User blog:Roinelll/God Eater - Solace - Volume 1 - Segment 12

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============== Glow of Prestige

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"Awww~." I heard the voice of C and turned towards her, as she stepped in from the entrance of the hangar, looking toward the elevator. "Aren't you going to have a tearful goodbye with your lover?" She teased someone inside of the lift.

What's she planning?

'''OH... God, don't tell me.'''

"If I were you..." The sliding door of the elevator opened and a rather angry Soma stepped out, his eyes throwing sparks that even thunderstorms could have been jealous of.

"If I were you, I would have sworn my eternal lov-ck--." C couldn't finish the mocking sentence, as the dark skinned God Eater stepped in close, reaching out with his right arm and grabbing the pale girl by the neck, finally lifting off the ground, then slamming her into the wall behind her with enough force that cracks appeared on it.

"SOMA!" Lindow raised his voice stepping in, however Soma halted him by raising his free hand and turning back to his captive.

"Not. A. Word. More." He seethed through tightly quenched teeth, glaring into the smirking girls obscured face. "Understand me, Nova?"

"Ooo~h! Are you threatening me?" C's smirk turned into a malicious grin as she leaned closer to his captor, despite the amount of power he was excerting over her, opting to whisper into his ear something in a different language. Something that my trans-failer could still get a hold on, albeit barely. -If I were you suddenly do not detract from the conclusions of time before, certainly not a lack of knowledge as yours. Bro.- As usual, what my small machine returned into my ear wasn't entirely comprehensive. However what followed her whisper was something even more shocking, as the dark skinned God Eater not only let her go suddenly, but even looked like he jumped back a step from her.

What the Hell??

"Anyways, Grumpy-Pants. Don't you have something to deliver, hmm?" C continued in her mocking tone, seeing as how the gaze of the God Eaters focused on her again, then back to Soma who reached into his pocket with a grunt, pulling out a small canister and throwing it to Sakuya. Then he turned around without a word and got back into the elevator, however before the door could shut completely the girl didn't hold back another verbal abuse. "Don't worry Grumspter. You'll have your chance of a heated confession to my Sierra later, she won't be running from you." At the pale girls sentence, I could literally feel the air chill and from inside the lift a powerful crash came and for a moment the servo motors of the old transportation device gave up their ghost, before whirring back to life and continuing on.

Do you get some sort of twisted pleasure from getting on the nerves of others?

And since when did I belong to you?

-I'd like to see if my team does not annoying.- I heard Lindow's call being translated as C now faced him, still bearing a smug smirk.

-You do not realize how their actions conflict. Just help him.- The pale girl answered, and now Sakuya stepped in front of her.

-But not to annoy intentionally. Already what are you again?- The medic questioned, however with a small chuckle C only shook her head, before leaving through the entrance of the hangar.

I bet she is amused that her trans-failer is confusing me just as much, as it helps to get me some understanding...

-Sierra, go.- Lindow's call is translated and I follow him along with Sakuya into the hangar to recover our God Arcs.

'''Oh... I almost forgot.'''

I wasn't the only one who changed. Most basically, because some of my changes originated from Chupacabra, therefore my God Arc had gone through a change as well. From it's previous three staged form, it shifted into a singular one with a length of two meters. My weapon turned into something, that reminded me of a lance, one that the knights of old times used in their jousting duels.

The majority of my lance was still the pitch black matter, however the grip around the red bracelet and the part that was near the tip had white impurities mixed into here and there seemingly randomly. I sighed thinking, that somehow my own infection had spread onto my weapon and in turn changed it.

Another change was that I noticed a fixed God Arc case rooted firmly in place, instead of the carryable one. C did inform me previously, this was deemed fit because I'm an irregularity, the loss of my previous weapon case was quite problematic. I was instead given two packs of capsules, which I have to periodically inject into the bracelet on my weapon to keep it in control.

Which is actually just a minor problem, until something major rears it's ugly head and all Hell breaks loose.

Much to my annoyance, not only the form, but also the weight of my God Arc changed too. Changed as in it became freaking heavy. With a grunt, I managed to lift it up to my shoulder and steady it there as I marched after my two team mates. The short walk till the jeep exhausted me greatly, I even had to stop once shortly before as I had to rest. This didn't miss the attention of Sakuya, who was looking worried. Lindow also noticed it, however neither of them intervened to help me.

