Kage is Kira
NOTE:
"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking
"Charge!": special case
'Darn!': thoughts
GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
Please… read and review
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A clay glass full of water shattered as it fell from the hands of a shocked Athrun Zala.
"COME AGAIN?" Athrun banged his prison bars when he heard the news from Raww and Nichol.
Losing the battle along with most of the invasion fleet was bad enough. But the death of one of Zaft's most powerful general is the worst news anyone who call themselves a self respecting proud Zaft citizen can bring. Is this some horribly bad joke?
"I haven't debriefed the High Council and the Faith Guard yet. And I've told my men to keep their silence to prevent this news to reach unfriendly ears. But even as we speak, Yzak Joule and what's left of his fleet are bringing Veia's body to be entombed in his fortress at Gamoff. Soon they'll be all over the public… if they haven't already."
"I don't think the Alliance would keep their mouth shut either." Nichol added. News this big, imagine the boost it'll have to the enemy's morale!
Athrun gasped and was at a complete loss of words. But his mind continued to race on, seeing the flaws, the cracks in his plan. "…they're using Fuji to create a Tsunami that propel three flagships forward didn't they?"
Nichol blinked. "How did you know that? That's exactly what Kage did!"
"So it is Kage." Athrun frowned in deep thought. "I always prepare. In my head I always think of two strategies. There's one strategy, and another to counter the first strategy. If I was in their position, that's exactly what I would do. And that's why I even went so far as to give you access to Tanhauser."
"It didn't work as well as we hoped, but worry not, it was already destroyed." Raww followed and stress the next point. "The main problem is: the manner of Kage's strategy was so cleanly executed and so perfectly prepared, it's beyond coincidence. All the things that's about to happen. Parts of his strategy are sloppy and yes it's still has holes- but the fact is we were defeated. And since the fact that you were imprisoned the whole time and that only me and Veia would know about the true execution of the plan, this rules out the possibility of a sneak. Which leaves us only… two possibilities."
"Two possibilities?" Nichol looked at Raww and then to Athrun who caught up instantly.
"Either I've finally met my match… or…" Athrun messed his head. 'Or I've met him before and told him how myself…'
Chapter 18:
The Juppongatana
Despite Raww's effort to keep the news of Veia's death in the dark, word somehow managed to find their way out. The Zaft military took the death of Goud Veia very harsh. The entire empire issued a state of 10 days of game for mourning, along with the resulting mass hysteria that occur after the loss of their national Hero.
From one Alliance outpost to another, the story of the Battle of Archangel Bay was retold over and over again, and became the hottest topic around. With the story of Kage's victory over Veia is the main focus, while the mournful death of Harlbarton, a well known veteran captain was spoken only in quiet whispers.
However, even worse for Zaft, the death of one of their most powerful generals saw a renewed outbreak of skirmishes between Zaft and Alliance. Emboldened by the death of Veia, Alliance soldiers renew their assault against Zaft's territories. Areas receiving the full brunt of this aggression are areas that were once known to be lorded by the late Hakutenkun, such as the contestation of South China Sea, the Pacific and Indonesian archipelago, even Australian Carpentaria gulf, which is the location of the Gamoff Aquatic fortress, Veia's home base. With the Zaft soldiers in most of these areas demoralized after the loss of their leader, Zaft military in the region suffer multitudes of small losses.
Though none of these skirmishes compare to the losses that Kage had inflicted upon them.
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In Archangel…
Fuji stood over Murdock and his team, inspecting a huge lump of molten iron that was once Zaft's prototype Tanhauser cannon.
"…Murrue did say capture or destroy… but…" Murdock scratched his head. "What the hell are we supposed to study from these?"
Fuji bowed down apologizing. "I'm terribly sorry. When I get to the cannon, that thing was already burning hotter than the blazes of Hell and halfway to sludge."
Murdock sighed. "Oh well… at least we can melt this thing for some ammo… not to mention, you've also managed to trash some of Zaft's battle barge…" The mechanic looked at the Archangel inlet. Many soldiers are still there, cleaning up the site of the battle. Barely three days had passed since that battle, it would be weeks before they can really clean the site of all traces of battle. Not to mention Kage and Mwu's collaborative effort which pretty much had altered the landscape. Wreckages of Zaft battleships are piled on top of each other and can be seen strewn across the shores, and some of it, as many were well aware, are buried beneath tons and tons of rocks that are the newly made slopes. The iceberg blocking the way in to the inlet that was once Veia's giant flagship had long since melted, leaving only wreckages of the said ship, still stuck in the inlet with piles of rocks. However, Murdock had already begun the process of disassembling of what's left of the monstrous ship. An activity which had kept the hot headed mechanic in a very good mood, not a single angry shout for three days straight: an all time record.
"Veia freezing up his ship like that en-masse is kinda of a blessing in disguise. Sure we kinda rammed three flag ships into its deck, and between you guys bring down half a cliff right on to it, Kage and Veia sliced that ship up to pieces with their over the top techniques and the cadets shelling it with cannonfire… but that ice took the brunt of the attacks… and when we checked the remnants of the ship after the ice melted, most of its content are relatively intact."
"Good. I can imagine a few ways of it can be useful for us." Mwu supervised the post battle activity of the battle. Survivors trudging through the battlefield, plucking out arrows and cannon balls for reuse, gathering up bodies for burial and salvaging its weapons, etc. Occasionally they also found survivors buried beneath the bodies of the dead, half alive and most definitely greatly traumatized.
"We got another one!" One of the soldiers had just moved a body and found a man trapped beneath it.
"Live one?"
"Yeah."
The soldiers looked at the site with anger. But Mwu quickly roared, reminding them all of their job. "You all have your orders soldier!"
Yes. They do. The soldiers began working and removing the body away. The Emerald knight was a man… except he got 4 eyes.
"Damn he's an ugly bastard."
The Advanced Emerald knight was too injured to retort and he was helplessly bound and brought away from the field.
"Some orders we were given eh?" Murdock commented off handedly.
"You got a problem with that, Murdock?"
"I mean no disrespect. No one would dare."
