Within the base, everyone met up in the central lounge area, just to get know each other. It was one of the only times everyone could just relax for a bit instead of training or preparing their gear.
Kanesaki and Sakaguchi were sat on one table with Yasuko and Ike sat opposite them whilst Yasui was getting a drink from the canteen. Nishihara and Yanagi had left the officers from outpost 61, too put off by their silent demeanor to try and converse. They sat with the others, recieving proper introductions to Ike.
As everyone was meeting up, one uniformed man walked over clad in a crisp, dark grey military uniform, he carried himself with the composed confidence of a man accustomed to command. The lighter grey trousers complemented the uniform's sharp lines, pressed to perfection and moving without a crease as he walked. Pinned proudly to his chest was a commander's badge.
His short blonde hair was neatly combed, each strand in place with the kind of discipline that spoke to years of service. It framed a face both sharp and composed, youthful but weathered slightly by duty. His light green eyes held a curious gleam - not cold or harsh, but observant, quietly calculating.
A small smile curved his lips, softening the rigidity of his uniform.
Hirano Horuichi - one of the commanders at the outpost. He was in charge of the armed troops heading into the operation, his rank was equal to that of an Officer first-class within the official branch.
'Heard the guests were out here so I wanted to greet them all.'
There was a clear welcoming tone in his voice, his eyes showed signs of camaraderie.
Standing and shaking the commander's hand, Ike smiled back, just a little - he was followed by Yasuko. Kanesaki stared across the table at Horuichi, a brief exchange of nods accommodated the two.
Despite his two weeks at the outpost, Kanesaki had hardly seen this commander.
Horuichi squinted, noting Kanesaki's confused expressions - lost in thought.
'Something up?' His voice was both questioning but gleeful. Kanesaki focused back and answered with his own question.
'You stay in the outpost a lot?' The question caught the table by surprise - kind of a random question to them all.
Horuichi let out a hearty chuckle, swatting a hand as he replied. 'Nah, I'm normally out on missions with my troops, always got some kinda incursions to deal with!'
As the two exchanged brief words, Nishihara leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself as he sipped his glass of water, before a gloves hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, fingers curling slightly to grip his shoulder tensely. Looking past his shoulder in confusion, he saw silver hair, dark red irises, light brown, olive skin - on top of that, a curled smile.
'You're Nishihara, right?'
The question lingered, a sudden tension built up in the air as Nishihara leaned forwards again, turning more to look at the captain.
'And you're 68's captain, Yasui?'
Her smile grew wider, her grip on his shoulder urging tighter. She leaned down, her voice just above a whisper.
'Of course. And, I must say... I'm a fan of this... Flair, you have about you.'
Raising an eyebrow, Nishihara murmured. 'flair?'
She just nodded slowly, her eyes growing darker, something more unique was showing behind those pupils of hers.
'Yeah... You seem like the kinda guy to just... Have stuff going on, but you just don't care.'
'So what, like a loner? Kinda weird way to put it, but okay.'
Noting his seeming lack of care for her advance, Yasui glanced around in thought for a moment before leaning back to whisper by his ear, her breath ghosting his neck.
'Mm, I like guys like you... Ignoring me like that... Like you don't care. I got an idea, why don't you meet me in my assigned quarters later tonight... We can have ourselves a gooooood night.'
From the nearby table, Sakaguchi elbowed Kanesaki weakly to get his attention, leaning to whisper, almost confidentially.
'Hey, looks like Yasuko's captain is hitting on Nishihara.' He laughed to himself as he revelled the fact that a girl like that was actually approaching Nishihara - Kanesaki simply sighed, shrugged his shoulders and pouted like a jealous child.
'What's he got, huh!? I had a thing growing for her, man!' Sakaguchi's laughter intensified as he tried to keep it down.
'Probably because he's actually her age, you're like, 17, man.'
Kanesaki continued to pour for a moment in childish anger as Yasuko smacked him on the back of the head, sending him falling over. He picked himself up quickly, cheeks red with embarrassment as he glanced around, ensuring no one saw, before looking back at the other Chimera.
'Yasuko!? What'd you do that for!?'
'I overheard you, ya idiot.' Crossing her arms, she let out a hum of disapproval, looking away like a disappointed parent.
Scratching the back of his head, Kanesaki raised a hand slightly, as if trying to speak politely.
'What exactly did I say wrong?'
'My captain ain't exactly into guys like you. Plus, Sakaguchi's right, too young.'
Kanesaki glanced past his shoulder, noting Sakaguchi nodding in agreement. Turning back, he sighed in his own self-disappointment before nodding in harsh agreement.
'She's the feisty one, isn't she.'
The muffled voice and sudden appearance of a fourth person shook the three, they each yelled out in a scare.
He stood like a shadow, still and unreadable beneath the long, fully buttoned dark grey trench coat that swept down past his knees. The fabric hung heavy in the low light, motionless except when caught by the slightest breeze, like smoke trapped in form.
