Gabatrix: The Terrorists of Batrice

"Ah....." Mizu laughed a little bit. "Right....of course."

Mizu continued to follow his brother and cousin as they walked through the halls. While a majority of students walked into their classes, they had to keep walking with Keiko ahead of them. As an escort, their goal was to make sure that the little girl reached her class. Mizu was reminded briefly of what was going on. This girl was picking up bad habits, and he had a brief reminder of why that was the case. Despite her walking, he was sure that she wasn't going to cause problems.

Chuang looked over at one of the female teachers. Her figure was quite radiant. Mizu was doing all he could to avoid making any form of cat-calling, especially with a crowd of students.

"Man.....remember our teacher, Mrs. Willow?" Chuang asked his brother.

"Oh, how can I forget?" Mizu commented. "She was really.....really.....well, let's just say that I don't need to say anything more than that."

They continued their walk as the long passageway was getting filtered out of students and the occasional parent who followed them. A few teachers looked at the two men but quickly went on with their mundane tasks. Mizu wasn't particularly too worried about Keiko as she seemed to be nonchalant with her actions. He could even note that while Chuang had a little more of an eye towards her, even he wasn't that too worried about it too. A simple gesture of being with her was more than enough for her to carry on and not misbehave.

"Yeah....I wouldn't mind getting some breakfast at Flories stand today," Chuang commented. "You paying this time?"

"Hmmm...." Mizu remarked as he pulled out his small tablet from his pocket. He began to tap it to turn it on as the blue screen appeared. It showed him information that he was all too aware of before he put it back. "Actually.....I am a little low on the money."

"Don't worry about it, bro," Chuang said as he waved at him. "I will pay for it."

Mizu shrugged a little bit as they walked up to the classroom at the end of the hallway. Past them was an elevator and staircase that led to the floor above them. Both of the men looked at the little girl. Chuang was the one that gave the nod to her, while Mizu crossed his arms overlooking her.

"Alright, you head in," Chuang said as he gestured her to enter the door. "Almost late too."

"Yeah....." Mizu said as he smiled at her. "Please behave this time. Not that I don't mind walking around the area and hanging out.....I wouldn't want to have the wrath of your parents come barreling down on all of us."

"Don't worry couses," she said. She gave the peace sign to them as she stuck her tongue at them. "I won't cause problems this time."

With that, she turned and skipped into the entrance of her classroom. Chuang went and scratched the back of his head as he gave a questioning look at Keiko. Mizu was holding back a laugh as he shook his head a little bit.

The classroom door slid closed as Chuang shrugged and looked at his brother. "Where did she get that from?" he asked him.

"I um....." Mizu remarked. "I was showing her some of the older Japanese anime from former Earth. You know some of the new retro stuff they have been showing here on Batrice? Yeah....some of it is running off on her. I think she really enjoys it."

"Ah......" Chuang commented. "Eh....it's ok." He looked near the door to see a small console. He walked up to it as his curiosity started to take hold.

"What is it?" Mizu asked him.

"Remember those new features they were adding to the classrooms when we were attending here?"

Mizu seemed to think a little bit as he put his hand to his short hair. "I think so.....oh yeah.....they were installing the one-way visual panes. It was going to allow parents or other staff to easily look into the classroom without having to open the doors. It was designed to help prevent people from interrupting classrooms or having the principal from overlooking all the teacher's shoulders."

"Yeah, they finally installed them," Chuang said as he tapped his finger on the console. The moment that he did, a small blue-lit line appeared over the wall. The lines grew as it revealed a one-way view of the inside of the classroom.

Mizu walked up and admired the simple form of technology. Inside the classroom, the students wouldn't see the two men looking inside while they, on the other hand, could see them. He didn't think about it too much, but he knew that it was something the teachers wanted to have installed. It provided a sense of oversight. Parents that had questions about how the curriculum was taught could easily stand and observe the classes. The one-way viewership also offered privacy and prevented students from looking out of the window to the viewers looking from the hallway.

"Heh...." Mizu said as he gave a brief nod. He could feel his stomach began to growl. "I don't know about you, but I am feeling hungry. Come on, bro."

