Well... This is a rather unexpected turn.
I did not think that the her Children, Daughters of Kivotos would ever come here, but as they have...
I must say, I did not expect it to be you, Child of Abydos... You, the bearer of the Eye of Horus and the weapon of the same name...
You are not suited to be here. Pray that you find a way home before our Awakening, child. I will not spare her experiments anymore. Requiem is at hand for you, your worthless species and its offshoots.
Come. Fight and struggle against the Coming Darkness...
Then come find me if you survive.
For the Koans of Jericho will be blown to the wind...
... And the seven wailings will be Composed.
Time unknown, location unknown,
but probably not Abydos...
Or anywhere near Kivotos.
Hoshino yawned. Normally, her head didn't really hurt all that often after waking up, but today felt like a special day for some reason. Words rang out in her head as she shifted uneasily. They were blurry, muffled and distant, but, for some reason, she felt them cause her entire being to shake. Still, she could not remember them clearly, even as she felt a pair of dark eyes stare at her from a distance. A flash of light saw the being that was glaring at her illuminated. It was ugly, disfigured. It stretched a broken hand her way, then snapped it back, pulling her toward it.
She yelped as soon as its face grew close enough to see, the distorted face of a dead being, fangs ready to bite into her neck. Breathing heavily, the girl stood ramrod straight, eyes staring forward, to the sight of rolling green fields, sprawling far. They were atop a hill, she noticed. A hill with a view to the seaside, with a massive modern city that lay in the distance, just over the horizon.
She furrowed her brows, confused as she let her heart slow. Maybe it was just a bad dream. That looked almost like Kivotos, a modern city, almost futuristic. She could faintly make out some ads on the buildings, plus stuff flying around the city. However, she could see no Zeppelin flying above the skyscrapers. Maybe it was down for maintenance, she thought, but her grip unwittingly tightened. She felt grass under her left hand and cold steel and polymer under her right.
She looked down with a gasp and saw that she still had Eye of Horus with her. Lifting it up, she looked upon it with a smile, then hugged it and said, "Babygirl, at least you didn't leave me..." only to let out another yawn, her blue eye half-open. She then looked around, only to see figures in the Grass. She blinked, scrambled to her feet and immediately could make them out.
Silver hair, wolf ears and a weird Halo. Short black hair, a white hair ornament and elf ears. Cat ears, black hair, weird ponytails. Big boobs, platinum-blonde hair, minigun. She beamed, then ran over to them, slinging Eye of Horus over her shoulder and calling out, "Girls!" only to kneel between Ayane, the Black-Haired Elf and Shiroko, the Wolfgirl. She moved them a little and said, "Wake up, sleepy-heads. I think we passed out on our way to school."
"Hngh," Groaned Shiroko, "Five more minutes..."
Hoshino grinned, then shook her a little more, stating, "Oh, nyo. You don't get wake me up so many times without me waking you up a couple myself!" with a smirk on her face. Shiroko sighed deeply and, with messy hair, looked up at Hoshino, eyelids narrowed due to tiredness. The one white pupil of the Wolfgirl greeted the heterochromia-heavy Shiroko, who beamed, "Mornin'!"
Shiroko herself sighed, turned onto her back and paused. Her face remained impassive as she ran her hands over the green natural carpet they lay upon, then asked, "How did we wind up on top of a grassy hill...?" with a little worry palpable in her usually calm, low voice. Hoshino shrugged, while the girl speculated, "... Maybe it's that artifact we found in the Abydos Desert..."
"Yeah, maybe... Uwaaah~..." The girl yawned, then shook her head like a dog, fluffing up her hair. She spoke while wiping tears from that big yawn, "Maybe we got blown all the way over here from Abydos when Nonomi touched it..." and she stood to her feet, extending her hand to help the girl up. Shiroko sighed, took Hoshino's hand and stood to her feet. Afterward, Hoshino left to wake everyone else, from Ayane to Nonomi, up.
Shiroko yawned as well, wiping the morning dew and grass from her face, then craned her head to the left. She froze on the spot, face stuck in a mask of surprise mixed with her usual impassivity. She stared at the city in the distance, watching aircraft take off and land around what looked to be a military base of some kind at the mouth of the city's bay and port. She blinked repeatedly as Hoshino awoke Nonomi finally, then said, "Guys... That isn't Kivotos."
