Ranma ½ Divine Blood
- Thread starter Thrythlind
- Start date
Commander Andrei Kalinin had no doubt that Sousuke Sagara was alive. He'd worked with the young man for years. He'd been on the spetsnaz team that found the boy in the wreckage of a crashed airliner in Russia thirteen years ago in an unofficial and unauthorized rescue operation in the Bering Straits.
He'd later met Sousuke again, as an enemy captive using the name Kashim, in Helmajistan, acting as the adoptive son of a renowned guerilla fighter. Apparently the orphan he'd rescued had been put into a KGB program for training child assassins
That reunion had led to Kalinin's desertion from the Soviet Army, in the middle of the second invasion of the middle east.
He was the one that had given Sousuke his spetsnaz training, on top of the KGB assassination school and the Islamic guerilla fighters' training in survival and guerilla warfare.
And then he'd recruited Sousuke into Mithril and away from the life as a roving soldier of fortune.
The boy hadn't quite grown up yet, he was still a bit too dependent on receiving and obeying orders, but he was developing a personality beyond just the war machine that Kalinin's home country and forged the boy into.
As cold as Kalinin behaved in front of his subordinates and others, he would still be damned if he was going to give up on Sagara without a fight.
He was similar to his commanding officer in that regard. Captain Testarossa would keep her cool in front of the troops, but she was just as determined to get back all three of the lost ones. She was an idealist of the most dangerous type, one that recognized the practical concerns that others would use as reasons not to attempt something, but found ways to work around them.
The problem was that knowing Sagara was alive and knowing where he was were two different things.
Until then a workable rescue operation was mostly theoretical, and they had very little time before they had to make it practical.
He was considering the problem when he noticed the butterfly fluttering into his tactical room in idle spirals towards him. He remembered Sergeant Major Mao's report on the message she'd received in Tokyo and, as the butterfly landed and unfolded into a message with coordinates and sit-rep, he was now witnessing it.
Assuming the information was accurate, he now had what he needed to make his theoretical plan practical.
He wasted no time in finding the bridge and Tessa, handing over the message to the white-haired teen prodigy.
"I'm authorizing the use of the Arbalest," Tessa said without hesitation. "Prepare for launch."
****
"The repairs to the Chodarl are complete, sir," a technician told Gauron. "It is ready to go at any time."
"Good," the man said as he spotted a man in a black suit approaching him. "Any word?"
"The wild fire has shifted North and West," the man reported indicating an electronic map showing the affected areas. "Driven by the wind and it has started to spread faster since the rain stopped. No sign yet of the targets."
"He's in this area," Gauron said, pointing to a spot due west of the base. "The quickest route to the sea and south of the fire. Send your men there. I'll be going out soon."
"What, in the Chodarl?" the intelligence agent demanded.
"Of course," Gauron said. "You know what we're dealing with."
****
Basil growled as he looked down towards the AS and soldier infested forests. He couldn't continue the fight in this shape. Bay had come out pretty much unscathed save for some shock damage from that blonde outsider's electrical attacks and even Thyme was more than a little battered and bruised.
Still, he wasn't done.
Not by a longshot.
He was destined to bring the Musk back to their days of glory.
****
"Do you ever get tired of being reckless?" Deimosu demanded loudly as he yelled down at Naiki's face. "Because of you, we got split up!"
"I stayed to help out that other guy!" Naiki snapped back. "Not like you who kept saying 'let's get out of here' every few minutes!"
"You were useless on the plane," Deimosu snapped. "You got yourself captured as soon as we landed. You almost got yourself killed! Because of that you got me captured and Eija is probably still too tired to fight or be of much use out there. And then you stayed behind!"
"Aren't you a martial artist too?!" Naiki demanded.
"This isn't a challenge!" Deimosu snapped. "This was a battle. You always do this. You always treat the real battles like some rival's match or challenge! And you either get yourself or one of us beat up in the process!"
Naiki started to answer but her brother snapped again.
"There's a difference between life and death battles and battles for pride," he shouted.
It looked like he was about to say more when he was interrupted, by the sudden appearance of their mother moving in to wrap her arms around his chest quietly and then pull his head down to kiss his forehead and moved on toward Naiki to hug her again as well.
