StevieBond: Another new chapter and this will be the last one until the weekend is done.
Kazuya: Why is that?
StevieBond: Because I have a wave of journals to write tomorrow and it's gonna eat up a lot of the day.
Arnold: Eat up a day? You say the most random things ever.
StevieBond: You be quiet...anyways reader, enjoy this one and I'll be resuming this again from Monday.
Dealing with Sorbet
We walked up to the bridge where Phel was present.
"Welcome back, Angel Wing, you need to hear this too." Noah said. "Phel, you are ordered to return to ABSOLUTE when the Luxiole reaches Seldar again."
"May I ask why?" Phel asked.
"Because Milfie is visiting EDEN."
"Milfie…what's this about?" I asked.
"Milfie is going to be in EDEN for a while and Phel here needs to go to ASBOLUTE as the Central Globe is in need of a gate keeper in her absence."
Phel nodded. "Very well, I shall disembark on a shuttle once we arrive by Seldar."
"There's a Department Ship close by where we can resupply before we can go back to Seldar." Coco said. "Angel Wing, you're dismissed for the time being."
"Got it." I replied.
We left the bridge and I walked with Kahlua to the Piroti, I still had a question on my mind, thinking back to what was said at the hospital.
"So Kahlua, did Caraway's spell on you a while ago made any difference to how you pilot your frame?" I asked.
"Not really, I was able to perform the same as always, although I was able to dodge the enemy attacks much more easily and that hexagon seal had to be the strongest kind of magic I've ever seen." She replied.
"Well as long as I know that you can still pilot as always, I have nothing to worry about."
"And I'm always going to be proud of being under your ring-leadership, see you again, Arnold."
"See you, Kahlua."
We shared a quick hug and I went back to my room to rest.
An hour later, the resupplying on the department ship was done and I had received a box of candy crackers that was delivered to my room for some reason. Nano's at it again with those sales. I heard a beep go off and I left my room to go to the bridge.
"Arnold reporting." I said casually. "Anything new?"
"We're ready to go back to Seldar, but we had a quick transmission that has forced Noah to return to the White Moon." Coco replied.
"Why is that?"
"Suspicious signatures have been spotted near the areas of where the Arms Alliance are." Tapio said. "We're changing course for the planets under the Arms Alliance which will take us five days to get there."
"Any sign of the Infinite Corridor opening another rift?"
"It may be expected to happen in the next 41 hours over there, so we won't be able to make it on time. But before we do that, we need to drop Phel off to the White Moon."
"What are we to do in the meantime?"
"We'll be Chrono Drive soon, so take it easy for now until we arrive back at Seldar."
I nodded and left to the bridge to find Phel standing outside, I escorted him to the hanger where a shuttle was ready to go.
"Well Arnold, it's been fun on this ship for a few days, but now I must go and help your fiancé with the gates at ABSOLUTE." Phel said. "I wish you good fortune in the battles to come, lead strong and with honour."
"I will, Phel…thank you." I replied.
He walked inside the shuttle and the hanger door opened, the shuttle flew out, en route to the White Moon that was still with us. The White Moon would be going to Seldar whilst we'd be heading on to the planets within range of the Arms Alliance.
During the five days that passed, we gave Kahlua a surprise birthday party since we made the funny promise to celebrate her birthday once the war is over. But due to the events, we decided to hold one anyway and gave her the best birthday she had. She was now 22 and she thanked us all for making her birthday a wonderful one.
When the fifth day arrived, the Luxiole exited out of Chrono Drive and we were on the bridge, looking at the view in front of us. A planet along with the galaxy around it.
"So this is the Arms Alliance galaxy." I said. "It looks very colourful."
"There it is!" Natsume exclaimed. "That's the planet of Hatchet, my home."
I remembered Natsume telling me about that when she told me about Genievres taking care of her as it was his duty many years ago, on that planet.
"I get the feeling that the Will have already done something to that planet." I said.
