NadirRecharge Station

Benjamin, Benjamin District

October 20th, 3056

Mist-covered mountains

Move in and out of vision.

Real or just fog dreams?

-Haiku found upon the body of Minoru Kurita in 2796

Bronze chimed musically as the four rings attached to the top of Omi's shakujō staff gave a musical counterpoint to her steps through the station. Attired in the robes of a Pillarine monk, she led the way for Shin Yodama, likewise dressed in the robes of an acolyte and carrying a dark-stained wooden box reverently in both hands. Supposedly based on a pre-spaceflight Terran sect called the 'Jedi', the armored fabric of the brown robe whispered gently as a soft counterpoint to the chiming of the staff Omi held in her right hand to guide her steps and announce to the traffic that a priestess was passing.

Beneath the armored cowl with the one-way visor lowered to cover the top of her face, Omi's eyes darted left and right, trying to catalogue the images of life in the Combine to hold in her spirit for the journey ahead. A brief flicker of movement in the crowd heralded a clearly pregnant young woman stepping out withher belly bulging under her cheap patterned kimono.

"Enlightened One, if you would be so kind?"

"Hai." Omi bowed her head and chanted a Buddhist prayer for a painless childbirth, placing her free hand on the woman's bent head. Behind her, Shin Yodama paused, then frowned slightly as he saw a fair-haired man in a Tech's utilitarian jumpsuit turn his head at Omi's words and then start to speak into a DCMS-issue portable radio as he watched the scene.

"Ruby, Carmine three here. Possible identity of target, monk heading to the docking ring. Observing, over."

Omi finished her benediction then rang the staff to conclude the invocation, before turning andproceeding. Shin's eyes traveled to a merchant's stall selling cheap mirrors as he followed his superior and his frown deepened as he saw the Tech following them. As they waited for a lift to arrive to carry them from the mercantile district of the station to the docking bay he leaned close to Omi and spoke in a low voice.

"I fear we are not unnoticed. I sense danger on the wind."

Omi returned a fractional nod, her grip tightening on the teak of her staff. "Hai. Audacity is the virtue that we must meditate on now."

As the lift arrived, Shin 'fumbled' with the box that he was carrying in the outflow of people. This delayed their entrance long enough to be the last ones inside the doors before they slammed shut in the face of their pursuer.

"Ruby, Carmine three. Targets are heading for Docking Bay Four. Over."

"Scarlet seven, Ruby. Proceed to Docking Bay Four, neutralize and secure monks there, alive if possible. Over. Carmine three, Ruby. Reinforce Jasper-six. Over."

Inside the lift traveling to the docking bay, Omi lowered her head. Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed into a steady, slow rhythm as she mediated. She had made her decisions and discharged her duty to the Combine and her father's spirit and now the vista that opened up was both enticing and terrifying. Another slow breath and hold as the lift slowed, then a vision of memory from the past filled her mind's eye.

She had sought out her Father after her fifth birthday and found him kneeling in his dropship cabin meditating on a scroll as she and the rest of the family traveled to Luthien. When she had asked Father what he was doing, he responded. "I am seeking guidance for my path in the writings of one far wiser than I, Omiko-chan. Musashi-sensei wrote in the Book of Five Rings: 'You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain' before our ancestors left Terra. I am seeking my own path to fulfill my duty as a Kurita must. One day you and your brothers will make your own journey to the top of the mountain in turn."

Omi knew now more of the reasons for Father's disquiet on that journey. That was the journey that ended with her presentation of court and the revelation of her parents' secret marriage toGrandfather, who had not taken the news well. Grandfather and Father's relationship had been strained often but rarely had it come as close to violence as in that moment. Still just as Father had planned, weighed his decision, then acted, so must she. A Kurita could do nothing less, after all.

"Ruby, Scarlet-Seven. Approaching Docking Bay Four."

"All elements, Ruby. EXECUTE! EXECUTE! EXECUTE!"

Omi bowed to the Friendly Persuaders at thecheckpoint to enter the docking bay as they returned her travel papers, then gestured with her staff sharply to 'order' Shin Yodama to follow her across the bustling floor to the waiting Yukikaze.As she approached a pallet loaded with drums of gasoline bound for the ever-hungry maw of the DCMS' Procurement Department, suddenly there was a muffled explosion and the station shook.

Omi stumbled at the unexpected shock as the million-ton station shuddered. Years of training with her mother, brothers, and a selection of hand-picked Shihan masters of their schools in the family dojo converted that into a roll that landed her behind the cargo pallet. Seconds later Shin Yodama slid to a stop next to her. Behind it, there was a chorus ofscreams over the rattle of gunfire and the thumps of the Friendly Persuader's riot shotguns.

