Inuyasha - Project IY14 Chap 4

“Nine hundred feet and closing,” Sango said, pulling on the lever that would release the landing gear of their ship the.

“Y’know,” said Miroku from the chair next to her, “There’s something about you….”

“What?” Sango snapped; she could see what was coming.

“There’s something about seeing you all strapped up in the pilot seat like that, just…rarr.” Miroku raised his eyebrows, in an attempting-to-be-seductive way.

Sango rolled her eyes; he did this almost every time they came in for a landing, just after she pulled on the landing gear lever. And then after the “strapped up” line he would always ask…

“Will you bear my children?”

“No, not in this lifetime. Not ever….” Sango growled her response this time; with the heavy winds this planet had she was in no mood for Miroku’s hijinx. “Grope me right now, and you are dead man.”

Miroku snapped his fingers in defeat, she was catching on to his strategies. He pressed the intercom button, to contact the crew.

“Inu, Kagome, Rin, Shippou, buckle up, we’re coming in for a landing.”

****

The group entered the main entrance. While their ship The Midoriko was being checked, they had to go and be checked for weapons before they could enter the base. It was annoying at first, but after the first three weeks it became routine, and they hardly turned a hair at it.

One of the soldiers saw the sword at Inuyasha’s side.

“Sir. No weapons are permitted to you while you are inside this base. You will get it back when you leave,” the soldier stated as if he’d rehearsed it for hours in his room.

“New recruit,” Inuyasha muttered to Sango, who snickered.

“I don't think I could do much damage with this,” Inuyasha smirked, turning to the soldier, and pulled out the sword. The sword was horribly chipped, rusted and brittle. “Family heirloom…”

The soldier looked at the sword in surprise for a moment, then looked to General Kagura, who was standing just in front of the group.

“Let them pass,” she said evenly.

“What's the matter Commander? Afraid the six of us are going to take over your base?” Miroku chuckled.

“Just making sure that if one of your crew members gets drunk, they don’t cause too much trouble,” Kagura answered casually.

“Fair enough. How have you been?” Miroku, smirked.

“You are unauthorized to hear that information,” Kagura smirked back

“That bad huh?” Miroku raised an eyebrow.

“Shut up and unload your ship,” Kagura spat and marched off.


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“Careful Inu, that box has the lab glassware in it,” Rin called to Inuyasha as he manipulated the arms of the power loader to grab the handles on the box, lifting it out of the ship and on to the carrier platform.

“I got it, I got it. Man these guys go through a lot of this stuff. What do they use it all for?” Inuyasha snorted as he carefully set the box down on the carrier platform.

“I think they are expanding the project. Plus, everything has to be sterile and contaminant free, sometimes they can’t use the same glassware twice with one project, and-”

“Okay, okay. Don’t go into a biochemistry lesson.”  Inuyasha waved the arms of the power loader back and forth to signal Rin to stop.

“Sorry.” Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “I read too much from my books last night.”

“When you finally do become a doctor, Rin, you’re gonna stop all the ‘know it all’ stuff, right?” Inuyasha looked at her hopefully

“If I become a doctor I’m going to have to ‘know it all.’” Rin giggled.

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, Shippou,” Inuyasha called to the kistune who was taking inventory on the computer. “The right arm is feeling kind of twitchy, could you take a look at the wiring, while I take this stuff over to where it needs to be.”

“Yeah, in a bit. I wanna finish this up while I’m thinking about it,” Shippou called back.

“Come on, let’s get this thing going before Kagura sends her thugs up here for us,” Sango called out as she took her place at one of the control panels for driving the carrier platform. Kagome took a spot at one of the other control boards.

“Yeah, if I never see Jakotsu again it will be too soon,” Inuyasha unstrapped himself from the power loader and took his place at the third control console next to Kagome.

He glanced carefully over at her and she narrowed her eyes at him. Apparently she was still pissed at him about the “bathroom incident” the other night. He had not meant to walk in on her, but the door was part way open and he needed her help with something. She had no right to literally kick him out of her room.  Then again he probably would have done the same thing if someone had walked in on him…

Inuyasha was jolted out of his thoughts when the platform started to move forward, and made himself focus on the controls rather than Kagome.

Rin watched them go from the ship’s deck, then went and strapped herself into the power loader, while Shippou readjusted the wires in the arm.

“There. Try that, Rin,”  Shippou said, after adjusting the position of a little blue wire.

“Still a little stiff; maybe the green wire is off?” Rin said while she compared the movements of the right arm to the left.

Shippou followed her suggestion.

“Oh that’s much better.” Rin giggled as she tested the right arm by picking up Shippou.

