Bloodstained Rose

Chapter 3

Nomad continued through the thick brush of the woods outside of Nojiri, clenching a small foam-covered baton. His tutelage over the last few days had provided some results. Now, he was trying his best to move through the vegetation without making any noise. Somewhere around the corner, Tetsu and Rei lay in wait for a sneak attack.

Tetsu and Nomad both were equally anxious to learn more about the Deep. The very small amount of down time granted them was utilized to its full extent. Nomad knew that there was much more he would need to learn, but he pressed on. The feeling of the Deep’s endless cold depths seemed to flow through him. As the leaves across the ground beneath him started to rustle, he could sense another presence.

To his right, Tetsu seemingly began to rise from a large shadowy mass on the ground. Nomad took a swing towards him with the baton only to watch Tetsu sway back. The two rushed towards each other with their weapons before clashing. Tetsu’s nimbleness allowed him to evade every attack, leaving distance between the two. Nomad would not give in yet.

He summoned what energy he could from the Deep. His sights snapped on Tetsu before he dashed forwards. Both of his feet began to rapidly beat across the ground, giving him a massive boost of speed. The outline of his body seemed to turn invisible with his newfound momentum, only causing Tetsu to panic.

At the last possible second, Tetsu body ripped from the claws of gravity, flying several feet in the air as he performed an evasive leap.

“Not bad,” Tetsu called out to him after landing on one of the branches. The dry labyrinth of sticks let out a cadence of scratches as they brushed against each other. “Can you get me up here?”

Nomad looked back up towards the branches and started to feel himself phasing out of the moment. He could hear Shirow’s words from that day. They sounded more like a taunt, reminding him of that one jump he had failed to make. While Tetsu stared down at him, Nomad continued to channel the energy from the Deep. Instead of attempting the jump, he took a deep breath and lunged towards the base of the tree.

In one quick motion, he thrusted his leg forward and kicked against the base. Instead of bouncing off the bark, his leg smashed directly through it, causing the massive tree to buckle under its own weight. The splinters flew towards Nomad as he pulled his leg back for the follow through, littering the ground around him.

Tetsu let out a quick yell as his body started to plummet towards the ground. After hitting the bottom, his body tumbled a few feet and back towards the brush, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could get back to his feet, Nomad closed in with the baton and finally swung down towards his face. Tetsu immediately braced for the attack, only to realize that Nomad had stopped short. The two remained locked in place, staring each other down as the forest echoed with the sound of the crashing tree.

“Boop,” Nomad chirped after tapping the baton against Tetsu’s head. “I got you.”

“What the hell was that for?” Tetsu shouted the moment he caught his breath.

“I don’t know, I just kinda phased out for a moment and thought I’d give the tree a good kick,” he replied as he started to brush his nose with his thumb. “That was a pretty good kick, wasn’t it?”

“Why not go for the jump and hit me?”

“I don’t know. Seemed like the right move.”

Nomad extended his hand towards him, but Tetsu refused. He started to push himself back off the ground, clenching his shoulder as the pain started to throb. It had been nearly a week since he had been shot, but every time he overexerted it, he felt the pain flare up again.

“Don’t think about doing that next time, dickhead.” Tetsu hissed.

“Whoa, where did you learn to talk like that?”

“Megumi calls me it all the damn time.”

“Alright, alright,” he quickly shouted, trying to calm Tetsu down. “Maybe I’ll talk her into easing up.”

“Speaking of, where is she?”

“Probably at the Mobile Carrier,” Nomad said before looking over towards the splintered stump before them. The tree had caused a large commotion, causing the birds in the area to start to flock away. He sat for a moment, waiting for them to finally leave the area before going to take a seat over on a nearby rock. “I think they’re planning something.”

Megumi would normally be at the sessions training with them, but over the past few days she was constantly finding herself at the Mobile Carrier with Mezrich and Paxton. Being an engineer and part of the Field Research and Development team with the Weapons Administration, she was always in arms reach of Liberation. Her brilliance would be crucial in the upcoming missions—with detriment to her training.

