Disclaimer: The story you are about to read are a series of events that take place after Gods Eater Burst. There is only a few months difference in terms of time, but a world of difference in terms of God Arc development. You may be a little bewildered or confused by these changes, so I urge you to go to "Chapter 0 – Disclaimer", and read the formal write up of the upgrades Fenrir has made to God Arcs.
Gods Eater: Cranium
Chapter 1 – Takeoff
An old man sat on a large, black leather chair with a vintage wooden desk in front of him. The man himself was adorned with medals all across his uniform, making him look much like a war hero or general. Then there was his presence. It was an overwhelming one, being in the same room as this man invoked cold-sweats and many other things that clearly displayed tension. He extended a hand forward and cleared his voice for the one word he spoke "sit." The woman across from the immensely intimidating man nodded softly while keeping a straight, expressionless face.
"You'll be transported to the Far-East Branch of Fenrir. The trip will take several hours, so you'll be leaving as soon as you're done preparing." The woman almost jumped at the suddenness of the man speaking, almost the millisecond her rear touched her seat, he had already issued an order. "Y-Yes, of course… Is there any special requests or side objectives, sir?" said the woman, gaining control of the slight shaking in her voice. "There is one…" he grumbled "You should know that the information relating to what I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential. If told to anyone, even another member of your team, you will be charged with treason, do you understand, Lieutenant Koenig?" A quiet gulp and a subtle nod was all Lieutenant Koenig could muster. "Use your words Lieutenant!" demanded the general. "Yes sir! Understood! Your words will not ever leave this office!" The senior leaned back in his seat, a rough sigh that could be mistaken as a cough was uttered out from the depth of his lungs. "As you are likely aware, due to the events of the "Arc Project," and that child Aragami…" He had to stop for a moment to read over some written records of the event, clearly he had forgotten something. "Where is it..?" the muttering continued "child Aragami... Shio..? Yes, that's right. This "Shio" is single handedly responsible for saving the world. Because of this, when we discovered more "Aragami people," we made a treaty with them. It was an informal one, but we've promised never to harm them unless they intend to do harm to us. Unlike Shio, these "Oracles," as Cranium has named them, do not co-exist with us. They've created small homes inside the remains of Earth's old cities, and live in the wild."
The general paused momentarily to take a sip of his coffee, drinking it slowly so he could enjoy it. All the while, Mrs. Koenig wiped her forehead clean of sweat, and fiddled with her shirt to circulate some air. "Continuing… It is a proven fact that Aragami will not attack the Oracles, unless that Aragami is a cannibalistic one, like Venus for example. The ability to repel Aragami without so much as lifting a finger is a VERY desired ability, and we wish to acquire it. I'd like for you to bring me an Oracle. Is that understood?" Lieutenant Koenig looked down at her feet, but didn't let her head drop. "I have a question sir." Her eyes rose again to meet with her superior's. "Speak" he said sternly. "What do you plan to do to this Oracle?" Her fear of the man across from her began to dissolve, when she became concerned about what this was all about. "It's not what I plan to do, Lieutenant… It's what the doctors plan to do. I ask them what I want from them, and they tell me what they need. Do you know what I asked them for, Lieutenant?" "I do not…" Koenig replied. "I asked "how do we defeat the Aragami? It's been years, why have you doctors found nothing?" and then the doctors answered "We don't. Aragami simply exist and multiply, where we require 9 months of incubation and then many years after that to be capable human beings. No matter how you look at that, there's no way to beat that. However, there is an alternative..." he said." The general leaned forward once again "Do you know what that alternative is, Mrs. Koenig?"
Hearing him call her "Mrs. Koenig" was a good indicator that her superior was running low on patience. When he was done speaking next, she'd have to tell him if she would or would not accept this mission. "I do not, sir…" "Well, I'll tell you. They said "We'll have to live along-side them, and the key to that is the bias factor of "The Oracle." …I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. I have no idea what they intend to do, but I'm willing to do anything to save mankind, how about you? You have a sister right? Essentially, completing this mission may be the start of pulling your sister and many other good people off the battle field." This was a clear attempt to guilt trip her, but his point was still a valid one. She briefly thought it over and finally came to answer. "I'll do it. I'll carry out the mission." She was clinging to the belief that these experiments would be watched, and that our promise would be kept, "We will not harm The Oracles."
"Wonderful. I should add that the completion of your objective is grounds for a promotion. I expect good results from you, you are excused." Without any hesitation, the good Lieutenant saluted, and exited the room. Two people had been outside in the waiting room, naturally waiting. "Alastor, Gawain, pack your shit. We're heading out, be at the heliport within the hour." The light hair colored, thin framed male furrowed his brow, and then commented on Lieutenant Koenig's behavior.
