The Ramarian Crisis

By DarkHorse

Chapter 10: Casualties of War

Shibuya Ward, Tokyo

L t. Col. Scott Biggs looked out the window of the room he was using as a base of operations. It was still dark, not quite dawn. But it didn't matter. Right across the street was the condominium the aliens were purportedly using as their base of operations. It was a very fancy place. For the umpteenth time, he wondered how those bastards were able to afford to pay for first class accommodations. Not only that, how they were able to afford the services of the Yakuza.

"Sir!" A lieutenant in front of a bank of computers called out. "We're finally getting a thermal reading."

Biggs turned away from the window and glanced first at his junior officer and then at the primary monitor. It was indeed showing some thermal images. Finally!

He took the few steps necessary to get a closer glimpse. The monitor showed four men in blue, yellow and red colors indicating their heat signatures. Even though the images do not show enough details to determine the sex, Biggs felt sure they were men by the way they moved. They seem to be busy packing and moving a lot of equipment. Unfortunately, it was impossible to determine what equipment was being moved. Well, they were gonna find out soon enough.

There was something off about the colors though. Biggs had seen several thermal images in the past and the colors on this one didn't seem right. He tapped his lieutenant lightly on the back. "Talk to me, Evans."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant responded. "I'm sure you noticed something odd about the images. Well, I've just run a diagnostic just to make sure our equipment is functioning fine. Well, sir, the diagnostics package didn't find anything wrong with our scopes."

Lt. Evans tapped one of the men on the monitor. "See the heat signature of this person. It's all wrong. Some parts of him that should be showing red are showing blue. Those that are blue are showing yellow, and so on and so forth."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'm saying, sir, that we hit pay dirt. Looks like our snitch was right on the money." Lt. Evans glanced up at the colonel before turning back to his computer. "These are non-human heat signatures, sir."

Biggs considered that for a moment. "Any possibility that those men are just wearing special gear that throws off our readings?"

"Very unlikely, sir. Our scopes are the very latest in technology. They'd be able to properly scan body heat regardless of their outer clothing."

Biggs nodded mutely. Just then, a hiss of static came through his personal radio. The static was caused by the special encryption system built into their communications gear. Someone was trying to contact him.

He reached for the radio clipped on his belt, held it close to his mouth and depressed the Talk button. "This is Raptor 1."

"Raptor 1, this is Raptor 2," the voice on the radio said. "Raptor 2" was the code for Major Ronald Cummings, Biggs' second-in-command for this mission. Cummings had been with his team for as long as he could remember. They'd saved each other's lives in more than one occasion. From the last report, Biggs knew that Cummings was currently staking out one of suspected bases of Tanaka.

"Go ahead, Raptor 2."

"We found the rat's lair at Location 2. Repeat the lair is at Location 2."

"Roger that, Raptor 2. Lair is at Location 2." So, Biggs thought, Tanaka's base was at that appliance warehouse. If it were another Marine he would take the time to ask how he was able to arrive at that assessment. But this was Ron. He had the seemingly uncanny ability to make incredibly accurate assessments on the field.

"You're not gonna like this, Scott," Biggs heard on the radio, "but there's a lot of activity here. Repeat, a lot of activity. It looks like they're getting ready to deploy."

"Roger that, Ron. Standby for instructions. Raptor 1 Out."

Biggs' brows furrowed in deep thought. You never get what you want in the battlefield. There was always something that will come at you that you didn't expect. The primary mission objective has always been to locate the aliens and then terminate them. Well, they found the aliens. What the hell was he doing still thinking about things?

"Evans, assemble the men."

* * * * *

Umi slowly opened her eyes and frowned into the darkness. Even without knowing the time, she knew that this was too early for her to wake up. But something did wake her up. Her brows furrowed in mild concentration. There were, among others, the usual early morning sounds of birds rustling the leaves of the trees where they perched, getting ready for the new day. There was also the sound of the scuffing of paws digging the earth, as if searching for some lost treasure. That could only be Hikari, Hikaru's pet dog cum wolf. These sounds were quite faint and therefore, would not have been responsible for waking Umi up.

No, Umi decided, it was something else. A feeling of disquiet fell over Umi. A vague sense of something that wasn't right. Except she couldn't really put a finger to it. The blue-haired girl began scanning the now familiar surroundings. Her eyes rested on the sleeping form beside her.

As always, Hikaru was fast asleep, oblivious to the world around her. It amazed both Umi and Fuu that their leader could sleep like that regardless of what had happened that day or whatever problems they knew they would face the next one. Looking down, Umi noted that Hikaru's hair was unbound and it lay in glorious disarray surrounding her sleeping head like some kind of fiery halo. Umi could not understand why the redhead insisted in keeping her hair braided in a pigtail when she had marvelous hair.

For a brief moment, Umi could not reconcile this peacefully sleeping bundle of cuteness that was Hikaru to the fearsomely courageous Fire Knight and Pillar that was the other side of her identity. Umi shrugged off that particular thought and concentrated again on that sense of unease that was gnawing at her.

After several more minutes of introspection, she gave up. After all, in their group, she was not the one given to premonitions and stuff. Actually, Hikaru was the one who usually had those strange dreams and visions. And if she's sound asleep, perhaps everything was indeed okay.

Umi laid back down and forcibly shrugged of her unease. It was difficult but in the end, her exhaustion from the effort was the one that gave her the sleep that she longed for.

* * * * *

Fuu lay wide-eyed on her bed. She had been that way for several inutes now. Although her mind was still befuddled by drowsiness, she was already lucid enough to realize that her waking up suddenly at the crack of dawn was not in her nature.

Upon closer introspection, she discovered that she had feelings of fear and anxiety. But fear of what? Anxious of what?

Fuu knew better than to dismiss these feelings. Miss Hikaru is going to call me, the Wind Knight thought. Any time now.

Several more minutes had passed and…nothing. Slowly, Fuu sat up and glanced at the glowing digital face of her clock sitting on her desk beside her phone. Just a little past three in the morning. Would it be all right to call?

This is a crisis situation, the teenager thought. Until the alien threat was totally eliminated they would continually be in a crisis situation. Therefore, it was perfectly acceptable to call.

Having made her decision, the Wind Knight threw off her blanket, got up and marched the three steps to her phone.