"Yeah. Well… that was his first order of business after he became a captain: search for survivors on both sides. If you find enemy survivors, disarm them and keep them in prison. Like that, yeah." Mwu frowned as he remembered a bad memory just this morning. 'I guess we musn't forget that he's still one of them. Even he would have some issues about killing his own people…'
Right after his appointment as a captain, Kira succumb to his injuries at last and fainted on the spot. The doctors were on frantic duty as to keep him alive for three days was no easy task. Mwu also made sure they couldn't see Kage's face, despite the insistence of the doctors that the time of subtlety has long past, but they made it somehow and the newly appointed captain survived his critical state without anyone saw his face. When Kira finally awoke this morning, already he was tested of the duty in his new post.
Flashback:
Kira woke up and found he was bandaged. Head to toe just like a mummy. Except there's something weird about the manner he was bandaged. The ones on his shoulder, chest and many body parts which he knew were injured are professionally and normally treated. The ones he had issues were ones wrapping the rest of his body. The poor manner, subtly provocative BDSM manner, and, without exaggeration, downright ridiculous way in which he was bandaged in these (what he feels to be uninjured) areas, made him highly suspect a certain blond headed prankster of a captain had made a joke in his expense.
Kira began grunting, which apparently attracted the attention of his attendants.
"Kage-sa-I… mean… Captain? Are you okay?"
Kira, as in Kage, still feel weird hearing someone address him in such a manner. "…can somebody please get these things off me? I had an urge to get a certain someone seriously hurt."
The doctor was clearly aware that their new young captain was clearly pissed about his current… garment. Just then, Kage could distinctly hear a familiar gulping sound and the subsequent sprint for dear life of one Mwu la Flagga as well as a faint scream: "Homicidal BDSM maniac incomiiiing…!" or something like that along the line.
"I… will remove the bonda-I mean-bandages Mwu-san had placed… but I really think you shouldn't be moving any time soon…"
"I'm a fast healer and I-" Kage winced. His body is still hurting all over. Maybe he shouldn't be moving after all.
Just then, Prayer went in. "What's with Mwu-nii-san… Ah? Kage-san? Or no, maybe I should call you Captain now."
Kage looked at Prayer. Prayer looked at his captain's… attire. "Anoo… Captain? You… really into that stuff?"
"Prayer, you have 10 seconds to cut me loose so I can chase your brother to the inch of his life."
9.5 seconds later…
Kage is now in normal patient attire, with only his truly injured parts were bandaged. His face is still covered with bandages, replacing his black mask. However, he's still confined to bed.
Prayer profusely bowing down his head, apologizing again and again over his elder brother's behavior. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Captain. Onii-san can be quite immature at times."
"I'm okay… and knock it off with the captain stuff… Just call me like you usually would."
"Well… you're our Captain now. Calling you as you were seems a bit… improper…"
Kage tucked his head. He remembered when he agreed to took up the position of a Captain. At that time, he was a bit carried away by the situation, overwhelmed by the fact that Harlbarton would entrust a brat like him the position of Captain. But now… now that he think about it… is he really ready for something like this? "…Prayer… look… I…"
But Kage's comment was cut short when they heard a horrifying scream from outside.
"S… STOP! GYAAAAAAA!" The scream went louder after sound of a sickening chop.
"W…What was that?"
Outside a commotion occurred. A bunch of soldiers, angry ones at that were rounding up on a bunch of Zaft knights survivors from the previous battle. One of the knights, still injured, but one of his arms was chopped off. While one soldier, a particularly young on at that was holding a bloodied sword. And he was trembling in fear.
"How do ya like that huh? Not so tough anymore are ya Mr. Oni Descendant?" One of the soldiers cheered, while others laughed and throw other insults.
"Oi! What are you guys doing!" Prayer came running. The soldiers stopped laughing when they saw Prayer. "Prisoners are not for cutting practice!"
"Ah, Prayer! It's Punishment Logue! Ya know?" One of the thuglike soldiers retorted.
"This again…" Prayer grunted. "You guys… it hasn't even a few days after Captain Harlbarton died and you guys are already acting up!"
"What's… all… this about?" And suddenly everyone fell silent. Trailing behind Prayer, limping as he did, was Kage, clad in bandages. Sweat covered his brows and he looked so pale.
"Ah… K… no… Captain."
Prayer gasped. "Captain! You shouldn't even be moving yet!" He quickly ran Kage's side.
The prisoners looked at Kage and were confounded. This is the man that had terrorized their army and, if words to be believed, killed their great Hero, Goud Veia? Now that they get a better look of him… why did he look so weak?
"What is going on here?" Kage repeated his question a tad louder.
"Ah… well… I guess we'll just tell the new Captain. We're having a session we call the Punishment Logue. Here we punish these bastards for all the trouble they've given us. It's also a good training really! And these advanced are very sturdy so they're tougher than normal training dummies-"
"-d it." Kage heard enough.
"Eh? I beg your pardon?"
"I FORBID IT!" Kage roared. "H… How could you guys can even say something like that with such a god-damn straight face-grh!" Kage faltered a bit. Suddenly blood spurt out from one of his wounds and he was about to fall.
"Captain!" Prayer held him up.
The soldiers were a bit taken aback. But one of the soldiers quickly retorted. "B… But they deserved it! You should understand this too right Captain Kage? These monsters! Looked what they've done to us, to Captain Harlbarton, and to you! These wretches deserved death!"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT HERE!" In his zeal, Kage stomp forward and gently shoved Prayer aside. "THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT PRISONERS!" But he was panting and his eyes were barely open.
The Zaft prisoners looked at that pathetic form full of openings. They all eyed him fiercely.
"WHO AUTHORIZE THIS?" Kage yelled again. His breathings became paced. It was obvious his condition is getting worse the more he remain in this angry mood. He was quite close to the commotion now.
"DEAAAATH!" Suddenly, the Zaft prisoner who was cut just now rose up, rammed the young soldier and grabbed his sword before charging at Kage. The still wounded Captain was taken by surprise and didn't have time to dodge. The sword came really close of stabbing Kage when a blur appeared between the two. The sword was snapped to two and the blur was revealed to be Mwu. The Knight stopped dead when standing in the presence of the infamous Eagle of Endiminion.
"Orders."
"Eh?"
