Gods Eater Burst 1. Chapter 1

**Gathering**

"This is just the beginning of the end. We have to be prepared."

Packing up God Arcs, the means with which to maintain them, and the materials used to keep them fed and happy when inactive was about the same as cutting the whole basement out of the Australian Branch of Fenrir, and clearing out an entire floor of a city-sized establishment was a long and difficult process. Thorold Strinley, head of the Australian branch, sighed and rubbed his temples to relieve the migraine that had set in last week. It followed him like the haunting ghosts of the dozens of God Eaters that had died in this jurisdiction over the last several months, but at least he was finally starting to see a light at the end of this god forsaken tunnel.

Still, they were so close to finishing their preparations for the role in the Ark Project that Von Schicksal had come up with. Thorold was ecstatic; nothing within their walls had really gone wrong despite having expected it to, aside from the loss of most the defense force and assault team slowly since they started working with the man. Because he couldn't afford any Aragami getting into the compound, he had manically filed and filed and filed for transfers, which he managed to get despite all the focus on the Far East Branch and their miracle New-Types. Several rookies from various branches unfortunately, but a trio of old-types that have had their head in the game for quite some time; the kinds of men and women their branch had lost recently weren't just ignored, thank goodness. Those ones were from the Russia Branch, who had been generously handing Eaters out lately, and just one came from the small Czech Branch that no one ever really heard about.

Their resident Techie, Raymond Dockert, threw a latch down on the gargantuan beast of a transport for this whole section of the branch to be taken carefully to the launch site, then another two before he was satisfied and let the driver do their job. The last two God Eaters on their assault force flanked either side of it, ensuring the package would be safely delivered to their own 'Aegis' site.

"That should do 'er. What the 'ell are we takin' God Arcs on this bitch fer, anywho? We're jumpin' ship like we is fer the sake a shakin' these feckin' Aragami, ah?" Ray's speech was a thick Irish that practically colored the air green with his breath, much to Thorold's dismay. Somehow their Eaters found it funny and in some cases endearing. Thorold shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he watched the armored truck start its slow roll.

"Do you know why Christianity was so powerful back in the day, Raymond? It was because the events they described had supposedly passed, and no evidence remained outside of sheer faith; and just about everyone had faith back then, with nowhere to put it. Oracle technology must be preserved in the new world; this is also the reason God Eaters are even being accepted into the project. If we just document these things as the reason we left earth, and keep no proof with us, somewhere down the line the human race will warp that history into hundreds of fragmented beliefs- it may even visit the terror of the Aragami upon us again, wherever we make our new home, some hundreds of years past. That would almost defeat the purpose of this desperate escape of ours."

"Aye. S'pose we got's ta look'it the long run, after all." Ray nodded a little too emphatically, rocking his whole body along with the motion. As Thorold went on, the docking bay gates shut behind the convoy and its escorts clung to small platforms and hand-rungs on the side. The Tech and Director of the Australian Branch headed to the elevator, shutting out the lights here for the last time and heading up; they needed their rest for the new arrivals tomorrow.

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It was the main lobby of every branch of Fenrir that looked almost exactly the same; dull brass walls, mesh plating for floors in places, those two flights of stairs just next to and behind the reception desk and banners, banners everywhere with the disgruntled dog-head logo of the Aragami defense business. It was like he never left the Czech Republic, really. The mission clerk here had black hair that she curled in a girly way that wasn't really meant for black hair, but she was good looking with a nice body at least. The merchant close by almost looked credible compared to most places, with a nice suit and a flashy smile like he was selling vacuums or something door-to-door before monsters started eating the planet.

There were a few others mulling about near the desk; an older man with a ring of heavy gray hair surrounding the shiny bald top of his dome, a nice white business shirt tucked into neatly belted dress pants and blindingly nice leather shoes. Judging by the Fenrir badges accessorizing every corner of the man, his clipboard, and outfit that screamed money, he was the head here.

In front of the guy were a handful of people; closest was a petite-framed redheaded girl with a mostly purple and red outfit, one that reminded him of the showy, exotic apparel gypsy girls wore in old movies as the tied cloth at the waist and shoulders seemed to only act as ornamentation. Her eyes were a dark green that looked like they had lost their brightness likely to some traumatic event, her hair cut nice and straight at the bangs but flicking out everywhere else. Whatever the case, she seemed wound up tight but also ready to spring, which meant she was probably okay with tackling a few Aragami and less hesitant than others might be.

To her right was a fairly tall fellow wearing a brown bandana with a multitude of pins, buttons and fabric patches stuck to it like a luggage bag that hit every corner of the map for the sake of being a sticker collection. His hair was hidden well under it, poking out at the back of his neck as a blonde color, and he wore some kind of gold pendant that he should've hawked for credits by now. He wore a lot of denim and black, but seemed skittish and maybe flighty, like he was ready to hop on a Harley and drive on out of any possible danger.

Another girl that wasn't quite so small as the first stood just behind Hell's Angel there, whose luscious blonde hair that came down to her backside and choice in thread made her look like she would rather skip girlishly to school than go monster hunting. A pretty white blouse and showy skirt with knee-high socks, dainty shoes, pink lips and ice-blue eyes, she was the spitting image of a stereotypical good girl. It hurt just to look at.

Lastly, we had a big guy. A big, big, dark-skinned man that looked like a God Arc would only hinder his ability to grab a thing and break every cell it had in its body. The guy had dreadlocks down to his jawline, a blue T-shirt with the coolest artistic shark on it he had ever seen, beige cargos that covered most of brown shit-kicker boots. The guy was probably about 6' 3", raw muscle.

The old man finally caught a glimpse of the one making these observations at the door, looking relieved. "Ah, Mr. Ilbrinte, I presume. Glad you could make it, and welcome to the Australian branch."

He turned to introduce Mr. Ilbrinte to the four he was speaking with, and in doing so brought to attention that the four of them, even the huge one, were all younger than he- and so fresh these armlets must have been clasped on to their wrists maybe yesterday. "Coarso here is one of the finest Gods Eaters the Czech branch had to offer; three years of good service and good survival in the field. He is just one of our new veterans that will be here to help you learn to wield your God Arcs to their full potential."

Coarso Ilbrinte finally stepped closer to the group, raven-dark hair in disarray and a pair of sunglasses on his face for no real reason. He was wearing an olive green, long-sleeved shirt that had patches on the elbows, some common harnessing for carrying his God Arc, black military-styled boots, fingerless gloves and a set of blue denim overalls. The straps of the overalls hung unused in favor of the separate belt and such specifically for his god arc, so they were tied and stabbed through in certain places to hold oracle needles and rations for easy access. If anyone ever asked him about that, he told them it was a stroke of genius, and nothing more.

"I'm sorry... Mr. Strinley, right? What happened to your own vets; Isn't this up to them? I mean, I know you're understaffed since you need all these transfers and all, but I'm just here to kill Aragami a few times a day." The branch Head seemed less than thrilled about that.

"I apologize for this Mr. Ilbrinte, I really do –but we lost the last two members of our assault squad on an escort mission last night. A type 1 deusphage crashed their operation, you see... The rookies were available in droves, but we need you and the other two I've got coming in tomorrow to make these four combat ready as soon as possible. My Defense squad already has their hands full with this recent deusphage problem you just heard about, and with them down a member we can't spare any of them for training purposes."

Coarso was clicking his tongue and averting his eyes, clearly agitated with the turn of events and in disregard to two people having died the night before. "Fine then. You can go do... whatever important paperwork you need to do, Director. I'll get the ball rolling with the green grass."

The Director made a face as Coarso reacted and responded as he did, but eventually turned away, deciding to let things run their course. He stopped a few steps away, however, "Don't forget your medical checkup. You did just get here, after all." The four newcomers all stood straight when Coarso turned his attention their way, lined up nicely.

"Alright, alright... I guess introductions are in order. You all heard about me just now; Coarso Ilbrinte, age nineteen, Old-Type long blader from Czech branch, though I started in the Canada branch I've been around. Let's take it from the top;"

He pointed at the Gypsy girl to start. Her voice was as underdeveloped as she was; despite the fabric skin-tight in the right places her bosom lacked the size to take advantage of that. She had a nice ass, though.

"Ariel Burroughs, age sixteen, Old-Type Assault gunner from England branch." Sixteen, what a shocker- and she didn't sound English, more American. Funny that his Esmeralda was in fact an Ariel- the red hair and the name shot her from Gypsy right into mermaid. Maybe she was a good swimmer.

Coarso stopped his thoughts from running off as the biker dude raised his voice to an unnecessary volume out of anxiety; "Clint Westwood-"

He only managed to say his name before Coarso was laughing, almost on the floor, and the black rookie was actually joining him in it. Clint sighed, holding his face in one hand, waiting for the humor to leave the moment.

"Clint Westwood. Age sixteen, Old-Type Blast gunner from American branch." Coarso mentally combed through Clint Eastwood quotes he may have to use in the future while their enormous friend took the torch passed along.

"Gerome Haitsézit. Age seventeen, Old-Type Assault gunner from India branch." That last name was a bit of a mouthful, and he almost wanted to codename the guy Tyrell and see what happened. Coarso looked over at the blonde girl now, wondering if she even knew what her equipment was called. If Clint was nervous, Mary Sue here was having a mental breakdown, stammering and fidgeting relentlessly.

"I-I'm Rika Nobugai, age s-sixteen. N-n-new-Type short-b-blade and sniper gunner from, ah... M-Mexico branch. Sir." Her nationality seemed to be lost somewhere between Mexico, Japan, America and perhaps Jupiter. Coarso took extra care in giving her chest a good, long look- she was pretty well endowed, whatever mystery continent her genetics came from.

He stepped back and took his eyes elsewhere before it became obvious he was sizing up the girls like game, choosing to move on with business. "Now, are the four of you just off the grill now, or is there any minor battle experience you have to offer? Anybody?"

Ariel raised her hand, garnering attention. "Before leaving England, I was brought along for a mission clearing out Zygotes."

The other three acted as if that was impressive. Coarso was about ready to cleave them all now and save the Aragami the trouble and snacks. He motioned for the four of them to wait a moment, walking over to the receptionist to see what hazards were available for a close-by excursion.

"He's pretty cute. I don't get the shades, though." Ariel commented in their new instructor's absence. Gerome snickered.

"He was looking at you and Rika like you were steaks he just cooked up. Not that I can blame the guy; I heard the Czech Republic branch was made up of just guys- all fourteen of 'em. The last girl to survive the tests there died early last year, I think it was." Clint was surprisingly well-informed.

Rika kept quiet as Coarso came back to them, jutting a thumb to the door. "Normally we don't let squads roam in numbers past four unless we're expecting a lot of trouble, but today's an exception since you all need to get your feet wet. We're going to go get rid of some Ogretails near the waste disposal, and a Kongou around those parts too. You can go nuts on the Ogretails so long as I'm around to bail you out if need be- but you spot the Kongou? Don't engage. That one's a watch-and-learn prop for today's course, you check-sum?"

The four of them gave him an over-enthusiastic "Yes, Sir!" followed by each moving toward the terminals to log their God Arcs as active before retrieving them. "And Ariel?"

The redhead stopped in her tracks; already something she was being singled out for?

"The shades are a personal preference. It's part of the image I like to keep."

She looked at him over her shoulder, and he was lowering the glasses in question to give her a wink and a knowing smirk. Her face turned about as red as her hair when she went to get her own equipment.

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The five Gods Eaters stood atop the elevated platform that acted as a drop point for this area, practically up against the outer walls. Their ride took off until notified that they had slain or run away from the Aragami their mission required. Ariel's gun resembled a Gatling gun of some kind, while Gerome's resembled an oversized glock and Clint had what seemed to be a big tube. Rika had a blocky-looking sniper gun, with a little rounded-off knife attached and the biggest two-toned plate possible for a shield. Coarso, on the other hand, had a black-and-gray blade that resembled the Borg Camlann variations of special long blades; thin and sleek, they were called katanas for a reason. His shield was a generic-looking kite shield, but looked reliable, useful universally for any situation. It bore a good handful of old scars where it had been repaired before; apparently the Czech branch had no way of polishing up the repairs so the equipment looked as good as new.

"Here we are, guys. Now I just want you to follow three orders right now." Coarso paused. "First of all, don't underestimate any Aragami. There were these little squirrel-sized suckers once that all swarmed up on my buddy when he ignored the first one or two he saw... Yeah. You get the picture there. Second; haul your ass out if you think things're going south for you. Hiding is a viable option too, just make sure they don't have a whiff of your scent. Take a shot if you think you've got the jump on 'em, just make sure your oracle reserves are high- you might need to shoot something a hell of a lot before it goes down. And finally, don't play tough guy and decide to take something all by your lonesome. You've got allies for a reason; use them. The hail of bullets you all make should keep any ogretail from getting close."

"Mr. Ilbrinte, that was four." Clint stated levelly.

"Yeah, I was just trying to imitate the lectures of somebody I once met back in the Far East branch. I don't teach much, but he does, so I figured his goofy tactics might ease you guys up a bit. On the other hand, I think by explaining I might've defeated the purpose of doing it that way." He slowly trailed off from the ramblings, and then finally jumped to the chase- literally.

He told the four of them to stay on guard, check their corners, pretty much all the basics that one could get from common sense. When seeing the smaller aragami for the first time –thick head armor and bristly manes, cruelly hooked and wide tails, two muscular legs with angry dewclaws, the recruits were nervous but worked together fairly well. He followed along to see how well they did when spotting and ambushing the ogretails, Arc resting on his shoulder, and only after they had eradicated what ogretails were reported to be there did he bring his blade into both hands. Taking the lead, he prowled along like a predator ready to pounce, and once the Kongou came into sight he knelt down by some heavily rusted remnants of piping.

It sat with its tail swinging idly, massive arms grasping at the meat of a fallen aragami –likely an ogretail as well –to tear it off the main source and bring it up to its fang-filled mouth. It looked like a big gorilla, stubby legs but massive upper body strength in general, with four strangely shaped, burgundy-colored attachments rising from its back that matched the plate of a mask over its face. The rest of it was a dark peach color, muscles swirling unnaturally to form an a pattern much like calligraphy over it.

"That fella look big to you?"

It had to be at least twice their height and width. Gerome shook his head. "They get a lot bigger than that, from what the director says."

"Very true. That thing, however, can slap you into a wall and break all your bones easy as the next guy. Though maybe not you, Gerome. Muscle on this guy makes me think he might bounce." He chuckled a little bit, and so did Gerome, but the other three remain attentive. He got to his feet, rolling his shoulder and walking out to approach the unsuspecting aragami while they watched him as ordered.

Coarso widened his stance, low to the ground, his long blade held as far back in preparation as he could. "Hey." A single word, drawing its attention from sitting and stuffing its face. It twisted its torso to look at the source of the sound, and in a flash of movement Coarso had leaped from the spot, flipping in midair and cutting through all four strange pipe-shaped organs attached to its back. The beast roared in surprise, craning to the side and falling on one ape-like arm, Coarso severing the aragami's tail upon landing. He swung thrice more getting clean cuts to the lower body, quickly having his Arc's maw form to snatch the severed tail off the ground. The CNS on it glowed softly, and the Kongou got its bearings at last.

It curled back an arm to attempt a punch, and when it got close Coarso intercepted at the wrist with his shield sprung, shoving the limb into the ground and crushing it there. Flipping the blade backwards and withdrawing the shield, Coarso stabbed behind him without even looking to impale the other arm incoming at the palm and slide through the flesh all the way up to the shoulder. With a hard jerk, he made it cut further and right through the masked face as the Kongou roared. He sprung his shield lightning quick to block a torrent of compressed air, thrown back a little but unharmed.

