Lam had already been awake for two hours when the
message from Rogo arrived. It came as little surprise to him
to know that the earthlings have been alerted of their
presence. To him, it was not that important.
Lam stretched, trying to work out the kinks in his
muscles. Lam was lying face up inside his capsule.
Fortunately, it was big enough to allow small movements such
the bending of knees and the raising of arms. Unfortunately,
it was still uncomfortable to be so cocooned.
Using his mind, he commanded his onboard computer to hail
the other capsules. Immediately, all twenty-nine members of
his team reported in. It appeared that everyone was in good
shape and survived the long hyperspace journey. That was
good because they will have start moving quickly the moment
they landed on Earth to avoid detection. His mission was
clear to him: capture the girl or girls that were able to
open a wormhole at whatever costs.
Once again, using his onboard computer, he programmed a
new course heading. He verified the coordinates before
saving it and simultaneously sending it to the other
capsules. The computer chimed an acknowledgement to his
command.
Satisfied that everything was in order, he forced himself
to relax. His capsule had just passed the planet known to
Earth as Mars.
* * * * *
"Four more hours, Mr. President," General Masterson
announced. "The objects have just passed Mars."
"Amazing," Joan Rumsen whispered to her companion, Bill,
when she heard that. Bill merely nodded, clearly
understanding why Joan thought that. Using Earth's current
space and rocket technology, it would take at least a year
to reach Mars from Earth. These aliens will cover that same
distance in less than four hours.
"The fleet is in place?"
"Yes, sir, it is."
The President took his eyes off the huge TV screen
showing in split screens a graphical depiction of the
capsules' trajectory and the real-time view of the United
States' Third Fleet just a few hundred miles off the coast
of Japan. He turned to look at his Chief of Staff. "I used
to think the United States was very powerful. Against
something like this..." the President's voice trailed off. The
Chief of Staff could only shake his head in reply.
* * * * *
Meanwhile on Cephiro, Lantis was looking intently at the
cloud-covered sky. Beside him was the diminutive Master Mage
Clef. "Is it me, Master Mage, or did the clouds just
suddenly appear?"
"It seems that our Pillar is having problems," said Clef
sagely.
"I wonder how she is." Lantis turned to look at the mage.
"Unfortunately, we do not possess the ability to
communicate with her from here." Clef's eyes have not left
the clouds.
"We can however send a signal."
"I prefer not to use that signal unless there is an
emergency."
"Master Mage--"
"This is not an emergency, Lantis," Clef calmly but
firmly reminded the magic swordsman. "Please have faith in
her. She can take care of herself."
Lantis turned back to look at the clouds. Yes, he should
have faith in Hikaru. She is after all, the Pillar. And a
very powerful one at that. But still...
* * * * *
Lt. Col. Jack Thompson, known by his handle "Black
Blade", was finally in the air together with his flight of
seven. Waiting was not one of his strong suits. But here he
was where he belonged, at one with his fighter jet. His,
together with ten other flights, comprised the first wave
that will meet the alien threat head-on. The second wave was
composed of fifty jet fighters both from the USAF and
Japan's SDF plus a gaggle of Blackhawks and Apaches also
contributed by both forces.
"Falcon One, this is Eagle Five." Black Blade recognized
the voice of one of the radarheads aboard the AWACS aircraft
that guided the first wave.
"Go ahead, Eagle Five," he replied.
"Target is still on current trajectory bearing two-niner-
zero. ETA is 20 minutes."
"Roger that, Eagle Five." With a flick of a finger, he
switched channels to address his flight. "Flight," Black
Blade called on secure radio. "This is Falcon One, tighten
up your formation. We're heading in guys. Afterburners on my
mark." He waited for each pilot on his flight to acknowledge
his command. When he got it, he took a deep breath. This is
it. "Mark!"
As one, all seven jet fighters streaked through sky with
renewed speed towards their target. After just a few
seconds, sixty other jet fighters followed suit.
* * * * *
Hikaru's fists were clenched at her side as she continued
to gaze at the sky. The communications channel between the
three Knights was still open. For a long time they all
remained silent, absorbing the tale Hikaru had just told
them about her dream. Most disturbing also was the
description of the strange man who appeared in her room
shortly after the dream.
