Chapter I
Ouch.
That word was becoming her first waking thought lately. The short deployment on Reach and the Covenant invasion had changed her world completely. Fighting Human terrorists, pirates and rebel groups was pest control compared to the merciless extermination campaign of the Covenant. To think fighting those separatists had once been called a war was almost laughable.
A strange smell and the sound of water brought B-312 back to the present. She felt like old hell but seemed to be alive and lying on her back with something under her head.
A cold pressure appeared on her wounded side, causing a sharp inhale. The jarring of her ribs and the weight in the back of her throat spurred a coughing fit.
Damnit, hope there is no danger. As much as I hate to admit it I'm in no shape to fight right now.
Once she managed to cough up whatever the irritation was the cold pressure appeared again, damp and dabbing around her mouth and chin. She could smell blood and water... And something that sparked a distant memory.
B-312 slowly twitched every muscle to determine the state of her body. Her helmet was still in her grasp and there seemed to be no significant change from the last time she woke. Without her HUD, there was little else she could discern besides that her head needed shaving soon or hair would start getting in her eyes.
She eased open her eyes and adjusted to the light, then quickly took note of her surroundings. She was on the floor, a door was about a meter from her head, several small windows in two walls to her left and forward, a Humanoid kneeling at her right shoulder.
Unidentified being causing a blind-spot, one visible entrance, two or three possible ambush points.
Crucial points of note accounted for the Spartan slowed from rapid darting glances to scrutinize the being next to her.
Effeminate male, silver hair, silver eyes, Asian features - Shiina, hostile.
Or was he? The boy had a cloth in hand stained red-orange from blood and water. No weapons, no yellow glow besides the light bulb hanging overhead...
That other smell grew in strength with the sound of softened foot falls.
The boy turned to look over his shoulder and spoke but the sounds meant nothing to her. There was a response and another figure entered her vision. It was the girl she had seen with Shiina in the alley. She too had Asian features. The pair conversed quickly and looked at her, curiosity in their eyes.
B-312 glanced around again and found the room to be some sort of foyer, given the shoes in a short shelving unit by the door. An archaic analogue clock on the wall told her it was 0400 local time... Where ever she was, it was Earth for sure. The symbols around the clock face were unfamiliar to her but she had seen something similar among colonists from Earth before.
The two Humans spoke to her, then between themselves uncertainly.
With a sigh, she slowly raised her head and slipped her helmet back on. Giving the systems a quick once over the Spartan found cause for concern to say the least. Slowly she turned her battered helm and addressed the two.
"I don't understand the situation." she began "But I haven't the luxury of time to make sense of it. Can you understand me?"
The pair looked at each other, confused, but the girl nodded back.
They are just kids. I can't let them know what's really going on.
"What is your name?"
The girl hesitated, eyes thoughtful. "My name is Yukari Sahashi. What is your name?"
"Spart- er, my name is Zeilla. I need your help with something, Yukari."
The girl cocked her head and made a quizzical sound.
Zeilla felt about on her shoulder for one of the bolts inset into her armour plating, drawing the girl's eyes to it.
"Can you see the shape in this hole? I need a tool that will fit into the bolt head. I might have one but I can't reach every bolt. I need you to find the right tool in one of my pouches. They are hard to open. You might need your friend's strength."
Yukari peered at the shape and put a finger to her cheek. "I am strong, but what is the need?"
"If I don't do something about it then something very bad will happen, and quite soon." Zeilla said calmly, eyeing the temperature gauges on her HUD. She refocused on picturing the schematics of her armour, looking back at the small Humanoids. "To stop it I need a certain tool."
"Okay, I will look now." she agreed.
Zeilla took a deep breath and held it, then carefully rolled onto her right side so as to keep her ribs still. It took a surprising amount of concentration to keep calm while the two worked at prying open the clasps designed for a Spartan's strength. Yukari had trouble but Shiina seemed to be inferior to her in terms of raw strength, judging by the grunts she could understand around their own language. That was confusing when she recalled how the boy had shattered her shields with only three strikes.
After a number of worrying minutes Yukari presented the correct tool with a query the Spartan hopped she understood the meaning of.
