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Ayem · 07-17-2011, 04:29 AM,

Undercover Operative in the KNF

Takehaka Noburo had a secret.

His commanding officer did not know this secret, nor did his wingman.

When the orders came from High Command under a new encryption, he did not reveal his secret. He did not break formation, or send a transmission. Not yet.

They had always taken the long view. All assets were expendable. What is a tool that is never used?

He was with a Tau 29 patrol group, paired with Nanasaki Tomoe. They escorted the IKN-Konbuwi, a Kusari Destroyer, and two Kusari Gunboats, the IKN-Ranshaku and the IKN-Shinyoma.

Beyond the bow of the Konbuwi, the dull red sun painted asteroids with rust. The seconds trickled one into the next on a digital readout beneath the energy gauge. The comm chatter of two squawking traders in a collision.

'Patrol Ume-Go, you're with me,' said the captain of the IKN-Shinyoma as it slid out of formation, and slithered between spiralling asteroids. Takehaka Noburo followed tight to the path of the Shinyoma, his Chimaera swathed in its shadow as they approached the edge of the belt closest to the star.

He saw then the occlusion of a single transport, the crude blockbuilt model commonly associated with pirates.

It turned, the occlusion narrowing as it faced away from them, pointing for the sun, before swinging about to head back on its route to the Tau 23 jumphole. Takehake Noburo flicked off the safeguard cage on his controls and launched a cruise disrupter. In that instant the space behind the smuggler bloomed yellow with the ignition of a dozen countermeasures.

The first disrupter, its sensors confused, spun out of control and wasted its fuel.

Takehaka Noburo was close enough, having followed a bisecting trajectory. The second disrupter did not miss and the flare of cruise engines winked out on the smuggler's transport.

The sleek Shinyoma came to a stop beside the smuggler transport. There was an argument Takehaka Noburo paid little attention to, and then the transport detonated. Shrapnel pattered on his shield like a fine rain. The sporadic flash of turret fire lit the black of space as cardamine containers blinked out of existence.

Seconds trickled one into the next.

'Patrol Ume-Go, we're returning to the pack. Form on us and prepare for cruise,' said the captain of the Shinyoma in his harsh voice. 'San.. ni.. ichi..'

The Shinyoma's cruise engines lit asteroid craters as they passed back through the field. Every now and then a strange shadow would be thrown up from a twisted impact wreck, or he would see evidence of mining laser scars.

The Destroyer, Konbuwi, was preparing for its jump into Kyushu. Behind it the Ranshaku and Nanasaki Tomoe waited their turn. The gate cycled up and the Destroyer made the jump. Blink, blink. The Shinyoma was next, leaving Takehaka Noburo alone. He suppressed temptation, and made the jump.

Patrol Ume reformed in Kyushu and approached the tradelane to Tsushima Depot and the Planet Aso. Takehaka Noburo was drawn into the star-warping wake of the Konbuwi, and he tapped a finger on his knee. To starboard the arches of the research complex glimmered, then shrunk behind his Chimaera.

At Tsushima Patrol Ume entered the trade lane for Planet Kyushu. Takehaka Noburo's flight computer compliantly obeyed the lead of the Konbuwi and slid into superluminary speeds.

Takehara Noburo flexed his fingers, and tapped a series of commands into the computer. Immediately the Chimaera bucked and lost speed, exiting the tradelane.

'Patrol Ume-Go, this is the Konbuwi; report,' said Communications Officer Moku Hanga.

Takehara Noburo flicked his comms unit onto Patrol only frequency. 'Takehara Noburo-Daii reporting computer malfunction. System overload probable. Cruise engines offline. Proceeding to Planet Kyushu on thrusters.'

'Acknowledged, -Daii. We will proceed. You are ordered to make a landing on Planet Kyushu for maintenance.'

'Orders acknowledged, Konbuwi,' said Takehara Noburo as his Chimaera's cruise engines kicked in. His realigned trajectory took him into the heart of the Seiran Dust Field. Within minutes the blue nebula obscured his vision and the computer began to complain of reduced sensor efficiency.

There was a wing of Chrysanthemums at the jumphole, but they scattered as the Chimaera drew near and Takehara Noburo bypassed them, entering the event horizon.

As he passed through Hokkaido, Takehara Noburo was careful to avoid the scan radius of any Naval Forces patrol, but was more careless when it came to the unlawfuls. They did not trouble him.

In Tohoku he flew direct to the Arch, and his ship was ushered inside.

On the hangar floor a man wearing a suit awaited him. The Chimaera's cockpit opened with a hiss, and Takehara Noburo climbed down to meet him. The man was not tall, but there had always seemed more to him than his stature would otherwise explain.

'They know. They are moving. The 113th are considered enemies of the Kusari Naval Forces,' said Takehara Noburo.

Shirahata Shiro smiled. It seemed, to Takehara Noburo, that it was a sorrowful smile.

'We serve Kusari, in spite of itself,' said Shirahata Shiro. 'Thank you, Noburo-san. We are grateful. May Kusari survive the sins of its leaders.'

'May Kusari survive,' echoed Takehara Noburo, who then bowed. He straightened, and saw Shirahata Shiro bow also, which surprised him. He turned to the Chimaera and climbed up into the cockpit, and brought the cockpit window down. The computer greeted him, and flickered data.

