Chapter 41: Scorched earth and endless battle.
(Three months before The Day)
At the far corner of the room, sat the Grand Chamberlain in the seiza position. On the opposite corner of the room, stood a mirror reflection of Tsukuyomi herself with the only different of a pair of glasses on her feminine face, her lifelong rival and cousin, Tsukuyomi Maya.
The last time Mana was invited to this room, it was regarding the matter of Meiya, her raison d'être and league lord.
"She doesn't sound like the same Meiya that I have always know."
The girl let out a soft smile as she said, after listened to Tsukuyomi's story. It was a lovely profile, delicate like a small rosebud but as the same time, majestical. Her voice, her speaking manner, and even her look was exactly the same as Meiya, the one who Mana sworn to serve. After all, they were twin, Mitsurugi Meiya and Koubuin Yuuhi, but one live as a shadow while the other live as a sun that shine upon all lives.
"He must be a wonderful person," mused the girl as she gave Tsukuyomi a questioned look, "Tsukuyomi, what kind of person he is, to able to change Meiya to that extend?"
There were two Tsukuyomi in the room, but without a doubt, that question was intended for Mana.
"Your Highness, he is a fool beyond reason," Tsukuyomi replied exasperatedly.
The Shogun looked at her attendant, surprised at the sudden outburst, probably that resulted from accumulated stress and burdens that throw at him by the person in question.
"His words and behaviour are foolishly dumb at times that I must question myself whether or not I make a wrong decision to entrust Meiya sama to the like of him. He is the type that easily to be misunderstood as he cares nothing of his own appearance or importance. He is pretty much only doing thing that he wants to do and wouldn't give attention to anyone's opinion about him. He always throws people off their pace, creating trouble after trouble to everyone around him."
Without a doubt, the girl's intuition was sport on. The boy was the source of Mana's outburst. But, it was a rare sight for Yuuhi to see this side of Tsukuyomi Mana, speaking in an informal manner without any reservation.
"He is a fool… but a good fool," Mana concluded her outburst in a strange note, a small smile floated on her lips.
"Is that so?" the girl nodded her head with a questionable smile.
That was the only time, Tsukuyomi could give her report with a smile on her face. This time, she didn't wear her usual stern and strict demeanour or her kind and devoted one. It was a grim appearance.
Something big was on the move, beyond the shadow of the approaching apocalypse, beyond the despair and the terror that BETA brought to mankind, something was slithering unnoticed.
"Your Highness, there is something I must report," Tsukuyomi began her speech as she kneeled down on her knees, without lifting her head.
Common briefing room(27 hours before The Day)
"I'm counting on you today, genius," the leader of the Cracker unit stood up from his seat, slapping his massive hand at the back of the newest guy that just walked into the room.
Almost send flying due to the impact of the excessively friendly greeting that the commander of the Cracker Flight, the new comer choked noisily before offered his greeting.
"Like wise," the youth replied, smiling wryly and answered the greeting with a light jab to the gut of the giant.
The two adjutants of the Cracker soon followed their leader's lead, slapping their hands on the youth's back, giving their encouraging words. One of them took the privilege of their height and age, rubbing his hands at the youth unkempt raven hair. The other wrapped her arms around the youth's neck and shoulders, giving him some excessively friendly locks.
"Stop it," the youth shrugged, pleading his futile effort in avoiding his peers from messing around with his own hair. As usual, Meiya's effort in combing his hair in the morning was all for naught.
"By the lord! Oh my god! Aren't you here too early?"
The man who the youth recognized at a member of the Rapier unit, his duelling buddy, walked into the room, staring at the youth with widened eyes as though he just witness a rare animal on the red book.
"I can't afford to be late now, couldn't I?"
The youth snickered, playfully jabbing at the man the moment he received a light kick right in his butt by the new comer.
"Even you are not totally fearless, I suppose," the woman in charged of the Liger unit came with several members of her team, delivering her friendly greeting at the youth and her colleagues in the surrounding.
"Do I look like a fearless kid to you?" the youth saluted to the higher ranking officer before giving a cheeky reply, "I don't remember that I have ever acted as such," he said.
"You fucking brat," the woman smirked as she joined the ritual with her colleagues, rubbing her hands warmly at the youth's head.
"Damn it, stop it already. Why must you people do this every time I met you?"
The youth scowled, evading the hands that rubbing at his head but failed miserably. The grown soldiers laughed at the youth's grunting. And the youth could do nothing but resignedly smiled, enduring the never ending ritual.
"You are here already?"
A member of the Gambler unit walked in, followed by his entire unit, perplexing at the early arrival of the youth and let out a loud and surprised question. Without the need to check the 'you' in that question, everyone in the vicinity has already known of it. After all, discipline was one of the youth's many flaws, if not his worst demerit in his entire military career profile.
"Well well well, what do we have here? I don't expect to see you here this early," a robust man walked in with several soldiers followed him closely, on their sleeves, imprinted the logo of a dragon.
"With all due respect sir, you who always arrived at the last minute have no right to criticize me about punctuality," the youth flashed a wide grin at the new comers, member of the Dragon Flight, giving his share of greeting.
"Don't try being a smart ass in front of me, first Lieutenant. I might send you to the bridge again for your insolent," the commander laughed as he saluted, giving his greeting to the surrounding colleagues subsequently.
It was unimaginable, this scene and the merry atmosphere that glowered at the common briefing room. The youth was treated as if he was a rock star of some sort, not some soldier with heroic achievement or well known figure.
One and a half year ago, they were at war, the youth and all those who presented at the common briefing room were literally at the throat of each other.
For him, they were merely practicing targets, some arrogant people with gigantic ego and little skills to back up their ego. They were merely hurdles, targets that he needed to climb over to improve himself and to prove his strength. He need experiences and time to hone his skills to the utmost, those people were just what he needed, tools and targets, a mean for him to reach his goal.
On the other hand, for them, he was an obnoxious, insolent and fearless kid, neither abiding by the law or anything similar.
