CHAPTER 3:
Navigating the forest without Specular didn't seem too hard at first.
The zoidian has already been travelling for an hour on foot aimlessly but cautiously. There has not yet been any sign of soldiers so far.
She woke up early and told the black organoid not to wake the sleeping maverick, deciding to figure things out on her own since she has already bothered Raven way too much. All she brought with her was a hunting knife that she borrowed from Raven's bag. She should at least have something to defend herself.
Reese pondered if it would be dangerous if she travelled back to her own camp where the commotion began, hoping that her belongings were still there.
She was still unsure though if she has fully recovered from the drug that messed up her system yesterday but her senses still assured her that she's not in danger or being followed as of now.
"Does all of these belong to her?" A female voice echoed coming from about twenty feet away behind tall bushes. "Check out this dagger. It looks like I could make a good deal with this with some relic traders."
"Moonbay, you shouldn't touch someone else's belongings." Another voice said. "And they're not yours to sell either."
"What makes you think she'll come back for her stuff anyway?" The woman said haughtily, still rummaging the blue zoidian's travelling bag kept under a bark of a tree. "She's got loads of stuff for someone who just travels everyday."
Reese moved to a small opening but still keeping herself camouflaged behind the bushes. Seeing the merchant girl touching her things irritated her. You better not take anything there or I'll make you jump off a cliff! Reese snarled silently.
She could see the people present there and they seem to be all caught up at looking at the woman curiously checking the blue zoidians belongings. Van was clearly present. Fiona was also there, opening a pouch and examining a peach lipstick.
"She does have all what a girl needs." Fiona stated gleefully.
Just then, a fourth party arrived to remind the group that they needed to return to HQ. It was the younger Schubaltz. He embarrassingly looked away when Moonbay teasingly stretched out a piece of laced underwear coming from the bag, also making the hiding zoidian blush and fume with irate.
"P-Put that away!" uttered the red faced soldier.
"Cut it out, Moonbay." Van pleaded.
"Come on, Thomas! It's just underwear. There's no need to over react." Said Moonbay coolly.
The blue zoidian's cheeks puffed up, trying hard to compose herself after seeing her personal belongings being violated. "I'll definitely snap if she doesn't stop right now." She grumbled to herself.
"You'll definitely get pissed at if you don't move aside." A voice from behind said. It was so close that it startled Reese in a way that she found her body petrified.
Reese was so distracted that she hardly noticed that she had been spotted already.
"Did you know it's wrong to snoop around other people?" The man remarked with an impassive look and arms crossed.
Reese quickly turned at him. He was the mercenary with the eyepatch. She gazed with wide eyes at the man towering her.
Before the mercenary could react, Reese swiftly attacked with a low kick, making Irvine stumble on the ground before trying to get away. The girl leaped over him and began to dash to the opposite direction without making any alarming sound.
But the mercenary easily caught up with her.
The zoidian swiftly slashed deep over his arm making it bleed and kicking high to his face, making him stumble.
"THAT HURT!" Irvine yelled in pain. "I guess that's what I get for taking it easy with fighting a woman. But she sure hits hard!"
The zoidian was getting away. There's a possibility that he could lose her if he went to his comrades to report his encounter with the Blue Devil. He heard a lot about the Blue Devil and how dangerous she could be. But there's no time to waste.
Irvine followed her scamper in the forest, remembering that he brought a net gun. They were at least about ten feet apart, using it would slow her down as long as he doesn't miss.
When he was sure with his aim, he fired the net gun. The net was made up of a cord that can't be easily broken by blade attached with pods that buries on the ground to secure the captive. It quickly hurled at the zoidian, wrapping onto her legs and making her fall hard on the ground. The pods had buried securely making her attempt for escape futile.
"It's over." Irvine said to the struggling girl, her face enraged realizing that she couldn't break free.
As the mercenary leaned down to grab Reese, she bit him on the arm like a wild cat making the man flinch. "Ack! Let go!"
Reese bit harder.
The mercenary felt more pain as the zoidian's teeth buried onto his skin, making him yank her off by pulling her hair.
The girl screamed, picking up the hunting knife she dropped to stab the man but he caught her wrists before the blade reached his chest. "YOU SURE...DON'T GIVE UP...EASILY...DO 'YA?"
Irvine overpowered Reese, pinning both her wrists on the side. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't overcome the mercenary who was obviously physically stronger than her.
"LET ME GO!" Reese screamed, struggling wildly beneath Irvine. "I'M WARNING YOU! I'LL-"
The ancient zoidian's aquamarine eyes began to glow, somewhat changing into a bright blue hue.
When Irvine saw this happen, he knew straight away that he has to act fast or else he'll be the one who is going to be done for. He pulled out a remote from his pocket and pushed a button. An electric surge coming from the net sent Reese's body jolting on the ground, stopping her from what she was about to do.
The surge stopped when Irvine released his thumb from the button. "Sorry I had to do that but I don't want to end up dead because of you." Then he looked at the girl panting weakly and softly groaning, yet she was still too stubborn to give up as her left hand desperately reached the blade beside her.
As she did, she felt her hand get crushed under a boot. She cried frantically in anguish, trying to pull her hand off.
The shocked mercenary looked at the man. "What do you think you're doing?" Irvine uttered.
"She was going to attack you. Can't you be more grateful?" A snide looking man said. He was wearing a Republican uniform. Irvine remembered him as one of the new recruits patrolling the area. He knows little about the guy but he heard he was bad news even back at the Military Academy. Two others approached them who seem to be this man's buddies. "Good job at capturing her. Saves us in the patrol division the trouble."
"Let her go, Denver. She's weak enough." Irvine said frowning at the man.
