Chapter 15 // Exodus, Part 1
Mocha followed Mayumi to the main room. She got dressed in front of the fire in her sailor suit white top and black pleated skirt.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Mayumi said knowingly, successfully causing an eye roll from Mocha. “I hope you’re feeling better. HQ radioed back. Yoshi, show her the map. I like your outfit by the way, very kawaii.”
Yoshi projected the surrounding landscape and a circular red dot showcased the pickup point, roughly 3000 meters away from the bunker. There was an unfortunate circumstance—they had to cut through the wasteland, only for 800 meters, but they wouldn’t be concealed by the mountains during that time.
Mayumi collected her gear and extended her golden sniper rifle. Mocha attached her katana to the back of her sailor suit with a rope, then tied her sword-belt around her waist and tucked in her tanto. Ichigo and Yuki got the kids prepped for travel. Tatsuki stuffed everything in his bag and threw the pulse rifle sling around his neck.
“Mocha, I think it’s best if you travel with them while I take your motorcycle and scout ahead. What do you think?”
Mocha approved. Mayumi wasted no time; she put the white bulletproof vest on and activated the biotic shield. A blue wave encompassed her body then turned invisible. She gave a fist bump to everyone in the room, petted the cat, then headed toward the hangar doors. Mayumi pressed a button that lifted the side of the mountain. She handed an earpiece to Mocha to maintain comms, a couple of grenades, then gave her a fist bump and rode away on the bike.
Yuki was the most concerned; there was no way Mocha was already healed in such a short amount of time, right? But what other option did they have? The shutting of the doors behind them acted as a stamp of no-return, a true commitment to the exodus. Tatsuki acted as a guard, the pulse rifle following his eyes. One of the little girls held Kage in her arms. Mocha grabbed hold of Yoshi and hovered high above the mountains. From her vantage point she saw the pickup spot, but couldn’t see Mayumi or the bike. It was a little cold, especially high up as she was, but the sun was beginning to rise.
Mayumi had hidden the bike near the pickup point and was laying between some boulders. With her sniper rifle she scouted ahead and saw the Genesis gondola approaching from a few miles out. It was shaped like a circle with a flat bottom. It was totally cloaked but with a trained eye, one could spot the patterns without needing to utilize thermals.
The technology did not have propellers like old-world aircraft or any primitive mechanisms; instead, it used hover tech similar to anti-gravity. It would go in whichever direction the pilot tilted it toward. In theory, the gondola was able to leave the atmosphere and travel through space, but the interior was not suited for such an extreme environment—there were other vehicles for that purpose.
Mayumi heard a nasty metallic roar coming from the valley between the bunker and the pickup point. Her heart sank.
“Mocha, we have a problem.”
“I see it,” Mocha said as she descended down to the group.
“What was that?” Ichigo asked.
Mocha didn’t respond; she began sprinting and the group tried their best to keep up.
The group ran as fast as the children could, which was a pitiful expression of athleticism. They approached the edge of the mountains right before the thin valley of the wasteland they needed to cross. The group saw what Mayumi and Mocha did. It was a silver mecha standing 20 feet in height. It was bigger than a beast but modeled after their appearance. Two curved horns on the top of a diamond shaped head with two red eyes in a perpetual glow. It had a humanoid shaped body; two arms, two legs, but with a tail and claws.
Organic beasts had a body of scales, but the machine did not replicate this. A scanner emitted from its eyes and traced along the wasteland. How unfortunate that it was patrolling this area at this time. It was searching for the terrorists, slowly advancing forward as it scanned further and further. Alongside the machine were 3 troops on each side, totaling 6 personnel.
The group continued running and saw Mayumi at a distance. Mocha saw the gondola descend next to Mayumi, but the others weren’t aware of the cloaked craft. There was no other choice; they needed to get rid of the robot in order to cross. Mayumi or Mocha could sneak past it easily, but there was no way the entire group would be able to bypass the machine.
Mayumi spoke to Mocha through the headset, “Just stay back! I’ll deal with the bot!”
Mocha pressed the button on the earpiece. “Not gonna happen. We do it together.”
“Mocha!” Mayumi shouted with concern. “You aren’t fully healed yet, please just listen—”
“Mayumi. Don’t forget I outrank you.”
It was a silly thing to say as they were the same ‘ranking’; it was a call-back to a previous memory.
When they were young trainees, their instructors selected them to duel. Both of them were undefeated by their other classmates. Mayumi got a few good swings, takedowns, and bodyslams, but Mocha, despite her thinner and shorter frame, was scrappy and would not stay down.
Mocha won their bout with an armbar, something she’d never let Mayumi forget. They became closer after that, and Mayumi was one of the few people she would possibly consider a friend.
Mayumi rubbed her own face and groaned in frustration.
“Fine! But we do it my way, understand?”
“Whatever’s clever,” Mocha shrugged. “What do you have in mind?”