There would be no way that they could possibly on good term with each other. After all, the kid did more than just damaged all the hard earn reputations and the pride of those so call veterans with his monstrous display of skill. And every Eishi that assigned at the Yokohama UN Base was bitter at the fact that they were totally outmatched by that insolent kid, a reckless and snotty-nosed cadet who has yet graduated from the flying school. No matter what they have tried, the result was solid. There weren't any Eishi who was not bitter about that.
Or so, they thought. Or so, they believe.
Little that they knew that soon, less than two years, they would all accepted him as their representative. The one that once was their common enemy has now became someone they called their friend and their pride. 300 hundred Eishis and every combatant, they all shared the same vision.
If someone was to ask which one is the strongest person in the Yokohama Base, they would all unhesitating point their finger at the youth, replying with the same fed-up expression, "Isn't that too obvious?"
It wasn't a figure speech that he was their champion.
His entire combined score on TSF control made the result of the all-time-record-holder Isumi Michiru paled in comparison if one was to take a glimpse at the scoreboard of the flying school. Whether it was virtual simulation or real life practice test, his score was totally surreal, dominating from other past results by a huge lead.
However, the emblem of the Valkyries was the most significant proof of the youth's ability. A01, Yokohama UN Army's strongest special task force, Yuuko's personal army, he was the one who inherited their legacy. Their pride, their dream and their legacy was on his shoulders to uphold. A remnant of the once most prestigious unit, a living proof of a dream could have been the ark of Noah of mankind, it's him Shirogane Takeru the one who inherited it.
Nonetheless, result was the most solid proof that everyone need. Nobody know just exactly how strong the Valkyries was or the strength of those who carried the marker A01 on their sleeves. After all, A01 has never taken the front, not even once. They operated in the dark and all of their achievements and glory were concealed. Thus, only rumour floated, passing the valour of A01 around among the troops. In contrast, Shirogane Takeru has proved that he was a real deal as well as those rumours about the strength of those of A01. There has yet to be an Eishi in the Yokohama Base who managed to break the youth's record. The mark of the Valkyries wasn't for show and the title of the undefeated genius wasn't taken for granted. 300 Eishis, they all were defeated, unable to redeem their pride as senior soldiers. There has yet to be an Eishi who could match the youth's unparallel talent. That's just all that everyone needed to accept Shirogane Takeru as their representative.
Whoever he was, whatever he did, nobody cared about that anymore. The one thing that they all had in common, it was their duty to pilot a TSF. It was that single thing that connected every Eishis regardless of their backgrounds and past.
All they could see was a bratty genius, one that was full of flaws, easily to misunderstand and hopelessly stupid to a fault but at the same time, one that was blessed with a talent that made all those around him paled in comparison.
This was the one they called their representative, this was the only one they called their champion. This was the one true champion, their champion, Shirogane Takeru.
"Attention."
Upon the command, the merry chitchatting mood in the briefing room completely disappeared, making way for a more soldier like atmosphere.
A familiar figure walked in along with his personal secretary. It's none other than the new CO of the Yokohama UN base. The moment the man stopped, standing in the middle of the speaking platform, the entire room gave him a salute.
"At ease"
The CO commanded after he saluted his men in return.
A mind reader he wasn't, a genius at reading someone's feeling he wasn't but Shirogane Takeru could still notice that beneath the pallid face of the CO, there lied a dark expression.
"Fellow valiant soldiers, I wouldn't ask of you forgiveness at this hour. However…"
And it was like the youth expected, it didn't take a genius to realize it. There was nothing but grimed news awaited the soldiers.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I swear I should have sent them to the migrating fleet yesterday along with Kasumi. I should have ignored their will, silently drugged them and threw them straight to the flying shuttle. I should have. Now it is already too late.
The briefing from the CO was short.
Holes appeared within the strategic formation of the Sadogashima assault units. The manpower required for the assault unit, the second line of defence, the spearhead and the beachhead unit was severely lacking.
This was the consequence of the coup d'état happened not long ago immediately after the resignation off the Prime minister who is Chiruzu's pop. Though, not many people, public excluded, was aware of that coup d'état, for it was carried out in utmost secrecy and came to an end in sweep. The media was suppressed completely and it seemed to everyone that the current Shogun has fallen out of the Emperor's favour.
This complicated Japan's military power even more than its original state. Its effect was monument, though not obvious to public. The Shogunate system of Japan was at the brink of oblivion, the shogun was now but a figure head that possessed almost zero authority over military. Also, after the coup d'état, a sizable of the elite 1st Tactical Armoured Regiment and the Imperial Japanese Mainland Defence force went missing or was isolated within their army due to their zealous support to the old regime.
That was all the CO could provide for us regarding the sudden change in the tactic and assignment in this hour.
Once again, mankind proved to be its worst enemy. Even in this hour, there was still many people out there fighting among ourselves… No, I don't have the right to criticise them. I have lost that right. These hands of mine were not exactly untainted without the smell of blood.
No, stop thinking about that, Takeru. What should I do now? What can I do now?
A beachhead position of all position, this was the worst. It was one of the most strategic positions within the formation. How could those people push such position to us who barely have any experience like us? These jobs are always left to veterans, not we green horn graduated.
Was this intentional?
Damn, stop thinking about that.
What can I do? What can I do? What can I do?
"Don't let your worry show. You are already a big face here. The situation is bad enough already, if you go out of the room with that face, the morale of our troops will surely hit bottom," the voice of my adjutant and second in command rang.
"Eh?" I rolled my eyes at Chiruzu, staring. Was my face that obvious?
"Wipe that look on your face, I said. You don't have to load everything on your shoulder. I'm here to share, am I not?"
Chiruzu bashfully said while meticulously jogging down the content of the briefing to her personal note. She paid me not a single glance, eyeing at her detailed note, perhaps to hide her own embarrassment.
"Thank you Chiruzu," I quietly expressed my gratitude, whispering.
