~3 days ago~
“Mystia’s Rubber?”
“To be exact, you’re going to aimed at Mystia’s Rubber Farming Site No.3.”
Said the busty older sister in front of us beanstalks, as us trio is facing a debriefing in an undisclosed cubicle. She was pointing at a random place in the middle of the forest, that is also marked with the exact same name on it.
Cenna, who isn’t used to all of this as always, is already getting sleepy with her eyes half-closed, so I and Mon have to joggle her up by shaking her head, swinging her adorable short black hair with a weasel clip on it.
“Um...elaboration, please? We’re the type to care more about what snack will we get on the afternoon, than if rubber in the name refer to the eraser.”
“Then I will make it succinct: The company itself, made itself famous thanks to developing a GMO variant of the rubber tree, that can both grow faster, grow bigger, and can immediately making sap in a short period of time. With sufficient nutrient and available ground, they could start from sowing to havesting from 1 year to around 6 months.”
“Sound cool, but have nothing to do with us.”
“The trees itself can grow to approximately 20 meters in height, around 2-3 meter in diameter, and have dense bush on the top creating dense foliage that can cover the entire place in green. Apparently they were also planning to used the same GMO technology they have to help repopulate the forest and aid in restoring the environment after the war.”
“Wow~, with trees that high, I bet even our Personal Armors could hide among it.”
Waking up abit, Cenna make abit of a careless remark in her groggy state. Picking up on that however, the busty sister, in her sexy OL suit, make a confirmation in her cold, impersonal tone.
“Exactly.”
“Pardon?”
“A fast-growing trees, that can grow in mass, and it’s high and dense foliage can cover clear ground into lush forest that’s also capable to be harvested for it’s industrial values…”
“...You can immediately turn any ground into a hidden base, with all it supplies provided by the disguise that you build up.”
“And with environmental and humanitarian aid as a front, one can easily hide any operations involving setting up a long-term base of operation from behind enemy’s line.”
I and Mon make the following conjecture, while silently contemplating the ramification of this…
“...But in the end, it’s most likely just a side project of some higher up within the Toho government, whom’s company was getting sponsored of. As best, it’s his pet project for something that have nothing to do with us.”
After all, the amount of fund used to acquired a spot, GMO’s development cost, as well as making the site itself and time investment,...This just seems like something that’s used either for novelty or for preparation against when the world is at war again,to justified that amount of cost...
“Normally, yes.”
“But?”
“The company itself managed to find a Personal Armors. A Unique, to boot.”
“”!!!””
Unique...One-of-a-kind Personal Armors. Unlike the mass-produced Personal Armor used for commercial purposed, a Unique, like it’s namesake, have nothing like it and thus, have no equal. Whether it’s offense or defense, combat or otherwise,… each of them have unique, one-of-a-kind strength, and no mass-produced model can even come closed to it’s performance.
Each and everyone of them is a work of arts, made by one group, or even one Builders alone, and some of them is made only for specific person to ride with...Even rarer, sometimes the Armors itself choose a person to ride them, made but Unmarked, waiting for the right Pilot to wield it...
“It’s also Unmarked, which mean no one have become it’s Pilot yet, and moreover...it’s design doesn’t match any Styles of Builders, that we have recorded in our database. As such, it’s also an Unsigned.”
“”!!!!””
It’s also an Unsigned as well...Though it doesn’t mean that the quality is guaranteed, it’s existence alone make it one of the rarest Unique around, and is most definitely known for being one of the most unpredictable…
“And finally, though it’s only preliminary inspection, it has been confirmed to be a Pure.”
“”!!!””
A Pure, of all thing!?...Now that change all thing. I and Mon stand agape with this relevation...aside from Cenna, as always, as she is still sleepy from getting bored to death.
“...Now that sound like something that’s our priority. So, are we going to capture it?”
“Yes...well, recapturing it is more accurate.”
“Hm?”
