6 August 2024
7:41 A.M EDT
Glowgen Armory Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Interior Zone
Hans faced Drahoslav, the only other human within the deadzone filled in inhuman flames. Feeling the heat already, compared to the other's hardiness. Taking his helmet off to vent his head quickly and threw it near part of the wall of fire. Lacking a mustache, contrary to what Drahoslav knew Hans when it came to features.
Hans holds the dual-ended spear, one edge pointed to Drahoslav, "You've caused this blaze, you have the nerve to face me, alone."
"I commend you're not more than mere fodder for Gabriel, Hans," Drahoslav replied, curling a part of the sleeve to his blue t-shirt while he clenches his left.
"Maybe you're Ignis. If the flames sear hot."
Drahoslav slants his eye, slowly bursting the entirety of his left arm into purple flames. Bearing Hans' use of a syringe casking an orange fluid.
"We'll see about that."
Hans lunges his leg to the front, wielding the spear comparable to an extended double-bladed lightsaber.
Without a weapon or martial arts, Drahoslav didn't need to enter a stance, instead, placing his left forward and right behind.
Due to the two entering into soft offensive and/or defensive posture, both approach cautiously to each other. Slowly turning making circles in the gap period against another.
From several pebbles trampling Hans' foot, forcing his vision from Drahoslav, the stalemate ended. A fist threw for the man's abdominal region.
Drahoslav's eyes contort. Backing off from his advance upon seeing him take it without serious consequence, besides watering the eyes a tad. The edge of the spear near missing the comrade, however, sliced a cut across on his cheek, followed by bleeding.
"That shot… It was a drug..."
He grasps Hans' arm, bringing his superior leverage to spin him circularly. Exposing the back to another attack, Drahoslav's heel forcing itself onto him. His leg raised, injuring the arm to a noticeable degree, despite the hardiness displayed. As well as spacing them by a few meters.
Hans shook his head while he prepares the spear, "So the Incarnate Shot isn't invincible."
"Incarnate Shot… That's the drug… But, he's still vulnerable to pain, most likely, it's either nullifying it, or his nervous system's nulling his ability to feel pain or his muscle fibres are absorbing the damage, however risking his body's condition to fight longer." Drahoslav mumbled, balling his fists.
Hans neutralizes his aggressive stance relating to the spear.
Drahoslav's eye continues to glare, "It's impressive you've managed to take several hits that would end a fight immediately if you didn't have that suspicious drug in your veins."
"Like it?" Hans asked, taking on a stance sembling fictitious flashy shows, rather than real life.
"Intriguing. However, you get in my way and if physical blows won't force the drug off, then maybe my flames will end this madness."
Drahoslav's arms erupt in purple flames. Masking all but the outline of his arms in the area covered. Approaching close enough produces the heat levels firefighters have to fare when they have to respond to a blaze in a home. A virtual trail of the spear's frontal spike spun in circles to Drahoslav's perspective as Hans gets closer.
"Step away,"
His hand swirls the flames on his left into a moderate fireball, sent towards him at high speeds, yet sliced by the blade before it could land a significant hit. However, the second thrust created from the twirling motion of the weapon missed him, due to sidestepping his foot perpendicular to the administrative building.
"Fire won't cut it."
Hans readies his next move, giving neutral leverage to the weapon.
Drahoslav's right still ablaze, he opens his palm towards an undamaged chest. A construct from a cone followed by a thick cylinder originating from the tips of his fingers. Once it makes a connection, ensnaring the central section in nonburning flames and compressing into a thicker thread. Hurling the object with his double-handed swing.
"So you're Ignis after all."
Hans' glance gave out, ducking from the crate.
"Gabriel would like you in his presence after all."
"Nebudem s tým bláznivým, posadnutým Američanom. Moja duša nebude jeho."
The door crashes, but the crate remains unaffected, except for a few dents produced by the impact's energy. However, with the fate of Hans sealed in his eyes, the implications didn't matter as he'd extend his hands out, charging a sphere of fire.
"Accept your fate, Hans. The weapon's fading with your sanity."
The sphere grew larger, whilst Hans stares at his hands, the spear lighting on dark purple and white flames, the same as Drahoslav's coloration. Glowing red near the center with his gloves unable to hold on further. Twisting his wrists while trying to extinguish the ignited fabric.