Chiruzu is in fact more of a leader than someone like me. Unlike her, I don't posses nearly as much of charisma and persuasive power as her. And I sucked badly when it came down to stuff like this, playing poker face in these times. It's rather strange that I have become our squad's leader instead of Chiruzu.
"Goodness, how long must I look after you? If you decide to look like a squad leader, follow it through til the end"
"Sorry, I know. But you don't have to keep repeating it."
"I will do it as many time as I must, otherwise you will just flunk it," Chiruzu replied half-heartedly, shrugging her shoulders.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The gong of war was sounded. Assault warheads filled with metal cloud were discharged, showering upon the battlefield. And as expected, the laser classes left no opening, allowing no projectiles on the air within their presence. Every single of the warhead was nailed down with deadly efficiency before their blast perimeter collided with the alien force.
But, that was just what mankind wanted. Metal cloud immediately filled the atmosphere, became denser as every warhead went down. And as the saturation of metal cloud went up, the effectiveness and range of the laser beam would go down accordingly. Then, the Wadasumis, TSAs Tactical Surface Attackers that were designed for water based warfare, a hybrid of tank and submarine machines, lead the charge of the beach head unit, storming the front with their thick armour and their flaming muzzles.
Destroyers, in herds, even their hardened fore armour could not save them from the fury of the Wadasumis, completely shredded to pieces or exploded upon impact. The artillery power of a Wadasumis could generally put other type of TSF to shame in exchange for their mobility. Human scored the first blood, it has always this way, 30 years ago and even now.
"All units, you are clear to launch, we wish you the best of luck," 1st Lt. Elena's voice rang through the White Knight's communication channel.
"We will definitely return. Everyone, NOE flight mode, prepare to do two continuos boost jump within 8 second interval. The faster we landed, the lesser the chance we were to be hit by laser. And be readied to make any random manoeuvre upon my signal," White Knight 01 issued his order via the channel.
"Copied,"in harmony, the White Knights replied.
A newly created Flight they were, but far from being incompetent. They may lack in experience, but their superior skill and first-class coordination made up for it. Besides, they were confident, in their skill and their commander. Without a sliver of doubt, their commander was the best they could ever hope, the strongest TSF pilot, the strongest Eishi they could ever find.
"Units, charge,"
The White Knight's leader roared and six Gekishins ignited their thrusters, catapulted into the air. At the same time, all of the Yokohama Armoured Squadron that was responsible for the beachhead position took flight.
Adrenalin pumped into his blood and he became less aware of himself than ever, White Knight 01, Shirogane Takeru could only objectively watch his surrounding changed scene by scene.
The laser was attracted to the Wadasumis squad, the Musashi and the UN Fleet on the left side of Ryou Tsu Bay and the rain of metal-filled warheads to notice the approaching group of TSF in NOE Flight mode. And it helped Takeru and his mates greatly in reaching their designed position.
"White knights to HQ, Alpha 23 secured"
"Gambler to HQ, position secured"
"Hawk to HQ, D13 secured"
"Dragon to HQ, position secured"
"Rapier to HQ, Delta 11 secured"
Rows of confirmation flooded the UN channel for a second in harmony.
"Units, draw the enemy attention to your position as much as you can. We will pull the enemy main force toward the north of Sadogashima just exactly as in the briefing to allow the Whisky to annihilate the Laser strands. Until then, do your best to survive" operators relayed the order they received from the UN commander to their respected Armoured Tactical Squadrons.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Operation Babylon, this was mankind's history largest operation declared upon the BETA until this day, a worldwide operation. In the same day, mankind will launch simultaneous offensive attacks at every single BETA Hives in the earth, wiping the Earth clean of the BETA with the help of fifth dimensional bombs, G bombs.
As the result, Sadogashima's attack force could only afford so much of 2 rows of re-entry shells that came along with a G bomb, no Orbital Divers. The Orbital Corp that was already low in number could only assist so much. That meant no mistake is allowed, the G bomb must not be shot down airborne prematurely, which only mean that at least 85% of the Laser strands must be taken out before the signal for the re-entry shells was called.
With that mindset, Echo unit consist of mixed Flights from Yokohama and Yokusoba UN base must lure the majority of the BETA's army toward them, to the North of Sadogashima and the eastern bay. And once it happened, the Whisky unit, a combined force of Imperial Army, Imperial Royal Guard and UN army of Battalion size consisted of elite Eishi will storm the battlefield from the western size, killing off the Laser strands that stayed at the rear of their formation.
"Die,"
The war cry of the youth filled his unit's communication channel as he sank his reactive coated supplemental shield into the expose back of the last Grappler within his vision, creating a volatile reaction of blood and explosion.
In contrary to his hot headed mind, the youth was entrusted with the position of an Gun Interceptor, who watched over his entire squad's condition at the centre of the formation. Normally, with people of similar character and similar skill, who spirited, hot-headed and favour close combat over anything else would be assigned to a Vanguard position. But, the youth's wide array of skill in TSF warfare allowed him to fight any enemy in any assigned position, not necessary a Vanguard even though it was the position that most suited for him.
He didn't have it easy of course, because fighting as an Impact guard required more skill than just personal skill. He was meant to maintain his composure at all time, to not be swept away by the heat of the battle while watching his squad members' well fare, both their battle status and their performance. Without a doubt, people could easily realize that he wasn't exactly the material for such complicated task. But still, the youth proved that he was up to the task, surprising everyone, his superiors, his mentor, and even his friends.
"White Knight 01 to all units, use this opportunity to resupply, starting with Meiya and Ayamine. Everyone keep a look out in the mean time,"
Takeru gave his order as he swiftly checked his monitoring display. Meiya's and Ayamine's Gekishin was almost drained of their power and was completely emptied of cartridge. As expected, Strike Vanguard and Storm Vanguard packed drained more fuel compare to the other set due to the mobility that required of them compare to the other pack. Though, there was no problem thus far with their mental fortitude, the chart display of Ayamine's and Meiya's mentality was at nominal.
