Gra Gryning

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


"You're doing better."

I had lost another game of chess, I looked over the hill at our half finished Golems.

"How long have we been at this Nathan?"

"Couple months Liam."

I looked at the stumps where my feet should be.

"And we still haven't finished our new golems."

"Metal's hard to get, even scrap metal, and the price of quartz is insane Liam, you know this."

I nodded.

"Of course I know this, I've been making crystals by hand, it's all just rather frustrating."

I looked up and saw a flaming airship go down a ways away. I could hear the screams of the dead and dying germans, the sirens in the distance as ambulances rushed over there. Nathan shook his head.

"The Jerries really need to stop using hydrogen and start using alchemically treated helium like everyone else."

I looked at the board and sighed. I had been so close, I needed to find a way to win.

"Well the biggest producers of Helium are the yanks and they're not exactly willing to trade their supplies by airship. And we're blockading the Hun by sea so they really do not have access to it for the most part."

And checkmate, I sighed as I lost another game.

"Set up the board?"

"You did really good that time, you almost won after all."

I nodded.

"Thank you nathan."

"Think nothing of it."

I turned to look at our golems.

"That isn't going to make them finished any quicker Liam."

"Just frustrated."

Liam took a sip of his now cold coffee.

"We're all frustrated. We spent months empowering poor sods so they can go die meaninglessly in no man's land."

"We gained five inches."

Nathan glared at me.

"Over 2 years of fighting and over a hundred thousand people dead, maimed and wounded, an entire generation of magi dead for five inches...does that seem remotely worth it?"

I turned my head.

"I'm just trying to think positively."

"I'm sorry that this war is positively batty."

I sighed.

"The brits are singing again."

I put on my artificial feet.

"Going to see what they have going?"

"Of course."

Nathan followed me and we saw the british singing around the still burning hun airship.

"Don't they know any songs other then Tipperary?"

I shook my head.

"Be nice to the squadies Nathan or they will steal your stuff and bed your girl."

Nathan looked at me.

"They're squadies. They would do that anyway."

I nodded.

"Yes, but we're all hoping to focus them onto stealing from the hun and bedding their women instead of doing that to us."

A man smiled and waved at us.

"Come on."

We walked to the crash site and saw the Limeys roasting marshmallows over the still burning airship. We were given a small stick and a marshmallow. I saw other soldiers, french, Indian, african, even a couple of people from south china come in. Marshmallows and sticks were handed out and we put them over the fire.

"Silent night, holy night, all is well, all is bright."

I looked and nathan and we smiled. We sung along with the squadies as we roasted our marshmallows. When the song ended I gave him a hug.

"Merry christmas Nathan."

"Merry christmas Liam."

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs



My foot had finally recovered as had Nathan's. We smiled at our Golems.

"Finished."

Our hands slammed together and we did a little dance.

"There's a chess meet-up going on Liam...you in."

I smiled.

"Yeah I'm in."

I had spent my long convalescence studying chess, studying all the strategies, learning lessons about the greats and working on my game. The two of us walked towards the front, we saw people from every nation in the alliance playing games.

We filled in some forms and took our seats, I smiled at my fellow soldiers as the games started.

"Winner moves, loser stays."

I smiled and then the games began...and I started losing, a lot. I felt my frustration grow. They came from all over the world, from the mean streets of london to the boulevards ofparis, to the far east of india and china, and they came from all walks of life but it didn't matter.

I kept losing. Then a young man showed up, green as I was when the war started.

"Um...I have never played chess before."

I smiled.

"It's ok, we all have to start somewhere."

I set up the board.

"So you're a wizard?"

He looked at my coat.

"Yes."

"You don't see a lot of you guys these days."

I shrugged.

"It's been a rough war."

The boy nodded.

"Everyone else says that there used to be a lot of you guys on the front."

I remembered when we were an omnipresent force on the front...had things changed that much?

"Like I said it's been a rough war."

"What's it like?"

I blinked.

"Being a wizard. I mean, you're the first one I ever met."

That can't have been true? sure we were rare on the ground but the french had a lot of magi here on the front, the british, the...

I looked around and the only two magi here were me and Nathan. I suddenly felt smaller, felt diminished. I concentrated on the game.

"Your vision changes, your senses change, I can see in the dark, see lighting run through electrical cables, sense the temperature in a room and see the living lines of magic that crisscross our world."

"Really?"

"Want to see it?"

The boy nodded and I spent some mana, his eyes opened in wonder.

"Why is it so blue?"

I smiled as I took a rook.

"That's a ley line, the biggest strongest leyline in Belgium."

He looked around his eyes wide.

"It's beautiful....this is."

"How I see the world at all times, that line there is what gives us power, that's the line that let us build the wall. What remains of free belgium exists because of those invisible lines of power."

He continued to look around the world in a daze, it affected his game and I exploited it ruthlessly, taking his bishop. Eventually I took his king.

"Checkmate."

We shook hands and I smiled, I lost all of the other games that day but that didn't matter. For the first time in my life I finally won a game of chess. After years of always losing, after all that hard work, I finally won.

Nathan and I walked back to our barracks.

"How was it?"

"I won a game Nathan."

Nathan laughed and gave me a hug.

"See...told you that you would eventually win."

I smiled, enjoying the night air.

"So we're both going to the offensive tomorrow?"

Nathan nodded.

"Yep, they say it's going to be a big one. I think we might actually win this one, they have more than twenty thousand people. It's going to be massive, we have been shellling the hun for over a week now."

I nodded.

"Hopefully this will be the year we finally win it."

"I hope so too."

When we got back home I decided to write down my experiences, for my children or grandchildren. It's only a few pages but I'm sure I will have the time to write a much more involved journal after the offensive.

Liam Jacobs

-----

Authors afterword

Liam Jacobs would die in the 1916 offensive. The great war would continue for another 2 years. His friend Nathan saved his notes and donated it to the national belgium library, as a way to remember the war to end all wars.

Nathan would later be killed during world war two by the SS for the crime of smuggling the children of resistance fighters out of the country before the SS could punish them for their parents crimes.

Nathan's name is inscribed on the wall of heroes in Brussels. As per his request he was buried next to his best friend Liam Jacobs.

 

[Cherico]

The end of the Golden age of magic

Peter Dinklage 1982


The 1st world war marked the first time that magic and technology was truly used on a mass scale by both sides of a war. It also marked the end of an era. Magi were the first to be drafted by both sides of the war and also fought the hardest, thus they had the vast majority of thefirst casualties.

Magic in europe, especially seasonal styles, was for the most part practiced by those of noble birth. At first it was something done by third and forth sons but it slowly spread amongst the nobility and the idea of the gentleman magi became engrained in that era.

There were exceptions of course, those who had enough money to go study in america, scholarship students and those with connections to the upper crust. This was done on purposeas the ruling classes of europe had watched the Irish rebellion and feared that an army of proletariat magi would rise up and claim power.

Those that did teach magi did so for the purposes of war, like the british empire, France, Germany, Italy and spain. They Made sure to settle their underclass magi in their empire, both to secure them and to make sure they didn't cause trouble at home.

This restriction of magic to the unlanded nobility created a new class. At first they were feared by the common people but as time went on many discovered they preferred dealing with nobles who were compelled by unnatural forces to keep deals and behave honorably rather than the often more arrogant mundane nobility.

As the official powers of the nobility waned more and more noble families went into the mystic arts. By the time world war 1 came the noble houses in europe were in a clear period of transition where it looked like magic would become the defining hallmark of the noble classes.

The first world war dashed these hopes completely.

It takes over a decade for a seasonal magi to be fully trained, and at least 3 years to become competent if specialized. Europe's magical community took over a century to be built, for their customs and culture to be defined. In 4 years nearly 95% of them were dead.

The great empires, the major powers and the small powers all threw their magi into the blender with reckless abandon. Thinking only in the short term, just like they spent the lives of mundane soldiers, the generals were so consumed with each battle, with the war, that they didn't think of the future.

When the war was over there wasn't enough people to staff the existing schools of magic on the continent, much less expand education. In fact most schools ended up being shut down due to a lack of available teachers. In europe only Italy was able to keep the aristocratic magical culture that was created during the 1800s, having made the intelligent decision to stay out of the war.

With the war over countries either had to rely on the Qliphothic arts to revive their magical traditions or travel to the americas and once again learn from the original source.

France and Britain made the decision to send students to Compass and other american schools to rebuild their magical communities. Germany, for it's part, chose to focus on the Qliphothic arts. While others, like greece, used their surviving magi to rebuild at a slower rate, somecountries decided to neglect magic and let it die out in their country.

Belgium was one of these countries, with the war over the new post war government of Belgium blamed their magi for not doing enough to save their country. Despite the fact that it was only through their efforts that the germans were stopped at all.

This was partially for class reasons, the new government leaned much farther to the left and disliked their noble magical class and partially because magi were unfairly associated with much of the horrors of the war and were used as scapegoats.

When the tides of fascism rose, France's magical community had recovered and decided to build a wall to defend themselves from german agression. The Maginot line was state of the art and covered the border between france and Italy, the entire border between france and germany and came close to covering the border between france and belgium.

When the French started building the line upwards to the Belgium border the nation of Belgium complained that the french were abandoning Belgium to future german aggression. They enacted a public relations campain to shame France into not building the wall up further.

The french reluctantly agreed to fund the creation of a wall between belgium and Germany instead of building up the maginot line. Belgium agreed to this and then the government put up token defenses and pocketed the rest of the wall money to help repair their shattered country and economy.

When World War 2 came Belgium was completely undefended and this time they didn't have nearly enough magi to stop a german advance. The German troops marched through belgium and attacked an undefended france.

It was only through the bravery and sacrifice of the foreign legion, french troops and France's elite vanguard which was composed entirely of magi, that the country was able to evacuate their leadership and most of their military. France would fight on in Algeria for the rest of world war two.

Belgium's quick defeat and surrender caused it to lose the respect of the allies, and most of the world. To this day Belgians are called waffle eating surrender monkeys. Especially by the french who are still bitter about the events of world war 2.

In Germany they turned to the Qliphothic arts.

The Thul Society led this charge and, after the war, the sheer number of atrocities commited by Germany during the war would stain the art forever.

As for european culture, there was the idea that magic was now a dying art. That the age of magic was over. This idea formed the basis of many fantasy books and influenced cutlure. Many magi thought of themselves as relics of the past, a dying breed.

This wasn't true and the number of magi would grow significantly during the 20th century. But the idea remained and was supported by books like the lord of the rings, the twilight trilogy and the last spellslinger. Magic was associated with a lost arcadia destroyed by the might of industry.

On the flip side of this is that this influenced science fiction, many authors imagined a world without magic, or where it had died out completly, replaced by the modern and technology.

This trend started with Amazing stories and became widely mainstream and dominated mainstream science fiction from the 1920s to the 80s. It is only now that authors are finally realizing that magic isn't a dead art, that it's recovered and grown stronger.

With new authors like william gibson acknowledging the survival and prosperity of magic in the modern age and future, the art of urban fantasy is starting to come back into the fold.

The future was here and we brought our robe and wizard hat.

 

[Cherico]

Baha the black promised land

Tyron Lebron



The Baja territory after the civil war had a population around of around 120,000 mexican citizens, it also had 55,363,000 square miles of land. The black population of the united states stood at around 4.5 million people. Most of whom lived in the south.

During the civil war Mexico had decided to intervene in american affairs and they were punished for this slight with a border adjustment and the loss of the baha peninsula.

With the civil war over there was a discussion on how to handle the former mexican citizens and the members of the confederacy. President Lincon advocated for a merciful peace to heal the country as quickly as possible. Then he was assassinated.

With his death President Ely S. Parker, the first native american to ever become president, gained his office. Ely was far more cynical than Lincon was and considered the former president to be a close friend. Lincoln, in death, became a martyr and feelings towards the south were tinged with extreme anger.

This was due both to the assassination and General Forrest's policy of victory through terror. The supreme commander's order to purposefully commit war crimes to terrify the weakwilled yankees into submission backfired and the border states, who suffered the most, wanted their pound of flesh.

This isn't to say that Ely was entirely focused on revenge. He was a firm abolitionist and wanted to make sure that the freed slaves would not be disenfranchised. He also wanted to deliver a message.

So to deliver that message he enacted the infamous Missippi and baha edicts. The mexican population in baha were ordered to be expelled. Their land would be confiscated and they were all to be returned to mexico, by force if necessary and force was indeed used at times.

There would be no compensation for this seizure of land. Then Ely targeted Missippi, General Forrest's home state. Every plantation owner who supported the confederacy had his land confiscated, every soldier who had fought in the confederacy had his land and property confiscated.

Then the land in Missippi and Baha was given over to the former slaves and the free people of color, as reparations. This was done both to secure the new territories and as a warning. Ely did not believe that the former confederates would ever treat their former slaves as equals, or even as second class citizens. So he made the controversial plan to create majority black states.

In the black community this was treated as a cause for celebration. The former slaves had grown up on biblical tales and exodus had been a favorite for many in the black community.

They treated these land grants, baha especially as their promised land, during the next ten years 95% of the former slaves would move either to missippi or Baha. Baha, with its mediterranean climate and its magic rich environment, would prove a boon for the newly freed slaves.

Through the use off magic sea water was turned into fresh water, and many freed slaves decided to build vineyards. The early efforts had mixed results but in time Baha became one of the biggest wine and grape producing regions in north america.

The black community thrived in their territory and new state, and would later on go on to create the neo egyptian architecture, create artistic styles, novels and music. Lincon became the matyred hero and Ely his righteous avenger. Few, if any, former slaves felt any sympathy for the people who had been displaced to grant them their promised land.

To them mexico had been in league with their oppressors and it was only right that they be punished for their transgression. In mexico however they saw the loss of Baha and the eviction of its population from the peninsula as a crime. Because of the lack of stability in mexico the country remained poor.

Mexicans watched as former slaves became wealthy in one of their former provinces and grew resentful. Black americans who came to visit mexico were often the targets of racist attacks. Black americans raised on the bible considered Mexicans to be their philistines, their natural enemies, and often treated visiting mexicans with contempt.

