A Light in the Darkness
It was the night of the new moon.
Sensing that something was unusual about the UN's behavior,
...each of us journalists began to gather intelligence.
The chances might be slim, but it's the nature of the freelance journalist beast...
...to be incapable of letting even a little scrap of information like that pass us by.
On that same night, SDC special forces unit and Shirasu...
...tracked the IC tag imbedded in the Flag and set out for the Metazone temple.
On that night, where it's said that the vitality of all living things ebbs,
...the goddess of this country offers up her own life to the heavens to trigger a rebirth.
But on this night, where there is no guide to light your way,
...the UNF had sown two seeds of destruction.
The 500-pound bombs that rained down on the capital city of Subasci.
And the SDC unit sent to the Metazone temple.
And there alongside them was Saeko Shirasu.
Maybe the flowers of peace will blossom from these seeds of destruction...
...if they're nourished by the life of the goddess.
That was my fervent hope.
Point zero. Now entering interior.
Return signal confirmed.
Matching codes...
No doubt about it, it's the Flag's signal.
All right. Hercus 2, we will now send you the updated Metazone interior data.
Hercus 2, update confirmed.
Commencing infiltration.
I have the results of the magnetic resonance system analysis.
There are approximately 126 lifesigns inside.
Judging from the thermal signature levels, there appears to be roughly two squads on guard.
Trap detected at ingress route point 02.
I believe it's a vibration-sensitive mine.
Can you locate it?
Not a problem.
Trap signature gone.
Miss Shirasu, Lt. Ichiyanagi has successfully infiltrated the temple.
It's okay. I can hear them.
Skeiron! Heat source at 3 o'clock!
Heat source neutralized.
Trenches, huh?
There might be more holed up somewhere. SC1, continue sweep of perimeter.
Roger.
The instant we learned that the UNF was planning an air strike,
...we each sprang into action, chasing down our own scoops.
Journalists are like hunters who are on the trail of prey.
Our cameras are our rifles. We draw a bead on our subject, and we pull the trigger.
From a herd of countless moments, we shoot and bag just one of them,
...then sell it off as a scoop.
But tonight... Something was different about me.
As I was running through the night streets, it was like I was in a trance.
I didn't know why I had become so frantic.
But the instant I saw that girl there amidst all that tragic destruction,
...I started clicking away without realizing it.
She was safe...
Four lifesigns detected, ahead and to the right.
Roger.
Grenade A, C. Flash, B, D. Smoke...
Point correction, -3. Fire!
Advancing.
It's like a cat, I guess.
This is millimeter-band radar.
By sensing the clearance between the unit and the walls,
...it can squeeze into any spot, no matter how tight, if it can get its head through.
But on a real battlefield, there are lots of obstacles that can't be picked up on radar.
Whether or not they can be avoided is all up to the pilot's abilities.
RD. Zero, three!
Who, Lt. Ichiyanagi?
He's a special case.
Even on courses with super-hard difficulties, he blew away all the records.
Hercus 2, 12 lifesigns detected ahead and to the right.
Down.
A, C, flash.
Hercus 2 has penetrated zone 3.
SC1, begin providing electronic support for Hercus 2 immediately.
Roger.
Skeiron to Hercus 1. Hercus 2 will reach final defensive line momentarily.
Begin preparations for support fire.
Hercus 1, roger.
Attack preparations complete.
The town's residents were quietly dozing away,
...unaware of what was happening right next door to them.
I opened the door, thinking, "No way is anybody gonna be here."
For us freelance photojournalists, speed is a matter of life or death.
You sell your scoop to the news outlets as fast as you can.
A few seconds can determine whether the same picture...
...will be worth money or worth squat.
That's all part of our job.
But in spite of that, this guy was there at the bar...
Those bastards went and used 500-pound bombs on this rat's ass of a city...
Everything was blown to hell. The walls... The windows...
People's bodies...
Looks like I wasn't the only one tonight who didn't manage to get any pictures to sell.
Let's have a drink to human madness.
The most important ability for a special forces member?
Decision-making ability.
The capacity to accurately size up a situation, no matter how extreme,
...and decide on an appropriate action.
I think that ability is what is most important for us.
Skill! You gotta have absolute faith in your skills.
Have that, and you can throw yourself into any mission, no matter how harsh the conditions.
Intelligence.
It's hard to give a one-word answer, but I guess I'd have to say experience.
Sense of duty! As I see it, all other abilities are built on that foundation.
The strength to overcome your fear.
In a special forces unit, you have to go in, even if it's certain death.
Hey, did you know this? They say that moths fly into the flame of their own free will.
Have arrived at inner temple entrance. Switching to Mode 2.
Switchover complete. Will now penetrate final defensive zone.
Flag signal, point +230. Reconfirm location.
Ahead 8 meters, margin of error plus/minus 2.
Number of guards?
Eleven. Most likely a squad.
Hercus 2 to Skeiron. Will now break down door.
Roger.
Hercus 2 to Skeiron. Machine gun rounds aren't penetrating.
Believe door to be an armored bulkhead.
