Shin adjusted his Reginleif's position, preparing his whole body for a battle. The convoy was still visible on the horizon, urging them to stall the Legion for as long as possible. The two Squadrons positioned themselves further into the Republic's territory on the west, slaying the encountered units.
"Gunslinger, the Shepard leading a sizable army is coming from nine o'clock. Try hitting in the middle of the formation, the rest comes with me. It's an Eighty-Six, so be careful when approaching." The Undertaker set his sights on the enemy, promising the fallen to put him to rest.
"I'll kill them all. White pigs deserve to be butchered. Die. Die. DIE." The voice full of hatred screamed relentlessly. He did not recognize it, but it was his comrade nonetheless. The amount of the Eighty-Six final pleas enveloped his brain, portending a challenging battle.
"I'll show you how it feels!"
"YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"
"Oink oink little piglets, I'm coming for ya!"
"REVENGE."
"I hope you rot in hell."
"Why did it have to be me?"
The surrounding Sheepdogs echoed the same sentiment, thirsty for the Republic's blood. They have seen many Legion being driven by their dying desires, but it was the first time the whole army seemed to share a mortal goal. Kurena launched from the 88 mm Smoothbore Gun, hitting perfectly in the target. As the missile decimated Grauwolfs and Löwe surrounding the Dinosauria, the Shepard seemed to survive the ordeal.
"Shit. It's sturdy, I won't break through its armor from this proximity." The girl cussed, reloading her barrel to continue the bombardment.
"Ignore it, I'll take care of him. Cover Raiden and Theo, they are targeting the cluster on six thirty." The Undertaker sped towards the place she fired at moments ago, Using his high-frequency blades to cut through any Legion on his way. The massive reinforcements were getting closer, turning the scale against them. He used the half-destroyed buildings as the base to push off, mimicking the Laughing Fox's technique. It was the fastest way to move on the busy battlefield, avoiding the enemy fire being the trickiest part.
"Roger that." Kurena quickly readjusted her position, not questioning her leader's orders.
"Shit, Shin, it's getting hot in here. The massive swarm is almost here!"Theo positioned himself on the top of the tallest building to get a better view, uncovering that most units were Löwe or higher. Trying to go against them in such small numbers wasn't feasible.
"I know. We can't do much more, but let's finish what we started. Then all we can hope for is they won't pursue us." He refocused on the Dinosauria ahead of him, luckily missing the side guns after the fire. The Undertaker decided to attack head-on, narrowly avoiding the blast from the main cannon.
"BUTCHER! DIE! KILL! BUTCHER! DIE! KILL! BUTCHER! DIE! KILL! BUTCHER!" The closer they got to the First Sector, the more intense this will to slaughter got. The panicked citizens flew all over the place, not understanding what was going on. Alba appears on the deceased Eighty-Sixs' sensors only aggravating the killing urge. Shin tried to focus on getting past the Dinosauria's shield, but his speakers picked up some human voices.
"What is going on?! We were supposed to evacuate this afternoon! Why it's happening now…" The man frantically screamed running aimlessly, when the Dinosauria trampled on him with perceptible joy. Shin saw the opening and rushed towards it, thrusting his weapon into the small gap in its shield. The murderous voice went silent, but with the newly arrived units, it was hard for him to even notice.
"SAVE ME! PLEASE!" A young woman with silvery-blue hair tried to attach herself to his Reginleif. He wavered for a moment, but the pack of Grauwolves swiftly pounced on him, reaping apart the girl's body. The Undertaker defended himself using all his weapons, but the new units kept coming.
"Reaper, we can't hold the front anymore. We have to retreat, fast." Bernholdt was overwhelmed with the endless enemies marching towards his Squadron, realistically assessing their capabilities.
"Yeah, I can't hear the end. All units, we're going back. Let's take the mountain road for a change, that way, they will chase us instead of going after the Column." He quickly agreed, with the uncountable voices screaming in his head. His ability was pretty much useless in such a dense crowd, making him unable to distinguish between the individuals.
"KILL! Mom, I wanna go home… PIGS DIE DIE DIE. It's your fault! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! Please, avenge me. THEY DON'T DESERVE OUR PROTECTION. Feel my pain. Why did you do it? TAKE ME, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. This is a fucking joke. OINK OINK MOTHERFUCKERS! All of my friends are dead… WHAT'S THE POINT? Are you Mr Angel? BLOODBLOODBLOODWHITEBLOOD. How does it feel? YOU TOOK MY EVERYTHING. Are you happy now? TRY BELITTLING ME NOW WHITE TRASH. I DON'T WANT TO DIE HERE. What was it for? SOUNFAIRSOUNFAIRSOUNFAIR. Feel my pain. DIEDIEDIE. It hurts. DO YOU THINK IT'S OVER? ROT. Why did you take daddy? GLORY TO THE EIGHTY FUCKING SIX! Silver is the color of death. I WANT TO GO BACK, PLEASE! I'm so lonely. BUTCHER THE PIGS. I'll show you the true slaughter. Do their insides look like ours? DON'T HIDE LITTLE BIRDS, I'M COMING FOR YOU. Who do you think you are? I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS. No! Not him! I WELCOME YOU, MY DEAR AVENGER. So tiring. SILVER BLOOD ON MY HANDS NOW."
