watch?v=vC_eIKB_7N0&list=PL86F616E6506A79A0
Somewhere on Vindictus
Nano-Nano sleeps quietly in her bean-shaped bed surrounded by her favorite stuffed animals. Takuto rubs her soft green hair. "You're just like your mother."
HISS
"Takuto, it's here," Coco quietly stepped inside.
"Noah said it would be here sooner."
As they strolled through the hallway, he dug into his pocket, a locket of his wife. She was as young as ever.
"That's right," Coco deduced, "It's her twentieth birthday."
The hangar door opened. Creta was angrily rushing the crew to get their act together as they unloaded a rusty Emblem Frame. "The weapon won't unload itself, y'know!"
Coronet and Croix bickered as they negotiated with the security locks. The cannon of the frame pierced through the crate, still glowing a radiant purple.
"GA-007," Coco said.
Takuto took in the ghostly skeleton of the machine as it brought back bitter memories. "Vanilla..," Where did you go?"
Vindictus briefing room
No one was here today. Did I arrive late? A note on the table said,
Stay in the hangar until further notice- Noah
"Odd orders."
Well no use fighting it, I went back to the hangar. On the way, Mint saw me. "Oh, did you come back from the briefing so soon?"
"The room was empty. I'm going to the hangar now."
"It will be a while until the ship sees action on Magic..," her ears dropped, "Sigurd hasn't arrived yet."
"Come to think of it, when Kahlua-"
"Sigurd is a troublesome man, but he does have duties to the Empire."
"What if he-"
"The Universe is a huge place, troop movement will take a long time. She opened a box of rings, "In the meantime, I need to sell these birthstones off. I'll give you an 80% discount."
"That's.. Generous, but it's not my birthday...," I turned around before handing her a wad of cash then taking a pearl. "It's shiny."
She laughs, "Of course."
Noah stomped into the hallway. "Oh hey, Noah."
She didn't answer. Brushed me aside and approached Mint. "Send the Rune Angel troupe at once to the scheduled rally point."
"Of course," Mint nodded.
They secretly packed up and ignored me for an unknown place. I was confused, but I remembered where I had to go.. The hangar. As for the pearl.. I wrapped it around my neck. That was when I felt a headache come along, numbers flashing by me and the murmurs of a foreign language. "What was that.."
At the hangar, I was seated in the seat of Alexander. "A pleasure to see you back," it greeted.
"Yeah, same here." I looked around me in the empty cabin of my Emblem frame. Something was not right. I couldn't fathom it, but it was like a homy feeling if that makes any sense. Like things were right.. Too right.
(Emblem frames take-off)
POOMPF WHOOSH
Espada, Red Masque and Rusia Roulette were cruising slowly at my lagging pace. Milfeulle's pink fleet, Mint's blue mercenary fleet and Vindictus were shielded together.
"Any sign of Sigurd?"
"We picked up a signal- a chrono drive a planet away. That should be him."
A whiplash of light blinded the screen, and like they told me, an imperial fleet was waiting. Sigurd.
(6th Imperial navy on standby)
(Enough formalites, Sigurd. It's us.)
(I know. I still remember the.. Unpleasant times we had together.)
Beep Beep
(Takuto. Another fleet is exiting chrono drive.. It's..) Coco paused.
The ark of Eonia's white navy emerged from a blue gaping hole. The Macedonia fighters were there, along with a tremendous space station. A shining cross of some sort decorated with many engines and probes or fliers it could muster in a single kilometer.
We were hailed by the mauled face of Eonia. "You brought almost everyone. Except.. For a few."
"We were expecting you, Eonia. You brought almost everyone.. Except one.. I forgot who.."
"You mean Luscious, Takuto."
At the mention of his name, he appeared basqued in the rays of his altar. Taller than before and much more.. Eerily sinister. He wore a gown much like the pictures of Shatoyarn in my mind.
"So you've come to free Magic."
"Yes, you almost had us fooled for a moment," his joking voice turned bitter. "Forcing a peaceful planet to comply to your demans.. I can't forgive you. What do the people of Magic have to do with this war?"
"Everything. You wouldn't understand, but EDEN needs this. In order to survive."
"EDEN's days were ended by Val-fask."
"That is where your wrong. So long as there is violence toward other living beings, EDEN is needed. I am not alone in this cause. The people of Magic are not the only ones who support me. There are many more, willing to fight for me."
Eonia grimaced.
Luscious waved his arm in the air. The massive cross lowers itself into a position it could impale and pierce. The many fleet ships turned their lights on, I could hear the cheering of men old and young. These ships were't automated..We were in for a massive bloodshed.
"Mint, orbit Magic and get Anise out. We'll hold them off."
The shields were raised on the Vindictus. "Mori, the Vindictus will be unable to move or fight in the meantime. I want you to hold off whatever troops they throw at you until we're ready."