Without giving any warning, a word erupts from Drahoslav's mouth, "Dante."
Hans glared up, escaping into the Administrative building before the gigantic ball could reach. Diving past its doorframe and a shield from the vast majority of preliminary energy.
Outside the building, Drahoslav turns away when the fire caught the building to burn. Exiting through the conventional exit, with the three comrades joining him outside.
At the frontal gate past the walls, into the interior section of the armory, Drahoslav halts his motion, twists his body, and stares at the building, despite helicopters and smoke filling the sky. Planting his hand across his chest.
"I admit. My comrades and I have gone too far for an action someone more of your authority have performed. From now on, the rest of your fellow complexes will not be raided, except if it holds anything crucial in taking out those bosses, reveals corruption, or plans which violate laws, peace, safety, and justice. In the event we have to, fatalities will only be conducted when necessary, extraction of objects beyond what's necessary will not occur, and physical raiding of the compounds will only be conducted when all other options are exhausted."
He'd turn away, and made his walk away from the compound, now burning. While at the same time, the spear Hans used moments ago manifests in his arms on its own, somehow.
7:44 A.M EDT
Glowgen Armory Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Outer Boundaries
The rest of the comrades came to the jeep, meeting with Hamilton, Roosevelt, Stanislav, and the rest of the crew as black smoke plumes and thick red and white trucks converge on the compound. Prepared to take on the aftermath of the raid.
Dvinaslav approaches the group, "Draho's on his way back, and he may need an aspirin, as he had to use his stuff."
"We don't expect people to get headaches on the job, it's unsure if the jeep will hold any meds."
"You better! Because you have no idea how serious it'll be if he had to unleash worse!"
"Calm down, Dvina!" Jaraslav and Zelislav shouted in unison.
Stanislav's crossed arms broke as he looked up, "We have to collect and take our next steps, now this situation has come to an end."
Drahoslav made his return from the compound in sweat. The swish of hair reaching his chin, a bit of it's purple gone. Pressing on his head with a hand while the other possessed the spear, "I didn't expect I'd need to use a destructive move like Dante to finish Hans quickly."
Hamilton looks towards him, shaking as he heard the word, meaning of the enduring. "W-What did you do…"
"He was under the influence of some kind of drug, called an Incarnate Shot..."
He'd grip his hand against the handle of the jeep. Dropping the spear on the ground near it.
"Someone, get me an aspirin!"
"Draho, we don't know if they have aspirin." Jaraslav points out.
Roosevelt stood firm, glancing the comrades. Albeit, his actions didn't produce the response he desired. All eyes glared at his body.
"During you guys' raid, a state senator from North Carolina called me. And told those five to meet with him at a reservation restaurant in Charlotte."
Dvinaslav turns her head and spoke up, "Charlotte?"
"A city in North Carolina, south of Virginia."
Jaraslav tilts his head, "Why are they wanting us to come further than Norfolk. Look at how many hours it took from New York to get here."
"With this situation on fire, here, Norfolk isn't safe for everyone involved. Glowgen will most likely be planning overwhelming force to ensure whoever caused it is crushed. The police might start an investigation. And the city will turn into Glowgen's searching ground."
"Then, we need to flee, but where?"
"We use the jeep. Get rid of the big weapons, ride the jeep to Charlotte, we'll go our way."
"The boy, however."
"Hmm?" Roosevelt turns to Stanislav.
"Hamilton."
"You guys have business with him?"
Stanislav turns to his four comrades. The wind blowing his spiked gray hair, slowly losing it's strength and color, fading to brown and shagged. Particularly to Drahoslav his blue eyes look.
"The boy is witness as part of something that Glowgen, under Gabriel's orders, is using child soldiers. Hamilton's only thirteen years old and what he has to see offends what kids shouldn't see. Or experience."
"What year was he born?"
"Twenty-eleven."
"So, he's younger than even Silica..." Drahoslav mumbles out of the blue.
"W-Who's Silica?" Hamilton asks, interrupting the comrades' exchange.
"A sad, unfortunate girl who ended up in Sword Art Online..."
"C-Can I see her? Please!?"
Zelislav brings himself into the picture, looking at the frail driver boy, "From what I know, who Draho is calling Silica is Japanese."
