Thick black smoke billowed through what had once been a luxurious complex. A man in a metallic grey suit crawled along the ground, fumbling frantically to find his way out of the burning building. His desperate fingers found a cloth-wrapped foot in the corridor and he glanced up at the black figure, his face a mask of horror.
Shinatobe stabbed down, impaling the man through the skull with her black ninjato, instantly killing one of the Tilvanoni crime family's enforcers -- her tenth so far. The incendiary bombs she'd detonated only five minutes earlier had worked perfectly, turning Mario Tilvanoni's plush, fortified villa into a horrific deathtrap. The highly-sophisticated, automated fire control system that Mario had purchased failed to activate, as Shinatobe had already destroyed it with a perfectly timed secondary explosion.
With her nose filters and lung implant providing her all the clean air she needed, Shinatobe stalked through the blazing fortress-mansion, effortlessly dispatching one gangster after another. Despite trying to flee for their lives from the raging fires, the men refused to leave behind their submachine guns. It was that gleaming metal which acted like a beacon, drawing her in as she tracked them with her cybernetic eye's magnetic-view.
Cries for mercy fell on cold, unsympathetic ears as Shinatobe fulfilled her contract for their rivals, the Maskovitch Syndicate, who had paid Mikaboshi handsomely for this job. However, she still had to hunt down another eight more guards in this building, as well as execute Mario Tilvanoni himself. Several hours earlier, before she had instigated this massacre, Shinatobe had walked the complex while remaining perfectly hidden in the invisibility of her nanoweave suit. She knew exactly where to find him; he'd be cowering in his fireproof panic room, waiting for help to arrive.
Running up the long sweeping staircase while barely making a sound, she reached the landing and took a sharp right without pausing. Fifty metres of burning hallway flashed by in the blink of an eye and she darted inside Mario Tilvanoni's inner sanctum, flames flickering around the doorframe. The reception area wasn't covered in quite as much of the dense smoke as the rest of the house and she spotted a flicker of movement beside a tumbled over sofa.
Prowling around the sofa with her twin swords held at the ready, she glanced down at the small forms huddled for protection on the floor.
"Please, have mercy!" the once-beautiful - but now bedraggled - trophy wife pleaded, before letting out a weak cough. "At least spare my children, they're innocent! I'm begging you!"
Shinatobe twirled her blades around in her hands and stalked closer. The terrified faces of Adriana Tilvanoni and her two children were reflected in the chilling metallic sheen of the assassin's cybernetic eyes. If Mario had gone to ground in his bunker, perhaps his family could prove useful as a way of efficiently luring him out.
They didn't all necessarily have to be alive for that though...
"No!" Sakura cried out, lurching upright in bed. She was covered in a sheen of perspiration, her chest rising and falling as she sucked air into her lungs.
"Are you alright?" a gentle, concerned voice asked her, soft hands stroking her back in a soothing manner.
Sakura let out a shuddering breath, then glanced to her left to give Calara a troubled smile of apology. "I'm really sorry I woke you. Bad dreams..."
"I know what that's like," Calara whispered sympathetically, the Latina sitting up beside her. She glanced down at Jade who still lay asleep to Sakura's right and added quietly, "Let's go to my room. I'm a good listener - you might find it helpful to talk about it."
Closing her eyes and breathing deeply to calm herself, Sakura slowly shook her head. When her rich brown eyes opened again, she said with a hint of a smile, "I'd rather go to the Dojo instead..."
Calara nodded eagerly and climbed out of bed before offering the Asian girl her hand. "Let's go take a shower in my room. We can change there and head straight for the Training Dojo without waking the others."
Sakura gladly took her hand, intertwining her fingers with Calara's and drawing comfort from that touch. "You're a good friend, thank you," she murmured, as they padded out of the door.
"I'm always here for you when you need me," Calara said, squeezing Sakura's hand with her own.
It was the very same olive-toned hand that had been destroyed by one of Shinatobe's bombs. The irony wasn't lost on Sakura as she gave her friend a loving and profoundly grateful smile.
***
Dawn rose over the prosperous city, the largest population centre on Naserine, the fourth planet in the Kappa-Aquarius system. Its gleaming golden spires shone brightly in those early morning rays, the lofty towers reaching towards the heavens. The blue skies above were partially hidden by fluffy white clouds, which would help shield the serene city from the glorious heat of the noonday sun on this idyllic world.
Through that cloudbank, a huge golden spacecraft descended, its graceful delicate form belying its raw power. It was accompanied seconds later by another enormous vessel, then another, the sky above the city filling with the shining hulls of a vast Maliri fleet. Smaller gold ships began to pour out from those heavy carriers, until it looked like a sparkling metallic rain was falling on the unsuspecting city below.
