Forsaken stronghold, North Africa
“You smell that?”
“Yes.” Watanabe huffed, swatting away a few wires in the process. Thana ambled beside him as she stepped on the dusty tiled floor, their steps echoing and matching as they ventured deeper into the corridor.
“Smells like shit, right?”
“It does. Now shut your mouth or the smell could get worse.” He responded with a sharp look, earning a shrug from the Transcendant.
“Or...” Laethiel added from behind. “It could be your not-so-alive scout.” She occasionally walked with her back towards them as if she had eyes on the back of her head. She was acting as the rear guard.
The Blackcoats traded glances with each other, as if offended by her statement. Of course, no one could see their facial expressions, since it was covered with black balaclavas and dark goggles.
“Knock it off, Lae. Focus on the task at hand.” Stella calmly remarked as she avoided a series of stray wires. Laethiel did as she was told, probably not in the mood to keep joking.
The whole walk towards the source of the screaming, wherever that was, made Rozzi's stomach churn. There was something different in the air, something that spelled danger, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Surely, her human senses don't compare to these androids right?
“Wait.”
Watanabe, who was leading the group, said in a hushed tone before raising a balled fist at head level and crouching on the ground.
The rest of them stopped and readied their weapons, before following his lead.
Watanabe peaked around the corner, and what he saw made his eyes go into slight defocus. In the far most end of the hallway, the walls were splattered by blood and bits of tendrils of flesh. A body of a soldier; torn in half, was hanging on the ceiling.
Blood dripped out of the gaping wound, while his intestines hang for them to see. Watanabe signalled them with the all clear to look at the grotesque sight, causing them to inhale sharply.
“What in the world caused this..?” Rozzi muttered, her gaze following the tendrils of meat and blood that pooled below the hanging corpse.
The blackcoats raised their rifles as they scanned the dimly lit hallway, as if expecting a violent monster to lunge at them from the shadows. The forsaken leader noticed something up ahead and started moving, albeit slowly and carefully.
Rozzi sighed, feeling sorry for the poor soldier. She looked at her squad mates to check if they were alright, before motioning for them to follow the rest of the Watanabe's team. Stella unsheathed her sword before brushing her gloved hand on the blade, activating her dark energy and coating her weapon with it.
Thana did the same thing, slinging her plasma rifle on her back before taking her katana out of her scabbard. She makes eye contact with her commandant before scraping the sword off the wall.
“Don't wanna singe you with plasma bullets, so I'll use this one for now.”
Rozzi thought it was the better alternative too. “You're right, and it's better at closer range.”
She took out her handgun, a measly toy compared to what they were packing. It was a standard issue sidearm for commandants, so she doesn't have that much of a choice. Of course, they can have the option to request a change of gear, but that was too time consuming.
She checked the magazine and saw that it was full, before racking the pistol. Laethiel was walking close to her side, clearly ready to pounce at the tiniest hint that Rozzi would be in danger.
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ODYSSEY (Punishing: Gray Raven X Arknights X OC Characters)
Fanfiction[] Constructs. Dispensable cannon fodders for humanity to use against the Punishing Virus. Tools to counter the virulent corrupted machines and mechanoids left to wander the desolate wasteland of a planet called Earth. The decades long war against...