Then she pulled back.
"We'll talk about mistakes later," Ranma said. "And we'll do it without fighting."
"'Kaasan," Naiki said. "What about Eija?"
"They've got some plan running," Ranma said. "We're not part of it."
****
"Helicopters," Sousuke said pointing and listening to the sound. "They'll be dropping troops and then moving to scout for us. But they haven't pinpointed us yet."
"I see them," Eija confirmed.
"Anything we can do?" Kaname asked.
"No," Sousuke said.
"Pray and hope," Eija said. "What's that?"
Sousuke looked up toward the flash the Satomi had noted and watched as it came into closer view as an AS that landed at their position with a resounding crash.
"Okay, they probably know where we are now," Kaname noted.
Sousuke said nothing just moved quickly for the AS that had dropped in on their position.
He was quickly in the cockpit.
"It's unmanned," he said. "It looks like the system has been activated."
"Voice Identification activated," the computer said. "State your name, rank and serial number."
"Sgt Sousuke Sagara, B-3128."
"Verification completed, Sergeant Sagara confirmed," the computer responded. "Please state command."
He'd later met Sousuke again, as an enemy captive using the name Kashim, in Helmajistan, acting as the adoptive son of a renowned guerilla fighter. Apparently the orphan he'd rescued had been put into a KGB program for training child assassins
That reunion had led to Kalinin's desertion from the Soviet Army, in the middle of the second invasion of the middle east.
He was the one that had given Sousuke his spetsnaz training, on top of the KGB assassination school and the Islamic guerilla fighters' training in survival and guerilla warfare.
And then he'd recruited Sousuke into Mithril and away from the life as a roving soldier of fortune.
The boy hadn't quite grown up yet, he was still a bit too dependent on receiving and obeying orders, but he was developing a personality beyond just the war machine that Kalinin's home country and forged the boy into.
As cold as Kalinin behaved in front of his subordinates and others, he would still be damned if he was going to give up on Sagara without a fight.
He was similar to his commanding officer in that regard. Captain Testarossa would keep her cool in front of the troops, but she was just as determined to get back all three of the lost ones. She was an idealist of the most dangerous type, one that recognized the practical concerns that others would use as reasons not to attempt something, but found ways to work around them.
The problem was that knowing Sagara was alive and knowing where he was were two different things.
Until then a workable rescue operation was mostly theoretical, and they had very little time before they had to make it practical.
He was considering the problem when he noticed the butterfly fluttering into his tactical room in idle spirals towards him. He remembered Sergeant Major Mao's report on the message she'd received in Tokyo and, as the butterfly landed and unfolded into a message with coordinates and sit-rep, he was now witnessing it.
Assuming the information was accurate, he now had what he needed to make his theoretical plan practical.
He wasted no time in finding the bridge and Tessa, handing over the message to the white-haired teen prodigy.
"I'm authorizing the use of the Arbalest," Tessa said without hesitation. "Prepare for launch."
****
"The repairs to the Chodarl are complete, sir," a technician told Gauron. "It is ready to go at any time."
"Good," the man said as he spotted a man in a black suit approaching him. "Any word?"
"The wild fire has shifted North and West," the man reported indicating an electronic map showing the affected areas. "Driven by the wind and it has started to spread faster since the rain stopped. No sign yet of the targets."
"He's in this area," Gauron said, pointing to a spot due west of the base. "The quickest route to the sea and south of the fire. Send your men there. I'll be going out soon."
"What, in the Chodarl?" the intelligence agent demanded.
"Of course," Gauron said. "You know what we're dealing with."
****
Basil growled as he looked down towards the AS and soldier infested forests. He couldn't continue the fight in this shape. Bay had come out pretty much unscathed save for some shock damage from that blonde outsider's electrical attacks and even Thyme was more than a little battered and bruised.
Still, he wasn't done.
Not by a longshot.
He was destined to bring the Musk back to their days of glory.
****
"Do you ever get tired of being reckless?" Deimosu demanded loudly as he yelled down at Naiki's face. "Because of you, we got split up!"
"I stayed to help out that other guy!" Naiki snapped back. "Not like you who kept saying 'let's get out of here' every few minutes!"