Ducking as the beast tried to engulf him in its own ample maw, Coarso darted nearly parallel to the ground with a horizontal slash through the Kongou's lower leg, and finished the fight with taking a huge, well-aimed bite out of the aragami's back. It writhed momentarily, but faltered and lay still. Coarso stabbed at it twice like a hunter harpooning a beached whale; getting no reaction, he was sure it was dead.

His audience of students gawked. Coarso grinned as he walked in front of the carcass, stabbing the tip of his arc into the ground and leaning on the pommel. "Step on up, boys and girls; showboating's over –it's quiz time."

They gathered before him, and Coarso started to see just how much potential these four had to living on the battlefield; a quick mind and gift for improvising were the best weapons he had found yet, and if any of them had such things it would need to be exploited as soon as possible.

"So what did I do first?" Like it hadn't been plain as day.

"Greeted the enemy." Ariel answered dryly.

Coarso smirked. "Do any of you think that's a tactic worth repeating yourselves?"

The four of them glanced at each other, and they all shook their heads. Coarso nodded. "Right; unless you're stupid confident like me, that's a no-go. So burying that little topic, what did you notice worth mentioning?"

"You moved like a formula racer and carved the damned thing like a turkey. It didn't stand a chance." Clint prodded the corpse with his gun barrel, uneasy as the Kongou's eye refused to shut in death. Coarso smirked again. "Well, what I mean is that you never stopped moving around it. Always through some opening or another, never letting it pin you anywhere."

Coarso snapped his fingers, nodding. "So keep moving, always keep moving, never be a sitting target. We're making good progress here... What else?"

"I-I've never heard of a Gods Eater attacking with their shield before." Rika only stumbled on her words once, looking a little less skittish now that they were sure the area was clear. Coarso again nodded that was something worth note.

"Right you are. I used what I had given the situation, even if that wasn't what it was for; what would you say that's an example of?"

"Improvising?" Ariel suggested, getting another finger snap. He gestured for the newbies to keep thinking about the short-lived battle, and Gerome finally said something.

"This wouldn't apply to us gunners, but you used your Arc to devour the tail you cut off. Usually Gods Eaters take a bite out of the enemy itself, not something they knocked off it before." Rika jumped like she was hit with lightning when he put it that way. Coarso withdrew his God Arc from the ground and rested it over his shoulder once more.

"Definitely something our blonde comrade should keep in the back of her mind, being non-confrontational as she is. Now, lastly, I'll give you my favorite tip that's saved me more times than I care to count, so listen up. This isn't something you learn watching someone else fight; this is what you catch on to yourself." The four of them started to follow Coarso as he headed to the LZ for their transportation, still talking.

"Aragami aren't like people. While we try to hide our intentions, they have tells for any given action they take, and like playing a bunch of amateurs in poker they're easy to spot when you look for 'em. Despite wrecking the pipe organs on that monkey it still used them on me, when I least expected it. Only way I could tell was from the way it tilted its head back; normally they raise up their arms first and bring them back down, but I trashed the arms so it could only look up and roar."

Coarso set up a signal flare, turning to face his flock. "Long story short, a human's best defense and greatest weapon is not the God Arc, but his or her _intuition._ We predicted weather to escape floods and tornadoes. We predicted criminal behaviour to prevent casualties. Now, we need to predict Aragami behaviour to stay alive out here. Would you say that's a tactic worth repeating yourselves?"

He got another enthusiastic, "Yes, Sir!" as their ride touched down. Maybe these kids would live to see a brighter future after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Introductions**

Coarso peered down at the pass in his hands. It was a white card with a black stripe near the bottom, the Fenrir logo stamped on of course, with some codes and his name printed across it. Standing in the midnight blue Director's office, it took him a few minutes to comprehend just what he was being told.

"So... We're leaving planet Earth, then? This is a ticket off this poor little rock we call home." Thorold nodded, hands folded on the mahogany desk made up of salvaged wood brought in by probably half a dozen Gods Eaters.

"Okay, then why the _fuck_ have I been putting your freshies through hoops since yesterday?"

"The time for launch is fast approaching, yes, but that doesn't mean the aragami will ignore us until then. There is no room for error, and I was at three Eaters in total until yesterday. It's a godsend that the last two came in today; one of them have volunteered to take your place as the recruits' guardian, so rest assured you won't need to 'put them through hoops' any longer." Mr. Strinley had shown that Coarso's personality was not welcome near him, but the two butted heads a handful of times more already. Thorold wasn't entirely sure just why Coarso was on the list of people selected for the Ark Project, but as the transfers he filed for were all mentioned on Von Schicksal's register there could be no mistake.

Coarso enclosed the pass in his hand, adjusting his shades with the other. "Good on the Ruski... Alright, I'm definitely on board if it means no more aragami. Anything else you want to mention, Boss man?"

His adamant refusal to call him by name or proper title and merely 'Boss man' was almost as vexing as Raymond's accent. "Your results from the physical yesterday have come back, and the Doctor would like to have a word. That is all." He got a half-assed salute as the Gods Eater exited the office. It was the highlight of Thorold's day so far, even compared to the Russian Eaters having made it here, and speaking of which the two passed by Coarso as the door opened with perfect timing. They stood with discipline and respect that the Czech member lacked, bringing a smile to his old face.

Both the Gods Eaters had brown hair, one girl and one boy, both age eighteen. The male's was cut short and kept neat, wearing thick single-toned clothes of a light grey color. His hood was down, belts over the shoulders joined together by ones at the chest and waist of a brown hue, and his boots were tied tightly. With cloudy blue eyes, you could lose sight of the shorter fellow despite his fair musculature so long as he pressed against solid concrete or fell in the ash-tainted snow.

The female had long, straight hair that reached the small of her back where it was tied with a blue ribbon. Her eyes were a little brighter than the man's, a scar running just next to her pointed nose that stopped just above her eye and before meeting her lip. Her own attire resembled the mans, but her coat stopped at the midsection where a lighter fabric of an undershirt carried from there, and her lower body had stockings disappearing in a skirt slit up one side and starting just above the knees. More slender than toned like the other, but half a head taller than him, she could have easily been a model even with the scar on her face were these different times they lived in. Both had Fenrir emblems on their backs, and gave a salute with meaning.

"Lieutenants Ambrose and Lana Veschev, reporting." The brother of the two had spoken.

Thorold held out one of his hands to each of them, receiving a firm shake from both at once. "Well met, Lieutenants. As you have just arrived you must attend routine physical exams and medical checkups, but you are scheduled for those at 1300 hours. For now, acquaint yourselves with the branch and your allies; this is the first time in weeks that the defense squad has been able to rest here, and the recruits would like to meet their new instructor. The volunteer was Lana, yes?"

"Correct, Sir." She had returned to a stiff and respectful posture. It appeared the Russian Branch had been militaristic in their training, he was glad. Ambrose cut in;

"Might I ask who that was leaving just now? He seemed... less than polite."

Thorold's happy disposition fell away slightly when even the subject was brought back in. "Coarso Ilbrinte. He arrived yesterday from the Czech Republic Branch; Lana will be overtaking his role for the recruits, as short as his influence was it appeared to be a good one; they returned from their first mission yesterday brimming with confidence, but also a healthy understanding of the risks of their duties."

"As much as his demeanor could use work, his combat skill is praised highly by the Czech Branch; they only let him go because he requested any transfer he could get. From what I've read his records both with a squad and solo are exemplary... but enough about him. These are yours to do with as you will; boarding is not obligatory, merely a personal choice."

Thorold slid two more passes across the desk to the Russians, the two of them acquiring and examining them. After a moment, Thorold explained; "We have been working alongside the Far East Branch's Director in a certain plan... the Ark Project is a last resort against the coming Devouring Apocalypse, which the Director assures us he has found evidence of. We have a matter of days before he believes it will be taking place, and those passes will allow you to board the shuttle we have prepared to evacuate this Branch into space."

The two were clearly taken by surprise, and Thorold gave them a minute to adjust and maybe ask questions. They both set the passes into one of their own pockets, no questions asked. "Which means you have a matter of days to decide. Until then, defending the Branch from aragami is still an important task, one that we cannot fail when salvation is so close at hand. You are both dismissed for now." They saluted again, leaving the Director to his thoughts.

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"Hell-o-o-o nurse." Coarso stepped into the medical bay, seeing the Doctor sitting at a white stool near one of the sick beds. She was noting something on a clipboard much like Thorold's that you never saw him without unless in his office, and once he made himself known the corner of her mouth hooked upward. She knew she was pretty, but few people in the branch had the courage to put it into words however simple, so Coarso was at least entertaining with his little quips.

Doctor Melanie Greenwood was shaped like no other woman Coarso had ever seen; hourglass figure was nearly literal when it came to her, though not unusually so, and her face was symmetrical down to the sharp gaze in both of her jade green eyes. Her hair was done up in an elegant knot at the back with a pencil, a pale pinkish color that offset the vibrancy of her lips. He had found a magazine in the field once called Victoria's Secret showcasing women's lingerie; if they had still been producing it now, he was fairly certain it would be called Melanie's Secret so long as they could have gotten their hands on her to wear such things. The thought became a reality in his head, and Coarso felt the sudden need to sit down while they conversed.

"I heard there was something off about my physical. I know it's hard to believe, but yes, it's that big –"

Melanie chuckled but gestured for Coarso to stop. "It's nothing major right now, but we need to run through some questions anyway. Feeling any discomfort with your armlet?"

"It chafes like a son of a bitch, but that's been the same since it was grafted to my body. What else?"

"Unusual feelings in your hand or arm near there?"

"I'd tell you where I've got unusual feelings, but that'd be a little forward. Next."

"Shortness of breath, weak in the knees, nausea?"

"When I walked in and saw you. You're making this too easy." They both shared a small laugh, but he cut the jokes from there on. Once they were through, she paused to write something else down.

"Alright, there were some unexpected statistics regarding your bias factor; by the looks of it, it's nothing serious right now, but you need to stay aware of your condition. If any of those signs start to pop up, in your room, on a mission, I want you to drop everything and come see me."

"Drop everything to see you? You make it sound like that would be hard." She gave him a hard look; not knowing if he really would retreat given he was fighting the aragami. Unwilling to call him out on it any further, she just moved on.

"Go see Raymond and Johnny; they need to adjust your armlet. It won't take more than five minutes; they just have to make the output a little higher. Think of it like raising the dosage of medicine for a patient." That made it sound like he were sick, which might breed worry, but Melanie usually gave analogies like that.

Coarso took his leave with a smile and wave, planning to hit the elevator when he met the two Russians coming down the hallway. He checked out the girl on his way by, and her male counterpart caught him by the arm.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't look at my _sister_ that way, Mr. Ilbrinte." He was civil in voice, but his grip said otherwise.

"Your sister shouldn't've grown into someone I could _appreciate_, then... Mr. Ruski." The man gritted his teeth with each word. His grip tightened. Coarso's free hand made a fist.

The brunette stepped in, taking her brother's arm and gently urging him to be the better one. He let go, and as they went on their way she stopped in her tracks to turn around and sucker punch Coarso in the jaw. He caught himself on the wall with one hand, face angled down for a moment before holding them both in his sight again.

"This is Ambrose Veschev –not 'Mr. Ruski'. And I am Lana... Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Coarso rubbed his jaw a little bit, spitting a tooth into his hand. He expressed some surprise to see it. "Not bad."

Lana took that as her win and walked away with her head held high, her brother contentedly following suit. Coarso re-entered the medical bay telling Melanie that he mysteriously got socked in the face by a new transfer and requested an oral check; when he made clear that he expected her to orally check she sent him away, and he filed for dental coverage to be taken out of 'Lana Veschev's' Fenrir credit account. Since he got the security camera's take on the scenario, he would later receive an angry message in the mail on his terminal from said individual calling him many things that he would not refute.

For now, he simply visited the maintenance area that seemed immensely spacious compared to other branches; if he hadn't had the conversation with Strinley prior he would be wondering what all of this temporary equipment was here for rather than the normal variety.

"Raymond Dockert and, ah... Johnny Vilnocs?"

"Who the feck's callin' on mih fer?" Coarso stifled his laughter as the relatively gaunt and middle-aged man came around from behind a God arc docking station; what must have been the last of them, as only those actively used by this Branch's members were left down here. The man had eyes squinted just enough to obscure what color they may have been, and that stringy appearance where you could tell he could ruin a man if he were mad despite being small at first glance. His hairline was receding and mostly gray, his cheeks were sunken and stubble dominated the skin up to his nose. He had a handkerchief tied around his neck, stood slightly hunched with his hands behind his back, and wore a button-up blue shirt and dark gray slacks.

The boy that followed out just after him must have been around twelve or thirteen years old; beaming happily, his hair might have been an orange hue but most of that was lost in the oil and grease slicking it back, the same being smeared all over the rest of him. He was wearing a mechanic's jumpsuit, but it also had a lot of small things attached to the cuffs and near the long zipper, sort of like Clint's bandana but a wider array of tiny objects. His eyes were a brown color like staring into a mug of coffee, and his teeth were a little crooked.

"Melanie sent me over. Said someone needs to adjust the output on my armlet." Coarso assumed that the older one was calling the shots, and would like the short and sweet of it. The little one grabbed him by the armlet when he said this and led him to a table where various tools were.

"Have a seat. I'll need you to hold still while I work." The kid entered a mature-looking stance of concentration; his tongue stuck out to one side and his leg hovered slightly behind him as he leaned over the object and fiddled with it. The boy swapped tools occasionally while Coarso's free hand was shaken roughly by the older one. "I'm Ray, Lead Supervisor 'n Researcher. The tyke is Johnny, the Mechanic."

"Coarso Ilbrinte. Czech Republic's transferee." Raymond nodded using his waist as the pivot point, Johnny still focused but giving an acknowledging grunt. Coarso watched the child go at his lifeline of sorts. "Not to be a dick or anything, but you're kinda young for this."

Raymond spoke as Johnny was unable; "Resident Mechanic's actually the boy's father Mike, but we found out 'e was a possible match an' made 'im part'a the Defense Unit. Johnny picked up 'is dad's skills 'n fills the role when Mike is out killin' the feckin' aragami, but now he's been hired on full-time."

Coarso nodded, still mentally chuckling as his I's were pronounced 'oy' and Raymond went on. "Yer gonna be on the Assault team, ah? Heard the Russian girl's gonna lead unless somebody shows 'er up. Not that it matters when we'll be astronauts come next week."

"She decked me for calling her brother a Ruski. I charged the lost tooth to her account." Raymond wheezed and hacked what could have been laughter, slapping one of his knees from the small story.

"Yer a right asshole, ain't yeh?"

"I try." Johnny stepped away from Coarso allowing him to look at the armlet. From the outside, nothing had changed. They bade each other farewell as Coarso left the two to their own devices, his own business taken care of. After the encounter, Coarso wondered if the Director knew for a fact that Ray's accent was Irish or it was just what he assumed, as sometimes it just seemed to be a speech impediment of unknown origin. Maybe it came from close to Rika's home planet... though lack of a stutter suggested otherwise.

Coarso activated the elevator and moved up to the central floor, thinking he might go out and slaughter something for the hell of it. The clerk sat straight, speaking on her headset in an urgent tone, and three others were gathered at the desk in front of her.

As there were two women and a man, assuming this was the defense force it put the Australian Branch's Gods Eater gender ratio at five for five. The girl up front had her hair drawn back in a tight ponytail, a lighter brown than the dull the Russians had, and her features were attractive but a little masculine. She wore a red sleeveless jacket and some kind of white tube top underneath, her lower body a set of denim cut-off shorts stopping at the knees and short boots. The woman's eyes had an ominous red and presence of authority, as did her voice.

