Chapter 21: Renovation of the Mining Facility
With the infestation cleared, the real work could begin. The Guardians were occupied making living quarters for themselves, so that left the Vailcon and Robots. Gorgonis was occupied making a detailed set of plans for the updated facility. The old one had to be completely disassembled and replaced, as all the metal components inside were rusted beyond repair ages ago. The outer sandstone walls were also just as old and outdated. Gorgonis envisioned something greater, something to better display Lanayru's technological prowess to any visitors.
Link and Zelda were still racing at what Gorgonis told them: "It is time that the humans get their heads out of the clouds, permanently."
Yet, given the current situation, neither could fully decipher the true meaning of that message. He was partly right that there were no more demon hordes to worry about, so why stay up in the sky? Yet his tone of voice suggested something else, even though Lanayru had no real weapons currently aside from small arms on the Dark Guardian forces. Even if he was to make some way of attacking Skyloft, it wouldn't happen for several months at the absolute earliest.
"We should go back to Skyloft, Link. He won't tell us details of his future plans, and our families and friends up in Skyloft are likely very concerned about us. We left without any notice several days ago, after all." Zelda explained to Link
"How will we be able to keep track of what's going on down here? I still cannot bring myself to trust him, especially after what he just said." Link asked with noticeable concern in his voice
"The most we can do is return to Skyloft right now. He has no means of actually attacking Skyloft and won't for at least several months. We need not worry everyone back home; we could descend to Faron and cross into Lanayru on foot to keep updated on what is going on. And I don't want to overstay our welcome and give him a reason to come after us." Zelda replied
Despite fears now suppressed to the backs of their minds, they began to pack up their things to leave. Zelda suggested leaving on a formal note to attempt to keep good relations with their new neighbor. Despite his own understandable mistrust of Gorgonis, Link agreed to this.
"Oh, so you two are leaving?" Gorgonis asked with a bit of surprise in his voice
"We also have family and friends back home who are most likely very concerned about our whereabouts." Zelda responded
Even Nayru showed up to send them off, creating a beacon near her new home in the Lanayru Gorge so either could drop by for a visit.
"Don't worry about what's going on down here too much. I can keep an eye on things. That being said, you're welcome to visit me anytime." Nayru told Zelda as she activated one of the many Bird Statues in the region to ascend to Skyloft. Link quickly follwed suit, still nevertheless mentally preoccupied with what happened recently.
Once Link and Zelda were propelled up into the sky, Gorgonis began to tell his people, "Even though the metal in the mining facility is heavily rusted, it may not be completely useless." He demonstrates this by drawing one of his swords and striking an ancient pipe, cutting through rust to reveal intact steel underneath. "As for the rusted portion, that can be smelted into useable metal again like the original ore. Robots, I need you to go to the mines and find deposits of limestone and coal. Both will be needed to extract the iron from all these rusted components. I will help my people build the smelter out of the crystals." He explains to all present.
"If the Amethyst is so strong, then why do we even need steel?" One of the Vailcon asks
"The crystals are fairly strong, but are rather brittle. If we're to show this world what we're capable of, we will need a firm defense. The crystals can withstand extreme heat and even function as power sources." Gorgonis replies
Nayru overheard this as she began to make her way back to her residence in the Lanayru Gorge. She was somewhat concerned, since a "firm defense" would only be vital if Lanayru was going to start a war. Thankfully, the Vailcon trusted her, so she might be able to use that to her advantage and keep a watchful eye on their plans.
The Vailcon were fusing crystal beams together into what would soon be a smelter, situated on the edge of the basin. Amethyst plates were being grown together on top of this framework, into a tall tower about a hundred feet high. The amethyst grew almost like plants and fungi would; the base of this tower was curved upward at the edges into a bowl shape. A bath of nutrients and water swirled inside, which combined with minerals from the ground and sunlight, caused the plates of amethyst to steadily grow upwards over the framework at a pace just barely visible to the naked eye. An inner layer was growing upwards as well. Pieces of pipe were fixed to the frame to create necessary holes for it to function properly once finished. These holes would let in air and rusted metal parts near the top while letting molten iron and slag drain out at the base. Meanwhile, the Robots were recolonizing their old mines and were looking for limestone and coal deposits, while other Vailcon were hauling rusted metal out of the mining facility and surrounding regions. A few Beamos were being rebuilt and used to cut metal parts into moveable pieces.
Gorgonis thought to himself, "Things are slowly beginning to take off. It will take a while to rebuild our nation after eight thousand years of rusting in silence, but once we're finished we'll emerge far stronger than we were at the time of our previous extinction. I do hope that the sky child informs the other humans of our presence, for I would like to settle things peacefully if possible in the coming year."
Unlike the last time, Link and Zelda were able to return to Skyloft with no harassment from wild beasts. The both landed in front of the Academy to speak with Zelda's father, the Headmaster.
Upon seeing her safe, Zelda recieved a long hug from her father, who then asked, "What kept you two away so long, and is there anything wrong I should know about?"
"We were down on the surface, under the pillar of golden light to the west. What was once a series of ancient ruins is now reinhabited by a race of beings that may threaten our existence in the future! Their leader even stole the Triforce!" Zelda exclaimed
"What kind of beings do you speak of, child?" He asks, noticeably concerned but not yet convinced.
"Crystalline skin with an Amethyst hue, anywhere from two to six arms, technology far beyond ours, and much older than the human race. They were the original builders of Robots like the one Gondo has."
