Homesick Chapter 10: Search and Rescue
Log Entry 2-0-87: Cier is possibly the last place I'd ever think to return to. But seeing that we have survivors from Nuri's ship, we don't have much of a choice. Captain Redflower is a great asset and we can use his help. He lead the the R & D Team, he was just as talented as Gyro was in machinery, but not as good as her, but he can keep up. Maybe we don't need the sword. If we can get Redflower to Chorus, maybe he can bypass the Translocation Temple's security. Santa may not like that but it beats spending anymore time looking for the damn thing. But Cier of all places. I'm not necessarily the first person they want to see. But it's almost been a decade since Project Freelancers involvement with the planet, so memories of the projects involvements could be gone. I was tasked in learning about Cier 8 years ago. They sent me down to learn. And I did. I've learned about the Gladiators and there fights. I've made a few allies and enemies. Hell, a few of them taught me how to fight like them. But that's when the new orders came in. The Director though it was necessary to start eliminating Gladiators, deeming them as threats to the Project. And I didn't have much of a choice but to carry out those orders. I started targeting the Gladiators, killing them off little by little. I still had some moralities back then even if I didn't have control of myself. I honored the dead. Even if I kept their weapons, I made sure to put them to use when I broke out. Either way. Kimball doesn't know about this OP. It may have been a hot headed decision of mine, but we would have just wasted time. We're already here anyways. And I know where to start looking for the information we need to find our people. Let's just hope I don't accidentally start a problem here. And here's to hoping we can find what we need.
Time: 2 weeks after discovering distress signal
Location: Cier, Outskirts of an unknown town
"Now this is a problem." Omega says darkly.
Sky, Pyrrha, and Dr. Grey sat on top of a hill, right on the edge of a dense forest in the middle of the night. The three of them take cover under a few trees as three helicopter like aircraft's fly over them. They had two rotors on the side of the helicopter along with jet's under the rotors. In the middle of the helicopter, it was completely exposed, holding a few seats and two turrets on each side.
"Falcons. UNSC in orbit transportation vehicles." Delta explains.
"I though the UNSC didn't know about this planet?" Pyrrha says as she looks over towards the fragments of Anger and Logic.
"They don't." Sky's hologram displays.
Sky aimed his sniper rifle towards the Falcons as they flew over them. Through his scope he could very easily spots of Blue and Red armor on the edge of the Falcons, taking positions on the turrets.
"Blue and Red soldiers. It looks like a scouting party." Sky's hologram displays as he lowers his rifle.
"What? How?" Pyrrha says with some disbelief.
"Perhaps they followed your soldiers trail when they evacuated that ship you mentioned." Dr. Grey guesses.
"More than likely. But we didn't run into any ships or any resistance on the way down here. And I doubt they found the Revere too." Sky's hologram displays as he looks back towards Dr. Grey and Pyrrha.
"That doesn't make sense. How long have your colleagues been stranded for?" Pyrrha asks.
"I can't say. Who knows how long that transmission has been bouncing around, our best option is to find our contact. But, seeing that wont be easy, we'll have to play this right. Stick to the shadows and stay in cover. Do not move unless I give you the signal to move. And stick to local broadcast channels only. We can not give them the idea that we are here." Sky's hologram displays.
"Alright, so where is your contact anyways." Pyrrha asks again.
Sky motions his hand towards him for Pyrrha and Dr. Grey to gather up. The both of them quickly jog next to Sky as he kneels on the ground. He looks to his side and just nods at nothing, but to him, he was nodding towards Delta, who displays a holographic map of the town.
"We are here right now." Epsilon says as he flashes above the map.
Epsilon creates a green ping on the holographic map of their location on top of the hills.
"According to Sky, he says our contact is located here." Epsilon says as he creates another ping.
A red ping pops onto a two story building near the Northeastern side of a town.
"That's quite a distance." Dr. Grey sings.
"This is a small town. Shouldn't be too hard. The only problem other than the Blue and Red soldiers is the locals." Epsilon explains.
"The locals? We could just walk right past them. We never caused any problems for them." Pyrrha says with some confusion.
"Doubt that. We also don't know how long the Blues and Reds have been here. The residents could have some problems with them, and of that's the case, wearing all this armor can confuse them to think were on their side. So we need to be diligent either way. Dr. Grey, you still have Freckles?" Epsilon asks the crazy doctor.
Dr. Grey just giggles happily and draws an assault rifle from her back.
"I am here." Freckles says from the rifle.
Pyrrha just stares at Dr. Grey and assault rifle.
"Did...did that gun just talk?" Pyrrha says uneasily as she points at the rifle.
"You've met us before and seen some crazy shit too. You live in a world full of black creatures that eat people. And your freaked out over a gun talking?" Epsilon says flatly.
"This isn't the first time I've put Freckles in a gun. Speaking of which, he also still has all his functions from before." Dr. Grey says happily.
"Wait, all of them?" Epsilon asks curiously.
"Uh huh." Dr. Grey says with a happy nod.
"Did you manage to fix the aimbot feature?" Epsilon says quickly.
"Nope!" Dr. Grey replies happily.
"Great. Make sure we don't stand near her if we get in trouble." Epsilon says as he looks back at Sky.
"Whatever. Lets get moving." Sky hologram displays.
Both Pyrrha and Dr. Grey nod while the holographic map dissipates. Sky kneels off the ground and was the first to start sliding down the hill towards the town. Pyrrha and Dr. Grey follow closely behind Sky as the three of them sprinted through the open field towards the closest building. Once they reached the building, Sky takes a couple of steps back from the wall and raises his left arm out towards the roof. His grapple hook compartment for his left robotic arm fires the hook and latches I top of the roof. Sky manages to reel himself up on top of the roof and raises his sniper rifle to quickly check the area. He sees that he was clear and turns around and looks over the edge to Pyrrha and Dr. Grey. Sky shoots his grapple hook into the grass next to Pyrrha and Dr. Grey. Pyrrha was the first to grab onto the cord, allowing herself to be pulled up by Sky. Once she was up, Sky shoots the hook into the grass again to reel up Dr. Grey. As Dr. Grey managed to pull herself up from the edge of the roof, the three of them carefully tread on top of the small building to the other side. As they peeked over he edge, the could see a patrol of Blue and Red soldiers march by.
"This is defiantly weird." Sky's hologram displays.
"Care To explain?" Dr. Grey asks.
"Theirs no one outside. No locals. No citizens. Its like a curfew is active, why else would there be guards paroling the streets." Sky's hologram displays.
"Okay, but why won't the locals stand up for themselves? If this is Cier, and from what Gyro told me. Majority of the planet's population should have the ability to fight back with ease." Pyrrha says with confusion.
"What?" Dr. Grey asks as she looks at Pyrrha.
"Forget it Dr. Grey. But Pyrrha, you raise a good point. Why don't the locals fight back? The people of this plant are more than capable to decimate the Blues and Reds. Something just doesn't add up. Lets just continue to move, perhaps our contact has the intel we need for whats going on." Sky's hologram displays.
"You never mentioned who the contact is. Do you mind telling us so we know who were looking for?" Dr. Grey asks.
"Our contact is going to be at the objective." Sky's hologram displays.
"And your sure they can help?" Dr. Grey asks again.
"They should. They owe me after all." Sky's hologram displays.
Sky leaps towards the next near by roof, Pyrrha quickly follows him while Dr. Grey stays put.
"Uh, guys. I can't make that jump." Dr. Grey says nervously and quietly.
Sky rolls his eyes under his helmet as he jumps back to Dr. Grey. He grabs her left shoulder and her right arm and uses his strength enhancement, making his armor accent colors and visor flash from purple to red. Sky then tosses Dr. Grey across the roof towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha frantically attempts to run towards the edge of her roof and manages to catch Dr. Grey.
"Are you okay Dr. Grey?" Pyrrha asks quietly, being careful to not be heard.
Dr. Grey nods as Sky lands next to the two. His armor's secondary color and visor flashes back to purple.
"You tell us to be careful yet you pull a stunt like that." Pyrrha says with a hint of agitation.
Sky doesn't reply as he runs ahead towards the next building. Pyrrha quietly groans as she and Dr. Grey run to keep up with Sky. The three of them continued to traverse rooftop to rooftop, avoiding patrols of Blue and Reds soldiers. They then slowly climb down the building they were on to avoid a incoming Falcon flying overhead. They now decided to sneak around the town through the small alleyways to avoid the Falcons and a few patrols. After another 13 minutes of navigation, they finally reach their intended objective, a small two story building just right across the street from them. Sky peaks his head out from the alleyway and checks for any patrols. He sees that the coast was clear and motions with his hand for Pyrrha and Dr. Grey to follow him. He raises his sniper rifle and crosses the street with Pyrrha following behind him and Dr. Grey watching their backs as she follows them with Freckles raised. They stacked up against the front door and waited for Sky to call the next move. Sky hits his elbow against the front door, knocking on it a couple of times. They could hear footsteps coming towards the door. But, Pyrrha spots a patrol of one Red solider and one Blue soldier coming towards their directions.
"Uh, hello? Who is it?" Someone says from the door.
Sky looks straight at Pyrrha for her to answer the person behind the door.
"Look, we don't have much time to explain. There is a team of Blue and Red soldiers coming towards us and we don't have the time to hide. May we please come inside?" Pyrrha asks quickly.
