The Knights of Earth
Chapter 2
And So It Begins Again
Disclaimer: I don't own as it is the property of its copyright owner.
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-Tokyo Japan Cruhteo's Landing Castle bridge-
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Cruhteo looked over his subordinates as he watched what he could hardly consider a battle unfold around him. Terran and Vers Kataphrakts fought one another throughout the city streets but it was easy to tell that the terrans were quickly losing the fight. With the power of Aldnoah, defeating the Terrans in combat was as easy as crushing an insect beneath one's boot.
'pathetic rabble,' Cruhteo thought condescendingly as he watched one of the monitors of a group of Terran Kataphrakts fell to the plasma blades of sir Vlad's personal Kataphrakt, the Argyre. It made Cruhteo wonder just what in the hell the Terrans had even hoped to accomplish by slaying Princess Asseylum. Then again, they were hardly intelligent and it was unlikely that any of them thought that far ahead.
But those thoughts did little to ease his own sense of guilt. Cruhteo had had ample time to convince her highness to cancel her 'goodwill' mission to Earth and return back to the homeland where she belonged. Instead (in his mind at least) he made a barely lackluster attempt at convincing the princess of the error of her ways. As much as Cruhteo was loathe to admit it even that lowly terran Slaine Troyard had made a far more hearty attempt at convincing her highness than the count did.
And now the one whom Cruhteo was charged with protecting with his very life was dead, all because he had failed to keep her from going to this world. Never in his life had Cruhteo felt such shame and disgust at himself. All he could really do now was ensure that the ones responsible for her death were hunted down and butchered like the swine they were.
The Vers Count was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him. Cruhteo turned to see one of the knights that had been assigned to his landing castle since the war ended ten years ago, sir Trillram. The man was, in Cruhteo's personal opinion a careerist soldier, the man wanted little more than to make a name for himself amongst the nobles of the royal courts.
While Cruhteo personally disapproved of such a such a motive for serving in the military -duty and loyalty to the empire should always come first- the man was a more than competent Kataphrakt pilot and was quite useful on the battlefield if the simulation records were anything to go by. The moment that Trillram entered he immediately bowed before Cruhteo as a show of respect as he was addressing a man of superior station.
After Trillram finished giving the count a bow of respect he immediately got down to business "Lord Cruhteo, might I be so bold as to recommend that we make a push into Shinagawara as soon as possible. If we were to take the city and plant the flag of Vers at the site of her highness' tragic death it would only solidify Vers' cause."
The golden haired Count stroked his chin for a brief moment "Indeed, in fact that was what I had intended to do all along." Trillram gave the count another respectful bow and asked "Lord Cruhteo would you please give me the honor of leading the attack in order to repay you for allowing me to infringe on your hospitality for all these years?"
Cruhteo didn't really see any harm in indulging in Trillram's request. "Very well Trillram, you are to enter Shinagawara and crush all opposition you come across. After that you are to apprehend the area's leaders and discover the circumstances behind her highness' death."
Trillram nodded "Of course lord Cruhteo, of course." The Baron then turned around and headed for the hanger bay all the while he had a very sinister looking sneer on his face.
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-Shinagawara Japan, UFE military base, briefing room-
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A little less than twenty hours had passed since the terrorist attack at the Princess Asseylum's motorcade and things had gone completely to hell. Almost immediately after the death of the princess, the Orbital Knights, a military group apparently under the command of Count Saazbaum ordered a full-scale invasion of Earth. The recording of the man's declaration of war against the UFE had been repeating on most news services for quite a while now.
"Our Princess Asseylum's heartfelt wish for continued peace has been mercilessly crushed by a violent and unprovoked act from these treacherous Terrans! We the Orbital Knights, loyal subjects of the Vers Empire shall bring the hammer of justice down upon Old Humanity for this dastardly affront!"
As the speech provided by the leader of the Orbital Knights continued, there were many in the room including Marito, Yuki and Graves who were now trying to tune out the bastard's overly dramatic monologue. Once the enemy commander's speech was finally finished, Colonel Braddock (who had since taken charge of the local military forces) changed the monitor to a map of the world with almost thirty cities highlighted in red.
"The enemy's strategy is ridiculously simple, use the force of the impact from their landing castles to clear out any nearby hostile forces and establish a beachhead. Of course that also means that any civilians caught in the shockwave radius are killed as well." Everyone scowled at that little tidbit of information even as Braddock continued.
"Given that each of the landing castles are landing so far apart from one another indicates that they don't appear to have any real interest in grouping together to form a cohesive force which gives us an advantage in that their forces will be isolated for the time being." Braddock then gestured towards Japan, more specifically; Tokyo.
" As you all well know there is a landing castle heading straight for the outskirts of Tokyo. Evacuations are already underway but it is unlikely that everyone will be able to get out before the enemy lands. Our current orders are to hold Shinagawara until evacuations are complete then we will leave to reinforce the fourth and fifth fleets in their counterattack against the landing castle." Braddock then looked over the interactive map behind him and began to use the computer to highlight certain portions of the city as he told everyone their assigned positions.
Eventually Braddock got to the area near the southern portion of the city "Clydesdale platoon along with Warrant Officer Kaizuka, Lieutenant Marito and Lieutenant Graves will be assigned to the south eastern sector of the city, you're objectives are to patrol the area for any hostiles and give whatever assistance you can to the forces evacuating the civilians if necessary."
Once Clydesdale platoon and their new squadmates got their orders the leader of the platoon, a lieutenant in his mid-twenties by the name of Seiji Kato looked over at the 'extras' assigned to his unit and gave them a confident smirk. "I don't really see how we'll have any problems, after all there's no real strategy behind these attacks at all. We'll pick those bastards off easy before they can do any real damage."
Marito shook his head at the overconfident squad leader. The boy had no idea what he was dealing with "If that's what you think then you're wrong. We aren't fighting just one single army we're fighting thirty-seven different militaries, each one clamoring to become king of the hill. It's just like what happened during the last war."
Seiji scoffed at that and muttered just loud enough for everyone in the immediate vicinity to hear "Like you saw any action during the last war you fraud."
Marcus, Yuki and a couple of other pilots that had heard Seiji's little remark looked as though they were about to come to Marito's defense when Colonel Braddock beat them to it "Is there something that you would like to share with everyone else here Lieutenant Kato?" he asked. At first the lieutenant was taken off guard that the colonel had heard him but quickly regained his composure and tried to cover his tracks a little "Just that I want to go out there and kick some Martian ass colonel."
