Bent Fate (An Arknights Fanfiction)

Chapter 27

The flight from their initial deployment on the western side of the conflict zone to the middle went smoothly for Ch'en and her squad.

Now their chopper is only seconds away from touching down the asphalt surface.

As soon as it did, Ch'en immediately disembarked with her operators.

Stepping out, Ch'en gazes at the fortifications already laid out along the width of the road. The soldiers doing nothing at the moment, at least, nothing that looked like an effort to repel the enemies.

Frowning at the sight she continues to walk to a military grade truck. Bigger than the rest, this has to be their mobile command center of some sort.

The oni commander stood inside the back of the truck, staring at three monitors placed next to each other and being operated by his soldiers clad in metal plating.

Ch'en's silhouette enters the view as she blocks the light from coming through the open doors.

"Rhodes Island operators are to standby at the front." The commander orders the lung as soon as he looked at her.

He turned back to monitoring his men after giving the orders.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Ch'en directly asks him.

An audible sigh comes out of the commanders mouth. He has done this a couple of times today.

"Don't you have your own internal communication? How many times do I, do we have to repeat this thing to Rhodes Island?"

"I know what I am being ordered to do. But I can't be moving without knowing, for what purpose am I doing this. And the same also goes for my colleagues. It is as they said, you can't expect us to perform our duties well if we lack information. "

"So you know."

"What are you planning to do—"
"Ch'en!!"

Ch'en turns to the right and sees Blaze running from the frontline of the blockade.

She waits for the feline to reach her and stares at her from head to toe while at it.

"Come on already."

"Something happened?" Ch'en immediately asked as the feline seems to be eager to take her back to their post.

"You'll get nothing out of them. I told you already."

"That doesn't mean we won't try harder."

"No matter what you say, they will give you the same answer."

The oni takes a few steps closer to the two as he clears his throat. Ch'en and Blaze looks at him, not so friendly. "You may share your baseless gossips back at your post. Don't just stand there whispering to each other as if insulting us."

With that said, Blaze escorts Ch'en  as they walk back to the front.

The oni turned around as soon as the women disappeared from his perspective and went back to standing behind his men in front of their monitors.

"We don't even need them."

His radio picks up a signal. The device automatically answers the call and another man's voice comes through.

"It is the daimyo's decision. You know how shameful it is to be a disobedient officer. If the daimyo says we need them, we need them. If we work with them, we work with them. But don't you ever make a mistake and let it slip out of your mouth. You will have your throat slit and tongue cut out if you do so. Play along."

"They keep acting like children."

"Are you sure? Even we would like to know what is it that causes us to need to just standby and watch. And putting aside actual child soldiers in their company, there are people there in Rhodes Island who know more than any one of us. Do not underestimate them either."