Jus to prove I am still working on this story.

Prologue

��And it is hereby the decision of this court that Saginomiya Machine is 
declared bankrupt and all of its remaining assets seized in order to be 
sold off and pay its tremendous debts. This will include all of the 
Saginomiyas� private holdings, as agreed to by the late Masahiro 
Saginomiya who put all of his worldly possessions up as collateral.� The 
judge pounded his gavel with his judgment made.

Asuka Saginomiya shot out of her chair and pounded on the table she sat 
at, staring at the judge evilly. �You can�t do this! This is an outrage!�

�Sit down,� her lawyer, Takaguchi tugged at her sleeve, but she shrugged 
off his hand.

The judge pounded his gavel down again. �Order in the court. Miss 
Saginomiya, I have been tolerant of your numerous outbursts due to the 
recent loss of your father in this very courtroom and the severity of 
your financial situation. But enough is enough.�

�It is not enough!� Asuka bellowed. This is a travesty of justice. It�s 
Kunou Industries which should be on trial here. We had that military 
contract in the bag until they bribed Councilman Orihara into giving it 
to them. They�re responsible for the stress they inflicted on my father 
that led to this trial and his heart attack. Why aren�t they here 
instead of me?�

�Knock it off or you�re going to be hit with a slander suit,� Takaguchi 
said.

Asuka scoffed at the idea. �Let him. Everyone knows he�s crooked.� She 
turned to the judge. �Your honor, all I need is one more month. SM is on 
the verge of creating a battle armor that will revolutionize warfare. 
We�ll be back in the black by the end of the year.�

The judge shook his head. �I�m sorry, Miss Saginomiya. This court�s 
decision is final. Case adjourned.� The judge rose and went in back.

Lacking the government minion to slake her rage upon, Asuka turned on 
her lawyer. �You incompetent shit! A first year law student could have 
won that case!�

The lawyer turned red as he threw his papers in his briefcase. �I�ve had 
enough out of you, you spoiled bitch. No one could possibly have won 
this case. I only took it because your father was like a brother to me, 
god rest his soul. If he had died before the trial started I would never 
picked this up. Now, I�m sorry you lost everything, but you shouldn�t 
have any problems getting back on your feet. You�re a savant in 
engineering, second only to Kodachi Kunou��

�I�m better than Kodachi ever was!� Asuka shouted shrilly. �She doesn�t 
have half of my intelligence, looks, or grace! She couldn�t build an 
erector set without instructions! The only way she managed to steal my 
International Scientific Community Achievement Award was by sleeping 
with the judges!�

�I somehow doubt that. There were five of them, and it was a unanimous 
decision.�

�It just proves what a slut she is.�

�And three of them were women.�

�And that she would go to any length to win.�

Takaguchi said, �Look, I�m sorry I mentioned your rival�s name.�

�She is not a rival. A rival is someone who is almost in equal. Kodachi 
Kunou isn�t fit to wash my toilet. Why are you speaking so highly of 
her?� Asuka�s eyes narrowed in suspicion. �She paid you to lose the 
case, didn�t she? It wasn�t your incompetence that lost this case, you 
deliberately threw it!�

Takaguchi held his hands up in equal parts surrender and disgust. 
�That�s it. I�ve had enough of your paranoid ramblings. What you need 
isn�t a lawyer: it�s therapy.� He turned and left.

Asuka waved her fist at his back. �Traitor! I�ll make you pay! You, that 
crooked politician, and Kunou Industries! I�ll make you all pay!�

A bailiff cleared his throat, announcing his presence. Asuka realized 
that everyone in the room was staring at her, and that the bailiff 
appeared ready to throw her out. She sniffed disdainfully and turned to 
leave, dark clouds of vengeance covering her thoughts. She exited the 
room, and the court building altogether, at a loss of how to go about 
making those that had schemed against her pay. She had no money, and 
would be tossed out of her ancestral home within days. She had never 
bothered saving any of the money she made since she had assumed her 
family�s fortune would always be there if she needed any. Now she had 
nothing, not even a chauffer to take her to her home. What was she to do?

Asuka had barely made it a hundred yards down the sidewalk before an 
expensive stretch limousine pulled up beside her. The window in the back 
rolled down and a plain-looking gentleman, dressed in a ten thousand 
dollar suit, stuck his head out the window. �Miss Saginomiya? My name is 
Roquat.�

�Funny, you don�t look like a Nome King.�

Roquat shrugged. �It is the name given to me by my employer. It amuses 
her to make it seem as though kings and queens are at her beck and call, 
though the reality is very close to the illusion.�

�What is it?� Asuka snapped.

�My employer heard you have fallen on hard times. I have been entrusted 
to offer you two things.�

�What are they?� Asuka asked suspiciously.

�The first is condolences on your father�s death. My employer also lost 
her father at an early age and knows what it is like.�

�I hope the second thing you offer has some actual value.�

�It does. My employer is aware of your inroads in battle armor 
technology. She wishes to offer you a lucrative contract if you�re 
willing to continue developing the SL-000 series battle armor.�

Money. Lots of money. That perked her ears up. �How much?�

�Ten million dollars American for the project. An additional five if 
it�s completed to satisfaction.�

Asuka felt like laughing. No one would toss around money like that. It 
was probably a prank concocted by Kodachi Kunou to rub Asuka�s nose in 
her abject misery. �And who is it I would be working for?�

Roquat told her.

That changed everything. �Okay, you are legitimate. Very well, I agree 
to your terms. It�s not like I have anything else to do.� And fifteen 
million dollar was certainly enough seed money to hatch her plans for 
righteous vengeance. Perhaps things were going to turn out for the best 
after all.

She entered the limousine, the dark cloud surrounding her made brighter 
by blood tinged fantasies.

Xxxxxxxx

Avenging
Act II, Chapter 5
Steel Lilies in the Field




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