Soldier's Forge Chapter 5, a sakura wars fanfic

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Soldier's Forge, Chapter 5:

The dawn of a new day crept slowly over the horizon, signaling the end of night. Witness to this daily marvel, Sakura sat under a tree in the courtyard in deep meditation. Her morning exercise refined her senses, providing her with the acuity needed during the day. Relaxed and at the center of her being, she sensed around her with heightened awareness. With the fall of each drop of dew, she would draw her sword in a flash, split the droplet in two, clean her blade, and return to her position. Sakura immersed herself in nature, feeling, seeing, and living.

"Good morning, Oogami," she said.

"Good morning, Sakura," replied Oogami from behind her. Smiling, Sakura turned to greet him.

"What brings you here this early?" asked Sakura.

"I'm usually up this early anyways, but I need to get in some sword practice. We're the only ones that use them," answered Oogami.

"Great! Would you like to practice with me, Oogami?" offered Sakura.

"Yes. I'd like to do that more often," replied Oogami. Sakura was glad to have Oogami spend time with her, but the nagging feeling in the back of her mind told her that having him around may disturb her concentration too much. Shrugging the thought aside, she motioned Oogami to sit down with her.

"We'll start with morning meditation first, then we'll do some sparring practice, ok?"

"Sounds good. My training is nowhere near the level of yours, Sakura."

"That's not true, Oogami. You're very proficient. Well, let's get started."

"Alright." Oogami and Sakura settled across from each other and began the training.

* * *

"Good morning, Reni," greeted Maria at the basement.

"Reporting as scheduled," she replied.

"Kohran's already arrived, and spent some time preparing the Tenbu. We're ready to go."

Reni nodded and followed Maria as she met with Kohran. With Maria taking the wheel, they piled into a jeep and led a small convoy ferrying equipment and armor to their usual testing site.

* * *

"Finally, something familiar for breakfast," commented Orihime. Orihime, Kanna, Sumire, and Iris were seated outdoors at a small French café.

"Hey, wasn't it your turn to make breakfast today, Sumire?" asked Kanna.

"I was tired of the usual. Besides, Ensign and Sakura always make that traditional stuff, and you just make something vile," replied Sumire.

"Oh, so this is your way of getting out of it, princess. Just ferry us all off to this café so you don't have to cook. I see," retorted Kanna.

"Of course I can cook—quite well if I may add—but I didn't feel like it. Besides, I invited you along. Be graceful, this is a nice place," Sumire smirked.

"Absolutely. Please, Kanna, don't be yourself here," added Orihime.

"You too? Argh," sighed an exasperated Kanna.

"Iris is happy Sumire took her to eat breakfast! Yay!" said Iris as she bounced in her seat. "Jean-Paul loves Sumire too, right?"

"That's nice, Iris, but I think you've been hanging around Ensign and Sakura too much. You're a noble too. You should stay with Orihime and I more often, and keep away from bad—" Sumire looked Kanna in the eye, "—influences."

"Hey now, what are you saying?" Kanna said loudly as she leaned over the table. Sumire and Orihime glared at Kanna, who noticed that they weren't the only ones giving her hard looks. Several patrons also looked on disapprovingly. Kanna sat back down dejectedly, feeling as if this would be a long breakfast. Iris also gave her a stare.

"Not you too, Iris?" pleaded Kanna.

"Iris will be a good girl today," she said as she sat, prim and proper. Kanna sat quietly, looking around bored. Sumire called over the waiter and ordered breakfast. Kanna, unsure of what the items were on the menu, went with their suggestion for a croissant and coffee. Sumire had the same, while Orihime and Iris ordered French toast.

After a few moments of listening to Sumire and Orihime talk about uninteresting topics, including changes in fashion, gossip involving high-handed nobles Kanna never cared about, and family issues, Kanna took to looking at the scenery. When the waiter brought their breakfast, she was sorely disappointed at the quantity. "How could anyone really eat healthy if all they had was one measly croissant for breakfast?" she thought.

Taking a bite, Kanna looked on at the patrons, each going about their business. A short-cropped man in a trench coat passed by their table. A waitress called to him from inside as he was leaving the establishment.

"Excuse me, sir, you left your bag inside," she politely reminded him. He continued to ignore her and exited onto the street.

"Sir!" she cried louder. Briskly making her way outside, she continued to call out to him.

