Disclaim: I don't own Elsword. Just a wandering author who wishes to release imagination.
Main Character:
Elsword - Rune Master
Eve - Code: Sariel
Mio - Narrator
Note:
" " - Talking
(Translation)
Act 2 - Chapter 2: Enter the Battlefield.
"Alright, people, we have new mission for you."
Alicia announced to the new team Elrios who were standing before the secretary with their camouflage clothes on. 2 days after their training and they got their first mission.
"Elsword, Eve I have report that our supply is running low, so I send your team to outside of the kingdom. Our scout team has detected the Empire has set a perimeter on the Kana river, which is the way for merchants to come and supply us. We need to take it back now." Alicia explained while pointing her finger at the Southwest of the kingdom "The path is blocked here. Fortunately, their force is thin. I expect your team can clear the Empire for Terra to supply us. Any question?"
"I have." Eve spoke up "Why doesn't Terra do this?" She stared at the large blue area with name Terra.
"That's what I asked myself yet I don't think they would have spare force to open Kana River due to keeping border." Alicia replied, though her voice sounds distaste "Even if they have, I doubt they would send it."
Elsword narrowed his eyes. It seemed like there's still some arrogant people who were selfish to save themselves rather than saving other force.
"Once you retake the bridge, use this flare to send the second team to enfore the security. That's all for now. The operation will begin in 2 hours. You're dismissed."
"Haii!"
Once they have prepared their kit, they are waiting at their own camp in HQ's field. With Elsword, since it's a small operation, he was equipped with only armored jacket and M4A1 with Acog Sight and a grenade launcher attachment, he had his own sword which was used later in case of emergency and his Blue Rose, which was a dual barrels white python. With Eve, she got herself an MP5 with Red Dot Sight, a Five-Seven handgun and armored jackets. Mio, however, was not joining the battlefield as she stayed in the HQ as Narrator to provide visibility for Team Elrios.
He tried to recall his rune to test his ability to use magic and yet, it didn't go well. He's still able to use it but it's not enough to kill someone, but to damage to distract the target. Let's just say it's his true magic, which he can call without the help of El Energy. Eve can still use her own power since her Nasod body contained storage El Energy to use but limited for important situation, namely calling her spear out.
Mio didn't have any ability like Elsword or Eve but her sharp eyes and tactic helped Altera and its army to defense the kingdom. After the Range Test, Mio went through her test to decide her ability as Narrator and suffice to say, it's above their expectation. However, she only supported Team Elrios since she knew their skills than any other team, and Alicia permitted her request.
"How's going? I heard you're about to leave for your first operation."
Kazuki entered Elrios camp along with Lily, who joined with Hunter. The smell of gun smoke was still faintly on both of them, meaning they had finished their training. They past by the HQ and met Alicia who told them Team Elrios would begin the operation to retake Kana River and decided to visit them.
"Not much, though. I have Mio scan the area for me and knows their locations. It should makes our job easier."
Elsword responded while inserting each bullet into mag' before reloading his rifle.
"Once we retake Kana River, we will gain supply from Terra to expand the area, so make sure you do not fail."
"Though you didn't fully tell me why the Rebellion seeks to overthrow the Empire, aside destroying Eltrion and revengeance."
"…"
Kazuki went silent after this, as his emotion was conflicted. Anger, depressed, disappointment. Lily reaI asdasdd his face and held his hand to calm him down.
"I never betrayed this Empire, but you Empire betrayed me and what I believed in it."
"I will tell you later, right now you need to focus on your mission. Good luck."
"You killed my family, take her away from me. Everything is done."
Kazuki stepped out of Elrios camp, leaving the team confused. Lily bowed slightly and left afterward.
- Kana River -
Time seemed to slow down. Team Elrios appeared at final destination and stopped by the windmill, which was surrounded by sandbags Alicia's team has placed before. Thanks to Mio, they found the Empire guards patrolling the river on the other side of the river.
"Just in time. Ready on my mark, Eve."
