Witch of the Eighty-Sixth

by contrastellar

There is no such thing as a clean war, and for those who know the secrets of this battlefield — what else could this life be, than a Curse?

9. Chapter 8

September 5, SY 2149

It had taken three days to reach the walls of the Gran Mur, and another day to find one of the gates, blown open by the howitzers that had been commanded by Bloody Regina to open the walls to let the Processors of the Eighty-Six in to defend what was left of the Republic. The Witch and her Familiars stood at the boundary of the gate, peering inside, looking for some indication of movement, or something that indicated at all that they would be shot at the moment they entered this gate.
The Witch wasn't one of the few units that were on either side of the blasted-open hole in the gate. She had no Para-RAID, and no way to communicate anything she found. So she instead waited, behind Sabina's Bluebird, as it scouted the immediate area around the gate. Eventually, Sabina moved, Bluebird taking almost weary steps forward, and through the gate. The Witch urged Aerial forward, and followed her through. One-by-one, the Familiars passed through the gate, descending the gently sloping hill on the other side of the boundary. They had made it to this gate just shy of midday, and the land was brightly lit in the early-autumn sunlight. The temperature outside the Juggernauts was still reminiscent of the summer months, and made the insides of the Juggernaut, which had no climate control — that much more unbearable. Between the un-cushioned seats, and the baking sun bearing down on the Witch and her twelve Familiars — all were tired of having spent the last week in their Juggernauts, marching towards the Gran Mur.
But now they were here, they were inside the wall. All of them, for the first time since the construction of the Gran Mur ten years ago, had set foot inside the administrative sectors of the Republic. The Witch didn't spare much thought to the fact that this was her first time inside the walls after a decade of being an Eighty-Six. She was far more focused on keeping an eye out for any Legion as they descended the hill. There was a small town at the foot of the hill, one that at first glance, seemed abandoned, but as they drew closer to the outskirts of the town, it became more and more obvious that there was certainly no one inside its bounds. At least, none that was obvious to the Witch and her Familiars as they passed through it, continuing their march westward, bisecting the town. The Witch kept glancing in the windows as they passed by. She wondered how many days it had been since the attack on the Republic from the Legion? A quick estimate said two weeks, but she wasn't sure that was entirely accurate. But regardless of how long it had been since the Legion attack had started, this town seemed to have been untouched from the attack. There were no bodies, no indication that there was any attack going on at all, if it weren't for the fact that the town was completely devoid of inhabitation, there wouldn't be any reason to believe that anything bad was happening. Granted, they were inside Republic Juggernauts, and were all obviously Colorata. For the Colorata pilots of these Juggernauts to be inside the walls again, something very terrible indeed would've had to happen.
The buildings seemed to be mostly houses, with only a few that stood out as not being as such, namely a small store that lay along the main road that they followed through the town, and a power-pack station near the outside of the town that, as she passed it, made The Witch wonder if the packs would fit in her Juggernaut as replacements for the ones currently threatening to run low in Aerial. She didn't dare stop to find out. Ostensibly, this was Legion territory as much as it was the Republic's — the threat of a Legion ambush only went up the more and more The Witch and her Familiars would progress further and further into the Republic's walls.
They all kept an eye out for such an ambush, nervous anticipation clawing at them, making the midday's short shadows seem all the more alive with movement, and every breeze and sound that was carried on it feel that much more hostile towards their very presence in this place. And yet, despite that, they moved on — following one of the main roads that led from this town, westward, following the sun in its steady descent towards that western horizon. The forest quickly surrounded them on either side of the road, and at once, the Familiars breathed a sigh of relief as it would be harder for them to be seen through the foliage.
They stopped just short of a lift bridge that spanned a snaking river that bordered the forest. Beyond the river, the bridge that arched over it, they could see plumes of black smoke, accompanied by the shimmering of the Eintagsfliege as the smoke rose between their wings, into the sky and was swept away by the winds aloft. They set their Juggernauts in a semi circle around them, their barrels pointed the way that they had come from, and set about making lunch and discussing more in depth what the plan was, should they come across any Legion during their journey into the Republic.
