“Fuck.”
Lee sighs heavily after realizing too late what he walked into. He cursed himself for not realizing that the place was too quiet for his own good. He slowly but steadily moves his arm behind his back, before pulling out one of his guns that was tucked beneath his pants.
He grips the handgun tightly, before listening intently if there was any sound of movements on his surroundings. It dawned to him that he lost quite sometime of training, since he has lived a rather laid-back life up til now. He raises his arm and aims the gun at an alleyway.
“Who’s there? C'mon, if you're gonna mug someone on the streets, atleast show yourse–”
SWOOSH~
SLICE
*THUNK!*
Lee stood frozen in place as a small knife flew right past his head. The blade made a visible cut on his cheek, which was so precise and quick that he didn't even feel the pain after a couple of seconds later.
He looks back in complete horror to see that the knife was embedded on the marble stone that made up the house a few feet away from him. It looked like a simple knife, yet the sheer amount of force, and the unrealistic speed made his skin crawl.
Seeing that his life was now endangered, he fires his plasma pistol on where he thinks the attack came from. The sizzling blue tracers made easy work on the walls of the house, burning through them as he rained down enough fire to kill a human being.
However, as smoke and dust came from the house, a figure leapt out of the haze and into the air. Clad in black jacket, the person, to which Lee assumed was his stalker, rushed towards him with superb speed. Lee aimed his gun deadcenter at the masked attacker, but before he could pull the trigger, something hit his gun.
!?
‘Shit! A sniper!?’
The pistol clattered off to the sidewalk, leaving him alone with his fists. He didn't have the luxury of time to see where the shot came from, as the person right in front of him already pulled out two short swords.
He stepped to the side to avoid a thrust aimed at his neck, and dodged a strike that could have disemboweled him. Staggering backwards like a drunkard, Lee found himself in front of a skilled assassin while fighting for his life.
He grabs the nearest thing he could see, which was an old rusted pipe, and used it as a weapon. The attacker stopped for a moment, before raising a hand in the air. She then made a couple of hand gestures that made no sense to Lee.
This gave him enough time to stand up to his feet, and he fixes his gait as he held the makeshift weapon with both hands. The tension in the air was suffocating, and the killing intent the masked foe gave him was palpable.
He couldn't see past the dark visor of their goggles, but based on the person's slender figure, he could tell that he was facing a girl. Lee's thoughts was interrupted when the attacker made her move, dashing to the side at breakneck speed before jumping to a wall.
She kicked back using both legs and used the momentum of her free real estate ride to propel herself towards him. A powerful kick landed at his body, causing him to be thrown a few feet away.
*Thud*
“Guhhh...” Lee groans as he limply sat on the ground. The sheer force of that kick made him wince in pain as he puts a hand on his side. A rib or two might have broke from that single strike alone, but he had to ignore it.
After all, he didn't want his life to end here, a place deprived of life. He still has to buy sweets for Jane on the way back home, and he plans to confess his feelings later tonight. It would probably suck real bad if authorities find a decaying corpse on the side of this abandoned street.
“...I can't die here...not like this...” Lee wheezed out, grunting as he stood up. He used the wall behind him as support, before pointing his weapon at his attacker. He then flashes a weak grin, earning a raised eyebrow from the girl.
“After all... I still got a date tonight.”
SLASH
CLANG!
He charges at the masked attacker, causing their weapons to collide on impact. A flurry of bright sparks and flashes lit up the street, and the deafening sounds of blades colliding with industrial steel resounded throughout the place.
While their small skirmish was happening, it didn't go unnoticed. Scout, who was the one who shot off Lee's weapon, immediately contacted Ace and the others about it after Elizabeth used some hand gestures.
He was equally surprised that the blonde Sarkaz even managed to tank that powerful kick from her.
And after a few minutes after he sent that notice, new orders were also passed by Dr. Kal'tsit.
“All undercover teams, converge on the church. I repeat, all undercover teams–”
“Alright, you heard her.” Kal'tsit's voice echoed on the speaker walls. Ace and the rest of the elite and well experienced mercenaries are gathered near the armory.
“Scout, Logos and the others are all coming back here, so we need people outside the garrison. I'm gonna need four squads to come with me outside and back Elizabeth up.” Ace said as he faced dozens of Babel mercenaries.
“Bad Tom, Bronze Nose, Caries, Confidenty, Green Pea and Hard brick. You six, with me.” He pointed at the six members of his squad, earning nod from them.
