At this stage, Sakiyama Ryutaro felt as though he was nocturnal. His forces could only risk moving through the night, for attempting such large operations in daylight would be practically suicidal. Of course, even in the darkness, they wasn't exactly safe. Through painstaking caution and plenty of luck, the forces of Liberal Kyoki Chudoku had managed to stay alive and avoid being attacked by Chudokuren soldiers.
Of course, Sakiyama's division was only a quarter of this revolution. As he sat on a rock, staring into the clearing ahead, he considered the others aiding this valiant effort. The Nakusikans were the most modernly armed, and they carried a need for retribution. Sakiyama hadn't been at the battle, but he'd heard the news. Everyone had. It was hard to miss all of the propaganda, dispersed by the tyrant and her accomplices. Esumi, the Nakusikan leader, seems brash, rude and only after vengeance. But her support would be greatly helpful. Not, it wasn't just helpful. It was needed.
The Loyalists were doubtlessly the most experienced. They were veterans of war against Aozora, and numerous defeats had only strengthened their resolve. Or so was the case of those that continued to fight. Over time, many had deserted their cause out of fear, or been captured and likely tormented before being executed. Yadama was an experienced leader, that was certain. That didn't make Sakiyama feel any better about the plan he had endorsed.
Hoshiko's resistance was an unusual group. A bunch of civilians, many of them desperate to fight, others seemingly calm and compliant. She was a neko, which made him immediately feel sorry for her. He had once had the misfortune of some of his forces, new recruits, using needles confiscated from a criminal cartel that had lasted about a week before being crushed. He warned them against it, but they didn't listen.
The writhing and screaming stuck with him to this day.
This particular neko, though, seemed calm and rational. Yet she had a tinge of mercilessness that unnerved him. To Sakiyama, using measures like biological weapons and chemical attacks was outrageous and would only make them seem like ruthless terrorists rather than a liberation front.
But that was the plan they had chosen. Being a Liberal, he respected the outcome of a vote. That was why he was fighting, after all. When the rebellion won, he knew their forces would fracture and split apart. The Nakusikans were too aggressive, the Loyalists too outdated. But with his own words and wisdom, Sakiyama would capture the hearts of the people who were so used to oppression and tyranny. Hoshiko's group may support him, or may not, but if he secured the favour of the people, he knew he would be safe.
Of course, it wouldn't be an easy fight. Certainly not with whatever Chudokuren forces remained pushing on his position. But Sakiyama wasn't going to give up yet.
He could feel it. He was so close now.
"Sir, are you sure about this?" asked one soldier. He was now handing our gas masks. There wasn't enough for everyone, so a few men and women who knew military history had resorted to far more improvised measures. Sakiyama tried not to think too much about what was within those rags that covered their mouths and noses.
"There's no going back. Today, we make our stand. For freedom." replied Sakiyama. Fortunately for them, some gases could be easily made out of household chemicals. Chlorine gas was one of them. It was unlikely to cause too many casualties, but it would draw away the Hostile Environment Brigade forces from defending the Sukui Facility.
Hoshiko herself appeared. Behind her was a group of guards, following almost like automatons, and a younger girl holding a pistol. She nodded, like short respectful bow, and then began to speak.
"I will not ask of you to order the attack. My own forces will handle the creation of the gas, and its deployment. I understand your morals, and I am heartened to find a living leader who possesses a rigid code of ethics. However, these times require ruthless action. I ask only that you do your best to hold back the enemy as they approach. If you wish to depart this effort, you should do so now. I will be disappointed, but I understand if you cannot go through with it." she said. Her voice wasn't very loud, but it didn't need to be.
"I'll do it. Thanks for your cooperation with us, Hoshiko. I just hope that after all this...that this nation truly does become one worth living in." he said. Truly, he was concerned. As much as he tried to convince himself the bioweapon was a bluff, he wasn't sure Esumi wouldn't deploy it out of spite. What if it was unleashed in the fighting? What if she turned on them? But there was no way to turn back now.
"I appreciate it, immensely. I sense you are concerned, and I must sympathise. I do not wish to truly resort to weapons of mass destruction. However, nothing less will give us a chance against the tyrant. I have seen how your fellow Liberals look at you. Their eyes carry the spark of admiration. I know you have suffered greatly. Today, I hope to bring an end to this suffering."
Sakiyama nodded solemnly.
"So do I. Let us bring down that tyrant. Let us restore freedom and liberty to the realm of Kyoki Chhdoku."
He turned around, and began to walk back. One of his men, Daguyo, handed him an assault rifle and some clips. Sakiyama loaded the weapon, ready for combat.
"For freedom." he said, to himself as much as the others, before placing a gas mask over his face.
