Many drenched in the black cloaks shot off behind Sinno who took the lead, her scythe out to her right side fully extended. Their feet echoing on the ground as they got near the rampaging beast, her head turned back quickly, “Black Ops establish perimeters. D-Class reinforce and wait for signals. Shurren, Shawn, Ellie, Audrey, we’re taking that thing directly.”
“Copy that Captain,” came the shout of one behind, followed by chatter from others also in agreement.
Behind twenty five figures broke off from the charge, leaving just four right behind Sinno. One rushing right alongside Shurren looked to his captain ahead,”So Sinno, how are we going to go about this? That thing looks pretty tough,” he spoke with a hint of humor to his voice.
“Smash it like always. Armor looks tough but I bet we can crack that in no time. Shurren, Ellie, take its sides. Shawn, Audrey, with me!”
“Right!” the four shouted back, Sinno and two others branching off as Shurren and Ellie zigzagged forward.
They crossed each other, one pulling ahead of the other only to pull back and behind. Finally when just a few meters out from the rampaging beast they shot, Shurren left and Ellie right. Two tails lashed out, stingers flung through the air like fired arrows. Shurren without word rolled right, Ellie up with electricity surging around her feet. Shurren shot forward, Ellie upon the creature’s tail and forward along it. With a roar came green liquid that splashed forward, something both acted quickly to evade with more tucking and rolling.
Finally they came up on it, Ellie first with a shot just above with twin swords flipping around, sparking with electricity, “Take this!”
As its head turned, Shurren shot in front of it with a crystal-like sword glowing with flames in mid swing, “Where ya lookin’ you beast?!”
Its mouth flung open, a powerful roar raging its way out of the Alpha with such force that the two young warriors were flung off.
“Gyeh-” Shurren croaked.
“Ah!” Ellie cried out.
Both flew and crashed back across the ground, both looking up at which point three figures had begun to climb high into the sky. Sinno came down first with her scythe flying, the beast’s gaze focused. Blood flew as the scythe impacted, another roar exiting the beast though with far less force, the blade right through the center eye, “Shawn, Audrey!”
Above one of the three figures began to descend, the third being simply gone. As the second came down, a male shot up just behind the Scorupi Alpha, right hand placed upon its back, “Sorry fella. Sound Art- Riveting Sonar!”
Again howls left the beast that now dropped straight to the ground, cracks spreading from where Shawn’s hand was placed. A very silent hymn could be heard resonating from the cracks, the beast’s other eyes going wild. Above, just as Sinno ripped her scythe back out, the final figure took aim with what appeared to be a bow, her eyes locked, “Eat this-”
With a release a light blue arrow flew down and slammed straight through the creature’s eye. A light shriek came, then nothing as it dropped limp, crashing forward to the ground. All five landed before it, side by side with Sinno at the head, all others slowly approaching.
“What, that’s it?” Audrey chuckled.
“I had heard that the Alpha were difficult. Have to say, that was almost too easy,” Ellie replied as the others came near.
“Almost too easy,” Shawn mumbled, “Supposedly their Power Rating is a seven or an eight. That felt like it was barely a six.”
“Power Ratings don’t guarantee anything, especially if it’s brainless,” came the snark of Donavin, “They’re just assessments of what a thing can go up against out of warriors and other creatures, which also aren’t even. Guarantee you, next to Sinno the C-Class Reaper, I’m a Double S.”
“Double S isn’t even a thing,” Ellie mumbled with an eye roll while Sinno took a step forward.
“What are you thinking Captain?” Nani murmured slowly approaching.
“Power Ratings might not mean everything but still, that was far too easy. Whatever Recon Braco Squad reported weeks ago, it wasn’t an Alpha. Or, maybe this isn’t actually an Alpha.”
“Sinno, what made you assume this is an Alpha to begin with? These things have never been encountered before anyway.”
“I just assumed because it looked different and the Recon Bravo said that the thing they found wasn’t that different from normal Mamba, that it commanded the Mamba too, which would make it an Alpha. Could this be a variant of normal Mamba or a mutation?”
