Author's Note: I'm so, so, so sorry for taking so long to update the story! I've had a hellish past couple of months combined with a severe case of writer's block, but I've finally managed to finish a chapter. I don't think that it flows quite as well as the others, but at least it's something, right? Again, I apologize for the lateness of the piece, and I hope that you haven't given up on me and the story yet!
Chapter 7: Hell Hath No Fury...
"They're coming."
Dennis' steady voice contained nothing but its usual calm, but the gaze that was fixed upon the features of his friend and commander was far from normal. "The Royal Forces are advancing towards us even more quickly than we had anticipated. They still don't seem to have a positive lock on our location, but..."
"...it's only a matter of time before they do," Sutton finished for him, her serious expression mirroring the grimness that could be found on the face of her friend and comrade. "And we're way past talking about 'when' that happens."
"Position."
The golden-brown in Chris' eyes were nothing other than its normal unflinching, illegible self, but the members of the Obstinate Arrow unit, who over time had learned to interpret the subtle nuances of its expression, detected a slight flicker in its resolve. Fafal, Dennis, Jill and Sutton swallowed a collective gulp; they had only seen it a few times, but they all knew what that flicker meant: the current situation had gotten Chris worried, and if their cold, calculating leader found legitimate cause for concern, things had turned sour, really sour. The tension grew as the group anxiously waited for an answer.
"It's only an estimate, but their current location should be approximately 120 miles northwest of us." Sutton stole a glance at Dennis, who offered a curt nod in agreement.
"Oh my." Raquel raised a hand to her mouth. "That means that they'll be here very soon."
"I see." Chris wrinkled his forehead. Raquel Casull was indeed right. 120 miles was too close for comfort, much too close. Things seemed to be deteriorating much quicker than he had expected.
"Miss Raquel, couldn't you erect a barrier around us?" Dennis inquired, sounding rather hopeful. "Or cloak us with illusionary magic or something?"
"Such a task would be impossible even for a mage with Raquel Casull's abilities." Eirote pushed her glasses a little bit further up on the bridge of her nose before she continued, "The area in question is simply too large, plus the process of erecting such a shield would immediately alert our enemies of our position."
"I have already put in place a small barrier to warn us if anyone comes to close, but I'm afraid that Miss Eirote is right. I can't cloak anything this large." Raquel smiled a weak smile in apology, and Dennis sighed in defeat.
"So what do we do?" Fafal glanced over at Jill. "Have you been able to see anything, Jill?"
"No, I haven't." Jill looked at the ground and slowly shook her head. "But you know that I can't control the frequency of my visions."
"You can sense events before they happen?" Seness took a moment to study the dark-haired woman appreciatively. In the company of her more colourful comrades, it was easy to overlook her, but when Seness thought about it, she remembered that she had heard of this person and her unusual ability prior to meeting her in person.
So this was the seer Jill... Even though Seness had been openly sceptical to the vague reports, it would now seem that the rumours were true: the Obstinate Arrow unit really possessed a seer, and if she was powerful enough for the others to rely on her even in times like these...? How interesting.
"Yes, I have had the ability of premonition since I was a child."
"It's an unusual skill, but a considerable asset to any organization." Seness' eyes narrowed a fraction. Despite of the seeming gentleness, something about the seer told her that she was not to be underestimated. How very interesting.
"Thank you, Princess Seness." Despite the seriousness of their situation, Jill allowed for a small smile at the unexpected praise.
"Ah, excuse me, but..." Sutton sounded hesitant, looking to Dennis for permission to continue. Chris' frown deepened. It wasn't like Sutton to bite back what she was thinking or to require approval so openly. The rest of the report would undoubtedly contain bad news. Now, all that remained to see was just how bad.
The two reconnaissance scouts exchanged a glance, and after an affirmative nod from Dennis, Sutton continued with a voice that was uncharacteristically small, "That's not all. I'm afraid that there's more."