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Yadama Kinzo watched his forces collecting rifles and rations, preparing for the upcoming fight. Soldiers raced in the night, carrying the weight of numerous battles and losses on their shoulders. Of the rebellion's contributors, his Loyalists were the most experienced, and had fought against the demonic tyrant before she had even taken power. They had valiantly defended their country from her tyrannical iron-fisted regime.
Yet they had failed to halt her advance.
It wasn't for lack of courage. These men- and women, but mostly men- had relentlessly fought, even in the face of devastating weapons. At first, it had been infantry and tanks against each other. Then, the artillery struck, bombers gliding overhead. As towns were devastated, it only got worse. Chudokuren forces took the capital, and the demon girl became tyrannical ruler of the whole nation.
He hadn't given up. He continued to fight. But soon enough, their worst nightmares had shown how. Initially, their most terrifying foe was the men in masks, covered in armour. Yadama recalled coughing, as if his lungs were tearing themselves to shreds, from the phosgene that had filled them. He didn't even want to think about the soldiers who had been hit with mustard gas. Masks weren't enough to stop that from being agonising, horrifying death.
Then it had been the demons. "Tenshi", she had called them. "Witches", some said. But those terms were inadequate to describe them. They were inhuman, unnatural, the wicked servants of that monstrous tyrant. The rumours had been ridiculous at first. But then he had witnessed them with his own two eyes. Bursts of energy and blasts of fire, ravaging what remained of his forces.
Worst of all, was the demon girl herself. Nothing less would suffice to describe her abominable nature. Yadama had been retreating, and caught a glimpse of her amongst the carnage, tearing through terrified soldiers with a massive blade, engulfed in purple fire. She'd laughed and smiled and stabbed, soaked in blood yet taking only delight from death and torment. It was then that he'd been shot. A sniper bullet tore across his leg. A miss, yet he retained a limp from the wound for the rest of his life.
Now, he was shrouded by the darkness of the night. In front of him was the Nakusikans. More enemies of the demonic tyrant, also filled with wrath and hatred. They too had been defeated. Only once, but it had crippled them. Yadama disliked their aggression. But he understood their resolve.
Esumi, their acting commander, emerged from a bush, glaring at him.
"Alright, greybeard, my people are armed and itching to fight. We have our plan to enter, and we just need to wait for the signal from the others. What did you want to talk about?" she asked.
"I simply wish to discuss the situation that will occur should we fail in this effort. We cannot simply accept death. What if the tyrant does not concede? What if she defeats us here and hunts us down?" he replied.
"We've survived her so far."
"Only because we are hidden. The moment we reveal ourselves, there is no going back. There will be no second chances. She will purge us from her domain if we do not have victory."
"Then the solution is simple. We will succeed. I get that you're worried. But what's the point? We've made our choice. We make our stand now! Or else everything before this point was worthless. If we fail, I already have a new plan in preparation. But it won't be needed. Because we will win"" she said. Her voice was confident, but her eyes were not. They looked downward, gazing at the ground. A sign of her own worry.
"I hope it will be so." he said. Yadama decided to change the topic a little. "I sense you are impatient, eager to begin." Her tapping her foot on the ground was an obvious indicator.
"Yeah. I've waited so long. I can wait a bit longer. But even then, I'm excited to finally bring her regime down into the dust where it belongs."
"That will a wonderful sight to behold." he admitted. Both of their forces were awaiting combat at any moment. The fight would not be easy. Even with the enemy distracted, they would still be defended, and they would be a dangerous foe to overcome.
But overcome them he would.
One way or another, his fight was about to end.
————————————————————————————-
Kuruyo patrolled with his fellow soldiers. Armed with Chudokuren assault rifles, they slowly marched through the small town. It was a strategic point, bring so close to a weapons testing facility and being a minor waypoint between Nogyo District and Shinrin District. The risk of an attack here was, however, low. Only a small garrison was present in the town itself in case of emergencies.
Dawn was approaching. Soon, the sun would rise, and Kuruyo would be able to get some rest. It was surprisingly tiring moving around from point to point, even with an armoured car. His assignment had been fairly uneventful. For two months he'd patrolled this exact same route, stopping the exact same number of people doing the exact same number of things- none. The police force was forced to deal with the occasional thief or other criminal, but Kuruyo and his squad mostly ended up just halting certain traffic before they showed authorisation and were let past anyway.
That had been four months ago, when he'd first been deployed here. Now the police had taken over traffic duty, leaving the military to go sightseeing on the same boring scenic route as always. Sometimes an animal carcass would be on the ground and they'd joke about it, or wonder if that's what dead humans looked like.
Of course, they'd all seen corpses before. They were in Kyoki Chudoku. But the men here, at least in Kuruyo's squad, hadn't actually killed anyone yet. They had been chosen for this duty because they had the endurance and loyalty to preserve through the night and sleep in the day instead. It wasn't a glamorous position, but as much as he mentally complained, Kuruyo had to admit that it was probably a lot easier than defending against terrorists or invading foreign enemies.
