A/N: I had hoped that the last chapter would surprise you guys, but maybe it is to be expected in that World. I have to follow up on the Angel Beats! tradition of just plain randomness. I still can't top the rocket chair... nothing can top that... Well, I'm hoping this chapter will surprise you guys. New style of writing!
Angel Beats!
What We Live For
Operation 12
Going Down
After finally getting the young representative to the right room, two girls stepped out of the other room. Kuroe Hitomi from Alpha squad, and-
"Ah."
"Ah."
Katsuragi pointed at the second girl, who pointed back. Kusanagi Yamato.
[Kusanagi Yamato joins party]
[Kuroe Hitomi joins party]
"It seems we're never too far apart."
Yamato said as the four of them followed behind the representative, though this time they managed to grab another person from Fort to help out.
"But Ayane isn't here."
Katsuragi noted, seeing as how Kuroe Hitomi was a member of Alpha. Yamato nodded in agreement.
"She's the only member of Delta who isn't with us. She went with the Assault division."
"Assault... I see."
It certainly did suit her. But still, Katsuragi had to wonder how the selection process actually went about.
"Seeing as how Ayane isn't with us makes me think about how they actually choose the divisions for us."
Yamato muttered. That made Katsuragi stare at her with a rather amazed look.
"... What is with that creepy look?"
Yamato asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, but I just thought of the same thing."
Yamato and Katsuragi looked at each other for awhile more, before they smiled.
"I guess we're more alike than we thought. No wonder we were placed in the same division."
The four recruits were led down the hall and down the stairs contrary to what Katsuragi thought they would be going. He initially thought that they were going to meet the leader of the Fort division, but they were instead led to the first floor to a room where they met-
"Geh. Why him?"
Standing in the room with his arms crossed and a head band with the crude hand written words 'Yuki LOVE' scribbled on it around his head was none other than-
"I am sergeant Imagawa Jin, leader of Camelot, the squad responsible for keeping Fort defended and alive! You will all address me as 'SIR, YOUR GRACIOUS LORD, SIR'! Do I make myself clear? !"
The irritating man shouted at them. Wasn't he shot by Yuki? And what is with this business of calling him sir and lord?
"Don't mind him, he's crazy."
The second guide said.
"Iori! Why are you here?"
Jin pointed an accusing finger at the young man.
"Why? Because I was asked to. And unlike someone who has half the brain of an insect, I do what I am told to do properly. Actually, saying that is an insult to insects."
"IORI!"
Jin wanted to punch the second guide, but the young man simply blocked the attack.
"These are the new recruits for Fort, Jin, and I don't think I need to remind you just who is the one who picked these people."
The young man named Iori smiled and certain wolf's smile. That made Jin rear back, showing slight fear.
"I'm sure Yuki has briefed you on what needs to be done and who goes where. Remember, Jin, if I so much as 'hear' about you doing ANYTHING to these recruits..."
Iori trailed off, his face quite dark with a sadistic smile and blood-hungry eyes. Jin was right now terrified, making Katsuragi wonder just who was this person they randomly grabbed from the corridor to help guide them? But Iori quickly lost that malice, his smile turning back into a cheery one as he tapped Jin on the cheek.
"Well, I do not need to tell you, do I?"
Jin shook his head furiously.
"Good. I'll go report to Yuki. You, in the mean time, are to do your job."
Iori waved and turned to leave the room, but stopped at the first guide.
"Rio-chan, can you watch over them? I worry that Jin might do something stupid like FORGET his duty."
Iori tensed the word 'forget' quite strongly. Rio, the first guide, looked as though she did not quite catch what was being insinuated and was quite excited about her new job.
"I-I will d-do my b-best!"
She said while her face was beaming with anticipation. Iori smiled and patted her on the head.
"I know you will. I leave it to you then. Jin."
"YES SIR!"
Jin snapped to salute. Was this Iori really that scary of a person?
"... Play nice."
With that, Iori left the room, letting Jin sigh with relief. But this also meant that Jin went back to his cocky and arrogant self.
