I need to hire these two. Baldric thought.

Elaine and Theo were proving to be invaluable as the three of them worked to destroy the anti-air cannons on the top deck. Taking them one by one would take too long, so what they did was take over a rocket battery and go wild. He also discovered they were a couple.

Elaine, the shaggy yet short-haired young woman, was zealous when it came to combat. Her hyper-energetic personality and armed with her massive grenade launcher made her the perfect saboteur.

"Where you running, you muppets?! Come on, be game!" She was loud, zealous, and quirky, which made her the perfect target, but she was always covered by her partner.

She matched well with Theo, A blonde, long-haired young man who wore a long dark blue cape with a fur hood. While Elaine acted as a distraction, Theo, armed with his lancer rifle, picked off the soldiers cleanly. He was her polar opposite, barely speaking, but Baldric had to admit, when it came to marksmanship, he could give him a run for his money.

"Any more guns we need to take out, luv?" Elaine said as Theo gave them covering fire. Tinkerton-G peeked from the cover and adjusted his telescopic eyes.

"No that’s it. That’s everything."

"Where next, mister Tinkerton?" She asked. Baldric laughed at the title.

"We have to secure the- Baldric! Luna!" Vhlad’s voice came out of Tinkerton. "To whoever can hear this! The Silvus strike fleet is within firing range! Get the hangar doors open now! We will draw their main fire but you need to get out of there! Now!"

A massive horn blared as Baldric looked in the distance.

Ten silvus airships were fast approaching. Vhlad’s dreadnaught flew past Treese’s ship, roaring its massive horn and fired every cannon on its deck towards the oncoming strike fleet, each shot sending vibrations that were felt even at their location.

"We are heading down! Let’s go!" Baldric ordered.

=0o0=

Oichi screamed in agony as she attempted to give birth. Shinaki and the others defended themselves in the hangar. Annie and Ada were the heavy hitters, with heavy weapons that kept the majority of the main forces at bay.

Groti and Thandos served as their marksmen, while Shinaki and Willow dealt with any stray attackers. Although it was excruciatingly painful for Elizabeth to treat everyone's wounds, she persisted. She wanted to stop, but seeing them all fight made her even more determined.

A loud announcement came from the ship to all the Silvus crew to retake the hangar as reinforcements from the strike fleet were on the way. Renewed, the soldiers fought harder and started to turn the tide. With the freeze rounds running out and more enemies on the way, they are now pinned down. Oichi yelled out loud as the pain only grew stronger.

=0o0=

Luna and Treese were locked in a melee fight. Treese used knives and pistols, but she disarmed him, and now they are both locked in a fist fight and pummeling each other raw. In every fight, Luna’s advantage was her augmented speed and her techniques, but against Treese, who could match her step for step and could hit harder than she could take, the fight was turning to his favor. He landed numerous body blows, and Luna could feel the damage it was causing.

"What’s the matter?! Can’t take a punch?!"

Luna tried to put some space between them, but Treese closed the distance. She switched tactics; standing her ground, she tested Treese’s abilities. She parried with both hands and countered with kicks. He could withstand most of her attacks, so she picked up the speed.

She let out volleys of punches while Treese blocked them by putting his arms up. Luna switched to targeting his body as she moved around him, but it still didn’t work. Treese landed a right hook square on her jaw, which caused her to stagger. He had the skill and force of a champion boxer, while Luna had difficulty keeping the momentum of her Guyanshin style.

"Face it! I’m just too much man for you." Treese closed the distance again.

"You talk too much, Treese." Luna went on the offensive and continues to test him, parrying his blows and using her legs to knock Treese’s balance. His strength and force still put her at a disadvantage, with Treese landing heavy blows on her arms and body, but Luna finally caught on to his movements.

He was skilled, but aside from the force and speed, he was leaving a lot of his weak points open. Luna parried every blow and aimed for his biceps. With each blow she hit the muscles, and soon, despite his augmentations, Treese felt his arms grow heavy.