"Has anyone heard anything from that Bloody Regina since we made it into the walls?" The Witch asked as MREs were cracked open, and the chemical heating packets used, rather than making a fire, to heat their meals. Heads were shook in response to her question. The Witch sighed, more inwardly than outwardly — she suspected as such, that the Blood-Stained Queen would be too busy trying to save her own skin, rather than try and rally more troops that were unlikely to come if they hadn't already.
"Well, she said that we were to gather in the Eighty-Five districts… And we're here." Two-Tone said.
"So what's our next move, then?" Someone asked.
Two-Tone shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me. We're kinda flying blind."
"We should try and move towards where the fighting seems to be." The Witch said, which elicited shocked expressions from her Familiars. "What? We're trying to protect whatever's left at this point. It's been almost a week if not already, we need to try and find whoever's left, and try and rally with any other Eighty-Six we find… If we're lucky, we'll find Bloody Regina, and have some more coordination on what to do next."
"So we look out for Eintagsfliege, or for fighting?" Another someone asked.
"Basically, yes."
"What we should also do, is try and find you a Para-RAID, if we can, Witch."
The Witch looked curiously at Sabina, who had spoken.
"You're in need of some way of communicating with the rest of us, yes?" Sabina asked. The Witch nodded, understanding the grave implications of such a statement. It was unlikely they'd be able to find a Handler who was going to give up their Para-RAID to some Eighty-Six.
The Witch and her Familiars finished their meal in relative silence, only some of the Processors talking among one another. It was only before they all remounted their Juggernauts, that the Witch explained their plan — since there was Eintagsfliege ahead, they would try and avoid any groups of enemies, and do their best to follow signs towards the First District. Many nodded in agreement. It wouldn't be a good idea for them to try and take every fight they could. When they re-embarked into their Juggernauts, the sun was well on its way towards the horizon.
They crossed the bridge without any incident, and continued following the road on the other side. It wasn't long before a sign was found, one that pointed in a direction northward, accompanied by a road that split off from this one they had been on. It read "Liberté Et Égalite". Sabina led them down that split-off road, in the direction the sign had indicated. Apparently, someone recognized that name as being that of the Capitol city of the Republic — and so they marched onwards, towards District One.
As evening began to fall across the Republic, the Witch and her Familiars began looking for a place along their march to rest for the night. The road continued a ways, and led in towards a city, with buildings that pointed into the sky, and whose windows shimmered, reflecting the orange evening light. Behind those buildings, at some unknown distance — Eintagsfliege shimmered in the orange dusk. Sabina stopped in front of her, right as they were about to make it to the outskirts of the city — and The Witch stopped her Juggernaut. She didn't se Sabina's canopy open, so she instead waited for someone to indicate to her what the next move was going to be. Sabina turned her Juggernaut, and exited the road, walking towards a nearby building that looked like a house. It was standing, silently, like the houses and buildings in that first town they had found at the base of the Gran Mur — empty of life, or signs that there was an offensive raging throughout the nation.
The Witch wondered idly what had happened to the people that lived here. So far that they had come, they hadn't seen a single body, or even real signs of battle — just the distant smoke and shimmering of the Eintagsfliege. Maybe they had fled at the first sign of the Legion breaking into the Republic's walls, maybe they had already been rounded up by the Legion in their headhunting. She wasn't sure, and neither exactly made her feel at all comfortable.
Sabina's canopy opened in front of her, stopping in front of the house that she had chosen. It was obvious to the Witch, that she was signaling that this is where they would stay for the night. The Witch did the same. Her canopy filling with cool air, and the smell of a city that was unfamiliar to her. It smelled clean, almost completely absent of the scents of the natural world that dominated the landscape beyond the Gran Mur. Even the dirt beneath her boots as she walked across the front yard of the house felt fake, out of place. It didn't let her boots sink into it, even remotely in the same way that the real dirt beyond the walls did.
