The Red Hand

Chapter 17 – The Cat Appears!

Akagi hopped into the base, followed closely behind by Yumi. Many of the soldiers were still awestruck. Camp Katsura's main gate was several feet thick and made of reinforced steel; to see it sliced open so easily was truly unbelievable. Moments later a large explosion could be seen from the east side of the base.

"Chloe's team has begun their attack." She said as she walked up to Akagi. The Cat had contacted her via telepathy.

"It seems so. I just hope they leave some fun for us." Akagi chuckled.

As she said that a hail of gunfire erupted as soldiers began shooting at the two of them. However, when the bullets reached Akagi, they simply went straight through her while a small black puff of smoke rose from the impact point. Seeing that their bullets had no effect many soldiers fled in an attempt to regroup and acquire something to harm her.

"See, I told you we had nothing to worry about." She said looking back at Yumi with a cheeky smile.

For her part, Yumi was surrounded by a barrier that deflected or absorbed the incoming fire. As expected the soldiers rifle rounds were unable to harm her and she could only roll her eyes Akagi's comment.

"Now then." Akagi zoomed forward, cutting several soldiers down. "Let the game begin." She said; her eyes filled with rage.

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<Kana POV>

"Those alarms have been going off for a while, and there was that loud boom. What's going on?" Kana said looking at the soldiers guarding her cell.

One of the soldiers was speaking with someone via his comms. "Right, Right. Understood, we'll take care of them. Over and out."

He looked over at Kana and the girls.

"Well, it looks like your big sister really came, I guess that means she cares about you enough to walk straight into our trap. Apparently, she's putting on one hell of a show out front." He shook his head laughing.

"Miria, Tsubaki." He said looking at the two other soldiers. "We've got inbound. Apparently, a second team breached the east wall and is en route to free the prisoners."

"A second team? I thought it was only supposed to be that Akagi girl and the priestess. Who else is here?" The soldier woman asked him.

"Don't know, command didn't give any identifiers, apparently they're fast and have been giving our guys a hell of a time." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter, once they get here, we take them down and secure these three." he had a dangerous look in his eye.

"Right!" (Both soldiers)

A few moments later, gunfire could be heard from the adjacent room followed by screaming.

{I wonder if that's Onee-chan's friends?} (Kana)

"I guess that means they're here, weapons free." He said as they trained their weapons on the door.

A minute passed, the gunfire stopped and no further noise could be heard from the adjacent room. The soldiers had expected the enemy to immediately advance on their position, but nothing happened. The squad leader opted to check over his local comms to get a read on the situation. "Hamiya, this is Inori; what's your status. over." He asked.

Almost as soon as he finished, the door flew open, and the body of a soldier crashed into him. This caused momentary confusion which allowed a single individual to slip through the door and into the room.

"Contact!" one of the soldiers yelled as they opened fire. However, it was already too late. A short woman dressed like a ninja had already closed the distance and drove her knives into the female soldier, killing her instantly.

"Shit, Miria!" The other soldier screamed.

He opened fire on the ninja, who acrobatically dodged his bullets seeming to glide through the air as she moved. Her quick movements caused her hood to fall down revealing her short red hair and cat-like ears on top of her head.

"Wa-?" The soldier was shocked by the speed of the girl's movement and found himself distracted by her cat-like appearance. This momentary lapse in concentration would be his undoing as she leaped onto the ceiling and pushed herself off, using the momentum to drive her knife straight into his heart.

With him dead, the red haired cat girl then walked over to the unconscious man trapped under his dead comrade and slit his throat with one swift strike to make sure he wouldn't be getting back up. After making sure the three soldiers were dead, she walked over to the holding cell that contained the three girls and removed the cover over her mouth. She seemed quite young, perhaps the same age as Kana, her face was round and her eyes were a deep red, the same color as her hair. She had cat-like ears on top of her head and a tail to match, while her mouth showed that her canines were slightly longer than normal.

"Few, that was a close one nya!" The cat-girl looked at the three of them. "Are you three alright? Those bad men didn't hurt you did they nya?" asks she spoke, her ears and tail began to twitch and move.

The girls were speechless. They had no idea who this girl was, but they assumed she was a subordinate of Akagi. She took down three soldiers with seemingly zero effort, which was quite impressive, but what surprised them more than anything else was......