Mikoto and Tama was the next in the level, their stress was slightly higher, but still within the acceptable range. And this was normal, after all, this was their first actual battle. If anything, it was Ayamine and Meiya the weird ones, being absolutely calm despite it was their first battle, especially when they were the Vanguard. Those two's mentality, what substance they made of seriously…
"Takeru, how many did you get?"
A light-hearted voice quipped, brightening up the mood in the communication channel.
"How many did I kill? Hey, Chiruzu, do you think that I was in any position to count my kill?"
I replied, matching my tone with my second in command to a less strenuous one.
"Uwa, that's the undefeated genius Eishi for you,"
Chiruzu feigned her surprise, widened her eyes and put a hand on her mouth. Her face that appeared on a window of the squad common HUD was more of a mischievous one than surprise.
"What do you want, woman?"
Takeru rudely interjected, sensing nothing but trouble from Chiruzu's facial expression. In these days, her personality seemed to take a deep nosedive. You can hardly relate her with the same Chiruzu two years ago. She could be like a completely different person once the situation arose and required her to do so.
"Well, there is nothing in particular that I want, but… well, to think that you actually give those of the Gambler Flight 2 and a half hour of handicap, I'm seriously speechless"
"…" an eerie silence descended and subsequently turned into a tearful cry "I forgot."
The bet that he made against his peers, the commander and vice commander of the Gambler Flight regarding their competition of the kill count they have at the end of the battle has completely slipped out of his mind until the moment Chiruzu belatedly reminded him.
Muffled snicked rang through Takeru's ears as he realized that he has practically zero kill at the moment as he didn't even count them.
"Why didn't you remind me of that earlier?"
Takeru vehemently questioned his second in command.
"Well, it's more interesting to see how you would react."
The White Knight's adjutant replied.
"Oy, do you want me to eat nothing but the grass on the training field for a month? That was a one month supply of meal bet," was the only thing Takeru could say as his squad endured their giggle.
"Don't' laugh, it's not funny," Takeru scowled embarrassedly at the giggle treatment that his squad revered for him.
"That's enough of the joke, quickly proceed to do your resupply. We don't have all the time in the world for this,"
Tsukuyomi's stern voice resounded.
"Roger," Takeru gave his reply to his mentor and the co-commander of the Blood unit.
Even though to the UN army, they were merely guess, an out of place accessory, Takeru and his squad didn't think Tsukuyomi and her Blood unit in that manner. Being tasked to protect Meiya as an Imperial Royal Guard Independent unit, Tsukuyomi and the idiot trio was already like a part of the family even before the christened of the White Knight, helping the 207 unit in many things.
Surely, the joke lifted the mood and even dispelled the stress in the Eishi's mind. Takeru could clearly see the effect from his monitor display. Chiruzu was probably the most stressed one among the bunch, but still she pulled through, acting like nothing, cracking jokes to lift the mood. She was certainly more of a commander material than him Takeru. It was a mystery as how and why someone like himself could be the commander of the White Knight with such a strong candidate as Chiruzu in the group.
"HQ to White Knight 01 and Blood 01, good job please keep it up for the next half an hour, the Whisky unit is sorting out,"
"Finally…" Takeru muttered in relief and gave his reply afterward, "Copied."
It was a bloody 3 hours of fighting and killing. While it was no where near the limit of his mental fortitude and stamina, Takeru grew wary of the battle. His enemy, the BETA was an army of vast amount of single minded soldier who knew neither daunt nor fear. No matter how much BETA the White Knight and the Blood has killed, they kept on charging without slowing down. Despite their overwhelming firepower and strength, the Blood Unit and the White Knight was pushed back dozens of time as they tried to maintain the first line of defence operative. 10 TSFs, 6 Gekishins and 4 Takemikazuchis were forced to constantly perform reverse boost jump to avoid being overcrowd by the herds of BETA that came at them.
How many did he kill? Takeru could not recall it, he was at lost while fighting herds of hundred thousands BETA of different strands after 3 hours of constant fighting and killing. The Mk II moved well, it may looked battered from the fight, plastered with scars and the BETA's blood but it's far from being damaged.
Considering all aspect, he did well, using a large array of basic skills, consistent and precise control to deal with most of the inherent danger.
Though, it was actually Tsukuyomi and her unit who did most of the job, spreading a diamond like toughness to the formation with their amazing TSF control abilities. And their Takemikazuchis could never be taken for granted. They were without a doubt, befitting the name of the old god of war.
Just another half an hour, this operation would come to an end and everyone would surely laugh heartily like usual, embracing themselves as they returned to the base. Shirogane Takeru wished.
"Takeru, thee next batch is coming this way," Mikoto issued an alert, "Estimating thousands, mostly grapplers and tank class, speed 75km/h."
"Everyone, ready for reengage, synch your reverse boot jump timing with my TSF as you shoot. Blood 01, please provide cover fire as we retreat as before," Shirogane issued his order as he narrowed his sight at the incoming wall of smoke.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Whisky, you are clear to launch. We wish you the best of luck."
The dim light of Whisky 01's HUD blurred for a moment. It wasn't a metaphor nor was it due to technical problem. It was the result from his uncharted stress. The burden on his shoulder was heavy. This single unit was composed of the most elite Eishi, the best of the best Eishi that the Imperial Army and the Imperial Royal Guard could offer, for a single purpose, to wipe out the laser strands in Sadogashima of the map. On his shoulders, it wasn't just the lives of every unit under his command. On his shoulders, it wasn't just the lives of all the soldiers participated in this battle but the future of Japan as an individual and the world as a whole unit. Failing is not an option.
"Roger that, units, let me hear your war cry," the aged commander replied to his operator and at the same time gave his command to his unit. In contrast with his inner fear and stress, Whisky 01 allowed no sign of weakness to appear. He steeled himself and let out a spirited growl. Upon that moment, the grown Eishi found his own voice drown among the war cries of his peers.