"No way he can't hear that," thought Kanna. "Unless he doesn't want to…"

"Get down!" she yelled to the others as an explosion ripped through the café. A bright light blinded her, and a deafening roar seemed to resonate around her even as she threw herself in front of the others. Stunned, Kanna stayed huddled, blinded and deafened until her senses regained themselves.

"The hell," she mumbled as she tried to stand up. Debris fell from her back as she waved her hands to clear the dust in her eyes. The café was in shambles; pieces of cement were everywhere, and tables were overturned. The entrance was blown outwards and the ceiling had collapsed; it was obvious that anyone inside had a slim chance of surviving. Several patrons were lying in scattered positions, many bleeding or dead. Flames and smoke poured from inside.

"Damn it," cursed Kanna as she searched her friends. Heaving the table out of the way, she uncovered Iris, clutching to Jean-Paul. Next to her was Orihime, covered halfway in dust.

"Iris, you okay?" asked Kanna as she rubbed Iris' shoulder. Stirring briefly, Kanna knew she was alive. Orihime too had regained consciousness and was trying to sit up.

"Ugh, why is it explosions have to follow me wherever I go?" she mumbled as she clutched her head, reminded of the time her father saved her from previous bomb blast.

"Stay put, don't get up too quickly," ordered Kanna. Glancing around at the chaos, she searched for Sumire.

"Damn it, Sumire, where are you," she muttered. Desperation was starting to set in; she searched around more frantically, throwing chairs and tables out of the way. Spotting a piece of purple cloth, she quickly hobbled over to the corner. Scraping debris out of the way, she uncovered Sumire. It was obvious that she was hurt badly, as she lay on her side with her arms hanging limply around in front of her. More alarming was a large gash that was pouring blood from her head.

"Sumire! Sumire!" screamed Kanna.

* * *

"I should have expected this," thought Oogami as he lay on the floor in the courtyard, breathing heavily. Sakura stood over him waiting for him to get up.

After finally convincing Sakura that he was fine every time she hit him with the wooden sword, they had started to spar seriously. While Oogami put up a good fight, it became painfully obvious that Sakura outclassed him; he had the bruises to prove it.

"I think I've had enough of a beating Sakura. Thanks for the practice," he told her. It dawned on him as he lay on the grass that he hadn't managed to touch her once. He somehow always managed to get whacked, kicked, or tripped onto the ground.

"Your welcome, Oogami." Sakura glanced hesitatingly at him.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked once again.

"Yes, yes, it's nothing I haven't taken before," he replied as he sat up. Sakura sat down next to him. "You're incredible, Sakura. This is definitely your territory; I couldn't even touch you," complimented Oogami.

"Thank you, Oogami. You weren't bad either," she returned.

"Nice try, Sakura, but I know when I'm beat. I would like to practice more often, though, since it seems I need it."

"I would be happy to help, Oogami. I don't know if I will be a good teacher, but I'll try. The Shinguji sword style has been passed down the generations, from my father, and his father before him. Now that I think about it, I am the sole inheritor of the style."

"Thank you, but I don't want to impose—it was foolish of me to suggest so. I know how important your father is to you."

"Don't worry, Oogami, it's no imposition. I'll admit, Oogami, I'm still learning a lot myself, but I think having a pupil will help me out as well. Your style is very unique, Oogami. I think a little bit of Shinguji technique will complement it well."

"Thank you, Sakura."

"Oogami! Oogami!" called a voice from the entrance. Standing up, Oogami and Sakura met Kaede running into the courtyard.

"Something terrible has happened, Oogami. We have to get to the hospital right away, Sumire's been hurt!"

"Oh no!" exclaimed Sakura, hands over her mouth in shock.

"Let's go," said Oogami.

* * *

"Are you ready, Reni?" called Maria over the communications link. Sitting under a tent that served as a temporary command center, she checked over several systems for abnormalities.

"System status, nominal. All components are green, standing by," replied Reni. She was in her Tenbu several hundred meters out from the command center, standing in a serene field.

"How's it coming, Kohran?" she asked.

"On schedule. We'll be ready for testing in a few minutes." Kohran gave some orders to technicians, who scurried off for final preparations. Running through her checklist, she typed several commands into the console in front of her. Satisfied, she nodded to Maria.

"Alright, Reni, we're starting. I'll be turning over to Kohran now," ordered Maria.

"Ok Reni, power up the Tenbu," radioed Kohran.

"Understood," replied Reni. Hitting several switches, she powered up the Tenbu and set it on standby.

