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Legends of the HV; The Guardian Saga: A DuskWar Novel
Sentient Society: Chapter 32, Part 1

Sentient Society: Chapter 32, Part 1

With the dead of night having set in, Raphael's team sets about their siege. Leaping down from the rooftops above, the three members of his team, along with a retinue of fifteen UMA soldiers, set off towards the faculty offices.

During which, Konichi and her friend Yosuke have gotten into the principal's office, and are searching for clues to sate Carie's interest. “Found anything yet, Yosuke?”

“Nothin'. Why are we here again?” Yosuke says from near a set of bookshelves.

“A friend of mine asked me to find something incriminating. She seemed pretty adamant about my dad being a bad guy.” Konichi says while searching the principal's desk and looking through papers.

“So, you're just doing this to prove her wrong? Doesn't seem very responsible.”

“Yeah, I know, but if I don't find anything, then maybe she can stop worrying about my dad being a villain and get back to studying.”

“Heh, sounds like you're going the extra mile for your friend.”

“Yes, and it's because I care about her. I take my friendships very, very seriously.”

“Well, lets just get this over with before security finds us. I would like to not have 'broke into the principal's office' on my permanent record.”

“Yeah, same here.” Konichi says before hearing the sound of the front door of the building being slammed in. “What was that?” she asks, her head shooting towards the sound.

The sound of the crash causes Yosuke to unexpectedly push in a book on the shelf when he meant to push it to the side “The hell...?”

Yosuke watches as the bookshelf compresses back, and then pushes to the side, revealing a stairway leading into a hidden base. “Uh, 'Oni...?”

Konichi steps towards the now open secret entrance “How did I not know that this was-”

Before Konichi can finish her sentence, two wall-mounted turrets appear on opposite sides of the entrance. “Oh shit! 'Oni, run!” Yosuke yells before the turrets begin to fire.

Konichi runs out of the room immediately, expecting Yosuke to be behind her, but all she hears is a yelp of pain, and the collapse of a body behind her as the turrets begin to fire. She wants to help Yosuke, but she's too scared to look back, she just continues to run.

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Hoshi, who is patrolling near the faculty offices, hears the crash and gunfire soon after, causing him to rush into the building and towards the noise.

Konichi runs as fast as she can through the building, screaming for help the entire way. In time, she runs directly into Raphael's team, which, upon seeing that they are armed and wearing futuristic body armor, screams even louder and runs in the opposite direction. “Wait, stop! We're just trying to help!” Raphael yells as she runs off.

“Don't worry about her, the investigation group has patrols going around the campus. They'll find her and keep her safe.” Miyra says while gauging her custom minigun “We have a job to do.”

Raphael sighs and nods towards Miyra “Keep moving. To the principal's office, now!” he yells before continuing his attack, with his squad moving with him.

Within time, the squad arrives at the principal's office, and sees what is left of Yosuke “Damn, turrets tore him apart.” Raphael thinks before noticing that the automated turrets are still active. They begin to fire on him, but he activates his kinetic barrier in time, the bullets bouncing off of the barrier's azure hexagons harmlessly.

Miyra moves up from behind Raphael and sends out a flurry of bullets from her minigun. The rounds rip through the turrets, disabling them before they even send out another twenty rounds.

Raphael moves into the room, stating as he enters “There's bound to be more defenses inside, probably his victims as well. Everyone stay on your toes, and if we encounter those inflicted by the mind-control, use the stun rounds provided. Now, let's go!” before making his way down the secret entrance with his soldiers in tow.

Rushing through the faculty offices, Hoshi has his flashlight at the ready “Could it be that...?” he mutters to himself as he searches through the building, checking every hallway he can along the way. In time, he hears muffled whimpering from inside of an office. He moves into the room, following the noise.

Inside, he hears someone whispering a name, along with rapid, hysterical sobbing. He searches through the room, and finds the source hiding under a desk.

Konichi hides her eyes from the shine of the flashlight, and positions herself against the corner of the desk. Hoshi sees the apparent fear in her actions, so he moves his flashlight away from her, saying “Hey, calm down, I'm just here to help.”

Konichi, in deep hysteria, continues to mutter Yosuke's name repeatedly. Hoshi, seeing no other way of dissuading the situation, puts his flashlight to the side and sits down nearby. “I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, I'll wait. If you need to talk, I'm here to talk. Even if we have to wait until tomorrow comes, I'll do it. Whenever you calm down, I'll be here.”

Seeing that Hoshi is no threat, Konichi nods her head, but says nothing. “Okay. Whenever you want to talk, just let me know.”

Thus, they sit in silence. For two hours, Konichi says not a word. In the end, she mutters “Turrets. In my dad's office. I... I think they killed my friend.”

“Turrets? Damn, I guess our hunch was right....” Hoshi mutters.

“Hunch? Are you one of Carie's friends? She was saying crazy things about my dad. I... I didn't think they were true....”

“We... had reason to believe he was behind something very nefarious. I'm just glad you got away.”

“There's... something else....” Oni quietly mutters.

“What else?” Hoshi asks.

“When I was running away, I saw... others. People in body armor with weapons. I think they were going towards my dad's office....”

Hoshi lowers his head, knowing who they likely are “I suppose he did wake up a little, after what happened....”