Their redheaded comrade opened her mouth to voice the question that ran through the minds of the all people around the camp fire, "More? What do you—"
But before she had a chance to finish her question, Fafal was unceremoniously interrupted by Dennis. "In addition to the armed forces, the Special Forces have also been mobilized: Alpha Red, Cloaked Dagger, Lone Sparrow and... and even Black Hawk. As expected, all the squads are to pursue and terminate. But it's about their orders. They aren't the normal set. General Stahl has issued Code Black."
A stunned silence followed the revelation, and expressions of varying degrees of horror appeared on the faces of the members of the Obstinate Arrow unit. Shannon noticed how even Chris shifted his position on the log he was sitting on, and the swordsman's eyes narrowed. If even the stone-faced axe-boy was rattled by the news, then that Code Black-thing was bound to be something serious. But Shannon's immediate concern wasn't the orders, but the Special Forces' units; he couldn't prepare for the onslaught of four specialized units that he knew absolutely nothing about.
"What I want to know is what Alpha Red, Cloa—" Shannon's question was unexpectedly interrupted by none other than the soft-spoken Jill, whose voice contained an urgency that surprised even Chris.
"Dennis, did you really say Code Black? But that means..." The seer's eyes visibly widened with terror as a series of fragmented visions entered her mind; if her visions weren't wrong, and they never were, Code Black would be the cause of so much pain, death and destruction. When she had joined the Obstinate Arrow unit, she had prayed that she would never hear that command. Now she was part of the reason it would be carried out. "Dennis, Sutton... Are you sure about this?"
"Code Black, what is it?" Seness' voice was hard. As the supreme commander of Scarlet, it was her responsibility to be well-versed in the codes used by the Giat Empire Central Command, as well as those used by immediate foreign powers, but the princess didn't recognize that particular code. After a quick glance at the others, especially noting the surprised expression on Eirote's face, Seness concluded that no one outside the Obstinate Arrow unit knew what it meant; she was fairly certain that not even Scarlet's extensive database would contain any information about a Code Black. However, being a seasoned warrior herself, Seness could very well imagine what the morbid name described.
"It commands absolute annihilation of the enemy by any means deemed necessary." Fafal's face was grim, as she took it upon herself to reveal the Special Forces' most well guarded secret; only a handful of its own units even knew of its existence. "It is designed so that its jurisdiction stands above national and even international laws, including treaties. But its use is prohibited other than in the event of a national crisis of unprecedented enormity, such as in the event of a world war. So Code Black has never been issued before, and for General Stahl to have given the orders at this time and to all the remaining task forces... Chris, that bastard is really serious!"
"Even Black Hawk has been mobilized under Code Black? Are you sure?" Chris seemed to have ignored Fafal's explanation altogether, his eyes instead fixed on Sutton and Dennis.
"Yes, beyond all doubt. But what remains unknown is whether or not Major Sturm is participating on his own initiative, or by direct orders of General Stahl. I'm sorry, but we weren't able to find that out."
"I see."
The leader of the Obstinate Arrow had to admit that the situation was grave, very grave indeed. Although he had known that a final confrontation was inevitable – Pacifica Casull's sixteenth birthday was approaching rapidly – Chris had to admit that he hadn't expected the Royal Forces and the Four to be dispatched at the same time. Also, there was the additional surprise of Code Black consider; while he knew that the General was a truly ruthless man, Chris could never have imagined that a military man of his calibre would have allowed the situation to escalate so rapidly and in such a seemingly careless manner. The overplayed display of military power, which was unnecessary even when considering the unusual circumstances, and Chris was fairly certain that the prospect of the world ending due to no obvious fault of an overall clueless girl fell squarely under the category of 'unusual circumstances'.
In any case, surely, General Stahl should know that such cheap tricks wouldn't work on someone who knew the army like the back of his hand. So the behaviour pointed to only one thing: desperation. The General hoped for a quick and decisive victory, but Chris knew from experience that such an attitude could be a double-edged sword: simultaneously a formidable weapon and a great weakness. However, it depended entirely on how it was exploited and by whom. There was still a chance that—
"Chris, you're planning something." Dennis sensed that something about his friend was changing, and the other Obstinate Arrow member guessed that his unit leader was thinking about countermeasures. Even now, when they were sitting in the middle of a forest with forces of unimaginable strength creeping closer for each hour... Chris really was something else. "I just knew that you would have something up your sleeve!"
