Rival

A few days had passed since the troopers had crash-landed on Hakona. The troopers had settled into a routine, fitting into village life while covertly gathering information about the kingdom's forces. The villagers' initial wariness had given way to a cautious acceptance, and the troopers found themselves slowly being integrated into the community.

Somewhere in the forest, there was an outpost belonging to the kingdom's army. The outpost was medieval, their structures were either made out of stones or wood. Their soldiers are also wearing traditional samurai-like armor. Not a single high-tech gadgets were spotted among them.

Trooper 553 is lying down on top of a mountain, far away from the outpost, watching it using his binoculars.

"Hmm. Looks like Yami was right about their strength" 553 then activated his communicator to contact 117 "117, this is 553. I took a peek at the outpost the villagers mentioned. It's a supply base, and it's confirmed that they're as backward as the villagers described. At least from this distance"

"Copy that. Good work 553"

"Thanks. Need me to take a closer look?"

"No. If what Yami said about their abilities is true, then we have no chance of getting close to them without being noticed. Return to base for now. We'll assess the situation first"

"Alright. On our way back now. 553 out" 553 ended the call and stood up

He made his way back carefully. Once he was on the edge, he fired off a grappling hook from his left hand to the edge of the floor. He then descended by using the wires of the hook to safely reach the ground.

He continued his journey back to the camp, keeping a vigilant stance on what was around him. After a few minutes of traversing the forest, he would see several wild animals drinking on the river nearby.

553 uses his binoculars to see the commotion from afar "Eh, just some animals"

Suddenly, one of the animals fell to the ground, causing the others to run away. He then hides behind the tree next to him. The animal that fell had an arrow on it, indicating that it had been shot.

553 then looked through the scope of his sniper rifle to see who the shooter was.

An Armenthian girl wielding a spear and carrying a bow on her back approached the fallen animal. She then kneels down and takes out a knife to stab it, making sure that it's dead. She wasn't wearing the kingdom's uniform, and 553 is sure enough that he hasn't seen anyone like her back in the village.

The girl then was about to carry the animal, when suddenly she looked in 553's direction and grinned. 553 gasped and immediately hid again.

He then prepared his sniper rifle and moved to a new hiding position.

Just as he did that, the girl stood up and ran toward his previous position. Jumping through the bushes and landed there with her spear preparing to attack them. However, when she got there, he was already gone.

"Hmm"

A shot came out, but it was so silent that she could barely hear it. She dodges the bullet and looks in the direction of the shot. Once again she grinned and charged full speed towards it.

The shooter, 553, became nervous as she saw Riu moving at an inhuman speed towards him. However, he kept calm and continued shooting at her, knowing that he couldn't outrun her at this point.

His efforts were in vain, as she finally reached him. Throwing away his rifle and pinning him to the ground, while putting her spear right in front of his neck.

"So this is what you guys look like. The so-called troopers"

"You...Know about us?"

"Yup. It's a good thing she told me about you guys. Though you're not as tough as you look"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" 553 raised his right hand and pushed a button that he was holding with it.

The body of the tree next to them exploded, causing it to fall right on top of them. Just before it did, Both the Armenthian and 553 rolled out of the way, escaping its impact.

He then took out his smoke grenade and threw it to the ground. Masking his presence from her, and also giving him the time to escape from her. The Armenthian grins in excitement, as she seems to be having fun from this little encounter.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused her senses to locate 553. After she finds him, she opens her eyes and boldly charges through the smoke with her spear aimed at slashing him. Once she was through the smoke, what she slashed was a huge rock, which then split itself in two.

Just as the two pieces of the rocks fell to the ground, 553 could be seen in front of her, aiming his sniper rifle at her. Before she could realize what was happening, 553 shot the rifle right at her point-blank range, hitting her stomach.

The Armenthian fell to the ground, holding the wound on her stomach. Not giving her a chance, 553 put his rifle right in front of her head.

"Don't move"

She smiled "Fine...That was a good move. You...Won this one"

553 was undeterred and kept his eyes on the Armenthian "Who told you about us?"

"Urrgh...Sorry pal...But I made a promise not to reveal her name to anyone" She grunted as more blood continued pouring out of her wound, wetting her clothes "Though...I suppose...You can know my name. I'm...Riu Tanaka. What's...Yours?"

"Like I'd tell you..." Before he could finish, a blade pierced his chest from behind him.

"Damnit Riu, didn't I tell you not to underestimate him?" A voice sounded familiar came from behind him

The blade retracts itself as 553 fell to the ground, now wounded just like Riu. The person who stabbed him then walks over to Riu, revealing herself as none other than Faith Narukami.

"Hehe...Sorry Faith. But...He's just that...Good" Riu slowly stood back up, still holding her wound.

Faith sighs "Great, so much for getting a helping hand. Now I have to take care of you"

"Oh...Don't worry...I'll be back in shape soon"

"How? Resonance?"

Riu gave a thumbs up "Yup. I'll heal a lot faster than you did"

Faith sighs again "Whatever" Then she picks up the sniper that 553 was using and tries to shoot it elsewhere. When she did, there was only the click of the trigger with no gunshots.

"Did you...break his weapon?"

Faith throws the rifle away "No, it's biocoded. Neither of us can use it. Only he can"

"Well...Maybe if we capture him..."

Just as Riu said that, 553's body disappeared. There was a faint blood trail on the ground leading somewhere else. Faith clicked her tongue as she was annoyed by how he escaped without them noticing. But then she calmed down again, realizing that it was more important to treat Riu's wounds than to give chase to him.

"I'm sure he'll bleed out along the way" Faith then goes to Riu and lends a hand to Riu "Come on, let's get you back home"

"Thanks...Partner"

Faith blushes and looks away while carrying Riu back to her house "Just be glad I need you alive"

The two of them walk away slowly, leaving the battleground behind them. Even though Faith felt annoyed by Riu's injury during this fight, Riu on the other hand felt excited. She can only hope that 553 made it out alive so that they can meet again and finish their fight.

"Hey, Faith. Do you...Know that Trooper's name?"

"Nope. Troopers don't have names"

"They don't?! What about Priad?"

"That..." Faith looks down for a moment, before shaking her head "N...Nevermind him. If you want to give that dead guy a name, be my guest. No one's going to complain anyway"

Riu chuckles at the thought of giving her enemy a name "Yeah...I'll think of one...Later"