Wow, great going Haruka, you just had to be the honourable idiot of the squad. You know they never survive! Sigh, at least I took around 150 men with me. I wonder where they are at the moment. Get up, the job's finished when you get the message that they're safe! That's it, first on your knees, then on your feet. Forget the fact that you lost your right arm. They're coming, so get up. GET UP AND FIGHT GODDAMMIT! I grabbed my scythe and used it as a support to rise. Just in time, 10 Raphael Revives landed and surrounded me, trampling the bodies of their fallen comrades. I simply laughed as they aimed their guns at me.
"Wow, there are 10 of you and I'm all alone. Have you guys ever heard off a little thing called overkill?" I said cheerfully. Hey, if these are my last moments, I want to die in way that makes the great Kamina proud.
"Bitch please, you already decimated 143 of them. Don't ya think it's normal for them to go for the overkill?" Psycho asked me while taking out the Gun-blades and putting his back against mine.
"Are we only at 143?" I asked him a little disappointed.
"Which includes 12 Uchiganes, 10 Revives, 7 tanks with big ass Rail guns mounted on them, stronger than Laura's, 8 Aerial Anti-IS Drones and 24 men with Counter-IS technology and weapons. To be honest, if you go to Walhalla when you die, they'll receive you like a hero from the ancient tales." Psycho complimented me.
"So long as you, G and Superstes are standing next to me and get the same treatment, I'll enter." I said with a gentle smile.
"Don't get all fucking sentimental on me now, it doesn't fit ya!... But still, thanks. That really means a lot to me." He choked a bit on his last words.
"Psycho, are you crying?" I asked him with a chuckle.
"Shut up, these are manly tears of happiness and acceptance! Now let's take these assholes and some others with us to our everlasting banquet with drunken brawls, booze and feisty women!" he shouted excitedly. I could feel the happy smile on his face. It probably mirrored my own. Without saying anything else against each other we rushed off into what could be our last and most glorious battle. The BITs followed me as I rushed into the enemies' line in a final attempt to take them into the grave with me. Laura, take care of the squad together with Alex and give the guy a chance, we all know that you two like each other. Ichika, you better treat her with respect or I will come back from the grave to haunt your skinny ass until you kill yourself. That is if Chifuyu doesn't beat my ghostly self to it… or kills you, I'm not too picky about that one. Charlotte, sorry that I'm gonna break my promise to you, but I know that you'll understand. Rin, even though you're a bipolar crazy yandere, take care of yourself. Houki, Tabane, Oldtimer, thanks for being the family that I never had when I did and didn't need one. And Cecilia… I'm sorry that I'll break my promise to you as well and can't return to you, but maybe there's someone else out there that will fill in my place. And I pray that you'll be happy then and forget me.
Goodbye.
08/05/20xx, 19.54, IS Academy, Maintenance Room
"Wow, this Golem has dropped some awesome loot. Just look at all that tech and how easily convertible it is with our ISes!" I said with awe in my voice while dismantling the frame of the Golem whose head I shot off. I gave one of the IS Cores To Chi-chan after some 'gentle persuasion'. Who am I kidding, if Slenderman ever chases her, I'll bet that the roles are gonna be reversed in one minute flat.
"That's all nice and everything, but dinner's ready in case you haven't noticed." Ichika said while dragging me away from the Golem's corpse.
"But I'm so close to- did you say food?" I asked him with a watering mouth.
"Yes, food. Now go wash your hands and then come join us at the table." Ichika ordered me before going back to his pots and pans. At the moment everyone involved with the little Golem trashing, minus Chifuyu and Yamada, is at the Engineering Department for maintenance and food since Ichika is cooking again like we did last time we were here. After washing my hands, I grabbed a plate of food and took a seat on my kneeling armor next to G. Is she still busy downloading those files?
"How are things coming along with the Core?" I asked her while munching on some grilled salmon. Damn, this stuff is good!
