After planning their next move, the squad was led to the armory, which was just beside the Comm. center. A small group of recruits is stationed there for maintenance and supplying the recruits on training at the firing range. Walking inside, there are multiple opened doorways with their respective signs above them. There were three. Suits, Weapons, and Gadgets. The texts are made of lights. "How convenient..." Sterling giggled at the design. "Do militaries always mark where the rooms of their weapons stacked?" She asked. "I was the one who requested those. It's silly but indeed convenient. Our depots used to be scrambled, disorganized, especially to the ones near a battlefield" Kirin responded. They went inside the Suit room and it became quiet once they are in. The room is small but enough to stack their suits on the walls. "You're lucky you were the first one to wear these suits amongst the recruits" Kirin turned to them with a smile. "Not that lucky..." Niela averted her eyes with a weak smile. "Oh, come on! You're still worried about it?!" Kirin hits her shoulder hard and laughed. Then she turned into one of the suit capsules.
All of them are enclosed by glass, with handprint scanners fixed into the middle. Kirin places her right hand on the scanner and it lit green with a beep. Then the glasses slide open and the suit holder moved forward. "I'm still not sure if you know how we will be operating out there, so look..." Kirin handled the holder, removing each part holding the suit still. "First of all, we're gonna be different from the main army. We are separated from them, We will not BE in any frontline. Instead, we will perform operations that aren't given directly from the main command. That means we can conduct our own missions and such. Once we are permitted, we can ask the army for any help they can give. We can also support any frontlines by doing any kind of works that might put the enemies at disadvantages!" Kirin explained. "Like what?" Niela asked. "Like scouting their positions, giving coordinates, destroying outposts, cutting their supplies, get military intelligence, those kinds of work" Kirin answered. "If the frontline doesn't need us for a while, we can just focus on conducting our own missions like escorting a convoy, or dealing with any Zakana pests that are hindering any military operation or small defenseless villages" She added. "Like Side missions!" Chirlin grinned. "Yeah, side missions... I will remind you that none of this is a game. We are going to face real battles. Those... animated and coded games are way too off to be a realistic simulation of war, starting from the diplomatic situations of the planets... Like that one game! Declaring war for a single sack of rice cut open? Seriously?" Kirin speaks in a disgusted tone.
"Well, those are the ones for fun, there are ones that are really realistic!" Chirlin continued to boast her internet knowledge while Kirin goes into each capsule for them. "Right. Here" Kirin finished opening four capsules and shut Chirlin off. While she does, she realized something. "Oops. These won't fit for you" She then pats her head. Chirlin became visibly upset. "Well, kids like you shouldn't be here anyway, so that's understandable..." Kirin rubs her chin. "Hmm... It will take some time to make even a small armor for your size..." She said. "And we have to move right now. Either you go with us without armor or you wait here for your own" She added. "No!" Chirlin quickly replied. "I will go! I don't want to wait here by myself!" She complained. "Chirlin..." Niela looked worried. "It would be dangerous to go without them!" She warned her. "But...!" Chirlin tried to speak back but can't think of a reason. Kirin was also down just by looking at her. "I will talk to Lonara first..." She said. "I really cannot send you out there without one" She pats her head one more time before asking the others to put on the suits. Once they are done, they headed for the Weapons section and grabbed the equipment they need. Slayers, Resolvers, ammunitions. Sterling found and got a shotgun instead.
"That's a Purifier you're picking up, Sterling" Kirin told her. The Purifier is the standard shotgun of the Arkula. It is automatic and slightly has a resemblance to the Slayer, It is also magazine-fed but it is round unlike Slayer's. The Purifier has a long structure and a larger barrel than Slayers, making it heavier. Arkula changed its name after being effective and deadly at close-combat encounters with the Narukh'za. "Everyone got Slayers, we can't be using the same weapons you know" Sterling said. "Yeah! That's right! We need different roles!" Chirlin spoke up. "That's a good point. You can pick anything you want, then" Kirin nodded and let them pick what they wanted. "If that's the case..." Marve went further into the room. He was headed for a single sniper rifle hanging on the end of the room. "Hmm..." Kirin smiled in amusement. "Ooooohh!!!" Chirlin saw the rifle and was excited for him to use it in the field. Marve grabbed the rifle and carefully detached it from the wall and turned to them. He was holding the rifle as how he removed it from the wall. "I will take this monster..." Marve was visibly struggling to hold the rifle. "That rifle is called Punisher. That's obviously too much for you right now..." Kirin giggled. The Punisher is one of the heaviest of Arkula's sniper rifle tree and the longest weapon. It has a very thick structure and only extends until the magazine at the front. Its long, thick barrel sticks out of it. It has a muzzle brake as an original design.
