It's A Mad World
Summary: AU – In this world, Kaname is successfully captured by Amalgam before Sousuke becomes her bodyguard. She cooperates and works for Amalgam until she meets Sousuke Sagara.
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Chapter One: Betrayed
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"The Lambda Drive (LD) is processed only in a dynamic state, where the user must be in the narrow margins of sanity and insanity, going against one's own logic and one's instincts but still follow them, particularly protective instincts concerning the self or someone extremely important," Kaname Chidori instructed the young Amalgam orphan mercenaries. Their faces tried to mask their confusion. Kaname, now cooperative for 480 days, kept here at this base for a little over three years, tried to explain it better.
"Will power and intense concentration are needed. You must ignore everything but the battle, particularly the life and preservation of life around you except for the source of your protective instincts. People induced with LSD are able to achieve this state due to the fact that LD recognizes the brain patterns as similar to someone who has given up himself or herself to death for the purpose of preserving something else – they basically don't even care about living to sum it up. Gauron was able to achieve this state due to the fact that he doesn't fear death at all due to his cancer. Indeed, his source of will power and concentration came from his pleasure of killing and hatred for humanity and he was willing to throw away his life to achieve this end. Unless you're willing to die, the LD won't obey your will."
Someone raised their hand.
"Yes?" Kaname called upon the girl, who was no more than thirteen.
"But Miss Kaname... if we are unable to process enough will power and concentration…" she didn't finish the sentence.
At the Amalgam's Academy for the Gifted (AAG), war orphans of all ages entered to only be brutally mentally and emotionally slaughtered, to prepare them for the harshness of their reality.
"If unable to process enough willpower and concentration in time, you'll die depending on the situation. That is why I am here to make sure that you are able to go into that dynamic state at will before you enter the field. The AAG was created at my insistence to make sure Amalgam's casualties lessened," Kaname finished.
Amalgam had first spotted her as a means to an end. However, with time and effort, she gained their trust and more so, their respect as she showed them she was no one to mess with. In their world, the weak died and the strong ruled with an iron fist until someone stronger came along. The cycle repeated. Kaname had to learn fast how to operate.
She proposed AAG as opposed to wasting money on turncoat mercenaries. Collect orphans, train them, and gain their undying loyalty and forever Amalgam will live through the next generation. The proposal was accepted after three months and so, here she was with the first batch of orphans with nowhere to go, to call home and no reason to live. Today, the pledge of allegiance to Amalgam was stated perfectly.
The classes consisted of Introduction to Lambda Drive (ILD), Introduction to Survival Training (IST), Introduction to Arm Slaves (IAS), Introduction to Small Arms (ISA) and Introduction to Anti-Armor Combat (IAAC) for the First Years. The older orphans had the same classes, though they also had Introduction to Guerrilla Tactics (IGT) though it was quicker and more detailed than for those age ten to thirteen. Kaname taught IAS and ILD to both First Years and Second Years since no one was more knowledgeable than she. Leonard however did come once in a while to help with Introduction to AS. She dimmed the lights and turned on the screen on the board.
"LD was first found and used by a man named Sousuke Sagara, who at the time held the codename Uruz-7 of Mithril's SRT in a fight with Gauron over two years ago. He was protecting this woman here," Kaname clicked the button on screen to show her class the picture of a grey-haired young female. Images of the fight appeared next as Kaname continued her lecture.
"At the time, Captain Teletha Tessa Testarosa of the submarine TDD-1 was captured due to her Whispered abilities. Even though she specializes in submarines, she has the ability to learn vague information pertaining to other Black Technology discovered and undiscovered. Due to this, she was able to activate ARX-7 Arbalest's LD through manipulation of Sousuke Sagara's feelings for his lifelong friend's death, formerly Andrei Kalinin and the TDD-1's Military Strategist. This is simply an example of how the LD operates." More slides showed as well as what seemed to be Gauron's death.
"Did he die here? Gauron?" a voice asked.
"No. Gauron has evil luck when it comes to dying. He's survived just about every battle and finally died at the hands of Sousuke Sagara in Hong Kong, China six months after this event," Kaname shrugged.
"Was h-he an evil man?" a timid voice asked. Kaname knew that voice anywhere and indeed, the little girl reminded Kaname of herself when she was young. Jade was as soft as any girl Kaname had met. Kaname was surprised she had survived the training regiment all of them were required to meet or be killed.
"People are neither evil nor good. They merely have different values and goals and different ways of achieving them," Kaname shrugged again as she continued the lecture. They were children, but lying to them would only hurt them, especially the timid ones.
She turned the slides on the screen again.
"Here is a standard engine for the LD. Not all LD engines are the same. The weakness usually lies in the user and their skill and personality but it can also be the weakness and lack of sensitivity of that LD. Some personalities are better suited to the LD than others, I won't lie. Strong-willed characters, as most of you have guessed, are best suited, able to dive in and kill themselves for what they most desire. Kamikazes during WWII would probably be best suited too, I imagine," Kaname chuckled as more slides of engines and LD components showed up on the screen.
The lecture extended for one more hour. Homework for that night included reporting a possible source of willpower for each individual, describing the engine of LD and facing further questions about today's lecture.
They had a thirty minute break before she met them again for Introduction to Arm Slaves (IAS).
She taught IAS and ILD to the First Years Tuesday and Thursdays and to the Second Years Mondays and Wednesdays. On Friday and Saturday, she furthered her research on Black Technology, particularly the LD and a drive derived from the LD, Kappa Drive or what Chidori nicknamed Killing Intent that could not only be integrated into regular Arm Slaves but mini-Army slaves.
