Reunion: Set off once again!
"We're not going to make it. Most of the reflector films are peeling off and they've taken out half our engines"
"How many are left?"
"A few stray scouts, nothing serious; but by the looks of things they're jamming the area. We're not getting a clear message out anytime soon"
"Tell your crew to evac your ship, the Gekko-Go has more than enough space to take you on"
The Battleship at the rear of the group was trailing further and further behind. It was a mess; the rear of the ship looked like some twisted sculpture and as time elapsed more pieces of the ship fell. Near the ship a few KLF were still fighting but the ORA KLF numbers got smaller and smaller until all of them were gone.
"This is Captain Mina, everyone's left the ship, I'll be making my way to the pods now, I just need to enter the self destruct sequence"
A blast came from the rear of the ship. Initially Holland was startled but then realized it was just the crew cutting themselves loose. As small military transports and escape craft exited the dying ship Holland opened the catapult and waited for their arrival. Under normal conditions the Gekko-Go could outrun any Battleship and if it still had its weapons it could even take on a whole battle group toe to toe. However, Holland fell behind looking after the crippled battleship which by now had blown up into a fiery ball. One by one the small craft landed on the Gekko-Go.
"To think I would ever set foot on this thing"
"This thing just saved your lives. You should be a little more grateful"
"You should remember who you wronged, Holland Novak"
Holland picked up on the Captain's meaning and did not continue the conversation. The Gekko-Go began to speed up to the front of the convoy. Even though the Gekko-Go was stripped of all its weapons it was the strongest ship here. The missile bays and small complement of homing lasers made it the most heavily armed ship here as well as the best armoured. Naturally it was normal for the Gekko-Go to take the lead.
"Are we getting through to anybody?"
"I've been sending transmission after transmission, still no response. Only thing I've been reading is static and threatening ORA voices. This Ray line leads to Bell Forest; hopefully they might be able to help us"
"Bell Forest, huh? Interesting, I wonder what I can expect there"
The captain directed his words at no one and simply muttered them. The Gekko-Go echoed with the sounds of the crew from the battleship as they settled in. The hanger was already filled to the brim with KLF and various other small craft so the remaining intact KLF flew patrols around the ship instead. The comm channels remained quiet for several minutes before one of the pilots made a startling discovery.
"I'm reading two squads of KLF heading our way. Captain, this is bad, me and my squad mates won't hold out for long. It's already taking me everything to keep this bucket from falling apart"
"We've got no choice, stick close to the Gekko-Go; we'll try to cover you guys"
"Roger that, sir"
The remaining squad of KLF formed up just behind the Gekko-Go and awaited the ORA KLF to get into range. With each passing second the read warnings on their screens painted a terrifying reminder of the line between life and death. Each picked a target and watched in horror as the distance reading became shorter and shorter.
"Holland, this is Sam, how's everything going"
The pilots turned their heads. In the distance a pair of LFO flew at them with frighten speed. The jet-like form allowed it speed unmatched by any KLF form at the cost of manoeuvrability.
"Sam, take out those KLF now!"
"Roger that Holland!"
The blue-high lighted LFO released a burst of speed and passed the damaged KLF in just over a minute. Very quickly the pair had sunk their blades into two of the ORA KLF. As if blinking would make them miss the action they watched as the pair disposed of the enemy. Immediately after the first two KLF went down, Sam and Miguel regained balance on their boards and began chasing after the scattered KLF. Sam's next target was just below him and he let his board push the KLF off its board before firing a shot from his arm mounted laser to finish him off. Miguel let loose his boomerang blade and had it split his target in half. Their actions switched and mingled until the opposing forces was no more.
"That's the last of them, hey Holland, the Arkson and heading here and since you're just about to head into Bell Forest territory, you should be safe now"
"Thank goodness…"
"Well, at the rate that this group is going, we'll be another two hours before we reach Bell Forest"
"We'll keep you company 'til then"
In the following two hours nothing happened. Just as Sam had predicted, ORA was simply too exhausted to continue and sending that two squads was their last bid at taking out the Gekko-Go. As the Bell Forest tower came into view, Holland could see smoke coming from some of the surrounding areas.