It was hard for him to focus on anything, so he ran like crazy ahead, killing the enemy.
"Shin, BACK FUCKING DOWN. It's over, you said so yourself." Raiden wanted to wake up his friend from the frenzy, as Shin tried to silence the haunting voices in his head. It was to cut off the possible pursuit behind his friends, worrying that speeding away wouldn't be enough. Once he lost himself in the fighting, the primary goal slowly faded away.
"Shin! We have to go, the Skorpions are ready to fire!" Anju joined in in the pleading.
"You fucking moron, they are already far away. We did what we had to. Do I really need to call the Colonel to snap you out of this?" Theo activated an effective threat, making Shin sober up a little.
"No need. Kurena, blow up what's behind me. We're fleeing." He turned around, catching up to the two waiting Squadrons. Shin felt a little embarrassed he got carried away once again, but the uproar on the battlefield dragged him to the center.
"I'll report you for that, no kidding." Bernholdt was happy the scare was over, and they quickly left the agonizing screams behind. Those people had chosen their fate, there was nothing more they could do. The Republic had fallen, this time permanently.
At the same time, far away, the remnants of what once was this country walked slowly toward their salvation. The marching was exhausting, with many giving up on the way. Those who insisted on bringing their belongings forsaken them in the middle of nowhere, hoping to lessen the exertion even a little. The troops on the other hand felt refreshed, getting rid of the Legion crossing their way, with no manhunt visible in the distance. Since the mission didn't have casualties on their side, it was considered a massive success. The Alba however would strongly disagree, with their losses arising from fatigue.
"I can't take it anymore. Please, just let me ride for a moment. They have the space…" The woman in her early thirties complained, with every step hurting her bare feet. She had chosen to take her highest quality shoes, in the hope of bribing her way in the cart with valuables. Since the attempt had failed, she discovered firsthand that the stilettos encrusted with diamonds weren't a woman's best friend while crossing the swamp. The fields dried up a little, making the convoy able to cross them at once, but the surface was still muddy.
"Let me talk to the commander. She is an Alba after all! Why isn't she marching with us? It's so unfair…" A former military officer, once stationed in the same headquarters as the Bloody Regina, lamented.
"Those bloody pigs should know their place!" A small crowd of people shouted numerous insults towards the closest Reginleif.
"Mrs Primevére, wasn't she supposed to be a second coming of San Magnolia? Why is she choosing those non-humans above her fellow citizens? It's preposterous!" A young man, barely in his twenties steamed with anger. He was about her age, so why was he forced to do the tedious marching, while she looked at them from above?
"I'm also disappointed with her. We all had faith in her, but she refused to face the truth. Those pigs must have bewitched her somehow, it's beyond my understanding how else to explain her behavior…" Yvonne was frustrated with the girl's treatment of them, ruining all her campaigning. If she remains hostile towards her countrymen, all the effort put into convincing the people she was the heart of the Republic would be in vain. "She'll come around. Vladilena Milizé is one of us after all."
September 8rd Republic Year 368 (Stellar Year 2149)
14 days since the start of Legion's Large-Scale Offensive
They stopped burying the dead, as the corpses piled up in every street. The small party of three sneaked into the Seventh Sector, trying to refill their dwindling supplies. It was a risky operation, but with no end in sight, they had to secure anything. A big food factory belonging to the Primevére family towered above the surrounding buildings, not resigning from splendor in its design. The outside walls were barely holding on, but their true target was the warehouses. If they managed to locate a substantial amount of food, the retrieval mission could've been issued.
"I m-miss the clouds." Charlotte whispered, looking into the covered sky. Mixed with smoke and fire, the Eintagsfliege created a truly hellish landscape. The dark sky was pierced by the red flames climbing up the buildings, with the mechanical devils visible all over the place. The view was making them all wonder if they weren't already dead.
"They have to let the sun through sooner or later since they use solar energy to power up." Shana, the vice-captain of the Brísingamen Squadron, explained. Usually, she was calm and collected, but the nervous atmosphere infected everyone. She tried to find comfort in logic, but this was slowly fading too.
