Chapter 85: A Fateful Decision
When Osprey woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, he knew bad news would follow suit. Looking up at his quarter's ceiling, the Major let the phone ring for a minute before twisting in bed. Grabbing the phone off the stand, Osprey groggily answered it, stifling a yawn as he did so.
"Major Striker Osprey?" Command asked, Osprey slowly sitting up in his bed.
"This is him," Osprey tiredly replied, stretching a bit.
"I apologize for the last-minute call, but you're being called back in," Command told him, causing Osprey to grumble. So much for his vacation, and Mgbaba sounded nice this time of year.
"What for?" Osprey asked, hearing the clacking of a keyboard on Command's end.
"An airborne operation in Japan," Command replied, with Osprey sighing. Of course, it'd be that shit storm, not like he was surprised though. The Boss had been calling in troops from everywhere for days. It was only a matter of time before the Airborne units were called in. After a few more words, Command hung up, leaving Osprey in silence for a moment. That was until someone yawned behind him.
"Who was that?" Buffalo tiredly asked, shifting in the bed behind him.
"Command. Got assigned to Japan," Osprey replied before Buffalo pulled him into a quiet hug.
"Hmph, why's it you get all the fun ops?" Buffalo jokingly asked, with Osprey chuckling.
"You have the weirdest definition of fun," Osprey told her, with Buffalo rolling her eyes.
"Shame about the vacation though," Buffalo muttered, though Osprey could hear the excitement in her tone. He figured as much anyway. Chilling out on a beach to tan or just relaxing in a hotel had never really been her thing. Far too boring as Buffalo put it. That said, everything had already been planned, and it wasn't like they spent money on much else.
"We can always postpone," Osprey said, pulling Buffalo closer to him. She just shrugged, before commenting, "So long as I plan the itineraries."
Somehow, Osprey felt he was going to regret agreeing. Already the list of activities Buffalo could choose ran through his mind. Boxing, racing, mountain climbing, deep-sea scuba diving, more boxing, soccer, football, sky diving, even more boxing, and anything that didn't involve being even slightly relaxed. Still, sounded somewhat fun, so long as he could get a vacation from his vacation.
"They tell you when you're shipping out?" Buffalo soon inquired, with Osprey nodding.
"Got an hour before I have to leave," Osprey told her, with Buffalo yawning quietly.
"Might as well get up then," Buffalo replied, slowly shuffling off the bed. Once she was up she lay a kiss on Osprey's cheek, before walking toward his quarter's "kitchen", if it could even be called that.
"Think you'll manage with me gone?" Osprey asked jokingly, standing up to stretch, as Osprey made herself some coffee.
"Please. Had a dozen contracts planned out in case this happened," Buffalo replied, with Osprey just shaking his head.
"All on the front," Osprey muttered, knowing exactly what those contracts would entail. He hadn't seen any of them, but he had a damn good feeling as to what they were.
With a small smile, Osprey muttered, "Damn adrenaline junkie."
Buffalo just smiled back, before grabbing Osprey and pulling him close.
"Well, someone has to keep our lives exciting. And besides, I know you love it," Buffalo replied, quickly pulling him in for a kiss. If given the chance, Osprey would have ignored orders to stay in this moment. But of course, there was no choice. If Command was calling him in on one of his few days off, then something big was happening. Osprey couldn't fathom what it would be though, even as he left his quarters and headed towards the airfield—the last time this had happened, had been because of the Battle of Onishita. And that had been a massive FUBAR for weeks. Silently Osprey dreaded that this would be something similar, especially as the airfield came into view.
Dozens of men quickly loaded up a pair of C-17s, with a pair of modified M10 Bookers sitting nearby—specifically, an airborne variant of the M10, designed for low-altitude drops. Yeah, Osprey reasoned, something big was happening.
Madam President didn't know what to do. They were on day three of this battle, and quickly nearing day four. In that time no gains had been made anywhere on the front. And by this point, Madam President was tired. Starving the villains out would cause too many civilian casualties, and overwhelming force would cause too many hero casualties. She tried sending in small groups of heroes for search-and-destroy missions, but most groups either didn't return or came back with heavy losses.
"How many now?" Madam President asked, tiredly rubbing her eyes.
"Two hundred dead, six hundred wounded," Ocelot replied over the phone, "Less dead than yesterday, so I'd call that a plus."
A plus, Madam President thought sarcastically. That was still eight hundred heroes out of action. She wasn't even sure Musutafu had any heroes left, at least uninjured heroes. More and more heroes were being called in from outside the prefecture, but it was taking them all the time to arrive. For some, it was a two-hour drive from Tokyo, which didn't sound long. Yet by the time they arrived, another dozen heroes were dead. They were losing heroes faster than they could replace them.
"Call off all assaults," Madam President muttered, "We lose any more heroes, and we won't be able to hold the front line. Once reinforcements arrive we'll start up again."
"Public's not gonna like it," Ocelet replied, with Madam President scoffing.
"Well, I don't have a choice. Those lines weaken too much, and the villains will break right through them," Madam President told him. Besides, not like the public could get any angrier, Madam President thought. Eventually, Ocelot hung up, leaving Madam President to take a deep breath. Where had everything gone wrong? As much as she despised the MSF, she couldn't blame them in this case.
Somehow the Ninth Circle amassed this massive force and would likely have attacked whether or not the MSF was present. That only made her more annoyed the longer she thought about it. In a day these villains had killed thousands of heroes, nearly executed All Might, and put Musutafu into a siege. With an annoyed grumble, Madam President pondered how much worse this could get, before grabbing the TV remote on her desk.
Turning on the TV, she flipped to the first news channel she could find. Of course, she quickly began to regret this. It was more of the same news that'd been on for weeks. Casualty numbers for heroes on the front, obituaries for the deceased, interviews with government officials, talking with terrified people on the street, detailed reports on battle lines, and so many damn debates.
"We were told an attack like this could never happen! And that if one did happen, heroes would be able to handle it! Yet here were are on day three, and no gains have been made into Musutafu!" one news anchor angrily proclaimed, while his counterpart tried his best to defend the hero's position.
"No gains have been made because the heroes are consolidating their forces! All of these assaults are obviously just probing missions to figure out the villain's strong points," the other anchor countered.
"What probing mission ends with two hundred heroes dead!?" the first anchor demanded with the second anchor scoffing.
"That is an overblown number and you know it! Records from the Hero Commission only total the total deaths to sixty-five!" the second anchor retorted before Madam President changed the channel. On and on she flipped through channels, grumbling as time went on.
"From what we can see here, roughly five hundred-"
"Missile strikes continue to be launched at-"
"Rumors are circulating about unknown ships spotted off the coastline-"
"Representative Hanabata Koku continues to demand an investigation into the JSDF-"
"With no sign of Ryukyu anywhere-"
Madam President was about to turn off the TV before something caught her eye. Stopping on a channel, she spotted the anchor wrapping up their show. That was, until the anchor paused momentarily, listening to someone off-camera relay something.
