The giant robot Valimar found itself flying above a group of protesters. There were a large amount of them, and some even carried weaponry. It was a dangerous situation, and one where Rean felt grateful he was guarded by such a huge lump of armour. The robot landed atop a raised cliff on the land, on the off hand that some of the protesters would attempt to try and topple the giant. The risk would have been fairly low, but distancing himself from his enemy may have been beneficial for the both of them. Or rather, the Chancellor Gilliath Osborne's enemies.
"It's that knight... that monster that ruined us!" An old woman screamed. A stick was lobbed at the foot of Valimar.
The words of the protesters sunk deep. Rean tried his best to silence the crowd, but was unable to. He didn't have the conviction to assert his beliefs on something he could not fully trust. "This is the Ashen Chevalier. Stand down from your protests, or face the jurisdiction of the empire."
A large slew of vile words emitted from the crowd. It was then imperial foot soldiers began to move in from behind Rean's giant to help him maintain order with the threat of guns. However time his giant knight wasn't scaring or fooling any of the rebels, with not an ounce of fear in their eyes of him or the soldiers. Soon enough, Rean understood why. A giant knight, known as a Soldat, moved in. It wasn't deployed by the the Empire- in fact, it was being piloted by a rouge supporting the protesters. They had stolen it, by some miraculous means, and planned to use it to have a fighting chance against Rean himself.
The crowd, amongst the bloodshed of the army deploying on them, began to cheer. It was their last hope.
A military officer shouted at the foot of Valimar. "Rean Schwarzer, show them what you're made of! Show them that you possess the might of our nation!" This particular officer was especially loud-mouthed and was stepping far beyond his footing for his rank. Rean wished he would just shut up.
Still though, Rean stepped up to the table. He mobilised Valimar with sword drawn. The blue rouge Soldat made the first move, confidently cleaving the sword down. Valimar hopped back to keep out of the way of the crowd and blocked the strike.
"Hello Rean." A voice came from within the rouge machine. "I'm Tracey. I'm going to put an end to you with our hope."
"Just surrender" Rean cried "I don't want to hurt you!"
Tracey snickered. "Don't think words will try to sway me. I'll never bow down to a lapdog or his owner."
Rean had no choice but to fight. He respected their will to fight back, but he was in no position to let them go. He had to..."
"...Exterminate them already!" The miliary officer shouted. The clash of the protesters and the military worsened and now the exchange of words had morphed into one of guns and bloodshed.
"No!" Rean cried out aloud. "There's no need to kill them! Just put them in custody!" Valimar was slammed in the distraction, causing his sword to fly from his hands and land in the dirt behind him.
"These crazed people are beyond saving. They would serve no purpose just rotting in our jails!"
Rean didn't want to keep fighting. He looked at the ground, Valimars hands limp. He had seen civilians killed countless times in this conflict, but something about this had crossed the line for him. His mental capacity was at a limit. "I can't keep fighting like this!"
"Rean, focus!"
Rean tried to gather his thoughts, but he didn't want to look at the reality of death around him. It was then, the rouge Tracey stepped into his vision. "If you're not going to fight, should I take the honors then?"
"Huh?" Tracey realized that Valimar had powered off, it's eyes in darkness. Was there something wrong with it? "I guess I broke it. That didn't take long."
Suddenly, Valimar seemed to start moving again. Tracey sighed. "Shame. I was hoping to get off easy. - what!?"
Something was wrong with Tracey's Soldat. It could move fine, but something was missing. A large shiny object lay in Valimars hand. He heard a voice, but it made his blood run cold.
"Looking for this...?" Valimar held and entire arm in its hand, ripped from from the body of Tracey's Soldat, and the entire time he could just hear someone chuckling from within Valimar. Whoever the man was inside, was like a completely different person. Tracey was dumbfounded "What the..."
Valimar moved again, this time it was faster. No sword was even needed, he was confident enough to face Tracey head on. "Where is your hope now...?"
"Shit!" Fortunately, Tracey still had the sword in his Panzer Soldats other free hand. "We deserve to be free!"
–
Tremors could be felt from above. The protesters who had come to save Lloyd and themselves were now frought with the face of real violence, and there was nothing he could do. He could hear the carnage and feel the vibrations, but could do absolutely nothing. The amount of focus on the above sector left the prison dreadfully empty. As Lloyd began to think on ways to escape the facility, his track of thought was lost when he saw someone wander through the room in the darkness. His eyes had acuted to something in the dark space – was it a monster? The thought was very real. The room only had one way out, a stairway leading up. Whatever this was, was approaching his cell from the other side of the room.
Whatever it was, it seemed to make sure their footsteps were delicate.
Lloyd's muscles suddenly relaxed when he recognized the face that emerged. It was slender and feminine, fit to be both an assassin and a dancer. She was somewhat scantily dressed in purple Calvard-style eastern robes. Her hair was a coral purple and her eyes glinted lavender. She carried a large sword on her person.
It could be none other than Rixia Mao.
–
Metal buckled, Tracey stared in horror as Valimar started ripping open the chassis of the Soldat with its bare hands. There were no sounds anymore coming from within Valimar. For once, Tracey feared for his life.
The Erebonian military could care less. Rean's display of brutality through Valimar served as a powerful warning to any usurpers. Overcoming his fear to destroy what was in front of him without an inch of worry was like a beautiful dream. But upon waking to his senses, it wasn't. Rean was still slightly numb from the takeover, but his was back to his usual self. It was still dark around him and Valimar hadn't quite got the message yet.
These episodes had been normal- ever since he could remember. When his mind with filled with despair or rage, normally, it would be only a mental conundrum that would be solved with resolution. To Rean, keeping his composure was almost forcibly weaved into his nature as a form of training and suppression. Any stress on his physical or mental psyche would force him into a supernatural state, where rational thought became a background shadow and he became a white haired monster. He had only grasped control of it due to accepting it about a month ago during the abduction and rescue of princess Alfin, but it had begun to creep on him again. The sensation of blacking out, but not quite. What was worse, is this time, it was having an adverse affect on Valimar.
He could only stand in horror as he saw what Valimar was doing- what Rean had him do during his mental lapse. "Valimar, please stop!"
The Ashen Knight refused to cease. Rean couldn't move very well, it was no different to an episode of sleep paralysis except it was very, very real. Valimar, who had buckled away the last remaining layer of the Soldat shell, was about to finish off the conceding pilot inside.
"STOP!"
The lights were back. Rean could move again, and as soon as he could, he heaved in a cold sweat. He had no idea what to do. He couldn't keep going on like this. He began to mumble. "If... if even words from Alfin wasn't enough, nor my friends or my family, then what am I to belong in this society? What am I fighting for?" He almost sounded creepily sadistic in his tone.
It was at that moment, he decided to shut his mind off. I'm done with this society."
"ACKNOWLEDGED." Valimar responded. The robot gently placed down the shell of the Soldat that remained, and Tracy, and folded out it's back wings.
"You're not done yet here Ashen Chevalier!" The military officer shouted out.
Rean didn't want to stay a moment longer. He didn't want to see any more bloodshed, especially bloodshed he might had so creully dealt to others.