Rising, the Chimaera's launch thrusters fought artificial gravity. In moments the fighter was free of the confines, its cruise engines firing and a set of waypoints leading direct to Kyushu- via one impromptu dogfight with a Blood Dragon wing to explain his delay.

--
113th Strike Group enters Nagano

Morning crept upon Planet Tomioka, but none of the waking farmers or administrators saw that which also crept. A patrol of Farmers Alliance combat pilots came around Shibukawa Depot and broke formation at the sight of a Kusari Destroyer leading a small fleet of gunboats, fighters and bombers.

A shaking voice rattled out from the lead Eagle. 'Kon-ich-ichiwa, how may we assist the Kusari Naval Forces?'

'This is Nozomu Sasake of the IKN-Kainashi, with the 113th Hanta Iseijin. We will be using Shibukawa for supply and maintenance purposes.'

Nagano's stars set the Kainashi alight, gleaming across its weapon barrels and along the sleek curves of its hull.

'Do you have any questions?'

--
Covert Ops at work on New Tokyo

To Naito Genzaemon's mind the problem with New Tokyo was not the peering eyes of Kempeitai, or the gap toothed beggars clinging to his arm. The problem was definitely the government. The advisors and corporate lobbyists, the bureaucrats and their sycophants. The ruling classes no longer served Kusari, instead they expected to be served. To have their whims catered for, their monetary dreams realised. They bet and gambled on this commodity and that, and bought in bulk, then declared wars to make that commodity or this one scarce, and sold it at vast profit to desperate manufacturers and citizens.

Kusari cannot breathe if it is strangled. It cannot find its future if it is crippled.

Genzaemon shouldered his way through a gathering crowd as the offices released their employees for the evening. The sun was still high. It felt unnatural to Genzaemon. He'd grown mostly on stations and starships where warmth was non-directional and rarely adjusted except to meet whims.

Three men moved through the crowd behind him with purpose. Genzaemon swore under his breath and sped up his gait. He passed the fierce neon glare of signs and thirty foot naked women, and turned into an alleyway between the Sudden Rain Tea House and the Golden Ankh Casino.

The men matched his turn. He faced them.

'Are you trying to get the Kempeitai onto us? Remember your training. You are not on a station. Blend. Well, not much point in that anymore. Gear up. We'll need to be quick.'

Naito Genzaemon shucked the rucksack off his back and crouched to open it. He pulled out a blast-vest and gasmask, then his sidearm and a tazer. His men suited up and he cast a critical eye over them.

'No Civilian casualties. Use the incineration module,' said Genzaemon and tapped the innocuous box on his belt. 'If you are compromised. Remember, it can use either voice command or trigger. You know your own commands. Are you set?'

His men each gave a short nod. He could see their eyes through the gasmasks. They were focused. Good. They'd need to be.

Genzaemon pulled his rucksack back on and moved down the alley to the back entrance to the Golden Ankh Casino. He raised two fingers and flicked them towards the door, then moved out of the way. His men moved into position and two feet kicked the door out of its hinges.

Without a further sound they moved into the kitchens and incapacitated the two security guards that came to investigate. The kitchen staff didn't even raise their heads from the pans and gas fires overworked as they were.

His team moved to the door to the main casino floor. They'd been marked. Security teams were making a beeline for the kitchens. Genzaemon raised a fist. They would wait. He tapped the three gas grenades strapped to his blast vest, then tugged one free of its straps. His men followed suit.

The Security teams burst into the kitchen and stopped, choking on the colourless gas. One guard had passed out before he even hit the ground, and Genzaemon stepped over him. Four more gas grenades tumbled into the casino floor, but the squad were already past and barrelling for the raised VIP area, where the gold piercework decor became even more opulent.

Between two guards sat a fat man. Hiromasa Ezoe, an elite civil servant for the Statistics Bureau who appeared unfazed, even while other entertainment seekers ran screaming across the casino floor towards the exits. He sat at an unfinished game of Mahjong, his opponents fled.

The guards rose with guns in hand, then fell back over the chairs, chests a smoking ruin.

Genzaemon's men moved forward to cuff Hiromasa Ezoe, who did not resist at first. As they ran him to the kitchens he stumbled, slowing them. From outside, the wail of sirens cut through the casino's ambient music.

Genzaemon pressed the tazer to the back of Hiromasa's skull and set the fat man shuddering.

'Gomen! Gomen!' screamed Hiromasa, writhing in the grip of Genzaemon's men.

Their progress was not halted further, though Hiromasa did become sluggish after they ran through the dissipating nerve agent.

The kitchen was unsurprisingly abandoned, but the pans were still simmering. The squad exited the Golden Ankh Casino and followed the alley to its opposite end, where it opened onto a more sober shopping street. There was a car parked near the alley entrance with the fifth member of the squad. Genzaemon and one other climbed into the back of the car, sandwiching the prisoner between them, while the third man took the empty front seat. The fourth had stripped his equipment on the jog through the alley, bundled it into his rucksack and then dumped it into the car. He kept his pistol, and the incineration module was still attached to his belt.

He strode back towards the alleyway, to dissuade pursuit.

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