[FIC] Whispered Reign (pt. 8)
Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:14 pm
A\N: Sorry this took so long. I had assignments to do (still have assignments to do). That, and I was in a state of confusion. Don't ask why... I hope you enjoy this one, although there isn't much K-S thing going on... 
Whispered Reign: Part 8
November 5th, 0634 Hours (GMT +01:00)
Budapest, Hungary
During the crisp hours of the morning, Omar stood facing the cold wind while on a conversation with his brother.
“Mithril’s forces were too strong, brother. We had to retreat.”
“Worry not, Jaafar. It wasn’t like we were planning to kill all of them.”
“But… ermm…”
“What is it?”
“We didn’t manage to kill any of them,” Jaafar said with a noticeably disappointed tone.
Omar took a moment to contemplate on the delicate situation they have cooked up.
“That’s not all, brother… Jason… Jason is dead. Kashim. He’s is too strong.”
Jaafar waited for a reply. There was none.
“I… I. I couldn’t save him. That machine. It’s too powerful.”
“I understand. I’m pulling you back. Return to…”
“No, brother. I can still continue. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Omar did not answer immediately. There was an awkward silence as Omar considered his brother’s offer to proceed to the next objective.
The backdrop was filled with the sound of wailing sirens. Jaafar could faintly hear men shouting and yelling. Somehow, it reminded him of the assault on Mithril’s base. Sure, their enemy did take heavy damages, but he had lost a comrade, a brother in arm. And that’s why he needs to hold on and finish what they have started. For their fallen warriors and to secure the fate of the Whispereds.
“Alright. Get the Whispered girl, Kaname Chidori.”
“I will.” Jaafar ended the call.
Omar folded his cell phone neatly and turned around to marvel at his handiwork. He smiled lightly and pulled the scarf around his neck more tightly.
A fire engine and several firefighters have already managed to put a car fire under control after about half an hour. But the car was already charred badly and its occupants were nothing more than ashes. It was unlikely that Amalgam’s top engineers could have survived the explosion.
Car bombs. Simple but effective.
Omar still had the remote hidden under his coat. He would dispose of it later. For now, he just turned away to leave the scene.
***************
***************
November 5th, 1545 Hours (Western Pacific Standard Time)
Aboard TDD-1, Coral Sea, Australia
“We cannot delay any longer. Amalgam has already shown its fangs. If we do not strike soon, we will be bitten.” The scruffy voice of Admiral Borda was full of determination.
“Sending out all our forces to attack Amalgam… Are you serious, sir?” Mardukas spoke in behalf of the Captain.
Such operation will not only cost them severe damages if not suicidal, the worst case scenario is that they will have failed and Amalgam will crush Mithril at its weakened state. Assuming that they will succeed, losing every AS sent out will ultimately lead to the crew of TDD-1 being disbanded.
“This order came directly from the Board of Directors. Even if I object, the rest of the council has already made up their mind. We cannot tolerate Amalgam anymore. They have started the war and we will damn hell finish it!”
“But…” Tessa tried to protest but could not think off any reason to. If she was in their position, she would have done the same. But the soldier they were about to send to battle, she knew them personally.
Like Sousuke
It was never easy being in charge of the lives of 200 men and women. And it was especially difficult to send her soldier into an obvious deathtrap. As professionals, the soldiers would not protest even if they knew of the dangers of this mission. And that made her feel all the more guilty.
“Captain.” Admiral Borda called her by her rank to coincide with the grim atmosphere.
Understanding her predicament, his voice softened but stern enough to get the point through, “Remember what I have told you. It is your responsibility. You just have to learn to accept it.”
“Yes, sir.” Tessa could only answer weakly. She’d heard the responsibility speech before. She could rebut it then and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to do so now. Admiral Borda was right; she let her emotions play with her mind.
But what about Sousuke? I can’t let him go to his death. I’m sorry, Sousuke. I have no choice.
“I’m glad you understand, Captain. We’ve already readied battle plans and other intels for you to review. Sending it now. Any changes you might suggest must be notified to us immediately. Stay in contact.”
“I understand…”
Admiral Borda ended the transmission and streams of mission data began to come in. Tessa hung her head in shame. She was a little ashamed of herself. She hardly raised a protest.
