"Ack!"
Blood pooled out of my mouth as I woke up. I pushed away a large piece of debris that covered me. As I got up, I felt a sharp pain, I looked down to see a metal shard had impaled my leg.
"AH!", I let out a pained scream, Shit...ugh...it hurts so much...I feel like am going to die!
As I was crying in pain, I didn't realize that several android soldiers had already surrounded me. I heard a clicking sound and then rose my head.
"Intruder, where's Sp3?".", the leader of the group said as he aimed his anti-materiel rifle at me. I gazed at him then glanced at all of them before looking back at my wounded leg, I guess this is the end of the line for me...
I reached for a holster on my leg and pulled out the box that held the nanochip. Raising my shaky hand to give it to them but just as the robot extended its hand I heard a loud voice.
"MARI! STOP!"
I looked up in bewilderment, "Eh?! Amanai?!", before I could utter another word she landed on the leader of the robot and flattened him like a pancake. She then spun around creating a barrier of ice to shield them from their assailants.
"Mari!", Amanai called out to her before running over to her, "Mari, what happe-", she stopped when she saw the severe wound on her leg. She glanced over to Mari who looked down. Amanai took a deep breath before standing up and saying, "Mari can you stand?"
"Yes...", she responded as she stood up with the aid of her katana, "How did you find me?"
"I overheard your conversation with my father.... I was worried so I tailed you.", Amanai said as she turned to face her barrier.
"Oh...thanks, Amanai.", Mari said her voice filled with gratitude. Amanai puffed her cheeks and turned to look away. Then she looked back at the barrier with a serious expression, "We need to get out of here and safely."
"Yeah, you're right.", Mari said as she pulled out the metal shard from her leg and threw it away. She then wrapped it with a bandage she had on herself before readying her katana.
"Let's go!"
Both girls tore through the ice to fight their captors but found nothing. In fact, all the robots had been dismembered and dismantled. They stared in blatant confusion. Mari noticed from her peripheral view and saw something startling.
"Wha...?"
Amanai turned to see what Mari was staring at but then had mouth agape. They both saw the building of the megacorp which Mari had just escaped from was cleaved in half. They then noticed all the craters around them that indicated that the damaged robots didn't go down without a fight but the question is who did they fight?
Almost 15 seconds after coming out from the barrier, they felt a huge pressure that brought them to the ground. Amanai was smashed to the ground while Mari fell to her knees, she turned to see the figure who had this immense aura. The instant she laid her eyes on them; she shivered. The figure was a tall man nearly 7ft, two katanas on his back, grey colored hair in a Faux Hawk-cut and wearing a black tech suit and with a mask covering his nose and mouth along with an unmistakable stitch over his left eye.
Mari tried to stand but the pressure on her increased until she got crushed into the ground like Amanai. She was still able to raise her head and speak, "Are you...that assassin who's going around and killing Occludes...?"
"You're right.", he said as he approached, which each step he took the pressure they felt increased. Amanai and Mari coughed up blood which each step he took. Once he reached them, Amanai had passed out but Mari was too stifled to scream. He gazed at her and lifted her head, holding her chin he gazed into her tear-filled eyes.
"Do you fill the pain?", he asked but before the words reached her, she dropped as well.
Giving into the pain.
The man let go of her head and deactivated the pressure before uttering, "Good."
He stood up and gazed at them, Their internal organs are in critical condition and with the amount of blood they've lost..they'll die for sure.
As he turned to walk away, he saw soldiers from DedSect approach him. The soldiers were different from the usual infantry; their suits were gold-plated with blue energy flowing through the gaps. They held black rifles with plasma-emitting bayonets. The emblem of DedSect was imprinted on the rifles while the flag of Cybrmille were engraved on their backs.
This 5-man squad were the highest-level of defense in DedSect. They boasted the greatest offense in Cybrmille, second only to Alex Dae himself. A single soldier could level entire cities but when five of them come together...they possess destructive power on par with Tsar Bomba.
The leader of the squad stepped forward and spoke, "Subject-049...or should I say Occlude Slayer. You're coming with us.", his voice was cold and unfeeling, completely devoid of fear.
The commanding tone in his voice were carried along his words, the moment they reached Subject-049's ears. He irked.
"You have 5 seconds to make your decision.", the man said again.
Subject-049 stood still and then brought his hands to the hilt of his sword. The soldiers took note and unhurriedly readied their weapons.
"Guys, the boss said we should retrieve him but he never specified in how many pieces.", the leader said as he raised his rifle, beneath his mask a grin appeared on his face.
In an instant, the two forces clashed, the Occlude Slayer unsheathed his sword slashing over a wide arc. From his sword, a flying slash coated with antimatter rushed towards the soldiers at blinding speeds but still they dodged it effortlessly. The soldiers broke into three groups; soldier 4 and 5 moved to flank from the left while soldier 2 and 3 moved to flank from the right. They switched to burst fire mode, restricting Subject-049's movement while assisting their leader who struck from the front with his rifle in saber mode.
