Chapter 17
Paxton’s first day back in garrison had a very rocky beginning. Upon introducing the new recruits to LtCol Ginger, he found himself drafting letters for families of the fallen in Nojiri. While he toiled away, Ginger was quick to assign tasks onboard the Deck Hall to the new crew. In between letters, Paxton spent some time getting his garrison uniform ready. His utilities and golden oak leaved insignias were never brighter.
While it was doubtful that he would ever be able to get the blood out of his field utilities, he was more than ready to part ways with the old uniform. At last, he finished running a razor across his face to look as presentable as possible before going to Mizumi’s office. The Deck Hall was lively at the hour with dozens of soldiers walking past him giving the proper greeting for the day. He returned with one of his own—not common for a lot of the people in his rank. It was often many higher ups would be silent after receiving one, but he tried to maintain a lively appearance.
His days as a private moving up through the ranks were still fresh on his mind. The only difference now is when he entered a room with several troops, somebody would give the call for attention. The level of respect he received from them was a driving force to get him through the days. He approached Mizumi’s office while still going through the report in his head. Nojiri had been a success, he had miraculously located Rei, and at last he was ready to report that the attack on Aiga was a failure.
“The door is open.” Mizumi’s voice was barely audible as she called out to him from her desk.
Paxton made his entrance while keeping his shoulders rolled back as he marched towards her. The inside of her office was still well kept without a molecule of dust in sight. The challenge coins on her desk gleamed under her desk light as they sat in their wooden stand.
Once he got to her desk, she raised her hand and quickly said, “At ease.”
“Good afternoon, ma’am,” Paxton said. She shook her head, letting out a quick laugh before rolling her eyes. “Major Rutherford Paxton reporting.”
“I said at ease,” she said while motioning for him to shut the door. “I know who you are, lord knows I can’t get rid of you.”
“Where would you be without me?”
“Probably back west sitting at a desk at Battalion Headquarters.”
“Sounds like hell,” he said after gently closing the door and walking over towards a chair. “Hopefully Ginger ain’t givin’ you an’ the troops hell.”
“No,” she replied as she lifted hands towards her collar. She flicked her fingers across it, causing the silver stars across them to let out a click. “You forget I’m a general.”
“Brigadier General Hoshikaze, the best of the best, eh?”
Mizumi was once again charmed, only letting out a soft laugh as she lowered her hands to her desk to reach for her tablet. Without hesitation, she started to place her reading glasses over her eyes while beginning to punch in her combination on the device.
“It’s always a thrill seeing you in the office,” she said. “I’m hoping everything went according to plan.”
“Let’s just say that Nojiri won’t be going without Democracy. We’ve established a small resistance group and thanks to the Eurasian presence,” he laughed quickly, licking his lips as he thought about the long bloody battle in Nojiri. “I would say enthused was quite an understatement for their willingness to cooperate with us.”
“Excellent, who’s the leader?”
“A guy named Nojuro Junichi, that’s how them folks like to introduce themselves. Last name first, first name last. Imagine me calling myself Paxton Rutherford Major or some shit.”
Mizumi let out a bellowed laugh, giving her desk a bop with her fist while scrolling through her device. The notes on the screen were quite the opposite of her office with random notes in place and cluttered desktop icons in front of the ensign of the One World Order.
“I recognized one of those troops,” she continued. “That’s Shift’s kid, right?”
“That’s what he said,” Paxton said firmly as he gave a quick nod. “Didn’t really believe him at first, but our backs were to the wall, and he came in swingin’ for us. Definitely some Liberation blood in that man, that’s for sure.”
“What about the kid?”
“Oh, well that’s Ninja Boy. His name is Tetsu. He’s a little shit sometimes, but Rei and the others like him a lot, he’s useful,” he started to tap his hand on the desk before turning his eyes towards her again. “I was kind of expecting you’d be a little more happy to see her.”
Mizumi’s demeanor slowly began to shift, causing him to fill with alarm as she started to reach towards her glasses. Her hand slowly began to shake upon pulling them from her face, causing her glossy eyes to squint. There was much unsaid that only began to simmer at the surface. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before finally staring back to him.