The man behind her looked younger by a bit, wearing a white toque obscuring his hair but not thick black eyebrows over green eyes. He had a beige hooded sweatshirt with a central pocket and black lines lined up horizontally on it, dark gloves meshed casually behind his head. A loose belt kept oversized black cargos attached, and his shoes were akin to sneakers. His expression said he was unhappy with just hearing the receptionist and/or the brunette talking.

The last girl was a black-haired girl who was sort of plain. Her hair was done up like the brunette's, though her bangs were left uninvolved to hang in the way of green eyes and high cheekbones. Her blue jacket had sleeves and matched the executive section's dark velvety blue, her undershirt a lighter shade of it and strapped over the shoulder, halting just above her navel. She was wearing black pants that were skin tight like the ones used in yoga, stopping just below the knee showing basic blue shoes and socks.

Coarso descended the steps while listening to the receptionist finally drop the comm. line to talk to the brunette; "Yes, I know Jolene, you guys have been at it non-stop. But the new recruits are still just that; new recruits. The new Russian Gods Eaters just got here, and the Czech guy was called to the medical bay..."

"I already got that taken care of. What's going on?" Coarso stepped up next to the brunette, seeing a wave of relief wash over her quite noticeably.

"The Type 1 Deusphage that got Alex and Miranda has been knocking on all our doors; my squad's been pushing it back over and over the last few days but it just keeps coming back –we can't kill the stupid thing... son of a bitch ate Darion last week. We're running ragged here." Coarso nodded. Type 1's were aragami with a taste for Gods Eaters and their Arcs, so it made sense that it kept creeping up on the Fenrir Branch and the outlying areas attached.

"What are we looking at?"

"Susano'o." Coarso rubbed his chin.

"Could be worse –Tsukuyomis are fucking terrible. Do we have a life span on it? Any oddities?" The girl with the blue jacket cut in.

"We think it's at least got a year on it. The God Arc jaws on its arms are constantly enlarged." Coarso grimaced.

The clerk referred to her headset again, followed by looking back to the four of them. "The Susano'o is approaching the south-western wall from the hills. We need it intercepted very soon, or it may attempt climbing into the outer ghettos."

Jolene and her two Defense members looked at Coarso in hopes that he would help from what he gathered. He shrugged. "I was going to slice and dice something out there. Might as well be a fully-developed, angry Deusphage."

"Your transport is ready at gate 2. Good luck out there, guys." The four of them dispersed to the terminals, requesting what gear they might need.

.

.

.

The four of them convened at the APC, as Cocoon Maidens had been reported in the area and dissuaded any air activity. Each climbed inside, given an ETA of twenty minutes or so. Coarso laid the old-type katana blade over his knees, browsing the selections his allies made.

The brunette Jolene carried a square-ish shield of his size but an enormous buster blade part that resembled a black and red hack saw. The boy sat polishing a blast gun that was orange, cylindrical and had an eye shape painted over the front of it, while the other female was carrying a sniper gun resembling a cannon, color scheme matching Jolene's blade aside from some yellow flame-like decal.

"Long blader, huh?" Jolene spoke up. "It's kinda thin. Haven't seen one quite like it."

The boy looked up from his own equipment, seeing the others in the vehicle for the first time. He regarded Coarso's blade now with interest. "It looks like the special ones they make out of Borg Camlann."

Coarso nodded. "That was the base of it. I mixed together some head cells off a Zeus, Tezcatlipoca treads and Ouroboros' horns to get the black sheen and some serious light-weight sharpness. 'Stalker' here has been my primary weapon for two years." He leered down at the weapon with satisfaction.

Jolene blinked a few times. "I fought a Tezcat once. I've heard about Ouroboros, but not Zeus."

"It's a Type 2 Deusphage, cannibalistic. Looks like a black Aether with purple highlights; acts roughly the same." The boy whistled.

"Nice to hear you've been in thick before; we were all hoping for someone with experience in the transfers. Oh! You probably don't know us yet. I'm Mike Derse. Our captain here is Jolene McCartney, and the sniper is Lorrie Singer."

"Coarso Ilbrinte." He paused, and then looked to Mike. "If I did the math, aren't you Johnny's dad?"

The girls both had a laugh at the proclamation, though Mike was nodding. "I get that a lot. I adopted him, sort of, so everyone refers to me as his father."

The chatted idly for a few minutes, but soon they were getting the heads-up from their driver that they would be arriving soon. Jolene gripped her God Arc in both hands, planning to be the first out of the APC. "Hope you're ready for a real pain in the ass, Coarso. This thing's no walk in the park."

Each of the four steeled themselves for an arduous battle, and filed out the back once the hatch was dropped.


	3. Chapter 3

**Deusphage**

The Writhing Hills as they were so lovingly called were an interesting place; the terrain was almost entirely built out of billions of black tendrils overgrowing one another like a carpet of oily vines. The ground was difficult to remain properly footed on, as the tentacles were all varying sizes and no two square feet of the place were evenly leveled. The vast cover of this alien landscape had spread to a point where it had climbed over top of the remnants of buildings, the bulges making several spots where the terrain suddenly hiked up and a wink of glass or concrete could be seen at the sides. Some of these tentacles curled up around what may have been street signs, telephone poles, and phone booths to make stalagmites of interwoven darkness. Essentially, it was like walking on top of a giant grave, the once prosperous and lively home to thousands of human beings now lying at least six feet below.

The three defense members had fought a good number of times out here before; apparently it was once called Sydney, and a chunk of the city overlooked the ocean. Now it was just a wriggling mass of aragami meat, half of which had spilled into that ocean and discolored the water for miles; '_try finding Nemo in this mess'_, Coarso morbidly thought, remembering a motion picture salvaged and loaded into the Fenrir terminals.

This was one of their prime locations for fighting aragami near the Australia branch, as most aragami stood out from all the black for scouts and surveillance to catch sight of before they got too close to the outer walls. Furthermore the Branch and city itself were a coastal location of a sort, only having a few miles between it and the immensely steep cliff side behind it; aragami could only approach from so many directions unless they could keep up a prolonged flight, and aside from the occasional Aether these types were fairly weak – if approaching from beyond the cliffs, they could simply be sniped until they fell to their deaths, and the number of gun-wielding Gods Eaters was high enough now with the new recruits to deal with just about any. The cliff had a massive docking elevator on it that could carry a third to maybe half the population they had here, and was kept in good condition as an escape route given the city and Branch are overrun.

Coarso allowed Jolene the forward position, since she knew the area and their enemy better than he. Her ponytail bobbed up and down as she walked; surprisingly her legs were kept pretty close together where most Gods Eaters with a buster blade spread themselves out to counterbalance the weight they carried. Frankly, Coarso couldn't understand why a pretty decent number of female Gods Eaters had clothes reinforced with bias factor that covered, say, a fifth of their body. He chose not to complain, Jolene currently being the best thing he had to look at since he got here –the other women were good looking, yes, but very little beat a nice pair of smooth, toned legs out in the open.

Coarso consciously willed himself to focus on their imminent danger, knowing if Jolene were knocked back or away early on in the fight his shield would be needed to cover their gunners. He was guarding the rear at the moment, but once they found the beast closest would move to engage while the other re-positioned to cover the ranged attackers. Mike looked perfectly calm, albeit looking a little less wary than he probably was, while Lorrie was rather nervous but held her weapon impressively steady.

They came close to circling the rest of the way around a mound of dark flesh, one that could have been covering the remains of a garage or other low structure with a wide roof when Jolene held up one hand in a tight fist, signaling the three behind her to halt. She only allowed a shred of her face to be seen as she peered around the living wall, almost touching it but not quite. She must have seen their target by the way she went yet more rigid, the sound of heavy footfalls within fairly close proximity suggesting this further.

The defense leader turned to face them, making some more hand gestures. It appeared the aragami was the one they wanted, and was moving away from their position. She meant to sneak up behind it, and gave them a three-finger countdown before they would all round the bend and begin to follow; when that was up, they all moved as swiftly as possible while making no noise, but Jolene was startled to see the creature was gone; the footfalls they were hearing couldn't have stopped more than a few seconds before they went to move. Single file, eyes open, they closed in on where she last saw it.

Jolene was sweating visibly from the glisten at her neck, Mike and Lorrie having gotten further into extremes of tranquillity and anxiety respectively. Coarso listened for any cues; keeping his attention behind them in case it had somehow snuck around... he heard a muffled sound of tentacles shifting from above them in a way that was forced.

He reacted judging on the origin point of the sound rather than looking up; not even half a second to waste here. Coarso sprung his shield and rammed it into Lorrie's back, shoving her into Mike and tossing them both next to Jolene. An enormous, coal-gray, elongated snout descended upon where they had just been, biting deep into the wriggling floor and tearing a large number of the tentacles up to stretch and finally snap. The parts that let go made waves along the rest of their lengths on either side, throwing Mike and Lorrie into further disarray and Jolene to one knee to right herself. Coarso jumped over the ripple of motion, seeing the Susano'o's other jaw-like hand diving down at him now being the closest.

The thing had four legs, walking almost like half a spider where its torso and arms with mouth-like organs attached sprouted from atop this. The tail coiled up from behind it between the back legs, rising above its head with what looked like a double-edged sword acting as a stinger. The chest cracked open where its real mouth actually was, glowing like the inside of its hands.

The orchid-colored light emanating from the cracks in the creature's body, the insides of the mouth attacking him, the edges of the massive blade tipping the overhead tail and mane of sorts on its back were all blinding. As the teeth darted down to snatch him up Coarso was still in the height of his jump prior, and with a quick mid-air slash to the corner of the mouth he hit hard enough to swing himself aside, just out of the gates of hell closing dangerously beside him. The move had saved his life but thrown him into the wall on his right, jarring him slightly. He landed on his feet with a little stumbling, the maw that nearly engulfed him simply opening up just as fast to launch dozens of orbs of light from the depths of it, all bursting into pillars of searing energy when they hit the ground. They pushed him further into the wall, but with some effort he sidled along the obscure surface until he was free of the dangerous radius.

Mike had gotten up and started firing, Lorrie next to him being watched over by Jolene with her shield ready. He shot beamlike projectiles carrying radial emissions of oracle energy along them, aiming for the tip of the tail high above and causing blisters to form where the bullets struck and passed through like ghosts. The more of these that hit home, the more it seemed to melt away the area as the blisters popped and the tail oozed. It screeched rearing up on its hind legs, conquering the sound of gunfire with its vocals and clambering down to their level, intending to disembowel the one shooting at it. Holding its hands up and in front of it to shield itself, it ran blindly at them, not seeing Jolene holding her blade behind her head and gathering oracle energy along it.

When it got close enough in its wild charge Jolene swung down, serrated edge of her saw blade biting deep into the flesh of the hands being used for shielding. Much weaker to this than the bullets causing irritation on these parts, the aragami stopped and whined, rearing back from the punishing blow. Mike missed a shot taken at the tail again, but righted his aim and continued blasting away, the dangerous edges of the weapon high above melting away. Lorrie had gotten into a crouch, moving to Jolene's right and firing her own lasers toward the now-open torso area. Unlike Mike's shots, hers went straight through while piercing a perfect path through the flesh, thin but much more painful-looking.

Another roar and the Susano'o started driving the wounded blade above it into the ground before them, waves of energy flying from the points of impact at the center, left and right. Jolene blocked, the energy swirling around and past her with significantly little harm, Lorrie escaping with a deft roll. Mike had been recovering from the recoil of his last shot, his clothes burning through and his skin charring before he was thrown back by the force of the wave. Though the injury looked severe, he got up quickly to find cover, recovery needle in his now free hand and his teeth clenched from the pain.

It lowered its stance, tilting to the side to spin in a circle with its tail held low to the ground. Mike jumped just fast enough to dodge the tip, crouching behind a small stalagmite. Lorrie cleared it as well, but her foot caught on the girth of the tail as it passed below her, flipping her end over end flat on her back on the ground. Jolene went prone, ducking beneath the dangerous limb and scrambling to her feet as Coarso slipped back into the fight. He snuck in between the creature's legs, throwing himself around with his long blade with a momentum that dragged him behind the weapon and sent powerful cuts through the inner joints of each leg.

It stomped around trying to get him out from beneath it or better yet crush him, but he rammed the tip of Stalker up through the upper leg of the back right, flipping upside-down with his grip held firm, one leg thrown around the limb and his other pinned against the underside. Coarso rode along under the Susano'o like this, agitating it as well as wrenching the stab wound around to inflict more pain.

Jolene used the distraction Coarso provided as a chance to help Lorrie out of her daze; she had struck her head hard on the ground. Directing her to a good position to shoot from, she was already getting another charge crush ready behind the monster. Mike returned to battle with a roll out of his hiding place and a quick shot that was sure to hit the mark; this one fired an orb into the air that hovered and shot more bullets for him, three small projectiles homing in on the tail and exploding in a dazzling light upon contact. The softened bladed end blew apart in chunks, becoming much shorter and losing most of the cutting power it had in the edges. While the Susano'o flailed in agony at this, Mike smirked as he helped himself to another oracle ampule, bringing his energy reserves back up from the costly bullet.

Coarso tore his blade through the leg muscles and out the side of the Susano'o's leg, dropping to the ground for a somersault away as the aragami fell. Legs violently attempting to get back to a stand, Jolene brought down her tremendous blade that demolished the leftmost arm, dividing it down the middle through the upper jaw and rendering it useless. Lorrie relentlessly filled the torso with holes, Mike having gotten close to let loose on the other hand like a flamethrower while Coarso and Jolene both got themselves a bite to eat, achieving burst status.

Struggling to a stand, the Susano'o smacked Mike aside and made a break for one of the taller hills, digging its good hand and clawed feet into the side to climb the steep surface. Lorrie fired and fired, worried about Mike but unwilling to let the creature go. Jolene ran to the man's side, quickly checking on his condition and finding he had a broken arm but he was stable. Knowing they couldn't give chase up that way, she planned to try to go around the overgrown building in hopes of cutting it off.

She spotted Coarso, however, proving her wrong. He was insanely fast, faster than she had ever seen a person move before, and had already nearly caught up to the aragami trying to flee. He was using an elongated shard blasted from the creature's tail blade to stab into the mass of tendrils the Susano'o was currently climbing, pulling himself up with one arm and hastily-managed footholds. Once he jumped forward and dug into its lower foot, he retrieved a snaring trap from his pocket and slapped it against the aragami, causing it to seize up and start losing its grip on the nearly-vertical wall.

It was resisting enough to cling still, and when it appeared it may stay long enough to shake the effects Mike managed to raise his gun in one arm and fire a paralytic bullet, sending the beast over the edge and forcing it to let go. It plummeted onto its tail, breaking it at odd angles, Coarso having let go and sliding down a tentacle to land on its better hand. He stabbed it through, impaling the still operative weapon to the ground and sealing it shut until someone could finish the job; Jolene merrily obliged with another powerful charge crush to the head, shattering the cell bindings and destroying the last mouth it had. The Susano'o sputtered and growled for a moment, but after all of that finally died.

Coarso let Jolene extract the core, surprisingly intact and a rare one to boot, while he lapped up the leftovers with his own Arc. Lorrie assisted Mike, putting his arm into a splint.

"It's been a long week, but this sucker's finally dead. Thanks for the assist, Coarso."

The raven-haired Eater gave them a thumbs-up, nudging the corpse with his boot. Jolene rested her buster blade over her shoulder; glad that they had at long last avenged three of their fallen comrades today... and there would have been one, maybe two more if not for Coarso's presence during this operation. She turned and approached him to address that fact more directly. "I mean it, Coarso. You saved two of my team members from dying today... We couldn't have done it without you."

Mike and Lorrie both showed their gratitude for that little act as well, now that it had been reminded to them. "You guys're okay. If you're ever down an Arc, I could fill the role no problem. Well, if I'm around."