* * * * *

"You have done an excellent job, Lezle," Supreme Commander Higon commented to his assistant as he surveyed the control room of the Amplification Chamber.

"Thank you, Supreme Commander," the younger scientist did not bother to hide her pleasure upon hearing the praise from no less than the greatest scientist who ever existed. "I have made sure that everything is as you designed."

"Yes," Higon said softly, as if he was talking to himself, "I can see that." The elderly scientist-turned-Supreme Commander walked towards the thick glass that separated the control room from the cavernous chamber beyond. He carefully swept his eyes all over the chamber. The moment Rogo first reported the existence of human beings capable of generating enough energy to create wormholes, he had already envisioned a way of harnessing that energy.

And here, before him, was the embodiment of that vision. Whatever Lezle lacked in inventiveness and creativity she made up for in her ability to follow instructions perfectly.

The wormholes created by the human females were only large enough to allow their own kind to pass through. It was not enough for what Higon needed. The room-sized silver sphere suspended in the middle of the chamber by cables and tubes was the key to amplifying the power of the females, the key to creating wormholes large enough to allow passage for his entire fleet.

"What is the amplification ratio?" Higon asked his assistant without taking his eyes off the sphere.

"Based on our last test, it is at five hundred percent, Supreme Commander. According to the power output measurements Rogo has taken from the last wormhole, it should be enough for what we need."

"Excellent. Let's see how it works."

"Of course, Supreme Commander," Lezle replied eagerly. She walked over to one of the two other scientists who were also in the room working on the various instruments and computers that surrounded the room. "Bring in an energy cube."

The scientist Lezle ordered nodded, pressed a key on his terminal and then relayed the command. From outside the glass, the occupants of the control room could see a platform extending from an unseen origin underneath the control room towards the sphere.

An outline of a door began to gradually appear on the sphere even as the platform inched towards it. When the platform finally touched the sphere, its door slid open revealing three metallic reclining chairs arranged in a triangle, their backs touching the others.

After a few moments the figure of a male Ramarian wearing a white protective suit could be seen walking the platform heading towards the open sphere. In his two hands he carried a cube that was faintly glowing with blue light. He entered the sphere and placed the cube gently on the chair facing the entrance. He then backed away slowly. Upon exiting the sphere he turned and walked back to where he came from. The scientist Lezle spoke touched another key, which retracted the platform.

Higon saw the door to the sphere slide close. The outline of the door began to dissipate, merging with the rest of the surface until the entire sphere was one solid mass. The Supreme Commander spared a moment to cast his eyes away from the chamber to watch Lezle and the other scientists work on their computers.

"Supreme Commander," Lezle called out when she saw that she had the attention of the older scientist, "I would like you to see something.

Higon approached Lezle and glanced at the several monitors arrayed in front of him. One of the monitors showed what looked like energy readings. "Those energy readings," he said pointing to the monitor, "those are from the energy cube, correct?"

"That is correct, Sir," Lezle confirmed, nodding eagerly. "As you can see, we can monitor the energy levels of whatever it is that's in the room. At any time we choose, we can just touch this key," she indicated the glowing red button amidst all the other glowing green and yellow buttons on the terminal, "and the device will start amplifying the energy."

Higon nodded once. "Do it," he commanded.

Lezle reached over and touched the red button. All eyes then turned to watch the sphere, which almost immediately began to glow faintly with blue energy. After a moment, the tubes attached to the sphere began to glow as well as energy began to transfer into them.

All too soon, all glowing stopped. Higon glanced back at the bank of monitors, reading the columns of numbers that started appearing.

"Truly impressive," Higon murmured.

"Thank you, Sir," Lezle gushed.

"Open the sphere."

For a moment, Lezle's expression faltered not understanding why the Supreme Commander wanted to see the inside of the sphere. She eventually turned back to the terminal and touched a few keys. The door reappeared on the sphere and slid open. Voluminous smoke wafted out of the entrance, obscuring whatever view those in the control room would have had of the inside of the sphere.

Eventually the smoke dissipated. No evidence of the energy cube could be seen. Higon turned to look at Lezle. "It appears that the device totally disintegrates the energy container."

"I'm afraid that couldn't be helped, Supreme Commander," Lezle responded with the right amount of regret in her voice.

"A pity," Higon said simply. "But then, I guess, after the human females have transported us to their planet, we wouldn't have any more need for them. It would have been a good opportunity to study them though." He straightened and turned to fully face his assistant. "That was an impressive demonstration, Lezle. Make sure that this device is totally ready for our guests."

"Yes, Sir," Lezle replied enthusiastically as she watched her hero walk out of the room.

* * * * *

Lieutenants Hiroshi Ramirez and Machiko Nomuri walked into the lobby of the Yoyogi Park Mansion condominium hand in hand, pretending to be lovers wanting some privacy to satisfy their desires. Both were sufficiently Japanese-looking despite their somewhat mixed ancestry that they were the obvious choice to perform this bit of reconnaissance. All their playacting turned out to be for nothing as the lobby was deserted. Why wouldn't it be? It was after all just a little past three in the morning.

"We're in,"Ramirez whispered, confident that his voice was loud enough to be picked up by the miniature microphone built into the earpiece he wore. "Looks like the receptionist took a break too."

"Roger that, Peregrine 1," Ramirez heard the reply in his earpiece. He glanced at his partner as they both reached the Reception counter. He indicated to her that she should go ahead and scout the other areas of the lobby to make sure there was truly nobody around. When Nomuri left, he turned his attention back to the counter. There was an open door slightly out of view just behind the counter covered by wall.

Ramirez turned around until his back was against the counter. He planted both his hands on the countertop behind him and pulled himself up. He swung his legs over and, using his hands once more, propelled himself over the other side. He landed quietly and started walking stealthily through the door.

Just inside the room was the receptionist contentedly watching TV while reclining on a swivel chair, his legs propped up on the table. Ramirez slowly reached for his silenced Glock hidden under his jacket at his back and pulled it out, carefully aiming it at the back of the receptionist's head. With his left hand, he tapped the shoulder of the receptionist.

