Ch164: Strength In Unity
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Strength In Unity

Alliance Office Japan, Akasaka Press Center, Minato, Tokyo.
June 15
12:10 AM

The control room was in complete silence, no one wanted to believe what they were living that day, but now they could only continue. In the middle of the room was a woman directing everything that was happening, a mother worried about her children, who were now in the front line of fire. She was impatiently waiting for more information about what was happening, as she was recently informed that one of the most powerful bombs in the world had been found just a few blocks from where she was.

"Kasumi has arrived on site"
"She is sending images of the bomb before the communications shutdown"
"Right now I am creating a 3D model so you can see it from various angles"
"...."
"Signal blocking is now in effect"
"Switching to analog communication"
"Rebooting systems"
"Establishing secure connections to LandWarNet"
"Connexion recognized by 78th Signal Battalion"
"Informed to 311th Signal Command"
"Secure connection certified and approved"
"Restoring systems"
"...."
"Network is back online"

Charlotte, the other remaining android was working as fast as she could to give as much information support as she could to the others despite the enormous limitations she now suffered. Her sister, or rather her other body was with her father and could communicate very little, but still tried to help with ingenious ways of working around the limitations, even going so far as to try to send video footage with it from her point of view.

"Charlotte!"
"What am I seeing on the screen? asked the confused mother"

"Kasumi unit is trying to send live video for situation analysis in the control room"
"Due to the communication limitation of 56 kbps the video is being processed in HTML format"
"Each image has an average size of 150 Kb"
"Image update every 3 seconds"
"It has been established for the moment that this is the best current form of data transfer"

"Ma'am!"
"Gunshots heard in the vicinity, northeast direction"
"Probably near White and Moon"
"Automatic weapons, probably rifles"
"They're under attack, I'm sure of it!"

Cedric came running to report what he believed was happening based on his past experiences.

"Gunfire confirmed"
"Kasumi reports gunmen have just appeared on the street to the east"
"White is now opening fire on them"

"Red alert for the base"
"All personnel prepare to engage"
"Cedric take 20 men, gear up and go support White"
"Charlotte contact Noble team"
"I think they should have analog comms in the parking lot and have assault vehicles available"
"Tell them to come and support as well."
"The rest of you should stay here, we need to protect the president's motorcade"

The image on the screen just updated again, this time revealing a clear yellow stain coming from what appeared to be a person and what may have been a large firearm, but unfortunately, it was very difficult to distinguish any important detail because the images were not sharp at all, it was necessary to use the imagination to try to understand what was there. Adelis was distressed by the extreme and unknown situation that was happening, so she looked for a better solution. She picked up the phone and quickly pressed a sequence of numbers that she knew by heart at this point in her life.

"Hello, Major Zero!?"
"It's me, I need satellite video image immediately"
"National Security issue, Broken Arrow code"
"Analog communication required"
"Charlotte! What are the  geographic coordinates?"

"Latitude  35° 40' 4.0944'' North "
"Longitude 139° 43' 39.3024'' East "

"Latitude 35° 40' 4.0944'' North"
"Longitude 139° 43' 39.3024'' East"
"Prefer video speed over quality!"
"Just be fast!"

"On my way Ma'am"

The man on the other side got to work as fast as he was asked, he only needed a couple of short calls and in less than 2 minutes he had the access that Adelis had asked for. While all this was happening, close to the mother was the angel also working as fast as she could, her family needed her and her knowledge, they depended on her being able to understand the bomb and indicate the steps to follow to deactivate it, otherwise all the effort that everyone was making would be lost.

She picked up a nearby computer, Charlotte took note of what it was and immediately took possession of the machine and opened a program to display the 3D model of the bomb from the images her sister had sent her. Momo quickly began to analyze it, still surprised that she was looking at a red Mercury bomb operating on Earth, as such material was not supposed to be in this place.

