All my pre-readers are dead, it seems.
They're not, actually; but it is the end of the year, and I suppose we all have exams to get over with. :D This is the BETA, UN-PREREAD version of the prologue, which means it'll probably be chock-full of errors and inconsistencies. Will be revised when my pre-readers get back to me, or when you people shoot me down for uploading such an error-fest... whichever comes first. :P
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Tell me the meaning of 'power'
I wonder if it's something I can go through
Or even if I devote myself
Can I protect the things which I must protect?"
- "Hemisphere" by Sakamoto Maaya, RahXephon OP
GateKeepers / GateKeepers 21
Legacy of the Gate, Book 1: Sentinels of Time
Prologue
Disclaimer: GateKeepers and GateKeepers 21 belong to GONZO. Anything I didn't
create belongs to their respective owners. Additional material and inspiration
cadged (with permission, I think...) from 'GateMasters', written and owned by
Corruption Rift. Don't sue me, people. @_@
:: Tokyo, Japan ::
:: AD 2001 ::
"Activate recon
mode. I want Tokyo scanned for Invader activity levels. See if you can find the
safest possible route to the Command Center."
"Reconnaissance mode
activated." Pause. A holographic representation of Tokyo popped to life, divided
into sectors, sub-sectors and underground levels, the entire map tinted with
intimidating, blinking reddish hues. "Specified scan target is saturated with
Invader wave signals with an EI Level of MAX Alpha 750 and growing."
Saturation,
Hiroshi's heart sank. Not good. "The routes?"
"Analysis complete."
A blue line appeared, snaking quickly through the mapped display until it
stopped at a small island, separated from the mainland by a strip of water that
was the Tokyo Bay. "Bypassing Route D14 directly into Route 25 will allow you to
avoid the main bulk of Invader forces and their more advanced formation units.
Structural placements will also enable more efficient defensive tactics with
your respective Gate abilities... assuming the buildings are still standing."
"Route D14 bypass it
is, then," Hiroshi muttered. "Holograph mode."
A 3D illustration of
the same map blinked into view, this time floating in mid-air before him instead
of in his NAVI display screen. Hiroshi stared at the diagram in resolute silence
for several seconds, then turned to look behind him. Miyu was close behind, and
to his right was Satoka, both of them balanced skillfully on jetboards identical
to his. Two quick nods told him they had seen the projected map as well, and
understood.
Tokyo looked like
nothing he had remembered. The once-proud metropolis now lay in smoldering
ruins, deserted and destroyed. Buildings that once stood tall were reduced to
wreckage. Streets were abandoned, vital infrastructure and facilities destroyed.
High above where the tops of skyscrapers once dominated, vast hordes of alien,
vulture-like marauders now swooped in constant patrol of the city, set against
the backdrop of the crumbling ruins of the Tokyo Tower.
The wind shrieked in
his ears, whipping at his jet-black hair and faded brown trenchcoat. Hiroshi
tensed, guiding his jetboard -- a machine which, for all in the world, resembled
a fancy flying skateboard, powered by ion thrusters and anti-gravity generators
-- with an expert touch, keeping a wary eye on the transparent heads-up NAVI
display screen tucked over his right eye.
Not that he needed
it to tell him that Invaders were rapidly converging onto his location.
"Get ready," Miyu
stated simply. "They're coming."
"Yeah..." Hiroshi
acknowledged in reply. "I know."
Two brief glances
told him that Invader contingents were closing in all around them. Satoka had
already armed herself with two broadswords, a smirk on her lips. "Let me and
Miyu take care of this," she said. "Just keep yourself busy with trying to reach
the Command Centre alive."
"You wish," Hiroshi
retorted. Then he grinned. "Don't think I'm going to let you look cool all by
yourself."
"Really?" Satoka's
grip tightened on her blades. "Funny. I don't think dying looks cool at all."
"Yare yare," Hiroshi
sighed. "Here we go... again."
~*~
:: Tokyo, Japan ::
:: AD 1970 ::
The iron-wrought
gates to the Diet Building crumpled with ease, falling before the advance of the
Gate Robot Prototype Model 00.
The Gate Robot
straightened, drawing itself to full height. The compound of the Diet Building
was muted in an unnatural silence, a sharp contrast to the frantic battle that
was being waged beyond its walls. Standing before the steps of the Diet was a
young boy somewhere in his late teens, dressed loosely in the uniform of a high
school student, gazing with a mocking, indifferent casualness at the Gate Robot
towering before him through a pair of tinted shades.
Syun's grip
tightened on the controls of his Gate Robot.
"Posing as the Earth
Defense Force, Syun?"
Kageyama was
smiling, but Syun could no longer find any trace of the boy he once thought he
knew. The friendly warmth of Kageyama's grin was gone, and he now looked like a
deadly viper ready to strike. "You know that's not true," Syun replied as evenly
as he could.
"The hero rescuing
his princess from the evil sorcerer, then?" Kageyama smirked. "A pity, though.
Your princess will never leave the darkness now. And thanks to you, you
hot-blooded idiot," the Shadow Keeper paused, raising a hand into the air, "I'll
apply the law to deprive sunlight now."
Kageyama snapped his
fingers.
Syun gasped as the
earth appeared to crumble at its horizons, breaking apart into gigantic chunks
that ascended toward the skies. It took him several seconds to realize that the
chunks were, in reality, vast multitudes of Invader formation forms in the
configuration of aircraft carriers, and Syun could only watch in silent
trepidation as the hordes of Invaders closed together, forming black, opaque
clouds that closed off the sun's rays altogether, plunging Tokyo into a state of
near-darkness.
"Kageyama!" Syun
yelled. "What're you doing?!"