The receptionist jumped, clearly startled. Instinctively, he turned and was about to give a yelp of surprise only to find the barrel of a large gun deep in his mouth, almost causing him to gag. His eyes were totally wide with fright. The receptionist raised both his hands reflexively. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He thought things like this happened only on television.

Ramirez smiled wickedly down at the frightened boy. He raised his left pointer finger and placed it against his lips in a universal sign of silence and then again gestured for the boy to start rising out of the chair.

"Do not be afraid," Ramirez said in perfect Japanese. "As long as you follow my instructions, you won't get hurt. Do you understand?"

The hapless receptionist could only nod mutely, his eyes almost bulging out of his eyes.

"Do you have a hanky?"

Again, a nod.

"Good, now bring it out slowly."

The receptionist slowly lowered one shaking hand towards his pocket. He slowly pulled out a white handkerchief.

"For your sake, I hope that handkerchief is clean because you'll be stuffing it down your mouth," the Marine said with a smile calculated to make his prisoner relax a bit but not too much. "Now, when I remove my gun from your mouth, you stuff that in your mouth. Understand?"

The receptionist nodded, only slightly less shakily as he realized he might not die after all. As he raised his hanky towards his mouth he noted that the man was reaching behind and under his jacket. He then pulled out a thick roll of duct tape with a flourish.

* * * * *

When Ramirez emerged from the room he was already dressed in the receptionist's uniform. It was a bit ill fitting but it should do for now. He saw Nomuri already surrounded by around twenty black clad members of his team, all armed to the teeth. Nomuri, herself, was already armed with a silenced MP5 with another one in her left hand. This she tossed at him. He caught it neatly in his right hand and immediately stowed it in a shelf just under the counter.

"The central electrical controls are in that room," Ramirez said, indicating the room he had just emerged from as he lifted part of the countertop to allow his teammates to pass through. Nomuri nodded and rushed through the divide to enter the room accompanied by a black clad Marine carrying a large duffel bag filled with an assortment of tools and electronic equipment.

Ramirez closed the gap once more and turned towards the group still waiting. "Go," he said simply. He watched as nineteen fully trained, fully armed Marines quickly but quietly emptied through the door leading to the stairwell.

This'll teach those alien bastards not to mess with Earth people, Ramirez thought darkly.

* * * * *

Rogo packed the remaining power core into his backpack when Lam emerged from his room.

"All set?" Lam asked.

"We're ready," was Rogo's immediate reply.

"Good. Let's g--"

"Wait a minute!"

Both Lam and Rogo turned to Crata who seemed to be busy behind her computers.

"What is it?" Lam asked, approaching the technology officer.

"The computers are detecting several motion signatures coming from the stairwell. They're heading up." Crata punched a few keys and two other monitors came to life showing thermal silhouettes of…men climbing the stairs at a quick pace. They were armed. Crata punched another set of keys. This time another monitor turned on. It seemed to show an image of the roof. There they saw several humans abseiling from two helicopters hovering several feet from the roof.

Lam and Rogo exchanged glances. "Alert everybody," Lam ordered.

"Got it." Rogo raised his wrist to issue the command to defend on his communicator when the lights went out. "What in the--"

* * * * *

"The lights and elevators are out, Sir," Lt. Evans reported.

"Good," Biggs responded. He swept his eyes across the large bank of monitors set up in their room. Each monitor showed the night-vision image captured from the cameras mounted on each Marine's headgear. "Have the men stay put. Those aliens should begin to emerge from their rooms shortly. When they do, instruct the men to fire at will."

"Yes, Sir," Lt. Evans replied.

* * * * *

"What the hell are they doing just sitting there?" Grat asked.

"What else," Lam said, "they're waiting for us to rush out of rooms so that they can take us down."

"Humans are so stupid," Dasma commented with a smirk.

"Well, let's not disappoint them. They want us to come out of our rooms, let's all come out of our rooms then--with guns blazing," Lam said with a wicked smile. "Instruct all the others to do the same."

"You got it," Dasma said with a feral smile of her own.

As one, all the occupants of the various rooms raised their high-powered weapons and trained them on the walls separating them from the human attackers lurking out in the hallways.

* * * * *

"Sir, they're not coming out of their rooms," Evans reported after a while.

"I can see that, Lieutenant," Biggs said that irritably. He glanced up at the monitor showing thermal images of the room across from the window. It showed six figures all facing the far wall…"My God," he breathed, "tell the men to fall back, NOW!"

Just then, multiple loud explosions could be heard not just from the building across the street but from the speakers in the room itself. Several of the men manning the communications equipment threw their headgears down, cupping their ears, bending over in pain. Many of the monitors blanked out as it became apparent that several Marines went down. True enough, the repeated calls of "Man down!" began streaming off the radio speakers.

"Fire at will! Fire at will!" Biggs yelled into the radio as the sound of distant explosions continued. The colonel squeezed Evans' shoulder. "Talk to me, son! What the fuck is happening!?" He demanded.

"Sir, our men are dropping like flies. There's a bit of confusion but the enemy seems to be using some kind of energy weapon."

"God damn! Tell them to fall back!"

"Yes, Sir!"

Biggs dared a glance at the bank of monitors. Of the forty, only a little over twenty were still displaying images…but they were gradually winking off one by one.

* * * * *

"Just where the fuck do you think you're going?"

"Where does it look like I'm going, Hiroshi?" Nomuri asked as she chambered a round in her submachine gun. "I'm going up."

"Colonel Biggs ordered us to fall back," Ramirez said, quickly trying to overtake his counterpart before she reached the stairs. When he caught up with her, he grabbed her arm and yanked her back. "Listen to me--"

"No, you listen to me!" Nomuri screamed, pulling her arm violently from Ramirez's grasp. "Our fellow Marines are dying up there." She fixed Ramirez with a hard glare. "The Marine Corps takes care of its own."

Ramirez returned the glare unflinchingly but it was clear that he was torn. "Oh fuck it! I'm going with you."

Nomuri allowed a momentary show of relief before putting on her mission face. She gave Hiroshi a nod and then, together, they rushed towards the stairs.

* * * * *

Dasma felt the rush in her blood as she plowed through debris, bodies and pouring water from the sprinklers, firing on any human she encountered. After five years of non-action, pretending to be Danielle Fontane, reporter for the L.A. Tribune, she welcomed the battle. Here she was in her element. After all, she was a Ramarian warrior.

