Ch 374: Emergency operation.

Akeno's consciousness slowly rose to the surface as someone moved against her. Lena was awake, her head resting on Akeno's left shoulder, and had been trying to stretch a little without waking her.

Akeno slowly moved her left hand to pat Lena's head, and leaned her head to kiss her forehead.

Lena, completely naked aside from the black leather collar adorning her throat, nodded to her with a smile and snuggled closer. They didn't say a word, as Anju was still asleep on Akeno's right side.

They remained like this, quietly enjoying each other's warmth, for maybe half an hour before Anju began to stir and opened her eyes.

"Good morning, my cute pets." purred Akeno. Still gently rubbing Lena's scalp with her left hand, she slowly ran her right hand along the skin of Anju's back.

A perfect, smooth, unblemished skin. One of the first things Akeno had done after circumstances (or to be more accurate, Noah fulfilling his quests as he pleased, without bothering to consult her about the timing) had forced her to reveal her abilities, had been to remove the scars from her back.

Before her draft to the military, when she was held in internment camps along with the other Eighty-Sixes, Anju had faced severe abuse. Her light blue eyes and silvery-blue hair reminded some of the other Eighty-Sixes of the Albas due to her having some Alba ancestors, and they had singled her out as a target to vent their anger and resentment.

At the worst of it, some of them had taken a knife and carved the words "Whore's daughter" on Anju's back.

"Morning, Akeno." smiled Anju. She wore a red leather collar, and nothing else.

"Good morning, M-Mistress." said Lena, blushing slightly. Even through it had been, from her point of view, almost two months since Akeno claimed her, thanks to frequent stays inside the Sanctuary, Lena still felt embarrassed when referring to Akeno as her mistress.

"So, how was your first meeting with our Master, Lena?" asked Akeno, and Lena blushed further.

"Noah treated you well, right?" asked Anju. "If he didn't, I'll box his ears next time."

Akeno had started working her wiles on Anju after Lena, but Anju, being more decisive, had agreed to sign a soul contract where she swore loyalty to Noah almost immediately.

Anju, having risked her life countless times on the battlefield and experienced many close calls, considered joining the harem of a man she had never met an acceptable price to pay if it increased her own chances of survival, as well as those of her companions.

"Y-Yes… It was, fine." nodded Lena.

"Spill the beans, Lena." grinned Anju. "Akeno and I won't let you off the hook with just a 'fine'."

Lena sent a pleading gaze to Akeno, who only shook her head with a grin.

"…Alright." sighed Lena. "We talked, both about San Magnolia and about the other worlds he visited, and we ate crepes. Mine had hot chocolate, almonds, and Chantilly cream. I do not think I ever ate something so delicious. At the end of the first day, he hugged me, and asked if he could kiss me."

"And what did you answer?" asked Anju with a grin.

"I was frozen for maybe… ten seconds. He took that as a yes… He's pushy like you, Mistress."

"But you're fine with it, right, Lena?" asked Akeno. "You're the kind that will hesitate and waste valuable time when it comes to romance."

"…Maybe." sighed Lena. "Do I have to keep going?"

"Yes." grinned Akeno.

"Noah kissed me a lot, then the surroundings changed and I was in his bedroom. He said that you, Mistress, told him that I wanted to be tied up and gagged for my first time with him."

"I may have said something like that." nodded Akeno. "You're a closet submissive, Lena, and you feel it more intensely when you are bound and helpless. Am I wrong?"

"…No. So… this is so embarrassing… he dressed me in what he called a reverse bunny outfit, with heart-shaped pasties covering my... nipples, and he tied me spread-eagled on his bed, gagged me, and blindfolded me. He started using his hands all over my body, and then his tongue, until I begged."

"Alright, I'll get you off the hook." chuckled Akeno. "You did well, Lena."

Lena nodded in relief, then moved to watch her belly. A tattoo was there, above her crotch.

"Oh, it's already on its second evolution." smiled Akeno as she saw it. "Once Noah cums inside you a hundred times, it will become permanent. How does it feel, Lena, to bear a mark of Noah's claim on your body?"

"…It's like the collar." replied Lena. "It's embarrassing, but at the same time, it makes me feel… safe."

"Ufufu, what about you, Anju? It's not fair if only Lena has to suffer embarrassment."

"As soon as we met, I asked him to grant me his abilities as soon as possible." shrugged Anju. "So he quickly brought me to his bed, and we had sex. He's very good at it."

"I know from extensive experience." smiled Akeno. "Did you fall in love with him yet?"