"Death to the enemy," the commander exclaimed, igniting flame into his thrusters, his Takemikazuchi catapulted into the air. Sand blew and the Whisky headed to the battlefield.
"Cover fire on standby. Prepare for impact," the operator reported, relaying what was happening on the other side of the battlefield. Whisky would need everything that they need in order to break through the line of defence of the BETA to get rid Sadogashima of the Laser class.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Three hours, that was just the length of the battle has fought. The wear rate of the Echo unit has reached 45%. There was no armoured unit other than the White Knights remained unscathed at the moment. Their sizes were about half of the original size when they first sorted out to battle. On the satellite display, at least three hundred of thousands BETA, large strand and medium strands came at them with fierce determination. No matter the amount of firepower or determination or skills they displayed, they kept on coming with a large and vast army that literally left no space open in the North East beach of Sadogashima.
Their fighting spirit was dampened by the unwavering charge of the tsunami of monsters that came at them. But, a single message relayed on the channel, their fighting spirit was renewed.
The Whisky was on the move.
Those who lost their friends, turned their grief into blind rage, dispending every bullet in their possession, seeking more blood from the enemy. Those who lost their will, howling like war beasts, let out the dog of war within them, cutting and hacking, suppress their enemies with everything they got.
The three crumbling lines of defence were rebuffed. Warheads that were reserved for this single moment, discharged.
"Kill them," the youth shouted, letting out an angry discharge of furious uranium shells and killing three grapplers in a row. Around him, his unit worked furiously to keep the enemies at bay, slaying them with everything they got. The Imperial Royal Guards were no less in their efficiency, flaying enemy after enemy apart with their sword and drilling holes through the frame of the charging monsters. Behind them stood a Battalions of Wadasumis, the line of defence was pushed into their limit, they couldn't extend the line any further than this. The Battalion of Wadasumis were the last line of defence for the beachhead unit, to provide a tactical advantage to the Echo unit and at the same time, protecting the combined fleet from the BETA.
The earth became alive, stirring up from the impact of the support fire provided by the combined fleet.
Shirogane Takeru peeked to the left corner of his HUD, checking the satellite scan. Barely 10 percent of the BETA at the rear was wiped out. But that was more than enough, 40 klicks were but a small distance for a single straight push for those of the Elite Whisky.
Suddenly, a dry sound rang through the air, Takeru clicked his tongue, cursing his own inexperience as his assault rifles rang out of bullet. Not one but two at the same time, that's some amateurish mistake that he made despite being the centre of the White Knights. A Grappler approached from his left side and his squad was screaming something, probably surprise by the fact that he allowed that grappler approach the formation unchecked.
In a blink, before anyone could react, Takeru returned his assault rifles into their rightful place, the Mount Pylon at his MK II's back whilst picking up the supplemental multi purpose shield on the ground. Takeru made a leap, smashing his shield at the raising forearm of the Grappler. A flash of orange blew, covering the HUD with flame the moment the shield sank deep into the flesh of the monster. The injured pincer barely connected to the monster's shoulder socket and without flinching, the monster tried to turn, smashing its remained pincer at the crouching illegalized modify machine. Takeru immediately compelled his TSF to crouch low, making a small spin before reaching out for the handle of the sword on his back with the MK II freed hand. The super carbon blade slid out of its mount pylon and curved in a magnificent crescent, bisecting the Grappler.
"Tch," Takeru clicked his tongue as he realized another two Grapplers came running at his direction, the blank in firepower that he permitted made it possible for the left flank of the White Knight to be penetrated.
"Oh, no you don't," the youth exclaimed, tossing his reactive shield at the front most Grappler, abruptly stop it short of its charge whilst redeploying his assault rifle in his left arm, exchanging the mag with the assistance of a sub-arm. He wouldn't make it in time, finishing his reloading before those two grapplers threw the formation of the White Knight into disarray.
The second Grappler overshot its staggering kin, raising its forearm like a sledgehammer at the reloading machine.
"Too slow," Takeru gritted his teeth, diving beneath the raising pincer, spinning a pirouette and loft the monster off its primary weapon. Before the monster could turn, Takeru span another half a rotation, slipping his blade at the neck of the monster and cleanly severed it. The next monster rushed in, just barely recovered from the flying shield of the youth, its fore armour sizzled with black smoke. Its timing was perfect, the Gekishin was too slow to turn around and defended against its blow. Its scythe like pincer struck, missing the cockpit area of the Mk II by a few inches as the Mk II continued to spin and directed the grappler's attack to the ground. Thud, the earth blew in a dry and hoarse sound. The grappler hurried, raising its pincer again as it watched an assault cannon's muzzle inches away from its gigantic frame.
"Too slow," the youth repeated, squeezing his trigger finger and the remained grappler was ripped into beehive.
"Getting all conceited because you think you could win? You are hundred years too young for that," Takeru muttered as he sheathed his blade and picked up his shield.
"That's my line," several growing voices echoed in unison, nearly puncture Takeru's eardrum in an instance.
"What's wrong?" the youth asked.
"You are our fucking leader. Don't break away from the formation like that. Are you freaking retard?"
As expected, Chiruzu's tongue was as sharp as ever. Even though she was diligently setting fire in her gun muzzles, sweeping away rows of tank class, she didn't give her foolish commander some slack.
"Takeru san, carelessness is your worst enemy. Pay more attention to your ammo," Tama reprimanded as she sent a blazing 120mm shell through the gap of the White Knight, felling a stranded grappler.
"Takeru, you could have left them to me," Mikoto complained, taking down an approaching Fort Class with a row of missiles.
"Don't ever do that again," Meiya strictly admonished as she worked furiously with Ayamine to fulfil their Vanguard role.
"Cut me some slack already," Takeru growled as he resumed his role.
"You are not nearly sorry enough. That's four hours running around the base for you when we come back," Takeru's private mentor added with a fierce glare through his HUD. Even it wasn't a face to face, Tsukuyomi's glare was absolutely top notch, sending chill to Takeru's spine.