"Give us your order, Captain Kage." Mwu tossed away the other piece of the sword he just snapped in half. "You are now Captain of the 7th Fighting Division and this is your division. So what is your order, Captain?"
Kage looked at Mwu and then to the prisoners. Their fierce gaze disappeared, replaced by terror. They were all afraid of Mwu. Kage sighed. "…no… no more of this. This… this so called Punishment Logue is now forbidden, FOREVER! A… Any one of you found engaging in this activity will be severely punished!"
"What are the punishments?" This time, Natarle and Murrue also arrived on the scene.
"What's… the punishment?"
"Yes, Captain Kage. You must set the punishment to enforce your order. What are the punishments for disobeying your orders?"
"I… I… I'm not sure…" Now Kage's REALLY nervous. He just said 'severely' punished as an off-hand remark. "Er… what's… the most severe punishment for this sort of case?"
Natarle said casually in a straight face: "Execution."
And Kage said without thinking. "That'll do."
And everyone paled in an instant.
"Then allow me, master at arms! Please take these men immediately and execute them." Natarle gestured at the soldiers who were obviously the ring leaders of the Punishment Logue.
Now Kage was also shocked. "WHAT? Wait a second! I didn't order you to execute them right now!"
"These men were clearly disobeyed your orders just now. The punishment for disobedience, as you've approved is execution."
"BUT THAT'S NOT-!"
"Hai, hai! That's enough!" And then in an instant, someone gently slapped Kage, Natarle and surprisingly, Murrue's head. Mwu clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.
First to Natarle: "Natarle Fukutaichou, stop teasing our new captain."
Natarle blushed in anger. "TEASING? I DIDN'T-!"
Next, Murrue: "Murrue Taichou, you should've kept watch on your lieutenant."
"Ah… well… I suppose I should've." Murrue scratch his head, understanding.
Finally, Kage. "And Kage Taichou…" Mwu was silent for a few moments and then spoke in a very, rarely heard, angry and strict tone. "Take care in what you say."
Kage perked at the remark.
"You are a Captain now. Your words carry weight and your orders determine the fate of other people. Off handed remarks made thoughtlessly may still be understandable in daily conversation, but now that you're in a position of power, you can't joke around like that, especially when giving your subordinates orders."
Kage's eyes widened and become very down.
Seeing his words hit the mark, Mwu nodded and revert back to his usual self. "Now, execution is a little bit harsh, Natarle. And besides, Kage had just given this order just now right? Let's just punish them with toilet duty for now eh? Save the execution for future trespassers."
"I OBJECT! That's too light of a punishment for disobeying orders!"
"Let's just lock them up in solitary confinement for a day without ration, eh?" Murrue suggested. "What do you think Captain Kage?"
Kage looked at Murrue and nodded. "…yeah. That's severe enough." And then he looked at the Zaft prisoners and felt like he wants to say something else, but then he remembered what Mwu said and kept quiet.
But Mwu won't have any of those. "Anything you'd like to add before we close this discussion, Captain?"
Kage perked and spoke slowly. "…we… need to… find more survivors… search the battlefield for any survivors… there may be others as well. Search for survivors on both sides. If you find enemy survivors, disarm them and keep them in prison. That is… the rule of war."
"Right away Captain." Mwu nodded.
Flashback ends…
"Personally, I think you're too harsh on the lad." Murdoch stated.
Mwu frowned. "Oi, oi… Don't brand me as a bad guy all the sudden! I'm just trying to teach that guy how to be a good captain."
"I know you are." Murdoch smiled. "I just found it amusing… someone like you, who never act like a captain can actually teach others how to behave like a captain."
"Now that hurts."
"So sue me for uttering the cosmic truth. Speaking of which, where is he now?"
"What… well… I think he's also about to learn why I never want to act like a proper captain."
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"Prayer…san?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"…what… is… this…?"
Kage think a woman just screamed in horror in the background of his head when he walked into his office (formerly Harlbarton's) for the first time and found mountains and mountains and mountains and mountains atop mountains…
…of paperwork.
Prayer instinctively moved to block the doors. "It's paperwork which requires your immediate attention, Captain."
Kage drag himself slowly and sit on his chair, looking over the pile of papers. Some of them are beginning to gather dust. "…Harlbarton was a bit of a sludge when it comes to these things… wasn't he?"
Prayer chuckled. "Not really. It's just… with all the commotion and the siege and the naval showdown and all that… he never got the time. Otherwise he's pretty punctual."
"Hmm…" Kage took one paper and began to study it. It's about an arrangement of asking for supply… that already arrived 6 months ago. In other words it's an outdated report. The new captain began cleaning up the desk and divided the reports to the one most recent. But as he did, the events of what transpired this morning keep nagging his mind. "Ne… Prayer…"
"Yes, Captain?"
"…" For a moment, Kira wanted to ask whether he really should be a captain. But then, the events with the prisoners really shook him up, and so Kage instead asked: "…I just… couldn't figure out, for the life of me, how could a man like Harlbarton allowed something as insidious as this… this Punishment Logue…"
"He didn't. That wasn't… That wasn't Harlbarton. Back during Harlbarton time he too forbade it. It's just… originally, Punishment Logue is a procedure to weaken our prisoners. Remember, we imprison Advanced. They all have special abilities. Some can be used to help them escape. Back then it wasn't named The Punishment Logue… but it was used to remove these prisoners from their special abilities… precautionary step that needs to be taken to prevent them from escaping. And then somewhere along the line it became excessive."
"But the soldiers… the men, they… from what I see today that 'Punishment Logue' is more like public and slow execution. And the men enjoyed it… almost as if they're thugs."
"It's not as if, Captain. They ARE thugs. The 7th divisions are filled with militias that get minimal training and fewer combat experiences other than what they have from surviving on the streets. There are also rejects from other divisions, disgruntled mercenaries… or just people who don't have anything else to do. Very few… are those who really come here to fight for a cause."
Kage looked at Prayer.
Prayer sighed. "The truth is… the position Harlbarton filled was important… but his division is not. That's why other division really looked down on us… if it wasn't for them, we might as well have been disbanded."
"Them?"
