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AKB48 Fanfics => AKB48 Fanfics => Topic started by: Estrea on November 09, 2011, 06:58:28 PM

Title: Castleful of Dreams [5/01 - A Pleasure to Burn]
Post by: Estrea on November 09, 2011, 06:58:28 PM
I really shouldn't be starting anything new, but here I am. Oh well, what can I say. XD

Without further ado, let's just get to it already!

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Ground Zero


"Tell me again Sayaka, why are we here?"

One shadow dropped to the ground at the same time as the speaker's swing, her blade piercing straight down through armor and bone for an immediate decapitation. The rest of the suit dropped with a thud. In that same moment, there was a painful shriek of shearing metal, followed by an ominous creaking...

BOOM!

The antenna tower collapsed. If she could facepalm right now, Akimoto Sayaka would. However, clad in one of the older model SAAs (Special Assault Armor), she had some difficulty actually doing so. The drawback of having greater protection meant less flexibility. That she was able to still wield her favorite blade in combat with any facility was a testament to her skill.

"Because of that, Sae." She pointed at the wreckage as her partner turned to look at the result of her overenthusiastic approach to combat. "You're completely incapable of stealth..."

"What was that?" Miyazawa Sae trudged forward, an irrepressible grin clearly visible even through the armored helm. Due to the excessive electromagnetic interference still present even now, radio communication was erratic at best. Sayaka sighed, sheathing her blade and drawing her sidearm.

"Never mind." A flashing light in her unit display alerted her to the incoming hostiles converging on their position. She raised her gun (or more appropriately, hand cannon) and braced herself. She didn't even need to signal. Sae was already covering her back.

"I still think I did alright! After all, we're here to be a distraction! Look, here they come!"

"So you were listening!"

The cackle that answered her was positively overflowing with childish glee. Sayaka eyed the tightening ring closing on their position, instinctively circling out from the wreckage and finding as much cover as she could. The false light from the dying sun had given them precious seconds of surprise for their ambush earlier. The wolf night wouldn't hold for much longer before the aurora bleached the heavens again. They would have to use every moment to their advantage.

"So Captain, orders?"

This close to engaging the enemy, Sae was suddenly all business again. Sayaka assessed the situation quickly. A 9-man squad from the likes of the array. 2 fire-teams to pin, one to flank, she was suddenly certain.

"Get the flankers..."

Full automatic fire. Multiple explosions and many flying body parts later, Sae's head popped up almost impishly from where she had taken cover.

"You were saying?"

Sayaka heaved another sigh. Why bother with strategy. This was why the Twin Towers were dispatched to cause as much of a ruckus as possible. They didn't need numbers. They didn't need to plan every move. They just had to do what they did best together.

"Kill everything. Don't die." Sayaka's tone was clipped, and then she was off, blade and guns flashing. Most of the incoming squad only saw a looming shadow through the fog before falling under an onslaught of metal. It was a whirlwind of destruction.

"Aye aye, Cap'n~"

Sae laughed maniacally to herself, emptying the grenade launchers she had lugged along and hidden earlier. The explosions and screaming were very satisfying. She saluted the corpses of her enemies with her launcher, then tossed it away and extending her pike with a flick of her wrist.

"GenKing reporting for duty! Captain Midget better appreciate this!"

The sky overhead glowed, and it wasn't just with the undulating lights of the aurorae. Instead, it was red, a glorious glorious red, matching the symphony of death below. Another explosion rocked the outpost, and somewhere, a midget sneezed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Disclaimer: I borrowed the Special Assault Armor (SAA) concept from a manga called Red Eyes. Just the name and general idea, the tech powering it is of my own devising (and I will go into it eventually). The SAAs are combat armor that boosts strength and defense. Kind of like mechas, but smaller scale.

This is a post-apocalyptic world setting. I've blended my favorite steampunk and cyberpunk elements into a nice little dystopian mix. Don't worry if you don't understand what I've just said. XD I'm a geek and proud of it.

Let's see how far I can take my idea...yoroshiku onegaishimasu~
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Ground Zero]
Post by: Flean on November 10, 2011, 03:14:10 AM
I'm a bit confused at first... but when you mention SAA, then I got the idea now... :lol:

"GenKing reporting for duty! Captain Midget better appreciate this!"
Seems interesting enough for me because of this.. LOL...  :on lol: so bias... :hiakhiakhiak:
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Ground Zero]
Post by: Estrea on November 10, 2011, 06:26:50 AM
I'm back. It's easier to write with mini chapters. Hurhur.

@Flean: Sorry if it's confusing. I'll go into more detail in time. ^^; And no worries, Captain Midget makes an appearance here. XD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raid


"Well, our distraction seems to be doing fine."

A tiny shadow perched precariously on top of a cliff, shifting the binoculars from the horizon down to the supply base at the bottom of the valley. At least half the guards had been drawn away by the raid on the communications array at the head of the valley. Judging from the explosions, the tower had been knocked out, which meant that further reinforcements couldn't be summoned from beyond a 100km radius. That would give them enough time to get what they needed.

Gravel rolled down to ping lightly against her sleeve, and the watcher nearly jumped. A familiar chuckle stilled her movements, and a larger patch of shadow crouched next to her.

"Minami, I cleared out the patrol on the south end of the valley."

"Acchan!" The tiny watcher turned abruptly to face her partner. "I told you not to be reckless, and did you just take them out without your armor?!"

"But I was getting bored...and hungry...so I thought if we got this done quickly we can head back sooner." The petulant ace sat down crosslegged on the rocky surface, heedless of the sharp stones. Clad in a dark bodysuit, the blood smears were barely visible. In one hand, the blade of her long knife was a dull matte finish, gleaming still with fresh crimson.

Takahashi Minami stared wordlessly at her sleepy-eyed comrade, then took the knife from her, wiping off the blade before handing it back.

"I still can't believe you can take out 5 men in SAAs barehanded..."

"It's not so hard. The terrain makes it easy. So many places to hide." Acchan, otherwise known as Maeda Atsuko, yawned. She mimed stabbing with her knife. "You said to be quiet, so I went after the neck joint here," she tapped at the back of her captain's neck, "so it stops them from yelling a warning. Doesn't take much to finish them once I've got the jump on them."

The tiny captain shook her head. "You shouldn't take so many risks, what if you missed?"

"I don't miss." There it was again, the murderous glint that surfaced whenever the ace was in combat. It flashed by in an instant, replaced immediately by that lazy gaze.

"I stole one of their suits and used it to signal Miichan earlier. So we better get moving and get rid of the rest of the guards before she gets here."

"You got Miichan to drive us? Are you crazy?" Minami couldn't help it, her voice was edging just on the verge of shrill. Atsuko grinned.

"She was on comms. She volunteered." She flipped the knife in her hands, rising to a crouch.

"Besides, she's the only one who can get here so quickly. Come on Minami, we have a base to attack. Let's suit up and head in. Miichan will be disappointed if we keep her waiting."

Minami rose as well, the pair retreating to the cave where they had stashed their SAAs. She was shaking her head.

"Even if we get past all those guards, I'm not sure if we'll survive the trip back with Miichan driving. Gods, Acchan, did you really have to?"

"I'm hungry."

Yes, she had to.

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Yes people, don't mess with a hungry Acchan. She will keel you. XD
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Ground Zero]
Post by: Regent on November 10, 2011, 06:29:33 AM

Kick ass Twin Tower action? Sign me up.

