Magical Strike Force S

[CommanderQ]

Akira began to load a few of his weapons into a locker, having already put his uniforms away.

 

"How I got started?"

 

He paused for a moment, "There isn't all that much to tell really.."

 

Akira checked one of his switchblade knives, tossing it from hand to hand.

 

"My Father was in the Federation military, assigned to the Japanese Island quadrant on Unregulated Planet 97#, maybe not too far from where you were, I don't know that, though. Anyway, I guess the idea to join the Federation was in my blood...and I know my Father really wanted me to join...."

 

He sighed, "Well, anyway, I joined at the age of 9, being accepted into an academy for younger cadets. I was placed in Elite training at 13, that was where I was given 'New Dawn."

 

He held up the medal-like pendant.

 

"I was found to be a suitable Master for him, and he agreed, so that was good."

 

He chuckled, "But then....have you heard of the Drakomir Incident?"

 

He didn't really want to talk about it, but he felt a need to tell at least one person. Not to mention that she had already told him much.

[Shana]

Shana looked at Akira, she had heard about the incident from Captain Terranova but she had not bothered to give her any details. Probably because she was still looking after her rehab.

 

"I heard of it but I can't say I know any details", Shana said.

[CommanderQ]

Akira nodded, "Not much information was released on the actual incident..."

 

He sat down again and took a breath.

 

"We had been placed at Fort Drakomir, somewhere on the mainland. Some of the older Mages had just gotten an Artifact, and they were studying it at the same time we were training."

 

He began to finger the scar on his left cheek.

 

"Something happened, no one knows what. But by the end of the day, teh Artifact had corrupted the mages who were analyzing the artifact..."

 

"...and went on a killing spree."

 

He sighed, "That was my first action...and it wasn't entirely successful. Several of the cadets were killed, most of the guys from my unit. A few of the other mages and I barely contained the problem until reinforcements arrived and subdued the corrupted mages."

 

Akira shook his head, "It was pretty ugly what happened."

 

He finished packing some of the knives and began to organize the rest of his things.

 

"Well, me and the other guys earned a commendation. I continued training under a Sergeant Yamamoto, at least until a few months ago, then, I was transferred here. And voila, here I am."

 

He remained quiet as he thought back upon the fateful Drakomir Incident.

[Shana]

Shana frowned a bit at the words that Akira spoke, of how his fellow mages fell in battle, she was no stranger to loosing friends in a fight.

 

"It must've been pretty hard for you", Shana said. "But you made it and are here right now with us, we'll be able to protect those we wish to protect and become stronger for it".

[CommanderQ]

He nodded, "It was hard, but to honor their memory, we will do our duty to the people."

 

Akira grabbed his canteen and took a sip of the water.

 

"We'll be alot stronger this time...."

 

He chuckled, "Well, I guess we both spilled the beans then. We're even."

[Shana]

Shana smiled still a little red about the exchange of words but maybe it was for the best, they were going to be comrades, perhaps not in the same team but most definitely comrades. At least she'd have a friend in the unit.

 

"I guess you're right", Shana said.

 

Suddenly a voice could be heard from the intercom.

 

"It's lights out for all trainees. Tomorrow at 0600 we being training. Have a good night sleep, you'll need it", The voice on the intercom said.

 

"Guess we better turn in then", Shana said heading out to the bathroom to take a quick bath and then off to bed.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Kai had settled down in a tree branch that was slightly below the floor that his roomates were stationed on, in fact that room that they were stationed from was only four rooms away, Kai had chosen his sleeping area carefully he wanted to make sure he could keep an eye on the building.

 

It is much better to be safe then sorry...the colonists learned that the hard way...and they all paid with their lives.

 

Kai had lived on that graveyard world for nearly nine years by himself after the colonists had been destroyed by the invaders...and that mage...that dark haired mage who had led the attack on the colony. The one who had cursed his pendant...had cursed him.

 

Even in sleep he could find no peace. The face of the corrupted mage who had led the attack forever haunted his dreams and Kai was always to engage in combat with him whenever he tried to sleep.

