White Girl

Oslo, Norway
11:30 

For the moment, the perimeter of the ISC complex is relatively quiet, although the sounds of gunfire in the background are getting closer and closer. Cedric reported over the radio that they had already encountered a few Empire soldiers; it seems they were just some scouts, which speaks volumes about the great job the Marine team is doing in maintaining the defenses and keeping them at bay.

But there was still no sign of the artillery attack I had been warned about. I was still waiting on the second floor of the building to the west. But suddenly a message over the radio broke the monotony of waiting: "This is Arkadia 1, we have prepared the transports and personnel, we will leave in 5 minutes, please secure the escape route," Akane's voice said over the radio. Cedric replied that the escape route was clear. It seemed that we had survived long enough to know that the time to leave was near, but that didn't reassure me at all; on the contrary, it made me even more nervous to know that my window of opportunity to retrieve the Codex was much shorter than I had thought.

But while I was still pondering the situation, I heard a whistle from the sky. Seconds later, an explosion echoed from across the street, followed a second later by another explosion, then two more in quick succession. Bombs and projectiles could be heard throughout the city. The Empire had managed to deploy its artillery units, escalating the conflict in the city. It was a terrifying sight, even for me, who already knew this would happen. But with it came my time to act and steal the Codex from the building in front of me. To add a bit of realism to my performance, I turned on my radio and spoke.

"Here, Hunter 2-2, we're under heavy artillery attack, the western escape route is blocked by debris."
"There is still a route to the north via Kirkeveien Street."
"But you'll have to hurry!"

"Warlord here, the Imperial forces are intensifying their attack on the city."
"We suspect they're probably getting reinforcements from the east."
"All units, be careful out there, we have no idea what might happen in the next few hours."
"Please complete your tasks as quickly as possible and evacuate the city via the designated route."
"Good luck."

On the radio, Vice Admiral Mark warned that the attack on the city of Oslo would only get worse from now on, which was unpleasant to hear. But at the same time, it provided an opportunity to make some plays and plans, like the foolish one I was about to commit by taking over the radio once again.

"Where the hell is Arkadia?"
"Time is running out, we have to leave now, otherwise we could face them with the spearhead of the Empire on our way out."
"We don't know how much longer the Marines can hold out!"

"Arkadia 1 here, negative."
"The research team contains very sensitive vital machinery that could be damaged in transit."
"It's impossible to leave now with the artillery attack all around; we'll stay until the attack is called off so we can escape."
"The Empire won't bomb their own troops in the city; we'll wait until they're a little closer so we can escape without trouble."

"Hunter 2-2, by the time the artillery barrage stops, there won't be any buildings to hide in or streets to cross!"
"The time to leave is now!"

"We will be a priority walking target for enemy artillery the moment we step out!"

"Damn it, just set up a decoy if you want to survive."
"Screw it, I'll do it myself to show you how it's done."
"I'm going inside to get a truck and run to distract them."
"You better take advantage of this opportunity, idiots!"

"Oh, I understood."
"We'll prepare one of the trucks for you to use as a distraction, be careful."

Of course, I had no intention of dying today, but this would give me a good excuse to enter the I.S.C. complex, which was apparently off-limits to everyone else. No one's going to complain about someone wanting to be a hero if it means getting out of here alive, so I grabbed my gear and my rifle, adjusted my helmet, and looked up at the sky one last time with the naive idea of trying to predict the next artillery barrage. I waited a moment for the opportunity to cross the street, took a breath, and began to run as fast as my body would allow. As I approached the building, I could see two security guards opening one of the doors for me to enter. When I arrived, they greeted me and thanked me for the rescue attempt, but I continued to make my way into the building, trying to follow the map I had to find the lab where the Codex was supposed to be. Inside the corridors, the situation was quite different from outside, with clean and well-maintained corridors, papers everywhere, and a lot of scientists in lab coats looking at a soldier walking confidently through the corridors. Using the excuse of looking for escape vehicles, I walked for a while without anyone suspecting my true motives, until a vaguely familiar man appeared in my path.

"Who's that over there?
"Why is there an Alliance soldier inside the building? Who let him in?"

He was a man of average height, average face, and average build, his only distinguishing features being the glasses he wore and the two red folders he held in his hands; he was the very definition of a nerd. There was a badge on his lab coat that said "Lead Investigator" as well as his name, Brandon, so I could tell he was one of the important men in this whole rescue operation.

"I'm Hunter 2-2, I spoke on the radio a moment ago, I'm here to take a truck and act as a decoy, please be near the vehicles for the escape," I said.

"So you must be the one Captain Akane mentioned," the investigator said, looking at a tablet he pulled out of his pocket.

"Where are all the vehicles? I need one that's moderately armored if we're going to make this work," I replied, looking around and pretending to be lost looking for the trucks, obviously I didn't have time to waste talking to him.

