Man fears the darkness, for it is something they cannot truly understand
Devil Arms: ReturnerS
Amidst the eternal waves of time
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise
Out of the Abyss peer the eyes of a shadow
Behold the Devil, it's wings a black sheath
Chapter 6: Into the Void
When they returned to base, Shichiro was waiting for them. Sakura had thought her father would demand that she remove herself from the Task Force but instead all he did was make sure she was okay before returning to his room.
"He's not mad?" Sakura asked her mother.
"Not anymore," Aoi replied placing her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "He was in the command center with Kasumi during the fight. I wanted to interfere earlier but he told me to wait. He may not like your career choice, but he wants to let you know that he's ready to support you."
"Otou-san..."
"That's a nice father you got there," Vita said, folding her arms.
"Are you going to be heading back, lieutenant?" Aoi asked as if suddenly remembering that Vita was not under her command. "Or would you like to spend the night at the base?"
"Since I'm already here, I hope it won't be too much trouble."
"Not at all, Darlton!"
Alex jumped and instinctively shielded his stomach when his commander called his name.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Please show the lieutenant to a room. I'd have my assistant do it but he 's off in the medical bay right now."
"Understood. This way lieutenant."
"Is Nathan okay?" Marika asked as the two red mages turned down a different hallway.
"Vice-Commander Aizawa has already seen to his treatment. It is getting late and he is no doubt recovering right now, so please return to your quarters and you can visit him in the morning."
"Is Amia okay too?"
"Thanks to Nathaniel's efforts, she got away with only a skinned knee," Aoi said remembering the details she received from Shou off the top of her head. "Now to bed with the lot of you. Chop chop."
She clapped her hands together and the three of them saluted her before returning to their quarters while she returned to her office.
The next morning the squad met up before heading toward the medical bay. There were a few bandages on Sakura's face and Alex was constantly rubbing his arm but the two of them felt fine.
"Do you think he's okay?" Marika asked them, referring to the assistant.
"His shoulder injury didn't look too deep," Alex noted. "At most he'll probably be taken off work for a week or so."
"The paralysis is the worst part," Subaru said remembering her dreadful experience. "But I'm sure Shou-san managed to find a way to counteract it."
As they neared the medical bay they could hear someone shouting at the top of his lungs.
"For the last time! I am fine! You don't need to worry like that!"
It was Nathan's voice but it was not the calm and collected voice that the squad was used to hearing. None of them had ever heard Nathan raise his voice before, not even when he slipped on the wet floor and crashed into the wet floor sign to the enjoyment of half the hanger.
The man had calmly gotten up, replaced the sign and asked a nearby private to place a few more so no one else would slip. Of course, not many people on base would be walking around with their eyes glued to a tiny data pad.
As they got closer they heard Amia's voice as well.
"But you still can't use your shoulder can you? So just let me do this much!"
"I said I'm fine woman!"
"That...is Nathan right?" Subaru asked as they stopped in front of the door as her squad mates nodded. "Does he have a twin?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Marika replied shaking her head.
"We could just go in and see," Alex said as he walked past Subaru and opened the door. There they saw Amia, with a wet cloth in her hand, wrestling with Nathan who was topless and had his left shoulder heavily bandaged and his arm in a sling, while Shou sat at his desk, enjoying the show.
He looked over when he noticed the squad come in.
"Okay, enough with the lovers' quarrel," Shou said as he clapped his hands. "We have guests."
"You're a doctor aren't you?" Nathan asked. "Shouldn't you make her stop bothering me?"
"But where's the fun in that?" Shou asked as he exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders with a large grin on his face. "It's the first time I had a MPD patient after all."
"M...P...D?" Sakura asked.
"Multiple Personality Disorder," Shou clarified. "Our dear Captain's assistant here is a little...for the lack of caring to find a better word, cuckoo."
This remark was rewarded with a pillow to the face by a disgruntled Nathan.
"It's Nathaniel," "Nathan" said turning to the squad. " Nathaniel 'Daniel' Duel."
After the man reintroduced himself he sighed as he placed his hand over his face.
"He's gonna be pissed that this got out."
"If you would just let me wipe you down this wouldn't have happened!" Amia said flinging the wet cloth at the man's face.
"Did you know?" Marika asked Amia as Daniel pulled the towel off his face.
"It's the little secret he's been hiding," Amia said nodding. "'Daniel here pops up whenever Nathan loses his glasses."
Subaru looked at Nathan, or rather Daniel, again and saw that he indeed wasn't wearing his glasses.
"Did they get broken?" Alex asked.
"A great big monster jumped me," the man replied not hiding his annoyance. "What do you think?"
"Abrasive as ever," a voiced said behind the squad as they turned around and quickly stepped to the side as Aoi came in and handed him a small container. "Here, your spare pair."
"Tch, fine," Daniel said as he opened it and placed the new pair of glasses on his face. He then looked dazed for a second before he looked around, his eyes wide opened before sighing.
"So the cat's out of the bag?" Nathan asked in a soft voice directly contrasting his behavior just seconds earlier.
"Um...you're Nathan right?" Marika asked.
"Yes, yes I am..." he replied taking a drink from the class of water on his nightstand.
"Is your shoulder okay?" Subaru asked, trying to get the topic away from his MPD.
