Chapter 20

"All hands, prepare to board." Hachi's voice echoed through the comms.Meanwhile, in front of Delphinium's cockpit, Ichigo and Goro stared at the seat without making a move.Goro, noticing the weirdness of his partner, spoke up."Is the mock battle still bothering you?"He decided to remind her, "We're going into actual combat now. Switch gears.""I know." Ichigo responded and as if deciding to say something, she faces him, "Hey...""Hm?"She opened her mouth to speak but in the end, she never got to say it out loud. She hid her face under bangs and shook her head."I'll do my best as leader. Take care of the handling." She raised a fist bump towards him.Goro smiled and bumped his fist at hers."Sure, Let's do this."In another FRANXX, inside Argentea, the shorty, Zorome was very fired up as he fixed his gripping gloves."My first battle at last! Finally! Today marks the birth of Zorome the great!""Hey!" Miku glared at him and said, "You'd better not go crazy by yourself again, you hear me?""Relax!" Zorome replied while puffing out his chest and crossing his arms, "I got this! Keke... We don't no mr. prince charming to get his dainty hands dirty. I can handle this by myself!"Miku looked at him like she was looking at filth that was not even worth replying to. Instead, she turned her head to the front while murmuring her disdain. "You're just full of hot air....""What was that?""Nothing, shorty.""What did you say?!"Back to Delphinium's cockpit."You ready, Ichigo?" Goro asked as he handled the steering grips that extended from Ichigo's suit."Yeah." Ichigo answers, "Come to me."Light began to power up from the handle, to the spine piece of her suit, and all the way to the headpiece. As soon as the headpiece opened up, two gauges appeared, one pink and one blue, both reaching a high and stable level of synergy.And like that, Delphinium stirred awake.The other FRANXX began waking up one by one.Argentea.Genista.However, the last FRANXX of the squad, Chlorophytum remained still.Inside Chlorophytum's cockpit, Ikuno could be struggling and breathing laboriously. Mitsuru, sitting on the stamen pilot's seat, stared impassively at the sight in front of him.He had already reached 100% positive energy, but Ikuno had yet to reach it and therefore, cannot synergize.[What's wrong, Chlorophytum?] Hachi asked from the comms."Doesn't look like Ikuno can do this." Mitsuru answered lightheartedly."I'm nearly there!" Ikuno replied, "Just give me a bit!""Don't bother." Mitsuru responded with a slightly irritated face. "It's over." Meanwhile, inside the commanding room, an APE staff who's observing Chlorophytum's status, reported out loud, "Cholorphytum's para-capacity is below required levels and dropping further.""No go, huh." Hachi remarked.Hachi then made a decision. He swiped on the communication connection and connected to the the general line.[Cholorphytum will stay behind. The other three are to head out without it.]This announcement was also heard in the debriefing room where Hiro, Nana, and Naomi stayed.[Roger.] Ichigo acknowledged."Oh, no..." Naomi looked at the holographic board with worry. 'Ikuno...'Hiro was also there, sharing the same sentiment as Naomi."This might be tough..." murmured Nana.***It was midnight when they set off and they arrived at their destination early in the morning. Dawn had pass and the sky was painted with patches of white cumulus clouds that slowly traveled across the skies.Squad 13 were at the mining site which was a wide circular diameter of leveled ground. In the middle of it was a huge hole that's almost comparable to Xiaozhai Tiankeng (largest and deepest sinkhole on Earth). It descended so steeply downwards that one could mistake it as a pathway to the underworld.This however, was normally the design for mining sites since magma cores are usually located near the planet's mantle.Situated near the hole was a huge facility with a crane-like structure holding a metal-like pipe that descended to the middle of the hole."What a big hole. How far does it go?" Kokoro voiced from within Genista."This is nuts. It's a monster pipe." Zorome remarked while looking at the huge metal-like pipe structure that descended down the hole."They used these to extract the magma reserves, huh?" said Goro with wonder.[Head down to level 8] Hachi ordered.Near the squad was a large conveyor belt carrying steel platforms that they could use to descend. Each of them boarded one platform at a time as they slowly descended down the large hole.During their descent, Hachi continued to speak to them through the comms.[As you're well aware already, in order to completely neutralize a klaxosaur, you must extract its core which is essentially its heart and shatter it using your customized magma-energy weapons.][Shatter the core and finish off the Klaxosaur without fail. Got that?]The exact moment Hachi's words were finished, they reached the floor where they needed to be.All the pilots answered simultaneously."Roger!" x6The three FRANXX were in a terminal of sorts where there were six pathways could be seen around them. Delphinium confidently took the lead and walked towards the path directly in front of them.