The Magitech War: Chapter 8

The Magitech War

A CCS Fanfic

by SyaoranSword

Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed this fic and my other fic: "Realizations". I love writing S+S mushiness! Special thanks to Cj for informing me that the song from the last chapter was "This I Promise You" from N Sync. Tomoyo fans, she is in this chapter, but I will be referring to her differently now that she's… Colonel Madison (shudder). I think that's everything, so here is chapter 8.

~~~ (place) ~~~ = scene change

" " = dialogue

[ ] = thoughts

= flashbacks

( ) = commentary

Chapter 8: The Mind of a Phantom

While Sakura and Syaoran were both asleep (and dreaming about each other I bet ^_^), there were still many events going on in the middle of the night across the land of Midos.

~~~~~~

A dark figure crouched low behind some bushes. Taking slow breaths, he remained perfectly still, waiting for something. "Any minute now…" He continued to wait, until he heard what he wanted to hear. [Now!] Running from his hiding place, he moved quickly, straight between the backs of two patrolling guards and just past the closing electronic doors.

"Did you feel something?" one of the guards asked.

"It's just the wind," the other replied. The one who asked shrugged, and both of them continued patrolling.

Inside, the Green Phantom stood chuckling to himself. "All too easy." He reached into a pouch in his belt and took out a small device with a flashing red light. "Now to get to work."

~~~ Hurdonia ~~~

"Comrades!" a girl's voice shouted in front of a battalion of armed soldiers. She wore a similar uniform to what Haddock wore, and her long hair had been tied into a ponytail. "While General Haddock is away in Hylan, I, Colonel Madison, am commanding in his place. You will obey my every order as if it was from the general himself! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" shouted back the army.

"Very good. Now to-"

"I won't take orders from you!" a stray voice yelled from the group.

A vein popped up on her forehead. "WHO SAID THAT?!?!" She glared around the room, attempting to locate the dissenter. The vein subsided as she said in a much calmer voice, "Whoever said that, come forward and face me, unless you're a coward."

"I'm not afraid of you!" She turned to where she heard the statement. One brash soldier with his eyes hidden under a black visor stood looking directly at her. Everyone else around him had backed away, leaving the defiant rebel standing by himself.

The colonel's mouth curved upwards in a smirk. "If you're not afraid of me, then come up here so we can talk face to face." He did as she said. Compared to her, the soldier was almost twice her height. She looked up at him and said, "Are you challenging my authority?"

"I'm not following the lead of a little girl!"

"And why is that?"

"Because a little girl like you can't fight in a war! You're not strong enough!"

"Care to prove that?" She stood in a fighting stance. He looked at her with a sweatdrop. "What's the matter, afraid of being beat by a little girl like me?"

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "I'll show you!"

He lunged forward toward her with all his strength. She swiftly brought her foot up and squarely into his stomach. He fell to the ground, clutching where she had kicked him. Colonel Madison flicked her head backward to bring her displaced ponytail behind her. She stood over her collapsed opponent with a sinisterly triumphant grin. "Useless baka! Get him out of my sight." (Tomoyo is now officially way OOC.) Two other soldiers carried him out of the room. She turned back to the assembled militia. "Does anyone else wish to challenge me?" Silence enveloped the room for half a minute. "Good. As I was saying, now to business." She brought out a dossier from her uniform and opened it. "Captain Jared."

"Yes Colonel!" a soldier with a silver visor saluted her.

"Are your troops ready for tomorrow's siege?"

"They are already in position and waiting, ma'am."

"Excellent. Next order of business. Captain June, status report on Project Omega."

A young woman with long brown hair said, "Phase 1 complete. Phase 2 will be finished within the week and testing will begin immediately after, ma'am."

"And ahead of schedule I assume. Good work. Captain Whit, security check."

"Patrols report no unusual activity ma'am. All sectors secure."

Madison put the dossier back into her uniform. "Then everyone get a good night's rest. Tomorrow is the first day of the reign of our new king, General Haddock!"

Cheering and shouting erupted from the crowd as she left the podium and headed for her quarters. Madison was only in her room for a few minutes before a hard knocking came to her door. She opened it to a shaking Captain Whit. "Yes, what is it?"

"M- Ma'am. S- Sorry to d- disturb you, b- but we have a sm- small pr- problem."

"Stop stuttering! What is it?"

He said as he tried to calm down, "One of our hurdonium refineries has been destroyed."

Her eyes widened. "WHAT!?" She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to her level. "BY WHO???"

"Th- The Green Ph- Phantom!"

Madison let go him, causing his body to snap back upright. "Put everyone in that sector under full alert! Orders are shoot to kill!"

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted her and ran out of her room.

