Queen Sagi kept her eyes on Omega as the young man struggled breath into
himself. Even though his incredible Mobile Shell hid the extent of his
wounds from view, it was more than obvious that he was mortally wounded.
If he wasn't wearing the Mobile Shell, Omega would probably have bled do
death already. His limbs shook and his head bobbed up and down,
gathering in as much oxygen as he possibly could. But, he stood beside
his queen, like a true knight, to the bitter end. Sagi could not hide
the pride and flattery she felt from knowing that Shigure held her life
above his own. But she could also not hide the fear and worry she was
carrying about Omega.
Omega was kneeling parallel to Queen Sagi, his spear at the ready, his
eyes fixed on the door ahead of them. But Queen Sagi's eyes were on her
valiant knight.
"Shigure." She said, sweetly. "I greatly appreciate your protection of
me. But I think you should go to one of the medical facilities to be
treated."
Omega shook his head. "I am sorry to disobey one of your orders, my
queen, but I cannot leave your side. I have sworn myself to your
protection until my death. I have to guard you until the very end of my
life, with all that I have."
"I understand-oof!"
Both Omega and Queen Sagi were knocked off their feet as a trembling
rumble spread through the AGIST. The people and workers at the lower
levels all screamed and shouted, while the soldiers and scientists on
the upper levels clung to the scenery for dear life. Queen Sagi fell to
the floor abruptly, and Omega saw this with deep concern. He dropped his
spear and ran to her side instantly, picking the weak-hearted woman up
in a respectful grip.
"My queen!" Omega yelled. "Are you alright?"
Queen Sagi opened her eyes. "Shigure... Garuda is here."
"You can see this already?"
Just then, the COM link button on Omega's helmet began to react. It
flashed the colour red, which meant that someone was trying to contact
him. Omega tapped the button, opening the COM link between himself and
whoever was calling him. It turned out to be one of the soldiers
positioned on the roof of the AGIST.
"Yoshizuki?" Omega questioned. "What happened?"
"Garuda, sir! The Garuda Mobile Shell has attacked the fifth floor! What
should we do? How should we handle this situation now, sir?"
Omega growled. "Deploy all of the marionette units that you told me
about. I want Garuda driven away from the AGIST. I will join with the
troops as soon as I can."
**********
Garuda stamped his horseshoes down hard on the pavement. Each time he
did he created a new print, 1/2 a metre deep and 2 & 1/4 metres long.
Cracks split off from the prints, breaking into the pavement then up the
walls of the AGIST. The businessmen and businesswomen working and
operating inside the building all screamed in terror as they saw the
stomping legs of Garuda from the windows and entrances. One stomp of his
leg blew open the doors to the force of the wind resistance. The people
inside ran for 'safety' from the blocked doorway, but they were unaware
of the fact that none of them were safe around Garuda.
Garuda opened his palm and fired at the upper floors, the ones too high
up for him to reach. His palm blasters tore through the building's wall
like it was made of paper, the bulletproof glass panes shattering as
easily as regular glass would.
Shards of the glass flew into the 17th floor offices and hailed down on
the people inside. Those who were fortunate enough to escape could only
debate on their next move, as Garuda continued to attack the AGIST.
Though it seemed that this attack was just a coincidence, Garuda had
planned to come here. For what purpose, that was unknown, but this
assault was not taken on an impulse like the rest of the destruction had
been.
Just at that moment, behind the AGIST main building, there was a back
street that was cut off from the rest of the street surrounding the
headquarters. It seemed unusual to be there, and it was. A large section
of the road, about 15 by 25 metres long, disjointed from the rest and
rose up by two linking steel poles. This revealed a flight of stairs,
leading downwards, and up from this area came the Asuka Group's most
prized marionettes, the Hayate models. Almost twice the size of a
regular marionette and armed with light grade-B hand lasers, the
soulless machines rose up from the depths of hell to do battle. Each one
followed after the other, marching towards the gigantic metal gate
blocking this road from the main one. It opened slowly as they reached
it, and they strode past, all walking after the one in front. They
walked around the large building into clear view, under the enormous
shadow of Garuda. The fifteen-man unit of Hayate models all lined up
after each other, then spread out, so they formed a line of offence the
stretched as far as their number would allow.
The leader drone commanded the assault. "ALL UNITS. READY. AIM. FIRE."
A wave of laser fire cut through the air and shot upwards at the looming
Garuda, and hit its target with almost flawless aim. These blasts simply
bounced off of Garuda's body, destroying more of the lower levels of the
AGIST. Still they did not stop firing, they continued to fire and fire,
all fifteen units combining their fire. Seconds later, the leader drone
of the Hayate units stopped firing.
"CEASE FIRE." It said in its robotic voice.
The other fourteen Hayate units stopped firing and lowered their laser
cannons. Through all that, they till could not damage the hide of that
monstrous Garuda. Garuda had barely even noticed that those Hayate
marionettes had been firing at it, and stopped attacking the AGIST only
when it saw them, lined up and armed ready to fire again.
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!"
Garuda trotted over to them, around the slightly blocking edge of the
AGIST main building. The Hayate marionettes did not react, while Garuda
began its attack. The beast swung its fist in a hook-like form, dragging
the metal across the stone pavement. One of the marionettes took the
blow and was destroyed instantly, the ensuing explosion blowing up two
more of the surrounding marionettes. The leader marionette was unharmed,
so issued more commands for its troops to follow.
"ALL REMAINING UNITS," The leader began. "ENTER FREE FIRE DEFENCE MODE."
Each of the marionette units entered Free Fire Defence Mode (FFD-mode),
which was a free for all system of attack, to fire at while. The Hayate
units all fired as they chose from their combat data, some firing at the
legs in the hopes of paralysing the Garuda, some shooting the chest so
that they might destroy the Hyper Beam orb that was below it. Garuda
resisted all attempts on its life, and counter-attacked, smashing his
fists into them. The Hayate units were not built for hi-speed combat, so
they lacked the speed of their older brothers, the regular marionettes.
