Chapter 3

Danger Approaches

What was the life of a E.D.F troop like? Well, actually it wasn't must different from any other job. Each member were assigned off to a particular group, whether it be A, B, C, or D would depend on their test results, and with enough experience, each could move up along the ranks. Along with being placed in a group though, each member had a decision to make, whether they'd rest up and work the day shift, or spend the day sleeping, and work the afternoon and night shift. At the moment, it was looking fairly even, but for Ryo and Magi, the day shift seemed like their best option. But first things first, they had to prepare for the day ahead, and what luck; his girl had called up to check on him just in time.

"Heyo, what's up?" he asked, while slipping into his dark brown pants.

"Hey, you remember what you promised me yesterday?" she asked, in a rather annoyed tone.

"Yesterday...remind me again?" he asked.

"After work, you, me, the date?"

"A date?"

"...You forgot again didn't you?"

"No...I just got caught up in some things. But sorry about that. I promise, this weekend I'll come by and we'll head to the human world for a very special one, alright?" he assured her, before slipping into his brown jacket.

"Sure, until something else comes up."

"Well look, I understand you're mad, but there are some things I can't get around. The old geezer made us run fifty laps around the facility. I mean it wasn't that tough for me, but poor Magi almost lost both lungs."

"Oi, Ryo, sometimes I wonder if you're taking all of this seriously. I'm not saying you have to bend to my will, but would it kill you to give me a call?"

"Awe, come on Minami. I know I'm not perfect like your grandfather, but I'm really putting my all into it."

"Well..."

"Come on, have we or have we not been through a lot together?"

"But that's still no excuse for flaking like that."

"Yeah, and I'm really sorry. But just think, we're off this weekend, and with that spare time we can do anything we want. Without your family interrupting."

Hearing something like that coming from him, it caused a little smile to appear.

"Anything?"

"Absolutely, you name it, and we'll do it."

"Hm, fine, but if you flake again, you're getting one hell of a gnawing." she warned.

"Gotcha, and don't worry, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. Talk to you later okay?"

"Yep, can't wait to see you." he replied, before hanging up.

How childish, she thought to herself after setting down the phone. Sure, he wasn't the best when it came to scheduling things, and sometimes he forgot, it wasn't as if he'd done it on purpose. And plus, when they did have time to themselves, he at least tried. Being who he was, romantic evenings weren't exactly his forte, but just having the chance to hang out together again, and enjoy their time together, it felt nice. But still, she couldn't help but wish he'd take some time off and relax; just the two of them.

"Just don't strain yourself too hard." she begged, before leaving for class.

Meanwhile, back at his place, things were going along fairly well. Mother father, brother, and sister had all left for work earlier, which meant he had the house all to himself until his ride came to pick him up. Good thing too, he could have used some quiet tine.

"Badge? Check. Gun? Check. Hair? Of course." he boasted, while looking in the mirror right outside the living room.

But, his peace came an end after a knock on the door was heard, and a loud one at that.

"Oh come on, I still have thirty minutes." he sighed, before heading for the door.

Yep, he was right. Standing outside the door was Magi, and behind him, their ship. This could only mean one thing, and it didn't sit right with him.

"Oh good, you're up. We've got a report." he began saying, before being interrupted.

"That something major has gone down somewhere, and we've been sent to check it out."

"Yeah."

"Same song and dance, but couldn't this have waited?"

"That would be the case, if it hadn't been so severe. Tell me, do you remember a woman by the name of Mizore Shirayuki?"

"Mizore...it rings a bell. Oh yeah, the Yuki-Onna, what's happened?" he asked, in concern.

"We got a call from her a short while ago. Apparently her homeland came under attack by strange being. Big, made of metal, they came from the sky and slaughtered many, and took some, but she managed to make it out and alert us to the situation."

After hearing all that, his stomach dropped. Though he didn't know her all that well, Minami sure as heck did. If something happened to her, and she found out, how would he break it to her?

"Well? Whatcha waiting for? Let's get a move on before anything else happens."

The look in his eyes said it all. He was pretty pissed, and with anger came the need for action.

"Right. It'll take us ten minutes to reach our destination. So hang tight alright?" he asked of him, after they grabbed a hold if the anchor's chain.

"I'll be fine. Just get us there as fast as you can, okay?"

"Yep. Alright everyone, time to head out! Let's make this good and snappy!" Magi announced to their squad.

"Yes sir!" they replied, before scrambling to their stations.

And thus, they were off to investigate the strange attack. Meanwhile, back at the university, Minami was a bit busy arranging the things she's need for her first class. Everything had its own little space on her desk, or else she'd misplace it, without a doubt.

"Alright, notebook? Right here. Pen? To the right. Phone? On vibrate. And we're looking pretty good." she thought proudly, while stretching out along the seat.

And with almost five minutes to spare. Ah, it felt good to not have to worry about finals. Every bit of knowledge she'd gained throughout the semester stayed tightly packed in her head. And with finals only a week away, it was only a matter of time before she'd be free to pursue her own job. But while resting here eyes, a pair of cold hands surrounded them.