"You were useless on the plane," Deimosu snapped. "You got yourself captured as soon as we landed. You almost got yourself killed! Because of that you got me captured and Eija is probably still too tired to fight or be of much use out there. And then you stayed behind!"
"Aren't you a martial artist too?!" Naiki demanded.
"This isn't a challenge!" Deimosu snapped. "This was a battle. You always do this. You always treat the real battles like some rival's match or challenge! And you either get yourself or one of us beat up in the process!"
Naiki started to answer but her brother snapped again.
"There's a difference between life and death battles and battles for pride," he shouted.
It looked like he was about to say more when he was interrupted, by the sudden appearance of their mother moving in to wrap her arms around his chest quietly and then pull his head down to kiss his forehead and moved on toward Naiki to hug her again as well.
Then she pulled back.
"We'll talk about mistakes later," Ranma said. "And we'll do it without fighting."
"'Kaasan," Naiki said. "What about Eija?"
"They've got some plan running," Ranma said. "We're not part of it."
****
"Helicopters," Sousuke said pointing and listening to the sound. "They'll be dropping troops and then moving to scout for us. But they haven't pinpointed us yet."
"I see them," Eija confirmed.
"Anything we can do?" Kaname asked.
"No," Sousuke said.
"Pray and hope," Eija said. "What's that?"
Sousuke looked up toward the flash the Satomi had noted and watched as it came into closer view as an AS that landed at their position with a resounding crash.
"Okay, they probably know where we are now," Kaname noted.
Sousuke said nothing just moved quickly for the AS that had dropped in on their position.
He was quickly in the cockpit.
"It's unmanned," he said. "It looks like the system has been activated."
"Voice Identification activated," the computer said. "State your name, rank and serial number."
"Sgt Sousuke Sagara, B-3128."
"Verification completed, Sergeant Sagara confirmed," the computer responded. "Please state command."
Hmmm... Potentially, this could change everything.
Consider... in canon anime, Souskae had big troubles with the Lambda Driver, and a huge part of it was his convictions that it was not normal and should not work. That was due strictly to his reliance and grounding in traditional and conventional warfare.
Here... he has been exposed to spells, to mysticism and other 'hocus pokus', and his continued existance can be directly attributed to them. He knows 'magic' and belief can be important here. It is just a matter of how much actually has sunk in.
I'm curious what the Satomi child will make of Kanami's muttering and explanations though, as she is not Kurtz, and would have a completely different viewpoint.
Consider... in canon anime, Souskae had big troubles with the Lambda Driver, and a huge part of it was his convictions that it was not normal and should not work. That was due strictly to his reliance and grounding in traditional and conventional warfare.
Here... he has been exposed to spells, to mysticism and other 'hocus pokus', and his continued existance can be directly attributed to them. He knows 'magic' and belief can be important here. It is just a matter of how much actually has sunk in.
I'm curious what the Satomi child will make of Kanami's muttering and explanations though, as she is not Kurtz, and would have a completely different viewpoint.
I was actually thinking of a scene were she gets chewed out...really, I expect she got chewed out for her actions in canon
risking the Danaan and the Arbalest over two soldiers and a girl they could have made another recovery attempt for later.
As to the lambda driver...yeah, Sousuke's going to have much less problems with it this time...
risking the Danaan and the Arbalest over two soldiers and a girl they could have made another recovery attempt for later.
As to the lambda driver...yeah, Sousuke's going to have much less problems with it this time...
At this point, involvment is still minimal. I would not be surprised though, if Ranma had not had an encounter or two with one or more of the backers of Mithril, the high committee that Tessa is shown reporting in front of in canon.
Whether that be good or bad... you figure.
I would imagine it would help she is a known freelancer.
Whether that be good or bad... you figure.
I would imagine it would help she is a known freelancer.
Someone in Mithril, or at least Souskae's mysterious contacts, had made mention of it. Remember, you wrote early on he vaguely recalled mention of a freelancer called Satomi.
Now... It has been proven in FMP canon Souskae does have contacts outside of Mithril.The supplier of the clothing eating virus, and the supplier of materials used to make Bonta-kun bots being two known instances, and a way of finding Gauron contacts in Hong Kong.
