Chapter 21 - Furthest Point from the Sun (Part 1)
Inside General Parkensine's office, Satel stood by the door, watching the General pace back and forth in front of his desk. The younger Lieutenant still stood tall, though he was somewhat nervous. It was not good to disagree with the General , but he found himself doing so.
"Lieutenant, I will make my position clear about your partner" said Parkensine. "Negati is the reason why Bathory's case has been drawn out and turned into such a hassle. She failed to follow my order and fire at Bathory. Are you, in any way, denying my version of the events?"
Satel took a breath and cleared his throat.
"General, I do believe she had intended to follow it-"
"Lieutenant, she hesitated! She failed. Are you disagreeing with me?"
"N-no, sir. No. She did fail to follow your order with the time she was given."
"And you still believe Midchilda is the sole cause of her conflicts? It seems she has been having trouble for a while now."
Satel took a step forward.
"Sir, Bathory's case was the first time you had ever spoken directly to or focused on the actions of Negati and I. She had performed very well in her career on the TSAB beforehand, and I am sure she will return to doing so."
"Then explain to me her other missteps, Lieutenant. Explain to me the many times she let Bathory slip away in your city."
Satel nervously took a breath.
"I failed with her as well, sir. All of us who had the opportunity had failed. Every city that fought to contain Bathory and allowed him to leave must have also failed you, sir. I do not think Negati should be singled out."
Parkensine walked behind his desk. He set his hands down on it and let out a long sigh. When it was over, he looked back up at Satel.
"You are going out on a limb here, Lieutenant."
"I understand. But Negati is...well, I care about her too, sir. I am sure that when this case is over, and when we return to our positions in our city, she will perform just as she had performed before. Midchilda has been hell on her, as it would be to any of us."
Parkensine softly shook his head.
"We will see. In the meantime, I would like to perform analysis on this cyborg. After that, if we have not heard from her, I could make efforts to retrieve the Lieutenant from Midchilda."
Satel nodded softly.
"Another thing, sir. Currently, I have control of Bathory's limiter."
The General stop up again and looked at Satel.
"Do you now?" he asked.
"Yes, I do. It was part of our efforts in allowing him to beat the cyborg. He's unaffected now, but I am able to change that."
"Good. That's one less argument with that damn Enforcer I may have to worry about. Why don't you transfer control over to me, Lieutenant? I will allow you to do so."
Parkensine's device was resting on his desk. Satel took his device out and brought up the connection to Bathory's limiter. He set it on the desk next to the other device, and they both began to pulse. Soon, Satel had lost control of the limiter and Parkensine had gained it. The older man grinned while Satel took his device back.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
Then, Parkensine's device began to pulse again, and a screen formed above it. The young mage at the teleportation chambers was speaking rapidly into the camera and out of the screen.
"General, I have one more trying to come from Midchilda!"
Satel smiled.
"Negati! I knew it, sir. I knew she'd find her way back."
Parkensine's gaze shot back over to look at Satel.
"You cannot assume that, Lieutenant."
"What? How can you say that?"
"For all we know, it may be someone who has no business being on this planet!" said Parkensine sternly. "Perhaps it is someone coming here on the cyborg's behalf."
Satel shook his head. He slowly back up towards the door.
"No, sir. I know it's her. I know it is. You cannot force her to stay on Midchilda a second longer than she needs to. I'll let her through."
Satel walked out of the office, heading towards the teleportation chamber. Parkensine grabbed his device and followed the Lieutenant. They reached the chamber, and Satel pushed open the door. He kept walking over to the control panel, where the young boy was still standing there. The panel was flashing with the teleportation request.
"Lieutenant," said Parkensine, "listen to me. Listen to me before you act."
Satel stopped by the panel and turned around to face the General.
"Yes?"
"If this person is not Negati, I will punish you. I will make sure you never hold another rank in the TSAB on this planet. Do you understand me?"
Satel looked back at the General and nodded.