Braddock gave the lieutenant a sardonic smile "You'll get your chance lieutenant, we all will, but might I recommend that you heed Lieutenant Marito's and Lieutenant Graves' advice while you're out in the field, they both have far more experience against this enemy than you and your whole platoon put together. Understood?"
Seiji Kato snapped to a crisp salute and said "Sir, yes sir!" At that Braddock turned and looked back at the rest of the assembled soldiers and said "You all have your orders, so I suggest that you carry them out."
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-Shinagawara, Apartment Complex a few minutes later-
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Inaho and his older sister had a very simple plan in place in the event of a city wide evacuation, get whatever provisions that they could get their hands on and use their car to head straight for the nearest evacuation center. In the event that they couldn't get to one of the evacuation centers together then they would take her car and use the shortest and fastest route out of town and find somewhere safe. Of course the plan only really had natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes in mind, not a full-scale military invasion of Japan in mind.
Strangely enough however it would have appeared that his sister was running late, again. While this was in fact a very common occurrence that took place almost every day for Inaho to the point where some of the students of the Shinagawara Academy (specifically Inaho and a couple of his friends) actually nicknamed her: Penivia (the Goddess of Laziness).
Although Inaho knew that he should probably leave the apartment and make his way towards the nearest evacuation center, he didn't want to leave only for Yuki to arrive back at their home right after he left. Inaho had attempted to contact his sister several times using both the home phone and his cell phone.
Not once did the fifteen year old get any response from his sister. He knew that Yuki was probably fine as there hadn't been any reports of fighting in Shinagawara or in some of the other nearby cities so although it was possible she was deployed already, it wasn't definite.
Currently Inaho was holding a small pan by the stove and was boiling a small omelet for himself in while holding his cell phone in the other in case Yuki finally decided to return all of those messages that he'd been leaving her. While waiting for his sister to contact him Inaho had gotten hungry and started to make an omelet from the last couple of eggs he had bought at the store a couple of days ago.
The omelet was nearly ready when his cell phone started ringing. Inaho looked down at the cell phone in his hand and saw that it was a call from Yuki. "Hello big sister." While Inaho did greet his older sibling in the same stoic tone that he gave literally everyone he met, he was still happy to hear from her. "Nao I'm sorry that I haven't been able to call back for so long, are you alright?" she asked almost frantically.
"Yes, I'm fine. Why aren't you back at the apartment yet, I thought the plan was that we would take your car and leave town as soon as possible?" That last question managed to make Inaho's sister practically go crazy "Wait you mean you're still back at the apartment? Why in the hell didn't you head for the evacuation centers?!" she demanded.
Inaho was a little confused at the response his sister had just given. Why was she upset that he wasn't sticking to the original plan? "Oh, that's right I suppose I could have done that." A frustrated sigh on the other end of the line preceded his older sibling's response "Inaho sometimes things happen that makes whatever plan we've come up with useless. When that happens you just have to go with your gut instinct and do whatever it is you have to do. Isn't that what I always say?"
There was a slight pause on the other end of the line when Inaho muttered something that sounded like: "Penivia" but she couldn't really be sure. Yuki was about to question her younger brother about what he just uttered when he continued "I'll get a lift from one of the transports that are patrolling in the area."
Although Yuki was still worried for her little brother's wellbeing and wanted to further chastise him for not leaving for the evacuation centers immediately like he should have she was clearly happy that he was alright. "Okay but please promise me you'll be careful out there. Alright?"
There was a small pause on the other end of the line before Inaho answered "I promise but only if you stay safe too." Inaho somehow knew that on the other end of the line Yuki was smiling when she promised him that she'd make sure she would be careful as well.
After the two siblings said their farewells Inaho looked over at the omelet he had been preparing for breakfast and decided that since it was almost done cooking it would be best not to let the food go to waste. In less than a minute Inaho had devoured the entirety of the omelet all the while making mental notes on how he could improve upon the recipe as it tasted rather, off. Inaho made a note to use a different band of eggs next time.
As Inaho headed out of the apartment he looked around and saw that there wasn't anyone else around, the entire area was completely deserted. He supposed that made sense, after all last night there had been mass pandemonium as everyone scrambled to get to an evacuation center as the Vers forces began to make landfall on Earth. Therefore most of the people in the city were either already evacuated or were at the evacuation centers. At least this way things would be a much more quiet than they were earlier so if the enemy forces started their attack, it would be easier to hear the start of it.
Over the silence all around him, Inaho heard the pitter patter of shoes impacting the pavement. The fifteen year old boy turned in the direction the noise was coming from and saw a girl no older than eleven or twelve years old making her way down the street. She had bright orange hair done up into a braided bun and wore an outfit that looked almost like that of an old fashioned maid's uniform.
The brown haired teenager noticed that the girl was running in the opposite direction that the evacuation centers were located, which was very odd to Inaho. Why wouldn't this girl want to get out of this city as soon as she possibly could? Curious Inaho followed the girl thinking that perhaps he should inform her that she was heading in the wrong direction.
As he followed the girl, Inaho once again marveled at just how quiet everything was. Normally at this time of day the streets would practically be choked with cars filled with people trying to either get to work or drop their children off at school. Now it was as though everyone that lived in Shinagawara had vanished into thin air.
The whole scene was like something out of an old horror movie that Okisuke and Calm had all but dragged Inaho to go and see despite the fact they all still had homework to finish up. Calm had said that they were attempting to get him to "loosen up a bit." The attempt had failed. Miserably.
Calm and Okisuke had both trying to contain their fright at the blood gore and insane psychopathic killer on the screen. Inaho meanwhile had just been sitting calmly chewing on some popcorn, all the while pondering how on earth anyone could find such a badly done movie frightening. The only thing scary about it was how bad the acting was.
Inaho then saw the little girl turn into a nearby alleyway that was in-between two old apartment buildings whose occupants had long since fled the city. Still wanting to find out where the girl was going, Inaho followed the girl down the alleyway hoping that maybe he could inform her that the evacuation route was elsewhere. When he turned into the alleyway he saw that the little girl was meeting someone else, another girl that was probably about the same age that Inaho was. She had neck length brown hair and emerald green eyes.
