DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun or Halo
A/N: I've decided on only doing four trailers. Speaking of which, Ruiko's is next (and the last), and hers is going to be a lot of fun!
Kazari was sitting at the desk in their room, her eyes glued to the screen of the datapad in her hands. Misaka-san and Shirai-san were already asleep in their bed, both of them having fallen asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow. Saten-san had gone to bed as well, but Kazari was staying up later to finish going over this book. There was still so much for her to learn, and not so much time. If she wanted to be able to help out, she had to do this.
"Hey, Uiharu..." Saten-san said, looking at her from the bed.
"Hai?" She answered, but didn't look away from the section she was reading.
"You've been up for thirty minutes already." Saten-san said, her face falling down on top of her pillow. "I can't sleep while you're like this..."
"I need to finish this as soon as possible, then I'll go to bed."
Ruiko sighed. "How long will it take?"
"Ten, maybe twenty minutes." Uiharu answered her.
"That's too long!" She complained.
"I'm sorry..." Uiharu whispered.
"The electromaster and the teleporter I can understand, but why those two girls?" Captain Prock was leaning up against the wall, her arms crossed as she looked at Lieutenant Saionji standing beside her. "They don't have any special powers. I might be desperate, but I'm not going to send children out there to fight our battles for us."
Saionji looked at Prock. "I know they're just children, but they're special, all of them. As for Uiharu and Saten, what's special about them isn't some power, but something much greater."
"And that is?"
Uiharu continued reading, and Ruiko took another glance at her before sighing once more and getting off of the bed. "Saten-san? What are you doing?" Uiharu asked her, looking away from the datapad.
"Well, since I can't sleep, I'd thought I'd do something while I waited for you." Ruiko said, getting down onto the ground, her face facing it. She brought her feet together and spread her hands out to either side of her. She took a deep breath and did her first push-up. It was just one of the many exercises that she's been having to do to get her into shape to join the marines.
"Saten-san..." Kazari smiled, and, all of a sudden, she didn't feel so tired anymore. She wasn't alone. "Alright! I feel like I could go for another hour!" She proclaimed, excited.
"Wait! What!?"
"Their spirit." Saionji said.
Prock frowned. "They're just thirteen years old..."
Clouds hung overhead in the night sky, pouring rain down on the fighting men and women of the 77th Marines Division, Delta Company of the 105th Shock Troops Division, and the legions of Covenant soldiers. Tracers and plasma bolts filled the sky, many thousands of them. Thunder boomed out as loud as tank shells exploding in one's ear, and lightning split the air with the fury of an angel.
Kazari's fingers sped across the keyboard of the laptop, typing in commands and constantly shifting through the view of the different drones in the sky overhead. All at once she was surveying Covenant movements, pinpointing targets of interest, and relaying information over the radio to several different squads or informing the major of a developing situation.
All around her, under the makeshift command center, were others doing the exact same as her. The major stood at the tactical table, relaying orders to multiple different units as she tried to stay on top of the situation. But everything was complete chaos. They weren't ready for this.
None of them were.
But Kazari wasn't going to hesitate, she went at it full force! She could handle this. Multi-tasking is no problem for her; processing data is what she's good at! There are so many people counting on her, so she can't let them down! No matter what! She'd do everything she could!
Saionji looked up at the ceiling, a smile on his face. "It's remarkable, isn't it?" He looked back at Prock. "I don't know what they've been through, but I do know that they've been through some tough times. Those four girls... they're a team. If they want to get through this, it's going to take all of them. If we just leave Uiharu and Saten behind, in a bunker the Covenant could come and find anytime, then everything will crumble."
"Shirai! Shirai!" Uiharu yelled, shaking the girl's shoulders. "Shirai! Snap out of it! Shiraiii!" Tears were starting to cloud her vision, but she didn't stop, she couldn't. "Kuroko!" She called one more time, and suddenly Shirai's hands were grabbing her arms. She felt the redhead's head against her shoulder, and she could feel her body shaking as she cried.
Kazari's eyes watered even more and she wrapped her arms around her friend, her partner. She hugged her tight, holding onto her like she was never going to let her go. "It's alright..." Kazari whispered, one hand on Shirai's back and the other going to the back of her head. "It's alright, Kuroko... everyone is okay..."