"Hikaru," Umi finally called out, noticing what the First
Knight was doing. "You shouldn't be looking out the window."
"That's right, Miss Hikaru," Fuu's concern was evident on
her voice. "We were explicitly told on TV that we are not to
look up at the sky."
"Something's coming," Hikaru said, almost inaudibly. She
was still looking steadfastly outward.
"What's coming?" queried Umi, aware that the redhead was
referring to something more than the objects they saw on
Fuu's picture.
"I don't know. But I can feel it...them."
"What are we supposed to do?" It was Fuu's turn.
"I don't know," was Hikaru's only reply.
* * * * *
Two minutes before entry.
Rogo and his team were driving like mad towards the
center of Tokyo. Fortunately, because of the continuous
television and radio broadcasts urging people to stay
indoors, there was hardly any traffic. Rogo was driving a
huge black van with Dasma and Crata in the back, while Grat
was driving an identical van just behind him in a high-speed
convoy.
"They're not slowing down, are they?" Dasma asked Crata.
"No, they're not," the raven-haired, technology officer
replied. The computer she had in front of her was closely
tracking their inbound comrades, as well as the counter-
measures the earthlings were mounting against them. For all
the good it will do them, Crata thought.
Although Crata was relieved that their days of endlessly
stalking three fourteen-year-old girls would end, she was
almost equally uncomfortable with working with Lam and his
team. Lam was the first-born son of Supreme Commander Drak
and he had an arrogance about him that exceeded what
warriors normally had. It was unnerving to say the least.
Nevertheless, she had been itching to get her hands on the
three girls, particularly the Shidou girl. She seemed to be
the leader and the one that registered the greatest level of
energy. Like any good scientist, she was curious. And here
now, was her chance to get to the bottom of this particular
mystery.
Dasma, who was seated across from Crata, was also
relieved but for a different reason. She was a warrior and
she was itching for something else entirely. Lam's arrival,
she was sure, would give her the chance to finally test her
fighting skills for real.
Rogo brooded while driving in the near empty highway
towards the western part of Tokyo. He knew that as soon as
Lam arrived, he would have to give up his command. As a
warrior, Rogo had nothing but respect for Lam's fighting
prowess. But as a leader and as a thinker, Rogo had no kind
words to describe him. Nevertheless, he had no choice. Lam
outranked him and his loyalty to the race was paramount. He
would just make sure that Lam didn't do anything to
jeopardize their survival.
Rogo turned his head slightly towards the back of the
van. "ETA?"
* * * * *
"Sixty seconds, Mr. President."
The President merely nodded. All eyes in the Situation
Room were glued to the large television screen. The camera
projecting the image was directed at a point in the sky
where the entry would happen. Tiny dots, which everyone knew
were the first wave of their defense, could be seen edging
closer towards the invisible spot in the sky were more than
twenty invaders were expected to make their entrance.
"Mr. President," General Masterson said, standing beside
his Commander-in-Chief. "Your helicopter and Air Force One
are standing by to take you to KNEECAP...just in case."
The President turned away momentarily from the screen to
look at the General. "I don't see why that's necessary,
General."
"It's standard procedure, Mr. President," insisted the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. "I did say 'just in case'."
The President merely nodded and turned his attention back to
the huge television screen.
* * * * *
Thirty seconds.
"Falcon flight, this is Falcon One," Black Blade called.
"Prepare to fire on my mark." He glanced at his radar. Each
fighter had a target already. He had to wait for just the
right moment. The objects were still outside Earth's
atmosphere but at their current speed, they should be within
range in three...two...one...
"I have tone...Fox-Two!" All seven aircraft loosed their
first salvo towards a target that was invisible to
everyone's eyes save for their radars. In less than three
seconds, there were over sixty missiles in the air from
different flights flying in from various vectors.
In another five seconds, a second salvo of over sixty
missiles was loosed. This was repeated several times until
all seventy aircraft had fired all their missiles. Contrary
to orders, they continued to fly in the direction of their
missiles, eager to see what damage their weapons of war
would do to the unknown enemy. There were over 250 missiles
streaking towards the targets; approximately eight per
inbound object. So confident was each fighter that the enemy
didn't stand a chance. None of them realized how wrong they
were.
