Rhodes Island landship
Babel headquarters
Outskirts of Kazdel
The sound of boots hitting the chrome tiled floor of the landship echoed as the person walking made her way through a four way corridor. Cautious steps made her slow down, glancing to her left and right as she weaved her way in the maze-like hallways.
It was a habit she adopted when she was still home- back on Earth. Walking around the ruined parts of a city, you were more likely to be pounced upon by corrupted ambushes if you're not alert with your surroundings.
Alpha pursed her lips as she passed by a group of crewmen, who gave her curious glances as they went the opposite direction. Based on the grey and black jumpsuits they wore, they must be airmen or pilots. Now that she thought about it, it made her curious on how the air transport here looked like.
"Probably like they had on the golden age of humanity." she told herself.
Navigating her way inside the ark, or so the people- 'operators' - here called it, she wanted to find where the mess hall was. The signs in the walls made it easier for her, although she took her time walking around the landship, burning every detail and walkway in her mind.
It might come in handy, she just doesn't know when.
After all, despite not acknowledging it openly, Alpha was irked by how huge this landship is. The exact levels of the ship might be around four or five levels, give or take, based on her hunch. Still, if they claim to be in the right side of whatever civil war they're into, how come they don't have that large of an army?
All she saw in her eyes were slightly competent amateurs with weapons. Mercenaries, some of which she suspected that are only in for the money and not placing their loyalty to their buyer.
Oh well, what could she even do about it? "It's not like I'll give a moth's eye about them."
Silently shaking the thoughts away, she thumbed the button on the elevator, pressing the number '2' to head towards her destination. But just as Alpha waited for the doors to close, a shrill voice of a female in hurry came from the hallway.
"Oi, wait up!"
Alpha kept her eyes closed-
"W-Why you-, I said wait!!!"
-and pretended not to see, nor hear anything. She just kept spamming for the button so the doors would close, much to the dismay of the person on the other side. She was practically banging on the metal door as it closed on her face. Hearing a plethora of curses and screaming, Alpha snickered.
When the doors opened on the second level of the ark, Alpha immediately got out of the lift and started walking around a bit. It bore the same resemblance; boring, silver white theme and chrome tiled floors. Scanning the signs above every 3 hallways, she learned that this Babel organization has a basement, well, specifically the 1st level.
It was where their ground based transport and armoured vehicles were stored and maintained, as she overheard a conversation between three mercenaries talking about their damaged truck. Apparently, according to what she heard, they 'bumped' into an outpost, presumably an enemy one.
Turning right, after crisscrossing the 2nd level and finally memorizing the layout, Alpha decided it was time to get some food. It wasn't hard to spot- the mess hall- as there were almost double the amount of people hanging around the hallway leading to it's entrance.
As soon as she came into view, the operators and mercs talking outside the facility gave a wide berth as she passed by, their chattering abruptly being cut off by her unexpected appearance. As much as she hated the attention she's getting, her face didn't even twitch.
Now that she's inside, she spots an empty seat and table at the far corner of the huge mess hall. She gets to the counter and soon orders two deluxe chicken burgers and a large cola-loka, before slapping 300 £LMD on the counter. The operator, or chef, eyed her for a good second, before nodding at her.
After a good few minutes of drumming her fingers on the take out spot, her food is already made. She gives the server a reassuring downward nod before going towards her desired place.
It was a good spot; she could see everyone coming in or out of here. Noticing a few stares coming to her way, she mentally sighed and did her best to seem nonchalant. She sat comfortably with her back against the wall, and not long after, she began eating her food.
It was good, but cannot compete with the same cooking prowess of Jane or Nino. The thick cutout chicken matched the spicy mayo and freshly added lettuce, which she savoured every bit as she ate.
With the two Vouivre women crossing her mind, she couldn't help but feel bad for them. They housed Lee and her with good intentions, and now they're left with a mess they have to deal with on their own. The house and bakery probably sustained some damages, especially the backyard.
Speaking of Lee, as she slurped on the sweet contents of her cola, Alpha's appetite began souring immediately. Her brows furrowed as her mind raced deep in thought; she could only think of what's happened to her friend.
As far as she's concerned, the strange man clad in thick overalls- which ironically, they call 'The Doctor' (even though he looks nothing of the sort)- don't seem to have put an emphasis on Lee's importance. To the doctor, Lee was just a colleague if hers.
"Ouch," She thought. "and here I thought they had their eyes on him too."
Though she's not bragging about her being picked by Babel, the other... 'rival' organization that took Lee must've been targeting her too. It's just Lee was in the wrong place at the right time when they breached the house. Or maybe they got impressed with his skills at close-quarters-combat so they decided to pick and kidnap him instead.
It wasn't a far fetched thought that Lee must've taken down some of the soldiers too, since they technically fought the same kind of 'killteam' sent after them.
Her internal monologuing was interrupted when a thickset man in protective gear approached her table and cleared his throat. Alpha opened an eye and scanned him while eating the second chicken burger.
"Is this seat taken?" the man asked, although whoever with a negative IQ of 1 could see it was not.