"But… But… But…"
"To be fair, Hamilton's voice does sound a little Japanese," Stanislav interrupts.
"Y-Yeah! What wheelchair guy says."
Stanislav looks at him as he sighs, "I'm Stanislav, for God's sake."
"Regardless," Zelislav said again, pushing his hand in front of Stanislav, "I can see his reasoning if I'm being honest. If he is, in fact, Japanese or Japanese-American, or otherwise has some sort of kinship with Japan. We should not deny his ability to want to see things."
Dvinaslav, Jaraslav, and Drahoslav give agreement with their fingers straightened and above the chest in affirmation.
"C-Can I?"
"We'll try our best, Hamilton, to allow you to see Silica, and maybe your heritage as a whole. But no guarantees."
"Y-Yay…"
"Do you know your parents?" Dvinaslav out of the blue asked.
"Yeah, why?" he turns his person to look at her.
"Makes things easier."
Slowly, Glowgen-marked boats, originating from elsewhere, flood the coastal areas near the armory, blockading potential naval personnel and help from across the waters from interfering.
"We better get going. I'll set a few traps in case they decide to advance on us. Be back quickly."
"Alrighty," Roosevelt spoke again, his southern drawl pulling attention, "The grenade launcher needs to be taken' down before we can get moving. Better be quick!"
Jaraslav, being technical as he usually is mostly, swipes the edge of the door open and gets to work. Followed shortly behind by his BFF, who suffered a setback and now had to go under the vehicle, pulling out several moments later with the double-ended spear Drahoslav dropped.
"Jara! Look what I found!" he gets up and shows the spear.
"A double-ended spear, that's made using techno vibes, red and white, and seems…"
"Are we keeping it?"
Although the headache persists, Drahoslav spoke out, "Hans had it, and it came to me on the way here for some reason. We should keep it in case it's something."
Jaraslav and Zelislav nod, as they continue on their current self-assigned tasks, preparing for what's next. Already an obvious fact to them. Once they were ready, they'd depart from the armory's location towards the next part of their journey.
11:31 A.M EDT
Glowgen Armory Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
As several hours had passed since the comrades made their departure from the scene. Fires by now have been extinguished with the help of Glowgen personnel who had extensive knowledge of the layout. In addition to fire marshal inspections assisting partially in where to direct water.
The largest difference between the raid and the present, in truth, was CTO Gabriel Miller's arrival to the site. Blond hair messed from the van ride whilst fiddling chunks from the wall's explosion rubble. In thick fire protective clothing with a bulletproof vest, in case of their return. A calm, yet fear-inducing glare ran over the thought of one of the subordinates working at the armory.
"Who would be stupid enough to blow such a massive hole for an infiltration mission?"
"No one, sir…"
The man's eyes back away, only to get a slight bend of Gabriel's lip in return. Returning to his task at hand as his superior leaves the hole at the sight of those examining the damage.
Gabriel's next eye came to the charring marks made on the ground inside the interior zone, serpentine movements when there were no slime, scales, nor skin. Sites of flames, instead.
"How concrete catch fire?"
"It doesn't."
"An anomaly in physics?"
"I guess so, mister Miller."
However, one of the ways he usually plays with his subordinates, who he usually treats like lower-ranking troops, was through feinting his intelligence before revealing a truth, "Concrete isn't capable of being burned. It can be affected by heat, but to make flame burn marks, it requires temperature beyond conventional flame."
"The person who might be Ignis used purple flames."
"A blue-violet part of the visible light spectrum when it comes to fire tends to have a higher temperature. Are you saying the entire flame had a blue to violet color?"
"Yes… Mister Hans said it was purple on the outside, white on the inside…"
"Then, it must hold a comparable temperature to thermite. If it sustained for a while, then the flames themselves must be something special."
Gabriel looks away, nodding to the few checking on the floors, progressing into the remains of the administrative aspect of the complex. The worst when it came to fire damage, the least in regards to direct combat damage. Only suffering a minority of bullet holes, while the rest heat-related, flame melted, and struggled to be under control.
Both of his eyes see the damage for himself. Pulling his two blond bangs away from his eye with two of his hands. Black and normal, two of only things his eye perceives with the building. Looking further, part of the reception area destroyed. A hallway remaining unscathed. A horrible and potentially toxic smell made out of the burning remains related to electronics, metal, wood, and other materials capable of catching ablaze and/or damaged by fire.