Having stated that, it would be interesting if in some upcoming episode of yours we learned just where he had heard of it. Mithril confirmed his knowledge, but never was it stated it came from them.
Now... It has been proven in FMP canon Souskae does have contacts outside of Mithril.The supplier of the clothing eating virus, and the supplier of materials used to make Bonta-kun bots being two known instances, and a way of finding Gauron contacts in Hong Kong.
Having stated that, it would be interesting if in some upcoming episode of yours we learned just where he had heard of it. Mithril confirmed his knowledge, but never was it stated it came from them.
Sousuke had hoped to be able to get Kaname and Eija away from the area before enemy units showed up, but the approach of five savages had nixed that plan.
It took a brief moment to eliminate all five savages, but then He had shown up, and now he was trading shots with Gauron in his silver AS.
Kaname and Eija watched from a distance.
"Who's winning?" Kaname asked.
"It looks even," Eija responded. "But I'm thinking from a martial artist's perspective, I don't know much about AS suits."
As Eija said that, Kaname started to waver by her side.
The blue-haired girl felt the world around her melt away into a swirling mass of letters and symbols. And within it all a swirl of whispers started to stream into her head.
Sousuke grimaced as his attack was stop cold by the same force field that had blocked the Satomi's attacks earlier. Only now that force was redirected back at him, sending his new mech flying backwards through the terrain.
The force on his body was intense enough to force a fraction of a second blackout, but, as he snapped out of it and waited for the report of his mecha's crippled state, he was shocked as the readouts implied little to no damage.
"Why isn't working!?" Gauron demanded. "Damn it! This is why I hate prototypes!"
Overlooking the scene, Eija was staring at Kaname as she started muttering strange terms that seemed arcane to her, trained in occult matters from early childhood.
Kaname's breath was starting to come heavy and strained, and there was a far away look in her eyes that spoke of a fierce attempt to remain in present place and time.
"I...know what's happening," Kaname said. "He...he doesn't realize yet...he has his hands full...just trying to fend off the attacks...he isn't making the switch."
Eija started to stand up, a prickling feeling working over her as she approached Kaname.
"I...I'll do it...this time," Kaname said, letting herself fall back into the sea of strange symbols and words, sure that the answer she needed was in there.
And then the world vanished entirely.
She was naked in a wash of knowledge and light streaming in from somewhere.
But the knowledge wasn't alone.
I know, I know everything. So come closer.
"Who is this?" Kaname asked. "Who's speaking? No...This isn't me!"
If you want to save him, you have to dive in and touch me.
"Stop it!" Kaname said. "Stop pulling me!"
Give it up. Just give this body to me. That's all you need to...
The whispering voice was interrupted as Kaname heard Eija's voice state loudly.
"Dead one! Leave her alone!"
Suddenly, Kaname wasn't alone in the field. The smaller form of Eija stood in front of her protectively. She was nude as Kaname was, but instead of her real ivory skin color, her form was as black as night with only the eyes shining red.
One of Eija's hands was reaching behind the Satomi's figure, holding Kaname protectively against her back, while the other was stretched outward, shaking slightly.
The oppressive, clawing whispers, shocked, retreated back and left Kaname and Eija alone in the flow of knowledge and words.
The blue-haired girl let shock cause her to hesitate only a fraction of a section before she returned to the task she had let herself fall into this place for. It seemed an age before she snatched the knowledge she wanted, Eija's black form keeping watch for her and shaking more visibly.
Eija was bluffing to keep that...whisper away so Kaname had free pick of the knowledge left behind, she couldn't waste time.
Then she thrust herself out and came back into the world to find Eija leaning into her chest, arms wrapped tight around her. Then, a moment later, Eija's eyes cracked open too.
"Did you get what you need?" the girl asked weakly. "Don't worry that wasn't magic, it was..."
"Necrosensitivity, I know...somehow," Kaname said not even mentioning the rather suggestive position she was in with the other girl. "Where'd the radio go?"
Eija pointed to it as she pulled herself off of Kaname and leaned heavily against a tree.
Kaname hurried to snatch the radio up and talk into the the radio.
The mercenary meanwhile stared out of his monitors at his enemy.
"My armor is still okay, but I don't know how much longer I can take this," Sousuke reasoned.