"…I think it will be a while before it happens." sighed Anju. "I have… trust issues, after what I experienced in the camps. I trust everyone in the squadron because we risk our lives together, because what they stand to gain from having a cordial relationship with me is clear. But a romantic relationship with a man I never met before? It will take a while."

"And yet, you jumped on my offer the instant I made it." nodded Akeno, and Anju shrugged.

"Your motivations are clear. I am beautiful, you like to have kinky sex with beautiful women, and you benefit from bringing more people in Valhalla. But you didn't claim you loved me in a romantic way. And it's because of this that I can trust you."

"Is that how you see the collar around your neck, then? The symbol of a trade, your body for immortality and power?" asked Akeno, feeling a little sad and disappointed.

Anju frowned, searching her words.

"…No. I don't believe anything I said to be false, mind you. But you do not see me only as a pretty girl."

"You're damn right about that." nodded Akeno. "I see you as a friend, Anju. We may have kinky sex together, yes, but I also want to spoil you, and for you to be happy. Never forget that."

"Yes, I do not doubt that." nodded Anju. "That's why I'm fine with you treating me as a pet, at least from time to time. And that's also why I want you to do it with the others. So who's your next target?"

Akeno glanced at Lena, who nodded.

"You need to enhance as many members of the squadron as possible, Mistress. It makes sense from a tactical point of view, and… being your pet… isn't unpleasant."

"I'm glad you both approve." smiled Akeno. "…I'm thinking Kaie would fall easily to my charms, but I should seduce Kurena first. The poor girl has suffered enough already."

"It won't be easy, but I approve." nodded Anju. "She's fixated on Shin, but he will never return her feelings. As things stand, he seems more interested in Lena here."

"Me?" exclaimed Lena, her eyes widening.

"Come on, you haven't noticed yet?" sighed Anju. "Anyway, you belong to Noah now, so Shin will have to be disappointed."

"Y-Yes." nodded Lena. "If Shin confesses to me, I will decline as gently as I can. Hopefully, we can remain friends."

Akeno thought about it, and nodded.

"I have a plan to give immortality to Shin, Raiden and the other male members of the squadron, because I'm fond of them as well. One of Noah's peers, Aria, has recently obtained her own way to bestow immortality to her subordinates, one that doesn't involve sex. But that method only grants immortality, not all the other abilities Valhalla's members benefit from, and it will have to wait until the Champions can enter this world."

"Ah? That would be great!" exclaimed Anju. "But would she do it? If it costs her anything, she might not be willing to help."

"Oh, I think we could find the right arguments, you and I." chuckled Akeno. "Aria is a lesbian, and she appreciates beautiful girls."

"I understand." nodded Anju. "As long as it's a temporary thing and not a life sentence, it will be well worth it. But will Noah agree?"

"Noah will likely want to watch, then participate." purred Akeno. "Due to circumstances involving the death and resurrection of one of Aria's two lovers, both lovers found themselves into Noah's harem. Aria felt so lonely that she agreed to join the harem to be reunited with them, expecting to have to endure the occasional sex session with Noah, but deciding it was worth it."

"And I am sure that Noah's harem being full of beautiful, oversexed girls probably was a factor in her thinking as well." chuckled Akeno.

"Did Aria sacrifice herself to join her lovers?" asked Lena. "That is both beautiful and tragic."

"Noah was smart about it." shrugged Akeno. "Instead of laying his hands on Aria right away, he let Aria choose two girls from his harem to train her as a submissive, and only after she was well trained did he start getting involved. You both know just how good Noah is in bed. It wasn't long before Aria decided that lesbian or not, she liked having sex with him after all. And gradually, Aria fell in love with Noah."

"Wait, what kind of circumstances could force Aria's lovers into Noah's harem in the first place?" frowned Anju. "Were they coerced?"

"By circumstances, not by Noah." nodded Akeno. "The world from which the world fragments originate is special, as it was jointly created by seven deities, not one, and is meant to be supervised by seven Champions. But because the Champions were busy laying down the law on their other worlds, seven of their subordinates, including yours truly, where chosen to act as their proxies."

"However, the Gods decided that the Council of Champions that would rule that world would need a Head, or Chairman, or whatever you want to call the position, and who would get the spot would be determined by a friendly competition. And since Lilith is the goddess of Lust, Conquest and Domination, she outright told me she expected me to… persuade, let's say, my fellow representatives, at least the female ones, to Join Valhalla and Noah's harem."

