The Ether Conflict
Chapter 21: Mors Expectet
28th of May 2 Y.A.
Blackout Main Base
In front of the Garage Depot
In front of the Garage Depot's opened metal doors stand Blackout's tank crews, at least those that have survived and can fight or those that haven't lost their vehicles. Though their numbers suggest that five tanks can be manned at the most, which is very weird. In front of them stand two people, Shimanuki Teruo, also know as the Coordinator and a middle aged woman, that has long brown hair tied in a side ponytail and a pair of light blue eyes. She wears Blackout's standard black uniform, although the uniform has no insignia to signify from which department she is. In the top right of the uniform, the name Ariyoshi Misako is etched. Everyone is especially nervous, since the Director himself will be coming all the way to the Garage Depot to inform them about their upcoming mission.
"Miss Nishizumi, can I ask you a question?" Yukari says.
"What is it Yukari?" Miho asks her.
"Why is Saori behaving like that?" Yukari points at Saori with a blank expression, who seems to be in her own small tralala-land, mumbling incoherent things while looking at no particular direction with heart-shaped eyes.
"And then we will marry, have kids and live a quiet life in the countryside," she mumbles among other disturbing things that are starting to creep out Mako.
"I think that something's not right with her," Mako blurts out as she looks at her friend with a slightly scared expression.
"She has been like that for the past hour now," Hana says with slight concern.
"I am sure she'll be fine," Miho giggles awkwardly, before approaching Saori and leaning closely to her left ear.
"I think you should behave a bit more normally or they'll find out," she whispers, which causes Saori to snap out of her trance and look at Miho with a horrified expression.
"F-F-Find out wh-what?" Saori stutters, but Miho stares at her with a smile, saying nothing.
"Y-You s-s-s-saw us?!" Saori whispers, her face becoming crimson from embarrassment.
"I was looking for you and happened to spot you two talking," she says in a low voice, so that only Saori can hear her.
"I-I see..." Saori stutters, looking at the ground for the third time today.
"Is something the matter Saori?" Hana asks, seeing Saori's sudden behavior change.
"N-No, everything is f-"
"She kissed Tyler," Mako says bluntly, finding the perfect opportunity to get back on her for waking her early in the morning.
"H-How did you know?!" Saori cries, pinching and pulling both of Mako's cheeks, her face becoming even more red.
"Oh my!" Hana blushes lightly, covering her mouth with the fingers in her right hand.
"I was sleeping on a bench in the small courtyard and accidentally saw you when I woke up," she says clearly, despite the relentless attack on her cheeks by Saori.
"Good for you Saori, you finally have a relationship!" Yukari says cheerfully.
"You are not helping Yukari!" Saori cries in embarrassment.
"Girls, you are making a scene!" Miho says quickly, eyeing the other tank crews that give them weird looks.
"So, what did you do Tyler?" Odysseus asks Tyler teasingly, poking his left cheek with her finger.
"And why should I tell you of all people?" Tyler frowns, not making eye contact with his commander.
"Oh? Did you do something naughty with her Tyler?" she says mischievously, still poking Tyler on his cheek.
"I only kissed her, you perverted girl," Tyler says, grabbing Odysseus' poking finger and squeezing it with considerable force.
"Only kissed, huh? How do we know you didn't do anything more?" she says seductively, running a finger across Tyler's chest and abdomen. Though most of the male soldiers are either enthralled by Odysseus, or are glaring daggers at Tyler, he just looks at her with a bored face, clearly indicating that Odysseus' tricks have no effect on him.
"Watch it commander," Reiji warns, though it is too late.
"Hey Odysseus," Annabelle smiles and when Odysseus looks back at her redhead friend, she finds her face being grabbed and squeezed by her hand. "Having fun?" Annabelle asks with an innocent yet terrifying smile, sending shivers down the spines of everyone.
"A lot...I'm really sorry Annabelle, please don't kill me," Odysseus pleads quietly, feeling her face getting squeezed harder by each passing second.
"Ah, isn't youth beautiful," a familiar voice says and everyone stands at attention. Annabelle releases Odysseus' face, who has red marks that resemble fingers on both sides of her face.
"Sir," both Teruo and the woman standing on his right salute, followed by the salutes of the tank crews.
"Hey old man!" Odysseus waves at him cheerfully. Most of the oldest members just shake their heads disapprovingly while the newest ones sweatdrop. Annabelle just grab Odysseus by the face again, while staying in attention and saluting.
"You are as rowdy as ever. Anyway, at ease," he orders and everyone relaxes, stopping saluting. Making his way in front of the Garage Depot, he stops to Teruo's left.