[Heading to objective.] Ichigo announced.They traversed through a relatively large hallway, but for it was cramp for their several meters tall mecha bodies. Argentea walked a step ahead others and stuck to the edge of the nearest end of the hallway before cautiously peeking to the next turn.[Follow behind Delphinium, both of you.] Ichigo advised.[Understood.] Kokoro, piloting Genista, acknowledged. She didn't need to do anything as she was already following behind Delphinium.Zorome and Miku, pilots of Argentea, didn't respond, but still allowed Delphinium to pass them.[And Miku?][Understood!] Miku replied to Ichigo's question in a slightly annoyed tone.'It's not fair!' thought the red head. It's not even her fault that they were overstepping. Rather, it was that stupid, eager-to-prove-himself partner of hers that was getting all excited by himself.While she wants to say that she can't wait but see how that insecure shorty fall flat on his face and mess up in the operation, she really can't wish this to happen because their lives were actually at stake. Therefore, she tried her best to dismiss her intrusive thoughts and her annoyance at her partner, and focus on the task at hand.***Back in the briefing room, Nana could be seen talking to Mitsuru and Ikuno. Naomi and Hiro were also in the room and was looking at Ikuno with worry."What's wrong?" the older tall-buxom woman asks the bespectacled teen, "Are you not feeling well?""No, that's not it." replied Ikuno."Very well." Nana acknowledged. "You have always been a bit unstable. We'll run some tests on you tomorrow, just in case.""If a may..." Mitsuru spoke up, "Maybe the two of us have compatibility issues?"Ikuno's eyebrows twitched as she hid a contemptuous glare to her 'partner'.'So he's so eager to get rid of me huh?' Ikuno gritted her teeth and controlled her expression to not show the slightest bit of emotion.Honestly, had she not gotten Adam's promise of help, she definitely wouldn't be as calm and collected as she appeared when Mitsuru mentioned the issue of their compatibility.Ikuno dismissed her inner turmoil as she heard Nana reply to Mitsuru's question."A lot of parasites experience this at first." she explains, "But it isn't grounds for splitting you two up.""....is that so?" was his only response.Hiro couldn't help but find Mitsuru's utter indifference off-putting as the latter even seemed disappointed at Nana's answer.Naomi also noticed this and frowned. She wanted to say something for her friend, but it really isn't her place to tell him anything. This was an issue of Ikuno and Mitsuru's partnership after all. She can't just butt into such an important affair all willy-nilly.Not like a certain special parasite with a handsome face and white hair.'I wonder if Adam could help her.'If the issue was compatibility, then couldn't Adam's specialty could help her?And, although she does feel slightly jealous at the thought of Adam doing such things with other girls, she can't be selfish about this as it involves Ikuno's life as a parasite.'Hmm... I'll ask Ikuno-san if she's interested in asking for Adam's help.'Little did the brunette know, the two people she's thinking about had already come to an agreement.Beep!A brief alarm came from the holographic board, making all those in the room look at it. They watched from Delphinium's point of view, as Ichigo reported,[We have visual on klaxosaur. FRANXX spreading out.]On the live broadcast could be seen several gigantic cylindrical monolith-coloured structures that were three times the size of a FRANXX. They were storages for magma ores that were harvested from the deeper levels.And stuck near the top of the middle-most tank, was a large round glowing blue body with black-grey shell. It's shell kept extending and retracting from its body, making it seem as if the klaxosaur was either pulsating or eating something.Back to the actual operation, Delphinium peeked out from the edge of the hallway's corner and spoke, [In position. Commencing operation.][Huh, it's smaller than I thought it'd be.] Miku remarked.(A/N: The horrifying line that all men fear their girlfriends would say/think.)[What a relief.] said Kokoro.[Stay alert.] Ichigo said, [We'll do as planned]Delphinium then stepped out of the hallway and dashed towards the target. Followed closely by Argentea and Genista from behind, the three traversed through the spacious room with great speed. Delphinium's quick sprint allowed her to arrive behind the unsuspecting klaxosaur's back in a matter of moments. Wielding dual short spears on both hands, she raised the short spear on her right hand and stabbed the klaxosaur right in the middle of its round-boulder-like body.Stab!Blue blood immediately came pouring out as Delphinium withdrew her right short spear and followed it by stabbing the klaxosaur from its side with another short spear from her left hand.However, when she tried to push in her left spear into the klaxosaur, its body suddenly softened, and the impact from her attack caused it to be thrown to the ground. Surprisingly, the klaxosaur bounced off the ground like rubber and ricocheted to another tank, then the ceiling, then finally regaining its stability and landing on the ground. As it landed on the ground, four sharp limbs emerged from what seemed to be its head. However, before it could do anything with its insect-like legs, a large and long barrel of a cannon suddenly swung on its side.Stab!Turns out, there was a small orange knife attached at the end of the barrel like a bayonet. Genista, who was wielding this weapon, swung her cannon upwards where the klaxosaur was stuck.Then, Argentea, who jumped into the air a beat earlier, stabbed her claws into the raised klaxosaur, causing blue blood to spill unto her forearms. With her claws embedded deep into the klaxosaur, she landed her feet on its large round body and used her entire body to swiftly pull herself away.