Regrouping

Walking atop the bodies, bathed in their blood, Kanesaki looked across to Sakaguchi. 'I killed their reinforcements too, they're all gone around here.' Not saying a word, Sakaguchi just nodded. The two ran to reach Isao and Yasuko on the upper platforms of the base, it was hit the hardest by the attacks and the two had seen a large meteor-like object crash near it.

'Isao, how many more do we have to kill, man?'

The officer groaned and looked back at his Chimera. 'I dunno, just keep killing 'em!' A group of three rebels soldiers opened fire on the two. Isao sped across the bloodied battlefield and used one of his dual blades to slit the throat of one soldier before looking over, kicking another in the stomach, stabbing him in the head and throwing the second blade into the last soldier's eye. Looking back at Yasuko, he sighed. 'Man, why'd we have to be put up here!?'

From behind the two, a massive object hit the lower platforms. Running over to investigate, Yasuko grinned creepily, eager for another opponent. From the crater, a large drop pod appeared stuck into the floor. A door suddenly lifted from it, smoke leaving the side panels as a man walked out. The Chimera instantly noticed Yasuko watching him. His eyes darted up and he pulled out a pistol which he fired off twice, hitting Yasuko in the shoulder as she leapt back. 'Yasuko!' Isao ran to help as she put an arm out to stop him.

'Nah... I wanna deal with this one!' From her left arm's elbow, a hilt appeared which she quickly grabbed and yanked out, revealing a large, sharply curved sickle. Her wife, almost psychotic grin was reflected in the weapon as she sped back to the edge of the platform and jumped right off with a scream of joy. Crashing down, she looked up to check for the Chimera but noticed he was gone. Closing her eyes and groaning in disappointment, she shouted back up to her officer, 'Hey, Isao! He's gone, must've ran.' Isao nodded from above and examined the airstrip from his higher viewpoint. He didn't know what the Chimera looked like so he had no chance of locating him. What he did see, however, was Sakaguchi and Kanesaki heading towards their platform. Waving over happily, Isao shouted, 'Hey! You guys made it!'

Waving back, Sakaguchi shouted, 'Yeah! You two okay?' The two nodded, Yasuko placed her weapon on her shoulder and put her other hand on her hip as she smirked a little. 'Tough guy seems to have a big heart, I like that.' Isao blankly faced the Chimera before looked behind him, hearing two sets of footprints. Sliding around and swinging, his blade was stopped by Raiden, Nishihara standing behind him. Drawing his blade back immediately, Isao bowed over and over, sweating profusely. 'My apologies lieutenant! I was unaware it was you, sir!' Laughing slightly, Raiden patted the officer's shoulder. 'Don't worry, I understand. We don't know how many enemies there are, or where they could hit us from.'

The group all reunited atop the platform, aside from Takao as he was helping in the fighting below to tend to the wounded within the main base.

Raiden examined the battlefield, the base was very clearly lost for now, unless they could hold out for reinforcements. Nishihara looked to Sakaguchi and Kanesaki, a look of concern in his eye. 'Where's Hirabayashi..?' Sakaguchi went to speak until Kanesaki quickly cut him off. 'She saved me... She pushed me out the way when that first ship crashed.' Raiden, heading the three discussing, decided to eavesdrop.

'She pushed you..? So... So she...'

Sakaguchi nodded.

The three stood in silence for a moment, the explosions, gunfire and screaming below acted as white noise. Looking back up, Nishihara opened his mouth.

'I-'

'How many more subordinates do you intend to kill, Chimera?'

The unforeseen words had Kanesaki and Sakaguchi looking up too, surprised by the sudden aggression. Nishihara, too, looked past his shoulder.

Raiden stepped towards Kanesaki, his tall frame posed as clear intimidation towards the Chimera.

'Answer me.'

'What do you mean?'

A look of disgust plagued the lieutenant's face, his eyes widened.

'First you kill Akio and now Hirabayashi too. What's next, you turn and slit all of our throats when we don't expect it?'

Nishihara went and put a hand on Raiden's shoulder, distracting him for a second. 'Hey, Raiden... He tried to save them both, it's not his fault.' Looking back at the officer, Raiden's face appeared to have resumed it's calm look. His eyes appeared emotionless as he opened his mouth.

'Like how it wasn't your fault everybody died in the attack?'

Sakaguchi's eyes widened at hearing the words. A look of fright and anger consumed Nishihara. 'What do you mean..?' His voice had a hint of poison.

'that day, everyone died because you couldn't save them, no? Yet just because you didn't directly kill them, it's not your fault?'

Walking past the officer, he added, 'You're just a pathetic mess, unable to die for anybody, not even yourself.'

Twisting his head back, Nishihara spoke, his voice raised by rage. 'What the hell do you mean!' His hand forcefully reached for the hilt of his Odachi on his back, gripping it tightly, struggling to restrain the desire to draw it from it's sheath.

'You know what I mean, Nishihara. You can't help anyone, let alone save them. You're a failure, one who just can't find the right way to die. I have an option, however...'

The lieutenant pulled out the metallic pole, extending it into his spear, lighting emitting from all across both it and his suit.

'You can die killing that Chimera, he's just a failure, like you. If not, you can die by my hands, but I wouldn't want that.'

Sakaguchi clenched his hands into fists, his eyebrows furrowed as he spoke. 'Lieutenant, what are you doing!? We are in the middle of a crisis, and you're attempting to defect!' Raiden glanced to Sakaguchi. 'It's not defecting, it's eliminating the lower end of the food chain.'

Kanesaki drew his blade without warning and dashed past Nishihara, swinging for the lieutenant's head. '

Kanesaki! Wait!'

The attack missed instantly. Raiden had dodged with almost perfect reflexes. Kanesaki quickly stood, looking up at Raiden. The lieutenant stared at the Chimera with a mix of hatred, disgust, confidence and power.

'Nishihara, you wish to take his side?'

Thinking back to the time they had at the academy, Nishihara looked Raiden dead in the eyes, drawing his weapon before signalling to Yasuko and Isao that they should leave with Sakaguchi.

'Guess so... Failures may as well stick together.'

Raiden closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. A slight tear fell down his cheek, yet Nishihara and Kanesaki noticed that it wasn't water.

It was a tear of blood.

Chapter 18- end