May I Enjoy My Life: Entry 4

Entry 8: Day 24

This is shocking, I know, but I am, in fact, still alive. Otherwise it would be real awkward writing this. Unfortunately, some good people aren’t. I guess this is my life on Terra now. For however long it lasts. 

After making our plans with Igor, we snuck out in disguises. Gavial was the hardest one to do, as she’s relatively tall and that alligator tail is rather distinctive in a land where more than half the population are bear people, and a lot of the rest of them are cats and dogs. They did it with a long skirt and a head covering, but she still sort of stuck out. 

I got a pair of cosmetic bear ears, while Sussurro, to her disgust, was disguised as a perro kid. They even dyed her fur brown.

“You still look cute, if it makes you feel better,” I told her while she was examining her newly dyed tail with no small measure of disgust. 

“Thanks, but I’m pretty sick of being mistaken for a kid,” Sussurro said, sounding rather disgusted. 

“Not to sound ignorant, but um, are most vulpo, you know…vertically challenged?” I asked, feeling rather embarrassed. 

She eyed me with a small measure of amusement, but shook her head. “No, I’m just a shorty, even for a vulpo. We tend to be a few centimeters shorter than perro and especially lupo, but we’re not all durin sized.”

“Well, it could be worse,” I said, and nodded to Andrey, who had on a sour expression. His disguise was a classic: Drag. If everyone was looking for an Ursus boy…then have an Ursus girl. 

“I’d rather be disguised as a man than a child, but I’m afraid I lack the height, even if binding my chest wouldn’t be hard,” Sussurro said with a grimace. She was rather slender, though anyone who mistook her for a boy was frankly blind. 

“Everyone is being ready?” Igor said, looking us over. We nodded, and Andrey schooled his face into one that looked a lot less like he’d been sucking on lemons, even if he was wearing a skirt. “Good. We go now. Keep close, yes? No getting separated.”

It was late afternoon, well before the curfew, which took place at sunset. There were a lot more guards than I remembered, along with checkpoints blocking both cars and foot traffic. The first time we were stopped, I nearly had a heart attack.

“Papers,” a guard with a full mask and respirator said. He had a sword sheathed at his hip and a shield slung on his left arm, while his partner had an automatic crossbow of some kind. 

Still, I proffered the forgery that Igor had been able to obtain in a shockingly short amount of time. 

“Yakov Nikolayevich,” I said.

The guard glanced at it. My ID claimed I was a factory worker, local to the city.

“My sisters, Lyusi and Andreeva,” I said, passing over Sussuro and Andrey’s papers. I was a bit worried I’d get called out for claiming to have a perro sister and an ursus sister, but the guard didn’t bat an eye at that, nor at their ID papers. 

“You may pass,” I said, and waved us through. I hastily ushered the “ladies” through to the other side, then glanced over at Gavial and Igor. They were let through as well, managing to pass the rather casual inspection that the guards were doing. 

“Keep walking,” Igor muttered through the side of his mouth. “We are being lucky. This route, only city guards, not Infected Patrol, or worse, the Imperial Troops that came with the Emperor’s Blade.”

We nodded and continued on at a quick pace. We didn’t have to go far, just a couple of miles, but we passed two more checkpoints, managing to make it through with ease both times. That didn’t help my blood pressure, which I could feel spiking each time I had to hand over my falsified documents. 

Fortunately, we made it through to the safe house where Ivanka Medvedev was staying. It wasn’t in the poorest quarter where Igor lived, but in a somewhat nicer, more middle-class section, nearer to where the Medvedev residence had been. We reached the house, and Igor walked up, knocking on the door in a specific rhythm. 

A moment later, the door swung open, and Igor said, “Snow.”

“Light,” the man on the other side, a somewhat sallow-faced perro by his tail and ears said. He opened the door more widely, glancing around, then said more loudly, “Ah, Demitri, we’ve been waiting for you. Come in, come in.”

We all hurried inside, and the man nodded down the hall. “Back there. I’ll stay here.”

The house itself was brick and wood, with a somewhat homey interior that looked like it would stay warm in the cold winters. Pictures lined the hall of a family, and something bothered me about them. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but Sussurro hissed at Gavial, “Hold on. This is a liberi family in the pictures.”