"I've got that feeling as well." Kazuya replied. "Are we to investigate again?"
"Yes, take a space shuttle to the planet of Hatchet and report back on what has happened." Coco said.
"Can we have the drop location closer to my home?" Natsume asked.
"Of course…get ready to board, Angel Wing."
We left the bridge and on board the shuttle that flew to Hatchet, when we arrived, we got out of the shuttle and looked around.
"What the heck?!" I exclaimed. "Looks like these people have been frozen."
Around us were several people that were like ice statues, the Will fleet was definitely here.
Nano examined one of the statues. "Are any of them still alive?"
Apricot had a mini scanner with her. "They're still alive but are basically asleep."
I nodded. "I see, I guess the cold never bothered them anyway." I made a quick call. "Coco, we've discovered that the people on Hatchet have been frozen, are the cases similar in Cudgel and Pike?"
"They are and I have already forwarded the data to Noah." She replied. "Investigate further if you can, the enemy fleet may still be around."
"Understood." I ended the call.
We walked down a hallway to find more statues when Natsume began to fidget with her uniform.
"There's something moving in my dress…" she said. "…ah!"
Suddenly, two fairies came from out of her dress.
"Kelsie and Santa Rosa?" I asked.
"What are you doing here and why are you following us?" Lily asked who was displeased.
"Calm down Lily, we can try to help you with these people." Kelsie replied.
Santa Rosa used her magic to find more information, but that didn't work.
"Everyone, let's get further into the Imperial Palace." Natsume said.
We walked inside to see even more statues, but we stopped moving when I spotted a shadow.
"Stay alert Angels." I said. "Looks like someone was able to avoid the presence of the Will."
I spotted the shadow behind a pillar on my left. I pulled out my gun just to be safe.
"Aright, you from behind the pillar, come on out with your hands up!"
"DAH!" I heard a voice yell that came out from the shadow. It was a young girl and she had her hands up. "Don't hurt me."
Natsume gasped. "Yuzu?"
The girl gasped back. "Natsume?"
They ran to each other and embraced in an emotional hug, I held the gun down and holstered it away.
"You two know each other?" Kazuya asked.
"Yes." Natsume replied, wiping her tears away. "This is my younger sister Yuzu."
"Hello." Yuzu greeted.
"I see…forgive me for being too heavy handed." I said with my hand on my chest. "I'm Arnold, the Angel Wing leader."
Yuzu nodded. "Apology accepted."
"What about the rest of the family?" Natsume asked.
"They were affected as the rest of the people, but they're safe."
"Then I can relax as that means everyone else is alive." Natsume sighed in relief. "Oh Yuzu, I'm the princess now but anyways, do you remember what happened here?"
"Yes, three days ago, the planet was met by someone who looked like a child and unleashed something from the fingertips. I was able to run away in time to safe myself from being frozen and I was the only the child overlooked."
"What did the child look like?"
"The child resembled her." Yuzu pointed to Nano.
"Oh yeah, that reminds us of the nanomachine organisms the Will fleet abducted." I said. "Looks like the Will has put to them use against the Arms Alliance." A beep went off again. "Yes?"
"Arnold, what is the situation?" Coco asked.
"We found Natsume's younger sister and she's safe."
"Younger sister, I see…she'll need to come back with us obviously. But I'm also calling to inform you that Noah requires a direct sample of what has happened to the citizens, bring a frozen person with you for testing." She ended the call.
"Well Kazuya, looks like our male strength is needed." I said. "Let's take this frozen solider to the shuttle."
"Right behind you." Kazuya replied, walking with me back towards the shuttle.
We tried to pick it up, but it was somehow rooted to the ground.
Kazuya though of an idea. "Uhh Rico, would you mind touching this statue and throw it near the shuttle?"
"Umm okay." Apricot replied.
She touched the statue and just lie that she threw it near the shuttle's door.
"Yuzu, you're better off coming with us." I said to her. "You'll be safe."