"And… hold on one moment," the anchor stated, before his eyes widened in shock, "We are… receiving breaking news, as our field reporter Awano Fumiko has been confirmed to be alive. She now reports live at UA."
Madam President looked at the TV in shock, begging that she'd misheard everything. UA had been radio silent except for a few select calls. Madam President wasn't entirely sure why, but her best guess was to prevent the villains from getting intel. All it took was a few civilians filming stuff on campus, for the villains to have their hands on new targets. But she was hoping the MSF would stay silent for a lot longer.
After a few seconds, the TV began showing a female reporter standing in front of a camera. The woman had brown hair, which was very messy and littered with bits of dirt and blood. Some scratches lined the woman's cheek, while her shirt was somewhat torn. All in all the reporter looked worse for wear but seemed oddly determined.
"So Awano, last we heard from you UA's stadium was being overrun. What happened?" the anchor asked, with Awano looking at the camera quickly.
"Well, things were rather desperate, but both the heroes and UA security managed to beat back the villains. In fact, where I'm currently standing is right outside UA's main gate," Awano replied, the camera moving around to show off the front gate. It was… bad. That was all Madam President could think. UA's barrier wall had been blown open with however many pounds of explosives. But of course, that wasn't the worst of it, no. The worst of it, was the tanks, sitting right outside on guard duty.
Next to the tanks were other armored vehicles, and soldiers with hastily built defenses. Men with machine guns covered every single area the villains could charge in through. And above them, were small recon drones providing support. The top of this maddening desert, was the pair of F-35s then flying by. Madam President couldn't find the energy to be angry anymore. Instead, she sat there, staring at her TV quietly.
"I'm sorry, did you say the villains were beaten back?" the anchor asked, surprise clear in his tone. Others in the newsroom with him murmured in agreement, while Awano nodded.
"I did. Roughly three hours after the initial attack, the villains were forced into a retreat," Awano replied, the camera coming back to her.
"Fuck," Madam President muttered, slowly rubbing her brow.
"How… how is that even possible? The rest of Musutafu is still under siege, with heroes unable to make a breakthrough," the anchor told Awano, leaving the reporter quiet for a second. Slowly the reporter began thinking it over before gulping.
"I… uh… believe that is in part, due to the… MSF," Awano hesitantly answered, the anchor now looking at the camera in disbelief.
"Fuck," Madam President again muttered, as the anchor commented "The army of mercenaries…"
"Yes," Awano replied, with the anchor's brow furrowing slightly.
"I'm having a hard time believing the villains on campus are-" the anchor tried to say before Awano cut him off.
"I don't think calling them villains is accurate," Awano told him, stinging the anchor, "During the attack MSF personnel were spotted doing everything capable to protect civilian lives. I think that I… yes, I have a clip for it."
Awano then held up a very damaged phone toward the camera, trying her best to display the clip recorded. Quietly Madam President begged the phone to not turn on. For it to be too far broken, or at least have its battery out of power. Unfortunately, it did turn on, and Awano brought up a video. It displayed the beginning moments of the attack on the stadium. Villains were dropping from helicopters, while civilians fled the area. And on the screen were two soldiers fighting back.
One was a freakishly pale male, being almost the color of paper. The other was of Middle Eastern descent, with a stupidly large gun on his waist. It was just those two soldiers, with not a hero in sight. Both men fought back with a damn fury as the civilians fled. One even ran out to grab a child, before carrying them back to their parents. Eventually, one soldier noticed the person recording, before shouting at them and motioning for them to run.
The entire scene left the anchor quiet, no, it left the newsroom quiet.
"Fuck!" Madam President yelled, chucking her remote at the TV. The small remote shattered part of the screen, leaving half of the TV a broken mess while the other half kept playing. This wasn't supposed to happen, none of this was! It was exactly as she feared it would happen! All it took was a few days trapped behind UA's walls, and now the public was getting comfortable with the MSF! She couldn't stand it, but it only got worse as time went on.
Dozens of weapons Madam President had never seen before were shown off by Awano. Large bipedal mechs walked by the camera, followed by dozens of robotic soldiers. Unmanned attack helicopters flew towards the main gate, followed by massive quad-rotors bringing reinforcements. Slowly Madam President moved to grab her phone and turned it on. After a minute of scrolling, she was already furious. Every new article, every new social media post, and every news channel was talking about the MSF.
His stomach grumbling, Fatgum couldn't help but feel… fear. It wasn't for himself, but for the civilians he was escorting behind him. This latest assault had been particularly brutal for everyone, and by the time the order to retreat was given, he'd run through most of his fat. It was bad enough that a 7.62 round managed to graze his arm. It would be fine though, they were only a short run from friendly lines.
"Come on! We're almost there, just keep running!" Fatgum called out, stepping back to let the civilians sprint past him. It was a small crowd, too small in Fatgum's opinion. Only eight people were alive. Behind them were several police officers and small-time heroes protecting the rear. Of course, Fatgum soon heard the haunting noise of drones, and the hero quickly looked up toward the sky.
"Drones! Take cover!" an officer yelled out, diving behind a car for cover. It helped little as the loitering munitions slammed into the ground around them. Fatgum heard nothing but screaming for a few minutes, as the hero tackled the closest civilian he could find. Using himself as a shield, Fatgum cried out in pain as shrapnel peppered him, wearing down more of his fat. When the chaos eventually dissipated Fatgum slowly stood up, and looked around the area.
"Damn it, everybody run! Go!" Fatgum ordered the surviving civilians. He mentally swore as he counted who remained. From eight, down to four. The whirring followed behind them as they ran, constantly ducking as a drone dive-bombed into the ground. Bits of concrete were flung into the air every few minutes. Shrapnel tore into the civilians, the cops, and even Fatgum. It felt like an eternity, but the drones stopped coming.
Looking up, Fatgum found the skies were clear after the last drone crashed into a nearby building. It gave the hero a moment to rest, though that rest was more a brisk walk. Better than full sprinting again. Taking a deep breath, Fatgum turned towards his compatriots.
"Everybody good?" Fatgum asked, facing the officers and heroes behind him. No one said a word, instead looking around the area coldly. It was disheartening to see, as everyone present was terrified. The heroes looking up at the skies or the alleyways shaking, their breathing rapidly. The officers meanwhile did the same, though with far more panic and terror.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached a large park. The entire area was full of trees and had a small stream running by. To Fatgum's worry though, some civilians in front of them gasped. The crowd stopped in front of them, refusing to move forward.
"What's going on?" Fatgum asked, again getting no answer. Grumbling the hero slowly made his way forward. He was ready for yet another fight, but instead, his eyes slowly widened in shock. He wanted to say something, anything, but all the words died in his mouth. Dozens, upon dozens of pikes littered the park, each one with a hero's head mounted onto it. Everywhere Fatgum looked, he found a new pike.