"Unique to us, the 7th Division has a special squad, consisting of the 10 strongest warriors the 7th Division have, those who fill the seat of 10 to 1. With the first seat being the Captain… as in you."
Kage suddenly remembered a little something Mwu told him. "So… when Mwu-san was the 11th seat in the division, he was the strongest grunt soldier here, but he never get counted among this big ten?"
"No, no. Harlbarton-san told me that that's simply because nii-san never bothered trying to make himself a member of the team. We call ourselves JupponGatana."
"Who are they?"
"Well… membership changed; from time to time… we burn our roster pretty fast, but let's start with the current 10th seat, Sven Cal Payang, the Serpent Sword."
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Somewhere in Sumatra, Indonesia…
"GYAAAAAAA!"
A pale skinned white haired man wearing a black armor underneath a black overcoat carrying two black claymores on his back walked in casually, while Zaft knights getting sliced to pieces left and right, even ones who were obviously outside the man's sword range. Yet the silver haired man simply continue his stride, his face didn't even flinch or show a least bit of emotion. The swords had never left their sheath and the man's arm never left his pocket.
"SVEN! Hei, SVEN!"
The white haired man turned around as the last Knight fell. Sven Cal Payang (The Serpent Sword, 10th Seat, bounty: 15,000,000) silently looked at the soldier who was carrying a letter. The soldier gave the letter to Sven, who opened it, and read it for moment. After which, he uttered a silent: "Ready the ship back to Archangel. Let the local Alliance soldiers deal with this."
0000
"Then, the 9th seat, Mr. Bushido, the Destruction Sword."
"Was that really the guy's name?" Kage mused.
"No. It's just he had one trip to Japan and he got hooked with Japanese culture. Compound that with an incident that tore his face up, he used a samurai mask ever since."
0000
In China…
A man in large blue overcoat topped with armor wearing a samurai mask and a straw hat with Sakura motif on it was standing in the middle with a dead Knight on his feet, surrounded by a group of Zaft Knights. The Knights were enraged, mostly due to the fact the samurai wasn't even looking at them.
The man at the center was reading a letter that just arrived today, ignoring the others.
The knights charged at him from every direction simultaneously. But then, the man reacted by raising a small wakizashi and stabbed it to the ground, hard. The ground literally cracked open from the simple stab and a shockwave rippled and engulf the knights, st5opping them in their tracks.
Mr. Bushido (the Destruction Sword, 9th seat, bounty: 25,000,000) calmly sheathe back his wakizashi and walk away. As he did, the knight's armor were ripped apart and flayed off their frames before reduced to dust while blood bursting from every hole in their body. Their insides were crushed. "Captain Imelia… it appears this one must depart immediately de gozaru."
"Well, my boys are sure gonna miss ya. Harlbarton dead it couldn't be at a better time… what do you feels about this Kage character?"
Mr Bushido took his cut straw-hat and put it back on his head. "This one feels this new character deserves a direct observation that it must."
0000
"8th Seat, Kamina, the Spiral Sword. He's one hell of a guy with a really over the top attitude."
"Define over the top."
"Let me see…" Prayer trudged through the documents in the office and hand over a thick (15 cm) document or rather, booklet to Kage. Kage read it and gaped. "…Prayer this is not…"
"It is. Damage report as in… well… you know…"
"Murdoch's gonna hate his guts to kingdom come…"
0000
The soldiers of the Alliance in Thailand were trembling in anger when they looked at their newly constructed base. Finished just yesterday which much blood sweat and tears for 3 weeks straight…
…and it is already flattened to the ground in less than an hour ago.
A man wearing absolutely no upper clothes but a cloak with a fiery skull design and various tattoos adorning his chest, a pair of elongated sunglasses, and a pair of trousers walked out ever so casually. He's carrying a ridiculously long sword on his back. "Eh? Why are you so angry, this GREAT Kamina-sama had destroyed the enemy base!"
"THAT'S OUR BASE YOU'VE DESTROYED YOU IDIOT!"
"Heh?" Kamina (Spiral Sword, 8th seat, Bounty: 30,000,000) looked again at the base. "Well what do you expect? Back when we infiltrate their base I did go a liiiiiiiii-tle bit over the top and destroyed their base. How would I know they would charge back in revenge while I was having a nap! Besides I beat them all back, didn't I?"
"WE JUST FINISHED BUILDING THAT BASE YESTERDAY!" The soldiers gritted his teeth in anger. As they did, he saw a messenger came at him from behind, a little bit confused to the ruined landscape.
"Anoo… I'm looking for the outpost of the Thailand squad?"
The soldiers of the Thailand branch groaned with tears streaming from their face and reply. "We're the soldiers of the Thailand branch. Our base… is… well… it used to be here…" Everyone shot Kamina a tearful murderous look.
"I'm looking for Kamina, the Spiral Sword."
"That's the GREAT KAMINA-SAMA for you boy!" Kamina stomped forward.
0000
"He's practically a functioning lunatic." Prayer sighed. "But all around good guy."
Kage was slightly amused but frowned nonetheless. "I'm sure he's not all that bad. Anyway, moving on."
"Right you are… 7th Seat, Kyoshiro Toudou, the Miracle Sword."
"Don't tell me that…"
"No, no. It's just that, he once defeated an army of 3000 knights with only 100 swordsmen, and he didn't lose a single soldier, which is outright a miracle. Hence, the title."
0000
Somewhere in the great Outback of Australia…
What's left of the previously 5000 strong Zaft knights cavalry were confused. Anywhere they turned, they were showered with arrows and cannon fires. "H… How many soldiers those Alliance bastards GOT? Why did they keep appearing left and right like this! They must be numbering in thousands!"
Meanwhile… in reality…
"Next, move the 50 soldiers from the previous point to this area. The others remain as they are. Ready the next squad for the next relocation." The alliance soldiers, numbering no more than 200 were listening to Kyoshiro Toudou (Miracle Sword, 7th Seat, bounty 45,000,000).
"Alright you lads! You heard him! Let's get to it!"
Just then, a young man with glasses with a scar running across his face came in. "Toudou-san sir."
Toudou looked at Asahina, one of his subordinates. The man gave him a letter. Toudou read the letter and frowned. "Once this battle is over, pack up. We're going back home."
