Chapter 111: Ch149. Sickness - 4 (Gears in motion)
Some of the irregulars were sickened by the flight, as it was the first time that many of them had flown in an airplane, let alone a jet.
The speed of that jet far exceeded that of a common jet, as an airplane built by the Japanese armed forces, with the intention of taking several wielders at once through great distances around the globe, had devices of much higher technology than those used by regulars, for domestic flights.
Less than three hours later, the pilot’s voice sounded through the cabin speakers, into the passengers’ ears.
"We’re entering North American airspace. So far, everything is... Oh, shit... Fasten your seat belts!"
Immediately, everyone tightened their seat belts, and in the next moment, they felt turbulence, followed by the sound of several explosions.
"What is happening?" Cynthia asked.
"Octavius is welcoming us." Evellyn responded, gripping the arms of her chair so tight, her knuckles were white.
"I think we’re going to have to move our plans forward, guys!" Rodrick announced. "DOORS!"
After the order, the cabin depressurized, and the jet’s doors opened.
"GEAR UP, GUYS!" Rodrick announced, and all the irregulars prepared their equipment.
The night sky over Esatado Unidos looked perfect for the maneuver they had planned.
Everyone was wearing tactical night combat uniforms, provided by Hana no Nagame.
The irregulars readied their weapons, those who relied on weapons other than their fists or their magic, and prepared to leap.
"Remember, children, this is not a joke. Be ready for the possibility that you may not return home..." Toshinori announced. "Daichi-chan, prepare the barrier!"
Nakamura Daichi, a young man of twenty-seven years old, with slightly long and chopped black hair, wore a white tunic with blue arabesques and golden metal shoulder pads over the tights that made up the night tactical uniform.
His black eyes flashed blue, and his hands traced symbols in the air.
A few moments later, a solid barrier formed around the jet, and another around the irregulars.
It didn’t take long, between one explosion and another, for the irregulars to finally reach the ground at Rock Creek Park, finally hidden by the trees, covered in the shadow of the night.
However, the new experience was still fresh on his nerves.
Nakamura Daichi’s ability to control both the barrier he had created around the jet, and those he had created around the irregulars, was frightening.
Between one fireball and another, exploding with force in front of the young people, Daichi moved the barriers like someone playing with drones, making them move back and forth.
And not just that.
The jet itself, flying with firmness and precision, piloted by whoever that experienced pilot was, did not suffer a single scratch from the magical attacks launched against it.
"Let’s rely on the professionals to do their job, and allow us some time to react." Nikolai said, taking the pistols from the holsters on his waist.
"They will, we just need to hope they can get to the rendezvous point without too many casualties. And I already know where we need to go." Evelyn announced. "Get into formation."
And the irregulars grouped up, as they had agreed, still at the headquarters of Toshinori’s guild.
***
In the jet, Daichi’s forehead glistened with sweat.
To the irregulars, who were not there, it seemed as if the wielder was controlling the barriers with incredible precision and ease.
But it was actually the opposite.
Daichi was holding himself back from fainting.
That was the first time so much had been asked of him.
Controlling barriers around children was one thing.
But the effort required to move them in mid-air, in addition to maintaining a massive barrier around the aircraft where Hana no Nagame professionals were, was almost much more than the body, even if trained, of an experienced wielder. like Daichi, he seemed to be able to bear it.
"COMMANDER, I NEED A HAND HERE!" Daichi shouted at Toshinori.
"Asahi, how long until its completion?"
Watanabe Asahi, the genius strategist, had researched everything about the current situation in the United States, as well as the psychological profile of the current president of the North American Wielders Association.
He had understood, through all the study, that Octavius Blake should be eager to welcome his son, Kurt Blake, and that he should not, in his father’s eyes, take long to return from wherever he was hiding. .
But, above all, a charismatic and determined boy, like Blake, wouldn’t return home alone.
"This is a strange relationship between father and son." Asahi said to himself, as he studied their history. "The son awakens after a two-year coma, the father disappears, the son enrolls in a famous wielders’ academy, breaks the record for the time taken to complete the entrance test, kills the academy’s headmaster, who turns out to be nobody less than the commanding leader of the Ishir, he disappears for three years, and his father returns, ally of the Ishir, and leader of a guild of purists, ready to pour out his distorted judgment on an entire nation..."
Toshinori listened, intently, as photos of Kurt and Octavius appeared on the holographic screen of the strategist’s holowatch.
"Kurt has something, besides the enormous power he carries." Toshinori said, his chin resting on his fingers. "He has a secret, you can feel it just by being around him." The guild master started pacing back and forth. "It’s impossible that, after such a long history of wielders coming and going, living and dying, only one like him has appeared."
Toshinori nodded in agreement, a somber silence befalling between them.
"However, it does seem like fate has something to do with it, having all odds against him." The guild master spoke, breaking the silence after a thoughtful moment.
"That, or the gods must hate his and our guts, Toshinori-sama." Asahi joked, bitter.
***
Toshinori remembered the conversation he had had with Asahi before they prepared for that operation, preparing for the next step of the plan.
It would be them, the guild master, along with his advanced attack trio, who would confront Octavius Blake in the open, in the city, while the children found a way to infiltrate the doctor’s hideout.
Who would have imagined that she was hidden nothing more, nothing less, than in the secret bunker of the president of the United States, and that the president himself was still alive, protected by mere agents of the national intelligence agency...
Toshinori bared his teeth in a crooked smile, thinking about how surprising it was that regulars were still alive, protecting the life of the country’s true leader.
"All speed ahead!" Toshinori ordered the pilot. "Let’s see what this Paladin is made of..."