Gavial spun, but the sallow-faced perro had a crossbow in his hands he’d drawn from a box by the door. “Don’t make a sound, signora. Down the hall. Now.”

More men appeared from various side doors, all of them armed. All of them were perro, actually, which was a bit suspicious. Or wait, signora? Oh fuck. They weren’t perro…

“Il latte di mia madre,” Sussurro snarled. “The Famiglia, here?!”

“What have you done to Ivanka?” Gavial growled, her hands balling into fists. 

“She is well, signora,” the wolf man at the end of the hall said. He was dressed in a sharp suit, and had not a crossbow like the others, but a gun. If I remembered right, that meant he could use arts, because for some reason I didn’t recall, gunpowder didn’t work here or whatever. “Come into the kitchen, and you can see for yourself. Hands where I can see them, per favore. I would hate for there to be an…accident.” 

Slowly, we moved down the hallway to a kitchen where a frightened Ivanka huddled at the table with a family of liberi; a man, a woman, and two boys. The same as the pictures in the hallway. 

Ivanka let out a strangled sob. “I am sorry! They, they were going to torture Arseniy and Kirill! We…we told them the countersign.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Gavial said, looking around. “This everyone?”

“It is, signora,” the mafia don said with a predatory grin. He had a smooth voice, with a neatly trimmed beard. “Now, you will give us the man who can cure-”

Gavial’s kick took the don square in the gut, so hard that I heard ribs snap. At the same time, an axe and a knife flew from her hands, the knife taking one of the goons who were guarding Ivanka and the liberi family right in the neck, the axe embedding itself in the other’s forehead. 

Sussurro drew her crossbow and fired it into the gut of one of the thugs who had been shadowing us, while I let out a wordless yell and threw myself at another thug, only to get clubbed over the head for my troubles and crumple to the floor. Igor did a lot better, bellowing in rage and swiping a massive paw at a pair of lupo to send them crashing into the walls. 

Andrey, bless the kid, did the smart thing and dived under the kitchen table to stay the hell out of the way. Ivanka and the liberi just screamed in terror as violence exploded all around them. 

I had an inkling that Gavial was pretty good in a fight. Shit, I had seen her take on five security guards, all of whom were bigger than she was, in about ten seconds. But as a dozen mafiosos, armed to the teeth with swords, clubs, crossbows, and even a caster who started throwing around flashing arts that my mind couldn’t accept were real all closed in on her, I suddenly realized that she was frankly superhuman. You get an idea that operators in Arknights are tough and can do things that should be impossible, but to see it in person…I’ll do my best, but I don’t think I can really describe how incredible it was. 

Two lupo, both of them at least my own height, with shoulders so wide they had to turn sideways to go through a doorway, and neither of them with more than 10% body fat, both armed, attacked Gavial, who had nothing but her tail and courage. Turned out, it was more than enough. 

These two didn’t do the mook thing of one attacking at a time, even in the confined space. One went in high, the other low, and both of them were clearly going in for the kill. Gavial headbutted the one who went high, and blood sprayed as she shoved his nose back into his cranium. Then she grabbed the body, still in mid-air, and bodyslammed him into his partner so hard she broke the floorboards. 

Two more came at her from behind, and Gavial used her tail to swat one into the wall, while doing a spinning floor kick that hit the other in the neck, and actually broke it, probably killing him instantly. The kind of force you have to be able to do that…

Then Gavial scooped up a dropped sword, and the butcher’s work truly began. Igor was down, after his two opponents recovered, having taken a knife in the leg, and they were about to finish him off. Gavial took one of her foe’s arm off at the elbow, then followed it up with a vicious slash across his abdomen. Then she stabbed her other opponent in the groin, and left him to bleed out. 

By that point, the caster had appeared, and Sussurro was trying to reload as she ducked into the pantry door, which exploded into splinters when the arts hit it. 

The caster, however, had seen Gavial take out half a dozen men in about that many seconds, and refocused his arts on her. I shit you not, she did a WALL RUN through the kitchen as the caster fired off bolts, bellowing, “Xinechixnamiki!” 

Two more goons, one with a crossbow he fired, the other with a sword he raised in a warding gesture, tried to slow Gavial down and give their caster time to take her out. They might as well not have bothered and just lay down to die. Gavial cleaved one from neck to groin, left the sword embedded, and kicked the other in the chin so hard she nearly tore the head off. The caster she body checked into the floor, one last arts attack going off in an explosion against the ceiling that sent plaster and dust flying. 

