Mari stuck her tongue out at Shagon as she mounted Keila’s bike. Mari wasn’t the biggest fan of the current user of Fourze, but she had to admit he was the best suited for the job. Well, not that she would admit it out loud. Before long the three were on their way toward the OSTO’s Fuuto branch, soon arriving without any real trouble. It was another windy day, but clouds were now filling the sky which may mean a storm was approaching. This was true in more way then one.
The complex looked rather busy, but not in a good way as numerous vehicles were being packed to the brim with all manner of equipment. It was rather obvious that the facility was in shut down, and that the various experiments and research materials were being moved to another, off sight location. ”Because that isn’t suspicious at all…better get inside and see what is going on. Follow my lead guys.” Mari was shifting into a more serious mood as she stormed into the facility with Keila and Shagon in tow. Inside sat the receptionist at the front desk who looked bewildered by the events going on around her. It was clear she was surprised about something, though it was hard to say what. The second the three said they were from guild, the woman made a call and then wouldn’t say a word. It was clear she had been told to keep her mouth shut. Before long a man emerged from a near by elevator and approached the three guild representatives with a smile and bow.
”Welcome, welcome. My name is Morimoto Hojo: OSTO political liaison and political advisor. I also deal with insuring our organization upholds the various regulations set by both the Japanese government and United Nations. I suppose this is in regards to our stolen equipment and sudden decision to shut down this facility?” The man didn’t seem nervous at all, and if anything was prepared for the “surprise inspection”.
Mari acted unusually calm and polite, putting on a very good act for the official before her, even bowing to Morimoto with a smile on her face. Underneath this façade was a suspicious, but perceptive mind that was examining every little detail of the events around her. There was some good in being a high functioning analyst with mild hyperactive tendencies. ”Pleased to meet you Morimoto-san. My name is Minako Mari, and these are my associates: Keila West and Shagon Kabuto. We are representatives from Guild who are here to make a surprise inspection. We haven’t been informed about any stolen equipment, nor your decision to shut down the Fuuto branch of your organization. I assume you’ve gone through the proper channels already considering the nature of your research?” Mari was polite, and perky, but her questions were well chosen and the OSTO official was ready for them.
”Awe well such things are to be expected when dealing with both national and international agencies. I’m sure you would have been informed before the day was out.” Still cool as a cucumber, Morimoto opened his brief case and pulled out a rather large document which he handed to Mari before continuing.
”A rather sophisticated piece of equipment was stolen from us three days ago. We were already in the process of moving to our new facility near Fukushima when the item was…lost in transition. We of course informed all the required groups, including the NSA and were informed that we should continue our operations as normal until further notice.” Morimoto didn’t seem to be lying, but there were a lot of inconsistencies in his story, though not necessarily by his fault.
Guild should have been informed by the NSA the second they discovered such an advance piece of technology had been stolen. Then there was the sudden, supposedly planned shut down of the facility where the stolen item had been produced and OSTO being told they should continue with their normal activities. Thirdly, there was the seemingly lack of concern over the lost item by its creators and their fore knowledge of Guild’s arrival. Finally there was the document Mari had been given. It explained in painful detail about the move in progress, why it was occurring, and what projects were being moved, as well as which ones were being canceled. This alone wouldn’t be strange except the list was riddled with canceled projects related to cosmic energy research. OSTO had made its name from its discovery and research into cosmic energy, so canceling the bulk of such endeavors seemed extremely unusual. It also made the development of a prototype CE Filter rather pointless. Either something had occurred to spook the organization into giving up its research, or they were trying to hide something. A sudden move to Fukushima fit this last possibility as it was several hours away from Fuuto and the Guild Hall which would make surprise inspections less prevalent, or at least easier to spot ahead of time.
Mari knew there was something going on, but pressing the situation here and now would be pointless. Morimoto was a lap dog at best, and even if he was grilled further he would just deny everything or redirect guild to the government. Basically they were stone walled from the second they walked in. ”Well seeing as guild is not allowed to inspect your facility while you are in the process of transitioning to a new location, and you have provided us with ample information, I suppose we will be going. Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Morimoto. I hope we can meet again some time in the future.”
