IS: Valkyrie
Author's Notes: Hi Hi, this is NapoleonVI and yes, I'm not changing the name…for now. Anyways here is chapter 3, from the perspective of Ichika's abduction and also expect a sudden switch in POV to 3rd person.
For those of you who are interested in the lyrics of the song, check out youtube and search out Ben Cocks 'Build a home'. It really gives you a morbid feel.
I do not own Infinite Stratos the animation nor its novelization, if I did I would add less girls and a bit more fighting to be done…and seriously, stop with the fanservice already creators of Infinite Stratos. I do not like overwhelming fanservice, you can jerk off to your fantasies later and just get on with the whole story damn it!
In this story and new universe, our OC is 21 while Chifuyu is 23. Ichika is also 13 years of age in this time period.
Chapter 3
Ichika POV
He felt cold, the feeling of wind blowing wildly against his face as his eyes began to flicker like blinking lights his head feeling lightheaded as he blinked his eyes for another set, his vision beginning to clear but it was still black when he tried to look at his surroundings everywhere he turned. Feeling slightly lucid, he tried to move his hands to get rid of whatever he had blocking his eyes but turned to confusion and slowly panic as he shifted his arms and hands against rope that bound his wrists behind his back, the middle school student continued to struggle against his restraints before a fist collided with his cheek sending his head crashing to the floor with muffled screams before he thrashed around again, another fist rounding on his face to put him down.
"Calm down, the boy's weak anyways he won't be any trouble. Let him thrash around for a bit, he'll know soon enough how useless he is." A grown man's voice commanded as Ichika heard a fist cut through the air and stopped just above his cheek, the boy simply whimpered slightly to the amusement of the grown man who just chuckled at the whimpering teen struggling uselessly against his binds.
"See? Not so tough now, are ya lad?" The man continued to laugh before another voice from Ichika's right spoke up, a bored tone addressing his bemused companion with a hint of disdain.
"Silence, we're nearly at the exchange point. Keep your hands to yourself and try not to crack so many jokes when we meet up with the rendezvous team, the boss lady ain't very fond of jokes especially when she's on a mission." The man just guffawed at the serious voice with a hearty laugh, deflecting the warning with ease.
"Oh come on, those women haven't had a relationship for years…must be yearning for a man's touch after so much sweaty jobs and no entertainment." He said lecherously while giving a nudge to one of the men who just shook his head, the man with the serious business tone simply stared down at Ichika who was kicking aimlessly before a bump stopped the middle schooler in his tracks as the joker of the group tapped the boy with the tip of his shoe.
"Hear that, lad? We are in a vehicle, taking you somewhere special. You're going to love it, or at least we will when we get commendations and move up the ladder." He thumbed towards the front of the vehicle, watching the boy go silent he then shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back in his seat the vehicle just continuing onwards with silence. Ichika felt a feeling of dread and hope being lost as he conserved his strength, struggling against the binds was starting to wear his wrists down as he felt a burning feeling run along the cuff of his wrist while his cheek turned red from the punch. He couldn't believe it, he was kidnapped by a bunch of people who seemed to know who he was and transported to god knows who for what purpose was in store for him…the boy felt useless at this point as he replayed the scene that occurred just a few minutes earlier.
"Eh? You're skipping classes, Ichika-san? But we have a test coming up in two weeks, and you are falling a bit behind in your studies!" Ichika shook his head in refusal at his friend's attempt to sway him as he turned to look out from the school roof in the direction of the island nearby the mainland, the boy feeling a cool breeze blowing his hair back as he placed an arm over his eyes to shield himself. Standing beside him dressed in the same black school uniform with a black blazer covering the inner white shirt stood a boy of the same age as Ichika, wearing a pair of square-shaped glasses while brown messy hair whipped back messily with a stray fringe sweeping over his bare forehead while both his hands were dug deeply into his pockets, deep black eyes watched the sight of the coast and then upwards towards the island where a train rail ran from the mainland to the land itself, metal and concrete buildings littered the center of the island with the sound of fire crackers popping away in the distance above a stadium that sat prominently in the island. Ichika looked down at his watch, reading the time with a sense of oncoming excitement.
12:45pm
"Hey, today is the day isn't it?" The guy spoke with a sudden realization of his friend's words as he turned to Ichika who merely smiled brightly and nodded, his hand clenched in a fist as he looked at the stadium with a look of admiration.
"Yeah, I am going to cheer Chifuyu-nee on for the Second Monde Grosso Tournament! She's a finalist and this is her last match before she gets to be announced as world champion!" He spoke excitedly, his left hand twitching along with the euphoric feeling much to the amusement of his friend who just chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm for the tournament, his hands pulled out of his pockets as he adjusted his glasses and put a hand under his chin.