"Yes…thank you." She replied as Natsume took her hand and we boarded the shuttle with the frozen solider inside.
We returned back to the Luxiole and Apricot carried the frozen statue to the infirmary, we had to follow and be in the infirmary too since we all needed to know the full details of what happened.
"Rico, you just hauled 60kg with extreme ease." Nano pointed out.
Apricot seemed confused. "Umm was that meant to be a compliment?"
Suddenly, I began to feel a pain in my head. "Ow!"
"Arnold, are you okay?" Kazuya asked.
I tried to dismiss the worried looks. "I'm alright…I felt a jolt in my head that really hurt."
"I'm not convinced…you should go and lie down in your room." Natsume said.
"I agree, we'll let you know if anything else happens." Anise added.
"Okay Angels…thank you." I smiled and left the infirmary back to my room.
As I rest down on my bed, I wondered why that jolt in my head suddenly happened. I closed my eyes and began to sleep away when I didn't need to right then.
I was dreaming away once again, another scene that had me curious.
"Arnold, here is our spot to have our bride and groom photos." Milfie said. "Ready with that camera, photographer?"
"I've got it all covered, you two just get close on that bench with the flowers." The photographer replied. "You two look perfect together."
"Thanks, pal." I replied as I sat with Milfie close and tight on the bench.
A flash came from the camera and…
I suddenly woke up and sat up, I wasn't woken up by a beep this time.
"Wait, who was that photographer in my dream…and why I did know that person?" I shook my head. "Okay, there is something going on with these recent dreams. They're telling me something, but it's not making any sense."
I left the room with a candy cracker in my mouth, when I ate it all, I took a drink by the water dispenser before sitting on the bench. Then a beep went off, so much for peace and quiet.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Arnold, we left Hatchet some time ago and we're approaching the legendary planet of Sprite." Coco said. "Enemy signatures are detected, this could be the fleet that attacked the Arms Alliance planets. Report to the briefing room."
"Got It, I'll bring the Angel Wing with me." I ended the call.
I walked with the angels to the briefing room where Tapio was waiting.
"Good to see you well rested, Arnold." Tapio said. "Here's the situation." He brought up a map. "Our Luxiole is here on the centre bottom, the planet of Sprite is at the top and the enemy fleet is deployed like this."
I noted the ships, there were four destroyers, eight cruisers, four heavy ships and four carriers. "Well, at least there are no fast attack ships this time." I commented.
"We had to travel through a cloud that disrupted radar and communications, but in a good turn, it's allowed us to avoid detection by the enemy and with the Sprite's natural barrier protecting the planet, the enemy are unsuccessful in attacking it."
"So we have a chance to attack the fleet from behind?" I asked.
"Correct, they are distracted so it would be wise to catch them off guard and strike them down quickly."
"Then we don't need to stand here any longer, we should go now."
"Eliminate the enemy fleet. That is all."
We left the briefing room and we rushed to the hanger, getting into our frames and ready for combat. The doors opened and we flew out, payback time for what happened on the Arms Alliance planets.
The battle started and we immediately charged at the enemy fleet that still didn't notice us. We made for the four destroyers in front of us. We took them down easily. Now the rest of the enemy fleet noticed us and turned around to strike back.
The eight cruisers were tough this time around, but with our specials, they were no match.
"EXTREME LANCER!"
"HYPER BLASTER!"
"GENOCIDE BOMBER!"
Now for the heavy ships and by then, my special was ready.
"SPIKE DRIVER!" One heavy ship down.
"HEXA-CROSS BREAK!"
"ZERPYHRUS RAMPAGE!"
We hadn't used our specials for a long time, how refreshing to see it happen in one go.
"REPAIR WAVE!" Nano yelled, good thing as our healths on our frames were getting low.
Only the carriers were left and our energy supplies were halfway to being empty, but with me leading the way, we eliminated them.
"Enemy fleet eliminated!" I exclaimed. "That one was tough, actually…ugh my head hurts again."
