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HWKN: Chapter 02- Memories Part 1

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#1 Hijinks_The_Turtle

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Posted June 20 2014 - 10:42 AM

Stop!  Read these first if you haven't!

Ack!  Guess I'll have to put up the picture later when it's finished, irl things have being coming at me at breakneck speed.  Don't worry it'll come! (>~<)   Thanks ahead of time to Wi2p and Magnolia1038 for being my editors for this piece!  I really didn't want anyone to wait too long for it!  Anyway, enjoy this part of Memories!

NOTE:  Some parts might be a little dark soo yeah... prepare!  Also, it may seem long but that's only because me and my awesometastic editors tried to make it easier to read on the eyes.  No one wants to read a block of text, right?


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HWKN Chapter 02: Memories Part 1
Point in HWKN Timeline: Two days after Snowfall

Kaori glanced at her men as she nodded for the go-ahead.  The group filled the dark and cramped alleyway that was like so many others around the cheaply made buildings in Eugen.  Her hands tightened around the gun in her hand as she and her men busted through the doorway.  Illal Police Defense Force axes covered the front entrance from a distance near the closed off highway.

Her heart pounded away in her chest through her tightened body armor as sweat trickled across her forehead.  Her footsteps were heavy as she lumbered around one of the small houses in heavy raiding gear.  The gun’s cool grip felt like nails piercing her palm as she heard a gunshot.  She whipped around, weapon tracking the sound.  Her second-in-command lowered a smoking TAC Pistol as a body tumbled to the floor.  Kaori’s eyes widened as she realized the body was a ragged unarmed man.

“I thought I ordered you not to shoot unarmed patrons!”  Kaori exclaimed as she lowered her weapon, suddenly disgusted that she pointed the gun at the patron.  I thought the report said this house was filled to the brim with illegal weapons and terrorists.  What in the nine hells of Crion is going on?

“Sorry Chief, orders from top brass.  We have no choice.”

“Wha-?” She stopped dead in her tracks.  Orders.  Top brass.  Kaori gritted her teeth as she glared at her deputy.  There could only be one person.  Damn it!  I trusted you guys…

An officer nudged the body with her boot, checking if he was dead.  The woman shot the man’s forehead as she patted his pockets and pocketed the money.

The man avoided Kaori’s stare as the rest of their comrades pretended not to notice the pilfering.  “She told us to shoot anyone who was in this house by the request of a company executive.”

Her voice became gruff as she clenched her teeth.  “Was there a reason?”

Kaori jumped as another shot was fired.  A woman wearing similar clothes to the corpse near her boots fell from her hiding spot in the closet with a muffled thud, sobbing.  The woman weakly reached toward the doorway with a gasp.  A shot to the chest and another to her forehead from one of Kaori’s squad mates finally silenced her as she dropped face first on the grubby carpet floor.

Her deputy looked down in shame.  “No ma’am.  No explanations were given.”

Kaori heard heavy footsteps behind her as she turned.

A scruffy young man, about Kaori’s age, raised a shabby homemade shotgun toward the IPDF officers from the outside and roared, “What are you doing here at my neighbor’s place, you corporate dogs!?”

Dozens of TAC Pistols whined and hummed as they were trained on the man.  Kaori’s body tensed as she flung herself between them in instinct.  “Stop!  Lower your weapons!”  The men and women hesitated as their weapons waivered a little.

She grinded her teeth and screamed, “I said stop, damn it!  Or do you want to shoot through me as well?  Tell the axe pilots to power down their weapons!” The IPDF raid team lowered their weapons as her second-in-command radioed to the axe pilots outside.

The man at her back stared at her.  “What are you doing, chica?”  Kaori ignored him as she stared daggers at the raid team.  The group instinctively took three miniscule steps backward in uneasiness.

“Don’t shoot this man, he wasn’t in the house, was he?”  She hoped that the man behind her would not a step into the house.  Her eyes wavered back toward the man as her mouth dropped open.  A young girl with dark red hair was tightly wrapping her arms around the back of the man’s abdomen, obviously frightened by all the commotion.