This made them unable resist or dodge Garuda's punches.
One was knocked inside the AGIST, so hard that exploded inside, killing
the people inside immediately. Garuda stomped the ones shooting at his
legs, flattening those units under the force of its Kowa-steel
horseshoes. The explosions were compressed by the weight of the Garuda's
legs, and even so they left not so much as a scratch on the shining
silvery sheen that the Garuda possessed. The last few units, Garuda
destroyed with little effort, hot fire surging up from the ruins of
their metallic corpses.
High above that scene, up on the roof of the AGIST, was Omega, standing
on the edge, looking down towards the image of the rampaging Garuda,
below the blazing heat of the sun. Though his stump of an arm was
bleeding profusely, and his Mobile Shell damaged in the battle with
Chimaera, he still stood proud, his weak legs staying in balance by the
power of his stern resolve.
Omega gripped his spear tight, as he watched Garuda way down below.
"Strength comes from having something to protect. As long as Queen Sagi
is in need of protection, I cannot be beaten."
Mumbling those reassuring words to himself, Omega dove over the edge of
the AGIST and threw himself down towards Garuda. As he jetted downwards,
his scanners observed the destruction caused by the Garuda's offensive.
Had anyone else attempted this, they would have found themselves in very
hot water. Now Garuda had done this and the Asuka Group could barely
cope. How could such a monster have been created by technology of this
area?
"No matter." Omega said to himself as he descended. "Its not my concern
anymore."
Though the fall took a while due to the absurd height of the AGIST,
Omega began to get closer to Garuda. As he noticed this, the Asuka
Group's commander altered his position so that he fell feet first, and
span his spear into an attacking position. Then, as soon as he was able,
he struck the Garuda's larger head, slashing at its skull with his
spear, the one-armed slash weaker than before. Garuda roared once more
and punched the far smaller Omega, knocking him down to the ground.
"Guh!" Omega collided with the stone of the pavement, sliding to a stop
as his body rammed into a lamppost. He coughed hard, blood splattering
against the inside of his visor, along with his spittle. Garuda's
punches were like claps of thunder. But what could you expect when each
of its knuckles were the size of wrecking balls?
Omega thrust his spear into the ground, and struggled to drag himself
upward, using the spear's length as a tool for stability. It was
surprisingly hard to get up from the floor when you only had one arm. He
managed to get the job done, then ripped his spear back out of the dent
made in the ground. Garuda seemed to be sneering at him, its ponytail
mop of hair swaying back and forth in the wind. But Omega could not be
intimidated now. Not with Queen Sagi relying on him. The commander
calmed himself, and then fell still. Energy began to emanate from the
blade of his spear, a bright gold, contrasting the dark green of his
Mobile Shell. When he felt that the energy was strong enough, Omega
jumped into the air, the force of his leap accelerated by the thrusters
of his legs.
He drew his arm back, and sailed so high that he was hovering above the
back of horse section of Garuda's body. As he descended, he branched the
energy charged spear and swung it around and over his body, screaming
passionately,
"Asuka Group special technique! Kin'irozan!"
A bright flash of golden energy brightened up the surrounding
atmosphere, like lightning in the dusk. The slash attack struck the
silver hide of the Garuda, Omega himself partially unable to gaze at the
strong light emitted. The commander smiled behind his visor as he heard
something break, and jumped back to see the results. Omega landed on the
nearby pavement, his feet sliding and stopping in the following seconds.
When he looked up at Garuda and saw no damage, this confused him; after
all he heard something break. It didn't take him long to realize just
what had broken though. Omega was dumbstruck to see that the blade of
his spear had broken in half. All that was left was a jagged remainder,
no more slashing techniques were possible with it now.
Garuda didn't wait for Omega to acclimate himself, and attacked,
punching the bewildered Omega with stern potency. Omega yelled out, as
he was smashed into the lowest wall of the AGIST, and fell back to the
ground with a slap. Pebbles of rumble clattered against his suit, from
the large dent that had been created in the wall. Blood splattered
against the floor again, but this time not from Omega's shoulder. It
came from the core of his waist. That punch had broken open his armour,
and shards of him armour had cut him open.
Omega's struggling; weak and trembling body did not give up, though. You
could call it foolishness, you could call it moronic, but the second in
command of the Asuka Group was not going to give up, not now, not ever.
Once again, Omega (who still managed to hold on to his spear) edged up
by the strength left in his knees. He thrust his broken spear into the
ground again, and stood upright, slowly but definitely, until he felt
confident enough to stand without the leverage of his spear. Now that he
was upright, Omega pulled his weapon up and spun it around in a display
of defiance, then drew it backwards, like a javelin.
Using all of his might, Omega hurled the spear at Garuda with his one
arm, hoping to at least do some damage with that. No such luck. Garuda
grabbed the spear in his hand, without any stress. Though the spear was
a little less than two metres long, it looked like a toothpick in
Garuda's large hand. Omega could only glare and curse. He was out of
luck. His visor readings indicated that he had about 20.5% of his core
energy left. It was less than a quarter of the full amount but enough to
get the job done. One Hyper Blast, Omega was sure that could do the
trick. When Garuda saw that Omega wasn't going to attack outright, it
reacted angrily, and extended his right arm, opening his palm and
revealing that orb in it. Omega couldn't really run very fast now, so
tried to activate his thrusters.
Nothing happened. "What the?"
The thrusters had been damaged in the blow from knocking against the
wall. Which meant that he was virtually incapable of avoiding anything
Garuda threw his way. Which was exactly what was about to happened.
Omega could only shield his visor with his remaining as Garuda fired.
The mechanical creature blasted the queen's knight, gunning him down
like a fox in hunting season. Soon Omega could not be seen for dust,
just the clouds of smoke and dust that appeared as he (and the wall of
the AGIST) was blown into submission by the rapid shots of Garuda's palm
blasters. Stray bricks, broken glass and scraps of metal fell from above
and rained down on what was left of Omega, enhancing the smog-like cloud
of dust that piled up along with it.