They readied their weapon and loaded first bullet in the barrel. Elsword placed his rifle on the barrier of sandbag, aiming his ACOG at one of the guards' head and shouted.
"Open Fire!"
*Bang!*
The first bullet shot through the guard's head, instantly killed him. It alerted the other guards and returned fired at two of them. Both of them crounched down to avoid wave of bullets and shot back.
"Elsword, use grenade launcher!"
Following Mio's instruction, Elsword switched to main weapon's attachment and launched first grenade toward other side of the river, blowing two of guards away. A small grin crossed his mouth.
"Elsword, draw fire. Eve, cross the bridge."
"Copy!"
Elsword reloaded and fired to cover Eve who crossed past another sand barrier.
"Throwing smoke!"
She pulled the triggers and threw smoking grenades along the bridge to hide her. Among the smoke, she assassinated a guard with her knife, sliding his throat and dropped him. Once she successfully crossed, she met those guards who were drawn attention by Elsword and eliminating them. She signaled Elsword that the area was safe.
"Alright, I will call them."
Elsword pulled the flare gun and shot red flare on the sky.
"This is engineering team, we see your flare and on the way, ETA, 10 minutes. Recommending holding your position till our arrival."
"Copy your last, Elrios out."
They fortified the barrier and waited for engineering team. However, their break cut short as they heard faint engine from above and the ground. Much to their shock, they spotted two helicopter and a tank which were heading to their way. The helicopter opened fire first and tank unloaded first cannon bullet that exploded upon contact on windmill.
"Oh shit!"
They prone to avoid heavy fire.
"Mio! We Got Enemy Helo and Tank! Request to use our power!"
Elsword and Eve barely returned their shot as helicopter kept firing at them.
"Copy all. HQ gives permission to use El power, proceed with caution."
Mio called them, and warned them that they should use their power with limit energy to avoid leaking to the Empire.
That's enough for Elrios to unleash their weapons. Elsword raised his hand to cast red rune that blocked bullets from helicopter, allowing Eve to run at tank with her spear. Elsword took out his Blue Rose and shot two bullets at minigun, disabled it. The helo then launched two missiles at Elsword. To their confusion and horror, Elsword jumped and landed on one of the missiles and used his legs to guide it. The Red Haired Magician let out huge yell of exciting as he rode it surrounding helo which was trying to flee before he used its own missile to shot it down and landed safely on the ground.
For Eve, she dodged incoming rain of bullets from the tank and High Explosion (HE) cannon bullet. She used part of El Energy to enhance her spear and cut down the tank's barrel, teared the trend which immobilized them. She then hopped on top of the tank to meet a crew tank coming out with his knife aiming at her which failed. She kicked him out cold and used a grenade, pulled triggered and threw it inside before she jumped off, right before the tank exploded due to the ammunication caught fire from grenade.
"Mio, we got them."
"Good job, Elsword. The engineering team just arrived."
Elsword looked up as the rebellion's transporting helo was right above them. They waited as it landed before them, paneling revealing. 3 soldiers stepped out in their full gear with Scar Light and 5 members of engineering team followed afterward. A female leader with silver long hair just like Eve, tied neatly in one tail. Her left eye was equipped with blue goggle attached with small micro. She had the same blue camourflag uniform. He noticed her waist had dual handgun holsters, which were assumed her main weapons.
"Well done, soldier. The name's Kiana. You will be under my command for the time being."
Despite being adult, her voice was nearly childish which Elsword found cute. Kiana looked around the battlefield and saw what were left of two helo and tank of Empire. They made a great job, for the newcomers. She was informed what they were capable of, yet she still found it stunning. The sight of the tank having cuts and helo destroyed were beyond her imagination. She was wondering if their power could be even on Valkyria those Empire owned.
"Troops, clean the mess and prepare to fortify the bridge. Elsword, Eve, I need you two to guard the bridge while the engineers are doing their job. For now you need to rest."
"Haii!"