No… no way… Oh my God, is that…?  Kaori glanced back toward the IPDF group.  The bodies are behind them…  Her face contorted as the blood from the bodies pooled around their boots continued to spread.

Her deputy weakly nodded, knowing what to do.  He motioned the group to huddle closer to hide the bodies behind them.  She glumly nodded in thanks as she edged the unknown neighbor and the girl further outside.

Kaori knelt down to the girl’s height as the man let her get close.  She took a look at her freckled face and forced a smile as she asked softly, “Hey there sweetie.  My name’s Kaori, what’s yours?”  She placed her numb hand on the girl’s head.  Despite her soft tone, Kaori felt shell shocked as everything she was trained for couldn’t help her.  Freshly imprinted images of the dull accusing gaze the grotesque corpses gave her flashed through her mind.

The girl’s bright green eyes twinkled.  “My name is Shae, Ms. Kaori.”  She whimpered in a small voice.  Shae’s mouth crumpled as she fumbled out, “Ar- are my parents dea-“

Kaori seized the girl and roughly hugged her out of instinct.  She’s too old to forget this damn horrible tragedy.  Kaori’s body suddenly felt like it was made of lead as she realized Shae looked about eight or nine years old.  She felt warm against her cold cheek.  Kaori heard the distant but distinct sounds of heavy gunfire around the dank neighborhood as IPDF axes from other units gunned down hapless patrons.  What the fuzzy bunny is going on?  Did that freaking viper of a woman order this?

The man shifted his weight uncomfortably as he looked away with an expression similar to Kaori.  He limply held the shotgun in one hand as he watched the chaos unfold all around them.  Other IPDF squads raided houses as screams of patrons could be heard in the distance.

“I’m sorry, I… I did what I could.”  The words tumbled out of her dry mouth as her eyes watered.  Like hell I did what I could.  I’m Chief and that damned mother of mine decided to pull this off…  This damn world makes people like us grow up too fast…  A fleeting thought flew through her mind.  “Why don’t you stay with me?”

The girl looked at her with big eyes again, this time filled with something akin to hope with a tinge of sadness.
The neighbor stared at the two in shock with his mouth agape.  “He…hey!  Chica, what are you up to?  Senorita!  What kind of trouble are you stirring up?”  The man asked as his eyes finally narrowed.

Kaori gave little Shae a rueful smile, “Here, you can have my favorite ribbon for luck.”  She tied the girl’s dark red hair in a single sideways ponytail with the white ribbon.  Kaori turned back toward the man.  “Look, just for pointing a gun at a single IIPDF officer can get you some jail time.  You pointed it at an entire group.  I don’t think you can provide for her in bars.  What’s your name?”

The man nervously ran his hand through his slick black hair.  “Um… Malik Rivera.  Look I-”

“I don’t want to be left alone…  Can we all stay together?”  Shae asked with a small voice.  She looked up toward the two as if they were her parents arguing.

Kaori turned back toward Malik.  “I can shorten your jail time, I’m sure we can-“  The world shook and vibrated as everything melded together.

“Is this how you’re supposed to respond to your mother… dear daughter?” Echoed her mother through Kaori’s mind.

Kaori seized the covers of her blanket as she awoke in cold sweat.  Not again… She slowly got out of bed to prepare for the day.  I have to act strong.  The base vibrated again as Kaori looked through the mirror.


*******************************************************************************************


Light streamed through Jin’s room as he drowsily woke up.  A loud thump thundered through the base made him jump out of his bed in surprise.  What was that…?

He quickly grabbed his pistol and threw on his fatigues.  Jin sprinted barefoot through the cramped halls of Bunker 167 while loading his TAC Pistol.  Another secondary explosion rumbled through the base and seemed to come from the hangar.  Jin grimaced as he thought of the Skull Daggers.