"R-Riku," one of the civilians muttered, an old lady now stepping up toward one of the pikes. Tears filled the old woman's eyes as she looked up at the pike. Fatgum followed her eyes towards the head and wanted to gag. The head was of a male hero Fatgum didn't recognize, bearing only a plain red domino mask, littered with spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. The hero looked young, as if they just graduated a year or two prior.
"R-Riku!" the old lady cried out, collapsing to her knees sobbing. She begged and pleaded that this was all a dream. But Fatgum knew it wasn't. He heard reports of the villains doing acts of barbarism, but Fatgum hadn't encountered it yet. It was just… unbelievable for him. The reports were so barbaric, that he thought it all nonsense. Overblown reports that couldn't possibly be true.
Now he saw he was wrong, with his own two eyes, watching blood drip down the pikes.
Iida wasn't entirely sure what was going on. All he knew was that an MSF scientist had asked for his help. Being the good-natured student he was, Iida agreed a bit suspiciously. Now he sat on a chair, next to… well the biggest tank he'd ever seen. Actually, tank might not even be the right word for this case, Iida reasoned. The scientist, along with a blonde-haired girl slightly older than Iida, quickly got to work looking at the engines in his legs.
It had been strange and felt weird to as they poked and prodded a bit. But eventually, they stopped and instead began building an exact copy of his engines. Only they were much, much bigger.
"That… should do the trick," the doctor said, managing to fit the engine into the behemoth of a tank. Soul, Iida believed his name was. After fitting the engine in the back of the vehicle, Soul took a few steps back, before peaking around the tank's side.
"Everything fueled up on your end?" Soul asked, with the blonde girl peeking around the tank.
"Yep! Just filled up the last tank," the blonde girl replied. Melissa, Iida mentally remembered. Melissa soon ran over to join them, as Soul grabbed a nearby Idroid.
"Good, here's hoping it works," Soul commented, bringing the Idroid up. Turning it on Soul began looking over the vehicle's diagnostics, humming to himself.
"Dell, start it up," Soul commented, the engine starting up immediately after the words left his mouth. Quietly everyone sat and waited for a moment before the vehicle's legs began to move around. Slowly the legs stood the vehicle up fully, before taking a few steps forward. The vehicle's turret turned with it, moving in a slow circle as Soul and Melissa inspected everything carefully.
"Legs are doin' fine," a voice stated, through the Idroid, "Want us to move onto hover?"
"Yes, but don't push it too hard," Soul replied, watching as the vehicle's legs began to shift around. To Iida's surprise, the tank slowly began to hover off the ground. Drifting from side to side the vehicle continued to move around, before spinning in a circle.
"Everything's working as expected," Melissa commented, happy the engine hadn't given out on them. Soul nodded smiling, watching as the tank began to strafe by. They would still have to run more tests to be sure, but things seemed promising.
"Wonder what other uses an engine like this could have," Soul muttered aloud, before snapping his fingers.
"Almost forgot," the scientist stated, searching around his pockets for a moment and pulling out his wallet. To Iida's confusion, Soul turned and pulled out a small stack of cash.
"Don't have any yen on hand, and this is most definitely not enough money, but I can't send you out with nothing," Soul told him, handing him the cash. Iida looked over the money carefully, trying to remember his knowledge of USD. Counting it for a minute, Iida found it to be around five hundred bucks.
"I'll try to get you the rest when I can," Soul told him while putting his wallet away quietly. At the same time, Iida looked up from the money before trying to hand it back.
"You don't need to pay me. I was just trying to help," Iida reasoned, with Soul shrugging in response.
"Eh, still feels right to me. I mean it is your engines we copied," Soul told him "Best you get some of the royalties from it."
It… felt off to Iida, but if Soul insisted on it, who was he to oppose? Quietly Iida pocketed the money while watching the vehicle continue to drive around.
Hawks had unfortunately not left Ocelot's tent, much to the cowboy's annoyance. Currently, the hero sat leisurely in a nearby folding chair looking over the news on his phone. Today's assault had been called off, so now the hero thought it wise to mess with Ocelot a smidge. Again, much to Ocelot's annoyance, the cowboy looked over the map in front of him. Things still had not improved on day three, if anything, they'd gotten worse.
In some parts of the city, the Ninth Circle had been able to advance, managing to claim a full kilometer. Now Ocelot was scraping together what heroes remained to keep the enemy from advancing anymore. Of course that was becoming more impossible by the hour.
"Could help and make yourself useful," Ocelot muttered, carefully moving a few pieces on the map before him. Unlike with the MSF, he had no official unit pieces to designate what was what. Nothing to show what was a squad, or a helicopter, or practically anything with a NATO designation. So instead he used small miniatures the Ocelots had gone out to buy.
"Oh, I'm making myself plenty useful," Hawks replied, glancing over his phone with a smirk.
"By doing what, scrolling through social media?" Ocelot inquired, adjusting more pieces on the map.
"Nah, just some good old intel gathering," Hawks replied, standing up from his seat, "Found a few civilians posting about villain hideouts. Even got a photo of one of the villains' howitzers."
He then held out his phone for Ocelot to see, the cowboy looking it over quietly. The photo was blurry, and somewhat out of focus. But Hawks was telling the truth, it showed a howitzer's barrel poking out a warehouse's window. Quietly Ocelot marked the howitzer on his map, while Hawks gave out a chuckle.
"So, how's Madam President?" Hawks asked calmly, swiping one of Ocelot's miniatures with his feather.
"Angrier than yesterday, that's for sure," Ocelot replied, watching as the feather brought the miniature to Hawks's hand.
"We talking firing everyone mad, or physical destruction mad?" Hawks inquired, with Ocelot shrugging.
"I'd assume both," Ocelot muttered, before grabbing a new miniature. Hawks looked almost like he was going to say something else before someone started shouting outside the tent.
"You son of a bitch!" someone shouted, as more voices quickly began to take hold. Confused, Ocelot looked at Hawks, only for the hero to be just as confused. Cautiously Ocelot grabbed one of his revolvers, before heading outside his tent. There he found a surprising sight, as hero fought against hero. It wasn't a full-on brawl thankfully, but it was getting close.
"Get your damn hands off me!" a hero dressed as a Musketeer shouted, wrestling against another hero dressed as a Mountain Climber. Around them, other heroes fought as well, before cops began joining the fight. Then firefighters started joining in, and paramedics soon after. Ocelot couldn't help but watch stunned, baffled as to what was happening. But then he got his answer.
"I'm not going back out there! You can't make me!" the Musketeer shouted angrily, before slugging the mountain climber in the jaw.
"You fucking coward! A bunch of villains got you scared shitless!" the mountain climber yelled back, with Ocelot slowly recognizing who they were. Ice Pick, the mountain hero was one of their new arrivals from across the country. A replacement for the others that had died so quickly.
"Don't you judge me! You haven't seen what I have! You don't know what those freaks have done!" the Musketeer retorted, earning a scoff from Ice Pick.
"That isn't a damn excuse! You're going back out there with the rest of us!" Ice Pick told him, only earning angry cries from other heroes fighting.