“Captain, shall we look at the information?” Kalinin finally spoke up. He felt sorry for Tessa but he, a hardened veteran, knew that it had to be done. Mithril cannot afford to look weak in front of the enemy.
Even Cmdr. Mardukas comprehends the need for this operation. However, he does not trust Sousuke or the Arbalest and feels the council have made a huge error in relying on a sergeant he considers as just a kid.
“Hmm...? Uh.. Yes, yes,” Tessa answered as if she just broke out of a daze.
***************
***************
November 5th, 1615 Hours (Japan Standard Time)
Aboard TDD-1, Philippine Sea, Philippines
All SRT AS pilots were already gathered in the briefings room. The room was buzzing alive with chatters of small talks. Some were discussing the odd nature of the sudden briefing but most were just exchanging war stories or gossiping.
“You know what? I could have taken down a few of those Shadows myself,” one pilot talked about the recent “Amalgam” attack.
“Oh, really?” the other sounded skeptical.
“Sure, but those guys are such chickens. Ran away before they got to know me.”
“Right…”
Kurz, Mao and Sousuke were partially tuning in to the conversation silently sniggering at their lack of experience that inspired them to say such things. They all realized that it was indeed a delicate situation out there and this man had no rights bragging about “how he was about to take down an AS”.
“Tsk. Tsk. What a moron. Take down a few Shadows by himself? Yeah, right.” Kurz spoke under his breath, just loud enough for his two buddies beside him to hear.
“It’s likely that they don’t have any real battle experience,” Mao said.
Sousuke had no comments. Even if he had any, he wouldn’t have a chance to voice it. Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin had entered the room and his presence demanded silence from every pilot. All chatters stopped abruptly and the room was soon as quiet as the grave.
Kalinin closed the door behind him and flicked the switches besides the door. The lights went out leaving only the monitor lights shining brightly dimly illuminating their faces. Kalinin stepped in front of the monitor and broke the dead silence.
“As you all know, the meeting of the Board of Directors were ambushed earlier today. All executives are safe but this attack cannot go unpunished.” Kalinin started off monotonously sounding as if he wasn’t interested in “punishing”.
“Hence, the guys up top have decided to launch a counter attack on Amalgam.” A short pause to let it sink. “There will be many Lambda Driver enabled ASes around the area. I don’t have to tell you what that means. Those who do not want to be a part of this mission, leave the room now. I will understand.”
Nobody left their seat. They all wore a determined look on their face. But Kurz’s mischievous nature chose the wrong time to surface.
“Hey sis, maybe I should go? What do you think?” he whispered to Mao, grinning.
“Don’t you even dare…” Mao hissed back. By instinct, she caught his hand to make sure he couldn’t run away.
The feel of Mao’s hand on his hand startled Kurz for a second or two. He just only realized how smooth and soft Mao’s hand was. Mao on the other hand wasn’t really aware of what impression she was giving Kurz and so, she didn’t move her hand away.
“Well…, this is a bit awkward…”
“Huh?”
So she knows what he was talking about, he tapped on her pinky finger with his thumb. She became conscious to where her hand was and quickly retracted her hand. Her face became rosy red, which was very out of character for her. She was grateful for the dim lights; no one would notice her blushing.
There were no smart remarks from Kurz oddly. He just adjusted himself and sat up straighter. He felt something then, like a jolt of electricity. He wasn’t sure.
Damn, this feels… very… very weird.
Kalinin had waited a few minutes and seeing that nobody have chickened out, expressed his gratitude for those who stayed, which would be all of them.
“I thank you all for volunteering to participate in this mission. Now…” Kalinin’s silhouette tapped on the keyboard of the laptop and an image was displayed on the monitor.
“This is an aerial view of a suspected Amalgam cliff side base located at Gnejna Bay in the Republic of Malta. As you can see, these ASes patrolling the grounds are the latest Shadow class ASes. The republic has only currently begun switching from RK 92 to M6s, so it is highly probable that even the republic has no knowledge of this facility. Within the perimeter, they are more than ten Codarl-Ms or Venoms, probable more at night. Also, ECCS has detected scattered signatures around the area indicating cloaked ASes.”
