Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digital Reflection ❯ Chapter 4: Massacre at Milan ( Chapter 4 )

Digital Reflection

By Wolf O'Donnell

Author's Note: Digimon is copyrighted by Bandai and Toei Animation. All other characters are probably copyrighted by me. I am copyrighted by Nintendo, but that has nothing to do with the story. This fanfic is set within a completely different dimension from any of the TV shows or comics and features a lot of death, so if you're squeamish about that sort of thing, leave now. Visit my website at http://strwlf.cjb.net. 'Nuff said. Read fic now please. (P.S this story is a bit slow to start, the Digimon might not appear until at least three chapters into the story).

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Chapter 4: Massacre at Milan
"So, you're a DigiAnthrope too, eh?" chuckled Kari, with a smile on her face. "Well, that's just fine with me. Just makes this more interesting!" She swept her arm out in front of her, and a long baton of light green energy appeared in her hand. "I may have missed you the last time, but this time you're going down!" With a roar, she leapt towards Kai.
The newly transformed DigiAnthrope leapt back and then opened his mouth. A huge beam of cold energy flew out of his mouth and towards Kari, whom leapt out of the way. He lunged at her, and swiped at her with sharp claws. The sabre of light green energy in her hand collided with his sharp claws, nearly trimming them. He curled away, and then fired another Howling Blaster at her.
Josh, as he had been called, flung a punch at Cody, knocking the American out.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," he commented, as he knelt down and picked up Prof. Shibumi. He looked around him. Paul was out cold. Cody was in the same state, as was Takeru. He looked towards the girl that was with them. 'She's too scared to do anything about this' he realised, before turning round. "Kari, I'm making a stop at Aldershot before we go back to Yamaki. I'll meet you back at HQ."
"Okay," agreed Kari, as she held her sabre with two hands. It broke apart, and divided into several lasers that flew through the air and nearly hit Kai.
The furry DigiAnthrope leapt over the lasers and towards her, in the hope of pinning her to the ground.
"No! Kai, stay back!" shouted Fumiko all of a sudden.
Kai landed short of Kari with a frown on his lupine face. He turned round to face her.
"What for?" he asked her, in a growling voice, that surprised even him.
Fumiko walked cautiously up to her Kari, and looked at the woman more carefully.
"You're her, aren't you?" she asked the woman. She fought hard to fight back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "You're my sister. You're Hikari, my long lost, sister."
"You must be delirious girl," stated Kari, as she looked at the girl with eyes so much like hers. "I have no sister."
"No, I don't believe that," protested Fumiko half-angrily. "You are my sister. I recognise you. It's hard to believe I know, I saw you go into the train station before they bombed it, but... you are my sister and you're alive." She could remember seeing the dead body of her mother in the wreckage back during the dark days of World War Three. It was a traumatising experience, and what upset her even more was the fact that she couldn't find her older sister anywhere. Not even the police could find her sister's body, even after the wreckage was cleared away and the dead bodies and the survivors were taken away.
Kari laughed.
"You don't know what you're talking about, girl," she sneered. "I am Kari Yamaki, the daughter of Sora Yamaki and you are definitely not my sister." She charged up a sphere of energy in her hand, and raised her arm. "I tire of this. You are all getting in my way. Now perish." She fired a powerful shot into the ceiling and the entire thing came crashing down around them.

'How did Marshal Kaplan know about my past?' wondered Captain Reisz, as he strapped himself into the cockpit of his Mech. As he stood within the cargo plane, he began to think. There was no way that the Marshal could have known. He had been careful to ensure that there were no anomalies in the history of his new persona that he had adopted. It had not always been like this, though. Once he was known as Yamato Gennai, and he had no need for concealing his past.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Miyako!" he called out. The young boy looked all around him, as he stood in the lush courtyard with its cherry trees. The wind blew and the pink petals came off, swirling around him. The young boy had silver hair, parted in the middle, with bangs that covered his eyebrows; hair that was ruffled by the wind that blew through the courtyard of the Palace.
The boy stopped and looked down to the pond he stood next to. His clothes were of a distinguished nature, as they should be. After all, he was the son of the Japanese Prime Minister. The white suit, with gold and black trim, the black bow tie. He hated having to dress up like this, but his father did want him to look his best for the press conference. And if he didn't find his sister in time for that press conference, he was going to be in big trouble.
"Miyako!" he called out. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here, Yama," replied a voice to his side.
The boy, Yamato, turned round and saw his sister standing underneath the shade of a cherry tree. He smiled, as he saw the solemn look on his sister's face.
"Come on, we're late," he said, as he went up to her.
"Captain Reisz, sir!"

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Captain Reisz, sir!" repeated the voice, disturbing the Captain's train of thought.
Reisz reached out with a gloved finger and pressed a button.
"Yes?" he exclaimed.
"We're approaching the Milan Base, sir," came the reply.
"Thank you," thanked Reisz, as he prepared himself. This battle was going to be like no other he had fought before.