He strapped a protective vest on his body before grabbing his warhammer and shield. The other mercenaries are seemingly all hyped up after learning that they are seeing some sort of action. As the chattering continues, Ace glances behind him.
“Blaze, care to lead the second team?” The Phytia asked a dark blue haired feline. She immediately stood up after hearing her name.
The girl, revealed as Blaze, gives him a smirk before tapping a gloved hand on her combat chainsaw.
“You bet I will.”
“Alright. Lunar Silver, Kerg, Sandwash, Seventeen, Violet Flame and WoodsPoon. You guys go with Blaze. Your squad will circle around the old church and try to intercept anyone that might be part of this skirmish.”
Blaze gave him a thumbs up. “Don't worry, we'll get 'em for sure!”
The old and heavy metal doors of the former military installation slowly opened, and Blaze led her team outside to secure the outer perimeter. Ace then looks over to his side and motions for a man of which he still couldn't quite discern which race he belongs.
“Misery. Care to lead squad 3?”
The man named as Misery steps up and nods in agreement. “Sure, just make sure not to send us into death's jaws like the Doctor does.”
Ace knew that even though he phrased it like a joke, there was a whole chunk of truth in his sentence that even he couldn't deny. He just shakes his head and sighs.
“It won't come to that. You take Leafa, Macron, Mary, Milim, ThumbTack and Tipsy with you. Meet up logos on the northern entrance of the ruins and expand your search in there. If necessary, take no prisoners.” Ace ordered.
They still don't have any concrete evidence as to which organization they were dealing with, and if it was Theresis’ spies, then this place might just turn into a warzone.
“Got it. Ol’ Outcast wants in on the fun too, though I suggest you don't give her combat operations.” Misery suggested with a snicker, earning a light slap in the back by a female Sankta.
“Ye’r gonna haf'ta loosen up with the jokes. Which squad am I leading?” The Sankta named Outcast queried.
“Mimi, Mudflower, P'ter, Scorpion, Slanna and Slink. Your group would be meeting up with Scout on the southern end of town. That leads up to the edge of the forest, so take positions on the dense treeline for reconnaissance.”
Outcast agreed, before rallying up her said squadmates. “We'll be heading off. Try not to level the place Ace.” The old Sankta said with a smile.
Ace glances around him, and most of the inexperienced mercenaries are just mingling around. Some were just sitting on the bunk beds near the walls, while the others were practicing with their arts and weapons. In order for Babel to survive, they even have to use outsiders to fight for their cause.
What a chaotic world they live in.
“Alright, let's move out!” Ace roars at the others, earning a determined cry in response. All they have to do was to subdue any enemy they could find.
.
.
.
///
SLASH
“You. You're surprisingly good.” Elizabeth says as she blocked an overhead attempt from Lee's industrial pipe.
CLANG!
“And you can talk. That's surprising.” Lee vexed.
They have been going at it for at least twenty minutes now, exchanging hard blows in hopes to maim the other one into submission. Elizabeth mostly did consistent and considerable damage to Lee, to which he can't even return the favor.
Being the ranged gunslinger that he is, he can't match the mobility and flexibility of someone like her that uses swords in combat. At first glance she seems like a lowly mercenary, since her seemingly petite figure, coupled by the faded design of her clothes made her appearance looked so sloppy.
However, that wasn't the fact, as Lee learned the hard way when he got his ass handed to him. He kept convincing himself that her fighting style was just like Lucia's, but then it turns out to be completely different and unorthodox compared to his former task force leader.
Lee grits his teeth and swings his weapon in a wide arc, causing Elizabeth to raise her right arm in retaliation. He was going for a feint strike, but little did he know, she was also doing the same. Their weapons collided, sending shrill shockwaves throughout their surroundings.
Due to their bodies' close proximity, he used this momentum to bum-rush her. Using his larger frame, Lee planted his feet on the ground and hits her with his shoulder. He strikes overhead again and pushed down on his weapon in hopes to pin her to the wall, but failed to do so when he received a kick in the abdomen.
Seeing this short opening, Elizabeth used the opportunity to run and propel herself in the air, spinning wildly while her swords did the job. Lee could feel the sharp steel blades cutting on his forearm as he tried to block the attack.
‘I’m losing too much blood...’
He could feel blood gushing out from the wounds he received, and the distinct coppery smell of his blood enveloped his nostrils. As he staggered backwards, his head started to throb in pain while his vision started to become blurry.
