IX: Sneaking Behind the Resistance

August 13, 2023

3:13 pm, Akita Prefecture

Realizing their unexpected early arrival on Akita, some of them felt anxious as it would mean that it went out of the plan.

"I think we arrived too early," Pekora muttered as they saw Akita visible from the deck of the ship, which is where they're currently standing.

"We can't use Coco's dragon at this point. It would just grab their attention," Moona said, sighing in disappointment.

Noticing the distance of the ship from the port and considering the time, Pekora has no other choice so she decided to set off.

"We're 500m away from land. Let's fly from here to the port. Let's just pray that no one is guarding that place." Pekora started equipping her Elytra on her back.

"Thanks for your service, Captain Sato!" she saluted the captain, which can be seen from the bridge of the ship.

"We will wait for your return, Usada-san," the captain saluted back.

Pekora started carrying her equipment and flew away.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Moona commanded, which was responded by nods from the rest of the group. Coco, Kanata, and Towa didn't need Elytra since they obviously have wings.

Thanks to Elytra's muffled engine, no one noticed their arrival. But from their location, guards are patrolling nearby.

"What's our plan?" Moona asked, trying to lower her voice down.

"This was not a part of my plan, it's still 3 in the afternoon," Pekora facepalmed, "Well, being early is better than being lat-"

"Who's there?!" they were frightened when a soldier from the Resistance yelled nearby, followed by incoming footsteps.

"We're so dead, sorry guys," Pekora bowed in apology.

"Hey Towa, it's your time to shine," Coco nudged Towa's arm.

"She's right, Towa. Show them what you got!" Kanata said with a cheerful tone.

"Eh? Okay. Hold my hand, or arms, or any body parts. But not my entire body!" Towa said while blushing.

They immediately held onto Towa, trusting on what the devil girl would do.

"Get ready. Riftwalk," Towa chanted, surrounding themselves with black smoke.

"Hands up- wait what?" The soldier pointed his gun at the location where he heard some noises but he saw nothing.

"What are you doing there? Go back to your patrolling position!" an officer commanded him.

"Sir, yes, sir!" He saluted and scratched his head in confusion while he repositioned back to his station.

Black smoke started building up on the rooftop of a random building. After a moment, Pekora and the gang reappeared on the top of it.

"That's my Towa," Kanata gave a thumbs up.

"Such an easy move," Towa responded with a smug look at Kanata.

"Amazing skills Towa. Why haven't you told us about that?" Pekora's eyes were filled with admiration.

"Thanks. I just don't want to use my skills that much," Towa blushed from her compliment.

From their location, they're still far away from their target position. Botan investigated enemy military units below them and noticed some familiar equipment established on the streets.

"5 BM-21 Grad MRL. Looks different from the original model so it's probably modified. How did they get this from Russia, or would I say, how did they get the modified version?" Botan muttered to herself while scratching her chin.

She then glanced at Pekora, "Hey Pekora, do you have any binoculars up your sleeves?"

"Yes I do," she responded as she lent her futuristic-looking binoculars.

"Thanks."

As she started searching for something that could affect their mission, she noticed that some of the enemy troops were occupying buildings nearby, peeking from the windows of the room.

"Get down, enemy scouting nearby," she ordered, which they followed, afraid of getting caught.

She then zoomed her binoculars through the mountains and noticed some artillery guns positioned on it.

"Wait, are those 10.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40!?" Botan gasped, seeing a familiar artillery gun.

"The 10.5 cm what?" Pekora narrowed her eyes, who was crouching from her position.

"A World War 2 German mountain howitzer. Can't believe they're still using old ass weaponry."

"I mean if they worked, why replace them? Why not modify them instead?" Pekora shrugged.

"You have a point," Botan gave a nod and continued inspecting the surroundings and realized that they're not guarding the rooftops.

"Hey, Towa. Wanna do it again?" she glanced at Towa.

"Yeah, I guess so. Hold on me," they nodded and followed her.

"If I'm not wrong, our target location is just 700 meters away," Pekora stated.

"700 meters??" Towa groaned and facepalmed.

"Are you sure, Towa? We could think of other choic-"

"We have no choice at this point. Riftwalk," interrupting Kanata, Towa chanted, teleporting themselves on another building's rooftop.

"Riftwalk. Riftwalk. Riftwalk. Riftwalk. Riftwalk," she continued chanting until they reached their location.

As they arrived at their power position, all of them started swerving and puking, probably due to dizziness from rapid teleportation.

"My chest," Kanata started massaging her chest. Her heart felt like it was about to explode and she gripped onto a metal pole nearby, causing the pole to bend.

"You don't have one, Kanata-"

"Wanna go extinct?" Kanata interrupted Coco and gave a death glare.

"Nah, nah. I don't wanna die just yet," she raised both of her hands.

"Towa, are you okay?" Moona started rubbing Towa's back, who's kneeling to the ground.

"Yeah, I'm good," she covered her mouth and coughed. But when she gazed at her palm...