Pyrrha, Sky, and Dr. Grey hear the sounds of doors unlocking. The front door finally swings open. Sky motions for Dr. Grey and Pyrrha to head inside. They nod as they back into the building with Sky walking backwards inside too. Sky quickly shuts the door just as he makes it inside the building. Inside, it looked like a small restaurant with a small bar, a few seats for customers to sit and eat, and a kitchen behind the small bar. The three of them sigh in relief and hear the sound of a metallic click. The three of them turn towards the sound to see a man with white and very light blue skin who stood at the height of 5'3. He had Blue long hair that had rabbit ears that poked through his hair along with teal eyes and wore a brown long sleeved shirt that had a golden colored trim at the collar and end of the sleeves. He also wore tan colored pants along with his black sneakers. And he did not have a pleased look on his face, especially when he held some sort of pistol in his hand and trained it at their direction.
"I am giving you three the count of ten to explain why you're here and to tell your leader that I have already paid my debts for the month." The man says with hostility.
Pyrrha and Dr. Grey look at Sky to see his body language not change once so ever.
"Almaz." Sky's hologram only displays.
"I'm guessing this is your contact?" Dr. Grey asks nervously.
"And his has a gun pointed at us." Pyrrha says flatly.
"Contact? I've never seen you three in my life." Almaz replies with that same hostility.
Pyrrha and Dr. Grey look back a Sky with confusion and worry under their helmets.
"You should. Because i'm the reason your even alive right now. 8 years ago. I saved you and your daughter from that creature back in Magdurus Pass." Sky's hologram displays as he walks up to Almaz.
"8 Years ago...How do you know about him? He disappeared a few months later. And from what I'm looking at right now. Your definitely not the person who saved me or my daughter." Almaz says as he looks up at Sky.
Sky then displays a image of his emblem. It was just the standard Freelancer logo along with six blades with purple lights at the tips of the blades behind the Freelancer logo. Almaz lowers the pistol onto the table as he realizes his mistake.
"Oh my god, it is you..." Almaz says quietly. "I am so sorry! What happened to you?! I thought you lost your arm?!" Almaz asks quickly and nervously as he rubs the back of his neck.
"Hold on a minute. Can you explain what's going on here?" Pyrrha asks Sky as she pulls his shoulder to face her.
"8 Years ago, I was sent here to Cier during my time with Project Freelancer. Long story short, I ran into Almaz here when he and his daughter were on the run from a hostile faction on this planet. I was ordered to help them escape and escort them here. But, we ran into a problem with this planets wildlife. I managed to buy Almaz and his daughter sometime to escape Magdurus pass and make here to Bahp Town. But it came with a heavy price. I lost my left arm in the process and now I have the arm you see now." Sky's hologram displays to Pyrrha and Dr. Grey.
"So. What brings you here. How can I help?" Almaz asks with curiosity. "Also, nice new set of armor, it looks a lot better than your old set."
"Thanks. But i'm here because i'm in need of information." Sky's hologram displays.
Almaz walked behind the counter of the bar and grabs a few glasses.
"Come sit, all of you." Almaz says politely.
Pyrrha and Dr. Grey didn't hesitate as they quickly take their seats on the stools on the bar. Sky just stood as he holsters his sniper rifle on his back as he leans on the bar counter.
"What would you two like?" Almaz asks Pyrrha and Dr. Grey.
"A water will suffice for me." Pyrrha says kindly.
"Same here." Dr. Grey says happily.
"Alrighty, what about you 26?" Almaz asks as he turns to Sky.
"I'm fine. And please, its Sky now." Sky's hologram displays.
As Almaz smiles and quickly fills two glasses with water, he glaces over at Sky.
"Sky? Whats with the name change?' Almaz asks with curiosity.
"Long story. Just to make it easy, its my actual name." Sky's hologram displays.
"That's nice. Well here you two go." Almaz says happily.
Almaz hands Pyrrha and Dr. Grey the two cups of water. Pyrrha happily takes off her centurion helmet and drinks the glass of water. Dr. Grey then removes her Cypher helmet to reveal her olive skin and short brown hair along with her brown hair and drinks her cup of water. Almaz happily chuckles as they quickly chug down the water.
"Dad?" Someone says from the staircase.
Everyone turns their heads towards the staircase to see a girl with a similar attire to Almaz. She still had majority of Almaz's features and was about 5'3. She groggily rubs her eyes and then realizes the three other occupants in the room.
"Sienna." Sky's hologram displays towards the girl.
The girl called Sienna looks at Almaz who just smiles.
"Sienna, this is Agent 26. Remember him 8 years ago? And there are his friends..." Almaz says as his voice trails off.
"Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha says kindly and with a kind smile.
"Doctor Emily Grey." Dr. Grey says happily.
Sienna doesn't responds as she just runs down the stairs and dashes right into Sky and tackle hugs him. Pyrrha and Dr. Grey had a blank stare at first and then they started to giggle at the sight. Sky manages to push Sienna off his waist and stands back up. Sienna however, her mood quickly shifts into some anger.
"Okay, good to see you too Sienna." Sky's hologram displays as he dusts himself off.
"8 YEARS! 8 YEARS YOU JUST DISAPPEAR AND NOW YOU COME BACK!" Sienna yells out with some anger.
"That wasn't my call to make." Sky's hologram displays.
Sienna crosses her arms and huffs in annoyance. She then takes a deep breath before dropping her arms and looks back up at Sky.
"Sorry...its just been too long, how are you? And what are you doing here?" Sienna asks curiously.
"Well I was was getting to that before you stopped by." Sky's hologram displays as he turns to Almaz. "My CO's ship was attacked. Not sure how long ago but all I know is that the ship is destroyed and I have men that are apparently on this planet. Survivors if anything. And I need to know if you know anything about it. Considering this is a tavern for duelists. I was hoping you could have picked up something along the lines of a crash landing or anything about survivors."
Almaz puts his hand to his chin as he thinks of anything. Sienna also thinks of anything she could have heard.
"I'm sorry. But ever since this soldiers came to Cier, duelists have become a no show." Almaz explains with a sigh.
Pyrrha and Dr. Grey give Sky a worried look. Almaz sees this and quickly points into the air.
"BUT, I may know some people who can help you." Almaz says quickly.
Just as Sky, Pyrrha, or Dr. Grey could a chance to ask a question, there was a knock on the front door. The five of them look at the door with a bit of worry. Sky quickly snaps back at Pyrrha and Dr. Grey, they both grab their helmets and put on. Sky then looks back at Almaz.
"Go answer the door. Pyrrha, Dr. Grey, and I will hide." Sky's hologram displays.
Almaz nods as and starts to head to the door. Sienna quickly runs over to the three armored visitors and guilds them to the kitchen to hide them. Once they were inside, Sienna closes the door behind her and heads behind the bar counter and grabs the two empty glasses and heads to the sink. Almaz then opens the door to find two soldiers, one in Red armor while the other in Blue, and they were armed with Charons smg suppressors and light rifles.
"Hello, can I help you two?" Almaz asks politely.
"Almaz, its us, can we come inside?" The woman in the Red armor asks.
"Oh, yes, please, come in." Almaz says quickly.
Almaz steps out of the way, letting the Red and Blue Solider inside the tavern. The Red solider puts down a large backpack and puts in on top of one of the tables.
"Sorry that we're late. Its been getting difficult to try and avoid them." The woman in the red armor says with a sigh.
Almaz was about to say something to reply, but was cut off when Sky pops out of active camouflage as he quickly kicks the Blue solider against the back of his knee, knocking him to the floor and spawns himself two M6H Socom magnums in each hand, pointing them towards the Red and Blue soldiers. The entire room freezes in silence as the woman in the Red armor drops her light rifle on the ground.
"Its...Its you..." The woman in the red armor says quietly.
The kitchen door then opens to show Pyrrha and Dr. Grey peak through.
"Dr. Grey?!" The woman in the red armor almost shouts.
"Wait a minute...I recognize that voice." Dr. Grey says with uncertainty.
"Wait, you know them? How?" Pyrrha asks with confusion.
Sky only points the Magnum closer to the woman in Red armor, causing her to slowly back away.
"Dr. Grey! It's me! Dylan Andrews!" The Red solider says with some panic.
"The reporter?!" Dr. Grey says with confusion.
"Yes! Please tell your friend to lower the guns!" Dylan says with worry.
Dr. Grey runs over to Sky and pushes both his arms down.
"Sky. Remember when we first met and we talked about two reporters that were searching for the Reds and Blues. This is them!" Dr. Grey says happily. "Speaking of which, what happened? We though you two were dead?!"
Dylan sighs as she walks over to the Blue soldier and helps him up.
"Come one Jax, get up, we have explaining to do." Dylan say flatly.
The man named Jax groans and starts mumbling something. Once he was pulled up from the ground. Sky holsters his two magnums on his waist and glares at the two supposed reporters as they walked over to the bar stools. Once they took their seats, Almaz quickly runs behind the bar to grab another set of two glasses.
"So. Mind explaining what happened to you two?" Dr. Grey asks curiously.
"Yeah...Almaz, i'll just have a beer." Dylan says with a frustrated tone.
"Ditto." Jax also says with a bored tone.