"Sousuke can you hear me?" his radio blared.
"Miss Chidori?" he asked.
"Listen very carefully!" Kaname said. "The enemy is equipped with a lambda driver! That's a driver that can channel the pilot's thoughts into physical energy!"
Eija perked up as she heard that, looking out toward the battlefield as if a machine doing something she considered the province of living beings was something she hadn't considered before.
Then her eyes widened.
"And your AS is equipped with the exact same thing!" Kaname said. "That's the reason you're still okay, Got it?! Weren't you trying to protect yourself just then? The driver transformed the image in your head into physical energy!"
"The image in my head," Sousuke responded. "But how would that..."
"Messages," Eija said. "Like the messages."
Kaname looked at her and nodded.
"It's like Eija's scroll!" Kaname said. "The same exact thing!"
They were interrupted as another wave of force came outward from the silver AS rippling out toward Sousuke.
**
"You're kidding me," Sousuke said to the two Satomis. "You want me to do what?"
"You want to hold the message in your hand cupped like this so that no light can get in," Eija said, moving very close to Sousuke to show him. "Then you bring it up and hold it here, to your mouth. You have to imagine the message becoming a butterfly and flying away, then blow your breath into your hand and fix the image of the person you wish to send the message to."
After her instruction, the girl did as she instructed and, sheer enough, as her hands pulled apart, the paper was gone. And Sousuke saw no evidence of sleight of hand.
Deimosu handed over the prepared message to Sousuke and the mercenary copied the black-haired girl's actions for a moment. Eija held close to him, whispering in a soothing voice.
"Imagine the butterfly flying free," she whispered inches away from him. "Picture it, picture it. And as you breath out picture your friend. The butterfly and your friend....the butterfly and your friend. Try it now."
He breathed out, visualizing the action as he did, and surprisingly he felt a tiny pull on his mind. For a moment, he didn't just picture Sergeant Major Mao, he actually saw her in his apartment staring down at a butterfly strangely.
Then the vision was gone.
**
The image Sousuke held this time was a bit more forceful.
A wedge driving apart the wave of force heading toward him. Cutting deeply into the chodarl's attack so that it passed harmlessly on either side of him.
"Like this," Sousuke said.
"There you go! Keep on doing what you just did! You have nothing to be afraid of!" Kaname yelled over the radio. "Come on, specialist! It's show time!"
Sousuke dived forward and grabbed the hand-gun shaped cannon he'd dropped earlier and pointed at his enemy.
"That was impressive, Kashim," Gauron shouted over his speakers. "But was it just luck? And that cannon? Don't you know your bullets and shells won't touch me?"
Sousuke firmed up, secure in his own defense with the last exchange, but uncertain yet how that would apply to countering the enemy's own lambda driver. After all, Gauron's mecha should have been equally invulnerable.
And here, a draw was the same as a loss.
"Listen Sousuke," Kaname said. "You have to have focused concentration on a goal. Now imagine this. If they capture Eija and me, they're going to poke at us, torture us and reduce us to machines and experiments. And when they're done they'll kill us. You hate that, right?"
"Yeah," Sousuke said quietly.
"You won't let that happen, will you?"
"No," Sousuke added.
"So kick his butt!"
The silver AS started charging forward, knife outward.
"Yeah!"
"Now take that image you just saw," Kaname instructed. "And turn it into fire power!"
"Now!" Sousuke and Gauron thought for a moment.
The chodarl was almost on top of Sousuke when he fired his gun.
Gauron's knife slammed forward into the invisible wall of Sousuke's lambda driver as each of the cannon pellets fired from the Arbalest's side arm took precise independent trajectories, more like guided missiles than a spray of shot pellets.
Each slashed through Gauron's own lambda field, as Gauron was mostly focused on his attack, and instantly every vital system Sousuke had identified was struck viciously.
All that was left behind was a raw mess of wreckage which Sousuke turned away from to run back towards the girls and pick them up.
They were long gone by the time they saw Gauron crawling out of the wreckage of his AS, eyes wide.
Had Kashim independently formed fields around each of the sidearm cannon's pellets? Was that even possible?