"Heh. Blood," she chuckled and fainted.

"Hey Towa!!" they ran towards her as others started trying to wake her up.

"That was a bad idea. Sorry guys," Pekora held her forehead.

"It was necessary. It was her decision to continue despite the consequences. Don't worry, she's just unconscious. She used up all of her Stigma and Essence," Kanata tried to calm them down.

"Fuck. Any water there?" Coco asked, looking at them.

"Here," Moona gave a bottle of water to Coco. She snatched it but instead of giving it to Towa for her to drink, she splashed half of the content onto Towa's head.

"What the hell, Coco?" Kanata yelled with a frown.

"I thought that would wake her up-"

"Water...." Towa murmured, raising her hand up, begging for water.

"Here, drink all of it." Coco gave the bottle to Towa and chugged it, emptying the bottle

"Hah..." Towa exhaled as she laid on the cemented floor.

Silence creeped from the group as they kept themselves in crouching position. When the coast was cleared, Moona stood and clapped her hands.

"Okay. Time to make a move. We need access to enter their meeting," Moona said.

"Let's do it, Botan," Kanata stood up.

"Heh. Let's get this started," she equipped her gun holster and they both fistbumped as they left.

"Stay down, guys. We might get spotted. We should rely on their strengths for now," Moona spoke.

"Believe in them. It's just the first step after all," Pekora claimed as she took out her laptop and started accessing Botan and Kanata's earpiece.

--

3:20 pm

Walking through the hallway of a 10-story building, currently on the 10th floor, Botan nudged Kanata's arm.

"Can you take 10 guys all at once??" Botan asked.

"W-w-w-wait. What?!!" Kanata gave a shocked expression, stuttering from her sudden question.

"An angel with a dirty mind, how ironic." Botan teased with a cold tone.

"Shut up."

As they continued walking, they heard some soldiers chatting nearby. They hid on the intersection of the hallway and peeked at those soldiers.

"Hurry up. The representative of the Russian Resistance is waiting."

Kanata was preparing to charge but Botan immediately grabbed her FNX-45 Handgun, equipped it with a silencer and shot both of them in the head, each with a single bullet.

"That was fast." Kanata uttered.

"Guns are fast. Reliable and always gets the work done," Botan glanced at her handgun then unequipped the silencer. She started spinning her gun as she brought them back on her holster.

Kanata looked at one of the corpses. She then started emitting white smoke around her. As the smoke cleared out, Botan saw a rather different body. It was a body of a soldier she had killed earlier, standing in front of her

"Does it look good?" she said with a manly voice, well she copied a guy's body.

Instead of responding, she started removing the other soldier's clothes, which is fortunately a girl, and wore it.

"This actually fits me. Well, it's uncomfortable since I need to cover my tail in it." Botan claimed while rubbing her butt.

"Okay Botan, look at this necklace," Kanata then showed a necklace with a ring similar to her halo on it, "You can immediately identify me with this. Just in case."

"Yeah, yeah. Grab their IDs. It would help us in passing by," they both snatched the IDs from the corpses and clipped it on their clothes.

"Good?" Botan asked with a thumbs up.

"Good," Kanata responded with a thumbs up.

"God it feels weird talking to you with that voice."

"Yeah, right."

"Hello? Can you hear me??" Pekora asked from their earpieces.

"Botan, online."

"Kanata, online."

"WHO THE FUCK??" Pekora yelled from the other line, almost destroying their eardrum.

"It's Kanata. Cope with it," Botan said and grabbed a cap from one of the corpses, hiding her lion ears.

Both of them hid the corpses inside another room and locked it inside, ensuring that no one would notice. They were waiting for instructions before Pekora came back on the line.

"Okay then. Botan, you need to be undercover as a representative of other countries. Before that, you should kidnap, or if necessary, kill a representative, take his access card if he or she has one, so we can alter it, giving you access instead," Pekora stated to Botan.

"Kanata, you need to search for outfits for Botan and probably get some food supplies since we didn't bring any. That's it," Pekora stated to Kanata.

"That's it??" Kanata said while raising her eyebrow.

"That's it. But if necessary, you can act as Botan's support."

"I see."

"Operation initiated."

--

3:27 pm

As they're setting up for the meeting, Aqua, feeling anxious about the upcoming meeting, approached Choco, who was busy reading a book.

"Hey, Choco..." Aqua's voice was shaking.

"Are you nervous?" Choco held her shoulders.

"It's my first time speaking in front of a crowd."

"You're not speaking to them face to face. You're literally having a speech here inside this room and you'll be projected on the reception area, so don't worry."

"But I want to... uhm... go check them in person."

"But your identity- oh wait I know," Choco then opened the cabinet, grabbed something inside it.

"You should wear it." She said as she revealed the clothes to Aqua.

--

3:42 pm

A yacht boarded on the port, walking outside of it was the representative of the Russian Resistance. He was greeted by two soldiers.

"Happy to meet you, sir," The male soldier bowed at him

"Dobra pozhalovat v Akita," (Welcome to Akita) the female soldier also bowed at him.

