The Red Hand

Chapter 87 – The Attack Begins.

One week later.

"Alright, everyone." Herlex looked at the other members of Libra who were standing around a large table. "Tomorrow marks the start of Operation Droid Army and the beginning of the end of the Japanese government." He smirked. "They considered all of us misfits, outcasts, and losers. Some of us were even discarded by our families for no other reason than because our appearance changed." He looked at Elna. "And tomorrow.... tomorrow, we'll show them just what we misfits can do. We're all here for different reasons, but the thing that binds us, the thing that makes us work together as a team, is the desire to see this world burn."

His little speech caused the members to cheer.

"It's finally time for the real fun to begin!" Armalthy smirked.

"Let's make Nagoya burn to the ground!" Spellhauser cheered. She was originally from the city and was looking forward to causing as much destruction as possible.

"Let those government bastards who threw me away burn in the fires of hell!" Max cheered.

"Finally, some real action!" Merkyul yelled. "No more hit and runs. We'll hit them where it hurts."

"Fuck them all!" Sabia exclaimed.

"It is not the destination so much as the journey!" Skipper commented.

Everyone was riled up and ready for war. But in the corner, Alice sat quietly. She was looking forward to tomorrow's attack, but chose to stay quiet. Her puppets would kill many people if they were unleashed as planned, and while she wasn't having second thoughts, she was worried about what Akagi would think of her after this.

{Will Mama be mad?} Alice thought to herself as she squeezed Floofy who quietly squeaked.

Of course, Akagi would never be upset with Alice for following her desires and doing what she wanted. She'd already told Alice as much, but the young girl was still worried. Tomorrow would bring many changes, and she was worried about what might happen. For no matter how much she hated this world, losing Akagi wouldn't be worth it.

Once they finished their meeting, Herlex and Alice descended into the underground portion of the base for an inspection of the puppets. Normally, constructing a facility this massive and complex should have taken months if not years, but magic made things much easier. Not to mention their backers granting them an extraordinary amount of supplies and equipment. As they stood on a gangway overlooking the neatly aligned army of puppets, Herlex let out a laugh. "Look at them, five thousand soldiers, all created by you. With thousands more well on the way. They're very impressive Alice."

"I'd hoped you'd be pleased." Alice smiled as a new batch of puppets entered the gathering area from the foundry. "With Imperial's help, I'd say they're my finest work."

Herlex grinned as he watched them march in sync as they took position, their boots giving a loud snap on the ground as they took their spot in the order.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" Alice smiled as she looked down at them.

Each puppet soldier looked like a metal doll. They had no face and no distinguishing features, save for a small number placed on their forehead. They were little more than toy soldiers, but make no mistake, they were dangerous. Each was outfitted with magical firearms and body armor, both products of the crafting team's dedicated work. What they lacked in Imp's genius, they made up for in sheer numbers and willpower and Imperial was no slouch when it came to design.

Libra's numbers had swollen due to their string of victories, and they could count no less than thirty members of the organization. With several talented mages and craftsmen, they'd turned this mountainside into their base in no time. Alice ordinarily couldn't create such a large number of puppets this quickly, but the crafting team had discovered some ways around her ability's limitations. As a result, the forges deep in the base had been running non stop creating these metal puppets and the weapons they would use. They might not be that powerful individually, but in these numbers, even players would need to be careful.

"Tomorrow, your puppets will march on and attack Nagoya, and all those people who treated us as little more than a nuisance will be silenced." Herlex looked at her. "Are you happy? I know what those people in Nagoya did to you. How they threw you away, how they let you be taken by those people. Won't it be nice to make them suffer as you had?"

Alice hugged Floofy as another company got in position, shifting its rifles into order. "Un." She nodded. "Lets make them pay." The hospital Alice had been experimented in was in Nagoya, and while she'd already killed most people involved, she'd held a grudge against those in the group home that allowed her to be taken. While it wouldn't be a priority target, there was a chance that a few puppets might wander down a certain street where they lived. And well, Alice was happy to let coincidences be coincidences. 

Herlex was excited, for the first time since Libra's creation, he felt that things were finally coming together. It didn't matter how many people died to him, only that chaos would reign. He'd long since given up on trying to reform this world or change it, now all he wanted was destruction.

Tomorrow, Nagoya would burn, and with it, the fate of not only Japan but the entire world would change forever.

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6:30 AM January 16th, 2059.

Dawn had just broken over the city of Nagoya in Japan, the usually busy streets were quiet, as people had become reluctant to travel due to Libra's activities; though the roads still had some cars on them. The most recent Libra attacks had left their marks on the city and a few ruined buildings could be spotted along with craters from the battles between the RRT and the terrorists. 