"What is this?!" he said as Treese shook his arms, but Luna’s attack was already serving its purpose.

"You’re new to the upgrade game, aren’t you?’ Luna smiled as she circled around him. "You may not feel any pain, but your body does, and it’s catching up to you."

"You arrogant bit-" Luna did not let him finish another word.

Going on the offensive, she kept up the pressure as she released fast volleys of punches into his upper body as Treese desperately tried to block her blows.

But it was also taking a toll on her. Luna was exhausted and the injuries she sustained early in the fight, especially on her left bicep, were making every movement strain her own muscles. Treese was focused on the defence and gave Luna an opening; she landed a solid kick to his head, knocking him down on the ground.

She bashed him repeatedly, targeting his ears and eyes. When he let his guard down, she targeted his face, arms, shoulders, and chest, anything that Treese failed to cover. Exhaustion finally set in and she fell back.

Treese was finally knocked out, and Luna, who was out of breath, finally got a moment to breathe.

The fire around them had started to die down, but the heat and smoke made it hard for her to see. She made her way to the end of the room, blocked by the large steam tank she dropped to block the way. She looked up and saw Shinaki’s sword still stuck on the rafters above. Using her grappling gun, she climbed up and retrieved it. As she landed back down on the ground, a shredder round ripped through her right shoulder.

Barely holding onto the sword, Luna rushed to find cover. Arm-o tried to close the wound with a sealant. It wasn't as effective as her amber as she gritted her teeth. Another round ripped through her cover and almost struck her leg.

Once her shoulder was sealed, she gripped the sword and charged straight at Treese. He fired again, but Luna perfectly dodged the shot. She then leapt into the air and aimed for his arm.

It should have cut his arm clean off, but the sword did not even scratch Treese.

Luna looked at him and saw a bright yellow liquid dribbling from his mouth. Luna stepped back slowly as the venom slowly started to take hold of Treese. He started to snarl and convulse violently, and Luna expected him to act like a mad beast, but what terrified her was that Treese immediately stopped shaking.

When he opened his eyes, Luna felt a chill run down her spine. She had seen those eyes before, from her vision in the under empire. It was the same eyes that saw her; bright yellow eyes with dark pupils. It was the eyes of the demon, and they looked directly at her. When he spoke, it was a different voice; it was deeper and sinister.

"I remember you, human. You are the one who looked into the darkness." Every word echoed in her head and heart. It drummed repeatedly, and her chest felt incredibly tight. Luna readied her sword to strike.

"What… what are you?"

"A being beyond your conception." It calmly walked towards her while Luna distanced herself.

"What have you done with him?"

"I did nothing. He willingly surrendered his will for power. I will allow his return, but first I want to see the one who managed to resist our calling."

"I saw what you were." Luna said, using the sword as a ruler to keep Treese at a distance. "You are a demon."

"Demon." It laughed, and it sent her skin prickling. "A name ancient life gave to something that they could not comprehend, when the truth is we are beyond anything your minds can understand. But if you truly wish to give us a name, then call us the end of everything."

"I saw what you and your kind plan to do to this world. Once I finish here, I will make every nation in every corner of this world aware of your existence. And whatever it is you plan to do, you will not succeed."

"Your confidence is pathetic. Our plans cannot be stopped as they are already at their conclusion. Soon we will come into this world and what you saw will come to pass."

"Why?! What do you want from us?!"

"We seek your suffering, nothing more. Know this, Luna: we are THE END."

The creature’s final words echoed throughout the room, and it caused Luna’s head and heart to pound painfully. It was as though the voice was clawing at her mind, trying to pull out her reason and sanity.

And as quickly as it came, the being left Treese, and when he opened his eyes, it was his own mind in control once again.

He was confused at first, but when he saw Luna, Treese fired his rifle at her. Luna dodged and managed to counter with her sword. Treese used his body to block her strikes as they barely scratched him. Behind them, his walker began to wake up again.

