With the sun shinning on Ignama, the students of Unimori go about their daily classes, like any other day of the week. This goes for the investigation group as well, but deep in their minds they know that unforeseen danger awaits them tonight. Unknown to the other students, the eldritch-rune cult, or the Sigil Heads as they are known to the JB and the investigation group, have something wicked planned tonight. A plan that will turn everyone in the city into a Sigil Head at once. Raphael's squad, combined with the powers and strength of the investigation group plan to deal a coordinated assault on the Sigil Heads before it is too late, but the investigation group hasn't been told where they are going or what they are supposed to be doing yet. They have only been told that they need to fight, this time not out of survival, but to save their city.
The investigation group moves throughout their day as they usually do, but with a strange, foreign sense of fright drifting in their subconscious. They have fought the Sigil Head's before, but near always in self-defense, never as an offensive attack. This sense follows them throughout the day, all the way up to the time that the operation begins.
Further in the city, on top of a large building, stands the members of Raphael's squad. Raphael isn't with them, but the other three are there. Quib has her hood down, as does June, while Miyra has her hood up. June and Quib are looking through a pair of binoculars at a radio broadcast building further in the city, with Miyra watching the stairs leading up to the rooftop to make sure that no unwanted visitors arrive.
At the radio building, there are about five individuals visible outside of the building. They are all wearing blue uniforms and have on blue baseball caps that are low enough to hide their foreheads. June slowly mutters to herself “Trying to be inconspicuous. I'll give them a small up for that. It looks like the mind-control technology is getting stronger. They aren't attacking anyone that gets near or within sight, they're being told to stand watch, not cause chaos....”
Quib examines the area, gathering as much intel as she can about the facility and guard movements in an attempt to gather any additional information they hadn't gained in the past few weeks. She watches as a pick-up truck with a large crate in the back drive through the now-opened gates of the radio building. “Truck going in. What do ya think is in it?” she asks June.
She simply responds “It could be the amplifier for the signal, but I could be wrong....”
Still looking through her binoculars, Quib mutters “That's a possibility, but the mastermind has been planning this for weeks. They would already have the amplifier there given all of the time they have been waiting. What else could it be...?”
Miyra, who is on the other side of the rooftop, gets a call on her communicator. After a quick conversation, she looks over at the other two and yells to them “Yo! Raphael needs us back at the planning area! Get your stuff together and let's head back!”
Looking out at the radio building one last time before getting back up, June gets up on her feet and walks over to Miyra. Quib is right behind her, stating “If things go wrong or we don't make it in time, then I just want to say that it was an honor fighting for the Key....”
June stops halfway down the rooftop and turns to face Quib. She stops right in front of her, to which June places a hand on her shoulder and says “The Sigil Heads are going to get a massive roadblock in their plans tonight, and as long as we time it right, then nothing will go wrong. Trust me, Quib, we're going to stop the Sigil Heads!”
Nodding her head, Quib places one of her hands on June's, saying “I know. We have the Guardian with us, so what could go wrong?”
With a smile on her face, June says “Come on. We need to meet back up with Raph!” before activating her cloaking function on her decoy device, turning her completely invisible, and running over to the side of the building. Quib does exactly the same, followed immediately by Miyra.
Unseen by everyone on the streets, the JB squad are scaling the building using climbing gear provided by the UMA. They are suction-like devices that correspond with a person's mind and body movement to allow ease of movement.
They move through the streets silently, using their cloaking function to move through the streets with ease before returning to the planning area.
Later on in the same day, an hour after the school day has ended, the members of the investigation group are sitting at the courtyard. They are talking among themselves, waiting for someone from the JB to come and tell them that they need to come to the meeting area.
After waiting another half-an-hour, they see someone walking through the gate's of the school campus. Looking over, they recognize that it's Miyra. She isn't carrying any weapons and is wearing the Unimori uniform that she got a while back.
Walking up to them, she politely bows and says “Good, everyone's here. We're ready to start the briefing, so if you would all follow me please....”
A couple of the members of the investigation group think about asking what exactly they are supposed to be doing tonight, and how they are going to be covered at the school during all of this, but they all decide to hold off on the questions for now. They all follow Miyra out of the school gates, questions and the thought of dying on their minds.