"It's a bother," He admitted. "But it's not going to keep me from my work. I only need one arm to do my job after all."
"Good," Aoi said as she pulled a chair from the corner of the room and sat down on it. "I'm going to have to ask the rest of you to leave. I need to talk with these two."
"Yes ma'am," the squad members and Amia said as they left leaving Aoi with her assistant and second in command.
"Have you looked over the data?" Aoi asked to Shou.
"Yes," Shou replied as he turned to his terminal as images from last night's battle appeared around him. "And I must say, these things are positively annoying. They seem to be damn near immune to any type of magic based attacks except for attacks with magic reinforcement and or enhancement. With over 90% of the Bureau's forces using standard armed devices, if these things were to attack en masse, we would be in a lot of trouble."
"But it seemed that Marika's attacks were enough to affect some of them." Nathan said, remembering how she had managed to attract one of the wolves' attention off of him.
"I think its like how humans react to water," Shou theorized. "When Alex tried to freeze that third wolf, it broke free and its wound healed instantly. So I guess that they either feed on magic or can use it to heal themselves. Humans need water to survive but we can be irritated by rain after all. So maybe if they were attacked by large amounts of magic they could be killed too."
"Then the question would be just how much energy is needed to kill them," Aoi said with a sigh. "We can't use artillery magic in the city."
"I know, I know," Shou said waving his hand. "If only we could get our hands on some mass based weaponry like the Neo-Belkans used."
"The Admiralty Board will never go for it," Nathan said quickly. "Even if it would give us an advantage over these creatures, it would be impossible to convince them that there is a serious threat. Not to mention the public backlash of using them so soon after the Neo-Belkan War. People still haven't gotten over it after all..."
Shou understood what he meant perfectly.
"Right, forget I said anything then. Is something wrong, Captain? You've been awfully quiet."
Aoi was sitting on her chair with one leg over the other with her hand under her chin, deep in thought. She looked up when Shou addressed her though.
"Do you still have the information your cousin retrieved from The Stargazer?" she asked.
"Of course. Anything you're looking in particular?"
"I want a history lesson."
The two men both raised an eyebrow as Shou searched for the files dealing with the Neo-Belkan's short but bloody history.
"Have you had breakfast yet, Amia?" Subaru asked as the group walked down the hall after leaving the medical bay.
"No not yet," Amia said as she held a hand over her stomach. "And I'm starving."
"Then lets go to the cafeteria!" Marika said as she grabbed Amia's hand.
"Yeah, that sounds lovely."
When they arrived to the cafeteria there was a large crowd forming a line in front of the food counter.
"That's weird," Alex noted. "There usually isn't a line during breakfast time."
"What's going on?" Subaru asked the person in front of them.
"You didn't hear?" the man asked. "We got this new Mess Sergeant and his food is amazing!"
"Yeah, this is my third time getting in line this morning," the person next to him said.
"A new Mess Sergeant...?" Subaru repeated, trying to look over the crowd but there were just too many people to see him clearly.
"This might take a while," Sakura said looking pass the line.
Indeed it did. It was about an hour before they got to the front and by then breakfast was no longer being served as the screens now showed the lunch menu.
But Alex, Subaru, and Sakura understood why people were clammoring over the new Mess Sergeant's food.
"Otou-san?" Sakura asked as she peered over the counter to see her father dressed in a chef's uniform. "What are you doing? Okaa-san said you were here to relax!"
"I am relaxing," Shichiro replied. "I haven't been able to use a kitchen in over two years. And besides, only personnel are allowed on base right? So for the week I'm here, I'll be the one cooking your food."
"I don't know if I should be happy or not," Alex said with a wry smile before lowering his voice down so that only they could hear him. "I doubt many people will want to return to the old menu after you leave."
"Well that's life," Shichiro said with a smile. "So what will it be?"
They placed their orders and had to wait another ten minutes before they got their food and found a table to sit at.
"Yuuuummmmyyy!" Marika said as she brought another spoonful of soup to her mouth. "Your father's such an amazing cook, Sakura."
"Thanks," Sakura replied with a smile as she picked up her sandwich.
"Ahhh, I'm in heaven," Amia said blissfully, her spoon still in her mouth as she gazed happily at her curry rice. "Where did your father learn to cook so well?"
"I think its because my mother can't," Sakura said sheepishly.
"Huh, sounds like another couple," Alex said with a small grin.
"Oh? I wonder who you're talking about?" a sly voice came from behind him causing him to jump as they all looked at her.
Kasumi and Ayumi were standing there with trays in their hands.
"Can we sit here?" Kasumi asked, her smile not leaving her face.
"S-sure, there's plenty of room," Alex said gesturing the empty seats between Amia and Subaru. "Take your pick."
"No, I mean here!"
Kasumi grabbed Alex by the collar and pulled him out of his seat. She then pushed Alex's tray over to the other side and planted herself beside Sakura as Ayumi walked around the table and sat next to Subaru.
"It's been awhile," Ayumi said to Sakura and Subaru.
"Yes it has," Subaru replied with a smile. "How have you been?"
"Tired," the other girl replied. "They keep putting me in the simulator. It's hot and cramped even though the bridge is completely different."
"Why do you need to keep on going?" Sakura asked. "Didn't you pass flight school with honors?"