~*~
From far off, the
Invaders had appeared to be of the common bat-winged variety. There was a
classification cipher for them, Hiroshi knew, but all he could remember off the
top of his head right now was that they began with EC-5 something. From up
close, however, Hiroshi could spot certain dissimilarities with their physical
configurations. Wings and skin appeared to hold a certain degree of metallic,
mechanical properties, and several sections of their outer armor were peeled
away by design to reveal underlying circuitry and miniature, Invader-sized
mortar cannons that, as Hiroshi had quickly discovered first-hand, possessed
significantly more firepower than usual.
They were
everywhere, firing at him from every direction imaginable.
Dust, rubble and
debris exploded violently all around him as Invader anti-matter blasts missed
him by mere inches, trying to hit a target they could barely see, blowing up the
ground below him as he moved. Hiroshi gave a brief smirk as he emerged from the
dust cloud unscathed, instantly pushing himself into a sharp ascent. Swirls of
liquid, metallic flames coalesced around his right fist as Hiroshi rose to meet
the Invaders above him, still firing volley after volley in a desperate attempt
to stop the Hunter's inexorable advance...
"GATE OPEN!!"
Hiroshi screamed. "MURAMASA!!"
Silver flames
snapped into place and solidified in the blink of an eye into a zanbatou blade
almost as tall as its wielder. Hiroshi's eyes narrowed, the zanbatou balanced
expertly in his hands as he flashed from sight, reappearing above the Invader
horde, a temporal storm of silver energy gathering on the edge of his deadly
blade. Invaders swung around, turning to meet his advance, but the Invader
Hunter was already among them, the lethal descent of the zanbatou tearing
through their ranks as it did. The blade flashed, melting into a blur of silver
as Invaders were carved apart, dissolving into a crystal shower.
"ZANGENKEN!!"
Gigantic quakes of
crescent telekinetic force flashed into view, trailing the tip of the zanbatou
as Hiroshi twisted his massive weapon around, unleashing a swift, furious myriad
of strokes as he moved, slashing a path through Invader ranks, the heavy blade
tearing through the bodies of Invaders with effortless ease as they burst into
green crystals seemingly in unison.
"Open the Gate..."
The edge of the
zanbatou flared into a brilliant silver surge of energy in response as Hiroshi
thrust the weapon forward, the strength of his own Gate augmented by micro Gate
Amplifiers constructed into the hilt of the blade. Invader anti-matter bolts,
aimed at the Invader Hunter, froze suddenly in mid-air as they approached their
intended target, shaking violently in place as they pushed against some unseen
barrier holding them from their quarry less than an arm's length away...
"Worthless..."
Hiroshi muttered, bringing the zanbatou downward through the air. "ENSHOUKEN!!"
A consecutive chain
of explosions burst out in mid-air as every Invader within thirty feet of the
Invader Hunter were razed to nothingness by a destructive, combined blast of
telekinetic energy and anti-matter particles. Grimly Hiroshi emerged from the
maelstrom of energy that burned away at the remains of the Invaders, zanbatou
held outward at arm's length. A soft silver brilliance coursed the length of the
blade, swiftly ridding the weapon of whatever black bloodstains that remained
upon it.
He could feel in the
very air; his enemies feared him, just as he feared them.
You think too much,
Satoka had scoffed at him once. So what if you're afraid? It's a sign you're
still alive, at least.
Mobile phones
triggered in mid-air below, exploding into destructive gouts of red-hot flame.
It had took Miyu and Satoka less than five minutes to clean up the few
stragglers that remained, and Satoka's expression was one of annoyance as she
caught up with him. "I told you to stay back!" she yelled.
"C'mon," Hiroshi
grinned. "You know me better than that."
"I think we've
cleared out most of them anyway," Miyu said. A strip of blue glittered under the
early morning sunlight in the far distance, which Hiroshi knew would be the
Tokyo Bay. She cast aside a pair of spent mobile phones, drawing two fresh ones
from the folds of her coat, then activated and primed the devices at ready. "As
for the remainder..."
Gate of Blast Heat,
selection confirmed. Imitation Gate System loaded...
"Execute," Miyu
said, tossing the cellphone forward.
Heat waves shimmered
as the device burst into an intense vortex of superheated air, bouncing lightly
off and coming to rest on the ground. Hiroshi grimaced in anticipation, opening
his mouth as wide as he could to equalize the air pressure between his
eardrums...
Then the explosion
came.
Satoka let out a
wild whoop as the jetboards were pushed to their very limits, riding the brunt
of the intense aftershocks as they strained to outrun the blast that threatened
to engulf them as well. Hiroshi frowned as he felt his jetboard's engines
approach its critical threshold; the ion thrusters were overheating, its
vibrations fiercer than usual, and the soles of his boots, thick as they were,
were beginning to feel warm to his feet as they started melting from the heat.
Alarms were beginning to flash at him in his NAVI display now, warning him of
imminent micro-reactor engine overload...
He wasn't going to
make it.
"K'sou," Hiroshi
swore. "Open the Gate..."
Pedal locks
disengaged with a mental command; the Invader Hunter shifted his weight, kicking
the jetboard backward with as much force as he could muster and hurling himself
the opposing direction. The explosion was still rushing towards them, engulfing
pursuing Invaders in a crackling fireball, and for a split-second Hiroshi found
himself staring at the veritable sea of flames as it surged forward to meet him.
Gravity beckoned; the force of his kick had worn off, and now he was beginning
to fall, with a scorching inferno bearing down upon him...
God, please don't
let me screw up...
"Ryuusei HISHOU!"
The force of his own
technique slammed into him like the kick of an angry mule. Blasts of pressurized
air struck and rebounded off the ground, slamming into him, picking him up,
tossing him forward as if he was a rag doll. Miyu and Satoka had, by now, more
than realized that something was seriously wrong. Desperately Hiroshi tried to
regulate the flow and intensity of his own energy, creating, altering and
manipulating areas of compressed air and vacuum voids in a frantic attempt to
control the path of his flight. The fireball raged mere inches behind him, and
already Hiroshi could feel his trenchcoat beginning to smolder from the intense
heat...