"Hell no!" one shouted, running out to back up the Musketeer.
"I'm not dying out there!" another proclaimed, trying to run from the camp entirely. It was getting bad enough that others were running to join him.
"Traitors! All of you damn traitors!" a different hero lambasted, before tackling the fleeing hero.
"Call me a traitor all you want! Hell arrest me for it! Take me as far away from this shit hole!" the fleeing hero replied uncaringly. Quickly Ocelot couldn't help but grumble. He should have expected this, the cowboy looking out at the crowd again. On and on the panicked cries went out
"I didn't become a hero for this! All I wanted was a paycheck! Not to get slaughtered out there!"
"I-I'm just a patrol officer! And you want to send me back into that! I've got a family back home, I can't leave them!"
"They're animals out there! Nothing but a bunch of fucking animals!"
"I was just trained to fight fires! Not this!"
"They were mounting heroes on pikes out there!"
"Fuck the pikes! They were crucifying people! Saw a dozen people hoisted up on a cross!"
"Why the hell are we even here!? Shouldn't this be the JSDF's job!? It's their guns littering the city!"
"Yeah! Have the JSDF clean up their damn mess!"
"I-I can't do this! Please! Don't make me go!"
"You're all cowards! Civilians are still trapped in the city and you're just going to leave them there!?" Ice Pick shouted, angrily looking at the surrounding crowd of emergency personnel.
"What else are we supposed to do!? Hundreds of heroes are dead, and we haven't gotten anywhere!" an SAT member loudly demanded, others yelling in agreement.
"I'm not going in there just to die for nothing!" another SAT member yelled, a hero stepping up next to him.
"By brother's already dead because of this damn battle! Thrown away for a hundred meters of land! Land we abandoned minutes later!" the hero angrily yelled, voicing the tired opinion everyone held. They were sick of this battle, of the constant death, of the assaults that went nowhere, and of the never-ending brutality. This fighting couldn't go on though, Ocelot thought annoyed.
"Hawks," Ocelot commented, the hero clicking his tongue.
"On it," Hawks replied quickly, his feathers flying out in seconds. They flew up and past the people fighting, knocking back several to break everyone up. Once the fight was broken up, Ocelot thought for a second. What was he supposed to do now? This was the first case of heroes- no, of everyone refusing to go to the front. It wouldn't take long for desertions to follow suit, and he knew how much of a field day the media would have with that.
Once desertion started though, Ocelot knew the line would crack. Even with fresh heroes coming in, they'd soon be joining either the dead or the heroes refusing to fight.
"What!?" the chief couldn't help but yell, as Tsukauchi moved to cover his ears. The detective sighed seconds after, unsure of what to do. Currently, he sat in the chief's office, with the highest-ranking officers still alive. Which at this point, was a pair of senior patrol officers and some desk jockeys who hadn't seen the field in years. Across from him sat the chief at his desk, the man angry and shocked.
On the phone was Ocelot, who relayed some very worrying news.
"The hell do you mean no one is coming!?" the chief demanded shocked, with Ocelot sighing on the other end.
"Exactly that. All assaults have been called off until further notice," Ocelot replied, leaving the chief to grumble annoyed.
"Until further notice… how long until they start up again?" the chief asked, with the sound of paper shuffling following through the phone.
"I'd say… a few weeks at the least," Ocelot replied, more paper shuffling in the background.
"A… a few weeks…" the chief muttered shocked, turning slightly pale, "Can't you start the assaults up again? You've got hundreds of heroes with you!"
"And half of them don't want to fight," Ocelot replied, leaving the room quiet. Tsukauchi looked at the phone shocked, wondering if he'd heard Ocelot right. They… they didn't want to fight?
"Cops then! There's a legion of first responders with you!" the chief reasoned, trying to power through the shock of what he'd just heard.
"None of them want to go in either," Ocelot replied, "Everyone on the front is holding on by a damn thread. Doesn't matter if they're heroes, cops, firefighters, or paramedics, none of them want to keep fighting. Hell, I'm sure most of them will turn tail and run the first chance they get."
Again, the office went quiet, as the ramifications of everything began to weigh down on them.
"So… that… that's it," the chief muttered, "No one else is coming…"
No one. It… it was terrifying to Tsukauchi. No one else was coming. All these heroes and first responders brought in from across the country, and not one wanted to fight. They were alone in this, Tsukauchi thought terrified. No one else was coming to save them, to save anyone. At least not for another few weeks. But by then, would it even matter?
They hadn't made any progress now, who's to say they'd make any next time? As Ocelot hung up, no one said a word. The chief began to rub his eyes tiredly, before slamming his fist onto the desk. It was here, that Tsukauchi remembered what Nezu said. About allowing the MSF into the city. Part of Tsukauchi despised the idea thoroughly. There was still so much about the MSF he didn't know.
But at this point, what else was he supposed to do?
"Chief," Tsukauchi said, the man looking up at the detective quietly.
"What?" the chief asked tiredly. Tsukauchi took a deep breath as he looked at the chief. It had to be done, Tsukauchi reasoned.
"We need to call Nezu," Tsukauchi told him, the chief slowly grumbling.
"Are you out of your damn mind?" the chief inquired, rubbing his brow annoyed,
"Chief-" Tsukauchi tried to argue, only for the chief to cut him off.
"I'm not letting those villains into the city. It's already bad enough with this damn cult," the chief muttered, "This… this is a setback, but I'm sure we'll think of something."
The words quickly made Tsukauchi angry, as the chief stood up from his chair. The image of dead coworkers flashed through his mind. Coworkers that should have been alive right now. Instead, their blood stained the station's floor.
"All we've been doing is trying to think of something," Tsukauchi grumbled angrily, "Yet we're all still stuck in this station."
"We'll find another option," the chief told him, moving to grab a map from a nearby filing cabinet.
"And we have one available," Tsukauchi countered, earning an annoyed scoff from the chief.
"You know how I feel about this idea Tsukauchi. I won't have those mercs dropping bombs on this city," the chief retorted, with Tsukauchi becoming angrier by the second. There wasn't going to be a city left at this point. All Tsukauchi had to do was look out the nearest window, and he could see streets lined with rubble and corpses. He was sick of all this, and it had to end.
"What like the cult outside has been doing for the last three days!? The city's already a wreck! At this point, they'd just be blowing up rubble!" Tsukauchi angrily yelled, earning a surprised glare from the chief.
"Rubble that still has trapped civilians, Tsukauchi!" the chief reasoned, as Tsukauchi slammed his fists on the desk
"Except Nezu told you he'd ensure the MSF took proper precautions!" Tsukauchi pointed out, "All you're having us do, is sit and wait!"
"The heroes will take back the city, they just need time!" the chief told him, but by now Tsukauchi was sick of this. Sick of everything happening, and sick that he'd been forced to sit back for days.
"Time for what!? You heard what Ocelot said, no one else is coming!" Tsukauchi retorted, leaving the chief silent for a moment. It took a second, but the chief's face shifted away from anger and slowly became downtrodden. The detective could see it at this point, the chief was grasping at straws. He truly believed the heroes would have saved them by now, and yet… nothing. No one had arrived to save the day. The conflict was still raging, with no clear end in sight.