While Nomad and Tetsu started to get relaxed, Rei appeared in the trees above still dressed in her battle robe. She stepped towards the edge of the limbs and slowly let herself off. While the wind started to wave past her, she began to tap into the Deep. Her body started to slowly descend, dropping her to the ground like a feather. She landed on the forest floor without making a sound much to the amazement of the two.

“When are you going to teach me that one?” Tetsu asked after getting to his feet.

“You can do it, you have to reach in and then let your mind go blank,” Rei said as she started to approach them. “I can do it because I’ve spent years practicing it. Do you want to work on it next?”

“Maybe later,” he replied, taking another moment to rub his wounded shoulder. “Is it ok if we take a break?”

“Why don’t you go back into town,” she asked. “I need just a few minutes with Nomad.”

Tetsu gave her a nod, his features giving another mixed response. He gave the two a formal goodbye before leaving the scene. Nomad felt some tension in the air and started to walk over towards the downed tree to take a seat.

“Alright sensei, what’s up?” Nomad asked.

Rei slowly began to turn back to him. Her face reflected a struggle going on beneath the surface.

“I know I’ve told you what happened to my village before,” she began to speak. “I know you’re from the same place as the man who destroyed it. I want to know if you know that person’s name.”

I know his name, he started to think to himself. He knew that Rei was looking to get revenge, but he hesitated to give her that answer. Megumi was part of the team, and he did not want to invite any tension between them.

“There’s a lot of people in my unit, or old unit.”

Rei quickly returned, “Who was the one at the top?”

“There’s a lot at the top,” he said after a quick sigh of frustration. “Is skewering or doing whatever you have planned for this person your life goal now?”

She looked towards the ground, hesitating to reply. Nomad continued to stare at her, keeping guarded as he searched for a release.

“It is,” Rei finally declared. “I don’t have anything left and I won’t be at peace until this is done.”

“I don’t know if you really believe that. I’m not saying that there’s never going to be a situation where it’s you or them, but to let your whole life be guided by that doesn’t seem healthy.”

Rei continued her usual cold stare, not meeting his gaze while she reciprocated his words. The sounds of the forest started to become ever more present, leaving Nomad forced to press in again, “I know I don’t have a home to go to. I’ve lost a lot, but I could not be at peace if my only direction in life was to seek revenge.”

“If you were in my shoes, you would say otherwise.”

“You don’t know me like you think you do.”

The remark left Rei almost entranced, not able to respond. Nomad remained silent, only wondering if he were able to reach her. Before either could speak, the brush nearby began to rustle as Judai emerged from the green.

“I hope I didn’t come in at a bad time,” he asked while he began to brush his hands across his camouflage utilities. “I really needed to speak to you.”

Rei looked back to him and calmly lifted her hand, persuading him to continue.

“The Major had passed down the order that we will be leaving Nojiri in the next,” Judai started to stutter before looking down to his watch, “around forty-five hours. I came down here because I need your help, we all do.”

“What’s he got planned?” Nomad asked.

“A reconnaissance operation. It will involve Megumi, probably you too. We need another hand on this operation, and that’s Rei.”

“Me?” Rei chirped.

“There’s no way we can launch a large-scale operation or intend to fight after last week.” Nomad called out.

Judai quickly replied, “It’s not going to be anything like what happened last week. We are going to retrieve a ship from the town up north and leave. There shouldn’t be any bloodshed.”

“Let me guess, the Major just wants to send the new recruits behind enemy lines,” he tried to hold back his laughter, smirking as he thought of the prospect of driving back into Aiga. “If something happens to us, it shouldn’t affect his sitrep since we’re just rogues.”

“If something happens to us, we’re doomed. That means we can’t retrieve the Delta unit, we can’t safely return our wounded,” the urgency and sincerity in Judai’s voice was almost sweeping. “When I say us, that includes me. I’m going with you too, and I don’t want die behind enemy lines. If something happens to you, then something terrible happens to Megumi, and forget if it hurts me, it’s going to hurt a lot of people.”

Nomad could sense the conviction in his words. In Judai’s presence, he felt some sense of familiarity. Even with the many years apart, he could vaguely remember being in the small shelter in the city of Kashmir with Judai.

