Chapter 6

Time seems to slow down as the trigger is pulled. A chill travels through my body as I feel like I’ve just lost all my blood. I know that even with Varialax, I’m not faster than a bullet.

But still… Prim has given me- no. The world so many chances.

I might die here, but if she can make it out…

I clutch Prim tightly as I turn around and kneel, hoping that the armor covers her from the hail of bullets coming our way. I ignore her now muffled cries.

I close my eyes and clench my teeth as I wait for my body to inevitably collapse as I hear the piercing bangs emit from behind me. It seems like a few marines joined in with the first one when she started shooting.

…

…

… Huh?

I… Don’t feel anything, but I’m clearly not dead. Those marines didn’t possibly… miss, did they? I would hope my taxes dollars would help them have better aim…

I slowly open my eyes to see that Varialax has given me a message.

AUTO-ENGAGE CANCELED

DEFENSIVE MATRIX ACTIVE

I turn around to a sight that leaves me baffled.

Hexagons.

Green translucent hexagons are the only thing between me and the hail of bullets. The honeycomb pattern of the hexagons gives just enough width to cover Prim and me. Two of the marines have run dry, while one is firing semi-auto fire as fast as he can.

Every time a bullet hits those hexagons, a whizzing can be heard as the bullet ricochets off into the distance. My eyes catch the energy bar in the top left corner of my HUD. 48% remaining.

“CHECK YOUR FIRE!!!” The buff marine screams at the top of her lungs as she puts her hand on the younger marine’s rifle and shoves it down. “You couldn’t hear those ricochets?!”

A moment of shock and silence goes by right before Prim calls for my attention.

My eyes widen, and my heart sinks as I look at her. Prim proceeds to close her eyes release a big sigh, then opens her eyes to glare at me while veins begin to pop up on her face.

After lowering her eyebrows, she issues me one simple command.

“Turn me towards them.” She says calmly.

I do exactly as I’m told without missing a heartbeat. As I finish, the “nerd” marine begins to speak. “Captain Key, are-”

“PRIVATE BARNS!” Prim screams out, interrupting him in a thunderous voice before continuing.

“PRIVATE RIDER! OFFICER BELL! STAFF SERGEANT VANDERTIDE!” She screams all their names and ranks.

Prim takes the next 55 seconds to calmly explain why she is upset. Calm enough for all birds and small mammals in the area flee. Calm enough to have 3 out of the 4 marines standing in front of us shivering. Calm enough for Varialax to become concerned with my accelerating heartbeat.

That may have been the longest almost-minute of my entire life. And it wasn’t even directed at me.

I can’t see behind the mask and goggles the marines were wearing, but I can hazard a few guesses on what lies behind them.

…

…

…

Prim is now on a stretcher aboard the valor with a look on her face indicating she could blow up again at any time.

We’re currently bound for Bayside Airfield, and according to the pilots, it’ll be about a 15-minute trip.

I am strapped into a seat in-between the nerdy marine and the younger one. I think their names are Private Barnes and Officer Bell?

My seating location allows me to get a closer look at their faces through their goggles. Private Barnes’s eyes keep darting towards me and away as his whole body trembles. Meanwhile, Officer Bell is giving me a side glance with narrow eyes.

… I gotta do something about this atmosphere. I take a big breath before speaking.

“We’re not the first strange thing you guys have run into today, right?” I ask, hopeful for a conversation.

A few moments of silence go by before I get a response from the one I’m guessing is Private Rider.

“What do you mean by that?” Private Rider asks me.

“I mean- I heard you say, ‘It’s another one of those freaks!’ before all of… that happened,” I say while slightly glancing down.

“What does that matter to you-” Officer Bell asks but is interrupted by Private Barnes.

“Y-yes!” Private Barnes speaks up before continuing. “We stopped by a few places before reaching you guys and the stuff we’ve seen and fought… You’d never believe it!”

“Like?” I ask him, hoping he continues.