The Headmaster searches through his collection of ancient texts for anything resembling this, but finds nothing. "Even though you're my only daughter, I cannot fully believe this. Can you imagine what sort of panic may ensue if I informed everyone on the sky islands that they could come under attack at any time from beings they have not seen nor heard of?"
Zelda stops arguing and grabs her father's hand, saying, "I'll show you, then."
Link, Zelda, and the Headmaster all leap off Skyloft and call their Loftwings; the Headmaster's is the same one used in the annual competition. Reluctantly, the three fly into the pillar of golden light marking Lanayru Province.
Then a tiny object on Zelda's shoulder starts glowing a deep violet, one she never even noticed when she left. Almost reacting to the light, a similarly-colored barrier forms in front of them, extending over the whole province. A voice is heard through the gemstone that signaled their return, saying, "I figured that you two meddlesome fools would try and come back, though I did not expect it to be so soon! We are not bothering you and thus do not want to be bothered by you!"
The voice was undoubtedly that of Gorgonis. Zelda trashed the amethyst piece as they landed just outside the barrier's edge.
Link spoke up, "We can get through the barrier on foot - there's a decent gap near ground level. If we're seriously going to spy on them like this, then we should enter sometime after nightfall."
"I'm sorry Zelda, but I'm not yet completely convinced to what you say. What just transpired definitely worries me, but it could have been a simple magic trick you staged." The Headmaster explains, "I've seen you occasionally practicing strange new magic ever since your first journey down here ended."
Zelda responds in a somewhat saddened tone, "I get that as the unofficial leader of Skyloft, you have to be skeptical when confronting matters such as this. It's like you said: you want to avoid causing a panic if at all possible. You'll know fairly soon that I'm telling the truth."
The Headmaster turns to Link, "What do you think of all this?"
At first Link felt slightly angry that the Headmaster was not yet fully taking Zelda's story seriously, but he too understood why, "I can pretty much confirm everything that's happened down here, but the leader of the race of beings down here - the Vailcon - specifically said 'It's time for the humans to get their heads out of the clouds, permanently,' which has been worrying me for awhile now. I do not know what exactly he meant."
The Headmaster was deep in thought, "Maybe he wants to attack Skyloft with something? Maybe he wants humans to return to the surface now that the monsters are almost completely gone? I'll admit, that comment is just as bothersome to me as it is to you, but unless I see definitive proof of some danger to Skyloft I won't tell the rest of the people there or it will only incite pandemonium."
The silence was unnerving for the rest of the evening.
The small group continued inland on foot. There was more or less a constant sea breeze from the restored Lanayru Ocean, sweeping far inland. As they travelled further, they eventually reached one of the giant robot statues that was, until recently, in a great state of disrepair. Much like the one he landed on during his travels the ladder on this one was also intact. Link spotted something off in the distance and pulls out his telescope.
After looking in closer detail at what he spotted, Link's face turned even whiter than normal. He shakily hands it to Zelda, who then sees what Link saw and starts breaking out with a cold sweat. Then the Headmaster looks through the scope. He sees a small group of beings walking to one of the fallen platforms, and quietly asks, "Are these the Vailcon you told me about?"
Zelda and Link both nod, and the continue observing. It's none other than Gorgonis and at least four other Vailcon, plus six of his "Dark Guardians." With them though, is a sort of levitating sled carrying large boxes of something. Gorgonis speaks something unintelligible and levitates the broken down robot statue while the other Vailcon begin repairing it. Once done, the sled is moved on top of the statue. The box opens, revealing a puzzling creation.
The creation starts glowing, centered around a single violet eye on the head of what is apparently a Beamos. The body, however, unfolds and stands up. It is a nine-foot tall bipedal robot with two tubular structures attached to its shoulders. The structures have handles and triggers, suggesting them to be projectile launchers. The robot unfolds its arms and opens its three-fingered hands, which crackle with violet electricity. The tubes rotate over the shoulders and point straight ahead. The three of them hear Gorgonis say one word: "Fire."
The robot grabs the handle of one launcher, aims it at a nearby giant boulder, and pulls the trigger. A round, propeller-driven object flies out, hits the rock, and detonates, blowing away a good chunk of the thing. Next, it fires the other tubular launcher and a small missile flies out. The robot turns its head and the missile follows its gaze before being guided into the rock from above. Then, its eye starts glowing before a violet electric beam shoots out, leaving a scorch mark on the rock. Finally, it stands still as one of the Dark Guardians aims his crossbow at the robot's eye. The bolt hits and glances off the eye crystal. If high-powered magic crossbows can't punch through that crystal, there's no way in hell that Link's Sacred Bow could possibly do so.
When the tests are done, the Vailcon talk amongst themselves while the robot stands there and looks around.
"Sir, heat anomaly detected on that statue over there." It says to Gorgonis in a digital
voice.
"What kind of heat anomaly? Don't you know that rocks absorb heat differently than plants?" Gorgonis responds, slightly annoyed at the interruption.
"The anomaly is more concentrated than that sort of signature. Suggests presence of life-forms, different heat signature than Vailcon."
Link cursed under his breath, and the group quickly lept off the backside of the statue, before finding a small doorway on it and hiding inside. Everyone heard the Vailcon walking on top of the hollow statue, before Gorgonis speaks up, saying "What have we here? A rupee?"
Even though he wasn't found yet, Link felt around in his pockets. Sure enough, there was a small hole in the pocket with his wallet that he didn't notice before.
"Rhythmic electrical anomalies detected, different pace than Vailcon heartbeats, further confirmation of life forms."
All of the group paled. The robot could sense heartbeats?
Before they could react further, it opened the entryway to the statue.