High Wastelands

[ Sixth Shadow Base, C.I.C.A.D.A ]

[The High Wastelands, Henan]

Azuma could not think.

He could not breathe.

Nor was he able to pull himself out of the past few moments that replayed again and again in his mind. The echoes of the merciless guns and pained cries softly suffocated all his senses.

And yet.

He didn't feel a thing.

Besides the noise of everything that kept growing within the haunting emptiness.

Azuma could not understand it, perhaps he felt too much or perhaps he was simply shocked.

But he knew there was no guilt.

"Well…" a dry laugh escaped him, as Azuma leaned back against the metal wall, "You have more interesting features than what I expected."

The crew was distracted enough by his talks, and even if that didn't work quite as well as some smoke or stun grenades, it was enough.

「 It feels good to know, Azuma. 」

Her voice was perhaps the only nice thing in that blood-stained plane.