Ascenders Rift

Chapter 232: The Scene at the MSS Headquarters

Within the MSS Headquarters, the scene here remained the same as usual. Many different machinery and military equipment were patrolling about the grounds as stern and well-trained soldiers stood at various checkpoints.

Currently, within a field that had many different angular shaped mech's standing in a neat formation, a few elite pilots in black combat suits stood before each mech as a familiar dark-skinned man with dreadlocks stood before them.

This man fixed his hat as he scratched his stubble of beard and spoke, "We've recently received news of another Rift Break in the distant mountain areas of EarlingStar. This one is even larger than the previous most dangerous outbreaks, but even if dangerous, we must accomplish our duty as combat pilots of the MSS no matter the odds."

The pilots had sharp looks in their eyes as they heard his words; none of them showed any signs of backing down.

The man nodded as he took off his hat and pressed a button on his combat neck compartment, causing a helmet to cover his head after a few mechanical noises.

"All men and women of the Reaper Unit, ready yourselves! we'll be leaving to defend our people!"

Following the leader's words, the soldiers similarly activated their helmets and saluted before they shouted in unison.

"Yes, Captain Reaper!"

Reaper looked at the soldiers from his mech unit with satisfaction. His eyes wandered onto the mechs and saw that each of them had even brighter neon lights when their pilots activated them. A few slots on the backs opened as their thrusters began to shine with blue rays. Looking at each mech closely, one would notice that they had been upgraded with even higher-grade cannons and a new energy source.

'Good, we've certainly come a long way in these past months, even if that disaster does happen a few weeks from now, we should be more than capable of handling it.'

When Reaper thought to here, his eyes flashed with confidence as he clenched his fists and prepared to enter his mech. However, right as he began to mount it, he saw that a helicopter was descending from the sky.

'Hmm, someone's back from a mission, I wonder who it is this time?' Reaper thought as he stared above.

The helicopter had soon made it to a height of a few meters, but oddly enough, rather than properly landing, the door on its side opened as a figure stood by it.

It was a dark-skinned man of African descent, garbed in a black overcoat with black gloves, he had a bald head with a thick beard and keen hawk-like eyes.

Suddenly, he jumped from the helicopter and lightly landed on the ground, his coat fluttering in the draft as he slowly walked towards the base's elevator with his hands in his pockets.

After carrying out its task, the helicopter flew off at an angle as it went towards a different area.

"Oh, so it's you, Nelly, why are you back this time?"

Reaper asked as he hung from the cockpit of his mech.

"An urgent report."

Nelly replied as he glanced at him while walking onwards without pause, seeming to not want to start any conversation. Looking at Nelly's now distant back, Reaper rolled his eyes.

'Che! So unsociable as always. Still, I wonder what he discovered this time?'

He thought for a moment, but as he couldn't find an answer, he no longer bothered with it, promptly entering his mech and booting up its systems.

Following this action, the mech's eyes glowed in blue lights; it's back opened up as its thrusters sent up blue lights that caused it to float from the ground to a few meters in the air. The other mechs followed suit as the rumbling sounds from their engines echoed across the field as even the wind from their exhaust pushed away any specks of dust or dirt in their vicinity.

In moments, they had soared across the open skies, making a series of graceful arcs before blasting towards the distance with sonic booms that left trails of blue lights.

***

At the MSS headquarters' depths, within a large meeting room. Sector Chief Sigor sat around a large central desk with Black Spider, Alan, Angeline, Hank, and Thomas.

They each had a grim look on their faces as they stared at a recent video feed, showing the massive army of Flesh Mutators than had now entirely encircled their Earth Domain's border.

Their numbers were so overwhelming that it seemed endless, but despite that, their eyes were focused on the five mighty looking Flesh Mutators that stood atop of a colossal Horde Carrier.

"What of the most recent probe?" Section Chief Sigor asked with a stern look on his face.

The others remained silent for a moment before Black Spider replied with a sigh and helpless expression.

"It was useless, like always they treated our Atom Bomb like it was nothing more than a brush of wind, we only annihilated a few Horde Carriers and roughly fifty thousand of their kind, but that was all we even accomplished."

After hearing those words, Sigor slammed his hand onto the desk in anger as he complained.

"Blast! If it's like this, then we'll have to deal with too many losses. Especially with how that darn RADA has been acting as of late, sending no aid to any of the prior chaotic areas. I really don't know what that party is doing, until now we have no news of RADA's movements from the last meeting. Not to mention, the enemy's numbers keep increasing; we'll have a troublesome battle on our hands the moment that barrier fades."

The others also had pensive looks when they heard his words, but Alan and Angeline looked at each other as if exchanging something.

After coming to a decision, Alan then took the chance to speak.

"Chief, while our situation is a bit uncertain, we are far from reaching the point where we should be overly worried. We already know of RADA's shady agendas, we should not expect them to be of any aid, especially now that they've gone quiet along with the newly appointed king of our empire. Nelly has already gone to work with the Justice Party, if anyone can keep track of RADA's movements, it would be no one other than them based on what we've learned so far. On another note, with regards to the danger of that Flesh Mutator army, our Rift Defense Squad should be more than capable of handling one or two of these Flesh Mutators. If it turns out that it's necessary to seek aid, we just need to stretch our hands were RADA isn't."

Sigor gave Alan an in-depth look before he spoke, "Alan, I know of your parties strength, I can be at ease if you, Angeline, and the rest take it upon yourself to pin down one of them, but who in this world other than that RADA Squad, can take on such monsters? Not even our modified Reaper Mech Unit can face them as a team."

Alan smiled while Angeline made a confident look as she spoke in place of him.

"Chief, you've vastly underestimated the works of those two mad fools in the engineering division, and other than that, you've also forgotten one major fact."

"Oh? Have I now?" Sigor asked in a curious tone.

Angeline nodded as she gave Black Spider a look, knowing what she meant. Black Spider then pressed a button, causing a few faces to appear on the holographic screen.

"She's right chief, other than our RDF Team and Reaper Mech Unit, we still have those newly rising Dual Dancers Team and Clover Squad amongst the Ascenders in our nation. There are also the forces from other nations, specifically those unaligned with RADA and our Morning Star Imperial Palace. The Butcher Brigade, Setting Sun Unit, and Fierce Tiger Unit are currently amongst the strongest fighting forces in our Earth Sector. We should be able to rely on them during the final hour, for now, I suggest that we send each of the others in respective nations an invitation."

Sigor tapped the desk with his fingers after hearing those words; after a while, he nodded and replied.

"Good, send the word right away, I want to speak with the leaders as soon as possible."

"Yes, chief."

Black Spider replied as she left the room soon after, heading off to her information division.

Alan looked at this and nodded, knowing that the situation was a bit under control, he was about to say something, but right then, the door opened as the ever so indifferent looking Nelly walked inside the room.

"Huh? Back already, it's about time," Alan muttered to himself.

Angeline also made a serious look as she stared at Nelly, knowing his appearance at this time had to do with the previous mission.

Sigor and the others also noticed his arrival; they looked in silence as they waited for him to speak.

Nelly saw that everyone had their attention on him; he wasted no time and spoke what he came to report.

"They've started to move..."

When Sigor, Alan, and the others heard this, their faces turned cold as they knew what he meant. The mood in the room soon turned dark as if foreshadowing the shocking news.