Within about thirty minutes of walking, they arrive at Warehouse Alley. They move further in, following Miyra every step of the way. Within a few more minutes, they arrive at a half-destroyed blue warehouse. Miyra walks up to the metal door of the building and knocks on it, saying afterward “Yo, open up. The investigation group is here.”
A few seconds pass before a motor can be heard revving behind the door and the garage door is lifted up a second later.
When the door is fully open, Miyra points her thumb into the warehouse while saying “Come on guys. Raphael's waiting.” and walking inside, followed by the investigation group.
The inside of the warehouse is well-lit, there being military-grade floodlights hooked up to generators all around the large area. There are multiple soldiers stationed inside of the warehouse, with all of them wearing white and blue futuristic suits of armor, with a variety of assortments. Soldiers can be seen carrying a large amount of equipment into the warehouse, may it be computers, maps, weapons, armor, or many other necessities for the mission tonight.
The investigation group sees Raphael, June, and Quib at the other side of the warehouse, where in which there is a map posted against the back wall, additional floodlights, and a table with multiple weapons, armor, and cartridges.
Miyra motions with her right arm as she walks forward to Raphael, saying “We don't have a lot of time, so we need to get you guy's briefed and prepared before nightfall. Follow me, please.”
Knowing that they must, the investigation group follows Miyra to the other side of the warehouse. As they get closer, June waves a happy smile at them and sways her hand for them to come closer. Raphael, however, doesn't stray his eyes from the map on the wall.
As they get closer, Raphael slowly says “Ah. Good, you're here. Get your weapons from the table and I'll start the briefing.” without even looking away from the map.
Boz and Carie move up first, grabbing their weapons off of the table, followed by everyone else. Looking up while gauging his shotgun, Boz asks “So, what do the Sigil Heads have planned for Ignama? We haven't gotten a full explanation yet.”
Looking away from the map, Raphael turns around to address the group. They all see that he has a high-tech assault rifle over a shoulder strap in front of his bulletproof vest. “The Sigil Heads have three antenna relays with mind-control tech built into them stationed at three areas around the city situated in a triangle formation.” He turns back around and begins tracing his finger around the map. He moves from a northern section of Ignama, to a southwestern area, and finally to a southeastern portion. “The antenna relays are here... here... and here. They've been preparing for this for four weeks, from as far back as we know, and they're either going to start the process tonight or sometime during this week. Most of the JB is busy at the moment or is going to be busy during this operation, which is why I got all of you ready beforehand.”
Grabbing the holster for his twin pistols and strapping them to his belt, Jian asks “You said that you had something prepared for me that isn't supposed to involve getting directly in the fight? What exactly is that?”
Quib is about to say something, but Raphael cuts her off. “I was planning on having you stay here during the assaults as mission support. You'll have access to the blueprints of each of the facilities that we're going to be attacking, and you'll have everything you need for your role.”
Jian mutters out “You sure about this...? I mean, it's not like I've ever done something like that before....”
June takes the initiative this time and walks over to Jian. She places a hand on his shoulder and says in the most reassuring voice she can muster “We have faith in you, Jian. We all know that you can do it, but just in case, we've already got Henry, our information expert, to head the mission support and keep you on track. Don't worry, you'll do fine!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Despite that, Jian still has a small bit of doubt in his eyes. Seeing this, Raphael motions to Quib and says “Jian, you'll be fine. Quib! I need you to get Jian familiarized with his weapons a little more. He likely will not need them, but we should make sure.”
Nodding her head, Quib goes over to Jian and pats him on the shoulder, saying “Come on, Ji', I'll show you to the training room we built. It's sound-proof so nobody will hear you test firing. When this is all over, how about me and you have a day out on the town, huh? It'll be fun!”
He sighs deeply, and then nods his head, grabbing his guns a second later and following Quib to another area of the warehouse.
Watching them leave, Raphael turns back to the map and continues his briefing. “We don't have much time, so we need to finish this and get you all prepared. Here's the plan. I'm going to send Boz and Lera to the northern antenna station along with Miyra. I know that neither of you have much battlefield experience, so Miyra should be enough to make up for that. Sin, Hoshi, you're going to the southeast with Quib. She'll be your long range support, since both of you are close range fighters. Lastly, Carie will be coming with me and June to deal with the southwest antenna station. Carie has latent magical power, which mixed with both me and June's abilities should allow us to deal with this easily.”
