Chapter 26:

4:40 pm.

"Tungsten Squadron, your orders are to neutralize IF. Copy?"

"Roger, orders to neutralize IF, received. We're engaging"

"Happy hunting"

The radio transmission ends.

"*Sigh*… Damn. How tough are these Planeptunians…?"

They've thrown off one of them off, then, threw the other one at their convoy. They were dealing 2 of them in a small, confined, space, in a moving vehicle no less. Where it takes 20 men to kill one of them, and mind you, that's when everything is going to plan, these Planeptunians were able to take out 2 just like that. Are they that naturally gifted individuals? Or is lady luck just favors them?

He can't deny his frustration at that fact. Since Lastation declared war, IF became enemy number 1 as the leader of the opposition. An opposition made up of 70% civilians. And since then, she's proven that Lastation are just all show no bark. Is he commanding a group of donuts?

"*Sigh*… Peace rusts…"

The General straightens his back and brushes off his frustration for the time being. For now, he has to deal with the situation at Lowee.

A live video feed from an agent on the roof shows the spectacle. A woman with green hair, missing an arm and jumping around with just a leg, fights the thing on a book. That thing repels the Oracle, throwing vehicles, debris, waves of water, balls of fire, bolts of lightning, and all the natural phenomena of the world.

And yet, the Oracle of Leanbox dodges them all.

To the General, he's no stranger to the stranger and strange. After all, Gamindustri is full of strange things. From girls transforming into girls into leotard suits, to dragons freely roaming around. To him, this shouldn't be out of the ordinary. But it is. Something feels off. Like the sinking feeling you've met that person before, or like the realization of de ja vu. Something clutches his heart as he watched the 2 Oracles fight it out.

The General shakes it off for a moment and presses a button on the keyboard.

"Secure the perimeter of the fight. Do not engage them, I repeat do not engage them. Always make sure they're within the perimeter. The rest sweeps Lowee for any remains of them"

"Sir… we have a report…" an intelligence soldier salutes beside him.

"Yes?"

The soldier breathes in, trying to find the right words to say.

"The rest of the men in the village are gone sir"

"…" he wasn't surprised.

There were little to no soldiers that responded to the call when he ordered his men to take a shot at IF. Most were busy running or getting eaten up alive. If the outbreak hadn't happened IF wouldn't have escaped the village. Was the outbreak another path given to her by lady luck herself.

"How many did we lose?"

"Nearly 500, Sir. The only ones that survived are the 5 convoys carrying the rest of the 500"

"I see… Can we seal the village off?"

"With all due respect sir, that's not possible"

"Then what? We let those things roam free? You know what's their opus operandi"

"Then… I have another suggestion sir. Take a look at this…"

The soldier drops a folder on top of the terminal the General is using. The General takes it and opens the folder revealing a report. He only read the heading to know what the rest contains.

4:49 pm.

"Kh—!"

Kei pushes her sword towards a guard's neck, slamming him down on the steel ground in the process. Quickly pulling it from his neck, she throws the sword behind her, piercing the second guard through his chest.

The halls are narrow, narrow enough that only 2 people are able to pass through t. She takes their standard Astra A-100 pistol from the dead guard underneath her then immediately then sprawls to a crawl, burying herself underneath the body.

"What the—!"

Another guard appears from the hallway where the first 2 came from.

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

Kei fires her pistol from the armpit of the guard. The bullets hit the guard's chest 4 times before collapsing backwards.

"The fu—!"

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

Another showed up, he turned to where the gunfire came from. But he was looking too far away down the hall. Kei fired her weapon and the bullets landed on his chest 3 times before he collapses.

"Time to move—!"

Kei stands up and lifts the body up using it as a shield as she quickly heads towards the end of the hall.

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

*PING!* *PING!* *BK!*

"Tch!"

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

Kei returns fire, barely able to hit them from their cover as she moves. Her meat shield got hit, piercing its side and barely hitting hers.

"Kh!"

Guards in Lastation doesn't have any utility equipment on them, such as flashes, smokes, or grenades. Just a baton, a handgun, and a bulletproof vest.

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

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

Kei fires off 3 more rounds before jumping towards the corner. There's no time to take the body and reload her gun with a fresh mag. The Astra A-100 pistol holds 15 9-millimeter rounds, she already wasted 13, so she only has 2 bullets left.

She dashes through the hall and makes a left. Through the echoes, she can hear hurried footsteps other than hers. She can't tell how many there are, but they're converging in on her. She makes a right, passes through 3 corners and turns to the 4th left. She runs towards the end of the hallway before stopping at the corner to take a peek.

*TING!*

At the end of the next hall sits one of the many elevators the backrooms of the Basilicom have. There are 2 guards guarding it, both are equipped with CZ Scorpion EVO 3. They've most likely coordinated to guard the exits in hopes of trapping her in the back halls.

This elevator, however, doesn't head towards Noire's floor, this one is for the armory down below. If Kei continues to stay in the back halls, she'll eventually get cornered, if she chooses to head down the elevator, then she'll have to find another way to get out of Lastation.

"I don't have much of a choice—!"

Kei changed her plans, and runs out of cover, running as low as she can. The 2 guards see her and point their submachine guns at her. Kei fires her weapon, 1 bullet for each.

*BANG!* *BANG!*

*PNG!* *PNG!*

She missed.

"Kh!"

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

She steps on the gas, forcing her legs to run as fast they could take her. The bullets fly around her, as she runs in a zig zag motion, trying to dodge their aim.

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

*PKSH!*

"Kh!"

One bullet hits her left shoulder: waves of pain surge. On reaction, she releases the magazine and throws both the weapon and the clip at them.

"Ka—!"

The guard on the left was hit on the nose with the weapon. His nose instantly breaks and knocks him down. The other was hit on the eye with corner of the magazine. But luckily his eyelid shielded his eyeball from further damage.

Kei runs towards the temporary blinded guard and kicks him on the knee. His kneecap breaks causing her he falls towards the ground, dropping his weapon in the process. Kei picks up his Scorpion EVO 3 and fires it at the other guard.

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

A surge of pain on her shoulders erupts as it bears the recoil of the weapon. She then returns her attention to the kneeling guard and shoots him in the head.

*BANG!*

"Haa… haa… I didn't train to kill off my own…" Kei huffs air as she comments.

She calls for the elevator, as she takes off her blazer and under shirt. It'll take some time before the elevator rises. And with all the echo the gun fight made, it'll be a matter of time before the rest homes in on the noise.

Blood is pouring from her shoulder; the bullet wound was deep but stopped right at the joint. She wants to take it out, but the damage of taking it out will put her more in danger than leaving it in her body. She rips the sleeve of her undershirt and the wraps it on her wound as tightly as she can.

*TING!*

The elevator came and the doors automatically opened for her.

The elevator is empty, she breathes a sigh of relief. She steps in and presses the only button on the side panel.

The doors closed automatically.

"…I hope I'm doing the right thing, Noire, Uni…"

Words of prayer slip from her lips.