Then she delivered a rabbit punch to the back of the caster’s head, and he didn’t move after that. 

The whole encounter had lasted less than a minute. I had barely crawled to my hands and knees. Sussurro had finally reloaded her crossbow, but there were no more targets. All our opponents were down, most of them dead. 

Gavial coughed, tried to stand, clutched at her left abdomen, and collapsed. Swearing, I scrambled up and over to her. There was a crossbow bolt embedded in her left lumbar, and unless I missed my guess, it had probably hit her in the kidney. Additionally, she had a nasty splinter the size of a ruler in her right calf, and probably couldn’t stand. 

“Fuckers got me,” she gasped. “Tlamamali tlen tekuani! I’m off my game… curse these skirts!” 

Did I mention she did all that in a dress? Because Gavial did all that in a dress. Holy shit. 

“This is going to hurt,” I told her grimly, but she nodded at me. I ripped out the splinter and healed the leg, making Gavial scream. The arts came easily, though it was raw and unfocused. I probably needed to learn to use a medical wand, but I re-knit the leg. 

“I…I got the bolt,” Gavial grunted. “On three. One. Two. THREEEEEEE!” 

Screaming, she ripped out the barbed bolt from her own body, spraying out blood and viscera. Looks like it had hit the small intestines as well. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Still, I managed to get it all back together with liberal application of the arts, though I was light headed and woozy after. I stumbled over to the corner and vomited. I wasn’t sure if it was from seeing the horrific death and violence, or arts use overdose. 

“Everyone on your feet, now!” Gavial barked. I tried to stumble up, but then someone was there, putting their shoulder under my arm, lifting me up. To my surprise, it was a grim-faced Sussurro, and despite myself, I gratefully leaned on her and managed to get up.

“I…I’m good,” I slurred, wiping bile from my lips. “Help…help the others.”

“We need to move, fast like,” Gavial ordered. She’d picked up the biggest sword, and was pointing to the back door. “That commotion-”

The door burst open, and two more lupo thugs tried to storm in. Sussurro’s bolt took one in the arm, making him cry out. Gavial pounced on the other like a gator going for a zebra at a watering hole, while Igor clawed the other into a bloody mess. 

“MOVE IT PEOPLE, COME ON!” her voice bellowed from beyond. 

Sussurro was reloading, so I urged the family, Ivanka, and the two crying liberi children out the door with Andrey’s help. Igor struggled to his feet and hobbled after us, gritting his teeth. 

“It’s OK, that’s just Doctor Gavial. She’s scary, but only to bad guys,” Andrey was telling the sniffling kids. 

We hurried out back into an alley, where Death had already paid a Health and Wellness visit. There had been five more mafiosos aside from the two at the door. They were no longer among the living. Gavial had taken two superficial cuts, one to her right forearm, the other to her tail, which was lashing in irritation. 

“Where did these assholes come from?!” Gavial snarled, looking around at the gore she’d created in disgust. 

“From Siracusa. They were pushed out of Volsinii, something about a reformed judge and the last Texas,” Igor panted. “They have been causing trouble.”

I glanced at his leg, gritted my teeth, and grabbed it. “Hold still. This might sting.”

Igor set his jaw, and I used arts again to knit the wound together. It had been pretty bad, he shouldn’t have been able to walk on the leg properly for a moment, but he flexed it and grunted. “Good as new. Now, we run.”

“W-we cannot flee!” The liberi father said. “Our things, we must get them, and the children-”

“Your stuff worth your kids' lives?” Gavial demanded, and the pale parents shook their heads. “Good, now RUN! Because that much noise is going to attract exactly the wrong kind of…”

She trailed off. We were pretty far north, so despite the late hour, the sun shouldn’t have set for a while. I dunno how that works with the false sky and all, but it does. But it was growing dark, and in a hurry. Black mist was growing around us. And that meant only one thing. 

“Fly, you fools,” I whispered, picked up a kid under each arm, and booked the hell out of there as fast as I could, genuinely completely terrified. I think that was the point at which I pissed myself, but I’m not sure, it could have been earlier. 

