AMATERASU Chapter 6: Stepping into the Fray
.
Sometimes you have to wonder, is there something about the power? That it seems to have been gifted to the wrong people? Imagine if it were in the hands of the right ones.
That is if there are any.
.
"Catch the bullet."
.
Tsuruya had managed to not so subtly come in and make a fuss, just as she always and usually tends to. She decided that it was best to do the one thing typical of her: start making noise.
She bellowed out commands.
"I WANT A STATUS REPORT, NOW!"
An aide started to rush around and pick up papers on a table, carrying it in a folder to the young lady with green hair. She read through it and noticed something a bit too obvious.
"So of all the things to deal with, its disgruntled espers."
"Yes."
Itsuki and Yuki were at this point wary of asking her for her help, but considering that this is someone with a great deal of connections and power, she was as good as Haruhi in achieving whatever she intended to do, and did it with a smile.
"Where's Mikuru?"
"She said earlier she would go to retrieve some data. She'll be back soon."
She continued reading the documents, and her nose wrinkled itself once.
"Ah!" she almost screamed, "We knew about these people before. They were all people found to have developed esper power and were evaluated for entry into the EDF."
"Right," Itsuki was quiet and lullardly, "We had thought that due to the explosion of individuals with various known abilities related to percieving and manipulating data, what we would have are a few that would have chosen to use it for worse deeds. So we managed to profile a large number of them, and we believe we're on a good lead to who is the perpretrators of this incident."
Tsuruya just stared at the paper. Did she get what it said?
"Hmm...they are somewhere near the city of Kobe proper. Have you checked the local port for any suspicious activity?"
"We believe that there is nothing there, and that it may be somewhere else. This is because of something we noticed." He brought out a paper, covered in data. "This revealed that the internet connection used to bring us the video from earlier was in fact not connected to a landbased network. It was from a satellite internet feed. We tried to find out who it was from an IP search, but that only brought up a series of proxies which we have to search through. We did find the credit card used, which turned out to be a prepaid one. After tracking that one, we found it was sold at a supermarket somewhere in Osaka. We sent an agent and located something interesting."
He pulled up from behind his back a photo.
"Here is the face of who we believe it was that we're looking for."
She saw the face.
She then left for the field.
.
The room was dark. The guard had not come back in a while. He could not tell what time it was now.
Kyon was dazed and confused.
He lay there in a mild throbbing state of ache. His slow awareness crept back into him and he started to figure out something.
These people think she has the power to crush them. Did they get that she has almost lost it all? Or...
Maybe they see it as a chance to get the last of it.
.
Mikuru Asahina, alone in the lobby of the office of the ESPER Defense Force, had some papers in her hand. They were a datasheet of some results sent to her from her superiors down in the lower end of time.
They contained an important thing to note, that may affect time.
She picked up her pace.
.
She made it into the primary command center of the structure. And who else was there but Itsuki Koizumi. His ears heard reports. They knew now where he was, and they were about to move in soon.
She wordlessly hands him a single slip of paper. He reads it carefully.
He motions the aide to take the paper.
"Get this to Tsuruya."
.
Haruhi looked out over the city, wondering just where he was.
She heard a thought, like many times before, whisper into the edges of her conciousness.
If you want him enough now, you will already know where he is.
A mystic and mysterious notion to have. She'll entertain it.
She starts to focus the minds eye. Her sense starts to see further beyond.
She hears birds. She hears words, she hears people walk, she hears them talk.
Then she picks up a sound.
...hhhh...hhhh...hhhh
A heaving.
.
The room is still, the air unmoving and the ground unshifting. A place to think and wonder.
Will I make it?
…fffffffff...fffffffffff...fffffffff...
He starts to hear a sound, like that of breathing and wonders if it is that with a supernatural fist. He can hear her breathe.
She is looking for him, and he knows it now.
.
The agents fan out through the city. They are gathered in their vehicles and wondering when they will make their move.
Nakagawa, who has little left of the essence of an esper, surrounded by those with their souls blazing in a fire, condensed in the passion of duty, felt somewhat lonely.
"I wonder how our goddess is now?"