Then Invader blasts
rained down at him from above.
He managed to
surprise himself by managing to edge to the left and avoid getting hit, though
it cost him every single bit of his concentration and willpower. Sensei had been
right; his dexterity and reflexes had slacked off badly through lack of practice
ever since he learned how to form energy barriers with his Gate. Dark rings
zoomed past him, destroying everything they touched, leaving smoking craters in
the ground as they hit, and Hiroshi threw himself into a desperate, deadly
dance, willing his concentration to not falter, feeling the searing heat of the
blasts as they missed by mere centimetres...
Just as the Hunter
kills, he must be prepared to be killed in return--
"Open the Gate!!"
Satoka screamed. "GIGA SWORD!!"
But not today...
Multiple crimson
blades boomeranged towards the Invaders, tearing through their ranks, reducing
the alien marauders to green crystals as they tore through the bodies of their
victims with a wet, crushing noise. The barrage of rings, ever so imperceptibly,
slowed for the briefest fraction of an instant...
It was enough.
Psychic force flared
as Hiroshi released a downward energy blast from an outstretched fist, throwing
himself into near-vertical acceleration. Invaders swiveled around to intercept
him, suddenly aware of the terrifyingly powerful signature of Gate energy that
presented itself to their senses--
Hiroshi vanished,
blinking from sight in a brief flash of silver light just as the Invaders opened
fire, waves of rings surging past the spot where the Hunter had been but an
instant ago. A second burst of light flashed, this time above the Invaders,
depositing Hiroshi in mid-air as he descended upon his foes, a small silver Gate
opening, then imploding into his palm, but not before leaving behind the feared
zanbatou in his hands once more to mark its passing.
"Gate Open..."
Die.
"Enshouken."
~*~
A slight rain
drizzled that day, complete with gloomy, overcast clouds. Which was rather
depressing, Hashimoto Daichi observed.
Depressing, but
rather fitting. Fine weather on that day would only be mockery of Man from the
gods.
The standard combat
uniforms of AEGIS personnel were mostly waterproof, and his was no exception.
And thus he stood erect, arms crossed as he gazed out across the strait that cut
off the island from the mainland, allowing rivulets of rainwater to drip past
his furrowed brow as his keen eyes kept a sharp watch for any sign of activity
on the seemingly-deserted mainland. To see Tokyo burn in smoldering ruins was a
disheartening sight. He had been born and raised in the city, but, more
importantly, the destruction stood as a silent testimony to the failure of Man
as the capital of Japan had, at final last, fallen to Invader forces.
It was odd... he had
fought with everything he had. They all had. And, for a while, they had allowed
themselves to believe that they would, at least, win this battle.
The cold sea wind
chilled him to the bone, but failed to make him flinch. To him, heat and cold
were one and the same, and not to be resisted, but accepted. In truth,
sophisticated radar systems would have detected Invader activity long before he
could have seen them with the naked eye, but he lingered nonetheless, inhaling
the salty scent of the breeze, reveling in its freezing chill. He had always
lived for the present, and, with Death staring at him in the eye, he didn't
quite feel particularly inclined to step away from the winds of the sea yet,
cold as they were. It was, after all, proof that he was still among the land of
the living... for the moment.
For to live was
easier than to die.
Small plumes of
water rose from the distance, whipped to a frothy whiteness, closing towards
Odaiba with breathtaking speed. Daichi squinted, raising a pair of digital
scopes to his eyes. His heart skipped a beat as he recognized three human forms;
two of them riding on jetboards, skimming lightly across the surface of the
water, while the third -- a boy dressed in a long brown trenchcoat -- seemed to
be levitating, enshrouded every now and then within a brief, flickering silver
haze, keeping up with the speed of the jetboards with no visible effort.
The Invader Hunters.
And, right behind
them, a vast horde of winged, alien marauders swooped in pursuit like an evil,
malignant shadow.
"They're here," a
bespectacled boy announced from beside him, snapping his mobile laptop computer
shut as he rose to his feet. "Permission to mobilize Gate Robots, sir?"
Behind them, the
ruins of what was once the entrance to the underground AEGIS Command Centre
stood half-buried amidst large mounds of demolished rubble. Daichi could detect
movements among the said rubble as Enforcers and Invader Hunters alike assumed
their arranged positions; the two of them had apparently not been the only ones
to be aware of the Invaders' approach.
Daichi gave a terse
nod. "Get to it."
The Invaders were
close enough to see now, visible as hazy mists on the far side of the sea
channel that slowly solidified as they took form. This was why they were here,
all of them.
He rose to his feet.
It all began thirty
years ago in this very city.
Today, the field of
the first battle would be the field of the last.
~*~
"You never told me
you could fly!" Satoka yelled.
"Yeah well, glad you
like it!" Hiroshi yelled back.
Odaiba loomed ahead.
Hiroshi gave a grim, satisfied grin as the tint of red on the holographic map in
his NAVI eyepiece told him that the Invaders were still, foolishly, pursuing
them with a dogged tenacity as they approached the man-made islet; Team C-15 was
already there, the perimeter secured, and -- by the looks of the sleek form of
the Gate Robot deployed near the edge of the shore -- more than ready to provide
backup support. A small box snapped to view in the lower left edge of his NAVI.
"Invader Hunter Natalie Kryshnikov of Team C-15 reporting for duty," a blonde,
blue-eyed girl announced cheerfully through the video link. "It looks like you
people could use some help there."
"I've just run out
of Imitation Gate systems, by the way," Miyu added. "Artillery support would be
most helpful at this point."