Alpha mumbled,"Figures."
"Thought so. Guess you already know my name." he grunted as he puts down his own bowl of rice and curry. She eyed the shield and hammer he placed beside the table.
A peculiar weapon of choice, she thought.
"Age must be getting the better of you. Ever thought about retiring, Ace?" Alpha muttered, nudging with her lips at his hair. Some of it appears to be graying, especially his beard.
"Hah, got some humor in you too. And no, Babel needs everyone, especially now. It ain't the right time thinking about vacation." Ace responded with a lighthearted tone. Without the usual stoic voice, it seemed like he didn't want to flare up her aloof temperament.
Alpha didn't bother to answer, and they both ate their food in silence. A comfortable silence, which surprised even Alpha. The man was simply here to enjoy a nice, warm meal, and that was all there is.
After finishing her food, she discarded the junk in her tray into the trashcan, before making her way outside the mess hall. But before she could turn the corner, she nearly bumped into someone by the door.
"Watch it."
The two of them said simultaneously, their crimson eyes meeting each other head on as they cast deadly glares on one another. Alpha's hand slowly crept up on Sakura's hilt, making the other girl click her tongue.
"Tch, whatever." she glared at Alpha one last time before breaking the stalemate.
"Collarbone length silver hair, downward protruding horns, and a mean attitude." Alpha thought to herself as she walked away from the scene. She could feel eyes digging through her back after that small altercation.
"Gotta remember her, she seems decent."
Now then, all she needs is a little bit of action.
.
.
.
///
Still inside the landship...
After walking around the upper levels of the landship, Alpha finally managed to locate the training room, despite it being casually hidden deeper in the middle section of the 5th level. It wasn't easy to locate at first, but after retracing her steps and casually keeping an eye out for exhausted operators, she finally did it.
Though it would have been easier if she just asked where it was, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to socialize with these strangers, seeing as though she wasn't here to make friends. The less people she talked to, the less would remember her name.
Entering the facility, Alpha managed to blend in among the operators currently training inside. She caught sight of two women leaving a small private room, presumably, well, a more secure training room.
Alpha walked straight ahead. As she was about to reach for the door-
"Hold it!" -a female voice interrupted her from behind.
With a dejected sigh, Alpha turned around and gave the lady a not-so-friendly frown. She was shorter than her by a few inches, and wore a severely oversized black jacket with red interior design. Underneath the jacket was an oversized white shirt that reached all the way down to her thigh.
It would be a massive understatement if she didn't wore any shorts underneath there. Alpha also remembered her; This was the head of the engineering department she used as hostage before. For some reason, she hasn't noticed who she was talking to yet.
"I'm Ada Church, but almost everyone here calls me Closure." Alpha noticed the woman's ears twitching, which looked like that of a vampire.
The lady named Ada,- or Closure -, gave her a friendly grin, which Alpha didn't return.
"Weird choice of a codename, but who am I to judge." the swordswoman thought.
"Err, you must be a new recruit, yeah?"
"Uh-uh. Came here to train." Alpha responded dismissively, turning towards the door again.
"Abouuut that~" Closure said, prolonging her the words. Alpha sighed inwardly.
"I'm the one managing who gets inside and outside. I gotta say, you nearly sneaked your way even with me in the counter." She stuck a portion of her tongue out and closed an eye. But after a second or so of processing, her face immediately contorted in confusion when she studied her face.
“W-Wait a minute, you're the Sarkaz that took me hostage! Why didn't I even recognize you!” Closure gasped and backed away, her hands instinctively going to the back of her head where she got smacked earlier.
Alpha couldn't help but roll her eyes as the Sarkaz gave her a dejected look. “Okay, that was probably my fault,” she referred to the blow on Closure's head, “but could you really blame me when I'm technically kidnapped?”
“I mean...what the hell, I thought you were another person because of the...clothes you wore.” Closure wanted to say the term 'rags', but refrained to say so as to not tick the ashen haired girl off.
“Beats me. I just wanna know if I can train or not?” Alpha said and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“I really don't have the right to refuse so...come with me then.” Closure said with a visible hint of annoyance and walked towards the intended training room. Alpha followed soon after, and she entered just behind the vampiric Sarkaz.
"Well, since you're here already, do you mind being observed whilst you train? Figured the Doctor might want to see your...level of skill." she seemed to choose the last part of her sentence carefully for some reason, before sitting behind a dual screen monitor.
"Lemme just set up your personal account so we'll be able to keep track and save your progress." Closure said before humming a song that Alpha didn't recognize.
The swordswoman just shrugged her shoulders. "Hm, fine by me."
"There, kindly put an 8 digit or more password. Make it hard so I'd have a fun time hacking it." The Sarkaz rubbed her hands together and wore a grin on her face, but soon stopped after seeing the look on Alpha's shaded eyes.
"...Or not. Geez, I was just joking."
"Don't even think about hacking into it." Alpha nudged her aside with her elbow and began typing on the keyboard. The Sarkaz, whistling to herself, walked over a weapons rack and began examining the contents while Alpha typed away.