Everyone was running at that point. Gavial had ripped off her skirt and was sprinting along, Andrey over one shoulder. The liberi parents were scrambling along with Sussurro screaming at them to move it, somehow keeping up despite her short legs. Ivanka was puffing and pale faced, but she was moving as fast as she could. 

But Igor…he picked up a crossbow and a grenade, and was only jogging after us. “Run! I will make some noise! Go!”

There was no time to argue, no time to plan. Igor took a sharp right, pitched the grenade into the house, and pulled out another. The house exploded behind us. I never saw Igor again. But I don’t have to imagine too hard to think what happened to the old guy. I can only hope that Kataya got out. She’d fled to another safe house once we’d left. 

We had ran only for a block when a unit of Imperial Guards, bearing pikes and spears and with riot shields, moved in from the side. Gavial moved to the side, crashing through a black door by the expedient of simply flattening it, then leading us through the building in a pell-mell scramble past some terrified residents. We burst out into the street on the other side and just kept running. To where I had no idea, but the black mist had faded, so whatever direction was away from the Emperor’s Blade was good enough for me now. 

However, I was starting to flag. Gavial had set down Andrey, and I was forced to do the same to the two other kids. They ran along, no longer crying, their eyes almost completely white in sheer terror. 

Another group of guards jumped us, this time, in a near perfectly executed ambush, save for the fact that they were fighting Gavial the Invincible, who just did not give a fuck. A sniper on the roof to either side. Gavial deflected one bolt with her sword in a movie I thought was only possible in the moves, and took the other in her left shoulder. Two more groups of two burst from houses, each pair a crossbow and sword and board combo. It thought we were completely fucked.

Gavial, wounded, winded, and completely unfazed, ripped the shield out of the nearest one’s hands, then proceeded to clobber him and his partner to death with it. 

Unfortunately, the other pair were not just sitting there. Liberi mom went down with a bolt in her shoulder, diving in to shield her older son. The dad was mercilessly cut down with a sword, shielding his other child. 

I thought I was just straight up fucking dead when the crossbow guard advanced on me with a knife, but then he grunted, a bolt appeared in his waist at where his armor was weak, as Sussurro covered me. By the time the guy with the sword turned on me, Gavial whipped the shield she had around. It took sword guy in the neck, the shield sticking in the brick wall behind him. His head stayed on top of the shield. The body slumped to the ground. 

“COVER, NOW!” Gavial roared, and picked up the wounded mother as I grabbed Andrey and the other kid, diving inside the house that had just held our ambushers. More bolts thudded behind us, and I heard Gavial grunt in pain again. 

Sussurro dragged in the dad, but when I went to try to heal him, I could see there was no point. I tried anyway, but my arts, it seemed, could not bring back the dead. I was able to re-knit the body completely, but he didn’t stir. I felt tears in my eyes and tried to start chest compressions, but Sussurro dragged me over to Gavial. “Heal her! I’ll take care of the mother.”

“Where’s Ivanka?” I said, my head whipping around. I hadn’t seen her in minutes.

“She took a crossbow bolt in the back,” Gavial gasped, her eyes closed as she slumped against the wall, two bolts in her. “About half a click back. Didn’t…didn’t stop for her.”

I felt sick to my stomach, but I had already puked my guts up. I ripped out the bolts from Gavial, and she barely reacted. I did heal her back up, and when I did, she got up, but she looked exhausted. 

“What now?” I asked her.

She gritted her teeth, stayed low, and crawled over to the front window. She used her sword to lift up a cushion, which was ripped away by a crossbow bolt. Fuck. We were boxed in.

“Now, we’re fucked,” Gavial said, looking completely drained as she crouched there. Sussurro was huddled with the three children and the mother, all of them wide-eyed and terrified. I looked around, feeling defeated.

“If…If I gave myself up, would that,” I began, but Gavial’s eyes snapped open.

“James, shut the fuck up,” she growled. “I just…I need a minute.”

I nodded. Second crawled by, and I could feel my life tick away as Gavial tried to catch her breath. Even as tough as she was, she could not hope to fight the entire Ursus Imperial Guard, the City Guard, and that Emperor’s Blade, wherever it was. 

Then, there was a crackle on Sussuro’s belt. 

“Deta five-niner,” a woman’s voice said in a distinctive southern drawl. “This is Papa Bird. Y’all ready for a pick up?”

