Chapter 19:

Miracle

Violet: No. 02189


The auto-cannon opened fire, and unlike the usual, this time it had not been against another mech, or even an N.R.I.C.A., it was shoot towards a human. A frail human who had no way of dodging or defending against a weapon like that. The 2.75in AP round bullet, that was made to pierce the laminated metal armor of a mech had pierced Juurou's left leg, immediately splitting it in two.

Blood rapidly begins to gush out from the old man’s body. If not for the adrenaline in his system he’d probably enter in shock and fall unconscious right after suffering a wound of that gravity.

Despite that, Juurou does not seem to be distressed by the severe injury that was just inflicted on him. As the burning sensation of the shot set in, instead of pain, his eyes showed an even more resolute expression than before.

*Sorry, I can’t hear you, Sir! it seems the audio turned off on your end!

*Mr. Amano is everything alright!?*

*...*

*No response huh!?*

As the old man heard his friend's voice on his transmitter, he continued moving forward. Little by little he gathered all the strength he could and jumped forward. Due to the gravity of the injury on his remaining leg, the impulse was not too effective and Juurou ended up falling.

While on the ground he began crawling while going in the direction of the Violet mech he had just fallen off. 

As the danger of the wild card that was Juurou, seemed to be over, the other mech pilots began attacking one another yet again.

“Huff... huff…”

“Just a little more…”

“Please wait... just a little…”

*Mr. Amano! I hope you can hear me right now!*

*As I don’t know what’s happening on your end I’ll just give you a report*

*From the 13 life signals you’ve indicated to me...*

By losing too much blood in such a small interval, Juurou's mind began to trick him, upon hearing Take's message on his transmitter, his mind began to drift as he started to not only remember an old discussion, but he was hearing those words once again as if the sentences were being told to him right now.

--

“Why you’d want to build a shrine?”

--

“Wouldn’t it be enough to just keep helping people as you already do?”

--

"Huff... I-it's still... not enuf..."

Juurou mumbles some words while fighting his own conscience. It's like a mantra to keep him from forgetting his objective against all the pain and the even odds.

As the old man now can only count on his arms and his will alone to move at all, he has great difficulty in just raising his torso. The dust, the heat, and the incredibly loud noises caused by the fighting of the mechs make it all much harder than it already is. It's almost a hypnotical and hellish experience, in which the only way to win is to give yourself in and pray to let it all end in the most painless way possible.

Juurou however, chose to ignore all that, the chaos around him, his thoughts, Take's message, nothing more mattered at that moment. He set a target and an objective in mind and he had to accomplish that no matter what.

His right-hand shivers while still tightly holding the handgun he had grabbed from the bike’s compartment. The sweat on his face began to come down hot as the weapons and the mechs themselves made the air around them warm up.

*I’ve succeeded in bringing with life eleven people out of the rubbles, the other two, unfortunately, were beyond help*

--

“I’m sorry, I can’t really grasp this concept at all”

--

“What do you mean by giving people something to long for?”

As Jurrou’s vision begins to blur even more, he looks upwards and spins his head in many directions to try to get at least a grasp of what's going on.

As he sees the mech he tried to attack reaching for its gun again Juurou saw a small window of chance and seized it. With all his remaining energy and resolve, while withstanding an unbearable amount of pain, he used his severely wounded and destroyed knees to shove his body ahead.

With his left hand, Juurou reached and grabbed the chain that was still hanging on the mech’s mechanical arm.

The old man then began swinging his body while using the chain as a pendulum, and just a moment before the mech’s pilot perceived this strange movement, Juurou jumped off it, launching himself upward once again.

*Some of the people I successfully rescued had only minor injuries, so they took the more seriously injured people to the hospital*

*So, Mayu-chan, is probably goin’ to be well...*

--

“Isn’t that just making people believe that someone will just appear out of nowhere and solve everything for them!?”

--

“I don’t mean to disrespect you Mr. Amano, but I can’t help but think this is contradictory…”

--

“To just lie down and expect that a god will help you just seems like a naïve way of thinking”

--

While propelled by the kinetic force of the improvised chain-pendulum, Juurou aims at the mechs with something Hideki gave to him just before he left to the surface to help out Take. The handgun Juurou had was not a normal one, it was a weapon Hideki himself developed. A shockwave weapon.

