Once inside the blackout zone, Garra immediately went to work. Moving fast and silently, she scouted the area and tracked down Jia's position.
Eliminating every machine she came across in a single shot, Garra moved swiftly through the fog.
She found the spot where the fight took place, a trail of machine corpses led to a campsite where a squad of human soldiers had set up shop.
"Hmm, cyborgs..." she muttered, observing them through her scope.
The Empire's insignia was plastered all over the tents and equipment. It was clear these soldiers belonged to a special operations group, the same ones tasked with retrieving Jia's body.
"Tch, that damn Sergeant..." Garra growled.
As she scanned the soldiers, her gaze fell upon a familiar face.
"So he brought Masie." She sighed.
Jia's body had to be close; they probably set up camp because the Alpha Lord was still active and didn't want to risk it. It also meant she had to be quick and stealthy.
Taking a path around the camp, she avoided being detected. She arrived at a spot where the bodies of a few helixes were scattered.
These were the ones Bei fought; the battle must've been intense for so many helixes to die. "She really did fight them all... Bei..."
Garra walked along the scattered parts, stopping at a fragment of armor with the label 'XMV22' on it.
"You did well." She picked up the piece. "I guess I can't be too mad."
"Now where's Jia's body..." Garra looked. This was the area where they were. But she didn't see anything.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue and scanned the area.
There was a slight energy reading coming from a large pile of rubble. Garra moved over and brushed aside the debris, uncovering the lifeless body of her friend.
"Fuck..." Garra frowned. "They did a number on you..."
Garra lifted Jia's body and examined it. The damage was significant; her arm had been torn off, and her torso had a large hole in it.
"Damn." She sighed, "you did well though."
Garra carefully cradled her body and began the long trek back.
"Now wait just a moment, android."
A voice interrupted her, and Garra stopped.
"That's no longer your property." A man stepped out of the mist, holding a gun.
"Calif, I warned you not to come here." She glared.
"I heard your threat, and it was ignored." He shrugged. "I have my orders. The body of that android is valuable technology that'll benefit cybernetic augmentation. The Ministry of defense no longer has rights to it."
"That'd be true if you had already recovered it. But I beat you to it, fuck off." Garra spat, "I have work to do."
"Not so fast." Calif raised his gun.
That was a termination gun, Garra realized, and sighed. "So that's how it is."
"This can end with me having two of you." He aimed his gun.
"Go ahead, shoot." She challenged him.
"I'm serious."
"Do it, asshole."
"Tch. I'm not kidding, android. Hand over the body." Calif growled.
Garra fired a shot that grazed his ear. "Try me."
"Fucking androids!" Calif opened fire.
The bullet hit her chest and sparked wildly as it passed through her armor. But she was still standing, "that's cute." She sneered.
"H-how?!" Calif was shocked.
Her eyes were glowing bright red. "I'm your worst nightmare. I'm practically a Meteorn at this point."
"You're that 200-year-old android?!" He realized.
"Shouldn't have thought it'd be so easy to take one of us. The Vice Minister sends her regards." Garra grinned, then saluted as she leaped away.
"God damnit! That fucking bitch!" Calif cursed.
"Sergeant. I have completed my mission objective." Masie walked over, a severed arm in her hands.
"That's just an arm, that's worthless!" Calif hissed.
"Calif, you promised me there would be a very strong meteorn here. But there's no Lord here, only a bunch of dead helixes." Masie scowled.
"It's readings were here! Those androids were fighting it!" Calif argued.
"Then what happened to the alpha?" Masie questioned.
"It fled!"
"You've always been a bad liar." She frowned. "I'm going back. If you lie to me one more time, I'll be playing with you next."
"Damnit." Calif hissed. "Also, the 200 year old model escaped with a body, I assume you knew that was going to happen?"
"Why should I care about any of that?" Masie yawned, "I only came because you promised me an interesting hunt. I'm leaving..." She trailed off into the mist, leaving Calif with his men.
"Fuck..." Calif growled.