"Hm."
"What are you thinking, Christopher?" Fafal demanded half-heartedly. She knew her Chri-boy well enough to know that when he was in this mood, he was unlikely to share his thoughts willingly. But although she and the others had since long accepted that Chris simply wasn't the sharing type, it couldn't hurt to ask, could it?
"This new piece of information drastically changes things."
The Giat Empire's third princess concealed a small smile at his cryptic answer. That had been exactly what she had come to expect from him. The short Special Forces guy, that Chris fellow, was undoubtedly an interesting character. The moment she met him, she could tell that he was a true army thoroughbred, just like she. As she understood it, Christopher Bailaha, born Armalite, had been orphaned at an early age and taken into the military before he was adopted into the powerful Bailaha clan for unknown reasons. So, with some obvious exceptions, his story was quite similar to hers: they had both had been raised into the military, depending on their own skills and abilities to survive, understanding the world in terms of weapons and battle strategy. So it would be rather interesting to see how he chose to operate his unit in the light of this new information – very interesting, indeed. Although Seness highly doubted it, perhaps she would even learn something.
"Care to elaborate?" Shannon lazily entered the conversation, but contrary to his casual tone, his eyes were sharp.
"At this moment in time? Not particularly, no."
"You're not being very helpful," Shannon snorted at the other man's secretiveness. "Besides, you never answered my question. What's so special about these four units?"
"That information is strictly classified, but I suppose that it can't be helped, considering the circumstances." Chris looked up to meet the curious glances of the rest of the group. "Alpha Red, Cloaked Dagger, Lone Sparrow and Black Hawk are the code names of the Special Force's four elite units, and—"
"The code names are normally chosen after each unit's area of expertise: Alpha Red specializes in counterterrorism, Cloaked Dagger concentrates on unconventional warfare, Lone Sparrow devotes itself to surveillance and Black Hawk focuses on counterintelligence. With the possible exception of Alpha Red, all units are also highly proficient in the battlefield to a level that surpasses even that of the ordinary units of the Special Forces..." Seness turned to face Chris. "Isn't that right?"
At Seness' unexpected input, Fafal had sharply turned to face Dennis, who looked at Jill, who gazed intently at Sutton, who in turn stole worried glances at Chris. But their young leader merely raised an eyebrow questioningly at the Giat princess. It was highly – highly – unusual that an outsider knew such intimate details about their organization, but what was even more unusual was that the person in question still lived to tell about it.
"You run an efficient organization, Princess Seness." Chris offered a stiffly executed nod to convey his acknowledgement. "You are quite well-informed."
"Scarlet is our country's foremost crisis management organization." The smug smile on Princess Seness Lulu Giat's face sent small shivers of discomfort down the spines of even the experienced Obstinate Arrows. "Gathering intelligence about the military capacities of neighbouring countries, even in times of peace, is part of our duties and I assure you that we are thorough."
"Then I presume that you also know about the fifth unit?" Chris' polite question revealed none of the irritation he was feeling for having been so exposed to the surveillance of a foreign power. Although, even he had to admit that a small part of him was impressed; he doubted that even the Sparrows could have gathered information of better quality. It would seem that the Giat Empire was a force not to be taken lightly. He would have to remember that once all this was over.
"But of course." The triumphant smirk on her face grew wider. The Princess of the Giat Empire had always found the reactions of genuinely rattled people very amusing. "Christopher Bailaha, commander of the Obstinate Arrow unit."
"What's going on?" Shannon hadn't quite followed the exchange and his eyes narrowed with suspicion as he pointed at Chris accusingly. "What exactly is your role in all this, axe-boy?"
"The name is still Chris, Casull," was the sharp reply before the axe-wielder continued. "But now that you ask, Obstinate Arrow used to be the Fifth unit of the Special Forces, specializing in special reconnaissance, which is part of the reason why we were originally assigned with the task of eliminating the Scrapped Princess."
