~~~Saga~~~
[20:19H]
It was the evening of July 15, 2169.
The squad's battle within Fukuoka had lasted for only Fifteen days.
Fifteen short but grueling days; even so, the kunoichi had found a place for herself in the heart of the unit as the newest member of the growing 663.
Now, the final battle on Kyushu Island was beginning in Saga.
This would be their first true major engagement involving the presence of Fieldmen.
Under the cold summer blues of the evening sky, the wind remained nothing more than a whisper, while the echoes of gunfire rolled steadily across the north of the Ariake Sea.
Ryujin, Kirashi, Kara, and Tomori stood by the floodwall, overlooking the deceptively calm waves of the shallow waters.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
To their west, bursts of light flared into the sky.
The battle had truly begun.
They all turned their heads in an instant, the sudden shift in the atmosphere pulling their focus away from the sea.
Ryujin's comms blared, and he quickly tapped the device to answer the frantic distress signal.
"SIR! INTERCEPTION AT POINT CHARLIE!"
A fieldman reported.
He furrowed his brows as he commanded,
"663, the battle has begun! To positions! Now!"
Kirashi smirked as he turned his head toward Ryujin, moving with a fluid grace to follow the orders.
Tomori, meanwhile, turned to keep her eyes sharp on Kara as she retreated toward the safety of the rear.
Another signal blinked into Ryujin's comms, more urgent than the last.
"SIR! INTERCEPTION AT POINT ALPHA!"
Ryujin did not move. He stood strong in his place, a pillar of stability as the fieldmen behind him scrambled into position.
He gripped his fist, his knuckles turning white as he stood firm against the rising tide of the conflict.
"Come and get us, ugly bastards,"
He muttered to himself.
Kirashi and Tomori remained at his side, their smiles confident and truly unfazed despite the chaos unfolding around them.
Then, suddenly—The sea boiled once again.
In that heartbeat, time slowed to a crawl for all of them.
The ocean floor seemed to heave as a massive silhouette broke the surface, the beast scattering heavy plumes of seawater high above the floodwall.
Every droplet hung suspended in the air, refracting the cold summer light as the creature's weight displaced the tide.
Kirashi and Tomori simply smiled, watching with predatory interest as the five-meter beast fully emerged from the depths.
An Earth-type Titav-class Seele.
"CONTACT! EARTH TYPE AFFIRMATIVE ON POINT SIERRA!"
A field man reported.
With no hesitation, gunfire erupted along the beach. The air grew thick with the smell of cordite as the defense line opened up.
"Let's do this! Kira!"
Tomori shouted.
She faced Kirashi and pulled down her old kunoichi mask, her eyes narrowing with focus.
In an instant, Kirashi drew his katana and took a deep breath, his lungs expanding in perfect sync with Tomori's.
"GUST SLICE!"
They shouted in unison.
FWOOOOSHHH.
A fast wind can prove fatal to an Earth-type Seele, but a strike that is both fast and a blast ensures it won't last.
The beast never even touched the sand. Tomori and Kirashi didn't allow it; the creature evaporated into the sea, the sheer impact sending ripples of wind across the water.
The field men stood frozen for a split second, stunned by how easily the duo had dismantled the threat.
Just as the beast vanished, more began to emerge.
"NOT YET!"
Ryujin shouted, his voice cutting through the roar of the waves.
Ten more quickly rose from the surf, yet the three squad members remained unfazed.
Six Earth. One Water. Three Wind.
"Ugh, that's just great!"
Tomori groaned, her eyes squinting as she assessed the new arrivals.
"TEAM SIERRA! COVER THE BLIND SPOTS! DON'T LET THEM SURROUND THE SQUAD!"
The field man captain ordered.
The gunfire returned in a deafening torrent, streaks of blue, yellow, and green illuminating the beach as the different elemental affinities clashed in the dark.
Kara kept running.
Sweat poured from her temples, her eyes wide with a slight tear streaking down her cheek.
She ran through the crossfire, moving between the paths of whistling bullets. She ran until she found the relative safety of a nearby trench in the rear and threw herself down.
She covered her ears tightly.
Her breath was heavy, her entire frame trembling in fear as she kept her eyes clamped shut and her teeth clenched against the chaos above.
~~~Aldrin's Helicopter~~~
Itoshi was frozen, his breathing calm despite the chaos. His eyes were wide, locked onto the shimmering city lights below as they blurred into streaks of gold and white. The helicopter rotor screamed, the mechanical roar the only sound capable of piercing the silence in his head.