"This thing is screwing around with me! it holds half the encryption code of the algorithm that is used to write their firewall. And what's worse is that is the exact same as the one on the data we got from the raid! THEY WENT TOO FAR IN INSULTING ME!" G yelled frustrated.
"Could you please scream classified intelligence a bit louder, I'm pretty sure they didn't hear ya in the town next to us." Psycho said annoyed while lazily floating around in the workshop. He stopped when G stared furiously at him and chuckled.
"What are you laughing at, you infant, long haired scum?" G asked with venom laced in her tone. Psycho ignored the insult, which is quite surprising, and hung upside down right in front of G.
"You're saying that this Core only holds half of the encryption code, right?" he asked her quite calmly.
"So you were listening for once?" G asked, sarcasm evidently in her tone. Psycho ignored the indirect insult again and materialized a pipe and a monocle out of nowhere.
"Well dear Watson, the answer of this mystery is so simple that it's in fact quite well hidden. You have one half of the puzzle here, but the other is with the devil." He said while smoking his pipe. G looked with a WTF face at him until she screamed in pure rage.
"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN THAT IT WAS JUST A BLOODY JEST!" G shouted out. Psycho sighed and gave me a look that said 'use your head dumbass'. Let's see, we already half of the solution. That probably means half of the encryption, but what does he mean with the devil?... No wait, that's friggin obvious, he means Chi-chan. And she has the other Core. And with that epiphany the puzzle pieces fell in place. Psycho knew this as well and gave me a polite applause.
"At least one of you still uses their brains." He said with shrug and a small smiles. G looked at us like we were crazy. I hope that she'll get it soon with my next question.
"G, could you please warn Chi-chan that dinner is ready? Also, please ask that she brings the Core along so that we can solve the other half." I said with a confident smile. After a few minutes Chi-chan arrived with the Core under her arm.
"Give me one good reason-" I tuned the rest out as I grabbed her Core and ran towards the other one with it. Right after I put the two Cores next to each other, weird shit started happening. They started pulsating slowly, then gradually faster and faster. Fuck, it looks like it's gonna blow! I quickly slid into my armor and enveloped myself and the Cores with the Veil, ignoring the surprised shouts and gasps of everybody. This isn't the time for getting to cover anyway, who knows how big the blast radius will be?! The Cores stopped pulsating but kept emitting a bright light, illuminating the dome I made with the Veil in an eerie light. And it just keeps getting brighter and brighter. Damn I wish I had a pair of sunglasses with me. I covered my eyes with my arm in the hope of not going blind by the light. After a few seconds the light dimmed. Curiously, I lowered my arm and was greeted by a hologram. I, being the smooth talker I am, naturally had a perfect opening sentence.
"What the flying fuck is going on here?!" I asked surprised. The person, hologram, whatever it was responded.
"Ah, Lieutenant 047. It's a pleasure and honour to meet finally you. My name is Alexander Benfari, or better known as Subject 004, the only survivor of the Processing Branch of the Deus Project. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I do apologize for the rather inconvenient way to contact you, but I have to stay low for a while." Alexander introduced himself in a perfectly mannered way. And quite difficult with al those big words.
"Nice to meet you too. Now could you please explain how exactly you use two IS Cores to communicate with me?" I asked him quite curious and annoyed.
"As much as I'd love to chat with you in your dome of Energy Particles, which are quite ingeniously used, I think it'll be much safer for us to meet in person since I can't keep the connection up much longer. That and there is someone else who'd like to meet you as well." Before I could even ask who, the other person appeared, wearing a radiant smile.
(sidenote: I'll put the translation of this conversation at the end of the chapter. If you don't want to wait until then… Don't try to use google translate, it doesn't work that well)
"Bonjour Haruka, c'était du longtemps." She said with her soft and angelic voice I haven't heard in almost 2 years. Her blond hair cascaded down her back and she wore a simple white summer dress and a straw sun hat. Her violet eyes shining with hope.