"Roger," Takeru replied, hanging his head as he cursed his own mistake that allowed this entire setup to happen. But it was true that he deserved at least some scolding. The situation could be much worse.
Takeru calmed himself in a second, then staring into his HUD, watching the battle. The wear rate of the Echo unit was still escalating. Even though the morale went up for a second and everyone put up a decent fight against the charging horde, they couldn't keep it up forever. Neither man nor machine would able to take it at this rate, not when hundred of thousands BETA came overwhelming them with their massive number. Unlike human who could easily make mistake and machine that could easily worn out, damaged as the battle dragged on and on, BETA wouldn't. Their race is the perfect example of perfection itself and in itself.
Time was against them, this is without a doubt.
S02, Briefing room (15th December 2001)
"It's very regrettable that you can't meet him today. He is currently running a service for me at the moment."
The sight of Yuuko acting humble and all was totally rare. Though, the only humble about her was her language, not her attitude nor her facial expression. That's the face of the woman who shouldered the weight of the world, the holy mother to the hope of mankind and at the same time a cold blood devil to all who against her. Yuuko especially lengthened the word 'service' to shut down every single question about the whereabouts of her rebellious underling. There were not many people in the world who have enough authority to drag the information out of Yuuko's lip when it all came down to Yuuko's business.
"No, professor, I understand. Your mission takes priority over everything else," replied Ikaruga, shrugging his head with an understanding nod at the end.
It's rather hard for people to guess Ikaruga's thought with his perfected poker face and his cool smile. But, Yuuko could estimate just how big Ikaruga's disappointment was regarding the absence of Shirogane Takeru. It was understandable though, after all, someone of Ikaruga's stature was practically making a request for a face-to-face meeting with Takeru out of nowhere after receiving a 'rather strange request' from Takeru's side. But, since Yuuko wanted to cut all the connection with the Imperial Royal Guard Department, especially with the like of Ikaruga to avoid unnecessary speculation after all she has done during Sagiri's rebellion, she has deliberately tried to call it off. Though, the other party was Ikaruga, it's impossible for Yuuko to say no. Using the aftermath of the BETA invasion incident as an excuse, Yuuko instead arranged a secret meeting, requesting Ikaruga to come without bringing too much attention which was impossible for someone of Ikaruga's position.
As the result, the fact that Ikaruga agreed to that invitation and arrived at the meeting with just a small platoon of bodyguards was quite shocking to Yuuko. And it only added up to Yuuko's anger of Takeru regarding the fact that he has attracted the attention of one-hell-of-a-kind of a person that he shouldn't. But then, it was impossible for Takeru to not attract the attention of people like this after all those stunts he threw.
"I'm appreciated of your generosity," Yuuko said without a hint of apology. She then picked up a piece of document that 1st Lt. Elena has prepared for her. She turned at Ikaruga and his red coated attendants, "I shall not further stall you of your time. We both know how precious time is. Therefore, I will skip all the formality and jump straight to the main topic of this meeting. Lord Ikaruga, what's your answer to our request?"
"That's entirely up to your explanation as to why you've made that request to us," Ikaruga decorated his face with a convenient smilem clasping his hand tightly as he looked at Yuuko.
Yuuko responded with a faked sociable smile that came in a package with an amiable nod while hiding her slight irritation. The Head of the Imperial Royal Guard department or not, the man in front of her was one heck of an insolent person, the things that Yuuko hate kept on piling up in succession. She slowly put down the document and replied, "Well, I will…,"
But Yuuko was interrupted. The door that was supposed to be locked tight was unexpectedly opened. Two figures walked in, one boy and one girl, their appearance hit Yuuko with a dreadful surprise.
"I'm back sensei," the boy said.
"…" Yuuko could barely retain her usual poker face, not with this kind of chain of surprise events that kept piling up one after another. Tons of questions crossed Yuuko's mind but they were all answered in the matter of seconds by none other than Yuuko herself. She quickly regained her calm, staring at the boy and reanalyse the situation.
If anyone was to tell Yuuko that the boy was indeed a manifestation of chaos, Yuuko will laugh and nod her head in agreement. There wasn't anyone who could surprise Yuuko nearly as much as that boy until now. It was refreshingly amusing and yet at the same time unbearably irritating, such an inexplicable mixed feeling that Yuuko had every single time she had to deal with the boy or whatever mess he created in his wake.
They boy wasn't exactly as the last time Yuuko saw him though. His face was pallid white as a sheet of paper, completely depriving of vitality. Standing was impossible for him as the red hair girl on the boy's right side provided him support, allowing his shaking body to stand.
"Don't force yourself," Yuuko said. Without receiving any explanation, Yuuko could understand immediately what happened while she was away from the lab. The boy woke up and Sumika the 00 unit explained things to him as short as possible. Since he was submerged in the G liquid and left in the state of hypothermia, the Exo-skeleton suit was brought to him so that he could regain his warmth with the fastest time. And in the mean time, his overgrowth hair from the side effect of the G liquid was savagely cut with a military knife in order for him to look at least presentable in this meeting and to avoid strange questions. As for why the locked door was opened uninvited was not really that much of a mystery. The red hair girl Sumika held the key to that answer, being the 00 unit, no electronic lock could put a decent fight against her.
"No, I'm fine. I hope that I didn't interrupt this meeting," the boy replied with a slight speaking difficulty as his teeth kept on chattering against his will.
"No, you don't. However, you don't have to push yourself like that. You look like someone who in need of medical attention at the moment."
Before Yuuko could reply, she scowled, irritated that she was again interrupted by the person in blue coat seating in a far corner of the meeting room. It was none other than the voice of Ikaruga.
"You …" Takeru stared at the man in blue, stiffed up. His body shook in that very instance, trembling helplessly. It wasn't due to the cold he felt, the heat transferred to him through the Exo suit should have kicked in, it was getting warmer and warmer.
