Kira is Kage

Lacus is Hikari

Except when they're together.

NOTE:

"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking

"Charge!": special case

'Darn!': thoughts

GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

Please… read and review

There are three reasons why this chapter took so long to come out. One: I was taking a break. Two: the first half needs to be rewritten from scratch because my CPU crashed – all data lost. Three: by the time I managed to do reason no 2, I realized I need to revamp the last half to fit the modified first half. Sorry…!

000000000000000

During Archangel's four day journey to Shanghai…

Tolle had just finished another training session with Mwu, under the watchful gaze of Kage. As usual, Tolle spend that session getting beaten down by Mwu. Kage looked sternly at Tolle's overall bruised and battered self. And then he simply shook his head in disapproval. And as Tolle grinned at him, Kage finally said it. "Tolle… I've been thinking about your fighting style lately."

"uh-huh, and?" Tolle eagerly awaits Kage's appraisal.

Kage replied: "I think it's best if you start wearing body armor."

Tolle blinked. "What for?"

Kage pointed the obvious: the general scarred over quality of Tolle's being.

Tolle shook his head. "Thanks but no thanks. If I start wearing armor, people will be able to differentiate the two of us. The purpose of the Shadowguards is take over your place as needed. If we became distinct with one another, doesn't that kinda beat the purpose?"

"This isn't about appearance, Tolle." Kage shook his head. "This is about what's practical. I watched as you get pummeled by Mwu, and I realized one thing: you're reckless. Almost as reckless as I am. But whenever I'm being reckless I do so under the knowledge that I reserved the most suicidal plan to the gravest of situations, and I always had a way out planned in advance. As for you… I had a feeling you're taking unnecessary risk that endanger yourself and everyone around you. Which, given my current circumstances that were born from my own recklessness, I'm not really in a position to criticize you…"

Mwu snorted and Hikari, the medic in charge of Kage's health, couldn't agree more as she snorted into her gas mask.

"The problem is that… you don't match your inclination towards charging head first into danger area with enough defensive skills. You endure unnecessary injuries for the sake of dishing out more punishment. I fear that if you do not pay closer attention to your defenses, one day you'll bit off more than you can chew."

"What about you, Kage? Your defenses are pretty light as well, right?" Tolle motioned at Kage's lightweight equipment: paper thin flak armor on the vest which only covers his chest, and then leather clothes on arms and legs.

"True. I'm not built to handle a lot of punishment. Harlbarton had said that to me. So I make it up by being more fleet footed. I dodge when I faced an attack which I can't handle… which happens most of the time. Now the problem with dodging is that it messed up your fighting form. You risk losing your advantageous position when you move. Which is why people like me tend to dodge attacks at the last possible moment, at skintight margin, thus how I minimize movements and lessened the change in my form."

"Then why can't you teach me to do that?"

"That is exactly what we've been trying to do… but… sometimes we have to face the facts. Tolle, you're not me. You don't have my speed, my precision, my nimbleness. And one other thing: you're easily distracted." Kage continued his assessment. "When you're calm and concentrating, you can easily handle whatever's coming your way. But, in the heat of battle with a lot of things happening, you're also easily distracted. When that happens, you have a lot of openings. What I'm trying to say is, some of my fighting styles are just… not meant for you."

Tolle looked somewhat offended by that comment. He didn't say anything, but when he left Mwu's training, his mood was definitely worse off.

Kage shook his head seeing the dejected form of his closest friend grow smaller as he left his sight. "Okay… I think I should've worded it differently."

"You think, O' Master of Sensitivity? (koff)"

Chapter 45:

Bringing Down Shanghai Part 2:

Part 3: The Guards' tale

Present day…

Tolle, Milly and a masked Gino (Taka) stood before Kage, Xingke and Mwu. "So what's your story?"

"Where to start?"

"Maybe we can start from yesterday, after that assassination ordeal?" Milly suggested.

"Good idea."

000000000000000

Yesterday…

After the crowd of Kage fanclub disperses, Tolle and Milly thought of returning on standby at Kage's side. But then, as they contemplate to do just that, Milly spotted someone… something… that was completely out of place.

It was Karren.

Dressed up in a pink bunny girl suit, ears and all.

0000000000000000

Kage and Xingke had to choke on that. "Excuse me!? I heard you right? Bunny Girl!? KARREN!?"

"I'm still having a hard time believing that too." Gino rubbed his head.

"Believe it. We saw it with our own eyes." Tolle replied and Milly nodded before she continued. "Of course, we thought we were hallucinating… but seriously how many one armed red haired girl is there? So maybe she really just had that hobby… but she doesn't look like she's enjoying what she's doing. More like… she's like a woman on a mission. And so, seeing that Kage was not in any immediate danger, we decided to follow her and see what's really going on. The trip took us to a place called the Kabuki Palace."

Kage turned to Xingke for explanation.

"An isolated Red Light district ghetto inside Shanghai. Similar with the Narrows, but if the Narrows are controlled by the mob, said ghetto was controlled by the Yakuzas. The main building is a massive bordello right at the center of the complex called the Kabuki Palace, hence the name used to address the entire sector."

"That's where Karren went… and that's where we lost her. We couldn't follow her any deeper than the entrance."

0000000000000000

Tolle and Milly were stopped right at the entrance of a large towering Japanese style house by a pair of wild looking men carrying katanas. Large tattoos that covered their entire arms can be seen. One of them is missing a few fingers. Tolle and Milly quickly realized what they are. 'Yakuzas…'

"This ain't a place for ya kiddies!"

"Hurryup and scram!"

Tolle and Milly looked at each other and nodded as they turned and leave, taking one last look at the sign at the entrance showing the name of the structure: the Kabuki Palace. "What now?" Tolle asked to Milly.

"Nothing to it. We have to report this back to Kage."

However, Milly just did one BIG mistake: mentioning the name of Kage in a passing sentence within a road filled to the brim with money eyed hoodlums and ne'er-do-wells. In a span of minutes, they were surrounded by a bunch of wild eyed ruffians and bloodshot bounty hunters. Even someone like Tolle can sense the dense aura of blood thirst that has surrounded them.

Tolle pulled out his Skygraspers as Milly readied her bow.

"I'm warning you guys… turn around and leave us alone." Tolle pointed his sword at the hostile crowd. "We don't want any trouble."

"That's fine with us." One of the thugs that seem to be the leader of the company stepped forward. He wore salvaged samurai armor, with bearded face roughened by scars and age, carrying an excessive amount of Katanas – another way of saying that most of them are merely decorations for intimidation effect as he seem can only use one at a time. The said Thug boss smirked smugly. "We don't want any trouble too. So why don't you lot leave behind your heads here, and be on your way?" The crowd of thugs snickered at that comment.

Tolle and Milly were NOT amused.

"There's pretty price in your head. You may not be your 500 mil boss which is so high up in the clouds. But 100 million per Shadowguard head is still real enough money for us, and more earthly." He grinned, showcasing his yellowed teeth.

The two Shadowguards gave one last warning, by going into combat mode: mask on, weapons at the ready.

But that was like a signal for the hoodlums to attack.

First robber who tried to stab Tolle ended up stabbing thin air as Tolle moved to his side. "You were warned." And with a single stroke, he sliced the arm holding the spear. And while the said man is screaming in pain, holding on to his blood drenched stump, Tolle had already moved to the next target. This one didn't even had a chance to defend, his Skygrasper cleaved his chest clean. A straggler attacked him from behind. Tolle was aware of it, but he waited. He waited to try and dodge the incoming attack at the last possible moment, at a skintight margin. The swing came, and Tolle gently took a step forward. The blade grazed his clothes, only his clothes, but his skin can feel the nape of the wind coming from the blade. 'Too close.' Tolle swing his sword in a backward arc, the man took a step back, thinking it was enough. But he didn't know Skygrasper's special property. Tolle flicked a switch, and the sword extended forward. Caught unprepared, the ruffian gasped as the blade cut him horizontally from cheek to cheek. The mugger fell dead as Tolle jumped to the next one.

Those who tried to fare against the Milly were no better off. Conventionally, the weakness of archers is that there's a time lag in-between shots, the time spent by an archer to reload and aim the arrow. Surprisingly, the girl had little to no delay. The shots keep coming one after another, fired straight and true at the target. She reloaded so fast that by the time a bounty hunter was shot dead, another who just realized the predicament had an arrow planted on his head. As blood continues to spill on the ground, the splatters framed a circular perimeter around Milly, an unmarred and unsullied area where no one can seem to get close to.

But the Thug boss was not without some brains. He grabbed one of his squirming men and charged straight at Milly. Milly shot the man dead, but he keep on moving forward, the boss is using him as a human shield. Milly desperately fired shot after shot, and the corpse shield just keep on coming. At a certain distance, Milly thought of moving away, but the Boss unexpectedly tossed the arrow riddled corpse at Milly, knocking her down. She gasped as the corpse is pinning her down, and she struggled to get rid of the corpse and get back up. But a foot pressed against the corpse, squeezing her tight. The Thug boss showed his grinning yellowed teeth as he lifted his sword, getting ready to claim his prize.

"MILLY!"

Tolle came to the rescue and slashed the falling blade away. He stood ready in front of the downed Milly, and the Thug boss, sensing danger, jumped away. Tolle quickly turned to Milly. "Milly? Are you alr-GYAAAAAAHHH!"

A spear went through his back and pierced him right on his side stomach. Tolle gritted his teeth and turned to see who did it. To his surprise, it was that first spearman whose arm he cut earlier. He grinned, showcasing his bloodied teeth as his remaining arm is struggling to dove the spear deeper into his body. Groaning in anger, Tolle slashed his throat and kick him away. He grasped the spear, and with much difficulty, managed to finally pull it out. Fortunately it was a shallow wound.

But now that he's a wounded target, like sharks smelling blood in water, the other thugs grew more frenzied. They close in on the two, surrounding them in a circle. Tolle, grunting through the pain, aimed his sword forward. "Don't come any closer or you'll get some." Alas, said warning was coupled with a slight painful groan as Tolle hold on to his wounded waist. What a blunder.

Clearly, the warning was ignored. Milly grasped another arrow and took aim. But she knew things are getting bleak. There's a minimum range where, as Neil taught her, long range superiority faltered. And these thugs had just entered that range. Her archery won't be so effective now.

Wait a minute, what happened? Are they not the Shadowguards who had fought against 40,000 knights and survived? How could they let themselves be beaten like this by a gang of thugs? And now, they remembered the most fundamental problem: their Shadowguard member is now a man short.

And then Tolle remembered Kira's warning: "…You're easily distracted… …You don't pay close attention on your defensive skills." He finally understands. He was ignorant of it because Sai was there to watch his back. He isn't here anymore. They're a man short and thus the strength that managed to defy 40,000 knights hit rock-bottom.

Milly looked at Tolle and both gave a nervous look, knowing how bleak this will be. They took a deep breath, readying themselves for the worst.

The Thugs charged from all direction…

And then all the sudden, two figures entered the fray.

The first was a knight wearing a bird-like mask, carrying a staff with three scythes protruding on one side. A single swipe form said scythe and an entire row of people were thrown to the air, some were missing a few limbs. Beneath the mask there's a braided blond hair. This person, they recognized immediately.

"Gi-Taka!?" The two echoed a cheer. "What are you doing here?"

Gino spin his newly re-forged Tristan scythe and stood ready. "Just passing by. You two okay?"

"Tolle's hurt!" Milly replied. And then she looked at the other person. This one… is a totally new face.

This other figure has an incredibly spiky dark brown hair, with a red headband tied to his head. He wore a white trousers, and white loose shirt, unbuttoned so as to reveal his bare muscled chest. The chin beneath his smirking lips showed stubbles of an uncleanly shaven beard. But of greater interest, was the other equipment he bears on his back. First glance, it looked like a giant slab of stone… or rather, steel. But second observation revealed it's actually a sword. A big, wide, and unwieldy huge sword.

"Oi…" The man grinned wide with a fishbone stuck on his mouth. "This looks fun. Mind if I join?" Instead of using his giant sword, he used his fist. He punched his fist upward in a mighty uppercut. The fist didn't hit anyone, but the air pressure from the uppercut was powerful enough to launch the thugs at front row off the ground, knocking them unconscious upon landing.

All three looked at this stranger and spoke as one. "And you are…?"

But while the three didn't know him, the thugs seem to know this man in an instant. "That red headband… that giant sword… no mistaking it… It's Zanza the Brawler!"

Upon that recognition, the thugs took a step back. Zanza the brawler grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "What? Aw come on. It seems you guys were having too much fun ganging up on these two lovely kiddies. How bout if you pick somebody your own size, eh? Pick me instead!"

Suddenly the thugs lost interest completely seeing that battle crazy smile. There are about 50 of them… and they're serious in need of reinforcements. "RUN!" And so they consider run with their tail between their legs the brightest idea in the world. "Ruuunn! Call in a dozen, and tell them each to call in another baker!"

Zanza the brawler merely laughed. "What's that? You bunch of sissies! Wakakakaka!" He then turned to the trio. He particularly noted at the wounded Tolle. "Uwah, that looks bad."

"Wh… Who are you?"

"Name's Zanza. I'm a brawler for hire. Nice to meet you." Zanza stretched out his hand for a handshake… but then he noticed that Tolle is still downed. "Ah. I guess now's not the time. Better put pressure on that."

Gino did as Zanza told and kept pressure as soon as Milly finished the tourniquet around the wound. "Why… did you help us?"

"No reason." Zanza grinned. "Stress relief, I guess? Plus, I just don't like having greenhorns being ganged upon."

"Greenhorn!?"

"Yeah! Greenhorn! I just said it! Only a greenhorn will be that relaxed in this city!" Zanza snickered. "The ironclad rule to live in this city is to never let your guard down." As if to emphasize this point, Zanza's fist was suddenly 3 millimeters away from Tolle's lips before he can let out any protesting argument. "See? Only one of you kept his guard up the whole time."

True enough, Gino's Shadowforged Sickle is pointing at Zanza's bandaged stomach.

Zanza grinned as he glared at Gino. "Heh. You're good. Wanna have a go with me?"

"I'd rather not. We have other things to do." Gino withdraw his sickle.

"Ah. Pity. I bet it would be fun." Zanza laughed. He didn't pursue it further and let Gino performed some first aid treatment.

"There he is! Right here!" Suddenly, a man yelled while pointing at their direction.

The four tensed. "Oh hell. They come back?"

Surprisingly enough, the one that came this time are not an army of thugs… but a whole squadron of Troopers, lead by a shop owner. "Yes! That's him! He ate at my restaurant till morning and left without paying the bill!" The owner pointed specifically at Zanza.

The trio jawdropped and gave the eat-and-run culprit a look. Zanza merely laughed. "It was delicious. Thank you!"

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"

Zanza's response to that was to pick Tolle over his shoulder and then turn tail and run like a bat out of hell, followed closely by Milly and Gino. The whole squadron quickly gives chase.

"What!? Why are you running!?" Tolle gaped.

"My bad, I'd rather not be going toe to toe with the military!" Zanza grinned.

"More than that, why are you taking Tolle with you!?" Milly shrieked as she desperately tried to keep up with Zanza who just borrowed/kidnapped his boyfriend.

"Maaa! Don't mind! Don't mind!" Zanza kept laughing and running.

Gino sweatdropped.

"WAAAITT!" The troopers keep chasing. "Come back!"

But as the Squadron's quarries continue to do the opposite of what they were asked, another group entered the fray and make things messier. The group of thugs that retreated earlier is back. And they brought reinforcements. Oh, and their reinforcements also brought reinforcements.