In truth, he was impressed that Jolene had come out unscathed; even Coarso had gotten scraped and banged up a little bit, though it was all close to nothing. Jolene had dodged and blocked beautifully, only her clothes slightly singed at the corners from the sweeping discharge she defended against. It was unfortunate that his team was going to be the Ruskies and one of the new kids more likely than not.

Mike winced as Lorrie finished, apologizing for the last discomfort she put him through while they joined their bladed members. He showed no difficulty in carrying his blast gun in one hand. "What was the Czech branch thinking when they let you go? Never have I seen an aragami try so hard to shake someone loose and fail."

Coarso shrugged, following Jolene back toward the pickup point. "They didn't have much choice. I requested it so many times they probably got fed up and threw me a bone."

"You wanted to leave the Czech Branch? Why?" Lorrie actively joined conversation now that the mission had come to a close.

Coarso paused when she asked. "... a number of different reasons. Nothing really changes there."

Jolene signaled for them to stop, and they did –just because they vanquished their target made it no less dangerous outside the anti-aragami walls. When she turned to them, she spoke rather than gestured like with the Susano'o, though she was whispering. "A handful of the Cocoon Maidens reported to be here. I'm seeing four of them, but I can't see past some of the bumps and hills near them. There could be more."

Coarso slid a hand over the flat of the Stalker, eagerness in his voice. "Have Lorrie and Mike draw their fire with some of their own; I can check the blind spots in no time."

Jolene considered this, nodding after a moment. "Okay. Just in and out, though." He nodded with a smirk on his face. Mike and Lorrie started to shoot at the three furthest away that they could see on Jolene's order.

"I'll clap with my shield when I want your attention; look my way and I'll show you how many there may be." He sprinted off at wicked speeds once again, and Mike retained a confused expression. Clap with his shield?

Within moments Mike's and Lorrie's combined efforts had brought down one of the stationary creatures; jutting out of the ground, no limbs to speak of and filled with spikes under their outer shells, they lived up to their name. It had hardly been thirty seconds before a loud, repetitious clatter of metal banging resonated from one of the hills Jolene hadn't been able to see past, Coarso standing on top of it. He was deploying and returning his shield to normal without fully locking the mechanism, making it so the two halves just slapped against one another over and over until he could see she was looking his way. He held up two fingers and pointed ahead of the hill he was on, then one finger and pointed behind the other she had taken note of. Rather than coming back, he jumped down and started hacking at the two he just alerted her to, by the sounds of it. She frowned.

Two more of the Cocoon Maidens had fallen, Lorrie taking an O-ampule like Mike had before. Jolene began an advance, rending the flesh in the fourth in the open while directing the gunners to the one Coarso spotted. She brought herself over to where Coarso had left her sight, finding him devouring the cores of two dead opponents, like he said there were.

By the time Jolene had made sure there were no more of the aragami and started to ream out Coarso, mike and Lorrie were back from killing the straggler. "What did I say just before you left?"

"Just in and out."

"And what did you do?"

"Stab my Arc 'just in and out' of aragami?" Coarso japed.

"That isn't what I meant when I said 'in and out'." Amusement was the furthest thing from her.

"I can tell you what I mean by 'in and out'. It's not that hard to grasp, either." Coarso was grinning ear to ear. Jolene and Lorrie looked horror-struck. Mike was on the ground, rolling and laughing.

Jolene gestured for Lorrie to take Mike and go to the APC. Lorrie got Mike under control, and she chided him with a low tone while she led him in the direction of the transport. Coarso gave Jolene an expression that seemed less than impressed, knowing she wanted a word with him. "That sort of behaviour is –"

"Sexual harassment, as well as insubordination and acting without given orders from a superior, are all unacceptable within Fenrir. These actions are punishable by docking of credits, rations, or suspension from duties... I know. And honestly, I couldn't care less. I like women, and I like doing things my way. If I die, that's on my head –quite literally. So do whatever you want; write me up, cut my hard-earned pay, suck the Director's cock and get a hero cookie –just don't expect me to do something just because you said so."

Jolene was at a loss; being the leader of a unit was one thing, but every person she had led or fought alongside followed Fenrir's rules without question, because it seemed that was the only way to survive. He carried on before she could conclude how she should respond;

"By all means, I'm not expecting you to like me. Fact is, the more you hate me the less you'll miss me when I'm gone. I get to act freely; you get an emotional buffer zone and an expendable, supremely talented pawn. Win-win, right? Yeah, I know."

She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up close, anger flaring. "If you think I`ll treat you as expendable because you're an asshole, then you're also an idiot. You can keep dicking around so long as you know I won't put up with it –punished the best way that I can. Is that clear?"

Coarso smiled. "Glad we're on the same page, Ms. McCartney."

She let him go, and they walked side-by side like nothing had happened for a while. "By the way, You oughta get a smaller pair of shorts. Those ones are too long for me to –"

With a tilt of the weapon on her shoulder, Jolene conked Coarso in the head with the back of her buster blade hard enough to knock him down onto his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Occupation**

Coarso stepped off the elevator, in the lead of the other three Gods Eaters upon re-entering Fenrir. He glanced back, trying to wrap up his idle conversation with Mike whom he had made a friend out of, when he heard someone either stomping up the stairs or practicing to join a marching band. Catching sight of Lana, rumbling away from her four recruits and having him locked in her sights, knew she had gotten the notification of his charge to her account. In that split second his conclusion that he should run away from the woman could be seen in his eyes, and she picked up speed to give chase as he made a break for the opposite staircase.

The defense members watched on with mildly entertained smiles and laughter, the recruits confused. Coarso and Lana ran laps around the area, and he even jumped up at the center or vaulted the desk to hide behind the clerk momentarily as the pursuit continued. All the while she was shouting after him; "You disrespectful, obscene, colossal son of a bitch! Charging me for the tooth? _Really?!_ Can you get any lower?!"

While Coarso would snidely remark; "I'd go down on you in a heartbeat, honey –If there's lower than that, you can expect me to find it for you."

There was a bit more of these antics between the two until Ambrose arrived, calling for Lana's attention. Coarso took the opportunity to lay down on a nearby seat while the Russian siblings discussed a mission ordered by the director for a Fallen Chi-You; a humanoid aragami with large arms that acted like wings, a mask, and smaller arms pinned to its torso. The Fallen species was black and white, and was known to generate electricity to attack.

"Are any of the recruits ready for such a mission, given both you and I are there?"

Lana thought, then drew Rika over into the conversation. "Rika's equipment has had the highest modifications out of the recruits right now. Her gear should be ready for it, but... Do you think you are ready as a Gods Eater?"

She turned the question partway to Rika herself, and the girl looked positively lost in the headlights. She stuttered for a full three seconds, paused, and then carried on; "I am p-prepared to face a l-larger aragami, Lana. I-If you need me to, that is."

Lana nodded to her. Ambrose then turned to look at Coarso. "You did just return from a mission, but would you like to accompany us on this one? We should get acquainted with working together."

Coarso glanced at Lana, who looked repulsed by the idea. Ambrose was merely doing his job, but even he didn't look comfortable with it. "Think I'll pass. Nobugai's pretty apprehensive, so make sure you stick close."

Rika, unlike the other two, looked absolutely crushed that Coarso chose to stay behind. She made a face like she wanted to say he should change his mind, but repressed the words and turned to walk like a depressed slave toward the stairs. She jumped and nearly yelped when Coarso suddenly had an arm across her shoulders, leading her up the steps. "Alright, I'm still not on board with you, but lemme show ya something neat before you go. C'mon, C'mon–"

Lana followed closely behind them to make sure Coarso's 'something neat' weren't something vulgar. Having brought her to the terminals, he browsed through her database for her until he reached the bullet editing program. She expressed wonder and a lack of understanding for it, and strangely Coarso put together a bullet for her. Lana was just as lost as she was, but unlike the rookie was more confused by the fact that he was familiar with something he couldn't use.

"So you can pop out three or four of these babies from full energy, and it shoots four beams all following each other in a stream, hence the name. It doesn't home in on the target, so you gotta aim carefully, and it's nothin' pretty to look at... but it hurts something fierce. If he's too jumpy, snag him in one of these;" Coarso fished a snare trap out of his pocket, putting it in her hand. He made sure she knew how to use it before he continued.

"So just give it a shot. Pun intended. 'course, this doesn't make you invincible or anything... Make sure you go for the head and the little arms, use blaze shots, and make sure Lana or Ambrose are between you and the aragami at any given time. You'll do just fine... Next you and me go a-hunting, I'm expecting to see a new bullet or two from you. Check-sum?"

"Yes, sir!" He watched her gleefully leave to claim her god Arc, loaded with his custom stream bullet, and caught Lana watching over the transaction.

"You're as good to them as those kids say you are. I thought for sure you bribed them or something."

Coarso shrugged. "Unless you go grabbing at the boys, they're sure to think you're better." She looked aghast for a moment. "No, I didn't go grabbing. I talk a good game, but even I know where to draw the line..." She didn't look too convinced.

He had intended to tell her off a little more aggressively, but winced as pain shot up from his wrist. Looking down at his armlet, he could swear he caught a glimpse of something black retreating beneath the garish object, but there was no trace of such a thing and soon he was brushing it off as mind games. If the pain returned anytime soon, he would see Greenwood about it, but for now decided he would be better off resting. Lana looked ready to ask him what got his tongue, but her brother dragged her toward the elevator as they both needed their own Arcs as well.

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Coarso entered his room in the veteran section, cracking open a beer ration that wouldn't have any alcohol in it. He drank the bitter-tasting liquid, caring only that it was cold and seating himself in the rounded couch facing the window. Well, it was called a window, but it was just a screen showing an image based on what you wished were outside. He set the window to a cityscape setting that made the outside look like the view from a high-rise apartment; glowing building windows elsewhere, a street below if you were close enough to the screen, a full moon and clouds rolling over the night sky. He liked hearing the soft swish of tires rolling by, the occasional honk or voice from 'below' him. He didn't like noticing the recording loop back to the beginning, but when he did it normally made him want to leave the room and take a walk around the branch.

Briefly, Coarso wondered to himself what the Czech branch Gods Eaters were doing without him. He thought it was funny now; he only ever had one girl to treat the way he did there, and it had charmed her somehow. Sure, he got a little carried away sometimes, but it was an endearing trait until Australia's fine group of women caught him talking dirty.

Over the last year, the many friends he had at the Czech branch had been fun to spend time with; they drank beer rations around a campfire they built in an old library out of magmatic Zygote organs. They made a project out of trying to restore a half-eaten car they knew would never work again, even if any of them knew how it worked in the first place. More than once he was given credits to make something out of salvaged materials; he and Connelly always had a knack for whittling priceless relics into something twice as interesting, as one could see from the wood and plastic carvings Coarso kept lined up on the counter near the kitchen. All of them had tried to take his mind off the one they all lost... but it had hit him the hardest, and just living in the same space she once was drove him out of his mind.

He switched the version of his window to the one with rainy weather. If movies told him anything, reminiscing about the sad things in life always made it rain outside. Then you go chasing a girl out there, grab her before she can run off to marry some rich douchebag, and make out for the first time until you both get hypothermic because it's so damn cold. Thunder crackled outside, right on cue.

Coarso snapped out of his reverie upon hearing the door to his room open up. The three recruits that hadn't gone with the Russians all poked their heads through the doorway in search of him; he sank down in his seat in hopes of evading their eyes scanning the room. "Ms. Lana said he's not out on a mission... should we check the infirmary? I'm sure he can't stay away from Ms. Greenwood." The voice was Clint's, and it was a sound deduction.

Ariel started to speak when Coarso's leg slipped out from under him and kicked the edge of the table, making it hop and skid a bit across the floor. It spooked the boys at the doorway, but Ariel moved in like she heard a refugee in the attic. Coarso sprang to life and leaped over the couch; Ariel grabbed a beer can and threw it, nearly pegging him in the head as she gave chase. Gerome put his hulking mass between Coarso and the door; he dove to the side and out of Clint's grasp around the counter into the kitchen. Ariel was waiting at the other side of the kitchen, and he jumped over the carvings on the counter without disturbing them to run for the terminal corner. She tackled him, but he refused to go down, so only succeeded in tightly hugging his lower torso, while Clint and Gerome had blocked his exits.

"Okay, Alright, for fuck sakes. Ya got me. What do you want?"

The three of them looked at each other in confusion. They had only really gone after Coarso as they had following Ariel's lead, and she only captured him in a spur of the moment; the fact that Coarso wasn't aware of why they were looking for him was not an expected one. Ariel finally let go of Coarso's midsection with a blush and righting of her clothes. "We were told by Ms. Lana that you would teach us for the rest of the day while she gave hands-on training to Rika. New-types need more attention, I guess... she said you would teach us about a 'Bullet Editor' program."

"I oughta show her what 'hands-on' means in my dictionary..." He sounded mad; they couldn't figure out whether he was hinting at violence or intimacy. He made his way to the door and the recruits followed suit; soon, they had filed into the elevator and he had pressed the main lobby button.

After exiting the elevator, gathering around and peering over Coarso's hunched shoulders, he showed them the program. 'Oracle chips' were put together in varying specifics, down to types, angles, heights, elements. They got a basic understanding once Coarso showed them some small examples, like making a normal bullet into one that explodes on contact. Soon, he had the three of them take a crack at building a bullet. Clint caught on fast; Gerome and Ariel were struggling.

Coarso garnered their gazes again. "Alright; you guys are free to practice this yourselves. The last part of this little lesson is homework; the first one to get this done will take home a good ol' care package from Mr. Ilbrinte." He paused for dramatic effect. "15,000 Fenrir Credits, and a special bullet recipe for your type of gun."

The three of them were amazed with the introduction of a prize. What did they have to do?

"Cash prizes bank hard for second and third place, but the cool new bullet is still included. Now, the name of the game is _Lana Veschev..._"

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Hours later, Ambrose descended the steps in the main lobby, having heard someone arguing with the clerk. Lo and behold, there stood Coarso leaning on the counter. "Ogretails? Fuck your Ogretails. I can piss on a whole pack of Ogretails and come out on top –gimme something with some girth, would you? I know there's a Quadriga out there somewhere; you were talking about it to Jolene."

"I'm not comfortable with sending you out against such aragami by yourself..." She looked distressed by the man's persistence.

Ambrose got close enough to make himself known. "I never took you for a workhorse, Coarso. If you want to get out there and fight so badly, I can go with you." The clerk seemed pleased with the idea. Coarso did not.

"I wanted to go alone, actually. Give me a lift out to that Quadriga, please." He showed no signs of listening to reason, and the clerk was finally caving in to his demand. Ambrose tapped a finger on the counter for attention.

"Get myself and Lana a lift there too, please." Ambrose smirked as a squint of irritation happened behind his ally's sunglasses. A whimsical tone followed as he spoke; "What? You can go alone. My sister and I will just be going after the same prey ourselves. At the same time as you."

Coarso maintained an expression of disapproval, but sighed in defeat as well. "Fine, you win. Just know that when I piss you off out there, you asked for it." Ambrose knew. He also knew he would act no different despite the fact.

They met up with Lana at the Arc docking station, and seeing Coarso close by made her click her tongue. He shoved past her without a hint of grace to retrieve his God Arc first, the grip firmly in hand easing him a little. They would have to take the APC again, as no smaller aragami aside from some Ogretails had been spotted nearby and they were likely dead already from the Quadriga just rampaging about but the Quadriga itself was like an inexhaustible missile battery; hundreds of small heat-seeking rockets could fly out the sides and the bigger ones stored in the chest cavity a death sentence for something like a helicopter. Coarso watched the Russians climb aboard with their own gear;

Both were old-type melee fighters, Ambrose with a short blade and Lana carrying a buster, and both had light buckler shields by the size of their defensive pieces. Ambrose had what looked like a red segmented urn on his Arc, and with some last-minute checks it spun while generating flames; it was basically a heat drill. The shield was more thickly plated higher up than it was on the lower halves of the plates, a gold and black color. Lana's buster blade was cog-looking near the base, leading into a massive, heavy, sharp rectangle of yellow. Her shield was even, a black and red completely round with a cross at the center.