"You're upset, Adele. What happened?"
"Quiet Gawain, We'll talk about it later, when I'm not so frustrated." Adele then picked up her pace and stormed off. The other, darker haired and far stockier male spoke, but only after their commander was out of ear-shot; "I don't think that's entirely anger… or if it is, she's angry at more than one thing." Gawain looked over to Alastor, his expression changing very little "You're probably right."
Alastor shrugged as he pushed open a door, opening it to someone who was just finished changing, as their shirt dropped to their waist. "Hey guys, what's going on? Oh, and knock next time." Alastor ignored everything after "on", answering with little care. "Leader's pissed, pack up and heliport, one hour. That about sums it up." Gawain ignored the others and began to pack up; the female of the three placed her foot on his ass and lightly pushed him forward. "Hey, how many times do I have to tell you? Say 'hi' or something!" Stopping himself from falling, Gawain turned and gave the woman a life threatening gaze
"Hiiiiii."
"Was that so hard?" She giggled "Kat, you're too hard on the boy. Let 'im be an introvert; he'll come out of his shell one day." Once more, Gawain began packing his things, but it was clear that he was paying attention to them this time as he responded to Alastor's comment. "I'm not an introvert…" he went silent. After a small moment of silence, Alastor and Kat gave each other a perplexed look, and then looked back toward Gawain, "Are you gonna finish that sentence?" A sly smirk crawled its way onto Gawain's face "I did. Also, you're running out of time." He stood up straight and spun around, a lightly packed travel bag in hand. "Be seeing you" he left with a quiet chuckle and the door closed, frantic rummaging ensued behind him.
The light of the sun was rather blinding and unexpected, too. Sunny days were a sort of commodity now, with the world in the state that it was. Gawain lifted his free hand up to block the sun's rays, his sight was restored. He set his eyes on the Helicopter, then the person standing next to it, whom he quickly recognized. "Isaak? Did you even unpack?"
Isaak grunted. He was preoccupied with cleaning the grease that was stuck to his large; sausage like fingers, and Gawain just idly watched the old mechanic battle the stains.
"…Other members of our team… think I'm an introvert…" Gawain attempted to strike up a conversation.
"You aren't?" Isaak coughed out, proceeding by wiping his mouth with his hairy forearm.
"You think so too..? This is… odd."
"You're odd, kid. I've never seen a lad before that could keep his trap shut for more than a couple minutes. Look at Alastor, he's in his late 20's and the only thing that can shut him up is a tranquilizer." Isaak lobbed his wash cloth into the air in a careless fashion; it immediately got taken by the wind. "I'm a little surprised though. You didn't know that you were a shut-in, and now that you know you are one, you're bothered by it? I don't get you…" another cough escaped Isaak's mouth, followed by the disgusting sound of saliva gathering at the back of his throat before he spat it out. Gawain's lip twitched its discomfort as he gazed down at the ominous white blob. When a few of the bubbles associated with the mucus popped, he couldn't help but turn around and hop in the empty helicopter while Isaak simply looked over and shrugged, not really caring about the sudden termination of their chat.
Adele picked up a small picture frame; within was a picture of her dearest younger sister. She grinned, an awfully silly grin at that. It was like she reverted to being a child again while fond memories swam through her head. The peace in her mind was only broken by her sense of duty, which reminded her, her visit to Japan wasn't a chance to catch up with her remaining family—it was strictly business. She gently tucked the picture away in her travel case, zipped it up, and headed out. Her feet clopped proudly on the ground, with a strut to match her newly refreshed attitude. She was prepared, she was focused, Adele was the leader of Cranium, and she had a job to do.
The automatic door before her slid open, sunlight raining down on her, but she didn't even so much as bat an eyelash. She walked next to the helicopter and gestured for Isaak to get inside, and he did so without a word. The door to the back half of the chopper was already opened; she could guess who was in there. "Gawain?" She poked her head in while placing her luggage inside. She guessed correctly as the boy looked up at her, pale blue eyes showing a bit of… confusion? That was odd; Gawain often looked so sure of himself. "If you got something on your mind, spill it, or you'll have to talk over the helicopter blades." His expression altered a few times before he shook his head, Adele went to ask if he was sure, but he made it more apparent that it was fine when he gestured for her to go. Without any further delays, Adele hopped into the cockpit next to Isaak, put her head set on, and flipped the switches to turn their transportation on. Mere seconds after flipping the switch, two more people dashed out to the heliport and hoped inside the copter prior to its launch.
"You're an ass" Alastor muttered to Gawain while he tied his equipment down.
"We really should stop cutting it this close though" Kat panted.
They quickly finished storing everything, and with a quick tap on the back of the cockpit, Isaak signaled for takeoff, and they were airborne.