Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Twenty)
Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.
Chapter Twenty: Storming the Yokohama
According to the reports that the CEO had given to Aeneas, Kunoichi should be in the lower areas of Tokio. The Inquisitor couldn’t help but feel frustrated by how secretive Honda had been. All that he knew about the kidnapping was that a group known as the Cabal did it. And all that he knew about the Cabal was that it was led by Bashan Voronin.
To make things worse, the CEO had asked Aeneas not to touch anything because the complex they were about to storm was located right under the Front Office of the Zaibatsu. In fact, it was once the location of the Zaibatsu’s headquarters when Honda Nintendo took over as CEO about 40 years ago.
The fact that Honda was able to oversee such rapid transformation over these lands was nothing short of impressive. But Tsar Nikolai saw otherwise.
“I was old enough to remember the city-states of Nippon before Honda refashioned the Zaibatsu to his liking,” Nikolai said. “They were a humble people, but industrious. Their wares were unmatched even if their cities didn’t show it. Now, it’s the opposite. Slaves in all but name creating cheap products for the rest of Christendom to consume.”
“The Zaibatsu saw themselves as the upholders of the Church’s social teachings while at the same time provide their people with prosperity,” Aeneas pointed out.
“You could say that back in my day,” Nikolai said wistfully. “But something had changed. And it has something to do with that CEO Honda.”
“What about Bashan Voronin and his Cabal?” Aeneas asked. “His name certainly didn’t sound like a local’s.”
Nikolai perked up when he heard the name. “Voronin, that snake!” he growled. “That was the man behind the Azov’s secession. I can only wonder what other shenanigans he’s up to.”
“Calm down, Your Highness,” Aeneas pleaded. “Just who is this man?”
“A high ranking felinid from the Azov Autonomous Zone. But he’s been living in Tokio for quite some time,” Nikolai explained. “He is also a long-time business partner to the CEO.”
“What!?” Aeneas exclaimed in shock. “Mr. Honda certainly didn’t tell me this.”
“Do you expect him to?”
Aeneas shook his head. “No, I suppose not.”
Nikolai nodded in approval. “Very good. You are learning, Sir Inquisitor.”
At this point, Aeneas and his army had made their way to the building where Kunoichi was being held. Known as ‘The Yokohama’, it was one of the old city sections in Tokio’s lower levels. Despite that, it was rather curious that this place was still being operated by the Zaibatsu. The fact that it was now being used to hold Kunoichi fueled Aeneas’ suspicion that this whole conflict was the result of a falling out between CEO Honda and his business partner.
Aeneas teamed up with a group of the Zaibatsu’s warriors known as the ninjas. These men were known for their stealth and infiltration, showing the Zaibatsu’s tendency to favor stealth over direct force of arms. However, this philosophy had backfired on the Zaibatsu as they found themselves unable to crack open Voronin’s defenses.
By talking to their commander, a man named Minamoto Ryu, Aeneas had learned many things about the situation. As it turned out, an army of ninjas was not particularly effective when the enemy knew that they were coming. And the regular soldiers of the Zaibatsu were not particularly competent either.
The Zaibatsu’s soldiers weren’t utterly useless though as they were able to discover a secret passage that may allow a small group of soldiers to make their way to the Yokohama’s main office. A distraction was necessary if Aeneas was to effectively make use of this passage.
Another major tidbit the Inquisitor had learned was that the Dark Lord himself was holed inside of the Yokohama. A little strange but perhaps something could be gained from this.
Much of the Yokohama were actually flat ground. It used to be a garden but the lack of sunlight from the high rising buildings meant that very little could grow naturally. Eventually, the Zaibatsu decided to cover the whole thing with concrete. There was a front gate, no doubt the enemy had expected an attack on this area.
Aeneas’ plan was simple: Nikolai and Omaha would take their respective troops and storm the front gate with the help of the Zaibatsu’s regular soldiers. Meanwhile, Aeneas would take Lavinia, Pep, and Shaka along with his troops through the secret passage. Much as it pained him to separate the new lovers, he decided to put Giulia on duty with Nikolai and Omaha. The battle at the front gate would be more intense and her services would be needed more down there.