“Don’t just-” Bell tries to stop him but…

“We cleared out a horde of goblins inside of Walmart!” He exclaims.

“No kidding,” I say in response.

“I’m just happy they were all in one place. Lil’ bastards were ransacking the meat section.” Rider elaborates.

“That’s not even the craziest part.” Barnes continues. “Just as we were about to leave, all the lights went out save for one; a white light floating on top of the maternity aisle.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Wait, what?” I ask.

“It was a ghost.” Rider says to me. “Although the nerd insists that it was a banshee. I’m inclined to believe him, considering I’m nearly deaf now.”

“It was!” Barnes exclaimed. “But what I find even more insane is that we managed to kill it… I didn’t think bullets would work as well as they did.”

“It still took a ton.” Rider elaborates. “But the wildest thing here is that Debbie downer here seems to think she saw an angel on the way out.” Rider says, looking at Bell.

Bell rolls her eyes before responding. “It stared at us before taking off. That thing had to be as fast as an apache.”

“Besides.” She continues. “I don’t get why you’re pinning this on me when Staff Sergent Vandertide says she saw the grim reaper.”

“... I know what I saw,” said Vandertide while keeping her eyes straight. “That cloaked thing… It flew after that fleeing man. It took its scythe out and…” Vandertide takes a deep breath before continuing. “There was no blood. It went straight through him. But he collapsed on the ground and stopped moving. And that reaper… It simply stared at its hand. I couldn’t see anything in there, but… it acted like it took something valuable.”

Everybody sat in silence as we all stared at Vandertide. Rider then turned towards me. “Come on.” He said. “You don’t actually believe that, do you?”

I look down for a moment. My hands begin to shake as I shrink back as far into my seat as my armor allows me to.

“I don’t know,” I say with my voice trembling. “I can’t doubt anything anymore after those hellhounds.”

“I don’t blame ya, kid,” Vandertide says while turning her head toward me. “Frankly, everyone’s seeing stuff that shouldn’t exist.”

“Exactly,” Bell says while side-eyeing me once again. “Like that armor, for example.”

“Y-yeah, what is that thing, and where did you get it?” Barnes says to me. “I’ve been able to identify everything we’ve fought so far except for… that.”

“Well, while we were in the black site, I-”

“Monarch!” Prim quickly yells my name from her stretcher. Everyone takes a look at her before she continues speaking.

“That’s. Classified.” She says in a stern voice. I quiet down and sink into my seat.

“Right, classified.” Rider begins. “I’m new to the military, but even I know something’s off when a Captin has access to what I guess is a ‘Black Site.’ Much less, a civie.”

“Well, my mom-” I begin but am once again cut off by Prim.

“Monarch. They know we fought hellhounds in there. That’s all they need to know.” She says sternly once again.

“Attention.” The pilot's voice blares on the loudspeaker above us. “Our F22s and F35s say that they are engaged in a battle up ahead of us and that they recommend that we go around.” He says as I feel the aircraft tilt as we turn.

He continues. “This will extend our trip by about 5 minutes.”

“What kind of battle?” Barnes says to the pilot.

“They keep using the word, ‘behemoth.’ They say it’s huge but not an issue. They expect to have it downed, but not before we would reach that area.” The pilot elaborates.

Barnes closes his eyes and stays silent for a moment before speaking again. “As long as they engage it from a distance, they should be fine. There’s no reason to engage a kaiju up close.” He concludes.

“Barnes, without your help and guidance…” Vandertide begins. “I don’t know if we would have made it this far without any casualties.”

Barnes's eyes widen as he looks down. “T-Thanks Sar-”

“Bogeys ahead!” One of the pilots yells, causing everyone to look up.

“How many?! What are they?!” Prim shouts.

Barnes proceeds to take out a tablet and opens an app that says “Radar Sync Beta Ver.” After a few seconds, he and the pilot respond at the same time. “24!” Then the pilot continues. “And one of them is much bigger than the others!”