"I hate tests," Ayumi replied. "I prefer practice over theory."
"But they're not going to let you anywhere near the actual controls unless you perfect the simulation, Ayu," Kasumi said enjoying her meal.
"Everyone seems to be having fun," Amia noted as she looked down at her curry rice, feeling just a little bit left out.
"Why not ask for a transfer?" Alex asked having sat down at his new seat.
"Oh no I couldn't," Amia said quickly. "Almost all the personnel here are here because they are at the best at what they do. I don't want to be here because of connections."
"But don't you hate your commanding officer?" Marika asked her. "You complain about him almost every day back home."
"Please don't get me started about that lazy old pervert..."
The group laughs as they continue on with their lunch.
"Do you really think that was the reason?" Shou asked as he turned off his terminal
"Of course," Aoi said as she leaned back on her chair. "You know the boy's personality. It doesn't matter how much strength his enemy has, if it involves his family the boy would fight tooth and nail for them."
"Then what would keep him from doing so? After all, all off us were dead then."
"I might have an answer to that," Nathan said as pressed a few buttons on his data pad that was lying on his bed. Aoi had trusted him with the knowledge of the true identities of the culprits that sparked the war three years ago and he was eager to help her put together all the pieces. "It seemed that he was close to Captain Takamachi Nanoha's daughter, Takamachi Vivio. Perhaps they were using the child as a shield?"
The thought enraged Aoi but she did not show it on the outside. She had seen images of the girl from Subaru and Nathan and it seemed that she was very close to her daughter. To use such a small child as a shield was unforgivable. That goes for her son as well.
Shou heaved a sigh as he leaned back on his chair and looked up as he began going over the details they had discussed.
"Null Enders faked his death this year and the monsters never showed up on this planet and then comes back two years after with an army using mass based weaponry. I admit that is too much of a coincidence. But that also means he probably failed in beating them doesn't it? Since he replaced all of the TSAB's magic with his technology. It seems that he simply made it so that they had no reason to attack the TSAB territory."
"We lack too much information about these new enemies," Aoi said. "At the very least they seem to find a use for magic. What worries me is that they may appear in greater numbers and start going after linker cores rather than just energy given off of devices."
The men nodded as they shared her worry.
Although the cores only manifested within mages, so much of the population of the planet had devices for even the most mundane tasks that the nearly every one had a small linker core. It would be like releasing a pack of lions into a nursery school.
"The Admiralty Board is going to love this," Shou said sarcastically as he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "An unknown army of creatures that are resistant if not outright immune to their precious weapons. It seems that only custom devices and mages of AA if not AAA rank or higher are going to actually do anything against them. Of course, we have to assume that there is more than one type of monster as well."
"There's also the fact that the one from last night turned humanoid," Nathan said. "For it to take six mages to bring it down...I shudder to think if they can get any bigger."
"I'm going to see if I can't find a way to increase the output of magic from the device without increasing the amount inputted," Shou said as he turned on his terminal and began working.
"You're going to come up with a revolutionary theory...just like that?" Nathan asked with a skeptical look.
"Hey, you gotta start somewhere."
"Well let's leave this to the mad scientist," Aoi said as she and Nathan stood up and head out the door toward her office.
"Hey, I'm not mad! I'm eccentric!" Shou called after then as the door closed.
"Will you be giving your report to the Board?" Nathan asked.
"Hmm...I suppose I should," Aoi said as she rubbed the area between her neck and shoulders. "Perhaps I should leave out the part where Subaru was the one who got the information."
"I wish you could have told me about the plan so I could have avoided this injury."
"Honestly, I didn't believe it myself. But it seems that someone really is giving Subaru information on where they are appearing."
"Do you think..."
"Hmm...for the moment it is best to assume that he is not a true ally. For all we know, he could be the one sending the creatures. He might be testing the waters for a full scale invasion or he was experimenting with the humanoid transformation. Speaking of last night, what exactly were you doing there?"
Nathan rubbed his shoulder for a moment before answering.
"I called Marika to ask about Amia," he began as he thought about his next words. "She said that Amia was stuck at work since she had called earlier to cancel their appointment, not that it would have mattered it seems. Anyway, I tried contacting her but she didn't pick up so I waited in the lounge for her to finish. But it seems that she left the base as soon as she was finished so I had just missed her. I then guessed that she wanted to visit the memorial on her own so I headed over there and sure enough, I was right."
Aoi stopped and turned to her assistant for the past three years.
He was extremely knowledgeable of everything and anything there is to know about the TSAB. He had lots of connections, both lawful and under the table, he was a skilled martial artist and shooter and he was respectful and polite. Well, one of him was. She had always wondered why such a man was assigned as her assistant when she was a prisoner rather than behind a respectable admiral instead.
She recalls the time she had asked him about it.
"Am I required to answer the question?" he had asked her back.
"No, it is merely a question out of curiosity." she had said.
"Then I would prefer not to answer ma'am."
The boy also had no family to speak off having been dropped off at an orphanage that had been burned down during the Neo-Belkan attack as well as all records about his early years. In fact the only records of him are from the academy he had attended.