"Acknowledged,"
Hiroshi nodded. "Level 3 termination is requested."
"Ryokai." The Gate
Robot fell into a half-crouch, its pilot grinning. "Now get out of the way,
you're in my line of fire."
Then Hiroshi heard
it; the fleeting, ghostly laugh of a girl that seemed to come from everywhere
and nowhere at once. Nobody else appeared to be aware of the sound, but the
Invader Hunter stiffened, muscles locked into rigidity, icy spikes of terror
driven into his heart as the ephemeral laughter faded away into nothingness...
He had heard the
voice before.
Then his NAVI screen
erupted into multiple Invader alert warnings.
Something huge rose
from beneath the water surface, its bulk large enough to create a large wave
that surged towards Miyu and Satoka. Hiroshi backpedaled frantically, clearing
the crest of the wave as it washed from below him, watching as the two female
Invader Hunters surf the wave apex with practiced ease. A writhing mass of black
tentacles rose explosively from the creature, tipped with razor-sharp black
crystals, parting into three clusters as they wriggled towards the Hunters with
unnatural speed and dexterity.
"GO TO HELL!" Satoka
screamed, the Dragon Slayer in her hands, slashing a path through the mass of
tendrils with several quick, scything sweeps of her blade. Gurgling,
high-pitched cries rang out as the severed tendrils withdrew, spraying dark
black ichor from their amputated ends. The fusion shrank back, as if
retreating...
"Crud," Hiroshi
muttered. He raised a hand, tapping at the NAVI unit tucked behind his right
ear. "We need artillery support! NOW!"
"You're in the way!"
Natalie yelled back. "Get out of there!"
Then Invader torsos
emerged from the end of each tentacle, protruding long, sword-like clusters of
spike from backs and upper bodies that curved forward, interlocking together
into a shape that vaguely resembled the barrels of cannons. The rest of the
fusion rose from the depths of the sea, shaped in the form of a enormous squid,
and Hiroshi's eyes narrowed as the red core revealed itself, sunk into what
passed as the creature's head, seeking its prey...
"ZANGENKEN!!"
Crescent energy
waves tore through the air, shearing off three of the gigantic tentacles from
the rest of the squid-shaped fusion. The remaining coils glowed abruptly;
emanating rays of bright gray light, accompanied by a shrill, humming noise that
increased in pitch and intensity with alarming speed--
The sound of energy
cannons powering up was unmistakable.
"GO!!" Satoka
yelled. "Go go go go go!!"
The bolt exploded
with the force of ten fistfuls' worth of plastic explosives, its tentacle
recoiling as the blast was fired, yet missing its intended mark. Angrily the
remaining tentacles swung around, unleashing antiparticle charges in a
salvo-like burst. Miyu let out a startled gasp as the last energy bolt streaked
past, striking the water surface barely five feet to her left. The onslaught of
superheated seawater was dodged easily, but the jetboard crumpled instantly,
torn apart by intense electromagnetic fields as the bolt erupted.
"Miyu!" Hiroshi
yelled.
Miyu was airborne in
a brilliant burst of green light, kicking off the remains of her obliterated
jetboard, ascending into the air almost as if in flight. The Invader ignored the
two other Hunters now, antiparticle cannons swinging around, locking onto Miyu
as the impetus of her leap wore off, tips crackling with electrical-like arcs of
energy.
"Kono yarou..." Miyu
swore, reaching into her coat. "I'll--"
Her pockets were
empty.
"Shoot..."
"Target is...
dropping..." the core announced with malicious glee. Miyu stared grimly below
her as she fell directly towards the fusion form; there was no object to exert
leverage upon, no way to change her course, no Imitation Gate systems left to
shield herself with or destroy the abomination... the delay had allowed pursuing
Invaders to catch up, and Hiroshi was too busy fending off the horde as they
swarmed around him...
"Terminate."
Orbs of destructive
force were unleashed upon command, screaming through the air as they rushed up
to meet her, bearing unspoken promises to vaporize her body into indiscernible,
unseen ions. Miyu closed her eyes, silently wishing for a swift, painless
death...
The impact slammed
into her with hammer-like force, knocking the breath from her lungs. A searing
flash of light and heat enveloped her body, but death did not arrive.
Miyu opened her
eyes.
Satoka winked at
her, the cracked, molten hilt of the Dragon Slayer in her free hand bearing
testimonial of the tremendous amount of energies the now-damaged blade had been
made by its wielder to withstand. "Don't die yet, Miyu."
"I do my best," Miyu
said, recomposing herself. "But thank you."
"Heh," Satoka
grinned. "Now we're even."
Miyu paused for a
while, then smiled softly. "Yes, I guess we are." Then she frowned. "Do you
really have to keep score?"
"Sort of. I don't
like leaving debts unpaid."
"Gate ability...
danger... danger..."
"About time we got
out of here," Satoka hissed. "Hiro-kun!"
"Right behind you!"
Hiroshi yelled. "Now move it!"
"Terminate the Gate
ability."
Salvos of energy
orbs burst towards them. Almost lazily Hiroshi thrust an open palm forward, a
translucent barrier snapping into place as he did so. The orbs exploded into
roaring maelstroms of dark energy, slamming harmlessly against the shield, the
force of the blasts screened out and absorbed by the kinetic dampening field as
they did. "Natalie!" he yelled. "I want the fusion form dead! Do you copy?!"
"Loud and clear,"
Natalie replied. "Initiating Gate Unlock sequence..."
The sea raged.
Hiroshi tensed, feeling subtle, yet deadly changes in the air; energy raced
through the systems of the Gate Robot, amplified hundredfold, channeled into the
arms of the mechanoid that were beginning to radiate a vivid blue light. Water
parted before Natalie, directed by the Invader Hunter's will, bursting wildly
from the sea in a storm of magnificent, pressurized columns that reached towards
the sky--
"Incoming!" Miyu
warned.