"We are alone out here. We've got no extra water, we've got no extra medicine, and we've got barely enough ammunition. For crying out loud, the break room vending machine is our only source of food, and that's already running out of snacks," Tsukauchi continued, watching as the chief slumped back into his chair. The chief tiredly ran a hand through his hair, as Tsukauchi leaned forward in his chair.
"I don't like this idea either, but what else are we supposed to do?" Tsukaushi asked, the chief just quietly sighing. The man turned to stare at his phone, quietly thinking everything over. He made no move to grab it but didn't say anything to oppose Tsukauchi. Quietly, Tsukauchi hoped the chief would choose correctly.
Chapter 86: An Awaited Moment
Quietly Night Owl went down the list of objectives the Ninth Circle was supposed to achieve. The mad scientist was currently sitting in one of the Ninth Circle's bases hidden across the country. Sitting behind a large table covered in maps, Night Owl looked up from his list and toward Reaper. The man was busy eating breakfast, yet made no move to show his face. Next to Reaper, stood his lieutenants, many of which glared at Night Owl. Others, however, stood off to the side, seemingly terrified of their leader. For good reason, Night Owl thought.
See Night Owl came here for a quick and simple progress report, just to see how things were going. Because for the outside world, they saw this unstoppable wave of suicidal villains swarming over their heroes. A tide of purple, gray, silver, and black, that couldn't be stopped, had already killed thousands and left much of the city in ruins. But of course, the outside world was missing a few things. Because as the days drew on, Night Owl began to feel… worried. They'd achieved much in this attack, but not everything Night Owl wanted.
"Ok, what about the docks? Any progress there?" Night Owl inquired, looking over one of Reaper's lieutenants tiredly. The lieutenant simply shook his head slowly.
"No. They remain firmly in enemy hands," the Lieutenant replied, causing Night Owl to grumble. The Lieutenant then visibly paled as Reaper paused from his meal to face him. Reaper said nothing, but the Lieutenant knew it best to step back.
"What about the railways then?" Night Owl asked the Lieutenant, a tinge of hope in his tone. Lacking the sea was bad, but if they held the rails then-
"Some junctions have been captured or sabotaged. Enough to disrupt operations, but not enough to completely put them out of action" the Lieutenant answered, crushing the small amount of hope Night Owl had.
"The airport?" Night Owl asked, the skies seeming to be his last option.
"Has been captured," a new lieutenant replied, bringing a small amount of relief to Night Owl, before saying, "However, the heroes have barricaded themselves inside the control tower."
Night Owl simply grumbled, his smile twitching somewhat as he looked over the list again. He enjoyed all the destruction that had occurred over the few days, but that joy quickly wore off.
"You assured me your men could handle this," Night Owl muttered tiredly, looking over at Reaper. The man just continued to eat his food, refusing to acknowledge for a minute Night Owl. After swallowing some of his meal, Reaper looked at Night Owl quietly, not saying a word.
"Don't worry?" Night Owl remarked, looking at Reaper with his brow raised, "You know what our bargain entails, I need people afraid. All of these logistics hubs staying open makes that more difficult."
It was a simple fact. Night Owl didn't just need Musutafu crippled, he needed it irrecoverable. Enough to strike fear throughout the country for decades. Fear of the Ninth Circle going on a rampage. But so long as these logistical hubs and the rest of Musutafu remained in friendly hands, then that wouldn't be the case. The country, and possibly the world would be terrified, but there would still be hope.
Aid could be transported into the city en masse, allowing the city to rebuild. It was a light in the darkness, that after all the death they could pick up the pieces. And if they believed they could rebuild, then they could believe they could fight. Night Owl couldn't allow that, not for his plan, and not for the war. He needed fear, he needed despair, he needed chaos. Reaper leaned forward in his chair though, clasping his hands together, as his elbows rested on the table.
He just stared at Night Owl for a second, deep in thought, before pulling something from his pocket. Tossing it toward Night Owl, the scientist quickly caught it. Looking at his hand, Night Owl found he now held a small plastic tank. Night Owl looked at the tank confused for a moment, before his eyes widened.
"What!? No!" Night Owl exclaimed, earning an unseen glare from Reaper.
"We're already using up enough of our supplies for this attack, and you want to spend more!?" Night Owl pointed out, numbers running through his mind. The forces already in Musutafu had been given enough ammunition, food, water, and most importantly fuel for weeks. And with all their vehicles in the city, they'd already burnt through a third of that fuel. Now Reaper wanted to bring in those armored gas guzzlers. This wasn't even mentioning the problem of maintenance they'd inevitably run into.
Of course, Reaper still said nothing, instead staring at Night Owl for a few minutes. Moments later Reaper snapped his fingers, with one of his lieutenants walking away. The lieutenant quickly came back with a large paper map, which they placed on the table in front of Night Owl quietly. Standing up, Reaper walked toward Night Owl, before pointing at the map. Confused, Night Owl looked down on the map, before his eyes widened.
"The Musutafu Oil Reserve," Night Owl muttered surprised. He'd almost forgotten about the place during the planning phase. In a sense, it was a strategic oil reserve set up by the Japanese government years ago. It stood on the complete opposite side of Musutafu, miles from any of the Ninth Circle's forces, and held roughly ten million barrels of oil. Now, Night Owl never believed the Ninth Circle would reach the reserve before the MSF inevitably got involved.
So the original plan was to bomb the place into nothingness and let the burning oil blot out the sky with smoke for days. But now, Night Owl understood what Reaper was planning.
"Oh," Night Owl muttered, his ever-present smile widening, "I see. Your tanks break through the frontline, allowing us to take the logistical hubs. Once that's done they rush toward the oil reserve."
Of course, they had no tanks in the area, Night Owl remembered.
"Well, if you want that to happen, I'm gonna need your pocket dimension guy," Night Owl told him, before cracking his knuckles. This could be risky, but Night Owl believed it was worth it.
As Ocelot put his Idroid back in its pocket, he couldn't help but grumble.
"I assume he didn't take it well," Hawks commented dryly, the hero resting in a folding chair while twirling a feather in his hands.
"Doubt anyone would," Ocelot replied, sighing as he soon sat down in a folding chair across from Hawks. The two stayed silent for a moment, as Ocelot ran a hand through his hair tiredly.
"Aftermath's gonna be bad you know," Hawks muttered, with Ocelot nodding.
"I'd expect as much," Ocelot told him, "Even after this fight, heads are gonna roll."
That police chief was most definitely one of them, Ocelot reasoned. And unfortunately, he wouldn't be the only one. The Minister of Defense, high-ranking generals, politicians, police chiefs, heroes, and possibly the Prime Minister. Ocelot could already see it now, the sheer amount of death and public outrage creating a vote of no confidence.