"Alright," I nod and turn on the HUD. Now was the time to say something, "Angel wing, ENGAGE"
"Roger!"
We flew into a wall of bullets hecticly as Milfuelle's destroyers caught up with us to fire supporting missiles into the hull of destroyers coming at us. "John! Fleur?"
I called over the radio as smoke pummeled my windows. "Got it," they both replied and flew toward a cross. A line of lancers and centurion shield walls were blocking the way. Baron patiently hacked away at the metal walls blocking the path and Fleur deployed a canister that fired out a trail of chasing die.
When each of them hit their target a sound of coins dropping echoed before fire spat from the engines of enemy fighters and engulf them into the fray.
(This is Mint, Anise is okay. The enemy is shooting at us, but we have a visual of her location. Picking her up..)
"Thank goodness."
Sigurd's imperial fleet charged valiantly ahead of us, taking fire and torn apart piece by piece. Somehow against the odds, they survived. We were pushing the lines of enemies back. Cornering them against Luscious and his cross. A macedonia fighter zipped by me, passing two huger ships. Their lumbering bridges fell underneath their own pillars leaving them out of commission.
Despite the circumstances.. They were fighting like real heroes..Them..heroes?
"Is something the matter, Mori? You have stopped firing. It troubles me."
"Nothing.. It's just the enemy, they're putting up a good fight."
He doesn't say anything and returns to wiping a line of corvettes from our immediate front.
-It's normal for humans to fight other humans, Mori. Such is the way of life.-
It was Alexander. "I know, but.. His talk about EDEN protecting us..."
-EDEN had its time. As a computer developed in their golden age, I am aware of this.-
"Right."
Eonia's ark staggered and turned to block us horizontally from going any further. On the broadside, it scattered all its gun into the fleet.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
(Argh, the flagship is shaking!) Milfeulle cried.
He breathed heavily, "I won't let you kill my men again! This will not be another defeat."
His eyes lamented toward me. Like I was something precious, a treasure. Like any other girl, it made me sick. But then I looked into those eyes, there was something else there. A tortured feeling.
"Angel troupe, stand down. Magic is willingly aiding us."
"Through the council, but not the grand wizard Caraway."
"You don't understand-"
Takuto cut him off, "The weapon is ready. Deploy, Rune Angel troupe!"
A smaller corvette, larger than an Emblem frame but small enough to fit in the Vindictus cruised into battle, carrying the armament of.. A huge cannon, In fact.. A chrono-break cannon!
"Is that the GA-007?"
(That thing. They brought it all the way here, m'am?)
(Amazing. I've never seen such a machine before in such delicate form..)
"A while ago, GA-007 disappeared. However, it resurfaced in Central Globe a month ago."
Eonia marveled in the design much like us. This thing was a monster, but for someone like him who's never seen the technological advances of Transbaal he must have been terrified.
Kazuya's face screened from the bridge of GA-007 with Apricot and Nano-Nano, who was looking less cheerful than usual. Natsume stood behind her, her eyes on fire ready for action.
"The Emblem frame is operation..," he snapped his finger.
The cannon roared to life and doused the ark in a stream of laser fire.
(We've successfully retrieved Anise with Normad. Returning to space.)
Eonia's face was lit with fear. When the firing stopped, there was a dent the size of a two story building. His shield was lucky enough to absorb the damage.
"That should be enough, Eonia. Retreat with the escort of Macedonia."
"But your majesty-"
"Now."
He reluctantly followed his orders and turned around.
"Congratulations, the angel troupe has pushed through my defenses."
I smirked with a bit of confidence. It was true, however all except Takuto and the Moon angel troupe were satisfied.
"Magic is an important part of your Order. You wouldn't give it up without a fight, right?" he asked.
"No..of course not."
The blackness of space was blurred in snowy white and the sun froze. What was going on? My heart skipped. The motion of the engines of ships slowed, and sound intensified.
A random pilot bursts on the line, "Sigurd, Sigurd, our mercenary fleet's stalling, send in a dispatch."
He mumbled in the background like a hermit, (Of course.)
A small squad floated toward Magic while we were caught in a standoff with Luscious.
-BEEP. Be alert, Mori. Something is approaching.-
"Alexander what are you talking about?"
The system didn't respond except give me a random reading.
The fighters could see the planet closing in.
(What could be stalling them right now?)
(Not sure.)
(Welp, let's keep radio silence for now.)
(Roger.)
Their engine warmly brushed along space...
WHOOOOSHHHH..THUMP
Something was tapping against the glass of the private's canopy. He looked up to see a small girl rubbing the foggy windows. She was hardly four feet tall and wearing a dress somehow managing to breathe in space.
The pilot was alarmed he signaled her to stay put as he frantically searched for a contraption to bring her in.