"That is the one." she confirmed. "Now I need you to insert it into the head of each bolt I point out and turn it anti-clock wise."
The Spartan managed to push herself upright without too much pain and with Shiina leaning hard into her back was able to spare a hand to hunt for the first bolt hole. Yukari acknowledged and fiddled around to get the tool lined up correctly, making Zeilla more nervous as the seconds ticked by. She had to take her helmet off again because it was getting too hot.
"Gah! Its stuck!" Yukari hissed as she struggled with the driver, repeating the exclamation in English after a second of thought.
Zeilla was relieved to find someone could speak her language. "This was intended to be done by a machine or Spar- or another of my kind."
Shiina added his arms to the battle but still the bolt would not turn.
Zeilla frowned. This was not good. "I thought your friend Shiina was strong enough after what he did in the alley-"
"He has a strong power, not a strong body." Yukari snapped.
Shiina put a hand on Yukari's shoulder and said something which calmed her down. She started to reply only to cut herself off mid-sentence, causing Shiina concern. The girl perked up and rattled off something in their language.
Zeilla resisted the urge to frown.
"Hey, I think I know someone who can help." Yukari spoke in English to the Spartan's relief. "But it's the middle of the night right now. We'll have a bite to eat and get what sleep we can until morning, okay?"
Zeilla nodded. "There is still time."
After a word with Shiina the girl got up and left him to resume dabbing at a few visible wounds in the damaged weak spots of her armour. When he noticed her flinching Shiina offered the Spartan a pair of tablets from a small plastic bottle. Out of caution Zeilla hesitated. She pulled her helmet back on for its interpretation function.
"What are those?"
Shiina looked at her funny and presented the bottle for inspection. "Painkiller, Yukari-san called them."
"I really need to learn your language." she muttered as she pushed the helmet up enough to pop the tablets in her mouth, barely noticing their tumble down her throat.
"This is not my kinds native language, but the only one I was taught." he clarified. "We were all raised with integration into Japanese culture in mind."
"Japanese..." she repeated, settling back down on the floor as Shiina examined the puncture in her side. "Then I landed in Japan?"
"Yes, specifically the capital city, Tokyo."
That confirms something I passed off as a fear inspired outlandish delusion. She thought. The Japan I know of is at the forefront of technological advancement. I can't be sure of anything just yet, however.
Silence fell between them as both considered the questions of their minds. In a few minutes, Yukari returned with three steaming bowls, the source of the strange smell she had detected earlier. It took a little instruction but Zeilla quickly learned how to eat as they did, though the concept of nutrients being gathered from dead worm looking things instead of MREs or tasteless ration bars was baffling her mindset of efficiency. Eating together with a pair of children also made the whole situation feel unreal – there were no Spartans or mess-hall staff, nor was she huddled somewhere in the field out of sight.
Yukari cleared her throat once she finished first. "Hey, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I was a bit hasty. What were you doing in that alley anyway?"
"Resting." Zeilla replied. "For the first time in several days."
The youths shared a glance.
"If you don't mind my asking, where do you come from? I've never seen anyone so tall and that armour is like something off a low-key mecha anime."
The Spartan raised a brow. "Seeing as the secret is known to the Covenant already, I suppose it matters little if I tell you. Just don't spread this information around or it could cause a panic."
Yukari and Shiina shared a glance, the former curious and the latter worried.
"I am designated B three one two - name Zeilla - a member of the Spartan program's third-generation augmentation subject population. I was stationed on the planet Reach, the home of said project. Shortly after arriving my unit discovered an enemy invasion force. In the following week, we evacuated as best we could and tried to buy time for the UNSC fleet but... In the end the best we could manage was scrambled delaying actions and desperate attacks on key locations."
Zeilla paused, looking down at the wear and tear on her gauntlets, delicately pinching a pair of chopsticks. "As far as I know they don't know of Earth yet, and there is a chance of discovering a way to overcome the Covenant, so I guess we can be glad for something."
"You're... You're not from planet Earth, are you." Yukari said. It was clearly a statement.
