Chapter Text
Day 8
We'd finally arrived at Second-To-Last Defense Academy. But what we found there made me sick to my stomach.
"What the!?" I cried out in shock. The academy was in ruins. In front of it, were the mummified corpses of my friends. Standing over them was the hooded figure from the last defensive battle we fought.
"Aaaagh!" Shouma screamed in fear. Behind me, I could hear Tsubasa retching. I glanced over at Hiruko to see that even she had a look of shock on her face. What is going on here?
"Ahahaha!" My stomach turned over as the hooded figure turned me to, letting loose a familiar laugh. They turned to face us and removed their hood, confirming my worst fear.
"That's the supreme commander!" I drew my sword and held it in front of me. My hands trembled. I knew this wasn't a fight we could win.
"She's here already? And she's already absorbed all of their cryptoglobin..." I heard the shaking in Hiruko's voice. Even someone as levelheaded as her was starting to lose her nerve, and I couldn't blame her. Shouma fainted, his small body crashing to the ground. I saw Tsubasa doubled over out of the corner of my eye.
"That's right! I am the supreme commander, V'ehxness. I felt a surge in my cryptoglobin and came to observe your little school. I heard all about your little time travel escapade. And then you worms had the gall to absorb the divine blood of my commander! It seems only fair that I absorb some of yours. I suppose I could have attacked your main base, but this outpost was just so convenient and poorly guarded!" She had a crazed look in her eye. The supreme commander I fought in my previous timeline was brutal, but this version of her was already well past that.
How did things go so wrong? I came back to fix my mistakes, but I only made everything worse. I couldn't protect Nozomi, and now even more of my friends had died.
V'ehxness began to walk towards us. I readied my blade, and Hiruko hefted her axe. We we're going to die here, but we wouldn't give up without a fight.
My last thoughts were of my friends back at the main academy.
I'm sorry, everyone. I failed.
"The fuck do you mean, you can't get in touch with 'em?!"
"It means, Yakushiji, that you're on your own for this battle."
I eyed the approaching enemy forces on the monitors of the war room. I had spotted 'em while I was out for a ride on my bike and got back here as quickly as I could. Problem was, Takumi and the others were still out on their mission to the other academy. And now Sirei was telling us that we're gonna have to fight the invaders without 'em.
Fine. That's nothing that Takemaru Yakushiji can't handle.
"A'ight guys listen up!" It was time for me to be a man and get these guys ready to fight. "We're gonna have to fight these punks off without Takumi and the others. Fight hard and stick together. No guts, no glory!" I roared, pumping myself up. The others looked back at me with a mix of fear and apprehension. I gotta be brave for them, even if I really wasn't sure how this was gonna turn out.
"No way man, you're crazy! We're all gonna-" Gaku started to protest but I glared at him until he shut up. He was gonna have to man up too if we're gonna get through this.
"Alright! Let's fucking go, defensive battle!"
The battle was going better than expected. We were lucky, there were only enough invaders for them to attack on three fronts. I was on the opposite side of the twins so I couldn't see them, but I trusted 'em to watch each others backs. Gaku had a bit of a shaky start, but once he got that big-ass gun spinning he was mowin 'em down left and right. And Darumi. Fuckin' Darumi. The bitch might be crazy but damn, she really was good at this. She ran around the battlefield like a goddamn maniac, raining knives on any invaders she came across.
"Look alive, troops! Commander on the move!" Sirei's voice crackled over the comm channel. "Blast it, there's three of them!"
"What about the others?"
"I still haven't been able to contact them. I'm afraid we can't expect any reinforcements, Yakushiji."
Damn it.
This was bad. I was still holding out hope that Takumi's team would come save us at the last second. Where was that bastard?
I guess this is it.
...
No.
No fucking way is this how Takemaru Yakushiji goes out. Not like this. I made a promise to protect everyone I could. A real man doesn't lay down and give up because no one's coming to save him. A fire was burning red hot inside me. Someone had to step up and take charge or we we're all gonna die here.
"I remember what Takumi said about this freak! It's one commander that can split into three. We need to wear em' all down and take em' out at the same time!" I started directing the others over the comms. "Ima, keep yours busy until Kako's ready to blow it away."
"Of course, Mr. Yakushiji."
"Gaku, Darumi. Keep your distance and make that bastard bleed."
"Kyohoho, I wonder how many knives to the face it can tank!"
"And leave this one to me!" I revved my bike's engine and got to work. I had invader faces to smash in.
We did it. We pulled through and beat those suckers back. Back in the war room, I took stock of my team. Everyone was beaten, bruised, and exhausted. If even one of us had gone down that would've been it for us all, but we stood together and got the job done.
"Excellent work, troops." Sirei addressed the group in a serious tone. "I'm afraid I have bad news to report to you all. I managed to connect to Second-To-Last Defense Academy's systems remotely after the battle ended." No one dared to interject. Whether because we were exhausted, or terrified of what he was about to say, we listened in silence.
"I was able to download surveillance footage from the other academy. I can confirm, everyone from Second-To-Last Defense Academy and Takumi's expedition team were killed in action."
"Killed in action? A-are you serious?" Gaku sputtered. Around the room I heard, gasps, expressions of shock. I balled my hands into fists and squeezed as tightly as I could to keep from losing it.
Damn it all.
"Yes. An extremely powerful commander attacked the other school and then ambushed Takumi and his team as they arrived. As of now, you are all that remain of the Special Defense Unit."
"This is crazy, man! Takumi and Hiruko were like, super strong!" Gaku's panic rose. "If they got killed so easily, we're so screwed."
"This won't do at all, Sirei. How am I supposed to protect my Sister Dearest with two thirds of our squad dead?" Ima was shaking. He wouldn't say it in front of Kako but I could tell he was afraid.
"This is the nature of war, soldiers. We fight to the last man in our mission to ensure the future of humanity." I wanted to punt that asshole robot across the room, but he was right. Sometimes you fight and sometimes you lose. Sometimes people who don't deserve it die and the rest of us have to find a way to keep moving. It's not like we could just surrender and let the invaders destroy the Earth.
"As part of our continuity of operations plan, I will need to appoint a new team leader and assistant leader. Yakushiji. With Amemiya as your assistant, you will lead the Special Defense Unit to day 100."
Shit.