“I don’t really have a say if I want to do it or not,” Nomad said. “I know I’m already in, and if we’re going to do this, we have no choice but to succeed.”

“What we need is you,” Judai pointed to Rei as he continued. “The Major wants some type of contingency plan in case something bad happens. You were a huge factor that tipped the last battle in our favor, and if something terrible happens, you could be that saving grace we need.”

Rei nodded to him, not taking long to reply, “I guess if something terrible happened to you all, that would affect me.”

“So what does that mean,” Judai’s eyes perked up as he replied, “are you going to help?”

“Of course.”

The swift response caused Judai to let out a sigh of relief. He then smiled, remarking, “I thought that was going to be harder. Anyways, you two need to synchronize watches and meet at the library at twenty hundred.”

“What’s that?” Rei asked.

“It’s military time,” Nomad replied, quickly raising his hand to reveal the watch around his wrist. “I will keep her informed of the time. Let’s not get into that lesson now.”

“In the meantime, get any gear or take some time to sleep,” Judai smiled once more, before he finally concluded, “it’s going to be an all-nighter.”

The supply lines between Nojiri and the other towns were slowly starting to re-open. The forces of Liberation combined with the efforts of the townsfolk were able to resist the G.E.I.’s oppression. Every day they strived to rebuild the once beautiful town of Nojiri. Outside of the ruins of the Nojuro Temple, Tetsu found himself wandering into a peculiar scene. While the sun began to grace the town, Rowan and Tomo were already wide awake and sifting through the rubble once more.

The two were stained with soot from the once burning planks of wood. The massive pile of ash and other unrecognizable materials were a tragic contrast to the beautiful castle that stood just a week prior. In such a short time, Tetsu and his family found themselves trying to cope with the losses. He watched Tomo continued to reach into the rubble, feeling the weight of regret as her birthright seeped between her fingers.

There had to be something I could have done differently, Tetsu would remind himself.

The more he found himself thinking of the many different decisions that he could have made, the more he realized the futility of his actions. Seeing the destruction that was left in the wake of the battle started to remind him even more of how little control he had over the situation. While he approached the rubble, he took notice of Tomo beginning piddle with a small unrecognizable black mass.

“Put that down,” Tetsu commanded. He stepped over towards Tomo, towering over the child as he ripped the object from her hands. “You both should not be here. There’s nothing left in here.”

“I want to find the stuff in my room.” Tomo said sluggishly, as she was still learning to formulate sentences.

“There’s nothing there. The Temple burnt down, we will make sure you get new things.”

“I want my things.”

“Listen to me,” Tetsu raised his voice, causing Rowan to light up with alarm as he continued to dig in. “You need to stop arguing with me. Get out of that rubble and go get cleaned up, you’re a mess.”

“That’s enough,” Rowan called out to him, startling the two as she stepped forward. “This has been a rough week for everybody and the girl wants to go through the rubble, let her.”

“I don’t give a damn how rough she thinks it is, keep her out of the rubble.”

Rowan did not back down, instead remaining stern as Tetsu felt his emotions getting the better of him. Aside from the stress of the town being nearly destroyed, he was still dealing with the grief of his father’s death. With his life spiraling, he started to think again of Rei and Nomad back in the woods, a pang of jealousy striking him as he imagined them together without him.

“What’s gotten into you?” Rowan asked him.

“Do I need to explain myself,” Tetsu lifted his hand towards the rubble behind him, silently emphasizing his frustrations. His shoulder stung once more, causing him to grind his teeth as a painful reminder of the gunshot shuddered through him. “Just keep her out of the rubble. Where is her mom?”

“She is with your brother and Tomo was asking about me taking her here all morning,” Rowan said, still visibly flustered. “They’re doing the election preparations and she wanted me to watch her. If it bothered you that much, I would have said no.”

“Well, I guess she likes you and Megumi a lot more than us.”

“Oh, knock that off.”

Tomo stepped out the rubble, quickly adding, “I like Control, she’s the best.”

“She is, isn’t she?” Tetsu replied.

“You should hear what she says about you.” Rowan said before walking over to Tomo to help wipe the grime from her clothes.