'''Well, yeah. They can't afford to babysit me anyways. Plus I do have a feeling that this mission will be make or break...'''

Lindow drives off as I get into the back and we drive off toward our destination. A quarter hour passes or so, when Sakuya finally speaks.

-Do you think it's a good idea, Lindow?- She inquires, holding the cartridge in her hands. -Are you sure it must be forced into this?- A worried expression is visible on her face. -Because, if there is a place ... Then ... You ...-

-I'll do what my duty. You do know it.- Lindow reached out and put his right on the medics shoulder encouragingly. -Well, I should not be worried about Sierras. Smile a little, if you break down in front of the mission so do not be surprised if something goes wrong.-

-Yes. You're right. Keep your head up.- Sakuya forced a smile on her and the silence consumed us again.

I get the feeling I'm in it deep if they are so concerned about me.

And it's a bad feeling at that.

-Hello Sierra.- My earpiece went off, as Brendan joined in the channel to greet me. -I'll be here to relay the briefing to you, as well as help you understand what orders you might get during the mission.-

Wouldn't it be easier to brief me while we were back at the base?

-First, as you probably noticed this mission will be to measure if you are still up for being a God Eater, or not.- He sighed then continued with a slightly dejected voice. -Don't misunderstand me, or any of us as your position is rather... precarious. Don't be alarmed, even if you do not fulfill your position as a God Eater, you won't be abandoned and your medical expenses will be paid for.-

'''Great... So I'm stuck as a lab rat either way...'''

-Now, let's simply brief you first. The current mission will be to remove as many Ogretails as possible from the target area. The reason for this is twofold. First as you know probably, seeing as how intensively you're diving in the NORN Database regularly, the most numerous Aragami type out there are the Ogretails.- His voice a bit trailed off as he recalled my habit of scouring the network, which made him sound like he was a bit shamed to add that part, or reveal that I'm being monitored. Not like it matters if they do or do not. -The second is a major actually. The incident which almost crippled you, was because of an Aragami mutation what we decided to call Cocoon Tail. While there weren't any sightings of that creature, or any other Ogretail variants for that matter. However, the HQ decided that it is better to prevent such an occurrence, than let it happen again.-

-Tell Sierra to get ready. During the period of time until she recovered from the Aragami strengthened.- Lindow informed Brendan, who hummed in agreement.

Well, here comes the real deal and not what the trans-failer produces.

-Lindow just reminded me to warn you. While you were in the medical ward, a lot of time passed. Aragami continuously strengthen and you might find the tactics that you could employ against them might not work this time. Adding to that, your God Arc has changed, you need to be really careful on how you conduct your mission.- The line terminated at the end, to signal that the briefing is done. So in turn I decided to prepare myself mentally for the oncoming mission.

'''Right... Make or break as I thought...'''

Our destination was in the large factory grid, somewhere near the place where I had the fortune to meet Soma and Eric. Before we stopped Lindow drove in large circles, as if looking for something. Even Sakuya was busy searching the surrounding and I was getting interested as we found nothing.

-Be prepared, do not like it. Too quiet.- Lindow said when we finally get out of the vehicle and grabbed our respective weapons. Lindow pulled out his phone and called. -We arrived, but the place is empty. What do the radar recordings?- He called and listened to the answer for some time. -Come on, is not far away.- He broke into a light sprint and decided to head north, Sakuya following him in an equal tempo.

'''H-HEY!! I can't run with this!!'''

I grumble inwardly as I follow them with my dead weight of a God Arc. By the time they stop, the two are already only visible on the distance as a small speck. As I have to conserve enough of my stamina to be combat ready, our distance was like two kilometers or so.

Just great...

By the time I catch up to them, I figured out how to keep myself in momentum and still balance the damn Chupacabra on my shoulder. I stop near them as Lindow raises his arm and motions to come closer. That is when I see what the two of them were observing. Just a short while in front of them was a small cliff, underneath it there were a couple of Aragami engaged in combat.

