Military Base 1 was the bastion of the military's might, a beacon of their strength. It was a massive dome with the high walls of the dome surrounding the city within. The top of the dome had a "poppy" design, in reference to the old myth that poppies grow on battlefields where blood is spilled. In the central area of the base, military officials went about their work. Suddenly, an agonized scream reverberated through the base from far below, causing even the most hardened military officials to wince in pain. Then came another. And another. One of the Generals of the Base, a martial arts enthusiast obsessed with a martial art called "Muay Baron", General Sac, shuddered in fear.
"Sounds like Shizuka's hard at work." He muttered, causing those in ear-shot to feel a cold shiver run up their spines from hearing her name, and the implications of his statement. Like all the bases, Military Base 1 housed a dungeon beneath it to house "criminals", though that term was used very loosely. Really, anyone the military found inconvenient would find themselves within one of these dungeons. However, Military Base 1 had a special addition. For there was a structure buried even DEEPER down than the dungeon. An isolated chamber reminiscent of a doomsday bunker.
The bunker was constructed out of the hardest minerals that were still classified as "earth", the bunker looking like one giant stone cube. In the center of the room, a man was to sit legs-crossed on the cold ground, thick glathrium chains around his wrists, ankles, and wrapping around his chest. These chains were connected to glathrium spikes that were embedded into the floor, binding him in place. He wore a tattered coat that looked as if a Beast had used it as a chew toy. Blood ran down just about every part of the man's body. He breathed deep, clearly in pain, as he looked up at the woman of obvious Asian descent standing in front of him. She appeared to be in her early twenties, with brown hair that reached down to her thighs. She wore a white military uniform whose front was decorated with metals, the uniform's bottom tailored into a miniskirt.
She wore a military coat on her back like a cape, and had a military cap on her head. She also wore thigh-high boots. And on her wrist, she wore a watch that displayed an "8", marking her as a Level 8 Ability user. She looked down at the man with a cruel, sadistic expression. This woman was Hikiko Shizuka, one of the most feared women in the military, Oscar White's head "interrogator", a fancy word for what was essentially just a glorified torturer. Shizuka placed her open palm on the ground, as he lifted it up, earth and stone began to break away from the ground, forming a jagged dagger of earth and stone.
She raised her arm, before harshly slamming it down, driving the dagger between a point on the man's biceps, Shizuka purposely aiming for a location with a large cluster of nerves, to cause as much pain as possible. The man's eyes shot wide open, as he let out an agonizing scream. Shizuka smirked. In the far side of the room, a camera was positioned to capture everything, with Shizuka's "interrogation" being broadcast to the entire world. The man currently being "interrogated" was a low-ranking member of Pure, a known terrorist organization that opposed the world's system.
Within the ranks of Pure, the man held the number of 88, and was a prisoner of war from a previous scuffle between them and the military. Although, everyone knew this "interrogation" was a farce. The man was too low-ranked to know anything useful. Pure knew that. The military knew that. But this wasn't about gleaming information. This was about sending a message. The military was demonstrating to the world how they could reduce a hardened member of Pure into a whimpering wreck within hours. Shizuka walked around the man, occasionally stabbing an earth dagger into him, each at a location to maximize pain. An hour in, Shizuka walked over to a table on the far-side of the room, where a tablet was located.
Taking the tablet, she walked back to the man. "Now, why would such an upstanding citizen like you join such a horrendous organization like Pure, Kyle Windel?" She asked, using his full name. "In the last ten years, Pure has been responsible for no less than two-hundred attacks on both military officials and unarmed civilians." She announced, purposely bringing up the worst cases. As she passed him, she shot another earth dagger into him, making him yelp. "They have killed thousands…" She said, launching another dagger. "...injured millions…" Another dagger. "...and have radicalized innocent people like yourself to do their dirty work." She concluded, another dagger being shot in his body.
Agent 88, or rather, Kyle Windel turned to her, and spat blood by her feet. "I have
nothing to say to military filth like you!" Shizuka smirked.
"'Military filth like me'?" She repeated. "You mean the same 'Military filth' who have saved countless bases on and off Earth from Beasts? That risked our lives during the Dalki War?" She asked. "That 'Military filth'?" Agent 88 grit his teeth. This was the military's standard playbook. Making themselves look like saviors, while making Pure look like monsters. Shizuka smirked. "Kyle Windel, are you familiar with the 'Patriot Act'?" She asked. Agent 88 glanced at her.
"It allows military officials to suspend all a civilian's rights if we believe that they are a threat." Shizuka's smile twisted. "It also doesn't stop merely at the individual." Agent 88's blood ran cold. "You really should have thought about that before you became a member of Pure. Two daughters and a mother who can barely make ends-meet? And to top it all off, all three being weak Level 1s?" Shizuka clicked her tongue, and shook her head. "Such a shame." Agent 88 strained against his bindings.
"Don't you dare touch them!" He snarled. "You monster!" Shizuka responded by shooting an Earth dagger into his knee. He screamed in pain. Shizuka kneeled down next to him, talking low enough that the feed wouldn't be able to pick it up.