"Yes, sir. I understand."
He looked over at the control panel and allowed the transportation. In front of the mages, the middle pod shut itself and started to charge up with energy. The light grew brighter, and the sound grew louder, until the process had finished and the pod powered down. The younger mage who was at the control panel backed up, worried at who might come through. He stayed back, next to the General. Satel remained where he was, in front of the pod. He watched as it opened up, revealing the new arrival.
It was a young woman, a couple years younger than Satel. She had red hair, and it draped itself messily down around her face and down to where it ended. She was wearing civilian clothes, and they seemed messy and out of order. Her outfit also looked very familiar.
Satel's eyes opened wide and he smiled again.
"Negati."
Negati seemed sapped of her energy. She glanced up through her bangs, and she took small steps out of the chamber. Satel stood where he was and let Negati cover the distance. When she got close, he opened his arms and let her walk into a hug. She let him embrace her.
"Negati, I knew they'd let you come back." said Satel. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek on her head. He used his right hand to slowly rub her back.
Negati just stood there. She didn't respond to Satel's affection.
"I knew you'd come back" continued Satel. "And I'm so glad you are. I was so worried, Negati. I was so worried."
Finally, Negati responded.
"You asshole..." she muttered.
Satel stopped holding her. He pulled back so he could look at his fellow Lieutenant.
"N...Negati?"
Next to them, the control panel started to blink again. Satel looked over at it and his eyes shot open again.
"Sir!" he yelled to Parkensine. "There's five more coming from Midchilda."
"What?" asked the General. "Five? They have to be here for retaliation. Don't allow them onto the planet."
Satel looked back at Negati. She continued to stand there fixed like a statue.
"Negati, come on" said Satel. "Let's get back. We're on Siba now - no one else needs to be."
Negati finally looked up at Satel. Violently, she brought her arms up and pushed Satel back. The air mage stumbled, but stayed on his feet.
He and Parkensine looked at Negati, and she looked back at them. She gritted her teeth and slammed her hand down on the control panel, activating it. All three pods behind her closed, and all three started to glow with energy.
Satel ran back to Negati.
"Negati, get away from there."
"No" she cried. "Don't touch me!"
Satel paused in front of her as the pods released their energy and started to open. Everyone in the pods was instantly familiar to him. The left one opened up to reveal Ginga and Wendi, the middle one opened up to show Fate, and the right one contained Nove and Cinque.
Nove cracked her knuckles and looked right at Satel.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked.
Satel went white. His heart raced as the situation started to sink in. Quickly, he looked at Negati, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her up.
"Hey!" she cried. "Satel, what are you doing?"
"Negati," he said, equally panicked, "we have to get out of here!"
He lifted up into the air, and flew as fast as he could back to the exit and out of the room. The two Lieutenants barreled down the hallway the room was connected to.
"Satel!" yelled Negati. "Stop!"
"No, no, I can't. I'll get us to safety."
The air mage grabbed his device and held it out, letting it transform. They were reaching the end of the hallway, and Satel fired at the window right in front of them. The glass shattered, and Satel flew both of them out of the building. He arced towards the ground, intending out getting both of them as far away as possible.
In the teleportation room, Fate stepped forward. She held Bardiche out to her side and looked at General Parkensine. While the young mage who first operated the panel had quickly followed Satel out, Parkensine stayed where he was.
"General," said Fate, "I am hoping you will let us through."
Parkensine stepped forward. Fate didn't scare him. The four cyborgs might have, but he didn't show it.
"Enforcer, you have no right to bring those things onto my planet. This is in direct violation of your legal limits! Turn back, now."
"I will not. We are here for two things - Subaru and Bathory. Subaru is a member of the TSAB who has been brought here against her will, and Bathory is now a criminal in the eyes of Midchilda. Both of them will be returning there with us."
"We want Subaru back safe and sound" said Ginga.
"Yeah, so the best thing you could do is get out of our way" added Wendi.