The group of four looked at this mess and Zanza still keep on running with a helpless Tolle on his shoulder can only watch. Zanza grinned as he thought of an idea. "Oi! So you idiots are the ones who said something about Regulars are a bunch of gun totting sissies right?" He yelled loud enough for the troopers behind to hear, and now they all earned a glint of murder in their eyes. Mere meters away from contact with the first thug, Zanza suddenly jumped up to the rooftop, followed by the other two. The army of thugs suddenly came face to face with the said Squadron, both hating one another to the bone. That's like the principles of cats and dogs. There's no need for rhyme or reason, it's a chemistry meeting of a spark of fire with a whole barrel of oil. And the one to throw the first punch was the thug to the face of the restaurant owner who retaliates with his rolling pin. It's on.

Instances later, Zanza, the Shadowguards and Gino looked at a scene of riot, resplendent with yelling, screaming, cursing, punches thrown, guns unloading, clubs and blades swinging, teeth take flight, names taken, and asses kicked. Zanza laughed till his stomach hurts. "Whuahahahaha! What a mess is this!"

Amidst the moans and groans, one Trooper still find some sense in him to scream to Zanza. What he said however, was the last thing everyone would expect: "Sergeant Sagara! Please come back!"

All three looked at the wild haired man with their jaws on the floor.

000000000000000

Many pair of eyes demanding explanation turned to Xingke.

Xingke rubbed his forehead, remembering the squadron registry and their commanding officers in the central command. "Former Sergeant Sanosuke Sagara. Nickname: The Brawler. Also sometimes known as Zanbato Sanosuke, for his habit of carrying a gargantuan huge slab of iron sword he called Zanbato. Hence: 'Zanza' the Brawler. I think it is a relic from Japan, I believe?"

Kage merely nodded before he addressed a particular part of Sanosuke's rank: "Former?"

"Dishonorably discharged a few years ago for an entire library being committed to file his list of horrifyingly bad disciplinary record which includes but not limited to: disobeying countless direct orders, physically and verbally assaulting superior officers, infighting, drinking, gambling, several hundred case of eat and run, over a thousand case of starting a riot for the sheer heck of it, etc, etc. Every worst symptoms indicative of an acute and irredeemable battle maniac."

"But-?" Kage detected a silver lining.

"A good soldier. Well liked. Popular among the lower rank and file."

"If so, why former?"

"The latest incident he was involved in was when he beat down over 200 troopers single handedly with his bare hands. Those 200 are bodyguards of a minor member of a Logos, a minor but still influential enough member who, in all its incomprehensible idiocy, angers the good Sergeant." Xingke explained in a huff. "Brutalized head to toe, the minister spent 3 months in physical recovery, but his traumatized psychological state never truly recover ever since. Opinions divided on how to approach his case: Rena, and his men, desperately wants him back, the Logos wants him out. However, he prefer to just the hell with it and resigned his post, now he spent his time as a local bouncer and troublemaker."

"And one more fuckin' thing." Canard suddenly joined the conversation. "That guy was once a member of 7th's Juppongatana."

Kage's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Fuck yeah." The black haired man smirked happily. "Before that Gra… erm… Mr. Bushido came along, it was he who was once called the Destruction Sword. Fitting. That guy is seriously the Fucking God of Mother-Fuckin' Destruction. He and Harlbarton were tight too."

"Really?" Tolle scratched his head. Suddenly, some parts of his tale are starting to make sense. Chief among them, the reason why Zanza rescued them.

Speaking of rescue… Kage turned suspiciously to Taka. "Taka? While I'm grateful for your rescue of my friends, I kinda had to ask the why of it all?"

"Coinciding interest is all." Gino doesn't want to reveal more in the presence of a Regular lieutenant.

Kage nodded. "Thanks anyway."

"No problem."

"Why don't you continue your story, Mr. Tolle? It's very engaging." Xingke nodded at the Shadowguard.

"Yes. Continue, Tolle." Kage followed.

000000000000000

Ignoring the call from his former subordinate, Sanosuke merely grinned and jumped away, still carrying the dumbfounded Tolle on his shoulder, followed by Milly and Gino, quickly leaving the riot behind. When Sano landed on another roof tile, he looked to the sky and saw the sun is quickly descending. "It's getting dark. You lot had a place to crash nearby?"

Milly answered. "We have the Archangel at the harbor…"

"Uh-uh. We're too far from the harbor now. By nightfall you'll barely survive halfway the trip there without getting hounded by bounty hunters and assassins double the number we're dealing with today, and this fella' here needs proper medical attention a lot sooner than that." Sano nudged Tolle with his head, right near his wound, earning a loud "Ouch!" "Sorry."

"I have you know we can move really fast."

"With Shunshin, I presume. But you can't do it, missy, not with you having to carry him on your back. And certainly not with his element." Sano was once again referring to Tolle's injury. He looked at Gino. "And you can carry him but you ain't gonna be fast enough to dodge bullets from snipers hounding the rooftops." Seeing their distressed look, Sano finally offered his solution to the problem. "I got a safe house nearby. It's not much and a mess, but it should give us a breathing room for the night."

As Milly, Tolle, and Gino saw little choice but to take up Sano's offer, they nodded. But before then, a little courtesy called quick self introduction wouldn't hurt. "Mr. Zanza. My name is Miriallia Haww, you can call me Milly. The boy on your shoulder is Tolle Koenig, my boyfriend. This is Taka. That's his call-sign by the way." Milly quickly added. "Thank you for your kind offer."

Sanosuke smiled warmly and gave a quick nod as well as a two finger salute. "My friends call me Sano."

"I'll carry him for you. He's my friend and all." Gino offered a hand. Sano, knowing nothing about the peculiar relationship between the two, ignorantly handed a rather bewildered Tolle to Taka. Sano then lead the way. The trip took them back to a narrow alleyway near the place where they started, near the entrance to the Kabuki palace.

During the trip, Tolle had some conversation with Gino. "Why… did you help us?"

"You were following Karren, yes?" Gino replied under his breath. "I was doing the same too… But… you guys had fought side by side with her during your tenure in the 7th Division. Did she really have that kind of hobby?" More like… can his ex-girlfriend really change so much in a few years?

"Actually, I was under the impression she'll kill anyone who made her dress like that, including herself." Tolle replied quietly.

"My thoughts exactly." Gino nodded and chuckled.

Tolle understand that Gino helped him because of his awkward relationship with Karren. "Still… thanks. Though… you do know we're not exactly… 'friends'… right?" He whispered. Despite the circumstances, Tolle still fight for Kage, for the Alliance. And Gino… Gino is still a Ruby Exorcist, one day they will fight one another.

"Hey, we may be enemies one day… but I'm not that much of a dishonorable bastard to leave a lone injured person to be ganged upon by a bunch of opportunist money hungry headhunters."

Finally they turned around the corner into a narrow walkway. First glance, that corridor is a dead end with nothing but piles of bins and trashes at the end. But, Sano start trashing the trash bin, revealing a hole. A sizable hole, enough for a person of Sano's size to fit through. "Come on in!"

They reluctantly crawled into the stinky hole with their nose crumpled to withstand this offensive smell.

Once Gino's back disappeared into the dark hole, Sano also entered said hole, but not before he covered the entrance with trashes once again to hide it from prying eyes. It was dark inside the pipe. Dark, stinky, uncomfortable, all rolled into one. Hence why the trip felt so torturously long. After 5 minutes, the road seems to go up. Milly climbed up first, and soon enough, she found the exit, a closed lid. She easily pried the lid open and climbed out of the hole. They seem to be underneath what appears to be some rundown two story mansion. "Where are we?" She observed her surroundings.

"We're inside an old abandoned mansion built on the street leading to the entrance to the Kabuki Palace. In fact, if you look to your left from the balcony, you'll see the entrance just at the end of the street." Sano grinned as he explained from down below.

Milly's eyes rolled. Basically, they're back to where they started. "Can't we use the main door?"

"And have the whole street chasing after you again? Need I remind you we have a 100 million worth of head bleeding out here?"

Milly nodded in understanding. Gino and Sano pushed the greatly weakened Tolle up before they themselves began their climb. But no sooner than Gino climbed out of the hole…

BANG!

A gunshot landed inches away from Milly's leg.

"NOT ONE MORE STEP!" An angry feminine voice echoed around the room.

Everyone instinctively reach out to their weapons, but a second shot that barely grazed Milly's shoulder stopped them all.

"That second warning shot is because you're bringing a wounded person here. But try to move again, there won't be a third warning! You hear me?"

Gino gulped. "What kind of a safehouse is this?" What kind of safehouse that had its occupant being shot at?

The two gunshots and said angry comment were heard by the master of the house, and what he thinks about is: "What the heck?" Sano quickly climbed out of the hole. "Who had the balls to open fire in my house!?"

"Umm… I'm pretty sure she doesn't have any balls." Milly quipped. That feminine voice is just obvious.

"SHUDDUP!" Sano roared. "OOOI! YA SNIPER BASTARD! SHOW YOUR UGLY MUG OR I'LL-"

BANG!

Another shot grazed Sano's cheek. But instead of terrified, Sano growled in anger, and this time, Milly reacted. Measuring the trajectory of the incoming shot, she fired right where the bullet came from.

"WHOA!" the screech from the woman indicated the arrow nearly hit her. In this case, it was enough for her to reveal her presence.

She's a strikingly beautiful woman, no older than 22, with blue eyes and long dark blue hair that reached down her upper back. She's wearing the standard Trooper flak jacket reserved for Sergeants, but hers has a custom coloration of black, with red and white stripes particularly on her right shoulder pads, extending down her light black coloured gauntlet covering her right arm. Her left arm is covered in a yellow bronze colored mechanical gauntlet. And for one thing… she's fully armed. The Sniper rifle in her hands is one thing, but there's an assault rifle tucked on the back of her right shoulder. Unlike the Dagger rifle, this one is a sleeker single barrel rifle, with a magazine containing 8 shots in front of the trigger. The newest rifle, the Windam Assault Rifle. Other than that, she also carried what looked like a Blunderbuss strapped to her waist with an Axe for a bayonet, and don't forget the pair of handguns on her waist. And finally, she had what appears to be a bazooka right at the center back.

She looked at the arrow and then aimed her rifle back to the shooter, Milly, who already aimed another arrow at her. "Don't even think about it." She threatened.

"Likewise." The other woman was unfazed either. The two snipers aimed their weapon at each other, and there's a momentary stalemate between them…

"Maria? Who was it?" Another voice called.

"Some… folks…" The woman Maria responded. "Poppin out of the hole… apparently they're using some old sewage system."

"Really?" Another man appeared. He seem to be in his thirties, a Caucasian but with a slight red hued skin, American judging by his accent, with his messy pale grey hair slicked back and some strands fell down his forehead. He had what appears to be a mechanical blue monocle apparel strapped over his left green eye. The second distinctive feature was blue colored markings tattooed over his nose across his cheeks and a dash on both sides of his lower jaw. His flak jacket is reinforced with some blue plated heavy armor, and like Maria, he's carrying an identical Sniper Rifle, in addition to a sidearm and an Assault rifle on his back. He looked down and saw three people he didn't recognize… and one person whom he knew very well. "Oh, wow. Sano?"

"Garrus!? What are you doing in my house?"

"Your house… oh… this is your house!?" The exchange of friendly banter between the two quickly suppressed the tension.

"One of my Safehouses… what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, Garrus turned around and aim. Moments later, he took another shot at someone. Apparently he didn't miss either. "I… well… I think the situation explains itself? We're under siege here…" As if to emphasize his point, several bullets grazed the railings over his head.

"What?" Sano and company didn't understand a thing. Sano scratched his head. "ummm… slow down a bit? Can you please explain more clearly what happened?"

When the tension was down for good and Maria as well as Milly put away their weapons, they joined Garrus upstairs so as he can explain his situation. But first, they gave Tolle some overdue medical treatment.

"Alright… press here…" Maria instructed to Milly who quickly squeezed the darkened blood out of the wound.

Tolle squealed in pain at first, but he quickly bit his lips to keep whatever's left of his dignity.

"Take it like a man, Tolle." Milly shrugged as she put the finishing touches.

Garrus looked at the two black clad teens, and he understood immediately. "So… for once, the rumors are true." Tolle and Milly looked at the monocled sniper. "Kage the Black Devil has come to Shanghai at last?" Tolle and Milly didn't answer, but they looked at Garrus, curiosity evident. "You're the Shadowguards. Kage's personal squad… Saber… Archer… a hundred million a head." The man grinned. "Name's Garrus. Garrus Vakarian."

"I'm Maria Shepard." Maria also introduced herself. "Apologies for the shootings earlier… we've been a bit on edge in the last few days." Maria gave a slight apologetic nod at Milly. Indeed, contrary to her beautiful features, her eyes showed indication of sleep deprivation, yet they remained alert and awake. Milly also noted how she talked with a thick British accent. "Nice shooting with those arrows, by the way." She offered a hand shake.

Milly kindly accept her offer. "Thank you. And thank you for not blowing our heads off first thing."

"I'm sorry. We thought you were stragglers. But when you bring your boyfriend up with a hole on his stomach, I realize something else was afoot." Maria shrugged as she looked at Tolle's injuries. "What happened to you?"

Tolle chuckled as he looked at the bandaged wound. "Me being an idiot, ignoring a friend's wise advice."

"And what is the advice?"

"…need to armor up."

"Armor up?" Garrus chuckled. "That's easy. There's a heavy armor in a locker down below on the first floor which I think it's about your size. Better do it fast, kid. This place is not as safe as you think, and stay out of the windows or they'll snipe you!"

"Snipe me?" And while Tolle quickly got up and do as told, Milly asked the more important question. "What are you two doing here?"

Maria and Garrus looked at each other, and they nodded. Explanation is clearly necessary. "First… let's get the obvious out of the way. How found you, of Shanghai?"

"Swell place." Tolle sarcastically replied down below as he started picking the pieces of armor he needed. "So far, there have been 3 attempts to kill us. A lot less than an actual battlefield." Once when they were ganged upon by the headhunters, another when they came back with reinforcements, and finally now when Maria was trying to headshot them all.

"Well… I have you know, before you guys arrived here, Rena Imelia issued an order that allowed all sorts of criminal activity to be performed in this city."

"EH!?"

"Well… not directly." Maria followed. "Then again… her order does produce that kind of result."

"What did she say?"

"She ordered the majority of the troopers serving as the law enforcements in this city to stand down."

"She did that?" Milly frowned.

Maria, Garrus and Sano nodded. By that time, Tolle had returned, heavily armored, just like Kira had told him to. Plates of Kevlar on his shoulders and waist, knee guards as well as elbow armor. His stiff movements showed he might need some time to get used to this new armored setting. "Why… would she do that? She purposefully mess this city up?"

"Apparently, she wanted to test your captain." Garrus snorted. "This is her idea of a warm welcome, I guess."

"However… there are some of us who dislike her idea. If nothing else, we just don't like what she's doing to this city. So we decided to do something about it." Maria nodded.

"Do something about it?" And while Milly, Tolle and Gino are still a bit confused, Sano picked up immediately.

"You're playing vigilante." He chuckled. "Oh I get it now. No wonder the streets are cleaner nowadays. That group that has been picking fight with Yakuza, Mob and Triad by indiscriminately raiding their facilities at every turn… it was you… or… is it only you, Maria? Your brother. I'm betting he's involved too… isn't he?"

Maria didn't answer, but she smiled meaningfully. That was all the answer Sano needed. Tolle, Milly and Gino of course, had no idea what it meant.

"The problem is, in the process of cleaning up the streets, we managed to just about piss off everyone: Yakuza, Mob, Triads… and even the army. They had some of the squadrons under their payroll."

"Be that as it may… I doubt petty mob or corrupt squads would get the best of the both of you… to the point where you two were cornered here in my safe house of all places."

"…" Garrus didn't answer. Instead, he takes aim and fire, hitting another attacker coming from the front. His lighthearted atmosphere was replaced with bitter coldness.