It was named as Punisher as it is deadly even from long distances. "At least get some experience with rifles first..." Kirin walked towards him and took the Punisher from him. Then she gestured to her left and Marve looked. "Ah..." A lighter-looking scoped rifle hangs from the wall. "This is too much for you. We will be moving a lot and I don't want you exhausted in every run" Kirin took the Punisher back to the wall, in Marve's amazement as she does it without breaking a sweat. Marve then proceeded to take the rifle Kirin mentioned. It was indeed lighter as Marve was able to carry the gun better, and relief flashed on his face. "That one is called Silverline. That is apparently way lighter than this one" Kirin slapped the Punisher.
The Silverline is the standard long-range rifle of the Arkula. It is common among marksmen, fitting them with different scopes. It has a thin but long structure. Despite the advanced arsenal, clips for reloading are still an option and are being manufactured despite having magazines. Due to it being lightweight, it is also carried by reconnaissance. It is commonly used on battlefields. "Then I will take this..." Marve looked at the rifle with a smile. Kirin turned to the three. "How about you?" She asked them. "As for me..." Terra, along with Niela and Chirlin, was holding Slayers. "Well, I'd like these fast-firing guns, but it looks tiring for me to hold..." She shyly smiled. "In that case..." Kirin walked to their right and grabbed a submachine gun. "This..." Kirin removed it from the wall. "This one is lighter than the Slayer, but obviously in exchange for firepower... The Krygstek-borrowed gun, the Krysler!" She introduced the gun. The Krysler originated from Krygstek. A joint operation between the Arkula and Krygstek against the Narukh'za is what brought the gun to be borrowed. The gun is almost as small as a pistol but longer, with a thin but long magazine located at the frontal body
The Krysler has half the range of the Slayer, making it a lighter alternative for them. The Krygstek made it so it has its own 2x scope. Later, Krygstek asked the Arkula if they wanted to keep its blueprint and make it as their service submachine gun, in which the Arkula agreed. It was then modified for Arkula's variant. "I should get that too!" Chirlin said. "Maybe you should stick with Resolver" Kirin smiled. "Noo!" Chirlin whined. "You might be able to carry these, but you won't be able to control its recoil with those tiny arms of yours" Kirin said. Then she walked ahead and went for the next weapon rack. She grabbed one of the Resolvers. "Come on, different roles, right?" She winked at Chirlin to tease her. Chirlin took the Resolver with a pout but then became excited once she felt the cold steel. "Niela, I guess you will be the one carrying the Slayer" Kirin nodded at her. "Okay..." Niela nodded without any complaint. "Good!" Kirin walked towards her and happily pats her shoulder. "Don't forget about the grenades!" Kirin pointed to a metal container from the corner of the room. "Just press the button below the green light" She said. Marve approached the container and pressed the button. The container beeps and the top opens, pulling out two racks of grenades, holding five grenades each. They all approached the container and took two grenades with them. Marve pressed the button again and the racks went back inside and the container closed.