My time was running out, so I had to hurry even more before the Empire actually arrived and made things even more complicated. After turning down a few corridors, I found one with much tighter security and an armed man waiting, who as soon as he saw me, raised his weapon and took aim.

"Stop right there!"
"What are you doing here?"
"Who are you? Identify yourself!"
"This is a restricted area, only members of the Arkadia Squad are allowed to pass!" the guard said angrily, doing his job.

But the only answer was the single shot from my pistol. I'm sorry, but I didn't have time to be nice to everyone today. The man's body fell backwards towards the door; he didn't even have time to realize what had happened. I holstered my gun again and searched the dead man for the key to open the door, which I found in one of his pockets. I immediately entered the room to finish my search.

I received a cold slap, the temperature here was much lower than the rest of the building. The room was filled with computers, all turned off or destroyed, an attempt to destroy as much information as possible to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Empire. In the center of the room was a huge capsule, like the ones you see in science fiction stories, one of those refrigerators with someone sleeping inside. It only had the inscription "Valkyria" on one side; around it were several vials containing a blue slimy substance that looked like some kind of slime. They were only marked with the initials "VFD", so it was impossible to know what they really were. I cautiously approached the large capsule, thinking that it was most likely to contain the blue crystal that had caused such a stir all along, the stone that kings and dragons alike had killed to obtain at any cost. The important project the I.S.C. was investigating to stop the Empire's high technology was inside, so I carefully opened the lid to take a look.

...

But what was inside was only the despair of a wasted life. Horror immediately seized my body; my stomach immediately hurt. I threw up on the floor from the sight of the horrible image before me. I lacked air and balance; only the worst of my nightmares coming true could cause such psychological damage as what I was witnessing. The sounds of laughter and screams of despair returned to my mind with more force than ever before.

Inside the capsule, there was simply a girl sleeping innocently with her eyes closed and her hands gently holding the crystal I had come to retrieve. But the ethereal and mysterious appearance of the girl was an unusual event in this world. Her white and delicate porcelain skin was the result of her pronounced albinism, and her hair was beautifully long, almost covering her entire height. Though shorter than average, it only emphasized the disproportionately large attributes of her feminine body. Her breasts were disproportionately large for her height, as were her hips, which were particularly large and thick for the innocent appearance they initially suggested. Signs of a curse placed upon her before her birth by order of her father, a curse that only made her stand out even more with her particular features beyond the lusty proportions of her short and plump body. She had the large ears of an albino fox, as well as a large tail that took up most of the interior space of the capsule and served as a comfortable bed for the girl to sleep peacefully. A short stack girl, also an albino fox girl, coincidentally holding the codex in her hands. There were too many coincidences of fate, and that was what scared me and made me want to vomit.

As much as I would have liked to say that I knew nothing about her, that was a big lie. I personally knew the girl well enough to know that she was already dead. She was Nanami, who had once been my wife during an even darker period of my life, and whose comfort was the only thing that kept me alive during those days of cruelty and despair.

Now I had even more questions about what the hell was going on, what the hell Stella and the I.S.C. were hiding from me. What was the cruel purpose behind this terrible day?

I had been promised that all that stupid and damned past was behind me, that the lives claimed during the war had been the price to pay to leave nothing behind from that place, Atlantis.

*Boom!*

But the sound and tremor of a bomb exploding near the lab woke me from my thoughts and terror to the reality of the present moment. I had to make a decision, a difficult and cruel one. The capsule containing Nanami was too big and heavy to carry alone to the truck, only to be involved in a tough pursuit to the north of the country. Instead, I took the codex only to deliver it to Stella and fulfill my part of the deal to save my sister; then I would grab her by the neck and force her to reveal the reason for burying Nanami's body in the ground. I would force her to free her from the clutches of the I.S.C. and give her the eternal rest she deserved.

With all the pain in the world, I tucked the blue and mysterious crystal into one of my pockets and ran without looking back. I didn't have the courage to meet her gaze anymore; I wasn't that much of a bastard. Shortly after I left the corridor, I heard Akane and the rest of her team arrive at the lab to transport the capsule, luckily they didn't notice me as they passed right by me.

After running and shedding a few tears, I found the garage of the place and a guard showed me the truck they had prepared for me. I quickly checked the truck before I left. Besides, it wasn't my job, so I gave some last instructions to the people present to try to get out of there alive.

"Is everyone ready?"
"Alright, I'm going to start, as soon as I get out of here, wait about 30 seconds before you start moving."
"Go west until you reach a road blocked by debris, then turn north onto Kirkeveien and from there go back east until you reach the evacuation point."
"Do not stop for anything, even if one of the other cars is attacked.

Immediately after speaking, I got in and started the car. Immediately, I stepped on the gas and crashed through the glass door of the main entrance. Since I needed to attract as much attention as possible, I tried to be as flashy as possible before heading out of town; it was now a make-or-break moment to survive. Shortly after I started driving, the first units of the Empire appeared, so it was time to move, as I expected a rather turbulent journey.