"I am here to inform you of your next mission. As you know, most of our forces, including three of Blackout's elite squads, were annihilated yesterday, so we are kinda thin on the deployable forces right now. Our target is the Institute's headquarters, which reside in an underground laboratory in the city of Tokyo. Most of our forces will rendezvous with forces from other bases in the outskirts of Tokyo, before launching an attack to reclaim the city. The attack however is a decoy. Your orders as of now is to escort Nishizumi Miho and her team in the coordinates that will be provided to you from Miss Ariyoshi. You will be transported via transport helicopters along with your vehicles about 50 km away from your objective. You leave in an hour; dismissed," he says, before leaving the tank crews to prepare. As Misako is handing each person a document with their target's coordinates and some other information, Teruo coughs once to get their attention.
"Listen well all of you. The moment you disembark the helicopters, you are on your own. Expect heavy resistance, even with the decoy attack."
"Excuse me Coordinator, but who will be the commander of this unit?" a commander of one of the tanks asks.
"The one you will be escorting," he responds curtly, causing everyone to look at Miho.
"Eh?" Miho says with a dumbfounded expression. The other tank commanders seem to be relieved at this, since they won't be responsible of commanding five tanks into hostile territory, something that can be rather nerve-racking, plus their commander will be a member of an elite squad, which gives them the highest chances of survival.
At the same time
Tokyo Skytree Tower
On the top of the Skytree Tower stand two figures, more specifically, two scientists. They both look down at the destroyed city of Tokyo, with most of the buildings flattened out of existence, spare some stubborn ones that still stand proud and tall, albeit damaged.
"Thank you Dr. Azarin for your help with the information," Mannheim tells Azarin. Despite the height in which they are, the winds seem to be of no concern for them, as they literally bend outwards of them, like a barrier prevents them from passing through the space the two men are.
"Don't mention it, I owed you a favor anyway. I hope you don't mind that I gave her her sister's file," Azarin asks Mannheim, lazily gazing at the destroyed port of Tokyo, where several container ships are sunk, only some parts of their hulls peeking out of the water.
"At this point in time, it doesn't matter. My goal of luring Subject 23 here was successful."
"Why are you so obsessed with her, Mannheim?" Azarin asks his friend and colleague, this time turning to look at him.
"Because she has potential, Azarin! She is the only one to have survived the Serum Black DNA alteration and she is a Class-S user," Mannheim says with a certain admiration. "I want to see just how much potential she has, Azarin. She might be the only one who can combat them."
Azarin can feel the anger in Mannheim's voice when he says the last part. "You refer to the twelve, don't you? The ones who caused all this destruction and more..." Azarin trails off, looking at the flattened city. "Actually, what happened at the unit who was sent to the God's Domain?"
"It was killed, but not before sending some interesting pictures."
With a flick of his right hand, several pictures materialize in front of Azarin, their borders glowing with a greenish-white light.
"They changed the timeline? This can't be right, not even Ether can transcend time and the concept of life," Azarin says, looking at the pictures in disbelief.
"They must have had intervened personally, or else this reality would have collapsed."
"Like they did with the city? It was a single sword strike if I remember correctly, that caused all this," Azarin motions with his left hand at the city.
"No, because then, our reality would have been destroyed. They must have diverted the residual energy to either realities that didn't interest them, or made new ones," Mannheim says with a skeptical look.
"If I remember correctly, they aren't at the top, so how did they went unnoticed?" Azarin asks curiously?
"Who knows. We don't know fully what lies beyond reality, so there could be a way to conceal themselves," Mannheim suggests, though he is not sure himself.
"Whatever the case, I think it is time to go. I can't thank you enough for locating my family in Russia," Azarin says, raising his hand for a handshake.
"Don't mention it. Send my regards on Aleksey and his family too, I'm sure he'll be happy to see his daughter again," Mannheim says with a smile, shaking Azarin's hand.
With that, Azarin jumps down the Skytree Tower, before vanishing in thin air. Looking at the horizon, Mannheim finally lowers the barrier that blocked the wind, his blond hair waving at the gentle breeze that hits him.
"The twelve will pay...for my family." Bitter memories come to mind, as his facial expression remains unchanged. "No time to remember the past, I need to take care of the Institute's directors," he sighs, before jumping from the tower and vanishing mid-fall.
Inside a very familiar and big room sits in a luxury chair Henry, enjoying some tea and reading a book. Around the chair stand the three different personalities Henry has, though it looks more like four different people are sharing the same body.