"Did... Did she actually just say Nya?" Naomi said in disbelief.

"Oh my god, she's so cute!" Mika said with sparkles in her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised, Onee-chan...." Kana, who knew her sister's preferences, felt ashamed seeing the ninja cat-girl.

In response to these words, Chloe could only tilt her head and let out a small “Nya?" in confusion.

After taking a second to regain her composure, Naomi asked a question.

"I'm going to assume you're one of Akagi's subordinates?" Naomi was sure she was but wanted to confirm.

"Yup! Myaster is my Myaster!" the cat replied proudly. "She sent me on a special mission to rescue you and keep you safe from these mean men nya!" she gave a smile that showed one of her fangs.

{This girl..... I'm going to have to have a talk with Onee-chan when I see her. I hope she didn't corrupt this pure creature.} Kana held her head in her hands. Kana never expected one of Akagi's subordinates to be so close to some of the images she knew her sister had.

"Does that mean we get to go home!" Mika asked. “We don't have to stay locked up in this place!”

"Yupper!" the cat responded with a cheer.

"And maybe pet your ears," Mika said in a quiet voice.

"Hmmm..... nope! My ears are for myaster and myaster only."

Not expecting to be heard, Mika's face became bright red.

{Mika, those ears are probably pretty sensitive.. but I know how you feel.} Kana could only look at her friend with a mix of pity and understanding.

The cat-girls words then made Kana have a sudden realization which caused her more concern.

{Oh no, I think I was too late. I'm sorry cat-girl, Onee-chan took you to the dark side, didn't she? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Heh.Heh.Heh.Heh.} Kana had lost all hope of saving her, causing her sanity to drop slightly.

{Why is myaster's sister looking at me with pity in her eyes? } Chloe couldn't understand what was going through Kana's mind. {Ack! Maybe being brought her was too much for the poor girl and shes going mad! I have to get them out of here now nya!} she said screaming in her mind. Of course, what she could not know was that Kana's active imagination was causing self inflicted mental damage.

"Now stand back, please! I'm going to get you out of there nya." She said readying her small sword. This sudden yell caused Kana to snap back to reality.

The three girls heeded her warning and moved to the back of the cell before the cat-girl swung her blade and cut the bars into pieces.

The girls were shocked at how easily this girl, who was as built identically to them, cut those thick steel bars.

{Just, how strong is this girl? She cut those bars like they were nothing.”} (Naomi)

"All done! Now lets you somewhere safe, so that master and I can go all out nya!" She said motioning them to follow. The three girls looked at each other, comforted by the fact that they were all very confused.

As the girls left the holding cell and ventured into the adjacent room, they were assaulted by the smell of blood that permeated the air and the room was filled with the corpses of the soldiers that once defended this building. Kana and Naomi became nauseous but managed to hold it together. However, Mika, who had a very weak stomach, vomited on the floor and turned stark white. She had never been very good with gore in movies and this was on a whole-nother level.

"Ahhhh, I forgot. Kids like you aren't usually good with this sort of stuff." She walked over to Mika. "I can't make the mental part any better, but I can at least calm your stomach nya." Her hand began glowing bright white and she rubbed Mika on her back.

"Does that feel better nya? I cast a light heal on you." She asked concerned for the girl.

Mika took a moment to steady herself and calm her breathing. "Ye-Yeah, I feel better; my stomach calmed down. I guess it's good that we didn't eat before we went to Kana's house." she still pale and looked quite ill.

"Good, good. Kids like you shouldn't have to see this kind of thing nya. Forgive me for showing you something like this, I didn't even think of removing the bodies before I came for you." her ears drooped slightly.

{Ok, that's kinda cute.} (Kana, Naomi and Mika)

"Wait, hold on." something the cat had said caught Naomi's attention. "You call us kids but aren't you the same age as us? You can't be much older." Looking at Chloe, you might think she was eighteen or nineteen at best. She was the same height as the girls, but her personality made her seem childish.

"Nya? The same age as you? I'm twenty-three if I'm not mistaken, so I'm a little older than you three." She answered with a cheeky smile.

"Ehhhhh?" the three girls were shocked.

"Wait what! You're even older than Onee-chan! But you look so...." Kana couldn't believe that this innocent little girl was actually much older than they were.

