Darling in the Franxx: Cold Blood

Chapter One: First Impressions

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Outskirts of Plantation 13

It took sixteen hours. Sixteen hours of following after the transport before you had finally made it to your destination. Your legs burned and your lungs ached from the constant sprinting you had to endure to keep up with the transport. But that didn't matter. Instead, you had someone to find. In front of you was a massive dome-like structure. A Plantation to be specific. It was nothing special though. You've been forced to deal with them on a few occasions. Which meant you knew well enough how they worked. But for right now, you had no concern with the Plantation itself.

Even though the long-range systems of the Plantation would have trouble picking you up on any scanner. Mainly thanks to the construction of your suit's specialized armor. That still didn't mean the naked eye wouldn't notice you staring. Having your cover blown on accident was the last thing you needed.

So you'd moved back behind one of the large hills around you. After you were sure your suit was hidden well enough you started your suit's deactivation sequence. Once the hatch covering the cockpit slid open. You stepped out of it for the first time in days. Still feeling the sting of running. But now with an added feeling of fatigue throughout your body from being in there for so long. You tried to ignore it and grabbed a pair of binoculars and a small datapad from a storage compartment before exiting your Klaxosaur.

Even with the clouds covering the bulk of the sun's light. You were shortly blinded as your eyes adjusted to the outside work. Luckily for you however. The sensors in your helmet picked up on this and auto adjusted the brightness to help you see faster. When you could see well enough. You went about climbing down the spine of your suit. Before then having to climb up the hill until you reached a good vantage point that overlooks the entire Plantation and its surrounding mineshafts.

Reaching the spot just in time to see the transport land. You turn on the old pair of binoculars and peek through. Turning the impossibly long distance from you and the Plantation into nothing at all. Watching on as a group of several humans exit from the transport. Most of them wore the same dull gray clothes and headgear. A few of them, however, managed to catch your eye.

Firstly was a large man. His arm and neck were bound, implying he had recently gotten injured. The blue uniform he wore gave you the impression he was important amongst them. The second was a woman with brownish-red hair wearing another dull grey suit. Although not appearing to be all too special, you couldn't write her off just yet.

Next up was the person who you had trouble pinning down thanks to their outfit. Whoever they were they wore an off-white jacket with a large collar that also extended down to their knees. Along with that, they wore a hat that did well to hide the majority of their features. The only thing you could make out was a small amount of pink hair on the back of their head.

Then the last was a person you had almost entirely missed. He seemed to be a short man with a lab coat who had to walk with the help of a cane. But the part that truly drew your attention was the piece of metal that adorned his head. That, for the most part, looked to be a part of him. This made your skin crawl a bit. The idea of having to deal with another cyborg.

'At least it's not like Shin.' You thought to yourself as you noted them in your datapad. 'But which one of them is the hybrid?'

Moving your sight to the transport ship. You see the transport's front ramp get lowered to the floor. That's when you finally saw it getting hauled out of the ship's storage bay. Getting carried off the ship by a massive piece of machinery was a giant red and white humanoid. "Is that Strelitzia?" You wondered to yourself in a hushed tone. "I've never seen a Franxx like that before."