You don't know how sorry I am for this late update. Writer's block and all. Anyways, Joshua was at the orphanage when he goes to a long and forgotten tomb. (Fans of the show should know this.) There he secretly encounters a white haired man with his guards. He then see them getting something and that makes Joshua suspicious. What the plan and what will happen?
Don't own CC
Chrono Crusade: Horns of Time
Chapter Twelve: Getting In The Facility
"Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it" -John Naisbitt
It had been just three days after the incident in the tomb. Already the demonic population within the city had increased thus the Order took a new incentive to do the best it can to control the sudden outburst in the demon population. It was doing exceptionally well and the politicians were well pleased by the progress that the Order was making. However for the Order members, it was a different story. Some of the staff had to work double shifts in order to control the outburst and most of them weren't happy. However the money, plus the free housing they were receiving easily compensated for this loss.
Joshua himself was not making good tracks on his case as he was one of the people who had to work the double shifts. There wasn't much information to go on and Joshua kept on getting the same result.
Inconclusive.
No matter what angle he looked at the situation he always concluded that the events and stuff that he collected leaded no where. Not able to burst out the anger out in the open Joshua kept this fact to himself, not revealing any of his plans. Not to the sisters, not to Sister Azmaria and not to that traitorous Wolf. It was another morning when Joshua was lying on his bed.
"Three days. Three days and I'm not getting anywhere with this. I have some information but not all of it. "Some" won't cut it with me anymore. I just got to think about it some more. What are the clues revolving around? What?"
He got up and went to his desk and pulled out both the photo album and the orphan registry he got from the orphanage. Putting beside each other, he turned to the photo that had his younger self as with the other orphans and to the page where it listed all of the orphans dating to 1912. He starred at them carefully.
"Okay. This is what I have to work with. What does it all mean?" He thought and he thought and he thought. Then, his eyes widen and with a whisper he said, "Hold on…" He looked at the photo and read the label again.
Seventh Bell Orphanage, 1912
From left to right: Seira, Billy, Kevin and Nelly
From the bottom: Joshua and-"
He then looked at the registry and under his name. Under his name was a name covered. Realizing that he was on to something he looked back and forth between the photo and the name. It all clicked.
"That girl…That girl, she may be- I'm certain. She may be-" His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Joshua?" The voiced yelled, "Are you in there?"
"Damn," He thought. He knew it was Ebony who was calling him. "What do you want!"
"Sister Azmaria wants us to see her! Now!"
"Demanding witch…I'm coming!" In a hurry, Joshua put away the photo album, the registry, got dressed and headed out the door. About one hour later the whole group assembled within Azmaria's office.
"I would like you all to check this out," she said as she pushed a button. The projector came down and started to show some pictures. The first being a huge compound within a desert.
"This is a research facility belonging to a corporation that we've been trying to get information from but to no avail. The reason why we want you to check it out because it provides vital information…that may explain the recent demon outbursts."
"How does the research facility connect with the demons?" Caitlyn asked.
"Thanks to sources from the inside, it seems that the facility is somehow making demons. The people running this facility plans to use them in a hostile takeover in order to overthrow the government."
"Then if that's the case then why doesn't the military handle it?" asked Wolf.
"The government wants the situation handled as discreetly as possible. Military action will cause media attention and therefore may ruin the government's rep. And if you didn't know, Wolf, we are the military in some way. The facility is located somewhere in Arizona. The mission is a simple search and destroy. Retrieve any vital information that relates to the demons and corporation connection. Destroy the facility after you're done. That's all for now. Dismissed."
All of them exited the room. Joshua grunted in disagreement and then left. "I know she's hiding something. I'll find out soon enough. You just wait and see!"
In the afternoon the group left for Arizona, luggage and all. As the plane took off, Joshua and Wolf sat together in the window seats while the sisters at the column seats. While the sisters watched the movie The Pink Panther, Joshua took a look at the watch that was given to him earlier while Wolf was looking at the window.
"The girl in that picture has something to do with all this. All the pieces fit. But what does the watch mean?"
"Joshua…"
"What does the watch mean? What?"
"Joshua!" He turned his head to see Wolf calling him. "What is that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Joshua replied, putting his watch away.
"Look, I know that you're still pissed off about me being part of the High Order Special Corps."
"Ya think? You tricked me!"
Wolf crossed his arms and looked at him, "define 'tricked.'"
"You tricked me, fooled me, played me like a sucker! Is that a good definition for you!"
"Well I thought that you got over this…"
"You reminded me. Now I'm pissed at you all over again."
"Let's just forget the past and get on with our lives. Besides it was you who said to continue the friendship."
"Hmmm…."
"Okay, let's do this. I promise that I'll tell you every secret that I have pertaining to the Order. Maybe I'll put in a good word about you."
"Thanks but I think I'll hang around here for a while before thinking about a career in the Order."
"See, we made up already!"
Both of them laughed. It was obvious that they did make up and were a lot happier and thus forgot the issue. The plane landed and the group met up with one of Wolf's acquaintances. However he wasn't much of a talker and kept to himself. Once they arrived at their residence Caitlyn got the plans to the facility and got the group together.
"Okay. Here's what we're going to do. Once we get inside the facility, we'll split up into two teams. Abigail, Ebony and myself will search the left side of the wing and head toward the offices and the control room. Wolf and Joshua will search the right wing and search through the labs. We'll meet up in the center and from there make our escape.
"What happens if we get caught?" Ebony asks. "Remember the last time…" She then looks at Joshua.
Joshua, getting the idea, replied, "Hey, they came out of nowhere. Don't blame me!"
"Remember. One slip is too many. Maybe you should stay here…"
"What did you say?"
"That's enough," Wolf said, practically separating them. "We got the plan so let's carry it out."
"We'll begin at 2030 hours," Caitlyn announced.
"And…when is that?"
"That 9:30pm o'clock, dipshit." Ebony mumbled.
"Witch…"
"What was that!" The rest of the group sweat dropped.
"Enough," Caitlyn said crossly. "Remember that we have to destroy the facility."
Everyone said together, "understood!"
At 9:30pm, the group arrived at the facility in a form of a passing truck. (Ebony posed as a hitchhiker and when the driver came close, the rest of them ambushed him.) Instead of driving the truck through the gates, they stopped at them. Naturally the guard stopped the truck and went towards it. However Wolf held the driver's unconscious body and waved at him. Luckily the guard and the driver were good buddies and automatically let the truck in. Once inside, the mission began.
So it begins. Joshua is on the verge of finding out everything about himself. What is the connection between the facility and the demons? When will the endless questions end? (When the story ends, duh!) Please R&R.
