"DES ship is close by. Only a matter of minutes before the hatch opens. Captain Wise, is your men ready for the infiltration?" The pilot asked.
"Everyone is in their space suits, weapons full, and cloaking device is fully operational. We are ready." John confirmed.
"The hatch is opening. Hope to see all of you alive and well when this is over."
"We will try." Once the shuttle doors open, Captain John Wise and his team jumped from the cloaked shuttle undetected and into the hatch before it closes.
The team sneaks into the cargo bay with John unveiling a map of the ship they manage to steal from one of the guards.
"The program we need to stop the virus is in the server room, which is located in the north corridor of the ship on the top floor. No doubt that the place will be heavily guarded. Do not the cloaking device until we reach the top floor and weapons tight. If you can't avoid detection, make sure to take out only the DES near you without alerting the others. Understand?"
"Yes sir." John's entire team answered softly.
"All right. Let's go."
The team then left the cargo bay before a few DES officers entered. They would hide in every cover to check if there are DES blocking their path and wait until they left. As they are walking through s small corridor, one of the soldiers accidentally steps on a can that a guard carelessly threw away, prompting the team to hide in one of the rooms. As it turns out, the room they were hiding in had a couple of DES officers already inside.
"You are not from the DES, aren't you?" One of the officers asked.
Before the team can do anything, both officers made a run for the alarm. John, however, aimed his M16A4 rifle at them.
"These guns have silencers on them. They won't know what happened to you guys until much later if you guys dare to go any further. You want to live? I suggest you stay silent and get down on the ground now."
"How will we know if you will keep your promise?" The other DES officer asked.
"Believe me, if it were another team that infiltrated this ship, you both would be dead right now as Earth still has a grudge over what the DGTO did to them. Just be glad we are only tying you up since we've got no business with you or even your superiors. We just need a little something from your ship. Now tell me, are you going to get down or should I continue holding my rifle up?"
Knowing the situation they are in, the officers went down on their knees and had both officers tied and cuffed as well as their mouth taped to prevent them from screaming.
"I am pretty sure that somebody will come pick you two up so see you later." John Wise and his team left the room and head further into the ship.
Wise then approaches the soldier who nearly exposed the entire team and glares at him. "What did I say? We can't attract any attention, got it? Do you want the entire ship to know we are here?"
"Sorry sir. It was an accident. I will be careful from now on." The soldier then returns to his position.
After reaching another corner, the team hears a couple of voices up ahead and hid themselves.
"How was your vacation on Earth? What country did you visit?"
"Pretty good. I went to the Mexico City, Mexico to try their so called famous Quesadilla and I was not disappointed, although the DES won't like this since many parts of Earth are paradise for entertainment."
"That's to be expected considering that the planet now has the oldest history of where everything started."
"There was one thing though. I heard on the news that two members of the DES were arrested by the United States Army after they infiltrated one of their base camps. The reporter said they implanted some kind of virus into one of the computers that hold up the planet's shields."
"What? No way! The DES have not yet recover since the incident in Akibastar! There is no way we would risk war at this moment!"
"That's the problem. I am going to have to talk to the other officers about this."
"Let me come too. If this continues, the DES will get the blame and go to war for something we had nothing to do with."
The two guards left the corridor while Wise's team sneaks by them.
"Well this is new information. If what those officers said were true, who did sneak into our military base?" Another one of John;s soldier asked.
"I don't know. I am also starting to doubt that what we are looking for isn't on this ship after hearing that. I am going to make contact with the ship." John then takes out a small communicator and alerts the pilot of the possibility of searching for the wrong target.
"Roger. Since you are already on the ship, I still say you must continue you search. Maybe whatever you can find in the server room might help."
"Yes sir. Captain Wise out."
John hangs up and turns to the rest of his team. "We still have a mission to hack the server, but this time, not only to find the needed program, but also to find out what is really happening."
"So we are still going through with this even though there is now a possibility that the anti-virus program we are looking for might not be even here." Another soldier spoke up.
"That's correct. Even if we cannot get the program, we might be able to find leads to who actually implanted the virus and start from there. Anyway, time is wasting, we better go."
The team then makes it to the server room after avoiding numerous guards only to find the room heavily guarded as John predicted.
"Are your cloaking devices and heat sensors operational?"
"All devices are ready for use, sir."
"Good. Let's quickly take care of the guards and get this over with."