"You are familiar with the Quadriga variant of aragami, yes?" Lana questioned.

"I can give a Quadriga ten brand-spankin' new assholes before it could turn around." The Russians blinked a couple of times. He rolled his eyes at them both, wishing more people could at least be like Mike and find him funny.

Ambrose spoke up after a short dip in uncomfortable silence. "The Director gave me your file... he said you were good, but nothing quite like that." He was inviting Coarso to comment and alleviate some of the atmosphere, but found himself ignored. Lana looked curious. "Coarso is the fastest recorded Gods Eater in the history of Fenrir, short a history as it is; clocked running at 35 KPH, 45 when in Burst."

Lana made it apparent on her face that she found Coarso's world record impressive; that must have been why she couldn't catch the slippery bastard when he did things like this afternoon. Once shutting the doors and locking themselves in for the drive, the hum of the engine played them off to battle..

"So scouting ops must be your specialty then, hm?" Lana seemed unusually talkative toward him rather than the only other person there she liked. He figured big brother was trying to make the children play nice.

"Scouting was somewhat common, yes. I met with _Cranium_ on a few occasions when the first sightings of Fallen Borg Camlann, Sekhmet and Hera came up." They seemed lost as to what he was talking about, and he chose to elaborate.

"_Cranium _is an elite squad of Gods Eaters that double as on-site researchers. They tackle unknown aragami, and almost all controllable first-encounters. They document behaviour, attack patterns, collect samples and sometimes capture live aragami. The group travels the world constantly in response to sightings, and are responsible for most of the data we refer to in the NORN Database." Lana and Ambrose understood. If such first-encounters were even remotely close to the Czech branch, _Cranium _would want the help of such an experienced scout familiar with the area.

He rounded the conversation onto the topic of these two now. "Are you two close? Considering you both transferred here, I take it it's rare for one of you to go out on a mission without the other... Such relationships among Gods Eaters are few and far between."

"Lana and I took the aptitude tests around the same time, and we've shown the most success when paired up. Russia wanted us to protect each other, and so we did... other Gods Eaters were not so fortunate. We have had to cope with rapidly changing allies at the Russia branch as members died and were replaced, which is a trait that was attractive in the decision of our transfer." Having simple conversation where the three weren't at odds was surprisingly easy to maintain so long as they were being shipped off to fight.

They were given notice that their destination would soon be upon them. The Russians did a militaristic weapons check that Coarso sat out, and afterward they said something to one another in Russian, followed by looking straight at him. "We wish you good luck in the face of adversity. May we leave this place, alive and victorious."

"Sure. Yeah. Go team." Coarso unenthusiastically replied. There were a few minutes of silent waiting, and at last the back hatch threw down and the three of them left the confines of the vehicle. It drove away to a safe perimeter, as the driver was meant to stay out of combat and be sure to move every ten to fifteen minutes until contacted for pickup.

The area that they were dropped off was a shipyard, with a massive ribbed-steel warehouse and a small watchtower once used to help ships navigate into the docks, now in disrepair. Freight containers of all different colors, sizes and stacks made an intricate maze around the yard, with holes either straight through them or chunks ripped out. Some had been crushed without being able to support the ones atop them or fallen over, and three massive sea vessels sat never to be used again; two in disrepair on land and one just barely afloat by itself, however long that would last.

Coarso had been kindly offered the middle this time, the Russians choosing to both call the shots and watch their asses. Ambrose led them to follow the sound of metals crunching and creaking; it was likely the Quadriga, being a metallic sort of aragami, would be mowing through such things and creating such noise. Lana kept a keen eye as the rear guard; one couldn't be too careful, even if they were told there was a single target. Just one Ogretail coming up behind them could alert the Quadriga or even injure a member when trying to sneak up on the beast feeding.

Around a stack of red containers, a massive four-legged aragami had bent the figurehead on top of it to chew on the edge of a container it had possibly moved aside. A thick, armor-plated and straight-barreled torso was held up with stocky, cylindrical back legs and enormous front ones that looked like tank treads that were bent and vertical. Two pods on either side of the frame threatened to open and release a volley of explosives any second, and the figurehead was a skeletal-looking, rust-colored torso of a man with no arms and disappearing into the elephant-like plated body below. Four exhaust pipes poked out from the figurehead on either side, lined up from top to bottom of it.

Ambrose kneeled down and looked to the others with him. "Are we all ready to do this?"

Coarso shook his head, laughing softly. "Damn right I am."


	5. Chapter 5

**Barren**

The three snuck close to the Quadriga's back, Coarso and Ambrose preparing a devour while Lana poured strength into a charge crush. With a nod from Ambrose, they struck simultaneously; and met the minor success they had been expecting. Coarso and Ambrose put no great dent in the creature's armor, though they both grazed enough cells off to Burst, and Lana's crush attack hammered into the side of the barrel-shaped torso with mild damage through the plating. Caught by surprise, the Quadriga reared up on its hind legs and roared, sounding like a mix-breed of an elephant's voice and creaking metal.

The three Gods Eaters all retreated some distance as the Quadriga jumped backwards, releasing a volley of missiles from the side pods at the same time to explode alongside it. This was a manoeuvre that Quadrigas loved to perform, the three veterans having expected it to start with as much. Once it landed, they moved in on their own respective areas of the beast; Coarso jumped up to give a vertical spinning cut to the Quadriga's exhaust pipes on the upper torso, while Lana battered away at the frontal armor and Ambrose clung to one of the side pods so he could drill into it.

Backwards had gotten it into trouble, so the aragami tried charging forward instead. Coarso landed near one of the treaded forelimbs, having to roll out of the way next to Lana while Ambrose was flung from the side pod he was one when it opened up. The Quadriga demolished the remains of the container it had been eating, as well as hurling two stacks of three off the ground ahead to scatter like stacking blocks in a child's playroom. It turned around, having to jump up and pivot on its hind legs on right angles to actually turn, to face the regrouping enemies and fire one of those much larger missiles it had stored in its chest cavity. The plates at the front parted at the center, red stringy muscles surrounding four missile noses; one freed itself of the aragami to propel itself in their direction.

Coarso crossed the distance the Quadriga had made between them faster than it had, slipping to the right of the missile and avoiding it in order to take a horizontal slash to the exposed tissue underneath the chest armor. He got two more swings on it before it closed up, and the Quadriga roared in anger. The large missile had corrected its course after missing Coarso to chase after Lana, and she sidestepped to make it collide with the ground on an angle as well as speedily block the resulting explosion with her buckler. Ambrose was close behind Coarso now, and their intended targets were the same as before; side pods and exhaust.

Coarso took two well-aimed diagonal slices at the Quadriga when it came low to the ground, and managed to chop most of the length off of every pipe remaining, which seemed to throw the creature into a pained frenzy; the ground lit up in a radius around it roaring with flames and it fired a volley of explosives from the side pods, which were drawn to the approaching Ambrose. He blocked them all, being driven back quite a distance and showing fatigue after from such repeated force. Dashing forward into a run, Lana caught up next to him, ready to block any more to come.

As the aragami recovered from having launched yet more missiles, Lana defended with more success against these for Ambrose, and he charged out from the smoke to jump up and drive a hole right through the leftmost pod, leaving it useless. Coarso sprung his own shield but used it to ram into the Quadriga's tread-leg, knocking it inward on a bend it wasn't meant to make and causing the entire creature fall momentarily. As it lay still, it tried to light the nearby area aflame again, but stopped in light of Lana's flurry of strikes to its front armor that cracked it open like a walnut. Ambrose had gotten to work on the other pod by the time the Quadriga tried to stand; Coarso threw himself with his shield into the other tread-leg, making the massive creature stumble and fall again.

An opening the size of a watermelon now crippled the other pod, and as Lana prepared another powerful blow the Quadriga's chest opened up; it launched one of the larger missiles despite the angle forcing it to hit the ground and go off point-blank. Coarso's arm had wrapped around her waist before she could blink, having eaten one of the severed exhaust pipes he leaped away from the blast with her in tow faster than the explosion could expand. The view from her end was like a safety cord was pulled and a parachute took her away.

The chest repeated this death throe three more times, the pods also internally combusting in sad attempts to fire at those harming it. Ambrose jumped off the side and dashed away, and the Quadriga completely self-destructed, only a meaty slab of the barrel-torso and recognizable bits of the limbs remaining. Coarso released Lana at her beckoning.

"Smooth as criminal. Thank you, Lana. Coarso."

"Smooth as criminal?" Coarso looked at Ambrose in confusion, the battle tempo already having lost the beat.

"Well, yes. Don't you know the song? Why would it be 'Smooth Criminal' if criminals weren't smooth? It must have been some slang term from years long past, but I like it." Coarso kind of liked it, too. The tune was catchy enough.

Lana ripped core fragments out of the remains, talking over her shoulder. "Good call back there, Coarso. You have my thanks, as well."

"Thanks are nice. I could go for your number, though." Ambrose punched his shoulder, but without animosity. Lana clicked her tongue, but even that sounded less aggressive. Maybe this really was a mission accomplished...

As they walked among the freight container paths and Ambrose contacted the branch liaison, the quiet once he hung up was rather eerie. Coarso hummed a tune to alleviate that atmosphere, saying softly to himself in time with the music; "I ain't 'fraid a' no ghosts."

When he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye, he froze, taking a step back. Already the sight was gone, but his behaviour had alerted his comrades.

"Another aragami?" Lana hissed.

"Just seeing things." Coarso even raised his voice a little to make it clear. The look on his face suggested he were less convinced of this than she was, but it softened soon enough. He smirked reassuringly, and the Russians nodded.

The three of them piled into the waiting APC, and the hatch closed up behind them so they could make tracks. Ambrose and Lana had a tiny exchange in Russian, a handful of words each that could have been anything really, and Coarso seated himself. They sat in silence for a while, until Ambrose finally started another conversation aimed at Coarso;

"I heard about your little spat with Ms. McCartney. She is still rather discontented about it." Lana laughed a bit at that.

"You're understating, brother. She was furious about it." Coarso just stared at the floor. His throat was dry from all that humming, perhaps.

Ambrose shrugged to his sister, and continued. "She has not seen your file, obviously... but I have. And I believe you have formed a very dangerous state of mind since –"

"Since _what?_" Two words from Coarso; both sounded sharper than his God Arc. A silence fell over the APC aside from the rumbling of grit and sadness under wheel.

**"You know exactly **_**what**_**." **A voice came through the speakers. It wasn't the driver's. His wrist stung like acupuncture was being badly practiced under his armlet, and Coarso turned his head to look at the little meshed box. It went on;

**"You know. You've known for a while, maybe you always knew, even before. Distancing yourself... Listening to a window of a past you never lived like it'll turn off the thoughts in your head. **_**You're still hungry. You'll ALWAYS be hungry."**_

He threw up a little bit in his mouth, swallowing it back with a bitter taste and burning sensation. The mild wretching noise had stopped Ambrose before he could try to speak again, and Lana looked concerned. "Ambrose, just drop it for now."

**"Just drop it then, let it sink underneath the bravado and the lust and the loathing. Fucking DROP IT. Watch it crawl back up and eat **_**you**_** instead."**

Coarso gripped Stalker with white-knuckle ferocity. Taking a deep breath that felt unusually cold, he ignored the looks and the growing sound that could have been a distant wail from the speakers to hit the buzzer, contacting the driver's seat. Something clicked in his head, along with the speaker as it offered a much different tone to him when hailed;

"Need something back there?"

Coarso opened his mouth, but only spoke after a few seconds of nothing. "What's your name?"

"Uhh... Kirk. Kirk Hasterfield. What for?"

Coarso sighed in relief, an echo of unpleasantness still taunting him but the worst of it passed. "No reason. Keep up the good work." The silence returned.

Coarso counted the grooves in the floor for a moment, while the Russians exchanged glances that made him want to cut them both. He flung his arms over the back of the long seat, resting his ankle on his opposite knee.

"So I never expected you to be a C-cup. You looked D for sure, but I guess I had my hopes too high."

"You –! Of course, of _course_ you didn't help for the sake of it! Impudent little bastard!" Lana carried on, but Coarso didn't hear much of it, and even less of his own provocative responses. She was overacting her part; this was her doing him a courtesy. He accepted the favor with balling a tight fist and a twinge of self-hatred.

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Returning to the branch was a haze of stupid remarks, solid rebuttals and half-baked parting words. Coarso stayed in the elevator as the Russians got off it, and basically remained in cruise-control from there until he found himself drinking a beer, listening to the rain and thumbing over the curves of an intricate carving off his counter. The hand holding the chilly can stung a bit; he had clenched it so tightly that his nails had dug bloody little half-moon slits in the skin of his palm. He took it as a sign to cut them tonight.

The whispery tires-on-cement sound got an added flair of shallow puddles, and at a point he heard something much bigger than your average vehicle pass by; maybe an APC like theirs, carrying young men and women to fight other young men and women for some balding old political fucknut, with a praise-god here and a patriotism there to make it right. Some good that had done them in the long run... Some good it was doing them now. The thought clung for a short life span before it turned to acrid smoke and vanished with the rain.

The beer in his hand smelled of rust and felt warm all of a sudden. The carving he was thumbing looked more like a little person, and his hand started to strangle it unbidden. A blink and it was all back to normal, mind games. Real or not, his thirst was stronger but beer couldn't fill it, and the carving much deserved a breath of fresh air back on the counter. He got to his feet to set the collector's item aside.

Coarso very calmly threw a fit, snapping the faucet off in the kitchen sink and tossing it idly across the room, followed closely by messaging room maintenance on his terminal that the inept cocksuckers should get up here and do their job post-haste. It did little to slake his thirst, so he went for a walk, thinking the good Doctor might be in. The pain in his wrist earlier that day had felt like a dream, but he was really just going there with any excuse to look at her cleavage.

It was late now like his window had pretended it was, the only light in the medical wing coming from under the sick bay door. The sound of Melanie and another floated out from behind these closed doors, so Coarso mindlessly turned his back to the wall just outside.

"Yes, they will disappear given time. Sometimes the oracle cells don't all quite understand the Armlet signals at first, and these form. We'll watch your condition for a few more days, but these are small and shrinking already. Don't overwork your energy reserves on a mission; tell your allies if you feel sick or weak. It's hard, but just work your ass off to make up for it when you're at 100%." Melanie's diagnostic voice soothed the recipient, surely.

By the depth and tone of the next talker, the patient inside was Gerome. "Thanks, Doc. I just... didn't wanna take any chances. I'll be careful." The door opened, the yellow synthetic lights invading the hall and illuminating half of Coarso. Gerome walked out of the chamber, glancing over and straightening when he saw the other Gods Eater.

"What're... you doing here?" He sounded apprehensive at first, but partway through the sentence some examination he made twisted his tone into a mix of curiosity and something else. Coarso laughed hollowly.

"Fuck, I don't even know. Step aside, Tiny." Gerome stepped back and watched him go in, and his footsteps only started to sound after some hesitation, soon gone. Coarso grinned his usual grin and pulled up a stool, watching her finish whatever paperwork regarding Gerome. Once she finally looked up from it, she gave him a modest smile.

"Not feeling ill, I hope?"

"Just feeling a little tight at the waist right now."

"Of course you are, Mr. Stud. Really, are you here just to sweet-talk me? Because I'm about to close up." Coarso frowned a little. His eyes were still well below hers, but he frowned knowing it would end sooner rather than later.