**
And far away, trapped in crystal within the ruined facility of Yamsk 11, a certain mind plumbed the extent of its future knowledge.
Next time that hybrid interferred, she'd be ready.
It took a brief moment to eliminate all five savages, but then He had shown up, and now he was trading shots with Gauron in his silver AS.
Kaname and Eija watched from a distance.
"Who's winning?" Kaname asked.
"It looks even," Eija responded. "But I'm thinking from a martial artist's perspective, I don't know much about AS suits."
As Eija said that, Kaname started to waver by her side.
The blue-haired girl felt the world around her melt away into a swirling mass of letters and symbols. And within it all a swirl of whispers started to stream into her head.
Sousuke grimaced as his attack was stop cold by the same force field that had blocked the Satomi's attacks earlier. Only now that force was redirected back at him, sending his new mech flying backwards through the terrain.
The force on his body was intense enough to force a fraction of a second blackout, but, as he snapped out of it and waited for the report of his mecha's crippled state, he was shocked as the readouts implied little to no damage.
"Why isn't working!?" Gauron demanded. "Damn it! This is why I hate prototypes!"
Overlooking the scene, Eija was staring at Kaname as she started muttering strange terms that seemed arcane to her, trained in occult matters from early childhood.
Kaname's breath was starting to come heavy and strained, and there was a far away look in her eyes that spoke of a fierce attempt to remain in present place and time.
"I...know what's happening," Kaname said. "He...he doesn't realize yet...he has his hands full...just trying to fend off the attacks...he isn't making the switch."
Eija started to stand up, a prickling feeling working over her as she approached Kaname.
"I...I'll do it...this time," Kaname said, letting herself fall back into the sea of strange symbols and words, sure that the answer she needed was in there.
And then the world vanished entirely.
She was naked in a wash of knowledge and light streaming in from somewhere.
But the knowledge wasn't alone.
I know, I know everything. So come closer.
"Who is this?" Kaname asked. "Who's speaking? No...This isn't me!"
If you want to save him, you have to dive in and touch me.
"Stop it!" Kaname said. "Stop pulling me!"
Give it up. Just give this body to me. That's all you need to...
The whispering voice was interrupted as Kaname heard Eija's voice state loudly.
"Dead one! Leave her alone!"
Suddenly, Kaname wasn't alone in the field. The smaller form of Eija stood in front of her protectively. She was nude as Kaname was, but instead of her real ivory skin color, her form was as black as night with only the eyes shining red.
One of Eija's hands was reaching behind the Satomi's figure, holding Kaname protectively against her back, while the other was stretched outward, shaking slightly.
The oppressive, clawing whispers, shocked, retreated back and left Kaname and Eija alone in the flow of knowledge and words.
The blue-haired girl let shock cause her to hesitate only a fraction of a section before she returned to the task she had let herself fall into this place for. It seemed an age before she snatched the knowledge she wanted, Eija's black form keeping watch for her and shaking more visibly.
Eija was bluffing to keep that...whisper away so Kaname had free pick of the knowledge left behind, she couldn't waste time.
Then she thrust herself out and came back into the world to find Eija leaning into her chest, arms wrapped tight around her. Then, a moment later, Eija's eyes cracked open too.
"Did you get what you need?" the girl asked weakly. "Don't worry that wasn't magic, it was..."
"Necrosensitivity, I know...somehow," Kaname said not even mentioning the rather suggestive position she was in with the other girl. "Where'd the radio go?"
Eija pointed to it as she pulled herself off of Kaname and leaned heavily against a tree.
Kaname hurried to snatch the radio up and talk into the the radio.
The mercenary meanwhile stared out of his monitors at his enemy.
"My armor is still okay, but I don't know how much longer I can take this," Sousuke reasoned.
"Sousuke can you hear me?" his radio blared.
"Miss Chidori?" he asked.
"Listen very carefully!" Kaname said. "The enemy is equipped with a lambda driver! That's a driver that can channel the pilot's thoughts into physical energy!"
Eija perked up as she heard that, looking out toward the battlefield as if a machine doing something she considered the province of living beings was something she hadn't considered before.
Then her eyes widened.
"And your AS is equipped with the exact same thing!" Kaname said. "That's the reason you're still okay, Got it?! Weren't you trying to protect yourself just then? The driver transformed the image in your head into physical energy!"