Off to her right, she sensed--before she saw--a human taking aim at her. She whirled, leveled her KT-10 plasma displacement gun at her enemy and fired. The KT-10 was not her favorite weapon. She preferred hand-to-hand combat to this but then, one can't always choose the battle.

She would have wanted to enjoy the neat explosion that instantly fried the human but she realized that the human was able to fire at her just before she got him. She could distinctly make out three bullets speeding towards her. Dasma leaped out of the way intending to land cleanly and then roll but one of the bullets caught her in the arm causing her to crash down hard on her side.

She gave a yelp of surprise rather than pain as unexpectedly, another bullet hit her on the shoulder, whipping her around, causing her to drop her weapon. In short order, tiny explosions began erupting around her on the wet flooring as more of the enemy started firing at her earnestly, if not blindly, through the cloud of smoke that fortunately, shielded her from full view.

With rising urgency, Dasma crawled for cover. She spied a room whose door was broken down. She rushed towards it as fast as her hands and knees could take her. Her assailants were relentlessly firing at her.

Just as she was about to enter the safety of the room, she felt two hot bullets puncture her side. Dasma gave a grunt of pain this time. Weaponless and wounded, she knew she needed help. However, the thought of asking for help pained her even more than her wounds.

She was spared from having to swallow her pride when she heard Grat's voice on the comlink. "Dasma, where the hell are you?"

* * * * *

"You, two!" Grat shouted above the din of multiple explosions towards the two Ramarians nearest him. They immediately left the ongoing battle and approached him. "Dasma is down. There are two humans on her. Follow me." Grat began running towards the stairs. The two Ramarians exchanged glances before hurriedly sprinting after Grat.

Back in Ramar, if someone came to them asking for help to save a downed Ramarian, they would have thought him insane and abnormal. Since the destruction of their solar system, however, each Ramarian became a precious resource. Not a bad change of perception, both Ramarians thought.

* * * * *

"What do you mean you're under attack?" Tanaka asked over the comlink.

"I mean precisely that," Lam said in that maddeningly calm voice of his. "There are around forty humans armed with automatic weapons attacking us."

Tanaka could indeed make out the sound of explosions in the background. "But who could be attacking you?"

"That's what I want you to find out, Mr. Tanaka. In the meantime, we will have to change our plans a bit. We'll talk about that later…" The sound of an explosion that came through the comlink was louder. "Could you hold…?" More explosions. "Listen, I'd love to chat but I'm busy at the moment."

"Do you need help…?" Tanaka said but he noted that the comlink went dead. "Something's not right," he said to himself as he lifted the phone.

* * * * *

Special Agent Robert Jenkins strode purposely through the precinct looking for Investigator Hirota. As he rounded the corner, he spotted Hirota walking briskly towards him with a bevy of other police officers. Jenkins knew from the expression on the other's face that something was very wrong. He stopped on his tracks and waited for the other to reach him.

"You look like you're about to puke out your breakfast," Jenkins said as Hirota came within hearing distance.

The premier Japanese police investigator favored his American guest with a wry look. "You don't look too happy yourself, Robert. And by the way, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Well then, that explains it. You shouldn't start a day without breakfast. So tell me what's really wrong," Jenkins said, now walking alongside Hirota, matching him step for step which wasn't very difficult since he was the taller one.

"There have been reports of multiple explosions at a new condominium over at Shibuya," Hirota explained. "We're going over there to investigate."

"I see," Jenkins said, glancing at the several other officers following them. Shouldn't they be bringing the SWAT team over?

"We are bringing the SWAT team over," Hirota said, reading his mind. He gave the American a glance. "You were looking for me?"

"As a matter of fact, I was. It appears that our two astrophysicists have disappeared. They've managed to sneak out of their rooms past the guards."

"Ah," The Japanese shook his head, "any ideas where they might have gone?"

"Yes, of course."

"I trust you want to accompany me on this excursion instead of finding our missing guests," Hirota said as they finally exited the building. He made a beeline towards his car with Jenkins keeping stride.

"With your permission, naturally."

"Do you think this has anything to do with our alien visitors?" He asked just as he was about to enter his car.

When Jenkins got into the passenger's seat he turned his head towards his Japanese counterpart. "Anything is possible," he said with a smirk.

"I just knew you'd say that," Hirota said giving a smirk of his own before speeding towards Shibuya ward.

* * * * *

"Stop wasting ammo," Nomuri urged as she wiped the water from her eyes with a hand.

"I'm not wasting ammo," Ramirez said impatiently. "I'm laying cover fire. You never know with those alien bastards." He was armed with two MP5s now, the other one sequestered from the charred remains of one of their comrades. It was a grizzly sight but both Marines were already used to it having fought in Desert Storm. "Damn! It's hard to see past all the smoke. I wish it'd clear up already."

Both Nomuri and Ramirez were crouching, moving stealthily forward. Hiroshi knew he was able to hit the alien at least twice. He was also equally certain, however, that it was still alive, somewhere just up ahead. They were coming up against a pile of rubble large enough for an alien to hide in by his estimation. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at his partner. He indicated the rubble with his eyes and waited to see the other acknowledge his finding with nod.

Still in a crouch, he inched slowly towards the pile. When he was upon it, he surged forward and twisted his upper body, aiming his two guns at the area behind the rubble. Empty. He called out softly for Nomuri to follow.

"Oh no," Nomuri said forlornly.

"What is it?" Ramirez asked, a note of concern on his voice. He wouldn't want any harm to befall his partner. He edged closer towards his partner who was bent over something on the floor. It wasn't until he was upon her that he recognized it.

"It looks like a civilian," Nomuri said, raising her sad eyes to look at her partner.

Ramirez bent to take a closer look. The body was charred, just like their other fallen comrade. Upon careful scrutiny he could make out parts of the pajama that this person obviously wore. His face took on a hard, steely expression as he looked at Nomuri. "Nothing we can do for this one now. But there is something we can do about the one who caused it."

Nomuri matched the expression of her partner. Together they continued to move forward.

* * * * *

Grat held his hand up. The two Ramarians following him stopped on their tracks. Just beyond the corner Grat could sense the presence of two humans from the sound they made and the vibrations they exuded. He began walking backwards away from the corner. When he was a sufficient distance away, he tapped the comlink on his wrist. "Dasma."

