Chapter 28:

4:47 pm.

*BAM!*

"FUCK!"

The MRAP bounces up as black smoke and dirt explodes from its side. The roar of the jet engine overhead quickly passes by.

"Goddammit! Don't they have nothing better to do!?" the Driver curses, shifting gears before pushing down on the gas again.

They're still on the open field, with crops between them. The Driver drives the truck as fast it can. However, it's no match for metallic flying objects that can break the speed barrier. With their thunderous roar, and their ominous presence, the Driver breaks a single sweat.

"Hahaha… Fuck! We're going to end up just like them!" the Combatant chuckles into laughter at the ridiculousness of it all.

Just at the horizon, they both can see a dense color of green slowly appearing. But there are at least 2 birds gunning for them. Unless they have SAMs, flares, and supersonic engines, they have little confidence they'll make it into the forest.

"…So, I guess… this is it?"

"No… it's not…!"

"—!"

The Combatant turns around. His ears couldn't believe it. There, standing with weak knees and legs, is a girl with long brown hair and green eyes. The Nurse helps the girl sit on left bench, the driver's side. She's uncovered, except for the bandages the Nurse wrapped her earlier, and her signature blue jacket she always adorns.

"…It's not over… yet…!" IF says through waves of pain.

"Do you have a plan, Commander!?" the Driver asked.

"I do… can you get my phone, Compa?"

"Mhm…" Compa takes her purse in front of her and opens.

"…The green one" IF added.

After a second of rummaging around, Compa pulls out a green flip phone and handed it over to IF. She opens up the clam shell and moves the selector with her thumb to the contacts application. She types in the name of the person in her contacts. A name she knows all too well, a name that could let them survive a few seconds more. The name of the person obsessed with her.

4:48 pm.

"Sir… there's a phone call for you" a young soldier walks up to his superior with a phone on hand.

"Again? From who? The Oracle?"

"No Sir…" the soldier hesitates to say the name of the caller. In his eyes, the person calling shouldn't even call in this situation. They shouldn't even be able to know his superior's number. And she shouldn't be able to do it with such confidence in her voice.

"From… her…"

"Her…?" the General ponders on the adjective for a moment. There are plenty of "her's" he knows about. Most of his superiors at the upper echelon are all women. The Oracle of the 3 nations are all women. His own Oracle is a woman. And the one he's chasing after is a woman. There are countless possibilities to who this "her" is.

So, the next logical question is, why are they calling at a time like this? Wait, Time?

The General silently takes his phone out of his subordinate's hands. He raises the small speaker towards his ear, and the mic towards his mouth. He can hear the rumbling of something in the background. Like rubber on cement. He can hear the vibrations. He can hear the breathing of a pained girl struggling to pull herself together.

"IF?" the General speaks the name.

"Surprised you're still hot on my tail like always, Adam" she said after a long pause.

"And you're a snake as ever, IF" the General presses a button on the keyboard, signaling the squad to halt the attack.

"What's this about? Some last words?"

"Always with the aggression, how many joint operations have we worked on? It's not like you don't know me"

"I just recognize you for who you are"

"And I recognize you for being a bit too obsessive"

"…So, are these your last words before I give the signal?"

"I surrender" the girl at the other side of the line cuts him off.

"What?"

"I said, I surrender..." IF said, trying to get her breathing together. The General on the other end of the line takes a few seconds to consider her words.

"What are you planning?" the General of Lastation asked with concern. Understandably so, even she will suspect someone if they suddenly give up after a long chase.

"Always with the suspicions huh, old man. I already have one foot in the grave, I don't think I have any tricks left…"

"Knowing you, you have plenty. And what? You think I wouldn't decline your surrender?"

"I know you will… Those things have already taken over the village, right?"

"…" the General stays quiet.

"I can guess, that right about now, there's not a single Lastation soldier left there. And there were a lot of them too; now that's bad, wouldn't you agree?" IF stays calm, her voice, while pained and struggling to get her breathing together, is unrushed. Like a soft melancholic voice.

"What are you saying…?"