"So you made them all your pets?" asked Lena.

"No. Asuka became my little sister, not my pet. Miwa and I are more like friends with benefits, and… Anyway, back to the matter of Aria. During that competition, Chisato, Aria's first lover, discovered that Noah could revive the dead. And it just happened that Takina, being both Chisato's and Aria's lover, had died in battle months ago. Chisato and Aria talked, and they agreed that Chisato would surrender to me without a fight in return for Noah reviving Takina, and the right to visit them regularly."

"Takina lived on Noah's island for a while, and Noah befriended her, then gave her some gentle training, because only after she became his subordinate would Takina be allowed by Lilith to cross over and reach Chaldea where she reunited with Chisato. And that's how both of them ended in Noah's harem."

"Eventually, Aria spoke to her God, Susanoo-sama, and obtained his permission to join Noah's harem. Now she really enjoys herself, surrounded by all those cute girls willing to fool around with each other. His harem is her paradise."

"What does she looks like?" asked Anju.

"She's gorgeous, as would be expected of a Champion. Neck-length, vibrant red hair and deep blue eyes. And she…"

Akeno stopped speaking as she felt a sudden and rather intense electrical source, coming from inside the Sanctuary, but outside the house. If she guessed correctly, someone who was aware of her extra-sensory ability was doing the equivalent of a polite knock on the door.

"Let's get dressed, we have company." said Akeno as she sat up.

"Oh." said Lena as she followed suit.

She and Anju quickly removed their collars and reached for their clothes in a hurry.

Akeno's hunch was correct, and a minute later, she heard Asuka's voice from inside the house.

"Akeno, Lena, are you there?"

"Give us a minute! Is this urgent?" called out Akeno.

"You can still take the time to shower, but the Finality is moving at flank speed. Roa Garcia's in trouble." replied Asuka.

Akeno, Lena and Anju exchanged a grim expression as they hurried.

Half a minute later, they left Akeno's room and took the stairs down to the living room, where Asuka waited. Da Vinci was also there, and she had the displeased expression of a genius interrupted in her work. She had been working away in another room.

"Hey, everyone." nodded Asuka. She hadn't thought to find Anju here, but took it in stride.

"Hi, little sis. How bad is it?" asked Akeno.

"From the communication president Zimmerman received, one of Roa Garcia's night patrols saw something. They were hunting for Morphos, but what they found instead was a shitload of normal Legion units headed their way. Enough of them that even the proud Roa Garcians decided to call for help."

Akeno nodded to herself. She had wondered about the Legion's reserve. Even after the two defeats suffered at the hands of the Spearhead Squadron and the Finality, costing the Legion's reserve approximately four thousand units, that still left six thousand unaccounted for, in addition to whatever new units the hivemind created, or retired from the various frontlines as it shifted its tactics from regular waves to long-range bombardment.

And the timing wasn't great.

On top of exerting more pressure on the Kingdom of Roa Garcia than the other human nations, the Legion had created huge swarms of Einstagsfliege mechanical butterflies and sent them to Roa Garcia, blocking the sunlight over their fields and slowly ruining their crops.

Because of this, the food situation in Roa Garcia had gotten worse than in San Magnolia.

Akeno and the others had planned to come to Roa Garcia with the Finality's storage spaces filled with food from Giad's federal republic, and Da Vinci was cooperating with the Federacy's engineers to resurrect their ground-effect, flying stealth transport project. They had a functional prototype inside an underground base that somehow managed to escape the Legion's attention, and Da Vinci was helping them create more.

But the Federacy was still in the process of gathering food and bringing it close to the border. They needed two or three more days before the Finality could deliver the first shipment.

And that was time they didn't have.

Akeno glanced at Da Vinci, and she nodded confidently.

"How large the Legion's force is doesn't matter. The Finality was built to take on more dangerous foes than mere Legion units."

"Yes. Let's meet up with the others." nodded Akeno.

They left the Sanctuary, reappearing inside Akeno's room.

"Good, you're there." announced Cortana. "We are headed to the Dragon Corpse mountain range, Roa Garcia's southern border, ETA 34 minutes. Leila sent a dozen stealth drones to scout ahead. I am noticing a particularly thick concentration of Einstagsfliege."

"I see. Thank you, Cortana. We'll head to the bridge."

"Acknowledged. On a side note, four hours ago, San Magnolia tried to take over the four Tempests defending them. They were easily repelled and two female infiltrators were captured."

"The idiots." sighed Lena as she shook her head.