That better not be those damn mercs trying to attack again!  Did they breach through the upper level?
With renewed energy, he raced even faster toward the series of elevators that seemed to weave throughout the base that spider webbed through the base.  Dang it…!  I’m lost, this always happens to me!  Where was that fracking map again?  As he jumped on the third elevator, a kind looking middle-aged man holding a cup of coffee stepped on with him.  The man’s white smile gleamed in contrast to his dark skin.

“Why, hello there young man!  I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here.  Are you the new recruit who helped defend Bunker 167 with Shae?  That accuracy you have is amazing!  To think you were able to distract and disable their equipment during that amount of time is astounding.  Rells Medens and Shae Brennan told us all about it!  What do they teach you youngsters nowadays?  You must have had a great instructor!”

“Um… Sir, thanks…?”  Jin told him, dodging the question.  Wow, word moves fast around here.  How was that great though?  I was way over my head in that battle.  Jin thought about the man’s last comment while scowling.  ‘A great teacher’, huh?  If only he knew…  The man mistook Jin’s grim expression and guessed the rest.

“Ah, don’t worry about it!”  He replied nonchalantly, as he sipped from his mug.  “That’s just Malik trying to kill Ayumu!”  He glanced as Jin shot a baffled look to him.  “Oh, sorry…  Ayumu Makoto is our scout who patrols the base’s perimeter.  I’m sure you already met Malik, though.  That man always makes sure new recruits don’t step on his shoes the moment they step in.  Maybe that’s why new recruits always quit from the contracts…”  The lights flickered as another explosion echoed through the base.

Jin stared blankly at the chatty man.  “I’m sorry… did you just say ‘kill Ayumu’?”

“Yup, happens all the time.  All recruits I come by always ask that very question, I find it very funny!  Oh look… Here they come!”  The man replied cheerfully as the elevator’s heavy doors opened up to a large cavernous hall that lead directly to the hangar.  Heavy metallic footsteps and servos whined as a blur of a man with a scarf sped by with a Grenadier chasing him.  Behind the two, Chief Medens and Laila were chasing them in a maintenance vehicle.

“Makoto!  I’m gonna skin you!  You and your ‘ninja’ sense skills…  I bet you were just looking at perverted photos at the perimeter, no wonder why those damn mercs got past!”  Malik’s voice boomed over the public COMM as he fired a blazing heat cannon round.

The blur dodged the projectile impossibly fast and flipped onto the shield arms of the Grenadier.   Chief Medens stoop up on the repair vehicle and yelled over the large din, “Malik!  Stop this nonsense, I just patched ‘im and ‘is axe up!  Don’t make ‘is wounds larger ya fuzzy bunny wanker!”

Ayumu stood casually on the shield arms and, despite wearing a scarf, Jin could tell he was laughing.  “Oh… Look who’s talking.  Three days ago over some drinks, didn’t I give you a few pictures, Malik?”

Jin was stunned at how the man could talk to his superior in such a disrespectful fashion.  Geez, how informal can these mercs get?  I’m never going to get used to this…

“Why the hell do you only remember things like that?  Try to remember something useful for once!”  Malik growled.  “Anyway, get off my axe!”  The grenadier shifted its shield arms as Malik tried to shake Makoto off.  The scarfed man rolled off the arms and jump climbed up a nearby column beam as a large crowd gathered near by to see what all the fuss was about.

Jin’s mouth was ajar as he stared at the ongoing scene.  He turned back to the talkative man.  “Isn’t this rather excessive?”  Jin finally noticed the man had captain bars on his collar with the tag [font=courier new,courier,monospace]CPTN J. WAYDEN[/font] on his chest.  “Sir!  I’m sorry for talking to-“

“Hey now, don’t worry about it!  I’m off hours right now.”  The captain’s grin grew larger.  “Anyway, we’re all like a big extended family here.  If you’re not used to the way things are done around here yet, just call me Captain Wayden.”  He turned back toward the ruckus and gave a loud cough.  Everyone turned and immediately saluted.

