Sigma/Star

Chapter 83: White Alert

Porter stumbled into Mr. Shotuku's office, nodding at the rest of the CRU in attendance. His body was aching all over from the beating he had taken while he had been in a Resonance state (which had eventually been explained to him by everyone else). Not to mention he was still feeling the effects of his class with Ochenkov as a punishment for starting the entire panic and zombie outbreak. "I swear I'm going to find a way to put you in prison for all this," Porter muttered under his breath as he sat down, giving a hard stare to Shotuku. "That wasn't even my fault." He thought about that night in his room, when he had found out his search for Carter Veillon had come to a screeching halt. That must've been his trigger into the state. It had hit him fairly hard because of the commitment he had put into it.

No, that wasn't it. That wasn't why. It was a reminder. It was a reminder of Sigma, of a lost brother who had disappeared as well, who had never existed to begin with, who had come and then gone just as soon. It was just a scar on his mind, on his emotions. It was a part of him now, a deep part of him, that would influence everything he did from now until the day he died. Sigma was now a piece of Porter.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I called this emergency meeting," Shotuku began.

"Yeah, I was enjoying my nap!" Chase laughed before receiving a double whammy between Nami smacking him and a slipper slamming into his face.

"Certain people aside, there is a major alert going on down on Earth right now from the United Federation."

"United Federation?" Ardwen asked, cocking his head to the side, causing his glasses to slide down his nose a bit. He pushed them up and held them in place without adjusting his head.

Mr. Shotuku sighed at the front and brought up new images on his screen of the first encounter with the Jahari, now labelled in history as Contact. "Since Contact, there has been a wartime measure put into place between the Enian Federation and the Artisan Confederate. As the two closest nations to the initial conflict, there has been a temporary alliance forged to help preserve each country. It is now called the United Federation. While we may still be the Enian Federation in government and name, we are the United Federation in arms." The group nodded in understanding as they followed along.

"Scouts along the northern front here," Shotuku continued, pointing to a map on the screen, "have picked up on potential Jahari signals. Strange biological readings have been coming in underground and there is a belief of a Jahari attack coming soon in the north. It turns out that both countries already had armies in the area, for other reasons, but reinforcements are immediately being demanded. Since we are still down quite a few Goliaths and pilots after Contact, plus the incident with Syn, the academy is being asked to take action."

Shotuku motioned for more images to take place on the screen, with an analysis of terrain, a list of commanding officers, and strategic locations on another map. He paused a minute, placing his hands on the screen and taking in a breath. This was a man who had seen a thousand wars, and sent a thousand more pilots to their death in war. Shotuku waited more before speaking again. He wanted them to think about things for a bit, to weigh the situation, and to decline. He wanted them to pull out and quit.

This was not going to be a normal war. This was not going to be a simple engagement or side mission. There was no little objective to take or people to evacuate. This was purely war, on the grandest of scales. One side would clash with another and whichever one came out the victor, there would be death. There would be loss. After the amount of time Shotuku had spent here in this academy, with all the students he had taught, he just wasn't sure if he wanted to watch more of them die before they even got to live. To him, these were his own children he was sending to the grave.

"Well, you and Ochenkov will be heading down to this location here." A circle appeared as Shotuku spoke. "You'll be asked to join up with existing units who will take over from there." Shotuku realized his hands were shaking as he talked. It had been a very long time since he had been this nervous before. Not since...