Ayashi no Yuugi
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter 9: Nautilus Strike Part I
April 23 AC 198; 10:34 AM
CSA L4 Orbital Base, Futune, Central Command Center
"Reports are coming in from SS007! Nautilus base 20098 decimated, no military survivors, no civilian casualties!"
"Twenty hundred Nautilus uniforms have been reported in hotels in a two block radius of the Emperor Hotel!"
"Two hundred unidentified MS and MD lining up along the path of L4 shuttle 5983 to colony L2. Possible target, Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Dorlian Peacecraft, Princess of the Sanq Kingdom!"
A man with platinum blonde hair dressed in a black Admiral's uniform trimmed with gold with the letters CSA on his left sleeve in silver and a silver mask frowned.
"Intercept and trace any messages that heads for the MS."
"Shall we alert the Sanq Headquarters, sir?"
"Do so. And send a message to 07 and 08 while you're at it."
"Yessir!"
11:01 AM
CSA Sanq Kingdom Headquarters, Central Command Center
A woman with blue black hair dressed in a navy blue Lieutenant's uniform trimmed with purple with the letters CSA in gold on the left sleeve frowned as reports from various contacts and agents began coming in.
"We've lost contact with Team Trickster at point E3, B7!"
"Data from Ensign Calculus is coming in!"
"Blue Strike is bringing prisoner 28XD7! Requesting permission to interrogate prisoner using the Emerald Office!"
The woman nodded, "Use of the Emerald Office by Blue Strike, approved," she said.
"Blue Strike, request approved!"
"Repairs on Electromagnetic Cannon C42J6 in Sector D9 at 60 percent!"
"Battleship Ceres is sending mission log!"
"We've lost contact with Ensign Kino and Ensign Rene in Sector D8!"
"Unidentified MS units spotted surrounding Pallas Point!"
"Battleship Dean has been shot down!"
"Incoming message from Orbital Base Futune!"
12:00 PM
Colony L6, CSA Spica Academy Auditorium
A young woman dressed in white with green black hair with a badge on her left shoulder announcing her rank as a Lieutenant stood on the stage of the Spica Academy Auditorium, a file in her hands. Her garnet eyes studied the thousands of chattering students in their seats. A bell rang and the chatter died down.
"Now that we are all ready for class, please note that this assembly is of the utmost importance!" the woman said, her voice, magically amplified, echoed throughout the auditorium. The students automatically straightened in their seats.
"We have received reports from CSA bases throughout earth and her colonies, and have reason to believe that the enemy mission codenamed Nautilus Strike will take place at 1200 hours. The presumed target: Miss Relena Dorlian Peacecraft!"
Shocked whispers rippled through student and faculty alike. The woman cleared her throat and the room fell silent once more.
"It is possible that if the attack by the enemy is successful, there will be another war, many of you will graduate from Spica Academy as fully fledged Cosmos Star Agents, and you will find yourself thrown into the midst of war. For that reason, the required courses for one year will be expanded to include the current electives of logistics, tactics, strategy, MS Piloting, Law, and Computer Keyboarding. Physical Education will become a required course for all grade levels, even the students in the Graduate level. Instead of the Peacetime Curriculum of eight classes a day, five days a week, an hour per class, we are going into Wartime Curriculum with ten classes a day for six days a week, with one hour and forty-five minutes per class. It is your own choice if you want to take more classes on Sunday, though it is recommended that you do. Your Exams will be split into two parts, a written exam, and a practical exam to gauge how much you have absorbed, retained, and can perform to perfection or close enough. If you fail, you will retake the class the next year, and you will make up the classes you did not take in the Secondary Academy in a Graduate Academy. We are not trying to torture you; we are doing this for your own good, to prepare you for life in a war torn world. Are there any questions?"
A hand shot into the air and a female student dressed in the Spica Academy uniform of a red jacket over a white collared shirt and black pants and black boots with the Academy initials (SA) on the left shoulder stood up.
"Dean Yumi, will the Wartime Curriculum go into effect immediately even though we are halfway through the second semester?"
"No," the dean said, "This curriculum will not go into effect until the next year. Seniors, it is recommended that you attend a Graduate Academy and take courses in MS piloting, Computer Keyboarding, Law, Logistics, Tactics, and Strategy if you have not already done so. Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen, it is recommended that you attend the Sunday classes for the duration of your attendance of the Academy."
A male student stood and asked, "Are such measures being set in place for other CSA Training Facilities?"
"Yes. And I suggest that you do not try to transfer out. The process will take longer than it normally would, due to Wartime precautions, and if you do manage to get approved for the transfer; other Facilities will not be as gentle as Spica Academy. I can also assure you that other CSA Training Facilities are setting into place a similar curriculum. Keep in mind that the current Triad graduated from Spica Academy, and therefore, other CSA Training Academies will be expecting more from you if you transfer from our facility."
April 23 AC 198; 10:05 PM
Colony L4, Emperor Hotel
Gaia stood in the hotel room she shared with Cosmos, dressed in a black turtleneck, black jeans, black leather gloves, and a black leather jacket. She slipped on a silver mask, her hair in a bun pinned flat against her scalp, her eyes glowing a cold amber behind the silvery mask.
Wordlessly, Cosmos handed Gaia her kodachis and her guns and magazines as well as a handful of small hand grenades. Gaia strapped the kodachis to her back and stuck two of the guns into the holsters at her hips and put everything else into her pockets.
