User blog:Roinelll/God Eater - Solace - Volume 1 - Segment 20

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Ocean Wall

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While Sakuya was busy firing at the two incoming Kongou, I couldn't take my eyes off the one in the front which was blocking the line of fire for the other one. That was the one the medic described as 'battle hardened', which was very apt as I took a good look at the missing mask it should have been sporting. It looked like upper half of the Aragamis head was missing, which made the already huge mouth look even larger by comparison.

Where the usual mask, the upper half of the head of a Kongou would have been, only fragments of it remained. Which disturbed me even more that it wasn't anything like a normal mask either.

No.

It, the fragments of the mask were partially human, which crept me out. Then a thought struck me, as I recalled what the others said about God Eaters turning into Aragami.

'''How... Is that possible?'''

Could the reverse be possible?

Would it even possible?

Sure, there are the Zygotes that have partial human features, however a Kongou doesn't have any. Shouldn't have any. Not in normal circumstances.

'''This... Should it be even happening?'''

As I looked to my side, the sniper wasn't occupied by such problems apparently. Her focus was entirely on the incoming Aragami as she kept firing over and over, but the abnormal Kongou in the front was taking all the hits. It positioned itself always so that the medic had no chance, but to shoot it, leaving the one in the back completely unharmed so far.

What was even more disturbing Sakuya's laser shots glanced away from the body, which should have been weak to her attacks versus a normal Kongou. The next few lasers were also ineffective against the legs and when she decided to take aim on the remaining fragments of the head, the simian blocked it with the arms.

"So, the face is the weakness." Sakuya commented partially to herself. "Lindow, we got a problem. One of the Kongou is unaffected by my attacks, they'll be here in less than half a minute."

-We're going to wrap this up in no ti--. Lindow's response was broken by a massive shock wave and a lurch in the structure of the carrier ship. We could barely brace ourselves as the frame started to buck, twist and collapse by it's weight pulling us down with it. In the last minute Sakuya showed me aside and I've tumbled towards the side of the carrier.

But my momentum didn't just stop there, as I've rolled over the edge and plummeted into the shallow water. It wasn't much, barely enough to brake the force of my fall not to injure myself. The problem on the other hand was immense, as the two Kongou were onto me in seconds with no backup on my side for the moment.

I hope they are okay.

I shook my head and focused on the task at hand. Stalling enough time for my team to recover, until they beat the Chi-You inside the almost demolished carrier, not to mention getting back out and still finding me alive and kicking. Out of this, the last part was that nerved me the most. One Kongou I could have handled, but if you add that abnormal one...

'''Well... Another day in the work, I guess...'''

I sighed and reached into my pocket to pick up one of the limited number of Stun Grenades. I've thrown it right at the two Aragami and grimaced. This isn't going to be enough, stupid rules and regulations... Couldn't help, but recall what happened prior to Alisa arriving where Lindow explained some annoying details.

"Sierra, come here." Lindow calls and I walk over, trying to pocket as many supplies as I can into my already bulging pockets. I have to admit, I probably make a comical sight. The leader eyes me with a frown, then shakes his head with a light smile. "You need to know something."

Oh boy, I'm getting chewed out before mission?

"Empty your pockets." I flinch, but do so as said. I had on me 17 Stun Grenades, 4 cassettes of Restore Pills each holding a dozen inside, a cassette of OG: Restore Balls and I've also managed to bargain with the merchant for 5 OG: Restore Posts. There were also a dozen Detox Pills, a cassette of traps holding 4 of each type of Snare, Venom and Bind. Couple Health Boosters and Stamina Boosters topped it out. "This is all?" Lindow asks as I finish spreading the supplies and I nod, anticipating the trouble to come. He then picks up the cassettes and checks their contents with a frown. "You can't bring all these." He says and I stare at him in disbelief.

'''I bought them with my Fc! You can't just take them away!'''

"Whoa there, stop glaring daggers." He held up his arms defensively. "You just have to deposit the excess before we go out on the mission."

Why?

Although the leader is unable to read my thoughts, my expression he is able to understand and therefore he sighed before giving an answer.

"Fenrir limits the number of supplies of each given resource we can bring with us on the claim that we can't risk so much when we go out on missions."

'''That's stupid. Who the hell came up with such a freaking rule? I got these from my own credits!'''