“Captain on deck!”  One guard yelled.  Malik popped the hatch of his Grenadier and saluted.  Ayumu gave a curt nod to Captain Wayden while he climbed down and finally saluted as well.

The captain sipped his coffee again and spoke to the two troublemakers.  “Well, aren’t you boys proud of yourselves over making a mess?  Even if I’m on my break from fixing my ship, it’s damn rude to scuffle in front of your superiors.  Even if it’s amusing to me personally.”  He glanced toward Ayumu with an eyebrow raised.  “I’m also sure that personal things you two do in a bar isn’t something you want to say out loud.”

The two hung their heads low and both said, “Sorry sir, it won’t happen again.”

“Damn straight it won’t!  Now, give each other a manly hug.”  Captain Wayden grinned as he saw their dismayed faces.  He turned toward the crowd.  “Hey bozos!  Why are you all watching a family feud?  Stop, otherwise no one will get their share of supplies!”  He smirked as he heard the collective groans.

The two men hesitated and finally gave each other an awkward hug as the bystanders went back to their jobs.  Jin was at awe of the captain’s powerful and stern voice and yet was confused at how the man could be so casual.  “Captain Wayden, sir.  Did you have experience in the military?”

Wayden spurted out his coffee and laughed.  “Me?  Nope, I’m actually a patron captain under Prosk’s thumb.  Everyone here respects me because I ferry important cargo here and because I’m dashingly handsome.  You should have seen me and my ship back when it was sailing in the stars long ago…”  He paused as he took out his UI Pad and scrolled through it.  “That reminds me!  Kaori wanted me to send you over to Control for your first official mission.”

“Sure thing, sir.”  Jin forced a tight smile as he saluted.  Everyone’s so peaceful here.  Malik and Ayumu continued to bicker behind the captain but stopped when he glanced at them.  Wayden gave a semi casual salute in return to Jin and the men as he swung toward the general direction of the large ship hangar and walked away briskly.  Jin strolled back toward the elevator and went up to the main hallway.

I wonder what this mission will be.  He stopped and stared at the maze of hallways that surrounded him and became exasperated.  Fuzzy bunny, I’m lost again…


*******************************************************************************************


Aleister frowned as he gazed across Eugen’s nighttime cityscape from his small dilapidated flat.  Various patrons from all walks of life buzzed with excitement as they walked around the crowded metropolis and put up festival décor everywhere.  He felt jealous of the lives those normal people lived.  He used to have one too until ‘it’ crashed into his life and used his wetware and body as a host and then everything went downhill from there.  He hated ‘it’ so much.  He heard the other sigh in his mind.

Why do you resent me now?  I’ve helped you survive so much.  Plus, it’s fun doing the exciting stuff now!  I’m your Conscious.  I’m you.  You hating me, means you hate yourself.  Besides, you’re in Mundus Innova!  Why feel these pointless feelings?  Unless you want to kill them…  ‘It’ started to giggle with amusement.

Aleister grimaced further as he stared at the people bustling below.  “Look, everything was fine until you had to slaughter a whole fuzzy bunny battalion!  The organization has changed!  It’s not what it used to be.”

We don’t have a right to complain.  We follow orders buddy.  What do you mean ‘you’?  We’re the same person.  Stop trying to act like you weren’t a part of it.  You started it, myself.

Aleister slammed his fists on the counter.  He was right, everything started with Aleister’s mistake.  “Damn it…”  I should have never gone with those men.  I should have stayed with that girl…  A vague image of the girl in a yukata with a long ribbon in her hair floated through his mind.  He had met her back when he was an orphan kid.  Aleister pressed his lips as he struggled to remember her face.  Dang, why can’t I remember how she looked?

The other simply grinned.  Why are you asking me?  I’m you.

“Shut up damnit!”  Aleister said to ‘it’- no himself- as he giggled.  In fact, Aleister had met the girl at the very same festival nine years ago that was being set up below him now.  Aleister stiffened as his UI Pad vibrated.  His head pulsed as he gripped the ledge for support.   “N-no…  I don’t want to kill people again.”  Aleister stuttered as his voice cracked.  He felt hollow inside as the other surged from his mind to assume control.  Aleister’s sight faded to darkness as he collapsed.