As Inaho walked into the alleyway the two girls noticed him as they instantly turned to look in his direction. Knowing that he should probably say something Inaho spoke up "Excuse me but are you two lost? This area is supposed to be evacuated." The two didn't say anything to him but the one that was about his age stood up and started to walk towards him.
"Are you lost? The evacuation center is in the opposite direction from here." Inaho immediately noticed their lack of response and wondered if they understood what he was saying. It was possible that they didn't seeing as how neither of them looked like they were Japanese.
The girl started to walk towards him silently even as Inaho asked the two if they understood him. When the girl was just a couple of feet away she uttered the words "Forgive me," and grabbed one of his arms, spun him around and shoved him up against one of the walls of the alleyway. Although Inaho was very much confused at the girl's actions seeing as how he hadn't done anything to warrant something like this.
"Would it be alright if I could ask you a few questions?" asked the older girl in a relatively polite manner. Inaho blinked and did his best to shrug despite being pinned against the wall "Considering that I'm stuck like this for the time being I don't really see why not." What she said next actually managed to surprise him. "Why is there an evacuation going on here?"
"You really don't know?" Inaho asked curious as to how someone wouldn't have heard what was going on in the city "The evacuation is in affect because of the Martian invasion of several cities, including Tokyo." With that the girl seemed to tense slightly, which made Inaho wonder why she seemed uncomfortable.
"But we need to get to the embassy in Tokyo and let our people know we're safe!" the brunette blurted out shortly before she covered her mouth with her other hand all the while silently cursing herself for her indiscretion. Who knew what he'd do now that he knew about their citizenry.
Inaho however didn't really seem to react in any way at all to the revelation that the two girls were really citizens of the Vers Empire. Inaho had always felt that judging someone solely based on where they were born was a completely idiotic notion. Rather it should be a person's actions that people should try to base their opinions off of.
"Given the situation I very much doubt that they're even open. Ever since the assassination yesterday the U.E. has-" Inaho tried to explain but was cut off by the brunette "Princess Asseylum is alive!" she exclaimed "She didn't take part in the parade because she was unaccustomed to the planet's gravity and felt ill as a result. So instead a body-double was put in place instead."
Inaho thought about what the girl just said and felt it actually made quite a bit of sense "That's a novel theory," he admitted to himself before he remembered something very important "I texted my friend Inko a few minutes ago, she should be here to take me to one of the main evacuation centers, you're more than welcome to come along if you would like." Both girls seemed surprised by the proposition but soon accepted as it was far better than walking.
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-Sky Carrier, currently en-route to Shinagawara-
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Of all the things that Slaine had expected to happen today he did the last on the list was for Count Cruhteo to order him to take Sir Trillram to the exact same city that her highness had died in. In fact, considering the Cruhteo's clear and blatant distaste of him, Slaine would have expected him to have someone of a Martian bloodline to have the 'honor' of flying Trillram out to the battlefield. No matter though, Slaine had intended on visiting the site of Princess Asseylum's death the first chance he got to pay his respects. He owed her that much at the very least.
As the Sky Carrier continued to make its way through the clouds Slaine took in the view that he hadn't seen for the past eight years. The endless clear blue skies and the white clouds were a much more welcome sight compared to that of the cold dark void of space. For someone who hadn't seen something in so many years it was truly something to behold. He could only imagine how it must have been for Asseylum when she went and saw it for the first time.
It was truly a tragedy that Princess Asseylum was unable to see much of it before her life was taken from her in such a vicious manner. Ever since she found out that the sky was blue on Earth Asseylum had had been willing to take any opportunity she could to see it for herself. As the years passed and Slaine had shown her more pictures of Earth and the many things that inhabited it her eagerness to see Slaine's former home only grew. Perhaps if Slaine hadn't shown Asseylum such things she might still be on Vers, alive and well.
A loud beeping noise broke Slaine from his musings and from his time in the Sky Carrier's simulator unit, he knew that this particular beeping meant that there were unknown contacts heading directly towards the Sky Carrier. The contacts were more than likely hostiles considering the fact that Vers was now at war with the UFE. Slaine opened up communications with the Sky Carrier's passenger and said "Enemy fighter squadron heading direction for us from one o'clock."
The face of Trillram came up on the Sky Carrier's communication's screen. He had the exact same arrogant smirk that Slaine had seen on countless Vers nobles when they wanted to act superior to everyone around them "So it would seem that these idiots have decided to show up and die for nothing. Very well, first a warning."
Within mere moments a group of F-22 Raptor fighter jets came into visual range. There were two full squadrons heading straight for them, all armed to the teeth. Once they were within range the missile compartments opened up to reveal a pair of mid-range missiles. The missiles were launched at the Sky Carrier but the attack was a useless gesture at best.
Just before the missiles from the F-22s were launched, the Sky Carrier's passenger had activated his Kataphrakt's primary defensive measure, the Dimensional Barrier which covered both it and the Sky Carrier. the Dimensional Barrier ensured that no damage could ever be inflicted on it. Any sort of projectile weapon that was fired at it was rendered completely useless. Trillram smirked at how the fighters broke off once they saw that their attacks were useless. It was like a small gaggle of ants trying to bring down a fully grown elephant only to find out that they were hopelessly outclassed. Well, now it was time for the elephant to bring down its massive foot on the annoyances.
"Slaine, destroy these pests" Trillram ordered.
The Sky Carrier's defensive turrets swiveled around and aimed at the nearest F-22. Once it was in the crosshairs Slaine was about to open fire but he found that he couldn't. He just couldn't fire and end someone's life like that. His conflicted look caused Trillram to roll his eyes at Slaine's seeming inability to kill. "Oh dear. It seems as though your upbringing was sorely lacking if you can't even pull a simple trigger."
Slaine's controls then deactivated as Trillram took control of the Sky Carrier's systems. The blond haired boy felt the machine move as it turned to the left to chase after the F-22s which were turning around for another run at the Sky Carrier, perhaps hoping that they could do more damage with their guns.
"No matter it seems that I must take it upon myself to educate you in the joys of warfare!" Trillram declared as he began firing at the F-22 Raptors in rapid succession with its cannons. While the F-22s were for the most part more nimble in comparison to the much larger Sky Carrier, their weaponry was only able capable of firing in the direction they were facing, the Sky Carrier meanwhile had the advantage of being able to shoot in almost any direction.