Great opening and I love the genre... well written too! Looking forward to seeing how this develops - I hope Sayaka and Sae are featured a lot as they seem to be relegated to side characters so often.
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: Flean on November 10, 2011, 06:49:33 AM
Yeay!!!! My Taka is here~~~  :gmon flowers:

Hungry Acchan is awesome!!!!  :on GJ: More action!!!  :mon zoom:  This is so cool... 

Can't wait to see how's Miichan gonna give them a ride.. :mon fyeah:
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: Estrea on November 10, 2011, 07:17:58 AM
Ehe I'm back. Ok I have to stop and head to work, so no more rapid updates until I get back again. Lmao.

@Regent: I like kickass Twin Towers. They're so underused. XD I'll do my best!

@Flean: I'm glad I could serve. XD Miichan's not showing up yet, but she'll be awesome when she does. Haha.

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Ambush


"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Shit, how many of them are there?"

"I can't se--aggghh!!!"

"Beta team, report! REPORT!"

15 minutes of combat and the squad leader had a sinking feeling that none of his men were alive. They had rushed in to back up the first squad after they had gone silent. The comms tower was a broken mess, but he had faith that their engineers could rig it back together.

Why today of all days? He swore, squeezing off a shot when he saw something move through the fog of dust kicked up by all the explosions. Moving constantly, he barely had time to react when something punched hard into him from behind. He looked down to see the shimmering tip of a blade protruding from his abdomen. How...?

The blade twisted, and he coughed blood. The display in his helmet blinked rapidly, signalling an incoming communication. He blinked, the interface interpreting his reflex action as a command to open the message. His vision dimmed as he felt himself slide off the blade that had impaled him.

"...incoming transport...bzzt...classified...dzzt...top secret...Project BLA--"

The last of it was cut off with a crunch of steel. Sayaka leaned nonchalantly on her sword, using her body weight and augmented strength to pulverise the head.

"Sayaka! Sayaka! Look what I found!" The powerful warrior turned to look up at where her partner, the ever vivacious GenKing, otherwise known as Miyazawa Sae, was holding up a rocket launcher. The slightly shorter of the Twin Towers always scavenged weapons off her opponents even as she brought them down, having no qualms about turning their own weapons against them. Sayaka herself tended to prefer melee combat, using the special sword made just for her, a sword that could cut through the reinforced armor plating for the SAAs. She also carried a full load of smoke grenades. It helped her to get closer, and her instincts were honed finely enough that the sight impediment didn't bother her too much.

"It even has a depleted uranium round in it~♪"

Abruptly, Sae suddenly bounced up the cliff face, scaling it surefootedly. Her SAA was a lighter model, suited for speed. Concerned, Sayaka followed, but not without checking around the area first for any other remaining foes.

"What is it?" The tall captain asked as she joined her partner at the edge of the cliff face. Sae pulled her down to a crouch, the two armored figures looking slightly ridiculous hunched behind a large rock.

"I thought I felt something. Look, dust in the horizon!"

Sayaka squinted, her visual array zooming in automatically to bring the dust cloud into view. A convoy, lightly guarded. The armored tank-like truck in the middle looked vaguely ominous.

"Reinforcements?"

"It's possible." Sae said seriously, her glance shifting down to the rocket launcher in her hand. Sayaka scowled in her helmet, knowing what her partner was planning.

"We're only here as a distraction..."

"And the convoy is heading here anyway. I'll give them an ETA of maybe 20 minutes, at the rate they're going. We can't let them through, not when Takamina hasn't given us the all clear." Sae argued, making a point to not look at the launcher in her hands.

Sayaka swore. Sae was right, of course. She glanced down at the battlefield they had just gone through. She wasn't too tired to take on more enemies, but...

"How fast can you strip the dead?"

Sae grinned. "Fast enough. I already went through most of them earlier. You're the one who leaves everything where they are all the time."

"Tch." No doubt Sae had also scavenged enough firepower for both of them to hold off a regiment. Her blade would have to wait for more kills, with three trucks heading towards them.

"We'll rig something up at the entrance. You've got enough grenades left?"

"They do." Sae gestured widely at her victims. Sayaka smirked.

"Then get to it, dumbass."

"Three lines?" Sae asked hopefully. Sayaka turned to look at her.

"We have enough for three lines?"

Sae grinned sheepishly. "I might have taken some C4 with us before we left base..."

Sayaka was speechless for a moment, but an evil grin snuck up her face.

"Make me a nice light show Sae, and I might even let you use that uranium round on them later..."

"Yay!"

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Lalalala~ I love homicidal Sae. Lol. Might be OOC, but hey. XD It's fun~
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: Flean on November 10, 2011, 07:39:16 AM
WOOWWWW... you sure are fast~~~  :on lol:

"Make me a nice light show Sae, and I might even let you use that uranium round on them later..."
Man!!! I love what this two planning on doing....  :mon fyeah: 

Waiting for your next update~~~  :mon fu:
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: kahem on November 10, 2011, 08:27:22 AM
"Kill everything. Don't die." I like this sentence ^^
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: karomuwi on November 10, 2011, 01:07:20 PM
Woah! :shocked :shocked :shocked

Three updates already!!!! This fic is so good! Yay~! Love this! :twothumbs :thumbsup

Post more!
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: Regent on November 10, 2011, 05:33:17 PM
So Sayaka likes getting up close and personal while Sae likes blowing up sh*t, eh? Awesome.

I love Sae talking about depleted uranium in a sing song-y tone.

*settles in for the light show*
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [10/11 - Raid]
Post by: Estrea on November 11, 2011, 08:19:43 PM
Took a while, but I'm back! Too much caffeine...

@Flean: I can be pretty fast when I want to! Switching back to Atsumina for the moment though. XD

@kahem: I like that line too. ^^

@karomuwi: Roger~

@Regent: Yup, they balance each other out. Sae's a bit loopy here, but only around Sayaka, probably because she knows Sayaka will take care of her. Lmao. Hey, if I were her, I'd be talking about that depleted uranium in much the same way too. Big boom good. :>

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Army of Two


"Acchan, look out!"

Maeda turned, only to have a tan SAA hurtle right into her, dashing both units into the ground. She almost backhanded her assailant until it registered that it was Takamina who had tackled her.

The midget grunted, keeping both of them low as a hail of bullets decorated the wall above them. Underneath her, Atsuko crawled forward on her belly, pulling out the pin of a grenade with her teeth. Her headgear was minimalist, leaving most of her face exposed, but she preferred to be as lightly armored as possible, if only to make use of the additional speed.

"Up and away~" The ace whispered, making an underhand toss that had the grenade flying straight for about an inch above the floor before dipping neatly to a rolling stop where the idiots shooting at them were.

It exploded on contact, and she was already moving, spraying the unlucky trio with explosive rounds. If the blast and the shrapnel hadn't gotten them, eating a faceful of lead surely did.

"There's more of them than we thought!" Takamina panted as she sprinted from cover. Her Acchan laid down suppressing fire to make sure no one took a potshot at her partner until she was safely behind another jeep.

There was at least double the number of expected guards in such a small, remote supply base. It was located parallel to a relatively important trade route, but this was a military resupply post, and most traders didn't stop here unless they got lost or something. Its only real value, besides the usual stocks of fuel, food and ammunition, was the communications array...that the Twin Towers demolished not so long ago.

"I'm running low on ammo." Atsuko reported calmly, switching to her backup semi-automatic pistol. Subconsciously, she palmed the special ammo her good friend Yuko had slipped her earlier. Use only in emergency, huh?

"I've still got two flashies left." The tiny captain took a quick stock of her weaponry . She had only used a couple of grenades to clear the first two rooms. Two full clips for her trusty T110 assault rifle along with a half mag still loaded, one extra clip for her backup weapon, and her combat knife. A little light, but she hadn't expected to run into this much resistance.