"Still here," came the reply. The voice sounded a tad hoarse to his ear.

"There are two humans in the hall very close to you."

"Yes."

"We are going to throw them a thermal bomb. Move as far away from the wall as you can."

"Yes."

Grat reached into his utility belt and retrieved a small silver sphere. This he handed to one of the Ramarians with him. The Ramarian took it from him and gave a nod. Grat switched places with him so that the other was closest to the corner.

Without speaking a word, they understood what needed to be done. Once the bomb exploded, all three would jump into the hall and simultaneously fire their weapons at the humans. To Grat, it seemed excessive but they had already lost five men to the humans. They weren't going to lose more.

The three edged closer to the corner. The lead Ramarian glanced over his shoulder at Grat. The latter gave a nod. The leader crouched, thumbed the activation switch on the sphere and rolled it into the hallway. He immediately stood. The bomb would explode in five seconds. They waited.

* * * * *

"What was that?" Ramirez froze, straining his ears to the new sound.

"Sounds like something rolling on the floor," Nomuri offered. And then they both saw it. A silver ball the size of a marble was rolling towards them. It stopped a good number of meters away as it lost its momentum having encountered debris on the floor. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Fall back!" Ramirez stood and practically bowled over Nomuri, effectively pushing her backwards, her feet dragging on the floor. Ramirez had no time for niceties. He spied the pile of rubble he encountered earlier. It would make a good cover. Just a few more steps--

The bomb exploded with a deafening crash. Blue thermal energy streaked out in all directions incinerating everything in its path. The incredible pressure from the bomb caused the debris from the resulting destruction to shoot out at speeds exceeding that of a bullet.

Ramirez gave a yelp of pain as dozens of the high-speed irregularly shaped shrapnel pierced his back. The force carried both him and Nomuri several feet over the rubble. They both tumbled head over heals past the pile that was to be their cover with Nomuri ending on top. She immediately lifted herself up from Ramirez.

Ramirez was writhing in pain. Blood was slowly oozing from his mouth. "Hiroshi!" Nomuri screamed.

"T-the p-pain," Ramirez's voice sounded as if he was talking under water. "G-give me your gun and…and a…grenade."

"No! I won't leave you!"

Just then, more explosions rocked the hall as three aliens suddenly appeared and fired at them. Nomuri pushed Ramirez further to the side finally putting the pile of rubble to good use as their cover.

"T-this will not hold them for long. N-now give me the grenade…and go!"

Nomuri was sobbing and shaking her head, copious tears streaming down her face. "No! No! I won't leave you. I won't let you do this!"

"T-there's no time, M-Machiko! Give me the grenade!"

Very reluctantly, Nomuri reached for a concussion grenade from her belt and placed it on Ramirez's shaking, bloody hand.

"Now go, Machiko!" Ramirez pulled the pin from the grenade. He raised his eyes at his partner. "Go, you bitch! Just go!"

Nomuri let out one more loud cry of anguish before hastily crawling away. She took one more glance back and saw her partner rise from the rubble, firing his MP5 repeatedly at the aliens. It was not clear whether he was hitting any of them. But when she saw several burst of blue energy rip through his body, he may not have gotten any one of them at all. With a final battle cry, he threw the grenade before he was totally cut down. The grenade exploded just as she reached the corner that led to the stairs.

"Hiroshi…"

* * * * *

The double explosion disintegrated the wall that protected the room Dasma hid in. Several large pieces of concrete from the wall and plaster from the ceiling partially buried her. One particularly large portion of the wall pinned her legs down. For several moments, she just lay there, desolate and in pain.

When she finally opened her eyes she could see right into the hallway or at least what was left of it. It was only after she cast her eyes about her that she realized her predicament. With what remaining strength she had she pushed her way out of the pieces of debris that was pinning her down. When at last she was free she began to crawl towards the hall. At first she was afraid that there still might be humans lurking just waiting for her to emerge but after stretching her senses and detecting no one, she gained the confidence to crawl. She made her way towards the last known position she knew Grat to be.

There was debris everywhere. She also saw several body parts. It was not clear whether they were from humans or Ramarians as the latter were also disguised as humans. One could only tell from the blood. Ramarian blood was blue. But because of the sprinkler systems, what blood there was, was washed away.

Dasma tensed when suddenly she heard the sound of feet running up the stairs. If the humans had come back, there would be no escaping them.

"Dasma!" She heard her name being called. It was Rogo's voice.

"I'm here!" She called out.

In a matter of seconds, Rogo, together with other members of the Ramarian team appeared in what used to be the hallway. He rushed towards her with concern etched on his human face. "You weren't answering our call through the comlink."

Both sets of eyes fell on Dasma's wrist where the comlink was, battered and utterly damaged. "I guess I would have if it was still working. Did you try calling Grat?" She asked, hoping against hope that he might have survived and was not among those that were obviously buried here.

"Yes, we did," answered Rogo watching Dasma's reaction carefully. "There was also no answer."

Dasma cast her eyes away from Rogo and diverted it towards the heavy rubble that totally covered the floor. Somewhere under there was Grat. For several seconds she allowed her eyes to linger over the wreckage…

"…your wounds…" The sound of Rogo's voice brought her back from her thoughts.

"Excuse me?"

"I said we need to treat your wounds."

"Oh," was all she could say.

Rogo lifted Dasma in his arms and carried her towards one of the rooms they occupied, which he knew contained a Ramarian first-aid kit.

* * * * *

By the time Jenkins and Hirota arrived at the scene, there were hundreds of people on the street outside the condominium building. To the dismay of both agents, those hundreds included the Press. How they could get wind of something like this so fast was beyond the agents' comprehension.

"I can't believe the Press are already here," Hirota gave voice to what the other was already thinking.

"They're this fast also back in the United States. Perhaps, even faster," Jenkins replied sourly.

Hirota brought the car to a screeching halt a safe distance away from the building. He and Jenkins got out of the car and the first thing both did was look up, just like the other people were doing. Several small fires could be seen on the topmost floors of the building. That the fire had not spread was a testament to the reliability of the sprinkler system.

