*sigh* This is my home, after all...

Chapter 1b: Desert Outpost

I’ve lived here too long to just abandon it all. I had to stop the ones behind it. I ran back to where I came from and went in the direction that Roger went after we split apart. I found him fast, shouting orders to his underlings.

“Major!” I called out. He turned and faced me.

“Ah, there you are,” he said with a smile. “We appreciate your help. I don’t think I ever got your name…”

“Nozomi. What’s the plan?”

“There are some mutant trouble-makers running about and causing problems. We’ve found eight throughout the city, and we need to apprehend them.” He looked at me, a serious expression on his face.

“Sounds good, let’s go.” I jumped out from behind our cover, and charged the enemy. He was short, but his hair looked like it was on fire. No, it looked like it was MADE of fire. He hurled several blasts of fire at me. I evaded most of them, but it severely hindered my progress. One came right at me. With only seconds to react, I grabbed it. The momentum almost knocked me over, but I regained my balance and tossed the flaming ball back at him. It collided with him at full ****, slamming him into the wall. He slid to the ground, ****.

While he was being detained, Roger and I moved on down the streets. Our next target was almost spider-like, crawling up and down the walls, smashing whatever she could. She was particularly difficult to pin down, considering how agile she was. But after several minutes, I learned to predict her movement pattern. She went down easily.

Next, we reached City Hall. The soldiers positioned themselves around it, and Roger sent me inside to secure a “powerful artifact”. Well, I can say it didn’t look like much. After all, it was only a black sword. But another person was after it. He had spiky hair. In fact, he was just plain spiky. He spotted me and started firing off those spikes at me. I ducked and rolled, avoiding the attacks. I smashed the display case the sword was in, and grabbed it.

I don’t know what happened, but before I knew it, the spiky dude was on the ground, knocked out. Then I realized it was the sword. It had sent out some kind of shock wave after I had picked it up. I felt powerful as I walked out the meet the army. We continued through town, rounding up more of the trouble-makers. At the end, one of Roger’s lieutenants listed them off.

“Spitfire, Arachne, Spike, Mister Madgik, Houdini, Nitro, Erazer, and Yuki.” He said, “looks like that’s all of them.”

“Wait.” I said, “there’s got to be one more. I don’t know his name, but… he’s about this tall, dark red hair, leather attire…” Just as I had finished my mediocre description, a buggy went roaring past us, carrying a girl with purple hair, a guy with slicked-back hair and sunglasses, a big brute of a fellow, and the very boy I just described.

“Here’s a little gift from the Pit Kings to you, you fuckers!” he said. The one with sunglasses tossed a slew of playing cards at us, each one detonating like a firebomb. We only sustained minimal damage. I’m pretty sure that trick was only meant to distract us as they left.

After having them shipped off on their way to Prison Isle, Roger invited me to come with him to their Desert Outpost. I agreed, and we departed my home. We headed out into the desert east of my home, the opposite direction that the kid and his gang buddies went. I almost questioned the action, then I figured there would be something for me out there.

While the first day or so was rather uneventful, chaos was unleashed the very next day. In the panic, I somehow ended up separated from the main group. Roger, however, was prepared for that. One of his soldiers, Captain Kenny Lee, told me that their outpost ended up in the middle of a battle field between the Jaranai Republic and, of all people, the “Pit Kings” as they had called themselves.

“Grab your sword. We’ll need your help. I’ll go on ahead. See you there,” he said before running off. I ran back into my tent, only to find that the purple-haired girl waiting for me.

“I don’t appreciate you helping them capture my friends. But, I suppose we can work that out later,” she said, with a devilish smile. “I’m Lucia. I’m giving you another chance, per Scourge’s orders. Take down the Republic’s forces, and we’ll talk.” Without waiting for a reply, she vanished, like smoke. I shook it off and went inside, and grabbed the little trinket I picked up in Shibuya.

I turned to leave, to see a man in silvery armor. “So, you are the one they talk about. Your deeds in Shibuya have reached far. My queen has requested that we join forces,” he said. “Meet me outside this camp if you want to accept her offer.”

And he left, once again leaving me confused. I wasn’t sure what I should do. Kenny probably wanted me to help get soldiers to safety. That almost sounded boring. Then Lucia… She says that Scourge kid wants my help bringing down the Republic forces. But one of them want me to help them do who knows what…