Parallel Vol. 6

Chapter 15: Ruthless

10:45 pm

"Go!" Suzuki tensed as the two-letter transmission flashed across his heads-up display (HUD). Finally, it was time for them to take action. "Have you found him?"

"Hold on..." Natsu frowned, rapidly scanning the different monitors. She had searched for Cassia for over twenty minutes, but the annoying alien commander remained elusive. She was about to curse when a drone suddenly pinged for attention. Natsu quickly checked the camera feedback. Small red buildings in the periphery revealed this drone had gone to the residential area. A second ping drew Natsu's eye to a giant, 9-feet tall blue, humanoid alien walking down the path in a bear-like battle suit.

The alien had two protruding tusks coming out of its mouth and a T-shaped bone spur growing from its forehead. His "Found him! Sharing the feed to the strike team." Pointing at the further of the two assembly buildings, she said, "The Centurion is in that hangar. I'll keep the drone on Cassia while we blow up the Centurion. We've got seven minutes until the tsunami hits. I don't want to be on level ground when that happens. Let's move."

"Roger." Suzuki nodded and stood upright. But just then, a screen fizzled into the upper left corner of his view. 'The elevator drone!' "Give me ten seconds!" He quickly called as he connected to the drone to playback its footage from the past ten minutes. To save time, Suzuki fast-forwarded the playback. However, he could still parse the information thanks to his accelerated brain functions.

From the video, the elevator opened to a hangar-like area at the top. Suzuki could see a few spaceships next to several stacked boxes. A dozen or so aliens moved the boxes out of the elevator and replaced them with a new set. Some cargo seemed almost as large as a bus, leaving Suzuki ponderous about their purpose. However, nothing interested him as much as the elevators' security.

Like at the bottom, the security personnel at the top did not bother checking the boxes they delivered. It appeared they had become lax due to the remote chance of enemies sneaking into the two-way elevator.

By the time the ten seconds were up, Suzuki had finished his analysis. He looked at Natsu. "The plan I told you about. It's a go." Suzuki reached into the bag strapped to his RDK unit and pulled out a large, black, disk-like object about the diameter of a basketball. He pointed at a blue orb at its centre and handed it to Natsu. "Just push that and slot it in one of those empty boxes down there. I'll take care of the Centurion."

Natsu stared at Suzuki as she took the device. "Are you sure? If your plan works, the operative who carried it out should gain many merit points."

Suzuku paused. Turning to Natsu, he said, "You don't understand. I don't care about merit points."

"What?"

"Think about what we're doing," said Suzuki, his voice low and hard. "In this setting, earth has been invaded by aliens. If we fail, they'll have free reign to sick a Centurion on our defences. Do you think we have anything on Earth that can stop a Centurion?" Clenching his fists, Suzuki turned and looked to the sky. "I don't care about merit points. Only the mission matters. And getting these bastards off our planet."

"I guess it's true." Natsu shook her head. "You really are fucked in the head." Suzuki's opaque visor radiated the youth's frost. Which, paradoxically, sent a small smile up Natsu's lips. She transferred the device to her left hand and held out her right. "Suppose that's why I can trust you. I'll definitely complete the mission. Just make sure you blow up that Centurion."

Suzuki looked at the outstretched hand. He hesitated for a moment but then accepted the shake. "I won't fail—even if I have to die."

"There you go again." Natsu sighed and then began running down the elevator. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'll still destroy you in Line!"