[Please enter a password]
frogfrog01
Checking it's availability • • • • • •
[Done!]
"Alright... I'll just do the finishing touches then." Closure said after Alpha snapped a finger, taking over the monitor again.
After a few minutes of silence, Alpha spoke again.
"Well, the room is spacious, but don't you have anywhere else bigger to train?"
"Nah, sorry fam, we're still planning on upcoming renovations to expand the training facility. So you gotta make do with these smaller scale simulation rooms."
"Figures." Alpha responded, taking in her surroundings.
It was a huge, detailed simulated terrain, set near a settlement of sorts. Everything felt real; the wind, the grass, and the earthly smell of the location. There were even dust blowing from somewhere in the room, causing her to wave a hand over her face.
Backtracking from earlier, she saw that the two female operators that left here a while ago carried sniper rifles. She stepped into the hilltop, the grass and surrounding foliage exhibiting physical damages. They must've made camp in here.
"Yeah, pretty neat, no? This map is commonly used by marksmen due to the settlement being located down there. Easy kills, if I were you." Closure took on an imaginary gun in her hands and went 'ka-pow, ka-pow' with her mouth.
Seeing that the other party wasn't amused, she collects herself and continues what she's doing by clacking repeatedly on the keyboard.
"So, do the targets here look like real people, or are just grayish, mindless puppets?" Alpha inquired, earning a raised eyebrow from the Sarkaz.
"Huh, you actually have experience with simulated combat before?" Closure responded, though it was more like an interrogative-laced question.
Alpha tensed a bit, but the beauty about her, is that her face always seem to not twitch and remain neutral.
"No. I'd be way more energized if what I 'kill' in here looked like the real deal though." She licked her lips, making Closure stare at her with wide eyes.
Alpha laughed sardonically. "What, I like the way they writhe and die."
"Uh...t-that, I mean... I could work on that..." The Sarkaz danced around her words.
"Well that didn't help either." Alpha sighed to herself.
After waiting for a full ten minutes, the account setup was already made. Closure made her scan her fingerprint so the machine could register her into the ark's server.
"Here, strap this tightly on your wrist."
Alpha eyed the thin watch- thing that Closure was handing out to her. She took it and examined it with a dubious expression.
"What, it tracks your pulse and what not. How huge are your trust issues anyway?" Closure clicked her tongue. To think that the person who took her hostage, caused a total scandal which involved even the Sarkaz king Theresa, had this big of an issue regarding trust has her head rolling.
"Skyrocketing." Alpha retorted, her tone sounding sardonic. She did what she was told, strapping the thing tightly to her right forearm, just right in her wrist.
Only then she realizes that she was talking way, way too much for her comfort. She gave a nondescript glance at the Sarkaz and commended her. Not that Closure was annoying, but she just can't risk befriending anyone here.
Yet.
"Well, pick a location then." The Sarkaz stared at her with those wide orbs of hers from behind the dual monitors.
"Urban, make it ruined. Tall skyscrapers with a ton of trashed alleyways." Alpha answered, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Wow, that's too specific ain't it?" Closure sighed to herself. Not many maps with that layout installed in her software, but she figured it would be nice to have a change of scenery.
"Quick question, have you ever been to downtown Lungmen?"
Alpha nearly snorted after hearing that. "What, you take me as the traveling vacationist sort of woman?"
The Sarkaz engineer rolled her eyes. "Duh, absolutely not. This is as close as I can give you with that specific location of yours."
Closure inserted her arm into a spherical object, before cranking it sideways in one motion. The simulated view of the hilltop and settlement vanished like ashes, before being replaced grey blocks shooting towards the sky.
Alpha watched in astonishment at the immediate change of the simulation, making her give a couple of approving nods. One moment she was standing in a grassy patch of land, the second she's in some neon lit alleyway.
Craning her neck, she was impressed by the amount of detail on this map. The setting wasn't like that in Earth, all grey and desolate like someone missed to put a patch on the latest update. This one though, she was in a more cyberpunk-ish setting.
"This one is a part of Downtown Lungmen, though it's set in a post war environment." Closure explained as she clicked commands on the keyboard.
“Hostile raiders are deployed. Give me a good show, will ya?” The Sarkaz leaned heavily into the office chair and props her legs on the table, giving the swordswoman a wink.
Alpha shrugged her shoulder, before walking straight ahead. She might or might not show the true extent of her skills yet, or it depends on the difficulty level of the hostiles she'll encounter. Whatever the case, there'll be a show alright.
She could feel her heart beating, and the calmness washing over her body. It was probably adrenaline, because the moment a silhouette appeared on the hazy alley up ahead, Sakura is unsheathed in one fluid motion.
“Wonder if you'd bleed like a real human being.” Alpha muttered, before lunging at the raider in a blurry flash of crimson and steel.
«‹⟨ TO BE CONTINUED ⟩›»
Published: June 29, 2023
Words: 3111
(A/N: Bazinga.)
🖕( ╹▽╹ )🖕