She put her hand against the window and tapped rhythmically.. It was morse.
He read the morse astonished she knew the code.
"L" tap tap tap "E" tap tap tap tap "T" taptaptap "S"
Taptaptap.. "Play"
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She closed her eyes and plunged herself from the jet. The pilot panicked and screamed to her. Wings extended from her shoulders. She floated upward. As she opened her eyes she had the purest white pupils he had ever seen.
Her wing stretched forward and swung into through the jet. He flinched and closed his eyes, was he dreaming? When he opened his eyes.. There was blood splattered all over the canopy and instruments. He hesitantly looked down and saw the wing deep inside his chest.
(Private, Private?!)
He wanted to scream.
But he couldn't.
The entire squadron exploded. "What was that?" I poked Alexander. "They're here..."
"Who? Who, Alex- ARGH" a stinging feeling burned through my forehead.
(Madame!)
A burning pair of wings glide through the skies leaving behind a rapid trail of smoke. What was that?
A few unlucky pilots near the thing blew up before they could respond.
"What the-"
Sigurd's battleship responded with AA fire. But it corkscrewed by them, headed towards me.. My burning intensified.
"Argh..."
"Mori, Angel troupe, get out of there!"
Luscious cackled triumphantly, "You've finally come, my angel!"
"Angel? What was he talking about?"
Ranpha seized the line, "No...it can't be..Mori, we need to get you out of there."
"Wait, wh-" the hull of Alexander rocked back and forward. The thing was on my window, it was a little girl, with white eyes void of any pupils. Her claws grew and began to work on the window canopy. I panick and move forward and turn radically to throw her off.
She still hangs on with some sort of super strength.
(Mori!)
"Angel troupe get her off me!"
(We can, if you hold still, would you kindly?)
I check on the girl, her nail already went an inch inside my cockpit, "Sorry, I can't."
I barrel-rolled. Her arms slipped and she flew into the back of the engine where her body is singed, but she still holds on.
Baron's bullets follow as close as possible, but are unable to shake it off. Her wings were as wide as the Emblem Frame- 20 feet at max! She flapped them violently and climbed forward.
Her arm grew five feet and wrestled with the wing, "What the-"
It sneered childishly and fingered the armaments then clipped them from Alexander.
(Normad, here! Mori, are you alright?)
"You got me at a bad time, Normad!" I yelled. The girl hugged my canopy, tilting her head toward me, with loving affection.
(Oh no, is that an.. EDENIAN Angel?)
"This is an angel?" I was flabbergasted. A spike pierced the canopy causing my body jumped from the seat. "What do I do, Normad?"
(Get out of that ship!)
"Are you nuts?" It stabbed the backseat and dislodged the seat from the floor, causing it to fall over.
(Get in the Vindictus, it can't fly in normal gravity!)
"I hope you're right," I U-turned to align myself with the Vindictus hangar, "Takuto open the door!" The stinging intensified, and my right eye began to burn like someone stabbing it with a hot poker, "ARGH."
It slides open and I accelerate in a blur into the hangar crashing with a loud bang before the world became a black void.
When I woke up, Alexander was computing random numbers..repeating intervals of six..Cera had a worried look and stood before me.
"The stinging sensation was gone. I remembered that thing I saw and spun my head around, "Where is that thing?"
"Where is it? Nothing is in this hangar?"
"It.. Disappeared? I leaned back in the comfort of my chair, "How long have I been out?"
"I only found you here a few minutes ago. The battle is still raging on."
I pushed the engine, it didn't move.
CLICK CLICK.
"I need to get back," she grabbed me. "We need to treat your wounds. The others can take care of themselves."
"But Luscious-"
watch?v=aJwjYhiogZw&list=PL86F616E6506A79A0
(Attention, Imperial Navy. You have won. But at what expense? The blood of your brethren have been spent in the empty space of this planet, with no guarantee they will not be in vain, should the council, or the people here, resist your rule.)
The firefighters halted dousing my Emblem Frame to listen.
(As of now, Seldor is no longer the name of my kingdom, it the dominion of NEW EDEN. I transmit this message to all men and women who may hear it. To the remaining supporters all over the galaxy, follow me back to Seldor. From there, we will rebuild the palace of the gods!) his transmission shut off.
Ranpha ran inside, "Mori!"
"What was that about, Ranpha? What are these gods?"
She avoided the question at first to whisper to Cera. Cera nodded and stepped outside.
Then Ranpha gave me a worried look, "Newer reports on Edenian history are kind of vague, but Eden's technology had to come from somewhere..."
"It came from Gods..how did their technology end up on Magic?"
"..Well they were explorers and they only formed Eden halfway into their early history..before the Val-faask. They spread their culture quickly through the galaxy, whenever someone opposed them, they would be purged.."