"Shimatta! Terrorists?" He gasped as he spun the wheels on the combination lock holding the boxclosed then threw it open to reveal their personal weapons. He grabbed his needler pistol and DCMS-issue tanto dagger, charging the pistol as he crouched low behind the barrels.

Omi slid her sheathed katana through the sash of her robe and picked up the Nakjima Hand Laser pistol that Shin had been extremely vague about the origin of when he showed up in Benzaiten's Ivories with it. Considering that it was normally restricted to DCA naval officers, Omi decided in this case that discretion would be wise as she dialed the beam selector to a two-second burst. "If we are fortunate. If our karma suggests otherwise, we are targets."

Shin risked a quick peek over the barrels, thenscowled. "Two Persuaders up fighting six of them. Hachimaki headbands, and maintenance Techs' coveralls."

Alarm sirens sounded in the distance and the station shook again. Omi swallowed hard and willed her voice to a calm that she did not feel in the slightest. "Ambush or flight, Yodama-san?" She looked at the hatchway to the Yukikaze across twenty meters of open space from where they were at.

The rattle of one of the attackers' submachine guns and a suddenly choked off cry of pain punctuated Shin Yodama's next words as he drew his dagger in his off hand. "In death ground, fight."

"Hai." Omi drew her hood back to reveal her face, stood in one smooth movement, and then braced her right hand with her left as she took aim. Her shaking wrist steadied itself automatically as in the space between two heartbeats she became one with the man waving the attackers forward from the rear.The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do not wait for fulfillment, but brace yourself for failure.

Fifty meters away,Sergeant Paul Hughes of the 37th Benjamin Jump Infantry, attached to the 6th Benjamin Regulars and detached for 'special duties' at the request of Duke Hassad Ricol had his head explode like a pumpkin in a microwave under a two second pulse of laser energy impacting hishachimaka.

Omi never noticed the corpse of Scarlet-Seven hit the bloodstained deck like a puppet with its strings cut. Her steel-blue eyes tracked to one of the two attackers firing down at a wounded Friendly Persuader begging for mercy and her finger squeezed the firing stud again.

The second body falling alerted Scarlet squad to their danger and they responded like the trained soldiers that they were. Two of them knelt and returned fire as the Corporal who was now in charge of the squad hurried to his superior's corpse. Cursing under his breath at the destruction of the microphone, he stuffed the viscera-covered radio headset in his pocket to muffle the squawks from it and issued his orders. "Shirosama! Kim! Suppressive fire! Eriksson and I will close. Bounding advance!"

"Hai, Go-cho Tadasa!"

Sparks flew from the steel fuel drums as stray rounds ricocheted off them. Omi grunted as a trio of impacts punched her torso, the body armor in the robes preventing penetration and locked her eyes on Shirosama as he fumbled for a new clip. Her pistol twitched and Kim blanched as his squadmate dropped with a limp finality. A shaking finger flipped the selector switch to full automatic and the DCMS trooper locked eyes with the Keeper of House Honor across the bay.

Both fingers closed on the triggers simultaneously. Kim felt a whip of fire lash across his torso and hisdarkening vision saw the young woman fall away behind the drums as he fell into the embrace of death. Behind the drums Shin raced to cradle Omi as blood stained her brown robes a deeper color across her torso and left shoulder. Her eyes focused on him as she dropped the now drained pistol.

"Two left, breaking left and right to pincer us." Omi choked out as she fumbled for the ivory hilt of the katana. "I'll cover your back."

Shin Yodama nodded, taking an instant to squeeze her shoulder before duckwalking to the far corner of the pallet.

Tadasa dashed around the near corner, SMG tracking the motionless figure in a pool of her own blood, then raising the muzzle to track where Eriksson should have joined him. "Eriksson!" he called as the expected squadmate failed to show. He advanced, slowly taking a firmer grip on his weapon as he nudged the body with a toe. Satisfied, he kicked the pistol away from where it lay next to her arms crossed over her belly and then nodded grimly to himself. "Eriksson, Report!", he cried as he kicked the pistol away from where it lay next to her arms crossed over her belly.

The only answer was a pained cry from around the corner.

Tadasa advanced, stepping over the corpse at his feet then took two more steps. A gasp of pained effort from behind him was the only warning he had before eleven centimeters of bloodstained steel suddenly protruded from his chest. As his gun fell from nerveless fingers, a hate-filled voice hissed inhis ear.

"Kuritas take a lot of killing