"Arnold, come with me to the infirmary." Nano said.
"Alright…let's withdraw now."
We flew our frames back to the ship and I walked with Nano to the infirmary and laid down on a bed.
"Hello Arnold." Doctor Mordent said. "You're here because Nano is worried about your head."
"Yeah and if she is, then I think its best if I get it checked over." I replied.
"Well just relax on the bed and I'll do a check over."
I took a deep breath and relaxed as the doctor checked over me with his equipment.
"It could be nothing serious, but I just can't help but worry about you if there's something wrong." Nano said. "The rest of the angels would say the same."
"I know and I do thank you and everyone else for looking for me." I replied.
Moments later, Mordent finished is check over.
"Well it's nothing too problematic. Just a minor headache, I advise you to take it easy with the thinking that you do, especially when you're in combat. Also remember to drink healthy fluids…and not too many candy crackers."
Nano pouted which I thought was funny on the inside.
I left the infirmary and walked up to the bridge, wondering if much has happened.
"Arnold here." I said. "What's been going on while I've been down?"
Noah was on the big screen. "Arnold, thanks to the fairies help, we've begun restoring the inhabitants of the Arms Alliance planets, the Luxiole is travelling to Pike as the next destination." She said.
"But there are still issues happening elsewhere. Phel returned back to PHOL yesterday and mentioned a Green Moon. But like Hamon, he has also fallen mysteriously asleep." Coco added.
"But there's more. Moments ago, we heard that Milfie is still in EDEN but she too has fallen asleep, but inside the Black Moon."
"Milfie as well…but why?" I asked. "Is she safe?"
"I assure you that Milfie's condition is being checked constantly."
"And what about Hamon, what's he got to do with this?"
"Well, we found out that he is the gate keeper of NEUE."
"Have you heard from the other galaxies…RUIN, ATLE and SKIA I think they were?"
Noah nodded. "You are correct on the names…however those three are unresponsive."
"Are they all related to the Will's involvement?"
"I am presuming the worst, but I have no concrete information to work with as this news was just reached to me. There is nothing else to report right now, carry on with the destination to Pike."
Noah ended the transmission.
"I don't believe it…now my fiancé has fallen mysteriously asleep." I sighed sadly. "Why is this happening?"
"Please stay strong, Arnold." Coco said. "You have been phenomenal to make it this far, we can't have you start losing focus."
Just then, a transmission came in and Sorbet appeared on screen.
"Luxiole…I am beginning to get annoyed with your constant interference with the Will's plans." He said. "Your restoration with the Arms Alliance inhabitants only fuels my anger towards you."
"Well good, you don't have the right to force your Will's cultures onto other galaxies." I replied.
"Just like Parfait, you are all declared as irregulars. Be prepared to fall and I'll make sure the Sprite fleet falls with you!"
He cut the transmission.
A rift suddenly opened and out came an enemy fleet.
"Enemy fleet detected." Tapio spoke through a mic. "All units, red alert!"
"Wait, what did he mean by the Sprite fleet?" I asked.
"They are a fleet that has fairies." Coco replied. "We are to guide them to safety and then deal with the enemy fleet."
I nodded, rushing to the hanger and getting into my frame. The other angels came by, the doors opened and out we flew. I checked the radar to notice eight fast attack ships, three cruisers and two carriers.
"The yellow ships you see on the radar are the fairy ark ships." Coco said. "You are advised to split into two groups and escort them safely to the exit points on the left and right side of the map."
"Then once they're gone, we deal with the enemy ships?" I asked.
"Correct…split into two groups and good luck."
"Kahlua, Natsume and Lily. Escort the two fairy ships moving to the right. I, Anise and Apricot will escort the two ships moving to the left. Nano, I want you on repair duty in case things get messy out here."
"Got it, Arnold, I'll engage with any enemy ships that try to sneak past us." Nano replied.
