Chapter 8: Rescue Force 101
Johannes, Nanoha, Teana and a few soldiers entered the bunker and waited for the mutants. Motion tracker showed thousands of mutants heading towards them from all directions. Johannes had a determined and calm look. “Okay, this is classical mutant attack formation. They love to swamp all around us and keep us off balance. Happened on Earth all the time,” said Johannes. “How do we counter it?” asked Teana.
“Simple. I’ve sent a squadron of fighter jets to drop bombs on their heads. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to reduce their numbers to at least…no more than 100.”
The roads of Cranagan acted as makeshift runways for the Terran fighter planes. They took off on Johannes’s command and flew around the city. “This is Aquila Squadron on patrol. Scout perimeter is 30 km radius. Colonel, we’re ready,” the lead pilot reported. “Aquila One, you’re clear to release the fire bombs on targets. You are to reduce their numbers to 100 if possible,” answered Johannes. “Aquila One here, I acknowledge. Breaking formation now,” Aquila One answered back. The jets broke formation and scouted the city for mutants. Few of them spotted mutants and they dropped bombs on them. The fire bombs blew up into raging firestorms that lit up that section of the city, and the fires burned the mutants to ashes. The explosions were so loud that Johannes heard them from his position.
“Wow, that’s loud,” Nanoha quipped. Johannes said nothing but nodded his head instead. Vita…or the mutant that was once Vita spotted a jet flew by her horde of mutants. Vita’s conscious still controlled her thoughts but her actions were controlled by the virus. It was doing everything against her will. She could here herself speak but not the words she had in mind. “Those Terrans have those blasted F/22 Raptors on patrol. You guys go get anything to shoot down that flying metal junk,” mutant Vita growled. The other mutants nodded and spread out to search for any anti-aircraft weapons.
One of them returned with a missile launcher, aimed at one of the Raptors and fired. In the Raptor cockpit, alarms sounded as the missile locked on to it. “This is Aquila 5; I have a missile on my tail! The mutants have anti-air weapons!” the pilot said panicky. He tried to shake the missile of but it just trailed him. Before the missile hit, the pilot ejected and his plane exploded into bits as the missile found its mark. “Aquila 5 went down. Colonel, those mutants have missile launchers. I’m requesting that you send snipers to deal with those missile-wielding trigger happys,” Aquila One said. It so happened that Vice was in that area. He was hiding in a building for a few hours already, killing mutants.
His attempts to contact TSAB HQ failed so far but when he intercepted Aquila One’s message, he took his sniper rifle and aimed at a mutant that wielded a long tube. He squeezed the trigger and shot the mutant in the head. “Bull’s eye,” he said quietly. The other mutants fell as unknown shots filled the air. One of the mutants grabbed the fallen launcher and escaped. Vice looked around and saw other snipers hiding in buildings. They wore dark armor that blend with the darkness of the night. “This is odd, Mid-Childan snipers don’t wear like that,” said Vice. Determined to look for answers, he packed up his equipments and left the building he was in.
At the water distribution facility, Signum tended to the hurt, though she was bad at doing that. Shamal said she was on the way but it has been two hours and she hadn’t arrived yet.
“Where is that Shamal? I thought she was supposed to be here by now,” Signum said impatiently. “She’ll come, Signum. She wouldn’t abandon us like that,” Hayate said.
“I know she won’t but it has been two hours since I last contacted her.”
“Be patient. Even if she does not come, someone will.”
Then, a squad of black-armored men came into the facility with flashlights switched on. They searched around and found Signum and the rest. “We found them as requested, Colonel Johannes,” one of them said through a COM. Signum brandished her sword and stood ready. “Who are you people?” she asked cautiously.
“We are here to rescue you under the request of one Nanoha Takamachi. Are you guys hurt? Do you need medical aid?”
“I don’t need any but my friends do, especially that purple-haired girl,” said Signum while pointing at Subaru. Her body was bruised and she was unconscious. One of the men went up to Subaru and checked her pulse. Steady…low but steady. The man took out some medical supplies and patched up Subaru. “She looks clean. What about the rest?” he asked his team. “Sir, this pink-haired one had been infected before but the virus in her body is inactive. An attempt to posses her has failed! This is extraordinary! She might be the cure to our woes!” one of them exclaimed in delight. Signum looked clueless.
“Really? Well then, let the science team examine her when we get back. Each of you grab one guy. Let’s get them back to the city,” the lead said. Signum helped carry Hayate while the others carried Chrono, Subaru and Fate. “Sir, this yellow-haired girl has nice boobs,” one of them said. The lead smacked his head. “Why do you care? Don’t be a pervert or I’ll shoot you. Now move before any mutants check back here.” As his men left, the lead checked into the water tank and a tentacle grabbed him. He took out a steel sword, chopped the tentacle grabbing him, and ran. “What the?! I better tell Johannes about this.”
Mutant Vita stood on top of a building that overlooked Johannes’s position. The mutant did not know how to use Graf Eisen so it aimed the missile launcher at the bunker. Vita tried to fight back but she felt that she could not do anything. “Now you die, Johannes,” the mutant said with an evil smile. The missile discharged from the tube and flew towards the bunker.
“Colonel, incoming missile!” Nanoha warned as she spotted the missile. Johannes just stood there coolly. “Colonel, the missile!” Nanoha warned again. Johannes just smiled, snapped up his assault rifle and fired a single shot. The bullet impacted the missile in the head and detonated it. Nanoha and the others were amazed by his marksmanship. “Wow, that was head on!” crowed Teana. “That was just a lucky shot. I never expected it to hit,” Johannes said. Everyone had a “sweat” expression. “Lucky or not, that mutant will pay! Starlight Buster!” yelled Nanoha.
The shot flew towards mutant Vita but she already escaped. As the bomb raids from the Raptors continued, only a few mutants reached Johannes’s position. They were quickly shot dead under combined fire from the two mages and the Terrans. The other mutants retreated as the sun rose. The jets returned to ground at exactly 7 a.m. The sniper scouts returned as well along with the detachment unit. The last to arrive was Vice who was welcomed warmly by Johannes. He assessed the situation. “Okay, it seems like things went well. Aside from the downed pilot who was killed by mutants and some dead sniper scouts, we all did well. The mutants will most likely hide somewhere dark so we’ll be safe for now. I heard a statement from one of my soldiers stating that this Signum resisted the Alpha Strain virus. She has agreed to give blood samples provided we get the rest holed up at their HQ. I want volunteers to come with me on this next rescue mission.”
Hands rose but Johannes only selected a few. “Nanoha, Teana, Signum, Lopez and Hayate. You all will be coming with me. Pick some soldiers to form your team. We will leave in 2 hours. Everyone get some R&R.”
Teana and Subaru sat at the coffee table, munching down on some biscuits. “So, I guess the traffic jam saved your life.” Subaru said in a tired voice. Teana shook her head. “Nah, it also almost cost me my life.”
“This Colonel Johannes Delecroix…is he a good fighter like everyone said?”
“Quite. He is pretty cool as well. You should see how he reacted when a missile flew towards him.”
“Must be interesting to see,” said Subaru as she munched on her last cookie. She looked out the window and sighed. “I hope Ginga is okay.”
Teana said nothing. It has been a tiring night and she felt like sleeping. Why did she even sign up for this blasted rescue op in the first place, she thought. Well, she asked for it so there was no turning back. The Mid-Childans might have lost their fighting force but with these Terrans, they might have a chance to win.
Perhaps.