Edraele nodded with satisfaction, watching the live holographic footage of the invasion. The first wave of thousands of elite troops were pouring into Lahlenor, the city of the lost, in an overwhelming show of force. She had committed two-hundred-thousand troops to this mission, two soldiers to every resident in the city. The forces she utilised were entirely disproportionate to secure her objective, but she intended to make an example of Lahlenor and incarcerate the entire population - at least until the innocent... and the guilty, could be ascertained.
"Keep me informed of your progress please, Lilyana," she said to the image of her Fleet Commander.
"I'll let you know as soon as we've locked down the black-market cybernetics bazaar and all the associated dealers, Matriarch," Lilyana replied, bowing to her respectfully. She gave her a confident smile as she added, "We will have the entire city in custody within five hours."
Edraele smiled gratefully at her most senior military commander. "I don't doubt that for a moment, Lilyana - you've always been an extraordinarily capable woman. I hope I can adequately repay you for your years of dedicated service one day."
Lilyana's stern aquamarine eyes softened as she gazed back at her Matriarch. She brushed her fingers through her long white hair, a wistful smile forming on her lips. "You already have, Edraele, a thousand times over."
Returning the Fleet Commander's smile, Edraele closed the call, then glided over to the sweeping window in her office. She looked out over the various dockyards on Genthalas and watched as her flagship, the Galaena Serine, slowly reversed out of the drydock. The new upgrades had just been completed, with engineering crews working in shifts around the clock to get it fully upgraded at the earliest opportunity. In the adjacent docking bay, a second battleship was a hive of activity, with hundreds of engineers clambering over its gleaming hull as they replaced all the heatsinks in the vessel's prolific array of weapon batteries.
Edraele placed her delicate fingers on the window and watched her people at work. She had started taking daily walks through the docks and repair yards, talking to all the new engineers in her network of wards. They had initially been wary, unsure how to behave around someone with such a terrible reputation for spontaneous acts of cruelty and violence. However as she'd spoken to them and taken an interest in their work, they had gradually warmed to her, welcoming her now with friendly waves and smiles. It had been fascinating and heart-warming to see their change in demeanour, something that Edraele was determined to continue nurturing.
She frowned as she realised she was procrastinating again. It had been a huge relief, to have an opportunity to make amends with this attack on Lahlenor, atoning for her previous lack of foresight. She was still angry at herself for having not already investigated this lead on Mikaboshi for John. Initiative was something she prized in her own vassals, so she was failing him by not displaying the same meticulous approach to her treasured role as his Matriarch.
While she'd been all too eager to assist John, if she was being honest with herself, the dramatic invasion of Naserine had been another welcome distraction from an even more important task. It was one she'd been getting increasingly anxious about and she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. Turning purposefully for the door, she strode outside and bumped into Valani Naestina, who tumbled over backwards with the collision. Acting swiftly, Edraele cupped her open right hand and caught the falling young woman in a telekinetic force-projection of her fingers.
"I'm so sorry, Valani!" Edraele immediately apologised, carefully helping her stand again. "I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going!"
"That's quite alright," the young Maliri girl replied, her teal eyes showing her surprise. She adjusted quickly, then smiled at her Matriarch. "We were all starting to wake and wondered where you were. Would you like me to make some breakfast for you?"
"You're such a thoughtful girl. It's been so wonderful having you here as part of our little group," Edraele replied with affection, stroking Valani's light-blue cheek. She was about to say more, then hesitated and stayed quiet.
"What is it?" Valani asked, gazing into Edraele's enigmatic purple eyes. "You looked like you want to tell me something else, but stopped yourself."
Edraele glanced at the door behind Valani, knowing she really had somewhere she should be. One look at the concerned girl's face before her changed her mind, and she gestured to the sofa back in her study.
"I don't want to delay you, Edraele," Valani said, while following the House Valaden Matriarch into the room and closing the door behind her. "You seem anxious - like you're late for a very important meeting."
"I was going to see Luna and you're right, it is important," Edraele admitted as she led Valani over to the sofas and sat down beside her. She clasped the younger woman's hands in her own, then continued, "However, as I've resolved myself to being forthright and honest this morning: there was something I was about to say to you, but I was worried it might be inappropriate. The last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable."
Valani gave her a warm smile, gently stroking the older woman's hands in a soothing gesture. She'd never seen Edraele this anxious before and she was determined to be there to help her in whatever way she could. "Please don't worry, you can tell me anything," she said, in a gentle, encouraging voice.