The ace didn't reply. With only three quarters of a magazine left in her main weapon and only one spare clip for her pistol, she really was running low on ammo. She would have to make every shot count. Then there was the bandolier Yuko had tossed to her before she left. She also had two frags and a sticky left. She never bothered with flash grenades. In her opinion, the bigger the boom, the better.

The vehicle depot they were currently mired in was not the best place to fight, but it wasn't too bad. There was plenty of cover at least, but the fuelling station gave both sides the jitters. Atsuko had taken a big chance earlier with her grenade. If it had exploded anywhere nearer the refuelling pump...

"Acchan, catch." One full clip skidded across the floor into the ace's waiting hands. Atsuko looked up cautiously, using the mirror of the vehicle she was hiding behind to gauge enemy movement.

Two more behind the drywall, one by the pipes, another one behind a covered truck. Takamina made a few handmotions to her; two more were apparently out of her line of sight, probably in the office area.

3 to 1 odds. Thankfully, only two of the enemy were wearing combat SAAs. The rest just had reinforced plating. SAAs weren't cheap, and it was already suspicious that they had men in SAAs out patrolling. Most remote bases didn't have more than ten suits, and normal infantry were generally cannonfodder against a trained SAA pilot, even with armor-piercing rounds and RPGs. They did tend to make up for it with sheer numbers though. Not that it really mattered here.

There was a tense silence in the depot. Both sides were lurking now, repositioning themselves and getting ready to restart the hostilities the moment a suitable target presented itself.

The ace made up her mind. Time to end this farce. She was getting kinda irritated by the prolonged battle anyway. Besides, Miichan would be due in soon. She signalled Takamina to ready a flashie. Just as she was about to charge out, the entire base shook with the distant roar of multiple explosions.

Atsuko didn't wait. She leapt from cover, firing from memory at where she had last seen her targets. Two men fell, the explosive bullets ripping into them from the inside. One ducked, but Takamina's belated flashie landed right in front of him the next instant, and he shrieked as he was blinded by the phosphorus. He fired wildly with his machinegun, forcing Atsuko to throw herself sideways to avoid the wide spray of the incendiary rounds. It also left her a sitting duck for the two SAA pilots she missed earlier.

"Shit!" She swore violently and kicked away as hard as she could, skidding back several feet as the armor-piercing rounds dug craters into the ground she was just in. Another grenade soared over her head, terminating in the air above the first SAA pilot. The shrapnel hit him full in the face, and then full automatic fire pounded into his chest. Armor or not, he dropped.

Small arms fire had little effect against the plating on an SAA, but the ace didn't aim at the armor. She hit the leg joint instead, spoiling the second pilot's aim as he sought to finish her off while she was still on her ass.  She didn't even flinch as bullets grazed her exposed cheek, testament to how close she came to having her head blown off.

Without hesitating, she rose and pulled the pin of her sticky grenade, tossing it as she ran. Her aim was true, and it hit the surprised pilot in the face. Behind her, Takamina emptied the rest of her magazine at the pilot, staggering him before the eventual explosion quite literally blew his head off.

The first fallen SAA pilot struggled to his feet, still kicking despite his grievous wounds. He was holding a chaingun in his other hand, and Atsuko cried out when part of his salvo thudded into her armored side, gouging ugly holes in the protective plating and searing part of her skin as they passed. She managed to duck behind an overturned buggy that had been knocked over by a grenade earlier, wincing painfully.

She heard her partner shout angrily, and the rapid staccato of her assault rifle filled the room. The return fire of the chaingun was even louded, and the jeep where Atsuko had last seen Takamina hiding behind exploded.

"MINAMI!" The ace screamed, rising despite her wound and firing wildly at the enemy, all calm lost. The battered suit rolled limply from behind the flaming ruins of the broken jeep. Atsuko saw red, and she forgot herself entirely, emptying her pistol uselessly at the enemy SAA.

Click. Click.

Out of ammo. Dimly behind her rage, Atsuko could almost see the enemy smirk at her, raising his chaingun...

A small shadow leapt off the top of an all-terrain vehicle, landing squarely on the shoulders of the hulking SAA. There was a glint of metal, swiftly buried.

The enemy SAA froze. Two seconds, and the chaingun dropped from nerveless fingers. The shadow jumped off before her victim collapsed facefirst, a knife still buried in the back of his neck.

Atsuko dropped to her knees, her pistol clattering uselessly to the floor. The shadow took on detail in her eyes, resolving into the familiar image of her partner.

Takahashi Minami. Impossible. The burnt out shell of her SAA was right there...

"..cchan, Acchan!" Atsuko was suddenly aware of her captain shaking her. Her helmet was off, and her face was wet with soot and blood. And tears too, she realized belatedly. The warm hands of Takamina cupped both her cheeks, that small serious face pressing close enough for them to touch foreheads.

"I'm here, I'm safe." She repeated again, pressing her forehead to her Acchan's, reassuring the distraught ace. The tiny captain gasped suddenly when the ace hugged her bodysuited form tightly. They were silent for a few moments, then Atsuko whispered.

"If you died, I swear I'll drag you back from hell and kill you myself."

Takamina sweatdropped.

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TOO MUCH CAFFEINE! ACTION! EXPLOSION! BOOM BOOM ROOM!!!

*runs around in circles*
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: Flean on November 12, 2011, 01:40:47 AM
Man!!! I love you... Love the action + AtsuMina!!!  :luvluv2:  ATSUMINA!!!!!!!  :ptam-shy:

Update fast if you can~~~ :wahaha:

"If you died, I swear I'll drag you back from hell and kill you myself."
Gah!!! One of the most romantic line ever~~   :mon lovelaff:   Love this chapter!!!  :on GJ:
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: haruhi16 on November 12, 2011, 02:56:49 AM
awww atsumina <333
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: Sydney W on November 12, 2011, 10:02:55 AM
way to go acchan & minami

Quote
"If you died, I swear I'll drag you back from hell and kill you myself."
~ mouu, like this sentence very much  :theking
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: Regent on November 14, 2011, 02:09:45 AM
Although I'm not so much into the AtsuMina, but I feel I must comment to support your superior writing. I find your action scenes very easy to visualize the way you describe them. Acchan was leading in baddass points until the end their when Takamina pulled ahead. Keep up the good work - still anticipating the light show.
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: gracula on December 06, 2011, 10:37:25 PM
Serves me right for being away so long, leaving chapter reviews piling. But I will take pleasure in the many different ways I can tell you how I love this fic so.

Part 1: LOLCat Pictures and Deep Introspection

And so it begins. We have the Genking behaving like the overenthusiastic puppy she will always be in any accurate incarnation of Miyazawa Sae.

I have no doubt that in her mind, her thought process is pretty much: Topple all the towers! Blow up all the peoples! Exasperate all the captains! Inadvertently charm all the ladies! Beer!

Round of applause for the Genking, ladies and gentlemen.

Therefore its no wonder that her best bro would find the need to facepalm (which, by the way is actually possible in a battle suit, depending on what kind of suit)

Photoevidences as follows:

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ySdetY6cMEo/S-rh6yvXDOI/AAAAAAAAAOg/wshQUHW2ZKY/s1600/FacepalmPrime.png)
(http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/60272/1313595909m_DISPLAY.jpg)
(http://www.demotivationalposters.org/image/demotivational-poster/0908/power-rangers-facepalm-space-delimited-demotivational-poster-1249607259.jpg)

What's a comment from me without useless pictures? (btw, fail!demotivationalposter fail). But I digress.

