Chapter 2: The New Frontier and Builders of a Legaxy
(Disclaimer! I own nothing of Xenoblade X!)
Cross, Elma, and Lin entered the barracks.
"Honey we're home!" said Lin.
"Very funny Lin," said Nagi.
"Want some tea?" asked Lin.
"Thank you Ms Koo, but I can't stay too long," said Nagi, "I just came to pass by a request from your commanding officer."
"I'm guessing it has something to do with our new recruit," said Elma as she sat down.
"Correct, he said he would be back but also said I shouldn't wait," said Nagi.
"So what did he need?" asked Lin.
"As he would put it, he said 'what in the hell are we waiting for'," said Nagi, "He wants Cross to do a small assignment."
"Vandham has a way with words rook," said Elma.
"I told him about the memory issue, but he doesn't believe it to be serious," said Nagi, "We need more recruits at this time."
"Well its not me you should convince," explained Elma as she looked at Cross.
"So can we count on your help?" asked Nagi.
"Sir, it would give me great pleasure to be part of Blade," said Cross.
Nagi smiled.
"I knew you'd make the right decision Cross," said Nagi, "Welcome to the organization."
He turned to Elma and said, "He'll start on your team, and begin training immediately."
"Welcome to the cool kids club," said Lin smiling.
"So what's the assignment?" asked Cross.
"We agreed that a probe installation would be the best starter for you," said Nagi.
"We started a new thing called Frontier Nav," said Elma, "It's a program where we install data probes around Mira to get more information about the planet."
"Expanding the grid is the top mission aside from finding the Lifehold," said Nagi.
He showed them a map.
"What you're looking at is a terrain mass surrounding NLA," said Nagi, and the area is divided into hexagonal blocks."
"We find out good patterns based on those blocks," said Elma, "This comes in handy when trying to locate something."
"Go to this location, install the probe then come back safely," said Nagi.
"Got it sir," said Cross.
"Training or not, let's go install the HELL out of that probe," said Lin.
Cross started to head out.
"Before you go, a small gift from the commander," said Nagi.
He handed Cross and longsword.
As he touched it, he had more visions from his past.
"Cross, are you ok?" asked Elma.
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Cross, "I just felt like I saw something in my head."
Elma felt his head.
"You seem fine," said Elma, "If something's bothering you, tell me ok?"
"Yes ma'am," said Cross.
"Listen Rook, I may be your teammate, but there's no need for that word," said Elma, "Its strange for me to hear you call me that."
"Yes ma…. I mean Elma," said Cross.
"Hey, what are we waiting for, new years?" Asked Lin, "Let's go!"
They started heading to the East Gate.
"A mission on the East side," said Lin.
"Hold on, is the gate even open?" asked Elma, "Last I heard it was on lockdown because of the indigen attack."
"It was but it was lowered down earlier after two soldiers kicked some indigen ass," said Lin.
Cross remembered it.
"That was us," said Cross.
"That was you?!" asked Lin, "Whoa you are so awesome!"
"But they were fairly routine," said Elma.
"Its still cool to me that Cross took down some grexes and he wasn't even registered as a blade!" said Lin.
"Confidence can be good, but being overconfident is fatal," said Elma, "Enough talk, let's do this mission and get it done."
They started heading out.
The clouds were coming in nd the wind started to pick up.
"Nice day for a data probe install mission," said Lin with sarcasm in her voice.
Cross saw something up ahead.
"You might wanna take a look at this," he said.
They were looking at 3 gorilla like creatures all dead.
"What….. the hell….. happened here?" asked Lin.
They were looking at a giant bug creature.
"That Cinicula… couldn't have taken down all these simius," said Lin.
"Unless…." Said Elma, "This is bad."
"What is it?" asked Cross.
"That's no ordinary cinicula," said Elma, "It's a tyrant."
"But it looks like an ordinary one," said Lin.
"The average cinicula is on the lower part of the chain than a simius, and usually we'd find a simius standing over four corpses of them," said Elma, "But it looks like the tables have turned."
"Someone must've ran into it if its this close to the city," said Lin.
Cross looked at it.
"So what's a tyrant?" he asked.
"A tyrant is the title given to creatures that pose a special threat," said Lin, "And that doesn't always mean its tougher than its average species."
He then got out his longsword.
"We can't let it near the city," he said, "I say we take it down."
"Are you crazy?" asked Lin.
"I am," said Cross, "But if we don't then who will?"
Elma grinned.
"I like the way you think Rook," said Elma, "If we can kill it great, but top priority is getting it away from the city."
"Count me in," said Lin.
The cinicula look at Cross.
It then started to attack.