 

Tonight, it was no different. The face of the mage appeared in front of him with his army at his back. The mage was smirking at him as the colony burned around them.

 

No...not again...MAKE IT STOP!

 

"DARK GUARDIAN SETUP!" Kai roared as the mage's hands began to burn with power as they had for the past nine years.

 

"Standby...ready" The dark guardian answered in a low soothing as it had every night for the past nine years

 

The army of invaders appeared between Kai and the mage as they always did, and they always would and Kai roared in anger again.

 

"Sword Empower!" Kai brought his crescant shaped blade to bear on the invaders as they swarmed against him .

 

"Sword Empower stand by...ready." Kai's sword flashed with energy as it had for every night that he had slept.

 

Kai sliced through the invaders as he always would and jumped high into the air above the invaders...so close to the mage...

 

"Dark Aura!"

 

"Dark Aura...stand by...ready!" The device sounded eager to fight though Kai couldn't fathom why. This was his battle as it always would be.

 

Kai could feel the power coursing through his body as he hit the ground behind the main line of the invaders and he sliced through their rear guard with nearly no effort. The only target that mattered was the mage who was leading the attack as he always would

 

The mage's magic blasted him just as he reached him as it always would and Kai was nearly knocked out by the blast.

 

Kai hit the ground in agonizing pain as he was forever destined to and the mage looked down at him and smirked.

 

"Such a weak boy...you may have cut through my foot solders but in the end you will never be a match for me...I should kill you...but I think I'll have a little fun first."

 

Kai watched as the mage's hands burned with power again and this time the blast struck the pendant which then turned from gun-metal grey to midnight black.

 

"Your pendant is now cursed boy...It will forever taunt you, remind you of what I did here...and you will never be able to remove it. It is bound to you as you are to it. Every time you try to sleep you'll see me wipe out your home night after night after night once I imprint myself on your mind...If you can defeat the imprint...I might just let you sleep."

 

The mage looked down at Kai again and laughed. "Everytime you change into your form you'll lose a tiny bit of your humanity each time you change...A little insurance to make sure that if you ever come after me...I'll be able to have a get away plan."

 

Kai's hands were shaking with rage as the Mage made his getaway with his foot solders right behind him. No...No...I'll always lose...

 

Kai screamed inside his head as loudly as he could at the injustice of it all...the inhumanity of the mage...and his inability to finally kill the mage and his solders once and for all.

 

((Hope that didn't wake your characters up. ))

[CommanderQ]

"Guess we better turn in then."

 

Akira nodded, "Yeah...sounds like it."

 

He checked his watch, he'd definately need some sleep.

 

Taking advantage of Shana's absence to the bathroom, he quickly changed out of his uniform and got into bed.

 

"Good night, good luck tomorrow." He said to Shana, and quickly fell asleep.

 

A scream awoke him around 5 hours later, he verified the time with his watch,

 

He was completely alert, and got out of bed quietly, so as not to wake Shana. He pulled on a shirt and attached a combat knife onto his belt. He needed to know where the scream came from, and his best bet, was somewhere on the roof.

 

He moved stealthily out of the dorm and creeped down the hall.

[Shana]

Shana was sleeping in her bed, she could barely get any sleep in for the excitement she was feeling. She would be training under Illya Terranova, the one person she admired since she was a child. She then heard something, a scream that was indeed loud but not so much as too wake every soul in the building. Since she was half asleep she was able to distinctly hear it.

 

She turned around and got up from bed. Her pijamas consisted of a white shirt and blue shorts. Just like all pijamas from military. She went around the corner of the wall separating her from the rest of the boys and noticed only two beds were empty, Kai's who had left them earlier and Akira's who just seemed to have gotten out of bed a moment ago.

 

Shana decided to check out what was going on and so she left for the hallway. It was all pitch black and so she took out her holographic map and found a staircase to the roof nearby. She ran over to the stairs and opened the door quietly. She could only see someone on the floor but due to the dark she couldn't make out who it was.