"I could abduct them all, bring them here, and make you watch as I killed them all right in front of you. And I'd be in my legal right to do it." She said, a Cheshire cat grin on her face. "After all, they're connected to a known terrorist. Who knows where their allegiance truly lies?" A deep, sinister grin crept across her face. "And it would be a slow, painful death." She raised up her hand so that Agent 88 could see her open palm, but keeping it hidden from the camera. She used her Soul Weapon, Earthen Body to turn her palms into pure Earth. Then she manifested a long razor out of the Earth. She then brushed her hand across his wrists.
As far as the people watching were concerned, it was an innocuous action. However, in reality, it was a death sentence for the Pure agent. Shizuka leaned into his ear, so only he could hear. "I've just severed your ulnar artery." She explained. "You'll bleed out and die within the next five minutes." He looked up at her with a terrified look. Shizuka stood up, and tightened her cap. "I'll come back in a few hours." She announced to the camera. "Maybe you'll be more…cooperative then." She added, knowing full well that if she ever did return, he'd have long since expired, as she
headed towards the door.
Shizuka stepped out the door, which had two military officials guarding it on either side. She gave them a signal, raising up her hand with her index and middle finger extended. Instantly, the two guards sent the earth where she was standing hurtling upwards like a makeshift elevator. When she reached the top, Shizuka stood in front of the back entrance of the main building. Shizuka walked ahead, her hands behind her back. "Tell the Supreme Commander I wish to speak with him." She replied as she passed.
"Yes, Sergeant Shizuka!" They replied in unison. As Shizuka walked though the base, military members of lower ranks darted out of her path, fear written on their faces. Shizuka made her way to an important-looking door on the top floor, flanked by a Sergeant on either side, guarding it. The two guards saluted at Shizuka, and opened the door. Shizuka walked through. Inside the room, there was a single desk. Sitting behind it, was a middle-aged man with a grizzled face. Next to him on the floor was a large box that was reminiscent of a portable cooler. Condensation with a cold chill came off of it, as if the box was holding dry ice.
This man was Oscar White. The Supreme Commander, and one of the most powerful people on Earth. Standing to the left was a woman in her early twenties with long, blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing a business suit. This was Jane, Oscar's personal secretary. Oscar had a tablet in front of him, and was reading a report. His eyes glanced upwards. "Ah, Sergeant Shizuka." He greeted with a smile. "I assume you have…completed your task?" He asked, his face hardening. Shizuka nodded.
"Indeed." She said, sitting in the chair directly in front of the desk. "The Pure agent will expire any minute now." Oscar nodded in satisfaction. Oscar and Shizuka's eyes met. Oscar sighed, and waved his hands at Jane. Seeing the motion, she nodded, and consulted her tablet.
"According to the records, Hikiko Tsukuru will be trained at Military Base 2." She explained, before looking up at Shizuka. "Sergeant Shizuka, the transfer paperwork had been processed. You can leave at any time." Shizuka tipped her cap in acknowledgement. She turned to Oscar.
"I'll be off, then." She replied, standing up. As Shizuka headed towards the door,
Oscar spoke.
"Shizuka." His force made her halt. Her head turned back to face him. "Don't make waves." He replied, leaning back in his seat, and clasping his hands. "Military Base 2 is…of great personal interest to Jack Truedream." Shizuka's eyes narrowed.
"As long as Tsukuru doesn't end up as one of your…sacrificial lambs, we won't have any problems." She said, tipping her hat down so far that the tip cast shadows that obscured her eyes, and walked out. Oscar stared at the spot she had occupied long after she had left.
"That boy has the backing of both Sergeant Shizuka and the Green Family." He muttered under his breath with a steely expression. "What kind of idiot would make an enemy of Him?" He asked. Deep within the 2nd-year building of Military Base 2, a man with dark skin and bulging biceps sat in his office looking over reports. Halfway through a sentence, he let out a giant sneeze.
"What the hell was that?" He said, rubbing his finger under his nose. Back in Military Base 1, Shizuka exited the main building and headed to the special teleporter hanger. As she entered, she saw the large hanger had six large teleporters pressed against the back wall, evenly spaced out from each other. She turned her head towards a military official sitting in a guard station.
"Sergeant Hikiko Shizuka for transport." She announced.
"Destination?" He asked, looking down at a set of six red buttons on the table in front of him.
"Military Base 2." She replied. The military official pressed the first button in the row. Instant, the teleporter on the far left out of the six whirled to life, its interior becoming a cyclone of swirling, white light. Shizuka walked over to the teleporter, and walked through. In another location, two figures stood in what appeared to be a conference room. One was an old, bald man with eyes clouded over, showing that he was blind. He had a sword fastened to his hip. The second figure was a woman in her early twenties with silver hair wearing a military outfit with a baret on her head.
They watched as a group of military members rolled a large teleporter out of
storage, and into the room. They turned the teleporter on, and it whirled to life, its interior becoming a swirling, green cyclone. A second later, Shizuka stepped out. The woman with blue hair stepped forward. "Sergeant Hikiko Shizuka." She announced, her hands behind her back. Shizuka turned to her. "Welcome to Military Base 2. I am Sergeant Faye Dallum." She replied, before gesturing to the blind man. "And this is Sergeant Leo Suiyan. We'll all be working together as Sergeants for the 1st-year students."
Shizuka looked at the blind man, Leo. She noticed that the man appeared to be of Asian descent, as well. Though, judging by his appearance, he was more likely Chinese, not Japanese.