He turns back around, his body armor gleaming in the floodlights. “Miyra will give all of you one final preparation course for your weapons. You won't be as good as you can be, but I think it will be good enough.”
He pauses for a second, and then continues. “Do you all see those pairs of glasses on the table?” to which he gets an agreement from everyone. “Good, your eyesight's in order. Joke's aside, everyone, put on a pair of those glasses.”
June quickly grabs the different pairs of glasses and hands them out to each of the members of the investigation group, just to make sure that they don't get things mixed up. After they all put them on, Raphael places a finger to the leg of his own glasses. He says into them “Sentient Society away team.” to which everyone's glasses begin vibrating. “Place two finger on the leg of your glasses that is vibrating please.” after everyone has done so, he says “Everyone hear me loud and clear?”
Everyone from the investigation group hears Raphael's voice through their glasses. Sin quickly says to Raphael “Micro-transmitting speakers inside of the legs of the glasses. Interesting idea, I'd have to say. Seems practical, at least a lot easier than carrying cellphones or radios with us. The question that I have is how they are able to pick up the voice of the speaker when the glasses are so far away....”
Miyra taps the end of her glasses, saying to Sin “A tiny speaker isn't the only thing that we have inside of each of these glasses, Sin!”
Scoffing, Sin states back “Tch, alright, I'll accept that for now. Besides, I don't really care about the tech from off my planet if you aren't willing to share it with us.”
June gets an angry look across her face, saying to him “You don't think we want to give out this tech!? We'd be glad to give it over, but both our bosses and the governments of your world say no! We know that by giving out this technology, one nation would become at least slightly stronger than another, or one nation would want to take over another nation simply for that technology! It would only cause strife! That's why we are only letting you guy's use it for now, because you need them right now! There! Is that enough reason for you!”
Carie tells June to calm down while Raphael pats her on her shoulder, trying to do the same and stating “That's enough, June....”
She breathes heavily a few times, calming herself down in the process. With one last, large sigh, she says to Raphael “I... went a little over-board... thanks, to both of you.”
“Alright, continuing on.” Raphael says, looking over the investigation group and making sure that they all have their equipment. “Each of the members of my squad who are taking part in the assaults will give all of you a small briefing on the layout of the station we are going after. June, Miyra, take over while I get the transports in order.”
June and Miyra give a stern salute to Raphael before he leaves away from the group, going through the warehouse and leaving out the backdoor.
June gestures to Carie, saying “I'll be talking with you over here. I don't want to distract the other teams from their briefings. Follow me, please.”
With a smile on her face, Carie states to her as she follows “Gladly, June.”
Moving behind a table and switching on a hologram, June begins talking to Carie in the light of the room, saying “Ya know, Carie, I was sort of like you at one point. Hell, it's less of one point and more along the lines of seven years. I wasn't just defending myself, I was a high-value target, and a lot of people wanted to kill me. I learned wind magic and how to use scythes and firearms because of that. For seven long years I was just a frightened child. Raphael changed all of that, though....”
“What did he do for you, June?” Carie asks, question in her eyes.
“He gave me courage, the want to fight for the good of the universe, the want to end the war that has lasted for far too long and to avenge my family. Above all else, he gave me my freedom.” June looks down and sighs, thinking “Listen, I could go into further detail, but you would need to know about the universe for me to-”
Carie shoots her head up, determination in her fluorescent pink eyes. “Then tell me! I want to know about my universe! I want to know the truth so I can protect my friends!”
June is surprised by this, but she's able to hold her confusion back for now “Carie... if I told you about the rest of the universe, then you would have to agree not to tell anyone, or you would have to join the JB. Are you sure that you want to-”
Carie intercedes again, stating “Take me off this world then! I want to see my universe and the world's away from mine! I have the ability to make fire with my bare hands! Raphael has shown me how to fight! I would not be a burden, so please, show me!”
Leaning back against the wall behind her, June crosses her arms and says bluntly “You do realize that there is a possibility that you could never come back to your world if you do this, correct?”