Garuda stopped firing after three minutes of ruthless fire, and lowered
his arm. It was about to continue its destruction of the AGIST, assuming
that Omega was killed. But, defying all logic, a hand burst up from the
rubble. This hand was severely damaged, but indicated that Omega was
alive. The man dragged himself out of the rubble, his suit covered in
blood, some sections of his natural body showing through. Garuda's
simulating program couldn't come up with an explanation for that. The
pilot should have been killed. Omega fell back on top of that pile, even
though managed to claw himself out. He couldn't even bring himself to
stand on two legs.
"H-Having... something to protect..." Omega fumbled to say. "B-Brings...
you s-strength...."
The breastplate of the Omega Mobile Shell broke open, the dark green
material shattering to reveal that glowing central orb again. Omega
watched the superior Garuda, his visor broken open, his face covered in
blood, his right eye burnt right out of its socket .
"Y-You have... nothing to p-protect... you only destroy... t-that makes
you weak..." Omega growled loudly, best as he could. "And the destiny of
the weak is to be defeated!"
Garuda didn't run or hide. He knew what was coming. The titanic monster
pulled back the hand that was holding Omega's spear, then threw it back
at him. The spear cut straight through the air, into the orb at Omega's
chest and through his body, reappearing at his back. And it all happened
in the blink of an eye. Fragile tears leaked from Shigure's eyes as his
started to see black, in the end, this is what it all came down to. His
years of service under his queen ended on this day.
"Queen Sagi..." Omega thought, his eyes closing. "I have failed you.
Please forgive me."
Omega feel dead at the hands of Garuda. The orb at his chest was still
charging, and due to the spear that had been thrown through it, the
reaction was unstable. The vast energies inside that orb became volatile
and the outcome was a massive explosion of golden light. Shigure Kagami
and his Omega Mobile Shell were blown to bits, now nothing more than
scraps of a memory. Garuda bellowed at his victory, pounding his chest
repeatedly.
"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!!"
Up on the roof of the AGIST, the soldiers who served Shigure held back
their tears. Their loyal, trustworthy commander had fallen to the
Garuda, and there was nothing they could do about it. One of those
soldiers, Yoshizuki, laid his handgun to rest on the floor as a sigh of
respect, and saluted the sky.
"Farewell, commander Kagami." He said. "You'll be missed, sir."
One of the other soldiers looked over the edge of the building, looking
down at the scene below. "Hey, lieutenant Yoshizuki! Look down there!
It's the Garuda!"
Yoshizuki ran over to the edge and looked down. Garuda was big enough
for them to see it, even all the way up there. The beast was yelling its
usual nonsense, but strangely, it began to back away from the AGIST and
gallop further down the road, moving on to another area. Yoshizuki
looked up with a concerned look on his face.
"Wasn't it trying to destroy the AGIST?" He asked his fellow allies.
"Why did it just run away like that?"
One of the other soldiers began to raise a point. "Lieutenant... you
don't think...?"
"Think what?"
"Well... that maybe the Garuda his hunting down the active Mobile
Shells, do you?"
Yoshizuki thought that over. "That would make sense. But why? What would
it have to gain? The other Mobile Shells are the only weapons that stand
a chance against it."
The soldier looking over the edge questioned that. "Does anything stand
a chance against something like that? Even commander Kagami was killed
by that thing, while he was wearing his Mobile Shell."
"Well, nevertheless," Yoshizuki began. "As commander Kagami's second,
I'm taking control of this situation. I want Queen Sagi's room guarded
with as many soldiers as possible! We will then come up with some sort
of plan to deal with Garuda. Be on full alert!"
The soldiers all saluted and acknowledged lieutenant Yoshizuki's
request, and were about to split up to carry out that command, but were
more concerned with the wind that was picking up around them. Their
combat jackets were all ruffled up, and their hats blown off, and this
wind did not seem natural. When Yoshizuki heard the distinct sound of
spinning blades, he looked up in the sky, and saw a large helicopter
descending towards one of the four yellow heli-pads painted on the roof.
One of the soldiers spoke. "Have we given permission for anyone to land
here?"
"No." Yoshizuki said, suspicion in his voice. "Ready your guns, men."
The soldiers all did as they were asked, and lifted their laser cannons
into firing position as the jet-black helicopter began to land on the
pad. The blades stopped spinning gradually, and the door leading inside
opened swiftly, clashing against the stone of the floor. The soldiers of
the Asuka Group were ready to fire, but automatically lowered their guns
when they saw who came out of the helicopter, two bodyguards beside him.
The man was of average height, short black hair, wearing a set of
glasses and dressed in a dark black suit. Lieutenant Yoshizuki gasped as
the man spoke.
"Why, gentlemen." He said with a smirk. "I hope those aren't for me."
Yoshizuki lowered his own laser gun. "President Minakami..."
**********
Queen Sagi lowered her face, the bangs of her hair hiding the shame and
tears in her face. She had seen the whole thing through the security
cameras stationed at the outer walls of the AGIST. Shigure had fought so
bravely, so valiantly, but died in battle with the Garuda. She knew the
destruction was coming, she had foreseen it a long time ago, but she was
still unprepared for the shock of all this pain and mayhem, so much
killing and violence. Why did she ever allow the Garuda to exist in
Hidden Vault? She should have destroyed it when she had the chance,
before it could ever be allowed to be piloted by anyone, Neganas or not.
Now the options were running out and time was running thin. Garuda was
unstoppable and nothing could change it. Now Queen Sagi really began to
regret giving Kagome the Silhouette Mobile Shell. In the end, all
weapons and tactics used on the Garuda had been worthless in comparison.
Now it looked like the only thing anyone could do was wait for death.
"This is all my fault..." Queen Sagi said reprimanding herself. "I
should have listened to you, Asuka."
"Still have your head in the clouds, eh?"
Queen Sagi looked upwards. Someone was calling her. But when she saw the
man who was doing this, she could hardly believe her eyes. "Kazuma
Minakami?"