"We rest here, take a breather, try and figure out if we continue towards District One or not." Sabina explained. "We've been marching all day, and not really come across anyone or anything."
"Yeah…" The Witch responded, looking down the road, the direction they were headed — there was nothing. The wind was even still at this level, nothing to rustle the trees, or carry any sound. The world felt unnaturally still, and The Witch wished that there were even the sounds of distant battle to mark where they should be headed. The rest of the Familiars dismounted their Juggernauts, and gathered around the Witch and Sabina. "I think we should probably look around these houses, try and see if there's any supplies we can find. Split into four groups, that way you can carry anything back with you, while also keeping an eye out for any Legion that may try and sneak up on us. If we get spotted — hunker down as best you can."
"What about you?" Sabina asked, realizing that The Witch wouldn't be in a group, if they split into groups of four.
"The way I figure it, no matter how we split up, someone's gonna be by themselves. I'll search this house, and also try and scout a good lookout spot for the night." There were murmurs at this — it seemed that not everyone agreed that the Witch should be by herself. "I'll be the closest to the Juggernauts if something happens…" The murmurs didn't stop.
Sabina spoke up. "How about this, I'll go with her, and one group is a group of three. That way none of us are out of pairs." The murmurs died down. "Then split up, lets see what we can find."
The Familiars dispersed, and Sabina exchanged glances with The Witch. The Witch wasn't surprised things turned out this way, but was still more surprised that Sabina held as much control and sway among them. Sabina turned around, and started moving for the closest house, the one that they had stopped their Juggernauts in front of. The Witch followed. Sabina tried turning the front door's handle, only to find that it wouldn't budge.
"Locked?" The Witch asked.
Sabina simply took a step back from the door, and then raised her leg, and kicked out at it, impacting the door with her boot, just shy of where the handle was, hitting it with the full force of her leg muscles, and gravity pulling her forward, to break in the door with a loud crack as the wood splintered around the lock and the door swung open on its hinges, the lock dangling precariously in the door frame.
"Faster than finding a key." Sabina explained, looking over her shoulder at the bewildered expression the Witch had on her face.
The Witch followed her into the house, stepping over splinters of wood that now littered the rug just inside the door. The house opened up just beyond the entryway, one side leading towards rooms with closed doors, the other side leading towards a kitchen, living and dining room, all in an open space. It was a nice house, if not for the mild state of disarray that it was in. Cabinets strewn open, one of the chairs around the dining room table was knocked over, as if someone stood up from it in a panic. There was yarn and two needles on the floor in front of one of the living room chairs. Sabina went towards the kitchen, so The Witch instead went towards the closed rooms, trying the first one's doorknob tentatively. It turned with a motion of her wrist, and then she pushed it open. There was no resistance from the door, no indication that there was a lock or any such mechanism to keep her from entering. She didn't set foot into the room, simply looked inside. There was a crib against the far wall, empty. Above it dangled something or other, with trinkets attached to it. This was a young baby's room. The Witch breathed a sigh of relief when she did crane her neck around the door, and saw a dresser, with the drawers hastily pulled open, and articles of clothing that looked to be about the size of a young baby were. Further confirmation that whoever it was who lived here, was able to pack at least some of their things before fleeing.
There was less apprehension as she explored the other rooms, one of which was a bathroom, the other a bedroom — in similar states of disarray, but no sign of anyone who had been in the rooms recently.
She peered into the bedroom a bit longer than she did the bathroom, not bothering to check the lights or the sink to see if they worked. She did, however, on the nightstand next to the large bed in the bedroom, find what looked like a necklace or a choker of some kind. Silver and blue — and it seemed to glow faintly in the darkened room. When she blinked, however, that glow was gone, but the choker remained there, sitting on the bedside table. The Witch entered the room, almost on edge, like something would jump out of the shadows at her. Nothing did. She crossed to the nightstand without incident, and was picked up the choker. It felt like it buzzed against her palm as she held it. She held onto it as she left the room, turning around to go ask Sabina if she knew what it was.