Chuang went and gave a look of surprise as his eyes widened a little bit. "Whoa.....hey bro, check this out."

He pointed to the display as Mizu went and looked inside of the classroom. It consisted of fifteen desks that were adequately spaced apart. It was nothing spectacular in general. In many ways, it was just like he remembered it back when he was in school. The desks were arranged in a circular pattern that all looked towards the center projector. The room itself was nothing special. Several sets of displays showed the lessons and work planned for the day on the walls. It had a small separate restroom for the students and the teacher. A small rectangular section was advocated so that students could sit down on the soft carpet and do other activities. The classroom was filled up as Keiko was already sitting down on the side closest to the restroom. The teacher was an older woman with a complexion that was similar to a person born from Indonesia on former Earth. The female students were dressed in the same dress color pattern as Keiko to indicate a uniform color. The male students wore long yellow and black pants and shirts.

It was a lot for Mizu to grasp onto. The center projector showed a massive three-dimensional display that allowed every student to see equally towards the center. The teacher tapped her left arm that highlighted and accessed the projector. The augmented arm she was using was a common sight for most people. If anything, Mizu felt like he was using outdated technology with his tablet. She walked towards the center as she tapped a few buttons on her menu display. New words were showing up on the screen. It was easy enough to see what was being shown on it. There were pictures of a lush green forest that Mizu was unfamiliar with. One was the picture of the Krâvanh Mountains long before human intervention turned it into what was now. Another photo showed old black and white photographs of people that had similar looks to the general population of Batrice. He did not pay too much attention to them.

Chuang seemed fixated on something or someone, but Mizu was still trying to understand what he was looking at. He looked at the teacher and then the students. Besides Keiko, nobody else was remarkable to him.

"I am looking, bro.....is there somebody I should be looking at, or are you going to go silent all of a sudden?" Mizu asked him.

"Do you recognize the girl on the far left?" Chuang asked him. "The one that is sitting between the two boys?"

Mizu looked at the children and spotted the girl that he was almost pointing at. This girl had long black hair. Her complexion was slightly darker than that of Keiko. Much like many of the students, they all had similar looks and appearances from where their families descended from. Only a couple of students had a pale complexion to them as they descended from areas other than Southeast Asia. Mizu was doing his best to see the differences and the things that made this girl particularly important that his brother was insisting upon. Finally, Mizu simply just shrugged.

"I don't get it," Mizu replied as he gave a shrug to his brother. "Who is she?"

"That is Channery Chanvatey....." Chuang answered.

Mizu thought about it for a second, and it dawned upon him. "Oh.....shit.....no way," Mizu replied with surprise. "You mean Channery like....."

"Yeah....it is Heng Chanvatey's daughter."

"Holy shit," Mizu said as he kept his voice down. He felt some wave of shock at the scene. "I can't believe the prime minister's daughter goes to the same classroom as Keiko's. I wonder why he would send her here."

Chuang shrugged. "I don't know, bro. I think this school is closest to the parliament building."

"Eh.....I wonder why, though. The Prime Minister is rich. Why not be like the other rich cronies and just hire private tutors to teach their kids like the rest of them?"

"I don't know....I don't keep up with politics either. I think the Prime Minister has been mentioning something about putting more funding into schools and trying to eliminate some private-sector stuff......I don't know, man....."

"Eh.....oh well," Mizu said. He went and tapped the button as he closed out the display screen. The blue light lit up as the one-way see-through display closed up. Chuang shrugged as the display was replaced with a solid wall.

"Well....it will be something to tell mom and dad, right?" Chuang remarked to his brother.

"Yeah, bro," Mizu said. A big smile appeared on his face. He gestured to both of them. "Come on....I am hungry."

Chuang gave a big nod. "Me too. Let's go eat."

The hallway was very much cleared up by now. Except for a student here and there that was heading into the classes, the place was very much empty. It made things easier to transgress as they began to head towards the exit.

"You saw that augmented arm that teacher had?" Chuang asked.

"Yeah.....it is great to be working for the government," Mizu replied. "You know....we will get free augments once we go military."

