SPARK IN THE SHELL

DISCAIMER: I don't own Ghost in the Shell or Transformers. Just my OC's and the plot.

PROLOGUE: THE TREE WISHES

New Port City, 12:35am

The night was calm and quiet, the air was still with no wind glowing off the far away sea or the mountains, the city was unusually quiet tonight, the traffic was light, the crowds outside the night clubs were few and far between and all the drift racers, motorcycle gangs and all the usual yakuza thugs were staying low tonight.

The City of New Port was sleeping tonight.

As he slowly paced through his favourite park, Saito breathed in deep the cool night air, this was his favourite place to come after mission and today hadn't been particularly tough, a hitman with over 20 victims to his name had to be stopped after he killed the wife and child of one of New Ports most prominent businessmen on behalf of one of the bosses of the Inagawa-kai gang, the third largest yakuza family in Japan. After 6 tedious hours of tracking him through the city the team had finally tracked him down to his hideout in a 20 story apartment building, one shot from over 800 yards ended it all.

He seldom got to see the park during the day because his job with the section required him to be on standby all the time, the night was the only time he ever got to spend here. It was a shame because one couldn't appreciate the full colors of all the flowers, but the silver glow of the moonlight gave it a whole other kind of beauty, a beauty that only one who spends his life walking in the shadows could only come to appreciate, for any sniper a night like this was a perfect night hunting a target, the darkness was your friend and the moon your guiding light, here in this place he felt he could put the concerns of everyday life aside for a brief time and let his thoughts wander in secret, away from prying eyes, away from his regular life.

Overhead he saw the cherry trees were budding, ready to bloom and hail the coming of spring, the willow trees had fresh new leafs and in the borders the first of the season's flowers had poked their little heads out the ground, ready to bloom and flaunt their colors too.

But past the trees, far up into the sky the glow of the city's lights seemed distant tonight, letting the deep shades of ultramarine, indigo and bluish-violet fill the endless night sky with a depth as far as the ocean and as darkly rich as velveteen, making the stars particularly beautiful tonight, each one a perfect little diamond, radiant and never touched by mortal hands. For someone who seldom got much time to himself, little moments like this were tiny treats to be savored while they lasted.

But then when did most individuals like him ever get to appreciate the little things in life? After all, sniping wasn't exactly a profession you can brag about; being a sniper for the better part of over 15 years now was an impressive service record and after the Major took him under her wing after that duel in the ruins of Mexico City he rose to become a full class A sniper. But as formidable as it made him, he felt it had given him a sense distance from most other professionals, sure he was grateful for having his friends in section 9, and even more grateful to the Major for allowing him to become one of the top 10 class A snipers in the world. But for over 7 years he hadn't met anyone or gone up against an opponent that was his equal.

When you're a sniper your life was not one that was as straightforward as everyone else, your profession was not one that could be bragged about, glamour never came into the picture and if you had a cybernetic aid like a Hawkeye, you could easily be picked out from a crowd (not that it was a big issue to most, considering most people these days have cybernetic aids or up-grades in form or another). He wondered just who else was out there that could take him on, when you're a good sniper your enemies can range from anyone on the battlefield to those who have enough money to hire a hitman so as to get revenge for a loved one you took away, as well as anyone else that could hunt you down. But when you were a class A sniper with additional training in electronic warfare the only other enemy you could really afford to be concerned about was another class A sniper. It wasn't that Saito felt pride at being the only top sniper around, he just felt...like he wanted another sniper, either for a real duel, one that only karma could decide the outcome of, or....just someone to have as a friend?

He shook himself from his thoughts, since when was that ever going to happen? As he watched the evening star hang over the distant mountains, a great golden shooting star streaked across the sky leaving an amber-orange glow in its wake, he watching curiosity, since when did shooting stars get that big? But it was very beautiful. As it neared the horizon he smiled as he remembered something his father told him long ago back in his boyhood.

'When you see a shooting star, you get to make a wish my son'

Watching the amber trail disappear, he closed his eye and whispered silently to himself;

"I wish...to find another sniper as good as me...either as my enemy...or as my friend"

And as swiftly as it had appeared the star was gone from sight, he dropped his gazed back to the ground "Yeah right" he smirked. He looked at his watch and saw the hour was growing late; he had to be in early the next morning so some

sleep before then would serve him well. He started walking back the way he came and left the park, leaving behind that sense serenity, and forgetting the wish.

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At first there was only darkness, then he realised he was standing in sand.

Batou looked everywhere around, up, down, in front and behind but it was no use, he had no idea where he was.

Everywhere around him it was like ground zero right after the apocalypse or after a nuke had gone off, the land was an endless dessert of drab gray and dark sand, no trees, no grass or any sign of life, high above the sky looked like it was burning, thick black clouds stretched far over the heavens as the sky itself was bright crimson red with streaks of yellow flame and here and there embers and ash's fell like snow.