To this day the relationship between the latino and black communities remains toxic though not as bad as it used to be.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim Boo-Kyum

1931


It was hot and humid in our office. Most of the other officers were huddled near the window. One of them was drinking and a few were napping. One officer, designated by the others as lookout, watched the door. As for myself I was doing paper work. I was the only one doing paperwork. I looked through the stacks of police reports and wrote down notes.

"Kim, want a drink?"

One of my coworkers held out a beer, the bottle was warm and covered in spit.

"I'm sorry but I'm behind, I need to keep up with my cases."

The man shook his head.

"I don't understand you Kim. It's not like the japs give a damn about what happens to Koreans."

"The harder I work, the faster I can get back on the beat, where it's not as hot."

The man sighed.

"So I take it you're not going to go drinking with us again?"

I smiled weakly and shuffled some papers into my brief case.

"I can't handle my liquor you know that. It's best if I leave the booze to the people who can handle it."

The man shook his head and went back to the window. When the clock hit the mark we got up and punched our time slips. we walked towards the offices on the otherside, the oppressive heat vanished and we entered a room with glowing blue crystals.

This is where the japanese worked, they looked at us with disdain as we handed over our punch cards. Officer Yuki gave us another speech about how lazy and stupid koreans were and sent us off with our pay.

I couldn't help but notice that he took ten percent off the top again, like he always did. We left the station as a singular force. We had to, for safety reasons. As we walked past, mothers clung their children closer to them, store owners flipped their signs to closed, flipping them over when they thought we were out of eyesight.

Everywhere I noticed the barely hidden looks of disgust and barely restrained loathing. I split off from the other officers as they marched to one of the few bars that would do business with us and looked at a commotion. I walked up near the crowd and saw a japanese officer on a podium.

An older white man was chained up in such a way as to force him to kneel. I noticed from his robes that he was a priest, catholic to be exact.

"God damn it, he's army."

I should have known. There were no women at all in the crowd, just angry silent korean men. The man spoke out in a frothing rage about how the priest refused to worship the emperor. He continued ranting, waving around a cheap mass produced katana as I made my way through the crowd. He raised his blade above the priest's head and I pulled him back.

His sword hit the ground.

"UNHAND ME DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

"A 1st Lieutenant, the lowest rank of the officer class, you do not have authorization to conduct executions."

"This man defies the emperor, he SHAMES our great nation."

Ah shit, a samurai. I hated dealing with them. Now, when I say samurai, I don't mean the class or actual samurai. I mean the delusional nutcases who think and act like they're still living in feudal japan. I hated dealing with them, every one hated dealing with them. I forced him away from his half cocked site of execution.

"Be that as it may, that's something that the police should deal with, not the army."

"I WILL KILL YOU, KILL YOU TO DEATH!"

I shook my head and forced the sword out of his hands, we wrestled and I pinned him to the ground.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS, I AM A PROUD OFFICER OF THE JAPANESE MILITARY."

I cuffed him, strapped his sword to my back and forced him away.

"Tell it to the MP's."

The crowd untied the priest and dispersed. the officer struggled, trying to kick me, trip me and yelling obscenities in japanese as I manhandled him back to the base. a bored guard looked at me.

"Hello Toshi."

He gave me a salute and sighed.

"'Nother incident?"

"Almost, this one tried to execute a priest."

Toshi shook his head.

"Did he?"

"No, I got there in time."

"Thank god Kim. The last thing we need is yet another international incident or another riot. Look, I'm going to call this in."

Toshi got on the phone as the officer's mouth foamed in incoherent rage. I put his sword on the MP's desk as he talked to command. Then Toshi sighed and looked at the officer.

"You were drunk."

"I AM NOT DRUNK. I FIGHT FOR THE GLORY OF JAPAN!"

Toshi opened the MP shack and loomed over the officer.

"No...you were drunk. You are going to the drunk tank, there you will take some time to think about pacing yourself."

The Man continued to rant and Toshi sighed and then punched him hard in the stomach. the officer went to the ground and Toshi looked at me with annoyance.

"Thanks Kim, I really do appreciate it."

The officer cried on the ground from the pain.

"Don't worry about it."

Toshi dragged the ranting officer away and I traveled home. It was starting to get dark and the looks of loathing became more pronounced but they mostly ignored the traitor in their midsts, instead focusing on their shopping and daily lives. A bored shoeshine boy's eyes opened up and he walked into the middle of the street, he brought out a red handkerchief and tossed in the air.

The people scattered. Women of all ages were dragged inside and hidden from view. After a few moments all of the women were gone then, a few minutes later, a group of bored japanese soldiers walked through the streets. When they were gone the women came out of hiding.

I continued walking towards my apartment. My landlord came up to me with a scowl on his face.

"It's."

I handed over the money.

"Got paid today, we good?"

The man nodded.

"Yeah, you're one of the few people I have that don't drink away their pay checks."

I shrugged.

"I know my limits sir."

I walked upstairs to my appartment, it was near the roof. I waited for a bit and then walked up the fire escape to the roof top. There I waited in the night, I brought out a cigarette and smoked it slowly savoring it.

I sighed as I felt a blade against my neck.

"The sun has fallen."

I responded.

"And darkness has covered the land."

"But when the sun rises again."

"Korea will be reborn."

I sighed.

"They sent someone new didn't they?"

The knife left my neck and a man stared at me in his black clothing and eerie white mask.

"You have the intelligence?"

I opened my briefcase and handed it over.

"I always do my part for Korea and the Jayu sir."

He took my notes, gave me a salute and flew away into the night.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim Boo-Kyum


I went to sleep after doing a couple push ups and stretches to keep myself limber and then went to bed. When i woke up I smelled eggs and coffee. I got dressed and walked out into my kitchen. There a masked man in a black outfit looked up at me.

"Made breakfast."

I sighed and sat down at the table.

"Why didn't they send you Seagull?"

He shrugged.

"They wanted to give the new guy some experience."

I looked up at him.

"So how did he do?"

I took out my chopsticks and started eating the eggs.

"Badly. He was kind of rude and confrontational, and he put a knife to my throat."

Seagull shook his head and sat down.

"Sorry about that, he just finished basic and we wanted to start him off with something easy and hard to screw up. You never know what a nervous rookie will do."

Seagull took a bite of food.

"Oh."

He put a hand into his coat and pulled out some coffee beans.

"Here you go, strait arabica from my own personal stash."

I looked at the bag.

"I don't take bribes Seagull."

Seagull sighed.

"I get it, you're a champion of justice."

"I'm glad you understand."

He pulled the bag away.

"On the one hand that trait really does irritate me. On the other hand command loves you for it."

I nodded.

"So the new guy's name?"

"His code name is dodo."

"Because he's stupid."

Seagull shook his hand.

"He's not an complete idiot."

"I just told you about the knife."

"Yeah, and I'm going to slap him for playing stupid games later for it, but he isn't stupid. He's just new and takes things personally. A cop raped his little sister."

I froze.

"Officer Hu....the Bun family?"

"You're really not supposed to know that Kim, but yeah thanks for tipping us off about him. If you didn't tell us we wouldn't have been able to handle things."

"He went after little girls, he needed to die."

Seagull nodded.

"No disagreements there."

"So Seagull."

"Galmaegi was taken, so I had to use the english version of the word."

"Really?"

I took another bite of eggs.

"Yeah, the Jayu require all of its operatives to have the name of a bird as their code name but pretty much all of the good names are taken. So you have to get creative."

"Sounds complicated."

"A couple bases have international thesaurus so the new guys can have names in other languages."

"And you chose seagull."

"All the good birds are taken. Eagles, crows, and expecially owls. Mind if I change the subject?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks for helping out the priest, he's a good man."

"Is he..."

"In the movement? No, doesn't have a clue we exist but he does a lot for the community. Runs an orphanage, educates the kids there. He's a good man."

"Any dark secrets?"

"Some dirty magazines under his bed, other than that he's clean."

I nodded.

"So the officer?"

"Name Lt. Suemori Kawamoto he's being sent to Manchukuo."

"The japanese are going to send that maniac to Manchukuo? Do they want an international incident?"

Seagull shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe they just want him far away from the homeland? put him where he can't embarass the empire? But my gut tells me that the empire is planning something nasty."

"They're always planning something nasty, that's why I work with you. Because your people are the only ones willing to punish japanese nationals for incidents."

"And we appreciate that but we're not gods, merely very talented men. Speaking of which."

He pulled out a slip of paper, I opened it up and looked at it.

"The docks, and a time?"

"The soviets are smuggling in some guns."

"And you want me to keep the police away from it."

"No...we want you to bust them, they're not selling guns to us they're selling them to the Chil-Sung-Pa gang. We don't want them to have that kind of ordnance."

"Why not? You both hate the japanese."

"The Jayu are a resistance group, the Chil-Sung-Pa gang are criminals. We don't mess with their organization unless they cross the line, this is true. But we also don't want them to be armed with military grade weapons."

He paused.

"Sooner or later Korea will be free and we don't want a country where the people live in fear of entrenched gangs. So you're going to gather your guys and bust them."

I nodded.

"Fair enough."

Seagull looked at his finished meal.

"Also Kim...you need to have more then eggs and rice in your diet, get some kimchi or some bread, or some vegetables, something green, or some fruit."

"Eggs have protein."

"Berries are cheap. Just eat something else and fix your diet."

"You're changing the subject from the raid."

"The subject's closed. Now we're talking about your health. Seriously Kim we're friends."

"Aquaintances."

"Sure, whatever. Just promise me you will eat a little more healthy."

I sighed.

"Fine."

"Good, well I will be leaving....so."

I crossed my arms.

"Look away?"

"I'm not letting you do that thing were I turn around and you're suddenly gone."

Seagull lowered his head.

"Come on Kim, just this once."

"No."

"I live for that."

"It's annoying and rude."

"Fine, ruin all my fun kim."

He opened a window and slowly turned invisible. I smirked, sure it was a small petty victory but I took what I could.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim Boo-Kyum



Officer Subaru


The japanese officer in charge of our department looked at me.

"I already heard about the incident you don't need to make a report."

He looked at me with tired eyes.

"So there wont be any charges then?"

Subaru massaged his greying temples.

"Of course not. He's army, if we charged him the damned Samurai wanabees would blow up the station. So officially we're charging him with public drunkenness before he's shipped out."

"He tried to kill a man."

"Kim.."

He looked at me with defeated eyes.

"I like you, you're the only one in this station who actually walks his entire beat, you're the only one who actually bothers to do his paperwork and from what I can tell you're the only one here who hasn't taken a bribe."

He sighed.

"You're pretty much the only person I can trust in this horrid little shithole of a country."

"If you do not like it sir then why are you here?"

The man closed his eyes.

"A politician had been assassinated with a bomb, I was working in Tokyo then. The man was a pacifist, said we should focus our efforts on making toys instead of making bombs. So they blew up his entire family. I decided to do some investigative work, found the culprits and brougth them to justice."

"Army or Navy."

"Three men, all Army, one of their fathers was a major. They got a slap on the wrist and I was 'promoted' to work here, offficially as a reward but unofficially as a punishment."

He sipped a cup of cold tea.

"Like I said, I like you Kim, but the Army...they're crazy, there is something horribly, horribly, wrong with those people. It doesn't matter if you're a politician, doesnt matter that you're a cop. They will kill you Kim, kill your entire family and then cover it up."

He held his tea cup carefully.

"And I can't afford to lose you, you're the only person here that I trust."

"I thank you for that honor."

"Don't. I'm going to make you go over the patrols with a fine tooth comb again, find out who's slacking off. anything more?"

I took a breath.

"I might have done some independent investigative work after my shift was over."

Subaru laughed bitterly.

"Damn it Kim, don't you have an off button."

He took a breath and stopped laughing.

"All right. so, what did you find out?"

"The seven star gang is getting a weapons shipment from the russians."

Subaru frowned.

"How did you find this out?"

"I might have roughed up a few unsavory charaters."

He sighed.

"All right I'm in, we will get together a task force and stop that shipment, um."

I put down the note.

"I was able to get a date, time, and exact location."

My superior looked at my notes sadly.

"I'm sorry Kim."

"Sorry for what sir."

"That you're not going to get credit for this, that you're not going to get promoted for this."

"Was it some thing I did sir."

Subaru opened up his files and pulled something out.

"Sir?"

"Those are the commendations I gave you, and every request I made to get you a promotion, every letter I wrote on your behalf."

The file was thick.

"I have to get permission to promote people and I'm not allowed to promote a Korean above the glorious japanese master race."

His voice dripped with venom.

"This will be the biggest bust of the year but the papers are not going to give credit to a korean for it. No, they will give me the credit."

"You must be honored sir."

"Honor based on lies isn't honor at all Kim."

He sighed.

"Like I said I'm sorry."
​

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim Boo-Kyum


I opened up my secondhand refrigerator and sighed.

"Berries."

I looked at a hand written note.

"Get some vitamins in your diet. love, S."

I sighed and reluctantly made some rice and eggs, I cooked them up and put the berries inside the bowl it. Tasted terrible but I probably did need the vitamins, but I also made a point of never getting myself in the position where I would be forced to rely on bribes.

This is why I still wasn't married and why I probably would never get married. I looked at a photo of my parents and gave them a polite bow. I pulled out a cigarette and cut it into pieces, I put the small edge near the photo and lit it.

I bowed to the photo and ate my meal. I probably should use incense but it was too expensive. Cigarettes, especially the cheap low quality japanese cigarettes we were forced to buy, were cheap.

I looked at my parent's photo and continued eating. When I finished my meal I brushed my teeth and carefully shaved my face. Then I got dressed and looked at my gun and shook my head. I carefully loaded my type b nambu pistol and went out into the night.

It was dangerous to go out, especially in uniform. The electric lights in Busan flickered when they worked at all. Except in the portion of town where the japanese lived. That part of town was lit up in neon, in modern light and of course every building was airconditioned with winter crystals imported from america.

I turned away from the glowing lights of the japanese district in the distance and walked though the dark streets of busan, passing streetlights that flickered, each one waiting for their turn to die. When I got to the docks I found other officers waiting for me.

"Chief Subaru."

"You're early."

He smiled.

