“No one’s gonna be left behind.”
That seemed to be a good promise to make.
-
[3 Days later]
I woke up to the sound of the siren blaring so loud the sleep was knocked out of me. Literally.
Why? I fell off the damn bed. Dammit.
I scrambled to untangle myself from the sheets, and I darted up from the floor to quickly don my clothes which was always waiting readily in the dresser beside my Blood Uniform. I had no time to brush my teeth, or take a bath, but I still sucked it up and speed dressed as fast as I could, running out of my room soon after.
I was joined by a disheveled Romeo-san and a panicking Nana in the elevator just before it shut close.
“Where’s Izanami-san and Captain?” I asked, shoving my hand through my damned bed hair to tame it to the best of my abilities without a comb. Romeo shrugged, grimacing as he straightened his beanie before rubbing the sleep gunk out of his eyes.
“Dunno, didn’t catch them come back on our floor last night. Wait,” he checked the clock over our heads, and we did a collective wince. “Correction; earlier. Stupid Aragami not even giving us a few more hours of sleep. Really?! We just got an hour and a half!” He lamented, running his hands down his face.
“I was having suchhhhaaaaaagh-“ Nana was interrupted by a huge yawn coming from her, which practically showed her molars. “-good dream…” She finished, head nodding down to only jerk back up.
I grimaced. “Well, this is the life of a God Eater, I guess.” I muttered.
Soon enough, we were deposited onto the FRIAR Lobby, and to our confusion Izanami-san and Captain were already there, clothes immaculate and their faces fresh. Did they even sleep?!
“I was awake, and so was Julius.” Izanami-san said as a way of greeting. How did he know what I was- “You do know you’re talking, right?” He asked, eyebrow raised in incredulity. I resisted the urge to smack my face. My obliviousness will be the death of me one day, I just know it...
I waved my hand. “I don’t care at the moment, Izanami-san. What’s the situation?” It was Captain who answered.
“A large group of Kongou-type Aragami spotted perilously close to FRIAR’s route, more likely the one the small pack Ryuuka eradicated a few days ago. The God Arc Soldiers can’t be mobilized in time, so Special Forces Blood and Extermination Squads One through Four shall be responding to the alert. Here,” At this, Captain and Izanami-san handed us canned drinks. I took mine with a momentary glance at the front. ‘First Love Juice’? Weird name. But at any rate, I popped the top off and took a gulp.
Wow, delicious.
I took a sip again, before speaking. “Any signs of aggression, Captain?”
Julius nodded. “Yes. It’s primitive; but they somehow seem to plan on attacking FRIAR just right outside the field of the Anti-Aragami Armor’s influence.” I grimaced, but said nothing as our Captain continued to speak. “They may not be suited for ranged assault, but they inflict a wide area of attack with their whirlwind-like air blasts. The threat they pose with their number is enough for the mission to be classed as Rank 4 Mission, and will go on your records if successful.”
I swallowed thickly, feeling the cold sweat gather at my palms and back of my neck.
It was at that moment when Other God Eaters slowly trickled into the Lobby, most of them older God Eaters and obviously more experienced. A handful of them greeted Julius, and I guess they’re the other Captains, with the assured yet wary way they move.
Come to think about it, Captain Julius and Izanami-san moves the same way. Romeo-san moves like that here and there, but most of the time he moves casually.
“Are all Units here?” All of us looked up at the upper floor of the Lobby, and saw a rotund man with a good amount of age lines on his face looking down at us while puffing away on an old-fashioned pipe. “Good, good. I’ll cut to the chase; a pack of mangy Kongou and their underlings are spotted three hundred kilometers straight ahead of FRAIR’s path, seemingly preparing an ambush. Objective is to eliminate every single one of the damned Aragami, leave none alive!”
Loud, strong choruses of ‘sir yes sir!’ thundered through the lobby, making the floor actually shake a little bit beneath my feet. The man nodded, satisfied at our response, and he saluted. “Strike the beasts down, you hear me? Show them Fenrir’s Fangs! Operation ‘Monkey Business’; begin!”
With that all of us moved out, the Extermination Squads going first. Blood was stopped by the man – who seems to be the commanding officer here – and Captain Julius, Izanami-san and Romeo-san immediately snapped to attention, snapping a perfect salute the could put the others to shame and exuding an air of militaristic professionalism. It was kinda sad that Nana and I can’t pull it off like they do.