"Be careful, Tori-chan," Cosmos whispered. "Dean Yumi sent me an e-mail several hours ago. Nautilus Strike is scheduled to take place in one hour and fifty-five minutes, so come back soon. I can hold off the enemy for a while, but not for more than four hours while guarding someone at the same time."
Gaia's eyes warmed behind her mask.
"I'll be alright, Sakura-chan. I promise. I'll finish this mission as quickly as I can, and when I get back, we'll kick some Nautilus butt together, just like we always have."
"Hurry! The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll get back."
Gaia smirked. "So impatient, my kawaii chibi-kaijuu."
"Kaijuu janai yo!"
"Hai, hai kaijuu! Ja!"
Gaia laughed quietly as she ducked under Cosmos' swing and stepped out onto the balcony and leapt lightly over the rail. She descended six stories before hitting the ground in a tuck roll and taking off in a swift yet silent run across the hotel parking lot and vanished into the embrace of the night.
10:45 PM
Goro Residence, 361 Silver Ave. L4
Gaia was silent as she slipped through the mansion. Methodically, she went through the mansion, killing the guards, then targeted the Goro family quarters, killing every person, from the oldest elder to the youngest child.
Not one person felt a thing, nor did anyone wake long enough to see death flitting through the halls of the mansion. Her eyes were cold behind the mask, and her lips curled in a grim smile as she approached the bedroom of her main target.
Goro Fujita.
He had been a contact for the Nautilus for nearly ten years, and gained his wealth from it. According one of the CSA sources, he was the one responsible for leading Dekim Barton to the girl who was now Mariemia Barton… or Kushrenada, whichever one she was. Not that it really mattered, it was done, over, and minimal lives were lost.
Still, lives were lost. That was what mattered.
And now, more lives would be lost because of him. Communications had traced a message about Vice Foreign Minister Relena Dorlian Peacecraft's visit to L4 for a peace conference to the Nautilus HQ in Sanq here to L4. Goro had been foolish enough to use his house phone, making the discovery of his identity and his residence relatively easy.
Too bad.
His carelessness had just cost his family their lives.
Now Goro Fujita was going to pay with his life.
Gaia opened the door and peeked inside and grinned in anticipation. Lucky for her, the door opened in wards toward the room. She wiped the grin off her face and quietly closed the door and without hesitation, she kicked it in with a resounding crack.
Surprised, Goro Fujita jerked into a sitting position, looking blearily toward the door with sleep fogged eyes. In his state, he never notice the figure that detached itself from the shadows near the doorjamb and glided across the perimeter of the room, taking care to duck beneath the open window through with the silver rays of the moon poured, pooling in random patterns on the hardwood floor.
The Gaia stood up once she was beside the bed. Quickly, the blood soaked blade of her kodachi was at Goro Fujita's neck. The man's eyes widened and now fully awake, he turned to look at her, his eyes filled with fear.
"Don't speak. But tell me, are you frightened?" her voice was quiet but level.
Goro nodded, his eyes wide with fear.
A slow smile worked its way across Gaia's lips.
"Not enough it should seem, since you were so eager to start another war. Tell me, were you aware of the fact that the death of Relena Dorlian Peacecraft would start a war when you gave the Nautilus information about her trip to L4?"
Goro shook his head.
"Did you even stop to think about the consequences your action may have?"
Looking chagrined, Goro shook his head again.
"Baka. If you had withheld this information, maybe you'd be able to live in peace with your family, but now, no one from the Goro family will live, from the oldest elder to the youngest baby."
Goro's eyes widened further and he opened his mouth to plead for his family's life. Gaia never gave him the chance to speak. She clamped her hand over his mouth with a grip of steel and smirked cruelly.
"You were going to say something weren't you? You were going to beg for your family's life. It's too late, you know. If anyone in your house was alive, I wouldn't have been able to kick the door in, you know." Gaia's voice was overly sweet.
"You should have thought of the consequences before you tried anything, but it's too late now. Aku. Soku. Zan. Slay evil immediately. People like you who threaten the peace that so many people died to build are undoubtedly evil."
Pause.
"Sayonara, Goro Fujita."
Gaia slid her kodachi between his ribs and into his heart.
Goro Fujita died instantly.
Nose wrinkled in disgust, Gaia pulled the sword out, allowing the corpse to fall back onto the now bloody pillows. She quietly wiped the sword on the clean portion of the sheets and sheathed it. She walked over to the window and slid it open and leapt out onto the moon dappled lawn. Silently, she melded with the shadows and vanished.
The only evidence of her presence was the many corpses in the Goro family mansion and the note taped to the gate.
Aku Soku Zan.
Slay evil immediately.
The entire mission had taken less than fifty minutes.
April 24 AC 198; 12:00 AM
Emperor Hotel, Colony L4
Soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the Nautilus poured out of the hotels, armed and ready for battle. Quietly, they surrounded the Empire Hotel. Seventeen stood before the door of room 123, the room in which Relena Dorlian Peacecraft slept peacefully, unaware of the danger that she was in.
Suddenly, the door of room 126 flew open. A figure clothed in a navy blue suit and a black trench coat with a silver mask covering her eyes burst out, her waist length dark hair flowing behind her, a drawn katana in hand.
In less than two minutes, the Nautilus soldiers in the hallway were dead, and not a single sound had been heard.
Cosmos reached into her pocket and pulled out the keycard for Relena's room and stuck it into the slot. The red light turned green, and she slipped inside and woke Relena. They had just finished getting Relena dressed when the glass balcony doors shattered and dozens of Nautilus soldiers swarmed in.
Mission Nautilus Strike had begun.