The Red Hand

Chapter 82 – The Deployment and the Christmas Offensive.

"Libra has been far too quiet." Aoi was on a video call with the rest of the Rapid Response Team. Each was stationed at positions across Japan so that they could quickly intervene to deal with Libra attacks. There had been a down tick in the number of attacks over the last week and Libra hadn't made any further strikes. "It's been a week since the attack in Kyoto. I find it hard to believe they would get so hesitant just because of Akagi." She knew Akagi was strong and dangerous, but didn't think her ire alone was enough to stop Libra.

"I don't know," Superbia said. "From what Hishya told me, Akagi might actually be the real problem here." Superbia had passed along what Hishya told her to the rest of the team, and Imp corroborated the story.

"Hard to believe that she was actually born as an honest-to-god Demon." Excelsior was quite a religious man, so he was conflicted over this revelation.

"Are we sure that's not just some fear-mongering?" Hoshino interjected. "Like, come on, before whatever happened to us. Demons and monsters were just fairy-tales to scare kids." She tried to wave their concerns away.

"Yes, but it is because of our changes that we shouldn't be dismissing the possibility of supernatural beings existing in this world." Superbia disagreed. "And Imp herself vouched for Hishya's story."

"Yeah, but Imp's crazy." Hoshino waved her hand dismissively. "You and I both know that taking anything she says with less than a dump truck of salt isn't a good idea. No offense Impy." She smiled.

"None taken-had." Imp smiled.

"Regardless," Aoi spoke up. "I've been instructed to keep Akagi at a distance if possible. The fact remains that she wiped out a JSDF base effortlessly and has killed three players since awakening from FWO. Demon or not, she's dangerous and a threat. We shouldn't take her lightly."

"Yeah but I mean, come on. Hijax and Sumeralia weren't that tough, any of us could have beaten them." Hoshino seemed confident. "I think all of us combined could handle Akagi."

"No, we can't." Minazawa broke her silence. "Need I remind you that Akagi is powerful enough to defeat Hishya. Someone who is already extraordinarily powerful."

"Well yeah, but-" Hoshino wanted to retort but was cut off.

"No buts!" Minazawa exclaimed. "Hishya was utterly and completely beaten at Hassan. You weren't there for that battle, but Hishya was basically worthless for a week after what Akagi did to her." Minazawa sighed. "Not to mention how easily Akagi handled her in their little match. Even if it was just an exhibition match, Akagi showed no signs of struggling even when Hishya was clearly more powerful than she was in FWO. When I talked with Hishya she told me in no uncertain terms that Akagi was holding back considerably and that despite how close it looked, she couldn't defeat her."

"Fine, but I still think you all are overreacting." Hoshino was still not convinced. "Akagi is still limited by what powers she had in the game, right? And even if she's strong, she can't possibly handle all of us at once. I just think you guys are over-hyping her and underselling how strong we are." She nodded.

"That attitude is exactly why Ishigami got killed." Minazawa shook her head. "He was no slouch in combat and was easily one of our top members, yet she beat him so easily. You saw the recording. One shot. Just one shot, and he was dead. And before that, Akagi was just playing with him." She regretted leaving him alone against Akagi. 

"I agree with Minazawa," Aoi said. "It's not a good idea to make any assumptions about Akagi's ability and power, and we would be better served to tread lightly. Our priority is dealing with Libra, not picking a fight with someone who might not even be our enemy." Aoi had seen the fear in Hishya's eyes over the comms gear. Seeing the Hero so worked up and brought nearly to tears as she shook while describing the monster that was Akagi convinced Aoi that they shouldn't aggravate her.

"Speaking of enemies, I have a report." A girl with short and unruly purple hair spoke up. "My familiars have noted an increase in the material being brought to the Nagoya base. I think they're preparing for something big."

"Thanks, Wexel." Aoi frowned. "We know Alice is located there, and with her summoner abilities she is likely creating an army. The material we've seen is a combination of metal and wood, so they're probably using that as base material for puppets."

"I still don't understand how she could control that many summons at once," Wexel said. "I know her skill helps her, but there's no way she could control an army the size our models are predicting. Even if Imperial managed to find some work around, its inconceivable that she can control more than a few hundred at once."

"If she sends a bunch of puppets at us, we'll just cut them down easy.” Hoshino cracked her knuckles. "We'll show them just how much time they wasted on their little soldiers."

"I would be cautious, Hoshino." Wexel sighed. "Alice is no joke, and her puppets were key in helping us clear the first half of the World Bosses. They might be weak individually, but even against high level players in sheer numbers they can overwhelm you." Alice's summons had made clearing floors much easier and safer than they'd otherwise be.

"Yeah, she was quite good until you idiots ran her out." Mixu gave a snide comment. She wasn't part of the Assault Team and was quite annoyed at the way they treated the young girl. "Yell at her, try to kill her, then slap a bounty on her head. Good going, no wonder she wants to fucking kill everyone."

"We made mistakes, we know." Minazawa glared at her. "Hishya took responsibility for that fuck up, but you're not wrong that we betrayed the trust that girl put in us. I was the one who passed along the bad intel about Akagi which caused everything to spiral out of control. But there's nothing we can do to change the past. I feel guilty about how she was treated, but Alice is now our enemy, we must be ready to take her down."

"Little girl, nice cute!" Imp smiled. "She likes being tickled-hugged."

"Imp, could you not talk about your blatantly fraternization with our enemy, please." Mixu sighed. "I get you're more interested in your inventions, but try not to forget what side you're on."

"Yeah, she's not exactly an innocent little girl anyway." Hoshino was referring to her massacre at the hospital when she awoke. "Fucking creepy little bastard."