"C-Charlotte?" I stammered out shocked. She's alive and safe! If there really is a God, thank you so fucking much to get her out of that undeserved hell!
"Oui, c'est moi Haruka. Comment ça va?" she asked me like we were catching up after not seeing each other for a few weeks.
"Ça n'est pas important! Ou es-tu maintenant?!" I nearly shouted the question.
"Alex enverra les coordonnées. Viens vite, tu me manques." She said a bit ruefully while the hologram started going static. No, not now! Not after I finally found a lead on her location!
"No. NO, NO, NO! Don't disappear again!" I yelled while sprinting towards the fading image. The hologram disappeared right before I reached it, the last thing showing me that sad smile of her. My hand lingered above the Cores, at the exact position of the hologram.
…
She's gone again. When I finally had a clue to her location, she just disappeared. Why? Why would anybody do this?! I fell to my knees, my face showing a lost look. The Veil must have dissipated together with my armor because I felt someone hugging me from behind.
"I don't know what happened, but it'll be okay Haruka. You always make certain of that." Cecilia said softly in my ear. Superstes laid his head on my lap and closed his eyes.
"When we find another trail we'll follow it. The hunt isn't over yet Haru-dono." Superstes said with his deep voice.
Don't forget that you spin your own threads of fate. You already tricked Death, so do to the same to Lady Fortuna when she decides to work against you.
I slowly got up with my hair covering my eyes. They're both right, this isn't over yet, that Alexander guy was going to send through their coordinates. It could be a trap, but I'll be at least getting some intel one way or another. I don't care how long it takes, I WILL find her and make sure she gets the life she deserves.
"Well then, I'll start packing together with the battle maniac since we seem to be departing shortly." G said with a happy voice.
"Whatever the woman said. Within a few moments, we'll know where to go to. And then we're gonna kick the asses of everyone standing in our way." Psycho said with a hint of hope in his voice. The bastard is going to look for fights when he has a chance. Not that I can blame him, I'm itching for one as well. But that means I'll have to leave Cecilia behind, I'm not going to put her in any danger. For some reason she smiled gently.
"Cecilia…" I called her name uncertainly.
"You're about to leave and do something reckless, aren't you?" she asked me with a sad smile. I looked surprised at her.
"H-how did you know?"
"Whenever you're about to do something heroically, stupid, crazy or a combination of those your eyes get a glint." Houki said with a sigh. I looked around and saw everyone's reaction. Ichika nodded at me with a determined smile, Houki and Laura looked like they should've seen it coming and Rin gave me a cheeky grin and thumbs up. But where is Chi-chan? Meh, like I even care. I walked out the Engineering Department with Superstes by my side and Cecilia latched onto my arm. Looks like she won't be letting of me for some time. G and Psycho waited for me in the lobby and together we walked to my bike. I quickly materialized my leather jacket and helmet. Before I put on my helmet, I grabbed Cecilia and gave her a passionate kiss. When I pulled away, she had a flushed face and a dreamy look.
"I'll be back as soon as possible, okay?" I said gently with a small and soft smile, not one of my usual smirks.
"Mkay…" she mumbled a bit dazed. G took her hand and pulled her a few steps back. I put my helmet and let the engine roar before riding away. The gates are still closed… and Chi-chan is standing in front of them, holding the katana of an Uchigane model. And damn she's looking pissed. If you would be so kind Psycho.
Sure thing mate.
He materialized ten feet before Chifuyu with a crazy smile wider than Alucard's. I sped up and raced towards both of them. Right before I hit Psycho, he erected a ramp and I rode over it, high enough to fly over the gate.
JUMP HARU-DONO!
I catapulted myself into the air by jumping from my motorcycle. Just in time, because Chi-chan FREAKING CUT MY BIKE IN HALF… and keeps going. While I'm stuck in mid-air. SHE'S GONNA KILL ME! Right before the sword hit me it was blocked by another one from the person I least expected. And judging by the angry and surprised look on her face, Chifuyu didn't see it coming as well.