"Are the girls going to leave San Magnolia?" asked Akeno.

"No. They do not intend to, unless you give the order." replied Cortana.

"I won't, but we will rotate them out of San Magnolia soon. They could use a break. We will deal with that later." shrugged Akeno as they walked down the hallway.

They quickly reached the bridge, where four people were already present. CC, Kallen, and Hilda, one of Da Vinci's engineers, nodded to her in greeting.

"Good morning, Akeno." smiled Leila as she stood from her command chair. "I gave the order to get underway without getting your input first."

"That was the correct decision, and you're the Captain." nodded Akeno. "We have no time to waste. Any interesting feedback from the drones?"

"They haven't detected any Legion unit yet." replied Cortana. "I do not expect to see anything of note until they get much closer to the border, in about 28 minutes."

"Should we board our Juggernauts?" asked Kallen.

So far, they managed to keep the new Juggernauts a secret from the Legion. The Federacy now had over a hundred of the new models, as well as two factories producing five per day each, and more factories were being built. The Federacy's officers had decided to wait until they had 300 of them before sending them to the frontline.

The new juggernauts wouldn't just defend the current fortifications. They would go on the offense and retake some of the territory of the former Giad Empire, wait until new forward bases were established and more Juggernauts joined them, then advance again.

"Yes." nodded Akeno. "We probably won't need to sortie, but just in case, we should be prepared."

She turned to Leila.

"We'll get ready. Cortana, please keep us informed of any development."

"Of course." replied Cortana.

Akeno nodded to the girls and left the bridge, returning to the crew's quarters. Anju, CC and Kallen followed her, and each went to their own room to change into their combat uniforms, black, gold-trimmed bodysuits made of a meta-material that looked like leather but was much tougher.

Once she was done, Akeno left the crew's quarters and descended to the Finality's main hangar. Most of the Spearhead squadron's members, as well as the 25 pilots of the Federacy's 1028th Trial Unit, had gathered.

"Hi, everyone!" exclaimed Akeno as they turned toward her. "I assume Cortana already told you what is happening?"

"She did." nodded Shin. "Are we going to use the Juggernauts?"

"We do not know if it will be necessary yet, but just in case, we should be…"

Akeno was interrupted by two bangs, and the metal floor under her feet vibrated for an instant.

"We got hit by two heavy railgun rounds on our port side." declared Cortana with a scandalized tone. "I didn't see them coming due to the thick Eintagsfliege clouds. One bounced off the armor, the other damaged one of the light railgun turrets. Combat capability down to 99,8% until the repairs are done."

"They weren't stopped by the AT-Field of the Luminous shields?" asked Theo.

"I had deactivated them to reroute more power to propulsion, and to swat those annoying flies faster with the microwave emitters." replied Cortana. "Those shells came from the sea, probably from that operational Noctiluca. They won't take me by surprise again, but it will add 30 seconds to our ETA."

Akeno nodded to herself, thinking about Cortana's lack of actual combat experience. The AI was smarter than most humans, but deactivating her energy-based defenses in an environment where visibility was limited was reckless.

Still, if this recklessness allowed the Finality to reach Roa Garcia's borders faster and could mean the difference between life and death for many people, maybe Leila and Cortana and chosen this risk deliberately.

"Alright, let's man our Juggernauts, everyone!" declared Akeno. The pilots nodded back and walked to their own machines.

Each of the fifty-two Juggernauts carried by the Finality sported additional weapons on their hardpoints in addition to the standard plasma cannon. Akeno had opted for two vibrating blades on the front's hardpoints, and two anti-missile modules on the back ones.

The modules each consisted of a powerful radar emitter and a low-powered laser. each of them would be able to aim at an incoming missile and burn both its optical/infrared and radar sensors in less than 0.3 seconds. They wouldn't destroy the missiles outright but turn them into dumb rockets.

The members of the two squadrons had chosen a wide diversity of weapons to better fit their combat styles. 30mm autocannons, laser CIWS, auto-mortars firing homing shells, missile pods, wide-area radar and infrared jammers. Raiden, that crazy madman, had even chosen a vibrating cavalry spear and single 30mm autocannon combo for its front hardpoints.

One common thing the Finality's Juggernauts sported, however, were multiple Stop Runes increasing the resistance of the cockpits.

Akeno climbed into her own juggernaut and flipped the main switch, activating it. The armored canopy closed, and wide screens on the side and in front lit up, displaying her surroundings as well as various data like ammo count, armor diagram, radar and so on.