"Kuru, don't yawn yet." complained Rasu. She was technically in command of the squad, but for the most part they saw her as the same as any of them. Sure, the squad respected her authority and obeyed her orders, but it wasn't as if most of those orders couldn't be predicted beforehand.
"Sorry. I'm tired. Dawn soon." he replied, staring at the spot in the sky where the sun would soon rise. When that read light flooded the clouds, he'd be able to go home and get some rest.
"Yeah. Surviving without Haruya?" she asked. Haruya was another member of their squad. She'd been a very energetic and patriotic girl, like the kind you'd find on a propaganda video. She had gotten sick recently. And since they were in the realm of Densetsu Nana, that meant sick leave. To her, it was better to have one soldier absent for a week than an entire squad suffering sickness.
"Of course I am. I don't depend on her to live, you know." he said. Kuruyo and her talked a lot, so naturally everyone teased them about it when they could get away with it. In most places in Kyoki Chudoku, discipline was high. But out here, and with the main place needing security having its own contingent of special forces protecting it, soldiers could get away with a lot more conversation on duty.
"Could convince me otherwise. Truth be told, I'm tired as well. Even the car's running low on fuel." she said, peeking over a nearby rock as if desperately hoping something interesting would show up, then quietly sighing when absolutely nothing happened.
"I heard a lot of good things about their new model. Apparently it's more fuel efficient, faster, and has heavier armour. Bigger machine gun as well. The main downside is the cost. Too expensive to send one down to a squad like us."
"Oh quit complaining. We're lucky to even have a car. Lot of squads like us, they just have to walk everywhere."
"They need to, being so fat from all that fancy city food."" he said. He'd come from Nogyo District, from a rural home. From what he knew, Rasu was the same, and Haruya came all the way from Sangaku District. All he knew about that place was that it had snow, mountains, and Densetsu Hachi. In retrospect, that explained Haruya's emulation of propaganda. She'd probably grown up on the stuff.
"Are you two done out there? We still have to make another pass!" shouted Takan, the squad's dedicated gunner. He was a man of few words except when giving combat data, but he more than made up for it with his volume when he did speak.
"Area secure. Let's move on." said Rasu, and Kuruyo followed her into the car. It rumbled and shook slightly as it moved across the uneven ground, but they were all used to that by now. As always, it's engine seemed to grunt as they accelerated, its headlights piercing through the darkness. It was practically a member of the squad in its own right- they'd named her Kuruma, which in an example of exceptional creative literally meant "car".
"I think that bush just- never mind, just the wind. As per usual". said Takan. Perhaps he was especially bored today and needed to speak more than normal.
"Not true. There was that rat once." said Rasu. Kuruyo smiled at that. She was talking about the time that Takan had seen a bush shaking and fired at it. They'd investigated it later to find a single dead rat with a bullet in its brain. They'd added it to their unofficial casualty tally, although they stopped using that after Haruya tried to count all the grass they ran over.
"Final waypoint of the night. Let's get out. You too, Saso. There's a big hill for you to set up on." said Rasu. Saso was their squad's current medic, replacing Haruya in that regard. She was good at it, but rather than an assault rifle she always brought a designated marksman rifle. Saso was quiet but considerate, and apparently from Shinrin District. Kuruyo suspected she had been conscripted, but no one had ever brought it up and she seemed not to care about it.
"Mhmm. Will comply." she said as the car stopped. The doors opened, and Rasu, her and Kuruyo exited the vehicle. Three underbarrel flashlights were turned on, Kuruma's machine gun turret sweeping the area like a searchlight. The soldiers made their way up a steep hill, morning dew glistening in the artificial light, until at last they reached the summit. Saso went prone, deploying her rifle's bipod.
The wind howled as they stared at the farmland below. The light was less vibrant on such distant ground, but still revealed the green colour of the pastures. A rabbit jumped across one of the fields. A bush swayed in the breeze.
"Lot of stars out tonight." commented Kuruyo. He looked around, searching for any potential threats, knowing there wouldn't be any around. He started to turn back-
And saw a figure in the bushes, rushing between trees.
"HALT!" he shouted, they froze. Another flashlight was shone on them, presumably from Rasu's weapon. They stood still, and the one raised their arms in the air. A second later, the other pushed him to the ground and fired.
The gunshot rung across the land. Blinded by the flashlight, the shooter had completely missed. Kuruyo fired, unleash a pair of three round bursts. The girl fell dead to the ground, her screams of pain cut short by a fatal hit. Kuruyo rushed down to the other, pointing his weapon at him. He looked up to face the soldier, terror evident.
