Roughly at the same time
Kanesaki sped back to reach the hangar, crossing the bodies and corpses of friend and foe alike, some even his own doing. Staring ahead, he noticed a lone body, an old man.
Eyes widened, Kanesaki slid to a stop, examined the half blown-off face and realised that it was Takao, the old sixth gen Chimera. He checked his surroundings, a sense of exposure had flooded his thoughts, his eyes darting around as he continued his way to the hangar, only walking this time, cautious of a hidden enemy.
As the hangar came into full view, he had himself a sigh of relief.
The attack came from his left, behind a truck wreckage.
Three shots rang out, each parried with haste as Kanesaki twisted his body to focus on the wreck, eyes narrowed. He coughed a little, some blood leaving his nose as he gazed at it for a split second, a hint of distraction in his form.
The lieutenant really messed me up... I gotta get rid of this one quick...
'Oi, Chimera kid!'
He focused back, staring at the wreck in confusion. Tashiro was grounded behind it, holding his pistol close, his finger hovering just beside the trigger.
'Are you the rogue!?'
Asserting his power, Kanesaki shouted over, taking silent but cautious steps towards the truck, gripping his hilt with worry and a slight hint of fear.
'You could say that! I wouldn't!'
'I read the reports! Tashiro Jiro; went rogue three years ago after an incident on a scouting operation!'
Head falling back against the steel door of the wreck, Tashiro sighed, eyes lazily gazing at the night sky.
'You read about the other two?'
For a brief moment, Kanesaki stopped, a slight hum of wonder coming from his mouth.
'Other two..?'
Knocking the butt of his gun into his head, Tashiro replied, sounding both annoyed and tired.
'Of course... They deleted the files!'
'Deleted files? Why, what did you do to go rogue!?'
His question was met with an aggressive bang - the rogue had smashed his firearm into the ruined hull of the vehicle, leaving a dent matching the others.
'Do you know how easy it is to just snap!? One thing goes wrong and suddenly it's a spiral!'
As he shouted, the rogue shot up and fired multiple rounds - Kanesaki dodging instinctively and parrying the last as it headed for his neck.
'What are you on about?'
'What I mean is that we went on that op to just scout some rebel terrain - simple, right? Well guess not!'
He fired off two more rounds to finalise his words. Kanesaki swatted them both with ease, gritting his teeth in slight annoyance.
'We went out and found a few camps, factories and all that other crap, then our officers decided it would be a good idea to just have us go in and raid one of the camps! Of course, being the loyal little Chimera that we were, we followed through, only to be attacked by some guerillas who had scouted us before we scouted them!'
Tossing his pistol aside, Tashiro vaulted over the truck and charged straight at Kanesaki, drawing his axe and swinging recklessly, driven by raw instinct. Kanesaki, still aching from his earlier fight, moved with strained precision, slipping past each wild blow. Waiting for the perfect moment, he struck - his blade slicing into Tashiro's left leg, then following through with a sharp slash across his shoulder, tearing through the coat and staining it deep red with blood.
Tashiro roared, his voice raw and ragged, as he hammered down blow after blow, driving Kanesaki onto the defensive. Each clash sent tremors through Kanesaki's arms; cracks spiderwebbed across his blade, threatening to shatter with the next hit. Desperate to break away, Kanesaki moved to retreat - but Tashiro was already charging after him, spitting broken, furious gibberish as he chased.
***
Sakaguchi searched desperately for new ways to bring down the Yatzul. Though he had landed the most blows, his body was far more bloodied and battered. The beast bellowed, charging at him as he scrambled for options. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Sakaguchi grabbed a nearby APC, muscles straining, and heaved it overhead with a furious roar, channeling all his agony into the throw.
The Yatzul halted, its feet tearing into the earth to anchor itself. It threw its arms up, catching the incoming vehicle with a brutal grunt, its torso arching back from the impact. With a guttural howl, it let itself fall backward, slamming the APC into the ground with a bone-rattling suplex that ignited the wreckage in a fiery burst.
But Sakaguchi wasn't finished. Another APC came flying through the smoke - the beast caught it again, but this time with a growl of frustration. Snarling, it spun on its heels and hurled the flaming wreck into the side of the cliff, detonating it in a thunderous blast that sent smoke and debris flying into the air.
The two clashed again, their fists narrowly missing as they weaved away from each other's strikes - though the Yatzul's knife-like knuckles grazed Sakaguchi's neck, carving shallow cuts into his skin. Ignoring the pain, Sakaguchi countered with a brutal flurry of gut punches, each blow forcing blood up from the beast's throat.
As the Yatzul swung again with its right fist, Sakaguchi reacted instantly - catching the punch midair, planting a boot against the beast's stomach, and pulling with all his strength. With a sickening rip, the Yatzul's arm tore clean from the shoulder, blood spraying in wild arcs as the creature unleashed an agonized screech.
'Shut up!!!'
Sakaguchi roared, hurling the torn arm aside before locking his own around the beast's remaining shoulder. With a brutal twist, he ripped the second arm free, blood exploding over his face.
Then he unleashed hell.
A relentless storm of punches - a whirlwind of jabs and hooks - crashed into the Yatzul's stomach, chest, and face. Blood sprayed with every hit, the creature too broken to even scream as it crumpled under the onslaught.
To finish it, Sakaguchi seized the beast's horn, yanking its head forward before it could collapse. With his other hand, he clamped onto its lower jaw and, with a vicious wrench, tore the head clean from its shoulders. The sight was gruesome, yet triumphant - blood showered him as he roared in victory, raising the severed head high above him.
He sighed out, standing breathlessly over the beaten corpse, both blood and sweat dripping down his face and hands. Dropping the head, he turned back, arms swaying at his sides, the adrenaline was already wearing off.
Looking back to Yasuko and Isao, his eyes shot open.
The masked figure stood, back facing him as they stood before Yasuko, bleeding out on the floor. He gasped as his body ached, reminding him that fighting was no longer an option.
Peering down at the figure's hands, he saw that within one, was a simple military blade - yet the other gripped a head tightly, fresh blood dripping from the absence of a neck.
Chapter 26- end