One by one the F-22s were shot down mercilessly until there were only three left. The Sky Carrier managed to get behind one of them and began to chase it down while the other pair of F-22s came to their comrade's aid and began bombarding the Sky Carrier with bullets from their guns but just like the missiles from before they did nothing but be annihilated by the dimensional barrier.
Almost nonchalantly Trillram aimed the Sky Carrier's onboard cannons and fired them at the two Raptors, blasting them out of the sky like they were little more than gnats. Once that was taken care of he turned his attention to the last remaining F-22 and fired blowing off the fighter's right wing but not outright destroying it like the others.
Before the fighter spun completely out of control the pilot managed to pull back on the ejection mechanism. The cockpit popped open and the pilot was launched out of the plane scant seconds before it exploded. The pilot then activated his parachute and began his slow descent back down to the surface.
At first Slaine thought that Trillram was going to let the pilot live but soon he was overtaken by sheer terror when the Sky Carrier turned around and headed straight for the parachuting pilot. "Lord Trillram what are you doing?!" demanded Slaine but Trillram just smirked "Slaine, there is no beauty in the struggle if one is unaware that they're about to die."
Slaine squeezed his eyes shut as the pilot was run down by the Sky Carrier. Right before the pilot slammed right into the dimensional barrier Slaine could swear that he heard the pilot scream. Soon Trillram's sadistic cackles came over the comm. channels "So Slaine tell me; how does it feel to watch your former countrymen be slaughtered like simple livestock from on high?"
The blonde haired boy didn't respond to Trillram's taunts. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Once the Orbital Knight allowed Slaine to regain control of the Sky Carrier all he cared about was getting Trillram to his drop point and then he would be free of that sadist for a short amount of time.
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-Shinagawara, APC interior-
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Just like Inaho had told them, his friends had come to pick him up shortly after the two girls from earlier had decided to go along with him to the evacuation zone. When Inaho had entered the APC he had almost been surprised to find that his friends Okisuke and Calm were inside the transport as well but he knew that if Inko was out here, she probably would have managed to rope those two into helping with the evacuation. Calm and Okisuke were both looking out of the viewports of the APC, looking for any civilians while Inko was using a loudspeaker to announce their presence and their intention on helping people get to the evacuation centers.
But it wasn't just some of his friends from school that were in the APC as well. Inaho also saw a few people he recognized from around town, including doctor Soma Yagarai, the school's physician. Apparently his car had broken down as he had attempted to make his way to the evacuation center and at the moment he was standing near the driver's area of the APC thanking Inko and the driver profusely for picking him up.
Inaho paid the school doctor no real mind as he was looking out through one of the view ports of the APC with a pair of binoculars helping his friends locate any other civilians who may have been unable to make it to the evacuation centers. As Inaho continued to look through the view port he listened to Calm and Okisuke as they talked amongst themselves.
The two high school boys were currently looking over at the two girls that Inaho had brought along with him. More specifically the one that looked to be around their age. "So Inaho do you know where they're from exactly?" Calm wondered to himself. Neither girl looked Japanese. In fact they seemed like they were more European "Are they Russian? Northern European maybe? You don't see many people from there in Shinagawara," Calm mused aloud.
Okisuke meanwhile didn't really seem to care all that much of where the older girl was from given the goofy looking grin on his face. He only confirmed this a few seconds later when he looked towards Inaho and exclaimed "It doesn't really matter to me where they're from, a babe's a babe and this one is quite obviously a ten! So thanks for picking her up Inaho!"
Inaho didn't so much as glance in Okisuke's direction, instead he focused on what was going on outside and just gave a "You're welcome," in a deadpan tone as an answer.
Okisuke was about to ask Inaho if he had managed to get the girl's name before all of the sudden the APC's driver slammed on the breaks. Calm was about to ask what in the hell was going on when he saw several Terran Kataphrakts moving passed the street just a dozen or so meters in front of them. Seven of them were the standard mass produced KG-7 Areions but there were also a pair of KA-4 Dyauses and another pair of KMR-Embarrs moving past them.
The KA-4 Dyaus looked like a much leaner version of the Areion and was a very lightweight Kataphrakt that was made primarily for reconnaissance and fast attacks. It normally carried either dual wieldable machine pistols or an automatic shotgun that looked like very similar to that of an AA12 if it had a pump action mechanism. On occasion though it used a Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR). Underneath the left forearm was a small compartment where a titanium plated spike was used for close combat situations.
The KMR-Embarr didn't even resemble Kataphrakts like the Dyaus, Areion or even the Sleipnir. It was a few meters taller than the other Kataphrakts and it had a much bulkier and slightly blockier build to it. While the Dyaus had been built with agility and speed in mind only, the Embarr was the exact opposite. The Embarr was designed for heavy assault or static defense.
An even bigger difference between the Embarr and the other Terran Kataphrakts were the armaments. Unlike the Dyaus, Sleipnir or Areion the Embarr didn't carry its weapons in both its arms like a human would. Instead they were attached to the arms and shoulders of the units. Weapons like oversized miniguns and rocket pods were commonly put onto the forearms while artillery cannons, anti-aircraft guns and recoilless rifles were normally attached onto the shoulders.
One of the Areions broke off from the main group and approached the armored personnel carrier and a familiar voice boomed from the Areion's external speakers "This area is about to turn into a combat zone, you need to leave here immediately." Although the voice was a little distorted because of the speakers it was easy for Inaho and his friends to tell who the Areion's pilot was. It was one of their instructors from school and Inaho's older sister, Yuki.
Without even thinking Inko spoke into the APC's radio unit "Warrant Officer Kaizuka is that you?" she asked in surprise.
Inside of the Areion, said warrant officer was surprised to hear the voice of one of her students "Inko, if that's you then that means that Nao is…" Yuki trailed off as she zoomed in on one of the APC's windows and saw her little brother's face. Yuki felt both relief and annoyance. She was truly relieved that her little brother was okay but annoyed that he hadn't made it to the evacuation center yet. Inaho's older sister massaged her temples in frustration 'Oh for the love of…why does he do this to me?' she wondered.
Soon though Yuki broke herself out of those kinds of thoughts and remembered that she still had a job to do "Alright everyone in the APC listen up; an enemy force is heading for Shinagawara from Tokyo. In other words, this entire area is a projected combat zone so you need to turn around and head back to the evacuation centers immediately!" she ordered.