'Where am I?' he asked himself, was this hell? Was this some kind of punishment for his past sins? Wherever he was it surly had to be the worst place on earth, he walked forward to nowhere in particular, as if there was anywhere to go here, as he climbed up one of the huge sweeping dunes in order to get a better look a distant scream broke the empty silence, quickly he ran up to the dunes crest and stood in silence as he saw the scene play out below.

A black horse with numerous scars and wounds everywhere across it's body, was kicking, biting and rearing up its forequarters as it tried to keep a pack of white wolves with red eyes at bay, the pack was relentless as it tried to attack the colt, they growled, they snarled and even howled but every time one of the wolves would bite or tackle the horse, it only got up and lashed out again, earning more injuries in the process, quickly Batou ran down to try and help the poor creature, he punched, he kicked and he beat each and every retched wolf away, when he

turned to face the colt he was surprised to see the Major standing before it with a determined look on her face with a set of reigns in one hand and a saddle under the other arm, Batou tried to call out to her but was struck with horror as he found his voice was silent and as he tried to reach out to her he passed through her body like an apparition, all he could do was stand there like a shadow and watch in silence.

The black colt stood before the Major with a look of pure rage, its dark blue eyes sized her up, it's ears were pricked back and it pounded it's left front hoof into the sand as blood oozed from it wounds.

"It's time you were put in your place!" the Major said firmly, she put the saddle and reigns down and stepped forward with a long length of rope, with her cyborg strength she easily jumped and flipped over the horse's head, landing on its back and throwing the rope around its neck.

The poor creature went completely berserk as it bucked, kicked, reared and tossed about, trying to throw the Major off it's back as she held on tight with the rope. Finally the horse took one huge leap and landed on its back, that was enough to get the Major off but as they both scrambled back up the colt had the upper hand this time, it laid down an aggressive attack on her and every time she jumped out the way it stomped forward to kick and bite her. What was going on? Why was she doing this? What was it for?

After 10 long hard minutes of bitter fighting, the horse reared up once again and with one swift kick knocked the Major out unconscious, she fell to the ground with a thud and there she lied in the gray sand, her body turned to sand and blew away with the wind, the exhausted creature turned to face Batou, but this time it wasn't angry or agitated, it stood still as it panted for breath, its flanks glimmered a deep ruby red as blood poured from its flanks and it's scars looked raw and ugly.

Batou took a tense step forward, weary that it might go crazy again, but the horse stepped forward and let the cyborg stroke it's nose, its hot breath hit his hand like steam, its eyes were hard and battle worn, betraying a life of hardship and constant struggling.

"You've had it bad haven't you buddy? Guess you won't let anyone ride you huh?" Batou sighed, in the distance a silver glint caught his eye, on top of one of the dunes a silver panther-like creature stood watching him, the horse turned around and saw it too, it looked Batou in the eye one last time and turned to gallop in the creatures direction, together the black horse and the silver panther ran side by side together disappearing far into the apocalyptic landscape.

As Batou watched, the winds began to blow, whipping up the gray sand around and around in cyclones, the skies turned dark and the sound of rolling thunder echoed in the distance, all around the darkness enveloped him once again and as the dessert disappeared from sight he felt himself become weightless and formless, like a ghost drifting into obscurity.

He woke up and sat upright in bed, it had all been a dream.

He took a deep breath and sighed in relief. That had to be the most vivid dream he had had in...He couldn't recall the last time he dreamed like that, it had felt so real and it had felt like it really had happened, which was very strange considering cyborgs like himself seldom had dreams.

He lied back down, feeling as if something inside him had been moved, sure seeing an animal in pain was never a nice thing to see, but what was with the horse? And the Major trying to wrestle it like that? She did have a saddle and reigns but what was the significance of her trying to break it in and ride it? And what was with the silver panther? Though he would initially dismiss such a thing as just random stirrings in his cyber brain trying to get the better of him but this

felt different somehow, like something else was at work, something deep and profound, as if something had tried to reach out to him.

Maybe this was some way of his sub-consciousness catching up with him after all these long years? That this was one of the ramifications of the life he led? That everything was allowed to be alright during the day and when he shut off his cybernetically enhanced eyes at night his guilty consciousness reprimanded him for all his past sins?

"What a bunch of bull" he muttered, when he rolled over on his side he saw the glow of the city reach high into the dark night sky, high overhead the stars shone bright and clear. Suddenly, a bright golden shooting star shot across the sky leaving a bright orange amber trail, that was strange, he'd never seen a shooting star like that before, it seemed so radiant, as if it had some magic in it, he then remembered the old fairytale, if you see a shooting star you get to make a wish.

He smirked and whispered into thin air;

"I wish...for once we get a mission where things go our way all the way for once"

He turned over and let himself drift off back to sleep, letting the dream become a memory in the back of his mind and the wish a way to humour himself.

The bedroom was dim with the glow of the city coming in through the window, his baby son and four year old daughter lay sleeping peacefully in the next room and his wife lay sleeping by his side. He watched her as her breaths came soft and silent; her pink satin sleeveless nightgown made her curves all the more beautiful, her red hair framed her face quite nicely.