"This person did a toll on the main part, for sure," Gabriel thought while he observed, took mental notes, and searched for whatever else of value was to the important figure who wouldn't be there if it wasn't for those pesky comrades.
"Were is Hans, pretty please. Show yourself, Hans. I have a lot of questions for you."
No expected response from the individual he called for. Only workers taking notes of damages and one doing the numbers for the corporate part of Glowgen.
He'd turn to ask them, "Where Hans would be?"
"I didn't get it."
"Is Hans on site."
"No clue, the CCTV room most likely holds the clues."
"Was it damaged by fire?"
"Most likely, mister Miller. But, if the emergency extraction plan for the armory was ever put in, the data from camera footage is offsite."
"If I didn't know he decided to face the attackers himself, you'd be right. But that isn't what occurred."
He turns away, slowly losing his patience towards his asinine entourage. Leaving the current floor while he'd immediately made his walk straight for Hans' office. Relative to where the fire would've struck, and being an important office space, and the nature of Glowgen. A key mistake to make it easily vulnerable to threats that might go against it.
Out of his ears, few objects scrape the surface of heavier furniture. Within Hans' walled-off area, tempting Gabriel to head there as he said. Finally finding an exhausted Hans packing his things. Alongside Arnold nearby, hearing it without entering the office.
The impression he'll be fired from his job entered critical mass as Hans, noticing his boss enter his office with a smug smirk off his face.
"Sir, I know you're probably very pissed at me for losing the spear to those kids. Or the hole in the wall outside."
"We underestimated what they're capable of. It was apparent they're stronger than what we feared, even if only in a group the size of a fireteam."
Gabriel lowered his head and firmly gave straight eye contact to him.
"I'm losing my job. Am I?"
"If we knew how strong they were exactly. I'd dismiss you before now due to incompetence. However, due to the uniqueness behind them, relatively unexplored and understood. You're being reassigned to headquarters."
"To San Deigo?"
"Tomorrow, some men are coming to help with preparing your things and yourself for the move."
Hans nods once, mumbling to his boss, "Thank you, boss."
Gabriel flicks his wrist as he turns around, no longer looking at Hans directly in the eye, "Is there anything interesting happen to that weapon which indicates Ignis?"
"It burnt my gloves when I and a purple swished hair dude fought each other."
"Drahoslav, am I correct?"
"I don't know names, but I guess so, mister Miller."
"Perfect… Did you see the weapon change allegiance to him?"
"No."
"What did Drahoslav show?"
"Purple, white flames."
Gabriel smirks, his face concerningly turning into a lunatic smirk. A predator looking at prey, looking back at his subordinate and approaching closer.
"Sir, your face…"
"Shut it, Hans!" he shouts, gripping his shoulders and beginning to shake him, "A sweet soul on the horizon?! You've made things much more interesting by giving me things to work with."
"They're… I can't say about the other three, but they might-"
"Four! You mean the other four!" he'd shake him some more, "If one of them can do that, all of them can! This will be satisfying to do..."
"There was a fourth one?" Hans asked, widening his eye.
Gabriel lets go, his face returning to normal, as well as his normal speaking voice, "Souls aside, there was a fourth one, who got injured due to something unrelated to us. Not even I understood why."
"If he was present here, why didn't he get involved in the battle?"
"They may have their reasons. But even if he wasn't involved. We should treat him like who the others were, clear threats capable of incapacitating an outpost like here."
"It's not one of the larger armories or subsidiary headquarters. To be fair."
"The weapons Fulgur and Aura are in more protected locations."
"Sorry for estimating that was the case…"
Gabriel gave one final look, and an emotionless word, "Don't beat yourself over those kids. But be prepared to kill them immediately if you see them again. Regardless of how the law or others think."
Hans nods.
"Also, that use of the Incarnate Shot you'll need to record will provide us with great insight to make it better."
Outside of the office. Arnold steps away from the area. Snickering as he'd take his phone and dials a number.
"The situation occurring in the United States is concerning. Respond as soon as possible, Éisleé."
Translations:
Slovak:
Nebudem s tým bláznivým, posadnutým Američanom. Moja duša nebude jeho: I won't be with that crazy, obsessed American. My soul won't be his.