Chapter 7 - Epilogue

Epilogue


It was another quiet night for Communications Specialist Aoki Nanako, assigned to the night-time monitoring of all official Anti-Strangebeast Special Police communications. Of course, it was a cakewalk of a job... nothing ever happened at night, so it was just an excuse to pick up a paycheck for doing no work whatsoever. Leaning back in her comfortable chair, she raised both hands above her head and stretched, the sensation of loosening muscles washing over her as she pressed her feet against the wall for leverage. “Bwaaaaaah-!” She exclaimed once the sensation became too much for her to contain. Nothing beat a nightly stretch, just to keep your muscles loose and your mind awake.

Something crackled in her headphones as she adjusted them back onto her head – the ear-covering speakers having been dislodged by her stretch – which piqued her interest. It was faint, barely identifiable as a sound, but regardless, it interested her. Leaning forward, she clasped both hands about the outside of her headphones, pressing them closer to her ears. “...any... elp... oju... city... ov..run...” It was impossible to translate what the voice on the other end was saying, but some feeling crept up in Aoki's body which froze her blood. Lowering the microphone to her lips, she tried to contact whomever that was.

“Hello? This is the Sophiapolis Anti-Strangebeast Special Police... you're broadcasting on an A.S.S.P. frequency... please identify yourself, or clear the airways.” She tried, pinching the microphone between two fingers.

“... response! ...omura Ka...zoe of th... polis Ant...angebe...ecial Poli...” The rest faded to static.

“Please repeat, your signal is snowy. Again, this is the Sophiapolis Anti-Strangebeast Special Police. You are broadcasting on an A.S.S.P. frequency; please identify yourself or clear the airways.”

“There! There! Keep it there!” The voice returned again, this time crystal clear. The owner was female, and sounded ragged. “Sophiapolis Anti-Strangebeast Special Police, this is Commander Homura Kawazoe with the Centralopolis Anti-Strangebeast Special Police! Centralopolis is overrun with Yoju! Repeat, we are overrun!” The color drained from Aoki's face as these words processed in her head.

“I'm... sorry? Please repeat?” She heard her. It was impossible for her not to... but she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Centralopolis is overrun! Centralopolis Police, along with the A.S.S.P. building is currently overrun with Yoju! We have ninety seven percent staff casualties, and ninety nine percent combat unit casualties!” Aoki practically threw the headphones off her head and shoved her chair backwards towards the phone on the desk behind her. Her hands shook as she dialed a well-rehearsed number.
“C'mon...c'mon pick up...” She muttered, her entire body vibrating in shock.

“Mmmph... hello?” The groggy voice of an older woman answered the phone.

“Commander Kirihara, I'm terribly sorry about the call but... I've just received a message from the Centralopolis branch and...” She swallowed the growing lump in her throat. “...they claim the city's been overrun with Yoju.” The pause that came over the phone was deafening, Aoki looking about before pulling the phone from her ear and looking at it, just to make sure she was still connected. “Commander?”

“I'll be right there.” The woman on the other end sounded suddenly very much awake; as though she was ripped from sleep. Hanging up, Aoki returned to her headphones, the sound of the woman still on the other end.

“...ou still there, Sophiapolis? Repeat, this is Commander Homura Kawazoe with-”

“Yes!” Aoki barked suddenly. “I... I mean, confirmed, Centralopolis A.S.S.P.! Uhm... I've... alerted Commander Kirihara to your situation, she'll be here in a moment.” Aoki could hear the relieved sigh come from the woman on the other end.

“Confirmed, Sophiapolis A.S.S.P.. You have my thanks... I'm glad we managed to get through.”

Arriving in Command a scant few moments later came the tired visage of a middle-aged woman with long, beautiful purple hair. Her purple eyes wore fatigue and concern in equal measure, and it was clear by her state of undress she had arrived with all due quickness. She was dressed in a loosely closed robe, her black lace underwear peeking through the open chest of her robe.

“Commander!” Aoki pulled the plug from her headphones, so it would be fed through the speakers. “Commander Kawazoe-”

“Homura?” The elderly woman with purple hair asked once she was near Aoki. A happy sigh came from the computer.

“Christ, Reiko... you have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice!”

“Homura, what's going on? Aoki said you were overrun?”

“Confirmed, Commander. We have full combat unit casualies and near-full staff casualties. Only a handful of my command staff has survived. My entire medical team, my combat team... hell even my support staff are all dead. The Yoju hit us hard and fast.”

“What about CPD?”

“They hit CPD too. According to my one survivor, CPD has zero survivors as well.”

“Shit! Uh... well... what can we do to help?”

“We're fixing to lose radio contact. Unfortunately we can only talk because one of my girls is holding up the antenna. I don't know … ong she can keep it … e may lose contact.”

“Homura? Repeat, we're losing you!”

“Damn! Tac … on can't hold out … onger. Reiko, listen … me. DO … send aid. … peat, DO NOT send aid. There's … any of them. We'll … at … can … old out … annot ri … your soldiers.”

“Homura? Homura!” The only thing that answered Reiko's cries was static.

“Commander?” Aoki asked, looking over to Reiko. “What can we do?” Reiko looked at a loss for words, her eyes darting back and forth as she thought.

“...get the rest of the command staff up here on the double.”

“Yes ma'am!” Aoki picked up the phone one last time and dialed a quick three-digit number on the keypad, which sent a signal to every member of the Command Staff's rooms to wake them.

“Alone, we don't stand a chance... but if we can get in contact with the other Polis'... we may be able to mount some kind of rescue...”
“But... she said-”

“I know... what Homura said. I know what she's trying to do... but I've known Homura too longer. I can't just let her suffer without trying to help. ...and she knows it. She told me to not send help... knowing full well I wouldn't listen to her. There may be too many Yoju, but we may be able to rescue the survivors... if there are any.” She turned back towards the elevator. “Once the command staff arrives, brief them on the situation. I want whatever resources we have brought to bear on the problem. Satellite images, aerial recon photos, get me whatever you can of Centralopolis. I'm going to get dressed. Get some fuckin' coffee put on, it's going to be a bitch of a morning.”

“Y-yes, ma'am!”