Almaz nods happily and turns to his daughter. Sienna takes the two glasses and heads to two faucets and fills the two glasses. Once filled she places the two glasses in front of Dylan and Jax.
"Thank you Sienna." Dylan says with a smile under her helmet and turns her seat towards Sky, Pyrrha, and Dr. Grey. "Now. Where do I start?"
"How about Armada 8. I already know that the Reds and Blues were killed there. But I never heard or seen of a Dylan Andrews or a Jax." Sky's hologram displays.
"Its Jax Jones." Jax says quickly.
"Shut it. Dylan, please explain." Sky's hologram displays.
"Right. Once Jax and I went with the Reds and Blues to Armada 8, we were immediately captured by Temple and his team. Jax and I were taken to one cell in their brig inside that under water base. We don't exactly know what happened to the Reds and Blues, but we just assumed they were locked up in another cell. Over time, something...strange happened. Our cell was just...unlocked. We don't know how nor we found anyone. The only thing we did mange to find were these two sets of armor and a message to blend in for the time. And that's really our story. We spent the last year and a half in hiding till we find a way to do something. And that's when we heard of you and your army. We had planned to find a way to escape to join your cause, but Temple's orders to send us here made it difficult." Dylan explains as she takes a sip of her cup of beer through her red helmet.
"Well that's a problem." Pyrrha points out.
"What do you mean?" Dylan asks.
"Our ship is gone. There are survivors here and Cier and a few more back on my home planet. I need to find the survivors here to hopefully help my CO along with my squad back on my home planet. Temple's there along with the rest of his Captains and Colonel." Sky's hologram displays.
"Survivors..." Dylan says as her voice trails off.
"Ohhhh...you mean those small group of armored soldiers all the way by that ruined city." Jax says nonchalantly.
Everyone stayed silent as they just stared at Jax as he takes a large sip of beer through his helmet. He takes notice of everyone staring at him and lowers his cup of beer.
"What?" Jax asks.
"Fuck. FUCK." Sky's hologram displays as he starts to head towards the front door.
"Sky, what's wrong?" Pyrrha asks with worry.
"That's Aether Ruins. Grab your gear. If Captain Redflower is really alive, then we need to find him, quick." Sky's hologram displays.
"But, you just got here." Sienna says with a sad tone.
"Sorry Sienna, but my family needs me. The faster I can save my men, the faster I can save my sister and my girlfriend. Well, and Pyrrha's boyfriend too. But I can try to promise that I'll come back to Cier if we manage to find them." Sky's hologram displays.
Sienna gives a small smile as she quickly runs up and gives a hug to Sky. Once she lets go. Sky reaches behind him and brings out a small bag. He then tosses it to Almaz, who catches it with both his hands. He looks at the bag and looks back at Sky. Dr. Grey and Pyrrha then stands up and follow Sky.
"Hold on a minute. We're coming with you." Dylan says as she stands up from her stool.
"Alright." Sky's hologram displays wit ha shrug.
"Just like that? Your just going to let them in?" Pyrrha says with disbelief.
"What's wrong with us?" Dylan says as she puts her hands on her hips.
"No. I have nothing against you. Its just that Sky here." Pyrrha says as she points at Sky with her thumb. "Is usually very stubborn."
"Its because Dylan and Jax probably have access codes for us that we can use to avoid patrols or checkpoints." Sky's hologram displays as he looks towards Dylan and Jax. "Now, you two, get ready. We're leaving, now."
Dylan nods as she quickly runs over to a table and puts on her backpack on and picks up her Light rifle again whole her partner Jax grabs his SMG suppressor. The five of them start to head out the door, but Sky stops and look back at Almaz an Sienna.
"Thank you both. Hopefully we can see each other again under better circumstances." Sky's hologram displays.
"Anytime Sky. Remember, your always welcome here at Miracle Garden." Almaz says happily as he and his daughter give a goodbye wave.
Sky nods as he exits the tavern and shuts the door behind him. He was immediatly seen by Dylan and Pyrrha.
"Right, were do we head to?" Dylan asks.
"Back to the Revere. We're flying to Aether Ruins." Sky's hologram displays.
Time: 5 hours later
Location: Cier, Aether Ruins
The Revere slowly hovers down into a landing on top of a destroyed building. During the flight to Aether Ruins, Epsilon spent the time to give Dylan and Jax the recap of his survival and his latest adventures before being sent to Remnant while Dr. Grey asked many questions about the people of Cier after encounter with Almaz and Sienna. The Rear door bay opens up, allowing the Sky, Pyrrha, Dr. Grey, Dylan, and Jax to walk out. Both Dylan and Jax changed into their interstellar daily uniform/armor instead of the blue and red armor to avoid friendly fire. Once they exited the Revere, the rear door bay closes behind them as they started their search.
"The person on the radio you mentioned. Captain RedFlower. What is his job?" Dylan asks.
"Listen miss Andrews. As much as I am glad that your alive, please stop asking questions." Sky's hologram displays as he rolls his eyes under his helmet.
"I swear, this is the last one." Dylan pleads.
"Fine. Captain Redflower is the the leads the R & D Team. His skills mainly apply to research and technology. He comes up with a new gadget, weapon, or anything and sends it straight to Gyro for finalization and production. We need Redflower in hopes to try and get Pyrrha and I back to Remnant." Sky's hologram displays.
"Remnant, that's your home planet." Dylan says.
"Yeah. Both mine and Pyrrha's." Sky's hologram displays as he glances at Pyrrha.
"Miss Dylan, do you mind if I ask a question?" Pyrrha asks politely.
"Yeah, sure, go right ahead." Dylan replies.
"Do you...do you know what happened to earth?..." Pyrrha asks cautiously.
Dylan dipped her head down slightly while Jax nudged Pyrrha slightly, grabbing her attention.
"Her husband was a victim. He worked for my uncle back at Interstellar daily as a IDA Analyst, what ever that is. But its a sensitive subject." Jax whispers to Pyrrha.
Pyrrha had a look of regret and sadness under her helmet as she glances at Dylan who gave a small nod of confirmation.
"I'm sorry for asking." Pyrrha says with sympathy.
"Its fine. You didn't know. What matters is that we put a stop to them." Dylan says quietly as she looks at Sky. "Do you know how to track your missing soldiers?" Dylan asks as she tries to change the subject.
"Like a tracking device or something?" Dr. Grey also asks.
"No. Standard procedure to deactivate the armors recovery beacons in a situation like this. It was easy to find its signal and it has a very short transmission signal." Sky's hologram displays as he glances back behind him.
"So were running in blind?" Pyrrha asks.
"Yeah. Basically." Sky's hologram displays
The five of them continued to wander the ruins of the old Aether city. They checked as many destroyed buildings, houses, taverns, every building they could find. But there was nothing. No sightings of any of the missing soldiers.
"How big is this city?!" Jax almost shouts.
Dylam slaps Jax lightly against the back of his helmet.
"Can you not yell? Las thing we need is to get shot at because your getting impatient." Dylan says sharply.
While Jax and Dylan started to have a small argument, Pyrrha looks towards a nearby building.
"You see something Nikos?" Dr. Grey asks as she walks up behind Pyrrha.
"No...Do you...hear something?" Pyrrha asks slowly.
Dr. Grey stays silent for a couple of seconds as she tries to listen. But wasn't hearing much due to Dylan and Jax's bickering.
"QUIET!" Dr. Grey shouts at Dylan and Jax.
Everyone quickly stares at Dr. Grey.
"Really? Was that necessary?" Sky's hologram displays as he glares at Dr. Grey.
"Yes. It was." Dr. Grey says happily and looks back at Pyrrha. "Now what is it that you were hearing?"
Pyrrha didn't respond as she looked at the ground. Sky notices this as he looks as he takes a look at the pebbles that started to rumble on the floor. Both Sky and Pyrrha then look at each other, acknowledging the up coming events, then they could all hear the sound of treads closing in on them. The Dylan and Jax raised their Charon weaponry while Sky raised his sniper rifle. Dr. Grey slightly raises Freckles in preparation while Pyrrha turns her head towards the sound of treads.
"Enemy hostiles detected." Freckles announces.
The group of five were looking at Freckles as he gives the heads up. Down the street from where they were, a scorpion tank drives through a building along with a dozen Blue and Red Soldiers.
"GRAB SOME COVER!" Sky's hologram displays.
Pyrrha uses her new armor gauntlets to create a hardlight copy of her shield Akoúo̱ and blocks incoming gunshots while Sky stood behind Pyrrha. Dr. Grey quickly ran behind a destroyed building while Dylan and Jax fired their own shots as they followed Dr. Grey to cover. While Pyrrha slowly backed up, blocking shots while Sky returned fire with his sniper rifle, killing only four Blue and Red troopers. Pyrrha's hardlight copy of Akoúo̱ starts to crack from all the gunfire. Pyrrha see's the tank turn its large cannon towards their direction and glances back at Sky, luckily he gets the message and grabs Pyrrha by her arm and uses his jump - pack to slide him and Pyrrha behind another destroyed building across the street from Dr. Grey, Dylan, and Jax as the tank fires a shell, missing and landing further down the street behind them.
"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Dylan shouts as she peaks around the corner.