She closed the doors as she left this part of the house and walked towards where Sabina was, in the kitchen. She found Sabina, standing in front of the refrigerator, looking at the assortment of papers and pictures that were placed there and secured with magnets.
One of which was a picture, and as The Witch got closer, it better resolved itself in her sight. There were two Alba, standing in front of a sign that read "Welcome to District 43!" — and behind that sign, in the background of the picture, was a cityscape, that looked much the same as the one that was outside and to the north. The Witch's eyes lingered on the two Alba in the foreground of the picture. Two young women, holding hands and smiling at one another, one of which, wearing the White and Prussian Blue uniform of the Republic's military. Around her neck was something like a choker. Many of the other pictures were similar in subject, the same two women. Always, the one woman was wearing that choker. Near the top of the collection of pictures, was a photo of one of the women in a hospital bed, holding a child that was unbelievably tiny, yet with a slicked-back dash of silver hair, and eyes squeezed shut against the world.
The Witch looked at that picture for a moment, almost unsure of what it was that she was looking at, but recognizing the scene from somewhere inside the back of her mind.
She turned to look at Sabina, who was staring at one of the pictures further down. The first picture — that of the two young women holding hands in front of the sign. The Witch wondered what it was that made her so adamant to look at this photo in particular.
As if on cue, Sabina parted her lips to speak; "There was a girl, in the camp. Everyone called her 'Bluebird'… She was a Sapphira and had these streaks of blue in her hair. We both got conscripted at the same time… I don't know where she went, or what theater, or anything."
"What was she like?" The Witch asked, softly, almost as if comforting the girl.
"The kindest person I'd ever met. Even after her parents were shot in front of her, she never once let that stop her. She was always trying to fix things, and anything that she couldn't fix, she still found a way." Sabina reached for the photograph for a moment, before returning her hand to her side. "Thorn? She saw right through everything I'd ever told myself wasn't true. That I wasn't still looking for her, because there was no way that I could ever find her… It was more likely that one or both of us would end up dead. So I named myself after her, in case I died first, she might still hear about me, so that she would know I never forgot her."
"I—" The Witch started before catching herself. "W-What was her name?"
"Nanaura. Nika." The Witch's stomach dropped through her at the name. "What?" Sabina said, realizing how The Witch was giving her a mortified look.
"M-M-Miss Nika… You said she was good at fixing things?"
"Yeah… No good in a fight. When people kept picking on her for being a Sapphira, she couldn't or wouldn't stand up for herself… Why?"
"She…" The Witch swallowed on a dry throat. "She was my lead mechanic… In LFRITH..." Sabina gave her a confused look, almost uncertain that what the Witch had said was even what she meant to say. "She was in her fourth or fifth year, like me… But she had been conscripted as a mechanic, rather than a Processor. Said that she'd been attached to LFRITH for the entire time she'd been conscripted."
"You're fucking with me." There was a rising tension in Sabina's voice.
"N-no. I'm not."
It happens faster than The Witch can react — Sabina grabs her uniform jacket and spins her around, slamming her back against the refrigerator, the magnets that were keeping photographs attached to its face, digging into her back as she was slammed into it. Part of her mind, the one keeping up with this turn of events, is mildly surprised that she doesn't feel the dig of steel into her stomach from Sabina's pistol. The rest of her mind is shocked as Sabina presses her forearm against her throat. She coughs as the pressure against her windpipe increases.
"Where the fuck is she?!" Sabina snarls. "Did you leave her behind?!"
The Witch gags against the pressure on her throat, and Sabina loosens the pressure, letting her take a gasp of air, and coughing some more before stammering out what she wants to say. "I—I didn't… I got separated from LFRITH…" She coughs again. "I don't know what Guel had the mechanic team do…"
"You had been to SPEARHEAD's base before… You could lead me back to LFRITH's from there, right?!" Sabina's tone is nothing short of menacing.