“Oh yeah? What’s that,” Tetsu glared down to his niece, trying to ease himself before flashing a playful grin. “It’s not something I’m going to have to tell your mother, is it?”

“No, it’s not that,” she was quick to look back to Tetsu and smile, “she said she wants to be like you some day.”

Tetsu went silent while Tomo started to walk over to him. He felt some warmth, yet some remorse over his actions before softly placing his hand on her head. Before he could respond, Paxton began to make his approach. The mere sight of him still brought chills to Tetsu. Every time they found themselves in the vicinity of the town, he seemed to be in arms reach.

“At ease,” Paxton said with his usual drawl. He gave them all a wave, trying to get them all seated. Tetsu appeared on edge, only causing him to hesitate before he could continue. “I really needed to speak to Tetsu. I know we might not have been on best terms, but I know we have a very rocky relationship.”

“If you don’t mind me,” Rowan spoke up. “You and your forces just showed up and did battle in the town.”

“A battle we won, with impossible odds, against an enemy who was trying to starve the townsfolk to death,” Paxton turned to her, giving her a calming smile. He then waved his hand and continued, “I’m not going to be broken up about that at all.”

“You’ve got some nerve!”

“That’s enough,” Tetsu said to her before finally turning to face Paxton. “What do you want from us?”

Paxton waved his hand again, giving them all the gesture to take a seat once more. He started to walk around to Tetsu, stepping between him and Rowan.

“Well, if you don’t mind me,” Paxton said as he went to take a seat to Tetsu’s left. “I came here alone because I wanted to have a little man to man with you.”

“I didn’t think you would need a bodyguard for me, not after last time.” Tetsu said, still trying to be humble.

“Well,” Paxton laughed and gave Tetsu a playful shove. “Yeah, yeah, good one, kid. Do ya know what I did before I was in this fight? Go on, guess.”

“I don’t know.”

“Go on, guess!”

“A farmer.”

“Shit,” he let out a full bellied laugh, quickly turning to Tomo and Rowan hoping they would chime in. After a few sniffles and a quick apology, he brushed the stubble on his face nervously. “That’s kind of accurate, but it was for tobacco—which you ain’t gonna do. I was a lil’ troublemaker like you, don’t try to hide it, boy, I talked to your brother.”

“Spare me.” Tetsu hissed.

“He speaks highly of you, trust me, but he was talking about your endeavors,” he said softly before nudging Tetsu again. “Listen, kid, this is me bein’ honest. You did some things to prove yourself, to show that you’re your own man. Not gonna lie, I respect that.”

Tetsu slowly turned back to him, trying his best not to seem irradiated by the comment. After realizing that he had his attention, Paxton continued, “I did some stuff and I thought I was doing a good thing. That whole steal from the rich and give to the poor type of deal feels good, and it’s especially good if you’re rich. You know what I’m sayin’?”

“It’s hard being a rich kid and having everybody think you’re an outsider.”

“Ain’t that the truth! ‘Cept I wasn’t no rich kid, but I know what it feels like tryna earn respect from people that don’t care about ya. It’ll drive you nuts; I tell ya.”

“You don’t have to lead me, what do you want from me?”

“I thought we could open up a bit.”

“What do you want him do?” Rowan finally spoke out after watching the display. A sudden tone shift had wiped the smile from Paxton’s face, revealing his cold stare.

“In ten hours, we’re going into Aiga,” Paxton’s voice had firmed up, almost masking his accent. Before he continued, he pulled his rugged binder from one of his cargo pockets to reveal his notebook. After fumbling through, he had turned to a page with what looked like a map complete with scribbles. “Our intelligence knows there is enemy presence in the area, and we are unable to launch a full-scale attack.”

Before continuing, Rowan had stepped forward to interrupt him, “You can’t battle in another village! The G.E.I. wouldn’t have attacked if you didn’t decide to arm the indigenous and start massacring their troops.”

“Don’t start with me,” Paxton shouted back to her. He very hastily jumped to his feet, doing his best to size her up. “You and I know damn well they’ve committed atrocities—ones you and your crew knew about, and happily ignored until we showed up!”