"I'll take point," said Cross going in, "Charge!"
He started attacking with its longsword.
Lin pressed a button on her machine gun that said "Thermal Payload" and fired.
"Nice shot!" said Cross.
He saw something glowing.
"Elma, aim for that spot!" he instructed.
"Got it," said Elma.
She started firing and the appendage was destroyed.
"Move in and strike!" said Elma.
"With pleasure," said Cross.
He had another vision of an attack with the longsword.
"Rising Blade," he said to himself.
He did the attack weakening the tyrant.
Then he did the assault hammer and toppled it.
"Whoa!" said Lin, "He toppled a tyrant!"
Elma decided to finish it off with her signature move Shadow Strike.
The tyrant was down for the count.
"Great work guys," said Lin.
Cross was covered in the blood of the tyrant.
"You ok Rook?" asked Elma.
"Never felt better," said Cross.
"You fought well, both of you," said Elma, "Now to install this data probe."
"What's that beam?" asked Cross.
"It shows a probe location where we can install a data probe for FN," said Elma.
Lin set up the probe.
"The top half of that cylinder contains the probe itself," said Elma, "The second half is a laser."
"So how does it work?" asked Cross.
"Originally we tried just placing them, but thye kept running into indigen problems," said Elma, "That when we discovered the idea to bury them in the ground instead."
"Alright, whenever you're redy," said Lin.
"Give it a shot," said Elma.
"Got it," said Cross.
He pressed a button and the probe went underground and was installed.
"Nice work," said Elma.
"The more we install, the more crew we can find," said Lin.
"That's it for training," said Elma, "Let's head back."
As they got back to the barracks, they saw Commander Vandham waiting for them.
"Well look what the cat dragged in," he said, "And you must be the new recruit."
Cross gulped.
"Don't worry, he may look intimidating, but he's one guy you'll love to be around," said Lin.
"I heard you took on and defeated a tyrant that was WAY out of your league, on a training mission no less!" said Vandham.
"Yes," said Cross.
"That was plain reckless," Vandham started, "And goddamn magnificent!"
"So what do we owe the pleasure of our commander?" asked Elma.
"Well if I had Nagi doing everything for me, I'd lose my job," said Vandham with a chuckle.
"I believe I'm needed elsewhere," said Nagi, "Excuse me."
"You two are just like to kids excited about a toy," said Elma.
"You're one to talk, making a request to train somebody you rescued," said Vandham, "Which I haven't been introduced to yet."
"My name is Cross, sir," said Cross.
"I'm Commander Vandham, and I was the chief on the white whale," said Vandham.
"So why exactly are you here commander?" asked Lin.
"To get this youngling to choose a division and pull off a mission," said Vandham.
"What are the divisions?" asked Cross.
Elma and Vandham started to explain the divisions from Interceptors to Reclaimers and everything.
After learning of all the information, Cross seemed to know what his place was.
"Well, I do seem like the fighting type," said Cross, "I believe I know what division I want."
"And what is it?" asked Vandham.
"Looks like the interceptors need more assistance," said Cross, "And I seem to be handy with my weapons, so Interceptors it is!"
"You sure?" asked Elma, "Even if you choose one, you're not tied to strictly those missions you know."
"I'm sure," said Cross.
"By the power invested in me, yada yada, you're a blade," said Vandham.
"Welcome aboard Rook," said Elma.
"I know you'll do great things," said Lin.
"Now onto business," said Vandham, "Nelson's team has gone missing."
"Nelson?" asked Elma, "He's in the Pathfinder division."
"Last we heard he and his team were installing a probe in Primordia," said Vandham, "He had a skell with him, and we weren't sure if it was an indigen or what?"
"We should head to their last known location and find out what's going on," said Elma, "We'll go immediately."
They started heading out.
As they got there, Elma saw a wrecked skell.
"Damn, nobody's there," she said looking at it.
"It was fighting something but those aren't the usual bit marks," said Lin looking at the damage.
"Either they walked away or were taken from it," said Elma.
"We should investigate the area," said Cross, "If they were here they couldn't have gone far."
"Right," said Elma.
Lin's comm device was picking up something.
"It's a pathfinder signal," said Lin.
"Maybe they went into that thing over there," said Elma looking at a tower.
"I'm picking up other life forms too!" said Lin, "Multiples of them around the structure."
"They must be aliens," said Cross.
"I think you're right," said Elma.
"Could they be the ones that destroyed Earth?" asked Lin.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, but of course we should let go of the thought either," said Elma.
"You there!" said someone, "Drop your weapons!"
They looked at two Xenoforms with armor.
"Surrender Earth Aliens!" said the first one.