The skies darkened.
Lightning flashed, as if in prelude to a storm.
"Powerful energy
source has been detected," the Invader core announced, this time with a hint of
desperation in its inhuman voice. "The Invader Hunter. Destroy. Eradicate.
Terminate..."
The torso of the
squid split apart in half. Hiroshi was, at that moment, largely engrossed with
his own escape from Natalie's range of fire, not paying much attention to the
Invader fusion, if at all. It was, therefore, not without consternation that
Hiroshi discovered that the fusion had turned its attention to the closest
Hunter available, sending forth a mass of black, slimy tentacles that roped
about his limbs in the space of a heartbeat. "Nani?..."
"Hiro-kun!" Satoka
yelled.
"Gate Open!" Natalie
cried. "HYDRO WAVE!!"
The sea unleashed
its amassed fury in an instant. Pressurized jets of water and miniature tsunamis
roared, converging upon the giant squid-Invader, then crashed down in torrential
waves from every direction. Satoka almost turned back, watching helplessly as
Hiroshi struggled against the rope-like tentacles, vanishing from sight under
the onslaught of water. The liquid almost seemed to possess a will of its own,
flowing around both Miyu and Satoka, overrunning only the Invaders. Briefly the
fusion resisted, struggling against the furious blitz, then fell, dissolving
into crystals one by one, bright sparkling gems that were quickly washed away as
a final, gigantic tidal wave consumed everything that was still standing...
"Hiro-kun..." Satoka
mumbled, her voice a soft whisper. "Masaka... he's dead?"
A silver shaft of
light flashed from the sky.
"Iie," Miyu replied.
"I don't think so."
A falling blade
stabbed downwards, rifts of silver energy still trailing from its edges,
plunging through the air, sinking and embedding itself upright into the ground
with enough force to bury half the blade beneath the earth, defying any living
man to approach it but its own wielder...
"Muramasa," Satoka
gasped, recognizing the zanbatou. "Hiroshi!"
A scream echoed from
the skies, speaking of fury.
And then the Invader
Hunter descended, hurled through the air in a wide arc, right hand locked in a
chokehold around the face of the red Invader core. A dull, sickening crack
resounded as Hiroshi slammed the Invader forcefully against the hard, unyielding
ground, impaling the creature upon the hilt of the zanbatou as both airborne
combatants landed, the end of the weapon protruding from the Invader's punctured
torso--
The Invader writhed,
emitting a gurgling cry.
"Die," Hiroshi
murmured grimly, as only a blood-red crystal remained behind to mark the
Invader's passing. It fell, and Hiroshi watched it silently as it did, emitting
a soft, bell-like tinkle as it hit the ground. The deed was done, the task
accomplished... but it would not be the last, and neither would the next, nor
would the many more to come.
Yet it is done. For
now.
He could hear voices
all around him; the stomp of booted feet, of voices yelling orders and reports,
of weapons, engines and reactors, sounding hazy and indistinct, as they were far
off, muted by an odd buzzing in his mind. Muramasa lay in the ground beside him,
towering over him even only at half-length; Hiroshi lifted the monstrously huge
blade, hefting it over his shoulders as he stood up, drawing himself to his full
height, and it was only then did he notice that men were standing apprehensively
some distance away from him. He could see it in their eyes, sense it in their
minds; they were both in awe and fear of him, not daring to approach...
"So he does it...
again..." a voice said. Hiroshi could almost see Satoka grin at him, even before
he turned around to face her. Miyu was following close behind, wringing the
saltwater from her hair. "You're a hard guy to kill, Hiro-kun."
Hiroshi gave a wry
smile. "Some say it's my greatest strength."
"Yeah, but being so
persistent won't make you popular with the girls," she grinned weakly. "Yokatta
desu ne... I really thought you were... dead... this time..."
Hiroshi stepped
forward, catching her under the arms as her legs gave way, and she collapsed
weakly into his arms. "Gomen ne, Hiro-kun" she murmured. "But it looks like
you'll have to go on alone."
"We go together,"
Hiroshi reassured her, whispering softly. "Rest."
It was then were the
men finally galvanized into action. Medics rushed forward, and Hiroshi lowered
her as lightly as he could onto the stretchers. "She saved me, you know," Miyu
said. "I didn't know it drained her that much."
"How are you
feeling?" Hiroshi asked.
"Relatively unhurt.
I'm fine, I guess." Miyu paused. "It's never a good feeling when a friend is
hurt for your sake, though."
"She's a headstrong
girl," Hiroshi smiled briefly. "You saved her quite a few times before, and
she'd never be able to live it down if she didn't repay you in some way of her
own. That's just how she is."
"You're right, I
guess," Miyu nodded. "We should find Commander Hawke now, then... he'll be
expecting you."
Miyu could see
Hiroshi's jaws tighten involuntarily. The slightest trace of melancholy crossed
his features, only to make way an instant later for the usual indifferent facade
that Miyu had grown so used to over the years; unruffled, unreadable, and
somewhat lost in a way, as if concealing unspoken -- yet heavy -- thoughts and
contemplations behind his soft brown eyes. Satoka had once remarked that the boy
would have looked more at home as a scholar than a soldier, with book and
calligraphy writing brush in hand instead of blood-stained blades of death, of
killing. Miyu had privately agreed.
"You're thinking
about Megumi-san, aren't you?" Miyu asked.
Hiroshi stared
pensively across the Tokyo Bay. "Sort of..." He heaved a weary sigh. "Maa. No
point in wasting any more time, I guess. We'd better start on what we came for."
"Takeda Hiroshi,
Omega-level Invader Hunter. That's you, isn't it?"