"Yes, and that little girl calls Akagi Mama." Superbia sighed. "I'm worried that Akagi might actually take action against us if we hurt her. Even if she told me she wouldn't." Superbia had briefly spoken to Akagi about this issue, and the Demon did tell her that Alice was on her own. She might view the girl as a daughter, but she wouldn't act as some helicopter parent. Though there was some doubt about whether Akagi wouldn't swoop in an save her if things got dicey.

"Freaks gotta stick together. Let the monster have its monster daughter." Hoshino chuckled.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Hoshino," Excelsior spoke up. "Alice is dangerous. I've seen firsthand what she can do with her powers. And Superbia is right to fear Akagi's intervention over her." He continued. "I don't like the idea of killing a child, and it's partially our fault she got like this, but we must do what's necessary. Even if it makes my stomach churn." He'd already made peace with the idea of killing Alice, not that he liked it.

"Just go confess to your pastor, and everything will be alright, Mr. Priest." Hoshino said sarcastically. Excelsior was an outlier as a Christian man in Japan and Hoshino was on the opposite end of the religious spectrum. "Though with the fucked up things those people do to children, perhaps killing one isn't the worst thing he's seen."

"You son of a bi-" Execlsior was about to draw his hammer when Aoi interrupted him.

"Enough!" Aoi intervened to stop the fighting from escalating. "Right now, we need to figure out a game plan and determine how to move forward. We will be abiding by Akagi's rules for now, so do not enter Kansai without permission. If we're lucky, Libra gets itself killed by Akagi." She looked at Wexel.

"Wexel, keep your scouting efforts up. I want to know if anything happens at the compound." Aoi turned to Minazawa. "Minazawa, You'll be heading down to Nagasaki. We've had reports of suspicious activity, and we think Libra might be plotting something down there."

"Superbia, once you finish your business with Hishya and Akagi tomorrow. Please go to Nagoya and sit on standby." (Aoi)

"Hoshino, I want you up in Sapporo. Wexel spotted Skipper making his way up there, and we want you to take him out if possible. Though please try to limit collateral damage, your last battle with Zappy caused quite a large number of angry calls from homeowners." (Aoi)

"Hey, listen its not my fault things get messy." Hoshino had an awful smile on her face. "But anyway, taking out that stupid pirate wannabe is gonna be great!"

"Mixu, you'll be in Tokyo as usual. And Excelsior, you've been requested at a conference between us and the U.S. Military to set up another joint op, so you'll also be in Tokyo." Aoi finished giving orders. "I'll update you if I have anything further, so be careful and happy hunting."

"Right!" All seven of them nodded in approval before disconnecting.

Aoi slid back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. The bags under her eyes had only been growing bigger, and her exhaustion was piling up from all the stress.

"I just hope we can deal with Libra before we regret not taking Akagi's deal." She put her hands over her face.

{Ever since I met her at her home, I've had this sinking feeling in my chest, like by turning her down, we made a massive mistake.} Aoi sighed. {I need to reach out to Hishya again. We need her help if we're going to win this.}

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"Is everything ready?" Herlex asked as he looked around the conference table. He'd gathered all the key actors necessary for his plan to remove Wexel at the base in Nagoya.

"Just about." Armalthy smiled. "We've got people moving to each designated point, and with some luck, the RRT will take the bait."

"Good, with Wexel out of the way. Then we can move to attack Nagoya, and well....." Helix's lips curved into a smile. "I think that should make them take us just a bit more seriously." The other members of Libra stood around the conference table partially obscured by the low light, but their eyes seemed to glow in anticipation.

"Birdy, Spellhauser, Zappy, Max." Herlex looked at the four of them. "I want you to stay here and help Alice make all the final preparations. If we manage to kill Wexel, we're shooting for mid-January to attack Nagoya, and I want everything ready to go. Spellhauser, Max, Sabia and Merkyul will compose the main attacking force alongside Gim and Grim. While Elna, myself, and Armalthy will hit other targets, we've got some items we'll need for future plans. Birdy, you're on escort duty, keep Alice safe and Zappy. You stay at base and provide security while were out." Originally he'd wanted to send in most of Libra at once, but decided against it due to their backers suggesting restraint. They did want a mass casualty event, but if Libra went all in against Nagoya that would potentially cause further issues. The Russians and Chinese wanted to intervene in Japan, not exterminate its population. Thus the Nagoya strike, while big, would be smaller in scale than originally planned. It would mostly consist of puppets and a smaller team of Libra members. Herlex expected around 10k plus casualties at a minimum but more was always appreciated.

This caused some discontent among Libra members, but Herlex assured them that they'd get their pound of flesh later. They just needed to trust the plan.

"Sounds good!" Birdy smiled.

"Good, I've been wondering when we would stop this whole pinprick game." Spellhauser grinned.

"Finally, I can put this Axe to some good use!" Max bellowed loudly.

“Sounds good to me.” Zappy agreed.

"I can't wait to tear that Oni apart!" Gim spoke over the radio.

"Yeah, hopefully she's a bit more interesting than that sister of hers!" Grim agreed with him. The two were out on a separate mission at the moment and would not take part in the Christmas attacks.

“Skipper's already on the way to Sapporo, so that should be everyone." Herlex nodded.

"Alright, let's show these idiots that not even on Christmas are they safe." Herlex looked up with a fire in his eyes. "This will be the beginning of our first major offensive. Let's make sure the history books remember this as the beginning of the end."

Everyone let out a resounding cheer at his statement, and they were all fired up. The attack on Nagoya was a long time coming, and they'd finally get to let loose.

Herlex was not wrong. The attack on Nagoya would mark the beginning of the end. But not in the way he or anyone else could have anticipated.

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