Disoriented, he couldn't even hear anything other than the thumping of his accelerated blood vessels on his ears. The menacing figure of his attacker slowly approached him, and there was only one thing he could do.
He flails his weapon upwards, landing a very lucky and successful hit on her hand.
One of her weapons flew away in a rather boring fashion. The girl jumps back to avoid further attacks from him. He sees her land perfectly on her feet before massaging her sore hand. He felt proud at that moment that he managed to damage 1 hp on this sudden boss fight.
Despite putting up a good fight, his body was slowly dwindling down. The frailness of his human body angered him, but there was nothing he could do. Terrans were essentially in a higher plane than humans, both physically and mentally. The unsteady balance of this world made them adapt more faster.
Besides, not being able to use the thing that's so called ‘arts’ annoys Lee. He doesn't know if it's his own shortcomings for being overly complacent, or if it's because the girl that's slowly walking towards him was using some sort of arts to boost her attacks. Either way, he can't know for sure, as he was yanked hard by the ruff of his collar and slammed into the wall.
“It’s over. Tell us why you're here with your fellow spies, Sarkaz.” Elizabeth says as she rests the sharpened end of her sword on the blonde's neck. “How long have you been operating deep within Victoria?”
Lee feels blood climbing on his throat, causing him to cough violently. He was only sobered up when his body was shook with fierce intensity.
“Tell me. Now.”
“I’m no, *cough*, spy...I came to find my friend, that's all...” Lee grunted as he glared at her.
Elizabeth sighed, before punching him square in the jaw. No ordinary man would have been able to fight with those skills, let alone use that foreign looking weapon. Does this mean that Theresis’ forces are slowly being armed with that new type of gun? If so, then Babel might already be doomed.
“Come on. Spill it. Or we'll do it the hard way.” She threatened him. However, she couldn't see traces of fear and desperation in his eyes. Instead, they were filled with anger and rage.
Lee grips her arm tightly, before forcing himself to stand up. He bellows loudly, which caught her off-guard.
“YOU FUCK! I TOLD YOU I'M NOT A FUCKING SPY!” Lee yells at her, spitting saliva mixed with blood on the ground. He wipes the split part of his lip before pointing at her.
“You ruined my face! How am I supposed to face Jane later this evening huh!?”
Elizabeth stood still after hearing that, not knowing how to respond to his words. Just now, he seemed genuinely raging about that punch she gave him, which made her already fixed mind confused. It might be a ploy to make her believe in his words, which would then lead to him getting away.
Or, it could be the other way around, that he was really just a passerby.
“–found myself in this part if town where it seemed so out of place because I was finding my friend, and all of a sudden someone with killing intent was following me. You didn't even let me explain my side, and you expect me to not return fire when you instigated the attack? How fucking simple minded are you!?” Lee continued blabbering.
“So... You really are just, what, a baker?” She asked, genuinely befuddled.
“Oh, oh! Now you want to do it the safe way! Fuck no! Come here, let's fight it out!” Lee angrily motioned for her to come forth while going into a boxing stance.
But just before Elizabeth could answer, an explosion came from behind them. Dozens of debris came flying towards their direction. Elizabeth’s body moved on its own and went straight towards the still disoriented Sarkaz. She tackled him to the ground to avoid being blasted by the following shockwave.
VROOOOOOM
SLASH
CLANG!
CRAAAAASH!
Deafening sounds of fighting erupted soon afterwards. The fighting was so intense that every blows sent miniature shockwaves throughout the whole place.
Elizabeth grunted and stood up, before dragging the semi unconscious man towards a safer spot near the wall. She looks over his face and suddenly felt bad about what she did. Dr. Kal'tsit, especially The Doctor, ordered all personnel to be in code red after she reported what happened yesterday.
No one in County Hillock ever goes into this place anymore, not even the soldiers want to be reminded what happened here ten years ago. So it was the best place to set up a covert recruitment office to bolster Babel's military force.
That's why anyone who enters here would be associated with that ashen haired spy. However, now that she doubts whether this man is a spy too, she couldn't help but think that they made a huge error. She decides to lay his body nearby the end of the block so that he won't wake up covered in rubble.
Elizabeth runs to the scene and saw what happened. The side of the old church had a huge hole in it, and she could now see the interior of the building. She looks over to the middle of the street to see Blaze fighting with someone.
It was her. The ashen haired Sarkaz. Elizabeth slowly unsheathed both her short swords and began walking towards them.