Mari bowed and left with Keila and Shagon, heading back toward their bikes located in the near by parking garage. Mari’s was pouting over the exchange that had just occurred, and was frustrated over being so easily railroaded. ”Bastards…using loop holes to throw us off the trail. Can’t believe they think they can do whatever they want. We’ll show them right guys?” Pulling out a Burger Meal Foodroid from her bag and inserting a spare radar switch, Mari activated the tiny robot and gave it orders to scoop out the facility and surrounding area. The burger meal sped off, intent on doing its job well while Mari and co. approached their bikes. Their path was blocked, however, when eight individuals in street clothes walked from the shadows and stood in their path. Though they said nothing, it was clear the eight had no intention of letting the guild members escape. This became more apparent when their eyes began to glow and their human forms shed away to reveal their true forms: Combat-Roids, remnants of the Badan empire. Upgraded with new technology, the eight former foot soldiers were now a potential threat to the three before them. At least they would have been if they weren’t facing guild members.
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Bryce and Hogan arrived at the Fuuto police department headquarters and slipped in mostly unnoticed. The NSA agents were already on site and were determined to get their hands on the body of the supposedly rogue, former KGB agent. At least four agents had been dispatched, but they had clearly underestimated the almost ferocious nature of the head of investigations, Tachibana Yuuske. The two riders had managed to get with in a few feet of the precinct’s morgue when a female voice echoed from behind them.
”I seriously doubt you two are authorized to be back here. For that matter, I doubt you’re even officers.” The voice belonged to a beautiful blue haired woman who was wearing street clothes but had a clearance badge on her shirt. Pulling a small wallet from her pocket, the woman revealed her badge and I.D. to the two trespassers. ”NSA agent, Sara Belmont. You two have a lot of explaining to do if you intended to go into that morgue.”
Even after the duo explained they were from guild, the young woman seemed unimpressed, if not agitated by their presence. ”So, you lot were called in to investigate? Guess the higher up don’t think we can handle this on our own. Fine, but I was given direct orders to make sure no one examined that body before us. So shove off before I make you.” Sara had a rather frightening look about her, and it seemed she was ready to attack the two grown men with her bare hands.
”Cool your jets kid.” Another female voice chimed from behind Sara which caused the girl to break her stance and reply with a tone of surprise. ”Tsubaki-Sama…but these two-“ The purple haired woman called Tsubaki raised her hand before Sara could finish and leaned against a near by wall before explaining herself. ”New orders just came in babe. Guild gets the first look and gets to decide whose jurisdiction the case falls under. I’m against it…but the orders come from pretty high up it seems. In other words we get shafted again just for doing our jobs.”
Sara was clearly not happy over this development, while Tsubaki seemed less surprised by the decision, but was still pissed over it. Regardless the two guild members were allowed in to see the body, though it wasn’t just a corpse waiting for them at the door. The second the officer on guard opened the locked door to the morgue, the five present would see a menacing figure standing in the center of the room. A kaijin, covered in flames and laughing under his breath, let out a roar accompanied by a huge blast of flames that engulfed the room. The guard quickly shut the steel door which was blasted with enough heat to scald his hands and knocked him to the ground. Sara ran past the two men and grabbed the burning hot door, opening the heavy thing easily, and it seemed without being effected by the extreme heat. On the other side of the door was an inferno that was destroying every body in the freezer like room. The still burning Kaijin had blasted open a hole in the back wall and walked out of the building without any sign of fear. Sara ran straight through the intense flames, undaunted by the intense heat, and was in pursuit of the unidentified beast. Tsubaki screamed for the girl to stop, but to no avail.
Outside the building a number of officers had opened fire on the kaijin with their weapons doing nothing to harm it. As it laughed aloud another kaijin appeared from behind the officers and began to its attack. The new, feline humanoid began flipping patrol cars and easily dispatching more then a few of the brave men and women with its claws. The two seemed to be having a rather good time until the fire empowered beast took a fierce attack from behind that sent it reeling forward. Standing there was the blue haired NSA agent, who had landed a heavy drop kick on the monster before her. She had caught up with her target far more quickly then she should have on foot, and her body only had a few burns, though she should have been burnt alive. This combined with her earlier show of strength was sign that Sara was no normal human. But against two Kaijin it was hard to tell how well she would do.
By the time Hogan and Bryce would arrive, they would find Sara fighting the two beasts, and fairing decently. Then a unexpected attack from the cat kaijin sent the girl flying, a severe slash wound across her back. The two monsters were moving in for the kill when they took notice of the riders and redirected their efforts toward the two new foes before them.