Cross stood down.
"Wait Cross!" said Lin.
"Its ok, Lin," said Elma, "They can speak out language so we should see if diplomacy is a choice."
"Roger," said Lin.
"We come in peace, and are willing to negotiate," said Elma, "We heard you have prisoners, and we ask for the conditions of their release. We'll leave you in peace if you refuse."
"No negotiation, no conditions!" said the Xeno soidler, "We have our orders!"
They had their weapons ready.
"Looks like we have no choice!" said Cross as he got out his rifle.
He pressed a button that said flame grenade and fired at them.
Elma moved in and did a side slash weakening them both while Lin.
Cross gave Lin the chrome armor buff.
She had more defense power.
"Thanks," said Lin, "I needed that."
He then used an aura on himself making him stronger.
Cross then had a vision of a new art, the Furious Blast.
He did the technique and fired many shots at the Xeno soldier.
"That's the end of that," he said.
The second Xeno soldier was about to attack him from behind but Lin then knocked him down with her shield.
"Thanks for the save," said Cross.
"So much for diplomacy," said Lin, "Why do they want us dead anyway?"
"I'm not sure, but they said they were following orders," said Elma, "Maybe somebody that's higher up the chain can talk to us."
They infiltraited the hidden base following the signal.
"They should be….. over there," said Lin pointing at a tower.
They snuck past the guards and went inside.
Elma had her gun up and was about to fire until she saw Nelson lying there lifeless.
"You…. You killed them," said Elma, "In cold blood."
"Fortune did not smile upon them," said the leader.
"Oh no," said Lin.
"Are you in charge here?" asked Cross.
"I am Glennar, and I command this squad of prone soldiers," said Glennar.
"Well Glennar, I am Elma, and we apologize if we intruded your planet," said Elma, "We crash landed here during an attack on our ship. We were hoping for a peaceful settlement but…."
"Your words are wasted on us!" said Glennar, "All we can promise is a death for all humanity!"
"Elma…" said Lin.
"Survival of the fittest it is," said Elma getting out her weapon, "Focus on his lackies!"
Cross got out his longsword and started fighting them.
"Stagger him Lin!" said Cross.
Lin did as she was instructed and staggered the prone soldier and Cross finished him.
"Let's try this," said Cross, "Flash Grenade!"
He shot the grenade blinding the other soldier temporarily.
Lin moved in and did the wild down taking him down.
"That was easy," said Lin.
"I got you now!" said Glennar.
He had Elma in a bearhold.
"Elma!" said Cross.
"Drop your weapons or she dies," said Glennar.
Cross had his gun ready to shoot him.
"Think about what you're doing boy," said Glennar, "Do you really want to see your leader crushed by my mucles?"
Cross started to lower his weapons.
"Good boy," he said looking down at the fallen soldiers, "Now I can…."
Cross dashed at Glennar and kicked him in the face making him release Elma.
He then grabbed the prone weapon and aimed it at Glennar's head.
"Just what are you trying to prove human?" he asked.
"That we come in peace, and we don't wanna have to fight anybody," said Cross, "But it looks like we have no choice."
"You really think you're safe from us?" asked Glennar, "We will clense this planet of your primitive kind."
"Eye for an eye asshole," said Cross.
He pulled the trigger and fired at his head.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
"What have I done?" he asked.
He dropped the weapon and Elma and Lin comforted him.
"You did what you had to," said Elma, "If I were in your position I would've done the same."
"Besides you kicked some major ass," said Lin, "But why were they so dead set on killing us?"
"Whatever the reason we should report this to HQ," said Elma.
"And just when I thought we finally ecaped all this," said Lin.
"Escape! Escape!" said a voice.
They looked at a box bouncing around.
"What do you say Rook?" asked Elma.
"I say we open it," said Cross.
He opened it and saw a small potato with glasses.
"Freedom!" it said, "Tatsu thanks you for the rescue."
"A talking potato," said Lin, "I wonder what it takes like."
"Tastes like?" asked Cross.
"You may not know it but I'm one hell of a cook," said Lin.
"Tatsu is no potato," said Tatsu, "Tatsu is a Nopon!"
Cross looked at it.
"Tatsu tried explaining this to mean nasty creatures when they took Tatsu away!"
"Wait, did those nasty creature have pointy ear and blue skin?" asked Cross, "Cause we just fought them."
"Yes, and now the nopon are indangered," said Tatsu, "So now you have a responsibility to protect Tatsu, and then maybe Tatsu will talk."
"Right… Lin, I'll hold him down if you peel," said Cross.
"Ok, I'll talk!" said Tatsu.