John and his men move forward undetected and silently incapacitate them using chloroform. When they entered the room, they walked up the stairs to find at least 10 guards and five operators in the room.
"Take them out quickly before they alert the others."
John's team of eight quickly dispatches the guards unnoticed and those who did were also quickly taken out before they can react thanks to their cloaking devices. As soon as they finished incapacitating the guards and a couple of operators, their cloaking devices have worn off, exposing them to the only two operators still standing, but frightened.
"Y-You guys are part of the U.S. Space Forces. Why are you here?" One of the operators asked.
"We are only here to get a few things. Private Gina, its your turn."
"Yes Captain." One of the soldiers takes off her helmet, revealing the head of a young girl with shoulder-length blond hair.
"All right, time for me to hack into the system. Get the operators to help me find the program while I search through their files." Gina then takes out a laptop and connects a wire to one of the computer screens on the left side of the room.
John takes out a small peace of paper and shows it to one of the operators. "This paper contains the name of the program we need. Where is it?"
The DES operator took the piece of paper and becomes surprised by what he read.
"Impossible. That program no longer exist within the DES."
"That is not what I wanted to hear." John Wise begins to show frustration.
"I am serious. We brought the program by using one of our mechs during the attack on Akibastar. It was meant to be used to weakened the resistance by disabling their defenses like an EMP. However, the mech carrying the program was destroyed when Yuuko became Center Nova due to the big shockwave it created."
John then turns to Gina.
"Captain, you might want to take a look at this."
John then moves next to her to see a newspaper article on the monitor showing Yuuko as she becomes Center Nova.
"Not only are his words true, but there has been other articles that have a connection with the infiltration of the camp. Take a look at this article."
Gina shows another article to John, this time about the assassination of the CEO of the Zodiac Corporation.
"According to the autopsy, there are small prints from the crime scene that matches those found in the base camp. The DGTO and DES are some of the clients of the Zodiac Corporation. There is no way they would kill him."
Realizing the situation, John's expression soon starts showing a little regret. "This means that someone else is behind this."
Suddenly, a large group of heavily armed DES soldiers surrounded John's team, who responds by aiming their own weapons. One of the DES soldiers confronts John and recognized the insignia on his uniform.
"You better have a good reason to why we shouldn't arrest or shoot you after infiltrating our ship."
John had Gina hand over the laptop and calmly approaches the DES soldier, showing him the article of the murder of the Zodiac Corporation's CEO.
"It appears that we have a common enemy."
Back in Los Angeles...
Alan looks at the photo of NovaStar posing in front of the AKB48 theater. The framed photo is currently hung on the wall in the living room where everyone can see.
"So AKB0048 is leaving for Tokyo by tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah, they were only hear for a couple of days to establish a partnership with Space Records in general. We were never allowed to get close to them anyway due to their no dating rule." Ethan said.
"It was fun being with them while it lasted I will admit. I was finally able to live with myself and yet it feels weird to look at the world from a different perspective."
"You may have had a tragic past, Alan, but that didn't mean that your entire childhood was bad. After all, I've heard that you had some friends before you joined NovaStar."
"True, but it wasn't easy either due to my dad's tough training. As a disciplined soldier, he expects the entire family to be the same, but not to the point where he would actually make us soldiers ourselves though. Considering that he is part of the USSF, that makes him an enemy of the DES, correct? I think he is doing that to prepare us just in case."
"I see. It's true that the Global Space Forces have been at odds with the DGTO and the DES for quite sometime so it shouldn't be a surprise if there are many soldiers acting like that towards their own family. Anyway, where is everybody?"
"Erik went home to prepare for his little brother's middle school graduation, Ryan is currently working at a food vendor a couple blocks away after he forgot to bring his wallet, and Daisuke is at a CD shop trying to buy the new AKB0048 single he was told of by the girls."
Ethan snickered a little. "Ryan actually forgot his wallet?"
"I was showering when he left. I didn't find out until he was about halfway. He tried to call to have me bring it, but by the time I got there, it was dinner time and so many people were lining up, they ended up having to keep him after I returned his wallet."
"I bet he will be exhausted by the time he gets back."
Alan also made a small laugh. "Yeah, Ryan better makes sure he has everything before he leaves next time."
At a Taco Vendor...
"We got six more orders for Dynamite Burritos and three more for the Beefy Taco Supreme!" One of the staff yelled.
"I am working as fast as I can!" Ryan yelled as he struggles to get the ingredients from the small spaces.