"Enforcer," said Parkensine, "if you do not leave now, I will use the full abilities of my command to stop you."
Fate narrowed her eyes and activated Bardiche. It transformed into its Assault Form and Fate held it by her side.
"I will not let anything stop us" she said.
Parkensine activated his device as well. It looked somewhat like a rifle, but with a ridge running along the top where a sharp bolt of energy appeared. It resembled a crossbow bolt, and it was ready to be launched out with a pull of the trigger. Parkensine held it with both hands and aimed it at Fate.
"Then I will be the first line of defense."
Fate held her left hand out.
"Wendi? I believe you had a request?"
The pink-haired girl stepped out of the pod.
"Yeah" she said. "I ain't sitting around any longer. Come on, Riding Board!"
She held her right arm out, and her own equipment started to phase in. A large blue-grey weapon formed next to her arm, connected by a handle that she held on to. The object went out away from her, cutting in so a pink panel could face the far end. It went the other way as well ,back down her arm to her body and going even further out in the opposite direction. Twisting to the side, she held it out so it faced the General, aiming the pink firing port at him.
"Take this" she cried. "Aerial Shot!"
The panel started to glow brighter, and Parkensine moved his device over to aim at Wendi. He fired the bolt. Across from him, Fate's arm shot up and a round yellow barrier appeared in front of the whole group to protect them. Parkensine's bolt pierced into the barrier, but it stopped the projectile in its tracks. The barrier disappeared right as Wendi finished charging.
"Take it" she yelled. "Fire!"
A bright pink ball shot out of the weapon and Parkensine put up his own barrier. The shot slammed into Parkensine's barrier and kicked up an explosion of energy. Parkensine fell back a step, but recovered and aimed his weapon back at the girl. He fired again several times, but Fate's spell came back up to stop his shots.
The end of Wendi's board started to charge again.
"And another one!" she said. "This'll pack a punch. Reactive Explosive Barret - Fire!"
The second shot launched itself out into Parkensine's barrier again. It crashed into it, but it remained there for a second longer, spinning and grinding against the spell. After that, it exploded with even more power, tossing the General onto his back.
Fate stepped forward while Parkensine made himself get back up. Even if he was a General, he was fighting people less than half his age. He tried bringing his weapon back up, but Fate easily pushed it away and shoved Parkensine to the side of the chamber. Fate motioned for the Nakajimas to run forward while she stared at the General.
"We will bring them both back" she restated. "It would be best for everyone to let us through cleanly."
The rest of the girls had passed Fate, and she ran out of the room too. Parkensine stood there, alone, for a few seconds. Then, he deactivated his device and stepped out of the room, traveling in the opposite direction.
"Call the device of Bathory Kardenis" he said to his device. "I may need him to do some more for me."
[ACCESSING]
There was a helipad on the roof in case of a crisis like this. Parkensine was near the top floor, and he made his way to the reserve stairwell.
Fate and the Nakajima crew had gotten themselves ready to fight. Nove and Ginga had their roller blades out and their devices out around their knuckles. Wendi was riding on the board she had created, and Fate had her device ready to go.
"Bardiche," said Fate, "contact Subaru. We need to pinpoint her location."
[ATTEMPTING CONTACT, SIR]
"I'll try speaking to her too" said Ginga. "I just hope she hears us soon."
Ginga closed her eyes and focused on her sister.
"Subaru?" she asked in her head. "Subaru, please talk to me. We're here to save you."
Satel flew downwards, carrying Negati with him. He raced as fast as he could to get them to ground level. Once they got there, he twisted around and slowed down so he and Negati landed on their feet. When they were on the ground, Satel released Negati.
"I got us away" he said. "I think we're safe-"
Negati pushed him back again. She glared at the air mage and started screaming at him.
"Damn it, Satel! Why did you carry me off? I didn't want you to."
Satel looked confused.
"I...Negati, I get it. You had to bring them here. That's fine."