"So this is your homeworld and you're native to Mira?" asked Elma.
"That correct," said Tatsu, "Until Prone and their alien buddies attacked!"
"Alien buddies?" asked Lin, "The other race of aliens that attacked Earth.
"Well, rest assured we'll keep you safe from those freaks," said Cross.
"Thank you so much!" said Tatsu.
"We can debrief him when we head back to NLA," said Elma.
Lin scanned him.
"He's all clear," said Lin.
Cross heard more soldiers.
"Haul ass!" he said.
They ran back to NLA.
They made it to the barracks and saw Commander Vandham waiting for them.
Later they all debried him on what happened.
"That's a low blow losing Nelson's team," said Vandham, "But knowing that those races of aliens know we're here is even worse."
"Yes, and I would've been next," said Elma, "If it weren't for Cross' bravery."
"Sir, so far it seems like they're the races that destroyed Earth, sir," said Cross, "I saw we talk to Nagi to see if we can bolter our defences."
"One more thing," said Vandham looking at Tatsu, "What's that dancing turnip here?"
"Sir, we found him at the base where Nelson was taken sir," said Cross.
"Tatsu is ally of friends and offer friendly treaty of friendship," said Tatsu.
"So why is he here?" asked Vandham.
"Sir, we believe he would be good use of intel sir," said Cross.
"There's no need to be formal with me Cross," said Vandham.
"Sir yes si…. Oh," said Cross.
"Friends are safe now that Tatsu is around," said Tatsu, "Tatsu will protect everybody even weak Linly with her boneless wings."
"Look who's talking small fry," said Lin, "I think its best if you stay here."
"She has a point," said Cross, "Who knows, maybe those creeps might come after you again."
"But Tatsu can share information with other nopon across the planet," said Tatsu.
"Well, looks like he has a point," said Elma.
"Well looks like he'll accompany you in the field," said Vandham, "He's your headache now Lin."
"What?!" asked Lin, "Are you kidding me?"
"We'll do it sir," said Elma.
Later that Evening…..
"So how are you holding up as a Blade?" asked Lin.
"Pretty good," said Cross.
"OF course you are," said Lin, "You're picking up things like a pro."
Cross blushed at the thought.
"Let's review a few keypoints," said Elma, "Our top priority is getting the lifehold unit, but we should also do what we can to help our fellow blades in the field."
"Ok," said Cross.
"But now the pressing threat is an alien race that wants us dead," said Elma, "We should stop them before they find the lifehold unit as well."
"And install more probes in order to help us find more soldier and pieces of the lifehold across Mira," said Lin, "That means checking every part of the planet. A lot of work, but its worth the effort in the end."
"And of course our duty is to keep NLA safe, and that means clearing any indigens or tyrants that pose as a threat," said Elma.
"Going to Mission control, joining missions and so on is a good way to make a name for yourself," said Lin.
"So we have 3 missions; search for the lifehold pieces, install data probes to upgrade frontier nav, and take on squad missions to keep us safe," said Elma.
"Got it," said Cross.
"Good, we're counting on you Rook," said Elma.
"Briefing ajounred," said Lin, "I'm gonna turn in."
"Me too," said Tatsu.
"There's your bed right there," said Lin.
She was pointing to a refrigerator.
"Wait… that's a refrigerator!" said Tatsu.
"I guess you are smart," said Lin.
Cross was at the top of a building looking up to the sky.
Demons from Night Visions
When the days are cold When your dreams all fail I wanna hide the truth No matter what we breed
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood's run stale
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
"Mind if I join you?" asked somebody.
It was Elma who sat by him.
"Killer view huh?" asked Elma.
"Tell me about it," said Cross as he smiled.
When you feel my heat At the curtain's call So they dug your grave
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
It's the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you made
Elma noticed that Cross had a scrated.
"It must've happened during the fight," said Cross.
"I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life," said Elma, "That was brave of you."
"Well I couldn't just let him hurt you," said Cross, "Thank you for getting me involved in this."
"That's what friends are for right?" asked Elma. No matter what we breed
Don't wanna let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't wanna hide the truth
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
"We're friends?" asked Cross, "I mean of course we're friends."
"The invisible ties of friendship are something that make a great team," said Elma.
"I can't wait to see what other adventures we have here on Mira," said Cross.
Elma smiled.
"Something to be said about enthusiasm," said Elma.
As Cross was looking down at NLA Elma moved close to him and kissed his cheek.
"That's for saving my life," she said, "Don't stay up here too long, even blades need their rest."
She headed back down.
Cross smiled.
They say it's what you make Your eyes, they shine so bright When you feel my heat
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