"Well, you know what happens if you try and skip this right? The teacher will flip when she knows you skipped classes for an IS tournament and your average grades won't save you from her wrath…"
"I don't care about my test right now, going to see her is the most important thing a brother can do for his sister. I mean we both as siblings never even had the chance to spend time with one another ever since…well, mom and dad left." Ichika spoke sadly as he remembered his sister's face full of betrayal and fury when their parents' up and left the two of them one day when they came back from school, leaving a note for Chifuyu-nee to read as well as some lists of instructions on how to take care of the house and fend for themselves. He remembered when he got home and saw no one but his sister clenching onto the note in the living room with a tearful look on her face as she read the note again, letting out a rage-filled scream as she crumpled the note and threw it at the wall watching it bounce off the wall and land softly on the wooden floor. He remembered her kneeling down and thumping the floor with fists pounding, screaming 'why' for minutes before she curled up in the sofa sobbing while clutching the cushion leaving him with more questions before she mentioned that their mum and dad just ditched them for no particular reason. From then on, she became more serious and took on the sister/mother role that was left like a gap for Ichika, and he had to admit that the first few years of living without seeing his sister for extended periods of time due to part-time work was the hardest thing he ever had to deal with, the nights alone never helped especially when he was afraid of the dark and had no one to call upon but himself. Watching his sister struggle everyday just to feed the two of them and coming back from home, tired and weak made Ichika feel useless as the years went by with Chifuyu-nee always helping him up and sometimes she would lose sight of the border between sister and mother, becoming strict with him before her sisterly instincts took over and she would hug him and stroke his back when he cried, explaining herself to Ichika her actions as valid.
Ichika had to admit, some days he wondered what his sister was thinking half the time with a busy life of juggling between being the hard-working student and only family to her little brother, she had sacrificed so many years of happiness all because their parents disappeared without a trace and seeing her so serious and absolutely almost all about business to everyone except him…it made him feel depressed. I mean sure he cooked a meal for her during the weekends most of the time and leaving microwave food for her to eat when she would return home from night shifts at her job, but even so Ichika always felt he could do so much more than just be a cook and an excellent massager: a skill that Chifuyu put to good use.
"I understand." His friend spoke up, noticing Ichika slowly backsliding into a depressing mood as he clapped Ichika's back giving a warm smile of comfort for his best friend. "I'll tell the teacher that you left for family reasons, alright? But after this, you better concentrate on getting your studies back on track." Ichika simply looked stunned by his friend's declaration as he nodded, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder as he ran towards the exit door turning back to wave at his friend.
"Thanks, I will. Wish my sister the best of luck!" He yelled as he disappeared from the roof.
"Well that boy was so easy, hard to believe he's the brother of that Chifuyu chick on the news." The joker resumed his commentary, the rest of the vehicle just ignoring him while the man with the business tone spoke once more rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation at the antics.
"Yes, yes…the greatest pilot of the IS since the White Knight incident six years ago. That was the stuff of legends."
"Yea, but it's the first I ever heard of a single woman taking on a missile barrage with just one of those IS suits and disappearing without a trace! I mean, I wish I had one." At that the rest of the men snorted and chuckled, making the jokester uncomfortable as he fidgeted in his seat at the laughter of his comrades.
"What's so funny?" One of the men decided to take the piss out of the man, jabbing a finger at the jokester while holding back his laughter and failing.
"You! An IS suit? The whole damn world will end the day Tabane Shinonono says that IS suits can be powered by males, unless you wish to have a gender swap just to fit in with those fighting women!" The men laughed once more, the jokester now feeling embarrassment heat up his cheeks before the vehicle stopped abruptly the sudden screech alerting the men as the driver indicated his finger ahead with two words.
"Our stop." At that, the men sprang into action grabbing the boy who ceased struggling and instead kept silent as Ichika was grabbed under the shoulder by two of the men who exited the vehicle by the ramp, dragging the schooler by his feet towards the large metal gate and fence that surrounded the area noting the appearance of several IS suits standing ready at the front behind the gate.
The man with the business tone confidently strode with his two henchmen, Ichika giving one last effort to struggle against their grip only to have the impatient escort punch him in the face to stop him from squirming, the two men were about to finish the job before one of the IS pilots drew out her gun and pointed it in their direction in warning as the duo withdrew their fists and picked up the boy, dragging him beside their leader and threw him before the group of IS pilots staring at him with helmeted faces regarding the child momentarily before a short-haired woman moved to the front of the group in her forest green IS suit, her hand reached out to scoop the boy who grunted as he tried to get up into her arms as she used her other robotic hand's pincer-like fingers to tear off the blindfold obscuring Ichika's eyes, the boy flinching back from the sudden exposure of sunlight before he squinted his eyes open to stare up in surprise at the pilot gripping him tightly as she turned back to the three men.