Minakami smiled. "Sagi Izubata. It's a pleasure to see you again. You
look very well. How long has it been, three years or so?"
"Minakami." Sagi said. "I know we haven't always agreed in the past, but
now you must see the error of using Neganas the way you did. It has
taken over the Garuda Mobile Shell. The most powerful weapon we have
ever created! Have you seen the damage it has done? Think about what it
could do if it was allowed to continue this rampage!"
Minakami simply smiled. "What exactly do you suggest we do?"
"We must pool all of our resources and assets in the hope of stopping
Garuda. We cannot allow anymore people to die because of out mistakes!"
"Mistakes?" Minakami said with fake-surprise. "I admit that you have
made some mistakes, but I have not. In fact, I should say that I have
done very well up to now. It is only a matter of time before everything
falls into place. At last the game pieces are finally in order."
Queen Sagi blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Did you really believe that we of the Japanese government we so naïve
that we could not see how the binding process of the Neganas weapon
would effect this situation? And did you believe that we were so
ignorant of our devises that we were unaware of the fact that you stole
the Neganas sample?"
"What are you trying to say?" Sagi yelled.
Minakami continued to smile. "For a prophet, you really are quite slow,
aren't you? Very well. You know as well as I do that after the failed
assassination attempt on Minh Kou and the consequent war with Korea, the
Japanese military's power was great exhausted. Due to your input, even
countries outside of Asia are armed with advanced marionette units,
making us vulnerable to everyone including one of our more powerful
enemies, the United States. For a politician in my status, this just
isn't acceptable. We needed a weapon that was capable of tipping the
scale of world warfare in our favour."
Sagi's eyes went wide. "You aren't suggesting that...?"
"Yes." Minakami confirmed it. "The weapon we wanted so badly was never
really Neganas at all. It was the Garuda."
"That can't be!" Queen Sagi yelled. "How did you even know about the
Garuda in the first place?"
"Your father was the one who originally devised the Garuda's blueprints,
wasn't he? You see, you may have many resources but the Asuka Group is
still just a random company. The Izubata Company did not create the
technology used to sustain your life; the government, in exchange for
the blueprints to the Garuda Mobile Shell, created it. Of course, we
didn't have the technology or manpower to produce our own Garuda back
then. And even worse, was the strain it put on the pilots. For a normal
human being to pilot it, there was an 87% chance of heart failure. We
needed a pilot that was able to wield the Garuda and stay alive in the
process. So when that Korean firm told us of the advances they had made
in nano-technology, we knew what to expect."
"My father allowed you the blueprints...?"
Minakami smirked. "I suppose he felt some guilt from the way he used you
in the original Mobile Shell project. The bonds of family are so easily
broken by the desire for power."
Queen Sagi shook her head. "But what good has it done you? The Garuda is
still uncontrollable and it will sooner destroy you than take your
orders!"
In a second, Minakami went into his pocket, and fished out something.
"Do you know what this is?"
"That is..." Sagi looked it over. "A CFL chip."
Minakami put it back in his trouser pocket. "Almost correct. It is CFL
microprocessor. Slightly more advanced than a chip used to control
marionettes. This small item has the power to override the Self-Defence
program that automatically operates the Garuda when it is activated. And
once we have it miniaturized, it will also act as a control mechanism
for Neganas."
Queen Sagi gasped. "You are insane! You are planning to mass-produce
more of the Garuda!"
"Spot on." Minakami jabbed. "We have collected enough data from the
current test. In three weeks we will begin manufacturing hundreds of
Garudas and an equal amount of Neganas to serve as pilots. With that
kind of force in my hands, no military power in the world will stand a
chance against me. Not even the combined forces of the UN."
"Wait a minute." Sagi said. "What do you mean by current test?"
Minakami crossed his arms. "The destruction Garuda is causing to Tokyo
is not a random occurrence, or act of God. I have been planning it for
the past two years. This is, in effect, a trial run of what to expect
from the Garuda Army we are about to create, a sort of 'display' of its
power. The instinct that Neganas has to bond with Mobile Shells was not
planned, I admit, but the result of its release was everything I had
hoped for. Which is why we let you continue you experiments on Neganas
even though you stole it from us."
For the first time in her life, Queen Sagi actually swore. "You bastard.
All the people killed today, all the people that Garuda will kill... you
knew how it would react and you still allowed it to happen. The people
you are supposed to be protecting. You let them die so you could see
Garuda's power?!"
"Please don't be so dramatic with me." Minakami scowled. "My actions are
none of your concern. Besides how can you hold me to fault? I hear you
used your own daughter in experiments with Neganas, just as your father
used you in experiments with the Mobile Shells. I think there is a great
irony in that, yes?"
Sagi looked away. "How dare you...?"
"The era of the Izubata Family is over, Sagi." Minakami said. "As is the
era of the Asuka Group. Once work begins on the Garuda Army, no one will
be able to challenge the Japanese Regular Forces again. You should feel
proud. Your research will help restore Japan into the superior fighting
nation it had once been."
"You're forgetting one thing, Minakami!"
The man smiled. "What might that be?"
"You may have silenced the Japanese press about this, but the world will
find out eventually. What will you do then? Everyone will know how you
killed your own people in cold blood!"
"You see, that's where you're wrong. I didn't create Garuda. I wasn't
the one holding Neganas at the time of its escape. That was you. You and
the Asuka Group. Everything that has happened so far is a result of your
actions, Sagi, not mine. All I've done is take note of Garuda's great
power. I may be a politician, but I am not a fool. And besides..."
"Besides what?" Queen Sagi said angrily.
"The current Garuda is of no more use to me." Minakami said. "It needs
to be eliminated."
Sagi grimaced. "And just how do you plan on doing that?"
"There are far more powerful weapons in the world than Mobile Shells."
There was a sinister and evil smile on Minakami's face as he said; "I
plan to use the Space Cannon on NOA3."
Sagi's heart was set on fire. "You cannot do that! That cannon has a
blast radius of 1.5 miles! You'll destroy Shinjuku in an instant if you
use NOA3! I beg you, Minakami, even you cannot be so foolish as to cause
that kind of destruction to Tokyo!"