Thinking for a second, Carie continues “... Just promise me that I can still talk to my family and friends here on this world and I will come with you. I will listen to any orders you give out. I promise!”
With a small smirk on her face, June crosses her arms “Your friends already know about us, if you are referring to the investigation group. The only other friend that you have that I know of here is Konichi Kori. We'll contact her personally and get you a video link with her once you've left this world. The only other problem I can think of is that your family might not agree with this and tell someone. That would cause a lot of trouble for us and your world as a whole. Still, getting a personal meeting between you and your parents would probably alleviate these issues.... Fine, we can do both.”
June continues “Carie, I will tell you this right now. Being a member of the JB is all about freedom and liberty....”
“Basically the American way?” Carie guesses, a finger in the air.
“Yeah, basically. Raphael's American, and he's the leader of the organization. He believes that strict military training will only lead to his men becoming mindless drones. He believes that his men need to have minds of their own to develop their fighting styles the ways they wish. As he has told me, individuality leads to unexpected military might. The enemy won't know exactly what they are facing if they are facing different soldiers with their own styles and their own specialties. For instance, nobody expected me to fight back against the Demu, yet here I am, fighting them with glee in my heart while I tear them asunder for the crimes they have committed.”
“The Demu? What are the Demu?” Carie says, never having heard their name before.
“It's short for the Nespectie Demu. As I said, there is a war going on off your world, and they are one of the main fighters in it. I'll tell you more in the future, but for now we need to get through this briefing!” June says before turning back to the hologram.
Raphael comes into sight right as June is about to start the briefing. June tells him about what Carie wants to do, to which he turns to her and shakes her hand, saying “A fire mage will make a fine addition to my organization. After we've finished off the Sigil Heads, we'll get you instated with us.” to which Carie lets out a large, white smile.
Boz and Lera are led off to one side of the warehouse by Miyra. There is a small table with a map of the city in the back against the warehouse's wall. Miyra places her minigun on the table near the back and then addresses the group. “Boz and Lera. I have to tell ya, I never really thought that a ninja and samurai could get along as well as you two have!”
Boz wraps his arm around Lera and pulls her close, saying “What can I say, she's ma girl!” to which Lera giggles happily.
A smile appears on Miyra's face. Seeing childhood friend's becoming as close as these two have puts a smile on her face. She opens up a blueprint of a building on the table in front her and begins tracing a path through it with a piece of white chalk. She begins talking with them about how they are going to get into the building, detailing entry and insertion points while showing them where the Sigil Head's will probably be at during their attack.
By the time she is about halfway through the second floor, Miyra looks up and says abruptly “What do you two think of the JB so far?”
“It seems like you guy's have been keeping the streets clean of the Sigil Heads, but there's been a lot of death. You have figured out what the Sigil Head's were planning, though, and you've been keeping me and my friends safe, so you're alright in my book.” Boz says back.
Miyra responds with “Well, it's good to be appreciated! Ya know, that's really what our job is. We might be trying to keep June safe, but doing this kind of stuff on your planet is our secondary goal! Ya know, protecting the innocent and what-not!”
Boz laughs, along with Lera “Now that's a directive I can stand behind! Defending the weak and fighting the bad guys! The way it should be! If I didn't have so much love for this town, I would probably come with you guy's when this is all over!”
Miyra crosses her arms while saying “Ya know, there is always an alternative! You could join us, but stay in your hometown! You'd be like a lookout if any enemy forces come to your world!” A thought then gleams in Miyra's mind before she says “Oh! Or you could stay here until we have a mission for you to do! You could defend your hometown while working for us! How about that!?”
Lera says back to Miyra while staying in Boz's arm “You know, that actually sounds like a really good idea, Miyra! I would love to see more of the universe and what else is out there! I think I'm going to take you up on that offer!”
“If Lera's in, then so am I! We'll be like a crime fighting duo! A samurai and a ninja, fighting side-by-side for the greater good and to protect their town! That sounds freaking awesome!” Boz exclaims.
“You'd be doing more than protecting your hometown. You'd be defending the entire damned universe, man! Now, let's get down to this briefing!” Miyra says before continuing to trace the course throughout the antenna station. She continues describing to them the area and the plan until she is eventually finished.