It was the first time he met that man in blue coat. Yet… the man provoked a volatile chemical reaction with Takeru.
" You are…? Who are you? Have we met before?"
Takeru asked, glaring at the man as he unconsciously gritted his teeth. There was something about that man that Takeru could not get along.
"You ignorant fool…" a man in red coat separated from his group with an angry look, stepping forward and scold.
However, "I apologize. Where is my manner, I should have introduce myself first," Ikaruga raised his hand to disprove of his underling's dissatisfaction in Takeru's ignorance while making a strange smile, "I'm Ikaruga Takatsugu, the head of the Ikaruga House and also the head of 16th Guard Battalion. The reason I'm here today was regarding the contract that you have sent to us a week ago."
Takeru looked at the man eyes to eyes and was completely overwhelmed. He suppressed the nauseous hostility that pointed at the commander of the Royal Guard, realizing that it was him who is needed to be convinced for the sake of Takeru's plan.
With a single glance, Takeru could tell that this man possessed the same disposition as that of his Yuuko sensei and Yuuhi. A man of overwhelming charisma and enormously presence, he was.
It was stiffing, standing in front of this man in blue coat. There was his unknown emotion provoked upon the moment he saw the man's face. But also, it was the way that Takeru was being look at. It was as though he was being observed, evaluating as some sort of merchandise instead of a human being. Within those ambitious and charismatic eyes resided a lustful desire and a hint of disappointment. But more than that, there was some unknown emotion swelled up form within Shirogane Takeru that he could not understand when he locked his vision at the man in blue.
"Ah, that one, I see… my name is…" Takeru took a step back and moved toward the conference table with the help of Sumika and Yuuko.
"I'm sure that there was not a person within our field that doesn't know of your name, 1st Lt. Shirogane Takeru," Ikaruga replied, still beaming a mysterious look as Takeru.
Being at a lost of word, Takeru scratched his head, thinking and stuttering with unintelligent words.
"Lord Ikaruga, now the person you intended to meet is here, why don't you give us your thought regarding the deal we gave you?" Yuuko quickly intervened, giving her boy a help.
"Didn't I reply to you Professor? It depends on your explanation as to why you request such thing from us." Ikaruga disinterestedly shrugged his shoulders and gave his reply.
Yuuko gritted her teeth and swore to herself that if she could, she definitely taught this insolent man a lesson or two regarding how precious time is. She instead wore her usual poker face and looked at her boy, "You heard him."
"Then, I will take it from here, sensei. Thank you and sorry. We will sort things out after this. We have a lot of stuff to talk about," Takeru whispered in a muffled volume.
Taking a deep breath, allowing his body to relax, Takeru looked at the direction of the Royal Guards, calming himself and constructing his speech, "Firstly, I apologize if you are offended by such irrational request we have made."
"No…"
Before Ikaruga could properly do his part of the conversation, Takeru rudely interjected, "Secondly, the reason that I implored you, the Shogun Koubuin Yuuhi, the higher hierarchy of the Imperial Army as well as other nation armies to take upon my offer has something to do with the next operation in order to reclaim Sadogashima from the BETA."
Ikaruga and his group of underling frown upon the mention of Sadogashima and the name of the Shogun. Several muffled gasps drifted among the royal guards, mainly at the highly classified information that was mentioned carelessly by the boy.
"I will be very honest here. I don't know if you are aware of it or not, even though currently our Fourth plan may appear to be making prominent achievement to many people, but in the reality, we are in a very crucial moment of our movement. We could not afford to make a single tiny mistake from here onward, otherwise, everything that we did, every success and sacrifice we have made, all would be for naught. And in the next few days, on the Eve of Christmas to be specific, we will all soon be forced to take on a mission to reclaim Sadogashima from the BETA whether we wanted or not. That single Operation will determine our fate."
Colour returned to Takeru's face as time passed, the heat provided by his multipurpose suit was getting to him.
"And, I don't think any of us is readied at the moment, none of us, neither the UN Army nor the Empire. We are lacking in many areas, information and power. Even if we could somehow win the battle optimistically, it would deal a heavy toll on our side. That's why I made such request to you, installing the currently testing XM3 to all of your units. Since we have sent the blue print of the XM3 to the several military industries weeks ago, even before the trial test of the XM3 began while ordering the parts, it wouldn't take more than a week to refit all of our TSF with the new OS. We will provide our technicians to you if necessary. And considering the time for our Eishis to get use to the control of the new XM3, it shouldn't take longer than 36 hours for veteran Eishis and 78 hours for other. That, we have proven during our trial exam. So, the whole process would take lesser than 10 days."
"I see," Ikaruga silently muttered.
"I understand that it was wrong to request of you to install the XM3 to your units since it is still in the middle of its testing phase. I understand plainly well just how ridiculous is that request of mine when I made such a proposal to the Shogun, you and everyone else. But still, I must do it. I believe that it was the right thing to do. And if it was result that you wanted, I'm sure that you have already seen it. The result of the trial test, the fact that I'm still alive at the moment, I don't think we need a better prove for that. Therefore, please accept that earnest wish of mine, I implore you, Lord Ikaruga," Takeru concluded his speech as he bowed his head low.
Ikaruga intently looked at the duo, the two said geniuses who shouldered the fate of the Fourth plan. One was a genius scientist whereas the other was a genius Eishi. Their unfathomable talent is not something that one could describe with words. Yet, they are completely two different species.
The woman stood true to her fame, Ikaruga couldn't find a crack in her defence that he could possibly take advantage of. With a glance, Ikaruga has already understood what sort of people she was. Beneath that deep, calm and collected personality of her was an iron will. That iron will was something that allowed her to stand straight, making ruthless decisions so that her goal would be realized. Yet, even know all of that, to have further understanding of her nature would be impossible. That's just the depth and the complexity of her nature.
And yet, it was the boy who confused Ikaruga even more than that of the mad scientist. He was nothing like Ikaruga has imagined.