The bomb was clearly of human manufacture, it was too primitive a bomb for angels, but it was still dangerous. The crystal girl checked every part she could, trying to figure out which part did what and what was the order of importance of each one. A number pad, it was clear that this was where the bomb was activated to start its system, a number panel, that was dangerous, but it didn't show numbers, bothering with time was useless right now, the cooling system was to keep the red mercury stable over a long period, the red vials were full of impurities, it was a botched job, the best the humans could do with their current technology, memory plates for the internal computer, now that the bomb was active a hacking attempt by Kasumi would only detonate it immediately for a security tripwire probably. The number one priority was for the bomb to detonate, for that it was necessary to avoid that the activation order was not received by the computer, it had to be incommunicated, a technological device like this surely had the best available in communication, it was clearly visible the satellite communication chip of the bomb, from the images it was possible to see the small antenna that surely right now was under the effects of Kasumi's Jammer. But Elise was under attack right now according to what she had heard, surely she would not have time to search for the bomb as thoroughly as she did, so she decided to give the clearest possible instructions according to what she believed her beloved husband would easily understand.

"Tell Cesar to destroy the communication module"
"A small 2 cm piece gray"
"He has to remove it from the blue board completely!" Momo shouted to her daughter quickly to get the message across. 

But her work had only just begun, she returned to continue studying the bomb and find out what the next step should be, it was impossible for a device like this to have only one communication system. What surprises could be hidden and how to counter them before they did any harm. Momo had to decide wisely what had priority, in her decisions were the lives of everyone living in this city, she could not return home with a defeat like this, not if she wanted to be recognized as a Hero by her parents.

Returning to Charlotte, she was looking for a way to receive information more quickly between her and her sister, when a new connection arrived from an unexpected source, but on reviewing it she realized that it was exactly what Adelis had asked for earlier and had called someone to help them, so she quickly turned her eyes to the main screen of the room.

"Satellite image received"
"Transmitting image to the screen"
"Analyzing tactical situation"
"...."
"!!!!"
"Two armed groups fighting on both sides of the street"
"White right now is located in the middle of them according to Kasumi"
"One group is impossible to identify"
"The other is local police units"
"They probably came because of the sound of gunfire between the first group and White"
"Total gunmen fighting 30 and increasing"
"15 casualties, most of them civilians"

"Where is Elise!?" asked a scared Adelis.

"In the big car in the center, the one with the most bodies around it"
"It's under it, next to the bomb"
"Shots detected!"
"Gunman 5 meters away down"
"Two cops are approaching Elise"
"...."
"Cops K.I.A"
"The probability that it was Elise is 85%"
"...."
"Kasumi reports that the communication module has been destroyed"

Upon hearing this news, momo's heart was shaken, for being a normal angel, hearing things like this conflicted with her beliefs. She really thought that all humans deserved a second chance without exception, on the other hand, she was happy that it was one less threat to her lover, but no matter how much she wanted to complain about the situation, no one would ever go against the Emperor, not even the angels. She had better leave her opinions behind and go back to concentrating on the bomb, she had already figured out the next move to make. The bomb had several communication systems, the next most important was a short radio one, someone with a normal detonator could still set it off if they were close enough to it depending on how far away Kasumi's bomb was. Plus the battery of this one was probably the power source for other communication devices, it was two birds with one stone.

"What the hell are the police doing!?"
"Contact them immediately!"
"Somebody stop them from shooting Elise!"
"Get me their boss on the phone right now!"  Adelis commanded in anger.

"Communication impossible"
"The police units around Nogi Park are uncommunicated due to Kasumi's Jammer"
"It is at full power due to the bomb, they have no communication with their headquarters"
"They are acting on their own according to what is happening in the field"
"Dad is one of their targets right now because he is still shooting from under the car and they don't know about the bomb"
"They will not stop until they arrest Papa!"

"Quick, tell Elise I know what to do now!"
"Tell her to cut the antenna wires and the radio short."
"Then remove the watch battery from its place"
"That should put an end to all forms of communication!" Said Momo excitedly.

"More vehicles approaching at high speed"
"Unknown"
"Entering the area of operations"
"Probability of hostile forces, 80%"

"Enemy reinforcements?"
"Where did they come from?"

"New group opened fire on all participants"
"Reanalyzing tactical situation"
"...."
"Unknown group 1 opened fire on new group"
"Police officers open fire on new group"
"Probability of third faction not related to the previous 90%."
"Initiating identification of Group 3"
"Group 3 shows serious signs of lack of coordination and tactics"
"Identified weapons used by group 3 high variable"
"No signs of possible real objective by Group 3"
"Situation of Group 3 variable, impossible to determine"
"No determinable logic in actions against proceeding in group 3"
"Need situation assessment and new input by real human supervision for reanalysis and categorization of group 3"
"Current situation, White vs. group 1, group 3 and police officers"
"High risk of mission failure, immediate dispatch of allied reinforcements recommended!"