The soldiers in the Milan Base still wore the green military uniforms of the old UN Organisation in protest against Kaplan's takeover of the UN. None of them recognised Kaplan as the Head of the UN Organisation. That was soon to be their shortcoming. Sirens suddenly wailed through the silence. They were under attack!

Five Mechs advanced towards the military base. None of them were camouflaged. There was no need for camouflage in this operation. It was going to be a full frontal assault using superior military technology against inferior.
A missile flew from the base and curved towards one of the Mechs. It raised its gun and aimed, firing at the missile. The thing exploded before it even reached the Mech. It advanced forward, firing at the tanks that were even now moving out of the base towards them. There was an explosion. One of the tanks had been destroyed.
"Spread out!" ordered Reisz, as he piloted a black Mech around the gunfire that flew through the air. He aimed the laser cannon of his Mech down towards the base. 'Destroy the base's defences and they'll have to surrender' he thought. He fired. The laser flew through the air and he accidentally caught a fighter jet with the laser. 'Damn! Wrong target! This thing is hard to aim with' he thought. Still, at least he managed to destroy an enemy unit.
"Behind you, Rob!" warned Thornton.
Lt. Axelrod listened to his friend's warning and turned round and saw a rocket launcher aiming at him. He turned his laser cannon round and fired. The laser flew through the air and in a matter of seconds, there was an explosion and the rocket launcher was no more. He fired the boosters on his Mech and it practically flew across the ground towards the defending battalion. He lashed out with the left hand of the Mech and crushed a tank.

The General looked at the radar screen. 'How is this possible?' he wondered. 'Five of those EVA units are wiping out our defence with little effort.' This was not good. The base shook violently and dust fell from the ceiling.
"Status report, now!" he shouted, before brushing some dust off his green former UN uniform.
"We've lost the front line of defence!" came a shout. "Second line's been breached! We've lost 20 units!"
"I didn't want to do this, but you forced me," he muttered under his breath. "Prep the Annan Cannon! We'll blow these fools to Kingdom come!"

Reisz fired the boosters on his Mech, and flew backwards away from the missile. He shifted the control stick to the right, and veered out of the way. Whirling round, he aimed and fired. The defence cannon was rubble mere moments later. A red light flashed on the control panel, as his Mech suddenly shuddered. He felt the thing topple over, and tried to regain its balance.
"Thornton, cover me!" he cried.
"Yes, sir!"
He raised his gun up into the air and fired at the fighter jets. One was hit and he watched as it fell from the sky, trailing smoke, before it exploded. Glancing sideways, he looked at the radar. Thornton was beside him.
"I'm moving in and taking out the last of the defence cannons," explained Reisz. "I want you to..." He trailed, off when he saw another cannon appear. It seemed larger than the other cannons.
It lowered and then fired. Two Mechs were caught in the line of fire and were practically turned to ashes by the power of the laser.
"What the Heck is that?" exclaimed Axelrod, horrified that it had already taken out two UN soldiers.
"I'm going in!" cried Reisz, as he fired his boosters. "Aim for the west side of the base!"
"Affirmative," agreed Thornton, as he aimed to the west and then started firing.
Reisz knew that the hangars and barracks were in that direction. He was sure that the rebels would concentrate on defending those, while he moved in and took out the last obstacle to their capturing the base. The Annan Cannon, which was the one that had wiped out those two Mech units, aimed at him. He looked into the barrel carefully and suddenly saw it glowing. He veered to the left, narrowly missing the laser that smashed into the ground, punching a hole through it. It fired again. He banked to the left. Weaving in and out of the lasers, he made his way towards the cannon. Aiming to his side, he fired at the remaining defence cannons, destroying them. 'Now for the last one' he thought. Firing his boosters, his Mech leapt up into the air. The cannon followed him. He fired down at it.

The base shook violently again.
"General Romanelli, sir! The Annan Cannon has been destroyed!"
"What?" cried the General angrily. He looked at the statistics. "Send a message out to them. We have no other choice but to surrender."

"This is General Romanelli," announced the voice over Reisz's transceiver, as he stood at a respectable distance away from the ruined military base. "We are willing to surrender to you."
Lt. Axelrod laughed.
"Surrender is not an option," he chuckled. He thought back to his friends, the ones that had been killed by the Annan Cannon. No. He was not going to let them get away with that. "We are here to execute you for rebelling against Marshal Kaplan." He pressed a few buttons on his control panel. 'Time to aim the missiles and destroy them.'
"What are you talking about?" asked Thornton. He then gasped in horror, as he watched his friend fire several missiles towards the military base. "Have you gone crazy?"
Reisz couldn't believe it.
"Axelrod, what do you think you're doing?" he shouted angrily, as he took aim and fired at the missiles, but to no avail. They were far too quick for him. They hit the base, and there were several explosions. He took his hands off his controls and shielded his eyes from the blinding light of the explosion.

General Romanelli couldn't believe what had happened, as he dragged his way towards the control panel. He had lost the use of his legs in the explosion and many others had not been as lucky as him.
"Heartless scum," he spat angrily, as he reached up to the control panel in front of him. He prayed that it was still functioning, as he reached for a lever. "I won't let you and Kaplan get away with this disgusting crime!" He pulled the lever down, before he gave out his last breath.