"Y-yes… But we were supposed to come into the walls!"
"You're going to lead me, and me alone, back to LFRITH's base. And we're going to—"
There's a scuffling of boots, and a shout from the doorway of the house. A couple of the Familiars trying to pull Sabina away from the Witch, who slumps to the ground as soon as the pressure against her neck completely disappears. She coughs several times, clutching her throat.
"What the fuck are you doing Sabina?!" Two-Tone shouted, having successfully peeled her away from attacking The Witch.
"She knows where-!" The Witch looks up just in time to see the aftermath of Two-Tone having slapped Sabina across the face.
"I don't fucking care!" Two-Tone shouted. "You wouldn't do this to the Prince if he knew where she was either!"
There's a stammering response from Sabina.
"If she's truly still alive after all this time," Two-Tone starts. "She'll make it through this too… What we have to do, in the meantime, is regroup with other Processors, and try and survive this shit!"
The Witch coughed again in the silence that followed, and it was a moment before someone helped her to her feet, still clutching the weird choker that she had found. When she finally made it to her feet, and was steady on her own, she still held her hand to her throat, the pain in her windpipe throbbing with every pulse of her heartbeat.
Sabina didn't meet her gaze.
The Witch didn't reprimand her, or strike out at her. She simply looked at Sabina, who didn't look back — the red handprint still lingering on her face — and sighed, her throat still feeling raw and in pain.
"Did we find any supplies?" The Witch asked the Two-Tone and the two girls holding Sabina still.
"Yeah, we found canned goods, and the power's still running in one of the houses thanks to a backup generator." One of the girls responded, eventually letting go of Sabina, who didn't make any movements, and instead looked defeated at the reminder of what she'd done.
"Good, we'll primarily be camping out in that house… We didn't find much in this one…" The Witch said, still rubbing her neck. "Is there running water?"
One of the girls nodded. "Yeah, there is."
"Good, start getting people to rotate through filling up their reserves, and then if we still have running water after that, start rotating people through showers." The Witch explained. "I'm assuming most of us haven't had showers in a while… Those who are near the back of the queue, have them split up and try and find good lookout spots for the night. I'll be the last to shower."
"Understood. What would you like us to do with—"
"Sabina is fine to do whatever she wants. She'll be before me in the queue." The Witch said, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice. "Anyone know what this is?" She raised up the choker that she had found in the bedroom.
Two-Tone, and one of the girls who had been holding Sabina looked very confused for a moment, until the third girl spoke up. "I-I think that's a Para-RAID… I met a Handler once, who wore something like it."
"Great. Found one for myself." The Witch said, reluctantly slipping it around her neck, and clasping it.
"What about you?" Two-Tone asked as the Witch did this.
"I'll be fine, just going to take a walk." She responded, and it was true enough — she was going for a walk, away from here, and the reminders of why she had almost had her throat crushed. "If I need you, I'll holler." She motioned at the Para-RAID attached to her nape, before leaving the kitchen behind, and moving for the entry way. She stepped foot into the cool late-evening air, and past the Juggernauts lined up on the road, headed not the way that they had come, but further down the street, towards the North, and where the skyscrapers of the city sat. The Forty-Third of Eighty-Five administrative sectors of the Republic. She had no idea how far it would still be from the First Sector, and where the last lines of defense should've been. She continued walking down that street, towards the jagged edges of that inner city, not paying much conscious attention to her surroundings, more than what she otherwise would've during her time in the Eighty-Sixth sector, before this offensive by the Legion. When she would walk through the streets of the city that was just beyond the fence of LFRITH's base, and would take her morning walk to the observation post, and check on whoever it was that was there.
But this walk was shorter, less certain. She took a path tentatively, and then would double back on herself. She wasn't familiar with this area, and she didn't know where she was if she strayed too far from that original street that she had been walking on. Between the unfamiliar locale, and the ever encroaching darkness that came with the post-dusk light fading away, The Witch began to wonder how long she had been on her 'walk', and how far she had come.