“If it isn’t Leah and Rachel’s kids…” Huh? ‘Kids’? I mean, yeah, we’re kinda young, but to call even Captain ‘kid’…? “Hn, you brats are lucky your moms are pretty good negotiators, and convinced me to allow you two to be temporary leaders of this Operation. Julius-boy shall be Acting Head Captain, Ryuuka-boy Second-In-Command. I expect success from you two.”
“Yes, General Graemethrower.”
“Understood.”
What? What? ‘Kids’? ‘Moms’? Captain and Izanami-san?! Are they related?!
“Good, get your assess down the Deployment Docks.”
I stiffly followed my leaders to the elevator, feeling a little dizzy from the General’s – from what they said, anyway – words. The doors of the elevator closed, and I looked at the men leaning against the wall in what seems like meditation.
“What-“
“Rookie, if you like to talk, then don’t ask questions. But if you don’t, I’ll bloody cut that tongue of yours from your mouth for you.” I jerked back, not expecting such a venomous reaction. I know – saw – that Izanami-san isn’t a saint, but this is just…
“Ryuuka…” Romeo-san muttered in reproach, eyes narrowed. Izanami-san stared right back at him, lips pulled back in a snarl.
“Mind your business, Romeo-senpai.”
“Ryuuka, I would not tolerate your attitude right now and most of all I would not tolerate your aggression towards your squad mates.” In all the times I’ve seen the man; our Captain was a cool and collected as ice. Never before had I seen him even remotely pissed, and to see him now terrified me, even more so than seeing Izanami-san. Captain’s eyes seemed to have a red ring around the pupil, which was honestly a lot scarier than when his eyes would flash red for a moment when his using his famed ‘Blood Art’. “You shall keep your silence, or you shall be removed from this mission.”
Izanami-san’s scowl was deep, and he looked away with a click of his tongue. I feel bad for causing them to fight, when it was obvious the three of them were close. I opened my mouth to apologize, only to stop when I saw Romeo-san shake his head discreetly. He then mouthed ‘tell you later’, to which I hesitantly nodded.
My plan of now screwing up seemed to blow up in my face due to my curiosity. I sighed as quietly as I could in sadness. I…
Don’t want to be hated…
--
“Fire at my command.” The sound of the chopper blades churning the air were the only things I could hear aside from Captain’s voice over the intercom, and as I looked at Izanami-san, Romeo-san and him, I tried to emulate their calm states, only to fail miserably. Romeo-san still had his energy, as shown by him shifting from foot to foot, as if anxious to move, and Julius is in his usual calm self. The fiery Izanami-san disappeared though, and the one currently wearing his face is a Soldier.
It actually scares me how different some people are when on a mission.
“Ne, Hiro-kun, are we going to be okay?” Nana asked, wringing her wrists in nervousness and squirming in her seat. I smiled at her and offered her my hand, which she gladly took, squeezing it to reassure her, and myself too. I squeezed her hand back.
“Yeah… With Senpai and the others, we can.” I replied. I will trust them. The siege began just then.
“FIRE!” I winced when a loud ‘BANG’ went off, followed by several more others, and I saw Izanami-san skid across the helicopter floor, the kickback from his Sniper rather strong. He was saved by Romeo-san, who absently grabbed Izanami-san’s already outstretched hand as the taller male skid clear off the helicopter floor, ready to fall. I almost screamed right then and there, only to stop when Romeo-san heaved and brought Izanami-san back around, the guy landing on his feet without a hitch.
How powerful was that bullet to have a kickback like that? And how many times have they done this?
Romeo-san grinned over at me, index finger repeatedly pointing down. “Might wanna see this.” So Nana and I stood up from our seats and look down. Uh… Are those really Sniper lasers, or high-explosive mortar rounds?
“Snipers ready for second fire; front-line assault team, prepare!” That was my cue to ready myself. When I saw Izanami-san shift to his God Arc’s Blade mode, which was a Charge Spear component, my damn mouth moved before I could stop it.
“Izanami-san, you’re frontline-?”
