Leaving Campus
Olivia tried to imagine herself in retrospect sundry hours and days from her present, attempting to clutch the details of their hazy departure and the future mishaps that would inevitably strike. She was bewildered by her own inability to comprehend even the most bantam of things, which had come and gone so fast that they could hardly be said to have occurred at all. Similarly, Olivia devoted a few moments to muse on her current situation and how she had, somehow, gotten to it in one piece. Yet again she was struck by obfuscation, even though she had majored in metaphysical philosophy at Oakridge. Perhaps the mundane items of everyday conversation were too insignificant to her, to anyone who had indulged in matters of identity, time and space, and the universe, among other abstract notions. Olivia felt as if she had no middle ground; that she had to choose between being either this shallow, simplistic beauty she were with people like Britney Farron or this mysterious, philosophical introvert she were with, well, mostly herself. Her constant endeavor was to find balance between these two extremes, an endeavor she had learned about in history and religion—a man who once claimed to have learned the secrets of life from an ancient Kami named Gautama. She could find solace, however, in her eternal—inextinguishable and unconquerable—concern for her lifelong, permanent friends who were bound together by someone very dear to them. Olivia could not clearly identify why or how it could possibly happen, but she had a feeling that Sam was somehow with them, or would be in the near future. Perhaps they were experiencing their final days on this planet. Luckily, the brief mesmerizing, dark dance of Magdalena’s spirits brought Olivia back to her regular thoughts and senses.
The Break
Olivia was not particularly worried about their mission. Whatever damage Nautilus could do to Norton City was most likely already done and the friends would arrive to ashes. Cid and the Council already knew this, as did Field Marshall Sawyer. Olivia was positive that the true details of their mission would present itself soon enough, whatever its nature.
“Are… you feeling all right Olive?” Kimberly asked. “I… can carry you if… you feel sick.”
“Carry me? I’m not your daughter, Kim,” Olivia said. “Save your strength for whatever horrible things we’re going to encounter… over there, if there’s anything left at all,” she continued.
“If this was so critical, couldn’t Norton City have sent a car?” Emily said.
“How am I supposed to know? I guess they are busy with getting their butts kicked by Nautilus. That’s why we have to swoop in and save the day… apparently,” Olivia replied, with a hint of sarcasm and despair. The two girls proceeded to conduct a somewhat lengthy conversation, a few meters away from the rest of the group, before Olivia returned to her lazy spot and slumbered away.
“By all the stars in heaven and every single fuck I don’t give, Olivia, don’t be a lazy shit!” Freddy said. “I can be lazy if I want to…” Olivia said and closed her eyes.
…Sometimes the only thing required to recover from what seemed an eternity of stress was a brief moment of relief. This was such a moment. All of Olivia’s friends were close by, emitting ambient energies that her body was familiar with, and the setting and weather was right up her alley. Olivia wished that they could just stay there forever, but she knew that such dream was impossible, at least in this world. Perhaps Freddy felt the same, perhaps Aaron felt the same, and perhaps all of them felt the same—she did not know, but in her heart she wished it to be true.
“I will never understand where he comes up with these creative curses, eh Liv?” Aaron said. Olivia, who was lying on her back again, opened her eyes and met the boy’s gaze, and then she tilted her head to catch a glimpse of Freddy.
“Maybe he should write poetry…,” Olivia replied and closed her eyes again. A brief silence erupted, which Olivia quickly strangled.
“What are you doing standing up, Aaron? Come lie next to me and relax for a second,” she said, waiting for the boy to get comfortable before she continued.
“You know what’s funny? Or… well… it isn’t funny… but, whatever… I could lie here all day and just forget about all my responsibilities and then face the death penalty if I knew that my decision would have made me truly happy for just a second,” Olivia said with a modest tone and volume, however realizing the awkwardness of what she just uttered:
“I mean… ehh… I don’t know… I just like it here…” she chuckled. “How are you feeling, anyway? It seems like it’s been a long time since we got around to talking,” Olivia inquired.
Moments later…“With respect Captain Celestine,” Remi began.
…‘Captain Celestine’? …no, please… don’t call me that... it sounds weird…
“I believe we should keep moving under cover. If the Nautilus have secured the outer city and are anticipating our response, they are certain to have long-range sentries waiting for our approach. Every second we spend here is one more chance for them to take notice and organize a response,” he continued.
“I don’t like just sitting here, waiting,” Magdalena said. “It’s too open,” she continued.