"Why did I have to forget my wallet at this time!?" Ryan yelled out loud.
"Where is my food!?"
"Come on and give us our orders already! We don't have all night!"
The costumers began feeling impatient over the slow service of the staff due to Ryan's inexperience.
"If you had just bring your wallet and paid for your meal, none of this would happen!" The cook yelled.
"I am sorry, alright!? Let's get this over with before things really get out of control!"
After getting the ingredients, Ryan desperately tries to take orders at an extremely fast pace, but ended up writing scribbles as a result, much to the dismay of the rest of the staff.
Back in the apartment...
Alan's Kirara suddenly becomes more active as it starts making noise until Alan notices its strange behavior.
"Huh? What is it? What is going on?"
The Kirara responded by glowing and heads toward the balcony. Alan heads outside and sees a light blue Kirara in the shape of a song note, which he immediately recognized.
"You are Yuuko-san's Kirara, aren't you? What are you doing here?"
Yuuko's Kirara went down from the balcony. When Alan looks down, he sees a disguised Yuuko standing in front of the apartment. Alan immediately figured out that its him that Yuuko wants to see after looking at him and heads out of the room.
Ethan notices Alan and his Kirara zooming past him. "Hey, where are you going?"
"I just remembered that I need to take care of something. I will be back in probably half an hour."
Alan then meets Yuuko at the entrance door. "What are you doing here? Don't you have to get ready for tomorrow's trip back to Tokyo?"
"I am already packed, but if you don't mind, I want to talk to you a bit more. Is that okay?"
After a brief moment of silence, Alan reluctantly agrees. " Alright, but we better go elsewhere since there are people here."
"Understood."
Yuuko and Alan then head to a quiet area in Hazard Park to make sure nobody is around.
Alan takes one more look around. "I think it should be safe here. It's often quiet at this time."
"It's even more active here than the park I often go to in Akibastar." Yuuko commented.
"Not surprised. Hollywood is the home of the entertainment industry after all. If you want a quiet spot in this district, you have to know where to look. So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I don't really know when we will work with each other again, but there are things I want to let you know before I leave. When I first bumped into you, I immediately felt that there was a faint radiance of an idol within you. That was the first time I've seen a boy with such radiance."
"So when you've asked me to become a tour guide, the reason probably had something to do with that, right?"
"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you to see if you were aware of it, but I guess not. I don't blame you for it since most idols are not aware at first until they met a Kirara."
"I see. That's why you don't seemed as surprised as the others when the Kirara chose me. I was even more surprised then the rest of you. I really didn't think I did anything to prove my worth as an idol."
"So why did you decide to become one if you didn't think you can do it?"
"I had no real motivation at first. My friends thought that I was a good singer and tried to convince me to become an idol, but I had no interest at first due to the incident back at Lancastar. I planned to attend college, but couldn't choose a particular one to go to due to my little-above average grades. After a couple weeks of searching, I grew tired of it, but I also wanted to have a future to make my parents proud. Then I saw this idol contest on TV and entered it since I felt I had nothing to lose. I auditioned and became one of the winners. That was actually when NovaStar was formed."
Yuuko becomes slightly disappointed hearing that. "In order to become a true teen idol, you really must have the motivation to become one, otherwise the fans might notice the lack of enthusiasm."
"I kind of knew that already. It wasn't until I met the other members of NovaStar did I find out why I wanted to become an idol. To perform in the stage that AKB0048 performed in. It is considered an honor since AKB0048 was the group that brought back entertainment to people since the DES took over. I realized that this is my dream."
"This must have been what brought out your radiance. To have strong motivations towards a goal can bring out people's true potential. My goal of becoming part of AKB0048 was to become Center Nova and sing alongside Acchan. You have no idea the excitement I felt when I heard that the position as Center Nova was brought back. I was like Yeah!"
Yuuko becomes excited as she stands up and raises her arms in the same manner as back when the Center Nova position is brought back.
"So did your dream come true?"
Yuuko calms down after Alan asked. "It did, but not in the way as I expected. When I became Center Nova, I wasn't able to control it like the others and ended up disappearing far from my idol. I keep climbing and climbing to reach her, but she gets farther away. I realized that being a Center Nova was never my true goal and that I just wanted to sing next to Acchan. She told me that Acchan was there all along as a new one has been crowned."
"That was Nagisa wasn't it? I know since I saw the crowning from Earth."
"Correct. She was the next Acchan and it took me so long to realize it. Now I am glad that I will be always performing alongside her."