"The image in my head," Sousuke responded. "But how would that..."
"Messages," Eija said. "Like the messages."
Kaname looked at her and nodded.
"It's like Eija's scroll!" Kaname said. "The same exact thing!"
They were interrupted as another wave of force came outward from the silver AS rippling out toward Sousuke.
**
"You're kidding me," Sousuke said to the two Satomis. "You want me to do what?"
"You want to hold the message in your hand cupped like this so that no light can get in," Eija said, moving very close to Sousuke to show him. "Then you bring it up and hold it here, to your mouth. You have to imagine the message becoming a butterfly and flying away, then blow your breath into your hand and fix the image of the person you wish to send the message to."
After her instruction, the girl did as she instructed and, sheer enough, as her hands pulled apart, the paper was gone. And Sousuke saw no evidence of sleight of hand.
Deimosu handed over the prepared message to Sousuke and the mercenary copied the black-haired girl's actions for a moment. Eija held close to him, whispering in a soothing voice.
"Imagine the butterfly flying free," she whispered inches away from him. "Picture it, picture it. And as you breath out picture your friend. The butterfly and your friend....the butterfly and your friend. Try it now."
He breathed out, visualizing the action as he did, and surprisingly he felt a tiny pull on his mind. For a moment, he didn't just picture Sergeant Major Mao, he actually saw her in his apartment staring down at a butterfly strangely.
Then the vision was gone.
**
The image Sousuke held this time was a bit more forceful.
A wedge driving apart the wave of force heading toward him. Cutting deeply into the chodarl's attack so that it passed harmlessly on either side of him.
"Like this," Sousuke said.
"There you go! Keep on doing what you just did! You have nothing to be afraid of!" Kaname yelled over the radio. "Come on, specialist! It's show time!"
Sousuke dived forward and grabbed the hand-gun shaped cannon he'd dropped earlier and pointed at his enemy.
"That was impressive, Kashim," Gauron shouted over his speakers. "But was it just luck? And that cannon? Don't you know your bullets and shells won't touch me?"
Sousuke firmed up, secure in his own defense with the last exchange, but uncertain yet how that would apply to countering the enemy's own lambda driver. After all, Gauron's mecha should have been equally invulnerable.
And here, a draw was the same as a loss.
"Listen Sousuke," Kaname said. "You have to have focused concentration on a goal. Now imagine this. If they capture Eija and me, they're going to poke at us, torture us and reduce us to machines and experiments. And when they're done they'll kill us. You hate that, right?"
"Yeah," Sousuke said quietly.
"You won't let that happen, will you?"
"No," Sousuke added.
"So kick his butt!"
The silver AS started charging forward, knife outward.
"Yeah!"
"Now take that image you just saw," Kaname instructed. "And turn it into fire power!"
"Now!" Sousuke and Gauron thought for a moment.
The chodarl was almost on top of Sousuke when he fired his gun.
Gauron's knife slammed forward into the invisible wall of Sousuke's lambda driver as each of the cannon pellets fired from the Arbalest's side arm took precise independent trajectories, more like guided missiles than a spray of shot pellets.
Each slashed through Gauron's own lambda field, as Gauron was mostly focused on his attack, and instantly every vital system Sousuke had identified was struck viciously.
All that was left behind was a raw mess of wreckage which Sousuke turned away from to run back towards the girls and pick them up.
They were long gone by the time they saw Gauron crawling out of the wreckage of his AS, eyes wide.
Had Kashim independently formed fields around each of the sidearm cannon's pellets? Was that even possible?
**
And far away, trapped in crystal within the ruined facility of Yamsk 11, a certain mind plumbed the extent of its future knowledge.
Next time that hybrid interferred, she'd be ready.
ringlhach said:
I think you're looking for plumbed here. Also, I think you missed capitalizing "Chodarl" a few times here. I didn't immediately catch on to the flashback, either, but that's probably just me being stupid. Great fight scene!
The Souske/Kaname/Eija bug is good. Do not resist.
The Souske/Kaname/Eija bug is good. Do not resist.
But, yes, that urge is good.
So, Souske can use bits now or something?