“I’ve got to keep my bearing, Major.” She said softly.
“Oh, I got that. She just seemed a little bit bummed is all. I know I’m not in the position to give orders to you of all people, but uh,” he started to stammer for a moment, almost out of character as he collected himself. “She’s been through a lot of shit, and I think y’all would appreciate some time together.”
“Very thoughtful,” she quickly returned before going back to her tablet. “I will make sure to speak to her. I’m trying to process everything, which is why I wanted to continue with your report.”
Paxton gave the desk a quick pat, nodding in agreement as he tried to keep his concerns bottled away.
He continued, “We successfully retrieved a dropship, and I hope to have Mezrich take a shot at reverse engineering it with Megumi whenever she pulls through.”
“Who’s that?”
“That’s the General’s daughter I told you about, she’s real bright,” he said, flashing a grin while laying on the drawl. “She’s in the med bay. She’s real tough too, crazy gal took a bullet to the gut, and we had a hell of a hard time keeping her glued to her bed.”
“She’s Weapons Administration, so keep an eye on her,” Mizumi started to shift through her notes. She then turned her eyes away from him as she continued to document the conversation. “I understand you gathered intel from their Mobile Carrier, we can comb through that. The reactor and the Alferov I hope are a smoldering crater.”
He winced for just moment before trying to maintain his composure, finally saying, “Negative.”
Mizumi’s jaw started to hang from her face as her eyes quickly perked up. She locked in on him with her gaze, her face a mix of surprise and anger while she pushed her tablet aside.
“We have no intel?” she asked.
“We got the data, but we failed to destroy the reactor. They had somebody waiting for us and he managed to beat Rei and Tetsu.”
“Damn it,” Mizumi hissed. She slammed her fist into the desk, causing it and the challenge coins to rattle. “That’s some bombshell information to just spring on me at last minute, don’t you think?”
“We couldn’t risk going back in, and I wasn’t about to send Judai to try and fight them. The entire town was left in disarray, and it’s unlikely they’ll be able to turn that thing on any time soon.”
“The Weapons Administration will get the resources to do it. If they turn it on, it’s going to be a disaster.”
“Do we even know if they can do anything with it?”
“Oh, they can,” Mizumi said. She turned back towards her tablet and pressed her hand into her forehead. The disappointment lingered on her while tension hung in the air. “Whatever they’re planning is going to be nothing short of catastrophic. I’m sure whenever we prune through that data, we’re going to figure out what they have planned with it. I feel it.”
“Is it that Deep thingy you got going on?” he playfully asked, trying to remain cordial.
“Every time I reach into it,” she paused before trying to formulate her thoughts. “It’s like there something in it that tells me what to do. That presence is eating me when I think about that reactor. I can’t name it, but I am willing to go scorched Earth to stop it.”
Paxton nodded in agreement. He could not quite comprehend the powers of the Deep and what they did to their users, but he could understand her. His chest was heavy as she spoke, only wondering what the end goal of the reactor would be. The future of the conflict was uncertain, and his thoughts of failure continued to press against him. There was no way now they could go back into Aiga, and the only option would be something insane like a bombing raid.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
It was a thought, and one that hung in the back of the two’s minds. With the damage that had been inflicted to the region, they were not ready to risk the number of casualties over something that could possibly amount to nothing. Mizumi started to turn away from him while she delved into her thoughts again.
“What do you want me to do about it?” He asked.
“We can’t do anything now. In the meantime, go to the new recruits and make sure they’re getting situated.”
“Aye-aye ma’am.”
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Megumi found herself drifting in and out of consciousness following the procedure, unsure when she was between a dream and lucidity. The room around her seemed to drift away as if the walls were separating from the floor itself. Within moments, the area around her had been enveloped by a gradient of black and dark blue, leaving her in a void that seemed to stretch into eternity. She reached out to her side, feeling a chill in between her fingers like water.
She started to find herself filled with uncertainty on how she arrived, and started to make her way to her feet. The pain from her wound seemed to subside, as if she were never struck. The eerie surroundings only continued to envelop her, forcing her to take a step forward. With each stride, she found the chill becoming more powerful. The unsettling sensation swept over her, forcing her to move forward into the abyss.
