Soul Spark

14 -Fly The Heisei Flag

[FRANKFURT]

“God damn...the whole damn city’s like a fortress...”

“Jian, how the hell are we gonna get through this?” Katya asked, as she and the rest of the group carefully made their way through the heavily reinforced barricades, artillery cannons, tanks, and dozens of personnel patrolling the area.

“Our task is to infiltrate the parliamentary building, correct?” Jian asked. “If that is the case, all we need is to pick an optimal route.”

“Easier said than done!” Zawadski complained. “There’s barely any voidflames around, that’s how much of a fortress this hellhole is...”

And indeed, the area was flooded with military units, and protected by essentially the best soldiers available. They only managed to move around thanks to Ichigo, who was taking high positions while invisible, giving them proper comms on where to head, and taking care of any soulless soldiers that came too close.

“Ichigo, how many meters until we reach the destination?” Jian asked, tapping on her earpiece.

“Around two hundred.” Ichigo replied. “But I haven’t the slightest clue on how we will even get into the building in the first place.”

“Maybe we just barge in through the front door? Genuinely, what are they gonna do to us?” Zawadski asked.

“Won’t help if we want them to like us, Kouhai.” Yuuka replied, a bit disappointed. “We want them to listen to us, not shoot at us!”

“Like I said, what are they gonna do to us-”

“Quick! To the alley on the left!” Ichigo warned the group. All three of them quickly jumped to the side. A few seconds later, an armor vehicle filled to the brim with soldiers went by the road they were on.

“Good call.” Zawadski noted, as they went back on the road. “Looks like the voidflames are causing more trouble by the minute.”

“It’s harder to kill a voidflame than it is to kill a soulless human.” Jian said. “The fighting is occurring on the outskirts, but slowly, the voidflames will break through thanks to their sheer numbers and perseverance...”

“Hundred and fifty meters until destination.” Ichigo relayed.

“Anyways, what after this?” Zawadski asked. “Let’s say they don’t throw shit at us and actually do as we say, what then?”

“We keep doing what we’re doing.” Yuuka said. “Keeping Kaito running after us.”

“True.” Jian said. “Our priority is to buy time for Sakuto Hitori’s squad to acquire the crystal and prepare for the inevitable confrontation.”

“And what if they throw shit at us?”

“Hm...” Thɪs chapter is updated by novｅlfire.net

“Let’s just assume the good things happen instead of the bad things, alright?” Ichigo said. He noticed a glint in the distance.

“Shit...”

“Would be a problem if he locked onto us.”

“Pass through this section as fast as you can.” Ichigo relayed.

Ichigo clasped his hands. Not concentrated and deadly, but sufficient enough to temporarily distract the sniper with a bright spark. The sniper, confused, let go of his rifle for a few seconds to let his eyes or try and understand what he was dealing with. Once he took aim again, all he saw was a clear road.

“You’re pretty much there.” Ichigo said.

“And what’s the strat?” Zawadski asked.

“We go in through the main entrance.” Ichigo said. “But we’ll need to clear it first. Captain, follow my signals.”

“On it.” Jian said, taking aim.

There were two patrolling soldiers watching the main gates, and a few others scattered around. Getting in would raise unnecessary noise for the Heisei, and unfortunately, they couldn’t sneak past them. Fortunately, though, they had someone who had a master’s degree in remaining undetected.

Ichigo snuck past them, infiltrating the area by carefully jumping over the gates. First, he went to the left side, catching one of the soldiers straying away from the rest a little too much, trying to take a smoke break. Invisible to the naked, soulless eye, he came up to him and punched him hard enough to knock him out. He dragged the body behind a corner where it wouldn’t be seen by anyone walking in from the central gates. He went forward.

“Oi, what the hell is up with you? Are you smoking a cig or cooking it well-done?!” One of the other soldiers said, approaching the area. “Damn idiot...”

Ichigo knocked him out too as the latter turned the corner, and quickly came to the front gates.

“Hm...”

“Two at the entrance. Two more on the right side. But the ones on the right are moving away...”

He flashed a bright light for a few seconds, which got the attention of the soldiers by the front gates. At the same time, for a second, he made just his hand visible and relayed a couple of hand signs to Jian. She took aim.

“Huh? The hell was that?” One of them asked.

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“Lemme go check. You stay here.” The other replied, taking aim and carefully approaching the now extinguished light. Once he was a little confused, he heard something hit the ground behind him. It was Jian’s work. Before he could react, Ichigo knocked him out cold too.

Jian and the rest of the group quickly leapt over the fence gates too.

“I got it from here.” Zawadski said. He, without a care in the world, walked through the front entrance. He was greeted with a long hallway, at the end of which was an elevator, in the middle of two stairway sections that led to the second floor - where the meeting room was.

“Yup, we’re clear.” Zawadski said, channeling the rest of the group to quickly follow suit. They heard a few cries from the outside, likely, the remaining soldiers found the corpse and the knocked out body. They ascended the staircase as fast as they could.

Once they got to the second floor, their last obstacle was a pair of soldiers guarding the entrance to the meeting room.

“Shit...intruders!” The soldier yelled out, taking aim. “Stand back! Drop your weapons-”

“Intruders...? Nah, dude, it’s the fucking Heisei!” The other soldier cried, his hands shaking too much to properly hold his weapon. “They’re here to kill us! It’s the fucking Heisei!”