"You're rather casual about that, aren't you?"
Chris, who seemed oblivious to Shannon's death stare, simply said, "Those were our orders."
By the time Chris had finished his sentence, the already heavy atmosphere had turned ten degrees more murderous and Sutton cast a worried glance at the positively glowering Shannon Casull. The expression in his dark eyes made it clear that nothing would please him more than unsheathing his sword for some impromptu sparring, so Sutton decided that the wisest thing was to continue with the report before said Casull forgot that they were now all on the same side.
"Ah, we also learned that the Baroness has been placed under house arrest. But as far as we know, she is not suspected of any involvement in the freeing of the Scrap—I mean, Pacifica Casull, and is therefore not in any direct danger. We, err... We thought that you might want to know, Chris."
"And that was all we have to report," Dennis finished.
"Thank you, Dennis, Sutton," Chris nodded before turning to the Scarlet's highest ranking officer. "Princess Seness, what is the status of the Gigas?"
"EIROTE!"
"Yes, ma'm?" Eirote looked up from her clipboard, abandoning her calculations in favour of lending her undivided attention to her loud superior – who just happened to be seated directly to her right.
"Tell them about the repairs."
"Yes, ma'm." Eirote nodded before she turned to the rest. "We're currently running full diagnostics on all three Gigas' basic defence and weapons systems. The full extent of the damage from the last battle with the Peacekeepers is yet unknown, but what we do know with all certainty is that at least four major systems need to be rerouted in one of the Gigas. This is going to take time, but with Zeferis' assistance, I'm confident that we will finish with the repairs tonight or by tomorrow morning at the very latest."
"Oh, some good news at last!" Raquel smiled at Eirote, who gratefully smiled back at the mage.
"Yeah, we'll need all the help we can get," Shannon nodded in agreement, preparing to get up. Now that Dennis and Sutton had finished with their report, people had begun to talk among themselves, and it felt as if the meeting soon would come to an end. Moreover, the fallen tree trunks they were using as seats were far from comfortable.
"Excuse me, but while I agree that it's great that the Gigas are being repaired, I just don't see what good they'll do us when the Royal Forces and the Special Forces come knocking on our doorstep."
The excited chatter immediately gave way to stunned silence at Dennis' sudden comment.
Seness was the first to rush to the defence of her most trusted subordinate and oldest friend. "Now, look here, you—"
"You can't be serious!" Eirote unwittingly interrupted her defender as she continued indignantly, "The Gigas were to great help when—"
"I know, I'm not denying that, but how effective will they be against ground troops?"
"Your name is Dennis, am I correct?" Eirote turned so that she was face to face with the offender, who was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable under her uncharacteristically hard gaze.
"Yeah, that's right, but what—"
"You just wait and see, Dennis." Eirote's bespectacled eyes were gleaming menacingly, and Shannon looked at her with open surprise. He could never have imagined that the gentle and meek Eirote could look so... unnerving. "Princess Seness, permission to immediately return to camp in order to continue with the repairs?"
"Sure, permission granted." Seness had never seen her normally peaceful friend so irritated, and it was that idiot Arrow's fault – Dennis, or whatever he had said his name was. She would make sure that he'd pay for it later. "But Eirote, are you sure that you're—"
"Thank you, ma'm." Eirote bowed politely before turning her back on the group by the camp fire, heading towards camp and the Gigas. "Zeferis."
"Yes?"
"Let's go. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we better get started."
"Understood."
-#-
"Ah, so I guess we're done here," Sutton muttered. Eirote's sudden exit had acted as a catalyst for a general exodus, and Shannon Casull had already disappeared from view.
"It would seem that you're right," Raquel smiled before she too, excused herself to walk towards Pacifica and Leo who both seemed to be assisting Winia with lunch preparations.
