I'm getting a little antsy about these chapters to come, I'm sure there will be mixed feelings. D'oh well, here's Chapter 14.
Please R&R!
godofmadness43 - I'm glad you liked it! Here's moar for ya
KingOgnick - EXCELLENT
Renn Himeya - I don't know if I can go for 40 chapters, cause that's a shitload. But I will certainly do my best.
InfiniteReader - 3
Chapter 14 - To War
"Alright everyone, gather around and listen up!" said Shousuke. They were all once again gathered at the abandoned factory to hear Shousuke's briefing on the battle. There were more Kampfers than last time and everyone was dressed in their respective high school uniforms. "Thanks to our scouts, we were able to discover the whereabouts of the moderator's hideout. It is located on one of the Ryukyu Islands."
"What do we know about the enemy's fighting strength?" someone asked.
"Our last surveillance suggests that resistance will be high. Now, this hideout must be some bunker of some sort, or an underground base. Our first object is to clear the island and force our way into the hideout," said Shousuke. "After we break in, we must locate the moderator and eliminate her, along with everything else. But our main objective is to destroy the Beacon."
"The Beacon? What the hell is that?" asked a Kamfper.
"The Beacon is the device that is responsible for these bracelets. It is also the 'source' that our Kampfer personas are connected to. If we destroy this, our planet will no longer be subject the alien conscription of Kampfers," explained Shousuke.
"But if we destroy everything there, won't our Kampfer personas die? Since they are all connected to the Beacon?"
"Don't worry, my Messenger has informed me that there is a way to sever their ties to this source so they will not be dependent," explained Shousuke. "If all goes well, our people will no longer have to participate in this war. This may be the last battle for some of us, but don't be disheartened. We will remove this burden that has forced us to fight and secure our own freedom!"
Roars of cheering and applause followed Shousuke's briefing as energy filled the building. Natsuru held his partner's hand tightly, he had never noticed how small and soft they were. She too held on tightly and looked at him with eyes of trust and confidence, almost saying that everything will be okay. Natsuru looked around the people that surrounded him. Everyone had smiles on their faces, embracing each other and patting each other's backs. Shizuku and the others were doing so as well. There was no sense of fear in the room, only a sense of unwavering will.
"Okay, let's move out everyone!" announced Shousuke.
The island was coming into view now, just a little beyond the horizon. Its white sandy beaches reflecting the sun's rays gave it the appearance of a huge plate in the middle of the ocean, topped with foliage in the center. There were multiple speed boats that zoomed towards the island, all side by side of each other. Pretty soon, they had already come upon the landing and everyone had started embarking the beach. No one spoke. Everyone was busy surveying the area for possible enemies, but there were none in sight. On Shousuke's order, everyone made a sprint towards the jungle past the beach.
"Careful of ambushes or traps!" he yelled.
They continued on, everyone sprinting at ridiculous speeds, weaving through the thickets of the forest and jumping through the trees. Natsuru was surprised that he was able to keep up with everyone, he started getting nervous again. He was concerned of his fighting ability, but it was much too late to do anything about it now. There were many comrades around him, but he knew he couldn't leave everything to them. He looked to his partner who was to his right. Her face showed no signs of doubt or hesitation. Instead, it was stone cold and serious, something he had seen rarely from her. Natsuru snapped himself back to reality, he had to focus on the task at hand.
The forest started to dissipate before them, revealing a large clearing as they reached the center of the island. There was a large bowl that was dug into the ground, it was at least 20 meters deep. In the middle of the bowl, there was a small concrete entrance of some kind.
"What should we do?" asked Natsuru.
"Hmm, this could possibly be a trap, but we have no choice but to proceed," said Shousuke.
"Wait, you mean to intentionally walk into their trap?" asked Nanami.
"I know it doesn't sound smart, but as long as we don't lose focus, we should be fine. Besides, we have to get in there."
On his order, everyone jumped into the crater, sliding down from the curved sides and made their way to the small concrete building. There was a metallic door that was sealed shut that led inside. There were around 50 Black Kampfers in the group and around a dozen other Kampfers. They slowly made their way towards the small shack-like building, watching the perimeter of the crater.
"Shousuke, I've got a really bad feeling about this," said a Black Kampfer.