Absorbing in the details, the pilots started fidgeting nervously. More than ten Venoms? Cloaked ASes? Maybe they should’ve backed out after all.
“Amalgam has been known to make generous offers to small nations and thus, we must not alert the armed forces of Malta. We strike fast and hard, take the base and then, get the hell out of there. These sentry ASes must be taken out first. Urzu 1, you will take your team to this point…” The briefing went on for a half hour before it was finally over.
“If there are no questions, get ready by 0300 GMT +02:00. That’s all. Dismissed.” The lights came back to live and the monitor went black.
Each holding a copy of the mission notes, they began to clear the room. All except for Kurz, Mao and Sousuke because Kalinin had requested that they remained.
“Sagara, Kurz and Mao, please follow me to my cabin.”
“Yes, sir.” All three answered in unison.
They trailed behind the Lt. Cmdr. to his cabin where Kalinin set his notes on the table and sat down. The three sergeants stood at attention.
There was an odd silence as they waited for the Lt. Cmdr. to speak.
“Do you know what ‘top secret’ means?”
“Yes, sir. ‘Top Secret’ refers to objectives that are of the utmost priority and restricted to a ‘need to know’ basis.” Sousuke thought he answered very well.
“Not exactly.” That had Sousuke baffled. If that wasn’t the definition of ‘top secret’, then what is?
Kurz had an answer in his head but he wasn’t sure if he should voice them out. He decided to go for it.
“Uhh… It’s the kind of mission where you get medals, sir… But they send them to your loved ones, sir… Am I about right?”
Kalinin exhaled. “I can’t say you’re wrong because everyone who participates will be given a medal. But it’s the kind of mission that dictates the future of our very organization. Now, the others have already received their mission objectives. I’m giving you yours now, sergeant Sagara.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The others will engage the Shadow class ASes but it is you who will be in charge of destroying the Codarl-Ms. The last time, you took down five Codarl-Ms with minimum damage but this time, there will be a lot more. And although we are attacking when the ASes switch shift duty, our attack might alert more ASes to arrive. Needless to say, if the last time was difficult for you and if you do not have confidence in this operation, please say so and we’ll call of the assault. You’re the key to this operation and we can’t have our main man having any doubt during the mission.”
“I understand, sir. I will participate in this mission.”
“Good. I knew I could count on you. Sgt. Major Mao and Sgt. Kurz, you’ve known Sgt. Sagara for some time now, haven’t you? I’m counting on you two to cover Sgt. Sagara as much as you can.”
“Don’t worry, sir. We will do our best,” Mao replied.
“Good… good. The both of you may leave. I still have some things to talk to Sagara about.”
Mao and Kurz saluted and left the cabin, closing the door behind them.
“Take a seat, Sagara.”
“Yes, sir.” Sousuke pulled out the chair and sat down, his hands on his lap.
“If… if the Arbalest is disabled, I want you to self-destruct immediately, is that understood?”
“I understand, sir.”
Kalinin sighed. There was no order this boy dared refuse to comply. The perfect soldier. Kalinin felt a some pity for him.
“There is this one little thing I would like to request, sir.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Sousuke wondered what he would do with the “medals”. Did he have any loved ones? His mind went to Kaname.
She is quite a special young woman.
What was he thinking? Their relationship was strictly professional. So, it’s best such matters are left to the Captain.
“My medal.”
“Medals. I’m recommending you for another medal. And I suppose you’d want it to go to Miss Chidori?”
“No.. no… I leave it to the Captain to handle my medals…”
“Oh? Alright…” Kalinin was slightly surprised.
“I wish to return to Tokyo. Just to explain to Miss Chidori that erm… bodyguard business…”
Kalinin put his hand up, telling Sousuke that he need not explain. He understood.
“We don’t have much time… I’ll see what I can do. Get your stuff and head to the hangar now. I’ll try to have your request granted and have a chopper ready by the time you get there.”
“Thank you, sir.” Sousuke stood and saluted the Lt. Cmdr.
“Hurry, go get your stuff.” Kalinin nodded his head at the door indicating to Sousuke to get going.