"Wow, A Japanese soldier who can speak Russian, I'm impressed," he clapped in admiration.

"Spasibo za kompliment, ser," (Thanks for the compliment, sir) the female soldier smiled.

"I can speak Japanese, don't tire yourself. You did great," he patted the female soldier's shoulder.

"Understood, sir!" she nodded.

As they escorted the representative towards a narrow alleyway, he grabbed a cigarette and lit it, "Japanese people always give heartwarming greetings."

"Ty prav, suka," (You're right, bitch) the female soldier uttered as she shot the representative behind the back with a silenced FNX-45 Handgun. He got shot again when they heard him groan, but this time, she went for the head.

"Try shutting up," she grabbed a cigarette and lighter from the representative's pocket and lit it.

She then stared at the soldier beside her, "Kanata, want some? Why are you silent the entire time?"

"My brain can't handle your Russian skills, and no, I don't smoke," Kanata shook her head.

"Suit yourself then," Botan exhaled smoke from her mouth, "I was born in Russia, y'know."

"I see. Oh well, I should get some clothes for you and some food for them," Kanata started running, leaving Botan behind with the corpse of the Russian representative.

Inspecting the body and finding an access card inside his suit, she contacted Pekora using her earpiece, "Botan here, they actually have an access card. Retreating now."

"How's Kanata?" Pekora asked from the line.

"I'll come back later, I still need to get some supplies for us. I can manage, don't mind me here," Kanata replied on another line, who seems to be running after hearing a gust on the line

"Okay then. Hurry up so we can edit that card," Pekora commanded.

"Copy that, King," Botan responded.

"Don't call me that," Pekora ended the call.

Botan started carrying the corpse and threw it inside a big garbage container. Unsatisfied, she then threw the cigarette and stepped on the fire.

"Tastes bad," she muttered and spat.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps nearby and noticed a shadow dashing away.

"Did I get compromised??" She asked herself, but after seeing a familiar small hat on the ground where she saw the shadow, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I see. You're here, too."

--

3:51 pm

Walking on the streets of Akita, guarded by soldiers patrolling nearby, Kanata stayed cautious of her surroundings, afraid of getting noticed. Using a different body, it was easy to walk around, but if she got called or ordered by someone, she's going to have a bad time. She kept checking the ID clipped on her clothes to recite her "identity"

'Imagine if someone called me out of nowhere. That would be uncanny and uncharacteristic, not gonna lie,' she thought to herself as she walked as fast as she could.

"You!" someone yelled.

She started looking around, hoping that the one who yelled wasn't referring to her.

"Don't look around. I'm talking to you!" sweat started building up, knowing that she was the one who was called.

She looked at the person who yelled at her. A guy who's obviously a part of the Resistance. He approached Kanata as he started glaring at her disguised body. Standing erect, she tried to hide her panic attack.

"State your name!"

"Private First Class Keiji Satoru, sir," she saluted as she felt her knees start to tremble.

"What are the orders issued to you?" he glared at her, giving a menacing aura.

She gulped as those eyes continued to intimidate her, "I'm assigned as a guard of the Russian representative. As of now, she's in need of food and some new clothes."

He then smiled as he patted Kanata's back, "You may go then. The representative might become impatient if you didn't hurry up. Cuz you know, girl things."

"Hehe. You're right," she laughed nervously as she started walking away.

"The cloth shop is on the right!" he yelled at her.

"Oh yeah, my bad," she scratched her head and went to the right.

"That was close. I almost got caught," she wiped her sweat as the cloth shop was seen from her sights.

"Good grief."

--

4:19 pm

"How did you know my size?" Botan raised her eyebrows as she inspected the clothes brought by Kanata, who transformed back into her original form.

"Just a hunch?" she shrugged as she sipped her cola.

"Hmm. Nothing special in this ID. Easy to copy," Pekora frowned as the portable printer let out an altered copy of the ID.

Botan stared at the details of the ID, "Anya Alyoshaevna Alyosha?"

"Took me some time to think of some Russian names."

"You should've asked me instead. I know a lot of names. All dead," Botan's glare pierced her soul.

"Oh, uhh. Hey, are there any soldiers roaming inside this hotel?" Pekora asked just to change the topic.

"Excluding those who I have killed, nah. I haven't met anyone."

"Let's occupy some room. The sun's burning me."

"Good idea," Botan walked inside the building.

"We should leave those equipment outside. No one's gonna steal it or something," Moona said, also entering the building.

"Don't move, Towa, or I will throw you from the rooftop," Coco threatened as she also carried Towa inside, who was still silent the entire time.

Kanata and Pekora were the last ones who went inside the hotel. On the hallway, Kanata glanced at Pekora, "Do you think we could end this war after we succeed this mission?"

Pekora bit her lower lip. She hasn't thought about this, nor imagined if they would win the war. All she knows is that they should try and wish for the war to not cause massive casualties.

"Yeah, I hope so, peko."