Minakami just began walking away, towards the door. "Those who hold
power have no need for morality, Sagi. All I need to be aware of is the
path I will take to final victory. Once the cannon on NOA3 wipes out the
Shinjuku district, you and the AGIST will be a distant memory, and the
berserk Garuda will be out of the way. In approximately ten minutes,
Sagi. You have ten minutes."
"Do not do this!" The woman screamed.
Minakami laughed as he exited the room. "Please give Daigo my regards.
Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
Queen Sagi slumped to the ground in shock as all of this was opened to
her eyes. Minakami and the government had been using her and the Asuka
Group all along. And now he was going to commit an atrocity so
horrifying that Sagi could barely conceive it. But even if there was no
hope for her, she had to bring help to her child. Queen Sagi touched the
temple of her head and tried as hard as her mind would allow, to make
contact with Kagome.
"Kagome..." She mumbled. "I know you are still alive. Please answer
me..."
**********
'Kagome....'
"Uggh..." Silhouette groaned, then rolled over as best she could. Slowly
her eyes got back onto focus, and she looked around her location. She
was lying across the red carpet of an office building, surrounded by
shards of glass and brick. Judging by the hole in the wall and the sheer
size of it, Garuda had punched Silhouette straight through that wall.
Still, she had no time to worry about herself, she had to check on Tokyo
Blossom and make sure that the other woman was okay. Silhouette stood
up, dusting her armour off, then ran to the hole in the wall to get back
outside. But before she made it there,
'Kagome...'
Silhouette blinked. She was actually hearing Queen Sagi's voice in her
head. "S-Sagi? What is-"
'I have been contacting you for the past five minutes. What happened?'
"Garuda happened." She responded. "Why are you calling me like this?"
'I have not much time to explain, so just listen. Kazuma Minakami is
behind all this madness. He has decided to use a VERY powerful space
cannon on Garuda, which will subsequently destroy Shinjuku in the next
five minutes. You have to get yourself and Akari out of there!'
This was all a bit much to take in. "B-But what should I do? There is no
way we could get clear of Shinjuku so quickly. It would be impossible."
'If you can't get clear of Shinjuku, go under it. Hidden Vault. If you
access it the same way Garuda and the others escaped it, I am sure you
can avoid the brunt of the blast. Please hurry!'
Silhouette narrowed her eyes. "But what about you?"
'My life is over, Kagome. It has been ever since Asuka died. The last
gift I can give to you now is to tell you of a way to save your life. No
matter about anything else, you are my daughter and I do love you.
Please build the relationship with Akari that Asuka and I wanted to
have, and I beg of you to please be happy. Goodbye.'
"Sagi!" Too late. Whatever link there was between them, Queen Sagi
blocked it. But if she couldn't save Sagi then Silhouette could at least
fulfil the woman's wishes. Silhouette swiftly jumped out of the building
Garuda had knocked her into, and observed the outside. Thankfully, Tokyo
Blossom was okay. She stood up from the stoop she had been knocked into,
and walked over in Silhouette's direction.
"Kagome." She said loudly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Akari!" Silhouette yelled. "But we've got to get out of here!
Do you know where Garuda escaped Hidden Vault?"
Tokyo Blossomed nodded, relaxingly moving her head and neck. "Yeah,
sure. But why exactly is that important? And what about Garuda?"
"I'll explain things on the way!" Silhouette said. "We have to go, now!"
"Okay, just follow me." Tokyo B slowly rose up off the ground as her
thrusters opened up, and she then flew forwards. Silhouette commanded
her suit to do the same for her, which it did, and she too was blasted
off, following Tokyo Blossom was closely as possible. While the two
flew, as fast as Silhouette said they needed to, Tokyo B began to
address the situation.
"What's going on, Kagome?" Tokyo Blossom asked.
Silhouette kept her eyes forward. "Queen Sagi just contacted me. She
told me that someone named Kazuma Minakami is going to attack Tokyo with
a space cannon. We must get clear of the blast!"
Tokyo Blossom blinked behind her visor. So the entity that she spoke to
in Tetsuko's mind was right. Minakami did have a hand in all this. By
why would a politician like him get involved with something like Garuda?
It was a boggling mystery to her, and that was for sure.
"So." Tokyo B said as they flew. "What's the name of this cannon?"
Silhouette tried to think. "Um... NOA3."
"What?!" Tokyo Blossom was incredulous. "Are you serious?!?"
Silhouette nodded, then gasped as Tokyo Blossom grabbed her hand
violently. As soon as Tokyo B felt her grip was secure, she put extra
force into her thrusters up re-routing some of the energy from the orb
at her chest. She had never done that before and that was obvious,
because the two girls were propelled three times faster than what they
believed to be there top speed. While Tokyo Blossom dodged through
buildings and roads to get even closer to the hole leading into Hidden
Vault, Silhouette was beginning to question Tokyo Blossom's action.
"Akari!" Silhouette could barely speak because of the wind resistance.
"What's wrong with you?"
Tokyo Blossom looked back. "Lets just say that NOA3's cannon is no joke!
Just hang on!"
Both girls zipped through each road and turn they could through the
ruined and abandoned Shinjuku streets. They were getting closer and
closer to the hole leading down into Hidden Vault, but the time they
thought they has was just about to elapse. High above the city, high
above Japan, high above the very clouds of atmosphere that surround the
earth, was a gigantic space satellite called NOA3. One the underside of
that satellite was a cannon, by the name of 'World Slayer', slowly began
to move and shift positions inside its hull. The doors to the cannon
slowly opened, no sound of it being heard in the nothingness of space.
In time a huge long and thin cylinder, built from newly refined
Kowa-steel, slipped through those open port doors. The cannon stopped
move forward as it reached the end of its limits to extend, and waited
for the command to fire.