"Stress levels normal, heat levels normal, steam engines are go," reported a tech.

"Great! Reni, we're ready to power the shield unit. Go ahead and punch it," advised Kohran.

"Understood."

Standing afar, Maria watched as Reni's Tenbu begin emitting a bluish tint. A faint shimmering around the armor indicated that the shield was now active.

"Shield system is now fully charged. No abnormalities detected," concluded the tech.

"Alright, it seems like its up. Reni, start testing with basic mobility. The computer will gather the data for you, just do the things you normally do."

"Understood." Reni began a process of walking, running, jumping, and other common maneuvers the Tenbu performed. Flexing the armor's arms and legs, she continued this for several minutes.

"Ok, that's good. Try your weapons systems, Reni." Deploying her lance, Reni ran through several more exercises.

"Alright, we're done with that. The final phase of the testing will include live fire. Are you ready for this?" inquired Kohran as she and Maria donned ear protection.

"Yes."

"Ok, begin the live fire tests. Reni, stay where you are and report any abnormalities if they occur."

A small coalition of mortars, cannons, and missile batteries began firing at the lone Tenbu. Clouds of dust kicked up around it, and the flash of the impact on the shields were visible. This continued for several minutes until the operator signaled to stop. Pulling off the ear pieces, Kohran ran over to her computer.

"Shields are holding at ninety-five percent. How are you holding up, Reni?" she asked.

"Systems are nominal. Awaiting further orders."

"I would say this is a success, right Kohran?" said Maria.

"Well, it's a temporary solution, but as for the module itself, yeah. Since we can't recreate the conditions the Tenbu were under when they ceased to function effectively, we had to do some extrapolation. The shield device will draw energy from the Tenbu to power itself at the expense of some available power, which means that if there is an overabundance of earth power, it can be channeled away from the pilot and into the system. Otherwise, it'll consume a small fraction of power while it functions. It's not limitless, however. Given the materials and the heat system, it will only stay powered for ten minutes at most, and if the Tenbu are in the high-energy conditions it was in during our last battle, the shield system will overload quickly. For most of our missions, though, we won't have to worry about this."

"Good work, Kohran. Let's get Reni in and take a break before we continue."

* * *

Oogami, Sakura, Yoneda, and Kaede ran out of the car into the hospital where a tired looking Kanna met them.

"Kanna, are you all right? What happened?" asked Kaede.

"I'm fine, just some scrapes and bruises. The others got out of it okay, except for Sumire. She's out right now, and they say she's lost a lot of blood."

"Will she be okay?" asked a teary eyed Sakura.

"They're not sure. It was a nasty head injury, but I think she'll pull through. She'd better," replied Kanna.

"Thanks, Kanna. You should go get some rest," Oogami told her. Kanna nodded and lay down on a couch. The rest of the group, led by a doctor, went to Sumire's room.

Entering the room, Oogami was shocked by Sumire's appearance. She lay prone, head bandaged and breathing softly. A monitoring device next to her was active, and several IV tubes were administered.

"Sumire…" whispered Oogami. Sakura held onto Oogami's arm while she looked on. Yoneda and Kaede stared silently. Sumire, 'top star' of the Hanagumi, seemed as fragile as snow, beautiful yet fleeting.

"Oogami, there's nothing we can do but wait," said Yoneda solemnly.

"Right," affirmed Oogami. He turned and headed out back into the lounge, where Kanna rested. Emerging from the hallway, Orihime and Iris entered the room silently.

"Orihime, Iris. Thank goodness you're alright," said Oogami. Iris was silently sobbing and clutching Jean-Paul, while Orihime looked as if she had seen better days.

"Ensign, we got out of it okay, but Sumire…" trailed Orihime.

"Iris doesn't want Sumire to die," sobbed Iris. Oogami knelt and held Iris while she continued crying.

"Kaede, take care of Iris and the others. I need to speak to Oogami alone," commanded Yoneda. Kaede nodded, and then took Iris and Orihime away.

"Yoneda, what happened?" Oogami asked quietly.

"I can't tell you the details here, Oogami. The only thing I can say is something isn't right," answered Yoneda. "We have security protecting Sumire, so she's fine for now. We need to get the others back to the theater. Oogami, the next several days will be difficult on them. You know what you have to do."

"Yes, sir," Oogami replied. Oogami was surprised that there would be a need for security, and was profoundly disturbed at what that implied.