"Something wicked this way comes."

In this world of our's, there are things that happen every day to ensure our welfare as a species that are kept hidden from the general public. For the most part, these events are so well-contained that no one would ever suspect that they ever went on in the first place.

None of the alien beings that migrate daily to Earth and live amongst us have been found out, no one has figured out that most Pop superstars are actually soulless androids that had to be put out there when this so-called "rock and roll" began to infect the world's youth in the early-to-late 60's and 70's, and of course no one has yet to find out that religion is actually...Oop, nevermind, better not divulge that classified information just yet.

There are, of course, certain cases where the masses experience something they shouldn't. When a real UFO is seen, the Bureau worked double-time to put out some fake-pictures, pull off some obvious hoaxes, etc. to keep people from suspecting the truth.

When the crash at Roswell happened, well, these guys worked triple-overtime just to stage the whole conspiracy angle that is now stuff of legends. The truth was, all the aliens that survived the crash, lived amongst the people of Roswell, and then all died simultaneously five years later in their sleep. They're buried in the local cemetary right now.

The incident that happened a month ago was one of the cases where a whole city saw a large, obviously alien bird fly off into space. Only to be followed by a pink-haired woman riding a Vespa, this, of course, caused somewhat of a panic. The worst part about it, was that it happened under the watch of one of the best Bureau agents in years. In the end, however, the city forgot about it, the agents dispatched didn't even have to use any of their memory-altering tech...the city just forgot.

That should have been the end of that, but even if the city had totally forgotten living through it, it still happened...And that was unacceptable in General James Yataba's book. General Yataba was a broad-shouldered man, his father had been an American Major stationed at a base in Okinawa and his mother had been Japanese (he decided to take her last name when she passed away out of respect, his father's first name had been James anyways.) He had a hardface, as if etched in marble, jet black hair, and bore a pipe in his mouth wherever he went.

Usually, he was clad in his dark, green uniform. Everytime Amarao had seen him, he distinctly remembered the General's four stars shining right in his face. Now, it looked to be Casual Friday because the General wore a plain white jacket and slacks. Simple, civilian garb...totally unlike the General Yataba Amarao had grown to know over the years.

The two walked down the long, winding glass hallway. On the otherside of the glass that made up this hallway was water, fishes and undersea creatures that Amarao had never seen swam in its dark depths. He remembered the salty air that had wafted over from the coast and figured they must be directly under said coast...he didn't dare think of how it would feel if that glass broke.

They finally reached the General's office when the General said, "Don't mind the mess. I'm...cleaning up the place."

It certainly looked "cleaned up," there were but outlines in the areas that the General had held his many "tasteful" paintings. His desk was near barren save for some stationary. Dozens of cardboard boxes littered the floor along the office, and Amarao could see the General's most prized posessions -- his flags, poking out from one of them.

What's that all about? He wondered, walking into the office and sitting down on the chair opposite the general's.

"I see, Amarao," the General began, sitting down in his red leather, office chair, " that you haven't gotten rid of those ridiculous eyebrows yet."

"N-no, Sir," Amarao replied slightly chagrined, "you know that my N.O. channel is still active. I couldn't possibly risk tak-"

The General gave a hearty laugh, "I know all about that." He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. Clinking the bottle and one glasses together he asked, "Care for some whiskey, kid?"

Amarao shook his head 'no,' put his attaché suitcase on his lap, and removed his sunglasses. "So, what was it you wanted to see me about, General?"

By then he had downed two glasses of his own whiskey and smacked his glass down hard upon his desk. He looked hard at Amarao and slumped back into his chair with a heaving sigh.

"You got the memo I sent to your section, correct?"

"Yes Sir, Kitsurubami gave it to me last night. I was about to send in my full report of the incident from last month and the months preceeding that through email, and the whole town seems to have forgotten what happened anyway. I'm not exactly clear on what was so important I had to come deliver the reports in person."

The General looked around the room and produced a sheet of paper from his desk. "Jesus, boy, you're dense. The higher-ups are still in an uproar from what happened last month. You may not think it's such a big deal, but the UN was really looking forward to working with Medical Mechanica. When the plant in...Mabase, was it? Anyways, when that plant was shut down, Medical Mechanica shut down with it. So, basically, we're out of billions of dollars, and that means cutbacks...and guess what? The Bureau's the first to get the axe."

Amarao stood up suddenly, causing the chair behind him to fall to the floor...and one of his eyebrows along with it.

"What do you mean the Bureau's getting shut down? We're the only reason the world's lasted as long as it has! If we hadn't been there all those times some freakin' alien species was breathing down our necks, what do you think would have happened? They can't do this! We're the only ones who know how to use all this alien crap, anyways!"

The General nodded slowly, he knew Amarao was right, but he couldn't do a damn thing about it. The building was to be cleared out by the end of the month. The bureaucrats had already done their voodoo and it was official. All he could do was listen to the man in front of him let it all out of his system. Amarao had had his fair share of goofs, the incident last month being his biggest, but he was still a good agent, overall. The least he could do for the guy was let him vent.

It took a full five minutes for Amarao's rage to qwuell, he could hardly believe that the Bureau was getting shut down! After all that they had done for the world, the plug was getting pulled on them. It was an outrage!

When he finally settled down, he slumped down on the chair he had been sitting on and picked up the empty glass. "Can I have a shot?"

The general served him some and said, "I value your loyalty to our cause, son, but the reason I called you down here wasn't just to break this news to you. If it was, you would've gotten the memo in a week or so. Anyways, the real reason you're here is this...the U.N's closing the books on our bureau officially, but even politicians aren't stupid enough to think the world's safe without us...so they're building up a small group to do its work under the books. They want you to lead this group."

Amarao was in shock, he didn't know what to say, a minute ago he was just an agent, now they wanted him to lead a special ops group!

"What about Kitsurubami...and what about you?"

"I'm retiring, but you can bring your underling with you, if you really want. Good luck, kid, you're going to need it."

"Why?"

"Word is, the Pirate King Atomsk was spotted not far from our solar system. He looks to be coming our way, this time of his own free will. "

Amarao took a deep breath, "Ooh..."

(End chapter 2.)