seeing our confused faces she clarified. "He took over as the head of the family…..by force most likely. Now you may think that's not much but you have to realize his father is the inventor of the tin cans you pilot and also has dozens and dozens and dozens of patents and copyrights under his family name." She leaned forward with a much more serious expression. "Let me repeat that, the family name, not his own. So what Johan did was, after he somehow managed to gain control, was to sell those patents one by one to the highest bidder. And here we are."
I watched in concealed amusement as Lev adopted a comical expression. I had never seen the man so shocked but so was I. I never expected the Colonel to have gone to such lengths.
So my question now was, why?
Why did he go so far?
What motivated him?
"Understand a little better now kids? That's the man we follow and we are damn proud of it."
The next day
I watched in silence as the grieving families said their farewells. I heard the chaplain give his kind words to the widows and fatherless children as it really hit home that they had just lost their loved ones. I had given my peace to the families and to the dead men and I damn near broke my facade in doing so.
The other members of Spearhead were gathered behind us as they silently watched the event unfold.
I wondered what they really thought of all this? Sure they may have said they were ok but somehow I doubted they all felt the same way.
My men were given a proper rest while theirs were left to die out there on the battlefield.
But as life goes, what happened in the past stayed in the past. I couldn't change what happened but I certainly can influence what happened in the future.
These three men and many more wouldn't see the sprawling grasslands we once had. They couldn't taste fresh food ever again. Or enjoy a normal life without the threat of the Legion. All that I promised them, I couldn't deliver.
But I could for everyone else.
Do not despair that such men died, celebrate that such men had lived.
My words echoed in my head. Was I just a pretentious white knight for saying such words? What they, the widows and fatherless children think? What did Sebrina think? What would my friend Jayce think?
"My papa died because of you."
My eyes snapped down at the young child in front of me. Ah the sole daughter of the machine gunner. The words hit me hard and I was at a loss to say to the young girl.
To the little girl who had such sad and hateful silver eyes.
"Melissa!" The mother rushed over and jerked the kid away. "Hush child! Behave yourself." She said in a hushed whisper as all eyes were now trained on us.
I felt Sebrina tug the hem of my uniform. She had a concerned expression on her face.
Do you want me to step in?
Were the silent words I saw in her eyes. I smiled and shook my head. This was something I needed to do.
I slowly crouched down, ignoring the pain in my knee. "Melissa." I called out softly. "Come here please." I smiled as best as I could, given the situation.
"Colonel, I'm so sorry-"
I smiled up at the distraught mother. "It's fine ma'am I completely understand. Melissa said nothing wrong, in fact she is absolutely correct." I looked at the angry girl in the mothers arms. "Melissa?"
She looked up at her mom before slowly breaking out of her grasp and began walking towards me.
When she got within arms reach I gently pulled her into a hug without saying a word.
And I said nothing even as more time passed.
Even as the trembling young child broke down in my arms.
Even as she began calling out for her beloved papa.
Even as my white uniform became covered in tears and snot.
I didn't say a word.
And what could I even say? What could I even do? I still don't know, so this was all I could come up with. And It took everything I had to not break down with the girl.
I softly stroked her hair in a smooth manner along with the occasional pats on her back.
After a while I felt her push on my chest. I leaned back and watched her wipe the last of her tears away with her hands. When she finally looked up into my eyes, her silver eyes were bloodshot red. I watched in silence as she tried to keep her tears in.
Grabbing my cover I laid on top of her head. The hat was much too big for her and drooped down over her eyes. I laid my hands on her shoulders and gave her a firm squeeze.
"Stay strong for your mom Melissa, like your papa was when he was beside me." I watched as her tiny head bobbed up and down with the comically sized military cover. "Good girl, you'll do your papa proud." I complimented her before standing up.
All eyes were on me as I rose to my full height. I looked at my men gathered around the coffins and gave them a nod. They quickly grabbed the coffins and slowly lowered the fallen Marines to their final resting place.
I offered the dead men a final salute and watched in silence as the funeral came to a close. The widows and family members were still grieving and I would let them cry for as they liked but I still had a job to do and a revolution to organize.
And also deal with the Major, still haven't gone around talking to her. I was still on the fence about telling her the truth.
A part of me knew she would most likely be on board with the idea, until I mention the part about killing most of the current leadership that is. While she wasn't a pacifist, she was the type to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. But it was still worth a shot, I just had to be careful of how I said it and it would be even better if I could convince Annette too but that was a long shot.
But certainly not impossible.
I bowed my head to the lone star families and took my leave. Reaching into my back pocket I pulled out a small notebook. I opened the book and flipped through the pages to land on a page with a string of names.