"Good, I didn't have to call you. So we're waiting?"

"The Russian boat will give a signal."

"It will flash a spotlight 3 times, I read your report Kim."

There were only ten of us in the end. Other officers flickered in, many of them stinking of booze, cigarettes and loose women. I hate to admit it but most of us were cowards so the idea of facing people who could actually fight back would more or less ensure we would be undermanned.

"Three lights."

Some Japanese boats blocked the russian vessel as it docked, their lights were out and the boats were painted Navy blue to hide them from the light. Normal eyes couldn't see them. My eyes could, even without the light of the moon. I saw a group of gangmembers walk out and talk to the russians.

"They're here."

"How do you know?"

"A couple of them are smoking, I can see the cigarette lights, must be expensive stuff."

Subaru frowned.

"When you're willing to do anything for money it's suprising what you can afford. Good eyes Kim. Split up people group of threes...oh."

"I can handle myself, we have rookies, keep them safe."

I readied my gun and charged out. My footsteps made no sound as I ran off alone, when I was sure that no one was following me I holstered my gun and brought out a knife.

It was the smart thing to do, the standard issue type B nambu pistol used an under powered 7 millimeter round. Even the most basic mystic defenses would be able to shake off a couple rounds, I had heard of cases were homemade armor laughed them off and people wearing heavy winter clothes being untouched.

The gun was, in my opinion, like a small yapping dog that barked loudly before the aggressor stomped it into the ground. I jumped on top of a large pile of boxes and moved through the night.

My knife had been painted to hide its glint, which I was thankful for as I saw a gangmember. I recognized him, he sold heroine near the school. I had almost caught him but I had to let him go. I couldn't out myself, couldn't use my full strength.

I jumped off the high boxes and onto his back, I covered his mouth with one hand and slit his throat with the other. He died quickly and painlessly then I moved in the shadows towards my next target.

In the darkness I saw him, my eyes widened in horror and I moved against the wall of boxes to avoid being seen.

"Thompson."

The Tommy gun, I don't think there was an officer alive who didn't dread the possibility of going up against one of those. It was then that I heard gunfire in the distance. I recognized the sound of a nambu's firing. The gang member rushed towards the firefight. Carrying a weapon that would single-handedly spell the end for my comrades.

I jumped on his back and took him to the ground, I stabbed him over and over again and made sure he was dead. Once I was finished I took his gun and the spare ammo drum he had hooked to his waist and headed off towards the meeting.

A part of me wanted to spray out the lead, to end the fight as quickly as possible. I ignored that instinct and forced the gun into single fire, and jumped up high onto the rows of crates. I carefully aimed my gun and took out the sentries. I didn't trust my skill to do anything fancy so instead I aimed at the center of mass.

I was rewarded for that with direct strikes but I kept moving, kept shooting until I was close enough. I saw the russians mobilizing, trying to get moving. I aimed at the leader and heard a clicking sound.

"Damn."

I put in the fresh clip and looked around, no witnesses. I rose into the air and flew towards the boat, landing on top of it. I aimed at the men trying to remove the landing gear and killed them instantly. The russians fired their weapons aimlessly. Not able to see in the darkness, not like I could. I moved fast, aimed for the body mass and carefully aimed.

When it was over the crew of 30 was dead, I had only missed 15 times, I still had 5 rounds left. Then I sat down and waited, when Cheif Subaru arrived he looked at me in shock and then laughed.

"Got here first kim?"

I shrugged.

"I got lucky, one of the bangers had a tommy gun."

I patted it.

"His friend stabbed him for it and was in the process of getting drunk, killed him with his own knife. From there it was a straight run. You guys?"

The Chief sighed.

"We lost five good men today, I will write to their families tomorrow. now let's see what's in this piece of junk."

The five of us wandered around the ship some one took out a crow bar.

"Guns."

Subaru shook his head.

"Mostly Russian crap, Great War from the looks of it."

We opened boxes of ammo and more guns. Shotguns, rifles, pistols and the ammo for it. None of it was impressive by military standards but all of it was better then what we had. As we went through it all we ended up in the hold of the ship. There, in the center, was one large crate barely small enough to be lifted by a team of men out of the ship.

"Open it up."

We turned on the lights and did as our chief commanded, then his eyes opened in horror.

"A battle Golem."

He fell to his knees.

"Sir."

"I know this golem...Kim...God."

"What's a battle Golem?"

Subaru closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

"They're weapons, one of the strongest weapons they used during the great war. You can't mass produce a battle Golem they have to be painstakingly made by a seasonal mage, by hand."

He got up.

"This one....this one has history, I met the man who made it during the war. After he died other people used it. His last work of art."

"Sir?"

He walked up to the Golem.

"I used to play chess with him, before he died. He was one of the few people who didn't treat me like I was a stupid monkey because I was japanese. He always lost, he was terrible at that game."

He ran his hand against the left leg of the Golem, and it opened revealing a chair, no a cockpit.

"Finest Golem ever made, never ran out of power, it could regenerate damage. It took the concentrated power of a german artillery barrage to kill him. And then, by the next Day, the Golem was fine, no it looked untouched."

His eyes teared up and we looked at a small inscription, I couldn't read most of it but I saw a name.

"Liam Jacobs."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


I was given a pat on the back as my stomach sank. The others invited me over for drinks but I told them that I couldn't handle my liquer and eventually they relented. I had a reputation for being a stick in the mud, sometimes it helped. This time it did. I peeled away from the group and wandered to the foreign district. Where the westerners lived.

I remembered when I first agreed to this pact, four years ago, when I made that deal with the Jayu, when they gave me my gifts. If an emergency ever happened go to the June Vienna cafe. Well it was an emergency and I needed to talk to the Jayu now.

I marched through the streets and watched them go from mud to concrete, and looked through the window. It was dark, it was closed, I shook with fear and knocked on the window on the giant Jay, I knocked three times, waited and then knocked four more.

Sweat poured down my forehead as my palms sweated and my heart pounded a white woman walked out, her hair was short, she wore a shawl and a robe over a white nightgown.

"Franzeska Donner....I need your help."

She looked tired.

"With what honey?"

Her accent was terrible but her korean was still understandable.

"Darkness covers the land, the birds need to fly."

She peered outside the door and looked both ways.

"Come inside now."

I marched inside the store, she locked it.

"Were you seen?"

"No."

"Who are you?"

I pulled out my badge and initially she was frozen in fear until she saw my name.

"Oh thank god, I will bring some one in shortly."

She took me by the hand and took me to a room, she opened the door and closed it. I waited inside, my guts turning, and then seagull walked in just a few minutes later. In his white mask, his black cloak.

And then I noticed he was wearing a white undershirt and underwear, I stared at him.

"Um...was I interrupting some thing?"

Somehow seagull's body just oozed smugness.

"Let's just say, this better be important."

I could hear an undercurrent of rage and frustration in his voice.

"There was a battle golem on the ship."

Seagull froze.

"God."

"Sir."

"They don't make those anymore."

"Sir."

He took a breath steadying himself.

"Takes too much effort, takes too long, it's too expensive, but by god..If we had one of those that would make a difference."

He took a breath.

"And the police have it?"

"Yes."

Seagull sighed as he leaned back.

"This is going to bring in every one Kim."

"Yes the japanese are."

"No...you do not get it, Battle golems are some of the best magical weapons out there. We can't make them, the japanese can't make them. A battle golem takes months at best to make and you need a lot of reagents, lots of supplies."

He took a breath.

"Do you know anything else about it?"

"There was a name inscribed on the machine, it said Liam Jacobs."

"The relentless..."

"Sir."

"The relentless was one of the toughest battle golems ever made. No matter what you did to it, it would always repair itself. The damned thing is probably the single best Battle Golem the belgians ever made."

"Then how did it get here?"

Seagull steadied his breath.

"There was a robbery in a museum by communists. The belgian navy blockaded the baltics to make sure it wouldn't end up in soviet hands. Apparently they decided to go the other way around."

Seagull took deep breaths.

"So this is going to bring in the belgians, this is going to bring in the commies, the anarchists, the gangs, the japanese and the nazi's."

I stared at him.

"Political party in Germany, they have a presence in Busan. And by god do they hate that machine."

"And the Jayu want it."

"Of course we want it, we don't have a single battle golem, and those machines are perfect for the kind of combat we do in rural areas. One battle golem would change a lot."

"Not everything?"

"No but it would make a difference, it would make a difference to a lot of people at the very least we can't let the japanese have it."

He tilted his head.

"You were right to come here Kim."

He got up and I grabbed his hand.

"Seagull."

"Kim, what is it?"

"The western girl....the white woman...that's dangerous. You know it's dangerous."

He chuckled.

"I'm Jayu Kim, we live for danger."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim



The capture was put into the paper. As Subaru predicted I wasn't given any credit but everyone involved in the arrest was invited to a party. I wore my best suit, which looked shabby and threadbare when I was surrounded by the city's elite. I kept my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut. I had a glass of water in my hand and, whenever it looked like I was noticed, I took a sip of water and staggered around a bit.

Most of the conversation was boring and meaningless. There was talk about celebrities, pointless gossip about who was sleeping with who and the occasional bit of bragging. Then I noticed two soldiers, officers by the look of them. I stayed out of sight but within hearing.

The officers flirted with pretty japanese girls who lived in the colonies, from their introduction I learned that their names were Toshiaki Muka and Tsuyoshi Noda. When their fumbling attempts to bed the girls failed they went to drink.

"So Noda, what are they going to do with it, give it back to the belgians?"

Noda laughed.

"Absolutely not. We found it, we get to keep it. No don't tell anyone but they're going to gift it to a member of the imperial family."

"Who?"

"Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, he's the emperors uncle."

"Never head of him Noda."

"Heh yeah, the emperor censured him for having a bad atitude."

"That's bad."

"Don't be that way, Muka. Asaka is our kind of people . It's true he doesn't have the manners that other people in the imperial family have but I respect him. He gets us, gets how we think and understands what needs to be done."

"Really?"

"Yeah really. He understands that sometimes, out here in the colonies, on the frontier, you have to get rough with people, that there's a lot of pressure on us. Honestly Muka, I would march with that man through hell itself. Maybe, if we're lucky, we will serve under him."

"Sounds good, when do we move it?"

"I'm not supposed to know this but I have a lot of friends. they're moving the golem in five days."

"Not wasting time, are they?"

"For the Emperor's uncle no expense is too much."

I straightened out and walked towards the back of the room.

"Oh hi...I'm sorry I don't speak korean and I have no idea if this translation spell works."

I cringed and turned around, someone talked to me. No one here talks to koreans, we're invisible. I looked at the man and he smiled. I bowed lowly.

"Hello sir."

"Oh none of that nonsense. we're all friends here."

I blinked.

"Um...what can I do for you?"

The man smiled warmly at me, he was balding, a little pudgy and a westerner german by the sound of it.

"I just want to talk."

"Why sir?"

"Because no one is talking to you and I think it's a bit rude, you're one of the officers in the case?"

I nodded.

"Good, I want to shake your hand."

I put my hand out awkwardly and he shook it vigorously.

"John Rabe."

"The diplomat?"

"The same. I just got here, It's a shame I can't stay long but I have a job in the chinese embassy."

"Then why are you here?"

He smirked.

"Officially speaking to talk to our japanese allies. Unoficially I wanted to see a little bit more of the world, speaking of which I have never had korean food before. Do you know where I can get some?"

I knew where the servants were fed.

"Yes, but it's not going to be anything fancy sir."

"Glorious! Mind showing me the way?"

I walked beside him and noticed the armpatch that he wore.

"Are you a buddhist?"

"Oh no, why do you think that?"

"The manji, it's a little off center but."

"Oh that? it's a swastika. it's ok if you don't know about it, I belong to a political party back home and it's my way of showing support."

"And they are?"

"A great group of people. You see, we had some problems with the communists just like you."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, by the way you did great work stopping them from getting that golem."

"You're not angry about japan Keeping it?"

"Officially no comment, unofficially that blasted device killed a lot of good men and some of them were friends of mine. I have no doubt that we will attempt to buy it from you but it's much better to have the relentless here than causing a mess back home."

I opened the door and asked for bowls of food, something safe. He looked at the dish.

"I will warn you sir, this is peasant food."

He smiled and sat down next to one of the servants.

"Great."

He motioned for me to sit down.

"Really?"

"Of course. Peasants of the volk are the lifeblood of a people, the center of their culture."

He took a bite and smiled.

"Sir."

"Call me John."

"John, are you ok?"

He took a sip of water.

"A little spicy but good."

We sat down and ate a small meal as he talked about Germany and trade and history. It was fascinating but eventually the meal ended and he shook my hand again.

"Do you have a dream?"

I looked at him.

"What?"

"Dreams are important, you need a dream. My dream is that people will never, ever, forget that germany created the nazi party. That it will define us for over a hundred years."

I nodded.

"My dream is a world of justice, where the strong do not prey upon the weak."

The old man smiled.

"A worthy dream."

He held up a new glass.

"I hope your dream comes true officer."

"I hope yours does as well John."

 

[Cherico]

Australia after the second world war

John Hines


World war 1 was the war were Australian nationalism was born.

The australian people were born from the cast offs of the british empire, convicts, prostitutes, people too poor to pay off their debts and magi from project rubbish who had outlived their usefulness.

The magi moved into the magic rich interior while everyone else stayed on the coasts for the most part. The Mandi's, as magi would be called, built up castles and edifices, grand estates in the middle of the harsh outback. They trained their children in the mystic arts and as more magi were sent to australia their numbers grew.

It was a harsh culture, one with a sense of pride but also a sense of resentment. This resentment bloomed during the great war. Australian troops were used on every front. From the battles in the Mediterranean to the trenches of belgium, to wars in the middle east, to the battlefields of china and the worst parts of africa and the green hells of the pacific.

These troops were often treated as cannon fodder and many of them died in battle. It would not have been so bad if their lives were not wasted so pointlessly and in so great numbers.

Australia exited the war with deep feelings of resentment towards the mother country. The Magi population suffered the worst with their numbers being cut in half from all the fighting and blood shed. Perhaps despite this australia could have remained a part of the empire. The desire for self rule was there but it wasn't quite the majority opinion.