The ground beneath her feet slowly started to turn to dirt while the memories of her past began to echo. Just ahead, she could slowly start to see a pit, stretching as far as the eye could see. The inside of the massive dwelling slowly started to illuminate. The whispers from the Deep echoed in the emptiness, as if they were trying to communicate with her soul. Soon, the memories started to flood back, reminding her of the atrocities she had witnessed.
The pit before her slowly began to rumble, casting the dirt aside and revealing a well of black beneath it. First, she could make out the sound of groaning beneath, then she could see the bodies—many bodies. Within moments, she had broken free from the grip of confusion and realized she was back in Rei’s village. The groaning started to intensify, causing her to turn away from the pit. However, as soon as she looked away, she found herself staring towards it again.
Panic took hold once she realized that every turn left her in the pit. The dead seemingly came to life, each letting out a horrible screech that chilled her to her core. Her spine shivered while the darkness slowly started to consume her once more. She jolted away from it before finally seeing a bright glaring light pierce through. The memory of the mass grave started to fade, pulling her from the abyss and back to lucidity once more.
The groaning and ambient noises of the Deep soon were replaced with the sounds of monitors beeping and the subdued lights of the recovery room. She started to adjust herself once more, taking notice that she was finally back in her bed. The events from the void lingered in her mind, a surreal interlude between her surgery and the recovery. A faint scent from the tiles on the floor and the chemicals graved her nose, giving a strange sensation.
She turned her head towards the room, seeing other beds across from her—each undisturbed. The inside of the recovery room glowed white from the sunlight outside being cast on the walls. Finally, she turned to her right to see Rei sitting in a small chair next to her bed, still dressed in her battle robe. Her orange hair remained tangled, still unkempt from the trip.
“I was wondering when you would wake up.” Rei said aloud, her voice muffled as Megumi tried to get a grasp on her situation.
“Am I awake?” Megumi asked.
“I hope so.”
“How long was I under?”
“All day,” Rei stood up from her chair placed next to Megumi’s bed, staring over her. “We haven’t moved yet, we’re still in that city or whatever they call them.”
“It’s a city,” she replied, slowly pressing herself up off the bed. The pain in her stomach had mostly subsided, but before she could finally sit up, Rei gently guided her back into the bed. “How long have you been here?”
“It wasn’t long, the others were busy, and I wanted to come check on you.”
“Are they ok?”
“Yes, they’ll be fine, you need to rest.”
Megumi slowly started to lift the blanket over her torso to see the bandages still tightly gripped around the wound. There was not much pain following the operation, which only left her bewildered that the Liberation medical advancements could help her recover so fast. She turned back to Rei to see her with an almost lifeless gaze.
“Are you ok?” Megumi asked.
“Yes, I’m just getting used to the place.”
“Did you get to meet your mom yet?”
“Yes, but we haven’t said much.”
“Really,” she murmured, taking notice of the somberness over Rei’s stare. “I thought you two would have a lot to say.”
“I guess not. To be honest, I wasn’t sure she existed until a month ago. I didn’t even know who I really was until those people came to my village. It really feels like everything was just thrown at me and it’s taking more than I have in me to understand it.”
The haunting images from the aftermath of the village and the mass grave started to run through Megumi’s mind again. There was the constant reminder of her standing by helpless as the massacre unfolded. She did not have the power to stand up to Vic or the will, but each day from that point on served as a reminder of her inaction.
“You really have nothing to go home to, do you?” Megumi asked.
“I try not to think about it, I guess I’m a drifter now.” Rei replied, her lips curled into a smile as she looked back at Megumi.
“What keeps you going?”
“There’s somebody I’m looking for. When I find him, I get it over with.”
“How is that working for you?”
“I got one of them,” Rei scoffed as she stared back towards the floor. She lifted her hand up to her face to slowly clench it while her mind raced. “I didn’t think I would be able to beat the first one, but the second one is on my mind a lot. I don’t think I can live with myself if I don’t get him.”
