Stationed at the elevator's portal, the wreckage and cadavers lay unattended. The macabre spectacle might provoke gastric upheaval, yet for the four special operatives, it constituted but a segment of their existence...
The return to the surface impended, evoking lassitude in the trio post-engagement, exacerbated by the nascent adversaries in proximity, engendering uncertainty. If 13's identification of the beasts' frailty proffered hope, the reticent Yamata symbolized unmitigated despair.
Elevating the ebon collar to shroud mouth and nose, 13's countenance reverted to its inherent frigidity, as if poised to conclude discourse and life concurrently.
Donning the helmet, modulating visuals for nocturnal conflict, the serpent reclined discreetly in the display's margin, assisting 13's preliminaries.
With the formidable COOL-FIRE5 affixed to his posterior, preparations reached fruition.
Yet the triad obstructed his trajectory, their helmeted visages inscrutable to 13.
"I discern your thoughts," In aggregate, their collaborative combats were succinct, but each deliverance from mortality's brink cultivated profound insight...
"I shall not employ SEED incautiously; remain assured." 13's assurance incited trepidation, for "incautiously" intimated possibility.
"We harbor no such apprehensions," 36, eternally guarded with sentiments, rejoined, "Yet imprudent SEED deployment imperils us all. Mortality holds no dread for me, but succumbing by your hand is deplorable..."
"36 elucidates a perspective," 1's timbre evoked amusement, "More pertinently, the arcane technique the serpent intimated, should it neutralize your SEED emission, your demise avails naught."
"Have you renounced your vow?" 24 reluctantly addressed, "You pledged to safeguard Zheng Xian; activation would consign her to perdition as well!"
"She shall not..." 13's voice softened, "If exigency arises, I'll select a planar retrograde discharge, circumventing Mount Wu Tai and yourselves. Thereby, survival is yours. Devoid of those 230 km/h abominations in pursuit, her conveyance is feasible." 13 had palpably strategized all, prognosticating repercussions.
"Indeed, that's your essence—assuming all solitarily. Your nobility is exasperating!" 36 fumed, fist clenched.
"Should you perish, I'll accompany," 24 affirmed sans jest.
"As shall I..." 1 preserved levity.
"Omitting me renders it monotonous," 36 detested exclusion.
"You..." 13 was rendered speechless.
They resembled divinely interwoven strands; as the narrative evolved, extremities entangled inseparably. Once conjoined, they constricted further.
"Yet the terminus isn't as somber as presumed. Overlooked our alternative implements?" 1 recollected the neglected.
"Correct, I possess the sub-ion cannon!" 36 vaunted.
"1 implies beyond that," 24 tempered 36's zeal, "Perpetually discoursing SEED, yet neglecting SEED's diversity?"
"You allude to variant SEEDs?" 13 had contemplated, "Nie Yun's oblivious to effects; deploying unknowns in mortal combat, I can't persuade myself..."
"Not wholly unknown!" 24 evoked Nie Yun's intimation, "Black No. 3, Nie Yun computed its attribute—'penetration'!"
"Still opaque." Such was 13's verity. "Sufficient planning; warfare's capricious. Entrust to providence..."
Approaching the elevator's interior, espying the diminutive egress aloft evoked a well's profundity.
Raising his dexter appendage, the suspension apparatus activated. The robust metallic apex with delicate Titan filament anchored into the rock above the aperture, ascending swiftly.
Confronting this uncooperative ally, the triad construed their words as counsel, hoping contemplation. Should 13 elect SEED Zero, they'd procrastinate with their lives for its imperfection's five seconds—that tacit accord, which 13 grasped.
Trailing 13, the trio expeditiously propelled their Titan filament upward.
Navigating the cavern, barring beast-devastated locales, integrity prevailed. The vault lacked chiropteran silhouettes; they'd likely absconded with kin to evade tumult. Intermittent cool droplets alighted on 13's armor, akin to tears traversing his thorax, evanescing ere perception.
Emerging, gargantuan searchlights transmuted the cavern's maw to daylight. The beast horde recoiled a pace, scrutinizing the adversary. 13 grinned authentically.
"This is unadulterated verity..." 13 inwardly sighed.
The illusion's mundane existence had dissipated, improbable to recommence composition at the console, computing with proceeds, or being aroused by a canine chronometer. Perhaps never encountering that "scribe"-denoting matron again. Strolling? Uncontemplated. Arm-linked? Inconceivable.
Facing armed antagonists, 13 sighed helplessly. This was the veritable self; fantasies conclude, combat endures.
"I am myself,
I am the combative self,
I am the self traversing carcasses and ichor,
I am the self eternally deprived of fantasy's boons.
Yet I know, I am the foe's nightmare, a veritable specter."
Now awakened, he sighed, extracting the Titan war blade. Awakened, thus engage...
His comrades arrived, armaments brandished; for them, this was actuality.
"Finally emerged?" In the cockpit, Shuumei observed distant 13, "It commences!"
Shuumei's amplification via Yamata reverberated in the night, resonant and anticipatory.
"Slay!" The 100,000 soldiery's blood surged, humanity's innate belligerence unleashed.
The mechanical beasts seemed to resonate with the clarion.
Their crimson luminescence intensified, advancing with resolute strides toward the most dreadful quarry. Blades overhead, chassis quivering—as if exhilarated...
"Just so..." Observing 13, Shuumei smiled remotely, that effortless martial poise his conceit—invincible, indelible, absolute authority. The more he exercised his "privilege," terminating existences, the more lucid his attributes. Yet such a redoubtable 13 would succumb to him, for he was the veritable deity, dominion in grasp.
"Artillery barrage..." Shuumei ordained with a smile.
Rearward tanks realigned.
"Boom!" The detonation assailed where the quartet stood, the concussive wave annihilating beasts and impeding mobility.
Only weaving through ensured subsistence.
The ignition's blaze devoured the forest, colossal arborea as titanic flambeaux, luring sylvan moths. Incandescent boughs plummeted like celestial bodies.
"Can't persist!" 13 resolved, "Proceed toward Yamata, forsake the forest."
"Now you decree departure!" 36 raged via intercom, whether deliberate or fortuitous, the high-explosive ordnance around him burgeoned, enveloping arborea in flames; endure minutes more, and he'd precede as cinder.
"At the township, convene!" 1 articulated.
"Depart!" 24's utterance fell, and the quartet synchronously darted toward the township, circumventing beasts—for the subsequent instant, allied fire would pulverize them.
"Excessively proximate!" All tank complement concurred; barrage untenable, as the quartet infiltrated the defensive circumference. Contrasted with the Titan-clad indestructibles, these rectangular "iron blocks" were endearing; even 24's sidearm penetrated their plating. Complement felt ensconced in confection, 13's cohort wielding culinary implements, themselves awaiting evisceration.
Effortlessly ascending a tank's artillery, COOL-FIRE5 against the operator's locale. Via thermal imaging, the soldier genuflected.
Divine clemency is liberation from this inferno...
13's digit on the trigger, ere bestowing mercy, the serpent in trepidation, "Evade forthwith!"
Devoid of deliberation, he vaulted rearward...
"Boom!" The tank obliterated, the concussive wave expelling 13 a decade of meters, alighting in squat.
Ascending, brushing detritus, he fixated on the distant disruptor.
Yamata's ordnance smoked, the monumental casing ejected.
In the cockpit, 13's magnified cranium occupied half the display.
"I desire to 'play' as well..." Shuumei smiled.
The engagement persisted...