"No, you don't get it. I chose to do that. I wanted to fight with them."
"Why? I...no, I understand they made you do it. But now we're out. Now we can both get clear of this mess."
Negati stomped her foot down.
"I wanted to help them. You left me on that planet and threw me to the wolves. You have been driving me crazy with your stubbornness. Well, I've got some news for you, Satel. Some news I know you won't see coming. I'm leaving. I'm not going back with you. I'm leaving this planet and never returning."
Across from her, the air mage paused. He slowly took in what Negati had said. Like she predicted, he didn't know how to respond.
"What? No, Negati, you're not leaving. Just give it some thought."
"I have given it thought. I'd rather not stay here and feel any worse."
She turned to leave, but Satel grabbed her around the arm.
"Negati, please, then you're not thinking straight-"
The ground mage spun around, driving her fist into Satel's face and sending him backwards.
"Don't touch me! I am thinking straight. I'm thinking straight for once in my life."
Satel wiped his mouth off and looked back at her. The lines on her arms started to glow red with her magic, and she looked like she was ready for a fight. Reluctant and confused, Satel held his device up as well and aimed it at his partner.
Subaru Nakajima rested on the table. She was lying on her back, with her arm hanging down over the edge.
"Subaru!" she heard someone cry. "Subaru, wake up!"
Her fingers slowly twitched, and the girl stirred. Her eyes opened, staring right up at the harsh light above her.
"Nnn..."she mumbled. "G...Gin-nee?"
She brought her arm up to shield her eyes and her arm hurt. Every part of her body hurt. Every part of her felt battered, beaten up, and sore. Subaru turned her head and looked around the room. She knew she was lying down, and she knew she had gone unconscious, but this didn't look like any hospital room, or anywhere in the Midchildian complex, that she knew about.
Subaru forced herself to sit up. Her body stung, but she had to figure out where she was. The place looked empty and featureless aside from the solid object she was sitting on. Her vision started to focus more, and she started to remember her previous situation.
"Gin-nee?" she asked again. "Daddy? Hello? Is anyone here?"
She looked around, but she was alone. Alone in the bright, unfamiliar room.
"W...where am I?" she asked.
Bathory and Arin were still down in the basement levels. They had decided to just sit down in one of the hallways and discuss things.
"So...so Arin," asked Bathory, "why aren't you back in combat? Why did Parkensine stick you with some graveyard hours in a non-combat role?"
"He told me it was due to the damage caused in your incident. I accepted his reasoning, as an injury like the one he said I suffered would have endangered many of my necessary motor skills."
Bathory looked at the opposite wall and shook his head.
"But now that you know what he did to you..."
"The procedure could very well have affected me still. The matter is that I was pulled off combat duty shortly after. My device had been relinquished from me as well, for purposes I did not either understand or question. It was given back to me as one of Enforcer Harlaown's demands from after she took you away, but I have still not been able to use it against anyone but you."
"So you haven't trained or done anything like it in over a year?"
"No. The assumption now is that I will never be able to perform at a level asked of me."
Bathory looked over at Arin and put his hand on the other mage's shoulder.
"No, you can't think that. I'll talk to Parkensine once I'm back in service and try to get you back in too. You...you were so good. We were on the same Breach team! You can still fight - I know you can."
At that moment, the lights in the hallway began to dim and flash red. There was an alarm going, and Bathory shot up to his feet.
"Wh...what's going on?"
Hanging from his right hand, Aphelion began to glow.
[INCOMING CONTACT FROM -USER- GENERAL PARKENSINE]
"The General? Aphelion, open it."
A screen appeared, showing Parkensine's face.
"Bathory," he said, "the other cyborgs have reached our planet."
"What?" asked Bathory. "What do you mean?"
"They are here to take the one you brought here back to Midchilda. You cannot allow them to do so."
Bathory started to run back down the halls, back to where Subaru had been taken. Behind him, Arin got up and followed him.