"What do you think you're doing, ICHIKA?!" She shouted frustrated. He just gave her a smirk that totally looked like mine by the way.
"Just doing what is right Chifuyu-nee." He said quite calmly. I materialized my armor when I passed the gates and took off with a burst of speed. Let's head towards Tokyo for now, I'll definitely find some knowledge there in the underworld. But first, let's help the bastard, I kinda own it to him. I opened an open comm channel to the stand-by mode of Byaku-chan and was greeted with the lovely voice of his sister.
"-ING IDIOT! WHY DID YOU ASSIST HIM IN RUNNING?!" Chi-chan yelled.
"Because you have no grounding reason to stop him." Ichika said calmly. Wow, making him play Slenderman and Amnesia in the middle of the night while scaring the crap out of him really succeeded in helping him keep a cool head!
"And how do you know that?!" Chifuyu barked at him.
"Oh yeah, I did show you those parts of the contract didn't I?" I asked him casually over the link.
"What do you mean, Garisaka?" Chifuyu nearly growled at me.
"Well, it was a lovely Friday evening after our usual training…"
"So how's the paperwork coming along?" Ichika asked me while we were walking towards our rooms.
"Pretty well actually, and I found a few awesome segments in it!" I said excitedly.
"What do they say then?" he asked me curiously.
"Well, they're actually 5 pages long so I'll summarize it for you. They basically say when I find something related to any case or lead I'm working on, I can leave the school grounds immediately and go do my job. And to aid me in that, I may deploy my IS when necessary so long I'm not on neutral ground, like the IS academy. That and my education has been adapted." I said with a happy grin.
"Really? In what way?" now he seemed genuinely interested.
"Simple, since I already have a disadvantage with normal classes, they decided that I shouldn't follow them and instead only have to take the military and IS related ones. And while you guys have some boring lectures about Japanese and Math in the second half of the year, I'll be learning about all of the great battles and tacticians in history! And I get to fight mock battles while you guys are holed up in a class room!" I gave him a real happy smile.
"So while I'll be solving equations, you'll be playing soldier in the Arena or learning about a new way to defeat your enemy… Can I switch to your course?" he asked me pleadingly.
"Nope, not without the UN's and my consent. So you'll first have to get in my squad and then you have to convince the UN." I said carelessly.
"So, where do I sign up?" Ichika said in a light tone. I stopped in my tracks.
"Are you prepared to kill?" I asked him in a serious voice. He looked at me confused.
"What do you-"
"ARE YOU. PREPARED. TO KILL?" I asked him with a serious look in my eyes. Ichika flinched at seeing my eyes and looked ashamed.
"Listen to me Ichika, you don't want to jump in to this without exploring other options. You can still have a normal and peaceful celebrity life. You can literally do everything you want! So don't be an idiot and enjoy your innocent teenage life a bit more. You'll only realize how precious it is when you don't have it any more." My look softened after I realized I was a bit too harsh.
"If you really want to join, make sure that you have no regrets left, have seen everything seen you wanted to see and lose your virginity." I said in a joking tone. He looked at me strangely.
"What does losing your virginity have to do with being in the military?" He asked me confused.
"When you're older you'll understand." I said with a nostalgic smile. Ichika just shrugged and just followed me.
"So what was the name of the game you wanted me to play?"
"Slenderman and you get 20.000 yen if you can finish it in half an hour."
"How hard can collecting 8 pages be?"
"And that's why Ichika couldn't sleep for 3 days." I finished the story. I think we might have digressed a bit.
"…"
"…"
"Was it something I said?" I asked nonchalantly. Thank God that I'm already around 300 miles away from her in 15 minutes, since my shit-eating grin would've been the last straw.
"Is there something else I should know Garisaka?" I heard Chifuyu ask with barely restrained anger.