This changed with the great depression and the japanese invasion of australia during world war 2. With the empire's growing weakness and Australia's feelings of abandonment and anger, self rule was more or less garenteed. These days the two countries relationship is much better. With australians content to beat the mother country in sporting events rather then directly opposing the UK in other ways.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


I knocked three times at the cafe and was taken to the basement. There I was blindfolded, put into a box and moved. The security was a bit intense but it was Jayu, I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this. I waited in my box until it was opened.

The moon was slightly visible in the sky and the assembly of Jayu looked at me.

"This is your contact seagull?"

"Yeah, this is him."

A man stepped forward and loomed over me.

"The golem gets moved in 5 days."

They nodded.

"It corroborates what our other spies have said."

They looked around each other.

"Right, so both the army and the navy are competing for the honor of giving the golem to the prince."

A map was put out.

"The army doesn't want to share credit so the navy told the army that they're not letting them use their boats."

I blinked.

"Isn't that incredibly petty?"

The other Jayu stared at me, the leader shook his head.

"Have you been paying attention at all? The Japanese military runs on tea, bravado and sheer pettiness."

He brought out a map.

"All right gents, this is a map of korea. We own and control all of the territory in the Taebaek Mountains, the sobeak mountains, and the Baekdudaegan mountains. We own the spine of korea, that's something to be proud of."

He traced a line.

"The Japanese own all of the coastal cities, we have agents there but the fact is, in order for the army to move that golem, they have to go through Jayu territory and they know it."

Another Jayu spoke up.

"Can't they just use a civilian ship?"

"The Navy is forcing the hand of all the japanese ships. Anyone who transports that Golem is going to experience consequences, bad ones."

"And yet, somehow, they still control most of the country."

The lead Jayu nodded.

"I know it's depressing. Let's hope that the left and right hands keep fighting each other. Point is, at the end of the day...they're going to have to use a foreign ship and they can't afford to tell them what they're actually shipping. So we just need to find out which foreigners get the position."

"What if they cut a deal with the navy?"

"The army does not share credit and it does not accept blame. They're going to run a shell game. We need to crack that game."

He looked at me.

"We don't expect you to ferret out which ship has the golem, we just need a way for you to distract the police."

I thought about it.

"A drug raid...something big."

The leader sighed.

"Yeah...yeah I think we can gather information, find out where a major drug stash is hidden. Think you can get your boys on it in around 5 days."

I took a breath.

"I don't think sir, I know."

"Thank god....oh and Officer?"

I looked at him.

"I know you sacrificed a lot for our people, that it's a thankless task and people hate you for it. But your hard work means something and, when Korea is finally free, we will remember you."

I looked at him.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I don't care about glory, I don't care about some far off event I really can't imagine. All I want to do is protect my people from criminals, whether that be koreans, japanese, westerners or anyone else. That's my only goal."

They were silent but then the lead Jayu nodded.

"A worthy goal officer. A worthy goal."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


When I got home from the meeting, I noticed a man sitting inside my apartment, he wore a black outfit with a black peaked cap and I noticed the swastica patch on his arm.

"What are you doing inside my home."

The man yawned.

"Sorry about the rudeness, Mr. Rabe left and with him gone, I can talk freely."

He clapped his hands and a big westerner appeared. His eyes were pure black, it was unnerving and creepy.

"I assume you represent the germans."

"Hmm, a portion of the german people. I come from a little organization called the Thule society."

"And you decided to invade the apartment of a police officer."

"We just walked inside."

I looked at the door and the now broken lock, I saw just a little of my door's white pain on the thug's jackboots.

"Was that before, or after, your man kicked open the door?"

"After, thought you do deserve credit for figuring that out."

He tilted his head.

"I'm here to make an offer."

"Why?"

"Because John, while being extremely naive, is a good judge of systems if not individual people. You're a korean officer who was instrumental in getting the golem. You have received no credit for this act, no promotion and your country is being occupied by another one."

"I'd like to note that Japan and Germany are allies."

"Hmm, actually at the moment we mostly do trade. We have more of an actual alliance going on with china at the moment. Why, we're even training an entire brigade of soldiers for them."

My eyes narrowed.

"Get to the point."

"We want the location of the golem. You see it's a one of a kind device, a fluke really, and we want to study it and see if we can replicate it's enchantments."

I crossed my arms.

"It's currently in the hands of the army, I don't know where it is."

The man looked at me.

"Oh well, thank you for your time."

He got out of my chair.

"You're not going to threaten me?"

"Why would I? You don't know anything about where it is and you have helpfully pointed us to the people who do know where it is."

He pulled out a wad of bills.

"Thank you."

"I don't accept bribes."

He blinked.

"But your door."

"I will fix that but I do not accept bribes ever. Please leave my room."

He looked confused.

"You're an odd man officer, but I respect you despite your racial handicap. Fritz, we are going."

The man with pure black eyes stared at me and licked his lips.

"Fritz."

He got up and followed the man but as he left he put a hand on my neighbor's cross. I watched his hand smoke and he glared at me and vanished from sight.

I looked at my destroyed door and got some tools. My father taught me a little bit about being a handyman and I thought I could fix that much.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


"I was able to get a lead on some drugs..."

Suburu looked up.

"Really?"

"Yes."

I pulled out a map with red X's.

"I've been watching the seven stars, for months now."

Subaru sighed.

"Working off shift."

I shrugged.

"Crime doesn't take a break so neither do I sir."

My boss chuckled.

"Ok...yeah I'm looking at this and it makes sense....let's do it."

"Sir?"

"You have always been a strait shooter kim, and your advice on the boat worked out so..I'm in..if we pull this off, I will have enough power to get you a promotion of sorts."

"Like what, sir?"

"There's a couple rookies moving down the pipe, I need someone to show them the ropes and though I'm supposed to use japanese officers for that..."

He sighed.

"They're...they're honestly just terrible. I want to instill some good habits in my officers. at the very least not have them act like a gang and ask for protection money."

"That happens?"

Subaru closed his eyes, his hands clenching.

"Happening? I've been trying to fire Moto over it for months now. Far as I'm concerned he deserves to be inside a prison cell, not wearing a badge. I think it's gotten to the point where I've given up on most of them Kim."

He opened his eyes.

"We need to start fresh, get some new blood in, train them up right and make sure that the bad apples don't spoil the bunch....also."

He looked at me with guilt.

"Yes?"

"I need a favor. You're good at your job and we both want to clean up the department. My gut tells me that the department is compromised."

I took in a breath.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...I think some of my officers are working for other people, giving out information. The gangs, the army, the navy, the communists, the facists, even even the god damned Jayu. You're the only one I trust, keep this under your hat but..help me uncover them."

"There will be push back."

"I know...but if we're able to clean out the department then its worth it."

I nodded.

"I have your back sir."

"Thank you Kim.."

I heard a crashing sound. Both of us went to the window, outside we saw army and naval men fighting in the streets. Suburu narrowed his eyes and went to the phone.

"Break it up."

He slamned down the phone and looked at me.

"Sir?"

"It's been happening all over the damned city. The navy's blockading the port just to spite the army. It's insane."

"So they're fighting?"

"Over who gets the credit for the golem. And it's not just here, there has been fights all over town. At this rate they're not going to have a choice but to either act like adults and share credit or try to transport the thing through the mountains."

"I'm sure our men in uniform can handle this sir."

Subaru shook his head.

"Have you seen the army? They're staffed with crazy meatheads and the mountains are crawling with Jayu. You might as well just give the damned thing to them."

"Maybe we can help?"

Subaru's eyes opened wide.

"No..."

"Sir."

"No! this is an order do not involve yourself in this nonsense. These are not sane, rational, people Kim. The army, the navy....it's like they have gone crazy and it's just getting worse and worse. Stay out of whatever nonsense they have going."

"Do you honestly call this drama nonsense?"

"I am. If the military didn't have nonsense they wouldn't have any sense at all. Stay safe..and we will prepare for the raid."

 

[Cherico]

The Thule society


Hanz Webber

1971


If any one organization can be blamed for the sheer number of atrocities committed by the SS then the Thule society deserves the lion's share of the blame. But the organization was stained long before world war two.

The Thule society was born in the aftermath of the napoleonic wars. The wars ravaged the german states and, with travel to america open again, many german occultists, nationalists and curious decided to study the mystic texts coming out of the new world.

This interest in the mystic arts was strongest in magic rich Bavaria and the new Germanenorden movement was strongest here. The rules of the movement were simple: do not harm others, be polite to fellow practitioners, share your findings, be civil and do not try to summon demons or perform dark magic. The movement often had either government support for potential military advantages or enjoyed a government's blind eye.

But any movement will have people in it who are unethical and can not be trusted. One of these people was Walter Nauhaus. Walter was formally and permanently kicked out of the Germanenorden for numerous ethical violations in 1831 and handed over to the police.

While he was in prison Nauhaus wrote the ayrian manifesto. A 458 page booklet about the origins of the ayrian race, its superiority, the origins of magic and race theory.

It was all patently wrong, and all of it could be debunked by even amateur historians, but Nauhous was able to gather somewhat of a following. In 1837, when he was released from prison, he created the Thule society. The new society decided to base themselves on the island of Lindau to avoid the judgement and attention of the greater Bravarian magical society.

Lindau's community did have access to a small leyline but nothing like the network that could be found further north so they decided to focus on studying non seasonal magic and indeed specialized in it.

The society was obssessed with the fourth, and purposely lost, Qliphothic art and sent their agents to Compass to find out more. All they found were historical texts that spoke of the art as inherently evil and uncontrolable. But for the growing Thule society this was just a mark of how the phenix people were cowards, unable of the self control or power to handle the lost art.

During this time their numbers grew and, at their height, they had 250 people in lindau and 15,000 in the rest of Swabia. With the birth of a united germany under Bravarian rule came the Prussian invasion. Of the magical orders in Bravaria, only one sided with the Prussians who had invaded their state.

This was the Thule society and their treachery earned them scrutiny. The order was declared illegal, their members were forced to flee the country and once they fled their horrifying experiments were found, uncovering their atrocities. Being a member of the Thule society was made a capital offense and Bravarian magi hunted them down, no matter what country they fled to. With their crimes exposed, no one was willing to shelter them.

No one, except Prussia.

The magi of the thule society now numbered a mere 157 people. With what remained of their texts and research they were settled in the city of Stendal, their headquarters located across the street from the city hall and the statue of Roland.

There, the Thule society grew. They built secret dungeons in the countryside and under their headquarters, where they experimented on prisoners under the guiding thumb of their Prussian overlords.

With the merging of Prussia into greater Germany, Prussia pressured other regions to make the society legal again. For the most part they succeded, except in Bravaria which continued to make membership a capital offense even during the dark days of the second world war.

Under the Prussians the society grew and when the first world war came they delighted in using their corrupt powers against germany's enemies. With the end of the war the society had money, some amount of power and was looking for a partner.

They found this partner in the new nazi party. They used their money to bankroll them and help bring them into proeminance. In return the nazis favored them and their experiments. It was early in the rise of the nazis that the Thule society finally cracked the code of the missing Qliphothic art.

The art required you to successfully summon a demon and then have a subject willingly merge his ,or her, soul with the demon. This gave the subject mystic powers much more quickly than any other art, taking at most a day. It was also scalable and somewhat mass producible.

The Thule society offered this new process to the SS, who demanded a complete monopoly over this new power. The Thule society agreed, as long as they had more test subjects and sacrifices. This agreement made in hell blossomed during the war.

The Thule society managed and controlled the death camps that their SS comrades kept filled with fresh victims. Fortunately they could not beat the combined power of the civilized world and Nazi germany was defeated. The SS, easily identifiable with their black eyes, were executed to a man as were any thule society member that could be found.

So what of the evil fourth?

The fourth style, from historical accounts, allowed for brief berzerker feats of strength and speed. it also granted increased healing and durability, the ability to shoot blasts of black profane power and the use of other spells.

But this process had weaknesses. Places and objects of faith could weaken or even kill fourth users. Prayers also hurt them and weapons blessed by people of religious faith were much more effective then normal weapons. These weaknesses were exploited by various resistance groups during the war.

After the war the process was banned by the victorious allies and Merlin himself oversaw the process of making sure that every scrap of information on the details of the process was destroyed forever. To this day anyone who attempts to recreate the 4th is commiting an UN mandated capital offense and any practitioner is marked for death.

This, however, did not end the problems left behind by the Thule society. Their experiments in Stendal during the war had tainted the land and attempts to deal with the taint...and the experiments... failed.

After the governments of East and West germany gave the Soviet union permission to nuke the city, the populace was evacuated and, with UN approval, the tainted city of Stendal was destroyed. What dark things existed that prompted us to make that request is currently unknown, and I hope it stays that way.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim

When I got back to my apartment, I noticed that the door was fixed. I pulled out my side arm and carefully opened the door. I looked out and saw a hooded figure.

"Introduce yourself."

"Dodo."

I sighed as the Jayu made himself comfortable on my best chair. He was eating some noodly dish. I closed and locked the door.

"I don't take bribes."

"This isn't a bribe, it's my punishment for the whole knife thing."

"Water under the bridge...So how did you fix the door? the germans kind of busted it up."

"Germans?"

I shrugged.

"Everyone's after the golem."

I looked around and found some cheap tea, I started brewing it.

"Seagull says you need to eat more fruit."

"I don't take bribes."

Dodo stared at me through the mask.

"I don't understand you."

I shrugged.

"There's not much to me, I'm just a cop in a messed up world."

He stared at me.

"So you became a police officer for the Jayu?"

"No."

I sighed. The tea smelled wrong but it was good enough, I sat down on a run down chair. He blinked.

"Then how did you...become... well?"

"There were corrupt cops, corrupt army officials, corrupt naval officials. People who thought they were outside of justice's reach. I managed to catch a Jayu, got a lucky shot. Could have arrested her. Instead I took her to my place, fixed up the wound."

"Found out who they were?"

"No I respected the mask. When she woke up, I had a gun, she had magic and I told her I wanted a deal. Took a couple weeks but we hashed something out. I agreed to be their spy, the girl gave me a massive magic tatoo which gave me some neat powers and gave you guys the ability to kill me at any time."