Ikaruga was first aware of the boy before the XM3 trial began due to his relation with the Empire Intelligent network. And Ikarugas's interest in the trial exam of the new OS allowed him a closer look at the co-inventor of the new OS. Immediately, he was enchanted. The superb performance of the new OS compared to the old one was amazing, the skills of those test pilots from different background displayed was enthralling but they were all nowhere as mesmerizing to Ikaruga as the boy's skill with his machine. The boy stood out even when he was compared against the entire bunches of TSF test pilots who participated in the trial exam.
Certainly, he was not the strongest and most skilful among the bunch. But without a doubt, he was a hitherto unseen diamond in rough. The astonishing display of skill during the match with the Stal unit was but a crack of the outer wall. That wasn't the full extent of what the kid himself capable of. It's only something that people of Ikaruga's calibre could perceive it. Without a good amount of insight, experience and skills, people would only perceive the boy as a great pilot and that would be all there is to the story if that was the case. Around Ikaruga, there was no lack of strong Eishis, genius even. They were all handpicked carefully around Japan, some for their bloodline and term of services whereas the other for their fame and skill. And yet, the boy was even more desirable to Ikaruga than the lots of them.
But, Ikaruga realized it was impossible to sway the boy to his side. Ikaruga has initially thought that the boy was an ambitious person. Anyone would have such similar impression as Ikaruga due to the fact that the boy has borrowed Yuuko's name to make a name for himself and his OS. But then, the boy speech during the XM3 trial shattered that impression. A boy was but a boy, his naïve was unimaginably laughable. It was actually Ikaruga's biggest disappointment. No matter how good the boy's skill was, with that kind of naïve, he wouldn't amount to anything.
With such an amazing OS, normal people would sell its blueprint with sky-rocketed price, using it to harvest even more wealth, fame and power during the process, not equally distributing it to all for free. If the boy has distributed the OS to the Empire only, Japan would be without a doubt became a super power immediately. That single OS definitely had such an immense impact. Yet, it was freely and equally distributed without asking anything in return. That deed in itself was something unimaginable to the entire world.
And now, Ikaruga realized that both of his initial and second impression was greatly wrong. The boy was anything but what he appeared. It's hard to tell whether if he was strong or weak, stupid or smart, naïve or calculating. It's very hard to judge the boy of his character.
"Sincerity is a good virtue but it is never a mean for a negotiation, you shouldn't lower your head so readily like that," said Ikaruga, using a lecturing tone with a bore expression.
"I..." Takeru inadvertently stutter, unable to find anything better to say
"However, in this occasion, your sincerity is enough for an insurance. Raise your head, 1st Lt. Shirogane," Ikaruga lifted his bore expression and refreshed himself with a mysterious smile. And besides, if anything, it should be I who should lower his head here. After all, you have gone through such risk to provide us such gift."
"My lord," the red coat guards around Ikaruga had an utterly surprise look printed on their faces as they witnessed Ikaruga did something unbelievable. They rushed at their lord side and found themselves at loss, didn't know which was the right thing to do, lifting their lord head up or just stood there waiting.
"No, I…" Takeru on the other hand stood still like a piece of statue, feeling that he has done something irreversible. He looked back and forth between Ikaruga and his guards and then shifted his sight toward his Yuuko sensei, expecting a helping hand.
"Lord Ikaruga, we are unworthy of such honour," Yuuko tiredly shook her head and used her silver tongue to dissolve to situation.
"No, allow me to pay respect to you and this outstanding young man for your admirable selfless contribution. I was being sceptical about the reason you made such a request to us. Now, I have realized that I couldn't have been more wrong." Ikaruga replied as he relieved his guards of their distress, lifting his head high and gazed at Takeru along with Yuuko. "I won't let your effort go wasted. I will see what I can do about that request of yours," said Ikaruga.
"Thanks goodness," Takeru muttered. With this, the preparation for the battle of Sadogashima was cleared. Aside from the unco-operating UN Army from the other bases, the Imperial Army was readapting their TSF with the new XM3 OS at the moment while pushing their Eishi in the training for them to get use to the control of the XM3. Since Yuuhi, the Prime Minister Sakaki as well as many prominent leaders of the Imperial Army have used their authority to replace the old OS with the still-testing XM3, the Imperial Royal Guard was the last group that need to be convinced. And since Ikaruga was the one who held all the authority and power to the Imperial Royal Guard Household rather than Yuuhi who was but a figure head, Takeru's objective has been completed when Ikaruga gave his request a nod.
Relief found its way to the boy's body and all of sudden, the boy's already blurred vision distorted and his legs crumbled.
"Takeru," the worried voice of Sumika was the last thing the boy remembered before crushed his entire weight on her frame.
"Elena, see this idiot thoroughly checked up. Urg, he is heavier than I thought," Yuuko complained as she supported the boy's body along with Sumika. It was only by reflex that she was able to catch the falling body of the boy. "Kagami, after seeing that idiot to the hospital, you return to the office and wait for me Yashiro. Leave it to Elena to take care of him."
"Yes," Sumika sourly replied as she helped Elena to drag the boy out of the conference room.
"I apologize for the commotion. He has just barely returned from his mission and wasn't really in his top form," Yuuko turned her head at the confused Royal Guards, "So, what will you do now? Are we continuing to discuss the term of the contract or we will leave it there until he wake up?"
With an inclined tone, Yuuko asked, trying not to make it sarcastic. It was clear to her that the reason the Imperial Guard arrived at the meeting was Shirogane Takeru himself, not the XM3 or its term of contract.
"That's unnecessary, professor. We will go back for now. It's not like we have any time to waste for chit chat now, aren't we?" Ikaruga replied, wearing a strange expression as he looked at Yuuko. "Also, please pass the word to him. I, Ikaruga Takatsugu will not be indebted to anyone. I will definitely return the favour in due time. Until then," said Ikaruga as he and his subordinates left the room.