"It must have been hard to realize what you truly want back then, isn't it?"
"It was and I can tell that you've had some difficulty on that as well. I understand what happened to you in the past, but when the DES is involved with something, what did you really want?"
"Whenever the DES is involved, all I could think about is my parents and how they died by their hands. I wanted revenge Yuuko-san, but after being taught values by my father, I became conflicted. He then told me not to stay in the past and move on to the future, otherwise I would be no better than the DES myself. It was because of him that I chose to become an idol rather than a soldier. I had been struggling to let go and it was only through Space Records and AKB0048 had I finally decide to free myself from my isolation. It feels strange to finally be able to focus on a new path after holding it for so long. I am pretty sure you felt that too, right?"
"That feeling was present since I returned from being Center Nova. It was a relief. I am glad that thing are working out well for the both of us so far and I hope it continues."
"Me too. Speaking of which, there is something I want to show you before you leave for Tokyo tomorrow." Alan starts pulling Yuuko's arm and drags her to the apartment building.
Yuuko becomes surprised by Alan's sudden actions. "Eh? Alan-kun, where are you taking me?"
"You said that you wanted to explore the city more. I cannot take you there, but I want you to see it. I want you to have a good memory when you leave."
"At your apartment? Wait, don't tell me you're...!" Alan immediately cuts Yuuko off.
"Don't misunderstand! You'll see when we get there."
Alan and Yuuko then took an elevator to the rooftop. As soon as they get out Yuuko becomes very amazed.
"Good thing its not too dark yet. This is what you wanted to see, right?"
"Yes!" What Yuuko and Alan saw in front of them from a distance is the Hollywood Sign.
"Sorry I had to suddenly drag you, but the sign is not lit at night so I figured this would be the best time to see it."
"You are right. Even though it would be nice to be closer to it, the fact that I was able to see it is more than enough!"
Yuuko immediately takes out her camera and takes a photo of the sign after zooming in. She then turns to Alan and gives him a bright smile.
"You really weren't kidding when you said you wanted me to have a good memory before I leave. This is definitely something I will remember."
Alan couldn't help, but smile back.
"Alan-kun." Yuuko called out.
"Yes?"
"If you don't mind, do you want to remain in contact? It will probably be a while before we see each other again."
"I would be stupid if I say no."
Yuuko gives a small laugh before exchanging phone numbers with Alan. Sensing even more radiance from within them, both Kiraras began glowing brightly as Yuuko and Alan became close friends.
"Good night Alan-kun. Thank you for showing me." Yuuko heads to the elevator with her Kirara and waves goodbye.
After seeing Yuuko off, Alan happily looks at his cellphone screen displaying a picture of Yuuko posing in one of her idol outfits and her phone number below.
"Come back soon, Yuuko-san." Alan turns and takes one last look at the Hollywood Sign before heading back to his room.
Back in the DES ship...
John and his team were taken into a heavily guarded interrogation room while the DES officials attempts to put the pieces together of the new information they were given. After a short while, one of the officers came into the room and called John up front.
"You are right. In light of the new evidence, the assassination of the Zodiac Corporation's CEO shows no involvement coming from the Global Space Forces, but no DES officials were nearby at the time."
"If that is the case, whoever the assassin maybe is apparently trying to get us to fight one another."
The officer gave John a file. When he opens it, it contains pictures of dead WOTA, DGTO, and DES personnel, all of whom were apparently shot.
"There were several victims from both sides with the same MO. All the prints match exactly to the prints found in where the assassination took place as well as infiltration of your base. All of the victims are also high-level officials."
"The terrorist are trying to take all of us down. With his or her latest activity taking place on Earth, that is where the assassin will be."
John then turns to the officer and offers his right hand. "I recommend a truce to be held on both sides until we find whoever is doing this. If we fight, we will be only doing what they want."
The DES officer accepts the offer, but warns John that the assassin will get what he or she wants should the USSF dare to turn their backs.
"We will report the new developments to the media in our planets while you do yours. Call your ship back and go home. We have nothing more to discuss." The officer then leaves the room with both him and John still showing some distrust towards each other.
Sorry it took a while for a new chapter. Last week, I was able to see Tomomi Itano perform live at the J-Pop Summit Festival so I took some time off from fanfiction, but I am back for now with this new chapter. Since it was never revealed who killed Chieri's father, I decided to add a plot surrounding his murder. Hope you readers enjoyed this chapter.