"Change the satellite image to color even if it takes a little longer."
"Take pictures of group 3 and analyze possible common patterns"
"Sex, height, weapons, clothing"
"Also investigate the vehicle they came in"
"They came from the east, try to find out where."
"And where the hell is Cedric? He should have been there a long time ago!"

"Running new entry"
"Distribution of Group 3, estimated 84% male, 16% female"
"Average height 1 meter 70 centimeters"
"Weapons difficult to identify with accuracy confirmed presence of Kalashnikov and possibly Type 89 rifles"
"Civilian clothing, all present a white garment somewhere, pattern confirmed throughout Group 3"
"Using new data for reassignment of group 3 units"
"Combat group 3 has 30 confirmed assets"
"Total combatants at 70"
"Vehicles used by group 3, white civilian minivan."
"Positive identification, analyzed travel data to its source"
"Group 3's place of origin, warehouse 6, Hiraoka company."
"Location under investigation by police on suspicion of being a base for the rebel terrorists who attacked this facility on March 1st"
"Renaming group 3 as Kanenaga group terrorists"

"Dammit! Them again?"
"Couldn't they have picked a worse time to bother us?!"
"Those idiots probably don't even know what's going on"
"Every time they interfere, they only end up worse"

In the video, you could see the madness that was happening just a few blocks away from where they were. A huge shootout where it seemed to be happening in an all-out battle, with no clear groups, and where death was having a macabre dance among the current events. Adelis was holding her breath at the sight of such an absurd and difficult panorama, she was nervous to see that from the car where Elise was, fewer and fewer shots were being fired and her enemies were getting closer and closer. Then when two enemies approached the car she saw how the little girl came out by surprise and threw herself against one of them, throwing him to the ground, continued by extremely rare, bit his enemy in the neck to kill him and with his inert body threw him against the other to create an opportunity to attack his companion, who attacked in another way unnecessarily brutal, destroying his head against the ground until it kills him, then stole his gun and opened fire against part of the terrorist group. All those present who were watching were surprised by the wild way in which the little girl began to deal with her enemies once the situation was precarious. The mother had several suspicions, but even for her, it was more and more clear that when her son fought he became more and more savage depending on what he needed to accomplish his goals. The effortlessness with which he performed the maneuver also indicated that it was not the first time he had done it. And yet this was only against ordinary humans, what did he do when he hunted dragons all day? Maybe not even Lisa's way of fighting was as close to savage as he could get. 

They all continued to watch in horror as one of the men in the first group pulled out a machine gun and began firing in all directions, but as soon as he spotted Elise, he began firing primarily in that direction.

"Elise has been hit!"
"She has received two direct hits"  Charlotte shouted.

In the room silence reigned now, all eyes focused on a single point. On the screen, you could see the little girl, who far from immediately treating her wounds you could see how she was clearly still checking the bomb trying to manipulate it and disarm it in some way. No one could believe the girl's determination to accomplish her goal, even as she was dying little by little from the bullet wounds.

"What is he doing?"
"Why is he still working on the bomb!?"
"Was it still unsecured!?"
"She's still defusing it even though she's injured!"
"Momo, what's going on!?"

The angel, full of fear, went back to his computer and checked the bomb again, trying to find out why Elise was still acting that way. The reason was clear, the bomb right now was more important than the pitched battle behind her back, was the probability of detonation even higher than before? Momo remembered the screen with the numbers on the bomb, it was clear that it was for something, a count, the bomb had started its final count. In even more panic the crystal creature checked what could be useful to face the new challenge.

"The bomb possibly has a second security measure to detonate in case of contacting its disabled communication modules!"
"It probably has a countdown to detonation"
"Elise is probably looking at the numbers and decided that it is more important to deactivate it completely now"
"I have no idea how much time she has, but I don't think it's a lot"
"I'm trying to figure out how to completely deactivate the bomb but it's not that simple"
"A red mercury bomb is not that common even for us!"
"I just don't understand how exactly it detonates"

"What do you mean you don't know how it works!?"

"I don't know how this type of bomb works!"
"Our bombs are completely different from this!"
"I really don't know how humans managed to create something like this in the first place!"
"The closest thing to this is the God's Blood Bomb that the Atlanteans tried to create!"