She didn't stray far from that road.
But she didn't make it very far, before she felt a vibration — more from the ground that she stood on than the air itself. At first she wasn't sure that she actually felt anything. Before a second echo reverberated through the ground and she felt it in her teeth as much as she heard it in the air itself. A crack like a distant rifle, except louder than a rifle, deeper than one. She knew the sound, and knew it well. The signature of a Löwe's 120mm smoothbore primary armament. She rapidly, and on instinct, ducked behind a nearby bush — but realized within moments that if there had been one firing at her, she likely would've been blown away by it, before she even had a chance to react.
But she had been given plenty of chance to react, and peering around the bush, she couldn't see any silver forms of the Legion. And realizing that she could still hear things, such as the rush of blood in her ears, or the scrape of her boots against the dirt, meant that the Löwe that she had heard, wasn't nearby. There was another crack, still distant from her, and when she tilted her head slightly, she could tell that it was coming from inside the city's bounds. She stood up, surveying her surroundings as she did, making sure that there wasn't a Legion or something that she missed — although she assumed that if there was, it would've tried to kill her by now.
She darted away from the bush, and jogged along the road, back the way that she came. In moments like this, she was grateful that her sense of direction held true no matter how many detours and backtracks she had taken to get to where had first heard the Legion. She flicked her wrist to the back of her neck, where the Handler's Para-RAID was situated against her neck, and pressed it, connecting instantly through the collective unconscious to the Processors that had been following her.
"Bad news ladies and gents!" She half-shouted as she ran back towards the Juggernauts. "We've got Legion nearby, get ready to move out!" She cut the link shortly after saying that, and continued her run back to the Juggernauts.
By the time she could see the Juggernauts again, many of them already had their canopies closed, and rumbled as she ran past them, practically taking a running jump into Aerial, and doing her best to get her harness on. "What's the situation, Witch?" Sabina's voice came across the Para-RAID. If she had any remorse for having attacked the Witch, she didn't show it in this moment. No, when it came down to it, she had work to do, so Sabina couldn't let things like remorse get in the way.
"Heard some Löwes firing on a position to the North. We're gonna go and investigate and engage. If we're lucky, we'll find survivors." The Witch said, closing Aerial's canopy. "Our ROE is to engage and destroy any Legion we come across. Keep an eye out for friendlies. That includes civilians." She flicked on her eyepiece, and then started Aerial's engine. "All set everyone?"
There were replies of confirmation, everyone was ready for a fight.
"Alright, lets move out." She said, and moved Aerial forward, leading this time, rather than following Sabina.
The Juggernauts darted through the darkened streets of the Forty-Third district, and before long, began to hear the tell-tale cracks and explosions from Löwe turrets firing between buildings.
They raced towards the source of the explosions, to find a formation of Legion dead ahead of them on the roads, just outside the downtown area of the Forty-Third district. Shimmering in the star-lit night of the city, they moved like silent insects, firing as they marched forward ahead of the Eighty-Six. It was lucky, then, that The Witch and her Familiars were able to get the drop on them from behind. The Juggernauts' feet pounded into the concrete of the roads and sidewalks as they closed the distance to the Legion formation, and yet the Legion didn't seem to realize that they were coming.
"All units, fire." The Witch ordered, and the 57mm guns of the Juggernauts erupted into the rear line of the Legion, quickly dispatching then dozen or so units at the rear — comprised mostly of Grauwolf and Löwe. The remaining Legion began to fold in on themselves, taking tight maneuvers to split their formation into a group facing forward, and a group facing backward. Within moments, despite walking backward, the Legion units facing The Witch and her Familiars opened fire on them. The Löwes' 120mm smoothbore cannons erupting as they fired on the Juggernauts, who deftly dodged the initial volley, and darted between buildings and into alleyways for cover.