Sussurro scrambled for a second as everyone held their breath, lifting the radio to her face with trembling hands. “This is Delta Actual. We have the package in hand, with three extra boxes. We are currently engaged and surrounded. We…we do not know if pickup is possible.”

“Aw, doncha worry ‘bout that, Delta Actual! Papa Bird ALWAYS gets the packages on time! Doesn’t matter how many of them there are! Stand by for pick up, we’ll be there in a jiffy!” 

“We…we have a Blade on us, Papa Bird. You…you may need to wave off,” Sussurro said, eyes closed, her voice shaking.

There was a pause on the other side, then a new voice spoke. This one was deep, and male.  “Hey, don’t you worry ‘bout that, Delta Actual. Papa Bird Actual is in the house.”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, and I looked over at Sussurro, who had opened her eyes. Fucking hell. “Wait, is that-” I began, but then the windows around us exploded. 

“DOWN!” Gavial screamed, and the world was engulfed with light and sound as flashbangs went off. 

I didn’t see all that went down then, I was too dazed and bleeding from my burst eardrums and my mouth from biting my own tongue. But when I came too, Gavial was grappling with an absolutely enormous imperial guard. She roared and shoved him back, drew a knife, and stabbed him in the heart, before dropping herself, gasping for breath, covered in dust and blood, more than a little of it her own. I tried to shout as another Imperial Guard loomed over her, raising a battle axe for a fatal blow, but no sound escaped my lips. 

I heard what sounded like faint pops, but with my blown eardrums was probably incredibly loud automatic rifle fire as bullets sprayed. The Imperial Guard fell over, dead, and an angel flew in through the window, guns akimbo, a wide grin on her face. 

“Heya, Gavial! Looks like you got quite a workout! I heard you have a couple packages for delivery? I’ll just need you to sign here first,” the red-headed angel said with a wide grin, though her voice was tinny and distant. 

My first glimpse of Exusiai was not what I expected. Instead of the typical delivery girl uniform she wore in game, she was dressed more in her Vitafield skin, though instead of shorts, she had on full-length combat pants. She even had on a full face mask with goggles to protect herself from all the originium that was being thrown around, though that didn’t stop the quips. 

“Exu, am I glad to see you,” Gavial said with a sigh. Sussurro had gotten up somehow, and was busy healing Gavial, but the older doc shook her off and stood, rolling her shoulders. “Didn’t think they’d send PL for us.”

“When you need a package delivered, no ifs, ands, or buts, you call for best, because we’ve got the guts!” Exusiai said, and despite the mask, I could hear her grin. Then she spun about and fired off another barrage of bullets, which probably left some poor bastard dead or bleeding out. No rubber bullets this time. “Now come on! I’ll try to handle it with care, but this pickup is gonna be bumpy!” 

We scrambled outside, where three more figures were engaging the Imperial Guardsmen. One was a blur of motion with twin swords, flashing across the battlefield almost too fast to track. A rain of swords preceded her wherever she went, impaling her foes in an incredible display of combat arts. That would be the Last Texas. I half wondered if the unemployed terrorist was around, but thankfully, Lappland wasn’t present. 

The other two had raised shields and were holding the line in front of a black VTOL that had set down in the street behind them, firing automatic crossbows that were sending a rain of bolts back at the Ursus forces.  

“We got wounded! Little help, here!” Exusiai called, then mowed down a whole squad with her twin sub-machine guns. 

The shield bearers charged forward, lowering their heads and battering aside the guardsmen they were fighting. Both had ox horns, but they were so heavily armored head to foot with and gas masks on that I couldn’t tell who was who, though I suspected Croissant and Bison. Damn, they really were calling out all the stops. 

We moved in a tight formation back towards the VTOL, whose rotors were thumping the air loudly and kicking up gusts and dust all around the aircraft. There were no markings that I could see on it, and in fact, none of the operatives around me had any distinguishing markings. I had expected the Penguin Logistics logo front and center, but I guess this was an actual black op. 

We had nearly reached the craft, when the sky went dark again. The black mist didn’t so much creep this time as flood into the square, covering the ground. Texas finished off a group, then backflipped smoothly to land beside us, twin blades raised in a high guard. 