"Deep sixed a Quadriga, and my wrist acted up on the ride home." He gave her his armlet hand once she asked, and she hooked a few little wires into it. She browsed some screens on the other end of the wires, and eventually let out a sigh.

"Your levels have risen a little, but nothing definitive. I was expecting this kind of variance the next time we had this little checkup, so you shouldn't be worried unless the discomfort gets more frequent." She gently pushed his hand back into his own lap.

"Now keep your hands to yourself and get some sleep. You look like you could use some."

Coarso pouted playfully. "No company? You said you were closing up."

Melanie laughed again, melodic enough to make a whole song out of. "So are all the nice restaurants... and no amount of flirting is going to get me past having a nice dinner first. Now off with you, troublemaker."

A flash of resentment hit him unawares, but he charmed his way past it without much of a slip. Upon leaving the wing and getting some privacy, he idly rubbed the area near his armlet. _'You'll always be hungry.' _Played back for him since he clearly hadn't had enough the first time.

"What _are_ you doing here, Coarso?" He asked himself on the ride down to residential. The egotistic, depraved jerk knew the answer, but chose not to admit it.

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The next morning came before Coarso had managed to go to sleep. Somewhere around 7:00am, the lighting shut down, starting back up at a red strobe while alarms blared; Thorold's voice thundered from what seemed to be all around him, shocking Coarso into springing to his feet;

"This is an emergency announcement from Thorold Strinley, Director of this Fenrir Branch. The Devouring Apocalypse has begun, and our Ark '_Sacrosanct_' will be open to boarding for the next two hours. That is all the time we can afford; if you are boarding the _Sacrosanct_, proceed with haste. This is an emergency broadcast..."

Coarso had started throwing various things into two duffel bags upon hearing 'Apocalypse', and ejected his disc playing in the window. This was happening much earlier than he had been told to expect it, but who could accurately foretell the end of the world? All he really had were his figures, the recording discs, his rations and clothing, and that was enough for him. He departed the chamber he had only spent a handful of days in without a second thought.

The Russians were even more lightly packed than he, milling about by the elevator with all the stiffness their discipline had conditioned them for. Coarso stood to their left, stepping into the machine with them.

"I'm sure you could've afforded to sleep in, Ambrose."

"I'm surprised to see you boarding with us, actually."

Coarso lowered his shades a little. "Oh? And here I thought we knew each other so well."

The doors opened up, and all the recruits filed into the elevator. Ariel had a lot of stuff, as did Clint; Rika seemed bagless and Gerome had a backpack that looked like that of a preschooler when compared to the carrier.

"Good to see you's." Clint said. There were some momentary greetings and chitter-chatter before they opened to the emptied top floor, where a multitude of large transit helicopters were waiting on a series of landing pads. There were temporary rails set up to guide foot traffic to each of the thirty-five pads; people were swarming in fright and hurriedness.

The Gods Eaters got lined up getting into chopper #13. Coarso tried to ignore the crying baby in a mother's arms behind him with no success. After the agonizing wait, they were some of the last to fit themselves into #13 and fortunately they took off in about fifteen minutes. Rika looked ready to start crying, though so did Clint for the record, and both got feelgood pats on the knee from Lana being close to their seats. Coarso gestured her to his own thigh, and she ignored the offer.

The thrum of whirling metal overhead was accompanied by a scenic view of damaged world soon to be gone along with sullen gray skies for those close enough to look. To everyone else it was just that sky that looked like bristle board no one would use. Coarso's eyelids fluttered, trying to stay open but his body lacking the juice to force them. Just letting them rest for a second, blurs of familiar faces rolled by like on film; Connelly, Hansen, Porter, Murphy, all the guys from back in Czech came to bid him farewell. He wasn't sure if he would ever see them again; it was pretty unlikely, whether they left with a shuttle in the fleet or not.

A sharp scream threw him for a loop, and before it could get any worse he snapped back awake to hear a lack of background noise. By the looks of things, they had arrived.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sacrosanct**

Upon exiting the helicopter, there were seven massive landing pads connected with two-lane bridges. Each pad was split into five subsections, one for each chopper to carefully touch down. They were on the third, and the sea of human beings only thickened with vehicles #10 through 15 joined their merry bunch to cross the bridge. Upon looking around, they were in some kind of plateau surrounded with decrepit buildings, aragami piles, tentacle masses and more; it looked like a hastily slapped-together barrier to block them from an enormous field of view. Their bridges were the copper-colored meshed metal used for the Branch lobby's floor, crossing over a chasm and ending on a white-silver platform with seven more service elevators like the one at the branch.

These elevators rose up through open-air metal shafts that were more akin to scaffolding, up into the bottom of an enormous machine; the _Sacrosanct, _the name of the spacecraft seemed to be, as it was painted in thick black across a number of flat panels but most notably on one that looked about the size of several apartment buildings stacked side-by-side. It wasn't that far from him, and Coarso had to lean back a bit and crane his neck in order to see how long the spacecraft was; if he had to guess, the interstellar vessel was the size of a city three times over. It looked like an extremely long octagonal prism with an oval-shaped thing on each of these sides, with more grooves, poles and other assorted oddities on the surface than he could count with a full year to do so. The ovals were attached to nine rings of darker metals that emitted some kind of energy from either side of them, and seeing no propulsion system other than the gigantic jets on the back of this it would appear the rings were allowing it to float in midair. Gods Eaters felt like a grade-school classroom project compared to this feat of science.

Ambrose and Gerome were ahead of Coarso, giving off an air of dominance that had the mob create a vacant orbit around the two, while Clint was just a step behind him. Further back than that, Ariel and Lana were on either side of Rika and making a protective barrier as she looked close to having a panic attack over what was currently happening. Coarso smiled upon hearing Ariel call someone an inconsiderate horse pecker followed closely by shoving them away.

It was probably only half of one, but it felt like several hours before they got themselves onto the elevator leading up inside the ship. The interior was made up of clean whites, shiny steels, bright wires of many colors and fluorescent lights on every surface. It was only once they had slowly gotten out of the mass of people and into one of the huge halls that Coarso realized why; most of the rooms and corridors were smoothed significantly at the corners or were cylindrical to begin with so that a person could move within them regardless of the ship's position; if the entire _Sacrosanct_ were turned on a right angle, forty-five degrees, even completely upside-down, any given area of the ship you were in would be functional and you could traverse it without problems.

There was a repetitive message over the intercom that echoed through the whole ship, giving instructions as to where you should go, what you should do when you get there, and how to wait for the shuttle to launch; it was a complicated way of telling everyone very calmly to find the room that matches the number on your ticket, sit down in there and shut up. As it turned out, the Gods Eaters and other vital staff from Fenrir Australia had personal rooms that were all located right next to one another; residential block UF-8 almost entirely belonged to these individuals. Coarso's room was sided with Rika on the left, and who he discovered was Lorrie Singer on the right. Not a bad pair of girls to be sandwiched between in his books.

Inside, he found the facilities were a little bigger, the trend of whites and steels carried into here and the furniture was either supremely squared or smoothly circular. With some searching, he found the half a dozen drawers in the wall next to his kitchen had hundreds upon hundreds of little yellow foot-long, inch-thick bricks. They had some indentations in them saying what flavor they were and other basic info printed into them, and once he took a bite Coarso was in love; they were like giant nutritional Pez. Sweet, crunchy and a bit chalky like the candy, but made so one of these could get you through a day or two without feeling a hint of hunger. It was the first time he thought the Dev. Department had done rations right since they made beer.

Munching on one of these and retrieving the aforethought beer from the space-age refrigerator, Coarso took a seat and refrained from talking like he was so kindly told to do while looking at his window. It was roughly the same as the one in the room he had just abandoned, and according to Clint on the ride up it may well have been; a separate set of transports had been in charge of last-minute collection of valuable equipment and resources from Fenrir Australia and the surrounding city, and apparently their workers had all the haste of someone who would be left behind if not back before the _Sacrosanct_ was loaded with its passengers. The transports the workers had were much faster than the thick ones Coarso and the other passengers rode in on, so it was fairly feasible that they had gotten the expensive object among others and brought it here before their snail's-paced public chopper had set its fat ass down on the landing pad outside.

He cared about as much as he had when Clint was talking about it the first time; little. Right now the window was showing an image of outer space with its many colorful wonders; there were planets and stars, something he figured was a nebula. They wanted to call the Stalker 'Nebula something-or-other' at first but Coarso chose otherwise, and now he kind of saw why they may have wanted to name the sleek black and silver weapon after a space term.

They hadn't launched yet, he well knew; this was a nice little recording from some telescopic view back in the day, maybe even the ancient NASA was behind it as far as he knew. This was the default meant to calm those on board and show them what waited in the near future. It was cool and all, but there was no sound in space, so they had attached some ambient music to it that fit the mood it created but was obviously not what one would hear given they donned an astronaut suit and went for a stroll on the moon. Coarso swapped the default disk for his own cityscape recording, and immediately felt at least a little bit at home, unpacking his carvings and his extra beers to set them where they belonged.

A soft beeping noise came from the door; someone was buzzing him. Ambrose' voice drifted in; "Coarso? Have you got a minute?"

Coarso pressed the button by the door. "It's unlocked."

Ambrose watched the door slide into the wall space above it, stepping through the tight entranceway and letting the object come back down to seal the room tight. Coarso took another bite of what he could only consider a Pez ration. "Have you tried these? They gave us candy to live on for the trip. I seriously want a lifetime supply of this shit."

"I'm not going to act as if I know everything there is to know about you, but..." Ambrose started. Coarso rolled his eyes, putting a beer in the man's hand. He looked surprised by the gesture.

"You know fuck all about me, Ambrose. As far as I'm concerned, when you only met a guy three or four days ago, that's exactly how it should be. So if you could get your nose out of my bullshit biography, that'd do you some good. If it's that difficult, start with the beer." Coarso paused, and then bit his Pez again. "Don't expect me to ever give you shit after this, by the way."

Ambrose took a seat in the only chair when Coarso fell into the middle of his couch. He hadn't opened his beer yet and just gave Ambrose another, so they popped the tab and heard the fizz of carbonation at the same time. Ambrose was more reserved with his drink than Coarso, who downed half of it in one go.

"So you're sure this is the right choice for you?" Ambrose said levelly. Coarso frowned, hearing his advice start asking why it had been ignored. "The Devouring Apocalypse is still mostly a mystery... If you stayed there, you could continue to fight aragami. For someone who seemed so taken by the activity, you chose to leave it behind rather fast."

"You're not going to let this go, are you...? I like winning, Ambrose. To win you need to know what you're up against, or at least get yourself a general idea. The general idea is that the Apocalypse is a force that can't be fought, so here I am. There are other hobbies I can find... like those." Coarse gestured to the carvings lined up on the coffee table. Ambrose nodded his understanding, and though this probably wasn't over he dropped the subject for the time being.

"Your window is playing something... strange." Ambrose got sucked into it once taking notice. Coarso had set it to clear night, which other people usually found to be the best one.

"That's what it used to be like, living up high in the big city before the aragami showed up. Or so it says..."

"It's quite valuable, then. As a piece of history, that is." Ambrose had barely finished the sentence when the repetitious announcement cut away, and Strinley's voice came through with more volume;

"Attention; we will be taking off in three minutes. All passengers please remain calm and seated. Make sure infants are strapped into their cribs. Place any open beverages in the refrigerator..." He continued to tell the populace miniscule things like this. The two Gods Eaters sat silent, as Strinley's voice was hard to talk over. In short enough a time, they felt a vibration throughout the room that must have been affecting the entire city aboard the ship, and unsure of when it would end they waited. Coarso showed no care for Strinley's warnings as he continued to sit in a lazy, insecure position on his couch.

The rumbling finally stopped after a few minutes, and though they weren't in zero-gravity, Coarso felt a bit lighter. Moving around in his seat, and soon standing up, he discovered there was indeed less resistance from that most constant force. In moments, Strinley came back on the intercom and told the people that the artificial gravity made by the rings surrounding the _Sacrosanct _would most often simulate 0.753 –yada-yada G's. Basically, a quarter of the earth's gravitational force was not going to be in use as the ship's systems were advanced, yes, but maintaining proper gravity would be too costly and run the rings ragged, so they dropped it to the minimum level safe for extended habitation. Coarso imagined playing basketball with the women of Fenrir Australia, with three-story nets that they could easily dunk while snacking out on Pez and drinking beer. He cracked a whimsical smile.

A beeping noise came from the door again. Soon, another familiar voice came through the speaker there; "Yo Coarso, it's Mike. We're having a sort of going-away party... erh, survival celebration... It's like a no-more-Fenrir-and-aragami-killing-every-day thing. You're welcome to join us defense members and the Newbies at Jolene's room. Why does Jolene even want him there? Like, I don't mind, guy's a pretty cool cat, but I swear she wants his balls on a pike. I'm not getting it."

The rest of Mike's words fumbled through the speaker at a lower volume as he must have been talking to someone else outside the door, but not at a low enough volume to be unheard. Coarso looked over at Ambrose.

"I'll go get Lana. These types of social events are her bread and butter; if she finds out she was not invited, heads will roll." The door opened, Mike and Lorrie standing in the hall; since she was Coarso's neighbor, it made sense that she would be roped in along with him. Ambrose left in search of his sister a few doors down.

"Ambrose could have come along, you know."

"He's off looking for Lana."

"Ah, I see." Mike paused, and then went on as they walked down the residential block opposite the way Ambrose went. "Well, according to Raymond, there's going to be something special happening in the next few minutes to the next few hours."

"What's that supposed to be?" Mike held up his index finger as he spoke for no apparent reason.

"Since the Devouring Apocalypse will be the last chance we have to see our home planet, the _Sacrosanct_ will have a feed from external cameras trained on our mother Earth until it's gone. We don't know exactly when Nova will start to activate, we just know it's soon, so everyone has that up on their window screen right now, Jolene included... It's morbid, but special; being able to see how the world ends from a safe vantage point. That's something that happens once in an uncountable number of years." There was sadness, fear, and wonder rolled into the words as he said them. Humanity seldom expected to outlive the planet they were born to.

Mike finished telling he and Lorrie about this when they turned and stepped inside Jolene's quarters, nearly identical to Coarso's own of course. As mentioned, they had gathered Clint, Rika, Ariel and Gerome, but also Melanie and Johnny were present. Coarso was hit with glares from Ariel and Jolene around the time he caught sight of Ms. Greenwood.

"Ambrose is going to get Lana. They'll be in shortly." Mike told Jolene. Coarso neglected to mention that Ambrose hadn't said whether or not he would be coming to begin with. Everyone had a drink; Jolene, Mike and Johnny the only ones with beer while the newbies, Lorrie and Mel all had cans of some juice, maybe apple. Why the kid was one of the few with a beer was a question, but considering his supposed father was right there and the other members of the room made no move to stop Johnny coarse let the fact slide. It was probably a non-alcoholic ration, as they were supposed to be, though there had been rumors that those supplied on-ship would be back to their original state.

Lorrie took up a seat in the kitchen next to Johnny, and the two spoke on surprisingly equal terms; no childish banter from Johnny nor fake enthusiasm from Lorrie. Gerome had graciously taken over the sole chair while Clint found a stool, and Jolene sat with Ariel on one side, Rika and Melanie on the other side of her at the couch. Though the couch could have seated one more, Coarso chose to lean against a wall, looking at the sphere they once inhabited on the window screen. It looked gray and dead, though the oceans still shone with some vigor and the clouds obscured much of the surface that may have spoken otherwise. He half-expected to see giant maggots squirming over it upon a revolution of the big ball of failing life.

