by SK Benton
"Non ancora, mio signore, ma io vi contatterà attraverso Socrate se dovrebbe sorgere nulla [Not yet, my lord, but I will contact you via Socrates if anything should arise]."
Walking back over to the girls, Draagh casually sat down and started to eat the rest of his gelato, which he found quite delicious and refreshing. However, before he could finish, both of the girls blurted out, nearly simultaneously, "What did you say to him?"
"You know his language?"
"It sounded so awesome!"
"My dears, would you like to see something even more… awesome?"
The two cute girls, more sisters than friends, nodded their heads enthusiastically. Draagh took a girl's hand into each of his own and looked at the merchant, enabling them to see the man in his true form. What they saw almost made them cry out in joy. A being, made almost completely of purity and bright light was displaying a massive wingspan, and stood where everyone else merely saw a middle-aged Italian fellow selling kick-knacks at his chiosco.
"We are everywhere, my girls. You were attracted to his essence, and then only because you two have goodness in your hearts. I am proud to call you my friends. Now, finish your gelatos and we shall be off. We have much to accomplish before the day's end."
###
Max, Jennie, Bagatelle, Michael and Gabriel were in the main meeting hall deep in the bowels of Vesuvius' cold moon, going over vids of the Vrol invasion of Earth. Seated among them were numerous Azul officers who had been selected, turned (or enhanced) and trained, along with some of Krynos' squad leaders from the Rhönen Dominion. The purpose of the meeting was to show just how the Vrol operated when they got to a world.
"So, as we can see from all vids from Earth, there is no indication that they have arrived until it is too late. They are somehow masked from view, and we don't know if it's a cloaking technology or mass hypnotism or what. We still haven't figured that out yet, because we know where they are now just fine. It could even be whatever it is that makes up the bodies of their ships, which appear to be organic," said Max.
"I would like to add something most sinister. What most do not know is that the Vrol were created to wipe out entire planets, but not by blowing them up. No, that would create too much chaos with neighboring star systems - the planetary bodies are left intact. What the Vrol do is completely cover, or encapsulate, the entire planet until not a sliver of light can get through. They have millions of ships, and each one being a slightly different shape; they all connect together much like a massive, spherical jigsaw puzzle. It is like a perverse form of the mythical Dyson sphere. No one gets in, no one gets out, so they need to be stopped before they arrive, of course," said Michael, causing some in the group to gasp.
Watching a new vid, they all looked on in horror as they saw a split-screen image, the left side showing how quickly the Vrol joined their ships together, like building blocks, while the right side of the screen showed humanoid-looking beings running and screaming in all directions, then only to see them slowly disintegrate, their empty clothing falling to the ground.
"Now, one advantage we will have is that we know they are coming," said Max, "and thus, we can be prepared. Another advantage is that these insects rely on a system - they arrive, they are unchallenged, they encapsulate, they kill, they extract resources and then they move on. If we disrupt their system we get the upper hand."
"Captain Gunnarsson," asked one officer, raising his hand, "how can we get the upper hand? What do you mean?"
"First of all, we are attacking them before they get near Azul system. Secondly, well, I'll let the Taxiarch explain that part to you," continued Max, deferring to his father.
"We have already explained the nature of magic, so you are all aware of the particles that live in everything and are everywhere. A specific subset of these particles is dedicated towards healing. By healing I mean correcting any abnormality in their vicinity. The virulent amoeba that the Vrol rain down upon their conquered worlds would be viewed as an abnormality and would be rejected by the planetary organism - just like if you get a wooden sliver in your finger - your body eventually pushes it out. It's a simple matter of rejection. So we don't believe they will be able to melt anyone even if they get close enough. Our father, the Primulus Draagh, is developing a way to make nature's healing compatible with Mankind, as you were genetically modified many centuries ago to not be able to take advantage of these healing particles."