Dylan goes back into cover as a shot lands right next to her head. She breaths heavily as she looks across the street towards Sky and Pyrrha. Sky reloads his sniper rifle and peaks around the corner, raising his rifle to fire two shots. One shot hits a Red solider in his kneecap while the other shot hits the tank, bouncing off its armor. Sky ducks back into cover as soon as they started to focus fire on his position. Sky makes a few hand gestures towards Dylan, Jax, and Dr. Grey. But he only got blank stares from the three of them. Sky facepalms as he uses Epsilon to communicate.
"WE NEED COVER FIRE!" Epsilon shouts.
"I DON'T THINK YOU REALIZE THAT THERE IS A TANK SHOOTING AT US TOO!" Dylan shouts,
The tank round flies right between them, exploding right at the center of the street between them.
"WELL WE DON'T HAVE THE MEANS TO DEAL WITH THE TANK!" Epsilon shouts.
Sky peaks around the corner to see more Blue and Red soldiers on top of the roods with Binary rifles and light rifles, firing down om their position.
"FUCK! SNIPERS ON THE ROOFS!" Epsilon shouts.
Dylan manages to quickly peak around the corner and fire three shots with her light rifle and manages to kill a Blue soldier next to the tank. The five of them were pinned down from the two dozen Blue and Red soldiers. Ammo was slowly starting to become scarce for the four of them who were actually using firearms. Pyrrha continued to use her hardlight Akoúo̱ to cover Sky as he would peak and take shots with his rifle and Jax would continue to use his suppressor to cover Dylan as she took precision shots with her light rifle. And Dr. Grey used Freckles to call out targets for Dylan and Jax as they continued their firefight. But while the five of them continued their firefight with the Blues and Red, Freckles points out something.
"Unknown contacts detected." Freckles announces.
"What?" Dr. Grey only says.
A rocket flies down from the top of a building next to Sky and Pyrrha and hits the tank. The explosion didn't destroy the tank, but it knocked down majority of the troops who were used the tank as cover. The five of them look up to the building from where the rocket came from and see a solider in a commando helmet and recon eda armor with colors of dark blue and silver along with a silver visor. On the solider's right wrist was some sort of blue band with a black 4 edged star. He aimed his rocket launcher and fires another rocket at the tank, destroying the tank. The Blue and Red soldiers recover from the first explosion managed to raise their rifles and fire towards the mystery solider and the group of five again. While they continued to fire, large red crystals sprang up from the ground to create a wall between the Blue and Red soldiers and the group of five. Sky looked behind him down the street to see another solider in a helljumper helmet and scanner armor with the colors of dark green and red along with a red visor. The second mystery solider was crouched on the ground with his palm on the ground. He stood up and faces the five of them.
"Come on! That barrier wont hold for long, follow me!" The soldier in green and red armor says as he motions the five of them to follow.
The solider in green and red armor starts to run down the street. Pyrrha, Dr. Grey, Jax, and Dylan looked at Sky only to see him just sprint after the solider. The four of them shrug as they follow Sky down the street. The five of them follow the solider in green and red armor into a old destroyed laundromat. Then the solider of dark blue and silver armor ran up behind them with his rocket launcher on his back.
"Sir, they're on our tail. We'll need to move now." The solider in dark blue and silver armor says.
"Grab some C4 and set some charges to the tunnel. We need to cover our tracks." The solider in dark green and red armor orders.
"Got it." The solider in dark blue and silver armored solider says with a nod.
The solider in dark blue and silver armor reaches behind him to grab a charge of C4 and plants it on a near by pillar while the soldier in dark green and red armor leads the group into a back room. He then grabs a old locker and pushes it to the side to reveal a hole in the floor.
"You five, follow me and stay close." The soldier in dark green and red armor orders.
"Hold on a minute. We just met you like 5 minutes ago. We're not going anywhere." Dylan says with hostility.
"Are you seriously doing this? I just save your life and you doing this?" The solider in dark green and red armor says with annoyance as he turns to Sky. "I'm going to guess they don't know?"
Sky just shrugs as he glances back at Dylan.
"Your Captain Redflower, aren't you." Pyrrha says as she points at the solider.
"Bingo. Now are you all going to get in the hole or not?" Redflower says with a annoyed tone.
Dylan was about to retort but was pushed into the hole by Sky. Jax then jumps into the hole then being followed by Dr. Grey and Pyrrha. Sky and Redflower make quick eye contact while the solider in dark blue and silver armor runs up with a detonator in his hand.
"Charges are ready." The solider in dark blue and silver armor says.
Redflower nods as he and Sky then jump into the hole, then followed by the soldier dark blue and silver armor. They were greeted by everyone else inside the tunnel system. Redflower takes the lead and has everyone follow him. Once they ran for a good minute, Redflower turns back towards the solider in dark blue and silver armor and nods to him. The solider nods back and hits the button on the detonator, detonating the C4 back on the laundromat. The five of the could hear the explosion and feel the tunnel just slightly rumble. Redflower then motions the group to follow him as he leads them trough the tunnel system.
"Your lucky that Vesper here was able to spot your ship when you flew in along with that squad of Blues and Reds." Redflower says as he glances back at the group of five.
"Vesper?" Jax asks.
"That would be me." The soldier in dark blue and silver armored soldier says as he points at himself. "Lieutenant Vesper, my squads scout and recon trooper. Nice to meet the four of you." Vesper says politely.
"And who might the four of you be then? I already know Agent 26." Redflower says as he motions his hand towards Sky.
"Dylan Andrew, Interstellar Daily." Dylan says.
"Jax Jones." Jax announces proudly.
"Doctor Emily Grey." Dr. Grey says happily.
"Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha says with a nod.
"Well, as nice as it is to meet the four of you, lets get this out of the way. Name's Captain Redflower, leader of the R & D team. Now, i'm guessing that your all thinking how long have we been here? Well, we've been stuck here for a month and a half." Redflower explains.
"How many other survivors are there? We know about the destruction of the ship." Pyrrha asks.
"Other than Captain Redflower and I, there's 4 others. But As of now, the other three left a few weeks ago in search of info and a ship. Havn't got word back yet. Something has been jamming with the comms for awhile ever since the Blues and Reds followed us here." Vesper explains.
"I'm guessing your taking us to your leader?" Jax asks.
"What? As of now i'm the leader. Are you paying attention?" Redflower asks as he looks back at Jax.
"No really." Jax replies quickly.
"Just...ignore him." Dylan says as she glares at Jax.
"Duly noted." Redflower says flatly. "But I am taking you to our hideout. From there, we can breif you five on our situation and you can do the same for us."
Captain Redflower presses a button on the side of his helmet, lighting up a flashlight to lead the group through tunnel system for the next 27 minutes. Taking different pathways through the old tunnel system. Eventually they were lead to a dead end with a similar Red crystal formation from earlier.
"Uh, this is a dead end." Jax points out.
"Yeah, no shit, give me a second." Redflower says with a deadpanned tone.
Redflower just makes a small hand gesture, pulling his hand down and making the red crystals slide into the ground, revealing a pretty decently large room, some bits of machinery were scattered around the safe room along with small crates and plenty of firearms that leaned on the walls. But on a nearby old holotable was a soldier wearing a maverick helmet and orbital armor with the colors of purple and cyan along with her cyan visor. The soldier was sharpening a sword and takes notice of Redflower at the entrance.
"Oh, your back Cap, wheres Vesper?" The female solider in purple and cyan armor asks.
"Good to see you too Stitch. Vesper is here" Redflower says with a nod. "Brought us some visitors too."
Redflower steps out of the way to let Sky, Pyrrha, Dr. Grey, Dylan, and Jax into the safe room. The female soldier named Stitch springs up from the ground as she looks straight at Sky.
"Holy shit. Where the hell were you for the last few months?!" Stitch says with some surprise as she then looks at the other four new visitors. "And you brought new friends."
"Yeah. The one in red and bronze is Pyrrha Nikos, The white and purple is Doctor Emily Grey, and the two white and blue ones are Dylan Andrews and Jax Jones from Interstellar daily." Redflower says as he motions his hand to the four visitors.
"Nice to meet the four of you. My name is Sergeant Stitch, my squads infiltrator specialist." Stitch says happily.
"Your sister? Is she..." Pyrrha says as her voice trials off.
"Dead?" Dr. Grey asks bluntly.
Pyrrha nudges Dr. Grey while Stitch just waves it off.
"No, she's not. She's here right now." Stitch explains.
The four of them look around the safe room, not seeing the supposed fourth survivor.
"Uhhh...Where?" Dylan asks cautiously.
Stitch quietly groans as she looks at her sword she dropped.
"Ally, can you not do this?! This is embarrassing!" Stitch says as she stops her foot on the ground.
Dr. Grey nudges Vesper's left arm to grab his attention.
"Is it okay if I perform a medical checkup on your friend Stitch. She might be a little...crazy?" Dr. Grey whispers.
"She's fine Doc." Vesper replies.
"Are you sure? She's talking to a sword." Dr. Grey whispers.
"Just trust me Doc, just watch." Vesper says as he looks back at Stitch.
"ALLY! I'M BEING SERIOUS!" Stitch yells with embarrassment.
While Dr. Grey, Pyrrha, Dylan, and Jax just look at each other in confusion. When they look at Stitch's sword, a flash of white briefly blinds the group. Once the light dims down, they could see another armored soldier in the same armor as Stitch, except her colors were pink and purple along with a purple visor. She stretched her back and starts to have a giggling fit.