You know, we all know Sayaka:
Quote
"Kill everything. Don't die." Sayaka's tone was clipped, and then she was off, blade and guns flashing. Most of the incoming squad only saw a looming shadow through the fog before falling under an onslaught of metal. It was a whirlwind of destruction.
Beautiful, talented, amazing work ethics, responsible, goofy, surprisingly sensitive under all that steel, mildly narcissistic, self-conscious and the list goes on.

Then there is Sae:
Quote
Sae laughed maniacally to herself, emptying the grenade launchers she had lugged along and hidden earlier. The explosions and screaming were very satisfying. She saluted the corpses of her enemies with her launcher, then tossed it away and extending her pike with a flick of her wrist.
"GenKing reporting for duty! Captain Midget better appreciate this!"
Always cheerful, kind, charming, compassionate, adorable, hard-working, surprisingly sensitive (of a different kind) under all that KY, mildly below average intelligence, etc.

We KNOW them individually. But when you put these two together, they actually become an entirely different entity altogether.

Quote
This was why the Twin Towers were dispatched to cause as much of a ruckus as possible. They didn't need numbers. They didn't need to plan every move. They just had to do what they did best together.
They really do make such a great team. What's great about the RL dynamics between them is that their partnership is not some magical instant kizuna bond-for-life crap. They had to get to know each other from scratch. They fight. They have misunderstandings. They hold each other to high standards and then deal with the utter disappointment when one of them fails to meet it. Upon which, these experiences let them discover each others' strengths and weaknesses so that they can make up for the other's lack. Because of this, no one else is privy to what Sayaka knows of Sae and vice versa.

They actually made the effort to complement each other.

This kind of bond is not easy to make. You may have 100 friends, but how many do you genuinely try to complement the way Saeyaka works off each other? I can count off only one or two people in my life. This is why I cherish and respect the Saeyaka so much. Not the shipping, nor the occasional  blurry blog photos of fanservice, but the actual working partnership between these two human beings. It really is something to behold and admire.

I look forward to the hell these two will raise in the rest of the story.

Quote
The sky overhead glowed, and it wasn't just with the undulating lights of the aurorae. Instead, it was red, a glorious glorious red, matching the symphony of death below.
This made such a gorgeous image in my head. It is such a shame that it cannot be made into a movie. By the way, you'll have to actually give a more detailed  backstory about the 'Verse and not hope that everyone is an Inuit astrophysicist like you to put three teeny hints together and come out with 'ah, atmospheric EM damage'.

Part 2: Omake Homage Fan-Fanfic

Ahh, Acchan is so badass. And Takamini is adorable as always.

I can almost imagine the scene:

"Minegishi Minami, you creeper. Stop spying on your squadron for blackmail material." A forced bass voice crackled tinily through her comms headset, causing a surprised Miichan to topple over in her chair in front of the security video monitors where she was, indeed, being a creeper.

"Who the hell is this?" she demanded, grasping at the mic with both hands, eyes darting wildly across the display to ascertain the frequency of the incoming signal.

A giggle gave away the identity of the mysterious person. "Mii~chan, come get us at the enemy base now."

Miichan sighed in relief as the playful voice of Acchan filtered through the speakers, "Are you guys done already? I don't see any movement from you yet. I can have exfil come for you in about an hour or so."

"An hour?! I don't want to wait here so long!"

"It's not as if you guys are a block down the road, Acchan. Secure extraction'll take time..."

"But I'm hungry." Atsuko's voice took on a harder edge despite the whimsical words that only her closest friends would easily recognise as dangerous.

"I'll be there in 15."

"Bring a taco."

Miichan is awesome even when not physically present. I love the dynamics between Miichan and everyone. She is forever awesome.

Part 3: Block Quoting

Quote
Moving constantly, he barely had time to react when something punched hard into him from behind.
The poor wretch never stood a chance.

Quote
Sayaka leaned nonchalantly on her sword, using her body weight and augmented strength to pulverise the head.
Is it creepy that I find this sexy?

Quote
"Sayaka! Sayaka! Look what I found!" The powerful warrior turned to look up at where her partner, the ever vivacious GenKing, otherwise known as Miyazawa Sae, was holding up a rocket launcher.
Tail wagging, both hands clutching at her shiny new prize, holding it aloft. "C'n I keep 'im, pleeaase? I promise to bathe and feed an' take it for walks!"

Quote
Sae pulled her down to a crouch, the two armored figures looking slightly ridiculous hunched behind a large rock.
LOL! I demand an anime to be made of this!

Quote
"It's possible." Sae said seriously, her glance shifting down to the rocket launcher in her hand. Sayaka scowled in her helmet, knowing what her partner was planning.
Quote
"And the convoy is heading here anyway. I'll give them an ETA of maybe 20 minutes, at the rate they're going. We can't let them through, not when Takamina hasn't given us the all clear." Sae argued, making a point to not look at the launcher in her hands.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Working subtlety there, Sae-chan.

Quote
"Make me a nice light show Sae, and I might even let you use that uranium round on them later..."

"Yay!"
Yaaay!!

Part 4: Fangirly Rambling and Preview of Inevitable Things To Come

Oh, so much action in this I don't even know where to start!

Firstly, so good. The action sequence was seamless! SEAMLESSS! I could picture everything and I know writing action is really no small feat.

Acchan remains calm in the heat of battle despite being low on ammo, which is classic badass. And what special ammo did Yuko give her, btw? Speaking of, Yuko gives the best gifts. There's nothing a girl wants more than a full arsenal of things that go boom.

Anyway, suspiciously well-guarded small enemy outpost is suspicious. Even if you didn't already kinda spoiled me about the nature of the suspiciousness, I'd have already suspected something. I look forward to the exciting plot development with this foreshadowing.

ImpatientOpportunist!Acchan is awesome badass, using the explosions as distraction enough without waiting for the flashbang.

And then... Acchan loses it. Brilliant choreography of the chain of events. The panic, rage, bewilderment and getting snapped out of the haze by the person who caused it in the first place.

Thank you for averting this (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DidNotDoTheResearch). Although I would've enjoyed trolling you about this (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BottomlessMagazines) and these (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GunsDoNotWorkThatWay). (couldn't resist. how can any comment from me to you escape the terrible tropes?)

Part 5 soon?
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: kahem on December 07, 2011, 09:12:46 AM
Hahaha nice one ^^ it's good to laugh in the morning
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: Estrea on December 07, 2011, 05:32:07 PM
Hi guys I'm back! Sorry for the extended absence, work was killer and I got distracted by games. :D


@Flean: I'm glad you liked the Atsumina action. Sorry I took so long to update!

@haruhi16: Atsumina sure is popular...

@Sydney W: I liked that line though. Very Acchan. XD

@Regent: I thank you for your kind words. :D More Twin Tower action for you here. :D

@grac: YOU LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! *huggles* I missed chu so. Your comments are amazing. ;-; I will be more of an Inuit astrophysicist here and actually explain my logic. In short, simple terms. Cuz, you know, not everyone is a genius like you and me and yay atmospheric EM damage! :D I love love LOVE your fan-fanfic. I should officially have you as my crack omake writer. You do them better than me lmao. I hereby declare that AtsuMii conversation canon. :D And I agree, Miichan is forever awesome. Even when she's not there. Which makes her even more awesome. Also, you TROLL. Why must you link to tvtropes EVERY SINGLE TIME. Seriously. I lost an hour of my life (and update time) clicking through links. Again. As usual. You evil evil thing. I love you. :heart: :lol: And heeeeere's your update, my favorite crackalicious fellow troll!

kahem: Yes, isn't grac awesome? :D


Ok time to edit and post. Nice long chapter for you guys to sink your teeth into after such a long absence. hopefully no one has forgotten the story! ^^;
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [12/11 - Army of Two]
Post by: Estrea on December 07, 2011, 05:38:14 PM
A Boom in Time


Private Hiroshi was not having a good day.

