"We have a lot of territory to cover and the rebels won't be making things easy for us. I'll need all tank platoons to be our eyes and ears so we can flush out the guerrillas and put them where they belong: six feet under. If you happen to see activity out of the ordinary in this region, contact-" The transmission cut off as Edmond du Cros turned off the tank's radio.
"I swear, those brass heads just keep on yapping," grumbled the 35 year old Natural. He was dressed in an Alliance uniform with a protective vest and helmet. There were also traces of facial hair on his cheeks and chin since he had not shaved in a few days. Currently, his tank platoon unit is searching for any signs of rebel activity in the USSA but so far, they haven't had a lot of luck. Then again, it wasn't like the rebels were going to advertise where they were hiding.
"Um, sir? I see something up ahead. It seems to be a research facility," said Second Lieutenant Kyon Asahina. Typically, there are two officers stationed per tank with one doing the driving and the other handling the tank's weapons.
"Off the outskirts of Fortaleza? Strange... inform the others. I'm going to go check this out. If I need backup, I'll let you know. I don't want to create unnecessary trouble." Edmond attached his sub-machine gun to his back and opened the hatch to exit the tank. He saw the two-storey building to his left. 'It doesn't seem to be something operated by the rebels...' The Natural hopped out of the tank and slowly approached the building. When he neared the front entrance, he checked to see if he could get in. 'As I thought, the door's locked. Let's try another entrance.'
He moved off to the right side of the building and saw a large glass window. After peering through it to check if it was clear, he took out a small glass cutter and prepared to cut a small hole so that he could squeeze in a smoke grenade to conceal his presence. "Ahem..."
Edmond dropped his glass cutter and whipped around to see an annoyed green-haired female, dressed in a white lab coat, an olive shirt and a brown skirt. An ID card was attached to the coat's left breast pocket. "How the hell did you get behind me?"
"The lab has multiple entrances and exits with a few hidden ones for emergencies. And our security cameras noticed you heading off to this area to try and infiltrate the facility. Now what exactly are you doing here?" asked the female scientist in an irritated tone. "You won't find any rebel activity here since there's no strategic value for this location. It's precisely why we set up the lab here to conduct our work."
"Well, as a research facility developing new technologies, the rebels will undoubtedly plant a spy to see if there's anything worth taking to use against us," replied Edmond.
The woman gave an exasperated sigh. "We're not a military research facility! This is the South American DSSD Technology Development Centre! We're currently in the middle of a project that will allow us to explore domains beyond Mars! What type of value can the rebels see in that research?!"
Edmond grinned sheepishly. "I guess you have a point, Miss..." He looked closer at the ID card. "... Selene McGriff. Sorry to bother you then." He reached for the small communication device attached to his waist. "This is Lieutenant Commander Edmond du Cros to all units. Resume your standard search patterns. The facility wouldn't be of any interest to the rebels. I'll join you guys shortly."
Before the man could leave, Selene spoke up. "Wait... did you say you were Edmond du Cros? Did you ever receive my messages? Your older sister, Reena... she's dead."
"W-what? That's impossible! She was supposed to be safe working with your organization!!" He turned around and gripped Selene by the shoulders. "How did this happen?!?"
"She had been scheduled for a conference in the Orb Union not too long ago to gather new data that could be implemented to increase the Stargazer's energy output by ten percent. The last message we received from her was that she was running late and that she would be hitching a ride thanks to a generous school bus driver heading in the same direction to make the flight on time. That school bus was among the casualties during an attack on Orb..." The man's grip on her loosened and he collapsed to the ground while absorbing this shocking piece of news. He struggled to regain some sense of composure before speaking again.
"What about Sol? H-her son... my nephew... is he okay?!?" He could only imagine what the young teenager was going through. Sol lost his father at the age of ten and now his mother was dead.
"He's doing fine. He's currently working as an intern with us in this lab. If you want, you can stop by and say hi," replied Selene softly as tears formed in her own eyes. She never really had the opportunity to cry over the loss of a good friend and co-worker with the pressures of the Stargazer project always on her shoulders.
"T-that would be n-nice..." Edmond's tears started to flow out of his eyes as he and Selene both grieved over their loss.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Yasanagi
(Posted Wed, 26 Jul 2006 22:40)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.