Analyzing Hercus 2 imagery. Spectrograph is showing DU lines.
DU? It's multi-array armor?
Judging from its estimated toughness, machine gun rounds are unlikely to destroy it.
Will use high explosive squash head rounds.
Negative, it's too dangerous in a confined space like that.
Guards have mobilized inside. There's no time.
Hercus 1 to Skeiron.
Guards around the ingress entrance have begun to mobilize.
Continue containment attack.
Hercus 1's leg dampers have exceeded temperature threshold.
Hercus 2, understood. Use of squash head rounds is authorized.
Roger.
HESH, three-point burst.
Advancing.
Wait a minute...
This isn't the Flag!
How'd it go on your end?
It's nasty out there. So, did you get out any reports?
Yeah. They don't have all the lines locked down.
What I saw at the bomb scene was the same sight...
...that I'd seen countless times over the years.
But tonight, it was different.
What was it that drove me on so strongly?
It was like a faint light.
There, in a place where I'd never sensed anything but cold despair,
...I felt like I'd seen the light, however faint, of a ray of hope.
I guess bombs aren't just scary because they destroy things and lives, are they?
For the survivors, they also utterly destroy everything the future once held for them.
Maybe it was the fear of having your hope destroyed that spurred you on out there, Keiichi.
Hercus 2 to Skeiron. This isn't the Flag.
It's a totally different mandala.
Missile targeting laser, 4 o'clock!
Lieutenant!
I'm all right.
Flag signal, lost. Biological signals, lost.
Hercus 2, evac immediately.
What about the Flag?
That soldier who fired a missile at you in such tight quarters knew he was going to die.
We aren't fighting against armed citizens in a simple insurgent group.
These people are martyrs who have no fear of death that belong to an assassin cult.
Assassin cult? You mean the Gelut sect?
Exactly. That mandala was the one the Gelut sect uses.
Ru Pou is supposed to be a supporter of the cease fire, but he's involved in this...
I'm not detecting the tag signal anywhere!
Further searching is impossible. Evacuate immediately.
There's an armored car at the exit.
A BMP-type armored vehicle is trying to block the exit.
Shall I destroy it?
Your shock absorbers are already burned out.
You can't fire, not in that condition.
Guards from the interior are moving out. Four squads have set up along the evac route!
I'll force my way through.
Hercus 2, those aren't ordinary militia members in there.
Those are assassin cult warriors who won't hesitate to blow themselves up if they have to.
That's all right.
If it's destroyed by suicide attacks, the HAVWC won't fall into enemy hands.
Lt. Ichiyanagi!
Lieutenant, I should be able to take out even a BMP...
...if I hit it repeatedly with cannon rounds.
The recoil from sniping without shock absorbers will be too strong. It's far too dangerous.
I have experience with sniping without damper devices.
I'll provide you with instructions on the point and timing of your attack.
Roger.
At the time of the air strike, we had no way of knowing...
...that another battle was being waged some 400km away from the capital.
Or, of course, that Shirasu was accompanying those soldiers.
That night, a silence descended on Subasci as if nothing had happened.
What we were seeing was a fraudulent stillness.
Hercus 2 to Skeiron.
Now proceeding to first barricade line.
Troop strength of all barricade forces, roughly 2 squads.
The guards are moving to assemble around the exit.
We'll concentrate our firepower.
Hercus 2, concentrate your fire on the exit 0.5 seconds after Hercus 1 begins his attack.
Roger.
Hercus 1, attack preparations complete.
Hercus 1, revise target point. Aim for the nose of the armored vehicle.
Roger, revising aim for nose of armored vehicle.
Hercus 2 to Skeiron. Charging barricade.
Commence attack.
Go!
Missile radar detected behind you!
Lieutenant!
Lt. Ichiyanagi!
Damage to right leg. Actuator nonfunctional.
Hercus 2, we will retrieve you. Pop your canopy!
What about the HAVWC?
Hercus 1 will destroy it. Hurry.
The guards are heading for the exit.
Lieutenant!
Lt. Ichiyanagi retrieved. Will now retrieve Hercus 1.
A darkness piled on darkness in countless layers...
A new labyrinth had opened wide in front of Shirasu.
There, beyond the stagnant mystery, the Flag flies in silence.
Just one time, just one is enough.
I want to see a beautiful light.
No matter long the night that comes,
...even if darkness should fall,
...if I know that light will shine down on everything,
...I don't need anything else.
"Please don't let me be swallowed up by sadness."
"Please let me have some purpose in my stride."
We just need to wish a little harder for it,
...wish for a light to erase the shadows that have come upon us.
Every time I lose my way, I'm pierced by the pain...
...of losing a little bit of myself.
And every time I set out again,
...I realize and relish that I have the strength to crush the darkness underfoot,
...and I'm able to wait for the stars once again.
Presented by Gray_Phantom #Gray_Phantom @ rizon
Next Time 0 0 7 Reactivation
The Flag retrieval operation was unavoidably put on hold.
And as for me, I had sensed something unusual about the UNF's activities,
...and I was finally becoming certain that Shirasu was at the heart of it.