The US and Japanese military had been monitoring the Libra compound north of the city since it was constructed and assumed they'd catch any move on the city long before it happened. They'd originally tried to shell Libra's base from afar, but a powerful magical barrier prevented any such attacks and while ground assaults were planned, nothing concrete had materialized as of yet. With the loss of Wexel's familiars, it became even harder to track Libra's movements and while modern technology was good, it was unable to handle magic, a fact not fully appreciated at this time.

So when calls started coming in about attacks within Gifu (An outlying suburb) it took everyone off guard as there had been no prior warning of an impending attack. Civilians reported gunfire throughout the area and police had called in sightings of members of Libra. Casualties were already reported and it soon became clear that this was a full scale attack on the city as the quantity of attackers exceeded anything that Libra had done before.

Superbia was the only member of the RRT within the city and was immediately notified of the attack at Gifa, running full speed toward the coordinates provided. She was expecting players, but when she arrived the sight before she left her stunned. Marching down the main road and fanning out throughout the backstreets were hundreds of metal soldiers armed with magical weapons. Countless bodies littered the streets, cars and buildings were on fire and a general sense of panic had kicked in. The  puppets were gunning down innocent people and Superbia's stomach sank.

"Wha-what the hell is going on!" Superbia radioed back to headquarters. "Gifa is being invaded by some kind of army! I'll go by some time, get the military here as fast as-" She was cut off as the local commander spoke in a panic.

"We're getting reports of more attacks in Toyota! They say an army of robots is killing civilians!" (Commander)

Superbia was stunned. {How many are there?!?}

"Get in contact with the military immediately and put an SOS out, we need as much help as we can get. I can't handle this on my own!" Superbia figured it wouldn't just be the metal soldiers attacking, and while she could probably deal with them herself, if she had to fight other players too...

Superbia changed channels and connected to Aoi who was in Tokyo. "You need to get everyone here immediately. Nagoya is being invaded Those bastards brought an entire army!"

Aoi was startled by the call and fumbled for a moment. "What army?!?" A mix of confusion and fear took hold.

"Libra's, who else?" Superbia mocked her as she hopped off the building and began attacking the soldiers. "Get Mixu and Excel over here and call Minazawa and Hoshino back. These are probably Alice's puppets and Imperial's grubby little fingerprints are all over these weapons!"

{If I can find and kill her, that would remove the puppets, but that's going to be hard.} (Superbia)

"It will still take hours for everyone to arrive. Even if they go full speed, Nagoya isn't exactly close." Aoi sighed. "I've put an emergency call for military aid up command, but local garrisons will still take time to respond. There are a few JSDF units that were transiting through Nagoya, but they're not exactly ready for this."

"Dammit!" Superbia cursed as she cut down several more soldiers. "How the hell did they get these into the city without anyone noticing!" US and Japanese intel should have picked this up. "I thought they said nothing got by our surveillance?!?"

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<Alice POV>

Standing atop a high-rise, the young girl was escorted by Birdy to ensure her safety. From here, Alice could command the puppets more effectively and respond to changes on the ground. She didn't normally like to be close to combat, but there was little choice in this instance. If she got too far away, it would make quick changes to the battle plan difficult.

"Your plan to use temporary invisibility seems to have worked wonders." Birdy praised Alice. "They never even saw it coming. I must admit I was a bit skeptical, but it seems like their detection really can't handle shadow magic." She watched as the puppets marched below and began wiping out scores of civilians. Birdy was indifferent to what was happening, feeling neither joy or sorrow over this loss of life. She'd fully committed to her role as Akagi's spy and so would not allow personal feelings to interfere with her mission, not that she cared to begin with.

"Of course," Alice smiled. "They never expected it. I mean who would? We've never shown off this type of capability and shadow magic is already rare to begin with." Invisibility was quite a useful skill but was usually reserved for temporary effects via potions or abilities. Only a few dedicated classes could access it reliably. In this case, Alice had worked with the craft team to create enough temporary items to allow for the puppets to march to the city and enter without being spotted. It was risky, as they were unsure if military hardware could see them, but it seemed their gamble paid off.

"Shall we unleash wave three? It looks like Superbia has already engaged the first group at Gifa and is tied down. The small JSDF presence in the city should be easily overran with what we've got." Birdy chuckled. "With this much chaos, I think we might just exceed Herlex's expected casualty count." Birdy put her hands behind her black and laid them over one another in a stereotypical villain fashion. It seemed her master's bad habits and vanity had bled over a bit.