Being stuck on shitass duty with Sergeant Stick-Up-The-Ass screaming into his ear at every minor infraction was hell on earth. That, and driving for the last 16 hours through dusty territory without so much as a toilet break. Even with the stim pills it was nearly unbearable.

He chewed on the end of his last cigarette, the only thing keeping him sane on this joyride. When it ran out he swore he was going to brake the hell out and shoot the poxy bastard with the multiple stripes on his shoulders, court martial or no. There was only so much abuse a man could take.

Mentally plotting his revenge was a good distraction. He was halfway through method 412 involving a joystick and a piano string when the whole world shook around him.

"The fuck was that!" His forehead was bleeding where it had impacted against the steering, the shockwave of the explosions behind them having catapulted him, seatbelt and all, towards the windshield.

The bright side of this: Sergeant Needs-A-Life was no longer next to him. More to the point, that grouchy old fart would never be able to scream into his ear ever again. The old bastard hadn't worn a seatbelt, and a man-sized hole in the windshield said volumes.

The bad: they were under attack. And he'd lost his last cig. FUCK.

"I didn't sign up for this shit!" He swore voluminously about the weather, the enemy, their ancestors, their probable descendants, and their body parts (or lack thereof). He was halfway through a tirade involving indescribable acts involving sheep, weird positions and lack of parental consent as he stepped out of the truck, gun raised, when a high caliber round smashed his jaw and broke his neck in a single shot. The rest of him fell with a thump, eyes glassy as they reflected the murky skies above.

~*~*~

"Banzai!" Sae whooped as her shot downed yet another enemy soldier. Sayaka's plan, put together in all of 2 minutes of plotting and 10 minutes of preparation, was generally working.

Pitting 2 people against a convoy containing at least 30 to 40 enemy troops was bad odds, even with explosives. Two snipers, on the other hand, had a better chance in the opening shots as they picked off key targets, sowed chaos, and evened the odds in their favor.

In the 30 seconds following the first explosion that upended the final truck in the convoy and collapsed part of the ridge, Sae had picked off 5 men, 2 of which were officers, and sent the rest scattering like rats escaping a fire. On Sayaka's end, the bashed in ruins of the first truck where her explosive round to its wheel had sent it careening into the brush was smoking ominously. Very few people made it out alive of that truck. Sae had no doubt that her partner was picking them off methodically. Like the way they used to hunt rabbits. Smoking them out was not cheating. It was called using your brains.

It took perhaps several minutes before the jackasses down in the killing hole realized what was going on, an interval during which Sae gleefully continued mowing people down with headshots whenever possible. Screams of 'sniper' finally sent everyone diving for cover, but Sayaka had planned for that as well. Sae grinned and hunkered down, hands over ears, when a flash of light from her partner's position gave the signal.

The C4 they buried around the road exploded, triggering a minor landslide. Dust spewed high into the air, the shockwave forcing some out of cover while a few unfortunates had limbs blown off due to their proximity to the blast zones.

Abandoning her rifle (but not before squeezing off another shot at the nearest visible target), Sae grabbed the assault cannons she had 'liberated' from her foes earlier. Its repeater action allowed it to fire up to 700 rounds per minute...and she had two of them.

Anyone who could have seen her maniacal grin would know to be afraid. To be very afraid...

~*~*~

Sayaka was having a good day.

Despite all the unplanned interruptions and general mayhem, both her and Sae were alive and kicking. Kicking a lot of ass, actually. With all the screaming and explosions near the other end of the ridge, Sayaka assumed her partner was having fun. There was an incredibly loud bang and a flash that nearly blinded her. Too much fun, she sighed and backhanded a soldier with her sword. He flew back and made a nice squishy wall art against the valley wall. Bloody entrails and all that. Very post modernist, if she could say so.

There was a pocket of calm as Sae presumably ran out of ammo. There was still shooting, but not the full automatic fire she had been hearing for the past 5 minutes or so. She dispatched another crawling, wounded soldier with ease, stepping over his corpse almost delicately as she worked her way through the battlefield.

The mixture of fog and dirt cut visibility down to a minimum. Muggy weather kept the debris hanging in the unmoving air longer than it should, which was irritating yet convenient at the same time. The eerie, ever present light of the aurorae added a strange lighting to the scene.

Sayaka couldn't recall ever seeing a real night sky. There were songs from the old days, years and years before she was ever born, about stars in the sky. A moon. True darkness of a real night.

All that was lost approximately a century ago, maybe less, maybe more. There was a storm. THE storm of the millenium. A solar storm of epic proportions. The geomagnetic corona storm that came as a result of that shorted out everything with a circuit and started a war. Ironic, you would think, since most military hardware was electronic. Alas, a good portion of the weaponry was shielded, and the paranoia from downed communications in the midst of a standoff between global powers was enough to precipitate World War 3.

In Sae's words, there were booms. Many big booms. Imagine a bunch of nuclear warheads that were supposed to be programmed to hit specific targets getting lost during their journeys due to the interference from the geomagnetic storm. The results weren't pretty. Everything shorted out when more nuclear booms went off in the atmosphere. Things went crazy. Satellite linkages were cut off. Communications went back to the days of the Pony Express. People continued killing each other. The works.

So now we have a permanently lighted sky, we never see the sun or the moon or anything else except for freaky strips of twisty lights that never really go out except during certain seasons, and even then it only gets dim, not dark. Sayaka wondered what it was like to have a proper day/night cycle. Time had become rather arbitary without nature dictating its flow.

Funny how she could ruminate about the world while in combat. Sayaka didn't even pause as she broke ribs with a solid kick and finished the poor bastard off with a blade through the throat. She had been keeping count, and that seemed to be the lot on her side.

The sounds of fighting had also died down on Sae's end, and the taller of the Twin Towers picked up the pace. Silence was ominous when it came to Sae. She trusted her partner with her life, just not Sae's ability to keep herself out of trouble. Call her a worrywart, but Sayaka was a worrywart with good reason. She had way too many accounts under her belt to leave anything to chance.

There was only one vehicle left standing...well, as far as being upright counts. There was a huge smoking hole on one side, gaping like an open invitation. The lenses in her helmet picked up residual radiation. So that explained the gigantic flashbang. It had to be overkill though, but then again it could be justified. The damn tank was still standing even after the rocket, giant hole notwithstanding.

It didn't take a genius to figure out where a certain Miyazawa Sae was. Sayaka advanced cautiously, ever alert to any sight or sound of an enemy. She couldn't afford to take chances.

The inside of the tank was dark, but surprisingly spacious. Sayaka could actually stand upright in there, surprising considering that the armor she was wearing added inches to her height and made her bulkier in general. After nearly tripping over 2 bodies a little ways from the entrance, her eyes adjusted to the lighting and caught sight of the outlines of a huge black cylinder. There was a big red button that practically screamed DO NOT PRESS on the cylinder. It was also obviously pressed. Sayaka almost facepalmed on the spot.

The evidence lay below the tank, where her best friend and partner was currently on her ass with a crazy naked chick on her lap. While Sae usually never objected to having girls throwing themselves at her, it tended to be an issue when said girl was very decidedly bent on choking the life out of her. Even with the helmet and armor. God knows how that worked, but Sae wasn't really in any mood to speculate. Need. To. Breathe. DAMNIT.