I paused.

"It was a fair deal."

"They can kill you at any time."

"There were people, nasty people, who needed to die Dodo, who needed to be punished. I didn't want those people to escape justice and the Jayu didn't trust me. They still don't, and they're right not to."

"Why not? you have been working for us for years."

I took a sip of my bad tea.

"Because I don't serve the Jayu, I don't serve the Koreans, I don't serve the Japanese, I work for my own cause and my own reasons."

"Family?"

I looked at the photo of my dead parents, Dodo looked at the photo.

"Revenge?"

My voice was tired and hollow.

"They died of natural causes. My parents were tailors, they made clothing. Mom died from the Italian flu, dad died from cancer. When I joined the academy the whole family disowned me. I had to watch my father's funeral through a pair of binoculars."

I took another sip of tea.

"I miss them, they were good people."

I nodded at the photos.

"So your entire family."

"They haven't talked to me ever since. When I joined the force, I betrayed Korea. When I agreed to work for, you I betrayed Japan. The only thing I haven't betrayed is my dream."

"Dream?"

I closed my eyes.

"A world where cops don't shake down store owners, a world where people don't live in fear of what the strong will do to them. A world were people live mundane lives without worrying that someone will hurt them or their children just because they can. A world where even the strong know that there are limits. A just world."

I sipped my tea carefully, ignoring the bitter taste.

"Maybe I don't belong in that world Dodo, maybe they will kill me for all my backstabbing or turn me away like a leper if that happens...I think I'm ok with that, as long as that world of justice exists. I think that's enough for me."

I opened my eyes. Dodo's head was down.

"Thank you for turning in the man who raped my sister...I didn't know."

"It's all right."

He sighed.

"It will be like that, when Korea is free."

I took a sip of tea.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because we will make it that way. We're heroes."

I sighed.

"Korea is not a country kind to heroes."

"Why do you say that?"

"Ever heard of Admiral Yi?"

"Saved korea from the japanese."

I paused.

"Everyone talks about that. What they don't talk about is that fact that he was tortured and punished for his successes on the battlefield. That he was stripped of his rank several times, tortured several times...all of the rewards and praise he got? That happened after he was safely dead."

I took another sip of tea and felt a sense of bitterness.

"When you treat your heroes like that... Well, when it matters, when it counts, people are not going to step up and be one. And when Korea needed heroes the most, none were there to be found."

"The Jayu."

"If you're a korean nationalist the Jayu get credit for being pretty much the only portion of korean society that didn't roll over and die, yes. But at the time of the annexation, they dominated a single city in Korea and they were far from the majority of that city."

I took a sip of tea and noticed that only the dregs remained.

"Maybe the Jayu will succede and create a free Korea. Maybe they will fail and Japan will rule us forever or maybe the Russians or the chinese will roll in and we will bow to new masters. Whatever happens, the old korea, the one you think so fondly of? It was rotten to the core Dodo."

"The people."

"The people are the only thing in this land worth saving. The goverment was terrible under the japanese and it was terrible under Imperial Korea. so, my advice? Let the old Korea die so that a newer better korea can live."

I drank the last dregs.

"Or ignore what I say, it's up to you."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


"They're blockading us."

I could hear the raw rage and frustration in Subaru's voice.

"Sir we really should concentrate on the task at hand."

"Kim....they're blockading one of our cities."

"Cant we talk about this later sir?"

I looked at the building through my binoculars.

"They're blockading my city, our city, because of this stupid golem. I think I have a right to be angry. Now all of our trade has to go through the Jayu controlled mountains. Which means everything is going to be even more expensive."

I tilted my binoculars and noticed a 10% rise in the price of goods in the surrounding stores, there was of course a korean discount. There weren't very many times when my people could act out our spite and discontent, so when we were given a plausible opportunity we immediatly used it.

"Are we ready?"

"As much as we can be."

"POLICE!"

We started our raid, as did other police all over the city. I heard gunfire ring out and.

"DAMN IT!"

Machine gun fire came outside of the building, there was chaos as we broke.

"They have machine guns?"

Of course they had machine guns, the gangs actually invested in their people while we used pistols and shotguns.

"Sounds like a type 11 japanese machine gun sir, they probably got it from the base."

I pulled out my pistol.

"Kim."

"The type 11 is....it's a piece of crap sir. Notice the pulses? six rounds each pulse, a type 11 use a feeder box method. They have to reload every six rounds and those guns are prone to jamming. If we time our advance we can take em."

Subaru smiled.

"RELAY THE MESSAGE. MOVE FORWARD UNDER COVER EVERY 6th SHOT PEOPLE!"

We moved slowly under the cover of fire, too many of us wasted out ammo trying to hit gangsters under cover. I kept my gun holstered, and brought out my knife, I found a window.

"Sir."

"Kim?"

"There's a tree up there, leads right to a window. If I go in alone...I could surprize them."

My superior looked at me.

"Do what you have to but stay safe."

I ran side ways through back alley's and then ran to the tree. I used my ability to fly to make the climb look easy and fast. I didn't want to waste energy actually climbing. Then I took off my shoe and covered my hand with my sock. Thats when I punched the window out.

With that done I went through the window, my cheap suit got scratched up but I was undamaged. I saw the gangsters huddled around a machine gun as others loaded up a single truck.

"Cocaine."

Had to be cocaine, it was a favorite amongst army personal and factory workers. I looked around the walkway and found a gangster with a rifle on the high roof.

If he aimed his weapon, if he had a lot of training, a lot of men would have died today. Some of them might have even been good if lazy men. I pulled out my knife and held it in my sock covered hand. I walked silently towards him and grabbed him. He struggled but I slit his throat.

"IT'S ALL LOADED UP. LETS MAKE A RUN FOR IT!"

I noticed that the truck was covered in crates holding drugs. They rushed towards the truck and got inside. I frowned and jumped down from the walkway onto the truck as they floored it.

I looked at the truck and cut the ropes holding the drugs, sending the crates down the city streets. I knew this was probably just a small amount of their actual supplies but I had to get this poison off the streets.

"Come on."

I kicked the last crate off and then the truck stopped suddenly. I had been so focused at the task at hand that I wasn't paying attention, I barreled off the truck and slammed into a wall. Things started getting dark and a few gangsters got out.

"Its a pig...He...that's most of our supplies..."

"We have a sack. Bring 'em to the boss."

I lost conciousness as they put a sack over my head and tied me up.
​

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


Every part of my body hurt as I was manhandled into some building. They tied me to a chair of some kind.

"Are you ok?"

"Doo....we lost the drugs."

"Do you think I honestly give two shits about the drugs? The drugs are business. You, my men, you're family. Fuck the drugs as long as you're all free, as long as you're all alive, that's all that matters."

Doo Han Gim, god it was him. The single best street fighter in korea maybe even the world. No matter how hard we tried we could never catch him.

So they sent in the army who also failed, then they sent in judo masters, karate masters, boxers and some times...

Some times the crazy bastard would take them on and he won, he always won.

"It's not all bad we managed to save the machine gun Doo."

"Did you lose anyone?"

"Not any of ours, we got away clean."

"Thank the heavens....if you ever have to choose between saving our people and stuff, always choose our people. Stuff can be replaced but you can't replace family, you got that?"

"Yes sir."

"So who is this?"

"The pig who caused us to lose the drugs...."

"Well let's take off the sack."

My eyes burned as the light hit them. The sun hit Doo, almost making it look like he had a halo around his head.

"Korean..."

His voice was filled with loathing.

"If you were japanese....I would just beat the shit out of you and leave you in the streets, but I really, really hate traitors."

He spit on the ground and looked at me with disgust. I held my face firm.

"I serve the law."

Doo laughed bitterly.

"Those laws..."

He looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh that is rich.....you mean the laws by the people who rape our women? The laws from the people who throw ink onto girls hanbok's because they think its funny? The people who deface our monuments, the people who burn our books?"

"And that gives you the right to steal?"

He punched me, hard. My head turned and I looked at him defiantly.

"THEY'RE STEALING OUR CULTURE! THEY'RE STEALING OUR LANGUAGE, OUR IDENTITY, WHO WE ARE! When my people steal? We steal from the japs, we steal from people who sell out their own. We don't steal from good people."

"So the drugs are just a way to relax then?"

He punched me again.

"You know what? I didn't start out as a criminal...I didn't learn how to be one from Koreans. If I'm a criminal it's because the japanese taught me very carefully how to be one. Before I took over these streets, before the seven star gang took over these streets."

He waved over his hands.

"It was all owned by the Yakuza. If they committed a crime in korea they got away with it. Murdered someone, they would get away with it? Raped some girl, didn't matter how young they were by the way, they got away with it. Pigs and the Yaks worked together hand in glove."

I could see his rage.

"When Japan came here, they didn't just bring their selfrightous holier then thou bullshit, they didn't just bring technology and science they borrowed and stole from the west, they brought their crime, they brought their criminals."

He loomed over me.

"It took me years, working against both the yaks and their pet pigs but I kicked them out of the country, our fucking country. The seven stars have removed the Yaks from Korea. It took all of our blood, our tears and our sweat to do it but we did it. What have you done Piggy?"

I stared into his eyes, saw his complete earnestness and honesty.

"Watched you replace Japanese gangsters with Korean ones."

I expected another punch, instead he shook his head.

"You sound like the fucking Jayu, oh you can't do it this way, you have to free Korea this way, it's all principles, principles, principles and no fucking action. You want to know a secret? They have been out there for years, decades, and all they managed to do was control some mountains no one gives two shits about."

I saw his rage.

"How long is korea supposed to suffer? How long are we supposed to be tortured? How long are we supposed to let our people get fucked in the ass? Maybe I'm not doing things the pretty way but at least I'M FUCKING DOING SOME THING!"

He took a deep breath.

"This all of this? This is about getting jap boots off of our fucking necks."

"And selling drugs to people does that how?"

He loomed over me his eyes filled with murder.

"Korea will be free by any means....necessary."

He looked around.

"Put the bag over his head, we're going to dump his ass into the bay, drown him."

"Why sir?"

"Because this fucking animal doesn't deserve the honor of dying on korean soil."

"Boss."

"Yeah Beom-soo?"

"I have a coffin."

"Yeah I know Beom-soo. By the way that was completely unnecessary, all you had to say was I'm loyal to the cause. Buying your own coffin was completely unfucking necessary. This operation isn't a fucking death cult, I want my boys to live."

"Well it's about the same size as him."

"Shit....yeah I see what you're saying Beom-soo, fucking hell that's poetic....yeah stuff him into a coffin."

I felt them unhook me from my chair and I was placed into a coffin, still tied up. I heard the nails slam into the coffin. As I waited in the darkness all I could think was.

I wished I used the restroom before the raid.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


Every part of my body hurt as I was manhandled into some building. They tied me to a chair of some kind.

"Are you ok?"

"Doo....we lost the drugs."

"Do you think I honestly give two shits about the drugs? The drugs are business. You, my men, you're family. Fuck the drugs as long as you're all free, as long as you're all alive, that's all that matters."

Doo Han Gim, god it was him. The single best street fighter in korea maybe even the world. No matter how hard we tried we could never catch him.

So they sent in the army who also failed, then they sent in judo masters, karate masters, boxers and some times...

Some times the crazy bastard would take them on and he won, he always won.

"It's not all bad we managed to save the machine gun Doo."

"Did you lose anyone?"

"Not any of ours, we got away clean."

"Thank the heavens....if you ever have to choose between saving our people and stuff, always choose our people. Stuff can be replaced but you can't replace family, you got that?"

"Yes sir."

"So who is this?"

"The pig who caused us to lose the drugs...."

"Well let's take off the sack."

My eyes burned as the light hit them. The sun hit Doo, almost making it look like he had a halo around his head.

"Korean..."

His voice was filled with loathing.

"If you were japanese....I would just beat the shit out of you and leave you in the streets, but I really, really hate traitors."

He spit on the ground and looked at me with disgust. I held my face firm.

"I serve the law."

Doo laughed bitterly.

"Those laws..."

He looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh that is rich.....you mean the laws by the people who rape our women? The laws from the people who throw ink onto girls hanbok's because they think its funny? The people who deface our monuments, the people who burn our books?"

"And that gives you the right to steal?"

He punched me, hard. My head turned and I looked at him defiantly.

"THEY'RE STEALING OUR CULTURE! THEY'RE STEALING OUR LANGUAGE, OUR IDENTITY, WHO WE ARE! When my people steal? We steal from the japs, we steal from people who sell out their own. We don't steal from good people."

"So the drugs are just a way to relax then?"

He punched me again.

"You know what? I didn't start out as a criminal...I didn't learn how to be one from Koreans. If I'm a criminal it's because the japanese taught me very carefully how to be one. Before I took over these streets, before the seven star gang took over these streets."

He waved over his hands.

"It was all owned by the Yakuza. If they committed a crime in korea they got away with it. Murdered someone, they would get away with it? Raped some girl, didn't matter how young they were by the way, they got away with it. Pigs and the Yaks worked together hand in glove."

I could see his rage.

"When Japan came here, they didn't just bring their selfrightous holier then thou bullshit, they didn't just bring technology and science they borrowed and stole from the west, they brought their crime, they brought their criminals."

He loomed over me.

"It took me years, working against both the yaks and their pet pigs but I kicked them out of the country, our fucking country. The seven stars have removed the Yaks from Korea. It took all of our blood, our tears and our sweat to do it but we did it. What have you done Piggy?"

I stared into his eyes, saw his complete earnestness and honesty.

"Watched you replace Japanese gangsters with Korean ones."

I expected another punch, instead he shook his head.

"You sound like the fucking Jayu, oh you can't do it this way, you have to free Korea this way, it's all principles, principles, principles and no fucking action. You want to know a secret? They have been out there for years, decades, and all they managed to do was control some mountains no one gives two shits about."

I saw his rage.

"How long is korea supposed to suffer? How long are we supposed to be tortured? How long are we supposed to let our people get fucked in the ass? Maybe I'm not doing things the pretty way but at least I'M FUCKING DOING SOME THING!"

He took a deep breath.