In front of them kneels a woman with black hair and red eyes, looking at the floor with an ashamed and fearful expression. "I am truly sorry, but I have failed. The Serum Black user is still alive and the Serum White user is still free."
"What?! She had one fucking job and she messed up! How can someone mess such an easy job?!" Red yells, though only Gray, Blue and Henry can hear him.
"But she tried Red, give her some credit!"Blue says to Red.
"In defense of Red, he does have a point. She could just snatch Elpida and retreat, but she chose to reveal herself. This shows overconfidence in her powers, which is not a good sign," Gray says. "It matters not now, our plans are already progressing. I'm sorry Blue, but you'll have to wait a little bit longer," Gray sighs.
"I-It's okay Gray, I understand," Blue says reluctantly.
Closing his book, Red, Blue and Gray vanish, and Henry looks at the kneeling woman. "It matters not now. Have the Airfleet prepare for departure Centi, we are going back to America," Henry says with a disgusted voice, both because of Centi's presence and that he has to go back in America.
Standing up, he makes his way towards the exit of the room. "Make sure the explosives are set properly. I want everything destroyed."
Reaching the door, he looks at Centi, who is still kneeling, from the corner of his right eye. "There won't be next time." he warns, before exiting the room.
Despite the soft voice Henry used, Centi's body was trembling from fear and terror, nasty memories being recalled by her brain subconsciously. Out of thin air, a huge black centipede appears, circling her and putting itself under her face. Tears start rolling from her eyes, as she hugs the centipede affectionately, sniffling very hard. The centipede just stands there, moving it's antennas up and down, like it's trying to communicate with her.
"You are...the only one...that understands me," she says between her sniffles, the tears falling off her chin and into the centipede's exoskeleton.
"Everyone just keeps mistreating me and pushing me away... Maybe I should have defected when I had the chance," she weeps, still hugging the centipede. After several minutes of hugging and weeping, she finally leaves the centipede, who just stays by her side.
"Let's go and check the explosives, make sure they are armed," she says with a smile and just like that, the centipede becomes tiny instantly. Centi picks it up and puts it on her left shoulder, before exiting the room.
1st Insertion Force
10 minutes till drop point
At a height of 150 meters 2 BH-HT, known as Blackout Helicopter-Heavy Transport, are flying towards the drop point that is 50 km away from the underground lab. After the crews had been debriefed, they immediately went to prepare their tanks. Miho expected for them to be airlifted, so she was surprised to see the huge BH-HTs on the helipads. These helicopters had the capacity to accommodate three MBTs inside or become a temporary field hospital. The helicopter itself has great armor and capacity, though it pays for it in the form of low speed and maneuverability. In one helicopter was Miho's tank along with two other, while on the other tank was Odysseus's newly acquired Cerberus light tank, along with the final tank of the Insertion Force.
Miho and her friends, along with the other crews that were on the same helicopter as her, had to stay inside their tanks, since the space was barely enough to fit the tanks.
"We are not flying, we are not flying, we are not flying..." Mako is somewhat chanting from the driver's seat, trying to convince herself that she isn't flying, though her shivering body and quivering voice seem to have a different opinion.
"Mako, you can't even see the height difference, why are you afraid?" Saori scolds Mako, trying to make her to snap out of her fear of heights.
"Maybe if we talk about something, she'll forget we are flying?" Hana suggests at the group.
"What about Miss Nishizumi's powers? They are so cool!" Yukari says excitedly. If it wasn't for being inside the tank, she'd probably be bouncing up and down from her excitement.
"Well, despite what I have seen...I still can't believe they are true. I mean...it's like magic," Saori comments, still apprehensive about all the Ether stuff she has learned.
"But from the information they gave us, it does seem to hold a scientific explanation, even if Ether itself can't be explained fully yet," Hana says to Saori.
"I-I t-think that...these p-powers a-are really curious. T-They seem v-very versatile in...their u-use and a-also seem to be u-unique based on individual," Mako stutters, wanting to contribute in the conversation and maybe forget that she is flying quite high.
"It is too bad we can't learn how to do all these flashy moves," Yukari hangs her head, sad she can't have her own unique powers.
"If we got injected with a Serum, we could develop our own powers," Hana says, which causes Yukari to raise her head in hope. "Though based on its color, the chances of dying by the DNA alteration could be pretty high." And with that, her head falls down faster than a free falling object.
"I hope Mako would get the power to wake up early without help," Saori jokes and everyone laughs at the remark. Even Mako has an amused smirk, forgetting momentarily her fear of heights.
Meanwhile, Miho is sitting at the turret of the Panzer IV, chatting with the other tank commanders.