The Genking couldn't be more relieved when a familiar shadow loomed over them and Crazy Girl collapsed with a well placed karate chop to the back of her neck. Sayaka had to be going easy on the girl; there was no sound of breaking bone.

"...thanks..." Sae gasped, taking deep breaths. Sayaka shook her head.

"You were in armor, you could have kicked her off, you know."

"I dunno, she was kind of cute, I couldn't be mean to a girl like that. It's not right." Sae argued righteously. Of all the times for her misguided sense of chivalry to kick in. It was part of what made her so popular with girls, but really.

"Besides, I have you." Sae piped up cheekily, grinning that audacious little grin as she took off her helmet to fan herself. "I knew you'd come in time, like you always do."

Sayaka sighed to herself, her irritation melting away. She just couldn't stay upset with Sae, not for long. Even if the girl was an idiot.

"So what are we gonna do with this?" Sayaka looked doubtfully down at the unconscious girl in Sae's lap. The Genking shrugged.

"Bring her with us."

Sayaka stared at her incredulously. "Are you mad? She tried to kill you."

Sae grinned. "I'm not dead, she's cute, and a little birdie over there seems to think she's important for some reason or another." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at an unmoving body sprawled deeper within the vehicle. The lab coat he was wearing posthumously identified him as a doctor or scientist of some sort.

"Besides, Yuu-chan will be happy if we brought back a souvenir for her!"

Sayaka planted her sword tip-first into the ground and leaned on it, holding her head with one hand. She could feel a headache building already.

"Aw come on! It's not so bad! I'll carry her!"

"And if she tries to kill you again?"

"You can always karate-chop her like just now."

"...says the gentleman."

"Hey, you're better at it than I am!"

Sayaka gave up. There was no winning this argument. She would have the last word though.

"Just put something on her...and stop touching her ass. I knew Yuko was a bad influence..."

"But it's such a nice ass!"

"Arrrrrggggg!"

Captain Akimoto, otsukaresama deshita.


===========================================


Love love LOVE the twin towers. If that wasn't obvious enough. XD

Will try to update quickly, but no promises!
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [8/12 - A Boom In Time]
Post by: kahem on December 07, 2011, 06:24:21 PM
Hahahaha even opposents want a part of Sae ^^
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [8/12 - A Boom In Time]
Post by: Megumi on December 08, 2011, 12:54:01 AM
Woow what an epic scene!
Quote
The mixture of fog and dirt cut visibility down to a minimum. Muggy weather kept the debris hanging in the unmoving air longer than it should, which was irritating yet convenient at the same time. The eerie, ever present light of the aurorae added a strange lighting to the scene.

Sayaka couldn't recall ever seeing a real night sky. There were songs from the old days, years and years before she was ever born, about stars in the sky. A moon. True darkness of a real night.

All that was lost approximately a century ago, maybe less, maybe more. There was a storm. THE storm of the millenium. A solar storm of epic proportions. The geomagnetic corona storm that came as a result of that shorted out everything with a circuit and started a war. Ironic, you would think, since most military hardware was electronic. Alas, a good portion of the weaponry was shielded, and the paranoia from downed communications in the midst of a standoff between global powers was enough to precipitate World War 3.


LoL could that girl be *cough *cough kojipa?!
Because they bough her for Yuko  :grin:

Arigatou!  :kneelbow:
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [8/12 - A Boom In Time]
Post by: gracula on December 09, 2011, 08:12:56 PM
Poor Pvt Hiroshi. Just occurred to me that the girls are just very, very good or the enemy is really bad. But I guess getting ambushed does put you at a bad advantage. That, and the fact it was Sayaka and Sae doing said ambushing. Poor bastards never had a chance.

Quote
freaky strips of twisty lights
:lol: that is the scientific name for it, you know. Thank you for the back story.

Quote
Silence was ominous when it came to Sae.
Unless she was sleeping or had her mouth full, but even then, she probably tends to be really noisy eating and sleeping. Sayaka has reason to worry.

Here. I have no talent for this, but it still does not stop me from inflicting these on people.
(http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/343/2/c/don__t_press_the_shiny_red__by_grac-d4ilrms.jpg)

I love this Sae so much. I gotta admit that she isn't quite my favorite character to read about, but you do her really well.

Quote
"Besides, Yuu-chan will be happy if we brought back a souvenir for her!"
"Yuuchan, I brought something back for you. It's your favorite: a naked girl! And by the way she was choking me earlier, I can kinda sense she may be tsundere too! "

I can't wait to see what happens with Crazy Girl and the rest of the gang.
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [8/12 - A Boom In Time]
Post by: Regent on December 12, 2011, 05:57:12 AM

Mwahhaha, I got my light show.  8)  So much Twin Towers action I can barely handle it!

Oh Private Hiroshi, we hardly knew thee. I enjoyed that little glimpse into the mind of one of the normally nameless grunts slaughtered by our dynamic duo.

Sayaka's hastily put together plan worked like a charm - guess that's why she's the brains of this operation. Sae's sweet sniper skills were a bit of a surprise to me- doesn't that take some intense concentration and the ability to stop moving for several minutes? Maybe she's just a natural.

I was interested in the mention of how they used to "hunt rabbits." Maybe it's nothing, but it makes me curious about their past.

Sayaka is such a f*cking bad ass. That post modernist wall art passage made me chuckle with evil glee. Also her musings regarding the ever-lit night sky were really intriguing.

Oh Sae, a lady killer in any universe. Interesting Saeyaka interaction, it's clear that Sae's trust in Sayaka is absolute, but are they just partners and best "bros?" Sae gets her way, like usual I suspect. This feels very realistic to me by the way- it doesn't seem worth the hassle to deny her anything, haha.

So they are taking the naked chick with them and the plot thickens. I was also automatically thinking Kojiharu from nothing more than the mention of Yuko, but really, it could be anyone. Yuko digs many varieties of ass.

Loving this, please continue when time allows!

Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [8/12 - A Boom In Time]
Post by: Estrea on January 05, 2012, 03:28:49 AM
Sorry I took so long to write, guys. Holiday season's been crazy at work. XD

Anyway I'm back!


@kahem: Yup, Sae is popular wherever, whenever. :D

@Megumi: You're welcome to your assumptions. :P

@grac: There's a reason why Saeyaka are so good at this. Hints in this chapter. Also, I luvs your fanart. Continue inflicting them on us, I do not mind in the least! :D Sae is hardly my favorite, but I do love writing her because it's just so much fun. Not much about Crazy Girl in the upcoming chapter, but hey, suspense. XD

@Regent: Twin Towers FTW!!! I always like writing scenes from unexpected POVs. It adds an interesting dimension to the usual grind. There's a reason why Sae has skills like that. But more on that later. XD Twin Towers have a very interesting past together. Makes me want to write a flashback chapter for it lol. We'll see. And I agree, Yuko digs many varieties of ass. Naked chick will be revealed eventually. Thanks for being so patient with me! :3


Tralala~ Editing to post~
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [8/12 - A Boom In Time]
Post by: Estrea on January 05, 2012, 03:34:55 AM
A Pleasure To Burn


"Acchan, come help me with this do--"

BLAM

Takamina yelped, shaking her fingers rapidly even though her hand hadn't even been within range of aforementioned door. She had felt the heat of the impact as if she had been standing right next to it. Which she hadn't. Her eyebrows felt singed. Which was a damn sight better than the spanking new hole in the problematic door where the knob used to be.

"What was that?"

Acchan, or Maeda Atsuko, was admiring the spent cartridge from her shot with something approaching the reverence with which she usually regarded food.