 

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?", Shana asked looking worried.

[CommanderQ]

Akira was halfway to the roof, when he noticed Shana.

 

Well, so much for not trying to wake anyone up.

 

He stopped and let her pass on forward to the roof, he then followed.

 

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

 

He heard Shana say that to the figure on the floor. He moved up quietly behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, just to let her know he was there.

 

"I think we need to wake him up." He said, looking at the body, he imagined that it was probably Kai, and he'd just fallen asleep to a nightmare, or, fell out of the tree above.

[Shana]

When Shana felt a hand on her shoulder she turned her head and saw Akira there.

 

"I think we need to wake him up."

 

"You're probably right", Shana said but she saw Kai there moving, twisting and turning. He looked like he was having a really bad nightmare. Shana was frowning at this, she had met Kai for only a moment but she felt she had to help him. But before she knew it she placed a hand of hers on his cheek and with a calm voice she said. "Remember who you are".

 

What she did in that moment was something that her father used to do to her mother when she had serious delusions. He'd calm her down that way. She tried it with Kai out of instinct.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Remember who you are".

 

A voice that Kai could only refer to as "Angelic" managed to somehow force it's way through his mind even as he struggled to wake up from the everlasting nightmare.

 

No...I didn't save them...and I will never have the chance to again. There is no hope, there is only revenge for the colony and the home that was taken from me with no provocation.

 

Kai's eyes snapped open and he stared at the two of them with wide, unblinking eyes that simply refused to close.

[Shana]

"Everything's fine, you're safe", she said with the same voice she had used before.

 

Shana, realizing her hand was still on Kai's cheek she turned red and took her hands back and placed them on her lap.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to meddle", Shana said looking down and away from both Kai and Akira.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to meddle"

 

Kai blinked once at the girl as she pulled away from him. He felt almost...dissapointed?

 

"It...is no matter. You now know the reason I cannot sleep in the dormitory...I am cursed...to forever relive the destruction of my colony and everyone I knew on the colony everytime I try to sleep."

 

Kai mentally slapped himself. Why was he revealing so much about his past to this woman? What made him feel so comfortable around her?!

 

Kai managed to sit up and he stared at the two of them.

 

"I will leave you be now."

 

Kai ran as fast as he could back up the tree and attempted to sleep...just once without the nightmares.

[Shana]

"Um...", was the only thing Shana could mutter before Kai ran up the tree and stopped paying attention to both of them. Shana looked down and then went for the door of the staircase. She looked back to Kai for a moment and then went back inside. She felt so bad for him, she did not pity him, she meerly felt badly about him being cursed with such a horrible thing.

 

She went back to bed, it was really early in the morning and in just a couple of hours they would start the training.

[CommanderQ]

Akira stood quietly to the back as he observed the situation.

 

He understood Kai a bit better now, but he wouldn't press the matter further until a better time.

 

He'd seen many cadets like Kai, cursed in some way. He also studied how battle-fatigue and shell-shock took great tolls on a person.

 

Akira decided to himself that he would help Kai through this, if there was a way....

 

Kai disappeared quickly, which caught Akira, and probably Shana, by surprise.

 

He took a step forward, meaning to pursue. He stopped halfway, deciding to let him be.

 

He turned and returned to the dorm without another word.

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Kai doesn't really suffer from Battle Fatigue or Shell-shock. Mostly he just suffers from grief, survivors guilt. He feels alone most of the time.))

 

Kai had finally managed to find another place to sleep...somewhere away from his so-called "teamates."

 

I have nearly grown used to the nightmares now...Soon they won't bother me even If I have to watch them a thousand times over in my head...but will my inability to feel anger over the deaths of the colonists be good or bad?

 

Kai simply shut and tried to fall asleep again even as the nightmares returned...as they always would.

[Shana]

Shana lay in bed going through what happened with Kai a moment ago. She wrapped her hands around her pendant. She put her hands up to her chest and closed her eyes. She drifted off to sleep.