The other grinned in anticipation as he stood up.  “What are you, stupid?  I’m you.  Then again, that means I’m calling myself stupid.  You wanted this to happen.  As I said before, don’t trying to act like you’re innocent from all of this.”

Aleister said nothing, but only grimaced.  Sage simply shrugged and took out the UI pad while activating it.

“Sage, you there?  Fuzzy bunny, don’t make me wait.”  Said a grumpy voice.

“Yeah…  Just had to take care of some business.  So, what’s our next mission Tartarus?”

“Ah… Nothin’ much.  Just the usual fuzzy bunny.  Sending you the files…”

Holopictures of a man named Jin Ryu appeared with info about them scrolled across his UI pad.  Sage felt Aleister’s anger surge through him as he saw Jin Ryu’s photo.  Ahh so this is the man you want to kill so badly back way when.  Aleister said nothing again.

Sage felt very happy.  Today he gets to take revenge on the man he hated.  So much fun is going to happen!  “Great!  Let’s go!"


***

Part 1 ends.  

Memories part 2 will come!

***


Edited by Hijinks_The_Turtle, July 19 2014 - 12:18 PM.


#2 EliteShooter

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Posted June 20 2014 - 12:20 PM

You really know that I won't ever read that, The amount of awesomeness would be so overwhelming for me to handle :D

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#3 Hijinks_The_Turtle

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Posted June 20 2014 - 03:51 PM

View PostEliteShooter, on June 20 2014 - 12:20 PM, said:

You really know that I won't ever read that, The amount of awesomeness would be so overwhelming for me to handle :D

Whaaaat?  You should read it!  (If you really did, that's great.)

Some comments would be nice guys, I'm eager to know how the piece felt when you peeps read it. :P

Edited by Hijinks_The_Turtle, June 20 2014 - 03:53 PM.


#4 Moreapples

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Posted June 20 2014 - 05:21 PM

View PostHijinks_The_Turtle, on June 20 2014 - 03:51 PM, said:

View PostEliteShooter, on June 20 2014 - 12:20 PM, said:

You really know that I won't ever read that, The amount of awesomeness would be so overwhelming for me to handle :D

Whaaaat?  You should read it!  (If you really did, that's great.)

Some comments would be nice guys, I'm eager to know how the piece felt when you peeps read it. :P

read what
comment on what
how I felt when I read what

my avatar is pretty much my face atm

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#5 Tryptych

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Posted June 20 2014 - 05:23 PM

Great new piece! Keep it up! Read through it already, and I like how it provides background for the characters previously introduced. The raid scene itself was interesting and makes me curious regarding what corporate entity would want said patrons six feet under. Malik's attempt to kill Ayumu and the guy's crazy ninjutsu is hilarious.

#6 Hijinks_The_Turtle

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Posted June 22 2014 - 02:34 PM

Thanks you guys!  You're all awesome!

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#7 Magnolia1038

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Posted June 24 2014 - 12:19 PM

Love the character development. Keep it up!

#8 m0bieduck

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Posted July 25 2014 - 05:11 PM

700 thumbs up

#9 KaneOnTheKob

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Posted July 25 2014 - 10:13 PM

The fact that this is amazingly written and that you're also a RWBY fan is too awesome for words.

#10 Hijinks_The_Turtle

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Posted July 26 2014 - 05:20 AM

View PostKaneOnTheKob, on July 25 2014 - 10:13 PM, said:

The fact that this is amazingly written and that you're also a RWBY fan is too awesome for words.

Thank you!  That means a lot to me!  RWBY is the best thing ever!  
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View Postm0bieduck, on July 25 2014 - 05:11 PM, said:

700 thumbs up

:D  You have 700 arms? O_o

Edited by Hijinks_The_Turtle, July 26 2014 - 05:21 AM.






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