Hirota, having had enough of the sight, went out and looked for whoever was in charge so that he could rip that authority out for himself. It was obvious that the Fire Department was the first to respond to the scene. Already he could see several of the injured among those being treated in the several ambulances also on the scene.

Two black vans arrived with the letters SWAT printed on big bold white paint on the sides of each. Black clad officers armed with automatic weapons poured out of each van and stood at attention waiting for someone to direct them. Hirota strode back and headed towards the head of the Special Weapons and Tactics team.

"What's your name?" Hirota asked the SWAT leader.

"Sergeant Kuzuo Kirana, Sir."

"All right, I want all exits covered. Nobody gets in or out of that building, got it?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Also, I want snipers on this building here," Hirota pointed to the building to his right, "and the building on the other side," he said, gesturing to the building behind the condominium.

"Got it, Sir," the SWAT team leader responded. He turned around to address his men briskly. After a few moments, they dispersed, moving in their own designated direction. Kirana stayed behind awaiting further instructions.

"Will someone get me a map of this area and a blueprint of this condominium," Hirota barked at no one in particular. Like magic, another detective appeared bearing the items he needed. The chief investigator grabbed the map and made his way to the hood of his car. Jenkins and Kirana followed him. There he spread the map of the surrounding vicinity. He turned to the man who gave him the map and blueprint. "I want this, this and this street blocked off," he said pointing to various locations.

"Yes, Sir," the younger detective said.

"And for kami's sake, get those reporters out of here!" Hirota said irritably.

"Yes, Sir," the other responded again before hurrying off to obey the senior investigator's bidding.

Hirota then spread the blueprint of the building on top of the map. There were several pages of blueprints so he thumbed through the pages until the found the ones that he needed. Jenkins moved closer and peered into the plans.

"It looks like your typical condominium layout," Jenkins commented. "It's pretty fancy though."

"Yeah, it is," Hirota said. "It's reputed to be one of the best ones we have." He took his eyes of the plans momentarily and spared the building a glance as if verifying for himself whether there was truth in that statement.

"Whoever those people are that caused those explosions, they're still up there in the thirteenth and fourteenth floors. There's no way out except through us."

"Or up on the roof if they have a ride. I suggest you order a chopper in," Jenkins offered.

"You're right." The investigator took out his radio. "Hirota to base."

"Come in, this is base. Hashimoto speaking."

"Oh good, it's you. We need a chopper here immediately."

"Consider it done. Out."

Hirota tucked his radio back into his coat. He turned to the SWAT leader. "I hope you're men are well trained and disciplined. No one is to open fire until I give the order."

"Don't worry, Investigator. They are well trained. So what now?"

"Now, we wait."

* * * * *

Biggs silently watched the flurry of activity below from his window and cursed his bad luck. Of the forty Marines he deployed to take out the aliens, only eleven survived; four of them injured. The feeling of oppression threatened to engulf him but he was able to force it down. There would be time for mourning later. Now, he had to think of a way to salvage the situation. Under no circumstances should he allow himself or any member of his team to be caught.

His was a black bag operation. If they were caught, the U.S. government would disavow any knowledge of their existence and they would be abandoned to their fate. Looking down, he recognized one of them to be an American. He had to be that FBI agent, Jenkins. It was comforting to see a fellow American handling the investigation. But that was as far as it got. There was also no way he could allow his operation to be exposed by the FBI.

He glanced over his shoulder towards Evans. "Are all of the surviving men accounted for?"

"Well, Sir, there is still one more in the building."

Biggs frowned. That could prove a problem. "Who is it?"

"Lt. Machiko Nomuri, Sir. She says she sustained some injuries."

That figures. No wonder she wasn't able to evacuate in time. "Tell her to stay in the building and pretend to be a resident. Instruct her carefully, Lieutenant. There should be no evidence of her being a U.S. Marine on her person when she is rescued by the Japanese."

"Roger that, Colonel."

At least that problem's solved, for now, Biggs thought to himself. He raised his eyes to the window across the street from his own. The aliens were still in there. But now the Japanese police surrounded them. I wonder what they're gonna do.

* * * * *

"Interesting predicament," Lam commented dryly to himself, looking down at the swarm of police officers, rescue workers and firemen skittering around like ants around a piece of discarded candy.

"It is, isn't it?" Rogo said, walking into the room and joining Lam by the window. He took a glance out and immediately understood what the other meant. He caught movement in the roof of the building across the street. "There are snipers on the roof. Standing right here won't be very healthy in a few minutes."

"How is Dasma?" Lam said by way of changing the subject. He could afford to not move too quickly. He knew that the sniper they've posted on the roof would still need time to set up.

Rogo paused and exhaled a bit of air in what almost passed as a sigh. "Dasma has sustained superficial injuries. Nothing she wouldn't be able to recover from completely in a few hours."

"So tell me what's really wrong with her."

"She is grieving the death of Grat. She is angry and vengeful. It would be very difficult to control her when she recovers." Rogo cast a glance at the other. Lam took the news silently. Rogo diverted his eyes to the scene below once more. "I suppose we can just blast our way through them," Rogo offered in a bid to return the discussion to something more important.

"That we can do except it won't get us very far. What we need is fast transportation."

"To where?"

"Where else? Our mission is still to capture the girls."

"Don't you just love complications like these?" Rogo said without much humor. As they both moved away from the window, Lam lifted his wrist to activate his comlink.

"Mr. Tanaka, this is Lam."

* * * * *

"You are asking too much of me," Tanaka said over the comlink.

"You will be sufficiently rewarded, of course," Lam countered coolly.

"Really. How big a reward are we talking about anyway?"

"Five million, American. Just for you, Mr. Tanaka."

"Plus expenses?"

"Plus expenses."

Five million U.S. dollars. The Yakuza converted the amount to yen in his head. His brain had trouble counting all the zeroes. It was enough money to get away from all this illegal madness. It did not occur to him to doubt the ability of Lam to pay. He'd seen for himself the kind of resources they had. But was it worth the risk? He might never be able to show his face again in Japan afterwards.

"What will it be, Mr. Tanaka?" Lam broke into his thoughts.

"Make it seven million and we have a deal." Tanaka held his breath. He didn't have to hold it very long.

"Very well. The money will be transferred as per the usual procedure. You can verify it later. Right now I need you to act quickly."