"Look." The leader sighed as he scooped up the majority of my items and walked to the counter. "Hibari, register these supplies for Sierra." He put down 2 Stun Grenades, 20 Restore Pills, 5 OG: Restore Balls, 2 OG Restore Posts, 10 Detox Pills, two of each type of traps and all the Boosters. "Also, deposit the rest for her in a safe box."

B-b-but!

'''I don't mind the others being cut down, But the grenades!! Those are the most important!'''

Lindow saw the expression I was making, while he stopped me from grabbing onto the Stun Grenades with a frown. I watched as the operator took out a small box with my name on it and put the excess supplies inside.

"Rules are rules, they have to be kept even for me." He said as he pulled out his own items from his pockets. Actually there wasn't much with 2 Stun Grenades, 5 Restore Pill S and a Snare Trap. "Don't glare at me like that Sierra. I didn't make them."

Obviously someone stupid enough to get behind a desk, but not out there before an Aragami did so.

I pouted and the leader reached out to ruffle my hair with a laugh.

"God Eater Units that are deployed with smaller numbers are allowed to bring a larger amount of supplies per member, but for us this is the limit since four of us will be sent out." He tried to ease me, which worked. I nodded back to him. "Come on, the rest of them are already there. Let's go see our new member."

I've thrown the second and last Stun Grenade to buy some more time. I've already finished setting up two Snare Traps and took out the two Bind Traps and placed them down in front of each Snare. The Kongous roared in anger as their sight slowly returned and they looked for me. The abnormal one spotted me first and reached out for me, while walking closer and right into the Snare.

Immediately the simians body was engulfed in shocks and it was convulsing rapidly as the trap triggered. This gave me time to make some distance as the other Kongou stepped forward and was also held by the trap placed down. The only problem was that I've already used the snares and they only last a couple second.

And soon as I feared, the abnormal Kongou had broken through the snare and furiously advanced towards me, right into the next trap to have it's Oracle Cells bound as the Bind Trap triggered. The moves of the simian instantly turned sluggish and much more predictable, albeit I knew that even this can only work for at most half a minute.

Yet that is also time that I have stalled for, as I turned my head into the direction of the carrier. In the last minute it had been shaking wildly, the scream of the Chi-You along with the shouts or my team members were coming out of it from time to time, coupled with bursts of energy of Soma's charged attacks and the avians explosive ranged attacks.

I took up distance from the two Kongous, now each one had been bound by the traps and while I could have attacked them here or there, I didn't want any of them to be enraged. Plus dealing with two, it was much easier to make distance, lure and avoid than outright engage them. Another shake coursed through the frame of the carrier and I could hear as more of it collapsed onto itself as a result.

The abnormal simian roared in anger and it's body puffed as air started to be gathered within the beast, I recognized that an air blast was being generated and decided to move clockwise in a wide circle, until the other Kongou was between us. The scarred Aragami growled, but didn't stop the charge as more and more air was sucked into the tubes on it's body.

'''Uhh... I didn't think it will also blast the other one.'''

With a roar, the body of the regular Kongou shook as the might air blast slammed into it, instantly breaking some of the tubes from it's back. I actually didn't mind that, since that gave me just more freedom of movement since now only the abnormal one was able to attack from a distance with it's air blows.

Suddenly in my earpiece a high pitched static noise sounded, in the same time as the side of the carrier exploded into a miriad of metallic shrapnel, either burning white hot or scorched and black from a powerful charged attack. I had to shake my head in order to get rid of the ringing sound, but I could clearly see what followed.

The Chi-You burst out from within the ship, most of it's metallic feathers damaged while there were numerous scars across the avians body, tell-tale signs where the God Eaters Predator forms dug deep into it. Within moments the flier rushed past me and dug it's powerful claws into the neck of the still stunned Kongou. Then with a roar and a disgusting sound, the head of the simian was torn from the body.

I could see from the corner of my eyes that my team mates were filing out from the wreckage as it was finally collapsing onto itself. I quickly reached into my pocked and deployed an OG: Restore Post right in front of my feet. A soothing green pillar appeared at the moment and I knew this will turn the tide of the battle for us.

While the two Aragami eyed each other and the rest of the First Unit enjoyed being bathed and healed by the Restore Post, the Chi-You wasn't taking any time and was busy eating the head of the decapitated Aragami. The abnormal Kongous glare constantly shifted between me and the flier, but eventually it stopped on me.