"Who would have thought the great Nishizumi Miho would lead us in an actual battle," a woman with long black hair and black eyes says, siting on the turret of a T-90U.
"Not only is she a Nishizumi, but she is only nineteen years old and already part of an elite squad," a man with short brown hair and light brown eyes adds, sitting on top of an M1A1 Abrahams.
"I believe that any one of you could lead the Insertion Force reliably and make sure everyone comes back alive," Miho says with a smile.
"Oh come on, you don't have to be so humble about your skills," a voice blares through the radio. "And someone tell me who this annoying blonde woman is!" the voice yells.
"That is Odysseus. She might be a bit...weird,but she is an excellent commander," Miho says through her radio.
"Wow, a commander that has been acknowledged by a Nishizumi. You are really lucky Odysseus," the woman on top of the T-90U says, amazed by that fact.
"That's right, so you better show me the proper respect shorty!" Odysseus' voice is heard through the radio.
"Who did you called shorty?!" the voice of the tank commander that is in the same helicopter is heard loudly through the radio. Before anyone can respond, a dull clang echoes from the radio and everyone grows curious as to what it was.
"Is everything okay?" Miho asks.
"That redhead is scary. She just bashed the blonde's head on the side of their tank," the short commander says, though her voice suggests she is scared right now. Laughter erupts in Miho's helicopter, as the commanders of the other tanks are clutching their sides from laughing very hard and even Miho can't resist the urge to chuckle.
"Landing in two minutes!" a voice is heard throughout the helicopter and everyone gets on their position.
"This is going to be a really fun trip," the T-90U commander shouts in anticipation of how the mission will go.
As the helicopters start descending, the commander speaks over the comms. "I wanted to ask, but how did your squad got the nickname 'Black Wolves'?" she asks, which piques the interest of the other commanders as well.
"Actually, we didn't picked it. It started as a rumor," Miho says curtly.
"Ah, I remember those rumors. There was supposedly a squad of five teenage girls that could complete any mission with the utmost efficiency. Some squads that worked with them even said that they were the most efficient killing machines Blackout ever had. There was also a rumor that they were aggressive like a wolf and kill anyone between them and their objective," the short commander explains through the radio and the other commanders in the same helicopter as Miho eye her with a curious gaze, trying to imagine this cute girl as a ruthless soldier. "So you can imagine the surprise of most, when it was revealed her squad was the one." Indeed, when the reveal of her squad being the Black Wolves was made, almost everyone thought it was a joke. No one could believe that these five beautiful and cute girls could be so...good at their job.
"I remember that time. My damn driver was on the floor, laughing at all the other fools that stood with their mouths open. Even I couldn't believe it was true, but here we are," the T-90U commander points at Miho. "Though it makes sense, since you are a Nishizumi."
"Touchdown in 10 seconds!" the pilot's voice blares through the cargo bay, shortly followed by a small shaking and the helicopter's ramp opening. After the ramp opens fully, the Panzer IV H, T-90U and M1A1 Abrahams tanks roll out in that order. From the other helicopters exits the Cerberus tank and a modified Type 10.
"Remember, you are on your own now, so try to get safely on the lab," the pilot says through the radio, as the two huge helicopters start slowly to rise in the air.
"Thanks a lot for the ride and be safe you too," Miho responds, before cutting the transmission. "All units, report," she orders, having changed to her commander persona of sorts.
"Arrow-1 is ready," the T-90U commander responds.
"Arrow-2 is ready," the M1A1 commander says.
"Arrow-3 is ready," the Type 10 commander says.
"We are ready here, OUCH!" Odysseus says through the radio, before something hits her on her head. "Fiiiine, Arrow-4 is ready," she says slowly, like someone just sucked all of her energy.
"To all Arrows, our callsign is Bow; we will now move towards the underground laboratory to stop the Institute once and for all. Arrows 1 and 2,you'll lead the way, Arrow 3 will cover our back. Odysseus, I want you to go and scout the road that passes through the mountains for any enemies and if the roads are in an OK condition," Miho orders.
"Roger!" Everyone responds. While the Cerberus tank shoots forward, the rest of the tanks fall in line, their journey towards the lab beginning. Despite the fact that the plan guaranteed they'd have to face enemies only when they reached the lab, Miho felt that something was really wrong.
An hour has passed since their landing and the Insertion Force has covered about 30 km. They would have covered a lot more, if it wasn't for the Panzer IV H having a rather slow top speed, going up to 30 km/h when off-road. Odysseus had completed the scouting and found nothing out of the ordinary, thus returning to the rest of the tanks.