"I'm sorry Stitch. But that was priceless." The pink and purple solider says in her giggling fit.
While the female solider continues to laugh, the other four visitors were just staring in silence.
"What...where did you come from?" Dylan asks with confusion.
"That would be their power. Ally here, her squads sniper, can turn into a sword for her sister Stitch to use, while Stich can turn a scythe for Ally." Redflower explains.
"Any you can make those red crystals." Pyrrha points out.
"Yeah. Pretty cool right?" Reflower asks.
"Its just weird." Pyrrha says flatly.
"Not used to seeing all magic and powers yet?" The female solider named Ally asks.
"Powers, yes. Magic. A little." Pyrrha replies.
"That doesn't make sense." Stitch says flatly.
"We're more inclined to say that we have semblances instead of powers and magic." Sky's hologram displays.
Stitch, Ally, Redflower, and Vesper stare at Sky's hologram for a brief few seconds to read his message before looking at the mute freelancer.
"Well that's certainty new." Vesper says as he points at the holo projection.
"Well what else do I use to communicate? You want me to do sign language when i'm using a gun?" Sky's hologram displays as he rolls his eyes under his helmet.
"Just pointing out something new. No need to get all fussy about it." Vesper says as he puts his hands up.
"And I was also pointing something out too. But enough about that. You said there were other survivors that left a few weeks ago. Do you know where they went?" Sky's hologram displays.
"Now wait a minute here Agent. We also need a explanation too. Like what happened to you and the General? And why it took you this long to finally manage to find us. And what are these semblances too that your friend mentioned. You said 'we're' meaning that you have it too. So Agent. We'll brief you on your situation once you brief us." Redflower says as he walks over to the old holotable.
The group of five glance at each other as they all give their own nod and walk up to the holotable to tell their story.
Time: 3 hours later
Captian Redflower, Lieutenant Vesper, and Sergeants Ally and Stitch stood on the other side of the holotable, taking in all the information that they had just learned. Things about Remnant, things about the planets life, history, and the recent events regarding to the teleportaion along with the squad being split up.
"That's our story. Just about everything." Pyrrha says with a small shrug.
"Sooo...these semblances...you can control polarities. Do you mind to show me?" Stitch asks with some curiosity and excitement.
"Uhh...sure?" Pyrrha says with uncertainty.
Sky pulled the bolt of his sniper rifle and ejects a bullet from the chamber. He catches the bullet and then quickly tosses the bullet towards Pyrrha's direction. Pyrrha quickly raises her hand towards the bullet and her body glows black, the bullet flying at Pyrrha freezes in the air as it was also glowing black. Pyrrha then flings the bullet back at Sky. He quickly catches the bullet and starts to play with the bullet between his fingers.
"Interesting, you think you can stop bullets as they are being fired at you?" Redflower asks with curiosity.
"Sadly no. It takes a lot of concentration and I doubt i'll ever be able to pull such a maneuver." Pyrrha says as she rubs the back of her neck.
Redflower nods as he turns his attention to Sky.
"Alright, now that your all done with your explanations, i'll start with ours. What do you want to know first?" Redflower asks.
"How about the other survivors. Their the biggest priority as of now." Sky's hologram displays.
"Ah. Well theirs technically four of them. But two of the other survivors are like Ally and Stitch in terms of their abilities. There both brothers." Redflower explains.
"So Raxas and Zade are alive. Good to know. But who else is there?" Sky's hologram displays.
"Captain Sin and along with Corporal Linn. Sin lead the mission two find a ship out of here. I tried to warn him, but he was persistent on doing this. Same with Linn. She's is just as stubborn as Vesper." Redflower says with a grin under his helmet.
"I'm not THAT stubborn sir. At least I played it smart and stayed here." Vesper retorts.
"Oh, so is there something wrong with Raxas and Zade then?!" Both Stitch and Ally says in annoyance and in unison.
Pyrrha, Dr. Grey, Dylan, and Jax stare right at Sky.
"Stitch is dating with Raxas while Ally is with Zade." Sky's hologram displays towards the four of them.
"Got it." Jax says quickly.
Vesper continued his argument with Stitch and Ally while Redflower steps in between the three.
"Stop! Enough already!" Redflower shouts.
Vesper, Stitch, and Ally finally stop their bickering as they look away from each other.
"I though Team RWBY can be chaotic sometimes." Pyrrha says under her breath.
"Do you have any idea where Sin took Raxas, Zade, and Linn to grab a ship?" Sky's hologram displays.
"That's the problem. We know where they went. But we haven't received anything from them ever since they left." Redflower explains.
"Then where are they?" Dylan asks.
"Aether 2.0." Redflower says.
"Come again?" Jax only asks.
Redflower just hits the side of the holotable everyone surrounded. A large holographic projection of a city with some large circle under the city. The city was extremely futuristic and advanced compared to other locations on Cier or compared to the cities in Remnant.
"So...its a city." Dr. Grey says bluntly.
"No shit. But this is a different type of city Dr. Grey. Aether 2.0 is a flying city not far from here. We flew past it on the way here." Sky's hologram displays.
"Exactly. Aether 2.0 is the most advanced location in Cier. And the people their aren't the friendliest around. Not to mention ever since the Blues and Reds have began purging duelists, they've used Aether 2.0 as their main base. Captain Sin though it was best to head in there since it was the Blues and Reds main base." Redflower explains.
"Purging Duelists?" Dylan only asks.
"Yeah. The Blues and Reds know how much of a threat they are to them. So they do what they've done best. Every duelist they've ran into, they've killed without a second thought." Vesper explains as well.
"But I thought Duelists were capable of holding their own ground with their own weapons and powers." Pyrrha points out.
"True. But that brings up another problem. They got someone powerful on their side. If anything, there the reason why we ended up crashing in the first place." Redflower says cryptically.
"Then spit it out. We're wasting time if you just going to be dramatic and cryptic." Sky's hologram displays.
Redflower takes a deep breath.
"26. It was Blue. Blue was the reason our ship was destroyed and he was killing off duelists that he ran into." Redflower says quietly.
Sky just froze in place as he hears the news.
"Blue? Who's Blue?" Dylan asks with some hint of worry.
Sly just leans towards the holotable and towards Redflower's direction.
"So your telling me. You were all aware of Blue aligning himself with the Blues and Reds. And you just let Sin, Raxas, Zade, and Linn just walk out of here to their home base?!" Sky's hologram displays as he glares at Redflower.
"That wasn't my call. Stitch, Ally, and I all told them not to do it. But they though it was best to find a way out of here. Don't put the blame on me." Reflower retorts.
"Fucking Nuri should have let me kill them when we had the opportunity. Grab you gear. All of you. Vesper. You still have that mod for your weapon?" Sky's hologram displays as he looks at Vesper.
"Heh, of course I do. What plan do you have cooking up?" Vesper says with a grin under his helmet.
"Your the only one as of now with lightning based attacks. I'll need you to try and short circuit the city's shielding. Who here is a good pilot other that Dr. Grey?" Sky's hologram displays.
"That would be me I guess." Ally says as she raises her hand. "What kind of ship are we talking?"
"A Revere class shuttle. No weapons but its fast non the less. think you can handle it?" Sky's hologram displays at Ally.
"A Revere shuttle...A bit tricky but I can manage. Who else is coming with you?" Ally asks. "Is Stitch coming with you?"
"No. Even though she's a infiltration specialist, you both rely on each other if things go south. I'll be better on my own. Aether 2.0 relies too much on their tech. I can take advantage of that. Once we manage to get Sin, Raxas, Zade, and Linn, we head straight back to Chorus to try and get that Temple of Translocation active." Sky's hologram displays.
"Got. Everyone grab your shit! We're leaving! Pack for light armaments, we're going to be kit for fast transport!" Redflower announces.
"YES SIR!" Ally, Stitch, and Vesper shout in unison.
Ally, Stitch, and Vesper quickly run off to grab some gear while Dr. Grey, Pyrrha, Jax, and Dylan help the three soldiers gather their gear. Just as Sky was about to help, Redflower grabs his left robotic arm, grabbing his attention.
"26. I know what your planning. And its the same reason why Sin when after him too. I get it that he lead them, but I really doubt he'll come help us when his daughters are still missing to him. Don't be stupid. And if Blue knows that he lives there, theirs a chance that he might get him to join the Burst Crusaders again or worse. Just look for them and bring them back." Redflower whispers.
"If Sin really went after him, that means Blue would have went after him too. And if that's the case, him and his wife are in danger. It is our job to protect them. Don't forget what you swore to do. I'll find them. I can promise your that. Now get your gear. I need you to lead us through the tunnels, once we're on the surface, we should be able to guild your men to the Revere." Sky's hologram displays.
Redflower stays silent for a couple of second.
"Fine. But don't do something stupid 26." Redflower orders.
Sky gives a quiet nod before he leaves to help everyone else gather their gear.
Location: Cier, Aether 2.0
Time: 3 hours later
The Revere shuttle speeds towards the flying city of Aether 2.0, being a lot larger than it seemed through the holotable projection. Ally sat on the pilot seat with Dr. Grey next to her just in case something went wrong. Stich, Dylan, and Jax were right outside of the cockpit ready for the all clear from the two seated in the cockpit. And Redflower, Pyrrha, Vesper, and Sky were at the read bay doors.