She’s thinking of my father, Megumi thought to herself as she started to piece together Rei’s words. She started to lean forward, managing to sit up in the bed before Rei tried to intervene again. She could faintly remember being on the runway back in Aiga, bleeding through her stomach.
Many thoughts continued to go through her head, ones with regret. The haunting image of Nomad standing over her on the runway and the pain from the wound lingered among them. In that moment, she thought of her last words to Nomad on the runway and felt a rush.
I didn’t tell her, she thought again, finally saying, “Rei, I want to talk about that.”
“There’s not much I can say about it now,” Rei’s faint, forced smile began to fade while she spoke. “Thank you for your concern.”
“I know who you’re looking for,” Megumi said, this time causing Rei’s focus to turn to her. There was a flicker in Rei’s eyes, a hopeful stare as Megumi began to sit up in the bed. “His name is Vic Kawaguchi, and I know he hurt you.”
“It was more than hurt,” Rei snapped back while she gently placed her hands across Megumi’s shoulders to guide her back into the mattress. “This man who I never met brought an army to my village and killed everyone I knew.”
“I know that.”
“The violence that has been left in his wake; he needs to be stopped. Can you help me find him?”
“Rei, this isn’t what you want to do. There’s a way we can right this wrong, but I don’t think killing him is going to put you at peace.”
“How can you be certain?”
“Have any of the people you’ve killed ever brought you peace?”
“Not really,” her face danced with perplexing gaze, only causing her to stare ahead before finally making eye contact with Megumi again. “Every person I’ve killed was trying to kill me. If anything, I could have saved lives if I killed. Maybe if I killed Susumu right away, I could have saved those men he killed. I could have saved those people in Nojiri.”
She maintained a thousand-yard stare, emotions deadened by her haunting memories. Megumi looked towards her and felt nervous staring at a new side of Rei. The innocent and curious woman she started to grow accustomed to only seemingly overtaken by guilt and regret, manifesting into a cold-hearted warrior.
“Maybe if I went all out and killed Jin, I could have gotten to the village sooner,” Rei continued as her face mixed with bitterness and an array of nameless emotions. Her continued berating from Susumu cut deep, only highlighting her inadequacies. “I could have put all of this to an end.”
“Don’t let them change you, this isn’t you,” Megumi said softly, a slight stutter in her voice as she stared into Rei’s eyes. “You can break the cycle; you don’t have to turn into this. You don’t have to kill Vic.”
“Why do you care if I kill him?”
“He’s,” Megumi stopped short, feeling fear starting to grip her as Rei loomed over. A breath of morbid curiosity pushed through her veins, anxious to see how she reacted. She knew what happened in the village was not her fault, but still wrestled with the guilt of her inaction. “Vic’s my father, I saw it happen.”
She could sense a fleeting glimpse of surprise on Rei’s face, only quickly returning to her cold stare. Beneath it, she could sense a struggle starting to take place, a momentary lapse of reason.
“I couldn’t stop him,” Megumi spoke again. “Everything up to this point is me trying to right this wrong. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I think there’s a way to end all of this without killing him.”
Rei slowly started to retreat to her chair, refraining from eye contact. Megumi trailed her with her eyes, feeling that she had betrayed her. The weight from her guilt felt as if it had been finally cast from her shoulders, but she felt more pressure seeing Rei’s somber demeanor.
Megumi continued, “If I could have stopped him, I would have. Please forgive me.”
“I don’t hate you,” Rei muttered, barely audible while she started to look back towards her. Her eyes remained fixated on the bed, unable to make contact with Megumi. “I’m glad you told me. I don’t know what I’m going to do if I ever do meet him. There’s something in me I can’t control.”
The two fell silent once more, the beeping from the monitors continued. Rei started to lean towards the bed, softly resting her head on the sheets before looking towards Megumi with her bright, emerald-colored eyes.
“I don’t know if this place has a shower, it was really nice.” Rei said, forcing out a playful grin.
“I’m sure it does,” she laughed back as she started to reach her hand towards her. “These people aren’t that backwards, I don’t think.”
The two’s hands quickly locked, fingers laced together as they fell silent again. Megumi leaned even further into the bed, feeling some relief being able to come clean to Rei.