“Yes, sir!” Sousuke hurried out the door and jogged to his shared cabin to pack. A chance to see Kaname again. Maybe for the last time.
Whispered Reign: Part 8
November 5th, 0634 Hours (GMT +01:00)
Budapest, Hungary
During the crisp hours of the morning, Omar stood facing the cold wind while on a conversation with his brother.
“Mithril’s forces were too strong, brother. We had to retreat.”
“Worry not, Jaafar. It wasn’t like we were planning to kill all of them.”
“But… ermm…”
“What is it?”
“We didn’t manage to kill any of them,” Jaafar said with a noticeably disappointed tone.
Omar took a moment to contemplate on the delicate situation they have cooked up.
“That’s not all, brother… Jason… Jason is dead. Kashim. He’s is too strong.”
Jaafar waited for a reply. There was none.
“I… I. I couldn’t save him. That machine. It’s too powerful.”
“I understand. I’m pulling you back. Return to…”
“No, brother. I can still continue. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Omar did not answer immediately. There was an awkward silence as Omar considered his brother’s offer to proceed to the next objective.
The backdrop was filled with the sound of wailing sirens. Jaafar could faintly hear men shouting and yelling. Somehow, it reminded him of the assault on Mithril’s base. Sure, their enemy did take heavy damages, but he had lost a comrade, a brother in arm. And that’s why he needs to hold on and finish what they have started. For their fallen warriors and to secure the fate of the Whispereds.
“Alright. Get the Whispered girl, Kaname Chidori.”
“I will.” Jaafar ended the call.
Omar folded his cell phone neatly and turned around to marvel at his handiwork. He smiled lightly and pulled the scarf around his neck more tightly.
A fire engine and several firefighters have already managed to put a car fire under control after about half an hour. But the car was already charred badly and its occupants were nothing more than ashes. It was unlikely that Amalgam’s top engineers could have survived the explosion.
Car bombs. Simple but effective.
Omar still had the remote hidden under his coat. He would dispose of it later. For now, he just turned away to leave the scene.
***************
***************
November 5th, 1545 Hours (Western Pacific Standard Time)
Aboard TDD-1, Coral Sea, Australia
“We cannot delay any longer. Amalgam has already shown its fangs. If we do not strike soon, we will be bitten.” The scruffy voice of Admiral Borda was full of determination.
“Sending out all our forces to attack Amalgam… Are you serious, sir?” Mardukas spoke in behalf of the Captain.
Such operation will not only cost them severe damages if not suicidal, the worst case scenario is that they will have failed and Amalgam will crush Mithril at its weakened state. Assuming that they will succeed, losing every AS sent out will ultimately lead to the crew of TDD-1 being disbanded.
“This order came directly from the Board of Directors. Even if I object, the rest of the council has already made up their mind. We cannot tolerate Amalgam anymore. They have started the war and we will damn hell finish it!”
“But…” Tessa tried to protest but could not think off any reason to. If she was in their position, she would have done the same. But the soldier they were about to send to battle, she knew them personally.
Like Sousuke
It was never easy being in charge of the lives of 200 men and women. And it was especially difficult to send her soldier into an obvious deathtrap. As professionals, the soldiers would not protest even if they knew of the dangers of this mission. And that made her feel all the more guilty.
“Captain.” Admiral Borda called her by her rank to coincide with the grim atmosphere.
Understanding her predicament, his voice softened but stern enough to get the point through, “Remember what I have told you. It is your responsibility. You just have to learn to accept it.”
“Yes, sir.” Tessa could only answer weakly. She’d heard the responsibility speech before. She could rebut it then and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to do so now. Admiral Borda was right; she let her emotions play with her mind.
But what about Sousuke? I can’t let him go to his death. I’m sorry, Sousuke. I have no choice.
“I’m glad you understand, Captain. We’ve already readied battle plans and other intels for you to review. Sending it now. Any changes you might suggest must be notified to us immediately. Stay in contact.”
“I understand…”
Admiral Borda ended the transmission and streams of mission data began to come in. Tessa hung her head in shame. She was a little ashamed of herself. She hardly raised a protest.