"You ready back there?" Ally asks through a intercom.
Redflower looks at Sky and Vesper for their confirmation. The blue wrist band with the black four edged star materializes a black disk with a few holo lines along with blue decals. The disk rotates and a large black triangular blade materializes from the disk with its three blue circles on the blade and blue decals. Vesper gives a nod signaling he was ready with his weapon while Redflower looks at Sky. Sky had his umbrella on his jump - pack, the blades slightly float away from the umbrella and jump - pack along with the umbrella and jump glowing blue slightly before the blades fly back to their original position. Sky then gives his nod, signaling that he was ready. And Pyrrha also gave her nod too.
"Ready!" Redflower says back through a terminal in the bay door exit.
Dr. Grey hits a button on the console, lowering the rear bay door. Pyrrha, Sky, and Vesper a activated their grav boots as they stood by the edge of the lowered. Sky lowered himself as he puts his hands on the floor and readies himself as if he was about to run. Vesper raised his wrist mounted black disk and blade mounted on his right wrist while Pyrrha held her grip on the side of the ship.
"Why am doing this again?!" Pyrrha shouts through the wind roaring loudly.
"We need you to guild Vesper's blade to the shield just in case he misses!" Redflower shouts back.
The Revere flies right over the top of the flying city of Aether 2.0. Vesper aimed the tip of his weapon towards the shield that covered the large city. Once the Revere flew right over the top if the shield, half of Vesper's wrist mounted blade shoots out with a black black cable behind hit. Half of the blade flies towards the shield but starts to dip down a bit due to the lack of range. Pyrrha then raises her arm and starts to use her semblance to guild the blade towards the shield, eventually making the blade hit the shield. The cable from the launched blade starts to spark, sending electricity towards the blade that was stuck in the shield. The electricity finally sends out a shockwave once it reached the blade, creating a small hole in the Aether 2.0's shield.
"If your going to move! Move now!" Vesper shouts.
Sky nods as the blades on his umbrella and jump - pack float to shape small metallic wings. The umbrella and jump - pack start to glow blue, charging up along with the sound a engine firing up. He eventually boosts himself out pf the ship and through the small hole in Aether 2.0's shield. The jets on his jump - pack ignite as he descended to a large building and eventually preventing him from crashing down into the building. Once Sky lands on top the the building, the blades retract back onto the umbrella and jump - pack as he Sky observes the edge of the building and just stares at the large futuristic city.
"You know that there probably dead." Epsilon says quietly as he flashes next to Sky.
"I know." Sky replies mentally with some sorrow.
"Your mainly here for him, aren't you." Epsilon says as he crosses his arms.
"Your in my head, you already know why I'm here." Sky says mentally as he takes a few steps back from the ledge.
"I know. Already set a way point there. Don't die for fucks sake." Epsilon says flatly.
"I don't plan to." Sky's relies sarcastically and mentally.
Sky runs towards the edge of the building and uses his jump pack to leap into another building towards the next supposed location in the futuristic flying city. He continued to jump from building to building, using his jump - pack, grapple hook, and even his grav boots. Every time when he would take a look towards the ground floor, there would be large patrols of Blue and Red Soldiers along with very few locals at all that roamed the outside. Warthogs along with a few Scorpion tanks drove on the streets. A few falcons along with a few hornets flew by, but Sky was able to use his active camouflage to avoid being caught. Sky would observe large monitors that hovered over the city streets seeing a few things that really didn't set right with him. There were already wanted posters of himself, Dylan, Jax, Pyrrha, Dr. Grey, Redflower, Vesper, Ally, and Stitch. But he screen then fades into two more people, The first one he recognized as Captain Sin with his Nomad helmet and Protector Black and white armor along with his white visor. Then there was the second person which had a female shape and had a Venture helmet and Mako light purple and silver along with her silver colored visor.
"That's not good." Theta says inside of Sky's head.
"Well that could mean two things." Omega also says in Sky's head.
"I know." Sky replies mentally.
"I'm just going to assume that they are dead." Omega relies with a small chuckle.
"Omega stop. Stop scaring Theta. But your also not wrong. If theirs no wanted posters on Raxas and Zade, they are probably captured or dead." Sky says mentally.
Sky just shakes his head as he looks just across the street from him, he sees that he has reached his destination. A small garage like building with a few broken down holographic billboards with the name "Ravnik Mechanical and Repair Shop". Sky looks around the street to find no Blue and Red patrols, jeeps, tanks, or aircraft's around him and takes the his chance to jump on top of the Mechanical Shop and look around the top of the roof. Sky see's a skylight window and starts to sneak his way towards the skylight roof. He looks through the window to see no one inside. Sky lifts the skylight window slowly and jumps inside into the Mechanical Shop. Sky looks around the room to find that the lights were out. Theta turns on the night vision inside of his helmet, allowing Sky to look around the room. He see's that the room he was in was some sort of tool closet, but everything was a mess, tools were scattered all over the floor along with a few of the cabinets were left open or knocked on the floor. Sky looks to his left to see the main exit door cracked open just slightly, Sky slowly creeps up to the door and holds the door knob with his right arm. Just as he was about to pull the door open, a black blade with a red edge along with a red glow pierces the door. Sky leaned back, dodging the blade by a few inches. Sky kicks the door with his right leg, knocking it off its hinges and and straight at the attacker. The attackers black and red blade glows brighter and makes the door explode. Sky hits a piece of debris from the door that flew at him, knocking it away from him as he stares at the attacker. In front of him was a middle aged man with tanned skin. He had long black hair with a small pony tail along with a small stubble beard. He wore a black tee shirt and a blue unbutton jacket along with a brown scabbard slung around his shoulder. He also wore tan colored pants and black boots and his red eyes stared straight at Sky.
"Blue..." Sky says mentally with venom.
"If your looking for Aero and Rosie, don't bother. They've been dead for the last few weeks." Blue says nonchalantly.
Sky glares at Blue through his helmet as he watches Blue put his sword against his shoulder as he starts to walk around Sky. Sky also walks on the opposite side against Blue, the both of the circles each other in a stand off.
"Almost two years. Two years since Nuri 'left' us on some random planet with little to nothing. And now, two years later, here we are. Standing against each other. Me, and the murder of my clan mate." Blue says calmly.
"Murderer?! You have some nerve to call me a murderer! You left Jin for dead, and now your standing right here. Telling me that you killed your own clan leader and his wife!" Sky's hologram displays as he continues his death glare against Blue.
"So, you finally want to use words to talk. Aero left us! He was a coward and weak. And he wasn't clearly strong enough to survive, let alone his wife. They're children are stronger then them. June and Lyndsey Ravnik. Daughters of the Sky King, yet the Sky King himself has fallen, and the real question is. Who's going to take his place?" Blue exclaims.
Blue twirls his sword off his shoulder and points the tip of the black and red blade towards Sky.
"Now I've been waiting to for this for years. I've wanted to know who was the better swordsmen for years." Blue says as he stops walking.
Sky also stops as he and Blue stand across from each other. Blue and Sky continue to glare at each other for a few seconds. Blue then begins his charge as he swings his sword horizontally. Sky takes a step back and leans back as well, dodging right under the sword. Sky continues his momentum as he flips on to his hands and kicks Blue against his chin. Blue stumbles backwards while Sky flips back onto his feet. Sky then jumps and spins horizontally, performing a spinning roundhouse kick against Blue's arm. Blue quietly groans as he spins his sword around him, Sky just stares at Blue with some confusion. Blue's sword continues to glow red as he spins his word around. Blue finally stabs his sword into the ground. The ground starts to glow red around Blue, Blue finally swings his sword in a upwards diagonal strike towards Sky's direction in a glowing red projectile. Sky's eyes widen under his helmet as he rolls to his side, dodging the large red projectile. The projectile makes contact with the wall, cutting straight through while also making the wall explode into a large hole. Sky glances back at the hole as he glances back at Blue to see a small smile on his face. Blue spins as he launches multiple diagonal swings towards Sky's direction. Sky starts to roll, slide, or jump away from each attack. But each swing Blue performed, his sword continued to glow a brighter and brighter red. Once Blue was a few feet away from Sky, he stabbed his sword into the ground. A red pulse flies out from the sword as Blue stops on the ground and spreads his arm out, sending another bright red pulse towards Sky's direction. Sky's looks around him, looking for any sort of elevation advantage, but there was nothing. Sky see's the bright red pulse close in quickly, in desperation, Sky's secondary armor color flashes from purple to white. Sky hits his right palm against the ground. A small pulse forms around Sky, as it grows slowly. The colors around him seemed inverted as everything around him slows down to a crawl. Blue along with the glowing red pulse was caught from Sky's time distortion enhancement. Sky took his advantage as he leaps over the red pulse and charges at Blue. Sky's time distortion enhancement deactivates as he performs a overhead kick. Blue manages to raise his sword over his head, blocking Sky's attack. Sky balances himself on top of Blue's sword as he tries to shake him off. Sky then flips off Blue's sword and rolls towards the holes against the wall of the Mechanical shop. Blue growls quietly as he glares at Sky. Just as Blue was about to swing another projectile towards Sky's direction, a blast from a shotgun is fired towards Blue's direction. Blue quickly creates a shield as he blocks the blast and looks towards where the shot came from. Blue takes notice of the black and white armored figure of Captain Sin. Sin held a black sword with silver trims. Along with that, the sword had a revolver like chamber near the handle, and the handle held a trigger too. Sin lowers his shotgun sword weapon and glares at Blue.