"I'm saying… are you sure you want to focus on me and Lowee? If you leave them alone, there'll be another outbreak, and this time, the outbreak isn't in Planeptune"

"Then I'll just bomb them before they attack first"

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"…"

"I'm sure your researchers have noticed it. Their sense of danger is more acute when you leave them alone"

"…!" IF can hear the general click his tongue.

"If a human is within 2 feet from it, they'll get tunnel vision, and their senses get dulled. Are you sure you really want to waste bombs on a village? I'm sure the Lastation's ethics would really love that when you didn't even hit anything"

"…So, what are you saying? Capture you and use you as bait?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying"

4:49 pm.

The General could not believe his ears. What is the woman on the other side of the phone saying to him? Those things attack indiscriminately. This must be some sort of trap to get away from the planes. She'll get some ground forces close to her, so she has a fighting chance of getting out. And she's using them as a bargaining tool to move the planes towards the village.

"I'm not falling for this" the General firmly said.

"Besides, you're just another fodder for them like the rest. Why does it have to be you?"

"Didn't you pick it up from those fancy toys of yours?"

"About what?"

"They're obsessed with me"

"…?"

"Take a look at the footage again, I'm sure you'll notice how one of them just chased me high and low even when there's other meals around"

"…Sir, we just checked the footage. She's right, one of them is chasing her around" AWACS said.

"And that's not the only thing that happened, they chased us when we left the village where there were hundreds of other preys around. You think that's a coincidence?

So, capture me and use me as bait"

The General knows it's a trap. He knows she's leading him on. He can tell that woman has a trained tongue. Killing her right now is easy. But them? Let's just say it takes more than it would take out IF.

"How do I know it's not a coincidence?" for now, all of this is just conjecture. She might observe the phenomena from her point of view and conclude it as such. But from an outsider, just having 1 evidence to go on isn't really telling that they want to eat her primarily.

"Then why did the other one ignore you and attack my men?"

"Does a hungry dogoo choose its meal?

I can't say why it didn't eat me. It could be anything really. But I'm sure if you look at the footage from when I was in the village. They stopped doing what they're doing and decided to chase after me"

"…AWACS?"

"Sir, affirmative. Seeing IF causes them to run over to her despite other targets around them. Should I send the footage?"

"No need… So, what are you suggesting then? Another joint op?"

"Take me in and dangle me from a helicopter. That would attract them in a single spot for you to blow me and them up. Convenient right?"

Does the General have time to choose? No, up until now, IF's truck is still moving forward towards the forest. He could not have given the order to hold their weapons, but a part of him compels him to listen to her. Or was it arrogance that allowed him to listen. Still, if IF's goal were to stall, she achieved it.

The other matter is them. Right now, AWACSs' AO still covers the village. Their threat isn't an exaggeration though. If given the chance, they might even run as far as they can if you decide to throw a nuke at them. The only way for them to be vulnerable is to have a human stay within 2 feet of them for a brief period of time. By then, you can shoot it without them dodging and you know what happens if you get close.

If another outbreak occurs, they'll target Lastation.

And there will be no…

"…Alright. We'll take you in. AWACS tell Tungsten squadron to double back to the village stat, make sure none of them leave the village, leave one to guard IF in case she does something"

"Sir"

"And you IF, mind stopping the truck?"

4:50 pm.

"Sure. Driver, we're stopping here"

"Ma'am" the Driver stopped the truck.

"There. Are you going to pick me up?"

"We'll have AWACs and one bird keeping an eye on you. Until then, stay put… *BEEP!*"

The call ends.

IF looks in front of her all the weapons they have. A few smokes and bangs, grenades, 2 rifles, 2 sidearms, knives from close distance fighting, to throwing knives, to blades as thin as a needle but long as a forearm. Her remaining Combatant finishes removing his vest, gloves, and holsters around him. And the Driver is now setting up the sides of the MRAP.

"Commander, we'll be done in 2 minutes" the Driver said.

"Understood. Make sure the strings won't get cut from the edges"

"Ma'am"

"…*Sigh*… So many setbacks…" IF sighs as she takes a pistol and pulls the slider.