"Alright you maggots-"
The door suddenly opened again and Iori popped his head back in. That made Jin stand up straight rigid once more.
"Ah, before I forget. Jin."
"Y-YES SIR!"
"I'm still waiting for your report on last week's incident."
"I-I-I-I'LL GET RIGHT ON IT! SIR!"
Iori smiled at Jin's answer.
"Good. I'll be waiting for it."
With that out of the way, Jin handed each new recruit a file that had their name on it. Katsuragi opened the file and saw that it contained a lot about him, his sleeping postures, his most commonly ordered dish at the cafeteria, who he talks to the most (which unfortunately is Daisuke), and so on. They were keeping tabs on him. He also noted that his profile had a box read 'Division' and written in it was 'Fort'. Under squad it was 'Wolves'.
"You'll find an ID card clipped at the back which is to be kept on you at all times."
Jin explained, showing them his own. It had several nicks and scratches, as well as weird scribbles on his photo. Katsuragi flipped to the back of the file and saw that there was his own ID. When did they take this photo?
[Obtained SSS2 ID]
[Joined Fort]
[Joined Yuki's Elite: Wolves]
"It is used mainly to identify members of the SSS2 and also acts like a key card to enter certain areas of our base. As you get promoted, your clearance level would increase, allowing you to access more facilities and areas in our base. You can also access other facilities in the other divisions' bases but as it is considered outside of your division, your clearance level would always be one rank lower than of your own base. Next, is a stack of food coupons."
[Obtained 100 MT (Meal tickets) ]
"As you know, food coupons are the currency besides dirt and essence for Guild. You can either get more tickets from the cafeteria, which would not be much since they would dispense a maximum of three per day, or you can complete jobs and tasks that are specifically made for your squad."
Jin took out a piece of paper which had a lot of words scribbled on it. At the top read 'Help Wanted', and below were the details.
"This is an example of a request that anyone can fulfil, also known as 'GenRe' (General Requests). These usually involve running around, delivering items or finding lost items. They are easy, have the least risk of trouble but pay out the least number of tickets for all requests. Next are squad specific requests, which would only involve those in your squad. Also known as 'SquaRe' (Squad Requests), they are usually given by your squad leader according to ability. These are harder to complete as they involve things like infiltration, Shadow hunting and the sort. These requests pay out quite a large sum even though they are split evenly by the squad members who participate in the request. The next type is called the 'DiRe' (Division Requests). These involve the entire division and are quite rare. They are more often used to mobilize an entire Division to counter, destroy or secure any enemy, area, or intelligence. These can pay from two hundred to a thousand tickets per person. Of course, these are extremely hard and always involve Angels. The last type is the Organizational Requests, officially called 'Operations' though most people call them 'ORe'. These are less like requests and more like jobs. Once a month, Yuki and the leaders gather to plan a large scale joint-operation that would involve the entire organization to achieve a certain objective. They mostly include activities that disrupt the NPCs on a school wide level, or to draw out any dangerous Shadow or Angel. These do not pay out in meal tickets, but rather you get a chance to be promoted, get days off from work, or be given additional ammunition. Most people get the additional ammunition even though they want the days off work."
This was starting to sound a lot like an adventure game where you hunt monsters with giant weapons and talk to bipedal cats who can cook and clean your house.
"The four of you are assigned to squads and you will report to your respective squad leaders later. For now, I will guide you down to Guild to get your proper arms and also show where your squads are."
Jin then led the four new recruits out of the room with the first guide, Rio, following closely behind. But the moment they stepped out of the classroom, Rio had already disappeared.
"Bah, leave her. She'll turn up later. No matter how lost she gets Rio will always reappear."
Jin explained.
"Later? How much later?"
Yamato asked.
"About five hours."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The four recruits were quite speechless by that answer.
"That isn't 'later' any more."
Daisuke muttered. Jin led the four recruits down to the entrance of Guild and they entered the tunnel to Guild. However something seemed wrong. There wasn't anyone using this tunnel. Normally, the tunnel would be filled with members of the SSS2 running about with crates of supplies or documents. Even the usual random spots of stores for supplies or sleeping areas were abandoned.
