When Genya Nakajima arrive on scene, he was somewhat surprised that his 108th Battalion was there first. He would have expected Section Six to be there, since they were supposed to be some sort of counter-terrorism thing. Or at least one of his daughters, anyway. Ginga worried him, to be honest. He certainly didn't remember her mother acting nearly as badly about him as the way Ginga acted about her teacher.
The rubble strewn across the area, he assumed, would have been the roof. On the other hand the walls, glowing aside, appeared intact. The glowing actually seemed to make stress fractures easier to detect- they were darker streaks among the brilliance. He passed along the order to remind the troops that if they absolutely had to poke the glowing things that really, really should not be glowing, that they were to wear proper protective equipment.
Privates. At least this wasn't the old days, and most of the lieutenants had come up through the ranks in his battalion. Politics was politics, but he was proud that he'd managed to keep mostly outside of that foolishness. Of course, that's why he was still a major- but it was worth it.
Stepping up into the command van, he doffed his cover and scratched his head. Think always made him itch when he sweated. “Do we have an energy estimate on this?†he wondered aloud in the general direction of his command staff, who were too busy working to come to attention in the cramped interior.
The corporal at the van's instrument panel shook her head grimly. “Too much, sir. Far, far too much.â€
“Do we have a minimum safe distance?â€
The corporal sighed and glared at her panel. “Carnaaji, maybe?â€
“The nature preserve? That's at least six hours off, isn't it? Through dimensional space? There can't be that much in there.â€
“It's hard to tell- none of it registers quite right for the spectra we've got. Sure, we've got magic and the naturals, but there's also some sort of nuclear activity and something else.â€
He swore. “Nuclear?â€
“It looks like it- fission and fusion both. There's so much electricity, though, that the control office is going to go berserk.â€
His command sergeant asked, “Do we want to try for a minimum safe, anyway, just to get the civilians out of the way? They're already gawking.â€
The major shook his head. “Not yet. Make sure there's a solid perimeter, though- the last thing we need is for them to get into the glowing stuff. Medical, any idea what it's supposed to do?â€
The command sergeant stepped outside to start issuing orders to the squad sergeants, and the doctor shook her head. “No. We're thinking it's some sort of warding, maybe structural reinforcement, but all we know is that it's very magical.â€
“More than it should be able to be, honestly,†the sensor corporal chipped in again.
Genya glared at the tac display. “Any idea where the Librarian is?â€
“Not really,†the commo said glumly. “Section Six got up to something stupid- some sort of exhibition grudge match- and he was in the middle of it. The last confirmed reporting we have is that something the White Devil did turned him into a ferret and they both blew up.â€
The last board operator, an intel PFC, mumbled something to herself about ferrets and cameras. “Hold on. There was something...â€
The instrument corporal ignored the mumbling. She'd come out of it when she had something material and present it. Loudly, most likely. They'd been working together for years, now, and that's just how she was. “Even if we can't tell what all of this is,†she waved at her holo-screen, “we need to at least set up defensive wards for what we can identify. I've got a sample sent in-â€
“Got it! It's local feed from about two hours ago, half an hour or so before the incident,†the PFC cut in, chattering away and sending her screen to the main display. “Look, here.â€
“What?†the doctor wondered. It was a view from the restaurant that... used to be, he supposed, across the street from the Library's delivery entrance. He hoped it was still there- it was good, and he had eaten there a lot when he was still a student.
“You don't see it? Here, watch it again. I'll highlight it this time.†The “highlighter,†really a pinkish-gold blob, followed... something along the ground and through the mail flap in the door.
“Do we have better resolution or something on that?†Nakajima asked.
“I'll try.â€
“Do. Go on, Corporal.â€
“Yes, sir. Anyway, it's sent off to the Bureau's labs for comparison. Maybe they've got something local to compare it to.â€
Genya sighed. “I hope so. Get wards set for what we can, anyway. And see if we can get a specialist squad in to help. We're disaster management and city combat, not engineers, and I think we're going to need them.â€
“Major, I've got the adjusted image on screen.â€
He looked again at the video. The highlighter was still there, but now it was a lighter circle on a much darker background. “Is... is that a weasel?â€
“I think it's a ferret, sir. And I think he's in there.â€
He rubbed his forehead and looked at the commo. “Get me someone at Section Six.†Flopping down in front of his own board, he rested his head in his hands. Today was turning out to be just a damn bad day.
[hr]
Small fix to the above snippet- when I went back to the last chapter to double-check the local geography, I noticed that Ranma had already produced a few fylgjaur and some shadow clones.
Whups.
Anyway, added a few words to adjust.
Can you tell that I've spent a good chunk of time in command posts?
