- Captain Taka during the debriefing after the Neu Düsseldorf incursion, 2050<
You’d think that the day couldn’t really get any worse. Ammo was running low, the Samurai meant to protect us had a full mental breakdown, and we couldn’t be sure if she was still sane enough to not attack us. Her running away had been a kind of relief, considering that it reduced the chances of her changing targets.
The logical issue was, of course, that now there was nothing between the shelter and the aliens trying to get in. Yes, one angle of attack had been rendered a non-issue, but there were a lot more angles of attack than just that one. And now any one of the plant fuckers had no trouble getting from there to us.
With a sound that any soldier dreads, my rifle clicked empty. That had been my second to last mag, and there was still no other help in sight. Pulling the mag, and letting it drop to the ground, I grabbed for the last one I had available. Quickly checking with the others revealed that there were much in the same situation.
Greg had already run dry entirely, using his rifle as a bat to fight off any xenos trying to climb the barricades. I really didn’t want to think about his chances of survival.
By some miracle the activity died down a bit. Likely the estimated decrease in activity Paul had reported earlier. That at least gave us a moment to try and get our bearings. And it gave me a moment to try and see if I couldn’t contact anyone. I didn’t have high hopes for that, considering that the net connection was basically non-existent at the moment, but hey, it only cost me like 150 credits per message to try. And I’d take that on the off chance that those 150 credits might save my life.
Hopefully.
As was to be expected, I couldn’t reach the evacuation convoy. Nor was I able to contact the Captain in charge of the other shelter. HQ wasn’t answering either, to nobody’s surprise. Problem was, I didn’t have a whole lot of credits on me, and with no net connection to use my bank funds, my message attempts were running out.
You’d think that they wouldn’t be able to update the balance with no connection, but of course, that wasn’t how things worked. So I had to make my messages count.
With no real other idea, and a dwindling amount of time available for any sort of assistance to arrive, I decided to give it one last go, contacting the general emergency line. It ran on the normal net connection, so really, my chances for it working were basically nil.
I had barely even confirmed sending a message, when I suddenly found myself staring at a young woman. A young woman who anyone who had a pair of functioning eyes would recognise as a Samurai.
First of all, no normal human could just appear out of nowhere. Second, no person I was aware of, that wasn’t a Samurai, had what appeared to be working and functioning fox ears, and a tail. And while she was only wearing a pretty nondescript graphic shirt and pencil skirt, the immensely oversized claymore on her back did give her a certain presence.
And despite of it all, I nearly broke up laughing when I saw the image printed on her shirt. A small, white fox with a line that read “Fox around and find out” below it.
At that moment in time, I was almost convinced that this was some sort of weird nightmare.
“I heard you have a problem. How can I help?” It took me a moment to even really hear her words.
“Uh…” And I wasn’t quite sure how to even begin to respond to that. None of this made any sense at all, and I also couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I’ve seen this woman before somewhere. Which I would’ve thought I’d remember, considering that she was hard to overlook.
Finally my brain fully re-engaged, although I didn’t actually get time to respond, before she spoke up with a reassuring smile.
“Hmm okay, I see. I’ll put down some ammo here, feel free to distribute it as needed. I’ll leave Inari and Kurama with you and go check out what’s up with the new kid.”
Behind her, a few crates of what I assumed was ammunition, stacked as high as she was tall appeared and two foxes hopped out of a portal.
“If you need anything more, just talk to one of them, they can contact me.”
And with that she turned around and wandered off, in the same direction Zuri had run in. I was left behind blinking, not entirely sure if this interaction had really happened, or if I may also be suffering from a mental breakdown myself.
“What in the name of fuck is happening…” Jeremy’s exclamation was the first indication that I might not be on my way to the next asylum.
The second was the fact that the boxes didn’t disappear, and the foxes both casually looked and sniffed around without turning into a puff of smoke.
Then, one of them did disappear, although without a puff of smoke to disappear into.
“What has my life become?” Even I noticed the slight strain of insanity in my own voice.
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“We have incoming!” Paul’s voice ripped me out of my doubts about my own sanity, and promptly threw me back into the cold waters of reality.
Whatever had just happened, the boxes were real, and did, as the mysterious woman had said, contain ammunition. And not the cheap stuff either, this was proper quality ammo. I couldn’t be certain without opening all of them, but from the little I saw, I was also pretty sure that it was stuff for all of the weapons we had on hand. Including the weird contraptions Zuri had put down earlier.
Forcing myself to focus, I nodded to myself. Magical intervention or not, we still had a shelter full of people to protect.
“Everyone! Reload and prepare for the next wave!”
The next wave was met with what I can only call anti-xeno munitions. I had already noticed that the stuff the fox-woman had given us was high quality, but I would never have expected to see something this destructive. It had to be insanely expensive. Part of me was honestly tempted to try and preserve as much of it as possible, for future use, and because I knew that the Major would likely worry about potentially being sued over the use. He was a bit of an idiot that way.