With engineers were doing their job, Elsword was on the sandwall with a bottle of water on his hand which was downed to half. He never felt this exhaust since he began his magic path when he overused the magic. This time he used his own magic that nearly tired him out. He drank remain of water before tossing it inside his bag and went to Eve who was leaning her back on the wall of windmill. Compared to Elsword, Eve looked fine despite she called out her spear to destroy tank.
"How do you feel?"
"Good, for now. Those were not mere threat to me. I should ask you the same thing."
Eve raised her voice a little at Elsword. She learnt that Elsword would be exhausted after using magic.
"Trying to regain my power." He replied, sitting near Eve and leaning on wall "My magic didn't recover as much as in Elrios. Your suspicion is right. I need to use it wisely."
"That's good to hear."
But inside, she's worried. It was only the beginning of the battle where magic was not existed. Elsword could have been dead if it's not for his years of training and learning on the battlefield. She placed her hand on his, gripping it slightly tight. She could feel the heat on his hand higher than before, which was the result of using rune. Elsword felt her hand too and gripped slightly in return, ignoring the squeal she let out.
"Elsword!"
Upon being called, they both released their hand and saw the commander, Kiana, walking toward them. Eve sighed in relief that she didn't see it. Elsword stood up and asked.
"You call?"
"HQ wants to scout the area 2 klicks (km). There's probably a small base around here. Once you find the location, call your Narrator to confirm."
"Roger."
"Eve, you're staying with me."
"Why?"
"I can risk defense thinner. They could attack us and engineers."
As much as Eve wanted to refuse, she's right.
"It's ok, Eve. I can handle this." Elsword smiled. His smile turned to grin when Eve pouted "I will be fine."
After that, Elsword left.
Near Kana River 3 klicks, the mysterious cloaked person was using scope to look at the bridge which was under Rebellion's control and watched the Magician left to find the Empire's base nearby. Standing beside him was another one. However, this one was shorter than the first one and was chewing cookies from her own lunch box. She let out a soft moan after finishing last cookie and put lunch box down. Both of them had the sign of Empire on their backs.
"He's on the move." Cloaked man spoke.
"Should we interfere him?"
"Not yet. Our job is scouting Kana River and inform the king." He denied "Even Rebellion retakes Kana River, it makes little matter to weaken Empire. Beside," He put scope down and looked at where Elsword was headed to "Our Client orders us not to interfere his test."
"I see."
He turned around and returned to sit beside the girl to enjoy his own bento (lunch box) only to find it empty. His head moved to stare at the cloaked girl who grinned at him, patting her stomach. He should have known that she had bad habit of stealing his cookies and couldn't do anything to stop her stealth. He decided to put it aside and made mag' for his weapon.
"What do you know about Empire?"
"They have Guardian in their grasp yet unable to control due to missing link with formal Valkyria. They are on the move to capture her through invasion tomorrow. Have you warned them?"
"The one on Sierra? Ya, I did just now, though I'm not sure if they trust a stranger's words so I let them decide on their own." He sighed and leaned his back on the tree "Seem like they try to confirm if I'm right."
He finished inserting bullets and reloaded his sniper rifle.
"We will see about that."
- Gaia - Headquarter -
After 3 hours of guarding and fortifying bridge, Elrios returned when another team came to defense Kana. They were standing before the door and had their eyes scanned by retina scanner.
Identify…
Sieghart, Elsword
Elrios Sergent 1-1
Eve
Elrios Sergent 1-2
Retina Scan confirmed
They entered and headed to Adminitrator Office. Alicia had given the passcode to Elrios members so they could pass security layers. They arrived in office and then were greeted by a man who was sitting behind large desk.
"Mission Accomplished, I presume?"
"Etou…"
"Ah, my apology, we haven't met before." The brown haired man stood up and stepped out before them as he introduced "Boku namae wa Welkin Gunther (My name is Welkin Gunther), Military Administator. I'm in charge of security of Gaia as well as the resource of Military to make sure we are in shape, Elsword-san, Eve-san. It's an honor to have you in our force."