Once they are equipped, they headed outside. On the outside, they encountered Lonara. "Oh, what brings you here? What's..." Kirin greeted her and looks at her right hand. "Ahh...!" Chirlin perked up. "Ah... Since you're bringing Chirlin with you, I thought of giving Krygstek's civilian armor for children..." Lonara showed them the armor and the helmet, it perfectly fits Chirlin's body. "It's not that much of protection for bullets, since it's made for quakes, but it will do than none" Lonara smiled and gave the equipment to Kirin. "Thank you! I was really worried about her!" Kirin sounded relieved in Lonara's surprise. "Here!" Kirin opened the suit and gave it to Chirlin. "Yay!" Chirlin happily took the armor and applied it on herself. After her, Lonara looked at the others, she placed her right hand at her chin to observe them and gave a slight giggle. "Look at you, looking like a real soldier with those suits..." She said. "I wished that you had more experience before being able to wear those..." She said then looked at Kirin. Kirin just smiled back. "I'm also thinking of giving you unique suits because you won't be taking part in the army for the most part, but that might take time, so you will be wearing those for now" Lonara said. "That's a great idea!" Kirin showed a big grin. "Yeah... Are you going out there now? Make sure you plan your assault at the Comms" Lonara said. After that, Lonara parted ways, and the squad headed for the Communication Center. They looked at the map once again.
"Alright, as I said before, our first target will be the one in the west, the outpost where they rest their supplies for this area. Once we got rid of this, they will never be able to rearm that much" Kirin reminded them of their plans.
"Kirin, we took better pictures of the outposts and made small maps for you" A male personnel told her. "That will be a great help, we need the one from the west" Kirin said. "We named them for you. That will be Outpost B. The Northwestern one is Outpost A, and the Southwestern is the C. I will send you the three of them on your screen" As he said that, three maps appeared from the big screen and Kirin took the Outpost B map closer. "Hm..." Kirin observed the map. It is a grid map, from A down to J and one to the tenth. The outpost lengths from C2 to H2 long and C2 to C9 wide. The red grids indicate the front of the outpost. The A, B, I, and J line are empty sands. "We can give these images to your eyes if you want, Kirin" The male personnel said. "Good, thanks. That will be better" Kirin nodded and went behind him. Later, Kirin got the confirmation of the maps and goes out with the squad. As soon as they stepped out, Lonara's voice came out. "Kirin, I have ordered Lancers for you outside the gate. Shuttles and Ruggers will do no good for you out there. Good luck". She said. "Thank you" Kirin nodded and went outside the base.
Outside, four Lancers are parked in a row. "Miss Kirin! These are the Lancers Miss Lonara have given you" A guard saluted. "I will leave them in your care, good luck out there!" He said before marching back inside. "Guess we're riding these" Kirin gestured them to ride the Lancers. Chirlin ride behind her sister. "I also wanted to drive one..." She whispered. "These are heavier than the Resolver, Chirlin. And it is fast too, you can't use them yet..." Niela pats her leg. "Go on, start your engines" Kirin looked back and told them. "Okay..." Niela grabbed both handles and looked down. There was a button labeled 'Start' above it. Niela pressed it once and the Lancer made a brief sound. "Press it until it starts" Kirin told her and she nodded. Niela held her finger still on the button. The Lancer became louder. Then suddenly it made a burst of sound and lit up, the Lancer floated up in their surprise. "Ngh...!" Chirlin shook and hugged her sister from behind tight. "Whoaa...!" Terra, along with the others were watching them. "Reminds me of myself the first time I also tried a Lancer" Sterling giggled. Terra then focused on hers and pressed the button. Her Lancer started and also floated. She looked very happy. "I... I feel like I'm going to fall to my side... I'm getting dizzy..." Niela said. The Lancers aren't steadily idling on a spot, they float up and down. A small movement on either side will lean the Lancer on that side but will never fall. "Don't move too much, you're floating, of course the Lancer will shake. You'll get used to it" Kirin said.
"Well?" Kirin looked at Marve and Sterling, who were watching the three. They started their engines and ready to go. "Alright, stick with me. We might attract Zakanas on the way. Make sure you remain balanced with your Lancers" Kirin told the squad. Her eyes made a radio noise right after. "Talking about Zakanas, the Narukh'za built concrete floors around their outposts for obvious reason, that might save you some troubles scoping out the place" Lonara's voice came to inform them. "That's nice!" Kirin smiled. "I will be watching over you, Kirin. Don't do anything reckless, your squad has absolutely no experience in battles" Lonara said. "Yeah, yeah..." Kirin sighed. "If you want to deploy the Gallant or some support, just tell me" Lonara said. "Nice... We got to go now" Kirin looked back and nodded. "Let's go!" Kirin shouted as she drives ahead, the squad drove behind her.