Did, it just ignore a potential threat, one that just destroyed it's kin?

The Chi-You threw the remains of the head away, the leaped into the air and extended it's wings. Sakuya quickly aimed and and tried to shoot, but the laser missed as the avian dived under. Or more exactly, with the damage sustained by the wings couldn't help the Chi-You to fly away that easily and it crashed into the beach unsightly.

However, the medic couldn't follow-up on her attacks versus the flier as the remaining Kongou charged us. But it wasn't a simple charge, as it reached out and grabbed it's fallen kin by the legs and flung it at us. We each separated instantly into different directions, from where the simian adjusted it's aim at me.

Oh, Come ON!

I whined mentally as the ape like Aragami jumped into the air and pulled itself into a tight ball of pure destruction. As the beast rolled into the air towards me I barely could avoid the incoming attack as the three of them decided to split up, with the medic going to track down the damaged flier and the other two God Eaters bringing the abnormal Kongou down with me.

"Focus Dead Weight!" Soma yelled, as he was already sporting with his huge weapon an empowered attack. He brought it down hard on the Kongou just as it raised the arms to block the over-head strike. The blow both brushed the arms away and crushed the right one, but the head remained protected.

An enraged roar came from the simian as it slammed it's still working fist into the ground, then it quickly jumped up to the side of the wreck of the sea-craft. From on top of there it glared down at us, particularly at me, then turned around and fled. As I stood there dumbfounded a shot rang out in the distance.

"Move it Dead Weight!" Once again I got yelled by the dark skinned God Eater as he already was running with Lindow in the direction where Sakuya went to. With a frown, I grabbed onto my Chupacabra and rushed after them. By the time we caught up to the medic, she was leaning onto her God Arc while panting.

"It got away." She said, there were all over her body numerous small bruises and cuts, her clothes were pretty torn like wise. I turned towards the other two and saw that they weren't in a better shape either. While the Restore Post did help them to recover most of the damage, it wasn't a complete heal. "What happened inside?" The medic asked, turning towards Soma.

"It wasn't his fault." Lindow stepped forward to explain when the dark skinned God Eater simply turned away and scoffed. "The Chi-You went practically berserk, smashing through the metal corridors and frames and blasting everything in it's way with explosive attacks. That was before you fell down." Then he stepped to me and put his right onto my left shoulder. "Good work Sierra, you managed to hold them off long enough." I frowned, and glared back at the leader who smiled at me, figuring the reason why I am irritated. "Even if you were to bring all those supplies, it's unvise to use so much on an Aragami."

"What's the Dead Weights problem?" Soma interjected partially interested and disregarding the chiding of Sakuya upon hearing the offensive dub I was labeled with.

"Sierra wanted to bring a lot more consumables than it is allowed, especially the grenades." Lindow couldn't stifle the smirk. "Like seventeen of 'em."

"Well, it's good the Dead Weight didn't." With that the dark skinned God Eater glared at me, then turned around starting to backtrack where our aircraft had landed. On the other hand I turned to Lindow with raised eyebrows, hoping that he'll explain why he brought it up.

"You know that Aragami overtime grow more resilient when exposed to harmful effects, right?" Lindow asked me and I nodded. "That is another reason why the number of supplies are limited, especially the traps and grenades. Fenrir doesn't want Aragami out there that are immune to them and neither do we."

'''Oh... That does make sense.'''

"Let's return and report to the Branch." Sakuya called as she started walking back after Soma.

"Seconded, I need a cold beer ration." Lindow said with a sigh.

"No you don't!" Immediately the medic perked up her head and voice. "You already drank yours."

"But, I know you have some." He said with a chuckle.

"That is why I said no!" She was adamant and I silently chuckled.

"Just a sip?" Lindow tried, but the medic suddenly stopped and glared at him from point blank. "Ooor... I could neglect it for today." He said sheepishly as Sakuya turned around and started marching again. "Just a small tip." Our leader walked to me to whisper into my ears. "Do not make her angry. You wouldn't like her angry."

When we got back to the lobby of the Den, quite an odd sight greeted us. Kota was sitting with Tatsumi near the desk in front of the entrance, while Alisa was standing a few meters off, twirling her hair with a hand. Karel was also present, busy doing something on one of the terminals. I could also hear Brendan from downstairs talking with somebody too, but didn't recognize her voice.