"I'd prefer it if
you left out the 'Invader Hunter' part," Hiroshi said. He turned around; a small
contingent of Enforcers stood behind him, fidgety, but handcannons at ready,
though not quite sure whether to point their guns at him and Miyu. The elderly
man standing at their lead appeared perfectly unperturbed, however, despite the
fact that he wasn't carrying any weapons of his own... not as far as Hiroshi
could tell.
Striking blue eyes
met his own. For a fleeting moment the Invader Hunter felt an ethereal sensation
engulf his psychic senses as he perceived the man's mindforce; the Commander of
Team C-15 felt ageless... somehow empty and devoid of being. Never since
Megumi-san, Kageyama and Yukino had he ever felt anything quite like it. "Megumi
sent word of your coming, boy," the man said. "I almost thought you weren't
going to make it."
"We were...
delayed," Miyu said, a slight predatory smile on her lips. "Invader Hunters
Manazuru Miyu and Takeda Hiroshi, reporting for duty, sir."
"I've heard stories
about you, boy." There was a strange expression on Commander Hawke's features.
"How legions of Invaders would just vanish into thin air whenever you went on
solo missions, though no one never knew how." He gazed at Hiroshi. "The only
Executioner in the Central AEGIS Invader Hunter Division whom no man would work
under, and who would take none."
"Interesting,"
Hiroshi replied. His brow narrowed darkly. "And you still want me on this
mission?"
"Megumi vouched for
you before High Command." He paused. "As did I."
One question
cleared, at least, Hiroshi thought gloomily to himself. "Is the Command Centre
secured?" Miyu asked.
"As secured as
possible." A heavy sense of foreboding told Hiroshi the answer to his question
even as the Commander spoke. "Katsukawa authorized micro-neutrons and Access
Restriction 10. We were late by five minutes." He gave a grim chuckle.
"Nobody gets in or out until the radiation dissipates to safety levels... which
should be about--"
"Nuclear radiation
intensity down to 50 IPW, sir!" a man yelled from the entrance of the Command
Centre, ten feet away.
"... now," Hawke
finished wryly. Then his expression hardened. "Are you ready, boy?"
"No," Hiroshi
replied, seemingly lost in thought for several moments. "I don't think I'll ever
be."
"That's good
enough," the Commander snapped. "Prep yourself... it'll take several minutes to
unlock the jammed doors."
Hiroshi nodded
somberly, turning to walk away with Miyu. As he did, however, he heard the
Commander call out after him. "On second thought, hold your horses.
There's something I need to show you."
~*~
"Rurippe!!" Syun
Ukiya was almost screaming by now. "You've always been Rurippe, and will always
be!! The same Rurippe who was my best friend since I was a kid!!" He paused, his
heart heaving as he struggled to fight back the tears of sorrow that threatened
to flow down his face as he watched Ruriko Ikusawa fit the dark arrow into her
bow without a word, indeed even without any acknowledgement that she heard what
he had said. "You idiot!! Did you think I would give my most prized possession
to you if I really hated you?!?"
The bow was nocked,
the arrow aimed squarely at his heart; it was impossible to miss at such close
quarters. Syun watched with sadness at the face of his childhood love, now
corrupted by hatred not even borne of her own heart. How Megumi had wrenched
Rurippe's soul away like this he could only guess, and the bitter irony of the
situation stung painfully; the girl he loved twisted by the enemy against him.
Through the mist of his own tears he could see what was about to happen -- with
him killed by Ruriko, the remaining GateKeepers would not stand any chance, not
with the Gate Robot damaged beyond repair. He had failed them all when they had
pinned their highest hopes on him, failed them when the stakes were the
deadliest.
All of them.
He could hear
Kageyama's voice taunting him. "Game over, Ukiya..."
The coppery taste of
his own blood filled his mouth as suddenly he felt a stabbing, cold pain in his
chest; the arrow had pierced him through his chest. The unholy sensation of
death stung him to his senses, and he could see Ruriko's face, her lips twisted
into a cold smile as she watched him stagger to his knees, clutching at his
breast.
"Rurippe..." he
managed one last, almost-inaudible word.
"... you lose."
Kageyama completing his sentence was the last thing he heard as darkness
encroached from all sides. Briefly he contemplated resisting, holding onto life
as long as he could, but the overwhelming sorrow of having let down Rurippe
extinguished the final spark of hope... his love had not been deep enough to
pull her through... he had lost after all.
"UKIYA-SEMPAI!!!"
Kaoru's anguished scream filled the air as she watched Ukiya's lifeless body
slump to the ground in a heap, the black arrow that sealed his fate dissipating
into shards of negative energy that returned to Ruriko's Gate of Genocide. She
struggled, finally breaking free of Bancho's grip that had been holding her back
from rushing headlong towards Ukiya all this while.
"Kaoru!!" Bancho
made a grab for her shirt, and missed. "Dammit! Come back here!"
Kaoru made a mad
dash towards Syun's body, hugging the dead GateKeeper in her bosom as tears
flowed freely from her cheeks. It all seemed so unreal; Ukiya-taichou dead,
killed by Ruriko when it was her that he loved so much. "K... k... k'sou!!
Ikusawa-sempai!!" Kaoru lifted her head, staring at Ruriko's face as the latter calmly
summoned another dark shaft into her hand. "He loved you, didn't you know
that?!? All he thought of when Kageyama captured you was to find and save you!!
How... HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM??!"
"Like this," Ruriko
replied emotionlessly as she aimed the arrow at her.
"GATE OPEN!!" Kaoru
screamed as she reacted within the blink of an eye, her reflexes immeasurably
sharpened by anguish and anger, instantly opening her light-blue Gate of
Physical Strengh as she rushed towards Ruriko with an arm held back in readiness
to strike. "Kaoru PUNCH!!"