Maria took over the explanation. "Somebody rat us out. Me, Garrus and Wrex were out on a false trail leading to a faux raid. Someone told them our hideout. When we return back, it was a freakin' bloodbath. Ashley managed to escape, Kaidan's missing… We were split up with Wrex when we were trying to escape. The rest… I don't know. Maybe killed or captured to be killed, we're not sure."

The four listeners nodded and bowed down their heads in sympathy.

"We play cat and mouse with them for some time… until we were bunkered down here for a week. They started smart: they block all entrance, watched every window and opening with snipers at the roofs. Then, after seeing how we simply sniped every sniper they have, they dumb down a bit. Sending disposable cannon fodder from the front. But the gate is narrow, and their numbers are funneled down in that narrow corridor like fish in the barrel. When you showed up at our back, we thought they've smarten up. Sorry again about that, my dear." Maria bent her head apologetically at Milly.

"No harm done, no problem." Milly nodded. "But uh… like this, we're practically trapped here… aren't we?"

"By the way… that hole you climbed out off… that may be our ticket out of here." Garrus rubbed his chin in thought… until suddenly…

They heard noises from outside. 5 Stagecoaches plated with obviously military grade metallic armor just joined the besieging army. When said army initially seemingly kept themselves hidden, now they went out into the open to join the reinforcements. Unlike before where none but the keenest eyed snipers would notice they are besieged, now the scene is obviously a scene of a true all out siege. They came in surrounding the whole perimeter, fanning out, fully armed to the teeth.

Garrus' eyes rolled. "Oh, crap. We got the Mob, the Triads, and the Yakuzas. They brought their whole god damn army." Garrus narrowed his eyes at a group of Mob Soldiers heading towards a narrow corridor. "Sano… your secret entrance into this Safe House of yours… might it be somewhere around the bins in that gangway!?"

Sano's look of horror confirmed the answer.

0000000

"Cover all exits. We'll attack them from every direction; let's see if those two can handle all of us at once." One of the Yakuza commanded.

"We don't answer to you, fucking Yakuza." A Triad member growled.

"Look. This alliance only last until we kill those sons of bitches." Another gangster, a member of the Mob separated the two feuding parties. "Let's kill them all, and then we can go back shooting each other later."

The three parties nodded grumpily.

0000000

"Okay… Now what?" Sano groaned.

"Seal off the entrance!" Maria snapped and grabbed her Agni Sniper rifle.

"Seal… right." Tolle took to the job, followed by Maria. He pulled out a string of explosive tags as he walked towards the lid where he crawled in. Sano saw the amount of explosive tags Tolle prepared and gaped.

"If you collapse my house in the process, I will kill you!" Sano growled as he followed Tolle and Maria to provide cover for the still injured boy. They opened the lid and jumped back in into the sewers.

And then, Garrus turned to the narrow road and saw the enemy soldiers pouring in. "Come and get it." BANG! The sniper let off a spent casing, one bullet went through the heads of two people, and the shooter put in another shell. The battle, no, the war is officially on.

BANG! Another man is a head short.

BANG! The bullet went through his heart and blew up another man's head with a rather short stature right behind the first one.

BANG! But there's only one Garrus, one sniper rifle and a hundred targets charging forward…

ZIP! ZIP! Two guys were skewered dead by a single arrow while the other one were shot until he was nailed to the wall on the neck.

Garrus looked to his helper, an Archer by the name of Mirriallia Haww who took another arrow and shoot another one down.

Garrus whistled. "I know one archer who can shoot like that. How's Neil doing?" BANG! A man's head exploded.

"Neil Sensei…" ZIP! "…is doing just fine." An arrow went through a man's mouth.

The two snipers added to the rapidly mounting corpses at the front door.

Meanwhile down below…

Tolle littered the sewers with a plethora of booby traps: kunai launchers, shuriken catapults, and trip wired explosive tags. Maria whistled. "Who taught you to make all these traps?"

"Mwu-san."

"Mwu? As in… Mwu La Flagga, Eagle of Endiminion?"

Tolle smirked in pride. "Yep."

Maria's face turned ugly upon the mentioning of that name. "You be careful what you learn from that pervert, kiddo. Just make sure you didn't inherit the other side of him."

Upon hearing the angry tone and the word pervert, Tolle and Sano knew a bad history when they hear one, and they had a feeling they don't want to know.

Meanwhile, the situation grew steadily bad up top. Even with two snipers guarding the front door. The enemy is now using a quantity over quality strategy. Trampling over the dead bodies of their comrades, the other mob soldiers marched in using shields in a phalanx formation.

"Well, at least they start using their brains." Given the new situation, Garrus changed ammunition. 'But where the hell did they get that kind military grade hardware?' The bullet he's using has a peculiar bronze casing. "Switching ammo…" BANG! The bullet went straight at the locked shields. Moments before impact, the bullet bronze casing unraveled, and then its inner side exploded, releasing all its content to every direction.

The content is a hundred glass pearl pellets that scattered upon impact, and when the pellets hit the target, the glass breaks, releasing its content, showering the shield formation with an extremely viscous pressurized salt acid. The shields that formed the phalanx were melted here and there. Some of the unlucky ones get some of the pellets right on their faces or their eyes through the slits of their shield if they are VERY unlucky. "GYAAA!" Simply put, the formation went to hell, pushing everybody around in panic. Some of the gangsters were thrown into the moat.

Some who managed to stay calm kept pushing forward with their shield up. ZIP! Milly's arrow flew through the narrow visor and nailed their heads.

"AH, shit!" A few finally take desperate action and make a dash for it. They put their shield over their heads and run across the narrow bridge, braving bullets and arrows shot by two unnaturally accurate snipers. But that's the catch: there are only 2 of them against dozens of enemy chargers. A few finally managed to pierce through and reached the main entrance. They managed to bring down the feebly barricaded door…

…until suddenly, a three bladed Scythe smashed an entire row of people into the sky in pieces and pushed everyone back.

Brandishing his newly re-forged Tristan Scythe, Gino stood ready, resplendent in his mish mash battle armor cloaked in green coat. His scythe, originally a three pronged hook like scythe that can be used as cue stick had been reforged into a proper weapon. Its function as a cue stick is gone; the pole has been reinforced, making it significantly thicker. The scythe had been lengthened, and though originally the three scythes protruding on three sides of the stick, it is now arrayed on one side, three wickedly scything sickles arrayed in a single vertical line. The surviving soldier looked at this heavily armored bird masked knight and his freakish grim reaper weapon. And they all asked: "What the F…?"

0000000

The leaders of the respective factions: Yakuza, Triad and the Mob jawdropped. "I… don't get it… I thought we kept those two surrounded… where the hell did these new guys come from?" The Mob team leader gaped.

The Triad Team Leader growled. "I knew it. Your watch-boys screwed up! Fuckin' amateurs, can't even do their job right!"

"Calm down." The Yakuza Chief frowned. "If reinforcements can get in… that means there's a secret entrance into that building that we don't know of."

"FOUND IT!" A yell came from the Mob soldiers. "There's a secret entrance in the bins!"

"Right. I'll take my men there and flank them from there!" The Mob Chief took up his weapon, a Dagger rifle and a Blunderbuss. He quickly led the rest of his men into the so called secret entrance.

0000000

Meanwhile, down in the secret entrance tunnels…

A mob soldier's chest was shredded when Maria unloaded her Shotgun Blunderbuss point blank.

She flipped a new set of buckshot shells to the sky, grabbed her sidearm with one hand as she flipped open her shotgun with the other, unloading all of its three spent casing from its revolver style bullet magazine. She fired her sidearm several times, killing several more incoming soldiers while she 'reloaded'. Meanwhile, the three buckshot shells landed perfectly on the Shotgun revolver magazine, and she flipped it back, Revolver shotgun fully loaded and ready to blast. The enemy kept coming one after another. She holstered her sidearm and pulled out her Windam Assault rifle. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth… Suddenly, her pupils seem dilated, veins popped out slightly across her skin beneath her left eye, like glowing scars. "GrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGHHHH!"

And suddenly, the girl went berserk. Everything she sees suddenly slows down. Even the soldiers scream seem distorted… but that was because her movements suddenly accelerated to inhuman level, everything else is in slow motion. Her hands blurred and the two firearms fired rapidly. The bullet flight is too fast for human eyes, but from her point of view, everything seem incredibly still, even the bullets decelerated to a snail's pace, and thus she was able to score impossibly accurate shots. All eight shots of her Windam rifle scored headshots, causing at least one of the shot victims to let loose a stray shot in his death throes that killed another soldier. Her three shotgun blast shrapnel ripped at least half a dozen soldiers apart. And yet her frenzy had yet ended even after she exhausted all bullets. She dropped her smoking spent firearms and grabbed her sniper rifle, and, still in that frenzy, she rapidly fired her sharpshooting firearm, her every shot from her sniper rifle punctured two or three targets simultaneously with surgical precision.

Seeing the female trooper fight as if possessed by a demon clearly terrified the outmatched untrained thug soldiers to no end. But Tolle was more amazed than afraid. 'W… What is that?'

In stark contrast to the other amazed audience, only Sano kept his calm. His calmness came from recognition. 'I guess I should say… as expected… from an N7 graduate... huh?' The former Sergeant frowned in suspicion.

When Maria had shot her 4th and final shot from her sniper rifle, she had seemingly calmed down considerably, and the terrified mob soldiers were all on the run, trying to stay as far away from her. Until suddenly one of them were shot dead in the head. And it wasn't Maria's doing.

It was the Mob Chief who just came in pointing a smoking sidearm. He looked in disgust at his retreating men and then to the girl who's largely responsible for his men's cowardice. Maria took one look at the Chief's commanding presence, understood the situation, and quickly acted upon it. She grabbed her remaining sidearm and opened fire as she retreated. She missed his head by the centimeters, and he reacted by blasting away his shotgun. He missed her as well, only managing to flick her long hair. But his second blast aimed straight and true at her exposed back. But before the pellets reached her, a giant sword stand in the way.

Said sword was owned by Sano, who's using his sword covered back as an impromptu shield to guard her retreat. "RUN!" He still had time to grab Maria's abandoned arsenal as the two make a run for it.

Meanwhile, Tolle put the finishing touches on his work. Screw the booby traps. They have to blow up the whole tunnel. He made a few quick seals, enough that his mouth start spouting sparks of fire. And then he spit a small fireball that ignited the process towards destruction before he also make a dash for it.

As expected, the chief roared his orders, and the whole army of mob is charging straight at them, shooting their looted firearms. Fortunately, Sano's Zanbato was big enough to shield everyone as they run. The mob chief and his army continue to chase them into the tunnel, unaware that the explosive tags strapped into the tunnel surface are lighting up one after another. Then again, Tolle's other booby traps kept them busy. A gangster was riddled with kunais when a fuuma shuriken split a man in half by the waist. When a needle killed another one of his men, the Mob chief finally noticed something was wrong. He looked at the talisman, lit bright orange… and he realized these papers screamed: EXPLODE with a capital E.

"Oh… shi-"

The ground shook when the explosion sets off, destroying foundations of the tunnel underneath, burying any poor soul with rubble and rocks. And even if they're not buried, Tolle planted enough explosive to engulf the whole tunnel in a sea of fire, burning everyone not vaporized by the core explosion to cinders. The entrance to the said tunnel in the bins exploded in a massive conflagration, and a couple of the Gangsters at the said entrance screamed when the flame caught them unaware. Inside the besieged house, Tolle, Sano and Maria jumped out of the lid with the flames is right behind their behinds. They closed the lid before the flame burst out of the hole and burn the house.

Garrus and Milly looked at the trio. "Well?" The monocled Sniper asked.

"The entrance sealed… and we have a nice Roasted Mob Chief ala flambé down there if you're hungry."

"Oh, nice. Yum, yum." Garrus snorted sarcastically but happily. "One down. Two to go."

"OI!" Suddenly, they can hear Gino scream from down below. "What the hell is that thing!?"

"Huh?" His scream brings everyone's attention back to the battle below. And then they saw, on the other side of the bridge, the Triad Soldiers dragged two of the armored Stagecoaches they were using to get here. The armored stagecoaches had gun ports akin to a battleship gun ports. The ports opened, revealing a series of a six barreled guns, with each barrel's caliber is the size of a small cannon… a Gatling Cannon. Four of them protruding from each car, arranged in double decked rows of two.

"Seriously…!?" Garrus eyes twitched. "Iggestellung (German: Hedgehog) M60 Gatling Cannons!? Where the hell did they get those things!?"

0000000

"Well, it was nice of the Mob to leave these things behind." The Triad chief grinned. "Ready… FIRE!"

And the Traid start spinning the crank rapidly and the bullets start flying.

0000000

"TUCK TAIL!" Gino ran inside and take cover as soon as the first bullet flies out of the spinning barrels. And while the Gatling Guns at the lower row showered the first floor, the one at the top fired at the second floor. Both the first floor guard and the two snipers at the top were suppressed, with everyone pressed their bodies as low as possible to the ground while debris, splinters, and shells zoomed over their heads. The brick walls of the house were battered with bullets the size of a squash-ball halfway to oblivion.

Fortunately, like all rapid firing weapons, they consume ammunition at a very rapid rate and moments later, the Gatling cannons went silent and in need to reload. Perfect chance for a counter attack. Maria quickly climbed up the second floor, brandishing her heavy weapon: the Bazooka. She took aim for a well placed shot.

"Fire in the hole!"

And with a hiss, the rocket flew and went straight into one of the armored coach's gun port. In a massive ball of fire, the carriage literally went up in flames when the rocket ignited its entire magazine stock, and it exploded again when the burning wreckage landed with a massive crash right on top of another carriage.

"Whoo-hoo! You just offed 2 carriages with one shot!" Tolle cheered.

"Meh. Lucky shot." Maria smirked as she blew the smoke from her bazooka barrel.

Sano took the chance to get a quick headcount. "By the way, anybody still alive says aye!"

Garrus stated. "Aye!" Milly choked. "Aye!" Tolle yelled. "Aye!" Maria nodded. "Aye!" And Gino down in the first floor, buried in rubble but alive and well, moaned loudly: "Aye!"

"Shoot again!" Milly gasped.

"Uh… I'm afraid I can't. That was my last rocket." Maria gulped.

"Yeah, but they don't need to know that." Garrus smirked in triumph. "Look at those amateurs run."

Indeed, down below, panic reigns among the gangsters. This isn't an urban siege, this is a warzone! Forget the fact they still have three more of such armored battle carriage in their employ, their opponents were as heavily armed as they are… if not better equipped – or so they thought. Some of the lesser ones decided they had enough for one day and ran. Others who either had more steely nerves or just within the eying and shooting range of their angry chiefs remained on the spot, but at the moment everyone is at lost on what to do.

The two burning wreckages piled off one another right in front of the narrow entrance. The fire sealed off the way in, and they can't put out the fire. Not while the wreckages' ammunition storages are still exploding every now and then. It's gonna keep burning and popping all night long. Worse, with all the bullets randomly popping out, they had to move the Panzer coach away from vicinity as well.

"Move that wreckage away! Get the other Coaches into position ASAP!"

Just then, another coach arrived, supposedly bringing fresh reinforcements of new recruits/cannon fodder. However, descending from the coach… is a group of only three people. The first person is a young man with a striking feature: dark blue hair, with blazing red eyes. His face has visible crack-like scars that seem to cover the left half of his face down from his eye. Next to him is a man of enormous build with mildly tanned skin and red spiky hair. A distinctive feature is a massive five scars running down his left eye. The other one is unmistakably a woman, draped in some form fitting exotic Arabian Desert clothing. Her upper head is covered in dark purple Islamic hood; her lower face is completely covered in a black shroud, only a sliver of opening to show her light blue eyes. The triad chief, the one who ordered said new reinforcements looked at the small reinforcements and twitched. "OI! What the hell? I asked more men and this is all that I get!?"