After passing through the mountains, they found themselves on a plain yet again, which indicated plenty of opportunities to be ambushed, since they were extremely exposed, especially in airplanes or helicopters. Thankfully, their journey was uneventful, having passed through the mountains without encountering any enemies.
Miho is now standing on her seat, half of her body peeking out of the cupola. The rest of the commanders are doing the same, since that way they have better visibility.
This is really weird. We are 20 km away from the lab and there is no sign of enemy forces, not even patrols, Miho thinks, growing worried they may be walking in a trap.
"How much resistance do you think we will find on the lab?" the commander of the Type 10 asks. Only now Miho notices she is a girl with tea colored hair and blue eyes.
"Best case scenario, we find only normal infantry. Worst case there are Phantoms, Angels and maybe a couple tanks of theirs," the T-90U commander comments.
"I don't think we have anything to worry. I'm sure Miss Nishizumi can use her powers to clear any opposition," the commander of the M1A1 says.
"Oh, that's right! We could sim-" Before she can finish her sentence, the T-90U erupts in flames, burning everyone except the commander, who manages to jump off the tank in the nick of time. The M1A1 gets impaled by a huge icicle that has fallen from the sky, only the driver having survived. Miho's tank and the Type 10 stop near the wrecks to gather any survivors. The weird thing about this attack is that no enemy is in view, and Miho scans her surroundings furiously to find any indication of the direction these attacks came.
Suddenly, Miho has a weird feeling all over her body, and she can feel her powers trying to activate. "Hey, Odysseus, do you feel that your powers are about to activate?" Miho asks, still scanning her surroundings. By now, the T-90U commander has climbed on top of the Panzer IV and stands on top of the engine deck.
"Yeah. Do you think there might be any..." Odysseus trails off.
"Odysseus?" Miho asks, before noticing three figures in the distance, a man and two girls. She isn't sure, but she feels like the girls emit some kind of weak pressure.
"Continue with the mission Miho, I'll take care of this," Odysseus responds as she jumps down to the ground and starts to walk towards the three figures. Annabelle seems to exit from her hatch and starts tunning to Odysseus. Miho can't hear what they are arguing about, but she can see Annabelle getting angrier by the second, though she finally goes back to the tank, albeit reluctantly. Looking at her, Odysseus nods once, before continuing to the figures.
"Mako, take us to the lab; Odysseus will handle the rest," she orders.
"OK," Mako responds and the tank continues to its intended target.
"Will your friend be alright?" the T-90U commander asks.
"She has powers like me, so she should be fine," Miho responds, though she isn't very sure about it.
"She will be fine. Let us continue forwards, time is of the essence," Reiji says through the radio, as if he had heard what the two commanders have been talking about.
As the remaining tanks drive away from them, Odysseus finally reaches the figures, standing 20 meters away from them.
"Hello Major...it's been a while since the last time we saw each other," Odysseus says in Greek, her voice filled with anger and disgust. Her eyes emit immense amounts of killing intent, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by the two girls standing in front of the Major.
"Indeed. Would you like to do some catching up? Though I'm not too sure we have the time for it," he says with a grin.
"Sure. What's the deal with the twins?" she asks, temporarily letting her childhood behavior to surface.
"These girls are Ether users. The program has been going quite well these past two years."
"Two Ether users, huh? What an honor to bring them all the way from our little country just for me," she responds venomously. Activating her powers, the air around her starts flowing outwards, as a white scythe falls on her right hand. The two girls that look exactly the same, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, activate their powers too. The girl on the left materializes a flaming sword, while the girl on the right, a rapier made of ice. Their eyes change color too, bright red and icy white accordingly.
Odysseus twirls her scythe once, before pointing it at the Major. "When I'm done with you, you'll be an unrecognizable blob of meat and bones," she says with a monotone voice, though deep inside she is brewing with hatred.
"I'll have my revenge and no one can stop me. Mors expectet, Major."
And with that phrase, the three Ether users clash their weapons, the energy unleashed scaring the earth, as dirt, soil and chunks of ground start flying everywhere.
A/N: The battle against the Institute has begun! Though, what was Mannheim discussing with Azarin? Who are the twelve and is something more in the Apocalypse and the earthquakes that meets the eye? Also, next chapter is the battle of Tokyo, along with the first aerial fight I'll ever write and probably the escape of the Ooarai Girls. I'm sure Suzuki will make good use of her wrench.Anyway, as always, suggestions, questions, corrections, reviews or PMs are greatly appreciated. Also, English isn't my native tongue, so expect some grammatical errors here and there. If you found the story interesting and had a great time, favorite and follow. Have a nice day/night and until the next chapter, stay safe!