{Nezro's POV}
"Captain do you copy, I'm currently headed towards your position, what of the rest of the team."
I had repeated that same statement five times now and I hadn't still gotten a response yet.
The disbelief that spread throughout my heart was so morbid that I could taste it in my tongue.
Agate was barely keeping her eyes straight as she now had bags under them from all the crying in the last hour. It had been one negron after the next since the transmission, almost like they had sensed my need for intervention and were stopping me from progressing further.
I had already lost all the stamina I had at the beginning of the fight and it was taking all I had in me to carry Agate as I ran.
I wasn't even sure I would prove to be of any use in the upcoming fight but I knew one thing for sure, I was going to try my best to protect Agate and the rest of our team in the rest of the battle.
'What had even become of the rest of our teammates' The thought crossed my mind.
"Nezro,....do you copy,...this is Sasha" The sound of her sobbing was even louder than her voice on the receiver but I could hear her alright.
I stopped and dropped Agate so I could receive the transmission without interruptions.
"Loud and clear!"
"Great, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay"
"Yeah, what do I have to do"
"I want you to take Agate and go back, as fast as you can. Try to make it back to base and report your findings, okay?" Her voice ended, falling into static then shutting off completely.
I had almost dropped the device in my hand before I came back to my senses, what Sasha was saying made very little to no sense at the moment and I couldn't help but ask her for clarification.
"I'm sorry, come again" I whispered inaudibly, almost as if I was questioning myself, but she heard.
"I said, take Agate and go back as fast as you can, there's nothing you can do to help right now except surviving to tell the tale of what occurred. I hope Agate is still alive?"
I had fully recognized by the moment, that it wasn't that I was hard of hearing, but that I didn't just grasp what it was that she said to me.
'Go back??... Go back?? After all the fighting and all the suffering???'
"Nezro, Nezro can you hear me, this is really important" Sasha's voice grew louder as she spoke.
"I'm almost there" I replied nonchalantly, standing up from where I crouched.
"What!" She barked.
"I said I'm coming, and I'm not changing my mind" I reaffirmed, staring at the responder in my hand.
"Are you crazy.... There's ... You..... ca.... Sa..."
As soon as the transmission cut, I moved towards Agate and whispered to her so as not to cause her a scare.
"We have to keep moving, come on"
"No"
She tugged gently at my sweatshirt almost lifelessly, trying very hard to piece the words in her mouth together as even speaking was hurting for her at the moment.
"What do you mean no?" I questioned, confusion building up within me.
"You heard Sasha, let's just go back. While we still can, huh. You don't have to be the hero here" Her worried eyes were glimmering faintly, reshaping my thoughts.
The look of disdain in my eyes were something I couldn't hide at the moment. I simply raised my head to the sky and stared at the vast space enclosed within it. As the cool breeze passed through my entire body, I began to question myself.
'What have I accomplished so far in life?'
I had done nothing, even till this moment when the rest of my teammates were risking their lives just so they could make it back home to their family and in the process be a step closer to helping the rest of humanity.
'Run away?..... Nothing I can do????.... I shouldn't try to be the hero here?.... Wow'
"No" I reaffirmed again.
"Huh"
I bent over towards her, almost till she could feel my breath on her face and repeated myself.
"No. I'm not going to turn tail and run when things get hard. Everyone back there is actively trying to stop that monster and even though I don't think I would be able to help, I don't think I can just turn and run. I'm going!"
"Hmm" she responded, jolting me back in surprise.
There it was, her smile. Somehow everytime I saw it, it always hit better than the last.
"Okay then, let's go" she reclaimed, grabbing my hand till I felt my sore palm warm up.
"Really?" I asked overjoyed.9
She stood up quietly, cleaning off the tears and snot on her eyes as well as her nose, then flashing her eyes brightly as she replied me.
"Of course!, Besides, there's nothing I can do to stop you right"
"Hahaha...."
With that reassurance, I felt like I could definitely take down the monster even if it cost me a body part.
******
By the time we got to the captain, the rage and confusion on Sasha's face was something she couldn't hide as we approached them. I just waved her remark off and headed to the person next to her which I guessed would be captain Ferol from his disposition.
"Status, sir"
"Oh, yes..... You are?"
"Nezro"
"The backup, oh?" He responded, not withholding his grin expression.
I could tell he was displeased with my appearance but I didn't pay his remark any attention and just stared directly at him, awaiting his feedback.
"We lost three of your teammates, sorry" He murmured, his eyes downcast in regret.
I held my composure and just replaced the look of surprise in my face with a stern one. I wasn't going to let any petty emotions soil my resolution at the moment.
"So what do we do now?"
"We wait for it to approach us and launch a surprise attack. We'll need some sort of distraction at this point and I don't know if you can muster up the coura-"
"I'm in, what do I have to do" I responded, cutting him short of his statement.
The look of reassurance on the face of the captain, wasn't something I was surprised by.
"Ok then, I hope you're ready. All you need to do is to draw it's attention enough to buy us time to form a symbiotic blade strong enough to pierce it's hide" He theorized, doubt hanging over his words.
"You can do that?" I asked, a bit surprised by his plans.
"We'll try"
" Oh..... Ok then, I'll do my pa-"
Before I could even complete my statement, I felt a dark gloomy presence envelope us, blocking off the little light that shone over our heads.
It was the monster!.
Almost before it's claws reached my face, I pushed the captain away with my feet and projected myself to the opposite direction, standing upright immediately.
it was huge, so massive that it definitely would have towered over most trees back on earth. I almost broke concentration but immediately pressed on my symbiote, morphing it into a very firm blade, the most firm that I could fathom in that point in time.
"Heyyy!!!!" I yelled with all the strength I could muster, running out of breath after, all so I could draw it's attention towards me and not the captain.
'Buy time, huh?' The thought resounded.
It looked towards me, it's bloodshot gaze almost paralysing me were I stood the minute it reached me. I shaked my body and tilted my head from side to side, before assuming a stance I had learnt a while back during our rigorous training, one that left no opening.
I stretched my right arm towards it and smiled as if to taunt the ugly beast.
"Yeah that's right, come here you slug" I muttered the words that hung in my mouth.
It wailed in anger before springing towards me with immense speed, almost as if it wanted to pounce on me and end my life in an instant. I pulled back intuitively, creating a reasonable amount of distance between us, it was the only thing I could do until I found an opening to strike it.
Finally an opportunity came and as I struck it's body with all my strength, I felt my symbiote deflect over it's skin and bounce back, throwing me into mid air helplessly.
"Shit!"
As it swung it's arm in response to my plight, I felt the pull of someone, whisker me away from it's grasp in the nick of time, pulling me to a safe distance.
I turned and looked towards whoever had saved me and my eyes met the eyes of one of captain Ferol's teammates. His ability had saved me from nigh death and I was grateful.
The monster looked confused as it retracted it's outstretched hand with nothing to show for it's attack and i used the confusion to gain the upper hand.
I hit it's hind leg, completely severing it the instant I made contact and before it even had time to react, half of it's face was next. It came crashing to the ground and I felt a sudden sense of joy erupt in me, almost like I had seen the sunrise after a week of intense rain.
I turned towards the captain and made a juvenile mistake, averting my gaze from the already regenerated foe, and someone else had to pay dearly for my mistake.