"We're you guy attacked?"
"Yeah, we got their just in time to take out ORA, but the damages is already done. I'm guessing Mark decided to stay behind to look after the place"
"Why so soon…"
No answer came from the pilots. For now everyone was safe. The combination of the Gekko-Go and the Arkson at the same place somehow gave people the false feeling of security, but it was enough to keep them calm. In the large meeting room of the tower, Holland and Marcellus and various other people from the tower's staff came. Eureka decided to stay around to see what was happening. They began talking about ORA's movements.
"If they take that area too, Bell Forest is going to be over run in a matter of days"
"Given all the information we have now, I'm guessing we have another two or three weeks before ORA makes their move"
"And when that happens, not even Richard can protect Bell Forest for long"
"At the rate we're going, I don't think the Federation can keep up the war for very long. I got wind that the Federation lost Altaria"
"Altaria? Are you kidding me? That place was a fortress"
"Yeah, since they took Altaria most people expect the Federation to fall by the end of the next year"
"While ORA gets stronger, the Federation gets weaker, huh?"
Eureka could not follow their conversation any longer and left for the Gekko-Go. The last time it was here was when Renton's funeral had taken place. She did not have time to explore the ship again and seeing it in the dock bays gave her a nostalgic feeling. The interior of the ship had not changed much. The rooms and hall ways remained the same. However, most of the Gekko State member's rooms had become storage rooms. Where the former crew of the Gekko-Go resided was now occupied by boxes of all sizes.
Eureka walked out of the Gekko-Go; there was nothing there for her. The ship was once her only home, with the only thing that mattered in her life: orders. The orders that gave purpose in her life, something that gave her meaning so long as she accomplished them. But all of that changed, she changed. The prize of human compassion fluttered to her hands. Eureka reflected on her time as a person, a true and genuine person that only existed for a few short years. Opposite of the Gekko-Go was the Arkson, the crew of which that appeared to be very familiar with Renton. Eureka entered the large ship. Once again the feeling of uncertainty ravaged her mind. The familiarity and feign looks mixed together. At the end of a hall, Eureka could see a bright light with various mechanical sounds. Making her way into it she alas found the hanger of the ship. A vast and cavernous room; much larger than the Gekko-Go's because of the simply fact it held ten LFOs and still had room to spare. This ship had LFOs to handle any situation from light recon to the heaviest of assaults; this ship had the gear pull it off.
"Beautiful ain't it?"
Eureka was startled by the voice behind her. She turned around to find a large looking man in a tight sleeveless shirt and worker's pants. He wore a friendly face.
"Rufus Petter at your service"
"Eureka Thurston"
"No need for the intro, we pretty much know who you are"
"Re-really"
Eureka felt a little embarrassment.
"Ruffy, we got a problem with the sensor array, could you come look at this?"
"On my way! If you want to have a look around no need to feel shy about it"
Rufus ran for one of the larger LFOs, Eureka followed him to it. The LFO was one and half times bigger than a normal one and it help multiple missile pods and laser cannons around it: a virtual tank.
"Ah, I told you guys not to touch this one! Renton's probably the only guy that can fix it -"
Rufus quickly shut his mouth. The rest of the repair crew hung their heads.
"Are you familiar with Renton?"
"Huh?"
Rufus and the rest of them felt less awkward.
"Yeah, when ever there's a problem with machines, Renton always knows how to deal with it"
"I see… Did you ask for his help often?"
"Every chance we get. After all, it's in the Thurston name to always fix things up to its peaks"
"Mind if I took a look at it?"
"Go ahead"
Eureka climbed onto the back where the panel for the computers were located. She stared at it for a while and placed her hand on the cold metal. In a few moments she took a wrench and began working it. Rufus was dumbfounded.
"My goodness, you got it working"
Eureka got out of the panel to look at her work.
"Amazing"
"Renton taught me a few things; after all, we had to look after a troublesome one quite often"
"TypeZero huh?"
