Episode 17: Our Next Move
It was morning on Ragna and Shinomiya Kazumi didn't get much sleep after that encounter with their new friends last night.
The skirmish last night was short, lasting no more than several minutes, and ended up with no casualty on both sides, apart from some scratches on the Alpha and Beta platoon's Kairos units. All in all, it is a successful battle where they managed to force the enemy to retreat when reinforcement came… which is exactly the problem.
The skirmish was too brief and ended too easily to his liking and while it is good that nobody died, Kazumi knew that while the pilots of Alpha and Beta platoons are good, better than most NUNS pilot in fact, they are still not good enough to not suffer any casualty in last night's skirmish. The enemy simply decided to not deal any fatal shots, and that bothered him.
There's always something when the enemy retreated too early without a clear achievement of any goal and Kazumi has been on the business long enough to tell what kind of battle was fought last night. The problem is that he only realized it after the fact. It was what kept him from getting a proper sleep last night.
But there's really nothing he can do about it. He has nothing to work with and even if he has an idea, he couldn't really leave Mikumo to chase after something vague. And that left him in a bad mood.
"Is there something on your mind, Kazumi?"
Someone asked. That someone is of course Mikumo who is walking with him in one of the many corridors of Macross Elysion. It's starting to become normal for people to see them with each other whenever they don't have things to do with their respective groups. Though in Kazumi's case, his priority was not the Delta platoon anyway but with Mikumo so it's actually rarer to see him with the other Delta members.
That is not to say that he doesn't get along well with them. He does spend time to do some simulations with the rest of the Delta platoon members and make small talk but his priority is still Mikumo so he's more often seen around her than with anyone else. Despite his rather casual attitude, he does take his job seriously. In fact, outside of Elysion, they hardly ever stray far from each other.
This is actually an unusual sight for people who had known Mikumo for some time. Mikumo was known as a lone wolf who rarely spend time with someone outside of Walkure and always ditch Mirage whenever they're on undercover mission together. Many had expected her to give Kazumi a hard time and would frequently ditch him. But surprisingly, she didn't. The two seems to get along very well.
At Mikumo's question, Kazumi answered.
"Well… it's about the skirmish last night but… it's nothing for you to worry about. I'm probably just being paranoid. I'll tell you if it's important."
Kazumi dismissed his worry as mere paranoia because it is indeed paranoia. Though he did it mostly because he realized that it shows on his face and it caught Mikumo's attention. In his experience, dismissing a suspicion as mere paranoia has a high chance of biting him in the arse later. It's better to be paranoid and proven wrong than dismissing a suspicion and then ending up dead. It had happened to other people before, especially in their line of work, some he knew personally.
Right now though, he simply doesn't want to worry her unnecessarily. Let him be the one to worry about these things. It's part of his job anyway. Mikumo seems to accept his words because she didn't push the matter any further and Kazumi is grateful for that. Besides, he's not exactly lying. If he actually has something concrete other than 'just a feeling' then he would tell her.
Sometimes he misses working alone again. It gave him the freedom to act a bit more freely on his hunches. Well, he is technically working alone but his job description doesn't really let him move far away from Mikumo, especially if he's simply acting based on a feeling.
Granted, these random inspirations had served him well throughout his carreer, but he's not keen on writing a report on why he's not with Mikumo when something does happen. In the heat of aerial combat is one thing. But leaving her to investigate a bad feeling is not a good reason, especially since whatever it is he's worrying, he's sure that it has something to do with the enemy and Mikumo being their target. So really, the best thing he could do right now is to stay with Mikumo and respond to whatever plan the enemy has.
As they reached the elevator that would each take them to their different destinations with Kazumi going to the bridge and Mikumo heading somewhere else to practice with the rest of Walkure, Kazumi turn to his charge.
"Mikumo, once you're finished with practice, please call me. Inform me if you're planning to leave Elysion."
He told her. Mikumo stared at him and while she doesn't show it, she felt that it is unusual for Kazumi to actually remind her that he's her bodyguard like that, even indirectly. Though she immediately realized that it must have something to do with what he's worried about. Knowing that and how serious Kazumi must think the situation is, Mikumo nodded.
"I'll remember."
The mysterious venus replied. Hopefully it is enough to assuage his worry. Once each of their elevator arrive, the two parted ways after saying goodbye to each other.