"Did you see that?" Suddenly Kota speaks up, aiming it to us as we step closer. "Of course, right? Wasn't it super-cute?" He gets excited and I blink at him, a bit puzzled. Soma scoffs as he walks away while Sakuya giggles. "It's Russia! Russia!" The red-head explodes with excitement as he stands up and gestures heavily. I can see from the corner of my eyes that Alisa is glaring at him with all her might, but the boy disregards it completely. "It's like the grace of the northlands!" He continues, but then notices the intense glare he is getting from the silver haired girl. "Uh-oh, I've said too much!" He practically half-shouts as he shrinks back from the intimidating gaze, but then leaned to my ear for a whisper. "Don't you think she is super-cute?"

Hoo-boy...

I shake my head, to which Kota eyes me suspiciously before smirking.

"Are you jealous?" His smirk turns into a grin. "You ARE!" I stare at him in disbelief and leave him to ramble.

"Some of us die, some of us arrive..." Tatsumi sighed as I walk past him towards the staircase. "All quiet in the Den today, huh?"

"My buddy is in the hospital." Karel adds as I walk past him. "Some idiot got spooked and fired, blowing their cover. The covert operation was a bust." The german male frowns, then swipes back his hair out of the eyes with his right hand. "One of them hears something, and they all start bawling. This sucks, I hate mission with newbies!"

It seems it wasn't just our Unit that got new members assigned...

But for both of Karel's and Tatsumi's Units to score losses...

"I wish I didn't have to ask this right after arriving, but do the people here lack self-awareness?" Alisa joins the conversation and I turn back to her, however she possibly intended that question as purely rhetorical as the russian girl walks away, leaving us with frowns only.

'''I... get that she is probably fed up with Kota, but she shouldn't have said that.'''

I walk down the staircase finally and notice just who is Brendan talking with. It's the small girl... Well, a head smaller than me actually, who is the sister of Eric. As she notices me, she forgoes the talk with Brendan and practically tackles me.

"Father said I shouldn't come here alone, but everyone's been lying." I can see that she is holding back her tears as she grabs onto the sleeves of my clothes. "Saying that Eric is..." She gulped, swallowing her tears and pain. "Dead!" The girl finished and I could see how strong she loved him, to be in so much denial. I leaned down to her, so to make eye contact with her and placed my hands on her shoulder.

"Eric is... Gone." Brendan helps out me, telling Erina the truth once again, but she stares at us only.

"There!" She shouts, practically into my ears. "You're lying again!" I can see a small teardrop forming in the corner of her eyes. "I've got to find out myself." With that she looks into my eyes with a force of determination, that I wouldn't have thought of the girl was able to muster. "Listen." She leans closer, trying to convince me of something that was probably not allowed her by the others either. "Can't you let me onto the base?" The girl begs and I feel my face growing sadder. I shake my head and stand up, doing my hardest to ignore the continuous pleas of the girl as I walk to Hibari.

"How can I help you, Sierra?" She welcomes me with a smile and I motion towards my items, then with a nod the Operator takes out the box she deposited my items. "Remember, you'll have to register the number of items you have on you before going on a mission." I got warned, so I've flinched. So I pack out everything from my pockets and put on display for her to see. I then take only the ones I've used up namely the grenades and the two types of traps, along with the restore post. "Sierra, don't take it hard. The rules are meant to be held by everyone, without exceptions." I nod to her and pack away my stuff with a grimace.

"Hey Sierra!" Kota then calls to me with excitement. "The Doc wants to see us." He them beamed a weird smile. "Alisa has to come too!"

Oh-boy...

I shook my head and followed after the over excited boy. The russian girl joins the two of us in the elevator and I can't stop grimacing. She looks completely disinterested in us and treats us like air, while Kota can barely contain himself in his skin.

Seriously?

When we arrive at the professors room he has already set the room up for teaching. I frown, but take a seat near one of the tables while Alisa does so on one of the farthest. Kota attempts to sit near her, but after receiving a death worthy glare from the russian, he decides to take a seat near me instead. Barely into the lesson, Kota is barely awake as his head is bobbing up and down as the boy attempts to focus on what is being said.