"Was more referring to all the dead," Hawks pointed out, holding the feather in front of his face. The hero looked it over quietly, before sighing.
"The city's first responders have been crippled, and if this keeps going, the prefecture might soon follow," Hawks explained, tossing the feather into the air and just watching it float down.
"Well, let's hope that chief makes a decision soon then," Ocelot tiredly replied, sighing. Hawks said nothing in response, though Ocelot knew the hero agreed. Again the two were left in silence, the weight of everything setting in around them. Hawks looked like he wanted to say something, only for an explosion to cut him off. Both men flinched, almost expecting it to hit Ocelot's command tent, but it didn't.
They both thought little of the explosion once it dissipated though, as the enemy had occasionally shelled the area. It was never anything big, just one or two shells in some areas of the hero's makeshift tent city. However, a second explosion followed it, then a third. More continued to follow before both men's eyes widened, and they jumped to the ground. Pandemonium began to rage outside the ten, as people began yelling incoherently.
Looking back at each other, Ocelot and Hawks silently nodded. Quickly Hawks rushed out of the tent flying past an artillery shell as it exploded. Narrowly dodging the shrapnel, Hawks sent a couple of feathers back into the tent and dragged a very angry Ocelot outside. Putting the cowboy down, Hawks watched as a shell plunged into the command tent, blowing it up in seconds. As if that wasn't enough though, Hawks quickly heard the roar of car engines and the sound of gunfire.
"Ocelot, sir!" Nakamura exclaimed as Ocelot spotted his men running towards them.
"Nakamura the hell is going on!?" Ocelot demanded as Hawks's feathers flew back to his wings.
"Enemy forces have broken through the defensive line! Fuckers are pouring through the gap!" Nakamura loudly replied, with Ocelot and Hawks going wide-eyed.
"Crap," Hawks muttered, the hero pulling a large sharp feather from his wings. At the same time, the gunfire got closer, before Ocelot spotted the enemy. Trucks rammed through their tents, with their occupants jumping out. Instantly Ocelot drew his revolvers, shooting the first thugs he could. Hawks meanwhile flew forward at ludicrous speeds, cutting up dozens of villains in seconds.
Yet as the hero cut a swath through the villains, he began to hear something. It sounded like a treaded vehicle, driving slowly towards the camp. Flying up, Hawks began sending out his feathers to survey the area. Soon he found the source of the sound, and Hawks's eyes widened.
"Ocelot!" Hawks called out, before dodging gunfire, as villains tried to shoot him down. Ocelot, narrowly hearing Hawks, looked up for a second, before he also noticed the noise. Turning towards its source, Ocelot couldn't help but turn pale. Next to him, Nakamura did the same, though it went unseen under his balaclava.
"Tank," Ocelot muttered, "That's a tank!"
Just as he yelled this out, the Type-74 tank fired its main gun at a pair of fleeing heroes. As if it wasn't bad enough, two Type-89 IFVs drove up alongside the tank mowing down exposed heroes with their autocannons.
"Shit!" Nakamura exclaimed, ducking to the ground as bullets streamed past him.
"We need to leave," Ocelot decided, quickly turning toward Nakamura. Standing up both men began to run before Hawks quickly joined them. One by one they gathered up the Ocelots as chaos raged around them. Everyone just ran for their lives. There was no mounted defense, just last stands made by what brave heroes remained. Instead, there was panic, fear, death, and chaos.
The house was deathly quiet. It was odd how quickly that became the norm for Keiko, and she despised that fact. Where before she'd been busy getting her kids ready for school, today… Today was different. Keiko was a mother of three kids, one daughter, and two sons. Her oldest son, Haruto, was entering his first year of high school at UA. He'd managed to get into the support course, and it made Keiko so unbelievably proud. Even more so when she found out he'd be competing in the Sports Festival. It became this big family event, as Keiko let her kids stay home and her parents came by to watch with them.
But… then the attack happened. There was so much smoke on the field, that Keiko had lost track of him on the screen. What made it worse, was that the last her other two kids, Yuto and Mai, saw of Haruto, was him bleeding out on the ground. Then the rest of the city was suddenly under siege, with most of downtown being captured by villains.
Hours later the heroes had set up a defensive line, but… that was eight miles from Keiko's home. Every day she could hear the gunfire from the city, or see a missile streak past overhead. She didn't dare send her kids to school, not when she was this close to the frontline. They'd evacuated everyone five miles from the front, but government officials assured everyone a full evacuation wasn't needed.
As the days went on, Keiko came to believe this less and less.
"I just… he can't be dead," Keiko muttered tearfully, her father patting her on the back. Her mother sat in a chair nearby, looking at her daughter worriedly. Next to her though, Yuto and Mai snuggled up to their grandmother.
"I'm sure he's alive," her mother told her softly, "He was always a fighter."
"Besides, you've seen the news. UA's doing fine, even with those villains on campus," her father told her, earning a disappointed look from Keiko's mother.
"Oh Minato," she muttered, as Minato crossed his arms.
"What?" Minato asked, perplexed, "They're still mercenaries. One good deed doesn't wash away another, and who knows how many bad deeds they've done."
Keiko's mother just shook her head, disappointed with Minato's statement. It had been shocking to hear the news from UA, for everyone. It brought Keiko some hope, but she still hadn't heard anything from Haruto. Of course, it also came with the unfortunate consequence of family politics. The news had ended up showing some footage of MSF doctors tending to kids, and it had won Keiko's mother over almost instantly.
"Warms my heart to see those youngins being cared for," Keiko remembered her mother saying. On the flip side, they also showed off all the weapons at the MSF's disposal, which had left Minato concerned.
"Hmph, a whole lot of tanks they got there, awfully close to us too," Keiko remembered Minato muttering to himself. Keiko though… Keiko didn't know what to think.
"The point is, I'm sure Haruto's fine," Minato told her, pulling his daughter into a small hug. Part of Keiko wanted to agree with him, but she couldn't bring herself to. The image of her son bleeding out on the ground was burned into her mind. Tears still pooled in her eyes, which her father noticed. Minato quietly looked at his wife, the old lady looking at her daughter sympathetically.
"How about some TV? Something good has to be on," Minato commented, slowly peeling away from his daughter to grab the TV remote. Quietly Keiko moved to sit down in front of her mother's chair. Soon the TV was on, with Minato flipping through channels, trying to find the best one. Instead, all he found was more news on Musutafu. That's all it ever was. It was as if the world itself had come to a halt.
"Reports of mutiny circulate as heroes-"
"Advise everyone to stay indoors-"
"More missile strikes today, this time hitting as far as Tokyo-"
"We've gotten more information on the mystery ships spotted near the coast. Satellite imaging has confirmed almost a dozen ships nearing the Musutafu coastline. Sources are also confirming it to be a full carrier strike group. However, the United States Navy Admiral has gone on record, saying no US fleet is in the area-"
Eventually, though Minato chuckled, managing to find his favorite show.