Jolene told him he could get himself something from the fridge, but she stopped halfway seeing as he brought his own that he had been most of the way through. He still took her up on the offer once he polished off the last of this. "So, the way Mike puts it, we're all pretty glad to be free of our mortal enemy down there."

"Most definitely." Lorrie said from where she sat. She shivered a little. The others seemed to be of the same mind on that subject.

Ambrose and Lana arrived from the corridor, and Lana inserted herself in the idle conversation while claiming the unmanned station on Jolene's couch. Ambrose took one of the chairs in the kitchen himself, and there were some greetings once the Russians were comfortably residing with their fellows.

Jolene turned to face the three rookies on her left, but put a hand on Rika's shoulder to show she was involved as well. "I'm sorry we had to train you so hard, and introduce you to the horrors out there when we left only a few days later... It feels like we put you through it for nothing." The four of them waved off her apology, telling her it had been for the best, they'd had no choice.

"Could've been worse. They're all here in one piece, after all –hell, if any of you died on 'em they'd be far less happy to be at this little get-together." Coarso felt the atmosphere weigh another three stages of gravity with his inconsiderate mention of hypothetical deaths. "Yeah... I'll shut up now."

At which point Mike started laughing, and the mood lifted right back up as this became contagious. Even if death had been a normal threat of their daily lives, they had escaped that now. They were free of the aragami. They had won. Right?

"Let's have a toast to that. To having lived through the hardships of the aragami. To just _being alive_." Everyone raised their cans, the couch and kitchen-dwellers actually making contact with their beverages. Coarso stared into the hole atop his own can, not having joined them, but when he lifted his gaze back to the window a colossal black blemish had come into sight over what they couldn't tell was Japan. Its pulsating, writhing mass could be seen from space... this must have been Nova.

There was a sense of awe when it became the center of attention, and the many huge tendrils attached to the bulging creature began to snap. The biggest living creature ever began to rise, and their awe turned into alarm as it detached itself from the planet.

"Holy shit." Mike whispered. Coarso's hand crushed the can in his hand and spilled the contents, wishing Stalker was there rather than a cold drink.

Nova left Earth. It flew away from the surface somehow, in the shape of a beautiful yet terrifying monochrome flower as petal-like white things bloomed from it. The cameras followed it, and... It enveloped the moon. It simply wrapped around the entire moon and stayed there.

"... What the fuck?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Saved**

"The anomaly which has clung to Earth's moon is currently under investigation, but as of now we are unable to disclose any definitive information. What this event may mean for the Earth itself, and whether the voyage is to be postponed, will be discussed soon. For now, please remain calm, relax and enjoy the facilities of the _Sacrosanct._" Thorold hastily broadcasted the message over the PA. He soon started asking what the whole ship was thinking;

"Raymond, what just happened? Is that thing Nova?"

Thorold Strinley and Raymond Dockert were present on the bridge of the _Sacrosanct,_ but Raymond had only really been there for the best seat from which to record and speculate on the Devouring Apocalypse when it happened, while Strinley was more like a flight attendant and little else. Space was all that could be seen at the entire semi-circular front of the room, drawing back and only becoming normal white-steel walls when they met the crease of the back wall, floor and ceiling. It was an enormous window screen, like that of the small ones for each room but this one was easily a story tall and the width of the bridge; roughly thirty-five feet. The chamber had four levels separated by two flights of six stairs, reaching a landing for the given level and six more until the lowest was reached. The levels matched the semi-circular shape of the bridge.

Each level had several terminals, the left and right halves of each dedicated to a specific role; the lowest level was navigation on the left and external defense on the right, the third overseeing production levels and power consumption, the second internal system use and diagnostics while the top level had a single terminal for the Captain. Thorold and Raymond were speaking from the internal systems and navigation levels respectively. The white-steel color scheme of the _Sacrosanct_ was offset by the common uniform of its staff; trim, proper suits of red accented with a bronze color. Each uniform bore a patch on the chest and shoulder showing name, rank and job, while the color of the patch itself indicated which area they were from; blue for navigation, purple for production, green for internal and black for the Captain. Gray would signify Personnel authorities; security guards and policemen turned the general peacekeeping corps of the ship and her passengers.

Raymond was staring at the image of the moon directly on the bridge screen, with glances at the more detailed, zoomed-in version of the navigation terminal he was manning. "I'm gittin' a core readin' that can only be the _Singularity_ der'scribed in Director Von Schicksal's notes; that thing's gotta be Nova. Why it'd fly up n' cling to the moon beats the hell outta me, but right now it's happy as can be over ther. No signs'a hostilities, toward Earth or the _Sacrosanct_."

"Director Strinley, the _Sacrosanct_ will not be staying within eyeshot of that moon any longer than necessary if it truly is Nova inhabiting it. Unless you have any other unexpected surprises to consider, I'm ordering a new course be set for us to join the Ark fleet." Strinley looked back when he heard the Captain's voice; the man was around his early twenties with short, thick brown hair that was pin-straight. This was swept back to show a minor widow's peak, thick eyebrows and a thin scar sitting horizontal across the end of his nose. His eyes were hazel, though much darker and hardened by grisly sights. His jaw and posture were set wide and strong as expected of a man in a position powerful as his, and unlike the other crewmembers his uniform included a tunic.

Strinley frowned, but knew the Captain was right. They weren't here to study, but to protect the precious cargo aboard the shuttle. "Understood, Captain O'Donnell. At present, there is nothing else I can say to obstruct your command, but I would like to be kept posted please."

The Captain's voice thundered across the bridge, but only after a sharp nod to the Director. "Lieutenant Stayford, course correction; come about to heading zero zero five point three seven, acclimation plus zero zero zero point one zero."

Stayford was a lanky fellow in Nav with greasy, dark brown hair and a big nose, but one look in his eyes showed a startling intelligence. His fingers fluttered across the many control points of his terminal. "Aye, Sir. Heading zero zero five point three seven, acclimation of zero zero zero point one zero."

O'Donnell switched targets to another in navigation. "Lieutenant Maziar, keep starboard emergency thrusters prepared for evasive manoeuvres."

Maziar looked the type with his oak-shaded hair unkempt and stubble unshaven to get into bar fights, but also looked focused beyond any possible interruption at his terminal. "Aye, Sir. Starboard E-thrusters on standby."

Next order of business, swiftly drawing attention to inner systems. "Lieutenant Johnson, contact Security station and have them increase patrols to the residential blocks. We need to keep civilians from starting anything in a panic."

"Aye, Sir." Lieutenant Johnson was a good-looking woman wearing a shorter than standard-issue skirt and stockings. Her black hair was done up in a ponytail under the optional hat from their uniform, and she was already making calls to the Gray patches.

ODonnell's eyes moved back down to outer defenses. "Lieutenant LaPointe, arm oracle flares and double-check Gods Eater insertions. If Nova so much as lifts a tentacle in our direction, I want all nuclear launch safety locks removed."

LaPointe was a shorter girl with a round face and strawberry-blonde hair herself, of shorter stature and hardly fitting of the weapons systems she was charged with. She sounded more enthusiastic than needed. "Aye Sir! Flares A-1 through A-9 manned and ready to fire, double-checking now. Warhead locks ready to release on your command."

"Nav station, be mindful of our orbit. All stations, maintain all other routine system checks." There was an echoing chorus of 'Aye, Sir!' across the bridge. Though most of them were gathered there for their expertise few of them were militaristically trained. He had put them through a crash-course in the last few weeks before the voyage, and the majority held a healthy fear and respect for the man.

O'Donnell's booming commands soon finished avalanching down from the Command station, but even Raymond was not spared; "Doctor Dockert, I want active wireless connections for my terminal to NORN, CRANIUM, and Fenrir Far East's secure data ASAP. Keep what you may see along the way to yourself and the Director unless I say otherwise."

"Aye ther, Cap'n." Dockert hunkered down at his free terminal and got busy, though he neglected to ask why they needed the Far East's secure data as well as why they were carrying a nuke on board. The ominous sight of the moon wrapped in what must have been pure evil slouched to the left side of the bridge window, and once it was gone their rear camera fed the Command station continued visual. O'Donnell wouldn't take his eyes off it any time soon.

.

.

.

"So... what? Is the Earth ending still? Would we be going back down if it's not?" Ariel questioned. Everyone in the room was just as lost, but theories inevitably started to form.

Mike held his hand out on an angle, elbow resting on his midsection, thumb and forefinger outstretched. "We've already launched. We're definitely not going back down when the Branch is probably crawling with aragami now. If we're landing anywhere, it won't be Australia, and that means we'll have to contact another Fenrir branch and have them prepare an LZ for this huge thing. On top of that, the branch and outer ghetto there would need to have enough extra space to support another branch and outer ghetto's worth of population; we have about 3,000 people on here... that would be a rather small city long ago, but nowadays it's pretty hard to cover. Only way would be to set up Anti-aragami walls around the _Sacrosanct _once it landed and have a loose co-operative pledge until we could put together a more permanent solution."

"Even though the devouring Apocalypse was predicted, we still had no idea how it might happen. This could just be the first step –given how aragami tend to work, maybe the whole moon will transform and just go to town on the planet." Melanie added. The thought made everyone in the room shudder or outright flinch.

Coarso looked down at the broken aluminum container he was grasping. "If it does turn out that way, it'd mean the Apocalypse-moon-aragami-thing could handle moving in space. It could very well chase after our ship... Just when we thought we'd outsmarted the little fiends."

"That may not be the case though! Maybe it'll be done with just the Earth. Maybe the moon won't even change any further and just stay that way. We _just don't know_..." Lorrie suggested, mainly trying to draw Johnny and Rika from the grips of despair they seemed to be experiencing. Johnny ran to his father's side, and Rika was comforted with a hug from Lana.

Gerome had his hands folded together, leaning on them and masking his lower face. Even he looked a bit paler. "It's a waiting game from here. Bad before, but worse now."

Ambrose trotted over to the door and checked the buzzer. It was blocked from passenger service, as he suspected. "I'm going to join the security detail. They can probably use more able hands if this whole thing has set panic in any of the passengers." Ever-calm and hard-working Ambrose left to do what little he could. Melanie chose to go join the First-aid hub nearest them. Ariel and Lana had become almost sisterly to Rika, as she had seriously been rocked by the many stressful events of the past few days. Gerome looked relatively annoyed before he left, possibly by how constant Rika's insecurity had hold of her since they had met. Clint followed out closely after Gerome, and soon Coarso left the three girls with Johnny and the defense squad as he chose to get another beer from his own room. He had some rain he'd like to listen to rather than a crazy living moon to fear.

He was about to place his card into the key slot at his door when Coarso spotted Ariel walking down the hallway from Jolene's room, waving at him higher over her head than need be. He gave a meager one in return.

"Not a party girl?"

"It was getting a little too exciting."

Coarso smirked a little, stepping into his abode. She followed in after him. "Sarcasm's all I got –don't you start to steal my lines, now."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ariel wandered the room, seeing the place had subtle few differences from others. The window screen was the easiest to spot, which she commented on and they traded some small thoughts about it. When she took a better look at the carvings on the kitchen counter, she became mesmerized by them as most women might be ensorcelled by small, intricate knick-knacks.

"You made these yourself?" She questioned in awe.

Coarso shrugged. "You fill the time with whatever you can find. You would've found something similar after a few years of work." If she would have lived that long, anyway.

Ariel set down the one she was holding; which was a yellowish, smooth piece made to resemble a spoked wheel so she could lift a darker wooded one. It was the silhouette of a woman in some pose of either dance or intimacy lacking a partner. "Of course you made one like this..."

He shrugged again. The third always stumped everyone, but surprisingly Ariel grasped what it was rather fast, though even she needed to look it over for a minute or two. "Is this a rock?"

"Yes and no. It's wood that I carved to look like a rock."

Ariel gave him a funny look. "That's what I meant. Why'd you carve regular old wood to look like a regular old rock?"

"Both might've been gone one day. I could've just found a cool rock, which I did later, but at the time I thought it ironic enough almost to be art by concept alone. Simpler times..." Coarso took a seat on his couch. Ariel continued the trend of following his actions, this time choosing to slither over into his personal space.

Coarso wasn't entirely sure of the situation. "Can I help you?"

Ariel gave him half-moon eyes. He was entirely sure of the situation. "That's the question, isn't it?"

He became acutely aware that the scent of fruit followed her, but also that her eyes continued to hold that lightless, dead color in them. It was actually sort of putting him off. Both thoughts made way for libido when she decided to briskly whirl over from her seat and throw one leg across, straddling his lap. Her hips shifted teasingly, and her hands clutched his shoulders.

"You're always making those comments, giving those looks, and I still have to make the first move." Their faces grew close, and she bit his lower lip. Coarso started to explore her thighs with his hands followed by roaming underneath her shirt, and their breathing became more pronounced. Somewhere in the room, his window hit the end of the recording and looped back to the beginning. Somehow, the rain sounded thicker, the tires less subtle.

"**She warm enough for you, Coarso? Having a taste of apple? It's red outside, but rotten inside. Surely you can tell."**

The window's speakers gave him more than he wanted on this playback. Coarso lost some of his momentum, but Ariel was voracious, tugging at his clothes and grinding harder. He lost himself to her again until his wrist flared.

"**That appetite of yours, haha. You'll just kill her the rest of the way after you sate the more mutual desire. An animal of habit..."**

Ariel finally noticed something amiss when Coarso all but ignored the girl in his lap. She leaned back from him for a moment. "Coarso, I'm just looking for a good time. You don't have to worry."

"That's not the problem... This just isn't gonna happen right now. I'm sorry."

Ariel slowly fell into a look of irritation, pushing hard against his chest to get off and to her feet at the same time. "Are you for real? I practically throw myself at you and you just turn off? What the hell..."

It was like she felt entitled to his collaboration because he liked to flirt –he suddenly knew what a rapist's train of thought must have been. Coarso sat straight again, apprehension in his voice. "Shit happens, Ariel. Everybody's high-strung right now, and I'm no exception."

"You're _supposed_ to be the exception, though. All that singing your own praises, the stupid fucking sunglasses, and it turns out you can't get it up when it matters. That image you like to keep up? Where is it now, huh?" Ariel had her waist cocked to one side, hands firmly planted on either side. She was looking for an argument now that sex was off the table.

Coarso's expression darkened as she went on, but when she expected his rebuttal he gave a laugh. Just one, almost sounding like a bark. "Amazing... you're serious? I don't shaft you and you think bitching will do you any good? You need someone to plug the dam; Gerome's probably more qualified to fill a hole the size you're showing me. Not your flavor? Clint's Westwood'll face North without any trouble, I'm sure. Last thing I need is a little twat like you on my back to ruin the longest cruise of my life –take a hike, Red."

Nearly every word looked like it cut her deep; perhaps she hadn't expected such an aggressive riposte. She screamed a few more profanities attached to his name, and he seemed unfazed until she took the darkwood sculpture off his counter and threw it at the floor. Her foot pounded into it, splintering the piece nearly in half.

Coarso had rocketed up from his seat, taken her neck in his hands, and rammed her into the wall before she could blink. His hands tightened menacingly around her windpipe, but not past the threatening stage just yet. He glowered at the girl in his grasp; in moments he could tell she was enjoying it –the pressure, the danger, the spark back in his eyes –and she was ready to wrap herself around him again and go all night. The rain sounded like ceaseless gunfire, the tires like knives through flesh. He could feel his grip on the girl before him becoming more than a warning.

"**Ah, I suppose she can die first. The order shouldn't really matter; the result's the same... right? It's getting lonely, Coarso. You have to feed sometime..."**

Like mentally forcing a crowbar between them Coarso pried his hands away from Ariel, turning his back to her as she slunk down against the wall in a coughing fit. Coarso punched the adjacent wall until his hand hurt and bled, leaving an impressive cluster of dents there. The pain was like a bright-white flash over the darkness of his closed eyelids with each strike, and once he felt in control again he marched over to the window and removed the disc playing on it, leaving the machine a nice pitch black.