“Hmph, so this isn’t the thing that wiped out Bravo. Well, that’s reassuring. Here I was feeling confident about this operation,” Razor grumbled.
“Shadow Squadron!” came the yell of the nearby Captain.
The man slowly approached the squad, soldiers at his side looking considerably on edge. A simple glance was given to the dead beast, then another to Sinno, “Not a bad kill. Rather sad that it took as many of you to take it down as it did.”
“What’s that?” came the growl of Shurren.
“Fat boy thinks he can dictate with his Doctor Cleanser looking face,” came the laugh of one of the Shadow Soldiers.
“Pudgy little gnome,” laughed another.
“Tch, you dare talk back to a superior officer like that?!” the man barked.
“All due respect, Captain, Shadow Squadron falls under my command. We might be following your orders but as the Squad Captain, command falls to me. And as an asset of The Church, command has to be given in a mutual agreement. So I am their superior, not you. Now, what are our next orders?” Sinno mumble in reply, a scowl appearing rather quick.
“Hmph. I should just send you all on a suicide charge, you wouldn’t be able to do much about it.”
Sinno slammed the flat edge of her scythe to the ground, an audible clang echoing, “Captain Shallot said the same thing and tried that anyway. Know what happened? I broke his pelvis for risking the lives of my squad mates over petty injured pride. Though he was a different case, flirting with the underage warriors. Heh… I can’t even remember how many times he’s been injured trying his crap.”
“Well I’m not Shallot so shut your trap Sinno.”
Her eyes closed for only a moment as she moved her head to face the man, eyes opening with a strong glare, a hateful glare, “Watch who you try to undermine, Ralsavin. I could easily cut you to pieces and blame it on the Mamba. Maybe I could even make it so they never find your body. I could always just leave you for dead to be eaten by the damn things so watch your fucking mouth you sexist pig!”
As she spat out, her scythe rose up and crashed down harder, cracks spreading on the rocky ground it slammed to. Ralsavin took a simple step back following, his gaze softening, “Ugh… alright alright, you win Sinno. Shadow Squadron is too valuable to dispose of anyway, and Shallot is an incompetent waste of space for trying to do that. You’re worth more than a hundred of our normal soldiers versus the twenty-eight he tried to sacrifice you for.”
Her glare turned into a smirk, her eyes softening and opening a bit more, “Glad you see things our way, Captain. I’ll be sure to report on your outstanding stature in the face of the enemy. So, what next?”
“Continue Northeast into the direction where these Mamba keep popping out of. There has to be a Hive somewhere out there. You’ll be leading a heavy squad that can properly deal with anything that you might find. If you find it and it is beyond you, mark the location, radio in, and fall back. Do NOT engage something you can’t beat. I’d sooner have you pull back to another ridge and bomb the area with the airships.”
“Understood.”
“Good. May the Light of the Gods rest well with you and your squadron,” the captain said turning, walking off with several of his soldiers, “The rest of you, follow Sinno’s lead. Do not disappoint me! Frankie, you’re promoted to temporary captain of the unit, you answer to Sinno.”
“Understood sir,” one of the soldiers hanging back replied at attention.
With that the man disappeared into the trees with several soldiers following, leaving dozens back with Sinno and the rest.
“Hmph… alright then, listen up. As you can no doubt tell, I value the lives of my comrades above all else. If it means losing the mission, big whoop, you’ll get another shot, you can find an alternative if it’s vital. That said, I want none of you showing off. You listen to my fellow C-Class, you listen to Captain Frankie, you act smart, and above all you don’t do anything stupid such as trying to be a hero. Risk anyone’s safety, abandon anyone, and you’ll be answering to more than just me. Got that?”
“Yes sir!” the many said as the rest of Shadow Squadron began to surround Sinno, some grinning and others blank.
“Alright. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get a move on!”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJr1DtscPhC
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