Without warning, the group was attacked by a hail of magic. Fireballs, shards of ice, lightning and the like flew at them. The group quickly took a defensive phalanx formation, easily blocking the incoming attacks. In a heartbeat, the cluster broke away to avoid the gunfire by the White Kampfers. It was indeed a trap, there were so many Whites climbing down the crater, all with their weapons drawn. Before Natsuru realized it, the place had turned into a full-fledged battlefield, with swords clanging, gunshots ringing through the air, and magic flying around. He had to remain calm, he spotted an enemy White and launched a fireball at her, burning her clothes and knocking her out.
"Natsume!" he yelled.
She was under attack by two sword-wielding Whites who were hacking away at her. Natsume kept up with their movements, dodging each strike as fluidly as a martial artist. She quickly dispatched the two with an explosive fireball aimed at the ground.
"I'm okay!" she said with a smile.
"You two!" said Shousuke. "Come with me!" They followed him through the battlefield towards the small concrete building. Shizuku, Akane, and Mikoto followed them along with two pairs of Black Kampfers. Shousuke took out his broadsword and destroyed the door with quick haste, gesturing the small group to move inside.
"What about everyone else?" asked Natsuru.
"They'll be fine, this is our main objective after all," said Shousuke.
There was only one thing in the cramped room, a circular platform that sat at the end of the room.
"What is this?" asked Akane as she walked up to it. She cautiously stepped one foot on it and disappeared immediately. Everyone backed away from the platform in surprise.
"Akane!" shouted Natsuru.
"Calm down Natsuru, this must be a transporter of some sort. I'll try it out," said Shousuke. He too stepped onto the platform with Nanami by her side, disappearing as soon as they touched the platform. The others looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They each went through the transporter in pairs, leaving Natsuru and Natsume as the last pair.
"You ready?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied.
They stepped onto the platform which brought them to a large open area. It seemed as if they were in an alien facility of some sort, with architecture similar to that of simple but elegant geometric shapes. There were pillars that ran the length of the hallway they were in, it was spacious, lit up by the recessed lighting on the floors. The two met up with the rest of the group, walking down the long chromatic hallway. Everyone was looking around cautiously, ready for any dangers to come.
"I've never seen anything like this place," said Nanami, brushing the walls as they walked past. "It's freezing down here too, or wherever we are."
"Look, I see an opening up ahead," pointed Natsuru.
They made a sprint towards said opening, but their advance was halted as a door was abruptly closed in front of them, cutting them off from their destination. A loud noise was heard as the hallway shook and rumbled to life. Then, the walls slowly began to budge, closing in on the group like a garbage compactor.
"Keep going!" shouted Natsuru. Everyone resumed their sprint towards the door as the walls got closer and closer. The door was now right in front of them and with Natsuru at the lead, he shouted, "Hit it with everything you've got!"
The door quivered under the combined powers that were unleashed upon it, giving way as it was blown apart. One by one, the group emerged out of the smoke, stumbling to get out of that hallway. They looked back to see that they had barely made it in time, with the walls fully closed in behind the door that was now nothing more than scrap metal. They were immediately met with opposition as White Kampfers opened fire with magic and bullets. The group quickly dispersed, greeting the Whites with some of their own firepower. The Whites' numbers were greater, but they still stood a chance.
Natsuru and Natsume were pushed back to back, holding off a torrent of attacks from the Whites. There were multiple enemies surrounding them and circling them as they pinned the two down. They continued to shoot their fireballs at them, but there were just too many to focus on at once. Frustrated, Natsume slammed her hands on the ground and unleashed her powers, creating a tornado of flames that enveloped the two. She made a grunt of effort and the flames dispersed outwards, eliminating all the Whites within its radius. Natsuru promptly collapsed to one knee with heavy breaths.
"Oi! Natsume, don't use too much energy," said Natsuru as he helped her up.
"Sorry," she replied as she caught her breath.
"You two okay?" asked Shousuke as he and the others backed up towards them, forming a small huddle. "We'll never get anywhere at this rate. You guys have to keep moving, we'll hold them off for as long as we can."
Natsuru nodded and broke into a sprint, letting go of Natsume to stand on her own as he turned. Shizuku, Mikoto, and Akane followed closely behind as they darted away from the carnage. There was not enough time for them to take a good look of the room they arrived in, but it was much larger than anticipated. They continued running until they reached an entry way which led them into a corridor. They ran through the twist and turns of the corridor without stopping.
"Is this even the right way?" asked Mikoto.
"I have no idea," said Natsuru.