Three towering
objects loomed from the distance, casting long shadows on the ground as Gate
Robot 01, 02 and 03 appeared on the scene, closing around Kageyama's Jet-Black
Gate Robot in a triangular position within the space of seconds. Fenn Fei-ling
stared up at the robotic battle armors, feeling a surge of hope in her heart.
The three other Gate Robots were still fully operational; perhaps they still
stood a chance of winning the battle yet.
"Ukiya..." Jim
Skylark's voice spoke softly, tinged by a hint of sadness as he saw Syun Ukiya
lying on the ground, motionless. "We got here as soon as we could... Misao
warned us..."
"Looks like we
didn't get here in time," Jun Thunders' voice continued, the hand of Gate Robot
01 clenching itself into a massive fist. "You'll pay dearly for this, Shadow.
This I swear."
Kageyama merely
laughed in response, his voice cackling with undisguised amusement.
"Interesting... yet even the combined efforts of pathetic bugs such as you mean
nothing to me." The black Gate Robot stretched an arm towards the heavens,
summoning forth twin circles of dark energy that swirled in mid-air. "Now... you
die."
~*~
The sound of his own
gasps filled the corridor.
Lights flickered
sporadically overhead, providing sparse illumination to the passageway, its
steel walls stained with blood, the floor littered with human corpses and
translucent, pale crystals alike. The boy staggered forward, a huge blade
grasped in his right hand with enough force to turn his knuckles white, dragging
it along the floor behind him, while his left clutched at an unmoving figure,
slung across his shoulder. Bodies in his path were kicked aside; some of the
lifeless faces were familiar ones, but he was beyond caring at this point.
They were coming.
He had to hurry.
"We're approaching
the final security interlock," a female voice spoke. "Manual verification is
required."
"Invader Hunter T...
Takeda Hiroshi, rank Executioner," the boy rasped. "Authorization number
203066... Dominion clearance."
"Clearance level for
Executioner Takeda has been revoked to Ground Angel clearance. You do not have
clearance to access this sector."
The figure slung
across his shoulder stirred. "Let me try," she gasped. "Invader Hunter Tachikawa
Satoka, rank Executioner. Authorization number 178455, D... Dominion clearance."
"Clearance level for
Executioner Tachikawa has been revoked to Ground Angel clearance. You do not
have clearance to access this sector."
"Satoka!" Hiroshi
whispered fiercely. "God... I was afraid you... you were..."
"Dead?" Satoka
managed an impish grin, and then burst into a fit of choked coughing. Hiroshi's
heart skipped a beat as a trickle of blood seeped out from the corner of her
lips. "Even with all your mind-reading... you... you don't know me half as well
as you think..."
Hiroshi managed a
small smile, despite himself. "You're a girl. It figures."
"The bastards,"
Satoka murmured, surveying the death and destruction around her. "What h...
happened here?"
"We got here too
late," Hiroshi replied grimly. "Captain Katsukawa authorized the suicidal use of
micro-neutron bombs to stop the Invaders before they could breach the
TimeCommand chamber. Miyu and Commander Hawke are still trying to defend Sector
5 from fresh Invader reinforcements, but I lost contact with them five minutes
ago... and Invader signals are closing in on us."
Satoka looked as if
she was about to cry. Hiroshi held her close, feeling his own anguish and
torment well up within himself as well. He was angry; angry at the Invaders for
destroying everything he had known and cherished, angry at the first-generation
GateKeepers for their incompetence, for allowing the Invaders to become so
powerful in the first place... but a larger portion of his anger was directed at
himself as well. He was an Invader Hunter, one of the few cursed with the power
of the Gate, and thus it was his inescapable destiny to be protector. He was
supposed to defend, to be strong in the face of all odds... he had no right to
fail them when they needed him the most... no right to leave them at the mercy
of a horror that was his task to fight against...
He had no right...
Hiroshi shook
himself out of his thoughts. A small, clear eyepiece was worn over his right
eye, with the body of the device tucked behind his ear, almost unseen, and the
Invader Hunter raised his right hand, tapping softly at the NAVI device.
"Serena, alert status report."
A holographic
scanning display popped into view in his eyepiece, quickly switching into a
bird's eye view of the AEGIS Network command base. Red blinking dots were moving
through the pathways of the base, making their way towards the centre where he
was. "Security status has been raised to Class 2 alert," Serena reported.
"Invaders will penetrate the outer automated defense ring within an estimated
fifteen minutes."
"Can you open the
door?"
"I am not cleared to
access Level 10 sectors without the company of a Dominion-clearance Invader
Hunter," the NAVI replied. "I can, however, attempt to bypass the security
systems and force-open the door, if you wish."
"How long will that
take?"
"Given the
encryption level, an estimated thirty minutes and twenty five seconds will be
required."
"Omoshiroi," Hiroshi
smirked, raising his right arm and leveling the gun in his hand at the door.
Swirls of silver light began to trail in Hiroshi's narrowed eyes, and the
Invader Hunter grinned. "I've always wanted to blow this door apart."
"Not again..."
Satoka groaned.
The
carbon-reinforced doors were reduced to molten slag and torn apart at Hiroshi's
seventh blast, carved open like a tin can. Hiroshi added a kick for good
measure, striking the door with a burst of energy. Defeated at last, the
fortified barriers crumpled outward, still smoking at its edges as it crashed
onto the floor, raising a cloud of debris in its wake. Hiroshi stepped past the
threshold of the wrecked door, waving his gun to clear it of smoke. "Well," he
announced as cheerfully as he could. "We're here."
"You're still as
violent as ever," Satoka muttered.
Hiroshi gave a wry
grin. "I've had practice."
The TimeCommand
chamber, the most vital component of the base, had been left relatively intact.