Answering our question, the busty OL onee-san- yeah I get tired saying that already, so from now on I just going to called her secretary, present another slide, containing some random faces, and the image of the warehouse. It was a nondescript white warehouse with a red roof at the top, and was big enough to hide a 20-meters humanoid machine, and also housing research facility.
“Truth is, we have already dispatched an undercover team to go capturing it, disguising as government agents evicting this place for tax evasion, kicking out everyone’s else but our own mans within that place.”
“Since it’s someone’s private project, the one behind this definitely don’t want to blow this thing’s up and blew their plan altogether...So as long as the undercover team be able to take care of that guy’s own private force, they should be able to stay low for awhile, while making preparation for extraction.”
“Yes, and the data itself, came from what they can pulled out of the site, as well as the result of our own analysis. They’re already on the last phase, and was preparing to deliver this in the dead of night a weel ago. However…”
“...They got taken out. Was that guy’s special force truly is great enough to overwhelmed them?”
The secretary shake her head.
“Negative. We have already run a throughout investigation on Mr. Tamago Atama, the aforementioned higher up, and make the most suitable team for this operation, consist of 20 of our most elites. That team should be able to deal even against a Personal Armor by themselves, if they need to.”
She then show the picture of the man in question, who is an old bald man in uniform.
“So what? Did a team of Personal Armors come and surround them then?”
“No, it was only 2 people.”
“...What?”
Hearing something unusual, this time even Cenna woke up, looking very attentive.
...Oh snap, she found something interesting again.
“According to the report of the team leader, while they were doing their operation, suddenly the light went out, and someone very quickly taken them out one by one within the cover of darkness. Before he knew it, everyone but him have been down, and a woman with blond hair, blue eyes and white skin, come behind him and tell him to start the truck, with a sword on his neck.”
“...Hee. So a certain someone managed to take out an elite team, who can take out even one of the greatest weapon in our time, with only a sword and the element of surprise? Did he the only one surviving then?”
“No, quite the opposite: All 20 personnel escape without a traces of wound.”
“Heeee?”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
No good, her eyes is sparkling.
“The team leader also reported that after he get into the truck, he also spotted a shadow of another woman; with tanned skin, black hair, and purple eyes; appear on his rear-view mirror, silently tied up each and every person of his team lying unconscious, then get them to the back of the truck one by one. He then see the woman with a sword also going onto it, then signaling him to go. After he go around 10 km from the warehouse, the woman then jump off into the forest, and the last thing he saw of her was a shadow blitzing through the forest at breakneck speed…”
“Waa~~. She’s so cool!”
Great...she found her “target”. I and Mon then secretly glanced at one another, making sure to restrain her from going too far when the time comes.
“For now, the team we send there still confirmed that the two of them still stay there, occupying the base itself. Their most likely target is definitely going to be the Personal Armor inside.”
“But if it’s so, why would the two of them let all of our man go like that? I doubt it’s by the goodness of their heart.”
“Isn’t that obvious? They’re putting burden on us.”
Cenna, upon being completely awake, put out her opinion clearly, as if seeing through their intent.
“’Dead man tell no tale’, so if they all die, we can safely disposed of this mission, and wait for another time to assemble another team to strike, since it’s most likely that we’re still only have to deal with that egghead’s personal force, as he definitely would still want to keep it undercover. Plus all the heat would then be transfer to these two instead, who would then be the perfect distraction.”
“But they’re still alive. All 20 of them still breathing, living, and still containing vital information on not only about the Personal Armor itself, but also about us. Even if they scattered and hide, who can guaranteed that all of them would be returning without one of them getting captured by the enemies...especially now that the two of them also held a mean to contact the government about the real situation.”
“Because most likely they’re a third party with no affiliation with either the egghead, or the government itself, otherwise they would have already hold them in the cell and wait til their side coming up instead of letting us away...Instead of them, we have become the bait, being used to distract all the heat away from them instead.”