"Ayro..."
Itoshi muttered.
Aldrin, sitting in the pilot's seat, caught the name and quickly glanced back.
"Miss Gigi... 663-B had an unexpected encounter with W.E.S.C.U. Five confirmed dead. Vice leader Ayro was left behind,"
He reported into his headset.
Through the comms, Miss Gigi's voice crackled back with cold authority.
"Bringing Itoshi back to Saga is our main priority. Lead him back here. I will send backup in case Ayro reaches out to us."
"Copy that,"
Aldrin replied.
Hearing those orders, Itoshi covered his face with his palms. His vision began to blur as he whimpered, the weight of the report finally breaking through his stoic mask.
"Ayro... Ayro..."
He muttered, his voice cracking.
"I was out too long..."
Aldrin gritted his teeth, his brows furrowed and eyes locked onto the dark night sky ahead as they soared over the terrain.
"I staye—"
Before Itoshi could finish his thought, a sharp PEW rang out.
A bullet struck the fuselage of the helicopter.
"Sir! Source of fire identified! Just below us in the mountains!"
The last remaining field man reported, his voice tight with adrenaline.
Just as he finished, a hail of bullets came raging toward the chopper, tearing through the metal skin.
"Shit!"
Aldrin shouted, fighting the controls as the aircraft shuddered.
"I cannot raise the chopper! We are far too damaged. I cannot guarantee we will last long in the sky."
He paused only to bark a command over his shoulder.
"Get secured! We are going to pull evasive maneuvers!"
Through the screens of the command center, Miss Gigi watched as everything unfolded.
She sat firmly in her seat, fingers clasped beneath her nose and eyes locked onto the monitors.
Observing. Calculating.
The rhythmic tapping of keyboards echoed through the room, punctuated by the voices of men fueled by adrenaline as they passed reports and data sheets between one another.
The Spines of the intelligence field were working their butts off, frantically generating scenarios and strategies to counter the deteriorating situation.
Miss Gigi remained silent. Until—
"SPINELS!"
The room fell into immediate, disciplined silence. The personnel turned to face her, shouting in unison,
"Yes, Ma'am!"
She raised her right arm, pointing as she commanded,
"Everyone on my right side: seek Ayro, pronto."
She paused, her gaze hardening.
"I have received a report. Our vice leader is missing, under attack by our old pals. Do it now!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
They responded before returning to their consoles with renewed intensity.
Miss Gigi settled back into her chair once more, her eyes never leaving the screens.
"Vice Leader... what kind of shit did you get yourself into this time?"
~~~Fukuoka~~~
Miles away from the salt-spray of Saga and the screaming rotors of Kitakyushu, the world was unnervingly quiet.
The facility was clean, the air smelling faintly of antiseptic and old paper.
Here, the only sound was the rhythmic, soft hum of the ventilation system.
No gunfire.
No Seele rumbles.
No panicked comms.
"Ai Jayu-Joo, huh?"
The man at the counter muttered, looking through Jayu's limited documents.
He then turned to Jayu, who was clutching Kara's stuffed toy tightly, and raised one brow in curiosity.
"Mhm!"
Her caretaker replied with a bright smile.
"She's the child the squad took in!"
"Eh?.."
He hummed, his interest lingering for a moment before returning to the paperwork.
The child sat on the edge of the cot, her legs dangling, not quite touching the floor.
Her caretaker—a young girl with brown hair, hazel eyes, and dressed in all white—came back to her with a soft expression.
"You'll be staying here until the island gets a little more quiet, Ai-chan,"
She paused, her voice softening.
"Sorry it ain't much but... I'll be here if you need me, okay?"
Jayu wrapped her arms around Kara's stuffed toy as she replied, her lips clenched.
"Mhm... I don't mind..."
The caretaker raised her brow slightly, sensing the child's distance, before retreating a step.
"I'll go take your dinner... okay?"
She informed her.
Then, she started to walk away, her footsteps disappearing into the sterile hallway.
Jayu looked at her small, pale hands, then toward the window where the summer moon hung cold and indifferent. Out there, the sky was likely burning with blue flames and wind-shear.
Out there, it was loud, terrifying, and bloody.
But out there, she had a name. Out there, she had the squad.
She gripped the stuffed toy, her knuckles turning the same white as the sterilized sheets.
The Spines offered a safety that felt like disappearing.
The squad offered a danger that felt like living.
