Drawing ideas from various anime and Japanese mythology.
Most of the story will take place about 70 years from
events of the prologue, centering around a young mecha
pilot named Sakura.  The prologue does set up a lot that
follows, however.

Shells
(An original fanfic)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm

Prologue
December 31st, 1945

	The weight of the gun felt alien in Tanaka's hands.  It was 
from a stock that was supposed to have been melted down after the 
war.  How his superiors in the Wazari Group had gotten hold of 
them, he didn't dare ask.  It was different from the Shinto charms 
that they normally used, but even he had to admit that those had 
been losing their effectiveness recently.  It wasn't the fault of the 
wards, but the things they fought kept getting stronger.  He still 
carried a few on him just in case.
	"Damn," Tanaka muttered under his breath, "I don't even 
know how to fire one of these things."
	"Well, you better learn pretty quick," his partner replied, 
"because I think I just spotted our targets."
	They had been on night watch when an odd call had come 
in.  Surveillance had spotted something unusual around the 
Hiroshima area, which was still off-limits months after the fateful 
bombing.  That in itself was unusual, the radiation levels should 
have dropped back to normal a while ago, but the government was 
still restricting access to the area.
	That the Wazari Group of all people would be called in to 
investigate goings on there was strangest of all.  The particular 
breed of animal they hunted normally only roamed heavily 
populated areas, which was one reason why they were based in 
Tokyo.  They fed on people, in a spiritual sense more than literal, 
and therefore shouldn�t be found where there was nothing for them 
to feed on.
	A group of 'crow-men' were gathered outside of a building 
that had been left untouched by the bombing, a dull yellow light 
streaming through the open doorway.  'Crow-men' were about three 
feet in height, hunchbacked, covered it what appeared to be black 
feathers, which also hid most of their faces, revealing only a 
crooked beak and three shining eyes.  Not much more was known 
about them since they dissolved into a pool of black ichor when 
killed, and had yet to be taken in alive.
	The agents inched closer to see what the creatures were up 
to, or at least glimpse into the doorway which they were staring at 
so intently.  Crow-men where michevious creatures by nature, 
more of annoyances than any real trouble, though neither agent had 
seen so many gathered in one place before.  There must have been 
at least a dozen of them, all unnaturally still, as if they were 
waiting for something.
	"I don't like this," Tanaka said, gripping the gun firmly as 
he felt a chill creep up his back.
	"What is it?" his partner asked.  "I don't feel anything, but 
you've always been more sensitive than me in situations like this."
	Tanaka shook his head.  "I don't feel anything either," he 
said with some irritation.  "With so many crow-men here, I should 
feel something, but . . . no matter how much I concentrate, there 
isn't anything there."
	"Hmm, perhaps it's because they aren't doing much of 
anything right now.  Normally, we can only sense them when 
they're feeding.  Finding them like this is a lucky break for us."
	Tanaka only felt his sense of dread increase at his partner's 
words.  "Could be a nest.  Maybe we should call in for backup?"
	His partner was about to reply when the crow-men 
suddenly became agitated and started squawking so loud that the 
agents had to cover their ears to block out the sound.
	Everything seemed to slow down as Tanaka watched the 
crow-men begin to flap their wings and rise.  He turned to see his 
partner steady his gun.  Before Tanaka could say a single word, the 
shot rang out, one the crow-men making one last squawk before it 
hit the street with a thump.
	The next moment everything seemed blur as the swarm 
charged at them, talons outstretched.  The agents split up 
instinctively, the crow-men breaking themselves into two groups to 
follow.
	Tanaka was running fast though the darkened and ruined 
streets, labored breath coming out as steam, trying not to stumble 
over debris.  He could hear the squawking and flapping of wings 
very close behind him as he tried to ready the gun he was given.  It 
didn't seem to be working.  He wished that he had paid closer 
attention to the instruction that he had been given.
	There was a nip at his shoulder.  Instinctively, he took out a 
Shinto ward and spun around, slapping it to the creature's forehead.  
The crow-man screeched and fell.  Tanaka paused in surprise, 
realization dawning.  They had brought guns, expecting the more 
powerful creatures which the old charms had proven worthless 
against.  But what they had found were crow-men, who would 
succumb to the wards.
	This pause nearly cost him his life, for the five other crow-
men in pursuit had finally caught up.  They tore at him with beaks 
and claws as he struggled to use the Shinto charms he had with 
him.  He managed to get two, but he was bleeding from cuts all 
over his body, his clothes in tatters.  He could feel his will starting 
to slip, to give out, the crow-men becoming transparent before his 
eyes.
	The three remaining crow-men squawked suddenly and 
flew away from him.  Tanaka, kneeling to the street, watched them 
go in surprise.  He had killed two of their number, they shouldn't 
have given up for anything until he was dead.  *Just what is going 
on here?*
	Absently picking up the gun, Tanaka struggled to follow.  
The pain was gone for now, numbed by cold and curiosity, though 
in the back of his mind he knew it would return ten fold.
	Somehow he lost sight of them, their black plumage 
vanishing into the night, but the chase had lead him back to the 
building where they had first appeared.  The door was shut now, 
the place dark, but right at the doorway lay his partner.  His 
wounds seemed minor, though he lay unnaturally still, staring up at 
the sky with wide eyes.
	Tanaka quickly checked his pulse.  It was weak, but steady.  
Waving his hands before his eyes brought no response, however, 
not even a blink.
	"I can't believe it," his partner said very softly, almost 
inaudible.
	"What?  Believe what?" Tanaka asked frantically, 
wondering what his partner had seen to put him in such a state.
	"Horrible . . . so horrible.  What they're doing."
	"Who?  What are you talking about?"
	And then his partner started laughing.  Not the laughter of a 
sane man, but the deep, bubbling, cackling laughter of one whose 
power of reason has been wiped away.  His eyes bulged and his 
body began to shake.  He clenched his teeth to hold back the waves 
of laughter, his face turning blue.  Tanaka tried to hold him down, 
keep him still, but the laughter burst forth from him once again.
	Eventually, the laughter turned to a coughing, girgling, as 
he started to spit up blood.  Tanaka watched in horror as he 
convulsed a few more times and stopped.  He checked his pulse 
one more time and shook his head.
	Tanaka stood, wiping the dust from his tattered clothes, 
staring down at the corpse.  They had been partners for what?  Six, 
maybe seven years?  In that time they had faced down so many 
horrors, that it seemed sad and pathetic to be killed by a crow-men, 
even if there was a group of them.
	There was a sudden click behind him.  Tanaka spun around 
to face the building where the crow-men had gathered and watched 
as a sickly yellow light began to fill the windows, growing 
gradually brighter.  Slowly, the door began to open . . .

	Tanaka nearly sprang from his bed as the nightmare fading, 
absently wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his 
hand.  In the shadows, his dead partner watched and waited.

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