"Stop. Five more." said Saso over the communicator, and Kuruyo instantly realised those faint shadows in the forest were really the enemy. He cursed, and then rushed back, diving behind a rock and barely avoiding incoming rounds.
"All units, return to the car! We have hostile company!" ordered Rasu. Kuruyo threw his single frag grenade, and rushed over to a small creek, the following explosion ringing in his heats. The soldier of Kyoki Chudoku sprinted behind a large tree, and then returned up the hill, before diving downward to reach the car faster.
He saw several enemies now, firing in the darkness. He leapt through the car door and slammed it behind him. Machine gun fire drowned out every other noise, flashes coming from above. Takan was doing his best to hold them back.
In the midst of the chaos, Rasu was trying to keep a calm voice as she spoke on her communicator. "We have encountered hostile forces at Waypoint Ni-Juu. Requesting immediate reinforcements."
Kuruyo peeked out the window for a second, and was immediately gripped with panic.
"ROCKET, GUN IT!" he shouted and the car rushed to swerve out of the way as a rocket raced towards them, obliterating the road just behind their current position. The vehicle was now racing closed to safety, closer to fortifications and additional troops.
But they were not safe.
For on on either side, they saw more and more enemies, many of them masked or with rags covering their faces. Machine gun fire continued, then halted for a moment as Takan loaded the next drum into the weapon. Then, Kuruyo saw the yellow green mist begin to form, and realised with horror what was happening.
"Gas...they're making ****ing gas!" he shouted in disbelief. "The wind, it's blowing downhill. Towards the town. These are terrorists! Armed, organised terrorists!"
"Takan, get down and close the hatch. We are under attack." ordered Rasu, before begin to talk to command once more. "The enemy is attempting to launch a chemical attack. Requesting reinforcements, immediately! I repeat, requesting reinforcements!"
Another rocket soared towards them, and this time they failed to avoid it.
Kuruyo went tumbling through the air, feeling the seat belt torn away, his armed bruised and bones broken as he slammed into the upturned vehicle's side. Saso was barely conscious beside him. Fire was beginning to engulf the wreckage.
"Kuru...yo..." whispered Rasu. Kuruyo turned to face her, and his eyes widened with shock. She was covered in blood and burns, a shard of fragmented metal embedded in her heart. "I'm..."sorry..."
"No...we can get out of this...we can survive..." said Kuruyo faintly, trying to convince himself as much as Rasu. Saso tried to stand, but her leg was horrible bent, and she collapsed to the ground, a clang heard as her head hit the metal. Kuruyo himself felt pain, and he dared not look at his own arms, turning away as his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a bone extruding from his flesh, the adrenaline not enough to hold back the agony as he winced and panted, trying not to scream.
"Goodnight...Kuruyo. I'll...I'll see you...."
Rasu's body went limp, her head slumped, her form pinned to the former floor turned wall by the metal that had impaled her.
"No...no! I..." Kuruyo's voice trailed off. He tried to raise his rifle, but barely had the strength to move himself forward, pain tearing through him as he tried to move. His vision was blurry. The air was turning yellow. His throat was starting to sting. Kuruyo pulled himself forward, trying to ignore the tears, trying not to notice the corpse behind him. He turned back, and despite being in utter torment, realise that Saso was still breathing.
He took her grenade, and threw it at one of the doors. The explosion scorched his legs and feet, but he would endure. He had to. For Saso. For Rasu. For everyone he cared about. His breathing was heavy, he struggled to control it as the air got more and more green, gas flooding into the vehicle. He coughed and sneezed and coughed even more, pulling Saso, dragging her across the ground. As he'd hoped, the grenade had torn open a new exit.
He tried to ignore the fragments of shrapnel covering his arm, he struggled with all of his might to get his fellow soldier out of the vehicle. She stirred, herself coughing, and helped pushed him outside of the death trap that had once been the pride of their squad.
"S-saso...you a-alright? he managed to say between coughs, the jolts in his lungs increasing in intensity and pain.
"Behind...you." she said, and as he turned around, he felt himself being pushed aside as a gunshot rung in the air. Seconds later, Saso could no longer hold herself up on her arms, and she collapsed completely, blood spilling from her head.
In the yellow-green mist, in the blurry fog of death, Kuruyo could barely make out a shadow, then a figure. A man with a gas mask, pistol in hand. He stepped on Kuruyo's arm, and agony shot through him. The soldier was helpless to resist as the enemy gripped his neck, his coughs silenced, and pulled his head up to stare him directly in the eye.
"For freedom." came the muffled words.
The gunshot was deafening. Kuruyo fell completely, wheezing, coughing, bleeding from everywhere, sharp pain in his arm and now from his chest as well. The man with a mask was barely visible, sight fading away, and then he felt a kick to the skull and it all vanished in an instant.