"Right. Tanaka out." For seven million dollars he wouldn't mind being Lam's lapdog--just for today. For the umpteenth time this morning, Tanaka lifted the phone. He glanced at his watch. It wasn't even four in the morning. This was going to be a very long day.

* * * * *

Fuu sat down in front of her computer and turned it on. She had just ended a phone conversation with everyone in the Shidou residence. When she placed the call earlier, she wasn't really expecting anyone to be up. As it turned out, Malor was up. He also had a premonition of sorts and it was more than vivid than what she had.

Malor had a vision of the aliens attacking and successfully capturing Hikaru. Fuu was right in not dismissing the uneasiness she had been feeling. The old Magic Knight turned recluse decided that the issue could no longer wait until a decent time and so he roused everybody in the Shidou residence much to everyone's chagrin.

When they discovered that Umi, too, had the same weird feeling, everyone began to see, albeit not wholeheartedly, that this particular meeting was indeed necessary. The discussion that Fuu heard over the phone went on for around forty-five minutes. It would have gone on longer if Satoru hadn't put his foot down and decisively took charge. It was then decided that none of the [current] Magic Knights were going to school that day. Malor was to escort Umi back to her parents and remain there until evening. Masaru and Kakeru would head over to her house as added protection. And finally, Lantis, Satoru and Hikaru would just stay at home. They would all keep in close contact through phone and through telepathy, for those who could manage it.

After all the decisions have been made, Malor began to briefly describe his vision. Although more vivid than the premonitions she and Umi had by several orders of magnitude, it was far from clear. The only thing that was really clear was that Hikaru was somehow captured by the aliens.

"I can only hope I'm wrong," Fuu remembered Malor saying, "except…my premonitions are never wrong."

The Wind Knight could very well feel the silence that descended on the group after Malor made that declaration. She could sense the anxiety everyone was feeling even from the phone. She was feeling it too actually.

It was not until her computer beeped indicating that the boot up process was complete that she realized how deep in thought she was. For a while Fuu forgot exactly why she turned on her computer. And then it hit her. She was going to find out if there were any recent alien activities that she should know about. She opened three Internet browser windows and logged onto CNN Online, The Japan Times Online and The Early Bird. She wasn't expecting to see anything new on CNN and Japan Times since she had just checked on those two sites before she went to bed the previous night. The third one, however, was a different story. This site contained breaking information that would not make it into the news dailies until several hours after. The downside to this site was that a whole lot of the news items were as yet still unsubstantiated and unverified, which means Fuu had to carefully wade through them and try to discern the ones that had some accuracy in them.

She jumped right into The Early Bird site, ignoring the other two for the moment. There was quite a bit of items there. She scrolled down the list slowly, scanning the subject lines. It didn't take her long to stop at one entitled "Alien Rampage At Shibuya". She clicked on the link and waited two seconds for the page to load. Fuu's green eyes widened gradually as she scanned the page.

The Wind Knight swiveled her chair so that it faced the night table beside her bed. There she grabbed the TV remote and used it to turn on her television. It was already set on a news channel. And there it was. A field reporter was right on the scene, describing what little she knew of the details in a clipped and hurried manner. Behind her was a building with black smoke billowing out of its two topmost floors.

"…as you can see behind me," the reporter was saying, "black smoke is coming out of thirteenth and fourteenth floors. These are the floors believed to be where the aliens have been hiding. It is still unclear exactly what caused the fires or the explosions that were allegedly heard earlier this morning." The reporter put a finger up on her ear as she bent her head a little. It was clear that someone was feeding her more information. She nodded once and then looked back at the camera. "If you will all recall, when the aliens invaded four days ago, their landing site was suspected to be at Yoyogi Park which is not very far from here…"

Fuu muted the TV. Picking up the phone, she once again placed a call to the Shidou residence.

* * * * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Bill Winters complained loudly. "I can't believe I let you talk me into anything and everything!"

"Quiet!" Joan Rumsen hissed. "You're gonna wake up the entire neighborhood."

Bill glared at the back of Joan's head. It wasn't even five in the morning and here they were in an unknown neighborhood of an unknown town. Well, maybe, not really unknown. Unless the cab driver didn't know jackshit about his own city, they were exactly where the address written on a piece of paper said they were.

"So what are you waiting for?" Bill asked, clearly exasperated.

"I'm gathering up my nerve," Joan said simply.

"Gathering up your nerve!? Just ring the goddamn bell!"

Joan whirled to face the other. Although she was a good head shorter than Bill, the menace she radiated made him quail. "Do you realize what time it is? I have to make sure that what I say after they open the door won't make them think we're some kind of gaijin weirdos or something. Can you appreciate that? Huh?" She said, stabbing a finger at his chest before turning around to once more face the large wooden gate.

Bill smirked silently. "No matter what you say they'll think we are weirdos anyway," he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," Joan said. "Now just shut up, will you?" She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She raised her hand and gingerly pressed the doorbell.

Bill took one step forward so that he was standing right beside Joan. He glanced sideways at her and saw that she was mumbling something. Probably practicing her lines, he thought, shaking his head slightly.

Shortly after, the gate swung open revealing a tall man wearing what looked like black armor and a flowing black cape. In his right hand was a glowing sword that was pointing downwards. Both Joan and Bill gaped at the sight in front of them.

"Well, what do you know," Bill said, slack-jawed, "if it isn't Darth Vader." He turned to Joan who was still gaping. "At least now we know we're not the only weirdos in this neighborhood."

* * * * *

Umi's bags were already in the living room ready to be brought out as soon as the taxi arrived. Hikaru was also there helping her friend pack some minor things when both the phone and the doorbell rang. Hikaru and Umi exchanged glances.

"Who could be coming to visit at this hour?" Hikaru asked rhetorically, casting her eyes towards the gate. "Could it be the taxi already?"

"Couldn't be," Umi replied, "they aren't due until another half hour."

"Well, anyway, you get the phone and I'll get the door," the Fire Knight said already on her way out.

"Right." Umi said but Hikaru was already out of hearing distance.

The redheaded teenager was just a few meters from the gate when she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. She stopped and turned to see Lantis purposely walking towards her. To her surprise, he was wearing his battle armor and his magic sword was already out.