His gloved hands stayed at his sides, black leather tight around the fingers - hands made not for comfort, but precision. A thick, equally dark grey scarf was wrapped high across his face, concealing everything below the eyes. Only a pair of circular glasses peeked over the fabric, their faint, tinted reflection the only sign of life against his pale, silent exterior.
Behind the lenses were eyes like burnt glass - cold, dark brown, and utterly still. They held no warmth, no invitation, only the distant calm of someone who'd long since stopped needing to speak in full sentences. Whatever lay behind those eyes was buried deep and locked tight.
His trousers, black as ash, were barely visible beneath the trench coat, and his boots made no sound on the ground. Even his hair - stark white, spiked and jutting upright - looked more like bone than anything soft or human. It rose sharply above his ears, which were just barely visible beneath the folds of the scarf, further adding to his sharp, ghostlike silhouette.
He just stared blankly at the three for a minute, allowing them to calm down from their scares.
Sakaguchi spoke first, staring up and down at the man's reserved appearance.
'W-Who are you!?'
Raising a hand weakly, as if preparing to wave, he spoke again, voice still muffled by the scarf.
'Captain Maeda Gima, outpost 61.'
His hand didn't move, just a hollow wave. Then, from behind the trio, Yanagi stood from a game of cards with a few soldiers from outpost 68, a look of confusion, confidence and eagerness wreaking his face. He ran over, stopping before the other captain, putting a hand out.
'H-Hey there, fellow captain! I'm sorry I didn't greet you at your ship, I'm cap-'
'I was informed of you by my subordinates, captain Yanagi.'
Silence.
It was awkward for a moment, Yanagi's welcoming vibe had just been shot dead, the other captain simply walking past him and signalling to his subordinates. All Ten of them walked over, following in two orderly lines, five in each row. Yanagi took note, they were the guys he saw out on the landing strip.
'Wait, so these guys are your officers?'
Peering back with a sharp gaze, just enough to see his dark eyes under the glasses, Maeda responded.
'Wrong. They're my subordinates, not officers.'
As they walked by, Kanesaki noticed one of their necks with a tattoo - similar to that of a Chimera's. Reaching out to grab his wrist, Kanesaki looked closer.
'Hey, wait... These guys are Chimeras!'
The man quietly yanked his wrist away from Kanesaki, freeing himself as he just continued walking with the group. Maeda nodded partially.
'My subordinates are Chimera, just not common Chimera. As you can tell, they're identical to one another. They're clones. Not perfect clones, naturally, but partial clones of one ideal body.'
Kanesaki's face became more of a scowl, almost horrified by the revelation.
'Ideal body? And who's body is that?'
Sakaguchi reached out, holding Kanesaki back as he noted his hand curling into a fist. Nishihara, taking a note to the situation, stood up too, walking over as he watched the situation unfold.
Maeda sighed under the scarf, no one could tell what face he was pulling, his eyes seemed bland, dark, elusive under his glasses.
'They're clones of a fifth generation Chimera. However, they each make up one tenth of it's fighting prowess and intelligence, making them simple bodyguards, decent for having a group to carry out orders without question, humanity's ideal version of a Chimera, yet one they'll never pursue.'
Gritting his teeth, Kanesaki shouted across the room.
'So they're just mindless killing machines, is that what you're saying!'
'Aren't we all? It's what we were made for, no?'
The sudden words struck a mixture of schock and confusion into majority of those watching. Maeda simply turned back around, waving back as he spoke on.
'I'm a Chimera too, boy.'
Before he could do anything more, Kanesaki just looked down, his mind rattled by the group of revelations hitting him. Sakaguchi pondered it took, questioning the captain's words.
'A Chimera... Being captain? I think I heard of the possibility, but I didn't think they went through with it.'
'What's all the whining about?'
Yasui stepped into the conversation, placing one hand on her hip as she looked around.
'You guys didn't know that you'd be working with two Chimera captains? Seriously!? Those idiots, never sending all the info...' Her other hand pinched her forehead in annoyance as she muttered curses to herself.
Yasuko smiled weakly, patting Kanesaki on the back reassuringly.
'I did say she was my amazing captain, and well... That's why', before she laughed nervously.
Staring at Yasui fully now, Nishihara stumbled over his words briefly. 'You-You're a Chimera!?'
Smiling widely, Yasui twisted around on her heel, facing the officer with glee.
'Ah-ha! Makes me kinda unique as a captain now, doesn't it?' Her eyes gazed over Nishihara's outfit before focusing back onto his face.
Kanesaki sat back down on his table, just trying to gather his thoughts. Yasuko sat beside him, her arm around his shoulders, as if comforting him. Sakaguchi went off with Yanagi to grab a drink whilst the others in the hall just continued their conversations and activities.
Maeda and his Chimera clones were sat all together on one table near the back of the hall, just idol, not speaking to each other - watching everyone else closely, examining them.
Chapter 36 - end