“So you actually came.”
.
.
.
///
SLASH!
CLANG!
Alpha relentlessly rained down blows on the chainsaw wielding feline im front of her. Sakura was holding out exceptionally well, given the fact that the huge blades of the chainsaw had toothed edges as sharp as knives.
She spins around and slashes downwards, and Blaze managed to deflect the sword to the ground. The ground cracked however, sending her sprawling into the nearby wall of a house.
“Urghh... This doesn't look good...” Blaze mutters weakly before standing up. She grunts and winces in pain as the wound she suffered on her side bled again. The menacing silhouette of the Sarkaz walking towards her made her skin crawl, yet she decides to fight.
It was supposed to be an easy task, or so she thought. Blaze and her squad was making progress when they went searching house by house while they secured the perimeter. The latest reports suggested that the target was currently hiding on the church's spires, so she sent Violet Flame and Kerg to investigate.
Since Violet Flame was an experienced caster, Blaze thought that she would be a sufficient deterrent if the Sarkaz spy would retaliate. And if that fails, there was Kerg, who had years of training and experience in his belt as a swordsman to back her up.
As the two left, Blaze led the remaining members of her squad to check up on Elizabeth, who's beacon was emitting signals nearby. When they got to the street, they saw that she was busy interrogating another Sarkaz, who was surprisingly not even at death's gate yet.
But just as they were about to make their presence known, Kerg's panicked voice blared from their intercoms.
“Violet! Get dow–”
BOOM!
A large explosion came from the church, sending most of the members finding cover. Blaze however, was caught in the middle of it. Debris and concrete dust showered her, inflicting several bruises and scratches on her body.
What followed was a demoralizing silhouette. It was their briefed target, A Sarkaz with ashen hair and sporting menacing heterochromatic eyes. Blaze raised her chainsaw to block an overhead strike, hence the situation she was in right now.
“Where is he? Where's Lee?” Alpha asked the blue haired feline standing rigidly in front of her. The amount of willpower this girl has made her bloodlust rose.
“*cough*, I don't know who you're... talking about, but you need to die!” Blaze yells at her before charging her chainsaw. The revving war machine glowed as it began heating up. She smashed the weapon on Alpha's position, but no one was there.
!?
Instead, Blaze received a deep gash on her back, as the Sarkaz suddenly loomed behind her. The wounded feline screams in agony, falling face first in the ground as her face contorted in pain. She tries to get up, but the Sarkaz steps on her wound to keep her down, causing her to cry out in pain.
“Stay. Down. Where the hell is Lee?” Alpha glared menacingly, stabbing her sword on the ground mere inches away from Blaze's face.
“..I told you...I have no...idea...” She weakly answers, yet it doesn't seem to satisfy the girl pinning her on the ground.
“Hmp. You leave me no choice...” Alpha mutters, causing Blaze's eyes to shrink back in fear. But just before Alpha was about to finish her off, she felt something incoming from behind.
CLANG!
Alpha leaps forward, before landing on her feet. Casually brushing of the dust clinging on her clothes, she huffs before looking towards the source of the attack. There, she saw that another feline was walking towards her, who was busy brandishing two short swords from behind her waist. She immediately recognized who it was with the way she gazed at her.
“You. You're that stalker.” Alpha points her blade at the feline.
“I know where your friend is, so spare Blaze's life.” Elizabeth calls out to the Sarkaz, earning a slight reaction from her.
“So where the hell is he? Or do you want to see them die?” Alpha turns around and points in the distance. Elizabeth saw that Ace and his team was running towards them with haste, and she had a feeling that the Sarkaz would actually do it.
Elizabeth points towards the end of the block behind her. “Walk straight and you'll find him. Go now, or you'll arrive too late.” She adds with a threatening tone.
Alpha merely scoffs at her, before walking. Just as she was about to pass Elizabeth, she raises her sword first, squashing the feline's hope to establish the higher ground.
“I know you, and I'll remember you. All of you.” and just that, she walks past them, sheathing her blade back to its scabbard in the process.
Sensing that she had already sauntered off, Elizabeth immediately checks up on Blaze. A pool of bright, red blood drenched her colleague's clothes, so she ripped a gauze off its wrapper and puts in on the wound.
Blaze grunted in pain, but Elizabeth soothes her head as she conducted first aid. “Hold still Blaze, I'm here. You're not alone.”
“Am...am I d-dying..?” her lips trembled as the words left her mouth.