Okisuke's voice then came through Warrant Officer Kaizuka's radio "But, warrant officer we have to head through this way in order to reach the pier!" he exclaimed, almost in a panic. Yuki gritted her teeth, she wouldn't let any martian so much as scratch her little brother if she could help it. "Then go for the pier! find somewhere to hold up until things die down a bit. We'll hold them off! Now move it!" she declared in a voice more fierce and dedicated than any of her students or family had ever heard before.
The Kataphrakts then continued their march down the street but eventually the two groups split off. The pair of Dyauses then started taking an alternate route. Perhaps they intended on making a move to flank the enemy? It didn't really matter Inko supposed. What did matter was that they needed to get out of there, now!
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-Shinagawara, Overpass-
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Viero Hansen, along with Wolf Areash and the rest of their compatriots had been kept waiting at the overpass for several hours now. After eliminating Princess Asseylum the group of assassins quickly made their way back to where they lived and gathered what family they had. They were going home, after ten long arduous years they were finally going home. Not only that but they were going home and would live better lives than they could have ever dreamed of before. After being knighted (as per their agreement) the entire group would have privileges that they could only have dreamed of before now.
Back on Vers almost all of them originated in the lower classes if they were fortunate enough. Some like Wolf Areash and his daughter were lucky enough to keep a ramshackle hut together for shelter but most of the group never had that kind of luxury. In fact Viero was quite literally pulled out of the gutter by one of their employer's many subordinates. Viero continued to look at the partially cloudy sky and looked over at Wolf, who was telling his daughter about how good life was going to be for them soon.
Wolf had probably done this several times before back in the homeland but only now it wasn't just an empty promise. Things were going to get better for them very shortly. Once they got their reward they would be able to live the good life back home. No more would they have to cook vermin for food, no more having to live in a hut in which the roof was in constant danger of collapsing on the occupants and no more having to beg in the streets while those better off walked right by them without paying any mind.
Viero was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the roar of engines overhead. He looked upwards and saw a Vers Sky Carrier passing by overhead and that something was falling just a few dozen meters away. When Wolf's daughter, Rayet saw this she immediately moved away from the falling object as she didn't have the same level of confidence that her father had that what was coming down towards them wouldn't end up hitting them by accident.
Within mere moments the Vers Kataphrakt landed close to the assembled group of spies and assassins with a loud boom. The force of the impact almost caused those assembled to lose their footing on the ruined overpass they'd been standing on for the past hour and a half.
Once they'd managed to regain their bearings they saw an enormous machine standing just a scant few meters from the edge of the overpass. For a few brief moments, a strange light enveloped much of the machine, causing one of Viero's comrades to mutter "The light of Aldnoah," with an almost religious reverence in his voice.
The leader of their band, Wolf Areash walked up to the edge of the overpass and looked directly at the massive machine standing in front of him "Sir Trillram, we have anxiously awaited your arrival!" the man declared. "Yes congratulations on completing your mission. Now for your reward my faithful little rats." The right arm of the massive Kataphrakt unfolded and was brought up above the group. Wolf Areash was about to ask what Trillram was doing when the giant arm descended downward at such a speed that no one could even react.
All the while just a few meters away Wolf's daughter Rayet looked on in horror as her father was killed right before her eyes.
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Inside of Trillram's Kataphrakt; the Nilokeras, the Orbital Knight gave a self satisfied smirk as he had his Kataphrakt slam its massive hand onto the crowd of Martian spies/assassins. This effectively vaporized all of them with the unit's built-in dimensional barrier leaving no evidence that they ever even existed.
"I'm sorry my faithful little rats but we can't have any of you growing a conscience and squeaking at an ill-opportune time, I hope you understand." Trillram then turned his attention to the one individual that had just managed to survive the whole ordeal, a teenage girl no older than fifteen.
Trillram's smirk widened, "How adorable it's a little baby rat." The Nilokeras then started to march towards the girl, the dimensional barrier eating away at the overpass as he got closer and closer towards her. There was only one rat left and it wasn't like she was going to get away, so he might as well have at least a little bit of sport before he finally killed her.
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Rayet fell backwards onto the concrete as the Vers Kataphrakt slammed its arm down onto the section of the overpass that her father and his comrades had just been standing on just a few moments earlier. "D-dad?" she managed to utter, her eyes wide in shock and disbelief at what had just happened right in front of her only a scant few seconds earlier.
Her father was dead, just like that. The person that they had trusted to take them back to the homeland and to a brighter future had just murdered her father in cold blood. That bastard vaporized him, leaving nothing behind. Nothing to mourn, nothing to bury, not even ashes that would scatter to the winds. He was just, gone. The massive Kataphrakt turned its whole body to look directly at Rayet and she knew exactly what was going to happen next if she didn't get away as quickly as she could.
Moving as fast as her legs could carry her, Rayet all but sprinted away from the Martian Kataphrakt, which had begun to follow her at an almost leisurely pace.
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It had taken the UFE Kataphrakts a few minutes to finally reach the area where the enemy was supposed to have made landfall. The seven Areions took the lead while the two Embarrs were right behind them, both of which were more than ready to provide fire support. Meanwhile the two Dyauses that had split off earlier, were emerging from a nearby street about a hundred meters away or so and were already in place to attack the target's flanks with close range strikes from their machine pistols and other weaponry.
The Terran Kataphrakts took aim with their weapons at the Martian Kataphrakt, who hadn't seemed to have noticed them as of yet. However before they could open fire on the enemy machine, one of the pilots spotted the Kataphrakt walking leisurely after a civilian. A girl that happened to be no older than fifteen years old.
"Sir, the enemy is chasing down a civilian!" yelled one of the pilots in Kato's platoon while another pilot muttered "Bastard," under his breath. Inside his cockpit Kato activated his laser comm. unit "Attention all units prepare to engage the enemy Kataphrakt." the Kataphrakts then raised their weapons and took aim at the enemy. The only ones reluctant to follow Kato's order were Marcus, Yuki and Marito.
If they were to open fire without first rescuing the civilian from the attacking Kataphrakt, then they ran the risk of hitting the girl accidentally with a stray round or be crushed by the remains of the enemy Kataphrakt. Unfortunately before they could try and get Kato to hold fire until they rescued the civilian, the lieutenant had already ordered the entirety of the group to open fire.