On the sands... "Do Lancers attract the Zakanas beneath?" Chirlin asked her sister. "By the sound of them, I bet they do..." Niela responded. Chirlin briefly observed her. "Are you okay?" She asked. Niela glanced over her shoulders. "I'm fine... I'm just a little nervous" She said. Chirlin paused for a second. "About our first mission?" She asked. "Well... That, and the Zakanas that we might encounter on the way there..." Niela responded. "But don't worry, I mean, we survived their attack during our travel to that base, right?" She said. "We only get to be surrounded because the Shuttles are a bit sluggish. We are riding Lancers now, so we can evade them pretty much safely" She added. "I'm not so sure about that..." Despite her sister's words, Chirlin wasn't completely convinced. "These vehicles do attract Zakanas too..." Kirin's voice came from Niela's helmet. "Lancer's just don't magically float. It has thrusters that burn the ground, and Zakanas can notice the temperature of your paths and obviously, the heat and sound of the thrusters. But no worries, like your sister said, we are moving fast. Even if they notice us, it will take them some time to surface, and we will be pretty much far away before they even do" Kirin reassured her. "Don't they follow us under, like super fast? Then they surface ahead of our way?" Chirlin asked.
"Hmm... None have ever reported that kind of behavior so far, and hopefully, they don't get that much intelligent at all" Kirin responded. "Zakanas continues to evolve. Sooner or later, they might adopt that kind of approach" Sterling's voice came. In fear, none of them answered, and were silent. Later, Chirlin peeked past her sister to see Kirin. Chirlin would see Kirin's eyes emitting rays of light every time she looks around them, and she assumed she was scanning the area. She tapped her sister at the back. "Kirin is very cool, isn't she? Those eyes, I mean" She said. Niela looked ahead to see Kirin. She took a second to reply. "You think so?" She asked. "Those are not her real eyes though. And it is sad to lose her natural eyes" She said. Chirlin couldn't answer. "She lost an important part of her body, and now she's relying on technology...
It does look cool and very convenient at battles, but it's sad at the same time... That's what I think..." Niela weakly smiled. "Do you think she feels that way right now?" Chirlin asked. Niela nodded in response. "I bet..." She said. After a second, Kirin's voice came from Niela's helmet again. "I can hear you, you know" She said. The two were flustered "Yeah. It's sad, at first... Soon, you'll be able to cope up with it. You can't just roll over and cry your entire life, right? Especially that you were given a new pair of eyes that not only gives you vision but amazing stuff too" She paused for a second. "You can cry over it, it's natural. Giving up, however, is unforgivable. You are giving in and letting yourself lose. I know that despite the hardships you face, part of yourself is still clinging to hope, and your job is the side with that, and not give up" She said.
Kirin took a deep breath. "I felt despair when I lost my eyes. I didn't believe in Lonara about these eyes, I thought they were nonsense. Despite my ridiculous dissent, Lonara stayed in my side and kept pushing me to believe..." She smiled as she thinks back on that day.
In a headquarters somewhere in the Kryok... Kirin sits angrily and irritably at an office. A bandage is covering her eyes, wrapping around her head. Lonara hurriedly came in, pushing herself through the guards who were saluting her. "Kirin...!" She ran to hug her. Kirin realized it was her and pushed her away, her teeth were gritted in anger. "What do you want?!" Her trembling voice filled the room. Lonara held herself from shedding tears. "What did you think you just did?!" Her voice wavered as well. "Why?! It's all over, Lonara! My life's done for!" "No! You're wrong!" Lonara shouted at her words. Kirin looked up to her. Seeing her look up even though she can't see was very saddening to Lonara. "...Then tell me..." Kirin's bandage began to soak and tears run down.