"If it isn't the escapee. Captain Sin himself. About time you came out of your little hole to face me." Blue says with some aggravation.
Sin doesn't respond as he just raises his palm into the air. Blue doesn't get the chance to react as he slides to his side, dodging another attacker. A large nodachi sword hits the ground next to Blue. The blade was silver while its handle was a dark blue with a cyan cloth wrapped around the handle. The user of the nodachi jump down from their position and grips there blade. Blue looks over at the user to identify them as Lieutenant Linn.
"And now theirs the Corporal. What are you going to do Linn? Just do nothing? Just like how you let your two other friends die." Blue says with a small chuckle.
Linn stays quiet for a second as she pulls her nodachi out of the ground.
"Like your one to talk." Linn says with a scoff.
Linn swings her nodachi at Blue. Blue raises his sword and deflects the attack. Blue then kicks Linn against her ribs, making her recoils to her side. Blue was about to jab his sword towards Linn's direction, but was deflected by Sin's sword. Sin pulls the trigger on his sword, firing a shotgun blast to the ground, he used the recoil from the shot and manages to overpower Blue. Blue spins around and uses his momentum to slash at Sin again. Sin then swings in a upwards strike. Both Sin and Blue's swords scrape against each other, creating a few sparks between each other.
"Linn! We're going with plan B!" Sin yells.
Sky looked at Linn with some confusion.
"Plan B? Sir?! Are you crazy?! We already lost Raxas and Zade!" Linn says with anger.
Sin and Blue continue to trade the swings of there attacks with there swords. Sin was busy focusing on his fight against the Burst Crusader. Blue had his right hand in his jacket pocket as he deflected most of Sins attacks with ease. Sin continued to swing while occasionally firing a shotgun blast as a projectile or to use the recoil to swing his sword. Linn decides to charge in with her nodachi and jumps over Sin and Blue. Linn spins her nodachi over her shoulder to attempt to hit Blue with the handle, Blue leans to his side as he returns with a elbow against Linn's forearm. Linn manages to grab Blue's elbow and sluggishly swing her nodachi due to holding it with one hand. Blue easily ducks under Linn's swing and backs up away from Linn as Sin was about to jump into action. But before Sin could jump into the fight, Sky held his arm and pulls him towards his direction.
"What are you doing?!" Sin almost shouts.
"We need to go. NOW. Both of you can't fight him." Sky's hologram displays.
"He killed Raxas and Zade!" Sin retorts.
"And there is nothing we can do about it. But there is no point in risking your life too. Just stand back, i'll grab Linn." Sky's hologram displays
Sin quietly growls as he lowers his shotgun sword. Sky grabs a blade from his jump - pack with his left robotic arm to prevent cutting himself. Sky runs over to Linn and Blue as they continued clashing against each other. Linn ducks under a swipe from Blue and kicks him up into the air where Sky jumps up and activates his strength enhancement, flashing his armor colors from purple to red and kicks Blue into a wall. A plum of smoke arises from Blue's impact on the wall. Sky then grabs Linn's arm and pulls her towards Sin.
'What are you doing?!" Linn says with aggravation as she pants heavily.
"We're leaving, what ever this plan B of yours is, do it." Sky's hologram displays.
"That's not a good Idea. If we do plan B, we might just die." Linn says as she stumbles forwards.
Sky catches Linn by her shoulder. The blade in his left hand flies back to his Jump - pack. Sky then looks over at Sin, who was still looking at the hole Blue flew through.
"You get Linn out of here. I'll buy you time." Sin only says.
Sky froze for a second as he stares at Sin.
"No. No we are not doing this. No man gets left behind Sin. Now come on, we don't have much time left. Blue is going to be conscious soon." Sky's hologram displays as he turns around.
Sky grabs Linn's nodachi and locks it on her back, holstering it. He then grabs Linn's arm and places it around his shoulder, helping her walk. Once Sky turned back to Sin, he only saw his shotgun sword being stabbed right in front of him. Sky and Linn look up at Sin to see him rip his dog tag off from his neck and toss it too them. Linn catches the dog tags and stares at them for a couple of seconds.
"My powers should give you two some time. You two need to go now." Sin says strictly.
"Sir-" Linn only says.
"THAT IS A ORDER!" Sin shouts.
There was a small brief moment of silence. Sky just reaches in front of him and grabs the shotgun sword. He inspects the blade and places it on his back. He glances back at Sin to see him give a subtle nod. Sky takes a deep breath as he returned with his own subtle nod.
"Good luck Captain." Sky's hologram displays.
"And good luck Agent. Give Redflower my condolences." Sin says with a smile under his helmet.
Sky nods again as he carries Linn towards the large hole that lead towards the city streets. Sky jumps out with Linn, carrying her bridal style as the metallic blades on his jump - pack spread out and float to form its wings. The ignition on the jump - pack flares up, flying Sky and Linn away. Sin turns back towards the large hole Blue flew through to only see a red glow through the smoke. Sin stomps on the ground as he raises one of his hands. A large shadow forms under Sin as shadowy tendrils protrude from the ground as Sin's hands glow a shadowy black. The last thing Sin see's is Blue jump out of the smoke with his sword glowing its bright red.
Over with Sky and Linn, Sky flew in the Aether 2.0 with Linn. He eventually landed in the coordinates Linn gave him. Once he hit the ground, he immediately hears the sounds of tanks, jeeps, and helicopters closing on there position. Linn leads Sky towards a manhole and lifts off the cover. She jumps down into the man hole with Sky behind her, closing the lid of the manhole behind them. Sky finally jumps off the ladder to follow Linn to see a very advanced tunnel system.
"Come on." Linn says as she clutches her side.
Sky grabs Linn's arm to remove her hand from her side to see blood. Sky only glances at Linn to see her glare away from his direction.
"It's only a scratch. Blue only got lucky." Linn says harshly as she begins to walk ahead of Sky. "Just follow me. We need to head towards the city shield."
Linn tries to walk ahead by stumbles forwards. but Sky was able to rush forwards and catch her from falling. Sky just stares at Linn but was interrupted by voices.
"THERE OVER HERE! SUB SECTION 72-641!" A red soldier shouts.
Sky grabs Linn and pulls her as he starts to sprint down the tunnel system.
"What's the plan Linn, you gotta guild me here." Sky's hologram displays.
Sky and Linn start getting shot at by the Blue and Red troops that spotted them in the tunnels. Linn reaches behind her and grabs a detonator. Sky takes notice of this as he keeps sprinting with Linn around his shoulder. Linn flicks up the cover from the button of the detonator and hits the button of the detonator. Sky didn't hear anything, but he felt the ground rumble under him, causing him and Linn along with the Blue and Red soldiers stumble around. Sky then shoots a glare at Linn to see her reach for the side of her helmet.
"THIS IS CORPORAL LINN ALONG WITH AGENT 26 REQUESTING FOR A IMMEDIATE EVAC! DOES ANYONE RESPOND?!" Linn shouts through her helmet.
Sky have a confused look at Linn. But he realizes what Linn was doing. SKy reaches for the side of his helmet to turn on his radio he hear the transmission.
"Linn?! How did you?! Whatever. Just make it to these coordinates! We'll pick you up!" Redflower says through the radio. "Just make it out, you hear me?!"
"Yeah...we'll see you there." Linn replies.
Linn shuts off the radio of her helmet along Sky doing the same thing. The ground continues to rumble around more, earning another glance from Sky.
"What did you do?!" Sky's hologram displays.
Linn starts to cough to herself as she and Sky take cover behind a wall.
"Raxas and Zade's job was to plant charges for the city's main power facility. they got the job done...but that's when Blue got to them. That was plan B. To detonate there armor and the charges to make the city's shield to shutdown along with its power. I guess it must have shut down the city's engines." Linn explains.
Sky just angrily stares at Linn.
"You fucking WHAT?! Are you crazy! There are innocent civilians in the city!" Sky's hologram displays as he glares at Linn and points at her.
"They had the choice to fight back against the Blues and Reds and yet they didn't. They choose to side with them. They made there choice. But we also tried to warn them, that's how Raxas and Zade got spotted. Civilians saw them and ratted them out." Linn explains. "Now lets go, those soldiers are getting closer."
Sky angrily growls as he puts Linn's arm around his shoulder and starts to sprint down the hallway. They went through several corridor until they reached a dead end. They look behind them to see a squad of Blue and Red soldiers run by them in search of the both of them. They couldn't go back because of the search party. Sky then looks at Linn for any suggestion to only see her grab her nodachi from her back. She grips the handle with both hands and the blade stars to glow with a white glint. She then slashes her nodachi at the wall, cutting it in half and making a large hole for the both of them to run through. Linn slowly puts her nodachi on her back as Sky helped her run again through the hole. Once they were through, they were on the street level again at the edge of the city. They ran towards the city's faltering shield to only hear multiple guns click. They turn around to see a platoon of Blue and Red soldiers with guns raised at them.
"Attention assholes! Stand down; you're surrounded! Surrender now! You will be taken into custody! We can do this the easy way or the hard way! There is no escape, so surrender now!" A blue solider shouts through his helmet's microphone.