"This all of this? This is about getting jap boots off of our fucking necks."

"And selling drugs to people does that how?"

He loomed over me his eyes filled with murder.

"Korea will be free by any means....necessary."

He looked around.

"Put the bag over his head, we're going to dump his ass into the bay, drown him."

"Why sir?"

"Because this fucking animal doesn't deserve the honor of dying on korean soil."

"Boss."

"Yeah Beom-soo?"

"I have a coffin."

"Yeah I know Beom-soo. By the way that was completely unnecessary, all you had to say was I'm loyal to the cause. Buying your own coffin was completely unfucking necessary. This operation isn't a fucking death cult, I want my boys to live."

"Well it's about the same size as him."

"Shit....yeah I see what you're saying Beom-soo, fucking hell that's poetic....yeah stuff him into a coffin."

I felt them unhook me from my chair and I was placed into a coffin, still tied up. I heard the nails slam into the coffin. As I waited in the darkness all I could think was.

I wished I used the restroom before the raid.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


I walked into Subaru's office still wet, still drenched.

"God, it looks like you have been through the ringer."

I shrugged.

"Got caught by the seven star gang."

"How did you escape?"

I shrugged again.

"They used cheap ropes and the car they put me in was old, and had some sharp edges. I was able to cut through most of it before they threw me in the water. After that, well... adrenaline took care of that. It was dark and I got lucky."

I cracked my neck.

"Well, did you guy get that poison off the street?"

Subaru stared at me.

"You almost die and your first thought is how the raid went?"

I shrugged.

"Crime doesn't rest sir."

Subaru shook his head.

"But you are. One week mandated vacation time because damn son."

"Sir, I can still."

"This isn't a request. Even the best officers get burnout if they push too hard, and I've looked over your record. Out of everyone here, you've taken the least amount of vacation time."

He pulled out my folder.

"And I want you rested for when I promote you to detective."

I blinked.

"What...but, sir, you know Koreans are not allowed."

"There's a loophole."

I blinked.

"If I adopt you, you officially become japanese."

I was stunned.

"Sir."

"It's happened before and I talked to a lawyer about it, my side of the papers are signed."

I felt a sense of profound guilt, but I put it aside.

"Why would you do this sir?"

Subaru looked at me with tired eyes.

"I smoke a pack a day."

I stared at him.

"So?"

"I've been doing that since I was young. I'm in my 60's now. It caught up to me."

My stomach sank.

"Sir."

"Lung cancer...it's inoperable with mundane medicine."

I felt a sense of panic.

"So we call in a magi."

"Qlipothic arts can't fix cancer, imported potions can't fix cancer. The only people with a proven track record of curing it are winter seasonal magi with very specialized training."

He paused, his voice full of emotion.

"And not very many schools teach that. The nearest group of people who can cure me are the damned Jayu."

He slumped.

"And I will be damned before I go to them for anything. I may hate what my country does, I definitely hate the damn military and their increasing madness but I'm still japanese and I'm not a traitor."

I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sir."

"I want you to take over when I die, take over the station."

"You can't be serious sir, I'm only 24 years old."

He opened the file.

"Started the academy at the minimum age of 16, graduated top of his class. You have 8 years of experience at this station. You have seniority right now."

I took that in.

"That's not possible. There has to be someone who has been here longer then me."

"Bussan is one of the hardest posts in the empire. Gangs, communists, Jayu, every one hates you. You add up all the police, all the stations in the city, and we lose 10% of our cops every year."

He paused his eyes tired.

"Some times it's injuries, some times people die and a lot of people have died. Practically everyone is trying to get transfered out as quickly as possible. Some get fired for being so corrupt that I can finally sack them and of course a lot of people quit and retire. And this station... we've been hit the hardest."

I nodded.

"I know sir."

"When I die...I'm going to put in a last request...and have you take my place, I have that much pull at least."

He got up.

"Go home, get some rest, when you get back you will be a detective, and I will have a partner for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah good kid, fresh from the home islands."

"What got him sent here?"

"Stopped a japanese officer from raping a schoolgirl while drunk. Said schoolgirl's father was navy, the attempted rapist was army. So when his corpse was found strung up near the naval yard? well, kid was sent to us until it boils over."

"Insane."

"It's been getting worse and worse Kim. They're completely out of control and delusional and, mark my words, sooner or later those idiots will poke someone who can fight back. And then we will all be doomed."

He closed his eyes.

"But back to the task at hand. You're taking a week off, that isn't a request."

I nodded and got up. The other officers stared at me and I suddenly realized just how many of those faces were new, just how many old ones were gone. It was the realization of just how much time had passed.

8 years. 8 years on the force and out of every one I knew at the station I was the only one left. I had been so focused on my cause, on what I had been doing that I didn't notice. Or maybe it had happened so slowly It crept up on me. I remembered so clearly being a rookie and now? Now I felt old beyond my years.

I wandered through the streets, tired. As I got home to my apartment, I took off my coat, my suit.

"Don't stop on my account."

I remembered that voice.

"Swan....I thought you left the city."

She lounged on my best sofa. Everyone took my one good chair, the Jayu were infurating that way, but it was ok when Swan did it.

"It's been a year now hasn't it?"

She nodded.

"Came to help with the raid."

I gave her a salute.

"How did it go?"

"The army no longer has the golem."

I smiled.

"Great, you must feel fantastic."

"No, we don't. Because, when we got there, someone else had already taken it and we don't know who has it."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


"So the Jayu don't have the Golem."

"Right."

"And the army doesn't have it."

"Correct."

"Shit."

"Exactly. If you had listened to the radio, you would know that the army has officially declared martial law and that the curfews start tomorrow."

Swan looked at me through her mask.

"By the way, where the hell have you been?"

"Got captured by the seven star gang, they threw me into the ocean."

She stared at me.

"You're kidding."

"No..I'm not."

I sighed.

"It's been over a year since we last talked, I thought seagull was my handler now."

"I'm not here as your handler Kim, I'm not allowed to be your handler anymore."

"Why not? What did I do to get the Jayu angry at me?"

"You didn't do anything Kim, this isn't your fault."

"Did you mess up?"

She flicked her hair.

"I didn't mess up either...not exactly. I'm emotionally compromised and I know it. I took a break and I'm still emotionally compromised. There are rules about contacts and handlers and I'm not sure I can follow them."

"Like what?"

After my shitty day I didn't feel like even more drama.

"You're not allowed to sleep with your contacts."

I blinked..

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

We looked away from each other.

"It was just one time, the Jayu can't be mad about a single incident."

She sighed.

"It was more then one incident and you know it. And if we kept working together, there would be more incidents. What we did over there."

She pointed at my bedroom.

"Was simply the last straw. Handlers are not supposed to sleep with their contacts, they're not supposed to hug and kiss their contacts and they're definitely not supposed to fall in love with them."

I felt struck.

"It's my fault...a younger woman, a man with authority I should, I should have controlled myself better."

"I'm a year older then you Kim."

I blinked.

"What?"

"I'm a year older then you, so can you do me a slight favor and actually talk to me?"

"About what?"

"About us Kim.."

"What is there to say. You left the city, it's been a year. That more or less spells out your intentions."

"Jayu orders, they had to send in another handler, and I had to go through a year long cooling off period to make sure my feelings are real."

"And?"

"And Seagull cleared you and my feelings haven't changed."

"I can't support a family on my salary."

She chuckled.

"What?"

"I'm a witch Kim. Making money isn't exactly a problem for me, and anyway I make plenty under my official cover."

"Which is?"

"Fortune teller and Palm reader."

"It isn't legal for koreans to use magic."

"I simply pretend to be a fake who's pretending to be real."

I closed my eyes.

"That sounds overly complicated, and I should tell you all of the reasons why it won't work."

"And?"

"And I can't, because I missed you Swan. But can we please table this until after this crisis is over?"

She nodded.

"Fair enough, no romance until the Golems case is dealt with."

She gave me a hug and sniffed.

"You probally should go get a shower."

I sighed.

"Yeah I probably do, I will take it now."

She nodded.

"Oh by the way I used up all the hot water."

I took a long look at her tight black outfit.

"Not a problem, I need a cold shower...probably a few of them."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


I woke up to the smell of rice and the feeling of warmth in my arms, I looked down below at Swan as she cuddled in my arms. After the shower...I think It might have been a stress thing. The risk of almost dying, the after effects of adrenaline... The door creaked as it opened and I stared at Seagull.

He looked at me in my bed, saw Swan next to me with her mask off. I felt a sense of worry and fear. There would be conquences for this, for Swan. I put my arm protectively around her and then.

Then he nodded his head and gave me a thumbs up and closed the door. Swan yawned in my arms and looked at me.

"I'm sorry."

She kissed me on the neck.

"Why? I had a good time last night, and I missed you."

"Seagull knows."

"Well yeah. I told him about the last incident and I told him about my intentions."

"We were supposed to wait until after the case was over."

She smirked.

"No, you wanted to wait and I had a very convincing counteroffer."

She kissed me again.

"I missed this."

"How? this is the second time."

"No Kim...I miss us, this thing we have. I miss us."

She hugged me close.

"Seagul...um caught us...in bed."

"What did he do?"

"He gave me a thumbs up and closed the door."

She looked at me and laughed. I smiled as I took in her warm brown eyes and shiny black hair. I couldn't help myself, I joined in. She gave me another hug.

"Come on, let's get dressed. I will make breakfast, an actual breakfast by the way, not just rice and fix up some coffee."

"You're being very domestic for a Jayu."

She hugged me.

"Don't get too cocky, you're cleaning the plates."

I got out of bed and started getting dressed while Swan watched.

"Not going to get dressed?"

"Hmm, I'd rather enjoy the view."

She smiled and waggled her eyebrows and I couldn't help but blush. Then she got out of bed and traced her fingers over a scar.

"That's where I shot you."

I closed my eyes, my memories returning to the raid.

"This bullet has a name on it, your name, we are going to hit you with it to draw off suspicion."

I blinked myself back to the present.

"My shoulder still aches a little."

"I can kiss it and make it better you know."

I smiled.

"Tempting."

I kissed her and put on my undershirt. I found seagull waiting for me at the table, Swan walked out dressed and headed into the kitchen.

"So....Swan.."

"Isn't your handler anymore, there are rules in place Kim...but we're not going to stop her from seeing you anymore, we're not heartless."

I blinked.

"Eggs...I ran out of eggs."

"Swan brought some."

I looked at Seagull.

"So you were evaluating me."

"If it helps, you passed."

He leaned back in his chair.

"How? I'm not exactly a good person."

"You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't gamble, you don't blow your money on whores, you don't abuse people for the hell of it and you're in so deep that if you betrayed Swan you would be executed anyways. Actually, as these things go, you're better then most."

He shrugged.

"It was a nice way to spend my vacation."

I blinked as two cups of coffee were put in front of us. Swan traced her finger around the rim of the cup and sauntered off.

"Vacation...managing a spy network is vacation."

"I'm a lot higher up the Jayu food chain then I look Kim."

"Really?"

"Yeah, most of the time I'm doing diplomacy outside of korea. After this business is dealt with I will probably be sent on another mission."

I took a sip of coffee and let it's warmth go through me.

"Columbian?"

"I wish. The japanese tea industry banned the sale of coffee in korea ten years ago."

I blinked. I didn't even know that was a law.

"No one enforces it, obviously. But we grow coffee in our mountain bases and our agents sell it in the cities."

"How?"

"It's a more hearty variation that Ankor Park brought back from Compass."

I nodded.

"The first Korean Magi."

"One of the first magi, period. There's a room in compass dedicated to the first class of 1337, Merlin drew a portrait and built a statue of him. It still rests in the first class memorial room."

Seagull leaned back, pressing the cup to his mask and drinking the coffee through it.

"I don't know much about him."

"Ankor? He was a great man. He built the first school of magic in Mokpo and accepted people from all walks of life. Within a couple generations pretty much everyone in the city knew how to use magic."

"Bet the king didn't like it."

Seagull sighed.

"No, he didn't. But magical goods became our biggest export to China, so they made rules. Magi could only live in south Jeolla, only do business there. It was a way of containing us, controlling us and we shrugged and ignored it. As long as they left us be, what did it matter?"

He took a sip of coffee.

"Then, of course, the Japanese knocked and all of the forces that were supposed to defend the korean people, defend our traditions and our cultures? The buddist temples, the scholars, the government, our monarchy, our military? They just surrendered without a fight."

He put down his cup of coffee.

"And when we were asked to do the same...."

"You decided to fight."

"Yep. The japanese didn't like that, they burned Mokpo to the ground, killed our friends, murdered any family members we had who remained behind and we fled to the mountains and we have been fighting them ever since."

"Not as many of you guys as there used to be."

Seagull laughed.

"Quite the contrary, the number of magi in Korea exploded. People didn't quite see us as properly Korean before the occupation. The occupation turned us into an institution. Korean Magi outnumber Japanese ones at least 3 to 1 and that's with them using easier to learn Qlipothic magic."

"Really...so why haven't you, um."

"Won? We have more high quality magi but they have more people, more planes, more tanks, more ships, more guns and a whole lot of collaborators. Kicking them out is probably going to take generations."

For some reason that made me slightly depressed.

"Really."

"Well, unless Japan picks a fight with multiple great powers at the same time but not even they are stupid enough to do that."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


I woke up to the smell of rice and the feeling of warmth in my arms, I looked down below at Swan as she cuddled in my arms. After the shower...I think It might have been a stress thing. The risk of almost dying, the after effects of adrenaline... The door creaked as it opened and I stared at Seagull.

He looked at me in my bed, saw Swan next to me with her mask off. I felt a sense of worry and fear. There would be conquences for this, for Swan. I put my arm protectively around her and then.

Then he nodded his head and gave me a thumbs up and closed the door. Swan yawned in my arms and looked at me.

"I'm sorry."

She kissed me on the neck.

"Why? I had a good time last night, and I missed you."

"Seagull knows."

"Well yeah. I told him about the last incident and I told him about my intentions."

"We were supposed to wait until after the case was over."

She smirked.

"No, you wanted to wait and I had a very convincing counteroffer."

She kissed me again.

"I missed this."

"How? this is the second time."