 

It was already 5 am. Shana got up from bed and went towards the locker room. She put on the white t-shirt and black camo pants that she was given for the training.

 

She went outside and checked her holographic map. The access to the training grounds was below. She headed down there and arrived at a large place overlooking a big lake.

 

Captain Terranova was there. Shana saw her and went over to her.

 

"Illya-san!", Shana said and arrived running over to her and Illya simply greated her with a smile.

 

"Hi Shana, slept well?", Illya asked.

 

"Well...", Shana said and remembered the events of last night. Illya looked at her puzzled.

 

"Something on your mind?", Illya asked.

 

"Oh no nothing, I'm just excited", Shana said with a smile.

 

"That's good, remember our lessons, no overdoing it ok? It's ok to go all out but remember your limits. No one wants you to go through the same that happened 3 years ago ok?", Illya said.

 

"Don't worry, I learned from you so I won't make the same mistake again. I didn't know then what happened to the body when you gave it all, but now it's different. I will do my best", Shana said and Illya smiled.

 

"Lets wait for the others to arrive", Illya said and began typing in a holographic interface setting up the training excersize.

 

"So I have a question. Where is the training ground?", Shana asked.

 

"Over there", Illya said and from the lake a recreation of a small section of the city was materialized before their eyes.

 

"Cool!", Shana said. "So that's where we'll train?"

 

"Yup, that's our special training apparatus", Illya said.

[CommanderQ]

Akira barely slept the entire night, he knew it would have an effect on his training, but he was going to be completely alert, and not let his gaurd down. He wouldn't let another Drakomir happen....

 

He finally did fall asleep, and awoke two hours later to his personal alarm clock, in other words, his head. He'd trained himself to wake himself up at a certain time, or earlier.

 

Akira yawned and got out of bed, getting ready for the day. He wore his uniform and got his cap on, doffing it to the side.

 

He then left to the roof to find Kai, he thought that the man might need a friend, and Akira thought it best to get to know him as well.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Kai had actually managed to get some rest despite the nightmares and felt that he was ready to begin training with his squad.

 

It is strange...Why do I trust that girl from the night before so much? Is it because of her pendant or something...else?

 

Kai shrugged it off and dropped down from the tree and began to search for one of the two captains.

[CommanderQ]

Akira got to the roof and noticed that Kai was not around the area. He went over to the edge of the roof and looked down. There was Kai, at the base of the large tree.

 

"Hey! Wait up a bit!" He shouted.

 

He jumped onto the tree and began to crawl down. He got down pretty quickly and began to walk next to Kai.

 

He bowed in greeting and spoke, "So, how are you doing, Kai-san?"

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Hey! Wait up a bit!"

 

Kai slowed down and waited for the other recruit to catch up before moving off to the location of the training ground. He had run into one of the captains and had been given directions earlier.

 

"So, how are you doing, Kai-san?"

 

"I am well."

 

Kai continued on toward the training grounds as quickly as he could. He simply wanted to finish his traning for the day and be done with it.

[CommanderQ]

"I am well."

 

"That is good to hear, Kai-San...."

 

They had reached the training ground, and he could see Shana and one of the Captains.

 

"Good luck, comrade. This training should be a cinch." He said, a big smile on his face. He clapped Kai on the shoulder and walked towards Shana and the Captain.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Good luck, comrade. This training should be a cinch."

 

Kai stared straight forward and saw that the girl from the night before was already there. Kai looked away, he didn't know what to think about her. Except that she made him...strange.

 

I don't know what to think about her...she makes me feel very strange...and she somehow managed to wake me from the nightmare. There is something odd about her.

 

He looked over the training ground and then thought about the best way to accomplish the task that would be put before them.

[Shana]

Shana could sense Kai's sight on her. She turned to him and gave him a warm smile.

 

"Good morning Kai-kun, Akira-kun", Shana said.

 

Captain Terranova then looked at them.

 

"Did you boys get a good sleep?", she asked while she still typed in the mission parameters.