"What the hell are you doing lieutenant?!" Demanded Marito "Rescuing the civilian has top priority!"
"You don't give orders here, Lieutenant Marito! This is my platoon, not yours!" Kato replied back angrily that the war veteran was supposedly attempting to undermine his command. Kato would show that damn fraud that he didn't need his help!
The gunfire from the Areions' assault rifles and the Embarrs' arm mounted miniguns struck the back of the martian machine but much to everyone's shock, none of the rounds so much as made a dent in the armor. They bullets were not even deflected by the armor, instead they just struck some sort of energy barrier and the bullets essentially vanished into thin air.
Despite the literal storm of bullets, none of the rounds came close to striking the fleeing civilian like Marito and the other two former instructors had initially feared. Unfortunately this had the effect of taking the enemy's attention off the civilian and towards them. The massive machine stopped chasing the girl and instead slowly turned around and faced the group of Kataphrakts that were still firing at it.
Realizing that this was the perfect opportunity for them to get the civilian out of there Marito said "Kaizuka, get the civilian out of there, Graves and I will cover you!" There was a quick "Yes, sir!" on the other end of the line. The Areion that Yuki was piloting then sprinted ahead towards one of the overpass' off-ramps, activating her unit's thrusters as she did. The folded wings on the legs unfurled as the thruster mechanism activated, allowing the Areion to hover for a short period of time.
The instant that the unit started to move independently of Kato's orders, the leader of Clydesdale platoon growled under his breath angrily before he shouted at the disobedient Marito "Marito, I'm in command here not you so don't go around giving orders to my platoon!" Marito however just ignored him and had his Areion load a grenade into the underslung launcher of its rifle and hoped that their grenades would prove to be more effective than the other things that they had attempted to use against the enemy machine so far.
Sure enough right after the grenades were fired from the rifles and at the enemy Kataphrakt, they were vaporized by whatever barrier the thing had up. While the Kataphrakt's armor wasn't so much as dented it did have the rather fortunate side effect of at least drawing its attention away from the civilian it had been attempting to run down just a few minutes beforehand.
Yuki's Areion ran right up to the girl and extended a hand onto the ground, as though beckoning her to climb aboard. The older Kaizuka sibling flipped on the machine's external speakers and all but yelled "Get on now!" to the girl. While she appeared slightly hesitant at first the girl's survival instincts kicked in and she climbed aboard the mechanical arm.
Yuki then started to take the civilian away to safety while the other two instructors got in front of her to provide some covering fire. At this point the Orbital Knight must have decided to stop playing around as it made a jump that should have been impossible for something of its size and landed right on top of one of the Areions that was standing on top of the overpass crushing it underneath the weight its giant heel.
Oddly enough the Areion wasn't disintegrated like everything else as it was instead merely crushed like a tin can in a trash compactor. Those that noticed may have thought that it was a little odd but they didn't pay it much mind though as they continued to fire uselessly at the machine. "What the hell is up with that thing's body?!" screamed one of the pilots of Clydesdale platoon in a panic.
"Stay cool, we can take him!" Kato yelled even though his voice carried undertones of fear and panic as well. The Martian Kataphrakt's massive right arm unfurled from its hiding place and swung in a horizontal arc. While the Areions were fast enough to dodge the attack, the Embarrs weren't so lucky. When the hand had finally finished swinging, there wasn't anything left of the Embarrs above the waist. That monster had just destroyed the most heavily armed and armored Kataphrakt that the UFE had at its disposal with a single swing of its arm.
With the Embarrs destroyed the enemy Kataphrakt turned its attention towards the rest of Kato's platoon, more specifically, the Areions that were standing near the Embarrs. As the enemy machine moved in for the kill, Marcus shouted into his comm. unit "Get your men the hell out of there Kato! Now!" Unfortunately Kato must not have heard him or simply didn't listen as Kato and his men did nothing fire uselessly at the Kataphrakt.
"Hold on lieutenant we're coming to help!" one of the Dyaus pilots shouted through the communicator as both of the lightweight Kataphrakts ran towards the Orbital Knight firing their weapons as they did. Just like with all the other times though, nothing went through that damned barrier.
"No don't move in, stay the hell away from it!" Marito yelled in the hopes that the two pilots would listen. Unfortunately Marito's pleas went unheeded as the two Dyauses continued to charge at the enemy, firing wildly as they did. For a moment Marito wondered if they were crazy, suicidal, or if they actually thought that they could actually do some damage to that thing.
Whatever their motivations were though, it didn't really matter. The martian Kataphrakt quickly turned around and swung its massive arm at them. By the time it had finished swinging both Dyauses had been completely annihilated. One had lost one of its arms and most of its upper torso. It's primary power unit must have been breached as it exploded soon after. The other one didn't even have a torso left, only a waist unit and a pair of legs was all that was left of it.
"Open fire, we can kill it!" Kato practically screamed over the comm. channels but it was clear from the panic in his voice that he couldn't even convince himself. Sure enough, the Orbital Knight slaughtered Kato's remaining men within seconds. Even Kato himself wasn't spared as the front portion of the Areion was vaporized right up to the cockpit, exposing the lieutenant.
Kato's eyes were wide with fear and held none of the confidence that had been so prominently displayed back during the briefing just a short time earlier. His eyes widened even further and he even let out a scream as the Martian Kataphrakt brought down its massive hand on top of him, obliterating him instantly.
With almost the entirety of Clydesdale platoon destroyed, the oversized Kataphrakt turned and looked right at the three remaining Areions and started to move towards them.
As it made its way towards them, Marito's Areion drew its combat knife and started to charge straight at the enemy machine. Yuki could only gape at what she saw as an obvious suicide attempt "Lieutenant Marito what the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demanded. "Get the kid out of here, I'll buy you some time!" he yelled as his Areion's thrusters engaged and he sped towards the enemy Kataphrakt, ignoring the protests of his comrades as he did.
Naturally when the Areion's blade looked as though it was about to touch the enemy machine's face it was instead absorbed along with most of the right arm. Marito quickly reacted by pulling back a bit and taking the standard pistol out of its holster and with the Areion's left arm and aimed it directly at the Kataphrakt's face and opened fire. The pilot of the martian Kataphrakt must have been somewhat amused or something along those lines because he didn't immediately react. Instead it just stood there for a few seconds before it swung its right arm at Marito.