Chris' eyes followed the disappearing mage thoughtfully before his gaze stopped on Winia, and he felt something inside of him waver. Noting the strange, involuntary movement almost absentmindedly – Chris supposed that after the highly unsatisfactory breakfast earlier, his stomach was very much looking forward to something more readily digestible and was merely making its opinion heard – the Obstinate Arrow proceeded to discreetly regard the trio in silence.
Winia was sitting with the ever-cheerful Pacifica Casull and Scorpos, and judging from the knives in their hands and the sack of root vegetables by their feet, lunch would be served not too far into the future.
Although he couldn't hear her, he could tell from the way the corners of her mouth were curled upward and the soft light in her eyes, that despite of prophecies, Peacemakers, imminent danger, death and exile, the girl was happy when she ought to be terrified. Chris would have expected it from the Providence Breaker and also from the annoying noble to a certain degree, but from Winia? Winia Chester seemed much too careful and level-headed, so Chris surprised himself with wondering what possibly could be so amusing about potato peeling.
He quickly discarded that line of thought, though; it would be irresponsible to think about such trivial things when there was a war to be planned, so that lives could be saved.
But that only brought her back into his thoughts.
Chris was well aware of the fact that she was the only one in their odd assembly of outlaws who had no experience with any kind of warfare whatsoever. He wasn't worried about the survivability of himself or his unit; even with the terrible odds against them, Dennis, Fafal, Sutton and Jill were all excellent fighters and resourceful strategists, and he was confident that they would be capable of holding their own in the event of an attack. And then there were the Casull siblings, who, with their respective masteries of swordsmanship and magic (and not to speak of Shannon Casull's custody of a seemingly fully functioning Dragoon) would protect their sister's life just as effectively as any decent-sized army; and the Giat princess and her team of loyal underlings, who probably were seasoned enough warriors as well.
But not her. Not Winia. Even the hopelessly inadequate Scorpos would have a chance of surviving, while Winia would be defenceless when the fighting inevitably broke out.
Chris had battled with this problem since the very beginning, and his conclusion had troubled him far more than it ought to have. After all, weren't there always casualties in war? Besides, everything and everyone came to an end eventually, anyway, regardless of how unwanted and untimely the actual event. Still, the inevitability of death didn't change the fact that he didn't want some bloodthirsty brute to erase her from existence. He had even surprised himself with how strongly he felt about this particular issue. It wasn't like him at all to feel this kind of attachment, but perhaps his sentiments—
"Go. Talk to her." Fafal's voice was unusually soft as she sat herself down on the log next to him. Chris had been so deep in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed that she had approached him; luckily, he wasn't the type to get easily startled, or he would have given her enough material for a lifetime's worth of teasing.
"What do you mean, Fafal?" Chris decided that it would be in his best interests to deny any kind of knowledge of who 'she' was.
"You know who." She nudged him playfully and winked.
"On the contrary, I'm sure that I don't," Chris stated firmly, hoping that Fafal would realize that he considered the subject closed. "Now, was there anything else you wanted to tell me?"
"You mean that we might all die tomorrow, and you're just going to sit here?" Fafal hissed, her good mood gone with the cool breeze.
Chris sighed. After years together, he really ought to have known that such an answer only would agitate her. If he knew her well – which he did – things would only get worse from here on. So was there even a point in answering anymore?
"Christopher?" Fafal hissed again, this time a bit louder. "Are you even listening?"
"If you don't have anything more constructive to contribute with…" Chris tried to end the conversation, which was indeed taking a turn for the worse. Although things were playing out just as he had expected them to, it didn't lessen the effects of the on-storming, angry force that was Fafal.
Women, Chris sighed in defeat. He wouldn't even try to understand.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Fafal eyed the stubborn prodigy, whose genius had abandoned him at this most crucial of times, with annoyance. "Honestly, Chris, sometimes I—"
"Chris, about Black Hawk, I was thinking—Oh." Dennis had joined them, blissfully unaware of the drama that was unfolding in front of him. "Sorry, was I interrupting anything?"
"No, go ahead," Chris said, hoping that Dennis' unexpected arrival would alleviate the situation, which was threatening to spiral out of human control. "You were saying something about the Black Hawks?"
