Chapter 46 - Death Toll

Death Toll
Small lasers of varying colours littered the ground, catching their attention. Void and Rokiahi looked up at the Great Wall to see gunmen line the Wall, all carrying a variant of sniper rifle. Many had laser sights, all aiming at the foreheads and hearts of Void and Rokiahi. Rokiahi pushed Void behind her, preventing anyone from aiming at Void.

There was a moment of silence, the trees burning furiously. The wreckage of the Enterprise lay behind them, its body and pride broken.

"It's a pity," said an all too familiar voice behind them. Void and Rokiahi turned to see Naluri, solid black as before, inspecting the outside of the Enterprise, "She was a beautiful piece of tech. A ship with a decorated history and love for her crew. It's also a pity someone had to go down with her."

Rokiahi's hold of Void's wrist tightened, "What do you want now?!" she shouted in anger.

"I want you to tell Haruhi to give up her struggle," said Naluri, standing up straight, "By protecting you, she is dooming herself and her allies," Naluri paused, "Void, be careful." She beckoned them down the slope, away from the Wall.

Rokiahi did not respond immediately. Slowly she descended the slope, pushing Void in front of her. They passed Naluri, who did nothing. As they continued downwards, they began to run through the scorched soil, ash and debris.

Naluri put a finger to her earpiece, "How many people does it take to deliver a message?"

"One," answered the BLU Sniper on the Great Wall with a smile. He pulled the trigger, followed by everyone else on the Wall.

Void immediately turned round and flung her left arm to her left. The volley of bullets changed paths, going round her in an anti-clockwise direction. The snipers continued to fire, drastically increasing the number of bullets swirling in the gravity field. The field allowed Void to affect all the shots at once, instead of having to deal with every bullet individually.

Rokiahi had not been as quick to react, slipping a little further down the slope before turning, "Void!"

Naluri, seeing that the snipers' shots were all ineffective, loaded a little bullet into her own rifle, took careful aim and fired. This bullet too got caught in the gravity field.

But Rokiahi knew the type of bullet it was and began to panic. She attempted to call to Void to warn her about the volatile ammunition but was unable to, her mouth refusing to open. Scared, Rokiahi began to climb frantically back up the steep slope to Void but the scorched ground was hard to hold onto, crumbling on contact.

"Rokiahi," said Void in a neutral voice, still looking towards the Great Wall, "Chamber told me something before we got to the Enterprise. He said a writer never lies." She caught one of the bullets flying round her. "While a lot of the things you've done and a lot of the things you haven't done today have been particularly disappointing..." She opened her hand in front her to reveal a thick bullet with an orange band round its midsection. "The Writer doesn't say you're a bad person."

The Bullstopper bullet exploded with strength, pushing Rokiahi back and causing a small landslide. Rokiahi rolled down the hillside a fair distance before coming to a stop on relatively flat ground. She slowly got to her feet, looking towards the head of the Enterprise further up the mountain. Rokiahi was in a daze, breathing deep breaths as she stared at the blackened mountain face and metal wreckage.

She had lost all three of them.

With a mixture of emotions, Rokiahi screamed out, the Chinese mountains reflecting back her call. "I've got nothing left to lose, Naluri!" she shouted, "Bring it on!"

Naluri was boarding down the mountain with her hoverboard down to Rokiahi. She jumped off the board with a relaxed hop. "I told you we should have tried to reverse engineer the board. Would have helped you tod-"

Rokiahi punched Naluri square in the jaw. Naluri stumbled backwards awkwardly. "So who are you really?" growled Rokiahi, lowering her fist.

"Heh," smirked Naluri, getting up, "Do you still have doubts?" She took hold of something at her neck and pulled up, the full cover mask coming off her head. It was indeed Naluri, with her vivid red eyes. Her cheek was red where she was punched. "It's been a long time, Rokiahi," Naluri smiled, dropping the Octocamo headpiece on the ground.

Rokiahi grit her teeth at the revelation, "Start explaning. Why are you doing this?"

Naluri unzipped the body Octocamo, revealing her usual uniform underneath. "To make you suffer," she said bluntly, "Ever since I met you back in out world many years ago, I had the feeling you were meant for terrible things. I needed to make you change."

Rokiahi's heart wrenched, "And your belief doesn't not apply to you? You have the blood of thousands of natives and newcomers on your hands."

"Tsk, tsk," clicked Naluri with a grin, "When we go back to our own world, nobody else will matter. It's a worthwhile sacrifice for your bene-"

Rokiahi threw another punch, knocking Naluri onto the floor. Naluri groaned in pain, clutching her chest. "They're living things too, Naluri," threatened Rokiahi, "You leave them alone, understand?"

Naluri laughed, still on the floor, "Everybody is my pawn, Rokiahi. You should be happy they're giving their lives for your benefit."

She was jabbed in the head by an assault rifle barrel. "You leave them alone," repeated Rokiahi, her rifle touching Naluri's forehead, her eyes full of fury, "Understand?"

"They're mine, Rokiahi!" shouted Naluri in defiance, "They're all mine and you can't do anything about it!"

Rokiahi ignored her shouts, "I thought you were a great person once, Naluri. Someone who was great to be with. How times have changed. Did our time together during The Second Year mean nothing after being apart for The First Year?" She could hear rustling to her right but did not take her eyes away from Naluri's.

Naluri did not answer, with an annoyed expression and a hint of confusion. Rokiahi did not expect this speechlessness.

"Are you prepared to let everybody go now, Naluri?" asked Rokiahi, in a comforting voice.

"Over my dead body!" cried Naluri, back to her senses.

"Like I said," noted Rokiahi, "I have nothing left to lose." She switched off the safety.

Then there was a loud roar from the right, Rokiahi turning quickly to see the Alien Queen charging at her. Under pressure, Rokiahi tried to summon her gravity lift, only to remember that she left it in the mall in Japan. This lapse in concentration allowed the Alien Queen to snap Rokiahi up in her mouth, sealing her jaw firmly shut. The ground suddenly gave way from the Queen's weight, the soil shifting down and forming a landslide, Naluri only just out the affected area. Sniper targeting lasers came into view, aiming at the Queen.

"Hold your fire!" shouted out Naluri, hand raised at the Wall. All guns were lowered on command. Naluri looked back down at the landslide, the Alien Queen rolling down the mountainside, through the trees and out of view. She put a finger to her ear.

"I thought the Queen was with North High."

A pause as Naluri listened to the reply through her earpiece. She frowned at the response.

"And I thought you said my past self was in hiding for The Second Year."