"... This is odd. Where did everyone go?"
Jin wondered.
"Could it be that there was an attack?"
Yamato asked.
"No, there would be bodies and gunfire everywhere. This is just... quiet. Wait here."
Jin said before walking over to one side where an intercom was on the wall.
"Hello? This is Sergeant Imagawa Jin from Camelot. Is anyone there?"
Jin asked though the intercom. There was silence at first, then-
'"Eh? There's someone down in tunnel F4?"'
Came the surprised reply.
"Yes, this is Imagawa Jin from Camelot. I've come to bring the recruits in for-"
'"There's no time! Get out of that tunnel now!"'
Jin was stunned for a split second, before he turned with his face being afraid and frightened.
"Quick! Back up to Fort! NOW!"
Jin shouted at them. At first the recruits were slightly confused, but they knew that something was seriously wrong. Yamato was the first to dash for the ladder. She climbed up fast, but the moment she reached the trap door, a loud locking sound came from the trap door.
"What the-... It's lock!"
Yamato exclaimed, looking down, before realizing that she was wearing a skirt, and Katsuragi was standing below.
[Katsuragi raised a Kusanagi Yamato flag event]
"... I will kill you if you say anything."
She threatened, which Katsuragi shook his head and looked away. Yamato climbed down, un-holstered her pistol, and shot one in Katsuragi's head.
[Katsuragi has died, please go to church to revive]
"Stop killing each other. Now isn't time for that."
Jin warned, pulling out his own weapon, which was a spear.
"What is going on?"
Hitomi asked, seeing as how Jin was slightly on edge.
"Ever since Yuuko discovered an entire cache of spare traps left behind by the previous SSS organization, she had been dying to try them out. Once a month, she sets up traps in one entire stretch of tunnel. Yuki was smart enough to intervene before Yuuko went too crazy with the traps, and it was Yuki who ordered Yuuko to only trap one tunnel and have a complete lock-down of that tunnel."
Jin explained, just as Katsuragi revived.
"So what is suppose to set off the traps?"
"... They usually release a few Shadows, depending on the traps laid out."
"Shadows? ! We don't have enough ammunition to fight any battle!"
Yamato said. And it was true enough that each member did not have enough bullets to last through even one fight.
"I know that! And watch who you're talking to! I'm still you're senpai!"
"A senpai who got us into this mess. Wasn't there suppose to be a warning or something?"
Jin froze at Yamato's question.
"... I... forgot."
He muttered. That was it, the last straw of respect anyone had in the first place for Jin was now gone.
"Anyway, we're not safe here. There is a safe zone at the end of the tunnel. If we can get there, we can get out."
Jin led the way down the tunnel, watching every corner for anything suspicious. As they walked, Daisuke suddenly nudged Katsuragi.
"So?"
Daisuke asked with his eyes showing a glint of mischief.
"So what?"
Katsuragi was getting annoyed by Daisuke's persistent and useless attempts at conversation.
"So what was the colour?"
Now that was really just pushing it too far. But before Katsuragi could say anything, Yamato pressed her pistol at Daisuke's face and fired two shots. Even when Daisuke was dead on the ground, Yamato continued to empty her magazine into the body.
[Daisuke suffered massive damage]
[critical hit]
[super effective]
[Daisuke is dead]
[Impossible to revive at church.]
"... Weren't you the one who said that we did not have enough ammunition?"
Katsuragi asked as Yamato changed her magazine.
"For this pest, any bullet used would not be wasted."
"... I see."
Katsuragi figured that it would be best not to bother Yamato at the moment. She to be on the edge of just shooting everything.
"Are you recruits done? Hurry up!"
Jin shouted. Katsuragi looked down at Daisuke's limp body and sighed. He had to dragged this idiot all the way too? Without much choice, Katsuragi slung Daisuke's arm over his shoulder and pulled the heavy weight to follow the others. As they walked along, the recruits that Jin was using his spear to tap floors, walls and using it to go around corners before he did.