When everyone was at their positions, Nikolai was the one who initiated the attack. He blasted through the front gate with his mechanicon’s fist. As he rushed forward, his Tsarguards followed suit to protect him.
With the beachhead secured, Princess Omaha’s division followed suit. The Stonewall Tank was the first to roll through followed by infantry and armored vehicles led by Captain Paxton.
The blitzkrieg by Nikolai and Omaha was so quick that it caught the defending troops off guard. It did not take long for the Yokohama’s front yards to be secured. However, the defenders were intent on defending the Yokohama and they poured out of the building; they started attacking with swords and spears. Before long, Nikolai’s Tsarguards and Omaha’s Imperial Expeditionary Force were in melee with the crazed defenders.
It was a bloody fight but with the help of the Zaibatsu’s regular soldiers, they were able to hold off the assault.
With the Lektros lyonesse pack protecting her, Giulia was able to recover many of the wounded soldiers at the front yard. But her work was interrupted when she heard a thundering loud noise.
A gigantic creature smashed its way out of the Yokohama building. It was a creature that most believed to be long gone. It was about the size of Nikolai’s mechanicon; like a mechanicon, it had a humanoid figure with two arms and two legs. Pitch black in color, it was metallic in its composition.
“Is that what I think it is?” Omaha asked in disbelief.
“It has to be,” Nikolai said. “A golem. I’ll grab its attention while you attack it from the flanks.”
While Nikolai’s army was battling that dark construct, Aeneas and his party were being guided through the secret passage by the Zaibatsu’s ninjas. The Inquisitor was in luck as the defenders did not expect an attack given the battle at the front gates.
It did not take long for Aeneas and his party to make short work of them. But this also meant that the enemy knew of their presence. It would only be a matter of time before Voronin realized what was going on.
Grey with very little decoration, the interior of the Yokohama was drab. The hallway was dilapidated, but Aeneas knew that this was once the corporate headquarters of the Zaibatsu. It did not take long for the Inquisitor’s soldiers to discover a large room full of computers.
Aeneas knew that CEO Honda had asked him not to touch anything. The Inquisitor frowned as he thought of that ridiculous request; the secrets of the Zaibatsu were there for the taking, yet he couldn’t make use of them.
Or could he?
Aeneas remembered that he never agreed to the CEO’s request, he didn’t even so much as acknowledge it. And thus, he was in no way bound to it.
Having resolved his moral dilemma, Aeneas sifted through the electronic files at one of the computers. Putting aside his curiosity, the Inquisitor focused on ascertaining Kunoichi’s location. With the soldiers helping him, it was a quick work. Soon, Aeneas learned that Kunoichi was being held at the laboratory located within the 51st floor of the building.
But Kunoichi’s locations weren’t the only thing that he found out. Aeneas also found some documents revealing disturbing facts about the Zaibatsu. It was strange that he simply found them lying around. One would think that such secrets would be more protected. This was most likely prepared by someone, perhaps Voronin, as a means to blackmail the CEO.
What these documents revealed were interesting. One of them talked of the debt that the Zaibatsu had accrued. Apparently, CEO Honda had borrowed money from the dark felinids. Never a good idea.
Aeneas frowned as he looked up another document and realized that it hit closer to home. It pertained to the Castle Aquila event. It detailed how ninjas of the Zaibatsu had scoped the place. Furthermore, the CEO had smuggled the assassin into the castle by disguising her as his daughter.
But that would mean that the Zaibatsu was responsible for the death of Anchises Aquilanus. Or at least they were complicit in it.
The Zaibatsu had killed his father. That thought ringed in Aeneas’ mind, and he was at a loss about what to do with that information.
“Aeneas!” Lavinia shouted.
Aeneas’ trance was broken, but he did not say anything.
“Something of the matter, Aeneas?” Pep asked. The Lektros man was just as concerned for the Inquisitor as Lavinia.
“You looked like you’ve just discovered something really horrifying,” Lavinia said. “Tell me what you saw.”