"Relax." The leader of the three men team shrugged, the scarred young man. "We're not the cannon fodder. We're the big guns." And now that the Triad Chief get a better look at the three, he noticed they are different.

They were heavily armed. The dark blue haired man had a pair of what looked like a pair of miniaturized cannons strapped together into a giant shotgun as well as a normal shotgun and a rifle for sidearms. His armor is also thicker, with a red and white stripe running on his right shoulder down to his arms. A pair of mechanical bronze gauntlets covered both arms. He motioned to one of his teammate, the biggest of the three. His wearing simple poncho, but he seems to be carrying something… big… and heavy beneath that clothing. The tanned man nodded and brought out a terrifying heavy weapon: a three barreled Gatling guns… each barrel is a large bore cannon strapped together on a rotary base, a literal Gatling cannon. Doesn't look like something normal human can wield…

"Oi!? Who the heck is that!?" Tolle panicked upon seeing that absurdly huge weapon.

"That is…" Maria's face brightened into a wide smile.

The large man grinned and fired anyway as he spin the crank. A roaring noise like a continuous explosion roared with each bullet the size of a man's head flies out of the spinning barrels. The rubble was quickly filled with holes and moments later the burning wrecks were wiped out without a trace.

But the grinning heavy weapon guy kept firing and… "Ah, my hand slipped…" And the Gatling Cannons 'accidentally' wiped out the other 3 Panzer Coaches, including several other unfortunate besiegers.

"OI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The Triad Chief gaped.

"Like Wrex said…" The young man muttered flatly. "His hand slipped. Friendly fire."

"Huh!?" Meanwhile, that 'friendly fire' just wiped out almost all of the thugs from the Triad's side. Barely recovering from the shock, explosions suddenly set off all over the place, sending everyone into further disarray and panic.

"Wh… What is this!?" The Triad chief and the Yakuza chief were caught off guard.

"Whoops." The third figure, the hooded woman chuckled. "Looks like my mines had a timing misfire…" That was obviously a lie. What's more, her short daggers in her hands were stained with blood, the blood of those who fell by her hands… which includes most of the veterans and other mercenaries that might pose some danger.

By then, it was obvious the reinforcements are really for the besieged instead of the besieger. "Guh! Kill them! Kill that damn traito-" The Triad chief barely finished, he barely dodged a bullet to the head shot by the dark blue haired man. "You bas-" the second shot from his side arm shotgun lacerated his body.

"We're not exactly traitors per se…" The dark blue haired man smirked at the dark blue haired girl on the balcony who returned the smirk. "I'm here to rescue my little sis."

"Kyle…" Maria smiled.

"Wrex, let's clean up here." Dual wielding his shotgun and rifle, Kyle Shepard began opening fire to every direction, killing every mercenary that landed on his guns' crosshairs.

"Roger." Wrex the heavy weapon expert kept spinning the Gatling cannon crank and the giant hot lead continue to fly out, tearing through all oppositions like paper.

"Give them support fire!" Maria yelled and together with Garrus and Milly, the three snipers rain down sudden death from their elevated position.

"Tali! Clear out the perimeter, secure us a way out!" Kyle blocked a Yakuza swinging down a katana with his rifle. Suddenly, a switchblade popped out of his free hand and with a roar he jammed the blade down to the Yakuza's chest.

Tali nodded. "On it!" And by on it, the hooded girl danced around the thugs, slicing left and right with her daggers, dropping a couple a grenades along the way. The subsequent explosions further scattered the rank and file of the mercenaries and gangsters, routing them, steadily clearing a path.

00000000000000

At this point, Kira couldn't see any reason why his friends would fail escaping that situation without a scratch. "What can you tell me about the Shepards?"

"I have the files right here. Kyle and Maria Shepard, elder brother and sister. They were born in the streets of New York, but when Maria was born a year later, parents separated at her birth, they divorced. Kyle and his father stayed in America, his mother took the infant Maria to London."

Tolle and Milly nodded, now understanding Maria's thick British accent.

"Kyle who stayed in New York, survived its streets, gang wars and its criminal underworld long enough to enlist into the regulars. Served with remarkable distinction until he achieved the rank of Sergeant at the age of 18, leading his own squadron. Maria on the other hand, lived a better life with her mother, Hannah Shepard who served as a sergeant in the Alliance First navy of the Fifth Division. But with her Mother served in Alliance Navy, soon the daughter followed suit. She became a sergeant after a distinguished service, coincidentally, a few months after her brother. At this point in time… both siblings had no idea about each other's existence." Xingke explained.

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Alas, Kyle's first mission as a Sergeant led his entire squadron, including a group of new recruits went into a disastrous mission in Africa, in a dessert Training Center called Akuze, where they were trapped and then slaughtered down to the last man by a pack of Zoan Fangriders. He's the only one who survived. We put him under psychological rehab in the Elysium Mental Rehabilitation hospital in Glasgow, Scotland after that incident for complete psychological recovery." Xingke continued. "It was at this point that Maria finally learned about his long lost older brother. She asked permission for shore leave to Elysium to meet a brother she had never known all her life. Hannah was also there. The entire family met for the first time… and the last."

Everyone looked at Xingke. "What happened?"

"It was nothing sort of bad luck. Hannah commanded her battlecruiser, the Normandy, to go to Scotland. However… the enemy who had some grudge against her followed her ship. At that time, England is Orb's territory, and Scotland was a neutral ground under their protection; so naturally, neither Zaft nor Alliance can bring their army to bear. Hannah-darren's Normandy was also stripped of all weapons as her visit was civil, she was allowed entry without being shot down by Orb's harbor guard. So Zaft used a different method. They hired Pirates and Slave Traders to attack en-masse. A whole fleet of them. And they sent them to the unprotected city where the family met. There were nothing but militia and harbor guard on the said town, and those three are the only professional troopers around. The twins worked together, rallied all the civilians and fought a bitter desperate fight. They virtually, almost single handedly, repelled the attack using nothing but household equipment: broomsticks, pitchfork, even hammer and pickaxes… But they fought them tooth and nail, made the Pirates pay for every inch of foothold they gain with their blood until the Samurais finally got there and reinforce them…"

"But?"

"Hannah Shepard was killed during the attack. Her ship was destroyed and she went down with the ship. The twins found about it a bit late, and in rage, they chased after the Pirates in a vengeful crusade after gathering up their mother's old Squadron, the Specters. They managed to corner and surround them inside an abandoned mine, their hideout. Problem is… that Hideout is still within Orb territory. By all means, those pirates were to be arrested and brought to Orb justice. Maria stand down, but Kyle defied orders, and he brought his men inside… killed everyone he found, not a single one of them walk out of that mine alive… not even his men. Yet again, he's the only one who survived. He was arrested for insubordination, spent a few weeks in a military prison and then he was dishonorably discharged for misconduct. Many people still call him the Butcher."

"How come he's still in the army then?"

"Officially, he wasn't. But… his old unit, the Reapers are still around. And there's the Lazarus and the Specter squad. Lazarus led by Maria and the Specter was Hannah's old squadron. The men your Shadowguards described are… Urdnot Wrex and Talia Zorah Neemah, both are from the Specter team and the Reapers team, respectively. These three squadrons: Specter, Lazarus and Reapers are together known as the Cerberus Pack. Those three squadrons are experts in extreme situation combat, basically, apt in fighting behind enemy line against numbers many times their own, that being said, when you're up against Advanced knights, being outnumbered is equivalent to suicide."

"I don't know about that, my men and I had our share of your definition of suicides, and we're still here." Kage grinned as he jerked his thumb at himself.

"Evidently." Xingke nodded.

Kage then looked at the many other bandaged injuries in Tolle. He looked like he was stepped upon by a stampede of elephants. So clearly… there's more. "…what happened?"

"Well…" Tolle scratched his head. "…so if I'm to understand it… that Shepard guy is supposed to a ruthless, heartless guy… right? Strangely enough… that's not the kind of impression I get of him…"

00000000000000

Back to the siege, everything is now in chaos. The additional three troopers had almost cleared the way out. The Mobs and the Triads had almost been completely wiped out. The Yakuza could barely hold on. In fact, seeing the situation, the besieged team in Sano's safe house had contemplated to go out and joined the rampaging team.

"Alright… I think we're almost done here." Wrex sneered as he glanced at Shepard. The male Shepard also agreed… but he's having this nagging feeling that it's not quite over yet…

The Yakuza chief gritted his teeth, seeing little hope in getting this chaotic situation under control… until…

"How unsightly."

The Yakuza chief winced and turned around and faced the speaker. In an instinctive reaction, he bent to one knee and bow down, asking forgiveness. "O… Oyabun! (Boss)"

The Oyabun… is nothing more than a little boy. Prolly at the age of 13-14 years old. His long red hair was tied at the back, While his subordinates wear black suit with tie and all, he proudly wears a traditional Japanese male yukata, tailored to suit his size. Magenta colored, it has a white grey drawing of an oni covering from chest down. A katana rested firmly on his belt. The boy easily smaller than the adults around him, and yet his presence gave of a terrifying vibe that demands submission from the others. "I can't hold out the army much longer. What's taking you lot so long?" He looked at the rampaging trio, firing to every direction atop piles of the dead. "That's enough of that."

The Oyabun rested his hand on his sheathed katana and take pose. The fretting Yakuza chief scurried away, knowing what's coming. "Oi! You bastards! Get the hell out of the way!"

The remaining Yakuza's heard the call, saw the diminutive but menacing figure of their Oyabun and realized what's coming. They quickly move away and clear the perimeter.

"Hitten-" The boy placed a foot at the front…

Tali suddenly noticed the place had cleared out on its own. "Eh?" only those who did not know what's coming remained.

"Mitsurugi…" he bent his body down, taking a deep breath…

Wrex also noticed his future targets had all but escaped, but not out of fear of him… fear something worse…

"Ryuu…" the boy's hand floated just inches from his katana's grip.

The Shepards, both brother and sister were the first to realize what's coming. "RUN!"

"Doryusen. (Earth Dragon Flash)" The boy declared.

In a blur, the blade left its scabbard and its tip strike the ground. But all the sudden, huge swathes of earth spiked up like earthen scales of a dragon and then shot forward zooming in a hail of razor sharp rocks and stones, obliterating the entire street for miles ahead. Each zooming piece of earth crashed down with the force of a falling building, its explosions shook the entire sector, crushing everything it hit into dust. Those who didn't escape in time were pulverized beyond recognition in an instant, others who are luckier were thrown by the shockwave of explosion.

In literally one fell swoop of a sword; the entire battlefield was changed as gigantic chunks of earth now embedded upon the entrance. Fortunately, Shepard the elder and his team managed to enter the narrow walkway at the last moment, with the rock storm barely missing Shepard by a hairbreath.

"Allah Akbar! Wh… What was that?" Tali gaped.

"The Yakuzas… they still got something like that up their sleeve?" Wrex couldn't believe his eyes. The culprit was unmistakably that red haired, sword totting brat!?

"Get into the safe house! NOW!" Shepard quickly replied, and the three ran into the safety of the safe house.

The teenage Oyabun sighed as he looked at the three men team joined the one inside. "What were you doing? You can't finish off two people with so many men, you have to wait until their reinforcements arrive?"

The Yakuza chief bent his head down as deep as possible. "Forgive me… Oyabun… I… I shall take full responsibility!" He stretched out a finger and pulled out a knife, getting ready to pay for his mistake. But before his dagger finished the job, it was caught by the young oyabun.

"Save the finger cutting after a full debrief. Then we can decide whose fault it really is." The Oyabun let go the dagger. "Now give me a headcount. How many are there really?"

0000000

Meanwhile, the newly arrived three men team entered the safe house, the first they had to see are the two people of great importance besieged inside. Tali quickly rushed at Garrus and gave him a tight hug. "Garrus…! Allah be praised, you're okay!" Garrus chuckled. "Whoa, easy there." Likewise, Shepard also gave his still alive and kicking little sister a warm smile. Maria in particularly smiled warmly at Wrex and in relief. "Wrex… you made it."

Wrex grinned.

And then he noticed new faces. One face he was quite familiar with, the other two he had seen in wanted posters, and the last one… he can only guess. Now, starting with the familiar one… "Sano?"

"Yo, Kyle." Sanosuke grinned.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh… nothing fancy. Just trying my hand on this lucrative five star hotel business: providing some roof atop the heads of some poor vigilantes in one of their bad days. You know… those days where one bites more than they can chew…" Sano groaned jokingly. "Wait until you see the bill for all these holes on my summer retreat villa."

If Sano can still crack jokes like that, then he's fine. "Sorry about all this." He bent his head down apologetically. And then Shepard turned to the new faces. But he quickly recognized them. "Shadowguards… any chance we can inform your boss about our predicament? He may well be our only way out."

Unlike Maria, her older brother speaks with a gruff and clear American accent.

"I'm afraid that's not possible… he doesn't know we're here."

"Oh…" Kyle's expression soured slightly. "Which means it's just us against that… boy…" Kyle scratched his head seeing the rocks the size of carts embedded on the streets. "Any other day I'd say this is easy… but that kid just terra-formed the entire street… with a sword swing. Were Yakuza always that scary?"

The diminutive Yakuza oyabun had just finished debriefing with his subordinate and start moving towards the pile of rubble he caused. "Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu: Ryusosen (Dragon Nest Flash)!" The boy disappeared and then reappeared right at the entrance gate of the safehouse' and start making his way into the house through the narrow walkway. Moments later, the gigantic earth chunks on the streets were reduced to tiny pebble pieces, cut clean to bite sized stone cubes. He just chopped the rocks to pieces in an instant with his katana.

"No… We've never seen one so monstrously scary." Tolle and Milly is seriously on the verge of pissing themselves in the pants.

The Yakuza gangsters saw their boss making his entrance spiritedly chanted. "Himura! Oyabun! Himura! Oyabun! Himura! Oyabun!"

"He?" Milly gasped.

"Did… did they just say… Himura!?"

00000000000000

"HIMURA!?" Kage's eyes widened . "You're sure!? That's what they say?"

"Affirmative." Tolle and Milly confirmed it with a simultaneous nod.

"You are familiar with that name, Kage-darren?" Now it's Xingke's turn to be somewhat unfamiliar with a name in the story.

"All citizens of Orb would know." Kage quietly glanced at Hikari and Gino. "As do those who hail from Zaft should be."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Himura is one of the Samurai clan who were handpicked by the White Emperor himself, and stayed with him until the moment of his disappearance. It is one of the oldest most known samurai clan. A minor small clan, but they produce some of the most of the powerful samurai ever recorded. The most infamous of them was the one called Himura Battousai."

"Ah, that name… now that you mention that, even I knew that name!" Xingke finally nodded. "A wandering manslayer that made a name for himself during the Founding War. He sided with no one, but he has been known to brutally attacked both sides. Each occasion caused enormous head count." Xingke pointed a finger. "Perhaps this Yakuza chief is a distant descendant?"

"I don't know about that, it's highly unlikely." Kage shook his head. "According to our history book, Himura Battousai was the last of the Himura clan. And he supposedly died when he fought side by side with the First Crimson Emperor during the Battle of the Demon Gate, vanishing without a trace when the Demon Gate imploded. He left behind no known sons or daughters to continue the name. Afterwards, some people rose up claiming to be Himura Battousai himself or a relation or his cousin twice removed or whatever, but most of them proved to be nothing more but charlatans and frauds." Kage narrowed his eyes to Tolle. "Are you sure he's not one of them?"

"Kage, he's using Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu with impunity." Tolle stressed.

"Hitten Mitsurugi Ryu?" Xingke frowned.

"An ancient satsujin sword style developed by the Himura clan during the peak of the Sengoku Period. Very powerful, very deadly." Kage explained quickly. "Invented and mastered by the Himura clan, designed for one to fight against many with lethal slaughtering capability. Traditionally, only the head of the clan has full mastery of the style, but… like the title Battousai, there has been many copycats and pretenders…" Kage is still somewhat skeptical, but now, he's not so sure.