"You've done well, kidnapping a middle schooler is the easiest job you probably had." She commented as the leader folded his arms in agreement as he stretched out his hand, the woman just looked at him curiously before she understood the gesture. Nodding to one of the others, a red-haired pilot approached the three men and dropped a large briefcase of sorts in front of the men, the two henchmen already on the run towards the cases hastily picking them up and opening them as they flipped through the amount of thousand dollar bills resting in the suitcases while their leader patiently waited for the results. It didn't take long before the two men closed the cases and turned to their boss with a satisfied smirk of their own.
"Its good boss, it's all good."
"Excellent that means business is concluded. We hope you enjoy your captive, Phantom Task." The leader spoke professionally as the three men retreated back into their vehicle, the pilots watching intently as the vehicle sped away from the warehouse while Ichika kept his mouth closed through the whole ordeal, replaying the scene with a mortified face. How could people agree to sell him for so much money, he wasn't worth anything in the first place…and to see those men greedily hogging all of that cash while giggling to themselves, the sight made his blood boil as his head turned back to face the IS leader with a scowl.
"Why? Why are you doing this? What's the point of it all, how am I so special?" He yelled at his captor who simply addressed him with an emotionless stare underneath her helmet before she snorted at him.
"You? You're just a man, not an IS pilot like us…in fact your part in this is insignificant as much as your role is miniscule. You're just blackmail, a way to achieve our goals. Nothing more, nothing less." Ichika clenched his teeth at that, struggling once more with his bindings in defiance while the IS pilot just stared at him as he shifted his arms to no avail as she brought him closer to her, the pilot looking straight into the boy's eyes as he looked back at her with defiance and a determined look.
"Still resisting? We just need to hold you until your dear Chifuyu-nee get the message that we have you in our grasp and all will be made clear to her just what we want from her. In the meantime, you can stay in the warehouse and rot while we-" The pilot was about to continue before a ring tone came up, the pilot immediately replying to the transmission. Ichika continued to struggle, but he heard a gasp of surprise before more hushed whispers before the atmosphere changed as Ichika felt the grip of the lead pilot tighten instinctively as she switched off the channel ignoring the boy's yelp of pain as she muttered incoherently to herself.
"How did she know we were here so fast? Gah, everyone! Retreat back to main base and take the boy with us!" The leader ordered as the rest of the IS suits began to mobilize their weapons, ready for the intruder.
"Bravo Team, Chifuyu Orimura is on the way! Homing on your six in five minutes ETA!" Ichika lifted his head at the mention of his sister's name, his eyes wide with surprise and relief at the sound of his sister coming for him as he yelled out at the IS team leader for no inexplicable reason.
"Chifuyu-nee!"
"Damn, we have to quickly get rid of the intruder in the warehouse. Fire at it, Mako." The leader turned to another pilot with a purple dyed streak with a helmet covering her face like the rest as she gave a nod of acknowledgement before her particle rifle formed into her hand, Ichika suddenly noticing the door being kicked open with force the metallic rusted doors clanking hard against the wall as Ichika felt the air change into a swirl surrounding him as he noticed the ground getting smaller below his feet as he panicked, his focus lost on the figure that rushed outside while his trapped hands uselessly scraped the sharp razor talons of the IS suit much to the team leader's disdain, the woman squeezing Ichika once more as he felt his arm begin to strain and his bones starting to crack while he yelled in pain.
"Shut up, you're lucky to be labeled a valuable asset. Now watch as your rescuers come to die for you." The woman declared harshly as she spun her arm towards the warehouse, tilting Ichika's body to face the entrance of the warehouse where his eyes picked upon a strange sight. A figure had burst out of the entrance and was keeping some distance from the building while what appeared to be a person, dressed in a grey overcoat with the collar untucked and with short black hair with a stray strand running down between his eyes looking frantic while he clutched on what Ichika realized was a girl a few years older than he was dressed in the same battle suit like a typical IS pilot, Ichika barely able to spot any bracer or some sort of indication of where her IS was hidden but he soon turned his attention to see the woman Mako aim her particle rifle at the building behind them and fired once.
The world soon exploded below Ichika as the middle schooler widened his eyes when he saw the two figures being blown forward by the impact of the weapon discharge, dust clouds blinding his vision as the man appeared from the dissipating dust clouds staggering to his feet and turned his head left and right before he stretched his hands out in front of him, the wind blowing the swirls of brown to reveal the woman lying sideways from the man in the overcoat who was still trying to regain his sense of balance and groggily made his way, only to have Mako dive right in forming a machine gun in her other hand and discharging a round to block the stranger while the IS leader simply stared stunned at the figures, her features unreadable but Ichika could clearly tell she was surprised at the identity.