Occlude Slayer clashed his two katanas against Soldier 1's saber.
"Subject-049, give up.", Soldier 1 exclaimed as he blocked an attack from Subject-049, who threw a kick at him.
Soldier 1 used his free hand to deflect the attack, he turned his saber to rifle mode and fired a barrage of shots at him.
OS deflected them all before using his other sword to send a flying slash coated with pure matter towards him. Soldier 1 side-stepped the attack, moving at near-light speed, he made his way towards OS before sending him flying with a powerful punch. OS flew towards the remains of the destroyed megacorp building but mid-flight he started weaving hand signs.
The soldiers who were watching, stared at him in confusion. Soldier 1 muttered to himself, "Is he using the Source Code?"
"Ninpo: Wind Torrent!", OS exclaimed after weaving his signs, almost immediately, a large and powerful gust of wind sent the soldiers and all nearby debris flying backwards with destructive force.
OS weaved more hand signs and landed softly on the wall of the building. The elite soldiers were covered in a mountain of debris leaving many of them immobile. Soldier 1 punched his way out and smirked to himself.
So, his using the Source Code...he must be weaving hand signs to disguise it but against us...that's pointless.... I guess 20% won't do.... What a pain!
"Soldiers! Listen up we are dealing with a Level 0 threat.", Soldier 1 spoke to his comrades, forcing them to get out of the rubble and take combat stances.
"Raise your suit's output level 50%.", Soldier 1 said as he activated a command on his gauntlet before glancing up at Subject-049 who was floating above them while interlacing hand signs.
The squad followed suit and braced themselves for another deadly attack, setting up hard-light barricades which were projected from their left gauntlet. They used the barriers to protect themselves from whatever attack he was going to throw at them but to their surprise, none came.
Instead, Subject-049 began to glow with light before vanishing into thin air, disappearing from sight but not before uttering, "Space is under my dominion; engrave that in your skulls."
This caused the soldiers to gasp; they checked their bio-scanners and found no life signatures in his position.
"He teleported!", Soldier 4 cried out. In response, Soldier 1 slammed his fist into the ground and cursed, "Goddamnit!". He deactivated his helmet before slicking back his orange hair with a "Tsk".
Soldier 1 had sharp masculine features, he was pale in complexion and had a battle scar running diagonally across his face. He turned to his team and said, "We have to head back and report to base. The Cleanup System will be active anytime soon."
"Oi! Hold up.", one of his teammates called out to the rest. They turned towards his direction.
"Look at these two, they are critically injured.", he said as he inspected their wounds.
"Bystanders?", Soldier 2 asked as she tilted her head.
"Doesn't look like it. Seems like they were engaged in battle."
"I see...that means they were defeated before we arrived.", Soldier 5 said.
"Should we take them back to base?"
"No.", Soldier 1 cut in, sharply, "Our job was to capture Subject-049 and nothing else."
"But...", Soldier 5 tried to interject but he was shot down coldly,"No buts! We're not heroes. We're soldiers. Don't make me repeat myself."
No one objected after that, they opened a portal and walked through. Soldier 3 gave them one last glance before walking through as well.
Once they left, the ground began to shift, pulling in both the debris and the megacorp building. The temperature began to return to normal and the air slowly became less oxygen-deficient. Soon enough, all traces of battle were erased from the scene.
Yet, all this could hardly matter to Mari who had just woken up. Her eyelids were droopy and she had lost a dangerous amount of blood, as she tried to move blood spilled profusely from the wound on her leg. The ability to feel pain had long disappeared from her body, right now she felt a strange yearning for sleep.
She felt like all her pain would vanquish once she closed her eyes. She began to given in, slowly she felt her consciousness slipping along with her life. It was at this realization that she shot up violently. Forcing her self to stay awake, she turned to Amanai and crawled over to her.
She grabbed her bloody arm and pulled her close. Clutching her close to her body, her eyes widened in shock when she felt no pulse. Devastated she began to cry.
Amanai...am sorry I couldn't protect you...am truly sorry! Mom, Dad, brother am sorry! Yu...please forgive me...for leaving you behind....
Just as she was about to fall, she felt a buzz from her pocket. She pulled out the damaged casing of Sp3 and instantaneously it was attracted to Amanai's Ballista. Attaching itself to it, the gauntlets came to life and then emitted a white light.
The light enshrouded them, illuminating Mari's hazy gaze. A few seconds after she felt a rush of energy, hers and Amanai's wounds were healing. She couldn't believe her eyes, "What in the world?"
Minutes later, their bodies had been healed totally. Mari was left flabbergasted, the chip she had stolen was what saved them.
She broke out into tears of joy, "I actually thought I was going to die.", she heaved a sigh of relief.
Then something hit her, Amanai...!
She turned to Amanai's completely healed body and jostled her. No reaction.
"Amanai...?", Mari uttered before remembering that Amanai had no pulse when she last touched her.
Tears welled up in her eyes, "No..."
Amanai was dead, her heart had stopped but yet...the moment the first drop of Mari's tears reached Amanai...
...she opened her eyes.