Black Blade had just fired his last missile and watched
it streak away from him accelerating up to five times the
speed of sound. "Falcon flight, if we're gonna watch this
show, you all had better make sure you've got your special
visors up." He followed his own advice and activated the
newly installed sunshield, throwing the entire cockpit
several shades darker. He hoped the other flight leaders had
the good sense to tell their team the same thing.
His various gauges and dials were lit automatically.
Black Blade watched the radar closely. They timed it
closely. The first salvo of missiles should hit the inbound
targets just as they enter the atmosphere. Any second now...
* * * * *
Ten seconds.
The tires on both vans screeched as both Rogo and Grat
floored the brakes. The doors to both vans burst open even
before the vehicles had stopped moving. Rogo, Grat, Dasma
and Crata ran to the center of Yoyogi Park and were a little
surprised to find people there. All were looking up, exactly
the opposite of what their government had asked them to do.
Conquering these people should be a cinch, thought Dasma,
shaking her head.
All four were carrying large duffel bags containing long
overcoats intended to disguise their arriving visitors. They
needn't have bothered.
* * * * *
Five...
"Something's not right," Hikaru said, her voice almost
inaudible.
Umi and Fuu were holding their breath. Although not as
sensitive as their leader, the open channel allowed them to
feel what the Fire Knight was feeling. None of them could
identify what it was but a sense of foreboding was very
quickly overcoming them.
Umi was in her room, seated on her bed, facing away from
the window. Fuu was at her desk, in front of her computer,
her eyes seeing beyond the information that flowed on the
monitor. Both could see the dotted sky through Hikaru's
eyes. All three felt frustratingly helpless to stop the evil
that was about to befall them.
* * * * *
Four...
Lam was focused on his computer monitor as, he was sure,
all twenty-nine of his comrades were also doing. They could
all clearly see the oncoming missiles. None of them
considered them any threat at all. Without warning, the
bodies of all thirty warriors were rotated so that they now
faced down.
"Jammers on," Lam mentally commanded his onboard
computer. A high-pitched chime came back as an
acknowledgement. That should make things a little more
interesting, Lam smiled to himself.
* * * * *
Three...
"Uh oh," Chuck Tyler uttered and turned to look at his
Commander.
For a split second, Rear Admiral Joshua Parker was
immobilized by the look on his science officer's face. He
immediately picked up the radio and practically yelled into
it. "All fighters! Evasive maneuvers, NOW!"
* * * * *
Two...
All the missiles that were in the air rushing towards the
target were the newest of its kind. Each was equipped with
long-range infrared seekers that tracked the heat signatures
of the oncoming targets. The jamming activated by Lam
scrambled the little red eye on each missile. As a safety
precaution, the missiles were designed to detonate when
their targets were lost. And this they all did causing a
spectacular fire show in the sky, just two seconds before
they would have hit their targets.
* * * * *
One...
The pilots were well trained. As soon as they heard the
call on their radio to perform evasive maneuvers, they all
did so in one impressively uniformed move. Some went up,
others went down, still others down starboard, and others
down port. But all of them made the mistake of first
deactivating their sunshield.
At that instant, all the missiles exploded. The resulting
blindness was something all the fighter pilots would have
recovered from shortly. But the inbound targets chose that
same moment to make their entrance. None of them were able
to close their eyes soon enough and each pilot felt extreme
pain in his occiput. This was further exacerbated by several
extremely loud cracking sounds, each several thousand times
louder than thunder.
The immediate reflex response was to bring the hands up
to grasp the head and ears in an attempt to somehow stem the
pain. With very little exception, the pilots lost control
over their jets causing them to collide with others in
midair. Others just simply spun uncontrollably causing their
engines to stall and freefall towards the unforgiving ocean.
The rest of the aircraft that may have survived were
ploughed through by thirty super-heated capsules, causing
many of them to be thrown several hundred kilometers in
every direction, the speed and violence of the passing
breaking apart all the jets, killing their pilots long
before the individual pieces of aircraft and bodies hit the
ocean.