"Well excuse me for being short." She said in a huff. "Beast kin don't tend to be that tall, and I'll have you know I was considered quite big for my village." She looked at Kana. "And besides, I'm as tall as you nya!" Kana's comments had touched a nerve.

{Well I mean, she is the same height as us, maybe even slightly taller than Mika? Not that she's that tall, to begin with.} (Kana)

"Sorry, please don't be mad. I was just surprised." She pleaded for forgiveness.

"Nya ha ha." the cat laughed. "I'm not mad. I don't really care about my height; after all, myaster said I'm perfect just the way I am, nya." she gave a big smile.

{Onee-chan, You better not be just stringing this girl along.} Kana's thoughts got scary.

As she finished speaking, two more animal-eared ninja's appeared in the room and began to give a report to Chloe.

"Leader, we have finished eliminating the enemy soldiers nearby; we can begin exfiltration as soon as you are ready." (Dog-eared ninja male)

"Kira is currently holding down the wall breach and is on standby as requested." (Fox-eared ninja female)

Chloe gave a nod as her subordinates updated her on the situation.

"Good work you two, I want you with me while we escort these three to Kira nya. Once she takes them to safety we'll commence part two of our mission." the cat girl said with a scary grin.

"Yes" (fox)

"Of course" (dog)

{Wow, what a 180 from her playful airheaded self just a second ago. Just who exactly is this girl?} Naomi thought to herself confused about the cat they had just met. She seemed to flip back and forth between being aloof and serious. Naomi couldn't tell which was the real her.

Chloe looked back at the girls.

"Alright, let's get you somewhere safe. We're going to escort you to Kira and then she'll be in charge of keeping you safe nya." She said. “She's a little bit of a stick in the mud, but I think you'll like her.” and like that she was back to being mischievous again, as she stuck out her tongue when referring to Kira.

{Just how many people does Akagi have working for her?} (Naomi)

The three girls nodded and followed the three animal-earned ninjas out of the building and towards the massive hole in the eastern wall. As they walked, they could hear the sounds of battle throughout the base. Explosions and gunfire could be heard all around them with screams sprinkled in once and a while. It was clear that Akagi had initiated a full-scale assault to save them and that she wasn't pulling any punches.

{Onee-chan, I'm happy you saved us, but was all this really necessary?} Kana's previous doubt had begun to resurface upon seeing all the death and destruction that Akagi caused. {Would Onee-chan really go this far, even for me?}

Seeing the three ninja's walking quite casually down the road Kana decided to ask a question. "Are you guys used to this kind of stuff? It seems like your quite relaxed for being in the middle of a battlefield. Isn't this kind of thing dangerous? "Kana thought it strange how calm they were.

Chloe looked back. "Of course it's dangerous nya. But it's our job, normally my team doesn't do such flashy maneuvers, but we know how to fight and we do our best work when we're relaxed." She gave a smile.

"And my sister? Is she ok? Can she really fight so many people herself?" Kana asked pensively.

"Myaster? I wouldn't worry about her nya. I don't think anything could stop her when she puts her mind to it." She chuckled. "I have a feeling that the General might be regretting his decision right about now."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the wall breach. Waiting for them was a tall woman with long green hair. She was wearing what looked like a military uniform and had two horns protruding from her head, as well as a thick lizard-like tail.

"Ah, there you are. I was starting to think I would have to go looking for you." She said in a sarcastic voice.

The cat stuck out her tongue at this comment. "Here they are. please take care of these three back at base and have Mimi take a look at them just to be safe." Chloe said.

"I will and be careful in there, some of our teams have been hitting heavy resistance," Kira warned.

"Any casualties?" the cat asked with concern.

"A few have been wounded but nothing life-threatening."

Chloe sighed in relief.

"Good." She looked back at the girls. "Kira will take you from here, she can be a little scary, but she's a nice lady.” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Oi!” the dragon lady took exception to this comment.

“My team and I are gonna join in the fun. If all goes well, I'll see you all at base in a little bit nya." She said as she and her team jumped onto the roof of one of the nearby barracks and ran towards the sound of gunfire.

"Now then, stupid comments by that cat aside." Kira sighed and looked at the girls. "Let's get you out of here, this is no place for the likes of you." She walked up to the girls. "Stand close to me, I can only teleport those within a small radius."

The girls gathered up close to her as a small magic circle formed around them. A moment later, the four of them disappeared in a flash of light.

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