Chuang seemed to think about it as a student almost bumped into them by accident. "I....will still have to think about it."

"I want to get augmented hands or one of those laser arms that some of those marines get."

"Yeah, but didn't you say that you wanted to be a pilot?"

"Sure, but....I can still dream about it."

"Why would you complain about that? As a pilot, you can fly one of those gunships and zap the Itreans anyway."

"True......heh, I guess you will be getting it instead if you are going marines."

"Yeah, it would be true, but....."

"What?"

Chuang gave a discouraging look at his brother. "Those marines work way harder than the typical UHN personnel."

"Well, in that case," Mizu countered. "You should just become a pilot like I will. Ladies will still come after you."

Mizu looked at his brother. He knew that he was generally more vocal than him, even if he was the older brother. With his birthday just around the corner and Chuang that just turned seventeen, he knew that the enlistment age was upon them. The United Human Navy had just seen a terrible defeat in the colony of Eutera not that long ago. Almost a thousand individuals were kidnapped or presumed dead. The Itreans had unofficially declared war upon the human race. So little knowledge was there, but the rallying cry was made. Mizu could feel it in his veins as he looked upon his brother. The sense of patriotism to the UWA and Batrice grew louder and louder as each day passed by. However, Chuang only showed the signs of discouragement, but it was something that he knew could work if he just kept encouraging him more and more. Then again, the fact of having women all over him only seemed to promote the idea to himself more than the glory.

"Well.....if all else fails, we can at least go to New Olympia," Chuang remarked to his brother.

"Ah..." Mizu said as he put his hand to his heart. "Now we are talking." They left through the school's front doors as he put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Think about it.....two women for every man. Maybe it is even three!"

Chuang almost rolled his eyes. "Those were just rumors, though."

"I am telling you. The only reason why the men never return from that planet is that they never want to leave. It is too damn good."

They began to walk down the sidewalk as they had another look at the surrounding area. The commotion in and out of the school was way less now. The school's traffic was far less, and even the cars and subway station had calmed down. It was a typical day as it usually was. The two brothers walked together as they eyed the food stand on the other side of the street. The buildings around them once again reminded them of the city's typical busy life in the great dome.

"Brother, I don't mind the idea of settling down with some nice woman," Chuang said. "But.....I still prefer just one."

"Eh.....your loss, man," Mizu said. "One more month.....one more month till I get to finally join. Can't wait to pilot my own shuttle......or maybe even a battleship from the bridge of one of the great warships."

They reached the street light in preparation to cross it to get to the other side of the road. The moment that it almost turned green to stop the traffic, alarms were suddenly given off. It was loud, filling up the entire area of the city. Flashing lights were being announced, and every individual seemed to stop in their tracks. Those that augmented arms or hands stopped to see what the alarms were all about. Those that didn't have them instead pulled out their tablets. Mizu was one of these individuals as he went and pulled out his tablet from his pocket. Both of them were wondering what was going on.

The alarm had an electronic sound that continued to echo. Even the streetcars were slowing down to a stop. It was as if the entire city was coming to an immediate halt. Even Mizu could feel a slight amount of apprehension as he scrolled through the menu of his tablet. A warning message was displayed on the screen. He read it to his brother.

"There are either one or two Itrean ships that have entered the system," Mizu said. "They appear to be heading straight to Batrice. A Condition 1 State of Emergency is being declared....."

"ALERT!" an electronic voice interrupted him as it was called out in the city. "Itrean ships have entered the solar system. All personnel is asked to return to their homes or seek shelter. Defenses are en route. All personnel is to remain calm and move in an orderly manner. This is not a drill." The voice then repeated the same thing in Chinese to ensure the rest of the population understood it.

Advertisement bulletins that were on the building walls all began to say the same thing in both English and Chinese. The same message was being passed on. Mizu looked at his brother as he was left in the form of resentment.

"Son of a bitch," Mizu said.

"They won't get far," Chuang remarked as he shook his head. "We have way more firepower.....right?"

