(Remaster) The Abyss Calls Out

Death on Violent Wings

A pair of feet prattled through the building, carrying with them a tub of chocolate ice cream and two big and sturdy spoons to enjoy it with. The blonde hair of the lovely lady swayed back and forth, a rare smile on her face compared to her usual demeanor.

Cleveland, for once and thankfully, was looking quite excited for herself as she made her way through the halls towards the office. She had finally gotten a nice cold tub of ice cream to have, and knowing she was definitely not finishing it alone, she opted to share with Kiana.

Bonding experience you know?

With a quick twist and a return to balance the tub, Cleveland opened the door to the office where she knew Kiana would be right now. It was a Saturday, a day for relaxation and rest for everyone, with only a hint of alertness in every part due to the Abyssals.

Luckily, Humanity itself was slowly arming up and figuring out weapons and tactics to fight back against these monsters without their help. Sure, they couldn't stop all the Abyssals, and higher class ones are still death incarnate, but if more and more of the things are brought down by Human hands compared to before, it's a winning situation in their books.

"Commander, I have Ice cream~." Cleveland smiled as she came into the office, spotting her beloved Commander behind her desk with her head in her hands.

...

"Commander?"

Kiana finally looked up to her, a dull look in her eyes that lightened at the sight of her and the ice cream. "Ah, Cleveland...honestly, I could use that ice cream right about now."

Cleveland set the tub down and came to Kiana's side of the desk, worry etched into her face. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yeah...I'm racking my brain over it right now, and the Response team's work has only made it worse in my head."

"Response team?" Cleveland picked up on several queues already, one of them being the most unsettling with their brief talking.

Something happened, no doubt Abyssals, but a Response team was sent. The Kansen never use that term, and no one as scheduled to leave today either.

"...Humans went to this?"

Kiana only nodded, putting a finger on a paper and sliding it over to Cleveland. She picked it up and skimmed over the highlighted parts of the paper, feeling her gut slowly sink into itself as she continued along.

"What...b-but how?!"

"We don't know, and frankly, it's unsettling somewhere that far inland was hit this bad."

Cleveland's paper pointed out several key things, most importantly the event itself and the devastation wrought during it. Sometime yesterday, the city of Ridgway in Colorado state was burned to the ground, an event that clearly seemed like a full military invasion happened were it not for the roughly four hundred or so of the initial twelve hundred citizens getting out with their lives to tell.

Nearly two thirds of the population is dead or missing, the city last being described as "Hell on Earth" with the flames and destruction. This response team was sent together yesterday night, a team of twelve with a medical team on standby in case survivors were found, including a Search Helicopter.

Kiana took the paper from Cleveland's hands, setting it down as she leaned back in her chair. "Only a few minutes before you came in, I got a message from the National Guard closest to them about the group."

"And?"

...

She was silent for a time, before she took a deep breath and opened up the laptop she kept for her work. "All confirmed dead. That's what tipped us off...something inhuman killed them."