"Yuko, you are awesome. What will I do without you?" After saying this, Acchan kissed the cartridge, then pocketed it. Her helmet sat next to her on some crates of ammunition they had dragged out into the central space, ready for pickup when the rest of the cavalry came. She turned her attention to Takamina, who was still gaping between the still smoking hole and her maniacal partner who had caused said hole.

"Did you say something?" Her sidearm went back to its holster, and Acchan clambered up to the top crate, scanning the horizon. "Miichan, where are you~ I'm hungry~"

Heaving a sigh, Takamina turned back to the now ineffective door. If she still had her armor, she could have just kicked the rest of it down in less than a minute, but reinforced steel didn't agree with flesh and bone. Atsuko was obviously too out of it to be of much help. It had not escaped the midget's notice how their ace tended to get really vague and/or eccentric after combat. If Acchan wasn't sleeping or looking for food, her attention span got incredibly selective after the adrenaline rush of battle. That was why they never let her out alone...much.

Scanning around for something that could serve as a prybar, Takamina finally settled on a large wrench before cautiously approaching the hole in the door. The steel around the hole actually seemed melted. Just what in the world did Yuko put into that bullet?

~*~*~

"Out on the road for forty days~ Last night on Mt Fuji~ damn was that a blaze~♪”

Wind in your face, your hair streaming behind you, the scenery a picturesque haze as you sped by. The dust cloud a solid wall in the wake of your passage. Your knuckles turning white as you clung on the handlebars. Your driver singing a jaunty tune while beating time on the wheel...while going at 200 miles an hour. And rising, if the speedometer was any indication.

"Up all night with Sasshi and co~ I'm telling you, don't play poker with Mariko~"

"Ne, Miichan, where do I turn next?" Was there really a need to turn your entire body while you talk to me? THE ROAD!! EYES ON THE ROAD!!!!!

If her grip was any tighter, her hand would exploded from the sheer pressure. That would have been messy. Fortunately, it didn't happen. Minegishi Minami even managed to answer normally, though her life was flashing before her eyes. Which reminded her, Sashihara owed her a beer from last night's poker game. Which she fully intended to collect...once she made it back alive.

"Right at the next crossroads and then head towards the valle--euugghhh"

Her stomach floated somewhere up to chest-level as they swung wide at the turn, bringing them dangerously close to a precipice as they drifted beautifully in a move that would have impressed a street racer.

"Acchan's probably hungry by now, don't you think?" The driver remarked offhandedly, a beatific smile on her angelic face. Miichan looked green in the face. Food was the last thing on her mind...but it had also been the first thing she had remembered to pack. She would rather let herself be driven around by this crazy devil for the next hundred years than face a post-battle Acchan without food.

"Yes Haruna..." Miichan's eyes widened to the size of saucers at what she saw next on the road. "Haruna we don't have to....aaggggghhhhhhh!!!"

The heavy transport vehicle soared over a gap in the road -- a gap that hid a hundred foot drop to the bottom of a gorge -- and landed with a screeching thud of rubber and dirt on the other side, teetering precariously to one side before settling back down on four wheels and blazing off towards their intended destination.

"Then we better hurry~ Acchan might just end up eating Takamina if she gets too hungry. That would be bad~♪” If only she wasn't smiling when she said that. It might even have sounded convincing.

"Tell me something Haruna." Miichan finally said after taking a moment to regain her breath (and her nerves).

"Mhmm?"

"You just wanted to do that, didn't you?"

"Un! I've tried it in the simulations, so I wanted to see if it really works~☆"

If Miichan had any hands free, her palm would be meeting her face already. So she improvised, and her forehead met the headboard instead, in complete resignation. She was going to have to have a long talk with Mayuyu and Yuko about letting Haruna play with those simulations too much...

"We're an underground band~ we're coming to town~ and we're gonna burn it all down~♪”

The valley came into view.

~*~*~

Acchan was outside scouting. After lending Takamina a hand with moving the rest of the supplies behind the door the chibi captain had pried open, the whimsical ace had put on her helmet and declared that she was going to go watch for Miichan. And find Sayaka and Sae while she was at it. Takamina didn't have the heart to stop her. After all, she wasn't really expecting Miichan for another hour at least, even with Miichan's blatant disregard for any kind of speed limit. And they did need to bring the Twin Towers back in. At least Sayaka would be able to help her sort everything out while Sae played with Acchan. It'd keep all of them usefully occupied.

So she was pleasantly (?) surprised when she heard the ace cheerfully yell "Miichan~" about 15 minutes later, accompanied by the tortured screech of rubber on gravel. The midget twitched when she heard a loud bang, and looked up to see a dent in the rolled down shutter door.

Her mood wasn't significantly improved when the door was ripped open, literally torn from its rollers, by an overenthusiastic Atsuko, who'd forgotten apparently that there was a switch to activate the mechanism. Then again, the girl had left through an open window on the second level earlier, so perhaps she really didn't know. At least Takamina hoped. Whenever Acchan started acting erratically, it was time to feed her and put her to bed. Otherwise she was a hazard to everyone around her. Not even Sae was quite that dangerous.

"NyanNyan~ You came too~" Came Atsuko's delighted voice, and Takamina looked up again through the destroyed entrance to see a fully armored Acchan literally lift one Kojima Haruna up with barely any effort at all. Behind them, a pale Miichan staggered out of the passenger seat, one hand still clinging to the door for support. Oh, that explained why they were ahead of schedule then.

Miichan was a speed demon, but she wasn't a stunt driver like Kojiharu was. Haruna, it seemed, regarded all physical obstacles as mere inconveniences and never took the long way around. Takamina felt a wave of pity for the other Minami, then blanched seconds later when she realized that there was a high possibility of Haruna driving them back later.

"What happened to your armor?" Was the first thing Miichan said the moment she came within speaking range. Takamina pointed at the wrecked heap smoldering in the corner. Miichan chuckled.

"Oh Yuko is so going to have a fit when we get back..." The small captain chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Miichan started pacing around their prospective loot.

"Sweet, I'm glad we brought our bigger transport, but damn, I think we'll need to steal a couple of their transports to fit all these...is that C4 I see?"

Miichan lit up like a child at Christmas at all the deadly goodies arrayed around them. Takamina chuckled, hooking one arm around the younger Minami's shoulder and pulling her into a loose hug as they continued their inspection.

"Hey where's the Twin Towers?"

"Somewhere. Knowing them, probably stripping the dead again. They really don't let anything go to waste." Takamina shook her head, slight distaste in her tone. She never did like the idea of doing that, even though she acknowledged the necessity of it. It wasn't like they could buy these supplies legitimately...or even illegitimately. The cartels were too heavily regulated for them to get a foot in. Hence these raids.

"Oh come on, you know where they came from. If they did anything less, they wouldn't have cut it as Jackals before they joined us." Miichan shrugged it off easily. She had seen the street kids at work, been part of them for a part of her life, but she had been lucky herself. Living as a street urchin on the fringes of a black market town was less difficult than being driven away from real settlements and the great citydomes where all the powerful people lived.

The 'Jackals' as she knew, was the nickname given to half-feral packs of older orphans who had survived the privation of their early years in the wild and had banded together to start raiding bigger targets. Usually, it was the trade caravans. Merchants quickly learned never to travel without armed escort. They might have been kids, but they were vicious. Vicious enough to continually renew their own hierarchy, since any sign of weakness of the leaders meant that the younger and more ambitious would literally kill to get to the top. Sae and Sayaka rarely spoke of their time among the Jackals, other than humorous anecdotes that Sae would occasionally bring up to spice up conversation.