She wasn't even sure why the boy wanted to be her assistant even after she was released. She had considered asking Admiral Lindy if she could find a way to place him in intelligence where his skills would greatly benefit the TSAB, but changed her mind when she remembered that there was a chance he could find something someone doesn't want anyone to know by accident. So she decided to keep him here, where he would be safe, under her protection.
She wasn't even sure why she was spending much of her time worrying about the boy. Perhaps she was using him as a surrogate son. The talk about Captain Takamachi's adopted daughter had caused her to wonder if she should consult her husband and daughter about adopting the young man. He had always spent a lot of time talking to the others about their families, and had more than once wondered what his parents were like.
"Is something the matter Captain?" Nathan asked. "You've been staring at me for a while now."
"Nothing," Aoi said as she continued walking. "Let's hurry up with this report. I want to get this asinine report out of the way so I can get to more important matters."
Nathan couldn't help but smile at his captain's remark. There was only one thing more important than a report to the Admiralty Board at this moment to her. Sakura's birthday was in six days and she wanted to plan every minute of it.
The report to the Admiralty Board was pretty much what Nathan and Aoi expected. A waste of time. Almost none of the admirals wanted to believe that there was a creature out there immune to magic even though they had been shown the recording of the events from last night. Only about a handful of them believed Aoi's judgment, including Admirals Lindy and Chrono Harlaown and the Admirals that had once been a part of Aoi's Blue Rose unit including Rear Admiral Thomas Bradley.
"Frankly I'm beginning to wonder whether or not you're up to this task," one of the admirals said bluntly. "You even had to acquire help from a mage outside of your personnel."
Aoi's finger twitched slightly at the accusation but a look from Lindy told her to keep her cool.
"We were up against an enemy that has not shown up in all the history of the TSAB," Aoi said calmly. "This unit is only a month old and I, myself, have only just been getting reacquainted with military life. If the Admiral can share his insight on how he would handle three dangerous unknowns appearing in the middle of the night at a memorial park without alerting the rest of the populace, I would be glad to hear it."
Admiral Lindy hid her face from the camera with her hands that had been folded on her desk as he shoulders shook uncontrollably and Aoi could see Bradley smile in approval as the admiral silenced himself while another spoke up.
"I've been wondering about the devices used by your mages," she said as she looked closely at the ones Sakura and Marika were using. "They seem a bit...well, different."
"The devices were designed and created by Professor Aizawa Shou. He also expresses the concern that basic armed devices may not be enough to handle these creatures."
Again this was met with skeptical grunts and coughs. From what Nathan had found out, many of these admirals had been trying to enlist Shou for their own purposes for the last year and were none to happy that Aoi managed to do so in only one day. Since then, they've been treating the man like a young upstart.
Soon the meeting was over and all the admirals except for three signed off just as Aoi screamed in frustration.
"Now now, Aoi," Lindy said trying to calm her down. "You should scream like that, it's bad for the throat."
"Considering her predicament," Bradley said as he heaved a sigh. "I think she deserves it. Or at least punch something. But really, what is the point of this if they don't even trust your opinions?"
"Humans would rather ignore a threat than face it head on," Chrono said with a sigh. "If possible, I would like your Task Force to focus on dealing with this threat, Captain."
"Yes sir," Aoi replied. "But until we learn where these things are coming from, all we can do is stop them when they arrive before they do too much damage."
"You seem to be able to predict their location pretty well," Bradley said, noting how her mages were on the scene within minutes of the creatures' arrival.
"Yes, actually we had received an anonymous tip earlier that day. Though I am unsure if this informant will be able to...or willing to for that matter, to continue his assistance."
This revelation shocked the three admirals.
"Would this, informant, happen to be the man Corporal Nakajima was tailing a while back?"
"Honestly, I have no clue," Aoi said with a shrug. "But she seems to believe so."
"Achoo!"
"Hmm? Getting a cold Subaru?"
"Should you get out?"
"Cyborgs get colds? Idiots get colds?
Subaru, Kasumi, Sakura and Ayumi were in the bath house. Amia had left soon after lunch and Marika took a leave to return back to their old apartment for the few days before Sakura's birthday. Kasumi tells the others that it was probably to prepare some extravagant present for Sakura, but actually thinks it was because of Amia's breakdown in front of the monument. Only Marika had been close enough to actually hear what Amia was saying but everyone knew she had been crying. Of course being the one that had been monitoring the entire operation she heard it too.
She had to tell Marika over a private channel to stay hidden but the girl ended up jumping out anyway since the monsters came and attacked at that point.
Kasumi sighed to herself as she continued washing Sakura's back as Subaru tried to splash water over Ayumi for calling her an idiot.
You abandoned him.
No! No I didn't!
You left him to die, alone.
No! I tried to help him!
And in doing so, caused him to die instead.
No...no no no!
He had a way out. But he had to use it on you instead.
"Stop!"
Subaru's eyes opened as she spoke. She slowly got up off her bed as she looked around her room trying to remember where she was.
"That's right...I'm still on the base..." she muttered as she rubbed her eyes. She took a quick look at the clock and saw that it read two o'clock in the morning. She got up and walked to her desk, where she picked up a small prism and twisted one end of it until she heard a small click. A photograph showing her with her old Section Six members appeared and she looked at the man in the center with tears in her eyes.
