Jasvinder Krishnan

Sparks fly as my sword clashes against Wu's flail. My arms waver from the impact, but bolstered by Sheryl's powers, ultimately holds firm. My heart pounds like a galloping stallion, sending the liquid fire within my blood flooding into every part of this body. There's a growing pressure gripping my head, as if it was caught in a rapidly tightening vice. By using Sheryl's powers, it becomes more difficult to mentally pen her in. But I must stay the course. Sheryl's powers are my only hope of surviving this crisis.

Instincts take over and I swipe at Wu with my flaming sword, drawing a burning trail across the sky. With all my mental resources occupied with Sheryl, lashing out like an animal is all I can spare attention for. Already my knowledge of Sheryl's trump card is beginning to fade. I know it involves four interconnected sword stances, but Sheryl has managed to bar my access to the bulk of the technique, leaving me with just the 'Fire' stance available for use. Whenever I try to access the rest of the knowledge, Sheryl's presence in my mind surges forward again, taking advantage of the distraction. I can't keep her at bay and absorb the trump card at the same time.

And that's a problem. Wu can easily see through the truncated technique. The Senior Operative performs an effortless dodge before belting me across the helmet with his chains. There's a mechanical curse from my bulwark as the HUD distorts for a second but I manage to keep the machine flying. The tension in my head intensifies and color begins to bleed out from my vision, leaving a black and white vista. Gritting my teeth, I perform a swerve, darting around Wu's flank, looking for an opening.

"Don. Intercept." Wu commands in a flat voice using his machine's external speakers.

My bulwark's sensors scream in alarm as Don dives from his spot high up in the sky, both pistols blasting away. I bring up the sword to parry the incoming sho -

Don't be silly Jasvinder. The Fire stance is meant for head on melee combat and delivering overwhelming single attacks. Your strokes will never be fast enough to match bullets.

"Shut up." I curse at my unwelcome head mate, as Don's shots slip past my guard and punch holes throughout my machine. The impact sends me reeling backwards and Don pulls sharply up from his descent, soaring back up into the safety of high altitude. I begin to build some altitude of my own, but a sharp blow slams into my back sending me plummeting completely out of control while a warning klaxon in my helmet sounds.

WARNING ARMOR BREACHED

A wet, stinging pain coming from my back tells me all I need to know. Wu tore through my bulwark's operative fortified structure with a single blow. He's done playing around. My vision spins as I tumble downwards, the sight Jackson's house growing steadily larger. Completely helpless, I crash through the roof of the house and crash land right into the middle of the living room Thomas and I had originally been hiding in.

Thomas. I failed him.

You never loved him.

Shut up. Shut up!

You married him just to deny me. Its fine. Admit it. He's not around to care anyway.

The invisible vice clamped on my head squeezes and I feel the clamps sinking deep into my skull. Its like experiencing a thousand migraines all at once. I swallow a glob of rancid saliva down my throat and stagger back to my feet. Just in time to see Wu tear off the entire roof of the building with a single contemptuous swing of his flails. Don settles into a comfortable hover next to the senior operative.

"%@$!#@^" Wu says incomprehensibly.

"#@$$&^^" Don throws his head up in laughter(?), "@!%@^#&&"

"Get out of my head." I moan, "Just get lost and leave me to my life."

Wu extends his hand to me almost invitingly as he offers(?), "!&#(@%$&**"

"LEAVE ME ALONE SHERYL!" I shout, wildly swinging my sword about in defiance.

Don turns to Wu and makes a worried gesture, "^@##&%%*"

Wu merely nods and snaps his flail at me again, this time striking my chest and throwing me backwards. I land hard on my back and my limbs go dead, as if they had been weighed down with massive blocks of concrete. Don and Wu land their bulwarks directly in front of me and gaze at me steadily.

"@&[email protected]^!%" Wu's steady voice intones, "*#&!#^##&^**%"

The fire burning in my veins erupts and begins to surge out of control and my body thrashes about against my will. I throw all my psychic weight onto the bars keeping Sheryl in check, trying to beat back her malignant presence. As we struggle, an encroaching whiteness invades from the edge of my sight, slowly blotting out awareness. Now even the gibberish Don and Wu are spouting at each other feels like it is at the edge of my hearing even though they're standing right in front of me.

I'm almost out of options, but I still have one last card to play. Sacrificing the last of my mental energy, I grab Sheryl's metaphorical reins and start directing the building power straight towards Don and Wu. My sword blazes with bone white fury as I raise it over my head, ready to bring the blade down and end this fight once and for all. My mouth opens and I yell my defiance out for the world to hear.

"@&#$#^^@!$%%%&&^$"

Words that I don't understand spew from my mouth. And I finally understand what is going on.

The sword is swung down and in a flash of energy, its all over.

.....

"... don't care, I want the Valkyrie and that Auxilia gone!" the shouting of the elder awakens me from unconsciousness.

"Ugh." I croak while returning back to the world of the living. The first thing I realize is that I'm still in full bulwark. The second thing that I realize is that I'm leaning against someone else for support.