~~~~~~

"There he is! Don't let him get away!"

A boy ran full speed with his cape flowing wildly behind him. He jumped onto a chain-link fence and climbed over it as fast as he could. After landing on the ground, he kept running. In his right hand, he held a device with a flashing red button. "3… 2… 1…" He depressed the button with a click. Explosions ripped through the compound he had just escaped from. While still running, he looked back over his shoulder at the fiery ruins that lit up the night sky. "That's two…"

~~~~~~

"Another refinery has been hit sir!"

Captain Whit, the chief of security, slammed his fist down onto the console he stood over. "Dispatch troops to the remaining refineries, and I want a total lockdown! No one goes in or out of the country until further notice!"

~~~~~~

"We have you surrounded!"

"Oh, really?"

"Take a look around you Green Phantom. You have nowhere to hide!"

"Why hide… when you can run!" He threw a smoke bomb into the ground. Before the guards could react, the smoke had flooded the hallways, causing them to be blinded and cough uncontrollably. When the smoke cleared, the Green Phantom was gone. Where he stood, a small object with a flashing red light was left on the ground.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Let's get out of here!"

Outside, the Green Phantom stood on top of a hill overlooking the refinery. He saw the large crowd of Hurdonian guards hurriedly exiting the base, fleeing for their lives. Pausing for a few seconds after the evacuation, the Green Phantom held up the trigger and detonated the explosives he planted. The fires that resulted reflected off his glaring eyes, making them appear amber in color. He then sighed and closed his eyes. "That was way too close. I really need to be more careful. It's a good thing I'm almost done."

He started to walk away. The Green Phantom then broke into a run. "I have just one more stop. And it's not going to be a piece of cake." He looked down by his side, where his sword hung. "I haven't used you yet tonight, my friend, and I hope I won't have to."

Several minutes later, the Green Phantom reached his destination. He took a glance around, waiting for his opportunity to get into the facility. Seeing his chance, he climbed over the fence, ran up to a building, and placed his back against the side, blending into the shadows. The Green Phantom paused for a breath before taking a grappling hook out of his belt. Swinging the hook over his head, he flung it up to the roof of the structure, and scrambled upward.

~~~~~~

"CAPTAIN, STATUS REPORT!!!" screamed Colonel Madison.

Whit was shaking in his boots. "Uh, ma'am… the fourth refinery has been destroyed."

She sighed defeatedly. "You are so worthless. I will inform the general of this disaster. Until then, your orders are to make sure the lockdown is in effect."

"Yes ma'am!"

~~~~~~

Haddock was asleep when he was jerked awake by the ringing of a phone. He groggily got up to receive the call. "Do you know what time it is, Colonel? I assume this is extremely important."

"General, sir! Sorry to disturb you, but I have terrible news. In the past two hours, the four hurdonium refineries were targeted and destroyed by the Green Phantom. A lockdown is in place sir."

Haddock rubbed his eyes before saying, "Sorry, I must not be fully awake. Could you repeat that Colonel?" She face-faulted before giving him the news again. After the second time hearing it, several veins popped out of his forehead. "WHAT?! THE GREEN PHANTOM?!?! ALL REFINERIES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED??!!!!"

"Y- Yes, sir."

The general was livid. He said through gritted teeth, "You know as well as I do that my army has no chance at stopping the Black Robes without hurdonium." He barked his orders, "Cancel the lockdown. There's no need for that seeing as he can slip right through my security. And get those refineries back online! I don't care if you have to force everyone to work all night, as long as I have enough hurdonium to last through this war. Do I make myself clear?"

She saluted him. "Clear as crystal, sir!"