Today was exactly three years since he saved her at the cost of his own way out. She then looked down at a small container and picked it up as well. Inside was a small pendant with a turquoise stone attached to it. She had accidentally left it at home when she visited the Kimuras three years ago and it was lucky for her that she did since nearly everything she had brought along was destroyed. This was the one thing she would never let go.
She remembered what he had told her when he had given it to her.
"My stone to you, is to let you know, I'll never forget you no matter what happens…"
Since the day she received the stone she had never worn it. She was too scared that it would get lost during her rescue work so she kept it at home in the small container on her desk.
She gently picked up the stone with about the same force one would use to pick up a baby hamster and held it up to her neck as she looked in a mirror. The stone was the same color as her eyes when she first received it. Now, her right eye just contrasts it too much.
She let out a soft sigh as she returned it carefully back into its container as she looked back at her bed. There was no way she was going to be able to get back to sleep.
"Maybe I'll go to the gym," she thought as she got changed and headed out the door.
She didn't expect anyone to be in the gym at this time, let alone the burly and muscular Shichiro, who was lifting the two hundred pound dumbbells like they were grocery bags.
"Yo," he said when he saw her come in. "Couldn't sleep?"
"No," she replied as she walked over to the treadmill. "What about you?"
"I've been getting by with three hours lately so I'm wide awake at this time," he answered as he replaced the dumbbell and took a sip from his water bottle.
"Aoi-san and Sakura-chan would be worried," Subaru said as she started running.
"Speaking of which, how is she feeling?" Shichiro asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I imagine she's not too happy with me."
"I...I don't think it's my place to say it but...she misses you a lot."
"I know...I know...I should be here with my family but...I just can't leave my country in ruins."
Although she couldn't remember who she heard it from, Subaru remembered that Shichiro was a soldier before he met Aoi and retired from the military. From what little she knew about the planet and the country, she could tell that he held his country in the highest regard if it conflicted with his duties as a husband and father.
She then began to wonder if she should give her own father a call too.
As the two of them continued to train their conversations became a little bit more lighthearted, as they began talking about Sakura's birthday party that was happening tomorrow.
"Did you pick out a present for her yet?" Sakura asked as she sat down next to him.
"I don't suppose simply cooking the meals will be enough?" The man asked with a wry smile. "I suppose I'll have to see if Aoi can come and help me choose."
"Knowing Nathan, I think she's already chose a present for her."
"Damn. Do you think I can ask her to put my name on it too?"
"I don't think so," Subaru said trying not to laugh as the man ruffled his hair with both hands in frustration. Of course, she hadn't manage to find a present for Sakura either.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a growl in her stomach, causing her face to turn red as the man in front of her laughed heartily.
"It's almost six," he said looking down at his watch. "I guess I'll go open the mess now."
As he stood up, Subaru looked in awe. In over four hours of his workout routine, the man hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Are you coming?" Shichiro asked, his hand on the door control.
"Ah, yes!" she said as she picked up her belongings and ran out after him.
They were barely two meters from the door when the lights went out in the corridor.
"A black out?" Shichiro asked as he placed his hand on the wall so as not to fall down.
"The base's back up generator should be starting up," Subaru noted, but the lights were not turning back on. "What's going on?"
Then, it happened again. A sharp pain shot through her eye as she fell to her knees, her hands grasping her right eye in pain.
"Subaru-san? What happened?"
It was too dark for him to see anything, and his eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness so he couldn't move without the fear of accidentally tripping over her.
"My...my eye...!" she cried before remembering what had happened the last time her eye suddenly started hurting. As she looked up, the light above their heads turned on as well as another one on the other end of the corridor. And there, he stood, dressed in the same black business suit he had on the last two times she saw him.
"Tomorrow. 1500 hours. Corner of Justice and Freedom. More than last."
His message was much longer than before but was still relayed in quick rapid succession. But tomorrow was...
"Wait! It can't happen tomorrow!" Subaru called out to him. "Can't you delay it somehow?"
"Impossible."
"But Sakura-chan's...!"
"Which do you choose? The lives of hundreds, or the happiness of a single girl?"
"Subaru-san, who are you talking to?" Shichiro asked.
"It's him! He's right over there!"
"There's nobody there..."
Subaru had taken her eyes off him and turned to Shichiro when she shouted and when she turned back, the man was already gone as well as the pain in her eye.
"Subaru-san...was it him again?" Shichiro asked with a soft voice to which Subaru could only nod in reply. The man could only sigh as he helped the girl to her feet. Judging from her outburst, things were only going to get worst for his little girl. "Head up to Aoi and tell her then."
"What are you going to do?" Subaru asked.
"I'm going to the mess to bring up some food...and probably a punching bag as well..."
"Nathaniel...can you call in someone to clean this up?" Aoi asked as she rubbed her hand. "Oh and get someone to fix the wall too."
"Yes ma'am," Nathan said as he paged the custodian while at the same time pulled a broom out of the nearby closet and started sweeping the sand-like material into a corner near the doorway.
Aoi sighed as she sat back down behind her desk across from Subaru, looking at the omelet that Shichiro had brought up for her.
"This is the worst," she muttered what the three of them were thinking.
"You don't need to cancel all of the plans ma'am," Nathan offered. "If the situation is contained quickly enough, we may still salvage the dinner plans."