For a time, Eureka had been running around with Rufus fixing all sorts of machines. In her time there she got to know more people from the Arkson. Firstly there was Rufus, Tim, Siv, and Pan. Like Renton, they all had a thing for machines and seeing her being able to fix them made them run around happily. Some of the maintenance crew from the tower came with meals, a short break followed.
"I heard something about the Federation falling"
"Ah, that story? It's happened before; in fact the Federation was predicted to have fallen two years ago. Quite frankly it's a miracle they held out for this long"
"What does ORA want anyways?"
"ORA or Order of Agheha, a splinter group that broke off four years after the second summer of love. Eureka, you have to understand, not all people are willing to listen to Holland or even what some surfer punks have to say. Dewey Novak's words still run deep. I guess you could call ORA the task force that will carry out Dewey's will and ideas"
Eureka shrunk at the mention of Dewey Novak.
"The Federation was falling apart with leaderships falling and raising. Groups charged with controlling areas began to succeed from the Federation. People were killed, and hell broke loose. ORA used that time to round up support and began attacking Federation areas. If Richard and Holland had not been there at the time, the Feds would have died right then and there"
"Then… How did they survive?"
"At the battle of the capitol, Richard bet everything he had to gain support from remaining undecided groups. Out numbered by three to one, if he lost here, the Federation would have completely fallen."
"Then how -"
"Renton came. Even when they opened fire on him, even when they were hell bent on trying to kill him, he refused to fight back. In the end, he managed to stop the conflict and both sides backed off. This pretty much gave Richard both support and time to reorganize things."
"Again that guy performs miracles that are next to impossible, but then again, it's also his fault that this who war has been dragging on for years"
"Shut up Tim"
Siv threw a beer can at Tim spilling the contents all over his co-worker.
"What was that for?"
"For being as ass, now get back to work before I kick your ass into it!"
Siv proceeded to drag Tim off into the direction of the LFOs. Eureka sat there; she began to absorb all that information into her mind.
"ORA today is now aiming for the destruction of the Federation, and the complete removal of the Scub Coral from earth. After all, people still believe that Dewey was right in reclaiming the planet"
Rufus and Pan took a zip at their drinks. In the entire time Eureka had seen him, he had not said a word. By the end of the day, Eureka was exhausted. The Arkson had piled up a large amount of repairs for Renton, something she spent most of the day doing. From what she could tell, the amount of work was only a quarter done. By the time Eureka returned to the house, which was largely undamaged due to its remote location, Charles had already returned and hid in his room. Again, the air of hostility loomed over Eureka; she could find neither an excuse nor a reason for her visit him in his room. Eureka made her way to the living room and sat on the coach, her body finally had a chance to rest. The huge gaps in time were being filled little by little but the more that is revealed to Eureka, the more she hated herself. To fill her mind up, she turned on the TV and expected nothing but static but to her shock, the network had been repaired and news being broadcast across all channels.
"The opposition military today has made another attempt at the neutral Bellforest, again the lives of innocents has been lost. The Federation can no longer protect the lives of civilians. What we pursue is peace, but we cannot give that to you. No, our only option is war. I understand I am contradicting myself when I say we are fighting a war for peace. But if we do not, many more innocent lives will be lost, and many more hurt. I stand here today, and we, united as a whole, declare all-out war on the Human Liberation From!"
Eureka heard Richard's booming voice on the television. The man she had met not too long ago spoke in a voice she never expected him to have. She could hear cheers and clapping in the background. The announcer began a summary of the program but Eureka's mind was left completely blank. Her trance was only broken by the ringing of the door bell.
"Good -"
Holland stood in front of her.
"I assume you heard the news?"
Eureka gave a subtle nod.
"Then let's go"
"To where?"
"Why, to gather the Gekko-State"
"Huh?"
Authro's Note: This chapter is a bit on the light side but I guess it came out okay. Anyways, as a forward warning for the latter half of June updates may be delayed or cancelled at worst. This is due to my exams coming up and I need to study but once that's over I'll try to equalize the damage done by it. Oh well, hope you enjoyed it anways.