0000
"Wow… that's good. I suppose that means the members of this Juppongatana thing ain't just all brawns and no brains…"
"Yeah well… the next five are ones you might need to watch out for."
"How so?"
"These guys are really… really powerful. Some of them were powerful enough to make people question whether they really are naturals. Starting with 6th Seat, Neil Dylandy AKA Lock On Stratos, the Flying Sword"
0000
In South China sea…
A knight's head was suddenly crushed by a peculiar spear with a cylindrical, blunt, and heavy spearhead made of lead flying out of nowhere.
"What the fuck is this?" The other Zaft knights were terrified. They were in the middle of the ocean aboard a battle barge, engaging a small group of Alliance ships. Only two of the enemy ships had crashed into their fleet while a few others remain outside their cannon range, but all the sudden, rain of spears came flying out of nowhere and reports of their men were getting slaughtered in the other ships.
Another spear flies in at high speed, curved in a wicked angle, and penetrated three knights' heads in a row of its bending trajectory at an impossible angle. One knight barely escaped just because he fell down by a slip. He gets a close up look of the spear when it flew overhead. The thing is: the spear… has arrow fletching.
"Wait a second… that's no spear…" He looked at where the 'spear' stuck and crawled towards it. He looked again at the long projectile and realized: it was no spear. It's an arrow. A ridiculously HUGE arrow.
"Holy shi…"
20 miles away…
Lock On Stratos (Flying Sword, 6th Seat, Bounty 65,000,000) stood in the midst of an array of thick strings crisscrossing around him and grabbed another spear from one of his three backpacks, where a relatively large double headed Naginata with a rope attached to it were carried on his back. He placed the spear arrow on the string formation. He narrowed his gaze to look at his target, pulled the strings, using them like a bowstring and fired the projectile, scoring another headshot. Neil chuckled and scratched another mark on his kill quota. "That's 34…" he looked at the other ship and shook his head. "The new guy ain't half bad… though he's a bit of overkill…"
0000
"Now, last I heard, they've recruited a new guy. His name was… Setsuna, the Blind Sword. This kid is a new bloke… but exceedingly powerful. Powerful enough to make a straight shot to the 5th seat, replacing Neil, who was the previous."
"Ehh… how do you guys determine the position of these Juppongatana seat?"
"We duke it out. The new guy was told to fight the members of the Juppongatana, defeat them and took over their seat."
"That's a bit barbaric…"
"It isn't always about fighting. Sometimes it can be a contest like, a chess match or who gets to kill the most Knights in one skirmish."
0000
In the other ship, still in the South China Sea…
One swing.
"AAAAAHHH!" A knight had his arm cleanly cut by the shoulder.
Another swing.
A knight's head was removed from his shoulder.
Yet another swing.
A large bodied knight was bisected cleanly in half, revealing a white haired teen with bandages allover his body, who was slicing Knights to pieces left and right while casually counting the number of the Advanced he had cut down… with his bandaged, blood bathed, bare hands.
Blood splattered on the Setsuna's (Blind Sword, 5th seat, no bounty assigned yet) face, smearing the bandages covering his blind eyes. His ears twitched again when another knight came from behind. The knight brought his sword down only to found a second later, that his sword had snapped in two and the knight had been ripped to two right on his waist. "And that's… 38… I'm ahead of Neil-senpai, heh. I'm still behind the lieutenant though… Still… I'm wondering… is Karren-senpai watching?"
0000
"Hold up, Prayer, back up a little bit, you said Juppongatana's memberships were determined… by having candidates challenged the current members for their position? So… every time there's a new member does that mean…"
"Yes. One guy got kicked off the group until one of the members is dead or he got better. The one on the tenth seat is the one in most danger of getting kicked out."
"And let me guess. Setsuna was in fifth seat because he hasn't been able to defeat the 4th seat?"
"Bingo. There's her in the 4th seat."
"Her?"
"The 4th Seat, Karren, the Swordbreaker, the only woman in Juppongatana."
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Aboard the alliance ship observing the battle in the South China sea, an attractive, well endowed woman with spiky red hair looked at the proceeding of the naval battle through a binocular. She was a fairly attractive young girl… if it weren't for the many horrendous scars covering her being including her young beautiful face, and the fact that her left arm is a demonic prosthetic arm with katanas for fingers.
"What are you looking at, Karren?"
"I'm looking at the new guy… he's good."
"Is he?"
"Cutting apart an Advanced, armor and all, like they were crumpled dish rag with his bare hands… He's way too good." Karren (Swordbreaker, 4th seat, bounty: 75,000,000) put down her binoculars and frowned. "And they haven't assigned any bounty on his head, but at this rate, it should be in 8 digit range."
"Tch. Is that guy really natural?"
"Well, knock yourself out trying to figure that one out. Personally I ain't sorry to see him kicked you off the Juppongatana."
Balsam Arendo (Phantom Sword, former 10th seat, bounty: 10,000,000) flinched at the direct insult. "Now that's not very-"
"You're too stupid to talk Arendo. So shut up."
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"Balsam Arendo? The former 10th seat?"
"His fighting skill ain't all great, but he's got some brains… and a good 'social' skill. Kinda of a braggart though…" Prayer made a quotation gesture at the word social.
"…define social skill?"
"He has a… uncanny ability to make people do what he wants… skillfully using words to sway people. He got his own supporters and was quick to garner it from new recruits. He's the one who came up with the Punishment Logue as well."
Kage frowned at the information. "How did you guys keep him in the line? How did you do it Prayer?"
"What, me?"
"You're the 3rd seat. You're also the member of the Juppongatana, aren't you?"
Prayer Reverie (Lightspeed Sword, 3rd seat, bounty: 85,000,000 – AN: 25 million higher than his elder brother… Mwu: SHUT UP!-) laughed. "Well… technically everyone in Juppongatana officially outranked him. We keep him in line because he knows that all of us are stronger than him, preventing him from getting any funny ideas. But no one scares him better than Harlbarton… and of course… the 2nd seat, and Harlbarton's… your lieutenant, Canard Pars, the Seven Sword. Strongest of the nine."