“!!B-But if they let us get away like that, they could just regroup themselves and attack back against them...”
Hearing such an unbelievable thing, Mon immediately tried to rebuke back, still taking in the situation as if I denied it to be real. As if tearing it down however, Cenna kept talking.
“Then why did the team still reporting on their position?”
“!!!”
“Ms. Secretary, if my guess were correct...all of them are Augmented right?”
“...Yes, that was indeed the case.”
Augmentation...that mean all of them underwent modification of their own body to increase their physical prowess, whether by injecting drug or replacing part of their body with prosthetic...And considering that she said they can take on Personal Armor, it’s probably a bit of both.
“If they were Augmented on the level of our standard, then just darkness alone wouldn’t hinder them in the slightest, and they should be able to immediately respond to the problem...Yet, a team consisted of 20 elite Augmented person, get swiftly taken out by one person only, moving too fast for any of them to react until it’s too late...You do realize what it mean, right?”
This mean that, not only is she the same, she is on a much higher level of augmentation than all of them combined.
“With different that high, no wonder not a single one of them dare to even come close...If I were to speculate even a bit, I would said her effective range would be 10 km, considering her action. The moment they even cross that line, I don’t think they would get away with just getting knocked out…”
“I can confirmed that. One of the men there try to peek inside the warehouse at around that range, and immediately get knocked out by a rock.”
“Ah, good to know...what were they tried to look at though?”
“They wouldn’t said...But the first pair destroyed both lenses of his binocular, while the second pair destroyed both of his testicles.”
“Ah, screw them then.”
Immediately, an air of contempt and hostility flare up among them, and a sense of camaraderie is form between them, and the pair of girl in question. Us meanwhile just put a silent prayer to that man’s lineages deep in our heart.
“But well, if they also called the government side so that they will catch our guy, wouldn’t they also find out about the warehouse in the end and taking it for themselves?”
“Why would that matter? Either they get that Personal Armor first and flee, or the government get to them first. Either way we will not get that thing in the end.”
“...And from the result of the field team’s observation, both of them have a very high chance of getting it first.”
“How so?”
“They have detected heat signatures, matching that of a Personal Armor’s engine starting up, appearing within the warehouse. It doesn’t look like the person inside are able to pilot it yet, but according to our analysis, they should be able to within 3 days .”
“So we’re running out of time huh...No wonder why you need us of all people then.”
I said with a smirk, as confident radiate from not just me, but all of us trio sitting next to each other.
“Yes...The Wind Weasels, said to be the fastest and most efficient Personal Armor team around, capable of dive in, complete their objective, and dive out in a blink of the eyes, sometimes leaving the victim not realizing that they have been “cut”… This recommendation have been directly from the President itself.”
“Hoh...make sense, the President himself would definitely want this thing at all cost.”
“By the way, it’s also the President’s order that command the field team to stay behind, in support of your objective. As such… Lead Weasel, Mon Weasel, and Cenna Weasel.”
“””Yes!”””
We respond clearly, standing with our back straight. Even Cenna, who have become unusually motivated, also stand up with her eyes clear and focused.
“Your objective, is to work together with the field team still remain, captured back the target Personal Armor, and apprehended the two outsiders, if possible. I will leave the detail of the operation to you three...Are you willing to take this task?”
“””Madam, Yes Madam!!!”””
“Good, the President have high expectation for all you three, so make sure to fulfill it. Finally, remember...The Ragnarok always come.”
“””And The Ragnarok’s Always Ready!!!”
“Good, briefing over, you may dimiss!...You may begin your operation.”
“””Yes!”””
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“Uuu...thinky hurt, need candies…”
“No wonder. It’s pretty much not like you to have to used your brain this hard for this long…”
After the briefing is over, Cenna, who finally reached her limit of seriousness, immediately deflated like a balloon, with eyes barely open as she walk groggrilly out of the briefing room. Because of that, both Mon and I immediately support her on both side as always, and escort her to the emergency recharge station that’s the vending machine.