"Kage… I've seen and feel enough to be a believer." Tolle glared to tell them he's not making this up. He would know. The stuff that little brat did to them afterwards are enough proof.

00000000000000

The Himura grasped his katana again, ready for combat.

Maria and Garrus quickly opened fire at the boy's head. But Himura's hand blurred, and moments later, the bullets were split into pieces having been cut midair, and yet they could not see his hand or blade moved. "Oi, oi… what the F!?" Garrus gulped.

"That kid… okay… this is going to be pretty troublesome…" Kyle grunted.

Meanwhile, said Kid sheathed his katana again in preparation for another move. "Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu…" Himura suddenly vanished from view.

And while everyone is still wondering where the boy disappeared into, Sano knowingly looked up. True enough, there's the boy up in the sky, katana raised high, shining brightly over his head. Tolle, who followed Sano's direction, saw the same thing. Upon seeing another incoming Hitten Mitsurugi style technique, Sano yelled a warning. "EVERYONE, BRACE!" Tolle barely had time to comply.

"Ryuu Tsui Sen (Dragon Hammer Flash)!" The last thing Tolle saw before everything spiral down to destruction was the sight of Himura roared and brought himself, and his blade, down at blinding speed. The boy descended at such speed, he was instantly reduced into a blur of light, becoming a gigantic pillar of golden beam of light like a heavenly dragon descending from heaven crashing down atop the house with a force of a falling meteor.

Upon impact, a towering cloud of smoke rise up, the whole house instantly capsized right into the epicenter of the impact; the two storey house became a one storey house. The whole second floor was instantly destroyed when the golden beam pierced through the roof and obliterated everything. The occupants of the second floor were prepared, Gino on the first floor was caught off guard when the ceiling collapsed right on top of him. "What, whaaAAA!"

For a moment, the rising smoke cover the view of how the safe house is now nothing but a pile of rubble. Himura flexed his katana in his hand as he looked around the ruin, searching for signs of life of his preys. "Hmm…?"

Tolle gasped. Pain screamed on every part of his bloodied and bruised body as he desperately tried to remove the rubble weighing him down with trembling fingers. His senses is still disoriented what's with every pain nerve in his body light up like Christmas tree. His blurring sight then began registering something leering at him from above. And his vision cleared, he saw the Himura boy gazing down on him with katana at the ready.

"You're… the Saber Shadowguard?" The boy frowned. "…why are you here? Did Kage send you here?"

"What?"

Himura narrowed his eyes. And while he's still trying to assess the situation, a cocking sound from his back attracted his attention.

Kyle Shepard roared as he rose up from the rubble and fired his rifle, unloading all bullets at the boy. Himura merely shrugged as he used his katana to cut the bullets midair. In fact, Shepard's last shot were blocked in such a way; the bullets ricochet and fly back to the shooter. The bullet barely hit Shepard's head and scratched his cheek.

Grunting, Kyle finally unpacked his biggest gun he has. The giant two barreled shotgun on his back. He cocked but he didn't shoot yet. "Step away from the boy."

"You're not going to shoot at me with that?"

"This thing has a big punch. Problem is… it'll tear both you, and the boy apart."

Himura blinked. "What is he to you?"

"Nothing. I don't know him. I do know… that he's Kage's Shadowguard."

"I know who he is." Himura shrugged.

"Oh… okay… then did you know that rumor has it that Kage slaughtered 30 or so men with his bare hands when one of his Shadowguards was killed? Anything happens to that boy, Kage will burn the whole sector to the ground in revenge." Kyle growled. "And I had a feeling that would be inconvenient for everyone."

As he said this, other figures rise up from the rubbles. Maria crawled out with an assault rifle in hand. Tali shouldered Garrus as he grabbed his sniper rifle. A huge piece of the rubble was knocked away as Wrex dig his way out. Everyone is wounded and bleeding, but they're ready to fight some more. Himura was surrounded, and yet the boy still remained calm.

Himura nodded and he walked away. But that was after he dug Tolle out of the rubble. He's gravely injured, but he will live. His heavy armor saved him. Himura shrugged and took Tolle. Suddenly, he disappeared from everyone's sight. But when he reappeared back to his previous spot, Tolle was nowhere in sight. "I've placed him somewhere safe. Be at ease."

By a safe place, Himura had placed Tolle on a tall roof of the building next door. Tolle growled angrily as he crawled to the edge of the railings to look at the battle below.

Which is another way of saying: free for all is a go.

Kyle started by firing his heavy shotgun. Gouts of flame burst out of the twin barreled blunderbuss cannon, amidst the stream of flame, miniature armor piercing cannonshells, each individually treated to explode on impact burst out, engulfed by fire. And they exploded rapidly in the air, it's like Himura was watching a stream of explosion heading his way.

Himura disappeared and the flaming burst hit the ground and empty air. The super heated bullets punctured the ground, the subsequent series of explosion burst out in a straight line that carved everything in the way. The whole area where Himura stood a little while ago was reduced to a charred ruin. Himura blinked. 'Hoo… no wonder he was reluctant to fire that monster gun a little earlier.' That thing looked like a cross between arm cannon, flamethrower and shotgun. And that explosive properties… explosive tags carved on the cannonshell? 'The big brother is something…'

Himura barely recovered when Maria opened fire with her rifle. 'The little sister is not half bad either…' The Yakuza Boss easily blocked the bullets. Soon, Maria needed to reload. But before Himura can use that advantage, a single sniper shot stopped him on his tracks. He got a brief glimpse of a smirking Garrus before a roar from Wrex heralded the sound of his Gatling cannon roaring again. Himura managed to cut down two or three shells, but he had to quickly dodge the rest.

He closed the distance between him and a gawking Wrex. "Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu… RYUSHOSEN! (Dragon Flight Flash)" He swing his sword upward, pushed from down below with the other hand and the boy also jumped. Wrex barely dodged the blade, but his Gatling cannon was cut in half. What's worse, Himura wasn't finished. "RYUKANSEN: TSUMUJI (Dragon Coiling Flash: Whirl)!" He spin around furiously, and a cyclone appeared following the sword swing. The Cyclone is like a spinning wall that expands right towards Wrex's face. It bashed him flat and sent the giant of a man flying to the edge of the field. Said cyclone also launched Himura to the sky, where he gained an overhead view of the field as he floated for several seconds' midair. "Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu… Ryusosen (Dragon Nest Flash)!" Himura swing his sword rapidly in a flurry of strikes. Vacuum blades made of air were launched with each swing, spraying the area with razor sharp and destructive fangs of wind that chopped the battle ground to pieces, literally.

"Whoaaa!" The Troopers of the Cerberus Pack were sent into disarray when the whole combat field was completely obliterated with a series of deep cuts.

0000000

Seeing how their oyabun is pushing the enemy around, the Yakuzas cheered. "Yeah! Go get em, Himura Oyabun!"

As this commotion attracted a lot of attention, a squadron of troopers arrived. Leading them… was none other than the Bazooka wielding Trooper and leader of the Calamity squadron, Orga Sabnak. "What is all this commotion?"

Seeing all this Yakuzas cheering like idiots, Orga looked at the ruined building. And then he saw the Himura brat, facing against the Cerberus elites. 'Those are… the Shepards… oh I see… those vigilante squads everyone getting worked up about… it was them.' Orga calmly assess and see how to address the situation so as to benefit him…

0000000

Seeing the chaos, Himura smirked as he landed to the ground. As soon as he did, he smelt something burnt. "Huh?"

All the sudden, the mines that had been planted on the ground earlier by Tali ignited. The explosion engulfed him, swallowing everything in a giant ball of fire. And that explosion also triggered other explosion, generating a chain of explosions across the area. Tali snuck away with a chortle. However, her smile vanished when the conflagration was suddenly split in two, and Himura jumped out of fire, slightly singed here and there but otherwise unharmed. He glared angrily at Tali and he charged at her, swords swinging.

But before he can get far, a sniper shot distracted him and even landed a shot at his katana. It was Garrus again. "Hands off my girl, kiddo!" Garrus shot several times. Himura grumbled and blocked several shots. These bullets mean nothing but annoyance – of course it did keep him from moving away! Garrus kept firing desperately. Until he suddenly smirked and turn back, much to Himura's surprise. 'He?' A cocking sound can be heard again when he saw Maria aimed a bazooka at him with the extra round provided by Tali. As soon as the rocket hissed away, Maria and Tali had ducked down for cover. Another explosion and Himura jumped out to the sky. But then, he noticed how Kyle was waiting just for that opportunity. 'Kuh… these guys…'

Kyle aimed his super shotgun at Himura, trapped helplessly midair. "Eat this!" The shotgun fired. A stream of explosion head straight towards the seemingly helpless Himura. "Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu… Ryuukansen Arashi!" Himura spin his blade in a full rolling somersault slash as he push forward through the wave of explosion. The buzzsaw cut through the stream of explosion down the middle and headed straight at Kyle. Kyle reacted by tossing away his shotgun and suddenly, a pair of forked knives flicked out of his gauntlet. Instead defending, Kyle suddenly charged… with a Shunshin.

'I knew it, this guy knew the basic use of Chakra!' Himura's blade was met with Kyle's dagger midair. The fork locked the katana on place as they landed on the ground. Himura grunted.

"You're an excellent swordsman, just as your file stated, Mr. Himura."

Himura frowned.

"But a fine swordsman that you are… you're clearly inexperienced in actual combat." As he said this, Himura noticed Maria aimed a sniper rifle and take as shot straight at his sword wielding arm.

CLANG!

At the last moment, Himura pulled out a second sword he had kept hidden and blocked the bullet. "Hitten Mitsurugi Ryuu… Sou-Ryukansen (Twin Dragon Coil Flash)!" Himura spin both swords in a rapid circular motion, generating a storm of blades and wind. Kyle back away and flipped back. As he landed, Himura's kenjutsu just ended and he pulled out both rifle and shotgun, barraging him with both weapons. As soon as Kyle emptied his gun, Maria barraged him with sniper and assault rifle. The Cerberus team is attacking him in waves. As soon as Maria was done, Garrus continued. And after that, Tali's grenades, and after that, Wrex unloaded his rifles, and then followed swiftly by Kyle and Maria sniping combo. The Cerberus team take turns attacking him from range, not allowing him to concentrate on those who are reloading or preparing for the next wave.

"That devastating technique you have had never been used against targets that fight back relentlessly, right?" Kyle's words rang straight and true. Himura's Hitten Mitsurugi is absurdly powerful, but he needs to get to the right stance to pull it off. And with him being suppressed by this continuous attack, not giving him a chance to breathe, the boy's lack of actual combat experience shows; in comparison to the battle hardened Cerberus team. All this constant attacking and Himura lost his patience. He charged at Kyle, the closest one, but Kyle jumped back. As soon as Himura took a step, his leg tripped a wire, and set off another explosion. The explosion pushed him back, right into Garrus and Maria's sniping crosshairs. He blocked the shots, but he was suppressed by the shots. This gave a chance for Wrex to go charging in with a roar. "RAAAWWWRR!" Wrex's massive shoulder slammed against Himura's jaw, knocking him back with blood trickling out of the corner of his lips and broken nose.

Finally, the Cerberus team drew their first blood from the enemy. Himura fell back, rolling on the floor, and stopped as his back slammed against a stuck up rubble. He choked blood as his back hurt bad. Himura got up and rubbed his lips. He growled when he saw blood trickling from his mouth. He roughly fixed his nose, causing more blood to splurt out of the nostrils. Given at how angry he was afterwards, this is clearly the first time he was hurt that bad. "You… bastards!"

What's more, seeing their supposedly invincible oyabun spill blood, the Yakuzas began to lose faith of their commander's no longer assured victory.

"NOW! EVERYONE ATTACK HIM TOGETHER!" Kyle, Maria, Wrex, Garrus and Tali sprang out of their position and converge on the cornered Himura.

Himura furiously roared. "HITTEN MITSURUGI RYUU!"

Wanting prevent him from unleashing whatever hellish technique he had in store, the charging soldiers opened fire at him as they converge towards him. Alas, the bullets and projectiles were just a few seconds too late…

"KUZURYUUSEN! (Nine Headed Dragon Flash)" There's a brief flash of light coming from the glimmering of Himura's sword, and then 9 dragon-like bursts of wind exploded from his figure, zooming straight to all incoming five opponents, obliterating everything in its way. Seeing there are 5 opponents, the first four targets were converged upon by a pair of dragons: the first dragon wipe out all incoming projectiles while the second dragon hit them hard. The one who get a single dragon was the leader of the group, Kyle. The one dragon blew away his infernal shotgun blast, revealing Himura, charging straight at him through the leftover sparks of flame. Kyle tossed away his shotgun and pulled out his daggers again. The two charged at each other for a brutal close quarter combat… until suddenly…

"FUTAE NO KIWAMI!" a portion of the ruins right in-between the two incoming fighters suddenly exploded in a towering cloud of dust. A giant sword suddenly emerged right in front of Himura, and Kyle stopped when he saw a giant kanji of 'Aku' (Bad) appeared in his sights.

The two fighters stopped and saw it was none other than Sanosuke Sagara, carrying an unconscious Milly in his arms, and Gino barely managed to climb out right beneath Sano's feet. Sano glanced calmly at Kyle. "Kyle, let me take it from here, kay?"

0000000

Tolle cheered when he saw his girlfriend is okay… but then, he began thinking… the battle of such scale is happening before his eyes… and he can't do anything. He's completely helpless. If it were Kira, what would he do?

He suddenly noticed there's this unnerving commotion on the streets…

0000000

"Sano." Kyle stopped immediately and nodded.

Sano handed Milly, who quickly regained consciousness, to Gino, before he grabbed his giant Zanbato and lifted it over his shoulder. He glared angrily at the Himura boy. "Kenji. Stop this now."

Himura Kenji shirked in fear upon seeing a familiar face. "Uncle Sano."

'Uncle?' Gino and Milly rolled their eyes.

"Just because your Godfather is a good-for-nothing-gangster-brawler doesn't mean you can become a good-for-nothing-gangster yourself as well. Put down the sword, we're going home."

Kenji didn't say anything, but the fact he refused to put down his sword is answer enough. Sano growled. "Kenji… I don't want to have to beat the crap out of my own godson."

"SHUT UP! You don't get to tell me what I can and cannot do! You're not my dad!"

For that answer, Sano momentarily allowed himself to become rage incarnate. He lifted his sword and stabbed it to the ground. When he did, a massive shockwave rippled across the battlefield, one, in particular, headed straight at Kenji. Kenji seemingly blocked the shockwave with his swords, but suddenly his sword turned to dust and the shockwave hit him full. Kenji felt like he was hit a giant invisible hammer, knocking him down to the ground. He knelt on one knee, defiantly glaring at his godfather.

"No, I'm not. I'm just a family friend who picked you up." Sano growled. "But how do you think your father would feel if he sees you as you are now!?"

Kenji gritted his teeth. "He probably wouldn't give a damn."

Sano sighed exasperatedly. "Come on now." Sano stretched out his hand. "Your mother's worried sick."

Kenji began to show signs of faltering… until suddenly…

"GUYS!" Tolle yelled in horror. Everyone heard his call. They look up and saw Tolle pointing at the streets.

"OI! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN-" BANG! Kenji's subordinate's angry roar was cut short when Orga nonchalantly shot him in the head. "This has gone long enough. Ready…"

Everyone standing on the ruins of the Safe house gasped. There on the streets, Orga had set up a whole array of artilleries: enough rocket launchers to rain hell upon the entire site.

"FIRE!"

Dozens of rockets flew towards them in a haphazard manner. They weren't aimed at any specific target, the goal is simply to destroy everything in sight, friend or foe be damned.