"I suppose," Aoi mumbled. "But how are we supposed to discreetly handle something that is going to happen in broad daylight in the middle of a crowded shopping district?"
"If I may?" Shichiro began as the two of them looked at him. "Why not say there is a gas leak or a bomb threat and evacuate the area about an hour before hand?"
"The idea is simple enough but its the procedure that's going to be a pain in the ass," the Captain said as she threw herself back at the chair. "Damn bureaucratic..."
"How about this ma'am?" Nathan decided to cut her curse short. "We tell them about it and ask them how we should handle the situation. If they deny that the attack could happen...we do nothing and let it happen. Their incompetence will show through and support for our forces will rise when we come in and save the civilians."
"But wouldn't the damage spread?" Subaru asked. She did not like the idea of letting a disaster happening without trying to stop it.
"Of course," Nathan said simply pushing his glasses up. "But...on the other hand...who's going to bat an eye at four mages who just happened to be on leave for their youngest squad member's birthday party and they just happened to be eating at a restaurant that just happened to be a few meters from the predicted arrival point?"
There was a long silence before Aoi started laughing.
"You are terrible at stringing coincidences together," Aoi said wiping a tear from her eyes as realization dawned on Subaru's face.
"Yes, I really don't like lying," Nathan said with a humble bow. "I'll apologize to Sakura later for using her birthday as an excuse to lay an operation. Perhaps if the restaurant was my treat? I say that would be a good enough present."
"Now it's a good enough present!"
Sakura was sitting with her arms crossed along with her squad mates as well as Amia and Nathan, the latter not looking happy.
"But really...a limo?" the man asked, his eye twitching as he tried to figure out how much this would cost him. "Also...bringing me out here I understand, but why bother Amia as well?"
He glanced over at his former school mate who quickly turned away. Causing him to raise an eyebrow.
"What's wrong? You're awfully quiet today. I'm not mad about the whole Daniel thing."
"I-I see..." Amia said quietly as she shifted a bit away from him.
"You're going to crush Marika if you move any further."
As the three of them continued their routine, Sakura sighed as she leaned against Alex's arm.
"He's so clueless," she muttered so only he could hear her.
"I'm under the impression he's deliberately ignoring it," Alex said as he placed his hand on hers. "Some childhood friends are uncomfortable of moving their relationship up after all."
"But Shou-san and Kasumi-san were perfect for each other."
"But they are both pretty weird..."
"I heard that..." a sharp voice came from Alex's ear.
"I heard that..." Kasumi said through Alex's private channel, keeping a bright smile on her face as there was a series of coughs from the other end.
"Kasumi-san, no private conversations during operations," Aoi chided, but there was a smile on her face.
"Yes ma'am."
Aoi then turned her attention to the screen in front of her, showing a map of the city, specifically around the area that they were warned about.
Like they had predicted, the Admiralty Board denied their request of shutting down and evacuating the district due to "unreliable information." She had asked them to vote on it and even then less than a third of the admirals, the same ones that actually believed her report from last week, actually wanted to give her permission to conduct the operation.
"Oh well," Aoi said as she straightened herself up on her chair. "More fools to discredit."
"Three hours until the predicted arrival time," Kasumi said, displaying a counter on the screen as a small blue dot appeared on the scene. "The squad is arriving on the scene now. We still need a name for them as well as the task force don't we?"
"Hmm...I think I have one..." Aoi said, thinking back to the "history" lesson.
The hours ticked on by as the squad and their friends ate at the restaurant. Nathan had chose it for its relatively cheap yet very delicious and filling food. They had finished and were chatting idly as they waited for the clock to strike three.
"There's supposed to be more than last time right?" Alex asked Subaru.
"Yes...I can't believe we couldn't get permission to evacuate the area," Subaru said as her hands started shaking.
"People are going to get hurt," Nathan said as he took a sip of his drink. "Probably even killed, so the best you four can do is to try and keep them contained until we get reinforcements. Even then it might be thirty minutes despite all our preparation."
"Is the driver going to be okay?" Sakura asked, suddenly remembering that they had asked the limo driver to wait for them.
"I told him that if we're not out by 2:30 he can leave and come back around 4:00," Nathan answered. "I asked the restaurant to send him something too."
"Always on top of things," Amia said as she gave him a teasing punch.
"I aim to please. Perhaps we should get out of here so as to not get in their way. I'll go pay the check while I'm at it. Give them some money before everyone runs out screaming. Just don't take advantage of it and order more food."
"Why not leave your card here then?" Sakura asked, unable to hide her devilish grin.
"Hmm, let me think about th- no..." Nathan said after pretending to think about it. "Come on, let's go Amia."
"S-sure," the girl replied, trying to ignore Marika and Sakura giving her a thumbs up as they exited the building.
Soon the minutes that were ticking down became seconds. Even past all the other guests, the analog clock on the restaurant wall's second hand seem echo through everyone's head.
"5...4...3..." Subaru thought to herself, her hand clutched around Mach Caliber in her pocket. "2...1..."
As expected, there was a loud crash outside followed by a sequence of ear splitting screams. The four of them ran out to the entrance, Alex lagging behind to leave a tip, and saw what they expected, and something they didn't.
A total of eight of the wolf monsters have appeared along with two humanoid ones.