Recharged little by little, Cenna’s face is in bliss as she munched on her favorite chocolate bar like a squirrel stuffing food.
“Man, her briefing are as long as ever. Does she ever get tired from speaking?”
Said I, complaining, as I put my hands behind my head, ruffling my short brown hair.
“Now now, it’s not all that bad, at least it’s as understandable as usual. I heard she used to be a teacher before getting this job…”
As calm as always, Mon with his messy brown hair drink a cold can of cola, also freshly out of the vending machine.
“She could have just make it short, you know? Like “go out there, annihilate the two outsider, and bring back the Armors”…“
“Um, she said to apprehended them if possible, not just annihilate them…”
“So what? Not like these two, who is cocky enough to kick out an entire team of elite fighting force like they’re kicking out children off the neighbor’s yard, would listen to anything from us anyway. Heck, I think they would be scare out of their wit and peed themselves once they see us coming…”
“...I wouldn’t think so, tbh.”
Finally recovered abit, Cenna began to speak, still munching on the snack bar.
“I didn’t said this earlier since it doesn’t related all that much, but her action...Kicked out the team without killing them, brazenly using them, and consequently us as bait, pitting two different side as once against each other while they boldly make their escape with the Armors…”
Done eating the snack bar, she speak with a dangerous glint in her eyes, and a smile on her face.
“...It’s like they’re purposefully taunting us. “Bring your best, or else this thing is going to disappear in front of your eyes, you know”, something like that. My bet is that the president gladly took the bait and send a team like us to respond to that.”
“...Wouldn’t that be a bit overkill then?”
I said, in exasperation toward both Cenna and the president’s common sense. At the same times, we finally return back to the garage space where we placed our Armors…
Towering several stories high, three warriors in metal and green stand side-by-side.
The first one is donning in thick armors, on top of it metallic body, giving it a thick and heavy stand capable of taking all hit without moving, while holding a large shield covering it entire body on it left.
The second one is on the lean side, as if it have been stripped down to only it core and basic armor part, aimed to reduce as much weight as possible for agility. It held no weaponry for now, but it can used any weapon suited for it need.
The last one, in constract, was decked on in various gun, cannon, and many other long-ranged weaponry decorated all over it body. It main weapon was two gatlling gun on each of it hands, and a pair of giant cannon on it back.
Three different giants, with three different shapes and sizes...The only thing connect them together, is the uniform light green coloring on all of them, and the team symbol on the right shoulder, in the shape of a weasel head on the side, with the back of it head trail off into wind.
Personal Armors, the weapon that forever change the face of war...Molding after the mighty form of warriors, just by themselves they can carve mountain, pierce sky, and level cities all by itself. The force they exhibit is like natural disaster themselves, and some even revered and fear them as god and monsters, unable to be conquered by human no matter how much they tried.
And plus…
“We’re the Wind Weasels, soon-to-be the best team in the Ragnarok Foundation, and soon enough, the world. With all of us together, together with our Armors, not even an armies of Armors could defeat against us, not mentioning just two people…”
Going in front of Mon and Cenna and turning my back toward the Armors, I declare, with a proud smile on my face.
“ ‘Show me your best’ huh...We will show them their best, and crush them without mercy. Let just hope they at least put up a good fight, and not pissing their pants, that is.”
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“Shit, who the hell is that monster!?”
Hiding behind rows of trees, we anxiously hide from the person in front of us, as she wield her sword casually. She doesn’t move from her spot, nor is she look seemingly threatening, wearing what seems to be like white casual shirt, and white long pant made of silk. She look like a quite high-up girl who is on her vacation, and should be chaperon by servants on all sides, but secretly snug out instead to go on her own adventure.
But her glare...the sky-blue eyes that look right at us despite hidden behind a sea of trees, as she accurately send our own bullets right back at us...It was like a blade silently pressed against our throat.