"Whoa!" I bark in surprise at the sight of the assassin steadying me with an armored arm. My eyes dart around in confusion and I notice that both of us are standing in the midst of a large crowd of bedraggled beast people. No one bothers with the two armored bulwarks though. Everyone's attention is drawn to the quarrel happening at full volume in front of them.

"Jackson not abandon Sammie!" Jackson snaps back at the elder as both sides stare each other down.

"What happened?" I mumble, "Why aren't we in the village anymore?"

"You don't remember?" the assassin asks, releasing his hold on me now that its clear I can stand on my own.

"Mind's a blank." I wobble slightly, "Especially the last moments of the fight."

"Take a look for yourself." the assassin shrugs and points into the distance. The entire village is in flames, with a good part of it completely leveled from an explosion. No wonder the villagers decided not to stick around. The assassin pulls me aside so no one can hear us talk.

"You lost control of your trump card," the assassin whispers, his featureless full face helmet silently judging me, "and obliterated several homes. I pulled you out of the wreckage before the fire roasted you alive."

"But why?" I ask, taken by surprise by this sudden kindness.

"Because you fight the Earth Revival Directorate." the assassin says plainly, "You're the first of their Operatives that managed to slip the leash. That makes you interesting."

"Then Don and Wu ..." my voice trails off in contemplation.

"I didn't find them." the assassin shakes his head, "Neither did I see anyone flee from the ruins. That final attack of yours probably took them out."

"Huh, yeah." I murmur, remembering what happened to Thomas and what Sheryl said about the whole affair with him.

That's right, Sheryl. I probe my mind for Sheryl's presence and find nothing. No greasy weight, no dark shadow lurking somewhere in my head. I experimentally try activating the Operative power set and suddenly my stomach clenches, forcing me to sink painfully to my knees.

"Don't force yourself." the assassin observes, "You might kill yourself from rejection syndrome if you keep this up."

"I know the feeling." I agree as I get back up. Nevertheless, I had confirmed what I needed to know. Sheryl's gone and I have limited but uninhibited access to her power set.

"You said during the fight something about Operatives not needing to kill for serum?" I probe hesitantly.

"Classified." the assassin immediately shuts my question down, "What are your plans now?"

"I honestly don't know." I sigh, "I planned to keep drifting north, but now, all this has happened."

"Then join me." the assassin offers, "My bosses would like to talk with you. And if things work out, who knows?"

"Is that an offer I can't refuse?" I demand.

"I'd like it to be." the assassin replies self-deprecatingly, "But I'm in much worse condition than you are. So this is a genuine offer."

I examine the assassin and realize he isn't joking. There are rents torn all over the assassin's armor with flecks of blood scattered about. Wu had really tormented the man, beating him enough so that it would hurt, but never so severely as to actually kill him. In this state, I could handle the assassin without any issue.

"Alright." I shake hands with the assassin, "Thomas is gone. I'm homeless now as well. Can't go back to the Citadel. Why not?"

"Great. Wait here, I want to talk to the elder into releasing the Valkyrie into my custody." the assassin responds as he walks back towards the crowd.

"What? Why?" I ask while following my newfound partner.

"She needs medical help." the assassin shoots back, "She won't last long by herself."

"Shameless." I curse, "Don was really shameless. I'm glad its finally over though."

I'm distracted by the sight of Lena and the remaining Braves running back to the village, most likely to inspect the damage. Before I know it, the assassin has drifted back into the crowd of flesh bags.

"Wait up!" I cry, "You haven't told me your name."

....

Don Kuat

"Bastard. Bastard. Bastard."

I lie flat on my back in the middle of the wrecked house, blankly staring at the stars, completely bored out of my mind, while that annoying flesh bag bangs away on my bulwark with the butt of her rifle. She was the one who ambushed me, wasn't she?

"Bastard. Bastard. Bastard."

Go to school loser. Expand your vocabulary a little.

"Bastard. Bastard. Basta-" the monotonous cursing is cut short by a loop of chain wrapping round the idiot's throat and yanking her away from me.

"You can stop pretending now." Wu announces as he strides into view, "Sheryl and the Blue Ocean running dog have left the area."

"Shit. You sure about this?" I ask while getting up and stretching, "This goes beyond deep cover. This is deep deep cover to the power of infinity."

The flesh bag struggles in vain as Wu's chain tightens around her throat, garroting her and shutting that irritant up permanently.

"Have faith in your comrade." Wu claps my arm, "She suggested this plan to the Management when she contacted them using this village's transmission station."

"We didn't expect Blue Ocean to show up though." I point out.

"Different route, same destination." Wu explains, "There's only one place an outlaw Auxilia could go. And I'm willing to bet that's where the running dog came from."

"North." I grunt.

"Just so." Wu nods agreeably, "The villagers are beginning to drift back here. We should prepare for the harvest. Did you bring the tools for the bio-reclamation?"

"Its all in my car." I say.

"Go retrieve it." Wu directs, "I'll start rounding up the villagers in the meantime. Its a public holiday tomorrow right?"

"Yeah. I'm off work." I confirm.

"Then we have a whole day to wrap things up here." Wu answers, "Let's get to it."

"Sure. Let's."

End of Arc 1