“He’s here,” Gavial growled, her eyes darting around. She’d picked up a shield and a battle axe, and her tail was swishing back and forth in irritation. 

“They said this delivery would be interesting,” Texas said in a deadpan. “Seems like it.”

“CONTACT FRONT!” Exusiai roared, and opened up with both guns as a massive black shadow charged towards us out of the smoke. 

I was coughing and gasping for breath despite the N95 mask I’d put on. Sussurro was crouching beside me, struggling to breathe herself, as were the three children and the mom. I blinked through tears to watch as Texas, Gavial, Exusiai, and the two bull-horned shield bearers all clashed with the Emperor’s Blade. 

You remember what I said about Gavial being superhuman? How she obliterated squads of mafia thugs, and even elite imperial guardsman? She caught a casual backhand from the Emperor’s blade as he moved like liquid smoke. She went flying and crashed into a building, then lay in a crumpled heap. Texas had gone in at the same instant, flashing from behind the shield wall to hit the left as Gavial had gone for the right. Her rain of swords and flurry of blows were blocked by the Blade, who then nearly skewered her with his parry. Texas spun away, pain etched on her face, and the armor she’d been wearing shorn through, a bloody gash on her side. 

Then the two shields were carved in half with a single blow, even as Exusiai pumped every last round from her mags into the monster's head and chest. The bullets pattered off like they were rain. 

Close. We had been so close. We had nearly made it, but then this horror had appeared and just swatted aside people who were positively superhuman like they were nothing but bothersome gnats. 

But as they say, there is always a bigger fish. 

Or in this case, Penguin.

The VTOL suddenly shuddered, not with weapons fire, but as a deep base rumble from enormous subwoofers shook it. Out of the ramp stepped, well, what looked like an ordinary Emperor Penguin. If a penguin wore sunglasses, a black Skullyz hat, two heavy gold chains, and a T-shirt with, I shit you not, a goat-horned Eminem with PLEASE STAND UP written on it. Instead of a rocket launcher, or maybe a full sized canon, the penguin held two things. In one flipper, a gun, which was turned sideways, gangster style. And in the other, a much more dangerous weapon.

A microphone. 

Yo, it’s Papa Bird, flyin’ high and proud,

Feathers black, royal crown, I’m talkin’ loud.

You’re flashin’ that blade, tryin’ to hurt my girls,

But I’m the sky’s king, watch me unfurl.

The blade…staggered back. The black mist fled, pushed back as a pulsing, glowing aura surrounded us. I felt energy flooding me, and my ears popped as my hearing was suddenly restored. I got to shaky feet, looking around as Gavial hauled herself up, and Texas’ wounds knitted before my eyes. 

“Ok, boys and girls! Field trips over, let’s get out of here!” Exusiai said, still chipper, but with a quavering in her voice. 

I didn’t argue. As Emperor continued his rap, we all scrambled aboard the aircraft. 

YOU. YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, BEAST LORD. WE WILL NOT FORGET THIS TRESSPASS, the blade hissed after us. 

Emperor snorted, and continued his rap. 

Wings spread wide, empire in my claws,

You threaten my girls? Boy, pause.

Surprise, mother fucker, I’m back on the hunt,

Papa Bird’s wrath—front to front.

We stumbled inside, the hatch rising even as Emperor continued dropping bars. Behind us in the cockpit, a girl with a headset peaked out. 

“Go, go, go!” one of the horned shield guards said, ripping off her helmet to reveal Croisant’s features. She jumped into the pilot's seat even as the co-pilot, who had to be Sora, lifted us off the ground with a roar of turbines. 

Just as the hatch closed, though, the craft jolted and rang like a bell as a black sword was driven through the closed door, nearly impaling Emperor, who was at the back of the group.

He just spat on the sword, and muttered, “Bitch, please. Let’s fly, girls!” 

Despite that final attack, we wobbled off into the sky, boosting away as Croissant put on a headset.

“Strap in!” Sora called somewhat belatedly, as we were already spilled everywhere. “Or failing that, just hang on!” 

I managed to grab Andrey and shove him into a seat, buckling him tightly before doing the same to myself. The others all managed to get buckled in as the craft bucked and clanged, and what sounded like hail drummed against the hull. Exusiai went to a side door and peered out with her guns. “We got drones on us, boss!” 