"What the hell? A man, he's the intruder? Tch, Mako!" The leader brought up the communication line to Mako as a screen appeared in front of her and the pilot's face appeared to look up at her as Mako replied with a slightly surprised tone.
"The man has May, what do we do?" Mako didn't have to wait long for the reply.
"Kill her, quickly." The order given, Mako nodded and closed the channel as the leader turned away, still gripping the horrified boy who looked down to see Mako move in front of his vision armed with the particle rifle and without hesitation fired another laser into the ground where he last saw May and the mysterious stranger, another burst of fire filled the area as Ichika could stare in open horror at the sight of fire and concrete debris flying in all directions as the warehouse continued to burn, the front falling over by where the man was lying with a creaking thud sending small piles of the road flying in the air before the leader was satisfied and turned to talk to Ichika again.
"You are invaluable to us and to your sister, it was expected rescuers would come for you…but a man? What was the government thinking-huh?" The woman noticed a bright red alert pop up to her right, the IS pilot instantly opening the screen and what she saw made the woman gasp in horror as she screamed out on the communication line.
"Team, get into defensive formation now…it's Byakushiki!" The mere mention of the name made the whole team get instantly on edge as Ichika groaned in pain, his arms were definitely broken as he painfully shifted his arms into a more comfortable position as the leader formed a machine gun into her free hand gripping the weapon tightly as sweat poured down her forehead while keeping her eyes ahead and on the screen for any sudden interceptions by the pilot.
It didn't work.
The attack was so fast that even the squad of combat sensors tracking a couple of mile radius could not track, and to make it worse the battle was pretty much over before it began. Let me try to give you the full picture, imagine flying at top speeds with booster ignitions thrusting you forward similar to that of a missile being launched and suddenly a blur rushes past you and around the group, simultaneously picking away at the weapons first before the blur stops for a brief moment and you can only see the bright blue and white colors of its armor as it vanishes completely, a top speed unmatched by any IS model up to date and certainly not a factor in the building structure of standardized IS mobiles. The problem with the standard is that nations usually focus on many aspects, but speed is not a largely considered strength…merely one has to see the usual lineups to know that they do not provide much durability and are easy to beat with IS suits that either have a lot of firepower or speed to overcome these cumbersome metal suits.
Their very mistake was that such IS suits despite being that of the 3rd generation models, were not suited to take on Byakushiki.
In five seconds, the members of Bravo Team found their weapons hacked into two or for a few unlucky ones had their entire arms severed from the rest of their bodies, the various assortment of particle rifles and some beam cannons were disabled instantly by the extremely fast IS that stopped in its one track advance for a single moment, five members of the fifteen men squad instantly fell towards the earth below with their hand or hands severed from the shoulder the body parts joining their owners in the great fall as the enemy IS suit disappeared once more from view, another six fell with the second strike piercing their shields and sending them crashing with their mobile suits suddenly having their feet thrusters separated with a line thinly reaching the soles of the women's shoes, the final four members immediately spreading out in all directions forcing the enemy to engage them individually while one stayed by the leader forming two large blades to cover their captain, the latter already eyeing Ichika who had passed out from the broken arms with an irritated glance before she noticed the blur rush towards one of the two spread out women, the IS suit engaging with the first who had activated her combat knife and began to hold her ground before the IS retreated and rushed to the other one who could not react in time nor could she defend herself from the sword that buried deep into her chest, her shields cut through like butter as the blade protruded from the back of the pilot as the leader heard Mako's voice ring out above the fighting.
"Leader, this is Mako. I am going to engage the enemy with Ran and draw her attention, take the boy and run." The leader turned towards the IS next to her, a troubled expression on her face before she nodded and focused on Byakushiki violently pushing Ran back who was staggering back with each considerable blow, the pilot solely focused on putting Ran down as Mako rushed Byakushiki from behind with a machete in hand making sure she wasn't heard nor seen.
"Let's see if you can handle this, Byakushiki!" Mako thought as she gripped the handle of her weapon and brought it up to penetrate the pilot with a Shield Breaker.
Byakushiki turned and simply smashed Mako to the ground with a swing of the giant blue laser blade, smashing the woman's shields down to zero as she plummeted onto the ground hard. Mako had a disbelieving look on her face as Ran joined her shortly with an equally powerful impact, creating a small crater next to Mako's body as her eyes flitted in and out of consciousness her vision beginning to darken as Ran passed out followed by Mako. The leader left alone, gripping the unconscious boy in her talons as she pointed her weapon out in front of her aiming at the IS suit that now stood in front of her giving the woman time to take in the full appearance of a woman in a black battle suit with crimson lines from her shoulders to her skirt while her black hair stretched a little past her shoulders with messy strands covering her forehead and eyes as she stared straight at Bravo Team's remaining member, the latter raising her gun in response as she held the boy out with a talon outstretched and curling towards the boy's chest, her teeth grinding in anger as she stood terrified at the monster who butchered her team.
