Chapter 20:

4:20 pm.

IF landed on the hood of a Caiman Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle.

The vehicle squashed those two by the wall, their blood spraying out. They groan in pain. IF peered through the windshield, seeing a familiar face sitting on the driver's seat.

"What took you guys?" IF asked through the intercom.

"Sorry Commander. Heavy traffic" the driver answered.

"*Guhi?*"

"Hey, they're peeking out. Take 'em out will ya?"

On cue, the turret hatch opens and out comes another one of IF's men with a fully loaded M1151. He placed the mini gun on the dedicated mounting turret and aimed it at the window above.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

"Seems you guys got some supplies after all…"

"Came with the truck. Come on in, Commander"

IF jumpe–!

A ting sounds. Metal against metal. It's sharp. No follow up. No bang earlier too, either masked by what's happening around or it came from somewhere far away. Either way, IF concluded one thing.

"Sniper!" she shouted, "Gunner! Get the fuck down!"

IF quickly jumped down and dashed towards the rear of the Caiman. The moment she turned, the metal doors were already open, with one of her troops lending out a hand. She grabbed it without a second delay, and practically jumped inside.

"Is the Gunner alri–!"

She didn't need to finish her sentence. The assigned gunner of the turret is being pulled in by one of her men, as another closes the hatch. The sides of his head are blown wide open, as red liquid gushes out from both holes. The driver laid him down, and-

Compa let go as IF moved towards her fallen comrade. Noticing that his eyes are still open, she puts two fingers on his eyelids and closes them.

"You served your family and country well." she mumbled under her breath. Low enough for only the dead to hear.

"Drive"

and in the next moment, she returned to Commanding her remaining men.

The Caiman reversed, and quickly turned and drove through the main road towards the front exit of the village. Compa sits down in one of the seats, as IF rips off the bullet proof vest from her dead soldier.

"Let's count stock. Ho-… we're missing one more" before she could start, she noticed she's missing one more man.

"He got swiped by them, Commander" the Operator in the passenger seat said.

"So, we're down 2 already"

She continued counting. Including her, there's now 3 people left that are capable of fighting. 1 operator and 1 nurse. Not an ideal scenario. 5 was enough to form some effective urban fighting. But now, with 2 people carrying the weight for the other 2, there's only 1 real capable fighter that can face their more dangerous threats.

"What about everybody else?" she asked

"We're ready any time" the driver and the one combatant with her in the rear answered.

"What's our supplies look like?"

"We got some guns and ammunition along with some fireworks. It came with the truck, but since we're down 2, it's practically more than enough" the soldier answered. "And finally, we have some meds." he brought out 2 medical kits encased in a case.

"Alright, give that to Compa" the soldier obliged and gave the med kits to the congo-haired woman.

"How much farther are we from the city, Operator?"

"40 kilometers. If all goes smoothly then we can arrive at Lowee in around 30 minutes, Commander"

"You have any intel on the main force in Lowee?"

"Nothing yet. They're too busy with something, so we can probably use this chance to get in"

"Problem is, they've seen the Commander's face. They've most likely alerted everyone. That explains the sniper" the driver said.

"They probably won't pay much attention to me, with the outbreak and everything. But you're right, we should proceed as if they already know our plan. It's best to assume that our backup in Lowee is dead already or taken in"

"You think they know we're after the launch codes?" the Driver asked.

"Not likely. It's best to stay on our toes"

"Then do we have plan B?" her other combatant asks.

"We blow Lowee up"

"B–! Hahahaha… fuck…" the Driver tries to shake his head at his Commander's crazy idea.

"—!" Compa looked up.

"We can't fight an army of spec ops. And as obvious as it is, something big happened in Lowee. If we assume that Lowee is infested with them and Lastation troops are fighting them off, then we've struck gold. We can take out most of the Lastation firepower and deal somewhat of a blow to those things"

"And how are we going to do that? Don't tell me we're just going to blow their artillery with C4 right?" her other combatant asked.

"I haven't told you this before, but the main Basilicom has a weapons cache underneath it"

"We're really going to do it…"

"But what about the civilians?" Compa suddenly spoke up.