"Then get on it, Ms. Taylor."

~~~~~~

"Ah!" a guard said before falling to the floor.

The Green Phantom had given a swift open palm thrust to his face. He went over to the downed sentry and threw powder over him. Two other guards could be seen lying on the ground. "Don't mind me. I won't be long."

He went over to a computer and started hacking into the network. "You've been too quiet lately, general. Let's see if I can find out what you're up to." Minutes passed as he continued delving deeper into the system. He then came across something. "Project Omega? This sounds interesting." He tried to open the file. "Level 9 clearance required. We'll see about that." After several more keystrokes, he had gained access. Looking over the file, the Green Phantom was in shock. "No," he said quietly. "You're insane, Haddock. All of Midos could be wiped out by that!" He clenched his hand into a fist. "Haddock, you will be stopped. I will make sure of it." The Green Phantom then vanished.

~~~~~~

"It's you again." Sakura was in a dream. Standing in front of her was the Green Phantom.

He held out a hand. "I need the Star."

"The Star?" He pointed to her neck. Sakura placed her hand around her key. "No! You can't have it!"

"That's not what I want. The Star of Adelphi. Give it to me."

"This?" she asked holding her necklace. He nodded. "But why?"

"It's the only way to bring Silvercloud back. Please, while there's still time." He started to fade.

"No, wait! Come back!" Sakura then woke up. She looked down and took the necklace into her hand. "Silvercloud. Isn't that the name of… the princess?"

~~~~~~

[I hope she got my message.] The shoulders of a boy rose and fell as he took deep breaths. Going into the dreams of others exhausted him. He sat down and closed his eyes, wanting to recover before going. [She reminds me so much of her. I wonder…] His thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Something seems to be troubling you, master. Do you wish to talk about it?"

The Green Phantom looked at his sword. "Talk? About what? Nothing's wrong."

"Don't try to hide from me, master. Remember that I can see into your heart. Although I don't know exactly what it is, there is definitely something bothering you."

He sighed. "I guess I could use someone to talk to." He held the sword in front of him with both hands and concentrated. "Lightbringer, by the powers given to me, I command you to reveal your guardian!" A sphere of light came out of the sword. Inside the fading sphere, a tall figure with wings stood. He looked a lot like… Yue.

The winged figure bowed to him. "It is good to see you again, master. If I may ask, are you thinking about… her again?"

The boy blushed under his mask. "No! Why would I be doing that?"

Yue chuckled to himself. (His name is Yue, but he's not the same Yue. You got that?) [Still can't admit it, can you?] "Then what were you thinking about, master?"

The Green Phantom sighed again. "Project Omega. Haddock is going to destroy the world with it, and I don't know if I can stop him."

"I have complete confidence in your skills. I know you will do everything you can, but perhaps you should try to get others to help you."

"Yue, I've told you so many times before. I stand alone. I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me."

The guardian sighed. "Sometimes you can't do everything by yourself, master."

"Maybe, but this is my fight. I need to get stronger if I intend to prevent Haddock from taking control. Have you really told me everything about Lightbringer? I feel as if I'm not using its full potential."

"I have given you all that I can reveal about the sword. There are many secrets that you must find out for yourself."

"I know one. The sword uses light, sometimes external light, but its true abilities use the light within."

"That is correct, master. Lightbringer's true power comes from the lights of the heart."

"Courage, hope, and love."

"Also correct. Those who possess the three lights can release the sword's ultimate attack."

[I have courage… and hope… but… do I have… love?] He thought for a few seconds before he came to his conclusion. [No… I don't. If only I knew…] He then yawned.

"Master? Are you alright?"

"Sorry, Yue. I guess I must be tired."

"Considering what you did last night, I'm surprised you're still awake at sunrise."

"What?" The Green Phantom looked toward the horizon, where the sun was just peeking over. "Ah! No wonder I'm exhausted! I really need to get some sleep. It was good talking to you, Yue. I command you to return!"

Yue was enclosed in a sphere of light that went back into the sword. Placing it back into his sheath, the Green Phantom walked the long way back to his cave.

To be continued…

I don't know what to think of this chapter, so I'll let you tell me. I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head right now for other stories. The next chapter might take a while depending whether or not I try to flesh any of the ideas out. As for "Realizations", I will not write a sequel because I like how it ended. Read and review please!