A/N: Okay guys, we are coming up on the final few chapters; I want to say there's still like four more, but nonetheless, Ice Chronicles is coming to an end. I will save the dramatic and emotional words for the very end, but I want everyone to know, the magic number is four. Now let's begin.
Ice Chronicles
Chapter 73: This is War
"We're going to war," uncle's words echoed through my mind. I couldn't believe it at first, but the urgency of how fast Minaka shoved his hand-selected group into the copters proved me wrong. The hand-selected group was my team, Kai's team, and the Discipline Squad. Jason and the rest were ordered to stay behind and protect the home front while we fly over to who knows where. Minaka never told us where we were going, just that it was highly important that we leave immediately. I wanted to ask but I knew there was no point; he kept us in the dark for a reason, and even made sure all the Jinki were with us. That's what confused me the most. Why did all the Jinki need to be gathered for this? I can understand that if the home front is attacked it's likely the Jinki will be collected by the enemy.
Three helicopters were flying to the same place. My team took up one while Kai and Natuso's team took up the remaining two. Minaka and Takami rode with Natuso, Takehito with Kai, and my uncle with me. I still couldn't believe the news. Now I know why I had such a bad feeling about my family being around. It's a good thing I had them, Chiho, and Stephanie leave before it was too late; I just hope they made it out safely.
"Is this really happening?" I asked with my arms folded. My sekirei looked towards me in surprise. It was dead silent a few minutes ago and I just broke it. "I mean, are we really going to war?"
"So it would seem," my brain type answered back. "I can't believe wasn't notified of something like this. Even I'm surprised by the sudden news."
"Why weren't we notified sooner than?" I asked as I rubbed my chin. "You would think if there was an attack there would've been some warning, an evacuation notice, but there wasn't. Could it be possible that not even Minaka could've known?"
"Very perceptive, but that's not the case," my uncle appeared at the door.
"Uncle Clyde, what's going on here? Where are these copters taking us?" I asked him. "I refuse to just sit here and expect to fight against something when I have no knowledge of what's happening. We're at war you said, but I need more than that."
"And I'll explain all that when we get into position," he held up his hand. "I can tell you though we were aware of everything, but we had to keep it a secret to avoid panic and prepare in secret. It was all to prepare, not for your attack Ren, but for the foreign attack. You know why Minaka handed out the Jinki and watched the Higa thing? It wasn't just for entertainment; he wanted to see who could rise up and help protect the place. He didn't want weak people helping out, but the strong; and all of you, even the ones without many sekirei have survived. Luckily for Minaka, he still has a decent amount of sekirei left alive."
A great big smile formed on my uncle's face. "However, our numbers will soon increase again, soon I hope."
"What do you mean?" I questioned.
"I'll explain that when I get the signal. Now, is there anything else you'd like to know?" Uncle Clyde offered.
"Yeah, where are we going?" Yomi raised her hand. Uncle Clyde's smile seemed to grow.
"Well Yomi, what if I told you we're going to the place where you and your kin crash landed?" he asked back. The sekirei did a collective gasp as their mouth drops.
"So that means we're going to Kamikura Island," Matsu stated.
"Is that where you all landed?" I asked.
"Yep, you see Ren," my uncle explained the story how Minaka and Takami discovered the island that just inexplicably arouse and found a crashed alien ship. They found the sekirei inside and began building their throne to the top. Uncle Clyde also explained an invasion on the island when Matsu and Kazehana were part of the first generation Discipline Squad. Uncle even boasted how the first gen squad is still a hundred times stronger than the generations that followed. It was a long while until MBI headquarters was established and so Kamikura Island was used as base in the meantime. From what Uncle Clyde says, the sekirei ship is still on the island and is fully functional; however, it can't work without its energy source. Uncle didn't want to tell me that part, but I had a pretty good hypothesis.