A loud gunshot rang through the corridor, quickly followed by a scream. Natsuru turned around to see that Akane had been shot, blood oozing out of the bullet wound in her thigh. She fell to the ground and grabbed her pistol as she fell, swiftly dispatching the enemy that shot her down the corridor. Akane dropped her gun and gripped the wound, wincing as she held back the screams of pain.
"Hang on Akane, it's just a flesh wound," said Mikoto. She tore a piece of her uniform off and tied the wound as best as she could. The bullet had pierced through her thigh relatively clean.
"You guys…should get going, I'll be fine," said the red-haired Akane. "As if I'll do from something as pathetic as a leg wound."
"I'll stay here with her," said Mikoto. "We'll catch up!"
"Alright…" said Shizuku. "You guys better not die on me."
Natsuru smiled and nodded at the two as they smiled back and gave a thumbs up. After hesitating for a couple moments, the group of three was now on the move again. They continued their seemingly endless run through the corridors.
"I've been through many battles, but this has been the most dangerous one by far," commented Shizuku. She looked to the two of them at her side, "If I don't make it, make sure you end this. For me and for everyone."
"What are you saying?" asked Natsume. "Don't talk as if you're going to die!"
Shizuku chuckled, "You never know when your time will be up. My friend and I were inseparable, we thought that things would work out in the end. But it's never that simple."
"Don't worry Shizuku, we're seeing this thing through to the end," said Natsuru.
She smiled, "I sure hope so."
They finally came to a room filled with alien machinery and computers. The group cautiously scanned the room as they walked around. The room was brightly lit by lights illuminating from the computers and machines. There shone a bright light from the windows at the far end of the room. The three walked up to the window, struck in awe at what they were seeing. On the other side of the window was an area the size of the Coliseum. In the center of the ring, there was magnificent beam of blue light that shot up from the ground, with large metal beams circling the light.
"I think we found it," said Natsuru.
Suddenly, a loud banging sound was heard from the corner of the room. The three jumped in surprise as they looked in the direction of the sound. It seemed to have come from a chest-like containment field that sat near the wall. Its field glowed a warm blue, resonating with each thump. The three were now standing over it, looking at it suspiciously. There was no telling what could be inside, so the best idea would be to avoid doing anything with it. Is what Natsume did not do as she touched the containment field with her hand. It melted away at her touch as the blue glow dissipated into the air as fumes.
"Natsume!" yelled Natsuru.
"Sorry! I didn't think it would open if I touched it!"
"You shouldn't go touching random things in the first place!"
"Uhh, guys," said Shizuku.
The three were left blankly staring at what appeared to be a floating entity of some sort. It was in the shape of a sphere, glowing like the sun but with different shades of colors.
"Oh, thank you so much for releasing me from that horrible prison!" said the entity. Its colors changed as it spoke.
"Uhh sure, may I ask what or whom you are?" asked Natsuru.
"Very well, I am what you humans call a 'moderator'."
"A moderator?!"
"Do not be alarmed, I am not here to harm you. I am actually one of the ones responsible for the Black Kampfers."
"I'm not buying it, you could just be a trap set by Kaede. Pretending to be imprisoned so we'd let our guards down," said Natsuru.
"The one you call Kaede is the real enemy here! Please, now that the opportunity has arrived, we must not waste any time!" implored the entity.
"Opportunity? What are you talking about?"
"The opportunity to free your planet from our war of course!"
"Found you~"
The three turned towards the voice but it was too late. Shizuku was blown into the wall by magic that hit her from behind, incapacitating her. Kaede's orange hair fluttered as she dashed towards Natsuru, sword drawn and approaching fast. He tried to dodge, but it was too late. Their eyes met, faces inches away from each other. His eyes widening as the cold steel pierced his abdomen and came out the other side. Spurts of blood flew out his mouth and ran the length of his chin and down his throat. The last thing he felt was the sliding of the blade as she pulled the sword away before he collapsed to the floor.
"It's over for you," said Kaede with a smile as she licked her sword.
Natsume's eyes widened as she stood frozen in place as a small pool of blood licked her feet. She slowly gritted her teeth as everything went numb. Her mind went blank as she looked at Natsuru who was hunched over on the ground. Her hands shook, her legs quivered, her eyes full of rage and grief. Rage for the adversary that stood in front of her, and grief as she looked at the blood of her lover.
Expect to see Chapter 15 in the next several days. Or maybe tomorrow if I'm up to it.