All four turned toward her, with Ayane walking up to her side and asking, "What do you mean, Hoshino?" a little worried. The amber-eyed girl watched Shiroko lift her hand up and point with her index toward the city. Following exactly where the girl had pointed, Ayane blanked, eyes widening. She pulled her glasses off and quickly used her school jacket to wipe them, then slid them back onto her eyes. As all color drained from her face, she called out, "H-H-Hoshino!"
"I see it," Hoshino mumbled, approaching the girls' side, stunned, "I thought it was Kivotos..."
"No, that's... Definitely not it," Shiroko furrowed her brows, "I can't see the SCHALE building, or anything even remotely resembling a familiar landmark anywhere," only to pause as she looked down and said, "... There's a motorway there. We can probably follow it if we wanna get to the city," before pointing at it. A very sci-fi-looking Highway, six-lane and with separators, rode along the edge of the water, right by the sandy, rocky unoccupied beach.
"Oh, no, oh, no, ohnoohnoohno..." Ayane started trembling, "Where are we...?"
Serika sighed as she approached, rifle slung over her shoulder, then said, "I don't know, but I don't think we're gonna get our answers just sitting here. Hoshino, should we... Start following the Motorway or something?" as she looked to their leader. Hoshino blinked, confused still, then nodded. Nonomi, finally up and carrying her Minigun, was tense, less talkative.
As they walked down the hill, Hoshino asked, now jovial again, "Everyone grab their stuff?" only to get mildly calm affirmative responses. She furrowed her brows and said, "Hey, c'mon, girls! We can just hitch a ride back to Kivotos from the city and then have a laugh about it while enjoying some Ramen!" trying to keep her friends' spirits up. Truth be told, Hoshino wasn't really feelin' it either.
Something was amiss about them dropping here. Wherever here was. Overhead, above them, a strange four-engine transport barreled past their location, hitting them with a little jet-wash from its engines and causing their clothes and hair to flutter. Serika turned to the strange aircraft and yelled at it, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FLYING!" as the hair on everything from her head to her tail puffed out like on a scared kitten, her face displaying anger by the frown, grit teeth and glare.
Ayane pat her on the back, though she, too, still trembled...
Okusora Ayane had never truly left Abydos before, nor the rest of the city of Kivotos. She had mostly been playing the part of the techy wiz-kid of the girls and had tended to most of that stuff when they were at Abydos. She didn't know where they were or why they'd come here. She just knew Nonomi had managed to dig something up alongside the others and gotten them involved with it.
All she remembered was the weird silvery artifact, Nonomi touching something on it, then poof, she woke up face down in the green grass of a hill in this new, strange place. And as they walked by the motorway, which was in use, considering the speeding cars driving past them, she could only wonder what sort of mess they were in this time and would it involve Kaiser Corp and its subsidiaries again.
The group saw street signs above the motorway. Hoshino read them, "Novi Vodno village, 5 miles to exit... Guess we found our first stop, eh?" and she smirked. The girls sighed deeply, with Nonomi being somehow the most distant right now, despite her usually bubbly personality. As the girls jumped over the railing and onto the motorway's side, she hanged back. She was probably worried everyone else was mad at her, Hoshino thought, since she did bring that weird alien artifact in.
Taking a step back to join her, she said, "You do know none of us are mad at ya, right, Nonomi?" only to cause the minigunner to yelp. She chuckled at that, then said, "Relax. Like I said, we ain't mad... Just a lil' surprised and getting our bearings, I think. Hey, maybe this village will have some answers for us, yeah?" only to see Nonomi's smile slowly return. The girl awkwardly gave a nod. Hoshino smiled back, then gave a thumbs up and said, "Ye. Trust your old uncle, eh?"
"Much as we'd like to, Hoshino," Shiroko looked back, holding her bag and gun close, "I don't think any of us really know how to react to this situation... I just hope we find Sensei when we get back to Kivotos," Only to get sounds of affirmation from her comrades. A hum from Serika, a whimpering 'yes' from Ayane and a quiet, but meaningful, 'yeah' from Nonomi.