But what he enjoyed most was that she slept with a small smile on her pale rosy lips. He stroked her cheek softly in affection, thankful that today had been his day off and that he was able to spend it with her.

Today had been Togusa and Mei Nobuyoshi's wedding anniversary, 7 years they'd been together through the good times and the bad.

He turned on his back and stared up at the ceiling, his mind turned inwards, remembering everything that's gone on over the past seven months since the incident on Dejima.

With the chief's speciality being able to handle and resolve difficult situations, the prime minister now regularly called upon him to help defuse difficult situations. After she read Aramaki's report on how his team had handled the incident on Dejima Section 9 had been more in demand than ever, while some incidences had cropped up here and there and they had been left to either the military or the police, section 9 was now relied upon to handle the most important and serious cases.

As a result they had really earned a reputation among the public security sectors as the prime ministers favourite law enforces, admire them or loath them, section 9 was not going to be disbanded any time soon.

He smiled, remembering how happy Batou had been when the Major revealed to the team that the Tachikoma's had been saved on a secondary set of AI chips that had been kept in storage at the AI central analysis lab. After the Tachikoma unit rejoined section 9 life seemed to return to a relative state of normality.

But the same could not be said for the rest of the country, after the nuke explosion had been witnessed by the whole of Nagasaki the public had really raised a ruckus, demanding to know what had happed. The question of what was going on behind closed doors in the government was raised even further when the prime minister had announced her new independent self-reliance policy, effectively making Japan a stand-alone nation in the international community. And it didn't come as any surprise to the section when the American ambassador was given a summons to return to his country. It may have been a surprise to the public, but the general consensus among some in the government and public security (and Batou especially) was good riddance.

But while life at section 9 had stabilized back into their regular routines, Togusa couldn't help but feel something was amiss, sure the Tachikomas were back and up to their impish ways and the section was allowed to do their own thing to get a job done. All the same, he couldn't help but feel life hadn't been the same since Dejima.

Not that he could complain, the section was back to doing what it did best, his friends were well and content, and even the Major was back to being her old self.

So what was possibly wrong he asked himself?

Quietly as possible he slipped out of bed, threw on a pair of pants and silently made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water, after downing a swig he walked into the living room and gazed out of the window, scanning over the vast cityscape.

His mind wandered further and his thoughts turned to why he was feeling this sense of missing something, everything was more or less as it was before so what was wrong? He then thought of the cases they had worked these past few months, they covered a whole range of problems from high-end terrorism to run-of-the-mill hackers, each case had required a different means of investigation to get to the root of each problem and had required a different perspective for each subject they went after to best track them and take care of them.

And that's when it hit him.

It was still the same old cases with the same old high profile subjects, nothing had truly changed about the job, they just went back to doing what they did before. Which by all rights he liked it that way, it was better than working the more risky cases that involved being shot up or worse and he loved seeing is wife and kids at the end of the day.

But still...

The individual eleven case had been the only other case besides the laughing man incident that really tested section 9 and pushed them to their limits, it had been long, hard, and there were plenty of times where Gouda and the CIS had pissed them off to no end, not to mention the trouble Kuze gave them when they tried to apprehend him on Etorofu. The whole case had been long, hard, complex and very nearly turned into the worst case scenario.

But it had been a very different case.

One that no-one could solve right away, and one that lead from complicated situation to another.

It had been a challenge, not one that was wanted or needed, but all throughout they had stood by each other as a team, and as friends and although he would never tell anyone that, it had been true never the less.

Gently unlocking the door and stepping out onto the patio, he breathed deep the night air. The cool breeze brushed through his hair as he looked up at the night sky.

Amid the grungy orange highlighted clouds, illuminated by the city's radiating glow the deep indigo night sky stretched from horizon to horizon. Glistening with a billion tiny twinkling stars.

Suddenly, a bright enormous shooting star bathed in a radiant golden light shot swiftly across the sky leaving a trail of amber behind.

Togusa watched in awe, he had never seen a shooting star like that before, then he suddenly remembered the old wife's tale that if you see a shooting star, you get to make a wish.

As the stars tail began to disappear he closed his eyes, letting his thoughts go and throwing caution to the wind, and in brief moment, whispered in a voice so soft only he could hear it.

"I wish...for something unbelievable to happen"

When he opened his eyes the star was gone.

He sighed, 'yeah right...time to go back to reality' he thought with a smirk.

He put the glass back in the kitchen and quietly slipped back into bed, as he laid there he silently slipped into a dreamless sleep with only thoughts of what was in store for tomorrow on his mind.

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But what these three agents of section 9 didn't appreciate is that when you wish upon a star, not only did you have to be careful what you wished for, but also remember that fate and destiny had a strange way of making it come true, and somewhere far beyond the world that Saito, Batou and Togusa knew, the shooting star began to work its magic.