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The South China Sea conflict…
When a small Zaft battle barge patrol fleet was attacked by a small group of Alliance skirmishers, the Alliance only brought three ships with them, and the Zaft patrol has five. The battle goes that one ship, stayed behind, the other two ships crashed on the battle barges. Each ship, sent only and ONLY one solitary soldier. Not a single cannon was shot from the Alliance. Technically, the Alliance side only brought down three warriors to battle the entire fleet. Neil stayed aboard one vessel that stayed behind and rain death from a distance upon the enemy. Setsuna aboard one ship rampaged, and cut everyone to size in the enemy ship.
And as for the third warrior…
Setsuna had just returned to the Alliance vessel and met with Neil and Karren. "97. The last 2 choose to kill themselves rather face me."
"94." Neil raised his hands in defeat. "6 were already dead a little earlier. Illness I think. Not my doing."
Karren looked at Neil and then to the bloody Setsuna. She sighed and nodded. "Alright. It's official. Setsuna, from here on out, you're now a member of the Juppongatana."
"Yay." Setsuna clenched his fist and did a little victory dance at the back of his head. But he still had a little confusion. "I'm grateful with this appointment and all but… Karren Senpai you're… 4th seat, right? And I'm now a 5th seat… but shouldn't you be the one observing me directly on combat, seeing you're my direct senior and superior?"
Karren shook her head. "First, I don't really enjoy in this sort of activity. Second, Canard asked for it. And third…"
An entire battle barge, already looked as if it was ravaged by some sort of a natural disaster, was suddenly split in half. Everyone looked at it and Karren finished her answer while swinging around a familiar letter to everyone to see. "Third, our lieutenant is in a very shitty mood, and you know damn well why."
The crews of the last Zaft Battle barge looked in horror at the wreckages of their barges that quickly sank to the bottom. A black blur burst of the wreckage and the blur landed right in their midst.
A young man with a long disarrayed jet-black hair stood with an empty Japanese Katana sheath, a Kukri Blade, and a Chinese Blade all attached on the left arm, and a Bastard sword, a Scimitar, and a Rapier attached on the right arm. The said right arm was holding a bloodied Katana, while the other arm was holding a giant Zweihander… or what's left of it.
The black haired man gave a bloodshot look at the frightened knights and then looked at his now useless 7th sword. Tossing it away to the ocean behind him, he unsheathed the Bastard sword from his left arm and point it towards the knights.
"Up your fucking game or scram." A very pissed Canard Pars (Seven Sword, 2nd Seat, Lieutenant of the 7th Division, bounty: 100,000,000) growled with murder laced in. "I'm in a pretty fucking shitty mood."
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"I don't understand." Kage scratched his head as he went through another report. "If these guys were as powerful as you said… why aren't they here when Veia attacked us? If they were here things would've been so much different!"
"Yeah I know. It's just… they were so good; the upper echelons had already took notice of their outstanding ability… So… many times, they get asked to deal with various situations across the globe. But there are only nine of us and the war is everywhere."
"But… why did Harlbarton didn't…"
"Harlbarton's orders. The first days of the siege that led up to that showdown, he told me to keep quiet about it." Prayer frowned in sorrow. "Harlbarton fears that if the Juppongatana was called at the time, many of our fronts will be in danger. He… feels that, the other Juppongatana are still needed in the long run and instrumental to end the war, and so he decided to leave them out."
"…he tried to get you out of the fortress too… didn't he?"
"Eh?" Prayer blinked and looked at Kage. The masked man had his head down in deep thought.
"When you told my friends that you were the one who's going to escort them back to Orb area by Mwu's request… it was actually Harlbarton who ordered Mwu to assign you for the job. I think he knew." Kage hold his temple. "He always knew what would happen to a certain extent. He didn't know exactly how it's going to play out but he knew… and he tried to get you away from danger."
Prayer's eyes widened with realization.
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Meanwhile a few days later, back in Gamoff aquatic fortress…
When Veia was still around, no alliance ships would even dare to go within 50 miles of the said fortress. And now, all the sudden, for the first time in the fortress 70 years history, the guards of the Gamoff found themselves under a naval siege by the Alliance. Scores upon scores of Alliance Naval fleet, around 25 flagships strong had besieged the fortress for 3 days straight now.
"Is this alright sir? We haven't received any orders from the top yet…"
"Speed is one of the decisive factors in warfare. If we wait for orders from on high, we will wait forever!" The officer in charge replied calmly. "Relax. Veia's dead. They're like a snake with its head cut off. An army cannot last long without its leader. We took out their home base, and we'll get even more prestige than that freak in a black mask."
Meanwhile, inside…
Scores upon scores of Bladebanes stood in a formal formation. In the middle, a body in a stone case was paraded slowly towards the crypt. Priest and Priestess sing their requiem and chant prayers for the departed soul of the Hero.
Only one teenager did not shed a tear.
"Hold him! HOLD HIM!"
Half a dozen men were struggling to keep the teenager's pace towards the coffin.
"What the hell… I never knew he was this strong…GWAAA!" One knight could no longer hold on and was thrown away like a ragdoll.
The man's walked at a sustained pace, unbothered by the weight of the people he dragged.
"Who… Who is that guy?" One Bladebane was unnerved by the sight.
"It's obvious who that is…"
Rage had gone a long way consuming the man's heart to the point increasing his strength tenfold.
With one fell swoop, the remaining five fully grown man was tossed away from the teenager. The teenager jumped and with great force landed on the stone coffin. The carrier of the Stone Coffin's gasped and fell on their knees. The boy lifted his fist and brought it down with a great cry. The coffin was smashed apart.
The Bladebanes gaped at the blatant desecration of their master's resting place. But they were even more shocked to see the culprit.
The teenager rummaged the insides of the coffin and after a moment, pulled out the remains of Goud Veia's armor. And then just like that, the teenager jumped down and walk away carrying the armor on his back as if desecrating a man's coffin was no big deal.
One of the Bladebanes had enough and stomped forward to bar the boy's way. "Have you gone MAD? That's your master's coffin!"
"No. It's not."
"What?"
"That is just a stone case carrying a headless corpse."