"... Senpai, what are you doing?"
Hitomi asked. Jin tapped a wall with his stick a few times before he turned to answer.
"Shadows are nothing. It is those blasted traps that I'm worried about. Knowing Yuuko, she probably set up several anti-army class traps down here."
Everyone stared at Jin when he said that.
"A-anti-army?"
"Yes. One of those things can make the entire school disappear in a blink of an eye."
"... EEHHH? !"
Why was such a powerful weapon deployed as a trap? More importantly why was something like that deployed down here in the first place?
"After the battle of Big Site, Yuuko wanted additional protection for Guild but since the old traps were disabled long ago, there was no way to put them back. Unfortunately after some exploration teams found a hidden cache while searching the older tunnels of the SSS, Yuuko had gotten her hands on some dangerous traps. I heard a rumour saying that there was note on that cache stating that it was never to be used due to its dangerous properties. So you guys better watch out for where you step-"
The moment Jin said that, he stepped onto something that sunk into the ground.
"... er..."
The next second, a jet of flames appeared from above and scorched Jin to cinders.
[Imagawa suffered extreme third degree burns]
[Imagawa is burnt]
[Imagawa is now fried]
[Imagawa is now charcoal]
[Imagawa is dead.]
Jin's fried extra-crispy body fell forward, and certain clicking sound could be heard that the body hit the ground.
"... What was that?"
Yamato asked as a loud rumbling sound started to come up from behind them. Katsuragi was almost too afraid to turn around to look, but when he did, he really wished he hadn't. Rolling down towards them was a giant iron ball the size of the tunnel itself.
"... GAAAHHH!"
[Party wiped out]
After an hour of running, dying and dodging traps, the group finally reached the safe zone of the tunnel. Barricaded and guarded by Guild's own armed forces, the guards of Guild known as 'Shield', the safe zone was more heavily armed than a machine nest in Fort. Machine guns were placed upon sand bags with only half a metre of distance between each machine gun. Additional guards had their rifles ready at the first sign of danger and behind them were giant cannons. Those were the infamous German 88mm anti-aircraft Flak cannons, the acht-acht. Behind those fearsome cannons were mortar teams as well as snipers. This barricade was like a wall of death. Good thing that they were friendly to the group. Katsuragi pulled himself over the barricade and slumped the ground, exhausted and tired. A member of Shield approached the group with a few others following behind her. She had the look of distrust in her eyes and her finger on the trigger of her rifle clearly showed that.
"Sergeant Imagawa Jin?"
She asked. Jin stood up using his spear as support and nodded.
"That's me. Identification code '00032185F'."
The girl narrowed her eyes at Jin, then sighed. She nodded to the others and everyone pointed their rifles away.
"Good. I'm corporal Takamine Kaoru. Welcome to Guild."
She said, more specifically to the recruits.
"Sergeant Imagawa, I am pretty sure that Fort was notified that this tunnel was under-going a trap lock-down."
Jin was feeling cornered by this accusation.
"... I-I forgot! Okay? Besides, your boss is the one crazy enough to place five anti-army traps all within the same area!"
Jin snapped back. The corporal closed her eyes and sighed.
"I apologize for Boss's behaviour. Well, at least you all made it here. I will guide you to the rail-car station."
Kaoru led the group past the barricade and further down the tunnel where it was bursting with activity that the group was more used to seeing.
"It is a good thing we didn't run into any Shadows along the way."
Daisuke sighed, coughing up a bullet.
"Yes, it was luck... still, I would have thought that there would be at least one."
Yamato added. The corporal suddenly stopped when she heard what they were saying.
"... You didn't see any Shadows?"
She asked, slightly concerned.
"Y-yes, we didn't see any."
Yamato repeated. The corporal narrowed her eyes, then nodded.
"Understood. Sergeant, I'm afraid but I have to leave you now. There is something wrong with this exercise."
The corporal saluted, then ran back towards the barricade.
"I'm guessing that the Shadows are evolving to evade the traps."
Jin muttered.
"What do you mean?"
Hitomi asked, slightly confused by all of this.
