Chapter 34:

4:50 pm.

"Kh! Fuck! FUCK!"

Chika curses as she falls on the ground. Her fatiguing body finally caught up to her. Her remaining leg pulses and burns and numbs. Her remaining arm feels as heavy as lead, her heart beating erratically, her vision getting blurry by the second. She takes deep breaths, trying to restore as much strength as she can. Her sweat was dropping onto the pavement like little rain.

"Madam Oracle!"

"Kh… Fuck…"

A Lastation soldier picks her up and hoists her on his shoulder. The Oracle didn't bother protesting, her brain is too tired to even process her senses.

"Oi! Bring a damn stretcher! Medic, she's slowly losing consciousness!"

The world is starting to turn. Slowly but surely, the world is slowly swiveling. Chika's vision begins to darken, her eyelids getting heavy. She almost doesn't care anymore, sleep sounds better right about now. She can't feel anything, she can't smell anything, she can't hear anything. It's really…

"Dammit… So… close…"

And the world turned black for Chika Hakozaki.

5:10 pm.

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

*PING!* *PING!* *PING!* *PING!*

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

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

DAMAGE: SUSTAINED.

BARRIER STATUS: ALL GREEN.

SCANNING FOR PEOPLE: 277.

SCANNING FOR VEHICLES: 14.

CATEGORIZING…

14 LEOPARD 2 A7+ CATEGORIZED.

SHOULD ENGAGE: FALSE.

CATEGORIZING…

32 FOOT SOLDIERS FROM THE 18th LASTATION SPECIAL FORCES DIVISION CODENAMED: Yang Berani.

63 FOOT SOLDIERS FROM THE 25th LASTATION SPECIAL FORCES DIVISION CODENAMED: Měi wǎn.

73 FOOT SOLDIERS FROM THE 62nd LASTATION SPECIAL FORCES DIVISION CODENAMED: Maharlika.

94 FOOT SOLDIERS FROM THE 93rd LASTATION SPECIAL FORCES DIVISION CODENAMED: Diplomat.

TOTAL: 262 FOOT SOLDIERS

SHOULD ENGAGE: FALSE.

CATEGORZING…

1 MQ-9 REAPER. ALTITUDE: 500 METERS. ARMAMENT: 4 Bombe Guidée Laser – 1000.

DISTANCE BEFORE PAYLOAD DROPS: 100 METERS.

TIME FOR PAYLOAD TO HIT TARGET: 10 SECONDS.

INCREASE DEFENSIVE MEASURES: FALSE.

CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING… CATE

ANOMALY.

ANOMALY. ANOMALY.

ANOMALY. ANOMALY. ANOMALY.

ANOMALY. ANOMALY. ANOMALY. ANOMALY. ANOMALY.

AN ANOMALY HAS BEEN FOUND. AN ANOMALY HAS BEEN FOUND. AN ANOMALY HAS BEEN FOUND.

THIS IS IN CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE COUNCIL'S DIRECTIVE ORDER NUMBER 2341254: From Ikapati; approved by Bathala.

SECTION 1: Shall be the investigation and categorization of the anomaly.

SECTION 2: Directives that applies to the anomaly shall be executed immediately.

SECTION 3: Anomalies without direct application from any and future directives must be returned to its respective realm within 1 full cycle. Otherwise, it shall be destroyed.

SCANNING FOR LOCATION OF ANOMALY… SCANNING FOR LOCATION OF ANOMALY… SCANNING FO

ANOMALY LOCATED.

CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING…

ERROR: NULL EXCEPTION. FAILED TO LOCATE KEY AT INDEX 0.

LOADING DIMENSION DICTIONARY FROM ARRAY 134 TO 179.

CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING… CATEGORIZING…

TERTIARY KEY LOCATED.

LOADING DIMENSION DICTIONARY ARRAY 52 TO 52.999999999.

CATEGORIZING…

SECONDARY KEY LOCATED.

LOA

ERROR: NULL EXCEPTION. FAILED TO LOAD DICTIONARY AT INDEX 0.

FALLBACK FUNCTION: SCAN THE ANOMALY HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE TASK QUEUE.

LOADING TASK QUEUE.

LOCATING ANOMALY…

ANOMALY LOCATED.

CALCULATING FLIGHT CONDITIONS.

BATTERY: 74%.

ALLOCATING 30% OF POWER FOR HIBERNATION.

BATTERY: 54%.

PRE-FLIGHT CHECKS… ALL GREEN.

WHEATHER CONDITIONS: OPTIMAL.

TIME OF ARRIVAL BASED ON REMAINING BATTERY: 10 HOURS.

TAKE OFF.

