Well, I do like the Shagohod, but it's a little inconvenient to mass produce. Even with magic... I'm open to other ideas though.
- - - - - - -
The truck reached the perimeter, and stopped. Keitaro closed his eyes, extending his ki senses. Everything appeared as a "shape" in his head, with varying degrees of temperature, density, and what could only be described as "texture".
Okay... driver and guard in the truck... And four guards at the checkpoint... All heavily armed.
Keitaro quickly crawled to the back of the truck. Silently, he flipped up onto the back of the truck, and jumped up into the truck itself. He quickly stripped out of his camo, stuffing it into his bag. He looked around at all the boxes, before shaking his head-He'd never conceal himself in one of those.
He instead jumped up and clung to the roof of the truck, the dark colored uniform he'd worn underneath concealing him perfectly. For added protection, he pulled on a hood and cowl, further obscuring his form. The guards checked inside, looking around the boxes of food and other supplies. One of them nodded, and yelled out to the driver.
"Go ahead!" He shouted, in Russian of course. The driver assented, and the truck drove through the gate.
This is much better than hanging on the underside of the truck, Keitaro thought. Why didn't I do this first?
Outside the truck he was able to see that they were still passing through forest. Obviously, a secret base wouldn't give up such prime cover. Eventually, they came to another checkpoint. Once again, guards checked over the truck. One actually hopped into it, and poked all the boxes with a stick. His buddies scanned the interior with thermal imaging goggles.
This part was a little nerve wracking to Keitaro, but he was confident that the stealth suit he wore kept him from being detected. All the same, he remained perfectly still, not moving so much as an inch.
"Hmmm... Hey, look! Mangos!" One guard said.
"Excellent... Snag a few," another said. The guard helped himself, gathering them up and a few other items. "About time we got some more..."
"Ha. Looks like they didn't take anything this time," the other said. The first guard hopped out. "Okay! Go!"
The truck trundled off, and Keitaro mentally sighed. How many checkpoints are there?
Another one went by. Another couple of guards made off with some of the goods. Another long drive, and Keitaro used his ki senses again.
Okay... Big wall... Hopefully this is the main facility...
Once again, the guards checked the truck, and once again, they took some things.
"Oh yes! Toilet paper!" Cheered one guard. "Finally! The good American stuff!"
"I'm using it first," the head guard ordered.
"But-But sir You used it first last time!"
"Don't complain!"
The truck moved in, and Keitaro lowered himself just enough to see out the back. Yep, they were now within a large fortress-The walls were very thick and very strong, and lined with automated turret guns as well as soldiers keeping watch.
That'll be fun to get out of, Keitaro thought. The truck came to a stop, and Keitaro dropped down, silent as a cat. He slipped down out of the truck, but at the sound of footsteps he scrambled back underneath it. His ki senses gave him a picture of six workers, a couple of guards...
Keitaro frowned. Strange... That's a strong ki signature.
The workers unpacked the supplies from the truck, and Keitaro, thinking quickly, reached out and quickly shoved the foot of one of them.
"AH!" He tripped.
"What is it?" One of the guards called. Keitaro slipped away in the guard's manipulated focus, crawling out from beneath the truck, onto a loading dock, and getting behind one of the large crates sitting in it.
"Just tripped... Lost my footing," he called.
"Excuse me."
Every eye turned towards the source of the voice. Keitaro peeked out himself, and blinked.
Eh? A high school girl?
She was young, maybe Naru's age if not a little younger. She Japanese, and tall too, and beautiful, with long black hair and a soulful face. She was dressed in a long black coat, underneath which Keitaro caught glimpses of a tight black outfit.
Probably the weirdest thing though was that she was wearing cute little cat ears. Wait, scratch that-Weirdest thing was the brown striped cat that rested on her shoulder.
"Did it come?" The girl asked. As one, the guards and workers seemed to rush the truck, barreling into it and searching frantically.
"Here!"
"No, I've got it!"
"Give it here! Mine!"
"HA! GOT IT!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
A furious brawl ensued, as the various men fought over the right to hand the girl whatever they'd tried to obtain. The girl cleared her throat, looking embarassed.
"Ah... Excuse me...? You-You don't have to..."
"RARGH! I'M GIVING IT TO HER!" Shouted one man. He was the biggest of them, and the tallest. He shoved the other guards away, and kicked one of the supply men away. He was about to punch another, when his fist was stopped.
Keitaro's eyes widened, as did the guard's. The girl was standing there, holding the guard's wrist without any apparent effort whatsoever. Keitaro, thinking quickly, hit one of the gizmos attached to his headband. He thought it was a camera-Haitani and Shirai hadn't gone through everything he'd been given thoroughly yet.
"Do not fight," she said. Her cat nyahed. The other guards and the workers immediately looked remorseful.
"W-We are sorry, Miss Cat!" They cried.
"So am I!" The guard said. "Ah... H-Here you go!" He said, handing her a box. Miss Cat took it and nodded, smiling softly.
"Thank you..." She turned and walked slowly out of the docking bay, bangs concealing her eyes. Keitaro blinked and shook his head.
"Wow, Miss Cat sure is amazing," one of the workers enthused. "I'd heard she was fast but... Wow!"
"And strong too," the tallest guard grimaced, rubbing his wrist.
"Hey, take it like a man!" One of the workers shouted.
"Grrr...! Get back to work!" He ordered.
The unloading resumed, and Keitaro frowned.
BREEP BREEP!
"Colonel, this is Ronin," he said. "I'm in the facility. Already looks like we've got magic girls involved. Saw one known as Miss Cat."
"Did you get a picture?" Asked the Colonel.
"Yeah... I'm uploading it now, I think," Keitaro murmured. He tapped the control he thought handled that, and Shotakon and Lennon on the other end whooped.
"Woah! What a babe!" Shotakon enthused.
"Damn, she's hot!" Lennon added.
"Kindly find out who she is?" Keitaro growled.
"All right, all right... Look, find a computer terminal will you?"
"Okay, how do I do that? The room is crawling with guards," Keitaro said.
"Just press yourself against a surface, or otherwise touch it, and think 'hide'," Shotakon said. "The camo of your suit will do the rest."
Keitaro did so, and the suit shifted. He looked at himself-He was blending in almost perfectly with the floor!
"Wow... That's impressive," Keitaro murmured.
"Just remember, it's not true invisibility," Athena interjected. "You must move slowly and stay pressed against the floor or surface you're moving across. But if they're right on top of you, someone will see you."
"Guess you guys couldn't spring for an invisibility cloak, huh?" Keitaro asked.
"The problem with those is that they're too easily detected," Athena said. "They offer stealth from eyes but not from magic, or ki senses. This suit, however, does offer a signficiant amount of protection against both."
"Besides, you're enough of a loser already without looking like Harry Potter," Midas added.
Keitaro again rolled his eyes, and reached out to touch the wall. His camo changed accordingly, and he slowly stood up, pressing himself against the wall. Slowly and carefully, he moved along it, until he reached the door. He ducked down down a barrel and shifted his camo accordingly as it opened, and waited for two guards to exit. He touched the wall and slipped inside the hallway. Quickly, he climbed up onto the ceiling, again his camo shifting.
"Good thing I had you master the wall walking technique, isn't it Ronin?" Tsuruko teased.
"You wouldn't let me off the ceiling for a month," Keitaro reminded her flatly, as he climbed down the ceiling ala Spider-Man.
"All to ensure you got it, Ronin," Athena smiled through the commlink.
Keitaro managed not to grumble as he headed in deeper.
- - - - - - -