Unlike the LD drive, the dynamic margins were not required to be met, to border between sanity and insanity, between throwing away your life to save your life, to protect someone else to protect yourself…etc. Kaname had been working on it for some time and simplified and strengthened it. It only required killing intent or the desire to kill. The stronger that desire to harm your opponent, mentally, physically and emotionally, the stronger the engine would work to serve you in that purpose.
From there, anything could be created and done to serve the purpose to kill. Compared to the LD, the KD surpassed it in strength, sensitivity as well as ability to defy the odds, even turn back the hands of time for a couple of seconds.
IAS began after thirty minutes.
"Arm Slaves as you should already know have been around for quite some…" Kaname began.
"Instructor Chidori," a voice called out. Kaname turned her head to look into the eyes of Leonard Testarossa. They were as kind as ever.
"Mr. Silver," she said. The students greeted him by standing up and saluting him.
"At ease," he smiled at them. The put their hands behind their backs, to their sides, bowed and then sat down in a synchronized format. He turned back to Kaname and bowed, taking her hand and kissing it elegantly. She drew it back quickly.
"Mr. Silver, you are being quite inappropriate in front of the children," she said.
"I'm sure they don't mind," he smiled at the class, in which he was met with snickers and giggles.
"I am here to send you on your way. I am here to resume your duties for the course of this week," he said. Kaname blinked several times.
"What do you mean?" she asked him.
"I don't know," he smiled at me, though she saw the worry in his eyes. He came forward to hug Kaname. She was going to kick him for being a pervert when she he pushed something into her pocket. "They'll obey your commands if you activate that."
"Instructor Kaname, you must be on your way now," he pushed her away and pretended like nothing happened. She found out later that it was a bracelet that controlled twenty mini-AS models, designed specifically to her voice and command.
Why was he so worried?
Two days later, Kaname found herself at sea with three Arm Slaves, twenty mini-AS models and seventy men on board the Mercy-5 to the Amalgam base in Helmajistan. When they arrived, Kaname activated her mini-AS models to escort her to the base. She could feel their eyes on the back of her neck. Surely, this wasn't how it was going to end for her.
They entered the base and Kaname immediately found herself drawn at gunpoint.
"Really?" she simply raised a brow.
The man grinned at her but before he could even open his mouth to speak, the mini-AS behind her shot at him straight in the head. He had his chance, he ruined it and now he was dead.
From there, chaos reigned as Kaname ran for it and further into the base. For some reason, Amalgam wanted her dead despite all of her hard work for them. Screw them! One of the mini-AS models picked her up as she specified and from there, they all flew away into the night. She didn't know Helmajistan well, but thank goodness she had equipped her mini-AS models with a GPS system as well as basic survival needs.
She could hear their yells from across the desert. However, before she knew it, the AS models began to slow down. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen.
"Shit!" she yelled as her body collided into the sand.
The mini-AS models fell as well, crashing into the soft sand of the Helmajisan desert. The heavy right arm of the mini-AS that was carrying Kaname smashed into the top of her leg. She yelled out in agony as she felt something break. Kaname's skin broke but the bleeding wasn't severe and didn't leave a trail down her leg yet. The yells of the soldiers came closer.
Without thinking much, Kaname limped away from the scene. They would be on her trail quickly if she stayed. She looked behind her to realize that the tracks were disappearing as soon as they were made. Thank goodness for sand.
She didn't know where she was going. Despite being an instructor, her knowledge on survival training was limited. After fifteen minutes from the crash landing, the blood finally began to trail down her leg and leave tracks. Not good. She ripped her shirt and tied it around her thigh.
It hadn't damaged any major artery, which was lucky for her. The bleeding stopped after thirty minutes and her trail disappeared again. It felt like there was going to be a sand storm soon.
Kaname spotted a dark cave after three hours more of limping. Limping her way towards it with great enthusiasm, she tripped on a rock at the entrance of the cave. The very familiar sound of a gun cocking and reloading bounced off the walls of the cave. Again, not good. Seriously, Leo – why did he have to give her faulty mini-Arm Slaves?
Kaname turned her head up and looked into the grey eyes of a man she knew well: Sousuke Sagara, the first man to activate the Lambda Drive and a man she was secretly obsessed with.
"You must be Miss Chidori," his voice was deeper than what she had heard on audio recordings.
"Sousuke Sagara… Kashim," she began but stopped as the barrel's edge embedded itself into her forehead. She didn't imagine… had never imagined to meet Sagara.
"You know my name. I'm not surprised. It doesn't matter though, does it? My military might exceeds you by a hundred fold. Give up," he continued. His grey eyes lacked the luster it did in the videos.
"What does that mean?" Kaname gulped.
"It means you won't be living long enough for it to matter," he shrugged.
This was not the same man that Kaname had obsessively watched in video tapes, listened to his speeches of justice and righteousness, of the underlying affection he held for his only father figure. His connection to the LD named Al only fed her obsession with him. The LD Al, which Amalgam had been able to get their hands on, gave Kaname extremely interesting private data about Sousuke Sagara. In a way, Kaname supposed that she half-fell in love with him while reading reports of Sagara. She was devastated when he left. He had disappeared a year ago, deserting Mithril and the world of wars and battles. Yet despite her affection for a man she had never before met, Kaname wasn't blind to her own survival and what was necessary for that survival.
What was his purpose here?
"Please… do have you to kill me?" Kaname asked him.
"Affirmative," he pulled the trigger and the sound of his gunshot echoed through the dark cave.
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A/N: Sousuke and Kaname, as I'm sure you've noticed, are darker and colder and much more nonchalant about violence and "evil" things in this fic due to the fact that one, Kanami was captured and tortured for quite some time (though I don't mention that yet) and two, Kalinin is dead due to Sousuke's mistakes (not mentioned in the story yet either though hinted at). Either way, I don't want them completely OOC without good reason, though their speech and actions will be kept as similar to the series as possible.