5:11 pm.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!*

An explosion erupted, shaking the earth underneath the soldier's feet. The earth growls loudly as the destructive power of man-made weapon. One thousand kilograms of TNT exploded in the middle of an intersection. Huge clouds of smoke puff into the sky as the attacks on the target stop and everybody holds their breath.

No one dares to make a sound; the rumble of the engines add to the ambiance. The foot soldiers dare not to make a single step. Not even the static of the radio could be heard. The operators at the other side of the line also dare not to make a sound. A faint rumble is heard; the monster has slumbered once more.

*BAM!*

"What was—" something shoots out of the smoke.

The soldier that saw it tries to follow with its eyes. He twists his head, then his body, trying to follow with his own eyes a small thing that suddenly shot out of the smoke. However, when he finally made a full 180, all he could see was a small dot in the sky.

"All units! The target is now fleeing! The target is now fleeing! Heading southbound! Zeta team prepare to fire!" their operator suddenly said.

"Tch! Where is it heading!?" the leader of this operation asks through the intercom.

"It's heading southbound"

"Fuck! Is it going to Lastation!?"

"No, based on the direction, it's going south straight to Leanbox"

"Leanbox–!? Crap, no time to think about it! I want every damn bird in the sky to shoot that thing! I have permission from the General Code: X-ray Mike Papa Hotel – Niner One O' Five!"

"Code Approved. We've relayed to all available units. The target is about to pass over the Point X-ray-2"

"Spike team have eyes on target" another soldier declares through the intercom.

"Spike, can you hit it?" the Commander asks.

"It's a long shot bu―!"

"Shit! Fuck! The captain he's bee―!"

"Javelin? Hey Javelin! what is your situation!?"

"Fuck! They're here! They're here! Zeta-Zero 2 is now captain! We're being overrun by those things! We need backup! Now!"

"Copy! All units! Those things are now making their move! Be advised! Those things are now making their move! We are now updating your Visors!"

"Oi! What the fuck! I thought we cleared that point!? Operator!" the captain, who was keeping quiet this entire time, saw the red dots on his visor. They were plentiful.

"They were hiding underground, that's why our infrared signals didn't detect them. We're pinging Lastation for reinforcements and they've yet to respond!"

"Call the General! We won't last long if they're gonna come at us in waves!"

"Shit they're here!"

"Fuck!"

9:52 pm.

*BRRRRRRRRR!*

*BRRRRRRRRRR!*

"Shit that's rough! You okay, Nurse!?"

"Mhm! I'm fine!"

Jason twists the gas handle; the Yamaha XTZ 125 speeds through the forest. There's no road nor pathway for him to follow, rather, he's relying on the general direction of where Lowee should be. Leaves, branches, and debris, flies at them. Compa ducks her head, hugging the rider's torso as best as she could.

"How far are we!?" Peter asks through their intercom.

"Hell if I know!"

"Do you even know where we're going!?"

"Just fucking north!"

They don't know how many hours ago their Commander left them. They slept as soon as the alcohol got to their heads, not knowing the time. Compa, with nothing to do, also slept around the same time as the two remaining soldiers. By their guesstimate, IF is about one to ninety minutes ahead of them.

There was only ons bike left when they came and three people are now forced to ride it. Compa in the middle, with Jason driving and Peter at the rear with an M16 ready. They've readied themselves as best as humanly can with whatever supplies remain. IF took a lot, she's armed to teeth as though she's fighting one man war against an entire nation.

"Dammit, Commander…! Really putting us to work!" Jason complains, his eyes filled with concentration.

"Mhm…" Compa only nods at that remark.

*RUSTLE!*

"Shit—!" Peter suddenly said, pointing his rifle to their left.

"What?"

"Speed this up! We've got company!" Peter puts on his Panoramic Night Vision Goggles. The dark world surrounding them turns green, Peter can see through the forest clearly.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?"

And through that clear vision, he sees it.

*GUHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!*

10:36 pm.

"Puwaaaah!"

IF emerges her head from the river, the weapons she brought with her weigh her down as she struggles to keep her head above water. She takes one deep breath, and kicks the water behind her, pushing her forward towards the edge.

"haa… haa…" she puts her arm on the edge of the man-made river and catches her breath a bit.

"Finally…" she said to herself.

"Finally…"

Finally, she has reached Lowee. Finally, she can end this long suffering. Finally, she can let her rage dance. The seven years of hatred and frustration, the seven years where she could not forgive herself, the seven years of weakness.

"Finally…! Nep! I can…!" IF's blood boils, her heart beating a thousand times a minute.

She pushes herself up off the river. And as though her own body encourages her; strength returns to her as if she was never tired at all.

"I can finally have my revenge…!"

Beta read by: TMCraze