Two simple computer control terminals were set against a wall, and on the
opposing side of the cluttered hall, which Hiroshi judged to be approximately
five times the size of Kurogane-sensei's office, were a twin pair of ringed,
metallic columns set upon a ramped platform -- electrodes that, Hiroshi knew,
would serve to generate time rifts once activated.
Or, at least, they
would, in theory.
"You sure took your
time getting here."
Satoka looked up
wearily. "Huh?" she asked in mock surprise. "So you're already here."
Seated behind one of
the computer terminals was a young boy, dressed in the standard AEGIS Enforcer
uniform. He rose, nodding somberly. "I thought I might as well make a silent
exit before anyone noticed I was gone," he shrugged, motioning towards the twin
column electrodes. Trust Terry to install a failsafe device, though. The two of
you have the key codes, I believe?"
"So you're the
mole," Hiroshi said. "Damn you, Kyosuke... you made High Command suspect it was
me too, all this while."
"You were the most
convenient target," Kyosuke stated simply. "If High Command believed you to be
the spy, I could've done this without having to hurt anyone. And I didn't want
to, Hiroshi, trust me."
"You were with Team
C-15," Satoka cried. "What happened to the rest of them, you jerk?!"
"Dead," Kyosuke
shrugged. "Not my fault, though, mind you." He grinned. "Hawke-sensei apparently
had no qualms about sacrificing the entire team of Invader Hunters, just so the
two of you could make it here safely."
Satoka's eyes
narrowed. "I'm going to hurt you, Kyosuke."
Kyosuke appeared
unperturbed. "He was an obstinate old goat to the end. A gun pointed at his
head, and the wittiest quote he could come up with was some dumb 'hope will
triumph over despair' cliché." He gave a short laugh. "Oh yes... you will hurt
me, Satoka. After all, we can't have that creepy geriatric dying for nothing,
can we?" He gave her a wink.
"You bastard..."
Hiroshi snarled, flicking open his trenchcoat to reveal his weapons belt. "I'm
going to make this painful for you, Kyosuke."
"But like I said,"
Kyosuke snapped, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't like beating up invalids, so
just give me the key codes, and I'll be on my way. And oh," he added, tapping a
small screen worn over his left eye, identical to Hiroshi's, "you have ten
minutes to make up your mind, because that's how long it'll take the Invaders to
get here."
"Why do you want the
key codes anyway?" Hiroshi demanded. "The Invaders have already won the war,
Kyosuke. Every major city in the world is in smoking ruins. The AEGIS Network is
retreating on every front." He gave a bitter laugh. "You don't need to travel
back in time to kill us, Kyosuke. All you have to do is to destroy the mainframe
computers, and we're as good as dead."
"It's none of your
business, Hiroshi," Kyosuke scoffed. "After all these years, you fools still
have no idea how the Gate works. The power you summon all this while, believing
it to be your hope and your salvation... do you even have any idea what it is?"
Kyosuke gave a scornful laugh. "No, you don't have even a slightest clue, and
it's going to be the doom of us all."
"What are you
talking about?"
Kyosuke held up a
finger. "Your ten minutes are ticking. Give me the key codes, and you live.
Don't give the key codes, and, well, you die." Kyosuke gave a brief shrug. "Come
on, gimme a break. How hard can that decision be?"
"You want the key
codes?" Satoka cracked her knuckles, then reached for her neck, tearing off a
small platinum amulet that hung from her throat via a piece of coarse thread. She
held out the bauble at arm's length, and Kyosuke frowned as he recognized the
motif of a dragon entwined around the blade of a daikatana. "Come get it,"
Satoka gave a predatory grin. "I won't need ten minutes to beat you up."
Hiroshi cleared his
throat, unbuttoning his trenchcoat collar to reveal an identical amulet hung
around his throat as well. "Duplicates of the key code were made to guard
against sabotage," he added. "Care to guess which of us holds the real one?"
"Interesting," the
corners of Kyosuke's mouth twisted into a grin. "It looks like I'll just have to take
both, then."
Masaka?... Hiroshi
frowned. Don't tell me he's really going to take on two Invader Hunters at once?
Kyosuke uncrossed
his arms, spreading them wide as a pair of cellphones fell from his sleeves and
into his hands. With expert precision the devices were flipped open, commands
keyed in with several swift keystrokes, and Hiroshi's heart skipped a beat as he
recognized the telltale flicker on the screens.
"The Imitation
Gate," Satoka gasped. "But--"
"SHI NE!!" Kyosuke
roared. "SHINKUU MISSILE!"
End Prologue
Writer's Notes
Well, it's here. It took me ten months, but it's here. 'Time Trax' was my debut fanfic on ffn; it holds quite an amount of sentimental value to me, being my first story and all, and I can say I'm rather glad to have (finally) completed the first instalment of its rewrite. Does anyone still remember this? I hope not; it'd give me a clean slate to work with. Quite a few parts of the story have been and will be changed, so if you do remember the original... do give this a try; you just might be surprised (and in a pleasant manner... or so I hope). ^_^
Hiroshi's old gun-toting self doesn't quite make an appearance yet, though I'm not ruling out that possibility yet in future chapters. I haven't really decided if this should be in the GK or GK21 section; check the other if the story goes missing one day.
This story is dedicated to (Corruption) Rift of GateMasters fame. I can only hope I have done her justice through my (admittedly rather lacking) writing skills. @_@ Dedicated also to my dad, who bought me the Centrino notebook PC that I used to type this chapter, though I'd daresay he'd rather have me spent my time studying instead. :D
'GateMasters' by Rift and 'The One Gate' by Ender are in my 'Favorite Stories' and 'Favorite Authors' lists respectively. If you haven't done so, go read them. Now. And don't forget to pester them to update, while you're at it. ^_^