Two Ogretails were still standing, not counting the many bodies laying around in the process of decaying. Against them was a Gboro-Gboro. It had taken numerous injuries, spikes protruding from an equal amount of wounds, but was still more than a match for the two worn down smaller beasts. One of the Ogretails charged forward, while the other raised it's tail to launch a volley of spikes.

Similarly the Gboro lunged forward, with it's huge mouth agape and biting down on the charging Ogretail. It didn't care as the spikes struck it's hide and ripped an enormous chunk out of the small Aragami's body. The Gboro gobbled part down hastily, then lowered it's head and aimed the nasal cannons at the lone remaining target.

'''Uhm... Why aren't Lindow and Sakuya taking action?'''

-Sierra, the missions goal has changed.- Brendan suddenly alerted me. -The target now is the Gboro-Gboro. While it did reduce greatly the number of the Ogretails in this region consideratably, it's still a threat. Lindow and Sakuya will support you.-

Oh, I see now...

By the time he finished talking, the Aragami took down it's sole remaining opponent and was busy eating it's corpse. Seeing as how it was distracted, I decided to go in and my teammates followed closely behind me. Preparing a preemptive action, I've raised my weapon high and pulled the end of the grip, to activate my God Arcs monstrous form.

...

Which didn't came. At all. I looked at Lindow with a puzzled expression, then tried again. To no avail. He scratched his head and I've tried to twist the grip this time, maybe that will work. Nothing.

...

'''Uhm, so... Now what? I can't seem to use it to eat into the Aragami.'''

Oh wait, now it's not a useless rod anymore.

So, I decided to raise it for to strike and looked at Lindow again to see if he is ready. He nodded and I plunged my Chupacabra into the back of the Gboro. It pierced the skin fairly easily, penetrating almost almost a half arms length and triggering a violent reaction. The Aragami spun around, with my God Arc still embedded into it's back and stared at me.

'''Come to think of it... Maybe I should have pulled it out...'''

I grin nervously at the bloody knife like teeth in front of me, when Lindow steps forward and slams his chainsaw-blade into the side of the Gboro's head. Soon after that the sound of a shot rings and a volley of lasers strike the back-fin of the Aragami. As Lindow follows up his attack with a spin and a downward strike at the left fin-like arms, Sakuya perforates the back-fin until a part of it tears off.

This makes the Gboro emit a savage roar and jump back, lowering it's head and fixing the cannon right at us. Finally managing to snap out of it, I dart towards it shortly behind, Lindow before the beast can fire off one of the many possible type of water bullets. While still running, Lindow calls upon the predatory form of his God Arc and as soon he gets into range and tears into the damaged left appendage.

As I circle around him, I quickly step up on the back of the Gboro and grab the handle of Chupacabra, I want to pull it out, but it's lodged in deep and doesn't move. So I brace myself with both feet and grab onto the handle with both of my arms and start to pull, when the Aragami lunges forward. The sudden acceleration does help me to remove my weapon, but without a foothold I fell clumsily to the ground on my back.

Sakuya fires at the rampaging Gboro, pelleting it's body with numerous laser shots until it collapses. Lindow uses that chance to rush in, lifting his weapon his and smashing down on the cannon of the Gboro. While the first strike does nothing, he continues to do so with fervor. After a few strikes cracking sounds come and by the time I manage to get on my feet the major part of the cannon is already broken down.

With a furious roar, the Aragami lowers it's head to fire at us again and Lindow easily steps aside and prepares to unleash the predator form once more. I can see in the distance Sakuya consuming an O-Ampule and she raises her God Arc once more waiting until the restorative effect of the medicine ends. A huge watery spray erupts from the broken nasal-cannon, but without it being complete it is no danger to us and I casually stride through it with weapon held at the ready.

As Lindow plunges his God Arc at the left limb, I decide to use my Chupacabra as a pin and stake the right fin to the ground. As the Gboro tries to trash around, it finds itself unable to move as the right fin is unmoving, while the left one became unusable. Sakuya finishes it off with another shower of lasers.

After the Gboro doesn't move any more, Lindow walks to me with a smile and puts his right palm on my head, mouthing something that vaguely resembles 'Good Job.', so I smile back at him nod. As he returns to the slowly decaying body to extract the core, Brendan calls me on my earpiece.