Jayu buried her face into the soft, plush fabric of the toy, the scent of the squad's chaotic home still lingering faintly in its threads. In the sterile silence of the ward, it was the only thing that felt real.
"Kara-nee?.. Where are you now?.."
Kara was still in the safety of the trench as gunfire and the field men roared through the field.
Clutched inward, she froze as tears flowed slowly from her eyes.
"I'm... scared..."
She thought to herself.
"Koya?... Jayu-chan?..."
Her thoughts dwindled as the repeated gunfire and terrified screams echoed all around her. Then, a muffled voice called out to her.
"Blae Tmae!"
It called once more.
"Blu Teym!"
Kara's eyes remained shut.
"I'm... I'm scare—"
Before she could finish her thought, a Spine pulled her shoulder.
"Miss Blue Tame!"
Kara's eyes widened, locking onto the brave Spine's eyes, her mouth slightly open.
"Are you Miss Blue Tame?!"
The woman asked.
Kara paused, reorganizing her thoughts.
"Blue... Y-Yes! I'm Blue Tame!"
The Spine lady blew a sigh of relief.
"Okay, good... I thought you were a goner—"
She paused. "Can you heal?!" She asked.
Kara couldn't hear her properly with the constant firing.
"I-I'm sorry?" Kara asked.
"Fuck! It's too loud!"
The Spine lady took a deep breath and shouted.
"I'M A SPIPO, MISS BLUE TAME! CAN YOU HEAL?!"
Note: SPIne supPOrt field.
Kara nodded.
"Ah... Y-yeah!"
"Help us, ma'am! We need assistance!"
Kara followed behind the Spine lady.
"Keep your head down, ma'am!"
Kara hummed.
"Mhm!"
Eventually, they made their way to the small medical area in the battlefield. There, more SPIPOs were locked in movement, healing and taking care of their injured comrades.
"Here, ma'am! He needs you the most!"
Kara turned to the soldier. He had a huge, fresh claw mark across his face.
Kara flinched, covering her mouth with her hand. The Spine lady started to patch the man's wounds.
"Ma'am! Let's hurry!"
"O-Ok!"
Kara quickly spread her palms over the man's chest.
A green glow slowly illuminated the little medical area dug into the trenches. Nearby, a Seele noticed the glow.
Earth type.
It snarled as bullets rained over it, but it remained unfazed.
It rushed toward the glow, its movement on all fours making the earth beneath it shake.
It tore away the covering atop the medical area, exposing everyone inside. The Seele screeched, delighted.
Time once again stretched.
In that agonizing expansion of a second, the world fell into a sickening, rhythmic pulse.
Kara was once again millimeters from being grabbed by a Seele.
She could see the individual grains of sediment packed into the creature's rocky hide, the way the seawater dripped from its jagged claws in thick, slow-motion beads.
The stench of wet earth and ancient decay filled her nostrils, so thick it felt like she was breathing in mud.
Her heart hammered against her ribs—a frantic, hollow sound that seemed to be the only thing moving at normal speed.
She watched the Seele's maw unhinge, a dark, silent abyss of stone and hunger. She wanted to scream, to move, to crawl back into the dirt, but her muscles were locked in a state of catatonic surrender.
The green glow of her own healing light reflected in the creature's hollow, predatory eyes, marking her as the brightest thing in a world of grey.
The Seele's claw descended, cutting through the air with the weight of a falling mountain. It was so close she could feel the cold displacement of air against her skin.
But then—
PSHOOO!
PSHOOOOOOOOO!!
The vacuum was shattered. Two violent, concentrated gusts of wind tore through the frozen moment.
They didn't just hit the Seele; they detonated against its rocky anatomy. The creature's lead arm was pulverized into dust and shrapnel, and its head snapped back as the second blast compressed the air around its skull until the stone fractured like glass.
The sudden return of physics sent a shockwave of grit and wind-shear over the medical pit.
Kara turned her head toward the source, her hair whipping violently across her face.
She could barely make out the silver flash of kunai that had whistled past her ear, still humming with the resonance of the strike.
There, she saw Tomori. 260 meters away.
She wasn't standing; she was suspended in the air upside-down, her legs in a wide split as the cold light of the moon caught the edges of her dark outfit, making it glow against the black sky.
Her old kunoichi mask was dampened by the mist, but her sunset-hue eyes remained dry, piercing through the chaos with a terrifying, sharpened clarity.
She looked less like a savior and more like a storm that had temporarily taken human shape.
~~~To be Continued~~~