Aeneas would like nothing more than to do so, but he knew of the ninjas in his group. This was not the right time to expose the Zaibatsu’s dirty laundry.
“Some other time, Lavinia,” Aeneas said, earning the deep one girl’s annoyance. “For now, we must concentrate on rescuing Kunoichi. Isn’t that right, Shaka?”
Shaka nodded, acknowledging Aeneas. The pathfinder had been holding the katana that he had gotten from his duel in Texarkana. He had even used it in battle.
And so, Aeneas told his group where Kunoichi was being held. The group went to the 51st floor of the Yokohama. With the laboratory encompassing most of that floor, finding it was not difficult at all.
The Inquisitor knew that Bashan Voronin was most likely hiding inside the lab alongside Kunoichi. Thus, he posted the Zaibatsu’s ninjas and the troops he brought with him outside of the laboratory. Meanwhile, he brought Lavinia, Pep, and Shaka with him into the lab.
With the door locked in tight, Pep broke it open with his lightning bolt. Aeneas was the first to enter the room followed by Lavinia and Shaka. Afterwards, Pep entered while Lavinia’s swarmlings were the last to enter.
The laboratory was lightly guarded. There were only a few scientists and a felinid man. As Aeneas and Shaka pointed their weapons at them, they raised their hands in surrender.
At the center of the laboratory was a large tube-shaped tank at the center. Aeneas was shocked to discover the person held in that tank: it was the CEO’s daughter Honda Kunoichi.
“That’s her,” Lavinia cried. She mentally commanded her swarmlings to rescue the trapped girl.
But Aeneas was more concerned with the scientists, particularly the felinid.
“You!” the Inquisitor barked to the felinid, a hunchbacked man with a dark hair and a resting sneer on his face. “Are you in charge of this location?”
“Er, of course not,” the man squeaked.
“Save your lies!” Aeneas snapped. He said that for he knew that man to be Bashan Voronin, based on the pictures that he had seen of the self-declared Dark Lord of the Cabal. “You will let go of that girl, at once!”
“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Bashan said.
The felinid then activated a perimeter energy shield in front of him and the scientists. Aeneas, Pep and Shaka opened fire as soon as Bashan was running but the shots were blocked by the shield. He then ran and pushed a button which activated an alarm.
Bashan went through the tube’s interface and pressed a large red button. “I’m simply reclaiming what is rightfully mine. Behold!”
The tank that contained Kunoichi opened up, the liquid fell to the floor. The felinid girl stepped out with knives in each of her hands. She stepped forward robotically. “Eliminate, enemy soldiers.”
“What you have you done?!” Aeneas demanded.
In response, the felinid let out an evil laugh. “As I said before, Inquisitor, I’m only restoring what rightfully belongs to the Cabal. Bwa ha ha!”
Aeneas considered his adversary’s words. He had figured that Kunoichi must be connected to the Cabal somehow. Whether it be the assassin of Castle Aquila or the woman that Shaka had fought on the rooftops of Texarkana’s suburban cities. The Inquisitor briefly considered questioning Bashan but decided against it.
As if the Dark Lord of the Cabal would tell an Inquisitor anything helpful.
“Kunoichi III, kill these intruders!” Bashan commanded.
“As you wish, master?” the girl responded obediently.
“What is going on here?” Pep asked in confusion.
“Mind control. Papa told me about this once,” Aeneas calmly answered. “Focus. We’re here to capture the girl alive, so restrain yourself.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Pep muttered. “But yes, sir.”
Aeneas then turned to the felinid girl. “Snap out of it, Kunoichi!” he cried. “It’s me, Aeneas!”
Kunoichi responded to the plea by throwing one of her knives at Aeneas. The Inquisitor was able to deflect the knife with his shield. He then charged forward but the felinid girl disappeared in a smoke.
“I don’t think we’ll talk our way out of this, Aeneas,” Lavinia said. The pacifican girl had been using her swarmlings to track Kunoichi but was not having any luck.
Then a grenade exploded where a swarmling was. This was followed by a quick strike which took it out. Shaka quickly spotted Kunoichi, but she disappeared before he could fix his sniper rifle at her.
