ASTRA
Chapter 5 — Normal Tuesday in London
Coordinates:
51.5074° N, 0.1278° W
Former Greater London Exclusion Zone
Time: 14:32 GMT
The sky cracked open thirteen times.
Rank 3 descent signatures.
Simultaneous.
Meteoric streaks burned through cloud cover, slamming into different sectors of the ruined metropolis.
Shockwaves rippled across the Thames basin.
Civilians were already underground.
Evacuation drills here took under four minutes.
The alarms weren't frantic.
They were routine.
Inside UK Astra Command, no one panicked.
A lieutenant sipped tea.
"Thirteen?" he muttered. "Bit excessive for a Tuesday."
A holographic map flickered.
Thirteen red markers.
Then—
Calmly—
Fourteen blue ones activated.
They didn't deploy METRE ASTRA.
They didn't need to.
Instead, the launch bays opened.
And the Franix dropped.
---
The Franix Program
It was common knowledge worldwide:
If Angel blood touches human blood directly—
Both combust.
Instant cellular annihilation.
No exceptions.
No hybrids.
No survival.
Kazuo was an impossibility.
A statistical error.
A singularity.
It would not happen again.
But the UK didn't try to make hybrids.
They tried something else.
Forty years ago, they synthesized a compound.
V-NILE.
A chemical cocktail derived from Angel cellular residue.
Originally designed to temporarily increase synchronization rates in Astra pilots.
It worked.
Too well.
It overclocked the brain.
Users experienced god-tier perception for three minutes.
Then neural collapse.
Permanent damage.
So Astra pilots stopped using it.
But the UK didn't discard it.
They built humans for it.
The Franix.
Lab-grown females.
Engineered nervous systems.
Enhanced pain tolerance.
Short lifespans.
No legal human classification.
Manufactured.
Disposable.
Perfect V-NILE vessels.
Each Franix could solo pilot a scaled-down combat frame or fight independently using Angel-reactive weaponry.
Power level?
Comparable to a Rank 3 Angel.
At most.
There were hundreds of them.
And losing ten in a week was considered acceptable loss.
---
Battlefield — London Ruins
Rank 3 Angel #07 roared as it tore through collapsed high-rises.
It was quadrupedal. Bone-white plating. Serrated tail.
It barely registered the figure that landed before it.
A girl.
Slim.
Silver combat bodysuit.
Eyes glowing faint violet.
She pressed two fingers against her neck.
Injection port activated.
V-NILE administered.
Her pupils dilated completely.
Veins lit faintly beneath her skin.
The world slowed.
Time fractured.
She moved.
Not like a human.
She stepped forward and the air detonated behind her.
One palm strike.
The Angel's skull caved inward.
It didn't even get to roar again.
Across London, similar scenes unfolded.
Franix units moved with mechanical precision.
Some wielded Angel-reactive blades.
Others fired compressed plasma derived from Astra tech.
They coordinated wordlessly.
Emotionlessly.
One was impaled through the abdomen.
She finished her target before collapsing.
Command marked her as lost.
No hesitation.
Efficiency remained above 90%.
On the Thames bridge—
Rank 3 #12 tried to take flight.
A figure intercepted mid-air.
She didn't inject immediately.
She didn't need to.
She was already faster.
Designation: F-2789
Human name: Cynthia
Height: 177 cm.
Build: Lean. Efficient. No wasted motion.
Hair: Black, tied back tightly.
Eyes: Cold grey — until V-NILE activation.
She drove her heel upward into the Angel's jaw.
Bone cracked.
It retaliated instantly.
Faster than the others.
Claws tore through her side.
Blood sprayed.
Normal human blood.
The Angel screeched as droplets touched its skin—
Smoke.
Minor cellular destabilization.
But not combustion.
Franix blood was modified.
Not pure human.
Cynthia landed.
Calm.
She tapped her neck.
Injection.
V-NILE surged.
Her irises turned liquid silver.
The Angel's next strike slowed in her perception.
She stepped inside its guard.
Palm pressed to its chest.
"Terminate."
A concentrated V-NILE pulse discharged through her glove.
The Angel convulsed violently.
Its internal structure destabilized.
Then it collapsed.
Dead.
Thirteen red markers on command's screen flickered out one by one.
Time elapsed:
Four minutes, eighteen seconds.
No METRE ASTRA deployed.
Losses:
Three Franix units.
Acceptable.
---
UK Astra High Command
The room was polished steel and quiet arrogance.
Commander Halbrecht adjusted his cufflinks as reports finalized.
"Thirteen Rank 3s neutralized," an analyst confirmed.
"Franix efficiency remains satisfactory."
Halbrecht nodded once.
"Good. Keep METRE ASTRA in reserve."
He paused.
"Bring me F-2789."
Moments later, Cynthia entered.
No visible emotion.
Side stitched from field auto-seal.
She stood straight.
"Yes, Commander."
Halbrecht studied her like inventory.
"You performed above projected parameters."
Silence.
"That warrants reassignment."
She didn't blink.
"Clarify."
A hologram flickered on.
Japan.
A damaged Astra-1.
A white-haired male with a closed third eye.
"An anomaly has emerged," Halbrecht said flatly.
"Designation: Kazuo Ardent."
He paused slightly.
"Though the Japanese seem… confused about what it is."
Cynthia's gaze didn't shift from the projection.
Halbrecht's lip twitched faintly.
"You will deploy to Japan immediately."
She waited.
"You are to train it."
A faint emphasis on the word.
"Determine its combat ceiling."
"And if it exceeds parameters?" she asked.
Halbrecht's tone remained casual.
"Then we evaluate whether it remains useful."
Cynthia understood.
If Kazuo became unstable—
Elimination.
She gave a short nod.
"When do I leave?"
"Within the hour."
As she turned to exit, Halbrecht added calmly—
"Oh, and Cynthia?"
She paused.
"If that thing attempts reproduction with a Rank One…"
His eyes hardened slightly.
"You are authorized to prevent it."
Translation:
Kill him if necessary.
Cynthia left without another word.
---
Heathrow Launch Platform
A military transport prepared for departure.
As she stepped aboard, another Franix unit asked quietly—
"Is it true? The hybrid?"
Cynthia's eyes remained forward.
"Unknown."
"Do you think it's like us?"
She considered that.
"No."
A brief pause.
"We were engineered."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"He was born."
The engines ignited.
As the jet ascended into darkening sky—
High above, unseen—
Seraphiel watched again.
Three eyes amused.
"Ah," she murmured.
"Now the other humans send their weapons."
Her smile widened.
"Good."
The game was expanding.
And soon—
Japan would host more than one monster.
The end.....