-Nice work Sierra. It seems, that your Chupacabra underwent more changes than before.- The supportive God Eater humms and I can hear him tap away as he records more information. -While you aren't able to change your weapons form, it gained a powerful piercing capability in the current form. Also, when you return to the Branch, hand over your God Arc to Licca. She came up with an idea to lengthen the grip, so you'll be able to use it like a spear, making you able to grab it with both of your hands.-

...

Why didn't they do it earlier?

-And if you wonder why wasn't it performed already, a shipment of the required Oracle Cells for your God Arc just came in recently.- Brendan chuckles, and I wonder how did he know what I was thinking. -Return to Lindow and Sakuya, report back as soon as possible. You have another mission coming up with Soma and Lindow.- The line terminates and I stare ahead blankly.

With the walking DEATH himself?

My shoulder slumps dejectedly as Lindow calls for me to go. I start with a slow stride, but when he hurries me up I get my pace together and join up with the other two.

'''Figures... Oh well, let's get it over with fast.'''

The trek back went away silently and uneventful. While Sakuya went to give a report and Lindow parked the jeep, I went to search for Licca. She had already prepared the change of the grip and gestured for me to lay my weapon on a table. As she worked on it, a voice startled me from behind.

"So, you're not entirely dead weight." Soma used that as a greeting, or at least I presumed. "On the next mission, you'll be the vanguard and your goal will be to take down as many Aragami as possible." He then started to brief me with a scowl. "Get some winter clothes, we're going to the mountains. Our targets will be Zygote's and Cocoon Maiden's." Soma then glared at me and I couldn't help, but take a step back. "What are you waiting for? Get a move on." He announced it with a low growl and I darted off to my room.

By the time I returned, Chupacabra had been outfitted with a lengthened grip making it's total length from tip to the end close to 3 meters. Licca was in that moment administering one of the pacifying canisters, when I stepped in. As she finished, she nodded to me and I  took it and walked out of the hangar.

"Did you have your beauty sleep too?" Soma snarled from inside a heli, that was prepared for us. "Get in, don't let me repeat myself."

Great...

I hope he's not going to kick me out again...

With a sour face, I got inside and sat down at the side of the door, right across the dark skinned God Eater. Without any further ado, the aerial transport lifted off. What was more than annoying, the silence that befell us. Soma had donned a rather angry expression, I was unable to speak anyways and Lindow was at the front, but with him not able to speak with me he didn't even bother trying.

In the end, I used the flight time to recall how the Zygote's and the Cocoon Maiden's were in combat. By the time we arrived at our destination, I concluded that a much harder time will befall me that it was previously with my forceps-like Chupacabra as a combat form. While I'll have a range advantage over both targets, I won't be able to sever their parts with ease like before.

"Aim for their weak spots." Soma grunted as he stood up after we landed. "Destroy their cores with a single strike." He reminded me on something we talked about in one of our training sessions.

"NO!" Soma's voice boomed from the speakers. "Sierra, you're doing it all wrong!" He called and I fumed.

Yeah, they why don't you show it to me how it's done?

"While it is good, that your God Arc can dismember an Aragami. That's just more hassle than anything. Always aim to destroy in a single strike. It doesn't matter if the core gets damaged or outright destroyed. They will be used to bolster the Anti-Aragami Wall and as a supply to the Aegis Project."

'''So, will you go on with your monologue already? I want to know where the weak points are!'''

"Usually an Aragami has a weak point in one of two locations." Soma then must have done something, as the simulator changed and a video started playing back, projected in the area. It was depicting a God Eater facing an Ogretail, with a rather large blade similar in size to what the dark skinned God Eater is using. "The most common is somewhere below the head." As the video played, the God Eater swung his weapon in a wide arc and teared off a large amount of the Aragamis head revealing a cracked core underneath the gory destruction, where Soma paused the video for a few seconds.

After a short while a new one started, this time versus a Cocoon Maiden. There was the same guy in the video, who easily avoided both the laser shots and the spike attacks, then with a single swipe it destroyed the top section of the Aragami. As the two half outer layers opened, from the inside the core became visible, where Soma paused the playback for a short while. "And as you can see, the other common variation is at the center of their bodies. While there are exceptions, you'll find the core in one of two locations."