Soon, the rockets start landing one after another upon the battlefield, explosions after explosions bloomed, engulfing the troopers, including a grunting Kenji, as well as the roaring mad Sano. Milly screeched in panic as some of the rockets flew past her, missing her being by the inches, its explosion sent searing heat to her face and seemingly burnt some of her hair, but the shockwave throw her off her feet. She nearly died when she almost landed face first on particularly sharp debris. She also saw with horror of how some of the rockets flew erratically and even landed on some other houses in other areas owned by the populace, causing massive destruction. Gino ducked down immediately, barely missing a rocket to his head, his armor protected him from the heat of the blast but the shockwave pushed him off his feet and nearly knocked him out. The others also did the same; they jumped away, run, duck and cover, avoiding the barrage of rockets and its subsequent explosions. But the one who had it bad was Garrus. He took one wrong step and a rocket exploded right next him, its flame consumed one side of his face when it explode. "GAAARGHHH!" The whole area was turned into a sea of fire and explosion in an instant.

"GARRUS!" Tali screamed in horror.

Fortunately, the first volley ended then. Milly quickly get back on her feet, saw that she's still in one piece and do a quick headcount. Kyle climbed out of the rubble with Maria in tow. Wrex tossed what's left of the rubble he used to shield himself and Tali. Gino gasped for breath as he finally climbed out of the hole he used to take cover. Sano and Kenji seems to be the only who didn't move from their position, seeing none of the rockets could even touch them, courtesy to Sano. Tolle is safely above. The only one in danger is Garrus. The monocled sniper is on the floor of rubbles, his bloodied and charred face smothered the ground as he choked and gasped on his own blood. "Gahkk… gaaarghj…!" His groans of pain indicated how serious his injuries are.

"We have to get him out of here! He needs some help!" Tali screeched in horror, attempting to rush to Garrus's side, but Wrex hold her down. "Calm down Tali. The place is still burning!"

Seeing the first volley didn't kill anyone despite the severity of the damage, Orga quietly unloaded a shotgun burst on the head of the Trooper who failed him. "Useless." The trooper's headless body fell down in a thud, serving as a warning for the next team to not mess it up and double the pace. "If any of them is still alive and standing after this, I'll kill you all." He glared menacingly at the second team.

"ORGA!" Kenji screamed angrily at the sergeant. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of this!?"

"You take too long, brat." Orga boringly replied. "Plus, you Yakuzas incompetents are a dime a dozen anyway."

Kenji growled in anger, he readied himself as his hand reached for his sword.

Soon, the next volley of rocket is ready, and just to be sure, there's double the amount this time.

"Oh no." Gino gasped in horror. That first volley had completely flattened the field almost to the ground, and the area is still burning in a sea of flames. They no longer had any room to dodge or find any big and strong enough debris to use as a shield. There's no way they can survive this next wave of rockets.

"Ready…"

"WAIT!" Suddenly, Kyle yelled amidst the sound of the roaring flames. Everyone looked at the Sergeant. "Wait! Stop! Okay! You win." He raised his hands up. "I surrender. Don't shoot. I'll surrender."

"Brother?" Maria questioningly looked at Kyle.

Seeing Kyle's armored appearance and Orga frowned. "Kyle… Shepard… You crazy dropout you… So it was you who lead this whole party?"

"Yes, it's me Orga." Kyle dropped his weapons as well. "You're right. It was me who started this whole vigilante thing. You know. Do some right along the way out."

"Kyle, what are you doing!?" Maria squeaked.

"With that number of rockets he'll pour at us, he'll destroy not just this rubble, but this entire sector, including all the people who live there! Do you understand!?" Kyle whispered a growl. "I'll surrender and I will take full responsibility. You take control of the three teams in my absence."

"You won't get way with just a dishonorable discharge or imprisonment this time, they'll hang you."

But Kyle ignored his sister's protest. "My men and even my sister are just following my orders, Orga. I'll take full responsibility for their actions. Let them go, and I'll surrender."

Silence reigned for a few moments…

And it was quickly ended with a sinister chuckle from Orga. "Well… this is priceless, alright." He smirked sadistically at Kyle. "To think I'd live to see the day the 'Butcher' begged for mercy like a dog… that's priceless. I'm almost tempted to accept your offer."

Kyle frowned.

"Almost." Orga grinned and raised his hand to give the signal to fire everything. "But… I think you're still just an eyesore. You and that bitch of a sister of yours. Hurry up and disappear already."

"NO!" This time it's Milly who screeched. "If you shoot that many rockets all at once, you won't destroy just us, you'll destroy other houses as well! Houses with people in them! Don't drag them into this!"

"He knows." Maria answered for Orga. "He knows… he just doesn't care."

"What!?" Milly gaped.

Orga confirmed this with a smile and a final wave to launch the missile…

Until suddenly…

CRACK-A-BOOM!

A loud explosion occurred from the other end of the street, attracting everyone's attention and delaying the rocket barrage for a moment… It came from up top, and so everyone bent their head up to see what happened. Kenji was the first to jawdrop. "Isn't that… the top floor penthouse tower!?"

The topmost portion of the towering structure that is the Kabuki Palace brothel's penthouse was suddenly torn apart right at its foundations; and soon, the whole peak tower start tilting forward. Not too long after, with a terrible crack, it topple down and literally slide down the tilted walls of the gigantic Japanese style house in a landslide of rubble and destruction, with the barely intact tower surfing above the flowing mayhem. And to everyone's disbelief, riding atop the sliding down broken penthouse like an oversized concrete surfboard… was none other than an angry as hell Kouzuki Karren.

The avalanche of rubble and ruin quickly fell down upon the gate, destroying it in a quick order and poured right into the street. The wave of destruction continues to flow forward, engulfing and destroying everything in the way, but promptly stopped after covering only a short distance. However, it still carried enough force to hurl what's left of the Kabuki Palace top tower forward across the street with the sheer force of momentum. As luck would have, that gigantic piece of a building landed right on top of the arrayed rockets, pulverizing them all to oblivion.

Jawdrops all around.

On top of the rubble was Karren, drenched in blood and gore from head to toe, her bunny girl suit partially ruined, and her fake hand was broken and bloodied. And yet, she calmly stood atop of the ruined tower, seemingly not caring about her appearance or state of being, not caring that he just brought down an entire building with her. In fact, she doesn't seem to care about anything at all. All she cares about… is a certain figure she's holding in her hand. A woman. First glance… she looked like a maid.

"Kallen!?" Gino gasped. "KALLEN!" He yelled, calling her name in vain.

Karren clearly heard him, for her head took a slightest turn towards the infernal battlefield next to her upon hearing a familiar voice calling her name. But she quickly turned away. That's not her concern right now.

"Who the fuck are you!?" Orga was clearly less than pleased that a bunny girl just collapsed a building right on top of his squad. He pointed his gun at her, but Karren quickly responded by merely giving him a glare. No normal Deathglare was this, for her eyes are burning with murder lust and unbridled fury. At any rate, she looked like an enraged demon. Enough intensity to give Orga second thoughts.

Seeing Orga did nothing, Karren merely shrugged and then, without taking another look back, she jumped away, carrying the woman in her arms, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Moments later, she disappeared from everyone's sight.

"What… the hell…!?" And then, Orga turned around and looked back at the ruins of the safe house… and suddenly everyone was no longer there. Kyle, Maria, Milly, Tolle, not even Kenji or Sano can be seen. Using the commotion from the ruin-slide, they somehow managed to find a way to escape unnoticed.

00000000000000

"How did you manage that?" Kage asked.

"Sano-san." Tolle explained. "It seems he has more than one secret exit. His super destructive sword stab a little earlier reopened another tunnel, and we quickly escape via that tunnel when Orga was distracted. Wrex and Tali took Garrus, Milly and Gino tag along and went in together with them. Kenji… he escaped before we can stop him."

Kage nodded. "And they pick you up along the way, yes?"

"As it turns out, the second secret exit appeared right next to the place where Kenji left me. The team picked me up, and we left the scene before things get more hectic."

"I see." Kage nodded. "What happened afterwards?"

"They took us to their hideout."

"And their hideout is… where?" Xingke asked.

Tolle shook his head. "I don't know." Xingke and Kage rolled their eyes. "They blindfolded us along the way." Milly and Gino nodded in support.

00000000000000

Sano momentarily led the team until they reached a safe spot. And then, he decided to part. "Well… this is where I have to leave you guys. You're good from here on out right?"

Milly frowned. "Sano-san…" She looked at the Shadowguards sorry state: Tolle was wounded badly… and Gino… he couldn't be more distraught than he already is. It's like… he's edging to jump away and chase after Karren. "Taka?"

Gino barely able to respond but he managed to look at Milly. He looked incredibly miserable, even through his mask. Milly nodded. "Go."

"Milly-san?"

"Go. Go after her. Find out what happened. Go." Milly encouraged him to go on. "We'll be okay." And quite frankly, Gino should be okay as well. Unlike these two, he's a properly trained warrior. He should be able to survive long enough to reach the ship.

"Are you sure?" Gino asked.

Milly nodded. "Go."

Gino fly one last look at the wounded Tolle. The wounded Shadowguard gave a nod. Gino then start rushing back towards the harbor.

Tolle groaned as he struggled to deal with his hurting body. "That boy… that Kenji is… is he really…"

"He's just an angry misguided kid with some severe daddy issues." Sano's smile looked somewhat painful. "Oh well…" He patted Tolle's head and gave the Shadowguard team a grin. "You take care now! Stick with the Shepards for now, and you should be okay." Sano then looked at Kyle, and took a moment to also pity the choking Garrus. "Godspeed, Shepards."

"And you as well." Kyle bumped fist with the fellow Ex Sergeant. Sano quickly parted and run into a corridor. And now, it's back to their business.

Milly looked at Garrus' charred jaw. Despite the Shadowguards' injured state, this obviously takes priority. "We need to find him a doctor."

"We have a doctor. Come on. We're going back to the Normandy!"

"Normandy?" Milly wondered out loud.

"Our flagship." Maria replied. "But first, we have to blindfold you. Sorry, not that we don't trust you guys or anything but… that's the way it is."

When one hear flagship, the first thing that crossed their minds were the harbor. But surprisingly, their trip took them even deeper into the city, away from the harbor. "Okay." And so Milly and Tolle were blindfolded.

After a series of turns and stops, they arrived at a dead end. Maria however, quickly opened up a well hidden lid on the ground, revealing a hole. One by one, the team descended down the hole, with the severely wounded Garrus being carefully lowered into it. At the bottom of the hole, they arrived at what seems to be an abandoned sewer pipe, big enough for a full grown man to stand up straight, and wide enough for two people to stand side by side. Kyle takes lead, followed by Tolle and Milly. Tali and Wrex carried the injured Garrus while Maria covered their back.

As they walk blindfolded, Tolle's feet keep making splashing sound. And his nose also register the smell of stink slimy waters that flow through the said pipe, and the team followed the stream flowing in that underground pipe… until finally they reached the end of the said pipe, Kyle and Maria removed the blindfold from the Shadowguards. Tolle and Milly were momentarily blinded by the brightness, but they quickly adjusted. As soon as they did, their jaw drops.

They're standing at the edge of a drainage pipe hanging several stories above the floor of a really huge room. One pipe of many others scattered across the ceiling, some are dumping sewage water to the reservoir down below.

Said reservoir, much to their disbelief, had been completely transformed into a functional underground dock. How do they know this? Because there's actually a ship, a heavily customized battlecruiser colored in black and white, docked down below right in the middle of the reservoir. It has three main masts, one at the center and two at the back of the super structure on each side. The main mast has a pair of huge sails, while each of the side mast support a massive dragon wing like sail, extending to the side. It's also sleeker and leaner than standard battle-cruiser. It only has a single row of broadside cannons, but the deck mounted four batteries of rockets found on destroyers. The chaser guns at the bow consist of a single pair of massive oversized cannon. The name of the ship: Normandy II was emblazoned proudly on the front prows of the ship.

"Well… it's not much… but this is home." Kyle smiled kindly at the gawking Tolle and Milly.

Kyle exits first, showing the unknowing Tolle and Milly how it's done: by climbing down a well prepared ladder placed next to the opening. Tolle and Milly followed suit, and then more carefully, they gently bring Garrus down. Their descent from the said exit didn't go unnoticed. People from the ship, heavily armed troopers each and every one of them, had gathered right at the end of the ladder, welcoming them. Kyle yelled to one of the trooper, his second in command of the Specter squadron, Ashley. "Get Dr. Chakwas! Garrus is wounded! Pretty bad!"

A long dark haired woman wearing a blue and white trooper armor nodded. "Got it."

Soon, everyone had got down on the docks. Maria glanced at the crowd and noted, much to her joy, the surviving members of the Spectre team. She rushed and hugged, in particular, a limping young man wearing a cap. "Joker! You're alright!" Maria cried.

"Course I am." Joker smirked. "I ain't going down that easy." Maria then looked at Ashley who returned with some medical team to carry the wounded Garrus. "Ashley… Kaidan?"

Ashley sorrowfully shook her head. "No word."

Not long after, Garrus was brought into the Normandy's medical ward. The resident Doctor is an elderly woman of Indian descent by the name of Dr. Chakwas. She appeared to be well within her 40s, and yet she still commanded a great respect from the ship's obviously younger crew. "My… look at this mess…" Chakwas shook her head as she looked at Garrus' face half blown to hell. Some of his muscle sinews connecting his jaw can be seen. One can even see some of his charred teeth through the hole on his burnt out cheek. "I'll do what I can. Though don't expect me to be able to make him pretty again."

Likewise, Tolle and Milly were also given some medical treatment. Of course, Tolle took priority, being injured the worst. Attending them was thin balding and scarred elderly doctor by the name of Mordin Solus. He's wearing a blood marred surgical apron over a white light trooper armor, denoting his position as army medic. "Hmm. Deep stab on the stomach. Not too deep. Gunshot? No. Too wide. Too clean cut. Sword? No. Not deep enough. Arrow? No. This is deeper. Must shoot at close distance to stab this deep. Need strong push. Spear wound. Yes." The doctor seems to have a habit of chattering his analysis out loud… at a very rapid pace that the three could barely keep up. "Wound rough. Wielder amateur. Cannot stab clean. Poor handling transparent. Weapon. Makeshift. Material poor. Dirty. Must sew the wound shut. No. Possible infection. Apply disinfectant? No. Ran out a while ago. Wound aged. But must close wound. No choice. Painkiller? No. ran out a while ago. This will hurt. Preparing restraints for forced cauterization." Tolle jawdropped when the doctor came to that conclusion.

"Oh no. NO, NO, NONONO-AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!" Moments later, Tolle can be heard screaming mother and mercy as Mordin had to cauterize his spear wound shut – without any painkiller, as he had said so himself. Milly bite her nails in horror and worry.

"Don't worry." Maria chuckled. "The Doctor may talk like that but… he's a good doctor. Your friend is in good hands."

Some minutes later, Mordin came out, somewhat bloodied, and an unconscious but otherwise alive Tolle, panting on the gurney. "Surgery complete. Next patient?"

Milly twitched nervously. "I'm okay. Really."

Mordin gave Milly a quick analysis. "Hm. Light bruises on head and arm. No immediate danger. Fine."

Milly secretly sighed a relief. "Hmm…" Mordin murmured. But then, he raised his shoulder in indifference. He turned to Maria. "At my lab. If you need me."

Maria nodded, and the doctor left. Just then, Kyle also entered the ward. Partly to chek on Garrus, partly to look at this new guests aboard his ship. "Archer Shadowguard." And he glanced at the downed Tolle on the gurney. "And the Saber shadowguard. And there's that Lancer Shadowguard earlier… a new face I figure… That makes three." Kyle bent his head down. "First… welcome to Shanghai and to our ship, the Normandy. Secondly… thank you, for aiding my sister."

