Autumn took one last look at the men outside. Minister Kasai did not want the official security detail in his house overnight. Warrant Officer Saito must have agreed to his request as both evenings she had spent at the Kasai's had been like pictures of small family home life.
Surely Saito was nearby. She left it to him to pursue any loud approaches if he deems then necessary.
Autumn was not a sneaky cultivator, so it was with merely human ability that she crept over to Mr and Mrs. Kasai's bedroom.
The house only had one floor and two bedrooms, the master bedroom was past the kitchen, but accessible only through a regular sized door.
If either of them woke up as she entered the room with her katana drawn, it would look as if she was the assassin. But they didn't wake up.
She looked for a location that offered surprise, ready to blade step in between the minister and attacker. She crept behind the bed on Mr. Kasai's side.
She heard the door open, she heard the men talking, but she couldn't make out there voices until they got a little closer.
There was no sound but these men, so she listened carefully.
"0616 evaced?"
"Confirmed sir. No neutrals."
"Bind the extremities! Bind the tongue!"
One of the men had used a card to lock arms and legs in place. He intended to paralyze Mr. and Mrs. Kasai, but now paralyzed her as well. He also prevented them from talking or screaming.
Her Emperor's blood flared up, fighting back against the compulsion that locked her arms in place.
Others may be Heaven's Blessing cultivators, but she had received the Emperor's blood instead, when she reached the Third Step. First brother Lee taught her two of the mantras of the Emperor's blood:
I am powerful and untrammeled,
the Emperor's blood flows in me,
Through darkness and grave danger,
I will never lose sight of who I am.
Against the strongest foes I will remember,
Never submit, never surrender!
The Emperor opposes the Tyrant,
Sooner broken than bent knee.
Autumn smiled, thinking on these two mantras. The true-blooded could never be oppressed, only broken. One finger, and one toe at a time, she freed her limbs from the Card's effect.
She watched from behind the bed as two of the men came in and lifted up Mrs. Kasai, carrying her out of the bedroom.
MInister Kasai was wide awake, and staring right at her, but he couldn't speak or move, and his eyes darted back towards the doorway as the two men came back into the room.
Autumn focussed on her hands and arms first. She knew the importance of feet and legs for fighting, but if she could only use her arms and hands, so be it.
Each step was getting easier as she resisted the compulsion.
One of the men had to get on Mr. Kasai's side of the bed to lift him up. In the confined space behind the bed, with no leg movement, Autumn's only choice was to stab or chop downward.
The katana skewered through the man's leg as she stabbed him. Stumbling back, he crashed into the wall. The man's motion caused the Katana to cut at his leg more as she pulled it back. He hadn't been looking when she stabbed, but he looked now.
"Help!" shouted the injured man in uniform.
The other man looked, and saw the blood.
Autumn couldn't use Blade step without the feeling of moving her feet. It was an extension of walking, so she frantically free just her right foot and toes, then teleported behind the second man.
She didn't know what to expect regarding the katana's sharpness and cutting power. She thought her chopping attack would merely send him to the floor with a wound to his shoulder, but it cut deeper than expected.
The second man could only scream, and toppled to the ground, and Autumn leaned against the wall as she worked to free her other foot and both legs.
She watched both men carefully. She had to make sure Mr. Kasai was protected, but they had already brought Mrs. Kasai somewhere else. The third man was the one using cards, and he needed to be dealt with.
He didn't dare to approach, but instead used another card: "Coma!"
Autumn felt the authority and power of the Card rushing at her, but she had already defeated the other technique, and with the firm resolve of the Emperor's blood, she resisted this one completely.
The Card users techniques seemed to be broad-effect as both men in the bedroom were now passed out. The man with the shoulder wound was not bleeding as badly.
They had carried Mrs. Kasai away without even knocking on the front door, and relied on vile Card powers to subdue them. Autumn didn't consider their health that highly.
Perhaps, if one of the two men had mentioned Autumn, their Card using commander would have been more cautious. He must have assumed Mr. Kasai was one resisting, and used his most powerful card.
He leaned into the doorway, seemingly putting together a picture of the situation. He even went over and looked at the first man's stab wound.