"Die you monster!" She screamed and fired wildly while Byakushiki immediately rushed the terrified woman, her sword cutting the gun in two before another slash from the high powered blue energy blade sent the leader falling before she recovered and moved out of the way as the black-haired woman raised her sword only to stop when the talon prodded Ichika's chest while the leader held a satisfied smirk.
"Do it and your brother dies!"
"I'm afraid not today, Miss Phantom Task Lapdog." A German voice spoke behind her, the Phantom Task operative's eyes grew wide before a bullet smashed into her back destroying her shield and concentration before Byakushiki moved in, bringing the energy sword to slice off the robotic arm holding her brother while taking the operative's hand along with it the woman screaming in pain as another bullet impacted with her IS, sending her plummeting to the concrete joining her comrades as the mobile suit disappeared leaving Ichika to fall helplessly down before Byakushiki immediately moved towards the falling boy and scooped him in her hands while the second IS looked on without emotion as the young woman burst into concern.
"Ichika…Ichika! Wake up, please!" The woman nudged the unconscious boy before she landed on the ground, the IS suit soon demobilized as the black-haired woman quickly brought her head to his chest hearing him breathing before she sighed in relief, a hand tracing the swelled cheek from which the kidnappers punched anger replacing her concern for a moment but she pushed it aside. Her brother, her dear brother was still alive and well.
"C-Chifu-yu-nee…" Ichika's voice called out weakly as Chifuyu turned immediately to look at her brother's face, small beads of tears gathering at the corner of her eyes as she watched him lift his arm with considerable effort to his left before he yelped, his limb falling uselessly towards the floor as he hissed in pain unable to clutch his arms as the wounds began to take their toll. Chifuyu wasted no time in placing him on the ground, placing a hand on her brother's head and rubbed it affectionately before Ichika coughed again pointing his hand in the direction to his left.
"There's…someone, there…a man…dressed strangely. He's hurt…" Ichika entered a coughing fit as he shook his arms by accident, once more hissing as he felt his broken bones moving around freely and tearing at his muscles before he looked at his sister pleadingly. Nodding, Chifuyu gave him a look that told him to relax as she turned to look around the carnage of craters and knocked out operatives for any sign of the man, her eyes narrowing and her mouth feeling parched by the heat of the fires burning behind them as she noted a fallen piece of the warehouse as a sudden tune began to play aloud heightening her alertness while she continued past the debris field.
Sticks and stones may build a home
But a house it needs you inside
So come on around and we'll stoke on the fire
And we'll talk in its gold and black light
"What kind of music is that? It's strange…foreign." Chifuyu muttered as her boots stepped on something soft, the woman looking down only to step back in fright as she saw what she was standing on. Burnt and charred was the body of a person, the flesh was burned too badly and smoke continued to sizzle out into the air but what stood out was the glimmer of a dull silver necklace that wrung around the corpse's neck, Chifuyu only needing a glance to realize that this was the body of a IS pilot...most likely one of the operatives, no doubt. She perked her ears up and heard the song continue to play, a guitar solo ringing out across the scene like a hollow echo amongst the smoke and fire as Chifuyu heard the song grow clearer with each step.
When your work is over, come round to mine
Or we could meet in a second hand shop
Where I saw your face for the first time
Sticks and stones may build a home
But a house, it needs you inside
So come on around and we'll stoke on the fire
And we'll talk in its gold and black light
The guitar continued to play, leaving Chifuyu confused but still alert as she looked down at her bracer which held Byakushiki and flicked it on watching the screen light up with a red box appearing reading 'Warning: Low Power' on it as she let out a 'tch'.
"Looks like I'm defenseless at this point. But where is that song coming from?" She muttered to herself as she pushed another pile of debris aside, her eyes looking down to come across something as she pushed more debris aside to make way for some light before she leaned in and looked.