"No Kim...I miss us, this thing we have. I miss us."

She hugged me close.

"Seagul...um caught us...in bed."

"What did he do?"

"He gave me a thumbs up and closed the door."

She looked at me and laughed. I smiled as I took in her warm brown eyes and shiny black hair. I couldn't help myself, I joined in. She gave me another hug.

"Come on, let's get dressed. I will make breakfast, an actual breakfast by the way, not just rice and fix up some coffee."

"You're being very domestic for a Jayu."

She hugged me.

"Don't get too cocky, you're cleaning the plates."

I got out of bed and started getting dressed while Swan watched.

"Not going to get dressed?"

"Hmm, I'd rather enjoy the view."

She smiled and waggled her eyebrows and I couldn't help but blush. Then she got out of bed and traced her fingers over a scar.

"That's where I shot you."

I closed my eyes, my memories returning to the raid.

"This bullet has a name on it, your name, we are going to hit you with it to draw off suspicion."

I blinked myself back to the present.

"My shoulder still aches a little."

"I can kiss it and make it better you know."

I smiled.

"Tempting."

I kissed her and put on my undershirt. I found seagull waiting for me at the table, Swan walked out dressed and headed into the kitchen.

"So....Swan.."

"Isn't your handler anymore, there are rules in place Kim...but we're not going to stop her from seeing you anymore, we're not heartless."

I blinked.

"Eggs...I ran out of eggs."

"Swan brought some."

I looked at Seagull.

"So you were evaluating me."

"If it helps, you passed."

He leaned back in his chair.

"How? I'm not exactly a good person."

"You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't gamble, you don't blow your money on whores, you don't abuse people for the hell of it and you're in so deep that if you betrayed Swan you would be executed anyways. Actually, as these things go, you're better then most."

He shrugged.

"It was a nice way to spend my vacation."

I blinked as two cups of coffee were put in front of us. Swan traced her finger around the rim of the cup and sauntered off.

"Vacation...managing a spy network is vacation."

"I'm a lot higher up the Jayu food chain then I look Kim."

"Really?"

"Yeah, most of the time I'm doing diplomacy outside of korea. After this business is dealt with I will probably be sent on another mission."

I took a sip of coffee and let it's warmth go through me.

"Columbian?"

"I wish. The japanese tea industry banned the sale of coffee in korea ten years ago."

I blinked. I didn't even know that was a law.

"No one enforces it, obviously. But we grow coffee in our mountain bases and our agents sell it in the cities."

"How?"

"It's a more hearty variation that Ankor Park brought back from Compass."

I nodded.

"The first Korean Magi."

"One of the first magi, period. There's a room in compass dedicated to the first class of 1337, Merlin drew a portrait and built a statue of him. It still rests in the first class memorial room."

Seagull leaned back, pressing the cup to his mask and drinking the coffee through it.

"I don't know much about him."

"Ankor? He was a great man. He built the first school of magic in Mokpo and accepted people from all walks of life. Within a couple generations pretty much everyone in the city knew how to use magic."

"Bet the king didn't like it."

Seagull sighed.

"No, he didn't. But magical goods became our biggest export to China, so they made rules. Magi could only live in south Jeolla, only do business there. It was a way of containing us, controlling us and we shrugged and ignored it. As long as they left us be, what did it matter?"

He took a sip of coffee.

"Then, of course, the Japanese knocked and all of the forces that were supposed to defend the korean people, defend our traditions and our cultures? The buddist temples, the scholars, the government, our monarchy, our military? They just surrendered without a fight."

He put down his cup of coffee.

"And when we were asked to do the same...."

"You decided to fight."

"Yep. The japanese didn't like that, they burned Mokpo to the ground, killed our friends, murdered any family members we had who remained behind and we fled to the mountains and we have been fighting them ever since."

"Not as many of you guys as there used to be."

Seagull laughed.

"Quite the contrary, the number of magi in Korea exploded. People didn't quite see us as properly Korean before the occupation. The occupation turned us into an institution. Korean Magi outnumber Japanese ones at least 3 to 1 and that's with them using easier to learn Qlipothic magic."

"Really...so why haven't you, um."

"Won? We have more high quality magi but they have more people, more planes, more tanks, more ships, more guns and a whole lot of collaborators. Kicking them out is probably going to take generations."

For some reason that made me slightly depressed.

"Really."

"Well, unless Japan picks a fight with multiple great powers at the same time but not even they are stupid enough to do that."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim



The three of us looked at the assembled maps, lists and names.

"So who took the golem."

I looked at the list.

"I know the Japanese navy, at least well enough to know that if they had it they would be bragging about it openly by now."

Seagull nodded at my words.

"Good point that doesn't narrow things down that much."

He looked at the map.

"The americans?"

Seagull shook his head.

"I doubt it, the country is pretty isolationist right now, entire pact is with them on that. They also have more magi than pretty much anyone on the planet. A war golem isn't enough of a prize to be anywhere close to the risk."

He closed his eyes.

"Their portion of the western district is being searched anyways, because american owned businesses don't have any choice but to serve nonwhites or there will be trouble once they get back home. But the chance of them being the culprits is pretty small."

We looked at the map.

"Belgians have the motive but they don't have any known agents. The people who have agents in the city who could pull it off are the germans, the chinese and the Russians."

He pointed north.

"The Russians pulled off the initial theft so they're going to want it the most. The chinese might be scattered into a bunch of feuding warlords but they have agents and whoever gets that golem gains an edge against their rivals."

"Who do you think did it seagull?"

"My money? It's domestic. I know the seven star gang wanted it, I know the communists wanted it, I know the anarchists wanted it and I know that we wanted it."

He took a sip of coffee.

"Worst case Senerio is that the Communists stole it."

I stared at him.

"Not the anarchists."

"The anarchists are the best case Scenario. we can negotiate with them, they can be reasonable. The Communists though are a problem and we do not want them to get stronger."

"Why not? You all hate the Japanese."

He pointed at the map.

"This is the soviet union, this is us. The communists take their marching orders from Moscow. You think Moscow is going to allow a magic empowered korea near its borders?"

He paused.

"I've talked to communists, dealt with them and they do not share power Kim. They want it all, they're willing to do anything to get their little worker's paradise and they do not care who they step on to get it. A communist korea isn't going to tolerate the Jayu, or anyone else for that matter."

"How can you be sure about that?"

"We read their mail."

I blinked.

"What?"

"We know where all the communists dead drops are so we read their mail. They already have plans to kill all other resistance groups, we have found lists of every one they plan on sending to reeducation camps and we have found the maps of locations they plan on using as mass graves."

Seagull paused and I nodded.

"I take it they're planning on killing me too?"

"If it helps it's not personal, they're planning on killing all of the collaborators, not just you."

"That's really comforting Seagull."

I looked at the list.

"I'm going to investigate the seven stars. I don't know nearly enough about the communists to even start an investigation about them."

"Sounds good to us, we will do our own investigations. And, Kim?"

"Yes?"

"Keep your head down. This is going to be a rough one."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


The problem with stake-outs, the real problem with them besides boredom, is the daydreaming. The memories and other junk inside your mind that bubbles up while you're doing nothing but looking through a pair binoculars waiting for someone to do something stupid.

"Ever meet any one interesting, Seagull?"

"Theodore Roosevelt a couple times."

"Really."

"Not very many state leaders are willing to meet with us, Teddy was. He was a good man, I respected him. Also met Wilson."

"And?"

"Edith confused me for a servant and asked why a slant was in the building. Her husband Woodrow was also a gigantic jerk, if slightly less racist then the president was."

He paused.

"I didn't care for her."

"Current President?"

"We haven't bothered with Hoover, pretty much everyone in the Jayu is convinced that this whole depression thing is going to sink him like a stone. No one wants to risk being associated with that. We have been putting out feelers to the democratic party though, seeing if anyone has any anti-japanese leanings."

"And?"

"No luck. As far as they're concerned domestic problems take full priority and the china lobby hasn't been helpful at all. As far as they're concerned as long as no one is attacking china, they don't care."

"So we're on our own?"

"Pretty much. The japanese actually have a pretty ideal situation going for them. They have Manchuria as an allied buffer state, the soviet union is focused on the west. China isn't united and they can play the warlords off against each other."

"What if they try to conquer Manchuria."

Seagull turned his head.

"That's no going to happen."

"But if they did."

"If they did they would lose their buffer state and that puts them right on china and russia's doorstep. That means they're going to be forced to spend more of their blood and treasury and be forced to spread out their forces. That gives us more of a free hand and they know it."

"But if it happens?"

"We deal with fewer patrols in the mountains, that gives us more time to work on special projects."

"Ok. Taking it from there, what if they invade China."

"Why would they do that?"

"Resources."

"Japan's all about quick limited wars, they do not have the people or resources for a drawn out conflict and they know it. There's no decisive victories to be had in china, just long drawn out quagmires."

"But if it happens?"

"Any plan that relies on your enemy being an idiot is a bad plan kim."

I smiled.

"The Seven star gang leader is on the phone now. You have the tap ready?"

I smiled as we listened in.

"Doo?"

"Yeah I'm here, did you find it?"

"No we didn't. By the time we got there the army had moved the thing, and then they lost it."

"Crap....do you think it was Jayu?"

"Don't know, they're not talking."

"Lets just hope it isn't the fucking commies. As bad as Japanese shit is Russian shit is even worse, and I refuse to let that shit ill-sung take over our country."

"You met him boss?"

"Fortunately no, he's currently off hiding in Russia like the fucking coward he is, unfortunately I've read his poetry and it's."

"Boss."

"It's 12 kinds of horrible. Seriously if he's in charge? at best we're all going to be forced to read that crap and reading it once was torture."

"So marching orders?"

"Have our boys search the commie's fucking everything."

"What if it's the anarchists sir?"

We heard laugher.

"What are they going to do? Start a drum circle? Try to infuse the golem with the power of weed?"

"It's possible."

"You know what? If the anarchists have the Golem, they can keep it. The story alone is worth it. But seriously search the commies. liquor them up first but if that doesn't work rough em up. We can't let them have it."

"Got it boss."

I looked over at Seagull.

"This is really bad."

I nodded.

"Let's hope its the anarchists."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


I woke up to the sound of a ringing phone.

"Kim, we have a problem."

"Thought you wanted me on vacation."

"I do...your new partner arrived and got himself in trouble."

I sighed.

"What did he do?"

"We had another 'comfort girl' incident."

Fucking hell.

"I thought you said he was a good egg, Subaru."

"He is, he tried to stop three soldiers with his baton....I need you to pick him up from the hospital and walk him through things."

I sighed.

"The girl?"

"Got away unscathed, thank god. The last thing we need is another incident."

"Did you talk to the MPs?"

"First thing we did. They tried to press charges but one of the three is related to."

"Someone in the brass. Let me guess: daddy got him and his buddies a transfer."

I heard a sigh.

"Mark my words Kim, if we lose Korea it's going to be because of shit like this...point is, I need you to pick him up."

"So he's fine? Guess the army wasn't too rough on him."

"Oh...oh no, they messed him up. Dislocated back, broken arms and legs, cracked ribs, they put him through the ringer. But when we did the raids we got lucky, found the seven stars stash of healing potions. Had to work out a deal with the hospital to get them to administer it properly but the kid's fine now just...just teach him about how things really work ok?"

"I will take him to breakfast in the western district."

"Thanks Kim."

I hung up and got dressed, I walked out of the house and towards the hospital. When I rang the bell the nurse looked at me, I flashed my badge.

"Here for the rookie."

She sighed and a slighly short and thin Japanese boy... no, a man, just a young one, looked at me. He bowed.

"Yuki Ohashi."

"Just call me Kim. We're pretty informal here on the mainland."

"Yes Kim sensei, I mean Kim."

I shook my head and waved him over, he followed me.

"So where are we going?"

"Western district, the good Japanese restaurants don't serve Koreans, the good Korean restaurants don't serve japanese and Nobody wants to serve cops. So your only hope of a decent meal is in the western district."

"I heard they don't serve asians."

"Most don't but a few places are owned by Americans. They don't get a choice, they have to serve every one."

We walked briskly till we got to the district then we stopped at my prefered place.

"Good, it's opened."

Cerial killers, they specialized in breakfast, owned by some Yankee from Chicago. We didn't know much about him only that he had to leave the country for reasons. I didn't pry.

"Mystic Charms, two bowls."

It was cheap, affordable and tasted decent enough. Yuko looked at the bowl.

"Where are the chop sticks?"

"You use a spoon."

I took a bite and let some of the sugar wake me up.

"Ok...what are these things?"

"Marshmellows, Clovers, pumpkins, snowflakes, suns, compass's, wizard hats, and phenix's. It's all part of a complete breakfast."

He took a bite.

"It's ok."

"This place is called Cerial killers, they have 20 kinds of cereal from the united states you can mix and match varieties, it's ok and it's cheap. They serve other kinds of breakfast, those are not cheap so save those meals for special occasions."

I took another bite.

"I have problems with milk."

The server nodded and went into the back and brought out a pill.

"For lactose intolerant."

Yuki looked at me and I shrugged.

"It comes up, a lot. Go ahead they're complimentary."

He swallowed the pill and I took another bite of my cereals.

"So, after this, we're going to walk around town and talk about how things work here in the colonies. And we're also going to figure out how you can avoid having another incident."

Yuki nodded and took another bite.

"Thank you sir."

"Don't. I'm going to spend my vacation running you through a lot of training and that is not going to be fun."

"I understand."

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


"So where are we going?"

Yuki followed me like a Puppy.

"To the motorpool, I have to give you an actual idea of what you're going to be dealing with."

It was best to get this over with as quickly as possible. I went into the motorpool and flashed my badge. The pool was owned and directed by Mr. Yamada and he was notably stingy with the vehicles, even for japanese officers.

"I'm not letting you have one of my cars for a joyride."

"We have a rookie."

"So what?"

"I'm taking him to the Yokai garden, give him an idea of what he's actually going to be dealing with."

The man blinked.

"You know that's dangerous right?"

"I'm also requesting some guns if we get unlucky."

The man sighed.

"Right...I'm going to wire the base and get some anti requisition forms for you. Take care."