Inside the satellite, many people working for the government scrambled
around and made things ready. Some of the kept questioning whether or
not this was the right thing to do, others kept their mouths shut
entirely. But they all made the preparations necessary to fire. Up on
the bridge of the satellite, a man was informed that Minakami had gotten
clear of the Shinjuku district by now.
"Alright then!" He responded. "Fire the World Slayer!"
Energy began gathering in the core of the satellite's power generator.
This energy was transported to the systems and channels of the laser
cannon using a very sophisticated process of power transferral. A strong
white luminosity began to form inside the cannon, accompanied by the
sound of something being 'awakened'. Then, with a jolt so strong it
rocked the satellite itself, the World Slayer was fired.
A gargantuan beam of pure white energy was released, so focussed and so
compressed it looked like a gap between the doors of heaven. The beam
cut straight through the atmosphere of space and that, which enfolded
the earth with its vastness. The beam travelled downward to the earth,
toward Asia, then narrowed in on Japan, to Tokyo, to Shinjuku and ended
with the area that Garuda was presently occupying.
The beam could be see for great distances around, but was felt by almost
of the people living in Tokyo. A massive tremor rocked the entire city
as the beam collided with Garuda. The ground shook like an earthquake
was striking the city as one had done just a month ago, but those
believed this were obviously false. Ethereal light filled the city and
everything suddenly felt brighter, light of purification tearing apart
everything and anything in its way. Buildings shook like dominoes.
Glasses of drink that people had taken to ease their worries now
shattered from the force of the vibrations that were rocking the city,
along with the windows of the buildings that had been built up in recent
years.
From the blast point onwards, cracks began to form and split off into
other areas of the city. The ground that was the focal point of the
blast melted away like ice in summer, and the surrounding area began
collapsing into itself, the shops, carts, houses, cars and the unlucky
people who had not been evacuated, all coming down with it. It all
plunged down further than the Tokyo subway; it went deeper, while the
force of the beam continued to rip apart the ground level setting.
The streaking cracks travelled along the grounds of the Shinjuku streets
and spread from the blast point, like a disease reaching for new cells
to infect. As those cracks continued on, more of the Shinjuku district
began to cave in, dragging down the former hub of Tokyo life with it.
The shops and homes that people had known all their lives began nothing,
as it all sank inside the gigantic crater in the centre of the city,
that was getting larger and larger every second that it was bombarded by
the pure heavenly light of the World Slayer cannon.
The force of the beam reached as far as Akari's old apartment, and the
place where she worked, Tokyo Burger. All that had been created was
being undone like in seconds, by the capacities of the energy beam. In a
minute or to, the centre of Shinjuku was nothing more than a smoking
crater that was still being violated by the NOA3 space cannon. The
surrounding areas would have fallen to the same fate, but before more of
the city centre capsized into itself, the explosion took centre stage.
The beam ended and the following outburst of volatile white energy took
on the shape of a gigantic sphere on the horizon.
Even Ryoko, who had travelled to Shibuya long before Garuda was
released, could see the light of the explosion through the window of her
home. And she feared greatly for her safety. Closer to the massive orb
that was stunning Tokyo was the AGIST, less than 50 meters from the
blinding light of the energy sphere. Soldiers on the roof ran inside the
building, people seeing the explosion tried to hide under desks and wait
for it to pass, their ears ringing with the sound of the sonic waves
shattering their building. But Queen Sagi, up in that cold lonely room
on the 30th floor, knew better. She knew that there was nothing she
could do to change her fate, or there's.
It was a relief for her in so many ways. Now she could finally rest.
Queen Sagi shut her eyes and smiled just as the globe of white light
engulfed the AGIST. She was aware that she was about to die, but was not
afraid or sad.
"Asuka." She said, tears dampening her eyes. "At last, I will be able to
see you again."
**********
"Oh crap!"
Tokyo Blossom watched as the massive globe of energy started to suck
away all the buildings and shops behind them. The girl still had
Silhouette in her grip, and smiled with glee when she saw the hole that
Garuda had originally created, the one leading back down to Hidden
Vault. Though her voice was drowned out by the wailing sound of
destruction that was thundering around her, Tokyo B looked back at the
armoured girl in her grip and said, 'We're home free, Kagome'.
Tokyo B and Silhouette flew down into that large indent in the Shinjuku
landscape, and kept diving inside till they reached the innards of
Hidden Vault. The two landed on the ground with a crash (due to the
extreme speed that Tokyo Blossom had been going at) but other than that
they were okay. But even though they were at least forty metres below
the surface of the city, they could feel the tremors being caused by the
explosion above ground. Light shone down through the hole leading
upwards, and the rocks at the ceiling began breaking off and falling
against the ground that was cracking already.
Silhouette couldn't hide the fear she was feeling, but she felt safer as
Tokyo Blossom wrapped her up in a protective embraced. Tokyo Blossom
pulled Silhouette down with her, and shielded the younger girl from the
smashing rocks above.
But, in minutes, the blast was over. The tremors ended and the light
died down. The explosion ended. Tokyo Blossom waited a few moments
before pulling herself off of Silhouette, and then stood up.
"I think it's over, Kagome." She extended a hand to the younger girl,
and helped up.
Silhouette looked around this room of Hidden Vault. It was wrecked
itself, and it was way below the surface of Shinjuku. "W-What kind of
lunatic unleashes that kind of power on a thriving city?"
Tokyo Blossom growled. "Oh, Minakami will get his, don't you worry. Now
let's get outta here, Kagome. For all we know this place to cave in at
any moment."
Silhouette nodded, and followed Tokyo Blossom as she rose up to the hole
leading back up to the surface of Shinjuku. They came up slowly,
watching for any stray rocks or debris that would fall from above. None
did, but they finally saw why as they reached the surface. As they
landed, both Tokyo B and Silhouette gasped in utter shock from the
sight. What had formally been the mighty Shinjuku, centre of the Tokyo
nightlife and business capitol of Japan, was now a smoking pile of
ashes.