"Guess who." she heard.

"Hm...cold hands, smells like oil, Ami?"

"Right!" she cheered before jumping over the seat.

"So what are you doing here? I thought classes had started for you."

"Well, they would have if our instructor hadn't gotten sick. So until next period, we're free birds."

"Nice." Minami replied with a smile.

After stretching her arms a bit, Ami noticed the amount of text books filling her bag. It seemed to her someone was a busy bee.

"I take it you've been studying pretty hard."

"Mhm, been doing it for almost a week now."

"Yeah, I can tell. You look exhausted."

"Well I use to have Ryo here to give me a little jump-start, but that kind of stopped a year or so back."

"Oh right, the hybrid. Speaking of which, I really owe you a lot."

"What for?"

"Remember that sample I took yesterday? Well, after analyzing it a bit, I found that while his vampiric power takes up 60% of his body, the electricity inside his body actually enhances all of his abilities.

"Which means?"

"Well, let's so he goes in for a punch, normally it would be the average punch of a vampire, but if he channeled and focused all his electricity into that single punch, it could surpass that."

"Wait, hold on, so you're saying he's strong than he thinks he is?"

"Pretty much. The limit of 100% doesn't exist. If he really wanted to, that boundary could be broken down, and beyond it, an all new power. Think of it as a sort of power boost."

"Um..."

"But it's just a theory. After all, he's been like this for a while, and has yet to beat one of the Dark Lords."

"And you got all of that, in one night."

"Oh my dear, sweet, cute Minami, you have no clue how fast I can work." she replied in a rather weird tone, while wrapping an arm around her.

"Yeah, anyways, you'd best get out of here before the instructor gets here, or else he'll personally kick you out."

"Tsk, he wouldn't do that to a cute woman like me eh?"

It came as no surprise how stubborn she'd be when told to leave.

"Alright, suit yourself." Minami sighed, before leaning back.

While they continued their little chat, several miles away her lover and his mates continues on their way towards their destination. According to his watch, they weren't but a couple of minutes away, but with the amount of snow coming down, it made it almost impossible to tell where they were headed. All they had to go on were the coordinance given by their caller.

"Sheesh, you'd think it would let up by now." Magi complained, after raising the hood of his jacket.

"This is snow country, of course it's gonna have lots of the stuff."

"You'd also think the sun would freaking come out once in a while." he groaned.

"Man up. I've spent plenty of time in the cold, and look at me. No jacket or anything." Ryo boasted.

"Oh you're right. Now what if I were to make everything disappear." he threatened, before pulling out a card of invisibility.

Nope, he wasn't sticking around for that to happen, as he jumped back and away. It was one thing to gloat, but it was another to reveal his bare form to all his fellow troops.

"Heh, thought so."

While slipping the card back in, one of their lower their troops came running at him with a worried look on his face.

"Sir, we've just caught sight of our destination." he said.

"Nice, tell everyone to ready themselves. We're heading down the moment this ship stops."

"Yes sir. Everyone, grab your thinks and prepare to land!" he called out, before running towards the stairs that down into the belly of the ship.

While looking on in silence, a large smoke plume could be seen rising from what looked like a rather small town. Snow covered every inch of it, and no doubt there were others down there that needed some backup help, and that's exactly what they were their for.

"Damn, it's looking pretty bad." Ryo pointed out, after noticing the destroyed building and castle in the distance.

"Yeah. What could have caused this?"

"Made of metal was it? Maybe some kind of mechanized weapon?"

"Possibly, but the question is who. Could they have held a grudge?" Magi asked, while they closed in.

"Who knows, but let's find out what we can and head back. Maybe the commander can help us out, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan." he replied with a smirk, before bumping their fists together.

And so, with a plan in mind, and their ship anchored, everyone began sliding down the chain, and back to solid ground. Thankfully, the snow wasn't too deep, but what unsettled them the most were the looks they got from the locals. There weren't many, probably less than two hundred, and yet their cold glares managed to freeze some of them in place.

"Alright men, no time to stand around. We need info, and a lot of it. Ask anyone you can on what they saw, and where their attackers might be headed!" Magi demanded with great enthusiasm.

"Yes sir!" everyone replied, before running off.

"Ryo, you're with me."

"Gotcha. So where are we headed?"

"Nowhere. She said to wait at the entrance, and that's exactly what we're going to do. Got it?"

No answer, strange, usually he'd answer when called upon. But when turning to check, he saw what had grabbed his attention. In a matter of a few seconds, his partner had constructed numerous snowmen; all neatly stacked with pebble eyes and mouths, and stick noses.

"Do you want to build a snow~omph!" he began singing, before being pelted with a snowball.

"No, no more." Magi demanded, while gathering up more snow.

"And why not?" Ryo asked, before throwing his own.