As I finished recalling, we landed with the heli. Soma already outside, I bet he jumped out before we landed again. Lindow gestured for me to come so, I grabbed my Chupacabra and followed.

So, I'll just have to make a good angled jab and destroy the core.

Let's see how I can handle that, then.

"There appears to be some of them fighting uphill." Soma said as he and Lindow waited for me to stand beside them. "Hope you didn't forget your lessons with me." He glared at me and I shook my head vehemently. "Good, head in. We'll be right behind you."

That's what I'm afraid of actually...

Nevertheless, walking up the slope I spotted several Zygote's flying around, periodically swiping down and striking something or performing various wind of poison blasts on their targets. In return volleys of purple lasers or at time spikes erupted as they have gotten too close to their opponents.

I've spotted 3 Zygote's and 3 Maidens still fighting, some of them already out of the picture on an almost flat surface as I gotten to the top. There was one of the flying Aragami nearby me, so naturally it became my very first target. While it wasn't easy, I've ran at the Zygote and readied myself for a jumping strike.

The Aragami spotted me and turned with a scream. Immediately the two others also faced me, but by then I've already stabbed the one in front of me, which fell to the ground. One of the other Zygote's had been shot down from the sky by the Maiden's as the other one rushed at me. The one struck by me still squirmed, so I've decided to grab onto the handle of Chupacabra with both of my hands and used it as a leverage.

I flipped the body of the Zygote impaled on it to the side, then just before the one charging at me could impact I raised my weapon with all my might. Which strained me greatly, but I succeeded with my plan. The charging Zygote struck the body of the other and my weapons gotten impaled into it's body even more, ripping through it with ease killing off my first target.

Oh shit!

'''Not again!! I have to get it back...'''

I tried to pull my Chupacabra out by the hilt, but I couldn't even move it. I dodged to the side frantically to avoid a blast of air aimed at me, then again as the second Zygote charged at me again.

"Focus, dead weight!" Soma called to me as he kicked the body of my first score up in the air, then he made a small jump and kicked at it again. As I raised an eyebrow in question, my Chupacabra launched itself out of the other side with enough force to not only to impale the incoming flyer, but also to penetrate the body of it and carry through it's back.

'''HEY!! You can't do that.'''

Lindow walked over to pick up my God Arc, and threw it to me. I caught it and held it at the ready as I lunged forward to use the momentum of the incoming last Zygote to pierce into it's body. It gave a furious scream as it wasn't enough to destroy the core, so I've decided to try something else.

I flipped the Aragami sideways, so Chupacabras grip was pointing at the ground, then I jumped on the Aragami and kicked it down. As the hilt struck the ground, the force plunged the tip of my weapon deeper into the body and with a scream the Zygote went limp. After that came the hard part, as I had to remove the embedded God Arc from the body. Which took me roughly a minute or so.

"What did I say about focusing?" Soma called as he deflected another laser shot from a Maiden. I turned toward him and saw that Lindow was also standing guard over me alongside.

'''Oh... I don't get this guy...'''

Why is he grumbling constantly, yet still helping?

I walked past them as they changed to simply dodge the incoming laser shots of the Maidens with a simple side step. The attention of all three Aragami turned on me, however it was still simple to dodge the lasers. What's even more, apparently their shots couldn't penetrate the bodies of their own kind, nor it had any effect on them. So I decided to to angle myself so only one could shoot me and the other two's line of fire was being blocked.

I managed to come in range to perform an attack, however I think I've learned from the previous mistakes. I waited until it decided to try and stab me with the spikes, I took a step back and leveled my God Arc at the target in sight, before the two half open carapace parts could close, I stepped in and drove my weapon into the core, shattering it. One down, two to go.

Following the same method as before, I angled myself so that only one of the Maidens can shoot me and took down the second one similarly. Repeating that too, the third one went down fast without exception. As I finished Soma walked over, then with a grunt he gestured to follow him.

As he decided not to talk with me, we returned to the heli in silence as Lindow retrieved the last core. When he joined us, he nodded to me approvingly and took his place in front.

"You're going to train when we get back." Soma said and I stared at him. "What did you think? That you're going to be suddenly all right with that God Arc of yours?" He glared at me and I had to turn away.

Would it kill him not to be this aggressive?

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End of Chapter 2016,04,28

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