“Captain, shall we look at the information?” Kalinin finally spoke up. He felt sorry for Tessa but he, a hardened veteran, knew that it had to be done. Mithril cannot afford to look weak in front of the enemy.
Even Cmdr. Mardukas comprehends the need for this operation. However, he does not trust Sousuke or the Arbalest and feels the council have made a huge error in relying on a sergeant he considers as just a kid.
“Hmm...? Uh.. Yes, yes,” Tessa answered as if she just broke out of a daze.
***************
***************
November 5th, 1615 Hours (Japan Standard Time)
Aboard TDD-1, Philippine Sea, Philippines
All SRT AS pilots were already gathered in the briefings room. The room was buzzing alive with chatters of small talks. Some were discussing the odd nature of the sudden briefing but most were just exchanging war stories or gossiping.
“You know what? I could have taken down a few of those Shadows myself,” one pilot talked about the recent “Amalgam” attack.
“Oh, really?” the other sounded skeptical.
“Sure, but those guys are such chickens. Ran away before they got to know me.”
“Right…”
Kurz, Mao and Sousuke were partially tuning in to the conversation silently sniggering at their lack of experience that inspired them to say such things. They all realized that it was indeed a delicate situation out there and this man had no rights bragging about “how he was about to take down an AS”.
“Tsk. Tsk. What a moron. Take down a few Shadows by himself? Yeah, right.” Kurz spoke under his breath, just loud enough for his two buddies beside him to hear.
“It’s likely that they don’t have any real battle experience,” Mao said.
Sousuke had no comments. Even if he had any, he wouldn’t have a chance to voice it. Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin had entered the room and his presence demanded silence from every pilot. All chatters stopped abruptly and the room was soon as quiet as the grave.
Kalinin closed the door behind him and flicked the switches besides the door. The lights went out leaving only the monitor lights shining brightly dimly illuminating their faces. Kalinin stepped in front of the monitor and broke the dead silence.
“As you all know, the meeting of the Board of Directors were ambushed earlier today. All executives are safe but this attack cannot go unpunished.” Kalinin started off monotonously sounding as if he wasn’t interested in “punishing”.
“Hence, the guys up top have decided to launch a counter attack on Amalgam.” A short pause to let it sink. “There will be many Lambda Driver enabled ASes around the area. I don’t have to tell you what that means. Those who do not want to be a part of this mission, leave the room now. I will understand.”
Nobody left their seat. They all wore a determined look on their face. But Kurz’s mischievous nature chose the wrong time to surface.
“Hey sis, maybe I should go? What do you think?” he whispered to Mao, grinning.
“Don’t you even dare…” Mao hissed back. By instinct, she caught his hand to make sure he couldn’t run away.
The feel of Mao’s hand on his hand startled Kurz for a second or two. He just only realized how smooth and soft Mao’s hand was. Mao on the other hand wasn’t really aware of what impression she was giving Kurz and so, she didn’t move her hand away.
“Well…, this is a bit awkward…”
“Huh?”
So she knows what he was talking about, he tapped on her pinky finger with his thumb. She became conscious to where her hand was and quickly retracted her hand. Her face became rosy red, which was very out of character for her. She was grateful for the dim lights; no one would notice her blushing.
There were no smart remarks from Kurz oddly. He just adjusted himself and sat up straighter. He felt something then, like a jolt of electricity. He wasn’t sure.
Damn, this feels… very… very weird.
Kalinin had waited a few minutes and seeing that nobody have chickened out, expressed his gratitude for those who stayed, which would be all of them.
“I thank you all for volunteering to participate in this mission. Now…” Kalinin’s silhouette tapped on the keyboard of the laptop and an image was displayed on the monitor.
“This is an aerial view of a suspected Amalgam cliff side base located at Gnejna Bay in the Republic of Malta. As you can see, these ASes patrolling the grounds are the latest Shadow class ASes. The republic has only currently begun switching from RK 92 to M6s, so it is highly probable that even the republic has no knowledge of this facility. Within the perimeter, they are more than ten Codarl-Ms or Venoms, probable more at night. Also, ECCS has detected scattered signatures around the area indicating cloaked ASes.”