"As I mentioned before, the Oracle Cells which compromise an Aragami will eat anything." Dr. Sakaki frowns a bit upon seeing how easily distract the young God Eater is. "Not just life-forms like animals and plants, but also minerals and synthetic resins, such as plastics."

Or each other.

"It will even devour nuclear waste, known to be toxic to normal life forms." The doctor says with excitement in his voice. "Buildings, solid earth, you name it..." He then turns to the wide screen set up beside him and pushes a button in the tabled in his hands. "See, this is what happens." An image appears of a city, punctured by gigantic holes of the few still standing structures. "As a result, the environment as we know it - 'leftovers', so to speak - is diminishing at a high rate." He then turns once again to the screen and presses the tablet again a few times to show a couple of different pictures. "In this area, people were once known to view cherry blossoms in spring, and maple leaves in autumn..."

I doubt we'll ever experience anything like those.

Whatever they were.

"But by now, there's no hope of ever doing that." The professor voices the same concern that I realized as he continues the lesson. "Meanwhile, the Aragami tend to occasionally take on the qualities of the things they've eaten." As he says this, a bad feeling captivates me. "Recently, some Aragami have been actually discovered photosynthesizing."

'''They... Create air for us to live?'''

"79% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen..." The professor says as my eyes widen.

But, that would mean...

If we destroy the Aragami, with the state the Earth is in...

"Despite the fact that we have only a third of the plants that existed in the world 20 years ago, somehow the air of this planet has been preserved." Sakaki explains as he walks across the room very slowly, with excitement hidden in his voice once again. "Don't you find it extremely ironic, that we owe this phenomenon to the Aragami's photosynthesis?" He then walks to Kota and pokes him into the head, to which the boy mumbles something about his mom and eating.

Which means he knows, that also means Fenrir does too.

Yet, they want to destroy the Aragami?!

"Really!" Alisa frowns as she speaks with a cold voice. "He has no sense of duty whatsoever."

Do you have to make a jab at everything?

"Listen, people." The professor once again started walking, this time stopping in the middle of the room to survey our reactions better. "Have you ever heard the term 'Nova's Devouring Apocalypse'?"

"Yes..." The russian girl speaks up, even I raise my head in question. I browsed the NORN extensively, yet I don't seem to recall such a thing, so I turn to her to hear what she has to say. "After the Aragami battle among themselves, the extinction of Humankind is triggered by Nova." She says, like reading a textbook. "An entity grown so huge, that it can swallow up the entire planet."

"Exactly." Sakaki nods upon hearing it, in the background even Kota seemed to become conscious again. "No one even knows, who first spoke of this event." Then he frowns as he continues. "And some people have dismissed it as an idle rumor."

"But once the Aegis Project is completed, we'll be safe from even that." Kota interjects and I turn my head towards him in surprise.

Wait, so he isn't a complete air-head?

"Do you know what kind of animal a dog is?" The professor asks, after a few seconds of pondering. Kota releases one of his catchphrase  'Huh?' surprises and I frown at it. "Their numbers are quickly dwindling, but even now you can see some dogs existing around the Outer Ghetto." The professor takes down his glasses and starts to clean them with a cloth as he continues. "Dogs are intelligent..." He puts the frame back on and looks at me for a few seconds before eyeing the others too. "They may not be able to speak or understand specific words, but they can communicate with humans."

I smell something fishy...

"If an Aragami takes on the qualities of a dog." Sakaki pauses momentarily, in order to take a few moment to let that sink for us in. "Then perhaps we can find a way to co-exist."

That's insane!!

"Co-exist?" Alisa was surprised too and I could tell that Kota was left speechless by that similarly.

"Of course, from a communications standpoint, we're not limited to dogs." The professor expands his explanation. "Long ago you could watch an animal tamer manipulate wild beasts in a tent called a circus."

Manipulating Aragami?

I don't really want to be in a world where Aragami are used as living weapons...

"But there's no way that we can ever get along with Aragami..." Alisa speaks up, sharing the same reasoning I have.

"But, even if we can get Aragami to..." Kota had a bit of trouble finding the right words. "Obey us, what would we feed them with?"

He's got a point.

"First, we would have to get to such a point." The doctor dismissed his concern. "Which can happen anytime or never. Well, this lesson is over You two are dismissed." Then he turned to me and I flinched instantly. "Sierra, you have a check-up. It's not going to take long."

OH...

HELL!!

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End of Chapter 2016,06,16

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