"Yeah, I was thinking—"
"Dennis!" Fafal averted her full attention to said comrade to the relief of her commanding officer, "What are you still doing here?"
"What do you mean?" Dennis looked at his fuming colleague quizzically. "I wasn't aware of any orders saying otherwise."
"You should already have gone to apologize for hurting her feelings!"
"Hurting whose feelings?" Dennis was getting a very bad feeling about this and was desperately looking to Chris for some guidance. But to his dismay, the other Arrow seemed to avoid his gaze altogether. It would seem that he was alone on this one.
"You are so dense!" Fafal was battling with the urge to scream with frustration while whacking Dennis over the head with the dull part of her sword. "Miss Eirote's feelings, of course!"
"Huh? Miss Eirote?" Now Dennis was thoroughly confused. "But I just said—"
"Looks like everyone's here. Are you planning anything…" Sutton's voice faltered when she saw the frustration etched on Fafal's face and the confusion on Dennis'. It was clear that they weren't discussing defence plans, but that something unpleasant was happening and that she and Jill had chosen the wrong time to enter the conversation. "…important?" she ended weakly, already dreading the answer.
"Men really are idiots," the redhead muttered angrily, firing off a glare at said idiotic men for good measure. "Come on, Jill, let's go. Are you coming, Sutton?"
"But..." The look on Jill's face was that of pure gratefulness when she was interrupted by Dennis. She didn't know if she had dared to continue; the normally kind and thoughtful Fafal was a force to be reckoned with once sufficiently provoked.
"Hey, wait a second!" Dennis never appreciated insults, especially not when they were – in his humble opinion – completely uncalled for. "Fafal, I really don't understand what the big deal—"
"Think about it, genius, and then go apologize to her!"
"But that's not an ans—"
"And you!" Fafal suddenly turned around to jab a finger at Chris accusingly. "I'm not done with you yet! You're almost as bad as he is!"
"What? Me?" Chris sighed. He had used her verbal bombardment of Dennis to slowly inch away from the group, but it would seem that his subtle attempt to physically remove himself from the conversation had failed miserably. Fafal's sudden change of mood was as puzzling as it was irritating; he certainly didn't have time for this nonsense. The army was approaching, the Four had been dispatched and under Code Black protocol no less! There were defence plans to make, countermeasures to set in place, escape routes to plan, but instead Fafal was acting completely irrationally. None of them had time for this frustrating mess, and his patience was wearing dangerously thin. "What is it that I am supposed to have done? I haven't done anything."
"Exactly!"
"What's going on?" Despite of her line of work, Sutton disliked conflicts, and she wondered what Chris and Dennis could have done to deserve one of Fafal's infamous rants. "While I can imagine why you're mad at Dennis ("Hey!"), I don't understand why you're angry at Chris?"
"Never mind that, Sutton." Fafal linked arms with her female comrades and started to drag them away in the opposite direction from the dumbfounded men. "Come on, girls."
Jill and Sutton exchanged a glance, but decided that it would be safest for everyone involved if they simply obeyed.
"What... What the hell was that all about, Chris?" As he watched the trio disappear from view behind the tents, Dennis looked just as shell-shocked as he felt. Fafal's occasional rampages were almost as frightening as Chris' bad days, and that really said something.
Dennis didn't believe in fate or karma, but being subjected to both aforementioned horrors – and on the same day no less – was just downright creepy. Perhaps the world really was coming to an end after all? The thought wasn't entirely farfetched, with the signs of an oncoming apocalypse all there.
"I'm not sure," was the monotonous reply. No one was completely immune against Fafal's rare onslaughts, not even Chris. "It would seem that tempers are running high today."
"I suppose that it could be some kind of delayed reaction to the report?" Dennis scratched his head and racked his brains, trying his best to explain Fafal's behaviour, which was odd even for her. "Come to think of it, Fafal didn't look like she took the news about Code Black all that well. Maybe it's just the shock, or something?"
"…you're probably right, Dennis."