“Yes, my Oracle Bullets are specially made, but at the moment I could only support one or two shots for the entirety of a mission.” I was so shocked that not only he replied, but his voice was completely void of his usual scorn. His lone eye landed on me. “I’m more of an assault fighter, anyway.”
I nodded numbly, stiffly moving to stand behind Romeo-san as we filed before the exits, ready to drop on the Kongous. Romeo-san grinned at me. “He’s slightly nicer when on mission, but stay away from him for now, okay?” He whispered, before patting me on the back. “Well, unless you want to get to be sliced into ribbons.”
Stay away from Izanami-san… got it. I swallowed, and when Julius gave the signal, we all jumped off and engaged the Aragami.
Bracing my Long Sword against myself as I fell – I’ve felt the most comfortable with Long Sword, I found out – I engaged Impulse Edge, making the Kongou directly below me to roar in pain as Oracle Bullets exploded right in its face. Impulse also did the trick of slowing down my descent, giving me enough time to strengthen my legs with my Oracle Cells so as not to be hurt.
Romeo-san and Nana needed no such thing, as they used the gravity to their advantage by literally hammering down on the Kongou I blasted. First to fall was Romeo-san, who was practically pushing down on the side of his blade to deliver a concussive blow to the Kongou’s head, breaking its face at the same time dizzying it. Nana, her Hammer’s Boost Drive activated and blazing, making her spin several times midair before hitting the Kongou and actually breaking the shell on its torso and the top of the torso itself.
What terrifying physical power.
I chose that moment to strike at our opponent, though, darting forward to deliver a one-two slice combo before darting away to dodge the spin it did though, attempting to grab at us in the process.
“Gun Mode!” I announced, letting Romeo-san and Nana know so they know not to get in the way of my line of fire. Not that Oracle Bullets hurt God Eater in any way, but it’s an annoyance if you get constantly hit by it, more so if the bullet you were hit with are overly explosive bombs or high-impact pierce bullets.
The Kongou we were targeting fell soon enough, and Nana had the honor of the first bite, since she was the one who dealt the decisive blow. I looked around the battlefield as I awaited my turn, and our dead Kongou was another notch to the already decent number the Extermination Squads have racked up.
“Romeo!” My head whipped around to see our Captain and Izanami-san engaging a strange looking Kongou, with what seemed like cloth wrapped around its shoulders instead of pipe-like structures growing from the back. It also seemed to have golden armor, if the sparks flying about every time Captain or Izanami-san attacks are any signs.
“Monkey problem, Julius?” Romeo-san called back with a laugh, dodging away from a stray air orb and shifting to Gun mode, giving a return fire to whichever Aragami that sent the attack.
Julius nodded, eyes still on the opponent. “Yes, monkey problem.” He grimaced a bit. “I hate armored Araga-“
“Why don’t you just die, you starved beast?!” Captain was interrupted by an enrage declaration from Izanami-san, who had led the Kongou a little to the side to engage it in a one-on-one.
Overhead, stab-thrust, backflip, dive, Izanami-san was fast, but because his weapon is a Pierce-type, he isn’t doing much damage. But despite the disadvantage, Izanami-san refused to let up on his assault, constantly striking and hitting the Aragami with his God Arc. I think I could also understand why Romeo-san warned me to stay away from Izanami-san; with the way he uses his God Arc as an extra-limb.
A bladed extra limb, that is.
“Yeesh, Ryuuka, you could do with a bit more patience.” Romeo-san muttered, before he tapped Nana and I on the shoulder and pointed to the other God Eaters. “At the moment, you’re too inexperienced to go with me, so go help the others, okay?”
I watched him leave to help Captain and Izanami-san, and I ran off with Nana to join the other God Eaters.
--
To be Continued in Part 2
--
Uhh… It’s harder to limit oneself with 2.5K words than reaching the normal 4K quota, I realized.
Still having fun, though.
Q: Are the Kongous too easy here? I mean, I’ve had the Extermination Squads One to Four (I’m pretty sure FRIAR have other God Eaters aside from Blood), and the number of Kongous in my head when I wrote the latter part of this is 1x Fierce Kongou, 2x Fallen Kongou, and finally 5x Kongou. Let’s say each squad normally consists of a six-man team, is the match up reasonable? And the Mission Rank.