"From what we've observed, they scavenge through the sectors and leave, probably to take away fresh bodies. If they get energy from the outside, nothing is stopping them from keeping up the closed sky. Unless we regain the control of the mortars on the outskirts, we have nothing to fight it." Lena somberly replied, aware of the grim reality. Her usual optimism was nowhere to be found, but she continued fighting nonetheless. Resembling an empty shell, the girl led the small operation in person. The last two days were quiet, creating the opportunity for the pedestrian recon.
"T-to the building. The radar s-shows Legion coming our way!" Lombardy, in charge of following the map, pointed to the small construction to the left of the factory. They stayed still, hoping those units were too busy patrolling the streets to notice three small bodies hiding in the shed. "O-okay, they are gone."
"What now?" The Processor asked, looking around the place they were at. It was a maintenance storage, with all sorts of tools lying around.
"This could come in handy. The entrance is right next to us, we have to go in making as little noise as possible. The Legion already ravaged the site last week, so there shouldn't be any attacks incoming." Lena grabbed the old-fashioned emergency keys and went in.
"H-holy cow…" Char uttered, at the sight of a gruesome scene playing before their eyes. Most of the bodies were already gone, but the torn-off limbs and pools of blood scattered around suggested the workers decided to barricade themselves in. When the army got in, the massacre conducted on the conveyor belts showed how quickly it had happened, with most of the people not having enough time to hide themselves.
"Better to move on, we don't know how much time we have." Shana turned away her eyes, not feeling the sense of glory from the horrific end of some of her captors. She had seen the Legion taking her friends with a similar sight left behind them.
"You're right, the basement is our best bet." Their leader felt yet another addition had joined her nightly torments, shuddering at the thought of going to bed. In the cellar, they found a few open boxes, but most of the pallets were still intact.
"W-we found our food… s-strawberry flavor!" The excitement sparked in her eyes, as this would be a treat for them all. No one had hoped for any variations besides bland, extra bland, and the blandest, so the artificial fruit seemed like a prized possession.
"I know we're here just for the recon, but can't we take some with us?" The black-haired girl felt growling coming from her starved stomach.
"I suppose a few cans won't make a difference, let's put it in our backpacks. But be careful, wrap them individually with some clothes, so they won't make a noise." All the girls were ready to shed a few layers and freeze for a moment if it meant a treat for the night.
"W-w-we can't g-go yet, t-they are o-outside." The cold exacerbated the stuttering, with constant shivers plaguing all of them. It was hard to stop the teeth chattering, but a piece of fabric in their mouth did the job. Charlotte gestured that the road was clear, and they all sneaked along the building line. When a big Löwe went to check the place they were standing in moments ago, her heart was stuck in her throat. The sheer luck saved them from sharing their fate with the bodies scattered on the street. They stood there, forgetting about the cold, waiting for the enemy to go away. The minutes felt like hours, but Löwe finally picked up a few neatly looking bodies and moved to the other street.
"I thought we were done for…" Lena took out the cloth from her mouth, expressing the fear shared by all of them. Paradoxically, it was this close encounter that broke her free from the catatonic state she was in. Eye-in-eye with death standing just steps away reminded her she was still alive. Imagining this was probably her mother's last sight made her sorrowful, but Lena knew, that the living were those who matter now. With the way back taking them hours, they exhaustively sat in the control panel, overseen by Annette.
"Strawberry, huh? They didn't have chocolate?" She laughed at her joke, rejoicing at the sweet flavor dancing on her tongue.
"Sorry, Miss. You can leave a bad review on our website." Lena joined the jest, showing her smile for the first time in days. She didn't know how they're gonna make it to the end of the month, but some thoughts were better left unspoken. Each day she commanded everyone during the relentless clashes with Legion, and she wasn't planning to stop. They would get up from their knees and fight further.
"That's my girl! I was concerned I would never see your pretty smile again, but here it is! Sweets really can heal all wounds…" Annette patted her on the back, giving her one more spoon of the strawberry paste from the can.
"You bet…" Lena's eyelids felt heavy, her body euphoric from the sugar rush it was used to. The muscles relaxed themselves instinctively. The thing that brought her out of the blissful state was a beeping sound, accompanied by a red notification popping on the screen.
"Unknown units detected."
She looked at the map, showing a swarm of red dots approaching them from the east. There were no longer working cameras, so until the Processors reported the sight from up close, there was no telling who they were. A new type of Legion? Next phase of the invasion? Or maybe a ray of hope they were praying for? Shiden's voice filled with the purest form of joy blasted through the Para-RAID.
"Your Majesty! I got fucking fantastic news. The upcoming units are so similar to the Juggernauts. IT'S NOT LEGION! I see FUCKING LIVING PEOPLE! LENA, WE'RE SAVED!"