Both Linn and Sky take a step back towards the faltering shield of the plummeting city. Both Sky and Linn glance at each other and give a subtle nod towards each other. They both take another step back, only to hear multiple guns click towards there direction. Sky glances back behind him to see the Revere ship fly towards there direction. Sky then gives a countdown with his hand, from three, two, one. Once his hand forms a fist, both Sky and Linn step off the edge of the city while the platoon of Blue and Red soldiers begin opening fire on there position. Luckily, Ally was able to pilot the Revere ship to its side, opening the rear bay doors. Both Sky and Linn manage to land and roll inside of the Revere ship while the rear bay doors close behind them. Ally then re adjusts the Revere to make it take off into orbit. Sky was on his hands and knees, he then manages to pick himself up from the ground. The doors to the rear bay opens to see Redflower, Stitch, and Pyrrha run into the rear bay.
"Your okay!" Pyrrha says with a sigh of relief.
Sky gives a nod as he stands up from the ground. Redflower however, looks at Sky and see's the sword on his back.
"What happened to Sin?" Redflower only asks.
"What about Zade and Raxas?" Stitch asks quietly as she looks at Sky and Linn.
Sky just glances towards the ground and looks back towards Linn. Linn was on her hands and knees as she breathed heavily and clenched her upper chest. Pyrrha runs over to Linn to check on her wile Redflower clenched his fists and Stitch quietly gasps at Sky's silence and body language.
"GUYS!" Pyrrha says with a panicked tone.
Redflower, Stitch, and Sky look over to Pyrrha to see her applying pressure to Linn's upper chest.
"She was shot! Get Dr. Grey! Now!" Pyrrha says with worry.
"Right...on it!" Reflower says as he snaps back into reality.
Redflower quickly spins around and runs to the cockpit of the Revere. Sky and Stitch run over to Pyrrha and Linn. Linn coughs as she drops Sin's dogtags and looks back up at the three. She moves her hand off her chest to show three gun shot wounds.
"Well fuck me right.." Linn says with a cough and looks at her bloddy hands.
Pyrrha puts both of her hands over one of Linn's gunshot wounds.
"Just save your strength, your bleeding badly." Pyrrha says with a worried tone.
Linn then looks up at Pyrrha.
"And who are you kid? Never seen you around." Linn says with a weak chuckle.
"Pyrrha Nikos. Now please just save your strength miss Linn." Pyrrha says quietly.
Linn gives another quiet chuckle.
"Sorry. But I don't think so." Linn says weakly as she looks up at Stitch. "I'm sorry about Raxas and Zade, Stitch. Tell Ally the same, but they gave their lives to help us. And you." Linn says as she looks up at Sky. "I've learned a lot about you. Your a freelancer. I know what your capable of. Thats why you get to keep this."
Linn slowly reaches for her nodachi and grabs the blade carefully, holding out her long sword towards Sky.
"If Sin let you keep his sword, then your taking mine too. Just make it worth it." Linn says with a small grin under her helmet.
Sky slowly grabs Linn's nodachi by the handle. Linn lets go of the blade, allowing Sky to take her large sword.
"And one more thing...before Raxas and Zade died...they found this." Linn says quietly.
Linn reaches for a container on her belt for her armor. She opens the container and reaches inside of it to reveal a small PDA, a similar size to Pyrrha and Sky's scroll. Linn tosses the PDA at Sky, who catches it and inspects the PDA. On one side of it, it was a cracked screen, and on the other side was the Freelancer Logo. Sky then look back down at Linn to hear her breathing get slower.
"I...I don't know what's on it...we never got the time to...look at it...its heavily encrypted...what ever it is...it's was important for the amount of security they had according to the brothers." Linn says as she gives another heavy cough.
"Linn please..." Stitch says quietly as she kneels down next to Linn.
Linn coughs again as she gives one more glance at everyone around her.
"Tell Vesper...Vagus...Tell him i'm sorry..." Linn says sadly and quietly.
Linn gives one more breath as her head lowers down. Sky, Stitch, and Pyrrha just look at Linn sadly. Pyrrha slowly lifts her hands off of Linn's wounds and just stares back at Sky and Pyrrha.
"Is she..." Pyrrha only asks as her voice trails off.
Sky gives a subtle nod as he puts the PDA away in a container on his belt for his armor. Pyrrha just looks back at Linn's body. The door to the rear bay opens up to reveal Dr. grey, Redflower, and Vesper run into the room. Pyrrha slowly stands up while Sky and Stitch mover out of the way to reveal Linn's lifeless body.
"She said she was sorry Vagus..." Sky's hologram displays as he looks at Vesper.
Vesper just looks down at Linn as he slowly looks back up at Sky to see her nodachi in his hand.
"Yeah...i'm sorry too..." Vesper says quietly.
Dr. Grey lowers her own head down as she sees the body of Linn.
"What's the plan now..." Redflower asks as he looks at Sky.
Sky just looks at Linn's nodachi in his hand as he reaches for Sin's shotgun sword. He spins the sword into a back handed position as he inspects the sword. He then looks back to to see everyone in the room staring at him.
"We stick to the original plan. We're heading back to Chorus to head to the Temple of Translocation. Captain Redflower, Pyrrha and I are really counting on you. if it doesn't work. Then all the time here was wasted for nothing. Stitch, Dr. Grey, you two head back to Ally and give her the coordinates to Chorus." Sky's hologram displays.
"On it." Stitch says with a nod.
Stitch an Dr. Grey run out of the room and towards the cockpit where Ally flew the Revere. Sky then turns to Vesper.
"Vesper, take Linn's body to one of the spare rooms. I know you need to mourn her, you two were close, but once your done. I need you to run to check our supplies." Sky's hologram displays.
Vesper gives a nod as he runs over to Linn's body and picks her up bridal style and walks out of the room with her body, leaving only Sky, Redflower, and Pyrrha.
"You know i'm technically supposed to be giving orders. But I can see why Nuri chose you to be in her squad." Captain Redflower says with a small grin under his helmet.
"There's a lot more than you know Captain. But I'll give you some data based on what you'll be working with. So i'd say you get to moving then. We'll be back in Chorus within a week." Sky's hologram displays.
Redflower gives a nod too as he starts to head for the door. he then stops and looks back at Sky.
"And what about Blue?" Redflower asks quietly.
"He's either dead from Linn's stunt in sending Aether 2.0 into the ocean, or he'll be looking for us now." Sky's hologram displays.
Redflower looks at Sin's shotgun sword in Sky's hand. His hands clench into fists as he gives a nod towards Sky.
"I hope he's alive. Because he's going to pay for what he did to us all." Redflower says with hostility.
Sky returns with his own nod as he watches Redflower leave the room. He then looks at Pyrrha who silently stood in the room.
"And what about me?..." Pyrrha asks quietly.
"You just rest. Your in shock right now. And you also need to be ready." Sky's hologram displays.
"Ready for what?" Pyrrha asks as she looks up at Sky.
"Ready for what happens next. I'm more than certain that Blue isn't dead. He'll find us soon. We have to be on guard when we get back to Chorus." Sky's hologram displays.
"R-Right..." Pyrrha says quietly.
"And Pyrrha...we're almost home...just remember that." Sky's hologram displays.
Pyrrha just stares at Sky for a couple of seconds before she gives a subtle nod before walking out of the room. Once she was gone, Sky holsters Linn's nodatchi and Sin's shotgun sword on his back and reaches for his belt on his armor. He then grabs the PDA and stares at it.
"Now lets see what you have that's so important to them..." Sky says mentally.
A/N:
I'm so sorry that this took long to make. I did about 60% of everything done in three days, but school exams caught up to me. Hopefully the next chapter wont take long considering that the whole gimmick of each chapter tells a different mini story/event is going to stop considering that there's very little left for Locus, Gyro, and Nuri's story. Sky and Pyrrha still have a large final chunk left which will be the next chapter while having Locus and Gyro's mini story. And now for my own thoughts in this chapter, I am honestly disappointed. It had a good start, but was starting to get rushed towards the scene change to Aether ruins. And holy hell, the Aether 2.0 segment was just awful to me. I also wanted to portray Blue to be a lot more treating, but I did a terrible job at that. And now the introduction of the new characters. They are all unique in there own way. Redflower can create red crystals as a way for combat and tactical maneuverability. Ally and Stitch are two sisters that can turn into weapons, Ally can turn into a sword for Stitch to use while Stitch can turn into a scythe for Ally to use. And Vesper has a wrist band that can create a black disk, the disk can form three triangular blades, each of them having a special elemental property being electricity, fire, and wind. And for the deceased soldiers, Sin has his shotgun sword and can manipulate shadows, but you know, hes dead. Linn had her nodachi sword, when she focuses, a white glint will appear on the sword and can cut through almost anything, but costs a lot of physical energy. And the brothers Raxas and Zade, while they weren't shown, they were also very similar to Ally and Stitch. Raxas can turn into two daggers for Zade while Zade can turn into a sword for Raxas. As much as I wanted them to be in the chapter, I felt like it would be easier for them to just be deceased when Sin and Linn where found. Also, there might not be a Valentines special considering that I really don't want to make it. Anyways, about one or two more chapters left, thank you all for reading this chapter and have a great day :D.