Bingo, right in the stomach. But that didn't stop him from throwing two more.

"We're on duty." he replied.

"Alright Mr. Uptight, let's see what we can do about that attitude of yours." he replied, before throwing two more back at him.

"Grrr you asked for it." he growled, before grabbing another handful.

Apparently, all it took were a few snowballs to get him started, but in Ryo's mind, everyone needed to unwind at times, even when on a mission. Although, Magi didn't particularly agree with such a notion, the fact that they were having a snowball fight brought him back to when they were but small children, and how they and the others in their class would get into one large snowball war.

"Hah! Can't say you're not having fun now! I see that smile." Ryo claimed.

"Heh alright, let's see how well you handle my Snowball Strike." he thought, before snatching up a card.

Upon raising it, hundreds of snowballs began flinging themselves at his target, but he also had a plan for just such an attack. With his wings out, Ryo used them as a soft a shield; deflecting all projectiles thrown, until the assault was over.

"Nice try. Now let's see how well you fair against this."

It was time for one of his newest techniques. Using the two gauntlets around his hands, the wings behind began shifting and changing, until they took the form of two large, clawed hands. But they weren't going after his partner, but instead the snow. With two big handfuls, he formed his own ultimate snowball attack, as a snowball the size of a walk in ramen shop formed.

"Uh dude?" Magi asked nervous.

"No hard feelings." he replied in a sinister tone.

Their conflict would have to wait however, when a familiar voice came from Ryo's right, a voice he knew all too well.

"There you guys are. What's all of this?" they heard, before turning to confirm their suspicion.

Yep, it was them alright, Mizore and Kurumu, both looking at them like they'd done something wrong.

"Oh, this doesn't look too good does it?" he asked, before dropping the ball of snow.

"It doesn't matter." was all Mizore could say.

The look on her face said it all; fear, anger, regret, and sadness, all of which swirled around in her mind.

"Im sorry for your losses." Magi said, while both gave a respectful bow.

"It's okay. What's done is done."

"Damn, she's usually a bit more uplifting than this." whispered Ryo.

"Focus."

"Yeah. Kurumu, were you here when all of this took place?"

"Yes." she answered confidentially.

"Can you describe what it was that attacked? The form they took? Anything will help."

"I, I saw many of them flying overhead, early this morning, at around 5 A.M. At first I thought nothing of it, but after passing over, many began dropping down. They carried many weapons, flamethrowers, guns, and spinning blades. We tried fighting back, but something wasn't right. These things, these mechanical monsters, they seemed sentient. They reacted to each strike, and fought back. Then he came."

"He?"asked Magi.

"I didn't catch his name, but he looked like a large, mechanical samurai. They tried fighting back, but nothing worked. He cut them down like pigs for slaughter." she stopped though, as the horrid memories began returning.

"That's enough Kurumu. You've been a big help. And Mizore, I promise, no matter what, we'll find the person who did this, and bring justice to those who suffered." promised Ryo.

But his words didn't seem to get to her. But who could blame her? Her own people had been cut down and taken right in front of her, and being powerless to stop them didn't help either.

"Did you need any help with the burials?" asked Magi.

"No, we've already taken care of that, but thanks anyways."

"Okay, I guess we're done here." Ryo sighed with relief.

"Seems that way."

Just when things were wrapping up though, one of the earth elementals came running over with something in his over-sized hand.

"Sir, we found something down one of the alleyways. We thought you'd like to take a look at it." he told them, before tossing the object to the ground.

It looked like a large, metal sphere with three legs, or in other words, a tripod.

"Huh, is this what attacked you all?" asked Magi.

"Yeah, they were all over the place, but when we came out from hiding, they were gone."

"Well it's not so rough and tough now." Ryo said, before giving a little kick across the ground.

"Ryo! You do know we need that as evidence right?"

"Alright, calm down, look I barely put a dent in that thing. See?" he answered, before pointing to the squirming bot.

Wait, squirming, it hadn't that before. While all five looked over at it, a small red light began blinking, as two compartments on its back opened up, to reveal two sets of wings.

"Magi, what's going on man?" he asked nervously.

"No clue."

Well, there was some good news, it didn't seem to mind them, as it took off into the sky, the bad news was, it had taken off without them.

"Hah problem solved itself."

"Maybe not. Mr. Kurumu, do you remember seeing which way its fellow bots departed?"

"Um, north-east I think."

"North-east huh? So what's in that direction?" he asked himself, before pulling out a mini map.

"You think it's picking up on its friends?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Probably."

"Heh, well when we catch up to them, I'll give up a good ass whooping."

While scanning the map though, something cause his partners attention that made him go cold.

"Are you alright?" Kurumu asked.

"Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay calm alright, but I think they're headed here." he pleaded, before pointing to the only structure labeled in that area of the map.

He didn't want to believe it. His body turned ice cold after taking a look for himself. Right in their path, only one structure stood, and if he was right, then what happened before would seem like a mere hunt in comparison.

"Minami."