He walked off and we sat down.

"Anti requisition forms?"

"Sometimes someone in the army will get a bee in their bonnet and decide to take the fight to the Jayu without informing their commanders. Sometimes they get the brilliant idea to do this by requisitioning someone's car."

I paused.

"Eventually the governor general made this illegal because they kept ruining people's stuff and it just made everyone angry. But we're not civlians so, whenever we leave with a police vehicle, we need an anti requisition form so the army doesn't pull their guns on us and steal our patrol cars."

Yuki stared at me.

"Then how do you do police work?"

"Well we used to use horses, and buggies."

He sighed.

"So you modernized then."

"Um, no. The army just requisitioned all of the horses years ago, most of our vehicles are stuff that the yakuza used before they got wiped out. Let's just pray we don't get a french car."

"Why not?"

"Yuki ever driven a japanese made car?"

He nodded.

"French cars are even worse."

Yuki cringed at my words we waited and we looked up.

"One anti requistion form and...you're getting a 1924 renault NN."

I cringed.

"Don't you have anything better?"

Yamada looked at me.

"The city is under martial law, if I give you something better you know damned well they will try to take it, form or no form."

I would like to say Yamada gave us that car because he hated koreans, I would love to say he did it out of bigotry but...at the end of the day I knew he was right.

"Give me the keys."

He tossed me the keys and we walked to the motor pool. Yuki looked at the car in question.

"I thought the french were artists...this, this."

"Believe me as ugly as this car looks...it actually is much much worse."

We went into the car and I sighed as I tried to turn on the ignition.

"Come on."

After the seventh try the car got moving, we drove slowly through the streets. Everywhere we went we saw soldiers kicking down doors, breaking windows and damaging property.

"See that?"

"Yes?"

"If I ever catch you trying to conduct a search like that, I'm going to tan your hide."

We drove forward.

"Name three things they're doing wrong with their search."

Yuki watched as a piece of furnature landed on the ground nearly hitting a soldier on the ground.

"Public endangerement comes to mind, destruction of property, and assault."

I nodded, and we watched as children fled from the army.

"That's the legal way of looking at it, now look at it from a practical point of view. Smashing property like that is loud, it alerts all the other people that you're on the way which means they're going to find better hiding spots or destroy incriminating evidence. Throwing someone's stuff outside the window risks hurting your fellow officers on the ground. And on top of this you're making sure that people are less likely to work with you in the future."

We drove onwards and watched as the army went through homes, businesses, everything.

"Mark my words if this keeps up we will have another riot."

"Won't people be too scared to fight?"

I looked at Yuki.

"If someone hates you more then they love their own life then fear stops working."

We drove to the city limits and were stopped by police.

"Police."

We both flashed our badges.

"Doesn't matter, the city's under martial law we need to requisition that car."

The man's breath stank of cheap alcohol.

"We have anti requisition forms, we are legally allowed to shoot and kill you if you try."

His friends got up and pulled out their guns.

"Really?"

I pulled out my side arm and aimed it at his head.

"Before your friends kill me I guarantee you will be dead."

There was silence, then Yuki spoke up.

"I understand why you want to steal this car, it's a Renault made in France itself."

"That car is french?"

"Yes."

I saw a visible look of digust cover the faces of all three soldiers.

"A Renault."

"Yes."

He visibly shuddered, waving his hands.

"Carry on officer."

"But dont we need a car for a joy ride?"

The man turned around.

"Not a Renault, never a fucking Renault, those things make a woman's dry like sand."

We drove off and left city limits. Yuki stared off into the distance.

"It worked."

I sighed.

"I know but."

The car's suspension hit a rock and we smashed our heads against the ceiling.

"But we're the ones in this car, so did we win?"

Yuki held on for dear life.

"Good point sir."
​

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


We stopped near a mountain and got off the road. Yuki marveled at the large number of flowers that seemed to cover the whole area. Meanwhile, I looked for rocks and When I found one, I picked it up and put it in a napsack.

"It's beautiful."

I picked up another rock.

"That's the Geumjeongsan mountain."

I picked up another rock.

"It's...it looks like its completely covered in flowers."

"Yeah it does."

"It's beautiful, just stunning."

"People put a lot of work into the mountain into planting those flowers."

"I believe it."

I nodded. I finally had enough rocks.

"I... I wish I had a camera."

"I know the feeling. Believe it or not those flowers will continue to bloom even in the dead of winter, when every thing is covered in snow."

"Amazing."

I took a rock out of my napsack.

"I know, it seems magical doesn't it?"

Kim nodded.

I threw a rock at a nearby sunflower and then it exploded, Yuki flinched as we felt the heat of the blast.

"That's because it is, This mountain is where Jayu territory starts, beyond this trail is the territory they control."

Yuki's eyes were wide open.

"Land mines."

I threw another rock another sunflower exploded.

"No, we call this area a youkai garden. All those flowers you see are part of a mass enchantment that turns this whole mountain into a killing field."

I threw yet another rock and yuki winced as arrows covered the road infront of us.

"How."

"Magic is all about communication. Runes, sign language. Even potions is about what the ingredients mean conceptually."

I paused and threw another rock at an obvious patch of flowers, we heard a roar as a plant golem came out of the mass of life. I pulled out my side arm and aimed at its head as Yuki stared at it.

"Do you know that flower language is a thing?"

I shot the golem as claws formed from its hands.

"Its called floriography. Think of it as a form of cryptography, a way to communicate a message just with flowers. There was a real craze for it during the victorian era in europe and america."

I aimed my gun and hit the monster in the head, it kept coming at us.

"Thing is, the phenix? They had something similar. It was always an obscure type of magic but they had it and when Ankor Park came back to Korea he brought those secrets back with them."

Good it was close. I hit a sunflower and it blew up, this destroyed the plant golem. it's head landed near our feet, yuki stared at it in shock.

"The Jayu...they had over a hundred years of isolation to master it, and they are good at it. We didn't pay attention in the early days of the occupation. I mean, honestly, it's a bunch of flowers right? what damage can you possibly do with some flowers."

I reloaded my side arm and put the remaining bullets in my pocket.

"Turns out? You can kill entire armies with flowers, you can make places impassible, the army has to bring in flamethrowers every year just to clear space, they use defoliants, and lots of other methods but those flowers keep growing back like clock work."

I cracked my neck and holstered my weapon.

"That's terrifying."

"So, now that you have seen this, you need to understand something. They don't just use those flowers here, they use them in the city. Sometimes to kill collaborators, to kill their enemies. So rule number one, never ever accept a bouquet from any one."

I turned towards him.

"Not even from a sexy girl, oh who am I kidding especially from a sexy girl, Jayu love using that tactic."

Yuki's open eyes lingered on the face of the monstrous flower creature.

"Never accept flowers from strangers."

"Never accept them, period. Jayu can impersonate people you know with illusions. If someone offers you flowers, always say no even if it seems rude, even if it seems heartless. Never accept flowers."

I grabbed another rock and hit another sunflower which blew up.

"Or that could be you."

I let Yuki take it in and opened the door for him.

"Now come on, We're going back to the city where it's safer."

"Yeah....on it."

He was silent during the ride back to the city, his eyes open as he nervously looked at the flowers that surrounded us.

 

[Cherico]

Officer Kim


"The car died."

Yuki stated the obvious.

"It's a renault, of course it died."

I sighed.

"We're going to have to push it."

The two of us pushed the car, the sun beat down on us as we did so.

"Sir."

I looked over at Yuki.

"With all due respect...I think I hate this car."

I smelled some thing on the wind and shook my head.

"We're going to be able to go down hill soon, we can use the momentum to get the rest of the way to town and then once were there we can gun the engine again."

"You think that will work?"

"It's possible the engine just overheated."

Yuki shrugged. We stopped pushing the car and got to the doors then we looked at the city and saw the fire. Yuki and i looked at each other and then at the fire that was consuming a good chunk of Busan.

"Sir?"

"Yes Yuki?"

"Why am I not surprised? I should be surprised, I should be shocked but I just feel this sense of."

"Resignation?"

"Yes."

"You're in Busan, that feeling is perfectly normal."

We opened the car doors.

"So we're going to ride downhill into a city that's on fire?"

I shrugged.

"You can't let a little thing, like a city wide fire, get in the way of doing your duty as an officer Yuki."

"I understand sir."

We gave the car a final push and got inside. The car moved slowly downhill as the smell of smoke got stronger. When we got to the bottom the car slowly moved until we saw some sailors waving a red sign. I reluctantly stopped the car slowly until we got to them.

"The city is under martial law."

I flashed my badge.

"I know."

"Oh sorry officer go ahead."

I tried to gun the engine and it continued to sputter and die. The two sailors looked at me.

"You got any tools?"

We got out of the car and opened up the back seat.

"Tojo...go watch the road while I help the officers out."

"Got it."

We saw a tool box and the sailor opened up the hood and looked at the engine.

"God, who designed this thing? the whole things a mess."

Yuki looked at me and then at the sailor.

"The french."

The sailor rolled his eye.

"Should have known. Ok the problem you have is a vacuum leak, the issue is the throttle rod right here. It's cracked but, even if you fixed that, it's too small to do its job long term."

I nodded.

"I just got this from the motorpool, you think someone messed up a fix."

"No...looking at this engine, it looks like this was manufacturer's problem, not a faulty fix."

He sighed, and looked into his pockets.

"What are you doing?"

"There's this new unit, 731, run by this guy Shiro Issii. My ship helped transport them to the mainland. They were a mixed group. Scientists, magic users and other."

"Yeah?"

"Well anyways, I helped one guy with his luggage, didn't talk much but none of them talked much, and he gave me this thing here."

He pulled out a wand and pointed it at a part of the engine, I watched light flow out of it.

"Only works once a day but it mends things if you know how it works."

"Sound like a nice man."

"No...no that whole group...there was some thing off about them about all of them with all due respect officer, they gave me the creeps."

I looked at the city.

"So what happened? Someone object to the search?"

The sailor bowed his head in shame.

"Wish I could say it was the koreans. No what happened was, when the army declared martial law the navy argued that they should help out or at least have influence which the army."

"Didn't want."

The sailor nodded.

"So that's been going on in the background while the army's been acting like a barbarian horde. We ignored it until they trashed a navy bar."

I felt a migraine form.

"Let me guess. The sailors and the army men fought."

"It wasn't the majority of us but yes. And that caused a fire which made the commander pull out his guns and threaten to use them on the city if the fighting didn't stop."

"Did it work?"

"Last time I checked. I was brought in to act as a guard and they were talking about cutting the city in half with the navy patroling one side, the army the other."

I looked up at the sky.

"When did the world go insane?"

The sailor sighed.

"It's not this bad everywhere, Formosia's actually pretty nice and so is most of the home islands, and the army caused most of the damage sir."

"So you're saying the Navy was the good guy in this affair."

"Our rioters are currently in the brig, their rioters are patroling their half of the city. Look the army...you have dealt with them. All of the enlisted men are conscripts from the back end of nowhere. Hell, half of them can't even read and their junior officer corps think they're living in a samurai movie."

He shrugged.

"It's true our idiots helped cause the fire and I apologize for that. But at the end of the day, we actually have standards and the army."

"Doesn't."

He nods.

"Right, so um. Since I helped with your engine, can I have a favor."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Depends on the favor."

"Some of the army guys have been going to our bars and causing trouble. So, if you see one heading our way, mind telling him to go somewhere else?"

"I will take it under advisement."

The sailor smiled.

"Great. Oh by the way? That isn't a permanent fix, you're going to need to replace the engine with one that isn't um...horrible."

"I will tell the motorpool. I thank you for your aid."

I bowed to the sailor and he bowed back and then yuki and myself drove through the charred city blocks to return the car. I blinked at the sight of a mixed army and Navy work crew.

"They're litterally drawing a line in the middle of the city."

I watched as they spread out a line of wet paint.

"Sadly Yuki....this might be an improvement."

 

[Cherico]

Ralph Essen


I looked at my calculations again.

"Ready to jump to another world?"

I nodded at Liam.

"Yeah, I'm ready for the next jump."

"So where are we going?"

I looked at the maps.

"When I was in zone I got a contact from the polish ministry, they were willing to do me a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

I sighed.

"They put me through to the south african and Rhodesian governments and they're willing to help us to bolster their reputation with the solar community."

Liam stared at me.

"You know they're evil right?"

I sighed.

"I know."

"South Africa."

"Litterally nuked their own people and Rhodesia forces people to get married at gun point. Believe me, I know that both of them are fucking evil. But we need a summer mage to hold back any radiation, a good one, and they volunteered."

Liam sighed.

"So it's a choice."

"Arieal or Umbrial, we're either dealing with the roadies or the bores."

Liam closed his eyes.

"So our choices are god awful theocrats or genocidal assholes."

"Pretty much."

Liam sighed.

"You do realize that the roadies are insane at best and that the bores are fucking evil."

"Thems the breaks Liam, I kind of want to avoid cancer."

Liam tilted his head.

"Lets go to Ariel. The roadies are, for all their faults, slightly less evil than the bores."

"Great."

I slapped my hands together and the world shifted. We looked up and saw the turquoize orb in the sky, the faint rings in the distance.

"So that's uranus...you know I think it's fitting that we put all of the assholes around it."

I frowned.

"That can't be true there are six countries orbiting Uranus, I mean sure South africa and Roadisia are bad, but there's... um."

I thought about it.

"Angola."

"Brutal dictatorship that chops of the hands of political enemies."

"Mozambik."

"A milatary junta, composed of people who collaborated with the portuguese facist government, who still does public executions."

"Namibia."

"Their dictator funded brutal guerilla movements in Botswana, angolia, south africa, Rhodesia and Zambia in order to undermine those countries so they could conquer them. It failed but they killed a lot of people."

"Liberia."

"Best of a bad lot, the Amero-Liberian minority treats the native tribes like second class citizens and used mass sterilization against native tribes during the 20s and 30s. They were so thorough that the Krawn people no longer exists in the country but hey... At least they put the whole genocide thing in the past right?"

I sighed.

"Look lets just pick up the agent and get out of here ok? I don't want to be here any longer then you do."

"On that subject we are in complete agreement."