[Way to go, Zorome!] Futoshi cheered.Back in the briefing room, Hiro clenched his hands in excitement."They did it!"Everyone also started looking forward to the climax of the mission."Not yet." Suddenly, the distinct young woman spoke from the side of the room. Everyone turned towards that direction of the voice and saw Zero Two, wearing her usual red military uniform, leaning on the wall beside the doorway, eating what seems to be a lollipop. She seems to be watching the broadcast with disinterest.They looked at her in confusion, wondering when she arrived. But their attention was stolen by Adam who entered wearing his trademark charming confident smile."Hey guys." He greeted them before turning to his sister and faked a pouting expression saying, "How could you leave me behind like that after using my body. Is that all I am to you?!""Hush now, Darling." Zero Two took out the lollipop from her mouth and shoved it into Adam's mouth. Smiling, she said, "Sweet, right?" before hugging his head and putting his face in the middle of her ample bosom."Was cleaning up such a hard work for my baby darling boy?" she teasingly asked while caressing the back of his head."Hmph." Adam didn't reply and settled his face deeper into her chest, making himself more comfortable while taking in her scent.Seriously, even though they just did it earlier and her smell should be all over him, he just can't stop himself from smelling her directly. It's like her scent was his favourite drug and he won't ever get enough of it.Seeing his actions, Zero Two smiled in satisfaction and also made herself comfortable while idly caressing his soft and silky white hair.Their lovey-dovey actions caused an uncomfortable stir among the onlookers.This was most especially true for Nana, who shouldn't be feeling this way as she should've lost her so-called 'emotions'. But somehow, whenever she sees Zero Two and Adam like that, she couldn't help but feel a slight envy and yearning.However, a development from the operation's broadcast caused them to return their attention to the holographic board.Back to the operation site, Argentea could be seen making poses while Zorome's voice boasted through the comms.[See? That's what I'm capable of!]But Argentea, immersed as Miku, chided him.[Hey, cut it out. You're embarrassing me.]Just as Miku said that, the limbs of the klaxosaur suddenly twitched, prompting Ichigo to warn them.[It's not over yet! Destroy the core at once!][I-I know, I know!] Zorome began stretching Argentea's arm and prepared to deal the killing blow.[For a klaxosaur, this thing wasn't a big deal.] he remarked.However, just as he was about to strike, the klaxosaur suddenly released a high-pitched screech, surprising Argentea. But it didn't stop there, as it took that opportunity to launched itself off the ground and latch unto Argentea's face.[[AHHH!!]]Zorome shrieked in panic while Miku squealed in fear as the klaxosaur's spider-like limbs held unto the back of Argentea's head while its mouth revealed a circular set of blue-razor sharp teeth, which promptly began biting down unto Argentea's face.The continuous biting of the klaxosaur created multiple bright sparks continuously. As it turns out, the circular set of teeth were rotating at a rapid pace. So not only was it biting down on Argentea's face, but it was also trying to drill through the FRANXX' strong structure.Unfortunately for Miku, she was immersed with Argentea, causing her to feel direct pain from what Argentea was feeling. Her squeals of fear immediately became painful shouts and groans, unable to ask for help or even help herself as her co-pilot was still in shock.It didn't take long for Miku to succumb to the overwhelming pain and lose consciousness, effectively making Argentea lose power and shut down."Woi, Miku? Miku?!" Zorome called out to Miku in anxiety, but the latter was out cold.[Damn you!] Futoshi controlled Genista to save their comrade.Genista raised her cannon and aimed it at the klaxosaur.Boom!A shell was launched, followed by a thick exhaust of smoke.The klaxosaur took a direct hit at close range, shooting it off of Argentea and landing just a few meters away."SCREEAA-!!!"It squealed in pain as the attack pierced through its thick skin. It wiggled and trembled in the ground while a large blue orb mixed with bright yellow glow from the interior was revealed from the place where it was shot.It was the core.Delphinium wasted no time and stabbed her spears deep into the orb. The klaxosaur struggled, but Delphinium kept a tight grip unto her spears. It didn't take long for the klaxosaur to stop moving, indicating that it had lost its life.[Hey, Miku! Are you okay?!] Zorome asked worriedly from inside Argentea's cockpit.[You okay, Miku?] Ichigo asked to check, but unfortunately, a something heavy landed behind them.Delphinium turned around and saw another one klaxosaur just like the one they just killed.