While this is happening in Elysion, in the city of Ragna, two people are looking up at Elysion while eating fried jellyfish. While it looks like they are admiring the sight, if one were to look closely, their irises resemble a camera's lens than organic eyes, and the lenses are zooming on the massive Macross battleship.
"So, what's the plan now? Storm the place and grab the target?"
Jack asked his senior and mission partner. Wynn considered for a moment and shook her head. As interesting as storming a Macross-class battleship would be, and it's not like they have never done it before, escaping would be a problem, especially with a living objective. Sneaking in discreetly is an idea too but…
"No. And I'm also not sure about sneaking in. You aside, the risk of Bloodraven recognizing my face is there. And if I knew him, which I like to think I do, he would be on a state of high alert right now. We'll have the whole Chaos on our head the moment he sees us."
Jack nodded. He doesn't really agree with Wynn's argument but he sees her point. He still thinks that they could pull this off, either with guns blazing or with subtlety, but he defers to her as his superior. Besides, she's more familiar with their current greatest opponent. Confidence is fine but overconfidence tend to get you killed. If the one who knew their enemy best said that it's too risky, then it is too risky.
"I'm fine with waiting. But we can't really wait forever for a good opportunity."
Jack told his senior. She knew that. After all, the longer they stick around, the greater the risk of them being discovered. Covert operation is simply like that. This is not her first rodeo in this kind of mission after all. But this time is also a bit different. This time, their strongest opponent would be someone who knew her personally. It makes things even more risky as Bloodraven could recognize her face if he looked long enough.
"First off is gathering information. Let's observe the target for at least two days before we make any move. Hopefully, we can find a perfect opportunity to eliminate Bloodraven and get the target."
At least they have a plan. Jack would follow Wynn's lead in this one. She's better at this kind of things. It's why she's trusted as field leader on planetside missions.
"First off, let's find a place to set up shop. After that, you'll pose as a tourist and stake out Ragnyannyan, the restaurant owned by one of Delta platoon's member. I'll try to observe them from a distance. It's better if I don't risk an encounter with the Bloodraven."
Jack nodded. With their plan formed, the two of them walk away. Wynn though stole one last glance at Elysion. She was tempted to follow Jack's initial suggestion of going in guns blazing if it provides her an opportunity to kill Bloodraven directly. But she knew better than to be swayed by such emotion. After all, the last time she recklessly followed her emotion didn't end well for her.
On the bridge of Macross Elysion, Kazumi and Arad each stood beside the captain's chair as they spoke with the captain of the Macross-class battleship, Ernst Johnson. While he was hesitant to speak to Mikumo about his paranoia, he has no such reservation towards mentioning it to Arad and Ernst. Being soldiers themselves, he knew that they would understand it better.
"Hmm, so there's a high possibility that last night's skirmish was just a diversion and we've been infiltrated by the enemy. I can see where you're coming from, captain. Last night's skirmish did feel odd to me."
Arad agreed with Kazumi. Like him, he did feel that last night's engagement was a bit too easy considering what they knew of their enemy from Al Shahal. As Kazumi had said, an easy engagement against a known tough opponent is always cause for suspicion.
"I agree with the captain Shinomiya too. But even if he is right, there's not really much we can do about it. We don't know what our enemy looks like or what exactly their objective is."
Ernst added.
"If it is about their objective, I would put my bet on kidnapping Mikumo or any of the other Walkure. It's the most likely objective considering the current state of things. Lady M won't send me all the way here to play bodyguard for no reason. I won't ignore the possibility of them having some other objective but for now, I'd put my money on kidnapping Mikumo and the Walkure."
Arad and Ernst looked at each other. They can't really argue with his reasoning. It's only a matter of time until someone actually target the Star Singer. It's why Kazumi is here in the first place.
"Well, knowing their objective is good and all, but it still doesn't change the fact that we can't really do anything about them at the moment."
That's true. Without any lead at all, there's not much that they can do. They don't know what their enemies look like after all and searching for a faceless infiltrator is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. They're basically back to square one… well, not really.
This is not the first time Kazumi has to flush out a faceless enemy. There are ways to find a needle in a haystack. It's all about using a strong enough magnet, or in this case, a proper incentive. But…
"Captain? Is there something on your mind?"
Arad asked when he noticed Kazumi's contemplative look. Kazumi saw that Ernst and Arad are staring at him. He sighs. It seems that he's been rather expressive today.