Honestly, though… It was far too much fun. For all this mess, being able to finally completely eradicate these xenos was enjoyable. And it was also good for morale. Not even five minutes ago we had kind of accepted that we might all die here.
Now? We were killing xenos in job lots, sometimes multiple with one shot. Something impossible with our usual ammo.
That said, I was still apprehensive about hoping for too much, considering how the rest of the day had gone so far. And Murphy was always watching.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt as cathartic as I did now, rushing from alien to alien, ripping these fuckers into a million bits. I felt powerful, unstoppable, utterly on top of the world, and I loved it. The ability to eradicate this plague that had forced Yurei back into the life of combat and sadness that she was so desperately trying to get away from, filled me with a level of joy and revelry that I didn’t have the words to express.
I was carnage, I was death incarnate, and I could obliterate anyone who tried to get into my way, or the way of my sister.
Please be aware that your batteries are almost depleted across the board. In a few minutes your defences will no longer be able to ward off the attacks of such a large force of adversaries.
While I couldn’t see myself, obviously, I was pretty sure I was grinning like an idiot, my left blade, the one with the black metal and skull, slicing up yet another tentacled freak trying to get to me. Whatever the long chains were that I had attached to my arms snaked outward, crushing a small force of bird-like thingies trying to peck at me. At the same time, my other blade cleanly took off the head of one of the dogs.
Suddenly the black blade disappeared, leaving me unarmed just as I was about to bury it in the head of another fucker. That was weird, but also not a problem. I had my chains and my other weapon.
Or maybe I didn’t? I was a bit confused when I suddenly found myself without either of the greatswords. Had I lost them somewhere? Oh well, chains it was then!
Dashing forwards, I trampled the remains of some plant fuck, whirling my arms around to smash the length of the chains into a larger group in front of me. I almost cackled at the glee I felt, watching them be turned to paste, alien goo splattering everywhere. Such a beautiful sight!
Again, I swung, turning with the motion. Another group of aliens were turned to paste, and this time I did cackle. Not stopping, I continued to turn, to crush even more of them, but nothing happened. Where had my chains gone? I wasn’t sure.
Then, suddenly, pain. Pure agony shot through me, making me gasp in shock. I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but something wasn’t right. Where had my weapons gone? Why did I hurt suddenly? Maybe I should take a moment to sit down?
Another wave of agony, this one more powerful than the first, and I screamed. What was happening? Where was I even? And where was Yurei? Was she in trouble, did she need help?
I wanted to search for her, but moving hurt, and I wasn’t quite sure where I even was. I had to take a breather, make sure that I could find her, then set out. Yurei would be fine, she was always fine. She was strong and knew how to defend herself. Very much unlike me. She’d find a safe spot and be fine.
Something appeared in my vision, although it was hard to make out. I thought it was a face, but it couldn’t be. Humans didn’t have large ears on their head. Maybe this was my guardian angel or something? Maybe whoever it was could help me find Yurei.
Some words echoed around me somewhere, although I wasn’t quite sure what they meant. They sounded pretty soothing, though. I liked the sound of them. It made me feel comfy and sleepy.
A new sensation, the pain suddenly vanishing. I gasped, my world turned upside down. The voice became a bit more clear.
“You really gotta be more mindful of your surroundings, kid. Seriously, if I was still tied up dealing with the epicenter, you would be dead. And so would the people in that shelter, but let’s worry about that later. How are you doing?”
I tried to blink, clearing my vision. Only a moment later did I realise that I was crying. I just didn’t know why? Where was I? And what was this person talking about? Epicenter? Shelter?
I was in the park, no? I saw green around me, so that must be right. But where was Yurei? She never went that far away from me. And I couldn’t remember her having to go somewhere. Actually, where was anyone? I couldn’t see any of my classmates around, only this person I didn’t know.
“Are you real?” I couldn’t help myself but ask. Something was wrong, I just didn’t know what. It was similar to that feeling of having forgotten something, and knowing you forgot it, but not having any idea of what it was. Like walking into a room and forgetting why you had gone there in the first place.
“Real enough to help you, I suppose.” It almost sounded like a note of humour.
Slowly, very slowly, the world around me became more clear. It was still blurry, but I started to hear again. To smell again. The scent of freshly cut grass was almost nauseating. In the distance there were pops, but I didn’t quite know what they were. They almost sounded like gunfire in the movies. But that couldn’t be. Why would there be gunfire in the park?
Focus, Zuri Neylan. Focus, and breathe. Just breathe. Slowly in, hold it for a moment, then slowly out. Follow my lead.
A voice that sounded familiar but I couldn’t place seemed to come out of nowhere. I wasn’t quite sure who it was, but I felt like I could trust them, so I decided to do as I was asked. Breathing was easy, I’ve done it all my life. And, despite the stench, it was calming.
Every breath made it easier to see the world around me. Then it fully came into focus, and my eyes widened. All around me were dead and mangled bodies. My heartrate shot up, and I screamed. Something horrible had happened, and I couldn’t remember!
Then, the world went dark.
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