"Think nothing of it. Besides, if we don't help her, we'll die anyway, a-ha-ha." Millky chuckled. "So… uh… I kinda… get the gist of what you guys were doing… Maria-san told us everything. Umm… what's your plan now?"

"Well, we'll continue doing it of course. We maybe a squadron short now, but… we all know the risk." Kyle rolled his eyes. "And what about you? Or to be more specific, what about your commander, Kage? What is he planning to do?"

"…urmm… to be honest, we're not really sure." Milly then remembered Kage's state of being, compounded with the state of their army as well. "However… if I guess right… we'll be stuck on this city for a while."

"So I take you haven't been told?" Kyle shrugged.

"Told what?"

Kyle motioned at Maria to make the explanation. Maria nodded. "Things are about to get somewhat hotter, Milly-chan."

And Maria explained everything to Milly concerning the incoming full scale invasion. Milly was clearly shocked and terrified that such a thing is happening as they speak. "Seriously? Zaft would go that far?"

"That's just how terrified they are of your Captain." Said Maria. "They consider defeating your captain worth that much resource."

"We have to warn Kage." Tolle, having regained consciousness, muttered. "Not even he can handle something like this alone."

"Basically, he's not alone." Kyle spoke up. "We have nearly half of the Alliance captain stationed here, including a huge portion of their army. The problem is, how will your captain works with the other captains… and will other captain be willing to work with your captain?"

"Eh? Why wouldn't Kage work well with the other captain?" Milly blinked.

"And why wouldn't other captains work with Kage?" Tolle followed.

"Because of the manner in which Kage rose to command." Kyle explained. He pulled out Kage's wanted poster. "Look at him. Look at you. No matter how much he tried to mask it, I'm willing to wager he's still in his teens. Never before has anyone so young attained the rank of a Captain of an Entire Division. Others had to work for decades to obtain what Kage accomplished in a matter of weeks. Of course, his battle record would indicate he deserved such meteoric rise… but still… other captains felt…"

"Jealous?" Milly and Tolle echoed.

"Jealousy is for children." Kyle chortled. "I was gonna say intimidated… with a healthy dose of suspicion."

"No one is that good." Maria stated simply. "Not unless he has some… advanced abilities or something."

Milly and Tolle gulped.

"Then again…" Maria chuckled bitterly. "If we suspect every superbly talented warrior as an Advanced, all talented people would be running scared… None of them would want to join us. Then this war will never end."

"Rena's words exactly down to the last letter." Kyle nodded. "However… the 7th division was born under that concept."

"Eh?"

"The only way those without any talent to win against those with superior talents are by the strength of number. Amass enough expendable ordinaries to overcome the extraordinary." Kyle noted. "Of course, that method also means that the 7th division developed an underdog reputation as being unreliable at best. Not entirely baseless too. There have been many examples of militias break the line and run away in the middle of fierce combat. In the end… even if your captain is good and disciplined… others under his command may not be the same."

"Kage's a good leader! He's proven that many times already!" Tolle replied.

"Commanding several thousand men, right?" Kyle retorted. "However, managing several thousand is different than managing several hundred thousand. You don't lead so many men without making any enemies inside or some sacrifices and compromises. That's the reality of command. Just because you already stated the order, doesn't mean everyone will follow it to the letter."

Tolle frown turn somewhat sour. And then he remembered how Kira had also became distant… does this has anything to do with his rank as the commander of the army?

"Even before the threat of full scale Zaft Invasion, Shanghai is a hell on earth. Our army is the one thing that prevent this city from falling into chaos… and then suddenly, Rena ordered us to stand down. Let it fall into hell." Maria stated.

"Why would she do that?"

"To test Kage. We're about to face a war. Shanghai is definitely one of the strategic points that need to be defended. I think, Rena wanted Kage to defend Shanghai… And I think Kage understand this too, if he's every bit of the intellectual strategist you claimed him to be. Shanghai will become his foothold on the coming war… but…" Kyle frowned. "Rule of a thumb: to face external threat, one must first pacify internal threat. Rena wanted to see how Kage will first deal with the internal condition of a chaotic Shanghai."

"Then… you're saying… with you declaring war against crime in this city… you're trying to help us?"

"We have our own reasons." Maria chuckled. "But… yeah. Ultimately, we did help your cause, a bit."

"Don't be mistaken." Kyle shrugged. "I do agree that Kage need some testing… and Shanghai is perfect to test that… I just don't really approve with the timing… with the… invasion right on our face and all…"

Milly nodded and then asked. "Then… what do you want from us now? Help you?"

Kyle shrugged and shook his head. "Nothing. We have no intention to hold you here. You are free to leave whenever you wish."

"Of course, we will have to blindfold you again. And we will also escort you to the safe perimeter." Maria smiled kindly. "However, until you two are all the better, I suggest you take your time and rest here."

"Thank you." Milly courteously nodded in gratitude.

And so Maria and Kyle left the two alone.

0000000

Tolle and Milly stayed aboard the Normandy till afternoon the next day, where it's time for them to leave. Tolle had recovered well enough that he can jump up and down without any problem.

"Oh young people." Dr. Chakwas chuckled seeing the liveliness of the teens.

"How's Garrus?" Tolle asked.

"Well… he's still down for the count." Chakwas motioned at the sleeping sniper. Half of his face was bandaged allover. "But he'll be fine. He survived worst."

"You know, we have a doctor aboard the Archangel." Milly mentioned. "She's very good, and we're not bragging or anything. We haven't seen any injury she could not fix. She once reattached a severed arm and leg, I kid you not. If… if you need any help… not that we're saying you're a bad doctor or something…"

Chakwas laughed kindly. "Ahaha. Interesting. Maybe I will pay her a visit."

"Alright. This is James and Thane. They will escort you." Maria explained as two person, James Vega, and Thane Krios, stand behind them at the ready. "They will take you wherever you need to be. But of course… we will have to blindfold you throughout the initial trip. Sorry."

Tolle and Milly nodded in understanding.

Not long after, the two walk blindfolded, escorted by James and Thane. The return trip felt less long. When they get topside, the blindfold was off they arrived at what appears to be the edges of the city… a pretty dark and filthy area of the city. Pretty different from the place where they first blindfolded to enter the underground dock first time. "Where are we?"

"This is near the narrows. An area controlled by the Mob." James explained. "We were going to target here next… so we figure; we'll take you back and scout the area as well."

"I see." Tolle nodded. "…umm… uhh…"

"You have questions?" Thane asked.

"Maria-san… explained a few things… we understand that… what you guys doing are… not allowed by your superior officer, you're basically disobeying an order... aren't you?" Tolle noted.

"We are being led by a dishonorably discharged Sergeant, Kyle Shepard. Everything we do from the beginning is already death-by-firing-squad-material." Thane explained. "If we fail, our enemy will kill us, slowly. Painfully. And we get no help from the others. If we succeed, we get no thanks. We'll be executed for disobeying a direct order."

Tolle nodded. "That's it. That's the thing. You're disobeying a direct order, you gain nothing despite the good you've done… We still don't understand the why of it all. Why do you all do this?"

"We all united under Shepard for one belief." Thane stated.

"We all wanted to do some good." James stated. "You may not be able to tell… but before this, we're all a bunch of misfits and outcasts. The Shepards bring us all together. Making something out of all us. Make you believe we can make a difference."

"Okay…" Tolle nodded. So there's a strong loyalty here. And they all centered… around the Shepard siblings. "Then… why did the Shepards do it?"

"The simplest reason… is the purest reason of all." Thane smiled lightly. "Filial piety."

Tolle and Milly looked at Thane. They don't understand this one bit. Suddenly, they heard a loud roar and a slight earthquake shaking the ground.

"Whoa… what was that?"

And that was the first of many more. And then couple that with explosions, echoes of screams and series of gunshots… it sounded like there's a battle going on. The sound was loud enough to eclipse other noises. In fact, the noise just silenced the entire city, and the only noise was this sound of fierce clashes roaring from underground.

"That… came from the Narrows." James frowned.

And then suddenly… a gigantic explosion erupted far in the distance. And from the explosion… something really huge… that looked like a gigantic metallic ram made of rocks and stone with diamond arms climbing up an obnoxiously shiny building.

"What… on earth… is that… thing?" Milly was jaw hung.

"That building… what building is that?" Tolle pointed at that obnoxious golden colored mansion.

"That… was the mansion of Don Winters… the head of the Mob. He's one of our main targets." James rolled his eyes.

The four of them looked at each other… and suddenly, they simultaneously go towards the house. On their way there, they met, of all people, Gino, wandering around the street all confused and lost. He looked even worse than yesterday. And apparently, until a while ago he was wondering where should he go until that gigantic ram showed up and he's still contemplating on if he should go to that direction or not.

"Taka? What's wrong?"

"Tolle-san… Milly-san…" Gino gaped. "I… I…" It seems it's going to take a while for him to get his bearings… until finally he just say: "I just wandered off here… and then I saw that." Gino pointed at the gigantic Ram demon.

"What is that?"

"That's one of lady La… Eh-hem… Hikari's greater daemon: Barbatos the Golden Ram, Tyrant of the Earth Hoarders. That means she's in fierce fight for her life."

"Hikari-chan!?" Milly's eyes widened. 'That Lacus had something like that up her sleeves?' "What kind of enemy she's facing that she had to bring a gigantic sheep?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Let's go then." Tolle yelled.

And now, knowing that Lacus is involved, the three put some extra pace to reach the scene of chaos.

But… try as they might… by the time they get there… it was already over…

They were welcomed with the scene of Hikari walking out of the rubble of a house with a girl in her arms. Next to her was Simca, sergeant of Genesis and… in a sense… Lacus' numero uno female nemesis. Thane and James quickly blend with the crowd. But among the crowd were troopers from Simca's genesis squad… and… much to Milly's fury, he saw that man again. It was Orga… and he's interrogating Simca and Hikari. She readied an arrow or two… just in case.

"Hikari-sensei?" Tolle called, and the crowd was distracted when they saw three distinct armed warriors appear before in their midst.

Simca blinked. "Saber, Archer, and Lancer Shadowguard! Ah! Perfect timing."

The murmur of Shadowguards erupted amongst the crowd, particularly the troopers who had been made all too aware of their bounty… and the exorbitant bounty of their Blacklist master.

Tolle, Milly, and Gino looked at Hikari, the girl in her arms, Simca… and that mess of a mansion behind her. "Uhh… Hikari-sensei… did you do that?" Tolle asked.

Hikari looked at the mansion behind her, it was barely standing, while its former occupants: the now half dead and utterly traumatized gangsters and prostitutes are queuing to get the hell out of there. "Yeah… (koff) I did some of it. (koff)"

As if on cue, all this dust is tickling Setona's nose… "A… Achoo!"

Cra…crakk!

And the ruined mansion suddenly collapsed into total rubble. After everything they went through in that accursed building, Lacus and Simca were not sorry to see it go up in smoke.

Orga suddenly made a move to Lacus. "Miss, would please come with us for a debriefing?"

"OH NO, SHE WILL NOT!" Simca suddenly step forward and stand between Orga and Lacus. The atmosphere became tense once again, and Simca's genesis squad stand ready behind their leader in support.

"She's part of an important investigation-"

"I enlist her as part of my mission: END OF STORY." Simca roared. "And you will leave it at that, Sergeant." Simca tried to remind Orga that, connections or not, she still outrank him.

Orga was still adamant and his hand seems to made motion towards his sidearm…

ZIP! ZIP! Two arrows flew and shot the gun off its holster. Orga's hand snapped away from his gun and he glared angrily at the culprit. "BITCH!"

Milly's face was that of terrible fury and vengeance. "That's for yesterday. And be glad I didn't shoot you in between your legs." Oh yes. The SOB who rain rockets right on top of their heads. She's doing everything she can not to shoot him in the head. Everything.

"And for the record, that armored missy over there is our captain's GIRLFRIEND." Tolle pulled out his swords, and Taka wordlessly pulled his scythe. "Touch a single strand of her hair, and our Captain will hunt you down to the very ends of the earth."

In succession, the crowd began shouting, and some even start throwing things at Orga's squadron, coupled with booings. "Yeah!" "Get out of here!" "We don't need you!" "GET LOST!" Orga glared angrily at the girls and the shadowguards before he finally turned tail and leave. Apparently, Orga's squadron is not very popular. The crowd immediately cheered upon seeing the Sergeant and his squadron left. They still cheered even after the Squad was no longer in sight, and Lacus became somewhat annoyed by the noise.

"SILENCE!" She yelled, instantly grounding the cheer to a halt.

Everyone turned to Hikari in confusion. The doctor motioned Setona in her arms, which, upon closer observation, is fast asleep with a smile on her lips. Hikari added in a lower voice: "Sssh. You'll wake her up." And the crowd smiled in understanding and relief. Hikari smiled and start walking away, carrying Setona with her. She stopped momentarily next to Tolle and asked out of curiosity. "Speaking of which… (koff) Tolle, where have you been… (koff) and what are you doing here? (koff)"

"It's a long story. I could ask the same for you Doc. What happened?"

"It's a long story. (koff)" Hikari sighed. "Debrief at Kage's? (koff)"

"No prob." Tolle looked at the girl in Hikari's arms. He felt the need to ask who she is, but he think he'll just wait for the debrief. "Where are you taking her?"

"She had an appointment, (koff) and we are very, VERY late. (koff) Cheers. (koff)" Hikari bowed her head and then she start walking away.

"Hikari-chan! Wait for me~e!" Simca cheerfully chased the doctor and walked flutteringly next to her new friend.

Tolle, Milly and Gino blinked in confusion at this development. Gino asked everyone's question. "Errhhh… since when they became BFF?" Everyone shook their heads in confusion. Soon, the crowd dispersed. James and Thane quickly joined the three.

"That… armored woman… is…" Thane's eyes twitched.

"Hikari. Kage's girlfriend-slash-personal doctor-slash-eternal nemesis." Tolle explained.

"Excuse me? What was the last one?" James blinked.

"Anyway…" Thane decided to get to the point. "Based on what I just see… she just brought down the head of the mob to his knees. Literally."

"Yeah. We were planning to go after him eventually… but… we're still in the planning stages…" James shrugged. "The girl kinda beat us to it. And… based from what I hear… she did it single handedly… well… together with Simca that is… I mean… wow."

"That's our doctor for you." Milly chuckled.

"We need to report this to Shepard." Thane concluded as he began to take his leave.

"He's right. You guys should be okay from here on out. We'll take our leave here. See you later, Amigos." James gave a slight salute as he walk away with Thane.

The three also gave a salute as the two troopers left.

"We should go back to Archangel too." And the three started walking back to Archangel at the harbor.

0000000

Mid trip, Tolle and Milly turned to Gino, in particular to discuss Karren's shocking behavior yesterday.

"Gino… talk to us. What happened? What happened with Karren?"

"…Karren… resigned from the 7th division this morning."

"WHAT!?" Tolle and Milly echoed. "W… Why?"

"Did you try to talk to her about it?"

"No idea." Gino shook his head. "That's why I went to the Kabuki Palace. I try to find out what happened. They locked the place up. Not letting anyone in… until I saw… that… big ram…"

"She avoids me. In fact, she avoids everyone. She locked herself in her room… not seeing anyone. And that's not all." Gino frowned. "I just learned she was originally a sergeant of the 10th division. One of their top best warrior."

The more they hear this the more confused they become. "And that woman? That maid in her arms?"

"I… I don't know." Gino shook his head in confusion. "I'm so lost right now…"

The three continue their journey back… they were almost to the harbor… when suddenly a group of fully armed Yakuzas suddenly barred the way.

"Oh come on…" Tolle growled exasperatedly as he grabbed his swords, Milly readied his bow and arrow, and Gino grabbed his scythe.

