A/N: Chapter 4. Glad to see I've made it this far.

No excuses for lateness.

Chapter 4: Around Every Corner

Tsukune watched the ensuing melee between the weakened UDF and the Yokai forces. Every soldier and beast fought tooth and nail, neither giving ground to the other. Blood flew through the air, its original owners unknown. Screams and cries crowded the air, both human and inhuman.

Tsukune could see it all from his position. The alley was safe for now. The two soldiers they had rescued had said their goodbyes and sprinted into the violence. They now fought for their lives alongside their comrades. Tsukune honestly wished he could join them, the entire fireteam did. But the Yokai that they had, they were too valuable. His emotions were conflicted about entering the fray. A vampire, a powerful creature and one of the highest Yokai on their hierarchy, willingly giving up. He had to get her to safety but nothing could be done about the rest of his comrades. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fall back."

Ashton looked at Tsukune with a raised brow. Ichio was in disbelief.

"Are you serious?! Kail and the others are fighting out there and you want us to run!? You FUCKING COWARD!" Ichio screamed as he charged at Tsukune only for Guatia to hold him back.

"Ichio, restrain yourself!" Guatia snapped.

"Get off me! Tsukune, you're a bastard! Why?! Why would you have us turn tail and run!? Why would you have us abandon them like this?!" Ichio cried. Tsukune could only look at him was a wave of guilt flowed through him. His legs felt feeble and his weapon felt heavy. He slightly choked on his next words.

"I'm...I'm sorry...but this needs to happen. We need to live for the others. We have to survive and escape this disaster or else everyone dies for nothing." Tsukune said in an empty voice. His head turned towards the three girls that watched with a mix of interest and confusion. Tsukune looked to the sky. "We have to get out. We have to get Ms. Kurono medical help and get our defectors to safety." A magazine fell from Tsukune's rifle as he inserted another in.

Kurumu looked at Tsukune with a rather curious gaze. Here, a soldier was basically abandoning his fellow humans. All for her injuries and her friends? Her heart nearly skipped a beat as her face got hot. She shook it off as Mizore lifted her from the ground.

"Come, Kurumu." Mizore said in her monotone voice as they began to follow.

Moka looked back down the alley. Ichio grunted in frustration and followed Tsukune as Guatia shook his head behind him. Ashton held his face still, giving a small glance to her before moving on.

She could hear the fighting and for a second considered running to her allies. But she looked towards the group and remembered that she had given her word to the human. If there's one thing Moka Akashiya is that she isn't one to break her promise. With a heavy heart, she turned and moved to catch up.

"Guatia, can you try and get radio contact with command or...anyone. We need some sort of exfil." Tsukune asked as he checked around a corner.

"I can try but this equipment isn't exactly up to par." Guatia replied. "This is Yankee Platoon, is anyone receiving? We have suffered devastating losses and we need extraction. Be advised we have Yokai defectors of very high caliber. Anyone receiving? Say again."

"Yankee Platoon, this is Night Witch Zero Two. I have a read on your position." A woman in a thick Spanish accent responded over the radio. The team breathed a sigh of relief. "ETA, fifteen seconds." The group began to hear a sound in the air. They looked up and saw the outline of an NH-90 transport helicopter painted in a white camo pattern. "You see that? Good ol' Spanish resources at work!" Guatia cheered.

The mood instantly changed when a large winged Yokai creature flew towards the helicopter. The Yokai itself was a Manticore.

"Shit! We have a big Y on our flank!" The pilot started yelling as the transport moved to evade. As the Yokai moved in for the attack, two missiles streaked across the sky, nailing the beast in the side. It's bat-like wings caught fire as blood poured from it's large wounds, showing parts of it's ribs. It fell to the ground with a mighty roar.

Two Mitsubishi F-15Js flew at high speeds overhead.

"This is Flaming Tycoon. We have been authorized by command to provide close air support when needed until VIPs are extracted." The lead Japanese pilot introduced himself as the two planes circled around before disappearing.

"More Japanese huh?" Ashton said before chuckling as Ichio gave him a glare.

*Undisclosed Location*

Deep underground, a man sat behind a desk in a 32x32 office. Every five minutes, an assistant would enter his office and hand him another report. His head deep within the paper work that he signed off or read. The small earpiece constantly going off. He stood up and ran his hand through his greying hair, moving to adjust his ragged dress uniform. His green coat hanging lazily on his chair. He looked at himself in the one way mirror the overlooked the command center, the hologlobe of the Earth standing proudly in the middle of the large room surrounded by computer monitors along with their operators.

.Another knock on his door. He sighed and looked to the door.

"Enter." His voice carried authority and discipline. The door opened and his head researcher walked in. The red headed German scientist along with his right hand man, Dr. Vahlen and Central Officer Bradford. "Please tell me you both have something." He muttered.

"Commander," Dr. Vahlen began, "Our first prototype has proven to be a success. Everything is stable and, as unprofessional as it sounds, nothing will be exploding anytime soon. The subject is reading for field testing." The Commander smiled to himself before turning to Bradford.

"Commander, we have been monitoring communications between UDF forces and we've come across something...big." The Commander's eyebrow rose in question, gesturing Bradford to continue. "A small team of UDF soldiers have managed to acquire Yokai defectors. One of which, is a vampire. However, they have become trapped within enemy lines after their platoon was overrun. What's left of the platoon is keeping the majority of the Yokai forces there occupied but it seems that the enemy have gotten wind of events and are starting to search for them. UDF command sent in air forces to try and evacuate them but the area is too hostile as a transport chopper was almost brought only support is two jets providing close air support when needed. This has been happening over the last five minutes." Bradford concluded. The Commander took a deep breath and sat on his desk. He contemplated his next course of action.

"Bradford, scramble Big Sky and get Alpha Team on the ground. This could be the advantage that helps even the odds."

Dr. Vahlen coughed.

"ONE of our advantages." The Commander corrected as Dr. Vahlen nodded thankfully before turning to leave. Bradford saluted and turned to leave but was stopped. "Bradford." The Officer turned around. "Get our new weapon on that team. Vahlen did say he was ready for field testing. Also...use any means necessary to get them all out." Bradford nodded before leaving. The Commander sat down in his chair and put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples. "Genetic modification...because playing God always ends well…" He said sarcastically as he chuckled to himself

A/N: Chapter 4. you asked for it.

I didn't really know how to approach this chapter so that went a long way into it's delay but I did it.