Chapter 15 - A Surprise Attack

"I'm not going with you."

Claire's response to Raphael was inconsiderate and cold, leaving him feeling hurt and confused. "Quit being stubborn Claire! Are you really going to keep pretending you don't know me!? I can't protect you when I'm about to retreat, so please just listen to me and—"

"I don't need your protection! I don't even know who you are! I'll never need someone like you." Claire made Raphael speechless, and before he can attempt to convince her into coming with him again, Bernadette knocked him out and ordered some of the retreating soldier to take Raphael with them.

"Hmm, you owe me one." She told Claire.

"I-I apologize! I don't know what he wants from me nor what our relationship was due to amnesia." Claire explained.

"Amnesia!? Well that's interesting. We'll have to talk about that later, for now, follow me!" Bernadette lead the way to the frontlines of the battlefield.

As members of the Special Infantry Troop, their primary objective was to prevent the enemies from penetrating through the allied territory. If enemies were able to break through, this might destroy their formation in battle and cost them defeat.

Platoon III is currently on defense at the front lines. "Claire, prevent any attack from harming the others! Stay alert and keep on the lookout!" Bernadette ordered as a commanding superior.

However, Claire doesn't feel comfortable with being in a defensive position on the battlefield. Though she remained at a spot to defend the soldiers from the armored division behind her.

In the midst of the battle, a helicopter belonging to the enemy unleashed a barrage of bullets at her direction. Her reflexes and combat instincts propelled her towards the threat, and deflected the bullets with her shifter katana in a swift and fluid motion. "Haa... this is too easy." Claire felt unsatisfied with just defending.

Fellow soldiers from her platoon were amazed by how she dealt with that attack single handedly, and to add that Claire is using her shifter on her right leg which was an unusual place to install the weapon. "That was the arrogant girl from earlier! So she's got some impressive skills, huh." Said one of the fighters.

Then at a distance, Claire can see how Bernadette was dealing with an enemy in close-range combat. She carefully observes them and was impressed by their speed and abilities.

"Shifter Falchion!" And in a swift motion, Bernadette threw a punch with her right hand tranformed into a blade type weapon trying to cut her foe on the torso. Though her enemy was able to dodge in time by leaping back and aimed a shifter shotgun at her.

She got to deflect the attack and dashed her way to the enemy before they can get away. Her shifter falchion was able to pierce through the enemy's back and to the chest. "Aargh!"

"You scream like a dying pig." Bernadette insulted the enemy before beheading them. After one comes another, Bernadette was able to deal with every single one that comes her way. This goes to show the strength and capabilities of the third strongest fighter in the special infantry troop.

Whilst defending the front lines, Claire can see the great difference between Zahi and Bernadette, she was in a whole different level. "Heh, I guess it'll take a while for me to climb up the ranks." Claire thought to herself.

Then unexpectedly, a surprise bomb attack have made it's way to Claire. She ran away along with those who might caught up with the explosion. And after the dust settled down, a man from the enemy side appeared with a creepy grin on his face. "Heehee! I wonder how much my rank will rise after killing you." He said while looking at Claire.

She was creeped out at first, but this was the moment that she was looking for. "The name's Pyro! The 42nd most strongest warrior of the Intergallactic Expedition Alliance! I'll bomb you all to death now! Haahaa!"

Claire scoffs. "42? That's pretty low."

An ally also added. "It's interstellar you moron! You don't even know the name of the organization you belong to!"

Pyro was easily pissed off by their comments. "You little weak shits! I'll bomb you all to death!!" Then his left arm morphs into a missile. People who witnessed this transformation immediately fled away to avoid the explosion. But Claire remained to deal with this lunatic.

"Oi!! He's at a pretty high rank Ms. Rookie! You might die if you try to mess with him!" One of her allies warned her.

Pyro enjoyed the scared and panicked look on the people's faces when they saw him as a serious threat, threatening other people and causing destruction is what brings him a pleasurable joy. "Ahaha! He's right 'Ms. Rookie', you wanna die from my bombs?"

"It's called a missile, not bombs. There's a distinct difference between those two explosive weapons. I can't believe you don't even know that when it's basic knowledge for us soldiers."

Claire got Pyro even more furious. "You fuckin' nerd, let's see if you can still run that smart mouth of yours when it gets the taste of my explosion!" He bolted at Claire as he aimed to punch her on the face with his shifted missile.

"Shifter Spring!" And within a few seconds before colliding, Claire was able to transform her shifter on her right leg and jumped high up in the air, avoiding Pyro's attack. As she was about to fall onto Pyro, her shifter then transforms into a spear that can pierce to heads even with the thickest skulls.

Pyro dodged her in time and dashed again to land a missile punch on Claire, he was eager to do so with his fury driving him wild. "You bitch!" Claire narrowly evades Pyro's punch by executing a swift and clever duck maneuver.

Utilizing her low-stance and superior agility, Claire quickly executes a well-timed back kick which successfully sweeps Pyro's legs out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground. "Ah shit!" Before Claire can attack him again, he hit his missile on the ground to make an explosion, causing both of them to fly away from each other.

Claire was able to shield herself and land safely. As she got back on her feet, Pyro was already at an offensive stance. "I'LL BLOW YOU UP TO PIECES!!"