Chapter 8. Invasion

The town isn't far. If I know them, they probably set up a base in it. They probably sent more than 2 divisions, so I'd say about 50 soldiers total. 

Taiji ran towards the town as fast as he could, his breathing getting heavier.

Oh shit. The town was full of soldiers, tents were scattered on the town square. Soldiers were running into houses and rounding them up. From the biggest tent emerged a big, bald, muscular man with scars covering his face. "Bring in the next batch" he shouted to the soldiers standing guard over the citizens. 

What is he doing? Interrogating the citizens? Well, I wouldn't put it past them if they tortured them for info. 

Taiji slowly crouched towards the door of the nearest house. It's tall, so I can probably use it to scout. He climbed to the top. This house was taller than the rest and had about 6 floors, with each of them having one apartment. On top, he tried to open the door. Unlocked. So they already checked this house. Good. They won't check it again. He walked through the door slowly, his hand on the handle of his sword. He quickly checked all the rooms. Good, it's empty. As he walked towards the window, he crouched. 

I have to keep low, so they don't see me. Looking out the window, he could see dozens of tents with different signs on top of them. No sign of the ships. Where would they park them anyway in this forest? Wait, that's right, forest. He walked slowly down the stairs, carefully checking after every corner. He suddenly stopped. Screams? 

A loud scream echoed through the building. So they did resort to torture. He slowly walked out the door. The soldiers were still busy rounding up the rest of the villagers. He crouched towards the forest, alertly looking around. He walked for a few minutes. Hopefully, I'm far enough. 

He pressed a few buttons on the screen in his forearm guard. Maybe I can hack into their mainframe. They wouldn't send so many soldiers without a Carrier.

I'm in? That was quick. SO they haven't upgraded their firewall since the last time. Ah here. Their ships are about an hour away due NE. That's the same way my ship was. How did i miss them on the way here? I'm losing my touch.

He ran NE, dodging trees and holes in the ground with every step. After a while, he saw the ships. So they are guarded, though lightly. Only 10 guards were protecting 6 ships. Lightly armed too. What are they thinking? A trap? No, they couldn't have known I would know where the ships are. But they placed them in such an obvious position. It probably is a trap. I don't have much choice either way. Damn it. 

He jumped out from behind the trees, sword in hand. With a quick slash, he took out two. Quick, before the rest see me. He jumped behind one of the ships, snuck to the other side and snapped the neck of the third guard. He slowly lowered the body. Too loud. The remaining guards all guarded one ship. Their CO's ship. Probably has intel. If I take those guards out, I'll probably have time to take it and escape. He dove beneath the ship. It was close to the ground, and he barely squeezed through. After slashing the legs of one guard, he jumped up from beneath the ship. The screams of the guard attracted the attention of the others. "Too late." 

He quickly killed the remaining guards while blocking their bullets. After killing the last guard, he ran towards the entrance to the CO ship. So they do follow the same principle. Open again. Taiji quickly ran inside and plugged his wrist screen to the main console. A text appeared on the screen. 

***

[Missions]

[Operatives]

[Targets]

[Clearance]

[More]

***

Targets. Let's see what they have on me. 

He scrolled for a bit till he reached the section with names beginning with T. Found it.

[Taiji:

Age: Unknown (Approx. Early 20's)

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Power Level: Tier 3

Threat Level: Tier 2

Background: redacted

]

Why did they redact the rest? He clicked on "Background". The screen flashed red. In bright red colors appeared the text:

[Classified]

Classified? What the? Damn it. He left the page about him and pressed "More" on the previous page. 

[Power Tier classification:

 Threat Level Classification: 

 Ranks

 Guidebook:

]

So this part is for rookies. Well, I haven't had a chance to take a look yet. He pressed the first option. A window appeared.

[Tiers ranked in order:

/ Tier 1\

/ Tier 2 \

/ Tier 3 \

/ S Rank \

/ A Rank \

/ B Rank \

/ C Rank \

/ D Rank \

]

So tier 1 is the highest. I'm the second-highest tier in threat level and third in power? Interesting. I'd better copy all this data for later. He pressed a few buttons and a download line appeared. It took a minute, but it quickly downloaded all the data available. Now the ship.

He slowly walked out of the CO's ship and into one of the smaller ones. Probably easier to slip past them if the ship isn't easily recognizable. As he entered the tight cockpit, he sat down. What is this layout? I've never seen one like this. Newer models? Where is the damn instructions book. He quickly found it in one of the drawers near the seat. He quickly skimmed through the instructions and turned on the ship.

He skimmed through the book for a bit, learning all the systems in the process. So it only has rockets and no light ammo. Taiji quickly tapped a few buttons and the ship started floating. The control wheel popped out of the console. Taiji pulled it backwards and the ship took off, flying upwards. He only flew for a moment when his ship stopped mid-air. What the hell. 

[Alert: Engines failing, remote control activated] 

Oh no. Oh fuck no. They got me. He frantically tried to hack into the mainframe once again but was unsuccessful. So it was a trap. And I idiotically stepped right into it. The ship slowly approached the ground. Well, if I go down, I'll go down fighting. Shit, that sounds like shit. I'll just kill them and escape. Like usual. He thought while pulling out his sword. As the ship touched down, the door slowly opened, smoke rising in the air. Taiji raised his sword in front of himself, muscles tensed and ready to fight. 

A chain flew through the smoke, ensnaring Taiji's sword and pulling it away from him. Shit. Before he could pull out his gun, another chain flew towards him. It circled his top body and tied itself around him. He couldn't move a muscle. A strong force pulled the chain and Taiji got pulled through the air. The big, bald man caught him by the neck. 

"We've been looking for you. And we finally got you. I wonder what interesting stories you have for me." He carried him by the neck towards the main tent. "Don't try anything, my chain is unbreakable. It'll squish you like a bug." 

He threw Taiji into a cell on the far side of the tent. As he sat down he spoke: "Well, lets have a chat."

"Fuck you. I'll kill you." Taiji responded. I hope