Greetings, everyone. This is a sort of re-launching of HiME Dawn, which I found I have written into a corner and can't back out, so I've decided to start over. I'm gonna plan this one out better.

1/9/09

"Natsuki?"

"What?"

"Mai-chan is calling you."

"Could she have picked a more inconvenient time to call?"

"Yeah, she could have called while I'm trying to cover your ass, Shorty. Yukino, put her through."

"OK, Kuga-san." A faint click. "Natsuki?"

"Hey, Mai, what's up?"

"Are you around? I'm thinking about going to karaoke again!"

A muffled snicker. "Sorry, Mai, I'm kind of out of town at the moment."

"Really? Where are you?"

"Sorrygottagolightsgreen." A click. "Good timing, Yukino."

"Thank you, Kuga-san."

A brief pause. "What was that all about?"

"What? Your face looked funny when she asked that."

"…No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't, or else I'm-"

"Natsuki, be nice to Alyssa-chan."

"Why are you taking her side?"

"Mmm…because she has grown on me."

Another brief silence. "…Wipe that smile off."

"Bravo team in position."

"You don't have to use the phonetic alphabet, you know."

"Oh, come on, Alpha 1, what if they pick up our signals?"

"There is no need to worry about that possibility, Sugiura-sensei. My evaluation of the countermeasures of this facility reveals a .04% chance of our communication lines being compromised." A brief pause. "Is there a problem, Sugiura-sensei?"

"Not really, it's just really cool to see your mouth not move when you talk, that's all."

"…Very well, Sugiura-sensei."

"OK. Everyone remember their roles?"

"Yeah! Let's rock this joint!"

"Please temper your enthusiasm, Sugiura-sensei. You will attract attention that we do not want to have."

"Alright. Soon as you two move, then."

A deep breath over the line. "OK, then. We're going up."

"Mistress, are you sure you will be all right?"

"I'll be fine, Miyu. Don't worry about me, worry about getting those records."

"Yes, Mistress."

"We're inside the gate and ready to move."

"Roger."

Ten seconds of silence. "You remember what I said?"

"Hands grip, line sights, pull."

"Good. So…how's school?"

"Too easy. I've asked Fumi to let me skip grades."

"What about gym? Don't think they'd let you skip that."

"I know. We'll see."

"Mistress, I reiterate my offer to discuss the matter with Himeno-san when we return."

"Miyu, I said already, you don't-"

A distinctive crack of a gunshot echoes from afar, followed by a cry of pain and a punch. "Go time."

"Stay in touch."

"Deploying smoke."

"Gah! Geez, do you have to be right next to me when you launch that?" A few moments of silence over the radio. "Damn. Guys? Cover your ears, it's about to get loud in here."

Alarms echo from behind the door. "We copy. Light up here's going off. Get on the other side." The sound of footsteps announcing the opening of a door. Brief but intense hand-to-hand combat, punctuated by a body slamming into the metal door. Brief ruffling of clothes. "'Kay, Shorty, let's move."

9 July
22:15 (UTC+9)
Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Footsteps echo down a staircase bathed in flashing red and boisterous alarms. "We're in. Moving to sixth floor."

"Acknowledged."

Halfway down the second flight of stairs. "Hey! Hold it!" Two gunshots and a scream of pain, followed by a swift kick to the face, end the threat. A moment of thought followed. "Here. Nice catch. Stay." A muffled rumble accompanies a gentle shaking of the whole building. "Was that you guys?"

"Yeah, just another grenade."

"We have entered the building."

"Roger that. If you guys get a chance, can you kill the alarm?"

"Acknowledged."

Natsuki beckons Alyssa. "Let's go." The door opens wide to a sterile-white hallway. The speakers come to life: "Alert. Intruder. All security personnel report. Alert. Intruder. All security personnel report."

"Far end of the hallway, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alert. Intruder. All secur-" The alarms suddenly cease.

"Security station neutralized."

"Thanks."

"No prob."

"We're back, Kuga-san."

"You all right?"

"We are fine, Natsuki."

"I was actually asking Yukino."

"Mou, Natsuki does not care about me?"

Natsuki stuttered. "W-Well, it's not that I don't care, Shizuru, it's just…"

A soft giggle comes from the other end.

"I'll be OK, Kuga-san."

"Kikukawa-san is a strong girl, Natsuki. I will get the car ready."

"OK." A corner is turned and a secure door is reached. "This is it."

Alyssa moves forward. "One moment, please." She removes her backpack and sets it on the floor. With a screwdriver, she opens up the keypad and attaches a pair of wires into the system it covers. Alyssa begins rapidly typing on to a laptop.

"Kuga-san, I have lost connection with our bug. I will try to reconnect."

"Noted."

The sound of an opening door catches their attention. "I'll need a minute."

"I'll buy it." Natsuki shuffles over to the corner and waits for the sound of footsteps before discharging her weapon. Shouts of men alerting others to their presence dance around the ensuing gunfire. Natsuki reloads quickly. "How much longer?"