"God's Blood bombs!?"

"Atlantis received a devastating attack by the angels"
"When they retreated to try to rebuild their continent they tried to create new weapons"
"Inspired by the attack one of their inventors designed the God's Blood bomb, which in theory could recreate the attack they received from Heaven"
"The Atlanteans tried to develop the project as a maximum priority, but the civil war greatly appreciated and challenged the project"
"The rebels managed to destroy all the research of the project before it entered its testing phase"
"Then the dragons appeared, in which the Union feared that they would end up developing the God's blood bomb"
"The first missions were to destroy possible research centers for this weapon"
"Rose spent the rest of the war researching this blood bomb and trying to create it in order to win the war against the dragons"
"But she never succeeded due to lack of new materials discovered by humans and needed refining in complex plants such as enriched uranium"
"I have only seen this type of bomb in the books!"

"I don't want history, I want solutions!"

"I don't know!"
"I don't know how they managed to solve the problem so that the red mercury would enter critical mass"
"From the 3d model or here, I cannot figure out where the red mercury will be injected into the detonation vessel"
"If I had to guess I would say that for the size of this bomb somewhere they have something with a uranium rod sufficiently enriched to achieve a nuclear detonation"
"Something like Uranium-235 enriched to at least 85%, but it would go against the red mercury bomb concept of not emitting radiation"
"I might only need a small piece of that material"
"That's the only thing I can think of that humans could do with today's technology"

"Does Elise have any way of knowing this?"
"Can she find that part?"

The angel remained silent, his mask made it impossible for Adelis to try to understand what face Momo was hiding, but it was probably not promising.

"Captain Cedric finally entered the operations area"
"His team providing cover for White"
"Cedric seems to be trying to talk to the police to work together against Group 1 and 3"
"One more car has also appeared, this one belongs to Inspector Yamamoto, visual data confirmed with my database"
"Moon is assisting Elise"
"She is being taken to the inspector's car"
"Kasumi reports that the Bomb has been successfully defused"
"Elise plans to take the Bomb to Carrier strike Group 5 for disposal and transport to a safe location"
"Dad has refused medical aid, says the bomb is more important"
"The jammer will cease to be in effect in 10 minutes when inspector Yamamoto's car is away from the combat area"

Everyone in the room celebrated that the bomb was now a minor problem, all except Adelis, who still had a straight face, as she was worried about her son's health, but if he had refused medical attention it was probably because he thought his injuries were not so bad, right?

Outside the control room, on the other side of the heavy security door, a girl waited impassively in the hallway. The horns on her head indicated that she was not human either, her red eyes revealed her demonic origin. Lisa moved her foot quickly while waiting for important indications. On the emergency stairs, she saw another girl running nervously with a piece of paper, which she hurriedly handed to Lisa without doubting her in the slightest. Lisa looked at the paper immediately, it came from Marco, it was important, it was trustworthy because it was Marco who helped Lisa to escape from the prison she was in, it was the one who told her where she could find Cesar, her love, and now it would be the one who would help her with the problem of the bomb. The succubus entered turned around and went through the door without any difficulty, then she ran to talk to Adelis.

"Hurry up!"
"Tell Darling to go to this address!"
"It's important!" she said.

"????"
"Not now Lisa!"
"Don't you see that this is important!"

Lisa, knowing that there was plenty of reason not to listen to her, and look for help to convince the mother, turned to the angel. Momo also thought that it was just another attack of the demon, but when she looked at her she noticed something very different. If there was any sanity left in that demon's mind, it was all present at this moment. This was really serious, Lisa was not playing, she really wanted them to go to that place. Trusting her she tried to give a chance to something that even Momo herself didn't understand either.

"Give her a chance! Trust her"
"Lisa would never do anything to hurt Elise"
"Surely she has a reason not to tell us what it is"

Said the angel, turning her head so that she would notice what she was referring to the other humans in the room. Adelis didn't want to believe it but also noticed that Lisa was looking at her in the eyes, not with her usual lost look, but with compassion, something very strange to the recognized yandere, together with the disappearance of her sadistic smile that was a permanent part of her twisted mind. The Lisa in front of her was talking in a serious way, and against what common sense indicated, she decided to give in and gave the orders to Cesar to go in the direction that the succubus suggested.

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