"But enough about that. You guys secured the comms station from here?" Miichan was suddenly all business again. Takamina nodded.

"Our favorite duo knocked out the tower, and I shut down the panel from here just in case."

"Cool, show me the comms so I can page base. They need to know we're coming so they can meet us halfway. No way am I driving enemy vehicles all the way home. I don't have time to check for trackers on every single one." The two Minamis trotted off to the comms room, leaving Haruna alone with a happily eating Acchan -- yes, Haruna also knows well enough to feed their ace.

"Oi~ Sashihara~ You there~" Miichan drawled over the communications array after fixing it to the right frequency. No one in their right mind used radio waves anymore, what with the electromagnetic interference, but at a sufficiently low wave frequency they could still achieve subpar latency...enough for communication, anyway.

"Identification?" There was a bit of static, but it also sounded like papers were being shuffled. Miichan rolled her eyes. As if anyone else would be using this frequency...as if that dumb geek on the other end couldn't recognize her voice! But she appreciated the caution anyway.

"Stupid Sasshi, Minegishi here, code 03-245163, and you better not have been using the cameras to spy on girls in the showers, you stalker. Have you been taking down their 3 sizes again?"

Awkward laughter on the other end. "Now I know this is the real Miichan. An enemy wouldn't pick that to insult me with. What can I help you with?"

"I don't hear you denying what I said~"

A strangled cough, followed by some weak excuses. Next to Miichan, Takamina was staring in horror alternately at the comms station and at the nonchalant Minami next to her. That's it, she was sweeping her room for cameras when she got back. And she was never ever going to use the common showers again. Ever.

"Yuko-chan made me do it..." A whimper. Miichan laughed at the mental image of Sashihara cowering pitifully at her station. Takamina seized the mic.

"You could have told Mariko about it!"

"Are you kidding? Mariko-sama would have just made it an order and then blackmail me with it!"

Miichan cackled. "Whaddya know, even baka Sashihara can get it right sometimes." She patted the older Minami's shoulder. "Get used to it, Cap'n. We've got some really messed up people back home."

Sashihara coughed again to get their attention. "So, what's the problem? You can't have called back just to make fun of me."

Miichan turned back to the console. "Ah, yeah, just needed to let you know we'll be coming back with a motherload, so arrange for pickup at sector C5. Usual coordinates."

"Sure. ETA?"

"3 hours if Haruna's driving."

"I'll make it 4 then. Oh by the way guys, could you bring back the motherboard of the station for me since you're already there?"

"What's in it for me?"

"I'll tell you something really cool to do. And, ah, don't tell Takamina."

"What? What? What's this about?" The chibi leader squawked. Miichan calmly shoved the protesting midget out of the room and locked the door.

"This had better be good, Sasshi..."

"See, it goes like this..."

~*~*~

Takamina tromped back to the central room, only to have Kojiharu shush her and point at the peacefully napping Atsuko who was using her lap as a pillow.

Before the midget could get any closer though, the ace suddenly sprang up, eyes alert as her hands snatched immediately towards her helmet, buckling it in place. The sudden motion put the other two on immediate guard, their hands straying to their own weapons.

"Something's coming here. Something big." Atsuko's voice was terse. Without waiting for the other two, she bounded up to the second level and headed to the roof for recon.

Haruna and Takamina exchanged glances. Neither was strong enough to actually lift a bazooka to blast anything larger than their transport. A grenade launcher would just have to do. It was a strain even then for Haruna, whose primary talent hardly lay in brute strength.

Taking cover behind various crates, Takamina took up a pair of field binocs to scan the horizon. There was an incoming tank. A tank?! At that distance they couldn't yet feel the rumble very distinctly. It was amazing that Acchan had been able to pick it up...while sleeping at that.

"Minami." A tinny voice sounded over her headpiece, making the small captain jump. She had forgotten that she had clipped a spare commslink to her ear so she could keep in contact with Acchan earlier.

"That tank's smoking...it's seen combat before this." Acchan seemed fidgety even over the audio. "Permission to make contact?"

"Permission granted." Takamina grated. She didn't want to pick unnecessary fights. Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She all but shoved her rifle into Miichan's face as she whirled around.

"Gee, you don't have to try killing me just because I forgot to return your underwear the other time..." Miichan grumbled, but otherwise nonplussed about having a gun at her nose.

"That was you?" Takamina blinked, then lowered her rifle. "We have an unknown incoming."

"Oh that's ours." Miichan waved it off. Takamina stared at her.

"How do you even know that?"

"Because I was on comms and Sayaka paged on the same frequency I was using to talk to Sasshi?" Miichan plucked the link that Takamina was using and beeped Acchan.

"Acchan~ Don't shoot~ Sae's driving~ Yup! You can come back down now!"

Takamina stared at the incoming tank as it rumbled closer. "I thought you said Sayaka paged you guys?"

"Did I say she was driving?"

"Well I assumed she was...did she tell you she wasn't?"

"Actually she didn't say anything about that. Just mentioned that they were coming in with a salvaged tank because they had too much stuff to move otherwise."

"So how would you know?"

"Takamina, it's a tank. Sae. Tank. Duh."

"I don't believe you. Does she even know how to drive one?"

"Wanna bet? One week's cleaning duty."

"You're on."

They shook on it. Outside, they heard a loud thud as Atsuko leapt straight down from the roof, knees bent and allowing her armor to take the impact. Haruna, having overheard the conversation, joined the ace outside. Within a few minutes, the tank was close enough to make visual contact without aid. Atsuko waved at it.

"Sae~ How did you guys nab a tank~" A mischievous head with short cropped hair peeked out as the massive vehicle rolled to a stop.

"Osu~ Acchan~ So good to see you~" The Genking pushed the hatch open and leaped out from the driver's seat. At the back, Takamina gaped while Miichan beamed smugly.

"How?"

"It's a tank. Sae likes big things that go boom. Sayaka doesn't care who drives as long as they get there in one piece. Conclusion? You're an idiot for taking the bet." Miichan patted the disappointed captain's head. "There there, I'll give you a chocolate bar. Thanks for volunteering to take my share of cleaning duty~"

Takamina whimpered.


==========================================


I have a few omakes to attach, but I have to rush off to work and those will have to wait! Ciao!
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [5/01 - A Pleasure to Burn]
Post by: Regent on January 06, 2012, 07:58:18 AM

A new chapter of this fic was a nice surprise for the New Year  :heart:

Acchan does seem a bit... off kilter. Kind of a dangerous proposition to have such an unstable ace. Not that everyone in this fic doesn't have their quirks. Yuko's name sure gets brought up a lot - curious as to what her role is in this organization. Is she the head honcho?

Well, the possibility of Haruna as the naked chick has been ruled out. She was too busy taking Miichan on a suicide ride. Really nice description and word choice in the first paragraph of this portion, by the way.

The Jackals sound hardcore, that explains at least part of the Twin Towers badassery. I second the flashback chapter notion.

Oh Sashihara, forever fail. Also her perverted tendencies have also been kicked up a notch or two; Sashi-harassing the new recruits? Her role in this fic seems to suit her.

And our duos are joining forces. I'm enjoying the various details you are including about the characters' behavior and background - I like to "get to know them" before the major plot elements start to unfold.
Title: Re: Castleful of Dreams [5/01 - A Pleasure to Burn]
Post by: aruka on May 15, 2012, 01:55:12 PM
Wow, it's been very long since last update.
Missed the continuation of the action-packed flow of words written by you in this fic.

Still willing to continue this, Estrea-san?

I hope you can continue...