"Tell me why this life still matters..." She said. "Everyone seems bothered with my presence and now-" Lonara hugged her again, letting her emotions free. "Don't say that...!" She speaks through her cries. "Me, your family, your other friends... What do you think we felt after what happened to you?" She added. "...You felt... sad..." Kirin replied. "Yes, sad and worried. They were trying their best to cheer you up, you know!" Lonara said. "And we-" "Bullshit!" Kirin cuts her off. "Those are just sad excuses to keep me from taking my life! Not that you actually care! You are just afraid to see a life disappear in front of you! Sooner or later, you will give up on me for how fucking wretched I've become! I...!" Kirin was about to shout another rant but was stopped by her hiccups.
"Oh, Kirin... Do you even know what you're saying right now?" Lonara gently rubbed her hair. "Y'all just making this hard for both of us, you know? I could have just disappeared and ended this drama" Kirin showed no sign of changing. "That's because we want you to live on, we don't want you to disappear... We want our... Kirin..." Lonara's tears flow continuously. Kirin's back is soaked with her tears. "The eyes, Kirin. I promise you, I will work hard for those eyes! With those, you will be able to see again!" Lonara spoke with joy, though Kirin didn't feel any. Many of the people she knows visit her almost every day. Regardless of their feelings, what only happened was she was led to many questions. She started to question her relations with people she knows, everything she could think of why wasn't she able to escape her now despairing life. Lonara stayed with her side until her 'eyes' are finally done.
"I kept shouting a lot of nonsense that I couldn't really make out right now and I kept rejecting my friends and family" Kirin said. "I badmouthed Lonara a lot..." Her voice quivered. "That's... real tough..." Chirlin thinks of the idea. "Lonara stayed strong for me, and keeps me company the whole time I was hopeless... She didn't let me go 'till the end. she just kept embracing me, giving her best to be patient every time I go nuts, saying no matter what I say, she will be there..." Kirin giggled and the whole squad smiled.
All of the sudden, they heard a small activity ahead. Kirin quickly focused. "Narukh'za!" She shouted, alerting the whole squad. "Stop!" She said before hitting the brakes. The squad stopped before her. They stayed behind a dune. "Small party. Two Wraiths and five infantries!" Kirin used her eyes to examine the presence ahead. Wraith is Sthola's space buggy and as a counter-part of Arkula's buggy, the Rugger. It shares the same purpose, for reconnaissance. Though unlike the Rugger, Wraiths can be fitted with a machinegun at its back and become a two-manned vehicle. "Sounds like they're exploring the area..." Sterling said. "They haven't heard us yet..." Kirin said as she listens to the enemies ahead. "Should we let them go?" Chirlin asked. "No. We're not risking them running somewhere to get help once we got moving at that outpost... They're idle, we can do them" Kirin thinks of an idea. "Alright... we're still a bit far from the outpost, we can play loud here" She looked behind. "We're gonna use the Lancer's speed, drive around them, shoot them while disoriented. Make sure you don't follow anyone, drive around randomly as much as you can. Shoot them if you got the chance, got it?" Kirin looked at each of them. "I got it..." Sterling brought her Purifier from her back. "I guess I will stay here and pick them off while you distract them..." Marve brought his Silverline and turns off his Lancer. "Good. Everybody ready?" Kirin checked Niela. Niela brought her Slayer and Chirlin with her Resolver. Kirin nodded and drove ahead.
The squad followed her with haste. As soon as they jumped behind the enemies, Kirin used her eyes to accurately shoot down a Wraith driver, then their engagement began. They shot their guns as they appear behind them fast, sending them confused and agitated. Sterling killed one enemy with her Purifier, right after her, Marve shot off one soldier with his Silverline. Terra wounded the same Wraith's gunner. Their openings were great but for Niela. "Damn it!" The Slayer was heavy for her on one hand. One of them was pointed at her. "I got that one!" Chirlin peeked to the right and aimed for the soldier. The two briefly exchanged fires, and Chirlin hits the soldier. They began to circle around them as fast as the Lancers can go. Marve shot off a dazed Wraith gunner, clearing out their machine guns. Kirin used her eyes once again and shot a Wraith driver, immobilizing both vehicles. Sterling managed to finish the rest.