Absorbing in the details, the pilots started fidgeting nervously. More than ten Venoms? Cloaked ASes? Maybe they should’ve backed out after all.
“Amalgam has been known to make generous offers to small nations and thus, we must not alert the armed forces of Malta. We strike fast and hard, take the base and then, get the hell out of there. These sentry ASes must be taken out first. Urzu 1, you will take your team to this point…” The briefing went on for a half hour before it was finally over.
“If there are no questions, get ready by 0300 GMT +02:00. That’s all. Dismissed.” The lights came back to live and the monitor went black.
Each holding a copy of the mission notes, they began to clear the room. All except for Kurz, Mao and Sousuke because Kalinin had requested that they remained.
“Sagara, Kurz and Mao, please follow me to my cabin.”
“Yes, sir.” All three answered in unison.
They trailed behind the Lt. Cmdr. to his cabin where Kalinin set his notes on the table and sat down. The three sergeants stood at attention.
There was an odd silence as they waited for the Lt. Cmdr. to speak.
“Do you know what ‘top secret’ means?”
“Yes, sir. ‘Top Secret’ refers to objectives that are of the utmost priority and restricted to a ‘need to know’ basis.” Sousuke thought he answered very well.
“Not exactly.” That had Sousuke baffled. If that wasn’t the definition of ‘top secret’, then what is?
Kurz had an answer in his head but he wasn’t sure if he should voice them out. He decided to go for it.
“Uhh… It’s the kind of mission where you get medals, sir… But they send them to your loved ones, sir… Am I about right?”
Kalinin exhaled. “I can’t say you’re wrong because everyone who participates will be given a medal. But it’s the kind of mission that dictates the future of our very organization. Now, the others have already received their mission objectives. I’m giving you yours now, sergeant Sagara.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The others will engage the Shadow class ASes but it is you who will be in charge of destroying the Codarl-Ms. The last time, you took down five Codarl-Ms with minimum damage but this time, there will be a lot more. And although we are attacking when the ASes switch shift duty, our attack might alert more ASes to arrive. Needless to say, if the last time was difficult for you and if you do not have confidence in this operation, please say so and we’ll call of the assault. You’re the key to this operation and we can’t have our main man having any doubt during the mission.”
“I understand, sir. I will participate in this mission.”
“Good. I knew I could count on you. Sgt. Major Mao and Sgt. Kurz, you’ve known Sgt. Sagara for some time now, haven’t you? I’m counting on you two to cover Sgt. Sagara as much as you can.”
“Don’t worry, sir. We will do our best,” Mao replied.
“Good… good. The both of you may leave. I still have some things to talk to Sagara about.”
Mao and Kurz saluted and left the cabin, closing the door behind them.
“Take a seat, Sagara.”
“Yes, sir.” Sousuke pulled out the chair and sat down, his hands on his lap.
“If… if the Arbalest is disabled, I want you to self-destruct immediately, is that understood?”
“I understand, sir.”
Kalinin sighed. There was no order this boy dared refuse to comply. The perfect soldier. Kalinin felt a some pity for him.
“There is this one little thing I would like to request, sir.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Sousuke wondered what he would do with the “medals”. Did he have any loved ones? His mind went to Kaname.
She is quite a special young woman.
What was he thinking? Their relationship was strictly professional. So, it’s best such matters are left to the Captain.
“My medal.”
“Medals. I’m recommending you for another medal. And I suppose you’d want it to go to Miss Chidori?”
“No.. no… I leave it to the Captain to handle my medals…”
“Oh? Alright…” Kalinin was slightly surprised.
“I wish to return to Tokyo. Just to explain to Miss Chidori that erm… bodyguard business…”
Kalinin put his hand up, telling Sousuke that he need not explain. He understood.
“We don’t have much time… I’ll see what I can do. Get your stuff and head to the hangar now. I’ll try to have your request granted and have a chopper ready by the time you get there.”
“Thank you, sir.” Sousuke stood and saluted the Lt. Cmdr.
“Hurry, go get your stuff.” Kalinin nodded his head at the door indicating to Sousuke to get going.
“Yes, sir!” Sousuke hurried out the door and jogged to his shared cabin to pack. A chance to see Kaname again. Maybe for the last time.