The battle started and we split into two groups, I moved my frame with Anise and Apricot to the left part of the map, dealing with the fast attack ships that were moving towards us. The first two were taken down by me whilst Anise and Apricot got one each.
The others dealt with the other fast attacks ship, they were gone. The three Cruisers were up next, but the fairy ships were already close to the target points. The four mini fairy ships had made it out of the map range. Then the huge one left the map too.
"The fairy arks ships have successfully escaped, now finish off the enemy fleet." Tapio said.
We did so, getting back into big group and mowing down the cruisers. Time for the carriers and my special was ready for one of them.
"SPIKE DRIVER!" That was one carrier down.
The other angels dealt with the other one.
"Enemy fleet destroyed." I said. "That was much easier than before."
We returned back to the ship and up to the bridge where Sorbet was on screen again.
"Now I am even more infuriated by you!" Sorbet exclaimed before calming down. "Fine…I will make the move to deal with you myself!"
Suddenly the rift form before appeared before it began to open and increase in size till it was massive enough to bring something big through. When we saw it, we gasped, the Astral Parfait…no way!
"This is the Astral Sorbet, I am annoyed that it took me a lot of energy to bring this through…now prepare to be wiped out!"
He cut the transmission, the Luxiole moved away quickly into the clouds that disrupted radar and communications, allowing us to be safe for a moment.
"What do we do now?" Kazuya asked. "Shall we try to escape?"
"We must finish things off here." Coco replied. "Sorbet will most likely do something horrible to the people of the Arms Alliance if we chose to flee."
"But how can we…we don't have the-"
"Dual Chrono Break Cannon." Tapio finished. "Did you not notice earlier?"
"Oh wait…no I didn't, I was too focused at the time."
We left the cloud and turned the Luxiole around to notice the astral Sorbet in pursuit. The Dual Chrono Break Cannon fired, but it had no effect on the Astral's shield. The Astral fired back, but the Luxiole split into four parts. The top and bottom half of the ship and the dual Chrono break cannons flew back into the clouds.
We flew back out of the cloud again but we flew much further away and turned around to see the Astral ready to fire at us again. But then it was attacked on the left side by the bottom half of the Luxiole that had one half of the Dual Chrono Break Cannon installed.
Then both sides of the Luxiole attacked, striking at the Astral vessel which pierced through the shields, shattering it away. Now the vessel was vulnerable to attack. The Dual Chrono Break Cannons fired again, causing heavy damage to the Astral vessel.
Sorbet appeared on screen. "How dare you animals defy me?!"
"It's not about defying." I replied. "It's about a question of survival…face it, it's over for you!"
Sorbet laughed. "I still have one last ace up my sleeve…meet the Divine Sorbet!"
He cut the transmission and suddenly, the Astral Sorbet exploded from the distance…that was the end of Sorbet, but what did he mean by the divine Sorbet?
Sirens went off as a huge ship along with six small ships appeared through the rift before the rift itself closed off and disappeared.
We rushed to the hanger and got ready for battle once again. On the radar were six slave unit ships and the Divine Sorbet itself. One objective was made clear, eliminate the Divine Sorbet.
The battle started and both parts of the Luxiole moved away to safety. We had no time to deal with the slave ships, so we swarmed all around the Divine Sorbet and it was heavily armed and heavily armoured. Eventually though, it was damaged badly and we returned to the top part of the Luxiole.
We walked up to the bridge, ready to declare a celebration when suddenly, the main cannon from the Divine Sorbet was charging up, even though we had destroyed it. Looks like the ship was going for a last hurrah attack and it was aiming at the bottom half of the Luxiole.
The Bottom half of the Luxiole which I learnt was controlled by Tapio, moved away as the Divine Sorbet began to move closer. Suddenly the Divine Sorbet exploded just as the weapon fired. A massive explosion was witnessed…I was in a state of shock.
"Tapio report!" Coco exclaimed. "Tapio…respond...
The rest of us couldn't say anything…was he killed in the explosion? We didn't know…
"TAPIO!"