"Yes, it will be some time before the other RRT members arrive. Sending in the next wave now would guarantee massive casualties." Alice nodded and snapped her fingers, causing the puppets near Okazaki to de-cloak and begin their attack. The sudden attacks left the city nearly defenseless. JSDF garrisons were not prepared for this sudden battle, and American troops were not close enough to reach before serious damage was inflicted. The lack of RRT members meant that the city would suffer severe casualties and this was before one added in the extra damage of the Libra members who were still waiting.

Superbia was just one person. Even with her power and speed, it would still take time to clear the puppets from Gifa let alone the rest of the city, time she didn't have. She knew this, and was trying her hardest to defeat the puppets, but it was a losing battle.

"This is Gim and Grim!" A raspy voice came over Alice's radio. "We've reached Gifa and are preparing to engage Superbia." The two goblins were quite adept at stealth and were sent specifically because they had the best chance of killing Superbia. Not to mention they had a bit of a history with her.

"Rodger," Alice replied. “Try to remove her as quick as possible. She's the only threat to our plans at the moment, but don't get cocky! Superbia isn't weak, and one wrong move and you're going to lose your head.”

"Rodger that Queen of the Droid Army." Gim laughed as he cut the connection.

Alice just rolled her eyes as the next call came in.

"This is Spellhauser. I've reached Point 5A and am beginning my attack." She spoke over the radio. "No signs of any other RRT members and JSDF troops have engaged nearby my location."

"For now, just worry about escorting the puppets, let them do most of the work. Focus on taking down heavy equipment when it pops up."
Alice gave her orders. "If any other player or RRT member shows up, switch priority to them."

"Sounds good, it would be nice if I got a bit of action." Spellhauser laughed as she disconnected.

"This is Max. I've breached point 3B and will begin disruption of command and control as scheduled." Max said. His smile could be seen even over the radio.

"It's probably too late to stop a call for help, but taking them down will ruin their ability to coordinate. Don't focus on individual soldiers, handle infrastructure and comms equipment. Officers should also be dealt with immediately." Alice explained.

"Engaging now." Max said as he dove into a building, going radio silent.

"Looks like everything is going according to plan." Birdy grinned and looked down at the street where the puppets marched. Countless people had already died in the invasion, and countless more would. The sand had drained from the hourglass and the time for battle was now.

{I wonder how things will play out?} Birdy thought to herself. {Will they be able to drive us back? Or will the city be destroyed? Either way, my Lord's goals will be served.} As screams and explosion echoed through the city it was clear that today would be a turning point in the war. {I suppose all that's left is to see if our wildcard will act.}

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<Superbia POV>

Superbia was cleaving through the puppets as fast as she could. While they were tough and their weapons dangerous, they were no match for her as long as she paid attention and avoided their fire. Though unfortunately, the sheer number of them meant that saving civilians wasn't an easy task. Aoi told her to prioritize her own safety and focus on dealing with the puppets themselves. Civilian lives were important, but they couldn't afford to lose Superbia.

*ZAP**ZAP**ZAP**ZAP**ZAP**ZAP*

Magical rounds zoomed by her as she deftly moved out of the way. Her speed kept her safe from the puppets rifles, but the slow civilians were no match for them, as they high temperature magical attacks scorched whatever they touched.

"Hiya!" In a flash, ten more soldiers went down, only to be replaced by even more. 

{Dammit! At this rate, I won't be able to respond to the other two attacks!} She cursed the situation in her mind but continued to cut down the puppets, but it seemed no matter how many she destroyed they just kept coming. "How many of these fucking things are there!" She roared as she slammed her weapon into the ground causing a massive explosion around her destroying a large number of puppets. She couldn't fire off such attacks at random. Since if she did, any nearby civilians could get hurt, so her combat ability was limited in this urban area. 

"A little upset, are we?" A voice rang out, and Superbia sensed danger as a dagger barely scraped her shoulder.

"Nice miss, Grim." Another voice laughed.

"I'd like to see you do better, Gim!" Grim exclaimed.

Superbia looked around frantically trying to spot the two of them before her eyes focused on a nearby rooftop where she spotted two small goblins pointing and laughing.

"Hey, she finally found us!" Grim smiled. "Good job!"

"Took long enough." Gim gave a hardy laugh before the two jumped down in front of Superbia.

"How's it been, princess?" Grim smirked. "Long time no see, what's it been, two years? I see you've gotten stronger since the last time we faced. Though I don't think that's going to matter in the end."

Superbia knew these two Goblins quite well, and their history was not a happy one. Superbia glared at them, her eyes filled with hatred. "YOU BASTARDS!" She dove forwards towards the two of them. The first PVP in Nagoya was about to begin.