"And as far as them making it planetside, it is possible - they have millions of ships. There will be fighting, but we're certain we can destroy enough of their craft so they won't be able to properly form their sphere around Azul, or even any of the moons - and that's another advantage. We can spread our forces out over four worlds in the system, where, as far as we know, they have only ever attacked a single world at a time. They're bugs, and they're not very creative. They have their way of doing things, so throw a wrench in the works and we could very well incapacitate them," added Max.
"What about ground fighting? How are we to know their strength levels? Will we need mech-suits? Are they strong?" asked a young lieutenant who had been quiet during the meeting.
"Oh, they're strong all right, Lieutenant," answered Bagatelle, but not much more than your average human, and as you are all activated lycans now you will have some definite advantages. They have psionic armor that is fed by an unknown power source, but if you hit them at the base of their neck you can easily decapitate them. That is why you have been training on swords so much lately. Shoulder-mounted rocket launchers seem to be effective on the Vrol Flyers, and we are going to continue testing soon."
"Umm, how are you going to test on them if they are still four years out, sir?" asked another officer."
"There is an alternate Earth where Vrol are stranded. It's where I was stuck before my family found me. We'll be taking a trip there soon so we can get some real-time training in the field," answered Max, sadly remembering the young neko murdered by a mutant hybrid due to his inaction.
"Captain Gunnarsson, ‘tis true that the vampires in that world are… of a jolly sort?" asked a lycan soldier from Krynos' castle.
"Yes they are - nice. In fact, one of my best friends is a vampire. Play your cards right and we'll go drink a beer with him when we're done with training."
Max and Jennie left with the trainees to supervise their practice, as Michael, Gabriel and Bagatelle slipped over to Azul to attempt contact with more high-ranking military officers, and to identify more of those with recessive vampire genes.
"I really wish I could identify the potential vamps like you guys can. It would come in handy and enable you two to run off and do other, more important things," complained Bagatelle, as he watched the archangels invisibly mark off certain people in a crowd.
"Fear not, G, I have an idea that may assist in that effort," said Michael.
"What are you talking about, Brother?" asked Gabriel.
"Well, as you know, we have a display in our peripheral vision. Max calls his a HUD, but we are able to see all of these things that G desires to view. On young Liliana's suggestion, I have come up with a cantus on an eyepiece that enables much of the same viewing capabilities. I have left a preliminary model with young Jennie."
"Great! You mean, I'll be able to see if someone is a vampire or not?" asked Bagatelle.
"Not only that, dear brother, but also if they are lycan, normal, mage, and even a heat signature which should give an indication as to their momentary intent."
"You mean I.F.F.?" asked Bagatelle.
"What means that, G?" queried Gabriel.
"Identification Friend or Foe," responded the admiral.
"Then that shall be the name of the magical object - I.F.F.," exclaimed Michael, receiving nods of approval all around.
Chapter 6 - Harajuku
Draagh sat at his expansive, mahogany desk in his study on the west side of Krynos' castle, again carefully analyzing Pandy's bracelet. Being identical to Jessica's, he only needed to look at one, and
it really didn't take him a long time to figure out how to make them multi-frequency compatible, much like had been done with flesh and blood, in the case of using Max's blood as an inoculator.
The two girls sat in front of the old mage, staring with wonderment, unable to really comprehend what he was doing, but still totally getting a kick out of spending time with him. He was definitely their favorite old person in the world. Draagh had taken them away from everything they ever knew, taught them some of the wonders of the Universe and even introduced them to Italian gelato in the early 21st century. He was, in the words of Liliana Gunnarsson, super cool, and he knew it. But he was also dead serious about defeating the Vrol, and knew there was an unseen force assisting them. So, in the meantime, all he could do was prepare his young charges as best he could for the war that was to come within months.
Finally finishing with Pandy's bracelet, he set it down and performed a similar, yet much quicker modification of Jessica's (already having known how to effect the process) and then invited the girls to take possession of their powerful wrist decorations.