The group watched a pair of vehicles slow down, then continue to drive. They tensed, thinking someone was gonna stop to talk to them, but they were thankful to see the vehicles just continued on their merry way. Still, one would've expected someone to try and provide a ride at least. Not like they would've accepted, but it would have been nice of'em, considering. Or so Hoshino thought anyway.
Arriving at the exit from the motorway to the village itself, the girls were surprised to see prefab buildings sat amidst fields of crops ranging from corn to grains. They paused at the entrance to the small town and read the inscription. 'Welcome to Novi Vodno! Population 400'. On the concrete and tarmac streets, they saw parked cars on the sides and large, relatively nicely-built prefab homes.
Kids played football and other games on the sidewalk while a few cars moved to and fro. There was a factory in the distance that said something about canning and the girls also noticed various boats parked alongside the cars and trailers that carried them over in a parking lot nearby. A few locals seemed to have taken notice of their arrival. Most were human. Most were adults... Like Sensei.
Hoshino tensed, though not visibly to her friends. As they passed by a pub, a place where they drank alcohol, a local bartender greeted them with, "Hey, girls! You lost?" as she cleaned a glass. The five turned to face her, a little surprised someone actually wanted to talk to them. The woman, a redhead in a tank top with a strange tattoo on her left bicep, paused as she saw them, green eyes widening. She seemed to be giving them a once-over, her voice dropping low as not to wake up the drunk man asleep a few stools over while they approached. She spoke, "... You girls angels or something...? What's with the floating, colorful halos...?"
"Err..." Serika paused.
"Long story, I guess...?" Hoshino laughed awkwardly, "Erm... Can you tell us where we can get a flight back to our home town from?"
"Sure... You'd have to take the A2 Freeway into Skopje's capital," she answered pointed to the city across the pond, "Spaceport should be just about after the fifth exit, outside the city itself..." only to see them all double over. She blinked and asked, confused, "Did I say something weird, or...?" as she looked between all of'em. Yeah, she wasn't losing it, she thought to herself. Cat ears and a tail, wolf ears and a tail and Elf ears and glasses. What the hell was going on?
"Space... Port?" Blinked Ayane, her voice shaky.
"Yeah, the Interplanetary Space Port. It has on-planet flights to various smaller towns and cities as well, though that's in terminal two," The woman replied, then leaned forward on her counter-top and asked, "... What's your girls' names? You don't look like any locals. Hell, you look human-adjacent more than anything, and those Halos on top of your heads..."
"U-uh... We're the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force," Ayane replied, showing how terrified she was, "I'm Okusora Ayane..."
"Takanashi Hoshino! Heyaaaaa~!" The bubblegum-pink-haired sleepy girl yawned. She tried to hide the fact she didn't much trust this woman, or anyone around that was looking at them, really. The woman, however, must've picked up on it, simply nodding in greeting to both her and Ayane before looking over to Serika, Nonomi and Shiroko. The three looked back at her.
"... Sunaookami Shiroko. Hello," Shiroko waved, concerned.
"Izayoi Nonomi~! Hiya!" The buxom platinum blonde beamed, waving too.
"Kuromi Serika," The last one nodded, her face impassive, though the tightening grip of her hand around the strap of her strangely dented and used bag told that she was concerned. She asked, "... Why are you talking like we can leave the planet? I mean, space travel ain't exactly that advanced... We barely have satellites up where we come from..."
The woman furrowed her brows in confusion and replied, "Yeah, it is, Kid. We've got ships between Colonies..." then sighed. She raised her hands up when she saw the catgirl's hair stand on-end, tail straightening out and upward, before asking, "Look, do you girls need a ride to the Space Port? I have Merchant and Military Navy friends that can probably help get you home... Wherever home is."
She realized what she'd just said when Serika commented, "We don't usually accept rides from strangers where we come from..." and that allowed her a moment to process it. Sighing deeply, the bartender woman nodded in understanding. She put up a 'CLOSED' sign on the counter and shut the shutters, then walked outside moments later. The girls also saw that she was probably military, going by the tank top bearing a 'UNSC' tag on the top left and her pants being camouflage pants with steel-toed black boots.