"Th-this many?" Sakura asked as the wolves started attacking the vehicles that were abandoned around them.
"The wolves might just be grunts so try to focus on the humanoid ones first!" Subaru said as the four of them activated their devices and rushed in.
"Captain!" Kasumi called out to Aoi who jerked awake. "The targets have arrived and Subaru and the others have engaged them, but they are outnumbered!"
"Ten of them?" Aoi asked as the other members of the Operations Room quickly showed a live feed from one of the traffic cameras as well as a tactical view on the main screen. She balled her hands into a fist before calming down and giving orders. "Begin preparations for the video feed! Contact our supporters and tell them to get to the scene immediately. Kasumi-san, tell Subaru and the others to hold their ground and try to keep the monster's attention on them to keep them from spreading out."
"Yes ma'am!" the operators around her responded in unison as they began to work on their designated tasks.
"Now everything depends on the mages in the field..."
"Don't just sit there run!" Sakura called out to a woman and her child who had fallen while running from a wolf. She had created a small net by shooting three anchors at the ground in front of the civilians and had the other ends attached to buildings, just barely keeping the wolf from reaching them.
"O-okay!" the woman said as she grabbed her son and ran just as Sakura drove her blade into the wolf's neck causing it to leap back in pain.
"Okay, I can do this," Sakura said to herself as three other wolves came up to reinforce their ally. "That one from that time was just different from the rest. I can handle the grunts at least."
The other four wolves were chasing after Marika, who was bouncing like a pinball off the street, the abandoned cars, the walls, the streetlights, even the wolves themselves, firing wildly at the wolves.
"That's right, get angry!" she called out as she landed on a wolf's back and kicked off it, sending her flying into the air while forcing the wolf into the pavement. "Keep your eyes on the bat because it's not letting you leave!"
"Schütze!" her device called out as it unloaded a great barrage into the group of wolves, and to Marika's delight, caused them to roar in pain.
"Looks like Shou was right," She said as she landed softly on a streetlight. "If they are barraged by magic, they won't be able to absorb it fast enough. Of course...they're still a lot of magic around for them to eat..."
She added as the wolves quickly got up and glared at her.
While Marika was bouncing around, Subaru and one of the humanoids were playing chicken. The two of them charged at each other head on trying to strike each other with their weapons. Although they had been upgraded and reinforced, Subaru's barriers were still being shattered like glass against the monster's lance, but they managed to last a second or so, long enough for her to land a hit in.
"Protect Shade!" she called out holding her left palm out to create a barrier to block the lance as she brought her other hand up and punched the creature's face as she could hear someone roaring with laughter on the other side of the communicator.
"Shou! Is now really the time?" she heard Kasumi ask as the creature got back on its feet.
"Well you know..." the man replied. "I didn't think she'd actually do it."
"Wait you mean it's not necessary?" Subaru asked distracted, just barely avoiding the lance.
"Just the hand motion, not the actual phrase."
"Please stop using Subaru to relive your anime days."
"I can't help it! The girl is practically a living incarnation! Come on! Do the improved Revolver Shoot!"
"You two! No private conversations during an operation!" Aoi's annoyed voice rang from the other end and shut the two of them up.
"Subaru-san!" Alex called from behind her as she felt a hand on her shoudler. "Switch!"
She bent backwards as Alex used her body to flip himself over her just as two lances came and collided with each other over her head, just missing Alex's arm. She then did a small somersault as the tip of Mach Caliber smashed into the second humanoid creature's head while Alex kicked the one Subaru had been fighting in the face, causing both to stagger backward.
"Time?" Subaru asked.
"Twenty-five minutes," he replied as the two of them split to fight their new targets.
Meanwhile, on a rooftop overlooking the battle, an extremely bored looking girl was sitting at a desk with multiple terminals and screens surrounding her.
"Preparations complete," Ayumi said to a screen that had the 501st's operation room in it. "Whenever you are ready boss lady."
"Do it."
"Alright, hacking...!" Ayumi said as she brought a finger down on her keyboard only to stop and gently press the "enter" button. "Start."
Immediately, multiple windows began popping up as pools of information began entering her terminals, their owners no doubt extremely confused as to what was happening.
"Hacking...cracking. Jacking...tracking," the girl mused as her eyes darted from monitor to monitor making sure that she wasn't being blocked out of any system within the TSAB or that her precious terminals would be affected by any countermeasures. They had to be distracted after all.
"Find anything interesting?" a voice behind her said.
"Nothing as interesting as psyche profiles," Ayumi said as Nathan and Amia walked up to her. "Oh my. You were certainly quiet the experimenter in the academy, Miss Amia Lee-san."
"W-what?" Amia asked, suddenly looking horrified.
"What in the world would you need...'a fire hose, a three story ladder, a pickaxe, and a cow' for?" Ayumi asked, her expression unreadable but her tone carried a hint of amusement.
"Wait that was you?" Nathan asked, turning to Amia who had took a step away from him.
"Those jerks were saying horrible things about you!" Amia said in her defense. "And I had no idea it would crash through the wall like that!"
"Just what exactly ha-" Ayumi wanted to ask but was caught off by a deafening roar that seemed to shake the entire building.
The three of them looked at the monitor that was displaying the situation below and saw a black portal, one much larger than the ones the wolves appeared from.