“I’ve thought of something funnier than 24-” Rider says but is cut off.

“Cut the chatter! What are we up against?!” Vandertide yells.

Barnes and I look at the tablet as it shows us what the front of the valor sees.

“...Griffons!” We both shout at the same time…

Although one of them looks a little odd.

Zooming in, one of them stands out from the rest. Just like the pilot said, it’s much bigger than the other griffons.

My skin beings to crawl as the image comes in clearer. That griffon… isn't a griffon at all.

One, two… three heads

The head of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. The front of its body is like a lion, and the back is like a goat's. It leads the flock with its dragon-like wings.

“Is… that a…” I begin to say.

“Chimera…” Barnes finishes for me.

“I have lock! FOX-2!” The pilots say as I feel 4 distinct rumbles in the aircraft.

Looking at Barnes’s tablet, I see 4 AIM-9 sidewinders speed toward the flying horde. The following 4 consecutive explosions cause inhuman screeching to come from the horde. A group of limp griffons and their feathers fall to the ground while the rest scramble amongst themselves.

“That’s at least 10 kills!” Barnes yells at the rest of us.

But then, the Chimera appears from the back of the horde. It flies above the griffons and then releases a guttural roar from all three of its heads.

The rest of the horde responds by regrouping and continuing their relentless charge toward us.

“They’re still coming!” The pilot yells. “Gaining altitude!” He yells as the aircraft pushes against my body.

“Bell, Rider! Get on the Gatling guns! Barnes, sit next to me and tell me what we’re up against!” Vandertide yells while arming her assault rifle.

“YES, MA’AM” Bell and Rider respond as they rush to the sides of the aircraft.

“Y-yes ma’am!” Barnes stutters out as he makes his way over to Vandertide.

Trying to collect myself, I lean over to the window and gulp as I look outside. Below us, the rest of the is horde flying up towards us, screeching their hearts out. Varialax tells me there are fourteen unknown fauna below us.

The marines can handle this… right?

BRRRRRRRTTTTTT

The 2 M134s unleash a hail of bullets toward the horde, causing bodies to be shredded in a glorious mess. The remaining griffons spread out as they continue their approach, but the Chimera hangs back.

I count 9 left. Their spreading out is actually a huge problem. The Gatling guns are doing their job, but not fast enough. By the time they reach us, there may be only one left, but one griffon getting on the aircraft is all it’ll take…

My body begins to shiver as I try to think of solutions.

Should… I do something? I have Varialax, but I’m not a soldier. But… Varialax DID handle those hellhounds and saved Prim and me from the gunfire, right?

“Varialax…” I say out loud, my voice trembling. “Could you… do something?”

ENABLE AUTO-ENGAGE?

It… should keep me alive, right? It should keep us all alive…

“...Yes.” I say softly.

AUTO-ENGAGE ENABLED

Varialax treats me as a puppet once again as it rips off the seatbelt and forces me to stand up. It makes a harsh and sturdy walk toward the side door and slides it open. I am greeted with the sight of tracer bullets flying and Griffons now swarming the aircraft.

“M-monarch?!” I hear Prims from behind me.

“Prim!” I yell back at her with sorrow.

Varialax allows me to turn my head towards her for a few seconds. My eyes meet with Prim’s wide eyes and her trembling body. I notice her shaky breaths and the color of her skin fading.

“What are you…” She says in a soft and shaky voice.

I hear a piercing screech from below as Varialax forces me to turn my head back outside and down. A sneaky griffon has made its way from below and is now darting toward the belly of the aircraft.

Varialax leans me forward slowly as I tip over the edge. My blood freezes, and my breathing stops. I can’t even scream. But someone else does.

“MONARCH!!!” I hear Prim screech at the top of her lungs. The fall begins face first as Prim’s screeching is replaced by the griffons.

My right arm pulls back, and my hand makes a flat shape. Green transparent squares start to cover my hand as the griffon and I rapidly approach each other with its talons out.

PLASMA BLADE