"What do you mean?" asked Bathory. "What do you want me to do?"
"You will have to secure it further. I will tell you what to do when you are there."
"I'll be there any second. Let me get her" said Bathory.
He got back to the room, pushed open the door and walked in. He paused when he saw Subaru standing up next to the bench.
Subaru looked over and saw Bathory. Her confusion increased.
"Bathory?" she asked, walking towards him. "Bathory, where am I?"
Mortified, Bathory slammed the door shut again and stood outside the room. He was almost frozen.
"Bathory?" asked Parkensine. He was still there on a screen next to the younger mage. "Bathory, are you there?"
Slowly, Bathory looked down at the screen.
"S...Sir, she's awake."
"What?"
"She's awake. She's up and moving. I...I thought I took her out, I really did!"
Arin arrived and stood next to Bathory, observing his and the General's conversation.
Parkensine thought for a second and got back to Bathory.
"Shut it down again! Rip it apart if you have to. Make sure it can't fight back."
Bathory nodded quickly. His adrenaline was kicking in again. He didn't have much left after his battle back on Midchilda, but it had enough to drive him here.
"Got it. I'll...I'll stop her."
Parkensine ended the call, and Bathory held his right arm up.
"Aphelion, Razor Form. I...it wasn't enough. We didn't do enough."
[TRANSFORMING]
On the other side of the door, Subaru took another step towards the door. Each step was painful, but she had to figure out what was going on. She leaned forward and reached out for the door handle.
"Bathory..." she said again. "Bathory, what's going on-"
Right before she got to it, the door swung open and slammed into her. She fell back, and Bathory dove on top of her. His weapon was out, and the long blades on the side were held dangerously close to Subaru's stomach.
"How do I shut you down?" he yelled. "Where is your controls? Your brain? Your chest? What do I need to pull out? Tell me!"
"Bathory!" cried Subaru. She struggled under him. "Bathory, what are you doing?"
"Tell me!" Bathory yelled back. "I don't have time. I...I don't have time to deal with this."
"Bathory, stop!"
"Here, I'll just...I'll just figure it out. Aphelion, just cut her open. Just cut her open. That has to stop her. That has to."
He held his arm up, and the spikes began to zip back and forth again. He drove his arm back down, but Subaru grabbed his arm and stopped it. The blades kept moving right above her skin.
"Bathory," she yelled, "Where am I? Where did you take me? Why are you doing this?"
They both struggled, either to force the spikes down or keep them held up.
"I'm not leaving Siba again" replied Bathory. "I'm back now. You're my ticket, Subaru. And your sisters aren't taking that away from me."
Subaru's eyes widened. She finally started to piece together what must have happened. At that moment, Ginga's voice trailed through her head again.
"Subaru, please. Please respond to me. I need you to respond."
Subaru knew she couldn't let her sisters lose her. She couldn't be lost on some planet far away from home. She began to get very, very pissed off. Her grip grew tighter around Bathory's arm, and she clenched her teeth.
Her eyes also changed color, from their normal green to a deep orange.
Bathory saw this, and his eyes opened wide.
"Wh...what?"
Subaru had more than enough strength to push Bathory back. She brought her legs up and kicked Bathory off her. He flew back into the wall, slamming into it and leaving a massive dent. Bathory cried out, and he fell back down on the ground.
He pushed himself back up to his hands and knees,but there a little bit of terror running through him. He was sure he was going to die. Subaru transformed back into her barrier jacket and skated in front of Bathory's vision. She stood there, staring down at her aggressor. Her amber eyes were focused and stern.
"I will be rejoining my family" she said. "You will not stop me."
Subaru opened the door to leave the room, but Arin was still standing right outside it. She stared him down.
"Move."
Arin addressed the situation and decided he should follow the cyborg's order and get out of her way. Subaru looked down the hall, which was still pulsing red from the alarm. She wound back, and charged off to regroup with her sisters.
