Location: North. Vologda. On the border of the Capital City, Stoker.
First: What?
Second: The fuck?
That was the precise thought running through Reyha's head as she stood knee-deep in the snow.
Her boots were half-frozen to the crusted asphalt of the ruined crossroads.
The winds of the northern provinces were not polite breezes either.
Cold gnawed at her fingers, even through the heat-insulated gloves that were supposed to regulate her body temperature.
She swore she could feel her eyelashes frosting over.
"Hell of a first mission..."
She muttered, her breath fogging instantly as she exhaled.
A new Teslovik agent, and by extension, Bifrost soldier. Now, she faced a multitude of civilians.
But before this, already separated from her teammates, not her fault by the way... "Ugh. What a drag."
She muttered under her breath as she picked herself up, tightening her fingers against her sleek black [Vibration Arms].
'First of all, Snez crashed the car.'
That in itself was a miracle, how they survived as the car literally flipped over.
A midair flip followed by a barrel roll to the ground.
Naturally, the snow fox lady will never admit she has a skill issue in that respect.
But that wasn't as maddening as what happened next.
For absolutely no reason, 'we were attacked by those brainwashed people the General talked about..'
Yet, she could cope with that.
Everything was fine and good, but now, she was in pursuit of a bratty child who refuses to learn manners,
And now...
"HEY! You're an adult, aren't you?! Can't you just, like—clear them already!?"
"Dammit! Raimei Todoroki!"
At this moment, having been slightly frustrated by the attitude, she didn't care anymore.
From the tip of [Goschtsel], the name of her vibration arms....
Lightning erupted.
The world resonated with her, releasing power from deep within her. A technique an old man from an orphanage had taught her.
Vicious arc of lightning, brilliant yellow that licked the iced road with pure fury, peeling steam from the surface.
The scent of scorched iron and burning hair filled her nostrils.
THRRRM—KRAK—!!
It screeched, stretching towards its intended target. "GAHHH!!"
"YEOW! You psycho bi—Ouch! Oww!!"
Those were the cries of civilians she struck. Well, brainwashed civilians.
There was no way she could have handled it better than by lowering the output so they would not be overly armed.
First, she was at a crossroads, surrounded on all sides. Going easy would spell her doom.
With that attack, the left flank was weak, finally.
She didn't look at the writhing bodies behind them.
Instead, she focused on the only thing: the route forward.
She might be an Awakener, but she didn't have bottomless energy.
"Hey, Deena. By the way, where are we?"
Running alongside a much smaller girl, snow-white hair with an outfit that was perhaps a tad too revealing for her age.
Yoozoo, this is not what a kid should be wearing, but okay TT
"Ugh. If I tell you, do you promise to be silent for five minutes?"
Reyha's eye twitched.
A tick mark might as well have appeared physically above her head.
But she forced a crooked smile. For now... for now... she told herself.
"Sure."
"I live here. I know every street and alley. I know the location of every speaker."
"The person you're looking for must be near the central loudspeakers, it's up ahead."
No wonder the number of civilians increased around the crossroads.
But didn't that just mean... 'I'm getting closer to the heart of the enemy's base, aren't I?'
Realizing this quickly, she immediately inserted her hands into her skirt pocket, immediately sharing her location with the rest of her teammates using her terminal.
'I can count on backup with this...'
Reyha's boots pounded the frozen sidewalk, steel heels thudding in rhythm with the child's breaths as they ran.
Somewhere ahead, beyond a thin haze of mist and steam pouring from broken grates, voices echoed.
Voices of cheers and rising chants, uniform and too loud, perhaps overly eager.
A mob, electrified by blind devotion, shouting some "Glory to Bifrost!" supremacist chant.
"Over there, huh..?"
Reyha murmured, pointing ahead.
But as she did, Deena, beside her, motioned for silence, whispering, "Shh. Over there."
She then pointed at a break between two buildings, a shadowed corridor offering perfect cover.
The two ducked into the gap, the icy wall scraping Reyha's shoulder as she pressed herself flat and peeked out.
A gathering, maybe fifty strong. Ordinary civilians who had no business holding weapons...
yet there they were, armed, fanatical, drawn in by some ideology wrapped in humanitarian lies.
It sounded like some pseudo-philosophy about cleansing the world.
The kind of thing people only believed when their brains had been scrubbed raw.
At the front of the mob was a girl who appeared to be leading them, one Reyha vaguely recognized.
The mobs were already beginning to scatter when Reyha confirmed her suspicions.