To the north was the blast crater. It was a bit of a distance away, but
Tokyo Blossom's sensors made some frightening discoveries. The crater
was at least 2.7 miles wide, and almost 4 miles deep. The NOA3 cannon
had obliterated anything and everything in its path. Silhouette, fell to
her knees and began weeping, realizing how many people must have been
killed in that blast. No matter how many people they tried to evacuate,
there still would have been hundreds of people left inside the
boundaries of the Shinjuku district. If Hidden Vault had been built any
closer to the AGIST, then they might not have survived it either.
It was quiet now, the only sound being Silhouette's crying. "How? How
could someone do this? How could someone with any human decency do that
to so many innocent people?"
"Minakami." Tokyo Blossom said through gritted teeth. "I'll make sure
you suffer for this."
"GGRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Both Silhouette and Tokyo Blossom froze, as they heard a very familiar
scream. Tokyo Blossom's body shook and she swore she was hearing things.
It couldn't be.
She was dumbstruck. "There's... no way... it could have..."
But both Silhouette and Tokyo Blossom looked to the front. A large,
bounding figure was slowly walking towards them, its four feet moving
slowly, its pace slow and focused. Silhouette stood on her feet and
Tokyo B backed up a bit, moving closer to Silhouette protectively.
Though it had been blasted by the second most powerful beam cannon
orbiting in the world, the Garuda was still alive and kicking, its feet
stamping against the flakes of ash that littered the hot ground like
snow.
"It's impossible!" Tokyo Blossom yelled. "How the hell did it survive
that?"
Silhouette focused a little more on it. "No, look. I think it's really
wounded."
The Garuda slowly trotted on. Though this appeared to be because it was
pacing itself, it was because the force of the blast weakened Garuda.
You could plainly see that the Garuda had not come out of explosion
without harm. The legs, arms and chest had been burned down, the
polished sheen was gone, and all the silver shining Japanese armour had
been charred. They fell down bit by bit, crashing with the piles of dust
and ash around the wasted landscape.
"Wounded, huh?" Tokyo B. "You're right, Kagome. Let's take this thing
out now, okay?"
Silhouette nodded. "Yeah. Lets do it, Akari."
The two armoured girls got ready and ran for the ailing Garuda.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I look out into the sky,
What do I see?
Clouds, storms, what does it all mean to me?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHGGG!!"
Tokyo Blossom and Silhouette jumped up off the dusty ground, toward the
screaming Garuda. Though it had been beaten senseless by the utter
relentlessness of NOA3's World Slayer beam cannon, it had lost none of
it ferocity. The orbs at Tokyo Blossom's hands began glowing with power,
their brightness increasing each second. Silhouette followed the same
path, gathering power into the orbs at her palms. The two launched a
synchronized assault at the Garuda, as they spread out both of their
palms and fired at the creature's head, its only vulnerable point.
Garuda kicked and thrashed as chains of crimson red and cobalt blue
energy blasts were fired at its skull.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I look into myself,
What do I see?
Heartbreak and agony, jealousy and monotony,
What does it all mean to me?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Garuda stepped back as the combined blast fire from the White Orchid and
Silhouette Mobile Shells hammered into his already battered head. It
tried to nod and buck its head away, but it could no longer move as well
as it previously could. It only got away from this chipping attack, is
when Tokyo Blossom relinquished this attack, Silhouette following that
motion. Both girls descended down to the ash covered ground, and
crouched downwards, reaching for their weapons. Tokyo Blossom withdrew
her sword from the sheath on her back, while Silhouette pulled forth the
two daggers from the joints at the back of her waist. Both of the girls
gathered energy into their weapons, Tokyo Blossom's sword glowing gold,
Silhouette's twin daggers shimmering with sapphire blue light. When they
were ready, they both charged at the legs of the Garuda, who was still
trying to shake off the effects of the palm blasters. The Mobile Shell
girls both yelled as they ran past either side of Garuda's legs and
slashed, slicing the weakened Kowa-steel with energy-charged metal of
their own.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
How real could it be?
It's a steel heart and an iron soul,
It's just a thing that I've been told.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"GGRARAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Garuda's cry was as fierce as ever, but its cries became far less
intimidating as it fell towards the ash ground that had been created by
the blast of the NOA3. It collapsed with a loud thump, a wave of dust
circulating around that area. Garuda continued to thrash and writhe in
the gatherings of ashes and cinders, but Tokyo Blossom and Silhouette
took no notice of its frustrations. In fact, after all the destruction
that the Garuda had brought down, they relished them. Both girls
sheathed their blades, slowly, keeping their eyes on the downed Garuda.
They looked at each other and nodded, both of them knowing what the
other intended to do. Tokyo Blossom and Silhouette flew up into the
musky, smoky air, flying back from the Garuda to make room for what was
to come. The girls calmed themselves and concentrated on their task,
gathering energy into their core, the large stone at their chest that
conducted power the likes of which ordinary people had yet to see. Both
breastplates of both Mobile Shells broke apart in tiny shards, showing
the twin orbs of strength that were being charged respectively. A few
seconds later, they fired.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I can think and I can see,
As long as I stay true to my sense of reality.
I have the power to laugh and cry,
There's a flame in my heart that will never die.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tokyo Blossom and Silhouette both focused and controlled themselves as
they both fired their respective Hyper Blasts. Garuda had never been
completely tolerant of them and this was even more so when it felt the
full force of both consuming energy bursts at once. The Garuda Mobile
Shell was swallowed up in a maelstrom to tearing, rending white-hot
energy, burning and corroding the armoured hide that had so greatly
deflected attacks before. Soon the Garuda's cries became dying ones, as
the armour of the beast began to fade away into nothing, along with the
pilot inside. Tetsuko awoke from her sleep all too late, as her
premature flesh and bone was burned away along with the metallic carcass
of the Garuda. Tokyo Blossom and Silhouette looked away as a mighty
explosion followed, surrounding the nearby area with sparkling golden
light. Soon this faded, and the two women lowered themselves to the
ash-soiled ground, and watched as the remaining sparkles of the Garuda
and Neganas passed on to the next world. And so they stood, the young
heroes. Although leagues of devastation and chaos surrounded the two
women, it still felt like they were the victors in all this.