There were few who were able to eject. Black Blade was
one of them. By the time he reached the zenith of his ascent
where his parachute opened, he was already mercifully
unconscious.
* * * * *
Despite the special goggles, Rear Admiral Parker was
still blinded by the light and deafened by the thunderous
sound that followed. The same was true with every single
crewmember that had the grave misfortunate of witnessing the
event. Those who chose to watch out on the deck were all
down, writhing and screaming in pain either from the eyes or
ears or both depending on whether they were wearing
protective goggles.
By the time the fleet commander was able to haul himself
up from a kneeling position to look out, the invaders had
vanished. The only clue Parker had as to where they went
were several smoke trails, all leading into mainland Japan.
"God save us," Parker breathed and promptly vomited.
* * * * *
Hikaru had already averted her eyes just before the entry
of the alien objects. Because she was several kilometers
inland, the accompanying thunder-like sound was not as
deafening but it did nevertheless leave her ears ringing.
Her eyes were wide open, although unseeing. The shock of
multiple deaths completely stunned her. A single tear rolled
down her eye.
"Hikaru," Umi said, wanting to reach out to her friend.
"Are you okay?"
"No," the redhead said. The way she said it caused her
two friends to mentally glance at each other nervously. "I'm
not okay." Hikaru slowly raised her head to look out her
window once again, her eyes narrowing. Gripping the
windowsill with both hands, she made a vow. "They will pay
for this."
* * * * *
"Well?" There was an edge to the President's voice. The
screen that they had been watching showed nothing but
static. Almost every member of the Joint Chiefs was on the
phone trying to get information to the Commander-in-Chief.
Finally, General Masterson came forward with a piece of
paper in his hand. "These are still unconfirmed reports, Mr.
President."
"Tell me," the President ordered.
"According to this, all radar and communications
equipment went down just as the aliens entered the
atmosphere."
"Can't we get the Battle Fleet commander on the phone or
something?"
"That's what we're trying to do, Mr. President," General
Masterson replied as he glanced at one of his aides on the
phone.
"I can't believe this happened," the President
complained. "Even CNN can't get anything." The President
then whirled around to face the general. "You don't suppose
the entire Third Fleet is destroyed...?"
General Masterson had already considered this. "I'm
afraid I don't have the answer to that, Mr. President."
The President ran his fingers through his hair. With an
air of defeat, he flopped down on his seat. "I hate
waiting."
* * * * *
Rogo and his team watched as Lam and twenty-nine of his
companions floated downwards. Each of them was equipped with
a jet pack, which was emitting a continuous stream of
thrust. Presently, Rogo found himself face to face with a
grinning Lam.
"That was quite an entrance, Lam," observed Rogo dryly.
"Well, you know me," Lam replied cockily, tapping Rogo's
chest lightly with the back of a hand as he moved to survey
the park they landed on. The entire area was littered with
unconscious humans. With two hands, he gestured expansively
towards the bodies that lay immobile on the grass. "Such
weaklings," Lam said, shaking his head in amazement.
"Well, these weaklings will recover soon enough," Rogo
said walking past the still amazed Lam. "I suggest we leave
here immediately. We have a mission to fulfill."
"Yes, of course!" Lam finally tore his eyes away from the
prostrate earthlings and followed Rogo. The rest of the
assault team followed suit.
* * * * *
Lantis stood outside the palace in the pouring rain. The
sound of the multiple raindrops hitting the ground was
occasionally punctuated by lightning and thunder.
Master Mage Clef had long since left him alone with his
thoughts. He looked up at the darkened sky, not bothering to
shield his face from the downpour. After a while, he lowered
his head. Just before he turned to enter the palace, a
single sound escaped from his lips.
"Hikaru..."
--------------------
NEXT:
Chapter 5 - An Assault on the Pillar
--------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
C&C are very welcome. Please e-mail them to
darkhrse0714@yahoo.com
--------------------
DISCLAIMER:
Magic Knight Rayearth and all the characters in that
anime/manga are properties of CLAMP. These are used here
without permission.
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