"You dare…"
"MASTER VEIA IS STILL HERE!" The boy smashed his own chest, his voice, his words echoed like thunder to everyone's ears. The bladebanes all fell silent. He aimed his fist at the bladebane's heart. "Is he here?"
The Bladebane was speechless.
"This is no time for mourning. While you idiots cry and wallow in your own ineptitude and arrogance, our enemy are making fun of our master's death. They're spreading a message far and wide. That we are weakened. That we are not infallible! Emboldened by that, the enemy's bearing down on us, and they even dared to desecrate our homebase in front of our very own noses at this very moment. And what do we do?" The boy repeated his question a tad louder. "WHAT DO WE DO?"
The Bladebanes eyes all turned to this boy… this man.
"BROTHERS OF THE SWORDS! IS MASTER VEIA STILL HERE?"
And all the sudden, every single Bladebane in fort Gamoff no longer cry. They throw away all their mourning garbs and put on their armor. And they all yell, cheering. Angrily. Their fighting spirit suddenly rose to its zenith.
Dearka held his breath at the sight. The boy suddenly came before him and tossed Veia's armor to his lap.
"Have our armorers fix it and made it my size. I want it to be finished once we arrived at Archangel."
Dearka understood. "You got it."
Shiho watched with concern as the boy stormed off. "He didn't even cry, even though he's visibly hurt."
"Yeah well." Dearka replied understandingly, shouldering the armor he was about to take to the workshop. "He cried them dry a long time ago."
The Bladebanes, led by one Yzak Joule, boarded their battle barges and set sail to meet the Alliance besieging fleet head on.
In less than 15 minutes, the Alliance's besieging fleet of 25 flagships were wiped out, no survivors.
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Meanwhile… back in Archangel…
Fuji was still trudging through the rocks blocking the inlet. "Uaaahhh… it's already a week… and we barely progressed this much with clearing out all these debris…"
"Don't mind about it too much Fuji-kun! If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be able to get this far in a week. If it were us normal sized guys, it could've taken months!" Mwu grinned. And then as he turned around he saw a familiar figure. "Well… I'll be. Take heart lads, our glorious leader has returned to full health!"
Indeed, it is Kage. Behind him was Prayer, holding to his captain's cloak.
The soldiers of the 7th division cheered seeing their captain and hero back and saluted. "Captain Kage!" "Welcome back to the land of the living sir!"
Mwu nodded happily at the 7th division's acceptance. Loyalty can always help. But then he noticed Kage didn't wear his captain's cloak. "Why didn't you put it on?"
Kage pull out several explosive tags. "I'm here to help clean out this mess. I might dirty it in the process."
Mwu laughed. But he stopped soon as he understood what's going on and nodded understandingly. He looked at his little brother and made a gesture.
Prayer understood and packed the vest for later use. Kage jumped into the center of the rubble and began planting the explosive. Prayer smiled. "Captain Kage spent the rest of the three days cleaning up weeks worth of outstanding paperwork. Big brother, you really should take an example."
"Ouch. Well… all those who had seen him in combat during the Archangel Bay ordeal would definitely agree that he is a good captain. But the incoming eight guys will need some convincing."
"I'm sure Kage-san will come through."
Kage suddenly run back. "TAKE COVER!"
The soldiers quickly ran away for cover while Fuji jerked back slightly and a few moments later, a massive explosion occurred and blew a small hole in the blockade, allowing a small bit of water to fill in at last. The soldiers and Fuji rushed into the spot and began enlarging the hole. Kage looked at the activity, but his mind fling somewhere else. "Mwu-san."
"Yes?"
"…you're an experienced soldier having suffered multiple moments of life and death situation, yeah? So you should have experience with this sort of thing?"
"What may be the problem?"
Kage looked at his palm. All his injuries from the battle with Veia has been healed. Thanks to Veia heal some of his most grievous wounds in his last breaths, it didn't take him long to recover. But still… "…things have been… a bit slow."
Mwu's eyes widened and his expression gloomed. "It happens."
Kage looked at Mwu.
"When you suffer grave physical injuries… some injuries never fully heal. They'll nag you and sometimes, it made your reaction time gets slower and all. It happens all the time. It's only a bit, but the more you fight, the more you'll feel it."
Kage blinked.
"Eventually, get yourself banged up just enough, and someday you might end up unable to lift a finger. That's the risk we all take."
Kage sighed. "…I understand. But I'm afraid you misunderstood a little bit."
"Misunderstood?"
"Yes. What I meant is-"
Kage's comment suddenly was cut short by Fuji's scream of pain. An explosion occurred at the back of his head. Everyone looked at the giant, who is now holding his said head in pain. Fuji rubbed the spot where the explosion just occurred and scraped something from the spot. Fuji looked at it and frowned. A cannonball.
"Oi! There's three alliance ships over there! They just fired a cannon!"
"They must've thought Fuji is an enemy!"
"Well with his size I'm not surprised!"
Kage looked at the distance and saw the ship that just fired.
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"A HIT!" Balsam cheered.
"Balsam! What in the blazes are you doing! Who told you to fire?" Karren angrily stomped, with Setsuna in tow, demanding an explanation.
"But-but… LOOK! LOOK!" The man pointed at a giant standing on the Archangel's cliffs, shaking at Setsuna, asking the blind man to see what he see.
"Oh yes, what a wonderful sight it is, all black." Setsuna sarcastically replied.
Karren shook her head at her juniors' antiques and looked at the base… before checking her eyes for optical illusion. "Is that a giant standing on the cliff of Archangel bay?"
"Wow… okay, that is one large guy…" Lockon whistled.
Canard frowned.
"Are we too late? They didn't just kill Captain Harlbarton, they've also taken over the fortress?" Karren thought of the grimmest possibility. "And then they assign that giant as a guard or something…"
"Never seen a Natural 80 feet tall."
"That's why! Let's shoot it down! Cannons!"
"Wait!" Canard interrupted. "Lockon. Shoot him."
"What but…!" Balsam was about to protest but the lieutenant quickly cuts in. "How many fucking cannonballs do you think it'll take to bring that mother down? We need a guy with some bullseye accuracy instead of firepower so unless you can shoot that well, shut the fuck up. Lockon!"