On a corner of the main screen, a regional map opened, displaying the Finality's position and trajectory.

Akeno could see that the Finality was still climbing, aiming for an altitude where the lower air density would stop the Eintagsfliege clouds and where the ship would be able to reach greater speeds.

The move would also put the Finality faster out of the Noctiluca's range, assuming the Legion's warship survived the counter-fire Akeno was sure was already underway, and Cortana would be able to reroute more power to propulsion once again.

For about ten minutes, nothing happened, with the squadron members devoting themselves to their usual pre-battle chatter to calm their nerves.

Then, two windows appeared on Akeno's screen, one displaying Leila, and the other Ernst Zimmerman, the Federacy's President. A list on the side showed her that every member of the two squadrons shared the feed.

"Greeting, everyone. I am very grateful for your quick response." said Ernst.

"Hello, Ernst." smiled Akeno. "We're only doing our job. Do you have any news?"

"I do, and they aren't good." sighed Ernst with a heavy sigh. "I informed Roa Garcia that help was on the way and gave them your approximate time of arrival. The king appreciates our quick answer a lot, but their situation is desperate."

"According to their more recent reports, the legion has sent over twelve thousand units against them, and are focusing on three separate segments of Roa Garcia's defensive perimeter. The defenders will face odds of over ten to one. The Legion should be hitting Roa Garcia's frontline any minute now. The King ordered his forces to execute a fighting retreat toward several fallback positions, but they won't hold long enough to be reinforced by anyone but you."

"Understood." sighed Akeno. "Leila, please ask Selesia, Monica, Dorothea and Haruka to leave San Magnolia and join us, keeping their defenses active on the way. They are to regroup in pairs before entering the battlefield, even if that means delaying the closest Tempest a little. If the Legion is sending so many units against Roa Garcia, they can't have much left to threaten San magnolia. The Eighty-Sixes squadrons stationed there should be able to handle it. And the Juggernauts will have their maiden fight."

Leila nodded with approval.

"I will leave you to it and relay the information to Roa Garcia. Good luck, everyone." nodded Ernst.

"Thank you." nodded Akeno, echoed by Leila. The communication was ended, replaced by a display of Cortana's avatar."

"We will soon receive usable feedback from the drones, but they can already detect signs of combat on three different sites, each separated by around 10 kilometers. I suggested the following plan to Leila. The Finality will execute a heavy missile and kinetic bombardment of the westmost battlefield while heading to the eastmost one, drop the Spearhead and 1028th squadrons closely behind the Legion or on its flank, then directly assault the middle force while providing indirect fire support to the Squadrons."

"Sounds good to me." nodded Akeno. "Shin, can you detect any Shepherd?"

"We are too far for me to be really sure, but I don't think there is any." replied Shin, his eyes closed in concentration. "But there are black sheep. A lot of them."

"Makes sense." snorted Raiden. "The Shepherds won't risk themselves on the battlefield now that they know we can single them out and hunt them… And isn't there only one of them left?"

Akeno winced, as it was a sensitive subject. Assuming no other human had been captured alive by the Legion since Akeno freed Frederica's knight, the only Sheperd left was Shin's brother.

"Taking on twelve thousand Legion units will be difficult enough." said Akeno to change the subject. "Those are 240 to one odds."

"But we have the Finality." shrugged Kaie. "I'd say the odds are in our favor!"

"I appreciate the vote of confidence." quipped Cortana. "I'll reward you with a bag of cookies when you return."

"Roa Garcia's forces will have reduced that number to some extent." nodded Shin.

"We'll know more soon. Cortana, are the drones picking up anything yet?" asked Akeno.

"They are starting to detect small disruptions in the region's electro-magnetic field caused by railgun fire, but they're still too far away for a visual contact. But I am not detecting any radio communication from Roa Garcia, which suggest they are using another way to communicate. Lena, do they have Para-RAID technology like San Magnolia?"

"…I remember Annette mention once that her father led an international team of scientists, before the war." replied Lena. "I can't say for sure."

"Cortana, start the missile bombardment, please." declared Leila.

"Acknowledged." replied Cortana.

A map was displayed on Akeno's display, showing the Finality, the drones, three red circles indicating the areas where fighting seemed to be happening, and the icons of missiles leaving the Finality's launch cells. 256 of them flew toward the western circle. Fifteen second later, a second salvo was launched. Then a third. And a fourth.

By then, the drones had started to pick up Legion units, and the lead missile of the first salvo located more.