Soon, Luna was now fighting on two fronts. Treese fired at her from the front while the walker tried to strike her with its large sword from the back. Shots grazed at her while the massive sword almost cut off her arm. Treese couldn’t land a hit as she was moving too much, so he went on to engage her in close combat. It proved successful as the walker forced her to go on the offensive, which gave Treese lots of openings for him to land his shots.

"Damn this venom stuff is…" Treese cheered as he kept landing blows on her body.

Luna could not believe that he was able to maintain his sanity under the effects of the venom. She could only dodge and duck as she desperately tried to avoid Treese and his walker. As she desperately tried to evade his blows, Luna felt the smoke from the fires around them being sucked out.

It was a hole from where the walker landed earlier. The impact must have caused it to open and reveal the dark sky underneath, but it was far too small.

Luna still has some smoke, light, and one last high-explosive grenade.

She first used her light grenade to disorient Treese, and then used the smoke grenade as a signal to the walker for it to strike her. Luna dodged around, leading it to the hole and allowing it to attack her near it so the walker would carve the hole bigger. Once it was large enough, Luna leapt through it.

The gust of wind on the outside was far too strong and her grappling gun almost did not connect to the underhull. If it wasn't for G's upgrades to her gun, there is a high chance she would have already died, but it was with pure luck alone that she managed to make the hook connect and Luna held on.

Even in the dark night, she saw that it was a long drop to the sea below. As she swung her way to the top of the airship using her two grappling hooks, a bullet almost hit her face. Treese and his walker had punched through the hull and were now climbing towards her using the walker’s thick hands. He aimed at Luna again, but the strong winds made him miss.

Under fire and with strong winds battering against her, Luna finally made it to the top deck.

Most of the top deck was on fire and in the sky; Vhlad’s dreadnaught was ablaze as well.

The massive airship was up against ten ships with his glider fighters in a fierce dogfight against enemy biplanes. She saw Vhlad maneuver his dreadnaught as it took a direct hit on its side, but it managed to counter fire and hit an enemy cruiser. But no matter how skilled Vhlad and his fighters were, there were just far too many as the Silvus biplanes were shooting the glider fighters out of the sky. Silvus boarding parties have gotten through Vhlad’s fighters and have started to land on Treese’s ship.

Luna picked up a rifle nearby and started firing at them, keeping their attention on her, but Treese finally reached the top deck. Treese pinned her down with gunfire as he roared orders at the landing parties.

"The princess is down in the hangar! Get her and kill the rest!"

Treese and half of the new arrivals focused on Luna while the others went down the ship.

=0o0=

When Baldric and his group arrived, it was right in the nick of time. Groti's shoulder was shot, Thandos' leg armor was shattered, and Shinaki was grazed in the chest. Annie, Ada, and Willow were holding the line with the blotking, eating debris and spitting it towards the soldiers. But all of them held the hangar with an unwavering ferocity.

But that was ten minutes ago, and even with the combined strength of their two groups, they were starting to get overwhelmed.

"Where the hell did they come from?!" He yelled out as more soldiers kept coming out of the halls and the stairwells. Some were even wearing thick iron plating, acting as shock troops to allow the others to set up positions.

"Vhlad!" Baldric yelled at Tinkerton-G, as he threw a grenade to stop the soldiers from setting up a gattling cannon. "Vhlad! Send a transport carrier now! Now!"

"I can’t! The skies are too hot! The biplanes are everywhere and one gyrocarrier had already been shot down!"

"Running low on rounds over here!" Thandos yelled out as he used his pistols. Baldric saw that they were setting up another gattling cannon.

"Someone take the cannon down!" Baldric provided cover while Ada aimed a rocket and landed a direct hit.

"Baldric, all of my high-explosive ammunition has been spent." Ada said as she switched to using small arms.

"I’m out!" Theo yelled out. Baldric looked at him and saw that he was on the last of his ammo as well. As they scrambled to pass ammo, a Silvus fire team managed to set up the cannon and opened fire at them.

Everyone stayed low as they were completely overwhelmed. As a bulletstorm showered all around them, Baldric held onto Annie and Elizabeth, using his body to cover them.