"Roger." Lockon bite the black glove in his right arm and pulled multiple strings out of it. Within moments, the sniper had created an array of crisscrossing strings around him. Pulling out three spears (arrow) from his backpack. The spears are all the blunt cylindrical tipped type. Lockon grunted and pulled 6 strings along with the 3 spears all at once, preparing to fire all three projectiles. "Each of one of these suckers weigh 50 kilos. Fired at this speed it'll pulverize even fully armored knights. Three of them at a time… well… let's find out how messy it'll be… Lock on… and FIRE!"
Three heavy cylindrical spears fly away at eye blinding speed. All three unerringly head straight towards Fuji's head.
No one could see what's coming.
No one but one man.
All the sudden, a black blur ran past the corner of the giant's eyes. Kage leap to the air from Fuji's shoulder, Shiki transformed midway to Midori Shiki bow. Still midair, Kage generated the green arrow and aimed at the incoming projectile and fired. The single green arrow penetrated all three of Lockon's arrow midair before exploding full force in a green conflagration taking out all projectiles. However, Kage was still in a free fall.
Fuji quickly outstretched his arm and narrowly caught his lifesaver just before Kage hit the waters below. "I got you! I got you!"
"Phew. Thanks Fuji." Kage sighed in relief. He remembered. It happened again. "Mwu-san!"
Mwu blinked and flabbergasted, as if someone just woke him from the stupor. "Yeah?"
"They were arrows! Big one at that! They're coming from those ships!"
"Arrows? Those were arrows! And you saw them coming? From a few miles away?"
"Yeah. That's what I'm telling you." Kage readied himself if there are any other attempts. "When I meant things have been slow… I mean that everything I see seem move pretty slowly. Just like those arrows."
"Oh… I… see…" Mwu gulped. 'I think it's more like he's way too fast now…'
Meanwhile, back in the Alliance ship, Lockon jawdropped at the spectacle. "Okay… that's… just…"
"I hear an explosion. What was that?" Setsuna frowned.
"It was that Kage." Karren was also surprised. "He stopped Lockon's shot with an explosion."
Canard growled. "Like hell he is…"
"Get over yourself! You got your shots blocked before right!" Balsam retorted.
The sniper shook his head. "He didn't just block my shot." Lockon was more impressed rather than angry now. "He shot it down."
"Shoot it down? Lockon-senpai's arrow which weigh 50 kilos each, flying at the speed of 310 km/hr and he shot. It. All. Down?" Setsuna was quite surprised.
"In one fucking shot." Canard concluded. "So I guess those Zaft fuckers weren't joking about this crazy shit." Canard was holding a piece of black paper, with Kage's face on it.
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In Brazil…
"Caramba. This Senor Kage is one badass of a muy macho hombre, isn't that right compadres?" An American-Mexican man with a very thick Mexican accent, wearing a captain's vest was resting his back on the surface of a pair of big ass blood bathed sword while showing the same black poster to his subordinates.
"That's loco!"
"The hombre's bounty is nowhere close to your, Capitan!"
Edward Harrelson (Ed the Reaper, Captain of the 2nd Division of First Vanguard, Blacklist, Bounty: 650,000,000) laughed. "Si! Si! But I never killed a Hakutenkun in single combat. I would very much like to meet this hombre!"
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Beijing…
A young woman of Chinese descent brandishing a long rifle while a numerous, yet intricate burnt scar with the shape of Sakura petals on her exposed back was sipping her tea calmly while her subordinates were in total uproar over a certain wanted poster.
"This much bounty on the first fly… and he was considered a blacklist too!"
A younger soldier of the 10th division wondered. "What's blacklist?" Other soldiers looked at the young fellow as if asking is he insane.
"Blacklists are special cases like us." Rena Imelia (Sakura Burst, Captain of 10th squad of Regular Army, Blacklist, bounty: 750,000,000) explained. "They post our faces in specially made black papers like this. Stitch the picture of our faces and our names on the Knight's collars so that they'll recognize us and take caution. It means that we have done the Zaft Empire a big mess… the Empire saw us as a threat. A big one. So dangerous that Elemental Knights and anyone below that level are forbidden to engage us."
"Elemental Knights and anyone below… but the only position higher than the Elemental Knights are…" The young soldier gulped.
"That's right. Being a blacklist means you'll have every Hakutenkun out there gunning for your head."
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In Europe…
A middle aged man on horseback while blowing on his pipe had just received the same black wanted poster of Kage. The man skipped a breath and chuckled when he read the details of the poster. "My oh my… I've heard of Lewis' death and about his replacement…" Morgan Chevalier (Moonlight Mad Dog, Captain of the 6th Squad of Cavalry, Blacklist, bounty: 560,000,000) handed the paper back to his subordinates. "This young lad has caused quite an uproar."
"But he killed a Hakutenkun! Goud Veia, even!"
"Yes I've heard. And every member Juppongatana had also been informed of this occasion I believe. If this Kage is to lead the 7th division, he must first past their judgment. Even for someone with that sort of capability, it'll be tough."
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Meanwhile, in Zaft High Council, a meeting was in place…
"The blacklist. We have only given three people of this status."
"But that's ridiculous! No one gets a bounty that high on the first time!"
"Well… you know what they say. There's the first time in everything."
"This isn't about the first time or not!" A council banged his fist to the table, cutting all arguments short. "Fact is: Edward 'Ed the Reaper' Harrelson: 650,000,000, Sakura Burst Rena Imelia: 750,000,000, Morgan Chevalier the Moonlight Mad Dog: 560,000,000. All are big shots. This man, Kage had inflicted more damage to our empire than the rest of the other Captains can do in one skirmish. Personally, I think this bounty is still too small."
The other members of the High Council silently agreed on this point.
"The POINT is, we must ensure that this bounty didn't get any higher than this!"
"Very well. Spread the word. Have our knights stitch this man's visage on their collars along with the other Blacklist so they'll never ever forget."
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"Well then." Canard concluded. "Let's see just what kind a guy our new captain is." The man threw away a black Wanted Poster pertaining Kage's bounty.
On the paper said:
Kage
The Black Devil
Age: Unknown
Origin: Unknown
Status: Unknown
Blacklist
Bounty: 300,000,000
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Yep. There it goes. Please read and review.