Lying down, with a part of the fallen front of the warehouse crushing his lower body laid a man with slightly messy hair, buried with his arm trapped by a concrete rock his hand showing now signs of being crushed, likely from the explosion before she arrived when she saw the burning warehouse in the distance after a tip from the German army about strange communications and suspicious individuals leaving the vicinity in an armored truck, military grade by the looks of it and possibly stolen. Ignoring the possibility, she took in the appearance of the man with some small measure of interest in his choice of clothing that he wore, a grey overcoat with its collar unfolded and left covering the neck while a light blue shirt was visible and a pair of dark blue jeans, navy blue to be exact as she moved to his side wincing as she saw the extensive damage to his body. His face was lightly burned, not very serious to inflict scars with flakes of white skin floating in the breeze now and then his eyes were closed but his heaving chest made Chifuyu sigh in small relief when she noticed a breath escaping his nostrils, it seems the man was lucky to even escape death from such a horrendous experience of being shot at by a particle laser at close range, the impact was higher and caused more destruction to boot. But what caught her eye was the guitar stringing sound that came from the inside of the man's coat pocket, the lyrics had all but died off leaving only the humming sound of a male and female according to the tune piquing Chifuyu's curiosity as she opened up a communications channel, the German operative appearing on screen.
"Get me some immediate backup and help me, I have a survivor over here." The German operative nodded her head as the channel closed, Chifuyu sighed before she stretched out a hand and dug into the inner pockets of the overcoat, the music already starting to fade away but her fingers dug into a particular pocket near his chest the young adult noting that the man's abdomen was mostly flat, showing some signs of working out…Chifuyu had to shake her head at that before she felt her fingers grasp something cold and metallic, not only that it seemed to be square in shape her own interest increasing as she took out the item from the pocket.
"A music box…" The small chest was interestingly designed, ornate flower patterns along with tendrils for some hooking with the others surrounding a small rectangular label that read 'Zerschmettert Speicher', the words invoking an unknown feeling of sadness to it as Chifuyu traced a light finger on the label before making its way to the top surprising her when she looked at the top to see one of the most strangest things for a simple music box. On it etched into a number of tiles with numerals and letters was one of the most random features she ever saw, her eyes noticing the surrounding tiles and around the top of the box in a square was a system of gaps like train tracks journeying around in a loop with small gaps leading to the top and bottom of the tiles. She tilted the box around and noticed yet another lock system, this time only with symbols unknown to her in a dial wheel format with five dials…whoever this person was, he was definitely strange to carry such a box with him all the way here. A symbol of importance to him or some sort of reminder, perhaps but then what was it for?
"Who are you?" Chifuyu asked the man with a bare whisper as grey clouds began to gather overhead, a drizzle of rain beginning to follow soon after the fires beginning to die under the torrent of water.
Hours Later…
Present
"We've been asking the man questions, but he seems to not know anything."
"That's not good enough, we had a tip off from someone and the signal was traced to this man as the cause of the anomaly in the area."
"What about the music box, Chifuyu? Is there anything you can decipher from it?" Chifuyu raised her head from the box as she addressed one of the officers in the war room with a shake of her head, a sigh of frustration slipping out uncharacteristically for the normally business-like woman with a frown etched on her face. The young pilot was called into the German embassy in Japan for an emergency meeting concerning the kidnapping of her brother, the Japanese minister not giving much information apart from the fact that the attack was targeted at her by a mysterious organization and that any more findings were found there. Chifuyu recalled her brother's injuries and how the nurses and doctors said that Ichika was lucky enough to escape with such minor injuries, the worst only being two broken arms for a few months or so. She felt relieved that her brother was safe, but it seemed her troubles were just beginning and from the implications made by the German army it was slowly being pieced that the attack was connected solely to her and her involvement in the Monde Grosso Tournament she was participating in, and aside from speculations on what a shadow organization would want…
"It's no good, I do not know what we're even looking at here. The symbols aren't found on any text in the archives and our best codebreakers cannot even begin to decipher the symbols much less only tell us how the lock systems work. We know that the numbers and letters stand for something important, and the dial system isn't giving up its secrets anytime soon."
"In short, it means we're stuck." The German officer spoke with a bit of irritation before a man in a lab coat entered the private room, his hands holding a folder as he placed it next to the box and began to examine the box his eyes paying attention to every detail concerning it while the officer turned to face Chifuyu, a gloved hand gesturing to the scientist who was taking photos of the container and storing it into the folder while he turned the dials snapping even more photos of the symbols before he lifted it up and examined the underside of the box.
"Looks like we'll try to solve it…let's see if our code breakers can have a go. In the meantime, I think we should discuss the deal that you made with us regarding this information that led to your brother's safety." Chifuyu now shot a furious look at the officer who held up his gloved hands in a peaceful gesture while his fellow officer simply took his leave with the scientist, the box left as it was on the table as the door closed shut behind the two men giving an air of privacy around the glass room.
"Now, Miss Chifuyu we did discover some useful information via the anomaly that occurred in the industrial district and also as an extension of good faith we did send our operatives to assist you in your investigation. This terrorist force known as Phantom Task sounds like a very powerful cell, perhaps it is made out of a few talented pilots who are possibly above or slightly below your skill."