"What the heck is that?" Alex asked as he and Subaru jumped away from their targets and the black portal that was crackling with some dark arcane energy.
The black portal stabilized and a monstrous beast, completely different from the wolf-like ones they've been fighting earlier, came flying out of it. It was far longer than a human was tall. It's entire body was armored like a turtle and it had two large drill-like horns on its head. The non-armored parts were covered in fur and its legs had long spiked appendages on it. It would have been extremely menacing, had it not crashed into the side of a building and disintegrated instantly.
The reason for it soon became clear.
A white robed figure emerged from the black dust waving his hand in front of his face trying to clear his vision. His entire body was covered in that white robe. There was no visible armor plating except for the chest and shoulder area. He had a scabbard hanging from the right side of his body with the sword in left hand. He also had some sort of breather mask that covered his entire face with two red lenses over his eyes. When the black dust disappeared he took note of his surroundings.
He jerked his head around before running out into the street and looking up at the tall, yet damaged, buildings like a person visiting a city for the first time. The man was so distracted that he didn't notice the wolf-like beast lunge at him.
"Look out!" Marika called out to him as she took aim with her device.
But the man simply avoided it by stepping to the left as he spun counter-clockwise, swinging his sword at the same time. The blade made contact with the beast's rear and instantly, severed the beast in two, lengthwise.
The remaining beasts turned their attention away from the TSAB mages and began attacking the man at full force as the squad watched in awe, captivated by the man's amazingly efficient way of killing the monsters.
"One strike, one after the other," Alex said as the man separated a beast's head from its body.
"Is he a friend?" Sakura asked.
"At the very least, he's not with those monsters," Marika said as she landed next to her.
"Should we help him, leader?" Alex asked as the three of them turned to Subaru.
"I think we'll just get in the way," Subaru said honestly as she watched the man force his knee into a wolf's lower jaw, sending it upward, following it with a slice with his sword splitting it lengthwise. "Let's make sure we managed to get all the civilians away just in case those creatures decide to run away. We're lucky no one's been killed so far and I hope to keep it that way."
The four of them nodded as they split, going down a different road on the intersection.
"What is this?" Aoi asked watching the white clothed man take down the monsters with extremely relative ease. "How is he doing that so easily?"
"We are getting some energy readings from him," one of the operators said. "But it's fairly small so we don't think there is any reinforcement magic going on."
"It could be that sword of his," Shou said, now watching the video with professional interest. "Of course it could just be that he's a man that's used to fighting them and knows where and how to hit them so that they would go down quickly. Notice how he's bisecting most of them?"
"Captain!" Kasumi called out. "Subaru's team says they're going to leave the things to the unknown and try to evacuate any remaining civilians out of the area."
"That's fine," Aoi replied. "Also tell the supporters that they might not be needed after all..."
"Awww, they're going to be so disappointed," Kasumi mused as she began opening a private communications line.
"What are you going to do about that guy?" Shou asked, leaning closer to Aoi so that only she could hear him. "Are you going to try and recruit him?"
"At the very least, I don't want anyone else to get their hands on him," Aoi responded. "He's an even greater enigma than the creatures and I rather not certain groups get a hold of his skills. After all, every single person on this planet is watching this right now."
"Indeed they are."
"Tell the Returners to link up with him after they finish checking for civilians. We don't want him to disappear," Aoi said.
"Returners, ma'am?" one of the front operators asked.
"That's the new name of their squad. I just thought of it."
Subaru was the first one of her squad to finish her check and make it back to the battle area where there was only one humanoid monster left. The unknown man's blade and the creature's lance were locked as the two of them tried to overcome the other with sheer power. Then she saw the man reach under his cloak and step to the side, causing the creature to stumble as he brought something that looked like a pistol up to its neck. There was a loud crack as a small pointed tip rod extended from its barrel and through the creature's neck, allowing him to sever the thing from its waist.
Having finished with his battle the man removed the lower half of his mask and leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath.
"Hey, are you okay?" Subaru asked as she ran up to him and tried to help him up.
The man looked up at her and instantly froze up.
"Ah...ahhhh...GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
The man suddenly started screaming as he held his head as if in pain as he forced himself away from her. He staggered for a few moments before he suddenly collapsed onto the ground.
"Subaru-san!" Alex called out as the other Returners ran up to her.
"I'm okay," she assured him. "But that guy suddenly started screaming."
"Is...is he alive?" Sakura asked softly, staring at the silent and unmoving body.
"I'll check," Alex offered as he carefully walked up to body and crouched down beside it. He carefully flipped the man over so that he was on his back and proceeded to remove his mask.
"What the!" Alex shouted in surprise as he fell over on his butt causing the others to run up to him and immediately see what caused him to react like that.
"N-no...way..."
"What's going on down there?" Aoi's voice came through to all of them.
"Okaa-san! It's him!"
"What? Who?"
"It's him Captain!" Alex said as he stood up. "It's Kimura Yuuki!"
Author's note
I don't think I'll be able to keep up these weekly updates anymore. Oh I'll try of course, but I may have some delays in between certain chapters. I thought I'd be able to just sit down and write but I've been distraced by extremely entertaining fanfics. R&R to keep my motivation and attention up.