"Revolver Knuckle," she said, "get me back to my family. Tell me where they are."
[ON IT]
Subaru tore through the halls, gathering her bearings. If there was anyone in the bottom levels of the building, and if they made an attempt to stop Subaru, they were quickly tossed to the side. Subaru reached a staircase, and her Wing Road spell activated. She skated up the blue strip, traveling upwards, waiting for her device to guide her back.
Arin turned around and went into the room where Bathory lay.
"It appears you were not able to handle the situation."
Bathory got up to his knees and let his head fall back. The ceiling lights were strangely comforting to someone who had cheated his apparent death. Letting out a deep sigh, he spoke to his device.
"Aphelion, call the General."
[ATTEMPTING REQUEST]
Parkensine was on his way up to the roof. There was a helicopter waiting to take him away from the building. His device glowed, and Parkensine looked down at it. He answered the request as he climbed into the helicopter and it took off.
"Bathory?"
In the basement, Bathory took a little bit to respond.
"General? She got away."
"What? What do you mean?"
"She was awake again. I ran in there, but...but I couldn't stop her. I don't think anyone can. Maybe you just let this one go, honestly."
The helicopter curved away and started to fly around the building. Parkensine stood up, looking out of it at the Siba Capital headquarters.
"We cannot do that, Bathory. You cannot do that. You must stop it."
"Sir, I told you, there's nothing we can hit her with that will hold her back."
"And I am saying you are incorrect. You will be able to stop her. We have the weapons to do so."
Bathory got to his feet and looked down at the screen.
"With what, sir?"
"You'll see. Follow my directions, Bathory. You have one more shot at neutralizing this cyborg."
They two Sibans set out and were guided through the halls on the basement floor. Finally, they stopped in front of a door showing an unlit room behind it. The door had a lock on it, and the lock was flashing red.
"Sir," said Bathory to Parkensine, "we are here. It's locked though. And...well...I don't know if we have clearance."
"I do" said Parkensine.
The locked switched over to flash green, and the room lit up. Bathory pushed the door opened and stepped inside. It looked like an armory, and there were devices of all type neatly laid out across the walls and in several shelves around the wall of the room.
"You will need a very particular weapon" said Parkensine. "On your left, open the first shelf. Those will kill a cyborg."
The ground mage reached out and opened the drawer that he'd been guided to. He saw what was inside and paused.
Everything in there was a live weapon.
Bathory stared a the solid polymer and metal weapons. He started to get nervous.
"Sir," he said to the General, "I...I thought we got rid of these."
"Most of them, yes. But you would be a fool not to see the direction we are headed. We will need these someday, when our enemies cannot be fought with your specific abilities. When they cannot be defeated by magic. Now go ahead, Bathory. I am authorizing the use of this. I know you know how to use it."
The General knew exactly what he was saying, and he delivered it with cold precision.
Bathory was shaking, but he still reached out for one. However, as his hand got closer, he shook more and more. His incident started to replay in his head, through random disconnected flashes. Captain Shuftan standing them in a line. Arin fighting while Bathory was unable to fight back. The final, rapid pull of a trigger just like the ones in front of him that branded him a killer.
"I...I..."he stuttered. "Sir, I..."
"Come on, Bathory. You're not fooling anyone."
With a final push, Bathory grabbed one of the live weapons. His hand settled around the grip, and he brought it back. He shut his eyes and breathed heavily, forcing himself to stay in the present. Still, the contour of the weapon felt familiar, and his pointer finger found its place next to the trigger.
"Good" said Parkensine. "Now get some ammunition. You are running out of time."
Bathory was calming down. The weapon in his hand was a constant reminder of a bad memory, but he could function now. He took a clip of the weapon's ammo and loaded it in.
"I'm ready, General" said Bathory. "I'm ready to go."
"Good" said Parkensine. "Think of what this means, Bathory. I have given you an order. You are under my command again. Now follow it."
Bathory took a deep breath. He turned around and walked back out.
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."