"We've seen the videos, what you can do, what you are capable of doing…what you have done." The officer paused at the last detail, noticing her face darken considerably at the implication as the officer decided to dismiss that part before he placed his hands on the table looking up at her with a worried look.
"The thing is…our country needs someone like you. Someone to show our pilots the ropes of being a true IS pilot, a force on the battlefield and an increase to our security on our own borders. And I cannot think of anyone more than you."
"I appreciate the fact that you helped, but I cannot just pack and leave for Germany…I have to take care of my brother." Chifuyu argued back, her concern for her brother finding its edge in her tone and voice as the officer sighed in defeat nodding in understanding as he pushed himself from the table and walked to the glass overlooking the night sky and the distant skyscrapers out in the distance over a forest of trees and bright lights illuminating the night.
"You think the government cares about that? Chifuyu, the Minister of War called me in my very office today and made me relay the day's events and he's going to push for having a talented pilot over-"
"As an asset." Chifuyu emphasized the word 'asset' harshly at the officer, her light orange eyes staring at the officer's back as he chuckled dryly.
"Yes, if you want to be so crude. It is necessary though, I can't argue with the benefits it provides our army to survive the new age of such revolutionary technology." He argued back.
"At the cost of sacrificing female soldiers to do so, men are now called back from being soldiers and the fighters of the new generation instead they are demoted to being the backburners of the armed military. Ever since Tabane Shinonono introduced the IS, countries like Singapore forcibly recruit their females into serving the armed forces just to test pilot and conscript them into soldiers for their reasons of 'national security'. Oh yes, I know how politics work." Chifuyu sarcastically shot back, the officer keeping a calm demeanor as he watched her stubborn eyes hold fast in the pressure game.
"Singapore is an illusion of peace, a symbol that the people wish to continue deluding themselves into believing they are 'safe' from the harsh world when they live its vices differently. It is no different in policies and mannerisms of greedy maggots than the rest of the world who revel in such debauchery at an equally sadistic level, except it just hides behind a façade of friendship and less implications of a viper, unlike all the other nations. You shouldn't be surprised, the world is disgusting like that with its horrible truths and the shades of black and white we are asked to believe when it is all just grey." The officer declared with clenched fists, the action not escaping Chifuyu's sharp eyes as she folded her arms.
"I guess you aren't an avid fan of Singapore."
"They are filth and maggots, crawling around in sheep's clothing. Ruthless and manipulative, they are truly the world's greatest angels and devils rolled into one if they so choose. I have run-ins with them and truthfully the older generations are much more civil but predictable as their young…pathetic." The man spat out the words with added venom much to Chifuyu's own surprise at how he described them, the young adult skipping back to the main topic to avoid a sensitive subject.
"About me joining your army…"
"You won't be joining us, you'll be given the title of instructor instead and will teach our first batch of IS troops. Willing volunteers, if it so comforts you when you get there." Chifuyu didn't reply back as she gave a tired sigh, rubbing her forehead and the bridge of her nose as she spoke up again.
"I don't suppose I had a choice from the beginning." She answered monotonously as the officer nodded grimly, the military man pulling out one of the metal chairs and settled himself down pulling the beret off his head and placing it onto the table as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling in silent contemplation before he heard the sound of the door clicking shut leaving him alone as he noticed that the box wasn't there on the table anymore, the man smiling and shook his head as he closed his eyes and muttered softly to the ceiling lights.
"No, you really don't."
[Line Break]
Hospital
"I would like to see our mysterious guest." Chifuyu spoke to the receptionist as she nodded, typing some words into the keyboard before she turned to address the famous pilot with a polite smile.
"Of course, the German embassy task force has just gone back from their talks with the gentleman. I spoke with him this evening before my duty began, he seems like a nice man. And his manners, very polite for someone who looks like a ragged man…yet he also seemed very sad." The receptionist wondered out aloud as Chifuyu simply nodded her head in silent agreement, the receptionist tapping away at some keys before a loud 'ping' was heard from the computer before the woman turned back to Chifuyu her hand outstretched towards the elevator down the wide hallway.
"Alright, take the elevator up and fourth floor. He's in the solitary wards, kept under guard so it'll be easy to spot." Giving her thanks, Chifuyu took a deep breath as she reached into her black jacket and pulled out the music box into full view, pressing the button to summon the elevator while she stood back looking down at the object with curiosity as she turned to look at the underside of the music box, only to groan as she found another string of carved symbols similar to the ones found on the dials but had no instruction on how to figure them out. Aside from that, the music box continued to fascinate her with the design and locking system…indeed it was something out of its time, and something about it seemed to call out to the young adult. Something sad, like she was feeling the box trying to tell its story but could not because of its owner's choice of silence to seal the secrets away from the world…something that shouldn't be said.
