Sigma/Star

Chapter 55: Assignment

Before Porter could react, Mr. Shotuku called them all to order, stifling any further conversations Porter would be having with Riya. "Attention everyone, attention." Fearing a slipper, everyone did exactly that, pulling in to desks and sitting especially straight. "Like the last time we met, Gretta would like to make an announcement before we begin."

Shotuku stepped aside and Gretta took to the front of the class. Here was a unanimous groan from the CRU as they all remembered the last time the little girl had gotten up to speak. They quickly reformed to good behaviour after a glare from their teacher. "Well first of all I would like to thank everyone for finally sorting out exactly who it was they were chasing after and like! I won't need the flowchart anymore!" Porter and Chase both smashed their heads into their desks while Gretta did a little wink and wave to an increasingly red Ardwen.

"Otherwise," she continued, "I would like to inform you of the Gremlin I managed to salvage from the attack. Ardwen if you could please." She nodded at the leader, who got up and pulled the sheet off the object in the corner. Beneath it stood a headless Gremlin, which was still a good foot and a bit taller than Ardwen, even without its top. Chase seemed to shudder a little at the sight of the machine and was quickly comforted by Nami beside him. "I'm going to work on getting to be fully functional, under our command here. The school thinks it would be in our best interest to have a possible defender like that around. You know, in case this happens again!" Gretta skipped back to her desk, blissfully unaware of the trauma she had caused to the rest of the group, all of whom had grappled with one of the robots in one way or another.

"Yes well, that was slightly less embarrassing than last time," Mr. Shotuku said as he resumed his position at the front of the class. Behind him, the chalkboard lit up, its screens coming to life and beginning to show images of satellite feeds orbiting Earth. It zoomed in on a more northern section of the Enian Federation, heading towards the snow-capped mountains that were mostly inhabited by native people. "This is not a mission given to you by the academy. This is not an assignment as directed by our governing bodies. This is something that I am telling you, and thus it will not be discussed outside this room. Do we understand?"

Everyone nodded in response, their eyes growing wider by the second as the satellite continued to close in on a location behind the senior. "This is the northern territory of the Enian Federation, as you have probably figured out. It is here that there is a small village called Roda." The image on the screen displayed an overhead view of the village, the same one where Ochenkov had been held captive. There was wreckage strewn across the streets now, and some buildings appeared levelled. In the midst of it all, a giant "S" was burned onto the ground, clear for all of them to see. "Over a week ago, there was a large event here, one that was picked up by many of the governments around the world, including our own, that pertains to this marking on the ground." Shotuku turned to face the screen and circled the "S" with his finger. "But it is not what we are interested in. Just prior to this occurring, something different happened." Shotuku touched the screen and zoomed out a little, dragging his hands around to get the device to respond. "Just prior to the 'S' event, there was a great blizzard that went through the area that lasted just a couple of hours."

As the elder spoke, the screen responded, rewinding in time until dense clouds swirled above the little town. "This storm appeared from nowhere, and vanished in much the same fashion." Porter looked over at Chase and could see the fiery youth was biting back snide remarks and responses. Regardless of the Gremlin incident, Chase couldn't help being Chase. "The storm is irrelevant....to the untrained mind." Shotuku whirled around in dramatic fashion, his beard clinging to his body and trying to twirl with him. "But to one such as myself, I recognize its origin. It is a unique event, one that only a very specific individual could have caused."