It took all I had not to smirk.
Two and a half months to do this. Easy.
A week later
"So how are you liking your new Juggernaut?" I asked Theo as we walked towards the cafeteria.
He shrugged. "Not bad Kaie not too different from my old one."
I gave the blondie a knowing smirk and lightly patted his shoulder. "Come on, be honest. You really like it don't you? I mean you were the first one to claim yours."
He rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah yeah whatever you say."
A peaceful silence settled between us as we made our way towards breakfast.
I quietly savored moments like this as much as I could. Just, peace.
What would that feel like? Knowing death wasn't just around the corner and having a normal life? A part of me really wanted that.
That same part of me wanted the Colonel to win so that me and everyone else here could have a chance at something normal instead of war. So despite our constant jokes of never knowing when we would find our final moments…
I didn't want to die.
I don't think anyone here wanted to die, or anyone really for that matter. And the subtle shift in everyone's demeanor reflected the atmosphere of the base. It also didn't help that the Colonels Marines had made themselves at home here so we were constantly reminded of the revolution we were volunteered for.
Weirdly enough I think everyone had just accepted the fact.
The Colonel did have a point. If we were to die on the battlefield then why not for something bigger than just us? I thought it was worth it.
I shook my head. It didn't matter anyway. Shin had decided to follow the Colonel.
And where our reaper went, so would we.
The smell of cooked eggs and meat pulled me from my thoughts. I quickly grabbed my food and sat down to eat.
I was absentmindedly eating my eggs when Shin walked through the doors with his face buried in whatever book he was reading. I smiled fondly at the sight and returned to my meal quietly.
By now the chow hall was filled with the chatter of everyone, both Spearhead and the Marines.
It was surprisingly easy to get along with the mix of Marines. Some were Alba and some were not and I could tell they all had a special bond with each other. Much like us but different in a way.
I finished the last of my eggs and glanced at the now blonde Captain Merigold. The past week we watched as her hair slowly became more and more its natural color. With her green eyes, it was easy to mistake her as an older sister to Theo.
Of course I made sure to tease the Laughing Fox every time I had the chance.
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Shin's head snap towards the town.
A familiar uneasy pit settled in my stomach.
Here we go again.
With a quiet sigh I put my tray up and made my way towards our reaper.
"Already?" Raiden complained as he stuffed the rest of his food. "Damn it, how far away?"
Shin downed a glass of water. "We got some time, about two hours I'd say. It's a small group."
Well that eased my stomach a bit.
Merigold walked up to us as she held her tray in her hand. "Do you need us today?" She said between mouthfuls.
"Don't think so." Shin shook his head. "Not like the other day, we should be able to handle it."
"Understood, we'll be on standby." She shrugged and walked away. "Oh and by the way that shit is still kind of freaky ya know, hearing the dead and all that."
There was no malice in her tone, never was. She was just inherently not a hateful person. She always said what needed to be said and did so in such a factual way that I couldn't find myself to dislike her, even if we disagreed on some things.
Shin shrugged.
I rolled my eyes at the response and made my way towards the hanger.
My hands clenched at my sides. Despite Shin's confidence, the uneasy pit in my stomach never went away. It was just there, messing with my head to no end. I bit my lips nervously.
I wasn't a superstitious person but this just felt wrong, like as if….
As if I was going to die today.
And the feeling lasted far longer than any time before today. Even as the Major was talking to us over the Para-RAID as we headed out to battle.
"Kirschblute, there's a hill for you to hold an overwatch near you right now, do you see it?"
I blinked as I heard my callsign being called out. I quickly swiveled my head and found the hill in question. "Yeah I see it."
"The elevated position should give you a clear range of fire on the Legion and the Lowes will have trouble getting the elevation angle to hit you. It would be perfect camouflage for the main unit. Would you mind?"
I nodded, despite knowing she couldn't see it. "Yep, anything to help out." I changed coarse to the hill along with my platoon.
Raiden gave an impressed whistle. "A decoy huh? You've got a voice of a princess but your mind certainly isn't one."
Through the thick trees I could see a lone Lowe out in the open. I frowned at the sight and closed in for a look. Typically a Lowe would have supporting units but this was out in the open all by itself.
Did it have a malfunction? Whatever the case was, it was in between me and my objective.
I swallowed my fear and charged in. "I got a Lowe by itself, I see no other units. Leukosia I'll hit it from the left, back me up."
"Roger, I've got your six."