Denver loosened his foot and knelt down, taking a long good look at the angry ancient zoidian who held her bruised hand. "Are all ancient zoidians this good looking? You're pretty cute." He confidently reached out a hand to touch her cheek but Reese bit him making him flinch.
The soldier furiously yelled out in pain.
"She's pretty wild. I think she needs some taming there." One of Denver's companions suggested with a lewd expression on his face.
Denver growled at the girl. "I'LL DEFINITELY PUNISH YOU FOR THIS!" He rapidly snatched the remote from Irvine and pushed him aside. Then he increased the voltage before pressing the button with a grin, watching Reese shriek and her body jerk more intensely than before.
"YOU JERK! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" Irvine barked and was about to tackle Denver when the two other soldiers held him back. "HEY!"
"SHUT UP! IF YOU TRY TO STOP US WE'LL REPORT THAT YOU WERE CONSPIRING WITH THIS BITCH AND LET HER GET AWAY!" Then the soldier scowled back at the screaming zoidian. "JUST WAIT TILL WE GET BACK TO BASE!" Denver released the button, grabbing the girl by the neck and moving his face close to hers as he sneered. "I'M GOING TO TIE YOU UP AND MAKE YOU—"
All of a sudden, blood splattered out of the abusive man's temple. Reese stopped choking by his grip and saw the soldier's face frozen in shock, and then, he fell on her but she quickly pushed the body away.
"W-What was-" The other two soldier's holding Irvine fell dead one at a time before they could even know what was going on. There was a huge hole in their head, staining the grass red.
Irvine froze in disbelief, so was Reese. There appeared to be someone approaching them from the shadow behind the trees.
Irvine's eyes grew wide. He got on his feet and took out his pistol. "Raven! I didn't think you were still around."
The maverick stared at Irvine impassively. "You guys sure train a lot of trash for a bunch of peacekeepers." He said sarcastically. " But I didn't come here to stay and chat about the good old days." The he propped the sling of the weapon he just used on one shoulder as he checked Reese's condition. "You idiot. You could have just asked for my help." Raven murmured, seeing Reese's eyes beginning to swell up in tears. "Let's get you out of here." He picked up the remote still clutched on the dead soldier's hand and pushed another button to release the girl from the binding net. And then he helped the zoidian get on her feet, supporting her weight with ease. Then he turned at the mercenary before deciding to leave. "Well, are you going to shoot or not?"
Irvine dropped down his weapon after a minute. He could've killed me if he wanted to back then, but he didn't. "Let's just call it a truce." He grumbled after taking notice at the weapon Raven has. "That firearm you got there looks awfully familiar."
"I found it somewhere." Raven replied, making Irvine snigger at what he just heard.
"That was you wasn't it?" Irvine stated with an amused tone. "The one who broke in and stole some pretty rare prototype arsenals from the Guardian Force carrier that was supposed to be delivered to HQ two months ago."
Raven smirked. "So? Got a problem with that?"
Irvine grinned, placing back the pistol on his holster. "Nah, that was pretty impressive. Not even the surveillance found out who it was."
There was a smug look on the maverick's face. "I don't really care if you want to tell the other's about it and what just happened right now." Raven turned at his back, carrying Reese on his arms. "Good luck at finding me." He said as he disappeared in the forest.
With the distressed zoidian in his arms and the weight of the weapon clinging on his shoulder, Raven's pace was a little slow but he seemed to look composed.
Reese had been trying to avoid making eye contact with the maverick. She felt helpless without him having to save her many times already whenever she tried to do things on her own. Not only she failed to managed to save her organoid, she even revealed to an ally of the Guardian Force that Raven was also present in the area. It wouldn't take very long for more troops who will look for them because of the three dead soldiers.
But more importantly, Reese kept asking herself how she would be able to repay the maverick. He even came to rescue her without even asking. Raven seemed to be the type who could manage things without anyone else watching his back, except for Shadow. But recently, every decision that Reese has been making seems to take the wrong turn.
She came into terms that she would truly need Raven's help to rescue her organoid. Without Specular by her side, she was just getting clumsy and lonely.
"Raven..." The zoidian murmured.
The maverick stared at her. "Mind telling me first what you were thinking?"
"Huh?" Reese looked at him with a confused expression. Great. Now he's mad.
Raven glanced back at the path that he was heading to. "Did you really think you could go on your rescue mission by yourself?"
It was upsetting to think about that she did things without thinking. There was simply no excuse. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I just thought that I...well...I didn't want to ruin the peaceful life that you found because of me." Reese said in a quiet tone, nursing her bruised hand.
Raven took a quick look at the zoidian who was holding back her sobbing. He hated seeing it so he looked away. "I was supposed to be fishing at this hour. I just had a hunch, so I asked Shadow to scout the area for any captive organoid while I went out to look for you. "
Hearing what Raven just said made her feel much worse. "Can you please put me down?" Reese murmured, her voice breaking.
Raven could only wonder but he did what was asked. Reese quickly looked away, not wanting to let him see her face close to weeping again. It just seemed pathetic. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "Before I go any further, I'd like to get my stuff first. Van and his companions found it."
Flyheight's here? Figures. But in her state right now I can't let her go back there. "You need to rest for now." Said Raven.
Reese glanced at the maverick to protest, but before she did, he called Shadow who came flying down.
"Shadow, take her back to camp. I've got business to attend to." Raven ordered.
There was a surprised look on the zoidian's face. "Don't tell me you'll go there by yourself?"
"Hey, you're in no condition to assist me. You'll end up slowing me down. Now get on Shadow and go back to camp." He noticed Reese's face looking hesitant. She seemed worried and afraid. "Reese, I'm telling you not to worry. I'll come back." Said Raven gently.
Reese simply nodded. "All right. Please be safe." She murmured before seeing him off.
End of chapter 3. Not sure if this will be continued though. Maybe the next ones might be shorter.