"They never taught me that in Juno," I smirked.
"Of course not, it's dark history. But Magic teaches.. Parts of it. This part of the universe is more aware of Eden's Gods because of the many colonies left over before the Chrono quake."
"Luscious..that name.."
"Soldem is no longer the king. His own blood has to take the throne. I bet the reason we never heard of him before is because he was exiled like Eonia."
"What he wants is to bring back Eden's Gods? Why? What would he do with that power?"
"The edenian silicon on Magic is like a battery that gives life.. He's probably using lost technology to bring back the old.. Cruel, EDEN."
(The remaining forces have retreated, return to hangar)
Ranpha stared grimly into space, and I joined her.
(GA-007 is ready to land)
A while after, Anise was brought into the hangar with the warm aid of Mint. We gathered by the lounge and rested for what seemed like forever.
"The resistance ate in tents, ate uncooked cans and sang annoying campfire songs. It was.. Okay," she shrugged, "Do I still get paid, Mint?"
"No," she sipped her tea.
"Argh, well there's some stuff I can still sell."
"We're sold out."
"Argh, now I have to start all over again!"
"Well, well. Serves you right for not letting Manny free Normad, no?"
Everyone laughed.
Manny waved for me from the corner of the room. "Miss, I've done my part. When will I be able to return Normad to magic?"
That's right.. He needs him. "It'll take some time. Shiva will come here and check on him, then we have to sign paperwork."
"Wait?" frustration boiled on his flustered cheeks. "Well, perhaps I can assemble my forces, and.. Join you, persay? Your cause is noble and I do enjoy noble causes."
"That would be great," I pause, "Thanks for everything you've done so far, Manny."
"It's fine, I'm only doing what I was asked to do. Now if you excuse me," he turn and left, leaving me to think and I had a feeling, a feeling, that we had hope despite the odds up against us now that we got back Anise and Normad.
Antioch
watch?v=RrFRe2ISrLA (AN: I highly recommend listening to the Okami- Giant Monster in Wait. Unsettling music that contrasts the the music of a certain Moon Angel troupe member, yet in the same style and theme.)
The storms of space raged with purple glows over the remains of Val-faask ships.
Eonia read the statistics of ships lost unable to comprehend how many were lost. He prayed shortly, thankful that anyone survived the battle. Luscious charted his maps for another destination. He confronted the man that made his return from near death possible, "Luscious, we can't go on like this. Not with this many casualties."
"But we must. War is war."
"At the expense of your followers?"
"The means always justify the ends. They will all return to life, like the old gods of EDEN."
A shadow rushed into the room and materialized as a girl. The door to the bridge was torn down by the body of a man violently heaved through it. A man stormed inside, covered in bloodied stains that defiled his pure white wings, "You must be Luscious."
Eonia drew his sword, "What foul creature are you-" Luscious summoned his hand to halt him. He glided through the throne room toward the two, "I have been expecting you two, is your, eldest sibling here?"
A dim light that took the figure of a women stood behind the guards in the room. She had no expression on her face, robed in dull colors. She extended her arms over the shoulders of these men and slit their throats. She then focused on Luscious, who did not move or react. Eonia on the other hand was panicked at what was going on.
Much to his surprise they bowed before him.
"We are forever in your debt."
"Indeed. I have much work for you."
"Where do you want us?" the little girl chimed.
"Central Globe."
All fell silent. "The ruins of the chrono quake bomb, where the center of the universe is?"
"Yes."
"It shall be done."
Luscious signaled to Eonia. He nodded and ran out of the room. A few minutes later, he came back with a women in full black, covering most of the shadows, except for the gold cross that emanated from her chest. She looked nervously on at her leader.
"Chitose, escort these true angels to Central Globe."
"Sir, I'm not sure if-" She let out a bloodcurdling scream. An electric shock flew through her body.
"Do it. Or you won't even have the afterlife to look forward to."
Eonia held his breath. What kind of monster would do this? He didn't know, but he was certain as long as he conquered Transbaal, he would never let this sort of thing happen in his empire.
She shivered violently and lay on the floor. "Yes.. Luscious. I understand."
"Good, now begone."
In the hangar of the Holy Cross, Eonia checked Chitose's wounds, "You seem to be fine."
"Thank you, Eonia. Now if you excuse me-"
He stopped her, "Be careful you do not push yourself too hard out there."
"I will."
Forte smoked a cigar lamenting, as Chitose approached she dropped it on the ground and crushed it. They focused their eyes on the black emblem frames that were once theirs. Sharpshooter, Happy Trigger.
An unsettling aura around these frames made their hearts skip. Their warmth was slowly sucked out. "Well, we can't delay it any longer. Let's get on board and finish the mission. These things give me the creeps..," Forte sighed.
"Right..," Chitose nods.