"Compa?" IF looked behind her. A serious Compa met her gaze.

"What about the civilians, Iffy?"

"We can likely assume that Lastation evacuated the civilians. But given what happened here, I doubt there's plenty that are remaining. What brought this on?"

"..." Compa did not answer, and instead looks away.

"?"

*BINGGG!* *BINGGGGG!*

*TING!* *TING!* *TING!* *TING!* *TING!* *TING!* *TING!* *TING!* *TING!*

"Gh—! What the hell–!?"

"Commander, we've got a party on our tail!" the driver quickly shouts as he steps on the gas.

4:23 pm.

"General, we're engaging the vehicle."

"Good, you don't need to blow them up. Hit them on the sides and they'll topple over by themselves"

MRAPs have a higher center of gravity. They're categorized as trucks too, so to anyone wanting to buy one that should serve as warning signals for the strategy they have to do. They come equipped with a balance meter on the dashboard, turn at high-speeds and you'll risk toppling over.

So, if you shoot a rocket towards the truck, even if it misses, the blowback will topple it over.

"Sir, the monsters are engaging the vehicle and trying to rip the armor apart"

"Oh?" he smiled.

"Sir, you've got a call" one of his officers approached, outstretching the phone to him.

"If it's the Oracle then put her up. If not, tell them I'm busy" the General quickly replies.

"No sir. It's not the Oracle. But it's an Oracle…"

"An Oracle? Alright…" the General quickly takes the phone, presses the call button, and puts the speaker next to her ear.

"Hello, hello. Is this the General speaking~~" a cheery voice suddenly rang out.

"Ma'am, sorry for not recognizing you" the General stands in attention.

"No, no. It's quite alright"

"What honor do I owe this pleasure, Madam Chika?"

"Getting straight to the point, eh? Oh well, I was going to do that. Well, you see… you're kinda in my way for a bit so can you tell your troops to pull back…"

"Ma'am…? Pull back?"

"Yes. Pull back. Your annoying little troops are in the way of my catch. And I simply must get her, you know what I mean?"

"You mean…?"

"I mean. To be fair, you're not even dealing a scratch on her. You're just wasting ammo and soldiers. Aren't you concerned about the people you're killing?"

"..."

"No answer? Well, if you don't pull back, you'll be losing alot more now, ehe~. Oh, but if you do, how about I let you do me?"

"Madam Oracle, with all due respect. That creature must not be allowed to live for a second longer. I'll throw in all the soldiers it wants if it means I can take that thing down"

"Adamant eh… oh well, at least I tried… Don't complain to me if I take out a few of your guys, okay?"

"Wait… what!?"

*BEEP!*

4:25 pm.

"Haa… So many idiots… Don't they know that my dear Lady Vert is about to be revived?" Chika said as she crushes the phone underneath her heels.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

Down below, a series of explosions erupted. Shots fired. Giant leads cut through the air. Above are giant hunks of steel dropping black hunks of steel. The air gets pushed back with each burst. Small rocks and debris flung around. The shouts of men below as they pour everything into the fight.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

Who are they fighting? A creature. A creature that was once respected. Now a menace. It takes it all in. Dust and debris blow up around it. 20mm of heavy metal flies towards it at breakneck speed. And yet before it even reaches her, it ricochets. The black birds up in the sky are dropping heavy objects. Fireworks all around it. And yet it doesn't change the color on its face.

Chika steps forward, letting gravity do all the work. She falls from the ledge of a 4-story building down towards an unsuspecting car. The roof bends as she lands. The sound of glass shattering. The sound of metal bending.

She looks up. She sees her. In the middle of the highway. Surrounded by men in black, hunks of metal, firing their artillery at her. Her artificial arm and leg twitches. The pain of losing a limb still lingers. She tightens her grip on her spear and puts power in her legs.

And in the next moment, she dashes towards the fairy sitting on a book. She dashes towards her dream. Her heart beats faster. Blood rushes throughout her entire body. Small bumps appear on the surface, her hair standing erect. She's almost there. She's almost there.

She just needs to kill this motherfucker that's standing in her way.

"HIIIIIIIIIISTOOOOIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRREEEEEEE!"

"—!"

*CLASH!*