"Likewise, Gunther-san." He shook his hand and smiled "Gunther? Do you have any relationship with Alicia-san or Isara?"
"Ah, Isara is my imotou (little sister) and Alicia… she's my wife. We're taking care of unfinished business the previous generation are doing."
After short introduction, Elsword turned in the mission as success. He gave him the addition information relating to Envy, the Empire Valkyria.
"So it happens again." He muttered.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing, you should return and rest for a while until I call for your help. You're dismissed."
"Haii."
After both of the out of his sight, he let out a desperate sigh and stared at the window. He recalled the memories of his previous battle against Maximilian, late Empire King. One of them was unpleasant to him. They used to have one Valkyria before but was passed away by a high explosion that destroyed tower where she was being captive by General. Alicia was also Valkyria too but she wanted to avoid it because of Valkyria's fate. Now another one appeared in each side. How bad could it be?
A light knock on the door snapped him out of his thought and called in to find the new pink haired narrator step inside and bowed.
"You must be the new member of Elrios' team. What do you need?"
"Sir, I have news from Terra." Mio reported and handed file case. Welkin took it and unfolded to read the content while listening to her report "After we retook Kana River, Terra has sent us their supply."
"That's good to hear." He nodded.
"However, I have received unidentified call from outside." She placed recorder on Welkin's working table and turned it on "Listen."
"I am *distorted* of *distorted*, you may know me as Dark Hunter. I am sending warning to Rebellion and Terra the Empire's upcoming invasion to Sierra tomorrow. They will send armored vehicles and tanks to conquer those against Empire. It's your choice."
The recorder shut down after long silence.
"I can't detect the source of the call. It could be a trap to lead us to death." Mio commented "There's something fishy about this."
"Pardon?"
"I heard this voice somewhere, but I can't figure it out."
"*yawn*So tired…"
Sky turned night. First day of their battlefield was over. Both soldiers returned to their room and took turn taking shower. Elsword was the last one to shower and stepped out with his towel wrapping his neck. He found Eve doing her own work relating to Code Valkyria. He approached and saw that she was staring at the screen, thinking.
"Something bothers you?"
Eve turned around to see Elsword staring at screen too.
"Yes, this part is missing. The code won't work. There has to be connection in this function. It could be Eltrion's connection to Valkyria. I tried to alter it to isolate Valkyria from Eltrion so I can have it as my own." She explained.
"Then why don't you?"
"Something blocks me from altering it."
"Security?"
"Probably, I'm trying to figure out."
Yet, she couldn't alter it. She was denied by an unknown security layer with a warning sign "Error!". She sighed in frustration and shut down her computer.
"I still can access to Valkyria power, but not at full force until I break it."
Elsword patted her head, slowly calmed her down and pushed her off computer and outside their room while speaking "I believe you should have something. We haven't had lunch after we came back here."
"Elsword, I'm not hung- *growl* -ry…"
She may refuse, but her stomach protested. This made Eve flushed and Elsword chuckled.
"I will make dinner for you."
She sighed and nodded before sitting down near dining table. Elsword approached the kitchen and put apron on his waist. With all material they're supplied, he could make a proper meal for everyone.
"By the way, have you seen Mio?" Elsword asked.
"No, she hasn't home yet. Probably staying at headquarter for longer than us."
True be told, after half hour passed, Mio was home. She had her pink haired messed up with a stack of papers on her right arm. She stepped forward with her shaky legs that wanted to fall down.
"Tadai…ma… (I'm home…)" She spoke in a tired voice.
"Okaerinasai, Mio (Welcome home, Mio)." Elsword greeted.
"I never felt this… exhaust…" she panted and fell on the couch. A loud sigh escaped her lips.
- Next day - Training Ground -
Elsword and his team went to their camp to pack up their uniform and equipment, only to be stopped by a strange woman with two dark brown hair tied in two buns. She wore the same uniform of Gaia Army except her sign is Team 7. She had a frown deep brown eyes that were staring at Red Magician, both her hands on her waist.