"Indeed, I was born on Luna before moving to a colony world. I was invited to join the Spartan program after surviving a rare virus strain that crippled my nervous system for nearly a year." Zeilla was beginning to wonder if the pair had somehow missed her mention of the Covenant capturing Reach. Why was her birth-world of importance?
Yukari's eyes went impossibly wide. "You're from space - like the Sekirei!"
The Spartan blinked twice in confusion. "Technically, yes. I'll admit it's unlikely for anyone to want to move to Earth but surely that not strange, is it?"
"Are you joking? The idea of other life in the galaxy is super old but never has anything been discovered until the Sekirei popped up in this city! Now mecha-giants are coming out of alleyways?"
"Wait a second, 'Sekirei'?"
The three of them suddenly realised they were not all entirely on the same page.
Zeilla, having long been apt at responding to the unexpected, was the first to find her mental footing. She quickly inhaled the last of her food and pulled her helmet back on.
"Okay, let's get a few things cleared up. What is the biggest organisation you know of?"
"MBI." both responded.
"Ever heard of the UNSC?"
"No."
"Has Earth's moon been colonised yet?"
Yukari frowned. "In America, a group called NASA have been to the moon but... Right now, they are only thinking about possible life on Mars."
Well, shit. This complicates things.
Zeilla propped herself up on her elbows to take the pressure off her ribs. "Yukari, Shiina, I have no idea what is going on or how it is I came to crash in this city, but it's clear to me something strange is going on here."
"I don't understand either." Yukari said. "There are a lot of strange things going on in this city lately too."
"I wonder if the professor knows anything about this." Shiina wondered aloud.
Yukari sighed, though it became a yawn by the end of it. "Well, all this will keep until tomorrow. Let's sleep and talk more in the morning on the way up north."
Zeilla raised her brow in query.
"My brother's girlfriend should be able to help you with your armour - she is really strong." her hostess explained. "We'll get you there as we search for Shiina's sister. We haven't checked much of the North anyway."
"Very well."
"Yukari-san, are you sure this outfit isn't strange?"
"You look good! You look good! You definitely look like a girl!"
"I-is that so?"
"They'll never notice you in that." Yukari grinned.
Only because they're probably staring at the cloaked figure behind him who towers over everyone. Zeilla thought to herself. "So, your people crashed here before cogniscience but are now contestants in a battle royal to find the strongest. Why?"
"To take our Ashikabi to the higher sky." Shiina replied instantly. "Everything we do, the reason we live, is for our Ashikabi."
"And right now, you two are searching for your only junior, Kusano."
"Yes."
Zeilla narrowed her eyes at the boy. "You aren't looking for your Ashikabi?"
The pair in front of her tensed a little.
"Have you kids got a plan or are you simply wandering about in blind hope?"
"Hey, we're not stupid kids!"
"Yukari-san..."
"Yeah, sorry..."
Right...
"Um, well, I can tell if Ku has been somewhere for some time, so... We look around those places and try to find anyone who might have seen her."
"You never considered reporting her missing to the police?"
Yukari snorted. "The game is a secret, remember? We can't have notices or posters alerting other Sekirei about her."
With a sigh the Spartan decided to drop that part of the matter. "I don't mind helping out in return for hospitality, but how am I supposed to know where she has been or if she is near?"
"Ku's power is the opposite of mine, but she only affects plants and trees." Shiina said. "Any unusually large plant growth is an obvious sign, but I can feel it if she is really close."
"That's helpful, Shiina. Maybe I should study all the plants in the city just to find where Kusano has been." the Spartan muttered sarcastically. "Alright, what does she look like? Is she different from Human children of her age?"
Shiina nodded. "She has long blond hair, almost to her knees. It just grows back to that length no matter how many times it was cut in the labs, thanks to her power because she likes it that long. If you get close enough to tell you'll find she has green eyes."
"What about clothing? Hair can be styled or stuffed under clothing."
"Um... Well, she likes white dresses... MBI always provided us with as many of our chosen outfits as we needed..."
Zeilla frowned. "Then let us hope she is either unwinged or that her Ashikabi is inclined to let her wear the same dress." She didn't dare voice her darker concerns. The Spartan saw far more than she would have liked hunting down the Insurrectionists.