"Nanook?"
"You know her?"
"We briefly met back at Teslovik, but... why is she working for Yulia...?"
Reyha said that, expecting a reply from the child beside her, however,.
"Deena...?"
No response.
"Deena?"
The empty space beside her confirmed it.
"Oh, for fuck's—"
Reyha looked just in time to see the pint-sized hellion sprinting directly toward the crowd as if she were trying to die on purpose.
Reyha buried her face in her gloved hand, letting out a single breath. "I swear, fuck them kids..."
Well, except Rayna. Her sister.
On the other hand,
Cheers turned to shouts. A few of the civilians, more like cultists now, caught sight of her.
"Look over there! Another heretic!"
"She's armed!"
"Damn heretic!"
They noticed her, of course; the lingering civilians, now empowered by Yulia's brainwashing, turned soldiers.
"Evil grown-ups!"
One particularly enraged man lobbed a half-frozen brick, missing wildly.
And then, as though the situation hadn't gone completely off-script already, Deena reached into her cloak and—
Whirrr—shnk.
She drew a short, sleek weapon—black as obsidian, with two pronged tips connected by an arc.
"What the hell—that is... [Vibration Arms]? How does she...?"
"Blast away!" Deena shouted.
From the tip came two energy ball-like projectile that fired toward the nearest mobs approaching her.
BOOM—BOOM!
"GAAH!"
"Damn kid!"
She wasn't trying to kill them. But she was definitely trying to make them regret living.
Yet, even Reyha could see it—Deena wasn't strong enough to stand toe to toe.
She was just slippery, fast.
Ducking under grabs, weaving between swings, taunting, and tossing energy blasts like it was a game of tag.
Her real target wasn't the mob; it was the girl standing silently at the back, the one acting like their leader.
"Evil grown-up! I'm gonna get you!"
Deena fired another pair of blasts—straight toward Nanook.
PSHHH—PSHHH—!
The sound of the projectiles being rendered useless was made.
Clad in all black, black hair, even a black overall-like attire adorned with blue and brown stripes.
Her hair was dark and tied back. Two soft, triangular ears twitched slightly atop her head, inhuman.
In her hand, she held a two-handed sword before her...
A/N: According to my knowledge, she uses cannon, but in the first chapter, she used dual swords, maybe her cannon is like the ODM gear, I never used her, so I wouldn't know how her animations looks like.
"What?"
"Too bad kid,"
Nanook responded with a somewhat cold tone, saying that...
Deena, having been in front, her eyes widened as a shadow loomed over her, coming down at a speed she couldn't evade.
But then...—CLANG!
"Ow, ow..."
Reyha let out a sound as she blocked the massive greatsword with her [Vibration Arms].
Still, the impact rattled her hands, sending a dull impact through her arms.
"Reyha?"
Much to Deena's relief.
"It's you..."
Nanook said that, jumping back to create distance between them.
"So, you are Bifrost's lackey, huh?"
"Lackey or not really matters. I'm not interested in idle chatter. I'll drag you back to Bifrost, m'kay? So don't struggle."
Reyha's words elicited a frown from her opponent.
While her actions may seem reckless, in addition to sharing her location earlier...
Before she blocked the strike for Deena, she had already sent an SOS to her team.
While she'd only known them for two days, she trusted Sova was a competent leader given how Fenriru trusts her.
"Deena, handle the mobs. Leave her to me."
"Hey! You want all the glory for yourself?"
This little... I saved her, but, "hahaha, don't worry, I'll tell everybody you were the one who found her."
"...Deal!"
Meanwhile,
Back at Bifrost Base. Teslovik's command center.
Snow howled outside the frosted windows, but inside, the circular command chamber was quiet.
After testing the prototype [Brionac], a matter which had ended with Luceris getting an earful from Niz about operational irresponsibility, they had moved on.
There were more pressing matters than overclocked weapons.
Dimly lit except for the multiple blue-lit interfaces and the translucent projections hovering above the center console.
A holographic grid in the air, showing a three-dimensional map of Vologda's border zones.
Aiken stood, operating the systems with her tablet in hand.
On the other hand. Niz, Luceris, and Mori studied the screens in contemplative silence.
The latter three formed the actual spine of Teslovik's strategic division.
"So, how is it going?"
"It's like the Supreme General said, we converted Yulia's broadcast into text through speech recognition."
Lines of dialogue began scrolling down one of the side panels.
They were transcribed words that had triggered riots and strange episodes of mental collapse.