Shirai cried even as she tried to talk. "I... I understand now..." The tears wouldn't stop, and she only buried her head deeper into Kazari's shoulder. "I... understand... what we're... fighting for..." Her arms wrapped around Kazari, her sobbing becoming louder. "U-Uiharu, I'm so sorry!"
As Shirai sat there in her arms, crying endlessly, Kazari held onto her all the time.
"Misaka...?" Kazari's voice was soft as she peered into the room, catching sight of the brunette sitting on the bunk and looking down at her palm which flowed with electricity. There was a dark look in her eyes, and her face seemed devoid of life. But she was still the Misaka Kazari knew. She was certain of it; and, because of that, she wasn't afraid. "Misaka?" She spoke up, stepping into the room.
Misaka looked up, the darkness in her eyes fading away when she saw her. "Uiharu?" She forced a smile onto her face as Kazari sat down beside her. "Is something up?" After being gone for three whole days, that was the question she asked?
"Misaka, how do you feel?" Kazari asked her, looking straight into her eyes. Misaka looked away from her, not able to take her gaze.
The brunette was silent, her eyes turned towards her palm as she was lost in thought. She closed it into a fist, electricity pulsing around it as her expression darkened once more. Her eyes then turned towards Kazari, dark and cold, before they suddenly fixed upon something above the girl. She slowly looked away, back to her now loosened palm. "Hey, Uiharu, we've been through a lot, haven't we?"
Kazari blinked, confused. Where was this coming from?
"Getting lost in a different world, fighting aliens, becoming part of the military..." There was a faint smile on her face. "Even after all of that... you still have your flowers..." She said, looking up.
Kazari hadn't even noticed it, since they're practically a part of her, but she really has had her flowers all of this time, despite everything. No one ever said anything about them, so why is Misaka bringing it up now...?
"You know... they remind me of back then..." She was referring to when they were back in Academy City... Has it really been that long that it's 'back then' now?
Then, all of a sudden, as Misaka watched the flowers on her head, the brunette's eyes widened and a hand went to her face. "Oh man, I just remembered..." She looked down, a smile on her half-covered face, but Kazari couldn't tell if it was real or fake. "I almost forgot..."
"Misaka...?" Kazari asked.
Misaka looked back up at her, taking her hand off of her face. "I'm sorry; and, thanks, Uiharu... Seeing your flowers again really helped me..." She smiled, and Kazari could clearly see it now. It was pure and true. "I guess you could say... they give me hope."
Kazari wasn't entirely sure what all of that had been about, but she smiled regardless. She took Misaka's cold hand in her own, her warmth spreading into it. "I'm really happy that you're back."
"I'm glad to be back." Misaka smiled brighter.
Her eyes were full of light, and her face was no longer without life.
"'All for one and one for all'..." Prock muttered.
"That's right."
The captain looked down, lost in thought. "Do you really think they're ready for this...?"
"No one was ready for this." Saionji answered her, a confident look in his eyes. "But they can make it."
"Corporal Daniel here, tanks are ready to go."
"This is Robinson, we've got beads on their snipers. Just give the word."
"Howland reporting, all Warthogs accounted for."
"Braxton here, we're ready with the bombs!"
"This is Taylor, my men are all in position. Is this really going to work?"
"Yes, it will." Kazari answered the gunnery sergeant in a firm voice. With 1st Lieutenant Dunn incapacitated, she was in charge, and she had been the one to lay out the attack plan... and she had utter confidence in it. "Wentworth, are the Mongooses ready?"
"Yes ma'am! Ready to rock and roll! Oorah!"
Kazari took a deep breath, her eyes watching the video screen of the one surveillance drone that they had. It was all up to her.
She couldn't fail.
"Begin the attack!"
Not all of them would make it; there was no plan that perfect... and, right now, she was responsible for these men. The ones that died, their deaths would be on her...
On her alone...
She accepts that responsibility, that burden...
For much more is at stake than just her and her men.
Captain Prock sighed, stepping away from the wall. "I'm going to trust you on this, lieutenant. Don't let me down." She told him, walking away.
Saionji smiled, watching her leave. "They won't."