"You should go." Calm as he had become, there wasn't an ounce of apology hiding in his voice.

"We were just getting started..." At first he thought she was crazy. Coarso soon corrected himself; she was a horny teenager with a widely varying sex drive. Seeing it unleashed was unusual, but it was likely more people on this ship were the same than there were not; that was just the way people were when it came to private matters.

"Get out, Red." He couldn't bear to call her by name right now. Acknowledging her might convince his addled mind that this was a mistake. He already had his doubts, considering he hadn't been with a woman in years.

A silence crept over the room. Ariel made no move to leave, while Coarso continued to face away. She may have gained the courage to approach soon, but they would not find out as there was a massive sound of clanking and cluttering from the deeper guts of the ship. Moments later, the PA came to life;

"This is Captain O'Donnell. All able Gods Eaters not stationed are to report to the bridge. All Gods Eaters among engineers and security are also to report to the bridge." It was a very simple message, and already it began to repeat. The constant re-use of messages on the system was getting old fast, but he was fairly certain it would keep happening for quite some time. This being the perfect excuse to leave, Coarso turned on his heel and B-lined for the door, Ariel giving him a wry smirk while she held a hand to her neck in comfort of what may become a bruise.

For the first time, Coarso actually felt like the son of a bitch he loved to act like.


	8. Chapter 8

**Gods Eater: Vision**

**Condemned**

The gate leading into the bridge sector of the ship was made of three enormous, nearly triangular plates that connected at the center to a circular one. The lowest triangle sank down, while the two on the upper right and left entered the walls on both sides and the circle joined the ceiling in the room beyond on the end of a long hinge. After watching the needlessly complex door mechanism in admiration, Coarso walked on into the room with Ariel a fair distance behind. Aside from Ambrose, all the other Gods Eaters he knew were lined up against the back wall of the bridge, as well as two much older-looking individuals. A brown-haired guy with freckles handed him an earpiece for communications, and did the same with the rest of the Gods Eaters nearby.

This was what Coarso had seen and experienced in the past few moments, but well before he even arrived he could hear who he could now see was the Captain roaring from behind the solid doors;

"... Lieutenant Johnson, coordinate security traffic blockades for and accept all calls from Residential sectors L and M. Lieutenant Larigee, Vent atmosphere in N, O, P, and Q. Divert power from those sectors to automated security, Seal pressure doors and crowd shutters between sectors M and N. Reroute tram control to your station and keep that transport on standby."

"Aye, Sir." Johnson acknowledged her Captain in between speaking a mile a minute over her headset, two more bridge members near her much the same. On the internal systems side sat Larigee, an average sort with a black buzz cut, who looked particularly somber at the moment. His motions were lacking any sort of enthusiasm as he joined Johnson in acknowledging the Captain, though this behaviour didn't appear to be out of laziness.

O'Donnell turned from his station to look at the Gods Eaters he had assembled; As Ambrose was absent, Coarso, one of the Russian siblings, the Defense squad and the four rookies were present as well as two others the Director hadn't acquainted him with; a man and a woman, both middle-aged and wearing the ship's uniform, gray patches signifying that they were with security. The outdated black-and-gold armlet they wore said they were retired God Eaters from one of the early batches, their equipment small and weak as they had only had the small cores to work with at the time. The woman had blonde hair and still looked good for her age, while the male looked a bit out of shape and more weathered by the time.

"Time is scarce so I will be brief; an aragami outbreak has taken place within the lower residential areas further back of the _Sacrosanct_. Venting the atmosphere within these compartments will eradicate the problem; however we want to save as many lives fleeing from there as we can. Corporal McCartney, choose three Gods Eaters and take positions behind the sector M barricade located in block M-15; we will try to attract and bottleneck the enemy there. Once their numbers have dwindled, we will reposition some of you to the barricade in sector R."

"Yes, Sir!" Jolene saluted O'Donnell though he wasn't looking at her, and she left the bridge in the company of Lorrie, Mike and Lana.

Now that Jolene had left to do what she did best, O'Donnell looked to the rest of those he had brought here. "Lieutenant Ilbrinte, you are to take the recruits and mount a search and rescue operation –Ambrose Veschev is not appearing on camera but his armlet's signal locates him at the Recreational area adjoining to Residential block N-06. Once his whereabouts and condition have been verified, you will perform one last probe of the blocks of sector N bordering M, followed by a retreat to the sector's tram station. That said; security and tram systems are prepared to support you on request."

"How did this happen?" Coarso wondered aloud more than asked. O'Donnell sighed.

"We have no idea. We did get a transmission from Corporal Veschev suggesting he knew, but he was cut off partway through calling for assistance... You have your orders, Lieutenant. I suggest you get moving."

"Yes, Sir. Consider it done." Coarso gestured for the recruits to form up behind him, and they all disappeared from the bridge.

O'Donnell looked to the remaining two old veterans. "Corporal Vanden and Sergeant Emsing, was it? You are to be located at the corridors nearest the bottleneck as a last resort. Your positions may be changed frequently, so keep your heads up... and I apologize for the drafting back to active duty."

Vanden smirked. "No need to apologize, Captain. We're at your disposal."

Emsing offered him a 'Yes, Sir' as they both left the bridge themselves. O'Donnell finished his break and returned to the concerns of the bridge. "Lieutenant Johnson, forward all public communications to the aft terminals and take a subroutine connection to internal systems control. You will be acting as Liaison to the Gods Eaters."

"Aye, Sir. Thank you." She gave all of her panicked passenger calls to the other terminals in her section, and kept herself open to transmissions from the earpieces given to the Gods Eaters while making her terminal in specific capable of delving into the support systems O'Donnell had promised them.

O'Donnell turned his attention elsewhere. "Lieutenant Maziar, analysis of the hull integrity nearest sector O?"

"Stable, Captain. While much of our armor is not anti-aragami material, the inner walls have slight bias factor reinforcement. We should have an estimated twenty minutes until any hull breach, assuming we don't vent the blocks by then."

The Captain nodded. "Good –continue frequent checks. Lieutenant LaPointe, space debris will be thickening on our current course. Fix proximity guns to a wider radius and higher concentration of fire. Send your husband my regards, and request that Mr. Fraser refreshes the reactor coolant in time for our next acceleration, please."

"A-aye... Sir. Adjusting proximity guns." LaPointe was flustered as she had been speaking with her husband, one of the engineers running manual maintenance on the engine and other systems, now that the moon was out of range. The man's voice contentedly repeated her phrase to her Captain from her terminal speaker, drawing a slight chuckle or grin from some of the crew members able to actually pay attention to this rather than their own work.

O'Donnell skimmed through the files Raymond had given him access to now that the bridge was self-sufficient in their current tasks, and as he thought, the classified information within the Far East Branch's database was where all the real answers were. Luckily some power failure had disrupted their information security a while back, and Raymond had the opportunity to replicate an infiltration route used those weeks ago when it had happened, leaving O'Donnell's terminal a backdoor to their documents. As Nova had been in close proximity to this branch as well as growing from the site of their coveted Aegis project, O'Donnell had guessed they were most closely involved.

According to the fresh records... a unit of Gods Eaters involving some New-types had _spent time_ with Nova's core, which apparently had been human in nature, and this kindness and companionship had led '_Shio'_ to override Nova's instinct; instead convincing it to target the moon. Well, wasn't that the sweetest little children's book. O'Donnell left the backdoor to Far East's data open but closed the files for now. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

.

.

.

"The problem is that all of you are ranged combat aside from Rika, and even then she tends to favor it. I could really use Lana or Jolene for this op, but that just isn't happening. If this outbreak is still nice and fresh, the only aragami we have to worry about are Ogretails and Zygotes at the largest, and a whole slew of little creepy-crawlies that can swarm on us if we're not careful. That said, I want Gerome and Ariel just behind Rika and I as first responders to the little fuckers, with Clint watching our ass end. Sound good?"

Coarso rattled off a quick and logical formation for their search. As they had left the bridge, they took one of the many express elevators; these ran along tracks that went down from the sector they were docked, thereafter following a sideways trip along the bottom of the ship and back up into whichever new location had been punched into the interface. It had a 'window' built into all sides showing you what was outside, so aside from the control box and some chrome edging it was like they were flying in a little cage through space near the ship itself. Coarso vaguely recalled watching a movie with such an elevator made of glass that popped out of the top of a building to show you an amazing view. He could also remember wondering why it would be part of a chocolate factory, regardless of how miraculous that factory may be.

The elevator was privately used by staff of the _Sacrosanct _mostly, but the tram system despite being public allowed a more controlled expressway throughout any particular sector and the blocks within while the express elevator brought you to a fixed stop in any given sector's central hub. Their current ride promised to be a few minutes, first taking them to the storage lockup for oracle technology to grab their gear and another few from there to get to residential. By the time they reached the first of the two, Jolene and hers will have been in and out of lockup as well as the residential hub, leaving Coarso's team full access to the tram to reach block N.

Rika seemed anxious, if that weren't expectable, but made her approval of their formation clear with a timid nod. Clint was rubbing his neck, the heat of the situation not leaving him unscathed either, while Gerome looked undaunted for the most part. Ariel... looked pissed off, if that weren't expectable either. He had hoped the redhead would have the common sense to keep their personal blunder and professional work happening now apart, but when she opened her mouth it was made apparent that his expectations of the teenager had been set too high;

"Sure, sounds perfect. So long as you can perform up front." Passive-aggressive commentary would have been fine if this were any other circumstance, but Coarso wasn't ready to let her mind focus on something unrelated to the coming mission. It could cost her, or worse yet any of them, something dear.

"You've got one chance to drop the attitude, Red."

"Maybe if you went back to my real name –you know, offered me some kind of respect –I'd let up on the attitude, Mr. Shortcomings." Rika looked at Ariel wide-eyed, like a child watching her sister throw food and dinner plates across the table at their father. Gerome and Clint were watching in hopes of gleaning what these hostilities were about, though from Ariel's choice of words alone they could guess to some degree.

Coarso looked back at her; she was giving him a confident look, one of a brat believing they were in an untouchable position. It fell away to puzzlement when he shook his head at her and pressed a finger to his earpiece. "Hello? Who am I speaking to?"

He was jolted with a momentary pleasure when a female voice responded through the channel; though the tone was solid, the voice itself held a natural seductiveness, though it may have been Coarso's imagination. "This is Lieutenant Johnson. I will be acting as your liaison for any activities undertaken with the authority of the _Sacrosanct_, Lieutenant Ilbrinte. What do you need?"

"I'd like the transfer of Recruit _Ariel Burroughs_ from my search team to one of the defense units, preferably that older couple, wherever they may have gone. I'd also like a docking of pay to her account and suspension of recreational function to her personal chamber, reasons being premeditated insubordination, no questions asked. The second bit can wait until later, but for now I want her out of my face."

Ariel's eyes slowly formed a sharp glint of rage in them as Coarso spoke, ready to lunge at him much the way he had at her not long ago. There was an uncomfortable silence, and Ariel shot a paralyzing glare at Rika when she seemed to unconsciously hover to Coarso's side, likely seen as a betrayal by the smaller girl after all of the reassuring and defending she had done for her. Johnson's voice came back through the comm.;

"Done. Ms. Burroughs will be taking elevator C-10 from the storage lockup's hub, while the rest of you board elevator B-02. If you need anything else, let me know, Lieutenant."

"I'll be sure to. Stay classy." The afterthought tagged to the end got a long pause though he could tell the woman was still on the line.

"... Sure." She hung up, and Coarso turned away from Ariel though he could feel her gaze burning through his back. Gerome whistled something obnoxious for a moment, which might have been funny if they weren't so cramped, and finally they got off onto the storage lockup.

Johnny was already here with two other nondescript assistants, having already brought the docking stations for God Arcs and some specimens missing –Jolene's group, no doubt. The area almost looked like the dark concrete one would see in a parking complex, divided by hundreds of columns with freight containers inhabiting the spaces between rather than vehicles. They looked far more advanced than those lying abandoned and dissolving at the shipyard back by the Australian branch.

After the momentary delay of routine check-ins and authorization, Coarso had Stalker in his hands once again. "She missed ya, no doubt. That thing really has an appetite, too." Johnny piped up. Something about this observation of Coarso's God Arc made him shiver even while holding the weapon in question. His allies all got a grip of their own equipment now as well, and he tried his best not to look too smug leading his three to their elevator while Ariel was left to climb into another by herself.

"What was all that about?" Clint gave the elevator door about half a second to close before he opened his yap. Gerome elbowed the boy in a way that was clearly meant to jostle, but the size difference alone made the gesture almost physical assault.

Coarso shook his head again. He prophesized far more of these in today's future for him, as well. "Ariel tried to jump my bones, and I declined. She's cute, sure, but she's so full of pent-up bitch that I don't think I'll fit."

Rika blinked a few times, lacking an understanding for this most vulgar of statements. Clint and Gerome, however, thought it was a work of comedic art for how much they laughed. This being the end result of Coarso and Ariel's interaction could have even been seen as a good thing; the sense of foreboding leading up to this dire assignment was practically overwritten due to that one joke.

The four Gods Eaters piled out into the Residential Hub, finding themselves in a massive diamond-shaped chamber that reached at least twenty stories high. The elevator stops for service were designated to one of the lettered sides; eight in all, A to H with twenty located on each. These were placed circling around a huge chrome column at the center of this chamber, facing and adjacent one of those massive, inter-lockable doors like the one leading into the bridge. This rally point for the Residential district was the largest of the various hubs as it basically served as an airport, which was also why they had sandwiched it between as many other district hubs as the _Sacrosanct_'s design flexibility would allow. From what he'd been told, above was the foods processing factory while below was the smallest for Services, such as cleaning and washing.

"Alright guys, aragami grow quickly enough. We'd best move cautiously, as any number of the small fry could have gotten all Hannibal Lecter on us and gotten to be a much bigger threat. We go with the original plan, minus one redhead."

"Hannibal who?" Gerome asked. Coarso shook his head one of the aforementioned times he had come to expect. As they passed through a rather empty part of sector M in silence toward the tram, Rika spoke up for what must have been the sake of cutting that silence down and nothing else.

"That could make a good aragami name, actually –Hannibal. It sounds scary enough." The fact that she made it through that sentence without her token stutter almost made Coarso want to turn around and check to see if he had taken the right girl after all.

"Historically speaking, I don't think Hannibal was ever the name of a god. It was just a human of high status, like an emperor... I think." Clint continued out of his ever-present mental box of trivia.

Coarso shrugged. "If that's the case, they just have to give it to the most violent one." His morbid humor was never a big hit.

The tram station was just around the corner, and they would need to have it circle around where the bottleneck was taking place. The tram itself looked more like a tiny bullet train than your run-of-the-mill pill-shaped bus-on-tracks, which came as a bit of a surprise but not enough to warrant any sort of reaction. In moments Coarso was talking to Johnson on his earpiece to tell her they had arrived at their first destination.

That voice crackled through again and now Coarso was sure it wasn't his imagination; if she was communications now, she must have been a phone sex operator before the career change. "Alright, Lieutenant. I've got the closest stop to where we last had contact with Corporal Veschev programmed in; all you have to do is hop on and ride it out."

He laughed a little bit, drawing out into slow chuckles at the end. "I could listen to you all day if you keep that up."

There was a pause. If one could hear a smile, that was most definitely on the other end. "Stay classy then, Lieutenant Ilbrinte." The line went dead, and there was some jostling of weaponry before at last they travelled toward where they would hopefully find Ambrose alive and well.


End file.