"Here we are! Yuto, Mai, Poker Ronin is on," Minato called out, sitting down in front of the TV. Hearing their grandfather call out to them, both kids' faces quickly lit up before they darted out to him. The sight brought Keiko a small chuckle, but it died out quickly. The kids always loved to watch game shows with Minato… Haruto loved to watch game shows with Minato, Keiko thought sadly.
"He'll be fine," her mother told her, hoping to comfort her.
"I… I hope so," Keiko replied, watching the show go on. She never personally liked the show, but her kids always loved it. Poker Ronin was a game show hosted by the hero Blackjack. The basics of it were a whole mess of card games jumbled together, with a mix of minigames in between. The minigames were only played by contestants with the losing hands. Just as Keiko was beginning to enjoy the show though, the entire thing was soon interrupted by an emergency broadcast.
An alarm blared with the announcement as Keiko heard missiles streak by overhead.
"Another missile," her mother muttered, while Keiko quickly stood up.
"Yuto, Mai, closet!" Keiko ordered, her kids quickly getting up and running. She was about to join them when Minato stopped her.
"Keiko, wait," he told her, before motioning for her to listen. Going quiet, she began to hear screams echoing outside, as pandemonium seemed to slowly ramp up. Worried, Keiko looked back at the TV, before her eyes widened.
"Evacuation order in effect," the TV read, and Keiko felt her breathing speed up. They… they wanted them to evacuate. But… that could only mean… the villains are advancing again.
"We need to go," Keiko stated, fear laced in her tone. Behind her Minato nodded, the old man quickly rushed toward the kitchen.
"Get the kids in the car!" he called out, before facing his wife, "Honey you get the emergency kit, I'll grab some food."
"Don't grab too much!" Keiko's mother told him, as Keiko rushed towards the closet. Quickly she pulled her kids out, leading both of them to the front door. Opening it, Keiko saw the chaos unfolding firsthand. Dozens of her neighbors began running or packing into their cars with whatever they could grab. They all panickedly yelled out to each other as some began to drive off.
"What about food!?" one would loudly ask, watching their spouse try to shove their car closed.
"We'll get food when we're safe, just bring your wallet!" their spouse would reply, before running into the driver's seat.
"Is that everything!?" another neighbor asked, looking over the pile of goods inside their car.
"Water, medicine, food, we're good!" someone else replied.
"Dad, we left Teddy!" a child cried out in a car driving by.
"We'll come back for him later, ok?" the dad replied nervously, as he tried to drive forward, past the crowd of people fleeing.
"It's… too heavy!" a new neighbor yelled, trying to carry a small cooler filled with water. Yet no matter how much they tried, the cooler just wouldn't budge off the ground.
"Leave it then! We need to go now!" a different neighbor replied fearfully, watching as his buddy dropped the cooler in front of their house. Each one of her neighbors looked terrified, as Keiko noticed something else. Heroes were running past them. Some stopped to help people evacuate, but others booked it as fast as they could. It was shocking for Keiko to see, and was an unbelievable sight.
To see the people supposed to protect them fleeing. Keiko couldn't help but feel her breathing speed up again, as she led Yuto and Mai to their car. Quickly Minato brought a small box of canned food to the car and placed it all in the back. He ran back in seconds after he set it down, while Keiko's mother sat down in the passenger seat. After a minute Minato came running back with a large jug of water, which he quickly placed right next to the food.
Back and forth Minato would run into the house, dragging out some kind of essentials. Blankets, spare clothes, money, flashlights, soap, backpacks, and lots of batteries. Once he loaded the last of the emergency supplies in the car, Minato sat in the driver's seat of the car. Quietly he began driving them down the street, with Keiko watching the rest of her neighbors flee. At the same time, she spotted more missiles flying overhead, aiming for an unknown target.
"Tanks, they brought in tanks," Snake muttered, annoyed, watching the battle map play out in front of him. Everything, EVERYTHING, had already been planned out. F-35s, B-2s, and B-21s would fly in to eliminate enemy air support with naval forces off the coast providing fire support. E-2s would watch the skies for enemy helicopters, EA-18s would jam the enemy's air defense radars, and EP-3s would monitor radio communications.
With enemy air defense gone or heavily reduced, two airborne divisions would be dropped to reinforce the heroes' defensive line. At the same time, other airborne units would drop in behind enemy lines to destroy enemy artillery sites and capture key targets. While this was happening Marine forces would conduct a naval landing on Musutafu's shoreline while the Army advanced from UA. The enemy would have been pressed in from all sides and whittled down. All that was needed, was confirmation from the Chief of Police.
But then, Snake had gotten word from Ocelot. Now satellite imaging displayed the Ninth Circle pouring over the old defensive line in droves. This time though, with much more military equipment. Though Snake said tanks, it was in fact much more than that. The Ninth Circle had pulled out the works, with Type-74 tanks, Type-89 IFVs, Type-16 MCVs, Komatsu LAVs, and Type-87 RCVs.
"They were keeping this in their back pocket?" a nearby Snipe muttered shocked, watching a newsreel of a tank run over a car.
"Why didn't they bring it in at the start?" Endeavor asked, confused, watching as the tanks continued pressing forward.
"Same thing it always boils down to, logistics," Miller replied, "These things are gas guzzlers, plain and simple. I'm willing to bet this assault is blowing through the last of their fuel."
That thought left Snake confused though. Why? Why bring in tanks now? They had the city under their control and could have held out in a long siege. Bringing in tanks did nothing but waste resources. What was the point of breaking this stalemate? It confused Snake the more he looked over the map. Slowly he tried to find some kind of explanation, some rational excuse.
There his eye fell on Musutafu's dockyard. He didn't think much of it at first, but then he noticed something odd. It was still under hero control. The fact was completely insignificant but it bugged Snake. Looking around the map he soon spotted the Musutafu International Airport, under Ninth Circle control except for a few areas. Same for the railroads. All were key logistical hubs…
Like that, Snake found the pieces beginning to connect. Night Owl wanted chaos, he wanted death, he wanted destruction, he wanted war. It slowly made sense the more Snake looked at it over. Night Owl wanted the city crippled and terrified. It's why he was working with a suicidal death cult, it's why he chose to attack the Sports Festival, and it's why he was launching this assault.
Night Owl was getting greedy. He'd already brought the city to its knees but he wanted more. Now he and the Ninth Circle were throwing away resources to achieve this goal. But… Night Owl was smart. He wouldn't have been able to escape the MSF for years if he wasn't. So gambling the Ninth Circle's remaining fuel wouldn't be a consideration unless he had a backup plan.
"Hmm," Snake couldn't help but mutter, bringing his hand to his chin.
"Boss?" Miller inquired, seeing Snake was contemplating something. After looking across the map for a second, Snake turned to face Nezu, the rodent sitting nearby.
"Does the city have any strategic oil reserves?" Snake asked, Nezu thinking the question over. Standing up in his chair slightly, Nezu began looking over the map as well.
"I believe so… here we are," Nezu replied, pointing to it on the map. There Snake found the Musutafu Strategic Reserve. It had to be Night Owl's backup plan. Break through the defensive line, bomb rush it to the reserve, and secure the rest of his strategic objectives.