If I remember well what he said… This should do it… Remove the safety lock, and turn in the potency to the max…

Another gun is pointed in Juurou’s direction. At that angle, and without anywhere to go, as he was in mid-air, he knows he’s definitely going to get shot. Another auto-cannon shot-

!!

This time he doesn’t hear any sound, he just sees with his cloudy vision a flash coming out of a Blue mech’s auto-cannon.

*I didn’t find Ren-kun, he wasn’t among the people trapped under the debris*

*The only thing we can do now is praying for his safety*

--

“I wish I could see the world the same way you do Mr. Amano, but I sure can’t”

--

“Haha! That was funny, but don’t go making promises you can’t keep”

--

“There’s no way I would ever-”

--

That last burst of gunfire had just obliterated Juurou’s entire lower half as well as his left arm. That would kill most people on the spot.

It’s still not enough, I still have something I need to do...

One of the bullets had also gazed at his helmet, effectively destroying it completely, due to the large size of the projectile and its power. Juurou’s face was completely exposed, and it was possible to see his conviction written over his face, his piercing gaze, his frowned forehead, his lips and nose full of blood but without grumbling, while pieces of his helmet were flying behind him as well as his blood violently gushed out, and the wind whipped against him.

The soldier that was controlling that mech that had just shot Juurou was only a normal person. Despite having some training, he was ultimately still young and hadn’t many experiences in his life. He was ordered by his superiors at Blue to investigate something in that subterranean place, and after that, he received instructions that there was a place within that city that was a hiding spot for a Violet soldier.

He went to that unknown place and tried to execute that Violet soldier, for his dismay, not only did he fail in killing that man, but more Violet soldiers mounted in mechs entered the fray and began attacking him, but none of that was unexpected or had much effect on him, however...

That sole image, after all that happened before, was just too unbelievable for him to comprehend. Through a crack in the mech’s cockpit and armor, he could see that man approaching him, not by the panel but with his very eyes. The just took his hands off the mech’s handles and waited for his punishment.

Juurou pulled the trigger. Normally the shock-wave weapon is used to be a nonlethal weapon that can stun a person for a few seconds, however, the difference between nonlethal and lethal is just power. With the maximum potency, without the security limiter. That was very much a deadly weapon.

WVRRRRRRRRRROOOOONNNN!!!!

An extremely high sound was heard by everyone in front of that weapon. Juurou maintained his finger on the trigger until his body clashed against the mech in front of him. But it was more than enough.

The mech had protection against projectiles and many other kinds of physical hazards. It could even withstand fire and extreme climates, and it certainly could protect against shock waves, however, the armor of that mech was already damaged, so when the sound wave made into the cockpit, and as the closed space it is, the effect of the already lethal shock-wave was about 8 times stronger.

The pilot had no chance and nowhere to run. His internal organs ruptured from the impact of the amplified sound wave.

The other mechs nearby were also affected and were thrown away by the impact, albeit not as directly as the pilot that was right in front of the blast.

Following that, Juurou’s body inertly hit the ground after bumping into the mech’s armor.

I don’t have any energy left anymore… I’ll fall unconscious anytime now… and will not wake up…

But it’s as I expected, it doesn’t frighten me at all, I already came to this battle prepared to give up my life…

As Juurou looks upward he identifies the gray drone up in the sky right above his head, even though his vision is extremely blurred and darkened.

I see... it’s you Hideki...?

Can ye see it now…?

Can you see the miracle I told you about?

No, I’m still not satisfied…

There’s just one thing… that’s bothering me…

Mustering all of his strength Juurou activates his transmitter again, despite the helmet being blown up, the transmitter itself that was in his ear was not damaged.

Bip-

*Huff… huff…*

*Hideki...*

*I don’t know what path you will choose... but I sincerely hope it is one you can be proud of…*

*…*

*Kaede, …Mayumi, ...Takeshi, …*

*I wonder… what your choices are gonna be… W.whatever they are I can only hope you can move towards the future… and continue being true to yourselves…huff...*

*…*

*As for ye… young Haku… S.sorry we didn’t have the time… to know each other better…*

*Hufff...*

*But ye seem like good boy… so I hope ye can find yourself...*

*…*

*I had a lot more… hufff… I wanted to…*

*talk b.but-*

The index finger of his ice-cold right hand that was holding the record button on the transmitter couldn’t keep holding it any longer. It fell to the ground as Juurou’s brave heart finally stopped beating. The man had just surpassed any limits of what a human should be capable to do, but even if he ended up like this, his resting face alone should tell anyone what were his last thoughts.