Suddenly the pair leading her stopped, squeaking in surprise. Looking ahead of them Zeilla spotted a blond female staring back at her. The yellow and black clad girl quickly raised a coil above her head and grinned.
"Found you!"
Yukari dashed forward into an alley between two buildings on the left, dragging Shiina behind her. The coil launched towards them a fraction of a second too late and showered them with dust and bits of rock from the corner of one building. Zeilla switched her visor to thermal to find the blond girl charging forward, swing her whip in a circle overhead.
As the girl burst through the cloud and rounded the corner Zeilla stuck out an arm and clotheslined her. Instead of grasping her head in pain as the Spartan had expected the girl growled and lashed out with the whip. Zeilla sidestepped but the whip still wound around her arm. The blond quickly pulled all seven feet of her armoured form and landed a powerful twin kick to her midsection, releasing her whip and sending Zeilla flying down the alley.
Fortunately, Yukari and Shiina had flattened themselves against a wall as she rolled passed and were able to take cover in a doorway when the attacker launched her whip forth again.
"Number Thirty-Eight, Mitsuha. I'll be taking you to my master, your Ashikabi." the blond Sekirei declared proudly.
Zeilla got to her feet and eyed the girl wearily. "That is one strong girl."
Yukari pulled Shiina with her and ducked under another lash to shelter behind a dumpster. Zeilla edged back to meet them slowly, taking care to smack the tip of the whip aside to divert its course rather than let it pass again.
"What are you doing?" Mitsuha complained angrily. "You don't look like a Sekirei."
"Defending civilians from an unprovoked assault." she countered firmly.
"If you don't get out of the way you'll get hurt." the Sekirei warned, swinging her whip again.
"And you plan to do that all by yourself, huh?"
The girl bristled, then sent her whip out with a yell. Zeilla slapped the tip down into the ground and stomped on it, then reached down and pulled hard. Mitsuha tried to resist, but the Spartan's strength proved greater than her purchase. Zeilla slowly reeled her in despite the girl straining with all she had. She simply could not find enough traction compared to Zeilla's weight and slid forward against her will.
At two meters Zeilla paused. "You don't happen to know the location of number One-Oh-Eight, do you?"
"I'm not telling you anything!" the Sekirei hissed, putting a foot against the dumpster and leaping back a bit, pulling her off balance for a moment and shifting the dumpster by a meter.
Yukari and Shiina quickly picked themselves up off the ground but hesitated from running to watch Mitsuha and Zeilla struggle against each other.
Mitsuha saw the Spartan's stumble and immediately took to the air to capitalize on the opportunity. Zeilla let the whip go, allowing it to go taut before releasing the end from under her boot. The resulting yelp made her chuckle.
However, she underestimated the Sekirei. Even as she fell Mitsuha managed to right herself and strike. She wrapped her whip around the Spartan's neck and made sure to reel in her weapon once she landed on the roof further down the alley.
Zeilla cursed herself for her inattention. She began to reach for her energy sword, but Shiina stepped in front of her and thrust an arm up at number Thirty-Eight.
"Number One Hundred and Seven, Shiina. Release her!"
"Only if you come quietly." Mitsuha smirked.
Shiina then grabbed the whip and began to glow. "Death-Vine." he uttered sadly.
The yellow glow intensified as waves pulsed towards the other Sekirei, also enveloping the whip and its owner.
The effect was instantaneous. The whip disintegrated and Mitsuha collapsed to her knees with a cry of pain. When the waves from Shiina's other hand washed over her she screamed and shook, then went limp and pitched over to fall off the roof. She landed awkwardly before the three of them, all colour drained from her hair, clothes and eyes.
"No... Way..." she breathed, struggling to rise. Mitsuha barely got her legs under her before a violet glow flashed from her back and she collapsed again.
"Her crest has disappeared." Shiina stated quietly as a heavy silence fell on them in the wake of the vanished light. "Once MBI arrives to retrieve her we can continue our search for Ku."
Zeilla had no response. The display of power she had just witnessed raised many questions in her mind.
Just what kind of world have I landed in?