“It won't come to that. I promise.” Elizabeth answers back and cuts the blood soaked clothes of Blaze. She then removes her own jacket and covers her wounded friend.
“Iza!” Ace's voice boomed like a megaphone. “Where are they? What happened to Blaze?”
The members of his squad began helping most if the wounded and unconscious teammates of Blaze as they got to the ruined church. Ace kneeled down and saw how much Blaze was shivering, likely due to the fact that she lost a lot of blood.
“I bargained. That Sarkaz's friend's whereabouts in exchange she spares Blaze's life.”
“Damn it. So she wasn't alone huh?” Ace stood up and scanned the end of the block, but smoke and dust made it hard for him to see further.
“Tom! Brick! Take Blaze back on the garrison. Make sure Medic gets to heal her wounds.”
“Roger that. Come on, easy, easy.” The two men lowered a retractable stretcher while Elizabeth carried the wounded Blaze into it.
“Ace, we need to report back. The Doctor certainly wouldn't like this.” Elizabeth went beside the unsettled man as the Blaze was drove back into the base.
“*sigh*, give a detailed, I mean detailed report about their combat skills. We'll take Blaze's report once she recovers.” Ace motioned for the others to retreat once they recovered the wounded.
Elizabeth could only wonder...was she wrong branding them early as enemies? If so, then she and Babel might have sparked a new conflict with another unsuspecting organization within the heart of this country.
.
.
.
///
“Thank you for coming!” Jane waves goodbye at the customers.
“The food and atmosphere was great! I'll absolutely tell this place to my friends!”
“Hehe, you jest. Come again if you have time!”
As they left, she switches the door sign to 'closed' from 'open'. It was still early in the evening, but they had to close after realizing that they've already used up half of the stock ingredients they have in the storage. Nino too, was adamant that they should close the diner early.
There was also another problem...
“Where are they? Shouldn't they be back already..?” Jane mutters while peeking in the window. The sun already set hours ago, yet there was still no sign of Lee and Alpha.
“Hmm...you think the two if them are doing something?” Nino chimed in.
Jane glanced at her with a mixed expression. “L-Lee and Alpha are d-doing something!? What could they possibly do in the middle of town!?”
Her friend shrugged her shoulders. “They probably are in a love ho–”
Creak~
Thud!
Both girls stood still and alert as they heard the back door opened. Nino immediately opened a large cabinet and grabbed her service weapon, which was a steam powered gun-lance, while Jane picked up a broom nearby.
A silhouette passed the dimly lit corridor, and just when Jane was about to swing her makeshift weapon, Alpha stumbled out of the hallway. She looked so haughty and tired, but that wasn't what caught their attention.
“Alpha? O-Oh my goodness, Lee!”
Jane exclaimed loudly after seeing what state the two of them were in. Alpha's clothes was charred with dark spots, but she was mostly physically okay. However, she was dragging a heavily wounded and unconscious Lee beside her, lifting him up to the table.
“What happened? What happened to Lee!?”
Alpha grunted as she went to the counter, poured herself a bottle of cold loka-kola from the fridge, before wiping the edges of her mouth.
“We ran into bandits near the abandoned district.”
“Why the hell were you in the abandoned district anyway? Nino, pass me a wet cloth please.”
Jane was angry, but she had to control her temper. After all, she could mess up while she's applying aid to Lee's wounds.
“I cleaned most of his wounds. All he needs is rest, then he can tell us what happened.”
“How are you not unscathed?” Nino asked while examining Alpha's body. Sure, there were marks, but she can't see any lasting wounds.
“Got lucky? I don't know. I need to sleep.” Alpha avoided the question. But before she could climb the stairs, something heavy grabbed her arm. She looks down to see that it was Jane, and it was the first time she saw her frown that hard.
“No, you are staying here with us. This happened to Lee because he was out there looking for you!” Jane shouted at her.
If it were the old Alpha, she would have hit Jane afterwards, but she didn't. Instead, she just stared at her for a moment, walked past her and sat on the couch facing the doorway.
“Fine. I'll stay guard.” Alpha answered. She heard Jane scoff, before attending to Lee's condition. It was the first time she felt sympathy after a long, long time.
Was she slowly changing? If so, then it better be for good.
“What would Luna say...” She mutters to herself.
«‹⟨ TO BE CONTINUED ⟩›»
Published: April 9, 2022
Words: 4461
A/N: ( I just changed Karylle's name to Elizabeth because why tf not.)