"So what exactly are we going to do when we get to Kamikura?" I inquired. "If we're heading to the place where the girls landed, shouldn't there he more than just us? I mean you got Kai, Natsuo, and I, but will that be enough?"
"You tell me Ren," uncle stated with a sly smirk. "You're the one helping Minaka lead."
"Huh?" I replied confusedly. Then it hit me, and my eyes widened at the realization. "Oh no, nonononono. You can't be serious."
"I am completely serious," uncle responded with a nod. "Based on your skills and intelligence, you would be a great asset to us here with mobilizing the units, forming the right formations, and creating the teams."
"You can't expect some seventeen-year-old to lead a war against foreign countries. Do you know how hard it was to get mom and dad to leave in the first place?" I interrogated.
"And do you know how much your auntie cried when I told her you and I may die here?" uncle asked back with more authority. "I couldn't tell her what was happening but I managed to get her to leave. Do you know how bad she felt when I said you and I might not make it back? I swear she broke down instantly, but I'm an optimistic and convincing person and I say we're going out there and kick some ass!"
"What do you mean we?" I asked next. The biggest smile on my uncle's face formed as he elbowed the wall and opened up four panels, which were holding various firearms. My uncle grabbed an assault rifle, loaded it, and cocked it.
"Let me tell you something Ren; you don't become private adjuster of the Discipline Squad being a big pussy. You either have the balls, or you're dead, plain and simple; and your uncle right here, he's not a fucking pussy. Understand?"
I am so glad Kusano is not with us, because this is not something a little girl should be hearing, but uncle did have a good point. There's no room for weaknesses here.
"Ren, have I ever told you how much I love your uncle?" Toyo spoke up. I sighed and shook my head.
"Ren do you know how to use a gun?" my uncle asked me.
"No," I shook my head.
"Good, because hopefully you won't have to," he stated and placed the gun in the empty spot in the panel. "We're going to need your brain along with Minaka to do this. The forces back home are pretty much set, but we're going to need a lot of brain power. We got you, Matsu, and Minaka on strategy, Takumi and I on weaponry, and everyone else in the front lines."
"I'm not joining the fray?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"Hell no," my uncle answered bluntly. What are you nuts? I'm not putting my nephew out there in the battlefield, not when his brain is much more useful than his brawn, no offense."
"None taken?" I responded, the confusion plain on my face. "I know Kai can fight alongside his sekirei, but what about Natsuo?"
"Natsuo kicks ass Ren," Uncle Clyde stated. "He's the one who taught Kai how to fight with his fists."
Our mouths dropped at the story. Kai, the silent swordsman and complete badass, was trained by the ashikabi of the Discipline Squad. If Kai is this strong, I'm scared to know how strong Natsuo is then.
"So how strong is Natsuo then?" Musubi asked with her hand raised. Uncle adopted a thinking pose.
"Hmm, that's a tough question. I've never seen him fight seriously so I'm not entirely sure myself."
"So he's going to fight alongside his cousin. Speaking of which, Kai told me he was from America, even though he has a Japanese name, but then how is Kai his cousin? What relationship do their parents have?"
Uncle scratched the back of his head.
"I'm not sure I should be telling his story, but after getting to know the guy, which was very hard to do, I was told that Natsuo's mom's sister married a man from oversees, Kai's father, whose family really loved Japanese culture. One of Kai's relatives, he forgot which one, had the last name Sasaki. His father had that last name and when married to Natsuo's mom's sister, she took the name Sasaki; they had Kai and BAM! Kai Sasaki was born!"
"Well that explains a lot," I nodded my head.
"Anything else you'll need to ask him, but now is not the time; we're here," uncle stated. We all looked out the window to see a giant island fast approaching. The crash site of the sekirei was fast approaching; I wonder how the girls felt about being back where they landed.
The helicopters landed on the island and let us off; however, when I stepped off and took my first step, I hit the ground hard. I heard my sekirei yell my name and saw them gather around me as I tried to get up, but it felt like my body was getting weak. I could feel my strength leaving me.
