章 77: Operation Skybreak, part 2/11

One Hour Later:

With her new mission, Tia solemnly marched up a metal ramp, the heavy steps of the imperial soldiers following closely behind her, as she ascended into a black, armored hovercraft with two massive engines facing down from its two short wings, keeping it afloat, and heavy, purple-glowing canons hanging from beneath its hull gleaming under the sun baking from above.

The thing was big enough to carry a squad with ease.

The moment she entered the dark cabin, she noticed the blonde sniper sitting on one of the benches, not even looking to welcome her.

'What is wrong with her?'

The metallic steps of her soldiers paused behind her, and silently, the metal ramp they entered through closed behind, submerging them in darkness.

The battle-craft's engines emitted a deep hum, resonating through its metal hull and into the passengers' very bones as it soared into the air.

The squad of eight imperial commandos stood tall in their bulky, yet elegant, black power suits, their luminescent eyes fixated on the young girl garbed in a black knight cloak. The synchronized vibration of their bodies with the engine's reverberations mirrored the collective heartbeat of a unit ready for battle.

Adjacent to them, a second girl—the blonde with a sniper rifle draped over her shoulder—appeared still aloof, her attention seized by a cartoon playing on the petite device in her hand, ignoring the Tia and the soldiers as if they didn't even exist.

'How can she be so calm? Does she even feel?'

The internal turbulence of fear and anticipation echoed louder in Tia's mind, exacerbating her inexperience as she faced the realities of her first command. She was always a loner, someone who fought with no one to hold her back, yet now she had an entire squad of soldiers under her command.

"A minute left before arrival," announced a robotic voice, cutting through her spiraling doubt with razor-sharp urgency. It directed her thoughts back to the pressing present.

A knot of fear tightened in her stomach, a painful acknowledgment of the hell that awaited them—a whirlpool of violence and chaos on a planetary scale. She knew a merciless war was on the brink of erupting, where every super and every soldier would be unleashed in a fierce counterattack against the imperial invasion.

'Even with those elite soldiers, this will be hard,' she thought, her mind racing. The prospect of facing an entire planet, even with the formidable red-eye esper and imperial knights at her side, seemed like madness given the overwhelming numerical disparity with the planetary armies armed with heavy weaponry.

'There must be some plan. They wouldn't attack blindly.' She was dragged into the mess, and all she could do was pray and hope her superiors knew what they were doing, affirming her decision to run away the moment she would get an opportunity and gain the power to decide her own fate.

'It is one thing to die due to my bad decision and another to die due to someone else's stupidity.'

There was still one last thing she could do to help her odds: 'WS, I want to exchange some of my witch points for stats.'

Ding!

Stat exchange shop:

1 MAG = 1 WP

1 ENE = 1 WP

1 INT = 2 WP

1 VIT = 3 WP

1 STR = 3 WP

1 AGI = 3 WP

1 DEF = 3 WP

1 END = 3 WP

1 WIL = 300 WP

'In this situation, raising my already high stats will do almost nothing. I need to boost what is weak.' She always relied heavily on her fast reactions; it was the thing that kept her alive through all the battles.

Tia's eyes momentarily stopped at the ridiculous price of exchanging for WIL, making her shake her head at the dumb bickering of her two systems.

'Alright, WS, exchange for one point to agility and intelligence.' It was what she needed to react even faster.

Ding!

You have spent 5 WP!

+1 to INT

+1 to AGI

Just as the warmth spread through her body and soul, the mechanical voice interrupted her preparations, "We have reached the destination. Synchronizing with other teams. Ten seconds remaining."

The vibrations of the engines quieted down, like the silence before a storm.

"Good luck." She whispered to the soldiers by her sides and gripped the cold metal of her gun, bringing the reassurance that she needed.

The commandos tensed, gripped their guns tighter, and took their battle stances, their flickering visors drilling into her. Their previously terrifying weaponry and power suits now gave her confidence that they might survive.

The mechanical countdown reverberated in the background: "Five seconds."

The blonde sniper stood up and gripped her comically large gun, her long blonde hair falling down her back, contrasting with the blackness of her uniform.

"Four."

Tia fortified her mind with resolve as hard as steel, forcing a calm over her rapidly beating heart.

"Three."

A bittersweet smile crossed her face, an oasis of warmth amidst the chilling, foreboding atmosphere. The thought of meeting her cousin, a beacon of familiarity and love, forged a channel of hope through the dread pooling in her stomach.

"Two."

At last, she gave one last nod to her soldiers, who responded with their own nods.

"One."

The floor opened abruptly, unveiling the sprawling metropolis below them, a city cloaked in clouds of smog and fumes. Without another word, they began their descent, falling through the sky with a fierce wind whipping past them, their weapons emitting a faint purple glow that made them appear like meteors hurtling toward the earth.

Time seemed to slow as they approached the ground, with invisible forces working to slow their fall. Tia's coat and hair billowed wildly in the wind as she extended a hand to slow the sniper's descent, ensuring a safer landing.