She told them, "I'm Lieutenant Cathy O'Harra, UNSC Logistics. Currently on Shore Leave here on Skopje since it's my home planet. Call me Cathy... It's nice to meet you girls," and smiled. The five girls looked to one-another, then huddled up. Cathy waited, obviously, cuz she really didn't wanna scare the crap out of what looked to be a bunch of High-Schoolers.
Hoshino peeked out from amidst them with one blue eye and one amber, then huddled back in. She seemed to be a little opposed to the idea, but the other four had, by chance, outvoted her. The pink-haired girl with a shotgun sighed deeply and then feigned another smile toward the Bartender, "Alrighty, sure! We appreciate the offer, miss O'Harra!"
"Heh," She rubbed the back of her neck, a little awkward, "Alright, I guess. C'mon. Ride's this way..." before motioning to the garage. It seemed as though the bar was being operated out of her own house, the girls thought as they followed. She hit a button and the metal door retracted into the ceiling, revealing a four-wheel, giant vehicle with strange steering and four seats. It looked a little modified. Cathy told them, "There's my baby. An M12 FAV, AKA the 'Warthog'. Hop in."
As the girls boarded the vehicle, they found it a little more difficult to get into due to the large step-height. They helped each-other while Cathy got the vehicle started. As soon as everyone was on board, though, they paused as the vehicle purred to life. The engine sounded different than any other car engine they'd heard, with Cathy smirking as she said, "Yep... Seems like it's your first-time seeing a 'Hog. She's powered by a Hydrogen engine, meaning eco-friendly kickassery, heh. Strap in."
The girls all quickly put their seatbelts on, Hoshino sitting in the front. She looked back at the girls, then smiled awkwardly. All four of her friends nodded, preparing themselves for a little fun trip. Cathy shifted the massive gear shift forward one step and pressed on the acceleration, the engine revving with a beautiful, subdued purr like that of a cat. It lurched forward onto the road and Cathy hit a button to close the door of the garage.
She rolled forward onto the freeway, then started driving at the maximum allowed speed of 75mph. The girls began to laugh, feeling just how smooth the vehicle drove on the concrete and tarmac, with Cathy smiling and stating, "Nice and smooth, eh? I didn't need to mod the Suspension at all. This girl rolls fast and hard over flat terrain, but she's good for All-Terrain work, too. Hell, it's the reason we use it for everything from scouting to combat and logistics transport."
"I'll admit, it's a nice car," Chuckled Hoshino as she looked at the multitude of digital panels on the dash. Cathy smiled at that compliment and nodded in thanks as they rolled up another ramp and onto another section of Highway which was, surprisingly, travelling over the gulf. Reading the signs above, the girls saw it. 'SKOPJE SPACEPORT, 10 MILES'. Hoshino hummed as the girls behind her let out awed sounds, 'oohs' and 'aahs', as they watched the water and the sun beating down on the blue. She also noticed a castle in the distance, chuckled, then asked, "Hey, miss O'Harra?"
"What's up, Hoshino?" She raised a brow.
"... What's Skopje?" She asked, a little more wary.
The woman paused, still focused on driving, then sighed and replied, "Well, the planet you're on, which was named after the capital of a country back on our homeworld, Earth," then looked to see all five of them were confused. She explained, "There's a reason we call ourselves the 'United Nations Space Command'. UN Jurisdiction has us running things as military and exploration assets. Science, anti-piracy, counter-terrorism, that type of stuff, it falls under our prerogative... And we have a lot of countries' support for it, too."
"Oh..." Hoshino blinked. Yeah, they probably weren't anywhere near Kivotos anymore.
"Yep," The woman clicked her tongue, then sighed, "Okay, look, I gotta ask... What the hell is it with your guns, girls? You come from an Airsoft game and got lost or something, or...?" only to pause as she saw that the shells on Hoshino's shotgun were real. She narrowed her lips and whispered worriedly, "Oh, Christ, I hope this is not a stick-up..."
Confused, Hoshino replied, "They're our personal defense weapons... And... No, this ain't a stickup."
Cathy let out a deep breath, relieved, then thought to herself that she should've figured this out. Still, she asked, "I hope you girls aren't planning to commit terrorism or something... Right?" And she was almost pleading with them. She really didn't want what seemed to be four nice, lost young girls to be terrorists or Innies. She continued, "Cuz I would have to report it to the military and Police here..."