“Cut it out! I can’t repair the darn thing if my feet aren’t on the ground!” Shippou struggled to get out of the power loader’s titanium grip.

“It feels fine to me; but Inu is going to have to give the final say when he gets back.” She said setting Shippou down again.

“Great…” Shippou snorted. “I tell ya’ that dog is more picky than a-”

“Oh no!” Rin shouted, quickly unstrapping herself from inside the machine. “We forgot a box!”

Rin jogged over to the far side of the cargo bay and picked up a small box that was almost completely hidden in the shadows of its corner.

“No wonder; it’s really small,” said Shippou, coming over to her. “Are you sure it’s for them?”

“It’s got the delivery codes on it,” Rin opened the cargo bay door that lead to the outer docking bay. “I’ll see if I can catch up to them, you keep working on the power loader.”
“I can’t work on it without a…tester.” But Rin had already taken off in the direction the others had taken.

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“Drink?”  Kagura offered nonchantly as she poured herself some sake.

“I’d love some, thank you,” Miroku gave a respectful nod to the general.

“This week’s payment has been deposited to your account.” Kagura poured Miroku half a cup of the rice wine.

Miroku checked the account on the computer then took a sip of the sake. Kagura looked a little miffed.

“Don’t trust me?” She sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

“ Just my own paranoia.” Miroku smiled assuredly. “I’ve got to admit this whole operation is a bit shady. Most military research labs don’t operate outside of regulated space, most don’t hire private contractors like us, and most definitely do not have the Shichinintai running around.”

Kagura pursed her lips angrily. This Miroku was much too smart for his own good.

However, Miroku noticed he seemed to have touched a nerve, and quickly built a defense. “But hey, none it’s of my business…”

“So I can continue count on your discretion?” Kagura raised a warning eyebrow.

“Of course.”  

“Good.”

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Sango manipulated the controls to carefully pull the carrier platform up to the large metal doors leading to the storage bay. She then pushed the call button next to the doors. There was a ring, before finally the doors opened.

Two soldiers stood just behind the door as it opened. The shipment crew immediately recognized the gray and white camouflage fatigue pants of the Shichinintai. As the door opened a little more, their voices could be heard. At this point Inuyasha cringed and hid behind one of the cargo boxes next to Kagome, who raised an eyebrow at him as if he were crazy. When the door was fully open Kagome saw why.

Standing there were two soldiers of the Shichinintai, the elite group of marines that were known throughout the galaxy for their ruthlessness and flawless record of success on any mission they were sent on. However, as long as you were not their intended target or got in their way of it, most of them were a friendly bunch.  One of them, Jakotsu, was sometimes a little too friendly for Inuyasha’s taste, and much to hanyou’s dismay, Jakotsu was one of the soldiers standing before them.

“Well, look who’s back,” the other soldier, Bankotsu, smirked, walking up to the carrier platform.

“Hey, where’s fuzzy-kun?” Jakotsu cheerfully asked Kagome and Sango.

An evil smile crossed Kagome’s face. She caught Jakotsu’s eye, placed her hands on top of her head imitating dog ears, and then pointed to the spot behind the boxes where Inuyasha was hiding.

“Traitor!” Inuyasha jumped up from his hiding place, realizing too late he had just revealed himself even more than Kagome did.  

“Hey, Fuzzy-kun!”

Inuyasha whirled around and came face to face with Jakotsu, who proceeded to tweak the fuzzy white ears atop Inuyasha’s head, while Sango and Kagome giggled.

“Stop that!” Inuyasha snarled, covering his ears and backing away. “How in the seven hells did you get into the military?!”

“Oh, that ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ stuff went out three hundred years ago.” Jakotsu smiled giving an ear another tug.

“Quite playing around, Jak, and let’s get this stuff inside,” Bankotsu snapped. “You know Suikotsu’s gonna want his new batch of pills.”

“Oh, all right.” Jakotsu pouted, jumping off the platform, as Sango flipped the switch and moved the platform forward.

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Rin ran down the hallways as fast as her legs and lungs permitted her, hoping desperately to catch up to the carrier platform her comrades had taken off on.

Finally she came to an intersection. A large metal door was open on one end of the hallway, and another large metal door was closed on the other end. She just could not remember which one was the way to the storage areas.

She saw just inside the open door were two elevator doors and one door was beginning to close. Making her decision, she made a mad dash for it. She slipped inside just as the door slid shut, almost catching her hair in the process. She pressed the button for the basement floor and caught her breath while the elevator began to move.

Meanwhile on the floor above, the heavy metal door closed. Inscribed upon that door were the words “Restricted Area: Authorized Personnel Only” and two biohazard symbols.