"KIMI! (You!)" She called out loud pointing her finger at specific man before her.
"Heh?" Elsword was confused by her sudden voice.
"Yes, You! How the hell did you do it?!"
"Do what?"
"Don't play dump on me! How did you get top score in range fire?!"
"Range Fire- Chotto…(wait…)" Elsword was about to retort and stopped, remembering his training and saw his score higher than second place, who used to be top rank "You are… Rossa?"
"Hai! Watashi namae wa Rossetta Anatasia, Shocktrooper of Team 7." She firmly told, still maintaining her eyes on Elsword "I heard from Jack that you scored a number higher than me. That was supposed to be my place."
"Eh…"
"Hold on! You can't just appear in front of Elsword and yell at him just because his score is higher than you." Mio told in an irritating voice.
"You stay out of this. I need to settle my competition with him!"
Things became more tension as she glared at Elsword who was sweating. Thankfully, his savior came in time.
"What's this all ruckus about?!"
"Kazuki?!"
The woman broke her eye contact and met her leader who approached with stern gaze.
"Care to explain what are you doing to Team Elrios?" Kazuki asked.
"Kazuki, I need to solve this with him." She pointed her finger at Elsword again "I have to take my top score back- Itai! (Ouch!)"
"*sigh* Rossa, put that thing aside, you have your order from HQ. Go back to Team 7's camp with Lily and prepare your gear."
"But-" / "That's an order."
He cut her word with glare that told her to shut up and do as he said. She nodded and walked away, not before giving a death glare to Elsword.
"My apology for my member's attitude. She didn't keep her temper well when it comes to someone beating her skill."
"it's fine. I have encountered some people like this." Elsword chuckled a bit "Anyway, your team on a mission?"
"Yup, my team will be sent to Sierra to increase defense until HQ sends a team to reinforce it." He said "It could be a day so I won't be able to check on your team."
"We can handle ourselves, thank you very much for your concern though."
"I hope we can work together in one day." Kazuki wished "by the way, congratulation on your first victory. Keep it up."
"You got it."
They watched as Kazuki left.
"So… wanna see Welkin-san to check any available mission?"
"Sure thing."
However, Welkin informed them that there's no available mission for them at this current situation which upset the team. They chose to practice their firearm. Elsword went back to fire booth and saw Rossa's score was higher than last time, but it's not enough to beat his current one. He asked Mio if she could search for Rossa's intel, and she did.
Rossetta Anatasia, daughter of Briggite Rosie Anatasia. She was an gifted girl with well aimed shot, mastered almost any type of gun. She inherited those from her mother who was former Stormtrooper of Team 7. Noted that she was short of temper so try to no anger her.
P/s: Why does that has to pass down to her?
"Pfft…"
"What wrong?"
"Nothing."
They spent their free time training their firearm. Mio joined in with the same handgun Five-Seven. She had to hold both her hands firmly and shot at dummy. She was not used to using gun that the gun recoiled and pushed her back a little. Elsword offered his help by standing behind Mio, wrapping his arms around her and held her hands to adjust the fingers, not noticing dark blush on her cheeks and a fuming Queen of Nasod.
Of course she couldn't lose to her new opponent and proceed with the same plan. She faked shooting miss dummy and asked Elsword for his help, which Elsword gladly did. However, he didn't see the invisible electric that was shooting between Mio's and Eve's eyes.
Isara, standing outside, could only sighed.
"He's gonna have a bad time with those two."
Yuu: Ah Damn it!
Lu: *peek* Another failed? You still need to practice more.
Yuu: Yes, but the screen won't work as i wish.
Lu: Then why not buying new one?
Yuu: I stored a lot of secrets in here, so i can't.
Lu: Well, deal with it then.
Yuu: Anyway, i'm done with first battlefield. It's not much so i hope you like it. I'm gonna play Lanota again.
Lu: Read n Review, please OwO /