"Whoops, I forgot to mention something," I saw my uncle on a single knee. "After some more visits, there are some… precautions in place that keep humans from getting too far on the island. Minaka figured that if people were to find this place, something should be set to keep them from finding anything valuable or keeping them at bay."
"Now you tell me," I grunted and stood on my knees. Luckily for us, we weren't the only ones having problems standing. Kai and Natsuo barely managed to walk around while Takehito and Takami had problems moving. Minaka on the other hand, moved around like it was nothing, surprising everyone. Though he was not focused on the surprise, he was more focused on getting things ready. He was a lot more serious now, no booming laughter and smart comments, all business; and his tone meant he wanted to get it done. Our first mission was to get us humans into position, but since the island is affecting us, it was quite difficult to stay focused. Things started to progress when we managed to get used to things, but the island was HUGE!
The research center Minaka and Takami used in the past was still intact and fully functional. There, Minaka briefed us on the number of soldiers arriving, their formation, and our most recommended plan of attack. I looked over the formation with him; we would use the elemental sekirei to destroy the ships and helicopters while the close combat fighters took care of ground units. I needed to divide the ground units while the elemental units stayed together and close to base.
After setting up the units, it was time to get to work. The enemy will be upon in approximately twenty minutes, hardly enough time for the ground units to get into position, but still doable. The last part was saying goodbye to my sekirei, minus Matsu. They were going to fight while we remained to provide guidance. I gave each one a loving kiss and tight embrace, telling them to make it back to me safely. I had to watch them leave.
"Ren, it's time for me to head out as well," my uncle stated, dressed in protective gear. He had multiple guns strapped to his back and he was ready to fire. "I trust you to give me proper guidance; you watch my back and I'll watch the rest."
"Got it," I nodded back. He patted my shoulder and smiled at me.
"I won't make any promises that I'll come back, because after all, there is no such thing as a good war. We may perish, or we may not, but let me tell you a little something."
He loaded his assault rifle. "In war, it doesn't matter who's right or wrong. All that matter is who's left; and as one of our tacticians, I highly demand you forget about our family and focus on this."
I could only nod and return the man hug we shared. Uncle walked out of the room with his weapons as Matsu grasped my hand.
"It'll be okay," she reassured me. "Let's go; we have a war to win."
I nodded back and followed Matsu to the control room, where Minaka was waiting for us. Takami and Takehito took their positons with the weapons arsenal and waited to begin firing.
"Ren and No. 2, are you both ready?" Minaka asked.
"Ready," Matsu answered. I simply gave an affirmative grunt. Minaka then brought up multiple screens and that showed where our units and the enemy units were stationed. Matsu already had her norito activated and gave us a clear list of what we're dealing with. I informed our units while Minaka gave the command to attack.
It didn't take long for enemy units to start dropping, but they managed to set foot on the island; however, they were instantly affected by the island's safety feature and could be taken down easily. But as soon as one was taken out, three more took their place and nine more after that one. While we were lacking in the numbers department, we still outclassed them by a huge margin.
"So Matsu, how does it feel to be doing this again?" I asked my brain-type. She was still using her norito.
"Strange, I really didn't expect things to turn out this way," she answered. "My goal was to keep MBI from finding me, but now here I am helping them fight a war."
"That is strange," I agreed with her. Minaka didn't say anything as he was more focused on the fight than our conversation. He was still angry about the way things turned out, some outside interference messing with his so-called game. I don't know whether or not to classify this as karma or just bad timing, but like him, Matsu and I had a big role to play.
"This is war," I said.
A/N: How's that for leading things off? It's time to get this show on the road! Firstly, I don't give any shits about who says this is a short chapter; it's something called being suspenseful and making the audience beg for more. You never reveal your all at the beginning; and so, this has been MalevolentDarkness16 and I will see you all on the battlefield. Thanks for reading and take care!