The Yakuzas menacingly growled and swing their weapons… but then… the group parted to make way for their leader. It was none other than Himura Kenji. The appearance of the boy that was powerful to whip their asses made them even tenser. They readied themselves for a fierce combat. However, Kenji didn't bring out his sword. Rather, he was eying them keenly. "Calm yourself. I'm not here to fight."

To make his point, he showed his swords were tied to the sheath. At that, the three Shadowguards relaxed themselves and stand down. Seeing they are now in civil mood, Kenji asked his question. "I'm just curious… what were you three doing in uncle Sano's safe house yesterday?"

"We… were resting. One of us was injured… badly. So… we take cover there." Milly explained. "Sano-san was kind enough to offer us a safe place to recuperate. Of course we had no idea there's a siege going on."

"So you're saying yesterday was just a coincidence? Coincidence that you guys are firing and even killing, some of my men?"

"You were coming at us, all armed, screaming to kill and rape us. How do we think we should react? Sit down and let you do whatever at us?" Tolle argued back.

Kenji clearly can't argue with that… he nodded several times. "I wish to deliver a message, from my master… to yours."

"Your master."

"He wishes to meet. Whenever your master is able. If it all possible, he wanted to see him before the invasion happened."

"Why would your master wishes to meet with Kage?"

"I don't know." Kenji shook his head. "But… I can tell you this. A meeting with my master means you have a chance to earn his favor. A favor form my master can literally move heaven earth. A lot of people wanted to see him to try their chances. Those who were granted audience can be counted with one hand. If I were Kage… I'd accept this invitation. Others would kill for the honor." Kenji nudged at his men, and they quickly disperse, clearing the road, leaving the scene. Finally, only Kenji remained.

Gino suddenly found his voice back. "Wait… yesterday… what was Karren doing in that area?"

"Karren?" Kenji tilted his head. "…you mean that one armed girl that bring down a building with her? I don't know. I don't really care."

"But you're the Yakuza-boss-"

"I'm but one of a few." Kenji suddenly glared at them fiercely, silencing Gino midsentence. "Just because I'm a Yakuza doesn't mean I have to keep watch over every facet of it. Prostitution isn't exactly my thing." In fact, Kenji made a disgusted face at the word.

Gino stopped asking and bent his head down in depression.

"If your master wishes to meet with my master… go to the entrance of the Kabuki Palace, and bring this." Kenji tossed a small katana dagger encased in white casing. "They will take you straight through."

And with that, Kenji disappeared from sight.

Tolle, Milly and Gino looked at the katana dagger in their hands…

00000000000000

That same Katana Dagger is now in Kage's hands just as Tolle's tale reached its end. "His master… you say? He wanted to see me?"

"Yes." Tolle nodded.

Kage looked at Xingke, but he also shook his head. "I'm sorry. Even I don't know anything about this."

"…" Kage rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"So… what do you think, Kage?"

"I think… this is the least of my problems right now." Kage placed the kodachi on the drawer. A sign he's not going to discuss this yet, and that's that. Tolle and Milly nodded.

"So… what about the Shepards Kage? What are you going to do about them?" Tolle asked.

"I don't know." Kage looked at Xingke. "What about you? These are your troopers. Shouldn't they fall under YOUR jurisdiction?"

"Indeed they do. And clearly they fell out of band." Xingke nodded.

0000000

Later that midnight…

"The Shepards." Rena shook her head. "I should've seen that one coming. Shanghai was Hannah's base. Those two siblings were clearly quite attached to it."

"What would you have me do?"

Rena frowned. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. There's only one thing she'll do to whoever disobey her direct order like this. Problem is… "What did Kage decide?"

0000000

"Honestly… if I knew my general well, in which I do, Imelia-darren would be enraged beyond measure to see something of this scale happening in front of her nose. Whomsoever disobey her direct order is equivalent to a deserter. They'll be hunted down, like dogs." Xingke answered exactly as what Rena would've said.

"I see." Kage rubbed his chin, with one finger pointing up his cheek. Tolle and Milly noticed it and they frowned. "In that case… I'll do the same thing. Vigilantes don't get a free pass. We will cooperate with the regulars and hunt them all down as well."

"WHAT!?" Hikari shrieked in protest. "How could you do that!? (koff) They're doing a lot of good to this city! (koff) You can't just arrest them because they put bullets in every criminal in the city without permission! (koff)"

"They're disobeying a direct order. That's that." Kage's words are final. "We don't need that kind of outlaw here. Kyle Shepard said one thing right: to deal with external threats, one must first pacify internally. That's exactly what I'm doing, I will not have Vigilantes roaming rampant in a major strategic point of this war. Understand!?" Kage hissed angrily, silencing the protesting Hikari.

0000000

"And you believe that?" Rena barked.

"I'll be a fool if I do." Xingke chuckled. "Kage has a plan for them. But for what end… I simply do not know. He kept a tight leash on this one."

0000000

"One more thing." Kage stated. "About the Challenge game. I've seen it for what it truly is." He looked at Canard. "You asked what I do… this is what I'll do: let it be known… that from here on out… I forbid anyone from the 7th division, under the rank of seated officers and captains to participate in that game." He looked at Xingke. "Challenge Game that is done by anyone under that rank doesn't count. Understand?"

Xingke nodded. "I understand… the problem now is… will your men follow it?"

"Anyone caught doing so despite my warnings… they must learn the art of living without his guts. Am I clear?"

"Crystal fucking clear." Canard grinned wide.

"And tomorrow, you better start with acquiring those new recruits Canard. We're running out of time."

"Roger."

Kage then looked at Xingke. "Well… if there's nothing else you'd like to add… then I'd say we're done for the night."

Xingke took his final note… and he nodded. "Indeed we do."

00000000000000

And now, at midnight…

Xingke had just finished debriefing the general on his meeting with Kage.

"Hmm…" Rena nodded several times in deep thought. "Kage clearly has some brains in his head. He grasped the true heart of the Challenge Game and knew well the damage that can be caused by it."

"But?" Xingke detected a faint trace of doubt in Rena's assessments.

"We both know the Militia's history for disobedience. Do you really think his men will obey his threatening order?"

"I guess we shall see tomorrow… but… if I'm willing to make a wager… I'd say they will follow it. To the letter, I might add." Xingke was quite confident in his statement.

"Oh? How so?"

"I can only say… I think Harlbarton followed your suggestions to the letter when he picked this boy as his successor."

Rena was somewhat stumped, but then she quickly shrugged it off. "Don't be ridiculous." Though her words hid a faint trace of amusement and excitement. "But you're right. This is interesting. Very well then… regarding Genesis… I will let it slide. Let's see what good he'll make out of it. As for the Cerberus Pack… my order still stands. They disobeyed my order; they are to be considered deserters. Hunt them all down, like dogs they are."

"Yes, my General." Xingke also detect… elation in his master's voice. Something he hadn't sensed in a while. "Are you in good mood, my general?"

"You know me best, Xingke. Yes. I am. Actually." Rena tilted her head. "I planned on getting this report and then head straight back to Beijing on the hour… but now… you tell me all this interesting events happening in this place… I think I'll stay for a while. I want to see with my own eyes how things will unfold. Finally… something to remove me of my boredom."

00000000000000

At the same time, rooftop…

Kage and Hikari were waiting for Tolle and Milly to join them. "Thank goodness I still remember that hand-sign of yours. Ignore what I'm saying now and meet me somewhere private." Tolle started. "But… how did Lacus-chan know about the sign?"

"I don't. (koff)" Hikari chuckled. "But it's a point of my professional pride that I can always tell when someone's lying. (koff) And Kage is not a very good liar. (koff)"

Kage groaned and shook his head in exasperation.

"Why did you have to lie, Kira-kun?" Milly followed.

"Because Xingke is also lying." Kira stated simply. "When he told me about the Shepards, I sensed there's something else he wasn't telling me. Something about them he doesn't want me to find out."

00000000000000

True enough…

"And the fact about who… what the Shepards really are… do you think Kage knows?" Rena frowned.

"Yes, I suspect he is suspicious… but I don't think he knew exactly what they are."

"Fine… let's keep it that way… for now."

00000000000000

Kira nodded kindly at Tolle and Milly. "What's more… I don't think what they're doing is bad. We need help to pacify this city as quickly as possible. We need all the help we can get. And here they are offering it to us… I'll be a fool not to accept it." Kira looked at Tolle. "If possible… try to join them. Earn their trust."

"You want me to spy on them?"

"Yes. Learn what you can, and report back to me… so I know how to better help them accomplishing their goal."

Tolle smiled wide. "You want to be their secret backer."

"Try to keep this one under wraps. Outwardly, I will condemn them. I will hunt them relentlessly. You must show that you… disagreed with my decision. You have to be angry. You have to be bitter."

"Roger that." Tolle nodded.

And then, he looked at Tolle, in particular, he noted at his new armored appearance. He chuckled. So Tolle had decided to take up his advice to heart. "…tomorrow, before you left, make sure you stop by at the workshop."

Tolle blinked, and then he noted that Kage had noted his changed appearance. "Yeah. Sorry. Always been a slow learner." Tolle and Milly was about to leave… but then Tolle felt he need to say something. "Kira… about Kenji's invitation… are you going to take it?"

"I don't see a need… yet… And he never said when exactly… did he?"

"I'm just… saying… that boy… is incredible. Incredibly powerful." Tolle couldn't help but felt his tone trembled in fear. In fact, his shoulder is visibly shivering. "I've never seen anyone that powerful all my life."

"I see." In stark contrast, Kira's tone was flat and calm… almost cold.

"And then there's Sanosuke Sagara… and the Shepards and… and…" He's flabbergasting now… what he experienced today was overwhelming. It was beyond him. Only now did he realized how terribly outclassed he was. How weak he was. Like a small tiny river fish from calm waters being tossed into a maelstrom in the ocean, he's completely out of his depths.

"Tolle…" Kira's firm hand touched his shoulder to stop his shivering. "Tolle… tuck in. You've been through a lot in the last two days. Rest."

"Yeah… yeah… I'll do that." Tolle, calmed down somewhat, nodded and walk away.

As soon as Tolle and Milly's figure disappeared, Lacus took her chance to talk freely and undo her helmet. "Tolle-kun is extremely terrified. Is this his first time of being that close to death?"

"There were other times when he nearly died." Kira remarked. "But back then, he wasn't alone. His friends were there to pick him up from it. Only… this is perhaps the first time he tasted helplessness. Despair. To feel what it's like to be ordinary amidst extraordinary beings."

"You talk as if you know what it's like."

"I do know." Kira rolled her eyes. "Before I am what I am today, I only got my brains to rely on. But… my strength was considered subpar by Advanced standard. To make things worse… you have any idea what it felt like to a personal butler of a super strong Zoan? Athrun knows how bench-press a steel pipe at the age of 7 while I was struggling to lift a blanket with my two hands. And I'm supposed to be his butler for god's sake. The number of times that made me a laughing stock among my peers."

Lacus sweat-dropped.

"By the way… how are you going to handle the Genesis Team?"

"I don't know. But… I think this is going to be interesting. Field medic from the Natural point of view… I'd say I'm going to enjoy this experience." Lacus chuckled in excitement.

But Kira reacted with a glare. "Lacus, that's not what I meant."

"Ara?"

"Your sister!" Kira stressed. "You do remember you still have a sister!?"

Lacus managed to barely contain her shock. That's right. Between all the events that had happened today, she almost forgot she had a sister. "Of course!" She barked. Not that she'll ever admit to Kira that she had nearly forgot that fact. "Of course I remember my own sister! Moou!"

"Oh. Good. Then you know that if there's an army coming… your sister is almost certainly be among them."

"I know." Lacus sighed. "Yes, I know." She can now only pray that her sister won't do anything rash when she finds out about Kira's true identity.

Ah… who is she kidding?

Of course she will.

000000000000

Back in Zaft…

A Maid ran out of the room quickly just as its occupant threw a vase that barely missed her head. Following suit, a howling scream can be heard from the said room. The maid quickly confide with her co worker. "How is it?"

"How is it? Just look at me! I thought she was going to cut my head off!"

"Well you're the one who insisted to come in to deliver her meal!"

"She hasn't eaten anything or slept a wink for days ever since she came back from Junius!"

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. She didn't want to say anything, she just cry and scream… and she kept… holding on to this… poster… a wanted poster with a masked man on it."

"Maybe… her experience in Junius was too much for her? Maybe she had lost her minds to the devil or something?"

"HEY!"

The Maids gasped upon hearing that firm scolding voice, coming from one Hakutenkun.

His brows knitted together, a still bandaged and injured Andrew Waltfeldt approached the now nervous Maids. The Maids lifted their skirts slightly and bowed down in respect. "My Lord."

"What were you girls doing?" Andy glared sternly at each of the Maids.

"Forgive us my Lord… we were just… well… we… tried to give Lady lamia some food… she hasn't eaten or sleep for some time… we're just…"

The Hakutenkun sighed. "Your thoughts are appreciated… but… for now… I think you all should leave her alone."

"Yes my Lord." They bowed down again and took their leave. But before everyone leave, one Maid asked one more time. "But… forgive me for being rude… but my lady… she hasn't lost her mind, has she?"

Andy tucked his head down and patted the little's maid's head with his functional large hand. "Young miss… if you realized you just unknowingly and yet willingly hand over your beloved sister in silver platter into the hands of the worst mass murderer in the history of the Empire… and you DON'T go crazy… you're not a human being."

'Sister… Lacus-sama!?' The young maid gasped in realization as to why she didn't see the kind elder clyne.

"Leave her be for now. There's nothing we can say can calm her down for now." Andy gently pushed the young maid away. And then they heard another scream, and more stuff breaking.

Inside her room…

Lamia, with her short pink hair disheveled, heaved up and down. Her maddened twitching blue eyes had yet been closed nor know some rest ever since that horrifying revelation she had when the Deathwatch brought her pilgrimage team up to speed with the latest event… particularly to a certain new addition to the members of the Alliance's Blacklist Captain. And when reality caught up and she remembered what she had done, her sanity was lost beyond recall and she screamed again. The walls of room cracked at the force of her scream.

When Waltfeldt walked in, her eyes twitched madly at him. "What?" She hoarsely snapped.

"We picked up a wounded crew from Marco's last expedition."

"Last?"

"…apparently he was fighting Kage as his last opponent. He managed to damage his monster of a ship, so he couldn't have gone far. But the man was quite delirious… and…"

"Where?" Lamia does not concern herself with trivia.

Waltfeldt gulped, knowing full well what she'll do once he gave her the answer. "Lamia… I really think you should-"

"WHERE!?"

Her bloodline limit voice slammed his whole injured body and nearly knocked him off his feet. Waltfeldt steadied himself and finally answered:

"Alliance Regulars' main HQ, China. Specifically, Shanghai."

00000000000000

00000000000000

"The worst part of a siege is how quickly the people can turn against you."

"I… we just don't know how she can sail, let alone how we can fix her."

"STOP HER!"

"I don't care what you'll do. I will write nothing but truth!"

"I'm only concerned with one thing, Mister Kage. To change the world."

"I knew it… the Shepards are not what they seem."

"If you want to know who I am… you only need to ask."

"One way or another, your hero play ends today."

"We dealt with the mob, we dealt with the Yakuzas… how do we handle the triads?"

Chapter 46:

Bringing Down Shanghai Part 3:

Shadow's city

"I don't mind how you think my boys are weak." Kage chuckled. "It doesn't even matter if they never catch up with me; it's always been my job to wrap things up!"

00000000000000

00000000000000

00000000000000

00000000000000

I can already tell many of you were quite shocked that I'm using Mass Effect characters. Well… I had a plan for them… which I won't tell.

But what I can tell you is this. I'm using the Shepards as some kind of a representative of the normal soldiers: he's slightly better than them… but not quite superhuman either. Most of them are normal people compared to Kira, who had become increasingly extraordinary as the story will go.