"Well, there is something that we can try, but…"
He trailed off. His hesitation being made very clear. Arad gestured at him to go on. Well, if it's only voicing his idea then…
"We bait them. We know, or at least strongly suspect what they want. So we'll bait them with what they want and then turn the table on them."
Baiting them with what they want. That is a good but very risky idea. Baiting a hiding enemy is one of the most basic tactic for flushing out a hidden enemy. The idea has merit… until they remember what, or rather who the bait would be. Arad and Ernst immediately realized why Kazumi is hesitant about it.
"Baiting them huh? It's high risk, high reward idea but… this time, the risk is just too big."
Kazumi nodded at Ernst's assessment. He thought so too. Usually, he has no problem with the risk when compared to the reward. But this time, the consequences of failure is just too great. He had heard of the scale of power possessed by the Star Singer. Failure in any of their part could endanger not just themselves but the galaxy.
"I guess it's back to the drawing board for us."
With that risky idea scrapped, the three of them continue to brainstorm more ideas. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, they still have nothing to work with.
"You look even more tired than before, Kazumi."
Mikumo pointed out again as the two walked back to their dorm while carrying more grocery than what they usually get. As Mikumo mentioned, the ace pilot looked even more tired than he did in the morning. Most of it is mental fatigue that came from frustration though.
"Yeah, I've been discussing some stuff with the commander and captain Johnson. We didn't get anywhere today so I'm a bit frustrated."
Kazumi told her. Mikumo nodded in understanding.
"I see. By the way, aren't we buying too much? We still have a lot of ingredients left in the refridgerator."
Mikumo said as she looked down on the grocery bag she's holding in each hand, being filled to the brim with meats, vegetables, and other things. Kazumi himself is carrying double the amount of grocery she has with her. As she recalled, they still have a lot of ingredients left. So why the shopping spree?
"I'm thinking about making a feast tonight. I want to get my mind off things for a while and clear my head and nothing beats making a feast for me to relax."
Well, that's an odd way to relax. But Mikumo understood that cooking to Kazumi is like what singing is to her so she won't argue.
"So, why don't you help me prepare dinner today?"
Kazumi added. It take Mikumo a moment to register what he had said. The mysterious venus stopped walking and stared at her bodyguard with wide eyes. Mikumo who noticed her stopping turn to her.
"Well, you mentioned about trying to cook the previous night so I figured I'd see how good you are by helping me cook dinner. You don't mind, right?"
Mikumo shook her head. She doesn't mind helping him cook but it is rather sudden. Well, she did mention about cooking for him before so perhaps this development is only natural.
"Great! If there's no problem then let's get back and prepare. It's been a while since I go all out. I've picked out the best ingredients for tonight's feast and even got some expensive delicacies! This will be fun!"
Kazumi grinned as he imagined the recipes he can finally show off tonight. Mikumo chuckled and follow closely behind him as they head back to their dorm. She doesn't show it but Mikumo also feel quite excited with whatever surprise Kazumi has in store for dinner.
Unknown to them, a woman wearing a hoodie is watching them from a mile away. She has to keep her distance so thet she won't be noticed but with her eyes, she can see the ace pilot and the diva clearly from her position.
"Dinner huh? That's nostalgic. Perhaps we can have a last supper together before I kill you, commander."
I'M BACK! Damn, this took a very long time. Sorry about this but I've been busy. Though like I said before, I have no intention of ever abandoning this story. I had wanted to have a monthly update schedule for this particular story but... I guess things doesn't always go smoothly. But don't worry, I'm back. Anyway, there's not much that I would like to say about this chapter apart from things are slowly progressing into what would be called the 'Ragna Infiltration' arc which will be very different from the older version considering Wynn is much more level-headed here. Kazumi is cooking a feast and Mikumo will be helping him. I plan to have one or two daily life chapters before Wynn finally confront Kazumi and we finally get to the fun part. Also, Kazumi's new unit will be arriving soon. I guess apart from those, I have nothing more I wanted to say.
TheEmeraldMage: Unfortunately, Mikumo in canon cannot cook at all. In the mini theatre, Chuck once bought too much jellyfish so he asked the Walkure girls and his teammates to help him think of a new menu. Freyja made a jellyfish-shaped apple, Reina ate the jellyfish alive, Makina made something edible but with odd additions, Kaname made something good, Mikumo made an unidentified lifeform, and Mirage made a bio-weapon. So you have a good idea on each girls' cooking skill.