*******

Meanwhile, the uninhabited orange planet of Anamade came into view. It was mostly dark. The opposite side of the world wasn't receiving any light from its star in the solid darkness. After leaving from its opposite direction of both Batrice and Gillan was a pair of two Itrean ships. They were somewhere between the distance of both Batrice and Anamade. Behind the rear ship was a vortex that was only reminiscent of that of a gate that they just exited from. The swirling mass of energy and particles was there for a brief time long after the ships had clearly traveled through it. After the ships' engines were fully activated, the folded space ceased as the vortex slowly dissipated and returned to normal space once again.

The black environment only served to reveal the two ships to certain degrees. They seemed to be flying in formation at first. Only the faint flashing lights and rear engine glow gave any indication that there was anything there, at least visually. The lights did at least provide some indication that each one was shaped differently.

In Batrice's orbit, one of the three largest battleships in its defense fleet that hovered near the great space station of Fort Batrice began to break off. The reaction was quick. Defenses were made ready as one of the large gray cylindrical warships started to activate its rear thrusters. As its vectoring thrusters altered its direction, it was much easier to see it as the dim sunlight began to reveal it more and more. The words "UHN Widado" could be seen briefly as its rear engines started to flare up. Its box-like centripetal rotating structure continued to spin as it pointed its railguns in the direction of the incoming threat. The eight bow-mounted torpedo/missile launch tubes opened up.

Meanwhile, the two Itrean ships blue engine flares revealed that they were speeding up. They were slowly accelerating more and more as Anamade was moving out of the way of the star's radiance. The sunlight began to reveal what they actually looked like. Both were painted in the color of red, which served as some form of identification marker. Each ship was unique by appearance. One of the alien vessels was a small box and cylindrical vessel that carried a few smaller CIWS autogun turrets along with its frame. It carried a missile launcher and a light railgun turret on its bow dorsal section. On its ventral side was a hangar bay for a single shuttle. Besides the weapons, there were forward-mounted thrusters on its port and starboard side. Connected to the main forward section of the hull was a small centripetal rotating ring. On the rear area were the main aft thruster and power generator.

The other Itrean ship was completely different. It almost had a vertical flat nose with the bridge mounted in the forward section. There was no form of the centripetal rotating ring. Besides the large nose was a cylindrical frame that had an aft bridge compartment and hangar facility next to it. There were an extensive series of arrays all along the hull, and it had engines mounted on the forward sides and rear section of the ship.

It was the UHN Widado that decided to attack first as a volley of eight anti-ship missiles were fired from the tubes. They flew out at blazing speeds before the flying warheads' rear thrusters began to activate to head towards their intended target.

The moment that the UHN ship fired, within less than ten seconds, the side flat-nosed Itrean ship broke off from the other Itrean vessel. Its vectoring thrusters caused it to turn away slowly. Suddenly, a field of light began to erupt from it as the light vanished. The entire ship slowly began to turn invisible. The engine glow was cut off as if the vessel had disappeared entirely. The other smaller ship was continuing to advance, heading straight to Batrice.

*******

On the capital ground, both Mizu and Chuang had sought refuge in a nearby building along with several other pedestrians. It was a rest stop as the alarms were still being called out throughout the entire city. By now, the streets had become empty. The people that were driving their cars had even abandoned them and went into the buildings to get away from the road.

Mizu looked around at where he had huddled down. He had his tablet in hand as he was watching the events take place. Chuang was sitting next to him along with another couple that had taken refuge. They were all inside a law firm building. The glass windows allowed everyone to see the outside perfectly. They found a nice table near as Mizu had started to get further away from the window.

"That was good thinking, bro," Mizu told Chuang. "I wouldn't want to be near the windows. If the Itreans start to shoot at us, we might get hit by the raining shrapnel. Hey guys! Get away from the windows!"

He looked at another set of people who had just entered through the building's clear glass pane doors. Upon hearing it, the two people looked at Mizu before they began to walk further and further away. Mizu was unfamiliar with this place, but it obviously had to be some sort of waiting or reception area. There were additional counters by the main lobby and entrance. Sitting by the wall, Mizu continued to watch the events unfold.