Everything below the waist of Marito's Areion was completely obliterated and the upper portion of the machine was sent over the edge of the overpass and down to the ground below, its pistol continuing to fire at the enemy Kataphrakt as it fell. Despite how utterly wrecked Marito's machine looked, it was more than likely that the pilot inside of it was still among the living.
With Marito out of the picture for the moment, the martian Kataphrakt started making its way towards the remaining two Areions. Knowing that it would probably be futile to try and fire at the thing point blank as was demonstrated by the majority of Clydesdale platoon just a few moments ago, Marcus instead aimed his weapon at the concrete overpass. 'Please just let this slow the bastard down!' he silently hoped as he opened fire.
The 90mm rounds impacted the overpass with enough force to easily break through the concrete, blowing off chunks of the overpass. But it still wasn't enough, the enemy machine kept coming after them. Changing tactics, Marcus then quickly loaded the underslung grenade launcher.
He was about to fire the grenade but the Orbital Knight already gotten off the overpass and was making his way towards them. Knowing that a direct assault would probably prove to be futile Marcus fired the grenade at the ground in front of the oversized Kataphrakt, hoping that whatever debris that was kicked up in its wake would be enough slow it down enough.
Of course it did nothing even as the two Kataphrakts started to fall back into the inner section of the city.
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-APC, Shinagawara-
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Inaho Kaizuka and the others inside of the city had heard the gunfire the moment it started. While Inaho didn't show it on his face he was very worried. Given the amount of gunfire and how long it had been going on before suddenly just stopping, meant that either his sister and her comrades were fighting a large group of hostiles, or it was one that was incredibly strong.
After a couple of minutes, the loud noise that gunfire made had stopped completely, which meant that either Inaho's sister and the rest of the Kataphrakt platoon had defeated the opposition or their enemy had annihilated them. Inaho then heard booming footsteps heading in their direction that told the dark haired boy that they were about to find out. Inaho got out of his seat and headed for the front of the APC where Inko and the others were at.
As he made his way towards the front of the vehicle he heard Inko talking with someone on the radio that sounded a lot like his older sister, but Inaho couldn't be sure as it was due to the interference that was starting to get stronger and stronger. Sure enough though, a pair of Kataphrakts were running down the street, one was carrying something in both its hands while the other had its machine gun out. Inaho could tell was aiming at something that was farther away from their position and was starting to walk towards it, firing as it did.
When the Areion lowered its cupped hands, Inaho saw that a girl was being carried by the machine. "Quickly you have to take this girl someplace safe, now!" Yuki's voice ordered from the radio. Inko and Okisuke opened up the door that led into the APC and helped the girl inside the vehicle all the while Calm spoke into the radio "Wait what's going on?" he asked, worry laced in his voice.
When Yuki gave a reply it was difficult to hear over the gunfire coming from the other nearby Areion "There's no time, you need to get the hell out of her now!" she yelled. It was obvious what was going on, the Kataphrakt platoon was probably wiped out aside from Yuki and Graves. Inaho was then broken out of his thoughts when he faintly heard someone who sounded like Lieutenant Graves shout the words "I'm ejecting!" over the radio.
In just a few moments a cube shaped object crashed into the street just a few meters away from their vehicle. Within a matter of moments, Inaho saw Lieutenant Graves climb out of a small hatch on the side of the escape pod and begin to run towards them as quickly as his legs could carry him.
As Lieutenant Graves continued to get closer and closer to them Inaho saw the fear in the man's eyes it became clear to everyone that things were about to get much worse. When Graves finally got into the APC he sat down and started panting as the adrenaline began to wore off. "What just happened?" asked Okisuke fear clearly evident in his voice.
Lieutenant Marcus Graves gave the student an irritated look "What do you think? I just got my ass kicked kid! Now why don't we-" Marcus was cut off when the Areion that Yuki was piloting suddenly kicked the APC, sending it skidding across the street a short distance away from the Areion.
As the APC skidded across the ground, Marcus lost his balance and slipped onto the metal floor of the APC, hitting the side of his head. While the air bag built into the pilot suit that Marcus wore did manage to cushion the blow when it deployed which prevented any serious damage from being done to him, it still managed to knock him out cold.
Almost immediately Doctor Yagarai went over to the knocked out soldier's side and checked him over while Inaho's friends looked on, concerned looks on their faces. "It's alright," Yagarai declared "He's just knocked out, he should be alright," the whole group suspected as much but they were glad to hear that their teacher was okay.
Outside of the APC Yuki was opening fire on the Martian Kataphrakt that had just caught up with her. After firing several bursts at the main body, with little to no effect at all, one of the rounds skimmed along the side, just underneath the left armpit area, leaving a small almost unnoticeable scratch.
However Yuki was unable to continue her attack as the massive Kataphrakt drew back one of its arms and struck. The strike managed to hit the right arm and leg causing both to be absorbed by the barrier that surrounded the enemy machine. This caused the Areion to lose its balance and fall backwards, with most of the machine's upper back falling onto the APC, leaving a rather large dent in the transport's ceiling.
Inside the transport, Inko watched as the old guy who had opted to drive the APC opened the door on the driver's side and started running away as fast as he could. Completely shocked at the man's actions, Inko called for the man to get come back to the APC but she was completely ignored. The man continued to run until a parked car which had been kicked off the road by the Martian Kataphrakt as it marched towards them fell on top of him.
Inko's eyes widened in horror as she just watched someone die right in front of her. For a moment her mind refused to process what was going on. Inko grabbed the sides of her head as she tried to force back a scream as best she could. Soon though Inko managed to herself that everyone in that transport was counting on her. If she didn't get behind the wheel, they were all going to die.
Regaining control of herself, Inko and floored the gas pedal. The APC started to speed away from the behemoth of a machine that was literally right behind them but they weren't going nearly as fast as they should have been. Calm quickly noticed this and looked over at Inko in a panic even as some of the other members of their little group, moved up to see what was happening.
"What the hell is going on?!" he all but screamed "Drive faster, damn it!" Inko looked over at her scared witless friend "I can't, there's too much weight!" she cried.
Even as the two continued to scream at one another Inaho noticed something in one of the rearview mirrors. Everything that the Martian Kataphrakt was touching was getting absorbed by the barrier. Perhaps they could use this to their advantage.