"This tunnel doesn't have a lot of side passages, and the only traps that were heard were those that were triggered by us. That means that either the Shadows were deliberately following us to evade the traps, or they have the ability to not trigger any trap at all."
This did not sound good. But Jin shrugged his shoulders.
"Still, they aren't Angel class. The Shield squad will take care of them. For now, follow me."
Jin led the group past the initial Guild that they were introduced to, and into what appeared to be a train station. Complete with platforms, tracks and even a station marking on the wall that read 'Guild'. On the tracks were rectangular rail-cars without a roof. The rail-cars had a rectangular frame with four seats within it. A large control stick in the middle was used to control speed. There were large metal plates attached to the front and rear of each rail-car, most likely used to carry large crates while smaller supplies could be carried by a net attached to the underside of the rail-car Jin told the others to wait as he approached one of the Guild members at the platform. After a short conversation, Jin came back.
"Alright, we can take the next one. Our destination is Big Site and it's near the end of the main track. Guild has rail-car tracks throughout all of their major tunnel systems, and most of them are usually used for transporting supplies. The tracks are usually the domain of the runners 'Overcharge' and the provisions squad 'Raiders', so if you ever want to use the tracks you need their permission. You also need to get one as a guide."
Jin explained.
"A guide?"
"There are a lot of tunnels that branch out down here. Not all of the tunnels lead to an exit, however, and there had been many accidents. The tunnels can lead either to an exit somewhere in the school or in the forests and hills around the school. Other tunnels lead to storage rooms or sleeping quarters for Guild and Fort members. There are also exploration and excavation tunnels. As all of you know, the SSS2's predecessor, the SSS, were the first ones to create these elaborate tunnels and Guild. Although we have recovered both Guild and Big Site, recent surveys have unlocked a whole new network of tunnels that seem to stretch on forever. Estimates are that we have only discovered a mere 10 percent of the entire network."
Everyone was surprised by this piece of news, though some for a completely different reason than others.
"10... percent... Katsuragi!"
Daisuke shouted at Katsuragi.
"W-what?"
"... What is 10 percent?"
[Daisuke has been killed]
"Anyway, trying to head down these tunnels yourself is dangerous and getting a guide would be safer. Though don't always trust the guide. 1 out of 5 times they too would get lost."
Jin added. That was a pretty high probability to get lost. What use was the guide for then? A whistle was blown from the end of the platform, alerting Jin.
"Looks like it's our turn. Come on."
While the recruits were not too sure on the probability of getting to Big Site, they were left with no other choice. They followed Jin down the platform to the end where a whole line of rail-cars were joined together and waiting for them. The front two rail-cars were empty with seats probably taken from the school classroom stuck into them, while the last five were carrying large crates. The first car had several Guild members climbing into it, leaving the second rail-car to the recruits, who climbed in. There were only four seats, so Jin sat on the back plate, trying himself to the railing of the car with a rope.
"Strap in. This is going to be a rough ride."
He warned the recruits, who looked to one another before fastening their safety harnesses. The driver from the first car craned his neck around.
"Are you all ready?"
He asked, but before anyone could say or do anything to reply, the driver pushed the lever forward, and the rail-cars slowly moved forward. The cars moved slowly along the track out of the station and it slowly gained speed. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. Then...
BANG
it shot off like a bullet.
[Rail-car broke sound barrier]
"KYAAAAAHHH!"
Yamato screamed as loud as she could as the speed they were travelling at was rapidly increasing. The twists and turns of the tunnel was not making this easier as the cars were all clearly not going to be staying on the track as they veered sharply around corners. Katsuragi swore that one point the entire train flew off the tracks for a good 5 seconds. Correction, not flying, free falling.
[Daisuke has fainted]
[Hitomi has vomited]
[Imagery's rope has snapped]
[Imagawa is currently missing]
[Yamato has gained 'High Octave Scream' skill]
[Yamato has learned 'eardrum shattering scream' skill]
[Katsuragi received heavy damage to ears]
[Katsuragi is now deaf]
[Party has fainted]