"Thirty seconds!"

"You guys all right up there?!"

"Just peachy, Midori, thank you!"

"Almost done!"

Natsuki nods and pulls out a second pistol, different from the first, and empties both down the hallway.

"We're in!"

Natsuki runs toward the door. "Fire in the hole!" Seconds later, a grenade detonates down the hall, rocking the building and nearly knocking Alyssa off her feet as she hastily puts away her equipment. Meanwhile, Natsuki barrels through the door into the room, waits for Alyssa to scamper through, and shuts it. Acting fast, Natsuki lodges a chair underneath the doorknob, reinforces it with a spare piece of metal, and goes to reload her weapons. She glances to her left and sees Alyssa already at work on the vault.

"We found the databanks."

"Copy." Banging on the barricaded door draws Natsuki's attention to the door. Attempts to ram the door down prove unsuccessful. A metallic clang from out of her peripheral vision notifies Natsuki that the vault is open. "Found it!"

"Shorty! Take cover!" Natsuki moves to the barricaded door and removes the adjective barricaded. Natsuki times the bangs and kicks the chair away to coincide with one. A uniformed guard runs uncontrollably through the door and into the far wall. Natsuki spins around the doorway and takes down the two men waiting beyond with gunfire before dealing with the first guard.

"Kuga-san?"

"Go, Yukino."

"I have reestablished connection. The police are on their way to you."

"Crap. How long?"

"I think… eight to ten minutes."

"All right, we need to move." She looks up at Alyssa, who is already releasing their objective from its restraints. "How much does this weigh, anyway?"

"53 kilograms, within a 3% error range."

"Yeah, no way am I carrying that out by myself. I'm not a weightlifter."

"Too bad Loudmouth ain't here. She'd haul it out of here with one hand."

"Yes, OK, thank you, Midori, for that utterly unhelpful reminder."

"Come on, you're not going to give her at least one moment of victory?"

"ANYWAY…" Natsuki let out a sigh.

"Charges ready, by the way."

"Don't light them yet. Did anyone see like a cart or something? Place this big's gotta have at least one."

"I saw one handcart outside the security control room while we passed through it. Visual analysis asserts a 98.64% probability of utility for our purposes."

"…Really, you can't just say 'I saw one that should work'?"

"That is contrary to my operational procedures, Kuga-san."

Natsuki sighs. "Whatever. Bring it up here."

"Will do."

"And make it fast, we only got a few minutes." Natsuki lifts her leg up, but stops herself from kicking the keypad. "Hmm, knowing them, the door'll shut and lock if I do that. Let's drag it out here." Natsuki goes in, picks up the body by resting its arms on her shoulders, and slowly makes her way out. Alyssa tries to lift a part to help. "I got this. Go outside and make sure no one's coming."

"Wheee!"

"I take it you got the cart?" Alyssa asks as she headed for the door.

"Correct, Mistress. We are approaching the elevator."

"And she's heading into the final turn. Can she hold off the rest of- shit!"

"What happened?!"

Two quick shots came over the radio. "Sugiura-sensei has been struck in the right leg."

"Can she walk?"

A clatter from the other end. "…Nope. Owie zowie!"

Natsuki sighs in exasperation. "You still have the cart?"

"Yes, Kuga-san."

"I never knew bullets bit so hard."

"Please shut the hell up. Miyu, put her on the cart and then get up here right away."

"Acknowledged."

"Miyu-san, there are more soldiers approaching where you are."

"Acknowledged, Kikukawa-san. Please shield your eyes from the screen when they reach the corner." A couple of moments pass before a chorus of men's screams echoed through the headset. Natsuki made a face of amusement through strains from the weight on her back.

"There's a guard with a submachine gun waiting for you up here, Miyu."

"I can see him; he has an MP7."

"Not good: those beat Kevlar. He'll chew you guys up."

"73.57% probability he will strafe the elevator once we reach the sixth floor. Do not worry, Mistress, I will take care of him."

"Careful! Leg's broken, remember?"

"Your leg will be in satisfactory condition, Sugiura-sensei."

A few seconds pass. Out the door to the hallway and around the corner, Natsuki hears the rapid rat-tat-tat of an automatic weapon being fired. The elevator doors open with a ding and the hissing of a released gas is accompanied by coughing, followed by a pair of bodily hits. Natsuki reaches Alyssa's position and looks around the corner in time to see Miyu delivering the knockout blow to the guard amidst smoke. Miyu turns to the two of them, then reaches into the elevator and pulls out an empty handcart before moving towards their position.

"Where's Midori?" Natsuki asks.

"She is safe."

"We're going to get her, right?" Miyu nods as she swings around to Natsuki's backside. Natsuki drops the body on to the cart with a thud. The three of them hurry back to the elevator.

"Everyone? Police are about five minutes away."