“Guys,” Tetsu spoke up. “Stop this.”

Rowan kept composed while Paxton stared down at her. Instead of having a witty comeback, she remained at a loss for words. Behind his sadistically cold and calculating façade lay the truth. She really was for the G.E.I. up until the battle had begun. They had known about the massacre of Rei’s village and the ever-growing reach of the Weapons Administration.

“You don’t know what it’s like to be on the other side.” Rowan said to him.

“That’s right,” Paxton muttered back. “I don’t ever wanna know that type of hell is like. I know they’ve brainwashed you and you may be sympathetic in some ways, but we will correct that.”

“You’re a bastard.”

“Enough,” Tetsu shouted, this time standing up and between them. He reached out to Rowan, placing his hand softly against her shoulder. “Let me talk to him.”

“Tetsu.” Rowan could barely say his name.

“Please,” he started to guide her and Tomo away from Paxton and back over to the debris. “Let me handle this, go take Tomo.”

Rowan begrudgingly accepted before picking up the child and stepping away. Tetsu finally faced him, lending him his attention and signaling for him to continue.

“Don’t ever let the ladies boss you around, kid,” Paxton said before delivering a quick sniff. “Unless she’s in your chain of command.”

“You sound like my dad.”

“Alright,” Paxton sighed at the comment. He turned back down to his notes, not letting Tetsu try and keep him off topic. “We have one of our Deep users guiding your friends into Aiga to retrieve a vehicle. While that happens, I need you to use that shadow thing you do to sneak around to plant explosives at the Alferov Research Facility. Come in here for a moment.”

Tetsu cautiously approached, not wanting to get too close to him. It seemed before this point, every encounter with Paxton had ended physically.

Paxton reached around his shoulder, pulling him in and continuing, “Our intel knows there are belligerents in the area, and there are four weak spots that I need you to attack.”

“So, you want to invade another town?”

A week prior, he had faintly remembered hearing Paxton’s blatant declaration, everyone is getting liberated, everyone gets freedom.

Paxton returned softly, “No, it’s not an invasion. Do ya understand that we’re all part of a bigger conflict?”

“When you say you’re bringing freedom to everyone, does that really mean everywhere? Is every town going to go the same route of Nojiri?”

“Let’s not get off topic,” Paxton said, waving his hand towards him unconsciously. “We can discuss the global expansion of Democracy and all that political babble another time.”

“You’re really going to go town to town until they’re all the same.”

“Damn it, boy, it’s more complicated than that!”

“Where does this end?”

“Tomorrow, we hope,” Paxton returned, trying to gain control of the conversation again. “We don’t want any more bloodshed, and we want to let you people get on with your lives. If you can pull this off, the Eurasianoids will be unable to re-enforce this area.”

“What will you do if I don’t?”

“Well, I hoped you wouldn’t say that, but I’ll use Rei. She is a Swiss army knife, but she doesn’t have the stealth you do. I don’t want to put her and anyone else in danger, and you and I both know this job would be easy for you.”

“I certainly have done more dangerous jobs,” Tetsu replied, not thinking much at the magnitude of the facility. “Then what happens to the crew and everyone after?”

“Liberation withdraws, you and your family win the election, and we go to Kashmir.”

Tetsu once again found himself unconsciously starting to nibble at his thumb. He found himself in heavy thought, thinking of what would happen if he stayed behind.

This isn’t the hardest thing I’ve done, I can do this, he continued chewing away at his thumbnail as Paxton began to clear his throat.

“I’m sorry,” Tetsu spoke again. “I want to know what happens to me?”

“You can do what you want,” Paxton said while lowering his arms to try and look more submissive. “You can join us in the fight for freedom or you can stay home and live your life. All I ask is that you do this so we can finally deal a crushing blow and not have to risk more casualties. C’mon now, that’s fair.”

“I’m thinking.”

“I didn’t ask anybody else, I asked you because I know you’re the man for the job. You have ten, well,” he looked down towards his watch while trailing on. “Nine hours and fifty-four minutes to make a decision. You wanna stop the bloodshed and make a difference? I’d say yes.”