"I believe everything you could do on your home world shall be possible here now, my dears. In fact, if you look at your bracelets and concentrate a bit, you will see a personal holographic display of text, providing enhanced instructions for advanced use.
The two girls were quite pleased with Draagh's manipulations of their magic-enabled devices, but were even more impressed when Max's wife, Jennie, showed up with the eye patch that Michael had created.
"Jess, here comes Jennie. Gawd, she's so pretty," whispered Pandy.
"I know, totally. Like, she could show up at a party dressed like a hobo and still be the hottest one in the room… shhhh..."
"Hey Pops! Did you see what Max's dad came up with? This is freakin' amazing!"
The exquisite dega purposefully strolled into Draagh's study, wearing on her left eye what appeared to be some sort of near-transparent sheath or eye patch, but in her view it was something entirely different. Looking directly at Jessica, Jennie was able to drill down into the woman's vital signs - heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, cholesterol levels - and even look into her genealogy: she could trace the woman's lineage going back to her first ancestor by identifying her mitochondrial DNA and doing a comparative analysis via Socrates' database. In fact, Jennie saw the genetic mutation denoting where Jessica's timeline had splintered off from the primary, but chose not to say anything to the young-looking, but older lycan female. Most importantly, she could see that Jessica was lycan. Then, looking at Pandy, she did a similar analysis, but before she finished she noticed something quite intriguing.
"Hey girls, did you know you are both… cousins?"
"Whaaaaaa??" they both cried out in unison (which wasn't all that unusual).
"Yup. It looks like your families split off about six generations back, sharing about 0.8% of your DNA, and if you think about it, that really isn't long ago."
Pandy sat still for a moment, until Jessica noticed the girl was softly sobbing.
"Sis, what's up? Why are you crying?"
"I really do have family," whimpered the younger of the two, looking up with hopeful, wet eyes.
Jennie sat down with the girls and put her arms around them, as Draagh leaned back and watched something that rarely happened in the universe. Most species were isolationist and brutal. Humans, on the other hand, were naturally filled with warmth and compassion. He was witnessing the most powerful magic in existence at work - love. It worked outside the realm of magic particles, nanobots and the decided order of things. It was a force of its own.
"Hey, you two. The minute you met Max you became family with all of us, but I am glad that you found some blood relation. So," continued Jennie, "how would you like to try this new gadget Michael came up with? You gotta be careful though, because it's the only one he's made so far."
The three beautiful lycan women and one immortal Primulus then played around with the Taxiarch's latest invention, pushing it to its limits, while laughing at much of the data it presented.
Prime Commander Donus entered the room, bringing some parchment to Draagh. After courteously greeting everyone, he stood off to the side and quietly spoke with the immortal mage. As they conversed, Jennie again donned Michael's new I.F.F. invention and scanned Donus. However, while analyzing the prime commander's DNA she could only trace his lineage back one thousand years, and then found a massive gap in the chromosomal order - in essence, a black hole of nothingness. Draagh looked over and noticed what she was doing, and giving her a smile, winked at her.
Jennie forgot all about her DNA scan of Donus and handed the device to Jessica, who then used it to scan the gorgeous dega.
On the other side of the castle, it didn't take much time for Max to convince Ohiro to go with him to the former Japanese Islands. In fact, as soon as Max mentioned the name of the land of Ohiro's ancestors the weapons trainer was packing his travel bag.
###
Once they had both properly suited up for a worst-case scenario, they found themselves at the edge of the Chikugo River, in the southern city of Fukuoka. Looking out at the distant town, Max used his HUD to scan the local area.
"Ohirio-san, there is little life here. Shall we try the Tokyo area?"
Ohiro nodded silently as Max slipped them to the edge of Tokyo Bay, next to a nearly intact Rainbow Bridge. Again using his HUD, Max got a surprised expression on his face as he looked at Ohiro and smiled.