She didn't get far when the elevator pinged to life, the young woman moving aside for a few doctors who were guiding a patient in a wheelchair who was quivering rather violently and Chifuyu could have sworn she saw wrist straps on the armrests of the wheelchair before she stepped into the empty lift and pushed the fourth floor, watching the doors shut leaving her in silence for the ride up. Opening at the fourth level, she didn't have to look long before seeing two armed soldiers standing guard at the entrance of a simple white door and shutter-closed glass window preventing anyone from looking inside at the patient, Chifuyu walking up to the two men who glanced in her direction before they nodded in respect at the IS pilot stepping away from the door as Chifuyu looked at them strangely before she raised her hand to knock.
"I know you, miss…from the operation table, please come in!" The voice happily chimed, shocking the woman as she turned toward the guard who simply shrugged at the statement before Chifuyu grasped the knob and opened the door with a soft push. Sitting on the hospital bed, with small bandages covering his right cheek and neck along with his right arm in a sling, sat the man who was responsible for the discovery of Phantom Task and also the main source that helped Chifuyu find her brother smiling widely at her while his eyes beamed with excitement at the thought of company.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Sit, sit." He gestured to a nearby chair beside his hospital bed, the young woman unable to say a word as she simply took the seat looking at the young man carefully without any rubble or fires to worry about. What stunned her first of all was how young he looked, yet the doctors agreed that he was around the same age as her if not younger by a year or two from her own age…and for such an age he certainly looked like he had better days, small bags were under his eyes and his eyes were a little strained probably from the interrogation the embassy officers were doing not long ago. His grey overcoat was hung on the nearby rack sitting by the window along with the rest of his clothes, blackish burn marks still faintly visible from the incident not too long ago while his messy hair was cut leaving the man with a much shorter fringe covering part of his forehead, some bed hair sticking out from the sides of his head giving him a much more attractive look.
"Focus, Chifuyu."
"How did you know it was me? There could have been anyone." She questioned, curious as to how the man could have figured it out as the mysterious black-haired stranger simply smiled at that, holding a finger to his lips in thought.
"You were the only one I saw in the operation room, but it seems that you let your body show a bit more of your personality than what you think you let others see." Seeing the woman's confused look, Anastasio decided to change his explanation to the simplest one he could think of.
"Bodies tell tales. Your eyes when you were looking over me were ones of a hardened veteran, probably been experienced in combat although I do not know what type it is there. You also gave yourself away as a person of considerable power and influence, no one simply watches over a patient who was being operated on by doctors unless by government orders…that and the fact that you hold a stern face tells me that at one point in time something changed your life, making you much more…" He shivered slightly as he finished his sentence with a chatter of his teeth. "Cold."
"That doesn't explain how you know it was me outside the door." Chifuyu deadpanned as Anastasio sighed, realizing where he went wrong before he rubbed his forehead and focused drumming his fingers on the sheets as he spoke.
"I heard a ding, elevator stopping at this floor suggests a visitor but a visitor during closing hours of the evening is abnormal behavior for staff except for high-ranking personal under the law or those that work for the government. Clue number one, number two was when the guards shifted out of the way to let you in with no sharp yells of 'sir!' or 'ma'am' which led me to suspect that the person is not military but still commands respect. The third was pure instinct, I managed to overhear a rather interesting conversation about you before you arrived, that you were some sort of talented IS pilot who can do extraordinary things and from that I heard you saved my life, and I figured that the only person who would visit someone who's been interrogated by the joint Japanese and German officers could only be you by process of elimination." He stopped his explanation as Chifuyu looked at him with a slightly impressed look, closing her eyes for a brief moment.
"Well, you have good instincts on you."
"Of course, otherwise I would never have the pleasure of knowing that my special visitor would be a beauty like you." Anastasio spoke politely with a slight bow of his head as Chifuyu nearly choked on her saliva from his statement, the legendary pilot kept a straight face on as she cleared her throat before thinking on her next words to say to the man as silence permeated the room again.
"I heard you were the one who led me to my brother. I just came here to thank you personally." Chifuyu gave a thankful glance as Anastasio stared at her curiously before he nodded back, still holding on to his smile as he brought his hand to caress his neck bandage.
"That was my own, to be honest I had no idea I would be involved in such a serious situation involving the government itself. Tell me, just how deeply involved was I in the incident?" Chifuyu raised her eyebrows at that, this was something she definitely did not know from the Germans and her own side as she stared deeply at the young man's eyes before she spoke the next few words.
"Intelligence said that the Germans managed to pinpoint the location of the Phantom Task force due to an anomaly that appeared inside a warehouse in Japan's industrial district. And that source…was you."
End
Sorry for the abrupt ending. I'm tired, I wanna sleep and stuff so good night everybody and have a nice day!
NapoleonVI