Inaho continued to look at the rearview mirror and saw that just about everything that the massive machine's legs came into contact with; streetlamps, trees and cars. The highschool student didn't even turn to look at anyone when he yelled "Brake!" over their screams. Not sure what to make of what his friend was just yelled at them, Okisuke looked over at Inaho "Come again?" he asked not really sure what to make of what was just said.
"I said: use the brakes!" Inaho shouted much to the disbelief of everyone in the driver's section of the APC. Their quiet friend never shouted! Inko did as Inaho told her, albeit reluctantly due to the fact that he never seemed to be wrong about this kind of thing. The APC slowed down just enough for the Martian Kataphrakt's barrier to absorb a good chunk of the fallen Areion's leg. "Now slam down on the gas!" Inaho ordered and of course his friend did as she was told and floored the gas pedal.
This time the APC was going much faster and the Martian Kataphrakt actually seemed to be having a slightly more difficult time trying to keep up with it. Still though the APC was having difficulties in shaking its pursuer. Whenever they tried make a turn at a corner with a pair of buildings in between it should have been very difficult for the enemy machine to follow them but the barrier it was using just absorbed whatever got in its way.
As the group continued to run from the chasing machine in their transport, Okisuke ran over to the crew compartment of the APC and grabbed a cable launcher that was mounted on the wall near the entrance to the driver's section. Okisuke then opened up a hatch that was on the ceiling and began to climb up all the while Calm yelled at him, demanding to know what he thought he was doing.
"We can't just leave Yuki out there!" he yelled as he climbed up to the point where more than half his body was leaning out of the open hatch. Okisuke aimed the launcher at the remains of the Areion that the transport had been dragging and then fired, sending out a cable that latched right onto the ruined Areion's shoulder and one right behind the launcher which embedded itself directly into the hull of the APC.
The pursuing mecha that was right behind them jumped forwards in what was probably an attempt to get closer to the APC so it would be easier for the pilot to destroy it. Fortunately it didn't get close enough to strike its prey but it did cause Okisuke to lose his balance and fall out of the APC. Before he could fall of the top of the vehicle however Inaho grabbed his friend's hand as tightly as he possibly could in order to keep Okisuke from flying backwards and into the barrier of the pursuing Kataphrakt.
There was nothing but fear in Okisuke's eyes as he struggled to hang onto his friend "Please don't let go!" he begged as tears unbridled terror started to form in the boy's eyes. Inaho said nothing and instead he had a determined look on his face as he struggled to try and get a better grip on his friend's arm which was already starting to slip.
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Inside the Nilokeras, Trillram watched the rather touching scene with an expression that was a mix of both sadism and amusement. It was almost touching in a pathetic sort of way, how the boy was valiantly attempting to save his foolish friend from certain death. Perhaps he might…help.
Trillram's smirk grew to the point where it was almost ear to ear. "Here then, let me see if I can assist you with that," he said to himself as he had the Nilokeras raise its foot a little bit higher than normal when it took its next step forwards. Then he brought it down with much more force than was necessary.
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.
When the Martian war machine brought down its massive leg onto the concrete, the resulting shockwave caused the APC to swerve on the road violently. The fleeing vehicle was barely able to avoid crashing into one of the buildings as the driver struggled to regain control. While Inko did manage to keep control over the vehicle, the hard turn that the APC was forced to take was enough for Inaho to lose his grip on his friend.
Okisuke practically flew backwards but despite Inaho's attempts to grab his friend's arm again and attempt to pull him back into the APC it was simply too late. Inaho's friend fell backwards and practically flew right into the Kataphrakt's energy barrier, causing Okisuke to be completely and utterly vaporized. As this happened, for the first time in what felt like years, a look of pure horror spread all over Inaho Kaizuka's face. One of the few people who Inaho had ever considered to be a true friend had just died.
The APC continued moving forwards until at last it entered a tunnel and for some unknown reason the Kataphrakt that had been hot on their tails for the past couple of minutes stopped right at the entrance to the tunnel. Sure it was much larger than the entrance but it had that barrier system. Couldn't it just absorb the rock, dirt and concrete around the tunnel as it chased them?
Regardless, it was a relief nonetheless that the enemy machine was no longer pursuing them. Calm, Inko, and the three girls that had been picked up earlier walked out of the APC. As Calm exited the transport he noticed Inaho standing on top of the APC having climbed up through the hatch. Inaho was facing away from them so they couldn't see his face but Calm suspected that it was probably as blank as it always was.
It was then and there that the boy noticed something, he didn't see Okisuke anywhere. Calm then opened his mouth to ask Inaho the question that had been on both his and just about everyone else's lips the whole time "Hey, where's Okisuke?" he asked.
Inaho remained completely silent for a moment or two before he spoke in the same calm and relatively subdued tone he was known for speaking in "He didn't make it. I'm sorry."
Calm Craftman clenched his fists angrily as tears threatened to emerge from his eyes. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. One of his oldest friends was dead at the hands of those bastards. The blond walked over to the side of the APC and proceeded to punch it with his right hand all the while screaming "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
The brunette with the chin length hair that Inaho had found earlier watched as Calm mourned his best friend. A look of extreme sadness and oddly enough, guilt was etched on her face. Inaho thought that was very odd. She didn't do anything that to contribute to the death of Okisuke. So why did she look partially guilty?
Eventually Calm stopped yelling even as Inko went to console her friend while Inaho walked over to the near totaled Areion's head and looked for the manual release mechanism. It took a few seconds but eventually he found it on the neck area. The head moved forwards and then moved downwards to the chest, exposing Yuki who was clearly unconscious. Her left arm was bent at an awkward angle but other than that it didn't seem like she was seriously injured.
Inaho was about to go and get the doctor and some of the others to help him get her out of the machine when he heard the Areion's communicator. It was a little difficult to hear what was being said due to the static but it was clearly Lieutenant Marito's voice.
"Hey, Yuki, Marcus. If you can hear this, the Martian Kataphrakt seems to be completely ignoring other evacuees and military personnel. I don't have any ideas as to why but it's clearly after you and those people from earlier, if you can keep it occupied for a while we should be able to evacuate the entire city with minimal losses. Don't you dare be heroes though, Colonel Braddock wants the two of you back alive and in one piece."
Inaho turned to look at his friends and saw that they had heard the message as well judging by the determination on their faces they were probably thinking the same thing he did 'Now it's our turn.'
To be continued.