"You shouldn't just open the gate, Hikaru," the magic swordsman said, "what if they were the aliens?"

Hikaru furrowed her brows. It didn't occur to her that the aliens would bother to ring the doorbell. Whatever. You can't be too careful, the Fire Knight decided. Lantis stepped in front of her, effectively shielding her from whatever it was standing just outside the gate. He reached out with his left hand and opened one side of the gate slowly.

Because the magic swordsman was so much taller than her, Hikaru couldn't see who it was he discovered. She took one step to the side and glanced at their guest. She looked up at Lantis who seemed to be rooted in place. "They don't look like aliens to me," she said mischievously.

There was a ghost of a smile on Lantis' lips as he looked down and regarded the Pillar. "Very funny. They seem quite safe so I guess you can take over." He took a step to the side and back, allowing Hikaru to step forward. He watched as she bowed gracefully and said something in that strange language of theirs.

Hikaru saw that they were foreigners so she opted to use what little English that she learned at school. "Ohayo! Hello. How help you?"

The two foreigners exchanged nervous glances. The woman stepped forward and bowed awkwardly. "Good morning. I'm sorry to have bothered you so early in the morning. My name is Joan Rumsen. I work for the organization called Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the United States," the woman paused as she stared at her intently. "You wouldn't be Hikaru Shidou, would you?"

Hikaru's eyes widened at the sound of her name. The woman had made the obvious effort to speak more slowly but most of her words flew right over her head nevertheless. "Yes, my name is Hikaru Shidou. What you want?"

The woman named Joan sighed deeply as if realizing for the first time how difficult it would be to hurdle the language barrier. She steeled herself and began to speak even more slowly this time. "My name is Joan Rumsen. I study aliens. You know," she began gesturing with a hand in the air, waving it around.

Hikaru's eyes widened and she smiled as she recognized the hand gesture. "Oh, I know! Airplane!"

"No, no," Joan said hastily. "Eeeyleeeyeens. Aliens."

"Maybe you should try 'iteki'," the man behind Joan said. He seemed to be thumbing through a small book.

"Iteki? What does that mean?"

Upon hearing the word, Hikaru glanced at Lantis and then realized that he didn't understand the meaning of the word. She looked back at the odd couple in front of her. What did they know about the aliens? She was already certain that they were not the aliens themselves.

"Iteki means aliens, Joan," the man said.

"Oh," Joan said. She then turned to Hikaru. "We," she said pointing to both herself and the man beside her, "study iteki."

"I see," Hikaru said, her expression turning somber. "Please," she said, gesturing with both hands waving inward, "please come in." When she saw that they understood her, she turned and walked towards the house.

Lantis closed the gate after the two visitors stepped through the threshold. After that, he walked briskly until he was beside Hikaru. "Are you sure that's wise, inviting them in?"

"I don't think we're in any danger from them. If I understood what they were saying earlier, they are scientists studying aliens."

"Hmmm," was all Lantis said.

Just as they were nearing the house, Umi appeared obviously excited about something. "Hikaru! Lantis! You've got to see this!"

"What is it, Umi?" Hikaru said, quickening her pace.

"Just come and see," Umi said as she escorted her friend and Lantis inside. She ignored the two visitors. The television was on and tuned to the news. The image showed a building whose top floors seemed to be burning.

"What's this all about?" Lantis asked, watching the image play out on the box.

"The aliens are supposedly in that building," Umi said, switching smoothly to Cephirean.

"There seems to be a lot of activity there. What happened?" It was Hikaru's turn to ask, also in Cephirean just so Lantis could keep up with the conversation.

"It was Fuu on the phone telling me to turn on the TV. Apparently, there were multiple explosions in the top floors. There were witnesses who saw several armed men go inside the building early this morning."

"Anybody die or something?" Hikaru asked, her fists clenched at her side.

"Um, no details have been mentioned about that. The police have not yet entered the building," Umi replied, her eyes glued to the news.

Joan and her companion were already inside the living room, their eyes likewise glued to the TV set. Hikaru heard them exchanged words in rapid English that she didn't understand. She turned to them and smiled amiably. "Please sit down," she gestured towards a pillow on the floor. She noted with relief that the two knew enough about their culture to remove their shoes before entering. "This is best friend, Umi," she gestured to Umi.

Umi smiled and bowed at the two in response, having just noticed them. "I'm pleased to meet you," she said in perfect English, much to the delight of the visitors.

Hikaru gave her blue-haired friend a quizzical look. "I didn't know you could speak English very well."

"Well, I might just decided to be an international model someday," The Water Knight said airily. "It would be a great advantage if I can speak in English very well," she finished with a grin.

"I'm very pleased to meet you as well, Umi," the woman named Joan said. There was obvious relief on her face at having met someone who can speak passable English. "My name is Joan Rumsen and this is my colleague, Bill Winters."

Umi smiled and bowed once more.

"And this is Lantis," Hikaru said, gesturing towards the magic swordsman beside her. Lantis, having heard his name, also bowed. "He not speak English at all."

"That's okay, Hikaru," Joan said amicably. "I'm sure you, or your friend Umi, can handle the translations."

Hikaru smiled in response. She edged closer to Umi and nudged her. "I think it would be better if you handled the conversation with them."

"But Hikaru, the taxi will be here soon."

"Listen, they came here for a reason and I want to know what it is. They said something about studying aliens. If the taxi comes, let's just make him wait, okay?"

"Oh all right," Umi said a little grumpily. The truth was she always welcomed any opportunity to practice her English. However, she was beginning to miss her parents and was anxious to get home. Especially after knowing that an alien attack was becoming more and more imminent. "So," she began as she sat on a cushion near Joan and Bill, "what can we do for you?"

NEXT:

Chapter 11 - The Ramarian Gambit

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

It took me the longest to come up with this chapter. I have only real life to blame for that. If only we could just sit back and do nothing but write. Alas!

Anyway, all C&C are welcome. Like I mentioned before, I am accumulating all C&C and make one final revision for the entire story before finally posting it in my upcoming web page.

Part of the next chapter has already been written which means there should be less waiting time for that one.

Ciao!

DISCLAIMER:

Magic Knight Rayearth and all the characters in that anime/manga are properties of CLAMP. These are used here without permission.