The Familiars fought with the skill and direction of those who had fought alongside one another for years longer than was possible. Shoring up one another's weaknesses naturally, and needing minimal direction from The Witch as she raced towards the line of Amaise that started to fill the backline of the Legion formation. She fired her 57mm primary armament once, and that shell found purchase in a Grauwolf that had opened its missile pod to fire. She wasn't sure whether it was at whoever the Legion were advancing towards, or back at her Familiars, but either way — that Grauwolf was now silenced. "All units, keep pushing forward!" She ordered, and they complied wordlessly.
There was a crackle from her neck, before the Para-RAID wrapped around her neck made a soft chime — the familiar sound of an incoming connection.
"To the Processors flanking this Legion unit, scatter on the count of three!" A silver-bell like voice ordered. The Witch pulled back on Aerial's control sticks, bringing her further away from the Legion units that she was attempting to close the distance to.
"One!" The voice counted.
"Everyone, get the hell away!" The Witch ordered.
"Two." The Familiars darted away from the main street, backing away from the Legion as they marched onwards, still firing in both directions.
"Three!" The voice said, and as soon as the last sound registered in the ears of the Eighty-Six, did the Legion formation explode in a shimmer of orange and silver.
"What the hell?!" One of the Familiars shouted.
"Long-range artillery without tracers." The silver-bell of a voice explained, for some reason, familiar to the Witch. "That should be all the Legion units, if you'd be so kind as to push forward along this street, BRÍSINGAMEN will sweep while we brief you."
"C-copy that… Can I ask who this is? Bloody Regina?" The Witch asked, as she peered around the corner of the building she had taken shelter behind, seeing the smoke and fire where the Legion formation had once been.
"Yes, this is. I'm assuming you heard my transmission?" The voice responded, and yet, even with that identification, there was still something more familiar to the voice than just that.
"Yeah, we all did. Sorry for taking so long." The Witch said, and began marching along the road in a low-cruise state, keeping an eye out for any Legion that had survived the bombardment. The Familiars quickly flanked her as they did the same.
"Not a problem… But can I ask which Squadron you belong to?" Bloody Regina asked.
"We're the remnants of VALKYRIE and LFRITH."
"LFRITH? How many of you are there?"
"Just me, The Witch." She responded.
"I see… Just so you know, I am the former Handler of SPEARHEAD squadron, prior to their—" There's a pause, and an inhale as if to steady herself, "Special Reconnaissance Mission."
"Pleasure to meet you again, Major." The Witch said, as she passed a formation of Juggernauts, headed the opposite direction, presumably being BRÍSINGAMEN.
"Oh, no need, Witch… I got demoted to Captain just prior to the Legion's Large Scale Offensive." Bloody Regina explained. "And is it okay if I call you Witch? As opposed to your personal name?"
"Apologies then. And yeah, it's fine. My personal name is Aerial, for what it's worth, and I don't have a Real Name, if you're going to ask me that."
"How did you—?"
"Because LFRITH's handler? Miorine? She asked me my name once. And you two seem a lot alike."
"Oh… Witch, I've got bad news…" Bloody Regina said, her voice carrying tones of sorrow in it that washed over the Para-RAID. "We lost contact with the Captain just prior to our evacuation from District One..."
The Witch sighed, and for a moment, isn't sure whether or not that the feeling in her chest is coming across from the Para-RAID, or if it is something she actually felt. She blinked once, and then did her best to push those feelings to the side. This is no place to have feelings of remorse for the loss of a single Alba. Not after the hell that they had put her through. "I'm sorry to hear that, Captain. She was a good Handler."
"Correct. Please take a right at this intersection, and you'll be a straight shot away from the District's Capitol. From there, just pick somewhere to hunker down your Juggernauts, and then meet me in the lobby of the Capitol Building. We can talk more there."
"Thank you Captain."
The Para-RAID is disconnected from the Captain's end, leaving only The Witch and her Familiars still resonated with one another.