Despite not even being able to know if his message will ever even be heard or not… Juurou still died with a smile on his face. That was a smile of realization.

After that last stand, the pilots of the other mech were in such an astonishing state, that even the ones who had not been affected by the final attack stopped themselves for a few seconds, however, as usual, even after seeing something so unique, intimidating and even inspiring, they still had orders to follow.

After the brief silence Juurou brought, the battle still went on...

*****

“Did you see that, Ophir-san?”

A hologram could be seen right above the CEO’s desk, and what was projecting it was a gray drone. The hologram turned off at the moment Juurou finally stopped moving.

“This is the reason I’ve told you-”

“The people from this place are insane!”

“They are not like anyone you’ve ever met. They are not easily swindled, but they are not logical beings either!”

“They are capable of going to lengths like what you have just seen without anything to gain, only out of spite!”

Ophir that was sitting in his chair, looks in Hideki’s direction, and let out a disappointed sigh.

“Did you really misunderstand what just happened, or are out thinking you can seriously outwit me?”

“!!”

“That was clearly an act of love. It was not something that can be done out of spite”

“Love!?”

“If I can take anything you said to me seriously, and if the little story you told me is true...”

“Then you should’ve known that man for quite some time, and you still can’t tell?”

“And here I thought I could consider you as an ‘equal’...”

The CEO gets up from his chair and walks in direction of the exit.

“Wait! Please wait Ophir-san!”

“I still have one more thing to say!”

The CEO glares at Hideki with a condescending look on the edge of his eyes before stopping to hear what more the professor could have to say.

“You’re right! I absolutely can't compare myself to someone like you!”

“But my point still stands!”

“I know of what they are capable of!”

“If you try to conquer then by using force, you’ll end up conquering a barren land”

The CEO makes an angry face at the comment made by Hideki, however, the professor continued talking ignoring Ophir’s displeased expression.

“But I also can assure you your plan to use 02189 won’t work! He might work for you just as you planned, and he might know a bit about the people of Neo-Tokyo but he’ll never be the bridge you want him to be!”

“02189 is not trustworthy! He has no perspective, no dreams, and nothing to stand for! Someone like that you turn on you in a snap of a finger. That’s why you need me!”

“You think you can be that bridge? Even being a Blue?”

“I already told you didn’t I? I’m just Hideki right now”

The CEO goes back to his chair and once again looks at Hideki’s eyes trying to uncover his most profound thoughts.

“That’s a lie...”

“If you think 02189 is that different from you, why did you try to eliminate him? If he’s really that incapable, he shouldn't pose a threat to your plan”

Sweat drops out of Hideki’s still wounded face as he gets more and more nervous and the negotiations go south more and more.

Dammit! This guy… he’s really good… he leaves me no other choice…

“Okay, you win. You can continue using your pawn however as you like”

“However, I’m still needed for the subjugation to be successful…”

The CEO puts both his elbows on his desk as he reclines his body forwards while inquiring Hideki.

“In what way you’re needed? What can you do that 02189 can’t?”

“I can use ‘Seraph’ in a very efficient way, that it will cause minimal damage and cause the reaction you want from Neo-Tokyo citizens”

Ophir’s eyes slightly widen when he hears those words coming from Hideki’s mouth.

“How do you know about Seraph?”

“That I prefer to not reveal, as you sir know well, it's not the best move to show your opponent all your cards during a negotiation”

Ophir bursts out laughing, leaving the guards and even the professor surprised by the CEO’s unusual reaction.

“Interesting! Now you have shown me your value, Hideki!”

***

Hideki wipes his face as he looks at his reflection in the window of the CEO’s apartment, he also sees at the same time the city below, and while doing so he can’t help but think of Juurou.

Why did you have to do that Mr. Amano?

Even at the end… I still can’t understand you…