"This is what was said on the radio."
Aiken presented.
Niz let out a sigh, patting her silver bangs that, always stubborn, slid forward to obscure her eyes.
"So... Have you carried out the test, then?"
"Yes. No adverse effects upon viewing or reading, only when her voice is heard through the broadcast."
Luceris didn't speak. His hands were crossed in front.
He only turned his gaze toward the screen, impassive, eyes fixed on Yulia's words.
Mori looked at Niz, then at Luceris.
"....Supreme General, what are you thinking?"
Turning toward Luceris, she asked that.
Like Niz, he brushed a strand of his hair, before settling his gaze on Mori.
"Though I knew she was capable of brainwashing, I didn't know it was this strong."
"How so?"
"Typical brainwashing I'm familiar with, unless it's a direct psychic-type, requires built-in limitation."
In this case, even if one had that ability, it would require a tedious means of fulfilling some condition.
If not entirely that, then something similar. However,
"That's not an ability I knew she had until now... if she had it, things would have been different."
"Most definitely. It's a relic."
Niz said that before Mori also joined in with a solemn nod.
"Yes. I believe so too. She must have just gotten her hands on it."
"If not... if she had 'that' long ago, Yulia would have been in your position, Supreme General."
Luceris fell silent at those words. 'A brainwashing relic, huh?'
Then—
"—Generals, sorry to interrupt, we have just received a voice recording from Eastrise."
Aiken, who was tapping on her tablet, suddenly looked at the three generals.
They, however, unlike Aiken's surprised expression, had completely serene faces.
"Play it."
"Yes, General."
Responding to Niz's orders, a small hologram with static visuals appeared, along with the words.
"Buzz... Repay kindness with evil... Buzz... If I were General Luceris or even Niz... she wouldn't have lived to see this day."
It was a confident voice. Though vague, Niz's expression changed ever so slightly.
"That's why you're not Niz. You're just a scoundrel spreading rumors... Buzz..."
Another voice. Unlike the calm and confident voice, this one was a little loud, perhaps panicked.
Regardless, they continued listening.
"What right does a betrayer have... Buzz... Back when Niz was attacked."
"Oh? So you're innocent of all this? Reaon knows you... Buzz..."
"SHUT UP!!!"
The confident voice at this moment didn't look so confident. Luceris glanced over at Niz, whose expression dropped further.
But that's where the broadcast ended.
"Any chance Eastrise might be interested in Yulia's uprising?"
Mori, after piecing together all she had heard, glanced over at Niz and Luceris, who looked at each other before shaking their heads in unison.
"That girl won't do that... however, I can't say the same for their ministers. Besides..."
"Unless they truly want war, they'll keep their interest to themselves."
Both were always in sync.
Whenever it came to international conflicts like this, both were always merciless.
"Still, it looks like Yulia's target is the radio station."
After making those calculations on her device, Aiken broke such news. And naturally...
"Does she intend to control us?"
Niz, having said that, shook her head.
"Mori, immediately block all radio stations on the route from Vologda to the capital."
"Yes!"
"Also, contact Fenriru and tell her to locate Yulia as soon as possible."
At first, Luceris had nodded in support of that order; however,
"If she encounters Yulia in person... depending on the situation, Fenriru may utilize some dangerous items from the explosive storehouses."
The moment those words landed, Luceris hung his mouth open, looking at Niz in disbelief.
He looked at her like she'd just gifted a flamethrower to a child prone to temper tantrums.
The image was clear in his mind: Fenriru, delighted, elbow-deep in unstable munitions, gleefully arming herself to the teeth.
"You..."
Luceris's mouth opened, searching for a rebuttal, only to be betrayed by memory.
"...W-wait."
"That was for the emergency, not the entire bloody arsenal! You know she's insane with that kind of freedom."
Niz tilted her head slightly.
"Both of you are pretty much the same."
That one hit, naturally, Luceris raised a finger in protest. "Excuse me—"
She cut in without mercy, tone bone-dry: "I take it back. Fenriru is better."
"...That's slander." Luceris turned.
"I stand by it."
"I know what the word restraint means, Niz."
Mori, watching from the side, was trying very hard not to smile.
Aiken, meanwhile, had taken two subtle steps away from there.
Niz crossed her arms.
"Really? Because I recall a certain test in Sector Twelve where restraint meant blowing a crater the size of a city block."
"I had clearance."
"You had a suggestion. Not a greenlight."
"It was implied."