Aiding

Alice's head was pounding. Her sword was stained with blood. She'd already killed four Aberrations. One other fighter had managed to eliminate another two, aided by Shono. And, so far, only two people had died. But they were slowly getting tired. The creatures were steadily starting to adapt to their attacks. They were learning. Kar had yet to take out the Superior. So why was he coming back?Alice wiped the sweat off her forehead, glancing in Shono's direction. Helped by two other soldiers, he'd knocked down yet another creature. From the way they fought it wasn't hard to figure out that those guys had next to no real combat experience.

"Look out!" Karabell shouted, unleashing an attack against the Aberration approaching Alice. "The Superior should be over here. How many of them are left?"

"Around twenty, I think," she responded, alarmed at close the creatures had gotten to them. "Thanks."

Karabell looked around him. The fight had been going on for quite some time, yet they had barely managed to trim down their numbers slightly. Shono was leading Base Yuna's fighters, taking the creatures down one by one. The Captain clicked his tongue. None of the Aberrations stood out. What if there wasn't a Superior controlling them? No, that wasn't possible. Maybe it was telling them what to do from a distance, without having to say or do anything. Just like that feathered Superior...

The Captain jumped back, dodging the Gargling's claws in the nick of time. An arrow glanced off the creatures' feathers. Taking advantage of the diversion, Alice got behind it and slashed at its legs. The creature slumped to the ground, causing a cloud of dust to rise up into the air. Both Karabell and Alice jumped on top of it, shoving their weapons in the small gaps separating its feathers. Alice grinned as she stuck her fist out to Kar. He bumped his fist against hers, returning the smile. After a few seconds, Alice spotted another Aberration coming their way. Her shoulders immediately tensed. Those things didn't even let them catch their breath.

"Truly a touching moment. Though I'm surprised you can look so happy while standing on a corpse," the creature remarked with a note of disapproval. So it'd decided to show itself.

"I was wondering when you were going to make your appearance. I was beginning to think you wouldn't. I've been looking for you all over the place. Should've figured you wouldn't be one of the Aberrations risking their lives on the front line. You were hoping they could take care of us for you... Tough luck. Seems like we're not as weak as you thought," Karabell said with false bravado. Why'd did he always feel the need to talk back to the Superiors? The creature was covered in fur. He needed Shono's help. But his teammate had his hands full trying to protect everyone else. If only Een were there... "Alice, go help the others," he whispered, refusing to let the Superior out of his sight for even a second. "I'll hold this guy back."

"Think you can take us on by yourself?" the creature's nostrils flared. "You've got some guts, and I like that. In fact, I'd like to fight you myself. What do you say?"

Was there any point in asking? They were going to kill him either way. Karabell spun his spear around, before thrusting it at the Superior. The creature jumped back to evade his attack and landed on all fours. The Captain grimaced as he hesitantly loomed closer to the Aberration. He couldn't do anything to hurt it. Even if he'd landed a hit, it wouldn't have had any effect on the creature. Suddenly, the creature let out a pained scream. One of Lyra's arrows had gotten its left eye. The Superior ground its teeth together, and its expression soured.

"You humans are undoubtedly devoid of any dignity... What did you hope to accomplish?" the beast roared, tossing the arrow aside.

The other Aberrations sprang to life, charging towards Karabell. The Captain brandished his weapon. Even if Lyra hadn't intervened, the result wouldn't have changed. He didn't have anywhere left to run. He was surrounded. Despite himself, his eyes searched the Superior's face. Was it smirking? Was it happy? No, it didn't matter. Karabell didn't regret his actions. It looked like he'd accidentally saved Alice's life. Unlike him, she still had a chance to get away. Still, he hadn't expected to die like that. Actually, what had he expected? He was a soldier. Getting killed by Aberrations was only natural.

"Alice, Shono, everyone... Please, use this chance to save yourselves. We can't win this fight," Karabell muttered. Time seemed to have slowed down, but the Aberrations were steadily getting closer to him. The Captain closed his eyes. He'd given it his all, but even that hadn't been enough. Maybe Frederick had been right. He was simply too weak to continue living in that world.

"Get to safety! We'll take it from here," he heard a familiar voice yell out of the blue. Half-heartedly opening his eyes, he came to the sudden realization that the Aberrations... had stopped. No, that wasn't quite right. They'd been stopped. Still lying on the ground, he looked up to see the furred Superior exchanging blows with another Aberration. Karabell rubbed his eyes. Was he seeing things? But that wasn't just any Aberration. It was the Superior him and Een had encountered back in the Lower District.

"Hurry up, you're in the way! If I go all out I'll end up hurting you. Don't worry, your friends are safe. Now get out of here!" In the blink of an eye, the creature brought a fist up to the other Superior's face, causing it to stumble backwards.

Karabell beat a hasty retreat, casting wary glances at the other Aberrations. The Superior seemed to have brought a small army with it. And that very army was protecting his comrades. They were holding back the hostile Aberrations that'd given them so much trouble. Alice was almost unscathed, but Shono was completely covered in bruises. He had a large wound on his right arm, and his uniform was in tatters. The other soldiers were in pretty rough shape, too..

"How many did we lose?" Karabell asked, telling himself that he probably didn't want to know.

"Four people died... I'm sorry, Captain. I couldn't protect them." Shono bowed his head, clenching his jaw.

"It's not your fault. We weren't ready for this. Honestly, we should be thankful we got out off easy. If not for them..." Karabell pointed in the feathered Superior's direction. If not for those creatures, he would've lost his life. Just as he was contemplating that, a furred Aberration jumped down from the base's roof, holding Lyra in its arms. It gently put her down, smiling at them. It was definitely an odd sight. The creature opened its mouth as if wanting to say something, but no words came out. It didn't seem to be a Gargling, either.

"Karabell Ress! You mustn't waste any more time here. Gather your teammates and leave for Base Tau at once! Arago will take you there. You have to trust us," the Superior shouted, grappling its foe. "We'll protect Base Yuna at any cost. We can win, but it'll take a while. So go!"

Een and Kei were still down there, and they couldn't just leave them behind. Karabell looked at the furred creature. So its name was Arago...