"Yes, YOU OWN ME A FUCKING MOTORCYCLE BECAUSE YOU DESTROYED THIS ONE! How could you, What has she ever done to you?!" I fake wailed into the comm channel. I could hear G barely restraining her giggles while Psycho started laughing.
"You wrecked the entire stadium with that explosion," Did I? Oops. "You haven't informed of those regulations and you continuously challenge my authority. Be glad that I'm not going to kill you when you return." Chi-chan threatened me.
"Bitch please, you really think you can just kill me off and get away with it?" I scoffed.
"Oh trust me I have my-" Uhm, why did the channel close?
My bad, I got tired of her nagging. Psycho said casually. I can just imagine the accompanied shrug. But since he is a part of me, does that mean I can subconsciously see it instead of imagining it or not? My philosophical moment got cut short by a text message.
Follow these coordinates and you'll find us.
48° 51' 44'' North 2° 21' 3'' East
With regards.
Alexander Benfari
G, where are these coordinates?
They're… they are the coordinates of Paris.
Paris?! Well, Charlotte was French so it's possible that they stay there to hide. Adjust course and try to go as fast as we can.
Well, we can go faster by focusing all the energy output in the wings and get a lovely speed of Mach 2.50. You up for it dude? Psycho asked me expectantly. Let's see, the shields will negate the pressure generated by the speed ( the IS was originally made for space exploration after all, so it was made to withstand different sorts of climates) and we will be faster than an F 22 so why the fuck not?! Let's go towards la France at a ridiculous speed! Let's just hope that Charlotte is gonna be alright…
Translation of the conversation between Haruka and Charlotte:
"Bonjour Haruka, c'était du longtemps."
(Hello Haruka, it's been a long time)
"C-Charlotte?"
(If you need me to translate this one, you're an idiot.)
"Oui, c'est moi Haruka. Comment ça va?"
(Yes, it's me. How are you ?)
"Ça n'est pas important! Ou es-tu maintenant ?!)
(That's not important ! Where are you right now ?!)
"Alex enverra les coordonnées. Viens vite, tu me manques."
(Alex will send the coordinates. Come quickly, I miss you.)
Aight people, chapter 24 is here! Woohoo… no I'm the only one? Well fuck you then, I thought you guys had my back!
Haru and psycho: "Aw hell no we don't!"
Whatever, let's get to the reviews but first I'd like to thank Alex Bodewig for betaing this chapter for me and for giving me several good ideas thanks to his OC and cooperation! So let's give a round of applause for him! Now let's go to les reviews!
Lajoie21: Let me get this clear for everyone who wants to ask this question: I NEVER HAVE AN IDEA WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER COMES OUT! I just write when I have inspiration. I do try to update at least once a month.
Raidentensho: I will have so much fun using the tech of the Golem! I always loved those overpowered Arm Cannons so I will see how I can implement those.
Haruka: Thank god that you don't have that tech in real life or we would be doomed.
TacticalPanda: I try to update ASAP, but my sometimes I have no inspiration.
Boomghost: I like perceptive people such as you, especially if they can follow my train of thought. I hope that I won't disappoint you.
Haruka: I'm doomed, aren't I?
Psycho: Cheer up, I have your back because otherwise I'd die together with you.
Haruka: somehow that ain't reassuring.
Psycho: Well screw you too .
AnimeL0ver00: don't worry, Our news station will cover all the medical expenses! We are currently building a new wing with our own bacta tanks and medical droids, so that should be less travelling expenses. I'll send ya some flowers buddy, have speedy recovery!
Archangel Azrael: I aim to please =).
Cor Strike FX: That was the fairly obvious point of the joke, but I'm glad that you liked it.
Okay, that were all the reviews and I only have one more thing to say: OVER 30.000 VIEWS BABY! BOOYAH! No seriously, thank you every one for your support, I couldn't have done it without the people who took the time to review. So please leave a review since they seem to fire up my work pace *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*. And brownie points to whoever gets the reference.
This is xtenchix signing out, until next time!