Mori, the woman of a few years more of age, and who knew her best, replied, "She will be fine, things like this are not the kind of thing that would break her down."
A radio feed comes in from the van, "Anyone in?"
Nakagawa answers, "We are at standby, whats going on?"
"The Supreme Minister has received some intel, and wants you to forward it to the agent in charge."
"Tsuruya?"
"Yes, it's a warning. We'll send it over a digital feed."
As the radio stopped, the system started to collect the data sent.
When it was ready, all documents printed perfectly, including the few simple words laid down.
Their leader came a short time later. She glossed it over and took the end message to heart.
.
Nagato, with her weapons at the ready, had heard from the agents of a spot that seems suspicious. The police force had noticed a larger level of activity in the industrial sector right now.
The short-haired woman knew to look behind that, to the routes they took through the city.
And she knew that it was just outside it.
She was notified by her partner, who had just received Mikuru Asahina's report. The message was short and to the point.
"Its a small area, with a few factories and a few housing projects."
"Good."
The were ready.
"And one last thing, Yuki, we got that last part to remember."
Yuki now knew she had one chance. "I will do what it takes. We must go."
Tsuruya smiled, and took the first step.
They walked, moving into a brisk gait.
Then they started to run.
.
They move quietly, guns at the ready, about to make their move.
A report of gunfire comes through.
The enemy has fired first.
"Its time!"
.
Kyon was underground, but he could hear the bolts of sound, starting to come through the doorway. It was a blinding darkness, but the silence was no longer deafening. The fire was coming, progressively louder and louder.
Maybe he'll be safe.
.
They gather their team to hold back the agents of the EDF from their main gate. They manage to gun down 6 men already who had attempted to infiltrate their compound.
Guns continued to blaze. They were well armed, more so than was expected by the organization, those who had it surrounded.
"Shoot over there!"
A single sniper watched over them. Their enemy would not make it in they hoped.
They held the line well, keeping the ESPER Defense Force under shelter. It was always a good thing to be well-armed for occasions like this.
Then a flittering of periwinkle hair sneaks by, and they lose the battle with their lives. Following her, another of hunter green marched silently ahead.
That sniper was not fast enough for her.
.
"What?" The stern man says, his rifle at ready, "They got through? What do you mean it was some bitch?"
He listens close, the message on the other end angering him, "O.K., gather all remaining men and hold the line!"
The answer comes through on the other end, but only halfway. The signal stops.
It was cut off abruptly.
"Damn it. Goddamn it all to hell."
He leans his back to the wall. He can hear the screaming of his men. Its getting quieter.
Then he wonders if its true that theres an afterlife at all.
His feet move to take him to the prisoner.
.
She is moving as fast as human flesh can move. But she is more than human. She was made to affect the world, and affect it she will.
The message says to.
.
I can hear something. It sounds like they're here. Thank god. Ahh. Heh.
The door unlocks. And I see that man again. What now?
"The Esper Defense Force has arrived, and now they have made it through the barriers we put up. I'm going to make this easier now and just off you."
…Oh no.
His rifle is slowly raised toward me, "If I see you on the other side, then I'll apologize. If I'm in hell, I hope you're there too."
The shot fired.
.
It was caught, in mid air.
.
.
Ive been feeling somewhat artsy-fartsy lately. What with the crack Super, MCK and I have been making, it seems that I have split in two creatively. One end seeks to ask the deeper questions, and the other demands more explosions. I felt a series of vignettes and short prose made this chapter more of a representation of what I wanted to achieve.
I also did some more minor adjustments to the past 6 posts. Now it may slightly seem more readable to you. It sure as hell seems like an improvement. I wanted to remove some of what may have seemed as Self-Insertion, and bring the characterization back towards the canon. As im writing now within the constraints of the earlier chapters, I am going to work further on rewriting them to increase their quality, lengthen scenes and pace, change vocabulary and matching them to the newer work.
I finally finished Gurren Lagann and Irresponsible Captain Tylor. Both great, both recommended. I may try to finish Higurashi S2 or start Baccano! or Kino's Journey in the meantime.