"Nope," All four said, quickly shaking their heads and waving their hands. Ayane nearly fainted at even the fact Cathy would assume as such.
Hoshino added, "... We just wanna get home..." a little afraid. Noting the look in Hoshi's eyes, one of actual, genuine trauma and fear, Cathy narrowed her lips again, feeling a little sorry for the five of'em. She gave a pat on Hoshino's head that slightly surprised the girl. She retreated from the touch, which Cathy understood. Humming, the girl kept on driving.
She reassured them, though, "If anyone's gonna be able to get you home, it's the boys and girls at the Space Port... Taking the exit now, by the way," and smiled as she slowly turned the wheel. The girls looked over, to see they'd gotten surprisingly much closer to the city than they thought they would. Tall, rising, clean skyscrapers stood as the skyline, the city itself seemingly bustling with activity. And ahead, the Space Port, a large construction sat right at the back of the bay. Its landing pads were massive, able to house the biggest of civilian shuttles, some of which took off now. Sleek, white with blue outlines and large cargo holds, the space ships powered engines to max and took off toward orbit just as another group arrived.
A well-oiled machine of space travel. There were even seeming military craft sat on the tarmac nearby, alongside armed infantry. Cathy narrowed her eyes at that, murmuring, "That's odd... Marine security isn't usually out in that much force..." before turning on a radio and switching it to the News. Miscellaneous stuff about the weather, about the beaches being nice and no real talk.
Arriving at the parking lot of the massive terminal and concourse, the girls all dismounted from the vic with Cathy's help. They walked into the building, where the sight of UNSC Marines, men clad in green uniforms and armor and carrying rifles, greeted them. Increased security. Each Marine looked a little off, concerned, and Cathy immediately knew none were locals.
The officer on-station at one of the booths looked over. He poked his head out and waved Cathy over. She smiled, then approached with the girls and said, "Carlos. The hell are you doing on-duty, man?" before whispering, "And what's with the battalion of Marines that came fresh outta Pendleton? I can see the Patches and the tans some of'em got in California..."
"They ain't tellin' us too much," The man replied, his accent heavy. He looked past her, however, then gasped and asked, "When did you adopt a posse, Cathy? Those kids are armed to the teeth..."
"They'll tell ya everything, but they wanna find their way home, or at least of Skopje, for now..." She said, then paused. She pulled a vibrating phone out of her pocket, showed them to wait and stepped aside, answering, "Go for O'Harra..." only for her eyes to widen. She spoke, "Yessir. I'm already at the Space Port. I'll get my gear from the Barracks. What're we looking at?" only for her heart to suddenly sink. She let out a, "Fuck..." before replying with a shaky voice, "Roger that. I'll start vetting people. Getting them off-world. Aye, sir. O'Harra, out..."
"What's the matter?" Carlos asked. He paused as he saw her face and said, "Oh, shit... Okay, kids, let's get you four up to snuff and send you home. I'm gonna need IDs, a few Creds for the tickets that Cathy's-" he paused as she slapped it down on the counter, then nodded, "Yeah... And a location for your travel. Like what home city on what planet are you looking to get to..."
"Kivotos," All five of them spoke as they handed him their IDs. He was a little confused.
Cathy told him, "You got this, Carlos? Get'em off AS FAST AS YOU CAN..."
He nodded. She looked to the kids, meanwhile, and said, "Alright, Carlos'll get you a flight off this rock... Hopefully quickly. I'm gonna go, they're calling us up to Active Duty," and she patted them on the head, smiling and saying, "You girls stay safe. See you soon..." then ran off toward the barracks where a pair of Marines were waiting for her. Carlos checked everything, then hummed.
Before the girls could say anything, though, a pair of Marines approached. Their lead stated, "Ladies. Sorry, but our boss called. You have to come with us. Carlos, you mind?"
"... N-No..." He stuttered, then looked to the girls as he handed their stuff back and told them, "Good luck..." which caused the five to tense. They nodded as they looked to one-another. They needed an exit strategy if things turned sour. Hoshino sighed, however, showing a little worry. She smiled at the girls and nodded, then looked to the Marines and showed them to lead the way.
Another platoon emerged outta the Barracks... And then Alarms began to quietly blare across the Spaceport.