“Just… one more minute,” Olivia replied.
“I think we should keep moving. Anything can happen out here,” Magdalena added.
“You’re right about that, Magpie,” Olivia said and smirked at her own cleverly conceived nickname for the queen of ember and darkness.
Remi executed some brilliant, however excessive reconnaissance work. When the man returned from his brief moment of professionalism, he uttered in ignorance: “…what?” He was under the impression that his friends were somehow mocking his behavior, which of course they would never do… except for some of them, perhaps.
“Both of you need to calm down… and never mind the ‘Captain Celestine’ stuff, Remi, it sounds weird. I haven’t known you for fifteen years just to have you reduce me to some impersonal officer,” Olivia muttered. “But… you’re right, you both are, we should probably get going again… so let’s go.”
Battle I
It did not take long for Olivia to realize her first fault as the commanding officer. She knew exactly what was coming when she noticed that serious, all too familiar hint from Kimberly, who had heard the creatures converging on the group from afar. Olivia snatched Remi’s ocular device and scouted the direction of the threat as per Kimberly’s warning. It was a horde of ten or twelve Xenomorph ‘Raptors.’ Olivia was shocked at how the creatures appeared unnaturally determined, as if they had been directed to this position for the specific purpose of attacking the friends. In an instant, Olivia gave the ocular device back to Remi and drew the tagger gun from the holster strapped to her right leg. She aimed the shot about seventy degrees above the ground, in the direction of the creatures. When she pulled the trigger, a brightly lit shell rocketed forward through the air, similar to the ammunition of a flare gun. At its highest point, the shell split into several smaller parts that sought their way into the flesh of the xenomorph creatures, which were less than forty-five seconds away from the group. Suddenly, the gun itself sprouted a large holographic image of the adversary, accompanied by various information retrieved from the Oakridge internal database, and in the distance, the friends could see small holographic tabs attached to each creature that displayed alphabetic, single-letter names and ‘stagger meters.’
These xenomorphs were among the first to emerge from the Calamity. Favoring speed and agility, these hunter-type creatures match the common wolf in size. They are pack hunters, which means that they never appear alone. They strike fast and find their strength in numbers. However, they are quite fragile, but seem to be unaffected by spirits associated with darkness.
Stagger: 120
Stagger/Gauge Attack: 10
Element-Weak: Ice
Element-Immune: Dark
Spirits: -
Items: -
¨“Okay,” Olivia began. “So, this stuff basically tells us when they are dead… and… uhm…,” she pondered, as she attempted to comprehend the device on the spot. “…right, yeah, weaknesses and such things.” Olivia put the tagger gun away when everyone had seen what they had to, and then drew her fusion gunblade out of its holster, which was dangling across her buttocks. “Remember your training, and remember the Academy’s rules of engagement and combat guidelines, and we’ll be fine,” Olivia said.
"Thael, Freddy and Kim, you’re on vanguard duty, try to provoke as many of them as you can. Kat, these creatures are weak to ice spirits, do what you can wherever you can, roam. Roy and Aaron, protect Kat, as soon as the Raptors see her spirits they are going to converge on her. Jyn, Maggie, and Emily, do your thing from the rear and watch our backs. Remi, you’re with me on the left flank,” Olivia instructed in the brief moment that she had before the aliens would reach them. She did not know if her tactics would work, and she was sure that someone else could have called something better, but it was what it was and she did her best with the time she had.
They prepared.
…Twenty meters…They braced.
…Ten meters…They unleashed.
…Impact… *
Raptor Alpha: 65/120 (DARKNESS)
Raptor Beta: 0/120
Raptor Gamma: 65/120
Raptor Delta: 50/120
Raptor Epsilon: 25/120
Raptor Zeta: 30/120
Raptor Kappa: 80/120
Raptor Lambda: 60/120
Raptor Omicron: 100/120
Raptor Sigma: 65/120
Raptor Omega: 50/120
Olivia: 0/350
Thael: 10/650
Freddy: 0/600
Katherine: 0/450
Jynnette: 0/450
Kimberly: 0/650
Remiel: 0/500
Royce: 0/500
Magdalena: 0/350
Emily: 0/400
Aaron: 0/550
Olivia: 0/1000
Thael: 10/1000
Fredrick: 0/1000
Katherine: 0/1000
Jynette: 0/1000
Kimberly: 0/1000
Remiel: 0/1000
Royce: 0/1000
Magdalena: 0/1000
Emily: 0/1000
Aaron: 0/1000
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