"Noted. Tell Shizuru we're using the backup exit."

"I will." Natsuki turns to see Miyu raise her hand and shoot a wire upwards. She rappels herself up a previously-unnoticed hole in the ceiling of the elevator and returns a few seconds later carrying Midori. "Clever," Natsuki notes. "How's the leg?"

"Ugh…pain's dulled out now. Still bummed." Midori lets out a groan as she is set on to the cart, on top of the body.

"You or the leg?"

Miyu releases the emergency stop button, and the elevator closes its doors.

"Kuga-san, there appears to be four to six guards in the basement."

"All of us in here, that's a massacre waiting to happen."

"Any ideas?"

"I got one." The other three turn to Midori, who pulls out a remote.

Natsuki sighs. "Might as well. Out of time."

Midori looks up at the display. Fourth floor…third floor…second floor.

"What are you waiting for?!"

Midori holds up her free hand to say "wait". Right as the elevator panel says "B", she hits the switch. A low but powerful rumbling rattles and rocks the elevator, which comes to an emergency stop. The group stabilizes their footing.

"Lemme guess…you overdid it?"

"Maybe."

"Is everyone all right?!"

"We're fine, Yukino. I think."

"Short-range thermal scans indicate two guards are in the vicinity."

"No choice," Natsuki replies, "we have to go through them. Miyu, get these doors open."

Miyu proceeds to use her brute strength to open the elevator car's doors. "We are 79.5 centimeters above the basement floor. It will be impossible to move the cart on to the ground without assistance. I advise that the immediate hallway be secured before we proceed."

"Can't you just shoot them?"

"I am out of munitions."

"How are you out of munitions? You're a walking tank!"

"Hey, bullets aren't cheap! Especially hers!" Alyssa replies indignantly.

"Yukino, can you see them?"

"Sorry, Kuga-san. The explosion disrupted the feed; I can't see anything in the basement."

"Damn." Natsuki glares at Midori, who makes an innocent face. "How much longer?"

"Three minutes at best."

"OK. Miyu, open the doors but keep an eye out for anyone approaching."

Miyu nods and proceeds to place her hands on the elevator's outer doors. Natsuki gets on her back and points her pistol right at the crack between the doors, her legs running up the side of the elevator while Alyssa and Midori's cart move out of the way. Her head is just touching the side of the cart. "Go."

Miyu slowly pulls open the outer doors. "Both guards are approaching," she warned.

"Let them come," Natsuki replies in a bad Dwarfish accent, moments before she fires away a total of five shots.

"Both have been incapacitated," Miyu reports as she finishes opening the doors. Natsuki gets on her feet and jumps down into the hallway. She runs to the corner and peers around it to stand guard while Miyu hops down and grabs the front of the cart. With Alyssa's and Midori's hands steering, the cart is slowly placed on the ground.

"Two minutes."

"Mistress, please stay by me. I am the only one who can move the cart, and Kuga-san must clear the garage."

Natsuki turns the corner and ducks behind a parked car right in front of the door. Behind her the rumbling and squeaking of the cart lets her know where the rest of them are.

A "Hey!" echoes from the far side. Natsuki fires in that direction and the squeaking stops just as a shootout settles in. "Not now…" Natsuki mutters.

The squealing of tires interrupts the nascent fight. Natsuki looks up just in time to see a van barrel down the ramp and strike her opponent from the side. She rushes over to the van while Shizuru exits the driver's seat. "Natsuki!" she waves.

"Help them out!" Natsuki calls as she runs past her to the fire stairwell, kicking the guard Shizuru had struck as insurance en route. She throws away one of her pistols and picks up the guard's.

"One minute!"

"…One, two, three."

"OWWWWW!"

Natsuki pokes her head into the stairwell, guns drawn.

"Natsuki!" Shizuru calls. Natsuki retreats to the van and gets into the passenger seat, sneaking a peak at the back to see everyone else and their goals inside. "Time to go." Shizuru puts the van in reverse, pulls a 180 spinaround, and drives out of the building as fast as the van could.

"Yukino, pack everything you can up; we have to get out of here quick."

Outside, the usually-sleepy city night was shaken to life with sirens and smoke. A police helicopter shines a spotlight on the source: a large hole in the side of a building within a compound. Police cruisers race to the scene just as a white van pulls away from the far side.

Atop one of the nearby buildings, a lone figure watches as the scene unfolds itself. There is no movement other than the wind in the figure's hair, nothing to betray any emotion or reaction other than these five words: "That's how it is, then." The van turns a corner and disappears from sight, at which point the figure turns around and heads inside. The figure does not appear to acknowledge the second pair of eyes that have observed the scene as well as itself.

Well, there you go: the prologue to this long work. This will likely take me many months, perhaps years, for me to finish, just as a forewarning. My priority will be finishing 12 Little HiME first, but there might be a chapter or two here before i finish that.

Thoughts? Concerns?