[There was another one?!] Goro reeled back, starting to feel nervous about the situation.Which was understandable considering that one of their teammate was down and they didn't know her status.Even Futoshi, piloting Genista, was starting to feel terrified. Beads of sweat fell down his chubby face as he eyed the second klaxosaur."Uh... wait a second...."Their despair wasn't over as one after another, the same type of klaxosaur fell from the ceiling. There were two, then three, then four.... five... six..-SEVEN!There were seven of these things!Futoshi gulped with great difficulty. He felt like puking.Fear was starting to well-up inside of him. He still remembered what happened to Argentea earlier and it might happen to him as well.There was just way too many.'And...'And it just sunk into him that... if they were to lose here... there would be no one to save them. Meaning, they could actually die.'Oh... Sh-'Kokoro, immersed as Genista, stepped back and asked in panic, [Just how many of them are there?]Delphinium had already carried Argentea's arm over her shoulder and ordered to Genista, [Let's get away from here for now!][Y-yeah!]Back to the briefing room, Nana frowned, feeling slightly apprehensive as well."This is bad." she stated, "They've attracted several klaxosaurs by releasing their magma energy."""See what I mean? You should've sent us right from the start.""Two arrogant remarks simultaneously spoke at the same time.Everyone looked over at Zero Two and Adam, who were now sitting among the bleachers and are looking at each other with surprised faces.""Jinx!"" both said at the same time again.""Double Jinx!""""Jinx times infinity!!! And you'll owe me fifteen/a hundred hours of head!""The pair of weird but attractive siblings slowly blinked as a grin overtook their face.Adam was the first to speak, "Really? A hundred hours?" he sarcastically stressed."What? Not too man enough?" Zero Two taunted."Challenge accepted!" declared Adam grandly."You two..." Nana broke their atmosphere by narrowing her tone at the two.Then, as if snapping out of their world, Zero Two nonchalantly addressed Nana, "Are you sure about this? They're all gonna die, you know?"Hiro immediately turned Nana and proposed, "Send Zero Two and me to help!""Yeah," Adam said while glancing at Nana. "I think my partner and I will go regardless of what you say. We definitely don't want squad 13 to die on their first mission, you know?"[That's most definitely not happening.] Hachi spoke from the commanding room.[Hiro, you are not an official stamen and therefore, I can't give you permission to board a FRANXX. And as for Adam... Even for a special parasite, you must adhere to the rules and chain of command in this plantation.]"Oh, boo you and your rules." Adam childishly heckled.Zero Two then stood up from the seats and pulled Adam behind her, "This is no time to stick to the rules." she says, "This plantation's squad is about to be wiped out again."She leapt, covering a small distance at once and landed directly in front of Nana. She looked at the older buxom woman with a straight gait and demanded, "Just send me and darling out already.""Matter of fact," She glanced at Hiro and Naomi, before meeting Nana's eyes again. "You don't even need to send out two units. Just me and darling should be enough to ride Strelizia together."When she said this, Hiro's gaze fell to the floor and his hand clenched into a fist. He hid his frustrated face under his bangs so no one could see it.Nana continued to stare at Zero Two, not responding to her words.Annoyed, Zero Two took another step, foreheads almost meeting Nana's. She looked slightly intimidating as the purple-haired young girl was an inch or two taller than the older woman."Let me ride with my darling."She didn't say this as a suggestion or proposal. Rather, she was demanding it."You will not be allowed to sortie." Nana replied sternly, not showing the slightest sign of being intimidated.The two women continued a stare down as neither one was willing to back off."....""...."The atmosphere quickly grew palpable as no one could predict what would happen next.That was until Adam, ever the atmosphere breaking character, suddenly wrapped his arm around his sister's neck and pulled her away from Nana."Now, now. No need to be so hostile my lovely sister." Adam lightheartedly chided while smiling. He then looked at Hachi from the holographic board, "Alright, I get that for some reason, you won't let me ride with my sister. Meaning that there's no qualified stamen pilot to ride with her. But I'm here and my partner, ready to sortie out. So why won't you send us to help?"Adam then became sarcastic, "It's almost as if you want them to-""Don't you dare finish those words." Nana warned him with a sharp tone.Her eyes reflected genuine anger, like she wouldn't ever forgive him if her ever continued what he was about to say.Adam smirked and merely raised a brow at her, asking, "Well? Why won't you send Chantrieri to help then?"

***

(A/N: For those who are interested in reading advance chapters. [patr.eon.com/M3OWS]. Remove the "dot" inside patreon

No pressure in becoming a member guys and gals. Remember to only do this if you have extra money.)