Tokyo Blossom stared at her companion, and smiled from behind the slight
cracked visor of hers. "You know, Shigure was right. Having something to
protect does give you strength."
**********
"Our headline today. President (Prime Minister) Kazuma Minakami has
expressed his heartfelt sorrow and anguish for the lives lost in the
inexplicably destructive attack on Tokyo's Shinjuku district four days
ago. After delivering a rousing speech to the supporters of his second
run as leader, he has sworn to bring to justice all those who brought
the attack down. The mortality count for that day is now at an estimated
3800 along with another estimated 9500 injured. The suspects behind this
atrocity are believed to be the same White Blade Korean terrorists that
attacked other cities of Japan, although strangely no solid evidence has
been found to confirm just what caused the blast that obliterated 98% of
Shinjuku and the surrounding districts."
Akari switched off the TV in irritation. Minakami was as slippery as a
snake, and twice as oily. She sat at the edge of Ryoko's bed, pretty
springy, while Ryoko was sitting at the other side of the bed, also
watching (or at least she had been) the news report. Kagome was at the
window of the room, looking outside. Ryoko's apartment wasn't high up,
but you could still see the Shinjuku crater quite easily from there.
"That Minakami." Akari seethed. "I can't believe he managed to fool the
press into believing that it was the White Blade who blew up Shinjuku."
Ryoko nodded. "Uh huh. But we have other things to worry about right
now."
"Like what? The whiplash I got from flying around so much?" Akari asked.
"No," Ryoko began. "In case you have forgotten, we're out of jobs.
Unemployed. We can't take on Minakami with some money coming in, after
all."
Akari eyed Ryoko up and down. "Is that why you're all dressed up? Job
hunting?"
"Yep. I'm heading down to Ginza for the 411 of job chances for people
who worked in Shinjuku. It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm up for it, I
guess. Would you two like to come?"
Akari looked over at Kagome, standing silently by the window. "Nah, I
think me and Kagome will just hang here for a while. Thanks though,
Ryoko. I owe you one for letting us stay here."
"Not at all. I'll catch you guys later."
Ryoko said that, then got up, grabbed her coat, and then left through
the door. Akari looked over at Kagome. She had been a bit shaken up from
the events of the past two weeks in ways no one could imagine. Finding
and losing her mother in an instant was probably the biggest agenda on
Kagome's mind. Akari knew what that was like. She lost her mom young
too, but it was probably harder for Kagome since she had never really
gotten the chance to know Sagi. Akari stood up from the bed, and then
walked behind the shorter girl, wrapping her lithe arms around her.
"You're thinking about Sagi, aren't you?" She asked out of the blue.
Kagome nodded. "Yeah. I could have been nicer to her. Now she's gone."
"She's at peace now, Kagome." Akari said. "That's probably what she
wanted more than anything else. All you have to worry about is how to
live your life in the way you want. Just like I do."
Kagome then smiled tenderly, savouring Akari's embrace of her. "I think
I have just what I need right now. She's standing right behind me."
The younger woman rotated herself in such a way that she faced Akari and
kept the older girl's arm around her. Reaching up on dainty tiptoes, she
pressed her lips against Akari's soft set. Kagome sighed as Akari
tightened that hold she had of her, and let herself enjoy this for what
it was. Though her mother, Sagi failed to make things work with Akari's
mother, Asuka, there was no chance of her falling into that same trap.
She was going to make this work. Akari gave a content sigh herself as
she returned Kagome's kiss. The battling and fighting she had been doing
for the past three years seemed like a distant memory. Now she had
Kagome, nothing else really mattered. As long as she had her love at her
side, everything else was just a consequence of life.
'I love you, Kagome.'
**********
Deep in the heart of a large mansion building off on the edge of Kyoto,
was the author of Shinjuku's destruction, Kazuma Minakami. Dressed in a
bathrobe, with a bottle/glass of wine perched on the table before the
couch he was leisurely resting on, Minakami smiled with glee at the
victory of his plans. Taking Tokyo apart bit by bit was also part of his
agenda. He was going to correct the mistakes created by the Meiji
Restoration centuries ago, and was going to make his own 'restoration'
returning Tokyo to the might it had previously as Edo. But this time, in
this day and age, it would not simply be called Edo; it would be 'New
Edo'.
A figure appeared at Minakami's right, walking through one of the many
doors to his Kyoto mansion's main room. "Furuta. What news do you
bring?"
Minakami's lackey bowed for respect. "The mass production of CFL
microprocessors, Garuda Mobile Shells and Neganas pilots has been fully
planned and is ready for your say so. You need only choose which
locations to begin at and the project will proceed."
"Start production in Kumamoto, Osaka, Tokushima, Hachinohe, Sapporo and
here in Kyoto, as soon as you possibly can. With Sagi and the Asuka
Group out of my way, nothing will stand against my dream of returning
Japan to the great warrior nation it had previous been. The true
restoration begins now. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The sword is stained with the blood of life
Bastard on the razor's edge
I sought to end all strife
That was my heart felt pledge
I'm just a ghost, a ghost
A ghost floating on a mountaintop
Too afraid to leave this post
When will the madness stop?
Sadness is my broken heart
Fighting for a new start
In the end the fragile hearts have fled
All the parting words now said
I'm just a ghost, a ghost
A ghost floating on a mountaintop
Too afraid to leave this post
When will the madness stop?
It's too late for me, my spirit wanders alone
It's too late to see, my spirit can't atone
It's too late to plea, my spirit has always known
It's too late to flee, my spirit is made of stone
But there's a hope hidden in the wind
You can forgive those who have sinned
There's a love that I can now understand
Just search deeper beneath the sand
And when you find the love that you seek
You'll find the future isn't that bleak
I'm just a ghost, a ghost
A ghost floating on a mountaintop
Too afraid to leave this post
When will the madness stop?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
END OF TOKYO IRON CHILD AKARI
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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