“Come on, dude...stand your ground!”

“Hell nah, I don’t get paid enough for this shit!” The panicking soldiers yelled, slowly walking to the side, preparing to sprint off. “T-t-the world is fucked anyways! Nothing matters!” He said, running away with probably more adrenaline than his body could handle.

“Dude!” The other soldier complained, as if it wasn’t the first time this happened. He tried to aim at the soulfuls, but at that point, Ichigo was already right next to him - and put him to sleep. The rest of the soulfuls rushed to him, sounds of panic were already heard from inside.

“Lightbulb, Captain, you guys do the talking, okey?” Yuuka asked. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to promote myself there, heehee...”

They entered.

“Never fear, the Heisei is here!” Zawadski proudly exclaimed. Two seconds later, he was gunned down until his body looked more like a sponge than a human.

“Alright, if we go in there, they’ll shoot us down.” Zawadski said, as the four of them stared at the entrance. “Gotta bait the bullets out first.”

Zawadski kicked the door open, and immediately, gunfire rained down, hitting no one.

“Did you get your anger out?” Zawadski yelled through the entrance. “Good. We’re here with peaceful intentions, not to kill you all.”

“Zawadski, we will do the talking.” Ichigo said, disappointed and annoyed. He cleared his throat. “We are not here to hunt you down! We are here to negotiate!”

“Negotiate what, you damn hounds?!” A voice was heard from the inside.

“Should’ve expected as much...”

“Cooperation.” Ichigo continued. “We want Kaito Kamiki dead. We want to put an end to this madness.”

“Oh, and we’re gonna believe you-”

“Halt.” Heidrich’s voice sounded like thunder. “Let them in.”

The four of them walked in. The large room, filled with rows of seats all observing a large desk, was filled to the brim. Monitors were attached to the walls, and everyone’s expression was stern and aware.

“You said that you want to...cooperate?” Heidrich asked. His soul presence was notable in the room full of mostly soulless people.

“My gut feeling was right...there was a soulful here.” Ichigo thought.

“Just as Kaito Kamiki has betrayed humanity, he has betrayed the Heisei too.” Jian spoke up. “As it stands right now, we are the only force capable of taking him down.”

“There were already attempts to take him down.” Heidrich said. The room, for now, listened to their conversation in complete silence. “One such man was a soulful whom we believed to be strong enough to eclipse the GSC’s strength. He fell in battle.”

“You are talking about...”

“The Adler Group’s efforts.” Heidrich said. “They were...efforts to prevent this. The last efforts to prevent this.”

“They were not the last efforts.” Ichigo said.

“What?”

“We tried to fight him too. But instead of causing a global war, we fought him head-on.” Ichigo explained. “And we almost took him down too. We sustained a lot of casualties, but we are still willing to fight him again.”

“Wonderful. You also tried.” Heidrich said. “Unfortunately, those tales don’t matter to me considering that the calamity is still walking on the face of this planet, destroying what he deems unfit to exist.”

“Those tales are proof that it is possible to kill him.” Ichigo said. “All that is required as a strategy, and manpower.”

“Your confidence tells me you have a strategy already.” Heidrich said.

“We do have a strategy. But we need all the soulfuls available.” Jian said. “We need every single capable fighter to aid us.”

“Ah, so you are here to ask for help.” Heidrich sighed. “I still have one concern, though.”

“And that is...?”

“Why should we even trust you in the first place?” Heidrich asked.

“What? You...seriously think we’re working alongside him?!” Zawadski lashed out.

“Zawadski, either shut up, or savescum your way out of this.” Ichigo whispered. “Me and the Captain are the ones doing the talking, you can’t control your-”

“You think we haven’t suffered enough in his hands already?!” Zawadski yelled. “The fucking nerve of you, sitting on this comfy chairs, deciding on who to trust or not to trust...thinking that we’d support the shit that he’s pulling off!”

“Who is to say you are not guiding him to us right now?” Heidrich asked, standing up.

“Be honest with yourself, if we wanted to, we would’ve killed everyone here already.” Zawadski said. “We have no fucking reason to keep you alive or to sneak past shit but to make sure that you lot make the sensible decision.”

Heidrich, shockingly enough, was silent. He slowly sat down.

“Then so be it.” He sighed.

Immediately, uproar was heard. The faces present were upset over the decision, some cheered it on, others just chose to wait the screams out. Heidrich, raising his hand, silenced the hall.

“I shall give orders to my men to start looking for soulfuls in the area. Whatever manpower is available will be assembled in Berlin for you to attend to.” Heidrich said.

“Despite your other fighters killing plenty of people in Tokyo, I am able to recognize that we have no option but to cooperate with you.” He said with a lower voice.

A sudden quake shook the room.

“What the hell was that?” Some voices in the crowd said.

Another quake took place.

“What is this? What is going on?!” Heidrich asked, abruptly standing up and raising his voice. “Tell those surveying the perimeter to report to me immediately!”

“And most importantly...”

“This soul presence...!” Ichigo said, his heart skipping a beat.

“Supreme Commander!” A soldier barged into the room, clearly out of breath. “H-h-h-he’s getting close! He’s almost here!”

“Huh? Calm down!” Heidrich ordered. “Who is it? Who is-”

“Kaito Kamiki!”

He looked at the Heisei’s fighters in shock...