I felt the juggernaut rumble over the broken trees and burst into the clearing at speed, aiming to outmaneuver the bigger and slower mech. However all of my momentum was stalled immediately.
"Not that way, Kirschblute!"
I looked into the screen and found the area to not be an open clearing like I had thought. It was a swamp, a deep one at that judging by how deep the legs of the Juggernaut had sunken in.
"Shit! Hold on!"
I don't want to die.
I watched in helplessness as the larger mech rumbled closer, unhindered by the swamp. Despite having a clear shot, it hadn't taken it yet. I closed my eyes and waited for my time to come.
I don't want to die.
And yet my hands were clenching the joystick of my mech in a white knuckled grip. I didn't want to die here.
"I'm not gonna die here!" I gritted my teeth and yanked on the yoke as hard as I could and sent full power into the engines.
20 meters.
I wiggled my mechs legs back and forth, If I could just break loose a little bit…..
15 meters.
"Come on you shitty tin can! Hold on Kaie!"
10 meters.
There was a loud whirring sound as the servos in the legs pushed harder. The whole Juggernaut seemed to whine and creak. As if the mech shared the same thoughts as its owner.
5 meters.
I stared directly down the barrel of the Lowe. "Fuck you!" I screamed as I struggled harder, convinced that I was really going to die. I blinked.
Suddenly my view turned blue and white.
Clouds.
I was looking at the sky now. A sense of weightlessness overtook me as I started my decent back down. As the mech began nose diving I looked straight down at the Lowe. The weak top armor was exposed for my gun and I happily took the shot. I felt the cannon buck the entire mech in the air and the Lowe go up in a fiery explosion. As I landed on the wreck I quickly pulled back onto solid land to avoid any secondary explosions.
"Kirschblute! Are you ok?! Kirschblute!"
I sagged in my seat as I looked at the destroyed Lowe. That was far, far too close for her liking. "Yeah….yeah I'm ok. Thank you for your concern Handler One." The adrenalin was still pumping in my veins but I could feel myself coming down from the high. I rubbed my shaking hands together before gripping the controls. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and steeled myself for the rest of the battle.
"Fights not over yet, come on Leukosia. We still have our jobs to do."
The two of us pushed onwards while the rest of my platoon moved to catch up.
"...Sorry I wasn't able to help Kaie, I just-"
"Don't worry about it Leukosia." I cut her off as the two of us weaved through the rapidly thickening treeline. "It all worked out in the end."
She scoffed. "Yeah only because of your new Juggernaut, if you had your old one…."
I shivered. "Yeah let's not think about it." I scanned the area around us again, feeling paranoid. "Handler One, any Legion in our way?"
Her shaky voice came over the line. "All clear on your end...Kaie? Is that your real name?" She asked timidly.
I chuckled at her unsure voice. "Haha, yep that's it. Kaie Taniya at your service Handler One."
"I'm-I'm sorry I never asked earlier for your real names. I-I just never thought of it, even with my old units. And on top of that I nearly got you killed."
She sounded absolutely crushed. Maybe she did genuinely care for us as human beings. No, I knew she did from her nightly calls. The fact that she realized so quickly that she never asked us for our real names solidified that fact.
She was a good human being.
And absolutely not cut out for the job of a handler. That's what I told her last night and many others before that and yet she stuck with us so far.
However it made me wonder how she would fare when the Black Sheep would inevitably get involved. And to be honest I didn't want to find out.
"It's fine Major Milize." I replied, using her real name. "No need to blame yourself."
"Yeah." Raiden cut in. "Plus we still have a battle going on, we need you up there soon Kirschblute."
"Almost there." I replied as we began our accent on the hill.
"Yes, sorry about that. Let's do this." She said with forced enthusiasm.
With the new engine I found myself easily clawing up the hill. My old Juggernaut definitely would've struggled with its underpowered engine. Once I got to the top of the hill I found a commanding view of the battlefield in front of me. I had to give the Major credit where credit was due, she was an excellent strategist.
"I'm here with Leukosia." I quickly set up my Juggernaut along with my partner. As soon as I got a view of the battle I quickly began putting down fire downrange.
Now that I had a chance to stretch the range of this new chassis I found the improved quality of the monitors a godsend. It made target acquisition easier and details were much clearer. And I noticed the difference between me and Leukosia immediately.
Leukosia and I were both good shots but with how much better my new outbound monitors and electronics were, nearly all of my shots were landing dead on while hers were nowhere near.
And if I was in my old Juggernaut, I would've died earlier.
I couldn't hold back a satisfied smirk as another round destroyed a fast moving Ameise that crossed my view.
Everyone needed one of these.