"Ohiro-san. There are lycans here. About ten clicks inland, as the crow flies."
"That makes me very happy, Captain. I shall enjoy practicing the tongue of my ancestors with these individuals. That is, if they do not attempt to first kill us," said Ohiro, finishing with a wry grin.
"Shall we go on foot, or would you prefer I slip us over?"
"On foot would be better. We do not wish to alarm them with our sudden presence. The gradual arrival of our scent would be much more polite."
Max agreed, so the two navigated their way, quickly, with huge leaps over rubble and disintegrated buildings. It had been many centuries since anyone had maintained the city, so nature had taken its logical course and consumed many man-made structures.
Sticking to the streets, they ended up on Omotesandō Blvd (as denoted by a still-standing sign in Latin characters), in the area once known as Harajuku. It was there that they saw their first signs of life, and if they were expecting to be attacked they were surprised, as no one even acknowledged their arrival. People, maintaining what appeared to be a restored town, were sweeping the streets. The smell of delicious Japanese cuisine filled the air, reminding both men that they had neglected to eat lunch before departing.
"I smell… what is it I smell? It's a soup, right?" asked Max.
"Yes, that is correct, Captain. I believe it is udon noodle soup. I should like to sample some."
"Same here," said Max, "but we'll need whatever currency they're using. Hang on a second."
Ohiro watched as Max appeared to concentrate, one eye closed slightly.
"Captain, what is it that you are doing?"
"I'm… zooming in and watching somebody make a purchase. Ah, they have a local currency and… yes, here we go!" Max held out his hand and displayed a number of silver coins with Katakana characters, as well as Roman numerals. Dropping a few in Ohiro's hand he started off after the amazing scent, with the weapons trainer following close behind.
"Ohiro-san, please take the lead in case anyone addresses us. I only know a few words in Nihongo."
"Ah, the Captain knows the name of the Japanese language. I am impressed… and honored. Now I only hope that I can sufficiently communicate with these people."
Entering into an extremely small, narrow restaurant, Ohiro and Max squeezed onto chairs at the counter, which was the only thing separating the cooking and seating areas. There was a solitary male normal preparing food. He bowed slightly as soon as the two foreigners were seated.
"[Good morning. We cou
ld smell your soup from quite a distance. May we purchase two bowls?]"
"[But of course. You accent is not familiar to me. May I ask from which region you hail?]"
"[We are from another continent - the one of Europe - to the west. We have traveled a long distance in order to meet and ally ourselves with those of our kind.]"
The cook gave Ohiro an inquisitive stare, and then politely set two large bowls of steaming udon noodle soup onto the counter.
"[Here you go, honored ones. I am to assume you are of the lycan bloodline.]"
"[That is correct. May I be so forward as to ask your name?]"
"[My name is Koji.]"
"[Ah, very good. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Koji-san. My name is Ohiro, and my companion is called Captain Gunnarsson.]"
Koji looked at Max and nodded his head in a slight bow, to which Max reciprocated.
"His name's Koji? That's a cool sounding name," thought Max, over the comm.
"Yes, and he knows we are lycans, which are called Ookami. Otoko for male and onna for female."
"So then I am Ookami otoko?"
"That is correct, Captain. Now, shall we eat?"
The two noisily slurped their soups, being the traditional way to eat in the Japanese culture, and not rude in the least. Max comically imagined Jennie being quite at home in Tokyo, where she could unleash her mad and beastly eating skills. She had, however, acquired quite a substantial amount of table etiquette since having adopted Liliana, but when she was hungry things still got messy.
Once they had finished their soups and were enjoying a cup of green tea, Ohiro again struck up conversation with Koji.
"[Koji-san - please, do you have any knowledge of a local lycan clan to whom we may speak?]"
Koji nodded his head and placed orange slices on a plate, for the two to cleanse their palates. Oranges were extremely rare, and his offering was a display of respect to the newcomers.