It was a simple matter to move quickly from behind, slashing at the man's Card case, causing it to tumble, and then maneuvering the blade to be pressed up against his side.
"Turn around! Don't even think about using a Card!"
As he turned, she shifted the katana, accidentally cutting into his uniform, as the katana moved towards his throat.
"Agent 0616, you were ordered to vacate," he shouted, pleadingly.
"I never got that order," she said. "What kind of order requires you to carry off the Prime Minister and his wife, forcing them to neither move or speak?"
"The right of military self-determination!"
She had never been trained in how to capture someone, so instead, when the soldier tried to reach for his card box, she overpowered him, flipping him on his back, and kept control of his hands.
All she could use to bind his hands were Mrs. Kasai's hair bands. Using as many as she could, she temporarily had bound the man. She covered his mouth, to prevent any surprises in that direction as well.
He may have been a Pathist, and likely a soldier, but would he pass the Girls' Army fitness standard? Unlikely.
She took the man's Card box and put it on the bed, away from him.
She was caught in a conundrum now. Even bound, she didn't trust to leave the assailant with Mr. Kasai. But she wanted to go rescue Mrs. Kasai.
How could she leave her protective target in the same room with three assailants? Even assuming the other two stayed in a coma for hours.
She was about to drag the three men elsewhere, starting with the Card user, when Warrant Officer Saito entered the bedroom. His face was locked in a fearsome appearance, as if he was about to roar.
When he saw Autumn, he completely changed. "Shūsui? Are you okay?"
Saito addressing her as a civilian was rather weird, but she responded as best she could.
"I wasn't sure how to bind someone's hands. The others are affected by the Card user's Coma card. I hope Mr. Kasai can resist it."
Saito bent down next to the captured Card user.
"He's terrified," Saito said. "Captured on a black mission. Dead is acceptable, but Capture is shameful to them."
"Tell me in detail, what happened," he asked.
She recounted the way she spotted the three men, and crept to the bedroom. She didn't give the exact details on how she resisted, just saying she managed to free one toe at a time, and eventually enough to fight back.
When asked about the Coma spell, she said, "Once you've fought off one Card that tries to control you, the next isn't so hard to resist.
"Not necessarily," Saito said.
"They told me I had orders to 'evac'? I never got those," she said.
"Military party orders. I'm not part of that party, and neither are you. Specialist Nagano left. He just became a member of Gunbatsu.
She heard a raspy voice behind them. "Haru--"
It was Minister Kasai trying to speak his wife's name.
"We need to control this situation, and I don't know who to trust," Saito said. "Mr. Kasai, your wife is on the couch, she'll be okay, but we need to check all three of you for symptoms, and do something with our captives."
"This Card user knew who I really was," she said.
"Then one of my superiors betrayed the confidence of the Legislative Protection Program. Although we are special forces, for the duration of our protective detail, we are under the authority of the Legislative body itself."
"You might as well consider this embedded detail lost, but at least you were effective in your role. You will certainly be a better 2nd than Nagano. As lead, I need to stay with Minister Kasai. There's a lot to be done."
"Minister Kasai was to become the Prime Minister tonight. There may be a delay. We need medical help and custodial help for the captives. We need updates on how Gunbatsu is responding. If they move out into the open, Kasai's people are all in danger.
Minister Kasai needs to hear from his staff as well. And the Governor General might like to hear of all of this."
Prioritization Vote:
Autumn will be working as the message-passer and coordinator between Warrant Officer Saito, at the Kasai home, and various groups of people. Topics that receive more votes will have higher priority.
Vote for as many as you want.
[ ] Medical
Mr. and Mrs. Kasai were afflicted with various Card effects, and two of the attackers have blade wounds. The Coma card may have kept the bleeding men alive.
[ ] Ministry Staff
Mr. Kasai was supposed to officially become Prime Minister in less than 24 hours. Staff can prepare to make an official response, as well as organizing
[ ] Jail / Confinement
The Captured attackers need to be safely controlled, looked after and interviewed to find out any useful information.
[ ] News / Investigation
Any news on how the militaristic party plans to respond would be helpful.
[ ] Governor General
The Governor General may want to know about such a grave attack on the night before he's supposed to appoint Mr. Kasai to the Prime Ministership.