“Argh, no!” Lavinia cried in frustration.
“Calm down,” Aeneas said sternly. “It’s just a swarmling.”
Aeneas looked around the laboratory and realized that the whole place had very little lighting. He had been used to it, but the darkness did not do his side any favors.
“Gah!” Lavinia cried.
Aeneas turned to Lavinia and saw that she was in combat with Kunoichi. The Inquisitor was concerned as he saw blood on her. Kunoichi had struck a blow against her. That was no easy feat.
Lavinia was struggling to keep up with the ninja, but Pep came to her rescue as he charged his fists with electricity and charged. Kunoichi quickly ran away in response.
“I’m tired of this cat and mouse game!” Lavinia shouted. Once more, frustration had gotten the best of her.
Aeneas knew that Kunoichi had been targeting Lavinia. His guess was that she was trying to thin out their numbers given Lavinia’s control over her swarmlings.
Once more, Aeneas thought of his dark surroundings. It would be great if he could get some lights. And then he figured out an idea.
“Pep,” Aeneas called out. “I got it. Launch your strongest electric current upwards and keep it up!”
“I don’t….” Pep did not finish that sentence as he realized what Aeneas was trying to do. “Understood!”
Upon generating the most electricity that he could, Pep launched it upwards to the ceiling of the lab. Suddenly, the room became a whole lot brighter. And Kunoichi became easier to spot.
“I see her,” Lavinia said.
Lavinia sent her swarmlings in pursuit of the ninja. Kunoichi ran and jumped around to elude her captors, but she was unable to completely shake them off.
Shaka paid close attention to the chase. The pathfinder realized that Kunoichi had always moved in a certain way; there was a rhythm to her hops. He knew where Kunoichi was going to be. He fixed his sniper rifle and fired.
One shot was all he needed as he hit the ninja’s leg. Kunoichi stumbled over and before long, she was piled on by Lavinia’s swarmlings.
But far from accepting her defeat, Kunoichi began struggling violently and screamed loudly. Despite his helmet, Aeneas found himself covering his ears. The shrill cry of a distressed felinid female was a cacophony no one could ignore.
“Sir, we can’t safely restrain her if she keeps this up,” Shaka pointed out.
“What do we do?” Lavinia asked in concern.
Aeneas had an idea, a long shot but he could think of nothing else. Ignoring his ears, the Inquisitor knelt before the felinid girl. He looked at her eyes and noticed how deranged they were. Clearly signs of a mind control.
“Kunoichi!” Aeneas cried. But his voice was drowned out by the felinid girl’s howls.
Realizing that he would not get anywhere, he closer her mouth with his hand. Aeneas couldn’t help but appreciate the sudden silence. But the felinid girl’s eyes indicated that she was not too pleased with this development.
“That’s better,” Aeneas said. “Listen Kunoichi. It’s me, Aeneas! This isn’t you.”
But Aeneas’ teammates were not confident that this was the right approach.
“This won’t work,” Lavinia said.
“Very true, but we can only try,” Pep answered.
“Don’t you remember me?” Aeneas pleaded once more to Kunoichi. “You told me I’m your friend.”
At this point, Aeneas reached deep under his armor where his pocket was. He took out a red flower. The very same flower that Kunoichi had given to Aeneas back in Castle Aquila. Though it was an artificial flower, Aeneas appreciated it all the same.
“You gave me this,” Aeneas said as he put the flower right in front of Kunoichi’s eyes.
Kunoichi’s eyes changed as she saw the flower. Her crazy eyes disappeared, replaced by normal ones.
“Aeneas,” she said softly.
“I’ll be the brother of a lyonesse,” Pep said in disbelief.
With Kunoichi’s mind control broken, Lavinia called her swarmlings to remove themselves from the felinid girl.
But Aeneas knew that his job was not yet finished. With Kunoichi secured, he handed her off to Shaka who seemed to have shown much interest in her. Now, the Inquisitor’s attention was focused on the disturbing facts that he had discovered about the Zaibatsu.
Aeneas knew that he had to make a call to the Holy Office. He had to talk to the Pope.