"Miller, call Airborne forces back to briefing. There's a change in plans," Snake ordered tiredly. Just then though, he heard Nezu's phone begin to ring, and slowly watched as the rodent pulled it out.
"-reports now coming in, the Musutafu Defensive line has collapsed," Akatani's Idroid loudly announced, the noise echoing through the cafeteria and crushing the hope Jiro held. The words ran through her mind, as another explosion went off in the city. The sound was muffled somewhat by UA's walls, but Jiro couldn't help but flinch.
"An official evacuation order has been announced, for those within ten miles of the front," the Idroid continued, though Jiro zoned the information out. At the same time, Akatani decided to turn the device off. Looking at the rest of her classmates, Jiro could see everyone was downtrodden. They all knew the heroes were having difficulty holding the line, but… for the entire line to collapse? No one was expecting it.
Part of her said "Maybe All Might could fix this", before the thought was shot down. All Might had gone out to fix it, and he'd failed. Everything just felt hopeless. Jiro wanted this to end. She wanted the noise to stop. She wanted to go home desperately. She wanted to see her parents… Jiro lingered on that thought, her breathing slowly speeding up.
Her parents… the frontline had collapsed. She didn't live in Musutafu, but she lived nearby. Jiro slowly felt panic building not noticing her breathing become more erratic. The villains could march to her house, to her parents! The heroes couldn't stop them!
"Jiro?" Yaoyorozu quietly asked, looking over at her friend. The words didn't register to Jiro, the girl panicking more and more. The heroes couldn't stop them. It was only a matter of time before the villains got to them. The last she was ever going to see of them was the day she left for the festival. The thoughts ran through Jiro's mind as fear took hold of her. They… they were going to die, Jiro realized coldly. With that thought Jiro stood up from the table and took off running. It caught everyone off guard, as Yaoyorozu yelled out "Jiro!"
Jiro didn't stop running, she couldn't stop running. Darting through UA's halls she soon shoved through the school's entrance. Even when she was outside she kept running, her classmates chasing after her. Running past the tree Grizzly's squad hung out by, the soldiers watched the display in shock.
"Hey, hey! The hell's going on!?" a surprised Grizzly called out, watching as 1A all ran past them. Confused, the soldiers looked at each other for a second, before running after them as well. The entire time Yaoyorozu continued to yell out to Jiro, the punk girl refusing to listen.
"Jiro! Jiro, stop!" Yaoyorozu pleaded, while Jiro just continued to run. By this point Iida had managed to catch up to her, having enough room to reach his full speed. Yet as he tried to grab her, Jiro's jacks unconsciously went out and stabbed him. Falling back, Iida watched as Jiro continued to run. She ran past dozens of soldiers until Jiro spotted her destination: UA's main gate.
The entire thing was under heavy guard, with tanks keeping watch of the area. Jiro didn't care about this fact, as she ran past a new group of tanks. One such tank had a tanker standing out of the commander's hatch, who quickly spotted Jiro.
"Wha- shit! Stop! Stop that kid!" the tank commander called out, other soldiers quickly noticing Jiro running by. Jiro got ever closer to the gate, nearly tasting freedom. She had to get out of here! She had to see her parents again! She had to! Just let her leave, Jiro mentally pleaded, all while more explosions rang out in the city. It hurt her ears the more they went off.
She wanted the noise to stop, for all of this to stop! She wanted it to be over! To be safe again! Jiro flinched as another explosion went off, distracting her for just a moment. At that moment though, tree branches slithered toward Jiro and grabbed her legs. Nearly tripping, Jiro felt the tree branches pull her back, finding Kamui Woods had been the one to catch her. Jiro flailed about, clawing at the branches. She had to get out!
Tears began to form in her eyes, as Kamui continued to pull her away from the gate. Eventually, he dropped her, right next to her classmates. They all surrounded her before she could start running again, with Yaoyorozu grabbing her quickly.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Jiro begged, trying to escape her friend's grasp. It did little as Kaminari began trying to help Yaoyorozu. She… she had to get out. Slowly Jiro began to cry, giving up all attempts to break free. Collapsing to her knees, Jiro watched her tears slowly hit the ground.
"Hey, it's all gonna be fine," Kaminari commented, trying his best to comfort her.
"Jiro, breathe with me, ok?" Yaoyorozu told her, slowly running through a breathing exercise. Slowly Jiro began to feel things calm down, wiping away the tears in her eyes. Quietly her friends began leading her away from the gate and toward the Grizzly Squad's tree. There they all sat down, earning confused and concerned looks from the soldiers. None of them wanted to intrude though, saying they stayed quiet.
Even with her friends trying their best, it helped little to Jiro. Flinching at another explosion, all Jiro could feel, was hopelessness. It was a feeling shared by the rest of the class, yet few wanted to admit it. Every part of her screamed that this would never end. That the constant noise would go on. That her parents… would die. Listening out at the surrounding city, all Jiro could hear was the sounds of death. Explosions, gunfire, screaming, helicopters flying about, trucks driving around, the sound of tracks now clacking on the road, and…
Jiro hesitantly looked up at the sky, hearing the sound of jet engines. She'd been hearing them for days now, but there was something new. It was difficult to make out, but Jiro could have sworn she heard… music. There was a roar of trumpets, with stringed instruments playing behind it, and a bass slowly becoming present. Jiro seemed to be the only one to notice the music, while her classmates slowly became aware of the jet engines.
Just as her classmates began to look up, hundreds of missiles darted by flying toward Musutafu. Watching them go by, Jiro saw the missiles drop down onto the city before dozens of jets flew by overhead. The sound was deafening as hundreds of missiles exploded across the city, and Jiro watched fireballs lift from the city. Everyone just stared at the sight for a moment, before Jiro heard something else now.
Around her, every soldier on UA began to cheer, with Grizzly's squad quickly joining them.
"[Ha! How about ten tons of fuck you!]" one soldier loudly cheered, pumping his fist into the air.
"[Aw! I thought you fuckers wanted to die!]" another taunted, laughing somewhat as the MSF's artillery began firing in tandem with the jets.
"[Got plenty of lead for ya!]" a third added, with more soldiers continuing to cheer the destruction on.
"[Ain't got enough caskets for you fucks!]" A fourth added, the cheering never seeming to end. It was almost as loud as the explosions, as Jiro watched the jets fly by again dropping more explosives. A new sound caught her attention though, as Ape pulled out his Idroid. Someone began talking on the other end, but Jiro didn't understand a word. What she did understand though, was the wide determined smiles that grew on the soldiers' faces.
"[You sons of bitches heard the man! Can't let the flyboys have all the fun now can we!]" a soldier yelled out, earning another cheer from the soldiers, much louder than the ones before. Looking around, Jiro now spotted vehicles driving through UA's main gate, helicopters flying by overhead, and gunfire quickly becoming present around them.
"[Let's move it Marines! Double time!]"