The Legion, having learned from previous encounters, contained a lot of anti-air units, and some missiles were destroyed on their way in. Most still managed to close enough to unload their sub-munition payloads, and about seven hundred units, Most of them Löwes and Grauwolves, were destroyed be the first salvo.

"…There's an anomaly." suddenly declared Cortana, her tone dead serious. "I'm analyzing the data from the drones and missiles, and there are several sources of radar returns and magnetometric disruptions on the Legion's east side that did not appear on our cameras."

"The Legion is either starting to use electronic counter-measures and disrupting our sensors, or they have built some of those Phönixes Zelene told us about. I am updating the target priority lists of the follow-up salvoes."

Akeno clenched her jaw for a moment. Like Václav, Lena's father, had told them shortly after being freed, each of the Shepherds had worked on a new unit for the Legion. Václav's had been the Noctiluca battleships, and the Morphos were Kiriya Nouzen's, Frederica' knight's brainchild.

And the Phönix project was Zelene's. A four-legged, fast unit attacking with two high-frequency chain-blades, and covered with an active camouflage system.

Its weaknesses were an almost inexistant armor, to the point of being inferior to even an Ameise, and that it could only hide in the visual spectrum.

"Everyone, pay attention to your infrared sensors during the fight." said Akeno as a reminder.

When Akeno had captured Zelene, her Phönix project had been close to producing its first prototype. She's hoped they would have more time before having to deal with those.

On the screen, she watched the third and fourth missile salvoes slam into the massed Legion formation. The Finality, now that it had a clearer view of the enemy's location, started using its secondary kinetic batteries, sending thirty 410mm shells through the Eintagsfliege clouds. The shells were equipped with small antigravity engines, allowing them to tweak their trajectories on the way in.

Cortana programed the shells not to seek individual targets, but fifty-meters wide areas containing as many Legion units as possible.

The shells exploded as they impacted the ground, creating shockwaves and shrapnel that incapacitated or outright destroyed Ameises and other lightly protected units by the dozens.

The small valley where this part of the Legion had regrouped to assault the mountain pass defended by Roa Garcia had become a sea of fire and smoke, and the three stealth drones hovering around it now had difficulties differentiating between live Legion units and wrecks.

"Touchdown in one minute." declared Cortana.

Akeno nodded to herself as she could feel the Finality start to decelerate, losing altitude as it closed on the Legion's Eastern force.

Cortana and her drones now had a clear view of the hostiles forces, slowly climbing a mountain while shooting their railguns at a small number of Roa Garcian Feldrebs desperately trying to hold them back while evading.

Those Feldrebs were quite distinctive. Where the Republic's standard Juggernauts moved on four legs, while the Federacy's Feldrebs and Valhalla's Juggernauts were six-legged, the white machines of Roa Garcia moved on eight thin legs, each of them ending in a sharp point. This allowed them to conserve a good mobility on the mountains' flanks, while the Legion struggled to climb the pronounced slopes.

The Finality opened fire with lasers and its primary beam batteries, strafing through legion units and leaving molten slag behind, while the massive ramp of the rear hangar slowly opened.

"Undertaker, the show is yours." declared Akeno as they moved their Juggernauts toward the ramp in neat rows by squadron and platoon, giving command of the ground operation to Shin.

Until the enemy was defeated, Akeno would only be the leader of the Spearhead Squadron's Seventh platoon, specializing in close combat. Asuka, CC, Kallen, Aife and Hippolyta were the five other members of her platoon.

"Acknowledged, Lightning." replied Shin. "All platoons, be ready to jump."

The Finality flew closer to the ground, losing more speed, until the opened rear ramp started crushing the top of trees on its way at a speed of 80km/h.

"Go." said Cortana, and the Juggernauts, moving in reverse, ran down the ramp.

As soon as Akeno felt the legs of her Juggernaut leave the ramp, she reversed the speed, and the machine hit the ground running, just like they had done in simulation. The fifty-two black Juggernauts were deployed in barely five seconds, and the Finality closed the hangar's ramp as it started climbing again.

The maneuver left a wide wake a broken trees behind the ship, but at this time, no one had any leeway to think about environmental damage.

Shin started giving orders, making the two squadrons advance and cover each other, making use of the terrain for cover whee he could, and they reached the rear lines of the Legion as they emerged from the forest, already somewhat diminished by the Finality's ongoing bombardment.

The Legion had of course seen them coming, and thousands of them were now advancing toward them.

"All platoons, open fire." commanded Shin.