Missiles flew through the air. Thornton turned round just in time to see them hurtle straight towards him. He could do nothing. They smashed into his Mech, exploding and turning him and his Mech into a smoking, twisted mass of metal.
"Thornton!" screamed Axelrod in disbelief. He turned his gaze towards Reisz. "You! How could you have just stood there and let him die like that?"
"Axelrod," began Captain Reisz, "I couldn't have done anything more to save Thornton than you could have."
Lt. Axelrod wasn't listening however. He aimed the cannon of his Mech and then fired at his own superior officer.
"You do not deserve to be a member of His Excellency's Army!" he screamed, as he opened fire. He reached out for the controls and fired his one remaining missile towards Captain Reisz.
"Stop this at once!" shouted Reisz, as he dodged the cannonfire and then fired at the oncoming missile, destroying it before it reached him. "You've already done enough to harm your chances of escaping a Court Martial, don't make it worse for yourself." He fired his boosters, and veered left, banking right, avoiding Lt. Axelrod's hysterical shots. 'He's gone insane' he realised, as he tried to get closer to Axelrod's Mech. 'I've got to find a way to stop him.' He aimed and fired back at the Lieutenant, just as Axelrod took aim and fired back.
There was an explosion as one of their Mechs was destroyed and one of them was killed.

Using all his strength, Paul lifted the heavy piece of former house. Underneath was Kai and the others. They had been miraculously saved, when the rubble had failed to crush them and merely formed some sort of roof over them.
With a groan, Kai slowly opened his eyes. 'I've got to stop waking up like this' was his first thought. The first thing he saw was Paul standing in front of him, offering a hand out to the brown-haired teenager.
"Thanks," he said, as he grabbed Paul's hand and was helped up to his feet. "What happened to Professor Shibumi?"
"Gone, I'm afraid," sighed Paul, as he helped Fumiko up to her feet. "Be thankful that you guys are still alive."
"Why isn't anyone here to help?" Kai wondered out loud, and then he saw it. The entire street was devestated. Nothing remained and fires were raging all around them. "What happened? It looks as if World War Three struck, again."
"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the duo that kidnapped Shibumi," was Paul's reply. He felt slightly sick in his stomach, when he realised what they had done. It was nothing short of genocide, and why? He couldn't understand. Had Kaplan ordered this, or was it Yamaki? He wasn't sure, but he knew that they had to leave as soon as possible, before the emergency services arrived. "We've got to get going," stated Paul. "Koushiro is probably the only person that can help us, and if we're to catch up with them we have to get going now."
"Sure, but first, Kai needs to get some clothes," said Fumiko sternly. "I'm not travelling with someone who looks like he's been mauled by a lion."

They sat in chairs on either side of the small round coffee table. The room around them was extravagantly decorated, like a palace of sorts. Specifically, they were in Versailles, discussing the future of the new UN Organisation. The man in the chair to the right was none other than Marshal Neil Kaplan, the new Head of the UN Organisation. The man opposite him was dressed in a black business suit, a grey trenchcoat and hat hanging on the coat hanger behind him. This man was a Representative from the Pecunia Conglomerate, the territory that had once been the United States of America.
"Marshal Kaplan, I understand that the new UN has the best interest of the Earth's nations in mind, but I am beginning to wonder whether you taking over the UN is such a good idea," stated the representative.
Kaplan frowned at his comment.
"What do you mean?" he asked the representative. "Chairman Prince was very pleased at the idea."
"EVA supplied many of the UN's weapons, so what has recently happened is merely a change of power," explained the representative calmly, as he leaned back into his chair. "Nothing has changed much, Commander Kaplan." He smiled, a strange and threatening smile. "You must realise that Pecunia still controls your funding. We have received word that you are still funding Dr. Yamaki's DigiModification Project."
"Yes, that is true," agreed Kaplan.
"Well, we have found a new use for that money," sneered the representative. "We asked you to cut the funding to Yamaki's project two weeks ago. Why have you not complied?"
With a sigh, Kaplan replied, "Dr. Yamaki's project has only just recently showed good results, that I believe will be of use later on."
The representative shook his head.
"Cut the funding to Yamaki's project, or we will cut funding to the UN completely," he threatened. "And without our funding, the UN will quickly break apart."
"Very well," sighed Kaplan reluctantly. "As of tomorrow, the funding will no longer go to Dr. Yamaki." For a while, he was silent, as he looked at the two glasses of wine on the table in front of them. Neither glass had been touched. "May I ask to whom you are giving the money?"
"You will find out in due time, Marshal Kaplan," replied the representative, as he rose from his seat. He walked over to the hangar, grabbing his coat and hat. "I'm afraid I do not have more time to spend here with you and must take my leave." He politely said his farewell to the Marshal, before leaving the room with a faint smile on his face. 'Marshal Kaplan thinks he is the ruler of the Earth now' he thought with an amused smile. 'How wrong he is. Soon, Pecunia will take centre stage and Kaplan will be ousted to the sidelines. It's only a matter of time.'

To be continued...