“Well what the fuck am I paying you for?! Shoot them!” 

Exusiai didn’t even quip back, her weapons barking until she had to slap in a new mag. The scent of burning ozone filled the compartment, and I could only close my eyes and hold on for dear life.

“We’re clear of the city, bawss,” Croissant’s voice said after several sphincter-clenching moments. “Skies are free ‘til we hit Lungmen! Least ways, I hope so. We took a mite of damage, but I reckon I can keep Ol’ Mama Bird in the air!” 

“Keep us steady, Croissant. I ain’t payin’ overtime just cause you wanted to walk back.”

“On it, Bawss!” Croissant said with a thumbs up, then bent over the controls. 

Emperor waddled back over, and came to a stop right in front of me. I swallowed, even as the Beast Lord lowered his sun glasses. 

If you don’t know what a Beast Lord is…join the club. I think they’re gods or something. I don’t know, I just watched the PV on youtube and saw the hardest image ever of a penguin with a glock facing down a wolf god. What I’d seen with Emperor vs. the Blade confirmed what I think a lot of the Arknights community had long suspected: Beast Lords are completely cracked. That kind of arts was scary. 

“Hey. Kid. You’d better be worth this, you hear?”

“I…I don’t know that I am, sir.”

“Sir? Fuck, I work for a living, kid. Call me Boss. Or just Emps.”

“Yes sir, um, Boss.”

Emperor grunted. “When I got a call from the Old Hag with a priority one pick up…I knew shit was gonna hit the fan. Last time I got one of those…Chernobog happened.”

“I…I’m not the Ghost of Babel,” I stammered. “And I wasn’t in a Sarcophagus.”

Emperor’s eyebrows shot up. You ever seen a penguin with eyebrows? It would have been funny if he wasn’t so terrifying. “Really? Well, that’s food for thought. Fuck. I shoulda stayed home and just listened to my vinyls. Steada declarin’ war on those half demon assholes…”

He flopped into a seat beside Exusiai and strapped in. The Sankta was stripping and cleaning her guns, which didn’t even seem to have had enough time to cool, but she was diligently taking care of them. Texas had closed her eyes and pulled out a cigarette and was puffing away on it. 

Next to her, the liberi mom tentatively said, “Can…can I have one of those?”

Texas opened one eye, took a long drag, then proffered her box. The mom took it with trembling hands, and Texas offered her light before going back to quietly smoking. 

I glanced over at Gavial, but she had her eyes closed and, to my shock, seemed to actually be asleep. I guess she’d been a little worn out. Bison was trying to cheer up Andrey and the two liberi kids, but while Andrey was smiling weakly, the other two were in complete shock.

Sussurro, who was sitting beside me, was looking greener by the moment. The VTOL was shuddering and bucking in the air, so at first I thought it was motion sickness. Bison noticed and handed her a plastic bag, which she took gratefully. 

“You alright? Need any healing?” I offered.

She shook her head. “No, I…James. That was the first time…I’ve… I’ve never… killed.”

“Oh. Fuck.”

“Y-yeah.” Sussurro closed her eyes, then buried her face in the barf bag and emptied her stomach noisily and violently. I rubbed her back, feeling miserable. 

“Here,” Emperor said, and passed over a bottle of water. “First time in combat?”

Sussurro shook her head miserably. “Mostly, but before, I was just a combat medic. This time…I killed someone. A couple of someones, actually.”

Emperor grunted, and Exusiai paused her cleaning to give Sussurro a sympathetic look. “Sorry, Sussurro. I know you’re a doc and all, but hey, you did good! That was a pretty intense pick up, and you even got out three extra packages.”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling the urge to vomit myself. “But we had three more.” 

Sussurro lowered the bag and swigged some water, Bison taking the upchuck and getting rid of it. She leaned against me, looking completely drained. “James…”

“Yeah?”

“We’ll make it count. I promise.”

I managed to swallow and forced a smile. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

She drifted off then, but I was too jazzed to manage it. So I typed all this up instead. Shit. We’ll be hitting Lungmen airspace before too long. After that…who knows. I’m reminded of that last scene in Saving Private Ryan. The one where Captain Miller tells Ryan “Earn this.” 

Hell of a lot to live up to. There’s at least three good people dead because of me. How do you ever earn that?