"I dreamed again, but this dream was bad. It scared me right to my core; I heard screams, felt pain, saw blood, and smelled destruction. I waited for my hero to come; to make it all right, but my champion was absent." Kanami thought.
She had woken up early and watched the night brighten into dawn. She sat on a cliff over looking the barren expanse of land outside the town. She felt something was going to happen; what she did not know would was to be a part of it, or would she just be a pawn like last time. She folded arms on her knees, and rested her head on them. Closing her eyes, she once more saw her ribbon fluttering away in the wind. She became outlined in a ribbon of colorful light.
"I was dreaming again, but this time I was not sleeping. I felt the winds change; something is coming, and we'll all be affected by it." Kanami thought. "I feel darkness, deep, cold, and fierce. It's a deeper feeling of dread, than what Mujo felt like."
Kanami stood and straightened out her back, it was time, and she had someplace she needed to be.
The mainland had been trying to regain control over the lost ground, but it had been hard, the island had an effective pair of guard dogs. Fierce native alters, that had thwarted their invasion attempts time after time. The council had sent spies over to the lost ground to gather information. While this was being done, the scientists continued their macabre experiments on what native alters they still had in custody. Alter users were not considered people, so conducting tests on them was easier. Plus, wave enough government funds and people were more then willing to smear blood in their hands.
To this congress, the lost ground was a wild animal that needed to be broken. They wanted Ryuho and Kazuma captured, once in their possession the two native alters would be studied intensely. All other native alters would be used in experiments as well. Without HOLD, current lists of alter users was unavailable. They still had all data gathered before military headquarters on the lost ground fell. The newly trained Special Forces knew all about alters, and knew what to expect from those unknown. They also had new secret weapons; enhanced alters, who had been enslaved.
"Everything is running smoothly now." A council member with a severe receding hairline stated.
The General frowned. "Yes, smoothly now that the fiasco in sector 17 has been cleaned and effectively covered up."
The bureaucrats and military brass were always at odds over who should be in command of such a vital effort. They blamed the latest escape on each other. The military believed that leaving it in the hands of civilian scientists in non military facilities was a bad idea. The bureaucrats blamed the military's lack of vigilance that allowed the alter to escape from the mainland.
"We'll invade the mainland the next time there is a cataclysmic event; our new vehicles should be able to deal with the unstable energy cast off. Our informants say that Shell Bullet and Master of Zetsuei would be meeting up soon." A lady senator stated.
Another General nodded. "They way those two battle, the destruction they cause, we should just let them fight it out until the lost ground is destroyed. It's a simple strategy really."
That plan would never work though. The higher ups wanted to harness the alter power, to design new soldiers, and strengthen their defenses. It was all about power, who had it, and who would wield it.